BusinessMirror April 10, 2022

ROTARY CLUB OF MANILA JOURNALISM AWARDS

2006 National Newspaper of the Year 2011 National Newspaper of the Year 2013 Business Newspaper of the Year 2017 Business Newspaper of the Year 2019 Business Newspaper of the Year 2021 Pro Patria Award PHILIPPINE STATISTICS AUTHORITY 2018 Data Champion

EJAP JOURNALISM AWARDS

BUSINESS NEWS SOURCE OF THE YEAR

(2017, 2018, 2019, 2020)

DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

2018 BANTOG MEDIA AWARDS

www.businessmirror.com.ph

A broader look at today’s business

Sunday, April 10, 2022 Vol. 17 No. 184

The BARMM ‘tinderbox’ n

P25.00 nationwide | 2 sections 14 pages | 7 DAYS A WEEK

LISKONOGALEKSEY | DREAMSTIME.COM

Conflict monitoring group flags rising ‘intra and intergroup’ violence in Maguindanao

T

By Rene Acosta

HE Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) runs the risk of being a “failed experiment,” unless its leadership made up mostly of former officials and commanders of the still existing Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) will act fast to stop the violence and conflict gripping Central Mindanao.

During the past weeks, Maguindanao, in particular, the nerve center of the MILF, has recorded a spike in hostilities perpetrated by the province’s armed groups which should have been stopped, given the MILF officials’ promise years ago that creation of the BARMM would address Mindanao’s problems.

The flare-up of hostilities, which is impeaching the ability and credibility of former MILF officials to govern, was brought by a confluence of events and was influenced by political, economic, territorial control and even administration issues.

‘Ruptures’

A CONFLICT monitoring group, International Alert Philippines, which maintains a strong presence

in Mindanao, raised the alarming situation in BARMM in its security brief issued in February this year titled, “Internal Ruptures Within the Bangsamoro.”

It noted that the “run-up to the 2022 elections has seen a remarkable escalation in violence between and among actors least expected to be the source of uncertainty, instability and crisis in a region transitioning from conflict to peace.”

“The rupture is occurring within the ranks of armed groups that have entered into peace agreements with the government but not with their rivals,” it said.

The “intra and intergroup” violence is pitting the clans and armed followers of MILF commanders, “decommissioned or otherwise,” against each other.

PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 51.3850

“Not a week passes where there is no news about an MILF commander fighting or squaring off with the rival MNLF [Moro National Liberation Front] or the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters,” the conflict-monitoring group said.

Documented incidents

IN buttressing its report, it cited the ambush-killing of MILFBangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces (BIAF) Inner Guard Commander Peges Lentagi Mamasainged and eight of his men in Guindulungan, Maguindanao, on February 12. Mamasainged’s cousin, Jordan Mama Lintang alias Commander Jordan of MNLF, led the suspects.

Conflict Alert noted that the ambush site was located within the “perimeter area” of Camp Bader, a known camp of the MILF that straddles the towns of Guindulungan, Talayan and Datu Unsay.

“These camps are supposed to be the beacons of the peaceful transition from conflict where massive infrastructure and development investments are being poured by development banks and bilateral and multilateral aid agencies,” it said.

On February 7, another hours-long clash occurred, involving MILF commanders Jun Barang and Gringo and their men at Barangay Senditan in Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao, and forc-

ing the evacuation of 300 people.

On the night of February 10, both groups fought again until the morning of the following day in the tri-boundaries of Cotabato City, Sultan Mastura and Sultan Kudarat, which Conflict Alert said became more violent and destructive as several houses were looted and destroyed.

The clashes were not isolated as encounters involving MILF commanders have become the focus of conflict monitoring in Maguindanao and its borders with Lanao del Sur and Cotabato beginning in the second half of last year.

“Ruptures between kinship networks and former comradesin-arms are often propelled by enduring land conflicts between MILF commanders, between MILF and MNLF commanders, and between MILF and other armed groups of indigenous peoples and settlers,” Conflict Alert said.

The violence involving armed groups in the province was aggravated by political feuds involving politicians in Maguindanao, notably in Guindulungan, Datu Piang, Shariff Aguak, Datu Paglas and Cotabato City.

Another battle in Talitay, Maguindanao, concerned control over political office in the town and the province of Maguindanao, as well as control over the “illicit trade and distribution of illicit drugs.”

A violent clan feud was reignited in March 2021 between the late former Mayor Montasir Sabal and a rival clan associated with the MILF that displaced about 700 families or 3,500 individuals.

The massive displacement prompted the Council of Talitay to declare the area under a state of calamity.

Montasir was later arrested in the government’s anti-drugs war and killed inside a police vehicle while being transported from Batangas City to Camp Crame after he allegedly tried to grab the gun of a police escort.

The Ministry of Interior and Local Government of the BARMM appointed Acting ViceMayor Moner Sabal as the new mayor of Talitay. Moner Sabal, however, failed to show up in his office to perform his duties.

Stalemate

MAGUINDANAO Gov. Bai Mariam Mangudadatu of the powerful Mangudadatu political clan appointed Talitay Municipal Councilor Fahad Midtimbang to act as mayor.

The replacement order heightened tensions between the provincial governor and the MILF leadership in the BARMM. Minister Naguib Sinarimbo of BARMM opposed the governor’s decision and a stalemate remains.

“Since August 24, 2021, Moner Sabal has remained as

the de jure mayor, though Fahad Midtimbang is effectively exercising the duties of his office,” Conflict Alert said.

The conflict-monitoring group warned the feud is something that should be watched keenly as rivalries intensify between “armed groups at various levels.”

It noted that the governor is identified with the Ampatuan clan and is allied with former Sultan Kudarat Governor Pax Mangudadatu.

“Gov. Bai Mariam’s competitor for the provincial post of Maguindanao represents the other side of the Mangudadatu clan headed by Rep. Esmael ‘Toto’ Mangudadatu, allied with the MILF. The two clans also vie for the gubernatorial seat of Sultan Kudarat, with the son of Gov. Bai Mariam, Datu Ali Pax Mangudadatu, incumbent mayor of Datu Abdullah Sangki town in Maguindanao, running against the wife of Rep. Mangudadatu, Sharifa Akeel,” it said.

The election factor

THE situation was complicated by the Commission on Elections decision to cancel the certificate of candidacy of Mayor Mangudadatu for alleged lack of residency.

The mayoral race in Cotabato City and in Datu Piang also added to the current political strains in the province.

Continued on A2

n JAPAN 0.4146 n UK 67.1962 n HK 6.5561 n CHINA 8.0785 n SINGAPORE 37.7553 n AUSTRALIA 38.4360 n EU 55.9120 n SAUDI ARABIA 13.7005

Source: BSP (April 8, 2022)

NewsSunday BusinessMirror

A2 Sunday, April 10, 2022

www.businessmirror.com.ph

China ship shadows research vessel, Filipino scientists wary

A

By Jim Gomez The Associated Press

CHINESE coast guard ship last month maneuvered for days near a research vessel deployed by Philippine and Taiwanese scientists to undertake a crucial survey of undersea fault lines west of the northern Philippines, sparking concerns among the scientists on board, officials said Thursday.

The scientists on the R/V Legend, including five Filipinos, proceeded with their research despite the presence of the Chinese coast guard ship in the vicinity of the waters straddling the undersea Manila Trench from March 25 to March 30 off the northwestern Philippine city of Vigan in Ilocos Sur province.

The Chinese coast guard’s proximity sparked concern because the research vessel was towing a survey cable in the sea, a Filipino scientist told The Associated Press.

The ongoing offshore survey— a joint project of the National Institute of Geological Sciences at the University of the Philippines and the National Central University in Taiwan—aims to help map offshore faults and other geologic features that could set off future earthquakes, tsunamis and other

potentially catastrophic hazards in the region.

The month-long research is partly funded by the Philippine Department of Science and Technology and will end on April 13.

The Chinese coast guard ship maneuvered about 2 to 3 nautical miles (3 to 5 kilometers) from the R/V Legend for several days, according to Carla Dimalanta of the National Institute of Geological Sciences.

“Its proximity to the research vessel was cause for concern especially when the research vessel was towing a streamer cable for the scientific measurements that were being done,” Dimalanta told The AP in an emailed reply to questions about the incident.

She did not say if the Chinese coast guard ship warned the research vessel that it had illegally

IN this photo provided by the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), a Chinese Coast Guard ship sails near a PCG vessel during its patrol at Bajo de Masinloc, 124 nautical miles west of Zambales province, northwestern Philippines on March 2, 2022. A Chinese coast guard ship last month maneuvered for days near a research vessel deployed by Philippine and Taiwanese scientists to undertake a crucial survey of undersea fault lines west of the northern Philippines, sparking concerns among the scientists on board, officials said Thursday, April 7, 2022. PHILIPPINE COAST GUARD VIA AP

entered Chinese territorial waters and should immediately move away, a warning China’s coast guard has often issued by radio to foreign ships and vessels cruising near its outposts in the South China Sea, which Beijing claims virtually in its entirety.

The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said it deployed a patrol ship, the BRP Capones, on Monday to keep watch on the research vessel.

China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei have been locked in an increasingly tense territorial standoff in the busy waterway for decades.

The Manila Trench, which runs off the western coast of the main northern Philippine island of Luzon in the fringes of the South China Sea, has long been an area of concern because of the potential disaster it could unleash if a major earthquake and tsunami were generated in the busy waterway that borders several countries, including China, Taiwan and the Philippines.

It was not immediately known if the Philippine government has raised its concern over the Chinese coast guard’s movement near the scientific research vessel.

Two Filipino officers told The AP without elaborating that the

Philippine military was aware of the incident. They spoke on condition of anonymity because of a lack of authority to discuss the issue publicly.

There was no immediate comment from Chinese Embassy officials in Manila.

Late last month, the PCG said that Chinese coast guard ships maneuvered dangerously close to its patrol ships at least four times in the vicinity of the disputed Scarborough Shoal off the northwestern Philippines over the past year.

The movement of the Chinese coast guard ships increased the risk of collision and violated international safety regulations, the Philippine coast guard said then.

In one of those dangerous movements, a Chinese coast guard ship moved just 21 yards (63 feet) from a PCG patrol vessel and restricted its maneuvering space in the vicinity of the Scarborough Shoal in a “clear violation” of a 1972 international safety regulation that aims to prevent sea collisions, said the PCG, which reported the incidents to the Department of Foreign Affairs in Manila.

China’s seizure of Scarborough Shoal prompted the Philippines to bring the disputes to international arbitration. In 2016,

a UN-backed tribunal invalidated most of China’s claims and said it has violated the rights of Filipinos to fish at the shoal.

China dismissed the ruling as a sham and continues to defy it but has allowed Filipino fishermen to return to the shoal under Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, who nurtured closer ties with Beijing after taking office in 2016.

Despite cozier relations, however, sporadic territorial spats have persisted.

Two weeks ago, US Indo-Pacific Commander Adm. John C. Aquilino told The AP on board a US Navy reconnaissance aircraft that China has fully militarized three of the seven islands it built in the disputed Spratlys archipelago in the South China Sea, arming them with anti-ship and anti-aircraft missile systems, laser and jamming equipment and military aircraft in an increasingly aggressive move that threatens all nations operating in the disputed waters.

China responded by saying that its deployment of “necessary national defense facilities on its own territory is a right entitled to every sovereign country and is in line with international law, which is beyond reproach.”

The BARMM ‘tinderbox’ Continued from A1

“It is important to understand that these tensions are partly the outcome of a twist in the political posturing of the MILF leadership regarding local elections,” Conflict Alert said.

“Having convinced President Duterte to agree to a postponement of the BARMM elections due to electoral unpreparedness and the unfinished business of transitional governance, the MILF promptly turned around to actively participate in the midterm elections by using their clout, influence and resources to support rival candidates that did not subscribe to their demand for no-elections at the Bangsamoro,” it added.

International Alert said that

tensions and conflicts are not only limited to the politicians and members of armed groups in Bangsamoro, but also include non-Moro indigenous communities who were allegedly bullied by the MILF, MNLF and another armed group, the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters.

“There has been no respite in reported cases of intimidation and harassment against the Teduray and other non-Islamized indigenous groups by armed groups associated with the MILF,” it said, noting the presence of armed men in coastal areas of Maguindanao, particularly in Datu Blah Sinsuat, where the MILF is reportedly “intensifying its recruitment and expansion in the area,” causing concern among indigenous residents.

