BusinessMirror April 26, 2023

By Samuel P. Medenilla @sam_medenilla & Joel R. San Juan @jrsanjuan1573

THE government on Tuesday heeded the clamor to extend the deadline for the registration of Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) cards for 90 days to avoid disfranchising key sectors and disrupt the march to digitalization, but laid out options it will take to ensure compliance with the SIM registration law. For one, it is now eyeing gradual service disruption to “incentivize” the public to comply within the extension period, according to the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT).

In a press conference in Malacañang, DICT Secretary Ivan E. Uy said they are considering removing some services such as placing outgoing calls for mobile users with unregistered SIM cards for the first 30 or 60 days of the extended registration period.

“We’re still deciding on the date—but, let’s say, after the 60 days, you will lose your access to your Facebook accounts or to your TikTok accounts. But you still can use your phone—you can still call; you can still text, and then after a certain period, you will lose your outgoing calls so that way,  ramdam ninyo kung anong  [you will feel the] effect na hindi kayo nagpaparehistro  [of not having registered],” Uy told

reporters.

He said they are also studying the possible restricting of social media access for unregistered SIM cards.

“So for those who are hardheaded and difficult to convince of our seriousness, they will get a taste of our incentives,” Uy said in Filipino.

DICT said it will be coordinating with telecommunication firms to implement the measures. The telcos, who with government are respondents in a petition in the Supreme Court to declare the SIM law unconstitutional, hailed news of the extension for 90 days.  See story in Companies, B2.

“We will talk about it [options to incentivize compliance] since

it will require an amendment in the IRR [implementing rules and regulations] [for the registration]. We are working on those options because if we do nothing and just extend [the registration period] by 90 days, we will still have the same problem [of late registration],” Uy said.

After the 90-day period, unregistered SIM cards will be deactivated and users will lose access to their e-wallets and whatever financial services are linked to it.

Uy, however, said they may consider a “catch up” registration after the 90-day period to allow the deactivated SIM Card to be used again.

BSP-Jica risk model targets SMEs

Jordan, on April 24, 2023.

By Cai U. Ordinario @caiordinario

MORE

By Andrea E. San Juan

PRESIDENT Ferdinand

R. Marcos Jr.’s proclamation of two new economic zones in Batangas Province and Bacolod City will “certainly bolster and spread economic growth” outside the National Capital Region, according to the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (Peza).

Peza said these new ecozones will bring in P1.641 billion worth of investments to the country.

On April 14, Peza said the president signed Proclamation No. 200 promulgating a new IT park ecozone at Lacson Street in Banago, Bacolod City, to be known as Robinsons Cyberpark Bacolod, which Peza said has P777.350 million worth of projected investment.

Likewise, the investment promotion agency said Marcos approved Proclamation No. 402 last April 19, designating several parcels of land

See “Ecozones,” A2

By Lenie Lectura @llectura

THE Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement would not have any adverse impact on imported energy goods such as oil and gas, the Department of Energy (DOE) said Tuesday.

DOE Secretary Raphael Lotilla said the RCEP agreement would, in fact, create a competitive investment environment in the region for the energy sector. It is expected to provide opportunities for expanded market access and establish clear,

stable, and predictable rules on trade in energy goods and services, including investments among participating countries.

Lotilla added that energyrelated trade in services would further improve the business climate of the energy sector in the country, supporting the agency’s aggressive push for the exploration, development, and utilization of the country’s indigenous energy resources as it transitions to a low-carbon future.

Even before the country acceded

See “RCEP,” A2

PHL agri imports hit $19.3B in 2022 on robust food buys

By Raadee S. Sausa

BSP-Jica. . .

Continued from A1

tal value of agricultural imports from Asean member countries in 2022,” the PSA said.

Data from the agency also showed that the European Union supplied $1.87 billion worth of goods to the Philippines last year, or 21.8 percent of the total import bill. Among the EU member countries, Spain was the country’s top supplier of agricultural commodities with an import value of $458.25 million or a share of 24.5 percent to the country’s total value of agricultural imports from the EU.

Bad habit

in accessing financing. Medalla said the problems of the SME sector have been compounded by “bad policies” such as mandating banks to lend to them, leading to “one-size-fits-all” solutions that do not work.

“[Even small foreign banks in] the Philippines are being told to lend to MSMEs and agriculture. And most of them end up saying we must just pay fines. It’s a terrible thing. It’s a tax on foreign investors who want to help the economy. [It’s a] one-size-fits-all policy,” Medalla said in his speech.

“Another terrible example is rural banks are being penalized for not lending enough to MSMEs when in fact, some medium-scale industries are bigger than some rural banks. So you can see that good intentions lead to bad policies,” he added.

As with any registration requirement, he said many SIM card holders have apparently procrastinated in complying with Republic Act (RA) No. 11934 or the SIM Registration Act.

“For several months we were only registering about 100,000 SIM card registrants, but in the last two weeks we [have been] registering more than a million SIM card registration per day. That goes to show the issue is not really limited ID or anything, it is just the bad habit of delaying to the last minute the compliance with the law,” Uy explained.

Currently, there are already 82 million registered SIM cards, according to Uy.

Another 15 million to 20 million are expected to be registered during the 90-day extended registration period.

“The remaining 50 million [unregistered SIM cards] are the ones that are disposable, so to speak, and used for scamming or telemarketing,” Uy said.

PSA data showed that among the major commodities imported by the country last year, cereals accounted for the largest share of import bill at $3.98 billion or 20.6 percent of the total.

Residues and waste from the food industries, meat and edible meat offal, animal or vegetable fats and oils, and miscellaneous edible preparations were the other major food imports of the country last year.

“The top 10 commodity groups in terms of value of agricultural imports was valued at $16.67 billion or 86.3 percent of the total agricultural imports’ revenue in 2022. Moreover, the combined

agricultural import value of these top 10 commodity groups posted an annual increment of 25.2 percent during the year,” the PSA said.

Countries from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations were from the Philippines’s top source of food imports last year. The PSA said agricultural imports from Asian member countries amounted to $6.47 billion or 16.1 percent of the country’s total imports.

“In terms of value, Indonesia was the major supplier of agricultural products to the Philippines among Asean member countries, contributing $1.78 billion or 27.6 percent of the country’s to -

As agricultural imports continued to outpace exports in 2022, the farm trade deficit last year widened by 32.8 percent to $11.8 billion, from the $8.88 billion registered in 2021.

PSA data showed that receipts from agricultural exports grew by 10 percent to nearly $7.5 billion last year. The top 10 commodity groups in terms of value of agricultural exports contributed $7.25 billion or 96.7 percent of the total agricultural exports’ revenue in 2022.

The combined agricultural export value of these top 10 commodity groups posted an annual increment of 11.7 percent during the year, according to the agency.

However, some of these challenges can be addressed through the CRD. According to the BSP, the database created through the CRD project, which has been extended by Jica to March 2024, can be used by banks to construct a credit-scoring model for SME borrowers.

Deputy Governor Bernadette RomuloPuyat said the CRD was crafted by a team composed of the CRD Japan Expert Team and BSP’s CRD Project Implementation Unit which carried out data collection, credit scoring model development and validation, knowledge and technology transfer, and framework development.

The CRD Project was launched virtually in December 2020 at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. It started with 17 participating banks and has since expanded to 32 rural and universal and commercial banks.

“Today we have reached a milestone in our financial inclusion agenda. As such, let us celebrate the success of our efforts over the past three years in rolling out the CRD project, as we look forward to the future that we all envision: a vibrant SME sector fueled by an effective and inclusive access to legitimate and affordable credit,” Puyat said.

Puyat noted micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) make up 99.6 percent of business establishments in the country.

It also provides 64.7 percent of employment to the country’s workforce and contributes about 35.7 percent to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

The 32 rural and universal and commercial banks include 1st Valley Bank; AllBank; Asia United Bank, BK Private Development Bank; Bangko ng Kabuhayan; BOF rural bank; Camalig Bank; BPI; Cbs; Card SME Bank; Development Bank of the Philippines; First Consolidated Bank; Land Bank of the Philippines; Lipa Bank; Malayan Savings Bank; Metrobank; PBCom; and Philippine Business Bank, among others.

In 2020, Jica said the technical cooperation project, to be undertaken for three years, aims to improve SMEs’ access to financing in the Philippines.

The initiative will include the creation of a scoring model based on a database built from information gathered from banks. Jica said some banks have already expressed their interest to participate.

In Japan, Jica said the CRD system helped improve credit access of SMEs using a tool that analyzes credit risk information.

Jica said the Philippine Magna Carta for Small Enterprises has consolidated all programs for MSME development in the Philippines. The project also helps improve risk perception on small businesses and widens their access to finance.

Continued from A1

located at Barangays Santiago, Luta Sur, and Bagong Pook in Malvar, Batangas for the expansion of the Lima Technology Center-Special Economic Zone. The expansion is expected to bring P864.224 million of investments, Peza said. With these proclaimed ecozones, Peza Director General Tereso O. Panga expressed optimism the agency is on track to hitting its target growth of 10 percent for 2023.

President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. decided to extend the registration period, which is supposed to end on April 26, 2023, after seeing the areas with the low turnout of registration are the isolated island provinces such as Dinagat, Siquijor, Camiguin, Tawi-Tawi, and Basilan.

“So when it [statistics] was presented, the President noticed we need more efforts to deploy teams to those island provinces in order to address the low turnout,” Uy said.

News of the decision to extend the April 26 registration deadline was first shared with media on Tuesday morning by Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla, who also warned of social media unavailability for SIM card users who will fail to register during the extension period.

“There’s a 90-day extension, but most of the services that come with the cellphones that are registered will be cut off with the telcos. So there will be social media unavailability for those who do not register in the next 90 days,” Remulla said.

Remulla’s announcement came as the Supreme Court raffled off the petition filed by the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) and several other individuals  seeking to declare as unconstitutional Republic Act No. 11934  also known as the SIM Registration Act.

The petitioners argued that the law should be struck down for violating the  basic constitutional rights of SIM card users such as freedom of speech, right against unreasonable searches and seizures and right to privacy of communication.

The Court was also asked to order public telecommunication entities (PTEs) to cease and desist from using, storing, transferring, and processing all information gathered into the SIM register and to destroy data already gathered.

t o RCEP, the ASEAN and ASEAN+1 free trade partners already enjoyed zeropercent tariff rates on energy goods covered under Chapter 27 of the Tariff Book published by the Tariff Commission (TC). T he DOE said the zero-percent tariff rates also apply to liquefied natural gas (LNG) given that the Philippines considers this as a transition fuel for power plants supporting variable renewable energy and expected to come into play this year in the country.

“In evaluating international agreements affecting the Philippine energy sector, the DOE considers investments, energy security, and access to technologies,” the agency said.

The secretary stressed that the energy sector is a capital-intensive undertaking where Filipino capital may not be sufficient.

S econd, developed countries of RCEP partner countries have advanced technological capabilities. The DOE said services by these countries in the Philippines could enhance technology transfer to local counterpart companies and DOE.

T hird, the DOE stressed that international energy cooperation is vital in pursuing collaborative activities with other countries to achieve greater energy self-sufficiency, security, and sustainability.

T hese efforts, the DOE pointed out, are geared towards ensuring the country has enough energy supply.

In the la test Philippine Energy Plan (PEP) 2020-2040, the DOE works steadily across borders, consistent with its thrust of fostering stronger international relations and partnerships meant to elevate the country’s energy programs and projects to attract foreign investments.

“And with our 10-percent target growth for 2023, we remain on track in our goal of establishing at least 30 ecozones every year that create centers of economic progress outside the National Capital Region [NCR] to spur countryside development,” the Peza chief stressed.

As of April 19, 2023, Peza said it has 20 pending ecozones to be proclaimed by the President. Of these 20 pending ecozones, there are 11 IT centers, 8 manufacturing, and 1 agro-industrial ecozone.

Panga noted, “It is exactly what we need to continue what the Administration is gearing towards: Inclusive economic development where thousands of jobs are created in the respective jurisdictions.”

T he Peza chief stressed that more investments mean more exports and more jobs.

Mean while, Peza recorded P12.537 billion worth of investments for the first quarter of 2023, a 53.99-percent increase from the P8.141 billion in approved investments recorded from the same period in 2022.

T hese investments came from the approved 42 new and expansion projects of ecozone locators and developer/operators for the first quarter of the year. Panga earlier said this surge in investments—an over 50 percent increase compared to the January-March 2022 period—is an “indication that we are on the right track in achieving our 10-percent target this year.”

In February, Peza Deputy Director General (DDG) for Operations Vivian S. Santos said year on year, the investment promotion agency expects to “operationalize” at least one to three new ecozones.

S antos explained that before ecozones get operationalized, they have to seek or be issued with a proclamation by the Office of the President.

THE country’s agricultural imports rose by nearly 23 percent year-on-year to $19.3 billion in 2022 as the Philippines stepped up its food purchases last year, according to the latest data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

By Joel R. San Juan @jrsanjuan1573

BAGUIO CITY—THE Supreme

Court has rejected the plea of the National Union of Journalists and several other individuals for the issuance of a temporary restraining order (TRO) against the SIM card registration, hours after the Executive declared a 90-day extension of the April 26 registration deadline.

Instead, the SC directed the respondents to comment within 10 days on the merit of the petition seeking to declare unconstitutional Republic Act No. 11934 or the SIM Registration Act.

SC spokesman Brian Keith Hosaka said the resolution was issued at Tuesday’s regular en banc session of the magistrates but no other details were made available to the media.

The petitioners, in their Petition for Certiorari and Prohibition under Rule 65 of the Rules of Civil Procedure with Prayer for Writ of Preliminary injunction and/or TRO filed last April 17, asked the Court to Issue a temporary restraining order and/or writ of preliminary injunction against the respondents to restrain them from implementing the law while the case is pend -

The Nation

ing; declare the SIM Registration Act unconstitutional on its face for infringing Art. III Sections 1, 2, 3, and 11 of the 1987 Constitution; and order the respondent public telecommunication entities (PTEs) to cease and desist from using, storing, transferring, and processing all information gathered into the SIM Register and to destroy data already gathered.

Named respondents were the National Telecommunications Commision (NTC), National Privacy Commission, Department of Information and Communications Technology, Department of Trade and Industry, Department of the Interior and Local Government, Department of Education, Globe Telecom Inc., Smart Communications Inc., PLDT Inc., Dito Telecommunity Corporation, Digitel Mobile Philippines Inc., doing business as Sun Cellular, and Cherry Mobile Communications Inc.

The SC did not give credence to the petitioners’ claim that there was a need to immediately enjoin the implementation of the law as more than 106 million other unregistered Filipinos stand to be disenfranchised through automatic deactivation of their SIMs if they fail to comply with the April 26 deadline.

Solons resume probe on Tondo shabu haul linking PNP officials

By Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz @joveemarie

THE House Committee on Dangerous Drugs will resume its probe on April 26 on the anomaly-laden seizure of 990 kilos of shabu in Tondo, Manila to pinpoint accountability of alleged “ninja cops” involved in the drug haul. The probe is also seen leading to the crafting of new laws to deter, if not prevent, the involvement of cops in the recycling of illegal drugs.

P anel chairman Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace S. Barbers was quoted in a statement as saying that members of the Philippine National Police (PNP), particularly those who were seen in the video footage at the crime scene are expected to attend the hearing. The footage showed these cops were at the WPD Lending office located along A. Bonifacio Street, Tondo, Manila, on October 8, 2022.

T hey were identified as: Police Lt. Gen. Benjamin D. Santos Jr., who was then Deputy Chief PNP for Operations; Brig. Gen. Narciso D. Domingo, director of the PNP

Drug Enforcement Group (PDEG); Col. Julian T. Olonan, chief of the PDEG Special Operations Unit (SOU) Region 4A; and, Capt. Jonathan S. Sosongco, head of the PDEG SOU 4A arresting team.

Not apprised

ALSO invited were: Lt. Col. Arnulfo G. Ibañez, OIC of the PDEG SOU National Capital Region (NCR); Maj. Michael Angelo C. Salmingo, deputy of PDEG SOU NCR; Lt. Col. Glenn Gonzales of the Quezon City Police District; Lt. Ashrap Amerol, intelligence officer of PDEG Intelligence and Foreign Liaison Division; Lt. Col. Harry R. Lorenzo III, Manila Police District Moriones Station Commander; and, Capt. Randolph Piñon, chief of PDEG SOU 4A Intelligence Section.

Barbers said the other resource persons they invited to the hearing include the following: Interior and Local Government Secretary Benjamin C. Abalos; Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin C. Remulla; PNP chief Maj. Gen. Benjamin C. Acorda Jr.; Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency Director General Moro Vir-

gilio M. Lazo; former PDEA chief Wilkins M. Villanueva; former PDEA NCR Director Alvin Alvarin; Bureau of Customs Commissioner Bienvenido Y. Rubio; Philippine Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Artemio M. Abu; NBI Director Medardo G. De Lemos; and, P/MSgt. Rodolfo Mayo

Jr. Mayo owns the WPD Lending where the shabu were seized.

B arbers said that since October 8 last year, the public and lawmakers “have not been apprised clearly” on what had transpired in the PNP’s internal investigations on the incident and who were the officers charged in court for their alleged attempts to recycle 42 kilos of shabu and cover-up the incident.

Only Mayo

ACCORDING to Barbers, “as far as we know, only dismissed P/MSgt. Mayo had been charged in court. We have not heard or seen any details of his administrative and criminal cases. What about the other officers who we believe participated in the alleged double coverup and double recycling attempts in said incident,” Barbers said.

And based on documents, police reports, video footages and television interviews by police officers involved in the case, we have noticed irreconcilable inconsistencies on their narrative of the incident, particularly the narrative that Mayo was arrested in a buy-bust operation at 9 p.m. of October 8, 2022 for possession of two kilos of shabu,” he added. Barbers said the ongoing PNP investigations on the case are also deafeningly silent on Mayo’s stockpile of more than 990 kilos of shabu. Because it is very important and very urgent for the police agency to find out the surrounding circumstances behind this particular drugrecycling activity,” the lawmaker said. “The reason is simply because they provide factual information needed to establish accountability and effective policies to prevent similar incidents in the future.” B arbers added that “the most significant information to attain this objective is to determine the source or sources of the recycled drugs, how they were obtained and who are the illegal participants in this illegal activity.”

