THE Department of Agriculture (DA) said it is ready to intervene if rice prices become “unrealistically high.”
Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. issued the statement after the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) announced that rice inflation slowed to 5.1 percent last month from the 9.6 percent in October.
“If international rice prices continue to ease, the peso remains stable, and tariffs stay low, we would most likely see the price of well-milled rice decline further in the coming months,” Laurel said.
President Marcos Jr. had earlier slashed rice tariffs to 15 percent from 35 percent until 2028 as part of efforts to curb high retail rice prices.
MBy Cai U. Ordinario @caiordinario
ORE expensive cabbage, eggplants and other popular vegetables could cause inflation to accelerate this December, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
Analysts also told BusinessMirror t hat a weaker peso would further drive up commodity prices nationwide as the Philippines remains a net food importer.
O n Thursday, the PSA reported that inflation quickened t o 2.5 percent in n o vember due to higher food prices driven by expensive vegetables and meat products. (See: https://businessmirror. com.ph/2024/12/05/inflation-picks-upto-2-5-in-november/).
“We are looking at which commodities have high weights in the f ood basket, in particular vegetables, because the typhoons still h ave an effect on them,” n a tional
FIGHTI n G on line fraud and other cyberthreats is a two-way street, according to the President of one of t he largest publicly-listed universal banks in the country. In a recent press event, BDO Unibank Inc. President and Chief Executive Officer/ Executive Director n e stor V. Tan said banks alone cannot fight cyberthreats. Banks, not just BDO, need the help of the public in fighting cyber fraud, Tan said. Earlier this year, the Cybercrime I nvestigation and Coordinating Center reported nefarious a ctivities online earn an estimated P1 billion annually.
( See: https://businessmirror.com.
Statistician Claire Dennis S. Mapa said, partly in Filipino. “So, it's possible that inflation will increase this month of December. And while the weight of vegetables is not that high, it still has a s ubstantial impact and can lead to a higher inflation rate,” he added. Mapa said this also accounts for the 2.5-percent average core inflation rate recorded in n o vember 2024. While volatile food and e nergy items were not included in the computation of core inflation, the higher vegetable prices caused core inflation to increase.
“We need your help to educate the consumer because t he prevention of cyber fraud is actually a two-way street. Banks have to do their part, but the consumers have to do their part. And I think that has to be put forward,” Tan said. The fight against cyber fraud, Tan said, is one of the important messages the banking sector would like to communicate with the public.
I n August of this year, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) launched the Financial Services Cyber Resilience Plan (FSCRP) to strengthen banks and other financial institutions against cyber threats.
“The DA [Department of Agriculture] stands ready to intervene in the market if rice prices remain unrealistically high, especially with the additional P5 billion provided by President Marcos to support the Ricefor-All and the P29 [per kilo of rice] program,” he added.
The agency recently rolled out the Rice-for-All program offering the food staple at P40 per kilo in several public markets across Metro Manila to provide cheaper rice options.
Initially priced at P45 per kilo, the rice under the program was recently reduced to P43 and was dropped further to P40 per kilo, with the goal of lowering retail prices that remain high despite easing global rice quotations and substantial tariff reductions.
The prevailing retail prices of imported well-milled and regular rice
in selected Metro Manila markets is P45 per kilo, respectively, based on the DA’s latest price monitoring report. The local retail prices is P45 per kilo for well-milled rice and P42 per kilo for regular.
Veggies, meat costly M E A n W HILE , f igures from the PSA showed that vegetable and meat inflation accelerated to 5.9 percent and 3.9 percent, respectively.
Agriculture Assistant Secretary Arnel de Mesa said the string of storms that battered the country’s vegetable-producing areas and the persistent threat of African swine fever (ASF) pushed retail prices of the commodities.
Despite this, the DA official allayed concerns for the upcoming holidays, noting sufficient supply of
key farm commodities like rice, vegetables, and meat.
“Our supply for rice this December is in good volume. Although we expect local production to decrease, we can expect our imports to reach as high as 4.5 million metric tons [MMT],” De Mesa told reporters in Filipino during a briefing on Thursday. He added that the Philippines could expect over 100 days of national stock inventory by yearend, which would be enough to sustain the country until the next harvest considering the additional rice shipments coming in.
“We were assured of good supply of pork and chicken from our livestock stakeholders. There are no problems in the highland [vegetables], and while there was a slight shortage in the lowland [vegetables], it is now recovering, so we have no issues,” De Mesa said.
PBy Lenie Lectura @llectura
OWER rates are likely to go up next year after the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) approved the collection of the remaining 70 percent of the recalculated amounts due on the reserve market transactions.
Late Thursday, the ERC released an order stating that the total amount that remains to be collected from consumers stands at around P3.05 billion. This amount will be collected over a staggered period of three months for trading participants in the Luzon and Mindanao Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM)
and six months for those in the Visayas. The corresponding rate impact will be P0.124/kWh for Luzon and Visayas, while Mindanao will have a lower rate impact of P0.033/kWh.
For electricity consumers, the Manila Electric Company (Meralco) said the impact of the P3.05 billion will likely result in a total increase of around P0.40 per kWh, or about P0.13 or P0.14 per kWh every month for three months, in the transmission charge.
“Considering that total transmission charge right now is around P0.90 per kWh, almost half is P0.40 per kWh. The impact
DOE resets green energy auction to early next year
By Lenie Lectura @llectura
THE much-anticipated green energy auction (GEA) for geothermal, impounding hydro and pumped-storage hydro has been rescheduled to early next year, officials of the Department of Energy (DOE) said Thursday.
“So for the green energy auction program … It’s January of next year,”
DOE Undersecretary Felix William Fuentebella said at the DOE Investment Forum held in Pasay City.
DOE Assistant Secretary Mylene Capongcol also affirmed that the auction is expected to happen “probably January” because of fewer working days during the Christmas season.
The DOE was earlier targeting for the auction to take place before the year ends. It is still waiting for the release
of the green energy auction reserve (GEAR) prices by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC).
“The target is within two weeks,” NREB Chairperson Monalisa Dimalanta said, when sought for comment. It is ERC’s mandate to determine the GEAR prices or the maximum price offers for the GEA. In order for the GEA3 to happen, the ERC must release first the GEAR prices.
GEA-3 covers non-feed-in-tariff (Non-FIT) eligible renewable energy
Issues being discussed by officials in Geneva include the WTO dispute settlement system reform and achieving outcomes on fisheries subsidies, agriculture and electronic commerce, the DTI official noted.
Meanwhile, the WTO head also commended the
technologies like geothermal, impounding hydro and pumped-storage hydro under Department Circular No. DC2023-10-0029. The order lists auction policy and guidelines for the nonFIT RE technologies in the GEA program.
GEA-3 will also cover run-of-river (ROR) Hydro, which is a FIT-eligible RE technology.
The estimated capacities for nonFIT Eligible RE technologies are: 699 megawatts (MW) from impounding hydro; 3,120 MW from pumped storage hydro; and 380 MW from geothermal.
With pumped storage providing 3,120MW of flexible storage and generation, it provides the ability for the grid to manage variable RE (VRE) and allow more VREs to be included in the energy mix.
Geothermal and impounding hydro, meanwhile, allow dependable RE technologies to serve as baseload for the energy mix.
The target start of deliveries for impounding hydro and pumped stor -
Philippines’s “strong” economic performance despite global challenges. She recognized “Positive Philippine economic performance and high growth of services sector and digitally traded services.” Moving forward, Aquia said WTO is focused
age hydro is 2028 to 2030 and 2024 to 2030 for geothermal. An estimated 200 MW of RE capacity from ROR hydro is expected to be auctioned, with a target delivery starting in 2026 to 2028.
Capongcol said a number of power firms are interested to participate in GEA3. “Yes, there are many,” she told the forum.
In the last two years, the DOE has conducted two rounds of auction which generated a total of 5,306MW of RE capacities committed to deliver power in 2024 to 2026. However, the DOE received a commitment for only 3,580.76 MW out of the 11,600 MW offered under the GEA2.
The DOE earlier cited supply limitation, low incentives, delay in the conduct of grid impact studies, and the cost of financial guarantees as some of the reasons for low investor turnout during the GEA-2.
on increasing technical assistance and capacity building to integrate women and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and all stakeholders into the global economy with the aim of “inclusive and sustainable development.”
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The ERC decision came following deliberations on the submission by the Independent Electricity Market Operator of the Philippines (IEMOP) of the recalculation of reserve trading amounts (RTAs) for the billing months of February and March 2024.
It may be recalled that on March 26, 2024, the ERC suspended the implementation of the billing and settlement in the cooptimized energy and reserve in the WESM due to concerns on the implementation of the Price Determination Methodology (PDM) provisionally approved by the Commission.
After the suspension and upon further review, Iemop recalculated the amounts due for February and March 2024. The Commission then allowed the collection of 30 per-
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He noted that vegetables accounted for 1.2 percent of core inflation in November 2024 from a negative contribution of 9.9 percent in October 2024, indicating a significant increase in prices.
Mapa said the impact of the recent typhoons in areas such as Cagayan Valley led to higher vegetable prices. Areas that experienced flooding saw price spikes. Examples: tomatoes, which saw an inflation rate of 37.2 percent in November from a negative inflation of 47.9 percent in October 2024.
“Prices of tomatoes were already on the decline in October but there was a spike in prices in November,” Mapa said.
“This contributed significantly to the basket of vegetables, tubers and cooking bananas and others. These are examples of items in this commodity group, under vegetables, that saw higher prices,” he added.
Continued from A1 is mitigated by spreading recovery over three months,” said Meralco utility economics head Lawrence Fernandez via Viber.
The FSCRP serves as a comprehensive roadmap and primary framework aimed at enhancing the resilience of the financial services sector against cyber threats.
It also outlines high-level goals and strategies essential for maintaining the integrity and security of the country’s financial ecosystem.
Apart from cyberthreats, Tan recognized that the country’s current concerns include factors that are “beyond our control.” This includes the uncertainties created by the new administration in the United States and the domestic affairs in the country.
Tan noted there are also uncertainties in the region, most recent of which are the political developments in South Korea, where the President is already facing impeachment charges after declaring martial law, which lasted just six hours as Congress overturned it.
“Those have put a lot of the plans of corporations temporarily on hold and I hope that they don't cancel it. So we’re looking forward to a more reserved 2024 ending and hopefully, a pick up in 2025. So I hope that that's the case,” Tan said, however.
Recent political developments in South Korea could affect the country’s semiconductor sector, according to local economists.
This is possible given the link between the Philippines and South Korea in the global value chain, Former Tariff Commissioner George Manzano told B usiness M irror earlier.
“The Philippines’s and South Korea’s electronics are intertwined in the global chain. Philippine imports and at the same time exports electronic components such as semiconductors with South Korea,” Manzano said. “Any disturbance in South Korea will affect Philippine trade.”
Manzano said the Philippines has a trade in goods deficit with South Korea of about $5.4 billion in 2023. This trade in goods deficit continued this year.
Based on the latest data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), the Philippines has a trade deficit of $4.28 billion in January to September 2024. (See: https://businessmirror.com.ph/2024/12/05/ south-korea-events-may-affect-phl-trade-ex-tariffs-chief/). Cai U. Ordinario
cent of the amount on May 9, 2024. The ERC then lifted on July 26, 2024 the suspension and allowed the resumption of full operations of trading of reserves in the WESM for contracted and merchant plants. In the order, the Commission directed the Iemop to recalculate the resulting reserve trading amounts for the billing periods of February 2024 and March 2024, and adjust the value for the remaining 70 percent for the March billing month. The Commission likewise mandated the system operator, the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP), to harmonize the timeline of its submission of non-compliances to the Iemop. The Iemop’s recalculated submission was based on the non-compliance data provided by NGCP. As a result, the reserve trading amounts were further recalculated and, after deducting the values of the non-compliances, was reduced by P725 million. Thus, the total amount that remains to be collected from consumers stands at around P3.05 billion.
2026. These come from the potential adjustments in electricity rates and higher minimum wages in areas outside Metro Manila. Nonetheless, BSP said downside factors continue to be linked to the impact of lower import tariffs on rice. The BSP said the Monetary Board will consider the latest inflation outturn in its upcoming monetary policy meeting on 19 December 2024.
“The BSP will continue to maintain a measured approach in its easing cycle to ensure price stability conducive to sustainable economic growth and employment,” BSP said. For its part, the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) noted that despite the recent typhoons, the country's year-to-date inflation rate was at 3.2 percent, well within the government’s target range of 2 to 4 percent.
“Despite the strong typhoons our country faced in recent months, consumer prices have remained relatively stable. This demonstrates the resilience of our economy and the effectiveness of our policies,” said Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan.
Weak peso
A PART f rom the impact of the recent typhoons, analysts said the depreciation of the peso could contribute to higher inflation in December.
While the peso appreciated to P57.88 to the United States dollar on Thursday from P58.23 on Wednesday, the peso has weakened since 2021 when the average was at P49.2546 to the greenback.
Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) Chief Economist Emilio S. Neri Jr. said models showed that every percentage-point depreciation in the peso versus the US dollar leads to a 0.2-percentage point increase in inflation.
Neri said, however, that this is under the assumption that the “peso is not at at alltime lows.” However, if the peso hits P60 to the US dollar, this could lead to an even larger impact on inflation.
“If we hit the 60 mark the sensitivity of inflation to the exchange rate could be more as it could fuel more inflation expectations. In other words, [there] may exist a relevant range for exchange rate changes to have a limited pass through on inflation,” Neri told B usiness M irror
Neri, however, does not believe the peso will hit P60 to the greenback just yet. Still, he said, it may be a different story if the peso continues to hit all-time lows and if these big changes happen in shorter intervals.
Meanwhile, Jonathan Ravelas, senior adviser at professional services firm Reyes Tacandong & Co., told BusinessMirror that assuming a P58-P60.50 range for the peso, the country could see an average of P58.71 by yearend.
Currently, Ravelas said, year to date inflation is at 3.3 percent but it could easily increase to 3.6 percent on the average, depending on the depreciation of the peso against the US dollar.
“It [peso] could [hit P60]. That’s why BSP [Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas] could cut [consider larger cuts] like 50 basis points to ensure continued growth after a slowdown in the third quarter of 2024," Ravelas told this newspaper.
Within expectations
O N T hursday, the BSP said the latest inflation print is “consistent with the BSP's assessment that inflation will continue to trend closer to the low end of the target range in the near term.”
The BSP said the latest data also reflected easing supply pressures for key food items, particularly rice. Rice inflation slowed to 5.1 percent in November 2024.
However, the BSP said there are still upside risks to the inflation outlook for 2025 and
However, Balisacan emphasized that the government is closely monitoring prices of commodities, especially food, in the wake of successive typhoons in October and November.
These typhoons adversely affected food supply and logistics, resulting in a rise in food inflation to 3.5 percent from 3 percent, with vegetable inflation accelerating to 5.9 percent from -9.2 percent deflation in October. In the recent Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) meeting of the Neda Board, the government projected full-year 2024 inflation to average between 3.1 and 3.3 percent.
This was lower than last year’s average inflation rate of 6 percent. The DBCC also maintained the inflation assumption of 2 to 4 percent from 2025 to 2028.
“We are committed to maintaining price stability by ensuring inflation remains low and manageable. This will be supported by prudent monetary policies and strategic trade measures in the near term, as well as improved access to quality job opportunities and productivity-enhancing reforms in the medium term” said Balisacan. To further address food prices, the Department of Agriculture is set to launch the Kadiwa Rice-for-All program across major public markets to offer more affordable options for consumers amid the persistently elevated rice prices, Neda npted.
DA is also conducting an extensive review of existing livestock transport regulations in order to ease the transport of chickens and hogs without compromising food safety. Meanwhile, to continuously address the impact of the African Swine Fever (ASF) and Avian Influenza (AI), the DA issued Administrative Circular No. 10 authorizing the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) to set up livestock, poultry, and meat industry inspection sites in Metro Manila and nearby regions to prevent the spread of animal diseases. Also, DA amended the ASF vaccine guidelines under Administrative Circular No. 13, s. 2024, easing participation requirements to broaden coverage and accelerate the vaccination program.
“Through the timely and strategic use of our various policy levers, a whole-ofgovernment and whole-of-society approach is vital to sustain our momentum in effectively managing inflation. Achieving this objective will be key to making economic growth more inclusive and accelerating our poverty reduction efforts,” Balisacan said. Balisacan said government remains optimistic that the December inflation figures will sustain the trend of price stability and that inflation will remain within the government’s target range.
Chinese warships in Bajo de Masinloc ‘steep escalation’–natl security exec
By Rex Anthony Naval
ASENIOR National Security Council (NSC) official on Thursday called China’s deployment of warships along with other maritime forces to harass Philippine vessels in Bajo de Masinloc (Scarborough Shoal) on Wednesday as a “steep escalation.”
“We consider that a steep escalation on the part of the People’s Republic of China because as you very well know in the past PLAN [People’s Liberation Army Navy]
ships were in the area but they were just in the horizon. They would not do dangerous maneuvers against Philippine vessels,”
NSC Assistant Director General Jonathan Malaya said.
He added that the actions of the PLAN vessel against Philippine ships engaged in lawful duties in Bajo de Masinloc are considered as a “provocation and an escalatory move.”
In addition, Malaya expressed hopes that China does not see Philippine diplomatic moves and
efforts to deescalate the tensions in the West Philippine Sea as an act of “cowardice.”
“We hope that the People’s Republic of China does not see our diplomatic actions or our peaceful actions as cowardice. We do not want to be sending signals to China that they can do what they want simply because we do not want to escalate,” Malaya said.
Earlier, the Coast Guard (PCG) and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (Bfar) reported that their ships were again ha -
rassed by the China Coast Guard (CCG) and the PLAN while conducting a routine maritime patrol in the vicinity of Bajo de Masinloc.
The two agencies reported that on Wednesday morning their ships experienced aggressive actions, like being subjected to water cannon and being sideswiped, from several CCG vessels with bow numbers CCG-5303, CCG-3302 and CCG-3104.
Also taking part in the harassment were PLAN vessels with bow numbers 500 and 571.
Navy chopper crash-lands at Sangley; pilots, crew safe
ABy Nonie Reyes
NAVY lightweight multipurpose helicopter on a training and maintenance flight crash landed at the Sangley Aerodrome in Cavite on Thursday morning.
Owing to the incident, the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines suspended all landing and take-off operations at Sangley Airpor effective 10:18 a.m. Thursday due to the disabled military aircraft on the runway.
Caap said the suspension will remain in effect until further notice as authorities address the situation.
The helicopter, a three-ton AugustaWestland AW 109 “Power” helicopter with tail number NH 432, was on a check flight after its 400-hour maintenance inspection when the incident happened.
The test pilot, the copilot and three maintenance crewmen on board during the incident sustained minor injuries and were taken to the Air Force 15th Strike Wing Hospital for medical evaluation. Four of them had minor cuts and bruises while the other sustained a minor fracture.
Cdr. John Percie Alcos, Navy spokesman, said the helicopter was being subjected to a “training
and maintenance flight” shortly after undergoing scheduled maintenance inspection at the time of the accident.
“[It] was a functional maintenance check before we send the aircraft to the operational area so it was during the training and maintenance flight when the aircraft crash landed,” Alcos said in a separate interview.
“Emergency response teams, including fire and medical personnel, were immediately deployed to the scene. No casualties [fatalities] were reported and all personnel onboard, though with minor injuries, were conscious
and safely transported to the 15th Strike Wing Hospital for medical evaluation,” Alcos said.
The Navy operates at least four AW-109s, which were delivered between 2013 and 2014.
An investigation to determine the cause of the accident is ongoing.
“Moreover, all similar aircraft will be temporarily grounded during the investigation. Rest assured that the Philippine Navy is committed to maintaining high standards of operational safety and will use the findings to improve our procedures moving forward,” Alcos said. With Rex Anthony Naval and PNA
Estrada assures better defense with RP-Japan military pact
By Butch Fernandez @butchfBM
SENATE President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada on Thursday said government can better defend the country’s borders, protect the citizenry, and “ensure peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region without undermining the nation’s interests under the defense agreement that Manila has forged with Tokyo.”
Estrada affirmed that the Reciprocal Access and Cooperation Agreement between the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Self-Defense Forces of Japan is vital for strengthening the country’s defense capabilities in case of rising tensions in the region, particularly in the West Philippine Sea. The Senate this week started deliberations on the proposed concurrence of the chamber in the ratification of the RAA, with Sen. Imee Marcos, Foreign Relations committee chair, sponsoring the measure.
It is projected to hurdle the final vote soon, as most senators expressed support for it. He recalled that “as early as 2015 we have looked into the possibility of having a visiting forces agreement with Japan,
Marcos creates office to expedite Marawi rehabilitation
By Justine Xyrah Garcia
PRESIDENT Marcos has established the Office of the Presidential Adviser for Marawi Rehabilitation and Development (OPAMRD) to accelerate the reconstruction and recovery of Marawi City and nearby localities. Through Executive Order 78, which was made public on Thursday, Marcos tasked the new office to ensure the “efficient, effective, and timely implementation” of programs under the Bangon Marawi Comprehensive Rehabilitation and Recovery Program.
