BusinessMirror April 09, 2024

DESPITE  the recent increase in inflation and the lowering of the government’s economic growth targets, the Asean+3 Macroeconomic Research Office (AMRO) still expects the Philippine economy’s growth to exceed six percent this year and next year.

In its Asean+3 Regional Economic Outlook (AREO) 2024, AMRO said the Philippine economy is still expected to post a 6.3 percent growth this year, the same projection it made in January 2024.

But AMRO said this growth is expected to continue in 2025 as indicators point toward an

economic growth of 6.5 percent. AMRO Chief Economist Hoe Ee Khor said growth will be driven by external demand and tourism recovery.

“I think our forecast is 6.3 percent for this year and lower than the official target, but to us I think 6.3 percent is a very strong growth, among the highest in the region. The Philippines will also benefit from the upswing in terms of the external demand and we mentioned earlier that the manufacturing sector will benefit from that and also the recovery in tourism,” Khor said. Khor noted that higher demand

for Philippine products will boost manufacturing growth while recent reports stated that foreign tourism in the Philippines is now contributing more to tourism compared to domestic tourism.

Despite higher prices being a threat to growth, AMRO expects inflation to remain within the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) inflation target of 2 to 4 percent this year and next year.

Based on the AREO, inflation in the country is expected to average 3.6 percent this year and even lower at 2.9 percent next year.

“A sudden spike in global commodity prices, weaker-than-

expected growth in China, or escalating geopolitical tensions could turn the tide for the region,” Khor said.

“Now that the current outlook is quite positive, given robust growth and gradual disinflation, Asean+3 economies need to rebuild policy space as much as they can,” he added. AMRO staff now forecast the Asean+3 economies to grow at 4.5 percent this year from 4.3 percent in 2023. AMRO also released today its 2025 growth forecast, with the region projected to expand by 4.2 percent.

INFLATION MAY PROMPT RATE CUTS DELAY TO ‘25

By Cai U. Ordinario @caiordinario

THE Bangko

Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) could delay any rate cuts to the first quarter of 2025, pending improvements in the country’s economic performance, including cooler inflation.

On Monday, the Monetary Board decided to retain the BSP’s Target Reverse Repurchase (RRP) Rate at 6.5 percent. With this, interest rates on the overnight deposit and lending facilities also remain at 6 percent and 7 percent, respectively.

BSP Governor and Monetary Board Chairman Eli M. Remolona Jr. said they are more hawkish than before given the 3.7 percent inflation print in March 2024. This prompted the MB to raise its risk-adjusted inflation forecast to 4 percent this year from the initial 3.9 percent in January 2024. Yung headline, that’s slightly better than expected. But then we faced the usual supply-side shocks that formed the upside risks that we worry about. And those are very significant,” Remolona said in a briefing on Monday.

T

should put in place a system that has “checks and balances” to decentralize the education system in the country, according to Philippine Business for Education (PBEd), a business-led education advocacy group.

Acknowledging that there may be challenges associated with devolving or decentralizing the country’s education system, PBEd Executive Director Justine Raagas underscored the need for the government to set up a

mechanism that prevents the Philippine education system from being tainted by politics.  “It’s true that there are potential challenges and risks to devolving or decentralizing education system and we’re cognizant that that might be a risk—being politicized,” PBEd Executive Director Justine Raagas told reporters on the sidelines of PBEd’s General Membership Meeting in Makati City on Monday. “But if I think if we do have a system that has checks and balances in place, if we have a system with a very clear vision

PBBM: LGUs should take lead in El Niño response

By Samuel P. Medenilla @sam_medenilla

WITH the varying impacts of El Niño on each region, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. said local government units (LGU) should take the lead in declaring a state of calamity due to water shortages.

A nationwide state of calamity by the national government is unnecessary for now, he explained, since water supply in some parts of the country are still “not critical.”

“The problems faced by each area are different. It can’t be a shotgun [response] or one-size-fits all...we look at each area

and see what it is that they need. So, that’s what we are [doing], that’s the way we are handling local

status when an area has below normal rain conditions for five consecutive months or way below rainfall conditions for three consecutive months—is expected to increase to 48 this month from 37 last March.

A2

LTFRB keeps 45K Metro Mla ceiling for motorcycle taxis

By Lorenz S. Marasigan @lorenzmarasigan

THE Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) is no longer adding more vehicles on Metro Manila’s roads, diverting the additional 8,000 slots for motorcycle taxis to other regions while cancelling the 10,000 new slots for fourwheel ride-hailing services.

In a press briefing on Monday, LTFRB Chairman Teofilo Guadiz III said the four new motorcycle taxi players will have to utilize their slots in areas outside Metro Manila, specifically in Regions III, IV, VII and XII.  This will leave Angkas, JoyRide, and Move It as the only motorcycle taxi players in Metro Manila. They share a pool of 45,000 slots, the approved supply during the previous administration.

“Adding additional players will require slots. We gave them a conservative 2,000 slots each, which is nothing compared to the 45,000 slots before I came in. But since

there is a resolution by the Committee on Metro Manila Development as well as pronouncement from [Department of Transportation] Secretary, motorcycle taxi slots will have to be diverted outside of Metro Manila,” Guadiz said.

He explained that Transportation Secretary Jaime J. Bautista has ordered the LTFRB to stop adding more motorcycle taxis in Metro Manila and instead focus on other regions and provinces, including Cebu and Davao.

“Our goal is for this to be conducted here [in Metro Manila] because this is just a pilot study. We

The Asean region is expected to benefit from a combination of these favorable factors, with growth in 2024 and 2025 forecast at 4.8 and

would like to see exactly what the saturation point is before you can say that there is an ample supply of motorcycle taxis. But in deference to the House of Representatives Committee on Metro Manila Development and the order of the Secretary, all these 8,000 slots will be made outside of Metro Manila,” GUadiz said.

The four new players that were supposed to compete with the incumbents are:  Para Express, Taxi Philippines, GrabBike, and Dingdong.

Motorcycle taxis are allowed to operate in the Philippines under a pilot study, which started in 2019.  It is set to expire on May 31.  “Theoretically, if the study ends, everything will have to be stopped —even the operations of motorcycle taxis will have to stop because they derive their movement from the resolution passed by Congress. However, part of our recommendation, if ever Congress approves it, [is that] even if the pilot study is already terminated, we continue the program until such time that the law is passed that will govern motorcycle taxis,” Guadiz said.

4.9 percent, respectively, while growth in the Plus-3 region is expected to remain robust at 4.3 and 4.1 percent, respectively.

“The stronger growth for Asean+3 this year will be mainly

10,000 slots delayed

IN a related development, Guadiz said that the regulator has decided not to add more slots—and players—to the ride-hailing industry in Metro Manila.

Last month, the LTFRB announced the opening of 10,000 new slots for transport network vehicle services (TNVS) in Metro Manila, as it felt the “need for more players because there is seemingly a deficiency in public transport.”

These slots were supposed to be given to new players — two of which already announced their intentions to operate TNVS services, Angkas’ Angcars and Russian firm inDrive.

“In deference again to the clamor of the transport sector, we are postponing indefinitely the awarding of the slots to other players until such time we can come up with an ample computation as to how many are really needed for Metro Manila,” Guadiz said.

Before the pandemic, Metro Manila had 65,000 slots for four-wheel TNVS. But due to the global health emergency, it dwindled down to 23,000 as of today.

driven by robust domestic demand, underpinned by increasing household incomes and recovering investment activity,” AMRO said in a statement.

“The anticipated turnaround in exports, in part due to the global chips upcycle, and the continued recovery of tourism will provide additional tailwinds,” it added.

With global commodity prices continuing to stabilize, inflation in Asean+3—excluding Lao PDR and Myanmar—is expected to moderate from 2.8 percent last year to 2.5 percent in 2024, before easing further to 2.3 percent in 2025.

Nearly a year since the World Health Organization declared an end to Covid-19, AMRO said the Asean+3 region continues to grapple with pandemic scars.

The pandemic had taken a toll not only on economic activity but also on the labor force and capital formation, especially infrastructure.

Trend growth for most economies has remained lower than pre- pandemic, and recovery in capital formation has been particularly weak.

“Revitalizing growth requires boosting investment and embracing technology to raise productivity and resilience, especially of smaller firms,” said Khor. “Stepping up regional collaboration can be instrumental in achieving this goal.”  Cai U. Ordinario

PBBM...

Continued from A1

Likewise, those with dry spells or areas, which have below normal rainfall conditions for three consecutive months or way below normal rainfall conditions for two consecutive months, are expected to increase to 24 in April from 13 in the previous month.

Last week, the Task Force El Niño (TFE) reported that almost 20 LGUs have declared a state of calamity due to water supply issues.  These include Oriental Mindoro, and some municipalities in Occidental Mindoro, Palawan, Romblon, Ifugao, Antique and Zamboanga City, Marcos said the national government will focus its interventions, including helping farmers, in areas which have no access to irrigation.  “So, those areas, which are not covered by irrigation. Those are the areas that we look at,” he said.

The TFE reported agricultural damage from El Niño has reached P2.63 billion.

“What has to happen is several data points have to converge to tell a story that says inflation is really coming down and growth is not too strong. That would be a good case for easing,” he added.

Remolona said if the data improves, the Monetary Board could start cutting rates as early as the third quarter. Initially, analysts expected the BSP to start cutting rates in the second quarter of the year.

“If we see some good news, [within target] inflation and somewhat weak growth, we could ease by the third quarter. And then [if] it’s the opposite, we would ease by the first quarter of 2025,” the BSP Governor said.

The imminent risks to inflation are food and transport prices. For food, the single commodity that could turn the tide for inflation is rice, the country’s staple.

In March 2024, rice inflation accelerated to 24.4 percent, the highest since the 24.6 percent posted in February 2009. The highest recorded increase in rice prices was 36.4 percent in July 2008.

Data showed rice prices have been increasing in the double digits since September 2023, when rice prices increased 17.9 percent, and started the year with a rice inflation of 22.6 percent.

and if we have a system that clearly, for example, looks at the flow of resources  and connects all these resources to learning outcomes; if we indeed have set rules, it’s possible to avoid it being politicized,” Raagas also noted, speaking partly in Filipino.

This, the PBEd official emphasized after Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, who chairs the Senate’s committee on basic education, arts and culture, speaking at a forum at the same event, cited “political realities” that the country has to deal with in terms of entrusting the education system to the hands of local government units.

“I see both sides from the National setup, which we have right now and the local government setup. And there are political realities that we have to deal with,” Gatchalian said.

“Can we really trust the politicians to hire our teachers and implement the curriculum on the ground? Can we actually trust them?” the senator underscored.

Gatchalian also raised the question, “Is there any assurance where...when we empower them to hire teachers...when we empower them to run the school, they will not politicize education?”

He laid down these points as he underscored that this issue is one of the “downsides” of decentralization.“How do we make sure that education is not politicized at the local level?” said Gatchalian.

In contrast, he cited “good examples” such as the health system which he said has been devolved.

“Local governments can hire nurses, can hire doctors, can hire dentists, and so far, if there’s politicization, it’s not as grave but so far

To clarify, it is the Bureau of Immigration, through the signature of its Commissioner, who approves and implements the SRRV.”

Regarding Binay’s concern that Chinese nationals with SRRVs work in Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (Pogo), the PRA chief said,

Rice prices have been rising since January 2022 at 1 percent from the 0.1 deflation in December 2021 and 0.3 percent increase in January 2021.

“Food prices are medium probability and medium impact, so roughly contributing 0.07 percent each, roughly the same. If I were to name one single commodity, it would be rice and rice prices, they’re not only very significant at this time. They also are what we call salient prices. They get noticed, and they tend to affect expectations more,” Remolona said.

The latest inflation path has shifted slightly higher but remains within target. However, for 2025, BSP’s risk-adjusted inflation forecast is unchanged at 3.5 percent.

BSP said the latest demand indicators suggest that domestic growth prospects remain largely intact over the medium term, even as overall activity continues to gradually respond to tighter financial conditions.

Given these considerations, the Monetary Board deems it appropriate to maintain the BSP’s tight monetary policy settings. The BSP also continues to support the National Government’s policies and programs to address supply-side pressures on the prices of key food commodities.

that devolution has been delivering basic services to our constituents,” Gatchalian said.

With this dilemma, he stressed the need to “find the right formula” wherein the government can devolve education but it will not be politicized.

Greater devolution ON Monday, PBEd proposed that Philippine governance move towards “greater devolution” and continued or increased delegation to private schools with proven track records.

Among the recommendations of PBEd is entrusting the management of education funds to local government units through the “local school boards.”

According to PBEd, the Department of Education (DepEd) National should set a “minimum level of per capita spending across schools.”

“This ensures equity of resources due to a learner, regardless of the size of his/her school and the level of development of his/her LGU,” PBEd said.  The Local School Board as a DepEd division, PBEd said, “directly receives and manages funds from the national government, like the proposed Local Education Support Fund.”

“In the management of a division’s education funds, divisions ensure adequate, equitable, and accountable distribution of education budget across schools in the division and they ensure regular and predictable fund availability in support of the implementation of the local education plan,” PBEd further noted as one of its recommendations to the Philippine government towards devolution.

Regarding the arrest of a PRA employee, Zozobrado noted that the former was arrested in 2022 through the joint efforts of the agency and the NBI. “We are actively cooperating with NBI in pursuing the criminal case against the culprit by providing witnesses and necessary documentary evidence.

PRA has also asked the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel to participate in the legal procedure,” he said.

“There are only three confirmed SRRV holders who [are with] Pogos, but none of them are Chinese nationals. Upon PRA’s inquiry, Pagcor issued a written communication confirming that one SRRV holder is a Pogo operator and two are workers. These SRRV holders are presumed to be operating and working legally considering that they are registered with Pagcor.”

PHL won’t see drastic drop in fertility rate, says report

By Cai U. Ordinario @caiordinario

THE Philippines remains relatively young among the countries in the Asean+3 region, but it will eventually have to deal with the challenges of an aging population, according to the Asean+3 Macroeconomic Research Office (AMRO).

AMRO said in its latest report that in 11 years, the Philippines will be the only economy in the Asean+3 region with fertility rates that are equivalent to replacement rates.

AMRO Group Head and Principal Economist Allen Ng said Asean+3 economies, except for the Philippines, will already have sub-replacement fertility rates by 2035.

The report stated that the country’s average population growth rate is 1.8 percent and is expected to peak in 2092. The working age population is expected to grow by 2.27 percent annually and could peak in 2051.

“By 2035, all economies in the region are expected to have sub-replacement fertility rates with the exception of only one, the Philippines.

At current pace of aging, I think the problem of becoming old before becoming rich is the concern for many economies, especially the lower middle and middle income economies in the region. Because this implies that these economies could have fewer resources to manage the challenges that aging brings,” Ng said in a briefing on Monday.

Ng said, however, that while this is true, economies in the region could expect their citizens to live healthier, longer and productive lives.

This means they can continue working longer than the current retirement rates in the region, dubbed the longevity dividend.

“We estimated that if you take into account this older but healthier population, about 200 million workers

NPC begins probe on data breach suffered by DOST

By Andrea E. San Juan @andreasanjuan

Tsaid it has launched an investigation into the reported personal data breach within the Department of Science and Technology (DOST). NPC said initial findings indicate that the breach includes the personal data of approximately 597 data subjects, all of whom are employees of DOST.

can reenter the region’s labor force by 2050,” Ng said.

“This is not immaterial. This is larger than the entire labor force of Indonesia, for example, and it’s akin to adding 10 times more than the labor force of Malaysia into the region,” he added.

However, Ng said this dividend is not given on a silver platter. Policies are still needed to ensure that the longevity dividend materializes.

Ng said governments should have a multifaceted approach that encompasses various aspects of public policies that include labor policy, health policy, and even urban planning.

He added that these policies must also include pension reforms, the use of technology, and international cooperation specifically for labor mobility.

“Aging presents a critical challenge for the Asean+3 region. At the same time, it’s important to recognize that the region is not just aging. We are also living longer and healthier,” Ng said in a statement.

“Adapting to this ‘longevity dividend’ and enabling our populations to age productively will be crucial for the region’s future,” he added.

Earlier, the Commission on Population Development (CPD) said high commodity prices and economic uncertainties have convinced more Filipinos to delay dating, marrying, and childbearing, even before the pandemic.

In a study, CPD data showed that as early as 2017, there was already a decline in total registered live births between 2017 to 2019, the three immediate years before the pandemic.

The largest drop was in 2020, during the height of the pandemic in the Philippines. There was a slight rebound in 2022 but it remained below the pre-pandemic and lockdown.

Based on the data, CPD said birth rates before the pandemic slowed to 1.7 million in 2017; 1.68 million in 2018; and 1.67 million in 2019.

The trend continued when birth rates hit 1.53 million in 2020 and 1.36 million in 2021. But in 2022, birth rates reached 1.46 million, higher than in 2021 but remained below the 2020 figure.

Bersales said the CPD will also monitor whether the trend has evolved to become the norm in the post-pandemic period.

the breach, as well as to identify any compromised personal data.

NPC said it received a breach notification from DOST on April 5.

DOJ rejects Quiboloy conditions for surrender

TBy Joel R. San Juan @jrsanjuan1573

HE Department of Justice (DOJ) on Monday denied the conditions set by Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC) founder Pastor Apollo Quiboloy for his surrender.

Warrants of arrest were issued against Quiboloy by the Senate and a trial court in Davao City for violation of Republic Act (RA) 7610 or the Anti-Child Abuse Law.

DOJ Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla branded as “serious, morally abhorrent” the charges being thrown at Quiboloy, who he earlier referred to as a friend.

“Quiboloy cannot impose any conditions. He must surrender not according to his terms but according to the terms of the law. The law applies to all, without exception,” Remulla said in a statement.

“The charges against Quiboloy are not simple. They involve serious and morally abhorrent offenses such as sexual assault of a minor and human trafficking,” he added.

The Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Davao City issued last April 1 an arrest warrant against Quiboloy for child abuse and sexual abuse cases.

Also ordered arrested are Quioloy’s coaccused Jackielyn Roy, Cresente Canada, Paulene Canada, Ingrid Canada and Sylvia Cemañes.

Roy, Ingrid, Paulene and Cemañes have all surrendered to authorities and posted bail for their temporary release.

The DOJ said the case against Quiboloy is “never a weak one and there is a direct evidence to prove all the elements of the offenses charged.”

The prosecution has recommended a bail of P180,000 for charges under Section 5(b) of RA 7610 or the Special Protection of Children Against Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act and P80,000 for maltreatment under Section 10(a) of the same law.

Aside from the child abuse and sexual

abuse cases, Quiboloy and his-co-accused are charged with qualified human trafficking, a non bailable offense, before the Regional Trial Court of Pasig City.

The DOJ said there is only one complainant in these said cases—then 17-year-old former member of Quiboloy’s sect.

However, Remulla assured Quiboloy’s safety even as he reminded the embattled religious leader “that no one is above the law, even if one occupies an important position in his religious organization.”

Quiboloy had earlier said that he will surrender only if there is a written guarantee from President Marcos, Remulla, Philippine National Police Chief Gen. Rommel Francisco Marbil and National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Director Medardo de Lemos that “there will be no American interference and no extraordinary rendition” upon his surrender.

“Unless you give me the guarantee I’m looking for, you won’t see me. Go ahead and manhunt me,” Quiboloy said in a voice clip posted last Saturday on the YouTube channel of his church’s television network Sonshine Media.

Quiboloy’s conditions stemmed from his indictment in the US three years ago for sex trafficking along with two co-defendants identified as Teresita Tolibas Dandan and Felina Salinas.

The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has posted on its website Quiboloy’s picture to announce that he is wanted for “Conspiracy to Engage in Sex Trafficking by Force, Fraud and Coercion, and Sex Trafficking of Children; Sex Trafficking by Force, Fraud, and Coercion; Conspiracy; Bulk Cash Smuggling.”

The US government has yet to seek Quiboloy’s extradition in connection with the said case. Remulla urged the beleaguered leader to face trial if he believes is innocent.

“Argue your charges before the Court where you remain the accused, tell the naked truth, that way you can redeem yourself,” Remulla dared Quiboloy.

Bong Go provides additional support for recovery and rebuilding efforts of fire and calamity victims in S. Cotabato

‘S

ABI ko nga sa inyo noon, ang gamit ay nabibili. Ang pera ay kikitain, subalit ‘yung perang kikitain ay hindi po nakakabili ng buhay. A lost life is a lost life forever. Importante ay buhay tayo kaya pangalagaan natin ang buhay na ibinigay sa ating ng Panginoon,” Senator Christopher “Bong” Go, in a video message, told recovering victims of fire incidents and recent calamities caused by strong winds and heavy rains in Surallah and Norala, South Cotabato as his Malasakit Team provided them additional support on Friday, April 5.

Furthermore, Go, chairperson of the Senate Committee on Health and Demography, also encouraged those with health issues to seek the services of nearby Malasakit Centers at the Dr. Jorge P. Royeca Hospital in General Santos City and South Cotabato Provincial Hospital in Koronadal City. Malasakit Centers bring together representatives from the Department of Health (DOH), the Department of Social Welfare and Development, the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation, and the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office.

In addition, NPC noted that the data dump uploaded by the threat actor included several resumés of individual applicants to DOST.

NPC said its Complaints and Investigation Division (NPC-CID) is currently engaged in a “thorough” analysis of the data dump to fully determine the extent of the breach and assess “associated” risks.

On April 4, the country’s privacy body said it conducted an onsite investigation at the DOST Central Office to determine the nature and extent of

“Preliminary assessments reveal that the breach potentially exposed personal information and sensitive personal information, such as names, gender, civil status, and addresses of DOST’s employees,” the privacy body said in a statement on Monday.

