BusinessMirror August 31, 2023

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take a beating in the third quarter as trade deficits swell, uncertainty looms on interest rates, and the US dollar strengthens, according to a local think tank.

In its latest Market Call report, First Metro Investment Corp.University of Asia and the Pacific (FMIC-UA&P) Capital Markets Research said the country’s GDP growth target of 6-7 percent remains attainable despite the lackluster 4.3-percent growth in the second quarter of 2023.

However, the think tank said its technical analysis for August “showed that actual dollar-peso has exceeded both the 30-day moving average [MA] and the 200-day MA.”

“Q3 [third quarter] won’t treat the peso kindly as interest rates abroad will remain high while Philippine balance of trade deficits should again balloon due to the surge in crude oil prices,” FMICUA&P Capital Markets Research said.

On Wednesday, data from the Bankers Association of the Philippines (BAP) showed the peso closed at P56.725 to the US dollar. e peso traded at a high of P56.79 and a low of P56.6 to the greenback. e peso’s close on Wednesday was better compared to the P56.75 to the dollar close on Tuesday. On that day, the peso traded at a high of P56.81 and a low of P56.55 to the dollar.

FMIC-UA&P Capital Markets Research said the uncertainty over policy rates and the “renewed bullish greenback” caused the volatility in the peso throughout the month of July compared to June.

“USDPHP continued to move

THE Management Association of the Philippines (MAP) has urged the Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA) to review the 2023 Interagency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) revised guidelines on departure requirements for Filipino passengers traveling abroad to ensure that Filipino travelers are not “unnecessarily burdened” with additional documentary requirements.

In the Senate, days before the Bureau of Immigration (BI) is to roll out the controversial new departure guidelines for travel-

ers, senators upped the ante on Wednesday and threatened to carve out from the BI’s 2024 budget a special fund to reimburse over 30,000 Filipinos wrongly offloaded by BI in past years.

Subsequently, the senators also adopted a resolution urging relevant agencies to suspend enforcement of the IACAT guidelines.

ey also approved a motion by Minority Leader Koko Pimentel for senators, led by Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri, to fi le a separate petition—“if court intervention is still necessary”—to stop the rollout of the IACAT guidelines “for being unconstitutional.”

Sen. Chiz Escudero made the suggestion to make the BI repay those wrongfully offloaded for

their expenses, as he and several others made manifestations following a strongly worded privileged speech by Zubiri on Wednesday, supporting his colleagues’ serious concerns over the rules to be enforced starting September 3.

In his speech, Zubiri cited data showing the BI in recent years had offloaded 32,404 outbound travelers for various reasons—a huge number he compared to ailand’s less than 400 people barred from departing.

Manifesting strong support for Zubiri’s speech, Majority Leader Joel Villanueva said that of the 32,404 who were offloaded, the BI’s data showed only 472 were found to be victims of human trafficking. is indicated, he said, that the

blanket, arbitrary bans on departures imposed by BI barely dented the human trafficking syndicates. What happens, Villanueva asked, to the 98 percent who were wrongly offloaded?

Reacting to this, Escudero made his pitch to compel BI to reimburse the wrongly offloaded persons. “Let it hurt them so that they will learn their lessons, and exercise their discretion better.” Escudero said the reimbursement fund can be inserted as a “special provision in the 2024 budget” of the agency when the Senate deliberates on this.

Zubiri promised to support Escudero’s proposal.

Earlier, Sen. Grace Poe strongly

CHINA’S NEW MAP FOR ’23 BEARS 10-DASH LINE

CHINA’S mapping agency has released an updated version of its standard map Monday, drawing the ire of India.

The Philippines, other Southeast Asian countries claiming the South China Sea, and Taiwan have yet to issue a statement.

According to China Daily, the o cial publication of the ruling Chinese Communist Party, the 2023 edition of Chinese standard map was released during the awareness publicity week of the Chinese Ministry of Natural Resources. The map includes the 10 dashes that formed like a broken U-shape around the South China Sea and extend until the Bashi Channel and Taiwan.

This is not the rst time that China has published the 10-dash line in the South China Sea, but a strong reiteration of their historic claim despite a ruling by the United Nationssanctioned Arbitral Tribunal that invalided their nine-dash line claim.

India has lodged a “strong protest” over the inclusion of the north-eastern state of Runachal Pradesh and the Aksai Cien plateau, which India claims as part of its territory.

“We reject these claims as they have no basis,” India’s foreign ministry spokesperson said in a statement.

SEIPI ADJUSTS TO 0% GROWTH GOAL IN ELECTRONIC EXPORTS

HE Semiconductor and Electronics Industries in the Philippines, Foundation Inc. (SEIPI) has revised its growth target for electronics exports from 5 percent to zero percent for 2023 due to the ongoing geopolitical con icts such as the trade war between the United States and China.

“So as of June we’re 7 percent down and we have, however, revised our growth forecast from 5 percent for the year to at, zero, because realistically we’re down 7 percent,” SEIPI President Danilo C. Lachica told reporters on the sidelines of the Knowledge Exchange Forum: Competency Standards Development for Industries and Learners, organized by the Philippine Business for Education (PBEd) on Wednesday held in Makati City. But, the SEIPI chief said, “We see a recovery in the third and fourth quarter. So that’s why we are aiming for at least at.”

Lachica still pointed to the geopolitical con icts such as the US trade war as the reason behind the decline in electronics exports in the rst half of the year.

Citing data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), SEIPI said electronics exports

covering the period of January to June 2023 went down by 6.99 percent from US$22.78 billion in 2022 to US$21.19 billion in 2023. This is equivalent to 60.63 percent of the Philippine exports pie.

Notwithstanding the decline experienced by the industry in the rst half of the year, Lachica expressed optimism as he is banking on the last quarter of the year’s festivities to drive the growth of the industry.

“The demand is still there. And so we’re hoping that the thanksgiving demand, the Christmas demand, will propel the recovery of the industry,” the SEIPI chief stressed. Moving forward, Lachica divulged the overseas markets that will help drive the growth for the remainder of the year, highlighting that most of SEIPI’s exports go to Asia.

In particular, he said, “China and Hong Kong, but Hong Kong is a clearing house. It goes to Europe, and then the next strongest market would be at about 12 percent that would be for the USA, and Japan and Sin-

WHILE the country’s economic growth targets remain attainable, the Philippine peso is expected to

SC to Cagayan gov: Explain trifling with TRO issuance

THE Supreme Court has ordered Cagayan Governor Manuel Mamba and his counsels to explain why they should not be cited in contempt or be disciplined for abuse of and interference with court proceedings.

The SC-Public Information Office (PIO) said the order was issued by the Court at its regular en banc session on Tuesday and on learning that Mamba surrendered to the House of Representatives without informing the Court of such supervening development. “The Court resolved to require petitioner Manuel Mamba and his counsels to show cause why they should not be disciplinarily dealt with or held in contempt for acts that constitute abuse of or any unlawful interference with the processes or proceedings of a court not constituting direct contempt and or improper conduct tending, directly or indirectly, to impede, obstruct, or degrade the administration of justice within 10 days from notice,” the en banc said.

On August 25, 2023, the Court granted Mamba’s plea for the issuance of a temporary restraining order (TRO) to prevent the House Committee on Public Accounts and Committee on Suffrage and Electoral Reforms from implementing the contempt and detention orders against him. The TRO was issued based on a House order citing him in contempt and ordering his detention for skipping hearings on his alleged public spending violation in the 2022 election period.

House joint panels okay Water Resources Dept bill

HOUSE Ways and Means Chair

Joey Sarte Salceda (Albay, 2nd district), principal author and technical working group chair for the National Water Act, said on Wednesday that the creation of the Department of Water Resources will help address urban flooding issues, by providing a framework for stormwater and drainage services.

The National Water Act, which creates the DWR and the Water Regulatory Commission, was approved by the Committees on Public Works and Government Reorganization on Wednesday.

“The National Water Act will

fulfill the mandate of Executive Order No. 22, which creates the Water Resource Management Office to shepherd the eventual creation of the Department of Water Resources,” Salceda said. “This is also in line with President Marcos’s

mention of the Department of Water Resource Management as an urgent presidential priority in the State of the Nation Address.”

Salceda explained that the bill “unifies policy-making, planning, and management for water and septage under a single department called DWR. The DWR Secretary is given functions of presidential adviser on all water-related issues.”

“The measure also unifies regulatory, rate-setting, and licensing functions under the Water Regulatory Commission, a quasi-judicial body similar to the ERC; It also fills in policy gaps including water regulation in provincial areas.”

The measure also creates the National Water Resource Allocation Board, “basically the approval body for using water resources, including dam construction— chaired by the DWR secretary, with a technical committee for

smaller decisions, and a secretariat called the Resource Allocation Office attached to the DWR, for dayto-day functions.” Salceda also said the measure creates a framework for stormwater management, the first in the country.

“There is no existing regulatory framework for stormwater and drainage management by the private sector in our laws. The Clean Water Act [RA 9275] merely mentions storm water in the context of sewage treatment standards.”

“Nothing in our laws gives us a regulatory framework for stormwater management. This will change that,” Salceda said.

Salceda also said that the bill prioritizes surface water development, “which will reduce groundwater use. That is what’s causing flooding in areas like Bulacan, which is sinking by 1.5 to 2.4 inches annually.” Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

MAP asks ARTA: Review new travel rules

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urged the BI to defer implementation of the new rules until this is

reviewed; and Sen. Nancy Binay, chair of the Tourism committee, denounced the new IACAT rules as too arbitrary, infringing on the

constitutional right to travel, without necessarily stopping human trafficking.

MAP writes ARTA

IN a letter to ARTA Secretary Ernesto Perez, dated August 30, 2023 and signed by MAP President Benedicta Du-Baladad and MAP Ease of Doing Business Committee Chair Ruy Y. Moreno, the MAP said, “Per newspaper reports, we wish to draw your attention to the August 22,2023 Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking [IACAT] revised guidelines on departure requirements for Filipino passengers traveling abroad.”

For one, MAP stressed that under self-funded travels where proof of employment and/or financial capacity is required, the business group questioned this requirement as retired persons cannot present proof of employment. It said, “What document then will BI require?”

For financial capacity, MAP raised the same question as to what the BI will require since the income tax return under the law is confidential. And there have been concerns in some quarters that compelling travelers to show bank certifications might expose them to possible rogue officers who could shake them down or point them out to criminal gangs.

“Bank certification? Notarized? Not notarized? ITR? But ITR under law is confidential,” the business group said.

Meanwhile, for first-time traveler’s documentary requirements,

MAP indicated the need to specify which types of requirements BI should require.

“Some companies, as part of team building, bring their employees overseas for meetings and/or study tours. What about the firsttime traveler who is a member of the group? What documentary requirement will BI require? Employment-employee and company? SEC registration of company?” MAP asked.

MAP also questioned the definition of “seasoned traveler” in the guidelines, which only stated that, “A seasoned traveler has to show only the basic documents, i.e., valid passport, visa [as applicable], boarding pass, return or roundtrip ticket.”

In relation to this, MAP raised its concern, “What is the criteria to qualify as a seasoned traveler? For example, if one has previously traveled but has not done so for the past 5 or 6 years, does the traveler continue to qualify as a seasoned traveler? And how does the traveler prove such?”

Moreover, the business group pointed out that the guideline on financial capacity is a “vague term” open to interpretation which it said could lead to extortion.

“Thus, no ‘amount’ should be reflected in the document that ideally should be issued by a reputable financial institution that will state ‘that the person is of sound financial standing,” MAP stressed.

MAP stressed that “good regulations” must not leave room for subjective interpretation.

PCO inks MOA with PIA, Opapru on peace gains

THE Presidential Communication Office

(PCO) is now eyeing to sustain the government’s efforts against insurgency by amplifying the gains of its peace initiatives.

On Wednesday, PCO signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the Philippine Information Agency (PIA), and the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity (Opapru) for the creation of “comprehensive strategic communications plan” for promoting peace.

Through the said campaign, PCO Secretary Cheloy Velicaria-Garafil said they hope to “empower former rebels and their families as they are integrated into their respective communities and become productive members of society once more.”

“Beyond mere information dissemination, we aim to craft messages that resonate with diverse communities, building bridges of trust and understanding...We are dedicated to countering misinformation and crafting narratives that inspire, educate, and uplift,” Garafil said.

PCO is the co-lead agency of the Strategic

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gapore.” Meanwhile, United Kingdom-based think tank Oxford Economics noted last August 25 that “demand for Asian goods will see some further weakness in the coming months.”

“And while one piece of better news is that the global semiconductor cycle has turned, the tailwind from its initial recovery is likely to be mild,” the UK-based think tank noted. Lachica said there has been an “interesting reversal” in Europe. He said Germany used to be the highest destination of exports within the European Union and then Netherlands.

Now, he said, the destination with the biggest amount of exports in Europe is the Netherlands followed by Germany.

In May 2023, SEIPI kept its 5-percent growth target for 2023 despite the 15.29-percent decline in electronics exports in the first quarter of 2023.

In March, SEIPI revealed that it recorded US$49.09 billion in 2022, a 6.88-percent annual growth from the US$45.93 billion recorded in 2021. Andrea E. San Juan

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up in August as the US dollar rebounded due to higher interest rates there. The FX rate will remain challenged for the rest of Q3 as PH trade deficits will likely balloon again in August with significantly higher crude oil prices and US interest rates staying at elevated levels,” the think tank said.

Meanwhile, in terms of overall economic growth, the 5-percent increase in employment recorded in the second quarter will boost incomes and spending in the second semester of the year.

FMIC-UA&P Capital Markets Research also said government spending could improve in the second semester after posting a contraction in the second quarter.

Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed that Government Final Consumption Expenditure (GFCE) contracted 7.1 percent, the lowest since the first quarter of 2011 when it contracted 15 percent. (Full story here: www.businessmirror.com. ph/2023/08/11/4-3-gdp-growth-inq2-slowest-in-2-years/).

“The National Government [NG] will likely ramp up infrastructure in H2, in addition to the major ongoing PPP projects. Google’s mobility index for the Philippines shows an upward trend that exceeds those of our neighbors and should sustain employment gains in the Services sector,” the local think tank said.

Communication Cluster of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Group (NTF-Elcac).

Under the new MOA, PCO and attached agencies will develop, conceptualize, and produce information, education and communication material related to the peace initiatives of the government.

It will also establish an online presence of the Local Peace Engagements (LPE) and Transformation Program (TP) of the Opapru.

The PIA will help disseminate said materials in the grassroot levels and hold media orientation workshops on target regions for said purpose and produce baseline survey reports.

Meanwhile, the Opapru will implement the comprehensive strategic communications plan for LPE and TP.

PCO is currently conducting a similar information campaign for its Media Information Literacy (MIL) initiative, which it considers one of its main accomplishments this year.

It is currently seeking a P920-million 2024 budget from Congress. Samuel P. Medenilla

Earlier, National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan said in a budget hearing that if only the spending targets of the government were met, GDP in the second quarter could have reached 5.6 percent.

Speaking partly in Filipino, in a briefing on Thursday, he traced the slow growth in the Government Final Consumption Expenditure to, “partly because of the electionrelated spending that I mentioned earlier,” adding: “The figure was high last year because of the election. [Also] part of the fiscal consolidation, I am sure we will address or we will make sure that the fiscal deficit, the debt, [are] at the level that we are targeting.”

Balisacan added, “Since there was a lot of spending during the pandemic and also during the election, we now have to consolidate and that’s why you see slower growth in government consumption expenditure. But that should go to its normal pace in the latter part of the year, particularly [in] the next year.”

Govt launches crackdown vs illegal recyclers of used lead acid batteries

THE government has started a nationwide crackdown against illegal recyclers of used lead acid batteries (ULABs) following reports of the rampant smelting of lead in several provinces.

Smelting of lead is harmful t o the environment and could pose serious health risks to communities.

Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Assistant Secretary for Field Operations Gilbert C. Gonzales, responding to instructions from Malacañang, said his office has already coordinated with the regional offices of the DENR concerning operations of illegal lead smelters that are treating ULABs.

The Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) has also directed its regional offices to conduct surveillance and monitoring in their respective areas of responsibility.

This was in response to the order of the Office of the President to the DENR to look into the report of Federation of Philippine Industries (FPI) chairman Jesus L. Arranza that illegal lead smelters are now operating without the necessary government permits in Valenzuela, Bulacan, Pampanga, Tarlac, Cavite, Cebu, Bacolod, and Davao. ULAB recyclers and lead smelters need to secure the “necessary environmental permits, such as an environmental compliance certificate, discharge permit, permit to operate, and registration certificate as a treatment, storage, and disposal facility,”

Arranza said in his report to Malacañang.

In response, the DENR through the EMB, started conducting field verification of ULAB processing facilities to validate compliance, as well as saturation drives to identify individuals and establishments engaged in the illegal processing of ULABs.

At the same time, the EMB also vowed to conduct an “enhanced information education

QCPD chief Torre quits post amid road rage controversy

By Rex Anthony Naval

campaign” to encourage the public to report illegal ULAB processing activities.

The DENR and EMB are also intensifying monitoring activities focusing on junk shops that engage in the trade of ULABs in coordination with concerned local government units.

The DENR and EMB are also exploring collaboration with accredited ULAB entities for the establishment of an incentive program for the general public who will be able to provide credible information that will lead to the successful identification of individuals and establishments engaging in illegal processing of ULABs.

In a statement, Arranza has commended lawyer Rodolfo John Robert C. Palattao IV, Undersecretary for Legal and Monitoring at the Office of the President, and the DENR’s EMB and Field Operations for their immediate action in addressing the problem.

“We at the FPI are confident that with the directive from Malacañang and swift action from the DENR, we will start seeing in the coming days successful raids and closures of these illegal ULAB recyclers and lead smelters, as well as the prosecution of their operators. We will now coordinate with them so we can provide any assistance that they will need if necessary,” Arranza said.

The FPI was provided with photos and videos showing how these illegal lead smelters are operating facilities that are shabby and ill equipped to be able to handle the hazardous materials where they are deriving their secondary lead.

Ar ranza said these lead smelters do not have adequate anti-pollution systems and proper disposal facilities for the acids and other chemicals, which make their operations hazardous to human health and the environment.

Jonathan L. Mayuga

Speaker joins BOC’s rice warehouse inspection, warns hoarders and smugglers of prosecution

SPEAKER Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez on Wednesday joined the Bureau of Customs (BOC) in another round of surprise inspection of rice warehouses in Bulacan, even as he encouraged Customs Commissioner Bienvenido Rubio to send rice smugglers and hoarders to jail.

The House Speaker noted that unscrupulous rice traders deserve such punishment for inflicting what he described as a “heinous crime” against the poor for keeping this Filipino food staple out of reach through price manipulation.

Romualdez warned rice traders and importers to immediately release their supply to the market at fair prices or face possible confiscation of their rice stocks as well as prosecution in accordance with due process of law.

“R ice found to be smuggled or hoarded should be forfeited in favor of the government, in favor of the people’s interest, for distribution or sale at a very low price,” Romualdez said.

With Romualdez are House Deputy Majority Leader Erwin Tulfo, Committee on Agriculture and Food Chairman Mark Enverga, and Bulacan 5th District Rep. Ambrosio Cruz Jr.

According to Romualdez the inspection showed an adequate supply of rice so the continuing increase in rice prices indicates efforts to withhold stocks to reap windfall profits. He noted that some of the rice stocks in the inspected warehouses were over three months old.

H e also commended the BOC for making headway in its efforts to stamp out rice hoarders by conducting surprise warehouse raids and vowed to support any or all action against price manipulation of agricultural products.

The BOC earlier reported it has recovered anew an estimated total of P519 million worth

Invoking ‘courtesy,’ House abruptly ends OVP budget hearing

of rice and palay or unhusked rice in several warehouses in Bulacan on Wednesday.

Led by Customs Commissioner Rubio, the team recovered 154,000 sacks of imported rice and 60,000 sacks of palay in four warehouses in Wakas, Bocaue and San Juan, Balagtas in Bulacan.

The warehouses were Gold Rush Ricemill/ warehouse, San Juan, Balagtas; JJS Ricemill/ warehouse, Wakas, Bocaue; Gold Rush Ricemill 2, Wakas, Bocaue; and Intercity Industrial Complex, San Juan, Balagtas, Bulacan.

The 154,000 sacks of imported rice grains came from Vietnam and Pakistan and have an estimated value of P431 million, while the 60,000 sacks of “palay” are valued at P88 million.

“Yesterday, we had a sectoral meeting with the President [Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.], who gave a clear directive about how we can help stop the rising cost of rice in the market. So, this is our answer to that order,” Rubio said.

“We have just discovered four warehouses storing rice grains and palay, and if the owners of these warehouses fail to show proper documents that they rightfully paid the taxes and duties they owe to the government, then we will take immediate legal action and confiscate the items here,” he added.

Besides Rubio, the inspection team was composed of Intelligence Group Deputy Commissioner Juvymax Uy, Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service (CIIS) Director Verne Enciso, elements of the CIIS at the Manila International Container Port (MICP) and Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) Task Force Aduana.

The commissioner has signed and authorized the inspection of the Bulacan warehouses, which came a week after the inspection of another batch of Bulacan warehouses.

Raadee S. Sausa

ANKING

Rofficials of the Philippine National Police

(PNP)

and the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) will meet to discuss the fate of Quezon City Police District (QCPD) commander Brig. Nicolas Torre III, who filed his resignation after being criticized for reportedly arranging a news conference where the ex-policeman involved in the viral August 8 road rage incident aired his side.

Torre filed his resignation effective Thursday, August 31, to give investigators a free hand in investigating the incident involving a former police officer Wilfredo Gonzales and a still unidentified cyclist.

“I submit my resignation to

Senior DND exec plans more ‘Exercise Alon’ with Australia

FOLLOWING the successful conclusion of the first-ever “Exercise Alon” between Filipino and Australian troops, a ranking Department of National Defense (DND) official said the country is looking at more iteration of these drills with Australia.

This was emphasized by DND Undersecretary Erineo Espino, who represented Defense Secretary Gilberto C. Teodoro Jr. at the closing ceremonies of Exercise Alon at Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City Tuesday.

“The DND thus looks forward to the succeeding iterations of Exercise Alon while sustaining existing bilateral and multilateral exercises,” he added.

Espino also said the justconcluded exercise allowed the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and Australian Defense Force (ADF), with support from US troops, to successfully conduct complex operations in response to simulated security threat aside from opening more “avenues for more interoperability and deeper people-to-people cooperation.”

“Australia’s Indo-Pacific Endeavour or the IPE [this 2023] of which Exercise Alon is a part of presents a unique opportunity for the DND and the AFP [Armed Forces of the Philippines] to participate in and gather insights on regional security initiative,” he added.

Espino also said this venue is also ideal for the Philippine Navy to strengthen its capabilities on maritime security, while enhancing interoperability and linkages with its Australian counterparts.

“Considering that Australia is one of the only two defense partners with which the Philippines has a status of Visiting Forces Agreement, the IPE also advances our bilateral defense correlations,” he noted.

Exercise Alon is part of Australia’s IPE23 and it started on August 14 and will end on the 31st.

It is also the first bilateral amphibious training activity between the AFP and the ADF.

IPE23 is Australia’s flagship international engagement activity in the Southeast Asian and Indian Ocean regions promoting security, stability, and stronger partnerships through bilateral and multilateral engagement training, capacity building, and humanitarian efforts.

