Before King Carlos, there’s Kuya Caloy, his siblings’ idol
SEIPI PUSHES EXEMPTION
FROM BOC’S ICT SYSTEM
By Andrea E. San Juan
THE Semiconductor and Electronics Industries in the Philippines Foundation Inc. (Seipi) is seeking the exemption of electronics exporters from the implementation of Electronic Tracking of Containerized Cargo (E-TRACC) as this is expected to add around P1 million to P2 million a month to logistics cost, which could result in loss of competitiveness.
E -TRACC is a measure that enables the Bureau of Customs (BOC) to “generate real-time and accurate information and to monitor the movement and location of containers using tracking devices and linking it in real time with the electronic documentation system.”
According to Customs Memorandum Order (CMO) No. 04-2020, this shall cover the “inland movements of containerized goods using an Information and Communications Technology (ICT)-enabled system to protect the revenue due the government.”
Seipi President Danilo C. Lachica said this policy will entail additional cost to electronics exporters.
“Additional cost. It’s really a redundant policy and we met with the BOC yesterday and they’re saying...it’s a revenue loss… [I said], the more you will lose revenue [if the] companies leave,” as a result of the implementing this measure.
Explaining the “redundancy” of the measure, the Seipi chief said logistics providers already have a tracking system in place.
They’re saying they will reduce the lead time, that’s not the point. The point is that’s a redundant policy. Our logistics providers have a GPS system so that’s being tracked, and secondly, I’ve told them this, in the 50 years of the electronics industry, there has been no incidence of technical smuggling,” the Seipi chief added.
I llustrating the impact of additional fees for
By Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo Special to the BusinessMirror
AN INTERNATIONAL business publication has removed the Philippines from its list of “The Best Places to Retire Abroad in 2024,” after it included natural hazards and climate change risk among its evaluation factors.
In a piece on July 26, 2024, Forbes recommended 96 places in 24 different countries, where Americans can retire safely, the first list since the Covid-19 pandemic. The list also evaluates costs, amenities, health care, climate risk, language, crime, and whether they welcome American retirees (https://tinyurl.com/33y59spt).
“[This] our first that takes into account climate change and natural hazard risk abroad…. That’s a major reason why The Philippines, on every Forbes foreign
retirement list since 2011, is missing. The Pacific Ocean island is No. 1—meaning the worst—among 193 countries on the latest World Risk Report compiled under the auspices of the United Nations,” the publication explained.
A side from the Philippines, which has a World Risk Index (WRI) of 46.86, the other countries considered most risky include Indonesia (WRI 43.50), and India (WRI 41.52). The Philippines has topped the WRI for the last 13 years. The United States placed 20th in 2023. (https://tinyurl.com/4ftmfepa).
US pensioners abroad reach 701K THE World RiskReport (WRR) 2023 is published by the Bündnis Entwicklung Hilft and the Institute for International Law of Peace and Armed Conflict (IFHV) at Ruhr University Bochum, and assesses
a country’s risk for disasters, the impact on marginalized groups, and government support for these individuals.
Forbes noted there were 701,000 American social security pensioners who live outside the US, a 20-percent increase over the last 10 years. While most retire Stateside, “an impressive 85 percent of Americans 65 and older have traveled abroad and the US dollar is at its strongest level since the 1980s, making both foreign travel and a foreign retirement more affordable.”
In contrast, the US News and World Report listed the Philippines among “The Best Places to Retire Overseas where English is Spoken, in a piece published on June 21, 2024. The country ranked after Belize, Ireland, Malaysia, Malta, New Zealand, and Panama, and ahead of Portugal and Puerto Rico, citing the website Live and Invest Overseas.
NG borrows P1.57T in H1, 12.9% more than 2023
By Reine Juvierre S. Alberto
THE national government borrowed P1.570 trillion from the domestic and foreign debt markets in the first half of 2024 to meet the country’s financing requirements, according to the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr). Data from the Treasury showed the government’s gross borrowings grew by 12.87 percent from January to June 2024 from the P1.391 trillion recorded in the same period in 2023. Broken down, gross domestic borrowings reached P1.303 trillion as of end-June this year, up by 27.12
to P267.412 billion in January-June 2024 period, from P366.441 billion. Gross foreign borrowings accounted for 17.03 percent of the overall gross borrowings as of end-June 2024. The bulk, or P115.247 billion came from the issuance of Global Bonds in May 2024, followed by Program Loans amounting to P100.498 billion and Project Loans at P51.667 billion.
For the month of June, the government borrowed P132.476 billion from the domestic debt market, lower by 7.95 percent than the P143.920 billion it raised in the
MARK ANDREW YULO (center), father of Olympics gold medalist Carlos Yulo, proudly holds a childhood photo of Carlos, flanked by his siblings and fellow athletes Karl Eldrew (left), a silver medalist at the Asian championships, and Eliza, a four-time gold medalist at the Cebu City Palarong Pambansa, at their home in Leveriza, Malate, Manila. Their family story and journey to Olympic success is featured on News A2 NONOY LACZA
HE feud in the Yulo family that has been circulating as a rumor for a year was confirmed on Sunday—but with a resolution very much in sight. same month in 2023.
Domestic borrowings in June 2024 comprised Fixed Rate Treasury Bonds worth P110.228 billion and T-bills amounting to P22.248 billion. Meanwhile, the state borrowed less from the foreign debt market, securing P15.700 billion from external sources in June 2024, lower by 30.43 percent compared to the P22.567 billion it borrowed in June 2023.
The government received P10.637 billion in Project Loans from multilateral lenders and P5.063 billion from Program Loans in June 2024.
The outstanding debt of the national government climbed to P15.483 trillion as of end-June 2024. The bulk of the government’s outstanding debt is domestic debt at 68.29 percent. The balance is external or foreign debt at 31.71 percent of the overall debt.
The government aims to borrow as much as P2.570 trillion this year, following a borrowing mix of 75:25, of which P1.923 trillion will be raised domestically while P646.084 billion will come from foreign sources. Th is will push up the country’s outstanding debt to P16.056 trillion at the end of 2024, according to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).
Before King Carlos, there’s Kuya Caloy, his siblings’ idol News
By Josef Ramos
T“I’m praying my brother and my mother will set aside their pride for the family,” 16-year Karl Eldrew told the BusinessMirror on Sunday, validating reports that his Olympic champion brother Carlos “Caloy” and their mom Angelica are feuding.
“ We are not after our big brother’s fame, achievement, money and fortune now that he’s an Olympic gold medalist,” said the younger Yulo, who at 15 clinched silver in the Asian championships in June last year.
Eliza, 14, and winner of four gymnastics gold medals in the Cebu City Palarong Pambansa in June, said that she’s very proud of her brother.
I’m so happy for him,” she said. “Even if he didn’t become an athlete or an Olympian or an Olympic gold medalist, we’ll always love him.”
She added: “He is our big brother,” she stressed, alluding to gold medalist Carlos, 24. “I’m hoping he talks to my mother and settle the issue.”
The BusinessMirror paid the Yulos a visit in their humble home in Leveriza in Manila and besides the siblings, also home were their dad Mark Andrew, mom Angelica, grandmother Angelita and great grandmother Caridad Villafor.
Mark Andrew Yulo entertained the staff while Angelica gave them a friendly wave before heading to the masters bedroom.
Poquiz and Villafor, on the other hand, were emotionally conversing about Carlos Yulo’s gold medal and his sacrifices and hard work—it was Poquiz who raised the Olympic champion while Angelica was an overseas Filipino worker.
“ We are very, very proud of
our son and we are all happy that he finally achieved his longtime dream of becoming an Olympic gold medalist,” said Mark Andrew, a messenger for a travel agency in Manila and a barangay councilor in Leveriza, a stone’s throw from the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex.
“I watched Caloy compete in Paris in my cell phone and I knew he’s going to win the gold,” he said.
“We will communicate with him soon after his second final (vault) or before he comes home.”
Not much was written in mainstream media about the family feud although rumors had it that the conflict began before Yulo competed in the Antwerp world championships in September last year.
A nother controversy involved Yulo’s split with long-time Japanese coach Munehiro Kugiyama and his return to Manila to train in Tokyo where he also gave up an academic scholarship came out, but the entire family remained mum.
Once Caloy arrives from Par -
is, we will talk as a family and settle the issue...me as a father,” Mark Andrew said.
A nd while they are on cloud nine following their brother’s gold medal, Mark Andrew, Karl Eldrew and Eliza have set a dream that, when it happens, will be unprecedented.
“ That’s the ultimate dream, we are hoping three Yulos will be in the Los Angeles Olympics,” Mark Andrew said. The LA Games are set in 2028.
Seipi pushes exemption from BOC’s
CMO.” In relation to this, Lachica said, “The reason why they cannot exempt electronics [exporters] is because they might be accused of favoritism.” He also noted, partly in Filipino, “I mean, don’t you
MARK ANDREW YULO in their family home in Leveriza, Malate, Manila, surrounded by a display of medals and a photograph of his son Carlos competing in the 2018 Asian Games. Alongside his athletic children, Karl Eldrew (left) and Eliza, Mark shares his family’s dreams: “That’s the ultimate dream, we are hoping three Yulos will be in the Los Angeles Olympics.” NONOY LACZA
Bilibid decongestion full swing
TBy Joel R. San Juan @jrsanjuan1573
HE Bureau of Corrections
(BuCor) is accelerating the decongestion of its facility in Metro Manila with the transfer of another batch of prisoners to the Sablayan Prison and Penal Farm (SPPF) in Occidental Mindoro.
BuCor’s Metro Manila facility, the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa City, with its 25,020 inmates in June this year, is 253 percent overpopulated with a congestion rate of 153 percent as of June 30. The NBI was designed for not more than 10,000 inmates.
Last week another 100 prisoners or persons deprived of liberty (PDL) were transferred to the SPPF. They left Batangas port on Friday at about 4:00 p.m. and arrived at the SPPF around 10 p.m.
BuCor Director General Gregorio Pio P. Catapang Jr. said a total of 7,579 PDLs have been transferred from NBP to various operating prison and penal farm as part of
the continuous decongestion program of BuCor and preparation for the eventual closure of NBP before 2028.
Late last month, 500 PDLs were also transferred to SPPF from the NBP.
The decongestion program of the BuCor is going on at fast pace resulting in the release of 2,451 PDLs from June 2022 to the present.
The government through the Department of Justice, BuCor and other stakeholders have implemented various programs such the “Katarungan Caravan and Bilis Laya Program” to hasten the decongestion of prison facilities.
Catapang said Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla’s issuance of an order requiring prosecutors to review criminal cases filed against individuals and to move for the withdrawal of the information once it is determined that there is no reasonable ground would also hasten the decongestion of prisons.
Senate, House ratify magna carta for seamen
THE House of Representatives and the Senate have ratified the Magna Carta for Filipino Seafarers, which was earlier vetoed by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
The ratified version includes the controversial bond requirement provision that has faced significant opposition.
Under Section 59 of the revised measure, seamen will not be able to immediately receive payments for awards granted through final judgements from the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) and the Voluntary Arbitrator under the National Conciliation and Mediation Board (NCMB-DOLE).
These awards typically cover disability benefits for seamen who are permanently or temporarily incapacitated due to their work.
Instead, seamen will be required to post a bond equivalent to the award amount before receiving their compensation.
With this, the Seafarer’s Rights Philippines has expressed deep concern and frustration over the recent ratification of the Magna Carta for Seafarers, as the new bill has reintroduced a controversial bond requirement provision that the organization strongly opposes.
The group said President Marcos previously vetoed the earlier version of this bill because it violated the Constitution’s equal protection clause.
“It makes seafarers the only group of workers, local or overseas, who would not receive their awards immediately. The awards won by seafarers would be tied up with appeals to the Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court, which usually last for years or even a decade,” the group said in a statement.
The 1974 Labor Code, enacted by the late President Ferdinand Marcos Sr., was a pioneering piece
of legislation designed to protect workers by regulating employeremployee relations and ensuring fair working conditions. This included provisions for job security and humane working conditions both locally and overseas, the group said.
“Even in the 1970s, President Marcos Sr., recognized the need to regulate the employment of Filipino workers abroad. The Labor Code’s policy objective was to secure the best possible employment terms and conditions for all Filipino workers, whether local or overseas,” the organization added.
The group said the creation of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) in 1982 further strengthened protections for overseas contract workers (OCWs), including seafarers. The POEA established standard employment contracts that guaranteed disability benefits for seafarers who suffered work-related injuries or illnesses.
“Sadly, these protections and benefits for our seafarers were not just diminished but would be taken away by the new Magna Carta. This is not just a grave insult to our hard-working seafarers, but a move to erase the legacy granted to our workers by the late President Marcos Sr.,” said the Seafarer’s Rights group.
But Kabayan Rep. Ron P. Salo said ambulance-chasing is the unlawful act of sweet-talking seamen back from deployment to file exorbitant claims against their former employers and demand compensation for alleged injuries or illnesses during employment.
“Section 59 is a significant milestone in our efforts to protect our seafarers from the predatory practice of ambulance chasers,” Salo said. Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz
SHFC facilitates relief distribution
TTolentino vows inquiry into ‘unregistered’ tanker
By Butch Fernandez @butchfBM
ASENATOR has vowed a Senate inquiry into the sinking of an oil tanker in Manila Bay in the wake of reports that the seacraft, MT Terra Nova was unregister
Sen. Francis Tolentino has filed Senate Resolution 1048, which seeks to conduct a Senate inquiry on the cause, extent, and impact of the oil spill caused by the sunken tanker.
At the same time, Tolentino called on the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources ( BFAR ) to be proactive in engaging and assisting fishermen displaced by
the oil spill from MT Terra Nova , which sank off Bataan over a week ago and is causing an oil spill of alarming proportions.
“What if this incident did not happen? Then we probably would not have known that MT Terra Nova is unregistered,” he said. Tolentino chairs the Senate Special Committee on Philippine Maritime and Admiralty Zones.
“What business does it have in transporting materials that could potentially harm our seas when it does not have the proper permits? All of these will come to light during the investigation,” he asked aloud in an interview on his daily radio program on dwIZ, ‘Usapang Tol,’”
Tolentino was discussing the impact of the spill with Fernando Hicap, chairman of the militant Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya).
“I hope BFAR will be proactive in assisting the fishermen and engaging with them on what needs to be done,” Tolentino told Hicap.
Hicap said many fishermen have lost their livelihood owing to the oil spill, and the consequent fishing ban imposed by several local governments.
Legislator eyes smuggling in Bataan tanker sinkings
By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz @joveemarie
ALEADER of the House of Representatives called on the Department of Justice (DOJ) on Sunday to investigate the possibility that the oil tankers that sank during Typhoons Carina and habagat were involved in oil smuggling.
Deputy Majority Floor Leader Erwin Tulfo made the statement as Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla also expressed suspicion that the three sunken ships were engaged in illegal activities.
Following a meeting with Coast Guard officials, Remulla said that the incidents were not accidents
but rather crimes committed by the ship companies.
“Paihi has long been a practice in that area to evade paying taxes to the Bureau of Customs by some unscrupulous oil importers,” Tulfo explained.
“While anchored offshore and away from the authorities’ view, local oil tankers approach the foreign tankers to transfer the oil to their own vessels,” he added.
Tulfo added that once the imported oil is loaded onto the smaller tankers, it is transported directly to various piers across the country, effectively avoiding tax payments to the BOC.
In July, motor tankers MT Terra Nova and MT Jayson Bradley sank
in Limay and Mariveles, Bataan, during Typhoon Carina and the enhanced habagat. A few days later, MV Mirola 1 ran aground in Mariveles, Bataan.
“Why didn’t they seek shelter when the weather turned bad?
Most likely because their cargo was illegal,” Tulfo said.
He urged, “If authorities confirm that these ships were engaged in illegal activities when they sank, everyone involved should be prosecuted and imprisoned.
He lamented that many Filipinos will lose their jobs, and the government will spend millions of pesos again on the clean-up operation due to the oil spills caused by the incidents.
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Association. Inc. Phase 1, a housing project of SHFC under the Community Mortgage Program.
“If they can’t fish, they can’t eat. With many fishing grounds affected by the oil spill and fishing ban, then what will happen to our livelihood?” Hicap asked.
BFAR announced earlier that it would provide fuel subsidies to affected fishermen, but Hicap said this was not enough, as what the sector needs are alternative sources of income.
Tolentino stressed the importance of continuous dialogue between BFAR and fishers’ organizations.
The Bureau earlier declared that fish caught from affected coastal areas as unsafe for consumption. The agency also estimated that the disaster could displace over 46,000 fishermen based in Central Luzon, Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon), and Metro Manila.
Govt to SC: Junk farmers’ suit vs EO on tariff cuts
THE government has asked the Supreme Court to dismiss the petition filed by farmer groups against the alleged unconstitutionality of Executive Order (EO) 62, which reduced tariffs on key agricultural commodities. In a 62-page comment, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) Secretary Arsenio Balisacan and Tariff Commission chairperson Marilou Mendoza, through the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG), said the petition should be denied for lack of merit.
“There is no basis for issuing a writ of certiorari and prohibition to nullify E.O. No. 62 (2024), as Respondents have not committed any grave abuse of discretion nor violation of the Constitution,” the comment read.
“Respondents acted within their jurisdiction in conducting a comprehensive review of the country’s MFN tariff structure pursuant to Sections 1611 and 1608 of the CMTA,” it added. The petition questioning the legality of EO 62 and praying for the issuance of a temporary restraining order (TRO) was earlier filed by petitioners led by Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura (Sinag) Inc. before the Supreme Court. (See: https://businessmirror.com. ph/2024/07/04/farmer-groups-ask-sc-tostrike-down-eo-62-reducing-tariffs-on-ricefarm-products/)
Aside from Sinag, other petitioners in the case are Federation of Free Farmers (FFF) Inc., United Broiler Raisers Assn. Inc., Sorosoro Ibaba Development Cooperative (SIDC), and Magsasaka Partylist representative Atty. Argel Cabatbat. The EO 62, according to the groups, violates the provisions of RA 10863 or the Flexible Clause of Customs Modernization and Tariff Act which require proper consultation, investigation, hearings and reports prior to the issuance of an order by the President involving tariff reduction.
“Petitioners’claim of violation of due process is unfounded. Records show that in March 2023, five public hearings were held wherein comments on tariffs on all products, including rice, were invited,” the comment read.
“Petitioners were notified but failed to attend, and their oversight cannot justify nullifying E.O. No. 62 (2024), to the detriment of national economic policies.”
ensuring a vibrant and functioning
HE Social Housing Finance Corporation (SHFC) continues to facilitate the distribution of aid to supported social housing communities affected by Typhoon Carina and the southwest monsoon or habagat that it enhanced in recent days. SHFC is a key shelter agency under the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) that implements the Pambansang Pabahay para sa Pilipino Housing (4PH) Program, the flagship initiative of President Marcos. SHFC President and CEO Federico Laxa, in leading the relief operations in barangay Tonsuya, Malabon City, noted that they were committed to support its communities “in these challenging times and in aiding their recovery and resilience-building efforts.”
Accompanying Laxa were SHFC Executive Vice President Junefe Payot, Accounts Management Group Senior Vice President Josefina Banglagan, and Resettlement Services Group Vice President Bob Flores.
Malabon Mayor Jeannie Sandoval and former congressman Federico “Ricky” Sandoval also attended the relief distribution.
Food packs were initially distributed to more than 320 families from the Letre Homeowners’
To date, SHFC has extended relief efforts to about 5,000 families affected by the typhoon in its
Metro Manila and Central Luzon housing projects. It aims to assist as many as 10,000 families in calamity-hit areas, including Quezon City, Marikina, Pampanga, and Bataan. The relief assistance includes rice, canned goods, and other ready-to-eat food. It also includes soap and basic medicine to ensure that families can maintain proper hygiene and address minor health concerns.
The initiative aligns with the directive of Housing Secretary Jose Rizalino Acuzar to provide comprehensive assistance to
families affected by the recent weather disturbances. This effort supports President Marcos’s call for all government agencies to aid calamity-stricken areas. Currently, SHFC has 12 ongoing 4PH projects, including Crystal Peak Estates in the City of San Fernando City in Pampanga; People’s Ville in Davao City, and Valley View Township in Tagoloan, Misamis Oriental, that will generate more than 45,000 units. These projects are among the 111 shovel-ready projects that will produce over 505,000 units by 2028.
