BusinessMirror August 21, 2023

BSP: PHL may miss DBCC growth goals

THE Philippine economy could miss its growth targets this year due to its weak performance in the second quarter, the global slowdown and high oil prices, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

A nother major consideration is the impact of the monetary tightening of the BSP. In August, however, the Monetary Board made a “hawkish pause” with key policy rates being kept at 6.25 percent. (Full story here: https:// businessmirror .com.ph/2023/08/17/bspkeeps-rates-after-q2-growthslowdown/)

B SP said the peak of the impact

of the 425-basis-point increase in policy rates will be felt next year.

The BSP started raising interest rates in May 2022 and has been the most aggressive in the region in terms of monetary policy tightening. (https:// businessmirror com.ph/2022/09/15/bsp-mostaggressive-in-hiking-policyrates/)

“ The growth forecasts indicate continued economic expansion, albeit at a slower pace, with projected impact of the BSP’s policy rate adjustments peaking in 2024,” BSP said in its Monetary Policy Report (MPR).

W orld GDP, based on International Monetary Fund (IMF)

projections, could average 3 percent in 2023 and 2024 and 3.2 percent in 2025. In its May MPR, BSP said growth could average 2.8 percent in 2023 and 3 percent in 2024.

O il prices are expected to trade higher at $81.9 per barrel in 2023 from the initial estimate of $77.2 per barrel. Dubai crude prices could also trade at $82.3 per barrel in 2024 and $78 per barrel in 2025.

T he BSP also noted “waning pent-up demand” that could contribute to the slowdown in the growth of the Philippine economy this year.

See “BSP,” A2

IN 4TH MONTH OF DEFICIT, JULY BOP AT $53M—BSP

THE country posted a balance of payments (BOP) deficit for the fourth consecutive month this year, according to data released by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

B SP said the country’s BOP position posted a deficit of $53 million in July 2023. However, this is lower than the $1.8-billion BOP deficit recorded in the same month last year.

For this year, the BOP deficit was the largest in June at $606 million, followed by the $439 million in May 2023. The country only saw a BOP surplus twice this year—January at $3.081 billion and March, $1.267 billion.

“ The BOP deficit in July 2023 reflected net outflows arising mainly from the National Government’s [NG] payments of its foreign currency debt obligations,” BSP said.

B SP data also showed that despite the deficit in July, the BOP position of the country was in surplus for the past seven months.

T he data showed the cumulative BOP position of the country posted a surplus of $2.2 billion in the January to July period of the year.

T his, BSP said, was a reversal from the $4.9-billion deficit recorded in the same period of 2022.

“ Based on preliminary data, this development reflected mainly the improvement in the balance of trade and the sustained inflows from personal remittances, net foreign borrowings by the NG

[national government], trade in services, and foreign direct investments,” BSP said.

B SP, quoting preliminary International Merchandise Trade Statistics (IMTS) data from the Philippine Statistics Authority’s (PSA), noted that the trade deficit for January-July 2023 reached $28 billion, down from the $29.8 billion deficit posted in the same period last year.

W ith this, the BSP said the gross international reserves (GIR) level increased to $100 billion as of endJuly 2023 from $99.4 billion as of end-June 2023.

B SP noted that the country’s GIR level increased despite the BOP deficit in July 2023, mainly due to the upward revaluation adjustments in BSP gold holdings and foreign currency denominated assets.

The impact of non-economic transactions such as revaluation adjustments is excluded in the computation of the BOP position,” the BSP said.

T he latest GIR level, BSP said, represented a more-than-adequate external liquidity buffer equivalent to 7.4 months’ worth of imports of goods and payments of services and primary income.

D.O.T. TO FUND INDIGENOUS PEOPLE’S TOURISM PROJECTS

By Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo @akosistellaBM

Special to the BusinessMirror

THE Department of Tourism (DOT) will fund initiatives that develop and promote indigenous peoples’ culture, in a bid to advance heritage tourism in the country.

T he DOT said it had signed a memorandum of agreement with the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) to jointly implement the Katutubo-Kapwa project, “a nationwide initiative which will enjoin support for the indigenous cultural communities/ indigenous peoples [ICCs/IPs] in tourism development, covering destinations and IP communities in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.”

A s per the MOA, a technical

working group, with representatives from both agencies, will be created to monitor and oversee the project’s implementation, which will be led by the DOT’s Office of Special Concerns.

“ Our indigenous communities are the vanguards of Filipino identity,” said Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco in a news statement.“We subscribe to the belief that in honoring the origins of the Philippines and the Filipino people, we strengthen the Filipino brand…[The] Department of Tourism has sought this partnership with the NCIP because we sincerely wish to manifest our firm commitment to honoring our indigenous peoples and giving them opportunities for economic advancement through tourism,” she added.

By Andrea E. San Juan

PAKISTAN’S 10 “biggest” textile and garments factories which are exporting worldwide have committed to supply textile and fabrics for Philippine garment exporters given the Philippines’s “unrivaled” access to key markets, according to the Philippine Exporters Confederation Inc. (Philexport).

Ph ilexport said Robert Young, Trustee for textile, yarn and fabric sector of Philexport, reported this following his participation in the Asean-Pakistan Business Opportunities Conference held in Lahore and Karachi, Pakistan in early August.

Young, who is also president of Foreign Buyers Association of the Philippines (FOBAP), said these factories have committed to supply  “mainly 100 percent cotton

sheets and denim” for the Philippine garment exporters. He emphasized that “[these garment exporters] rely solely on imported materials as the Philippines has no such industry.”

T he FOBAP president pointed out that Pakistan’s textile and fabrics cost 15 to 20 percent lower than those of other countries.

I n fact, Young added, “Pakistan has an average lower production cost than countries like China, India and Vietnam, while offering the same high-quality fabrics due to its skilled workers and yarn quality, billed as the second-best quality cotton in the world.”

Meanwhile, Young said that with the Philippines’s present free trade agreements (FTAs) such as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), and other forthcoming FTAs and the recent

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FALL OF RUDY GIULIANI:

Task force on media says it’s working on 72 ‘active cases’

By Samuel P. Medenilla @sam_medenilla

Blotter incident

DURING the meeting, PTFoMS also talked about the case of Jose Rizal Pajares, a reporter of Radyo Natin, who was arrested last August 2, 2023, for supposedly violating the Data Privacy Act (DPA) by scanning a police blotter.

T he policeman who detained Pajares claimed the reporter violated PNP Memorandum Circular No. 2020-073, which safeguarded the personal data in the blotter.

T he active incidents are part of the 202 media-related cases recorded by the PTFoMs.  A side from the active cases, the list included 101 cases which have been resolved and 29, which prescribed by operation of law. A mong the  resolved cases were the four incidents of media attacks under the Marcos administration, according to Presidential Communications Office (PCO) Secretary Cheloy Vilacaria-Garafil.  For this, I commend our law en -

Continued from A1

Below DBCC target WITH this, the BSP expects fullyear GDP growth to be below 6 percent this year and next year. The Development Budget Coor -

forcement bodies, particularly the PNP [Philippine National Police] and the NBI [National Bureau of Investigation] for working closely with the PTFoMS in solving these cases,” Garafil said in her speech at the meeting of the PTFoMS last August 16.  D espite the “scant” resources of the PTFoMS, PCO Assistant Secretary Michel del Rosario noted the government will prioritize the resolution of the cases, which are work-related.

dinating Committee (DBCC) target is to post a 6-7 percent GDP growth rate for 2023 and 6.5-8 percent for 2024.

The full-year growth forecasts for 2023 and 2024 were adjusted downward from the previous MPR to reflect slower-than-expected Q2 2023 GDP growth outturn of 4.3 percent, benign global eco -

However, the PTFoMS reiterated the position reiterated by the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) that such private information processed for journalistic purposes is exempted from the DPA.

T he Department of Justice (DOJ) said it will be issuing a legal opinion on the matter to serve as a guide to police and the media.

Pending that clarification, PTFoMS advised reporters to seek

nomic conditions, and higher global crude oil prices,” BSP also said in the MPR.

T he report noted that the BSP’s latest estimates from its Policy Analysis Model for the Philippines (PAMPh) continue to indicate a “broadly neutral output gap” which is the difference between actual and potential output for 2023.

first the approval of the precinct’s police public information officers (PIOs) for their access to data in the police blotter.

P TFoMS executive director Paul M. Gutierrez said they are set to hold another meeting in November to continue with their discussion on the definition of a “media worker” within the ambit of AO-1 (Administrative Order No. 1).

Former President Rodrigo R. Duterte created the PTFoMS in 2016 through his AO-1 to address incidents of violence against the media.

L ed by the DOJ, the PTFoMS members include the PCO; Department of National Defense/Armed Forces of the Philippines (DND/ AFP); Department of the Interior and Local Government/Philippine National Police (DILG/PNP); Office of the Solicitor General (OSG); and, the Presidential Human Rights Committee (PHRC).

However, the report stated that based on the results of the PAMPh model, the output gap will fall to slightly negative territory in 2024 and 2025.

B SP noted that the PAMPh is a monetary policy model for a small open economy like the Philippines. It is a semi-structural gap model based on New Keynesian foundations.

“ The projected gradual decline in the output gap reflects the impact of BSP policy interest rate adjustments on consumption and investment, projected slowdown in global growth owing in part to tightening monetary conditions across major economies, and a decline in real income in the domestic front owing to high inflation and fiscal consolidation,” BSP said.

H owever, BSP noted that the output gap could be supported by the projected increase in remittances amid a peso depreciation.

B SP Governor Eli M. Remolona Jr. earlier said cash remittances could “rise further” next year from this year’s projected total amount of $33.5 billion. (Full story here: https:// businessmirror com.ph/2023/08/16/remittances-of-overseas-filipinos-seento-breach-33-5b-in-24/)

T he MRP also said the country’s potential output points to the economy’s ability to sustain its recovery given the increase in economic activity after Covid-19 was declared as no longer a health emergency.

T his reopening of the economy has, BSP said, led to improvements in labor market conditions and continued investment growth.  Cai U. Ordinario

Continued from A1

T his, BSP said, ensures availability of foreign exchange to meet balance of payments financing needs. These needs are for the payment of imports and debt service, in extreme conditions when there are no export earnings or foreign loans.

T he data also showed that the GIR level is about 5.9 times the country’s short-term external debt based on original maturity and 4.1 times based on residual maturity.

Short-term debt based on residual maturity refers to outstanding external debt with original maturity of one year or less, plus principal payments on medium- and long-term loans of the public and private sectors falling due within the next 12 months,” BSP said.

U nder the MOA, the DOT chief said the agency has committed to provide “financial support to tourism-related capacity building/capacity development, infrastructure projects, product development, and other tourismrelated programs activities, and projects to eligible and interested ICCs/IPs that will help improve their socio-economic status.”

With support from its attached agencies, the DOT will likewise help develop and promote the ICCs/IPs’ ancestral domains and fund the latter’s identified tourism-related projects, including their local products, to generate business and create jobs.

T he MOA was signed by Frasco and NCIP Chair Allen A. Capuyan on August 16, 2023 at the DOT Central Office in Makati City.

For his part, Capuyan said: “It is our honor and privilege to be partnering with the Department of Tourism in the implementation of our Katutubo-Kapwa project, which aims to involve the indigenous cultural communities and indigenous peoples in tourism de -

velopment.  We hope that this will pave the way for a more stable and secure future.”

U nder the National Tourism Development Plan 2023-2028, the DOT has identified the need to invest “in defining our cultural experiences to stand out more effectively in Asean’s highly competitive tourism environment.”

T his, after a survey the agency commissioned in 2021 showed the Philippines ranked lowest in terms of historical landmarks (51 percent), and very poorly for cultural/art  activities (29 percent) after respondents were asked about what they thought about Southeast Asian countries being ideal destinations for several types of activities.

O n the upside, the survey showed the Philippines ranked among top three Southeast Asian destinations for sun, beaches, and islands (76 percent) and nature (50 percent), as well as several outdoor activities like hiking and water sports.  (See, “They won’t visit for history, culture,” in the BusinessMirror , May 26, 2023.)

economic reforms and the amended Foreign Investments Act, Philippine Consul General (in Karachi)

Imran Yousuf and Economic Diplomatic officer Digna Khan both said they plan to pay a business visit soon.

RCEP is a regional trade agreement between the 10 Asean member states and five Asean FTA partners—Australia, China, Japan, Korea and New Zealand. RCEP countries account for 30 percent of global gross domestic product and one-third of total inward foreign direct investment (FDI).

I n an email to Young, Yousuf said Pakistan has already invested in various industries in the Philippines.

[It is also] importing garments, textile, apparel manufacturing, as Other made textile articles, sets, worn clothing and worn textile articles, rags [amounting] at US$6.7 million in 2022,” he said.

He cited some Pakistani companies’ investments in the Philip -

pines: TRG Philippines in Manila of TRG Pakistan Ltd., Getz Pharma Philippines of Getz Pharma Pakistan, and Royal Life Pharma, a joint venture in Batangas, Philippines from Pakistan.

Yousuf said the Philippines has “unrivaled access” to key markets such as the Asean, Asia- Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) member economies, as well as Asia, Europe and the United States.

“ The Philippines’ location is a critical entry point to over 600 million people in the ASEAN market and a natural gateway to the East Asian economies,” he said. “[It] is likewise placed at the crossroads of international shipping and airlines.”

Yousuf said Pakistan and the Philippines are among beneficiary countries of the European Union’s Generalized Scheme of Preferences Plus program, and are also members of the World Trade Organization with all the privileges and protections it provides.

I n terms of education, Balisacan said, effort must be exerted in recovering learning losses. He noted that Filipino “children consistently lag in the most fundamental cognitive tasks.”

B ased on data from the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) in 2022, the learning poverty in the Philippines is 90.9 percent. Learning poverty refers to the proportion of 10-year-old children in and out of school who cannot read a simple text.

T he same data also showed learning deprivation in the country was at 90.4 percent. This refers to the share of children in school who have below minimum proficiency in reading.

Further, schooling deprivation in the Philippines was at 5 percent. This data refers to the share of primary age children who are out of school.

“ The prospect of witnessing the effects of our educational deficits later on—when the children enter the labor force and labor-saving technologies such as artificial intelligence may have evolved in ways we have not yet even imagined—is quite disturbing,” Balisacan said.

I n order to address this, programs and projects that align and match the needs of the private sector and industry with skills and competencies being developed in educational institutions are vital.

T hese institutions include basic education as well as technical, and vocational educational training (TVET) and higher education in institutions such as UP, the country’s national university. Our education sector must be able to develop processes and spearhead initiatives that will allow our citizens to quickly adapt and respond to emerging trends in the labor market,” Balisacan said.

We must address learning losses and improve global competitiveness, as we must not stay caught up and remain insulated from the rest of the world,” he added.

In terms of health, Balisacan said the pandemic highlighted the need to “equitably distribute health infrastructure and human resources and promote health-seeking behavior and health literacy.”

B alisacan said there is a need for efforts to enhance the government’s capacities for public health emergencies both at the national and local levels.

A nother important consideration in health is food security. Balisacan said better nutrition outcomes should be the “broader objective” of food security.

T here is a need, he said, to expand “consumers’ access to affordable, safe, and nutritious food through investments in our food systems, including agricultural production, transport, and logistics.”

THE Presidential Task Force on Media Security (PTFoMS) is now focusing on the resolution of 72 “active” cases involving violence against the media.

PHL to host AI confab

By Andrea San Juan @andreasanjuan

THE Department of Trade and Industry

(DTI) announced it has partnered with Singapore Industrial Automation Association (SIAA) in hosting the “Artificial Intelligence (AI) Asia Expo” in November, which is expected to discuss how the Philippine government will “unlock” substantial economic capacity that AI represents, among others.

According to the DTI, its officials signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) last August 15 with SIAA and LOD Events Pte. Ltd. to co-host the “AI Asia Expo-Philippines 2023,” which will be held in Metro Manila from November 7 to November 9.

According to the trade department, the 3-day event is expected to draw 4,000 participants and will feature keynote presentations, panel discussions and an exhibition showcasing cutting-edge AIproducts and solutions from both local and international companies.

At a news briefing last Tuesday, the DTI fact sheet noted that the “AI Asia Expo” is a “critical milestone” on the country’s path to national preparedness and competitiveness.

“It aligns with our goal of fostering innovation, creating high-income jobs, and positioning the Philippines as a significant player in the global AI landscape,” a statement from the DTI read.

The Trade department emphasized areas of discussion at the Expo will center on the government’s “pivotal” role in building a “robust” AI ecosystem in the Philippines.

“We’ll focus on the strategic actions outlined in the Philippine National AI Strategy roadmap, highlighting efforts to align our nation’s approach with the rapid pace of technological development,” the DTI said through the statement.

The DTI also highlighted that it will explore the “immense potential” of AI to drive growth in Philippine industries.

For instance, the agency noted that discussions will revolve around how the

government is working hand-in-hand with stakeholders to unlock the “substantial” economic capacity that AI presents.

“We’ll examine use cases and best practices for AI adoption, highlighting the government’s support in accelerating learning and knowledge exchange among organizations,” DTI said.

“The goal is to shed light on how the government’s role extends to enabling industries to harness AI’s transformative power and stay competitive on a global scale,” the Trade department added.

In a statement issued last Friday, the Philippine Exporters Confederation Inc. (Philexport) noted that about 40 percent of those reporting AI adoption at their organizations said their companies expect to invest more in AI in the years ahead as they continue to see returns in the business areas in which they are using AI.

“We see a majority of respondents reporting AI-related revenue increases within each business function using AI. And looking ahead, more than two-thirds expect their organizations to increase their AI investment over the next three years,” the DTI said citing a global survey released by McKinsey & Co.

The online survey was conducted in April and garnered responses from nearly 1,700 participants representing a “full range” of regions, industries, company sizes, functional specialties and tenures. It confirmed the “explosive growth” of AI, described as algorithms (such as ChatGPT) that can be used to create new content, including audio, code, images, text, simulations, and videos.

“Less than a year after many of these tools debuted, one-third of McKinsey’s survey respondents say their organizations are using gen AI regularly in at least one business function,” Philexport’s statement read.

“The most commonly reported business functions using these newer tools are marketing and sales, product and service development, and service operations such as customer care and back-office support,” the organization added.

Solon asks CAB to suspend increase of fuel surcharge

By Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz @joveemarie

ASENIOR lawmaker is urging the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) to suspend the imposition of a higher aviation-fuel surcharge to keep plane fares low.

Cagayan de Oro City 2nd District Rep. Rufus

B. Rodriguez also appealed to carriers to forgo the collection of the fees they assess to account for variations in fuel costs. Rodriguez said the surcharge is optional on their part.

The lawmaker also criticized the CAB for “apparently being more concerned with the profits of airline companies than the welfare of millions of passengers.”

“The CAB is quick in giving more to airlines at the expense of the Filipino riding public. It has been remiss in penalizing airlines for flight cancellations, overbooking resulting in bumping off of passengers, delays, inordinate baggage policies, and failure of customer service availability,” Rodriguez said.

He added that, at present, airlines “are already imposing unreasonably high prices for their plane fares.”

“And the worst hit by these very high prices are the riders from Mindanao,” Rodriguez said. The lawmaker noted receiving complaints about high airfares from his constituents

Tesda plans TVET innovation center in Clark Freeport Zone

and taxes and duties.

By Patrick V. Miguel

in Cagayan de Oro City and from friends in Davao City.

“And this is true for all flights to and from Mindanao,” Rodriguez said.

Earlier, the CAB issued an advisory informing airlines and passengers that the fuel surcharge rate would go up starting September 1 due to higher fuel prices.

Depending on the distance, the CAB said the increased surcharge would range from P185 to P665 per ticket for domestic flights, and from P610.37 to P4,538.40 for international travel.

The agency stressed that the collection of the higher charge would be optional on the part of airlines.

Rodriguez noted the hike in fees comes at a time when the travel and tourism industry is just starting to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Higher plane fares will dampen both domestic and international travel. I appeal to the carriers to defer the higher surcharge to encourage more tourists,” he said.

The lawmaker also noted that airlines are now reporting net profits in the billions due to post-pandemic travel and tourism.

“They can afford to forego the increased surcharge, which is just a small fraction of their ticket price,” Rodriguez said.

By Butch Fernandez @butchfBM

APART from ensuring sufficient power supply, Senator Sherwin T. Gatchalian is pushing for the development of more renewable energy (RE) projects in the country to help bring down power costs.

Citing data from the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco), Gatchalian said RE plants “provide the cheapest generation cost” when compared to coal-fired and gas-fired power plants. Moreover, he zeroed on the data for the month of July that showed coal plants had the highest generation cost at an average P8.0978 per kilowatt hour (kWh) while gas-fired power plants had an average generation cost of P5.6636 per kWh and RE power plants had an average generation cost of only P4.7052 per kWh.

The same data also showed that RE plants

a courtesy visit to the president of the Clark Development Corp. (CDC), Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda) Director-General Suharto T. Mangudadatu announced plans to build a regional technical vocational education and training (TVET) innovation center (RTIC) inside the Clark Freeport Zone, Pampanga.

FOLLOWING

A statement issued by the Tesda read that the center is expected to modernize the TVET system in the country “so that it can respond effectively to an increasingly globalized, technology-driven and knowledge-driven market.”

The center is also expected to improve the quality of skilling programs and upgrade training facilities. The center is set to cater courses in robotics, mechatronics and “smart” health care.

“Having the RTIC inside the Clark Economic Zone will locate it strategically to serve the medium-term and future skills demands of commercial, manufacturing, and trading establishments of the CFZ, of the region, and of the country, as a whole,” Mangudadatu was quoted in the statement as saying.

The Tesda official added that the construction of innovation centers nationwide is aligned with the agency’s strategy for “global competitiveness and workforce-readiness, and social equity for workforce inclusion and poverty reduction.”

“The implementation of innovations in TVET must be dynamic, encompassing and inclusive of the education and training, experimentation in research and development, and entrepreneurship education,” he said.

The innovation center will be built through funding from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) under the multilateral lender’s “Supporting Innovation in the Philippine Technical and Vocational Education and Training System” ( SIP-TVETS ) project.

A document from the ADB said the SIP-TVETS project will help the Tesda to “undertake institutional reforms, build project management capacity, and forge stronger engagement between public TVET institutes and industry in areas of enterprise-based training and applied research and development so that the employability of Filipino youth and workers is enhanced.”

“The project will also contribute toward the government’s National Employment Recovery Strategy [NERS] to help the economy bounce back from the adverse effects of the coronavirus disease,” it added.

According to a document from the ADB, the Sip-Tvets project cost estimate is $117.3 million.

“The expenditure items will cover civil works in 17 RTICs, goods, consulting services, capacity building, recurrent costs, contingencies, and financing charges during implementation,” the document read.

It added that the ADB will cover $100 million or 85.2 percent of total project cost from its ordinary capital resources.

“The loan will have a 29-year term including a grace period of eight years, straight-line method with an annual interest rate determined in accordance with ADB’s rate for ‘flexible loan product,’ a commitment charge of 0.15 percent per year, and such other

Gatchalian bats for more renewable energy sources

only contributed 7.69 percent of the total power purchased by Meralco last month.

“The data clearly shows that the development of renewable energy would provide the most benefit for our consumers as it entails the lowest generation cost,” Gatchalian said.

Earlier, the solon filed Senate Bill (SB) 157 or the proposed “Energy Transition Act,” which provides for the creation of an “energy transition plan” to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 and remove the country’s dependence on imported fuel.

However, Gatchalian noted that the energy transition would require diversification of current energy sources.

Moreover, the senator also filed SB 485, or “An Act Enhancing the Implementation of the Net-Metering Program, Amending for the purpose Republic Act 9513, or the Renewable Energy Act Of 2008.”

terms and conditions set forth in the loan agreement,” the ADB added. “Based on the straight-line method, the average maturity is 18.75 years. The applicable maturity premium is 0.20 percent payable to ADB.”

The document read that the government will fund $17.3 million or 14.8 percent of total project costs, to cover for loan interest and charges of $4.63 million, and $12.70 million for training, recurrent costs, contingencies,

“Tesda’s in-kind contribution is estimated at $0.5 million in the form of office space, Tesda-counterpart staff time, and use of vehicles,” the ADB document added.