Salceda to govt: Maximize ₧18B for efficient water management

By Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz @joveemarie

IN the face of a crisis in water resources, an economist- lawmaker urged government officials to maximize the budget allotted for local government units (LGUs) and local water districts, or “LWDs.”

House Committee on Ways and Means Chairman Jose Ma. Clemente “Joey” S. Salceda said key public officials“government economic managers and the Department of the Interior and Local Government [DILG]”should come up with guidelines and incentives for local government “water alliances” of multiple LGUs.

“Apart from LWDs, LGUs also provide water to rural communities,” Salceda said through a statement his office issued last Monday. He pointed out that government is providing LGUs and LWDs some P18 billion in new water systems from the 2023 General Appropriations Act. They can be better managed if they share resources—from pipelines to reservoirs,” the lawmaker

By Rene Acosta @reneacostaBM

THE newly installed chief of police left it to President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. whether the police officials probed for links to narcotics trade would be publicly named.

During his first news briefing last Tuesday, newly installed Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Major Gen. Benjamin C. Acorda Jr. said it would be in the President’s discretion to disclose or not the names of officials who will be retained or dropped from the service as a result of the organization’s anti-illegal drugs’ investigation.

“With regards to making [the information] public, I think it will be the option or based on what will be the recommendation of the advisory group,” Acorda told reporters.

“What I can say [is], this [investigation] has been done, the process has been completed and it will be submitted to the President.”

“With regards to names, maybe,

added. “That’s the best way to make use of the administration’s historic investments in water resources.”

S alceda said lawmakers are also parsing the National Water Act to compel water districts and LGU-run water service providers to consolidate into more efficient and economically-sensible entities. The law ushers in a Department of Water Resources.

Water, whether we like it or not, is not a localized issue. To manage water resources well, you need more scale, more coordination, more long-term planning, and more resource-sharing. Otherwise, you will have some places that have abundant water, and many more places that have completely zero access to quality running water,” he said.

M eanwhile, Salceda urged the Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA) to “be more aggressive in exercising its power to monitor local water districts for performance and to consolidate them for public welfare” amid an ongoing water crisis exacerbated by the El Niño phenomenon.

Need to consolidate SALCEDA emphasized that “an effective LWUA is critical to dealing with the water crisis, because they supervise the hundreds of water districts that provide for urban and suburban populations outside Mega Manila.”

“ Their mandates are far-reaching and include monitoring for performance and ‘to effect system integration, joint investment and operations district annexation and de-annexation whenever economically warranted,’ as the law says,” the lawmaker said. “They also have financing powers—so they can incentivize consolidation through favorable financing terms and performance reviews.”

T he lawmaker believes LWUA administrator Vicente Homer B. Revil “means well.”

S alceda said he supports Revil’s efforts to conduct a national water inventory and the P20-billion “Patubig sa Buong Bayan at Mamamayan” project.

But to ensure that operations and management of new water systems are efficient, we really

need to consolidate water districts that are inefficient or nonoperational,” he said.

S alceda called on Revil to exercise the agency’s mandate to hold water districts to account more as he estimates that some 300 water districts are currently non-operational or barely opera -

tional. This means that the areas they serve do not have functioning central water systems, according to the lawmaker.

Salceda said these water districts could be combined into clusters “to make infrastructure investments more efficient.”

“

The thing with water is that it

is infrastructure-intensive, it requires a lot of fixed costs, and it is only viable with enough revenuepaying users. So, if a water district is too small, or has too little demand, it’s doomed to fail—or will never mature to provide sanitation services, which are also expensive,” he added.

if you are asking my opinion, I leave that to the President to make this public or not,” the PNP chief added.

Earlier, Interior and Local Government Secretary Benhur Abalos Jr. asked all colonels and generals in the PNP to tender their courtesy resignations in order to be screened and assessed by a 5-man committee under the PNP’s campaign to weed out members who have links with illegal drugs syndicates. The committee, which has Defense Secretary Gilberto C. Teodoro Jr. and retired police General and incumbent Baguio City Mayor Benjamin B. Magalong as members—has since completed its screening and investigation. The committee’s findings have been submitted to the National Police Commission for further review before forwarding the report to the President. The report contains the names of police officials who will be asked to stay put and those who will be axed.

During the briefing, Acorda vowed that the PNP will be aggressive in the anti-illegal drugs drive, which is among

the four focuses of his leadership campaigns. The other three are insurgency, terrorism and internal cleansing.

The only difference of his antiillegal drugs campaign from the drives taken by previous PNP chiefs is that the leadership support will cascade down to the lowest commander, he said.

“We will support that through our admin and operations. I will be making our DCA [deputy chief for administration] and DCO [deputy chief for operations] very active in this; and also our regional directors and NSUs [national support units].

We will make sure that they will be properly supported on the ground,” Acorda said.

He added he has experienced being “a chief of police, so I know what is the feeling of being a chief of police.”

“That’s what I wanted to ensure. And I am asking for our DCA to really supervise and make sure… funds support, logistical support and other admin requirements that the lower units needs…are properly given,” Acorda added.

SC says no to TRO vs SIM registration law, orders respondents to comment

PNP chief says it’s Pres. BBM’s call to bare names in drug trade probe

• Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug

DOLE to hold 38 job fairs on Labor Day

crew; and, sales agents or sales clerks.

By Samuel P. Medenilla @sam_medenilla

T he bulk of the employment opportunities from the 38 Labor Day job fairs are from the following industries: business process outsourcing (BPO); manufacturing; financial and insurance activities; manpower

services; and, sales and marketing.

A public advisory by the DOLE read that the top vacancies are for the following: customer service representatives; production workers and/or operators; financial consultants; service

T he job fairs will be held in 38 venues nationwide and will have a total of 678 participating employers.

T he first and one of the biggest of the said job fairs will be held at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City on April 30.

More than 8,000 employment opportunities will be made available, according to the DOLE advisory.

The 35 other jobs fairs will be held during Labor Day itself at the following: SM City Baguio; Baguio Convention Center; Provincial Farmers Livelihood Development Center, Vigan City, Ilocos Sur; PESO Multipurpose Hall; Lingayen, Pangasinan; Orbos Gym, Sta. Barbara, Pangasinan; Magic Mall, Urdaneta City, Pan-

gasinan; Cagayan Valley, particularly in SM City Tuguegarao; Robinsons Place Santiago; and, Municipal Covered Court, Reina Mercedes, Isabela.

There will also be job fairs in the following locations: SM City Marilao, Bulacan; SM City Cabanatuan, Nueva Ecija; SM City Pampanga, San Fernando City, Pampanga; SM City Olongapo Central, Olongapo City; SM City San Jose del Monte, Bulacan; Ynares Center, Rizal Provincial Capitol Grounds; City Mall in Calapan City, Oriental Mindoro; and Ayala Malls Legazpi, Albay.

For Metro Manila, the events will be at the following locations: SM Grand Central (Caloocan City); SM BF Parañaque (Parañaque City); SM City Sucat (Parañaque City); SM

Southmall (Las Piñas); Robinsons Place Las Piñas; Vista Mall Taguig; SM City Marikina (Marikina City); San Andres Gym (City of Manila); and, the Quezon City Quadrangle.

In the Visayas, the job fairs will be held in the following locations: Robinsons Iloilo; Robinsons Galleria Cebu; Lamberto Macias Sports Complex; Dumaguete City; Negros Oriental; and, Tacloban Convention Center, Tacloban City.

The DOLE will also hold job fairs in Mindanao particularly at the following locations: KCC Mall de Zamboanga; SM CDO Downtown Premier, Cagayan de Oro City; SM City Davao; Kidapawan City Gymnasium, Cotabato City for the job fair; and, Almont Inland Hotel, Butuan City.

Post-Labor Day Job Fairs at the People’s Center, Balanga City, Bataan and at the Bulacan Capitol Gymnasium, Malolos City, are expected.

Participants in the said events are advised to bring multiple copies of their curriculum vitae, certificate of employment (for those formerly employed), diploma, transcript of records and training certificates.

The DOLE will also have 24 Kadiwa activities nationwide wherein 451 enterprises and 897 sellers will directly sell their products to consumers.

During the event, the labor department said it will also distribute government aid, particularly from its student, emergency employment, and livelihood programs.

EU’s ₧610-M space data center to help PHL manage risks

A s always, we make the data available for all actors and scientific use,” European Commissioner for International Partnerships Jutta Urpilainen said.

A side from PhilSA, the Department of Science and Technology is also a partner of the EU in this program.

The new Copernicus data center site will enhance the response capability and with that the resilience of the Philippines to natural and manmade disasters through the strategic use of space data,” the EU said.

CopPhil is the first space cooperation program in Southeast Asia.

EU funded the European Space Agency to kickstart the space program, worth P610 million or €10 million.

Here are the potential uses of

Sentinel data:

1. Detect and monitor potential hazards such as landslides and volcanic eruption

2. Assess the extent and severity of disasters to help local officials on their emergency response.

3. Map high-risk areas for flooding and help government prioritize infrastructure projects such as building of seawalls or reinforcing riverbanks

4. Land cover mapping

5. Ground motion monitoring

6. Detection of marine litter

7. Urban air pollution

8. Flood cover detection

9. Crop development monitoring

10. Developing Philippine National Spatial Data Infrastructure

Science and Technology Secretary

Renato Solidum and PhilSA Director

General Joel Marciano Jr. welcomed the launch of CopPhil.

“CopPhil will develop and leverage our own Space Science and Technology applications to strengthen the nation’s resilience to disasters and climate change,” Solidum said.

For his part, Marciano said this partnership with the European Union is significant as it “strengthens the domestic space value chain, particularly the ability to process and use satellite images and spaceborne data to better manage, and protect our environment and natural resources, and be better prepared in the face of disasters and climate change.”

Luc Véron, European Union Ambas-

continued from a16

sador to the Philippines, said CopPhil is a “pioneer initiative in Asia and Asia Pacific and a starting point for a larger programme on Digital Connectivity.”

“In the long term the European Union is exploring the possibility to create a network of Copernicus partners in the ASEAN region aside from other parts of the world. The uptake of innovative technologies such as Copernicus will trigger growth, jobs and modernisation of digital infrastructures that can be used in many sectors in the Philippines,” Ambassador Véron said. European public sector and space agencies from Austria, Italy, Greece, Spain, Germany, France and Romania, and from the European Space Agency also attended the launch.

NATIONWIDE job fairs with over 60,000 job vacancies and Kadiwa Ng Pangulo Para Sa Manggagawa activities will be held by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) for its Labor Day celebration.

‘JHSEZ firms must secure permits from LGU’

By Joel R. San Juan @jrsanjuan1573

BAGUIO CITY—The Supreme Court (SC) has declared that only business establishments within the John Hay Special Economic Zone (JHSEZ) that are registered with the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) can enjoy duty- and tax-free privileges.

In a 45-page decision penned by Associate Justice Marvic Leonen, the SC’s Second Division also declared that all unregistered businesses within the John Hay Special Economic Zone are mandated to pay national and local taxes, duties, and fees.

T he ruling affirmed the decision

issued by the Regional Trial Court of Baguio City which junked the petition for declaratory relief, with a prayer for a writ of preliminary injunction filed by the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) and JHSEZ last March 12, 2010 against the Baguio City government.

T he Baguio RTC, in its May 13, 2010, held that business permits and the payment of fees to the local government unit (LGU) are of a different character than that of taxes and duties, as revenue generation was not their sole purpose.

T he trial court concluded that the JHSEZ was exempt from paying local and national taxes but not from the requirement of business permits.

It further held that neither the BCDA or John Hay Management Corp. (JHMC) possessed any police power, thus, they were not exempted from the power of LGUs to require business permits and exact regulatory fees for their businesses.

T he BCDA and JHMC filed a motion for reconsideration but the trial court issued a resolution on June 24, 2010 denying it.

T his prompted the BCDA and JHMC to elevate the issue before the High Tribunal.

T he petitioners argued that the trial court’s ruling should be reversed as regulation of establishments inside the JHSEZ is exercised by the PEZA, not the LGU.

T hey also argued that the issuance of permits under Baguio City Tax Ordinance No. 2000-001 is “primarily revenue raising” since before it can be issued, establishments must pay the applicable fees based on their gross receipts for the fiscal year.

F urthermore, the petitioners pointed out that establishments in the JHSEZ have preferential tax treatment under the law, “neither subject to internal revenue laws and regulations nor to any local tax.”

T hey noted that Republic Act (RA) 7916 (Special Economic Zone Act) exempts all establishments operating within special economic zones from paying taxes and RA

9399 which declared a one-time amnesty on certain tax and duty liabilities, inclusive of fees, fines, penalties, and interest.

T he petitioners also cited RA 9400 that granted tax exemption to the JHSEZ.

Petitioners maintained that in lieu of paying taxes, they practice an income-sharing arrangement with the respondent.

T hrough this arrangement, the respondent was allegedly able to acquire the Baguio Convention Center and some of its projects.

T hey argued that respondent cannot avail of its share in the arrangement and impose business taxes at the same time.

In ruling against the petitioners, the SC declared: “The mayor’s permit is not a tax that establishments within the JHSEZ are exempt from paying.”

No statute authorizes petitioners to issue permits or regulate businesses inside the John Hay Special Economic Zone. Neither can they invoke the powers granted only to the Philippine Economic Zone Authority. Without an express grant by law, respondent’s police power prevails,” the SC said.

Thus, locators within the John Hay Special Economic Zone not duly registered with the Philippine Economic Zone Authority are liable to pay business permit fees to respondent,” it added.

Improved e-travel platform seen reducing airport queues

By Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo @akosistellaBM

Special to the BusinessMirror

THE new e-travel platform will completely eliminate the need for arriving passengers from abroad to line up in a separate queue for their health check.

T his was confirmed by Bureau of Immigration spokesperson Dana Krizia Sandoval in a Viber message to the BusinessMirror . “It’s [etravel platform] automatically integrated with the BOQ [Bureau of

Quarantine]. Starting May 1, passengers can go straight to the Immigration counters.”

T here may be instances though that the arriving passengers will be referred to the BOQ, she said, “if the system shows a red QR code, i.e. they did not fill out the e-travel form.”

B OQ Director Dr. Roberto Sandoval added, “Now the arriving passengers just have to pass the thermal scanner, then go straight to Immigration. If their e-travel form isn’t complete, they will have to return to BOQ for us to

assist them.”

He also said the BOQ has thermal scanners in “every gate” at all international airports in the country.

New Immigration officers

THE latest iteration of government’s e-travel platform eliminates the need for paper embarkation and disembarkation cards. Departing and arriving passengers by sea or by air should register on the e-travel page not earlier than 72 hours before their scheduled arrival in or departure from the Philippines. For depart-

ing passengers, their registration should be at the most, three hours prior to their schedule flight out of the country.

Sandoval also announced the appointment of 147 new Immigration officers, which could help beef up their counters at international airports and seaports. The long departure and arrival queues at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) have been blamed on the insufficient number of Immigration officers attending to passengers.

At the arrival areas, there are also

very few e-passport gates: just five at Naia Terminal 1, five at Naia 3, and three at Naia 2. The three at Naia 2 will soon be transferred to Naia 3, with Naia 2 being converted to an all-domestic passenger terminal starting July 1.

M eanwhile, the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) tried to address the possible inconvenience that will be experienced by passengers of Philippines Air Asia, whose domestic operations will be moved to Naia 2, while their international operations remain at Naia 3.

‘No favoritism’ in terminal assignments

IN a recent interview at Teleradyo’s SRO, MIAA senior assistant general manager Bryan Co said in a mix of Filipino and English, “[The transfer to Naia 2] will benefit the most passengers of Philippines Air Asia, because as of now, a lot of them are in terminal 4, which is very congested. So by July 1, we expect that we will be able to deliver a better level of service for passengers of Air Asia and Royal Air [Philippines].”

14.

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1 killed, 10 wounded as Russian missile hits Ukrainian museum

everything to destroy us completely,” Zelenskyy said. “Our history, our culture, our people. Killing Ukrainians with absolutely barbaric methods.”

Kharkiv regional Gov. Oleh

Syniehubov said that three people were hospitalized, seven received minor injuries and two others were still believed to be under the debris. Emergency responders were working to recover them.

shelling of the town of Dvorichna, near Kupiansk, and two civilians were killed in the eastern Donetsk region, according to the Ukrainian presidential office.

Ukrainian

in the Kharkiv region, hitting the museum of local history in the center of the city.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy posted a video from the site that shows the ruined building and emergency responders examining the damage.

“The terrorist country is doing

Kupiansk was captured by Russian forces in the earlier stages of the Russian invasion and was reclaimed by Ukrainian forces in a surprise counteroffensive in September that saw the Russians driven out of broad swaths of the Kharkiv region.

A woman also died in Russian

The Ukrainian military is now preparing for a new massive counteroffensive, relying on the latest supplies of Western battle tanks and other weapons and fresh troops that were trained in the West. Ukraine’s military intelligence chief, Maj. Gen. Kyrylo Budanov, in an interview with RBC-Ukraine released Monday, described the planned counteroffensive as a “landmark battle in Ukraine’s modern history” that will see the country “reclaim significant areas.” AP

WHO fires doctor repeatedly engaged in sexual misconduct

By Jamey Keaten

The Associated Press

GENEVA—The World Health Organization says it has fired one of its doctors who faced allegations, first reported by The Associated Press, that he had repeatedly engaged in sexual misconduct.

The UN health agency had come under pressure from the United States and other countries to do more in the fight against sexual misconduct in the wake of the claims against the doctor, Fijian national Temo Waqanivalu.

“Dr. Temo Waqanivalu has been dismissed from WHO following findings of sexual misconduct against him and corresponding disciplinary process,” said WHO spokeswoman Marcia Poole in a e-mail to the AP early Tuesday.