“The [OPAMRD] is hereby created to integrate, coordinate, and accelerate the implementation of all government PAPs [Programs, Activities, and Projects] related to the rehabilitation, development, and restoration of peace and order in Marawi City and other affected localities,” the EO read.
The OPAMRD, operating under the supervision of the Office of the Special Assistant to the President, will be headed by the Presidential Adviser for Marawi Rehabilitation. Its responsibilities include advising the President on policies and
Friday, December 6, 2024
Economy
Five House panels set to probe high food cost
By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz @joveemarie
THE House of Representa -
tives leadership on Thursday vowed to take decisive action to lower the prices of essential commodities, especially food items, amid growing concerns over their high costs despite declining farmgate and global market prices, as it also warned that anyone found responsible for manipulating commodity prices will face price manipulation or smuggling charges.
Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez said five key congressional committees have merged to lead a comprehensive investigation into the persistently high
RP-Japan. . .
Continued from A3
anchored on goals of enhancing our defense and security and confirming the importance of partnership upholding the rule of law to protect open, free, and peaceful seas,” the chairman of the Senate Committee on National Defense and Security said. He observed that “Japan has been our partner in development in more ways than one,” adding that, “It is about time that we stand shoulder-to-shoulder with our allies, in cooperative efforts in defense and security through this milestone agreement.”
Estrada noted: “In backing the
Marawi. . .
Continued from A3 programs related to the rehabilitation, development, and peace restoration in Marawi City; overseeing, monitoring, coordinating, and harmonizing all strategies, programs and projects; and coordinating with concerned local governments in the implementation of PAPs related to Marawi City rehabilitation and development.
Additionally, the newly-established office is also tasked to monitor the implementation of Presidential directives for the rehabilitation and submit a bi-annual report on the status of the implementation of the said EO.
prices of food, especially rice. “I have directed the Committees on Ways and Means, on Food and Agriculture, on Trade and Industry, on Food Security, and on Social Services [or the Murang Pagkain Supercommittee] to determine if the current high prices are due to monopolies or smuggling,” Romualdez said.
Romualdez highlighted the incongruity between global trends and local prices. “For instance, with rice—President Marcos has already reduced tariffs on imported rice, and global prices are also low. So why aren’t prices dropping here?” he said.
Romualdez emphasized that rice prices remain between P50 and P60 per kilo, far from the
Upper Chamber’s concurrence in the ratification of the accord, the country stands to benefit in the areas of defense capabilities and readiness, disaster response and preparedness, regional stability, technological and knowledge exchange, and economic and strategic partnerships.”
He also said the agreement will facilitate joint military exercises between the AFP and Japan SelfDefense Forces (JSDF), enhancing their interoperability and preparedness. It will likewise bolster disaster relief efforts, enabling swift and coordinated responses to natural disasters and humanitarian crises—a crucial aspect given the region’s vulnerability to calamities.
levels consumers should be paying. “The savings from reduced tariffs and lower farmgate prices should be passed on to consumers, shouldn’t they?” he added.
Romualdez also said that this would be the purpose of the “Quinta Committee” to determine the cause or identify those who are benefiting from the tariff reduction and lower price of rice in the world market and farmgate prices.
“No one will be spared—whoever is behind the manipulation of commodity prices will be charged with price manipulation or smuggling,” warned Romualdez, who also represents the 1st District of Leyte.
“Let this serve as an advance warning to unscrupulous traders
who are making life harder for ordinary consumers,” the Speaker added.
The House Committee on Ways and Means chairman, Albay Rep. Jose Clemente “Joey” Salceda highlighted the positive trajectory of the country’s economic outlook but stressed the need for continued efforts by the House Murang Pagkain Supercommittee to address persistent food price issues.
Salceda noted that the year-end inflation rate for 2024 is poised to fall within the government’s target range of 2-4 percent, a promising development for economic stability and growth. “This bodes well for both growth and for efforts to further reduce food prices next year,” he said.
Month-on-month data revealed a decline in the prices of rice and corn, attributed to the easing of pressures in the global grain market. However, Salceda expressed concern that the reduction in global prices is not being fully reflected in local markets. He emphasized the need for closer scrutiny of the domestic rice trade, pointing out that retail prices remain higher than expected despite global trends and government measures such as President Marcos’s reduction of rice tariffs.
The 2017 battle between the Philippine military and extremist forces in Marawi left nearly 400,000 residents displaced, causing widespread destruction and leaving many people homeless and unemployed.
That same year, the Duterte administration created the interagency group Task Force Bangon Marawi (TFBM) to manage recovery efforts following the fivemonth siege.
TFBM, after overseeing recovery for several years, was abolished by Marcos in December 2023.
With its establishment, Marcos also called on government agencies, local governments, and the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao to give their full cooperation to ensure the OPAMRD’s success.
By Bless Aubrey Ogerio
THE Department of Science and Technology (DOST) launched the Propel program on Wednesday, aimed at commercializing breakthroughs and linking Filipino innovators with investors.
In addition to supporting Filipino entrepreneurs, it seeks to bridge local innovations with international markets and fast-track Philippine enterprises toward global recognition.
“The Philippines is just a small market, so we need to think what is the innovation that can be used in the Philippines and can also be used by other countries,” Science Secretary Renato Solidum, Jr. said in a news conference. “If our innovation is only for the Filipinos, it won’t work.”
The program focuses on sec -
tors like climate change, disaster resilience, smart agriculture and health, with artificial intelligence, data analytics, and energy technologies also in the pipeline.
“But this is open to everyone. As long as there is an interested investor, they will go first,” Solidum said.
Despite the country’s research and development (R&D) expenditure being below UNESCO’s recommended level, the science and technology chief is optimistic that Propel will help bridge the gap by attracting private investment.
“Not all products are ready to be commercialized, so they still need to add research and development,” he said in Filipino on the sidelines of the program launch.
“So if there’s an investor or capitalist that will fund the added R&D, it will help our overall R&D pathway until commercialization.”
In response to these price discrepancies, the Murang Pagkain Supercommittee will summon top rice importers next week to address the issue.
“The landed price of imported rice has declined to about P36, all tariffs and fees included. Considering current farmgate prices, domestically milled rice should also be at around P35-36 per kilo. So, players in the domestic rice trade sector are making as much as P14 per kilo in margins. There must be a way to bring this down,” he added.
“Rice retail prices should be closer to P40 per kilo, not P50, given the decline in world prices and the reduced tariff rate,” Salceda said. He made comparisons to Indonesia, which faces similar challenges in logistics and border security yet has managed to lower retail prices to around P44 per kilo.
Success for Propel, according to Solidum, is simple: establishing companies and creating jobs. Over time, their goal is to increase the number of locally developed technologies that succeed globally. “Of course, with time, we need to increase our scientists commercializing and investing from within the Philippines and outside,” he said.
Those interested in joining the program must have a technology-based product or idea. “If it’s just a business, that’s different. You should have the technology,” Solidum said in Filipino. He added that innovators can visit DOST’s innovation hubs across the provinces to discuss
whether their ideas can be researched and explore opportunities for funding, mentorship and connections to potential investors. If it is viable for commercialization, it may also be included in the technology business incubation program. Propel will be based at the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Technology Transfer, Communication, and Commercialization in the DOST Central Office in Bicutan, Taguig, and will also have a satellite office at the DOST-PCCI Science, Technology, and Innovation Hub in McKinley Town Center. Program Propel is anchored on the Philippine Development Plan 2023-2028, which prioritizes the acceleration of science and technology-driven innovations’ commercialization on both local and global scales.
Metro Manila trains adjust schedules to accommodate passenger surge
By Lorenz S. Marasigan
METRO Manila’s train lines are set to adjust their operating schedules starting mid-December, aiming to accommodate the expected surge in passengers during the bustling holiday season, according to the Department of Transportation (DOTr).
Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista said that the adjusted
schedules reflect a dual goal: enhancing passenger convenience and allowing rail employees to celebrate the holidays with their families.
“On select days, our trains will operate earlier in the morning and later into the night to offer greater convenience to passengers during the holiday season,” Bautista said.
The MRT 3, which operates from North Avenue to Taft Avenue, will begin implementing its new
schedule on December 16.
From December 16 to 24 and on December 31, the first commercial trip from North Avenue station will commence at 4:30 a.m.
Between December 16 and 23, the last commercial train will leave North Avenue at 10:34 p.m. and Taft Avenue at 11:08 p.m.
The LRT 2, running from Antipolo to Recto, will also adjust its schedule to cater to the holiday rush. On December 17 to 23, 24, and 31, the first train will depart at 5:00 a.m.
Regular operating hours will resume from December 25 to 30 and January 1 onwards.
Meanwhile, the LRT 1, connecting Dr. Santos Station in Parañaque to Fernando Poe Jr. Station in Quezon City, will start its adjusted operations on December 20. On December 20, 23, and 26 to 27, the first train will depart at 4:30 a.m. On December 20 and 23, the last train will leave Dr. Santos at 10:30 p.m and FPJ Station at 10:45 p.m. Passengers are urged to consult the revised timetables to plan their trips effectively and avoid inconvenience.
TBy Justine Xyrah Garcia
HE National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC) approved on Thursday minimum wage increases for workers in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) and Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon and Palawan (Mimaropa) region, granting P40 and P35 adjustments, respectively.
In CAR, Wage Order CAR-23 raised the daily minimum wage of private sector workers from P430 to P470. The regional board likewise approved a P1,100 increase in the monthly minimum wage of domestic workers, bringing their new monthly pay to P6,000. For those working 22 days per month, this translates to approximately P272 monthy.
The DOTr assured commuters that the extended hours are designed to address the expected influx of travelers and support the nation’s vibrant holiday traditions.
Meanwhile, in Mimaropa, those employed in establishments with 10 or more workers will see their daily minimum wage increase from P395 to P430. For smaller establishments with fewer than 10 workers, the daily rate will increase from P369 to P404. Domestic workers in the region will also receive a P1,000 increase in their monthly minimum wage, bringing it to P6,500. These wage adjustments will take effect on December 22 for Mimaropa workers, and on December 24 for those in CAR. The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) emphasized that the wage increases were determined using various criteria, including the basic needs of workers, employers’ capacity to pay, and the regions’ economic conditions. “The wage orders are expected to directly benefit 74,961 minimum wage earners in these two regions. Additionally, the increases for kasambahays will benefit around 40,116 domestic workers, about 25 percent of whom are live-in,” DOLE said in a statement. As of this writing, NWPC had already issued 12 wage orders for private sector workers this year, covering Regions NCR, CAR, I, II, III, IVA, MIMAROPA, VI, VII, VIII, IX, and XII. For
CAR, Mimaropa workers get
E-visas open doors wide for Indians, but where are the direct flights?
By Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo @akosistellaBM
to the BusinessMirror
Special
RIVATE sector tourism stakeholders
Pwelcomed the rollout of the electronic visa (e-visa) system for Indian nationals, hoping they would replace the loss of the large Chinese tourism market. However, there may be delays in said market catching up to the pre-pandemic numbers of the Chinese tourists, as there are still no plans from local carriers to fly direct routes between the Philippines and India. In 2019, there were 1.7 million Chinese tourists in the Philippines.
The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on November 28 announced the full rollout of e-visa operations in the Philippine Embassy in New Delhi and three honorary consulates in Chennai, Kolkata, and Mumbai. In a news statement, the DFA said Indian nationals may now apply for e-visas remotely via evisa.gov. ph and pay the required fees online securely, through direct bank transfers. As of October 31, there were 7,259 Indians who have been issued e-visas.
Tourism Congress of the Philippines president James Montenegro told the BusinessMirror the Indian market offers a huge potential for Philippine tourism.
“India’s population is really bigger than China, right? And their middle class is also growing very fast. So this is a huge potential for us in terms of MICE [meetings incentives conventions exhibitions], and also for leisure travelers, and weddings.
Higher travel costs
HE noted that the resorts he oversees— Crimson Resort & Spa Mactan and in B oracay—have already “hosted Indian weddings,” a niche market the stateowned Tourism Promotions Board wants to attract. Indian couples spend lavishly on weddings and often travel overseas on their honeymoon. (See, “TPB pushes ‘Wedding Season’ for Indian visitors in the PHL,” in the B usiness M irror )
But Montenegro recognized the higher cost for Indians to travel to the Philippines because “there are still no direct flights to the Philippines,” which may lead to the perception of some tour operators that
the market isn’t as lucrative because the tourists want to cut costs in the country.
“That [airfare] adds to their cost as well. So once they have their direct flights, I’m sure their tickets will be cheaper, so their whole budget here will go up.” Most Indians take flights via Hong Kong, Singapore, Bangkok, or Kuala Lumpur to come to Manila.
In a Viber exchange, Alexander Lao, president and chief commercial officer of Cebu Pacific, said the carrier has “no immediate plans for direct flights to India, but we continue to study the total market.” While the carrier does have the aircraft to fly to India, these are “just not the right ones. The A330 can reach India but it’s too big and the passengers are spread too spread throughout the country,” he added. There are about 34 international airports in India, with the largest and busiest being the Indira Gandhi International Airport in the capital, New Delhi. India’s national carrier, Air India, was earlier reported to be interested in flying between Mumbai or New Delhi, and Manila.
Scarce supply of Indian food
MATT POONIN general manager of Travelite Travel and Tours, also expressed concern over the lack of establishments serving Indian cuisine in the Philippines. “The Philippines presents a promising market for Indian tourists, offering stunning natural beauty and rich culture. While e-visas will significantly simplify the visa application process, making it easier for Indian travelers to visit, the government must strictly enforce regulations on such.”
She added, “Although Travelite focuses solely on MICE and leisure groups from India, capitalizing on the full market potential requires increasing direct flights, promoting the Philippines as a tourist destination, and improving the availability of Indian cuisine, and efficient e-visa processing.”
From January to November 29 this year, India was in the 11th spot among the Philippines’s top source markets for tourists at 72,881, exceeding the 70,286 who arrived in the full year 2023, according to data from the Department of Tourism. In pre-pandemic 2019, there were 134,963 Indian tourists in the Philippines. On the other hand, Filipinos who traveled to India in the 11 months to November 30, 2024 reached 17,734.
PSA report: Rice stockpile surges in Nov, corn inventory declines
THE country started November with a higher rice stockpile than last year as the commercial sector and the National Food Authority (NFA) had a bigger inventory.
Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed that rice stocks surged by 24.4 percent to 2.46 million metric tons (MMT) as of November 1 from the previous year’s 1.98 MMT.
“This month’s rice stocks inventories registered annual increases from the NFA depositories by 135.2 percent and from the commercial sector by 57.4 percent. On the other hand, an annual decrease was noted from the household sector by 11.4 percent,” the PSA said. The PSA also noted that last month’s stock inventory was 7.9 percent higher than the 2.28 MMT recorded in October.
The agency said 57.6 percent or some 1.42 MMT of rice were held by commercial entities while 36.6 percent or 901,210 MT were stored by households.
It added that rice stocks in the NFA warehouses as of November 1 reached 141,680 MT, accounting for 5.8 percent of total inventory during the reference period.
“In comparison to the October 2024 rice stocks levels, increments were noted from the commercial sector by 17.2 percent and in the households by 0.3 percent. Meanwhile, rice stocks inventory from the NFA depositories decreased by 17.9 percent.”
In the same report, the PSA said total corn inventory as of November 1 declined by 20.6 percent to 619,160 MT from 779,460 MT last year.
It added that the latest total corn inventory was 14.9 percent lower than the 727,840 MT recorded in October.
PSA data showed that the corn inventory in commercial entitles reached 540,650 MT while corn stocks in households were at 78,510 MT.
“From the same month of the previous year’s level, corn stocks inventory recorded annual decreases from the commercial sector by 21.3 percent and from the households by 14.7 percent,” it said.
“Relative to the inventory level in October 2024, decreases in the volume of corn stocks were noted from the households by 44.9 percent and from the commercial sector by 7.6 percent,” PSA data. Ada Pelonia
DFA SUMMONS CHINESE ENVOY OVER BAJO, ESCODA INCIDENTS
Continued from A18
n Global Affairs Canada
Canada is seriously concerned by the Chinese Coast Guard and Navy’s aggressive actions against Philippine Coast Guard and BFAR vessels today near Scarborough and Sabina Shoals.
n US Ambassador to Manila MaryKay Carlson The PRC’s unlawful use of water cannons and dangerous maneuvers disrupted a Philippine maritime operation on December 4, putting lives at risk. We condemn these actions and stand with our likeminded
Economy to bounce back in 2025, growth to exceed 6%–Sun Life
By Reine Juvierre Alberto @reine_alberto
THE Philippine economy will perform better next year and grow by more than 6 percent as the country is expected to be resilient amidst political posturing.
During Sun Life of Canada, Inc.’s welcoming event for the Canadian Trade Mission on Thursday, Sun Life
Investments Economist Patrick Ella said the insurer forecasts the economy to grow by 5.6 percent in 2024 and 6.2 percent next year.
“It is very hard to see 6 percent growth this year as the economy would have to grow at least 6.5 percent in the fourth quarter,” Ella said.
The government aims for the economy to grow by 6 to 6.5 percent this year while for next year, the economy is seen to grow by 6 to 8 percent.
The Philippine economy grew by 5.2 percent in the third quarter, com -
Phivolcs
T#FriendsPartnersAllies in support of a #FreeAndOpenIndoPacific.
n European Commission Ambassador to Manila Massimo Santoro Very concerned by China’s aggressive actions against [Philippine] government vessels near Scarborough Shoal and Sabina Shoal on 4 December. Such behaviour clearly runs counter the UNCLOS and international maritime safety regulations.
n UK Ambassador to Manila Laure Beaufils
Yet another concerning report of dangerous actions by Chinese vessels against Philippine
ing from a strong 6.4 percent in the second quarter and 5.7 percent in the first semester.
Sun Life Investment Management and Trust Corporation (SLIMTC)
President Michael Gerard D. Enriquez told reporters on the sidelines that the ongoing impeachment complaints against Vice President Sara DuterteCarpio do not affect investor sentiment in the Philippines.
“This is not the first time that we’ve seen a lot of these what we call political posturing, especially towards the midterm elections. I think a lot of what’s happening in the market is not really politically driven,” Enriquez said.
Potential investors do not look at developments in Philippine politics and see it as alarming, Enriquez added. “I think for us, it’s more of noise. It’s part and parcel of how they do things as they approach midterms.”
Enriquez said the President has been
doing “a very good job” in prioritizing what the country needs, such as fasttracking the deliberations on the national budget for 2025, which is a critical aspect of what investors are considering and not adding fuel to the fire.
“This is a good projection of how serious the government is in ensuring that our economy will continue to grow and that is really something that will be picked up by foreign investors,” Enriquez added.
If the government would be more aggressive on spending, such as in critical infrastructure, the Philippines will likely achieve its target of an 8 percent growth over the medium term.
Enriquez said the lack of government spending is one of the key factors that drove lesser than consensus economic growth.
“The government has already deployed the budget to the different agencies, but it’s more of the agencies
deploying it to projects. So it’s slow. I think a lot of the agencies are quite scared because they’re very well scrutinized by how they spend the money,” Enriquez noted. Moreover, Enriquez said consumers are spending less as inflation eroded a lot of their purchasing power. Should inflation
equipment adequate, expansion needed–DOST chief
By Bless Aubrey Ogerio
HE Department of Science and Technology (DOST) head Renato Solidum, Jr. said on Wednesday that the current equipment of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) is sufficient for effectively monitoring volcanic activities.
However, he noted the need to improve the monitoring of other unmonitored volcanoes.
“It’s enough,” Solidum told reporters on the sidelines of the Propel program launch. “But we need to beef up and monitor other volcanoes that are not monitored.”
The country is home to 24 active volca -
noes and 27 potentially active ones, based on Phivolcs’ data. However, the volcanology and seismology agency monitors only 10 of these, with full monitoring systems installed only for Taal and Mayon, and just two of them have all the required station types.
On Tuesday morning, Taal Volcano in Batangas experienced a four-minute minor phreatomagmatic eruption, caused by the interaction of water and magma. Since November 30, sulfur dioxide emissions have remained elevated, averaging 7,216 tons daily. Yet, the volcano remains under Alert Level 1, signaling low-level unrest.
In terms of the earthquake monitoring system, the science and technology chief
pointed out the necessity of upgrading it while highlighting the science and technology department’s ongoing expansion of the Philippine Strong Motion Network (PSMNet).
PSMNet utilizes strong-motion accelerographs placed in densely populated areas and near active faults, and it is designed to record ground motion during high-magnitude earthquakes accurately. We need to improve our earthquake monitoring system,” Solidum said. “There is a new technology and sensor to make earthquake magnitude, location, depth determination much faster. Those are strong motion recorder. So they needed at least 70
Japan donates ₧611-M coastal radar and boats to PHL Navy
By Malou Talosig-Bartolome
JAPAN has donated around P611 million worth of radar systems and rigid-hulled inflatable boats to the Philippine government to strengthen its maritime security and other surveillance capabilities.
Japanese Ambassador to Manila Endo Kazuya and Philippine Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo signed and exchanged notes for ¥ 1.6 billion (P600 million) in Official Security Assistance (OSA) for fiscal
year 2024.
The Philippines and Japan enjoy a “strengthened strategic partnership.” This is the second OSA grant to the Philippines since it was launched in 2023.