As filed, the Gatchalian bill embodied the proposed law aiming to “foster increased investments in the renewable energy sector, seeks to remove the 100-kilowatt (kW) ceiling on generation facilities that can participate in the net metering program.

It adds that authorized under existing laws, net metering allows participants with their own facilities feed power back into the grid and have their contribution to the common pool of power deducted from their consumption.

At the same time, Gatchalian also voiced hopes that investors would take advantage of a recent circular issued by the Department of Energy that removes limitations on foreign ownership of RE projects. The circular effectively allows foreign nationals and foreign-owned entities to explore, develop and use RE resources such as solar, wind, biomass, ocean and tidal energy.

Sen. Go pitches responsible marketing for growth, public trust in real estate

IN a gathering of real estate professionals and industry experts, Senator Christopher Lawrence “Bong” T. Go stressed the shared responsibility of both government and the private sector in promoting responsible and sustainable best practices.

The event, with a theme

“Responsible Real Estate Marketing: Accurate Representation for Sustainable Public Trust” was held at the Grand Regal Hotel in Davao City on Friday, August 18. It underscored the pivotal role of the real estate sector in the country’s economy while emphasizing ethical practices and accurate representation to build public trust.

“I am truly honored to stand before you today at this important event focusing on responsible real estate marketing, and accurate representation for sustainable public trust. It is a pleasure to see many dedicated and passionate individuals gathered here, all of whom play a vital role in shaping the future of the real estate industry in the Philippines,” said Go.

The senator highlighted the symbiotic relationship between responsible real estate marketing and sustainable economic growth.

With his understanding of the industry, the senator explained how the real estate sector could serve as a catalyst for economic development, job creation, and overall national progress.

Trust between consumers and real estate developers, he stressed, is paramount for a thriving industry: “The objective of this event is clear – to create a platform for the exchange of experiences, the sharing of insights, and the elevation of industry standards. We believe that by coming together we can collectively enhance the way we operate, ensuring that our practices are always in line with the highest standard of professionalism, ethics, and transparency.”

The lawmaker also shared some of his efforts as a legislator, housing advocate, and member of the Senate Committee on Urban Planning, Housing, and Resettlement.

Go earlier filed Senate Bill (SB) 192 and SB 426, which proposed the “Rental Housing Subsidy Program” and the “National Housing Development, Production and Financing Program,” respectively. These bills are part of his efforts to ensure that the homeless have access to safe and affordable shelters.

SB 192 is designed to provide sustainable and habitable housing to Filipinos impacted by disasters and other crises. The bill also calls for the development of a housing and social protection program that will give disaster victims better and more affordable access to the formal housing market through rental subsidies provided by the government.

Go also advocates for SB 426, which seeks to enhance housing production by fostering partnerships among stakeholders to address the social housing needs of Filipino families.

The bill aims to generate and mobilize funds to establish a sustainable, accessible, and affordable housing financing system for the country’s informal settlers. In addition, the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development and its attached key shelter agencies shall strengthen the implementation of the crucial elements of the NHDPF program.

Go also filed SB 2108 or the “Pambansang Pabahay para sa Pilipino Program” (4PH), which focuses on the holistic development of sustainable communities. SB 2108 institutionalizes the 4PH, a flagship housing initiative initiated by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.

Under the program, the 4PH aims to build six million units by the end of Marcos’s term. Being the lead agency of the program, DHSUD has previously issued Department Circular 2023-004, granting authority to the agency’s partner local government units to execute and implement measures to bridge their respective housing gaps under the 4PH.

“These measures are aligned with our initiative to provide adequate and affordable housing to several families who lacked decent housing. am truly excited about the discussions that will take place today. The insights you gain here will undoubtedly contribute to the growth of your individual careers as well as the overall advancement of the real estate sales landscape in our nation through shared knowledge and collective delegation, we can foster an environment where responsible real estate marketing becomes synonymous with sustainable public trust,” Go said.

US, Japan, Australia plan joint navy drills in SCS

By Jim Gomez The Associated Press

THE United States, Japan and Australia are planning a joint navy drill in the South China Sea (SCS) off the western Philippines this week to underscore their commitment to the rule of law in the region after a recent show of Chinese aggression in the disputed waters, Filipino security officials said Sunday.

On August 5, Chinese coast guard ships used water cannons against Philippine vessels in the contested waterway where disputes have long been regarded as a potential flashpoint and have become a fault line in the rivalry between the US and China in the region.

The drill will include three aircraft and helicopter carriers sailing together in a show of force and undertaking joint drills. Their commanders are set to meet with Filipino counterparts in Manila after the offshore drills, two Philippine security officials told The Associated Press.

Both spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not allowed to publicly discuss details of the planned drills.

The US plans to deploy an aircraft

carrier, the USS America, while Japan would send one of its biggest warships, the helicopter carrier JS Izumo. The Royal Australian Navy would send its HMAS Canberra, which also carries helicopters, one of the two officials said, adding that the joint drill was planned a few months ago.

The Philippines would not be part of this week’s drills due to military logistical limitations but is open to becoming a participant in the future, the official said.

The United States, Japan and Australia were among several countries that immediately expressed support for the Philippines and concern over the Chinese action following the tense stand-off earlier this month.

Philippine officials said six Chinese coast guard ships and two militia vessels blocked two Philippine navy-chartered civilian boats taking supplies to the Philippine forces stationed at the Second Thomas Shoal.

One supply boat was hit with a powerful water cannon by the Chinese coast guard while the other managed to deliver food, water, fuel and other supplies to the Filipino forces guarding the shoal, the Philippine military said.

The Chinese coast guard acknowledged its ships used water cannons against the Philippine vessels, which it said strayed without permission into the shoal, which Beijing calls Ren’ai Jiao.

“In order to avoid direct blocking and collisions when repeated warnings were ineffective, water cannons were used as a warning. The on-site operation was professional and restrained, which is beyond reproach,” the Chinese coast guard said. “China will continue to take necessary measures to firmly safeguard its territorial sovereignty.”

The Philippine military said last Saturday that it would again attempt to deliver basic supplies to its forces in the Second Thomas Shoal, but didn’t provide further details.

The mission “to the shoal is a clear demonstration of our resolve to stand up against threats and coercion and our commitment in upholding the rule of law,” the Armed Forces of the Philippines said in a statement.

Following the incident, Washington renewed a warning that it is obliged to defend its longtime treaty ally if Philippine public vessels and forces come under armed attack, including in the SCS.

LRT Roosevelt renamed Fernando Poe Jr. station

By Lorenz S. Marasigan @lorenzmarasigan

THE Light Rail Manila Corp. (LRMC) said on Sunday it has renamed the Light Rail Transit (LRT) Line 1’s Roosevelt Station to Fernando Poe Jr. Station.

This is in line with the renaming of Roosevelt Ave. in Quezon City to Fernando Poe Jr. Ave., after the late actor and National Artist for Film Fernando Poe Jr (FPJ). Through Republic Act (RA) 11608, the LRT Authority (LRTA) directed LRMC to implement the renaming of LRT-1 Roosevelt Station to “Fernando Poe Jr. Station.”

“In renaming Roosevelt Station to Fernando Poe Jr. Station, we hope that Filipinos will always remember and will be inspired by how FPJ lived with values of determination, courage, and hope. LRMC shares these values and supports the promotion of local arts and culture,” LRMC President and CEO Juan F. Alfonso said.

LRT-1, which stretches from Baclaran Station to now Fernando Poe Jr. Station, is known to be the heritage line as it traverses many cultural and historical hotspots in Metro Manila with tourist sites, museums, galleries, and even must-

try restaurants and food hubs near the stations.

Alfonso noted that the renaming to Fernando Poe Jr. also gives honor to the National Artist and the luminary of the Philippine cinema industry having been a director, producer, and screenwriter.

Already, LRMC has updated the

Gordon to public: Don’t abuse ‘143’

By Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco @claudethmc3

PHILIPPINE Red Cross (PRC) Chairman

Richard J. Gordon is appealing to the Filipino public to avoid abusing the organization’s “143” hotline number. Gordon said that many calls requiring immediate attention, such as emergencies or accidents, fail to get through when some people use the 143 hotline irresponsibly.

“Let us deter abuse and disallow prank calls to PRC’s 143 Hotline because we need to respond to emergency situations as urgently as possible,” was quoted in a statement the PRC issued over the weekend.

Citing data from PRC’s Operations Center, Gordon said that out of the 2,343 calls answered last August 14, a total of 1,822 calls or 78 percent disengaged after introductory greetings from PRC’s representatives and only 521 or 22 percent had meaningful client engagement.

Out of the 521 total calls with meaningful client engagement, 405 or 78 percent were prank calls; 73 or 14 percent were calls for

blood requests; 42 or 8 percent were for network-related calls; and, only one was for a swab request.

For her part, Secretary-General Gwen T. Pang said that given the increasing number of accidents on the roads as well as emergencies, it is important to ensure that people can reach PRC’s 143 hotline in a few seconds.

“We need to be more careful with the use of 143. It should be dedicated to calls that require immediate assistance,” Pang said.

Humanitarian Day

LAST Saturday, the PRC joined humanitarians around the world in celebrating the World Humanitarian Day (WHD), which highlighted “the importance of delivering life-saving assistance to people in need, no matter who they are, no matter where they are, and no matter what the circumstances.”

The PRC said the celebration focused on humanitarians’ work of protecting and saving lives at all times and in all places, with particular emphasis in war-torn areas in honor of the 22 humanitarian workers

By Joel R. San Juan @jrsanjuan1573

NEW Bilibid Prison (NBP) inmate Michael Cataroja said last Sunday he was able to escape from the prison’s maximum compound last month by clinging to the bottom of a garbage truck.

Cataroja made this claim before the Board of Inquiry (BOI) of the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) created by BuCor Director General (Dir. Gen.) Gregorio Pio P. Catapang following Cataroja’s recapture last August 17 in Angono, Rizal.

The BOI was composed of BuCor Deputy Dir. Gen. for Administration Al I. Perreras, Deputy Dir. Gen. for Operations Gil T. Torralba and lawyer Ferdinand V. Balduman, chief of Intelligence and Investigation Division.

“Re-arrested PDL [person deprived of liberty] Cataroja, who escaped from [the NBP], reenacted to members of the Board of Inquiry created by …Catapang how he was able to escape from the Maximum Security Compound of the state penitentiary by clinging to the bottom of the garbage truck,” a statement from the BuCor read.

Cataroja’s claim before the BOI contradicted his earlier statement to the Angono police team who recaptured him that he casually walked out of the maximum compound undetected by pretending to be a visitor.

Angono Municipal Police Chief Maj. Lauro Leyva Moratillo said Cataroja told them he timed his escape during the visit of relatives of inmates at the maximum security compound. Cataroja told them he copied the mark stamped on visitors at the national penitentiary.

Catapang said the BOI will continue its probe on Cataroja’s escape as well as the liability of BuCor officials and personnel.

Earlier, BuCor sought the assistance of the Philippine Coast Guard and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to search the prison’s septic tanks on the suspicion that Cataroja might have been killed and buried there.

Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin C. Remulla earlier said that the decapitated body found inside a septic tank in the maximum security compound last month was Cataroja. Remulla

By Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz @joveemarie

THE Marcos administration is seeking an almost half-a-billion peso increase—or to P2 billion—for cancer control and cancer patient assistance funds, according to House Deputy Speaker Ralph G. Recto.

That’s the good news, the lawmaker said last Sunday.

later admitted the information turned out to be false.

The NBI later told a Senate inquiry that the bones located in the septic tank are most likely chicken bones.

Cashless policy

IN a related development, the BuCor announced it would be implementing a cashless policy in all operating prison and penal farms (OPPF) nationwide in a bid to stop cash-related illegal activities.

PDLs are currently allowed, according to Catapang, to possess money while serving sentence, either from proceeds of their engagement in work and livelihood programs, or money sent to them from relatives and friends here and abroad in order to augment the limited resources allocated for their basic needs.

“However, we received reports that some PDLs used their money in illegal business transactions so, to put a stop to this practice, all OPPF will be a ‘cashless zone,’” Catapang said. He noted that PDLs and even corrections officers assigned to man the security compound will not be allowed to carry cash, or such will be confiscated.

Confiscated money from PDLs will be deposited to the PDL’s trust fund while confiscated money from COs will be deposited to the employees’ trust fund.

Instead of cash, the BuCor will issue PDLs individual booklets similar to those issued by banks, reflecting the amount credited to the name of the holder and entitling him to purchase goods or items from a store inside prisons.

The PDLs are allowed to receive a maximum of P2,000 per week.

Any BuCor personnel who will be caught in possession of a PDL’s booklet will be dismissed outright from the service, according to Catapang.

“With this new policy, we are hitting two birds with one stone: eradicating the use of cash money in illegal business transactions of PDLs and discipline our own personnel from meddling with PDL’s money,” the BuCor official added.

overall system assets and collater -

The station will also showcase different memorabilia, films, and representations of FPJ.

who lost their lives in 2003—20 years ago—as they were carrying out their mission in Baghdad, Iraq.

“It is PRC’s commitment to be always first, always ready, and always there for our fellow Filipinos—fellow humans—who are in need of emergency medical services, blood services, the basic necessities of life, and other life-saving and dignity-promoting services during emergencies and disasters, including armed conflict,” Gordon said.

“Humanitarian workers, volunteers, and communities across the globe demonstrate incredible resilience and selflessness. They rush toward danger when others flee, extend a helping hand to those who have lost everything, and tirelessly work to alleviate suffering in the midst of chaos. Their actions exemplify the essence of ‘No Matter What,’” Pang added.

As the foremost humanitarian organization in the Philippines, the PRC has demonstrated the values of malasakit (compassion), kapwa-tao (humanity), and kusang-loob (volunteerism) in its 76 years of existence.

Some of PRC’s notable responses to people affected by conflict are its Marawi conflict response, in 2017, and its Zamboanga-siege response, in 2013.

“The bad news” is that the proposed “agency proper” budget for 2024 for the Department of Health (DOH) will suffer a P10-billion cut in the proposed P5.76-trillion national budget for 2024, Recto said.

On top of the P1-billion appropriation for the “cancer control program” under the “prevention and control of non-communicable diseases,” P1 billion will also be provided for the “cancer assistance fund” under the 2024 national budget.

Just like in the past, Recto said he believes that Congress and the executive will find ways to increase the budget for health.

Recto blamed “the big payroll and overhead in maintaining a large bureaucracy, plus rising debt service,” for boxing out social services.

“If the budget were a sculpture, then revenues are the clay from which it is made. You can’t mold big if you don’t have enough materials,” he was quoted in a statement as saying.

“But in a break from the past when Congress would chide the Palace for cutting cancer control and treatment allocations, this time the Marcos administration has proposed that this year’s cancer assistance fund be doubled to P1 billion next year,” Recto added.

On top of this is P1.02 billion for the Cancer Control Fund, bringing to P2.02 billion the earmarked funds to combat a disease that killed almost 60,000 Filipinos in 2021, or one every nine minutes, the lawmaker explained.

“We can add to this the proposed P28 billion for medicine next year and a proposal of P22.2 billion to reduce the hospital bill that is in the Medical Assistance for Indigent Fund (MAIF),” Recto said.

The lawmaker said Congress will be appropriating P101 billion in premium payments

to Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth)

to achieve universal health care, which brings the gross DOH budget to P306.1 billion.

“But some of these amounts should be treated as the floor and not the ceiling and should be augmented as they are lower than what has been appropriated for this year,” Recto said.

For example, he added that the DOH budget will dip from P209.1 billion this year to P199.1 billion next year, as proposed by Malacanang.

“The MAIF will get a P10-billion reduction, from this year’s P32.6 billion to the proposed P22.2 billion for 2024, unless both houses of Congress restore it to this year’s level,” Recto added.

Four Quezon City-based hospitals will face a combined cut of almost P818 million. These are the Lung, Kidney, Heart and Children’s Centers that President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. wants replicated in the regions.

A major component of the DOH budget—prevention and control of non-communicable diseases—has been earmarked P1.7 billion, a “deep” P1.2-billion cut from this year’s P2.9 billion, and even lower than the Palace’s original request of P2 billion for 2023.

Overall, the health services sector has a proposed cash-based budget of P325 billion for 2024, P2 billion lower than this year’s.

“Budget-wise, the DOH is still reeling from the effects of long Covid, as shown by the proposed P20-billion allocation for ‘public health emergency benefits’ for health workers,” Recto said.

In his budget message, Marcos said health will continue to be a top priority of his administration with next year’s budget of P306.1 billion, including Philhealth’s P101.5 billion.

According to the President, the government will ensure the continued operations of the DOH hospitals in Metro Manila as well as DOH regional hospitals and other facilities by providing them with P17.6 billion and P49.8 billion, respectively. The Philippine General Hospital, specifically, will receive a total of P5.7 billion.

als such as station name signs, route maps, system maps, wayfinding signage, fare matrices, ticket vending machines, signaling system, documentation, among others.

This Sunday, August 20, 2023, photo shows Senator Grace Poe during ceremonies for the renaming of the LRT Roosevelt station to Fernando Poe Jr. The solon is flanked by life-size stand-up cut-out photographs of the late actor, National artist for Film and her father. With Poe during the ceremonies at the LRT-1 station (not in photo) were Senator Manuel “Lito” M. Lapid, former Senate President Vicente C. Sotto III, Transportation Undersecretary for Railways Cesar B. Chavez, Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA) Administrator Hernando T. Cabrera, Light Rail Manila Corp. President and CEO Juan F. Alfonso and other government officials. ROY DOMINGO

‘I escaped by clinging to garbage truck floor’

Cancer-control funds to go up, DOH budget to be cut–Recto

Manila must speed up accreditation, purchase of ASF vaccines–lawmaker

By Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz @joveemarie

THE Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) must fast-track the accreditation and subsequent purchase of vaccines that have been shown to be effective against African swine fever (ASF), according to a lawmaker.

Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Raymund F. Villafuerte Jr. issued the statement over the weekend, following President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s own pitch that an inoculation drive could revitalize the hog industry, whose population has been decimated by this highly contagious viral disease.

“The FDA and BAI need to hit the gas with this vaccination drive to put an end to the wholesale deaths and selective slaughter of hogs, allow swine raisers to recover and repopulate their farms or backyards, and eventually stabilize the supply and cost of pork products in the local market,” said Villafuerte.

“The FDA must speed up the registration process for the local commercial use of the Vietnamese-made vaccine, which President Marcos said has been proven 80 percent effective against the ASF; and the BAI, as soon as the drug is accredited by the FDA, has to accelerate its acquisition of the shots and subsequent implementation of the inoculation program nationwide.”

Villafuerte said “speed is of the essence” in this mass vaccination plan, given that BAI officials have said that the Vietnamese supplier has committed only 600,000 doses only for the Philippines for this year.

A recent Reuters report said, though, that Vietnam will actually export 2 million vaccine doses to the Philippines this year, but there has been no confirmation from the BAI

on this volume.

Villafuerte reiterated his previous proposals for the government to declare a state of calamity in ASF-struck areas, so it can immediately access calamity or quick response funds for the planned immunization drive; and subsidize 100 percent, or at least 50 percent, of the cost of the shots for backyard raisers, who make up the bulk of local hog growers.

In the absence of funds for the proposed mass vaccination program in the current General Appropriations Act (GAA), he said accessing Malacañang Palace’s calamity funds will enable the BAI to procure the vaccine from Vietnam and hopefully kick-off the inoculation drive before the year is over.

To sustain the immunization project into 2024, Villafuerte said a sufficient amount of funds needs to be included in the BAI budget in the proposed 2024 GAA of P5.768 trillion, and both the House of Representatives and the Senate must support this outlay this budget deliberation season.

“The FDA and BAI must work double-time on this program, as the President mentioned in his second SONA that the government is about to acquire an effective vaccine and, in the meantime, has been focused on strengthening bio-security measures to prevent the spread of animal diseases.”

The FDA had confirmed that BAI had applied for certification of the Vietnam-made Avac vaccine, and this application will be subjected to pre-assessment.

Earlier, Agriculture Assistant Secretary Rex Estoperez said the DA and the BAI have started talks on potential financial assistance for hog raisers, and the options include realigning the budget from other DAattached agencies or turning to Congress for an additional allocation.

DAR chief to panel: Hasten IRR of law condoning farmers’ debts

By Jonathan L. Mayuga @jonlmayuga

hectares of agrarian reform lands, under the voluntary land transfer/ direct payment scheme (VLT/DPS), amounting to P206,776.41.

The ARBs covered by RA 11953 will also be included in the Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture (RSBSA) of the Department of Agriculture, which will give them access to support services from the agency.

They will be exempted from payment of estate tax.

The law provides for restitution awarded to agrarian reform lands, which were forfeited solely due to nonpayment of annual amortizations, and interest will be restored to the original beneficiaries.

DAR Secretary Conrado M. Estrella III wants the members of the committee to “proceed with dispatch” in crafting the IRR but he directed the technical working group to gather inputs from agrarian reform communities.

During the first joint meeting of the committee, Estrella reiterated the need for a comprehensive IRR for the law’s smooth implementation and within the 60-day deadline provided for, after its effectivity on July 23, 2023.

He directed the technical working group to conduct public consultations in key agrarian reform communities in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao, for their inputs with regard to the IRR.

The condonation of the debt burden of agrarian reform beneficiaries will cost

P57.57 billion and benefit 610,054 agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs), covering 1,173,101.57 hectares of agrarian reform lands.

The government will also shoulder the balance of the obligations of 10,201 ARBS, tilling 11,531.24

The seven-man committee is chaired by DAR Undersecretary for Legal Affairs Napoleon U. Galit while Landbank of the Philippines (LandBank) Executive Vice President Alex Lorayes will serve as vice chairman.

The other members of the committee are DAR Undersecretary Marilyn B. Barua-Yap, NIA Acting Administrator Eduardo G. Guillen, Land Registration Authority Administrator Gerardo P. Sirios, LandBank Vice President Marife O. Pascua, and DAR Undersecretary Luis Meinrado C. Pangulayan.

The committee was created by virtue of a memorandum from the Office of the President issued by Executive Secretary Lucas P. Bersamin, on August 3, and DAR Special Order No. 508, pursuant to Section 12 of RA 11953, on August 7.

THE Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) has directed the committee tasked with the formulation of the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of Republic Act (RA) 11953, or the New Agrarian Emancipation Act, to step up its efforts and make the IRR “inclusive.”

The World

Takeaways from US, South Korea and Japan summit at Camp David

By Jon Herskovitz

US President Joe Biden was dealt a stronger hand in Asia when Yoon Suk Yeol became South Korea’s president a year ago, backing hawkish security policies that brought Seoul closer to Tokyo while looking to diminish bickering between the neighbors.

Biden capitalized on those changes at a landmark summit with Yoon and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Friday at the Camp David presidential retreat. The initial pay out included practical steps to counter threats by North Korea, measures to de-risk global supply chains from exposure to China and moves to bind the trilateral relationship so tightly that it would be hard to unravel.

All three leaders were looking for political wins to boost their political fortunes at home. Yoon’s conservative party is trying to retake control of parliament in an April election; Kishida is seeking to reverse a slide in his popularity, which is now hovering around some of its lowest levels since he took office, while Biden is facing heat from Republican presidential hopefuls campaigning to oust him from the White House.

Here are five key takeaways from the summit:

missile defense

T HE t hree leaders leave Camp David with plans to share real-time data on

North Korea’s missile launches. They will set up a new hotline to swiftly share intelligence and launch multidomain military exercises. Getting on the same page as quickly as possible is essential given that a ballistic missile launched from North Korea could reach all of South Korea in a few minutes and most of Japan in less than 15 minutes. Under Yoon, Japan has joined South Korea when US aircraft carrier groups have been off the peninsula in joint training to shoot down missiles and hunt for submarines. By making the process more formal, the three nations can better coordinate how they would respond to a crisis.

Riling China

T H E three leaders signed a “Commitment to Consult” to coordinate

responses to “regional challenges, provocations, and threats affecting our collective interests and security.” This is far from a pact to defend each other in the event of an attack, but it is almost certain to rile China.

Beijing has accused the US of looking to set up an alliance in Asia similar to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Prior to the summit, its state-run Global Times cited Chinese experts as accusing the three of forming a “mini-NATO” structure that would be destructive to regional security. Its Foreign Ministry will likely have some harsh words at a regular briefing Monday, but whether there will be any economic blowback to Japan and South Korea — which both list Beijing as their top trade partner — remains to be seen.