“Sexual misconduct of any kind by anyone working for WHO—be it as staff, consultant, partner—is unacceptable,” she added.

In January, the AP reported

that Waqanivalu had been accused of sexually assaulting a woman at a Berlin conference in October and was flagged to senior WHO directors years ago for allegedly harassing another staffer.

The earlier allegation didn’t result in any significant consequences for Waqanivalu, who headed a small team in WHO’s noncommunicable diseases department and had been preparing to run for regional director of the Western Pacific.

According to confidential documents obtained by the AP, senior WHO directors were informed of a sexual harassment allegation made against Waqanivalu in 2018.

The accuser was later informed that pursuing a formal investigation might not be the best option for her.

Waqanivalu was later given an informal warning that didn’t cite the woman who made the claim or his specific behavior.

In interviews with WHO investigators, Waqanivalu “categorically” denied he had ever

sexually assaulted anyone. He declined to comment to the AP.

In recent years, WHO has been plagued by numerous reports of misconduct. In May 2021, the AP reported that senior WHO managers were informed of sex abuse allegations during an Ebola outbreak in Congo but did little to stop it. A panel appointed by WHO later found that more than 80 workers under WHO’s direction sexually abused women.

The Western Pacific regional director that Waqanivalu was seeking to replace at WHO was put on leave in August, months after the AP reported that numerous staffers had accused him of racist and abusive behavior that compromised the UN agency’s response to Covid-19.

Last month, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in an e-mail to employees that the appointment of the regional director, Dr. Takeshi Kasai, had been terminated after an internal investigation resulted in “findings of misconduct.”

Kenyan cult starvation deaths at 73, president likens them to terrorism

By Evelyne Musambi The Associated Press

NAIROBI, Kenya—Ke -

nyan President William Ruto on Monday compared the dozens of starvation deaths among the followers of a pastor in the south of the country with the results of terrorist acts, as the new death toll rose to 73.

He maintained that the pastor, Paul Makenzi, who is in police custody, should be in prison.

“What we are seeing...is akin to terrorism,” Ruto said.

“Mr. Makenzi ... pretends and postures as a pastor when in fact he is a terrible criminal.”

Makenzi was arrested on suspicion of telling his followers to fast to death in order to meet Jesus. A group of emaciated people were rescued alive, but some of them later died. Authorities then turned their attention to dozens of shallow graves marked with crosses on Makenzi’s 800-acre ranch.

The total death toll now stands at 73, with 26 new bodies exhumed on Monday, Malindi sub-county police chief John Kemboi told the Associated Press.

Kemboi said investigators had received reinforcements and were able to cover more ground.

The Kenyan Red Cross Soci -

ety on Sunday said 112 people had been reported missing at a tracing desk set up at Malindi, where the pastor’s main church was located.

Ruto said he had instructed law enforcement agencies to thoroughly investigate the matter as a criminal case not linked to any religion.

Ruto, who was elected in 2022, was hyped as the country’s first evangelical Christian president and has not been shy about his faith, openly praying and weeping in churches before his election.

He has nominated several pastors into parliament and government agencies like the

anticorruption commission.

Makenzi remains in custody and a court allowed investigators to hold him for two weeks as a probe into the deaths continues.

The pastor had been arrested twice before—in 2019 and in March of this year—in relation to the deaths of children. Each time, he was released on bond, and both cases are still proceeding through the court.

Local politicians have urged the court not to release him this time, decrying the spread of cults in the Malindi area.

Cults are common in Kenya, which has a largely religious society.

officials said the Russian military used S-300 air defense missiles to attack Kupiansk

KYIV, Ukraine—A Russian missile hit a museum building in a Ukrainian city on Tuesday, killing one of its workers and wounding 10 other people, part of a relentless barrage that comes as Ukraine is readying its forces for an expected spring counteroffensive.

A UKRAINIAN soldier prepares to fire his machine gun in a dugout on the frontline in the village of New York, Donetsk region, Ukraine, on Monday, April 24, 2023. AP/LIBKOS

THE exhumed bodies of victims of a religious cult are laid out in the village of Shakahola, near the coastal city of Malindi, in southern Kenya, Sunday, April 23, 2023. Dozens of bodies have been discovered so far in shallow graves on land owned by a pastor Paul Makenzi in coastal Kenya who was arrested for telling his followers to fast to death. AP

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UN chief and Western nations berate Russia’s top diplomat over Ukraine

By Edith M. Lederer The Associated Press

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov responded by defending his country’s military action and accusing the US and its allies of undercutting global diplomacy, the foundation of the United Nations, which was created to prevent a third world war.

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called cooperation among the UN’s 193 member nations the organization’s “beating heart” and “guiding vision,” and he warned the Security Council that global collaboration is under the greatest strain since the creation of the United Nations in 1945 on the ashes of World War II.

Tensions between major powers are at a “historic high” and so are

the risks of conflict “through misadventure or miscalculation,” he said, pointing first and foremost to the war in Ukraine.

The UN secretary-general and the ambassadors of the US, Britain, France and their allies all pointed to the UN Charter’s underlying principle requiring all countries to support the sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of every nation— which Russia violated by invading its smaller neighbor on Feb. 24, 2022, and illegally annexing several regions.

Russia convened the ministerial meeting on making “multilateralism”—when countries work together—more effective

China’s deepening selloff shows investors are losing confidence

ASELLOFF in Chinese equities is deepening as traders weigh a barrage of economic and geopolitical risks, with global funds accelerating their exodus.

The MSCI China Index lost as much as 2 percent Tuesday, heading for a sixth day of declines, which will be the longest losing run since October. Foreign investors were set to be net sellers of onshore China shares for a third straight session, while bond yields have dropped.

Traders continued to cite geopolitical tensions as a key deterrent even as the US plans last week to limit investments in key parts of China’s economy were of little surprise. While a consumption-driven recovery is taking hold— the economy grew at the fastest pace in a year in the first quarter and retail sales soared last month—the nation’s top leaders have highlighted risks to the rebound.

“Investors seem to be having concerns about the sustainability of the recovery in China and the heightening of geopolitical tensions,” said Redmond Wong, strategist at Saxo Capital Markets HK Ltd. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index of Chinese stocks listed in Hong Kong has lost more than 5 percent this month to be the second-worst performer among more than 90 global equity gauges tracked by Bloomberg. That’s a far cry from earlier this year. The measure was among the world’s top performers in January amid an extended rally following the nation’s reopening from Covid-19 curbs late last year.

Overseas funds sold a net $754 million worth of onshore China stocks via trading links with

Hong Kong on Tuesday, adding to an outflow of about $1.7 billion in the previous two sessions. Meanwhile, investors have sought refuge in sovereign bonds, with the 10-year yield falling for three days on the interbank market to Monday.

Investors ‘frustrated’

THE April meeting of the Communist Party’s Politburo, the nation’s top decision-making body, is expected to turn its policy focus to boosting business confidence and increasing jobs without adding extra stimulus. The People’s Bank of China has already signaled it will begin dialing back the pandemic stimulus.

“European investors that we met last week are frustrated with the sluggish performance of the China markets, similar to HK/ China investors,” Bank of America Corp. strategists including Winnie Wu wrote in a Monday note. However, given geopolitical tensions, people are unsure about the long term, and are reluctant to “buy and wait,” they added.

Investors are also questioning the accuracy of the macro data as corporate earnings and guidance remain soft, the note said.

Tech and pharma stocks were the biggest losers on the HSCEI gauge on Tuesday. The Hang Seng Tech Index slid more than 3 percent.

The market is facing “a raft of negative geopolitical noises with little positive catalysts,” including Biden’s executive order to restrict investments and comments by the Chinese ambassador in France about ex-Soviet states, said Vey-Sern Ling, managing director at Union Bancaire Privee. With assistance from Ishika Mookerjee/Bloomberg

through the defense of the UN Charter, calling it the high point of its month-long presidency of the Security Council. It has been the most contentious presidency in the memory of longtime UN diplomats and officials, and Monday’s meeting added to the antagonism.

US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield called Russia a “hypocritical convener” of the meeting whose “illegal, unprovoked and unnecessary” war in Ukraine “struck at the heart of the UN Charter and all that we hold dear.”

Britain’s UN Ambassador Barbara Woodward said the world has seen “what Russia’s idea of multilateralism means for the world”— the trampling of the UN Charter and a war that has brought un -

imaginable suffering to Ukraine and been “an unmitigated disaster for Russia, too.”

The 27-member European Union called Russia’s attempt to portray itself as a defender of the UN Charter and multilateralism “cynical,” saying it is “in contempt” not only of the UN Charter but UN General Assembly resolutions demanding the withdrawal of Russian forces.

But Lavrov defended what Moscow calls its “special military operation,” reiterating accusations that Ukraine was promoting “Nazi practices” and banning the Russian language and culture, and Nato was planning to expand into Ukraine. He stressed, however, that “it’s not all about Ukraine” but what he called the West’s

plans to leverage the Ukrainian government in the hope of weakening Russia. “We cannot consider the Ukrainian issue separately from the geopolitical context,” Lavrov said. “It’s about how international relations will continue to be shaped through the establishment of a sound consensus on the basis of balance of interests, or through aggressive and volatile advancement of Washington’s hegemony.”

Lavrov strongly criticized Nato members’ activities in the Western Pacific, specifically the alliance between Australia, Britain and the US, and also strengthening US ties with Japan, South Korea and a number of Southeast Asian countries.

Lavrov also accused the US Embassy in Moscow of blocking Russian journalists from accompanying him to New York by approving their visas only after his plane left.

The Russian minister stressed that multilateralism is a key part of the UN Charter and accused the United States and its allies of “destroying globalization” despite touting its benefits.

Lavrov said the West is promoting a “rules-based order” where nobody has seen the rules and which bars access to modern technologies and financial services to punish countries it disagrees with. The

West has imposed a series of economic sanctions on Russia in response to the invasion of Ukraine.

“Let’s call a spade a spade. Nobody allowed the Western minority to speak on behalf of all humankind,” he said.

Thomas-Greenfield, the US ambassador, told the council that Russia’s actions during the 14-month war show that the invasion of Ukraine isn’t an isolated incident.

“This does not just concern Ukraine or Europe,” she said. “It concerns all of us. Because today it’s Ukraine, but tomorrow it could be another country, another small nation that is invaded by its larger neighbor.”

There were about 50 countries that spoke, and many pointed to the increasing confrontation among UN member nations. They stressed the importance of preserving multilateralism, including by reforming the Security Council to reflect the 21st century world instead of the post-World War II power structure.

“The world is standing at a historic crossroads now,” China’s UN Ambassador Zhang Jun told the council. “Humanity is facing unprecedented global challenges. Acts of hegemony and bullying are causing colossal harm to the world. Politics are creating huge divisions and confrontations. It has become all the more urgent and important to uphold the UN Charter.”

Ex-UN head calls for end to violence in Myanmar

BANGKOK—Former UN Secretary-General Ban Kimoon has called for an immediate end to violence in Myanmar after a surprise meeting with the military leaders of the violence-plagued Southeast Asian nation.

Ban met Monday in the Myanmar capital Naypyitaw with the leader of the military government, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, and other top officials. His mission was made on behalf of a group of elder statesmen that engages in peacemaking and human rights initiatives around the world.

Ban is deputy chair of the group, which calls itself The Elders.

A statement released Tuesday by the group quoted Ban as saying his meetings were “exploratory.”

It said Ban, who flew to Bangkok from Naypyitaw Monday night, stressed in his talks the need to implement a peace plan by the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the United Nations to stop the violence between the military and the pro-democracy resistance forces following the army’s 2021 ouster of the civilian government led by Aung San Suu Kyi.

Guatemala president in Taiwan expresses ‘rock-solid friendship’

By Johnson Lai The Associated Press

TAIPEI, Taiwan—The president of Guatemala appealed to other governments to respect Taiwan’s sovereignty during an official visit Tuesday at a time when China’s ruling Communist Party is stepping up efforts to isolate the selfruled island democracy Beijing claims as its own territory.

President Alejandro Giammattei’s government is one of a dwindling number that have official relations with Taipei instead of Beijing. Legislators from the United States and Europe have visited to show support in the face of Beijing’s attempts to intimidate the island, but their governments have official relations with China, not Taiwan.

Taiwan and China split in 1949 after a civil war. Taiwan never has been part of the People’s Republic of China, but the Communist Party says it is obliged to unite with the mainland, by force if necessary.

“I would like to appeal to the international community and the free world that we should strive to respect Taiwan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Giammattei said in a speech to Taiwan’s legislature. He expressed “rock-solid friendship” with Taiwan.

Giammattei said his visit was a “demonstration of our firm support for your country and our

commitment to defending your sovereignty and territorial integrity, and our firm opposition to foreign aggression.”

President Xi Jinping’s government has flown fighter jets and bombers near Taiwan in increasing numbers and fired missiles into the sea in an attempt to intimidate the island.

The number of governments that deal with Taiwan as a na -

tional government is shrinking as Beijing and Taipei compete for recognition from small, mostly poor countries in Africa, Latin America and the South Pacific with infusions of aid and investment.

The United States and all European governments except tiny Vatican City have no official relations with Taiwan, a center for high-tech industry and one of the biggest global traders, but maintain extensive commercial and informal ties.

Taiwanese President Tsai Ingwen visited Guatemala and Belize this month on a tour aimed at shoring up relations with the handful of governments that recognize Taiwan. In Guatemala, Tsai visited a rural hospital built with a donation from Taiwan.

Earlier, Honduras announced it was switching recognition to Beijing following the announcement that a Chinese company would build a $300 million hydroelectric dam project in central Honduras.

UNITED NATIONS—The United Nations chief and representatives from Western nations berated Russia’s top diplomat as he chaired a UN meeting Monday, accusing Moscow of violating the UN Charter by attacking Ukraine and occupying part of its territory.

RUSSIA’S foreign minister Sergey Lavrov, serving as the president of the Security Council gavels in a meeting of the UN Security Council on Monday, April 24, 2023, at United Nations headquarters. AP/JOHN MINCHILLO

IN this photo provided by the Myanmar Military True News Information Team, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, right, head of the military council, talks with Ban Ki Moon, left, former UN Secretary-General, during their meeting on Monday, April 24, 2023, in Naypyitaw, Myanmar.

GUATEMALA’S President Alejandro Giammattei, right, accompanied by Taiwan President Tsai Ingwen reviews a military honor guard at a ceremony in front of Taiwan President Office in Taipei, Taiwan on Tuesday, April 25, 2023. AP/CHIANG YING-YING

Editor: Angel R. Calso

The need to raise farm sector’s yield

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations’ index of food-commodity prices in March allows many policymakers to heave a sigh of relief for now. FAO reported in early April that food prices eased 2.1 percent last month (See, “Global food costs mark one year of drops, at odds with inflation,” in the BusinessMirror April 9, 2023). Grains, vegetable oils and dairy, which offset a rise in sugar and meat prices, drove the decline.

The gauge has fallen 21 percent from a record set a year ago when Russia’s invasion of Ukraine disrupted grain exports. According to FAO, the cereal price index declined 5.6 percent from February, with international wheat prices falling by 7.1 percent, pushed down by strong output in Australia, improved crop conditions in the European Union, high supplies from the Russian Federation and ongoing exports from Ukraine from its Black Sea ports. Also, corn prices fell by 4.6 percent, due partly to expectations of a record harvest in Brazil, while those of rice eased by 3.2 percent amid ongoing or imminent harvests in major exporting countries, including India, Vietnam and Thailand.

However, average prices were still higher by 40 percent from two years ago, according to FAO. And the lower global prices are not being seen in groceries and supermarkets. While food commodities are declining, elevated oil prices continue to put pressure on food prices as higher energy, labor, and transport costs make it difficult for producers to keep prices stable.

Unfortunately for countries that rely on food imports, like the Philippines, the weakness of their currency against the dollar is also compounding their production woes. This is now evident in domestic rice prices, which have gone up in March by an average of 2.6 percent on an annual basis mainly due to more expensive inputs, such as fertilizer. While inflation has fallen below record highs, it remained elevated, at 7.6 percent in March.

Apart from the continued threat posed by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which would keep commodity prices elevated, extreme weather could dampen global food output in the succeeding months. Bloomberg reported that a dry spell is wilting crops and delaying plantings in some of Europe’s top produce growers. About 60 percent of the Spanish countryside is gripped by drought and conditions are worsening in Italy and Portugal.

With the exception of Spain, the Philippines’s top source of pork products, European countries hit by drought are not major sources of food for Filipinos. However, the drought that affected these countries could put pressure on global prices as they may have to purchase their food requirements from other countries. The impact of drought on soy and corn could also make meat and poultry products more expensive.

These signals should be taken into account by local policymakers, some of whom have declared that they will rely on science to guide their decision making (See, “Govt banks on science to tame food inflation,” in the BusinessMirror, April 6, 2023). Official government data indicate that the Philippines continues to rely on foreign countries to fill the gap in its food requirements. We hope that these developments would give them an extra push to immediately put in place measures that would raise the productivity of the Philippine farm sector.

Since 2005 ✝

Ambassador Antonio L. Cabangon Chua Founder

China affirms former Soviet nations’ sovereignty after uproar

BeIJING—The Chinese government said Monday it respected the sovereignty of former Soviet Union republics after Beijing’s ambassador to France caused an uproar in europe by saying they weren’t sovereign nations.

Ambassador Lu Shaye was being called on the carpet by the governments of former Soviet republics, and French President Emmanuel Macron, since Lu’s comment to a French broadcaster. While answering a question about the status of Crimea, which Russia seized from Ukraine in 2014, Lu said that there was no agreement to “solidify their status as a sovereign country.”

The governments of former Soviet republics Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania were among those who rejected Ambassador Lu Shaye’s comment. Macron, at a summit in Ostend, Belgium, said in an interview with TFI Info, that “I don’t think it’s the place of a diplomat to use such language.”

He offered “full solidarity to countries which were attacked in the reading of their histories and their borders.”

A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said earlier that “China respects the sovereign status of the former Soviet countries after the

dissolution of the Soviet Union.”

Mao Ning said Beijing’s position is “consistent and clear” but gave no indication whether Lu’s comment was considered incorrect.