The OSG, which serves as the chief government counsel, also argued that Marcos was “improperly impleaded” in the petition following the doctrine of presidential immunity and asked the court to drop him as a respondent in the case.
It added that the petitioners “violated” the doctrine of hierarchy of courts by directly resorting to the high court. It noted that the petitioners raised factual issues that must be first settled before the lower courts.
Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra earlier said EO 62 will continue to be implemented unless a TRO is issued by the high court.
“We do not know whether the SC will issue a TRO or not in the days to come. I suppose the SC justices are also presently evaluating whether any injunctive relief is necessary as far as the government is concerned; however, the EO will be implemented unless temporarily restrained by the SC,” Guevarra said. Ada Pelonia
SAMAHANG PLARIDEL PRESIDENT Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on Friday swear in the officers of the Association of Philippine JournalistsSamahang Plaridel Foundation Inc. led by Evelyn Quiroz as President, Andy Sevilla as Vice President, Rowena Ocfemia and Joey de Guzman as Public Relations Officers, Carmelita Valdez as Auditor, Atty. Hector Villacorta as Secretary, and Ramoncito Henares, Marc Anthony Reyes, Eduardo Andaya,
Barcelo and Reynaldo de los Reyes as members of the Board of Trustees in simple rites at Malacañang’s Kalayaan Hall. President Marcos said his administration recognizes the invaluable role of a free press and a robust media in
Philippine democracy.
Monday, August 5, 2024
House starts deliberations for 2025 natl govt budget
By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz @joveemarie
AS the House of Represen -
tatives gets ready to start deliberating on the 2025 P6.352 trillion National Expenditure Program on Monday, Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez reminded the economic managers that economic growth should be felt by the people, particularly the poor.
Romualdez stressed the importance of understanding “how the country could sustain its economic growth and how such growth could benefit our people.”
“Our economic expansion, projected by multilateral financial institutions at between 5.9 and 6.2 percent next year, should be felt by our people, especially the poor, in terms of more job and income opportunities, more affordable food on their table, and lower consumer prices,” he said.
Romualdez noted that many of the poor believe the economic boom benefits only the wealthy, large corporations,
and stock market investors.
“They say they cannot eat economic growth. If the majority of our people do not feel our economic expansion, they should at least see it in terms of the proper use of the national budget for social services, education, health, infrastructure, and direct financial assistance to the poor and other vulnerable sectors,” he stressed.
Romualdez added that he wants to see increased allocations for these essential services and propoor programs.
“Maybe we cannot get all the data from our resource persons tomorrow, but this is a forewarning to all agency heads who will be asked to attend our hearings: they should better be prepared when it is their turn to face us,” he said.
The first day of the budget briefing will feature four members of the President’s economic team from the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC), who will be welcomed by Romualdez and Ako Bicol Party-list Rep. Rizaldy Co, chairman
of the appropriations committee.
The DBCC members include Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman, Finance Secretary Ralph Recto, National Economic and Development Authority Director General Arsenio Balisacan and Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Eli Remolona Jr. They will brief House members on the state of the economy and the macroeconomic assumptions underlying the proposed 2025 budget.
Romualdez said he and his colleagues would like to know from the administration’s economic managers “how the country could sustain its economic growth and how such growth could benefit our people.”
On Tuesday, officials from the Philippine Gaming and Amusement Corp. and the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office will brief the appropriations committee on their operations. These two agencies, along with the Bureau of Internal Revenue and the Bureau of Customs, are major contributors to the national treasury.
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the De -
partment of Human Settlements and Urban Development are scheduled for Wednesday, followed by the Department of Energy, the Commission on Higher Education, and the Energy Regulatory Commission on Thursday.
The appropriations committee will conduct hearings up to September 9. According to the legislative calendar, Congress will be on recess from September 28 to November 3.
Romualdez has previously stated that the House aims to approve the President’s budget proposal before Congress goes on recess next month.
Co said strict rules and procedures governing the conduct of budget briefings or hearings will be implemented during the briefings.
“These rules are designed to enhance transparency, encourage active participation from stakeholders, and foster rigorous scrutiny of budgetary allocations and expenditures,” said Co.
“By implementing comprehensive rules and procedures, the committee seeks to maximize the impact of every allocated peso and uphold the utmost
accountability in budget implementation,” added the lawmaker.
The proposed national budget for Fiscal Year 2025, themed “Agenda for Prosperity: Fulfilling the Needs and Aspirations of the Filipino People,” amounts to P6.352 trillion. The proposed budget makes up 22 percent of the country’s gross domestic product, which is a 10.1 percent increase from the P5.768 trillion budget for this year.
The proposed 2025 national budget allocates P2.421 trillion, or 38.1 percent, to Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses (MOOE), the highest allocation by expense class.
This portion will cover the day-today operations and priority programs of the National Government (NG), including the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (P114.2 billion) and the National Health Insurance Program (P74.3 billion).
Additionally, it includes the National Tax Allotment (NTA) (P1.035 trillion), the Block Grant for the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) (P83.4
billion), and the Local Government Support Fund (LGSF) (P15.8 billion). Personnel Services will receive the second highest allocation, with a proposed P1.757 trillion, or 27.7 percent of the budget. This will finance the salaries, benefits, and other compensations of civil servants, including P70 billion for the first and second tranches of the Salary Standardization Law (SSL) VI and P9.6 billion for additional health care benefits for government personnel.
Capital outlays are allocated P1.327 trillion, or 20.9 percent, to fund the Build Better More program and other major infrastructure projects, as well as the acquisition of goods and services that will be used beyond the fiscal year and added to the national government’s assets. Receiving P848.1 billion, or 13.4 percent of the proposed national budget, financial expenses will be used to settle, among others, the payments for fees, interest expenses, and other financial charges incurred by the national government.
Electricity spot market prices fall FDA bans China-made lipgloss tainted with hazardous chemical
EBy Lenie Lectura @llectura
LECTRICITY prices in the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) went down to P5.97 per kilowatt hour (kWh) during the billing period June 26 to July 25 from P6.15 per kWh a month earlier, the Independent Electricity Market Operator of the Philippines (IEMOP) reported.
The WESM operator attributed the 3-percent decline in average power price at the WESM-system wide owing to the decreased demand brought about by the rainy season.
Electricity demand went down to 13,989 megawatts (MW) from 14,710MW.
Supply also fell 3.9 percent to 18,867MW from 19,638MW.
For Luzon, the spot price fell 0.9 percent to P5.92 per kWh. Supply on the main island dropped 3.8 percent to13,340MW, while demand dropped 4.9 percent to 10,142MW.
For the Visayas, the average spot price in the Visayas fell 12.4 percent to P7.50 per kWh. Supply stood at 2,105MW, down 9.3 percent, while demand hit 1,894MW, down 5.4 percent.
Mindanao’s average WESM price went up 1.3 percent to P4.67 per kWh. Supply fell one percent to 3,421MW. Demand declined by 4.5 percent to 1,952MW.
IEMOP said the supply-demand scenario in Mindanao decreased due to some baseload plants that undergone outages, resulting in a minimal increase in spot prices.
WESM is the trading floor for electricity. It is where energy companies can buy power when their long-term contracted power supply is insufficient for customer needs.
On Friday, the Department of Energy (DOE) instructed IEMOP to coordinate with the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) and the National Grid Corporation of the
Philippines (NGCP) to make adjustments to the WESM systems and processes for the resumption of the reserve market targeted early this month.
In particular, adjustments are needed to align the reserve market’s one-hour dispatch interval with the energy market’s five-minute trading interval to fully realize the benefits of co-optimizing energy and reserves.
Based on the ERC’s Notice of Resolution in Case 2023-02 RC dated July 26, 2024, since energy is already scheduled in five-minute dispatch intervals, reserve must also be scheduled in the same time interval for co-optimization to work.
IEMOP has also been instructed to submit the guidelines to the DOE, for its approval, to adjust with the conditions set by the ERC in the Price Determination Methodology (PDM).
“The ERC’s action to lift the suspension of Section 8 of the billing and settlement of the PDM will lead to the resumption of the reserve market which is eagerly awaited by both the power sector industry and the DOE. Coordination among the DOE, ERC, [IEMOP] and [NGCP] are therefore crucial for the necessary adjustments to the WESM systems and processes to ensure the smooth implementation of the reserve market,” Energy Undersecretary Rowena Cristina Guevara said.
Once IEMOP submits the guidelines, the DOE will issue an official advisory to resume the reserve market by August 5, 2024.
The ERC last week lifted the suspension on the implementation of Section 8 on Billing and Settlement of the PDM in the co-optimized energy and reserve in the WESM. This decision paved the way for the full co-optimized energy and reserve in the WESM.
TBy Jonathan L. Mayuga @jonlmayuga
HE toxics watchdog group
EcoWaste Coalition on Sunday warned the public against buying a particular China-made lipgloss that contains harmful chemicals and poses health hazards to its users.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has advised the public not to purchase and use Meiya Matte Lipgloss—ME-6058 after it tested positive for the banned colorant rhodamine B.
The China-made product with lot/ batch number TL20230424ME was manufactured in April 2023 and will
expire in April 2026. The FDA issued a public advisory on July 31.
A recent market monitoring conducted by the EcoWaste Coalition revealed the lipgloss product is being offered for sale in some brick and mortar and online stores. However, the lot/ batch number, production, and expiry dates of the items it purchased online and the items it saw in retail stores in Malabon City differ from the product tested by the FDA.
A synthetic dye, Rhodamine B presents itself as red to violet powder and is listed among the substances not allowed in the composition of cosmetic products in the Association of Southeast Nations Cosmetic Directive.
Rhodamine B is carcinogenic in mammalian models and the use of adulterated cosmetics containing this colorant “can pose a potential health hazard to the general public and may result in adverse reactions,” the FDA warned.
To protect human health, the FDA called on concerned establishments not to distribute the China-made carcinogen-tainted lipgloss. It also requested FDA Regional Field Offices and Regulator Enforcement Units to ensure, in coordination with law enforcement agencies and local government units, that violative products are not offered for sale in their areas of jurisdiction. This is not the first time the FDA has warned consumers against lip cosmetics such as lipgloss, lipstick, and lip tint products adulterated with rhodamine B.
Premium retail center, Nike store to rise in Clark
CLARK FREEPORT—This free port will soon develop a new premium retail center featuring global brands, including a Nike Factory Store (NFS).
This comes after the recent signing of a lease agreement between Clark Development Corp. (CDC) and Prodigy Maguire Concepts Inc. (PMCI) for the project.
CDC President and CEO Agnes
VST Devanadera and PMCI President Christian Monteron formalized a P134.5 million deal to develop a retail center on a 2,500-square-meter site along M.A. Roxas Highway. This project aims to establish Clark as a premier shopping destination for locals and tourists.
In her message, Devanadera emphasized the project’s significance in bolstering Clark’s appeal as a key
Experts cite need for strong public-private partnerships to address disaster impacts
By Rizal Raoul S. Reyes @brownindio
ENVIRONMENTAL experts underscored the need for stronger public-private partnerships to address climate change impacts and mitigate other disaster risks several days after the onslaught of Supertyphoon Carina.
The experts made a recent statement in a climate change forum organized by the Philippine Business for Environmental Stewardship ( PBEST ).
Last week, Typhoon Carina enhanced habagat and caused intense rainfall that resulted in severe flooding in Luzon, leaving 34 dead and dozens more injured.
Environment Undersecretary Annaliza Teh urged the government to strengthen its cooperation and partnership with the private sector and civil society organizations.
“Forging strong collaboration is crucial for advancing climate action and enhancing disaster resilience. The Philippines remains committed to adopting a whole-of-nation approach. This collective effort underscores our dedication to safeguarding vulnerable communities, promoting sustainable development, and securing a resilient future for all Filipinos amidst escalating climate challenges,” said Teh, who handles the Department of Environment and Natural Resources’ Finance, Information Systems,
and Climate Change affairs.
“Central to this approach is transparent governance, which ensures accountability and effective implementation of initiatives to mitigate climate impacts and build resilience across the nation,” she added.
Teh said around 2.5 million Filipinos were displaced in 2023 primarily due to disasters.
She further reported that climate change is projected to impact 7.6 percent of the country’s gross domestic product by 2030, submerge 16.9 percent of national islands by 2100, and exacerbate water shortage by 2040.
Spearheading a more collaborative approach to climate resilience, PBEST
Lead Convener and Stratbase ADR Institute
President Victor Andres Manhit emphasized how civil society groups such as PBEST can engage both the public and private sectors by aligning its advocacies with national objectives.
“We use PBEST as an effective, impactful driver and environmental arm, echoing not only the government’s initiatives but also bridging the gap between public and private services geared towards the green transition [and] movement in our country,”
said Manhit.
Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation President Rene Meily echoed Manhit’s sentiments, calling for further collaboration
shopping and tourism hub, attracting more visitors and boosting the local economy.
“We believe that when you raise the bar of standards, you will find your niche in the market. You don’t need to be very rich to enjoy quality products. Thank you for choosing Clark,” she added.
PMCI Business Unit Head Rochelle Teresa Dizon said the construction of
among sectors, especially in disaster risk response.
“Much of the Philippine economy is privatized. Whether it’s water, energy, [telecommunications], logistics—these are all private companies. Therefore, we need to work with the government. We try to use the core expertise of our companies in all these different phases: preparedness, response, and recovery,” said Meily.
To ensure their effective implementation, La Salle Institute of Governance Senior Fellow Francisco Magno highlighted collaborative governance in the local government sector as a strategy towards more effective disaster mitigation.
“You need input from local community because of the diversity of the challenges in the different local ecosystems. Since we are a diverse country, the challenges are different than the hazards,” said Magno. Ludwig Federigan, Founder and Chief Strategic Advisor Young Environmental Forum, also echoed the need for coordinated efforts across governments, communities, and stakeholders to make resilient cities capable of enduring the threats of climate change.
“While resilience is about the capacity to withstand and recover from extreme weather events, accountability ensures that the actions taken to achieve resilience are transparent, just, and effective. Both resilience and accountability are crucial in protecting our communities, efficiently using resources, learning from past experiences, and ensuring sustainable and reputable recovery,” said Federigan.
In 2018, the FDA issued public health warnings against Andrea Babe Secret Lips (23), Ashley Lip Tint Color Sensational (02), Ashley Shine Effect Lipstick (165), and Meiya Lipstick Essence Formulation with Rich Vitamins and Fruity Nutrition for containing rhodamine B. Also in 2018, the FDA amplified the alert issued by its counterpart agency in Indonesia, BPOM, against 19 adulterated cosmetics, including seven Ozera lipsticks and one Ozera nail polish containing rhodamine B.
the project is scheduled to begin in October, with completion targeted for April next year.
“Our vision is to make Clark a premier destination and this aligns with the Clark Development Corporation’s goals of enhancing community engagement and driving tourism and economic growth,” Dizon said. Founded in 2009, the PMCI is Nike’s exclusive partner in the Philippines for the NFS format. It currently operates six NFS stores in Luzon and the Visayas.
Go pushes continued support for public sector employees
SEN. Christopher Go has welcomed the recent Executive Order 64 issued by President Marcos, which mandates an increase in salaries and the provision of additional allowances
the “Salary Standardization Law VI.” This bill builds on the provisions of the previously enacted Republic Act 11466 or the Salary Standardization Law (SSL) V which Go coauthored and co-sponsored in 2019 and was implemented from 2020-2023. Even without the passage of the new bill, Go said he welcomes this development initiated by the
to fund and implement a new tranche of salary increases for government employees. During a public hearing on July 30, of the Senate Committee on Health and Demography, Finance Secretary Ralph Recto clarified the legal grounds and benefits of redirecting unused funds from various government entities to improve public welfare and priority services including increased compensation in the public sector.
Meanwhile, Go renewed his appeal for agencies to maximize their available budgets to improve its services that would benefit the poor and needy sectors.
Report: Farmers lose ₧15.3B due to El Niño
LBy Ada Pelonia @adapelonia
OCAL farmers, fishers and livestock raisers lost P15.30 billion due to El Niño, according to the Department of Agriculture (DA).
In its final El Niño bulletin, the DA said the volume of production losses for agricultural and fishery areas across 15 regions was pegged at 784,344 metric tons (MT).
Palay and corn suffered the brunt of the weather phenomenon as it accounted for most of the damage at 330,717 MT and 327,310 MT, respectively.
El Niño also damaged 11,681 MT of high-value crops lost 112,681 MT, 2,320 MT of cassava and 11,317 MT of aquaculture produce. According to the report, the production losses were equivalent to P5.93 billion for rice, P5.94 for corn, P3.27 billion for high-value crops, P55.63 million for cassava, P9.80 million for coconut, and P52.44 million for fisheries.
For livestock and poultry, the department said 25,547 chickens, cattle, carabao, ducks, goats, horses, sheep, and swine were affected by the dry spell. These were valued at P37.97 million.
The rice production loss of 330,717 MT is equivalent to around 3.59 percent of the target production of 9.22 million metric tons (MMT), both for dry cropping season this 2024. As for corn, the production loss of 327,310 MT is 7.28 percent of the target production of 4.49 MMT in the same cropping season.
The department said it provided P14.54 billion to affected farmers and fishers. Among the provisions given were P4.72 billion worth of production support
and financial assistance, P99.68 million worth of Survival and Recovery Aid Loan from the Agricultural Credit Policy Council, and P452.56 million from the Philippine Crop Insurance Corp. that indemnified 56,112 farmers in the Cordillera Administrative Region and Regions 1 to 12.
The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration declared the end of El Niño phenomenon in the country in June.
Last month, Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said extreme weather events threaten
the country’s farm output targets.
“This year’s targets [of expanding the agriculture and fisheries production between one and two percent would not be] easy,” Laurel said, partly in Filipino, during the post-State of the Nation Address (Sona) event in Pasay City. “We started with El Nino last January […] and now we will have to deal with La Nina.”
However, the agriculture chief said the additional coverage of irrigated farmland mentioned in President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s Sona would “definitely” increase production.
Food commodity prices unchanged in July–FAO
THE benchmark for world food commodity prices was broadly unchanged in July for the second month in a row, as increases in international quotations of vegetable oils, meat products and sugar offset an ongoing decrease in those for cereals, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) reported Friday.
The FAO Food Price Index, which tracks monthly changes in the international prices of a set of globally traded food commodities, averaged 120.8 points in July, marginally below its revised 121.0 figure for June. The index is now
3.1 percent lower than its corresponding value one year earlier.
The FAO Cereal Price Index declined by 3.8 percent from June as the global export prices of all major cereals decreased for the second consecutive month.
“Wheat quotations dipped on increasing seasonal availability from ongoing winter harvests in the northern hemisphere and generally favorable conditions in Canada and the United State of America supporting expectations for large spring wheat harvests later in the year.”
FAO said maize export prices also declined as harvests in Argen -
tina and Brazil progressed ahead of last year’s pace and crop conditions in the US remained robust. Meanwhile, average rice prices fell by 2.4 percent from June amid “generally quiet trading activities” for both Indica and Japonica varieties.
The FAO Vegetable Oil Price Index, by contrast, rose 2.4 percent from June to reach a one-anda-half-year high. “Global quotations for palm, soy, sunflower and rapeseed oils all rose, lifted by robust demand for soy oil from the biofuel sector and deteriorating crop prospects for sunflower and rapeseed oils in several major producing countries.”
Meat prices were also higher in July amid robust import demand for ovine, bovine and poultry meat, even as pig meat prices declined marginally due to an oversupply situation in Western Europe.
The FAO Sugar Price Index rose by 0.7 percent from June as lower-than-expected production in Brazil outweighed the impact of improved monsoon rainfall in India and conducive weather conditions in Thailand.
“The FAO Dairy Price Index was unchanged in July, as decreases in the quotations for milk powders offset increases in those for butter and cheese.”
Boar’s Head 7-M pound meat recall draws consumer suit
BOAR’S Head Provisions Co. Inc. is facing a proposed class action in federal court alleging it deceived customers by failing to disclose that its products were contaminated with Listeria.
Boar’s Head misleadingly labels and markets its products to “reasonable consumers,” like lead plaintiff Rita J. Torres, the complaint said, by failing to advertise or disclose on its packaging that its Virginia ham, beef salami, and other products are contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes—diseasecausing bacteria that “could lead to serious and life-threatening adverse health consequences.”