It recalled reporting in October last year that armed groups with links to MILF Commanders Micro and Bulantoy have been forcing the Teduray in Barangay Kuya and Barangay Jordan in South Upi to join a “cooperative” being organized in the area.

“Local sources have reported that the organization of a cooperative is only part of a bigger scheme for the armed groups to qualify as beneficiaries under the BARMM development programs,” it said.

“Apart from these onerous attempts to corner development funds in the name of the indigenous peoples, local leaders have also been targeted by the BIFF in numerous cases involving land in South Upi, Maguindanao and Lebak, Sultan Kudarat,” it added.

The World

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

BusinessMirror

Sunday, April 10, 2022

A3

Race on to rearm eastern front that could decide Ukraine war A

Ukrainian soldiers celebrate at a checkpoint in Bucha, in the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine,w on April 3, 2022. Kyiv was a Russian defeat for the ages. It started poorly for the invaders and went downhill from there. AP/Rodrigo Abd

Russia’s failure to take down Kyiv was a defeat for the ages

By Robert Burns

AP National Security Writer

W

ASHINGTON—Kyiv was a Russian defeat for the ages. The fight started poorly for the invaders and went downhill from there.

When President Vladimir Putin launched his war on February 24 after months of buildup on Ukraine’s borders, he sent hundreds of helicopter-borne commandos—the best of the best of Russia’s “spetsnaz” Special Forces soldiers—to assault and seize a lightly defended airfield on Kyiv’s doorstep.

Other Russian forces struck elsewhere across Ukraine, including toward the eastern city of Kharkiv as well as in the contested Donbas region and along the Black Sea coast. But as the seat of national power, Kyiv was the main prize. Thus the thrust by elite airborne forces in the war’s opening hours.

But Putin failed to achieve his goal of quickly crushing Ukraine’s outgunned and outnumbered army. The Russians were ill-prepared for Ukrainian resistance, proved incapable of adjusting to setbacks, failed to effectively combine air and land operations, misjudged Ukraine’s ability to defend its skies, and bungled basic military functions like planning and executing the movement of supplies.

“That’s a really bad combination if you want to conquer a country,” said Peter Mansoor, a retired Army colonel and professor of military history at Ohio State University.

For now at least, Putin’s forces have shifted away from Kyiv, to eastern Ukraine.

Ultimately, the Russian leader may achieve some of his objectives. Yet his failure to seize Kyiv will be long remembered—for how it defied prewar expectations and exposed surprising weaknesses in a military thought to be one of the strongest in the world.

“It’s stunning,” said military historian Frederick Kagan of the Institute for the Study of War, who says he knows of no parallel to a major military power like Russia invading a country at the time of its choosing and failing so utterly.

On the first morning of the war, Russian Mi-8 assault helicopters soared south toward Kyiv on a mission to attack Hostomel airfield on the northwest outskirts of the capital. By capturing the airfield, also known as Antonov airport, the Russians planned to establish a base from which to fly in more troops and light armored vehicles within striking distance of the heart of the nation’s largest city.

It didn’t work that way. Several Russian helicopters were reported to be hit by missiles even before they got to Hostomel, and once settled in at the airfield they suffered heavy losses from artillery fire.

An effort to take control of a military airbase in Vasylkiv south of Kyiv also met stiff resistance and reportedly saw several Russian Il-76 heavy-lift transport planes carrying paratroopers downed by Ukrainian defenses.

Although the Russians eventually managed to control Hostomel airfield, the Ukrainians’ fierce resistance in the capital region forced a rethinking of an invasion plan that was based on an expectation the Ukrainians would quickly fold, the West would dither, and Russian forces would have an easy fight.

Air assault missions behind enemy lines, like the one executed at Hostomel, are risky and difficult, as the US Army showed on March 24, 2003, when it sent more than 30 Apache attack helicopters into Iraq from Kuwait to strike an Iraqi Republican Guard division. On their way,

the Apaches encountered small arms and anti-aircraft fire that downed one of the helos, damaged others and forced the mission to be aborted. Even so, the US military recovered from that setback and soon captured Baghdad.

The fact that the Hostomel assault by the Russian 45th Guards Special Purpose Airborne Brigade faltered might not stand out in retrospect if the broader Russian effort had improved from that point. But it did not.

The Russians did make small and unsuccessful probes into the heart of Kyiv, and later they tried at great cost to encircle the capital by arcing farther west. Against enormous odds, the Ukrainians held their ground and fought back, stalling the Russians, and put to effective use a wide array of Western arms, including Javelin portable anti-tank weapons, shoulderfired Stinger anti-aircraft missiles and much more.

Last week the Russians abandoned Hostomel airfield as part of a wholesale retreat into Belarus and Russia.

A sidelight of the battle for Kyiv was the widely reported saga of a Russian resupply convoy that stretched dozens of miles along a main roadway toward the capital.

It initially seemed to be a worrisome sign for the Ukrainians, but they managed to attack elements of the convoy, which had limited off-road capability and thus eventually dispersed or otherwise became a non-factor in the fight.

“They never really provided a resupply of any value to Russian forces that were assembling around Kyiv, never really came to their aid,” said Pentagon spokesman John Kirby. “The Ukrainians put a stop to that convoy pretty quickly by being very nimble, knocking out bridges, hitting lead vehicles and stopping their movement.”

Mansoor says the Russians underestimated the number of troops they would need and showed “an astonishing inability” to perform basic militar y functions. They vastly misjudged what it would take to win the battle for Kyiv, he says.

“This was going to be hard even if the Russian army had proven itself to be competent,” he said. “It’s proven itself to be wholly incapable of conducting modern armored warfare.”

Putin was not the only one surprised by his army’s initial failures. US and other Western officials had figured that if the invasion happened, Russia’s seemingly superior forces would slice through Ukraine’s army like a hot knife through butter. They might seize Kyiv in a few days and the whole country in a few weeks, although some analysts did question whether Putin appreciated how much Ukraine’s forces had gained from Western training that intensified after Putin’s 2014 seizure of Crimea and incursion into the Donbas.

On March 25, barely a month after the invasion began, the Russians declared they had achieved their goals in the Kyiv region and would shift focus to the separatist Donbas area in eastern Ukraine. Some suspected a Putin ploy to buy time without giving up his maximalist aims, but within days the Kyiv retreat was in full view.

Putin may yet manage to refocus his war effort on a narrower goal of expanding Russian control in the Donbas and perhaps securing a land corridor from the Donbas to the Crimean Peninsula. But his failure in Kyiv revealed weaknesses that suggest Russia is unlikely to try again soon to take down the national capital.

“I think they learned their lesson,” said Mansoor. AP

s Russia refocuses its invasion of Ukraine on the east, recognition is growing in Kyiv and allied capitals that the window to prevent the nation’s partition and a long war of attrition may be narrow.

The recent withdrawal of Russian troops from around Kyiv represents a defeat, after Ukraine’s military stalled their advance with a combination of urban warfare and attacks on supply lines.

Yet to roll back, or even contain a grinding advance by reinforced Russian units across the eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions would mean taking the fight to open battlefields, requiring more than just the light anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles the US and Europe have supplied so far.

“Planes, shore-to-vessel missiles, personnel armored vehicles, heavy air-defense systems,” Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said before meeting with North Atlantic Treaty Organization counterparts in Brussels on Thursday, when asked what he was requesting.

Speaking after the meeting, he predicted that the coming battle for the east would be reminiscent of World War II, involving largescale operations and thousands of tanks and artillery pieces.

“Either you help us now— and I’m speaking about days not weeks—or your help will come too late and many people will die,” Kuleba said. He didn’t doubt Ukraine would receive the arms it needs, he said, but “the question is the timeline.”

Six weeks after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his invasion of neighboring Ukraine, the war is entering a new phase, one that may allow Ukraine just weeks to procure and deploy those weapons.

That’s how long it’s likely to take Russia to reconstitute units for a major assault in the east, adding what areas of the Donbas region remain in Ukrainian hands to a swathe of territory it already holds. With that achieved, Russian forces could dig in for a long and destabilizing war to force an eventual settlement, imposing a heavy toll on Ukraine, as well as steep costs for Europe’s economy and for Russia itself.

“Allies should do more and are ready to do more to provide more equipment, and they realize and recognize the urgency,” Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said after Thursday’s meeting.

“This war may last for weeks, but also months and possibly also for years.”

The question of whether the war in Ukraine can be brought to an end quickly or develops into a years-long conflict such as in Syria—ongoing since 2011—is now seen as central, according to a Western official familiar with discussions among Nato allies.

The exposure of alleged Russian war crimes against civilians in reclaimed towns has given fresh impetus to US, UK and European Union sanctions against Russia.

The EU on Thursday agreed to ban imports of Russian coal, and discussions of potential oil and natural gas embargoes are likely to follow.

Sanctions have had no discernible impact on Putin’s invasion plans to date, so the focus is growing on weapons capable of evening the balance on the ground in what UK Armed Forces Minister James Heappey described in a statement Thursday as “this next phase of the conflict.”

Heappey had just hosted a group of senior Ukrainian officers, led by Deputy Defense Minister Volodymyr Havrylov, for demonstrations of “a range of equipment and options for further military support, including defensive missile systems and protected mobility vehicles,” according to the statement.

Nato has refused to send in troops to Ukraine or supply it with aircraft citing the risk of sparking a wider conflict with Russia. Neither will it enforce a no-fly zone as requested repeatedly by President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

Initial reluctance on the part of Nato allies to send larger offensive weaponry for the same reasons is subsiding, albeit too slowly from Ukraine’s point of view. Kuleba singled out Germany, welcoming Berlin’s seismic shift to provide arms at all, but criticizing its slow pace. “While Berlin has time, Kyiv doesn’t,” he said.

Germany had offered Ukraine 100 Marder tanks, but that deal now appears in doubt as they have been standing out in the rain so long they would need months of repair, according to a German official.

The UK already said it was adding its Starstreak anti-aircraft system to the 3,615 light anti-tank weapons, known as NLAWs, it has sent to Ukraine. The Times of London this week reported that the UK was also deciding between two armored patrol vehicle models— the Mastiff and Jackal—to send.

Australia said on April 1 it would be delivering its Bushmaster armored personnel carriers to Ukraine, after Zelenskyy requested them specifically. The same day, the US said it would help countries that have Soviet-design tanks familiar to Ukraine’s military transfer them to Kyiv.

Tanks, drones

The Czech Republic’s public broadcaster this week showed footage of five T-72 tanks and five armored vehicles loaded on a train, saying it was a delivery to Ukraine agreed with Nato allies. Defense Minister Jana Černochová confirmed in a tweet that the Czechs were making deliveries, but said she wouldn’t help Russia by identifying them.

Wa sh i ng ton i s a l so sending Ukraine Switchblade armed drones, as well as fresh supplies of

Javelin anti-tank missiles for use on the eastern front once the anticipated Russian assault begins, according to US officials.

The quantities of heavy weaponry are for now small and some equipment take months of training to operate. Whether enough can be deployed to the Donbas front in time to take on the expected Russian onslaught is unclear. High intensity conflict runs through ammunition and equipment fast, and Ukraine’s forces will face their own logistical challenges as Russia targets fuel and munitions depots in long range missile strikes.

Much will depend, too, on the Russian ability to reconstitute and concentrate forces that have taken a beating in the North.

To succeed, Ukraine will need not just tanks, but also good intelligence, more of the advanced light weaponry it has used to such effect and ample territorial forces to prevent the encirclement from behind of their front line forces, Mark Hertling, a former commander of the US Army in Europe, said in a Twitter thread.

“Donbas will be a battle of attrition,” he said. Bloomberg News

A4 Sunday, April 10, 2022

BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

www.businessmirror.com.ph

BusinessMirror

Sunday, April 10, 2022 A5

A6

Sunday, April 10, 2022

The World BusinessMirror

Endless misallocation of global capital increases climate risk, UN report warns

By Natasha White & Eric Roston

T

he world ’s leading clim at e f i n a n c e e x p e r t s and economists warn of a “persistent misallocation of global capital” as too much mon-

ey continues to pour into fossil fuels and too little is channeled to clean energy.

In its latest assessment of global efforts to contain climate change, published Monday, the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on

Bloomberg photo

Climate Change issued a stark alert that the world is on track to miss its target to limit global warming.