The ambassador drew a parallel between Ukraine and the other former Soviet republics that declared independence from Moscow when the Soviet Union broke up in 1991.

“With regards to international law, even these ex-Soviet Union countries, they do not, they do not have the status—how to say it?— that’s effective in international law, because there is no international agreement to solidify their status as a sovereign country,” Lu told news channel LCI.

The Chinese Embassy in France clarified the ambassador’s remarks, saying in a statement that Lu was not making a “political declaration, but an expression of his personal view during a televised debate.” His remarks “should not be the object of over-interpretation,” it

The Chinese Embassy in France clarified the ambassador’s remarks, saying in a statement that Lu was not making a “political declaration, but an expression of his personal view during a televised debate.”

said. “The position of China ... has not changed.”

Following the breakup of the Soviet Union, it said, “China was among the first countries to establish diplomatic relations with the nations concerned.... The Chinese side respects the status of sovereign nations born after the breakup of the Soviet Union.”

Speaking after chairing a meeting of European Union foreign ministers, the bloc’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, welcomed the clarification provided by China.

“Beijing has distanced itself from the unacceptable remark of its ambassador to Paris,” Borrell told reporters in Luxembourg. He described the response from China’s foreign ministry as “good news,” and added:

“I believe that this issue has now been duly clarified.”

France and Estonia advised

Ambassador Lu to think before he speaks.

In a meeting Monday with the ambassador, France’s Foreign Ministry underscored “the unacceptable character” of his questioning “the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of all states,” according to a ministry statement.

It said the international community—China included—recognized the 15 nations which gained or recovered independence with the break-up of the Soviet Union, including Ukraine and its borders that included Crimea when it declared independence in 1991. The ministry called on the ambassador to reflect on “the official positions of his country when he speaks publicly,” the statement said.

In Estonia, senior foreign ministry official Kristi Karelsohn told the Chinese charge d’affaires that even if the remarks by the Paris ambassador, Lu, reflected a personal position, he was nevertheless an official representative of China.

“We hope that representatives of China will refrain from expressing these kinds of opinions in the future,” Karelsohn said according to

See “China,” A15

Prosecutor: Proud Boys viewed themselves as ‘Trump’s army’

By Michael Kunzelman & Lindsay Whitehurst | The Associated Press

WAShINGTON—Ready for “all-out war,” leaders of the farright Proud Boys extremist group viewed themselves as foot soldiers fighting for Donald Trump as the former president clung to power after the 2020 election, a prosecutor said Monday at the close of a historic trial over the US Capitol insurrection.

After more than three months of testimony, jurors began hearing attorneys’ closing arguments in the seditious conspiracy case accusing Proud Boys national chairman Enrique Tarrio and four lieutenants of plotting to forcibly stop the transfer of power from Trump to President Joe Biden.

The Proud Boys were “lined up behind Donald Trump and willing to commit violence on his behalf,” prosecutor Conor Mulroe told jurors. “These defendants saw themselves as Donald Trump’s army, fighting to keep their preferred leader in power no matter what the law or the courts had to say about it.”

of Trump telling the Proud Boys to “stand back and stand by” during his first presidential debate with Joe Biden.

Tarrio is one of the top targets of the Justice Department’s investigation of the riot that erupted at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Tarrio wasn’t in Washington, D.C., that day but is accused of orchestrating an attack from afar.

One of Tarrio’s lawyers is expected to address jurors on Tuesday when the trial resumes for a second day of closing arguments.

Defense attorneys say there’s is no evidence of a conspiracy or a plan for Proud Boys to attack the Capitol.

After more than three months of testimony, jurors began hearing attorneys’ closing arguments in the seditious conspiracy case accusing Proud Boys national chairman Enrique Tarrio and four lieutenants of plotting to forcibly stop the transfer of power from Trump to President Joe Biden.

manipulate jurors.

“Does that prove some conspiracy by the men here?” Smith asked jurors. “We all know it doesn’t.”

Seditious conspiracy, a Civil Warera charge that is rare and can be difficult to prove, carries a potential sentence of up to 20 years in prison.

The Proud Boys also face other serious charges.

Mulroe said a conspiracy can be an unspoken and implicit “mutual understanding, reached with a wink and a nod.”

“Western chauvinists” that remains a force in mainstream Republican circles.

The foundation of the government’s case, which started with jury selection in January, is a trove of messages that Proud Boys leaders and members privately exchanged in encrypted chats—and publicly posted on social media—before, during and after the Jan. 6 attack.

The messages show Proud Boys celebrating when Trump, a Republican, told the group to “stand back and stand by” during his first debate with Biden, a Democrat. After the 2020 election, they raged online for weeks about baseless claims of a stolen election and what would happen when Biden took office.

“If Biden steals this election, (the Proud Boys) will be political prisoners,” Tarrio posted on Nov. 16, 2020.

“We won’t go quietly ... I promise.”

to 36. E-mail: news.businessmirror@gmail.com

www.news.businessmirror@gmail.com

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MEMBER OF

The prosecution’s words underscore how the Justice Department has worked throughout the trial to link the violence on January 6, 2021, to the rhetoric and actions of the former president. Prosecutors have repeatedly shown jurors a video clip

Nicholas Smith, attorney for former Proud Boys chapter leader Ethan Nordean, said prosecutors built their case on “misdirection and innuendo.” Smith accused prosecutors of repeatedly playing the clip of Trump from the debate to try to

The Justice Department has already secured seditious conspiracy convictions against the founder and members of another far-right extremist group, the Oath Keepers. But this is the first major trial involving leaders of the far-right Proud Boys, a neofacist group of self-described

Jurors also saw the string of gleeful messages that Proud Boys members posted during the Jan. 6 riot. A group of Proud Boys marched to the Capitol that day. Some entered the building after the mob of Trump supporters overwhelmed police lines.

“Make no mistake,” Tarrio wrote in one message. “We did this.”

See “Prosecutor,” A15

Thai party chasing election landslide keeps door open for tie-up with like-minded groups

By Patpicha Tanakasempipat | Bloomberg Opinion

thailand’S most popular political party is open to forming a government with like-minded groups if its array of populist proposals, including an immediate handout of about $16 billion, fails to secure what it calls a “landslide” win.

Pheu Thai, which leads in most pre-poll surveys, will not form an alliance with the military-backed conservative parties headed by former coup-leaders, said Srettha Thavisin, a high-profile former real estate mogul running as one of the party’s three prime ministerial candidates.

The party is backed by ousted leader Thaksin Shinawatra, an enduring yet polarizing figure in Thai politics whose term was marked by allegations of corruption.

Power struggle is intensifying ahead of the May 14 general election, in which more than 52 million Thai voters will elect 500 members of the House of Representatives.

While Pheu Thai is targeting to win 310 seats—from 136 in 2019—it will need the support of at least 376 lawmakers to tilt the scale in an electoral system that favors the establishment.

“We will be the main party that will form the coalition government, if not the only party,” Srettha, 60, said in an interview in Bangkok on Monday. “If we win a high 200, then obviously we need to join hands with other people who have the same beliefs and policies.”

That sets to rest speculation over an unlikely alliance between Pheu Thai and the ruling Palang Pracharath Party as a way to ease decades-long conflict between supporters of Thaksin and the royalist establishment.

Pheu Thai, which has built its campaign around measures to fire up household income to counter high debt and cash injection to stimulate the economy, is on course to win close to 50% of votes, according to several surveys. Its flagship digital wallet proposal of giving 10,000 baht to every Thai aged 16 and up, will cost 560 billion baht ($16 billion).

It also pledged a 70 percent hike in minimum wage, household income of 20,000 baht per month and tripling of farm profits to boost economic growth to 5 percent, if elected.

Parties linked to Thaksin have won the most seats in every election in the past 20 years, supported by voters from Thailand’s vast rural heartlands, only to be unseated by military coups or dissolutions backed by conservative authorities who disapprove their populist agendas. But a win in the general election may not guarantee it power, as the 250-member senate packed by supporters of the old guard will select the next premier along with the lower house.

“After every coup, the country’s gone backwards,” Srettha said, adding the country has fallen behind neighbors on economic growth during the near decade-long regime of Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha. “People have suffered enough, and it’s clearly evident that the military coups have been entirely damaging to the country.”

Thaksin was ousted in 2006, while his sister Yingluck Shinawa-

continued from A14

the Baltic News Service, the region’s main news agency.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said he doesn’t recognize Ukraine’s sovereignty. The Kremlin has also made clear that it sees the independence of the Baltic States and their role in Nato and the EU as threats to Russian security.

Chinese President Xi Jinping’s government sees Moscow as a partner in opposing US domination of global affairs.

Beijing declared it had a “no-limits

Parties linked to Thaksin have won the most seats in every election in the past 20 years, supported by voters from Thailand’s vast rural heartlands, only to be unseated by military coups or dissolutions backed by conservative authorities who disapprove their populist agendas. But a win in the general election may not guarantee it power, as the 250-member senate packed by supporters of the old guard will select the next premier along with the lower house.

tra was thrown out by Prayuth in 2014. Detractors accuse Thaksin and his allies of vote-buying, fiscal recklessness and failing to do enough to tackle corruption. Yingluck also fled the country in 2017 rather than face jail in a criminal case related to a costly policy of paying farmers above-market rates for their rice crop. Like Thaksin, she says the charges against her were politically motivated.

Paetongtarn Shinawatra, Thaksin’s youngest daughter, is the latest figure from the storied clan and the most-favored premier candidate this time. Her party is facing a challenge from Move Forward Party, another opposition group that’s also surging in pre-vote polls.

Still, Thailand’s relative stability since the 2014 coup is often highlighted by the pro-military, royalist parties. In the past years, the economy has sought to reposition itself into a manufacturing hub for green industries such as electric vehicles, smart electronics and chips, which can generate hundreds of thousands of jobs. The government also plans to build high-speed railway lines, including a connection to China via Laos.

Srettha, who quit his chief executive role at luxury developer Sansiri Pcl after more than 30 years in the private sector, has emerged as a key campaigner for the Pheu Thai party with Paetongtarn cutting down her public engagements due to her pregnancy.

Srettha said he was “very confident” the Senate will honor the will of the people and not come in the way of a party or group that secures the majority support of the lower chamber.

As he traveled around Thailand to rally support for Pheu Thai, Srettha said the desire for change was evident. His main agenda is to bridge the gap between the rich and the poor and ease the people’s suffering.

“When you look into their eyes, you see desperation that they’re facing—high debt, low income, high cost of living, low freedom. It’s evident. Nine yeas is a long time,” he said. With assistance from Stephen Engle, Rika Yoshida and Clarissa Batino / Bloomberg.

friendship” with Moscow before Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine but has tried to appear neutral, calling for a cease-fire and peace talks. China has repeated Russian justifications for the invasion.

Governments including the United States say a cease-fire would legitimize Putin’s territorial gains.

“If anyone is still wondering why the Baltic states don’t trust China to ‘broker peace in Ukraine,’ here’s a Chinese ambassador arguing that Crimea is Russian and our countries’ borders have no legal basis,” Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said on Twitter. AP

A quick peek at product standards in the Philippines

Dr. Jesus Lim Arranza MAKE SENSE

StandardS provide the fundamental building blocks for product development, which make it easier to understand and compare competing products. a standard represents an agreedupon norm used by industries and the government that outlines the best method to complete a task, like developing a product, providing a service, or controlling a process. Product standards also help support basic consumer protection as enshrined in the United nations Guidelines for Consumer Protection by helping to raise levels of quality, safety, reliability and efficiency.

As Chairman of the Federation of Philippine Industries, I have been pushing for strict compliance to product standards among manufacturers and importers to ensure the safety and protection of Filipinos. We should not lose track of the fact that the ultimate beneficiaries of product standards are the consumers.

That’s why I am happy to announce the forthcoming launching of Product Standards Philippines magazine, a full color quarterly publication that will highlight the importance for consumers to know the advantages of buying products that are certified compliant to man-

By buying products that are certified compliant to mandatory standards, consumers lessen the risks to life, injury and/or loss of money, among others, especially during these unpredictable times. It would do well for consumers to follow the UN guidelines—buy products compliant to mandatory standards. This way, you are assured of quality, safety, reliability and efficiency.

datory standards. And of course, we will also cite the risks of buying uncertified products.

We are coming out with this publication in line with our advocacy to help set the direction for Philippine industries, which give utmost importance to consumer protection. This is also our way of showing support to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s efforts to fight illicit trade, including his anti-smuggling campaign.

To make the magazine useful and helpful to building officials, engineers, architects, schools, real estate developers and even ordinary consumers, Product Standards Philippines will publish the govern-

ment’s set standards and markings for products falling under mandatory certification. The magazine’s readers will be enlightened and taught how to identify these product markings.

Moreover, the magazine will also publish product features and how these are made compliant to mandatory standards by manufacturers. The plan is to also publish a list of products and manufacturers with compliance issues on record.

We find the need to publish Product Standards Philippines magazine to be even more defined today because of the recent earthquakes, and to help us prepare for the big one. After all, with cheaper but lower quality construction products like steel and wood products, for instance, that are readily available in the market,

the big question now, as we prepare for the big one and regularly do the “duck, cover and hold drill” is, “will the building hold?”

The magazine will be our way of helping the Filipinos to shift their buying habits—and help them become not only price-driven but also quality-driven consumers. Certified standard products are more expensive than uncertified and/or substandard products. But the advantages of buying certified products far outweigh the savings that buyers get from purchasing cheaper but lower quality products. Qualitywise, standard products last longer than substandard products, and they are far safer to use.

Most importantly, by buying products that are certified compliant to mandatory standards, consumers lessen the risks to life, injury and/ or loss of money, among others, especially during these unpredictable times. It would do well for consumers to follow the UN guidelines—buy products compliant to mandatory standards. This way, you are assured of quality, safety, reliability and efficiency.

Dr. Jesus Lim Arranza is the chairman of the Federation of Philippine Industries and Fight Illicit Trade; a broad-based, multisectoral movement intended to protect consumers, safeguard government revenues and shield legitimate industries from the ill effects of smuggling.

What’s behind the looming ‘x-date’ on the US debt limit?

By Josh Boak | The Associated Press

WaShinGtOn in January, the US government ran up against its legal borrowing limit of $31.381 trillion, and the treasury department began implementing “extraordinary measures” to avoid missing payments on its bills.

That started speculation about the “x-date”—the date when those measures would be exhausted and the government might actually default if the limit on federal borrowing is not lifted. The x-date could be reached as early as June, depending on how much money the IRS collects in April from people filing their taxes.

How big a problem is this?

It seems ominous, right?

This might be the time to be getting a bit worried as more than three months have passed with little progress. There is only so long these accounting workarounds can last before President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy need to reach a deal to lift the debt cap. McCarthy is calling for trillions of dollars in spending cuts over the decade in return for an increase, while Biden insists that any talks about government finances should not occur with the threat of an economy-wrecking default hanging over lawmakers.

The Democratic president and Republican congressional leader have each tried to assure the public in recent weeks that they don’t want the government of the world’s largest economy to default. But Biden has

Prosecutor . . .

continued from A14

Prosecutors showed multiple videos from Jan. 6 during their closing statements, including one that appeared to show defendant Zachary Rehl spraying police officers with pepper spray outside the Capitol. Confronted with the images during his testimony earlier in the trial, Rehl said he didn’t remember doing such a thing and couldn’t tell whether it was him.

Mulroe said the images show “he did it and he lied under oath about it.” Rehl’s attorney, Carmen Hernandez, said the video isn’t clear enough to prove Rehl used pepper spray then.

Tarrio, a Miami resident, Nordean and Rehl are on trial with Joseph Biggs and Dominic Pezzola. Nordean, of Auburn, Washington, was a Proud Boys chapter president. Biggs,

“The idea that he won’t even negotiate for more than 80 days, he is now putting the country in default,” McCarthy said. “We are the only ones being responsible and sensible about this.”

resisted McCarthy’s calls for negotiations, while McCarthy is pushing a plan that can’t pass the Democraticmajority Senate.

These talks often grow heated and go down to the wire, with major economic damage in the balance. But there have been roughly 80 deals to raise or suspend the borrowing cap since the 1960s. What possibly makes this time different is the degree of political polarization, which could possibly lead to the US government missing payments and triggering a global economic meltdown.

What are ‘extraordinary measures’?

To keep the government open, the Treasury Department in January began a series of accounting maneuvers that would put a hold on contributions and investment redemptions for government workers’ retirement and health care funds, giving the government enough financial space to handle its day-to-day expenses until roughly June.

By suspending payments, the government can reduce the amount of outstanding debt, enabling the Treasury to keep financing government operations.

What happens if these “extraordi-

of Ormond Beach, Florida, was a self-described Proud Boys organizer.

Rehl was president of a Proud Boys chapter in Philadelphia. Pezzola was a Proud Boys member from Rochester, New York.

Tarrio was arrested in Washington two days before the Jan. 6 riot on charges that he burned a church’s Black Lives Matter banner during an earlier march in the city. Tarrio heeded a judge’s order to leave the nation’s capital after his arrest.

The defense attorneys called several current and former Proud Boys to the stand, trying to portray the group as a drinking club that only engaged in violence for self-defense against antifascist activists.

“If you don’t like what some of them say, that doesn’t make them guilty,” Hernandez told jurors.

Rehl, the first defendant to testify, said the group had “no objective” that day. Pezzola testified that he got

nary measures” are exhausted without a debt limit deal is unknown. A prolonged default could be devastating, with crashing markets and panic-driven layoffs if confidence evaporated in a cornerstone of the global economy, the US Treasury note.

How common is this?

“Treasury Secretaries in every Administration over recent decades have used these extraordinary measures when necessary,” Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen wrote in her initial letter about the measures.

The measures were first deployed in 1985 and have been used at least 16 times since then, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a fiscal watchdog.

Why do we have a debt limit?

Before World War I, Congress needed to approve each bond issuance. The debt limit was created as a workaround to finance the war effort without needing a constant series of votes.