China launches military drills around Taiwan as ‘warning’

While voters in South Korea and Japan would likely be against a treaty that calls for mutual defense, the two countries are bound together by the tens of thousands of American military personnel deployed in both nations, which each have security alliances with the US.

Economic security

T HE a greement to launch a pilot program on early warning systems for supply chain shortages will help in de-risking exposure to China. This may be a good compromise considering South Korea has been a little more hesitant than Japan to jump on board with Biden administration trade curbs, aimed at preventing China’s progression in a range of cutting-edge technologies. South Korea’s major semiconductor makers Samsung Electronics Co. and SK Hynix Inc. both depend on China as a key market and a manufacturing site for their memory chips.

Nuclear assets

B I DEN a ssured Yoon and Kishida the US nuclear umbrella is firmly in place, reaffirming American pledges of what is known as extended deterrence—a force strong enough that it convinces an adversary it can’t achieve its military and political goals through aggression. Yoon and Biden agreed at a summit in April that extended deterrence should lead to more deployments to the region of US aircraft groups and submarines capable of firing ballistic missiles. While Pyongyang has bristled at the moves, the conspicuous displays of US military might near South Korea are set to continue. The Japanese public is far more apprehensive about such moves due to the US nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of World War II.

Keep it going

T H E commitment to make the summit an annual event is likely to reassure all three sides the various pledges will remain in place. Whether that indeed happens is another matter. Former US President Donald Trump has vowed to undo many of Biden’s policies if he is returns to the White House. Trump’s administration scaled back joint military training with South Korea to help his unprecedented talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, which resulted in no concrete steps to reduce Pyongyang’s atomic arsenal. And while Kishida’s Liberal Democratic Party has ruled Japan for almost all of its postwar period, South Korea’s presidency has swung between conservatives and progressives, with each camp at times trying to take on Tokyo to score political points at home. With assistance from Hooyeon Kim, Erica Yokoyama, Sangmi Cha, Isabel Reynolds, Jordan Fabian and Akayla Gardner / Bloomberg

BEIJING—The Chinese military launched drills around Taiwan on Saturday as a “stern warning” over what it called collusion between “separatists and foreign forces,” its defense ministry said, days after the island’s vice president stopped over in the United States.

Taiwanese Vice President William Lai’s recent trip to Paraguay to reinforce relations with his government’s last diplomatic partner in South America included stops in San Francisco and New York City. The mainland’s ruling Communist Party claims democratic Taiwan as part of its territory and says it has no right to conduct foreign relations.

A spokesperson for China’s Eastern Theater Command said in a brief statement that the military exercises involved the coordination of vessels and planes and their ability to seize control of air and sea spaces.

It was also testing the forces’ “actual combat capabilities,” Shi Yi said. The drills in the waters and airspace to the north and southwest of Taiwan were a warning over provocations from pro-Taiwan independence forces and foreign forces, he added.

The command released footage of the drills online that showed soldiers running, as well as military boats and planes.

State media CCTV reported that missile-equipped boats and fighter jets were involved in the operation and that units worked together to simulate the surrounding of Taiwan.

Taiwan’s defense ministry said on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, that its forces detected 45 Chinese military aircraft and nine vessels around the island between 6 a.m. Saturday and 6 a.m. Sunday. It said 27 of the planes, including Su-30, J-10 and J-11 fighters, crossed the midline of the Taiwan Strait—an unofficial boundary considered a buffer between the island and the mainland—and entered the island’s air defense identification zone.

Taiwan deployed aircraft and vessels and activated land-based missile systems in response to the drills and was closely monitoring the situation, the ministry said.

The ministry also strongly condemned what it called the “irrational, provocative moves” in a separate statement. It said its military would stand ready in the face of the threats posted by the Chinese army, adding that its forces have “the ability, determination and

confidence to safeguard national security.”

It posted a video on Facebook that showed previous military drills and said the Chinese military exercises reflected a militaristic mentality.

Taiwan and China split in 1949 following a civil war that ended with the ruling Communist Party in control of the mainland. The self-ruled island has never been part of the People’s Republic of China, but Beijing sees Taiwan as a breakaway province to be retaken by force if necessary.

China’s official Xinhua news agency on Saturday reported that an unnamed official in China’s Taiwan Work Office strongly condemned what it called further collusion between Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party and the US and said it was a “new provocative move.”

The official pointed to the stopovers in the US, an interview Lai gave to news outlet Bloomberg and his meeting with US officials in Paraguay, the report said. The official said Lai had used “Taiwan independence” rhetoric in the interview.

The official also accused Lai of using his stopovers in the US to sell out the interests of Taiwan to seek gains in the island’s election, and described him as a “troublemaker who will push Taiwan to the dangerous brink of war,” the report added.

Lai is his party’s candidate for the 2024 presidential election in January.

Taiwanese Presidential Office spokesperson Olivia Lin accused China of trying to influence its election by sparking fears and condemned the provocation in a Facebook post. She said the international community has repeatedly stressed the importance of maintaining peace in the Taiwan Strait and urged China to stop such moves.

Taiwan’s foreign minister, Joseph Wu, wrote on the X platform that China “has made it clear it wants to shape” the island’s national election, and attached the command’s statement and the Xinhua report in his post. “It’s up to our citizens to decide, not the bully next door,” he wrote.

China’s largest military drills in recent years were in response to former US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan last August. It fired missiles over the island in a significant escalation and the military exercises disrupted trade lanes in the Taiwan Strait and forced airplanes to reroute their flights. AP

Kishida to visit Fukushima plant to highlight safety before start of treated water release

By Mari Yamaguchi The Associated Press

TOKYO — Japanese Prime Minister

Fumio Kishida will make a brief visit to the tsunami-wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant on Sunday to highlight the safety of an impending release of treated radioactive wastewater into the Pacific Ocean, a divisive plan that his government wants to start soon despite protests at home and abroad.

His trip comes hours after he returned home Saturday from a summit with US and South Korean leaders at the American presidential retreat of Camp David.

Before leaving Washington on Friday, Kishida said it is time to make a decision on the treated water’s release date, which has not been set due to the controversy surrounding the plan.

Since the government announced the release plan two years ago, it has faced strong opposition from Japanese fishing organizations, which worry about further damage to the reputation of their seafood as they struggle to recover from the accident. Groups in South Korea and China have also raised concerns, turning it into a political and

diplomatic issue.

The government and the plant operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co., say the water must be removed to make room for the plant’s decommissioning and to prevent accidental leaks from the tanks because much of the water is still contaminated and needs further treatment.

Japan has obtained support from the International Atomic Energy Agency to improve transparency and credibility and to ensure the plan by TEPCO meets international safety standards. The government has also stepped up a campaign promoting the plan’s safety at home and through diplomatic channels.

IAEA, in a final report in July, concluded that the TEPCO plan, if conducted strictly as designed, will cause negligible impact on the environment and human health, encouraging Japan to proceed.

While seeking understanding from the fishing community, the government has also worked to explain the plan to South Korea

to keep the issue from interfering with their relationship-building. Japan, South Korea and the US are working to bolster trilateral ties in the face of growing Chinese and North Korean threats.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s government recently showed support for the Japanese plan, but he faces criticism at home. During a joint news conference at Camp David, Yoon said he backs the IAEA’s safety evaluation of the plan but stressed the need for transparent inspection by the international community.

Kishida said the outreach efforts have made progress, but did not mention a starting date for the water release, which is widely expected to be at the end of August. He said the decision will factor in safety preparations and measures for possible reputation damage on the fisheries.

He is expected to meet representatives from fisheries groups before his ministers decide the date at a meeting next week, Japanese reports say.

Fumio Kishida, from right, Joe Biden and Yoon suk Yeol during a trilateral summit at Camp david, maryland, us on august 18. Bloom B erg photo

Thousands evacuated as Tenerife fire rages on Spain’s Canary Islands

By Arturo Rodríguez & Joseph Wilson The Associated Press

The regional government for the Canary Islands said that 4,000 more people were ordered to evacuate on Saturday. Those were in addition to the 4,500 people who on Friday were forced to move out of harm’s way on the Atlantic island that is home to around a million people and is also a popular tourist destination.

That figure of more than 8,000 evacuees is expected to rise, and perhaps sharply.

The Canary Islands have been in drought for most of the past few years, just like most of mainland Spain. The islands have recorded below-average rainfall in recent years because of changing weather patterns impacted by climate change.

European Union officials have blamed climate change for the increasing frequency and intensity of wildfires in Europe, noting that 2022 was the second-worst year for wildfire damage on record after 2017.

Greek authorities on Saturday evacuated eight villages near the northeastern border with Turkey, where a large summer wildfire was burning out of control, whipped up by high winds.

The Tenerife fire comes as Spain’s

mainland is bracing for another heat wave. Spain’s state weather service issued a warning Saturday that temperatures would be on the rise in the coming days, hitting 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) in parts of the mainland.

Spain had a record-hot 2022 and is setting new heat records this year amid a prolonged drought that has authorities on alert for wildfires.

Emergency services for the Canary Islands said later that the number of evacuees “could surpass 26,000” according to provisional calculations based on the island’s census. The service added that all those people who needed somewhere to take refuge would be directed to shelters.

The regional government said that “the fire is beyond our capacity to extinguish it” due to hot and dry conditions and high winds that have fanned the huge flames. Firefighters have been unable to establish a perimeter around the blaze that has consumed at least 5,000 hectares (12,355 acres)

By Ken Miller The Associated Press

OKLAHOMA CITY—The

ATHENS, Greece—Greek authorities on Saturday evacuated eight villages near the northeastern border with Turkey, where a large summer wildfire was burning out of control, whipped on by high winds.

The fire service said more than 130 firefighters, assisted by 14 water-dropping planes and three helicopters, were struggling to contain the blaze and reinforcements were being sent from other parts of the country. The forest fire broke out early Saturday near the village of Melia, east of the town of Alexandroupolis.

There were no immediate reports of injuries to firefighters or residents, but authorities said some houses suffered damages in two of the evacuated villages.

Earlier, a section of a major highway in the area was closed down due to heavy smoke drifting across it.

European Union officials have blamed climate change for the increasing frequency and intensity of wildfires in Europe, noting that 2022 was the second-worst year for wildfire damage on record after 2017.

Spanish authorities on Saturday ordered the evacuation of thousands of residents of Tenerife, in the Canary Islands, as a wildfire that authorities deemed “out of control” raged on for a fourth day.

Residents of Alexandroupolis in Greece were also advised to keep their windows closed due to smoke blown over the town from the fire.

Another smaller wildfire was burning outside Thessaloniki, in the north, the second-largest city in Greece. Earlier, firefighters brought under control a blaze on the western island of Cephalonia.

The fire service has issued a high wildfire alert for the weekend.

Deadly wildfires caused havoc in central Greece last month, forcing the evacuation o f some 20,000 tourists on the resort island of Rhodes. Shortly later, two air force pilots were killed when their water-dropping plane crashed while diving low to tackle a blaze on the island of Evia. AP

summer of 2023 may be drawing to a close—but the extreme heat is not: More recordshattering temperatures—this time across Texas—are expected Saturday and Sunday as the US continues to bake.

Highs of 109 degrees Fahrenheit (42.8 degrees Celsius) forecast for Saturday and 110 F (43.3 C) on Sunday in Dallas would break the current record of 107 F (41.7 C) each day, both set in 2011, and would come after a high of 109 F (42.8 C) on Thursday broke a record of 107 F set in 1951, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Tom Bradshaw.

“There really is no relief in sight, there is some hint by the end of August, maybe Labor Day, high temperatures will begin to fall below 100,” Bradshaw said. “It’s possible to see 100-degree-plus temperatures through the first half of September, at least off and on.”

The heat wave causing misery in Texas this weekend is just the latest to punish the US this year.

Scientists have long warned that climate change, driven by the burning of fossil fuels, by deforestation and by certain agricultural practices, will lead to more and prolonged bouts of extreme weather including hotter temperatures.

The entire globe has simmered to record heat both in June and July. And if that’s not enough, smoke from wildfires, floods and droughts have caused problems globally.

Just days ago, daily high temperatures in the Pacific Northwest broke records. At Portland Interna

“We have never seen a fire of this dimension on the Canary Islands,” the island’s governor, Rosa Dávila, said.

No injuries have been reported since the fire broke out late on Tuesday.

Some 265 firefighters battled the blaze with the help of 19 aircraft, which included units from the mainland sent to help. More reinforcements are on the way, the central government said.

The fire is located in a steep and craggy mountain area with pine trees, with several municipalities on its flanks. Access for firefighters is extremely difficult.

The regional chief of the archipelago, Fernando Clavijo, said that police are investigating the cause of the fire.

The seven-island archipelago is

By David Sharp, Jim Morris & Martha Bellisle The Associated Press

VANCOUVER, British Colum -

bia—Firefighters battling wildfires in western Canada received help from reinforcements and milder weather Saturday, after the nation’s worst fire season on record destroyed structures, fouled the air with thick smoke and prompted evacuation orders for tens of thousands of residents.

Flames were being held at bay 15 kilometers (9 miles) from Yellowknife, the capital of the Northwest Territories, and weary firefighters had a reprieve around Kelowna in British Columbia. But the firefighters were nowhere close to declaring victory, especially with drier and windier weather forecast for the coming days.

located off the northwest coast of Africa and southwest of mainland Spain. At their nearest point, the islands are 100 kilometers (60 miles) from Morocco.

More than 2,000 people were evacuated in a wildfire on the nearby La Palma Island last month that affected some 4,500 hectares (11,000 acres).

According to the European Forest Fire Information System, Spain heads the list of EU countries affected by wildfires so far this year, with 75,000 hectares (185,000 acres) burned, ahead of Italy and Greece. Spain accounted for almost 40% of the nearly 800,00 hectares (2 million acres) burned in the European Union in 2022, the EU agency said. Joseph Wilson reported from Barcelona.

previous daily record of 102 degrees (38.9 C), the National Weather Service said. It was also the first time in 130 years of recorded weather that Seattle had three days in a row with lows of 67 degrees (19.4 C) or warmer.

Last month, the Phoenix area broiled under a record-setting 31 days of daily high temperatures of 110 F (43.4 C) or above. The historic heat began blasting the region in June, stretching from Texas across New Mexico and Arizona and into California’s desert. The previous record was 18 straight days, set in 1974. In July, the continental United States set a record for overnight warmth, providing little relief from daytime heat for people, animals, plants and the electric grid, meteorologists said.

Meanwhile, in Waco, about 90 miles (145 kilometers) south of Dallas, there has been no rainfall for a record-tying 49 straight days, since only a trace amount on July 1.

“There’s no sign that’s going to change anytime soon...Waco is on track to be driest summer on record,” Bradshaw said.

In Oklahoma City, the high is expected to reach 106 F (41.1 C) degrees, tying a record set in 1934 and in Topeka, Kansas, the high is forecast to reach 108 F (42.2 C), one degree shy of the record set in 1936.

An excessive heat warning is in place from south Texas, western Louisiana across eastern Oklahoma, eastern Kansas and all of Missouri. Excessive heat warnings were also issued for parts of Arkansas, Kentucky, Minnesota, Nebraska, Illinois and Iowa.

In Minneapolis where the average daily high is 81.7 F (27.6 C) degrees, the high is to reach 95 F (35 C), before a cold front drops temperatures into the mid-80s on Sunday, according to the weather service.

A heat advisory was issued for Sunday for parts of southern Wisconsin and high ozone levels are to affect air quality in Indiana where temperatures are expected to reach the mid-90s by Wednesday, the weather service reported.

A high of 95 F (35 C) is forecast by midweek in Chicago, 12 degrees above normal.

More scorching temperatures baked most of Louisiana on Saturday. The Shreveport area Saturday saw temperatures as high as 110 F (43.3 C) while New Orleans hit the 101 F (38.3 C) mark.

Megan Williams, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Slidell, said residents through Sunday could expect heat index values—or what outside feels like—between 108 to 113 F (42.2 to 45 C)—and in some cases greater than 113 F.

“The most vulnerable people are at both ends of the age spectrum,” Penn State University Prof. W. Larry Kenney told The Times-Picayune/ The New Orleans Advocate.

“So infants, because they’re really at the mercy of their parents to keep them cool and keep them well hydrated, are vulnerable to temperature extremes,” Kenney said. “And then people over the age of 65 are vulnerable. A lot of elderly don’t have access to places with air conditioning. And as we get older, our body is less able to tolerate those conditions of high heat and humidity.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports just 600 to 700 heat deaths annually in the United States, but experts say the mishmash of ways that more than 3,000 counties calculate heat deaths means we don’t really know how many people die in the US each year.

up for emergency flights out of the city. The last 39 hospital patients were flown out Friday night on a Canadian Forces plane, officials said.

On Saturday, officials said the only road leading out of Yellowknife was safe, for the time being. About 2,600 people remained, including emergency teams, firefighters, utility workers and police officers, along with some residents who refused to leave.

Charlotte Morritt was among those who left Thursday, reaching that decision because of the unbearable smoke that she feared would be unhealthy for her 4-month-old son.

“We’re by no means out of the woods yet,” Mike Westwick, wildfire information officer for Yellowknife, told The Associated Press. “We still have a serious situation. It’s not safe to return.”

The fires near Kelowna, about 90 miles (150 kilometers) north of the US border, are among more than 380 blazes across the province, with 150 burning out of control, according to the Canadian Press. Another 236 fires are burning in the Northwest Territories.

At a Saturday evening news conference, Shane Thompson, the province’s minister of environment and climate change, said the fires near Yellowknife had not grown very much in the past few days thanks to breaks in the weather.

“But I want to be clear, a little bit of rain doesn’t mean it’s safe to come back home,” he said. Others warned that incoming hot weather would make the battle more challenging.

Yellowknife Mayor Rebecca Alty encouraged residents to stay away from the town to ensure their safety and help with firefighting efforts. She assured people that patrols were monitoring the streets and homes to protect against looting.

“This fire’s taking a nap. It’s going to wake up and we still got a serious situation to handle here,” Westwick said.

Yellowknife has been a virtual ghost town since a majority of the city’s 20,000 residents started to flee following an evacuation order issued Wednesday evening, officials said. Long caravans of cars choked the main highway for days and those who couldn’t take to the road lined

Morritt, a journalist with the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network, and her son took an evacuation flight some 1,500 kilometers (950 miles) west to safety in Whitehorse, Yukon, while her partner stayed behind to monitor their property and help create firebreaks and fight fires.

“We knew it was only a matter of time,” said Morritt, who had been following media updates and satellite images of the approaching wildfires.

Air tankers dropped water and fire retardant to keep the flames from Yellowknife. A 10-kilometer (6-mile) fire line was dug, and firefighters deployed 20 kilometers (12 miles) of hose and a plethora of pumps.

Canada has seen a record number of wildfires this year that have caused choking smoke in parts of the US. All told, there have been more than 5,700 fires, which have burned more than 137,000 square kilometers (53,000 square miles) from one end of Canada to the other, according to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre.

All of British Columbia was under a state of emergency Saturday. About 35,000 people have been ordered to evacuate wildfire zones across the province and an additional 30,000 people were under an evacuation alert, meaning they should be prepared to leave, Premier David Eby announced.

Eby told reporters Saturday that the situation was “grim” and warned that the “situation changes very quickly.”

He said he was restricting nonessential travel to fire-affected areas to free up accommodations such as hotels, motels and campgrounds for displaced residents and firefighters. Sharp reported from Portland, Maine. Associated Press journalist Andrea Thomas in Chicago contributed to this report.

SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, Canary Islands—Thousands more residents of Tenerife in Spain’s Canary Islands have fled their homes as a wildfire that authorities deemed “out of control” raged on for a fourth day.

Associated Press writers Steve Karnowski in Minneapolis and Corey Williams in Detroit contributed to this report.

Flares are seen on the horizon as the fire advances through the forest toward the town of la laguna and los rodeos airport in Tenerife, Canary Islands, spain on saturday, aug. 19, 2023. Firefighters have battled through the night to try to bring under control the worst wildfire in decades on the spanish Canary Island of Tenerife, a major tourist destination. The fire in the north of the island started Tuesday night and has forced the evacuation or confinement of nearly 8,000 people. regional officials say Friday’s efforts will be crucial in containing the fire. AP Photo/Arturo r o driguez

Wildfire ravages forest in northern Greece as 8 villages are evacuated

Record-setting heat forecast in Dallas as heat wave continues to bake the US

Firefighters wage epic battle to save communities after mass evacuations

Maui fire lays bare utility missteps mirrored across the United States

By Mark Chediak

It’s clear that officials at Hawaiian Electric Industries Inc. were taking note.

a l most exactly 12 months later, the company publicly vowed to fly drones to identify areas vulnerable to fire.

But then it took the utility roughly another three years—until the summer of 2022—before it would finally submit a public action plan to address the threats. In it, the company cited the devastation in California and highlighted Lahaina, the historic seaside town that was burned to ash by this month’s blaze, as one of the priority areas for prevention and mitigation. The request remains pending with the regulator.

The Lahaina blaze killed more than 100 people, making it the deadliest US fire in more than a century. While investigations into the cause of the wildfire are still ongoing and it’s not clear if the blame lies with Hawaiian Electric, emerging details indicate that the state’s

main utility was slow to respond to the rapidly increasing risks that were made worse by climate change.

This isn’t just a problem for Hawaii. a c ross the country, a m erica’s power companies have been sluggish at a time when urgency is growing.  r is k doubles T HE number of people in the US exposed to wildfire risk has doubled in just two decades. But rather than taking decisive steps, utilities are often slow to react by taking their time filing for approvals to recover their costs, as was the case for Hawaiian Electric.

“What I see the utilities doing is they are asking for a repayment from regulators” to hedge an existential company risk, “instead of taking action,” said Michael Wara, a wildfire expert and director of the Climate and Energy Policy Program at Stanford University. “The

risk of utility-caused wildfires has been increasing rapidly.”

In its funding request, Hawaiian Electric, which supplies roughly 95% of the state’s residents with power, proposed a nearly $190 million plan to fortify the grid from severe weather events, citing increasing risks from climate change. The proposal included about $6 million earmarked for wildfire prevention and mitigation in Maui.

The filing specifically cited the Paradise tragedy, known as the Camp Fire, and said: “The risk of a utility system causing a wildfire ignition is significant.” The entire five-year action plan to harden the grid against the threat of severe weather, including steps to “strengthen lines and deploy devices to help prevent and respond to wildfires,” would cost consumers less than $1 a month, the company estimated.

Responding to a request for comment, Hawaiian Electric didn’t address an inquiry over whether any of the wildfire mitigation work identified in its June 30, 2022, application with the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission had started. The company has said in filings it was doing preliminary engineering work on the plan before regulatory approval.

“Hawaiian Electric employs a wildfire mitigation and grid resilience program with a focus on vegetation management, grid hardening and pole replacement and routine line and equipment inspections,” the company said in an emailed statement, adding that since 2018 it has spent about $84 million on maintenance and vegetation management in Maui County.

Shares tumble S H a R ES o f Hawaiian Electric plunged 58% last week, the steepest decline in data going back to 1980, amid increasing investor concern that the utility could be held responsible for the fires that ravaged Maui.

The potential liabilities could reach almost $4 billion if the utility is deemed negligent, according to investment research firm Capstone LLC. Liabilities of that size would dwarf the company’s current market capitalization and exceed its existing debt load.

By Sam Mednick

The Associated Press

NI a M EY, Niger—The leader of mutinous soldiers who ousted Niger’s democratically elected president said Saturday night that they will return the country to civilian rule within three years.

Gen. a b dourahmane Tchiani gave no details on the plan, saying on state television only that the principles for the transition would be decided within 30 days at a dialogue to be hosted by the junta.

“I am convinced that ... we will work together to find a way out of the crisis, in the interests of all,” Tchiani said, commenting after his first meeting with a regional delegation seeking to resolve the West a f rican nation’s crisis.

The delegation from the ECOWa S b loc, headed by former Nigerian head of state Gen. a b dulsalami a b ubakar, also met separately with toppled President Mohamed Bazoum. It joined reconciliation efforts by Leonardo Santos Simao, the U.N. special representative for West a f rica and the Sahel, who arrived Friday.

