BusinessMirror April 23, 2024

HIGH oil prices may prompt the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to further delay any rate cuts, according to Standard & Poors (S&P) Global Ratings.

I n its latest brief, S&P Global Ratings said the recent spike in oil prices may disrupt any slowdown in the increase in commodity prices, particularly in emerging markets like the Philippines.

H igh oil prices will have a significant impact on emerging markets that are major energy importers which include the Philippines, Chile, Hungary, Poland, Turkiye, Thailand, and India.

“ The recent rise in oil prices, if it persists, threatens to disrupt disinflation across most EMs. This could slow, or delay, central banks’ interest-rate reduction, as they were expected to ease policy in the coming quarters,” S&P Global Ratings said.

A part from interest rates, the increase in commodity prices could also negatively impact economic growth this year.

S &P Global Ratings expects the country’s GDP to average 5.9 percent. This is lower than the 6 to 7 percent growth target for the year. However, growth is expected to recover in 2025 to 2027 when

GDP growth could average 6.2 percent, 6.5 percent, and 6.4 percent, respectively.

Vietnam has seen the strongest rebound in the region with robust tourism activity. The Philippines, Indonesia, and India are yet to see a full travel recovery,”

S&P Global Ratings said.

E arlier, the BSP said it remains undaunted by the recent depreciation of the peso as well as the rise in oil prices due to geopolitical tensions in the Middle East.

I n a briefing, BSP Governor Eli M. Remolona Jr. told reporters the depreciation of the peso is an “adjustment” that would only

have a small impact on monetary policy.

A s to the impact of higher oil, Remolona said there is no sense of escalation with regard to the tensions in the Middle East and that “retaliation will not be massive.”

T he rise in oil prices has led some analysts to believe that it may prompt the US Federal Reserve to tighten monetary policy further instead of easing it. However, Remolona said this only supported his expectations that the Fed will not ease monetary policy as early as the market anticipates.

NEDA BARES NEW LIST OF INFLATION BUSTERS

By Cai U. Ordinario @caiordinario

THE government is preparing new measures to combat the steep rise in commodity prices, according to the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda).

T he President has issued Administrative Order (AO) No. 20, which instructed the Department of Agriculture (DA) to take the lead in streamlining administrative procedures and policies on the importation of agriculturalproducts,andremovenon-tariff barriers. (See: https://businessmirror .com.ph/2024/04/22/ marcos-wants-non-tariff-curbson-farm-products-out/).

L ocal producers, however, are wary of the order, saying it will gravely hurt even more their ranks.  Story on A14 “AO 20 could favor undervalued, misdeclared agri goods—Sinag”

On the sidelines of the Filipinnovation forum on Monday, Neda Undersecretary for Planning and Policy Rosemarie G. Edillon told reporters these measures include fast-tracking the release of Sanitary & Phytosanitary Import Clearances (SPSIC).

If there’s really a pressing issue, to disapprove it, do it right away. If none, then once it’s not acted upon for a certain period, and it seems there’s no problem, then, it should be deemed approved,” Edillon told reporters.

THE National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) is open to extending the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) and using it for other sectors apart from rice.

A ccording to Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan, using the RCEF for other sectors may lead to higher productivity in other agriculture sectors and will also bode well for the country. Balisacan said there are arguments to support and do not support the extension of the RCEF,

but all these should be carefully studied.   Using it for agriculture, but ensuring this time that it’s really used for highly productive uses, especially those that will address low productivity issues in the rice sector. I think that will be a good move,” Balisacan said.

Neda Undersecretary Rosemarie G. Edillon also said proposals to extend the RCEF are welcome, but should be made pending an evaluation of the previous program.

Naia 3 parking lot blaze burns  19 vehicles; grass fire blamed

By Nonie Reyes

GRASS fire was blamed for the blaze which gutted 19 vehicles at the Naia Terminal 3 parking extension on Monday afternoon, sparking calls for authorities to have contingencies for fires that can quickly start or be spread by the record-breaking heat.

F irefighters from the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) rushed to the spot where some parked vehicles had caught fire, which started at around 1:28

E dillon said these are some examples of non-tariff measures (NTMs) that can be addressed to bring down the cost of food as well as encourage the free flow of goods into the market.

She explained that the AO issued by the President was part of the recommendations of the inter-agency Committee on Tariff-Related Mat -

PM. The fire fighters declared the fire out at 1:57 PM.

T he initial report received by the Miaa said at least 19 vehicles in the area caught fire. They are

ters (CTRM), one of the seven interagency committees under the Neda Board, chaired by the President. “ We’re saying that these are what we call strategic trade policies. And therefore, to the extent that such trade might be facilitated, then that should be the case. So that we can really get the full benefits of that policy,” Edillon said, partly in Filipino.

Inflation outlook

EDILLON said that while intense

still investigating the cause of the grass fire.

M iaa Head Executive Assistant and spokesman Chris Bendijo said Fire and Rescue Division of MIAA are doing mopping operations and looking into the real cause of the incident. No one was reported hurt or injured. Miaa General Manager Eric Ines rushed to the site to check out the extent of the damage after being told of the fire. Ines reported that the fire spread quickly due to heat and strong winds. Except for one partially burned vehicle, all the others were severely burned. Most of the vehicle owners are Naia Terminal 3 employees. The rest are guests or paying visitors.

B endijo added that Miaa will help the vehicle owners involved

heat has affected many parts of the country, inflation in April may have improved compared to March, given the rice harvest. A s of April 20, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) reported that damage caused by the El Niño amounted to P1.24 billion.

T he severe dry spell affected 29,409 farmers and 26,731.4 hectares of crops nationwide. No damage was recorded for agriculture infrastructure, machineries and

in the incident to talk to the parking concessionaire, but pointed out that, “Miaa has no liability on the incident.”

T he flight operations in four Naia terminals remain normal, as the fire did not affect flight operations.

A ccording to multiple sources, the fire came within the dangerous heat index levels in some parts of the country. State weather agency PAGASA said that the heat index in some areas may rise to 42°C to 45°C.

A irport authorities were urged to station some fire trucks in Naia Terminals to prevent incidents like this, or at least regularly spray water on the grassy portion of the airport, as the severe heat could cause grass fires or make it easy for these to spread.

equipment as well as livestock, poultry, and fisheries.

N DRRMC said 19 provinces in Luzon; 14 provinces in the Visayas; and eight provinces in Mindanao have a potential to experience meteorological drought conditions.

T here are also 23 provinces with the potential to experience a dry spell; and eight provinces have the potential to experience dry conditions.

We are concerned that many areas are still experiencing this intense heat. But with respect to our farming sector, many of them have done advance planting. And so we hope that it will still be enough to meet our demand,” Edillon said.

MAV concerns

EDILLON said removing the minimum access volume (MAV) scheme can be considered. The MAV scheme was part of the Philippines’s commitment to the World Trade Organization (WTO) which tends to limit access to imports.

However, Edillon said an important consideration is the possible lack of flexibility it can cause the Philippines later on.

E arlier, Monetary Board V. Bruce J. Tolentino said the MAV must be abolished as it could be a source of corruption. He said the government wants to increase access for everyone who wants to bring in imported agricultural goods which will help beef up domestic food supply. (See: https:// businessmirror .com.ph/2024/04/15/mavscheme-must-be-nixed-riskscorruption-mb-member/).

“Yes, we can actually move towards removing it, but that might reduce our flexibility later on. If we need to re-impose it, ito yung medyo anti-WTO [World Trade Organization]. Pwede naman siyang i -adjust as necessary,” Edillon said.

U nder Republic Act 8178, the Agricultural Tariffication Act, the MAV “refers to the volume of a specific agricultural product that is allowed to be imported with a lower tariff as committed by the Philippines to the World Trade Organization [WTO] under the Uruguay Round Final Act.”

T he law also mandated the establishment of an equitable and transparent mechanism to allocate the MAV for agricultural commodities whose quantitative restrictions have been lifted.

F urthermore, the law said the mechanism should have the least government intervention, address the requirements of each geographical area, and should not entail any cost to importers of these products to the detriment of local consumers.

E dillon said evaluating how the RCEF was used can help inform the government’s decision to extend the RCEF and increase its funding.

R eports earlier said Senator Cynthia A. Villar is proposing to extend the RCEF for another six years, doubling the support for farmers to P20 billion. (See: https:// businessmirror .com. ph/2024/04/15/ifprifarm-subsidies-must-havesunset-clauses/).

“ We’re actually supportive of the proposal to extend the validity of the RCEF. With respect to the funding, especially the allocation, I think that has to benefit muna from the evaluation of the previous implementation,” Edillon said.

T he RCEF is a fund dedicated to improving farmers’ competitiveness through the provision of certified seeds, mechanization, expansion of credit access, and delivery of extension services.

RCEF is a six-year, P10-billion rice production development program created under the RTL law, or Republic Act 11203, which deregulated the rice industry. The law allocates P5 billion for farm mechanization, P3 billion

T he Tax Code now mandates filing VAT returns and paying the corresponding VAT liabilities quarterly, but VAT-registered persons may still continue to file and pay the VAT monthly and use BIR Form No. 2550M.

T he procedures and guidelines set in Revenue Regulations Nos. 162005 and 6-2014, Revenue Memorandum Circular No. 68-2005 and other related revenue issuances, regarding the use of BIR Form No. 2550M shall continue to apply, the BIR noted.

No penalties will be imposed on a VAT-registered person who chooses to switch from filing the VAT return and paying tax every month using BIR Form No. 2550M, to quarterly filing using BIR Form No. 2550Q, or vice versa.

However, the quarterly filing of BIR Form No. 2550Q and payment of VAT must be made within 25 days following the close of each taxable quarter.

for inbred seed distribution, P1 billion for credit and P1 billion for extension.

I n 2020, two years before the mandatory review of RCEF, economists said the P10-billion RCEF can already be used to finance the Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture (RSBSA).

E arlier, the International Food Policy Research Institute ( IFPRI ) said a measure allowing the extension of the RCEF should include its gradual phaseout.

R esearch Fellow Emeritus at the IFPRI Director General’s Office, Mark Rosegrant, recently told reporters on the sidelines of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) Food Security Forum that it is important to place sunset provisions on farm subsidies.

O nce the RCEF is phased out, the funds from rice tariffs could be used for other investments in the agriculture sector. This will ensure that government funds are spent for agriculture that could lead to “higher returns,” he explained. (See: https:// businessmirror com.ph/2024/04/15/ifprifarm-subsidies-must-havesunset-clauses/).

Cai U. Ordinario

T he value-added tax rate on the sale of goods and properties, sale of services and use or lease of properties, and importation of goods is set at 12 percent of the gross selling price or value in money. Some transactions, however, are exempted from VAT.

T he BIR targets to collect a total of P405.948 billion in taxes this April. Of the total amount, P124.642 billion will come from the collection of VAT. For 2024, the BIR aims to collect a total of P599.253 billion in VAT.

T he Bureau has also collected taxes on net income and profit this month, which is targeted at P198.803 billion.

T he agency’s total collection goal is set at P3.055 trillion for 2024, with the bulk, or P2.967 trillion, coming from BIR operations, such as taxes on net income and profits and value-added tax (VAT), and P88.014 billion from non-BIR operations.

We will fight to win the war of Planet vs. Plastics. We must embrace the Environment for Life.”

L oyzaga led the launch of the DENR’s plastics collection competition among students nationwide as a highlight of the 54th Earth Day celebration in Pasay City. Dubbed “Earth Day Every Day Project,” it aims to engage learners on the importance of recycling plastics and promote a culture of environmental responsibilities in line with the values of scouting.

W hile there was a decline in the amount of investment approvals in the said period, the 73 new and expansion projects approved in the four-month period is still bigger than the 60 new and expansion projects in the same period last year.

T he DENR chief also signed a Pledge of Commitment for this program together with representatives of partner-institutions and companies such as Boy Scouts of the Philippines, Girl Scouts of the Philippines, SM Supermalls, SM Prime Holdings, Inc., and Nestle Philippines.

M eanwhile, the Peza Board said it held its meeting at the First Philippine Industrial Park (FPIP) in Sto. Tomas Batangas on April 19. Peza said it explored the “world-class” industrial park and the “innovative” sites of the different Peza-registered locator companies, which Peza said have significantly contributed to the remarkable trade uprise in the Philippine economy. “ FPIP, being strategically located between Mt. Makiling and Metropolitan Manila, houses a variety of locator companies from leading export manufacturing and IT-BPM industries, such as Brother Industries [Philippines] Inc., Canon Marketing Philippines, Honda Philippines Inc., Sunpower Philippines Manufacturing Ltd., Shimano [Philippines] Inc., among others, with more ongoing constructions of new and expansion projects,” Peza said in a statement on Monday. Andrea E. San Juan

Immigration bureau halts departure of suspected trafficking victims

TBy Joel R. San Juan @jrsanjuan1573

HE Bureau of Immigration (BI) barred four Filipino women from leaving the country on suspicion that they would be trafficked to work as waitresses in China.

The women, whose identities were withheld in accordance with anti-trafficking laws, were intercepted last April 21 at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 1.

They initially presented themselves as tourists bound for Hong Kong but later confessed that they were recruited to work as waitresses in China.

The victims claimed they were lured into the scheme by a Taiwanese woman they met through WeChat, a messaging and social media platform.

The victims said they were instructed to pose as tourists and were supposed to receive their visas for China upon arrival in Hong Kong, where they would then proceed to work illegally.

“These women were deceived into agreeing into the scheme to work abroad…But in reality, they were being trafficked for exploitation and illegal employment,” BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco said.

“Human trafficking is a heinous crime that preys on the most vulnerable members of society. We will continue to work tirelessly to thwart these criminal activities and bring the perpetrators to justice,” he added.

The BI said victims were turned over to the inter-agency council against trafficking for further investigation and assistance.

The Taiwanese woman allegedly promised them lucrative jobs as waitresses in China.

Consignee of ₧218-M shabu indicted

THE Department of Justice (DOJ) has indicted the consignee of 31 kilograms of shabu worth P218.48 million seized by authorities last week at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) for violation of Republic Act (RA) 9165 or the Dangerous Drugs Act.

In a statement, the DOJ said it found probable cause to charge Christine Tigranes from Balingasa Queen, Manila, for violation of Section 4 (Importation of Dangerous Drugs) and Section 1401 (Unlawful Importation or Exportation) under RA 10863 or the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act.

Tigranes, who was arrested while claiming the shipment, was subjected to inquest proceedings following her arrest last April 18.

“May this be a warning to those who continue to associate themselves with illegal drugs, expect that our crusade against this menace to society will be more vicious in the upcoming days and will never stop until we attain our ultimate goal of a drug-free Philippines,” Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said.

“The Department is firm in

its commitment to waging war against drugs,” Remulla added.

Authorities from the NAIA Inter-Agency Drug Interdiction Task Group (NAIA-IADITG) intercepted the shipment following receipt of a highly placed intelligence report. The shipment, which arrived from Zimbabwe on April 13 at the Paircargo warehouse facility in NAIA, was initially declared as “machinery mufflers,” but was found to be suspicious by authorities following X-ray inspection.

A physical inspection of the items was then conducted leading to the discovery of four brown cartons containing white crystalline substances hidden inside the mufflers.

The consignee received the said shipment at the PAIR-PAGS Center, NAIA Complex which resulted in her arrest.

Initial tests conducted on the said substances yielded positive results for the presence of methamphetamine hydrochloride or shabu.

The package, according to authorities, was shipped by a certain Isaac Chikore from Harare, Zimbabwe. Joel R. San Juan

BARMM SGA barangays clear creation of new municipalities

By Manuel T. Cayon @awimailbox

DAVAO City—The Special Geographic Area (SGA), a Moro enclave formed by the 63 barangays scattered among the six towns of North Cotabato, voted resoundingly for the creation of 8 new municipalities.

The Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) said the SGA barangays “voted resoundingly YES in another plebiscite here on April 13.” The BARMM said the same scattered barangays opted to wean away from the six towns of North Cotabato through a voter plebiscite in 2019 to officially belong to the BARMM.