Since then, a tool created to make it easier for the government to function has become a source of dysfunction, stoking partisan warfare and creating economic risk as the debt has increased in size over the past 20 years.

“caught up in the craziness” and acted alone on Jan. 6 when he used a riot shield stolen from a police officer to smash a Capitol window.

The prosecutor told jurors that the Proud Boys leaders wanted to stop Congress from certifying Biden’s victory “by any means necessary, including force.”

“You want to call this a drinking club? You want to call a men’s fraternal organization? Ladies and gentlemen, let’s call this what it is … a violent gang that came together to use force against its enemies” Mulroe said.

Key witnesses for prosecutors included two former Proud Boys members who pleaded guilty to riotrelated charges and are cooperating with the government in the hopes of getting lighter sentences.

The first, Matthew Greene, testified that group members were expecting a “civil war” as they grew

How risky is the brinkmanship this time?

It looks alarming—and it’s unclear how Biden, McCarthy and the Democratic Senate will find common ground. A default could cause millions of job losses, a deep recession that would reverberate globally and, ironically, higher interest rates that would make it harder to manage the federal debt.

Biden called the plan that McCarthy unveiled last week “wacko,” with a White House analysis showing that the spending caps would hurt schooling for children, health care for veterans, food aid for families and seniors and cause housing costs to climb for the country’s poorest households.

The president’s budget plan announced in March would reduce deficits by nearly $3 trillion over the next 10 years, primarily through tax increases on the wealth and corporations.

“America is not a deadbeat nation,” Biden said. “Take default off the table.”

On Fox News, McCarthy defended his plan in a Sunday interview by noting that even Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.V., backed a 1% spending cap on discretionary spending. McCarthy said Biden was putting the country at risk of defaulting by refusing to hold talks. “The idea that he won’t even negotiate for more than 80 days, he is now putting the country in default,” McCarthy said. “We are the only ones being responsible and sensible about this.”

increasingly angry about the election results. The second, Jeremy Bertino, testified that he viewed the Proud Boys as leaders of the conservative movement and as “the tip of the spear” after the November 2020 election.

The Proud Boys’ defense mirrored arguments made by lawyers for members of the Oath Keepers, who were separately charged with seditious conspiracy. They, too, said there was no evidence of a plan for group members to attack the Capitol.

Over the course of two Oath Keepers trials, prosecutors secured seditious conspiracy convictions against Rhodes and five other members, while three defendants were acquitted of the charge. Those three, however, were convicted of obstructing Congress’ certification of Biden’s electoral victory. Associated Press writer Alanna Durkin Richer in Boston contributed to this report.

EU’s ₧610-M space data center to help PHL manage risks

By Malou Talosig-Bartolome

FOR the past few years, images taken from space by Europe’s satellites were shared with the Philippine government to manage the impact of disasters such as typhoons, the eruption of Taal Volcano and recently, the oil spill in Mindoro.

T he European Union of fered the Philippine government access to more of their space data images by building a national Copernicus data center in the country.

T he Philippines, considered as one of the countries most vulnerable to climate change, agreed to take on the offer and became the first in Southeast Asia to partner with the EU on a space program.

O n Monday (April 24), the EU Mission in Manila officially announced and launched a landmark space deal called the Copernicus Capacity Support Action Programme for the Philippines (CopPhil).

Under the deal, the Philippines can access EU’s data gathered by its satellites from its Earth’s Observation Program called Copernicus.

A wealth of environment and climate

data derived from a constellation of Copernicus satellites—the Sentinels— will be made available to Philippine authorities. The Sentinels monitor the Earth and its many ecosystems 24 hours daily. A Copernicus national mirror site will be established for the Philippine government. A centralized Copernicus data storage and processing center (essentially a highperformance server) will be built at the Philippine Space Agency. Multiple government agencies will be linked via dedicated high speed links for fast data download and processing.

“ With this new Copernicus center, the Philippine authorities will be better equipped to help people respond to natural disasters and climate change.

Continued on A4

Immediate evacuation for OFWs in Sudan ordered

By Samuel P. Medenilla @sam_medenilla

PRESIDENT Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. has ordered for the immediate evacuation and assistance of Filipinos fleeing Sudan during the 72-hour ceasefire between the warring factions in the African country.

“Right now, we are hoping that the 72-hour ceasefire that has been declared will hold and we will—we are preparing ourselves,” Marcos said in a statement issued on Tuesday.

T he ceasefire was announced on Monday by the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces.

T he President met with the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), Department of National Defense (DND), and the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) to get updates on the situation of Filipinos in Sudan.  Exit routes AMONG the issues discussed at the meeting were the three possible evacuation routes for the initial 327 Filipinos who sought repatriation.

DMW Secretary Susan Ople said the exit points include the land routes from Khartoum to Egypt as well as to the Port Sudan and then, by ship to Jeddah.

T he third one, she said, would be by air through the US base in Djibouti.

M arcos said they are closely monitoring the situation in Sudan since the land routes out of the African state as well as its airport remain unsafe.

“ We’re watching this situation very, very closely and to see if there’s a window of opportunity to bring the Philippine nationals out [of Sudan],” Marcos said.

Government aid

OPLE said she expects the number of evacuees to rise since the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) reported over 700 Filipinos are in Sudan.

The DMW chief will be flying to Cairo, Egypt to oversee the assistance for affected Filipinos, while DFA will handle their evacuation. S he said each of the affected workers will be given a US200 cash aid as well as possible temporary alternative employment opportunities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

“ We are working it out with our partners in Saudi Arabia if there is a possibility that because most of the workers based in Sudan are skilled professionals, we are trying to explore the possibility of temporary jobs in Saudi Arabia—if that will be allowed by their government,” Ople said.

OFFICIALS representing state and space agencies from European Union countries, led by EU Ambassador to the Philippines Luc Véron, and the Philippines’s Science and Technology Secretary Renato Solidum do a hand stack to show solidarity behind an ambitious project to let the Philippines share in space data for vital responses to climate and environmental risks. Photo below is the space satellite courtesy of the EU Directorate General for International Partnerships. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO FROM THE DELEGATION OF THE EU TO THE PHILS.

Editor: Jennifer A. Ng

Wednesday, April 26, 2023

‘Power spot prices to remain at P7/kwh on rising demand’

By Lenie Lectura @llectura

IEMOP reported Tuesday that prices for most days in April climbed to P7.68 per kilowatt hour (kWh) from P6.57 per kWh in March.

“The probability of (average prices) remaining at P7 per kwh in May is high. It is still April and May is still part of the summer months. The El Niño phenomenon is going to be another factor so the probability could be high,” said IEMOP Corporate Strategy and Communications head Isidro Cacho Jr. during an online news

briefing.

Market prices increased from P6.57 to 7.68 pesos per kWh from March to April billing periods for Luzon and Visayas. In contrast, the market price for Mindanao went down to P5.36/kWh in April from P6.56/kWh in March, according to IEMOP.

“Personally, since there are two days left for the April billing period, WESM [Wholesale Electricity Spot Market] price in Luzon and Visayas is unlikely to go down to below P7 per kW,” said Cacho.

Average electricity demand in Luzon and Visayas rose to 11,033 MW in April from 10,244 in March. Meanwhile, Mindanao’s power demand also rose to 1,790 MW from 1,752 MW.

The increase in demand led to year-to-date peak levels in all grids. Demand in Luzon reached a new peak of 12,221 MW on April 19, while Visayas demand peaked at 2,380 MW on April 17. Mindanao also recorded a new peak demand of 2,363 MW on April 19.

These figures showed an increase of 6 percent for Luzon and 10 percent each for Visayas and Mindanao compared to the same period last year.

“The peak demand for Luzon increased by as much as 800 MW. Traditionally, peak demand occurs in May, sometimes in June. For this year, probably because of the heat wave we’re experiencing, the increase in demand is more than 700 MW. That’s about a 6 percent increase in peak demand,” said Cacho.

The year-to-date peak demand

figures for Visayas and Mindanao grids also went up by about 10 percent, Cacho said. “At this rate, the 2,000 MW surplus in Mindanao in the medium term could be gone. It could be because of economic activities or just because of the weather condition that we are experiencing.”

Despite the increase in demand, supply levels for Luzon and Visayas improved to 14,612 MW in April from 14,226 MW in March, as fewer power generators were scheduled for outage. Mindanao recorded ample supply levels at around 3,018 MW for March and April.

IEMOP, a nonprofit organization, is the operator of WESM.

The Independent electricity Market Operator of the Philippines (IeMOP) warned that average electricity spot market prices in May could remain at the P7 per kilowatt hour (kWh) level.

Youth group’s new products now available in Laoag OSS

How mothers know best: A mompreneur’s journey

LAOAG CITY—Young entre-

preneur Marvin Xavier Nicolas Vea from a rural farming village of Bagbago in Solsona, Ilocos Norte dreamed of having a shop in the city to make his products more accessible to a bigger market.

He never thought it would come sooner than expected as the Vea Eco Farm’s pakbet (mixed vegetables) crackers, lettuce chips, and tilapia gourmet, among others, are now on display at the newly inaugurated one-stop-shop (OSS) located at the compound of the Ilocos Norte Agriculture and Fisheries Extension Center Building here.

Funded by the provincial government, the OSS is a place of convergence for the training, processing, and marketing of local products.

It also features a shared service facility for rural-based organizations, such as the 4-H Federated Club and Rural Improvement Club (RIC) of Ilocos Norte.

As the government’s active partners in promoting and accelerating rural development, the 4-H Federated Club and RIC lead the operation of the center.

“We can’t express how thankful we are for this project. The one-stopshop provides more opportunity to the 4-H Federated Club to market our products,” said Vea, who is also the president of the 4-H Federated Club of Ilocos Norte.

He added the shop would further motivate them “to make the best better,” and to inspire more youth to join the 4-H in support of the

government’s effort to promote inclusive growth.

“We need more innovations, kaya naman ang aming partnership sa 4H ay napakahalaga and we thank you for your partnership (We need more innovations that is why our partnership with 4H is very important and we thank you for that),” said Ilocos Norte Governor Matthew Joseph Manotoc during the recent OSS launch.

“

Sa mga RIC naman, we know na ang ating [mga] Ilokana ay napaka reliable, that’s why we want to provide more opportunities for our women in Ilocos Norte kase kayo po talaga ang symbolic representation of Ilokano diligence and steadiness (For the RIC, we know that Ilokano women are reliable that is why we want to provide more opportunities for our women in Ilocos Norte because you are a symbol of diligence and steadiness),” he said.

Aside from participating in the government’s organized trade fairs and exhibits, Crisner Lagazo, also a young farmer from Sulbec, Pasuquin town told the Philippine News Agency on Friday that they feel lucky and blessed for having ready access to various government programs and services.

To sustain the daily operation of the center, Lagazo said members would take turns as “duty for the day.”

“We are just waiting for the aircon installation and we shall be operating the center in full blast,” said Lagazo, adviser and former president of the 4-H Federated Club. PNA

After a failed marriage, she returned to her hometown with her two children in 1994 after living abroad for seven years. She then pursued her passion for fashion design and established a small dress shop. She ran her new-found love for business and fashion design until 2014. Aside from managing her business, she also served as the Tourism Officer of the local government unit of Mamburao in Occidental Mindoro for a couple of years.

Despite having a lot on her plate already, Tejada’s strength and determination from being a mother pushed her to venture into other forms of businesses.

Seeing the potential of the beach house she inherited from her parents, Tejada decided to venture into the hospitality industry and established Maru’s Food Lounge and Beachfront Rooms in 2012.

“We started with just three rooms and converted the kitchen section of the house into a hall to cater to diners,” she recalled.

Due to its native spa-like ambiance, cozy and clean rooms, friendly staff, and, above all, delectable food, the lounge became the talk of the town, attracting both locals and tourists. Rooms were always occupied and they started catering for large gatherings and events. The food lounge was always packed, especially during lunch and dinner.

Through their savings from the income of the business, they were

able to expand the hotel. They were able to construct seven additional rooms, a conference hall, and a swimming pool.

Despite having a demanding schedule as a mother and a business owner, she remained active in promoting the province’s tourism industry and was eventually chosen to lead the Provincial Tourism Council.

In 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic shook the business world, especially the hospitality industry, and turned many hotel businesses upside down. Similar to many other hotels, Maru’s was forced to cease operations.

After several months, Maru’s started to revive its operations as the government eased Covid restrictions and finally allowed hotels and restaurants to reopen as long as they follow the prescribed health protocols set by the Department of Tourism (DOT).

However, bouncing back after the pandemic is very challenging, especially for businesses like theirs.

Hospitality sales after the pandemic will be hard to keep up. People are still afraid to travel or stay in a hotel. She kept on thinking about what she can do to boost their sales and make Maru’s a home away from home again.

Fortunately, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) invited her to attend their Kapatid Mentor ME (KMME) Program, a 10-module mentorship and coaching program in partnership with Philippine Center for Entrepreneurship - Go Negosyo.

Through KMME, Tejada learned the value of digitization and e-commerce. According to her, the digital marketing module, especially the coaching and mentoring sessions on using various online platforms and content creation, has been very helpful in getting her business back on track.

Now, she is able to promote Maru’s on social media and on several travel booking sites. Also, Maru’s now accepts electronic payments.

Moreover, Tejada affirmed that her participation in the KMME equipped her with the skills necessary to maintain her financial records and comprehend financial management, specifically financial statements and balance sheets, as well as taxation. Also, Tejada and her staff participated in DTI-facilitated food safety management training.

“It is not surprising that in the aftermath of the pandemic, cleanliness is the top concern of consumers. Hence, we should be more careful and attentive to ensure that the food we offer is safe for customers to come in and enjoy,” she emphasized. Maru’s

also obtained DOT accreditation, a certification given to a tourism enterprise by the agency that formally recognizes it as having met the minimum standards for the operation of tourism facilities and services.  Presently, the business is doing well and even surpassing its sales pre-pandemic. “Apart from learning from the mentors, I had a lot of fun interacting with my fellow mentees and learned a lot from them,” Ms. Tejada said.

“I hope more entrepreneurs get to experience the KMME program,” she said, emphasizing that being an entrepreneur requires a lifelong commitment to learning and improvement. “Develop a passion for learning. If you do, your business will never cease to grow,” she continued.

When asked what advice she could give to aspiring entrepreneurs, particularly to moms who are considering starting their businesses, she replied, “Never limit yourself.”

“Remain focused, and most importantly, never give up because the Lord works in mysterious ways,” she added.

Tala teams up with UnionDigital to provide mobile wallet to MSMEs, borrowers in PHL

By Roderick L. Abad @rodrik_28

Contributor

GLOBAL technology com-

pany Tala has entered into a partnership deal with homegrown UnionDigital Bank to launch an electronic wallet to provide both the unbanked and underserved Filipinos, whether individuals or businesses, with a seamless destination to manage their daily financial needs and stabilize their economic status in just a click of a button.

According to Tala Philippines

Chief Product Officer Jori Pearsall, nearly 45 percent of the adult population in the Philippines still does not have bank accounts. Not to be ignored, of course, are the many people with limited access to banking services.

“This will continue to stress many Filipinos’ state of being. That’s one of the reasons why we’ve chosen the Philippines as the first country to launch the Tala Wallet,” he told reporters during their memorandum of agreement signing and kick off event held in Makati City on Monday.

As the launchpad for Tala’s establishment, growth and expansion, the multinational did not think twice to debut another product here due to responsive markets who need financial access such as the micro, small and medium enterprises or MSMEs, which comprise 99.58 percent of all businesses nationwide; a young workforce at 20 million as of 2020; and the high penetration of smart mobile devices at 84.67 percent as of last year.

“It’s geography, financial ecosys-

tems, and the amazing people have made it ideal in helping build the foundation of a more inclusive financial world,” said Tala Philippines marketing Manager Missy Santos.

Powered by EON owned by UnionDigital Bank, the new Tala Wallet allows users to now apply loans and directly receive the money they borrow through Tala’s awardwinning mobile application. Also, they can pay bills sans transaction charges or transfer money virtually without the need to travel or line up in long queues onsite.

“With this partnership, Tala moves from being strictly on lending out to providing a full range of digital financial services for our customers,” Nick Norcross, senior vice president for global product of Tala, noted as he differentiated the Tala Wallet from other competitors being built on their robust and developed micro-credit services.

Shared mission

THE partnership between Tala and UnionDigital Bank is grounded on the commitment of empowering individuals with access to seamless, secure, and reliable and meaningful financial services.

Per UnionDigital Bank President and CEO Henry Aguda, they share with Tala the promise of financial inclusion and empowerment for those who haven’t been tapped by the formal lending sector. Starting out as a full digital bank with a key focus on providing essential banking products and services, he said that they aspire to be the primary digital bank for the underserved Filipinos like the minimum

wage earners, the MSMEs, and the overseas Filipino workers. Tala, for its part, constantly talks to its customers to understand their challenges and to make products that help them meet their financial needs.

From an execution standpoint, on the other hand, Tala is focused on customers’ experience. Just like its app, the application process for the wallet is also the same with the need of only one valid ID and an Android phone.

This and more benefits have, in turn, made Tala continuously receive positive feedbacks from the local market. In fact, Tala Philippines Site Operations Director Paulo

Dalupan revealed that reports show a Net Promoter Score of 84, which is excellent, as most of their customers enjoy efficient loan approval process and ease of use of the app.

He added that they found out in another study that almost all their borrowers or 98 percent agree that they understand the terms and conditions of their loans, and 99 percent trust Tala with their personal information.

“Now that we are offering the expanded Tala wallet, we are bringing to our customers the next level of satisfaction of doing all the transactions they want to in one single-app and our continued commitment of our services, just better,” he said.

With their partnership with Tala, Aguda is positive that it will enable the customers of their partner to achieve their financial goals and build a better future for themselves and their families.

He said: “This partnership with Tala will be one of our gateways to deliver unparalleled convenience and accessibility in financial services to their two million customers.”

Future endeavors

TALA and UnionDigital Bank’s collaboration still has a long way to go as this will enable more Filipinos to build a more financially secured future. The launch of the Tala Wallet will open the door for them to offer more to their customers in the coming years.