The US Department of Agriculture said July 26 that Boar’s Head was recalling its liverwurst product because of possible Listeria contamination after a US Department of Agriculture Food Safety and Inspection Service announcement. It also listed several ready-to-eat deli meat products from the company, produced on June 27, including Virginia ham, bologna, salami, and others.
Boar’s Head announced an expansion of its recall July 30 to include about 7 million additional pounds of meat and poultry, after whole genome sequencing results showed that a liverwurst sample collected by the Maryland Department of Health tested positive for the listeria outbreak strain. The expansion included 71 products. According to Boar’s Head’s July 30 release, the company said it learned the day before from the USDA that its Strassburger Brand Liverwurst had been linked to a national deli meat listeria outbreak. “Based on this new information, we took steps to ensure we are doing everything possible
to protect public health,” the release said.
Any consumer made aware of the recall “would be predisposed to throwing the Products away,” the complaint says, but the company “is also aware that consumers shop in multiple locations and may or may not purchase the Products at the same location each time. Also, most consumers do not maintain receipts and therefore cannot obtain a refund at the purchase location for the recalled Products.”
While Boar’s Head issued a recall of its products July 25, the recall “was deliberately designed to preclude the vast majority of consumers from receiving a recall,” according to the complaint filed in US District Court for the Eastern District of New York Aug. 1. The recall was “designed to reach very few people and designed to benefit very few of the consumers who purchased the Products,” the complaint says.
The outbreak has become “a significant public health concern,” given that
high-risk groups for listeria, such as pregnant women, infants, and the elderly, have an elevated risk of developing severe symptoms, including death, the complaint says.
The company has a profit motive in limiting news of the outbreak, the complaint alleges. Boar’s Head products at risk of containing “have no value, or at the very least, Defendant was able to charge significantly more for the Products than they would have” had the company not omitted the fact that its products do or may contain listeria, the complaint says.
The company said it decided to “immediately and voluntarily” expand the recall to include all items produced at its Jarratt, Va., facility. Torres, of Queens, NY, seeks certification for a nationwide class of consumers who purchased the products in the class period, as well as a subclass of consumers in New York.
RCEF extension crucial to achieving food security–DA
THE life of the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) must be extended as the government needs more time to deliver the assistance required by rice farmers to become competitive, according to Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr.
“The extension of the RCEF [Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund] is very important. We need additional years to provide adequate support through mechanization and increased seed production,” Laurel said during the Senate Committee on Agricultural and Fisheries Modernization hearing last Thursday.
He proposed the use of RCEF for other projects, such as solar irrigation, water impounding, soil testing, and pest control.
Laurel also suggested empowering the Department of Agriculture (DA) under the revised Rice Tarrification Law (RTL) to intervene in the market to stabilize rice prices, as the National Food Authority (NFA) has lost its trading authority.
He said extending RTL and RCEF is “crucial” for improving rice farmers’ livelihoods. The RCEF is set to expire in early 2025.
Meanwhile, Laurel allayed concerns over the impact of the reduction of rice tariffs on the RCEF, which is currently channeled to farm machinery distribution, provision of quality seeds, training, and financial aid to farmers.
He cited a provision in Executive Order (EO) 62, which allows
for a review of the rice tariff every four months, enabling adjustments if significant price movements occur.
Senator Cynthia Villar also noted that the Department of Finance (DOF) has committed to providing funds for the RCEF, even if tariff collection declines. Villar revealed plans to triple RCEF to P30 billion from P10 billion, based on recent tariff collection data.
The Congressional Oversight Committee on Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization backed the proposed extension of RCEF, particularly the plan to triple the rice fund.
“The revisions to the rice tariffication law put us on the right and fast track to achieve President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr.’s vision of a food-secure Philippines, where farmers benefit from their hard work and consumers have access to affordably-priced food,” Laurel said.
Last month, Finance Secretary Ralph G. Recto made an assurance that the government will shoulder the shortfall in rice tariff collections. The reduction of rice tariff to 15 percent from the current 35 percent is expected to result in revenue losses of P9.2 billion. The agriculture sector’s budget for 2024 rose by 27.7 percent to P221.7 billion to install more irrigation systems, construct farm-to-market roads, procure farm machinery and equipment and prioritize research and development. Ada Pelonia
SHELVES sit empty where Boar's Head meats are usually displayed at a Safeway store on July 31, 2024 in San Anselmo, California. JUSTIN SULLIVAN/GETTY IMAGES/BLOOMBERG
Israel kills 9 Palestinian militants in the West Bank as nervous region watches latest on cease-fire talks
By Aref Tufaha & Jack Jeffery The Associated Press
ZEITA, West Bank—Two Israeli airstrikes in the West Bank killed nine Palestinian militants on Saturday, Israel’s army said, as violence flared again in the Israeli-occupied territory with tensions high over the war in Gaza and a potential regional escalation.
Cease-fire discussions on Gaza continued, with an Israel delegation led by the Mossad chief briefly visiting Cairo, an Egyptian official said.
The US has urged Israel to seize the chance for a cease-fire after the shock killing of Hamas’ political leader in Iran, which Tehran blames on Israel.
That killing and Israel’s assassination of a Hezbollah commander in Lebanon have the region holding its breath for retaliation against Israel on either front, or both, after Iran and its proxies vowed to act. Hamas said its command had begun discussions on choosing a new leader.
In the northern West Bank, the Israeli army said its forces first struck a vehicle in a rural area outside the city of Tulkarem early Saturday, killing the five occupants. The army said they were on their way to carry out an
DBy Julhas Alam The Associated Press
HAKA, Bangladesh—Thousands of people protested peacefully in Bangladesh’s capital Saturday to demand justice for more than 200 students and others killed during protests last month, but violence was reported at similar events elsewhere in the country. The protesters chanted anti-government slogans and demanded the resignation of the prime minister as the wave of protest widened beyond students to include people from many walks of life. Some pro-government groups also rallied in the city.
The country’s leading Bengalilanguage Prothom Alo newspaper reported that at least seven protesters were hit by bullets after pro-ruling party groups allegedly opened fire on them as they blocked a road in Cumilla, in the east of Bangladesh. The daily said at least 30 protesters were injured during the violence, but a local leader of the ruling party denied allegations that their supporters attacked the protesters. Scores of people were injured in other parts of the country, TV stations reported.
The students’ protests last month began with the demand for an end to a quota system for government jobs that they said was discriminatory. Under it, 30% of such jobs were reserved for the families of veterans who fought
attack. Hamas identified all five as militants with the group, including a local commander. According to an Associated Press journalist and witnesses, the blast took place along a road connecting the Palestinian villages of Zeita and Qaffin.
“We came to the site and found a young man martyred here on the street and half of his face was missing,” said Taiser Abdullah, a Zeita resident. The official Palestinian news agency Wafa said four bodies were “burned and charred beyond recognition.”
Later on Saturday, Israel’s military said it killed four other Palestinian militants in the Tulkarem area shortly after they opened fire on Israeli troops. No further information was immediately available.
Over 590 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire in the West Bank
since the Israel-Hamas war began in Gaza in October, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. Most have been killed during Israeli raids and violent protests. Tulkarem is regularly raided by Israeli forces, and Palestinian militant groups, including Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, are active there.
A strike in central Gaza early Sunday hit a tent area in the courtyard of Al Aqsa Martyrs hospital, killing four people, including a woman, and injuring others, health officials said.
An Associated Press journalist filmed men rushing to the scene to help the injured and retrieve bodies, while trying to extinguish the fire. The hospital in Deir al Balah is the main medical facility operating in central Gaza, and thousands of people have taken shelter there after fleeing their homes in the war-ravaged territory.
Concerns about a full-fledged regional war are high after the assassinations of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran early Wednesday and top Hezbollah commander Fouad Shukur in Beirut the evening before.
Iran and its proxies, including Hezbollah in Lebanon, vowed to retaliate against Israel, which said it killed Shukur but has not confirmed or denied its role in Haniyeh’s death. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said a short-range projectile was behind the
in Bangladesh’s war of independence against Pakistan in 1971.
The protests began peacefully, but turned violent as students at Dhaka University clashed with police and the activists of a student wing of the ruling Awami League party on July 15. Since then, more than 200 people have died and thousands of others have been injured.
The Supreme Court cut the veterans’ quota to 5 percent on July 21, but protests have continued to spread amid outrage over the violence. Authorities closed schools and universities across the country, blocked Internet access and imposed a shoot-onsight curfew. At least, 11,000 people have been arrested in recent weeks.
Internet service has been restored and banks and offices have reopened, but tensions remain high. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on
killing and accused the United States of supporting the attack.
The Pentagon said late Friday the US military will move a fighter jet squadron to the Middle East and maintain an aircraft carrier in the region. The US Embassy in Lebanon encouraged citizens who wish to leave to “book any ticket available,” noting that several airlines have suspended or canceled flights. The British government called on its citizens in Lebanon to “leave now.” Jordan did the same.
President Joe Biden on Thursday said he had urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to seize the chance for a cease-fire with Hamas, adding that Haniyeh’s killing had “not helped” efforts to negotiate an end to the war. Netanyahu has vowed to destroy Hamas’ military and governing capabilities.
Saturday midday, an Israeli delegation led by Mossad chief David Barnea arrived in Cairo, an Egyptian official said. The delegation, which also included Ronan Bar, chief of Israel’s internal security agency Shin Bet, was to meet with Abbas Kamel, head of Egypt’s General Intelligence Service, for talks on the Philadelphi corridor along the border with Egypt and the Rafah crossing point, the official said.
The delegation left Cairo hours later and there was nothing new, said the Egyptian official, who has direct knowledge of the Gaza cease-fire negotiations and spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to brief reporters.
There was no immediate comment from Israeli officials. Netanyahu’s office late Friday said he ordered the negotiation delegation to leave for Cairo on Saturday or Sunday.
Egypt’s foreign minister had calls with counterparts in Iran and Lebanon about the “dangerous” escalation in the region.
As protesters in various countries marked 300 days of the war in Gaza and expressed support for Palestinians, the death toll inside the territory is nearing 40,000. At least 39,550 have been killed in the nearly 10 months since Hamas’ brutal Oct. 7 attack on Israel.
See “Israel,” A7
in a statement.
The army chief also discussed the current security situation in the country with the officers, it said. The protests have become a major challenge for Hasina, who returned to power for a fourth consecutive term in January in an election boycotted by her main opponents.
US to boost military presence in Mideast, sending fighter jet squadron and keeping carrier in region
By Lolita C. Baldor & Tara Copp
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON—The US will move a fighter jet squadron to the Middle East and maintain an aircraft carrier in the region, the Pentagon said Friday, beefing up the American military presence to help defend Israel from possible attacks by Iran and its proxies and safeguard US troops.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has also ordered additional ballistic missile defense-capable cruisers and destroyers to the European and Middle East regions and is taking steps to send more land-based ballistic missile defense weapons there, the Pentagon said in a statement Friday evening.
The shifts make good on a promise President Joe Biden made to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In a call Thursday afternoon, Biden discussed new US military deployments to protect against possible attacks from ballistic missiles and drones, according to the White House. In April, US forces intercepted dozens of missiles and drones fired by Iran against Israel and helped down nearly all of them.
US leaders worry about escalating violence in the Middle East in response to recent attacks by Israel on Hamas and Hezbollah leaders, which triggered threats of retaliation. Iran also has threatened to respond after Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated in Tehran on Wednesday, a day after senior Hezbollah commander Fouad Shukur was killed in Beirut.
Israel has vowed to kill Hamas leaders over the group’s Oct. 7 attack, which sparked the war in Gaza.
Austin is ordering the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group to the Middle East to replace the USS Theodore Roosevelt carrier strike group, which is in the Gulf of Oman but scheduled to come home later this summer.
That decision suggests the Pentagon has decided to keep a carrier consistently in the region as a deterrent against Iran at least until next year.
The Pentagon did not say where the fighter jet squadron was coming from or where it would be based in
the Middle East. A number of allies in the region are often willing to base US military forces but don’t want it made public.
The Pentagon has options to provide additional land-based ballistic missile defense, such as the Patriot or the terminal high altitude area defense, known as THAAD, both of which launch interceptor missiles from specialized trailer-based mobile launching systems. The Pentagon did not identify what system it would be deploying to augment defenses in the region.
The White House in a statement said Biden “reaffirmed his commitment to Israel’s security against all threats from Iran, including its proxy terrorist groups Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis.”
Earlier Friday, Sabrina Singh, Pentagon spokeswoman, told reporters that moves were in the works. She said Austin “will be directing multiple” force movements to provide additional support to Israel and increase protection for US troops in the region. Military and defense officials have been considering a wide array of options, from additional ships and fighter aircraft squadrons to added air defense systems or unmanned weapons. In many cases the US does not provide details because host nations are very sensitive about the presence of additional US forces and don’t want those movements made public. It’s unclear what new ships would move to the Middle East. The US has had a consistent warship presence there and in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, including two Navy destroyers, the USS Roosevelt and the USS Bulkeley, as well as the USS Wasp and the USS New York. The Wasp and the New York are part of the amphibious ready group and carry a Marine expeditionary unit that could be used if any evacuation of US personnel is required. In addition, a US official said that two US Navy destroyers that are currently in the Middle East will be heading north up the Red Sea toward the Mediterranean Sea. At least one of those could linger in the Mediterranean if needed. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss troop movements.
Journalists covering Nigeria protests dodge bullets as police arrest nearly 700 people
By Chinedu Asadu The Associated Press
ASaturday offered to talk with student leaders, but a coordinator refused in a Facebook post.
Nahid Islam, a leading protest coordinator, wrote: “One cannot ask a killer government for justice or sit for talks with them. The time to ask forgiveness has passed. When there was still time, the government conducted block raids to arrest and torture students.”
Hasina reiterated her pledges to thoroughly investigate the deaths and punish those responsible for the violence. She said that her doors were open for the talks and she was ready to sit down whenever the protesters want.
Also on Saturday, Gen. Waker-UzZaman, the country’s military chief, directed army officers to safeguard public safety and secure key state installations under all circumstances, the army’s public relations office said
The students had earlier made a nine-point demand, including a public apology from Hasina and release of all the students arrested and jailed. On Saturday, however, they announced they had a single demand—the resignation of Hasina and her administration. They also called for a “noncooperation” movement from Sunday and urged people not to pay taxes or utility bills and to keep factories and offices closed.
The general secretary of Hasina’s ruling party said Saturday that it was calling on its supporters to demonstrate across the country on Sunday. Hasina and other Cabinet ministers had earlier blamed the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party and now-banned right-wing Jamaat-eIslami party and its student wing for intruding into the student protests and committing violence. Both the parties have denied the allegations.
Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, secretary-general of the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party, said Saturday that they would continue to support the protesters in their movement.
BUJA, Nigeria—Nigerian security forces on Saturday fired bullets and teargas at several journalists and protesters during demonstrations against the country’s economic crisis in the capital city, Abuja, according to journalists at the scene and videos reviewed by The Associated Press.
It was not immediately confirmed whether the projectiles fired at journalists were rubber or live rounds. But the AP witnessed the aftermath of the attack, including bullet holes in a car belonging to one of the journalists as well as live bullets at the scene of the protests.
At least 50 protesters were arrested on Saturday during the protests in Abuja, Amnesty International’s Nigeria office said. Nearly 700 protesters have so far been arrested across the country while nine officers have been injured during the protests, now in their third day, the Nigerian police said.
The ongoing demonstrations are mainly against Nigeria’s worst cost-of-living crisis in a generation and accusations of misgovernment and corruption in Africa’s most populous country. Nigeria’s public officials are among the best-paid in Africa, a stark contrast in a country that has some of the world’s poorest and hungriest people despite being one of the continent’s top oil producers.
At the Nigerian national stadium where dozens of protesters had gathered, police officers were seen firing tear gas to disperse the demonstrations shortly before hooded
operatives believed to be from the Nigerian secret service arrived, according to several protesters, journalists and videos shared with The AP.
The Nigerian secret service, or Department of State Service whose operatives are usually hooded, quickly dispersed the protesters and then fired gunshots at the journalists who were still at the venue, according to six journalists there who spoke to The AP on the record.
A video shot by one of the journalists showed the gun-wielding operatives chasing people in front of the stadium. Their vehicles, at least five in number, were parked alongside those of the Nigerian police.
“It was shocking because they saw us as journalists and we were telling them we were journalists,” said Abdulkareem Mojeed, one of
email inquiries from The Associated Press. The service, which has a reputation for brutality, has frequently been accused of violent attacks and wrongful arrests.
Journalist Abdulqudus Ogundapo said he was scared for his safety when caught in the gunfire. “My first reaction was, ‘let
Editor: Angel R. Calso
Mour N e r S c arry the body of militant Haitham Balidi, draped in the Qassam Brigade flag of the Hamas militant group’s military wing, in Tulkarem refugee camp in the West Bank on Saturday, August
He was killed
Israel...
Continued from A6
That’s according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count. Israel has
accused Hamas of embedding in the civilian population and putting it at risk.
In the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood in Gaza City on Saturday, witnesses told the AP an Israeli strike targeting a school killed an unspecified number of people. Israel’s mili -
tary said it struck a Hamas command center. Most of Gaza’s population of about 2.3 million is displaced, many people multiple times, as Israel’s military returns to areas where it says Hamas militants have regrouped. Health services and sanitation have largely collapsed
across the territory as hunger grows. Families of hostages taken on Oct. 7 and others again held protests Saturday night in Israel seeking a deal to end the war. “Most of the military targets were achieved, there is no reason to continue this war,” said one
protester, Naama Weinberg.
Jeffery reported from Ramallah, West Bank. Associated Press writers Samy Magdy in Cairo; Tia Goldenberg in Tel Aviv, Israel; and Bassem Mroue in Beirut contributed.
Landmark $4 billion global settlement reached in Maui wildfire lawsuits, bringing hope to victims after 1 year
By Audrey Mcavoy & Jennifer Sinco Kelleher The Associated Press
HONOLULU—The parties in lawsuits seeking damages for last year’s Maui wildfires have reached a $4 billion global settlement, a court filing said Friday, nearly one year after the deadliest US wildfire in more than a century.
The
The motion asks the judge to order that insurers can’t separately go after the defendants to recoup money paid to policyholders.
The settlement was reached amid fears that Hawaiian Electric, the power company that some blame for sparking the blaze, could be on the brink of bankruptcy. The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is investigating the August 8, 2023 fires that killed 102 people and destroyed the historic downtown area of Lahaina.
Gilbert Keith-Agaran, a Maui attorney who represents victims, including families who lost relatives, said
the amount was “woefully short.”
But he said it was a deal plaintiffs needed to consider given Hawaiian Electric’s limited assets and potential bankruptcy.
The agreement was the first step toward getting fire victims compensation, said Jake Lowenthal, a Maui attorney selected as one of four liaisons for the coordination of the cases.
More work needs to be done on how to divvy up the amount.
“We’re under no illusions that this is going to make Maui whole,” Lowenthal told The Associated Press. “We know for a fact that it’s not going to make up for what they lost.”
Thomas Leonard, who lost his Front Street condo in the fire and spent hours in the ocean behind a seawall hiding from the flames, welcomed the news.
Trump says he’ll skip ABC debate with Harris in Sept and wants them to face off on Fox News
“It gives us something to work with,” he said. “I’m going to need that money to rebuild.”
Hawaiian Electric said the settlement will help reestablish the company’s financial stability. Payments would begin after final approval and were expected no earlier than the middle of next year, it said.
He said it was unprecedented to settle lawsuits like this in only one year.
“It will be good that our people don’t have to wait to rebuild their lives as long as others have in many places that have suffered similar tragedies,” Green said. On Wednesday, Green told the AP in an interview the settlement money would be important for Lahaina’s recovery. More than 600 lawsuits have been filed over the deaths and destruction caused by the fires, which burned
By Meg Kinnard The Associated Press
CHAPIN, S.C.—Donald Trump says he is pulling out of a scheduled September debate with Vice President Kamala Harris on ABC and wants them to face off on Fox News, making it increasingly unlikely that the candidates will confront each other on stage before the November election. In a series of Truth Social posts late Friday, the Republican nominee and former president said his agreement to a September 10 debate on ABC “has been terminated” because he will no longer face Democratic President Joe Biden, who ended his campaign last month after a disastrous performance in their first debate.
