BusinessMirror April 11, 2023

By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz @joveemarie & Raadee S. Sausa

AGROUP of farmers blames what it called the unlimited and untested importation of pork into the Philippines for the continued spread of African swine fever (ASF) in the country,  with the surge sparking fears of a pork shortage. This has prompted  a senior lawmaker on Monday to urge the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) to consider  a nationwide immunization drive to contain

the killer pig disease.  For its part, the biggest alliance of farm producers sought hefty aid for their sector. “The government should look into providing assistance for local hog raisers and farmers, as there is no indemnification being given,” Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura (Sinag) Executive Director Jayson Cainglet said on Monday. It will not matter if you impose movement protocols and biosecurity measures in local farms and transport of live hogs if we continue to have unlimited entry of untested

imported pork at the port of first entry,” he said.

“ Local producers, especially backyard hog raisers, are facing severe difficulties when it comes to ASF protocols; but our ports are open to imported pork where no ASF tests are being conducted,” Cainglet added.

H e noted that “since late last year, private and local government units [in the case of Cebu] were the ones compensating backyard farmers hit by ASF. Why is it that the enthusiasm and zest to support and protect pork importers is not seen

for local raisers?”

M aybe, he said, “local hog raisers can instead be the ones given assistance.”

C ainglet wondered aloud whether authorities intend to “wait for all the pork in the country to be exhausted? Or is that what they want?”

All regions hit MEANWHILE , the DA said all regions in the country were affected by ASF, save for Metro Manila which has no hog raisers in the region.

DIOKNO TOUTS ECONOMIC DATA OF PHL BEFORE IMF

By Raadee S. Sausa

PHILIPPINES TRIES TO BRING BACK SMALL FISH KEY TO RURAL DIET

PHL social security systems must be more portable–PIDS

By Cai U. Ordinario @caiordinario

THE government social security systems must become more portable in order for Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) to access them in their time of need abroad, according to local researchers.

T his can be done, the researchers said, by investing in a unified database for accessing records of all OFWs as well as the creation of a portal for all related services.

T hey added that the government must also provide a multipurpose identification card for OFWs to ease system transactions.

“ The Philippines did not sit idly by and wait for the virus to fade. Instead it adopted new laws to open up the economy to foreign investors and make the economy vibrant and competitive,” Diokno said at the sidelines of the World Bank-International Monetary Fund spring meeting.

T he economic numbers support the positive outlook, he asserted.

The Philippine economy grew by 7.6 percent in 2022, the highest in 46 years, exceeding the growth assumption of 6.5 percent to 7.5 percent by the Development Budget Coordination Committee [DBCC],” the secretary said.

F urthermore, the 2022 GDP (gross domestic product) growth exceeded the median forecast of local private sector analysts (7.5 percent) and economic projections by the IMF (6.5 percent), the World Bank (7.2 percent), Asean+3 Macroeconomic Re -

search Office (7.3 percent) and the Asian Development Bank (7.4 percent), he added.

Growth was broad-based, with all sectors growing despite the increase in world and domestic commodity prices. Services grew by 9.2 percent, industry by 6.7 percent, and agriculture by 0.5 percent, the finance chief said. “ The growth drivers on the demand side include household consumption, government spending, investment, and net export,” Diokno said.

H ousehold consumption is also expected to grow significantly because of a better jobs market, direct measures to ease price pressures, lower income tax rates because of the TRAIN Law, continued growth in overseas Filipino remittances, and targeted interventions to preserve purchasing power.

By Joel Calupitan & Patrick Whittle

The Associated Press

TANAUAN, Leyte—The Philippines, a nation made up of thousands of islands, is home to about 1.6 million people who work in fisheries, and the majority of those fishers are small-scale harvesters who collectively catch almost half of the nation’s fish.

Years of market pressures,

lack of fisheries management and unchecked overfishing from larger commercial fishers have led to a decline in small fish such as sardines that rural coastal communities in the country of about 110 million people depend on. Data is not available on the state of many fish stocks, but the conservation group Oceana has said more than 75 percent of the nation’s fishing grounds are depleted.

T his was among the recommendations in a policy note published by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) authored by University of the Philippines Diliman Associate Professor Jocelyn O. Celero as well as De La Salle University associate professor Melissa R. Garabiles and assistant professor Evangeline O. KatigbakMontoya.

T he researchers said this is crucial since migrant workers do not enjoy healthcare benefits in host countries because of the absence of bilateral agreements, among other reasons.

“ The government needs to establish greater portability mechanisms for PhilHealth, SSS, PagIBIG, and OWWA. Increasing ease in paying contributions [e.g., through digitization] and minimizing paperwork could boost and sustain interest in membership,” the authors said.

Greater effort must also be exerted in periodically updating government’s social media accounts to educate OFWs and counter fake news regarding their health and health benefits.

T hey also recommended that receiving countries’ healthcare professionals be trained to effectively communicate health and social services to migrants in the language they understand.

Further, PhilHealth should also establish regional physical offices in countries that are densely populated by OFWs, complemented with a virtual office or a hotline.

The Philippines should actively pursue bilateral agreements with destination countries. Policymakers, academics, nongovernment organizations, and migrant workers should collaborate to build more inclusive health and social security systems post-pandemic and beyond,” the authors said.

AMID

the unprecedented Covid-19 pandemic and the ongoing global uncertainties, the Philippines has transformed into one of the fastest-growing economies in the world, Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno said on Monday.

House bill vests DMW with more power to help seafarers

By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz @joveemarie

THE House of Representatives wants to clothe the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) and other relevant agencies with enough powers to better protect the estimated 700,000 seafarers in either foreign-flagged ships or Philippine-registered vessels operating internationally, to ensure they have full labor protection from the time of training and recruitment up to their retirement from the profession.

W ith the government now expecting the hiring of more Filipino seafarers following the move by the European Commission (EC) to extend its recognition of seafarers’ certificates issued in the Philippines, Camarines Sur Rep. LRay Villafuerte  said there is more reason for senators to consider the pending Senate version of a House-approved bill on better protection for sailors in foreignflagged ships.

Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) Secretary Susan Ople ex-

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pects a surge in demand for Filipino mariners not only in the European Union (EU) but in other parts of the world as well, as this EU decision is a “vote of confidence in the Philippines and in the quality of training, education and certification of our seafarers.”

V illafuerte said one measure that the House had approved on third and final reading in the last session month prior to its summer break was House Bill (HB) No. 7325 that seeks to provide “full protection” to Filipino sailors before, dur -

Government spending is expected to pick up with the early approval and timely implementation of the 2023 National Budget, the finance chief said.

ing and after their employment, especially in cases of maritime accidents, epidemics or pandemics, and natural or man-made crises.

T he House voted 304-4 for HB 7325, or the “Magna Carta of Filipino Seafarers,” that also aims to sharpen the global competitiveness of Filipino mariners by boosting maritime education, training, certification and licensing system.

“Our country is recognized as the world’s largest source of seafarers, with an estimated 700,000 working foreign-flagged or locally-registered seagoing vessels. In 2019, it was recorded that there were 380,000 Filipino seafarers overseas,” said Villafuerte, one of the authors of HB 2269 that was consolidated with the House-approved HB 7325.

V illafuerte  noted the seafarers’ remittances of $12.8 billion over the 2019-2020 period.

To ensure full protection of mariners, Villafuerte said  the Housepassed bill requires shipowners to forge standard employment contracts (SECs) with their hired Filipino sailors, and mandates the prior review and approval by DMW of such SECs to ensure that the con-

“ Infrastructure programs are expected to accelerate with the support of public-private partnership [PPP] mechanism; implementation of investment-inducing reforms

tract stipulations adhere to all the seafarers’ rights, as provided for in HB 7325.

HB 7325 grants the DMW Secretary, or his or her representative, access to both foreign-registered ships and Philippine-registered vessels operating internationally, for the purpose of “conducting inspection to ensure compliance with working and living standards of seafarers as provided under this Act.”

R ecognized organizations may be authorized by the DMW Secretary to conduct the inspection of ship premises and issue the Maritime Labor Certificate or the Certificate of Compliance, as appropriate, in accordance with the provisions of this Act and its Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR), he said.

H B 7325 directs the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to give “paramount importance to the safety and well-being of Filipino seafarers,” by providing adequate and timely intervention and assistance, such as representing their interests with foreign authorities concerned and facilitating their repatriation when they are distressed or beleaguered.

such as amendments to the Public Service Act, Foreign Investment Act, Retail Trade Liberalization Act and the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises [CREATE]; wider financial inclusion; greater adoption of e-commerce; more investments into modernization and agri-business,” Diokno added.

Inflation eases

MEANWHILE , inflation has cooled down to 7.6 percent in March 2023 from 8.6 percent in February 2023. This, he said, is within BSP’s March inflation forecast at 7.4 -8.2 percent, but much lower than the median forecast of private analysts of 8.1 percent.

“The main source of the decline in headline inflation is the lower contribution to overall inflation of food and non-alcoholic beverages, transport, housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels,” according to Diokno. P resident Ferdinand Marcos Jr. remains on top of the situation as his administration continues to adopt a whole-of-government approach to tackle inflation, said the DOF chief.

Women...

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They also recommended boosting efforts to make clean energy accessible for all. This would also have a “multifaceted dimension for women.”

Serafica and Joffre said electricity can improve the conduct of businesses as well as education services. This can also reduce indoor air pollution through clean energy cooking resources.

Electricity can also reduce unpaid household work while electric vehicles and alternative transport such as cycling can improve the mobility of women.

However, the authors stressed that the diversification and decarbonization of the energy systems must include targeted support for the poorest in order for them to afford it.

We must keep in mind that changes in energy costs can affect women differently as globally, on average, women still earn 20 percent less than men,” Serafica and Joffre said.

Further, the voices of women and other vulnerable sectors to climate change should be amplified to truly “leave no one behind.”

T he needs of these sectors should be heard in order to influence policies on social protection and fair wages.

T he authors said improving communication “can facilitate storytelling about nature-based solutions and indigenous knowledge systems, and help rally sectors to change the climate narrative in the region.”

A mong the specific areas said to be ASF-free as of end-March were Aklan, Albay, Antique, Batanes, Biliran, Bohol, Bukidnon, Eastern Samar, Ilocos Sur, La Union, Oriental Mindoro, Misamis Oriental, Negros Occidental, Palawan, Quirino and Romblon.

Urgently needed: vaccines

MEANWHILE , Camarines Sur Rep.

Lray Villafuerte warned that if the current surge of   ASF is unchecked, such could wreak havoc on the domestic hog population and further drive up the already elevated inflation, as a result of possibly another upward price spiral in pork products.

An immunization drive to prevent the reported surge in ASF outbreak from getting worse has now become doable, following Vietnam’s discovery last year and subsequent use of the world’s first vaccine to beat this deadly disease, and the ongoing field trials that local agribusiness companies have already  been doing here in our country to check the efficacy of this new drug in the Philippine setting,” he said.

T he lawmaker said once this new veterinary drug is proven, at the end of local field trials, to be as effective as an anti-ASF drug in the Philippines as it has been in Vietnam since its discovery last year, “the BAI should weigh the feasibility of implementing  a nationwide anti-ASF drive to help especially the backyard raisers to save their animals—and stave off another undue spike in pork prices that could further drive up the already elevated inflation.”

T he BAI itself revealed in a March 27 report that all of the country’s regions, with the sole exception of Metro Manila, have been infected with ASF, higher than the BAI-reported 7 regions only last February.

B AI data showed that 54 provinces in the country’s 16 regions have reported ASF outbreaks, the latest being the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, which recorded its first case in Maguindanao del Sur.

Shortage looms

DA  Assistant Secretary and spokesman Rex Estoperez  confirmed the warning by the National Livestock Program (NLP) of a possible shortage of over 46,000 metric tons (MT) of pork in June, as against the projected demand of 145,849 MT.

A lso, NLP director Ruth MiclatSonaco revealed in the DA’s consultation with   stakeholders that the country could start experiencing a domestic pork shortage as early as April, with a possible shortfall of 11

days equivalent to some 56,000 MT. To  the government’s credit, the DA and BAI have carried out initiatives  such as hog repopulation and  the Bantay ASF sa Barangay (BaBay ASF),Villafuerte said. He added that he learned many industry players continue to hesitate to reinvest 100 percent in their businesses because of the continued outbreak threats.

“ These swine industry players who suffered heavy financial losses after ASF resurfaced in 2019 apparently fear losing more money in the future in the absence of any assurance that ASF outbreaks will be a thing of the past,” he said. “And it seems that the only way to boost their confidence in reinvesting 100 percent  in the industry is if the government can shield their pig stocks from future ASF outbreaks by way of an immunization program.”       V illafuerte made this proposal to BAI after the farm advocacy group Sinag criticized the government’s slow response to ASF despite the doubling of the number of affected  regions from 7 in February to 15 in early March.

A SF is a viral disease infecting pigs, with a fatality rate of up to 100 percent. It has decimated swine industries worldwide since its resurgence, first in China, in 2018.

T his disease is responsible for a 50-percent drop in the local swine population after  ASF resurfaced in the Philippines in 2019 and spread across over 50 provinces by 2022,  devastating commercial pig farms and backyard raisers and causing an annual revenue loss of P100 billion for allied industries.

T here was a nearly 25-percent decline in pork output in the period from June to October 2021 as against the same four months in 2020, driving retail prices up to P400 a kilo from the earlier per-kilo average of P250.

As of April 4, the DA’s Agribusiness and Marketing Assistance Service (AMAS)-Bantay Presyo reported that retail prices in Metro Manila markets ranged from P330 to P420 for a kilo of fresh pork and P260 to P320 for frozen pork.   V illafuerte said BAI could consider following the lead of the Hanoi government, which was set to distribute nationwide the world’s first commercially available antiASF vaccine developed by AVAC Vietnam Joint Stock Co.  He claimed that reports reaching his office revealed that this same vaccine being used in Vietnam is now undergoing trials in four Philippine farms under BAI supervision.

B ased on the research, the authors found that most Filipino migrant workers in East Asia are health- and social security systemsliterate.

However, their knowledge only extends to information they are familiar with. They also partially understand the basic social and health security schemes offered in home and destination countries.

T he study found also that OFWs encounter barriers in host countries. In Japan, there are preferential treatment in terms of ethnicity, gender, and visa or migrant status.

Backed by data from the Bureau of Customs (BOC), the DTI showed the share of domestic sales to the Philippine market contracted during the period of investigation (POI) of imports of LPG steel cylinders, which entered the Philippine market from 2017 to 2021.

A ccording to DTI’s findings, imports continued to displace the domestic market and cut into the industry’s sales and market share from 30 percent in 2018 to 10 percent in 2021. The loss of market share was taken by imports during the POI,”

Many OFWs employed in low-skill jobs also experience discrimination. OFWs in Singapore, meanwhile, enjoy some form of social protection that are based on nationality and residence.

T here are also language barriers and ineffective Pre-Departure Orientation Seminar (PDOS), the mandatory program for domestic workers before they leave the Philippines.

Migrant workers also experience disinformation and lack awareness about government health programs; financial difficulties; and isolation.

DTI said in its report, adding that this “dominance” persisted in 2020 and 2021 notwithstanding the Covid-19 pandemic.

T he DTI noted the rate of import increased by 24 percent in 2019 and sharply increased by 45 percent in 2020. Meanwhile, imports reached 54 percent based on the 2021 level. “ During the POI, the industry suffered declines in sales, production, utilization rate, employment, profitability and even losses, and existence of price depression and price undercutting,” the DTI report noted.

The Nation

PNP reports 72 Holy Week deaths due to drowning nationwide

By Rene Acosta @reneacostaBM

THE Philippine National Police (PNP) reported on Monday that at least 72 people died by drowning as Filipinos hit the beaches during the Holy Week break, and as the country entered the summer season.

PNP spokesman Col. Jean Fajardo admitted that the figure recorded

since the start of the month was unusually high compared to the previous years. Filipinos have the longest vacation for the Holy Week this year, with Monday after Easter Sunday being a holiday.

13 tourists rescued MEANWHILE, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) assisted in rescuing 13

tourists, including a boat operator on board a motor banca that capsized in the waters of Bonbon Beach in Romblon on Saturday. W hile on an island hopping trip, the motor banca encountered strong waves, causing it to capsize. PCG personnel Kester Brylle Madali swam toward the motor banca and rescued the tourists, a Coast Guard report said. Another person-

nel, Francis Hedwig Salvador, called the nearby beach patrol team and station operation for additional reinforcement, the report added.

Other first responders and beach goers also augmented the search and rescue operations as the maritime incident occurred approximately 100 meters from the shoreline.

A lso, the Philippine Navy’s Naval Forces West (NFW), through its op -

erating unit, the BRP Andres Bonifacio (PS17), rescued a motorized boat in the waters of Ulugan Bay, Barangay Bahile, Puerto Princess City on Easter Sunday.

M/B Dexter left Macarascas along with 6 passengers en route to Rita Island for a summer activity when they were seen by the crew of PS17 at around 11 a.m. The crew was doing ship-to-shore activities at that time.

T he Naval Forces West said the M/B Dexter was seen dead on the water because of engine failure and was taking in water.

PS17, skippered by Commander Paul Michael Hechanova, immediately dispatched a team to rescue the passengers of the sinking boat. T he crew of PS17 accorded immediate medical attention to the passengers after they were rescued.

Choice of UP Diliman chancellor questioned, UP President Jimenez’s explanation sought

SENIOR faculty and professors emeriti of the University of the Philippines(UP)havepennedan open letter to UP President Angelo Jimenez, questioning the selection of Atty. Edgardo Carlo Vistan as UP Diliman chancellor by the UP Board of Regents (BOR), the highest governing body of the University System on April 3. Forty-one signatories, composed of professors emeriti, officials and former officials, stated: “We are disheartened at the outcome and the manner by which the Board

of Regents [BOR] decided on the chancellorship of the University of the Philippines Diliman [UPD] in utter disregard of the overwhelming sentiments and choice of the UP community.”

T he open letter came a week Vistan, an assistant professor who joined UP Diliman in 2015 and had only finished two years as Dean of the College of Law, was catapulted to the top academic and administrative position in UP Diliman by the 11-person BOR in an executive session and

through secret balloting.

V istan was up against Dr. Fidel Nemenzo who, as chancellor from 2020-2023 led UP Diliman through the pandemic, and was perceived as the frontrunner, having gained the endorsements of colleges and members of the community. On April 1, four regents, including the student, faculty, and staff representatives, publicly declared their vote for Nemenzo.

T he signatories also compared the academic and administra -

tive qualifications of the three nominees, which included Dr. Victor Paz of the School of Archaeology, and found that the BOR chose “the most junior candidate with the least experience, preparation, and credentials to lead a community of accomplished academics and researchers across 27 colleges and disciplines.”

“ This selection simply defies logic and goes against the standards of academic meritocracy— which we judge ourselves by—as well as elementary standards of

good governance, and basic principles of organizational management,” the letter read.

T he signatories noted the emerging pattern of choosing the country’s premiere university’s leadership: “The fact that the three most senior academic officials of our University—the Chancellor, the Vice President for Academic Affairs, and your good self—do not hold PhDs will not go unnoticed in the international community, especially in this age of ever-rising academic standards. This is not to

say that you cannot be up to doing your jobs; but it will be a challenge to dispel the impression that academic achievements come secondary to other factors in UP.”

Given the questions raised by the election, the concerned professors emeriti and faculty members urged President Jimenez to release the full report of the Search Committee, which he formed on January 26, and to reveal his vote as well as to convince the other regents to do the same in the spirit of transparency and democratic governance.

Tuesday, April 11, 2023

• Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug

Farmers blame rice price hikes on government’s import policy

By Raadee S. Sausa @raadeeboy

Precisely, because we have relied on imports, especially the last three years, helping local rice farmers, in terms of reducing their cost of producing rice, has not been met,” Jayson Cainglet, executive director of Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura (Sinag) said.

“ Time and again, we have said that importations would not ‘tame high prices,’ across commodities. And we have been proven right! It is happening also in pork, chicken, sugar, fish products and onions,” he added.

Meanwhile, tariffs on rice, pork, chicken and corn were lowered for the last three years.

The volume of imports in the past five years is unprecedented. Who benefited? Unless local producers are encouraged to farm or raise animals, retail prices will never go down, and local stocks will continue to dwindle…,” Cainglet added.

H e added that “not even the poor consumers benefited, with no less than National Economic and Development Authority ac -

knowledging that the price of rice, pork, fish and chicken did not decrease. Only importers and traders benefited.”

E arlier, a government agency said that the goal to bring down rice prices has remained elusive as production costs stay high because of expensive fertilizer and other farm inputs and as local harvests continue to decline.

T he Department of Agriculture (DA) in fact expects retail prices of the staple to increase by as much as P5 a kilo in the next few weeks, DA’s Assistant Secretary Rex Estoperez said. “As of now, we are seeing an increase of up to P5 per kilo in rice. If wholesale prices continue to rise, definitely prices in the retail markets will increase. If the farm-gate price [of palay] goes up, that will translate to higher selling prices [for rice],” he said.

A s a rule of thumb, the retail price

By Lenie Lectura @llectura

across the globe.

of rice in the market is at least double the farm-gate price of palay.

E stoperez, who is also the agency’s deputy spokesperson, attributed the potential price increase to the confluence of factors such as the low buffer stock, higher prices of palay (unhusked rice), and expensive farm inputs.

Meanwhile, the state-owned National Food Authority (NFA) used to buy palay for P19 a kilo, but Estoperez said prices have now gone up to P22 to P23.

The procurement price is very high. Even if this is a normal occurrence during the summer harvest, the price of palay is too steep. Price levels are abnormal [and have] already reached P23,” the agriculture official added.

Prices could have stabilized if the Philippines has sufficient inventory that is good for 90 days, but Estoperez noted that the country’s buffer stock was good for only 51 days.

HEFTY oil price hikes will greet consumers on Tuesday, oil firms announced Monday.

Gasoline prices will shoot up by P2.60 per liter, diesel by P1.70 per liter, and kerosene by P1.9 per liter. The price increase takes effect at 6 a.m. for Petron, Shell, Seaoil, Phoenix, PTT, Caltex, Total, Unioil. Cleanfuel, meanwhile, will adjust its prices at 4:01 p.m. Other oil firms are expected to implement the same price increase.

Last April 4, the oil companies implemented a per liter increase of P1.40 for gasoline, P0.50 for diesel and P0.20 for kerosene. These resulted to a year-to-date net decrease for diesel at P3.65/liter and kerosene at P5.35/ liter. Gasoline on the other hand, has a net increase of P6.05/liter.

Movements in the world oil market affect local pump prices. It was the announcement of Saudi Arabia and other OPEC+ oil producers last week of further reduction in output by 1.16 million barrels per day that sparked the hikes in pump prices

T he local oil industry uses Mean of Platts Singapore (MOPS), which is the daily average of all trading transactions between buyer and seller of petroleum products as assessed and summarized by Standard and Poor’s Platts, a Singapore-based market wire service.

Before, the country uses Dubai crude as benchmark for pricing of local products. However, this translates to one to two months lag time in reflecting the cost of products as it entails three weeks of travel time and another week or two for refining the crude and transporting the products to the pump.

T he shift to MOPS was undertaken to become more responsive to the movements in the international market and local demand for fuel products. Basing price of products on MOPS will only entail five days for importation travel time and transfer to the pumps. According to the Department of Energy (DOE), there is a roughly a P1/liter increase or decrease in domestic oil price for every $3 change in MOPS.

By  Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz  @joveemarie

THE Department of Agriculture’s-Philippine Carabao Center (DA-PCC) has signed an agreement with Occidental Mindoro State College (OMSC) to expand its research and conservation efforts by including native animal protection in its priorities.