Exercise Alon also includes an air assault exercise in Palawan on August 21, combined amphibious assault exercise in Zambales on August 25, and live-fire training as the final phase in Capas, Tarlac on August 31. Rex Anthony Naval

the Chief PNP, to the SILG [Secretary of the Interior and Local Government] and to my NCRPO [National Capital Region Police Office] Regional Director. I need to shield my organization especially QCPD from further brickbats and backlash because, well there were several things I did, which netizens did not like and had a negative reception,” the former QCPD commander

emphasized.

PNP chief Gen. Benjamin Acorda Jr. and DILG Secretary Benjamin Abalos Jr. will meet first to discuss and review the matter.

Acorda also said he will also meet with Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte since Torre’s resignation may affect the QCPD’s operations.

Reports said that Belmonte was irked by Torre’s decision to

arrange a news conference last August 27 where Gonzales, managed to air his side regarding the matter, rather than arresting the former police officer. Gonzales landed in the limelight after a video showing him physically assaulting an unnamed cyclist following a traffic spat went viral in the Internet and various social media platforms.

PNIA offers help to craft industry blueprint to boost competitiveness of nickel sector

By Jonathan L. Mayuga @jonlmayuga

THE Philippine Nickel Industry Association (PNIA) has offered to help draft an industry blueprint in collaboration with the government to make the country’s nickel sector globally competitive and attractive to investors.

The offer was revived by PNIA, which is the largest grouping of nickel industry players in the Philippines, during its Nickel Initiative event in Makati City on Tuesday. About 70 percent of the country’s nickel mining companies are members of PNIA.

PNIA president Dante R. Bravo said the industry could work together and come up with a draft industry roadmap within the next six months to one year, given the go signal by the concerned government agencies, particularly the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the Mining Industry Coordinating Council (MICC), which is co-chaired by the secretaries of the DENR and Department of Finance (DOF).

While confident of the support expressed by the Marcos administration, Bravo underscored the importance of having a nickel industry roadmap as the government pushes to

develop the country’s mining industry toward extraction and processing of renewable energy transition metals like nickel, the demand for which becomes even bigger with the increasing demand for electric vehicle batteries.

In a statement, PNIA chairman Antonio L. Co explained that the offer to draft the nickel industry blueprint is part of PNIA’s comprehensive partnership proposal to the government that includes the institutionalized private-public dialogue mechanisms, conducting scientific studies on the Philippines’ nickel reserves and applications, and explore research and development on viable alternatives in nickel processing technologies.

PNIA recently made this offer to key government agencies involved in the development, regulation, and promotion of the mining sector, including the Departments of Environment and Natural Resources, Trade and Industry, Finance, Science and Technology, Interior and Local Government, plus the Board of Investments and the Mines and Geosciences Bureau.

“We first announced our intent to draft an industry blueprint in 2019 during our first Nickel Initiative Business Conference but we may need to restart what we initiated because conditions are much different now after the pandemic. The nickel sector is still vulnerable

to global and local uncertainties, but we are hopeful that we will make significant progress this time because the government is actively championing the development and promotion of the mining industry,” said Co.

“Having an industry blueprint will help sustain interest and boost investor confidence as it signifies clear direction and commitment in the execution of policies and programs needed to promote the growth of the nickel sector and to make it globally competitive,” he added.

“There’s so much interest right now to invest in Philippine mining but investors are also calculating risks because of the huge investment and effort required in mining. Consider that a value-added processing plant requires at least more than $1.5 billion investment, guaranteed access to more than 100 million tons of raw nickel ore, apart from other requisites such as importation of technology, stable and cost-effective electricity, highly technical skills, and efficient logistics. An industry blueprint will prescribe how all of these should be lined up while clearly outlining mitigation measures against risks that could spook investors,” explained Co.

Co said that the nickel industry blueprint may require consultation and inputs from many stakeholders and other industries, as it should ideally cover the entire value chain of nickel minerals development, from mineral extraction to nickel processing, to downstream application in finished products.

ARTA sets mid-September launch of IRR on telco infra processing

By Andrea E. San Juan @andreasanjuan

THE Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA) said it is set to l aunch in mid-September the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of the law that aims t o streamline the permitting process for the construction of telecommunications and internet infrastructure.

I n a news statement issued on Wednesday, the anti-red tape watchdog said it convened the Technical Working Group (TWG) with the public and private stakeholders to finalize the IRR of Executive Order No. 32, “Streamlining the Permitting Process for the Construction of Telecommunications and Internet Infrastructure” on August 17.

According to ARTA, the EO 32, which was issued on July 4, 2023 by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., will hasten the implementation of telecommunication infrastructure

projects to accelerate the country’s digital transformation.

ARTA noted that the series of consultation meetings and workshops were presided by ARTA Secretary Ernesto V. Perez, along with t he Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) as the TWG chair, and the stakeholders.

Set to launch mid-September, the anti-red tape watchdog hinted, “The IRR provides the specific p rocedures to be followed by all regulating government agencies and local government units and outlines the requirements that must be complied in applications for constructing, operating, repairing, and maintaining telco and i nternet infrastructures.”

The IRR of EO 32 is required to be formulated by the TWG within 60 working days upon the EO’s effectivity last July 5, 2023.

A RTA said the TWG members tasked with finalizing the IRR

include the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), the D epartment of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), and the Department of the Interior and Local G overnment (DILG).

Once EO 32 and its IRR are in full effect, together with the government’s other streamlining and d igitalization initiatives, ARTA said this measure is expected to “further boost internet connectivity in the Philippines, which will attract local and foreign investors.”

“This is not just about making it easier to build telco infrastructure. It is about creating an environment where communication knows no bounds and technological progress becomes an accessible reality for all,” ARTA chief Perez said.

Meanwhile, the TWG members expressed optimism that through the whole-of-nation approach the IRR will be finalized ahead of schedule and submitted to the Office of the President.

The World

2 killed in Kyiv as Moscow accuses Ukraine of biggest attack on Russia since war began

MOSCOW—A Russian attack on Kyiv killed two people early Wednesday, Ukrainian officials said, while Russia accused Ukraine of launching what appeared to be the biggest drone attack on Russian soil since Moscow sent troops there 18 months ago.

Drones hit an airport in Russia’s western Pskov region near the border with Estonia and Latvia, and started a massive fire, the governor and local media reported. More drones were shot down over Oryol, Bryansk, Ryazan, Kaluga and the Moscow region surrounding the Russian capital, according to the Defense Ministry.

Pskov regional Gov. Mikhail Vedernikov ordered all flights to

and from the airport in the region’s namesake capital canceled Wednesday so the damage could be assessed during daylight.

The airport strike, which was first reported minutes before midnight, damaged four Il-76 transport aircraft, Russia’s state news agency Tass reported, citing emergency officials.

Footage and images posted on social media showed smoke billowing over the city of Pskov and a large blaze. Vedernikov said there were no casualties, and the fire has been contained. Unconfirmed media reports said between 10 and 20 drones could have attacked the airport.

In Kyiv, falling debris killed two people and injured another after Russia launched a “massive

Mutinous soldiers in Gabon say they’ve ousted president whose family has ruled for 55 years

By Sam Mednick

The Associated Press

DAKAR, Senega—Mutinous soldiers

in Gabon said Wednesday they were seizing power to overturn the results of a presidential election, seeking to remove a president whose family has held power for 55 years, and crowds took to the streets to celebrate.

The coup attempt came hours after the central African country’s President Ali Bongo Ondimba, 64, was declared winner of an election marred by fears of violence.

Within minutes of the announcement, gunfire was heard in the center of the capital, Libreville. Later, a dozen uniformed soldiers appeared on state television and announced that they had seized power.

Crowds in the city took to the city’s streets to celebrate the end of Bongo’s reign, singing the national anthem with soldiers.

“Thank you, army. Finally, we’ve been waiting a long time for this moment,” said Yollande Okomo, standing in front of soldiers from Gabon’s elite republican guard.

Shopkeeper Viviane Mbou offered the soldiers juice, which they declined.

“Long live our army,” said Jordy Dikaba, a young man walking with his friends on a street lined with armored policemen.

There was no word from the president, and his whereabouts were not immediately clear.

The soldiers intended to “dissolve all institutions of the republic,” said a spokesman for the group, whose members were drawn from the gendarme, the republican guard and other elements of the security forces.

French mining company Eramet said it was ceasing all operations in Gabon, and that it has begun procedures to ensure the safety of its staff and facilities. The company’s subsidiaries in Gabon operate the world’s largest manganese mine, and a rail transport company.

The private intelligence firm Ambrey said all operations at the country’s main port in Libreville had been halted, with authorities refusing to grant permission for vessels to leave.

One morning flight at Libreville’s LéonMba International Airport already had been delayed early Wednesday morning. A man

who answered a number listed for the airport told The Associated Press that flights were cancelled on Wednesday.

The coup attempt came about one month after mutinous soldiers in Niger seized power from the democratically elected government, and is the latest in a series of coups that have challenged governments with ties to France, the region’s former colonizer. Gabon’s coup, if successful would bring the number of coups in West and Central Africa to eight since 2020.

In his annual Independence Day speech Aug. 17, Bongo said, “While our continent has been shaken in recent weeks by violent crises, rest assured that I will never allow you and our country Gabon to be hostages to attempts at destabilization. Never.”

Unlike Niger and two other West African countries run by military juntas, Gabon hasn’t been wracked by jihadi violence and had been seen as relatively stable. But nearly 40 percent of Gabonese ages 15-24 were out of work in 2020, according to the World Bank.

Bongo acknowledged the widespread frustration over rising costs of living in his Aug. 17 speech, and listed measures his government was making to contain fuel prices, make education more affordable, and stabilize the price of baguettes.

Gabon is a member of the Opec oil cartel, with a production of some 181,000 barrels of crude a day, making it the eighth-largest producer of oil in sub-Saharan Africa. It is home to over 2 million people, and is slightly smaller than the US state of Colorado.

At a time when anti-France sentiment is spreading in many former colonies, the French-educated Bongo met President Emmanuel Macron in Paris in late June and shared photos of them shaking hands.

France has 400 soldiers in Gabon leading a regional military training operation. They’ve not changed their normal operations today, according to the French military.

French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said Wednesday: “We are following the situation in Gabon closely.”

The mutinous officers vowed to respect “Gabon’s commitments to the national and international community.”

When asked about Gabon Wednesday,

combined attack” on the Ukrainian capital using drones and missiles, head of the military administration Sergei Popko wrote on Telegram.

In what Popko said was the biggest attack since spring, Russia launched Shahed drones at Kyiv from various directions and then targeted the capital with missiles from Tu-95ms strategic aircraft. He said more than 20 targets had been brought down by Ukraine’s air defenses. It was unclear how many had been launched.

The deaths and injury occurred when debris fell on a commercial building in the Shevchenkivskyi district, Popko said.

Explosions in Ukraine were also reported in the southern city of

the EU’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell said it would be discussed by EU ministers this week. Defense ministers from the 27-nation bloc are meeting in Spain on Wednesday, and foreign ministers on Thursday. Borrell will chair both meetings, and Niger will also be a focus.

“If this is confirmed, it’s another military coup, which increases instability in the whole region,” he said.

Bongo’s family has long-standing ties to former colonial ruler France, dating to the four-decade presidency of his late father Omar Bongo. These have come under legal scrutiny in recent years.

Several members of the Bongo family are under investigation in France, and some have been given preliminary charges of embezzlement, money laundering and other forms of corruption, according to French media reports, driven in part by a broader push for justice by non-governmental organizations that have long accused multiple African heads of state of embezzling public funds and hiding them in France.

Bongo was seeking a third term in elections this weekend. He served two terms since coming to power in 2009 after the death of his father who ruled the country for 41 years. Another group of mutinous soldiers attempted a coup in January 2019, while Bongo was in Morocco recovering from a stroke, but they were quickly overpowered.

In the election, Bongo faced an opposition coalition led by economics professor and former education minister Albert Ondo Ossa, whose surprise nomination came a week before the vote.

Every vote held in Gabon since the country’s return to a multi-party system in 1990 has ended in violence. Clashes between government forces and protesters following the 2016 election killed four people, according to official figures. The opposition said the death toll was far higher. Fearing violence, many people in the capital went to visit family in other parts of the country before the election or left Gabon altogether. Others stockpiled food or bolstered security in their homes.

T he Associated Press reporters Cara Anna in Nairobi, Kenya, Jamey Keaton in Geneva; Angela Charleton in Paris; and Jon Gambrell and Malak Harb in Dubai, United Arab Emirates contributed.

Odesa and the Cherkasy region. In Russia, Pskov was the only region reporting substantial damage. In Kaluga, one drone was brought down and another hit an empty oil reservoir, causing a fire that was quickly extinguished, region Gov. Vladislav Shapsha reported. Residential windows were shattered, Shapsha said. Three drones were shot down over the Bryansk region, according to the Russian military, and some Russian media cited residents as saying they heard a loud explosion. Two drones were downed over the Oryol region, its Gov. Andrei Klychkov said. Two more were downed over the Ryazan region and one over the Moscow region, officials said. Outside Moscow, three main

airports—Sheremetyevo, Vnukovo and Domodedovo—temporarily halted all incoming and outgoing flights, a measure that has become routine in the wake of the drone attacks. There was no immediate comment from Ukrainian officials, who usually refuse to take responsibility for any attacks on the Russian soil.

Also early Wednesday, Russian-installed officials in the annexed Crimea reported repelling an attack of drones targeting the harbor of the port city of Sevastopol. Moscow-appointed governor of Sevastopol Mikhail Razvozzhayev said it wasn’t immediately clear how many of the drones have been destroyed. It

wasn’t immediately clear if the attack caused any damage. Drone attacks on Crimea or Russian regions have become increasingly common in recent months, with Moscow being a frequent target, as well as regions that border with Ukraine, such as Bryansk. Fuel depots and airfields have been hit in drone attacks Russian officials blamed on Kyiv. The Oryol and Kaluga regions border with Bryansk, and the Moscow region sits on top of Kaluga. Pskov, however, is about 700 kilometers (434 miles) north of Russia’s border with Ukraine, and has been described by Russian media and military bloggers on Wednesday morning as an unlikely target. AP

India protests China’s land claim ahead of G-20 summit Xi Jinping will attend

By Ashok Sharma Associated Press Writer

NEW DELHI—India is protesting a new Chinese map that lays claim to India’s territory ahead of next week’s Group of 20 summit in New Delhi, a foreign ministry official said, exacerbating tensions during a three-year military standoff between the two nations.

The timing of the protest is key, as Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to attend the summit of industrialized and developing countries.

“We reject these claims as they have no basis. Such steps by the Chinese side only complicate the resolution of the boundary question,” the External Affairs Ministry spokesman Arindam Bagchi said in a statement on Tuesday.

He said India on Tuesday formally lodged the objection through diplomatic channels with the Chinese side on the so-called 2023 “standard map” of China that lays claim to India’s territory.

The version of the Chinese map published on the website of the Ministry of Natural Resources clearly shows Arunachal Pradesh and the Doklam Plateau, over which the two sides have feuded, included within Chinese borders, along with Aksai Chin in the western section which China controls but India still claims.

Indian External Affairs Minister Jaishankar Subhramanyam also dismissed China’s claim in a television interview on Tuesday night.

“Making absurd claims on India’s territory does not make it China’s territory,” Jaishankar said.

China recently refused to put visas in the passports of officials from Arunachal Pradesh state in India’s northeast, using a stapled-in certificate instead. It also refuses to recognize India’s sovereignty over its part of Kashmir and declined to send a delegation to a G-20 meeting in Srinagar in May.

Last week, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi informally spoke to China’s President Xi on the sidelines of the BRICS

summit in Johannesburg, where Modi highlighted New Delhi’s concerns about their unresolved border issues.

India’s foreign ministry said the two leaders agreed to intensify efforts to deescalate tensions at the disputed border between them and bring home thousands of their troops deployed there.

The disputed boundary has led to a threeyear standoff between tens of thousands of Indian and Chinese soldiers in the Ladakh area. A clash three years ago in the region killed 20 Indian soldiers and four Chinese.

“The two sides should bear in mind the overall interests of their bilateral relations and handle properly the border issue so as to jointly safeguard peace and tranquility in the border region,” the Chinese Foreign Ministry said after the two leaders’ meeting.

Indian and Chinese military commanders had met earlier this month in an apparent

effort to stabilize the situation. A border, dubbed the “Line of Actual Control,” separates Chinese and Indian-held territories from Ladakh in the west to India’s eastern state of Arunachal Pradesh, which China claims in its entirety.

India and China had fought a war over their border in 1962. China claims some 90,000 square kilometers (35,000 square miles) of territory in India’s northeast, including Arunachal Pradesh with its mainly Buddhist population.

India says China occupies 38,000 square kilometers (15,000 square miles) of its territory in the Aksai Chin Plateau, which India considers part of Ladakh, where the current faceoff is happening.

T he Associated Press Writer Christopher Bodeen contributed to the report from Beijing.

editorial T

‘The most annoying irony in our nation’s history’

he Philippine constitution protects the right of every Filipino to travel. Thanks to the new departure procedures that the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) will roll out in a few days, our constitutionally protected right to travel is about to become illusory.

Netizens have already started lambasting the new protocols. In his August 26 post on X, former Senator Panfilo Lacson said: “Simplifying visa applications for foreign tourists visiting the Philippines while complicating the requirements for Filipinos traveling to other countries is the most annoying irony in our nation’s history.”

The Department of Justice earlier assured the public that the 2023 Revised IACAT Guidelines on Departure Formalities for International-Bound Filipino Passengers would not curtail the constitutionally guaranteed right of the people to travel, “but to serve as a protective bulwark shielding our fellow citizens from the dire perils of human trafficking.” The DOJ also clarified that the new departure protocols will “mostly apply to first-time travelers.”

Travel agencies believe the new outbound travel rules will probably do little to solve the problem of human trafficking and likely harass legitimate Filipino travelers just off to vacation abroad. (Read the BusinessMirror report, “Travel agencies speak up on new departure rules,” August 28, 2023).

“I really don’t agree with this whole thing,” said Aileen Clemente, president of the 50-year-old Rajah Travel Corp., one of the leaders in the outbound travel business. “There is a Data Privacy Act [and] some required documents violate that, even almost unconstitutional to an extent,” she told the BusinessMirror. This also makes it “prone to more harassment,” she added.

Clemente likewise wanted to find out “what percentage of those traveling abroad fall under human trafficking that warrant these checks?”

“In other countries,” she said, “there are no outbound Immigration rules. They’re just for inbound travelers, because they have an Advance Passenger Information System and their records with other immigration authorities abroad and/or Interpol, Department of Homeland Security, and the like are accessible.”

Clemente said Filipinos who have been “kidnapped” or “trafficked” were able to leave the country using fake documents. “Will the new departure guidelines be able to prevent this if the issue is how well can the immigration officers detect these falsified documents?”

She said the new departure rules only duplicate the function of foreign embassies, which require the same documents before issuing travel visas to Filipinos, while the Philippine Overseas Employment Agency already processes documents of OFWs, who are required to attend pre-departure orientations prior to working in their host countries.

Senator Nancy Binay, taking up the cudgels for affected travelers, took issue with the new controversial IACAT rules. She suggested that concerned authorities should “focus more on using technology to improve profiling, instead of burdening travelers with taxing documents.” (Read the BusinessMirror report, “Sen. Binay weighs in on new IACAT travel rules for overseas-bound Pinoys,” August 30, 2023)

The new travel measures were widely criticized by lawmakers, tourism sectors and constitutionalists who find them “very restrictive for travelers, yet inconclusive in stopping human trafficking,” Binay said. “These additional documents are coercive, restrictive and redundant. Let us maximize the use of information technology to correctly profile travelers.”

Sen. Risa Hontiveros, author of Republic Act 10364, or the Expanded Trafficking in Persons Act, said that while the Bureau of Immigration (BI) is tightening the noose on outbound Filipinos, it should likewise do the same for inbound foreigners.

The senator knows from whence she speaks, having exposed the human trafficking racket within the BI, including the pastillas scheme where immigration officers received bribes to allow foreigners (mostly Chinese) to enter the country without going through the proper immigration process at Naia.

Hontiveros said she supports the measures being imposed by the IACAT to curb human trafficking, but she cautioned that the new protocols might harm unsuspecting travelers. She appealed to the BI not to “bully” Filipinos going abroad under the tighter travel restrictions.

There are legitimate reasons for Filipino travelers to be wary of the new departure guidelines, which can be used by corrupt immigration officials to exploit them. Social media is replete with recent reports of controversial offloading and extortion complaints. For example, an immigration personnel reportedly tried to extort P150,000 from a seafarer who wanted to travel to Paris.

The IACAT must take into consideration the inputs from lawmakers, legal experts, and ordinary Filipinos before the full implementation of new rules, Hontiveros said. “We should not turn a blind eye to warnings that some of the requirements would only promote delays and are prone to exploitation by corrupt immigration officials.”

Is it the end of the ‘Chinese Dream’?

John Mangun

OUTSIDE THE BOX

‘SunSeT Boulevard” is a 1950 film about an aging, forgotten silent film star norma Desmond, who dreams of making a triumphant return to the screen. Desmond refuses to accept that her fame has evaporated and is unaware that her butler secretly writes the fan letters she receives.

Norma has planned a New Year’s party with a full banquet spread with champagne and a cake and only one guest. If “Sunset Boulevard” had been less of a film noir/black comedy, the New Year’s party would have been filled with the “little people” wanting to have a selfie and maybe get a part in her new film.

Xi Jinping is easily the most interesting national leader on the global stage today. He is a “princeling,” the son of one who is among the first and second generation of Chinese leadership. But Xi Zhongxun was purged during the Cultural Revolution. Xi

As late as 2015, the Foreign Affairs magazine headline read: “China Will Get Rich Before It Grows Old.” In 2021, it was “China could be the first country to get old before it gets rich.” The Chinese dream may be dying.

Jinping fought that misfortune and is the first CCP general secretary born after the establishment of the PRC. He is the quintessential “party man” saying: “The government, the military, society and schools—the Communist Party of China leads them all.”

Shortly after he became leader of the CCP, Xi began promoting the phrase “Chinese Dream” in 2012, as the embodiment of the leadership’s political ideology. Xi said at the time that the Chinese Dream is the “great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.”

Along with the Chinese Dream

was the “Two Centenaries,” the two 100-year anniversaries. The first was the wealth goal of China becoming a “moderately well-off society” by 2021, the 100th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party, and the modernization goal of China becoming a fully developed nation by about 2049, the 100th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic.

To do that, China needed to become “rich” before it became “old.”

The future demographics were not conducive to that so Xi dumped the One Child Policy in 2015. It is possible that time has run out, seen no better than in the Chinese financial markets. Before 2020, any stimulus news from China would move across the oceans. Now, China can lower interest rates, add massive liquidity, prevent large local funds from

The road (worthiness) less traveled

Thomas M. Orbos

STREET TALK

RoA D accidents remain to be a major concern in the Philippines. The Philippine Statistics Authority indicates close to a 50 percent increase in road traffic incidents in a 10-year period (2011-2021), with road traffic accidents as the leading cause of death among Filipinos from 15 to 29 years old. The impact of road-related damages to human life is 2.6 percent of our gross domestic product (W ho Report).

Road safety, therefore, is a top priority, with the DOTr and the DPWH as the lead agencies to see this through. There are several factors to road safety, namely: Better road management referring to education, land use, etc.; safer road infrastructure; safer road users to include public awareness, and stricter enforcement of laws; and last but not the least, safer and more roadworthy vehicles.