Under NPC Circular 16-03, it is mandatory for the DOST to notify the affected data subjects and the NPC within 72 hours upon knowledge of or a reasonable belief that a personal data breach has occurred.

Further, NPC said it “strongly urges” the public against accessing, downloading, or sharing the uploaded data dump without legitimate purpose or proper authorization.

“Such actions may constitute unauthorized processing of personal data, which is punishable by law,” it said.

According to local news reports, the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) said last week that a cyberattack on DOST has affected around 2 terabytes of data.

BI denies entry to Vietnamese nationals

THE Bureau of Immigration (BI) said Monday that more than 150 Vietnamese nationals were barred from entering the country last month.

In a report submitted to BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco, the agency’s immigration protection and border enforcement section (I-PROBES) said the increase in entry denials stemmed from the increase in Vietnamese nationals found to be working in illegal online gaming hubs.

Aside from the 150 Vietnamese nationals, the BI also excluded 30 Chinese and 14 Indonesian nationals.

The BI said a total of 220 foreign were denied entry for the month of March after assessing that they might become a public charge in violation of the Philippine immigration act of 1940. Tansingco pointed out that the BI’s actions are not targeted at specific nationalities, but are rather based on me -

ticulous scrutiny of travel patterns and activities of individuals.

“We leverage available data on past arrests and interceptions to identify individuals exhibiting similar travel behaviors,” said Tansingco.

The excluded foreign nationals, according to the BI, were placed in the BI’s blacklist to prevent them from attempting to enter the country anew.

Joel R. San Juan

The relief activities were held at the mayor’s office in Norala and a function hall in Surallah, where a total of 19 families received snacks, grocery packs, shirts, masks, vitamins, and balls for basketball and volleyball from Go.

Surallah Mayor Pedro Matinong Jr. and Norala Vice Mayor Jonel Daniel were present to support the relief activities.

Meanwhile, the National Housing Authority extended its Emergency Housing Assistance Program (EHAP) to the qualified beneficiaries through Go’s initiative.

“Itong programang EHAP, isa ako sa nagsulong nito noon. Ngayon, ito ay aking sinusuportahan para maipagpatuloy, para may maibili ng housing materials tulad ng pako, yero at iba pa ang mga nabahaan o nasunugan,” Go explained.

Go also stressed the importance of enhancing the country’s disaster resilience. One key legislative measure Go has been pushing for is Senate Bill No. 188, which proposes the establishment of the Department of Disaster Resilience (DDR).

This proposed bill seeks to centralize and streamline disaster management efforts nationwide, focusing on three crucial areas: disaster risk reduction, disaster preparedness and response, and recovery and building forward better.

Furthermore, Go highlighted SBN 2451, known as the Ligtas Pinoy Centers Act, he co-sponsored and is one of the authors in the Senate. Based on the Mandatory Evacuation Center bill Go filed earlier, the proposed legislation underscores the necessity of establishing mandatory evacuation centers in provinces and municipalities.

Go is the principal author and sponsor of Republic Act No. 11463, or the Malasakit Centers Act of 2019, which institutionalized the Malasakit Centers program. Currently, 161 Malasakit Centers are operational nationwide, poised to assist with patients’ medical expenses. DOH reported that the Malasakit Center program has aided over ten million Filipinos.

Go also mentioned that he continues to advocate for more health facilities nationwide, such as establishing Super Health Centers to bring primary care, medical consultations and early disease detection services closer to communities.

Through the collective efforts of Go, the DOH led by Secretary Teodoro Herbosa, local government units, and fellow lawmakers, sufficient funds have been allocated for the construction of around 700 Super Health Centers including 15 in South Cotabato, with three in General Santos City.

To further help the province, Go, vice chairperson of the Senate Committee on Finance, supported the construction of roads in Banga, Lake Sebu, Norala, Tantangan, and Surallah; the acquisition of a dump truck for the local government of Norala; construction of riverbank protection in Koronadal City and Tboli; installation of street lights in Koronadal City, Norala and Tupi; and the construction of a slaughterhouse in Tboli.

“Patuloy kaming magseserbisyo sa inyo dahil bisyo ko ang magserbisyo at ako ay naniniwala na ang serbisyo sa tao ay serbisyo ‘yan sa Panginoon, serbisyo ‘yan kay Allah,” said Go, who is known as Mr. Malasakit for his compassionate service to Filipinos in need.

STUDENTS attend a flag raising ceremony during the opening of classes at the San Juan Elementary School in Metro Manila, Philippines. AP FILE PHOTO/AARON FAVILA

Economy

Marcos hails transmission network as Visayas’s hope

BY Samuel P. Medenilla @sam_medenilla & Lenie Lectura @llectura

PRESIDENT Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. said the completion of the P69.7-billion Cebu-Negros-Panay Backbone Project Stage 3 (CNP3) will help spark investments and economic development in the Visayas through efficient energy distribution.

During the ceremonial energization of the CNP3 in Bacolod City, Negros Occidental last Monday, the chief executive said the 230-kilovolt (kV) initiative will address the “power supply challenges that has plagued Negros and Panay sub-grids.”

“The CNP will also address the surging energy demand in the area and propel the economic advancement of Region 6 and 7 to new heights,” Marcos said.

“We have taken a big step today when we opened this transmission network in making this more attractive to other private investors to come in and to help us with problems and to bring their own capacities to improving the transmission lines and even the power generation,” he added.

Economic powerhouse

THE CNP3 will allow Cebu and other parts of Visayas with growing energy demands to use the untapped solar energy in Negros.

“The northern part of Negros Island has close to 500 Megawatts that’s stranded. It is unused. So this power, this transmission line we’ll make that available to wherever else it is needed,” he added.

He urged stakeholders in the Visayas to identify more locations, where investors can build new base load generation plants, as well as renewable energy and energy storage

systems, which can be linked to the CNP3.

“I encourage private generators to invest in the Negros and Panay sub-grids so that the region can meet its energy demands and ensure self-sufficiency in the long run,” Marcos said.

Ensuring power demands of Western and Central Visayas, Marcos said, will translate to considerable economic gains for the country since both regions contributed P2.24 trillion to the national economy in 2022.

Power outage

LAST January, Marcos called on the NGCP to complete the CNP3 to help address the power woes in the Visayas after Iloilo suffered from blackouts, which cost the province P3.8 billion in economic losses.

The CNP3, which is composed of 670 transmission towers and spans 442 circuit kilometers of transmission lines, aims to strengthen the link among Cebu, Negros and Panay to facilitate a more reliable transfer of power among the three islands.

“Power outages are a hindrance to progress. Our power system must be the spark to ignite development,” the President said.

Government support

THE President has instructed NGCP to promptly complete its other expansion commitments, with Marcos offering support from the government.

The Department of Energy (DOE) and the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) will support NGCP in the said initiatives by removing roadblocks for installing additional transmission lines, according to Marcos. He said the completion of the processing of requirements for such projects including permit issuance and acquisition of right of way should be less the current two to

Do you want to be a high performer?

Ten questions you have to ask yourself every week!

By Henry J. Schumacher

ARE you aware that asking the right questions can define your week? I am doing that on Mondays. But you can also do it today, a Tuesday. For high performers, Mondays (or Tuesdays) are not just the start of the workweek; they’re an opportunity for reflection, goal setting, and strategic planning. The difference between average and high performance often lies in the quality of questions we ask ourselves. This type

of internal mastery is critical for how we communicate with ourselves. They are the things we picture, say, and feel within as opposed to the external body language, postures, and physical actions. Deliberately merging the two is what yields confidence, transforming Mondays (or Tuesdays) from a day of dread into a powerful launchpad for success.

Here are the critical questions high performers ask themselves every week, designed to provoke thought, inspire action, and ensure continuous growth and productivity:

three years.

“We are fast tracking [the expansion projects] because many of the said programs from NGCP have been pending for so long. So we are doing everything that we can in the government side also, for the completion of the said projects—many of them are years behind schedule already,” Marcos told reporters partly in Filipino in an interview in Negros Occidental.

Various difficulties

WHILE certified as an Energy Project of National Significance (EPNS) in 2019, the project still encountered various difficulties particularly on right-of-way issues due to opposition of landowners, long and tedious judicial processes, protracted permitting processes by local government units, unreasonable demands and threats from a particular barangay official, security issues in certain areas in Negros and the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

In September2023, the Cebu-Magdugo 230kV line was also the subject of a temporary restraining order (TRO) issued by the Supreme Court.

The project was filed for approval with the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) in four stages as early as 2013. The CNP Stage 3 was filed in 2016 with a project cost of P43.41 billion.

However, the ERC granted a provisional approval for only one year’s worth of capital expenditure amounting to P176.75 million in 2017 and has yet to issue a final approval.

The total cost of the entire CNP backbone project as filed with the ERC, amounts to P67.98 billion. Line 2 of the Negros-Panay Interconnection Project is still pending approval by ERC.

1 What are my top priorities this week?

Identifying top priorities helps high performers focus their energy on tasks that

Monumental milestone

THE NGCP cited the CNP3 as a “monumental milestone,” which “represents a significant step towards ensuring a stable transmission grid in the Philippines.”

The firm added it is “honored to lead and witness its completion.”

The NGCP added it “has consistently worked towards meeting its commitment to provide a reliable electricity infrastructure for the nation; and the CNP is a testament to our dedication to enhancing the power transmission capabilities of our country.”

The CNP Backbone which also include the Negros-Panay Interconnection Project Line 2, is comprised of three stages, the last of which was completed on March 27, 2024. This complements the existing Amlan-Samboan submarine cable which is currently utilized to connect Cebu and Negros islands. The first stage of the CNP project added a new 230kV transmission line from Bacolod to E.B Magalona, while the second stage upgraded the Cebu Substation into 230kV level.

The CNP is comprised of 670 transmission towers spanning 442 circuit kilometers of overhead lines, 98.9 circuit kilometers of submarine cables with 10 new substations and the expansion of 2 existing major substations.

“While the CNP will help improve the delivery of power, this is not the sole or primary solution to the woes of power consumers, particularly in Panay. Sufficient power generation supported by reliable transmission is the formula for optimized energy development. This will support the country’s push towards economic recovery,” said NGCP.

“Despite the various challenges surrounding the completion of the CNP, NGCP’s commitment to delivering this important project did not falter. The dedication of our personnel who worked despite security threats, inclement weather conditions and difficult terrain, and the support of concerned government agencies that assisted us were instrumental in driving this project forward,” the country’s grid operator added.

align with their long-term goals. It ensures that our actions are purposeful and directed towards meaningful outcomes.

2 What lessons did you learn last week?

Reflection is a key component of growth. By asking this question, high performers analyze their successes and failures, gaining insights that can be applied to improve future performance.

3 How can I step out of my comfort zone this week?

Growth occurs at the edge of comfort. High performers understand this and seek opportunities to challenge themselves, whether through new projects, learning new skills, or tackling complex problems. In other words, we have to step out of our comfort zones every week!

Oil firms to raise fuel prices again

By Lenie Lectura @llectura

OIL firms announced Monday they will raise fuel prices this week.

In separate advisories, Seaoil Philippines Inc., Shell Pilipinas Corp., Petron Corp., Chevron Philippines Inc. (Caltex), Total (Philippines) Inc., Unioil Petroleum Philippines Inc., PTT Philippines Corp. and Phoenix Petroleum Philippines Inc. announced they will increase diesel prices by P1.55 per liter, gasoline by P1.10 per liter, and kerosene prices by P1.40 per liter.

The new pump prices will take effect at 6:00 a.m. of April 9.

Romero also cited positive economic readings from China, reduced exports by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) and forecast of oil supply deficit of around 260,000 barrels per day for 2024.

“These developments resulted to increases in the domestic pump price starting tomorrow based on notification of oil companies,” Romero said when sought for comment.

Oil companies raised gasoline prices by P0.45 per liter. They reduced diesel price by P0.60, and kerosene by P1.05. Latest data available from the DOE indicate year-to-date adjustments of gasoline at P8.20, and diesel at P4.50 as of April 2, 2024.

Rodela I. Romero, director of the Oil Management Bureau of the Department of Energy said this week’s price adjustment was mainly brought about by higher crude oil prices as Middle East tensions flare despite US inventory buildup.

PHL still BPO powerhouse

TBy Rizal Raoul Reyes @brownindio

HE Philippines remains a powerhouse in the business process outsourcing (BPO), ranking first in labor force among Asia Pacific outsourcing destinations, according to real estate consultancy firm Santos Knight Frank Inc. (SKFI).

Its recent report on the BPO industry shows the Philippines, tying with India for the top spot, emerged as the most wellrounded option across the Asia Pacific, in terms of overall scores in the index.

The report compares four offshoring hubs in Asia Pacific, namely: India, Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines. SKFI’s analysis highlights five key drivers of location choice: growth dynamics, skills, labor force, business costs and commercial real estate value.

According to SKFI, among the four major outsourcing destinations in Asia Pacific, the Philippines—which has approximately 78.7 million people in the working population—has the youngest median age of just 25 years. India records

4 Who can I seek out for feedback or mentorship this week?

Feedback is invaluable for improvement. High performers actively seek advice and constructive criticism from mentors, peers, and even juniors, to gain diverse perspectives and enhance their work. Believe me, feedback is so important! Good luck in finding the right person: ideally, he or she is my feedback, and am hers or his feedback. We both learn every week!

5 What are my learning goals for this week?

Continuous learning is a hallmark of high performance. Setting specific learning goals ensures that high performers are constantly evolving and staying ahead in their fields.

Continuous learning is a must!

6 How can I support my team more effectively?

High performance is not just about individual achievements but also about uplifting those around you. This question focuses on collaboration, leadership, and fostering a positive team environment. It is exciting to be part of a of a positive team.

7 What are the potential obstacles, and how can I mitigate them?

Anticipating challenges allows for proactive problem-solving. High performers strategize in advance to navigate or mitigate potential obstacles, ensuring smoother progress throughout the week.

a median age of 32.4; Malaysia, 30.8; and, Vietnam, 31.6.

With its well-rounded appeal, SKFI pointed out that the Philippines will be on the radar screen of global players for their specialized outsourcing services such as finance, human resources, legal processes and analytics from the United States, Europe and Australia.

“BPO has taken off over the last 20 years and the Philippines has grown right along with it,” SKFI Senior Director Morgan McGilvray said. “What started as a novel experiment for many firms—the hiring of a few support staff in Manila—has become an integral part of their business operations that they couldn’t live without.”

Holistic destination

THE Philippine BPO industry grew by double digits in 2021 and 2022, reaching $29.5 billion and $32.5 billion in revenues respectively. A significant part of this growth includes business expansions outside Metro Manila and into other growth centers such as Cebu, Davao, Clark, Iloilo and Bacolod City.

8 How can I recover more effectively this week?

Sustainability is key to long-term success. High performers recognize the importance of balancing professional demands with personal well-being and seek ways to maintain this balance.

9 What can I do to make a positive impact?

Beyond personal and professional goals, high performers often consider their broader impact on their community, industry, or the world, aiming to contribute positively and meaningfully.

10 How will I define success this week?

Success can take many forms. By defining what success looks like for the week, high performers set clear, achievable targets, providing a sense of direction and purpose. Remember, this process starts on Mondays (or Tuesdays, if the second day in the week is easier to handle.)

In conclusion: These questions encourage a mindset of growth, resilience, and continuous improvement, ensuring that every Monday (or..) is an opportunity for advancement and success.

Let me tell you that Monday has become an important day to drive me into the above mindset. I want to be a high performer, not only for me but also for the people I work with. I am excited about your responses; email me at hjschumacher59@gmail.com.

Remember DOH’s ‘Dancing Doctor’? Infectious disease specialist Tayag is retiring

By Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco @claudethmc3

THE Department of Health (DOH) on Monday announced the retirement of Undersecretary Eric Tayag, known as the “Dancing Doctor.”

The Executive Committee and all staff of the DOH thanked Tayag for his “exemplary service for the health of the nation.”

After over 35 years of public service, Tayag, an epidemiologist and infectious diseases expert, is retiring as a decorated official of the DOH.

“On behalf of the entire Department and the health sector, I thank Usec. Eric Tayag for his time and talent all these decades in the service of the Philippine health sector. I am witness to his well-deserved progression from a young infectious disease doctor and epidemiologist, to Health Undersecretary, Chief Information Officer, and DOH Spokesperson,” said Secretary Teodoro J. Herbosa.

Come April 15, Tayag’s role as head of the DOH Public Health Services Cluster (PHSC) in charge of epidemiology, disease prevention and control, and health promotion will be handled by Assistant Secretary Ariel I. Valencia.

Meanwhile, Undersecretary Emmie Liza Perez-Chiong will be the new Chief Information Officer (CIO) in charge of digital health and health information systems, while Officer-in-Charge Assistant Secretary Albert Francis E. Domingo shall be the Department Spokesperson.

Maaasahan talaga si Usec. Eric! Maraming salamat sa serbisyo [We can truly rely on Usec Eric! Thank you so much for your service]. We know that your heart and passion for service will continue,” added Herbosa.

Marcos says will sign Negros Island Region bill, cites governance issues

By Samuel P. Medenilla @sam_medenilla

PRESIDENT Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. said he will sign the proposed legislation reestablishing the Negros Island Region (NIR).

The chief executive said he supports the bill institutionalizing the NIR to help address the administrative issues in the island.

“It is very hard to bring government services to the people [of Negros]. And, that’s the reason behind the regional push for making it a single region so that it will have its own regional office,” Marcos told reporters in an interview in Bacolod City on Monday.

The proposed NIR law will con-

solidate Negros Occidental, Negros Oriental and Siquijor into one administrative region.

The bill is part of the 42 priority measures of the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council.

“Yeah, I think I will sign it,” Marcos said.

Despite being located in the same island, Negros Occidental is currently part of Region 6 or Western Visayas, while Negros Oriental is included in Region 7

or Central Visayas. Siquijor is also among the provinces of Central Visayas.

Residents of Negros Occidental would travel to the Panay Island to visit regional offices, while those from Negros Oriental go to the island of Cebu for the same purpose.

Once passed into law, the NIR Act will establish the regional office of NIR in Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental. This is expected to make it more convenient for residents of both provinces in completing their government transactions.

The NIR was first created in 2015 by former President Benigno S. Aquino III through Executive Order (EO) No. 183.

However, the EO 183 was abolished in 2017 by former President Rodrigo R. Duterte through his EO 38, which reverted Negros Occident and Negros Oriental to their current regions.

DONNING OF RANK Senate President Juan Miguel “Migz” F. Zubiri has joined the Philippine Army Reserve Command as Lieutenant Colonel. During a Donning of Rank Ceremony on Monday, April 8, 2024, at the Camp General Emilio Aguinaldo in Quezon City, Zubiri received the honor and responsibility with a commitment to partner with the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) in protecting the sovereignty and democracy of the country and the Filipino people. “It is a great honor to finally come to the culmination of that partnership, as I now take on the responsibility of being a reserve Lieutenant Colonel of the Army, prepared to defend the country not only in the halls of the Senate, but also out in our war rooms and on the field, alongside you all,” Zubiri said in his short speech. “It is not a responsibility I take lightly. I respect that as men and women of the Army, you have devoted yourselves entirely to the defense of the nation. Your skills, judgment, and dedication are beyond compare,

MMDA apprehends Chavit convoy on Edsa Bus Lane

THE Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) said that the convoy of former Ilocos Sur Governor Chavit Singson was apprehended by its personnel for violating the Edsa Bus Lane rule. Singson was inside one of the armored SUVs. “We are just enforcing kung ano po ‘yung tama [what is right]. As long as you are not authorized to use the bus lane talagang huhulihin po natin ‘yan [we will really arrest you],” MMDA Special Operations Group Strike Force head Gabriel Go said, referring to the apprehension of Singson’s convoy.

“We have to be fair. We have to implement what is right, Go said, adding that Singson was even apologetic. He dis not resist either. Singson’s driver was issued a traffic violation ticket.

The MMDA reiterated that only

authorized vehicles are allowed to utilize the Edsa bus carousel lane. These include public utility buses, emergency vehicles, and clearlymarked government vehicles responding to emergencies.

Under MMDA Regulation 23002, unauthorized vehicles that ply the Edsa bus carousel lane will be meted out a P5,000 fine for first offense; the fine is P10,000 for the second offense, plus one month suspension of driver’s license, and will also be required to undergo a road safety seminar; for third offense, a fine of P20, 000, and a one-year suspension of driver’s license will be imposed.

For the fourth offense, the MMDA said a P30,000 fine will be imposed while a recommendation will also be made to the Land Transportation Office to revoke the driver’s license of the erring motorist.

Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco

DMW: Number of injured OFWs in Taiwan earthquake rises to 9

THE Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) said the number of injured overseas Filipino workers (OFW) from the magnitude-7.2 quake in Taiwan has now risen to 9.

DMW reported five additional injured OFWs in Taiwan on top of the four casualties it reported last Friday “All the OFWs have received medical attention for their injuries and are recovering in their respective company dormitories and accommodations. Their health and condition are being monitored closely by the DMW’s Migrant Workers Office in Taipei (MWOTaipei),” DMW said in a statement on Monday.

It is now coordinating with the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (Meco) to provide aid to the 159,000

Filipinos in Taiwan. “We continue to monitor developments in support of our OFWs; DMW is extremely grateful to Meco Chair Silvestre H. Bello III for coordinated responses,” DMW spokesperson Toby Nebrida said.

DMW also reported it deployed a six-member augmentation team to address the needs of the approximately 5,000 OFWs in Hualien County and surrounding counties.

Among the aid to be provided by the team is psychosocial and mental wellness.

Hualien County, in centraleastern Taiwan, is the nearest county to the epicenter of the 7.2 magnitude quake on April 3.