DA-PCC Executive Director Caro Salces and state universities and colleges President III Elbert Edaniol have signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) for the implementation of the five-year project, titled “Establishment of the Mindoro Carabao Conservation and Nucleus Farm in Occidental Mindoro State College.”

T he DA-PCC and OMSC have agreed to share their respective expertise and resources for the project, which will be a part of the Research Laboratory for Endangered Species in Mindoro Biodiversity Rescue and Conservation Center.

In a statement, the agreement said that it includes the provision of at least five initial carabao stocks that will be utilized for research and development, extension and production purposes, and capacity building in the form of technical training, seminars, and consultancy to OMSC.

Moreover, the agreement also paved the way for the conduct of research and development endeavors in collaboration with OMSC and close monitoring in the operation of the project as a basis for further development, assistance and partnerships.

The OMSC, on the other hand, will procure at least five additional carabaos; provide buildings, logistics, facilities and equipment needed for the operation of the project; and designate a coordinator who will spearhead the implementation of the project in close coordination with DA-PCC. RaadeeS.Sausa

TO enable more people in Mindanao to access better job opportunities through technical and vocational training, a lawmaker is pushing for the establishment of a Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda) office in Davao City.

With 182 barangays and a popu-

By Jonathan L. Mayuga @jonlmayuga

FOUR agrarian reform beneficiaries’ organizations (ARBOs) from the province of Abra received a total of P7,482,000 worth of farm machinery and equipment (FMEs) from the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR).

T he ARBO recipients include Villa Banat Agriculture Co-operative, Abualan Farmers & ARB Agriculture Co-operative, Upper Luba FIA, and Raniag Pakiling Integrated Development Association Inc.

P rovided by the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), the package includes one hauling truck, two four-wheeled drive tractors, six mechanical rice threshers, 10 water pumps, two electric power sprayers, six manual sprayers, four brass cutters, 6 rolls of water hose 2,” 6 rolls water hose 1 and ½,” and three hand tractors, DAR-Abra Provincial Agrarian Reform Program Officer II, Mercedes Borongan, said in a statement.

T he provision of FMEs is in line with the directive of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. to DAR

lation of 1.78 million, Rep. Paolo Duterte said Davao City alone covers a large area that necessitates setting up a separate Tesda office to enable the agency to effectively deliver its services and fulfill its goal of providing “quality-assured and inclusive” technical and vocational education, Duterte said.

T he current Tesda Provincial Office, which caters to the entire province of Davao del Sur, also cov -

ers Davao City.

D uterte proposed the establishment of a Tesda District Office in Davao City through House Bill (HB) 1756.

Establishing this separate Tesda office will provide “better and more focused technical-vocational education and training [TVET] for the people of Davao City,” which has the largest number of deliverables and scope of operations that comprises

at least 60 percent of the agency’s regional targets, said Duterte, who represents the city’s 1st district.

Rep. Duterte pushes establishment of separate Tesda office in Davao City Pact widens cooperation for carabao conservation

Davao City currently has 113 registered private technical vocational institutions, and three public Tesda training institutions, with 504 registered programs/qualifications, and 33 accredited assessment centers with 224 accredited programs/qualifications.

D uterte earlier announced that

his congressional office in Davao City is accepting scholarship applicants for various courses under the TESDA Training for Work Scholarship Program (TWSP), including Automotive Servicing NC I, Shielded Metal Arc Welding (SMAW) NC I, Electrical Installation and Maintenance NC II, Health Care Services NC II, Computer Systems Servicing NC II and Shielded Metal Arc Welding (SMAW) NC II.

The new tribe are ‘knowledge workers’

Secretary Conrado Estrella III to boost the livelihood activities of the ARBOs nationwide.

“It is imperative for you to maximize the use of this equipment in the landholdings awarded to you to fulfill the vision of the government to improve the quality of your lives, enhance your dignity and give your children a brighter future, through greater productivity of your agricultural lands,” she said.

B orongan also encouraged the ARBOs to carefully craft their operational policies to maximize the use of the machinery and equipment.

“

We would like to extend our heartfelt appreciation to the DAR for their unwavering support towards our progress and development,” Liberato Bernese, president of the Raniag Pakiling Integrated Development Association Inc. said for her part.

T he FMEs provided to the Abra farmers were made possible by DAR through the Climate Resilient Farm Productivity Support Program, which aims to enhance and sustain the agricultural productivity of agrarian reform communities as an adaptation measure towards climate change resiliency.

By Henry J. Schumacher

ALL countries and peoples are changing rapidly— as the market economy, democratic politics, and the international millennial’s culture spread all over the world, in the process called “globalization.”

American management thinker Peter Drucker described this emerging social organization as the “Knowledge Society.” By this, Drucker meant that—in our world today —knowledge has become the basic human resource.

SEN. Grace Poe on Monday said the widespread water supply crisis hounding consumers could be avoided.

“ The water crisis hounding Filipinos is avoidable if the correct policies are in place and are being implemented,” Poe, presiding chairperson of the Senate Committee on Public Services, said.

In a statement, Poe put in perspective that “the coming of El Niño is a predictable phenomenon,” that she reminded “should have kept water authorities and concessionaires on their toes to prepare for contingency measures.” Butch Fernandez

Nowadays, value is created not so much by capitalists, workers, and natural resources, as by productivity and innovation—both of which are the application of knowledge to work. Today, value is created primarily by intelligence—creativity —and inventiveness. The new tribe are “knowledge workers”—individuals who know how to allocate knowledge to productive use.

A nd, for both individuals and nations, education—the systematic acquisition of knowledge— has become the ultimate ladder to opportunity! Globalization will speed up the

flow of technical and scientific knowledge from the developed to the less-developed countries. Education must work to close the gap in learning between those two types of countries.

In other words, globalization will intensify and broaden every country’s need to educate all its people. No longer will it suffice to educate a tiny elite that will then manage and direct the politics, the economy, and the culture of the many.

Development will require not only a corps of highly-skilled individuals capable of absorbing advance technology; it will also require a minimum of scientific literacy and technological skill; it will also need the setting of professional standards, the delineation of fields of expertise, and the organization of communities of knowledge.

Education can no longer afford to leave anybody behind. All young people—whether they go to college or not—will need a similar set of core competencies if they are to succeed in today’s labor markets.

I f the Philippines were to survive in the ever-changing, fast moving, technology-driven world taking shape before our eyes, the country has to position itself strategically in this new economy. The end-effort must be to secure the Philippines’s place on the right side of the digital divide—the revolutions in communications, information, and computer technologies are creating.

T his requires a work-class workforce, something that the ICT and creative industries have been asking for. And because knowledge has become the modern economy’s central resource, we must keep in mind continuous learning has become essential.

So swift is the generation and transmission of knowledge that learning has become a life-long process for every one of us.

I am fully aware that you will not accept the write-up on the Knowledge Society without at least some indications of Artificial Intelligence

(AI) and Machine Learning (ML).

Let me focus on an exciting development called Predictive Analytics, which is a consequence of data management which we and our companies have no choice but to do.

Predictive Analytics is the use of data and other tech tools like AI and ML to predict future outcomes. Predictive analytics uses historical data to discover patterns and trends that predict future occurrences.

Cu rrently, many industries are actively using predictive analytics, including manufacturing, healthcare, finance, education, retail, cybersecurity, and agriculture. For example, predictive analytics can be used for everything from predicting business revenue to machine downtime.

A s data science evolves, new methods of using data are taking hold. Now, organizations can use data proactively with predictive analytics.

How does predictive analytics help business?

PREDICTIVE analytics takes data analysis a step further. While basic data analysis can show us what happened and what to do about it, predictive analytics shows us what could happen and how we can intervene. Predictive analytics offers a wide range of benefits across industries, from manufacturing to cybersecurity.

Will you allow me to get away from the Knowledge Society without at least a few words about ChatGPT?

Well, GPT-4 is an impressive reasoning engine—but it’s still only as good as the information we give it.

I n conclusion, as mentioned above, in our world today—knowledge has become the basic human resource. Let’s all become devoted members of the knowledge society. Training our people is a need that we must address!

I hope you enjoyed this article; if you need assistance to fully engage in the knowledge society, contact me at hjschumacher59@gmail.com

BECAUSE rising fuel, fertilizer and logistics costs, the prices of rice have gone up, a group of farmers revealed on Monday.

‘Big time’ fuel price jump: ₧2.60 for gasoline and ₧1.70 for diesel

Abra ARBOs get ₧7.48M worth of farm machinery

Sen. Poe reminds authorities water shortage can be avoided

By Joel R. San Juan @jrsanjuan1573

BUREAU of Immigration (BI) Commissioner Norman Tansingco has sought an investigation into the possible involvement of airline personnel in human trafficking activities.

Tansingco made the call after immigration officers at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) Terminal 3 intercepted a woman who attempted to leave with a fake immigration departure stamp on her passport.

T he BI chief said the incident happened last Wednesday, April 5, while the passenger was supposed to fly to Kuala Lumpur en route to her final destination in the United Arab Emirates where she was recruited to work as a domestic household worker.

H owever, the victim was prevented from leaving the country after the BI officer who examined her passport noticed that it already had an immigration departure stamp that appeared to be spurious.

T he BI’s document forensic laboratory later confirmed that said stamp is a counterfeit.

D uring interrogation, the woman disclosed that she was assisted by an airline employee and the latter’s former officemate in queuing at the immigration departure counter.

She said she was told to fall in line after her handler handed her passport and boarding pass, which had the fake BI departure stamps on them.

T he BI chief did not disclose the name of the airline where the woman’s escort was since the case has

By Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz  @joveemarie

THE “very good” net satisfaction rating that the House of Representatives recently received has encouraged its members to work even harder to pass the remaining priority bills identified by the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC), lawmakers said.

Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez said the SWS survey results are “very encouraging,” and would serve as an inspiration for him and his House colleagues to work even harder.

Romualdez, in a statement, commended his peers in the House of Representatives following the “very good” net satisfaction rating the lower chamber received in the December 10 to 14 survey of SWS.

“ This is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our legislators in serving the Filipino people during these challenging times. As the leader of the House of Representatives, I am proud of our members and

already been referred to and now being investigated by Naia’s antitrafficking task force and its airport police department.

Tansingco said the incident should serve as a warning to airline personnel that they should not connive with human traffickers and illegal recruiters.

“ They should stop preying on our poor countrymen who want to work abroad due to poverty and their desire to uplift the lives of their families. We thus urge airport authorities to dig deeper into these shenanigans and file the cases against those involved,” he said.

I t will be recalled that last year, Tansingco made a similar call to the Manila International Airport Authority   (MIAA) after airport security guards   caught several passengers while attempting to leave without immigration inspection by wearing fake Naia passes in going to the airport’s boarding gate.

Tansingco said the passengers were using fake airport access passes by pretending to be employees of various airport concessionaires to be able to enter the boarding gates.

Meanwhile, the BI said it recorded more than 45,000 arrivals and 33,000 departures on Easter Sunday.

Tansingco said that the increase of arriving passengers is expected until the tail end of the holidays.

The high number of arriving and departing passengers show that the travel sector is already recovering. We see this as a good sign, and we believe the numbers will continue to rise until the end of the year,” he added.

their commitment to advancing pro-people legislative measures,” Romualdez said.

T he House, along with the Senate, the Supreme Court, and the Cabinet of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. all scored a “very good” net satisfaction rating in the survey. It scored a +56 rating, next to the Senate with +68, while the SC and the Cabinet scored +53 and +50 respectively.

“ We will continue to work tirelessly to help realize the 8-point socioeconomic agenda of President Marcos and deliver on our mandate to provide meaningful and responsive solutions meant to uplift the lives of the Filipino people,” Romualdez added.

During the six-week congressional break from March 23 to May 7, Romualdez has authorized House committees to continue working to process pending measures.

Cavite Rep. Elpidio Barzaga Jr. attributed the high public satisfactory ratings of the chamber to a hardworking set of leaders and a competent set of members who made it a priority to pass important pieces of legislation for the welfare of the na-

12,200 US soldiers arrive for ‘biggest ever’ Balikatan in West Philippine Sea

By Malou Talosig-Bartolome

AROUND 12,200 US soldiers will arrive in the Philippines starting Tuesday in what could be the biggest war games yet between the two allies amid renewed tension in the Taiwan Strait and the continuing Chinese military islandbuilding activities in the South China Sea (SCS).

Balikatan 2023 will be participated by around 17,600 Filipino and American soldiers, the US Embassy said in a statement. A third of the participants—5,400—are Filipino soldiers from all branches of service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines—the Army, Navy, and Air Force.

C ol. Michael Logico, spokesperson of the Balikatan, said the war games will be conducted in various parts of the country, including the West Philippine Sea (WPS) off the island of Palawan and the Zambales Peninsula. Balikatan,” a Filipino term for “shoulder-to-shoulder” or carrying each other’s load, is the “largest iteration of the Balikatan to date,” the Embassy said.

It’s being held annually to enable the militaries to train together, test interoperability and readiness in the event both allies would need to defend when one is attacked by another state or non-state aggressor.

Live fire event will be conducted off San Antonio, Zambales, near the Philippine Navy’s Naval Education and Training Command. The naval station used to be a communications facility of the US military inside the former US naval base in Subic.

SanAntoniois254kilometersaway

tion and the people.

“If our leaders are busy, we are all busy. We take after the example of our beloved Speaker. We move at his pace. This is the reason the House of Representatives has been very productive in passing bills and resolutions, owing in no small part to its leaders,” Barzaga said.

I am very glad that the Filipino people recognize our hard work here in the House of Representatives. But let me clarify that we do not work to get recognition. We work because it is our sworn duty and mandate,” Barzaga said.

And also, this is due to the goals and objectives set by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. during his first State of the Nation Address. I think we are almost done with his legislative priorities,” he added. Before the Lenten season break of the House last month, the chamber approved on third and final reading 23 of 31 bills identified by the LEDAC as priority measures of the Marcos administration.

Signed into law by the President are two measures: the SIM Registration Act now in effect and the

from the disputed Bajo de Masinloc or Scarborough Shoal, now under de facto control of the Chinese Navy. The shoal is a traditional fishing ground of Filipino fishermen and was used by the US Navy in the 1950s as a gunnery range.

This year’s iteration includes a bilateral command post exercise that will strengthen the Allies’ ability to plan, coordinate, and provide command and control of forces together against a range of scenarios and simulated challenges,” the Embassy said.

A n amphibious landing operation will be held in Brooke’s Point, a town located in southern Palawan.

Brooke’s Point is around 200 to 300 kilometers away from contested islands in Spratlys in the WPS where China has occupied and built artificial islands from reefs and shoals.

T he Philippines claims parts of the Spratlys and has won the award from a United Nationsapproved arbitral tribunal after challenging China’s maritime ju -

bill postponing the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections to October this year.

A side from these, there are 20 other LEDAC-endorsed bills— collectively known as the Common Legislative Agenda (CLA) of Malacañang and Congress—that were approved on third and final reading: Magna Carta of Seafarers, Negros Island Region, E-Governance Act / E-Government Act, Virology, Institute of the Philippines, Passive Income and Financial Intermediary Taxation Act, National Disease Prevention Management Authority or Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Medical Reserve Corps, Philippine Passport Act; Internet Transaction Act/ECommerce Law, Waste-to-Energy Bill, Free Legal Assistance for Police and Soldiers, Apprenticeship Act, Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) Law, Magna Carta of Barangay Health Workers, Valuation Reform, Eastern Visayas Development Authority, Leyte Ecological Industrial Zone Government Financial Institutions

Unified Initiatives to Distressed Enterprises for Economic Recovery,

risdiction over the entire South China Sea. The US has since supported the tribunal’s decision invalidating the Chinese claim.

“ This training event will also enable the AFP and the US military to refine tactics, techniques, and procedures related to maritime security, and deconflict fires and maneuver in a shared and contested battle space,” the Embassy said.

A FP and US 7th Fleet soldiers will also hold maritime domain awareness exercises off the coast of Antique up to Palawan.

“All of our exercises will be done within territorial waters,” Logico said.

A side from live fire training, maritime domain awareness, soldiers will also undertake drills on urban and aviation operations, cyber defense, counterterrorism, and humanitarian assistance and disaster relief preparedness.

Special operations drills will also be held in Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija, in Colonel Ernesto Rabina Air

National Citizens Service Training Program, and Rightsizing the National Government.

One LEDAC bill, the Agrarian Reform Debts Condonation, is now up for approval by the bicameral conference committee.

T he eight other LEDAC bills pending in the House are the: Regional Specialty Hospitals (for second reading approval), Enabling Law for the Natural Gas Industry (under technical working group or TWG deliberation), National Land Use Act (TWG); Department of Water Resources and Services and Creation of Water Regulatory Commission (TWG), Electric Power Industry Reform Act (for committee deliberation), Budget Modernization (for committee deliberation), National Defense Act (for committee deliberation), and Unified System of Separation, Retirement and Pension for Uniformed Personnel (also for committee deliberation).

I am almost certain that the House of Representatives will hit the ground running in passing these remaining measures of the LEDAC, once sessions resume in May. And

Base (CERAB) in Capas, Tarlac, as wellasintheIslandofCalayaninCagayan. Calayan Island is around 386 kilometers away from Kaohshiung in Taiwan, a renegade province of China. T he Embassy didn’t say when the special operations drills would be held in Calayan Island. For three days since Monday, China conducted military drills in the Taiwan Strait, with 45 warplanes entering Taiwan Air Defense Identification Zone and 11 warships spotted around the island. Beijing simulated attacks on Taiwan’s key target areas in retaliation to Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen’s visit to the US and meeting with US House Speaker.

Field training exercise events will take place across the Philippines to test the Allies’ capabilities in combined arms live-fire, information and intelligence sharing, communications between maneuver units, logistics operations, amphibious operations, and many other skill sets,” the Embassy added.

during the break, the Speaker has even authorized committees to conduct hearings. So we can still work during recess,” Barzaga said.

For his part, Surigao del Norte Representative Robert Ace Barbers said, “this is a solid satisfaction rating that shows that the majority of Filipinos like what they see in Speaker Martin Romualdez and the bigger House in general. We have done our work quietly, but efficiently. We don’t need any fanfare to get things done.”

House Committee on Appropriations Chairman and Ako Bicol Partylist Rep. Zaldy Co said “this truth can’t be denied: Speaker Romualdez is one of the busiest leaders not only in Congress, but in the government as well. He is virtually everywhere —speaking engagements, highlevel meetings, economic roadshows and the like.”

“Being a former majority leader, Romualdez keenly understands how legislation works here in the House of Representatives. He knows how to expedite the passage of the measure without sacrificing the quality of the work,” Co said.

T he problem of overfishing is especially detrimental to the country’s poorest people, many of whom earn their living by fishing, said Ruperto Aleroza, an anti-poverty activist who has spent decades harvesting small fish like sardines and round scad from the waters around the archipelago.

T he small fish are important to the diet in parts of the Philippines where other sources of protein are not available, he said. The fish are used in traditional dishes such

as kinilaw, a raw fish dish similar to ceviche.

“ We fisherfolk are the second to the poorest in our country” behind only farmers, Aleroza said.

T he challenge overfishing poses to people who earn their living from the sea and who count on fish for protein in their diet is being experienced throughout the world. As overfishing is impacting kinilaw in the Philippines, it’s affecting traditional dishes and ways of life in places such as the Bahamas, where scientists and government

officials worry the commercial fishing of conch, a marine snail central to the diet and identify of the island nation, may soon no longer be feasible. And in Senegal, overfishing has large wiped out white grouper,  long the basis for the national dish of thieboudienne.

A leroza blames years of poor fishing management and unsustainable fishing practices for taking away both a way of life and a key source of protein for some of his nation’s poorest people.

“It is threatening the local food

source. We can’t feed our family. And it’s worsening the poverty of artisanal fishers,” he said. “The overfishing worsens economic depression among us.”

Recently, the country has begun to make strides in rebuilding fisheries with spawning closures, said Mudjekeewis Santos, a scientist with the Philippines Department of Agriculture’s National Fisheries Research and Development Institute.

“And the communities are happy that this happened, because their catch increased,” he said.

“Fish don’t care about jurisdiction, and they’re being decimated.”

But there is much work left to be done, Santos said.

Nongovernmental organizations such as the Environmental Defense Fund are working with the Philippines government to adopt science-based, sustainable fishing practices, said Edwina Garchitorena, who leads those efforts for EDF in the country.

T he problem goes beyond small fish. The loss of small, oceangoing fish such as anchovies is also

devastating for larger fish, which eat the small fish, she said.

Garchitorena and others blamed the over-exploitation of larger fish species to meet international demand, which she said increased fishing pressure on the smaller fish stocks that live closer to the coast.

“ We’ve systematically reduced every type of fish in the ocean,” she said.

T his story was supported by funding from the Walton Family Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

US service members and Philippine Army soldiers attend the groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of a new community health-care center in preparation for Balikatan 2023 in Barangay San Joaquin, Sarrat, Ilocos Norte, on March 27. PHOTO BY US EMBASSY IN MANILA

BI chief suspects complicity of some of airline personnel in human trafficking at Naia

Russian attacks in Ukraine continue amid Pope’s Easter pleas for peace

KYIV, Ukraine—Weekend shelling by Russian forces killed at least seven civilians, Ukrainian officials reported Sunday as Pope Francis and Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby used their traditional Easter messages to highlight the war in Ukraine and other conflicts around the world.

Putin illegally annexed in September. Since then, Russia’s military has sought to oust Ukraine’s troops from those areas, especially Luhansk and Donetsk provinces, which make up the industrial region known as the Donbas.

Bakhmut, a city in Donestsk, has seen the 13-month war’s longest battle. Western analysts have said Russian forces recently made it into the center of the city. Seizing Bakhmut after more than eight months would give the Kremlin a badly wanted victory and a path to push on toward bigger Ukrainianheld cities.

The Russian army is moving elite units to Bakhmut, Col. Serhiy Cherevaty, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s Eastern Group of Forces, said Sunday.

Cherevaty said the Wagner Group, a private Russian military company whose fighters have spearheaded the offensive on Bakhmut, was incurring heavy losses, making it necessary to move in regular army units from the regular army, including paratroopers and motorized riflemen.

peace is no aimless daydream, but a reality offered because Christ was raised from the dead.”

“Injustice and brutality may seem to triumph in our short lives on earth, cruel and oppressive rulers might look as though they only get stronger,” he said during a sermon delivered in Canterbury, England. “Yet they will vanish. The power of the resurrection is infinitely greater than they are.”

Between Saturday and Sunday mornings, Russian forces launched 40 air strikes, four missile strikes and 58 attacks from multiple-rocket launchers on various parts of Ukraine, the General Staff of the Ukrainian armed forces reported.

According to the General Staff, Russia focused attacks on the Donetsk province communities of Lyman, Bakhmut, Avdiivka and Marinka. Donetsk regional Gov. Pavlo Kyrylenko said Sunday morning that two civilians were wounded Saturday.

Pope at Easter: Pray for Ukrainian, Russian people; welcome refugees

By Frances D’emilio

The Associated Press

VATICAN CITY—In an Easter message highlighting hope, Pope Francis on Sunday invoked prayers for both the Ukrainian and Russian people, praised nations that welcome refugees and called on Israelis and Palestinians wracked by the latest surge in deadly violence to forge a “climate of trust.”

Francis, along with dozens of prelates and tens of thousands of faithful, celebrated Easter Mass in a flower-adorned St. Peter’s Square, affirming the Christian belief that Jesus rose from the dead days after his crucifixion.