In a subsequent Truth Social post on Saturday afternoon, Trump said of Harris, “I’ll see her on September 4th or, I won’t see her at all.”
Trump has gone back and forth on debating with Harris since she entered the presidential race. He had told reporters he felt an obligation to debate but also said in a recent Fox News interview that he thought Americans “already know everything” about both candidates Harris has pressed Trump to keep the commitment he made when Biden was in the race. Noting Trump’s criticisms of her, Harris dared him recently to “say it to my face.”
In his Truth Social posts, Trump also cited his litigation against ABC News as “a conflict of interest” in his participation in the network’s debate. Trump sued the network in March following an assertion by anchor George Stephanopoulos that Trump had been found “liable for rape.” A New York jury found Trump liable for sexually abusing advice columnist E. Jean Carroll but rejected her claim that she was raped.
But Trump agreed, two months after filing his lawsuit, to the Sept. 10 debate on ABC, as well as the June 27 debate on CNN that helped knock Biden out of the race. David Muir and Linsey Davis, not Stephanopoulos, are set to be ABC’s debate moderators. Trump has skipped debates before, including all the 2024 Republican presidential primary debates.
“For the many affected parties to work with such commitment and focus to reach resolution in a uniquely complex case is a powerful demonstration of how Hawaii comes together in times of crisis,” CEO
Sheelee Kimura said in a statement.
The seven defendants will pay the $4.037 billion to compensate those who already have brought claims, Hawaii Gov. Josh Green said. He called the proposed settlement an agreement in principle and said it would “help our people heal.”
“My priority as governor was to expedite the agreement and to avoid protracted and painful lawsuits so as many resources as possible would go to those affected by the wildfires as quickly as possible,” he said in a statement.
Vietnam’s president confirmed as new Communist Party chief
HNOM PENH, Cambodia—
PVietnamese President To Lam was confirmed Saturday as the new chief of the Communist Party after his predecessor died July 19.
Lam will be the general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, the country’s most powerful political role, state media said. It was unclear if Lam will stay in his role as president.
The previous general secretary, Nguyen Phu Trong, dominated Vietnamese politics since he became party chief in 2011. He was elected to a third term as general secretary in 2021. He was an ideologue who viewed corruption as the gravest threat facing the party.
In his first speech as the Communist Party chief, Lam said that him taking the reigns was because of “an urgent need to ensure the leadership of the party.” Lam said he would maintain the legacies of his predecessor, notably the anti-corruption campaign that has rocked the country’s political and business elites and a pragmatic approach to foreign policy known as bamboo diplomacy—a phrase coined by Trong referring to the plant’s flexibility, bending but not breaking in the shifting headwinds of global geopolitics.
after being caught by the campaign.
Big changes in Vietnam’s strategic approach are unlikely, said Nguyen Khac Giang, a visiting fellow in the Vietnam Studies Program at Singapore’s ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute, but Lam’s relative newness to governing meant that it remains to be seen how he will lead.
Given the current composition of the upper echelons of Vietnamese politics, Giang said it was possible that Lam’s promotion could mean an end to the internal fighting that has rocked the party for several years.
CBy Fabiola Sánchez The Associated Press
ARACAS, Venezuela—Thousands of people rallied in the streets of Ven -
Trump now says he will appear on Fox News on Sept. 4 in Pennsylvania with rules that he called “similar” to his debate with Biden, but with a full audience instead of a mostly empty studio. Trump said that if Harris, the likely Democratic nominee, does not agree to the new network and date, he will do a “major Town Hall” with Fox News. Michael Tyler, a Harris spokesperson, said Trump “is running scared and trying to back out of the debate he already agreed to and running straight to Fox News to bail him out.” It was not immediately clear whether ABC would turn its Sept. 10 event into a Harris town hall in Trump’s absence. Tyler said Harris is committed to the time slot and would appear “one way or the other to take the opportunity to speak to a prime time national audience.”
ezuela’s capital Saturday, waving the national flag and singing the national anthem in support of an opposition candidate they believe won the presidential election by a landslide.
Authorities have declared President Nicolás Maduro the winner of last Sunday’s election but have yet to produce voting tallies to prove he won. Maduro also urged his backers to attend his own “mother of all marches” later Saturday in Caracas.
The government arrested hundreds of opposition supporters who took to the streets in the days after the disputed poll, and the president and his cadres have threatened to also lock up opposition leader, María Corina Machado, and her hand-picked presidential candidate, Edmundo González.
her as she climbed onto a raised platform on a truck to address the crowd.
“After six days of brutal repression, they thought they were going to silence us, intimidate or paralyze us,” she told them.
“The presence of every one of you here today represents the best of Venezuela.”
Machado, who has been barred by Maduro’s government from running for office for 15 years, had been in hiding since Tuesday, saying her life and freedom are at risk. Masked assailants ransacked the opposition’s headquarters on Friday, taking documents and vandalizing the space.
On Saturday, she held aloft a Venezuelan flag and promised that the government whose policies forced millions of Venezuelans to leave was finally coming to an end.
Lam spent over four decades in the Ministry of Public Security before becoming the minister in 2016.
As Vietnam’s top security official, Lam led Trong’s sweeping anti-graft campaign until May, when he became president following the resignation of his predecessor, who stepped down
Opposition leader María Corina Machado joins rally calling for Venezuela presidential election results to be overturned
feared a government crackdown.
“They have to respect me and they have to respect all the Venezuelans who voted against this government,” García said. “We will not accept them stealing our votes. They have to respect our votes.”
A column of pro-government motorcycle riders, who have served as militia for Maduro in the past, rode near the opposition rally, but there were no confrontations. There was only a light police presence.
The Organization of American States on Saturday called for “reconciliation and justice” in Venezuela, saying “let all Venezuelans who express themselves in the streets find only an echo of peace, a peace that reflects the spirit of democracy.”
“To Lam is the new unchallenged power who will dominate Vietnamese politics in the years, if not a decade, ahead,” he said. Giang said the party will vote for the general secretary again in 2026, and Lam’s performance will be a factor.
“For now, however, it seems a new era has come,” he said.
whistled, sang and cracked jokes, weaving from pop culture to religious references. He repeated his threat to arrest and jail more opponents, including González, but also called for reconciliation and peace.
“There is room in Venezuela for everyone,” he said, calling it “the blessed land of opportunity.”
Machado and González, a 74-year-old former diplomat, said tally sheets they obtained from voting machines in polling centers nationwide show Maduro clearly lost his bid for a third six-year term.
An Associated Press analysis Friday of vote tally sheets released by the opposition coalition indicates that Gonzalez won significantly more votes in the election than the government has claimed, casting serious doubt on the official declaration that Maduro won.
On Saturday, supporters chanted and sang as Machado arrived at the rally in Caracas. Ecstatic, they crushed around
“We have overcome all the barriers! We have knocked them all down,” Machado said. “Never has the regime been so weak.” González, who remains in hiding, was not seen at the event, and when the rally ended, Machado was given a non-descript shirt and whisked away on the back of a motorcycle.
Carmen Elena García, a 57-year-old street vendor was at the rally even though she
Later Saturday, thousands of government supporters gathered before Maduro’s office at the Miraflores national palace.
Wearing red caps and shirts—the color of Maduro’s party—they danced and listened to folk songs. There were fewer national flags, and a lot of umbrellas against the burning Caracas sun.
In a long, rambling speech fueled by many cups of coffee, Maduro shouted, Democratic vice presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris, D- c alif., speaks during a debate on oc tober 7, 2020, in Salt Lake city, left, and republican presidential candidate former President Donald tr ump speaks during a debate on June 27, 2024, in atlanta.
Late Friday, Venezuela’s high court, the Supreme Justice Tribunal, ordered the Maduro-controlled National Electoral Council to hand over the precinct vote count sheets in three days. There have been calls from multiple governments, including Maduro’s close regional allies, for Venezuela’s electoral authorities to release the precinct-level tallies, as it has after previous elections.
“Opposition,”
Waio L a church and nearby Lahaina Hongwanji m ssion are engulfed in flames along Wainee Street on aug. 8, 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii. the parties
Continued from A8
10.26 million votes.
The AP processed almost 24,000 images of tally sheets, representing the results from 79 percent of voting machines. Each sheet encoded vote counts in QR codes, which the AP programmatically decoded and analyzed, resulting in tabulations of
3.13 million votes from the tally sheets released.
According to the calculations, the González received 6.89 million votes, nearly half a million more than the government says Maduro won. The tabulations also show Maduro received
semble shopping receipts. They have long been considered the ultimate proof of election results in Venezuela.
Associated Press photographer Matias Delacroix contributed. Opposition...
By comparison, the National Electoral Council said Friday that based on 96.87 percent of tally sheets, Maduro had won 6.4 million votes and Gonzalez had 5.3
million. National Electoral Council President Elvis Amoroso attributed the delay in filing complete results to attacks on the “technological infrastructure.”
The tally sheets, known in Spanish as “actas,” are lengthy printouts that re -
From community pantries to cabbage relief: Bringing hope to people amid crisis
IN the midst of the harrowing challenges brought by the Covid-19 pandemic, a beacon of hope has emerged across the Philippines in the form of community pantries. These humble setups, adorned with handwritten slogans urging individuals to “give according to your means, take according to your need,” have become symbols of compassion and solidarity in a nation grappling with the devastating impacts of the health crisis.
Unlike traditional food banks found in various countries, Philippine community pantries signify much more than just the provision of essential goods. They embody the spirit of bayanihan, reflecting a collective effort to support those in need and foster a sense of unity among communities facing unprecedented hardships.
The community pantry movement in the country during the pandemic was not just about distributing goods; it is a testament to the strength that lies in unity and compassion among our people in times of crisis.
Recent events in San Jose Del Monte exemplify the profound impact of these community-driven initiatives. The arrival of a 10-wheeler van carrying 20 tons of unsold cabbages from Benguet, swiftly distributed to flood-affected barangays, underscores the power of compassionate action in times of crisis. Spearheaded by Rep. Florida ‘Rida’ Robes, this gesture not only provided vital assistance to communities reeling from the aftermath of super typhoon Carina but also offered a lifeline to Benguet farmers struggling with slow sales amidst challenging circumstances. (Read the BusinessMirror story: “Solon acquired 20 tons of unsold cabbages in Benguet, donated to flood-affected communities in SJDM,” July 30, 2024).
The lawmaker’s purchase and distribution of 20 tons of unsold cabbages from Benguet to 62 flood-affected barangays in her district is a shining example of good governance, empathy, and community spirit. Rep. Robes’ unwavering commitment to supporting her constituents and local farmers exemplifies the essence of bayanihan —mutual assistance and cooperation for the greater good. By bridging the gap between surplus produce and communities in need, she not only alleviated immediate hardships but also symbolized the resilience and generosity inherent in Filipino culture.
In a world often driven by profit motives, initiatives like these serve as a poignant reminder of the enduring power of compassion and solidarity. Through collaborative efforts and selfless acts of kindness, individuals like Rep. Robes showcase the best of humanity, standing as beacons of hope in times of darkness.
What makes this story even more commendable is Rep. Robes’ longstanding support for local farmers in Benguet. Since the Covid-19 pandemic, she has been consistently purchasing surplus vegetables from these farmers to distribute to her constituents. This not only helps the farmers dispose of their unsold produce but also provides her constituents with fresh and healthy produce.
In a world where negative news often dominates the headlines, stories like these serve as a much-needed reminder that there is still hope and kindness in our communities. Let us continue to celebrate and uplift these acts of compassion, generosity, and solidarity, fostering a culture of support, unity, and collaboration in the face of adversity.
BusinessMirror
Remembering Tita Cory
TRISING SUN
here was a livestreamed mass last August 1, 2024 to commemorate the 15th death anniversary of President Corazon C. Aquino. The holy Mass was celebrated by Fr. Manoling Francisco SJ and concelebrated by Fr. rufino Sescon Jr. It was a solemn remembrance of the courageous life of our former president.
It was a brave life not only because she stood up to a great power at the time, but because she also used her faith to rally the people and inspire the Filipinos to continue trusting the Lord as we worked for democracy and peace. She taught us, through her examples, how to truly love our country.
Fr. Manoling said in his homily that Tita Cory patiently remolded
our nation and never gave up on us even if many Filipinos seemed indifferent at the time. He remembered instances in Tita Cory’s life that showed how she put nation before self; it was just how she lived her life, the priest said. Many heroes and noblemen have said that it is sometimes difficult to love the Philippines. It was true for Tita Cory, too, but she never got tired
of trying. She relied on prayers and her faith in the Lord to be able to consistently serve others. Through her faith, she conquered her own fears.
We must honor her memory by promising that we will live as she taught and showed us, Fr. Manoling urged. It’s true that her leadership continues to be felt many years after her death. Democracy is truly Tita Cory’s legacy, and the hope and inspiration she sowed in our hearts continue to motivate us.
“We are free because we decided collectively to be free. Nothing could stand in the way of our freedom thereafter. And we have reason to be hopeful because now we realize that united we have the power to accomplish what we wish.” This was Tita Cory’s message many years ago during the Independence Day celebration of 1986.
It rings true to this very day. We must not allow fear or division to stop us from going for our collective dreams. If we would only stand
together, like Tita Cory said, we can accomplish what we want. Working together towards a common goal is the action that will change the game. What will it take for the Filipinos to come as one? According to Tita Cory, “hard resolve and unbelievable courage.” We are the brave freedom fighters, she said, and it is our courage, determination and numbers that will deliver the power into any task that we wish to accomplish together.
“I ask you now not to fall back into complacency and slip back into despair as though the fate of our country were not in your hands, as though you did not collectively have the power to make of it what you want. Every waking moment of your lives can be a reaffirmation of our independence by your continuing determination to be free and responsible for our future and our freedom.”—President Cory Aquino, 1986.
Starmer honeymoon ends as tax warnings, riots expose challenge
By Alex Wickham & Ellen Milligan
KeIr STArMer’S Labour Party likely hoped their first UK election win in almost two decades would yield a political honeymoon at least through the summer. But in less than a month, the challenges of governing a brittle nation have rapidly dispelled any lingering sense of euphoria.
Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves delivered the first reality check on Monday, warning that tax rises would be needed in the Budget in October to plug a £22 billion ($28 billion) hole she said she’d found in the public finances. Some in Labour saw that as risking claims of a betrayal, after the campaign promise not to inflict surprise tax rises on people reeling from a cost-of-living crisis.
The mood darkened again when riots led by far-right activists flared up in parts of England, after false information spread on social media that the suspect in the fatal stabbings of three girls in northwest England was a Muslim asylum-seeker. With authorities bracing for further violence this weekend, Starmer held a press conference Thursday to set out a more robust police response.
The turbulent week left some Labour members of Parliament, who were jubilant on taking office, nervous about what may come next— and how Starmer and Reeves would respond. The public disorder also laid bare what some Labour officials worried about even as the party basked in its landslide election victory, that growing agitation on the political right would cause problems.
“Between the riots seen in Southport and elsewhere, and the suggestion of tax hikes around the corner, Keir Starmer is already facing his
fair share of political problems,” said Scarlett Maguire, director at the pollster JL Partners. “Without clear delivery on the economy, NHS and immigration, the pervasive mood of anti-politics in the country could become even harder to redress.”
During the six-week election campaign, Starmer and Reeves made no secret of the economic and political mess they expected to inherit. According to an ally, the prime minister didn’t want or expect a honeymoon, viewing what he called the “chaos” left by the Conservatives as requiring immediate action. A realist and not a romantic, was how another ally described Starmer.
Reeves’ intervention was also a calculated move to demonstrate her seriousness and willingness to take difficult and unpopular decisions, according to Labour aides who spoke on condition of anonymity. Voters in the political center, who Labour targeted in the election campaign, want responsible government and not impossible promises, one adviser said.
The first rate cut by the Bank of England since early 2020, more upbeat economic forecasts and strong performances by British athletes at the Olympics in Paris also gave the government something to cheer.
Nevertheless, the reaction to Reeves’ speech has tarnished the mood among some Labour MPs. She
insists her complaints about undeclared overspending by the last Tory government are legitimate, and is privately shocked at the actions of predecessor Jeremy Hunt. Yet the questions she faced during her broadcast round on Tuesday focused less on whether there was a Tory cover-up, and more on whether she had been dishonest with voters over Labour’s tax plans.
Some lawmakers are also concerned about her decision to remove help on winter energy bills from about 10 million pensioners, to fund pay rises for junior doctors. One MP said rather than targeting such a key voter demographic, her first revenue raiser should have been aimed at the wealthy.
Labour aides were alarmed to see journalists dig up past comments by Starmer and Reeves suggesting they wouldn’t raise taxes or remove pensioners’ winter payments. One said the chancellor should have come up with a more elegant position on tax during the campaign so she couldn’t be accused of dishonesty afterward. An ally of Reeves said she genuinely had no specific plans to raise taxes before taking office, and still hoped that any rises would be limited.
To be sure, some of the reaction to Reeves’ speech is a byproduct of Labour’s landslide win and the spread —geographical and economic—of districts it now holds. One adviser said the speech struck the right tone and was consistent with a strategy to expose the problems left by the Tories, though they also expressed surprise at how many policy changes were announced at once. There is a debate among aides
about whether Reeves should telegraph her strategy more clearly to prevent surprises.
Some in Labour think criticism of Reeves would have been more intense had the fallout from her speech not been knocked off the newspaper front pages by the killings in Southport and the far-right violence that followed.
In his press conference, Starmer accused “thugs” from outside the community of hijacking families’ grief for political purpose. Police, he said, would start sharing intelligence to “restrict their movements before they can even board a train, in just the same way we do with football hooligans.” There was further violence as protests unfolded across the UK over the weekend, including in Sunderland, Liverpool and Hull, that left several policemen injured. On Saturday, Starmer held an emergency meeting with ministers to discuss the unrest, offering support for the police and reiterating a pledge to prosecute those responsible, according to a statement from the prime minister’s office. The risk to Starmer and Labour goes beyond the scenes of burning police cars, brick-throwing rioters and the view pushed in some areas of social media that the government has already lost control. Labour built an election campaign strategy focused on centrist voters, and it worked. But the implosion of the Conservatives also left the rightwing Reform UK party led by Nigel Farage in a strong position to make life difficult for Labour with populist, anti-immigrant messaging that
Atty. Jose Ferdinand M. Rojas II
Adoption
Kamote driving
of a new BIR logo comes with new expectations THE PATRIOT
LJoel L. Tan-Torres
DEBIT CREDIT
Ast August 1, 2024, i was an invited guest by the Bureau of internal revenue to attend its 120th year celebration at the Philippine international Convention Center. it was a fine afternoon mingling with former Bir colleagues, fellow taxpayers, and friends in the Department of Finance. in said event, i and four other former Bir Commissioners were given a tribute with an audio-video snippet of our term as Commissioner and a plaque bearing the new Bir logo. the Bir logo was disclosed and launched during the anniversary celebration. (https://businessmirror.com.ph/2024/08/02/birbares-new-logo-on-120th-anniversary/).
This move of BIR Commissioner Romeo Lumagui, Jr. to create a new logo for the agency is appropriate. The BIR logo, or brand, is the projection of the institution’s mandate and vision. Commissioner Lumagui has initiated several initiatives during his more than two years of stay in office. Excellent taxpayer service, digital transformation, integrity and professionalism of the institution, and fearless and aggressive enforcement activities are the pillars of his administration.
Several initiatives have been implemented to pursue these mandates. These include several taxpayer services measures such as the expansion of the available online and digital taxpayer services, improvement of the web portal, closer collaboration and consultations with taxpayer groups, and nationwide adoption of International Organization for Standardization certifications on several frontline services. To add teeth to the tax enforcement campaign, the following were initiated, which include the Run after Fake Transactions campaign, closure of establishments violating excise tax rules, monitoring of tax compliance of online sellers and influencers, and a rule change for taxation of offshore digital services.
The new logo features a pillar, the Philippine eagle, three stars, sun rays, people with joined hands, a coin, and the colors of the Philippine flag.
The pillar, which was retained from the old logo, signifies “strength, stability, and support, symbolizing the role of the BIR in providing the lifeblood of the government and BIR’s authority and unwavering commitment in fulfilling its mission of collecting taxes through just enforcement of tax laws for nation building and upliftment of the lives of Filipinos.”