ECOWa S o n a u g. 10 ordered the deployment of a “standby force” to restore constitutional rule in Niger. On Friday, the ECOWa S commissioner for peace and security, a b del-Fatau Musah, said 11 of its 15 member states had agreed to commit troops to military intervention, saying they were “ready to go.”

The soldiers who overthrew Bazoum last month have quickly

In a regulatory filing, Hawaiian Electric said that its goal isn’t to restructure, but to endure as a financially strong utility that Maui and the state needs.

Scientists warn that as the planet heats up, it will lead to longer and more active wildfire seasons. Utilities operating aging grids in parched lands, particularly in the US West, will have little room for error.

But the threat isn’t limited only to areas that have faced the risk of fire for decades. Climate change coupled with development and the spread of non-native plant species is making for increasingly rapid transformations across the globe. That will increase the vulnerability of places like Maui, where wildfire hasn’t been at the top of the risk list until more recently.

Traditionally, utilities, which are heavily regulated by the government, have been a plodding, cautious group that has mainly focused on reliably keeping the lights on while meeting energy policy mandates.

The business model for investorowned utilities is based on a system that rewards state-approved new capital spending with profits, but considers the maintenance work needed to make sure power lines are in good condition and clear of trees and brush as an operating cost that can eat into earnings.

‘Highly-regulated monopoly’

“T HE i ndustry is essentially a highly-regulated monopoly business, and that doesn’t lend itself to a highly nimble culture,” said Paul Patterson, a utility analyst for Glenrock a s sociates.

Wildfires are growing in intensity and frequency. Those changes are happening far faster than even many scientists were predicting.

a n d its not just utilities that have been slow to respond, regulators and governments also failed to keep up with the rapidly evolving conditions.

a f ter San Diego Gas & Electric’s downed power lines sparked three major fires in 2007, California regulators initiated an effort in 2008 to

map power lines to identify those strung through areas at high risk of fires—but it wasn’t completed until a decade later.

In 2021, a report by the county of Maui on fire prevention warned of increasing risk on the island, including threats to citizens, properties and sacred sites. It also said its current budgets were inadequate for an effective fire prevention and mitigation program.  a l l it takes is a spark to come off a line or other power equipment to cause the initial flame. Once vegetation dries out, it can easily ignite.

PG&E Corp. was driven into bankruptcy in 2019 after its poorly maintained equipment failed during a series of windstorms that sparked some of the worst fires in state history, including the 2018 Camp Fire. The blazes came after a crippling drought in California that left more than 100 million trees dead and severely parched landscapes.

Southern California Edison’s equipment was also blamed for large wildfires in 2017 and 2018 that leveled more than 2,000 homes and structures and killed four people.

Grass fires

T HE c alamities forced both utilities to step up their efforts to harden their grids against fire risk. The companies are spending billions of dollars to trim vegetation away from their lines, install covered conductors, bury lines and set up fire weather monitoring systems. In addition, PG&E and Edison started to pro-actively shut off power lines in advance of high winds during dry conditions, a controversial practice that has angered customers but prevents fires.

The need for utilities to do more extends beyond California.

PacifiCorp, a utility owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc., lost a lawsuit this summer over a 2020 Oregon wildfire, where a jury found the company was grossly negligent for not cutting power during high, dry winds. It could face billions of dollars of claims.

Bloomberg News

entrenched themselves in power, rebuffed most dialogue efforts and kept Bazoum, his wife and son under house arrest in the capital.

The 11 member states that agreed to intervene militarily don’t include the bloc’s three other countries under military rule following coups: Guinea, Mali and Burkina Faso. The latter two have warned they would consider any intervention in Niger an act of war. On Friday, Niger’s state television said that Mali and Burkina Faso had dispatched warplanes in a show of solidarity.

Friday’s announcement was the latest in a series of so far empty threats by ECOWa S t o forcefully restore democratic rule in Niger, conflict analysts say. Immediately after the coup, the bloc gave the junta seven days to release and restore Bazoum, a deadline that came and went with no action.

“The putschists won’t be holding their breath this time over the renewed threat of military action,” said Ulf Laessing, head of the Sahel program at the Konrad a d enauer Foundation, a think tank.

The junta leaders are cementing their rule and appointing loyal commanders to key units while ECOWa S has no experience with military action in hostile territory and would have no local support if it tried to intervene, he said.

“Niger is a very fragile country that can easily turn, in case of a military intervention, into a failed state like Sudan,” said Laessing.

ECOWa S u sed force to restore order in 2017 in Gambia when longtime President Yahya Jammeh

refused to step down after he lost the presidential election. That move involved diplomatic efforts led by the then-presidents of Mauritania and Guinea, while Jammeh appeared to be acting on his own after the Gambian army pledged allegiance to the winner of the election, a dam a Barrow.

a l so on Saturday, the new US ambassador to Niger, Kathleen FitzGibbon, arrived in the capital, said Matthew Miller, spokesman for the State Department. The US hasn’t had an ambassador in the country for nearly two years.

FitzGibbon will focus on advocating for a diplomatic solution that preserves constitutional order in Niger and for the immediate release of Bazoum, his family, and all those unlawfully detained, said Miller. Her arrival does not reflect a change in the US policy position, he said.

On the streets of the capital Saturday, many residents said they were preparing to fight back against an ECOWa S m ilitary intervention.

Thousands of people in the capital of Niamey lined up outside the main stadium to register as fighters and volunteers to help with other needs in case the junta requires support. Some parents brought their children to sign up.

Some people said they’d been waiting since 3 a.m., while groups of youths boisterously chanted in favor of the junta and against ECOWa S and the country’s former colonial ruler France.

When flames ripped through the drought-parched town of Paradise in 2018, destroying homes and killing 85 in California’s deadliest-ever wildfire, it was a wake-up call to power companies across the country. electric lines would ultimately be blamed for the blaze, and the state’s largest utility was driven into bankruptcy.

A de S t royed neighborhood in Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii on August 18. Bloom B erg photo

Leader of Niger’s junta says it will restore civilian rule within 3 years

Russian missile attack kills 7 as Zelenskyy visits Sweden

By Efrem Lukatsky, Karl Ritter & Elise Morton The Associated Press

CHERNIHIV, Ukraine—A

The attack in Chernihiv happened as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived in Sweden on his first foreign trip since attending a NATO summit in Lithuania last month.

Images of the aftermath showed badly damaged buildings including a theater with its roof blown away, mangled cars and survivors walking amid the debris with bloodstained clothes. The dead in the daytime strike included a 6-year-old girl, while 15 children were among the 129 wounded, Ukraine’s Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said.

The square in front of the theater building had been bustling with life, with people returning from church after celebrating the Apple Feast of the Savior religious holiday, baskets of consecrated apples in hand, Klymenko said. Following the strike, debris from the theater roof littered the square, along with shattered glass from the windows of nearby cars and restaurants.

The strike hit the theater during a gathering of drone manufacturers and aerial reconnaissance training schools, organizer Mariia Berlinska confirmed. Berlinska said that the event was officially agreed in advance with both the local authorities and the venue. The Chernihiv City Council denied that they had approved the event or issued any permits.

Zelenskyy said the attack showed Russia was a “terrorist state” and that the world must unite against it.

“A Russian missile hit right in the center of the city, in our Chernihiv,” he wrote on Telegram. “A square, the polytechnic university, a theater. An ordinary Saturday, which Russia turned into a day of pain and loss.”

Chernihiv was surrounded by Russian forces at the start of the war but they withdrew after Ukrainian forces retook control

suspected Palestinian shooting attack at West Bank car wash kills 2 Israelis

of areas north of Kyiv in April last year.

Zelenskyy arrived in Sweden on an unannounced visit Saturday—his first to the Scandinavian country since the start of the full-scale invasion. The war prompted Sweden to abandon its longstanding policy of military nonalignment to support Ukraine with weapons and apply for NATO membership, though it is still waiting to join the alliance.

At a joint news conference, Zelenskyy and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson announced the two countries had agreed to cooperate on the production, training and servicing of Swedish CV90 infantry fighting vehicles. Zelenskyy said Ukraine would start manufacturing the vehicles as part of the deal.

He also encouraged Kristersson to “share” Sweden’s Gripen fighter aircraft with Ukraine.

“We do not have superiority in the air, and we do not have modern aircraft. In reality, the Swedish Gripen is the pride of your country, and I believe that the prime minister could share this pride with Ukraine,” Zelenskyy said. Sweden has said it will allow Ukrainian pilots to test the Gripen planes but has so far ruled out giving any to Kyiv.

Zelenskyy said “appropriate actions” would be taken in coming weeks to help Ukraine obtain “appropriate aircraft.”

“I will also have negotiations with several other states tomorrow and the day after tomorrow. I am confident that we, together with our partners, will do everything and achieve the appropriate result in the sky so that the Russians do not have an advantage there,” he said. Denmark and the Netherlands said Friday that the United States had given its approval for the countries to deliver US-made F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine.

Sweden says it has provided 20 billion kronor (1.7 billion euros) in military support to Ukraine, including Archer artillery units, Leopard 2 tanks and CV90 armored vehicles.

Zelenskyy met with Kristersson and other Swedish officials at Harpsund, the prime minister’s official summertime residence, about 120 kilometers (75 miles) west of Stockholm. He and first lady Olena Zelenska later met Sweden’s King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia at a palace in the area.

Kristersson expressed his condolences to Zelenskyy for the attack in Chernihiv. He called the Russian missile strike an “act of brutality” which “only reinforces the need for us to stand with you in all your struggles.”

In Russia, President Vladimir Putin visited top military officials in the city of Rostov-onDon near the Ukrainian border.

The Kremlin said that Putin listened to reports from Valery Gerasimov, the commander in charge of Moscow’s operations in Ukraine, and other top military brass at the headquarters of Russia’s Southern Military District.

The exact timings of his visit were not confirmed, but state media published video footage that appeared to be filmed at night, showing Gerasimov greeting Putin and leading him into a building. The meeting itself was held behind closed doors.

It was Putin’s first visit to Rostov-on-Don since the Wagner mercenary group ‘s attempted mutiny in June, when the group’s fighters briefly took control of the city.

During June’s short-lived re -

By Sam Mcneil & Nasser Nasser The Associated Press

“The security forces are working diligently to find the murderer and settle accounts, just as we have done with all the murderers so far,” Netanyahu said.

volt, Wagner head Yevgeny Prigozhin repeatedly denounced Gerasimov, who serves as chief of the general staff of the Russian armed forces, and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu for denying supplies to his fighters in Ukraine.

Prigozhin claimed that the uprising was not aimed at Putin but at removing Gerasimov and other top brass who he accused of mismanaging the war in Ukraine.

Kyiv this week has claimed counteroffensive gains on the southeastern front, regaining control of the village of Urozhaine in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region on Wednesday.

The leader of the Russian battalion fighting to maintain control of Urozhaine called for “freezing the front” on Thursday, saying his troops “cannot win” against Ukraine.

“Can we bring down Ukraine militarily? Now and in the near future, no,” Alexander Khodakovsky said in a video posted to Telegram.

Overnight into Saturday, Ukraine’s air force said it shot down 15 out of 17 Russian drones targeting northern, central and western regions.

The deputy governor of the western Khmelnytskyi region, Serhii Tiurin, said two people were wounded and dozens of buildings damaged by an attack.

In the northwestern Zhytomyr region, a Russian drone attack targeted an infrastructure facility and caused a fire, but no casualties were reported, said Gov. Vitalii Bunechko. Ritter reported from Stockholm. Morton reported from London.

ecuador holds special election amid violence that may scare away voters

By Regina Garcia Cano The Associated Press

GUAYAQUIL, Ecuador—Ec -

uador is holding a special election Sunday to pick a new president, with police and soldiers on guard against unprecedented violence, including the assassination of a candidate this month.

Front-runners include an ally of exiled former President Rafael Correa and a millionaire with a security background promising to be tough on crime.

Authorities have deployed more than 100,000 police and soldiers to protect the vote against more violence. Some Ecuadorians still said they would not even leave home for the election, even though skipping the trip to the polls could result in a fine.

“I don’t think the election will change anything,” said pharmacist Leidy Aguirre, 28, who has gradually stopped going out with friends over the past three years, out of fear of being robbed. “Not even politicians

are safe.”

Candidate Fernando Villavicencio was assassinated Aug. 9 as he left a campaign rally in Quito, the capital of the once calm South American country. The killing heightened people’s fears of spending time outside home and becoming victims of robberies, kidnappings, extortions, homicides or any of the other crimes that have become commonplace. Villavicencio’s slaying was the third and most prominent in a string of killings of political leaders this year.

Interior Minister Juan Zapata said this past week that the only restriction people will face when voting will be the inspection of backpacks. Street vendors will not be allowed near voting centers.

The election was called after President Guillermo Lasso, a conservative former banker, dissolved the National Assembly by decree in May to avoid being impeached over allegations that he failed to intervene to end a faulty contract between the state-owned oil trans -

port company and a private tanker company. He decided not to run in the special election.

The ballots were printed before another candidate could substitute for Villavicencio. So they include the name of the late candidate, who was not among the top contenders.

The frontrunner in polling was Luisa González, a lawyer and former lawmaker whose campaign has highlighted her affiliation with the party of Correa, the former president who in 2020 was found guilty of corruption and sentenced in absentia to eight years in prison. He has been living in his wife’s native Belgium since 2017.

Trailing González, the only female presidential candidate, were millionaire Jan Topic, whose promise of heavy-handed tactics against criminals earned him the nickname “Ecuadorian Rambo;” and Otto Sonnenholzner, who led part of the country’s response to the pandemic while serving as the third vice president during the administration of President Lenín Moreno.

Also running was Yaku Pérez, an Indigenous man promising to defend the environment and water from mining and oil extraction.

To win outright, a candidate needs 50% of the votes, or at least 40% with a 10-point lead over the closest opponent. If needed, a runoff election would take place Oct. 15. The winner will govern only for the remainder of Lasso’s unfinished term, meaning less than two years.

Voters were also electing a new National Assembly and deciding two ballot measures — one addressing whether to stop oil extraction in a portion of the Amazon jungle and the other asking whether to authorize the exploitation of minerals such as gold, silver and copper in forests of the Andean Choco around Quito.

Voting is mandatory in Ecuador for people ages 18 through 64. Those who don’t comply face a fine of about $45.

Six Colombian men have been arrested in connection with Villavicencio’s killing. Candidates have increased their

HAWARA, West Bank—Two Israelis were killed in a suspected Palestinian shooting attack on a car wash in a volatile stretch of the occupied West Bank on Saturday, the latest outburst of violence to rock the region.

The Israeli military said it was searching for suspects and setting up roadblocks near the town of Hawara, a flashpoint area in the northern West Bank, which has seen repeated attacks including one deadly shooting that triggered a rampage by Jewish West Bank settlers who torched Palestinian property.

Saturday’s shooting attack came after Palestinian medics reported that a 19-year-old Palestinian died of wounds sustained in an Israeli military raid into the West Bank on Wednesday.

The latest attack is part of a relentless spiral of violence that has fueled the worst fighting between Israel and the Palestinians in the West Bank in nearly two decades. Since spring last year, Israel has launched near-nightly raids in Palestinian towns in response to deadly Palestinian attacks.

Nearly 180 Palestinians have been killed since the start of this year and some 29 people have been killed by Palestinian attacks against Israelis during that time, according to a tally by The Associated Press. Israel says most of the Palestinians killed were militants. But stone throwing youths protesting the incursions and those not involved in the confrontations have also been killed.

Israeli paramedics said that when they arrived at the Hawara car wash, two Israeli males, aged 60 and 29, were found unconscious with gunshot wounds. Israeli media reported the two were father and son and identified them as Shay Silas Nigreka and his Aviad Nir from the southern Israeli city of Ashdod.

Underscoring the severity of the attack, the country’s military chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, visited the scene.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sent his condolences to the family and vowed that the military would track down the shooter.

sUPP or T ers attend an open-air Mass during the closing campaign rally of the “Movement Construye” party in Quito, ecuador on Thursday, august 17, 2023. The upcoming snap election set for august 20 was called after President Guillermo lasso dissolved the national assembly by decree in May, to avoid being impeached. AP Photo/Dolores o c hoA

Videos circulating online showed Israeli soldiers walking across a pool of blood at the car wash to help move two bodies on stretchers to awaiting ambulances.

Several Israelis have been killed in Hawara in the current round of fighting. The death of two brothers, residents of a nearby settlement, last February set off a rampage by settlers through the town. Crowds of settlers torched dozens of cars and homes in some of the worst such violence in decades.

Similar settler mob violence has taken place elsewhere in the West Bank since. Israeli rights groups say settler violence has worsened and that radical settlers have become emboldened because Israel’s far-right government has settler leaders in key positions who have vowed to take an especially hard line against the Palestinians.

After the deadly February shooting in Hawara, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a firebrand settler supporter, called for Israel to “erase” the town from the map. He later walked back the remark after fierce criticism.

Palestinian militant groups praised the shooting attack, with Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad congratulating the perpetrators. Hamas spokesman Abdel Latif Al-Qanou called the attack a “heroic shooting operation.” But the groups stopped short of claiming responsibility for the attack.

Also on Saturday, 19-year-old Palestinian militant Mohammad Abu Asab died of a gunshot wound to the head suffered Wednesday during an Israeli military raid on the Balata refugee camp near the northern West Bank city of Nablus, the Palestinian Red Crescent said. At the time, the Israeli military had said that it raided Balata seeking to destroy an underground weapons factory when a gunfight erupted. The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, an armed offshoot of the secular Fatah party, claimed Abu Asab as a member. McNeil contributed from Jerusalem.

security and Pérez appeared at a campaign rally Thursday wearing a bulletproof vest. That same day, Topic’s supporters were bused to a campaign rally at the convention center in Guayaquil. They left purses and backpacks in the buses and entered through makeshift gates manned by private security guards.

In addition to a universal demand for safety, the new president will need to address an economy that is still struggling with the effects of the coronavirus

pandemic. The country’s Central Bank reduced its growth expectation for 2023 from 3.1 percent to 2.6 percent, an annual economic performance that analysts forecast will be even lower.

Data from the Ministry of Finance say state coffers received $991 million from oil between January and July. That’s less than half the $2.3 billion received during the same period last year. Meanwhile, tax collections this year fell by $137 million.

Russian missile attack in the center of a northern Ukrainian city on Saturday killed seven people and wounded over a hundred others, including children, Ukrainian officials said.

Israel soldiers at the Hawara check point in the West Bank on saturday, august 19, 2022. Two Israelis were killed in a suspected Palestinian shooting attack on a car wash in a volatile stretch of the occupied West Bank on saturday, the latest outburst of violence to rock the region. AP Photo/N

In this photo taken from video provided by the Ukrainian emergency service, firefighters work on the roof of the Taras shevchenko Chernihiv regional academic Music and Drama Theatre damaged by russian attack in Chernihiv, Ukraine on saturday, august 19, 2023. Ukr A N i AN e m erge N c y ser vice vi A A P

editorial

No other diplomat can do a better job for us

For centuries, Philippines-China relations have been predominantly warm and cordial. But recent incidents in the West Philippine Sea, which compelled the Philippines to file hundreds of note verbales against China, have resulted in their “cooling off,” hitting a low point since the two countries established their diplomatic relations in 1975.

The Philippine government filed an arbitration case against China under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea in January 2013, challenging the legality of China’s nine-dash line claim over the contested waters. Bilateral ties further deteriorated after the Hague-based Arbitral Tribunal ruled in 2016 that China’s nine-dash line “had no basis in law and is without legal effect.”

The latest incident in the West Philippine Sea, where China’s Coastguard fired a water cannon to block a Philippine military supply boat, has cast a shadow over Philippines-China relations.

“We will continue to urge all to abide by the 1982 Unclos as ‘the constitution of the oceans.’ We must ensure that the South China Sea does not become a nexus for armed conflict,” President Marcos said.

Given the wide-ranging and comprehensive ties between the Philippines and China, the territorial dispute in the South China Sea should not solely define the relationship between China and the Philippines, senior diplomats from the two countries have said.

Marcos is optimistic that the Philippines and China can move forward despite the differences. He said the foundation of the Philippines-China ties was solid and continues to grow, and expressed confidence that the two countries could reach an agreement on maritime joint exploration and disputes.

On Wednesday, August 16, President Marcos designated former Department of Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro L. Locsin Jr. as his special envoy to China for “special concerns.” Locsin is currently serving as the Philippine Ambassador to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Locsin’s appointment came days after the President belied the claim by China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs that the country committed to tow away the BRP Sierra Madre, which serves as a military outpost. If any such commitment were made by any of his predecessors, Marcos said he would rescind it.

Lawmakers, a former defense chief, and maritime and security experts welcomed Locsin’s designation as special envoy of the President to China on special concerns.

Former Defense Secretary Orlando “Orly” Mercado, under whose term the Navy deliberately ran aground the Sierra Madre at Ayungin amid China’s “creeping invasion” in the Philippines’s exclusive economic zone, said he knew Locsin as a “very talented” mediator.

The chair of the Senate defense committee, Sen. Jinggoy Estrada, said: “As an experienced diplomat and skilled communicator, his deep understanding of diplomatic protocol, international relations, and the nuances of various issues will enable him to engage with China on a wide range of concerns. Clear communication is crucial for building mutual understanding and finding common ground.”

Prof. Jay Batongbacal, maritime expert, believes Locsin has already established rapport with the Chinese Foreign Ministry officials when he was still the Philippine Foreign secretary.

House Deputy Majority Leader Ralph Recto said there is no doubt that Locsin can effectively do the job as the President’s special envoy. “For more than half a century, Teddy Locsin has articulated our dreams, chronicled our battles, and moved the nation with prose that inspires. In his newest mission for the Republic, there is no doubt that he can effectively champion our interest.”

Recto added that Locsin is the kind of diplomat “who can tell you to go to hell in such an elegant way that you’ll look forward with pleasure to making the trip.”

“But he will not be there to rabble-rouse, but to press the reboot button, so that the Philippines-China relations will pivot toward a mutually respecting phase,” Recto said. “While he has the command of language that makes him our best weapon in a shouting war, the situation calls for no bullhorn diplomacy, but quiet labor that brings results.”

Locsin’s most important task as the President’s special envoy is to build bonds of trust with China’s elite, and recommend to the Marcos administration courses of action designed to advance national interests. This is a role for which he has the expertise and the gravitas that will help him establish a common ground in diplomatic negotiations. Bilateral dialogue remains the best hope for peaceful and closer relations with China. And we believe no other diplomat can do a better job for us than the country’s former top envoy, Ambassador Teodoro Lopez Locsin Jr.

BusinessMirror

Ninoy Aquino Day: A message for leaders and the Filipino people

RISING SUN

Today marks the 40th anniversary of the martyrdom of Sen. Benigno S. “Ninoy” aquino Jr. There will be a Holy Mass today to commemorate his sacrifice at the Sto. domingo Church in Quezon City at 10:00 a.m. This is being organized by the Ninoy and Cory aquino Foundation and will be celebrated by archbishop Socrates Villegas.

As we navigate the challenges of the present, we can look to Ninoy’s life for the lessons that can serve as a guiding light for us. Indeed, his legacy continues to shape the continuing fight for democracy and human rights. His courage is our example as we participate in creating a just and equitable society.

This is especially true for our leaders. Ninoy’s life and example must inspire our leaders to prioritize good governance, accountability, and the welfare of the people.

We must have genuine love for our fellow Filipinos, because when we do, then we are willing to work hard for their welfare. Ninoy was even ready to give his life for his countrymen—and that he did. It is, indeed, the greatest sacrifice. I do wonder how many of us are ready to do the same if the situation calls for it—all in the name of the country and for the sake of countrymen.

His commitment to the Filipino people must serve as a reminder to those who are currently in power that their decisions must benefit the population rather than serve the interests of a few.

As a people, the public must draw inspiration from Ninoy’s time, as well. The lessons are clear as day— we need to be united as we show our outrage against corruption, abuse of power, injustices and crimes against the people, human rights violations, extrajudicial killings, etc. It is our

duty to hold our leaders accountable and to be proactive in protecting our own rights and upholding our own welfare. No one else will do it for us—Ninoy taught us that. He certainly taught us so much more, but here are just four of the numerous lessons that Ninoy left us with.  We have to be brave in the face of adversity. He showed us his courage as he stood up for what was right even in the face of grave danger. Even when his welfare and his family’s well-being were at stake.