While Russia continued to concentrate on seizing Ukraine’s entire industrial east, two other provinces—Kharkiv in the northeast and Zaporizhzhia in the southeast—came under missile, rocket and artillery fire, the Ukrainian military reported. The governor of the Kherson region, Oleksandr Prokudin, said two communities there were hit by bombs from warplanes late Sunday, but he did not immediately report any casualties.

Kharkiv governor Oleh Syniehubov said two men died Sunday in shelling in Kupiansk, a city that Russia held before Ukrainian forces regained control of almost the entire province.

The city remained under attack later Sunday as Russian forces targeted residential areas

with multiple rocket launchers, Syniehubov said. Elsewhere in the province, a 30-year-old man was hospitalized in serious condition after Russian shelling of the city of Chuhuiv, he said on Telegram.

Shelling also killed two people overnight, one of them a child born in 2012, in the city of Zaporizhzhia, the capital of that province, City Council Secretary Anatoliy Kurtev said.

The Zaporizhzhia region’s governor, Yurii Malashko, said 18 communities in all were shelled.

Three people were killed and five were wounded on Saturday, Malashko said.

Zaporizhzhia is home to Europe’s largest nuclear power plant and one of four Ukrainian provinces that Russian President Vladimir

The vast majority of Ukrainians with a religious affiliation identify as Orthodox Christian, a faith that observes Easter on April 16 this year. Some Catholics celebrated Easter on Sunday, while Orthodox churches marked Palm Sunday this weekend.

While delivering his Easter address from the central balcony of the Vatican’s St. Peter’s Basilica, Pope Francis implored God to “help the beloved Ukrainian people on their journey towards peace, and shed the light of Easter upon the people of Russia.”

“Comfort the wounded and all those who have lost loved ones because of the war, and grant that prisoners may return safe and sound to their families,” Francis said.

Easter affirms the Christian belief that Jesus rose from the dead days after his crucifixion. Welby, who as archbishop of Canterbury is the ceremonial head of worldwide Anglican Communion, said the occasion provided hope that “true

Officials in Kherson province, where Ukrainian forces forced a partial Russian retreat in November, said the southern region also received numerous attacks. They did not report any casualties.

The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, said late Saturday that it thinks Russia’s overall offensive “is approaching culmination.”

The institute cited Ivan Tymochko, the head of the Ukrainian Council of Reservists for the country’s ground forces, as reporting that recent Russian attacks appeared designed to distract and disperse Ukrainian troops preparing for a potential counteroffensive.

“Tymochko stated that Russian forces are not making serious advances anywhere on the front line,” the think tank said. Noting that Russia has made heavy use of artillery “offset key shortcomings in combat capability,” the institute said reported ammunition shortages would “undermine the Russian military’s ability to continue offsetting its other weaknesses and limitations.” AP

China military displays force toward Taiwan after Tsai trip

By Huizhong Wu

Press

The Associated

TAIPEI, Taiwan—China’s military sent several dozen warplanes and warships toward Taiwan in a large-scale exercise that simulated sealing off the island in response to its president’s trip to the US.

The Chinese military earlier had announced three-day “combat readiness patrols” which it called Joint Sword, as a warning to Taiwan, a self-ruled island which China claims as its own. Beijing says contact between foreign officials and the island’s democratic government encourages Taiwanese who want formal independence, a step China’s ruling Communist Party says would lead to war.

The sides split in 1949 after a civil war, and the ruling party says the island is obliged to rejoin the mainland, by force if necessary. Military analysts suggest that in the event of a war, China may block sea and air traffic around Taiwan, preventing the United States, Japan or other nations from intervening or sending supplies to help the island defend itself.

China’s latest military actions follow President Tsai Ing-wen’s delicate diplomatic mission to shore up Taiwan’s dwindling alliances in Central America and boost its US

support, a trip capped with a sensitive meeting with US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in California. A US congressional delegation also met with Tsai over the weekend in Taiwan after she returned.

China responded to the McCarthy meeting by imposing a travel ban and financial sanctions against those associated with Tsai’s US trip and with increased military activity through the weekend.

On Monday morning, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army said its Shandong aircraft carrier for the first time was taking part in

the exercises encircling Taiwan.

It showed a video of a fighter jet taking off the deck of the ship, according to a post from the PLA’s Eastern Command on Weibo, the social media platform.

State broadcaster CCTV, citing the PLA, said the exercises are “simulating the joint sealing off” of Taiwan as well as “waves of simulated strikes” at important targets on the island.

Between 6 a.m. Sunday and 6 a.m. Monday, a total of 70 planes were detected and half crossed the median of the Taiwan Strait, an

unofficial boundary once tacitly accepted by both sides, according to Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense. Among the planes that crossed the median were 8 J-16 fighter jets, 4 J-1 fighters, 8 Su-30 fighters and reconnaissance planes.

Later Monday morning, Taiwan’s defense ministry reported another 59 flights by bombers, as well as multiple fighter jets.

That followed a full day between Friday and Saturday, where eight warships and 71 planes were detected near Taiwan, according to the island’s Defense Ministry. The ministry said in a statement it was approaching the situation from the perspective of “not escalating conflict, and not causing disputes.”

Taiwan said it monitored the Chinese moves through its landbased missile systems, as well as on its own navy vessels.

In addition to combat readiness patrols, China’s People’s Liberation Army would hold “live fire training” in Luoyuan Bay in China’s Fujian province opposite Taiwan, the local Maritime Authority announced over the weekend.

China’s military harassment of Taiwan has intensified in recent years with planes or ships sent toward the island on a near-daily basis, with the numbers rising in reaction to sensitive activities.

The 86-year-old pontiff topped the celebration with a traditional speech about troubled places in the world. Encouraging “trust among individuals, peoples and nations,” Francis said Easter’s joy “illumines the darkness and gloom in which, all too often, our world finds itself enveloped.”

The pope’s Easter message is known by its Latin name, “Urbi et Orbi,” which means “to the city and the world.”

Since Russia invaded neighboring Ukraine in February 2022, Francis has repeatedly called for the fighting to end and sought prayers for the “martyred” Ukrainian people.

Ukrainian diplomats have complained that he hasn’t come down hard enough in his statements on Russia and particularly Russian President Vladimir Putin as the Vatican tries to avoid alienating Moscow.

“Help the beloved Ukrainian people on their journey towards peace, and shed the light of Easter upon the people of Russia,’’ Francis implored God in his Easter speech, which he delivered while sitting in a chair on the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica facing the square. “Comfort the wounded and all those who have lost loved ones because of the war, and grant that prisoners may return safe and sound to their families.”

He urged the international community to work to end the war in Ukraine and “all conflict and bloodshed in the world, beginning with Syria, which still awaits peace.”

Francis also prayed for those who lost loved ones in an earthquake that struck Syria and Turkey two months ago, claiming tens of thousands of lives.

With a renewal in deadly violence affecting both Israelis and Palestinians in recent days, Francis called for a “resumption of dialogue, in a climate of trust and reciprocal respect, between Israelis and Palestinians, so that peace may reign in the Holy City and in the entire region,’’ a reference to Jerusalem.

But Francis also noted progress on some fronts.

“Let us rejoice at the concrete signs of hope that reach us from so many countries, beginning with those that offers assistance and welcome to all fleeing war and poverty,” he said, without naming any particular nations.

How to care for asylum-seekers, migrants and refugees, and whether to allow them entrance, is a raging political and social debate in much of Europe, as well in the United States and elsewhere.

Francis also prayed that national leaders “ensure that no man or woman may encounter discrimination” and that there would be “full respect for human rights and democracy.”

With migrants risking their lives in smugglers’ unseaworthy boats in hopes of reaching Europe, the pope lamented that Tunisia’s people, particularly the young, struggle with social and economic hardship.

In the last two weeks, dozens have died or were left missing after attempting to cross the Mediterranean Sea from Tunisia.

The pope included Lebanon and two African countries he visited this year—South Sudan and Congo—among the nations in need of ending divisions and building reconciliation.

Speaking about Haiti, he appealed to “political actors and the international community to seek a definitive solution to the many problems that afflict that sorely tried people.”

The bloody conflicts cited by Francis contrasted with a riot of bright colors lent by orange-red tulips, yellow sprays of forsythia and daffodils, hyacinths and other colorful seasonal flowers that decorated St. Peter’s Square. The blooms were trucked in trucks from the Netherlands.

By the end of the pope’s appearance, some 100,00 people had flocked to the square in time for the pontiff’s speech, according to the Vatican’s crowd count.

A canopy on the edge of steps on the square sheltered the pontiff, who was back in the public eye for the Mass 12 hours after a 2.25-hour long Easter vigil ceremony in St. Peter’s Basilica the night before.

Francis was hospitalized March 29-April 1 for treatment of bronchitis. Still recovering, he skipped the traditional Good Friday procession at Rome’s Colosseum due to unseasonably cold nighttime temperatures.

Near the end of the more than two-hour-long Easter Sunday appearance, Francis seemed to run out of steam. His voice grew hoarse and he interrupted his speech at one point to cough.

He nonetheless made several laps through the square in the popemobile after the Mass, waving and smiling at cheering wellwishers.

POPE Francis bestows the plenary “Urbi et Orbi” (to the city and to the world) blessing from the central lodge of the St. Peter’s Basilica at The Vatican at the end of the Easter Sunday mass on Sunday, April 9, 2023. AP/ALESSANDRA TARANTINO

IN this image made from video footage made available Sunday, April 9, 2023, by China’s CCTV, Chinese navy ships take part in a military drill in the Taiwan Strait. China’s military sent several dozen warplanes and 11 warships toward Taiwan in a display of force directed at the selfruled island, Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said Monday, April 10, after China launched large-scale military drills in retaliation for a meeting between the US House of Representatives speaker and Taiwan’s President. CCTV VIA AP

UKRAINIAN servicemen pack the dead body of a Russian soldier, killed in a recent battle in the Kharkiv region, Ukraine, on Saturday, April 8, 2023. AP/ANDRII MARIENKO

World

US Navy destroyer challenges Beijing in South China Sea amid Taiwan drills

By Jon Herskovitz

the

Macron urges Europe strategic autonomy amid US-China tension

By Angelina Rascouet

EMMANUEL MACRON urged Europe to develop more strategic autonomy as a way to avoid the risk of turning EU countries into “vassals” in the event of a global crisis such as a US-China confrontation.

“Strategic autonomy must be the battle of Europe,” the French president told the business daily Les Echos during last week’s visit to China. “We don’t want to depend on others for critical topics,” Macron said in the interview, published on Sunday, citing issues such as energy, defense, social media and artificial intelligence. Similar comments were published by Politico.

Macron warned against what he called the “extraterritoriality” of the US dollar, which can force European companies to forgo business with third countries or risk sanctions violations.

“If the tensions between the two superpowers heat up…we won’t have the time nor the resources to finance our strategic autonomy and we will become vassals,” Macron told Politico.

During Macron’s visit to China, traveling with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, he sought to delineate a difference in relations compared with the US’s tougher approach to Beijing. Europe is looking to strike a balance by engaging with China on trade and investment while demanding respect for human rights and territorial sovereignty for Ukraine, among others.

The interviews were conducted before China held military drills around Taiwan on Saturday in retaliation for the visit to the US last week by Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-Wen. China has pledged to bring Taiwan under its control someday, by force if necessary. Tsai’s Democratic

Progressive Party asserts Tai -

wan is an independent nation.

“The question Europeans need to answer is, is it in our interest to accelerate [a crisis] on Taiwan? No,” Macron told Politico. “The worse thing would be to think that we Europeans must become followers on this topic and take our cue from the US agenda and a Chinese overreaction.”

Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu told Bloomberg News in an interview Monday that he’s aware of Macron’s comments but he wanted to learn more about his engagement with Chinese President Xi Jinping before commenting on the matter.

“The French government has been very vocal in supporting peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait,” Wu said, adding that France has also been conducting freedom of navigation operations in nearby waters.

“All these kinds of actions actually are being supported by Taiwan or appreciated by Taiwan,” he said. “And we hope that this kind of support for Taiwan will continue.”

Wu added that France’s Senate and National Assembly has also shown support, and some lawmakers are coming to Taiwan “very soon.” Taiwan’s government will “check with them to see what kind of additional support we would need from France,” Wu said.

Politico added an editorial comment at the bottom of its story, saying that the French government had insisted on checking Macron’s quotes, and in the process deleted some of his more frank comments on Taiwan.

“The quotes in this article were all actually said by the president, but some parts of the interview in which the president spoke even more frankly about Taiwan and Europe’s strategic autonomy were cut out by the Elysée,” Politico said. With assistance from Jenny Leonard/Bloomberg

12 nautical miles (22 kilometers) of Mischief Reef, where China has its largest outpost on artificial islands in the South China Sea and the closest to Philippine territory.

“These operations demonstrate that the United States will fly, sail, and operate wherever international law allows—regardless of the location of excessive maritime claims and regardless of current events,” it said.

The move risks stoking tensions with China, which has denounced similar operations as an infringement of its sovereignty and security. This week, the US plans to start annual military ex -

ercises with the Philippines, which are set to be larger than previous years as ties warm between the long-time allies.

China’s military tracked and monitored the US warship during its passage, which was done without the permission of the government in Beijing, the country’s Southern Theater Command said in a statement on the Weibo social media site.

Beijing asserts it has rights to more than 80 percent of the South China Sea, whose other claimants are the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam and Brunei. The US refuses to recognize China’s

claims, and regularly conducts what it calls freedom of navigation operations to challenge them.

China, meanwhile, this week has held multiple exercises involving aircraft and ships near Taiwan, after the island’s president, Tsai Ing-wen, returned from a visit to the US, which included meetings with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and other US lawmakers.

Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said in a statement that on Sunday it detected 70 aircraft from China’s People’s Liberation Army and 11 warships near Taiwan as of 4 p.m., with 35 of the warplanes

crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait and entering the southwestern part of the island’s air-defense identification zone.

Beijing had pledged to respond to any meeting between Tsai and McCarthy, calling it a provocation that “damages China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.” The latest drills appear to be on a smaller scale than exercises held by China after then-US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan last year, and didn’t include any imposition of exclusive zones in its airspace and waters. With assistance from Kevin Ding/Bloomberg

Trump’s response to criminal charges revives election lies

By Michelle L. Price & Nicholas Riccardi

The Associated Press

NEW YORK—Legally, the most important words former President Donald Trump said after he was charged with 34 felonies by the Manhattan District Attorney last week were “not guilty.” But, politically, the most significant may be “election interference.”

Trump’s repetition of those words, which have been taken up by other top Republicans, show how he is trying to turn his historic position as the first former president charged with crimes to his advantage. It’s another example of what’s been a consistent refrain throughout his political career—claiming without evidence that an election is being rigged against him.

After his initial court appearance in the New York case, the first of several in which he is in legal jeopardy, Trump ticked through the varied investigations he was facing and branded them as “massive” attempts to interfere with the 2024 election.

“Our justice system has become lawless,” Trump said as he appeared before supporters as his Florida home, Mar-a-Lago. “They’re using it now, in addition to everything else, to win elections.”

Trump has made some version of those claims in at least 20 social media posts since March 3, the bulk of which occurred in the last two weeks, accelerating when a Manhattan grand jury appeared to be wrapping up its work and preparing to indict the former president. Trump declared his latest bid for the White House shortly after the November midterms, in what some in his orbit saw as an effort to head off the various probes swirling around him.

Alleging an election is being stolen from him is a routine Trump tactic, despite no evidence to back up his assertions. When competing for the GOP presidential nomination in 2016, Trump claimed his

loss in the Iowa caucuses was due to fraud. When he won the White House that November but lost the popular vote, Trump claimed the only reason for falling short in the latter category was because undocumented immigrants voted. A task force he formed to find voter fraud disbanded without finding any evidence to back up his claim.

In 2020, Trump began arguing the election would be fraudulent months before voting started. He attacked efforts to loosen restrictions on mail voting during the coronavirus pandemic, and expanded those allegations after losing the election to claim he’d actually won it. Those lies led to the January 6, 2021, assault on the US Capitol.

Federal and state election officials and Trump’s own attorney general have said there is no credible evidence the 2020 election was tainted. The former president’s allegations of fraud were also roundly rejected by courts, including by judges Trump appointed.

Trump is behaving like a politician in the legal crosshairs, said Steven Levitsky, a Harvard political scientist.

“He’s certainly not the first politician to be prosecuted—sometimes fairly, sometimes not—to play the political victim card,” Levitsky said.

Levitsky, who co-wrote the book “How Democracies Die,” said that several former presidents of other countries, when prosecuted, have claimed it was a plot to foil their future elections. Most recently, that was the complaint of Brazil’s former president Luis Inácio Lula Da Silva after he was jailed before the 2018 election. Silva was freed by his country’s supreme court and won back the presidency in October.

What’s notable in Trump’s case, however, is that his own party is echoing the stolen election claims ahead of the next campaign. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy last month said he was directing his party’s committee chairs to “investigate if federal funds are being used to subvert our democracy by interfering in

elections with politically motivated prosecutions.”

“That a whole party is carrying this line is somewhat unusual,” Levitsky said.

Last week’s charges in New York court stemmed from Trump’s reimbursements to his lawyer at the time, Michael Cohen, of hush money paid in the waning days of the 2016 presidential election to porn actress Stormy Daniels, who alleged they had an affair. Even some critics of Trump have seen the charges as a stretch of New York laws.

The heart of the Manhattan case is prosecutors’ claim that Trump falsified business records at his company to make the payoff in order to keep a potentially damaging story quiet while he was campaigning—an illegal attempt by Trump, they argued, to try to influence the election.

The former president also faces legal jeopardy from other investigations, two of which are related to his attempts to try to interfere with the 2020 election.

Prosecutors in Fulton County, Georgia, are probing Trump’s January 2021 call to the state’s top elections officer asking him to “find” enough votes to declare Trump the winner there. The US Justice Department also has launched a federal special counsel probe into Trump’s attempts to try to overturn his loss in the 2020 presidential election.

Trump is also enmeshed in a federal special counsel investigation of his handling of classified documents found at his Florida estate.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, when asked at a news conference on Tuesday whether the timing of the case was political, responded by saying: “I bring cases when they’re ready.”

Bragg’s office declined to comment on Trump’s statements about “election interference,” as did the Department of Justice.

Critics warn that Trump is, once again, sewing suspicions of fraud that could damage democracy. “We’ve seen this film before,”

Joanna Lydgate, chief executive officer of States United Action, which tracks politicians who embrace Trump’s election lies, said in a statement. “We know this is dangerous because we all saw what happened on January 6th.”

Trump has routinely waved off such warnings, and has seamlessly integrated his current legal jeopardy into the false allegations he’s made for three years about Democratic Party wrongdoing leading to his ouster.

In his first campaign rally, in Waco, Texas, days before the Manhattan indictment, Trump railed against all the investigations and said that his opponents were using the probes “because it’s harder for them to stuff the ballot boxes, of which they stuffed plenty.”

“The new weapon being used by out-of-control unhinged Democrats to cheat on election is criminally investigating a candidate,” he said.

Trump and other Republicans have sometimes contradicted themselves, decrying the investigations as an attempt to tarnish Trump while also predicting they’ll aid his bid for the White House.

“I think you’ll see his poll numbers go up,” Rep. Elise Stefanik, RN.Y., one of the president’s most vocal backers in the House, predicated at a GOP conference last month.

“He’s never been in a stronger position.” She condemned the charges last week as “unprecedented election interference.”

Aaron Scherb, senior director of legislative affairs for Common Cause, which has long been critical of Trump’s allegations of election rigging, noted that all the investigations of the former president began well before he started running for president again.

“Nobody is above the law, including former presidents, and running for president cannot and must not serve as a shield for wrongful conduct,” Scherb said.

Riccardi reported from Denver. Associated Press writer Farnoush Amiri in Washington contributed to this report.

Haiti gang ambushes, kills 3 policemen as violence soars

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico—

A gang near Haiti’s capital ambushed and killed three police officers on Sunday in the latest attack against an under-resourced and underfunded police department that has reported nearly two-dozen officers slain so far this year, according to authorities.

The killings occurred in Thomassin, a largely upper-class neighborhood just south of the capital of Port-au-Prince that

is controlled by a gang called “Ti Makak,” which translates to “Little Macaques.”

The details of the killings were provided by an officer who survived the attack, according to the National Union of Haitian Police Officers, which said it was saddened by the news.

Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry condemned the killings and extended his condolences.

“Our police brothers have today, once again, fallen under the mur -

derous bullets of lawless thugs. We deplore these barbaric acts,” he tweeted. He added that his government is doing everything possible to create a climate of security and stability “in a country too bruised and bereaved.”

At least 21 police officers have been killed so far this year as gangs continue to fight over territory and grow more powerful since the July 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse.

The Ti Makak gang also was blamed for killing another three officers in September in nearby Laboule. In addition, two journalists were fatally shot and set on fire in that area last year, as well as a former senator and his nephew.

In October, Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry and other top officials requested the immediate deployment of foreign troops to help fight relentless gangs, but so far, the UN Security Council, along with the US and Canada,

have opted to impose sanctions.

The international community also has provided equipment, training and other resources for Haiti’s National Police.

As of mid-March, gangs were blamed for killing at least 531 people and kidnapping 277 others in the capital of Port-au-Prince and nearby areas. Another 160,000 people in the country of more than 11 million people have been displaced by violence, according to the UN.

“Chronic instability and gang violence have contributed to surging prices and food insecurity. Half of the population does not have enough to eat,” the U.N.’s Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner warned last month. “We are gravely concerned that extreme violence continues to spiral out of control in Haiti.”

The UN estimates that gangs now control up to 80 percent of Port-au-Prince and surrounding areas. AP

AUS Navy destroyer passed through waters claimed by Beijing in the South China Sea in a show of force that comes as the nation’s military holds drills around Taiwan.

The USS Milius guided missile destroyer conducted “freedom of navigation” operations Monday in

South China Sea near the Spratly Islands, the US Seventh Fleet said in a statement. The ship sailed within

Protecting the buying power of Filipinos

The benchmark index of international food commodity prices declined for the 12th consecutive month in March, driven by declines in world quotations for cereals and vegetable oils, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations reported on Friday.

The FAO Cereal Price Index declined 5.6 percent from February, with international wheat prices falling by 7.1 percent, pushed down by strong output in Australia, improved crop conditions in the European Union, high supplies from the Russian Federation and ongoing exports from Ukraine from its Black Sea ports. World maize prices fell by 4.6 percent, due partly to expectations of a record harvest in Brazil, while those of rice eased by 3.2 percent amid ongoing or imminent harvests in major exporting countries, including India, Vietnam and Thailand.

“While prices dropped at the global level, they are still very high and continue to increase in domestic markets, posing additional challenges to food security. This is particularly so in net food importing developing countries, with the situation aggravated by the depreciation of their currencies against the US dollar or the euro and mounting debt burden,” said FAO Chief Economist Máximo Torero.

Food price inflation is still a serious concern in many countries because cheaper commodities are being offset by other costs like transportation, labor and energy. “In many developing countries that rely heavily on food imports, the situation has been worsened by local currency weakness,” Torero said.

In the Philippines, despite headline inflation slowing in March, local economists warned that the rise in core inflation could signal that prices may stay elevated in the coming months and that more interest rate hikes may not be far behind. On Wednesday, the Philippine Statistics Authority reported that headline inflation slowed to 7.6 percent in March 2023 from the 8.6 percent posted in February. However, it remained higher than the 4-percent inflation posted in March 2022 (Read, “Prices may stay high despite ‘easing’ inflation in March,” in the BusinessMirror, April 6, 2023).