The Philippine eagle shows the “BIR’s tenacity and resilience in overcoming the odds to achieve its goals while the ‘eagle’s eye’ symbolizes the BIR’s vigilance and attention to detail in the enforcement of tax laws and collection of taxes.”
The three stars connote “the Philippine archipelago’s three principal islands, Luzon, Visayas, and Mind-
Starmer . . .
continued from A10
appeals to some voters including in areas that have seen some of the recent riots.
Starmer’s reference to the “understandable fear” some people have about social tensions was a nod to that risk. Though distinct, some of the far-right activists have expressed support for Reform—and Farage posted a video on X where he repeated online conspiracy theories about the Southport killings. In Labour, concerns are growing that some of the government’s early policies risk playing into Farage’s hands. A plan to release some prisoners early due to overcrowding—a situation Starmer has blamed on the
The introduction of the new logo can be the milestone to further bring the message that the BIR is ready to move further forward in the digitalization age and renewed practices in taxpayer service and BIR operational efficiency in its journey of transformation.
anao, and affirm BIR’s dedication to serving the entire nation.”
The sun rays represent “the BIR’s role in guiding the nation towards prosperity through fair and transparent enforcement of tax laws.”
The image of people with joined hands pertains to “the unity and cooperation of all BIR personnel and external stakeholders in propelling the nation to progress by being partners in nation building.”
The coin presents “the BIR Mission to collect taxes through the delivery of excellent taxpayer service and just enforcement of tax laws.”
The Philippine flag colors—blue, yellow, red, and white—represent the Bureau’s love for the country.
These are nice-sounding messages and symbolism emanating from the logo. What comes next after the adoption of the new emblem needs to be observed.
The introduction of the new logo can be the milestone to further bring the message that the BIR is ready to move further forward in the digitalization age and renewed practices in taxpayer service and BIR operational efficiency in its journey of transformation.
To be continued
Joel L. Tan-Torres was a former Commissioner of the Bureau of Internal Revenue. He has also held the various positions of Dean of the University of the Philippines Virata School of Business, Chairman of the Professional Regulatory Board of Accountancy, Tax partner of Reyes Tacandong & Co. and the SyCip Gorres and Velayo & Co., and director of various corporate boards. He is a Certified Public Accountant who garnered No. 1 in the CPA Board Examination of May 1979. He is now back to his tax and consultancy practice and can be contacted at joeltantorress@yahoo.com and his firm JL2T Consulting.
Tories—has the potential to backfire in the current political climate, aides said. They are exploring how it can be managed in a way that reduces the chances of violent re-offending. While improving the economy was the fundamental measure of success for Starmer’s government, the successful handling of crime and borders would be almost as important, one of the aides said.
Starmer’s strategy of blaming the Tories for the unpalatable choices he’s having to make won’t change any time soon, and most in Labour agree it’s still the right approach to take. But this week also illustrated that the problems are now the government’s to solve, and the premier will ultimately be judged on the political decisions he and Reeves make, too. Bloomberg
Siegfred Bueno Mison, Esq.
Motorists and pedestrians alike have at least one story to tell about reckless driving. We hear of shattered vehicle parts, of bloody injuries (even deaths), and of never-ending road rage. Almost always, a traffic enforcer or a police officer comes into the picture to investigate, detain, and do whatever in line with the eventual filing of claims and cases, criminal or otherwise. to such an extent, nobody would ever want to be part of an incident of reckless driving, either as a victim or as an offender.
Philippine law refers to reckless driving as the act of operating a motor vehicle dangerously, which puts at risk the safety of both motorists and pedestrians as entrenched in Republic Act 4136, otherwise known as the Land Transportation and Traffic Code. The same law defines a reckless driver as a person who operates motor vehicles without reasonable caution. The phrase “without reasonable caution” is as important as the act itself being penalized such that a reference to certain acts constituting it is listed: not taking into account the traffic situation as well as the width, traffic, grades, crossing, curvatures, visibility and other conditions of the highway, and the conditions of the atmosphere and weather, or, so as to endanger the property, or the safety or rights of any person, or, so as to cause excessive or unreasonable damage to the highway.
Evidently, the law has a broad definition of “reckless driving” and “lack of reasonable caution” that it encompasses any act causing direct or potential harm due to inattention. Perhaps one of the most disturbing forms of reckless driving is speeding. This blatant disregard for the speed limit has generated many accidents on the road and has led to certain stretches being tagged as “killer highways” precisely because of the soaring number of road catastrophes recorded in them. Other usual types of reckless driving in the
Venezuela’s
WPhilippines refer to driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol (drunk driving), and violation of the antidistracted driving act (distracted driving). The penalties for reckless driving come in the form of fines, suspension or revocation of license, and when they result in damages to persons and property, the provisions of the Revised Penal Code will apply for crimes such as physical injuries, reckless imprudence resulting to damage to property, homicide and murder. This ugly picture becomes more unpleasant when someone who is innocent on the road becomes a victim of reckless driving, a term which is also known colloquially as “kamote driving.” In the Philippine setting, whenever reckless driving occurs, both the offender and the victim become subject of an investigation. What makes the investigation uniquely inconvenient is the fact that the supposed victim is likewise detained or charged just as the irresponsible or reckless offender.
In a case cited by House Deputy Majority leader and PBA Party-list Rep. Margarita Nograles, a drunken motorcycle driver died last March after counterflowing along Skyway Stage 3, colliding head-on with an Asian Utility Vehicle (AUV). The AUV driver suffered injuries, and notwithstanding that he had the right of way, was still arrested and detained. This scenario and a myriad others led the lady solon to file a bill recently with
the objective of protecting innocent drivers from being “doubly victimized—first by reckless drivers and then by an unfair legal process.” The proposed Anti-Kamote Driver Law (House Bill 10679) seeks to protect responsible drivers “from unjust detention and to address reckless driving.” In other words, the responsible motorist should be protected from “kamote” drivers (those reckless and irresponsible drivers who pose and cause significant risks on the road).
With the proposed legislation, drivers involved in traffic incidents shall not be detained or charged if they can instantly present evidence of their responsible driving. Some dash-cam footage, CCTV recordings, or any other video or photographic proof to demonstrate compliance with traffic laws ought to prevent the detention of drivers who can show proof of their defensive driving, thereby avoiding unnecessary physical, psychological, and financial distress.
“Kamote” driving, as well as its effects on the responsible motorist affected, reminds us of man’s mounting sin prior to the greatest act of salvation by a sinless man. The Bible testifies to how the sin of mankind was “transferred” to one innocent man (Jesus Christ), analogous to how many from Adam and his descendants became “kamote” men and women whose recklessness (sin) was borne by an innocent individual who even died because of such recklessness. The difference though of this one man’s sacrifice to that of the victims of Kamote driving is that he CHOSE to die, so that the rest of us will LIVE!
The life of Jesus is such a beautiful story in a backdrop of doom and despair. Despite the kamotes during His time who were of sinful nature, one innocent man had to offer his life for these offenders. The Bible reminds us that “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Cor. 5:21), which incidentally is one of my favorite verses and one that I encourage everybody to take to heart. Romans
5:17 likewise tells us that “For if, by the trespass of the one man (Adam), death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!”
Mankind then and now are all kamotes, spiritually speaking. We have been “recklessly driving” in life dead to sin, until one innocent man bore the brunt of our kamote nature. Yet He did it out of His greatest love for us. What is required of us is to confess with our mouths that Jesus is our Lord and Savior and to believe in our hearts that God raised him from the dead so that we may be saved (Romans 10:9-11). Now, more than ever, after having been oriented of the impact of kamote driving, being a responsible vehicle driver, in the physical realm, takes more than the required acuity, skill, and attention. It also takes that compassion for others knowing accidents can be minimized whenever we consider the safety of others. As we continue to do our own kamote driving in our daily lives as sinners, let’s bring out that mindset of caring for others. We should take all the necessary caution in order not to injure the next person, because we stand in the place of righteousness caused by the blood and sacrifice of one innocent man—whose teaching is for us to love others, not out of duty, but for being one with Christ. As He continues to save all the kamote drivers here on earth, myself included, let’s help Him by encouraging others to bring all other kamote drivers to His team!
A former infantry and intelligence officer in the Army, Siegfred Mison showcased his servant leadership philosophy in organizations such as the Integrated Bar of the Philippines, Malcolm Law Offices, Infogix Inc., University of the East, Bureau of Immigration, and Philippine Airlines. He is a graduate of West Point in New York, Ateneo Law School, and University of Southern California. A corporate lawyer by profession, he is an inspirational teacher and a Spirit-filled writer with a mission. For questions and comments, please e-mail me at sbmison@gmail.com.
neighbors fear ‘exodus that we cannot accommodate’
By Valentina Fuentes & Marcelo Rochabrun
hen Venezuelans started leaving en masse at the start of an economic collapse almost a decade ago, south American governments including Brazil and Peru welcomed the migrants with open arms.
Now, as officials in the region gear up for another possible wave after a disputed election that dashed hopes for change, it seems clear any newcomers won’t get nearly as nice a reception.
Since 2015, almost 8 million Venezuelans have fled the country in what is considered the largest mass migration in the Americas. As they’ve dispersed around the continent, a backlash has grown amid perceptions that their arrival is often accompanied by an increase in crime.
That anger—a Venezuelan camp was burned down in northern Chile in 2021, and Venezuelans across the region complain of insults and abuse from locals who fear they’re taking jobs—has now filtered through to government policy.
The foreign minister of Peru, already home to 1.5 million Venezuelans, warned this week of “an exodus that we cannot accommodate.” Chile is also increasing border security, and Panama says it’s bracing for a wave of migrants. Even Brazil, which more than any other nation enthusiastically accepted the Venezuelan newcomers of the past decade, has said it’s fortifying its frontier.
Common sense
“GI VEN a situation like this, borders need to be strengthened,” Manuel Monsalve, a Chilean undersecretary for the interior, said Thursday, adding that means increased patrol vehicles, aircraft and drones. “That is common sense.”
A fresh Venezuelan exodus also
risks roiling politics in the US, which is home to more than 500,000 migrants from the country already, according to data from the United Nations. Polling in swing states by Bloomberg News and Morning Consult has shown immigration is the No. 2 issue for voters in the presidential election, behind only the economy.
Donald Trump routinely rails against migrants as he campaigns on the GOP ticket, linking them to crime. Vice President Kamala Harris has been left to defend the Biden administration’s record since becoming the Democratic nominee. Venezuela is in turmoil and more than 1,200 protesters have been arrested since the July 28 election, which President Nicolas Maduro claimed to win despite evidence presented by the opposition that its candidate took the bulk of the votes. Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado has gone into hiding, fearing she’ll be arrested. The US has said that Edmundo Gonzalez, a close Machado ally, won the vote, and countries including Argentina, Chile and Peru have questioned the official results.
Airline tickets
T HERE are early indications that wealthier Venezuelans are getting ready to leave. Amid reduced air service, the one option remaining for a regional flight out of the country is to Bogota, and prices have skyrocketed.
A flight two weeks from now from Caracas to the Colombian capital,
which takes about two hours, used to cost less than $200, but it was more than $800 as of Friday.
While many Venezuelans are still holding out hope that Maduro will ultimately be toppled, roughly 13 percent of people surveyed by Caracas-based Delphos in early July said that if Maduro remained in power the best thing they could do was to leave the country. In presenting the poll, Delphos executives said other studies they have carried out showed up to 20 percent of Venezuelans were willing to migrate in case of a Maduro victory.
The magnitude of Venezuela’s economic collapse is hard to overstate. Its gross domestic product has plummeted 70 percent since 2012, a year before Maduro became president. Annual inflation soared to 130,000 percent at one point, and a more recent taming of price increases was only possible through draconian spending cuts and an effective dollarization of the economy that has eroded public workers’ purchasing power. Venezuela’s oil production has also plummeted due to disinvestment and US sanctions, which are unlikely to be lifted given American criticism of how the election was conducted.
Migration has also further reduced the size of the economy, with Venezuela’s population falling below 30 million in recent years.
So the idea that tougher border checks would substantially reduce migration sounded unrealistic to some analysts for the region.
Migrant backlash
“NO country in Latin America controls its land borders,” said Luisa Feline Freier, a political scientist at Universidad del Pacífico in Peru. She warned that cracking down at official ports of entry risks giving more
power to regional mafias that run human smuggling networks.
“The only way to manage this flow in a wise way is to provide regular routes for migration,” she said.
But that may not be politically feasible given the backlash in some countries against Venezuelan migrants and the perception that they’ve been infiltrated by gangs, particularly Tren de Aragua.
The group, with origins in Venezuela, has expanded its extortion racket throughout the region and even into the US, taking advantage of disorder at the borders and the precarious conditions in which many migrants travel. Its members have been blamed for boosting homicide rates in countries including Chile, Ecuador, and Peru, and the gang has become a major headache for governments throughout the region.
“Tren de Aragua has gone transnational on the back of the migrants,” said Jeremy McDermott, the cofounder of research group InSight Crime.
That criminal activity and its ties to Venezuelans has weighed on locals’ tolerance for the migrants. In late 2023, Chilean pollster CEP found that 69% of the local population very much agreed or agreed that migration had led to higher crime levels, double the rate two decades earlier. In 2022, 83 percent of Peruvians said they attributed a rise in criminality to Venezuelan newcomers, according to a poll by IEP.
“The more xenophobic a country and the more uncertain the status of Venezuelans in a country, the more fertile the ground for Tren de Aragua’s continued exploitation,” McDermott said. With assistance from
Andrew Rosati, Valentine Hilaire, Andrea Jaramillo, Andreina Itriago Acosta and Michael McDonald / Bloomberg
PCSO CHIEF SUES U.S.-BASED VLOGGER FOR DEFAMATION
By Reine Juvierre S. Alberto
DBy Rory Visco | Contributor
ESPITE the significant increase in total health expenditure (THE) in the country, more reforms are needed to help lower the out-of-pocket (OOP) expenses of Filipinos and increase public health spending.
A study conducted by three experts that looked into the performance of the country’s health sector using the Philippine National Health Accounts (PNHA) from 1991-2022 showed that OOP has consistently been the biggest component of healthcare spending in the Philippines.
The study was among the two studies presented during the Unilab Center for Health Policy (UCHP) Executive Symposium: “Evidence and Experience on Investing and Paying for Health.”
In 2022, OOP accounted for 45 percent of health spending, which still exceeds the 20-percent limit set by the Department of Health (DOH). This is followed by the National Government (NG) at 21 percent, Social Health Insurance (SHI) at 14 percent, and Local Govern-
ment (LG) at a low of 10 percent. A lso, health maintenance organizations (HMOs), private insurance, and private enterprises, the study reported, together barely make up 10 percent of total health spending. The study also revealed that the Philippines still fails to meet the target of the World Health Organization (WHO) for developing countries with regard to spending at least 5 percent of their Gross Domestic Product on health.
The PNHA records all transactions with the primary purpose of improving, maintaining, and preventing the deterioration of the health status of persons residing in a country through the application of qualified health knowledge (including traditional, complementary, and alternative medicine).
A lthough SHI has grown to
about 17 percent of THE in 2019, it is still not enough to meet the DOH’s target to cover about 30 percent of all health spending.
L amentably, the study found that LGs still fell behind in terms of spending for healthcare behind the NG and the SHIs, even if LGs were already assigned a greater role in terms of healthcare by Republic Act 7160 or the Local Government Code. And even with the presence of many reforms, the share of public health spending to THE has not significantly increased over the past 30 years, the study reported.
Atty. Jose Maria Ochave, Executive Director of the Unilab Foundation UCHP, said that health access, both physical and financial, remain a challenge for many Filipinos, citing a growing need for improved healthcare facilities. “We need solutions that address high out-of-pocket expenses during hospitalization, uneven distribution of human resources, and problems in equitable access to healthcare, all of which have been further exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic, not to mention the exodus of our healthcare professionals. These are some of the critical gaps in our healthcare delivery system that require discussions paired with appropriate and calibrated actions.”
In his speech during the sym-
posium, DOH Secretary Teodoro Herbosa commended the UCHP for undertaking the study, which he said “will greatly aid in developing strategies to improve health care delivery and health outcomes.”
The analysis of our health sector’s performance over the past three decades gives us a clearer understanding of how our resources have been used and where we can improve. This aligns directly with our 8-Point Action Agenda by emphasizing the need for efficient resource allocation and policymaking based on solid evidence,” Herbosa noted.
The DOH chief also expressed the agency’s commitment to integrating the insights from the studies into their policies and programs. “By promoting evidence- and research-based decision-making, we aim to strengthen our health system and ensure every Filipino can access the care they need without financial strain.”
He likewise stressed the importance of partnerships between the government and private sector, where the private sector’s involvement in research and policy development is very much welcome, and looks forward in working on future projects. “Together, we can create a health care system that truly serves all Filipinos,” he concluded.
Editor: Jennifer A. Ng
Companies BusinessMirror
PLDT backs PHL transition to a circular economy–exec
By Lenie Lectura @llectura
LDT Inc. (PLDT) and its wire -
Pless subsidiary Smart Com -
munications Inc. (Smart) reiterated their full support for the country’s transition to a circular economy during their recent engagements with the government and the business sector.
As a key component of the Philippines’s Nationally Determined Contribution to the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, the circular economy is aimed at reducing waste and greenhouse gas emissions through the adoption of sustainable modes of production and consumption.
“We believe that the circular economy will contribute not only to -
wards addressing the ongoing triple planetary crisis on climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss, but will also unlock opportunities for innovation, economic growth, and value creation across sectors,” said PLDT and Smart Chief Sustainability Officer Melissa Vergel de Dios in a statement.
PLDT and Smart joined the recent Technical Working Group (TWG) meeting of the House Committee on Economic Affairs on House Bill 8791 “An Act to Promote a Circular Economy” and House Bill 9791 “An Act Providing for A Framework for Circular Economy to Promote Sustainable Production and Consumption and National Economic Security.”
Following the TWG, the telcos submitted a position paper on these
proposed legislation, expressing concurrence with salient provisions for the private sector, including the adoption of practices and digital innovations that minimize environmental footprint of products and services, among others.
They also participated in the Circular Economy Dialogue organized by the Makati Business Club. This gathering sought to consolidate industry comments on proposed legislation on circular Economy and low carbon Economy in both houses of Congress.
In the MBC session, PLDT and Smart talked about their ongoing practices that align with key principles of circularity, such as product stewardship, waste reduction, and recycling. Relevant efforts include the
mainstreaming of their eSIM offering for Smart and TNT customers and the integration of electronic waste collection into their business activities and industry collaborations.
“We aim to continue participating in these multi-sectoral engagements and keep abreast of emerging regulations to boost our capability to adopt the best solutions and maximize collaborations on circularity and sustainability,” added Vergel de Dios.
Last June, Smart reported that its mobile data revenues in the first quarter rose by 11 percent to P18.8 billion from the same period a year ago due to an uptick in mobile data usage.
The revenues accounted for nearly 90 percent of the total P21.2 billion individual wireless revenues for the first three months of 2024.
OP cites digital initiatives of SEC
By VG Cabuag @Villygc
THE Office of the President has recognized the digital initia-
tives of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which have paved the way “for a faster and more efficient” company registration process both for Filipinos and foreign investors.
“The Philippine economy would not be where it is today without the help of our partners from the private sector, the academe and international
JEFF
BEZOS ’s net worth shrank by $15.2 billion Friday, leading a wide-ranging slump that erased $134 billion from the fortunes of the 500 richest people in the world.
Shares of Amazon.com Inc. slid 8.8 percent amid a broader selloff in the market, dropping Bezos’ net worth to $191.5 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. The one-day wipeout is his third-worst, trailing only April 4, 2019, when the Amazon co-founder’s wealth tumbled $36 billion following his divorce settlement, and April 29, 2022, when Amazon shares plunged 14 percent.
The Nasdaq 100 Index fell 2.4 percent, dragging down the fortunes of other tech billionaires including Elon Musk and Oracle Corp.’s Larry Ellison, whose net worths were pared $6.6 billion and $4.4 billion, respectively. Uncertainty over possible Federal Reserve rate cuts, as well as some high-profile earnings disappointments, have helped plunge the tech-heavy index into correction territory, wiping out more than $2 trillion in value in just over three weeks. Investors have also become jittery over fears that this year’s AI-fueled gains are overdone or the market is too concentrated. The decline in Amazon shares—the biggest drop since April 2022—came after the company said on an earnings call that it planned to continue spending big on AI even at the expense of short-term profits.