We Filipinos must value democracy and protect it at all costs. Ninoy was committed to democracy, along with his wife the late ex-President Cory Aquino and his son, the late former President Noynoy Aquino. Democracy was always the buzzword in their regimes. So many of our forefathers, leaders, and ancestors have died in the name of democracy. This is, I believe, one of our greatest treasures as a nation that we must protect with all our might. We can deliver our message peacefully. Ninoy was an advocate for nonviolent resistance, for peaceful activism. The People Power Revolution is proof that it is effective in bringing about social and political change.

We must have genuine love for our fellow Filipinos, because when we do, then we are willing to work hard for their welfare. Ninoy was even ready to give his life for his countrymen— and that he did. It is, indeed, the greatest sacrifice. I do wonder how many of us are ready to do the same if the situation calls for it—all in the name of the country and for the sake of countrymen.

Farmer empowerment: Central in rebuilding agriculture

Dr. Rene E. Ofreneo

LABOREM EXERCENS

IN his SoNa and post-SoNa speeches, President Bongbong Marcos has noticeably taken a more proactive posture on how to rebuild a broken agricultural sector. His marching order to his da subalterns—“consolidation, modernization, mechanization and improvement of value chains.” Boosting agricultural production through the foregoing interrelated programs is “augmented by timely and calibrated importation, as needed,” added the President. In short, the overall agricultural revival formula is higher production at home balanced by importation of needed commodities that are in short supply in the market.

In line with the above policy framework, Malacañang has issued the following commands: intensified distribution of rice seeds and agricultural machinery, construction of 600 kilometers of farm-to-market roads, coverage of more farms under the expanded irrigation program, establishment of cold storage facilities and Kadiwa stores nationwide, and procurement and distribution of hosts of planting materials, animal stock and agricultural equipment. These measures are supplemented by memorandum orders allowing the importation by the private sector of agricultural products such as rice, sugar, garlic, salt and onions.

Malacañang also tried to sit down with select farmer leaders and CSO representatives on how to stop smuggling and hoarding. Per hear-

Making the farmers committed to the task of agricultural revival goes beyond the mechanical distribution of seeds, machinery and other inputs. First, there should be assurance that efforts to increase productivity will be amply rewarded, meaning they shall get decent price for their harvest or incomes from all their hard labor in the field.

more productive.

derpaid, poorly motivated and ill prepared for the tasks of managing new machines and equipment. In short, both a modernized agricultural sector and an upgraded industrial sector require workers who are fully engaged in making modernization work.

ings by the legislature, the modus operandi of the agricultural trade cartels boils down to the following: buying cheap from the farmers during harvest time, storing these products in their cold storage facilities, controlling the supply further by controlling the importation of these products, and releasing these commodities in the domestic market during the lean seasons at carteldictated prices.

To complete the picture on its seemingly newfound agricultural policy activism, Malacañang made a dramatic announcement on the debt of agrarian reform beneficiaries. Around 600,000 ARBs are supposed to be liberated from P60 billion worth of debt, a major hurdle in the efforts of these farmers to secure land titles and make the land

Now, given the foregoing, will the country finally see a rebirth of the agricultural sector? Will the government be able to spur the sector to produce more and feed the nation? Will the government be able to stop the nation’s dependence on food importations, which have been growing massively since 1995, the year the Philippines joined the WTO and the year it also became a “netagricultural importing country”?

The answer, unfortunately, is still a big NO. There are missing elements in the government’s envisioned agricultural revival program.

Foremost among these is the missing farmer empowerment program. Dr. Ted Mendoza, one of the country’s leading agronomists and scientists explained that the government’s agricultural revival program will not take off if the farmers are not buying into the program. This is similar to what is happening in a number of modernizing industrial enterprises. A modern factory will not flourish if its workers are un-

Making the farmers committed to the task of agricultural revival goes beyond the mechanical distribution of seeds, machinery and other inputs. First, there should be assurance that efforts to increase productivity will be amply rewarded, meaning they shall get decent price for their harvest or incomes from all their hard labor in the field. Under the Rice Tariffication Law, this is not happening as reflected in the widespread complaints of rice farmers that their incomes have gone down continuously since 2019 as the RTL gifted the big traders-importerscartelists the license to control the market.

Ironically, even the government is now hurting from the RTL. This ill-advised law disarmed the government’s capacity to engage in government-to-government rice importation agreements, build up a buffer stock of rice good for 100 days, intervene in the market to stabilize the price of rice and palay at reasonable rates, and conduct regulatory inspections of the warehouses of suspected hoarders. These functions are normally undertaken by the governments of India, Thailand and Vietnam, the country’s major sources of rice imports. With the

Atty. Jose Ferdinand M. Rojas II

Evolution of the CPA Philippines Licensure Examination

Joel L. Tan-Torres

DEBIT CREDIT

The various stakeholders of the accounting profession had a productive workshop activity last week in an out-of-town venue. I was one of the invited resource persons for this workshop to deliberate on the Policies, Standards and Guidelines for the Graduate and Undergraduate Accountancy programs. A lot of issues and concerns were discussed, but one of the topics that got my attention was the plan of the Professional regulatory Board of Accountancy (BOA) to reform the Licensure examination for Certified Public Accountants (CPA examination).

BOA Chairman Noe Quinanola disclosed that the Board is reviewing the structure and content of the CPA Examination. The last major reform done for the CPA Examination was during my term as Chairman of BoA, when BOA Resolution No. 262 Series of 2015 was issued. At that time, the last revision of the CPA Examination was way back in 1975. The reformatting and revisions include the reduction of the then seven subjects to six, the integration of related theoretical and practical subjects, and emphasis on the government regulatory compliance functions that CPAs perform.

In our workshop, I was pleased to note that the BOA is presently studying the system of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants Evolution Examination as a model for the revision of our own CPA Examination. I have been following the developments in the AICPA Evolution project since it started in 2018.

I was immediately convinced that the changes that have been formulated will address the outcomes desired by AICPA of developing the skills and competencies of new CPAs that are required today and in the future. Starting in 2024, examinees of the AICPA CPA Examination will have to hurdle these “Evolution” tests.

The skill sets and industry expectations from CPAs have evolved in the past years. The business and accountancy sectors are now demanding new competencies in business applied technology skills, accounting analytics, information systems and control, and sustainable environmental, social, and governance mindsets from the CPAs. Furthermore, the vast expansion of the ecosystem where a CPA should interact has led to a situation where specialization in particular disciplines is called for, rather than a generalist perspective.

Under the AICPA Evolution Examination, there will be three mandatory core sections and one discipline area that the examinee will take. There are three different disciplines from which the examinee must select one and take in the examination as an area of specialization.

The three core areas are Accounting and Data Analytics, Audit and Accounting Information Systems, and Tax. The three discipline-specific sections are Business Analysis and Reporting, Information Systems and Controls, and Tax Compliance and Planning.

I recall my meetings with the AICPA officers regarding this Evolution initiative. From 2017 to 2018, I, as

Ofreneo . . .

continued from A10 global rice crisis on the horizon, it is time for the Philippines to repeal the RTL and establish a stronger food stabilization agency similar to what these rice-exporting countries and what the EU (through its Common Agricultural Policy) and the United States (through its Farm Bill) have. Ferdinand Marcos Jr. should be reminded that the Masagana 99 program of Ferdinand Marcos Sr. took off in the mid-1970s partly due to the establishment of a well-funded National Food Authority employing

‘Kayo ang Boss ko!’

Siegfred Bueno Mison, Esq.

THE PATRIOT

The recent appointment of my good friend and colleague Atty. Vigor D. Mendoza II as Chief of the Land Transportation Office (LTO) is certainly an opportune event. having known my partner in the law firm for decades, my vote of confidence undoubtedly rests with him. VDM, as we call him, is one man who has astute foresight, building one plan after another for the improvement of an idea, an organization, or a project.

During his inaugural speech in 2016, then President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III referred to the Filipino people as his “bosses.” With such mantra, “Kayo ang boss ko,” PNoy made good governance and anticorruption the cornerstone of his presidency. Stripped of luxury, air of arrogance, and condescending attitude, he served the people in meekness and honor.

for wanting more and more.

I hope for the success of the implementation of the AICPA Evolution. More importantly, I hope for the enlightened view of the CPA Philippines community, led by the BoA, to transform the CPA licensure examination to meet the demands of the future.

Chairman of BOA, had several meetings with AICPA officers in their New York office. In particular, I met Jim Bracken, the Vice President for Ethics and Practice Quality of the AICPA in March 2018. We had lively discussions on topics of interest, including the AICPA’s interaction with the US accounting regulator, the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy, and the ongoing reform developments in the CPA examination of the US. When I shared with Mr. Bracken the “core and specialization” initiatives of the BoA on the CPA licensure examination in the Philippines, he expressed his recognition that these are the same thrusts that the AICPA and NASBA are pursuing in this CPA Evolution initiative. This confirms my thoughts and advocacy for the reformatting of our own CPA licensure examination, anchored on the instituting of “Certified Accountant” core examinations and specialized “Certified Professional Accountant” licensure tests. I was not able to move forward with this landmark direction since I was replaced as Chairman of the BOA in 2018. I recommend for those interested to do further readings on these groundbreaking developments. For more information, I suggest going to this link https://www.thiswaytocpa. com/segmented-landing/cpa-evolution-overview/.

I hope for the success of the implementation of the AICPA Evolution. More importantly, I hope for the enlightened view of the CPA Philippines community, led by the BOA, to transform the CPA licensure examination to meet the demands of the future.

Let us proceed with our own Evolution.

Joel L. Tan-Torres was the former Dean of the University of the Philippines Virata School of Business. Previously, he was the Commissioner of the Bureau of Internal Revenue, the chairman of the Professional Regulatory Board of Accountancy, and partner of Reyes Tacandong & Co. and the SyCip Gorres and Velayo & Co. 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 practice with his firm JL2T Consulting. He can be contacted at joeltantorress@yahoo.com

over 10,000 workers. Another important empowerment measure is the skilling-reskilling of farmers. The Local Autonomy Law devolved extension services to the LGUs, most of which were not prepared to assume the task of mobilizing farmers in support of agricultural modernization. The success of agriculture in the developed countries is partly due to their investments on human resources development. This means education and training-skilling, including sharing of R&D findings and agricultural knowhow, for the benefit of the farmers. The limited gains of the country

During his term as elected Representative of 1-UTAK Party List, he crafted a modernization blueprint for the transport sector. Privy to his vision of ensuring safe and sanitary stations at the MRT/LRT as well as for buses and jeepneys, I saw VDM board public transport plying different routes to personally check the conditions of stations and terminals. And even during his stint at the LTFRB as board member, VDM espoused policies and programs, unimpeded by rubbish influence. All of these he undertook with a sense of responsibility, fully conscious of this orientation that he is a servant of the people. Public officials are expected to fulfill a mandate for the common good. Never, at any point, should their jobs further any personal agenda or gain. Most politicians of old fit such mold. Unfortunately, they belong to the almost-bygone era of officials who were truly immersed in the belief that they are “public servants”—serving the people, for the people. VDM and I were privileged to have served under one politician who exhibited and lived the true meaning of public servants.

During his inaugural speech in 2016, then President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III referred to the

Filipino people as his “bosses.” With such mantra, “Kayo ang boss ko,” PNoy made good governance and anti-corruption the cornerstone of his presidency. Stripped of luxury, air of arrogance, and condescending attitude, he served the people in meekness and honor. PNoy even prohibited the use of “wang-wang” in vehicles not only to ease away from noise nuisance but also to disrobe any motorist, especially public officials, from any sense of unnecessary entitlement.

But when we speak of zero entitlement, the former President of Uruguay, Jose Mujica, is known as the humblest president in the world. He espoused, advised and modeled simple living. He resided on his modest farm instead of the grandiose Presidential palace. Mujica would dine outside at an ordinary restaurant by the seaside without any security. Reports have it that he “led an austere lifestyle and donated around 90 percent of his $12,000 monthly salary to charities that benefited poor people and small entrepreneurs.” As president, Mujica, who moved around like a common citizen, once said about the poor as not the one who has no material possession, but poor is the person who accumulates in his greed

Whether elected or appointed, how I wish that more and more of these people of influence behave as true “public servants,” serving the interests of the Filipino people above all else.

One Frenchman told me that French legislators are focused on passing laws and monitoring government spending. They are not ensconced in receiving funds for project making like roads and bridges. Their job is purely legislation. But more importantly, these senators and members of the National Assembly would even take a train ride to get to work, sans bodyguards and luxurious vehicles. Word has it that Parliament members send out e-mails to French nationals wherever located to inform them of a list of current accomplishments, work done and plans yet to be accomplished. Further, office cubicles of these legislators are modest, and the only broadcasted controversy thus far involving them was bringing in a folding bed in their office areas.

When it comes to the ultimate model of modesty and humility, believers will not disagree on Jesus Christ who lived a lifestyle of service here on earth. He healed the sick, fed the hungry, embraced the disparaged, brought comfort to the desolate, shared wisdom with the

SEC should whip the PSE into line

dia, and its old Allied Bank building on Ayala Avenue.

LITO GAGNI

There is a need for the Securities and exchange Commission (SeC) to whip into line the Philippine Stock exchange (PSe) for its abject failure to protect the interest of shareholders, mostly small investors, whipsawed in their trades in the market. Three pesky issues come to mind, why, in a sense, the PSe has failed in its mandate as a self-regulatory organization.

A year and eight months ago, Dito CME suddenly pulled the rug out for its planned stock rights offering that many small shareholders bought into due to, at that time, the prospects of a winning stock trade as the rights offer was priced at an enticing amount, being sold at lower than its then-prevailing market price. Dito Tel actually did not just do one rights offer but did a second one that small investors bought into.

When the stock rights offer was “deferred,” the PSE missed doing its mandate: that of forcing Dito to honor its commitment and let the process go through, that of the stock rights offer. After all, PSE could have used moral suasion to ask listed Chi-

in its implementation of the 13-yearold organic farming law is an example of failure of extension work. This is reflected in the absence of a good transitioning program, which the farmers can use as a guide in moving out of chemical-based agriculture towards an organic farming system without incurring losses in productivity. Going organic (but scientific) requires sound counseling and extension services provided by the DA and cooperating LGUs.

As to agrarian reform, the debt condonation program of PBBM for the estimated 600,000 ARBs should be treated as part of a bigger agrarian reform renewal program. As it

na Bank, the underwriter, to fulfill its obligation to buy the rights offer that were not taken up. Dito CME then informed the exchange that it is not going to do the rights offer due to poor demand.

Well, for context, the PSE index, at that time, was above 7,197 points, and now it is at 6,290 points.

The second issue that comes to mind is the property dividend of listed Philippine National Bank, that of PNB Holdings Corp., which owns prime properties of the bank, with valuation seen at more than that of the bank’s. These prime properties are that of its 10-hectare head office in Macapagal Avenue, the 8,000-square-meter lot along Buen-

is, agrarian reform, now on its 7th decade (from the tenancy reform under Dadong Macapagal and PD 27 under Marcos Sr. to the CARP of Cory Aquino and new Emancipation Act under Bongbong Marcos), is a big bundle of confusing rules and continuing conflicts. There is no reliable record of how the country has progressed under the program since the 1960s or 1970s. What is clear is that many ARBs in the past (2nd, 3rd and 4th generations) have already sold or pawned their lands. It is also not clear whether the unpaid ARB loans accumulated by the Land Bank are those of the original ARBs or the new landowners who “bought”

foolish, and offered His life on the Cross for our salvation. Despite His kingship (Revelation 17:4), His royal lineage (Luke 3:23-38), and His authority (Matthew 17:5 ) this Man was a servant to the people, in meekness and integrity.

In the Bible, we find the description Jesus gave the public servants of His day as very apt for the public servants of our day, thus, addressing the apostles, He states: “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors. But you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves. For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves.” (Luke 22:25-27 ).

We can walk on the path of humble service prioritizing the welfare of “ kayo,” just as PNoy and as Mujica exemplified. I expect VDM to do the same, maybe not exactly how Jesus showed us, but close enough, for sure. For those already serving and those who are about to serve, I urge you, choose to be Christ-like in wielding your influence waving the banner of “Kayo ang boss ko!” And the “ kayo” is not just the Filipino people, as was used by PNoy, but the “Kayo” is the One who is greater who served us all.

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.

PNB’s planned property dividend involves the distribution of shares of stock of its wholly owned subsidiary PNB Holdings. Small shareholders bought into the PNB stock due to the enticing prospects of cashing in on the listing of the property dividend, that of PNB Holdings whose shares had a par value of P100.

This property dividend, when announced, saw the shares of PNB spike more than 12 percent to P25. Announced in May 2021, more than two years ago, and the PSE has again failed in its mandate to see through the listing process resulting in “quarantined” money for the small shareholders.

It is so frustrating for small shareholders to see that the PSE has been remiss in its duties to the investing public for not sanctioning the PNB for the delay in the distribution of its property dividends. How long will PNB shareholders, such as Amb. Rey Catapang, have to wait for the PSE officialdom to act? It has been more than two years and PNB has yet to issue the property dividend.

And the third issue is hard to take, that of Abra Mining where the PSE has failed to identify the culprits in the trading of unissued and unlisted

the lands from the original ARBs.

At any rate, agrarian reform is a big unfinished task. As envisioned by the Constitution and the CARP law, agrarian reform is supposed to have three major development outcomes: a new class of “emancipated” landless farmers, balanced development of progressive farming communities, and a base for agroindustrial development. Outcome Number One (land distribution) is still a work in progress, while there is no proof that the country is making headway in achieving Outcomes Two and Three. Some studies show that many ARBs have remained poor, with their economic situation

shares. The PSE has the smoking gun on who was responsible and the institution has yet to act on the trading irregularity. Instead, the PSE, possibly to calm the investing public, proposed what we can say is a brilliant and innovative move from PSE President Ramon Monzon.                    Monzon should be commended for his out-of-the-box thinking in announcing the search for a “white knight” for the now-suspended Abra Mining, which surged by more than 279 percent and accounted for 77 percent of daily transactions during its heyday. For him, delisting the issue would hurt small investors, thus, the concept for a white knight, so called for rescuing corporations in dire situations.

Well, we have not heard anything since from Monzon. Perhaps the other directors of the PSE did not want Monzon to shine with the proposed white knight for being an extraordinary idea, one so brilliant that onlookers can be temporarily blinded with this out-of-the-box thinking.

For the PSE, the time is up. SEC Chairman Emilio Aquino, who used to be with the Prosecution Division of the commission during its glory days under the late SEC Chairwoman Rosario Lopez, needs to come to the rescue of the investing public.

only slightly better than the other rural poor.

Meantime, more and more agricultural lands in the country are being converted into subdivisions and numerous non-agricultural uses. Even big solar companies are using some productive agricultural farms into giant solar plantations. All these are being facilitated by the absence of a democratic “National Land Use” program, which should enable the sitting government the power to stop the continuous shrinking of the country’s agricultural sector.

Sa maikling salita, marami pa pong dapat gawin sa agrikultura, Pangulong BBM.

A12 Monday, August 21, 2023

‘Key investments, sustained growth to improve incomes’

By Cai U. Ordinario @caiordinario

FILIPINO NURSE KILLED IN L.A., HUSBAND TAGGED SUSPECT

ticket projects, amounts to about P8.3 trillion.

T he projects, he said, seek to support physical connectivity to enable access to economic opportunities, water resources to support the growing needs of the population and industry, as well as improve adaptation to climate risks; and agriculture as the cornerstone of our country’s food security.

By Malou Talosig-Bartolome @maloutalosig

I n a recent University of the Philippines Alumni Council Meeting, National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) Secretary

Arsenio M. Balisacan said the economy must grow 6.5 percent to 8 percent annually for the next 20 years to make the economy less inequitable.

Balisacan said this goal should be

driven by significant investments in infrastructure and emerging industries in the medium term. Significant investments would help sectors such as agribusiness, mining, tourism, manufacturing, education, creatives, health, and IT-BPM to drive the economy and create jobs. We should have made such in -

vestments decades ago. While we are certainly feeling the effects of our neglect, there is no other choice but to make the difficult choices and put in the work now,” Balisacan said. We must take two (even three) steps forward, even as other forces— populism and political expediency—take us one step backward,” he stressed.

B alisacan said this urgency underpins the Marcos Jr. administration’s investment in its infrastructure flagship program. The program, which covers 194 big-

B alisacan said the administration will strive to complete as many IFPs during the President’s term. The Neda was designated by Marcos Jr. to “monitor the progress of these projects and ensure that agencies are accountable for the delays in project delivery.”

Human capital

MEANWHILE , the administration is also making investments that seek to improve human capital by increasing Filipinos’ “incomeearning ability.”

T his means making investments to improve education and promote lifelong learning; boost health; and ensure food security and proper nutrition. These have been identified in the Philippine Development Plan (PDP) 2023-2028.

AFILIPINO nurse in Los Angeles was found dead after she went missing for three weeks.

T he Filipino nurse is identified as Ruby Pink Abriol, 38, from Carson City.

T he LA County police are treating her death as a murder case and investigating her husband as the prime suspect.

A briol was last seen on July 31 on the block near her residence a long East 224th Street in Carson City. The LA County Sheriff’s Department then issued a missing person’s bulletin on her disappearance.

“ Pinky Abriol’s last known sighting traces back to the day

HK firm pays Zambales fishers after cargo ship runs over their ‘payao’

By Henry Empeño Correspondent

MASINLOC, Zambales—

After a protracted legal battle framed as a David versus Goliath fight, local fishermen from this town finally received compensation for their payao, a fish aggregating device that was lost when a cargo ship ran it over on January 17.

L eonardo Cuaresma, chairman of the New Masinloc Fishermen’s Association (NMFA), which owned the destroyed fishing device, said the operator of HC Glory settled out of court and paid them P500,000 last week.

“ They first offered P350,000 but then raised it to P500,000 when we offered to withdraw the case from the Sangguniang Panlalawigan (provincial board). Our members have agreed to accept the offer because we also lose if we prolong the issue,” Cuaresma said.

T he fishers’ group initially sought a total of P900,000 in damages from HC Glory, a bulk carrier operated by the Hong Kong Haichang Holdings Group, Ltd.: P150,000 for the destroyed payao; P360,000 in unrealized income from the scheduled payao harvest; and P390,000 for income from hook-and-line fishing by the 36 NMFA members that was lost when their payao was destroyed.

T he damage claim was filed with the Sanggunian last February after being assured of legal help by Governor Hermogenes Ebdane Jr.

H C Glory was then about to deliver a cargo of fuel to the coalfired power plant here when it ran over NMFA’s payao. The coal plant is owned and operated by the Masinloc Power Partners Co. Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of SMC Global Power Holdings Corp.

C uaresma said the payment from HC Glory was delivered by a ship agent from another shipping company, who was authorized to

she left her home for work at a Torrance hospital. Tragically, she never arrived at her workplace, and her vehicle was later located in a parking lot,” a jobsite blog reported. Her body was found after an 11day police search.

C onsul General Edgar Badajos said the Homicide Bureau of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department is investigating the case and “a possible charge of murder may be filed against the husband.”

W hen asked if the husband is also a Filipino, he said, “Yes, as per our sources.”

A briol had posted videos of her and her partner and child on Tiktok. Badajos could not confirm if the video on Tiktok is also Abriol’s husband.

Go slow on 4Ps members’ delisting move, DSWD urged

act on behalf of the Hong Kong Haichang Holdings Group, Ltd. This was because the firm’s own ship agent was declared persona non grata in Zambales for failing to appear during hearings conducted by the provincial board, Cuaresma added.

T he payment from HC Glory was the third financial windfall that the local fishers received following the loss of their payao early this year and after BusinessMirror ran a front-page feature on their plight on February 11.

O n March 3, the group received a P150,000 fund from Zambales Second District Representative Doris Maniquiz for them to build and install a new payao so that they could continue with their disrupted means of livelihood.

O n June 12, NMFA members received a pledge of P909,000 from the SMCGP Philippines Power Foundation, Inc. for the installation and maintenance of fish aggregating devices in waters off Masinloc. Cuaresma said they received the fund on August 10.

T he fishing group had made good use of the money they received over the ramming incident. Cuaresma said that with the P150,000 livelihood assistance from Congresswoman Maniquiz and some money given on credit, they have set up three more payao units.