Defense Secretary Gilberto C. Teodoro Jr. also attended the ceremony at the DFA in Manila
“The Philippines faces important sea lanes including the South China Sea and the Luzon Strait and plays an important role in regional security. This project provides assistance to
the Philippine Navy to strengthen maritime security capabilities and to the Philippine Air Force to help improve monitoring and surveillance capabilities,” the Japanese Embassy said in a statement.
The grant covers provision of coastal radar systems, automatic rigid hull inflatable boats for the Philippine Navy.
The grant aims to improve on the security of the “vital sea lanes,” which also aligns with the security interest of Japan.
The Philippine Air Force will also benefit
Legarda cites importance of Philippine Studies course
By Butch Fernandez @butchfBM
SEN. Loren Legarda emphasized the importance of developing Philippine Studies to help the world better understand the country’s role on the global stage at recent global conference in Manila.
“Philippine Studies has become more than an academic discipline; it is a global platform for Filipino voices and perspectives to be heard and acknowledged, contributing to the larger human conversation,” Legarda said during her speech at the opening ceremony of “Dialogo:
vessels near Scarborough Shoal. Such actions raise tensions and the risk of miscalculation. UK urges adherence to International Law and underlines the primacy of UNCLOS.
n Australian Ambassador to Manila HK Yu Australia is seriously concerned by the aggressive conduct by China’s Navy and Coast Guard, including dangerous maneuvers and use of water cannons today against Philippine vessels near Scarborough and Sabina Shoals. We call for restraint and respect for international law.
n French Ambassador to Manila Marie Fontanel
Concerned after today’s incident in the South China Sea involving vessels of the Philippine Coast Guard and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources. France renews its call for respect of the UN Convention on the Law of
Philippine Studies Goes Global” in Manila on November 27.
“From groundbreaking research and community projects to collaborative dialogues on pressing global issues, these universities have become vital centers where values, ideas, and cultures intersect,” she added.
Various top scholars on Philippine studies converged in one venue, hoping to promote indigenous knowledge production and enrich the country’s understanding through differing perspectives of global scholarship.
Furthermore, she stressed it provided a platform for showcasing research and other
the Sea and of freedom of navigation.
n Japanese Ambassador to Manila Endo K azuya
Seriously concerned about the dangerous actions against PCG and BFAR vessels by CCG. The use of water cannon & obstructive maneuvers undermine the safety of ship & crew. [Japan] upholds the rule of law and opposes any actions which increase tensions.
n German Ambassador to Manila
Andreas Pfaffernoschke
Dangerous actions against PCG and BFAR ships undermine stability and security in the Indo-Pacific. Germany recalls Unclos and the 2016 arbitrary award and calls for the respect to international law. These dangerous actions by the Chinese Coast Guard towards the Philippines are deeply worrying, as is the presence of PLAN vessels. Water cannons and contact between vessels risk safety
unique initiatives on Philippine Studies, fostering national and international support.
Moreover, Legarda also announced the upcoming launch of a publication that will chronicle the journey of the Philippine Studies Program, including its milestones, the initiatives it has fostered, and the individuals and communities it has empowered.
The publication “From the Philippines to the World: A Global Catalogue of Philippine Studies Programs Abroad Promoting Academic Excellence and Cultural Diplomacy” will be introduced in the first quarter of 2025.
“Today, Philippine Studies programs
at sea and threaten regional stability and international law. We again firmly call for peaceful resolution of disputes in accordance with Unclos.
n South Korean Embassy in Manila
The Embassy of the Republic of Korea in the Philippines is concerned about the recent developments near Scarborough Shoal and Sabina Shoal, including the use of water cannons and dangerous maneuvers. We reiterate the importance of upholding peace, stability, safety, and rules-based order in the South China Sea, as well as the freedom of navigation and overflight in accordance with international law, including Unclos.
n Danish Ambassador to Manila Franz-Michael Melvin Deeply concerned at #China’s continued aggressive actions against Philippine vessels in the West Philippine Sea. China’s actions
according to the expert.” Regarding tsunami monitoring, he stated, “We need to populate all the coastlines. So they need to add more instruments.” Phivolcs now operates 125 seismic stations equipped with upgraded systems for near real-time seismic waveform streaming, decision support, mapping, and information dissemination. These include satellitetelemetered and staff-controlled stations. It also has 12 sea-level detection stations and tsunami alert systems. Meanwhile, volcano monitoring relies on seven observatories using advanced tools like gas analyzers, ground deformation monitors and thermal imaging systems.
from the latest OSA. The first transfer case of the finished Air Surveillance Radar System will be provided. This will facilitate the “seamless operation “ of the radar and further strengthen the security cooperation between Manila and Tokyo. It will support DND and AFP’s efforts in securing the Philippines and improving the country’s capabilities to deter threats to peace, stability and security in the IndoPacific region.
Aside from the Philippines, Japan also extended its OSA program for FY 2024 to Indonesia, Mongolia and Djibouti.
continue to grow, creating spaces where our stories, struggles, and triumphs are studied, understood, and celebrated,” shared Legarda.
“Your work—whether in research, in the classroom, or community engagement— upholds the spirit of Philippine culture and brings our aspirations into a global forum,” she remarked.
“Let us create a strong national brand that indulges the world in the richness of our cultural heritage, the depth of our intellectual discourse, and the dynamism of our creative spirit.”
Through Legarda’s efforts, 25 universities across the globe have received funding to establish or enhance their Philippine Studies programs.
undermine the Law of the Seas, UNCLOS and maritime safety. #InternationalLaw
n Swedish Embassy in Manila
The Embassy of Sweden fully supports the statement of the EU Ambassador
n Dutch Ambassador to Manila Marielle Geraedts Another set of incidents of concern this morning. Unclos and the 2016 arbitral award are clear and should be respected and upheld.
n Norwegian Ambassador Christian Halaas Lyster Norway is concerned by the latest incident 4 December involving Chinese and Philippine vessels. All disputes must be resolved peacefully and in accordance with international law. Respect for international law incl. #LawoftheSea is paramount #UNCLOS
45.
Brief
46.
Brief
47.
48.
51.
53. LIN, JIAXIANG Field Officer
Brief
54. LIN, QINGYUAN Field Officer
55. LUO, CHENGYU Field Officer
93.
94. XING, ZHUAN Assistant Consultant
Brief
95. CHEN, HAO Chief Marketing Officer
Brief
96. PALA RAM Chief Marketing Officer
Brief
97. YANG, GUO Chief Marketing Officer
Brief Job Description: Developing comprehensive marketing plans aligned with the company’s objectives and target audience. Basic
98. CHEN, QIONG Financial Consultant
Brief
99. QIU, HUAZENG Financial Consultant
Brief
100. DUBH, VISHAL BALDEEPSINGH International Consultant
139.
December 06, 2024
NOTICE OF FILING OF APPLICATION FOR ALIEN EMPLOYMENT PERMIT (AEP/S)
Notice is hereby given that the following companies/employers have filed with this Regional Office application/s for Alien Employment Permit/s:
1 AIRVENT MECHANICAL SYSTEM INC.
Block 2B, Lot 5-9, Grand Centennial Homes, Magdalo, Kawit, Cavite
2 AL-BAYT CIVIL ENGINEERING CONSTRUCTION
50, Esligue Street, Poblacion, Malvar, Batangas
CHIANG, HSIAO-LUN
Mandarin Speaking Customer Service Representative
Brief Job Description:
Attracts potential customers by answering product and service questions, suggesting information about other products and services Basic Qualification: With 18-55 years old and at least 6 months experience with good oral and written communication skills Salary Range:
CHEN, ZHIYUAN
Project Manager
Brief Job Description:
Oversee the major equipment maintenance activities and guide for the maintenance plan
3 AL-BAYT CIVIL ENGINEERING CONSTRUCTION
50, Esligue Street, Poblacion, Malvar, Batangas
4 ALPHA PEAK STEEL CORPORATION
Purok 6, Conchu, City of Trece Martires (Capital), Cavite
ZHUANG, WEIYA
Project Manager
Brief Job Description:
Oversee the analysis and development of a company business operation. These highly-analytical specialists have both business and technical expertise. Duties include analyzing requirement estimating the cost and establishing construction protocols
LIU. ZHIYONG
Logistics Coordinator (Bi-Lingual)
Brief Job Description:
Coordinate and manage the logistics operations, including the transportation, warehousing, and distribution of goods.
HARNOKO
5 ARMSTRONG WESTON ASIA INC.
Bldg. 5B, Panorama Compound, L3 B10A, Light Industry and Science Park III, Santa Anastacia, City of Sto. Tomas, Batangas
Factory Manager
Brief Job Description:
Leads a team of employees to achieve production goals in a factory or manufacturing facility.
Over-all in charge in the performance of manufacturing company
30,000 - Php 59,999
Basic Qualification:
Bachelor’s degree in engineering, construction management or any relevant field; At least 2 or more years of working experience in the related field; Fluent in Chinese/ basic English
Salary Range:
Php 30,000 - Php 59,999
Basic Qualification:
Bachelor’s degree in engineering, construction management or any relevant field; At least 2 or more years of working experience in the related field; Fluent in Chinese/ basic English
Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999
Basic Qualification:
Must be excellent in oral, writing and reading skills in English and mandarin language
Salary Range:
Php 30,000 - Php 59,999
Basic Qualification:
Minimum of 5 years’ experience in Manufacturing Company. Knowledge in Project Management
Salary Range:
Php 30,000 - Php 59,999
Basic Qualification:
Must be able to speak and read Chinese language and knowledgeable in managing manufacturing company
Salary Range:
Php 30,000 - Php 59,999
Basic Qualification:
8 FULL CHANCE PHILIPPINES INC.
Building 9-11 EZP Technohub, Lima Technology Center, Santiago, Malvar, Batangas
ZHAN, GUOYONG
Production Supervisor
Brief Job Description:
Responsible for supervising the achievement of production capacity and product qualification rate of the production plan
CHEN, JINSHENG
9 FULL CHANCE PHILIPPINES INC.
Building 9-11 EZP Technohub, Lima Technology Center, Santiago, Malvar, Batangas
Production Technician
Brief Job Description:
Responsible for machine adjustment, machine alarms and other abnormalities to ensure that the machine quality and quantity production
LIANG, ZHIBING
10 FULL CHANCE PHILIPPINES INC.
Building 9-11 EZP Technohub, Lima Technology Center, Santiago, Malvar, Batangas
Production Technician
Brief Job Description:
Responsible for machine adjustment, machine alarms and other abnormalities to ensure that the machine quality and quantity production
ZHAN, RONGPEI
11 FULL CHANCE PHILIPPINES INC.
Building 9-11 EZP Technohub, Lima Technology Center, Santiago, Malvar, Batangas
Production Technician
Brief Job Description:
Responsible for machine adjustment, machine alarms and other abnormalities to ensure that the machine quality and quantity production
ZHENG, CHENGZHONG
12 FULL CHANCE PHILIPPINES INC.
Building 9-11 EZP Technohub, Lima Technology Center, Santiago, Malvar, Batangas
13 KBD PULP MOULD PACKAGING EQUIPMENT AND PRODUCTS PHILIPPINES INC.
Bay G & H Springhill, Gen. Malvar St., Lima Technology Center, Santiago, Malvar, Batangas
14 MEGGA STEEL MANUFACTURING CORPORATION
Quality Leader
Brief Job Description:
Basic Qualification:
With deep understanding of the principles of molds and
Qualification:
understand the principles of molds and plastic forming and with more than 2 years of the same kind of work experience in plastic factory
Range:
7 FULL CHANCE PHILIPPINES INC.
Building 9-11 EZP Technohub, Lima Technology Center, Santiago, Malvar, Batangas
LIU, AIXIN
Production Leader
Brief Job Description:
Arranges and directs employees to process products and supervises employees on work quality
With at least 1 year of experience in plastic and hardware manufacturing factory inspection and can skillfully operate basic measuring tools such as anime, caliper, micrometer and height gauge
Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999
Responsible for the work arrangement and disciplinary control of IQC, IPQC, & OQC and inspecting the integrity of relevant standard documents, measuring equipment, and samples to ensure the smooth progress of inspection work Basic Qualification: With at least 1 year of experience in plastic and hardware manufacturing factory inspection and can skillfully operate basic measuring tools such as anime, caliper, micrometer and height gauge
- Php 59,999
ZHANG, XIAOJUAN Procurement Head
Brief Job Description:
and
Lot 5, Alimagno Compound, Banlic, City of Cabuyao, Laguna CHA, SHIXIANG Area Planning Consultant
Brief Job Description:
Monitor the effectiveness of planning strategies and initiatives through regular evaluation and reporting
LIU, ZULIN
15 MEGGA STEEL MANUFACTURING CORPORATION
Lot 5, Alimagno Compound, Banlic, City of Cabuyao, Laguna
Electrical Analyst
Brief Job Description: Guide and collaborate the electrical system Phil engineer and team
16 MEGGA STEEL MANUFACTURING CORPORATION
Lot 5, Alimagno Compound, Banlic, City of Cabuyao, Laguna
CAI, CHANGDING System Analyst
Brief Job Description:
Evaluating the output of designs to ensure compliance with the clients standard and design
Basic Qualification: Skilled
for international transaction
PHL, Canada to resume exploratory talks for FTA
By Malou Talosig-Bartolome
THE Philippines and Canada have agreed to resume exploratory talks for a bilateral free trade agreement, as Canada faces a 25-percent tariff tax increase from the US under the new administration of President-elect Donald Trump.
Mary Ng, Canada’s Minister of Export Promotion, International Trade, and Economic Development, announced the resumption of bilateral FTA talks during the visit of Canadian largest trade delegation to the Philippines on Thursday.
Ng and her Philippine counterpart, Trade and Industry Secretary Ma. Cristina Aldeguer-Roque, met T hursday and “agreed to deepen bilateral trade policy engagement through the launch of exploratory discussions to assess the potential for
negotiations towards a comprehensive Canada-Philippines free trade agreement.”
In 2023, C anada-Philippines b ilateral merchandise trade reached a total CN$3.4 billion (P140 billion). Canadian merchandise exports to the Philippines in 2023 amounted to $1.2 billion (P49.45 billion). In 2023, Canadian merchandise imports from the Philippines were valued at $2.2 billion (P90.65 billion).
Canada and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean)—which includes the Philippines—have started negotiating for a comprehensive FTA in November 2021.
However, it might take time to finalize the FTA as Asean works by consensus, and with the increasing interest of Canadians on Philippine market, some suggested to have a separate FTA negotiations separately with the Philippines. Canada signed on Monday a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement with Indonesia. Ng said it took them three years to negotiate this bilateral FTA deal. Ng said she expects that they will start working on scheduling for the exploratory FTA talks by January 2025. Canadian business sectors which are very keen to invest in the Philippines are food and agriculture, infrastructure, digital innovations, artificial intelligence, energy and critical minerals and green mining. Some 250 business people joined Ng in the trade mission to the Philippines, the largest trade delegation of Canada yet. Both Ng and Aldeguer-Roque affirmed their commitment to “substantial conclusion” of the Asean-Canada FTA by the end of 2025.
WTO urges PHL: Tap into $50-M fund for women exporters in digital economy
By Andrea E. San Juan @andreasanjuan
WORLD
Trade Organization (WTO)
Director General Ngozi OkonjoIweala has urged the Philippines to apply to be an in-country partner for the $50-million Women Exporters in the Digital Economy (WEIDE) Fund, which aims to help grow the businesses of women-led enterprises.
At a dinner hosted by Trade and Industry Secretary Cristina Aldeguer-Roque and attended by female entrepreneurs, Okonjo-Iweala urged the Philippines to submit its application to be an in-country partner for the WEIDE Fund, according to DTI-Bureau of International Trade Relations (BITR) Director Sherlyn D. Aquia.
DTI is already checking how the country can tap into the Fund, Aquia told the BusinessMirror, adding that there is no counterpart initiative for women-led MSMEs in the Philippines in the digital economy.
“As to a similar Fund in the Philippines, this is specific to the digital economy. don’t think we have that. We have general support for women-led business but not for the digital economy,” Aquia told the B usiness M irror in a Viber message on Thursday.
“For sure we will encourage our women biz and trade associations to apply,” the DTI official said.
A quia said DTI plans to get the details from WTO on how other countries have applied. “It looks like it’s a [Business to World
Trade Organization] B2WTO thing, like B2B [business to business], ” she added.
“We’ll check if they can also do G to WTO. Because our Export Marketing Bureau can also be mobilized,” Aquia also told this paper.
According to the International Trade Centre, the WEIDE Fund was launched by the WTO and ITC in February 2024.
ITC said this Fund aims to empower women entrepreneurs by helping them grow their businesses through international trade and digitalization.
“The $50-million WEIDE Fund will unlock opportunities in international trade and digital trade for women entrepreneurs,” ITC noted.
A ccording to ITC, this aid for women exporters in the digital economy aims to improve their access to grants and support from financial institutions to reduce the finance gap.
ITC, a multilateral agency with a joint mandate with WTO and the United Nations through the UN Trade and Development, noted that this Fund will also provide women exporters greater access to technical assistance and training related to digital skills, and help them improve export competitiveness.
The WEIDE Fund will enable women exporters improve access to export markets, by bridging more women to digital market platforms.
Further, ITC said this type of assistance will give women exporters access to networks and
Red Cross, NKTI hail organ donors, continue partnership
THE Philippine Red Cross (PRC) has committed to continue its vital collaboration with the National Kidney and Transplant Institute (NKTI), affirming its valiant efforts to advocate for organ donation.
PRC Secretary General Dr. Gwen Pang affirmed PRC’s support during the unveiling of the hospital’s new monument, “Vita Infinitum,” commemorating deceased organ donors who have helped save countless Filipino lives.
As we continue this vital collaboration, the PRC reaffirms its unwavering support to NKTI’s organ donation advocacy. Through our extensive networks of chapters, volunteers, and committee programs, we are committed to raising awareness about the impact of organ donation. Together, we will work together to educate communities, dispel misconceptions, and inspire more Filipinos to see organ donation as a gift of hope and life to humanity,” Pang said.
Pang added that their shared vision goes beyond advocacy.
We stand united in offering psychosocial support to grieving families, ensuring they feel valued and respected during such critical times. We also remain steadfast in training more PRC volunteers and health advocates to facilitate organ donation with compassion and dignity, honoring both the donors and families,” she said.
Meanwhile, PRC Chairman and CEO Richard Gordon said they are embr acing the vision of transformative collaboration as the PRC strengthens partnerships with various organizations to deepen their impact in communities nationwide.
“We are in full support of the NKTI’s tireless efforts in organ donation and transplantation, as we share common goals to protect life, alleviate human suffering, and uplift human dignity,” Gordon said, adding that
“ Vita Infinitum,” meaning “infinity of life,” was erected as a tribute to deceased organ donors of NKTI since the hospital’s establishment in 1983.
It w as built by NKTI, in partnership with the Rotary Club of San Juan Supreme, Eisenhower, and San Juan Neopolitan.
“ We honor the selfless generosity, act of charity, and eternal love of their families, whose gifts have transformed and extended the lives of our countless patients. They donated their kidneys, liver, pancreas, cornea, and even bones, and soon we have embarked on the heart and lung transplant. This [monument] highlights the role of NKTI to strengthen the deceased organ donation, in providing life saving care for individuals. This is a powerful reminder of our unsung heroes. They will not be forgotten,” said NKTI Executive Director Dr. Rose Rosete-Liquete.
Maria Pauline Saldaña also gave her testimony as a liver transplant recipient of NKTI’s organ donor program after battling cirrhosis (or severe scarring of the liver).
“To everyone who is able: I hope you choose to be a donor. You can help prevent a tragedy, and transform it into a legacy that would live on and be a blessing to extend people’s lives. Every donation is such a precious gift you can choose to give.”
T he unveiling ceremony, held on Thursday at the NKTI Grounds in Quezon City, was graced by Pang, Dr. Rosete-Liquete; Gov. Corazon Alma De Leon, Vice Chairman of the PRC’s Board of Governors; Dr. Enrique Ona, former Secretary of Health and former NKTI Executive Director; heads of the Philippine Lung Center, Philippine Heart Center, rotary clubs, and representatives from the Kidney Transplant Association of the Philippines, Inc. (KITAP) and other groups. Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco
support services, by creating “more inclusive and effective” business ecosystems, including leveraging partnerships with the private and public sectors.
Meanwhile, target beneficiaries of this Fund will be women-led micro, small and medium-sized enterprises in the formal sector which are already exporting or which are ready to start exporting.
Women-led, micro and small enterprises in the formal sector with export potential could also be among the beneficiaries of this Fund, ITC noted.
On the application process for the Fund, ITC said Partners will be selected based on criteria such as: technical and operational capacity; level of commitment; country development status, and regional representation.
Aquia said the female entrepreneurs who attended the dinner with the WTO Director General were Martha Sazon, President and CEO of GCash; Happy Ongpauco Tiu, a Filipino entrepreneur and restaurateur; and Zarah Juan, a renowned Filipino designer.
During the welcome dinner for OkonjoIweala, DTI Secretary Roque highlighted WTO’s “pivotal role in promoting fair trade, resolving disputes, and supporting economic growth through trade liberalization.”
“Discussions focused on the organization’s efforts to safeguard domestic industries, foster global competition, and provide technical support to developing countries,” Roque said in a social media post. For her part, Okonjo-Iweala emphasized WTO’s commitment to “equitable and sustainable trade partnerships, reinforcing strong ties with the Philippines.”