Technology billionaires Mark Zuckerberg, Sergey Brin and Larry Page also each lost more than $3 billion Friday as shares of Meta Platforms Inc. and Alphabet fell in New York trading. Tech tycoons in total saw $68 billion carved from their fortunes, according to Bloomberg’s wealth index. Bezos, 60, the world’s second-richest person, has been steadily offloading
organizations. Our collaborators are critical in achieving our vision of bridging the digitalization gap and building a better-connected Philippines,” according to the President’s Report to the People 2022-2024.
“We also transformed the business registration of companies in the SEC in keeping with our commitment to propel the capital market and business sector,” it added, citing the SEC Zuper Easy Registration Online (ZERO).
SEC ZERO enables the digital authentication of system generated forms
Last week
through the Electronic Submission Authentication Portal (eSAP). Together, SEC ZERO and eSAP remove the need for face-to-face transactions, wet signatures, and notarization, allowing Filipinos to incorporate their business anytime, and from anywhere in the world.
The SEC has also made corporate registration for foreigners faster with a dedicated lane for their application through the SEC Foreign Investment Registration Station (FIRST) Green Lane Unit.
SEC FIRST focuses on the licensing
SHARE prices declined for the second consecutive week as there were no surprises during the meeting of the United States Federal Reserve, which decided to maintain key rates.
The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index fell 120.71 points to close at 6,605.30 points.
Trading was again lackluster during the week as gains were recorded in only two sessions.
Average trading value for the week was down at P4.49 billion. Foreign investors, which cornered 52 percent of the trades, were net sellers at P1.35 billion.
Most sub-indices ended in the red, led by the broader All Shares index that shed 33.20 points to close at 3,596.90 points. Also, the Financials index fell 65.50 to 2,010.95 points, the Industrial index rose 13.74 to 9,173.34, the Holding Firms index declined 59.14 to 5,763.08, the Property index plunged 84.48 to 2,579.99, the Services index was down 5.35 to 2,001.83 while the Mining and Oil index was up 37.44 to 8,389.28.
For the week, losers outnumbered gainers 127 to 88 and 35 shares were unchanged.
Top gainers were Medco Holdings Inc., MRC Allied Inc., LFM Properties Corp., Liberty Flour Mills Inc., Philippine Seven Corp., GEOGRACE Resources Philippines Inc. and Seafront Resources Corp.
Top losers were Philippine Racing Club Inc., PTFC Redevelopment Corp., Makati Finance Corp., DFNN Inc., Grand Plaza Hotel Corp., Omico Corp. and ATN Holdings, Inc. A shares.
This week
SHARE prices may rise this week, despite the start of the Chinese Ghost Month.
Japhet Louis O. Tantiangco, senior research analyst at Philstocks Financials Inc., said the local market is still deemed to be undervalued and with the two-week decline, a bargain hunting fueled rise is seen
likely during this week’s trading.
of foreign and multinational companies and registration of domestic corporations under the Foreign Investments Act. Such applications will automatically be detected and referred to a dedicated station.
These online platforms form part of the third wave of SEC digital initiatives which also includes the Electronic Application for Modification of ENtity Data (eAMEND), an online portal for processing amendments to company information, and the Swift Corporate and Other Records Exchange (SCORE
“Growing hopes of monetary easing in the Philippines and the US soon following recent dovish cues from both the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and the Federal Reserve may help the market climb next week. However, the recession fears in the US, if it lingers next week, is seen as a downside risk to the local bourse.”
Investors may also take cues from the upcoming macroeconomic data including the July inflation rate, June labor force survey and the second quarter economic report.
Broker 2TradeAsia said August is looking to be busier relative to prior years, with changes in macro fundamentals concentrated over the latter half of third quarter.
“Value strategies are reiterated, but additional caution is underscored, given the capricious nature of trading alongside the market’s reaction to new inflation/rate/jobs data,” it said.
Immediate support for the main index is seen at 6,600-6,650 points, resistance is at 6,900.
Stock picks
BROKER Regina Capital Development Corp.
gave a buy recommendation on breakouts advise on the stock of SM Prime Holdings Inc. as bearish signals have started to dwindle.
“Investors may monitor the stock’s movement further before capitalizing on this potential upward trend and buying on breakouts.”
It set a weekly target price of P29.62 for SM Prime, whose shares closed at P29.20 apiece last week.
Meanwhile, it advised to trade the range on the stock of International Container Terminal Services Inc. The stock is currently trading sideways within the range of P350 to P374, continuing its sideways shuffle from the past few days.
The broker placed a weekly target price of P368.11 for ICTSI. Its shares closed at P350 apiece. VG Cabuag
Hexaware opens new hub in Manila
AS part of its expansion in the Philippines, Hexaware Technologies Ltd. has opened its second delivery center in Manila, which is aimed at enabling the company to provide digital transformation and operations solutions across geographies and industries.
According to Hexaware Senior Vice President for BPS Gopinath Manian, the new site in Bonifacio Global City will provide customer service, IT troubleshooting, and help desk support.
“We are thrilled to open our new office. The Philippines’s talent pool across a broad range of skills and service-oriented culture align with our goal of delivering quality customer experience.”
For Hexaware Global Head for BPS Bennet Kumar, such initiative will also give the Indian information technology and business process
Protocol), which handles the requests of partner regulatory and enforcement agencies for corporate data.
“Truly, we have established platforms and measures for all Filipinos (here and abroad) and our foreign colleagues, to incorporate anytime and anywhere,” the report read.
The report also cited how the agency’s Electronic Simplified Processing of Application for Registration of Company (eSPARC) has reduced the processing time of registration of corporations and partnerships to one to seven working days, from the previous timeline of one to two months.
“The eSPARC registration system is definitely a great improvement from the old way of registering corporations. We
management (IT-BPM) company “the ability to scale to meet the customer demand.”
“The new delivery center is aligned with our growth strategy, enabling us to support our clients and maintain our commitment to quality,” added Amrinder Singh, corporate vice president and head of Europe, Middle East, and Africa and Asia Pacific operations at Hexaware.
This second office in Manila forms part of the IT-BPM company’s plan to increase its employee count and strengthen its presence in the Asia Pacific region. The first site is located in the Clark Freeport Zone in Pampanga. Overall, Hexaware has 50 offices in 19 countries. The firm empowers the digital shift of enterprises worldwide at scale and speed by partnering with them to build, transform, run, and optimize their technology and business processes.
Roderick L. Abad
don’t need to physically line up to have our concerns addressed and registrants can also avail of the option of one-day processing as long as we can make sure that all details are correct,” Fiona Mae Corral-Bobis of ACES Comprehensive Business Solutions Co. said in a testimonial cited in the report.
“We thank the President for his continuous support to the commission that allows us to deliver exemplary services to our clients and further improve the ease of doing business in the country,” SEC Chairman Emilio B. Aquino said.
“The SEC will remain committed to providing innovative solutions that will enable a robust capital market and will support the growth of businesses and the Philippine economy.”
Banking&Finance
BSP pushes payment-use cases for strategic sectors
THE Bangko Sentral ng Pilipi-
nas (BSP) is eyeing payment service providers (PSPs) to adopt a National Quick Response (QR) Code system for strategic sectors without charging fees.
In a draft circular, the BSP aims to introduce strategic payment use cases—National QR Code, QR Ph—for strategic sectors, such as in transportation, which will be serviced by PSPs without interbank charges to consumers and merchants.
The BSP said the National QR Code standard shall be established through a collaborative undertaking wherein the Payment System Management Body (PSMB) takes the lead in a consultative exercise involving PSPs, operators of payment systems and Automated Clearing House (ACH) participants.
The Philippine Payments Management Inc. (PPMI) is the PSMB in the Philippines. Meanwhile, PSPs are entities that provide payment and financial services to end-users, such as banks and non-bank electronic money issuers.
The BSP said PSPs must ensure that QR-enabled payment and financial services are accorded appropriate treatment in the determination of applicable fees.
PSPs shall also ensure that the threats and vulnerabilities arising from their QR-enabled payment and financial services are identified, measured, monitored, and controlled accordingly.
Moreover, the BSP is also looking to include the strategic payment use cases to the Manual of Regulations for Payment Systems (Morps) to facilitate the movement of funds and enable financial transactions within the economy.
“To support national development objectives, foster financial inclusion, stimulate economic activity, and align with regulatory goals for a safe, efficient, reliable and secure payment ecosystem, the Bangko Sentral urges the active participation of PSPs in strategic payment use-cases,” read a
BSP policy statement. A payment-use case shall be considered strategic if it supports the achievement of the objectives outlined in national development plans and strategies, with a particular focus on enhancing financial inclusion and modernizing key sectors of the national economy, the BSP said.
Impact, accessibility and inclusivity shall be weighed by the BSP in determining strategic payment use cases.
The BSP said strategic payment use cases must also be interoperable, consistent with the principles under Section 201 of the National Retail Payment System (NRPS) Framework, and created independently and separately from existing payment use cases.
“Interoperable payment use cases, which have already been established under the NRPS framework and are currently operating, cannot be converted into a strategic payment use case,” the BSP noted.
Effective design and enforcement of rules, policies, procedures, and/or standards relating to the operationalization of strategic payment use cases must be ensured by the PSMB, the BSP added.
This includes rules, policies, procedures, and/or standards applicable to acceptance of PSPs, withdrawal of participating PSPs, and termination of the strategic payment use case, among others.
“Though participation in the strategic payment use case is not mandatory, PSPs are encouraged to align and participate with the collective societal efforts towards the attainment of the national development objectives, the substantial enhancement of financial inclusion, and the continuous stimulation of economic activity, while remaining consistent with the BSP’s objectives of a safe, efficient, reliable, and secure payment systems,” the BSP said.
Alberto
Reine Juvierre
BSP suffered double-digit net loss on high expenses
By Reine Juvierre Alberto @reine_alberto
THE Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) suffered a double-digit net loss in the first two months of 2024 as its expenses outweighed revenues.
Preliminary data from the BSP showed its net profit plunged by 37.42 percent to P2.24 billion from January to February 2024 from the P1.63 billion net loss also recorded in the same period in 2023.
Expenses of the central bank increased by 14.19 percent to P40.14 billion from January to
February 2024 from the P35.17 billion posted in the first two months of 2023.
The BSP’s interest expenses amounted to P28.41 billion as end-February 2024. This is higher by 13.19 percent compared to the P25.10 billion in interest expenses recorded from January to February 2023.
Other expenses grew by 16.48 percent year-on-year to P11.73 billion as of end-February 2024 from P10.07 billion.
Meanwhile, the BSP’s revenues rose by 37.42 percent, reaching P34.15 billion in the first two months of the year from the P24.85 billion recorded in the same period in 2023.
Interest income amounted to P32.84 billion as of end-February 2024, higher by 37.46 percent year-on-year from P23.89 billion.
Miscellaneous income also rose by 35.05 percent to P1.31 billion from P970 million in 2023. This includes trading gains or losses, fees, penalties and other operating income, among others.
Moreover, the BSP recorded net gains from foreign exchange (FX) rate fluctuations, or realized
gains from fluctuations in FX rates arising from foreign currencydenominated transactions of the BSP, almost quadrupled as of endFebruary 2024.
This increased by 278.79 percent year-on-year to P3.75 billion from the P990 million.
The BSP recorded a net loss of P5.99 billion after FX rate fluctuations, income taxes and capital reserves, lower by 41.90 percent than the P10.31 billion net loss posted in end-February 2023. In 2023, the BSP’s net income plunged by 57.62 percent to P26.54 billion from P62.63 billion in 2022 due to higher expenses. The central bank’s expenses amounted to P242.96 billion, higher than its revenues worth P212.68 billion. It also recorded a P57.02-billion net gain on FX rate fluctuations.
Joint Foreign Chambers back new BIR logo–Lumagui
THE Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) announced that Commissioner Romeo D. Lumagui Jr. expressed gratitude to the international business community in the Philippines, specifically to the members of the Joint Foreign Chambers of the Philippines (JFC), for supporting the new BIR logo and its inclusive approach to international trade and foreign investment here in the Philippines.
A statement issued by the BIR quoted a message that read the JFC “congratulates the BIR on the occasion of its 120th Founding Anniversary and the unveiling of its new logo and slogan.”
“In the last year we are honored to be invited to partner more closely with the BIR through the
Partnership with Multisectoral Group (PMSG),” the JFC said, according to the BIR. “We consider this a landmark partnership between government and private sector which puts forward a much needed mechanism for consultations regarding issues on tax administration. Importantly, it also affords the private sector a venue for advocacy for comprehensive, relevant, and lawful policies, plans, and regulations for tax administration.”
According to the BIR, the JFC expressed hopes “that this collaboration will be continued.”
“We look forward to continuing to support the BIR in its objectives to help companies comply with simplified, transparent, and equitable tax regulations in the years to come,” the BIR quoted the JFC
Credit traders rush to hedge on US economy fears
DEBT investors are loading up on insurance against corporate bond defaults as concerns mount about the health of the US economy and the European consumer.
The cost of protecting a basket of North American high-grade credits against default surged on Friday by the most since October. Trading volumes on that credit default swap index, the CDX.NA.IG, reached the highest daily level in about five months on Friday, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The European equivalent this week had its busiest day since French President Emmanuel Macron in June called a surprise election.
Credit derivatives are often the first instruments to show signs of weakness in a market downturn, in part because selling bonds can take longer. Traders upped their purchases of protection after a slew of weak labor market data raised concerns that the Federal Reserve has waited too long to cut interest rates.
Money managers have also been rattled by underwhelming earnings from technology companies and consumers cutting back on everything from fast food to luxury handbags.
“Weaker macro and impact on earnings going forward is the one underpriced risk in the markets in our view,” said Raphael Thuin, head of capital market strategies at Tikehau Capital. “This could
end up affecting credit spreads, at a time when valuations are nowhere near cheap.”
Bond spreads look poised to widen because they are currently at the tight end of a range that was justified by factors including rate cut expectations and buyers paying more attention to absolute yield levels than relative valuations, said Srikanth Sankaran, Citigroup Inc.’s head of European credit strategy.
‘Cheap hedges’ IN the same region, JPMorgan Chase & Co. strategists “recommend setting cheap hedges” through the investment-grade iTraxx Europe credit default swap index, arguing that “earnings season is off to a shaky start.” BNP Paribas SA’s credit strategy desk suggests betting on widen -
ing spreads through a CDS gauge tracking senior financial issuers.
Even with the rise in volumes, the iTraxx Europe index is trading at around 63 basis points, far closer to multiyear lows than the triple-digit levels recorded in 2022 and 2023. The CDX. NA.IG index has reached about 58 basis points, its highest level since January, but is still below its five-year average.
In a sign of market concern about economic weakness, traders are now pricing in Fed rate cuts of more than a percentage point this year, and at the end of the week the US stock market had its worst two-day slide since March 2023. Central bank officials had previously penciled in a single rate cut in 2024, according to the median projection released in June. It comes as companies in the US
are on track to report their lowest aggregate earnings beat over forecasts since the fourth quarter of 2022. Sales among the European companies that have reported second-quarter earnings have come in about 1.2 percent below analysts’ expectations, data compiled by Bloomberg shows.
‘Cyclical theme’
“THERE is a cyclical theme to it which hasn’t been present before. It illustrates that the balance of risk is probably shifting from ‘too hot, rates higher’ toward ‘too cold, rates lower’,” said Viktor Hjort, global head of credit strategy and desk analysts for BNP Paribas. For him, the market is currently between the two states.
Despite the concerns, some bond buyers, especially those driven by yield, will keep bidding for credit. That demand means it may take time for weakness to show up in the corporate bond market, but even before it does, the CDS market will be the place to see emerging cracks.
When volatility rises, “the usual effect is that people hedge using the liquid CDS index and then sell their bonds later,” said Matt King, founder of researcher Satori Insights. “Usually what forces the cash index to move is if people start to have significant outflows,” and “based on the global numbers I don’t think that’s happened yet, but will be a significant risk.” Bloomberg News
statement. According to the BIR, its 100-percent Nationwide ISO Certification is proof of its “proactive drive to this ‘simplified, transparent, and equitable tax regulations’ sought by the international business community. This ISO certification assures that the BIR services in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao are up to par with international standards, according to the agency.
Lumagui was quoted in the statement as expressing gratitude to the “international business community for supporting our programs.”
“The BIR is also here to support international trade and foreign investments,” he said adding that the ISO Certification “is a testament to that
THE Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. (PDIC) announced it is set to sell through electronic public bidding (e-bidding) a total of 35 residential lots on its e-bidding portal, https://assetsforsale.pdic.gov.ph , starting at 9:00 a.m. on August 28 until 1:00 p.m. on August 29, 2024. Bids shall be opened at 2:00 p.m. on August 29, a statement by the PDIC read.
According to the PDIC, prospective parties can join the e-bidding through a onetime registration on the portal at http://assetsforsale.pdic. gov.ph/Account/Register. Once registered, buyers may submit their bids online and observe the e-bidding proceedings by clicking the “Assets for Sale” icon on the PDIC website’s homepage at www.pdic.gov.ph
commitment because through this institutional change, we have improved out nationwide services to match that of international standards.”
“International standards will be the measure of BIR services moving forward,” Lumagui was quoted in the statement as saying.
The JFC is composed of the American Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines, the European Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines, the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Philippines, the Korean Chamber of Commerce Philippines, and the Philippine Association of Multinational Companies Regional Headquarters Inc.
from 103 square meters (sqm) to 7,941 sqm.
“Interested parties can browse through the catalog of properties on the e-bidding portal where the complete list and description of the properties, requirements, e-bidding process, and ‘Conditions of Bid’ are posted,” the PDIC statement read. “Prospective bidders are encouraged to get familiar with the terms and conditions outlined by the PDIC and are reminded of their responsibility to determine the actual condition, status, ownership, and other circumstances of the properties they wish to acquire.”
To be sold on an “as-is, whereis” basis are 18 residential lots with improvements and 17 vacant residential lots which are either owned by closed banks or acquired by the PDIC. These properties are located in Metro Manila, Bataan, Benguet, Cagayan, Camarines Sur, Cavite, Laguna, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, Pangasinan, Quezon, Quirino, Rizal, Cebu, Maguindanao and North Cotabato. Property sizes range
As the statutory receiver of closed banks, the PDIC liquidates the remaining assets of closed banks to maximize recovery and help pay claims of closed bank creditors, including depositors with uninsured deposits. Proceeds from the sale of closed bank-owned properties go directly to a fund that the Corporation manages for these closed banks to settle creditors’ claims. Meanwhile, revenues from the sale of corporate assets are added to the Deposit Insurance Fund, the funding source to pay valid deposit insurance claims. PDIC to
MONEY managers have also been rattled by underwhelming earnings from technology companies and consumers cutting back on everything from fast food to luxury handbags. TIERNEY L. CROSS/BLOOMBERG NEWS
Putin often cites Russia’s ‘nuclear doctrine’ governing the use of atomic weapons. But what is it?
By The Associated Press
Since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, President Vladimir Putin and other Kremlin voices have frequently threatened the West with its nuclear arsenal.
On Day 1 of the war, Putin said “whoever tries to impede us, let alone create threats for our country and its people, must know that the Russian response will be immediate and lead to consequences you have never seen in history.”
Over nearly 2 1/2 years of fighting, the West has given Ukraine billions of dollars of advanced weapons, some of which have struck Russian soil. And while there have been more Kremlin threats—and even the deployment of battlefield nuclear weapons in Belarus, just over the border from Ukraine—so far it has remained only a blunt message.
What could finally trigger a nuclear response?
Asked that in June by international news agencies, Putin pointed to Russia’s so-called nuclear doctrine.
“Look what is written there,” he said at the St. Petersburg session. “If somebody’s actions threaten our sovereignty and territorial integrity, we consider it possible to use all means at our disposal.” Now Russian hawks are urging him to change the doctrine to lower the threshold for using nuclear weapons, and Putin says the document could be modified to take into account the evolving global situation.
What is Russia’s nuclear doctrine?
Formally known as the “Basic Principles of State Policy on Nuclear Deterrence,” it was signed by Putin in 2020 and outlines when Russia could dip into its atomic arsenal, the world’s largest.