The death toll from the incident has reached 13 as of last Saturday. Samuel P. Medenilla

Marcos vows fair treatment for Quiboloy, ex-Rep.Teves

PRESIDENT Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. said Monday the government will extend “fair treatment and compassion” to Kingdom of Christ leader Pastor Apollo Quiboloy and former Negros Oriental Rep. Arnolfo Teves Jr., who are facing criminal charges. The chief executive made the remark after the two personalities refused to surrender to authorities due to the alleged threats to their lives. He reiterated that the government will ensure their safety if they decide to surrender. “To Pastor Quiboloy, we’ve known him for a very long time. What I can promise him is all the

proceedings will be fair,” Marcos told reporters in an interview in Negros Occidental last Monday. He also made the same commitment to Teves. A Davao Regional Trial Court has issued a warrant of arrest against Quiboloy for violation of Republic Act (RA) 7610 or the Anti-Child Abuse Law

Quiboloy, who remains a fugitive, issued a statement demanding a written guarantee from Manila that it will not allow Washington to interfere in his case. Marcos thumbed down the demand of Quiboloy, saying he is in no position to set the conditions for his surrender. Related story in A3 Nation, “DOJ

Shield voters from hackers, Marcos urged amid attacks

By Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz @joveemarie

AGENCIES must address the country’s cybersecurity vulnerabilities especially since the 2025 midterm elections are fast approaching, according to a deputy minority leader.

House Deputy Minority Leader and ACT Teachers Rep. France Castro has voiced serious concerns following the recent breach of the Bureau of Customs (BOC) computer systems by several hacker groups, including DeathNote Hackers PH, Philippine Hacking University, and Excommunicado.

Casto said this breach resulted in the compromise of sensitive data repositories, exposing the personal details of over 2,200 employees and approximately 80,000 customers, both from the private and public sectors.

“The perpetrators successfully infiltrated the Bureau of Customs’ computer systems, compromising sensitive data repositories and exposing the personal details of over 2,200 employees and approximately 80,000 customers, both private and public,” Castro said.

Highlighting the pressing need for government agencies, particularly with the looming midterm elections, to address cybersecurity vulnerabilities, Castro pointed to “concerning precedents” from past elections in countries, such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Iraq.

She emphasized worries regarding ballot secrecy, susceptibility to hacking, and potential manipulation of election

rejects Quiboloy conditions for surrender.”

“It seems to me a little bit of the tail wagging the dog, his call to set the condition for the government on his case,” Marcos said.

outcomes using technology supplied by Miru Systems, a South Korean company authorized by Comelec.

“The Marcos administration, particularly the Department of Information Technology [DICT] and the Commission on Elections [Comelec], must act swiftly to address these cybersecurity threats. It is imperative that measures are put in place to protect our systems from cyber attacks, ensuring the integrity of our electoral process and safeguarding our votes,” Castro said.

Moreover, in the aftermath of the recent PhilHealth hacking incident, which saw a significant breach of personal and sensitive information, Castro expressed concerns about the potential vulnerability of other databases, such as SIM card registration and the National ID system.

She called for enhanced vigilance and robust cyber defense mechanisms to prevent the unauthorized access and exploitation of Filipinos’ private data.

“The DICT should establish guidelines and minimum requirements for cyber defense across all government agencies and data repositories to mitigate the risk of hacking incidents. It is crucial to invest in secure systems to safeguard sensitive information and protect the privacy of Filipino citizens,” she said.

Castro urged the government to prioritize cybersecurity measures over discretionary funds and ensure the safeguarding of citizens’ data against cyber threats.

The embattled televangelist is facing the following charges in the United States--sex trafficking by force, fraud, and coercion; sex trafficking of children; and bulk cash smuggling.

Meanwhile, Teves was arrested in Dili, East Timor in March after he fled the country last year. He was linked to the killing of Negros Oriental Governor Roel Degamo and nine others in March 2023 and three others in 2019. Samuel P. Medenilla

and no reservist can ever hope to measure up to you,” he added. AFP Chief of Staff Gen. Romeo S. Brawner Jr. administered the donning of rank. Witnessing the rite is Zubiri’s wife Audrey. RED SANTOS/OSP ZUBIRI

The World

www.businessmirror.com.ph • Editor: Angel R. Calso BusinessMirror

Tuesday, April 9, 2024 A11

US will push China to change policy that threatens American jobs–Yellen

By Fatima Hussein & Ken Moritsugu The Associated Press

BEIJING—The Biden administration will push China to change an industrial policy that poses a threat to US jobs, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Monday after wrapping up four days of talks with Chinese officials.

She also said in Beijing they had “difficult conversations” about national security, including American concerns that Chinese companies are supporting Russia in its war in Ukraine.

But the focus of her trip was industrial policy, and what the US and Europe describe as manufacturing overcapacity in China.

Wealthy nations fear a wave of low-priced Chinese exports that

will overwhelm factories at home. Yellen cited the manufacturing of electric vehicles and their batteries as well as solar energy equipment—sectors that the US administration is trying to promote domestically—as areas where Chinese government subsidies have driven rapid expansion of production.

“China is now simply too large for the rest of the world to absorb

this enormous capacity. Actions taken by the PRC today can shift world prices,” she said, using the acronym for China’s official name, the People’s Republic of China. “And when the global market is flooded by artificially cheap Chinese products, the viability of American and other foreign firms is put into question.” She said the US would host Chinese counterparts for their fourth

economic and financial working groups meetings next week “where these issues will be discussed at length.”

Last September, the US and China formed working groups in an effort to ease tensions and deepen ties between the two nations. The upcoming discussions will coincide with the IMF and World Bank Spring Meetings.

It’s unclear how China will respond to such calls. European officials have repeatedly raised the issue on visits to China with no sign of any change on the Chinese side. Moreover, one of leader Xi Jinping’s major goals is to build the nation into a major power so it doesn’t feel compelled to bend to outside pressure.

The World

Israel withdraws forces from Khan Younis; now the plan is to clear Hamas from Rafah

By Jack Jeffery & Tia Goldenberg The Associated Press

JERUSALEM—Israel’s military announced Sunday it had withdrawn its forces from the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, wrapping up a key phase in its ground offensive against the Hamas militant group and bringing its troop presence in the territory to one of the lowest levels since the six-month war began.

But defense officials said troops were merely regrouping as the army prepares to move into Hamas’ last stronghold, Rafah. “The war in Gaza continues, and we are far from stopping,” said the military chief, Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi.

Local broadcaster Channel 13

TV reported that Israel was preparing to begin evacuating Rafah within one week and the process could take several months.

Still, the withdrawal was a milestone as Israel and Hamas marked six months of fighting. Military officials, speaking on condition of anonymity under army policy, said a “significant force” remained in Gaza to continue targeted operations including in Khan Younis, hometown of the Hamas leader, Yehya Sinwar.

AP video in Khan Younis showed some people returning to a landscape marked by shattered multistory buildings and climbing

over debris. Cars were overturned and charred. Southern Gaza’s main hospital, Nasser, was in shambles.

“It’s all just rubble,” a dejected Ahmad Abu al-Rish said. “Animals can’t live here, so how is a human supposed to?”

Israel for weeks has vowed a ground offensive in nearby Rafah. But the city shelters some 1.4 million people—more than half of Gaza’s population. The prospect of an offensive has raised global alarm, including from Israel’s top ally, the US, which has demanded to see a credible plan to protect civilians. Allowing people to return to nearby Khan Younis could relieve some pressure on Rafah. White House national security spokesman John Kirby repeated on Sunday the US opposition to a Rafah offensive and told ABC the US believes that the partial Israeli withdrawal “is really just about rest and refit for these troops that have been on the ground for four months and not necessarily, that we can tell, indicative of some coming new operation for these troops.”

Israel’s military quietly drew down troops in devastated northern Gaza earlier in the war. But it has continued to carry out airstrikes and raids in areas where it says Hamas has resurfaced, including Gaza’s largest hospital, Shifa, leaving what the head of the World Health Organization called “an empty shell.”

The six-month mark has been met with growing frustration in Israel, where anti-government protests have swelled and anger is mounting over what some see as government inaction to help free about 130 remaining hostages, about a quarter of whom Israel says are dead. Hamas-led militants took about 250 captives when they crossed from Gaza into Israel on October 7 and killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians.

Several thousand protesters called for a “hostage deal now” at a rally outside the Knesset in Jerusalem, organized by hostages’ families. In southern Israel, weeping relatives gathered at the site of a music festival where more

Health care crisis in S. Korea as hospitals turn away patients, resulting in thousands of deaths

By Heejin Kim

IN March 2023, a 17-year-old girl who fell from a building in the South Korean city of Daegu died after her ambulance was turned away by three hospitals that lacked doctors to treat her.

She was among more than 3,750 patients who have died since 2017 after local hospitals refused to provide care, according to a report by Cheong Yooseok, a professor of medical science at Dankook University in Cheonan city.

The startling statistic from one of Asia’s richest countries has become a major issue in the parliamentary elections taking place on April 10. While the country won acclaim for its low fatality rate during the Covid-19 pandemic, the focus now is on inefficiency, waste and skewed economic incentives in the health-care system.

Renowned medical centers in Seoul are overwhelmed by patients, while the rest of the country struggles with a lack of physicians. A six-week-and-counting national walkout by nearly 13,000 residents and interns protesting a plan to boost medical school enrollment has exacerbated the situation.

Seung-Pyo Jung, an esophageal cancer patient who lives on Jeju Island in south, flew to Seoul National University Bundang Hospital for surgery last June. While he’s supposed to have checkups every four weeks, sometimes it takes several months to get an appointment.

“There’s no doctor at all on this island who can treat esophageal cancer,” Jung said of his hometown, which has a population of almost 700,000 people. “Everything is so concentrated in Seoul.”

Health care collapse

KOREA has among the fewest doctors per capita of all developed countries and hasn’t increased the number of medical students in more than two decades, said Gaetan Lafortune, a senior economist at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Demographic factors like the rapidly aging population will exacerbate the scarcity, he said.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has vowed to address the crisis. He proposed

measures, like increasing the number of doctors, that have drawn complaints for being “populist moves” ahead of the election to select the 300-member National Assembly. While his conservative People Power Party is currently in power, he’s trying to flip dozens of seats held by his progressive rivals, led by the Democratic Party, to take control of the national legislature.

The health-care system is “collapsing,” Yoon said at a public hearing in February. “Now is the golden time to push reforms.”

Yet the doctors themselves oppose efforts to expand physician supply, arguing that the government’s proposal to increase medical school enrollment by 2,000 spots a year from the current 3,058 doesn’t address the root problem.

This, they say, is that doctor pay in some critical fields covered by the country’s National Health Insurance system is far lower than that for outside specialists, especially those who do cosmetic and aesthetic procedures. The disparity in compensation and infrastructure between Seoul and rural areas also means a dearth of medical workers outside the capital.

Disappearing doctors

“ DOCTORS are disappearing at emergency centers, surgery rooms, delivery rooms, and hospitals in smaller cities,” said Cheong,

from Dankook University, in a December report. “Many young doctors gave up becoming fellows at medical colleges and work in the beauty industry.”

Cosmetic surgery has aggressively taken hold and medical tourism is booming in South Korea. More than 8 million foreign patients arrived between 2009 and 2022, many for the beauty industry that offers ubiquitous access to plastic surgery, Botox for $6 per shot, and laser skin tightening.

Meanwhile, essential fields including pediatrics have been hard hit. Only 53 residents applied to fill 205 pediatric slots for this year, and just eight were outside Seoul and its surroundings, according to the health ministry. For pediatric surgery, two trainee doctors applied for spots outside of the greater Seoul area.

In June 2023, the Korean Pediatric Society held a conference titled “How to Exit Pediatrics” focused on learning about other disciplines including cosmetic surgery. The seminar was done at the behest of members who said the country’s ultra-low birth rate made it difficult to run pediatric clinics, officials said in a television interview with Channel A.

Outside Seoul

THE situation is dire in most parts of the country.

More than half of Korea’s 114,000 doctors and dentists worked in Seoul or Gyeonggi

than 300 people were killed on October 7.

“It’s an impossible reality for us, it’s an impossible reality for the Gazans and the people of this country. We just want to live,” said one protester, Talia Ezrahi.

“I would agree to anything to return the hostages and stop the mass killings in Gaza,” said another protester, Michal Fruchtman. Negotiations in pursuit of a cease-fire in exchange for the hostages’ release were expected to resume in Cairo on Sunday. An Israeli delegation led by the head of the Mossad intelligence agency was going to Cairo, according to an Israeli official who spoke on condition of anonymity because they

province in 2022, according to the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service.

Hiring doctors outside the capital is tough, said Cho Seung-yeon, president of Incheon Medical Center. He couldn’t find anyone to lead the dialysis division for two years. Another public hospital offered $1 million for a cardiologist, he said.

Salaried doctors at private clinics can earn in excess of $300,000 annually, while those on their own make even more, he said. Cho offers $200,000 a year for physicians at his public hospital in Incheon, but he said few ultimately come.

Even in Seoul, medical care can be tenuous given the doctor shortage.

Kim Sung Ju, a 62-year-old who underwent surgery for esophageal cancer a decade ago, undergoes a battery of tests and waits hours for a brief visit with his doctor at Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital in Gangnam, an upscale neighborhood in the city’s southeast, every three months.

“I really don’t understand why I have to visit this big hospital every three months, because I only get to talk to my doctor for three minutes,” he said. “I had thought Korea’s health insurance system, with private doctors and national health insurance, was the world’s best, but now it’s becoming the world’s worst.”

A more robust medical work force is also essential to the country’s public health, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, which has just 20 doctors out of 500 employees.

“We hope just two doctors join us a year,” said Hong Jeong-ik, director-general of the bureau of public health emergency preparedness. “They can do something meaningful for the public, even if that may not help them make huge a profit.”

Amid the national debate, wait times for care have worsened since the doctors’ walkout to protest Yoon’s proposed reforms. The president says he won’t back down on what he calls a “minimum requirement” for fixing the underlying issues. Nearly four-infive Koreans support the expansion, polling ahead of the election shows.

“A nurse died in August 2022 at the one of Korea’s best hospitals, where she worked, because there was no doctor to treat her,” Health and Welfare Minister Cho KyooHong said in an interview. “This is not right.” With assistance from Kanoko Matsuyama and Sam Kim/Bloomberg

were not authorized to discuss the matter with the media.

Pressure rose for action now.

“This doesn’t seem a war against terror. This doesn’t seem anymore a war about defending Israel. This really, at this point, seems it’s a war against humanity itself,” chef José Andrés told ABC, days after an Israeli airstrike killed seven of his World Central Kitchen colleagues in Gaza. Aid deliveries on a crucial new sea route to the territory were suspended.

“Humanity has been all but abandoned” in Gaza, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said in a statement.

The UN and partners now warn of “imminent famine” for more than 1 million people in Gaza as humanitarian workers urge Israel to loosen restrictions on the delivery of aid overland, the only way to meet soaring needs as some Palestinians forage for weeds to eat. Thousands of aid trucks have been waiting to enter Gaza.

“It’s a slow-motion massacre of people to subject them to the kind of deprivation of food and water that they have been subjected to for the last six months,” Doctors Without Borders USA executive director Avril Benoit told CBS. Mothers who have given birth in Gaza since the war began are especially vulnerable.

The Health Ministry in Gaza

said the bodies of 38 people killed in Israel’s bombardment had been brought to the territory’s remaining functional hospitals in the past 24 hours. It said 33,175 have been killed since the war began. It doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants but says two-thirds of the dead are children and women.

Israel’s military continued to suffer losses, including in Khan Younis, where the military said four soldiers were killed. Over 600 Israeli soldiers have been killed since October 7, according to Israel’s government.

Concerns about a wider regional conflict continued as a top Iranian military adviser warned Israel that none of its embassies were safe following last week’s strike in Damascus—blamed on Israel—that killed two elite Iranian generals and flattened an Iranian consular building. Israel has not directly acknowledged its involvement.

“None of the embassies of the (Israeli) regime are safe anymore,” Gen. Rahim Safavi, a military adviser to Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was quoted as saying by the semi-official Tasnim agency.

Goldenberg reported from Tel Aviv, Israel. Associated Press writers Pamela Sampson and Natalie Melzer in Jerusalem and Kareem Chehayeb in Beirut contributed.

In a statement on the social media platform X, Rafael Mariano Grossi confirmed at least three direct hits against the ZNPP main reactor containment structures took place. “This cannot happen,” he said. He said it was the first such attack since November 2022, when he set out five basic principles to avoid a serious nuclear accident with radiological consequences.

Officials at the plant said the site was attacked Sunday by Ukrainian military drones, including a strike on the dome of the plant’s sixth power unit.

According to the plant authorities, there was no critical damage or casualties and radiation levels at the plant were normal after the strikes. Later on Sunday, however, Russian state-owned nuclear agency Rosatom said that three people were wounded in the “unprecedented series of drone attacks,” specifically when a drone hit an area close to the site’s canteen.

The International Atomic Energy Agency said Sunday that its experts had been informed of the drone strike and that “such detonation is consistent with IAEA observations.”

In a separate statement, the IAEA confirmed physical impact of drone attacks at the plant, including at one of its six

reactors. One casualty was reported, it said. “Damage at unit 6 has not compromised nuclear safety, but this is a serious incident with potential to undermine integrity of the reactor’s containment system” it added.

The power plant has been caught in the crossfire since Moscow sent troops into Ukraine in 2022 and seized the facility shortly after. The IAEA has repeatedly expressed alarm about the nuclear power plant, Europe’s largest, amid fears of a potential nuclear catastrophe. Both Ukraine and Russia have regularly accused the other of attacking the plant, which is still close to the front lines.

The plant’s six reactors have been shut down for months, but it still needs power and qualified staff to operate crucial cooling systems and other safety features.

Also on Sunday, three people were killed when their house was hit by a Russian projectile in the front-line town of Huliaipole in Ukraine’s partly occupied southeastern Zaporizhzhia region, regional Gov. Ivan Fedorov said. Later on Sunday, two people were wounded in another shelling of Huliaipole.

Separately, three people were wounded in Russian shelling in Ukraine’s northeast Kharkiv region, according to regional Gov. Oleh Syniehubov.

In Russia, a girl died and four other people were wounded when the debris of a downed Ukrainian drone fell on a car carrying a family of six people in Russia’s Belgorod region bordering Ukraine, regional Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov said. AP

PALESTINIANS drive by the destruction left by the Israeli air and ground offensive after they withdrew from Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip on Sunday, April 7, 2024. AP/ISMAEL ABU DAYYAH

THE Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Europe’s largest, is seen in the background of the shallow Kakhovka Reservoir after the dam collapse, in Energodar, Russian-occupied Ukraine on June 27, 2023. Officials at the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant said that the site was attacked Sunday, April 7, 2024, by Ukrainian military drones, including a strike on the dome of the plant’s sixth power unit. AP/LIBKOS

The World

International leaders condemn Ecuador after police break into Mexican Embassy in Quito

By Regina Garcia Cano & Gabriela Molina The Associated Press

QUITO, Ecuador—The global condemnation of Ecuador’s government for its decision to break into the Mexican Embassy snowballed Sunday with more presidents and other leaders expressing disapproval, shock and dismay.

The criticism came as Mexico’s ambassador and other personnel arrived in Mexico City on Sunday afternoon after departing Ecuador’s capital, Quito, on a commercial flight. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador severed diplomatic ties with Ecuador immediately after Friday’s raid, which international law experts, presidents and diplomats have deemed a violation of long-established international accords.

Alicia Bárcena, Mexico’s secretary of foreign relations, thanked the returning diplomats “for defending our embassy in Quito even at the risk of their own physical well-being.”

“Not even the dictator Pinochet had dared to enter the Mexican embassy in Chile,” she said Sunday, referring to the late Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet. “They entered violently and without authorization, physically assaulting (diplomats). We energetically condemn it.”

Police broke through the external doors of the embassy to arrest Jorge Glas, a former vice president who had been residing there since December. He had sought asylum after being indicted on corruption charges.

Bárcena said Mexico plans to challenge the raid on Monday at the World Court in The Hague. She added that 18 countries in Latin America, 20 in Europe and the Organization of American States have backed Mexico.

The Spanish foreign ministry in a statement Sunday said, “The entry by force into the Embassy of Mexico in Quito constitutes a violation of the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. We call for respect for international law and harmony between Mexico and Ecuador, brotherly countries to Spain and members of the Ibero-American community.”

A day earlier, the OAS in a statement reminded its members, which include Ecuador and Mexico, of their obligation not to “invoke norms of domestic law to justify non-compliance with their international obligations.”

US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said “the United States condemns any violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, and takes very seriously the obligation of host countries under international law to respect the inviolability of diplomatic

missions.” He called on the two countries to resolve their differences.

Diplomatic premises are considered foreign soil and “inviolable” under the Vienna treaties and host country law enforcement agencies are not allowed to enter without the permission of the ambassador. People seeking asylum have lived anywhere from days to years at embassies around the world, including at Ecuador’s in London, which housed WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange for seven years as British police could not enter to arrest him.

Glas on Saturday was taken from the attorney general’s office in Quito to the port city of Guayaquil, where he is being housed at a maximum-security prison.

Glas’ attorney, Sonia Vera, told The Associated Press that officers broke into his room in the Mexican embassy and he resisted when they attempted to put his hands behind his back. She said the officers then “knocked him to the floor, kicked him in the head, in the spine, in the legs, the hands,” and when he “couldn’t walk, they dragged him out.”

Vera on Sunday said the defense team had not been allowed to speak with Glas since his arrest.