Finance is both driving the problem and a “critical enabler” in the energy transition, the panel said.

The IPCC findings add more cause for alarm amid signs that the energy transition is backsliding, as some nations scramble for polluting alternatives to Russia’s gas in the wake of its invasion of Ukraine. Financing for coalrelated projects is running at a rate that’s more than double last year’s pace. The world already f aced “ l a rge m ac roeconom ic headwinds” hampering climate finance “even before Covid-19,” said the IPCC authors. The war serves to compound these as the window to act narrows further.

The world stands at a tipping point or “pattern break” in the status quo, said Edward Mason, director at Generation Investment Management, a green finance firm co-founded by former US Vice President Al Gore, referring to the war in Ukraine and its impacts on the energy transition. “We mustn’t lose sight of the bigger picture.”

Bankrolling destruction

For the world to meet its climate target requires a “substantial reduction in overall fossil-fuel use” that “will leave a substantial amount of fossil fuels unburned,” the IPCC said. And yet the finance sector continues to fund fossilfuel development.

Over half of the 150 biggest financial institutions globally have no restrictions on financing oil and gas, and two-thirds of the world’s largest banks and asset managers are failing to set concrete climate targets for this decade, according to two separate analyses by NGOs. For their part, a whopping 83 percent of the world’s biggest polluting firms are yet to map a meaningful path to net-zero emissions, a leading investor alliance found.

Such shortcomings among financiers and corporations amount to a “systemic underpricing” of climate risk in the financial system, according to the IPCC. They also fly in the face of these finance firms’ public pledges, notably the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero. Launched at the COP26 climate summit last November, GFANZ members worth a combined $130 trillion committed to achieving net zero emissions by 2050 at the latest and delivering their fair share of 50 percent emissions reductions this decade.

“We often see these initiatives

are made for marketing and not concrete action,” said Lucie Pinson, executive director of Reclaim Finance, an NGO that authored one of the studies. “Now is the time for financial institutions to show that their climate pledges were not pure greenwashing and that they are serious about taking action this year.”

Bloomberg Green wrote to 18 firms for comment on Reclaim Finance’s findings, including Allianz, A X A, Credit Suisse and UBS. Of those that responded, all reiterated their commitments to net zero and considered their policies to be in line with them.

Most referred to their efforts to engage companies, rather than divest, which one asset manager described as “not the most impactful tool for investors” because “it limits the opportunity to impact positively on company behaviors.”

What’s clear is that there’s no time to kick the can down the road, said Christa Clapp, a coauthor of the new IPCC report’s finance chapter. “Despite recent commitments, these high levels of public and private fossil-fuel financing continue to be a major concern,” she said.

A ‘critical enabler’

If too much finance is going to fossil fuels, far too little is being spent on tackling and adapting to climate change, particularly in developing countr ies. T he gap between finance needs and availability is nothing new, said Clapp, but the “order of magnitude” has changed since the last such IPCC report in 2014.

Financing to prevent further climate change is falling short by up to a factor of six globally and eight for developing countries, the IPCC found. Money flows have increased over the past decade, but remain unevenly distributed across regions and sectors, and their growth has slowed.

Interspersed in the IPCC’s analysis are notes of optimism. In particular, “innovative financing approaches,” including green bonds and ESG-labeled products, could help reduce the underpricing of climate risk in markets.

The environmental-social-governance, or ESG, sector already encompasses $40 trillion in assets globally, and the label can be found on anything from an exchange-traded fund to a credit default swap. Such panoply of products and claims has led to allegations of greenwashing, cited in the new report as a “challenge” to the efficacy of such approaches. While regulators globally are beginning to apply scrutiny, integrity efforts to date have centered on transparency and corporate disclosures, such as those developed

by Task Force on Climate-related Disclosures. ESG strategies alone “do not yield meaningful social or environmental outcomes,” noted the IPCC authors, citing the need for stronger government policy and ultimately enhanced regulation. Bloomberg News

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Fed signals aggressive steps to fight inflation

W

ASHINGTON—Federal Reserve officials are signaling that they will take an aggressive approach to fighting high inflation in the coming months—actions that will make borrowing sharply more expensive for consumers and businesses and heighten risks to the economy.

In minutes from their March policy meeting, released Wednesday, Fed officials said that half-point interest rate hikes, rather than traditional quarter-point increases, “could be appropriate” multiple times this year.

At last month’s meeting, many of the Fed’s policymakers favored a half-point increase, the minutes said, but held off then because of the uncertainties created by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Instead, the Fed raised its key short-term rate by a quarter-point and signaled that it planned to continue raising rates well into next year.

The minutes said the Fed is also moving toward rapidly shrinking its huge $9 trillion stockpile of bonds in the coming months, a move that would contribute to higher borrowing costs. The policymakers said they would likely cut those holdings by about $95 billion a month—nearly double the pace they implemented five years ago, when they last shrank their balance sheet.

The plan to quickly draw down their bond holdings marks the latest move by Fed officials to accelerate their inflation-fighting efforts. Prices are surging at the fastest pace in four decades, and officials have expressed increasing concern about inflation.

The Fed’s plans “reflect their great discomfort with the rapid pace of inflation,” said Kathy Bostjancic, chief US financial economist at Oxford Economics.

The Fed is “increasingly worried” that consumers and businesses will start expecting price surges to persist, Bostjancic added, a trend that can itself prolong high inflation.

Many economists have said they worry the Fed has waited too long to start raising rates and could be forced to respond so aggressively as to trigger a recession. Indeed, economists at Deutsche Bank predict that the economy will tumble into a recession late next year, noting that the Fed, “finding itself now well behind the curve, has given clear signals that it is shifting to a more aggressive tightening mode.”

The stock market sold off when the minutes were released but later rebounded from its worst levels. Still, the S&P 500 index closed down nearly 1 percent after a sharp drop on Tuesday.

Markets now expect much steeper rate hikes this year than Fed officials had signaled as recently as their meeting in mid-March. At that meeting, the policymakers projected that their benchmark rate would remain below 2 percent by the end of this year and 2.8 percent at the end of 2023, up from its current level below 0.5 percent. But Wall Street now foresees the Fed’s rate reaching 2.6 percent by year’s end, with further hikes next year.

Higher Fed rates will, in turn, heighten costs for mortgages, auto loans, credit cards and corporate loans. In this way, the Fed hopes to cool economic growth and rising wages enough to tame high inflation, which has caused hardships for millions of households and poses a severe political threat to President Joe Biden.

Chair Jerome Powell opened the door two weeks ago to increasing rates by as much as a half-point. Lael Brainard, a key member of the Fed’s Board of Governors, and other officials have also made clear they envision such sharp increases. Most economists now expect the Fed to raise rates by a half-point at both its May and June meetings.

In a speech Tuesday, Brainard underscored the Fed’s increasing aggressiveness by saying its bond holdings will “shrink considerably more rapidly” over “a much shorter period” than the last time it reduced its balance sheet, from 2017-2019. At that time, the balance sheet was about $4.5 trillion. Now, it’s twice as large.

After the pandemic hammered the economy two years ago, the Fed bought trillions in Treasury and mortgage bonds, with the goal of lowering longer-term loan rates. It also cut its short-term benchmark rate to near zero.

As a sign of how fast the Fed is reversing course, the last time the Fed bought bonds, there was a three-year gap between when it stopped its purchases, in 2014, and when it began reducing the balance sheet, in 2017. Now, that shift is likely to happen in as few three months or less, with the reduction in the balance sheet likely to be announced as early as May. Brainard’s remarks caused a sharp rise in the rate on the 10-year Treasury note, which influences mortgage rates, business loans and other borrowing costs. On Wednesday, that rate reached 2.6 percent, up from 2.3 percent a week earlier and 1.7 percent a month ago. Average mortgage rates have leapt higher, reaching 4.67 percent last week, according to mortgage buyer Freddie Mac, the highest since 2018.

Shorter-term bond yields have jumped more, in some cases to above the 10-year yield, a pattern that has often been taken as a sign of an impending recession. Fed officials say, however, that shorterterm bond market trends aren’t flashing the same warning signals.

Gennadiy Goldberg, senior US rates strategist at TD Securities, said the narrow gap between longer- and shorter-term bond yields indicates that investors think the economy will slow enough in the next two years to force the Fed to scale back its rate hikes.

To shrink its balance sheet, the Fed will let some of its bonds mature without reinvesting the proceeds. What impact this might have is uncertain. Powell said last month that the reduction in bond holdings would be equivalent to another rate hike. Economists estimate that reducing the balance sheet by $1 trillion a year would be equal to anywhere from one to three additional quarter-point increases in the Fed’s benchmark short-term rate each year.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, who preceded Powell as Fed chair, suggested at a congressional hearing Wednesday that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine would likely keep escalating inflation in the coming months.

“The sanctions we’ve placed on Russia are pushing up the price of energy,” Yellen said. “When energy prices are going up, the price of wheat and corn that Russia and Ukraine produce are going up, and metals that play an important industrial role are going up.” AP

Science Sunday

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

BusinessMirror

Sunday, April 10, 2022

A7

The 2003 Human Genome Project pieced together only 92 percent of the DNA

Scientists finish decoding entire human genome W

hen the Human Genome Project announced that they had completed the first human genome in 2003, it was a momentous accomplishment—for the first time, the DNA blueprint of human life was unlocked.

But it came with a catch—they weren’t actually able to put together all the genetic information in the genome.

There were gaps: unfilled, often repetitive regions that were too confusing to piece together.

With advancements in technology that could handle these repetitive sequences, scientists finally filled those gaps in May 2021, and the first endto-end human genome was officially published on March 31.

I am a genome biologist who studies repetitive DNA sequences and how they shape genomes throughout evolutionary history. I was part of the team that helped characterize the repeat sequences missing from the genome.

And now, with a truly complete human genome, these uncovered repetitive regions are finally being explored in full for the first time.

The missing puzzle pieces German botanist Hans Winkler coined the word “genome” in 1920, combining the word “gene” with the suffix “-ome,” meaning “complete set,” to describe the full DNA sequence contained within each cell. Researchers still use this word a century later to refer to the genetic material that makes up an organism.

One way to describe what a genome looks like is to compare it to a reference book.

In this analogy, a genome is an anthology containing the DNA instructions for life. It’s composed of a vast

array of nucleotides (letters) that are packaged into chromosomes (chapters).

Each chromosome contains genes (paragraphs) that are regions of DNA which code for the specific proteins that allow an organism to function.

While every living organism has a genome, the size of that genome varies from species to species.

An elephant uses the same form of genetic information as the grass it eats and the bacteria in its gut.

But no two genomes look exactly alike. Some are short, like the genome of the insect-dwelling bacteria Nasuia deltocephalinicola with just 137 genes across 112,000 nucleotides.

Some, like the 149 billion nucleotides of the flowering plant Paris japonica, are so long that it’s difficult to get a sense of how many genes are contained within.

But genes as they’ve traditionally been understood—as stretches of DNA that code for proteins—are just a small part of an organism’s genome. In fact, they make up less than 2 percent of human DNA. The human genome contains roughly 3 billion nucleotides and just under 20,000 protein-coding genes—an estimated 1 percent of the genome’s total length.

The remaining 99 percent is noncoding DNA sequences that don’t produce proteins. Some are regulatory components that work as a switchboard to control how other genes work.

Others are pseudogenes, or genomic relics that have lost their ability to function.

And over half of the human genome is repetitive, with multiple copies of near-identical sequences.

What is repetitive DNA? The simplest form of repetitive DNA

They can also contribute to evolution. Researchers recently found that the insertion of a transposable element into a gene important to development might be why some primates, including humans, no longer have tails.

Chromosome rearrangements due to transposable elements are even linked to the genesis of new species like the gibbons of southeast Asia and the wallabies of Australia.

Completing the genomic puzzle In this April 14, 2003, photo, Dr. Francis Collins, director of the National Human Genome Research Institute, announces the successful completion of the human genome project in Bethesda, Maryland. In a research published in the journal Science on March 31, scientists announced they have finally assembled the full genetic blueprint for human life, adding the missing pieces to a puzzle nearly completed two decades ago. AP/Evan Vucci are blocks of DNA repeated over and over in tandem called satellites.

While how much satellite DNA a given genome has varies from person to person, they often cluster toward the ends of chromosomes in regions called telomeres.

These regions protect chromosomes from degrading during DNA replication. They’re also found in the centromeres of chromosomes, a region that helps keep genetic information intact when cells divide.