Core inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy items that are part of headline inflation, continued to increase to 8 percent in March. The PSA said this is the highest in 24 years or since March 1999 when core inflation reached 8.1 percent.

“We think that there is the element of domestic demand driving core inflation. It’s not just from the re-opening narrative that we have been hearing for quite some time,” Unionbank Chief Economist Ruben Carlo O. Asuncion told BusinessMirror. He added these may include non-essential items in the Consumer Price Index (CPI).

For his part, University of the Philippines Diliman School of Economics Head of Research Renato E. Reside Jr. said core inflation may have increased due to a “lagged feed” from “non-core and volatile food and oil price movements in the recent past.”

“Possibly due to expectations by businesses of future prices. So, inflation could still be somewhat persistent in the coming months, and policy interest rates could still be raised,” Reside told BusinessMirror.

The Bank of the Philippine Islands also said with core inflation rising, “secondround inflation is not over yet and inflationary pressure from demand remains significant.” BPI said other risks to inflation exist such as the decision of Opec+ to cut oil production; the reopening of China; and African Swine Fever (ASF) cases recorded in certain parts of the country, particularly in the Visayas.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said the latest inflation print is consistent with the overall assessment that inflation will remain elevated over the near term before gradually decelerating back to target range towards end-2023. BSP said risks to the inflation outlook for 2023 and 2024 continue to tilt significantly towards the upside.

Based on the PSA data, food index inflation in the first quarter averaged 10.6 percent. In March, food posted an inflation rate of 9.5 percent. National Statistician Claire Dennis S. Mapa said food alone contributed 3.3 percentage points to the country’s 7.6-percent inflation rate in March.

Neda Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan said that while inflation is beginning to slow down, it remains the most pressing issue the government must monitor and urgently address.

President Marcos approved the creation of the Inter-Agency Committee on Inflation and Market Outlook in March. The committee is an advisory body on strategies to ease inflation and ensure food and energy security, while balancing the interests of domestic food producers, consumers, and the broader economy.

We hope this elite group can help develop effective policies and interventions that will protect the purchasing power of Filipinos, especially the most vulnerable sectors of society.

Improving investment climate

THE EnTrEprEnEur

iMPrOViNG the investment climate in the Philippines is one task that a chief executive must do to boost the economy. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and our lawmakers did just that. Mr. Marcos’s recent successful state visits are proof that the Philippines is ready to compete with our Asian neighbors and get a bigger slice of the investment pie.

Local and foreign investments lead to higher income and more purchasing power for Filipinos and the overall economy. Attracting more investments would help us lift our exports and narrow the trade deficit, generate more jobs, develop infrastructure, strengthen the energy and water sectors and sustain our economic growth in the long term.

We face a widening trade deficit that could be a source of instability in our balance of payments position and foreign exchange rate. Our merchandise trade deficit reached a record $58.24 billion in 2022, as imports grew 17.4 percent to $137.22 billion, faster than the 5.7-percent increase in exports to $78.98 billion.

With the faster pace of investments here and a more businessfriendly environment, I see the Philippines achieving a higher economic standing in the coming quarters and years. All we have to do is believe in our potential as a nation.

lion with China alone.

Marcos’s state and working visits overseas.

Several agencies reported encouraging numbers recently. The Philippine Economic Zone Authority registered a 54-percent increase in investments approvals to P12.537 billion in the first quarter of 2023 from a year earlier. Once realized, these investment projects are expected to add $616.585 million in exports and create 5,236 direct jobs.

Plugging the gap could not be done overnight. As a middle-income economy with a population of over 110 million, we have growing requirements for food, fuel, raw materials, capital equipment and consumer goods, most of which are imported. At the same time, we could not afford to keep importing all these items, lest we deplete our foreign exchange reserves and hurt our local currency.

The Philippines imported nearly $24 billion worth of petroleum products last year and another $11 billion worth of vehicles and transport equipment, per the data of the Philippine Statistics Authority. We incurred a trade deficit of $17.25 bil-

What we need is technology transfer that will enable us to produce these items locally. In other words, we need more investors in the food, oil and energy, industrial, automotive, manufacturing and services.

Many of our Southeast Asian neighbors like Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and recently Vietnam have drawn more investments than the Philippines.

Indonesia, for example, emerged as a preferred assembly hub for Japanese automotive companies and now exports a lot of vehicles to the Philippines. We incurred a trade deficit of $12.5 billion with Indonesia in 2022.

This is why I support the policies of President Marcos as well as the economic reforms passed by Congress to attract more foreign capital to the Philippines. I hope our investment promotion agencies will pursue the investment leads from President

The agency also expects more investments in the areas of vaccine and life sciences sector, electric vehicle battery technology, motorcycle manufacturing, organic fertilizers and pesticides, healthcare and LNG facilities, on top of semiconductor manufacturing and IT services.

Meanwhile, the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority approved P50.4 billion in committed investments in 2022, up 181 percent from P17.29 billion in 2021, thanks to its aggressive marketing strategy. As a result, employment at the Subic Bay Freeport grew 5.2 percent to 149,681 workers in 2022 from 142,177 in 2021 on increasing number of locators and projects.

The Board of Investments, the lead investment promotion agency of the Department of Trade and Industry, upgraded its target See “Villar,” A9

The war between the United States and China has begun without a shot being fired. Sun Tzu:

John Mangun

The China-US war has begun OuTSIDE THE BOX

SiNce 1945, the United States has not managed a clear military victory with the exception of the 1991 Gulf War. Korea was a stalemate and Vietnam was a loss. Direct military action in Afghanistan, Somalia, Kosovo, Bosnia, and “interventions” in Libya, Syria, Yemen, Lebanon, and Laos/cambodia did not produce a US “victory” with lasting objectives being achieved.

“Asymmetric warfare” is defined as a war between two forces when the belligerents’ relative military power, strategy, or tactics differ significantly. However, the primary tactic of asymmetrical warfare is to use “all means available” to defeat the enemy and that does not necessarily mean with bullets and bombs. Sun Tzu in The Art of War: “The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.”

Bullets and bombs cost lives and the public hates to see young men and women come home in body bags more so without a victory. The US method of “asymmetrical warfare” has been economic sanctions. Economic sanctions are scarcely

“So in war, the way is to avoid what is strong, and strike at what is weak”. Why would China take on the US military, its strongest advantage? The Cold War was won by forcing the USSR to use its limited resources to support its military rather than its economy, which eventually collapsed.

different than surrounding a city and putting it under siege, depriving its citizens of essentials. The purpose is to get the inhabitants to surrender or to come out and fight. Modern economic sanction warfare was employed by the US with its trade embargo in 1940 to bring Japan to its knees or to start a war, either serving the US objective to halt Japan’s Asian expansion. The war between the United States and China has begun without a shot being fired. Sun Tzu: “So in war, the way is to avoid what is strong, and strike at what is weak”. Why would China take on the US military, its strongest advantage? The Cold War was won by forcing the USSR to use its limited resources to support its

military rather than its economy, which eventually collapsed.

December 2022: President Xi Jinping met with King Salman of Saudi Arabia. March 15, 2023: “Announced in Beijing, Saudi Arabia and Iran agree to re-establish diplomatic relations” and “Saudi Arabia Considers Accepting Yuan Instead of Dollars for Chinese Oil Sales.”

March 29: “Saudi Arabia has agreed to join the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.” April 2: “Opec+ oil producers announced oil output cuts of around 1.16 million barrels per day.” On March 13, the crude oil futures price closed at $72.77. The closing price on April 7 was $84.94, an increase of 17 percent.

However, what Western minds are banking on—quite literally—is the

fact that China has $1 trillion holdings of US Treasury bonds although at the lowest amount since 2009. But China has been buying US “Agency Bonds” issued by government entities such as the Federal Housing Administration and Small Business Administration.

China would never be foolish enough to use its holdings of US government debt as an economic weapon by massive selling because then China would incur huge investment losses. Or would it make strategic sense?

It cost the US a billion dollars a year to support anti-communist forces in Afghanistan, Nicaragua, Angola, and Cambodia. But the USSR spent $8 billion annually—which it did not have—to deflect the US impact.

By selling its US treasury and agency debt holdings, China could help cripple the US economy almost overnight. But doesn’t China depend on the US consumer market? Note that the European Union is China’s largest trading partner, and China is the EU’s largest trade partner. February 8, 2023: “Trade between Germany and China rose to a record level last year, making China Germany’s most important trading partner for the seventh year.” In 2022, China was the third largest partner for EU

Manny B. Villar

NK cuts phone link with South, slamming ‘traitors’

By Jon Herskovitz & Sangmi Cha | Bloomberg Opinion

North Korea appears to be purposefully cutting a communication link with South Korea as it ratchets up tensions by testing new weapons and denouncing its neighbor as a “puppet traitor” for holding military drills with the US.

South Korea’s Unification Ministry said Monday that North Korea failed to respond for a fourth straight day to regularly held calls on an inter-Korean liaison communications channel. The calls are normally held on weekdays at 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.

“We’re weighing the possibility of a unilateral cut-off” by Pyongyang, spokesman Koo Byoung-sam told reporters at a news briefing. He added this is the first time since Oct. 2021 that all inter-Korean military lines or liaison calls have been stopped for more than a day.

The two Koreas, which are technically still at war, don’t have regular phone service. They set up hotlines in 2018 after a series of summits aimed at decreasing tensions on their heavily armed border. But North Korea has previously shut the communications links in displays of anger.

“I believe it is a part of its political-diplomatic response, a way of expressing its strong disgruntlement against the US and South Korea’s joint exercises,” said Go Myonghyun, a senior fellow of the Asan Institute for Policy Studies.

“It’s unlikely a step toward escalation, but more of a tit-for-tat response against the joint military drills and much more elevated deterrence posture from South Korea and the US,” Go said.

The US, Japan and South Korea this month held joint anti-submarine drills in waters off the South Korean island of Jeju. North Korea responded by warning that the US and its “puppet state” allies were bringing grave danger to themselves and saying its nuclear arsenal was ready to be used at any time to deter the “war maniacs’ reckless moves.”

Kim Jong Un’s regime has pledged an unprecedented response to the drills and rolled out new weapons designed to deliver nuclear strikes against the US and the two allies, which host the bulk of American troops in the region. That response also included a new undersea “Haeil” drone North Korea tested last month and this month that it said could deliver a “radioactive tsunami”— a claim doubted by South Korea’s military.

Villar.

investment approvals in 2023 to P1.5 trillion, as it pursues various investment leads.

The agency received investment pledges of more than P400 billion in the first six weeks of 2023 and is following up on potential investment leads of P344 billion.

Other promising areas for investments in the country, per the DTI, are digital startups and hyper-scale computing firms. The DTI is actively promoting the Philippines as an ideal destination for startups and hyper-scalers or big data centers in the region.

DTI Secretary Alfredo Pascual describes the Philippines as one of the emerging ecosystems across the region that offers a lot of growth potential, being home to a young and tech-savvy population. The Philippines has a large pool of talented and skilled workers that support a world-class IT and business process management sector that delivered over $30 billion in service exports in 2022.

. .

Continued from A8

exports of goods and the largest partner for EU imports of goods. The EU imports more goods from China than it exports, running a trade deficit.

China’s saber rattling near Taiwan has the focus of the US, which feels secure holding its big military stick.

The inter-Korean hotline was restored in July 2021, after being cut by North Korea for about a year in protest against South Korean activists who sent leaflets critical of Kim’s regime across the border by balloon. A few weeks later the lines were cut again for about two months in a show of anger from Pyongyang over joint military drills.

“All these military exercises of the enemy for demonstration clearly show that they are military actions for a preemptive attack which can not be looked on with folded arms any longer as they are waged after making a war of aggression against the DPRK a fait accompli,” it said in a recent commentary in its biggest paper, Rodong Sinmun, referring to North Korea by its formal name.

The inter-Korean hotline was restored in July 2021, after being cut by North Korea for about a year in protest against South Korean activists who sent leaflets critical of Kim’s regime across the border by balloon. A few weeks later the lines were cut again for about two months in a show of anger from Pyongyang over joint military drills.

In June 2022, North Korean did not respond to a regular hotline call, apparently due to technical glitches caused by heavy rains.

“The question then becomes whether this is a temporary protest and it restores communications after a certain time, as it has done in the past, or whether this is the first step toward a bigger policy change,” said Rachel Minyoung Lee, regional issues manager at the Vienna-based Open Nuclear Network.

“North Korea in recent weeks has issued two highly authoritative articles on the situation on the Korean Peninsula, which suggests they are at a major decision point with regard to foreign policy,” said Lee, who worked as an analyst for the CIA’s Open Source Enterprise for almost two decades. With assistance from Shinhye Kang / Bloomberg

If we could replicate the success of the IT-BPM sector in other segments of the economy, we would definitely raise our exports, while generating jobs and livelihood opportunities for millions of young Filipinos.

We have recently relaxed restrictions on foreign capital and passed game-changing reforms. Our Congress reduced the corporate income tax to 20 percent under the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises Law.

The government lifted the foreign ownership restrictions on renewable energy generation projects in December 2022. Foreign companies can now own up to 100 percent of renewable energy projects in solar, wind and tidal energy.

With the faster pace of investments here and a more businessfriendly environment, I see the Philippines achieving a higher economic standing in the coming quarters and years. All we have to do is believe in our potential as a nation.

The relevance of creditable withholding tax system

fulvio D. Dawilan

Tax Law for Business

thIS day starts the last week for the filing of the annual income tax returns and the payment of income taxes due for the year 2022, covering both individual taxpayers and corporate taxpayers using the calendar year as their taxable year. the computation of annual income tax due may either result in a tax liability still due to the government or an excess income tax payment.

And why does an excess income tax payment occur, when taxes are supposed to be determined, computed and declared based on the self-assessment scheme? There are a number of factors that may result in excessive income tax payment. But the more common reasons are the results of our existing tax system. The obligation to pay taxes on a quarterly basis sometimes result in more income tax payments made in the first three quarters of the year compared to the annualized computation after the end of the year. The other reason is the application of the creditable withholding tax system, where buyers of goods and services are required to deduct and remit to the tax authority a portion of the income, which is considered advance payment of the income tax due from the income recipient. Often, the excess is attributable to the unutilized creditable taxes withheld at source.

Our present tax law allows the secretary of Finance to require the withholding of taxes on items of income payments to both natural and juridical persons, at the withholding tax rate of not less than 1 percent but not more than 15 percent. And by virtue of this authority, the withholding tax regulations impose upon the buyers of goods and services, who are

designated as withholding agents, the obligation to pay withholding taxes. The rates of withholding taxes vary—ranging from 1 percent to 15 percent—depending on the class of payee/type of income payment.

The withholding tax system in effect provides a procedure for the collection of income tax from persons other than the income earner. As described by the Courts in a number of cases, this was devised to: (a) provide taxpayers a convenient manner to meet their probable income tax liability; (b) ensure the collection of income tax which can otherwise be lost or substantially reduced through failure to file the corresponding returns; and (c) improve the government’s cash flow. Withholding of taxes results in administrative savings, prompt and efficient collection of taxes, prevention of delinquencies, and reduction of governmental effort to collect taxes through more complicated means and remedies.

In essence, the withholding agents act as agents of the income earners for the payment of taxes and also agents of the government for the collection of taxes.

However, the system often proves to be disadvantageous to taxpayers. Aside from the fact that taxpayers

loss the right to make use of their money because of the advance tax payment, the refund mechanism for the recovery of unutilized advance income tax payment does not favor the taxpayers. The rules require the taxpayer to observe a number of requirements to be entitled to a refund. Failure to comply with these requirements will most likely result in the denial of refund claims.

Supposedly, the unused advance income tax payment should be returned if the taxpayer opts to by just complying with the basic requirements. The basic requirements for the successful refund of unutilized creditable withholding taxes are: (a) the income upon which the taxes were withheld were included as part of the gross income declared in the returns of the taxpayer; (b) the fact of withholding is proven by withholding tax certificates issued by the withholding agents; and (c) the claim, both in the administrative and judicial levels, must be filed within two years from date of payment. However, the tax authorities sometimes add procedures, and the Courts had interpreted these otherwise simple procedures, making it difficult for taxpayers to comply.

Apparently, in dealing with refund claims, the tax authorities and the Courts are usually guided by the principle that refund claims are similar to tax exemption that is construed strictly against the taxpayer. The result: denial of refund and consequently, loss of an involuntary advance income tax payment previously made.

For instance, the requirement to present creditable withholding tax certificates are now extended, not only to the year of the claim, but also to prior years, especially if the amount applied or partly applied against the current income tax due came from prior years. The reason is that if their existence is not sub-

stantiated, they cannot be used as credit against the current income tax due. Consequently, the current year’s income tax due should be paid by the current year’s withholding tax credits, resulting in the reduction or total elimination of the supposed refundable amount.

This loss to the taxpayer defeats the very intention of the withholding tax system, which is to approximate the tax due of the income earner at the end of a taxable period. The system should therefore ensure that it neither results in a gain nor loss to both the taxpayer and the government, and should be readily made available whenever the taxpayer opts to recover it in the form of refund. If that is not working, changes need to be made.

And that could be remedied by reviewing the implementation of the withholding tax system, especially on the determination of the withholding tax rates. The present withholding tax rates appear to be very high to some industries, classes of payees or types of income payments. The recent tax reforms reduced the highest withholding tax rate to 15 percent. But the rates assigned to some types of income payments still do not approximate the income taxes due that are expected from the nature of activities. These could be addressed through administrative issuances or through legislative intervention.

The author is the Managing Partner of DuBaladad and Associates Law Offices (BDB Law), a member-firm of WTS Global.

The article is for general information only and is not intended, nor should be construed as a substitute for tax, legal or financial advice on any specific matter. Applicability of this article to any actual or particular tax or legal issue should be supported therefore by a professional study or advice. If you have any comments or questions concerning the article, you may e-mail the author at fulvio.dawilan@ bdblaw.com.ph or call 8403-2001 loc 310.

Lebanon still proxy battleground, 50 years after Israel raid

By Bassem Mroue | The Associated Press

BEIrUt It was a cold night 50 years ago when an Israeli commando team led by a man disguised as a woman infiltrated a posh Beirut neighborhood and shot and killed three top officials from the Palestine Liberation organization in their apartments.

The anniversary is little noted, but the April 10, 1973 operation has a relevance that continues today.

The raid was one of the first times that Lebanon became the arena where Israel and its opponents would settle their accounts. Fifty years later, it remains so, as highlighted by last week’s exchange of rocket fire and airstrikes across the border between Israel and Palestinian militant groups in Lebanon.

The boldness of the assassinations—by an Israeli team slipping in and out of Beirut with little resistance—stunned the Lebanese. At the time, two years before civil war erupted, their country was mainly known as a tourist attraction where visitors came to party, visit archaeological sites, ski on snow-capped mountains or sunbathe on sandy beaches. It signaled a new era that has lasted to this day, one in which regional powers have repeatedly intervened in Lebanon.

The raid was led by Ehud Barak, who later became Israel’s top army commander and then, in 1999, prime minister. Its targets were Kamal Adwan, in charge of PLO operations in the Israeli-occupied West Bank; Mohammed Youssef Najjar, a member of the PLO’s executive committee; and Kamal Nasser, a PLO spokesman and a charismatic writer and poet.

Around 1 a.m. she was woken up by a strong sound and the shattering of the window above her bed. Adwan rushed into the bedroom carrying a gun and told her to stay in the room. Seconds later, shots rang out and Adwan fell dead in the corridor between the bedrooms. Two armed men came into the bedroom and shined a torch on Jayousi and the children.

One of them said into his radio in Hebrew, “Mission accomplished. His wife and children are here, should we kill them too?” The reply came back, “If they don’t resist, don’t kill them,” recalled Jayousi, who had studied Hebrew at Cairo University.

When the Israelis left, she rushed the children into a bathroom to hide, then looked around her home. The main entrance was broken wide open and riddled with bullet holes, and there were bloodstains on the stairs. She didn’t know at first that the team had also killed Nasser, who lived one floor above them.

of Israeli assassinations of Palestinian figures in retaliation for the killings of 11 Israeli coaches and athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics during a hostage-taking by the Palestinian group Black September. Adwan’s son, Rami, later said his father had nothing to do with the attack in Munich.

Years later, Barak described the operation, saying that he and two other commandos were dressed as women with wigs and makeup so the team would attract less attention than a group of men walking along a Beirut street at night.

The Israelis landed on Beirut’s coast in boats and were met by Mossad agents, posing as tourists, who drove them to the neighborhood of Verdun.

There, three squads slipped into the two buildings and blew open the apartment doors, while Barak and a back-up team stood outside. They killed a guard who approached them and opened fire at a Lebanese police vehicle that responded to the shootings, Barak said in a television interview years later.

Prime Minister Saeb Salam’s government. Less than a month later, clashes erupted between the Lebanese army and Palestinian guerillas. Those divisions were one factor that pushed Lebanon into its 19751990 civil war—during which Israel invaded and occupied part of the country until withdrawing in 2000.

Since the end of the civil war, the Iranian-backed Shiite militant group Hezbollah stepped in as Israel’s main adversary in Lebanon. A 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah wreaked heavy destruction in Lebanon, especially in the south. Palestinian factions also still have a presence. Israel blamed the Palestinian militant group Hamas for a volley of rockets into its territory last week—apparently a response to Israeli police raids on the Al-Aqsa Mosque, a major shrine built on a hilltop revered by Muslims and Jews.

After Israel’s retaliation with airstrikes in Lebanon on Friday, some of the same Lebanese politicians who were bitter enemies of Palestinian fighters in the past denounced Hamas.

The US economy is currently fragile with high inflation, weak and uneven GDP growth, and falling employment. Sun Tzu: “The opportunity of defeating the enemy is provided by the enemy himself.”

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On the night of April 9, 1973, Adwan’s wife Maha Jayousi was suffering from a toothache and went to bed in the room of their young children. Adwan usually worked late and had a planned meeting with some PLO officials that night, said Jayousi, describing that night to The Associated Press. She spoke from Jordan, where she has lived since the raid.

Jayousi went to her balcony and shouted to Najjar, who lived in the building across the alley—not realizing that Najjar and his wife had also been killed. Jayousi said that weeks before the raid, she had noticed unknown people coming to their building’s parking area and that people across the street were taking pictures of their building. She said Adwan was concerned and told her he would ask for protection to be boosted.

The raid, known as Operation Spring of Youth, killed the three PLO officials as well as several Lebanese policemen and guards who responded to the assault. Two Israeli commandos on a separate team died after being wounded in a gunfight as they attacked another target in Beirut. The operation was part of a string

Barak said after eight minutes, the three squads returned, drove back to the shore and headed out to sea on the boats. The team made off with documents that led to arrests of PLO operatives in the West Bank.

Days after the killings, over 100,000 people took part in the funeral of the three leaders, who were buried at the “Martyrs Cemetery” where scores of Palestinian officials and fighters were laid to rest over the years.

The raid stoked already enflamed divisions among Lebanese between supporters and opponents of the PLO and other Palestinian factions. The Palestinian groups had adopted Lebanon as their base in 1970, relocating there after being expelled from Jordan and three years after Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem. From Lebanon, they were staging attacks inside Israel.

The ensuing political crisis led to the resignation of Lebanon’s then-

Samir Geagea, whose Christian Lebanese Forces often battled Palestinian fighters in the civil war, demanded the government ensure peace at the border. He also urged against leaving “strategic decisionmaking to the Iran-led alliance,” a reference to Hezbollah and Hamas. Fouad Abu Nader, another former Lebanese Forces commander, called for the arrest of the Hamas leader. The wars and conflicts of the past 50 years have overshadowed memories of the 1973 raid, but it still stands out as a stunning moment.