The Bangsamoro Information Office said the Commission on Elections (Comelec) reported that the results of the plebiscite showed that 72,358 voted in favor of creating the eight new municipalities, while 273 were against it.

Comelec said the official voter turnout was 81.10 percent out of the 89,594 registered voters.

The information office quoted Member of Parliament Mohammad Kellie Antao, a known staunch advocate for peace and development in the SGA, as saying that “voting was the culmination of the aspirations of the Bangsamoro people in the area for inclusion in the autonomous region.”

Antao voted in the affirmative in his assigned precinct. “The event today is indeed historical as this represents the aspirations of our people.”

The eight new municipalities will be known as Kapalawan, Old Kaabakan, Malidegao, Ligawasan, Tugunan, Nabalawag, Kadayangan, and Pahamuddin. Under these municipalities are the 63 barangays, which once belonged to the North Cotabato towns of Carmen, Kabacan, Pikit, Aleosan, Midsayap, and Pigcawayan.

‘Balikatan’ highlights PHL, US desire for peaceful Indo-Pacific Region–Brawner

By Rex Anthony Naval

THE annual “Balikatan” between the Philippines and United States militaries highlights the commitment of both countries in ensuring peace in the Indo-Pacific Region.

“[It is] a clear reflection of our shared history, unwavering commitment to democracy and respect for international law in our pursuit of peace and security in the IndoPacific Region,” Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. said during the opening ceremonies of the exercise held in Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City Monday. He said “Balikatan” stands as evidence of the two nations’ continuous efforts to enhance the cooperation, dedication and mutual intentions to strengthen the interoperability of their respective military forces.

Around 11,000 American

Malacañang

troops and 5,000 AFP personnel will participate in the exercise which is scheduled to run from April 22 to May 10.

“Through joint and combined operational settings, we have diligently worked to achieve our shared goals. As coastal nations the United States and the Philippines share the vast expanse of the Pacific Ocean. We understand the importance of maritime cooperation in addressing the complex challenges that threaten peace and security in our region,” Brawner stressed.

And together with other Philippine military partners, the AFP chief said the country is committed to ensuring that the Indo-Pacific Region remains stable and prosperous.

“This exercise represents the essence of unity, collective responsibility and enduring partnership between the Republic of the Philippines and the United States

of America and other partners,” Brawner stressed.

He emphasized that “Balikatan” is not a “partnership of convenience” between the Philippines and the US, but a “clear reflection” of the two nations’ shared history and commitment to democracy.

It also embodies respect for international law as the two nations continue to pursue peace and security in the Indo-Pacific Region.

Balikatan’ updating AFP in defense concepts

Aside from ensuring peace, “Balikatan” also allows the AFP to respond and update itself in the constantly “evolving nature of defense.”

“Through the Comprehensive Archipelagic Defense Concept [CADC] that we have recently developed, we aim to enhance our defense capabilities. Cooperation and military-to-military collabo-

restores heritage homes into ‘tourism assets’ for visiting dignitaries

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

THE Marcos Jr. administration is rolling out the red carpet for visiting dignitaries by providing restored heritage homes for their stay within the Malacañang Palace compound.

In a video blog over the weekend, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. said in a mix of Filipino and English, “Most of our meetings and engagements are at the Palace, so these past few months, we added more Filipino hospitality assets. These are lodgings or guest houses for our visitors. In-

stead of staying in hotels located at a distance, from where they will encounter traffic jams, and thus, will have difficulty in following their meeting schedules, they can stay here at the Palace.”

He added, “It just so happens that there are old houses within the Malacañang compound and we saw one that could be renovated, so that’s what we did.” He was referring to the Laperal Mansion, which First Lady Liza AranetaMarcos unveiled to the public last February through her social media accounts.

Another heritage home that was renovated is the 1900s-era Goldenberg Mansion along Gen.

Solano St., which is now used for cultural and arts events. The Office of the First Lady likewise spearheaded its renovation and reopened to the public in May 2023. It was first renovated by former First Lady Imelda R. Marcos in 1966 and transformed into a guest house. Malacañang failed to say how much was spent for the renovations of these mansions. Marcos Jr. said renovation of these mansions were also part of government’s program to provide accessible venues for conferences and events. The Department of Tourism is putting renewed focus on MICE (Meetings Incentives Conferences Exhibitions) tourism, which generates significant visitor receipts for a country as it attracts large groups or gatherings for short event periods. Under its MICE Roadmap 2030, the DOT aims to reach the goal of generating some P25 billion in revenue by 2030 by lifting the Philippines as a leading MICE destination in Asia and the Middle East by then.

The Laperal Mansion, formerly the Arlegui Guesthouse as it is located along Arlegui Street, was the former residence of Presidents Corazon Aquino and Fidel V. Ramos. It has 14 bedrooms, each one named after a former Philip-

‘economists opposed to Charter change are anti-poor’

TBy Jovee Marie Dela Cruz @joveemarie

he chairman of the h o use Committee on Constitutional Amendments on Monday described a group of UP economists as “anti-poor” for opposing the initiative of the h o use of Representatives to amend the Constitution’s restrictive economic provisions.

Cagayan de Oro City Rep. Rufus Rodriguez asserted that this stance “obstructs economic progress and job creation.”

“This group is anti-development, antiemployment, anti-economic progress, and anti- poor. They are trying to block economic Charter reforms which we believe will bring in more foreign direct investments [FDIs], which in turn will accelerate our country’s economic development, and create more job and income opportunities for our people,” he said.

While acknowledging UP’s tradition of activism, he urged economists not to oppose government proposals “reflexively.”

“But its economists and other academicians should not find fault in every proposal from government, including

Congress. They should not oppose just for the sake of opposing,” he said.

In a position paper, the UP economists said instead of proposing economic Charter amendments, lawmakers should attend to more important factors that affect FDIs, including infrastructure, connectivity, corruption, and rule of law.

Rodriguez said economic constitutional amendment proposals and other factors affecting investments are not mutually exclusive and could be addressed together.

“I do not agree that the other ingredients for attracting investments are more important than removing foreign equity restrictions in the Charter. These limitations are the root cause of the reluctance of foreign businesses to invest in our country,” he said.

h e reminded the UP group that Congress has been addressing other investmentsrelated issues by passing the necessary laws, including the recently enacted e a se of Doing Business Act and the reduction of the corporate income tax and the grant of other tax incentives.

While criticizing the UP economists, the Mindanao lawmaker lauded the Foundation

ration play vital roles in ensuring a safer global community for generations to come,” he added.

CADC is the strategy that will allow the AFP to protect all of the country’s territories, including its exclusive economic zone. This defense shift was announced by Defense Secretary Gilberto C. Teodoro Jr. sometime this January.

‘Balikatan’ also represents an extraordinary opportunity for us to deepen our collaborations with friends, partners and allies. We wholeheartedly welcome the observers from our Asean neighbors, the United Kingdom, Canada, the Republic of Korea, the Republic of India, Japan, New Zealand and the Federal Republic of Germany. Their presence signifies the tremendous importance of friendliness crossing borders as we together strive to foster a free, open and internationally based order in the Indo-Pacific Region,” Brawner said.

pine President, and restored by a number of the country’s notable interior designers. The “presidential suite” is named after President Ferdinand E. Marcos Sr. Built sometime in the 1900s, the newly renovated Laperal Mansion, also features five state rooms, a dining room, a multipurpose hall, and a spa.

Meanwhile, the President also urged Filipinos to continue practicing the world-renowned “Filipino hospitality” and become the country’s tourism ambassadors wherever they are in the world.

“Filipino hospitality is in all of us, as the home is where Filipinos learn to care for others,” he said, as he recalled how he is received by the world leaders during his various visits to their countries.

The President similarly spoke of Filipino hospitality at the recent awarding of 15 Tourism Challenge Champions, a project of the DOT, noting that aside from the country’s beautiful destinations, it is the “heart of the Filipino” that encourages tourists to visit.

There were 1.88 million foreign tourists who visited the Philippines from January to April 15, up 19 percent from the 1.58 million who arrived in a similar period in 2023. It was 14.5 percent less though than the first quarter of prepandemic 2019. (See, “Chinese, Japanese tourist numbers help lift PHL visitor arrivals in 4 mos,” in the BusinessMirror , April 22, 2024.)

for e c onomic Freedom (F e F ) for supporting economic Charter reform proposals.

“F e F leaders have the interest of the nation at heart. They firmly believe, as we do, that lifting foreign equity restrictions would bring in foreign direct investments, which in turn will create more job and income opportunities for our people,”

Rodriguez said.

F e F leaders and members, most of whom are also UP graduates, include former finance chief Gary Teves and former economic planning secretary Gerardo Sicat.

In a rejoinder to the UP economists’ position paper, F e F said, “We firmly believe that RB h [Resolution of Both ho uses] 7 and its counterpart RB h 6 in the Senate will provide certainty to the country’s economic policy direction by giving our legislators the flexibility to create legislation that is responsive to global and domestic economic realities, for the benefit of the Filipino people.”

“The uncertainty in our economic policy framework stems from the contradiction between the restrictive provisions in our Constitution and the attempts to mitigate them through legislation. The

uncertainty lies in the fact that enacted legislation, that went through rigorous debate and deliberation by both houses of Congress, can be rendered moot through a Supreme Court challenge on the grounds of constitutionality,” it added. It cited the recent amendments to the Public Service Act as an example. The constitutionality of the law has been challenged before the Supreme Court. e x isting and potential investors in the telecommunication and transportation sector must await the resolution on these challenges to be certain of the actual policy of the Philippines. If the Supreme Court decides to rule that this law is unconstitutional, this will greatly damage the image of the Philippines with foreign investors,” the F e F said.

“In summary, it is easy to find fault with proposed solutions to problems, while being completely comfortable with doing the exact same thing that created the problems in the first place. After 100 years of solitude from FDI, we believe it’s about time we try solving the problem,” it added.

The h o use welcomed the Senate’s commitment to wrap up panel deliberations on RB h 6 once Congress resumes next week following the Lenten break.

The Aguinaldo Stateroom at the Presidential Guest house (Laperal Mansion) named after the first Philippine President emilio Aguinaldo Jr. PhOTO FROM The LAPeRAL MAnSIOn WeBSITe

Do we need Self- Motivation?

FBy Henry J. Schumacher

RIENDS, this week, I would like to discuss the science of selfmotivation with you.

Motivation is a fickle friend. One day, you’re bursting with energy and enthusiasm, tackling your projects

Economy

with a sense of flow. The next, you find yourself stuck in a rut, struggling to muster the drive to get anything done. It’s a frustrating cycle that can leave you feeling helpless and unproductive.

But what if you could break free from this cycle and take control of your motivation? Self-motivation isn’t some mysterious force that you’re born with or without. It’s a skill that can be learned and developed.

By understanding the science behind it, you can master the tools you need to stay motivated and make progress on the projects that matter to you.

The Science of Motivation

RESEARCH suggests that motivation finds its roots in the dopamine pathways in our brain. When we anticipate that something will feel good, dopamine starts kicking in. And this is very relevant to self-motivation, as imagining the reward we’d get by acting gives us a little boost in dopamine, just as if we actually acted already. The first is self-efficacy, trusting that you have the choice and the freedom to act however you want to. Of course, you need to be aware of

your current motivational state, but researchers discovered that equally important is how confident you feel in your ability to change it.

The second one is curiosity. It’s much easier to feel motivated when you find a question interesting or when you notice an information gap you want to fill.

Interestingly, neuroimaging studies have revealed that selfefficacy and curiosity are not only important ingredients for self-motivation but are also interconnected in the brain. A study found that the strength of activation of the “curiosity brain network” mediates the relationship between self-efficacy and curiosity.

In other words, your confidence in your ability to change your motivational state plays a significant role in shaping your curiosity. This link between self-efficacy and curiosity in the brain shows the importance of cultivating both factors when you want to motivate yourself.

Lastly, you need a feeling of increased competence—believing that the task will teach you something new and make you more

knowledgeable and more efficient. This sense of growth and mastery keeps you motivated to continue pursuing the task even in the face of setbacks.

Self-efficacy, curiosity, and competence: these are the three ingredients you need to regain and maintain selfmotivation. So, how do you unlock those ingredients?

While you cannot force self-motivation, you can create the perfect conditions for cultivating a sense of self-efficacy, curiosity, and competence. By making small but meaningful changes, you’ll set the stage for your motivation to emerge. I call those simple strategies “The 3 Ms of Self-Motivation.”

1

Manage your mood. It will be much harder to feel self-motivated if you are in a bad mood. Instead of brute-forcing your way to complete a task, take a little break to regulate your nervous system and cultivate a sense of calm. This could be through meditation, treating yourself to a nice, healthy meal, or having an interesting conversation break with a peer.

2

Measure your progress. This can be as simple as starting a spread -

sheet where you count the number of words you have written, the number of days you have coded, or the number of times you went to the gym. Creating a streak can be extremely self-motivating as you won’t want to break it.

3 Make it public. This is one of the most efficient ways to stay motivated over the long run. Working on a project with intrinsic motivation and adding the extrinsic motivation of a public commitment is a powerful combo. But do not only announce your project: make a pact to share regular updates, whether it’s with your colleagues or on social media.

In conclusion, manage your mood, measure your progress, make it public. These three simple steps that can greatly help you get motivated, and more importantly, stay motivated so you can achieve your most authentic ambitions, even on days when it’s hard to get to work. Self-motivation is obviously needed and makes us successful on a daily basis. There is no question that self-motivation drives me. I love it. You should also!

I look forward to your comments; contact me at hjschumacher59@gmail. com.

ATAR is now seeking to strengthen its economic ties and people-to-people exchange with the country with the signing of nine new agreements.

On Monday, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. and Qatari Amir, Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani, witnessed the

Qatar, PHL leaders sign 9 new accords

presentation ceremony of the nine Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in Malacañang. A mong those signed were two separate

pacts by the Qatar Chamber of Commerce and Industry with the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) and the Davao

City Chamber of Commerce (DCCC). “ The Philippines is an important partner for us in many fields, especially in trade and economic cooperation, and we aspire to improve these relations to increase communication between the private sector and both the countries,” Sheik Tamim said

in his speech before his bilateral talk with Marcos. Among the other agreements signed during the event were the waiver of visa requirements for holders of diplomatic and special or official passports as well as cooperation on the fields of sports, youth, tourism and business events. Samuel P. Medenilla

The World

US aid package approved, but Ukraine’s defenses wearing thin as Russia launches brazen attacks

By Samya Kullab The Associated Press

KYIV, Ukraine—Ukrainian commander Oleksiy Tarasenko witnessed a frightening shift last month in Russia’s efforts to punch through Kyiv’s defense of the industrial region known as the Donbas.

Standing against Russia’s unyielding advance in the strategic front-line town of Chasiv Yar, he noticed that, instead of making typical light infantry assaults, Moscow’s forces were taking brazen risks by launching battalion- and platoon-sized attacks, sometimes with up to 10 combat vehicles.

His men destroyed up to 80 tanks in the weeks that followed, but it did not slow the enemy. The confidence of the Russian military reflected the Kremlin’s knowledge that Ukraine’s ammunition supplies were dwindling as the US dawdled over approving more military aid.

Saturday’s passage by the US House of Representatives of a much-awaited $61 billion package for Ukraine puts the country a step closer to an infusion of new firepower that will be rushed to the front line to fight Moscow’s latest attacks. But the clock is ticking, with Russia using all its might to achieve its most significant gains since its invasion by a May 9 deadline. In the meantime, Kyiv has no choice but to wait for replenishment.

Seeing a window of opportunity, Russia has seized the momentum on the battlefield and forced Kyiv’s forces to cede tactically significant territory, one painful meter (yard) after another.

Wave after wave of mechanized units came for Tarasenko’s brigade. Protected under an umbrella of attack drones and artillery fire, they reached the foot of Chasiv Yar, which is the gateway to Ukraine’s defensive backbone in the Donetsk region.