Among these factors, the one readily doable would be guaranteeing safer vehicles on the road. The rest take time, affected by a complex set of factors; while safer vehicles can be accomplished simply by the annual roadworthiness

This is no joke. If my sources are accurate, there are around 500 “non-appearance tests” being done per day, or the equivalent of 11,000 untested vehicles, with dubious roadworthiness, plying our roads every year!

checking and testing: their brakes, suspensions, lights, etc. We do have a program in place for this, the Motor Vehicle Inspection Program, which requires prior roadworthiness evaluation for registration of vehicles.

This has been there since the time of President Arroyo and re-launched during the Duterte administration with Secretary Tugade, then the head of DOTr. The thing is, this program remains to be half-baked, never been fully implemented.

The program remains to be optional rather than mandatory. Vehicle owners currently have the option for the required pre-regis-

tration roadworthiness evaluation, either through the Private Motor Vehicle Inspection Centers with complete vehicle checklist testing facilities, or through what was supposed to have been phased out, the Private Emission Testing Centers that, as its name indicate, just checks the emissions of the vehicles. And with the price difference: PMVICs charge around P600 per vehicle, while PETCs charge P150 per vehicle, not to mention that PETCs are readily accessible with its 800 sites against just 100 PMVIC locations nationwide; vehicle owners would naturally gravitate to PETCs. The price difference is understandable. Investment needed for the PMVIC complete testing equipment is around P15 million while only less than P1 million is needed to operate a PETC.

There is the bigger problem on the alleged “non-appearance” testing of vehicles, where car owners do not need to bring their vehicles to the testing centers and just pay

selling, and still nothing is enough. What China needs is massive fiscal stimulus and Xi will not do that as the debt burden is close to being unmanageable even for China. One of the factors that Xi as well as his predecessors Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao relied upon was that as China entered the 21st century, it had an age demographic sweetspot of a large population able to work in its export factories and real estate construction. This kept the economic engine running as well as building an up-and-coming middle-class that could fuel its export, property, and consumer spending growth. China also relied on the rest of the world buying its goods. Now we have youth unemployment—16 to 24-year olds—breaking record highs to the extent that the government is no longer reporting that number. Beijing says it is 21 percent. Outside observers say it could be as high as 40 percent. Further, you do not want that age group to be unemployed as they tend to “revolt.” Therefore, there is a new phenomenon—the “Curse of 35.” A recruitment drive by a See “Mangun,” A13

a “fee” of double the P150 regular fee to secure passing results. Such corruption, with the collusion definitely of some government employees, can be easily accomplished with the old PETCs rather than PMVICs since the latter has a built-in automation that makes it more difficult to do such shenanigans.

This is no joke. If my sources are accurate, there are around 500 “non-appearance tests” being done per day, or the equivalent of 11,000 untested vehicles, with dubious roadworthiness, plying our roads every year!

So, one wonders why this kind of situation persists? The answer is politics. From all indications, the intent to make what is supposedly a mandatory program with a noble objective lost its way when politics came into play. Political considerations set aside its failsafe mechanisms; pushed for its hasty implementation, then accommodated changes to suit, even benefit, certain sectors. This led to retractions when a vocal crowd, with various objectives, collectively called for its cancellation. Of course, just like any change, it always meets the opposition of the old. But a more solid foundation with steadfast leadership at that time could have seen the program through. There is no

By Audrey Mcavoy | The Associated Press

HOnOLULU—Crews in Hawaii have all but finished searching for victims of the deadliest US wildfire in more than a century, authorities said Tuesday, and it is unclear how many people perished.

Three weeks after the fire devastated Maui’s historic seaside community of Lahaina, the count of the dead stands at 115. But an unknown number of people are still missing.

Officials suggested that responders likely have already recovered any remains that are recognizable as such, and they are shifting the response to focus on removing hazardous waste and making the area safe for residents to begin returning.

“We have wrapped up almost completely the search and recovery mission and moving into the next phase,” Darryl Oliveira, the interim administrator of the Maui Emergency Management Agency, said at a news conference.

The next phase would be hazardous waste removal conducted by the US Environmental Protection Agency, he said.

Maui Police Chief John Pelletier said urban search and rescue teams have “completed 100 percent of their area” but some search activity continues in the ocean off Lahaina.

The FBI is searching 200 yards (183 meters) out along a four-mile (6.4-kilometer) stretch of coastline, but no human remains have been found, he said. There are 110 missing persons reports filed with Maui police, and more than 50 of those remain open cases that are still actively being worked, he said.

Although the initial land search is complete, authorities may also use details from the missing person reports to go over areas again, he added.

“They say, ‘My loved one was here’ and this may be a data point and we can continue,” Pelletier said. “In case there was a chance that something needs to be further looked at, we’ve got archeologists and we’re gonna make sure that we can do that so, again, we do this the right way.”

He asked for “trust and patience” as officials continue to identify remains and go through lists of the missing.

So far, authorities have identified and notified the loved ones of 45 of those killed. They have collected DNA from 120 people to identify the dead and continue to see more samples.

EPA teams will search for and remove by hand hazardous materials like paints, pesticides and batteries.

Lahaina had a large number of lithium ion solar-powered energy storage batteries, which the agency will treat as though they are unexploded ordnance, said Steve Calanog, the EPA’s incident commander.

Teams will remove large pieces of asbestos material, but any asbestos in ash will be addressed in the next cleanup phase, he said.

Orbos

continued from A12

finger pointing here. All the characters involved in this story are as guilty as they are the eventual losers: from the policymakers that did and should have defended the program, to the implementing authorities of the agencies that matter, the legislators who pressed on siding with the loud voice of complaints but drowning the rationale of the program, as well as the affected stakeholders, the transport group and organizations that saw the program as another moneymaking mechanism of the government, so they cried for its crucifixion. The biggest losers, definitely, are the ones on the road, especially the most vulnerable—the pedestrians,

So far, authorities have identified and notified the loved ones of 45 of those killed. They have collected DNA from 120 people to identify the dead and continue to see more samples.

The EPA will mist an adhesive called Soiltac on the ash to prevent it from migrating into the ocean, Calanog said. The substance is “non-toxic, biodegradable and marine safe” and will degrade in two to three months, he said.

The EPA has integrated about 25 cultural observers into its teams so the agency “proceeds with caution, reverence and respect” in the town that was the capital of the former Hawaiian kingdom in the 1800s and home to Hawaiian chiefs for centuries.

“We all know of the rich, long, historic and cultural significance of Lahaina,” Calanog said.

The EPA said in a news release it will take up to several months to remove household hazardous material, though the work could be finished sooner.

Later, Maui Mayor Richard Bissen said in a recorded message on Instagram that the EPA would ship the toxic debris it collects to the continental US.

“Those materials will not remain on Maui, nor will they remain in the state of Hawaii,” Bissen said.

Maui County didn’t sound its emergency sirens to warn residents of the fire when it spread on August 8.

Darryl Oliveira, who took over as interim administrator of the Maui Emergency Management Agency on Monday, said sirens had not been used for wildfires in Hawaii before. But he said Maui, the state, and other Hawaii counties were working on new protocols to do so.

“We see tremendous value in incorporating more tools into our arsenal to keep the public aware and get them early warning,” he said, adding that the current hurricane season is overlapping with extremely dry conditions on Maui and statewide.

In an early example of this, officials on Saturday sounded emergency sirens to warn residents of a brush fire near Kaanapali resort hotels in Lahaina. Firefighters quickly brought the fire under control.

Oliveira guided the Big Island through hurricanes and volcanic eruptions as the head of Hawaii County civil defense for many years.

He said one challenge was educating the public—including tourists —on what to do if they hear a siren sound to warn of a wildfire.

cyclists and commuters.

However, all of these are of the past. There is now the opportunity of the future to make roadworthiness happen. There are definitely a lot of missteps in the PMVICs’ initial run. This can be corrected. We trust that the new set of transport authorities and legislators now busy scrutinizing the 2024 plan and budgets of the DOTr can see the program through beyond the politics of themselves and of a few but noisy crowd of PMVIC oppositors. Otherwise, we will continue seeing the hoped-for decrease in road-related accidents not just as missteps but also as missed-journeys for a lot of our fellow Filipinos on the road.

The author can be reached at thomas_orbos@ sloan.mit.edu

Manunggul Jar as the ‘ship-of-the-dead’

Dennis Gorecho

Pinoy Marino Rights

Many Filipino epics narrate how souls go to the next life, aboard boats, and pass through the rivers and seas. The reverse side of the P1,000 bill features the Banaue Rice Terraces, Manunggul Jar cover, and Langgal (a mosque), representing the three island groups of the Philippines (Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao).

Known as the “ship-of-the-dead,” the Manunggul Jar is a burial container that represents the journey of the soul to the afterlife, which is closely associated with our maritime culture.

I saw the burial jar twice during my visits to two museums: the Palawan Cultural Center in Puerto Princesa, and the National Museum in Manila.

The jar dates from 890–710 B.C. and was excavated from a Neolithic burial site in the Manunggul cave of the Tabon Caves at Lipuun Point in Palawan.

In one of my conversations with historian Xiao Chua, he explained how the Manunggul Jar shows the interaction between the Filipinos’ maritime culture and their ancestors’ religious beliefs.

The upper part of the Manunggul Jar, as well as the cover, is carved with curvilinear scroll designs (reminiscent of waves on the sea) that are painted with hematite.

At the top handle of its cover, there are two human figures in a boat, representing the voyage to the afterlife.

The front figure is the deceased man with hands crossed on his chest, which was a widespread practice in

the Philippines when arranging the corpse. The rear figure, on the other hand, is holding a steering paddle directing the boat and soul of the man to the afterlife.

Early Filipinos believed that a man is composed of a body, a life force called ginhawa, and a kaluluwa (soul), which explains why the design of the cover of the Manunggul Jar featured three faces—the soul, the boatman, and the boat itself.

The kaluluwa, after death, can return to earth to exist in nature and guide their descendants. Filipino ancestors respected nature, as they believe that even things from nature have souls and lives of their own.

Historian William Henry Scott said in one of his works that when a person dies, his soul does not die but becomes a spirit (anito) that then lives in the village, especially in the caves or rocky places where its former body is entombed.

This spirit, he added, has the power to inflict injury, sickness or death upon the living. Nature spirits, meanwhile, inhabit stones, watercourses and trees, and are generally beneficial or neutral, doing misfortune only to those who do physical violence to

their dwelling place.

Fondly called “Scotty,” I had the privilege to meet him in 1991 in Sagada. I told him that one of his works that I read in my History classes in UP Diliman was “The Igorot Defense of Northern Luzon,” a book about Igorot resistance against Spanish colonial rule.

The Manunggul Jar also depicted the Filipino values of respect for one’s soul, compassion, nationalism and faith.

In Sagada, Mountain Province, the Kankanaey people place the dead body in a fetal position inside a carved wooden coffin, with the belief that those who die need to leave the world in the position that they entered it. These coffins are then stacked on top of each other in limestone caves or tucked into crevices in the wall of the cave.

In Kabayan, Benguet, the mummified body is displayed in their homes as a form of honoring them in the afterlife. The bodies are preserved through processes of dehydration and smoking.

In Apayao, the Isneg people bury the deceased underneath their houses or in the backyard as a way of showing their love and longing for the deceased.

The B’laans of Southern Mindanao use trees as their burial spots. The body of the dead is covered with tree bark and suspended on tree branches.

Another Filipino artifact that exhibited the country’s maritime history is the Balangay, which is one of the most ancient boats in the Philippines that used celestial navigation. It is a type of lashed-lug boat built by joining planks edge-to-edge using pins, dowels, and fiber lashings.

The boats were finely made without any blueprints, and the craftsmanship was passed from generation to generation.

The Filipino balangay was used largely as trading ships up until the colonial era.

It was navigated by the old method used by the ancient mariners—steering by the sun, the stars, the wind, cloud formations, wave patterns and bird migrations.

The country’s maritime culture is reflected in its status as one of the largest supplier of seafarers in the world.

However, the maritime profession has always been identified as a high-risk job, replete with health and safety hazards in relation to the risks of accidents, illnesses and mortality.

The European Maritime Safety Agency reported 745 work-related fatalities among maritime workers and nearly 9,000 persons injured between 2011 and 2020, among other tragic statistics in this sector.

“The job of a seafarer is not exactly a walk in the park,” the Supreme Court aptly declared in the case of Oriental Shipmgt. v. Bastol (GR 186289, June 29, 2010).

Atty. Dennis R. Gorecho heads the seafarers’ division of the Sapalo Velez Bundang Bulilan law offices. For comments, e-mail info@sapalovelez.com or call 09175025808 or 09088665786.

UN chief warns that rise in global distrust and improvements in nukes are ‘recipe for annihilation’

By Edith M. Lederer | The Associated Press

alarming rise in global distrust and division coupled with efforts by countries to improve the accuracy and destructive power of nuclear weapons is “a recipe for annihilation,” the United nations chief warned Tuesday.

UnITED naTIOnS—an

In a statement marking the International Day Against Nuclear Tests, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that with nearly 13,000 nuclear weapons stockpiled around the world, “a legally binding prohibition on nuclear tests is a fundamental step in our quest for a world free of nuclear weapons.”

The Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty has 196 member states —186 have signed it and 178 have ratified it, including eight in the last 18 months. But the pact has taken effect because it needs ratification by the eight nations that had nuclear power reactors or research reactors when the UN General Assembly adopted the treaty in 1996.

At a high-level meeting of the 193-member assembly to observe the day there was no indication that those eight countries—the United States, China, Egypt, Iran, Israel, North Korea, India and Pakistan— were moving toward ratification.

Iranian diplomat Heidar Ali Balouji said his country “shares the frustration of non-nuclear weapon states against any delays in ending nuclear testing,” but he made no mention of ratifying the treaty. He said that “the cornerstone for ridding the world of nuclear threats”

. . .

continued from A12

Taoist temple sparked heated debate in June when it said new monks must be “under 35 years old.” Even the Chinese government rules out candidates above 35 for many of its civil servant positions. Geopolitical analyst Peter Zei-

rests squarely with countries with nuclear weapons.

UN disarmament chief Izumi Nakamitsu told delegates she stood before them “with a sense of urgency” because while the treaty has provided the foundation for “the global taboo against nuclear testing,” trends are undermining it.

“The rising tide of nuclear risk threatens to engulf the hard-won gains in nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation achieved over the last three decades,” she said. “This includes the gains made against the testing of nuclear weapons” which has been done only by North Korea in the 21st century.

Robert Floyd, head of the UN nuclear test ban treaty organization, said, “Globally we’re facing challenging, worrying times.” But, he added, “Momentum towards universality is increasing: Recently, both Somalia and South Sudan made public commitments to sign and ratify the treaty.”

The Netherlands’ UN ambassador, Yoka Brandt, speaking on behalf of 28 mainly Western nations, said it is of “vital importance and urgency” to have the treaty enter into force.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and its “threats of nuclear use and testing

han has another take. He asserts that China has misrepresented its population numbers, leading him to estimate that the country’s actual population is lower by 100 million than what the government has officially reported. It is a fact China’s population is aging. But what if that age sweet-spot is not as large as it was thought to be?

Officially, the number of employed

European Union Charge d’ Affaires Silvio Gonzato said Russia’s announcement of its readiness to conduct a nuclear test is inconsistent with its ratification of the treaty, “and risks undermining confidence in the treaty in these turbulent times.”

seriously undermine” and negatively affect disarmament and nuclear nonproliferation efforts, he said.

The group, where the United States is an observer, also condemned North Korea’s six nuclear tests since 2006 “in the strongest terms” and expressed deep concern that Pyongyang is reportedly preparing for a seventh test, Brandt said.

European Union Charge d’ Affaires Silvio Gonzato said Russia’s announcement of its readiness to conduct a nuclear test is inconsistent with its ratification of the treaty, “and risks undermining confidence in the treaty in these turbulent times.”

The EU also demands that North Korea comply with UN Security Council sanctions banning any nuclear testing, saying that the North “cannot and will never have the status of a nuclear weapon state,” Gonzato said.

The date to protest nuclear testing commemorates the closing of the former Soviet Union’s nuclear test site at Semipalatinsk, now part of Kazakhstan, on August 29, 1991.

Kazakhstan’s UN ambassador,

persons maxed out in 2014. China’s economic growth rate peaked in 2007 and has been in a downtrend since then.

Akan Rakhmetullin, reminded the world’s diplomats that following the first atomic bomb detonation in 1945, “at least eight nations have carried out a total of 2,056 nuclear tests, around one-quarter of them in the atmosphere, causing severe long-term harm and suffering to humanity and the entire planet.”

Kazakhstan is “extremely anxious” over increasing geopolitical tensions, threats to use nuclear weapons and “the trend towards nuclear sharing, which can lead to further proliferation and weapons accumulation,” he said.

Ambassador Teburoro Tito of the tiny Pacific island nation of Kiribati said the United States and Britain carried out 33 nuclear tests on Kiritimati, its atoll also known as Christmas Island, in the 1950s and 1960s.

The tests left a “tragic legacy” for the atoll’s 500 residents who received little protection, Tito said. Many complained afterward of untreatable illnesses and health complications, “most of which resulted in death,” he said. There were numerous cases of cancer, congenital disabilities and abnormalities with newborn babies, he said.

Tito urged the US and United Kingdom to support citizens of Kiritmati who “continue to suffer from not only physical medical problems caused by radiation exposure, but also post traumatic and intergenerational harm from these weapons of mass destruction.”

As late as 2015, the Foreign Affairs magazine headline read: “China Will Get Rich Before It Grows Old.” In 2021, it was “China could be the first country to get old before it gets rich.” The Chinese dream may be dying. E-mail me at mangun@gmail.com. Follow me on Twitter @mangunonmarkets.

Equities Inc.

Unclear how many in Lahaina lost lives as Hawaii authorities near the end of their search for dead

BID FOR RAIL, AVIATION PPP PROJECTS, DOTR ADVISES JAPAN FIRMS

TRANSPORTATION Secre -

tary Jaime J. Bautista said

he is “courting” Japanese companies to bid for public-private partnership (PPP) projects in the railway and aviation sectors.

He said that he promoted three projects—two under the railways and one under the airports—to Japanese companies during the Philippine Investment Opportunities Forum in Tokyo.

Following through our President’s directive, the DOTr has cast the vision of transforming the Philippines’ transport industry and elevating it to global standards, characterized by comfortable, accessible, safe, and affordable transport services throughout the country,” Bautista said.

Particularly, Bautista encouraged Japanese firms to bid for the P76.89-billion Metro Manila Subway Project (MMSP), the P204.6billion North-South Commuter Railway (NSCR), and the P107.6billion Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) PPP.

T he MMSP deal includes operations and maintenance for subway trains, stations, depot, and other systems infrastructure, as well as a concession period of 15 years of full operations.

It also includes the maintenance of facilities and equipment under the Philippine Railway Institute, collection of passenger fares, and commercial development rights within prescribed station boundaries, among others.

T he auction for the deal has been set for the fourth quarter of 2023 to the first quarter of 2024.

M eanwhile, the NSCR deal involves the construction of a 147-kilometer train line that will connect the northern and southern parts of Luzon. It also includes

the operations and maintenance of trains, stations, depot, and other systems and infrastructure, and a concession period of 15 years of full operations in addition to partial operations period.

T he project also includes interoperations management within the rail system by trains from other lines such as the subway project, collection of passenger fares, and exercise of commercial development rights within prescribed station boundaries, among others.

Bidding for the operations and maintenance contract of the NSCR is scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2023 to the first quarter of 2024.

L astly, the Naia PPP seeks to redesign the Philippines’s main international gateway to expand its capacity to 62 million passengers per year. It also includes the rehabilitation of airport terminals and improved operations and maintenance of the airport’s airside and landside facilities.

The concessionaire’s aeronautical revenues will consist of passenger service charges, landing and takeoff fees, aircraft parking, tacking, and cargo, and others. The concessionaire will be allowed to conduct airport-related commercial activities within the project land,” Bautista noted.

T he auction for the Naia PPP project commenced last August 23 following the publication of instructions to bidders.

DOTr will bridge the gap towards our vision for the Philippines’ transportation sector by developing infrastructure and delivering transport services across our four operating sectors in airports and aviation, maritime, railways, and roads,” Bautista said.

Lorenz S. Marasigan

Invoking ‘courtesy,’ House abruptly ends OVP budget hearing

By Samuel P. Medenilla @sam_medenilla

CITING parliamentary courtesy, the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives abruptly terminated the budget hearing of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) on Wednesday over the objections of the Makabayan bloc.

M inority lawmakers strongly condemned the incident, which prevented them from scrutinizing the funds it had previously used – a practice done by lawmakers with all agencies, before proceeding to the new budget for next year. Of particular interest to minority lawmakers was the OVP’s use of its P125-million “confidential” fund last year and the newly proposed 2024 budget of the office of Vice President Sara Duterte.     S hortly after the OVP finished its audiovisual presentation to present its accomplishment report and proposed P2.39-billion budget for 2024, Ilocos Norte 1st District Rep. Ferdinand Alexander “Sandro” A. Marcos III moved to end the hearing.

In line with long-standing tradition of giving the Office of the Vice President parliamentary courtesy, I move to terminate the budget of the Office of the Vice President,” Marcos said.

House Deputy Minority leader and ACT Teachers party-list Rep. France L. Castro and Raoul Danniel A. Manuel, who were both present, objected to the termination.    However, 21 members of the Committee of Appropriations voted

NG meets only 80% of Aug borrowing plan, or ₧179.2B

By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas @jearcalas

L atest Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) showed that the state was only able to borrow nearly 80 percent of its programmed amount for August or about P179.165 billion.

Treasury data showed that 61.52 percent of the money borrowed were from the auction of Treasury bonds (T-bonds) with a total amount of P110.235 billion.

T he Treasury was only able to award 73.49 percent of its P150 billion programmed amount for T-bonds tender.

Meanwhile, the national government raised P68.93 billion from the sale of short-term Treasury bills (T-bills), about 91.9 percent of its intended P75- billion borrowing.

T hroughout August, the Trea -

sury faced rising yields from investors due to a confluence of local and global economic issues such as the policy rate setting by the Fed and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas as well as the persisting woes with inflation due to external shocks like world oil prices.

For T-bills, the Treasury was only able to make three full awards of P15 billion while it only made two full awards for T-bonds tender.

T he Treasury even rejected all the bids at one T-bonds tender this month as rates were above secondary market benchmark levels.

I n its last auction for the month, the Treasury made a full award of P30-billion T-bonds as rates eased below original coupon and secondary market benchmark rates.

“ With a remaining term of 5 years and 4 months, the reissued bonds (FXTN 10-64) fetched an

average rate of 6.220 percent, lower than the original coupon rate of 6.875 percent set on its original issuance in January 2019 and current secondary market benchmark rates,” the Treasury said on Wednesday after the auction.

Sept domestic borrowing plan FOR September, the national government plans to borrow a total of P180 billion from the domestic market through the tender of government securities, according to the Treasury.

T he Treasury will auction P60 billion worth of T-bills across four auctions with a programmed amount of P15 billion per tender. Meanwhile, the Treasury would auction off T-bonds four times next month with an offering amount of P30 billion each or a total of P120 billion for the whole September.

for the termination of  proceedings. The Committee did not count the dissenting votes.