Comelec: Jan 10 deadline set for dominant, major party aspirants
THE Commission on Elections reminded political parties on Wednesday that they have until January 10 to file petitions seeking determination as recognized dominant and major parties for the upcoming midterm and parliamentary elections.
For next year’s polls, there will be one dominant majority party and one dominant minority party, both of which will hold significant roles in the election process. Ten major national parties and two major local parties will also be designated. If recognized, parties will be entitled to deploy official watchers to all polling precincts and canvassing centers on May 12. The dominant majority and dominant minority will also be granted access to their own dedicated servers, enabling them to receive direct copies of election returns—allowing them real-time monitoring and verification of results.
Under Comelec Resolution No. 11084, the poll body will evaluate petitions based on five criteria. These are: (1) the party’s historical performance in previous elections, including its stability and track record; (2) the number of incumbent elective officials belonging to the party; (3) the extent of the party’s organizational presence across the country; (4) ts capacity to field a complete slate of candidates across all levels—from senators to local officials—with bonus points for promoting gender representation through female candidates, and (5) other relevant factors that demonstrate a party’s organizational strength. Political parties interested to be recognized as the dominant and major ones may file their petitions either in person or via email to the Office of the Clerk of the Commission. For personal submissions, four hard copies with complete annexes, a digital version in read-only format, and proof of payment must be provided. Electronic submissions must be followed by hard copies sent through courier or personal delivery. T he request to be recognized has a filing fee of P10,100, and is payable to the poll body’s cash division upon issuance of an order of payment. “Petitions filed not in accordance with these rules shall not be docketed or may be outrightly dismissed. However, the petitioner may re-file the petition in accordance with these Rules before the lapse of reglementary period provided for filing of the petition,” Comelec said. Justine Xyrah Garcia
Amnesty International accuses Israel of genocide in Gaza Strip
By Samy Magdy The Associated Press
CAIRO—Amnesty International accused Israel of committing genocide in the Gaza Strip during its war with Hamas, saying it has sought to deliberately destroy Palestinians by mounting deadly attacks, demolishing vital infrastructure and preventing the delivery of food, medicine and other aid.
The human rights group released a report Thursday in the Middle East that said such actions could not be justified by Hamas’ October 7, 2023, attack into Israel, which ignited the war, or the presence of militants in civilian areas.
Amnesty said the United States and other allies of Israel could be complicit in genocide, and called on them to halt arms shipments.
“Our damning findings must serve as a wake-up call to the international community: this is genocide. It must stop now,” Agnès Callamard, Secretary General of Amnesty International, said in the report.
Israel, which was founded in the aftermath of the Holocaust, has adamantly rejected genocide allegations against it as an antisemitic “blood libel.” It is challenging such allegations at the International Court of Justice, and it has rejected the International Criminal Court’s accusations that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister committed war crimes in Gaza.
“The deplorable and fanatical organization Amnesty International has once again produced a fabricated report that is entirely false and based on lies,” Israel’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement. Israel accused Hamas, which has vowed to annihilate Israel, of carrying out a genocidal massacre in the attack that triggered the war, and said it is defending itself in accordance with international law.
Amnesty says Palestinians face a ‘slow, calculated death’ AMNESTY’S report adds an influential voice to a growing list of players that have accused Israel of committing genocide—which would put it in the company of some of the deadliest conflicts of the past 80 years, including Cambodia, Sudan and Rwanda.
The accusations have largely come from human rights groups and allies of the Palestinians. But last month, Pope Francis called for an investigation to determine if Israeli actions amounted to geno -
cide, and Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, who has signaled readiness to establish diplomatic relations with Israel, accused it of committing genocide.
Israel says it is at war with Hamas, not the people of Gaza. And key allies, including the US and Germany, have also pushed back against the genocide allegations. But Amnesty accused Israel of violating the 1951 Genocide Convention through acts it says are intended to bring about the physical destruction of Gaza’s Palestinian population by exposing them to “a slow, calculated death.”
Amnesty said it analyzed the overall pattern of Israel’s conduct in Gaza between October 7, 2023 and early July. It noted that there is no casualty threshold in proving the international crime of genocide, which is defined by the United Nations as acts intended to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group.
To establish intent, Amnesty said it reviewed over 100 statements by Israeli government and military officials and others since the start of the war that “dehumanized Palestinians, called for or justified genocidal acts or other crimes against them.”
Israeli officials have previously said that such statements were taken out of context or referred to their stated goal of destroying Hamas, not Palestinian civilians.
Israel says it goes to great lengths to protect civilians and comply with international law—including ordering civilians to evacuate areas ahead of airstrikes and ground offensives. It also says it has facilitated the deliveries of large quantities of food and humanitarian supplies—a claim that is disputed by the UN and aid organizations working inside Gaza.
On Sunday, a former top Israeli general and defense minister accused the government of ethnic cleansing in northern Gaza, where the army has sealed off the towns of Beit Hanoun and Beit Lahiya
and the Jabaliya refugee camp and allowed almost no humanitarian aid to enter.
Amnesty said it found that Israel “deliberately inflicted conditions of life on Palestinians in Gaza intended to lead, over time, to their destruction.” Those actions included the destruction of homes, farms, hospitals and water facilities; mass evacuation orders; and the restriction of humanitarian aid and other essential services.
It also analyzed 15 airstrikes from the start of the war until April that killed at least 334 civilians, including 141 children, and wounded hundreds of other people. It said it found no evidence that any of the strikes were directed at military objectives.
It said one of the strikes destroyed the Abdelal family home in the southern city of Rafah on April 20, killing three generations of Palestinians, including 16 children, while they were sleeping.
An Associated Press investigation identified at least 60 families in which at least 25 members had been killed.
Amnesty has previously angered Israel by joining other major rights groups in accusing it of the international crime of apartheid, saying that for decades it has systematically denied Palestinians basic rights in the territories under its control. Israel has also denied those allegations.
Israel blames civilian deaths on Hamas, lack of aid on UN ISRAEL says it only targets militants and blames civilian deaths on Hamas because the militants fight in dense, residential areas and have built tunnels and other militant infrastructure near homes, schools and mosques.
It blames the lack of humanitarian aid on United Nations agencies, accusing them of not delivering hundreds of truckloads of aid that have been allowed in. The UN says it is often too dangerous to retrieve and deliver the aid. It blames Israel as the occupying power for the breakdown of law and order— which has enabled armed groups to steal aid convoys—while also
accusing it of heavily restricting movement within the territory.
The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking around 250 hostage, including children and older adults. Some 100 captives are still held inside Gaza, at least a third of whom are believed to be dead.
Israel’s retaliatory military campaign has killed more than 44,500 people, according to Gaza health officials, whose count doesn’t distinguish between civilians and fighters, though they say more than half the dead are women and children.
The offensive is among the deadliest and most destructive since World War II, and has destroyed vast areas of the besieged coastal territory. It has displaced some 90% of the population of 2.3 million, often multiple times. Hundreds of thousands of people have crammed into squalid tent camps with little in the way of food, water or toilets.
Aid groups say the population is at risk of disease and malnutrition, especially as winter sets in. Experts have warned of famine in northern Gaza, which Israel has almost completely sealed off since launching a major military operation there in early October. Hamas militants have repeatedly regrouped there and in other areas, and the group has faced no major internal challenge to its rule.
Amnesty says the US needs to press for an end to the war
THE United States, which has provided crucial military aid to Israel and shielded it from international criticism, has repeatedly appealed to Israel to facilitate more aid, with limited results.
The Biden administration said in May that Israel’s use of USprovided weapons in Gaza at times likely violated international humanitarian law but that the evidence was incomplete.
Callamard urged the United States, Germany and other countries supplying arms to Israel to pressure Netanyahu to end the war.
Israeli strikes on a Gaza tent camp kill at least 21 people, hospital says
By Mohammad Jahjouh & Wafaa Shurafa The Associated Press
KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip—Israeli airstrikes tore through a tent camp for displaced Palestinians in southern Gaza on Wednesday, sparking fires and killing at least 21 people, according to the head of a nearby hospital, in the latest assault on a sprawling tent city that Israel designated a humanitarian safe zone but has repeatedly targeted.
The Israeli military said it struck senior Hamas militants “involved in terrorist activities” in the area, without providing additional details, and said it took precautions to minimize harm to civilians.
The strike on the Muwasi tent camp was one of several deadly assaults across the Gaza Strip on Wednesday. An Israeli attack in central Gaza killed at least 10 more people, including four children, according to Palestinian medics.
Israel’s devastating war in Gaza, launched after Hamas’ October 2023 attack, shows no signs of ending after nearly 14 months. Hamas is still holding dozens of Israeli hostages, and most of Gaza’s population has been displaced and is reliant on international food aid to survive. Israel is also pressing a major offensive in the isolated north, where experts say Palestinians might be experiencing famine.
The Biden administration has pledged to make a new push for a Gaza ceasefire now that there’s a truce in Lebanon between Israel and the militant group Hezbollah, ending more than a year of cross-border fighting. Meanwhile, President-elect Donald Trump demanded this week the release of hostages held by Hamas before he is sworn into office in January.
Wednesday’s strike in Muwasi—a desolate area with few public services that holds hundreds of thousands of displaced people—wounded at least 28 people, according to Atif alHout, the director of Nasser Hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis.
An Associated Press journalist at the hospital counted
at least 15 bodies, but said reaching a precise number was difficult because many of the dead were dismembered, some without heads or badly burned. In the morgue, an infant’s blackened hand and face peeked out from beneath a heavy blanket used to transport bodies to the hospital.
“It was like doomsday,” said a wounded woman, Iman Jumaa, who held back tears as she described how the strike killed her father, her brothers and her brothers’ children.
Videos and photos of the strike shared widely on social media showed flames and a column of black smoke rising into the night sky, as well as twisted metal tent frames and shredded fabric. Palestinian men searched through the stillburning wreckage, shouting, “Over here guys!” Further away, civilians stood at a distance, observing the destruction.
The military said the strikes had set off secondary blasts, indicating explosives present in the area had detonated. It was not possible to independently confirm the Israeli claims, and the strikes could also have ignited fuel, cooking gas canisters or other materials in the camp.
Shortly after the strike, AlAwda Hospital said two people had been killed and 38 wounded in an attack on a residential block in the Nuseirat refugee camp. The military had no immediate comment on the strike, but said earlier strikes in central Gaza had hit “terrorist targets.”
Israel says it tries to avoid harming civilians and blames Hamas for their deaths, saying the militants often operate in residential areas and are known to position tunnels, rocket launchers and other infrastructure near homes, schools and mosques.
Previous Israeli strikes on tent camps in Gaza have drawn widespread international outrage, such as when a wounded student’s last moments were caught on video as he burned to death in a tent outside a hospital. In northern Gaza, dozens of Palestinian families said Israel’s expanding offensive had forcibly displaced them from
Yoon replaces defense minister as South Korea’s parliament moves to vote on their impeachments
By Hyung-Jin Kim & Kim Tong-Hyung
PALESTINIANS stand next to bodies of people killed in an Israeli airstrike in Muwasi, after they were brought to the morgue of a hospital in Khan Younis,
Strip on
www.businessmirror.com.ph
Israeli strikes. . .
schools-turned-shelters. Associated Press footage showed people on the road Wednesday leaving Beit Lahia, many crowded onto donkey carts with their belongings in their arms. Others walked on foot.
“This morning a quadcopter (drone) detonated four bombs at the school. There were people injured, human remains—we left with nothing,” said Sadeia al-Rahel.
The 57-year-old said her family has been eating grass, leaves, and animal feed for two months due to the lack of food aid in the north.
The amount of aid entering Gaza plunged in October, and hunger is widespread across the territory, even in central Gaza where aid groups have more access. Humanitarian organizations say Israeli restrictions, ongoing fighting and the breakdown of law and order make it difficult to deliver assistance. Israel has said it is working to increase the flow of aid.
Israel’s offensive has killed over 44,500 Palestinians in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not say how many were combatants. The Israeli military says it has killed over 17,000 militants, without providing evidence.
The October 7, 2023 Hamas-led attack on southern Israel killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and around 250 people were abducted. Some 100 hostages are still inside Gaza, at least a third of whom are believed to be dead.
On Wednesday, Israel said its forces recovered the body of a hostage who was captured alive during the October 7 attack. Israel believes Itay Svirsky was killed by his captors.
The families of hostages held in Gaza have grown increasingly concerned that their loved ones are at risk so long as the war continues.
Israel’s military released on Wednesday the findings of a probe into the circumstances behind the deaths of six hostages whose bodies were recovered in August, determining they were probably shot by their captors after a nearby Israeli strike in February. Shurafa reported from Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip. Associated Press writer Tia Goldenberg in Jerusalem contributed to this report.
Bitcoin hits $100,000 in highly anticipated crypto milestone
By Michael P. Regan & Emily Nicolle
ON Wednesday night in New York, the dreams of crypto’s permabulls became reality: Bitcoin hit $100,000.
A month-long rally has seen the largest and oldest cryptocurrency alternately approach—and then repeatedly shy away from— that most sought-after of round numbers.
Spurring the moves: the digitalasset industry’s chest-thumping optimism that US President-elect Donald Trump would halt the tough government scrutiny that prevailed during his predecessor’s administration and instead pursue policies and regulators friendly to the digital-asset industry.
Events on Wednesday provided concrete support for that enthusiasm, with Trump’s nomination of the pro-crypto Paul Atkins to replace Gary Gensler at the US Securities and Exchange Commission. “Paul Atkins was made for this job,” Robinhood Markets Inc. legal chief Dan Gallagher said earlier on Wednesday at the firm’s investor day in New York. Gallagher, who in November publicly withdrew from consideration for the SEC job, said he
expected Atkins to address the industry bugbear of regulation by enforcement. “I think he’ll do that on day one,” Gallagher added.
A price of $100,000 pushes the market value of Bitcoin to just shy of $2 trillion and makes it a larger investment asset than all but a handful of public companies such as Nvidia Corp., Apple Inc. and Google parent Alphabet Inc. And $2 trillion represents an amount bigger than the government bond markets of nations like Spain and Brazil, and one approaching the market capitalization of the entire FTSE 100 Index of British stocks.
“Bitcoin reaching $100,000 signals the next phase of the Bull Run, one that now appears resilient to anything but exogenous shocks,” said Fadi Aboualfa, head of research at crypto custodian Copper Technologies Ltd.
Magnetic Target
EVEN before Trump was elected president, many crypto-minded investors believed a $100,000
White House says 8 US telecom firms, dozens of nations impacted by China hacking campaign
By Aamer Madhani
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON—A
top
White House official on Wednesday said at least eight US telecom firms and dozens of nations have been impacted by a Chinese hacking campaign.
Deputy national security adviser Anne Neuberger offered new details about the breadth of the sprawling Chinese hacking campaign that gave officials in Beijing access to private texts and phone conversations of an unknown number of Americans.
Neuberger divulged the scope of the hack a day after the FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency issued guidance intended to help root out the hackers and prevent similar cyber espionage in the future. White House officials cautioned that the number of telecommunication firms and countries impacted could still grow.
The US believes that the hackers were able to gain access to
Impeachments. . . Continued from A14
The prosecutors were accused of watering down an investigation involving Yoon’s wife, Kim Keon Hee, linked to suspected stock price manipulation.
The Democratic Party’s continued attempts to impeach senior government officials and prosecutors have been a major source of conflict with Yoon, who during his martial law announcement accused the opposition of “anti-state activities” and “paralyzing the government.”
The PPP opposes the motion to impeach Yoon, and party floor leader Choo Kyung-ho said it would meet again to determine how
communications of senior US government officials and prominent political figures through the hack, Neuberger said.
“We don’t believe any classified communications has been compromised,” Neuberger added during a call with reporters.
She noted that because the hack appeared to be targeting a relatively small group of individuals, only a small number of Americans’ phone calls and texts have been compromised. Neuberger added that impacted companies are all responding, but none “have fully removed the Chinese actors from these networks.”
“So there is a risk of ongoing compromises to communications until US companies address the cyber security gaps the Chinese are likely to maintain their access,” Neuberger said.
She said that President Joe Biden has been briefed on the findings and that the White House “has made it a priority for the federal government to do everything it can to get to the bottom this.”
to act. Members could boycott a floor vote or cast ballots against the motion. Impeaching the president would require support from two-thirds of the National Assembly, or 200 of its 300 members. The opposition parties together have 192 seats. Parliament’s rejection of martial law passed unanimously Wednesday with support from 18 PPP lawmakers who belong to an antiYoon faction in the party. But PPP leader Han Dong-hun, head of the anti-Yoon faction, told reporters Thursday he would work to defeat the impeachment motion even though he described Yoon’s declaration as “unconstitutional.” Han said there is a need to “prevent damage to citizens and supporters caused by unprepared chaos.”
The Chinese embassy in Washington on Tuesday rejected the accusations that it was responsible for the hack after the US federal authorities issued new guidance.
“The US needs to stop its own cyber attacks against other countries and refrain from using cyber security to smear and slander China,” embassy spokesperson Liu Pengyu said.
The embassy did not immediately respond to messages on Wednesday.
White House officials believe that the hacking was regionally targeted and the focus was on very senior government officials.
Federal authorities confirmed in October that hackers linked to China targeted the phones of then-presidential candidate Donald Trump and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance, along with people associated with Democratic candidate Vice President Kamala Harris.
The number of countries impacted by the hack is currently believed to be in the “low, couple
Experts say PPP factions could unite to avoid what happened after the 2016 impeachment of conservative President Park Geun-hye with the votes of some lawmakers in her own party. After she was removed from office, the liberals easily won the presidency in a by-election as conservatives remained in disarray. She went to prison but was eventually pardoned.
If Yoon is impeached, he would be suspended until the Constitutional Court rules on whether to remove him from office.
Prime Minister Han Duck-soo would take over presidential responsibilities.
The impeachment motion against Yoon says he failed to meet the constitutional requirement that martial law should only
price was inevitable. Hedge-fund manager Anthony Scaramucci predicted in September that it would reach that milestone by the end of this year, and billionaire Michael Novogratz said as much in June. Strategists at banks like JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs made calls almost four years ago predicting it would eventually reach the six-figure milestone.
Born in the aftermath of the global financial crisis 16 years ago, Bitcoin was launched in 2009 by pseudonymous creator Satoshi Nakamoto as a peer-to-peer network free of government control. Whether Nakamoto is a single person or a group has been subject of much speculation throughout Bitcoin’s lifetime.
It took a 135 percent year-todate rally for Bitcoin to reach $100,000, yet the original digital asset is no stranger to such eye-popping price movements. The token, which ended the year 2010 at roughly 30 cents, rallied 157 percent last year after crashing 64 percent in 2022. It notched gains of 1,375 percent in 2017, 5,428 percent in 2013 and 1,317 percent in 2011. Its march from mere pennies in its early years to $100,000 today required scaling a massive wall of worry—or what crypto traders refer to as “FUD,” short for fear, uncertainty and doubt. The crypto asset class it ushered in has for years
dozen,” according to a senior administration official.
The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the White House, said they believed the hacks started at least a year or two ago.
The suggestions for telecom companies released Tuesday are largely technical in nature, urging encryption, centralization and consistent monitoring to deter cyber intrusions.
If implemented, the security precautions could help disrupt the operation, which has been dubbed Salt Typhoon, and make it harder for China or any other nation to mount a similar attack in the future, experts say.
Neuberger pointed to efforts that have been made to beef up cyber security in the rail, aviation, energy and other sectors following the May 2021 ransomware attack on Colonial Pipeline.
“So, to prevent ongoing Salt typhoon type intrusions by China, we believe we need to apply a similar minimum cyber security practice,” Neuberger said.
The Associated Press writer David Klepper contributed reporting.
be considered in wartime or a comparable severe crisis. It alleges he attempted a “self-coup” by mobilizing the military and that suspending political party activities and deploying troops to seal the National Assembly amounted to rebellion.
During a parliamentary hearing, Kim Seon Ho, the vice defense minister and acting defense chief, said he wasn’t informed about Yoon’s decision to impose martial law until the announcement was reported by the media.
He said he didn’t know who wrote the military proclamation announced after Yoon’s martial law declaration, which stated that the activities of political parties would be suspended, but that it didn’t come from the defense ministry. He said the decision
been a playground for scammers and ransomware artists, money launderers and hackers.
FTX collapse BITCOIN’S jump to an earlier record above $73,000 in March of this year marked a complete recovery from one of the most dramatic periods in its history: An almost 80 percent plunge from November 2021 to November 2022. That bear market period saw a cascading series of failures—including the collapse of the FTX exchange, as well as crypto lenders Genesis and Celsius. The government crackdown that ensued put FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried in prison for 25 years on fraud charges, and landed his rival Changpeng Zhao, founder of the Binance exchange, a four-month sentence for failing to implement proper anti-money laundering controls.
Despite the sordid history of the crypto market, Bitcoin has continued to gain more and more acceptance in the mainstream financial system. And the larger the cryptocurrency grows and the more mainstream it gets, the closer the volatile asset gets to becoming systemically important to the global financial system.