Lebanese writer Ziad Kaj lived nearby in Verdun and was 9 years old when the raid took place. He said he remembers the shock as shooting rang out and electricity was cut. Many of the people in his building took shelter in his family’s apartment on the ground floor.

“It was a horrible sleepless night that still echoes in my head,” Kaj said.

Companies

Editor: Jennifer A. Ng

Tuesday, April 11, 2023

San Miguel to power firms: Build more BESS facilities

By Lenie Lectura @llectura

sMC Global Power President Ramon s a ng said the Bess facilities would support the peak supply requirements and achieve energy security in the coming years.

sMC is building up to 1,000MW.

We’re encouraging all the other power industry players to put up the rest of the 4,000MW,” a ng said.

he said the country needs roughly 5,000MW of battery energy storage capacity to support the electricity

demand in between peak and offpeak hours.

“

t he country has a potential requirement of 5,000 MW, kaya lang ‘di naman tayo puwede lang magtayo niyan. everybody will build.

Why 5,000MW? Because about 13,000MW is the peak and off peak is about 9,000MW. t he excess can be stored and use it during peak. t hat’s an additional 5,000MW to the 13,000MW that will total to

18,000MW. t his will make our supply more stable and much cheaper with the blended cost.”

t he 5,000MW Bess could bring down power rates by as much as P3 per kilowatt hour (kWh).

a f ter 1,000MW, you will see the impact but once 5,000MW is put up malaking tipid niyan, mga P3 per kwh,” added a ng.

san Miguel Global Power is expected to complete its 1,000MW Bess this year. it recently inaugurated a 50MW Bess facility in Limay, Bataan. t his is one of the 32 Bess facilities—with a combined capacity of 1,000MW--that the company has been building and targeting to complete by December this year.

a ng said this is the first of its kind in the Philippines, and one of the largest integrated grid-scale battery energy storage projects in the world.

With Bess providing a significant portion of peak supply, existing baseload plants can run continuously and

operate more efficiently, resulting in lower electricity costs for Filipino consumers.

equally important, our facilities can support the integration of over 5,000 MW of renewable power sources into the grid. t hey can store excess energy from traditional and renewable sources during periods of low demand and release it back into the grid when demand increases.

t he solution that we need to help address our most pressing energy concerns, is already at our doorstep,” a ng said.

he said the Bess has a lifespan of 15 years and cost around $500,000 per MW hour, which is cheaper compared to the construction cost of a power plant at $2 to $3 million per MW.

“Bess takes around 12 months to build unlike power plants that could take five years to build. t his is a game-changing technology and everybody will jump into it already.”

IDC consolidates Prima ownership

By VG Cabuag @villygc

Boutique property developer

italpinas Development Corp.

(iDC) said it is consolidating its ownership in Prima Management Corp., making it a wholly-owned unit of iDC. in its disclosure, italpinas said its board has approved the conversion of its advances to Prima into equity, thereby fully paying up Prima’s subscribed capital, consolidating iDC’s ownership, and making it a whollyowned subsidiary. i n February 2022, i D C, through

This year’s 20 percent rally in united states technology stocks is decoupling from reality ahead of what’s predicted to be a gloomy reporting season, the latest MLi V Pulse survey shows.

While investors have flocked to tech in the market shakeup amid recent banking turmoil, the rotation is at odds with analyst calls for the steepest drop in quarterly profits for the sector since at least 2006. Nearly 60 percent of the 367 respondents surveyed by Bloomberg said the bounce in the shares had nothing to do with earnings expectations.

Profits at big banks are likely to have taken a hit from the tumult in the industry, according to 41 percent of the participants.

t he tech outperformance is a bit overdone and we’re not chasing that indiscriminately,” Wei Li, global chief investment strategist at BlackRock inc., said in an interview in London. it’s being driven by expectations the Federal Reserve will start cutting rates as a recession becomes evident, and not necessarily by company fundamentals.”

t he fallout from si licon Valley Bank’s collapse has spurred mixed narratives as to where policy and markets are headed. While worries of a recession are mounting, they’re also stoking optimism that the Fed will be forced to pause its rate-hike campaign, even as the central bank grapples with sticky inflation.

t he reporting season is the next big catalyst for investors who’ve been glued to economic data and Fedspeak

three of its officers, incorporated a shelf company, with minimum authorized and paid up capital.

Prima is intended by i D C to provide advisory and management services for unit owners of i D C projects.

in July last year, Prima started limited operations, with italpinas advancing costs of operations. in January, Prima became fully operational, and at the meeting of its board on January 27, it resolved to approve the conversion of iDC’s advances to equity in Prima, subject to approval by iDC’s board.

“Prima’s incorporators then exe-

cuted acknowledgment of trust with deed of assignment in favor of iDC,” the company said.

Prima offers property management and rental and leasing services for long term and short term. t he company is made up of individual discipline in the area of architecture, hotel and resort operation, human resources and food and beverage.

For the three quarters of 2022, italpinas had a net income of P19.52 million, 31 percent lower than the previous year’s P28.27 million.

Revenues fell 25 percent to P185.68 million from the previous

B1

for market cues. t he earnings will drag the s&P 500 lower, said 60 percent of survey respondents, while data compiled by Bloomberg intelligence shows analysts estimate a profit drop of 8 percent for its members in the first quarter.

“More broadly, the impact of inflation and higher costs still has room to hit profit margins, and that will come through this season,” said BlackRock’s Li.

Crucial tech the report card for tech will be crucial for the overall market, since the s&P 500’s 7 percent gain in the first quarter has been mostly powered by a handful of the sector giants. a nalysts estimate us tech earnings plunged 15 percent in the three months through March, with companies hit by high costs and slowing demand.

early omens don’t bode well, with broad layoffs in the industry signaling a slowdown. tesla inc. shares, which trade more like a growth or tech stock, slid this month after the electric-car maker’s slim gains in vehicle deliveries in the last quarter disappointed investors.

about a fifth of s&P 500 companies have issued guidance on firstquarter results in recent weeks, with three negative forecasts for every positive one, according to a neeka Gupta, a director at Wisdomtree uK Ltd.

te ch stocks are also looking expensive. t he Nasdaq 100 is trading at 24 times its forward earnings, well above its long-term average of 19 and the s & P 500’s multiple of 18, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. More than a quarter of the respon-

year’s P248.5 million, as sales declined.

“Despite the control measures which were implemented by the company to reduce the costs and expenses, general and administrative expenses increased due to the company’s continuous expansion of its operations. New employees were hired and the remunerations of some of the existing employees were increased as a result of exemplary performance,” the company said. Rental income as well as the forfeiture of collections from defaulting accounts increased the other operating income, the company said.

dents to Bloomberg’s survey expect earnings to stall the tech rally. on ly 14 percent predict further gains.

Banking turmoil

WheR e tech has gained favor, banks have lost it. a key focus for investors in the earnings season will be any impact from the recent collapse of some regional us lenders.

a b out 41 percent of those polled by ML i V Pulse expect the turmoil to hit profitability at the bigger banks, while 31 percent don’t see a spillover.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Citigroup inc. will provide a first look when they report results on april 14. a nalysts still project a profit increase of 4.2 percent for us financials in the first quarter, data compiled by Bloomberg intelligence show.

“Given what we know now, and the fact that recent banking issues were caused by liquidity problems—not credit problems —we do not expect a broader fallout affecting larger banks,” said Ron saba, senior portfolio manager at horizon investments.

t he biggest negative factor this season will be a further tightening in financial conditions, according to a third of those polled by MLi V Pulse. a n economic slowdown and high inflation are seen as the next biggest risks.

While some recent data show an easing in price pressures, market strategists including Morgan stanley’s Michael Wilson have warned that profit margin expectations are still too high. Bloomberg News

The Manila e l ectric Co.

(Meralco) has energized the newest cold storage facility of at kins import and ex port Resources inc. in Naic, Cavite.

t he utility firm said Monday its renewable energy (R e) subsidiary, M sp ectrum, i nc. (sp ectrum), installed a 976.8-kilowattpeak (kWp)

solar panel system in the recently inaugurated facility of at kins. t his cold storage facility is at kins’ sixth in Luzon and the first to utilize R e

t he solar project is expected to generate 1,362,100 kW hour (kWh) of clean energy every year and result in around annual savings of P9.5 million in energy costs for at kins. it w ill also help reduce at kins’ carbon footprint by 970 tons, equivalent to over 44,500 trees planted or reducing nearly 3.9 million kilometers in car travel per year.

“With s p ectrum’s end-to-end solar energy offering, our partners are assured to receive toptier quality and reliable service to achieve sustainable operations.

Rest assured, we will also provide the necessary support a t kins will need from s p ectrum to ensure that its solar generating system is working seamlessly as this new cold storage is a critical addition in ensuring food security across

the country,” s p ectrum Chief o pe rating o f ficer Patrick h e nry t P anlilio said in a statement. a t kins engages in the importation and distribution of quality meat products mainly sourced from all over the world. t he company joins the roster of companies that engaged Meralco and spectrum to advance their sustainability goals through R e spectrum offers tailor-fit solutions for industrial, commercial, and residential customers through an in-depth understanding of energy consumption behaviors and strategic partnerships with world-class technology partners. “at kins and Meralco marked a milestone through this partnership because this facility is vital in ensuring our food supply. t he project reaffirms Meralco’s commitment to taking an active role in energizing and supporting agri-ventures that pave the way towards nation-building. We trust that the energization of this breakthrough facility will trigger meaningful conversations about food security and encourage members of the Food and Beverage industry to emulate atkins,” Meralco Vice President and head of Corporate Business Group Ma. Cecilia M. Domingo said. Lenie Lectura

EM i R a tes te lecommunications Group will buy a $400-million stake in the super app developed by u b er te chnologies i n c.’s Middle e a stern subsidiary, as part the a b u Dhabi-based firm’s attempts to reinvent itself as a global technology investor.

t he telco giant, which is also Vodafone Group Plc’s biggest investor, signed a binding agreement with u b er and its regional subsidiary, Careem, to acquire a 50.03 percent stake in the super app spin-out, according to a statement.

u b er, which acquired Careem in 2020, will remain a shareholder in the new entity and will continue to own all of Careem’s ride-hailing business. a l l three of Careem’s cofounders will also be shareholders in the super app. s u per apps offer customers a range of services from food delivery to financial services on one platform. Careem’s super app includes a dozen services including food and grocery delivery, remittances and third-party services such as laundry. Careem is available in 10 countries across the

Middle e a st, North a f rica and s o uth a s ia. Careem will use the new funds to expand its services across the region.

Careem started raising funds for its super app over a year ago, Bloomberg previously reported. But since then, technology firms have found it more difficult to attract investment after rising interest rates marked the end of cheap money. i n the Middle e a st, investors are increasingly backing these type of startups: a l geria’s Yassir secured $150 million last year to expand its super app, the u ae s a s tra te ch bought the Gulf region’s most popular voice-calling app, Botim, earlier this year and s a udi a r abia’s toYou recently hired Moelis & Co. to raise funds, Bloomberg reported. em irates te lecom—previously known as e t isalat and now rebranded as e&—is seeking to reinvent itself as a global technology investor for which it has the “capacity and the wallet” to do so, the group’s chief executive officer recently told Bloomberg t V. Last year, it became Vodafone’s biggest investor. Bloomberg News

San Miguel Global Power Holdings Corp. is urging other power firms to follow its initiative and collectively build 5,000 megawatts (MW) of battery energy storage system (BESS) facilities all over the country.

More women in green jobs vital to green economy move

By Cai U. Ordinario @caiordinario

TRANSITIONING to a green economy will not be possible without increasing the participation of women in green jobs, according to the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

In an Asian Development Blog, ADB Senior Communications Officer Pinky Serafica and Senior Gender and Social Development Specialist Veronica Mendizabal Joffre said women’s participation in green jobs remains lower than men.

Data showed that in 2021, there were 62 women considered as “green talent” for every 100 men. This is a concern, they said, given that there is already a high demand for green talent and women are needed to bridge the gap.

“ The transition to a low-carbon economy needs to be consciously designed to be socially equitable and inclusive—a just transition. Moreover, the transition cannot be gender-neutral but must be genderjust,” the authors said.

Increasing women’s involvement in the transition to a low-carbon future is important as they are among the most vulnerable to ill effects of climate change such as natural disasters.

For women, the effects of climate change are already a lived experience. Where environments are damaged and traditional sources of livelihood disappear, women must scrounge farther and travel wider to meet the needs of communities.

As new diseases emerge from the imbalance in the natural world, women must grapple with the care and health of their families,” Serafica and Joffre said.

T he data also showed women account for only 32 percent of the workforce in sectors such as renewable energy; and only about 11 percent among energy sector start-up founders.

T he authors said the gender wage gap in the sector is skewed in favor of men and the gap reached an estimated 31 percent. Most women employed in the sector were also relegated to lower-paid and administrative positions than in technical, managerial or policy-making positions.

The private sector must act quickly to set up human resource standards that can encourage more women to join transition-related jobs. Key actions include addressing workplace harassment and gender pay gaps, accounting for unpaid care roles, and supporting women’s leadership,” Serafica and Joffre said.

To boost women’s participation in green jobs, the authors recommended that more women be encouraged to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields.

T he authors said globally, only around 30 percent of female students choose STEM as their field of study. In Southeast Asia, women graduating in STEM fields vary from about 17 percent in Cambodia to 37 percent in Indonesia.

Women should be encouraged to study STEM as these lead to jobs that are crucial for the transition to low-carbon economies. Low-carbon livelihoods would be more in demand in the short- and mediumterm to foster the transition.

“ While there has been progress, the narrative on gender stereotypes has to change for more women to pursue STEM careers, and to venture into the potential of upskilling and reskilling. We also need to bring about greater climate awareness in the education system, and gender issues in climate can be made part of the curriculum in higher secondary education,” the authors said.

‘New EDCA sites won’t be used for offensive actions’

By Samuel P. Medenilla @sam_medenilla

T he President made the statement after China expressed last week its concern over how the additional EDCA sites may put Philippines at risk of being drawn into the “potential conflict” in the Taiwan Strait.

Ang reaction ng China ay hindi naman siguro kataka-taka dahil

nag-aalala sila.Pero hindi naman tayo...hindi tayo papayag na gamitin ang mga bases natin para sa kahit anong offensive na aksyon. Ito ay para lamang tulungan ang Pilipinas pagka nangangailangan ng tulong ang Pilipinas  (The reaction of China [on the new EDCA sites] is not surprising, but we will not...We will not allow the bases to be used for offensive action. Those will only be used by the Philippines if there will be a

need for it),” Marcos said in an ambush interview after the commemoration of the 81st Anniversary of the Araw ng Kagitingan (Day of Valor) at the Mt. Samat National Shrine in Bataan.

T he President said the new EDCA sites are only part of the government initiatives to boost the country’s defenses.

“

Kaya’t kung wala naman sumusugod sa atin, hindi na sila kailangan mag-alala dahil hindi naman sila natin lalabanan  (So if no one will attack us, they [China] have nothing to worry about since we will not engage with them,” Marcos explained.

L ast week, Malacañang announced the four new EDCA sites will be located in the Naval Base Camilo Osias in Sta Ana, Cagay -

an; Lal-lo Airport in Lal-lo, Cagayan; Camp Melchor Dela Cruz in Gamu, Isabela and Balabac Island in Palawan.

T hese sites will be in addition to the five existing EDCA locations located in Cebu, Cagayan De Oro, Nueva Ecija, Palawan and Pampanga.

T he Palace stressed the new EDCA sites will only be “used as storage and warehouse facilities for military logistics.”

E DCA was signed in 2014 to boost the country’s defense capabilities and disaster response by granting the United States (US) troops access to the country’s existing military bases and camps.

Peaceful resolution

TENSIONS in the Taiwan Strait are currently high following the recent visit of Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen with US lawmakers, including House speaker Kevin McCarthy in California, which was vehemently condemned by the Chinese authorities as “separatist activities.

C hina maintains it has jurisdiction over the self-governing Taiwan, which it wants to be brought back to its control, by force if necessary.

T he incident prompted the Chinese government to impose sanc -

tions against American organizations that hosted the Taiwanese head of state and to launch military drills in the Taiwan Strait.   Japan and the US said they hope the brewing tension will no longer escalate into armed conflict.

Another military threat is now underway around Taiwan, the immediate large scale military action in the vicinity by a ‘neighbor’ seriously affect the peace and security of Japan and other countries in the region as well as the safety and livelihood of their citizens,” Japanese ambassador to the Philippines Koshikawa Kazuhiko said in his speech at the Day of Valor commemoration ceremony.

“ We sincerely hope the issues in Taiwan will be resolved peacefully through dialogue and not by force,” he added.

T his was reiterated by US embassy Chargé d’Affaires Heather Variava, noting it is in the best interest of all parties to preserve the peace in the Taiwan Strait.

“ I would also like to echo the words of my colleague, the Japanese ambassador calling for the peaceful, prosperous, open free Indo-Pacific and the rules-based order that we all have enjoyed for the last 70-plus years,” Variava said.

By Andrea E. San Juan

THE Philippines has  notified the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Committee on Safeguards that it launched a safeguard investigation on the importation of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cylinders.

Further to Article 12.1 (a) of the WTO Agreement on Safeguards, the Permanent Mission of the Philippines to the WTO hereby notifies the Committee on Safeguards of the initiation of a preliminary safeguard investigation on the importation of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cylinders from various countries,” the Philippine delegation said in a notification document forwarded to the WTO on April 4, 2023.

I n the document, the Philippine delegation said the investigation was initiated based on the petition submitted by the LPG steel cylinder industry represented by Ferrotech Steel Corporation.

T he petition noted the increased imports of LPG steel cylinders causing “serious injury” to the domestic industry in terms of declining market share, production, sales, capacity utilization, employment profitability, incurred losses and existence of price depression and price undercutting.

A ccording to the Philippine delegation, the investigation was initiated to determine whether safeguard measures are warranted.

Per WTO’s definition, a safeguard investigation seeks to determine whether increased imports of a product are causing, or is threatening to cause, serious injury to a domestic industry.

D uring a safeguard investigation, WTO said importers, exporters and other interested parties may present evidence and views and respond to the presentations of other parties.

T he international trade body said a WTO member may take a safeguard action such as restricting imports of a product temporarily “only if the increased imports of the product are found to be causing, or threatening to cause, serious injury.”

I n a notice signed by Trade Secretary Alfredo E. Pascual on March 29, 2023 but released to the public on Tuesday, April 4 through the Department of Trade and Industry’s (DTI) website, the agency said it has officially received “properly” documented application from Ferrotech Steel Corp. for the initiation of a preliminary investigation on the application of safeguard measures on the importation of LPG steel cylinders.

‘POGOs can operate in controlled areas’

By Butch Fernandez @butchfBM

THE Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) may continue to operate in “controlled areas” despite concern over illegal activities associated with them, a draft committee report in the Senate has recommended.

T he draft report of the Senate Committee on Public Order and Dangerous Drugs chaired by Senator Ronald  dela Rosa has a different approach to the POGO problem than another committee that held with it joint hearings on the issues.

The Ways and Means committee chaired by Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian recently revealed it is circulating for members’ signatures a draft report calling for the scuttling of POGOs, on the ground that the socioeconomic problems they cause far outweigh the benefits.

However, the Public Order committee’s initial report declined calls to shut down POGO operators, said Senator dela Rosa, confirming his panel’s decision not to endorse shutting down the POGOs A s chairman of the committee, he confirmed that the panel tackled the report and proceeded to

recommend continued operations of POGOs, but placing them under strict regulations, and only in controlled areas, such as so-called economic zones.

D ela Rosa clarified the need to confine operations only in controlled areas where POGOs can operate and closely monitored to avert potential crimes linked to them such as abductions, robberies and prostitution, killings and illegal possession of firearms.

T he separate draft report of Gatchalian’s Ways and Means committee had cited findings on the effects on the economy and society

of the operations of the so-called POGOs, including the alleged “reputational risk” to the country earlier cited by Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno.

R eal property experts, on the other hand, said a sudden, total ban on POGOs would impact the economy, as property giants account for a big chunk of listed firms.

T he draft committee report being circulated by Gatchalian before the Holy Week endorsed the shutdown of POGO operations and the deportation of alien workers; as well as measures to help displaced Filipino workers get other jobs.

W ith this, the Trade department, acting under Section 6 of Republic Act 8800 or the Safeguard Measures Act, said it has conducted an evaluation of the application. Upon evaluation, it said it found the existence of a prima facie case to justify the initiation of a preliminary safeguard measures investigation on the importation of the cylinders.

F errotech Steel Corp., the petitioner, manufactures LPG steel cylinders in the following sizes: 1kg, 2.7kg, 5kg, 7kg, 11kg, 22kg and 50kg, for industrial, commercial and household use, both for the domestic and Southeast Asian markets.

T he LPG manufacturer’s head office and manufacturing plant are both located in Valenzuela City, DTI noted.

“ We would like to request for 10 years duration of safeguard measures. This is in order for us to be competitive with imported LPG cylinders to remain viable and for the continuity of operation,” Ferrotech said in its application form.

PHL mounts safeguard probe of LPG cylinder imports

PRESIDENT Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on Monday gave assurances the new Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) sites in the country will not be used for “offensive actions.”

WHERE HEROES REST A bird rests on a tomb at the Libingan ng mga Bayani, where some of the World War II defenders of Bataan and Corregidor were laid to rest as the country commemorates the Araw ng Kagitingan (Day of Valor) on April 10, 2023. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who attended a ceremony at Mount Samat in Bataan, said, “Our most important triumph, though, was that we kept on fighting and that we never lost hope. For although we lost the battle, the Fall of Bataan marked the beginning of the Filipinos' resurgence as a fighting force to defend and to take back the land of their forefathers." NONIE REYES

e-Wallet ubiquity spawned by Covid–study

By Andrea San Juan

MOBILITY restrictions

According to Digido, 58 million active users in the Philippines spent 4.4 million hours in using digitalwallet applications in 2022.

The firm said that from December 2018 to December 2022, the number

of “unique downloads” among the combined 14 authorized national ewallets increased by 632 percent or by 99 million.

In 2022, Digido noted that the number of unique downloads grew

by 30.5 percent or by 26.7 million, reaching 114.4 million downloads.

This is approximately 20 percent of all downloads in the “Business and Finance” categories, the firm said, adding that the market “generally continues to grow by about 4.3 percent per month.”

The online lender said the number of active users has reached 58 million by the end of 2022, down 8 percent or by 5 million compared to December 2021, but up 466 percent compared to December 2018.

According to Digido, the main increase in activity took place in 2020 and 2021. During this period, user activity increased by 187 percent or 41.1 million people. The uptrend, the online lender said, was “likely caused by the Covid-19 pandemic,” which it said simply forced the population to use the services of this kind.

On marriage and personal finances

MONEY matters are one of the most common reasons married couples file for annulment or separation. You would often see these in financial-literacy group chats where one of the couples complains about his or her partner not contributing enough to their finances. One of them would anonymously complain that they are tired of working for long hours only to see their partner not doing a thing or relying on them entirely.

With the right financial planning and communication skills, couples can avoid financial stress or at least minimize it and achieve their goals together, making their bonds stronger than ever. In this article, we will explore the importance of personal finance in marriage and offer some practical tips for a better and happier married life.

First step: Understand your financial situation. List down all your sole and joint expenses, debt and assets. Be open and transparent with your spouse about your finances to avoid trust issues down the line. You should know how much you spend on dining out, on groceries, on luxuries, on car maintenance and the like.