Authorities are investigating Glas over alleged irregularities during his management of reconstruction efforts following a powerful earthquake in 2016 that killed hundreds of people. He was previously convicted on two separate bribery and corruption cases.

President Daniel Noboa had not spoken publicly about the raid as of Sunday. On Saturday, Ecuador’s Foreign Minister Gabriela Sommerfeld told reporters that the decision to enter the embassy was made by Noboa after considering Glas’ “imminent flight risk” and exhausting all possibilities for diplomatic dialogue with Mexico.

Mexico granted Glas asylum hours before the raid. Sommerfeld said “it is not legal to grant asylum to people convicted of common crimes and by competent courts.”

Noboa became Ecuador’s president last year as the nation battled unprecedented crime tied to drug trafficking. He declared the country in an “internal armed conflict” in January and designated 20 drug-trafficking gangs as terrorist groups that the military had authorization to “neutralize” within the bounds of international humanitarian law.

Noboa’s tenure ends in 2025 as he was only elected to finish the term of former President Guillermo Lasso.

María Dolores Miño, director of Ecuador’s independent Law and Justice Observatory and a law professor at the International University of

US will push China to change policy that threatens American jobs–Yellen

Continued from A11

But overcapacity also affects China— price wars in the electric vehicle sector are expected to drive some makers out of business—and experts have called for better coordination of policies designed to promote new technologies. The government agreed during Yellen’s visit to start talks on what the two sides called “balanced growth.”

“We intend to underscore the need for a shift in policy by China during these talks,” Yellen said at a news conference held outdoors on a balmy spring day at the US ambassador’s residence in Beijing. Advocating for higher consumer spending in China in response to its large government subsidies to solar, EV and lithium-ion battery industries, Yellen said: “If consumer spending were higher as a share of GDP, there would be less need to have such large investment going into building supply” of green energy products.

On Saturday, the official Xinhua News Agency said that the Chinese side had “responded fully to the issue of production capacity” during Yellen’s talks with Vice Premier He Lifeng, the lead person for China-US economic and trade affairs.

More than a decade ago, the treasury secretary said, a flood of “below-cost Chinese steel...decimated industries across the world and in the United States. I’ve made clear that President Biden and I will not accept that reality again.”

On the war in Ukraine, Yellen warned that any banks that facilitate the sale of military or dual-use goods to Russia could face US sanctions.

“I stressed that companies, including those in the PRC, must not provide material support for Russia’s war and that they will face significant consequences if they do,” she said.

Yellen, the former chair of the US Federal Reserve, met with China’s central bank governor, Pan Gongsheng, earlier Monday.

Ecuador, said the raid was not only “extremely embarrassing” for Ecuador but also opens up the possibility of serious repercussions.

“The scope of a political sanction and its impact should not be underestimated,” Miño said. She added that although the process that Mexico will initi -

ate before the World Court will take time “there will come a time when we have that sentence, which will include economic reparations that will have to be

paid with Ecuadorians’ money.”

Garcia Cano reported from Mexico City. Associated Press writer Megan Janetsky contributed to this report.

World Bank highlights investments’ vital role in PHL economic growth editorial

THe Philippines has set an ambitious goal to achieve uppermiddle income economy status by the start of the next decade. This vision, supported by leaders in the business sector and the academe, can become a reality through unimpeded economic reforms and sustained fiscal policy support. One crucial step towards achieving this goal is to attract big foreign investors who can bring in more investments and create quality jobs.

The World Bank, in its recent briefing, emphasized the significance of increased investments in driving the country’s potential growth rate. Gonzalo Varela, World Bank Lead Economist, said the Philippines’ potential growth rate currently stands between 5.5 percent and 6 percent. Encouragingly, the latest GDP projections by the World Bank for 2024 and 2025 forecast growth rates of 5.8 percent and 5.9 percent, respectively. (Read the BusinessMirror report: “Investments creating quality jobs vital to PHL growth— WB,” April 7, 2024).

It is evident that the Philippine economy has been performing close to its potential output growth, demonstrating improvements and resilience. However, sustaining this positive trajectory requires investment accelerations and reforms that stimulate productivity growth. By attracting foreign investors, the country can tap into new resources, technologies, and expertise, resulting in a sustainable and inclusive economic growth trajectory that generates high-quality jobs.

Foreign direct investment (FDI) plays a critical role in transforming economies and propelling them towards higher income brackets. The infusion of FDI brings not only financial capital but also knowledge transfer, technology advancements, and access to global markets. These factors contribute to enhancing productivity, fostering innovation, and creating a favorable business environment.

To attract big foreign investors, the Philippines must focus on several key areas. First and foremost, it needs to continue implementing economic reforms that promote ease of doing business, address bureaucratic red tape, and enhance transparency. Streamlining regulatory processes and providing a level playing field for both domestic and foreign investors will instill confidence and encourage more substantial investments.

Additionally, the government should prioritize investment in critical infrastructure, such as transportation networks, energy systems, and digital connectivity. Developing robust infrastructure not only attracts foreign investors but also spurs domestic economic activities and improves the country’s overall competitiveness.

Furthermore, sustaining fiscal policy support is essential for creating an enabling environment for foreign investors. Ensuring stable macroeconomic conditions, including sound monetary policy, prudent fiscal management, and low inflation rates, will instill confidence in investors and mitigate potential risks.

The Philippines has already made significant progress in reforming its economic policies and business environment. However, there is still room for improvement. Greater efforts should be made to enhance macro predictability, foster healthy competition, and invest in digitalization and education. These measures will strengthen the country’s resilience to external shocks, such as changes in global economic conditions or geopolitical tensions.

It is crucial to recognize that attracting foreign investors is not a one-time effort but an ongoing process. The government, private sector, and academe must collaborate to create a sustained and proactive investment promotion strategy. This includes marketing the country’s competitive advantages, providing investment incentives, and facilitating partnerships between local and foreign businesses.

As the Philippines strives to achieve upper-middle income economy status, it must seize the opportunity to attract big foreign investors. By doing so, the country can accelerate its potential growth rate, foster innovation and productivity, and create high-quality jobs for its citizens.

The Marcos administration’s commitment to implementing economic reforms and providing sustained fiscal policy support, coupled with a welcoming environment for foreign investors, will pave the way for a prosperous and resilient Philippines in the next decade and beyond.

The battle for financial survival

IJohn Mangun

OUTSIDE THE BOX

F you are going to maximize your potential and success, there are certain lessons—lifehacks—that you might want to learn.

The primary law of the sea is that the big fish eat the little fish. If you are a poker player, for example, you need to identify within the first 20 minutes of playing who the “little fish” is at the table. If you can’t, it means you are that fish.

Individually, humans have a robust tendency to overestimate their abilities/strengths and underestimate their deficiencies and weaknesses. Justin Kruger and David Dunning first described this in 1999. The Dunning-Kruger effect has been distorted in popular culture as a claim about the general overconfidence of people with low intelligence.

We all lean towards thinking we are at least one of the smartest in the room. Subsequent to Kruger and Dunning, some researchers also included the opposite effect for high performers: their tendency to underestimate their skills.

My own experience has taught me that the little fish will usually

self-implode. You might notice that they attribute losing a hand to luck —your good luck and their bad luck.

I am not a big believer in the idea that you learn from your mistakes. That is because usually our “mistakes” come from not taking the proper action that we know should be done. It is the same in stock market trading by holding a position that is going down, violating the common sense “buy when the price is going higher, not when it is going down.”

Something else that you might want to consider is this idea that I shared with my sons. The most dangerous man on the planet is the one who has nothing to lose. You may have seen the videos of

Heatwaves and our health

THese days, many Filipinos opt to spend the daytime inside malls to avoid the intense heat in their homes. Not everyone can afford air conditioning, making this a matter of necessity rather than convenience. The soaring temperatures not only cause discomfort but also pose serious health risks, including high blood pressure and susceptibility to summer-related illnesses such as sore eyes, measles, scabies, etc.

Excessive heat can put stress on our heart and blood vessels, cause dehydration, and impair kidney function. Moreover, the mental well-being of individuals is adversely affected, sometimes resulting in heightened aggression, anger, and emotional outbursts.

Leaving drinking water in plastic containers exposed to heat can lead to the leaching of harmful chemicals into the water, while food-borne illnesses become more prevalent due to the rapid growth of bacteria in hot environments. Additionally, the summer season often brings about power outages and water shortages, leading to food spoilage and

increased susceptibility to various illnesses.

The escalating heat, exacerbated by climate change, has prompted medical experts to warn of the potential emergence of new diseases.

Furthermore, fires, including wildfires and forest fires, contribute to air pollution, worsening respiratory conditions such as asthma, allergies, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), particularly among vulnerable populations such as the elderly and those with pre-existing respiratory conditions.

In response to these challenges, our local weather bureau has advised the public to limit outdoor activities,

the old guy being hassled by the young punk who finally unleashes a flurry of physical rage beyond what he seems capable of doing. That may be an extreme example, but it is part of what Saint Isaac the Syrian talked about.

Isaac the Syrian was a 7th-century Syriac Christian bishop remembered for his works on Christian asceticism. He is regarded as a saint in Eastern Orthodox traditions. For an experienced hermit most of his life, he understood people well.

Saint Isaac wrote: “Nothing is so strong as desperation. It knows no defeat at the hand of any, whether on the right hand or the left. When someone has cut off in his mind all hope of life, no one is more daring than he; no foe can face him, no rumors of affliction can weaken his purpose.” The most dangerous man on the planet.

He continued, “If, in every place and in every circumstance, and on every occasion in all that you intend to do, you set your mind’s sight on toil and affliction, then you will find yourself at all times courageous and unhesitating against all

apparent difficulties. The timidity that is customarily born in people whose thoughts are set on comforts, will take flight.”

Doug Casey is an American investor who wrote Strategic Investing, Crisis Investing, and The International Man (which influenced me). He recently wrote, “Almost anyone can get by in good times, but the years to come will separate the real winners from losers.”

“You may be able to salt away 10 bags of silver, a thousand Krugerrands, and enough food to open a restaurant chain, but that’s not nearly as important as knowing how to get them all back again if you should lose them for any reason.”

I mention this because of what I saw happening in 2020. I was fully prepared for the economic disaster of Covid as I have predicted publicly in 2019 that the next year would be filled with economic chaos, although I had no clue what would cause this. Many previously economically comfortable Filipinos were almost destroyed. The bank loan officer, the real estate developer, the small business owner, the corporate executives were all suddenly fighting for their financial life. What we call “resiliency” was

See “Mangun,” A15

to cope with the summer months. With climate change unleashing unprecedented weather events, the frequency of heat waves is expected to increase. Now would be the opportune time to develop and implement initiatives that mitigate the adverse effects of extreme heat and climate change on public health and well-being.

especially during the hottest hours of the day, and to stay hydrated to prevent heat-related ailments such as cramps, exhaustion, and heat stroke.

As the effects of climate change continue to intensify, it has become increasingly important for individuals and communities to adapt to and mitigate the risks associated with rising temperatures.

As the heat index climbs, some schools have resorted to suspending classes. In light of these circumstances, I believe it would likewise be prudent for barangay officials and LGUs to implement proactive programs aimed at supporting community members struggling

One potential avenue for intervention is the establishment of cooling centers within barangays and communities. Equipped with cooling systems such as fans or air conditioning units, these centers could provide a safe and comfortable environment for individuals to seek respite from the sweltering temperatures, particularly during heat waves or power outages when the risk of heat-related illnesses is most acute.

In addition to addressing the immediate health impacts of extreme heat, barangay officials and LGUs should also consider implementing long-term strategies. This could include initiatives such as urban greening projects to increase shade, improving access to clean and reliable water sources, and enhancing disaster preparedness and response mechanisms to cope with the increasing frequency and intensity of extreme weather events.

Netanyahu pulls some troops from Gaza and says victory near

By Alisa Odenheimer

MIlITarY officials said on Sunday that Israel is pulling some troops out of the city of Khan Younis in Gaza, saying it had ended its mission there as the war against Hamas reached the six-month mark.

Israel said its 98th Commando Division had moved out of Khan Younis and the Gaza Strip “to recuperate and prepare for future operations.”

A significant Israel Defense Forces contingent will continue to operate in the enclave even after the troop drawdown in Khan Younis, Israel said.

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said the troops were withdrawn partly to prepare from an offensive on Rafah, the city in the far south of Gaza along the border with Egypt. The Israeli government has for weeks been saying it will attack Rafah because it houses several thousand Hamas fighters.

Most of Israel’s allies, including the US, have urged it to rethink its plans because there are more than one million civilians there. Washington is skeptical they can be moved out safely before any offensive.

The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that Palestinians earlier displaced from Khan Younis—the second-biggest city in Gaza before the war—may now be able to return to their homes from Rafah, where they’ve been sheltering. Parts of Khan Younis have been reduced to rubble by Israeli airstrikes.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that Israel is “one step away from victory” in its war against Hamas, triggered by the attack on southern Israel by the Iran-backed group’s militants on October 7.

Some 1,200 people were killed in those attacks, with around 250 taken hostage. More than 33,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israel’s military offensive on Gaza, according to the Hamas-run health ministry there.

Netanyahu also said there would be “no ceasefire without the return of hostages” held in Gaza by Hamas since October. Hamas is designated a terrorist group by the US and European Union.

Appearing Sunday on ABC’s This Week, White House spokesman John Kirby said Israel’s partial troop withdrawal seemed to be “about rest and refit” for soldiers who’ve been on the ground for months.

Still, Senator Chris Coons, a Delaware Democrat and close ally of President Joe Biden, said the move looked like a tactical decision “in the

Mangun.

Continued from A14

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said the troops were withdrawn partly to prepare from an offensive on Rafah, the city in the far south of Gaza along the border with Egypt. The Israeli government has for weeks been saying it will attack Rafah because it houses several thousand Hamas fighters.

face of a threat of a real attack from the north from Hezbollah or a direct attack from Iran.”

Earlier, Gallant said Israel’s military has completed preparations to respond to any scenario that may develop regarding Iran, which has vowed revenge for a suspected Israeli attack on its embassy in Syria on April 1.

It’s unclear when that may happen or whether Iran would try to attack Israel directly or through one of its proxy groups such as Hezbollah, based in Lebanon. An Iranian official warned Sunday that Israel embassies are “no longer safe.”

“This war revealed to the world what Israel always knew—Iran is the one behind the attack against us through its proxies,” Netanyahu said Sunday.

“Anyone who hurts us or plans to hurt us - we will hurt him. We put this principle into practice, all the time and in recent days.”

The strike in Damascus destroyed the consulate building and killed at least 13 people, including seven Iranian military personnel and six Syrian nationals, according to Iranian state media.

Israel didn’t confirm the attack, consistent with its usual response to accusations of targeting Iran.

Israel “will be punished. We will make them regret their crime,” Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said on April 2, according to the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency.

On Sunday, Yahya Rahim-Safavi, a senior military adviser to Khamanei, said on state TV that “none of Israel’s embassies are safe any more.”

Multiple Israeli embassies around the Middle East have been “shut out of fear,” he added. With assistance from Arsalan Shahla, Ian Fisher and Tony Czuczka / Bloomberg

Opinion

VAT refund process

Iatty. Mabel L. Buted

Tax Law for Business

N line with its policy to ease the doing of business here in our country, our government continues its ongoing efforts in simplifying the process in claiming for refund of the unutilized and excess input taxes incurred by taxpayers.

This started with the enactment of the TRAIN Law (Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion) in 2018 when the period for our tax authority to act and decide on refund applications was shortened from 120 days to 90 days. The BIR also streamlined its procedures in processing VAT refund claims to comply with the 90-day period mandated by TRAIN.

So, sometime in June 2023, the BIR issued Revenue Memorandum Circular (RMC) No. 71-2023 and Revenue Memorandum Order (RMO) No. 23-2023, revising and substantially reducing the documentary requirements in the filing of refund claims. These issuances removed the redundant requirement that taxpayers must submit documents or data that can already be verified from existing BIR records and system. This includes taxpayer’s tax returns on

income tax and VAT, and other corporate records. The submission of some schedules and certificates was also dispensed with. Further, under the new rules, only the original hard copies of the source documents to prove sales and substantiate purchases are required to be submitted, and the softcopies of these are no longer needed. The BIR also relaxed its requirement in confirming sales made to non-resident foreign corporations not doing business in the Philippines, by accepting documents other than the articles or certificate of incorporation of the said foreign entities, in case of unavailability.

With the passage of the Ease of Paying Taxes Act (EOPT), we expect the VAT refund process to be made even easier. I particularly commend the new invoicing requirements, as revised, by the new law. It can be

recalled that the taxpayer and the BIR would oftentimes dispute on the term and meaning of business style required to be indicated in the documents. Many applications for VAT refund were also denied in the past due to incomplete or noncompliance with the invoicing requirements. The mere fact that the taxpayer’s complete and correct address was not shown in the invoice or receipt was a ground for denial of the input VAT credit. Now, under the EOPT, the business style of the taxpayer is no longer required to be indicated in the invoice to validly support its purchases and input tax credits. In addition, so long as the invoice contains the (a) name and TIN of both the taxpayer and seller, (b) the amount of sales and VAT due, (c) the description of the goods bought or nature of services availed, and (d) the date of the transaction, the taxpayer can validly credit its input VAT and refund any excess of it. The EOPT also introduced the risk-based approach in verifying VAT refund claims. This means that the extent of the BIR’s tax audit on the claim for refund will depend on the taxpayer’s risk classification. The claims shall be classified into low-, medium-, and high-risk claims, with the classification to be based on the amount of VAT refund claim, tax compliance history, frequency of filing, among others. Under the proposed revenue

regulations, only those claims classified as medium-risk and high-risk are subject to verification. Those classified as low-risk are no longer subject to tax audit. In medium-risk claims, the BIR can verify only at least 50 percent of the amount of the taxpayer’s sales and purchases, as compared in high-risk claims, wherein the BIR will audit the full amount of sales and purchases, and verify all documents submitted. But who will determine what claim will be classified as low, medium, or high risk? I hope the revenue regulations will clearly state the standards that must be followed to avoid any room for corruption.

We appreciate these continuing reforms being implemented on VAT refunds. These are standards and measures that I hope can also be applied in other government actions such as in the refund of taxes other than input tax and in the conduct of regular tax audits.

The author is a junior partner of Du-Baladad and Associates Law Offices (BDB Law), a memberfirm of WTS Global. The article is for general information only and is not intended, nor should be construed as a substitute for tax, legal or financial advice on any specific matter. Applicability of this article to any actual or particular tax or legal issue should be supported therefore by a professional study or advice. If you have any comments or questions concerning the article, you may e-mail the author at mabel.buted@ bdblaw.com.ph or call 8403-2001 local 160.

Yellen delivers sharp message to China’s leaders with a smile

By Christopher Condon

US

Treasury Secretary

Janet Yellen will meet China’s central bank chief and former economic czar in Beijing as she wraps a trip that’s been a delicate balancing act in strengthening bilateral ties while delivering sharp criticisms of Beijing’s economic policies.

Yellen was welcomed by Premier Li Qiang in Beijing on Sunday before being given a private tour of the Forbidden City, the latest cultural item on her itinerary. She will hold talks with former Vice Premier Liu He and central bank Governor Pan Gongsheng on Monday and then wrap up the visit with an afternoon press conference.

Yellen’s second China trip in nine months, and likely her final to the country as Treasury secretary, comes as the world’s biggest economies are trying to stabilize their tumultuous relationship while working out deep differences in policymaking. The US has criticized China for flooding the world with cheap goods, as it pours resources into advanced manufacturing to offset a crisis in the property sector.

diplomatic task was on show Friday, when she joined China’s Vice Premier He Lifeng for a boat cruise on the Pearl River in the southern city of Guangzhou after a long day of berating the Chinese government about overcapacity in their economy.  During that excursion the pair exchanged gifts, according to two people present. The vice premier told Yellen he personally chose his offering—a large platter upon which a Chinese artist had replicated her official portrait. Yellen reciprocated with an artist-signed painting of the US capital’s famous cherry blossoms and the Washington Monument.

During meetings with He on Friday and Saturday, Yellen gave specific details of how she thinks certain US industries are coming under threat, according to a senior Treasury official involved in those talks. Responding to Chinese criticisms of US subsidies for its domestic semiconductor and clean energy sectors, Yellen argued the American policies are more targeted, and focused on domestic use, the official said.

WTO, opening the door for Beijing to ship cheap goods globally and lift millions of its citizens out of poverty. Policymakers underestimated the destructive impact China’s manufacturing boom would have on the US and other economies, something many see as central to the rise of political populism and former US President Donald Trump.

While the meetings were cordial, not all of Yellen’s public criticism has gone down well. The official Xinhua News Agency on Friday published a commentary blasting Yellen’s “Sinophobic narrative of ‘Chinese overcapacity,’” saying it “smacks of creating a pretext for rolling out more protectionist policies to shield US companies.”

During meetings the Chinese side also expressed Beijing’s “grave concern” over US trade and investment restrictions, Xinhua reported. President Joe Biden has imposed a slew of curbs to kneecap China’s access to advanced semiconductors, citing national security concerns.

Yet, Yellen’s tough message hasn’t hurt progress made between the two sides. They agreed to move forward with a new round of talks focused exclusively on what Yellen and He euphemistically referred to as “balanced growth in the domestic and global economies.”

actually desperation. The recent college graduate who expected to begin work at a major accounting firm instead started selling cooked food online. The husband/wife team with several consignment outlets at major department stores found a way to shift to selling home delivery vegetables. In both of these examples they are more financially successful today than before Covid. You never know what you can accomplish until you are forced outside your comfort zone. Being desperate can sometimes help.

“China is too large to export its way to rapid growth,” Yellen said at an event hosted by the American Chamber of Commerce in China, adding that the nation’s factories are currently churning out more than “the global market can bear.”