Prior to Trump’s election, Bitcoin’s price gains this year were fueled by the popularity of exchangetraded funds that invest directly in the token after they launched
in January following a long legal fight between one of the fund’s issuers and the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
Led by Wall Street heavyweights like BlackRock Inc. and Fidelity and the crypto-native Grayscale Investments, the ETFs now hold about $100 billion in assets, or roughly 5 percent of all the Bitcoin in circulation.
‘Supply squeeze’
“THE demand backdrop is solid,” said Manuel Villegas, digital assets analyst at Julius Baer. “It is not too far-fetched to believe that we might see a renewed chapter of the supply squeeze next year – the same factor that led us to believe last year that prices could only go one way when demand was growing at a multiple of supply.” Trump’s return to the White House will potentially usher another big whale into the Bitcoin market: The US government itself. Speaking at a Bitcoin conference in July, Trump vowed to create a strategic stockpile of the cryptocurrency, starting with assets seized by the US government. At the same conference, Trump allies Robert Kennedy Jr. and Republican Senator Cynthia Lummis floated the idea of the government buying 1 million Bitcoin—or $100 billion worth at current prices—as a way to back the US dollar. With assistance from Paige Smith/Bloomberg
Biden says ‘Africa is the future’ as he pledges millions more on the last day of Angola visit
By Will Weissert & Gerald Imray
The Associated Press
OBITO, Angola—President Joe Biden
Lpledged another $600 million Wednes -
day for an ambitious multi-country rail project in Africa as one of the final foreign policy moves of his administration, and told African leaders the resource-rich continent of more than 1.4 billion people had been “left behind for much too long.”
“But not anymore,” Biden added. “Africa is the future.”
Biden used the third and final day of a visit to Angola—his long-awaited first trip to sub-Saharan Africa as president—to travel to the coastal city of Lobito and tour an Atlantic port terminal that’s part of the Lobito Corridor railway redevelopment.
Biden described it as the largest US investment in a train project outside America.
The US and allies are investing heavily in the project that will refurbish nearly 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles) of train lines connecting to the mineral-rich areas of Congo and Zambia in central Africa.
The corridor, which likely will take years to complete, gives the US better access to cobalt, copper and other critical minerals in Congo and Zambia that are used in batteries for electric vehicles, electronic devices and
to deploy troops at the National Assembly came from the former defense minister, Kim Yong Hyun.
“I had fundamentally opposed the deployment of troops over this martial law and I expressed a negative opinion about it,” said Kim Seon Ho, without elaborating.
“I would like to apologize to our citizens once again, and, on a personal level, I feel devastated.”
With Yoon’s declaration sparking concerns about South Korea’s democratic status, officials have been trying to mitigate backlash.
clean energy technologies that Biden said would power the future.
China is dominant in mining in Congo and Zambia. The US investment has strategic implications for US-China economic competition, which went up a notch this week as they traded blows over access to key materials and technologies.
The African leaders who met with Biden on Wednesday said the railway corridor offered their countries a much faster route for minerals and goods—and a convenient outlet to Western markets.
“This is a project that is full of hope for our countries and our region,” said Congo President Félix Tshisekedi, whose country has more than 70 percent of the word’s cobalt. “This is not just a logistical project. It is a driving force for economic and social transformation for millions of our people.”
The leaders said the corridor should spur private-sector investment and improve a myriad of related areas like roads, communication networks, agriculture and clean energy technologies.
For the African countries, it could create a wave of new jobs for a burgeoning young population.
Imray reported from Cape Town, South Africa.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lee Jaewoong said the ministry sent diplomatic notes to foreign missions, emphasizing that martial law was lifted through democratic procedures and that travel advisories need not change, as public safety remains stable. When asked about the US Embassy in Seoul canceling routine consular operations, including visa and passport interviews, based on its assessment that South Korea’s “situation remains fluid,” Lee said Seoul was maintaining “necessary communication” with the Americans.
Yoon’s martial law declaration came hours after his summit with Kyrgyzstan President Sadyr Japarov, who traveled to Seoul on an official visit. Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson reportedly canceled a plan to visit South Korea this week. “We are continuously trying to ensure a seamless and consistent implementation of our ministry’s diplomatic policies,” Lee said.
EDCOM 2 report finds educational challenges exacerbated by gaps in govt housing policy
ThE challenges facing our educational system are compounded by a glaring oversight in housing policy. The recent findings from the Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM 2) highlight a troubling disconnect between housing and education agencies, particularly in resettlement areas. This oversight has created a crisis in overcrowded schools, forcing students into makeshift classrooms and straining the system beyond its limits. (Read the BusinessMirror story: “Congestion in schools linked to lack of coordination,” November 28, 2024).
As noted by EDCOM 2 Commissioner Rep. Jude Acidre, the influx of families into new housing projects often occurs without corresponding educational infrastructure. The government’s ambitious Pambansang Pabahay Para sa Pilipino Program, which aims to construct millions of housing units by 2028, fails to adequately plan for the educational needs that arise from such developments. When new communities are established, the lack of immediate educational facilities places undue pressure on existing schools, leading to dire consequences for students and teachers alike.
In Naic, Cavite, for instance, the sheer number of students overwhelms schools. With Ciudad Nuevo Elementary School accommodating over 2,000 students in just six classrooms, and Timalan Hillsview Integrated School witnessing a staggering 983 percent increase in enrollment, it is clear that our education system is being pushed to the brink. The current policy framework, which mandates classroom construction only for developments exceeding 1,500 units, does not address the cumulative impact of smaller housing projects. This shortsightedness results in a frantic scramble for solutions, with classes held in tents and corridors, and students attending school in shifts.
The situation is not merely a logistical issue; it reflects a fundamental failure of governance. As Rep. Acidre pointed out, it is not just the Department of Education that can be held accountable for these challenges. The lack of coordination among various government agencies has led to a patchwork of desperate solutions instead of a cohesive strategy. This is a glaring reminder that housing and education are intertwined; failure in one sector inevitably leads to crises in the other.
The response from housing authorities has been inadequate. Approvals for resettlement projects have often proceeded without consultation with DepEd or local governments. Roderick Ibañez from the National Housing Authority acknowledged this lapse, indicating a need for better communication. Fortunately, there are signs of progress. The Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) has initiated a review of policies and established a Technical Working Group to address these gaps. However, the effectiveness of these measures will depend on genuine collaboration and commitment among all stakeholders.
To truly address the overcrowding crisis in our schools, a paradigm shift is necessary. Policymakers must prioritize integrated planning that considers the educational infrastructure alongside housing development. This means not only building homes but also ensuring that schools, healthcare, and other essential services are part of the development equation.
The urgent need for these changes cannot be overstated. Our children deserve the right to quality education in conducive environments, not makeshift classrooms. As we move forward, it is crucial for government agencies to recognize their shared responsibility and work collaboratively to create sustainable solutions that benefit our communities. Only through coordinated efforts can we hope to bridge the gap between housing and education, ensuring a brighter future for all students.
BusinessMirror
T. Anthony C. Cabangon
Lourdes M. Fernandez
Jennifer A. Ng Vittorio V. Vitug
Lorenzo M. Lomibao Jr., Gerard S. Ramos
Lyn B. Resurreccion, Dennis D. Estopace Angel R. Calso
Ruben M. Cruz Jr.
Eduardo A. Davad Nonilon G. Reyes
D. Edgard A. Cabangon
Benjamin V. Ramos
Aldwin Maralit Tolosa
Rolando M. Manangan
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UP-DLSU rematch in Season 87 UAAP finals
TKuwentong Peyups
hE University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 87 men’s basketball games is now on its final stage with the rematch of the Season 86 protagonists University of the Philippines (UP) and De La Salle University (DLSU).
The UAAP is an athletic association of eight Metro Manila universities in the Philippines, composed of Adamson University (AdU), Ateneo de Manila University (AdMU), DLSU, Far Eastern University (FEU), National University (NU), University of the East (UE), UP, and University of Santo Tomas (UST).
FEU, NU, UP, and UST are the original members that formed UAAP in 1938. Adamson and UE joined in 1952, followed by Ateneo in 1978 and DLSU in 1986.
Both UP and DLSU were pre-war founding members of the National Collegiate At hletic Association (NCAA) in 1924.
UP had won four NCAA basketball championships (1924, 1925, 1926 and 1929) while DLSU has won five NCAA titles (1939, 1947, 1956, 1971, and 1974).
The UP Fighting Maroons permanently withdrew from competing in the NCAA in 1930 while DLSU left in 1980.
In September 1980, DLSU announced it would withdraw from competing in the NCAA after a violent game with the Letran Knights. DLSU was accepted as a member of
the UAAP in 1986.
As of UAAP Season 86, the UP Fighting Maroons won three championship titles in UAAP men’s basketball, while the Green Archers have won 10 UAAP basketball titles.
The UP Fighting Maroons won their first title in 1939 (Season 2) then followed it up 47 years later in 1986 (Season 49). Then there was the 36 years of championship drought until its third title in 2022 (Season 84).
Since joining the UAAP in 1986, the Green Archers have won 10 UAAP basketball titles – 1989, 1990, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2007, 2013, 2016, and 2023.
UP had four season most valuable players (MVP): Fort Acuña in 1968; Eric Altamirano in 1986; Bright Akhuetie in 2019 and Malick Diouf in 2021.
DLSU had five season MVPs: Jun Limpot in 1989, 1990 and 1992; Mark Telan in 1996 and 1997; Don Allado in 1998 and 1999; Ben Mbala in 2016 and 2017; and Kevin Quiambao in 2023.
In the Finals, UP had one MVP with Malick Diouf in 2021, while DLSU had seven MVPs: Don Al-
The Final games between UP and DLSU are set on December 8, 11 and 15, 2024.
lado in 1998 and 1999; Renren Ritualo in 2001; Mark Cardona in 2004; JVee Casio and Pocholo Villanueva in 2007; Jeron Teng in 2013 and 2016; and Kevin Quiambao in 2023.
For Rookies of the year, UP had six: Benjie Paras (1986), Woody Co (2006) Kyles Jefferson Lao (2013), Juan Gómez de Liaño (2017), Carl Tamayo (2021), and Francis Lopez (2023).
DLSU had nine Rookies awardees: Mark Telan (1993), Renren Ritualo (1997), Mike Cortez (2000), Mark Cardona (2001), JVee Casio (2003), Jeron Teng (2012), Andrei Caracut (2015), Aljun Melecio (2016), and Kevin Quiambao (2022).
UPMBT players who were included in the mythical five were Marvin Cruz (2006), Paul Desiderio (2016), Bright Akhuetie (2018), Juan Gómez de Liaño (2018), Kobe Paras (2019), Zavier Lucero (2021), Carl Tamayo (2021 and 2022), and Malick Diouf (2022 and 2023).
In 1986, the UPMBT won over the UE Red Warriors under the guidance of legendary coach Joe Lipa with star players Benjie Paras, Ronnie Magsanoc and Altamirano.
From 2007 to 2014, except in 2008, UP was always at the bottom— it ranked eighth (out of eight schools) in the basketball category.
In 2014, UP lit up a bonfire at the Sunken Garden to mark one win after a 27-game losing streak.
In 2018 Season 81, UP’s bid for the championship trophy unfortunately ended when it lost to Ateneo.
In 2019 Season 82, UP was de-
feated by UST during the Final Four round.
In 2020-2021 Season 83, there was no tournament due to the pandemic.
In 2022, the Maroons had their best record as champions in Season 84. The UPMBT claimed their first championship in 36 years when it dethroned the Ateneo Blue Eagles in the Finals Game 3 of the UAAP Season 84 on May 13, 2022 at the MOA Arena.
However, UP’s attempt to regain its championship title for Season 85 ended when it succumbed to Ateneo in the Finals Game 3 on December 19, 2022. In 2023, UP again failed to earn the championship title for Season 86 after it lost to DLSU in the Finals Game 3 on December 6, 2023.
For the Season 87 eliminations, UP had 11 wins and three losses, with NU (67-47) and twice with DLSU (6856) and (77-66), while DLSU had 12 wins and two losses, with NU (63-54 ) and UE (75-71).
The top two seeded teams (UP and DLSU) after the elimination round have the twice-to-beat advantage in the semifinals, where they have to be beaten twice, while their opponents only once, to progress.
During the Final Four round, UP won over UST (78/69) while DLSU won over Adamson (70/55). The Final games between UP and DLSU are set on December 8, 11 and 15, 2024.
Peyups is the moniker of the University of the Philippines. Atty. Dennis R. Gorecho is the Junior Partner of the Sapalo Velez Bundang Bulilan Law Offices. For comments, e-mail info@sapalovelez. com, or call 0917-5025808 or 0908-8665786.
Trump loves tariffs but Canada can strike back on oil, former trade chief
By Brian Platt
ThE man who led Canada’s trade negotiating team during Donald Trump’s first term said the US President-elect “likes tariffs even more now” and will be less constrained about using them in his second.
Steve Verheul, who was Canada’s chief trade negotiator from 2017 to 2021, said Trump’s threat of 25 percent tariffs on Canadian and Mexican imports would be a significant economic hit to all three countries, creating “a highly disruptive period of time.”
But if the Trump administration tries to levy tariffs on all manufactured goods from Canada, but not oil and agricultural commodities,
Canada has a card it can play — it can place export levies on those goods as a negotiating tactic, said Verheul, who’s now a private consultant. Canada is by far the largest external supplier of oil to the US and a huge exporter of agricultural goods. Export levies would quickly drive up the cost of fuel and food to American consumers. Some US refineries are highly dependent on Canadian heavy oil and would have few alternatives.
says
Canada is by far the largest external supplier of oil to the US and a huge exporter of agricultural goods. Export levies would quickly drive up the cost of fuel and food to American consumers. Some US refineries are highly dependent on Canadian heavy oil and would have few alternatives.
“I agree that the first areas that would be potentially subject to exemption would be oil and gas and food,” Verheul said at an event organized by Bank of Montreal. But in the context of a trade fight, “it might even make sense for Canada to apply export taxes to those products,
in order to try to negotiate a broader exemption across all the sectors.” Such a move would likely be a last resort for Canada, which would find its economy in a tough spot if Trump were to follow through with tariffs at that level. Doug Porter, Bank of Montreal’s chief economist, said financial markets clearly believe the risk of broad tariffs is overstated, given the relative stability of the Canadian and Mexican currencies after they initially sold off in the hours after Trump’s social media post last week. “I suspect that that calm is highly questionable,” Porter said. “I think we should take the threats seriously, or at the very least, prepare and consider what broad-based tariffs could mean See “Trump,” A17
Dennis Gorecho
Mexico Congress mulls over minimum wage, benefits
mfor app workers
By Alex Vasquez
Exican lawmakers are set to discuss a proposal that gives a minimum wage and other benefits to drivers and couriers working for companies such as uber Technologies inc., Didi Global inc and rappi inc.
President Claudia Sheinbaum submitted to Congress late Tuesday a proposal to reform Mexico’s labor law to ensure that workers earn a salary in line with the minimum wage “regardless of the demand for the services,” according to a summary of the bill compiled by Congress and seen by Bloomberg News. The bill will also require that companies register and cover their employees’ social security benefits, including health services, work risk insurance and retirement savings. The reform was sent to the Lower House’s labor committee and is scheduled to be discussed by the floor of Congress in the coming days.
The proposal to improve rights for courier and driver app workers was among the 100 promises Sheinbaum made in her inaugural speech on Oct. 1. When the proposal was presented later that month, Labor Minister Marath Bolaños said the bill would aim to impact around 658,000 workers and give them benefits such as protection against accidents, housing credits and maternity leave.
Mexico’s ruling party, Morena, has large majorities in both houses of Congress. The legislative body has already approved a series of constitutional changes, including reforms to the judiciary, changes to the energy sector, and a project that guarantees increases to the minimum wage.
Other points of the proposal include allowing app workers to form unions and collectively bargain their working conditions, which would be enforceable by government authorities. Sanctions may include financial penalties proportional to the level of non-compliance, according to the document.
The bill also calls for workers to participate in the profit sharing of the companies, and that these companies publish their annual earnings reports to “ensure greater transparency.” The companies must also respect “reasonable limits on working hours.”
The proposal to improve rights for courier and driver app workers was among the 100 promises Sheinbaum made in her inaugural speech on October 1. When the proposal was presented later that month, Labor Minister Marath Bolaños said the bill would aim to impact around 658,000 workers and give them benefits such as protection against accidents, housing credits and maternity leave.
“This proposal recognizes the essential role of digital platform workers, who, despite being the engine of sectors such as food delivery and transportation, operate in a legal vacuum that leaves them unprotected,” according to the document. “Labor relations in this sector are often ambiguous, as digital platforms are positioned as technological intermediaries and not as direct employers.”
An association of courier and delivery providers, which represents Rappi, Uber and Didi, held a series of talks with government authorities after the bill was initially proposed. The conversations resulted in a series of agreements, including a commitment that the “current tax load” will be maintained for the service providers, the group, known as Alianza In Mexico, said in a November statement. The document did not include details on that area.
The association called on Congress to establish a comprehensive dialogue on the proposal that includes the government, lawmakers, representatives of digital platforms and workers, according to a separate statement released Wednesday night. The group said that several topics require further analysis, including greater clarity on the tax regime that will be applied to the digital platforms and details on the guidelines to be issued by the social security institute. Bloomberg
France plunges deeper into crisis after Macron’s premier ousted
By Kavita Mokha
EmmanuEl macron is looking for a new prime minister on Thursday after the far right joined forces with the left to push through a no-confidence motion against his government over a budget dispute.
The French president needs to find a premier who can pass a 2025 budget through a deeply divided parliament.
But any new leader will face the same financial squeeze that brought down Prime Minister Michel Barnier’s administration.
The budget bill presented by Barnier—that sank with his government—contained €60 billion ($63 billion) in tax increases and spending cuts that aimed for a reduction in the deficit to 5 percent of economic output in 2025, from an estimated 6.1 percent this year.
The French president is due to make a statement at 8 p.m. on Thursday.
Far-right leader Marine Le Pen teamed up with a left-wing coalition to topple Barnier late Wednesday, pitching the country into a prolonged period of turbulence that’s likely to further unsettle investors.
With the result of the vote widely anticipated, the euro was little changed around $1.0514 after the result and French bond futures gave up some of their earlier gains.
Barnier’s tenure was the shortest for a premier since France’s Fifth Republic was founded in 1958. Bar-
US
uTariffs of 25 percent against Canada and Mexico would leave the two North American trading partners in a worse position for exporting to the US market than other members of the World Trade Organization, Verheul said. “We would really be in a place where only Russia, North Korea and a handful of other countries would have worse access.”
In the case where Trump imposes big tariffs and Canada retaliates, Canada’s gross domestic product could be reduced by 3 percent or more, leading to major monetary and fiscal policy responses, Porter said. The Bank of Canada may be forced to cut the benchmark interest rate as low as 1.5 percent in the extreme case of broad-based tariffs, Porter said. It’s currently 3.75 percent. Meanwhile, the government “would be quite reasonable to provide all kinds of support” through spending, Porter said. “I think we would be talking, roughly speaking, on the order of about half a per cent of GDP of fiscal support.”
Tariffs can be partially counteracted by currency depreciation, and in the worst-case scenario, “I think a depreciation of the Canadian dollar of 5 percent to 10 percent from current levels would be within reason, it’s entirely conceivable,” Porter said. The latter would
nier, a seasoned conservative and the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, was appointed in September.
There is little to suggest that the current stalemate will end so easily for Macron as the next premier will be subject to the same parliamentary calculus and risk of censure.
Macron has the authority to appoint a new prime minister, but he had a lengthy struggle before he managed to win limited support for Barnier from a fragmented parliament.
The roots of the current turmoil date back to June, when Macron dissolved parliament and called a snap vote as he sought to rebound from a crushing defeat for his party in the European elections—where Le Pen’s party won more than double the president’s party.
Instead, he made Le Pen’s National Rally the largest party in parliament and its leader became the country’s most influential power broker as his centrist coalition crumbled.
Following the June ballot, the lower house was split into three fiercely opposed blocs: a diminished center supporting the president, a leftist alliance and the far right led by Le Pen. That makeup won’t change as a new parliamentary election can’t
Barnier became the first French prime minister to lose a noconfidence vote in more than 60 years. The only other premier to be ousted under the Fifth Republic was Georges Pompidou in 1962 and, with the backing of the powerful president, Charles de Gaulle, he was eventually reappointed.
be held until July at the earliest.
The divisions between those groups have been exacerbated by the economic problems facing France, with the budget deficit set to exceed 6 percent of GDP this year and voters reluctant to accept spending cuts or higher taxes.
“To those who think I’m intent on choosing a policy of disaster through a vote of no confidence, I want to tell them that the disastrous policy would be not to censure such a budget,” she told lawmakers on Wednesday. “It’s the end of this ephemeral government.”
The chaos in the European Union’s second-biggest economy has prompted bond investors to punish France’s sovereign debt relative to its peers.
Barnier warned of a “storm” in financial markets if he was ousted.
The outgoing administration will continue in a caretaker capacity for the time being, allowing the government to avoid a US-style shutdown. Barnier can use emergency laws to collect taxes and guarantee a mini-
mal level of spending, but the broader impact is hard to predict.
Finance Minister Antoine Armand warned Tuesday that stopgap legislation would raise taxes for millions of households and block planned spending increases for some priorities, including security and farming.