“They concentrated disproportionately enormous resources in this direction,” said Tarasenko, deputy commander of the 5th Separate Assault Brigade. “The most difficult thing is to cope with this constant onslaught from the enemy, which does not change, even though the enemy is losing a lot of military equipment and soldiers.”

The Pentagon has said it could get weapons moving to Ukraine within days if the Senate and President Joe Biden give final approval to the aid package. But experts and Ukrainian lawmakers said it could take weeks for the assistance to reach troops, giving Russia more time to degrade Ukrainian defenses.

The seven-month effort to pass the package effectively held Ukraine hostage to the internal politics of its biggest ally. It also raised concerns about how the shifting sands of American politics will influence future military support.

European partners cannot match the volume and scope of American assistance, which remains Kyiv’s main hope to win the war. But that support has come with red lines, including rules that forbid using Western-supplied weapons for strikes inside the Russian Federation. Some Ukrainian officials argue that such limits handicap their ability to cripple the enemy’s more robust capabilities.

Assuming the assistance arrives in the next two months, plans are afoot for a potential late-summer offensive. Analysts have argued that future support should not count on one big decisive battle, but a sustained strategy over many years.

But first, Ukraine must hold off Russia’s attempts to break defensive lines and entrenched positions.

In the past month, The Associated Press spoke to a dozen commanders across the active zones of the eastern front line, from Kupiansk in the northeast to Bakhmut farther south. They said their soldiers have rationed shells and struggled to repel enemy attacks with insufficient artillery ammunition.

They are also running critically low on air-defense missiles, not only for high-end Patriot systems that protect cities, but also for tactical air systems. That has given Russian fighter-bombers an opportunity to lob thousands of deadly aerial glide bombs against Ukrainian positions, razing defenses to the ground, something Russia’s air force has not been able to do before.

Since January, the Kremlin has seized 360 square kilometers (140 square miles) of Ukrainian territory, roughly the size of the American city of Detroit, according to the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War.

Ukrainian commanders have complained about dire ammunition shortages since late December. By February, heads of artillery units in several regions said they had less than 10% of the supplies they needed as Kyiv rushed to economize shells.

Nowhere are supplies more needed than in Chasiv Yar, where after weeks of fierce fighting, Moscow is intent on conquering the town. Ukraine’s commander in chief, Oleksandr Syrski, said Russia’s top military leadership ordered its soldiers to capture the town by May 9, Russia’s Victory Day, a holiday that marks the defeat of Nazi Germany.

To reach that goal, Russia unleashes daily drone assaults and glide bombs on Ukrainian forces that have no way to counterattack.

Time is of the essence, said Yurii Fedorenko, a battalion commander of the 92nd Brigade in the Chasiv Yar region.

“They simply destroyed our positions with massive strikes. Now those positions are constantly hit by artillery, making it impossible to recapture them,” he said.

“Now we have nothing to answer the enemy with,” he added.

Commanding men who have reached extreme levels of burnout, Fedorenko acknowledged the Russians were steadily advancing. At the time of the interview, Russian forces were just 500 meters (1,640 feet) from the town, he said.

The soldiers who died to protect land that was lost could have been spared if the US aid had been approved earlier, he said.

“Our losses could be reduced to a minimum, and we would not have lost territories that would later have to be reconquered.”

Russia picked up momentum soon after gaining control of Avdiivka in February. Immediately, Moscow’s troops sought to reinforce their tactical success and push further into larger, strategically significant towns—Kostiantynivka, Sloviansk and Druzkhivka— that together form the fortress wall of Ukraine’s

defense of the Donetsk region.

Newborn baby survives Israeli airstrike in Gaza, losing mother, father and sister

By Mohammad Jahjouh The Associated Press

RAFAH, Gaza Strip—Sabreen Jouda came into the world seconds after her mother left it.

Their home was hit by an Israeli airstrike shortly before midnight Saturday. Until that moment, the family was like so many other Palestinians trying to shelter from the war in Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah.

Sabreen’s father was killed. Her 4-year-old sister was killed. Her mother was killed.

But emergency responders learned that her mother, Sabreen al-Sakani, was 30 weeks pregnant. In a rush at the Kuwaiti hospital where the bodies were taken, medical workers performed an emergency cesarean section.

Little Sabreen was near death herself, fighting to breathe. Her tiny body lay in the recovery position on a small piece of carpet as medical workers gently pumped air into her open mouth. A gloved hand tapped at her chest. She survived.

On Sunday, in the hours after the airstrike, she whimpered and

wriggled inside an incubator at the nearby Emirati hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit. She wore a diaper too big for her and her identity was scrawled in pen on a piece of tape around her chest: “The martyr Sabreen al-Sakani’s baby.”

“We can say there is some progress in her health condition, but the situation is still at risk,” said Dr. Mohammad Salameh, head of the unit. “This child should have been in the mother’s womb at this time, but she was deprived of this right.”

He described her as a premature orphan girl.

But she is not alone.

“Welcome to her. She is the daughter of my dear son. I will take care of her. She is my love, my soul. She is a memory of her father. I will take care of her,” said Ahalam alKurdi, her paternal grandmother. She clutched her chest and rocked with grief.

At least two-thirds of the more

than 34,000 Palestinians killed in Gaza since this war began have been children and women, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.

The other Israeli airstrike in Rafah overnight killed 17 children and two women from an extended family.

Not everyone is immediately recovered after such attacks.

“My son was also with them. My son became body parts and they have not found him yet. They do not recognize him,” said

Chinese military leader threatens force to defend territorial claims

By Ng Han Guan & Christopher Bodeen The Associated Press

QINGDAO, China — One of China’s top military leaders took a harsh line on regional territorial disputes, telling an international naval gathering in northeastern China on Monday that the country would strike back with force if its interests came under threat.

The 19th biennial meeting of the Western Pacific Naval Symposium opened in the port city of Qingdao, where China’s northern naval force is based, providing a vivid backdrop to China’s massive military expansion over the past two decades that has seen it build or refurbish three aircraft carriers.

The four-day meeting has drawn representatives from partners and competitors including Australia, Cambodia, Chile, France, India and the US and comes amid heightened tensions over China’s assertive actions in the Taiwan Strait and the East and South China seas, and as China’s navy has grown into the world’s largest by number of hulls.

Zhang Youxia, the vice chairman of the ruling Communist Party’s Central Military Commission, which controls the armed forces, spoke of “common development” and said “decoupling, friction and confrontation will only divide the world into isolated islands guarding against each other with suspicion.”

However, he then turned to China’s territorial claims, which have not been recognized under international law and in some cases have been denied. Beijing has ignored rulings not in its favor, particularly in the South China Sea, where it is in dispute with five other parties over islands, waterways and undersea resources.

Japan continues to defend its control over the uninhabited Senkaku island chain, called Diaoyu by China, in the East China Sea, against incursions by the Chinese

for Taiwan and the Indo-Pacific.

coast guard. Taiwan last week reinforced its foothold in the disputed South China Sea by establishing satellite communications between the main island and its garrison on Taiping Island, also known as Itu Aba, the largest land feature in the highly contested Spratly Island chain. China has created seven artificial islands in the area by piling sand and cement on top of coral reefs and then equipping them with airstrips and other military infrastructure.

Zhang said China’s territorial sovereignty “brooks no infringement and its core interests cannot be challenged. We do not provoke trouble, but we will never flinch in face of provocation. The Chinese military will resolutely defend the reunification and interest of the motherland.”

Zhang has spoken in the past of Beijing’s determination to take control of the self-governing island republic of Taiwan, which it claims as its own territory, using force if necessary. With its crucial high-tech economy, Taiwan has been building up its defenses on its own and with help from the US, where Congress this weekend approved $8 billion in military aid

Taiwan is also building its own submarines and trainer aircraft and waiting on the delivery of up -

Mirvat al-Sakani, Sabreen’s maternal grandmother. “They have nothing to do with anything. Why are they targeting them?

We don’t know why, how? We do not know.”

On Sunday, the survivors buried the dead. Children in bloodied wraps were placed in body bags and into the dusty ground as families wailed. Little boys watched and tried to keep their footing at the edge of a grave.

graded versions of F-16 fighters, battle tanks and other hardware from the US.

Zhang appeared to press China’s unilateralist approach to foreign relations and military conflicts as espoused by Xi Jinping, the top military commander, Communist Party leader and head-of-state for life, who has eliminated all dissenting views.

China “remains committed to resolving maritime disputes with directly concerned countries through friendly consultations, but we will not allow our good faith to be abused,” Zhang said.

“Particularly over the self-governing island republic of Taiwan that Beijing threatens to use force to bring under its control. We will take justified actions to defend our rights in accordance with the law.”

Zhang’s comments follow a major shakeup of the Chinese military in recent months that has seen the still-unexplained disappearance of former Defense Minister Li Shangfu and several top officers in the missile corps.

Bodeen reported from Taipei, Taiwan.

main

A PALESTINIAN baby girl, Sabreen Jouda, who was delivered prematurely after her mother was killed in an Israeli strike along with her husband and daughter, lies in an incubator in the Emirati hospital in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip on Sunday, April 21, 2024. AP/MOHAMMAD JAHJOUH

ZHANG YOUXIA , vice chairman of the CPC Central Military Commission, speaks at the Western Pacific Navy Symposium held in Qingdao in eastern China’s Shandong province on Monday, April 22, 2024. Zhang, China’s second-ranking military leader under Xi Jinping, said China committed to solve maritime disputes through dialogue but warned that International law could not be distorted. AP/NG HAN GUAN

UKRAINIAN soldiers carry shells to fire at Russian positions on the front line, near the city of Bakhmut, in Ukraine’s Donetsk region, on March 25, 2024. Approval by the US House of a $61 billion package for Ukraine puts the country a step closer to getting an infusion of new firepower. But the clock is ticking. Russia is using all its might to achieve its most significant gains since the invasion by a May 9 deadline. AP/EFREM LUKATSKY

The World

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Tuesday, April 23, 2024

Europe faces alarming temperature rise at double the global average, says report

By Jamey Keaten The Associated Press

NAPLES, Italy—Europe is the fastest-warming continent and its temperatures are rising at roughly twice the global average, two top climate monitoring organizations reported Monday, warning of the consequences for human health, glacier melt and economic activity.

The UN’s World Meteorological Organization and the European Union’s climate agency, Copernicus, said in a joint report that the continent has the opportunity to develop targeted strategies to speed up the transition to renewable resources like wind, solar and hydroelectric power in response to the effects of climate change.

The continent generated 43 percent of its electricity from renewable resources last year, up from 36 percent the year before, the agencies say in their European State of the Climate report for last year. More energy in Europe was generated from renewables than from fossil fuels for the second year running. The latest five-year averages show that temperatures in Europe are now running 2.3 degrees Celsius (4.1 Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels, compared to 1.3 degrees Celsius higher globally, the report says—just shy of the targets under the 2015 Paris climate accord to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

“Europe saw yet another year of increasing temperatures and intensifying climate extremes— including heat stress with record temperatures, wildfires, heat waves, glacier ice loss and lack of snowfall,” said Elisabeth Hamdouch, the deputy head of

unit for Copernicus at the EU’s executive commission.

The report serves up a continental complement for WMO’s flagship state of the global climate report, which has been published annually for three decades, and this year came with a “red alert” warning that the world isn’t doing enough to fight the consequences of global warming.

Copernicus has reported that March marked the 10th straight month of record monthly temperatures. The average sea-surface temperature for the ocean across Europe hit its highest annual level in 2023, the Europe report said.

The European report focuses this year on the impact of high temperatures on human health, noting that deaths related to heat have risen across the continent. It said more than 150 lives were lost directly last year in connection with storms, floods and wildfires. The cost of weather- and cli -

mate-related economic losses in 2023 were estimated at more than 13.4 billion euros (about $14.3 billion).

“Hundreds of thousands of people were affected by extreme climate events in 2023, which have been responsible for large losses at continental level, estimated to be at least in the tens of billions of euros,” said Copernicus director Carlo Buontempo.

Extreme weather fanned heat waves, wildfires, droughts and flooding, the report said. High temperatures have contributed to a loss of glacier ice on the continent, including in the Alps— which have lost about 10 percent of their remaining glacier ice over the last two years.

Still, the report’s authors pointed to some exceptions, such as how temperatures were below average in Scandinavia and Iceland even if the mercury was higher than average across much of the continent as a whole.

Iran’s Khamenei shifts focus from missile attack to ‘national will’ as tensions with Israel simmer

By Jon Gambrell The Associated Press

JERUSALEM—Iran’s supreme leader on Sunday dismissed any discussion of whether Tehran’s unprecedented droneand-missile attack on Israel hit anything there, a tacit acknowledgment that despite launching a major assault, few projectiles actually made it through to their targets.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s comments before senior military leaders didn’t touch on the apparent Israeli retaliatory strike on Friday on the central city of Isfahan, even though air defenses opened fire and Iran grounded commercial flights across much of the country.

Analysts believe both Iran and Israel, regional archrivals locked in a shadow war for years, are trying to dial back tensions following a series of escalatory attacks between them as the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip rages on and inflames the wider region.

Khamenei, 85, made the comments in a meeting attended by the top ranks of Iran’s regular military, police and paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, a powerful force within its Shiite theocracy.

“Debates by the other party about how many missiles were fired, how many of them hit the target and how many didn’t, these are of secondary importance,” Khamenei said in remarks aired by state television.

“The main issue is the emergence of the Iranian nation and Iranian military’s will in an important international arena.

This is what matters.”

Iran launched hundreds of drones, ballistic missiles and cruise missiles that sought to overwhelm Israel’s air defenses in the April 13 attack — the first on Israel by a foreign power since Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein launched Scud missiles at Israel in the 1991 Gulf War.

However, Israeli air defenses and fighter jets, backed by the US, the United Kingdom and neighboring Jordan, shot down the vast majority of the incoming fire.

Satellite images analyzed Saturday by The Associated Press showed the Iranian attack caused only minor damage at the Nevatim air base in southern Israel, including taking a chunk out of a taxiway that Israel quickly repaired.

Iran’s attack came in response to a suspected Israeli strike on April 1 targeting a consular building next to the Iranian Embassy in Damascus, Syria, which killed two Guard generals and others.

“Today, thanks to the work done by our armed forces, the Revolutionary Guard, the army, the police, each in its own way, praise be to Allah the image of the country around the world has become commendable,” added Khamenei, despite Iran facing public anger over its economy and crackdowns on dissent.

In other developments, Iraqi security forces in the western Nineveh province area were searching for “outlaw elements” that fired missiles across the border into Syria late Sunday, targeting a base for US-led coalition forces, Iraq’s Security Media Cell said.

The searchers had found and destroyed a missile launcher, the statement added.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the reported attack.

Maj. Gen. Tahseen al-Khafaji, head of the Security Media Cell, said about five missiles were launched across the border but it was unclear if they had hit or caused any damage at the targeted base.

US officials did not comment on whether any US facility had been specifically targeted. One official said a coalition fighter destroyed a launcher in selfdefense after reports of a failed rocket attack near a coalition base at Rumalyn, Syria. No US personnel were injured, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to provide details that were not yet public.

Two nights earlier, an explosion struck a base in Iraq belonging to the Popular Mobilization Forces, a coalition of Iran-allied militias, killing one person and injuring eight.

The Associated Press writer Tara Copp in Washington contributed to this report.

Hedge funds cry foul over Chinese education firm’s default

By Bei Hu and Pearl Liu

hedge funds and other international investors are sounding alarms after a profitable education company from China defaulted on its convertible bonds in March.

A group of bondholders, which includes some of Asia’s most prominent hedge funds, have alleged in public statements that the company chose not to pay its offshore debt even though its business is healthy and growing. The investors, which include Hong Kong-based Oasis Management Co., PAG and Enhanced Investment Products Ltd., said the borrower’s action could set a dangerous precedent for the broader market.