E-mail me at mangun@gmail.com. Follow me on Twitter @mangunonmarkets. PSE stock-market information and technical analysis provided by AAA Southeast Equities Inc.

Beijing rejects that message, arguing its companies are being penalized by developed nations that can’t compete on price, and has filed a case with the World Trade Organization over American subsidies. Premier Li on Sunday advised Yellen against turning “economic and trade issues into political” matters.

The gamut of Yellen’s delicate

Yellen’s four days of meetings in China are aimed at enhancing personal ties she’s painstakingly built with senior Chinese leaders, among whom she appears to have won respect.

At the same time, she appears willing to test those relationships. Yellen has chastised Beijing’s policymakers for reckless exports, criticized the “unfair” treatment of American firms in China, and issued a stark warning that Chinese companies would face “significant consequences” for supporting Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Her position marks a stark change from a generation ago when Yellen was part of the economic consensus that embraced China’s entry into the

As Treasury chief, Yellen now seems intent on preventing a rerun as President Xi Jinping tries to offset China’s property crisis by shifting more investment into manufacturing, particularly new industries around clean energy— the same sectors the US is keen to foster at home.

During meetings with He on Friday and Saturday, Yellen gave specific details of how she thinks certain US industries are coming under threat, according to a senior Treasury official involved in those talks. Responding to Chinese criticisms of US subsidies for its domestic semiconductor and clean energy sectors, Yellen argued the American policies are more targeted, and focused on domestic use, the official said.

Tusk’s coalition gains bittersweet win in Polish local elections

By Piotr Skolimowski & Wojciech Moskwa

OLAND S Prime Minister

PDonald Tusk failed to land a knockout blow against the former ruling nationalists in local elections.

In the first big test for his fourmonth government on Sunday, his three-way alliance jointly gathered 52.5 percent of vote for local assemblies, municipal councils and city mayors, according to an exit poll conducted by Ipsos. Still, the Law & Justice party remained the single most-popular group with 33.7 per-

cent support. The result will help cement Tusk’s hold on power in the EU’s biggest eastern economy. But it sends a signal that the party he unexpectedly ousted from power in last year’s parliamentary elections remains a formidable challenge for his coalition.

The ballot comes half a year after Tusk’s alliance won parliamentary elections amid record-high turnout, ending eight years of nationalist rule that became marred by conflicts with Brussels and accusations of graft and the erosion of democratic standards. Tusk, whose Civic Coalition was backed by 31.9 percent of voters,

told supporters late on Sunday that while the pro-EU coalition repeated its success from October “this doesn’t change the fact that today we see that the road won’t be easy. Nothing will be easy.”

Szymon Holownia, the leader of the coalition’s Third Way party, called the result “a warning sign” for the ruling alliance “to argue less among themselves and get to work.”

The parties have fallen out over support for abortion in past weeks. The Third Way got 13.5 percent of vote on Sunday.

The outcome adds to evidence that populist forces remain strong

across the EU’s east. An ally of Russia-friendly Prime Minister Robert Fico won presidential elections in Slovakia on Sunday. A rising star in Hungary’s opposition rallied tens of thousands of his supporters on Saturday, pledging to pivot toward the European mainstream, but he faces a long-shot bid to challenge Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s rule.

EU funds SINCE taking office, Tusk won EU approval to release as much as €137 billion ($149 billion) in aid, which had been suspended over rule-oflaw concerns. His cabinet also began

reversing the previous administration’s court changes that increased political sway over judges, which has helped strengthen the zloty and reduce yields on government bonds. Turnout is set to be much lower in these polls, according to Ipsos, reaching 51.5 percent, compared with 74 percent in October.

Law & Justice chairman and once Poland’s most-powerful politician Jaroslaw Kaczynski welcomed what he called his party’s eighth-straight electoral victory. “As Mark Twain once said: ‘The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated,’” he told supporters, alluding to recurring media

The warm reception continued on Yellen’s next stop in Beijing. She met Premier Li on Sunday at the Great Hall of the People, a visit that wasn’t on her original schedule. China’s No. 2 official gave Yellen’s talks with He his stamp of approval, praising the “candid and in-depth discussions on key issues” in the US-China relationship. Yellen later met with Beijing Mayor Yin Yong and visited economics students and faculty at Peking University.   It remains to be seen if the positive vibes surrounding her visit, despite the Treasury chief’s pointed message, were a true product of better relations, or more a sign of what Gerard DiPippo, senior geo-economics analyst at Bloomberg Economics, calls “tactical stabilization.” With assistance from Lucille Liu /Bloomberg

speculation that he may be facing a leadership challenge. The Civic Coalition confirmed its dominance in bigger cities. In Warsaw, current mayor Rafal Trzaskowski looked set to win another term outright with 59.8 percent of the vote. The Tusk ally is widely expected to run for president in an election due next year after narrowly losing to Andrzej Duda in 2020. Official results will be announced in the coming day with run-offs in races for mayor where no candidate won at least half the votes are scheduled for April 21. With assistance from Natalia Ojewska /Bloomberg

CARRIERS AT NAIA WARN VS. BOMB JOKES, SMOKING, VAPING

LOCAL air carriers—Philippine Airlines, Cebu Pacific Air and AirAsia Philippines—operating at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) Terminals are reminding their passengers that the airlines will strictly enforce the prohibition on bomb jokes, smoking/ vaping in all international or domestic flights.

The safety and convenience of their passengers will always be the top priority and passengers who fail to observe these rules will be subjected to appropriate legal remedies.

The local carriers reminded passengers of the following strict prohibitions:

■ Bomb jokes are banned under Presidential Decree No. 1727 (Bomb Joke/Threat Law) and will be taken seriously by security and law enforcement authorities. Passengers are urged to refrain from making any jokes or comments that refer to bombs, explosives, or any instruments of violence while at the airport or on board any flight.

■ Republic Act No. 9497 (CAAP Law) and 8749 (Clean Air Act) penalize smoking, which includes vaping or the use of electronic cigarettes, on board all flights and at the airport, except in airport areas that are specifically designated for smoking. Compliance and cooperation will help airlines avoid any secu -

rity or law enforcement actions that may delay flights and cause unnecessary inconvenience to all travelers, the carries said. Cebu Pacific Air (CEB) Corporate Communication, in their advisory on Monday, said that the safety and convenience of their passengers will always be their top priority. “We ask for everyone’s cooperation in maintaining a smooth and secure passenger experience at the airport. This will likewise help avoid additional safety and security checks that may cause flight delays,” it said.

The local carriers and the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) also reminded travelers not to bring banned items in their hand-carry bags for faster processing and to prevent long lines at the final security checkpoint.

The MIAA and the local airlines urged passengers to personally pack their bags and ensure that they do not contain any prohibited items like guns, bullets, and other prohibited items to avoid unnecessary delays at the screening checkpoint in every terminal.

Sharp objects and other items such as baseball bats, baton sticks, tennis and badminton rackets, or billiard sticks are also prohibited from being carried in carry-on bags, and can only be placed in checked baggage.

Nonie G. Reyes

PRA assures public tight vetting will be done for retiree visa applicants

By Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo @akosistellaBM Special to the BusinessMirror

THE Philippine Retirement Authority (PRA) has confirmed that two of the four Chinese nationals recently arrested by law enforcement agencies for illicit activities were indeed holders of special retirement visas.

PRA general manager and CEO Roberto Zozobrado made this confirmation to the BusinessMirror : “We can confirm that the names of two arrested Chinese nationals are holders of the SRRVs, but other pertinent information [i.e. birthdays, residence, etc.] differ from those on our file. We continue to verify if the two others had SRRVs.”

Senator Nancy Binay had urged PRA to tighten its vetting process for SRRV applicants after the recent arrest of a “Chinese mafia” found to be behind the proliferation of fraudulently acquired Philippine government-issued identification cards and documents. (See, “Nancy urges PRA anew: Be careful on retiree visa grants,” in the BusinessMirror , April 7, 2024.)

Zozobrado said, “Even before this incident, I was already calling for a meeting with the Bureau of Immigration [BI], National Intelligence Coordinating Agency, Department of the Interior and Local Government, and Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. [Pagcor] to  further strengthen the vetting process and impose stringent security measures on all SRRV applicants.”

Still, the PRA chief assured the public that the agency already has a strict screening process for retiree visa applications in coordination with government immigration and intelligence agencies, both here and abroad. “All applicants of SRRVs are required to submit an apostilled/ authenticated police clearance from

Household, NFA rice stock decline pulls down inventory

Cai U. Ordinario @caiordinario

THE country’s total rice inventory declined in March 2024 due to double-digit stock declines among households and in National Food Authority (NFA) warehouses, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

contracting by 3 percent from the 1.41 MMT posted in the same period of last year.

On a monthly basis, PSA data showed the volume of rice stocks inventory contracted 9.6 percent from the previous month’s inventory of 1.51 MMT.

“Of this month’s total rice stocks, 50.8 percent were from the households, 46.1 percent were from the commercial sector, and 3 percent were from the NFA depositories,” PSA said. The data showed household rice stocks contracted 14.4 percent in

NFA rice stocks in its depositories contracted 59.9 percent to 41,290 MT in March 2024 from 103,070 MT in March 2023.

The data also showed that on a monthly basis NFA rice stocks declined 12 percent from the 46,890 MT posted in February 2024.

However, commercial stocks increased by 27.5 percent to 630,290 MT in March 2024 from the 494,250 MT posted in March 2023.

Nonetheless, PSA data showed rice stocks in the commercial sector contracted 19.1 percent from the 778,890 MT posted in February 2024.

Corn stocks higher MEANWHILE , as of March 2024, PSA reported that the total corn stocks inventory of the country

reached 546,890 MT.

This indicated an annual increase of 55.4 percent from the 352,040 MT in the same period of 2023.

Corn stocks exhibited a monthon-month increase of 11.2 percent relative to its previous month’s inventory level of 491,770 MT.

“About 90.2 percent of this month’s total corn stocks inventory were from the commercial sector, while the remaining 9.8 percent were from the households,” PSA said.

Rice imports, prices

IN an economic brief, Metrobank’s Research and Business Analytics Department noted the expectations of the PSA that rice inflation will continue to increase until base effects dissipate by August 2024.

Mdetrobank also noted the expectation of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) that the Philippines could purchase 4 MMT of rice as its “worst-case scenario” for rice supply in the country.

In its latest monthly report on global grains trade, the USDA raised its projection for Philippine rice imports for 2024 to 4.1 MMT from the previous 3.9 MMT.

(See: https://businessmirror.com. ph/2024/03/11/phl-seen-importing4-1-mmt-of-rice-this-year/).

“Metrobank Research retains its yearend average inflation forecast at 4.3 percent [with a downward bias], as there continues to be a strong upward inflation pressure for the year due to rising rice prices, the effects of El Niño, and emerging geopolitical risks,” Metrobank said.

In March 2024, rice prices again jumped to a level last seen when the country had to grapple with supply issues caused by export bans imposed by rice-producing nations, according to the latest data released by the PSA.

In March 2024, rice inflation accelerated to 24.4 percent, the highest since the 24.6 percent posted in February 2009. The highest rice prices recorded was 36.4 percent in July 2008.

Data showed rice prices have been increasing in the double digits since September 2023, when rice prices increased 17.9 percent and started the year with a rice inflation of 22.6 percent.

Rice prices have been rising since January 2022 at 1 percent from the 0.1 deflation in December 2021 and 0.3 percent increase in January 2021. (See: https:// businessmirror .com.ph/2024/04/06/ rice-prices-surging-as-inflation-hits-3-7/).

their country of origin or residence.

Clearance from the National Bureau of Investigation [NBI] is also required for foreigners who have been staying in the Philippines for more than 90 days.”

Aside from these requirements, he said, as another layer of security, BI also checks in its system whether the applicant has a derogatory record before entering the Philippines as a tourist and before approval of the SRRV application. “In short, BI does the vetting twice. Derogatory checking is also required when the SRRV holder needs to transfer the visa sticker from an old to a new passport,” he explained.

Agreement with Interpol

FOR another, the PRA has a memorandum of agreement with Interpol, which enables the agency to randomly check the records of SRRV holders in the Interpol Database.

“The Interpol Database is also used by PRA during the renewal process of the SRRV holder’s PRA ID Card,” stressed Zozobrado.

PRA, a government corporation overseen by the Department of Tourism, currently has a datasharing agreement with the BI “so we can check a retiree’s travel history and derogatory record,” he said. “To date, PRA’s Information and Communication Technology Division is in constant coordination with BI for the refinement of the search parameters that will be used in the real-time access of the retiree’s travel history and derogatory record,” he noted.

Zozobrado also underscored, “Traveling SRRV holders are required by the BI officer stationed at the airport to present the PRA ID Card and SRRV sticker prior to entering or leaving the Philippines.

PHL, China talking to cool down tensions in WPS, says Marcos

PBy Samuel P. Medenilla @sam_medenilla

RESIDENT Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. said the government is engaged in talks with the Chinese leadership to help deescalate the growing tensions in the West Philippine Sea (WPS).

“We still continue to talk at a ministerial level, at a sub-ministerial level, at a people-to-people level,” the chief executive said in an interview with reporters in Bacolod City in Negros Occidental last Monday.

He said the initiative aims to prevent Chinese Coast Guard (CCG) ships from colliding with or firing water cannons at Philippine ships

passing through the WPS, which is the part of the South China Sea (SCS) within the country’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).

“We are trying everything we can to speak with the Chinese leadership, and Beijing, so [tensions] will not flare up and we can properly discuss [with them] so there will no longer be any  [incidents of] collision or use of water canons,” Marcos added, partly in Filipino.

The talks are part of the government’s “proportionate, deliberate, and reasonable” countermeasures against Chinese aggression in the WPS, which was announced by the President.   This after a CCG vessel fired its

water cannon at a Philippine supply ship, injuring the latter’s crew, while it was on a supply mission to Ayungin Shoal last month.

The incident drew international condemnation and prompted other countries such as the United States, Japan and Australia to express their support to the Philippines.

Maritime drills

THE President said he is also hopeful the joint maritime patrol drills of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) with the US IndoPacific Command, Australian Defence Force and Japan Self-Defense Forces, in the WPS last Sunday will help deter aggression of CCG ships in the area.

The Multilateral Maritime Cooperative Activity, which aims to enhance cooperation among the naval forces of the participating countries, prompted China to deploy its own combat patrol in the SCS.

Citing initial reports, Marcos said he is pleased with the outcome of the said activity since it helped in promoting “interoperability” of the participants.

As for the response of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) of China on the joint maritime drills, he said he already anticipated it.

“That’s the usual reaction from the PLA. They will deploy their ships. So, it’s almost normal already for us, unfortunately,” he said.

By Lenie Lectura @llectura

ElEctricity rates this month will go down by almost P1 per kilowatt hour (kWh) to P10.9518 per kWh from P11.9397 per kWh in March, the Manila Electric co. (Meralco) said Monday.

Meralco said the rate reduction, which is equivalent to a decrease of around P198 in the total electricity bill of residential customers consuming 200 kWh, wiped out rate increases since January, bringing the year-to-date adjustment to a net decrease of P0.3066 per kWh. This month’s price adjustment was brought about by lower generation and transmission charges. The generation charge declined by P0.3613 per kWh owing to lower costs from Independent Power Producers (IPPs) and Power Supply Agreements (PSAs) that offset the increase in Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) charges.

Charges from IPPs went down by P1.0701 per kWh due to lower costs from First Gas plants. The reduction was mainly due to the non-use of

liquefied natural gas (LNG) by Sta. Rita and San Lorenzo and continued withholding of incremental Malampaya gas costs for First Gas-Sta. Rita under its new Gas Sale and Purchase Agreement (GSPA). Following an order issued by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), the Malampaya pricing under First Gas-Sta. Rita’s old GSPA and only landed costs of LNG should be passed through until the issuance of a separate ERC approval of full costs.

Similarly, charges from PSAs fell by P0.5733 per kWh mainly due to lower fuel costs of South Premier Power Corp. (SPPC) under the emergency PSAs with Meralco, as well as that of San Buenaventura Power Ltd. (SBPL).

Charges from the WESM rose by P1.0114 per kWh due to tighter sup -

ply conditions in the Luzon grid. Average demand went up by 618 MW while average capacity on outage also increased by 473 MW. The secondary price cap was applied around 7 percent of the time, indicating periods of sustained high prices in the WESM. IPPs, PSAs, and WESM accounted for 29 percent, 46 percent and 25 percent, respectively, of Meralco’s total energy requirement for this period.

The transmission charge, meanwhile, went down by P0.4665 per kWh following the ERC’s suspension of settlements in the reserve market that drove the significant increase in ancillary service charges in the March electricity rates.

“The significant reduction in this month’s overall electricity rate more than wiped out the increases in power rates for the first quarter of the year.

Despite the rate reduction, Meralco continues to encourage its customers to continue practicing energy efficiency especially during (the dry season) when consumption historically increases anywhere from 10 percent to 40 percent due to warmer temperatures,” said Meralco Vice President and Head of Corporate Communications Joe R. Zaldarriaga. Taxes and other charges also registered a total decrease of P0.1601 per kWh.

DBy VG Cabuag @villygc

ouBLEDRAGoN Corp. on Monday said it is combining its Singapore-headquartered unit Hotel101 Global Pte. Ltd. and JVSPAC Acquisition Corp., with Hotel 101 as the surviving entity.

Hotel101 will have an equity value of $2.3 billion (or about P130 billion) following the completion of the merger transaction, which is expected to close during the second half of the year, subject to regulatory and shareholder approvals and other customary closing conditions.

The said merger was meant to “to increase its capital base and to further strengthen the balance sheet of DoubleDragon,” the company said. upon completion of the busi-

ness combination transaction, the combined entity is expected to be publicly listed on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol “HBNB.” DoubleDragon positions Hotel101 Global to soon become the first Filipino company whose majority-owned subsidiary will list via SPAC, or special purpose acquisition company, in the uS Nasdaq Stock Exchange.

It is seen to become a major brand, concept and business model export of the Philippines, given its asset-light business model, and could become one of the major source of dollar inflow to the Philippines.

Hotel101 is a hotel prop-tech operator pioneering a globally standardized, asset-light condotel business model. outside of the Philippines, Ho -

Pass-through charges for generation and transmission are paid by Meralco to the power suppliers and the grid operator, respectively, while taxes, universal charges, and the feed-in tariff allowance are all remitted to the government.

Meralco’s distribution charge, meanwhile, remained unchanged since the P0.0360 per kWh reduction for a typical residential customer beginning August 2022.

With the dry season in full swing, Meralco has renewed calls for participation in the government’s Interruptible Load Program (ILP).

The ILP is an energy demandside management program through which large-load customers are asked to use their generator sets or shift their operations, instead of drawing power from the grid, to spare households from power interruptions during instances of red alert or when supply is insufficient to meet the demand.

At present, there are over 100 companies with around 530 MW deloading capacity across the Meralco franchise area that are enrolled in the ILP.

Meralco: Customers to see lower electricity bill in April DoubleDragon to merge Hotel101 units

tel101 has broken ground in Madrid, Spain to construct a 680-room property located in the Valdebebas area beside IFEMA Convention Complex, the Real Madrid Complex and the upcoming new F1 Grand Prix Track. Another 482-room property, Hotel101-Niseko, is under construction in Hokkaido, Japan; and a site has been secured in Los Angeles, California to build the first Hotel101 in the united States.

Hotel101’s long-term vision is to have one million rooms, operating in over 100 countries worldwide.

It has identified the first 25 priority countries for expansion, which include Japan, Spain, the uS, the united Kingdom, the united Arab Emirates, India, China, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Singapore.

Aboitiz beefing up clean energy portfolio

ABoITIZ Power Corp. is adding more renewable energy (RE) capacity to its portfolio, as 176 megawatts (MW) of renewables are targeted to come on line within the first half of the year.

Aboitiz Renewables Inc. President Jimmy Villaroman said the power firm has over a thousand megawatts of new RE capacity in various stages of development.

o ur initial expansion phase focuses on developing mostly solar and wind plants with up to 1,200 MW capacity. Currently, we are on track for 176 MW of RE projects to come online by the first half of 2024, with construction ongoing for an additional 218 MW,” Villaroman said during the Philippine Electric Power Industry Forum 2024 last week.

These are the 159-MWpeak (MWp) Laoag Solar project in Aguilar, Pangasinan, 17-MW Tiwi binary power plant, 44 MWp Solar Plant in Armenia, Tarlac, and 173 MWp Solar Plant in Calatrava, Negros occidental.

“The second phase of AboitizPower’s expansion will see an additional capacity of around 1,700 MW of solar and wind power.”

AboitizPower is the holding company for the Aboitiz Group’s investments in power generation, distribution, and retail electricity services.

Aligned with the Philippine government’s target of a 35-percent RE share in the nation’s energy mix by 2030 and 50 percent by 2040, the company had indicated its goal to build 3,700 MW of new RE capacity en route to 4,600 MW by 2030. This includes projects in solar, wind, geothermal, hydro, and battery energy storage systems.

Peak electricity demand is projected to increase by 6.6 percent annually until 2040. Expanding a stable supply of power will support existing and future investments, powering the realization of economic growth targets ranging from 6-7 percent for 2024, 6.5-7.5 percent for 2025, and 6.5-8 percent for 2026 to 2028.

unlike some developed nations, our transition in the Philippines, as

in the rest of Asia and the Pacific, must be gradual and intelligent. It has to be well-planned; uniquely suited to each country. The solutions we devise must be tailor-fit to address our problems and opportunities. It cannot happen overnight and might take years, if not decades, to realize. But we believe it is possible,” Villaroman said.