“

We condemn what was done in the Committee on Appropriations in the strongest terms, the suppression of the Makabayan bloc regarding our intended questions and interpellation on the so-called confidential fund, which is not even a confidential fund in the Office of the Vice President,” Castro said in a statement.

She was referring to how the OVP was unable to explain to the public how it used its supposed P125-million confidential fund even if it was not included in the 2022 General Appropriations Act (GAA).

Hiding something?

“IT needs to be explained, this should not be kept as a secret because it seems like the OVP is hiding something. I think our colleagues in Congress, particularly in the Committee on Appropriations, have been lenient about this,” Castro said.

M anuel also assailed Congress’s tradition of extending “parliamentary courtesy” during budget hearings.

Our tradition of extending parliamentary courtesy stops us in the legislative branch to do our job for which we are paid by the Filipino people. We should have checks and balances,” Manuel said.

House Assistant Minority Leader and Gabriela Women’s Party Rep. Arlene D. Brosas echoed Manuel’s sentiment, saying the tradition prevents transparency in the budget deliberations.

Chiz hails Metrobank’s Outstanding Filipino

Public Servants, says PHL needs champions

SEN. Chiz Escudero on Tuesday commended this year’s recipients of the prestigious Metrobank Foundation Outstanding Filipinos for their selfless dedication and commitment to public service.

T he veteran legislator called on other government officials and employees to emulate the examples of the 10 awardees -- four teachers, three soldiers, and three policemen – and said the country needs more men and women who will positively impact the lives of the citizenry.

Let us collectively strive towards building a nation where outstanding public officials are not exceptions but the norm,” Escudero said in his brief remarks at the awarding ceremonies at the Grand Hyatt Manila Hotel in Taguig City.

Turning to the awardees, the senator said: “Thank you all for your dedication and commitment to the betterment of our society.”

E scudero served as the Chairman of the Board of Judges that selected the 10 winners out of dozens of nominees from all over the country. They now join the ranks of 695 Metrobank Foundation Outstanding Filipinos since 1985.

Each nominee has made significant contributions to their respective fields, as police officers, soldiers and teachers, transcending their roles and positively impacting the lives of countless individuals,” Escudero said.

Tonight, we salute the individuals who have displayed unwavering dedication to their responsibilities, while also championing the values of transparency, accountability, and inclusivity. Their commitment has helped shape our society, leaving a lasting legacy upon which future generations can build,” he added.

R ecipients of this year’s careerservice award received a cash prize of P1 million each (net of tax), a golden medallion, and “The Flame” trophy.

T he 2023 Metrobank Foundation Outstanding Filipino Award for Teachers are: Rex M. Sario, MAT, Master Teacher I / Teacherin-Charge of Balogo Elementary School (Pangantucan, Bukidnon); June Elias V. Patalinghug, EdD, Master Teacher II, Catalunan Grande Elementary School (Davao City); Edgar R. Durana, MAEd, Mas-

ter Teacher I / SPED Coordinator, Don Jose Ynares Memorial National High School (Binangonan, Rizal); and Jovelyn G. Delosa, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Northern Bukidnon State College (Manolo Fortich, Bukidnon).

Meanwhile, the 2023 Metrobank Foundation Outstanding Filipino Award for Soldiers are: Staff Sergeant Danilo S. Banquiao PA, CivilMilitary Officer—Non-Commissioned Officer, 103rd Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, Philippine Army (Marawi City, Lanao Del Sur); Lieutenant Colonel Joseph J. Bitancur

PAF, Assistant Commandant, Basic Military School, Air Education, Training, and Doctrine Command, Philippine Air Force (Lipa City, Batangas); and Colonel Joseph Jeremias Cirilo C. Dator PA, Assistant Chief of Staff for Operations (G3), Presidential Security Group (City of Manila).

R ecipients of the 2023 Metrobank Foundation Outstanding Filipino Award for Police Officers are: Police Chief Master Sergeant Dennis D. Bendo, Section Team Leader, District Mobile Force Battalion, Manila Police District (City of Manila); Police Major Mae Ann R. Cunanan, Chief, Police Community Relations, Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, Camp Crame (Quezon City) (formerly Chief, Case Monitoring Section, Regional Investigation and Detection Management Division, PRO 9 in Zamboanga City); and

Colonel Renell

THE Marcos Jr. administration failed to borrow the full P225 billion from the domestic market this month as investors’ asking yields across tenders have been unfavorable for the national government.

Companies

Editor: Jennifer A. Ng

Thursday, August 31, 2023

B1

Motorcycle makers in PHL aim to hike sales by 6.6% this year

By Andrea E. San Juan @andreasanjuan

MDPPA is aiming to increase sales by 6.6 percent to 1.6 million units this year, from last year’s 1.5 million units.

t he group, which is composed of Honda, Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki, and Yamaha, reported that it sold a total of 932,220 units in January to July.

t his is 4.6 percent higher than the 890,720 units sold in the same period last year.

However, the motorcycle makers cautioned that sales could be dampened by global and domestic economic factors.

“Elements like rising prices and the lingering impacts of the pandem-

ic, such as supply chain issues and a mix of rise on in-person and remote work setups, have contributed to a situation of slower growth.”

MDPPA President Norminio Mojica said the sales performance in the 7-month period could “potentially mirror” that of the remaining months of the year or from August to December.

“ t he months of September, october, and November have consistently exhibited heightened sales volumes, whereas the months of August and December have maintained an average profile in terms of monthly sales,” he said.

MDPPA said this observation underscores the group’s “capability” to recognize the seasonal fluctuations and analyze motorcycle sales patterns in the country.

Data from the Asean Automotive

Federation (AAF) showed that the Philippines sold 798,366 units of motorcycles and scooters in January to June. t his is a 4.6 percent increase from the 763,117 units it sold in the same period a year ago, AAF noted.

Compared with its Asean neighbors indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, t hailand and Vietnam, the Philippines ranks fourth in terms of the number of units of motorcycles and scooters sold from January to June 2023. indonesia sold the most units with 3,201,930; Vietnam, 1,223,614 units, and t hailand, 993,981 units.

Meanwhile, the six Asean-member nations sold 6.52 million units of motorcycles and scooters in the first half, a 15-percent increase from the 5.65 million units sold in the same period in 2022.

Aboitiz unit’s share buyback gets nod

By Lenie Lectura @llectura

Aboitiz Power Corp. has received the green light to implement a share buyback program. t he board of Directors approved the company’s authority to buy back its own shares using internally generated excess cash.

t h e b o ard has delegated to AboitizPower management the authority to decide when to acquire the company’s shares, as and when market prices dictate and as oppor-

tunities arise,” the power firm said in a disclosure to the stock exchange on Wednesday. it did not say how many shares it will repurchase. t he company has yet to reply when sought for more details.

AboitizPower has a pipeline of close to 1,000megawatts (MW) of renewable energy projects, including developing wind and solar farms throughout the country, as well as geothermal. in the next 10 years, it targets having a total of 4,600MW of clean energy and a 50:50 balance between its renewable and thermal capacities.

in the second quarter, the power firm posted a net income of P10.3 billion, bringing its first-half earnings to P17.8 billion.

t he figures are 46-percent higher than the P7 billion net income in the second quarter last year and up by 79 percent than the P10 billion recorded in the first half of last year.

t he company attributed its strong performance to the “fresh contribution” from GNPower Dinginin Ltd. Co. (GNPD) and higher availability across the company’s portfolio.

“We remain on track toward achieving a 50:50 balanced mix

portfolio by 2030 and continue to focus on providing reliable and innovative power while adapting to dynamic market conditions,” said AboitizPower President and Chief Executive of ficer Emmanuel Rubio.

it also recognized non-recurring gains of P37 million during the sixmonth period, mainly due to derivative gains from commodity hedging.

t he company’s generation and retail supply business recorded P30.2 billion in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization from January to June, up 31 percent from last year’s level.

Local, foreign tourists increasingly keen on PHL–Airbnb

GLobA L hospitality platform Airbnb said the international and local tourism sectors are now “back on track” as the Covid-19 situation here and abroad continues to improve.

While the health crisis had disrupted the travel industry worldwide, causing a significant drop of over 70 percent in the number of visitors, the company expects a strong rebound in the arrival of foreign and local guests all over Southeast Asia.

For instance, Chinese globetrotters—since cross-border travel reopened with the turn of events that led to the easing of health protocols and more relaxed movement of people in and out of China—have shown more and more interest in visiting a vast array of destinations.

And the Philippines never fails to be on their radar. in fact, the Southeast Asian nation has gained more than a tenfold increase in guest searches among Chinese travelers on the accommodation channel yearon-year, based on Airbnb internal data for 2022.

With revenge travel on the rise, new tourism horizons also emerge.

t h is holds true as Airbnb guests stayed in 100,000 plus different cities and towns globally last year.

t he top 10 most-frequented destinations on its platform were just about 7 percent of all trips, unlike 10 percent in 2019. t his trend has been evident already pre-pandemic as the number of communities internationally where tourists were booked grew by over 25 percent in 2022 compared with five years ago, spreading tourism to new and different destina-

tions. Since March 2020, the first time the lockdown was implemented outside of China when Covid-19 was proclaimed an international health emergency, more than 13,000 towns and cities the world over got their first booking on Airbnb.

More than 900 of them were from the Philippines, where the enhanced community quarantine was implemented during the time.

As the booking channel allows travelers to now make their trip fit with their schedules, its latest data show that most of the guests reserving stays using its flexible search features are not keen on super famed destinations, contrary to their counterparts turning to traditional search. Hence, around 1 in 20 stays

on Airbnb are booked using flexible search features.

“Distributed travel is affordable, boosts local economies and local jobs, and immerses people in these communities—whereas too much travel to popular places concentrates tourism economically and geographically,” said Amanpreet bajaj, Airbnb’s general manager for Southeast Asia, india, Hong Kong and ta iwan.

According to bajaj, their platform is helping disperse guests, income and tourism benefits across the region beyond the usual hotspots to new and trending destinations.

“We see the challenges posed by mass tourism around the world, and are investing in solutions to help, while helping guests discover new

communities and generating new income streams for locals.”

As foreign tourists are keeping tab on Southeast Asia, the locals are also not looking beyond their country’s borders. in the Philippines alone, nights booked on Airbnb more than doubled last year from 2020 and domestic tourism continued to lead the way as the country ranked as the No. 1 in the bucket list of Filipino travelers themselves in 2022.

“Domestic tourism has proved to be resilient in times of crisis and an option of a more immediate and positive economic impact to local economies. A weekend trip to a near destination to home is not only easier to plan, but also much more affordable,” bajaj said. Roderick L. Abad

Motorcycle manufacturers in the Philippines belonging to the Motorcycle Development Program Participants Association (MDPPA) have set their sights on surpassing their sales last year.

Manulife unit launches Asean investment fund

By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas @jearcalas

BANKING on its “bright” economic prospects of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) region, the Manulife Investment Management and Trust (MIMT) Corp. announced launching an Asean-focused unit investment trust fund (UITF).

In a statement issued last Wednesday, the wholly-owned subsidiary of The Manufacturers Life Insurance Co. (Phils.) Inc. said it is now offering its “Asean Equity Feeder Fund” that invests 70 percent of net assets in equity-related securities of listed companies with “significant” economic exposure in the region.

The firm added that the new investment tool could be availed for as low as P1,000 or $100 which would be invested in countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Manulife IMT President and CEO Aira F. Gaspar promotes the pooled fund as “bringing to investors easy access to Asean’s robust growth potential, driven by its growing working population, the digitalization of its resilient economy, and its evolving tourism story.”

“Collectively, Asean is the fifth largest economy in the world with a combined GDP [gross domestic product] of over $3 trillion. Its abundant and growing human capital of over 600 million people provides a

strong pillar of support to its economic growth, particularly given the promising opportunities from the implementation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and digital transformation,” Gaspar was quoted in the statement as saying.

She added “there is an enormous economic growth opportunity in the Asean region driven by digitalization that drove the expansion of ecommerce, travel, food, transport and online media.” The statement pointed out that Asean has a “significant” investment in 5G infrastructure in upgrading its telecommunication facilities, networks and equipment.

“The massive growth opportunity in Asean is boosted by its continued progress in digitalization, banking on the region’s young, mobile-enabled population,” Gaspar said.

“Additionally, the tourism sector provides an attractive structural story in the form of medical tourism— as we believe there is sizable demand in healthcare, while supply may not be sufficient to meet this particular demand,” she added.

Manulife IMT claims the UITF is the first of its kind in the Philippine market.

“Our equity UITFs are suitable for aggressive investors looking to capture the long-term capital growth potential of professionally selected companies across the world,” Gaspar said.

Vietnam fintech eyes PHL after nailing $6M funding

HO Chi Minh City, Vietnamheadquartered and MFast platform-operator Digital Payment Solutions Joint Stock Company (DigiPay JSC) announced last Tuesday that it successfully concluded its $6 million (about P340 million) Series-A funding round to drive its regional expansion.

“In the midst of a global funding winter, we are grateful for our existing and new investors’ relentless support to achieve this funding milestone. Our next big steps include fostering collaboration to design exclusive financial products for each and every customer segment, as well as gearing up for expansion to the Philippines in 2024,” DigiPay JSC CEO Long Phan was quoted in the statement as saying.

The firm explained that “MFast” is an “agent banking aggregator platform that allows users in underserved communities to access financial services. In Vietnam alone, the platform empowers 160,000 active agents to serve a multitude of customers’ needs especially in tier-2 and tier-3 cities.”

“Once MFast expands to the Philippines, people who live in remote areas and lack financial literacy and credit history will gain better access to banking, insurance, and creditrelated services,” the company’s statement read. “This will lessen the need for such individuals to acquire

Bill filed in Senate to address fraudulent financial schemes

By Butch Fernandez @butchfBM

SENATOR Sherwin T.

Gatchalian

prodded Congress to frontload passing a law imposing tougher penalties on people behind fraudulent financial schemes.

In filing Senate Bill (SB) 2407, to be known as the Anti-Financial Account Scamming Act, Gatchalian said he envisions a law that will “penalize individuals who willingly allow themselves to be used as money mules and those who engage in social engineering schemes, and other fraudulent financial schemes.”

“Aligned with the administration’s commitment to expand digital transactions, safeguarding the public from scammers and abusive online lenders,” Gatchalian said.

The lawmaker emphasized the need “to protect the integrity of the

country’s financial system and ensure that financial accounts and their owners are protected and are not exploited or lured by cybercriminals or criminal syndicates into the commission of an unlawful or fraudulent activity.”

Through a statement issued by his office, Gatchalian said the rise in cases of online financial crimes as the Covid-19 pandemic made cashless transactions and digital payments ubiquitous.

“Cybercriminals started taking advantage of technologies to transfer illicit or stolen funds across digital financial services, stealing vital in-

formation about account holders and taking over their accounts, or enticing account holders with gifts and incentives with the goal of covertly committing financial crimes,” the senator said.

In response to the increasing prevalence of such malevolence, the senator stressed the pressing need to “enact a measure that imposes penalties on individuals who willingly become conduits for illicit transactions, those who engage in manipulative social engineering tactics and other deceitful schemes that exploit financial accounts.”

This, he noted, encompasses actions such as account takeover, recruiting or enlisting others to commit these acts, and perpetration of these acts on a significant scale comparable to economic sabotage that jeopardizes the security of Filipinos’ financial accounts and the integrity of the country’s financial system.

“For the past three years, the unsuspecting public lost millions of their hard-earned money to these cybercriminals,” Gatchalian said,

citing as an example the “Mark Nagoyo” scam. That scam involved the hacking of more than 700 BDO Unibank Inc. customers’ accounts. The lawmaker also cited the unauthorized bank transfers that targeted government teachers with accounts at Land Bank of the Philippines in January last year wherein victims lost between P26,000 to P121,000. Gatchalian also cited the “massive phishing” involving GCash users in May this year.

“Operations of cybercriminals grew on a large scale, taking advantage of the unemployed, those who are looking for easy money, those who are unaware, and those who are willing to help others, and thriving in jurisdictions with very weak enforcements and penalties like the Philippines,” he noted.

A report by Kaspersky ZAO Lab showed that the Philippines ranked second among countries most attacked by web threats in 2022 and the most preferred attack method, which includes social engineering schemes.

Digitalization important to labor export–WorldRemit

Ltd. (Philippine Branch), said.

By VG Cabuag @villygc

MONEY transfer firm Worl-

financing through black-market credit sources.”

Notably, the platform has witnessed remarkable growth, with a 62-percent increase in the number of earning users during the first half of 2023, as compared to the same period in 2022, according to DigiPay JSC.

“This significant surge underscores the platform’s appeal and effectiveness in connecting users with valuable financial services,” the firm said adding it “has fostered strong partnerships” with international and local financial institutions.

“With its strong agent base and initial focus on financial products, MFast has achieved impressive results. Wavemaker is proud to strengthen our partnership with the company and support it as it enters its next phase of growth,” Wavemaker Partners Principal Phuong Tran. Principal was quoted in the statement as saying.

The firm said the round was led by Wavemaker Partners LLC, Southeast Asia’s leading venture capital firm dedicated to investing in enterprise, deep tech, and sustainability startups. It is led by Filipinos Wavemaker Managing Partner Paul Santos and General Partner Eric Manlunas.

The funding round also saw participation from new investors “Finnoventure Fund I,” managed by Krungsri Finnovate Co. Ltd., and Headline Asia Ltd., the firm said.

dRemit Group Ltd. said that digitalization has been important in facilitating recruitment and emigration of workers, and has improved labor migration management among overseas Filipino workers.

“Digitalization has also streamlined many processes for migrants and has also helped them cope with working and living abroad. It lets them stay in touch with loved ones and send money home easily. Platforms like WorldRemit facilitate secure and real-time online transfers for users worldwide,” Earl Melivo, head of Worldremit Service Centre

“In this global landscape, remittances play an increasingly critical role in moving people and sustaining populations. But primarily, they support migrant workers’ families. WorldRemit recognizes the significance of affordable remittance services in ensuring their welfare and empowering them through financial inclusion,” Melivo said.

He said millions of Filipinos are employed in various industries and economies worldwide, but the the pandemic has slowed their deployment. This has since rebounded thanks to easing restrictions and inclusive labor policies in both the Philippines and host countries.

Land-based workers with con-

tracts of a year or more and sea- and land-based workers with contracts of less than one year served as the greatest contributors in remittances, according to recent reports. Origin countries with the largest remittance flows from January to June 2023 were the United States at 41 percent, Singapore at 7 percent, Saudi Arabia at 6 percent, and Japan at 5 percent.

Global migration trends continue to affect Philippine labor and economy, it said. The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said there was a 3 percent overall remittance growth to $17.59 billion in the six months of the year from the previous year’s r $17.09 billion.

The same data found that cash

remittances by overseas Filipino workers also increased by 3 percent to $15.79 billion compared to $13.35 billion in 2022. In June alone, OFW remittances sent through banks hit $2.81 billion, the highest level since $3.16 billion in December 2022. According to BSP data, personal remittances, including non-monetary inflows, grew by 2.2 percent to $3.13 billion in June from $3.06 billion in the same month last year.

Data from the Department of Migrant Workers and the Philippine Statistics Authority found that the country deployed over 1.8 million OFWs to major destination countries in 2022, which accounted for the largest financial contribution of all observed areas in this study.

Vietnam state bank joins Asean payment network

By Cai U. Ordinario @caiordinario

THE State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) is the latest addition to the Regional Payment Connectivity (RPC) initiated by the central banks of Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.

The Association of Southeast Asian (Asean) central banks initiated the RPC at the sidelines of the G20 Leaders’ Summit on November 14 last year in Bali, Indonesia.

The SBV signed the Supplemental pages of the Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation (MOU) in RPC at the sidelines of the 10th Asean Finance Ministers’ and Central Bank Governors’ Meeting (AFMGM) in Jakarta, Indonesia.

“SBV is pleased to be a new signatory of the MOU on Cooperation in

Regional Payment Connectivity and looks forward to the close coordination among all the parties to promote faster, cheaper, more transparent and more inclusive cross-border payments,” SBV Deputy Governor Pham Thanh Ha was quoted in a joint statement as saying.

“The MOU shows our solidarity and marks a good starting point for cooperation to strengthen regional economic integration and advance payment connectivity toward making Asean a global leader in payments connectivity,” Pham added.

SBV’s signing of the supplemental pages of the MOU was witnessed by existing RPC participants, namely Bank Indonesia, Bank Negara Malaysia, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, Monetary Authority of Singapore, and Bank of Thailand.

“The expansion of the RPC to include other Asean members is a mandate from the 9th AFMGM. Further, it is a priority of the Asean 2023 Indonesia Chairmanship,” the joint statement read. The RPC initiative was established to strengthen and enhance collaboration on payment connectivity through the development for faster, cheaper, more transparent, and more inclusive cross-border payments.

The cooperation encompasses several modalities, including QRcode and fast-payment based crossborder payments.

The goal of the RPC is to make inter-country payments more seamless, convenient, and affordable, allowing individuals and businesses to conduct transactions across the Asean region with ease.

“The inclusion of SBV has increased the RPC group from five to six Asean Central Banks. This partnership aims to further support post-pandemic economic activities across the Asean region, including the promotion of tourism and other service industries,” Asean central banks said.

The Asean monetary authorities also said the expansion will benefit small and medium-sized enterprises, which are crucial to the region’s economic growth.

Through connected payment systems, SMEs and other businesses in Asean can increase trade and remittances. These are expected to widen financial inclusion and significantly contribute to the overall advancement of the Asean economic community.

Rep. Duterte presses passage of bill granting rental subsidy to informal settlers

DAVAO City First Congressional District Rep. Paolo

Z. Duterte has pushed for the passage of a law that would grant rental subsidies to eligible informal settlers to help families living in hazardous areas or those rendered homeless by calamities to avail themselves of safe, decent shelter.

In a statement, Duterte “underscored the urgent need for Congress to approve the measure especially with strong typhoons and other calamities continuing to displace tens of thousands of families.”

The statement read that the rental subsidy program as proposed by Duterte, Benguet Rep. Eric G.

Yap, and ACT-CIS Partylist Rep. Edvic G. Yap in House Bill (HB) 455 “also covers informal settler families (ISFs) who do not have legal claims to the lots or houses they occupy.”

According to the statement, HB 455 has been consolidated by the House Committee on Housing and Urban Development with 18 other bills that also aim to provide rental subsidies to ISFs. The recommendations of the House Committee on Appropriations have already been incorporated into the substitute bill. The bill aims to institutionalize and further strengthen the ongoing rental subsidy and financial assis-

tance program of the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD).

Under the measure, the rental subsidy will be determined by the DHSUD and the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda), taking into consideration the prevailing minimum wage and rental rates per region. The financial aid will continue until the ISFs have been resettled to permanent housing projects constructed by the government.

“People forced to squat on private property because of poverty, those living in danger areas, and those who lost their homes due to strong typhoons and other ca-

lamities or because they have been affected by public infrastructure projects should be given the chance to live in humane, decent conditions while waiting to be transferred to their permanent housing sites,” Duterte was quoted in the statement as saying. To be eligible for the rental subsidy, the ISF should not move or relocate back to the area where they were originally residing, unless permitted by the proper government authorities; and they should pay to the lessor the portion of the rental amount not covered by the subsidy.

The measure states that the rental subsidy shall not exceed the

actual rent, provided that such subsidy may be reviewed or revised by the DHSUD and National Economic and Development Authority at any time but not more than once every two years to conform to prevailing economic conditions.