Note that no two families have the same type of expenses. Some families spend more on travel and don’t prioritize food experiences. Others value a beautiful home rather than spending on travels.

There is no right or wrong answer in how you spend your needs and wants, except only when you are overspending.

Second step: Accept your financial situation. Sometimes in life, there will be abundant days and periods of famine. These moments will test the strength of your commitment to one another.

If things are looking bleak, you need to create solutions as a couple so that you can overcome adversity. Finish off paying your debts especially where your spouse is a co-guarantor. Save together for a joint married fund, invest in your respective retirement accounts. Work together as a team to achieve these goals.

Third step: Create a working budget. List down all your family expenses and sources of income. Plan out how much you can actually spend on groceries, tuition, transportation and the like. Be strict in following said budget.

If you are overspending, cut down on the wants. If you are unable to cover all your needs, then getting a sideline is a good idea.

Fourth step: Manage debt. Home loans, car loans and even loans brought forth by overspending and gambling can bring enormous stress on your family and finances. Settle first the high-interest debts and make advance payments to expedite finishing the debts. Avoid the mistake of paying existing debts by making new debts. The cycle will never end if you do this. Work on increasing your income streams. Take up some freelance work, learn to sell various kinds of products online. Start a small food business with an established system so you do not have to start from scratch, especially if food development is not your strength.

Fifth step: Save for your future together. Life is not all about paying debts or basic survival. It is about living life as well and making a positive change to your community.

Whenever you achieve a major savings goal, treat your family to a well-deserved vacation (and set aside a budget for this). If your finances are not enough, support each other by taking new learnings and skills. Save money for a second-hand car for your family trips. Or perhaps save to build a bigger home for your growing family.

Each family has their own goals and you need not follow the path of other couples. Life is not a race; it is a journey.

Sixth step: Pursue your goals. As you track your budget, think about your life goals. What dreams did you have for yourselves and for your married life? Where are you at this point in life? Yes, money is important, but money without purpose is not the ideal. Your goals should define what you want to invest in over the years.

To conclude, if you wish to learn more about “side hustles” you can make to reach your goals, check out my official website at https://www.ohmyfinance. pro/freesidehustlescourse.

Raymond Anthony Quisumbing is a registered financial planner of RFP Philippines. To learn more about investment planning, attend the 101st batch of RFP program this May 2023. To register, e-mail info@rfp.ph or text at 0917-6248110.

The amount of time 58 million users spent using e-wallets in 2022 alone hit 16 billion seconds, which is equivalent to 4.4 million hours or 505 years.

This figure is 16-percent higher than 2021, which Digido said is telling of an increasingly loyal audience of customers.

“This is evident because the growth in both the total number of unique downloads and the total number of active customers has decreased over the year, but the amount of time spent in applications has increased,” the consumer credit service said.

Digido said it’s also worth noting that in 2022, the customers of Philippine e-wallets on average visited at least one of the mobile apps mentioned in this study about 16 times per month, compared to 16 in 2021.

Digido estimates that the total

number of accounts or total active users of e-wallets could reach 81 million people by 2025.

It also noted that 2023 “promises” to be slightly better than 2022.

Digido said their growth projections are driven by the increase in population, stable growth trajectory and growing demand for electronic money.

Digido parroted the estimates of the United Nations that the country’s population segment of 15 year old and higher would reach 85.4 million by 2025.

“Second, despite the global recession, the current economy of the country is in its growth stage,” Digido said. “Third, the global demand for electronic money is growing.”

The firm said that from 2023 to 2025, the global volume of digital payments will grow by 42.6 per-

cent, and the number of users by 18.6 percent.

Digido based its study on the statistics of mobile application of 14 ewallet applications in the country.

These include the following: Bayad by CIS Bayad Center Inc.; Betur Inc. (doing business as Coins.ph); eCebuana by PJ Lhuillier Inc.; GCash by G-XChange Inc.; Juan Cash (Zybi Tech Inc.); Lazada Wallet (Alipay Philippines Inc.); Mango (Mangopay SA); MarCo Pay (MarCoPay Inc.); Maya (Maya Philippines Inc.); Moneygment (Togetech Inc.); PayLoro (eMandarin Ventures Inc.); Star Pay (Starpay Corp.); Tagcash (Tagcash Ltd. Inc.); and, Toktok Wallet (Toktokwallet Inc.).

Digido said these e-wallets are authorized by regulators as Electronic Money Issuers and Operate of Payment System.

FTX-linked advisor drums up Bitcoin adoption in PHL

By VG Cabuag @villygc

AMEMBER of the advisory team for India and Southeast Asia of Sequoia Capital Operations LLC, which is reportedly being sued over the FTX collapse, is drumming up Boracay as the haven for Bitcoin.

According to Augustus Ilag, Boracay has the potential to revolutionize the remittance market using the Bitcoin Lightning Network.

“With Boracay’s unique position as a popular tourist destination with a significant need for currency conversion, it has the potential to become a Bitcoin paradise and a model for other tourist destinations to follow,” Ilag said.

The remittance market in the

Philippines is huge, with over $30 billion being sent through traditional offline channels, which often charge rates of up to 7 percent of the amount sent, he added.

“Many foreigners come to Boracay and have a unique need to convert their home currency into domestic currency but do not have access to local e-money providers,” Ilag said.

He believes that “lightning payments” such as those offered by Pouch Phillpines Inc. “provide a unique solution to the problem of remittances.”

Pouch said it has on-boarded more than 250 locations that accept Bitcoins as payment for transactions.

During the first Bitcoin Island Retreat, panelists Jack Lee of HCM Capital Management

AG, Louis Liu of Mimesis Capital Partners LLC, and Mike Jarmuz of Lightning Ventures Inc. showed their bullish stance towards Bitcoin.

Liu claims that the Bitcoin infrastructure has significantly evolved since the 2008 crisis, with new exchanges and applications being built, and has the potential to become a hedge amid current global financial challenges.

Lee and Jarmuz advised attendees to focus on learning about Bitcoin and expressed confidence in supporting early-stage founders and entrepreneurs in the Philippines’s Bitcoin space.

Former Solicitor General Florin T. Hilbay is also bullish towards Bitcoin.

“Every communication system is about speed; it’s about conve-

nience, and it’s about having less friction. I’ve studied monetary systems for two and a half years, and only Bitcoin is the real money out there for the 21st century. Bitcoin is not simply a technology, but it is a language that is changing the way we view value,” Hilbay said.

As a dean at Siliman University, he aims to make Bitcoin a global subject and hopes that Silliman will become a Bitcoinfriendly university and that other universities around the world will follow suit.

“We need to educate as many people as we can about Bitcoin because it’s the best lens for understanding what’s happening in the world today. Then, they get to decide what’s best for them,” Hilbay said.

New law seen to free 0.61M farmers from debt

By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz @joveemarie

ALEADER of the House of Representatives said that the Marcos administration’s first social legislation will free 610,000 farmers from debts.

In a statement his office issued last Monday, House Deputy Speaker Ralph G. Recto said the proposed New Agrarian Emancipation Act condones the unpaid debt of farmer-beneficiaries in acquiring agrarian reform lands whose combined area of more 1.17 million hectares is 277 times the size of Manila.

“This is emancipation of massive scale, from the number of beneficiaries, to the amount to be condoned,” Recto said. “The impact will also be huge. It financially emancipates the farmers while freeing resources that can be used to achieve food security.”

While the P57.5 billion in loans up for write off may seem big, “but if you break it down per farmer, per hectare, it is small compared to other gov-

ernment spending.”

“On a per hectare basis, the average debt to be forgiven is P49,000. That is a fraction of the current selling price of less than a square meter of a condominium in Metro Manila.”

On the other hand, every farmer who qualifies will get an average debt relief of P94,000, Recto said.

The lawmaker said that if corporations and high-income individuals have gotten tax breaks from recent laws slashing income tax rates, “then why should not farmers get the same reprieve involving far smaller amounts?”

“We have bailed out banks and companies owned by billionaires. We have allowed power sector obligations to migrate as national debts. If we have pursued a debt forgiveness strategy for many troubled companies, why not one for poor farmers?” Recto said.

“We have forgiven bigger debts by a few in the past. This one, with a lesser amount, is owed by many,” he added.

Recto said the bill “emancipating agrarian reform benefi-

ciaries from financial burden by condoning all principal loans, unpaid amortizations and interests and exempting payment of estate tax on agricultural lands awarded under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program” is up for President’s signing.

The proposal shall cover the condonation of P57.557 billion principal debt of 610,054 agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs), tilling a total of 1,173,101.57 hectares of agrarian reform lands.

The ARBs refers to farmers or farmworkers who were granted lands under the Presidential Decree 27, Republic Act (RA) 6657 and RA 97000 and who have outstanding loan balances payable to the LandBank and to private landowners as of the effectivity of this proposal.

The bill said the principal loan of P14.5 billion, including interests, penalties and surcharges, of the 263,662 ARBs tilling 409,206.91 hectares of agrarian reform lands, whose names and other loan details were already submitted by the Land Bank of the Philippines

(LBP) to Congress, shall be condoned outright under this proposal.

However, the inclusion of the remaining P43.057 billion loan in this bill shall take effect only upon submission by the LBP and the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) of details of the indebtedness to government of the 346,432 ARBs, tilling 763,894.66 hectares of agrarian reform lands, contained in a list, as provided for under this proposal.

Upon the effectivity of this proposal, the bill said the individual loans of ARBs, including interests, penalties and surcharges, secured under the CARP or from other agrarian reform programs or laws, are hereby condoned and written off by the government, thereby relieving them from the burden of payment thereof.

Provided, that these ARBS shall have been indebted to government as of the effectivity of this proposal.

The bill also said the land awarded to ARBs shall be excluded from his/her gross estate for purposes of estate tax.

LandBank provides vendors, drivers with bank accounts for QR code payments

THE Land Bank of the Philippines (LandBank) announced it continues to accelerate the adoption of cashless payments in public markets by providing market vendors, consumers, and local transport drivers with bank accounts capable of sending and receiving funds through Quick Response (QR) code.

This is in support of the “Paleng-QR Ph Plus” initiative of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and the Department of Interior and Local Government, designed to institutionalize the use of digital payments in public markets, local transpor-

tation particularly tricycles, and other business establishments.

This April, the state-run lender said it will also be supporting the upcoming rollout of the “Paleng-QR Ph Plus” program in major public markets in Carmona in Cavite, Santo Tomas City in Batangas, Iloilo City, Cebu City and Davao City.

Since the program’s launch in August 2022, the bank said it has facilitated account openings for market vendors and goers, as well as local transport drivers, from the country’s major public markets. These include the Baguio City Public

Market in Baguio City, Bankerohan and Toril Public Market in Davao City, Tagbilaran Central Market in Tagbilaran City, Lapu-Lapu City Public Market in Cebu, Plaza Quezon in Naga City, Alabang New Central Market in Muntinlupa City, Pasig Mega Market in Pasig City, and Bacolod Libertad Market in Bacolod City.

LandBank said it takes part in the rollout of the “Paleng-QR Ph Plus” program by setting up customer assistance booths in various public markets to facilitate on-the-spot account openings for market vendors. The type of accounts that may be opened

include the Landbank regular savings account, the PISO (Perang Inimpok Savings Option) account with a minimum initial deposit of only P1.00, and the VISA e-Savings Debit Account with no minimum initial deposit.

Successful merchants and vendors are provided with printed QR codes to be displayed or hanged at their stalls, which LandBank and non-Landbank consumers can scan to conveniently pay for goods in real-time. This arrangement makes the whole payment process convenient, faster, cost-effective, and more secure.

lobbed against Covid-19 made the use of electronic wallet (e-Wallet) ubiquitous, lending firm Digido Financing Corp. said, citing its study of the use of e-wallet applications.

persOnal finance

raymond anthony Quisumbing

Turning to a message of hope in the circle of life

MORE of us should take comfort from the fleeting nature of undesirable situations. While inevitable, they pass, and, we, too, should move on with our heads up. It’s a message of hope and optimism that visual artist Kenneth Montegrande reflected on and shared in his 17th solo exhibition, titled Circle of Life. The show closed the year’s first quarter lineup of Galerie Joaquin Rockwell.

The exhibition reminds us that life moves in a circle,” Montegrande said. “If we encounter problems and roadblocks, we must continue to keep the faith and look ahead, as God has a plan for us always.”

Mounting inspirational solo exhibitions centered on faith has been a staple in Montegrande’s art calendar, which includes staging an annual showcase during his birthday month of March. This year, it was Circle of Life which apart from exploring the figurative shape of life likewise featured for the first time circular canvasses.

It was a conscious effort by Montegrande to accentuate the metaphor, with the circle associated with abundance and eternity, and life viewed as a cycle of that goes round and round with constant changes. Amid all the impermanence, however, a lone certainty stands its ground like a stern rock in a gushing river: the unending and constant love of God. After all, it is which Montegrande constantly celebrates and attributes everything to, including his second shot at life after battling a severe case of Covid-19 a couple of years ago.

There were a total of 18 artworks on round canvasses, featuring Montegrande’s distinct abstractions. It’s a style characterized by what has become the artist’s signature color palette of mainly earthy pastels, along with expressive impasto.

Such is in full display in Life is a Flower of Which Love is the Honey Series 1, which showcases the qualities that have made Montegrande one of today’s premier abstractionists. There’s a visual poetry taking place, drawing in the disarmed viewer, as does the other pieces in the show.

CERAMIC artist Rosa

Mirasol MelencioQuijano features in an ongoing solo exhibition, titled ILI: Mga Kwento ng Lupa, Bayan at Tahanan at the Sining Makiling Gallery in the University of the Philippines in Los Baños, Laguna. The exhibition features a collection of different styles of ceramics and clay sculpture. The show opened on March 28 and is on view until April 28.

TODAY’S HOROSCOPE By

Eugenia Last

CELEBRITIES BORN ON THIS DAY: Tricia Helfer, 49; Jennifer Esposito, 50; Bill Irwin, 73; Joel Grey, 91.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Put your thinking cap on and you’ll discover what you want to do next. Do your research, ask questions and be open to suggestions. Following your heart and doing something you love are within reach if you take the most comfortable path. A lifestyle change will lead to new connections and disposable cash. An investment will pay off. Your numbers are 8, 15, 22, 26, 33, 38, 43.

aARIES (March 21-April 19): Make changes at home that add to your comfort or that help you make a move. Look at the underlying climate of the housing market, and you’ll recognize your good fortune. Don’t run and hide when opportunity knocks; turn your dream into a reality. HHHHH

bTAURUS (April 20-May 20): Changing your mind is an option; refuse to let someone make decisions for you. Reach out to a friend or relative for information that will help you get a real-time view of what’s possible. Go directly to the source and proceed with confidence. HHH

cGEMINI (May 21-June 20): Pay attention to how you look and feel, and make adjustments to ensure you are sending out a welcoming and enthusiastic vibe. How you approach life and your responsibilities will tell you what’s to come. Commit and proceed. HHH

dCANCER (June 21-July 22): Take charge and be fair to those following your lead. Learn from experience what works best when you want something in return. Be a good listener; you’ll discover information that helps you drum up the support and hands-on help to succeed. HHH

eLEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Listen, but don’t believe everything you hear. Look for opportunities to advance your career. Mix business with pleasure and get to know those who can help you better. Control your future and do what you say, and others will pitch in and help. HHHHH

fVIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Fix your space to suit your needs. Don’t rely on others to do the work for you. Put your skills to the test and you’ll be happy with what you save and the results you get. A lifestyle change will pay off. HHHHH

Montegrande assured that his coveted cloudand-sea scape paintings figure in show as well, with three new featured creations. As always, these artworks draw shades of JMW Turner’s dramatic landscapes and Rembrandt’s chiaroscuro, all the while being undeniably Montegrande’s.

Circle of Life also served as the curtain-raiser to Montegrande’s second decade in the art industry. After shooting to fame as a celebrity artist with notable distinctions during his first 10 years, Montegrande has set his sights for more.

Lined up this year is a series of highly antici-

pated collaborations and international showcases. In May, Montegrande is set for a high-profile exhibition at Malacañang Palace in collaboration with noted Filipino fashion designer Puey Quiñones. The artist is also preparing for second part of his tie-up with Sanso in June. In September, Montegrande will be having another big solo exhibition, this time with Provenance Gallery.

Then, as a follow-up to his international debut in New York last year, Montegrande will be featured in an exhibition in Italy for the first time, where he traces his family’s roots.

Metrobank’s annual arts tilt sees lower number of entrants post-pandemic

By John Eiron R. Francisco

THE 39th arts contest organized by the Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co. (Metrobank) has lured young Filipino artists seeking to jumpstart their career.

H owever, despite entries hitting more than 400, the 2023 Metrobank Art & Design Excellence, or MADE, competition pales in comparison in terms of the number of participants to previous iterations.

According to the Metrobank Foundation Inc. (MBFI), the prestigious art and design competition received 701 and 537 entries in 2021 and 2022, respectively. The MBFI said it has received more than 2,000 entries since 2018.

Nonetheless, the financial institution believes the competition has proven to be a great venue where “art is utilized as a tool to stir up conversation and stimulate actions for a national transformation.”

C iting security reasons, the MBFI declined to disclose the value of these artworks in the collection.

Wi th the theme “Connect: Stronger Ties, Bolder Strides”, the 2023 MADE competition for painting would feature around 340 visual artists, ranging in age from 18 years old to 35 years old, who all submitted original works. The MBFI said the sculpture category this year received submissions from over 60 sculptors

with ages ranging from 18 years old to 50 years old. We also strive to bridge young artists with the art community and provide them with the support system they need in their journey toward reaching their dreams,” according to the MBFI. F or the Painting Recognition Program, two Grand Awardees will receive P350,000 worth of cash incentive and support for each awardee’s artistic development initiative. In addition, the awardee will receive a scholarship to the Linangan Art Residency amounting to a total of P150,000. One Grand Awardee for sculpture will be given P500,000 in cash incentive.

A ccording to the MBFI, the Grand Awardees will be recognized in an awarding ceremony during the Metrobank’s 61st anniversary in September. The bank’s corporate social responsibility arm added that all awardees will receive the “More” trophy by crafted by multi-awarded sculptor Juan Sajid Imao. The MBFI said all awardees would also be eligible for a grant for their respective artistic development initiatives.

T he awardees will also become members of the MADE Network of Winners, an alumni organization of past awardees that implements programs benefitting marginalized sectors. A part from the MADE competition, the bank also offers a program called Art Made Public, which presents the year’s winning artworks.

gLIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Pay attention to how you present yourself to the world. How you work with others will be under a microscope, making it vital that you prepare and introduce yourself and what you have to offer with precision and detail. HH

hSCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Take nothing for granted. If you want something done your way, do it yourself. Pay attention to what’s happening around you. You can offer help, but don’t put health, finances or your position at risk. Evaluate relationships and how you handle money. HHHH

iSAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Refuse to let anyone limit your achievements. Create opportunities, be the mastermind behind your plans and play to win. A past connection will make a welcome return. If you want things to work out, be prepared to compromise. Romance is in the stars. HHH

jCAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Figure out what you want and make your wish come true. Refuse to let an outsider talk you into something you don’t need or want. Choose to favor minimalism, not extravagance. Trying to buy love or favors will end in disappointment.

HHH

kAQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Push forward with enthusiasm. Finding a way to use your skills diversely will help increase your earning potential. A personal change will boost your confidence and success but also draw criticism from someone jealous of or intimidated by your accomplishments. HHHH

lPISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Take control, focus on what’s important to you and do something to rectify the problem. Protect yourself from anyone who isn’t trustworthy or concerned about your well-being. A change of heart will help you move in a new direction. HH

BIRTHDAY BABY: You are knowledgeable, openminded and opportunistic. You are hardworking and thoughtful.

‘a to b’ BY BJORN OLAFSSON

The Universal Crossword • Edited by David Steinberg/Anna Gundlach

Life is a Flower of Which Love is the Honey Series 1, Kenneth Montegerande, 2022, acrylic on canvas, 48” x 48”

CERAMIC ARTIST OPENS SOLO EXHIBIT AT SINING MAKILING GALLERY

‘TheSuper Mario Bros. Movie’ is a smash

By Lindsey Bahr The Associated Press

AUDIENCES said let’s go to the movie theater for The Super Mario Bros. Movie this weekend. The animated offering from Universal and Illumination powered up with $204.6 million in its first five days in 4,343 North American theaters, including $146.4 million over the weekend, according to studio estimates on Sunday.

With an estimated $173 million in international earnings and a global total of $377 million, Mario broke records for video game adaptations (passing Warcraft’s $210 million) and animated films (Frozen 2’s $358 million).

Its global total makes it the biggest opening of 2023 and the second biggest three-day domestic animated opening (behind Finding Dory). It’s also a record for Illumination, the animation shop behind successful franchises like Minions, which has made over $5 billion from its 13 films.

This partnership between Nintendo and Illumination is just incredible and led to this extraordinary performance,” said Jim Orr, Universal’s president of domestic distribution.

The PG-rated Mario is an origin story of Brooklyn plumbers Mario, voiced by Chris Pratt, and Luigi (Charlie Day), who fall into a pipe and come out in another world full of Nintendo’s most famous characters, from Bowser (Jack Black) to Princess Peach (Anya Taylor-Joy). Critics were largely mixed. Mario currently has a 56 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. But audiences were more favorable, giving it an A CinemaScore.

Orr said that theater owners were surprised by just how broad the audiences were and reported seeing some ticket buyers decked out in character costumes for the movie. According to exit polls, 59 percent of the audience was male and 45 percent were between the ages of 18 and 34.

“$377 million worldwide is just astounding and a testament to how important outside of the home activities are for families,” said Paul Dergarabedian, the senior media analyst for Comscore. “Kids and their parents collectively were able to go out, have

an outside-the-home event for the whole family at a relatively bargain price compared to a trip or a sporting event.”

Also, Dergarabedian noted, there is a long runway before Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 opens on May 5. “ This was a perfect release date,” Dergarabedian said.

Mario wasn’t the only movie based on a brand that opened in theaters this week. Ben Affleck’s Air, about the origins of Nike’s Air Jordan and how the corporation signed Michael Jordan, also debuted in 3,507 theaters Wednesday. The film, which marks Amazon Studios first global theatrical release, has grossed an estimated $20.2 million since opening Wednesday in North America, with $14.5 million coming from the weekend to give it a fourth place start.

With an R-rating, Air, starring Matt Damon, Viola Davis and Affleck, was a bit of adult-targeted counter programming to the Mario juggernaut. Re-

views were glowing for the film (95 percent on Rotten Tomatoes) which debuted as a surprise screening at the South by Southwest Film Festival last month, helping to bolster buzz. Audiences were 55 percent male and 39 percent over the age of 45.

“Air found its audience. It’s a solid gross,” Dergarabedian said. “This one is in it for the long haul.” Air is the first film from Affleck and Damon’s new company Artists Equity which was formed last year in partnership with RedBird Capital.

Second place went to John Wick Chapter 4 which made $14.6 million in its third weekend, bringing its total gross to $147.1 million. Close behind was Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves which placed third with $14.5 million in its second weekend, while Scream VI rounded out the top 5 with $3.3 million.

In limited release, Kelly Reichardt’s art-centric Showing Up, with Michelle Williams and Hong Chau, also bowed on four screens, grossing $66,932.

The unwavering faith of Amy Austria

that God gave him to me,” Austria enthused.

The actress always reminds herself to be healthy—in mind, body and spirit. “I exercise, and watch what I eat. I do not deprive myself of what I want to eat, but always in moderation. I pray and meditate. I make sure to have my personal quiet time too. I also do zumba.”