“We advocate a balanced approach, growing renewable energy and investing in traditional sources that make the most sense while complementing it with energy storage for stability. While the Philippines strives toward a sustainable future powered by more RE sources, its near-to mid-term energy security calls for leveraging existing, conventional baseload plants.”

Recently, AboitizPower, through its subsidiary, Therma NatGas Power, entered into an investment agreement with Meralco PowerGen Corp. to acquire a 40-percent stake in Chromite Gas Holdings, marking its entry into the liquefied natural gas (LNG) space. Lenie Lectura

Exec: Cloud initiative to prepare workforce of PLDT for the future

THE PLDT Group has established the Cloud Center of Excellence (CCoE), an initiative that aims to catalyze a stronger, more customer-centric, and futureproof workforce.

Robin R. Ramos, First Vice President and Information Technology officer-in-Charge at PLDT and Smart, said this is part of the group’s “multiyear cloud journey” and the CCoE will help “prepare the company and the workforce for future growth.”

“Establishing the CCoE is a vital element in this broad roadmap. PLDT and Smart’s cloud initiatives go beyond the enterprise infrastructure perspective, as they also involve utilizing cloud as a platform by maximizing the advanced features that are available in the cloud – boosting workforce agility, raising operational excellence, and enabling the organization to roll out innova-

tive products and services faster and more efficiently.”

ePLDT Inc., a provider of multicloud solutions in the Philippines, will provide the necessary cloud infrastructure and capabilities to expedite outcomes and achieve organizational objectives.

The CC o E sets the stage for heightened cloud expertise and a stronger focus on customer needs within the PLDT and Smart workforce, according to PLDT FVP and Transformation office oIC Gilbert o. Gaw. “This new journey also means solidifying our commitment to elevate customer experience, as the cloud can further strengthen our stability and efficiency with less disruption to our services. Strategically investing in cloud also allows us to become more responsive to market forces and enhances our competitiveness.” Lorenz S. Marasigan

Banking&Finance

NG raises ₧35.6B from debt papers auction

By Reine Juvierre Alberto

THE national government borrowed a total of P35.6 billion from the combined auction of Treasury bills (T-bills) and bonds (Tbonds), which saw mixed results due to higher average auction yields for both debt papers.

The Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) on Monday fully awarded its P15 billion programmed auction of threetenor bills, raising P5 billion each,

despite the slightly higher investors’ asking rates. The auction was 2.7 times oversubscribed, attracting P39.9 billion

10 ways to raise capital for your business

Part two

HOW do you raise the startup capital for your business?

The previous article (https://businessmirror.com.ph/2024/04/02/10ways-to-raise-capital-for-your-business/) lists the first five ways that can help you raise the capital you need to become an entrepreneur. Let’s look at the remaining five strategies for raising capital for your business this week:

6. Use credit cards. Credit cards can easily be used to gain some business capital. Avail a cash advance or make the necessary purchases for your startup venture. If you always pay your credit card bills in full every month, in a couple of years, your credit limit could go as high as P250,000, which is usually high enough to leverage on and start a business with.

A few reminders if you plan to do this method. First is to remember your cut-off date and do your purchases right after so you’ll have more time to save up. Second is to remember your due date. When you become so busy and engaged with your business, you might forget to pay your bills.

And since you’ll be paying around 3.- percent interest per month on your credit balance, it’s essential that your business generates enough income to cover for the payments and these charges.

7. Check rediscounting. Lenders that offer check rediscounting are not difficult to find. This method requires you to issue postdated checks in exchange for its amount in cash less the interest. For example, at 5 percent interest, you’ll receive P19,000 if you issue a check worth P20,000. Rates and length of payment dates vary for different lenders.

Although less advantageous than using credit cards, it is still a good option for short-term business cashflow needs and small business capital requirements.

8. Borrow money from family and friends. Another good option to raise capital for your business is to borrow money from family and friends. One great advantage of doing this is that most of them are usually willing to lend you money without or very little interest. You can also enjoy more flexibility on your payment terms.

Remember though that if you go for this method, you are putting your reputation on the line. So do your best to pay on time and if your business earned more income than expected, give back a little extra as gratitude for their trust.

Lastly, be clear that you’re merely borrowing money from them and they will not legally own part of the business. Some people might think that just because they lent you money for the startup, they instantly become investors and can

fitz Gerard Villafuerte

personal finance

actively participate in the business.

9. Form a joint venture. Instead of borrowing money from family and friends, you can also consider making them a real part of the business. It’s very common nowadays for friends to pool their money and resources to put up a business. There are actually ventures that succeed faster through partnerships. Make a team whose strengths and expertise complement each other. For example, one partner can have good accounting skills, while another is proficient in sales and marketing, and one is a legal expert.

10. Seek a venture capitalist. Venture capitalists are also called angel investors. These are people or companies who are willing to pay for your startup in exchange for part ownership or royalty fees from your business.

One major advantage of doing this is that you could further tap the VC’s extensive network of partners to help enhance your business. However, do remember that most likely, you’ll lose free rein over running your business because certain decisions will need to be consulted to the VC before they can be implemented.

Looking for a venture capitalist can be quite difficult in the Philippines but they do exist. Always have an elevator pitch ready just in case you bump into one. You can also seek them out in online forums and websites.

That’s it! I hope I was able to help and give you an idea on how you can raise capital for your business.

Lastly, remember that whichever way you choose among these ten, having a good business plan is always an essential tool. It will help you ensure that your business will be able to pay your creditors on time and more importantly, convince investors to join your venture.

If you want to know more about how to achieve financial fitness, you can join the 12th Financial Fitness Forum that is happening on April 13. The event will feature top Registered Financial Planners in the country who will share their invaluable insights and tips on personal financial planning. This event is made possible with the support of IMG, Kaiser, Manila Bankers Life, Rampver Financials and Atram.

is registered financial planner of

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in total tenders.

For the 90-day T-bills, investors’ average yield increased to 5.772 percent, versus the previous tender’s 5.704 percent. Bids for the 90-day T-bills inched down, ranging from 5.698 percent to 5.800 percent.

The 181-day T-bills saw its yield averaging at 5.885 percent compared to last auction’s 5.865 percent. The government security rates were between 5.823 percent and 5.919 percent.

Investors’ average rate for the 364-day T-bills, meanwhile, was at 5.983 percent with a yield range of 5.950 percent to 6.025 percent. Tbills’ yields averaged 5.965 percent in the Treasury’s previous tender last April 1.

LT-bonds

MEANWHILE, the Treasury saw mixed results in its tender of the reissued 10-year T-bonds also due to higher average auction yields.

The auction committee partially awarded the T-bonds raising P20.6 billion and fell short by P9.6 billion out of the P30 billion offering.

The average rates for the government security, with a remaining term of nine years and nine months, settled at 6.439 percent, higher than the 6.227 percent posted in the previous auction for the debt paper with the same tenor on March 12. It is also higher than the comparable PHP BVAL yield at 6.33 percent as of April 5.

The investors’ asking yields ranged from a low of 6.365 percent

to a high of 6.480 percent, according to the Treasury.

The Treasury’s auction saw demands for the 10-year T-bonds reach P37.360 billion, 1.2 times oversubscribed than the programmed amount.

Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) Chief Economist Michael L. Ricafort pinned the higher auction yields for both government securities on the 2-month high US dollar/peso exchange rate at P54.40.

Ricafort said this could lead to some pick up in import prices and overall inflation amid the increased tensions between Israel and Iran/ proxies that led global crude oil prices to new 5.5-month highs recently.

For April, the national government plans to borrow as much as P195 billion from the combined sale of T-bills and T-bonds. A total of P120 billion will be from the tender of T-bonds while P75 billion will be coming from the sale of T-bills.

Based on state budget documents, the national government aims to borrow, following a 75:25 mix in favor of domestic sources, a total of P1.853 trillion from the domestic market through the sale of T-bills and T-bonds.

“Some Fed officials also recently signaled cautiousness before the [(US Federal Reserve] starts cutting rates, especially in ensuring that inflation is well anchored towards the Fed’s target of 2 [percent],” added the RCBC executive.

crypto exchange welcomes regulatory stance

By Rizal Raoul S. Reyes @brownindio

OCAL cryptocurrency exchange platform Philippine Digital Asset Exchange (PDAX) recently expressed optimism on the government regulatory bodies on their positive stance on cryptocurrency stressing that this level of oversight is crucial for platform integrity and user trust.

“What has happened since the crash of Luna and the bankruptcy of FTX really made regulators aware of the risks of platforms that are unregulated. I cannot overstate the significance of a platform being regulated. Regulated means that the BSP [Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas] visits PDAX and makes sure that we are processing transactions correctly, every quarter we have to report any significant change in our platform, and we’re also bound to conform to the guidelines that they set,” PDAX Inc. CEO Nichel Merlmichael O. Gaba explained in a recent news briefing. According to Gaba, who founded PDAX in 2018, added that “a lot of what the BSP and the SEC [Securi-

ties and Exchange Commission] have been doing in the past year and a half is not just to create new rules that can safeguard the public but to enforce already existing rules.”

“As crypto becomes much more popular moving forward, we can expect the regulators to continue to raise the standards,” he added.

Last month, the SEC said it is moving to ban the cryptocurrency exchange Binance as “the operator of the platform Binance [Holdings Ltd.] is not registered as a corporation in the Philippines and operates without the necessary license and/or authority to sell or offer any form of securities from being traded or made accessible in the country.” (See https://businessmirror.com. ph/2023/11/30/sec-moves-toprevent-access-to-unregisteredbinance-cex/)

Gaba, meanwhile, said the PDAX is fully prepared for the expected fluctuations in the digital currency market in anticipation of the upcoming Bitcoin halving.

He noted that when the price of Bitcoin started going up, customers started coming to the PDAX platform. He recalled the previous

halving that happened five years ago tested their platform.

“That’s [halving] bound to happen again. But I guess the difference between that happening four years ago versus today, as far as feedback is concerned, is that our platform is ready,” Gaba said.

The Bitcoin halving occurs roughly every four years wherein the reward for mining new blocks is slashed by half. This reduction slows the introduction of new Bitcoins into circulation, a mechanism that has historically triggered increased market activity and notable price fluctuations.

The anticipation surrounding the halving has intensified following the US SEC’s approval of spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs), making it easier for retail and institutional investors to buy and engage with Bitcoin directly. This development has played a crucial role in propelling Bitcoin’s price to an all-time high of $73,737.94.

“This is the first halving event where there are already institutional participants in the crypto market. Now that institutions are in the crypto space, we can expect whatever ex-

more through our products and services that embody ‘Mitsubishi Motors-ness,’” Nakamura added.

tial for customers in the country given the country’s dependence on financing when buying cars.

Through this joint venture, Security Bank and Mitsubishi Motors will be able to offer a range of sales financing services for customers.

“Mitsubishi Motors is very pleased to be able to partner with Security Bank that is one of the best financial institutions in the Philippines,” Mitsubishi Motors Executive Vice President Tatsuo Nakamura said.

“Through this joint venture, we hope we can provide Mitsubishi Motors vehicles to more customers in this everexpanding market. Also, we will continue to make efforts to satisfy customers

Security Bank is a private domestic universal bank in the Philippines with total assets of P872 billion as of December 31, 2023. The bank has been operating for 72 years since it was established in 1951.

In 2016, the lender received a capital investment of P36.9 billion from MUFG Bank Ltd., representing 20-percent ownership of the voting stock in Security Bank. MUFG Bank, a member of the Mitsubishi Group of Companies, became the secondlargest shareholder of Security Bank with two Board seats. Tokyo, Japan-headquartered Mitsubishi Motors, also a member-company of the Mitsubishi Group, has about 28,000 employees

BIR cracks down on illicit cigarette trade

Swith a total tax liability of P5.4 billion were raided in a large-scale operation by personnel of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) in its bid to stop the illicit trade of cigarettes in the country.

Internal Revenue Commissioner Romeo D. Lumagui Jr. said its warehouse and factory raids in Indang and Dasmariñas, Cavite, on March 21 were one of the largest BIR raids.

“This is one of the largest raids against illicit cigarettes in the history of the BIR, having an estimate of P 5.4 Billion in total tax liability. The BIR will continue targeting these large-scale illicit cigarette traders,” Lumagui was quoted in a statement as saying.

According to the BIR, its personnel recovered master cases of cigarettes,

machines used in the production of cigarettes, sacks of raw tobacco and fake internal revenue stamps during the raid.

“We advise everyone to register their cigarette operations with the BIR and to pay proper excise taxes on those products,” Lumagui said. “The BIR aims to protect legitimate businesses so if you register and pay your proper taxes, your businesses will be compliant. We want a level playing field so we protect registered businesses and raid illicit trade.”

The current excise tax on cigarettes is at P62.40 per pack of 20 cigarettes and is set to increase by 4 percent annually under the Republic Act (RA) 11346, or the Tobacco Tax Law of 2019. The BIR is targeting to collect about P325 billion in excise taxes this year. The BIR said the illicit traders and smugglers will be facing criminal and civil cases for violating several sections of the Republic Act (RA) 8424, or the National Internal Revenue Code, from Section 130 (Filing of Return and Payment of Excise Tax on

citement propelled retail investors to take Bitcoin to $72,000. You can just imagine how much more that would be when institutions are also in the market. That’s why this upcoming halving is truly important,” he added. In terms of the platform, PDAX said the bear market in the past few years gave them time to gear up for this year’s market.

“Before the approval of ETFs and the Bitcoin halving, we’ve been preparing our systems for it, making them more stable and secure. We work with various organizations to make the frameworks up to stuff. The idea is that if a user wants to get in on the action, there’s an easy way to do it, and there’s a secure way to do it. We are not stopping, and we’re continuing to improve our platform,” PDAX Platform Solutions Head Vincent James Tio said.

“A lot of what the BSP and SEC have been doing in the past year and a half is not just to create new rules that can safeguard the public but to enforce already existing rules. As crypto becomes much more popular moving forward, we can expect the regulators to continue to raise the standards,” Tio added.

HOURS-LONG exhibition openings where guests socialize over drinks and a violin performance. Engaging showcases that transform traditional art-viewing into an interactive, carnival-themed experience. A multimedia team given free rein to create out-of-thebox content.

The passion burned bright in the eyes of gallery owner Rey Castillo as he enumerated the manifold ways how Rojo Galerie does things differently and with the intent to stand out. The gallery has shown no fear in challenging industry norms since opening just two years ago, eager to zig while other art spaces zag. The disruptive strategy follows the vision of Castillo, who talked about it all in a tone that’s not so much a flagrant chest-beating as a simple, matter-of-factly rundown.

“I’m not afraid to break the rules,” the full-bearded, 34-year-old said during a recent chat. “I bring a different perspective because unlike others who have already spent years in the art scene, I am not afraid to make mistakes. I am not scared to make a move.”

FROM COFFEE TO ART, IT’S ABOUT RELATIONSHIPS

CASTILLO approached our meeting place in a coffee shop in Estancia Mall looking relaxed in a shirt and a pair of jeans. He came from a nearby competing shop, as I misread the rendezvous from our messages. “OK lang, client naman namin silang pareho,” he said after I apologized for the mix-up.

Castillo serves as the managing director of Redspace Group, a trading and lifestyle company that distributes global brands of coffee equipment and accessories. Before barging into the arts scene,

All of Hong Kong’s a stage for ‘Art March’

HONG KONG was awash with color and creativity during Art March, a month-long celebration of arts and culture.

More than a dozen major events, including Art Basel Hong Kong, the Asian debut of ComplexCon and the inaugural Hong Kong International Cultural Summit, as well as various open-air programs transformed the cityscape into a colourful canvas. Art Basel Hong Kong returned to pre-pandemic levels featuring with 243 elite galleries from 40 countries and territories around the world, while Art Central welcomed over 41,000

Castillo rose through the ranks in the coffee industry. He worked as a barista abroad for years and brewed his way to become an account executive/brand ambassador, handling several premium Italian kitchen equipment brands, including top-of-the-line espresso machines.

When he decided to come home, Castillo brought with him those brands for local distribution. The Malabon native started by approaching coffee shops in his hometown on foot. Today, his diverse clientele includes several major coffee chains nationwide.

Art only came to Castillo during the height of the pandemic. During one day in lockdown, he thought his walls were too bare—that maybe a painting would fill the gap nicely. He headed on to social media and looked up for an artist within his vicinity. The search led him to watercolorist Erwin Mallari, also from Malabon, who’s known for his pensive social realism. Castillo reached out to the artist and the casual inquiry proved to be the genesis of something far greater. Art instantly captured the coffee expert’s fancy like the perfect cup, so much so that he decided he would not only collect art, but he would put up his own gallery.

It turns out that Castillo has always been wired like that: A bold dreamer who has always gone all-in in his pursuits. That is how he pursued his dreams overseas after college, and how he became a prominent figure in the local coffee scene. But he understands that visual arts is a different animal, which is why he decided that if he were to venture into the complex landscape, he would do it on his own terms. He would set his own rules.

“Not being from the art industry was actually my strength when I established Rojo Galerie,” he said. “It allowed me to be unafraid and willing to push boundaries.” Castillo patterned the gallery’s name after his company, Redspace Group, as Rojo means red in Spanish. It proves to be the perfect choice for another reason, given how the color reflects the sheer boldness of the gallery. Rojo Galerie features both emerging and established talents as an “artist-centric” platform. Aside from mounting bi-monthly shows in its space at Robins Design Center along Meralco Avenue, Rojo Galerie has also fostered a

you make a move. Time is on your side, so don’t feel pressured. Hard work, decisive action and putting your energy where it will do some good will lift your spirits and increase your profile. Monitor relationships with friends, relatives and business associates to avoid being led astray or taking on too much. Your numbers are 3, 12, 18, 25, 33, 37, 41. ARIES (March 21-April 19): Learn how to manage money better. Don’t buy into a gimmick that promises the impossible. Look for a way to raise your income, secure your position and boost your confidence. Don’t get angry; get moving in a positive direction. Be the master of your domain. ★★★★★

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Embrace change and explore new possibilities. An opportunity to use your skills differently will offer insight into pursuits that encourage marketability, clout and exciting prospects. Consider expanding your skills to meet the demands, and you will find your niche. ★★★

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Backing the wrong person will put you in a vulnerable position. Refrain from giving anyone control or the right to influence what you do next. Think for yourself and stand up for what’s right. Question motives and make decisions based on facts, not emotions. ★★★

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Get moving. Research, try something new and expand your mind. Listen, but don’t buy into someone else’s dream when you have goals to pursue. A change regarding a partnership will turn out better than anticipated. Do things your way. ★★★

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Do things that please you. Surround yourself with people who enlighten you, but don’t buy into or pay for someone pressuring you for a financial contribution. Too much of anything will drag you down. ★★★★★

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Say little, but do a lot. Bring about positive change and participate in events and activities that stretch your imagination. What you learn will encourage new beginnings with people striving for stability and a passage forward. ★★★★★

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Choose your battles wisely. Enter the ring only if your facts are straight and your intentions are honorable. Don’t expect to keep the peace or please everyone; with debate comes change. Prepare for the consequences and move forward swiftly. ★★

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Pick up the pace and make things happen. A change will offer a unique perspective regarding possibilities. Surround yourself with hardworking individuals who share your values. Take a leadership position and march toward your goal. ★★★

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Confiding in others will result in disappointment. Refuse to let your ego lead the way. Your intent to be and do your best will far exceed trying to prove yourself to others. Let your actions and the results you get be your calling card. ★★★

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Choose positive changes that make life easier and your home comfortable. Don’t share secrets, gossip or get involved in events or activities that might jeopardize your reputation, emotional well-being or health. ★★★

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Pay attention to detail, and keep tabs on what everyone around you is doing. Don’t take on too much or put yourself in a negative position due to someone else’s stubbornness. Make decisions that offer a positive outcome, and you’ll avoid making mistakes.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Pay attention to investments and debt. Keeping your finances in order will relieve stress and give you more options when an opportunity presents itself. Connect with people who have always been

‘godzilla x Kong’ maintains box-office dominion in second weekend

By Jake Coyle The Associated Press

nEw YOrK—Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire easily swatted away a pair of challengers to hold on to the top spot at the box office for the second week in a row, according to studio estimates on Sunday.

After its above-expectations $80 million launch last weekend, the MonsterVerse mashup brought in $31.7 million over its second weekend, a 60 percent drop from its debut.

The warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures release, directed by Adam wingard, has thus far outperformed any of the studio’s recent monster films except for 2014’s Godzilla

But with $361.1 million worldwide in two weeks, Godzilla x Kong could ultimately leapfrog the $529 million global haul of 2014’s Godzilla. The latest installment, in which godzilla and Kong team up, cost about $135 million to produce.

Godzilla x Kong extended its box-office reign as another primate-themed movie arrived in theaters. dev Patel’s Monkey Man, an india-set revenge thriller released by universal Pictures, opened in 3,029 north American theaters with an estimated $10.1 million.

That marked a strong debut for Patel’s modestly budgeted directorial debut in which he stars in a bloody, politically charged action extravaganza. Monkey Man, which cost about $10 million to make, was dropped by its original studio, netflix, after which Jordan Peele and his Monkeypaw Productions swooped in.The weekend’s other new wide release, The First Omen, from disney’s 20th Century Studios, struggled to make a big impact with moviegoers. it came in fourth with an estimated $8.4 million in ticket sales in 3,375 theaters, while collecting an additional $9.1 million overseas. The r-rated horror film, which cost about $30 million to make, is a prequel to the 1976 richard donner-directed original starring gregory Peck and Lee remick.

This version, directed by Arkasha Stevenson and starring nell Tiger Free, Tawfeek Barhom and Bill nighy, follows 2006’s The Omen, which opened to $16 million and ultimately grossed $119 million.