Duterte recalled that this proposed Rental Housing Subsidy Program Act, which was among the priority bills of his father, former President Rodrigo R. Duterte, was already approved by the House during the previous Congress.

Based on the latest available data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), about 4.5 million Filipinos are homeless, of which 3 million are found in Metro Manila.

Among the main causes of homelessness are poverty, domestic violence, human trafficking and natural disasters.

“Given the loss of livelihood of many Filipinos resulting from the economic shock of the recent pandemic and the devastation wrought by strong typhoons that have rendered hundreds of thousands homeless, these numbers reported by the PSA are expected to rise,” Duterte said.

“Government housing projects take time to build. We cannot just neglect the plight of our homeless countrymen and allow them to continue to suffer while they wait to be resettled,” he added.

Editor: Jennifer A. Ng • www.businessmirror.com.ph

Rice, corn crops bear brunt of typhoon Egay

THE most important staple crops in the Philippines— rice and corn—have borne the brunt of typhoon Egay, according to an official of the Department of Agriculture (DA).

U-Nichols Manalo, director of the DA’s Field Operations Services office also said the typoon destroyed farm infrastructure, such as irrigation.

“In terms of value, rice lost was larger, but in terms of volume, corn losses were higher,” he said. He said the typhoon affected 67,528 metric tons (MT) of rice valued at P3 billion while corn losses reached 124,576 MT valued at P2.3 billion.

Raul Montemayor, national manager of Federation of Free Farmers (FFF) told the BusinessMirror on Wednesday that Egay and Goring could also affect the quality of rice that will be

harvested in the coming weeks.

“If more palay was soaked in water, the quality of the grains might not be so good,” he said.

Montemayor also expressed concern over the National Food Authority’s (NFA) buffer stocks.

“The typhoons will affect the incoming supply starting midSeptember, in terms of volume and quality. But our problem really is the period between now and mid-September when the available stocks are fast running out.”

Jayson Cainglet, executive director of Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura (Sinag) said he does not expect rice prices to increase because of the damage caused by Egay.

Goring’s track THE DA has yet to release a report on the impact of Goring on agri-fisheries. The agency

said it continues to monitor the storm’s track.

The agency said in its latest bulletin that the Cordillera Autonomous Region and Regions 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 will likely be struck by the typhoon.

It said Goring could affect 2.1 million hectares of farmland, including those planted with rice and corn.

Manalo said, however, that Goring’s impact on crop output may be minimal as farmers in areas struck

PSA: Agri census to include culturing worms, insects

By Cai U. Ordinario @caiordinario

FOOD produced in urban gardens and relatively new businesses like culturing worms and insects are just some of the new developments that could be covered by the 2022 Census of Agriculture and Fisheries (CAF), according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

The survey, which will be conducted between September 4 and October 25 this year, will be the first CAF conducted by the PSA using the Computer-Assisted Personal Interviews (CAPI) and Artificial Intelligence (AI).

The CAPI allows enumerators to input respondents’ answers using

a tablet that records and processes their answers reducing the time needed to complete surveys. AI, meanwhile, will be used in the CAF to estimate land area, which is part of the data that the survey collects.

“Very flexible ang ating instrument; puwede ‘yung mga bago. So in addition to what you mentioned (culturing worms and insects), kasama din dito yung urban farming for example kasi may mga barangay tayo na nasa urban areas. So isa sa mga tinitignan natin yung practices sa urban farming at ano ‘yung volume of production kung meron man,” National Statistician Claire Dennis S. Mapa said in a press briefing on Wednesday.

PSA Deputy National Statistician Minerva Eloisa P. Esquivias

told the BusinessMirror on the sidelines of the briefing that urban garden produce will only be included in the CAF results if these products are consumed and/or sold by households.

Esquivias also said plants that are used for decorative purposes only, a favorite among the “plantitos” and “plantitas,” would not be included unless they are being sold by households.

Culturing worms and insects will also be included in the data to be collected on livestock and poultry raised. It will fall under contract growers and integrators of livestock and poultry.

The CAF will gather information on the farm and fishery sector through “objects of focus,”

such as palay, sugarcane, mango, coconut, fish ponds, fish pens, and fish cages.

The survey will collect data on areas planted, kinds of livestock, agriculture lands, demographics, and data needed to monitor the country’s progress in the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030 as well as data needed by the United Nations on food security.

The survey will be conducted by 15,841 enumerators nationwide. The preliminary results of the survey will be released in March 2024 while the final results will be released by July 2024.

The CAF is conducted every 10 years. The last was conducted in 2012 while the first was done in 1960.

Brazil wants to help PHL boost sugar, ethanol output–DA

OFFICIALS from the Department of Agriculture (DA) have met with delegates from the Brazilian Cooperation Agency (ABC) and the Embassy of Brazil in Manila last August 29 to discuss areas for cooperation that will increase the Philippines’s sugarcane and ethanol production.

As one of the leading countries in sugarcane and ethanol production, Brazil offers academic programs related to the sugarcane industry and incorporating ethanol in its national energy grid, the DA said in a statement.

Engr. Laverne Olalia, Research Development and Extension Department Manager of the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA), said the Philippines can learn from Brazil’s best practices on soil development and management, mealing practices, and farm technologies to

improve local production.

He added that based on the SRA’s observations during its visit to the country last January, Brazil’s best practices and innovations can be adapted to the Philippine setting.

The Brazilian delegates recommended bringing in a team of experts to the Philippines to facilitate knowledge-sharing initiatives that are geared towards the expansion of sugarcane plantations, the promotion of farm efficiency, enhancing meal conversion, improving production chains, and lowering production costs in the Philippines.

DA Assistant Secretary for Policy Research and Development Noel Padre and ABC Technical Cooperation with Africa, Asia, and Oceania Manager Antonio Junqueira said Manila will strengthen the forged partnership between the

Philippines and Brazil for the benefit of the sugarcane and ethanol industry players.

Both countries are now in talks regarding the possible development of the sugar and ethanol industries.

Also present during the visit were DA Assistant Secretary for Regulations Paz Benavidez II and Dr. Octavio Valsechi, an Agroindustrial Technology professor at Federal University of São Carlos.

Data released by the SRA in January showed that the Philippines’s total sugar production in the current crop year which will end on August 31 would still be below 1.84 million metric tons (MMT), the second-lowest output in the past 22 years.

Total raw sugar output in crop year 2022-2023 was pegged at 1.833 MMT, about 100,000 MT

by Egay have yet to replant crops.

Crops and poultry were the top performers in the agri-fisheries sector in the second quarter, according a report released by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) last August 9.

In terms of value, crop production went up by 1.2 percent to P240.83 billion, according to data from the PSA. The crops subsector accounted for 56.3 percent of the total value of farm output.

“The value of palay production increased by 1.1 percent, while corn declined by -0.8 percent.”

The livestock subsector also saw a slight increase at 0.7 percent in April to June. Its output was valued at P63.5 billion or 14.8 percent of the total value of agri production.

“Hog, the major contributor to the value of livestock production, increased by 1 percent.”

Poultry production was also higher by 1.5 percent during the period. It accounted for P64.54 billion or 15.1 percent of the total value of production in agriculture and fisheries.

The increases recorded in these subsectors, however, were not enough to offset the 14.2-percent contraction in the fisheries subsector in April to June.

PSA said the value of agriculture and fisheries production at constant 2018 prices fell by 1.3 percent year-on-year to P427.69 billion.

According to the agency, the fisheries subsector recorded a 14.2-percent contraction in the value of its output which reached P58.81 billion in the second quarter. It contributed 13.8 percent to the total value of production in agriculture and fisheries.

Investments in poor small-scale farmers benefit climate, environment–report

JOINT investments in small-scale farming in developing countries not only increase rural people’s capacity to cope with the climatic and economic shocks, but also benefit the environment and climate.

A new joint report launched recently by the United Nation’s International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the Global Environment Facility (GEF) found that investments in poor farmers will help reduce greenhouse gases emissions, recover degraded land and curb biodiversity loss.

“IFAD’s partnership with GEF benefits 78 million people across 100 countries, improving their livelihoods and delivering resilience-building solutions across food systems, climate and nature,” said Jyotsna Puri, Associate Vice-President of the Strategy and Knowledge Department at IFAD.

highlights the report. In Cambodia, “testing grants” de-risked the adoption process of Renewable Energy Technologies (RET) by supporting the proofing and validation by small-scale farmers and small and medium enterprises.

These grants were followed by other “roll-out grants” through a co-financing approach with companies to establish local supply chains, training and after-sales services. As a result, nearly 18,000 smallscale farmers have adopted different RET, such as solar dryers for food processing, portable solar water pumps to irrigate crops, biochar briquettes to heat newly hatched chicks, solar poultry incubators to heat eggs, and solar hydroponics to grow vegetables with less water.

higher than previous crop year’s output of 1.82 MMT. The SRA’s production forecast in January was lower than the 1.876 MMT it projected before the start of the crop year in September 2022. The lower raw sugar output was attributed to the decline in the volume of sugarcanes that will be milled this crop year. SRA’s latest forecast showed that total sugarcanes to be milled would be at 20.857 MMT, 1.77 percent lower than the 21.234 MMT recorded in the previous crop year. SRA data showed that total sugarcane area in the current crop year would be below 400,000 hectares for the fifth consecutive year. Total sugarcane area in crop year 2022-2023 would be at 384,987 hectares, the smallest in at least five years.

ITC chair hopes India food export bans are short-lived

INDIA’S decision to ban exports of wheat and rice should be short-lived once food supply stabilizes in the country, said Sanjiv Puri, chairman of ITC Ltd.

The company, a major wheat exporter, saw its agriculture business revenue decline 25 percent in the April-June quarter, hit by the export bans, according to its quarterly earnings presentation.

Puri spoke to Bloomberg News on the sidelines of the B-20 Summit in New Delhi. The excerpts are lightly edited for clarity:

Outlook on India economy

BUSINESSES that are indexed to Indian consumption are fairly resilient. Anything that is more integrated with global supply chains, whether it’s exports or certain commodities, there is volatility and some weakness there. What we are growing at without exports firing is a decent number.

The impact on consumption has been more inflation-led and inflation has actually been mostly imported. The second factor is climate emergency because it’s led to crop failures. As inflation is moderating the latest Nielsen numbers also show some green shoots of pick up in the rural economy. What is to be monitored is the El Nino bit and the global dynamic is still uncertain, but as the inflation is cooling off consumption is picking up.

Impact of export bans

IT is impacting us. As businesses we have to be also responsible. People have to have food in the country. So we have to understand that and people have to be able to afford it. These are realities we must recognize.

I obviously hope that it is short lived. And what will enable us to export is our crops doing well, our agriculture producing more than is required so that we have the surpluses. As a

responsible corporate this is what I would like to work with the farming community on and see how we can improve the produce.

Viability of agri business

MY focus at this point of time is on value addition (rather than pure output growth that could impact prices and overall profitability).

For example, we inaugurated the spices facility and we are now going to inaugurate the nicotine derivative products facility.

That’s the path we are on—building capacity in medicinal and aromatic plants, horticulture and aquaculture. These are the areas of value add we are focusing on as a company. And this is more value accretive than the commodity business in any case.

Brazil’s beef giant BRAZIL’s Minerva SA agreed to buy some assets from rival Marfrig Global Foods SA

for $1.5 billion, a “pricey” deal that will create a South American beef giant. Minerva shares slumped.

The agreement to acquire 16 plants in Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Chile will boost Minerva’s cattle slaughtering capacity by 44 percent and expand its market share in the export market, the company said in a statement on Monday. While the deal could be “transformational,” Morgan Stanley analysts labeled the acquisition as “pricey.”

The deal comes at a time when Minerva is outperforming its larger and more diversified rivals Marfrig and JBS SA, which have been hit by a number of setbacks including high grain prices and a glut of chicken and pork. Still, shares slumped as much as 16 percent, its biggest loss since pandemic lockdowns curbed demand in March 2020.

“In the long run, it may end up positioning Minerva as a major leading South American

“Together our organizations assemble finance to have a catalytic impact on rural communities across the globe and facilitate a multiplier effect on the systems and institutions they are critical to,” added the Associate Vice-President of IFAD, the only UN specialized agency and international financial institution that focuses exclusively on reducing poverty and improving food security in rural areas in developing countries.

The partnership with GEF enables IFAD to boost its work to support sustainable land and water management, climatesmart agriculture, agroecology, biodiversity conservation, climate adaptation, and resilience building, according to the new IFAD-GEF Advantage III Report.

For instance, one project aimed at developing family farming, co-funded by IFAD and GEF, restored 30,000 hectares of degraded land in Niger. In doing so, this program prevented the emission of 5.25 million tons of CO2, while recovering nearly 190,000 hectares through “farmers managed natural regeneration” practices, which foster regrowth of trees to increase woody vegetation.

IFAD-GEF collaboration has also helped unlock innovation at country level,

force in the global trade of beef,” said Morgan Stanley analysts Ricardo Alves and Lucas Mussi.

“However, at least for now, given valuation, capital discipline/leverage concerns, lower carry, we think investors may be willing to ask longer-term questions later.”

Minerva has already paid 1.5 billion reais for the acquisition, and JPMorgan Chase & Co. has committed to a bridge loan for the rest of the transaction, the Sao Paulo-based company said. In a presentation on Tuesday, the company added the acquisitions will expand its share of beef shipments in South America to as much as 35 percent from 20 percent now.

Increased scale will improve access to cattle and boost Minerva’s power in global meat trading, Chief Executive Officer Fernando Galletti de Queiroz said in a call with analysts on Tuesday.

Top shareholders—the family holding VDQ Holdings SA and the Saudi Agricultural and Livestock Investment Co.—have committed to approving the deal, which is expected to be completed within a year, Minerva said.

“IFAD’s ability to bundle different sources of development finance unlocks new possibilities to address pressing global challenges such as transforming the way we produce, transport, store and consume food,” the UN agency said.

Together with its sister agency, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), IFAD co-leads the new Food Systems Integrated Program of the GEF, whereby an estimated $230 million—to be complemented by additional cofinancing—will be directed through grants to support countries working to transform their agrifood systems to be more sustainable and to deliver global environmental benefits.

The currently active portfolio of IFAD-GEF operations represents a total investment of nearly $200 million in 35 global projects on agriculture and rural development across all world regions. Recent project approvals in 2022 and 2023 alone represent more than $64 million in GEF grants, with significant co-financing of over $347million. Moreover, 13 projects in 18 countries and totaling almost $100 million are at the design stage in the IFAD-GEF pipeline and a “soft pipeline” of projects being scoped out comes to almost another $100 million.

The acquisition, which includes 15 beef plants and one lamb, will also boost sales by nearly 80 percent to about 52 billion reais by 2024, and will immediately generate cash, Chief Financial Officer Edison Ticle said in the investor call. The deal will be fully funded by debt, fueling investor skepticism. For seller Marfrig, offloading the plants was a way to speed up founder Marcos Molina’s strategy to focus on more value-added products and processes foods. Shares surged more than 15 percent in Sao Paulo, the biggest gain in more than three years. The transaction “came in at an attractive valuation for Marfrig” and should help in its deleveraging process, Bradesco BBI analyst Leandro Fontanesi wrote in a note. The deal will reduce the number of Marfrig’s cattle slaughtering plants in South America to four, with revenues in the region set to decline by 43 percent to 15.8 billion reais, according to a company presentation. Marfrig also expects to see higher margins as more of its sales will be tied to value-added products. Bloomberg News

Raadee S. Sausa

RESCUERS carry pigs inside boats along floodwaters caused by Typhoon Egay (international name Doksuri) as they evacuate them to safer grounds in Laoag city, Ilocos Norte province, northern Philippines, Wednesday, July 26, 2023. AP/BERNIE SIPIN DELA CRUZ

Did you know about ‘work-from-home’ scams?

how scammers lure victims to one of the sites.

2. Websites offering part-time work doing regular online activities or overflowing with offers of easy-earning jobs. Scammers promise new recruits a whopping $200 a day. Plus a $25 signing-up bonus. Of course, there are numerous reviews from grateful “users” who have already become rich. But if you bother to read them, you’ll spot a lot of grammatical mistakes.

DURING this post-pandemic period, although many people have gone back to face-to-face work, there are a number who have decided to work-from-home. This may be full time or in a hybrid mode depending on company policy or, at times, the preference of employees. Usually, this type of work requires most hours in front of the screen. Thus, this exposes us to many websites that are designed to scam us.

There are lots of websites with tempting offers of quick and easy money working from home. However in reality, they are likely to be from scammers looking to get gullible users to work for them for free and advertise their “business.”

This column from online security expert Kaspersky demonstrates the operation principle of several such schemes, and gives users tips on how to avoid falling victim to them. Below are some examples of scams to watch out for:

1. Websites that offer earning money for doing regular online activities: taking surveys, watching videos, playing games and other simple tasks. This is

3. Websites with reviews from “users” who supposedly struck gold. To earn money on the “platform”, you are asked to complete various tasks, such as testing apps, playing games, sharing a link to the site with friends, and the like. In fact, all these “tasks” are just links to other scam resources. By visiting them, users create traffic to cybercriminals’ sites. This improves their position in search results. Cybercriminals may also have their own footfall KPIs (key performance indicators). When the victim tries to get their “money” (the home page promises that this can be done through popular services like Cash App, Venmo, PayPal and others), they discover they must first earn at least $200. Sure, you won’t see any payout even if you do “earn” $200 bucks. Nor can it be ruled out the scammers’ domain won’t simply be blocked before a user even tries—such sites have a very short lifespan. After getting blocked, the scammers will get another domain and launch the whole scheme again with new victims. The scam itself is quite international. Besides English, the cybercriminals’ website is available in nine other languages, although these versions look less professional.

4. Similar sites with a more primitive design but with a different mechanism for making money from naive users. Victims are offered two

ways to earn. The first is to share the link and invite “referrals” to the website: you get $1 for every 100 people. What’s more, the site supposedly lets you withdraw funds after accumulating just $20. To earn this amount through inviting referrals, you need to attract 1,500 users to the site (you get $5 for signing up). Sounds hard, but things aren’t all that bad—you have a chance to earn $50 right away. But for this, you’ll have to play the scammers’ game by endlessly refreshing the page so that the two images match. They won’t of course. When the victim goes to the site, they are immediately asked for permission to display browser notifications. Through such schemes, the cybercriminals distribute ads for various other scams or relatively legit adult sites. That’s the main objective: to lure as many victims as possible who will give this permission. And the image-matching game helps the scammers boost traffic to their own site and improve their search visibility. It is very tempting to click these sites even just out of curiousity. I hope this article is able to seriously warn you against any attempt to do so.

To avoid falling for online job scams:

n Don’t believe promises of easy money.

n Don’t enter payment information on dubious websites.

n Read tinyurl.com/4emx2yvk where additional tips can be found on how to spot scammers.

n Use a robust security solution that will warn you before visiting suspicious sites and keep your money and data out of cybercriminals’ hands.

Kaspersky is a global cybersecurity and digital privacy company founded in 1997. The company’s deep threat intelligence and security expertise is constantly transforming into innovative solutions and

services to protect businesses, critical infrastructure, governments and consumers around the globe. The company’s comprehensive security portfolio includes leading endpoint protection, specialized security products and services, as well as Cyber Immune solutions to fight sophisticated and evolving digital threats. Learn more at www.kaspersky.com n

MGreen subsidiaries launch BasuraPalit-Gamit-Eskwela program

Pre-summit conference maps out elderly IP‘s agenda for national summit set for October

THE two-day Pre-Summit Conference on Elderly Indigenous Peoples, a collaborative initiative between the National Commission of Senior Citizens (NCSC) and the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP), in partnership with Sogo Cares of Sogo Hotels, successfully concluded at the prestigious East Asia Royale Hotel in General Santos City on August 10 and 11, 2023.

The primary objective of the pre-summit conference was to formulate a comprehensive agenda that addresses the unique challenges and concerns faced by elderly Indigenous Peoples residing in Region 12. This agenda will pave the way for the upcoming National Summit scheduled for October, perfectly timed to coincide with the observance of National Indigenous Peoples Month.

the significance of unity and collective action. A diverse assembly of 21 tribal leaders, impassioned advocates, and Indigenous Peoples Mandatory Representatives from Region 12 (SOCCSKSARGEN) also joined forces at the conference. Their spirited engagement contributed to the development of a comprehensive and inclusive agenda that takes into account the multifaceted needs of elderly Indigenous Peoples.

MGEN Renewable Energy, Inc.

(MGreen), the renewable energy arm of Meralco PowerGen Corporation (MGen), recently launched the Basura-Palit-Gamit-Eskwela program to its host communities to instill environmental awareness among Filipino students.

Anchored on One Meralco’s Race to Zero Waste program, MGreen introduced the program through its subsidiaries BulacanSol, a 55MWac solar power plant in San Miguel, Bulacan, and PH Renewables, Inc. (PHRI), a 75Mwac solar power plant in Baras, Rizal.

Basura-Palit-Gamit-Eskwela program aims to promote environmental awareness, preservation, and sustainability. Through this program, students from BulacanSol and PHRI host communities have the chance to obtain various school supplies in exchange for recyclable materials such as newspapers, cardboard, plastic bottles and caps, papers, cans, and

plastic food wrappers. It also supports the implementation of Republic Act 9003 otherwise known as the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act to prevent pollution.

In its initial run, a total of 175 kilos of recyclable materials were collected from more than 400 students from San Juan Elementary School in San Miguel, Bulacan and Pinugay Eementary School in Baras, Rizal. In exchange, they received various school supplies including pencils, crayons, notebooks, among others.

The collection and recycling of waste were done in partnership with GreenAntz Builders, Inc., an environmental solution company that provides eco-friendly practices and green technology solutions.

“By instilling environmental awareness at a young age, we aim to foster a generation of responsible individuals who make sustainable practices part of their lifestyle,” said Jaime T. Azurin, President

and CEO, Meralco PowerGen CorporationGlobal Business Power Corporation (MGen-GBP).

According to Engr. Wilfredo Santos, Municipal Environment and Natural Resources Office Head of San Miguel, Bulacan, this program complements the local government unit’s efforts in promoting ecological solid waste management among the residents of San Miguel, Bulacan.

Meanwhile, School Principal Margie Mapa of Pinugay Elementary School expressed their appreciation for the program since it also helps augment their students’ school supplies, aside from promoting environmental stewardship.

More than delivering sustainable power to its stakeholders, MGreen is committed to Powering the Good Life of Filipinos through its social development programs, which are all anchored on One Meralco’s sustainability agenda.

AirAsia delights festival-goers with 2nd best float at Davao City’s Kadayawan Festival

AIRASIA Philippines delighted festival goers at Davao City’s 38th Kadayawan Festival, winning the award for second best float at the annual celebration which welcomed over 50,000 tourists and visitors to the King City of the South per city officials.

Achieving second place from a total of nine float designs for the daku (large) category at Pamulak sa Kadayawan Floral Float Parade, the World’s Best LowCost Airline paid homage to the City’s rich indigenous culture with a depiction showing a soaring red and white aircraft above a bountiful harvest joined by Allstars (AirAsia employees).

“The recognition is a testament to AirAsia’s unwavering commitment and support for the local communities we proudly serve. In addition to inviting guests to immerse in the vibrancy and diversity of each of our destinations, we also reaffirm our role as a steadfast partner in strengthening the local tourism industry and driving inclusive economic

growth for all,” AirAsia Philippines Head for Communications and Public Affairs and First Officer Steve Dailisan said.