F rom these new payaos, the group had harvested fish twice, earning P53,000 from the first harvest and P23,000 from the second, Cuaresma said.

He added that with the P500,000 payment from HC Glory, the group released a P1,500 bonus and a 25kilo sack of rice to each member, as well as paid for the wages of members who built a smokehouse to make tinapa (smoked fish), project that would also involve their womenfolk.

T he payao fund from the SMCGP Foundation, meanwhile, is still intact in the bank and will be used for future projects, Cuaresma said.

THE House Committee on Poverty Alleviation has called on the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to implement a delisting moratorium on the removal of up to 1.3 million poor families from the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program, or 4Ps.

1-Pacman Rep. Mikee Romero, the panel chairman, said his committee recently voted to urge the DSWD to carefully assess the situation of families to be removed from the program and those who would replace them.

We are all for that, but let us make sure that the exiting families have really improved their financial status and that some of their children have finished college and are now employed,” he said.

R omero said the DSWD should have realistic standards for removing beneficiary families from 4Ps.

T he lawmaker cited reports quoting a DSWD official as saying that a covered household earning more than P12,000 a month would no longer be entitled to financial assistance.

“ Is this level of monthly income a reasonable threshold? Is P400 a day enough to feed a family? Romero asked.

H e said the proposed delisting moratorium would not hurt the 4Ps program as it has enough funds.

“ Its funding in the annual national budget is good for 4.4 million families. Today, 3.9 million families are considered ‘active,’ of which 3.2 million are receiving financial assistance. Some 700,000 households are ‘under review’,” he said.

E arlier, the DSWD said the 4Ps list of beneficiaries is being cleaned up, as there were duplicate entries that led to P7 million in overpayments in the years 2020 and 2021.

THE Philippines must make the difficult choices and put in the work now to grow the economy by as much as 8 percent annually in two decades to significantly improve the income of Filipinos, according to the country’s Socioeconomic Planning Secretary.

ABRIOL

BALISACAN

Companies

Editor: Jennifer A. Ng

Monday, August 21, 2023

Meralco unit to invest ₧18B in expansion of RE portfolio

By Lenie Lectura @llectura

The investment will cover over two gigawatts of gross RE capacity from solar and wind that the company, along with its partners, aims to build through 2030.

The investment will also include battery energy storage systems

(BESS). MGen, through its renewable energy unit MGen Renewable Energy inc. (MGreen), currently has an RE portfolio that includes the 55MWac BulacanSol solar plant in San Miguel, Bulacan in partnership with powersource Energy Holdings

Corp.; the 68MWac solar farm in Currimao, i locos norte with Vena Energy’s pasuquin Energy Holdings inc., and the pH Renewables inc.’s (pHR i) 75MWac solar farm in Baras, Rizal with Mitsui & Co.’s Mit-Renewables power Corp.

pH R i recently completed the commissioning tests for ph ase 1 of its project involving 67.5 MWac that is scheduled for commercial operations by mid-august. phase 1 has been generating at full capacity since april. The phase 2 of the project is targeted to be operational by mid-2024. MGen president and CEO Jaime T. a z urin said more projects utilizing RE are also under development and assessment in line with One Meralco’s target to reduce its direct emissions by 20 percent through 2030 as it drives to be coalfree before 2050. These include the

two solar projects—the 49MWac solar plant in Cordon, isabela; and the 18.75 MWac solar plant in Bongabon, nueva Ecija, both of which are among the winning bidders in the Department of Energy’s (DOE) second round of Green Energy auction program (GE a p)

“We will continue to work with the energy industry, government, and other pertinent stakeholders to help further accelerate the country’s energy transition as we aggressively pursue more renewable energy projects. This is in line with Meralco’s long-term sustainability strategy to embark on a just, affordable, and orderly transition to clean energy,” a zurin said.

MGreen registered a core income of p78 million and delivered 166gigawatt hours (GWh) from its solar plants in January to June.

‘INC Palawan mine site still open’

By Jonathan L. Mayuga @jonlmayuga

Ipilan nickel Corp. (inC) said its mine site in Brooke’s point, pa lawan continues to operate even after the Supreme Court issued a Writ of Kalikasan last week.

The ruling does not interrupt i nC ’s operations, as the petition for a Temporary Environmental p rotection Order (TEp O) has been rejected, according to the company. in acknowledging the SC Writ of Kalikasan, inC said it welcomes the order as “an opportunity to address and dispel recurring baseless allegations that have consistently been refuted by various governmental bodies.”

Property developers join PSE briefing

TWO listed firms from the ph ilippine Stock Exchange’s (pSE) small, medium and emerging board joined the pSE’s briefing dubbed Strengthening access and Reach: investor Day 2023.

These companies were property developers Haus Talk inc. and it alpinas Development Corp.

“This shows that good investor relations practices, including the conduct of quarterly earnings briefings, are very much doable regardless of company size,” pSE president and CEO Ramon S. Monzon said.

a group of 10 publicly listed companies joined the p S E-led mid-year briefings.

The other companies were aC En Corp., DMC i Holdings i nc, EastWest Banking Corp., Ginebra San Miguel inc., GT Capital Holdings inc., integrated Microelectronics inc., p u regold pr ice Club inc. and SM investments Corp.

“The increased exposure of investors to these presentations will hopefully create demand for regular briefings, especially among companies that have not initiated this practice,” Monzon said.

aside from the live presentations and question and answer segments with the featured publicly-listed companies, recorded company briefings by 15 listed firms that took part in previous editions were uploaded on the event’s website for ondemand viewing by attendees. VG Cabuag

“The petition against ipilan is marked by distortions and inaccuracies, suggesting a motive to undermine ipilan’s legitimate operations by fueling anti-mining sentiments and deceiving the public,” the company’s statement read.

Contrary to the petitioner’s claims, ipilan said it has obtained a Certification precondition exemption from the national Commission on indigenous peoples (nCip) in 2006.

additionally, proclamation no 1815 (2009), which designated the Mt. Mantalingahan Mountain Range as a protected a rea, validates preexisting contracts such as the Mineral production Sharing a g reement with the government.

STOCK-MARKET OUTLOOK

Last week

Share prices fell for the fourth consecutive week last week, with the main index breaching its key support level and closing at its lowest since November last year. The benchmark Philippine Stock e xchange index (PSei) declined by 115.64 points to close at 6,290.27 points.

“Sentiment glided with the US Fed [United States Federal r e serve] meeting minutes reaffirming its hawkish stance and the BSP’s [Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas] higher inflation projections in the long-term,” broker 2Trade a s ia said.

The main index was down in three of the five sessions, with little recovery in between.

Volume of trade, meanwhile, was up, thanks to the P24.71 billion recorded on Tuesday. This pushed the entire week’s value of trade at an average of P8.33 billion. Foreign investors, who accounted for just a quarter of the trades, were net sellers at P643.41 million.

all other sub-indices were down with the exception of the Mining and Oil index that gained 49.39 points to close at 9,898.69 points. The broader all Shares index was down 46.78 to 3,383.41, the Financials index shed 46.50 to 1,862.04, the Industrial index plunged 197.93 to 8,795.80, the holding Firms index retreated 104.75 to 5,961.15, the Property index declined 50.87 to 2,624.91 and the Services index decreased 5.16 to 1,547.80.

For the week, losers edged gainers 144 to 71 and 34 shares were unchanged.

Top gainers were anchor Land holdings Inc., Macay holdings Inc., Jackstones Inc., Kepwealth Property Phils. Inc., Pacific Online Systems Corp., easycall Communications Philippines Inc. and Filipino Fund Inc. Top losers, meanwhile, were Pacifica

B1

SMIC annual report wins Stevie Award

SM investments Corp. (SMiC), the holding firm of the businesses of the Sy family, was recently awarded by Stevie award as bronze winner for the best annual report for the privately-owned companies category.

The said recognition was given during the 20th annual international Business awards (iBa)

“We are pleased to receive this award for our 2022 integrated Report that reflects how we continue to serve communities. We are mindful that with transparent reporting, we can demonstrate that our business performance and sustainability efforts continue to create value for all our stakeholders,” Frederic C. DyBuncio, the company’s president and CEO, said. The international Business awards are the world’s premier business awards program. a l l individuals and organizations worldwide, public and private, for-profit and nonprofit, large and small, are eligible to submit nominations.

The 2023 iBa s received entries from organizations in 61 nations and territories.

“SM delivered strong results in the first half, driven by solid consumer sentiment on the back of a positive economic environment. Our performance was driven by fundamental demand, without the added benefit of post-pandemic revenge spending that contributed to last year’s results,” DyBuncio said.

it is important to note that the company refrains from mining within the overlapping area. The allegations related to tree-cutting activities were conducted under the authority of a valid permit, upheld by the court,” i nC said.

i p ilan remains resolute in aligning its operations with the highest environmental and ethical standards, promoting sustainable practices and regulatory compliance. it is steadfast in its mission to responsibly harness natural resources, fostering local and national progress for the collective benefit of all stakeholders.”

l a st week, the n C i p issued a cease-and-desist order (CDO) against the nickel ore mining op-

holdings Inc., Philippine racing Club Inc., Makati Finance Corp., Philippine realty and holdings Corp., Monde Nissin Corp., Cirtek holdings Philippines Corp. and anglo Philippine holdings Corp.

t h is week

Share price may start to inch up this week, but this is mainly due to bargain hunting.

It will be a four-day trading week as the Philippines will observe Ninoy aquino Day on Monday. Work in government offices and classes in public schools in Metro Manila and Bulacan were suspended on Friday for the opening ceremonies of the FIBa Basketball World Cup 2023.

Japhet Louis O. Tantiangco, senior research analyst at Philstocks Financials Inc., said the market may still find it hard to stage a strong comeback given the tempered economic confidence.

Investors are expected to be on the lookout for catalysts that could help the economy get back to its strong growth momentum, he said.

“The bourse has hit a nine-month low as confidence towards the economy gets strained following the slowdown in our economic growth as seen in the second quarter figures. adding to this are the clouds hanging over our economic outlook including the mounting food inflationary risks to our country mainly due to el Niño, rallying oil prices and the Federal reserve which continues to be in a hawkish stance.”

2Tradea sia said funds will “prioritize” to keep higher liquidity asset levels for now.

“Cash is king and global uncertainties keep deployment more challenging. While the PSei idles in the background waiting for stronger market catalysts, watch out for value plays in their 52-week lows for opportunities to

erations of Celestial nickel Mining Corp. and i nC in Brooke’s point, pa lawan. according to the nCip the mining companies failed to secure a certification precondition and the Free, pr ior, and informed Consent from concerned indigenous people that have ancestral domain claim over in the area.

inC urged the nCip to immediately revoke the CDO slapped by its satellite office in Mimaropa against the company.

The company said it has a “fruitful partnership” with the indigenous peoples’ community and cited its “sincere efforts” to address royalty concerns in consultations with the nCip

average down,” it said.

Immediate support for the main index is seen at 6,350 points, while resistance is at 6,600 to 6,700 points.

s tock picks BrOK er regina Capital Development Corp. gave a buy rating on the stock of Globe Telecom Inc. (GLO), despite its core net income declining by more than 18 percent to P4.81 billion in the second quarter.

Capital expenditures are projected to moderately decline for the succeeding years, targeting P71.5 billion this year and P55 billion next year.

“Management revises their outlook for 2023, targeting a mid to low singledigit growth for service revenues amid macroeconomic pressures. We reiterate our buy rating on GLO with a lower target price of P2,240, indicating an upside of 17.28 percent. Dividends in the midsingle digit are attractive,” it said.

Globe shares closed Friday at P1,884 apiece.

Meanwhile, it gave a hold recommendation on the stock of DMCI holdings Inc. as all of its core business softened with the exception of its electricity sales, which saw growth. It’s coal mining segment, which contributed bulk of its revenues, plunged by more than 6 percent in the second quarter with the easing of Newcastle coal prices.

all things considered, we are revising our recommendation on DMCI to hold with a fair value of P9.80 as potential upside could only be around 2 percent with the prevailing market price. This is based on the presumption that the company’s earnings will contract as we move forward, aligning with the easing of Newcastle coal prices,” the broker said.

DMCI shares closed last week at P9.87 apiece. VG Cabuag

“The report encompasses a good survey and gives a great overview on the philippine economy,” the judges of the award-giving body said.

SMiC said its net income grew 32 percent to p36.5 billion in the first half from last year’s p27.7 billion.

Consolidated revenues rose 18 percent to p286.3 billion in January to June from p242.6 billion in the same period last year.

“We experienced robust consumer confidence, consistent with the philippines’s overall economic growth, record low unemployment and improving inflation environment. This provides us with a solid basis for the balance of the year, in which we typically see our strongest quarters.”

Of total net earnings, retail accounted for 17 percent, property contributed 26 percent while banking accounted for the largest share at 47 percent and portfolio investments contributed 10 percent. VG Cabuag

Meralco PowerGen corp. (MGen), the power generation arm of Manila electric co. (Meralco), will invest at least P18 billion to accelerate its renewable energy (re) buildout to meet its re capacity target of 1,500 megawatts (MW).

Perspectives Accelerating your journey to the public cloud

WHETHER it’s using infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) to shift legacy applications to the cloud, softwareas-a-service (SaaS) to upgrade to more modern application alternatives or features such as containers and microservices to develop new cloud-native applications, enterprises from a wide range of industries are increasingly turning to public clouds. Data-center-hosted applications will likely soon be the exception, not the rule.

While public clouds free the IT organization from the management and maintenance of compute, network and storage resources, they don’t free the business from the risks and responsibilities associated with migrating or upgrading enterprise applications. If anything, as cloud adoption continues to expand and accelerate, they add a host of new challenges to its plate.

These issues stem from scaling cloud adoption across the entire enterprise, including front-, middleand back-office applications, which presents numerous challenges for chief technology officers (CTOs), chief information officers (CIOs), business leaders and controls teams. Managing cloud adoption at scale and pace requires many critical components to help reduce the associated risks. Organizations need to also consider their shared responsibility model with the cloud service providers.

The Philippines has also been witnessing an increasing trend in cloud adoption in recent years. Many businesses--both large and small--are moving their applications and services to the cloud to leverage its benefits such as scalability, cost-efficiency and accessibility. As cloud adoption increases, the importance of proper governance and compliance also becomes crucial. Businesses in the Philippines need to establish effective sets of guidelines and measures to align cloud adoption with enterprise standards, security requirements and acceptable use policies.

KPMG in the Philippines Technology Consulting Partner Gilbert Trinchera said that “the Philippines is on the right track in embracing digitalization, propelled by the national government’s focus on digital transformation and the business sector’s drive to hyper-scale its operations, enhance customer engagement and increase productivity. Successful cloud adoption or migration demands careful consideration in choosing the right partners and giving paramount importance to security, cost flexibility, availability and competencies.”

Cloud adoption requires proper governance. A well-constructed governance process can help keep your cloud adoption aligned with enterprise standards for acceptable use. It can help provide engineers with the right training, help provide transparency to stakeholders to maintain confidence in the migration program and accelerate adoption. KPMG specialists see a Cloud Center of Excellence (CCoE) as the foundation for this governance. The right leadership can help drive agreement on which cloud services will be used, how technology will be deployed, how a team will support the effort and how costs will be managed.

An effective CCoE can bring together your existing enterprise policies, processes and stakeholders, but you must update these elements for a cloud model, whether it’s migration of conventional workloads (via IaaS) or modernization to cloud-native applications (serverless, containers, microservices, etc.). Tasking the CCoE with overseeing the modernization of the process is a critical first step

to align the entire enterprise on the journey to cloud. As part of the CCoE it is important to have shared responsibilities with the lines of business and not have a fully centralized model.

Determine a shared definition of success. A cloud adoption program can affect various stakeholders differently. All stakeholders should agree upon a shared definition of success before the first application is deployed into a public cloud. In order to evaluate if the program achieves the desired outcomes, it’s important to create definitions that are measurable. Establish baselines of the current technology ecosystem in order to compare your end state. Some factors that can be investigated to determine success are application availability and resiliency, business process responsiveness, speed of application feature deployment and customer experience. The CCoE should manage stakeholder engagement and help ensure each constituency is bringing their requirements, expectations and priorities into the decision-making around cloud adoption. If done right, the technical implementation will flow more smoothly from a clearly understood definition of success.

Investing the time to adapt to new security patterns and cloud security features. Engage security and risk departments early and often. Security, risk and compliance teams should be engaged early in the cloud adoption program to address issues such as data protection, controls, auditability and identity and access management. Late engagement with your security team could result in resistance and delays in moving workloads to the cloud. Adapting to new security patterns and cloud security features can take time in your organization. Early and frequent engagement is imperative to meet your timelines. By using policy as code (PaC), you can help build confidence with your risk and security teams for how new cloud services can be provisioned and maintained within the guardrails of compliance requirements. PaC can help you enforce recommended security practices and compliance requirements without slowing down development. This practice can also create consistency and compliance within a DevSecOps (development, security, and operations) mode of operations.

Get the disposition right. The proper disposition of your application portfolio requires a detailed roadmap and a rolling wave plan. The plan should include each application’s strategic hosting destination and should align to business needs, technology strategy, cloud adoption policies, constraints and rules of acceptable use. Make sure to ask yourself whether the application will be retired, remain in place, moved as-is, modernized or take one of the many other paths to cloud. Take the time to perform an application analysis and disposition effort, including the interdependencies that make up a business ecosystem, before moving any workloads.

Excerpt from: https://advisory-marketing. us.kpmg.com/speed/pov-journey-public-cloud. html

© 2023 KPMG Int’l Ltd. is a private English company limited by guarantee. R.G. Manabat & Co., a Philippine partnership, is a member firm of a global organization of independent member firms affiliated with KPMG Int’l Ltd. All rights reserved. Email ph-kpmgmla@kpmg.com or visit www. home.kpmg/ph.

This article is for general information purposes only and should not be considered as professional advice to a specific issue or entity. The views and opinions expressed herein are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the BusinessMirror, KPMG International or KPMG in the Philippines.

Govt share for MUP pension may hit ₧40B to ₧50B–DOF

By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas @jearcalas

pension appropriation,” Diokno said in a recent press briefing.

Finance Undersecretary Maria Cielo D. Magno disclosed that the MUP pension would become “sustainable” after 20 years, based on the calculations made by the DOF. This means that the government will no longer have to allocate a yearly budget for the MUP pension.

However, Magno noted that the timeline is based on the premise that both MUP in the active service and new entrants will be subjected to mandatory contributions.

were arrears. What we are trying to solve is that the pensioners would be guaranteed that they will receive their pension because there is a fund that is growing. [The MUP pension reform] is not just to address the tight fiscal space but to really make sure that there is a guaranteed funding source for the pension,” she added.

Finance Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno said the state would have to allocate at least P40 billion to fulfill its 16-percentage-point share of the 21 percent contribution by MUP under the proposed pension reforms.

Under the proposed reforms, the MUP will now be subjected to a 21 percent mandatory contribution but will be in a staggered implementation with the national government providing a larger share of the contribution.

For the first three years of the reform, the MUP will shoulder 5 percent of the mandatory contribution. After which, their share would increase to 7 percent for another three years before rising to 9 percent thereafter.

For its part, the national government’s contribution share will be as follows: 16 percent for the first three years, 14 percent for the next three years and 12 percent afterwards.

“The P40-billion government counterpart is on top of the yearly

If only the new entrants would pay mandatory contributions for their pension, then it would take about 60 years before the country’s MUP pension system becomes sustainable, Finance Undersecretary Maria Luwalhati C. Dorotan-Tiuseco said.

“We are trying to make a sustainable pension system. If it is noncontributory then it is really dependent on the availability of funds. It has no definite funding source and would be dependent on the available funds of the government,” DorotanTiuseco said.

“There have been years that there

Last week, the Ad Hoc Committee on the MUP Pension System approved the MUP reform bill that is now “acceptable” to all stakeholders, including the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police, as well as economic managers. (Related story: https://businessmirror.com. ph/2023/08/16/panel-craftedmup-bill-seen-acceptable-to-allparties/)

The Marcos administration plans to spend over P160 billion for the MUP pension, gratuity and terminal leave benefits next year, which is nearly P5.7 billion higher than what it allocated this year. (Related story: https://businessmirror.com. ph/2023/08/04/mup-pensionbenefits-for-2024-to-hit-overp160-billion/)

SEC urges firms with fines to avail of amnesty plan

By VG Cabuag @villygc

THE Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has appealed to corporations and associations that have incurred penalties due to the late or non-filing of their annual reports to avail of the amnesty program before higher penalties kick in starting October 1.

The agency on March 15 issued SEC Memorandum Circular (MC) 2 (series of 2023) or the “Grant of Amnesty for Non-filing and Late Filing of the General Information Sheet and Annual Financial Statements and Non-Compliance with MC 28 (series of 2020).”

The regulator said the amnesty, which comes in the form of a waiver or reduction of fees, is part of its efforts to encourage its regulated entities to comply with their reportorial requirements under Republic Act (RA) 11232, or the Revised Corporation Code.

Around 40,000 corporations have since completed their amnesty applica-

tion with the SEC, allowing them to reclaim their good standing or corporate registration with the SEC.

“The SEC amnesty program is a chance for corporations and associations to get a fresh start in their compliance with reportorial requirements, so they continue to enjoy the benefits and privileges of being a registered corporation,” SEC Chairman Emilio B. Aquino said.

“We reiterate our reminder to all corporations that starting a business does not end with registration with the SEC. This is just the first step—they must faithfully comply with reportorial requirements thereafter to ensure their continuity and sustainability,” Aquino added.

On June 30, the SEC streamlined the amnesty application process in order to encourage more corporations to avail of the program.

Corporations now need only to fill up a web-based form available on their Electronic Filing and Submission Tool (eFAST) accounts, replacing the submis-

Value, volume of LandBank digital transactions grew

STATE-run Land Bank of the Philippines (LandBank) announced that the volume and value of digital transactions it facilitated in the first half rose by double-digit growth rates as more Filipinos are using online platforms for their bank needs and investments.

The LandBank revealed it recorded 94.7 million digital transactions from January to June, about 22-percent higher than the roughly 77.62 million transactions it facilitated in the same period of last year. In terms of amount, total value of transactions during the first six months reached P1.9 trillion, around 41 percent over last year’s nearly P1.3 trillion, according to the bank. The LandBank said the recorded digital transactions were across all its platforms.

“More customers continue to embrace the advantages of using LandBank’s digital banking solutions,” LandBank president and CEO Lynette V. Ortiz was quoted in a statement the lender issued last Sunday. “We will drive investments to upgrade our digital infrastructure further, to continue providing convenient, accessible, and secure services,” Ortiz added. The bank said digital transactions made through its mobile banking app accounted for the bulk with 76.1 million transactions. The amount of transactions was worth P140.5 billion. Every transaction, to note, carries a P15 fee.

These translate to year-on-year expansions of 27 percent and 36 percent in volume and value, respectively, according to the LandBank. The lender added that customers

mostly used the mobile banking app for fund transfer and bills payment and to invest in government debt papers, including the Retail Treasury Bonds Tranche 29 (RTB-29) offered in February.

Meanwhile, LandBank said total transactions through its electronic modified-disbursement system (eMDS), which serves as its Internet facility for national government agencies, rose by 16.66 percent to 1.4 million from 1.2 million. In terms of value, eMDS registered a total amount of P1.3 trillion, about 34.54-percent higher than the P966.2 billion recorded in the same period of last year.

“Meanwhile, the bank’s electronic bulk disbursement facility, LBCS, saw the most significant increases in utilization and value in the first half of the year, with total transactions reaching 3.6 million valued at P32.3 billion for unprecedented growth rates of 6,737 percent and 398 percent, respectively,” LandBank said.

LandBank claimed that the volume of transactions it handled in its web-based Link.BizPortal in the first half rose by 44 percent to 4 million worth P6 billion.

Digital transactions that went through iAccess, the bank’s online retail banking channel, grew by 3 percent yearon-year to P9.1 billion while corporate transactions through weAccess platform rose by more than half to P433.3 billion, according to the bank. The bank’s website said the sender will be charged

sion of notarized “Expression of Interest Form and Amnesty Application” form. Likewise, corporations no longer need to file an undertaking to submit the latest due annual financial statements within 90 days from amnesty application.