The tepid opening for The First Omen allowed

Sony’s Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire to take third place with $9 million in its third weekend of release. The sci-fi comedy sequel has collected $88.8 million domestically and $138 million worldwide. warner Bros.’ Dune: Part Two continues to perform strongly. it added $7.2 million in its sixth week, dipping just 37 percent, to bring its domestic total to $264 million. One of the week’s biggest performers was in China, where Hayao Miyazaki’s Oscarwinning The Boy and the Heron landed in theaters. The acclaimed Japanese anime is setting records for a nonChinese animated film. After opening on wednesday, its five-day total surpassed $70 million, a new high mark for Miyazaki and Studio ghibli.

Estimated ticket sales are for Friday through Sunday at uS and Canadian theaters, according to comScore.

1. Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, $31.7 million

2. Monkey Man, $10.1 million

3. Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, $9 million

4. The First Omen, $8.4 million

5. Kung Fu Panda 4, $7.9 million

6. Dune: Part Two, $7.2 million

7. Someone Like You, $3 million

8. Wicked Little Letters, $1.6 million

9. Arthur the King, $1.5 million

10. Immaculate, $1.4 million.

Castillo...

of art lovers who actively participate in a series of regular events and workshops. The gallery also works with other art spaces by spearheading collaborations. Castillo said he enjoys everything that goes with managing an art gallery. Learning never stops as he looks forward to helping shape the future of the country’s art scene with rojo galerie and its inclusive approach to community-building. in art, much like in the coffee business,” he said, “relationships are everything.” n Continued

In the name of their

Sid LuCErO, Mark Anthony Fernandez, and Kiko Estrada are all third-generation actors who continue to prove that acting must be in their genes.

Lucero (Timothy Mark Eigenmann in real life) is the grandson of well-respected artists rosemarie gil and Eddie Mesa, and the son of beauty queen-actress Bing Pimentel and the late great actor Mark gil.

Fernandez is the grandson of the late actor-filmmaker gregorio Fernandez and the son of actress Alma Moreno and the late action star rudy Fernandez.

Estrada is the grandson of the late thespian george Estregan and the son of actor gary Estrada with former actress Cheska diaz, whose father was also popular character actor Paquito diaz. The three actors are together in the latest action drama series Lumuhod Ka sa Lupa which just started airing this week on TV5, a collaborative project between the network and Viva Entertainment’s SariSari TV group.

AwArd-winning news icon and 24 Oras anchor Mel Tiangco remains committed to “mas malaking misyon, mas malawak na paglilingkod sa bayan” as she renewed her contract with gMA integrated news on April 2.

Present during the contract signing were gMA network chairman Atty. Felipe L. gozon; president and CEO gilberto r duavit Jr.; executive vice president and chief financial officer Felipe S. Yalong; and senior vice president and head of gMA integrated news, regional TV and Synergy Oliver Victor B. Amoroso.

A proud gMA talent since 1996, Tiangco has been at the forefront of delivering news and public service for more than three decades. She has anchored the newscasts Saksi and Frontpage: Ulat Ni Mel Tiangco, and is one of the pioneer anchors of the leading news program 24 Oras. Her contract renewal is made more special as the gMA’s flagship newscast marks its 20th year on air this 2024. She has also been an integral part of gMA integrated news’ special reports and coverage on various national and global concerns. gozon underscored Tiangco’s undeniable contribution to Philippine media.

Si Mel Tiangco ay accomplished at popular na bago siya lumipat sa Channel 7 noong 1996 or 28 years ago.

Pero noong nakalipat na siya, lalo siyang gumaling at lalong naging popular sa kanyang pagiging news anchor ng mga evening news program ng gMA, lalo na ng ating toprating program na 24 Oras. At ngayon, si Mel or Tita Mel as she is fondly called, ay hindi lamang icon kundi isang institution na,” says gozon. duavit, likewise, praised Tiangco’s credibility and commitment to delivering top-notch news and unwavering public service.

“i have known Mel for many years, and after listening to the messages from her colleagues, naaalala ko na napaka-bukod tangi niya. She is so gifted, so kind, so sharing, so good at what she does. She is an inspiration not only to her colleagues. To me, she serves as a great inspiration. Para matawag kang benchmark at superhero ng iyong mga kasamahan, isa

Penned by komiks icon turned filmmaker Carlo Caparas, Lumuhod Ka sa Lupa was first serialized on Aliwan Komiks before it became a hit movie in 1986 that starred rudy Fernandez, Mark gil and Eddie garcia.

Some call it life’s inevitable cycles, but both Lucero’s and Fernandez’s dads were part of that movie and here they are, 36 years later starring in the TV adaptation of the film.

i am just so thrilled that i get to be part of this new TV series, knowing that my father played the lead in the movie version in the 1980s when i was just around seven years old,” Fernandez told us recently when we saw him again after many, many years.

For his part, Lucero shared that he had goosebumps when he first learned that he will be playing the same character that his dad portrayed in the 1986 movie. “imagine, i’m reprising the role of dad for this new TV series. First, my screen name is from his character in the Mike de Leon classic film Batch ’81 where my mom and dad met and fell in love.

Then now, i’m playing the same role he played many decades ago. it is so amazing that even if he is no longer with us, a part of my dad continues to live on in this actor-son of his, and that, for me, is a priceless privilege.”

Playing the lead for this new TV series is Kiko Estrada, and he admits feeling the pressure given such a daunting task. “i am happy to be in a series with such great actors like Sid and Mark, and they continue to inspire me. They bring in their respective expertise and skills, culled from their years of experiences growing up in this industry, where life has also

brought me to. i continue to observe and learn from them each taping day, of course with the guidance of our directors Albert Langitan and dick Lindayag, who are both amazing action-drama directors. i have to admit that being entrusted the lead role is both a huge responsibility and a big challenge.”

Langitan shared that 10 years ago, when he first saw Estrada, he told the young lad then: “Kiko, ano ang ginagawa mo? Dapat action star ka!” True enough, manifestation happened, and Langitan was chosen to direct Estrada’s debut lead TV role in Lumuhod Ka sa Lupa.

Estrada also credits his stepdad Carlo Arcache Morales who, although not from show business, gives his all out support to Estrada. “He always reminds me to appreciate and never take for granted the unconditional love you get from your family who will always love and support you through the good and the bad. About work, my dad tells me from time to time to always remain humble, to work hard and take any assignment seriously, and to treat people at work with respect.”

while Estrada is still single, both Lucero and Fernandez are already daddies. Fernandez’s son grae is also trying his luck in acting, and will probably make his own mark in the future. Lucero’s daughter Halo is still young but is already showing interest in performance arts, based on her extra-curricular activities in school.

whatever the future holds, one thing is for sure: their dads are all proud of who Sid Lucero, Mark Anthony Fernandez and Kiko Estrada have become. n

lang ang nakikilala kong talagang nararapat na ituring na ganoon. Sa milyon-milyon na natutulungan mo, sa iyong sipag, sa kabuuan ng iyong pagnanais na makatulong sa kapwa, makapagbigay ng tapat at totoong balita, sa lahat ng natutulungan mo sa aming lahat, maraming salamat for being who you are and for what you become. we continue to be inspired by you and motivated in knowing that we have the Mel Tiangco as a Kapuso,” says duavit. Tiangco’s heart is full of gratitude as she remains a loyal gMA anchor. Mula sa kaibuturan ng puso ko, maraming-maraming salamat po sa patuloy na pagtangkilik ninyo sa 24 Oras. Ang appreciation ko po d’yan ay hindi mabibilang sa pasasalamat at ito ay naging no. 1 Filipino TV program noong 2023. Ibig sabihin po niyan, mas pinanood siya kesa sa iba pang mga programa sa buong Pilipinas. Can you just imagine ang loyalty nila sa 24 Oras? Maramingmaraming salamat at patuloy po naming gagampanan ang aming tungkulin para sa inyong lahat saan mang lugar kayo sa buong mundo. Kayo’y makakaasa na inyong mapagkakatiwalaan talaga ang 24 Oras,” she said.

Present to celebrate

Magsumbol; AVP

news

deputy head for news

dimapawi; AVP for integrated news, regional TV and synergy administration Maria Teresa Bernabe; AVP and deputy head for integrated news social media team Aileen Perez; and 24 Oras program manager Marielle Ventura. Also in attendance was corporate affairs and communications vice president Angel Javier Cruz. with a career spanning over 40 years, Tiangco has been regarded as one of the country’s highly esteemed news figures.

On top of her 24 Oras duties, Tiangco continues to bring heartwarming and inspiring stories through the award-winning drama anthology Magpakailanman and help others via the network’s socio-civic arm Kapuso Foundation where she currently serves as its ambassador and special adviser.

RIZAL Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC) honored its partner micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) as leading advocates for financial inclusion in the provinces of Luzon during the RCBC ATM Go Gawad Kabalikat sa Negosyo 2024 Sales Rally and Regional Awards held last April 1, 2024 at The Monochrome in Nuvali, Sta. Rosa, Laguna.

A total of 100 MSMEs from Luzon received distinctions from RCBC as champions of the bank’s mission of making digital banking services accessible to Filipinos living in low-income, remote, and rural areas. The collaborative efforts of the partner merchants and RCBC yielded a whopping coverage rate of 81 percent of municipalities, 100 percent of cities, and 100 percent of provinces nationwide for the bank’s grassroots-oriented and bank-agnostic digital solution RCBC ATM Go.

RCBC has partnered with mSMEs since the inception of RCBC ATM Go to provide additional income for enterprises, tap into the social trust that they have built with their communities, and empower them to become leading advocates of digital finance and financial literacy in their areas.

The strong and meaningful partnerships RCBC has pursued with the public sector is part of the success of RCBC ATM Go. Officials from the government graced the event and congratulated RCBC and the merchants for successfully mounting the event and expanding the financial services network in the country. The agencies highlighted the essential role the bank plays in the country’s economy, financial community, and MSME sector.

The Cooperative Development Authority (CDA) recognized the hard work of the RCBC ATM Go merchants which include cooperatives in Luzon for making financial services reachable and functional in the most remote parts of the country.

“It shows they put heart, especially empathy,

at the center of their innovations, services, and culture. We congratulate all the partner merchants including cooperatives with us today, and applaud them for their efforts to bring digital finance even to the farthest of places,” the Cooperative Development Authority Region IV-A’s Senior Cooperative Development Specialist Dexter Perez said.

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) also lauded the efforts of RCBC in increasing the opportunities for MSMEs to generate additional income. The government agency also highlighted the role of RCBC in enabling entrepreneurs to enjoy convenient business transactions through the bank’s wide array of business solutions.

“Financial institutions play a big role in the success of MSMEs and the business establishment. We are happy that RCBC has expanded its ATM Go network nationwide and is now recognizing its top partners in various regions. We wish our partner RCBC the best in their initiatives,” DTI Laguna Provincial Director Christian Ted Tungohan said.

The top merchants for Luzon expressed their gratitude to RCBC for recognizing their efforts.

“We are so happy that RCBC has this event for us merchants, that we can really feel that our businesses are doing well thanks to our hard workd,” Ann Aubrey Angeles, one of the top merchants from San Miguel, Bulacan, said in jubilation.

“The opportunity came in 2023, we were given this ATM Go ng RCBC and it changed our life. Sometimes, we sleep at 11 pm or 12 midnight every Friday night so that we can wait for the pay we get from the people we work for at RCBC ATM Go. But because of what we are earning now, we can enjoy ourselves, and we can really tell ourselves that with RCBC ATM Go, you can Go for More!,” said top merchant Engr. Andy Landicho from Batangas City.

During the sales rally, RCBC also introduced the newest features and capabilities of RCBC ATM Go that the merchants and their customers would enjoy for this year. On top of these innovative features is the acceptance of internationally registered credit and debit cards for cash withdrawals, activation of key partners as digital lending agents in a newly approved banking campaign, expansion of billers in the bills payment section, sending cash and accepting cash payouts, cash out services through QR codes, and opening of bank accounts through the ATM Go terminals.

The expanded list of services further elevates RCBC ATM Go as a powerful equipment that bridges rural and remote communities to the global and urban ecosystem of fintech and finance. The overall goal of introducing these services to the most distant and isolated communities is to give them economic opportunities to create livelihood and expand their businesses. Most importantly, these wider opportunities enable the merchants to expand their additional sources of revenue and capital and attract more MSMEs to join the growing community of digital finance advocates.

RCBC Executive Vice President and Chief of Innovations and Inclusion Officer Lito Villanueva addressed the champion merchants and thanked them for helping the bank’s financial inclusion drive. “RCBC ATM Go is our groundbreaking and pioneering phygital (physical-digital) blended banking solution. During the pandemic, while other banks are scrambling to shift to digital, RCBC is already there, two steps ahead, and scaling our digital services. Our ATM Go merchants strategically located all over the country greatly helped us in our march to digital and financial inclusion, empowering more of our kababayans and ensuring that “No Filipino is Left Behind,” Villanueva said.

Asia-Pacific 2024 as the Best CSR Communications

– Gold Award for the Save Our Planet, Save Our Seas - The Century Tuna’s “Saving Our Seas” Initiative.

The Saving Our Seas initiative was launched to address the growing the growing threat of plastic pollution, protect marine biodiversity, and reinforce the idea of plastic circular economy in the Philippines.

The PR Awards 2024, through the leading source of advertising, marketing, and media intelligence Marketing-Interactive, recognizes outstanding works that reflect the disciplines in the PR and communications industry in the region.

The campaign was also nominated for the Best Launch/Re-launch Campaign.

COMCO Mundo League of Enterprises received finalist citations in the different major categories including PR Team of the Year (Agency), PR Champion of the Year (Agency) for COMCO Mundo League of Enterprises’ Group Chief Executive Director and Lead Strategic Communications Counsel / Partner and Co-Founder Ferdinand L. Bondoy, and Best Anniversary Campaign for the “EPIC 7 Years with COMCO”. Samsung Electronics Philippines Corporation (SEPCO) also received a nomination in the Best PR Campaign: Electronics & Gadgets category for the 2023 Galaxy Z Series Launch. TARO AOX Inc., COMCO Mundo’s digital and integrated communications arm, is the PR and communications agency of SEPCO.

Corsa Motorcycle Tires, Suzuki Motoquest Redefine Streets Nationwide with Epic Tandem Success

GET ready to witness a revolution on the streets as Corsa Motorcycle Tires Philippines and Suzuki Philippines Inc.—MC Division join forces in an unprecedented partnership, redefining safety and performance across Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.

The Corsa #PalitCorsa drive, launched in collaboration with Suzuki Motoquest, marks the beginning of an inspiring journey towards safer and more thrilling rides nationwide.

Kicking off in Legazpi City, Albay on January 21, 2024, Corsa Tires invaded the streets of Isabela, Pangasinan, Nueva Ecija, and Bulacan in the Luzon region, showcasing their unparalleled safety and performance features through the #PalitCorsa safety drive.

Continuing their journey, Corsa Tires ventured further into the Visayas and Mindanao islands, leaving their mark in Bohol, Cagayan De Oro, Capiz, Cebu, Davao Del Norte, and Davao City. The campaign’s comprehensive coverage across key cities underscores Corsa and Suzuki’s commitment to promoting safe and thrilling rides nationwide.

Nationwide, Corsa Traction Masters are taking to the streets on stock Suzuki Smash Fi 115 motorcycles equipped with Corsa tires, ensuring safe exploration of key cities. Safety track stunt shows are putting

FMundo Epic 7 Years Anniversary campaign, and Media Relations Award for the Meaningful Storytelling with COMCOmigos: The COMCO Mundo League of Enterprises’ Media Relations Program.

The UNMASKED: The COMCO Mundo Write to Ignite Initiative Season 3 also received the finalist citations for the Digital & Social Media Award and Measurement and Evaluation Award.

Century Tuna and COMCO Southeast Asia, were recognized by the Marketing-Interactive PR Awards

Aside from the recent awards bagged at the PRCA APAC Awards and PR Awards, the Century Tuna’s “Saving Our Seas” Initiative also received the Platinum Award in Strategic Communications in the globally acclaimed MarCom Awards 2023 in the USA and the finalist citation at the ICCO (International Communications Consultancy Organisation) Global Awards 2023 in London, UK for Best Purpose Campaign.

“Being recognized by these highly esteemed organizations in the Asia-Pacific region is both a pride and honor for us in COMCO.

OLLOWING an evening of inspiration and creativity, D by Design proudly announced the successful launch of its brand, setting a new standard for premium living experiences. The event, hosted on April 5, 2024, at Ace Builders within SM City Fairview, unveiled D by Design’s mini showroom, inviting attendees to embark on an exploration of designer-inspired home finishing solutions.

As a trailblazer in empowering individuals to become the architects of their own living spaces, D by Design presents a diverse array of bath and home furnishing products meticulously curated to inspire and empower shoppers at Ace Builders in SM City Fairview. From luxurious bath fixtures to sophisticated home furnishings, each product is carefully selected to translate design aspirations into reality.

“D by Design aims to make designer-inspired home finishing products accessible to every Filipino

both riders and bikes to the test, encouraging motorcyclists to dominate the streets with top-notch motorcycles and tires.

The #PalitCorsa safety drive campaign is proudly supported by Black Mamba Energy Drink, Jabbre, and Omega Housewares, reinforcing the message that safely dominating the streets is a top priority. This commitment to safety aligns perfectly with Corsa Motorcycle Tires and Suzuki’s mission to promote responsible and exciting riding experiences nationwide

Commenting on the partnership, a spokesperson for Corsa Motorcycle Tires Philippines said, “Teaming up with Suzuki Philippines Inc.—MC Division on the Suzuki Motoquest platform allows us to reach even more riders across the nation, promoting safety and performance on every journey. Together, we aim to redefine the standards of street riding, ensuring that every rider experiences the ultimate thrill with Corsa and Suzuki.”

Corsa and Suzuki’s collaboration is set to continue its nationwide domination, promising even more exciting adventures on the road ahead.

For more information and updates on the Corsa #PalitCorsa drive and Suzuki Motoquest events, visit CorsaMotorcycleTiresPhilippines and Suzuki Motorcycle Philippines on social media.

home,” remarked Audrey Go, President and Chief Creative Officer at Dexterton Corp. “We extend a warm invitation to the community to unleash their inner designer, embrace creativity, and celebrate life’s milestones with us.”

The grand launch event showcased D by Design’s commitment to innovation, quality, and customer satisfaction, offering attendees a glimpse into a world of design possibilities. With interactive displays and personalized design consultations, guests were empowered to envision and create their dream spaces with confidence.

Discover D by Design is located at Ace Builders in SM City Fairview. Whether you’re a design enthusiast, a homeowner, or an industry professional, there’s always a D by Design product for everyone, empowering you to bring your design vision to life.

For more information, please visit Ace Builders and Dexterton Facebook and Instagram pages.

These Palestinian mothers in Gaza gave birth October 7. Their babies have known only war

By Julia Frankel & Wafaa Shurafa The Associated Press

NUSEIRAT, Gaza Strip— Rockets streaked through the morning sky in Gaza on October 7 as Amal Al-Taweel hurried to the hospital in the nearby Nuseirat refugee camp, already in labor. After a difficult birth, she and her husband, Mustafa, finally got to hold Ali, the child they spent three years trying to have.

despite all of the plans the couples made before the war, they fear the lives they had hoped to give their children is gone.

war. She and her husband, Mohammed Zaqout, had been trying to have a child for five years, and not even the terrifying explosions all around would stop them from going to the hospital to have their baby that night. Saqer gave birth to Masa, a name that means diamond in Arabic.

The families emerged from the hospital to a changed world. On the babies’ second day of life, Israel declared war on Hamas and its fighter jets swooped over the neighborhoods where Ali and Masa were supposed to grow up. In the six months since the children were born, the couples have experienced the trials of early parenthood against the backdrop of a brutal conflict.

The families’ homes were leveled by airstrikes, and they’ve had no reliable shelter and scant access to medical treatment and baby supplies. The infants are hungry, and

“I was preparing him for another life, a beautiful one, but war changed all of these features,”

Amal Al-Taweel told The Associated Press on Wednesday. “We barely live day by day, and we don’t know what will happen. There is no planning.”

Saqer recalled the hope she had before the war.

“This is my only daughter,” she said, rocking Masa gently in a cradle. “I prepared many things and clothes for her. I bought her a closet a week before the war. I was also planning her birthdays and everything. The war came and destroyed everything.”

From Nuseirat to Rafah

THE Al-Taweel family spent the first days of Ali’s life going between their home and relatives’ houses in search of safety. Nearby buildings kept being struck—first one next to Amal’s sister’s home, and then one next to her parents’ place.

As the family sheltered at home on October 20, Israeli authorities issued an evacuation order warning that a strike was imminent and residents had 10 minutes to leave.

“I had to evacuate. I couldn’t take anything; no IDs, no university certificates, no clothes for my child—nothing,” Amal Al-Taweel said. “Even milk, diapers, and toys that I bought for my child.”

The family found temporary refuge at Amal’s parents’ house in central Gaza, where 15 family members took shelter.

Not far away, Saqer, her husband and daughter crammed into a relative’s two-bedroom house where more than 80 members of her extended family were staying. It became so crowded, she said, that her male relatives built a tent outside so that the women and children could sleep more comfortably indoors.

As Israeli ground troops advanced on central Gaza in December, both young families headed Gaza’s southernmost city, Rafah, which is now home

to hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians.

Tent camps, no food LIKE many who have sought refuge in overcrowded Rafah, the AlTaweel family lived in a tent, where they stayed for over a month.

“It was the worst experience of my life; the worst conditions I have ever lived in,” Amal Al-Taweel said.