It describes nuclear weapons as “a means of deterrence,” noting that their use is an “extreme and compelled measure.” It declares that Russia “takes all neces -
sary efforts to reduce the nuclear threat and prevent aggravation of interstate relations that could trigger military conflicts, including nuclear ones.”
The document states that “nuclear deterrence is aimed to provide comprehension by a potential adversary of the inevitability of retaliation in the event of aggression against the Russian Federation and/or its allies.”
What does it say will trigger using nuclear weapons?
Russia could use them, the doctrine says, “in response to the use of nuclear and other types of weapons of mass destruction against it and/or its allies, as well as in the event of aggression against the Russian Federation with the use of conventional weapons when the very existence of the state is in jeopardy.”
It says nuclear weapons could be used under the following specific situations:
n If reliable information is received about the launch of ballistic missiles targeting the territory of Russia or its allies.
n If nuclear weapons or other weapons of mass destruction are used against Russia or its allies.
n If an enemy attack with conventional weapons threatens Russia’s existence.
n If there are attacks on critically important Russian government or military facilities that could undermine the country’s retaliatory nuclear strike capability.
Has any attack so far come close to crossing this threshold?
As Russia attacked parts of northeastern Ukraine near the city of Kharkiv, Washington has allowed Kyiv to use longer-range US-supplied weapons for strikes in Russian territory in the border
region. But these attacks have been limited in scope and would not seem to pose an existential threat that would fall under the nuclear doctrine.
However, the hawks in Moscow have pointed to a series of Ukrainian attacks on Russian air bases that host long-range nuclear capable bombers earlier in the conflict, as well as recent raids on early warning radars. They say these circumstances would seem to warrant the use of nuclear weapons as laid out in the doctrine.
Russian officials haven’t com -
mented on the attacks on the more sensitive targets. The early warning radars are designed to spot the launch of US missiles to allow Russia to launch its own nucleartipped missiles before they are destroyed.
James Acton, co-director of the nuclear policy program at the Carnegie Endowment, said in a recent commentary that Ukrainian attacks on the early warning radars could prompt the Kremlin to think Washington had encouraged such strikes to try to weaken Russia’s nuclear deterrent.
“If Moscow believes that Wash -
ington could conduct a successful preemptive attack on its nuclear forces, its trigger finger could get very itchy, raising the risk that Russia might launch a large-scale nuclear attack based on a false or misinterpreted warning,” Acton said.
What changes in the doctrine are under discussion?
The Kremlin’s nuclear threats have been dialed down recently amid Moscow’s battlefield successes in Ukraine. However, there also have been calls in Russia for changing the nuclear doctrine, and Putin said it could be modified, depending on global events.
Hawks have called repeatedly for sharpening it, arguing the current document is too weak and vague. They say the doctrine hasn’t deterred the West from increasing aid to Ukraine and gives the impression that Moscow won’t ever resort to nuclear weapons.
Foreign affairs expert Dmitri Trenin, of the Institute of World Economy and International Relations, a state-funded Moscow think tank, suggests revising it to declare that Russia could strike first with nuclear weapons when “the core national interests are at stake,” like in Ukraine.
“The acute task in the third year of military confrontation is to pre -
vent NATO’s deeper engagement in it,” Trenin wrote recently. “If we don’t do it, the inertia of persistent escalation by the West will lead to a direct clash between Russian and NATO militaries, which is fraught with a global nuclear war.” At the international forum in St. Petersburg, Sergei Karaganov, a foreign policy expert who advises the Kremlin, also urged Putin to amend the doctrine to lower the threshold for the use of nuclear weapons.
“I hope it will be changed soon to give you the formal right to respond to any strikes on our territory with a nuclear strike,” he told the Russian leader. “I hope that such a provision will be added to our doctrine to help cool our adversaries.”
Karaganov likened the West to Sodom and Gomorrah, the biblical cities destroyed by God with a rain of fire for their wickedness.
“Let’s remember that rain and try to make humankind come to its senses,” he said.
Putin responded cautiously, saying that he currently sees no threats that would warrant nuclear weapons use, but he also held the door open to revising the policy.
“This doctrine is a living instrument, we are carefully watching what’s going on in the world around us, and we don’t exclude making changes in the doctrine,” he said.
The need to modify the document, he said, was driven by concerns about the West pondering the possible deployment of lowyield nuclear weapons. Putin didn’t give specifics, but his comments could refer to US discussions on deploying low-power submarinelaunched nuclear missiles.
Proponents say such weapons are needed to counter Russian threats, while critics argue they could lower the threshold for the US using nuclear weapons and increase the risk of war.
“Nuclear devices of extremely low power are being developed, and we are aware of the ideas circulating in expert circles in the West that such strike assets could be used, and there is nothing particularly horrible about it,” Putin said. “We are obliged to take notice of that, and
are taking notice.”
Bessie Besana takes a bite of the Big Apple
AT the 10th edition of the Marry Me at Marriott series, five “glocal” and visionary designers showcased their bridal finery: Bessie Besana from New York City, Veejay Floresca from Los Angeles, Hannah Kong from Luzon, Axel Que from Visayas, and Wilson Limon of NiñoFranco from Mindanao. A brainchild of Michelle Garcia-Arce, the big wedding event was held at the Marriott Grand Ballroom, the country’s biggest. Directed by Robby Carmona, Marry Me at Marriott: The Philippine Gratus Gala also honored the designers who have shown their bridal collections in the past, most especially the first one, Frederick Peralta.
The fashion spectacle was in collaboration with Filipinxt, the initiative by Besana which strives to showcase the ingenuity of Filipino talent on the global stage—right in the Big Apple, New York City. Besana, 39, is a civil engineering graduate from De La Salle University who took up dressmaking at Slim’s Fashion & Arts School, and a Fashion Design Certificate Program at Parsons School of Design in New York. Here, he shares his thoughts on his inspiring fashion journey:
n AESTHETIC EVOLUTION: “It took me a bit of time to realize my aesthetic because at the start of my career, my goal was to earn to maintain the business. But through time, I realized that I really like doing weddings and my aesthetic is more focused on clean lines with subtle and very feminine details. In my career in the Philippines, I have always catered to what the client wants but with my move to New York, I am keeping true to my aesthetics and finding the right clientele for me. “My Marry Me at Marriott collection is inspired by Lake Como in Italy. I have always imagined a modern bride traveling to this beautiful destination and getting married overlooking the lake.”
Following its debut show at NYFW in September 2022, the London-based fashion brand is set to present its winter collections as part of the Council of Fashion Designers of America’s official schedule, engaging with communities at the forefront of fashion, art, music and design. Says COS design director Karin Gustafsson, “New York is a dynamic city with so much character—it’s a place of inspiration, full of interesting and creative people. We are honored to return for our third year, bringing the collections to life on the runway at an exciting new location.” CFDA CEO Steven Kolb says, “The CFDA is delighted to welcome COS back to the official NYFW schedule. The brand’s international presence strengthens the overall week for our designers, and their commitment to making New York City the home for their collection showcases over the years is a testament to the power and appeal of our city as a global stage for creativity and business.” The show will take place on September 10 at 1 pm EDT and will be streamed live on www.cos.com.
THERE is no doubt that Korean actress Kim Yoo-jung is beautiful and talented. Thus, her being named Bobbi Brown Cosmetics’ Asia Pacific brand ambassador is not surprising. Even before she turned 18, Kim Yoo-jung’s body of work already included Dong Yi, Painter of the Wind, Iljimae, Queen Seondeok, Princess Hours and many others.
In 2012, at the age of 13, she earned a nomination for Best New Actress at the prestigious Baeksang Arts Awards for her role in The Moon Embracing the Sun. Kim Yoo-jung’s first adult leading role debut in Love in the Moonlight opposite Park Bo-gum gave her leading lady status. She recently appeared in romantic trendy dramas such as 20th Century Girl and My Demon. “Kim Yoo-jung embodies the essence of our brand and our approach to celebrating individual beauty while empowering women to feel confident in their skin,” said Karin Tran, Bobbi Brown Cosmetics vice president/general manager, Asia-Pacific. “Yoo-jung’s talent and authenticity will help further our mission to connect with the unique identity of our consumers in APAC and around the world.” The first Bobbi Brown Cosmetics product Kim Yoo-jung used was the Extra Lip Tint.
n FASHION AWAKENING: “My first interest in fashion was in beauty pageants. The evening-gown competition was always been my favorite segment as I stared in awe at the beautiful dresses that (were) onstage.
“But my first actual experience in fashion was when I was graduating from DLSU. I got invited to watch the graduation collection from the College of St. Benilde, and this was where I met Veejay Floresca. I was inspired by her creations and I started volunteering to be her dresser during fashion shows.
“With Veejay’s early success in fashion came my wider connection through her. At age 20/21, I was volunteering for Philippine Fashion Week, as dresser, model manager, staff and whatever task was available, I signed up for.
“And at age 30, I told myself that I should follow my passion. Working in corporate for nine years got me thinking of my next stage in life and that was to formally try the fashion scene. I left my corporate career in Hong Kong, where I had a thriving trajectory in the engineering field, and found myself enrolled at Slim’s in Manila. This was the birth of Bessie Besana as a designer.”
n FROM MANILA TO NEW YORK: “New York has always
decide to get married in Bessie Besana.
“I would consider my good friends Veejay Floresca and Martin Bautista as my mentors. They have taught me a lot of things and help me whenever I get stuck with a design or a collection. “My forever muse is Pia Wurztbach and our relationship has transcended from a mentor-mentee to a
to natural beauty, encouraging people not to
and sources the finest ingredients to create unique fragrances that are memorable, long-lasting and cruelty-free. Mona’s obsession with fragrance has built an engaged community of over 3.9 million followers. She has graced the covers of WWD, Entrepreneur Middle East and Cosmopolitan Middle East, and she was named one of the most powerful women in the Middle East by Forbes. By the way, the number beside the name of the Kayali fragrance represents the number of tries it took to perfect the formulation of each scent.
internationally and this is a dream we
Bessie Besana: owner/CEO, Bessie Besana; e-mail: bessiebesana@gmail.com; website: www.bessiebesana.com; IG/Twitter: @bessiebesana; Mobile US: +1-917-7246061
Kayali’s Vanilla 28 is one of the brand’s most popular scents. Even if you aren’t a fan of vanilla scents, you could like this mix of vanilla orchid and creamy jasmine with middle notes of vanilla infusion, vanilla surabsolute, and tonka bean accord, and base notes of amber woods, musk, and brown sugar. It’s a very refined and sophisticated gourmand scent. Because I love pistachio, my favorite is Yum Pistachio Gelato 33, which is a creamy pistachio. It smells like pistachio ice cream, if there is such a thing. Vanilla Candy Rock Sugar 42 is Kayali’s most recent release. This is a blend of candied pears, marshmallow, vanilla cream, jelly bean, vetiver, sandalwood and patchouli. Kayali is available on Lazada and at Look At Me in SM Mall of Asia and SM Aura Premier.
SO MUCH COLOR WITH SM BEAUTY THIS year’s SM Beauty So MUCH Color event at the Central Atrium of MOA didn’t just feature over 27 beauty brands, including YOU, Barenbliss, Dazzle Me, BYS, Flormar, BLK, Happy Skin, Issy, GRWM, Ever Bilena, Careline, Spotlight, Vice Cosmetics, Absidy, Orly, Sunnies, Pretty Secret, Fresh, Maybelline, Hued, Lavojoy, L’Oreal, Revlon, Tsubaki, Liese, Hairfix, Kiss New York, and Creamsilk.
SM Beauty also held the highly-anticipated Lippie Lovers Sale from July 26 to 29, during which customers got to enjoy up to 50 percent off and buy-one-take-one deals on almost 2,000 participating products at SM Beauty stores nationwide. A total of 3,000 lippies were sold throughout the threeday lipstick sale. I bought two Issy Gelee Moisturizing Lip Tints, the TikTok viral Absidy Sculpt & Hold Multi-Peptide Laminating Brow Gel, and an
NHMFC, DHSUD partner with Isabela LGUs, Uanjelle to roll out 4PH in Region II
THE National Home Mortgage Finance Corporation (NHMFC) and the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) will partner with the Local Government Units of Isabela Province and Uanjelle Land Inc. for the take-out of three housing projects under the government’s Pambansang Pabahay Para sa Pilipino Program (4PH).
Despite the onslaught of Typhoon Carina, the groundbreaking and construction kick-off of Balai Isabeleño in the Municipality of Gamu, Green Valley Residences in the Municipality of Roxas, and Casa de Jonesians in the Municipality of Jones rolled out on Thursday, July 25, 2024, in this province. The construction of these housing projects is one of NHMFC’s contributions in the 4PH Program of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in Region II.
Thirty-nine 12-storey and 22 fivestorey socialized condominium buildings with a total of 13,870 housing units will be constructed for Balai Isabeleño, 4,680 housing units for Green Valley Residences, and ten five-storey buildings or a total of 1,200 housing units for Casa de Jonesians. Amenities include club house, swimming pool, sports center, children’s playground, jogging path, park, benches, adequate
parking spaces, own elevated water tank, and sewage treatment plant.
Uanjelle Engr. Alduane Alegria expressed his appreciation to the government. He said that as a housing developer, NHMFC’s support strengthens them to continue constructing more housing units.
NHMFC Acting Corporate Secretary Atty. Joshua Emmanuel Cariño remarked that “the National Home Mortgage is mandated to ensure that funds for housing in our country continuously flow, and National Home Mortgage ensures that financing will not be a hindrance to the success of our housing projects,” He added that National Home Mortgage hopes that developers would be encouraged to participate in the 4PH Program since NHMFC ensures liquidity of funding for housing projects.
In the same event, NHMFC Vice President Maria Luisa Favila expressed her delight for this collaboration. She recognized the initiatives of all the mayors of the different municipalities of Isabela for their interest in having housing projects in their localities that are decent and affordable.
Favila also recognized the efforts of Uanjelle President Willie Alegria, himself
NEXTASIA Announces Launch
an Isabeleño, in pursuing the government’s housing projects.
“Sir Willie went to NHMFC during the time of Covid-19 pandemic seeking a partner that will provide liquidity for his housing projects to also create jobs for his people, and NHMFC helped him. His first housing project, with the support of NHMFC, was a success, and that triggered the construction of more housing projects in Isabela,” she stressed.
Favila further emphasized that the success of Uanjelle’s housing projects with the help of NHMFC likewise spread to other housing developers.
With the rise of these three housing projects in the province, Isabela is now recognized as having the most number of 4PH projects in Region II.
DHSUD Assistant Secretary Daryll Bryan Villanueva, who represented Secretary Jose Rizalino Acuzar, said that the main goal of the 4PH Program is to bring the national government closer to our ordinary citizens.
“Under this program, there is no down payment, and the monthly amortization is affordable. From P8,000 plus, it will be down to only around P3,600 to P4,000 monthly,” Villanueva said. He explained that this is because of the interest subsidy that will be granted by the national government.
Present during the triple groundbreaking
of Florence Lipa in Barangay Plaridel, Lipa City, Batangas
NALTA Realty owner Raymond Valero with NEXTASIA executives. unique and fulfilling lifestyle for its residents.”
“Lipa City is a growing real estate market, and Florence Lipa represents an outstanding opportunity for both investors and homebuyers,” said Dustin Carreon, Chief Operating Officer of NEXTASIA. “This development offers proximity to schools and universities, leisure establishments, dining outlets, hospitals, and commercial centers, creating a
The Florence Lipa project is a significant undertaking, with a project value of P3.5 billion and, projected duration of four years. This initiative is a testament to NEXTASIA’s unwavering commitment to community development, modern design, strategic locations, and smart living solutions.
NEXTASIA also introduced features that underscore its commitment to innovation and environmental sustainability.
Florence Lipa is NXT GREEN Certified, equipped with broadband-ready infrastructure, solar-powered streetlights,
and provisions for EV charging stations.
This exciting project boasts modern architecture that emphasizes functionality and simplicity. With functional layouts and customizable interiors, Florence Lipa caters to diverse resident needs, blending modern living with traditional values. The development will feature a unique lifestyle hub and amenities, including a jogging path, playground, climbing pod, sungka, giant chess, a basketball court with pickleball lines, a multipurpose hall, and most notably, exceptional swimming facilities with both adult and kiddie pools. These swimming pools are designed to offer a refreshing retreat and a vibrant space for social interaction, making them the centerpiece of the community’s recreational offerings.
“I am sure you are all as excited as I am. Florence Lipa by NEXTASIA is not just a development; it is a promise of a better future. We look forward to seeing this project come to life and the vibrant community it will undoubtedly create,” added Carreon.
Unveils Transformative Vision for Modern Community Living
transform in providing modern conveniences, committed to an exclusive and complete haven of recreation, wellness, and communion with nature,” added Mendoza.
This comprehensive approach to estate development is making Tagaytay Highlands an even more highly soughtafter destination for risk averse investors and wealthy buyers as it rapidly evolves from a secondary home destination to a primary residence for discerning families. In this selfcontained community with a cherished history spanning three decades, residents enjoy everything they need to live, play, work, and entertain.
Moreover, recognizing the growing demand for open spaces, 40 percent of its residential communities’ total development area remains dedicated to unconfined areas, providing residents with breathtaking views of Taal Lake and the Highlands’ dramatic mountainscape.
Spanning approximately 1,500 hectares, Tagaytay Highlands also features dedicated areas for trekking, hiking, and jogging. This premier estate is also known as a bird sanctuary, offering bird watchers and enthusiasts a peaceful escape and a place to pursue their passions.
Conveniently located at the heart of Tagaytay, today’s residents already find Tagaytay Highlands to be just a short drive from essential services and support facilities, including hospitals, schools, shopping areas, industrial and technological parks, churches, banks, and gasoline stations.
A much-awaited archetype of Tagaytay Highlands’ renowned lifestyle is set to unravel – Highlands Residences. Designed to surround the central amenity, this low-density condominium development is envisioned to promote open-air activities, which makes Highlands Residences a destination in and of itself. With Tagaytay Highlands’ residential communities being known for having their exclusive world-class amenities, look no further as Highlands Residences already comes with its own line-up of recreational features that are for the sole use of its residents.
For today’s growing number of health-and-wellnessconscious individuals, Tagaytay Highlands has revealed its newest residential district—Midlands West. Rising soon in the heart of Midlands West will be Trealva at Midlands West,
its very first residential lot community where the district’s distinct design pillars of ecocentrism, sustainability, health and wellness, and luxury mountain living will converge. This new horizontal project is poised to mark a new beginning for the exclusive mountain complex.
Primrose Parks is a low-density community that spans 6.3 hectares of verdant greenery in the heart of the Midlands. It has the luxury of so much refreshing green space—with only 99 lots spread at 16 units per hectare—that it lives up to its theme of a year-round ‘modern summer’. With its future homes endlessly blooming, the residential village is endowed with close-to-nature facilities that include a lush linear park oriented towards the east so that a breathtaking sunrise greets everyone at dawn.
Completing Horizon Terraces’ Garden Villa clusters, Scottsdale is nestled at the highest point within Horizon Terraces, a prime residential location which makes it a cut above the rest of the community. Scottsdale features wellappointed three-bedroom townhomes of 140 to 172 square meters each in total floor area, making it an ideal home for growing families. Each townhouse unit comes with a groundfloor den, a multifunctional space that may be converted into a separate bedroom for extended family members and visiting friends.
Attesting to Tagaytay Highlands’ commitment to excellence in every detail is its developer HPI’s recently bestowed Bronze Award for Developer of the Year (Luzon) during The Outlook 2023 Philippine Real Estate Awards by Lamudi. Also, for Tagaytay Highlands’ dedication to uphold sustainability, safety, and security, it was recently awarded a “Safety Seal” by the City Government of Tagaytay. HPI has likewise been named by the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development as one of CALABARZON’s 2021 Outstanding Developers for Open Market Projects.
Tagaytay Highlands is confident that there will be continued strong interest in its premium themed residential communities as it remains committed to sustain its vision to be the exclusive leisure property of choice amid the demand for luxury mountain resort living.
ceremonies were Isabela local officials led by Vice Governor Faustino G. Dy III together with Gamu Municipal Administrator Atty. Xian-Al Defensor Galanza, representing Mayor Timoteo Galanza, Roxas Mayor Jonathan Jose Calderon, Jones Mayor Nhel C. Montano., and San Mateo Mayor Gregorio Pua. Department of Human
Settlements and Urban Development Assistant Secretary Daryll Villanueva and DHSUD Region II OIC-Director Grace de Vera also graced the event. Leading the delegation of NHMFC are Vice President for Securitization Group Maria Luisa Favila and Acting Corporate Secretary Joshua Emmanuel Cariño.