The borrower in question is XJ International Holdings Co., a 16-yearold company that used to be called Hope Education Group Co. It said in a filing last month that it had defaulted on the $315 million of convertible bonds, which are hybrid securities that can be converted into stock. Holders had used an option to demand repayment in March. The bloc of investors—called the ad-hoc group, a term often used when creditors band together to try to recoup money—holds 49 percent of the convertibles. It moved swiftly to file a winding-up petition in Hong Kong against the company. The writ they filed is confidential and not publicly available.

XJ didn’t reply to Bloomberg’s requests for comment. It said on March 28 that it was having difficulty redeeming the bonds because of “the impact of the external environment, industry policies, and the Company’s financial condition.” In an April 14 statement, XJ said the cash on its balance sheet could only be used to run its schools, and that it has “a preliminary plan” to settle or restructure the defaulted debt.

The funds’ predicament shows how perilous investing in Chinese corporate bonds has become, after the country’s property sector downturn caused a wave of international debt defaults.

“This could trigger a sector-wide reassessment of credit risk,” said Kher Sheng Lee, Asia-Pacific cohead of the Alternative Investment Management Association, a global body representing hedge funds and private credit funds. He said the incident shows that a company’s liquidity and ability to repay its debt aren’t the only factors that investors should consider when assessing default risk.

“Equally vital are investor confidence and a firm’s willingness to fulfill its financial obligations,” said Lee, who isn’t involved in the XJ case.

Companies from China have defaulted on more than $100 billion in offshore bonds since 2021, according to data compiled by Bloomberg News.

International bondholders have been struggling to recover money from some companies whose assets and operations are mostly onshore, as it has been difficult to enforce offshore court rulings in mainland China.

Issuance of new high-yield dollar bonds and convertible debt from Chinese companies has dropped sharply, after many investors have backed away from the formerly bustling market.

Other Chinese education companies raised money from the offshore debt market during better times.

China Education Group Holdings Ltd., last month redeemed the last

of its HK$2.4 billion ($301 million) in convertible bonds after repurchasing or paying off most of the debt earlier. China Maple Leaf Education Systems Ltd. fully redeemed $125 million in converts in February, after failing to do so previously. Another company, China YuHua Education Corp., missed a December 2022 redemption and worked with creditors to restructure the remaining convertible bonds.

XJ, which hails from the southwestern Chinese city of Chengdu, operates 24 schools, including universities, junior colleges and vocational institutes that are mostly in China. The Hong Kong-listed company posted 3.58 billion yuan ($495 million) in revenue in its 2023 fiscal year which ended in August, up 18 percent from the previous year. It also reported a 20 percent increase in gross profit.  In November 2023, XJ had said it expects to be able to “meet in full its financial obligations as they fall due for the foreseeable future.” The company reported cash and bank balances of 2.9 billion yuan at the end of August.

Despite that, XJ in March defaulted on the outstanding convertible bonds that it issued in 2021. The five-year, zero-coupon securities had terms that required the company to redeem them that month if bondholders required it to—which they did.

The ad-hoc group of bondholders has since then released strongly worded statements accusing XJ of avoiding its debt obligations and not engaging with them. It also said that XJ repaid a HK$620 million loan to banks including Standard Chartered Plc in January this year, some 18 months ahead of its maturity date. It said XJ owes bondholders $325 million, including accrued interest.

A winding-up hearing for XJ has been scheduled for June. “The Company believes that it is in the best interests of its creditors to achieve a reasonable debt restructuring plan,” XJ said in its recent filing, adding that the winding-up petition could harm its viability and hurt creditors’ recovery prospects.

XJ’s shares have already slumped more than 90 percent over the past three years to about 22 Hong Kong cents, giving the company a market capitalization of HK$1.8 billion and rendering the warrant to convert the bonds to shares at HK$3.85 effectively worthless. The company was caught up in a broader Chinese educationstocks sell off in 2021, when regulators in the country banned afterschool tutoring companies that teach compulsory school subjects from making profits and raising capital.

Beijing has instead been encouraging vocational training and higher education, a fact that XJ noted in its latest financial report. It said student enrollment at its schools hit a record high of 290,000 last year. In Thailand and Malaysia, where the company also has schools, XJ’s international offshoots were able to raise money from Thai baht and Malaysian ringgit bond sales last year, guaranteed by a trust fund under the Asian Development Bank. Bloomberg

Ease of Paying Taxes: On changes in the regulations

AUkraine would establish nuclear weapons to defend against Russia. The next day the Russian military invaded, and Putin will not withdraw anytime soon or later for that matter.

President Trump’s tariffs in 2018, according to a study published in

ber 2018, Trump’s tariffs resulted in a reduction in aggregate US real income of $1.4 billion per month in deadweight losses. Further, the tariffs cost US consumers an additional $3.2 billion per month in added tax. Ordinary people fight the wars on the battlefield and in the economy.

E-mail me at mangun@gmail.com. Follow me

atty. Jomel n. Manaig

Tax Law for Business

fTer some agonizing weeks of speculation and anticipation, the final versions are in! Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome, the eOPT rrs!

Just a quick trip to recent history, in February 2024 the draft revenue regulations for the EOPT were released and public consultations were held. The draft RRs were received with mixed reactions and some questions were left unanswered. Even I and my Partners from the Firm wrote extensively on the EOPT and its draft RR: from changes in the filing of tax returns to the revisions in VAT provisions, and even to the overhauls in the refund process.

Now, the long wait is finally over. The RRs are finally here, a total of six. So, what provisions of the initial draft underwent significant changes?

A very noticeable change is in the filing of returns and payment of the corresponding taxes. In the initial draft, the primary mode for both filing and payment is electronically and only upon the unavailability of electronic means will the taxpayer be allowed to file and pay manually. However, in the RR, the electronic means as a primary mode now applies only to the filing of tax returns. Payment of taxes may either be electronically or manually done, at the option of the taxpayer.

It should be noted that under the EOPT Act itself, the filing of tax returns and the payment of the corresponding taxes may be done either

electronically or manually. There is no qualification or preference referred to in the text of the law. The preference for electronic means only appeared in the RR. Nonetheless, from the point of view of better tax administration, it is preferable to have tax returns in electronic format rather than the archaic paper system. Dare I say, this preference may even be an improvement to the underlying goals of the EOPT itself.

On the subject of refund, a major aspect changed from the initial draft and public consultation to the actual RR. Under the EOPT, upon the lapse of the period to process a claim for tax credit/refund, the taxpayer would have the option to appeal directly to the CTA within 30 days.

The public consultation on the draft RR added some depth to this remedy by revealing that the taxpayer may opt to wait for the BIR to process the claim beyond the prescribed period. Once a decision is rendered, despite the lapse of the period to process the claim, the taxpayer would still be eligible to appeal the unfavorable decision to the CTA. This, of course, was met with cautious skepticism since the EOPT did not expressly provide such a remedy. And such skepticism appeared to have a dash of accuracy to it. The actual RR now expressly rec-

Now, the long wait is finally over. The RRs are finally here, a total of six. So, what provisions of the initial draft underwent significant changes?

ognizes that waiting for the decision on the claim for refund beyond the prescribed period to process would mean foregoing the remedy of appeal with the CTA. It is fortunate that the RR provisions on the remedy were changed to what they are now. Otherwise, we could expect some confusion as the refund provisions of the EOPT Act are put into action. Such confusion may impair the remedies available to taxpayers.

Another change in the rules for claims for refund is on the processing of refund claims in relation to the dissolution or cessation of business. In the initial draft, the 2-year prescriptive period refers to the filing of the application for cash refund, which is reckoned from the issuance of the BIR Tax Clearance. Afterwards, the BIR has 180 days within which to act on the application.

However, the actual RR modified this by using the two-year prescriptive period as the basis for the period of processing the claim for refund. It even expressly mentioned that this is an exception to the general 180-day period. This two-year period would commence from the filing of the application for registration cancellation (BIR Form 1905) together with the complete documentary requirements for both the closure and the refund. Based on the actual RR, the claim for refund in relation to dissolutions or cessation of business is supposed to be filed together with the application for registration update.

Claims for refund were just among those that were clarified in the recently issued RRs. The EOPT also

brought in significant changes to the way VAT is imposed and questions came along with it. Some questions dealt with the transition from the old rules to the new one. How will it be done and what will happen to transactions entered into during the pendency of the effectivity of the implementing rules and regulations?

In the draft RR, for sale of services with receivables that are still outstanding prior to the effectivity of the regulations, taxpayers were being required to report the sale and the corresponding output VAT in the immediate taxable quarter. This posed an unfavorable requirement for taxpayers since they will be required to apply the revisions of the EOPT Act to transactions that were entered into before it came into effect Giving credit where credit is due, the DOF and the BIR wisely changed this position in the actual RR and require the affected taxpayers to declare the output VAT on these transactions once the receivables are collected. This is a more reasonable transitory policy.

The EOPT RRs seem to still be a hit or miss in some areas. However, I would have to commend the improvements made from the initial drafts. Here’s to hoping that the forthcoming clarifications or amendments will continue to enhance the ease of taxpayers’ lives.

The author is a junior partner of Du-Baladad and Associates Law Offices (BDB Law) (www. bdblaw.com.ph), a member-firm of WTS Global. The article is for general

If you have any comments or questions concerning the article, you may e-mail the author at jomel.manaig@ bdblaw.com.ph or call 8403-2001 local 140.

Dollar’s extended reign delivers stark wake-up call for markets

By Ruth Carson, Naomi Tajitsu, Carter Johnson & Tania Chen

The world’s financial markets are encountering a force they didn’t bet on for 2024: A strong dollar is back and looks set to stay.

Having entered the year predicting the greenback would decline, investors have been forced into a rethink by a red-hot US economy and sticky inflation requiring the Federal Reserve to hold off cutting interest rates.

With the International Monetary Fund predicting output stateside will grow at twice the clip of its Groupof-Seven peers, talk of “US exceptionalism” is rife and supporting stocks and bond yields, adding to the dollar’s appeal. And in a time of mounting geopolitical strife, the currency still stands as the ultimate currency haven.

A Bloomberg dollar index has gained more than 4 percent this year, reflecting advances against all major developed and emergingmarket counterparts. One popular gauge of trader sentiment pointed bearish at the start of the year, but has since flipped to become the most bullish since 2019, according to data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

Among those recalibrating their strategies for the dollar is the world’s second-biggest money manager Vanguard Group Inc., which is now calling for sustained strength. UBS Asset Management says the dollar has probably got further to rise despite being 20 percent more expensive than it’s typically valued. Meantime, Wells Fargo Investment Institute capitulated on forecasts for weakness by year-end and now reckons it will extend its climb through 2025.

“If other countries can’t match the growth and inflation of the US, there’s just no other option than to buy the dollar,” said Ales Koutny, head of international rates at Vanguard. “What was a very tactical trade for us before has become much more of a long-term structural view regarding sustained dollar and US economic strength.”

The greenback’s resurgence has come on the back of a slew of signs that the US economy swerved the slowdown many anticipated. The labor market has stayed tight and manufacturing activity continues to expand. The resulting persistence in inflation has led Fed Chair Jerome Powell and fellow policymakers to wait longer than expected to cut rates.

New York Fed President John Williams has even suggested the possibility of resuming rate hikes if warranted.

“At the beginning of the year I was more of a dollar bear, but that’s no longer the case,” said Rajeev De Mello, global macro portfolio manager at Gama Asset Management SA. “Powell’s comments definitely changed things.”

Of course, the surge in the world’s reserve currency inflicts a price on its counterparts and their economies, which traders are also scrambling to address. India and Nigeria are among the countries seeing their exchange rates plumb record lows, while threats of intervention are being heard from Japan to Poland.

Central banks in developed markets such as Australia, the euroarea and UK may find their room for lowering rates limited if weaker exchange rates fan domestic inflation. Those countries burdened by foreign debt, including the Maldives and Bolivia, as well as those heavily reliant on American imports, may be among the most hurt.

In a sign of growing anxiety caused by the greenback’s rapid ascent, the Group of Seven nations earlier this month reaffirmed their common stance over the potential damage of disorderly currency moves. It came after US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen acknowledged the concerns of Japan and South Korea over sharp declines in their

currencies, which may offer Tokyo and Seoul more scope to defend the yen and won.

High yields

AS markets scale back bets on Fed easing, Treasury yields have soared again in recent weeks, sending benchmark yields to near 5 percent.

The surge has been a major driver of the dollar’s appeal, which has also benefited from ceaseless inflows into US stocks amid the frenzy for artificial intelligence.

“What’s unique now is that the dollar is such a high yielder,” said Peter Vassallo, portfolio manager at BNP Paribas Asset Management.

“If you’re a global allocator and running your portfolio, what a slam dunk to improve your risk-adjusted returns: buy shorter-term US debt, unhedged.”

In contrast to reduced expectations for Fed easing, European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde has indicated policymakers may be in a position to lower rates in June. Meantime, Japan is so far behind the US in growth that even a historic decision to end the world’s last negative rates failed to prevent the yen from hitting a 34-year low.

“The interest environment in the US is just so much more attractive,” said Ed Al-Hussainy, global rates strategist at Columbia Threadneedle Investments. “The US dollar offers a very high rate of return.”

Haven demand

A NOTHER tailwind for the dollar is its role as an unrivaled sanctuary for investors seeking refuge at times of political or financial turmoil. The currency’s haven status was on full display Friday, surging after Israel launched a retaliatory strike on Iran less than a week after Tehran’s rocket and drone barrage. Helping to explain the dollar’s haven status is the widely-followed ‘dollar smile’ theory coined by Stephen Jen, chief executive of Eurizon SLJ Capital Ltd. Jen’s thesis is that the dollar rises when the US economy is either booming or in a deep slump, with weakness during periods of

moderate growth.

Heightened geopolitical risks are working together with a booming economy to create “a curlier smile, with steeper tails,” creating more of a U-shape, Jen said in an interview. “For every level of US outperformance, the dollar should be stronger, because of that safe haven premium coming from geopolitical risk.”

US growth hasn’t decelerated so the dollar will stay on the “right side” of the smile for longer, he said.

“The underlying strength of the greenback will linger as long as US exceptionalism and stubborn inflation persists,” said Bloomberg strategist Mary Nicola.

“So long as the US economy is stronger than its G7 brethren, the dollar will be strong relative to other G7 currencies,” said University of California at Berkeley economist Barry Eichengreen. “ Not everyone may be happy with this, but there is little that can be done about it.”

The author of “Exorbitant Privilege: The Rise and Fall of the Dollar” doesn’t expect strength in the US currency to lead to confrontations, but does see growing debt servicing difficulties for developing countries with dollar-denominated debts.

But to some observers, including Clocktower Group’s Marko Papic, US currency strength may offer a “silver lining” for Europe, China and Japan.

“It would help engender a global recovery given that most of the rest of the world is export oriented,” said the alternative asset manager’s chief strategist.

While the escalating tensions in the Middle East offer a fresh boost to the dollar, its strength will likely last well beyond the conflict.

“I still expect the dollar will prove the ultimate winner as the knee-jerk reactions fade,” said Carol Kong, a strategist at Commonwealth Bank of Australia, referring to the latest developments in the Middle East.

“US energy independence and high yields are likely to keep the dollar’s appeal to investors.” With assistance from Daisuke Sakai /Bloomberg

PEZA OKS P29.9-B INVESTMENTS IN JAN-APRIL; DOWN FROM P33.1B

HE Philippine Economic Zone Authority (Peza) said it approved P29.955 billion worth of investments between January and April 2024, a 9.49-percent decline from the P33.094-billion investments it approved in the same period last year.

I n a statement on Monday, Peza said the investments approved in the four-month period comprise 73 projects.

T he investment promotion agency said these projects are expected to generate $1.09 billion in exports and create 14,812 direct employment for the Filipino workforce.

I n April 2024 alone, Peza noted there are P15.003 billion worth of investments coming from 23 Board-approved new and expansion projects.

A ccording to Peza, these 23 projects are anticipated to generate $69.778 million worth of exports and provide 3,254 jobs.

T he industries covered by these 23 projects are: export manufacturing, eight projects; IT and Business Process Management (IT-BPM), six; facilities, two;  logistics, one; and ecozone development, six.