“We are looking forward to giving you lower interest rates and more credit loan products in the future. And just like the support we’ve been receiving the past years, we hope for the same warmth of support from you and the public in this future endeavor,” Dalupan shared.

“There are multiple ways we can collaborate. At the moment, we’re targeting different segments of the market for credit,” UnionDigital Bank Chief Commercial & Revenue Officer Mike Singh added.

For example, Tala provides a maximum loan of P100,000. With this in mind, he thought of “what if they do with customers that have moved out to the social ladder through Tala’s effort to educate the customer in financial credit or to start a business becomes successful? What if it’s some point the customer need half-a-million, [or]

a million [pesos]. That’s where our bank comes in. So there are customers that we declined that potentially could pass to Tala to underwrite.

So really it’s a beautiful marriage.” Excited for what lies ahead because of the potential and opportunities their team up could bring to their customers, Aguda also disclosed their inclination to teach MSMEs on how to leverage in order to know the ways to increase their wealth.

“Most businesses use leverage to increase their value,” he explained. “The only way they can learn that is by providing affordable financial services.”

The President and CEO of UnionDigital Bank cited, for instance, that if a small business player is given a loan of P10,000 and able to pay it that entitles him to a bigger amount of credit every time it’s settled on time, “that’s the only way it grows.”

“Our country will be better off with our MSMEs getting a lot more help from the financial sector to grow their businesses,” he stressed, while citing their plan to embark on the Agri-Agra Loan. “So we will make full use of the Agri-Agra Law in order for us to reserve money that we can lend to agriculturalbased MSMEs.

Such initiatives, Norcross bared, are among the reasons they think highly of the UnionDigital as a great partner. He said: “They’re such good all throughout in their mission and segments that are very similar to ours. We see these as too complementary strategies that we can work together for the success of our customers.”

Raising your kids while running a business is no easy task. in fact, to say it is “challenging” would be an understatement. But for Elma V. Tejada, one can juggle motherhood and entrepreneurship and be great at both.

Elma V. TE jada (left), owner of maru’s Food lounge and Beachfront Rooms in mamburao, Occidental mindoro holds the resort’s 2016 Q asia Quality Excellence award for the Best asian Fusion Restaurant in mindoro. Contributed photo

Tala Philippines Chief Product Officer jori Pearsall (center) fields the question of the media during the launch of the new Tala Wallet in makati City. joining him are (from left) nick norcross, senior vice president for global product of Tala; Paulo dalupan, site operations director of Tala Philippines; Henry aguda, president and chief executive officer of Uniondigital Bank; and mike Singh, Chief Commercial and Revenue Officer of Uniondigital Bank. Contributed photo

BSP tweaks rules to relieve forex pressures

By Cai U. Ordinario @caiordinario

The amendments were made to encourage the use of the hedging facility by increasing its availability, to relieve pressures in the forex spot market.

“The lessons from last year’s weakness in the peso show that spillover of risks is inevitable in an increasingly global and interconnected world. Hence as the peso stabilizes, we find this an opportune time to strengthen Filipino resilience,” BSP Governor Felipe M. Medalla said.

“The CRPP had to be revamped to increase its availability to banking clients. We did this by streamlining and easing the requirements and ex-

panding the coverage of eligible FX transactions,” Medalla added.

Documentary requirements have been aligned with the existing regulations on forex transactions and have eliminated the notarial rules to enable expeditious applications.

Further, forex obligations and transactions eligible for the CRPP Facility have been expanded to include non-trade transactions and investments from the original traderelated coverage.

Other operational amendments include the change in the applicable US dollar-interest rate to be used in the computation of the rate for non-

Bill extending estate tax amnesty yrs up for plenary

By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz @joveemarie

THE House Committee on Ways and Means approved last Tuesday the proposal extending the availment of estate tax amnesty for another 2 years.

House Committee on Ways and Means Chairman Jose Ma. Clemente “Joey” S. Salceda said his panel endorsed for plenary approval House Bill (HP) 7409. Principally authored by Speaker Martin G. Romualdez, HB 7409 seeks to extend by another two years the deadline for applying for estate tax amnesty.

The bill seeks to postpone the deadline of application from June 14, 2023, and reset it to June 14, 2025, amending Section 6 of Republic Act (RA) 11213 (as amended).

The bill covers estate of decedent/s who died on or before December 31, 2017, with or without assessment duly issued therefore, whose estate taxes remained unpaid or have accrued as of December 31, 2017.

Salceda explained that an estate tax is a tax on the right of the deceased person to transmit the estate to lawful heirs and beneficiaries.

“The easier the assets can be passed on to their productive users, the better it will be for the economy,” the lawmaker opined.

Salceda further explained that “that principle guided the first estate tax amnesty law and its subsequent extension.”

According to Salceda, “the idea was to transfer estates more efficiently and more expeditiously so that their value can be unlocked for better economic use. As blunt as this sounds: the dead cannot use or optimize assets. That task falls solely on the living,” the lawmaker said. “As many of you know, unsettled estates can leave land and other assets idle and unused for years, if not decades.”

Not an option

HB 7409 also seeks to amend the

following: RA 8424 (National Internal Revenue Code of 1997, as amended by RA 10963 or Train Law); RA 11213 (Tax Amnesty Act); and, RA 11569, (An Act Extending the Estate Tax Amnesty and for Other Purposes, Amending Section 6 of RA 11213).

Under the current ecosystem, people seeking to avail the amnesty are expected to pay tax at a rate of 6 percent based on the decedent’s total net estate (or net undeclared estate if there’s a previously filed estate tax return) at the time of death.

On the other hand, if the allowable deductions applicable at the time of death exceed the value of gross estate, a minimum payment of P5,000, as the case may be, is expected.

Salceda explained that the other idea underlying an estate tax amnesty is that most estates are not liquid.

“So heirs have to come up with cash that they may not necessarily have, or part with some portion of the estate of the deceased to settle the tax,” he said. “Of course, for many estates, such as family homes or agrarian lands with liens, that might not be an option.”

Remain idle, unusable

SALCEDA said that “as a result of the difficulty of coming up with the cash to settle estates that are not liquid, many estates remain idle or unusable as collateral.”

The task of the estate tax amnesty, then, was not to collect taxes per se, according to the lawmaker.

“After all, it is a forgiveness of certain tax receivables that should have been collected—notionally, making it a revenue-eroding measure,” he said. “The task of estate tax amnesty is to unlock enough value from idle and unsettled estates.”

RA 11213 was passed to provide taxpayers immunity from the payment of estate taxes until June 15, 2021.

However, Salceda said the pandemic hampered the settlement

of estates that, to begin with, is inherently challenged by family sensitivities.

According to Salceda, by enacting RA 11569, the 18th Congress extended the estate tax amnesty from June 15, 2021, to June 14, 2023, “to give people more time to settle estates.”

“We also streamlined the procedure by removing the requirement of proof of settlement in the payment of the estate tax under the same law,” he said. “Now that the extended deadline—June 14, 2023—is upon us, we are informed that this tax amnesty is yet to be optimized.”

Struggling to comply

THE lawmaker believes that many families still struggle to comply with documentary as well as cash requirements.

“Hence, our leadership filed this measure to give more time to our constituents to clear their obligations.”

But Salceda hopes this will be the last time the Congress extends RA 11213, otherwise “it defeats the purpose of tax compliance if violations will always be forgiven.”

The lawmaker said other steps include: simplifying the filing procedure with the option to file online; opening assistance centers in local governments; relief from the judiciary on rules for signing special power of attorney for overseas Filipino workers abroad; and, others to address the non-tax barriers to expeditiously settling estates.

The lawmaker said he is also open to supporting an “Estate Tax Amnesty helpline” by the Bureau of Internal Revenue, to provide filing support for indigent families and smaller estates.

Meanwhile, Finance Assistant Secretary Dakila Elteen M. Napao said the Department of Finance (DOF) is supporting the passage of the measure given its “laudable intention.”

“Through this bill, those with unsettled or unpaid estate taxes are encouraged to clear themselves

of their obligations and transfer the property to rightful heirs and help the government increase tax collections,” Napao said.

Relief to taxpayers

NAPAO also noted that the most important purpose of the estate tax amnesty—as it would encourage settlement of estate, “is to release property of unsettled estate so that they can be made subject to business transactions—such properties after settlement may be sold, leased, and subject to joint venture agreement.”

“Such transactions will have tax consequences and then will result in tax collections for the government,” he added.

Although not a revenue measure, Napao said collections from the estate tax have reached P7.4 billion from 2019 to March 2023.

“The DOF believes that to fully achieve the purpose of the tax amnesty law, it is deemed necessary to further extend the availment of tax amnesty, so that [our] fellow countrymen [will] benefit from this, [and] also allow the government to have additional revenues to help finance infrastructure and social programs,” he said.

Meanwhile, Bureau of Internal Revenue Assistant Commissioner Maria Luisa I. Belen said the estate amnesty tax program has been an effective tool in achieving the State policy objectives of enhancing revenue administration and collections.

“Since its implementation the estate tax amnesty has proven to be successful in generating substantial revenue with billions of pesos raised. Unfortunately due to the pandemic, the estate tax amnesty was not fully utilized making it necessary to extend the program’s deadline,” Belen said.

The BIR official added that the proposed extension of the program will provide the much needed relief to taxpayers who struggling to settle their tax obligation due to financial difficulties brought by the pandemic.

Unionbank posts growth despite elevated expense

AMID interest rate hikes and “still elevated” expenses, Union Bank of the Philippines still managed to grow its net income in the first quarter of the year.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), the Aboitizled Unionbank reported it was able to grow its net income by 30 percent to P3.4 billion in the January-to-March period of 2023.

Unionbank also reported that its net interest income grew 57 percent to P16.1 billion on the back of its acquisition of the Philippine consumer business of Citigroup Inc. as well as strong consumer-loan growth through City Savings Bank Inc. and UnionDigital Bank Inc.

“Our retail focus has allowed us to preserve our margins against a backdrop of continued policy rate hikes. We expect our core income to further improve throughout the year as we grow our consumer portfolio,”

Unionbank Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Manuel R. Lozano was quoted in the disclosure as saying.

“Our expenses this year are still elevated due to one-offs, as we are effectively running on two systems to integrate the acquired Citi consumer business into ours. Once we complete the migration this year, we are confident that we will once again generate double digit Return on Equity,” Lozano added.

Cost of funds

UNIONBANK also reported that despite the expensive cost of funds, its net interest margin of 5.21 percent, increased by 54 basis points. Its earning assets also expanded by 28 percent to P894.9 billion yearon-year. Fees and other income, including from trading, increased by 82 percent to P4.2 billion compared to

last year. The increase was driven by fees from digital and card-related transactions, the lender said.

The bank’s total assets as of March 31 reached P1.1 trillion, which was 30-percent higher compared to the same period last year.

Its net loans and receivables grew P490 billion, a 39-percent growth from last year. Total deposits increased 20 percent to P692.9 billion due to the growth of cash management and retail banking.

“The investments we made last year have exceeded our expectations. UnionDigital is already profitable after less than a year in operation. There is strong momentum in the acquired credit cards business from Citi,” Unionbank President and CEO Edwin R. Bautista was quoted in the statement as saying.

“New-to-bank card customers are at a record level. We are geared up to grow our retail banking busi-

deliverable forwards following the cessation of the Libor benchmark, the removal of the 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. trading window and the change in maximum tenor.

The BSP said the country’s recovery was hampered by externalities from global developments and the depreciation of the Philippine peso.

These factors include the aggressive interest rate hikes by the US Federal Reserve; concerns over the impact of the Russia-Ukraine war; and imposition of tighter restrictions in China.

The CRPP facility serves as a tool for the effective management

of foreign currency exposures amid exchange rate volatility.

It is a continuing facility that allows clients of universal and commercial banks (UKBs) to hedge their eligible foreign currency obligations/ transactions through non-deliverable forwards. Clients who wish to tap the CRPP facility may deal with their respective UKBs.

The UKBs shall then directly transact with the BSP for bank clients who wish to avail of the CRPP Facility. Only net payments shall be settled by BSP or the counterparty bank at the maturity of the contract.

Reset your work clock

ACASUAL search on the Internet about the habits of billionaires and millionaires indicate that many if not most of them wake up as early as 4 a.m. As an example, an August 18, 2022, article published by CNBC, said that “nearly two-thirds of successful CEOs say they wake up at 6 a.m. or earlier.”

There are also a number of scientific studies indicating that the brain functions better during this time rather t han later at night.

In spite of this, many managers and professionals, particularly the younger people work well into the night but, unfortunately, also wake up much later, some as late as noontime. Does this make sense?

The normal excuses I hear are that they are running after a deadline or there is just too much work to do. I can understand working a few hours more to meet a deadline or prepare for an important meeting or presentation; but only once in a while and certainly not on a sustained basis.

If you end up working the same number of hours but have different times of doing it, just try to shift into a more practical time unless your job demands you to work at certain hours due to dealing with others in a different time zone or you are in a night shift. Let’s say you have to work eight hours a day with a 1-hour break in between. Would you prefer to be working from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. or 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.?

There are practical reasons for working during the core time of 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Your clients, suppliers, business partners and government agencies are open this time so you can maximize the time you can access them. In addition, the full resources of your own organization will most likely be available during these normal office hours.

Furthermore, it is a myth that 14-

hour work days on a prolonged basis is sustainable. Working every day from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. for more than a week or so is impossible without compromising the quality of your work and your physical well-being, even if you work from home. There have been sufficient studies on the adverse effects of not getting 7 or more hours of sleep daily. Your family and social life is also bound to suffer if you have become a night owl. You will end up having less overlap time to be able to have meals together, enjoy each other’s company and spend quality time together. If you think about it, there really isn’t much to be gained from shifting to a later working schedule.

It is merely are illusion of hard work if you burn the midnight oil. Working at 100 percent of your potential for eight hours a day is certainly better than working at 50 percent of your potential for 14 hours a day.

Consider making the move to reset your work clock to more normal hours and I am certain it will improve the quality of your life, enhance your career and improve your performance. The choice is yours to make.

The views and comments of Dr. George S. Chua are his own and not of the BusinessMirror or the Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines (Finex). The author was 2016 FINEX President, 2010 to 2020 FPI President and currently an active entrepreneur with investments in fintech, broadcast, media, telecommunications and properties. Comments may be sent to georgechuaph@yahoo.com.

GCG taking in all inputs for LBP-DBP merger bid

ness. Our infrastructure is ready for scale. We have sufficient capital coming from the recent stock rights offering to further grow our earning asset base,” Bautista added.

Last year, Unionbank’s acquisition of Citigroup’s consumer business in the Philippines shored up the local lender’s short-term and longterm prospects, an international research firm said last January.

CreditSights, which was acquired by the Fitch Group, said the move was a “meaningful acquisition for a bank the size of Unionbank” and would not have been made possible if not for the strong corporate backing of the bank via the Aboitiz Group. The think tank also said their internal calculations showed that Unionbank’s acquisition of Citi will take the bank’s Common Equity Tier1 ratio down to approximately 13.5 percent. Cai U. Ordinario

THE chief of the Governance Commission for GovernmentOwned and -Controlled Corporations (GCG) said last Tuesday the agency is taking in everything thrown their way in relation to the proposed merger of the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) and the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP).

“We welcome all resolutions, inputs and study that will provide the Commission better understanding and information to determine whether it is appropriate to merge the concerned government financial institutions [GFIs],” Commissioner Gideon D.V. Mortel was quoted as saying in a statement issued last April 25.

Mortel said the GCG has already submitted to the Office of the President a legal study that says the proposed merger of the two state-run lenders can be done through executive action.

Moreover, the study said that Republic Act (RA) 10149 (GOCC Governance Act of 2011)—among other legal bases, statutes and applicable jurisprudence—empowers the GCG to ascertain whether such GOCCs should be merged.

The proposed merger, however, is

still under scrutiny.

In a resolution dated April 17, 2023, Sen. Ana Theresia “Risa” N. Hontiveros called for an investigation, in aid of legislation, into the proposal. Hontiveros raised concerns over the potential risks and benefits the merger may bring to the economy, the financial system and stakeholders.

Nonetheless, Mortel said any further inquiry on the proposed merger will provide better light on whatever determination GCG would have. He clarified that the study the GCG submitted to the President only resolves whether the merger requires legislation.

It does not indicate just yet any decision from the commission regarding the proposal, Mortel added.

“The Commission is still studying the positions of its stakeholders such as the Philippine Competition Commission, Commission on Audit, the Department of Finance, the LBP and the DBP.”

According to Mortel, they are still looking into the proposed merger’s various aspects, including operational efficiency, market reach, enhancement of new product lines and geographic reach. Raadee S. Sausa

THE Monetary Board has eased the requirements and expanded the coverage of eligible foreign exchange (forex) transactions, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

The BSP said these amendments were made by the Monetary Board on the Currency Rate Risk Protection Program (CRPP).

FiNex FRee eNteRpRiSe George S. Chua

By Jo Constantz Bloomberg News

POUR one out for your boss. Of all office workers, middle managers are reporting the highest levels of stress and anxiety and the worst work-life balance.

That’s according to new research by Slack Technologies Inc.’s Future Forum, which found a record 43 percent of managers say they’re burned out—the highest of any job level.

Slack polled more than 10,000 desk workers in the US, Australia, France, Germany, Japan and the UK.

“What we’ve seen, quarter after quarter, is that middle managers have been struggling,” said Sheela Subramanian, co-founder of Future Forum. They’re now under increasing pressure from higher-ups to deliver amid economic uncertainty and concerns about declining productivity, while at the same time hearing from their employees whose compensation is not keeping up with inflation.

And from the onset of the pandemic they’ve been tasked with navigating the challenges of leading remote and hybrid teams.

“The answer to so many initiatives, when it comes to compensation or performance management or now return-to-office, the answer always seems to be: ‘Well, the managers can do it,’” said Caroline Walsh, a vice president in the human resources practice at consulting firm Gartner. “But there is rarely that extra training to support the managers.”

Many managers are frustrated with return-tooffice mandates themselves, and don’t want to be the ones enforcing them.