Revolutionary gaming entertainment platform allows you play with a game show legend
PLAY Time, the country’s fastest growing 24/7 online gaming entertainment platform by Playmate Leisure Solutions Corporation (PLSC), has just upped the ante for the online gaming industry. With over 2,500 games to choose from, the largest game bank of its kind, PlayTime offers unparalleled excitement for its players.
To make the one-of-a-kind gaming experience even more phenomenal, PlayTime officially announced the one and only Vic “Bossing” Sotto as the brand’s official endorser. With his decades-long career as an actor, comedian, and host, his name has also become synonymous with gameplay excitement. For his part, Vic Sotto expressed his enthusiasm and appreciation saying, “It is an honor to represent PlayTime and
support its goal to spread happiness and fun to Filipinos every day, anytime, all the time.”
With Bossing on board, PlayTime brings the same high stakes excitement to its 10 million players. For starters, newcomers receive a free bonus worth P4,520. Players are guaranteed the highest daily rebates/ cashback, which is at least 0.1% higher than all other licensed platforms. Players can easily access the game via GCash, Maya, or by visiting www.playtime.ph. Winning on PlayTime is also the most rewarding experience. Cashout is paid out in 10 minutes, with a P1,000 guarantee for any delayed orders.
Experience a revolutionary gaming experience now with PlayTime, where every moment is fun-filled and every peso brings you closer to winning big and earning more.
NHMFC Vice President Maria Luisa M. Favila (2nd from left) and Acting Corporate Secretary Joshua Emmanuel L. Cariño (4th from right) lead the NHMFC delegation in the triple groundbreaking and construction kick off of three Pambansang Pabahay Para sa Pilipino (4PH)
Shaping tomorrow’s PR professionals
AS the new academic year is about to start, students across the country are gearing up for their courses. In many schools, public relations (PR) is offered either as a mandatory subject in communication and journalism programs or as an elective.
Many students initially choose communication courses to pursue careers in broadcasting, advertising, or production. However, after graduation, we see many of them entering the field of public relations. This shift highlights the enduring appeal and importance of PR in today’s world.
Technology may have transformed the way people communicate, but the principles of public relations remain constant. In the past, PR work concluded when news media closed the pages for tomorrow’s papers and broadcast stations aired their newscasts.
Nowadays, PR professionals, like journalists, work around the clock due to the 24/7 news cycle on digital and social media. Anything can happen anywhere at any time, making the roles of journalists and PR professionals increasingly intertwined.
In today’s column, I spoke with three seasoned PR professionals who are sharing their extensive industry experience and preparing students for a career in public relations and meeting the challenges of the profession. Here are our conversations with:
n Ritzi Villarico-Ronquillo, Consultant, Coach, and Trainer; Professional Lecturer at De La Salle University
n Ma. Teresa “Tere” Pacis, Assistant Vice President for Corporate Affairs and Communication, Apex Mining Co. Inc.; Lecturer at Ateneo de Manila University
n Carlo Figueroa, Professional Lecturer at De La Salle University and Senior Lecturer at the University of the Philippines Diliman
Let’s find out how they are shaping the next generation of PR professionals.
What inspired you to start teaching PR, and how has your work experience shaped your teaching?
Ritzi: It’s a blessing to come from a family of educators. My grandfather taught statistics and math, my grandmother taught chemistry, my Dad for hospital administration, my Mom and her sisters, and many other family members were also educators. Early in my career, I was invited to speak and conduct training sessions, which I find fulfilling. It is also fulfilling to meet former students at awards nights and conferences and see them move on in their careers both here and abroad. My pedagogical approach is integrative: “Make sense of the learning process. Differentiate matters
by relevance. Apply the learning to practical situations. And associate the learned elements.” Following this, it is to learn together and from each other, perhaps even co-create learning for relevant, experiential, and useful learning. Be forever curious and open to learning.
Tere: I probably have a teaching gene because for as long as I can remember, I have always wanted to be a teacher. My dad comes from a family of educators. Teaching a subject I practice allows me to blend theory with real-world applications. I find that anchoring on theories can make for a boring subject if not related to practical realities. Therefore, I make my syllabus practice-oriented because communication is rooted in realtime experiences.
Carlo: Teaching PR was almost accidental for me. After collaborating with De La Salle University for an event, I expressed interest in teaching during a discussion with the departmental chair. I was scheduled for a demo-teaching session, and the rest, as they say, is history. But in terms of what inspired me to teach—I think it’s the desire to be grounded and to know what young people are thinking these days. Engaging with students and the youth has a way of improving one’s creativity and patience. My background in non-profit/governmental PR has helped tremendously in shaping my syllabus especially in highlighting PR as an organizational communication field rather than a sub-discipline of marketing and advertising. The PR course that I teach focuses on NGOs, peoples’ and political organizations, as opposed to highlighting PR with a marketing or sales orientation. How do you keep up with the latest PR trends and include them in your teaching?
Ritzi: Staying updated involves participating in professional associations, attending webinars, conferences, and engaging in continuous reading, writing, and research. Seeking the pulse of learners today, embracing the magic of conversations with people from all walks of life, and staying curious about the world and people are crucial.
Tere: I stay updated by understanding “emerging media as a channel.” I ask my students about their media consumption habits and I actually enjoy getting to know my students’ insights. They are the ones who keep my PR practice fresh and updated. We talk of what they do and I try to relate them to basic theories in communication and PR. Books and magazines are staples for me, and I am one of those who cheer for the printed page to stay forever.
Carlo: I keep updated by reading online reference materials, networking with local PR practitioners, and monitoring traditional and social media. Faculty are encouraged to use updated references in their syllabi, and I invite PR experts to provide real-industry perspectives in my classes. I also add current cases on top of the usual classic examples of PR issues.
What PR topics do you find the most interesting and the most challenging to teach and why?
Ritzi: For me, all PR subjects, whether they cover tools or strategies or both, are very interesting and need to be interwoven for an integrated, cross-functional approach and understanding. It becomes difficult to teach if you are not prepared nor open to new ideas to engage the class, as each class is uniquely its own.
Tere: Ethics is the most interesting and difficult topic. The lines between truth and falsehoods are increasingly blurred, and IT advances create convincing ‘truths’ out of thin air. And the fact that there are always two sides to everything, including telling one’s corporate story, is a tricky arena to maneuver. Sometimes, being a PR practitioner feels like being a lawyer, defending a client in the court of public opinion. Unlike a court of law with one judge, the court of public opinion has many, including people and trolls.
Carlo: Media relations is the most interesting topic to teach due to the relationship between journalists and PR practitioners. Undeniably, the PR industry in the Philippines is still very much synonymous with media relations. Teaching media relations involves unpacking the dynamics between journalists and PR practitioners— from ethics to media ownership to logistics to monitoring. PR evaluation is the most difficult due to the lack of published materials and standardized methods for assessing PR programs.
What contributions can young PR professionals bring to the field?
Ritzi: They are the next generation. Combining their agility, new ideas, digital and data skills with the wisdom and experience of the years will make a formi -
dable combination.
Tere: Upcoming PR professionals seem to be born storytellers. They are able to create a story out of even mundane things like putting make-up on. This penchant for storifying can make for a rich and diverse content for PR. They also bring a deep understanding of digital media trends and tools, which are essential for modern PR strategies.
Carlo: Young PR professionals contribute creativity and technical know-how. Their proficiency in digital communication and social media management is particularly valuable in today’s fast-paced environment.
What is the most common misconception students have about PR, and how do you address it in your teaching?
Ritzi: Recurring questions I got were on ethics, authenticity, sincerity, truth-telling, and doing the right thing in difficult situations. I believe that change begins with each one. We can start today with our daily lives and the choices we make. We can create circles of positive change no matter how small it may look at the start. But together, in time, given the continued effort, bigger circles may form to reach critical mass and the tipping point. The choices we make in defining moments are key. I replied that I look forward to the day when they as head honchoswho will be the final signatory to checks and contracts, who will decide on major matters that affect employment, stakeholders, the institution, society, and the world’s ecosystem—will courageously do the right thing that they say must be done today, and effect that valuable change.
Tere: Students often think PR exists in a silo, something that can be switched on and off. I counter this by teaching that PR is a way of life—everything is related and integrated.”
Carlo: Students often view PR as antithetical to ethics or a sub-field of marketing. I stress that the PR industry observes a code of ethics, either defined by the company or organization itself or by a professional network the practitioner belongs to. I also tell them that PR is distinct from marketing, though they complement each other.
Why PR matters for businesses and organizations
Ritzi: PR defines an organization’s brand, relevance, and credibility. It protects reputation, establishes credibility, and helps achieve goals while building support and understanding among stakeholders. It also prepares and rebuilds from crises.
Tere: PR matters to businesses and organizations because a positive reputation, nurtured by PR, is their license to conduct business for as long as they want.
Carlo: PR enables an organization, whether for-profit or nonprofit, to conduct its business more conveniently through stronger and more enhanced relationships with its stakeholders thereby allowing it to strategically meet its goals.
In 50 words or less, how do you define PR to students?
Ritzi: PR is a strategic, planned, ethical, and authentic discipline where communication processes create understanding, acceptance and trust, building mutually beneficial relationships with a posit ive impact on society.
Tere: PR is a continuing initiative to generate a desired reputation among targeted audiences.
Carlo: PR is the cultivation of positive relations between an organization and stakeholders that can be harnessed to achieve mutual benefits.
PR Matters is a roundtable column by members of the local chapter of the United Kingdom-based International Public Relations Association (IPRA), the world’s premier association for senior professionals around the world. Kane Errol Choa, APR is the Vice President for Corporate Communications at ABS-CBN Corporation. He teaches part-time at the University of Santo Tomas. He currently serves as a director on the IABC international executive board, the immediate past chair of the IABC Asia Pacific Region, an adviser to IABC Philippines, and vice president of Anak TV. He is also a member of IPRA, PRSP, and the KBP Standards Authority.
We are devoting a special column each month to answer the reader’s questions about public relations. Please send your comments and questions to askipraphil@gmail.com.
King Carlos Yulo: Sleepless in Paris
By Jun Lomibao
PARIS—Carlos Yulo practically made it look so easy winning the men’s floor exercise gold medal at the Paris Olympics on Saturday night.
B ut the now Olympic winner and two-time world champion bared that he didn’t get enough sleep ahead of the floor exercise final, especially the night before.
Actually, this competition did not let me sleep, especially this floor,” Yulo told BusinessMirror on Saturday.
“I was really nervous for two days.”
H e slept early enough on Friday night but was roused several times.
“ I slept early, but I woke up several times because I thought about my performance,” he said. “I thought about the moment when I would get the medal.”
Yulo, too, skipped staying at the Olympic Village in favor of a hotel near the Bercy Arena.
In the village, we train in the gym,” he said. “I got tired of the village, the food, so we prefer to dine somewhere else,” Yulo said.
T here’s no timetable yet on when Yulo will be flying back to Manila but definitely, when he does, he’ll be welcomed a hero and greeting him will be millions in rewards.
B ut for Yulo, all the forthcoming cash rewards, houses and lots and potential product endorsements, etc., are bonuses for his victory and hard work.
They’re a huge help for me but right now, I haven’t thought about it yet,” said Yulo as he repeatedly acknowledged the full support from gymnastics association president Cynthia Carrion-Norton and to his partner, Chloe San Jose.
“ They’ll be only bonus for me, to have such big money or house,” he said. “But of course, God gave them to me and I’m ready to accept it. I’m super grateful for the talent and opportunity.”
Yulo scored 15.000 points to rule his pet floor exercise for the country’s first gymnastics gold and second in the Olympics after Hidilyn Diaz-Naranjo
won in weightlifting in Tokyo 2020.
A rtem Dorgoplyat, who won for Israel its first Olympic gymnastics gold in Tokyo, settled for silver this time with 14.966, while Great Britain’s Jaka Jarman, whose mother is from Cebu and who Yulo considers as his toughest opponent in the event, clinched bronze with 14.933.
Yulo was excellent with his routine, but he admitted he wasn’t. My routine, especially on my first pass, I almost fell. I was so nervous,” he said. “But when I stood up, I was calm and there was one more difficult one, which was my second pass, I was
focused and when I stood up, I was like
‘I can do this..”
He added: “I tried to stick with all my landings until the end, but I thought my movement was a bit messy.
W inning gold was far from his mind despite being on the hot seat from his turn at No. 3 to the end of the apparatus.
“I thought I would not reach 15. When I saw it, I was like, wow!” he said.
Then he cried almost sprawled on the floor.
Yulo was set to compete in the vault final on Sunday afternoon—he’s also a favorite to win the apparatus.
Aira’s goal: To hear PHL anthem played
ARIS—Aira Villegas won’t settle for anything else but a gold medal at the Paris Olympics.
I’m very happy that I’m guaranteed a bronze medal,” said Villegas as tears fell from her eyes in the post-match Mixed Zone interview after her 3-2 victory over France’s Wassila Lkhadiri at the Paris North Arena on Saturday night.
“ But I wanted to hear the Lupang Hinirang play in this arena, that’s my goal, my dream,” said the 29-year-old from Tacloban City who survived not only Lkhadiri but the massive French fans who loudly cheered their bet throughout the match—and what many from the Philippine camp feared, a hometown decision in a closely-fought contest.
God’s so good,” added Villegas, whose first two victories here against Morocco’s Yasmine Mouttaki and Algeria’s Roumaysa Boualam were unanimous.
It was one intense and close fight that Villegas neede to be psyched up by her coach, Reynaldo Galido, before the third round with her winning the first and the Frenchwoman coming back in the second, both 3-2.
Will you allow her to get this victory from you,” Galido told Villegas during the break.
“ No! This fight is mine!” Villegas answered back.
How she tackled the final round told it all and Villegas now marked her name as an Olympic medalist. What she achieve as of now is
Tolentino says Yulo’s conquest proves template for Olympic gold
PMillions in cash, condo unit, etc, for Leveriza boy
CBy Josef Ramos
ARLOS YULO has raked in millions in cash rewards and other incentives ahead of his bid for a second gold medal in men’s vault of artistic gymnastics set late Sunday at the Paris Olympics.
W ith his floor exercise victory, Yulo is expected to get P10 million from the government through Republic Act 10699 or the National Athletes and Coaches Benefits and Incentives Act while the House of Representatives has said the star gymnast will be rewarded P3 million.
groups and a ready willingness to help.
O n a personal level, he was also instrumental in my getting into and falling in love with sports. And allow me to share that to keep to the spirit of the sports pages where you find this column.
My introduction to basketball was the Philippine Basketball Association. First on the television, and then watching it live at the Araneta Coliseum where my first ever live match was Crispa-Toyota.
I h ardly recall the details of the match other than Toyota winning the game. That was satisfying for the intense atmosphere and the joy I felt being the lone Toyota fan in a family of Crispanatics.
Living about a minute away from the Cubao commercial center, I would go maybe once a month to the games. Usually with my dad, but later on, with my neighborhood barkada.
A bout a year after that first live game, my father along with a couple of his siblings helped bring the postRick Barry Golden State Warriors to Manila for a pair of exhibition matches against PBA selection squads. That was my first time to sit at ringside as the NBA squad won both games.
Following the games, my dad and his siblings took the team down to Olongapo to visit the American naval base there. I remember (mostly through old photographs of my dad) the
Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) president Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino pledged to the winners a house and lot, similar to the incentives given to 2021 Tokyo Games weightlifting champion Hidilyn Diaz, silver medalists Nesthy Petecio and Carlo Paalam and bronze medalist Eumir Marcial.
A t wo-bedroom condominium unit worth P24 million is also set to be turned over to Yulo by real estate company Megaworld Corporation, which made the announcement on social media after the Filipino Olympian’s gold medal romp on Saturday night. All these with Yulo still set to compete in the vault finals.
T he City of Manila has also pledged cash incentives but did not provide details.
“ The City of Manila is already preparing a hero’s welcome for Carlos Yulo because we are immensely proud of our Manileño from Leveriza, Malate,” Manila Mayor Honey Lacuna said in a statement.
When we meet him, we will present Carlos Yulo cash incentives, awards, and symbols of the eternal gratitude of the proud Capital City of the Philippines,” Lacuna added.
ARIS—The template for success in the Olympics and world championships has been proven at the Paris Olympics, according to Philippine Olympic Committee president Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino.
Carlos Yulo’s gold medal has validated some more the template for producing a Filipino Olympic and world champion,” said Tolentino on Sunday as he looked forward to Yulo going for his second gold medal in vault.
“Caloy has again proven that a Filipino can win in the Olympics with the right ingredients and formula and through the proper process,” said Tolentino on Sunday, hours before Yulo was to target a second gold medal in men’s vault where he’s the favorite to win from his world championships title in 2022.
“ Gone are the anecdotal ways of training athletes for the global stage,”
he said. “Today, you have a platoon of coaches on your team, plus years on the production line.” It took Hidilyn Diaz-Naranjo four Olympics and the right formula or template to win gold in Tokyo—she had a main or head coach, an assistant coach, a strength and conditioning coach, nutritionist, physiotherapist and psychologist.
F rom an innocent wildcard in Beijing 2008, Diaz-Naranjo had to endure a “No Lift” in London 2012 and got stronger four years later with her silver in Rio. She was ripe for the gold in the pandemic delayed Tokyo 2020.
“Caloy, basically, went through all of that, and both Caloy and Hidilyn have the scars of battle in numerous international competitions,” Tolentino said. “This is the tried and tested formula for Olympic success.” Jun Lomibao
Taiwan’s Lin clinches 1st Olympic medal amid online gender abuse
ILLEPINTE, France—Boxer Lin Yu-ting of Taiwan clinched her first Olympic medal Sunday in front
from the world championships last year after the banned International Boxing Association claimed t hey failed unspecified eligibility tests for women›s competition. Lin, who will face Esra Yildiz Kahraman of Turkey at Roland-Garros on Wednesday, said her goal is to keep going and become a gold medalist. She did not mention any of the online scrutiny of the past few days and said that she shut down her social media before her first Olympic fight.
team riding kalesas. I wish we still had those photos as we lost that and more to a fire that gutted my parents’ home in 2014.
To this day, I still have the autographs of the players who were led by Filipino-American Raymond Townsend.
Even if the Warriors were without Rick Barry, it was still a thrill to meet the NBA team.
I a lso recall him bringing me to watch these Hell Drivers Stunt Team. This team of daredevil drivers thrilled the world with those car sequences in the James bond film, Diamonds Are Forever.
In Manila, they wowed the crowd with incredible car stunts along Ayala Avenue. Yes, they closed down Ayala Avenue specifically for this show and it was both loud and amazing.
A s I got older, I began to watch basketball games without my father. But of course, they were our school teams from the Ateneo. The special ones were winning the UAAP juniors title in 1985 as my batch graduated.
O nce in college, I recall my dad purchasing tickets for me and my siblings as we watched the Blue Eagles battle the UE Warriors for the 1987 UAAP men’s basketball crown. As much as I loved going to the games with my classmates and friends, it was special to be at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum with my dad.
D uring the 1991 NBA Finals between the Chicago Bulls and the Los Angeles Lakers, my dad and I watched
“ I want to thank all the supporters from Taiwan,” she said. Staneva appeared to walk past Lin immediately after the fight, but after the referee announced the decision and lifted Lin’s hand as the winner, Staneva went over and sat on the rope on her opponent’s side and opened the rope for Lin to step out.
Staneva, a 34-year-old amateur boxing veteran, lost a close fight to Lin in the semifinals of the 2023 world championships in India. The victory w as changed to a no contest by the International B oxing Associastion (IBA), which claimed Lin had failed the unspecified eligibility test. AP
every single game although we were at odds. I was a Bulls and Michael Jordan fan while my dad cheered for Magic Johnson’s Lakers.
The last time I was with him for a sports event was when a book I wrote—Five which recounts Atene’s Five-peat in the UAAP—was launched at the Ayala Museum in 2013. W hen I was introduced on stage, my father was asked to join me. As photos were snapped, he told me how proud he was for what I
PHILIPPINE Olympic Committee president Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino celebrates Carlos Yulo’s gold medal at the Olympic Family seating. POC MEDIA