Peza said the approved new and expansion projects are located mostly in the National Capital Region, followed by Calabarzon and Central Luzon, while others are located in Bicol, Central Visayas, and Davao regions, respectively.

M eanwhile, the investments approved as of April 2024, Peza said, are in export manufacturing, IT-BPM, facilities, logistics, domestic market, and ecozone development, and are mostly located in Luzon- Calabarzon, Metro Manila, Bicol and Central Luzon; while some are in the Visayas and Mindanao islands—Cebu, Davao, and Cagayan de Oro.

TBy Cai U. Ordinario @caiordinario

HE country’s debt service payments more than doubled in January 2024, according to the latest data released by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

D ata showed total debt service payments reached $1.729 billion in January 2024, a 110.09-percent growth from the $823 million posted in the same period last year.

B SP said the bulk of the amount, $1.052 billion, was allocated for principal amount payments while the remaining $676 million was allocated for interest payments. T he data showed the country’s principal loan payments more than quadrupled or posted a growth of 306.18 percent from the $259 billion paid in January 2023.

I nterest payments, meanwhile, posted a double-digit growth of T

DENR: Everyone must help protect planet from plastic pollutants

By Roderick L. Abad @rodrik_28

DEPARTMENT of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Secretary Maria Antonia Yulo-Loyzaga on Monday appealed to everyone to do their share in helping address the perennial problem on plastics, as this that continuously causes harm to people and the environment while hampering the fight against global warming.

“ This year’s Earth Day is an urgent call to face a deadly challenge. The theme Planet vs. Plastics aims to spread awareness of the indestructibility of plastics and the hazards they pose to our health, the lives of our ecosystems, and our ability to take effective climate action,” she said in her message sent to the media for the Earth Day 2024 celebration on April 22.

C iting the World Bank’s Market Study for the Philippines: Plastics Circularity Opportunities and Barriers in 2021, she said the Philippines annually generates a staggering 2.7 million tons of plastic waste. While most of it ends up in landfills, dumpsites, rivers and water supply systems, about 20 percent go to oceans.

T he report also revealed that plastic for market needs, food wrapping, and packaging for consumers account for 61,000 metric tons of solid waste that are produced daily. Consumers ingest plastics everyday from the fish caught in the seas, the use of substandard water bottles and the very air they breathe. Microplastics have been found in raindrops and are being studied for their effect on clouds and climate change.

Many are unaware that plastics have traditionally been made from oil, natural gas, or coal, the very fossil fuel sources that have driven climate change. They are also unaware that studies have shown the Philippines loses around $890 million every year because we throw away recyclable plastic instead of repurposing it,” Loyzaga noted.

T he government passed the Extended Producer Responsibility Act of 2022 or the EPR Law which, according to her, shifted the burden of collecting used

plastic from the local government to the producers and manufacturers themselves.

M ore than 800 large-scale companies have registered and committed to mitigate their use of plastic by substituting and developing sustainable packaging solutions, as well as implementing collection, treatment and recycling programs. Also, they have committed themselves to education and raising awareness on the environmental impact of plastic pollution.

W hile this and other initiatives are in place, the DENR chief pointed out that the battle against plastic pollutants can’t be done only by the government and the corporations.

S he underscored that “transformation towards a plastics-free world begins at home,” as experts and academic institutions ought to “also do their share.”

For her, “sustainable and affordable alternatives” need to be developed together “with changes in production and consumption.”

T he solid waste management may be considered an informal industry in developing countries like the Philippines, but the environment secretary pointed out that the welfare of waste workers should be included in a “just transition that leaves no one behind.”

“ Together, we can win this battle of planet vs. plastics. Every step we take counts, and we will need to work as one. It is our choice to act today or let our plastic waste determine our tomorrow,” she said. “Earth Day must be every day.

19.86 percent from the $564 million posted in January last year.

T he BSP said based on preliminary data, the country’s total debt service burden amounted to $14.752 billion in 2023.

T his was a 73.9-percent growth from the $8.483 billion posted in 2022. This was a rebound from the 6.95-percent contraction posted in 2022.

D ebt service payments in 2023 are broken down into: principal loan payments of $7.713 billion and interest payments worth $7.039 billion.

I n 2021, debt service payments increased 20.1 percent to $9.117

AO 20 could favor undervalued, misdeclared agri goods–Sinag

LOCAL producers are concerned by the recent enforcement of Administrative Order 20 (AO 20), apprehensive that the new regulations might pave the way for an influx of undervalued or misdeclared agricultural imports.

Jayson H. Cainglet, the executive director of Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura (Sinag), said the problem facing the industry lies not with legitimate imports and accredited importers paying the correct tariffs, but with outright smuggled agricultural goods and those that are misdeclared and undervalued.

“ The problem of the industry lies in the outright smuggling of agricultural goods and those that

are misdeclared and undervalued,” he said.

C ainglet also highlighted the longstanding issue of inadequate border inspection, citing the absence of a 100-percent inspection of all agricultural products as mandated by the Food Safety Act of 2013 (RA 10611) and the AntiAgri Smuggling Law (RA 10845). Sinag’s primary concern is that AO 20 may worsen the problem by potentially opening the floodgates for more undervalued or misdeclared agricultural imports.  “ This is happening because we don’t have 100-percent border inspection of all agri products as provided by the Food Safety Act of 2013 [RA 10611] and the Anti-

Agri Smuggling Law [RA 10845]. We just hope that the new AO 20 will not open the floodgates for more undervalued or mis-declared agri imports,” he said.

T he Sinag official also expressed frustration over the unequal treatment between importers and local producers.

W hile importers benefit from streamlined processes and favorable policies, local producers continue to face stringent requirements in securing business permits, arbitrary closures of farms, and inconsistent regulations across different jurisdictions, Cainglet said.

He emphasized the urgent need for policymakers to prioritize the

interests of local producers and ensure that AO 20 does not exacerbate the challenges faced by the domestic agriculture sector.

A four-page Administrative Order No. 20, signed by Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin on April 18, emphasized that administrative constraints and non-tariff barriers continue to persist, which have caused a continued increase in the domestic prices of agricultural commodities despite existing measures.   Non-tariff barriers are policy measures, other than customs tariffs, that restrict trade, including but not limited to quotas, import licensing systems, regulations, and red tape. Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz

PAL will reopen Clark-Basco route

oBy Andrea E. San Juan @andreasanjuan

veRall supply improvement and sustained demand for cars propelled vehicle sales in the first quarter, according to the Chamber of automotive Manufacturers of the philippines Inc. (Campi).

Our first quarter performance keeps us on track to achieve our 2024 target,” Campi President Rommel Gutierrez said in a statement on Monday. The auto sales sold in the first quarter represents 23 percent of Campi’s “conservative” forecast of 468,300 units in 2024.

by overall supply improvement.

FBy VG Cabuag @villygc

ILINVEsT Land Inc. (FLI), the property development arm of the Gotianun Group, has declared a cash dividend of P0.05 per share on its common shares, which represents a 32-percent dividend payout ratio, the highest since 2014.

“This underscores our commitment to create value and generate sustainable returns for our shareholders as we drive growth and progress in the real estate sector,”

FLI President and CEO Tristan Las Marias said.

FLI said it will launch residential projects worth P25 billion this year. The projects are mostly mid-rise residential buildings and horizontal housing.

While the auto industry closed the first quarter with a “strong perfor-

mance,” Campi noted that car sales declined on a month-on-month basis in March when the industry sold 37,474 units or,1.6 percent lower than the 38,072 sold in February.

Across vehicle segments, Campi noted that commercial vehicles continued to drive industry performance, reaching 81,935 units in the three-month period or 74.26 percent of the vehicle sales pie in the January to March 2024 period.

Under this category, light commercial vehicles drove sales with 60,302 units or 74 percent share of the commercial vehicle sales, but the multipurpose vehicle (MPV)/ Asian utility vehicle (AUV) subsegment posted the highest increase at 27 percent.

Passenger car sales, meanwhile, reached 28,211 units or 25.74 percent of the total vehicle units sold in the first three months of the year.

Among car brands, Toyota Mo-

tor Philippines Corp. continued to lead automotive sales with a 45.31 percent share (49,667 units) in the three-month period, followed by Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corp. with a 19.04-percent share (20,867 units) and Nissan Philippines Inc. with 7.22 percent (7,909 units).

Gutierrez had said that the auto industry group expects new model introductions and the expansion of the electrified vehicle line-up especially in the hybrid electric vehicle segment and more brands coming into the market this year.

The local automotive industry is targeting to increase auto sales by 9 percent this year to attain its “conservative” forecast of 468,300 vehicle units.

In 2023, Campi reported that auto sales reached 429,807 units, up 21.9 percent from the 352,596 units sold in 2022.

“We will continue to offer value-for-money residential developments anchored on well-planned townships as we fulfill our core purpose of building the Filipino dream,” he said.

FLI said it plans to continue developing mid-rise buildings, catering to the increasing demand for modern living spaces. The company launched 11 new projects in 2023 valued at P8.7 billion in key areas nationwide.

“We sustained our growth trajectory fueled by a 13 percent growth in residential revenues of P14.49 billion, with solid sales results generated by our projects in Laguna, Davao, Pangasinan, Rizal, Zamboanga and Cebu,” Las Marias said during last week’s stockholders’ meeting.

“In Cavite, we will launch our first

mid-rise condo community project in Bacoor and upgrade our Wood Estate residential township in Trece Martires with commercial shops, transport terminals and affordable low rise condo developments.”

He said the company will also unveil its new residential township in Leganes, Iloilo dubbed Iloilo Central, which will also have supermarkets, daycare centers, public transport terminals. In recognition of Iloilo as the football capital of the Philippines, it will also have a huge park and football field that will be open to the public.

Las Marias said Iloilo Central will offer Filinvest’s first walkup project, which will provide affordable condo units located in a complete residential setting that provides social spaces, outdoor sports and activity

event areas, modern amenities at very affordable prices.

“Our launch plan for 2024 will clearly support this strategy. we will open several mid-rise condo buildings in Dumaguete City, Zamboanga City and General santos City to sustain our strong market performance.

We will also open taller condo buildings in Cebu City and Davao City to match the growing market potentials in these highly urbanized cities and optimize our land bank values.”

Last February, FLI introduced Iloilo Centrale, an 11.4-hectare mixed-use development combining urban living with the region’s timeless heritage. Building such communities, which resonate with the evolving needs of Filipino families for quality and affordability, remain FLI’s focus.

PSE may seal PDS deal by yearend—Monzon

THE Philippine s t ock Exchange Inc. (P s E ), the operator of the equities trading market, expects its deal with the Philippine Dealing s y stem Holdings Corp. (PD s ) to conclude before the end of 2024.

P s E President and CEO Ramon s Monzon said they have not restarted the negotiations with the minority shareholders, mainly composed of local banks, as their power of attorney with the Bankers Association of the Philippines had expired.

“ s o the BAP now is renewing that (power of attorney) with the banks. Until that happens, I don’t want to talk to 24 different sectors. We’re waiting for that,” Monzon told reporters in an interview.

Monzon said PD s has many shareholders, but most of them are banks.

“I am not talking to all 25 (banks) because they have assigned a power of attorney to BAP. I am only talking to BAP for all the banks,” Monzon said.

“And of course, everybody’s doing their due diligence work now. We have some funds for that. I think we’ll have to probably take out a loan, depending on what the final price is.”

Monzon said the P s E had already struck a deal with the minority shareholders, but its nego-

tiations hit a snag after it failed to secure regulatory approval in time.

This time, Monzon “reversed” the process and secured regulatory approval first before negotiating with the minority holders.

“I don’t want to waste their time again, or our time, and we won’t get the regulatory approval. But this time, we got the regulatory approval,” he said.

The s e curities and Exchange Commission in December had approved the application of the P s E for an exemptive relief in its acquisition of additional shares in the PD s I n its en banc meeting, the s E C allowed the P s E to exceed the mandatory limit of 20 percent on ownership and voting rights in an exchange by an individual or an industry, granting it leeway to own up to 100 percent of the PD s group, the operator of the country’s bond exchange platform.

The sEC also approved the transfer of the shares of stock of an exchange controller, to allow the P sE t o acquire PD s shares currently held by other PD s shareholders. Currently, P s E owns 20.98 percent of the issued and outstanding capital stock of the PD s The stock exchange intends to acquire up to 100 percent of the operator of the country’s sole fixed-income

exchange, and eventually merge the two platforms—the equities and the fixed-income exchanges. The s e curities Regulation Code indicated that no person may beneficially own or control, directly or indirectly, more than five percent 5 percent of the voting rights of the exchange and no industry or business group may beneficially own or control, directly or indirectly, more than 20 percent of the voting rights of the exchange. The PD s Group includes the Philippine Dealing and Exchange Corp. (PDEx), which was incorporated in 2003. PDEx operates the organized secondary market for the trading of fixed-income securities issued by corporations, as well as the government. PDEX also calculates the Philippine Dealing sy stem Treasury Reference Rates, which form the basis for valuing and marking-to-market interest rate-sensitive instruments.

In its initial submissions to the s E C, the P s E committed to ensure that the acquisition will operate in the public interest, as the resulting integration of the country’s equity and fixed-income exchanges would allow for the delivery of more efficient and more types of products, services and better risk management systems for financial services.

VG Cabuag

By Lorenz S. Marasigan @lorenzmarasigan

lEGACY carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) said on Monday it will reintroduce flights between Clark and Basco, Batanes starting July 2. PAL President and COO stanley K. Ng said the route will operate four times per week and it is seen to “complement” the carrier’s ManilaBasco service.

“We are delighted to revive our Clark-Basco service commencing on the third quarter of 2024. Convenient connectivity is essential for travelers who wish to experience our island-destinations. We will endeavor to reopen more routes out of Clark as we continue to grow our network from Central Luzon,” he said. Lipad Corp., the operator of Clark International Airport, welcomed the expansion of PAL’s operations in Clark.

“This renewed connection not only signifies the strengthening of ties between two vibrant destinations but also underscores the importance of Basco in the growth of Clark International Airport (CRK). With this renewed route, Philippine Airlines, thru CRK, continues to play a pivotal role in promoting tourism

FEDERAL Land Inc. on Monday said it will launch next month its 48-hectare multi-use, masterplanned neighborhood township in Biñan in Laguna.

Dubbed Meadowcrest, it is the company’s initial foray into horizontal development, as most of its townships have high-rise buildings.

The Meadowcrest footprint allows the development to utilize the 15-minute urban planning concept through its walkable, human-scale design with integrated pedestrian and dedicated bike lanes among lush tree canopies, scenic landscaping and dedicated parklets, according to stephen John s Comia, the company’s head of project development group.

For its first residential project, the company said it will launch the first phase of Hartwood Village.

The village is an 11.3-hectare horizontal development that will have a total of 186 lots, the first phase of which will have 110 lots, with an average size of 343 square meters. There will only be 16 lots per hectare.

The company said the price of each unit will range from P15 million to P25 million.

It also said it will dedicate some 44 percent of the area to open spaces.

and fostering connections across our country,” Lipad President Noel Manankil said.

Currently, PAL flies out of Clark with daily flights to Cebu, thrice weekly to Caticlan (Boracay), and four times weekly to Busuanga (Coron).

The airline had announced that it has allotted $450 million for capital expenditures this year with a significant portion earmarked for aircraft investments.

During the press launch of its Manila-seattle route, PAL CFO Anna Bengzon outlined the airline’s strategic financial approach, noting the airline’s commitment to enhancing its fleet and passenger experience.

“Our capex for 2024 is approximately $450 million and about 80 percent of that is going to aircraft, which includes refurbishment, maintenance upgrade, and delivery payments,” she said.

Another portion of the capital outlays will be used for the “digitalization” efforts of the airline, Bengzon added.

To fund the allotted capex, she said the company is now in talks with local and foreign financial institutions as well as aircraft leasing companies. Bulk or between “generally 60 percent…(to)…70 percent” of the capex will be funded by debt.

“It will be a lot cheaper compared with those already launched in the area,” Comia said.