Researchers still lack a clear understanding of all the functions of satellite DNA. But because satellite DNA forms unique patterns in each person, forensic biologists and genealogists use this genomic “fingerprint” to match crime scene samples and track ancestry.

Over 50 genetic disorders are linked to variations in satellite DNA, including Huntington’s disease.

Another abundant type of repetitive DNA are transposable elements,

or sequences that can move around the genome.

Some scientists have described them as selfish DNA because they can insert themselves anywhere in the genome, regardless of the consequences.

As the human genome evolved, many transposable sequences collected mutations repressing their ability to move to avoid harmful interruptions. But some can likely still move about.

For example, transposable element insertions are linked to a number of cases of hemophilia A, a genetic bleeding disorder.

Transposable DNA may be the reason why humans have a tailbone but no tail.

But transposable elements aren’t just disruptive. They can have regulatory functions that help control the expression of other DNA sequences.

When they’re concentrated in centromeres, they may also help maintain the integrity of the genes fundamental to cell survival.

2-time IMO medalist tops 24th PHL Math Olympiad

A

perfect score sealed the deal in the recently concluded 24th Philippine Mathematical Olympiad (PMO).

Raphael Dylan T. Dalida of the Philippine Science High School- Main Campus, a veteran and a two-time medalist at the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO), topped over two dozen finalists in this year’s PMO with a perfect score, a rare feat in the national competition.

Dalida won a silver medal in last year’s IMO, and a bronze in the prior year.

Joining him in the podium are Filbert Ephraim S. Wu of Victory Christian International School who placed second, and Jerome Austin N. Te of Jubilee Christian Academy who settled for third.

Wu was coached by his brother, Farrell Eldrian Wu, who won the country’s first ever gold medal at the IMO in 2016, while Te is an up-and-coming prodigy.

With the win, Dalida, Wu, and Te bagged P25,000, P20,000, and P15,000 cash prizes, respectively, along with trophies, certificates. Their coaches also took home cash prizes.

The PMO is organized by the Mathematical Society of the Philippines (MSP) with support from the

Department of Science and Technology’s Science Education Institute (DOST-SEI).

Students from all over the country showcased their mathematical prowess in a virtual setup March 19 and 20.

“The student’s performances prove that the Filipino youth is ready to take

on the world and make a mark in prestigious competitions in the international level,” said DOST-SEI Director Josette Biyo. “They are world-class and are truly deserving to be called Olympians.”

Biyo added that the national finalists’ performances also provide optimism in the country’s continuous rise in its international ranking.

The Philippines notably placed 23rd over 107 participating countries in last year’s IMO, and supporters from DOST-SEI and MSP hope to add on the medal tally of 26 honorable mentions, 33 bronze medals, 12 silver medals, and four gold medals this year.

The 63rd IMO will be hosted by Oslo, Norway, in July.

Final participants to the world stage competition will be announced in May. MSP will conduct the Mathematical Olympiad Summer Camp to determine the six national bets for the upcoming IMO. S&T Media Services

Searca shares its interactive museum, robotics hub to DepEd

T

he Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (Searca) recently informs the Department of Education (DepEd) about its two new learning facilities for agricultural innovation that the department can use to promote smarter agriculture to students.

Searca Director Dr. Glenn B. Gregorio apprised Education Secretary Leonor M. Briones of the soon-to-open Searca Hub for Agriculture and Rural Innovation for the Next Generation (Sharing), an interactive museum, and the Searca iCreate, which will provide makerspaces and a training facility for robotics, prototyping and design thinking, Searca said in a news release.

Gregorio pointed out that the two facilities are avenues for Searca to promote farming innovation to learners in the post-pandemic normal.

“At Searca, we are one with DepEd in enriching the learning competencies

Searca Director Glenn B. Gregorio (right) apprises Education Secretary Leonor M. Briones about the Searca Hub for Agriculture and Rural Innovation for the Next Generation on March 29.

Searca photo

of our Filipino youth,” he said.

Gregorio added that through these platforms, “they can get their hands and

minds in action and go crazy with their innovative ideas, especially in smarter agriculture.”

He explained that the Sharing is designed not only as an agri-museum, but also as a learning center fitted with multimedia installations for interactive ideation sessions toward next-generation agriculture in Southeast Asia.

Meanwhile, the Searca iCreate is an open-shared complex that offer spaces for exhibitions, hackathons, business pitching and hands-on learning through Lego robot kits, robot arms and Minecraft game-based education platforms, Gregorio said.

Both learning facilities are annexed to the Searca headquarters in the University of the Philippines Los Baños campus in Los Baños, Laguna.

Briones commended Searca for its efforts to promote agriculture to young people and supporting DepEd’s mandate, the news release said.

“I applaud Searca for always making agriculture sexy. Thank you for your untiring dedication and support to DepEd,” Briones said.

Until recently, many of these complex regions could be compared to the far side of the moon: known to exist, but unseen.

When the Human Genome Project first launched in 1990, technological limitations made it impossible to fully uncover repetitive regions in the genome.

Available sequencing technology could only read about 500 nucleotides at a time, and these short fragments had to overlap one another in order to recreate the full sequence.

Researchers used these overlapping segments to identify the next nucleotides in the sequence, incrementally extending the genome assembly one fragment at a time.

These repetitive gap regions were like putting together a 1,000-piece puzzle of an overcast sky: When every piece looks the same, how do you know where one cloud starts and another ends?

With near-identical overlapping stretches in many spots, fully sequencing the genome by piecemeal became unfeasible. Millions of nucleotides remained hidden in the the first iteration of the human genome.

Since then, sequence patches have gradually filled in gaps of the human genome bit by bit. And in 2021, the

Telomere-to-Telomere (T2T) Consortium, an international consortium of scientists working to complete a human genome assembly from end to end, announced that all remaining gaps were finally filled.

With the completion of the first human genome, researchers are now looking toward capturing the full diversity of humanity.

This was made possible by improved sequencing technology capable of reading longer sequences thousands of nucleotides in length.

With more information to situate repetitive sequences within a larger picture, it became easier to identify their proper place in the genome.

Like simplifying a 1,000-piece puzzle to a 100-piece puzzle, longread sequences made it possible to assemble large repetitive regions for the first time.

With the increasing power of longread DNA sequencing technology, geneticists are positioned to explore a new era of genomics, untangling complex repetitive sequences across populations and species for the first time.

And a complete, gap-free human genome provides an invaluable resource for researchers to investigate repetitive regions that shape genetic structure and variation, species evolution and human health.

But one complete genome doesn’t capture it all. Efforts continue to create diverse genomic references that fully represent the human population and life on Earth.

With more complete, “telomereto-telomere” genome references, scientists’ understanding of the repetitive dark matter of DNA will become more clear. Gabrielle Hartley, University of

Connecticut/The Conversation CC via AP

Local pharma project on human skin 3D bioprinting to reduce animal testing

D

rug development and animal welfare in the Philippines are taking a big leap through the project “Three-dimensional Bioprinted Human Skin Equivalent” with a laboratory that will be the first in the country.

To be implemented by Pharma GalenX Innovations Inc., a local pharmaceutical company based in Iloilo, it will be funded under the Business Innovation through S&T (BIST) for Industry component of the Science for Change (S4C) Program of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST).

The project will enable GalenX to develop its own human skin equivalents (HSE) using a three-dimensional bioprinting technology to be utilized for in vitro biocompatibility studies of topical formulations.

Through the DOST-BIST Program, GalenX will be provided with P10.75 million to obtain a 3D bioprinting technology that will be used in its in-vitro biocompatibility studies.

The GalenX laboratory facility that will house the in-vitro biocompatibility assays and the bioprinting of HSE will be the first in the country.

The company currently spends at least P400,000 per test in laboratory fees abroad. With the support from the DOST-BIST program, GalenX will be able to directly manage testing and open the possibilities for discovering and developing new compounds and even create new products.

3D printing is a billion-dollar industry worldwide, where replication processes for research and testing are upgraded. The technology prints equivalents for plastic, metals and even human tissues.

“This BIST project will enable our Filipino scientists and researchers to do groundbreaking work, given the limitless potential of bioprinting,” said Science Secretary Fortunato T. de la Peña. “This project will have a profound impact on the commercial viability of these technologies and hopefully develop a better system for

product testing.”

Science Undersecretary Rowena Cristina L. Guevara said: “This is a very exciting time for our local industries as we have upgraded our R&D capabilities in drug discovery and development.”

Guevara added that 3D printing “addresses gaps in supply, safety and even provides an avenue for regenerative medicine. This signals great business potential to big pharmaceuticals and cosmetics companies.”

According to the Cruelty International report in 2015, at least 192.1 million animals were used for scientific purposes worldwide.

The figure includes experiments on animals to test safety, suitability and other properties, such as biocompatibility of products used on human skin such as lotions, cosmetics, ointments, among others.

This project addresses both the industry and academe’s need for a local facility that conducts biocompatibility studies since most research samples are being sent abroad for this type of assays.

Product development turn-around time for GalenX will also be shortened since samples will no longer have to be shipped to other countries for analysis. This means a quicker turnaround time and cheaper operating costs for the local company.

This would be very beneficial not just to industries seeking local availability of biocompatibility assays but also to academic researchers who are working on the discovery of new or novel compounds where biocompatibility assay is necessary.

The DOST-BIST Program aims to provide financial assistance to Filipino private companies for the acquisition of strategic and relevant technologies for them to be able to undertake R&D. The financial assistance, which may be used to purchase high-tech equipment or to secure technology licensing and/or patent rights, will be refunded to DOST at zero-percent interest. S&T

Media Services

A8

Sunday, April 10, 2022

Faith

Sunday

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

CBCP head to voters: ‘Don’t gamble the country’s future‘

W

ith the May 9 general election a little over a month away, the leader of the country’s Catholic bishops is calling on voters not to gamble away the country’s future by being indifferent to the plight of others.

The vote: A moral choice Bishop Pablo Virgilio David of Kalookan, president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), urged the faithful of the largely Catholic country to actively engage in politics by supporting candidates who have the necessary skills and experience to perform well in their office.

He made the call at the “Solidarity Mass for the Moral Choice” at the National Shrine of Our Mother of Perpetual Help in Baclaran, in Metro Manila’s Paranaque City on April 6.

Numerous bishops, priests, and religious men and women of the Manila Metropolitan See attended the Mass presided over by Archbishop Jose Cardinal Advincula.

David, who preached the homily in Filipino, insisted that now is not the time to be complacent about the country’s situation.

“Our low regard and inaction to politics will not bring development.

Let us not gamble the future of our country,” he said.

“Let us fight indifference. Let us be concerned for the welfare of others,” he added. “We are all interconnected.

What’s bad for them is bad for us… As good Christians, we have a responsibility to God to vote correctly and in accordance with conscience on May 9, 2022,” he urged.

The election will give the country a new president, vice president, 12 senators, and

a new term for local officials.

Fight disinformation David also urged voters not to be swayed by disinformation, especially on social media.

“We can be blinded by lies and deception. It can put the conscience to sleep and can harden us like rocks,” he said, asking them to always side with the truth even if it is unpopular and “even if it hurts.”

The CBCP head said that Christians are called to vote rightly and according to their conscience and not be swayed by mass trends.

“Don’t just rely on others. We need to be involved. Let us work to change

our political culture, even if little by little,” he said.

Church and politics Speaking about the role of bishops he said, “Our primary duty is to guide our countrymen in listening to God’s whisper on how a disciple of Christ should vote.”

He explained: “This role of ours has become even more severe in the current situation of our country—especially now that the main issue in the field of politics has to do with spiritual and moral: the issue of ‘truth’ and ‘falsehood.’”

“Our low regard and inaction to politics will not bring development.

Let us not gamble the future of our country.” he added.

The Church’s failure to play its role in politics in the past, he noted, resulted in negative reactions when Church leaders started to speak out.

He said that more than ever, the Church has a bigger task in the coming elections because the major issues raised during the campaign period concern morality, the truth, and lies.

No enemies except Satan The head of the country’s Catholic

CBCP President, Bishop Pablo Virgilio David of Kalookan, delivers a homily during the “Solidarity Mass for Vote” at the Baclaran Church on April 6. Diocese of Kalookan photo

bishops told Filipinos not to treat each other as enemies despite their political differences, especially in this year’s national elections.