Event organizer, HQ Productions founder Harold Quibete bared in an interview, “Even before the competition started, we already knew [AirAsia Philippines] would make it [as a finalist] because we loved your float. Although we are not the judges, I didn’t realize we have the same taste!”

“Davao City has been very welcoming to all domestic and international tourists. We will do our best to make every presentation better and better every year. This is one way of saying the doors of Davao are open and life is here!” he exclaimed.

Enhancing travelers’ festival experience even further, the World’s Best Low-Cost Airline also treated festivalgoers to appearances from its top celebrity stars during the six-hour tour through the King City of the South. Greeting locals and travelers from onboard the parade float, the likes of top-notch actress Michelle

Vito and Kapuso A-lister Thea Tolentino graced the festivities along with other personalities.

Vito, best known for starring in Ang Probinsyano, The Iron Heart, and Halik sa Hangin, also invited guests to take advantage of AirAsia’s Piso Sale. “Here is the sign you’ve been waiting for! Whether you have your sights set on exploring the local scene or jet-setting across the region, the Piso Sale is sure to make travel even more convenient and hassle-free for everyone!” she said.

Meanwhile, Tolentino, who is best known for her roles across various hit GMA television series including The Half Sisters, Haplos, and The Lost Recipe, revealed this is her first time to participate at the highly celebrated festival. “The chance to witness the beauty of the Kadayawan Festival alongside my AirAsia family has been a once in a lifetime experience. I am immensely grateful and look forward to fully unlocking my travel bucket list further with AirAsia’s Piso Sale.” she added

The festivities continue with the World’s Best Low-Cost Airline through its much-awaited Piso Sale! Guests raring to achieve their travel goals can still get the chance to fly immerse in the vibrant culture of top domestic destinations such as Davao, Cagayan De Oro, Caticlan, Roxas City, and more for as low as P1 one-way base fare; or international destinations including Osaka and Seoul, for as low as PHP 588 one-way base fare when booking trips between February 19, 2024 and June 19, 2025.

Book your flights today with AirAsia’s Piso Sale and fly to selected destinations for as low as P1 one-way base fare (terms and conditions apply) and stay updated on the latest promotions, travel advisories, and news from the World’s Best Low-Cost Airline through airasia Superapp, the official website (www. airasia.com), and social media channels.

Distinguished participants from both the NCSC and NCIP graced the occasion. Notable attendees included NCIP Commissioner Jennifer Pia “Limpayen” Sibug-Las, who played a pivotal role in guiding the discussions toward the formulation of a well-rounded agenda. Although NCSC Chair and CEO Franklin Quijano could not be present due to a prior engagement, his commitment to the cause was evident as his fellow commissioners, namely Edwin Espejo, the conference host; Ida Yap-Patron; Reymar Mansilungan; and, Rainier Cruz III, who actively participated in the conference proceedings.

The conference was further enriched by the presence of NCIP 12 Regional Director Jeanne Anne Moendeg-Zoilo, whose insights lent a regional perspective to the deliberations. In addition, the event was graced by the esteemed presence of Datu Edmund Pangilan, the national president of the Indigenous Peoples Mandatory Representatives (IPMR), who delivered a compelling address highlighting

Notable attendees from the IP sector were Makabatug Arman Guilli, Fulung Edgar Sambog, Datu Arsenio Ampalid, Fulung Lucio Cawayan, Datu Jason Sibug, Fulung Edmund Pangilan, Timuey Lito Palma, Datu Leo Tang, National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) Commissioner Reden Ulo, Makabatug Jun Malon, Fulung Fredo Basino, Boi Erlinda Damali-Catulong, Boi Leah Labrador, Bai Estelita Bantilan, Boi Linda Osman, Biya Narcisa Galgo, and Bai Naila Mamalinta.

Representing NCSC was Executive Director Emmanuel Daez, Samir Samtilla (who also emceed the proceedings), Cesar Yamuta, Helma Capinpuyan, Ma. Lilibeth Velasco, Maricel Rodeles, Jose Patron, Allen Estabillo, Emil Espejo, Ellen Mae Reuyan, Ricky Pepano, Avel Manansala and Summit Focal Annalie Edday.

Throughout the conference, these participants engaged in thoughtful dialogues, brainstorming sessions, and interactive workshops, which underscored the importance of preserving and honoring the cultural heritage of Indigenous elderly individuals. The comprehensive agenda devised during the conference is poised to guide future discussions at the National Summit, ensuring that the welfare, rights, and dignity of elderly Indigenous Peoples remain at the forefront of the national discourse.

Two batches of farmer-beneficiaries of SMFI‘s KSK-SAP training program graduate in Bataan

THE farmer-beneficiaries of SM Foundation recently completed their training with the Kabalikat sa Kabuhayan on Sustainable Agriculture Program (KSKSAP), pursuing the SM group’s commitment to nurturing successful agripreneurs.

The recent KSK-SAP graduates hail from Batch 243 of Brgy. Pagalanggang and Batch 244 of Brgy. Sapang Balas, in Dinalupihan, Bataan.

The program provided comprehensive guidance on the cultivation and management of a diverse range of crops. Participants were also trained on modern techniques and best practices for planting, tending, and harvesting crops, promoting sustainable agricultural practices that ensure both environmental preservation and increased productivity.

The farmers also had lectures on the 14 life principles of Henry Sy Sr., financial literacy, and business and livelihood development.

The lectures and training sessions were held at the SM Foundation’s partner school, D’Planners Training Center, Inc., in Brgy. Pagalanggang, Dinalupihan, Bataan.

Converging for social good, the center provided a conducive learning environment, and the accompanying demo farm owned by the center served as a training ground for the participants to hone their knowledge.

Continuing their learning, a vibrant Harvest Festival was organized at D Planner’s Farm prior to the graduation ceremony. Complementing their accomplishment, the graduates received their National Certificate II from TESDA, providing them with

opportunities to advance their careers in the farming sector.

Ensuring the sustainability of the program, they have innovated new strategies as they apply their learnings.

Farmer-graduates aim to solidify their respective businesses moving forward by duly registering with government agencies.

Moreover, to optimize their agricultural endeavors, they have formulated a forwardlooking strategy. With this, they assign each member of the group a specific crop based on their expertise. This strategic allocation not only maximizes productivity but also harnesses their individual strengths, resulting in heightened proficiency within their respective areas.

They will also work on consolidating their produce to offer a substantial volume of crops for sale, catering to market demands while fostering robust relationships with local suppliers and distributors. This targets to create a steady inflow of resources, extend the reach of their products and nurture a sense of shared community and support among farmers.

Moreover, KSK-SAP farmers have initiated the Brgy. Talipapa, where they will have dedicated spaces in barangays to directly supply households with fresh produce.

Speaking at the event, KSK-SAP farmergraduates remain optimistic after their graduation, with some striving to create a Kabalikat sa Kabuhayan Cooperative, aspiring to become farmer-trainers, and aiming to share their knowledge and skills with fellow farmers here and overseas.

AIRASIA Philippines takes off at Davao City’s highly anticipated 2023 Kadayawan Festival, paying homage to the City’s rich cultural heritage and boosting tourism with a spectacular float, prizes, promotions, and more.

STUDENTS of Pinugay Elementary School, Baras, Rizal weigh-in recyclable materials in exchange for school supplies.

Envoys&Expats

Sweden offers multi-role fighter jets for Air Force modernization

SWEDEN has offered anew its Saab multi-role fighter (MRF) aircraft for the upgrading of the Philippine Air Force (PAF), which is keen on reinforcing its fleet.

This developed following Ambassador Annika Thunborg’s midAugust courtesy call to Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. at the Department of National Defense (DND) headquarters in Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City.

“On modernizing the Armed Forces of the Philippines to more effectively protect the country’s territorial integrity and interests in its EEZ [exclusive economic zone], Secretary Teodoro emphasized that whatever defense acquisition the Philippines will pursue must be sustainable, interoperable, and supportable,” DND’s spokesperson Arsenio Andolong said. “Recognizing the Philippines’s need for a modern PAF, Ambassador Thunborg highlighted Sweden’s offer of its flagship multi-role fighter aircraft: the Saab JAS-39 ‘Gripen.’”

The JAS-39 is considered one of the top-two contenders for the PAF’s MRF acquisition project; the other jet fighter being the United States’s Lockheed Martin F-16V “Viper:” the latest version of the American-made aircraft now being

supplied in quantities in many air forces in the world.

Classified as the most reliable “swing-role combat aircraft” available in the world, the Swedish-made JAS-39 fighter requires minimal personnel and ground-support equipment for dispersed operations. It can operate from small, unprepared roads, and is also equipped with sophisticated radar, sensors and weapons.

The MRFs are expected to backstop the military’s existing fleet of 12 South Korean-made Mach-1.5 capable FA-50PH light jet fighters.

Said project stipulates that the offered aircraft must be “fourth generation or higher.” It also requires 12 MRFs which are at least capable of patrolling the country’s protected waters and airspace.

The MRF is supposed to be part of “Horizon 2” of the AFP Modernization Program slated for 2018 to 2022, which aims to acquire more equipment for external defense, but was pushed back for implementation because of the pandemic.

Previously, Sweden was able to

discuss the JAS-39 with Teodoro’s predecessors: former DND officer in charge-Senior Undersecretary Carlito Galvez Jr. last March 24, and then-Defense chief-Senior Undersecretary Jose Faustino Jr. on December 21, 2022.

“Exchanging regional security situation updates, Ambassador Thunborg noted the developments in the South China Sea/West Philippine Sea [SCS/WPS], and conveyed Sweden’s support for the Philippines’s position and upholding the rules-based international order,” Andolong announced.

“Welcoming the support from Sweden and other like-minded partners, Secretary Teodoro hoped for a global consensus on the 2016 Permanent Court of Arbitration, [or PCA, ruling on the S CS/WPS], and underscored the

Of a persona non grata, plus new IACAT travel guidelines

THERE are two news stories that caught my attention recently and curiously, there’s not much noise a round them.

importance of the Philippines’s enforcement of its sovereign rights over its EEZ,” the DND spokesperson said.

He added that both sides looked forward to the Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in the Acquisition of Defense Materiel’s ratification and implementation, which was signed between the Philippines and Sweden last June 3 in Singapore.

“[Anticipating possible projects in the future, the envoy] proposed to facilitate the exchange of information on the two countries’ differing financial systems and financing packages that Sweden could offer,” Andolong averred.

Both countries are also looking at possible cooperation or capacitybuilding on disaster resilience and management. Priam Nepomuceno/PNA

Korea supports PHL, Timor-Leste in tackling marine plastic pollution

THE Republic of Korea (ROK/ South Korea) has provided $9 million in aid to the Philippines and Timor-Leste to fight marine plastics pollution in the said countries.

The six-year “Reducing Marine Plastics in the East Asian Seas Region” initiative aims to improve the management of marine plastics in two countries through science-based governance, innovative solutions to promote circular economy, regular beach monitoring on marine plastics, relevant training, and community awareness drive.

Locally, the project will be implemented in the six coastal communities of the municipalities of Bulan (Sorsogon) and Daanbantayan (Cebu), and the cities of Calbayog (Samar), Dipolog (Zamboanga del Norte), Puerto Princesa (Palawan), and Tandag (Surigao del Sur).

East Asia is considered an ecologically important region, being home to one-third of the planet’s coral reefs, mangroves, and sea grass beds. But it is also a hotspot for marine pollution, including plastics. The Philippines is considered as one of the top five contributors to marine plastic pollution

globally, while Timor-Leste is facing challenges in managing its wastes and plastics due to poor infrastructure and challenging geography.

In 2019, Asean adopted the “Bangkok Declaration on Combating Marine Debris” in the region, and the “Framework of Action on Marine Debris,” which aims to reduce marine debris in the region by 75 percent in 2025.

ROK has been pushing for curbing marine plastics pollution. Its “Third Basic Plan” in 2021 was created to low -

er marine plastic waste generation by 60 percent in 2030, and an ambitious zero waste by 2050 through the lifecycle management system that involves marine debris generation, collection, treatment, and recycling.

“Through this project, we hope to… enhance the capacities for combating marine debris and plastic pollution in the Philippines and Timor-Leste, with [ways] to share experiences and best practices on ROK’s marine plastic wastes management policies and

US program sponsors local green startups

THE United States government recently supported the development of 20 startups offering sustainable solutions to environmental issues in the cities of Cagayan de Oro, Dumaguete, and Manila.

On July 21, the US Embassy’s “American Spaces Phils.” and “The Spark Project” concluded the “Green Impact Accelerator (GIA)” boot camp—a five-month program that supported the growth and commercial viability of green startups through mentorship, networking, and crowdfunding matching.

Of the 20 solutions presented, three startups were selected to receive seed funding to develop, implement, and

scale-up their projects: Cagayan de Oro’s “Kids Who Farm,” which established “Food Loop”—a circular food system concept and technology that helps households convert edible material waste into organic components for growing food; Dumaguete’s “Plantsville Health,” which developed “Green Lives”—an artificial intelligence-powered system that can record and monitor Philippine cinnamon production; and Manila’s “DeWaste Solutions,” which created “MARE!”—a modular and portable materials-recycling facility that promotes environmental sustainability through education, while providing employment for women in

waste management.

“This program is part of [our] commitment to support environmental resilience and promote inclusive economic growth,” said Assistant Cultural Affairs Officer Pauline Anderson of the US Embassy. “The projects we saw in this program showcase the Philippine startup community, and how their talents can build sustainable ecosystems and help achieve prosperity.”

GIA teams will reconvene in October for the “American Spaces Angel Investing Seminar,” where they will be matched with potential investors and benefit from seed-funding opportunities.

recycling technologies,” said Ryu Sunhyung, who is ROK’s Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries (MOF)-Marine Conservation Division director.

The MOF collaborates with the Partnerships in Environmental Management for Seas of East Asia or PEMSEA— a regional coordinating mechanism for the sustainable development of coastal and marine resources in the region, to implement the project.

“These pro-active local, national and regional actions to combat plastics are happening globally, with governments placing significant importance on the issue,” remarked Aimee Gonzales, who is PEMSEA’s executive director. “Negotiations to establish a global treaty to manage plastics are ongoing.”

For Gonzales, such actions are crucial: If marine plastic pollution remains unaddressed by 2050, there will be more plastics than fish in the oceans.

The project is also collaborating with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and its relevant bureaus, as well as TimorLeste’s State of the Environment and the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries secretary.

First, local governments have declared the transgender behind the controversial “Ama Namin” dance a “persona non grata” in their locales. Second, the InterAgency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) issued a list of d ocuments that first-time travelers, and those who are “suspected” of being victims of human trafficking, should present before leaving the country.

W hy are these stories related?

One is about fighting religious sacrilege; the other is about combating human trafficking. But in both instances, one thing many media practitioners have been failing to notice is that they both curtail freedom to travel— a basic human right and Constitutional right.

Drag artist unwanted

LIKE other “marites” and “mema” netizens, I was one of those who quickly blasted the viral video of drag artist Amadeo Fernando Pagente, a.k.a. Pura Luka Vega.

Dancing to the “Lord’s Prayer” remixed a la punk-rock, dressing like the Black Nazarene, jamming with the crowd and posting the act in social media, in my v iew, have all the makings of religious sacrilege. Pagente argued t hat he was merely expressing himself. Catholic bishops, of course, issued a calm statement that is fatherly, very forgiving of such actions that “disrespected” the faith.

Some local government officials, though, were not quite a s forbearing—at least, not yet. The provincial board of Bukidnon, Bohol and Laguna, as well as the city and municipal councils of Toboso in Negros O ccidental, Floridablanca in Pampanga, General Santos City, City of Manila and Cagayan de Oro City have issued separate resolutions declaring Pagente a “persona non grata (Latin for ‘unwelcome person’).” The underlying themes were collective c ondemnations of the subject’s acts seen as “mockery,” “disrespect” or outright “offensive to r eligious sentiments.”

Alas, nowhere in their declarations defined what they intend t o do with someone declared as “persona non grata.” Legally speaking, only sovereign states can label an individual as such. That person should be a diplomat whom they have initially a llowed to represent his/her own country.

Diplomats generally have immunity in countries where they are accredited. So, governments cannot arrest them if they v iolate the local laws. What the governments can do is just expel and label them with the notorious tag.

I n Pagente’s case, if he is declared as “persona non grata” i n provinces, towns or cities, the local police unfortunately cannot evict him. There is no national edict or jurisprudence for the government to declare someone a “persona non grata.” Ergo, the declaration is just

that: “You’re unwelcome here.” But they can’t forcibly remove him or prevent him from riding a plane, bus or ship to those areas. It’s simply unconstitutional. T he only merit of the resolution is an expression of collective condemnation.

IACAT’s ‘Solomonic’ solution

STARTING September 3, Filipinos who are first-time travelers o r those who, in the trained eyes of immigration officers “looked like” future victims of human trafficking, may undergo secondary screening.

T here, the “suspected” future victim should present d ocuments to disprove what the immigration officer thinks he or she would be. Thus, the latter needs to prepare: (1) proof of a ccommodation, (2) financial capacity or source of income, (3) proof of employment, (4) original birth or marriage certificate, (5) sponsor’s passport, (6) the overseas Filipino w orker’s overseas employment certificate, if sponsored by another, (7) notarized original a ffidavit of support and guarantee (emphasis on “notarized” b y the Philippine embassy or consulate/honorary consulate, or apostilled by the local authority), (8) confirmed return t icket or roundtrip ticket, and (9) original birth certificate or marriage showing relationship between passenger and sponsor (if the latter is related to first or fourth degree).

Does that make sense? Your own country is preventing you from leaving and looking for greener pastures.

I have traveled many times as a journalist, and it’s bad enough that other countries looked down on me, because I was holding a Philippine passport. I’ve h ad encounters in train stations’ border patrols with immigration officers who would confer with one another. They would look at my passport, visas and letters of invitation longer than the other passengers. That’s because I’m a Filipino.

Fighting human trafficking is really hard, and it’s becoming more complex with the ease of c ommunications courtesy of technology: social media, dark web, money laundering, drug trafficking, etc. That’s why I pity the Bureau of Immigrations for being the “last line of defense” in this war. This is a war that should have been fought from the start online and recruitment networks.

We can’t fault the BI for doing its job. But we have to draw t he line that these IACAT rules are downright degrading to the highest degree. Human trafficking is a global problem, and o ther countries are not wont to break those demanding orders.

Remember: travel is in the Filipinos’ DNA. We are an archipelagic country, and we are n atural seafaring citizens. If we choose to travel, despite our better judgment, it’s not because we a re stupid. We are who we are: a migrant nation. And the Constitution makes sure it’s in there. A s a right. Go figure out other innovative ways to skin the goddamn human trafficking cats.

AMBASSADOR Annika Thunborg and Secretary Gilberto C. Teodoro Jr. DND/PNA

GOVERNMENT representatives from the Republic of Korea, the Philippines, and Timor-Leste discussed strategies to reduce marine plastic pollution in selected East Asian sites. PEMSEA/JOHN CASTILLO

Sports

By Josef Ramos

WORLD boxing icon Manny Pacquiao isn’t through being an athlete—he wants to extend his legendary ring career to next year’s Paris Olympics.

Th is was bared on Wednesday by Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) president Rep. Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino who said that Pacquiao’s camp reached out to know how the former eighth-division world champion could qualify for Paris.

Immediately, the POC conferred with the Association of Boxing Alliances in the Philippines (ABAP) and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) which is supervising Olympic boxing while the International Boxing Association is suspended.

Senator Pacquiao’s camp reached out saying our Filipino ring idol wants to fight in Paris,” Tolentino said. “But the Senator can no longer vie for qualification in the Asian Games in Hangzhou next month.”

The Asian Games—an Olympic qualifier—that start September 23 have an age limit for athletes at 40 years old and according to Tolentino, Pacquiao, who’s 44, could qualify for Paris through two Olympic qualifying tournaments set in the first and

Excitement builds for Dapitan 5150

DAPITAN City  is all prepped up for its first crack at hosting big-time endurance racing on September 10 with the race courses— set to international standards— providing the participants a memorable triathlon experience in a race in a city so steeped in history.

“As the excitement builds for 5150 Dapitan and Go for Gold Sunrise Sprint, we cannot overlook the perfect blend of sports and heritage that this event showcases,” Dapitan City Mayor Seth Jalosjos said. “Dapitan has always been a city that prides itself on its rich history and now it is emerging as destination for sports tourism.”

The Shrine City of the Philippines, where national hero Dr. Jose Rizal found refuge during his exile, has pooled all its resources to ensure a smooth conduct of its initial foray in hosting a 1.5-kilometer swim, 40-km bike and 10-km run race, its success

B8 Thursday, augusT 31, 2023

mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph

Editor: Jun Lomibao

PACQUIAO HAS EYES ON 2024 OLYMPICS

second quarters of 2024.

The third, Tolentino said, is for Pacquiao to secure a berth under the Universality rule, which the IOC would grant. There are, however, only nine places for boxing under Universality at the Paris Games—five for women and only four for men.

A c lose aide of Pacquiao confirmed that the former senator is willing to fight in the Olympics and that they have already reached out to Tolentino.

Tolentino also said that the ABAP, through its chairman Ricky Vargas, will welcome Pacquiao to the national team and will assist in his qualification.

He [Pacquiao] is very welcome to fight in the Olympics and it’s an honor if he can be allowed to represent us,”

Vargas told BusinessMirror on Wednesday. “So far, we don’t know

BOOED, BASHED, ETC, ETC, COACH CHOT TARGETS PARIS

AN ugly result shouldn’t translate to an uglier reaction especially that the Philippines is the main host of the FIBA World Cup.

“

It’s not time to blame anyone,”

Rhenz Abando, one of the newest members of Gilas Pilipinas, told reporters at the Smart Araneta Coliseum’s Mixed Zone after their 90-83 loss to Italy that booted the team out from the knockout round.

We should fight for our country together,” added Abando, a star of the Korean Basketball League champion team Anyang KGC, who got added playing time of 14 minutes against Italy after being sparingly used by head coach Chot Reyes in the Dominican Republic and Angola games.

He got eight points, two rebounds

expected to play a key role for the city’s plans to stage the Ironman 70.3 in the future. For details and registration, log on to www.ironman.com/5150-dapitanphilippines-register.

From the transition area after the swim leg, participants head to the two-loop bike course from Sunset Blvd. to Dapitan turnabout and left at the Dipolog-Oroquieta National Road reaching the next turnaround at Oyan at KM 10.

They head back for the second turnaround at KM 20 then ride back for the final second loop at Oyan at KM 30 towards the Sunset Boulevard.

The deciding run course also kicks off at Sunset Boulevard to Guading Adasa St. before turning right to M. Retiro Street then left at El Filibusterismo Street then exit to Noli Me Tangere for the first turnaround at KM 15 and back to M. Retiro Street.

The 1978 PHL Team

THE last time the FIBA world championship came to Manila, world basketball was a whole lot different. National Basketball Association (NBA) players were not yet allowed to play in FIBA competitions because professionals were prohibited from competing in international tournaments. That all changed in 1989.

At that time, the three-point shot was not yet the major weapon that it is today. (FIBA introduced the three-point line in 1984.) Players specialized in their roles in 1978 and for a long

Obiena sets sight on gold in Zurich

yet if he needs to qualify or undergo qualification or not. We still need to know that.”