Arthur V. Ty, the company’s chairman said, Federal land is going into horizontal development since its land bank allows the company to undertake such projects.

“We continue to look for opportunities. We have already a footprint in Cebu, we’re hoping to do more in that part.”

Laguna is one of the fastestgrowing provinces in Luzon, rapidly gaining traction as a premier growth center, given its status as the largest contributor to the gross domestic product in 2022 among the 82 provinces. Part and parcel of that growth is Biñan.

Biñan flourishes with dynamic energy and boundless potential. Federal Land’s expansion into the city is “a strategic choice” grounded in the city’s growth trajectory, the company said.

“The newly opened Cavite-Laguna Expressway seamlessly links the vibrant community we envision at Meadowcrest to the bustling economic activity in Metro Manila and weekend destinations like Tagaytay.” VG Cabuag

BusinessMirror file photo

Britain’s Prince Harry formally confirms he is now a US resident

LONDON—Prince Harry, the son of King Charles III and fifth in line to the British throne, has formally confirmed he is now a US resident.

Four years after Harry and his American wife, Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, decamped to a villa in Southern California, a travel company he controls filed paperwork this week informing British authorities that he has moved and is now “usually resident” in the United States.

The formal acknowledgment underscores the prince’s increasing estrangement from Britain, after he and Meghan walked away from royal duties to pursue lucrative media deals in America. Since then, Harry has repeatedly criticized the royal family, including allegations of unconscious racism that were included in a Netflix series and the prince’s autobiography, Spare.

The paperwork was filed by Travalyst Ltd, a company at least 75 percent owned by Harry and which was founded in 2020 to “to promote global awareness of the importance of sustainable tourism.” The documentation was received Monday by Companies House, the government agency that oversees the incorporation of UK companies.

The filing further separates Harry from his role as one of the king’s counselors of state—members of the royal family who can be deputized to carry out the duties of the monarch if he is unwell or out of the country.

While Harry formally remains a counselor of state, the crown informed Parliament in 2022 that “in practice” only working members of the royal family would be called upon to fill in for the monarch. Although Harry and Meghan, also known as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, have put down roots in the wealthy enclave of Montecito, where they are raising their young son and daughter, Harry is also facing scrutiny about his US residency. AP

CCP...

Continued from B4

Cortezano said. “The experience needs to be curated. The audience experience needs to be clear from the moment they enter to the time they exit the structure.”

Cortezano works with a project team composed of assistant lighting designer Rafa Sumilong, production manager Jericho A. Pagana, assistant production manager Benette Emmanuel Estrada, technical assistants Camille Balistoy and Danilo Villanueva, led by project manager Ricardo Eric Cruz. The Dagitab Digital Earth Day show begins this Thursday, April 25. The opening follows that of the CCP Earth Day art installation, featuring visual artist Leeroy New’s Mebuyan Colony at the CCP Front Lawn. The fifth in the Mebuyan series, the immersive outdoor installation fuses the artist’s fascination with science fiction and Philippine mythology, referencing Mebuyan, a goddess residing in the underworld in Bagobo mythology.

Mebuyan’s Colony follows the theme “Planet vs. Plastics,” with the artist mixing organic and recycled materials to create the multi-sensory installation. A variety of foliage encompasses the work, made possible with the support of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. The installation will be on view until May 25 at the CCP Front Lawn.

“The concept of world-building became an important principle and determining idea in how I implemented my art practice,” New said. “I had dreams of participating in building worlds physically and, in a practical way, through architecture. Also, building worlds, imagined or representational, through film.”

Complementing the Dagitab Digital show and Mebuyan’s Colony installation is the façade lighting of the CCP Main Building. The presentation, titled Ebb and Flow, is inspired by the ocean and promotes tranquility. Sea wave patterns appear on the building fascia, enveloping the area with a serene atmosphere amid the chaos of Roxas Boulevard.

Conceptualized and designed by Pagana, with Gobo makers Camille Balistoy and Shantie de Roca, the facade lighting aims to remind and educate the public about environmental challenges, particularly water pollution. It shows CCP’s commitment to its advocacy for sustainable water resource management, and environmental protection and conservation.

The CCP façade light show runs until April 30, with shows from 6:30 to 10 pm daily, except Monday and during inclement weather.

Earth Day is celebrated annually on April 22. According to www.earthday.org, the event that began in 1970 serves as a “reminder of the importance of environmental conservation and sustainability, encouraging us to come together and take action for a healthier planet and brighter future.”

Show

‘Civil War’ continues boxoffice campaign at No. 1

By Jake Coyle The Associated Press

NEW YORK—Civil War, Alex Garland’s ominous American dystopia, remained the top film in theaters in its second week of release, according to studio estimates on Sunday. The A24 election-year gamble, the indie studio’s biggest budgeted film yet, took in $11.1 million in ticket sales at 3,929 theaters over the weekend. The $50 million film, set in a near-future US in which Texas and California have joined in rebellion against a fascist president, has grossed $44.9 million in two weeks.

Its provocative premise—and A24’s marketing, which included images of US cities ravaged by war— helped keep Civil War top of mind for moviegoers.

But it was a painfully slow weekend in theaters— the kind sure to add to concern over what’s thus far been a down year for Hollywood at the box office. Year-to-date ticket sales are down almost 20 percent compared to last year, according to comScore.

Going into the weekend, Universal Pictures’ Abigail a critically acclaimed R-rated horror film about the daughter of Dracula, had been expected to lead ticket sales. It came in second with $10.2 million in 3,384 theaters. That was still a fair result for a film that cost a modest $28 million to make. Abigail, which remakes the 1936 monster film Dracula’s Daughter, is about a 12-year-old girl taken by kidnappers who soon realize they’ve made a poor choice of hostage. It’s directed by the duo Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett whose production company goes by the name Radio Silence. More concerning was the overall tepid response for a handful of new wide releases—and the

likelihood that there will be more similar weekends throughout 2024. Last year’s actors and writers’ strikes, which had a prolonged effect on the movie pipeline, exacerbated holes in Hollywood’s release schedule.

Horror films, in recent years among the most reliable cash cows in theaters, also haven’t thus far been doing the automatic business they previous did. According to David A. Gross, who runs the consulting firm Franchise Entertainment Research, horror releases accounted for $2 billion in worldwide sales in 2023.

Guy Ritchie’s The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare debuted with $9 million in 2,845 theaters. In the based-on-a-true-story Lionsgate release, which reportedly cost $60 million to produce, Henry Cavill leads a World War II mission off the coast of West

‘Black Rider’ shifts into the fast lane

GMA’s top-rating primetime action-drama series Black Rider has just been accorded its first-ever international award, winning a Bronze Medal at the 2024 New York Festivals TV & Film Awards under the Entertainment Program: Drama Category.

The timing of this precious recognition is perfect as the series goes into a new season with a more intense narrative of the lives of its main characters and the introduction of new actors who will give intensity to the new roles created by the amazing team of writers and creative think-tanks of the network’s Public Affairs group.

Television audiences will surely continue cheering for lead actor Ruru Madrid who has truly transitioned into being a wonderful and compelling actor.

“I am just happy that the show has been warmly embraced by the TV audience since we first aired last year. It also feels good that we continue to be a solid team—the production, the creatives, the actors. We try to always give our best and contribute to make our show better and more exciting as the stories of the characters unfold. This win in New York is a big inspiration for us to continue to do better,” shared Madrid.

Another very happy main cast member is veteran actress Rio Locsin, who told us that she is very impressed with Madrid’s dedication and discipline. “He continues to grow as an actor and I am proud to say that he is a very generous and kind-hearted young man, too! I only have daughters so I got drawn to Ruru as weeks go by, since I play his mom in the series. I am very grateful that he also looks up to me like a real mom since we share a lot of scenes together.”

Everyone in the Black Rider team is excited with the new batch of actors who will join the series. There is Vivamax siren Angeli Khang who is making a debut

struggled to find big audiences. The Lionsgate spy comedy Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre grossed $48 million against a $50 million budget, while MGM’s The Covenant, also released last year, made $21 million while costing $55 million to make.

A bright sign for The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare: audiences liked it. The film earned an “A-” CinemaScore. The anime Spy x Family Code: White, from Sony’s Crunchyroll, also struggled to stand out with audiences. Though the adaptation of the Tatsuya Endo manga TV series Spy x Family has already been a hit with international moviegoers, it debuted below expectations with $4.9 million in 2,009 US theaters.

The mightiest film globally, though, continues to be Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire. The Warner Bros. monster movie has for the past month led worldwide ticket sales. It added another $9.5 million domestically

right marks, and to make certain that the viewers stay

ALEX PETTYFER (from left), Alan Ritchson, Henry Cavill, Hero Fiennes Tiffin, and Henry Golding in a scene from the film

HOTEL101-NISEKO TO BE THE FIRST CASBEE-RATED SUSTAINABLE HOTEL IN NISEKO, HOKKAIDO, JAPAN

ON April 19, 2024, Hotel101 Global Pte. Ltd, (“Hotel101 Global”) in partnership with esteemed engineering firms Kamita Sekkei and Technocrew, alongside the contractor of Hotel101-Niseko project - Iwata Chizaki Inc., signed its commitment to the creation of the environmentally forward Hotel101-Niseko. This endeavor cements the partners’ joint vision for a property that not only meets eco-efficient operational standards but also sets a benchmark for sustainability in the region.

Hotel101-Niseko is set to become the first hotel in the whole of Niseko, Hokkaido Japan to secure CASBEE rating. CASBEE, which stands for the Comprehensive Assessment System for Built Environment Efficiency, is Japan’s authoritative framework for evaluating the environmental performance of buildings.

Kamita Sekkei and Technocrew bring expertise with strong portfolios that include work for Hokkaido University, the City of Sapporo and the City of Obihiro, among others. Under the skilled construction of Iwata Chizaki Inc., known for the iconic Chitose International Airport,

ECPay exec leads 50th Philippine Business Conference & Expo

LECTRONIC Commerce Payment Inc. (ECPay)

Eexecutive Raymund Jude Aguilar is leading the Philippines’ biggest business conference happening on October 22 to 23 at the Marriott Grand Ballroom, Pasay City.

Consul Enunina V. Mangio, the President of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), announced the appointment of Aguilar as Chairman of the 50th Philippine Business Conference & Expo following an executive session that unanimously voted him for the position. Aguilar is also the Vice President of the PCCI and Director for International Affairs.

“We are glad that Jude accepted the challenge of leading this year’s conference. We know the task ahead is daunting but we trust in his expertise, competence, and commitment to lead and deliver, especially now that we are celebrating the golden year of PBC&E,” Mangio said.

organized by the PCCI that serves as a venue for policymakers, business leaders, international partners, academe, and MSMEs to meet, discuss issues and come up with policy recommendations to help create a business environment that is sustainable and resilient.

It traditionally opens with the Vice President of the Philippines delivering a keynote address and concludes with the President of the Philippines receiving a set of policy recommendations that emanate from PCCI members, local chambers, and industry partners.

systems to enhance efficiency. The structure of Hotel101-Niseko is designed to promote sustainability through green-inspired architecture and the use of technology that supports efficient and eco-friendly operations.

“We believe that sustainability is a core aspect of the Hotel101 brand which will enable it to thrive in a rapidly changing world. By integrating a sustainable mindset in the way that we build our hotels as well as sustainable practices in our day-to-day hotel operations, we protect the environment, appeal to the new generation of eco-conscious guests, and reduce operational costs which helps ensure the long-term viability of Hotel101,” said Hotel101 Global CEO Hannah Yulo-Luccini.

“In extraordinary environments such as the height of winter in Hokkaido, it is not an easy endeavor to achieve a green rating and we are proud to announce that Hotel101-Niseko is set to be the first CASBEE-rated hotel in Niseko,” added Yulo-Luccini.

Achieving a CASBEE rating underlines Hotel101Niseko’s role as a leading example of green

hospitality solutions, showcasing its success in integrating environmental considerations into every facet of its architecture and operations. Located on a 1.17-hectare site in Niseko-Hirafu, Hokkaido Prefecture, Hotel101-Niseko is positioned amid the region’s natural scenery, chosen for its commitment to environmental preservation. Hotel101 Global aims to provide an eco-friendly hospitality experience that aligns with the environmental values of guests and meets the rigorous sustainability standards set by the local community.

“With the upcoming Bullet Train to go straight from Tokyo to Niseko, we see the 482-room Hotel101-Niseko project which is set to be one of the largest hotels in Niseko to soon become the top of mind hotel destination for both the local domestic Japanese and overseas tourists visiting Niseko, Hokkaido Japan.” said DoubleDragon Chairman Edgar Injap Sia II

“We see Hotel101 Global to be known globally as one of the most eco-friendly hotels globally,” added Injap Sia.

“I am honored for the trust and at the same time excited for the job. I will do everything I can with the support of my colleagues and the hardworking secretariat to make this conference bigger, better, and bolder,” Aguilar said, who is currently a director of ECPay Inc., the largest e-payments service provider in the Philippines with over 500,000 touch points and outlets nationwide.

The PBC&E is an annual business event

The 50th PBC&E banners “Embracing Innovation. Empowering Business. Enriching Lives.” It looks back on the role of PBC&E over the years in promoting a transformative agenda for the country and how it has strategically positioned businesses to take advantage of new and emerging opportunities.

Pueblo de Oro unveils new model unit in CDO

PUEBLO de Oro Development Corporation, the residential development arm of the ICCP Group, proudly unveiled its model unit at La Aldea del Rio, the latest addition to the company’s growing portfolio of Pueblo de Oro communities.

La Aldea del Rio embodies the essence of Modern Asian living, offering a harmonious blend of modern design and traditional Asian elements. Located in Lumbia, a progressive barangay in the thriving uptown area of Cagayan de Oro City, La Aldea underscores Pueblo de Oro’s commitment to providing residents with accessible and convenient living spaces that enhance their quality of life.

Aside from ECPay, Aguilar is also a founder and director of several companies including Recycle Plus Inc. (RPI), a waste management and recycling company; GATE Distribution Enterprise, Inc., an accredited major distributor of telco and online gaming products and services in the Philippines; WERRA Logistics Inc., AXIOS Ventures Inc., Genzai Corporation and Pharmaco Inc.

Aguilar finished his Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of the Philippines and took his Masters in Business Administration from the Asian Institute of Management (AIM).

How foodpanda bridges cultures, cravings nationwide this Filipino Food Month

APRIL in the Philippines isn’t just about welcoming the sweltering summer heat, it’s also about celebrating something that’s close to every Filipino’s heart—food! So, it’s no surprise that the Philippines has dedicated April as the “Buwan ng Kalutong Pilipino’’ or Filipino Food Month as a tribute to the rich tapestry of Filipino culinary heritage.

in the world, Gerry’s Grill is their go-to for authentic Filipino dishes, flavorful desserts, and a one-stop shop for everything related to Pinoy food. By being available on foodpanda, we can bring that homey feeling to the doorsteps of our Pinoy customers,” said Gerry’s Grill Segment Marketing Manager, Kenneth John Dela Cruz.

Spread over 4.3 hectares, La Aldea del Rio features 435 two-storey townhouse units with a typical lot area of 44 square meters. The suggested floor plan accommodates a master’s bedroom and second bedroom, and each unit has a provision for a carport. The units have been thoughtfully planned to provide a comfortable and versatile space for diverse lifestyles, whether this be for starting a family, embracing solo living, or making a savvy investment.

LA Aldea del Rio model house

La Aldea del Rio is strategically positioned near essential amenities including the Lumbia Barangay Hall, an elementary school, the newlyopened Cagayan de Oro City Hospital Lumbia, and the upcoming Gaisano Uptown.

SM Hotels and Conventions Corp. Properties Excel at Radisson Hotel Group’s SEAP GM’s Conference

SM Hotels and Conventions Corp. (SMHCC) properties reap multiple awards during the recently concluded 2024 Radisson Hotel Group (RHG) South East Asia Pacific GM’s Conference held at Radisson Blu Hotel Cebu last March 25 to 28, 2024.