Israel has severely restricted aid deliveries of food, water, medicine and other supplies into Gaza during the war, which began with Hamas’ October 7 attack on southern Israel in which militants killed about 1,200 people and took roughly 250 hostages.

Israel has exacted a terrible toll: More than 33,000 Palestinians have been killed, around two-thirds of them women and children, according to Palestinian health officials whose death count doesn’t distinguish between civilians and fighters. Israel’s offensive has pushed Gaza into a humanitarian crisis, displacing over 80 percent of the population and leaving

more than 1 million people on the brink of starvation.

Ali, who was diagnosed with gastroenteritis before the family fled to Rafah, had chronic vomiting and diarrhea—signs of malnutrition that the UN’s main health agency says are now common in one of every six young Gazan children. He is underweight, at just 5 kilograms (11 pounds).

“I can’t even feed myself to properly feed my child,” said Amal Al-Taweel. “The boy is losing more weight than he gains.”

His parents fretted about the rashes on his face, trying to shield him from near-constant sun exposure in the tent.

Mustafa Al-Taweel spent months waiting tables at a Gaza City cafe to save up for baby food, toys and clothes. Now, he can’t buy his son even the simplest foods in Rafah. The war has brought shortages of the most basic necessities, with diapers and formula hard to find or unaffordable. They’ve had to rely on canned food provided by the UN.

“His father was working every day to provide him with milk, diapers, and many other things he needed,” said Amal Al-Taweel. “Even the toys are gone. There’s nothing we can afford to provide him.”

Needing help, the Al-Taweels decided to return to Amal’s parents’ home in central Gaza in February.

Not far from where the AlTaweels lived in Rafah, Masa and her parents found a spot in the Shaboura refugee camp. They lived in a small tent the couple made by stitching together flour bags, Saqer said.

Muddy water pooled around the tent when it rained, and the area always smelled of sewage. Doing anything involved waiting in line, meaning a trip to the bathroom could take hours.

Masa grew sick. Her skin turned

yellowish and she seemed to have a perpetual fever, with sweat beading on her small forehead. Saqer tried to breastfeed but couldn’t produce milk because she, too, was malnourished. Sores broke out across her breasts.

“Even when I endure the pain and try to breastfeed my daughter, what she drinks is blood, not milk,” she said.

Desperate, Saqer sold aid packets the family received from the UN to buy formula for Masa. Eventually, she decided to go back to central Gaza to seek medical treatment for her daughter, leaving her husband behind to mind their tent and setting off in a donkeypulled cart.

Back to central Gaza

BOTH mothers tried their luck at the Al-Aqsa hospital once they arrived in central Gaza. Saqer was lucky—doctors there told her that Masa had a virus and gave the baby medicine.

But they told Amal that Ali needed surgery for a hernia that they couldn’t perform. Like most other Gaza hospitals, Al-Aqsa is only conducting life-saving surgeries. After nearly six months of war, Gaza’s health sector has been decimated. Only 10 of Gaza’s 36 hospitals are still partially functioning. The rest have either shut down or are barely functioning because they ran out of fuel and medicine, were raided by Israeli troops or were damaged by fighting.

As the families ponder the future, they can’t imagine that their babies’ lives will be close to what they had envisioned. Saqer said that even if her family were able to return to their home in northern Gaza, they would find only rubble where their house once stood.

“The same I suffered in Rafah; I will suffer in the north,” she said. “All of our lives will be spent in a tent. It will certainly be a hard life.”

Even in the age of Google Earth, people still buy globes. Here’s why they remain alluring

By Laurie Kellman The Associated Press

LONDON—Find a globe in your local library or classroom and try this: Close the eyes, spin it and drop a finger randomly on its curved, glossy surface. You’re likely to pinpoint a spot in the water, which covers 71 percent of the planet. Maybe you’ll alight on a place you’ve never heard of—or a spot that no longer exists after a war or because of climate change. Perhaps you’ll feel inspired to find out who lives there and what it’s like. Look carefully, and you’ll find the cartouche—the globemaker’s signature— and the antipode (look it up ) of where you’re standing right now.

In the age of Google Earth, watches that triangulate and cars with built-in GPS, there’s something about a globe—a spherical representation of the world in miniature—that somehow endures.

London globemaker Peter Bellerby thinks the human yearning to “find our place in the cosmos”has helped globes survive their original purpose—navigation—and the Internet. He says it’s part of the reason he went into debt making a globe for his father’s 80th birthday in 2008. The experience helped inspire his company, and 16 years later is keeping his team of about two dozen artists, cartographers and woodworkers employed.

“You don’t go onto Google Earth to get inspired,” Bellerby says in his airy studio, surrounded by dozens of globes in various languages and states of completion. “A globe is very much something that connects you to the planet that we live on.”

Or, as Scottish-born American explorer John Muir wrote in 1915: “When we contemplate

the whole globe as one great dewdrop, striped and dotted with continents and islands, flying through space with other stars all singing and shining together as one, the whole universe appears as an infinite storm of beauty.”

Building a globe amid breakneck change?

BEYOND the existential and historical appeal, earthly matters such as cost and geopolitics hover over globemaking. Bellerby says his company has experience with customs officials in regions with disputed borders such as India, China, North Africa and the Middle East.

And there is a real question about whether globes—especially handmade orbs—remain relevant as more than works of art and history for those who can afford them. They are, after all, snapshots of the past—of the way their patrons and makers saw the world at a certain point in time. So they’re inherently inaccurate representations of a planet in constant flux.

“Do globes play a relevant role in our time? If so, then in my opinion, this is due to their appearance as a three-dimensional body, the hard-to-control desire to turn them, and the attractiveness of their map image,” says Jan Mokre, vice president of the International Coronelli Society for the Study of Globes in Vienna. “Perhaps a certain nostalgia effect also plays a role, just as old cars and mechanical watches still exert a certain attraction on people.”

Joshua Nall, Director of the Whipple Museum of the History of Science in Cambridge, says a globe remains a display of “the learning, the erudition, the political interests of its owner.”

“Sadly, I think globe usage probably is declining, perhaps particularly in the school

setting, where digital technologies are taking over,” Nall says. “I think now they’re perhaps more becoming items of overt prestige. They’re being bought as display pieces to look beautiful, which of course they always have been.”

How, and how much?

BELLERBY’S globes aren’t cheap. They run from about 1,290 British pounds (about $1,900) for the smallest to six figures for the 50-inch Churchill model. He makes about 600 orbs a year of varying size, framing and ornamentation.

Creating them is a complex process that starts with the construction of a sphere and progresses to the application of fragile petalshaped panels, called “gores,” that are fitted together around the sphere’s surface. Artists perched around Bellerby’s London studio painstakingly blend and apply paint—dreamy cobalt and mint for the oceans, yellow, greens and ochre for the landscape.

The imagery painted on the globes runs the

gamut, from constellations to mountains and sea creatures. And here, The Associated Press can confirm, be dragons.

Who buys a globe these days?

BELLERBY doesn’t name clients, but he says they come from more socioeconomic levels than you’d think—from families to businesses and heads of state. Private art collectors come calling. So do moviemakers.

Bellerby says in his book that the company made four globes for the 2011 movie, “Hugo.”

One globe can be seen in the 2023 movie “Tetris,” including one, a freestanding straight-leg Galileo model, which features prominently in a scene. And yes, some of the planet’s wealthiest people buy them. The family of German tool and hardware company chairman Reinhold Wurth gave him a Churchill, the largest model, for his 83rd birthday. It is now on display at the Museum Wurth 2 in Berlin.

His granddaughter, Maria Wurth, says in an Instagram video that the piece highlights the history of the company and the magnate’s travels.

A ‘political minefield’

THERE is no international standard for a correctly drawn earth. Countries, like people, view the world differently, and some are highly sensitive about how their territory is depicted. To offend them with “incorrectly” drawn borders on a globe is to risk impoundment of the orbs at customs.

“Globemaking,” Bellerby writes, “is a political minefield.”

China doesn’t recognize Taiwan as a country. Morocco doesn’t recognize Western Sahara. India’s northern border is disputed. Many Arab countries, such as Lebanon, don’t acknowledge Israel. Bellerby says the company marks disputed borders as disputed: “We cannot change or rewrite history.”

Speaking of history, here’s the ‘Earth Apple’ SCIENTISTS since antiquity, famously Plato and Aristotle, posited that the earth is not flat but closer to a sphere. (More precisely, it’s a spheroid—bulging at the equator, squashed at the poles).

No one knows when the first terrestrial globe was created. But the oldest known surviving one dates to 1492. No one in Europe

knew of the existence of North or South America at the time.

It’s called the “Erdapfel,” which translates to “earth apple” or “potato.” The orb was made by German navigator and geographer Martin Behaim, who was working for the king of

Portugal, according to the Whipple Museum in Cambridge. It contained more than just the cartographical information then known, but also details such as commodities overseas, market places and local trading protocols.

It’s also a record of a troubled time.

“The Behaim Globe is today a central document of the European world conquest and the Atlantic slave trade,” according to the German National Museum’s web page on the globe, exhibited there. In the 15th century, the museum notes, “Africa was not only to be circumnavigated in search of India, but also to be developed economically.

“The globe makes it clear how much the creation of our modern world was based on the violent appropriation of raw materials, the slave trade and plantation farming,” the museum notes, or “the first stage of European subjugation and division of the world.”

Twin globes for Churchill and Roosevelt during WWII

IF you’ve got a globe of any sort, you’re in good company. During World War II, two in particular were commissioned for leaders on opposite sides of the Atlantic as symbols of power and partnership.

For Christmas in 1942, the United States delivered gigantic twin globes to American president Franklin Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. They were 50 inches in diameter and hundreds of pounds each, believed to be the largest and most accurate globes of the time. It took more than 50 government geographers, cartographers, and draftsmen to compile the information to make the globe, constructed by the Weber Costello Company of

By Josef Ramos

WNational beach volley team ‘work in progress’

By Aldrin Quinto

BRAZILIAN coach Joao Luciano

Kiodai had glowing words for his wards in the national team but stressed the need to temper expectations after their impressive performances in the Smart Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) Beach Tour Nuvali Open.

“We’re still in the beginning of the process,” Kiodai said. “It was great, the first experience this year in competition. We’ve been training for two months and a half, we have new teams, different from last year and we have to start from the bottom.”

“I’m happy for the teams because we showed that we can,” he said. “We lacked experience in competition but we played some good matches.”

The players seem to be all in on the “process.”

Previous University Athletic Association of the Philippines rivals and now partners Rancel Varga and James Buytrago, the towering pair of Ran Abdilla and AJ Pareja, Air Force spikers Kly Orillaneda and Gen Eslapor, and even Alexa Polidario and Jenny Gaviola had their time to shine on the show court of the world-class Nuvali Sand Courts by Ayala Land in the City of Santa Rosa. They displayed great skill and determination, but the inexperience was evident and unfortunately, none made it to the medal rounds.

The wide grins that accompanied the wins in the preliminaries were replaced by apologetic smiles, their shoulders sagged as they looked at their coaches in the spectator stands. Kiodai said he was never disappointed.

“Losing teaches you more than the wins. We improve the level,” Kiodai said.

“We have to keep our feet on the ground, we know our level. We are in the process, there’s a process, we are just starting and here we had the bonus of playing against teams of higher levels.” Kiodai added that expecting a big jump in quality after a week of international play isn’t fair.

“We will do our best. If we get better results than these, that’s great,” Kiodai said.

Varga and Buytrago  admitted they had lapses and vowed to do better as they gear up for the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour-Futures from April 11 to 14 also in Nuvali.

“There’s some disappointment for sure…we could have done better,” said the 24-year-old Varga, a two-time UAAP MVP while playing for University of Santo Tomas. “But we’re not discouraged. In fact we’re more confident.”

Buytrago and Varga swept their Indonesian rivals in the opener before a three-set loss to a Japanese pair. They bowed out of at the Round of 16 stage with a straight-sets loss to another Indonesian squad.

“Like I said, one set at a time, one match at a time. It’s a new tournament and we will play armed with the experience from the AVC,” said Buytrago, a 25-year-old Cambodia Southeast Asian Games bronze medalist and former National University star. The eldest but one of the most recent additions to the squad, 35-yearold Pareja gives the team an instant

Eager to claim the top spot this time is Dutchman Guido van der Valk after heartbreaking second-place finishes at Apo and Rancho Palos Verdes, won by Lloyd Go. Van der Valk was 12th last year at the Caliraya course known for its undulating terrains, water hazards and tricky surface. The Dutchman feels ready for the big win in the P2.5 million championship sponsored by ICTSI and organized by Pilipinas Golf Tournaments Inc. “Caliraya is a little bit of a combination of the two courses we played in Davao,” Van der Valk said. “I’ve had a decent preparation this time around, so if I can get my green reading correct, it should be a nice week for me. I think Caliraya is more of a second shot course,” he added.

But their quest for glory is set against a backdrop of intense competition, notably with the return of last year’s top player Daniella Uy, defending champion Pauline del Rosario and former US Girls’ Junior titlist Princess Superal. The field is further enriched by the presence of multi-titled Chanelle Avaricio, last year’s South Pacific leg winner Florence Bisera and Match Play titlist Mikha Fortuna, setting the stage for an unpredictable week in the event where there are no clear favorites and every player a potential champion.

boost with his 6-foot-4 frame and the wingspan of a light aircraft, his monster blocks always drawing huge cheers from the crowd. But admittedly he has a lot to work on, and mainly credited the 6-foot-2 Abdilla for their fine performances.

“Overall, I’m really, really happy with the performance of my partner, he was a big assist to me,” Pareja said.

Pareja and Abdilla came up with a thrilling straight-sets win over an Australian pair in the opener before getting edged out by a Japanes team in the second preliminary match and an Iranian pair in the Round of 16.

“We hope to bring everything we’ve learned from here. No way to go but up.”

Eslapor and Orillaneda, Air Force personnel stationed hundreds of kilometers apart, are putting their trust in the coaches.

“We still have a lot of things to work on, individually and as a team, but we believe in the program, the system. We will develop the partnership,” said the Manila-based Eslapor.

Big hitters will have some advantage, but Lascuña’s dominant run last year proved strategic play at the challenging course will help those lacking in driver length.

“The course is in great condition, so it’s all about who gets off to the best start,” said Lascuña, who joint third at Apo and 10th at Palos Verdes.

Ababa, meanwhile, hopes to get things going again after following up his Apo win with a joint-25th finish at Palos Verdes.

“My expectations are mixed, about 50-50. My swing hasn’t been great lately. But I think a score of 13or 15-under could likely clinch the championship here,” said Ababa.

“I don’t have too many expectations. I’ll just play my game and do my best,” said Bisera. “After all, we’ve all practiced and are all ready for this tournament.”

With 2016 Order of Merit champion Chihiro Ikeda and title-hungry Marvi Monsalve, Pamela Mariano, Apple Fudolin, Kristine Fleetwood, Lucy Landicho, Miya Legaspi and Korean Seoyun Kim, who finished runner-up to del Rosario last year, the P1 million championship sponsored by ICTSI and organized by Pilipinas Golf Tournaments Inc. (PGTI) is poised for a dramatic start and an even more spectacular conclusion on Thursday.

C-Stan

Terrafirma’s Mark  Carino during their Philippine Basketball Association Philippine Cup duel at Ninoy Aquino Stadium on Sunday night. The Dyip stunned the Gin Kings, 91-85, to get closer to a quarterfinals seat with a 4-3 won-lost card while sending their opponents to a 3-3 recoed. RUDY ESPERAS

“We learned a lot this week and we will apply them in future tournaments.” Orillaneda, stationed in Davao and was able to train with Eslapor for the Nuvali Open for only three weeks, is pleased to come up with a solid performance despite the odds. They swept past their Singaporean rivals in the first match before bowing to teams from Kazakhstan, then Australia in the Round of 16.

“There are things that we need to focus on and improve, but overall this week was a good one,” Orillaneda said.

“I’m able to adjust, and same with her. We had no expectations and like coach Kiodai said we had nothing to lose,” she added.

HAT Tokyo Olympics gold medalist Hidilyn Diaz-Naranjo missed in Phuket Vanessa Sarno ably capped by snatching for herself a ticket to Paris on Sunday at the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) World Cup—the last qualifier to the Summer Games. Diaz-Naranjo was off her comfort zone at -59 kgs and won’t be in her fifth-straight Olympic appearance but Sarno (women’s +71 kgs), Erleen Ann Ando (women’s -59 kgs) and John Febuar Ceniza (men’s 61 kgs) rose to the challenge to make it a nine-athlete contingent to Paris so far.

While Diaz-Naranjo and husbandcoach Julius went on a delayed honeymoon in Phuket with the gold medalist saying she would “discern first everything” in the aftermath of her 11th world ranking, Sarno’s coaches beamed with confidence on the Tagbiliran City pride’s chances in Paris.

“We’re very optimistic that Vanessa [Sarno] could lift more as we still have three more months to develop and prepare her,” Samahang Weightlifting ng Pilipinas national coach Tony Agustin told BusinessMirror on Monday via internet call.

“Sky’s the limit for Vanessa,” Patrick Lee, also a national coach, said. “Vanessa cannot be taken for granted especially now that she’s improving day by day. We’re pretty sure Vanessa will go for it in Paris.” Sarno missed her personal

best total lift of 249 kgs by 4 kilos but the 20-year-old Asian champion in 2021 topped Group B with 240 kgs on a new personal best and Philippine record 110 kgs in snatch. She hit 135 kgs in clean and jerk to rank No. 5 in the world in the weight class American Olivia Lynn Reeves (268 kgs), China’s Liao Guifang (264) and North Korea’s Song Kuk Hyang (261) dominated in Phuket. The IWF will officially announce the Paris qualifiers on April 18. Already qualified for Paris are boxers Eumir Felix Marcial, Aira Villegas and Nesthy Petecio, pole vaulter EJ Obiena and gymnasts Carlos Yulo and Aleah Finnegan.

No arms, no problem for champion para swimmer ‘Super Niño’ Dayon

By Claudeth Mocon

ABANKALAN CITY—Niño

KDayon was a sensation with his three swimming gold medals at the recent Palarong Panlalawigan in Bacolod City.

Born with phocomelia, Dayon scooped titles in the 50-meter freestyle, 50-meter backstroke and 50-meter butterfly, a strong performance everyone with disability would be championing.

“It was Lolo Regin who saw my potential in swimming,” said the 14-year-old Dayon who’s now called “Super Niño” because of his extraordinary feat.

His severely shortened arms— WebMD describes phocomelia as a rare congenital anomaly where the proximal aspect of an extremity is absent with the hand or foot attached directly to the trunk—are no hindrances to his goal and dreams.

But he has to work extra hard to be able to topple the odds—after class at 4 p.m., he rushes to practice that lasts two hours each time from Monday to Saturday.

“At the start of the training, I wanted to give up because it is too tiring,” the Ilonggo told BusinessMirror in a one-on-one interview. “But the goal of winning and experiencing the provincial meet kept me determined.”

The determination turned out as a right decision for Dayon, who’s also a consistent honor student being in the top three of his class since elementary. “I’m grateful I’m able to balance academics and my extra-curricular activity, swimming,” he said.

He completed Grade 6 at the Locotan Elementary School before transferring to the Fellowship Baptist College (FBC) in the city proper.

“As a Grade 7 student, at first, I was shy,” Dayon, his 17-year-old brother Kyrie, who’s also a serious volleyball player, by his side during the interview.

“But later, I was able to adjust.”

Now an eighth-grader, Dayon said he’s well-adjusted to his new environment and is thankful he enrolled at FBC, a Christian school, where he gained new friends.

“My teachers and adviser are also good to me,” he said.

Teased that he will be more popular now because of his recent achievement, he just smiled humbly.

Dayon dedicated his gold medals to the City of Kaankalan, FBC, his family and his supportive coach, Special Education (SPED) teacher Mary Grace Encarnacion, and swimming coach Jun Palma.

Alden Richards and basic carpentry IT’S not only swimming that Niño Dayon’s good at—he’s also a natural in basic carpentry.

Five years ago, Dayon was also featured in GMA-7’s “Kapuso Mo Jessica Soho (KMJS)” after his uncle uploaded his video of basic carpentry skills. He showed the KMJS team how he cuts wood with accuracy with a saw and hammer nails with precision. He did all that when he was only eight years old.

Then he got to meet Alden Richards, thanks to the same KMJS team that brought him to Manila to meet his favorite actor.

Dayon toughed Richards’s heart deep that the actor vowed to help him finish his college education. That wasn’t the last time both met though as Dayon and Richards saw each other again only last Thursday when the actor had a public guesting at nearby Himamaylan City.

“He [Richards] was so happy and was proud of me,” said Dayon, beaming.

Why the name Niño and bullying KYRIE DAYON told BusinessMirror that the family had other plans on how they’ll name his brother but chose “Niño” because he was born with short arms.

Dayon was also born on January 12 in 2010 while Kabankalan was celebrating the Sinulog Festival in honor the Santo Niño. But on a serious note, Niño Dayan appealed to “normal” individuals to never bully persons with disability. “I hope they will not bully persons like me,” he said. “They should be considerate and they should be sensitive towards us.”

He encouraged his fellow PWDs to be strong and pursue their dreams saying “nothing is impossible” as he thanked his parents, Michelle and Gilmark Sr., and his other siblings— Cyril (21), Janzen (16) and sixmonth-old baby brother Gilmark Jr. for their love and support.

on the attack Barangay Ginebra San Miguel’s Christian Standhardinger attacks

BRAZILIAN coach Joao Luciano Kiodai (third from left) and assistant coach Marcelo Joaquin Jr. (right) talks with national athletes (from left) Ran Ran Abdilla and AJ Pareja during the Nuvali event. NONIE REYES