“We have no other enemy in this world than the prince of lies, Satan. He is the only one the Church has taught us to reject, ever since our baptism,” the 63-year-old bishop said, urging the faithful to be more involved in politics and stand for the truth.

“Sometimes anger and hatred can serve as blindfolds that cover our eyes,” he warned.

Bishop David pointed out the fallacy in the argument, “Vote for the popular and winnable.”

“Where is the concern in that attitude?” he asked. “Let us share by doing our role,” he urged, calling on the faithful not to leave to others the choice of leaders.

“We should be involved, we should be part of it, let us change even little by little our political culture.... If we look down at political action, then it will not result in development,” he added.

Criteria The CBCP president suggested several criteria to help voters choose their leaders honestly.

He said candidates should embody love for God and country, who will advocate for the environment, who have respect for human life, dignity and rights, who will maintain and strengthen democracy, who will rectify the culture of corruption in the country, and at the same time know how to listen to the voice of the people, especially the little ones.

The “Solidarity Mass for the Moral Choice” was in response to the CBCP’s call for prayer for a credible and peaceful election next month.

The Archdiocese of Manila had earlier issued a notice saying Wednesday’s Eucharistic celebration will be in response to CBCP’s request in its pastoral letter, “Be Concerned about the Welfare of Others,” released on March 27. Robin Gomes/Vatican News

Why Ramadan is called Ramadan R

amadan is the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar, and lasts either 29 or 30 days, depending on when the new crescent moon is, or should be, visible.

The Arabic term Ramadan connotes intense heat. It seems that in pre-Islamic Arabia, Ramadan was the name of a scorching hot summer month.

In the Islamic calendar, however, the timing of Ramadan varies from year to year. This year Ramadan begins in the evening of either April 1 or 2.

An Islamic year is roughly 11 days shorter than a Gregorian year.

the month immediately following Ramadan, the month of Shawwal.

Those unable to fast at all (if they are financially able) are expected to provide meals to the needy as an alternative course of action.

What is the significance of 29 or 30 days of fasting?

What is the significance of Ramadan?

Ramadan is a period of fasting and spiritual growth, and is one of the five “pillars of Islam.”

The others being the declaration of faith, daily prayer, alms-giving, and the pilgrimage to Mecca.

Able-bodied Muslims are expected to abstain from eating, drinking and sexual relations from dawn to sunset each day of the month.

Many practicing Muslims also perform additional prayers, especially at night, and attempt to recite the entire Qur’an.

The prevailing belief among Muslims is that it was in the final 10 nights of Ramadan that the Qur’an was first revealed to the Prophet Muhammad.

What is the connection between body and soul that the observance of Ramadan seeks to explain?

The Qur’an states that fasting was prescribed for believers so that they

Children sleep as Muslim women perform an evening prayer called ‘tarawih’ that marks the first eve of the holy fasting month of Ramadan at Istiqlal Mosque in Jakarta, Indonesia, on April 2.

During Ramadan Muslims refrain from eating, drinking, smoking and sex from dawn to dusk.

AP/Dita Alangkara

may be conscious of God. By abstaining from things that people tend to take for granted (such as water), it is believed, one may be moved to reflect on the purpose of life and grow closer to the Creator and sustainer of all existence.

As such, engaging in wrongdoing effectively undermines the fast.

Many Muslims also maintain that fasting allows them to get a feeling of poverty, and this may foster feelings of empathy.

Can Muslims skip fasting under certain conditions? If so, do they make up missed days?

All those who are physically limited (for example, because of an illness or old age) are exempt from the obligation to fast; the same is true for anyone who is traveling.

Those who are able to do so are expected to make up the missed days at a later time. One could potentially make up all of the missed days in

By fasting over an extended period of time, practicing Muslims aim to foster certain attitudes and values that they would be able to cultivate over the course of an entire year.

Ramadan is often likened to a spiritual training camp.

Besides experiencing feelings of hunger and thirst, believers often have to deal with fatigue because of late-night prayers and predawn meals.

This is especially true during the final 10 nights of the month.

In addition to being the period in which the Qur’an was believed to have been first revealed, this is a time when divine rewards are believed to be multiplied. Many Muslims will offer additional prayers during this period.

Do Muslims celebrate the completion of Ramadan?

The end of Ramadan marks the beginning of one of two major Islamic holidays, Eid al-Fitr, the “festival of the breaking of the fast.”

On this day, many Muslims attend a religious service, visit relatives and friends and exchange gifts.

Mohammad Hassan Khalil, Michigan State University/The Conversation CC

“Entry of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem,” by Pietro Lorenzetti (1320). Entering the city on a donkey symbolizes arrival in peace rather than as a war-waging king arriving on a horse. Wikimedia Commons

Palm Sunday welcomes faithful back to church W

ith many parts of the country, including Metropolitan Manila, now under a relaxed health protocol at Alert Level 1, today’s observance of Palm Sunday returns to normal with church activities allowed at full capacity.

In the past two years, lockdowns prohibited the parishioners from observing the feast and going to the church owing to the Covid-19 pandemic. The palms are blessed outside churches, where priests went around the streets to bless the palms carried by the faithful. Online blessings were also held.

Palm Sunday marks the last week of the Christian solemn season of Lent. It celebrates the arrival of Jesus Christ in Jerusalem, the first day of Holy Week, days before he was crucified, and later rise on Easter, Internet sources said.

The feast is celebrated by the blessing and distribution of palm branches or branches of other native trees, representing the palm branches which the crowd scattered in front of Christ as he rode into Jerusalem.

In Syriac Christianity it is often called as Hosanna Sunday based on the biblical words uttered by the crowd while Jesus entered Jerusalem.

Many churches of mainstream Christian denominations, including the Catholic, Orthodox, Lutheran, Methodist, Anglican, Moravian and Reformed traditions, distribute palm branches to their congregations during their Palm Sunday liturgies.

The blessed palms are taken home by the faithful and are hang alongside Christian art and symbols, like crosses.

In the Philippines, the palm fronds, called “palaspas,” are usually ornately braided and decorated with colorful paper flowers.

Once blessed they are brought home and placed on the altars, on top of the windows or doors. The Church teaches that this is a sign of welcoming Christ into the home, but folk belief holds on the belief that they could ward off evil spirits.

The palm fronds are burned the following year. The ash produced is then used for Ash Wednesday. Lyn B. Resurreccion

Members of The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square sing during The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ twice-annual church conference in Salt Lake City on April 2. Top leaders are expected to deliver speeches to 10,000 in-person attendees for the first time since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. AP/Rick Bowmer

The Church’s leader reaffirms faith’s opposition to same-sex marriage

S

ALT LAKE CITY—A top leader in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints reaffirmed the faith’s opposition to same-sex marriage and “changes that confuse or alter gender” as debates over gender and sexuality reemerge throughout the United States.

Dallin H. Oaks, the second-highestranking leader of the faith known widely as the “Mormon” Church, told thousands of listeners gathered at a conference center at the church’s Salt Lake City headquarters that what he called “social and legal pressures” wouldn’t compel the church to alter its stances on same-sex marriage or matters of gender identity that he did not specify.

The highest level of salvation, Oaks said, “can only be at tained through faithfulness to the covenants of an eternal marriage between a man and a woman. That divine doctrine is why we teach that gender is an essential characteristic of individual pre-mortal, mortal, and eternal identity and purpose.”

O a k s als o s aid c h ur c h d o c t rin e “opposed changes that confuse or alter gender or homogenize the differences between men and women” and warned that “confusing gender, distorting marriage, and discouraging childbearing” was the devil’s work.

He also implored members of the faith to live peacefully and respect those with

beliefs different than their own.

Oaks’ remarks reaffirm the faith’s longheld position on same-sex marriage that it has held to steadfastly even as its softened its policies on other LGTBQ matters, including allowing the children of samesex couples to be baptized.

The Latter-day Saints’ reaffirmation of their stances comes as debates rage throughout the nation over transgender yo u t h a n d w h a t k id s s h o uld l e a r n about gender and sexuality. Officials in Texas have fought to classify gender confirmation surgeries as child abuse and Florida has outlawed instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in kindergarten through third grade.

More than a dozen states have limited when transgender kids can participate in school sports, including Utah, where the church is based. It did not take an active role in the policy debate this year.

Oaks’ rem arks com e a day af ter church leaders opened their twice-yearly general conference emphasizing unity amid polarization, with high-ranking church official Neil L. Andersen rebuffing comparisons between church leaders and those “having worldly motives like political, business, and cultural leaders.”

On the closing day of the faith’s signature conferenc e, of ficials also denounced war in Ukraine and efforts to remove religion from public life. AP

Biodiversity Sunday BusinessMirror

Asean Champions of Biodiversity Media Category 2014

Sunday, April 10, 2022

Editor: Lyn Resurreccion

A9

Advocates: Nations must move faster to protect biodiversity

One of 16 tigers cubs seized from smugglers on October 26, 2012, has blood samples taken from veterinary team from the wildlife forensic unit to trace the DNA in Chaiyaphum province, Thailand. James Morgan/World Wildlife Fund via AP

Online wildlife trade on the rise in Myanmar B ANGKOK—A report by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) shows illegal purchases of wildlife online are growing in Myanmar in a threat both to public health and to endangered species.

The report issued recently found that enforcement of bans on such transactions has weakened amid political turmoil following a 2021 military takeover.

The number of such dealings rose 74 percent over a year earlier to 11,046, nearly all of them involving sales of live animals.

For the 173 species traded, 54 are threatened with global extinction, the report said.

Researchers identified 639 Facebook accounts belonging to wildlife traders.

The largest online trading group had more than 19,000 members and dozens of posts per week, it said.

The animals and animal parts bought and sold involved elephants, bears and gibbons, Tibetan antelope, critically endangered pangolins and an Asian giant tortoise. The most popular mammals were various species of langurs and monkeys, often bought as pets.

Most of the animals advertised for sale were taken from the wild. They also included civets, which along with pangolins have been identified as potential vectors in the spread of diseases, such as SARS and Covid-19.

Shaun Martin, who heads the WWF’s Asia-Pacific regional cybercrime project, said monitoring of the online wildlife trade shows different species being kept close together, sometimes in the same cage.

“With Asia’s track record as a breeding ground for many recent zoonotic diseases, this sharp uptick in online trade of wildlife in Myanmar is extremely concerning,” he said.

The unregulated trade in wild species and the resulting interactions between wild species and humans raise the risks of new and possibly vaccine-resistant mutations of illnesses, such as the Covid-19, that could evolve undetected in non-human hosts into more dangerous variants of disease, experts say.

Covid-19 is one of many diseases traced back to animals. The killing and sale of what is known as bushmeat in Africa was thought to be a source for Ebola.

Bird flu likely came from chickens at a market in Hong Kong in 1997. Measles is believed to have evolved from a virus that infected cattle.

“Illegal wildlife trade is a serious concern from the point of view of biodiversity preservation and conservation, and its potential impact on health security,” said Mary Elizabeth G. Miranda, an expert on zoonotic diseases and illness and CEO of the Field Epidemiology Training Program Alumni Foundation in the Philippines.

Social media and other online platforms have joined a worldwide effort to crack down on the thriving trade in birds, reptiles, mammals and animal parts.

In Myanmar, much of the trade in wildlife is through Facebook, which as a member of the Coalition to End Wildlife Trafficking online has taken action to block or remove accounts of people engaged in such transactions.

But as is true elsewhere, new accounts often pop up just as soon as old ones are shut down, hindering enforcement, the report noted.

Easy online access to the animals also is driving up demand, worsening the problem.

Discussions of purchases of protected species often took place in open Facebook groups, suggesting that such dealings remain “largely risk-free,” the report said.

Since payments and deliveries often are done using messenger apps, controlling the problem is doubly difficult.

Highlighting the lack of enforcement, people in the illegal wildlife trade in Myanmar often use rudimentary methods of moving the animals and animal products around—with buses being the usual form of transport.

The study by WWF in Myanmar focused on online trade of animals and other creatures inside the country, though there were some imports from neighboring Thailand, mainly of birds such as cockatoos and parrots and of crocodiles, to India.

Some deals might involve animals or parts being sent into China, it said.

The conservation group said it plans future studies to better understand Myanmar’s role in the global trade in endangered species. AP

A vampire bat in flight in March. Sherri and Brock Fenton/AAAS via AP

Scientists decipher how vampire bats got a taste for blood

W

ASHINGTON—Scientists have figured out why vampire bats are the only mammals that can survive on a diet of just blood.