Corporations that are able to submit their correct reportorial requirements, including those reverted for compliance, within the submission period or until the deadline will be considered to have undergone the complete amnesty process and are entitled to receive a confirmation of payment. Otherwise, payment of amnesty fees will be forfeited in favor of the SEC.

The deadline for all amnesty applications is on September 30, as provided under SEC MC 9 (series of 2023). The SEC is currently preparing guidelines for the new set of fines and penalties for the late and non-filing of reportorial requirements that will be imposed starting October 1. Under the proposed guidelines, the late filing of reportorial requirements

by domestic stock and non-stock corporations with retained earnings of less than P100,000 will incur fines at a base amount of P5,000 for the first offense, which will increase to P9,000 for the fifth offense. There will also be a P1,000 monthly fine for every month of the continuing violation. Non-filing of reportorial requirements by both stock and non-stock corporations with retained earnings of less than P100,000 will incur fines amounting to P10,000 for the first offense up to P18,000 for the fifth offense, plus a fine of P1,000 for every month of the continuing violation.

Aside from monetary fines, the SEC may declare a corporation under delinquent status after it has failed to submit its reportorial requirements for three times, consecutively or intermittently within five years. The Commission can also revoke a corporation’s registration should it incur a fourth offense and it has been given reasonable notice regarding its delinquent status.

DBM roadshow for local budget officers backed

THE Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines (ULAP) announced it would support the plan by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to conduct a series of roadshows on public financial management (PFM) to help budget officers learn proper fund management.

“We are fully supportive of this initiative by the DBM,” ULAP president Dakila Carlo E. Cua was quoted in a statement as saying. “We have been constantly calling for the national government to help in improving the technical know-how of local government units, so we are truly thankful that our request is being heeded.”

Budget Secretary Amenah F. Pangandaman announced the department’s plan during a meeting with officers and members of the Association of Local Budget Officers (ALBO) in Batangas earlier this month.

The roadshows aim to provide budget officers with the required knowledge and skills in budget management, and to guide them in the proper interpretation of procurement laws, audit rules, and other pertinent policies, Pangandaman said.

According to Cua, the DBM’s initiative is timely as local government units (LGUs) prepare for the transfer of powers mandated by the GarciaMandanas ruling.

President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. last May announced that he would release an executive order by the end of the year that would ensure smoother and more efficient transfer of powers from the national government to LGUs, according to the ULAP statement.

“The Garcia-Mandanas-mandated devolution adds another layer of complexity to our fund management, so I hope that the DBM will also be able to address this,” Cua, also governor of Quirino province, said.

He emphasized the need to improve budget officers’ knowledge considering their crucial role in LGUs’ development plans.

Cua, however, also said that LGUs should not solely rely on budget officers in crafting their respective budgets.

“The whole team should be contributing to the budget. Let’s remember that the budget is only a part of the development plan,” Cua was quoted as saying. “Hindi ito dapat inaasa lang sa inatasang budget officer. Bagkus, dapat ang bawat section ay may ambag para masiguro na targeted ang pinopondohan natin at hindi tayo nagsasayang ng pera.” [This should not be solely dependent on the assigned budget officer, but rather, each section should contribute to ensure that what we are funding is targeted and that we do not waste money.]

THE national government is projected to spend about P40 billion to P50 billion in shouldering its counterpart contribution share under the proposed military and uniformed personnel (MUP) reformed pension system, the Department of Finance (DOF) said.

The fall of Rudy Giuliani:

By Michael R. Sisak The Associated Press

Rudy Giuliani glared across a Washington hearing room as a lawyer seeking his disbarment after the January 6 insurrection asked: How did this man, celebrated as “america’s mayor” after 9/11, become a leader of an attempt to overturn a national election?

“It’s like there are two different people,” Hamilton “Phil” Fox III, the lead prosecuting attorney for the agency that disciplines Washington lawyers, said last December. “I don’t know if something happened to Mr. Giuliani or what.”

Giuliani—feted, knighted and named Time magazine’s person of the year for his leadership as New York City mayor after the 2001 terrorist attack—has seen his reputation eviscerated and now his liberty imperiled for his steadfast defense of former President Donald Trump’s false claims about the 2020 election.

On Monday, Giuliani’s downfall sank to its lowest level yet with his indictment in Georgia on charges he acted as Trump’s chief co-conspirator in a plot to subvert President Joe Biden’s victory.

Giuliani, Trump and 17 other people were charged under Georgia’s version of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. The

law, known as RICO, was once one of Giuliani’s favorite tools when he was cracking down on mobsters and Wall Street titans as Manhattan’s top federal prosecutor in the 1980s. Now, as he nears 80, it could put him behind bars.

Giuliani called the indictment “an affront to American democracy” and said it “does permanent, irrevocable harm to our justice system.”

On his radio show Wednesday, he described the case as an “atrocity” and an “out and out assault on the First Amendment.”

How did it come to this? People who’ve studied Giuliani’s rise and fall see his failed 2008 presidential run as a turning point.

Giuliani started as the front runner for the Republican nomination, capitalizing on his post-9/11 popularity. But he struggled in the primaries amid GOP concerns about his past support for abortion rights, gay rights and gun control, and ques -

tions about his personal life and business ties to the Middle East.

For years following the race, Giuliani’s political career appeared over. After falling into a deep depression, he and his then-wife Judith decamped to Florida, where Trump put them up for a month in a bungalow at his Mar-a-Lago estate, biographer Andrew Kirtzman said.

“Trump really took Giuliani under his wing at a very vulnerable moment,” said Kirtzman, whose second Giuliani biography, Giuliani: The Rise and Tragic Fall of America’s Mayor, was published last year. “And then in 2016, Trump decided to run for president, and he needed Giuliani and Giuliani needed Trump.”

Trump, a first-time candidate, leaned on Giuliani's political acumen and loyalty and put him to work as a surrogate leading attacks on former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, whom Giuliani had faced in a 2000 US Senate race.

The 2016 campaign returned Giuliani to relevance, but he surprised many with the ferocity of his attacks and his frequent claims that Clinton had committed crimes. Giuliani was seen as squandering his image as an elder statesman of sorts on a candidate who, at the time, was written off as having little chance to win.

Giuliani angled for a post in Trump's cabinet but didn't get it. Instead, he continued as Trump's attack dog, a role that saw him traveling to Ukraine seeking damaging information about Biden's son, Hunter.

Giuliani's contacts with Ukrainian figures later played a role in Trump’s first impeachment trial and

prompted an FBI investigation. In April 2021, federal agents raided his home and office, seizing computers and cellphones, but the probe was later dropped without any charges.

Some people who were once close to him say the Giuliani of today has little in common with the man they knew.

“The man that I knew 20 years ago, the hero of September 11 bears no resemblance to this man,” said Judith Giuliani, who was by his side in the aftermath of 9/11 and his 2008 election loss. “I actually feel sorry for him. It’s sad. He’s not the person that he used to be to any of us.”

When Trump lost the 2020 election, Giuliani played a starring role in his effort to remain in the White House, which prosecutors say included illegal maneuvering to flip the results in key states.

He was ridiculed for holding a news conference on Pennsylvania legal challenges outside Four Seasons Total Landscaping in Philadelphia, an out-of-the-way location next to a crematorium and a pornography shop, not the Four Seasons hotel in the heart of the city.

A few weeks later, Giuliani appeared to have hair dye streaking down his face at another news conference, making him the butt of late-night television jokes and internet memes. Those blunders came in the wake of another embarrassment: clips from the Borat sequel showing Giuliani flirting with a young actress posing as a TV journalist and then lying on a bed, with his hand down his pants. Giuliani said he went to the hotel thinking he was going to

be interviewed and was just tucking in his shirt.

After his efforts to keep Trump in office failed in the courts, Giuliani on January 6, 2021, made incendiary remarks to Trump supporters who later stormed the US Capitol, suggesting they engage in “trial by combat.”

The New York State Bar Association said his words were intended to encourage Trump supporters “to take matters into their own hands.”

A panel of the D.C. Bar Association unanimously recommended that he be disbarred, saying his misconduct "sadly transcends all his past accomplishments.”

Giuliani’s critics argue that he’s always been combative and abrasive, with a disdain for critics and a willingness to go after rivals.

“The real Rudy Giuliani was hiding in plain sight,” said Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union. “Just because he was the face of a devastated and pained city after 9/11 doesn’t mean that he wasn’t still the authoritarian, anti-democratic bully" that he was "for 90% of his mayoralty,” which ran from 1994 to 2001.

In the Georgia case, Giuliani is accused of making false statements, soliciting false testimony and seeking the illegal appointment of proTrump Electoral College voters. Giuliani was also described as a coconspirator but not charged in special counsel Jack Smith’s election interference case against Trump.

Giuliani maintains that he had every right to raise questions about what he believed to be election fraud.

Today, he remains popular among conservatives in his hometown. He hosts a daily radio show in New York City and a nightly streaming show watched by a few hundred people on social media, which he calls “America's Mayor Live."

After 9/11, Giuliani started a consulting firm that had $100 million in revenue in five years. Lately, though, he's shown signs of financial strain, exacerbated by a third divorce, costly lawsuits and investigations.

To generate cash, he’s hawked autographed 9/11 shirts for $911 dollars and pitched sandals sold by election denier Mike Lindell. He’s also joined Cameo, a service where celebrities record short videos for profit. Giuliani’s greetings cost $325 a pop.

In July, he put his Manhattan apartment up for sale for $6.5 million.

Last year, a judge threatened Giuliani with jail in a dispute over money owed to Judith, his third exwife. Giuliani said he was making progress paying the debt, which she said totaled more than $260,000.

In May, a woman who says she worked for Giuliani sued him, alleging he owed her nearly $2 million in unpaid wages and that he had coerced her into sex. Giuliani denied the allegations.

“His legacy is in tatters,” said Kirtzman, who was with Giuliani on 9/11 as they fled debris from the falling World Trade Center. He's “gone through all of his money,” is facing prison and "will never change his feeling that he was right and everyone else was wrong.”

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, right, arrives at a campaign rally after being introduced by former new

Mindanao Fashion Summit Year 12 in full swing

TWELVE long years ago, I wrote, “For its sheer scope and scale, the challenge of mounting a Mindanao Fashion Summit (MFS) seemed insurmountable. Not to mention too ambitious, too much, too soon. But the designers hailing from the Land of Promise were too frustrated, too impatient and too motivated to just rely on Imperial Manila to take notice of their bursting artistry, competent skills and vibrant creativity.”

Back then, the prime mover behind the MFS, Gil Macaibay III, said, “As president of the Oro Fashion Designers Guild (OFDG), it is my vision to uplift the fashion industry in CDO, not just for the designers’ business advantage, but also to create awareness and appreciation among the general public towards fashion and its economic and beautiful possibilities. The MFS was mounted for these primary reasons.

“We made it Mindanao-wide to gather all local designers, for us to know each other, to present our individual fashion aesthetics and have a common venue to exhibit our collections and learn from each other. We aimed to come up with one great event to elevate Mindanaoan pride,” Macaibay added.

Twelve years hence, the MFS is steadier, stronger and soaring. The OFDG is now composed of Alma Mae Roa, Ann Semblante, Arnulfo Neri, Boogie Musni Rivera, Gil Macaibay III, Joshua Guibone, Juniel Doring, Kiko Domo, Mark Christopher Yaranon, Mavy de Leon Ladlad, Melvin Lachica, Ruvil Neri, and Shine Casiño.

Things weren’t as easy as we thought,” Roa said. “There were so many concerns and issues along the way. Difficult as it had been, our chairman and president, Gil, was very determined to do all things possible to realize the MFS. Seeing all that, the members simply obeyed and likewise tried to find means to make things happen.”

The eleganza extravaganza schedule is as follows:

Day 1, August 23: The Mindanaoan Collection segment with all OFDG members participating; Menswear show with guest models Santino Rosales and Kirst Viray. The shows start at 5 pm.

Day 2, August 24: The LGTBQIA Fashion Show at 5:00 pm; Guest Designers Show at 5:20 pm and Designers Assembly Show at 5:40 pm. The DA is composed of Jie-jie Aisa, Jayson Monding, Dandy Domingo, Dio Deus, and Carmel Kho Ricarte.

Day 3, August 25: A Special Segment (VVIP) at 4:00 pm; a tribute show to the late OFDG founding member Benjie S. Manuel at 4:20 pm and the Holiday Collection at 4:40 pm.

All shows, to be directed by Robbie Pamisa, are at the Ayala Centrio Mall, with hair and makeup by John Steinman and the Beautifully Beatified Team.

Currently at the helm of the OFDG is Yaranon, who is tirelessly toiling to make this edition unforgettable, promising, “This year’s Mindanao Fashion Summit is a comeback to the threeday Fashion Extravaganza.... After two years of hiatus due to the Covid-19 pandemic, it’s now back in full swing with guests models from Manila Santino Rosales and Kirst Viray for Menswear on Day 1; Miss Charm Philippines Krishnah Gravidez on Day 2; and Miss Universe 2021 Top 5 Bea Luigi Gomez plus an exciting surprise segment on Day 3.”

Unique fragrances from an American designer and an Italian luxury house

interview that the scents were inspired by farm life and travel.

Tory’s scent collection includes “Electric Sky,” “Cosmic Wood,” “Divine Moon,” “Mystic Geranium,” and “Sublime Rose.” The perfumes take inspiration from concepts like magic and freedom, and evoke emotions like love, joy, and peace.

My stic Geramium brings forth feelings of joy with its sweet and harmonious blend of fresh bergamot and aromatic geranium, while base notes of warm cedar and comforting musk envelop you with a sense of calmness.

Divine Moon evokes mystery as it centers itself around the intoxicating Lady of the Night flower, while notes of honey and citrus help balance the fragrance.

Cosmic Wood is also one of my choices, along with Sublime Rose and Divine Moon.

M oncler, which is known for its quilted down jackets, unveiled in 2021 the brand’s first-ever fragrances, Moncler Pour Femme and Moncler Pour Homme. Both creations reflect a bold synergy of nature, exploration, and discovery. The fragrance duo shares a unique Mountain Woods accord exclusive to Moncler. Moncler Pour Homme was created by Antoine Maisondieu and Christophe Raynaud, featuring top notes of green notes and clary sage, middle note of pine, and base notes of sandalwood, cedar, vetiver, and amber.

TOP photo shows Oro Fashion Designers Guild members Juniel Doring, Mark Christopher Yaranon, Joshua Guibone, Mavy de Leon Ladlad, Gil Macaibay III, Kiko Domo, Ruvil Neri, and Arnulfo Neri. Below are models Dan Galupo in Alma Mae Roa (Mindanaoan Segment/Day 1 ), Dana Tempra in Arnulfo Neri (Mindanaoan Segment/Day 1), Kevin James Pong in Mark Christopher Yaranon (Mindanaoan Segment/Day

DURING the pandemic, many people became “fragheads,” meaning they grew fond of perfume makers and became interested in sampling different fragrances. Perhaps this is one of the pandemic’s positive legacies because who doesn’t like smelling good, right?

I have always been interested in fragrances but I can’t necessarily call myself a fraghead. Fragrance is a big part of my life. I got married in Lancome Tresor. When my daughter was young, my favorite scent was Tartine et Chocolat. Recently, I’ve been so in love with Dirty from Lush and Paco Rabanne Olympea.

I assume that many other people associate scents and fragrances with certain periods of their lives.

D esigner Tory Burch, who released five perfumes as part of the “Essence of Dreams” collection, said in a recent

Electric Sky is fresh yet unexpected, with a combination of cactus flower, lavender, and wood. The familiar and classic heart note in Sublime Rose is enriched with a warm wood undertone.

Meanwhile, Burch said in an interview that vetiver, one of the key notes in Cosmic Wood, reminds her of her father. The fragrance channels the magical and mystical, with spicy cardamom, jasmine, and hints of vetiver. It should be noted that Cosmic Wood has been named one of the 10 best woody fragrances of 2023 by instyle.com

“ Tory Burch Cosmic Wood is an understated classic that will please every nose,” writes instyle.com. “The feminine woody scent features base notes of smoky wood, patchouli, and sage; but heart notes of cardamom, jasmine, and vetiver lighten and brighten the perfume so it veers more floral with a spicy, earthy kick.”

Meanwhile, Moncler Pour Femme is a floral woody musky fragrance that contains a pair of custom accords designed exclusively for Moncler. The perfume opens with the crisp Powdery Snow accord reminiscent of freshly fallen snow.

Lifted with the radiance of Italian Bergamot and a bouquet of white florals, the scent is cocooned by the Mountain Woods, an accord exclusive to Moncler. Its luxurious and heady dry down fuses with natural vanillin for a feminine allure,” said Moncler in its website. The fragrance was created by Nisrine Grillié and Quentin Bisch.

E ach Moncler scent evokes a crisp, cool ode to the great outdoors wrapped in an opulent cocoon of warmth. Yes, when you wear a Moncler scent, it’s like being wrapped in one of their luxurious jackets. Both fragrances are woody and spicy—sophisticated but not heady and overpowering.

The 150ml borraccia flask-shaped bottles of Moncler Pour Homme and Pour Femme have a revolutionary LED design. Both bottles are encircled with a ribbed silver case and cap, a tribute to Moncler’s mountaineering origins and the iconic quilted construction of a Moncler jacket. The bottle design combines a bold silver finish with clear glass revealing the light amber liquid of Moncler Pour Femme, while the Moncler Pour Homme bottle has a silver-dipped effect. The Moncler Pour Femme bottle is distinguished with a softly curved base design, while the Moncler Pour Homme bottle falls in a straight line.

Moncler Pour Femme and Pour Homme are available at Rustan’s while the Tory Burch fragrances can be found in the Tory Burch boutique in Power Plant Mall.

MONCLER POUR HOMME (left) in a borraccia flask-shaped bottle and Tory Burch’s ‘Essence of Dreams’ collection

PHOTO FROM MONCLER AND TORY BURCH FRAGRANCE

1), Gwyneth Chan in Joshua Guibone (Holiday Collection/ Day 3 ), and Dan Galupo in Gil Macaibay III (Menswear/Day 1). PHOTOGRAPHED BY ROGER NAZAR LACTAO JR/HAIR AND MAKEUP BY JOHN STEINMAN & BEAUTIFULY BEAUTIFIED TEAM

Waterfront Cebu City Hotel hosts Cebu Wedding Expo 2023

Atimonan One Energy fosters skills excellence among CSO leaders

ATIMONAN One Energy, Inc. (AE), a subsidiary of Meralco PowerGen Corporation (MGen), recently conducted a free leadership and communication skills training for the members of Civil Society Organizations (CSO) in Atimonan, Quezon Province.

The training, attended by 30 CSO leaders from the sectors of farming, fishing, business, livelihood, and causeoriented groups, aims to hone their communication and leadership skills to become more effective leaders of their respective organizations.

CSO plays a significant role in the social, economic, and democratic development of the communities because they perform a variety of services and humanitarian functions for their stakeholders.

Resource speakers were Parish Priest from Saint Anne and Diocesan Shrine Rev. Fr. Severino Hernandez and MGen consultant Reynalita Santana, who gave informative talks on character development, leadership skills, and effective communication practices.

In his talk, Rev. Fr. Hernandez emphasized that character education begins at home: “Good character builds

trust, and without trust, people will not follow you. Without followers, obviously, one cannot lead.”

“I believe that you need to have good leadership qualities and communication skills to be able to lead your team well. And this training is helpful and truly inspires me to work hard to improve my organization’s performance”, said Manuel Trapalgar, Board of Director of New Carinay Homeowners Association, the housing project of AE.

Moreover, AE External Affairs Manager Cynthia Pardo discussed the recent

updates about the company’s project conversion from coal to liquified natural gas to support the government’s goal of a low carbon future and energy transition. She also highlighted the continuous social development programs of AE for its host communities, which are all anchored on One Meralco’s sustainability agenda of Powering the Good Life.

Atimonan One Energy is developing a 1,200-megawatt natural gas-fired combined cycle gas turbine power plant in Brgy. Villa Ibaba, Atimonan, Quezon.

BSP DONATES TO HEALTH INSTITUTIONS

DURING ANNIVERSARY MONTH Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Eli M. Remolona Jr. led the turnover of donations to six health institutions during rites held at the BSP head office in Manila on 31 July 2023. The BSP, which kickstarted its 30th year celebration on 3 July 2023, traditionally donates to institutions providing healthcare services to underserved Filipinos during its anniversary month. With the Governor in the photos (clockwise) are representatives of the beneficiaries, namely, Lung Center of the Philippines Executive Director Dr. Vincent M. Balanag Jr., Philippine Children’s Medical Center Donations Committee Chairperson Dr. Randy P. Urtula, Philippine General Hospital Director Dr. Gerardo D. Legaspi, and Philippine Heart Center Executive Director Dr. Joel M. Abanilla. The National Kidney and Transplant Institute is also among the beneficiaries this year.

CX industry leader Foundever™ partners with Virlane Foundation to advance career opportunities for the youth in the Philippines

FOUNDEVER™, a global leader in the customer experience (CX) industry, continues to give back to the youth in marginalized sectors by partnering with the Philippines-based Virlanie Foundation in conducting a Career Planning forum for the beneficiaries the foundation’s Independent Living Program (ILP).

The instructive Career Planning forum, held at the Foundever Technopoint hub in Manila, was part of a youth empowerment initiative between Foundever and Virlanie Foundation. The forum provided a one-ofa-kind venue for ambitious professionals to acquire insights, assistance and motivation for launching successful careers.

The primary objectives of the forum were to teach young adults the fundamentals of career planning, self-confidence and resilience, thereby preparing them to enter the workforce with the necessary skills and confidence. The interactive sessions included

skillset training, confidence building and career pathing, all aimed at nurturing the participants’ personal and professional development.

“We are thrilled to have partnered with Virlanie Foundation in conducting this Career Planning forum,” said Rowel Villalobos, Talent Acquisition Director at Foundever. “By providing insights, assistance and drive for their dreams and future paths, we hope to empower the Virlanie beneficiaries and contribute to their growth.”

Virlanie Foundation expressed gratitude to Foundever for their support, stating that the forum will surely help the beneficiaries master the needs of their chosen careers.

Beneficiaries were also appreciative of the guidance provided by Foundever. Abraham Fernandez said he hopes more programs similar to this would be offered by Foundever, because this was really

helpful for graduating students like him.

“To ‘plan for right now and what’s ahead’ is a phrase much relevant to my current situation. This may not help me land a job immediately, but it reinforces my character to persevere in this season of job hunting,” he said.

Anabelle del Monte said this forum gave her a stronger sense of confidence in entering the workforce. “Truth is, I am still struggling on which path to take for my career. The speakers gave me a lot to think about and as simple as this forum might be, it provided an opportunity to discover ourselves and build confidence.”

The Career Planning forum exemplifies Foundever’s commitment to making a positive impact on the community. Through empowering the youth with essential career planning skills and confidence, both organizations seek to create a brighter and more promising future for the beneficiaries.

CEBU City, Philippines – At last, Cebu welcomes back the most-anticipated bridal fair after a two-year pandemic hiatus. This 2023, Waterfront Cebu City Hotel & Casino enchants exhibitors and participants to make their vows.

Be prepared to be captivated by the biggest wedding event: Cebu Wedding Expo 2023. As one of the grandest events of the year, we want to be able to promote more than just accessibility – having everyone get the chance to engage with their possible wedding organizers, suppliers, and partners to envision one of the biggest and most memorable days of their lives. We’ve got tons of perks awaiting you — apart from having everything you’ll ever need to plan your big day all in one place, guests can come and book on the spot and get a hold of exclusive deals!

This year, we’ve chosen the theme: “Starry Starry Night.” Through this, we want to be able to convey a story to our beloved guests — that the sky’s the limit when it comes to envisioning their big day. We want to instill a feeling of importance and remind our guests that their big day will be all about them amidst all the glitter and glamor this event holds.

Showcasing nothing less than world-class talents and couture pieces all on one stage, this year’s event also features “Gugma – Weddings

at Waterfront” a bridal fashion show. Featuring the works of 25 local artists in collaboration with Cary Santiago.

this, models will be walking the runway wearing

than these designers’

pieces — also something our guests can look forward to as they envision themselves walking the runway of their lives in partnership with Dia Gold and Iconique Mall, Colon.