Park Inn by Radisson North EDSA was voted 2023 Hotel of the Year beating other properties in the Philippines and Fiji. To be bestowed such an accolade means that the hotel has achieved all its KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) and is a clear testament of the hotel’s steadfast dedication to unaparalleled service excellence, exceptional guest experience, and continuous innovation.

Furthermore, Park Inn by Radisson North EDSA General Manager Ann Olalo was awarded Talent Developer of the Year. This is a category that has just been introduced this year in recognition of General Managers who significantly invest in their

team’s growth. As such, the company takes pride in saying that Olalo is the first recipient of such an award. She was chosen over other nominated GMs in Medan and Batam, Indonesia. The award acknowledges Olalo’s outstanding leadership in determining, cultivating, and empowering talent within the organization.

Inspired by her unwavering commitment to drive the professional growth and development of the hotel’s team members, Park Inn by Radisson North EDSA has established a standard for talent management in the region, showcasing a commitment to the fulfillment of the hotel’s goals and promoting a culture of excellence.

Last but not the least, Radisson Blu Hotel Cebu won the Operational Excellence Award for two years in a row. The award is accorded to the hotel whose exemplary performance across the region exhibits an impressive delivery of all its

La Aldea del Rio is designed to offer a range of amenities within the community tailored for modern living, including a gated entrance and guardhouse, a multi-purpose hall, a basketball court, and a kiddie playground. With its focus on accessibility, convenience, and community living, La Aldea del Rio aims to create a harmonious environment where residents can thrive and build lasting memories.

KPIs (Key Performance Indicators), together with a meticulous assessment of the hotel’s overall portfolio optimisation, brand management, sales and revenue management, conduct of responsible business practices, and the like with an overall compliance to Radisson Hotel Group’s stringent quality standards.

Gracing the occasion are no less than SM Hotels and Conventions Corp. President Elizabeth T. Sy, SM Hotels and Conventions Corp. Executive Vice President Peggy E. Angeles, and Radisson Hotel Group Area Senior Vice President for South East Asia & Pacific Andre de Jong. Not to mention, Radisson Blu Hotel Cebu GM Marko Janssen, who hosted the three-day conference, as well as Park Inn by Radisson GMs of SM Hotel’s other properties, and all other RHG GM’s from the region were also present.

As one of the country’s major hotel developers, SMHCC is poised to embark succeeding years of innovation, expansion, and multiplication of more hotel properties, giving Filipinos and foreigners alike additional quality accommodation options that suit every occasion and celebation.

As the world becomes increasingly interconnected, Filipino cuisine has found its way into the hearts and plates of Filipinos everywhere in the country. Thanks to online food and grocery delivery platforms like foodpanda, the accessibility to Pinoy delicacies has never been easier, bridging the gap between craving and satisfaction for Filipinos and food enthusiasts everywhere.

foodpanda has experienced a significant surge in Filipino food orders, coinciding with an increase in its partner vendors offering Filipino dishes. Currently, nearly 60 percent of its partner vendors include Filipino dishes in their offerings, with nine percent of these restaurants specializing only in Filipino cuisine. The platform reveals fascinating insights into the Filipino palate. Topping the list is the favorite Halo-Halo, a cool treat perfect for the country’s warm weather. Not far behind are Pinoy faves like Pandesal, Puto, Tusok-Tusok, and Turon, all easily ordered with a simple tap.

When it comes to hearty meals, the “Silog” dishes, Sisig and Lechon win big as comfort food. Interestingly, orders for Silog have more than doubled those for Sisig, which proves just how much Pinoys love this combination of garlic rice, fried egg, and meat.

But foodpanda isn’t just about ready-to-eat meals. It’s also great for those who want to cook Filipino dishes at home or grab their go-to local snacks, offering products from well-known brands like Gardenia for bread, San Miguel for beer, Nature’s Spring for water, Rebisco for biscuits, and Universal Robina for a variety of snacks.

Filipino Food Month is a chance to dive into dishes packed with tradition and flavor. In celebration of National Filipino Food Month, let’s spotlight some restaurants that are not just serving meals but are ambassadors of Filipino culture and culinary excellence:

Beginning in Metro Manila, Gerry’s Grill is a Filipino favorite not just because of its iconic dishes like Beef Kare-Kare, Pork Sisig, and Inihaw na Pusit, but also because it evokes the feeling of home with restaurants designed to accommodate families and large groups. “Wherever Filipinos are

In Visayas, Hukad is one of Cebu’s must-visit restaurants for its endless serving of Filipino dishes, from Lechon Cebu to Grilled Pork Belly and special Bantayan Baked Scallops. Their commitment to authentic Filipino cuisine and culture shines through their carefully chosen recipes, ingredients, and cooking methods that are true to the traditional Filipino way of life.

“We work with Filipino chefs and experts to ensure our dishes authentically represent the Philippines’ culinary heritage while educating customers on the cultural significance of our food. With the support of foodpanda, we have significantly enhanced our visibility, helping us share the joy of Filipino cuisine with as many people as possible,” shared Kristine Paula R. Kokseng, General Manager of Hukad.

All the way from Southern Philippines where the Tuna Belt lies, Mindanao-based Tuna Republik is famous for its Sutukil Dish, which is a combination of SUgba (Grilled), TUwa (Stewed), and KILaw (Raw tossed in vinegar). Harnessing the rich abundance of tuna in their region, their dishes not only tantalize the Filipino palate but also offer exceptional value at an affordable price.

Owners of Tuna Republik Jerome and Shiella Aranas revealed, “While our menu incorporates tuna in every dish, we were also able to preserve the authentic Filipino cooking technique because some of our skilled cooks hail from the Indigenous People (IP) sector. foodpanda’s steady and efficient platform has been a great help to us in introducing Tuna Republik to first-time customers and keeping loyal ones.”

“Supporting partner vendors with Filipinocentric menus is close to our hearts. It’s not just about business, it’s about keeping our culture alive through our food. By helping these restaurants, we’re boosting local communities and keeping our traditions strong for the next generations to enjoy and carry on, “ said Louie Lim, foodpanda Philippines Head of Account Management.

National Filipino Food Month is more than just an occasion to indulge in the country’s culinary delights, it’s a reminder of the rich cultural heritage that Filipino cuisine represents. Whether you’re dining in the Philippines or ordering from across the world, the flavors

Hotel101Niseko is poised to become a beacon of sustainable development. This partnership aligns closely with

the values laid out in the recently signed pact, which outlines a commitment to environmentally responsible practices and the integration of smart

IN the photo are, from left, Kamita Sekkei Chief Executive Officer Hirokazu Bando, Technocrew Managing Director Akira Hiraoka, Hotel101 Global Chief Executive Officer Marriana Yulo- Luccini, and Iwata Chizaki Construction General Manager Makoto Miyoshi.

HUKAD

60th Venice Biennale titled ‘Foreigners Everywhere’ platforms LGBTQ+, outsider and Indigenous artists

By Colleen Barry The Associated Press

VENICE, Italy—Outsider, queer and Indigenous artists are getting an overdue platform at the 60th Venice Biennale contemporary art exhibition that opened Saturday, curated for the first time by a Latin American.

curator Adriano Pedrosa’s main show, which accompanies 88 national pavilions for the seven-month run, is strong on figurative painting, with fewer installations than recent editions. A preponderance of artists are from the Global South, long overlooked by the mainstream art world circuits. Many are dead. Frida Kahlo, for example, is making her first appearance at the Venice Biennale. Her 1949 painting “Diego and I” hangs alongside one by her husband and fellow artist, Diego Rivera.

Despite their lower numbers, living artists have “a much stronger physical presence in the exhibition,” Pedrosa said, with each either showing one large-scale work, or a collection of smaller works. The vast majorities are making their Venice Biennale debut.

Visitors to the two main venues, the Giardini and the Arsenale, will be greeted by a neon sign by the conceptual art cooperative Claire Fontaine with the exhibition’s title: “Stranieri Ovunque—Foreigners Everywhere.” A total of 60 in different languages hang throughout the venues.

When taken in the context of global conflicts and hardening borders, the title seems a provocation against intransigent governments—at the very least a prod to consider our shared humanity. Through artists with underrepresented perspectives, the exhibition address themes of migration and the nature of diaspora as well as indigeneity and the role of craft.

“Foreigners everywhere, the expression has many meanings,’’ Pedrosa said. “One could say that wherever you go, wherever you are, you are always surrounded by foreigners.… And then in a more personal, perhaps psychoanalytic subjective dimension, wherever

you go, you are also a foreigner, deep down inside.” “Refugee, the foreigner, the queer, the outsider and the Indigenous, these are the...subjects of interest in the exhibition,’’ he said.

Some highlights from the Venice Biennale, which runs through November 26:

Geopolitics at the Biennale FACING the threat of protests, the Israel Pavilion stayed closed after the artist and curators refused to open until there is a cease-fire in Gaza and the Israeli hostages taken by Hamas-led militants are released.

Ukraine is making its second Biennale art appearance as a country under invasion; soft diplomacy aimed at keeping the world focused on the war. Russia has not appeared at the Biennale since the Ukraine invasion began, but this time its historic 110-yearold building in the Giardini is on loan to Bolivia.

For a short time during this week’s previews, a printed sign hung on the Accademia Bridge labeling Iran a “murderous terrorist regime,” declaring “the Iranian people want freedom & peace.” The venue for the Iranian pavilion was nearby, but there was no sign of activity. The Biennale said it would open Sunday—two days after the departure from Italy of Group of Seven foreign ministers who warned Iran of sanctions for escalating violence against Israel.

Golden Lions

THE Golden Lion for best national pavilion went to Australia for Archie Moore’s installation “kith and kin,” tracing his own Aboriginal relations over 65,000 years. It’s written in chalk on the pavilion’s dark walls and ceiling and took months to complete.

The Mataaho Collective from New Zealand won the Golden Lion for the best participant in Pedrosa’s main show, for their installation inspired by Maori weaving that crisscrosses the gallery space, casting a pattern of shadows and interrogating interconnectedness.

LGBTQ+ artists AS a queer artist born in South Korea and working in Los Angeles, Kang Seung Lee said he identified with Pedrosa’s “invitation to look at our lives as foreigners, but also visitors to this world.”

His installation, “Untitled (Constellations),” which considers the artists who died in the AIDS epidemic through a collection of objects, is in dialogue with spare paper-on-canvas works by British artist Romany Eveleigh, who died in 2020. “The works speak to each other, an intergenerational conversation, of course,’’ said Lee, 45, whose works have been shown in international exhibitions, including Documenta 15. This is his first Venice Biennale.

Nearby, transsexual Brazilian artist Manauara Clandestina presented her video “Migranta,” which speaks about her family’s story of migration. “It’s so strong, because I can hear my daddy’s voice,’’ she said. Clandestina, who hails from the Amazon city of Manaus, embraced Pedrosa during a press preview marking her Venice debut. She said she continues to work in Brazil despite discrimination and violence against transgender people.

Newer national participants

THE Giardini hosts 29 national pavilions representing some of the oldest participating nations, like the United States, Germany, France and Britain. More recent additions show either in the nearby Arsenale, or choose a venue farther afield, like Nigeria did this year in Venice’s Dorsoduro district.

The Nigerian Pavilion, in a long-disused building with raw brick walls that exude potential, houses an exhibition that spans mediums—including figurative art, installation, sculpture, sound art, film art and augmented reality—by artists living in the diaspora and in their homeland.

“These different relationships to the country allow for a very unique and different perspectives of Nigeria,’’ said curator Aindrea Emelife. “I think that it’s quite interesting to consider how leaving a space creates a nostalgia for what hasn’t been and allows an artist to imagine an alternative continuation to that. The exhibition is about nostalgia, but it’s also about criticality.”

The eight-artist Biennale exhibition “Nigeria Imaginary” will travel to the Museum of West African Art in Benin City, Nigeria, where Emelife is curator, which will give it “a new context and a new sense of relevancy,’’ she said.

Breakthroughs

GHANA-BORN British artist John Akomfrah created eight multimedia film- and sound-based works for the British Pavilion that looks at what it is to be “living as a figure

of difference” in the U.K. Images of water are a connecting device, representing memory.

“In the main, I’m trying to tease out something about collective memory, the things that have informed a culture, British culture let’s say, over the last 50 years,’’ Akomfrah told The Associated Press. “As you go further in, you realize we’re going further back. We end up going to the 16th century. So it’s an interrogation of 500 years of British life.”

Considering the question of equity in the art world, Akomfrah indicated the adjacent French Pavilion—where French-Caribbean artist Julien Creuzet created an immersive exhibition—and the Canadian Pavilion on the other side, featuring an exhibition examining the historic importance of seed beads by Kapwani Kiwanga, who is in Paris.

“I mean, this feels like a very significant moment for artists of color,’’ said Akomfrah, who participated in the Ghana Pavilion in 2019. “Because I’m in the British Pavilion. Next to me is the French one, with an artist, Julien, who I love a lot, of African origin. And then next to me is a Canadian pavilion that has a biracial artist, again, with African heritage.

“So that’s certainly not happened before, that three major pavilions have artists of color inhabiting, occupied, making work in them. And that feels like a breakthrough,’’ he said.

Ukraine

THE Ukrainian Pavilion engaged ordinary Ukrainians to collaborate with artists on work that documents how they are experiencing, and in some ways adapting to the Russian invasion.

The artistic projects include silent video portraits of European actors styled by Ukrainians displaced by the war to represent an “ideal” refugee. In another, neurodiverse young adults show their linguistic flexibility in incorporating a new reality where niceties like “quiet night” have a whole new meaning. And a film installation has become a sort of archive, taken from social media channels that once chronicled pre-invasion pastimes but that turned their attention to documenting the war.

Co-curator Max Gorbatskyi said it was important for Ukraine to be present at the Biennale to assert its

distinctiveness from Russian culture, but also to use the venue to keep the wider world’s attention.

“We wanted to look at stories of real people,’’ he said. “There was no way we were going to show some abstract paintings, maybe beautiful and interesting, but which only pose questions in the art discourse.

Instead, we wanted to bring real people together with artists in a non-hierarchical way to tell their stories.”

Collateral events

GREEK American George Petrides’ installation “Hellenic Heads” outside of Venice’s Church of Saint George of the Greeks and the Museum of Icons is among the many collateral events that spill over into the city.

Petrides’ created six oversized busts, each inspired by a significant period of Greek history, using family members as models. His mother, in turquoise blue, is in the classical style and his daughter represents the future in a golden hue. To withstand the weather, Petrides recreated an earlier series but this time from recycled plastic, using a digital sculpting software and a 3D printer, reworking details from hand.

“This space is unique. We have the Museum of Icons here, which is one of the most spectacular collections of icons in the world. We have a church started while Michelangelo was still alive, which any sculptor finds interesting. But further, this particular quarter is the Greek quarter,’’ he said, noting an influx after Constantinople fell to the Ottomans in 1453.

Across the city, at the base of the Accademia Bridge, the Qatar Museum’s installation “Your Ghosts Are Mine” presents clips of feature films and video art from the Middle East, Africa and Southeast Asia organized thematically and exploring issues such as migration, conflict and exile. Films will be screened in their entirety four days a week.

“These different thematics tell a story about all the congruences and the parallels that exist among filmmakers that may have never met or are from different parts of the global south,’’ said assistant curator and filmmaker Majid AlRemaihi. “Some films were the first from their countries to prem iere in Cannes or make it to the Oscars, so these are milestones and also part of our journey.”

US House votes to force TikTok’s parent company to divest ownership, paving way for potential ban

without TikTok.

ABy Alex Barinka

FTER YEARS OF WORKING TO ASSURE

THE US government that its popular social media app isn’t a threat to national security, TikTok’s loss in that fight now seems almost inevitable.

The US House of Representatives on Saturday put legislation requiring TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance Ltd., to divest its ownership stake in the app on a fast track to become law, tying it to a crucial aid package for Ukraine and Israel. The Senate is expected to vote on the bill in the coming days. President Joe Biden has said he will sign the legislation promptly. That action would be an unprecedented move by Congress to use legislation to threaten the ban of a large consumer technology platform. If it’s signed into law, ByteDance intends to fight the effort in court and exhaust all legal challenges before it considers any kind of divestiture, people familiar with the matter have said.