“This is such an important weekend for theaters, a home stretch heading into the summer movie season, and this is a perfect scenario,” Dergarabedian said. “It’s game on for movie theaters when a lot of people thought it was game over.”

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at US and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore.

1. The Super Mario Bros. Movie, $146.4 million.

2. John Wick: Chapter 4, $14.6 million.

3. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves $14.5 million.

4. Air, $14.5 million.

5. Scream VI, $3.3 million.

6. His Only Son, $3.3 million.

7. Creed III, $2.8 million.

8. Shazam! Fury of the Gods,” $1.6 million.

9. Paint, $750,000.

10. A Thousand and One, $600,000.

‘Family Feud’ celebrates first anniversary with week-long special episodes

EASTER is always a happy time for Amy Austria who has been a wonderful living testimony of God’s love and grace for many years now.

It has always been a symbol of hope and renewal. I am happy to share the joys and blessings of Easter with so many people in the world who have, like me, experienced the unconditional love, immeasurable forgiveness and overwhelming grace of God,” she said.

Austria, like many in local show business, had her share of dark and wasted years. “For six years, I was trying so hard to get rid of drugs in my life—to no avail. Until I joined a retreat for three days, where I prayed so hard for God to take away this big thorn in my life, which He did, and my life instantly had a complete turnaround.”

She added, “Everything was smooth after. It felt like instant liberation. Many good things happened, many good people came into my life too. I got back the drive to act in front of the cameras again, I saw the beauty in all of God’s creations again, I started to see the good in people and situations. It was a complete reversal of life.”

The esteemed actress also had the very important support system she needed after her complete surrender to God. She had friends from the industry who stood by her all those years, among them

Christopher de Leon, Sandy Andolong, Gina Alajar, Lorna Tolentino, Isabel Rivas, Laurice Guillen, Tirso Cruz III and his wife Lynn Ynchausti, and the late fashion designer-actor Fanny Serrano.

Special mention goes to the man of Austria’s life, her husband Duke Ventura, who has stood by her through thick and thin. Despite being in the business world, Ventura is well-loved in showbiz circles because of his kindness, generosity and jovial spirit. He would quietly help people in need, be they friends of his wife or total strangers in dire need. “Duke is the greatest blessing in my life and I’m forever thankful

It is when she is in their lovely family getaway in Lobo, Batangas, that Austria is at peace the most. “I simply love the sea. It is calming and I get to appreciate God’s creations more—the sunrise, the sunset, the sound of the waves, the birds, the trees, the marine life, ang ganda-ganda!” Austria is back on television after years of being away. She is part of the main cast of GMA’s Hearts on Ice, and she admitted that the role is something that challenges her every time she steps on the set. “My character is an angry woman because of many past experiences and anger is an emotion that I do not welcome in my life. I am the opposite of an angry person, I am just chill and quiet in real life, so I always need to internalize and get into my character.”

It has been a long and colorful journey for Austria, from the 14-year-old Esmeralda Tuazon who just accompanied her mother in 1976 to watch a movie shoot of Fernando Poe, Jr. in Avenida, Rizal, but was cancelled last minute, and she ended up in a movie production office and was eventually cast in the movie Bitayin si Baby Ama, starring Rudy Fernandez. Now 61, Austria, whose acting prowess soared in films like Brutal, Langis at Tubig, Hinugot sa Langit, Jaguar, Aliw, Tondo Girl and Bubbles: Ativan Gang, continues to inspire with her competence and consistency at work, her simple and gracious lifestyle, and her unwavering faith.

Show stopper: Singalong fans ejected, ‘Bodyguard’ halted

MANCHESTER, Englan—A British performance of The Bodyguard musical ended in unrequited love for some audience members who couldn’t refrain from singing along to the anthemic finale.

The show at the Palace Theatre in Manchester screeched to a halt Friday when two unruly patrons were ejected for joining the lead in singing “I Will Always Love You,” the soaring, emotional ballad made famous by Whitney Houston.

I t was not supposed to be a singalong. Ushers carried signs saying, “Please refrain from singing” and announcements were made in advance that patrons would have a chance to join along at the

end but not to sing during the show, said Tash Kenyon, an audience member. During the closing number, somebody shouted, “Does this mean we can start singing now?” Kenyon said. A tone-deaf voice projected from the balcony and competed with the vocals of Melody Thornton, a former member of The Pussycat Dolls.

Laughter then turned to anger and confusion, Karl Bradley told the Manchester Evening News

The stage then just went black again and that’s when it really started to kick off on the higher tier, you could really hear screams and audible gasps,” Bradley said. “Everyone starting standing up and looking over.

There was chants of ‘out, out, out’ to get them gone.” When the lights came up, the unwanted backup singers were being hauled out of their seats by theater security and audience members began cheering. But the music and show were over.

A spokesperson for the theater said the show was canceled because disruptive fans who refused to stay seated had spoiled the performance.

Thornton posted a video on Instagram thanking respectful fans and apologizing for those who weren’t.

Greater Manchester Police said it spoke with the two people who were removed by security and would review evidence before taking any action. AP

THE top-rating game show Family Feud on GMA marks its first anniversary of bringing laughter and prizes to studio players and home viewers with weeklong special episodes from April 10 to 14.

Hosted by Dingdong Dantes, the program has been the source of good vibes and unparalleled entertainment every afternoon since its premiere.

Yesterday, the program kicked off its anniversary celebration with the stars, director and staff of the movie Unravel. Sparkle artist and Urduja star Kylie Padilla led “Team Lucy” together with Megan Campbell, Rianne Castro and TJ Soriano, while “Team Noah” was composed of Gerald Anderson, RC De Los Reyes, Pablo Pineda and Kevin Leonardo.

The anniversary special continues on April 11 with one of the most intense games yet. Multiawarded talk show host Boy Abunda will banner “Team Fast Talk” together with Aiai delas Alas, travel show host Drew Arellano, and award-winning actor Arnold Reyes. Their fierce rivals are the competitive women of “Team Keridas” led by actress-comedienne Carmi Martin with Arci Muñoz, Sharlene San Pedro, and Adrianna So.

The fun continues on April 12, as “Team TiktoClock” of Kim Atienza, Rabiya Mateo, Faith Da Silva and Jayson Gainza go head-to-head with “Hearts On Ice Family” composed of Tonton Gutierrez, Amy Austria, Skye Chua and Ina Feleo.

On April 13, the excitement continues as the country’s leading folk-pop band Ben&Ben joins Family Feud. The nine-piece band will be grouped into two teams: Paolo Guico’s “National Anteam” and Miguel Guico’s “Teampered Glass.” Playing for National Anteam are Paolo, Keifer Dela Cruz, Agnes Abalos and Poch Dulay. Teampered Glass is composed of Miguel, Toni Muñoz, Pat Lasaten, and Jam Villanueva. The band’s 9th member Andrew de Pano is on the sidelines to support his bandmates.

Family Feud’s anniversary week concludes with a “resbak” or wildcard episode featuring two former child superstars and their respective families on April 14.

Matet De Leon leads the De Leon family. She is joined by her husband Mickey Estrada, their daughter Icay Estrada and Mickey’s niece Nicole del Rosario. They’re up against singer-composer Ice

Seguerra and the Diño-Seguerra family composed of Liza Diño, Abell Diño-Cabrera and JC Seguerra. Which family would finally taste victory?

Family Feud airs weekdays at 5:40 pm on GMA. The show is also live-streamed on Family Feud’s Facebook and YouTube accounts.

Meet the Alpha Females of NAITAS as they make a difference in tourism

Meralco secures commitment for additional ILP capacity

THE Manila Electric Company (Meralco) has secured a commitment for additional de-loading capacity under the Interruptible Load Program (ILP) as the company ramps up efforts to ensure stable and reliable electricity service during the dry months.

Meralco is set to gain an additional 56 megawatts of de-loading capacity, as pledged by Ayala Property Management Corporation (APMC). This would bring the real estate firm’s total commitment to 144 MW from 88 MW and expand the distribution utility’s ILP capacity to 616 MW from 560 MW currently.

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

Participation in the ILP is a win-win for both companies and communities according to Michael Magpusao, Chief Engineer and Chief Operating Officer of APMC, which manages over 200 properties nationwide ranging from residential buildings to malls and estates.

“The ILP exemplifies the spirit of bayanihan because while the national government prepares the grid for a more reliable supply, we, in the load side, are doing our part to help communities,” he said in a recent Meralco webinar.

Anita Refrea

WOMEN’S Month is a time we commemorate the achievements of women and their remarkable roles in various aspects of society.

Let’s take a closer look at the women leaders of the National Association of Independent Travel Agencies (NAITAS).

NAITAS is a major national tourism association in the country which has a national body consisting of the Board of Trustees and Executive Officers. Furthermore, it has several chapters around the country with their own sets of officers. In the face of the pandemic, these exceptional women remained focused, passionate, and future-ready. They continue to lead with resilience and compassion as they soar high in their advocacy of responsible tourism. Get to know them as they break ground in the tourism industry as the country bounces back post-pandemic.

Racquel Sabucido

IN the face of the pandemic, Raquel stood tall and faced each morning with hope. Her unwavering faith in the Lord served as her anchor as she turned challenges into opportunities for personal growth. As a mother, she looked after the safety and well-being of her children with great care.

As for her NAITAS family, she never stopped reaching out to them. Online seminars like digital marketing, continuing online education, providing life coach speakers, and bridging airlines and Department of Tourism (DOT) concerns were rendered untiringly. All these learnings have armed members of the association to face the future demands of the travel industry.

For Racquel, the travel industry serves as a platform to grow one’s network, socialize, and touch lives for the better – aside from its business aspects.

As the current President of NAITAS, she represents the association in the DOT, airlines, embassies, operators and other tourism- related organizations. As such, looking after the ideals and members are the top priority. For her, being a leader is not all about intelligence but the heart to serve the common good of the members and the association.

Florence Rivera

SHE is the Immediate Past President of NAITAS. Her Old-World views about time and space, health, movement, and relationships have been challenged by the pandemic. It made her realize how vulnerable yet resilient the human spirit is. Moreover, the pandemic stressed the importance of being connected to one another in overcoming the world crisis.

Florence led as National President of NAITAS when travelling was on a standstill. In spite of it all, NAITAS was at the forefront of restart tourism activities at the height of the crisis. It carried on its advocacy of sustainable and inclusive tourism specially in the countryside. It collaborated closely with government

and private entities. She finds meaning in being able to contribute to a bigger cause by way of connecting and helping people during this most difficult time.

The leader sees the continuation as well as increase in the use of technology in booking trips, as well as the need for more customized and personalized services. As a travel agent, she prepares for the future by embracing technology, developing niche expertise, and building strong relationships with her clients. As a tourism advocate, she stays in loop about emerging trends, raise awareness and promote responsible and sustainable tourism so as to preserve destinations for the future generations.

Angel Gallego Santos

THE pandemic made her realize her sense of self in all aspects, the most significant of which is to attain spiritual fulfillment. This has led to opening the door to her inner happiness that is crucial in making better life choices. For Angel, being in the travel industry is more of a passion and a mission. Being a member of the Board of Trustees for NAITAS has proven to be a great channel to utilize her gifts and talents to transform the world in a positive way. As one of the leaders in the travel industry, she vows to help create different platforms to make travel affordable to every Filipino.

Pia Borromeo-Moeinifakhrdavoud

THE pandemic brought her learnings that cannot be overemphasized— that health is indeed wealth and the importance of spending quality time with family. The member of the Board of Directors finds fulfillment in being part of an organization that helped out in meeting the basic needs of those who became jobless due to the rehabilitation of Boracay years back.

Pia envisions a bright future for the travel industry of the country wherein everyone works hand in hand to preserve the beauty of Mother Nature.

Corazon Capitan

FOR Corazon, the pandemic was a rude awakening as it proved that anything can happen in our lives. It taught this top executive not to borrow money in case another pandemic occurs. She is all out for enjoying life, saving more, and travelling while she still can.

The woman with a heart to serve has been in the travel industry for almost a decade. She used to serve as President of NAITAS Davao and the now as a member of the Board of Trustees. As a passionate travel agent, she extends her assistance to her colleagues in the industry by sharing relevant information and assisting them in their visa requirements.

While conservative in her approach, she is fully aware that in coming years digitalization will rule the industry. Her Information Technology background gives her an advantage in adjusting to the new trend.

THE pandemic reminded her of the brevity of life as well as the importance of one’s family. It made her appreciative of the little things in life. For Anita, it is vital to invest in one’s health and nourish one’s body in order to stay healthy during a pandemic. Her role in the travel industry is to help rehabilitate the loses during the pandemic by promoting the significance of Philippine culture and tourism through different programs and activities leading towards the development of the community from the grassroots leading to the entire nation. As a proud Filipino citizen, this is her way of contributing to the development of the country. It also doubles as her legacy for the next generation. As the travel industry moves forward, Anita sees collaboration as an important tool towards sustainable development. In this regard, meaningful partnerships with various agencies and organization sharing the same goals and aspirations are vital.

Bernice Gonzales

THE pandemic made Bernice realize that life is too precious to be taken for granted. For her, a change of habits for the good of our well-being is a big step towards a healthier and meaningful journey.

Being already immersed in the travel industry for seven years, Bernice still considers herself as a newbie. She was a medical student back then when she decided to make a career change. Along with her family, she decided to put up their own travel agency.

Soon, she became a member of NAITAS and was elected as one of the Chapter Presidents back in 2017. Added to that, she also held the post of general secretary of the association and currently as the Auditor and part of the Board of Trustees. She finds meaning in being able to share her talent, skills, and the chance to grow and improve herself each passing day.

For this officer, the future of the travel industy is continuously innovating from technologies, trends, and new sites to consider. Accordingly, she believes that change is inevitable and the industry should be prepared for it. Her positive outlook in life and her proactive approach make her ready to meet the challenges that lie ahead.

Ollah Quilatan FOR Ollah, the pandemic brought many challenges on how to live life - the uncertainty of the future, altered daily routines, financial pressure, as well as social isolation. On the good side, however, it strengthened family ties and it made people realize the beauty of living a simple life.

Customer satisfaction became the essence of her job as a Travel Agent. It gives her joy when she makes them happy and satisfied.

She prepares herself for the future of the travel industry by using digitalization platforms and embracing a sustainable eco-friendly tourism.

WalterMart Chairman Abraham Uy also testified to the benefits of the ILP program, saying it significantly lowered the occurrence of unplanned power outages thus preventing damage to their equipment.

“Meralco’s management of the ILP program benefits companies which no longer need to worry about surges,” he said, referring to sudden demand surges that could lead to power shutting off.

In the webinar, Meralco also renewed its call for more companies to join the ILP to help avert possible power interruptions, especially during the dry months—when electricity demand traditionally spikes.

At present, there are 117 companies across the Meralco franchise area that are part of the ILP. “Electricity consumption historically rises during the dry months because of the increased use of cooling appliances. That’s why we, in Meralco, continue to share a wealth of energy efficiency tips, not only to help our customers better manage their power consumption, but also to encourage its adoption as a way of life,” Meralco Spokesperson and First Vice President for Corporate Communications Joe Zaldarriaga said.

Meralco, in coordination with the Department of Energy and industry stakeholders, assures its 7.6 million customers of its relentless efforts to deliver sufficient, reliable, and stable electricity service not just during the dry months but all year long.

RCBC Forges a Partnership with World Travel Expo 2023

LAST March 6, 2023, a partnership was sealed and a contract was inked between RCBC, through RCBC Credit Cards, and World Travel Expo (WTE) 2023. The collaboration of both parties signaled the start of providing credit cardholders, the opportunity to plan their next travel goals and find the best destinations the market has to offer.

Now in its 7th year, WTE is a project of Ad Asia Events, founded and organized by Miles Caballero. She has been in partnership with PMM Multimedia Services, headed by Paulo Clasiete, for the past two years. The travel expo will be going regional for the first time and will be held at five provincial cities nationwide (SMX Clark, SMX Bacolod, Ayala Center Cebu, SMX Davao, KCC Mall Zamboanga), culminating at the World Trade Center in Pasay City, in November.

RCBC Credit Cards has securely placed their full support and trust (as co-presenter), in the WTE event to assure their credit cardholders of worry-free travel arrangements and provide them an easy way to avail of attractive vacation, shopping, and staycation offers.

During the contract signing, Arniel Vincent B. Ong, the President and CEO of RCBC Bankard Services Corp. relayed, “We have noticed that travel spend is back and many of our cardholders are again traveling. With this, we would like to offer our cardholders the best travel deals so they can maximize the use of their RCBC credit cards. Partnering with WTE will certainly enable our cardholders to take advantage of WTE’s offerings.”

“Through our partnership with WTE,” he added, “our cardholders will gain access to the event ahead of the general public and thus, be able to get the best deals ahead of everybody else. They can also gain free entrance to the event and get deals/offers that are exclusive to the RCBC Credit Cards.’’

And what sets RCBC Credit Card from other credit card issuers? “Specific to travel, RCBC premium credit cardholders get unlimited free access at the Marhaba Lounge in T3, plus one companion, and free Priority Pass membership to enable them to access airport lounges around the world,” he replied.

“While non-premium cardholders, on the other hand, can access the lounge and waive the fee if they use the cards abroad. RCBC cardholders can also get free travel insurance of up to P5 Million, as long as they use their credit cards to purchase airline tickets. Lastly, the RCBC credit card is the only credit card that enables customers to convert their purchases abroad at 0% interest for 3 months, digitally, thru the RCBC Digital app.’’ Since summer is fast approaching and

more Filipinos are keen on taking advantage of the opportunities to enjoy their summer break and their travel goals in the coming months, Mylene J. Bico, the Chief Commercial Officer of RCBC Bankard Services Corp., gave some pieces of advice (tips) to travelers on credit card usage.

“We encourage travelers to take advantage of the various travel benefits that are available through their credit cards. For RCBC credit cards, we have credit card products that provide superior rewards when the card is used for overseas purchases. Our recently re-launched RCBC Visa Infinite credit card provides five times reward points for purchases abroad. Our travel credit cards such as Visa Platinum and AirAsia co-brand provide superior spend to airmiles conversion so they can accumulate more and redeem flights faster. These benefits enable cardholders to get the most out of their travel spend,’’ she shared.

Because the RCBC credit card is always at the forefront of product innovations, the company bagged the “Credit Card of the Year’’ during the recent Global Retail Banking Innovation Awards. And the President and CEO has this to say.

“Specific to the Global Retail Banking Innovation Awards, the RCBC Credit Card was awarded Credit Card of the Year because of proprietary financial management tools which empower cardholders to manage their expenses. These are our Spend Analyzers which enable customers to see the summary of their monthly expenses in various categories, our Unli 0 and Unli-installment which enable our cardholders to convert their purchases to installment in a seamless manner, and the Fast Bills Pay facility which enables our cardholders to pay their utility bills using their credit cards whether ondemand or automatically charged every month,” she said.

In a highly competitive industry, like the credit card, RCBC assures the public that they will continue to provide innovative products and services to their credit cardholders in the coming months, including new ways of paying thru credit card, and enabling cardholders a seamless redemption of rewards and more self-service functions in the RCBC Digital App.

Also present during the contract signing were Benjamin R. Cumpas, Jr. (SVP Sales and Distribution), and Angelica Yap (Division Head, Marketing Program Management).

For more information regarding World travel Fairs and Expo Series of 2023, please contact Ad Asia Events Group at mobile no. 0977-8112688, or check their email at worldtravelexpo.ph@gmail.com, or visit their FB page worldtravelexpo.ph.

FROM Left, Paulo Mayor Clasiete, Managing Director of PMM Multimedia Services and Klik.ph; Mildred "Miles" Caballero, Managing Director of Ad Asia Events; Arniel Vincent B. Ong, President & CEO of RCBC Bankard Services Corp., (RCBC Credit Cards); Mylene J. Bico, Chief Commercial Officer; and Benjamin R. Cumpas, Jr., SVP Sales & Distribution

IN this handout photo released on April 9, 2023 by the Houthi group’s media arm Ansar Allah, head of the Houthi’s supreme political council Mahdi al-Mashat, left, shakes hands with Saudi Arabia’s Ambassador to Yemen Mohammed bin Saeed Al-Jaber, in Sanaa, Yemen. Saudi officials were in Yemen’s capital Sunday for talks with the Iran-backed Houthi rebels, as part of international efforts to find a settlement to Yemen’s nine-year conflict. ANSAR ALLAH MEDIA OFFICE

Saudi officials visit Yemen’s capital for talks with rebels

By Samy Magdy The Associated Press

CAIRO—Saudi officials were in Yemen’s capital on Sunday for talks with the Iran-backed Houthi rebels, as part of international efforts to find a settlement to Yemen’s nine-year conflict, officials said.

Saudi Arabia’s delegation, chaired by the kingdom’s ambassador to Yemen, Mohammed bin Saeed Al-Jaber, met with Mahdi al-Mashat, head of the Houthi’s supreme political council, which runs rebel-held areas in Yemen, according to the Houthi-run SABA news agency.

An Omani delegation, which arrived in Sanaa on Saturday, joined the talks, the agency reported. It said al-Mashat hailed Oman’s efforts to bridge the gap between different sides in the war to achieve peace in Yemen. SABA did not give further details.

Mohammed al-Bukaiti, a Houthi leader, said earlier on Twitter that Saudi and Omani officials would discuss “ways to achieve a comprehensive and lasting peace in the region.”

He said achieving an honorable peace between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia would be “a triumph for both parties,” and urged all sides to take steps to “preserve a peaceful atmosphere and prepare to turn the page of the past.”

There was no immediate comment from Saudi Arabia on the trip, the second of its kind in 2023, according to a Saudi official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to brief reporters.

In comments to The Associated Press, Hans Grundberg, the UN envoy for Yemen, described the ongoing efforts, including the Saudi and Omani talks in Sanaa, as “the closest Yemen has been to real progress towards lasting peace” since the war began.

“This is a moment to be seized and built on and a real opportunity to start an inclusive political process under UN auspices to sustainably end the conflict,” he said.

The talks in Sanaa are part of international efforts led by Oman to settle Yemen’s conflict, which began in 2014. That’s when the Houthis seized Sanaa and much of the country’s north, ousting the internationally recognized government that fled to the south and then into exile in Saudi Arabia.

The Houthi move prompted a Saudi-led coalition to intervene months later in a bid to restore the internationally recognized government to power. The conflict has in recent years turned into a regional proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran.

Saudi Arabia and the Houthis reached a draft deal last month to revive a cease-fire that expired in October. The deal is meant to usher in a return to Yemeni political talks, according to Saudi and Yemeni officials.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss closed-door negotiations.

They said the Saudi-Houthi understandings include a six-month truce with a cessation of all military activities across Yemen. The Houthis have committed to coming to the table with other Yemeni parties to negotiate a political settlement to the conflict, they said. The United Nations is meant to facilitate the political negotiations, they added.

Both parties also agreed to further ease restrictions by the Saudi-led coalition on Sanaa’s airport and the Houthi-controlled Red Sea ports in Hodeida, the officials said. The Houthis would lift their yearslong blockade on Taiz, Yemen’s third largest city that is held by government forces, they said.

The phased roadmap also includes payment for all state employees— including the military—from oil and gas revenues. In return, the rebels agreed to allow exporting oil from government-held areas after a monthslong hiatus because of Houthi attacks on oil facilities, the officials said.

Yemen’s internationally recognized presidential council was briefed on the Saudi-Houthi understandings at a Thursday meeting in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, with Prince Khalid bin Salman, the Kingdom’s defense minister, a Yemeni official said.