They compared the genome of common vampire bats to 26 other bat species and identified 13 genes that are missing or no longer work in vampire bats.

Over the years, those gene tweaks helped them adapt to a blood diet rich in iron and protein but with minimal fats or carbohydrates, the researchers reported on March 25 in the journal Science Advances.

The bats live in South and Central America and are basically “living Draculas,” said co-author Michael Hiller of Germany’s Max Planck Institute.

About 3 inches (8 centimeters) long with a wingspan of 7 inches (18 centimeters), the bats bite and then lap up blood from livestock or other animals at night.

Most mammals couldn’t survive on a low-calorie liquid diet of blood. Only

three vampire species of the 1,400 kinds of bats can do that—the others eat mostly insects, fruit, nectar, pollen or meat, such as small frogs and fish.

“Blood is a terrible food source,” said Hannah Kim Frank, a bat researcher at Tulane University, who was not involved in the study. “It’s totally bizarre and amazing that vampire bats can survive on blood— they are really weird, even among bats.”

Some other creatures also have a taste for blood, including mosquitoes, bedbugs, leeches and fleas.

The latest work expands upon research by another team that pinpointed three of the 13 gene losses.

“The new paper shows how different vampire bats are from even other closely related bats, which eat nectar and fruit,” said Kate Langwig, a bat researcher at Virginia Tech, who had no role in the study.

With such a low-calorie diet, vampire bats can’t go long without a meal. AP

G

ENEVA—Environmentalists are criticizing the slow progress at a UN-backed meeting of nearly all the world’s countries toward beefing up protections for biodiversity on Earth, ahead of a crucial meeting expected later this year in China where delegates could sign a global agreement.

A total of 195 countries—but not the United States—which are parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity wrapped up a twoweek meeting recently that aimed to make progress toward a deal to prevent the loss of biodiversity and avoid the extinction of many vulnerable species.

It also addresses the emergence of pathogens like the coronavirus, which damage both lives and livelihoods.

Delegates agreed to hold an interim meeting in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, in June before a high-level conference known as 15th Conference of Parties (COP15) in Kunming, China, at a still-undecided date later this year.

“Biodiversity is securing our own survival on this planet. It is not a joking matter,” said Francis Ogwal of Uganda, a meeting cochair. “Every day that you live as

a human being is on biodiversity.“ Ogwal cited the “close linkage” between biodiversity and climate change, saying “every time that governments are talking about mobilizing for climate change, they should be doing the same for biodiversity.”

Advocacy groups and some governments have ambitions for a deal in Kunming that would aim to protect and conserve at least 30 percent of the world’s land, inland waters and oceans to help stanch habitat loss, the overuse of nature by people and businesses, and the emergence of pathogens that thrive off of environmental upheaval.

Some faulted the lagging pace of progress.

“With so little time to Kunming, parties have finally kicked the can to the end of the road,” said Greenpeace East Asia senior

A Dixie Valley toad sits atop grass in Dixie Valley, Nevada, on April 6, 2009. The US Fish and Wildlife Service temporarily listed a rare northern Nevada toad as endangered on an emergency basis partly because of threats a geothermal plant in the works poses to its habitat in the only place its known to live in the world about 100 miles east of Reno.

Matt Maples/Nevada Department of Wildlife via AP

policy advisor Li Shuo.

As president of COP15, “China should work out a contingency plan to deliver a complex package with quality and ambition,” Li added.

The US-based Campaign for Nature pointed to an emerging consensus on the 30 percent target and a growing recognition that the lives and livelihoods of local communities and Indigenous peoples should be better protected.

Still it pressed for greater intensity from countries to find solutions to declining biodiversity.

“Unfortunately, the negotiations in Geneva have not reflected the urgency that is needed to successfully confront the crisis

facing our natural world,” said Campaign for Nature’s director, Brian O’Donnell.

“Progress with the negotiations has been painfully slow, and the level of ambition with financing remains woefully inadequate,” O’Donnell said.

He said donor countries should commit to “far more ambitious financing targets.”

A key issue has been on repurposing and redirecting harmful subsidies that total $500 billion per year and can damage biodiversity. A draft proposal for the China meeting aims to commit $700 billion for sustaining or improving biodiversity. AP

Asean cities, local governments crucial to biodiversity conservation

A

t least 70 percent of biodiversity policies are being implemented at the local and subnational levels, yet they are not always profiled.

There is, however, growing recognition of the vital contribution of cities and subnational governments in meeting the global biodiversity goals and targets, and Asean cities are urged to support this exciting development.

The Edinburgh Declaration was drafted from a series of consultations with subnational governments and regional, city and local authorities led by the Scottish government together with the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in view of the anticipated post-2020 global biodiversity framework.

To date, over 200 governments have signed to commit to act for nature conservation and climate change in the coming decade.

This cooperation aims to facilitate the alignment of global biodiversity strategies, actions, monitoring, and reporting efforts across all government levels, contributing to meaningful long-term biodiversity impacts and goals from the local leading up to global levels.

The commitment is set to enable its signatories to have access to more resource mobilization opportunities for biodiversity at subnational or local levels; mainstream biodiversit y concer ns across sectors; and have access to opportunities for biodiversity knowledge exchange across all sectors.

Paul Dale from the government of São Paulo, Brazil, shared that as part of the Edinburgh Process, Asean cities may receive more support to increase concrete actions and outcomes for biodiversity in the coming decade.

“The consultations during the Edinburgh Process indicate that the subnational and local government should not just be considered as a stakeholder and that their

Cities and subnational governments play a crucial role in protecting biodiversity. Photo by Danilo Victoriano

competency and implementation should be recognized in the framework,” Dale said.

In the past years, Asean cities have been rapidly moving toward urbanization, prompting populations from regional provinces to flock to urban areas for better economic opportunities.

T his g row ing densit y of people in cities has resulted in the further conversion of key ecosystems and the decline of biological diversity.

Mobilizing subnational and local city governments in mainstreaming and integrating biodiversity into urban planning is crucial in the conser vation of existing natural areas and biodiversity in cities.

During the webinar, the Asean member state (AMS) expressed its readiness to sign up as a citystate to the Edinburgh Declaration on biodiversity and encouraged other Asean cities to be part of the network as well.

“Cities can play a significant positive role in addressing the challenges of biodiversity conservation and climate change,” said Dr. Lena Chan, senior director for the International Biodiversity Conservation Division of NParks Singapore. “ We seek the f u l l suppor t from the [AMS] to adopt the plan of action at CBD COP 15 [15th Conference of Parties].”

Chan also encouraged cities to apply the Singapore Index as a tool to evaluate and monitor biodiversity conservation efforts.

With Singapore leading urban biodiversity conservation in the Asean region, Chan encourages the adoption of the revised Singapore Index on Cities’ Biodiversity, or The Singapore Index, ACB said.

The Singapore Index serves as a self-evaluation tool for cities to measure and monitor biodiversity and efforts to conserve it using 28 indicators based on the core components of native biodiversity, biodiversity-provided ecosystems services, and biodiversity management and governance.

Guided by the principle “if you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it,” this tool can assist cities in gathering valuable information and baseline data to better inform their programs and policies on managing the manifold impact of cities on biodiversity and vice-versa.

Ingrid Coetzee, director of Biodiversity Nature, and Health ICLEI- Cities Biodiversity Centre South Africa, emphasised that while biodiversity policies are negotiated and adopted at the national and global levels, the success of implementation lies on the support of the subnational and local levels where

majority of the implementation happens.

Coetzee added that there is a need to support the Declaration as well as the Plan of Action on Subnational Governments, Cities, and Other Local Authorities for Biodiversity (2021-2031).

“The Plan of Action is …there to support state parties in their efforts to reach national and global targets for biodiversity, and develop National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans that are right for their circumstance,” Coetzee said.

Dr. Theresa Mundita Lim, ACB executive director, expressed the ACB’s commitment to supporting the Edinburgh Declaration on Biodiversity and to rolling out the Singapore Index on Cities’ Biodiversity in the Asean.

Lim also lauded Singapore for its strong leadership and commitment to cities and urban biodiversity conser vation in the region.

“For us in the region, our shared understanding of biodiversity as the centrepiece of regional economic recovery and resiliencebuilding is recognized by several regional frameworks, such as, among others, the Asean Comprehensive Recovery Framework,” she said.

Lim explained that a draft regional statement will be created from the outcomes and insights shared during the workshop.

She emphasised that the regional statement demonstrates the AMS’s unity and cooperation in advancing regional sustainable development, ACB said.

There are more concerns to address in the aspect of biodiversity and cities’ sustainable development, Lim said.

“I am confident, however, that we can figure out our way forward to respond to all these, as one regional community, inspired by this year’s Asean theme, ‘Asean ACT: Addressing Challenges Together,” Lim noted.

Sports BusinessMirror

A10

| Sunday, April 10, 2022 mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph Editor: Jun Lomibao

JAPAN RUGBY MAGNET FOR TOP PLAYERS

W

Japan clubs and Super Rugby clubs in the near future and, eventually, to see the league become the best in the world. The recruitment of top players and coaches is key to that.

Overseas players who are playing or recently have played in the league include the All Blacks Beauden Barrett, Sam Whitelock, Kieran Read and Damian McKenzie, Wallabies Michael Hooper, Samu Kerevi, Israel Folau and Quade Cooper and Springboks Pieter Steph du Toit, Willie Le Roux and Malcolm Marx.

“You get guys like Malcolm Marx, he’s 120 kilograms [264 pounds],” Haig said. “He likes that physicality area, he likes the breakdown area.”

“So, to actually move a guy like him who’s got pretty good technique around that area is in itself a bit of a job. So, you’ve got to use a bit of physicality to actually try to get rid of him. We spend a lot of time around the contact area, in attack and defense.”

Top players point to lifestyle and immersion in Japanese culture as other attractions to players who have chosen to take up contracts in Japan.

“I’ve come over here to Japan, I got here in December and I’ve loved it,” McKenzie said.

“Suntory’s a great club, the Japanese people are so welcoming, so respectful and we’re lucky to have some great foreign lads here as well like.

“We’ve some great Japan staff and management and I really enjoy the rugby. Japanese rugby is getting better every year, the caliber of players is getting a lot better and it’s probably a little less physical over here but the speed of

UEFA OKs new rules scrutinizing clubs’ finances

N

ELLINGTON, New Zealand—Japan’s professional rugby competition increasingly is becoming a magnet for the world’s best players and likely will become more attractive as the standard of the league rapidly improves.

Milton Haig, the New Zealandborn head coach of Tokyo-based Suntory Sungoliath, says the gravitation of top players to Japan likely will accelerate as the Japan League gains international credibility.

Japan has been attractive to overseas players for some time because it has offered high salaries, a relatively short season and, for some, a style of rugby which has been less physical than most professional leagues.

But the less-physical nature nature of the rugby also has acted a disincentive to players who feared a

long stay in Japan might reduce their fitness for test and top-level rugby.

Haig says that is no longer the case. The impact of overseas players has to been to lift the quality and physicality of the league.

“With the quality of players and with Japan improving their performances at international level the whole competition itself has got a lot better,” Haig said. “Probably a few years back, it might have been a bit of a giggle. I know a lot of people used to say it was quick but there wasn’t a lot of physicality.

“Well I think that’s definitely changed now and I think one of the things that I’ve noticed since I’ve been here for three years is how physical the competition’s got, certainly at the breakdown and defense.

Definitely that contact area is pretty serious these days.”

The organizers of the Japan league are highly ambitious. They hope to see cross-border competition between

W

China used TV, TikTok stars in discreet Olympics campaign

ASHINGTON—A “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” TV star, a Paralympic swimmer and a self-described “brand king” were among the Instagram and TikTok influencers who were paid by Chinese officials for a discreet campaign that promoted the Beijing Winter Olympics, new Justice Department documents reveal.

The social-media posts fanned across a variety of popular Instagram and TikTok accounts that have a combined following of 5 million people who follow their videos, photos and content about travel destinations, sports, fashion and women’s issues. The Chinese Consulate in New York paid $300,000 to New Jersey-based firm Vippi Media to recruit the influencers.

The posts were not properly labeled as ads in the way that TikTok and Instagram requires.