In the meantime, TikTok has again turned to its most powerful contingent—its tens of millions of users—to help pressure lawmakers. Users who search for “TikTok bill” on the app are shown a banner on the screen encouraging them to “Stop the TikTok ban.” Those who click are directed to a page where they can enter their zip code to find and call their senators.

Instead of hitting the airwaves on traditional news media channels popular with the DC set in the days leading up to the House vote, the company gave a TikTokker an interview with Beckerman, a key part of its lobbying efforts. In his discussion with Lisa Remillard, who goes by the username The News Girl, Beckerman reiterated familiar talking points: The company believes it’s doing enough to protect user information by storing it on US soil and allowing third parties to review the app’s code, and that Congress instead should consider comprehensive data privacy policies that apply to all Internet companies. “We’re here at the table and we’re

This is an unprecedented deal worked out between the Republican Speaker and President Biden,” Michael Beckerman, TikTok’s head of public policy for the Americas, said in a memo to TikTok’s US staff. “At the stage that the bill is signed, we will move to the courts for a legal challenge.”

happy to work with Congress and show even more about what we’re doing, be more transparent,” Beckerman told Remillard.

Talks fall short

TIKTOK and ByteDance have been conveying similar messages to lawmakers behind closed doors for years through a massive lobbying effort led by TikTok Chief Executive

Officer Shou Chew. They haven’t been enough to convince a bipartisan coalition worried about the app’s collection of data on more than 170 million Americans—and the potential for the Chinese government to use it to disseminate propaganda.

The company’s failure to stave off the legislation after years-long talks with the US government means the challenge now shifts from discussions into litigation.

Following the House vote over the weekend, Bloomberg News reported that TikTok is preparing to remove Erich Andersen, the US-based general counsel for TikTok and its Chinese parent ByteDance, who has led the years-long talks with the American government meant to show the app was doing enough to prevent China from accessing US users’ private details or influencing what they see on their feeds.

TikTok has argued that the legislation now close to becoming law would violate the First Amendment and pointed to its spending of $2 billion on data privacy efforts to try to allay national security concerns. The company has brought creators and small business owners to the US Capitol to argue they would suffer economic losses

‘Free speech rights’

“IT is unfortunate that the House of Representatives is using the cover of important foreign and humanitarian assistance to once again jam through a ban bill that would trample the free speech rights of 170 million Americans, devastate 7 million businesses, and shutter a platform that contributes $24 billion to the US economy, annually,” a TikTok spokesperson said Saturday. The broad legislation, which passed on a 360 to 58 vote in the House Saturday, also would place new restrictions on data brokers selling information to foreign adversaries, and authorize the confiscation of frozen Russian assets to aid Ukraine.

“This bill protects Americans and especially America’s children from the malign influence of Chinese propaganda on the app TikTok,” said bill author Michael McCaul, a Texas Republican. “This app is a spy balloon in Americans’ phones.” Opponents of the bill, such as Senator Rand Paul, a Kentucky Republican, could still try to strip out the TikTok measure from

the larger bill in the Senate, but such efforts aren’t likely to be successful.

Scrutiny spans years

T IKTOK rose to prominence during the pandemic as a place to share entertaining, short videos without the expectation of perfection that hangs over apps like Instagram. Its algorithmically curated feed, tailored based on peoples’interests—not who they follow— was a new, captivating way to scroll on social media, particularly popular among younger consumers. That idea has since been copied by Meta Platforms Inc., owner of Facebook and Instagram, and Alphabet Inc.’s YouTube.

Brazilian

AN outside view of the Arsenale during the 60th Biennale of Arts exhibition in Venice, Italy on Tuesday, April 16, 2024. The Venice Biennale contemporary art exhibition opens Saturday for its six-month run through November 26. The main show titled “Stranieri Ovunque—Foreigners Everywhere,” is curated for the first time by a Latin American, Brazilian Adriano Pedrosa. Pedrosa is putting a focus on underrepresented artists from the global south, along with gay and Indigenous artists. Alongside the main exhibition, 88 national pavilions fan out from the traditional venue in Venice’s Giardini, to the Arsenale and other locations scattered throughout the lagoon city. AP/LUCA BRUNO

By Aldrin Quinto

Bmake the weekend

the Chevron Championship in The Woodlands in Texas but could still be inside the top 60 of the eligibility list for the Paris Olympics. Gymnast Emma Malabuyo and trap shooter Hagen Topacio, however, need to overdo themselves as their Paris dreams are hanging on to a thread after two separate qualifiers for the Games that open on July 26. T here are still nine weeks before the cutoff for the golf competitions in Paris with Pagdanganan, who played in Tokyo 2020 alongside FilipinoJapanese Yuka Saso, standing at No. 38 pending the revised results that would be out Tuesday after the Ladies Professional Golf Association event in The Woodlands that world No. 1 Nelly Korda dominated.

The 26-year-old Pagdanganan was cut at the Jack Nicklaus Signature Course at The Club at Carlton Woods but so did Norway’s Celine Borge, No. 40 on the Olympic list, and No. 42 Maria Fassi of Mexico.

A good number of players on the bottom half of the Olympic list did not see action in the Chevron Championship.

R anked 131st in the world, Pagdanganan is the only Philippine player on the current list of eligible players for Paris with Dottie Ardina, who also plays on the LPGA and the Epson Tour, on the reallocation reserve list with her No. 316 world ranking.

The final field for women will be announced on June 24 while the men’s roster will be announced a week earlier on June 17.

No Filipino male golfer is on the Paris Olympics men’s roster with Miguel Tabuena on the reallocation reserve list.

Tabuena, who plays on the Asian Tour and the Philippine Golf Tour, is ranked 385th in the world.

Olympic golf will be played at the L’Albatros course of Le Golf National in Guyancourt Paris from August 7 to August 10.

Senator Go backs schools’ sportsfests

SENATOR Christopher “Bong” Go praised the success of various sports festivals staged recently in Bulacan, Cebu and Makati saying they are a deterrent to vices especially illegal drugs.

The sports festivals were held at the Bulacan State University from April 2 to 4, Cebu Technological University’s Carmen campus from April 14 to 17 and University of Makati from April 20 to 21.

The events were a collaborative effort by the Senate led by Senator Sonny A ngara in coordination with Go, who chairs the Senate Committee on Sport, and Senator Pia Cayetano.

Go has been vocal about the benefits of sports and is a leading advocate against criminality and vices.

“ We collaborated with Senators Sonny Angara and Senator Pia Cayetano on these sportsfests with the goal of ensuring that every Filipino youth grows up healthy, active and vice-free,” Go said.

“Get into sports, stay away from drugs to keep us healthy and fit,” Go added. “Sports is not only for fitness, but for shaping the character and discipline of the youth to become productive members of society.”

G o said: “Through sports, we get to nurture teamwork, dedication and strength in facing the challenges of life.”

Go encouraged educators and parents to guide their children to sports and other productive activities. Go tasked his Malasakit Team to provide tokens to almost a thousand student-athletes, coaches, referees, organizers and school officials during the series of sportsfests.

I n the Senate, Go authored and co-sponsored Republic Act No. 11470, which established the National Academy of Sports in New Clark City, Capas.

NEW YORK—A Nigerian chess champion and child education advocate played chess nonstop for 60 hours in New York City’s Times Square to break the Guinness World Record for the longest chess marathon. Tunde Onakoya, 29, hopes to raise $1 million for children’s education across Africa through the record attempt that began on Wednesday.

H e had set out to play the royal game for 58 hours but continued until he reached 60 hours at about 12:40 a.m. Saturday, surpassing the  current chess marathon record of 56 hours, 9 minutes and 37 seconds, achieved in 2018 by Norwegians Hallvard Haug

Bianca needs to hang on tough to make it to Paris

Malabuyo faces tough challenge

FOR Emma Malabuyo to become the fourth Filipino gymnast to qualify for Paris, she must win the women’s all-around gold medal at the11th Asian Artistic Gymnastics Championships— the last Olympic qualifier set May 24 to 26 in Tashkent.

The 21-year-old Malabuyo’s Paris dream crashed when she missed the floor exercise final of the International Gymnastics Federation World Cup in Doha over the weekend.

But the alternate in the US team in Tokyo 2020 hasn’t given up hope. Never say never,” Malabuyo said. “We will see in the future, but I’m very proud to represent the Philippines in other international future competitions.”

There’s still the Asian Championships in Uzbekistan,” she added.

Topacio hard-pressed to bag silver

HAGEN TOPACIO couldn’t sustain his form at the International Shooting Sports Federation Final Olympic Trap Qualifica-

tion in Doha on Monday and saw his path to Paris transform into an eye of a needle.

Hagen must make the finals and there, he must bag a silver in order for him to qualify for Paris,” Philippine National Shooting Association secretary-general Iryne Garcia told BusinessMirror on Monday.

A fter grabbing the No. 1 spot with 50 points in the first two rounds on Sunday, Topacio could only hit 21 points for 71 points and fell to No. 36 in the

The other chance for Topacio to make it to Paris, according to Garcia, is through reallocation, the path that gave Jayson Valdez his ticket to Tokyo three years ago.

Olympic golf slots allocation

THE 60-player men’s field and the 60 competitors in the women’s division will be based on the Olympic Golf Rankings, which is derived from the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings, with limitations.

The top 15 players in the world rankings qualify for the Paris Olympics. However, up to only four players from a country will be allowed in the top 15.

Th at means that using the recent rankings, Scottie Scheffler at No. 1, Xander Schauffelle at No. 3, Wyndham Clark at No. 5 and Patrick Cantlay at No. 8 are eligible for the Paris Olympics.

M ax Homa and Brian Harman are ranked ninth and 10th in the world, respectively, but are out of the Olympic golf provisional list. So are Collin Morikawa at 14th, Cameron Young at 15th a nd a bunch of Americans in the top 60 of the world.

The limit becomes two for countries with players ranked No. 16 and below in the world list.

World No. 2 Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland is thus joined by 2021 Tokyo Olympics teammate Shane Lowry, whose rank of 36th in the world puts him in 19th spot on the Olympic list.

E ngland has world No. 11 Tommy Fleetwood (No. 9 on the Olympic qualifying list) and No. 12 Matt Fitzpatrick (No. 10 on the Olympic qualifying list), while out of the running for now for a Paris ticket is fellow English player Tyrell Hatton, who is the world No. 16.

I n the women’s side, Nelly Korda at No. 1, Lilia Vu at No. 2, Meghan Kang at 13 and Alison Lee at No. 14 are eligible for the Paris Olympics. Vu withdrew from the Chevron Championship due to a back issue.

L ooking to move into the Olympic spots

Pogačar’s too strong in Belgian monument

LIEGE, Belgium—Tadej Pogačar proved too strong for Mathieu Van der Poel as he won the Liège–Bastogne–Liège cycling classic with a solo breakaway on Sunday. Pogačar attacked 35 kilometers out to win cycling’s oldest classic for the second time, after victory in 2021, and made up for last year when he broke his left wrist in a crash.

“I’m happy that I can finally win this race again,” the 25-year-old Slovenian said. “It’s beautiful to finish like this.”

The two-time Tour de France champion waved to the crowd as he approached the finish line well clear. French veteran Romain Bardet finished second and Van der Poel led a mass sprint to the line to finish third. Liège–Bastogne–Liège is one of the five “monuments” in oneday cycling with the Tour of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix, the Tour of Lombardy and Milan-San Remo. Van der Poel won Roubaix two weeks ago but has not won Liège and Lombardy. Pogačar beat Van der Poel last year to win the Ronde van Vlaanderen (Tour of Flanders) and they have won six monuments each.

The 254.5-kilometer trek, starting and finishing in the eastern Belgian city of Liège in chilly conditions, featured 11 small hills and played to Pogačar’s elite climbing skills. He pulled ahead in a small group with Van der Poel one minute behind. Van der Poel’s group caught Pogačar with 70 kilometers remaining to form a main peloton. But with Pogačar’s UAE Team Emirates setting a fast tempo at the front, Pogačar attacked again and no rival could catch him.

He clocked 6 hours, 13 minutes, 48 seconds with Bardet 1:39 behind and Van der Poel 2:02 back. AP TADEJ POGAČAR crosses the finish lone solo. AP

Nigerian chess champ plays royal game for 60 hrs

Flatebø and Sjur Ferkingstad. The Guinness World Record organization has yet to publicly comment about Onakoya’s attempt. It sometimes takes weeks for the organization to confirm any new record.

O nakoya played against Shawn Martinez, an American chess champion, in line with Guinness World Record guidelines that any attempt to break the record must be made by two players who would play continuously for the entire duration.

Support had been growing online and at the scene, where a blend of African music kept onlookers and supporters entertained amid cheers and applause. Among the dozens who cheered Onakoya on at the scene was Nigerian music star Davido. The record attempt is “for the dreams of millions of children across Africa without access to education,” said Onakoya, who founded Chess in Slums Africa in 2018. The organization wants to support the education of at least 1 million

the aces from

LPGA and homegrown talents. Decision-making will play a pivotal role in navigating the challenges of the $100,000 championship set on the demanding 6,362-yard Robert Trent Jones Sr.-designed course renowned for its risk-and-reward and wellkept layout. For PK Kongkraphan, the tournament marks a chance to fulfill an unfinished business after falling short in last year’s Anvaya Cove Ladies International, also a TLPGALadies Philippine Golf Tour cosanctioned event in Morong, Bataan. P rincess Superal, on the other hand, is determined to bounce back from a final round skid at Caliraya Springs as she aims to elevate her performance in time for the resumption of her campaign on the Japan Step Up Tour. A head of the event, sponsored by ICTSI and organized by the Pilipinas Golf Tournaments Inc., Superal’s preparations have been nothing short of rigorous.

charge

Golf

(TLPGA),

children in slums across the continent.

My energy is at 100 percent right now because my people are here supporting me with music,” Onakoya said Thursday evening after the players crossed the 24-hour mark.

O n Onakoya’s menu: Lots of water and jollof rice, one of West Africa’s best-known dishes.

For every hour of game played, Onakoya and his opponent got only five minutes’ break. The breaks were sometimes grouped together, and Onakoya used them to catch up with Nigerians and New Yorkers cheering him on. He even joined in with their dancing sometimes. AP

The former US Girls’ Junior titlist hopes to capitalize on her local knowledge of the layout as she faces a tough first round draw, pitting skills with Yu-Ju Chen of Taiwan and Thai Chonlada Chayanun at 8 a.m. on No. 1.

We’re more familiar with Luisita, so we’ll see how it goes,” said Superal, whose last triumph dates back to 2022 in the Asia Pacific Cup in Indonesia where she triumphed over several major champions on the LPGA Tour. “Nonetheless, we’ll give it our best shot.”

A rmed with a stellar record, including victories in the Hangzhou Asian Games last year and 23 professional titles to her name, the 32-year-old Kongkraphan enters the competition with confidence.

Despite the unfamiliarity of the course, Kongkraphan is optimistic, drawing parallels to her recent experience in Thailand.

O pting to skip yesterday’s proam tournament to fine-tune her skills, she remains undeterred by the scorching weather, expressing readiness to tackle the course’s challenges.

This is a new course for me, but the conditions are similar back home. So I think, I can have a good score here,” said Kongkraphan, who drew compatriot Alisara Wedchakama and Korean Minyeong Kim at 8:55 a.m. on No. 10. “Luisita is a little bit shorter, so there’s a big chance to playing well this week.”

W hile she leads the charge, a stellar lineup of TLPGA and Thai players, including Chen, Jo Hua Hung and former LPGT leg winners Wannasiri Sirisampant and Chayanun, are poised to make their mark.

Focus will also be on new faces Sarina Schmidt of Germany, India’s Hitaashee Bakshi and Sneha Singh, while Koreans Seoyun Kim, Nam Eunhua and Kim are likewise out