“Their team’s saying, ‘Why do I need to do this? Why am I commuting to do Zoom calls all day?’” Subramanian said. “Middle managers are struggling to translate that.”

In the midst of these pressures, middle managers often lack the network that executives have and the community of rank-and-file employees, Subramanian said.

One regional manager at a financial services company Walsh spoke with recently said they felt caught in the middle, as enforcement of different return-to-office mandates for retail and office workers has kindled a burgeoning sense of unfairness within the organization.

Others have decided to throw in the towel.

Kyle Elliott, a career coach who works with Silicon Valley managers and executives, said several of his clients have decided to return to roles that don’t require supervising others.

“One client noted how they felt uncomfortable enforcing changes, such as return-to-office mandates, they didn’t believe in.”

Subramanian offered a few suggestions for companies looking to give their middle managers a boost: First and foremost, invest in coaching and community-building for managers, and allow supervisors more autonomy in deciding alongside their team what’s best in terms of the transition back into offices.

On a longer-term basis, it’s important to ask high-performers who want to move up if they actually want to be a manager, she said—and build parallel tracks for advancement for those that don’t.

Dealing with pressure

WHEN I was promoted to become a supervisor in a previous organization, I found myself managing licensed teachers when I was not even a licensed teacher myself. That brought me so much pressure because I had to prove that even if I was not licensed, I could lead them. The same thing happened when I moved to another organization when I was asked to become a manager. I asked my leader then, “Why me?” and she answered, “Why not?” I was one of the newer members of the team and I again found myself trying so hard to prove that I earned the position.

They say that pressure helps you grow and become the best version of yourself. Whether in your personal life or career, pressure is inevitable. And while you understand that pressure is necessary to grow, there will be times when it can become too much to the point that it could break you. And when that happens, there are a few things you can do to successfully use it for you to grow.

But first, you need to identify the source of the pressure. It could come from being new at work or a new position, having no formal training for what is required from you, a demanding boss, or you putting yourself under too much pressure because you want to prove your capability. Whatever the reason for your feeling under pressure, knowing the source can help you manage your reactions and how you develop your next steps.

You also need to understand how your mind works when encountering pressure. Some people approach

Five tips toward self-care

MANY people consider self-care as a luxury than a priority, which leaves them feeling exhausted, overwhelmed and unprepared to handle day-to-day challenges.

Wellness coach, workshop leader and health educator Elizabeth Scott, PhD, explained that selfcare is more than finding ways to relax. It focuses more on addressing the basic needs of the body.

“All the stress relief activities in the world won’t help if you aren’t taking care of yourself,” she stated. “Meditation won’t do you any good if you aren’t getting adequate sleep. Hitting the gym once in a while won’t relieve much if you’re not regularly fueling your body with healthy, nutrient-dense food.”

Scott, author of The 8 Keys to Stress Management, who specializes in positive psychology, healthy relationships and emotional well-being, likewise elaborated that it is not a “one size fits all strategy”.

“The demands of your daily life can dictate what you need most. Your self-care plan needs to be customized to what is currently going on in your life,” she noted. “You don’t want to wait until you’ve reached your breaking point.”

Echoing the expert, the Benilde Well-Being Center of the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde shared Scott’s advice and the different types of self-care to guide the general public in restoring their balance and finding relief from stressors. “Schedule time to focus

on yourself,” Scott concluded. “Even when you feel like you don’t have time to squeeze in one more thing, make self-care a priority. When you’re caring for all aspects of yourself, you’ll find that you are able to operate more effectively and efficiently.”

Here are five reminders on how to best take care of

pressure as an obstacle and power through it. They believe that pressure is a means by which they can improve their mental toughness and build up their confidence. Others avoid it altogether by ignoring it and focusing on other tasks. These are natural reactions because when you encounter a threat, you activate either your fight or flight instinct. But if you are to learn from challenging situations, you need to understand that pressure is one way for you to develop mental agility. Mental agility is the ability to proactively respond to different situations and issues by looking for solutions and what can be learned from the experience. It is your ability to face new and unfamiliar territory so you can navigate uncertainty and grow from the experience. It also describes how you use existing skills and capabilities to learn new ways of doing things, finding creative solutions, and managing your emotions in the face of diverging opinions. You develop mental agility by looking at pressure as a challenge to be overcome and as a lesson to be learned. Reframing your mindset can help you look at the value of pressure in your growth. Pressure can also come from simultaneous events demanding your attention. When this happens, you need to list down your top three priorities and schedule the rest to another day. In terms of prioritization, you can use the Eisenhower Matrix to prioritize tasks based on urgency and significance. By focusing your attention on key priorities, you can manage your time better and work on those that have the most significance to your work. Remember that not everything that demands your attention should be acknowledged. There are times when your best option is to walk away from things that do not add value to you or your work.

List down those priorities and create a timeline for completing each one. Identify milestones so you know how much is needed to finish the priority task. Some people think that writing them down is enough. It is not. You need to break down the priority tasks into steps so you can also identify how much work goes into each step, and then identify dependencies from other departments. By breaking down the

priority task into bite-sized steps, you can have a visual representation of how much progress you have made on the priority task, and plan in advance what you need from other departments. Listing down the steps helps you keep on track and provides a visual representation of how much you still need to do. And when there are changes in the timeline or in the final deliverable, you can use the list to negotiate timelines and the support needed with your manager.

Relatedly, one trick to reduce the pressure is to focus on the task at hand and not think of possible events. You add pressure to yourself when you overthink and assume that your current situation will determine your future. I once had a student who failed in the first quarter and to top it off, his father was one of the board members of the school. He talked to me and asked me to give him a little bit of consideration, and I told him that it was not his final grade yet and he can still make up for it in the other quarters. He told me that it might affect his applications to his choice schools if his grade was that low. So, I challenged him to step it up. And he did. He later told me it was his wake-up call to improve. Had he dwelled on overthinking and being anxious, he would not have succeeded.

One of the things you should never forget is to take care of your body. When you are stressed and pressured, your body releases adrenaline and cortisol which increase your heart rate and blood pressure. One way to reduce the harmful effects of increased adrenaline and cortisol in the body is by doing physical activities that you enjoy. Exercise helps release endorphins, or the happy hormones, which are the body’s natural painkiller and mood enhancer. If you want your body to cope with the pressure, you need to develop the habit of exercising or engaging in fun physical activities.

If you want to improve your circumstances, you need to accept that there will always be pressure. And these instances will help us discover what we are capable of and what we need to learn to thrive in a dynamic business environment. You just have to learn that pressure is your stepping stone to the next level of your career. n

PHOTO BY JAVAD ESMAEILI ON UNSPLASH

1. Physical: Take care of your body if you want it to run efficiently. You will think and feel better, too. Get adequate sleep. Have enough exercise. Eat a balanced diet. Take charge of your health. Attend appointments. Take medications as prescribed.

2. Social: Put time and energy in cultivating and maintaining close connections. Create an optimal social life. Nurture relationships with peers and family. Get enough face-to-face time with them.

3. Mental: Keep your mind sharp. Engage in activities that mentally stimulate you. Answer some puzzles. Learn about a subject that fascinates you. Read books. Watch movies that inspire you. Maintain a healthier inner dialogue. Practice self-compassion and acceptance.

4. Spiritual: Nurturing your spirit doesn’t have to involve religion. Meditate. Pray. Attend a religious service. Develop a deeper sense of meaning, understanding or connection with the universe.

5. Emotional: Allot time for tasks that aid you to acknowledge and express your feelings regularly and safely. Immerse in leisure activities that help you process your emotions and recharge. Talk to a partner, a friend or family about how you feel.

An additional tip: customize your own self-care plan. This can serve as a preventative measure to make sure that you don’t get overwhelmed. Make a list of the different aspects of your life. List down major daily activities. Assess your needs. Think about the possible stressors. Consider the things you can do to address it or help yourself feel better. Prepare for possible challenges. Identify a single small step to start caring for yourself.

The middle managers are noT alrighT

First Metro dominates the fixed income securities market sector

FIRST Metro Investment Corporation, the investment banking arm of the Metrobank Group, was awarded its second consecutive Cesar E.A. Virata Award for Best Securities House (Investment House Category) by the Philippine Dealing System Holdings Corp. Group (PDS Group) in its 2023 PDS Annual Awards. The award, named after former Prime Minister and PDS Group Chairman Emeritus Cesar E.A. Virata, is a testament to the company’s dedication to the fixed-income securities business, evidenced by its exceptional performance in trading, distribution, and settlement activities for the year.

Accepting the award during the awarding ceremony held recently, First Metro president Jose Patricio Dumlao said, “This second consecutive Cesar E.A. Virata award is especially meaningful as we celebrate our 60th anniversary this year. In the long history of First Metro, we have always found our humble achievements more meaningful and special in the robust fixed-income market under the stewardship of the PDS Group. This recognition is a testament not only to our relentless efforts to be among the best in the industry but also to our contribution to the development of the Philippine capital markets.”

First Metro was also recognized as the Top Fixed-Income Brokering Participant and among the Top 5 Corporate Issue Managers/Arrangers. First Metro accounted for 72 percent of capital markets transactions in the country and raised a total of P1.1 trillion for both the public and private sectors. This is First Metro’s sixth Cesar E.A. Virata Award for Best Securities House. Its parent bank, Metrobank, also received the same award for the bank category.

Dumlao acknowledged First Metro’s employees, clients, and partners. “I may be

Country‘s grill expert Mang Inasal‘s bilao of IhawSarap favorites now comes in smaller buddy size

standing here to accept this award, but it truly belongs to the dedicated, determined, and talented men and women at First Metro that I have had the good fortune to work with in the past few years. I would also like to acknowledge our clients and partners whose trust and support have not wavered through all these years,” he said. Celebrated annually since 2006, the PDS Group Awards Night recognizes its member institutions that have exhibited outstanding performance, leadership, innovation, and overall contribution to the development of the capital market.

MANG Inasal, the country’s grill expert, has launched the new Buddy Fiesta, the small version of the best-selling Family Fiesta group meal that features a bilao of chicken and pork inasal favorites with a platter of Java Rice.

“The Mang Inasal Buddy Fiesta is in response to the clamor from our customers who are looking for a bundle for a smaller group,” said Mang Inasal Business Unit head Mike V. Castro. “This is the perfect treat for a group of two to three persons who love to enjoy their Ihaw-Sarap favorites together whether at home, in the office, or anywhere they‘d love to eat it.”

Starting at a takeout price of P399, the Buddy Fiesta comes in four different bundles to suit everyone’s preferences. It has All-Chicken Bundle (three pieces of Chicken Inasal Paa), All-Pork Bundle (four

sticks of Pork BBQ and one order of Grilled Liemp), Chicken and Pork BBQ Bundle (two pieces Chicken Inasal Paa and 2 sticks of Pork BBQ), and Chicken and Liempo Bundle (two pieces of Chicken Inasal Paa and one order Grilled Liempo). All Buddy Fiesta bundles come with a small platter of Java Rice.

Enjoy the Mang Inasal Buddy Fiesta now through dine-in or takeout at Mang Inasal stores nationwide. It can also be ordered via delivery through the Mang Inasal Delivery App, https:// manginasaldelivery.com.ph/ or through other food delivery apps like GrabFood and FoodPanda.

Want more Mang Inasal exclusives NOW? Visit www.manginasal.com for the latest updates and follow Mang Inasal on social media!

IN photo are, from left, Philippine Depository & Trust Corp. President and CEO Ma. Theresa B. Ravalo, PDS Group president and CEO Ramon S. Monzon, First Metro first vice president Peter Anthony D. Bautista, First Metro president Jose Patricio A. Dumlao, First Metro executive vice president Daniel D. Camacho, and Philippine Dealing and Exchange Corp. President and CEO Antonino A. Nakpil.

Editor: Tet Andolong

LRT 2 expansion To boosT pRopeRTy deveLopmenT in easTeRn paRT of nCR

By Rizal Raoul S. Reyes

As far as Santa Lucia Land Inc. (SLI) is concerned, the recent opening and blessing of the Sta. Lucia Link to the LRT-2 Marikina-Pasig Station, which provides the commuting public direct access to its office spaces and the Sta. Lucia East Grand Mall, will boost human traffic and convenience to the commuting public living in the eastern part of the National Capital Region.

“It is my honor and privilege to welcome all of you at the blessing of the Sta. Lucia Mall Link. This is a showcase of how the good working relationship between the government and private sectors can really benefit the commuting public better,” said Rose Santos, Sta. Lucia Land VP for commercial business

By Roderick L. Abad

AS the Covid-19 situation here

and abroad continuously improves towards post-pandemic, Airbnb reported that travel industry in Southeast Asia is now back on track again, a welcome development for the entire regional market, especially among Filipinos who stayed at any hotels or accommodations listed in its platform.

Based on latest internal data released by the global hospitality platform, nights booked across the region on its portal doubled in 2022, up from 2020—a clear indication of the current travel rebound happening in the region, as travel keeps on bouncing back to pre-pandemic levels in 2019.

A mong the 10 member-countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), Thailand was the most visited on Airbnb last year, with four of its cities—Bangkok, Pattaya, Chiang Mai and Phuket—completing the top five spots, together with Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia. Visitors from the United States led the foreign guests coming in to Asean through the app, followed by Australians, British, Germans and South Koreans.

Travelers from neighboring countries, likewise, tapped this channel to see what their Asean peers could offer. In fact, Singapore-Malaysia was the top intra-Southeast Asia travel route on Airbnb. Singaporeans, being the leading visitors from the neighborhood, also had Thailand and Indonesia as their destinations of choice.

“We’re incredibly excited about the travel resurgence currently taking place across Southeast Asia—a region that has always been a popular for travelers the world over, with its tropical climate, delicious local cuisines, spectacular scenery and rich cultural heritage,” Airbnb Cofounder and Chief Strategy Officer Nathan Blecharczyk told reporters across Asean during their virtual

in her welcome remarks.

Santos said SLI has been consistently developing masterplanned livable communities for decades now. Moreover, SLI has always been active in providing a modern, convenient lifestyle not only to its residents, but also to the valued customers of its mall and office, as well as the public.

Other guests in blessing and opening of the Sta. Lucia Mall Link and the ribbon-cutting ceremony were Light Rail Transit Authority Administrator Atty. Hernando T. Cabrera, Transportation Assistant

Secretary Jorgette Aquino, and top officials of Sta. Lucia Land.

According to Cabrera, this event was quite special and personal to him as reminisced his student days living near the area of the Santa Lucia East Grand Mall.

“I lived in the Ligaya area when I was in college and the concept of computers was very new to me. But I first learned to use it at one of the computer shops here at the Sta. Lucia East Grand Mall. Thus, this is a truly memorable event for me,” he said.

The LRT-2 covers 13 stations, spanning 17 kilometers from Rizal to Manila, and has two sub connection stations in Cubao for the MRT, and in Recto for LRT 1. It currently serves some 30,000 commuters daily.

To boost the connectivity and mobility of the people coming from the eastern part of the metropolis, Cabrera said LRT 2 will expand the western section by adding three stations (Divisoria, Tutuban and Port Area).

“The expansion of the LRT 2 will definitely boost the growth of businesses and property developments in this area,” Cabrera said.

“We will be adding three more stations in the LRT eastern part by putting three more stations from Masinag Station up to the Confederation of Government Employees Organizations [COGEO] area. Right now, the western section expansion is undergoing a prefeasibility study,” Cabrera told reporters in an interview on the sidelines of the event.

He said there are also plans that are currently underway to build more LRT-1 stations in Paranaque and Manila.

The LRT-2 line currently serves 13 stations along its 17.6-kilometer (10.9 mi) route.The Recto station is the last station of the western section located at Claro M. Recto Avenue, while the last station of the western section is located at the Antipolo station along Marcos Highway.

Publicly listed Sta. Lucia Land Inc. is part of the Sta. Lucia Group with over 50 years track record of real-estate development. The company has finished over 220 projects and developed over 10,000 hectares of land across 70 cities and municipalities in 10 regions and 15 provinces across the Philippines.

Premium fairways in the South for golf aficionados

briefing.

With Southeast Asians being clannish, group travel is gaining momentum as it more than tripled year-on-year (YoY). To wit, Airbnb bookings of families with at least one child grew 60 percent in 2022 globally compared to the time before the ensuing health crisis. More of them stayed at its registered accommodations for their value and space.

Meanwhile, solo travel in the region is on the rise—2.6 times more than 2021. What’s more, travelers visit longer and were more deeply engaged with local communities. Staying for over 28 days in an Asean destination increased by more than 2.5 times YoY.

Optimism among Pinoy jet setters IN a separate survey of YouGov that was commissioned by Airbnb, more than three-fourths (87 percent) of Filipino participants are bullish on the rebound of travel in Southeast Asia.

Majority or 94 percent believe it being beneficial to local communities and the national economy. A third of the respondents surveyed are on the so-called “revenge travel”, expressing their excitement to fly within the region more frequently in the future, after not being able to do so for so long due to the lockdown periods, and 40 plus percent are looking to spend more going on a regionwide trip.

This study, likewise, indicated that over 60 percent of Filipinos asked answered that travelers must be given the assurance that discovering off-the-beaten-path destinations in their native land is easy and affordable so that communities don’t miss out on tourism spending.

Local travelers, per the research, have these in mind: Hotel or accommodation options and tourism offerings that encourage longer stays; a vast array of unique, value for money stays to attract them and differentiate their destinations; and support for local tourism entrepreneurs.

Pressed on the added appeal of local spots for international travelers, the top factor for Filipinos was hospitable locals, making them feel welcome and sharing them tips on hidden gems. This is the very same attribute the Philippines is also known for worldwide.

Above 50 percent of respondents also identified other factors: An emphasis on local food and culture, accommodation with familyfriendly amenities, and availability of accommodation choices at every price point.

Apparently, travel momentum amongst Airbnb guests to visit Asean is strong as many have already booked their travel in advance for major holidays and festivals throughout the region.

As of the fourth quarter of 2022, guest searches for the March-April 2023 summer travel season in the Philippines compared to the same period last year surged nearly to a whopping 400 percent.