“It allows them to boost the reach and the resonance of their messaging to make it appear to be authentic, independent content,” Jessica Brandt, a Brookings Institution expert on foreign interference and disinformation, said of China’s social-media campaign.

More details about the social-media campaign were disclosed in filings Monday with the Justice Department, just days after an Associated Press examination revealed that China is using a sweeping network of

GUARDS stand outside of the Chinese consulate in New York. AP influencers and social-media accounts to subtly proffer propaganda to users around the globe.

The AP’s reporting found that Vippi Media had not yet filed updates with the Justice Department on its influencer campaign, even though federal law requires the company to do so within 24 hours of materials being disseminated. The company had registered under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, a 1938 law that is meant to allow Americans to know when foreign entities are trying to influence public opinion

or policy-makers.

Vippi Media’s campaign, targeted at US social-media users, reached roughly 4 million users with ads that were scattered in stories, videos and posts across TikTok and Instagram in January, February and March by nearly a dozen influencers. The accounts named in the filing shared posts promoting the Olympics with the hashtags #Beijing2022, #partner and #ad.

A majority of the Instagram and TikTok content shared by the influencers simply advertised the

Winter Olympics, shared pictures from some of the ceremonial events or gave insight on Chinese cultural customs.

Crystal Kung Minkoff, a cast member of Bravo’s “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” who was listed as one of the influencers hired by Vippi Media, posted a video on her Instagram where she conducted an at-home, faux news-style broadcast of a mock Olympics game of musical chairs with her children. Later the post congratulates “Team USA” and says Beijing is the first city to host the summer and winter games. A message left with Minkoff was not immediately answered.

Meanwhile, Jessica Long, a decorated Paralympic swimmer and popular Instagram personality, celebrated the upcoming Olympics in a January 27 post to her nearly 100,000 followers. “Have fun making lasting memories at the Winter Olympic Games in Beijing, China.”

Long didn’t immediately return request for comment.

One of the most striking videos came from TikTok influencer Ryan Dubs, a “brand-king” with more than a half-million followers on his account, where he frequently hawks skin care products.

Dubs

6-year-old boy’s brain damaged by errant Angel Stadium throw

A

NAHEIM, California—A six-year-old boy suffered a fractured skull and brain damage when he was accidentally hit by a baseball thrown by a Los Angeles Angels player who was warming up before a 2019 game, according to a lawsuit announced Thursday that blames the injury on the team’s negligence.

The lawsuit by the boy’s mother Beatrice Galaz said the team should have more netting along the side of the field and players shouldn’t throw balls during warmups in areas where spectators could be struck, especially when the team is encouraging fans to arrive early to try to meet players.

On September 15, 2019, her son Bryson was walking with his father in the first row of stadium seating toward the dugout, where players were meeting fans and signing autographs more than an hour and a half before the game, the lawsuit said.

He was struck on the side of the head when pitcher Keynan Middleton, who was warming up on the field, threw a ball toward another Angels player who missed the catch.

Bryson was rushed to the emergency room in critical condition and sent to a children’s hospital for monitoring for two-

and-a-half days, said Kyle Scott, the family’s lawyer. Since then, Bryson—now in third grade—has done fine academically but has difficulties paying attention and with social interaction, and medical exams show abnormal brain activity, which raises concerns about his longer-term development, especially as school subjects become more complex, Scott said.

“We’re grateful that he pulled through, but since that day he has struggled in school,” Galaz, of Anaheim, said in a statement released Thursday. “He’s simply not the same.”

The Angels declined to comment on the litigation.

“No parties have reached out to us regarding this lawsuit,” said Angels spokesperson Marie Garvey.

“We have only been made aware of this by the media, so we are unable to comment at this time.”

The lawsuit filed April 1 was announced on opening day for Major League Baseball at a news conference near Angel Stadium, where the Angels were due to host the Houston Astros later in the day.

Getting a baseball at an MLB game is a signature event for any fan

but it can come with a cost.

While very rare, fans sometimes suffer serious injuries from balls or even bats that fly into the stands. Angel Stadium and other major league parks have expanded protective netting in recent years to increase safety.

In 2015, MLB encouraged teams to have netting or screens that extend in a semi-circle between the ends of the dugouts closest to home plate. That push increased in 2017, and by opening day 2018, all 30 ballparks had netting that reached at least that far.

ANGELS pitcher Keynan Middleton, who’s warming up on the field, throws a ball toward a teammate who misses the catch. AP

THE All Blacks’ Damian McKenzie has been bringing his act to Japan. AP the game is really quick.”

Kerevi, who plays with McKenzie at Suntory, said Covid-19 has limited players’ off-field activities but Japanese and foreign players often mix outside rugby.

“It’s good to have a connection not just with the foreign players but with the Japanese boys, having a coffee or breaking bread over dinner,’’ he said.

“If you really immerse yourself in the culture and the language you get the best of Japan.” AP

posted a 3-minute-long interview with China’s Consul General in New York, Huang Ping, who spoke with the Chinese and US flags behind him.

The spot’s caption includes hashtags for the Beijing 2022 games.

Huang and Dubs decry US tariffs against Chinese imports. Dubs says he has amazing suppliers in China and encourages entrepreneurs in the US to do business with China.

Haung followed up by inviting US businesses to come to China in the video. The Beijing games feature briefly, with Dubs saying they “helped define China in 2022.” Dubs did not immediately respond to the AP’s request for comment.

It’s unclear how much each influencer was paid to post the content.

Minkoff, Long and Dubs used #partner in their posts, but did not directly identify who sponsored the content. Instagram requires that influencers tag the sponsor, and both TikTok and Instagram require their users to register the posts as a paid partnership with the company. Most influencers, however, flout those rules—leaving social-media users in the dark about who is paying for the posts they see in their feeds.

A Justice Department spokesperson did not immediately return an e-mail seeking comment. AP At the end of 2019, the league said some teams would extend the netting.

That’s the same year a 79-year-old woman died four days after being hit in the head by a foul ball that sailed over protective netting at Dodger Stadium. It was believed to be the first foul ball death at an MLB stadium since 1970, when another Dodger Stadium fan was killed.

Scott, the family’s attorney, said since Bryson’s injury, Angel Stadium has extended netting a section beyond the dugout but that would not have prevented the accident. Extending it farther down the foul line and not having players warm up by throwing the ball in the direction of stadium seating could have made a difference, he said. AP

YON, Switzerland—UEFA approved new financial monitoring rules for European soccer clubs on Thursday, giving up on “fair play” and lowering expectations it can solve the competitive imbalance in the Champions League.

The “Financial Fair Play (FFP)” system in place since 2010, and known as FFP, will be replaced in June by “Financial Sustainability” regulations.

“Competitiveness cannot be addressed simply by financial regulations,” UEFA project leader Andrea Traverso said at a briefing, adding the words “fair play” had been misinterpreted to mean “we create a level playing field.”

“This is why we changed the name,” he said, describing a “huge, complex exercise to get a consensus” across European soccer for a financial review that became inevitable after the disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Champions League has been dominated by the wealthiest of clubs, ones able to afford rising player salaries and huge transfer fees. Over the past decade, the most unlikely club to reach the final was Tottenham—which currently has the 10th-highest revenue in world soccer. Only Spanish and English clubs won the Europa League.

The new rules were praised last week by the Spanish league for “restricting the ability of state-owned clubs to commit financial doping.”

That statement did not identify clubs but clearly targeted Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain—owned by the rulers of Abu Dhabi and Qatar, respectively.

By 2025, clubs playing in UEFA competitions will be limited by the “squad cost rule” to spending 70 percent of their revenue on salaries and transfers or face financial and— eventually—sporting sanctions.

After two years of financial penalties, persistent rule-breaking clubs could be barred from selecting certain players in UEFA competitions, have points deducted or be banned from a competition.

“The deterrents are there,” Traverso said. “As from a certain moment [clubs] would be so harshly penalized that I think it would be quite dissuasive.”

Although some clubs were excluded for one season from the Champions League and Europa League under the old FFP system, the most celebrated case saw Man City defeat UEFA to get a two-year ban overturned at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

UEFA-appointed investigators had accused Man City of inflating the value of sponsorship deals with companies from Abu Dhabi.

From June, UEFA said it will evaluate all commercial deals—not just those suspected of being too closely related to club owners.

“We believe the way [the rules] are refined is becoming more and more difficult for clubs to go around,” Traverso said, acknowledging “our capacity of investigations are somehow limited because we, as you well know, are not the police.”

Minutes before the UEFA briefing, Man City was the subject of a fresh report of financial wrongdoing published by Der Spiegel.

The German magazine’s reports in 2018 using internal club documents led to the UEFA ban and Man City’s successful appeal at CAS. City hasn’t commented publicly on the latest allegations.

The new financial rules will take effect at a time when the Champions League is worth about €2 billion ($2.18 billion) total prize money from UEFA each season for the 32 clubs who qualify. Total revenue for all UEFA club competitions is €3.5 billion ($3.8 billion) annually through the 2023-24 season.

A revenue rise of about 40 percent is predicted when the Champions League expands in 2024 with a 36-team league stage and 100 extra games in total per season. AP

BusinessMirror

April 10, 2022

With author Katrina Olan, the next generation of Sci-Fi is female And not just softcore Sci-Fi, but genres dominated by men, like military Sci-Fi

2

BusinessMirror APRIL 10, 2022 | soundstrip.businessmirror@gmail.com

YOUR MUSI

CELEBRATING LOVE IN THE VERNACULAR Five questions with Keiko Necesario

By Edwin P. Sallan

K

EIKO Necesario is probably one of the few Filipino artists who actually thrived during this pandemic in terms of taking her music to the next level.

Despite the less than ideal circumstances, the prolific singer-songwriter continues to release new music that showcases her propensity to try new things and her willingness to embrace all genres.

KEIKO Necesario

Publisher

: T. Anthony C. Cabangon

Editor-In-Chief

: Lourdes M. Fernandez

Concept

: Aldwin M. Tolosa

Y2Z Editor

: Jt Nisay

SoundStrip Editor

: Edwin P. Sallan

Group Creative Director : Eduardo A. Davad Graphic Designers Contributing Writers

Columnists

: Niggel Figueroa Anabelle O. Flores : Tony M. Maghirang, Rick Olivares, Darwin Fernandez, Leony Garcia, Stephanie Joy Ching Pauline Joy M. Gutierrez : Kaye VillagomezLosorata Annie S. Alejo

Photographers

: Bernard P. Testa Nonie Reyes

Y2Z & SOUNDSTRIP are published and distributed free every Sunday by the Philippine Business Daily Mirror Publishing Inc. as a project of the

The Philippine Business Mirror Publishing, Inc., with offices on the 3rd Floor of Dominga Building III 2113 Chino Roces Avenue corner Dela Rosa Street, Makati City, Philippines.

Tel. Nos. (Editorial) 817-9467; 813-0725.

Fax line: 813-7025 Advertising Sales: 893-2019;

817-1351,817-2807.

Circulation: 893-1662; 814-0134 to 36. www.businessmirror.com.ph

In her newest EP intriguingly titled, OBRA which generally means masterpiece, she takes her distinctive brand of folkpop into a new and different direction with an all-Tagalog collection of songs produced by the acclaimed production duo, Chasing Fantasia.

During her exclusive interview with SoundStrip following the recent launch of OBRA, Keiko talked about how her latest compares with her previous releases, how she has weathered the still ongoing pandemic and how her recent marriage has changed her outlook in life and music.

Excerpts.

How did it feel to personally meet fans and perform before a live audience at the Obra fan meet after a long time of lockdowns and Covid restrictions?

It was everything I’ve wanted and more; not being able to do gigs for a long time with frands who have already become family really was just so nostalgic and filled with so much emotion for me. I knew I’ve missed the live music scene but it really hit me on a different level once I was finally on stage. Seeing friends, fans, new faces, and my Warner Music PH fam definitely made the day surreal.

Tell us about the OBRA EP. Aside from the Tagalog lyrics, how is it different from your last

album release, Ready, Let Go? The OBRA EP embodies a totally different sound from the Ready, Let Go album. Both are still packed with original songs I wrote from personal experiences. Somehow alike but not as much. If RLG era was a body of work where I explored a pop electronic sound, OBRA is like going back to my roots, OPM folk with a bit of vintage and saturated sound. The concept of this EP is a reflection of what it’s about; a masterpiece. RLG was all green and all about light but this one is a celebration of love, all white representing purity.