Following the vote, Le Pen said that she is willing to work with another government, so long as they work with her party to draw up the budget. “This budget was toxic for the French,” she said in an interview on French television. Instead, she said, the country needs “a budget that’s acceptable to all.”
Barnier became the first French prime minister to lose a no-confidence vote in more than 60 years. The only other premier to be ousted under the Fifth Republic was Georges Pompidou in 1962 and, with the backing of the powerful president, Charles de Gaulle, he was eventually reappointed.
Le Pen has been ramping up the pressure on Macron to resign as a way to break the impasse and allow France to move forward.
“It’s up to his conscience to decide whether he can sacrifice public action and the fate of France to his own pride,” she said during the debate.
Macron has said he won’t step down until his term ends in 2027 and he can’t be forced out of his job. Le Pen is the frontrunner for the next presidential election, according to opinion polls. Bloomberg
House speaker holds call with Taiwan’s leader, report says
By Yian Lee
S house Speaker mike Johnson held a call with Taiwan President lai ching-te, Voice of america reported, a move likely to add to china’s reasons to step up military intimidation of the democracy.
Johnson and Lai spoke on Wednesday, according to VOA, which cited unidentified people. It added it was the first direct conversation between the two since Lai took office in May.
The Presidential Office in Taipei didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday.
The call comes while Lai is on a trip to Pacific nations that has included stops in Guam and Hawaii. China condemned the US for allow-
ing the transit in Hawaii, raising the possibility that the People’s Liberation Army holds more military drills around Taiwan soon.
China wants to bring Taiwan under its control someday, by force if necessary, and opposes nations it has ties with, like the US, from having contact with officials from the hub for advanced semiconductor production.
The call comes while Lai is on a trip to Pacific nations that has included stops in Guam and Hawaii. China condemned the US for allowing the transit in Hawaii, raising the possibility that the People’s Liberation Army holds more military drills around Taiwan soon.
losi and Kevin McCarthy as speaker. Lai is now in Guam, where the US has a major airbase and last month deployed a nuclear-powered attack submarine.
Lai has visited Guam’s legislature and met the territory’s governor, Lou Leon Guerrero. Previous Taiwan presidents have stopped in Guam as part of trips abroad.
The PLA has held major military drills around Taiwan twice since he took office in May. It said the war games in October were a warning against “separatist acts” after Lai had given a speech in which he said Taipei would stand up to Beijing’s challenges.
The PLA also held exercises twice around Taiwan because former President Tsai Ing-wen met with two of Johnson’s predecessors Nancy Pe-
The trip is Lai’s first as president, and the stop in Guan helps build on the ties that have been developing between the two sides in recent years. Guam’s legislature has passed several resolutions in support of Taipei’s participation of international organizations, activity China works to curtail, and Taiwan reopened a representative office there in 2021. Bloomberg
South Korea turmoil strikes at heart of US alliances in Asia
By Alastair Gale
ThE potential impeachment of South Korea’s president after an aborted attempt to impose martial law may complicate uS efforts to increase pressure on china under President-elect Donald Trump by undermining american-led alliances in East asia.
Since taking office in 2022, President Yoon Suk Yeol has steered South Korea away from economic dependence on China and bolstered trade with the US, its sole security treaty ally. At the same time, Yoon has broken through historical tensions with Japan to form closer military, diplomatic and economic ties.
The strengthening US-South Korea-Japan relationship has been a key component of a broader Washington effort to stitch together partnerships across Asia seen as blunting Beijing’s ambitions. Yoon’s brief and botched attempt to declare martial law—and the president’s possible downfall as a result—is a “potentially huge setback” to those efforts, said Richard McGregor, senior fellow for East Asia at the Lowy Institute in Sydney.
“The unraveling of the Yoon presidency is great news for China and bad news for the US and Japan,” McGregor said. “No South Korean president in recent times had put more on the line to improve ties with Tokyo, something Washington had pushed for for years.”
decided to postpone several bilateral meetings, including one focused on nuclear issues and a related tabletop exercise, a South Korean Defense Ministry official said.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday that Washington is closely watching the developments in Seoul, adding that South Korea “is one of the most powerful stories in the world about the emergence of democracy and democratic resilience, and we’ll continue to look to Korea to set that example.”
Yet with Trump set to take office on January 20, there’s a real possibility officials in Seoul will be tied up addressing domestic political divisions just as the new US administration is looking to sustain pressure on China and weighing powerful new tariffs that could impact South Korea’s trade-dependent economy.
Fresh opportunity
TO be sure, new leadership in both countries could also open up opportunities as well.
“The next administration in Washington will probably have to deal with a new administration in Seoul and the two partners will have the chance to re-focus the alliance,” said Drew Thompson, a senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.
That could work out well, he added, if the focus centers on new trade deals or easing tensions with Pyongyang and Beijing.
For now, Yoon’s political future is in serious doubt after South Korea’s opposition parties quickly rallied on Wednesday to file a proposal to impeach him. If the motion is approved by parliament and the constitutional court, South Korea would hold an election to vote in a new president within 60 days.
to release treated water from the ruined Fukushima nuclear plant as a “provocation to all of us,” despite an approval of the plan by the International Atomic Energy Agency.
And while South Koreans across the political spectrum are wary of China’s growing regional power, in the Bloomberg interview Lee said he wanted a less adversarial relationship with Beijing to help the South Korean economy.
“We need to try to separate the military-security issues from the economic issues a little bit more,” he said.
About 28,000 US troops are based in South Korea, which never signed a peace treaty with Pyongyang after an armistice took hold in 1953.
Russia in its war of aggression. This week’s upheaval could throw that commitment into doubt. Last week, Ukraine’s defense minister visited Seoul on a trip widely viewed as a bid to obtain weapons supplies.
Leif-Eric Easley, a professor of international studies at Ewha Womans University in Seoul, said Yoon’s attempt to impose martial law may be ultimately more damaging for South Korea’s domestic politics and international reputation than the Jan. 6, 2021, attacks on the US Capitol by a mob protesting the 2020 election results.
Yoon could still find a way to hold on to power or get replaced by a like-minded candidate from his ruling People Power Party. Opinion polls show the most popular contender is party leader Han Donghoon, who moved quickly to reject the president’s decision to impose martial law.
Han would likely uphold Yoon’s tough line on North Korea and sustain a similar emphasis on alliances.
If Yoon is forced out or leaves office voluntarily in the next few weeks, it might mean the country would have a caretaker leader just as the Trump administration gets to work, raising questions of whether the allies would coordinate well. A provocation by North Korea, such as a nuclear test or major missile launch, could test that partnership.
One of the leading contenders in any potential election is Lee Jaemyung, the head of the left-leaning opposition Democratic Party. Lee narrowly lost to Yoon in the 2022 presidential election and has advocated greater autonomy for South Korea amid competition between the US and China. Lee has also been critical of Yoon’s willingness to warm to Japan, the colonial master of the Korean peninsula from 1910 to 1945.
“I don’t think that we should expect North Korea to do anything disruptive, such as carrying out a major provocation, because it doesn’t have to,” Lee said in an interview on Bloomberg Television. “North Korea can just kind of sit back and see what happens.” With assistance from Colum Murphy /Bloomberg for the economy.”
In the aftermath of this week’s upheaval, the US and South Korea
“Beijing has never liked the trilateralism facilitated by Yoon’s leadership,” said Evan Medeiros, a senior adviser at The Asia Group consultancy in Washington. “Beijing is happy with any political instability that could create frictions between the US and South Korea and/or South Korea and Japan.”
In an interview with Bloomberg last year, Lee criticized Japan’s plans
For now, Pyongyang has been relatively quiet. Rachel Minyoung Lee, a senior fellow with the 38 North program at the Stimson Center, predicted it would stay that way.
Under Yoon, South Korea has formed closer ties with regional democracies such as Australia and the Philippines, as well as international groups including NATO.
Yoon has also been a staunch advocate of support for Ukraine, particularly after North Korea dispatched troops and weapons to help
2nd Front Page
Open trade despite global tensions: WTO’s appeal
By Andrea E. San Juan @andreasanjuan
THE World Trade Organiza -
tion (WTO) has called on the “middle powers” in Asia and Asean like the Philippines to continue to promote open trade amid increased geopolitical tensions, according to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).
In a Viber message sent to the BusinessMirror, DTI-Bureau of International Trade Relations (BITR)
Director Sherylyn D. Aquia reported that WTO Director General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala had underscored the need for “continuing dialogue amid increased geopolitical tensions” and why middle powers in Asia and Asean like the Philippines should “continue to promote open trade and the transformative potential of digital and ecommerce trade.”
The WTO chief had attended a dinner with Philippine Trade and Industry Secretary Maria Cristina Aldeguer-Roque, DTI Undersecretary Allan B. Gepty, and DTI-BITR Sherylyn D. Aquia, among others, on December 3 in Mandaluyong City.
Based on her verified Twitter account, Okonjo-Iweala reiterated this call the following day at a meeting with
the president of the Philippines, Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. at Malacañang.
“A really interesting and informed discussion on global trade issues in the context of geopolitical tensions, and the role WTO can play to help manage these tensions. Also focused on the important role of middle powers in shoring up the Multilateral Trading System,” the WTO DG said in her tweet.
Aquia said the head of the WTO had an official visit and courtesy call on the President together with the Philippine Secretaries on Finance, Trade and Agriculture on December 4, 2024.
“DG Ngozi has conducted official visits to a number of WTO members and attended high-level international and regional meetings such as the G-20, G-7, African Union, APEC, and Caribbean Community (Caricom).
Before coming to the Philippines, DG Ngozi met with the heads of state/government of Chile, Peru, Brazil, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Italy, HK, Singapore, Malaysia and Japan this year,” the Philippine Trade official said.
On November 29,2024, the General Council of the WTO agreed by consensus to reappoint Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala as Director-General for a second fouryear term which is set to begin on September 1, 2025.
In a statement she penned to the General Council on her thoughts and vision for the next four years, the WTO Director General underscored the importance of global cooperation and multilateralism as the world is trapped in the middle of “uncertainty, slower economic growth with inflationary pressures, geopolitical tensions, conflict and war, climate change, and fast-paced technological change centred on Artificial Intelligence and other emerging frontier technologies.”
Okonjo-Iweala added, “At times of global uncertainty like this, it is not unusual to see fear, rising nationalism, and protectionism as well as a questioning of the structures and institutions we long held dear because they may not be delivering answers rapidly, adequately or with the efficiency and effectiveness needed to deal with the challenges of the times.” With this, the head of the 166-member WTO underscored that these global challenges “just cannot be tackled by any one member or country alone,” adding, “solutions to these challenges need global cooperation and multilateralism.”
As she cited the benefits of the WTO, Okonjo-Iweala emphasized that the Multilateral Trading System with the WTO “at its core has helped
to lift over 1.5 billion people out of absolute poverty.”
“It has helped create millions of good jobs in goods and services trade all over the world,” she also stressed.
Okonjo-Iweala added that after factoring in all the free trade agreements (FTAs) and Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs), the WTO Rules underpin 75 to 80 percent of world goods trade “because many bilateral and regional agreements are built on the WTO template.”
“Just imagine what would happen if this platform were to disappear— the chaos and uncertainty that businesses and households would face with respect to jobs and wellbeing,” the WTO head underscored.
For the Philippines’s part, Aquia said the country assured the WTO head of the Philippines’s role as a founding WTO Member since 1995 and a signatory to key multilateral agreements, in upholding its commitments and obligations in the multilateral trading system.
“Both sides also exchanged views on the global economic situation and potential reforms within the WTO in view of the next MC14 in March 2026 in Cameroon,” Aquia told this paper.
By Malou Talosig-Bartolome
Tand BRP Cabra also endured blocking, shadowing and dangerous maneuvers by a People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) vessel and another CCG vessel. (See story: https://businessmirror.com.ph/2024/12/04/chinarenews-attacks-on-phl-ships-atbajo-de-masinloc/)
In Beijing, the Chinese Coast Guard claimed the PCG vessels and BFAR ships “dangerously approached the normal law enforcement patrol ships of the Chinese Coast Guard.” At a media briefing, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lin Jian said, “The measures are justified, lawful, professional and restrained. China calls on the Philippines to stop those infringement activities and provocations at once and not to challenge China’s firm resolve to defend
de Masinloc Wednesday 6:30 a.m. Then, the CCG vessel “intentionally sideswiped” the same BFAR vessel. Around 25 minutes later, it fired its second water cannon on Datu Pagbuaya.
PCG vessels BRP Teresa Magbanua
Editor: Jennifer A. Ng
Average power spot market price higher in Nov–IEMOP
By Lenie Lectura @llectura
The average price of electricity in the Wholesale e lectricity Spot Market (W e SM) rose to P4.42 per kilowatt hour (kWh) during the billing period October 26 to November 25 from P4.39 per kWh a month earlier, the Independent e lectricity Market Operator of the Philippines (I e MOP) reported Tuesday.
The national average demand settled at 13,659 megawatts (MW), 2.2 percent lower than the 13,972MW registered last month. Supply also declined to 19,491MW, 2 percent lower than last month’s 19,897MW. Capacity from the power reserve market also went down to 2.040MW from 2.901MW. These figures resulted in margin falling to 3,793MW from 3,835MW.
“The margin narrowed slightly from 3,835 MW to 3,793 MW. This change in supply and demand dynamics contributed to a slight increase in the market price, rising from P4.39/kwh in October to P4.42/kWh in November 2024,” IEMOP said.
The operator of the WESM said that although both the system supply and demand decreased this month, its margin remained a factor in the price’s slight increase.
In computing the margin, IEMOP included the capacity of the reserve market.
The reserve market ushers in the trade of power reserves, or ancillary services, in the WESM. These can be immediately tapped in cases of sudden power interruptions.
“While the supply margin decrease is the main factor that we see, we also observed that while coal remained the largest contributor in the generation mix, its share decreased slightly from 60.3 percent in October to 58.1 percent in November,” IEMOP added.
Renewable energy sources, meanwhile, showed growth, with hydropower generation increasing, and solar and wind energy also contributing more. Solar generation grew from 292 gigawatt hours (GWh) to 336 GWh, while wind generation increased from
107 GWh to 120 GWh. In Luzon, spot prices rose 3.89 percent month on month to P4.24 per kWh. Supply on the grid fell 2.4 percent to 13,645MW. Demand also dropped 2.5 percent to 9,663MW.
The average electricity rate in the Visayas, meanwhile, fell 6 percent to P4.82 per kWh. Supply was down 4.6 percent to 2,394 MW. Demand during the period fell 1.6 percent to 1,971MW. Mindanao WESM prices declined
6.6 percent from a month earlier to P4.85 per kWh. Supply was up 1.3 percent to 3,453MW from 3,408MW while demand slightly went down to 2,030MW from 2,054 MW.
The WESM is a centralized venue for buyers and sellers to trade
electricity as a commodity where prices are determined based on actual demand and availability supply. It was created pursuant to Republic Act 9136, also known as the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001.
Banking&Finance
Marcos condones debt of 6,948 Davao farmers
By Jonathan L. Mayuga @jonlmayuga
RESIDENT Ferdinand R. Mar-
Pcos Jr. distributed 9,058 “Certificates of Condonation with Release of Mortgage” to 6,948 agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) in a ceremony held at Panabo Municipal Gym, Panabo City, Davao del Norte, on December 5, 2024.
The certificates of condonation cover a total of about 10,181 hectares of land in Davao Region covered by the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (Carp).
Elizabeth Ogabang, 55, one of the recipients from Panabo City, received a Certificate of Land Ownership Award (CLOA) covering one hectare. With the condonation, her debt amounting to P385,000 is effectively removed. Ogabang said she was able to pay the loan before their cooperative was disbanded. She expressed gratitude to Marcos.
The Marcos administration is continuing its efforts to provide farmers with projects to make their farms productive and stabilize the agricultural sector.
Marcos was quoted in a statement that the distribution of the certificate of condonation “ay bahagi ng pagpapatupad ng New Agrarian Emancipation Act.”
“Ang programang ito ay naglalayong gawing ganap na tagapagmay-ari ng inyong mga sinasaka,” the president
said. “Ibig sabihin, wala na po kayong iisiping na babayarang amortisasyon, interes at iba pang mga surcharge. Sa madaling salita, lahat ng inyong utang ay burado na.”
From 9,058 Certificates of Condonation, Marcos said the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) distributed a total of 2,337 condonation certificates in Davao del Norte involving nearly 2,078 hectares benefitting 1,731 ARBs and condoning P195.744 million of loans. In Davao de Oro, about 4,901 Certificates of Condonation were issued covering 5,030.7986 hectares benefiting 3,614 ARBs and condoning P256.130 million of loans. While in Davao Oriental 1,820 condonation certificates were issued involving 3,072.3839 hectares benefitting 1,606 ARBs and erasing a total of P75.819 million of debts. Marcos said the condonation certificates for the provinces of Davao del Sur, Davao Occidental, and Davao City are scheduled to be distributed before the year ends. During the event, the President and DAR Secretary Conrado M. Estrella III also distributed 672 electronic land titles (e-titles) to 465 ARBs under the “Support to Parcelization of Lands for Individual Titling” project covering 467 hectares in Davao del Norte and Davao del Sur. While 144 regular CLOAs were distributed to 142 ARBs covering 250 hectares across the region.
Collaboration for sustainability
THE Philippine Council of Associations and Association Executives (PCAAE) recently concluded its 12th annual summit which was unique in two ways: it was the first time it had collaborated with another membership organization, the SustainablePH, and the topic coverage was broader and the audience diverse. SustainablePH (SPH) focuses on promoting sustainability across all sectors of society by encouraging the adoption of environmentally responsible practices, advocating for policy changes, and engaging communities in sustainability initiatives.
The joint summit, themed “Collectively Driving Sustainable Impact,” brought together sustainability leaders in the business and association sectors to share their experiences and best practices on sustainable projects and initiatives.
Representation from the business sector included a diverse industry portfolio of energy, land development, mining, chemical, gas, household products, financial services and investments while association sector representatives came from foundations, agriculture, cooperatives, women organizations, real estate, retail, franchising, HR education, development banking, and MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions) organizers and suppliers.
The event had three essential elements: collaboration, knowledge exchange, and recognition. There were five sessions on organizational direction, initiatives, and case studies on sustainability that were presented and discussed in plenary.
It was not only SPH that PCAAE collaborated with in designing, developing, and implementing the summit; it also worked with the League of Corporate Foundations and the Philippine Association of Convention and Exhibition Organizers and Suppliers in coming up with session content on corporate social responsibility and sustainable events, respectively.
The event also shone a spotlight on the achievements of PCAAE and SPH members which were recognized through the “ANG SUSI” Awards and Sustainability Leadership Awards, respectively.
These aspects of sustainability pervaded during the summit: 1. Adaptation refers to making changes to live with the effects of environmental challenges by focus-
PHL, EU eye loans to stir up ‘green’ economy investment
By Reine Juvierre Alberto @reine_alberto
THE Philippine government and the European Union (EU) are looking into loan financing with EU grants and guarantees to spur investments in the “green economy,” according to the Department of Finance (DOF).
This was the gist of the “Fourth Meeting of the Sub-Committee on Development Cooperation under the EU-Philippines Partnership and Cooperation Agreement” on November 25, a statement by the DOF revealed. The meeting, co-chaired by Inter-
national Finance Group (IFG) Undersecretary Joven Z. Balbosa, discussed prospective loan financing in green economy investments, read a statement the DOF issued last Thursday. The DOF said participants to the meeting eye tapping the European
Insular Life acquires PHL business of Generali Grp
Iing on reducing vulnerability and increasing resilience to changes already happening or are expected to happen. Examples of adaptation are building flood defenses in vulnerable areas to rising sea levels, designing drought-resistant crops to maintain food security, and developing early-warning systems for extreme weather events like hurricanes or heatwaves.
2. Practical solutions are sensible and straightforward measures that consider available resources and constraints. They often involve simple approaches rather than complex or theoretical ones. Examples are disaster preparedness and resilience initiatives such as water catchment and elevated seawall projects, construction of disaster-resilient buildings, financing renewable energy projects, issuance of green and blue bonds, and working with micro, small and medium enterprises along their supply chains.
3. Collective action means people, groups, organizations, or governments working together to solve environmental, social, and economic challenges. It recognizes that many sustainability issues, like climate change or resource depletion, are too big for any one person or group to tackle alone. By combining efforts, resources, and ideas, collective action can lead to more effective and impactful solutions. By bringing together diverse stakeholders, fostering collaboration, and leveraging their collective influence, associations are uniquely positioned to address the complex challenges of sustainability. Their work not only leads to immediate benefits but also paves the way for a more sustainable and equitable future. The recent PCAAE-SPH summit proved that sustainability is a shared responsibility and is about working together toward a common goal for a healthier planet and society.
Octavio Peralta is founder and volunteer CEO of the Philippine Council of Associations and Association Executives, the “association of associations.” The views he expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of the BusinessMirror. E-mail: bobby@ pcaae.org.
TALIAN insurer Assicurazioni
Generali S.p.A. (Generali Group) has exited the insurance sector in the Philippines after having sold its 100-percent stake in Generali Life Assurance Philippines, Inc. to The Insular Life Assurance Co. Ltd.
A statement issued late Wednesday evening by Insular Life read that the firm expects the acquisition would be completed in the first half of 2025, subject to necessary regulatory approvals.