Israeli Embassy Supports Brigada Eskwela, Creates Jerusalem Learning Resource Center

THE Embassy of Israel in the Philippines participated in the Department of Education’s (DepEd) Brigada Eskwela at Bagong Tanyag Elementary School (BTES) – Annex A and transformed a vacant space into a mini library called Jerusalem Learning Resource Center.

"The Israeli Embassy has actively participated in Brigada Eskwela to support the Department of Education since 2015. With unwavering dedication, the Embassy's staff invests considerable time and effort into actively participating in this noble initiative. Through this volunteer event, we connect and support the most important aspect of a country: education. We believe that we need to help one another to provide for the needs of the young generation to develop further their skills and knowledge that will impact the future of the country. Education is also so important in the Jewish ethos," Israeli Ambassador Ilan Fluss said.

Taguig City Mayor Lani Cayetano expressed her heartfelt appreciation to the Israeli Embassy for supporting Brigada Eskwela 2023 in the City of Taguig. “We will remember this kindness and generosity,” Cayetano said in her message.

The Jerusalem Learning Resource Center was designed and filled with amenities such as tables, bean bags, bookshelves,

throw pillows, etc. It is expected to be fully furnished with more educational materials and items such as television, wall fans, and water dispenser donated by the Embassy ahead of the opening of classes.

“As my ambassador said, education is one of the most important pillars of the Jewish and Israeli culture. We encourage and are being encouraged to be curious and to ask questions. I hope bringing Jerusalem’s spirit of learning to this very school and mini library here in Taguig would help our future generations in growing and flourishing and achieving new highs and will deepen the already strong bond between our countries,” Deputy Ambassador Esty Buzgan shared.

The school faculty members headed by Principal Donnabel Balantac extended their thanks to the volunteers of the Israeli Embassy. “Your help to provide a reading space for our learners will motivate them to strive harder, to dream big, and think bigger,” Balantac expressed.

The Embassy staff also helped in repainting the tables. Present during the event held on August 18 were the city government officials, school faculty members, parents, and pupils. Around 2000 students are currently enrolled in BTES and they will have free access to the Jerusalem Learning Resource Center.

THE premium distributor of professional salon tools, equipment, and accessories has partnered with the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda) to upgrade the country’s training in the hair industry.

L' Oreal took big leap in accomplishing its mission to its clients and the community after it launched the Le Couleur Academie where the educational and accreditation partnership will provide more innovative training as the company will offer advanced tools, accessories, and equipment techniques to its students.

The training Academie also aims to professionalize hairdressers through courses

that will focus on their creativity and hone their knowledge to the next level.

“The goal of the project is to create a premium and trendy hair culture with the likes of Paris and Japan. This long-term goal will surely have an impact on the livelihood of the numerous hairdressers, salon owners and the hairdressing community. It will also highlight Filipino skills and talents in the global arena too,” said Jane Pajarillaga, CEO of L' Oreal. The Le Couleur Academie is located in Quezon City and will serve satellite classes in the CALABARZON and other provincial areas. The classes will be open to the public by midAugust.

L‘Oreal, TESDA partner to launch training facility to upgrade and professionalize PHL hair industry

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WESTWOODS STOREYS OFFICIAL LAUNCH AND VIEWING. Pueblo de Oro Development Corporation (PDO), the residential development arm of the ICCP Group, recently held the official launch and exclusive viewing party for the Westwoods Storeys in Cagayan de Oro City. Westwoods Storeys is a seven-tower mid-rise condominium project surrounded by a protected urban rainforest within the 400-hectare Pueblo de Oro township in Barangay Carmen. In photo are Pueblo de Oro president and chief operating officer Prim Nolido (right) and vice president and general manager for Mindanao  Chrysler Acebu unveiling the scale model during the event at the 4 Kings Event Center.

REV. Fr. Severino “Rekto” Hernandez sharing pointers on character development during the leadership and communication skills training for members of Civil Society Organizations in Atimonan.

ALIGNING ASPIRATIONS. Foundever™ and Virlanie Foundation joined forces to host a dynamic Career Planning forum for the beneficiaries of Virlanie’s Independent Living Program (ILP). In the photo are participants who posed for a group shot following sessions where they were coached about their professional journey.

Who says science isn’t sexy?

THEY say perception is often shaped by our reality. With that premise, we would usually hear a lot of misconceptions on certain fields. One example that has become part of our country’s narrative is the belief that science is boring. To attribute the word “sexy” or “alluring” to “science” is like mixing oil and water. Many of us believe that they just don’t go well together. It is understandable to think of it that way, given that the means of communicating our science in the past was often associated with the mundane and less enticing aspects of it.

But times are changing, and the landscape of science communication in the Philippines has never been at its best foot forward as it unveils a fascinating transformation. The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) is taking a giant leap in championing not only research and development and technology transfer of its products, but also in communicating science to the Filipino people.

This bold move of the DOST took shape when we formalized our Strategy Framework for 20232028 that will support the four pillars—Sustainability, Human Well-being, Wealth Protection, and Wealth Creation—embedded in the department’s organizational strategy. This signifies that all of the DOST’s efforts, from its agencies, regional, and provincial offices, should contribute to those mentioned pillars.

But what’s most interesting about it is that, for the very first time, communication is finally being recognized as one of the key factors vital for us to achieve just that. Right at the center of the DOST Strategy Framework is Communication and Linkages. This is truly an exciting time because formalizing it and embedding it in the very heart of our blueprint in DOST could open a lot of doors in the realm of science communication in the country.

Last August 8, the University of the Philippines-Los Baños presented its Harmonized Science Communication Framework to DOST and other stakeholders in the scientific community. This is a milestone project funded by DOST in collaboration with our agency, DOST-Science and Technology Information Institute (STII). It

nership with the ATRAM Group (ATRAM) as part of the Company’s growth strategy to fulfill the evolving needs of its growing customer base.

The leading life insurer will soon onboard ATRAM as its local fund manager. Its expertise and solid track record in asset and wealth management will complement Pru Life UK’s supe

rior selection of funds.

To achieve their shared goal

is such a feat for all of us, as it is also a first in the country to be able to craft a science communication framework aligned with the DOST Strategy Framework and our Science Communication Agenda. With this framework, we are looking forward to improving the way we communicate science to make it more targeted, captivating, and easily understood by our stakeholders.

As testament that we are on the right track to popularizing science, and making a breakthrough in science communication, is our very own, National Scientist Dr. Dolores Ramirez, who is the current face of Vogue Philippines for its August issue. This is such a momentous event in the scientific community, for our scientists to be given an avenue on mainstream platforms to challenge stereotypes and underscore the nation’s surge in scientific awareness.

Bannered on the cover of Vogue Philippines is a living testament

of helping more Filipino families live wealthier, Pru Life UK and ATRAM will co-develop and launch more innovative and customer-centric investment solutions to further strengthen their investment performance for their customers.

This will enable Pru Life UK agents to further add value and enhance their customer network through a wider array of financial solutions. More importantly,

to this compelling shift. Every misconception that we can attribute to what a scientist looks like or should look like, for that matter, was portrayed on the contrary by Dr. Dolores Ramirez in her Vogue magazine cover. The distinguished national scientist wears a bright green, long-sleeve blouse, with a vibrant-colored flower on her chest that matches the color of her hair, while donning a rose-tinted eyewear. The way Dr. Ramirez, an esteemed scientist in the field of genetics and bioinformatics, was personified in the cover perfectly harmonizes the union of intellect and elegance, proving that science can be charismatic and captivating at the same time.

In the past, the ritz and glamour often associated with our culture of celebrity and show business has affected the way we view and communicate science. But this conception is slowly changing. For the past six years, DOST has been

Pru Life UK customers will gain access to ATRAM’s wide range of solutions and platforms to help them grow and expand their investment portfolio.

“We are delighted to have ATRAM as our co-advocate in helping more Filipinos achieve their financial goals. With this promising partnership, we are strengthening Pru Life UK’s growth trajectory and investment performance that will ben -

embarking on an ambitious journey on placing science at the forefront of the public’s consciousness. The result of the SWS Survey on the public awareness on DOST and its programs and services from 2016 to 2022 is nothing short of impressive—from 6 percent to a whopping 46 percent national S&T awareness, and this just goes to show the pivotal role that DOST played in communicating science.

The narrative is changing. Science is no longer confined to being in a laboratory, performing experiments in a white lab coat. It is not just the boring, and oftentimes difficult subject, taught to us in school. Science is embedded in our daily lives. It is what we live and breathe, it is in the food we eat, it is in the medicine that saves lives, it is in the technologies that create conveniences for us. It is here, all around us. And the way that we communicate it shapes its existence and value to us.

As we continue to bust the idea

efit our customers,” shared Eng Teng Wong, Pru Life UK President & CEO. “Our customers can count on Pru Life UK and ATRAM to help them grow their wealth.”

“We are excited to partner with Pru Life UK, the pioneer and leader in investment-linked insurance products. Our shared vision of securing the financial well-being of our clients is the foundation of our collaboration.

We look forward to bringing

that science lacks allure, it is important to note that it is not just about embracing the aesthetics of it. It is about the acknowledgement of the creativity, innovativeness, and ingenuity that lies within the scientific progress, which are oftentimes disregarded when we communicate about science. The harmonious marriage of art and science that we’ve seen on the August issue of Vogue Philippines is a harbinger of the times—proof that the perception on science is continuously evolving.

In this era of enlightenment, let's celebrate this wonderful transformation of science and the many leaps that the DOST is paving to improve the way we communicate science in the country. In this continuous effort to unveil the captivating aspects of science, we bring in such an exciting time ahead, one where curiosity reigns, stereotypes are shattered, and the way we pursue scientific knowledge becomes inherently “sexy”.

PR Matters is a roundtable column by members of the local chapter of the UK-based International Public Relations Association (IPRA), the world’s premiere association for senior communications professionals around the world. Richard P. Burgos is the director of Science and Technology Information Institute of the Department of Science and Technology. A seasoned communicator, he has helped build some of the biggest brands in the information technology industry such as IBM, HP and Sun Microsystems.

PR Matters is devoting a special column each month to answer our readers’ questions about public relations. Please send your questions or comments to askipraphil@gmail.com.

the latest investment products and technology to Pru Life UK’s agents and customers helping them achieve their dreams and aspirations,” said Michael Ferrer, Chief Executive Officer of ATRAM Group. ATRAM was selected following a rigorous evaluation and approval process. Certain transactions related to the partnership are subject to regulatory approval.

fr o M left: Prof. garry Jay s. Montemayor, from the university of the Philippines Los Baños- college of development communication and project leader of the harmonized science communication framework; Ms. Marita carlos, director of dost-Pc aarrd s applied communication division; dr. Zorayda V. ang, deputy d rector of dost-itdi s administrative services, dost-Ptri director dr. Julius Leaño Jr; dost undersecretary for research and development dr. Leah J. Buendia; dost secretary renato u solidum Jr.; dost-Pcieerd executive director dr enrico c. Paringit; and dost-stii d rector richard P. Burgos

Sports BusinessMirror B8 Monday august 21, 2023 mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph sports@businessmirror.com.ph editor: Jun lomibao

By Josef Ramos

N

That meant Donaire, who turned pro after his failed bid to make the US team to the Sydney 2000 Olympics, competed and won one professional world boxing titles after another as a full-blooded Filipino under the country’s colors sans an important document, a Philippine passport.

“I am very proud and whole now that I have my Philippine citizenship,” Donaire said in a press release from the Philippine Consulate General in San Francisco.“Being Bohol-born, for years I have tried to get my citizenship but I was always missing a paper.”

The consulate didn’t specify the “missing paper” but some camps surmise it could be an original copy of his birth certificate.

“With my mom’s [Imelda] help, was able to complete my package of requirements for me to get my citizenship here at the Philippine Consulate in San Francisco,” added the 40-yearold four-division world champion who owns a 42-8 win-loss record with 28 knockouts.

“On behalf of Consul General Neil Ferrer, I congratulate Mr. Nonito Donaire for reacquiring his Philippine citizenship,”Deputy Consul General Raquel Solano said. “The Filipino nation is very proud of his achievements in boxing and are happy to welcome him back as a Filipino citizen.”

“We wish him well in his future endeavors, especially in his and his wife’s social initiatives to help our kababayans in the

Philippines,” Solano added.

ONITO DONAIRE JR. became a dual citizen after the former multi-division world boxing champion got his Philippine passport after taking his Oath of Allegiance at the Philippine Consulate General in San Francisco last August 14.Donaire was accompanied by his wife Rachel and sons Jarel and Logan, who also became dual citizens as his derivatives. They became citizens under Republic Act No. 9225.

The Donaires met Solano, Consuls Jed Llona and Rowena Pangilinan-Daquipil and Vice Consul Adrian Baccay during the ceremony.

The couple shared their social initiatives in the Philippines, including building typhoon-resilient homes, setting-up sustainable waste management systems and installing water filtration systems in rural communities.

Former natural-born Filipinos who were subsequently naturalized as US citizens may apply for dual citizenship under Republic Act No. 9225, according to the consulate.

Donaire arrived in the US as an 11-year-old in 1993 and was already a US citizen when he started boxing as an amateur in 1998. He vied for a berth on the US boxing team to the Sydney Olympics but lost the spot to Brian Viloria, also a Filipino-American who would eventually fight as a pro, and win a world title, as a Filipino.

“Aside from being able to give pride to my roots, my citizenship will allow me to stay in the Philippines longer and create change and growth for Filipinos throughout economical sociological and environmental projects through action,” Donaire said.

He last fought last July 29 but lost to Alexandro Santiago of Mexico for the World Boxing Council bantamweight belt.

Donaire, who owns the record as the oldest world bantamweight champion at 38, is not declaring if he’s retiring from boxing.

UNBEATABLE

FOR BRONZE

Lagrada emerges as most successful athlete at Asean youth archery meet

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Learning her lessons from her heartbreaking loss in the Olympic round finals of the women’s recurve singles to teammate Charlene Santos last Friday, Lagrada was deadly accurate in adding two more mints to her collection in the competition supported by the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC).

The world youth meet veteran combined with teammates Santos and Alexis Samantha Pioquinto in outclassing the Singaporean trio of Celestine Choo, Janice Lau and Tabitha Yeo 5-1 (50-49, 50-42, 49-49) in capturing the women’s team gold in the tournament also backed by the Cebu city government.

Lagrada then teamed up with Jonathan Ebbinghans Reaport in whipping the University of Baguio Archery Club pair of Renian Keith Nawew and Faith Anne Laruan

DA LEGARDA bounced back on Saturday and anchored Olympus Archery Club to a pair of victories in the recurve Under-21 women’s and mixed team events to emerge the most bemedaled athlete at the end of the 1st Asean Youth Archery Championships in Cebu City on Saturday.silver in the Olympic round, of the inaugural international youth tournament organized by World Archery Philippines (WAP) also backed by FR Sevilla Industrial Corp. owned by WAP chairman Felizardo Sevilla Jr.

“I was able to make proper adjustments after my loss to Charlene last Friday and executed better today so I am happy to help our team,” said Lagrada, 19, of her better outing in what could be her first and last outing in the Asean Youth Archery championships.

“This is a bittersweet experience because I believe this will be my last Asean Youth tournament since I will be turning 20 early in May next year and might not be eligible compete for the next one. It could be in the next two years so I will be overaged by then,” she pointed out.

Singapore’s Jyan Seow, BoxiangTang, and Kaeden Wee, performing under the banner of Salt & Light Archery Club, topped Cebu Archery Club’s Aldrener Igot Jr., Zyril James Fano and Kien Zhyron Torreon 6-0 (53-50, 51-49, 55-52) in ruling the men’s Under-18 recurve team event.

the

NONITO DONAIRE JR. (fifth from left) with (from left) Vice Consul Adrian Baccay, Consul Rowena

Beatdown in Beantown

Bleachers’ Brew

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Sean O’Malley is the new bantamweight champion. Aljamain Sterling has to do a bit of soul searching whether he stays in the division or moves up another weight class.

And I still think that referee Marc Goddard stepped in prematurely to end the fight. Yes, Aljo was in trouble, but he wasn’t out, and was certainly still moving. This fight could have gone on for another 10 seconds or so to see if Sterling had a chance to recover or not.

Now we will never know.

I think that leaves a bit of a bad taste in my mouth.

UFC 292—may not be the best of the big numbered events—but it is certainly the cause of much analysis and discussion. Who would have thought debate about another premature stoppage would creep into the discussion?

The title fights are always a hot topic but prior to the co-main events, wanted to talk about how Ian Garry totally outclassed Neil Magny.

Well so did Zhang Weili against Amanda Lemos.

Both Neil and Amanda gutted it out and made it to the final round of their respective fights. While some will interpret that as a testament to their courage and toughness— and maybe they are—but the way look at it, they endured 15 and 25 minutes of punishment and humiliation.

How many times did Garry knock Magny down with a leg kick? At least three times. And each time Garry asked Magny to get up as if to say, “No worries dude, I’ll just plant you on your butt again.”

Magny was wincing in pain and hobbling from the second and third rounds. He is going to need more than a month before he walks right again.

Zhang Weili, the reigning UFC women’s

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FC 292 is wrapped up.champion, went all super typhoon on Lemos who looked like she was drowning in a sea of strikes and leg kicks as well as takedowns and submission attempts. don’t think Lemos needed advice from her corner. What she needed was an oxygen tank! Or shelter from the storm.

Since Zhang bounced back from back-toback losses to Rose Namajunas (the second which I think was controversial), Weili has been devastating! I’d love to see her lock horns with Namajunas for their own trilogy. have had the good fortune of interviewing

Weili twice now—one face to face during UFC 275 in Singapore and the second prior to UFC 292 on Zoom—and she did bare how she was driven to improve her skills and not leave it to the judges’ scorecards for close ones.

think it is great that Weili has found huge success in her second go-around as UFC strawweight champion. I know she has been inspirational not just to her countrymen in China but to others as well who see her as a symbol of not giving up and constantly improving herself.

Now the onus is on Neil Magny and Amanda Lemos to bounce back big time from these losses that exposed them.

Chris Weidman, a former UFC champion, made his return also to action in the final match of the preliminary cards after more than two years away due to a broken leg That he survived all three rounds against Brad Tavares should give him some confidence but clearly he cannot fight this way—tentative and unable to put together combinations. He did rock Tavares on several occasions but because Tavares teed off on his legs he couldn’t find the power to land that haymaker.

5-1 (31-26, 28-27, 32-32) to cap a fruitful day at the Dynamic Herb Sports Complex. She boosted her medal collection to four, counting her gold in the qualifying round and

official calls

The comments came after the world chess federation was heavily criticized for its decision to block transgender women from official women’s events.

The Switzerland-based federation FIDE said the decision, set to take place Monday, would stay in effect until the federation does an assessment of the issue.

Critics, including advocacy groups and some European players and federations, have derided what they call an unnecessary and discriminatory policy that appears to foster “trans panic,” with one

Udyong Archery Club’s Irish Angel Licudan, Kyla Marie Pascua and Zajara Sky Petilla routed Metro Archery Club’s Jemina Kesiya Aglipa, Penelope Juli Aldiano and

ARDA LEGARDA with her three golds and one silver medal.

Mariella Liza Valbuena 6-0 (41-35, 47-39, 43-38) in capturing the women’s Under-18 recurve team championship.

WAP secretary general Dondon Sombrio was delighted over the outcome of the competition that drew close to 300 young archers from Southeast Asia as well as Chinese-Taipei, India and the United Arab Emirates.

“I am happy and relieved that we were able to pull this tournament off despite some hitches, including the rain.

for more research on transgender issue

ENEVA—A top global chess official Friday called for more research into whether factors such as hormone levels and physical endurance might have an impact on players’ abilities at the male-dominated game.former British women’s champion calling for the world federation to reverse its decision.

Dana Reizniece-Ozola, the deputy chair of the chess federation’s management board, insisted the goal of the new regulations was “actually to increase the rights of the transgender persons and allow them being registered under their new gender” in its official directory.

Tournaments for women only were created in the 1970s as a way to foster their participation in a sport that has long been dominated by men. Even now only 2% of all players—and 10% of rated players—are women, she said. The new regulations, which could subject transgender women to a waiting period of up to two years as the issue is examined, was aimed at giving FIDE a “grace period” to sort out the matter

of transgender players and men’s dominance in the sport. “What is still not clear is if the hormonal levels do influence the competitiveness in chess,” Reizniece-Ozola said by video from Latvia’s capital, Riga. “There is no serious research or scientific analysis that would prove one or the other way. There are speculations, but no more than that.”

Many sports involving intense physical activity—which chess does not—have been grappling with how to formulate policies toward transgender athletes in recent years.

Cathy Renna, communications director for the US National LGBTQ Task Force, said the new rules appeared to be “a case of trans panic with no justification, not grounded in reality and once again marginalizing trans people.”

Rain or Shine bows out with loss to UC Irvine

Based from our experience in organizing the event, I am confident we will ready to hose the next international event,”added Sombrio, who was the prime mover behind the meet. ‘I would also like to thank the PSC, the Philippine Olympic Committee, the WAP board under president Atty. Clint Aranas and our other sponsors such as Tangent, Benel Archery and Postal Science Corp. for making 1st Asean Youth Archery Championships all possible,”

Brown in harness in Budapest, hopes to make grade for Paris

OBYN LAUREN BROWN takes the track of the world athletics championships in Budapest inspired running under the country’s colors on Monday but tasked to run some three seconds faster to catch a ticket to the Paris Olympics next year.“Representing my country, Philippines, is the greatest motivation I have [since] there’s only three of us [here],” the 29-year-old Brown told BusinessMirror on the eve of her women’s 400 meters hurdles heat on Sunday. “It’s definitely exciting to be here.”

Hurdler Eric Cray, a Filipino-American like Brown, ran in the qualifiers of the men’s 400 meters hurdles Sunday but failed to advance after finishing seventh among eight runners in his heat with 50.27 seconds.

ELASTO Painters import is tossed after am unsportsmanlike foul and a verbal altercation with the UC Irvine bench.

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The loss appeared imminent when the Elasto Painters couldn’t make their shots early in the game, shooting on a measly 1 of 20 from the field and missing all of 10 tries from threepoint territory. That spelled doom for the Filipinos as

AIN or Shine struggled in offense against a bigger and quicker opponent to absorb a 54-point defeat, 115-61 to the US NCAA Division I team UC Irvine in its final William Jones Cup assignment at theTaipei Heping Gymnasium in Chinese Taipei on Sunday.the Americans, who already clinched the Jones Cup title on Saturday after beating erstwhile undefeated Chinese Taipei A, made sure to take advantage of ROS shooting woes, building a 26-6 advantage at the end of the first quarter. Making matters worse for the Elasto Painters was the ejection of import Nick Evans with close to five. minutes left in the first quarter because of unsportsmanlike foul after shoving an American player. He was slapped a technical foul after

engaging the UC Irvine coaching staff in a verbiral altercation.

The offense slowly picked up in the ensuing quarters but it was already too late as UC’s lead went beyond reach.

Derin Saran led the way with 23 points while forwards Emilis Butkus added 18 and Devin Tellis with 16 as UC swept all eight games in the tournament.

Andrei Caracut was the lone double digit scorer for the Filipinos with 14 as Rain or Shine finished the tournament with a 2-6 record.

World No. 3 and Asian champion pole vaulted Ernest John “EJ” Obiena, on the other hand, competes in Wednesday’s qualifiers against 29 opponents including world and Olympic champion Armand Duplantis. The final is set August 26.

“I’m so proud because we’re just a few Southeast Asian nations here” said Brown, referring to Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore which also have athletes in Budapest. “We have to work hard to achieve our goals.”

Work hard Brown needs to do as the 57.50 seconds she booked in winning the women’s 400m hurdles gold at the Bangkok Asian championships last month—her ticket to Budapest—is 2.67 seconds under the Paris Olympics qualifying standard of 54.85.

But the daughter of Susana Crisostomo, a registered nurse in Los Angeles, and Kurtis Brown, a retired respiratory therapist, is undaunted. “I feel so excited so I’m hoping it will boost my Olympic route,” she said. Josef Ramos

Pangilinan-Daquipil, Rachel Donaire, Deputy Consul General Raquel Solano, Consul Jed Llona and Administrative Officer Lucelyn Gumabay at the Romulo Hall of the Philippine Consulate General in San Francisco.

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Chess

ROBYN LAUREN BROWN needs to slash some three seconds off her best time to make her first Olympics.