Hotel check-ins in between April 13 to 15 for Songkran in Thailand rose over 310 percent YoY, as for Ramadan from March 23 to April 21, 2023 versus April 3 to May 2, 2022, they ballooned to almost 600 percent in Malaysia, and over 500 percent in Indonesia.

“Airbnb is committed to partnering with local governments and communities to support the region’s travel renaissance in a way that allows local people to access the socioeconomic benefits of travel. We’re also focused on relentlessly innovating to help disperse travel and encourage it to return in a way that’s responsible, creates human connection and is economically empowering for locals,” Blecharczyk said.

The portal’s useful search tools, such as Flexible Dates, are already making a difference on this front, with guests booking through this feature in key cities, including Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, and Metro Manila often more likely to book a stay outside popular areas in the city.

HIT t he greens to destress. You’ve probably heard this suggestion thrown around many times during the pandemic when people were looking for ways to safely relax and unwind outside the confines of their homes. After all, golf courses were one of the first recreational spaces to be opened—a welcome treat for everyone raring to go out and have a taste of the outdoors once again. That affinity for golf, however, continued beyond the pandemic, although this time, families are also trooping to the well manicured courses to enjoy a round of golf. Gone are the days when golf was considered merely as a gentleman’s sport and the fairways are seen as second boardrooms where business deals are negotiated and closed. Today, even kids enjoy spending time on the greens.

Good thing though that one trusted developer has an impressive portfolio of world class golf courses and communities where individuals can play and families can bond.

Sta. Lucia Land Inc. is one of the pioneers in this respect, having built premium fairways, designed by renowned golf course designers and architects. Whether you’re a newbie or a seasoned player, you’ll find Sta. Lucia’s golf courses are perfect for you. Here are some of them.

Eagle Ridge Golf and Country Club

L O CATED i n General Trias, Cavite, the Eagle Ridge Golf and Country Club has four 18-hole fairways, golf club villas and a town center. The golf courses were designed by the world’s best: Isao Aoki, Nick Faldo, Andy Dye and Greg Norman. The Faldo course is said to be the most challenging one in the country, with ravines and a mix of high and low slopes that are sure to test even the pros.

Summit Point Golf & Country Club

S T RATEGICALLY l ocated in the heart of thriving Lipa City in Batangas, the golf course was designed by Robert Trent Jones Jr. and showcas -

es the “World 18” concept, wherein 18 of the world’s best holes will be simulated within the course. Golfers and nature lovers should delight playing here given Lipa’s cool climate and with the Malarayat Mountain Range as a beautiful backdrop.

Orchard Golf and Country Club

N A MED one of the top golf courses in Asia and one of the top three courses in the Philippines, the Orchard Golf and Country Club is located in Dasmariñas, Cavite.

A famed destination for seasoned golfers, Orchard Golf features two 18-hole championship courses designed by golfing legends Arnold Palmer and Gary Player. The Palmer Course is a traditional parkland

layout, measuring over 7,000 yards with fairways winding through the mango groves and punctuated by lakes and large bunkers. At the center of the 36-hole facility is a sprawling clubhouse with over 15,000 sqm of floor space, a grand ballroom that can fit more than 500 people, a 12-lane bowling alley, a basketball and volleyball court, tennis courts and badminton courts, a 25-meter swimming pool and kiddie pond, children’s playrooms, a fitness gym and salon, and even a small movie theater. Orchard Golf has also been the site of several prestigious international golfing events, including the Johnnie Walker Golf Classic in 1995.

The railways system has been acknowledged as a growth catalyst as it has brought development into cities, introduced investments into urban areas and boosted the mobility of people in the pursuit of their socioeconomic activities.

Travel rebound in Asean opens opportunities for local tourism, hotel industries

FR O m left: Ronald Tan–Project Admin Officer, Sta. Lucia Land; m chelle Robles-De Castro–VP for Advertising, Sta. Lucia Land; mariza Santos-Tan–Director and Treasurer, Sta. Lucia Land; Jayson Robles–VP for Project management, Sta. Lucia Land; Assistant Secretary Jorjette B. Aquino–DOTr Asst. Secretary for Railways; Orestes Santos–Director, Sta. Lucia Land Atty. Hernando Cabrera–LRTA Administrator; Valentino Nepomuceno, Felizardo Santos–VP marketing and Operations, Sta. Lucia mall; David Dela Cruz–CFO & EVP, Sta. Lucia Land and Rose Santos–VP for Commercial Business, Sta. Lucia Land

LRT-2 coach LRTA FAce book pAge

T H E Eagle Ridge Golf and Country Club boasts of four 18-hole fairways, golf club villas and a town center.

G O LFERS will delight playing at Summit Point given Lipa’s cool climate and the malarayat mountain Range as a beautiful backdrop.

“If you build it, they will come.”

PBBM breathes life to ‘House of POC’

A“HOUSE of POC” gained significant ground with no less than President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. hinting on helping the Philippine Olympic Committee build its own home in one of the most ideal of all locations—the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) Complex in Pasay City.

P resident Marcos made the hint as he spoke before athletes, coaches and sports officials during the sendoff ceremony for Team Philippines to the Cambodia Southeast Asian Games on Monday at the Philippine International Convention Center.

“ The Philippine Olympic Committee, [who] I understand is still squatting in the environs of the CCP,” President Marcos said in his speech. “Kailangan natin siguro—mahirap naman ang dami nating pinapagawa, sa inyo na hindi—wala kayo man lang sarili ninyong opisina.”

The POC doesn’t have its own office building since its inception early in the last century. The organization maintains offices in existing government buildings like the Philippine Sports Commission building at the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex and currently, at the PhilSports Compex in Pasig City. But anyway, if there is anything more that this government can do, that this administration can do, that I personally can do, you please make sure you will tell me because we are all rooting for you,” the President added.

President Marcos’s vow excited POC

Tolentino,

House

POC in early 2022 but couldn’t get government’s commitment.

With the President himself promising his support, particularly on the POC office, we can now say that the House of POC would no longer be a dream,” Tolentino said. “It will sooner or later be a reality with the promise of our President.”

Tolentino wanted the permanent

POC headquarters not only to house the organization’s staff but also include a museum and a multipurpose hall.

He picked the CCP Complex as the most ideal location because of the government and private-sector landmarks and offices, proximity to the airport, hotels and entertainment facilities as well as the consistent congregation of people in the area who could be visiting the museum.

Athletes inspired by President’s vow–Bachmann

IT’S all systems go for Team Philippines nine days before the opening ceremony of the Cambodia 32nd Southeast Asian Games with Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) chairman Richard “Dickie” Bachmann thanking President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. for personally wishing the athletes good luck.

It’s always good that the President and the country support our athletes,” Bachmann said on Tuesday. “That’s a good morale booster and hopefully we all do well compared to last year. We’re all praying for that.”

C ambodia will be Bachmann’s first major international competition since he was named PSC chair only four months ago.

NHA, PNP complete UNTV semifinals cast

THE Philippine National Police (PNP) Responders beat the OP-PMS Trailblazers, 103-89, in overtime over the weekend to book a return trip to the semifinals of the UNTV Cup on Sunday at the Novadeci Convention Center in Quezon City.

Unable to win the match in regulation after some sloppy plays, the Responders erupted for 17 points while holding the Trailblazers to just three points to secure a semifinal berth in the league now on its ninth season.

R ollie Serrano starred for PNP with 27 points and four rebounds while Richard Villanueva added 22 points and five rebounds that made up for the anemic showing of former University of the East Red Warrior Olan Omiping, who got only points.

The NHA Home Masters clobbered the GSIS Furies, 88-71, on Marvin Mercado and Rodolfo Sumayang’s combined 31 points to secure the last semifinals slot.

I n the lone Executive Face-Off match, the OP Executives rode on the hot shooting of Marvin Bayang and Franz Alvarez to down the Senator Bong Go-led Senate Sentinels, 63-58, for their second straight win in the seven-team field.

The Home Masters finished third (8-4 won-lost) to earn a semifinal date with No. 2 Armed Forces of the Philippines Cavaliers, while the Responders go up against No. 1 seed Judiciary Magis after finishing fourth with a 7-5 record.

P resident Marcos graced the sendoff ceremony for Team Philippines on Monday at the Philippine International Convention Center where he inspired athletes and coaches to go for victories in Cambodia and at the same time vowed his full support for Philippine sports. One of the greatest pleasures I have found, being the leader, is to be

able to give honor and to recognize, hopefully to inspire, and to provide support to our athletes, who are in fact our ambassadors in sport and play a very, very important part beyond just their participation in such important sporting events,” President Marcos said.

A nd the athletes are inspired.

“

I am ready to go for the gold medal,” said vovinam athlete Emmanuel Cantores, bronze medalist last year in Vietnam. “Thank you President Marcos and our sports officials for your support. I am inspired to compete.”

Phillip Delarmino targets a third gold medal in Kun Bokator, a Khmer traditional martial art, in Cambodia.

It’s music to my ears—our President vowing his full support,” Delarmino said. “The more we are motivated.”

K arateka Ricca Torres set a golden goal to better the two bronze medals she bagged last year.

The goal is always to win gold,” she said.

Team Philippines will be vying in 38 sports in the Cambodia Games set from May 5 to 17.

Astrolabio targets world crown

By Josef Ramos

VINCENT

ASTROLABIO lines himself up as another Filipino world champion as he fights Australian Jason Moloney on May 13 for the vacant World Boxing Organization (WBO) bantamweight belt at the Stockton Arena in Stockton, California.

Undisputed world champion Naoya

Inoue vacated the WBO crown after he climbed from bantamweight to the super bantamweight division, thus giving up his three other world titles.

Trainer and manager Nonoy Neri told BusinessMirror through internet call from Las Vegas that Astrolabio is in good condition after completing 12 rounds of sparring session over the weekend.

He sparred with Jade Bornea and he’s doing very well,” said Neri, adding that they concentrated on enhancing Astrolabio’s quickness to catch Moloney whom they expect to brawl in the 12-round bout.

“ We are focusing on developing his quickness, we want him to be fast and explosive,” he said. “We don’t have any problem with Vincent’s

stamina and power.”

B ornea, meanwhile, takes on International Boxing Federation super flyweight champion Fernando Daniel Martinez of Argentina on June 24 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

B oth Astrolabio and Bornea are inspired with newly-crowned unified super bantamweight world champion Marlon Tapales.

Marlon’s victory turned out to be a great motivational factor and inspiration to everyone,” Neri said.

A strolabio (18-3 won-lost with 13 knockouts) is coming off a spectacular sixthround knockout win over Russian Nikolai Potapov in a title-eliminator last Decem ber in Las Vegas.

T he 32-year-old Mo loney 25-2 won-lost with 19 knockouts he highlight ed by with a third-round knockout of Filipino As ton Palicte last June in Melbourne, Australia.

will, of the game.  He describes every action without ever missing a beat to make the radio listener feel like he is watching the contest live.

The color man brings in the atmosphere inside the coliseum and analyzes every move and distinct playing pattern of the protagonists, explaining how a layup was scored or why a three had to be drained, or what a particular rebound or steal would/could become the turning point of a match. Humbly, that was me for two decades or so.

I s ported a moustache when I started that job in 1988 or thereabouts, when the PBA held its games regularly at the old Ultra (now the PhilSports Arena) in Pasig City.

Editor: Jun Lomibao

ANG, SMC BACK FIBA WORLD CUP

I HAVE had a motley of partners in the radio coverage of Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) games from the late 1980s to the mid-2000s.  We worked in tandems composed of an anchor and the color man. The anchor does the play-by-play, blow-by-blow if you

A mong my partners were dudes surnamed Sakdalan, Dimalibot, Liboro, Reyes and Santiago. The others were Jimmy Javier (yes, the lawyer-brother of Apo legend Danny Javier) and the living legend himself, Sev Sarmenta.  Those who have gone back to our Creator were Butch Maniego and Boyet Sison (Boyet’s late Dad, Adi, was the PBA’s first public relations officer). Then, of course, there was Ed Picson, with whom I have had the rare opportunity of being his longest-serving analyst in a

SAN MIGUEL Corp. (SMC) has officially signed on as partner in the country’s hosting of the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) Basketball World Cup 2023 this August in a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Filipino fans to watch in the flesh the best teams and players from all around the world.

SMC President and Chief Executive Officer and SMB Chairman Ramon S. Ang expressed confidence that the return of the FIBA Basketball World Cup in the Philippines after 45 years will serve as a significant boost to the country’s profile in the international sporting stage—if not help usher a new generation of young players who will carry the country’s flag in the future.

A ng said that the decision to back the Philippine hosting of the prestigious competition was not a difficult one to make, given its benefits to local fans, athletes, basketball organizations and the whole country in general as it recovers from the threeyear pandemic.

SMC’s support is bannered by Philippine

Basketball Association (PBA).

M agnolia Hotshots and Barangay Ginebra San Miguel are the two other SMC teams in the PBA.

“ We are very proud to have been given this rare opportunity to host the FIBA Basketball World Cup,” Ang said. “I think it’s the best time to have a prestigious international competition in the Philippines.”

A ng thanked the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) headed by Chairman Emeritus Manuel V. Pangilinan and the FIBA leadership for the opportunity to take part in the historic event.

After almost three years of the pandemic, we want to say that we are open for business, Filipinos are excited to welcome athletes from all over the world, and we are all eager to watch the very best teams play in our homecourt,” Ang added.

A longtime sports patron, Ang enjoined Filipinos to cheer for the Gilas Pilipinas team, which is among the 32 teams that will participate in the event that the Philippines is cohosting with Japan and Indonesia.

San Miguel’s history is closely intertwined with sports, particularly basketball. By supporting this worldclass event, we also hope to give our local players an opportunity to see different teams and further elevate their games,” Ang said.

He added: “Also equally important, we want to encourage and inspire young players and the youth

in general, to continue pursuing their passion—whether it is basketball or another sport. With enough hard work, discipline, and dedication, they too can be world-class and can carry our flag someday in international competitions.”

A ng said he expects the competition at this year’s FIBA. World Cup to be even more stiff, as the world basketball landscape has changed a lot since 1978, when the country’s previous hosting saw former Yugoslavia emerge as champion.

“ The immense improvement of many countries since the country’s last hosting in 1978 makes this event a showcase of basketball talent that will be very exciting to watch,” he emphasized.

This is also one of the times when our country can take center stage and show to the world what we are capable of doing. Definitely, hosting the FIBA World Cup is one of those golden opportunities and a privilege,” he added.

A ng also enjoined Filipinos to give a warm welcome to visiting teams, to support the country’s hosting and help it put its best foot forward as global audiences tune in to the games. “ I commend the SBP leadership and FIBA for working to bring the event to our shores for the first time in decades,” he said. “For a basketballloving country, it means so much for Filipinos to have the world’s centerpiece basketball event here.”

‘Chooks’ focus on Manila Masters

MANILA Chooks! now focuses on next month’s World Tour Manila Masters following the all-Filipino team’s promising performance in the recent FIBA 3×3 Ulaanbaatar Super Quest, according to head trainer Chico Lanete.

“ We need to focus more on finishing the game,” Lanete said.

“There will be adjustments especially now that we have two new players— Paul (Desiderio) and CJ (Payawal).”

PBA radio-coverage partnership lasting more than a decade or so.  So long was our working relationship that Ed and I would eventually treat each other as more than brothers.

We had spent nights drinking beer lasting up to dawn—starting right after a radio coverage most of the time. Although not an Ilocano, Pareng Ed loved goat meat that much that he’d sometimes invite me over to his house to partake of kilawen, adobo and papaitan prepared by a friend of his steeped in goat meat delicacies.

Not known to many, Pareng Ed was multi-dimensional, being the national boxing president when boxing won three of the four medals in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

W hen Ed and Carina had their first-born who they named Bamba, I was one of only two godfathers—the other being former PBA Commissioner Noli Eala. I was then putting to bed the Inquirer’s sports section when Ed called me up.  Pare, come over quick, please,” said Ed.  “We are baptizing our baby and you are a ninong.”

How could I refuse?

I r ushed over—even as the baptism would begin at the unholy hour of 4 p.m. at the Sto. Domingo church in QC.

Desiderio and Payawal debuted in the international 3x3 stage in Mongolia alongside veterans Mac Tallo and Brandon Ramirez and finished seventh in the 12-team tournament dominated by with Japan’s Utsunomiya BREX at the expense of Futian of China. M anila Chooks! closed out its Ulaanbaatar campaign with a 15-21 to world No. 9 Sansar MMC Energy of Mongolia last Sunday.

Pareng Jake P. Ayson and I were at Pareng Ed’s inurnment the other day at Aeternitas along Commonwealth Avenue, QC.

“

It happened so fast and it hurts,” said Carina, Pareng Ed’s beloved.  “He was diagnosed (liver cancer) only last March.  Before that, he felt no pain at all.”

I n the nineties, when Pareng Ed had finished his first sports column for the Manila Bulletin, he called me to his home. Please go through it,” he said.  “Do anything you want with it.”

I d id nothing to his thing of beauty, embellishing it with his signature ending to all his succeeding columns: “See you around.”

E njoy your journey, Pareng Ed.  And, yes, see you around.

THAT’S IT Condolences, too, to the loved ones of Ate Coring Laurel of Lumban, Laguna, and Elai Radovan of  MTRCB.  Ate Coring, Kuya Nick’s love of his life, and Elai had passed on to a life without pain and hurts.

‘See you around’

PRESIDENT Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. converses with Philippine Olympic Committee president Rep. Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino during Monday’s sendoff ceremony for Team Philippines. ROY DOMINGO

President Rep. Abraham “Bambol”

who conceived the

of

PHILIPPINE Sports Commission chairman Richard “Dickie” Bachmann says the athletes are ready for Cambodia.

SAMAHANG Basketbol ng Pilipinas president Al Panlilio (left) with (from left) San Miguel Corp. Sports Director Alfrancis Chua, Ginebra’s LA Tenorio, San Miguel Beer’s June Mar Fajardo and FIBA executive director David Crocker. NONIE REYES

CJ PAYAWAL in action in Ulaanbaatar.