Insular Life expects the acquisition would enable the insurer to capitalize on the combined expertise of both organizations to provide “world-class” insurance solutions and services to its policyholders and stakeholders.
The firm added the purchase will also bring in “key business synergies, reinforce distribution strength and expand the company’s end-to-end corporate product suite.”
Insular Life Executive Chairman Nina D. Aguas said the acquisition of the shares highlights the company’s
FILIPINO gifting traditions and the desire to upgrade gadgets will fuel a surge in credit card use in the last quarter of the year, according to the Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC).
In a statement, the RCBC said it expects a 50-percent increase in credit card purchases, particularly for toys and hobbies, electronics, and clothing in department stores.
RCBC Bankard Services Corp. (RCBC Credit Cards) President Arniel Vincent B. Ong also expects that spending on travel, groceries, and restaurants will increase as families and friends gather to celebrate the extended holiday season.
“Historically, the highest spending occurs during the last quarter of the year. Last year, the increase in spending for the fourth quarter compared to the third quarter was nearly 20 percent,” Ong said.
The RCBC executive said credit card use among its current and new cardholders have increased. In the third quarter, the over 1.2 million RCBC cards have increased the bank’s billings issued by 43 percent year on year.
In order to help their customers maximize their RCBC card this season, the bank has partnered with top establishments to offer zero percent installment plans, including “Buy Now Pay Later” options.
It also offered special deals
financial foundation, equity position and strong risk-based capital.
“This acquisition is a proud moment for InLife as it demonstrates our capability and resolve to further expand and innovate while remaining steadfast to our mission of serving the insuring public,” Aguas was quoted in the statement as saying.
“As a homegrown company acquiring a foreign entity, we see this as a strategic step to cement our position as a leader in the life insurance industry. Moving forward, InLife is committed to scaling new heights in delivering exceptional value to our policyholders and the communities we serve,” she added.
A December 4 statement by the Generali Group said the disposal of its stake in its Philippine business would generate an “immaterial impact” on Generali’s Solvency II position and a capital loss of about €20 million after taxes and minorities with no impact on the adjusted net result. Reine Juvierre Alberto
Investment Bank (EIB) and other European Development Finance Institutions (EDFIs). They also tinkered with the idea of possible cooperation with multilateral banks, such as the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
On the sidelines of the meeting, Balbosa and EU Ambassador to the Philippines Massimo Santoro talked about a proposed partnership on green, energy and connectivity initiatives under the Team Europe initiative, which will be co-financed by the Agence Francaise de Développement, KfW Development Bank and the EIB, according to the DOF.
Future cooperation on the sustainable use of critical raw materials and green finance was also explored by the Philippines and EU.
During the meeting, both parties reaffirmed that the green economy, digital transformation, peace and
good governance remain the key priority areas for cooperation and fully significant in the next three years. Moreover, the Sub-Committee reviewed the ongoing cooperation programs, focused on the Mindanao peace process and good governance, and the green and digital economy.
“Both parties confirmed their mutual commitment to the continued and strengthened implementation of the EU’s development programmes in line with the priorities of the Philippine Government,” the DOF said. The relevance of EU’s long-term support for the peace process and the socio-economic development of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and Mindanao at large, as well as the crucial role of civil society in the implementation of these programs were also underscored, the DOF said through the statement.
‘Public investments in infra to boost financial inclusion’
By Cai U. Ordinario @caiordinario
ALLOWING more Filipinos to bank or access financial services require more than just the aggressive expansion of branches, according to BDO Network Bank Inc. (BDONB), the rural bank subsidiary of BDO Unibank Inc. BDONB President Jesus Antonio S. Itchon said public investments in infrastructure, particularly digital connectivity and power, are needed to ensure that branches of banks and other financial institutions can properly operate.
Itchon said based on their experience, even if BDONB is located or has a branch in places like Siargao, power outages and poor internet connectivity will disrupt their operations, preventing their customers from performing financial transactions.
“I think we have about 40 or so locations where we have to connect through Starlink; because there’s no landline, there’s no mobile. So maraming pa rin tayong mga gano’n,” Itchon said.
“(In) Siargao, we have two branches. Do you know that today, it’s been day three now, island-wide blackout. Kawawa sila. Yung submarine power cable naputol,” he added.
Itchon said many locations nationwide are underserved by banks because they are also underserved in terms of internet, cellular signal and utilities such as electricity.
through its “Spend and Get” promotions, where cardholders receive free items or discounts with their purchases at partner establishments nationwide.
“Our ‘Spend Anywhere’ promotion enable cardholders to earn cash rebates for domestic and international spending on top of the generous, no-cap rewards points they earn for their purchases,” Ong said.
RCBC Credit Cards also run online and onsite travel fairs, allowing cardholders to purchase travel tickets with airlines and travel agency partners at exclusive rates.
The bank aims to enhance the RCBC World Mastercard this December by improving its rewards program and lifestyle privileges, while the bank refreshed the benefits for its co-branded card with AirAsia.
Cardholders will now earn more AirAsia points for their spending and enjoy an all-in foreign exchange conversion fee of only 2.5 percent.
The bank recently launched RCBC Pay, allowing RCBC Mastercard card holders with NFC-enabled Android phones to pay for their purchases simply by tapping their phones. This facility can be used in the Philippines and abroad, wherever contactless payments are accepted. Cai U. Ordinario
He said he was in Siargao recently because they had to bring power generation sets to support their operations, particularly ATMs. While there are over 50 ATMs on the island but only two BDO ATMs are working which to him was “paralyzing” for many consumers.
“The normal question is, in this
Sday and age of digital, bakit pa kayo nagkakaabalan na magbukas na mga branches sa mga Itogon, saka Cordillera, saka ano? Because the underserved communities are not just underserved by the banks. There’s no internet, there’s no wifi, there’s no cell signal. So, how can you depend on digital to do financial inclusion,” Itchon said. Apart from poor connectivity and power outages, Itchon said reaching more customers is also a challenge because there are insufficient number of buildings that can become the host of banks.
He said in the case of BDONB, some building owners are not keen on going through their processes in terms of leasing space. Itchon said it’s often “very informal” in terms of getting access to potential branch locations. Itchon said if BDONB intends to open a hundred branches, it needs to find 400 to 500 potential locations first. This allows them to choose from a pool of lessors because some would find it complicated to lease their properties to banks.
“We need to provide access; physical access. And we have to be there. Lalo na sila: if they cannot see you, how can they trust you?” Itchon said. In October, BDO posted a doubledigit growth in its net profit in the January to September period this year on the back of its intermediation and fee-based service businesses. In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange,
Octavio Peralta
Association World
Relationships
Minding your P’s and Q’s
IWAS slightly amused recently when I found out from a popular lawyer’s Instagram account that a left-leaning political party had filed a bill that aims to fine people “saving” parking slots for their vehicles.
You’ve seen them—someone goes down from a car, runs to a miraculously empty parking space in a crowded parking lot, and stands there until his or her companion is able to drive around to park their car in it, even if there are other vehicles already in the area, ready to park in that space.
Akbayan’s Mindful Parking Act (House Bill 11076) proposes to fine first-time offenders P2,000; then P5,000 and a six-month suspension of the driver’s license for second-time offenders; and P10,000 and the revocation of the driver’s license for the thirdtime offenders. Owners of carparks don’t escape punishment as well, as the measure proposed fines between P10,000 and P50,000 if they don’t implement the measure.
And my thought balloon went, “Really, Akbayan?” Of all the problems we are saddled with—poor infrastructure, traffic jams, inadequate public transportation, hunger, poverty, and joblessness—the party which is usually in tune with such grave issues chooses to file a measure that affects only what?... 11 percent of the Philippine population! Has my admiration for this party been misplaced? (Senator Risa, anyare?)
I get that bad behavior in car parks may be growing, but I doubt that the problem has expanded such that a majority of Filipinos are losing sleep over it. I lose sleep just planning out what time exactly I have to leave my apartment in Quezon City so I can
get to an event in Pasay that I need to cover as part of my reportorial duties. Should I ride the MRT? Hire a private car or taxi via a TNVS app? Or maybe call a friend with whom I can hitch a ride?
I’m lucky that my schedule is more flexible than the average working person. But what of the over 2 million commuters in Metro Manila, many of them employees who have to get to their places of business or offices at 8 am or 9 am on the dot?
These parking space reservation incidents—and they are just that, singular events of rudeness that do not amount to a large-scale issue—stem of course from plainly the lack of good manners.You drive a car around, you don’t see an empty space, you move up to the next floors until you find one. That’s how everyone does it.
If looking for a parking space pisses you off, then go hire a private car or flag down a taxi, or—if you can afford it—get a driver. Having a friend or family member stand in the middle of a parking slot to reserve it is just not a best way to behave in polite society. Unfortunately, parking establishments aren’t constructed fast enough to accommodate the demand for slots. But that’s because more and more people are buying cars due to our inadequate mass transport system especially here in Metro Manila. Go to any developed economy—Singapore, Hong Kong, Bangkok, London, New York, etc.—and these have accessible and efficient mass transport systems, so people don’t need to buy motor vehicles. And while the Philippines is a now classified a middle-income, developing economy, our government and our people are hopelessly stuck with third-world thinking. Tsk tsk.
So maybe lawmakers can look to solving these basic issues first, so that maybe people wouldn’t behave so poorly in car parks.
Meanwhile, as I understand it, the subject of good manners and right conduct (GMRC) was supposed to have been enshrined in the Matatag school curriculum starting in 2020. But those days, we saw a President rambling and shooting off his mouth. Certainly a leader of the land cussing in public isn’t such a great example of civil discourse and proper social interaction. Let’s hope the reinforcement of
those GMRC lessons has improved since our current head of state is well-mannered in public.
I recognize that there are parents, out of guilt for being away from their kids for long hours, may lead to their tolerance of the sometimes crude behavior of their children. For instance, how many kids do you want to personally lecture when they start acting out in the supermarket and their parents appear helpless, or, worse, don’t do anything? (I hold my tongue, of course, since it may also be perceived as rude on my part to interfere in another family’s troubles.)
Honestly, I never understood the Filipino term “naglulupasay” until my own eyes came upon a kid rolling and screaming on the supermarket floor because his mom didn’t want to buy him the sweet treats he wanted. It is a real thing and I see these incidents happening more often.
Then again, bad behavior is also learned at home. Kids are a sponge and when they see their own parents acting inappropriately, they do the same.
“Monkey see, monkey do,” as the old saying goes. I know parents who let cellphones or iPads babysit their kids, as they themselves are wrapped up playing Candy Crush (still??!!) on their own cellphones, or doomscrolling as a way to supposedly relieve stress. Then they wonder why their kids don’t know how to interact socially with other children, or talk respectfully in public. The kids simply don’t know how.
Many parents today, due to extreme exhaustion from their stressful jobs, can also forget to teach their kids or keep up with the basic lessons on P’s and Q’s. Greet people “good morning/afternoon/ evening,” say “thank you” when someone has given a gift or done something nice for you, “be quiet and sit still when hearing Mass,” also “speak calmly when an adult addresses you,” or “try not to interrupt the adults when they are talking with each other unless absolutely necessary,” and “keep your elbows off the table when eating,” etc. These sound like basic etiquette rules from eons ago but believe me, manners still go a long way in social circles or, as I mentioned above, in public spaces.
Respect your elders. Be polite. It’s important to love yourself, but also to respect others and listen to their opinions. Good prescriptions for adults, too. ■
Building stronger and sustainable communities at Avida Grand Neighbor Day
was The Grand Reveal of each respective community’s entry for the Avida Upcycling Competition.
residents
lifestyle.” Chief among these events
seek to make it significant by inviting
Each community united to create a Christmas lantern using upcycled PET bottles and other recyclable materials. To determine the winning designs, Avida Land enlisted a panel of esteemed judges who evaluated the entries. The judging panel included notable figures such as Dr. Carlomar Arcangel Daoana, an award-winning curator, art writer and published poet; Joshua Limon Palisoc, a talented young visual artist known for his metal sculptures and upcycling projects; Atty. Joseph Gonzales, a prominent art curator and the man behind one of the most progressive galleries in the Philippines; and Petes Gamboa from Ayala Land, head of innovation and design in the core residential business group. After much deliberation, three winners were finally determined.
Team Avida Verra Settings Vermosa was declared Grand Winner, followed by Team Avida Towers Riala in second
place, and Team Serin East Tagaytay in third place. Gerryringo L. Lariza, leader of the winning Avida Verra Settings Vermosa (AVSV) team, spoke about the inspiration behind their design.
“The AVSV Lantern 2024 landscape flower design aims to create a warm, inviting atmosphere that embodies the Filipino-Verra Christmas spirit. Using vibrant plastics, PET bottles and construction debris to create flowers, traditional decor and symbolic lighting elements, this display brings to life the theme of unity and family,” he says. “This design will make the AVSV Lantern 2024 a memorable and heartfelt celebration for the community, truly capturing the essence of ‘Isang Pamilya Tayo Ngayong Pasko.’” Of course, no Pinoy celebration is complete without a fest either. As Filipinos are known to gather and connect over food, so too did Avida residents share personal favorites with each other in the “A Taste of My Hometown” activity.
Eugenia Last
or exploring a creative pursuit will attract your interest, but before you get too excited, check out the offer’s validity. ★★★
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Choose your venues carefully. Refuse to let anyone talk you into something that isn’t worthwhile or that is overpriced. Research is your ally and will help protect you from scammers. Stick to who and what you know and trust, and socialize within your means. ★★★
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Take control and refuse to let anyone limit your achievements. It may be challenging to say no to someone you love, but it is necessary if what you’re being asked will hinder your reputation. Look for incentives and alternative ways to accommodate others without personal consequences. ★★★
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Travel, research and shop for unique gifts for loved ones. Visit old friends and catch up on gossip, but refrain from paying for someone else’s mistake or getting involved in their drama. A reunion will bring back fond memories and encourage you to revisit your dreams, hopes and wishes. ★★★★★
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Keep your emotions safely tucked away. Refuse to let anyone needle you into an argument or pressure you to make inappropriate changes. Concentrate on domestic issues, home improvements or preparing for the festive season. Discuss plans with someone special. ★★
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Play for keeps and enjoy the ride. Take pride in your work and put your energy where it promises the highest return. Refuse to let anyone take advantage of you or fold under pressure to participate in something that doesn’t matter to you. Trust your instincts. ★★★★
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Look for solid offers at a decent price. Be quick to take a pass if something doesn’t feel right. Secure your financial position and spend only on necessities. You can’t buy love or give in to someone’s power of persuasion. A change of heart is apparent. ★★★
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Sit tight, wait, watch and see what unfolds. If you refuse to let your emotions tangle in someone else’s dilemma, you can dodge a mishap. Let your intelligence lead the way and offer suggestions instead of your
PISCES
Show BusinessMirror
Jude Law, Nicholas Hoult lead thriller about the real FBI manhunt for a white supremacist leader
PROBLEMATIC HUSBAND
WHO is the famous personality who is not liked by his wife’s siblings? According to sources, the reason why they don’t like him is because he is not nice to them. Aside from that, they discovered that he creepily likes posts of young girls in bikinis on social media. It’s unclear whether he messages them and makes a move but the siblings are sure that he likes their photos. The girls are of legal age but they’re barely out of their teens. The siblings also don’t like the guy because he is a misogynist. They never liked him from the beginning and were wary of him but their sister was in love with the guy so they could not do anything. During an event, the siblings were overheard saying that their brother-in-law also doesn’t like them because they aren’t rich enough.
NEW ROMANCE
HOW true is the rumor that the ex-partner of a recently married actor is now the girlfriend of the ex-husband of a socialite? What a convoluted connection! The ex-partner of the actor is a very beautiful girl who has always been involved with men who are considered red flags. This new guy in her life is a big red flag. His separation from his ex-wife was not amicable at all. He is also way older than the beautiful girl. If there’s one thing you should know about the socialite’s ex-husband, it’s that he likes them young. The socialite is way younger than him.
SUCCESSFUL STARLET
SHE used to be a starlet before she became involved with a powerful man. She’s always had a dream to make it big in showbusiness. She then met the powerful guy who swept her off her feet. What happened next is that the starlet suddenly started showing off very expensive handbags, some worth millions of pesos, and jewelry. People speculate that these bags are gifts from her boyfriend. She has also traveled to different countries and she shares her blessings with friends and family. She is still a starlet but one with many projects as many people want to be in her good graces.
IS HE A
CHEATER?
ANOTHER red flag is the inactive actor who allegedly cheated on his beautiful wife who was pregnant at the time. If this is true, it’s very out of character for him because while he has dumped some of his girlfriends in the past for other women, he did not two-time them. It’s also surprising because everybody knows how much he loves his wife. If it is true that he cheated, it’s sad because their relationship is envied in showbiz circles. Their coupling surprised everyone as it was a whirlwind courtship. He defied many odds to win her heart.
FBy Lindsey Bahr The Associated Press
ORTY years ago, on December 8, 1984, one of the largest manhunts in FBI history came to an explosive end on Whidbey Island in Puget Sound. The person they were after was Robert Jay Mathews, the leader of a white supremacist group committing armed robberies to finance plans to overthrow the government. The standoff lasted more than 30 hours.
It’s a dramatic episode in history that’s chronicled in the new film The Order, in theaters Friday, a 1970s-styled thriller starring Jude Law as an FBI agent who connects the dots of the violent crimes arising in the Pacific Northwest and Nicholas Hoult as the enigmatic Mathews. The group, responsible for the murder of Jewish radio talk show host Alan Berg, and that infamous showdown, also continues to resonate with some on the far right who make pilgrimages to Whidbey Island this time of year for “Martyr’s Day.”
Neither the English stars nor the Australian director Justin Kurzel were familiar with the history of the group when they first read Zach Baylin’s script, based on Kevin Flynn and Gary Gerhardt’s nonfiction book The Silent Brotherhood. But it felt full of potential for an entertaining, complex movie, with car chases, bank heists, shootouts and pathos.
“It just reminded me of the great old heist films from the 1970s, with a Sidney Lumet, William Friedkin kind of feel about it,” Kurzel said. “Even though it’s a period film, it’s so incredibly present and sort of dangerously still relevant.”
That relevance would soon become even clearer.
Three months after Kurzel got the script, he watched the Capitol riot unfold on January 6, 2020, and spotted someone holding a copy of The Turner Diaries, one of Mathews’ major inspirations. And yet it would be an uphill battle to get the film both made and into theaters, now a semi-miracle for an independent production.
“It’s always been a battle to get this kind of film made. You really need to find champions for it,” said Law, who also signed on to produce with his company Riff Raff. “The historical story is all wrapped up in this film in a genre. It’s got a very crowd-pleasing energy to it. It’s edge of your seat, cat and mouse. It harkens back to those incredibly successful films in the 1970s and 1980s that people would go to and be seen as kind of blockbusters ...it’s funny that those films don’t always necessarily get the budget they should nowadays.”
One of Law’s favorite qualities of the script was that it was written with neither empathy for nor judgement of Mathews or his followers. But that’s not to say that bringing him to life was straightforward. For Hoult, it was a daunting task.
4
“To play a character like that, you have to try and understand them as best as possible,” Hoult said. “To do that, you have to figure out their way of living and also what made them the way they are. That means taking in a lot of the information that they would have taken in that shaped their ideology and beliefs, which is a horrible place to go to because it’s not stuff that you necessarily want filling your every day and to have those thoughts flowing through your head.”
But Hoult felt safe with Kurzel, a director he’d worked with on The True History of the Kelly Gang. He was also looking forward to collaborating with Law, though they weren’t exactly hanging out during the shoot. Kurzel asked Law and Hoult to stay away from one another until their characters meet in the film to add a dynamism to that scene.
“It was an adrenaline that you can’t fake,” Hoult said. Unbeknownst to Hoult, Kurzel also told Law to follow him around one day in Calgary—a tactile assignment that he knows sounds a little crazy but that sometimes unlocks real things for actors.
“It wasn’t hugely eventful,” Law laughed, but he saw its benefits. “Justin writes up for his actors manifestos and sets them tasks. He’s not precious about it. He says, do it or don’t do it. I think we both found them really interesting and really helpful ways
in to just kind of embodying these people that you’ve got to become.”
As with all independently made films, they didn’t always have the time or money they would have liked, but they made it work.
“Each bank heist or armored truck robbery was basically done in a day,” Hoult said. “The speed you’re going and the frantic energy of that is helpful for creating what ends up on the screen, the chaos of that.” And up until the last minute, they were even contemplating rewriting the famous final showdown. There was a total fire ban in Alberta because of wildfires, but it lifted just in time.
“We were very lucky,” Kurzel said of the showstopper moment.
The film premiered earlier this year at the Venice Film Festival and has since played at several others, which has allowed everyone the rare privilege of seeing many responses to what they’ve made. And it’s been overwhelmingly positive.