We need to get clarification from the IOC, how can it be done,” Vargas added. “But it’s really an honor if he’ll be allowed.”

Pacquiao currently weighs 66 kgs and has to choose between 63.50 kgs or 71 kgs that are on the Paris boxing program.

P rofessional boxers have been allowed to compete at the Olympics and in Tokyo, 43 of the 186 competitors were professionals, including middleweight bronze medalist Eumir Felix Marcial, who beat fellow professional, Armenia’s Arman Darchinyan, in the quarterfinals.

P rior to Tokyo, Marcial booked his first professional victory— unanimous decision over American Andrew Whitfield on December 16, 2020, in Los Angeles.

Marcial opted to delay his fifth professional fight in September and will focus on his return to the Olympics through Hangzhou where he’ll be fighting as a light heavyweight.

ERNEST JOHN “EJ” OBIENA and Armand Duplantis meet again five days after their duel in Budapest at the Zurich Wanda Diamond League at the Letzigrund Stadium in Switzerland.

The tournament starts Thursday (Manila time) and Obiena said he’ll not settle for silver or bronze.

I don’t enter in any competition to be No. 3 or No. 2,” he told BusinessMirror on Wednesday. “I want to battle it out and win, that’s what I am supposed to do.”

There’s no rest for the world championships gold and silver medalists, who made Sunday’s men’s pole vault final at the Hungarian capital a virtual one-on-one duel. D uplantis, the Olympic champion and world record holder, bagged gold with his leap of 6.10 meters, while Obiena cleared 6.0-flat for the silver. Australian Kurtis Marschall and American Chris Nilsen, silver medalist at the Tokyo Olympics, shared the bronze at 5.95m. No break for me,” said the 27-yearold Obiena, who flew directly to Zurich from Budapest. “The good thing about Zurich is we’ll [Duplantis, Marshall and Nilsen] be seeing each other again.”

and a highlight block on Giampaolo Ricci against the Azzurri.

A bando came to the defense of Reyes, who, again, was booed and bashed for failing to steer Gilas to a single win in the group stage of the World Cup.

K iefer Ravena was with Abando and so was Jordan Clarkson, the heart and soul of the team.

I know it has been happening, but I’m going to play for my coach until the wheels fall off,” Ravena said.

C larkson viewed the criticism on Reyes as something out of the ordinary.

“ Especially us hosting and us being the home country. But I really don’t know much about the situation,” Clarkson said. “At that point, it feels a little weird and it’s out of the ordinary.”

R eyes admitted to BusinessMirror after the Philippines lost to Indonesia in the final at the Vietnam Southeast Asian Games last year that he’s used to all the criticism and has rarely, if not completely, shunned social media.

A n in this World Cup, Reyes stressed his job, and that of the entire Gilas, isn’t over.

We need to put together 40 minutes of good basketball because we want to go to the Olympics,” Reyes said. “I’m not thinking of numbers, my thoughts are on the Olympics.”

Th at’s all Gilas needs for a decent finish in this World Cup which offers an Olympic berth to the best-placed Asian team.

The classification round will determine which among the Philippines, China, Japan, Jordan,

Iran or Lebanon will get that slot with all five crashing out from the race to the knockout stage.

T he Philippines’ first assignment in the classification round starting on Thursday also at the Big Dome could either be China, Sudan or Puerto Rico.

The group stage were to wind up Wednesday night in the Philippines, Okinawa and Jakarta.

C larkson’s not giving up and has rebooted for the classification round.

We haven’t really felt like we’ve been out of any games. We fight,” Clarkson said. “We’re strong and we can put it together and try to get these two [games].”

He added: “We know what it means and we know what it means for the country. We are leaving it all out on the floor.” Josef Ramos

Nearly half of Australian athletes live under poverty line

SYDNEY—A survey conducted by the Australian Sports Foundation (ASF) determined that nearly half of the country’s best athletes are earning below the national poverty line threshold with an annual income of

the elite or international level—across 60 sports and highlighted financial pressures driven by increased costs of competing, particularly travel, as well as accommodation and equipment costs.

Athletes also said they had difficulty generating income while focused on elite sport.

wo in three elite Australian athletes aged between 18 and 34 have considered quitting their sport, the survey found. ne in two athletes aiming to compete in the 2026 Commonwealth Games have considered leaving their sport, as have 43 percent of those working towards the 2032 Olympic Games in Brisbane. The survey found that more than 40 percent of the athletes were financially worse off than a year ago, and more than one in four experienced a decline in their mental health in the past 12

BRONTE CAMPBELL says they don’t get that much bonus for medals won Down Under. AP

A lso expected in Zurich are American KC Lightfoot  and Sam Kendricks, both members of the elite 6.0 meters club at 6.07 and 6.06, respectively, as well as Belgian Ben Broeders, Frenchman Thibaut Collet, American Zach Mcwhorter and Turkish Ersu Sasma.

“It’s going to be the Diamond League where all great competitors meet,” said Obiena, who’s already qualified for Paris for having cleared the Olympic qualifying standard of 5.82 meters last July 2 at the BauhausGalan in Sweden. Josef Ramos

OFFICIAL APPAREL

Colo Ventosa (left), general manager of Pilipinas Golf Tournaments Inc. (PGTI) which organizes the country’s longest-running men’s and ladies pro circuits, and Kampfortis Inc. managing director Francis Talion shake hands after signing the contract that makes Kampfortis Golf, a premium golf apparel brand, the official apparel of the PGTI at The Country Club.

time after. Positionless basketball was unthinkable. Centers shooting threes was an abomination.

I n that year when the first test tube baby was born and the first North Pole Solo Expedition happened, the Philippines fielded a team made up of skipper Alex Clariño, Ramon Cruz, Edward Merced, Padim Israel, Steve Watson, Joy Carpio, Frederico Lauchengco, Nathaniel Castillo, Gregorio Gozum, Pol Herrera, Cesar Yabut and Cesar Teodoro. Marty Tierra and Rico Acuña were the reserves.

A t the helm was legendary national coach Nic Jorge, best known for his enduring BEST Center, the first and largest basketball skills clinic in the country. Assisting him was renowned and longtime Letran coach Nemie Villegas.

A nd how did we do? Thrown into a formidable mix of powerhouse national teams long-steeped in international tournament competitions, the Philippine Team was less prepared for this major bang-up.

The Filipinos were members of different MICAA teams then like Frigidaire, Villar Records, Presto, Crispa Shirt Factory, YCO, ITM and Sunrice from the BIBLE tournament. (Yes, the country’s premiere basketball league that started in 1938 still had a life after its main teams bolted in 1975 to form the Philippine Basketball Association.)

Compared to their opponents, the then version of Gilas Pilipinas had spent less time together preparing for

this global basketball event—a perennial problem that necessitated the ultimate formation of a developmental team honed solely for international competition. Think Northern Cement in the 80s and Gilas Pilipinas in 2010.

But prep or no prep, our 1978 Philippine Team did compete with typical Pinoy bravery in the face of huge odds. The plucky group went toe to toe with taller, heftier, better prepared opponents, gamely giving their all and showing them the stuff that Lapu Lapu showed Magellan in 1521.

C ase in point 6-foot-2 Padim Israel guarding 7-foot-3

Russian Vladimir Tkachenko, Pol Herrera, 6-foot-2 1/2 going up against Brazilian legend Oscar Schmidt, 6-foot-9.

R amon Cruz top-scored for the Philippines all throughout the tournament (16.8 points per game).

Ateneans Steve Watson and Joy Carpio were the other point producers of the team.  Our coaches always kept reminding us how to guard [our opponents]. Makipag lips to lips or makipag-palitan na kayo ng mukha sa guard niyo,” Ramon Cruz remembers.

Buligligin niyo sa depensa,” Pol Herrera adds.

Team Pilipinas competed and gave a good accounting of themselves. But the opponents were simply better organized, way too tall, much more hefty.

We were winless,” recalls Padim. “But we were a tight group—a band of brothers who savored the experience of representing the country and having great fun with each other,” adds Mon Cruz. Precious memories were made in

’78. Friendships were strengthened.

Th at was why when they were invited to grace FIBA World Cup 23’s opening day at the Philippine Arena on August 25, six of the ’78 team—Mon Cruz, Padim Israel, Steve Watson, Pol Herrera, Marty Tierra, Rico Acuña and Coach Nemie Villegas—said yes. (Alex Clariño, Cesar Merced and Coach Nic had passed on and other teammates were not available or are based abroad).

Team ’78 was to have had a special TV moment in the game telecast that would acknowledge their presence and cite their historic participation in the first-ever World Championship held in Manila in 1978, but a delayed Presidential ball toss ate up that moment.

D espite their chaotic opening day experience, the Boys of ’78 had a great time. “Good to see you guys healthy. I had a great bonding time [with all of you],” said Rico Acuña. “The important thing is nagkita-kita tayo,” Marty Tierra chimed in.

Their advice for Gilas? “They have to have a mindset that they can beat all the teams. Basketball now is really team play...lots of ball movement. That’s the only way the defender will think hard who’s going to take the shots and it’s very hard to defend..” Mon Cruz says. “Don’t rush and have patience on offense,” Pol Herrera adds.

The boys are older and wiser now, but still feel as young as they did in ’78 when they got together in 2023. The band of brothers dribble on.

PHILIPPINE Olympic Committee president Rep. Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino (left) welcomes boxing icon Manny Pacquiao’s desire to fight in next year’s Paris Olympics.

GILAS Pilipinas head coach isn’t giving up.

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Editor: Anne Ruth Dela Cruz

‘Mabuhigh’ froM bangkok: Pinoys join Thailand’s legal cannabis Tr ade

By Pocholo Concepcion

All photos courtesy of Chuck Manansala

Its medical use by patients with a prescription has been legal since 2018. (Doctors from different countries, including the Philippines, have attested to evidence that cannabis eases symptoms of autism, epilepsy, and various types of cancer, including pain management.) In 2022, the Thai Food and Drug Administration officially removed the cannabis plant from its narcotics list. Possession, cultivation, distribution, consumption, and sales of all cannabis plant parts are legal.

But the change in administration is creating a bothersome buzz. A story on Aljazeera on June 3 (https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2023/6/9/thailandscannabis-lovers-face-comedown-amid-legalisation-u-turn) echoed the concern of

Thais happy with legal cannabis that the liberation of the misunderstood plant might be short-lived:

At the center of attention is Pita Limjaroenrat, the prime minister-inwaiting whose Move Forward Party (MFP) scored an upset to come first place in last month’s general elections.

While MFP is widely viewed as the most liberal of Thailand’s political parties, cannabis advocates say it is leading the drive to rein in recreational use, casting a pall over the country’s multibillion-dollar cannabis industry.

“What made you change so much?”

Ganja TV said in a recent post accompanying a video of the MFP leader hailing the potential of cannabis businesses to fund schools and provide “im -

mense opportunities” for Thailand.

Pita now says the cannabis boom should be put on pause to curb widespread recreational use until the incoming government can pass a proposed Cannabis Act to draw clear lines on where the drug can be sold and consumed.

However, Thailand’s constitutional court has suspended Pita’s assumption of duties following charges that he owned shares in a long-defunct media company.

In the meantime, it’s a reality that Thailand’s top tourism industry is even more busy with visitors from

all over the world flocking mostly to its capital to “light up” and get high without worry.

Chuck Manansala was in Bangkok recently and told  BusinessMirror he felt “completely safe” while observing the scene. The co-founder of Masikhay Research—a Philippine non-government organization (NGO) advocating for scientific studies, clinical data, and anecdotal experiences on the efficacy, safety, and benefits of cannabis as medicine—attended the opening of Mabuhigh Maharlika, a cannabis dispensary owned by a Filipino couple living in Bangkok.

BusinessMirror had an online chat with Manansala about his observations on the use and commercial impact of legal cannabis.

BM: You were recently in Bangkok to attend the opening of a cannabis dispensary owned by a Filipino who shares the growing global

advocacy of promoting cannabis as medicine. Tell us about your visit to Mabuhigh Maharlika.

Manansala: Mabuhigh Maharlika is a medical cannabis dispensary in Bangkok. It is owned by the Filipino husband-and-wife team of Arthur and Guadalyn Reyes, and other investors. It is the first Philippine-inspired cannabis dispensary in Thailand. It sells locally (Thai) grown and imported cannabis flowers. Its cannabis extracts for medical use are sourced from a Thai University. Arthur and Guadalyn are fellow advocates who are with Sensible Philippines. They chose a location far from the center of cannabis shops in Bangkok for lower operational costs and to help create support from residents in the area. The shop itself is themed with Filipino icons and symbols, including the use of baybayin script. The vibe is typically Filipino:

cool, relaxed, and happy.

BM: Thailand is the first Southeast Asian country to legalize the recreational and medical use of cannabis. This has led to a boom in dispensaries and even casual selling on the streets. What are your observations on how ordinary Thais are taking this development—considering the harshness of their country’s drug laws in the past?

Ma nansala: The speed of change in Thailand’s cannabis laws and regulations is astounding. Ordinary Thais are okay with cannabis for medical use. For a long time, it has been part of their research on medical plants, and is categorized as herbal medicine. However, there is still a debate regarding recreational use. Only those who are 20 years old and above can buy medical cannabis. Pregnant women are prohibited from using medical cannabis. The recently held elections in Thailand saw winning parties calling for cannabis to be relisted as a dangerous drug. This is a huge step backward from decriminalization. Thais who are now in the cannabis business and farmers who plant cannabis are opposing the move.

Continued on C2

From Bump to BaBy: Capturing the Joy oF pregnanCy

Navigating the Journey to Parenthood with The Medical City

phases of life, including the journey to motherhood. Offering a suite of services that range from pregnancy and birth to gynecological needs, the IWH is designed to be your comprehensive health companion, tailored to meet your unique needs through each of life’s transitions.

To make the moment even more special, the package also comes with thoughtful touches like a celebratory meal for two and the TMC MommyBaby Bag. All of these elements come together to create a seamless blend of top-tier medical care with the thoughtful warmth that every new parent deserves.

hood, adding a visual keepsake that will last a lifetime.

help you face the challenges that come with it head-on.

The Medical City (TMC) understands the complexities and joys of this pivotal life phase. As a trusted health partner, TMC is dedicated to supporting families every step of the way, from prenatal care to postnatal support and beyond.

Dedicated to personalized and patient-centered care, TMC’s Institute for Women’s Health (IWH) was established for women navigating various

The Medical City’s all-inclusive Maternity Package U N D e R STANDING t hat expectant mothers deserve not just medical excellence but also comfort and personal touches, TMC has curated an all-inclusive maternity package that is comprehensive as it is compassionate. From the use of Delivery Suite, 2-day room and board, and NICU facilities and services to doctors’ professional fees, medicines and supplies, parents-to-be need not be troubled about these primary needs.

Creating Lasting Memories:

Your Maternity Journey Captured

TMC takes maternal care to a new level by integrating an exclusive maternity photoshoot into its AllInclusive Maternity Package, thanks to a partnership with Nice Print Photography. e l igible expectant mothers have the opportunity to schedule this special shoot between their 4th to 8th month of pregnancy, exclusively at Nice Print’s Pasig branch. This collaboration elevates the emotional richness of the journey to mother -

As every pregnancy is a unique journey, TMC and Nice Print not only work together in capturing the beauty of the moment but also allow expecting moms to savor every aspect of it, celebrate the glory of their bodies that are nurturing a new life, and connect with the empowered versions of themselves.

This exclusive offer can be availed starting September 15 during the e d amama Family e x po 2023.

Nurturing Parenthood: TMC at Family Expo 2023

C ON TINUING its commitment to accompany you on every step of your family’s health journey, TMC is copresenting a 3-day Family e x po 2023 with e d amama, a renowned parenting and family wellness platform, on September 15-17 at SMX Convention

Center, Mall of Asia. While medical care forms a cornerstone, the expo aims to provide a holistic support system that not only addresses the physical health aspect of parenthood but also the emotional and educational facets of building a family. Through interactive workshops, expert talks, and engagement with healthcare professionals, families can anticipate an enriching experience that reinforces their bonds and strengthens their collective well-being.

On the first day of the e x po, Dr. Inna Valenzuela, a specialist in OB-gynecology, will be hosting a concise yet informative forum focused on high-risk pregnancies. This forum aims to educate and empower expectant parents with valuable insights and precautions, highlighting the hospital’s dedication to ensuring the well-being of

both mother and baby, even in challenging circumstances. Participants can also visit TMC’s booth at the e x po to avail of exclusive discounts, promos, and packages such as the maternity shoot and the all-inclusive maternity package.

Where Expertise Meets Empathy PA R e N THOOD , a j ourney like no other, is a path filled with lullabies, magic of many firsts, and tiny fingers wrapped around yours. As you navigate this beautiful yet intimidating road, take comfort in knowing that TMC, more than just being a hospital, is your lifelong partner in your family’s health and well-being.

For more information and to avail of the promos and packages, send your inquiries to ijdeguia@themedicalcity.com or call the Marketing Department at (02) 8988-1000 ext. 6204.

Grassis “greener” in Thailand— literally to mean marijuana, or its chic-sounding scientific name, cannabis. It is now a popular, lucrative product in the old Buddhist kingdom once known as siam, following its decriminalization on June 9, 2022.

‘However, there is still a debate regarding recreational use. Only those who are 20 years old and above can buy medical cannabis. Pregnant women are prohibited from using medical cannabis,’ says Chuck Manansala, a Filipino who went on an observation tour.

Fighting dengue in Quezon City through ‘Slay the Swarm’ strategy

By Rory Visco Contributor

The Department of Health (DOH) already reported around 80,318 cases of dengue in the country as of July 15, 2023, and these a re just the reported ones. Almost 1,000, or about 1.23 percent, experienced severe dengue, and 299 a lready died for a case fatality rate of around 0.37 percent, the DOH added.

a concern in the City of stars

FOR Quezon City, the so-called “City of Stars” being a hub for culture, entertainment and media, d engue continues to be a concern, according to Dr. Marlon Molano, Medical Officer from the Quezon City Health Department. From January 1 to August 24 this year, there are now 2,156 dengue cases in the city, as reported by the Quezon City Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit. Last year, the city tallied a total of 2,558 dengue cases. “We are a lready near the total from last year and we still have four months to go so most likely the number will still go up,” says Dr. Molano.

And out of these total number of cases, Dr. Molano said four people have already perished. In the city, the age group with the highest number of reported cases is from one to 10 years of age or the pediatric population, and 27 percent of

tion,” Dr. Molano stressed. an unconventional way of creating dengue awareness

EVERY year, as soon as the number of dengue cases begin to spike, he alth authorities, including partners from private institutions, will d o the rounds of provinces and cities to communicate and spread awareness about the dangers of dengue. These include conducting seminars and lectures, mostly in barangay halls or health centers.

The Medical City garners prestigious accolade as asia’s best Employer brand

and traditional way. “Since our customer base is younger than others, w e decided to combine fashion, art and style with our health and beauty products and present it via a fashion show which is unlike any other f ashion show wherein we combined nice and modern fashion attire with mosquitoes. It was a good way for us to educate on how dengue can be prevented in a fun, family-friendly and more accessible way of putting out information without the usual scare tactics that people are used to.”

t he total experienced severe cases.

On the other hand, the top five barangays with the most number of dengue cases in the city are Tatalon, Pasong Tamo, Bahay Toro, Tandang Sora, and Commonwealth, with Districts 1 and 3 identified as dengue hotspots.

Dr. Molano said the city’s health department does not let up in its anti-dengue efforts with year-round c ampaigns such as integrated vector management and disease surveillance efforts in the city down t o the barangay levels.

“We also make sure that the staff at our health centers are trained to identify, diagnose, and manage dengue cases. Our health centers also have rapid diagnostic test kits that are readily available there and they are given for free. We do n S -1, Dengue Duo tests for free, especially for Quezon City residents, and free clinic lectures daily to increase awareness about dengue,” he said.

He also added that they continue to partner with private groups a nd companies to raise the awareness level about dengue, especially a mong the youth. “That is why we continue to harness the power of social media in order to bring more awareness about dengue, especially to our younger popula -

However, health, wellness and beauty brand Watsons decided to do it differently through “Slay the Swarm,” a health advocacy campaign that uses fun, eye-catching a rt installations and fashion phenomenon performances as a way of e ducating the community regarding dengue in the most unconventional way.

W atsons’ Customer Director Jared De Guzman said “Slay the Swarm” is a first-of-its-kind spectacle done at the heart of Quezon

C ity, which is the Quezon Memorial Circle, that gives them the opportunity to showcase their complete a nd wide range of anti-dengue, including immunity-building products in a unique, fun and familyf riendly way.

“The campaign is a partnership between Watsons Philippines and the local government of Quezon City because of the continued rise of dengue cases. People were so focused on the Covid-19 pandemic but w hen we saw the numbers, there were more dengue than Covid-19 cases and there are more people dying due to dengue than the dreaded v irus,” De Guzman stressed.

The concern on dengue remains to be awareness, but Guzman said that at Watsons, they found a way to educate people but not in a boring

At present, De Guzman said Watsons Philippines is working with t he government, particularly the DOH, across all health concerns but gave special attention to dengue this August since it is also Dengue Prevention Month. “We found out that in this area of the Quezon Memorial Circle, the number of dengue c ases is very high so we decided to prioritize the area and we chose Quezon Memorial Circle because there are a lot of people here every weekend, mostly families, so this is a perfect place where we can educate them and at the same time e ntertain them.”

First in the strategy, he said, is to make people aware that they can prevent dengue by taking care of the environment, removing stagnant water and keeping their area c lean. That’s still part of the education process. “At the same time, we a re espousing people to look at our anti-dengue products like insect repellants, disinfectants, including immunity-boosting products s uch as vitamins and supplements because these can help as well in the fight against dengue.”

De Guzman also emphasized that they are looking at the approach they are doing now, assess it and see if it can be applied in the future in other areas.

In a resounding triumph, The Medical City (TMC) emerged as the sole healthcare provider in the Philippines to be given the title “Asia’s Best Employer Brand” at the 18th Employer Branding Awards. This recognition is a testament to TMC’s dedication to fostering a positive and empowering work environment for its healthcare professionals.

The award recognizes different organizations in Asia that excel in promoting employee satisfaction, engagement, talent development, talent innovation, and retention. This achievement stands as a testament to TMC’s initiatives in promoting employee well-being, professional growth, and collaborative workplace culture.

The award was received by Dr. Ruben

G. Kasala, Executive Vice President and CEO; Shirley Luz B. Macalipay, Chief Human Resource Officer; Michael S. Pineda, Chief Financial Officer; Dr. Christian G. Delos Reyes, Chief Strategy and Business Development Officer; and Ferdinand P. Aganon, Head of nu rsing Services Group, among others on August 17 at Pan Pacific Singapore.

Dr. Kasala said malasakit , a Filipino term that directly translates to compassion, is what made TMC achieve the feat.

Malasakit is a term that defines how we take care of our employees. It is a Filipino term that encompasses three English words: care, concern, and love.

Malasakit means you go out of your way to take care of someone and show them your love. That’s how we take care of our employees and patients,” Dr. Kasala said.

“We are immensely proud to be recognized as Asia’s Best Employer Brand. This achievement reflects our unwavering commitment to creating an environ -

ment where our healthcare professionals thrive, innovate, and deliver world-class patient care. Our employees are the backbone of our institution, and this award underscores our dedication to their growth and well-being,” he added.