Imagine a blank canvas, you with a paintbrush and paint on your hand ready to create a life worth telling, told in Tagalog language.

Do you have a favorite track from this new EP? From your previous releases? Can you share why these particular songs are closer to your heart than your other recordings?

“Obra” itself (the carrier single) is my ultimate favorite.

This song just hits differently. It has such a powerful meaning, I wrote it with Quest and I remember the day we were writing it. I swear it was the very first time that I felt God’s presence while working on a song, it was like he was sitting right beside us. Obra is a song about life and how we continuously learn and grow in

the process.

A favorite from my old releases is “Di Bale Na,” it’s a song for all of my seasons and hopefully others feel the same way about it too, a song that celebrates the waiting.

You’re one of the most prolific singer-songwriters in the country. How has your recent marriage affected your creative perspective? About the things that inspired your recent songs?

It affected my creativity in every way possible, this season of marriage has a lot of growing and changing, just like in my music.

My marriage encourages me even more to write, whether they are happy or sad songs. My marriage inspires me to write more songs about love and life and just how beautiful it is to be alive. It reminds me how love is such a big reason why we all create.

Now that restrictions have been eased and the pandemic will be hopefully over soon, what are your post-pandemic plans?

What more can fans expect from Keiko this 2022 and beyond?

More live gigs for sure, I want to spend time with people again, perform songs, have conversations and connect with everyone again. Creating music will never stop, it really never did even in the middle of the pandemic, but the fact that we get to do face to face shows again is an experience I want to help build up for everyone again.

IC

soundstrip.businessmirror@gmail.com | APRIL 10, 2022

BUSINESS

SoundSampler

by Tony M. Maghirang

Latest rush of OPM singles 4th Impact “Here We Go”

I

T’S official: 4th Impact is the newest addition to Sony Music Philippines and ShowBT Philippines’ roster of music talents, which includes P-Pop kings SB19and fivemember girl group KAIA. To mark the beginning of an eventful partnership, 4th Impact’s new single “Here We Go,” was produced by Choi YoungHo (Handsome People) and Zrademusic (Adrian K, Methuselah K.).

With a masterful blend of R&B diva chops, hip-hop sass, and stadium-sized energy, the upbeat track positions 4th Impact as a vocal powerhouse deserving of global acclaim.

“We wanted it to be a new anthem,” said the chart-topping quartet. “It’s an empowering song that aims to celebrate Filipinas all around the world, and how they’ve shown grace and excellence amidst troubling times.”

LUKE APRIL “Selfie”

T

WENTY-year-old recording artist and music producer Luke April’s a new single is about a person expressing his feelings towards another person

during the early phase of their connection, immaturely believing that they don’t want to live their life without each other. Based on a personal experience, the song reflects an obsession with a picture/selfie. “Selfie””s lyrics sees the person visualizing scenarios as a pursuer hoping for nostalgic recollections in a romantic relationship. Its coda features the freestyle processed sound of a phone call and the track still manages to end in an unusual yet emotionally fulfilling way.

ANY NAME’S OKAY “Yugto”

F

ILIPINO alternative pop outfit Any Name’s Okay has finally released the music video of “Yugto,” the first single off the five-piece band’s upcoming 6-song EP, Leaving Home— slated to be released this year.

Shot from the perspective of an anonymous lover, the visuals take viewers to the coastal scenery of Sambal Beach Farm in Botolan, Zambales—the backdrop to a cute, romantic story helmed

by Ria Red. “Our co-manager and director, Ria Red, came up with the idea of making the music video take a different point of view as compared to other videos,” the band shares in an official statement. “Based on a love song sung in a first person POV, the accompanying video follows Ria’s vision of making it a story but told through the eyes of someone in a long-term relationship, who took the time and effort to get to know their partner, and is now wholly committed to them.”

PAUL PABLO “Kaya”

F

ACING issues of love, identity, and social tension, Paul Pablo, born and raised in Davao City enters the PH music industry with a distinguished sound of Pop that coalesces electro-pop, indie, disco, synth-pop, and R&B. His new single “Kaya” is a song about the recording artist’s struggles with adulting and getting his life together in the face of unavoidable pressures and responsibilities. He realizes that this experience is relatable, so he wrote a song about it to show listeners that the key to survival is to do what you can and learn to cope at your own pace. This track is made even more notable by its innovative approach to production values which will quickly pique the interest of listeners.

to 2022, Sharlene returns with a new song that takes listeners through a journey of introspection, in search of something possibly out of reach.

Written and produced

by Macalino, with Angee Rozul as its sound engineer, “Running” is a punchy midtempo tune that ranks among Sharlene’s finest in terms of range and delivery.

“We aimed for a little upbeat kind of song for my new single,” Sharlene shares in a statement. She added that her pop-rock track is all about “feeling all the emotions and trying to live in that particular moment or memory but you know you’re running out of time.”

SYLAS “Ember”

T

SHARLENE SAN PEDRO, “Running”

O

UTSIDE of her acting and hosting accolades, Sharlene San Pedro has successfully branched out into a music career, with a cover of Mayonnaise’s “Paraan” and dropping a second single with “Stars & Caramel Bars.” Fast forward

HE track was inspired by the excitement and the feeling of lightness when one meets a person who can be around your true, unfiltered and genuine self. Recording artist Sylas explained, “We wanted the music to embody both the romantic, softness of love and the excitement of newness, which is why we partnered a soft verse with a dancey chorus. Often times, the perfect person comes along when you least expect it. When that happens, the darkest parts and coldest parts become brighter and warmer and we felt the word ‘Ember’ embodied that emotion.”

3

With author Katrina Olan, the next generation of Sci-Fi is female And not just softcore Sci-Fi, but genres dominated by men, like military Sci-Fi

By Pao Vergara

I

n the future envisioned by author Katrina F. Olan, the Philippines is a fullymodern country with cutting-edge science and technology. A Muslim woman heads the main research and development arm of the government, while a Filipina colonel is the country’s—and perhaps humanity’s—strongest soldier.

But this Philippines also continues to be plagued by ills as old as time. Poverty persists. Historical truth is obscured for the sake of propaganda. More importantly, albeit fantastically, the country has been waging a century-long war for survival against an alien invader, as human-piloted mecha (robotic exosuits built for war) duke it out in the skies against their extraterrestrial counterparts.

By perception and by the numbers, science fiction, and its subgenre, mecha military fiction, is a category aimed traditionally at men, by men. But women can add much-needed perspectives to the well-worn path.

As a girl, Olan loved Sci-Fi, though she wasn’t necessarily a fan of the mecha military subgenre.

Her second novel, titled Tablay, follows her first published project, the steampunk adventure Skies Above. Tablay was born from Olan’s desire to tell a story set in the Philippines, carrying a sense of urgency that stems from contemporary socio-political issues.

Author Katrina F. Olan and the book cover of Tablay

‘What if we put robots?’

Tablay was supposed to be about Philippine mythology. But in many ways, it still is, only this time, aswang, tikbalang, and kapre are metallic alien monsters from deep space rampaging through earth. “What’s the wildest thing you can bump in with it,” Olan ponders, recalling the direction the story has since taken, “what if we put robots?”

But Tablay’s world doesn’t just draw from fiction. Part of her research also involved unearthing actual accounts from soldiers in the first and second world wars, mainly through repeated visits to secondhand bookstores.

Many of the most visceral scenes in Tablay directly mirror accounts of actual combat, from pilot plane crashes, all the way to the whitewashing of truth and deploying of propaganda as part of a national war effort. Olan reveals that she didn’t want her story “to feel like a repeat” of the conventions of mecha military Sci-Fi. Additionally, Olan hails from a family of artists, scientists, and also war veterans.

Her maternal grandfather was not just a community scientist in Mindanao, but also a survivor of the Death March who faked his death in order to escape and later on fight the Japanese.

Hearing the history of her family naturally drew Olan to war stories, and perhaps

Tablay could be the natural result of this childhood curiosity and adult urgency of wanting to voice her thoughts about the times we live in.

Her family influence shows as well, as academics challenge the established narrative, soldiers regret, if belatedly, the roles they play in deceiving the very people they’ve sworn to serve, and political intrigue reaches deadly consequences as human lives are needlessly thrown away.

Still, it is this setting that reveals Tablay’s main assertion: that as long as humans have free will, individual choices collide to impact the bigger picture.

A Filipino family story

But closer to home, Tablay is also a Filipino family story, with both poignant and heartwarming moments, from a Christmas Noche Buena scene (a must-have for Filipino stories!), which reads like an oasis amid a bleak setting, and an aunt-niece conflict that mirrors the larger conflicts in the novel.

But what puts Olan’s Sci-Fi alongside others as a work representative of today’s kind of storytelling is how it evolves thanks to fan input, a trait commonly seen in geek convention culture, where audiences are not just passive consumers, but active contributors to the development and direction of a story.

Storytelling today, in an age of comments sections, video essays, and multimedia e-mails, is, just like storytelling of yore, a communal affair—a gathering, so to speak, around the proverbial campfire.

Amid reader rants and raves, Olan is nonetheless thankful that her work inspired people to sit through and finish a book, especially those who haven’t picked up a book in a long time or those who identify as nonreaders, based on many comments, reviews, and fan mail she has since received.

As part of the independent publishing community, and a regular at conventions like Komikon and Komiket, Olan is immersed in an ethos that’s at once rugged individualism and communal connection.

There is also the divide between institutional publishing, and independent publishing. Once upon a time, it wasn’t seen as ideal for a writer to self-publish, but with the advent of two-way communication between creators and audiences, those attitudes and stigmas are eroding.

Ultimately, Olan’s vision for Tablay is not yet fully realized. She’s currently developing a graphic novel which will take major departures from the book. It is here that Olan will apply many of the fan input, like developing the perspectives of characters, antagonists included, all to form a more nuanced picture not just of the Tablay universe but also of the themes presented.

Her mentors for this upcoming iteration include komiks industry “kuyas” like adman and artist Apol Sta. Maria, who is also her colleague in her day job in the advertising industry.

While Skies Above showed Olan she could commit to writing a novel while maintain a day job, Tablay is pushing her to dream bigger. Not just in terms of budget and logistics, but simply in terms of unbridled creativity. If one thing can’t be done in one medium, she plans to explore other media.

Tablay the videogame, Tablay the series, Tablay the musical play.

As long as the spark runs through Olan and the indie publishing community and their followers, their co-creators, the storieswithin-a-story will keep charging.

Curious Kids:

How likely is it that the multiverse exists?

I

n fiction and in films such as Spiderman: Into the Spider-Verse, parallel universes–also called the multiverse—exist alongside our own, with anything from small differences in events to entirely different rules of physics. It is an exciting and fascinating idea.

Physicists have given the question of whether parallel universes could exist a lot of thought—and have come up with quite a few theories.

Infinite expanse

One popular theory relies on something physicists already know about. The universe is expanding. This means galaxies far from Earth are moving away from us. This

means there is a point in the universe that we cannot see past. This process is called cosmic inflation.

That doesn’t mean there is nothing there, though. There are still more galaxies beyond this edge—but we will never be able to see them. Some physicists describe the parts of the universe beyond this edge as a separate, parallel universe. This theory is popular, as it doesn’t require any special physics or changes in our current understanding of the universe.

Many worlds

Another theory requires us to think about a type of science called quantum mechanics.

Quantum mechanics is all about the probability

4 BusinessMirror

of tiny particles doing something. If a tiny particle is fired at a wall, it might bounce off it—or travel right through it. Quantum mechanics tells us which event is more likely. However, there is nothing in the maths that says that only one of the events must occur. Both of these things might happen at once. But we would only see one of these things happen. So, if saw the particle bounce off the wall, it might have also, at the same time, tunnelled through the wall— just in another universe, not our one.

In this parallel universe, everything would be exactly the same as in our universe, except for one tiny change. In that universe, the particle traveleed through the wall, instead of bouncing off it. The many worlds April 10, 2022

theory suggests that this happens every time a quantum mechanical reaction occurs, creating a separate parallel universe each time.

Once the parallel universe is created, however, we have no way of interacting with it. While this theory is exciting, we have no way to test it.

So is there another Earth?

Unfortunately, we don’t know if these parallel universes exist. Or at least, we don’t at the moment. Physicists are trying to find ways to test these theories, but it is very difficult.

For now, they remain just theories. But, who knows? Perhaps scientists in another universe have already figured it out. The Conversation