The Saudi-backed council, which was appointed a year ago, has given its initial approval to the draft deal, the official said.

Commenting on the Saudi-Houthi talks, Yemeni Foreign Minister Ahmed Awad Bin Mubarak said there were “positive signals” that a cease-fire deal would be announced, along with addressing other humanitarian and economic issues.

“The [regional] circumstances are different,” he told an Egyptian satellite channel Al-Qahera in an interview aired on Friday. “It pushed towards achieving a solution.”

Bin Mubarak, however, said there are “many fundamental issues” that Yemen’s warring sides need to address before reaching a settlement to the conflict.

The Oman-brokered talks have aimed at preventing both sides from resuming full-fledged fighting. The efforts gained momentum in recent weeks after Saudi Arabia reached an agreement with Iran to restore diplomatic ties after a seven-year rift. Iran, the main foreign backer of the Houthis, has said its deal with Saudi Arabia would help end Yemen’s conflict.

Ahmed Nagi, a Yemen expert at the International Crisis Group, a Brussels-based think-tank, said the Iran-Saudi Arabia rapprochement has given a boost to Saudi-Houthi negotiations, and that both sides are close to announcing the cease-fire’s renewal.

However, the second track of the Houthi-Saudi negotiations—a potential roadmap to reach a permanent settlement to the conflict— would be a major challenge when discussed by Yemeni parties, he said.

“Each party has different interpretations and expectations,” he said. “Given the complexities of the situation, it is hard to see progress on this track very soon.”

King’s coronation: 3 crowns, 2 carriages and shorter route

By Brian Melley The Associated Press

Charles III plans to take a short cut and smoother ride to Westminster Abbey for his coronation, trimming the procession route his mother took in 1953 as he aims for a more modest event that will include some modern touches, Buckingham Palace said Sunday.

LONDON—King

The lower-key ceremony on May 6 will still be steeped in ancient traditions and adorned with royal regalia from the Crown Jewels, but will also feature its own bespoke emoji, reflecting the first British crowning of the social media era. Queen Elizabeth II’s was the first coronation televised 70 years ago.

In one break with tradition, Charles and Camilla, the queen consort, will roll out of Buckingham Palace in the horse-drawn gilded black Diamond Jubilee State Coach built for Elizabeth’s 60th anniversary. It has heat, air conditioning, power windows and a suspension system that will provide a comfier ride than his mother’s accommodations for her enthronement.

The 1.3-mile (2-kilometer) route is a bit shorter than the one Elizabeth took to the royal church. The procession will go through Admiralty Arch; past Trafalgar Square and a statue of Charles I, the monarch beheaded in 1649; and by the houses of Parliament before arriving for the 11 a.m. religious service.

While Charles wants to show the monarchy is still relevant in modern, multi-cultural Britain, he has said he plans to slim down the institution. The coronation is expected to reflect that with a shorter, less extravagant ceremony than the three-hour service that installed Elizabeth II.

Still, much of the priceless coronation regalia used for centuries will be part of crowning both Charles and Camilla, including five symbolic swords, two scepters and the Sovereign’s Ring of sapphire with a ruby cross set in diamonds.

Camilla, who will wear Queen Mary’s Crown, will hold a controversial scepter made of ivory. Britain has a near-total ban on dealing elephant ivory products and Prince William, heir to the throne, has campaigned against illegal animal part trafficking.

During the solemn ceremony conducted by Justin Welby, archbishop of Canterbury, Charles will be crowned the king with the St. Edward’s Crown, the centerpiece of the Crown Jewels viewed by millions of people every year at

the Tower of London.

The crown, which is the inspiration for the coronation emoji, features a 4.9-pound (2.2-kilogram) solid gold frame set with rubies, amethysts, sapphires, garnets, topazes and tourmalines and has a purple velvet cap and ermine band. It was worn by Elizabeth during her coronation and has been refitted for her son.

At the end of the ceremony, Charles will switch to the lighter Imperial State Crown for the procession back to the palace.

Unlike the 5-mile (8-kilometer) route Elizabeth and her husband Prince Philip took around London in 1953, Charles and Camilla will return the way they came, but in a 260-year-old carriage used in every coronation since William IV’s in 1831.

The Gold State Coach, which weighs 8,800 pounds (4,000 kilograms), and is pulled by eight horses, is known for its

notoriously rough ride. Elizabeth described it as “horrible,” Queen Victoria complained of its “distressing oscillation,” and William IV—known as the Sailor King—said it was like “being aboard a ship tossing in a rough sea.”

“When you’re following it, you can hear it creaking so it sounds like an old galleon going along,” said Martin Oates, who helped restore it and walks behind as the brakeman. “It’s not quite a washing machine, but where other vehicles just go from back to front, this is moving from side to side.”

The gilded coach is so heavy, it can only move at walking pace. That should provide more time for people along the route to see the newly crowned king and queen. Military troops on parade will salute the king and queen at Buckingham Palace gardens, followed by three cheers from service members.

The world’s most important oil price about to change for good

By Sharon Cho, Alex Longley & Lucia Kassai

AFTER years of wrangling, the world’s most important oil price is about to be transformed for good, allowing crude supplies from west Texas to help determine the price of millions of barrels a day of petroleum transactions.

The shift is because the existing benchmark, Dated Brent, is slowly running out of tradable oil for it to remain reliable. As such, its publisher S&P Global Commodity Insights—better known by traders as Platts—has been forced to make a dramatic overhaul.

Its switchover was fraught with controversy and caused a lot of stress among physical oil traders. But it was necessary. BP Plc at one stage said that Dated Brent was subject to “increasingly regular dislocations.”

But the future of Dated is now set.

From cargoes for June onward, West Texas Intermediate Midland, oil from the Permian will become one of a handful of grades that set the Dated benchmark.

Here’s a look at what matters, as the transition gets closer.

Why does it matter?

DATED, as it’s commonly known by oil traders, helps to set the price of about two-thirds of the world’s oil and even defines the price of some gas deals.

Oil producing states will often sell their barrels at small premiums or discounts to Dated, so the precise mechanics of how it is formed matter to them. In addition, the benchmark lies at the center of a complex web of derivatives, ultimately shaping Brent oil futures that get traded on exchanges.

Dated affects a host of oil prices, so even crude in Dubai could feel the effects, according to Adi Imsirovic, a veteran oil trader and senior research fellow at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies.

Exactly what’s happening?

TRADERS will be able to offer WTI Midland for sale from the US Gulf Coast. It will be delivered into Rotterdam and then price will be netted back using a freight adjustment factor as if it’s shipped from the North Sea.

By following a careful process, Platts will evaluate if the oil is being offered at a higher or lower level than five existing grades that set Dated—Brent, Forties, Oseberg, Ekofisk or Troll.

If Platts judges that WTI Midland is the most competitive price on offer—or actually sold—then it could set Dated.

So WTI Midland might then influence the price a seller of an Atlantic Basin barrel charges a refinery in China.

How will price discovery work?

IMAGINE the existing Dated grades, which go under the acronym BFOET, are at $80 a barrel.

A trader might pick up a cargo of WTI Midland at $79 from a terminal at the US Gulf with $2 added delivery cost to Rotterdam— more than 6,000 miles and around 17 days sailing away.

Platts would need to make that delivered cargo like-for-like against the existing BFOET grades, which are transacted on a so-called Free on Board, or FOB, basis in the North Sea.

To do that, it will use what it calls a freight adjustment factor, deducting the estimated cost of transportation across the North Sea to Rotterdam. If that were to be $1 a barrel, then the implied FOB price of WTI Midland in the North Sea would be about $80. The process will place an emphasis on

Platts’s assessments of tanker costs.

What’s the timeline?

SOME changes are already getting underway. In February, Platts began assessing forward prices based on the new assessment. Real cargoes of crude from the US will be allowed for inclusion from early May.

The expiry of the May Brent futures contract at end-March will have to rely on some trades of a June Brent exchange of futures for physical contract, which will take the changes into account.

Those key derivatives tools, along with the futures market, will determine the basis price of physical Dated Brent for June.

An important detail in the coming weeks is just how much trading of forward Dated Brent will pick up. So far, 12 entities have conducted transactions based on the new terms, according to Platts.

Ultima tely these deals will define something called the Brent Index, a once-amonth price published by ICE Futures Europe that’s used for the cash settlement of futures.

“Without a forward market, there’s no way to financially settle the ICE Brent contract,” said Kurt Chapman, a veteran oil trader and ex-head of crude at Mercuria Energy Group, who retired in 2018 after almost three decades on the front lines of global oil trading.

Will the Dated be better?

ASSUMING traders take to the adjustments, it will be transformative in terms of the underlying volume of oil that can be transacted.

In March alone, around 60 tankers hauling around 1.8 million barrels a day of oil were expected to arrive in Europe, the highest since 2016, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Something like one million barrels a day

of WTI Midland will theoretically be eligible for inclusion in Dated, although the volumes may be marginal until the trading of new Dated picks up.

What are the main concerns?

NO two crudes are identical and eventually Platts will have to evaluate precisely how WTI Midland compares with other grades within BFOET. Some say it is superior because of its density and sulfur levels.

However, some European traders have also expressed worries that the properties of WTI Midland cargoes may not match up to what was stipulated when it traded. That’s because WTI is actually a blend of different crudes.

It w ould be a problem if a cargo of oil—bought or sold with a view to setting a global benchmark underpinning prices globally—were found to have a flaw.

US terminal operators say there’s not much to be concerned about. They say that the 11 terminals approved by Platts that will send crude are all able to assure consistently high quality to suit Dated.

Another issue is the cargo sizes that will be allowed to be included. At 700,000 barrels, they do not match up to the reality of current oil trading of US oil.

There has been a flood of supertankers bringing 2-million-barrel cargoes across the Atlantic. Those wouldn’t qualify for inclusion in setting the Dated.

Finally, the BFOET grades all come with their own loading programs with each consignment given its own unique identifier. That gives traders clear visibility on the supply of oil. That’s not yet the case for WTI Midland and could cause some uncertainty about how many cargoes are being offered.

With assistance from Sherry Su and Sheela Tobben/Bloomberg

BRITAIN’S King Charles III and Camilla, the Queen Consort attend the Easter Mattins Service at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle in Windsor, England, on Sunday, April 9, 2023. King Charles III will be taking a short cut and a smoother ride to Westminster Abbey on May 6, 2023, trimming the procession route his mother took in 1953 as he aims for a more modest coronation that will include some modern touches. YUI MOK/POOL VIA AP

Sports

B8 Tuesday, april 11, 2023

mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph

Editor: Jun Lomibao

Highlands Ladies Cup golf offers rare hole-in-one prize

DENTAL services worth

P100,000 will be added to the growing list of prizes for a hole-in-one feat when the Highlands Ladies Cup holds its milestone 15th staging on April 29 at Tagaytay Midlands and Lucky 9 courses.

T he Gan Advanced Osseointegration Center (GAOC), a world-class dental treatment center in the country that offers technologically advanced techniques and services in oral diagnostic and surgical procedures, dental implantology and jaw reconstruction, is putting up the first-of-its-kind prize for an ace in the annual tournament featuring players of all genders.

It consists of consultation + X-ray + OP (8 pcs) and two pieces for whitening. If no one scores a hole-in-

MARLON “THE NIGHTMARE” TAPALES is now bound for the big time and could be taking on Japanese sensation Naoya Inoue or American Stephen Fulton next, according to MP Promotions president Sean Gibbons. Marlon [Tapales] is looking at the winner between the ‘Monster’ and Stephen Fulton, and we are hoping to do ‘the Monster versus the Nightmare,’” Gibbons told BusinessMirror on Monday. “But we will have to wait for the result of that fight first.”

Tapales shocked Murodjon Akhmadaliev via split decision on Sunday in San Antonio, Texas, to deal the Uzbekistan fighter his first defeat in 12 fights and snatch his Interna-

one, the prize will be divided into 10 winners, according to the organizing Tagaytay Highlands Ladies Chapter.

A lso up for grabs for aces are “barkada” package for four at the Blue Ternate Dive and Wellness Resort in Dumaguete, courtesy of Regent Travel; a brandnew Cobra LTDx iron set; and a Club Car.

T he event, backed by Diamond sponsors W Group Inc., Willie Ocier, CWC Int’l. Group and Agrikultura, will be played under the System 36 format.

M aking up the Platinum sponsors are CLC Marketing Ventures Corp., Parola Maritime Corp., Powerball Gaming, Miniso PH and SM Department Store, while the Gold backers are Regent Travel and Moringa-O2.

CONE SURPRISED BY GAME 1 RESULT

By Josef Ramos

BARANGAY Ginebra San

Miguel looked comfortable tucking away Game 1, 10290, over a TNT crew Gin Kings head coach Tim Cone observed as having lost its shooting touch on Easter Sunday night.

Cone admitted he was surprised by the outcome.

I was kind of surprised, to be honest,” Cone said. “They were just able to carry the fight all the way through for 48 minutes.”

The league’s most successful coach had his fears in the opener of the best-of-seven Finals for the Philippine Basketball Association Governors’ Cup.

“ I was worried about our game shape—whether we’d lose our game shape for over 10 days,” said Cone, referring to the Holy Week break. “I was worried about our rotations.”

But it all came together surprisingly well, and we were able to win,” he said. “We were just hoping to hold the fort, but the boys went out and even extended the lead.”

Lent obviously had nothing to do with Game 1 as Cone and the Gin Kings only had Good Friday’s off from practice. No tan lines for his boys this year.

But Game 2—set Wednesday at 5:45 p.m. again at the Smart Araneta Coliseum—should be an entirely different scenario for Cone.

Inoue or Fulton next for Tapales–Gibbons

tional Boxing Federation and World Boxing Association super bantamweight titles.

Tapales—37-3 won-lost with 19 knockouts—is now the third Filipino world champion besides World Boxing Organization (WBO) minimum weight champion Melvin Jerusalem and International Boxing Organization flyweight titlist Dave Apolinar.

F or the moment though, Tapales said he’ll savor his victory and will come home on April 15 to his native Cebu.

I just have to stay relaxed and

enjoy the moment of being a unified world champion,” said the 31-year-old Tapales, who held the WBO bantamweight crown in 2016.

I really missed my family so it’s time to go home and have some break,” said Tapales, referring to his wife Jayvee Sheen and two-year-old daughter Kaya Valerie.

“

I didn’t go home for a long time, but it’s a worthy sacrifice,” he said.

H e earned the guaranteed $60,000 purse (P3.2 million) while Akhmadaliev got $100,000 from the fight. Josef Ramos

Spanish stars align for Rahm at Masters

AUGUSTA, Georgia—Jon

Rahm kept hearing how he was destined to win this Masters because so many Spanish stars were aligned in his favor. Sunday was the birthdate of Seve Ballesteros, his idol and inspiration for playing. This year was the 40-year anniversary of the second Masters title Ballesteros won. If that wasn’t enough, caddie Adam Hayes was assigned white coveralls with No. 49—April 9. “ I was told a lot of things about why this could be the year,” Rahm said, looking smart as ever in his new green jacket. “And I just didn’t want to buy into it too much.”

H is golf was far more valuable than any historical coincidence.

R ahm turned the longest day

Reese and Clark

30-hole marathon finish started with him trailing by four and ended with a walk up to the 18th green that nearly reduced him to tears, and gave him another major that affirmed him as No. 1 in the world.

He closed with a three-under 69 to pull away from mistake-prone Brooks Koepka. He won by four shots over Koepka and 52-year-old Phil Mickelson, who matched the low score of the tournament with a 65 and became the oldest runner-up in Masters history.

We all dream of things like this as players, and you try to visualize what it’s going to be like and what it’s going to feel like,” Rahm said. “Never thought I was going to cry by winning a golf tournament, but I got very close on that 18th hole.

And a lot of it because of what it

AUGUSTA, Georgia— Tiger Woods withdrew from the Masters before the resumption of the third round because of an injury Sunday, ending his streak of completing all 72 holes of every tournament he has played at Augusta National as a professional.

The tournament announced about 90 minutes before play began that Woods, who is still hobbled by the effects of the 2021 car accident that nearly cost him his right leg, had withdrawn. He’d limped through practice rounds early in the week and again during the first and second

means to me, and to Spanish golf,” he said. “It’s Spain’s 10th major, fourth player to win the Masters. It’s pretty incredible.”

It was Mickelson who declared Rahm would be among golf’s biggest stars even before the Spaniard turned pro in 2016.

R ahm now has a green jacket to go along with his US Open title he won in 2021 at Torrey Pines. “ It was obvious to me at a very young age that he was one of the best players in the world even while he was in college,” said Mickelson, whose younger brother was Rahm’s college coach at Arizona State.

“To see him on this stage is not surprising for anybody.” AP

Woods withdraws before 3rd rd

rounds, but the limp had become more pronounced as the weather worsened.

I am disappointed to have to WD this morning due to reaggravating my plantar fasciitis,” Woods said on Twitter. “Thank you to the fans and to (at)TheMasters who have shown me so much love and support. Good luck to the players today!”

The five-time champion finished his second round in cold, driving rain on Saturday to make the cut on the number at three over, extending his

the NCAA next season with the chance to deliver one of the great rivalries in college hoops history.”

A nd that’s just the start, Snelling added.

“ Because by this time next season, both will be getting ready to head into the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) as two of the most promising players the game has seen. And the women’s game, both on and off the court, may never be the same.”

He said: “We may be seeing the birth of a rivalry similar to the one between then Indiana State’s Larry Bird and Michigan State’s Earvin “Magic” Johnson.

“ Reese may have won the first round of hopefully many battles against Clark by winning the NCAA women’s championship over the Hawkeyes, 102-85.

Both women are obviously competitive. Reese is charismatic while Clark is cool, calm, and collected.”

Unfortunately, media played the race card in the issue between these two future WNBA stars with the Daily Mail Australia saying, “‘We see it two different ways...when Caitlin Clark did the John Cena it was considered “swag.” Angela Reese does the same gestured it’s considered “classless.”

Masters streak to 23 straight and tying Fred Couples and Gary Player for the longest in history.

The 47-year-old Woods headed back out for the start of the third round as temperatures struggled to reach 50 degrees, and it wound up being a waterlogged slog. Wearing a gray winter hat over a baseball cap, he started on the 10th hole with a bogey, added another at No. 14, and then had back-to-back double bogeys after finding the water on Nos. 15 and 16. AP

Basketball Association] veteran. He’d been five to six years in the NBA, averaged 14 points a game in one season, with 6 or 7 rebounds,” Cone said. “He’s an absolute NBA stud player. He doesn’t have a lot of weaknesses.”

Hollis-Jefferson held his ground and finished with 30 points, 20 rebounds and five assists, almost the same numbers churned in by his Ginebra counterpart Justin Brownlee, who had 31 points but with eight less rebounds.

Sadly, the TNT locals couldn’t match Hollis-Jefferson’s intensity and accuracy.

Ginebra drew big numbers from Jamie Malonzo (21 points) and Christian Standhardinger (16 points and 11 rebounds) and Scottie Thompson was in Most Valuable Player mode with a triple-double of 10 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists.

Mikey Williams with 23 points and Calvin Oftana with 16 points were the only bright spots for TNT in Game 1.  TNT didn’t have a great shooting night,” Cone said.

Ginebra was 39 of 40 in field goals for 43.3 percent to TNT’s 38.9 percent on 35 of 90. In three points, the Gin Kings were deadlier with 15 of 36 attempts made against their opponents who could only shoot nine out of 35 tries.

E specially TNT import Rondae Hollis-Jefferson.

The guy is an NBA [National

But they’re going to have two to three games where they’re going to shoot the lights out,” Cone said. “And there’s probably nothing we could do about it.”

Tuburan hosts junior tennis tilt

ARIEL CABRAL and Gio Manito clash not just for one but two titles as action in the Palawan Pawnshop-Palawan Express Pera Padala (PPS-PEPP) national junior tennis circuit resumes Thursday with the Mayor Aljun Diamante Championships in Tuburan, Cebu.

C abral, a pride of Bais City in Negros Oriental, and the Pardo, Cebu-native, top-bill the boys’ under 16- and under 18 categories against a slew of upcoming campaigners in the 32-player draws also all primed for battle in pursuit of honors and ranking points in the Group 2 tournament presented by Dunlop.

Juvels Velos and Kevin Tabura, meanwhile, seek to stir up play in the under 16 side while Nicholas Ocat and Jan Docor look to break the projected Cabaral-Manito title faceoff in the premier side of the week-long tournament held as part of the country’s longest talent-search put up by Palawan Pawnshop president and CEO Bobby Castro.

The circuit—supported by

It’s funny how America—society—sees black and white.”

S harpe conveyed his belief the difference in media and public reaction relates to Reese, and black female studentathletes, not fitting into the typical image usually seen in NCAA women’s sports. The Maryland transfer spoke to such rhetoric during her postgame press conference.

R eese said “unapologetically me…unapologetically black...it’s so obvious what this is. This is not about anything other than race.”

“One is a celebration and is celebrated. The other is condemned. And why? Only because a black did the exact same gesture that a white female did 48 hours earlier.”

Trash talk is a part of the game. But white trash talk and black trash talk is viewed entirely different and we know why.’”

FS1 personality and National Football League Hall of Famer Shannon Sharpe was referring to Reese copying Clark’s “you can’t see me” diss of WWE superstar John Cena in the dying minutes of the women’s national championship game.

C lark did the gesture in their national semifinal victory over South Carolina.

ProtekTODO, PalawanPay, Unified Tennis Philippines and Universal Tennis Rating—meanwhile, heads back to Luzon next week with Imus City hosting the next juniors event from April 20 to 24.

Lucena City will take its turn from April 27 to 30 while Cainta will stage the open, juniors and legends tournaments from May 1 to 14.

For registration and details, contact tournament organizer Bobby Mangunay at 0915-4046464.

Keen competition is also seen in the girls’ category with Kate Imalay, Chloe Ortega, Davanee Velasco and Cheska Mamac bannering the under 16 cast and Mary Brigoli gaining the topseeding in under 18 play that includes Velasco, Mamac and Jerahmay Enyong.

C laudwin Toñacao also sets out for a two-title mission with the Bogo (Cebu) bet headlining the boys’ under 12 and gaining the No. 2 seeding behind David Sepulveda in the under 14 category that includes Al Jose Gairanod, Jr. and Patrick Rabaya.

E SPN’s Stephen A. Smith also inserted race into the conversation by saying, “We all know that there’s a whiteblack issue here, because the fact of that matter is when Caitlin did it, people were celebrating it. And they were talking about nothing but her greatness.

But, the second a sister stepped up and threw it back in her face, now you’ve got half the basketball world saying “Well, you know what, that’s not the classiest thing to do.”

A s outstanding as Reese’s performance has been on the court, she also has the potential to change the way the WNBA is marketed as one of the most charismatic superstars their game has seen.

Th is season, the Bayou Barbie has more name, image and likeness (NIL) deals than any other college basketball player, male or female, and the fifth-most of any NCAA athlete from any sport.”

At the end of the day, let them be.

I s Clark vs Reese or Reese vs Clark a microcosm of the state of race relations in the US that there is a double standard on how white female athletes react and how African American women athletes respond?

LOUSIANA STATE’S Angela Reese and University of Iowa Caitlin Clark’s are no ordinary basketball players.

A ccording to ESPN.com’s Andre Snellings, “Clark and Reese are two of the best basketball players in the world. They are both coming off historic seasons, and will return to

TIGER WOODS, 47 and hurting, just couldn’t get that major comeback. AP

IT’S a day when everything seems

GINEBRA’S Christian Standhardinger tries to beat TNT import Rondae Hollis-Jefferson’s defense in Game 1.