TMC has consistently prioritized investing in its human capital, implementing a range of initiatives that foster employee development, work-life balance, and job satisfaction. From continuous learning opportunities to cutting-edge training programs, TMC ensures that its workforce remains at the forefront of medical advancements while experiencing a fulfilling career journey.

Macalipay, TMC’s Chief Human Resource Officer, emphasized the significance of the collective effort within the organization in achieving this remarkable feat.

“Receiving Asia’s Best Employer Brand award is a testament to the dedication and hard work of every member of The Medical City family,” said Macalipay. “Our employees’ unwavering commitment to providing compassionate care to our patients has been the driving force behind this achievement. We believe that an engaged and motivated workforce is crucial not only for our internal success but also for delivering the best possible healthcare outcomes to our patients.”

The healthcare industry demands excellence, and TMC has exemplified this not only in its patient care but also in its commitment to employee experience. By being recognized as Asia’s Best Employer Brand, TMC sets a new standard for healthcare providers across the region, proving that a content and engaged workforce is integral to achieving exceptional healthcare outcomes.

Caloocan partners with nestle for health, wellness programs

By Rizal Raoul Reyes Contributor

THE p rivate sector plays an important role in the health and w ellness of the Filipino family. For example, the local government unit of Caloocan got a big boost when it partnered with n e stlé Philippines for the first time in promoting its health and wellness program for its residents.  n o l ess than Caloocan City Mayor Dale Gonzalo Rigor “Along” Malapitan felt elated that the food manufacturing giant decided to partner with t hem to enable them to  scale up the program.

b M: What about the Thai police, what’s it like for them in b a ngkok—have you seen cops not minding people smoking weed on the streets?

Manansala: Technically, the recreational use of cannabis is still illegal in Thailand. So is smoking cannabis in public. But these prohibitions are ignored and there are no police in, say, Khaosan Road, where c annabis is openly sold on the streets and in a multi-store cannabis shopping center. -

bM: What’s your view of news reports of people feeling overwhelmed and having a “bad trip” over the potency of some cannabis strains in Thailand?

Manansala: This is not a prevalent issue as far as I have observed it. This happens mostly to new cannabis consumers who try edibles. It takes time for edibles to take effect. Inexperienced users become impatient and they take another bite. By the

time the effect kicks in, they are overdosed. The newbie who usually suffers from nausea and paranoia is rushed to a hospital for treatment. Most cannabis shop owners insist on having naïve consumers take the product only under their guidance and supervision to avoid adverse reactions and “bad trips.”

bM: What insights have you gained from your visit to Mabuhigh Maharlika and interaction with its owner, which your group, Masikhay, and other Filipino organizations, especially MedCann, can use to advance the issue of legalization?

Manansala: A Filipino congressman once insisted that legalizing medical c annabis will transform Filipinos into zombies. But my observational trip to Bangkok was a revelation. I did not see zombies. I only saw people having a good time, listening to music, partaking of food. On Khaosan Road I felt no sense of danger even if it were full of people and music blared. I felt completely

safe. However, we must not underestimate the potency of various cannabis strains and its possible adverse side effects.

Thus, when the Philippines decides to decriminalize cannabis, policies should be in place to prevent young people and pregnant women from using it, to penalize illegal sales and distribution, to allow cultivation with clear regulations, and to impose regulations to prevent abuse.

bM: What are your thoughts if Thailand’s totally unexpected stance on cannabis were to happen in the Philippines?

Manansala: If it happens, we will be creating a potential multibillion cash product that can help alleviate poverty in the Cordilleras and other provinces which can grow high-quality cannabis. It can make the Philippines a center of excellence for medical cannabis products and research. It will finally erase the stigma of a plant with medicinal benefits, a true gift of nature.

“To be honest, the local government unit cannot do it alone. Although Caloocan City has been implementing its he alth and wellness programs before, the entry of n e stlé Philippines has made a big difference because it could serve more beneficiaries in our city,” Malapitan told the BusinessMirror in an interview on August 20, 2023 at the sidelines of the Family Wellness Festival at the Caloocan Sports C omplex.

“We’re delighted to collaborate with n e stlé Philippines to bring the Family Wellness Festival to our community. This is an opportunity for families to come together and enjoy a day of fun, health, and togetherness,” he added.

n u trition begins at home

Joey Uy III, Senior Vice President and H ead of Corporate Affairs of n e stlé Philippines, said the company believes that the foundation of good nutrition begins with the family at home.

“We at n e stlé Philippines believe that good nutrition starts at home. We

are bringing n e stlé Family Wellness Festival closer to communities as we strive to provide residents of Caloocan City with the nutrition information and wellness tips that can help them improve their health,” Uy said.

He  said ne stlé Philippines believes that partnering with local government units that share similar goals with their ongoing nutrition programs will make a huge impact as it will better inform and encourage residents of Caloocan City to prioritize their family’s well-being.

D uring the Family Wellness Festival, Caloocan City also provided c omprehensive health and wellness services to its constituents such as Xray services, fluoride treatment, and HIV testing services. There were also free haircuts and massages offered and environmental awareness games.

Meanwhile, the Batang Kankaloo children also enjoyed the story-telling activities led by Caloocan First Lady and Chairperson of Cultural Affairs and Tourism Department, Aubrey Malapitan. Even the fur-babies of Caloocan benefited from the day of

health and wellness with the veterinary consultations and anti-rabies v accine offering for pets.

n e stlé Philippines also invited experts from its partner organizations t o share their insights on key topics that touch on the overall wellness of individuals, families, and the planet.

Veggie garden

F OR its part, the Department of Science and Technology – Food and nutrition Research Institute (DOST-F n R I) talked about promoting nutrition and health for the family, while the Department of Agriculture shared tips o n starting your own veggie garden based on its Food Always in the Home (FAITH) program.

This was followed by a cooking demo to further promote “sarapsustansya” meals for the family. A representative from non-profit organization Pure Oceans then gave a talk a bout caring for the environment and how our collective action as its stewards can make a positive impact on t he wellness of our planet.

“In striving to be the “Kasambuhay for Good,” we are committed to he lping educate Filipinos about the importance of good nutrition, health, and wellness, especially for our children. We will continue to offer nutritious, affordable, and accessible food a nd beverage options, and help drive education on healthier food and lifestyle choices. Through partnerships w ith local government units who share in this mission, we hope to be able to help more and more Filipino families live happier and healthier lives,” added Uy.

‘Mabuhigh’ from Bangkok: Pinoys join Thailand’s legal cannabis trade

Cannabis flower buds in custom-made containers for sale at Filipino-owned dispensary Mabuhigh. One of various strains is named “Pacman.”

YEAR in and year out, the outbreak of dengue, especially during this time of the year, is no longer news to many. In fact, it will be abnormal if there are no reported dengue cases in the Philippines.

On E of the joints along Khao san Road in bangkok.

& Fitness

Benefits, positive impact of AI on dentistry practice revealed in survey

By Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco

How is artificial intelligence (AI) transforming dentistry and impacting patient care?

The answer to this question was shown in a July 2023 survey of Dentaly.org using practitioner perspectives from 250 licensed dentists in the U.S. and insights from 1,015 surveyed patients.

All patients were required to have visited the dentist at least once within the past two years. Any responses that did not meet the qualifications were excluded from the findings.

The survey showed that 77 percent of the of surveyed dentists observed positive outcomes in their practice since implementing AI. o f s urveyed dentists, 35 percent have implemented AI in their dental practice;  81 percent of dentists have a positive attitude towards AI applications in dentistry;

62 percent of surveyed dentists agreed that some of the operational tasks in dental clinics could be performed by AI.

Additionally, 57 percent of the surveyed dentists believe that AI could replace certain tasks currently performed by dentists; 55 percent of

dentists believe that the advancements in AI could result in potential layoffs in the dental care industry in the next five years; 68 percent of the patients believe in the potential benefits of AI applications.

Lack of human interaction

Among S T surveyed patients, 65 percent of patients were open to receiving dental treatment or diagnosis that incorporates AI in the future;

42 percent of the surveyed patients feel comfortable receiving AI-based dental treatment, while the majority remain neutral about this matter.

According to 72 percent of patients, the “lack of human interaction during treatment” is their primary concern regarding the integration of AI in dentistry.

The report added that only 10 percent of surveyed patients are willing to pay extra for dental treatment or diagnosis that incorporates AI technologies.

o f t he 250 dentists interviewed, 66 percent were female practitioners. The next 33 percent were males, and only 1 percent identified neither as male nor female.

o n t he AI acceptance in dentistry, 35 percent of surveyed dentists have implemented AI in their den -

tal practice.

These respondents find AI valuable for enhancing their clinical practice, streamlining workflow, and improving patient outcomes. Additionally, these early adapters highlighted the areas of their dental practice where they had incorporated AI.

The dentists have cited improvements post-AI incorporation that emphasize the efficiency that comes with the technology.

Likewise, AI makes it easier to analyze patient medical records and tailor personalized treatment.

Concerns

wH en a sked what concerns they had most about AI in dentistry, a whopping 67 percent of dentists expressed fears about the privacy and security of their patients’ data, as well as the security of their own practice Practitioners have expressed concerns about the potential breach of relevant laws, such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), due to AI’s heavy reliance on patient data. This worry stems from the potential compromise it could pose to their practice.

Here’s a list of dentists’ top five

concerns concerning AI in the dental space:

n 67 percent data privacy and security;

n 67 percent on reliability and accuracy of AI systems;

n 52 percent e thical considerat ions;

n 43 percent Cost of implementing AI technologies; and

n 33 percent Potential job displacement.

The Dentaly.org said that the AI in Dentistry Survey sheds light on the remarkable progress and potential that AI holds for the future of dental care. It also indicates the perceptions held by dentists and patients on the subject.

According to the results obtained, 35 percent of dentists are applying AI to their practice, and the number is likely going to increase in the next five years.

“Although the pace of adoption is rather slow, most practitioners agree that AI has its benefits, including faster and more efficient workflows, predictive analytics for patient outcomes, improved accuracy in diagnosis, enhanced treatment planning, and personalized treatment options,” the survey said.

Thursday, August 31, 2023

Cetaphil and Watsons join forces for the sixth year of the national Healthy Skin Mission

In a significant step towards promoting skin health education and awareness, Cetaphil, the renowned skin authority, and Watsons, the leading destination for skincare and beauty products, partnered for the sixth year for the n at ional Healthy Skin Mission.

This collaboration aimed to empower individuals to achieve healthy skin through the Skin Academy, aligning perfectly with Watsons’ core message of “Look Good. Do Good. Feel Great Everyday.”

Cetaphil has long been trusted by millions for its comprehensive care for sensitive skin. With the endorsement of board-certified dermatologists, Cetaphil products provide effective solutions for a wide range of skin concerns.

This partnership with Watsons for the n at ional Healthy Skin Mission Skin Academy is a testament to Cetaphil’s commitment to promoting skin health education and fostering healthy skincare habits approved by the sensitive skin experts.

As a leading name in the skincare and beauty industry, Watsons has consistently advocated for holistic beauty and self-care. Through its partnership with Cetaphil for the n at ional Healthy Skin Mission, Watsons further strengthened its commitment to helping customers look good, do good, and feel great every day.

This year’s n H SM theme, the Skin Academy, is designed to provide accessible and comprehensive skin education to consumers. Located at SM Makati until today, August 31, The Skin Academy consists of several interactive rooms that cater to different aspects of skin health:

Hydration Room: Consumers can discover

the ideal cleanser for their skin type and needs while exploring the range of Cetaphil cleansers.

Radiance Room: Through dermatologist-led educational videos, participants can learn how to achieve radiant skin using healthy practices while enjoying an engaging learning experience.

Protect Room: Designed specifically for first-time moms, this room imparts knowledge on providing a healthy start for children, accompanied by a play area for kids to enjoy.

Acne Masterclass Room: Participants gain insights into the real causes of acne and learn effective ways to address this common skin concern. n at ional Healthy Skin Mission went beyond the first day, offering a series of activations that delve deeper into skin education. Last August 17, Dr. Gaile Robredo and Agoo Bengzon led a discussion on optimal sensitive skin care practices. Then last August 18, The Beauty Edit’s n cole Morales talked about the significance of Radiance Routine before applying makeup through the Radiance Masterclass.

Last August 23, participants learned tips for acne prevention and self-confidence with Dr. Bea Chan. And finally on August 24, insights were gained in selecting the right products for healthy baby skin and be guided in the life of a first-time mom with Bea Fabregas, Dr. Vanika Viardo, and Dr. Erika Akiat.

Dive into the world of skincare education, seize the opportunity to receive exclusive freebies, and avail of FREE Dermatologist consultation today when you visit the n at ional Healthy Skin Mission booth at SM Makati. Together with Cetaphil and Watsons, embark on a journey to a healthier skin.

Health& Fitness

Thursday, August 31, 2023

Smoking cessation is key to fighting lung ailments–experts

By Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco

Do you know that the second most common type of cancer in the Philippines after breast cancer is lung cancer?

Lung cancer may spread or metastasize to lymph nodes or to other organs in the body, such as the brain. However, cancers from other organs may also spread to the lungs.

To increase awareness about lung health among Filipinos, the month of August was designated as the National Lung Month in the Philippines based on Proclamation No. 1761 on July 24, 1978.

Other most common lung diseases include:

n Asthma

n Collapse of part or all of the lung (pneumothorax or atelectasis)

n Swelling and inflammation in the main passages (bronchial tubes) that carry air to the lungs (bronchitis)

n C o P D or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

n Lung infection (pneumonia)

n Abnormal buildup of fluid in the lungs (pulmonary edema)

n Blocked lung artery (pulmonary embolus)

Lung cancer cases

I N 2 020, the Department of Health (D o H ) said that there were a total of 19,180 newly diagnosed cases of lung cancer in the Philippines.

“These new cases represent 12.5 percent of the total number of new cancer cases in 2020,” D o H Secretary Teodoro Herbosa said in an email response.

Based on the World Health o r ganization (WH o) G L o B o C AN 2020, lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths in the Philippines, resulting in 17,063 deaths in 2020.

Cases due to smoking Cer TAIN f actors can increase the risk for developing cancer, including:

n Cigarette smoking, which is the leading risk factor for lung cancer

n Second-hand smoke exposure

n r a don exposure

n o t her substances, including asbestos, arsenic, diesel exhaust, and some forms of silica and chromium

n Family history of lung cancer

n r a diation therapy to the chest

About 23 percent of male deaths and 10 percent of female deaths are caused by tobacco (17.5 percent overall).

o v er 20 percent of non-communicable disease-related deaths [ex: ischemic heart disease, stroke, diabetes, C o P D, lung cancer, etc.] in the Philippines, are attributable to tobacco use,” the D o H c hief added.

Also, over 112,000 Filipinos die from tobacco-related diseases each year.

“The best way to protect your lungs is to quit smoking. If you’ll quit smoking, you also protect your fam -

ily from secondhand smoke,” said Dr. Jaimie Galvez Tan, former D oH S ecretary and a trustee of HealthJustice Philippines said.

HealthJustice, Social Watch Philippines, Parents Against Vape, and Philippine Legislators’ Committee on Population and Development are pushing for the passage of smokefree bill that will strictly regulate and prohibit smoking in public areas, among others. The bill, filed in Congress but awaiting committee hearing, aims to sustain the continuous decline of smoking prevalence in the country.

“We need to safeguard our nation’s future generation by ensuring that stronger regulations are in place and are properly implemented,” said r o meo Dongeto, e x ecutive Director of the Philippine Legislators’ Committee on Population and Development, the Convenor of Child r i ghts Network.

To maintain good lung health, Dr. Galvez Tan said that one should exercise regularly.

“Through exercise we can increase how efficiently the body uses oxygen. Protect yourself against infection for, in some cases, it can damage the lungs. Also, we should reduce indoor pollutants like chemical solvents, asbestos, and secondhand smoke,” Dr. Galvez Tan stressed.

Symptoms

DI FF ere N T p eople have different symptoms for lung cancer.

Santé celebrates 16th anniversary by igniting ‘Rise Up’ movement

By Anne Ruth Dela Cruz

Some people have symptoms related to the lungs while some people whose lung cancer has spread to other parts of the body (metastasized) have symptoms specific to that part of the body.

There are those who just have general symptoms of not feeling well.

Most people with lung cancer don’t have symptoms until the cancer is advanced.

These symptoms include:

n Coughing that gets worse or doesn’t go away

n Chest pain

n Shortness of breath

n Wheezing

n Coughing up blood

n Feeling very tired all the time

n Weight loss with no known cause Prevention

T H e D o H s aid that the most important way to help prevent developing lung cancer is stopping or avoiding cigarette smoking.

The individual may consult a doctor for help in smoking cessation.

People with an increased risk of lung cancer may consider annual lung cancer screening using lowdose CT scans.

Lung cancer screening is generally offered to people 55 and older who smoked heavily for many years and are otherwise healthy.

“For a more thorough assessment of your cancer risk, ask your doctor,” the D o H s aid.

From day one, Joey m a rcelo was a strong believer in the health benefits of barley. And it was this strong belief that made m a rcelo start Santé, 16 years ago.

“It is because of barley that I am able to do things that not all 50-year-old men can do. I am a triathlete. I bike, run and swim. I travel a lot and barley gives sustenance. It’s barley, vitamins and minerals all in one sachet. I will be taking barley for the rest of my life because I want to participate in Iron m an e vents until I reach 80,” m a rcelo said during the 16th anniversary celebration of Santé.

According to healthline.com, barley is a very healthy grain which is rich in vitamins, minerals and other beneficial plant compounds. It is also high in fiber which can lead to better digestion, reduced hunger and weight loss.

“Forget about the business. Santé is certified organic. We are the first Filipino company and the second outside of New Zealand to be certified organic. We have our own manufacturing facility in New Zealand and we produce quality barley,” m ar celo added.

Expand operations

o ver a p eriod of 16 years, Santé has successfully expanded its operations globally, increased its business owners’ reach and numbers to keep up with the demand for barley nutraceuticals, and diversified its product line and offerings to its customers and business partners. With its mantra of Live m o re. Do m o re., Santé continues its goal of offering Filipinos high-quality barley grass products to enhance their health and well-being, while also serving as a preferred partner for achieving a better life. Within 16 years, Santé has dominated the barley grass industry and successfully risen up to be on top, positioning the brand as the barley authority that Filipinos can take pride in.

This was the theme of Santé’s 16th Anniversary, which kicked off with a press conference at the Santé International Headquarters in Silang, Cavite on August 14, 2023.

During the press conference, m arcelo unveiled Santé’s expansion plans to tap more markets globally, emphasizing Santé’s strength as a Filipino brand with an impactful global presence, currently operating in 10 countries. m a rcelo noted that the pandemic has led to a demand for health and wellness products, and this trend will continue even with the country’s economy on a path to full recovery. Santé is fully prepared to address this demand by further expanding its business owners’ reach through retail and global expansion.

“We are more than just a Filipino company when we uplift our business partners, we are also uplifting the communities they belong to through our quality products and services,” m a rcelo said.

Filipino company S A NT é , at its core, is a Filipino company, from its foundation to its operations, the brand aims to help fellow countrymen wherever they are across the globe. “It’s definitely a brand that the Philippines can be proud of, and our track record speaks for itself,” m a rcelo added.

Also present in the press conference was Santé’s Chief o p erating o f ficer, m i ke Sibayan who highlighted the strength of Santé’s business operations and supply chain. With direct selling at its core, business partners are provided a selfowned entrepreneurial platform with flexible working hours, additional income, and the benefits of actual employees in a standard company.

“This, along with Santé’s global presence, our partners are exposed to various cultures and learning best practices from a diverse set of individuals all united under Santé’s vision of a healthy lifestyle and financial security make the brand the premier employer of choice,” Sibayan added.

Metro Pacific Health, Asian Hospital host Battle of the Nightingales

B o T N Inter-Nursing School

Quiz Bowl started in 2017 as an annual initiative of West Metro Medical Center. In 2022, all four Mindanao MPH hospitals conducted their quiz bowls, and the w inners from these local competitions competed in a Mindanaow ide event.

Acknowledging the value of this program, MPH is rolling this out nationwide. MPH is encouraging all hospitals in its network t o conduct B o T Ns either separately or in a joint quiz bowl with ot her MPH hospitals.

“The B o T N aims to celebrate nurses by promoting public awareness and appreciation for the nursing profession and promoting meaningful professional collaboration between MPH hospitals, s chools of nursing, nursing organizations and the community,” s aid Dr. Carolina Buhain, Asian Hospital’s Nursing Director.

The participants in the B o T NAsian Hospital edition were Dr. Yanga’s College Inc., Saint Michael’s College of Laguna, St. D ominic College of Asia, Far e a stern University, University of Santo Tomas, Philippine Women’s University and Siena College of Taytay.

Held at the Museo ng Muntinlupa, the guest speakers at the e vent were Dr. Carolina, Muntinlupa City Mayor r u ffy Biazon and Asian Hospital’s Chief Medical o f ficer Dr. Jose Acuin.

Spotlight on nurses

T H e B o T N is one of the collaboration projects of AHMC and the C ity Government of Muntinlupa as they work hand-in-hand in improving the healthcare of the community. It is also part of the Alagang Sulit, Alagang Deserve campaign of Asian Hospital which pushes for caring for the community and improved customer service.

I n his remarks, Biazon said the quiz bowl is “an event that shines the spotlight on the dedication of our nurses and their invaluable contribution to healthcare.” He related that healthcare is one of the top priorities in Muntinlupa and that nurses played a pivotal role in making this a reality.

“This event is more than just a competition. It is a meaningful opportunity to recognize and express our gratitude for the vital r ole our nurses play in maintaining our well-being. Let’s take a m oment to appreciate our nurses who serve as the backbone of

h ealing and the embodiment of compassion. Their unwavering commitment to caring for us and our community is nothing short of commendable,” he said.

He added that the competition highlighted the depth of knowledge that the nurses have, “a showcase of the importance of scientific knowledge that they possess i n practicing their profession.”

“It is not just a menial task but a responsibility that carries with it the need to have a wide knowl -

edge about health and medicine fo r you to give quality care. With this knowledge is the skill in handling and managing the patients w hich is actually a big part of the healing process,” Biazon said.

Irreplaceable experience

For his part, Dr. Acuin called on the participants to reach out to their fellow participants and to get to know them. At the end of the day, Dr. Acuin said the quiz bowl is a competition where there will be winners and losers.

“The experience is irreplaceable. r e ach out to each other and connect with each other,” he said, adding that he looked forward to the day when he could welcome the students to Asian Hospital.

“We will be more than happy to show you around Asian Hospital and welcome you some day as one of us, as a staff member of Asian hospital and someone the doctors who can trust and work with,” he said. The team from Siena College of Taytay, who includes Denille Cher De

Leon, Glenn Juliene G. o b el, Chiara Mariae A. Miado, and coached by Jefferson Louies P. Gonzaga, emerged as t he winner of the quiz bowl. Coming in second was the team from Saint Michael’s College of Laguna while Far e a stern University came in third. The winning team to home P100,000 of scholarships for each team member, a cash prize of P20,000, a cash prize of P5,000 for their coach and a trophy. Sienna College of Taytay will compete in the B o T N National Finals on o ctober 20, 2023

Asi A n Hospital and Medical Center (AHMC), in collaboration with Metro Pacific Health (MPH), City Government of Muntinlupa and the Philippine nurses Association nCR Zone 6, hosted the “Battle of the nightingales (BOTn) internursing school Quiz Bowl” on August 23, 2023.