“This has happened before, that you make something you believe in, you love it and it just disappears or no one gets it. And you realize so much of it has to do with timing and impact,” Law said. “But it feels like people really appreciate what we’ve tried to do, and they really get it.” n
new Tagalog-dubbed shows you need to watch on Viu
THE premier streaming platform for Asian media, Viu (www.viu.com) has four new Tagalog-dubbed Korean and Chinese series now streaming.From romance dramas to thrillers, these highly anticipated TV shows have garnered praise from Filipino fans and viewers around the world. One of the reasons is that the top-quality dubbing captures the essence of the stories and gives them a fresh Filipino flair. Catch these Tagalog-dubbed shows on Viu this month:
n ‘LOVELY RUNNER.’ Based on a popular webtoon, Lovely Runner is a time-
traveling drama starring Byeon Woo-seok and Kim Hye-yoon.
The show follows Im Sol (Kim), who is a super fan of celebrity Ryu Sun-jae (Byeon), as she travels 15 years back in time to try and change her idol’s destiny and prevent his untimely death. Lovely Runner will make you laugh, cry and fawn over this unique love story.
n ‘PYRAMID GAME.’ What would you do if your high school had a brutal ranking system? Pyramid Game shows just how scary this could be. The thriller title follows Sung Su-ji (played by Kim Ji-yeon), who’s
Kim Atienza renews contract with GMA Network
a new transfer at Baekyeon Girls’ High School and has the bad luck of scoring zero in the ranking system. She now has to fight through the bullying and violence to reach the top of the pyramid, and hopefully destroy the game altogether.
n ‘MY BOSS.’ Starring Zhang Ruonan and Chen Xingxu, My Boss is a romantic comedy that takes place in a prestigious law firm in China.
n ‘HIGH SCHOOL RETURN OF A GANGSTER.’ This Korean drama follows a gangster named Kim Deuk-pal (played by Lee Seo-jin), whose spirit accidentally possesses an 18-year-old boy named Song Yi-heon (played by Yoon Chan-young) to stop him from taking his own life.
Due to this strange event, Deuk-pal becomes trapped inside Yi-heon, giving the gangster the chance to experience high school for the first time and also to get back at his bullies.
The main character Cheng Yao (Zhang) is an aspiring lawyer who is working hard to prove herself to her colleagues, especially the head of the firm, Qian Heng (Chen). If you’re looking for a lighthearted workplace romcom, let My Boss give you that fix.
PHOTO BY ANTONIO GUILLEM ON DREAMSTIME
Jollibee Group Wins Corporate Governance Award for the Third Consecutive Year
THE Jollibee Group has been awarded the 1-Golden Arrow Recognition from the Institute of Corporate Directors (ICD) for the third consecutive year, reinforcing its reputation for transparency, accountability, and strong governance practices. The recognition, presented during the recent Golden Arrow Awards, highlights the company’s continued commitment to upholding the highest standards in ethical leadership and corporate responsibility.
“Receiving this award for the third year in a row reflects the Jollibee Group’s dedication to doing business the right way—responsibly, transparently, and with integrity. It also affirms our commitment to corporate governance and sustainability, as we continue our journey towards becoming one of the top five restaurant companies in the world,” said Jollibee Group Global Chief Legal, Ethics and Compliance Officer Atty. Valerie Feria Amante.
The Golden Arrow Awards evaluates publicly listed companies across the region based on their adherence to corporate governance principles measured through the ASEAN Corporate Governance Scorecard (ACGS). Companies like Jollibee Group that earn a score of 80 points or higher are awarded the prestigious Golden Arrow, signifying their conformance with both the Philippine Code of Corporate Governance and international best practices.
The ACGS measures corporate governance performance across several key areas, including shareholder rights, equitable treatment of stakeholders, transparency, and the board’s role in strategic leadership and oversight. The scorecard’s goal is to raise the bar for governance standards in the Philippines and help attract longterm investment by showcasing wellgoverned companies.
VMMC inaugurates new MAGITING ‘70 Wellness Wing with Newport World Resorts
NEWPORT World Resorts joined government officials and other key stakeholders in celebrating the completion of MAGITING ‘70 Wellness Wing, the newest annex of Veterans Memorial Medical Center (VMMC), dedicated to veterans and retirees of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
Inaugurated on Monday, November 18, 2024, the health and wellness facility is a legacy project of Philippine Military Academy Magiting Class of 1970 made possible through the funding support of Newport World Resorts, Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation licensees, and other donors. As one of the project’s major donors, the country’s pioneer integrated resort was honored with a plaque of recognition during the event.
Newport World Resorts President and CEO Nilo Thaddeus Rodriguez emphasized the integrated resort’s commitment to nation-building. “We believe that true excellence in service is not just about what we do, but how we do it—with care, with compassion, and with the aim of delighting those we serve. As we celebrate the Magiting Wing, we also celebrate the power of collaboration, the strength of partnership, and our shared responsibility to contribute to the wellbeing of our community and nation.”
The MAGITING ‘70 Wellness Wing is
NEWPORT World Resorts President and CEO Nilo Thaddeus Rodriguez (center right) received the plaque of recognition of Newport World Resorts presented by Department of National Defense Senior Undersecretary Irineo C. Espino (center left), Department of National Defense Director Peter Paul Reuben G. Galvez, MD, MNSA, CESO III, (far left), and Philippine Military Academy Magiting Class of 1970 President Ret. LGen Ernesto G. Carolina (far right).
a two-storey building that houses 12 new private rooms inclusive of four suites, a nurse station, lounge area, hallway, storage, access ramp, and connecting bridge to the main hospital building. The newly-opened wing will provide excellent healthcare services to Filipino veterans. This development is part of Newport World Resorts’ growing portfolio of corporate social responsibility initiatives,
reaffirming its role as a stalwart partner of the government in nation-building.
For more information on Newport World Resorts, visit www.newportworldresorts. com and follow @newportworldresorts on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. Make the most of your visit and sign up for an Epic Membership or download the Epic Rewards Mobile App for free at the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.
Yamazato Manila Ushers in the New Year with Exquisite Osechi Ryori
YAMAZATO Manila, the renowned Japanese restaurant at Hotel Okura Manila, is excited to announce its exquisite Osechi Ryouri, a traditional Japanese New Year feast that symbolizes good luck and prosperity.
This year’s Osechi Ryori is a culinary masterpiece curated by Japanese Executive Chef Keiichiro Fujino, Japanese Specialty Sushi Chef Ikuma Sato, and Japanese Specialty Teppan Chef Katsuji Kato. The meticulously crafted dishes, presented in elegant jubako boxes, feature a harmonious blend of flavors and textures.
The Osechi Ryouri is a culinary masterpiece in three tiers: First Tier – A vibrant collection of sweet and savory delicacies such as gold-leaftopped black beans, miso-marinated herring roe, candied sardines, and soy-marinated caviar. Each item is chosen for its symbolic significance, from prosperity to longevity.
Second Tier –A celebration of the ocean’s bounty and earthy flavors, featuring simmered octopus, abalone with dashi, grilled yellowtail, and a medley of seasonal vegetables like lotus root and bamboo shoot.
Third Tier – A fusion of premium teppanyaki offerings such as Kumamoto F1 tenderloin tataki, Miyazaki A5 sirloin, and Saga A4 minced cutlet. This tier also includes chirashi sushi and vibrant ball-shaped sushi, showcasing the finest seasonal fish.
To complete the festive experience, each Osechi Ryori set includes a complimentary bottle of Yamazato Sake, an exclusive touch to enhance your celebration.
CThis exclusive Osechi Ryouri set is available for P28,600++ (P31,365.52 nett). Due to its meticulous preparation and the use of premium ingredients, only a limited number of sets will be offered. Guests are encouraged to reserve early. Orders will be confirmed by the Yamazato Manila team upon providing your contact details. The deadline for orders will be on December 15, 2024. For more information about the Osechi Ryouri you may visit the Hotel Okura Manila website at https://www. hotelokuramanila.com/offers/new-year-osechi. Celebrate the New Year with a feast that embodies hope, prosperity, and the spirit of renewal. Delight your loved ones with the tradition and elegance of Yamazato Manila’s Osechi Ryouri.
For reservations and inquiries, please contact +63 917 818 9868 or email us at yamazato.service@hotelokuramanila.com. You may also book your tables online at https://bit.ly/ReserveATable-Yamazato.
ELEBRATED Filipino designer Happy Andrada captivated audiences with a striking Filipiniana collection at the Pinoy Playlist Music Festival 2024. Held at the BGC Art Center, her runway presentation featured a mesmerizing fusion of tradition and modernity, showcasing 32 pieces that honor the Philippines’ rich textile heritage while reimagining the iconic Filipiniana style for today’s global stage. Andrada’s collection was a vibrant tribute to the diverse regions of the Philippines. Using fabrics like T’nalak, Pina Silk, Knotted Pina, Inaul, Abel Ilcoco, Yakan, Jusi, and Pina Callado, she infused each piece with intricate embroidery and avant-garde tailoring. The designs reflected the designer’s commitment to preserving Filipino artistry while pushing the boundaries of contemporary fashion. Highlights from the collection included “The West Philippine Sea”, which was also featured in the Fashion Art Biennale in Seoul, Korea last September. Each garment in the collection reflected Andrada’s dedication to the craftsmanship of traditional Filipino fabrics and textures, while offering a fresh, global perspective. Guests were treated to a visually stunning experience as they watched the garments come to life on the runway, set to the powerful rhythms and enchanting vocals of Anima Tierra. The world music collective’s performance elevated the fashion
show, infusing it with cultural depth and transforming the runway into a dynamic, immersive experience.
“I am truly honored to be a part of the Pinoy Playlist Music Festival,” said Happy Andrada. “This event celebrates the best of Filipino culture, and it’s a privilege to share my vision of modern Filipiniana with such a passionate audience.”
The fashion show was a key highlight of PPMF 2024, which ran from November 15 to 17, 2024 (though the last day was cancelled due to Typhoon Pepito). Now in its 7th year, the festival is renowned for its large-scale celebration of original Filipino music across generations and genres. Curated by National Artist for Music Maestro Ryan Cayabyab, Moy Ortiz, Noel Ferrer, and Maribel Garcia, this year’s festival featured over 300 artists and 50 performances, from soloists to orchestras, highlighting the rich diversity of Filipino musical artistry.
The show, directed by Raymund Seranillo is also made possible with the partnership of Laura Mercier for Hair and Make up, Accessories by Farah Abu, H&T Wine Gallery, Happy Living and Leo Encinares Jr. Happy Andrada offers Bespoke creations and has her ready to wear outfits available at Fashion Art Atelier located in 24 K-D corner K-1st, 11th Jamboree Extension, Quezon City . Visit www.happyandrada.com and follow https://www. instagram.com/happyandrada/ to know more.
ATTY. Vem King, Jollibee Group’s Associate General Counsel, EMEAA, Corporate & Commercial Global, and Legal Business Partner Global and Philippines, (2nd from left), receives the Golden Arrow Award on behalf of the Company during the recently held ASEAN Corporate Governance Scorecard Awards by the Institute of Corporate Directors. This is
Happy Andrada standing proudly amidst her collection that celebrates traditional craftsmanship and artistry.
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Editor: Tet Andolong
Motoring
ISUZU INAUGURATES BULACAN IOS DEALERSHIP
Story & photos
by Randy S. Peregrino
AFTER a series of IOS dealership openings in the Visayas region, Isuzu Philippines Corporation (IPC) has recently inaugurated its latest Bulacan Isuzu Outlet Standard (IOS) dealership. IPC claims that the latest IOS dealership sets a new benchmark for innovation and sustainability in its nationwide dealer network. Operated by longtime Isuzu dealer principal BM Domingo Motor Sales, Inc. (BMD), the new facility showcases cuttingedge design and environmentally conscious features to deliver an elevated customer experience.
Situated on an expansive 6,000-square-meter land, Isuzu Bulacan boasts an approximately 1,250 square meters showroom floor area. Aside from the unique rotating platform, the area can display up to six vehicles, including trucks, providing a comprehensive and interactive view of Isuzu’s latest product lineup. Another standout feature is the dealership’s service shop, catering to the needs of both individual and fleet customers in the province. There are 20 service bays, nine exclusively dedicated to trucks, ensuring efficient and reliable aftersales service for Isuzu’s growing customer base.
“Bulacan holds a strategic position just north of Metro Manila, making it a vital market for Isuzu with its booming economic activity driven by its proximity to the metro and major infrastructure projects like the upcoming airport,” said IPC
president Tetsuya Fujita. “As the region’s industries continue to grow, so does the demand for reliable transportation solutions. With the introduction of this new IOS dealership, we aim to strengthen
SPECTACULAR!
THERE is only one word that describes it best:
SPECTACULAR! I refer to the adulation being heaped on the much-applauded arrival of the next generation Tamaraw, once the country’s most popular, most admired and most loved motorized “beast of burden” from the Seventies to 2002 or thereabouts. Spectacular because the All-New
Tamaraw—why it’s been phased out has remained a puzzle to this day among motoring buffs—will be unveiled today, December 6, not just in one location, or two locations or even three locations at that but— believe it or not—in eight locations from Luzon, Visayas to Mindanao. All happening simultaneously! If that’s not spectacular enough, what is?
Even a vehicle launch of any brand, any model, any muscle, staged in two venues hasn’t even been done yet, for Chrissakes! Not on Philippine soil, mind you. And, holy smokes, this Tamaraw reintroduction is harnessing eight locations on our home shores, my golly. Unprecedented! Ain’t that cool?
The grandest launch-venue today for this brand-new Tamaraw will be at Glorietta-Makati City, with the seven other staging sites set all at the same time at Mall of Asia Arena-Pasay City, TrinomaQuezon City, Ayala Malls/SolenadSta. Rosa City, Laguna; SM CitySan Fernando, Pampanga; SM-Cebu City, SM Lanang Premiere-Davao City; and, Limketkai CenterCagayan de Oro City.
Where in the world can you find such a phenomenon?
This is more than a World Record, an Olympic moment! Is the Guinness Book of World Records even ready for this?
Name me a country that has ever done it and I’ll tell you the secret on why Jesus walked on water.
Name me a carmaker from anywhere in the world launching its latest model on two places simultaneously, and I’ll squeal that
our presence and enhance our brand image in this key area,” he added.
Embodying IPC’s commitment to environmental sustainability, Isuzu Bulacan is a green dealership. The facility installed 200 solar panels capable of generating up to 110 kWh of electricity. This renewable energy system offsets 70-80 percent of the facility’s monthly electricity consumption, reducing its carbon footprint significantly while achieving substantial operational savings.
“This new facility is designed to be one of the most advanced and customer-centric dealerships in the Isuzu dealer network. It aligns with our vision to innovate not just in our vehicles but also in how we operate and serve our customers sustainably,” Fujita explained.
Isuzu Bulacan IOS is poised to support the region’s thriving industries by providing highquality vehicles, particularly Isuzu’s durable trucks and D-MAX pickups, tailored to meet the diverse needs of businesses and individuals. “We thank all our valued customers for trusting Isuzu and BMD Group over the years. With this new facility, we are committed to continue delivering excellent sales and aftersales service every step of the way,” said Isuzu Bulacan Branch Manager Karlo Domingo.
the parting of the Red Sea might be a myth.
But even before the laptop invention, the Tamaraw was already on the lips of every Filipino, motor buff or not.
The Tamaraw pickup became a household name with the advent of the Toyota Tamaraws (they were first known as the Toyota Comets) in the 1973 MICAA basketball tournament, winning one championship in that amateur league before proceeding to win nine titles in the professional Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) from 1975 till the team’s disbandment in 1984.
Dante Silverio, the former car racer aboard his midnight blue Toyota Celica, became the Tamaraws’ coach despite meager knowledge of the game.
With the extremely popular and talented Robert Jaworski as his
ISO Certification MEANWHILE , IPC also announced its recent achievement of the ISO 9001:2015 certification for its Quality Management System. The certificate was officially awarded by TÜV Rheinland in a formal ceremony on November 11, 2024, led by Fujita. The ISO 9001:2015 certification process involved an extensive company-wide audit conducted by TÜV Rheinland, a global leader in testing, inspection, and certification. The audit scrutinized IPC’s processes to ensure they meet the stringent requirements of the ISO 9001:2015 standards. The successful accreditation underscores
IPC’s dedication to continuous improvement and operational efficiency.
This recognition marks a significant milestone for IPC, highlighting its commitment to maintaining exceptional standards in quality management across all facets of its operations, including Administration, Manufacturing, Sales, and Aftersales service. “This certification is a testament to the collaborative efforts of our team members to uphold quality in our operations. By streamlining our processes, we enhance operational efficiency, allowing us to focus on delivering superior customer experiences,” said Fujita. The ceremony was graced by the presence of TÜV Rheinland Philippines’ Managing Director, Mr. Tristan Loveres, who commended IPC for its exemplary dedication to quality and process optimization. “Achieving ISO 9001:2015 certification is no small feat. It reflects IPC’s commitment to adhering to the highest standards of quality management, which ultimately benefits both the company and its customers,” said Loveres.
As part of its corporate philosophy, “Your Responsible Partner,” IPC claims to continuously strive to enhance its processes for internal efficiency and better serve its customers nationwide. By adopting best practices and rigorous quality standards, IPC aims to deliver top-tier business solutions that meet the evolving needs of its customers nationwide.
“Streamlining our internal processes enables us to focus on how we can provide the best business solutions to our customers. It is our commitment to continually offer excellent products and services in the years to come,” added Fujita.
team captain, Silverio won five of Toyota’s total haul of nine trophies, including the first two crowns of the PBA inaugurals in 1975.
Crispa thwarted Toyota’s bid for a third Conference title, in the process deflecting the Tamaraws’ dream of winning the league’s first ever Grand Slam in 1975. Crispa swept all three Conferences in 1976 to score the first PBA Grand Slam feat under the late coach Baby Dalupan.
Enough of Tamaraw basketball trivia.
Embracing the spotlight today in this one-of-a-kind Toyota spectacular are the four state-ofthe-art Tamaraw variants: One, Utility
and
THE newly inaugurated Isuzu Bulacan IOS dealership
(FROM left) IPC Executive vice president Shojiro Sakoda, IPC president Tetsuya Fujita, BMD Group vice president for Human Resource Benito Domingo Jr., BMD Group Executive vice president Dr. Zinnia Domingo-Perez, BMD Group vice president for Sales & Marketing Karlo Domingo, Plaridel Mayor Jocell Aimee Vistan-Casaje, and BMD Group Treasurer Rizalina Domingo-Mijares.
(FROM left) TÜV Rheinland Philippines Area Sales Manager Isabel Tiu, TÜV Rheinland Philippines Managing Director Tristan Loveres, IPC president
Sakoda during
Volleyball fans in Visayas get treated with top-notch action
CEBU—known as the Queen City of the South—is set to pulse with excitement as the Premier Volleyball League brings its electrifying action to the Minglanilla Sports Complex in Cebu this Saturday.
Volleyball fans in the Visayas are in for a treat with thrilling matches showcasing some of the country’s top players.
Headlining the weekend are standouts Vanie Gandler (Cignal), Roma Mae Doromal (Capital1), Chiara Permentilla (Nxled), and Jho Maraguinot (Galeries Tower).
Adding a local flair are Cebu’s very own—Dimdim Pacres (Galeries Tower), Rica Rivera (Capital1), and Krich Macaslang (Nxled)—who are eager to perform in front of their home crowd.
Cebu has produced some of the best volleyball talents in the country,” PVL President Ricky Palou said.
“Bringing the PVL to Cebu is not
just about entertaining fans but also about inspiring the next generation of volleyball players in the region.”
The HD Spikers (3-0) will aim to keep their unbeaten streak alive as they take on the Nxled Chameleons (0-4) in the opener at 4 p.m.
L ater, the Capital1 Solar Spikers (1-3), fresh off their maiden win, will lock horns with the Galeries Tower Highrisers (0-4) at 6:30 p.m.
Undefeated Cignal—led by Gandler, Ces Molina and Dawn Catindig—will take on Nxled’s core of Macaslang, Permentilla and Lycha Ebon, who are still searching for their first win of the season.
C apital1, meanwhile, hopes to build on its momentum behind Doromal, Rivera, and Leila Cruz as they square off against a hungry Galeries Tower squad featuring Pacres, Maraguinot and France Ronquillo.
Tickets for the games are now available via TicketMax.
PHL overall champion in BIMP-EAGA Games
By Aldrin Quinto
PUERTO
PRINCESA
City—The Philippines retained its position at the summit of the official medal table as Delegation A earned 31 gold, 39 silver and 22 bronze medals in the 11th Brunei DarussalamIndonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East Asean Growth Area (BIMPEAGA) Friendship Games.
alaysia B had 17 gold, 16 silver and 19 bronze medals to finish in second place followed by Indonesia with 14 gold, eight silver and six bronze medals.
hilippines E had a 13-8-11 gold-silver-bronze haul for fourth place, while Philippines B won six events, had six runner-up finishes and 10 third-place results in the sportsfest that had competitions in swimming, athletics, badminton, archery, sepak takraw, pencak silat, esports and karatedo. op officials of the meet, including commissioner Walter Torres of the Philippine Sports Commission and Puerto Princesa City mayor Lucilo Bayron, led the
closing ceremonies on Thursday at the Ramon Mitra Sports Complex and the turnover of the event flag. Malaysia will next host the BIMPEAGA Friendship Games.
Brunei Darussalam clinched three gold, two silver and eight bronze medals, while Malaysia A had a 2-4-3 gold-silver-bronze haul. Philippines C had one gold, three silver and four bronze as Philippines
Madis too much for Indonesian foe in junior netfest
TOP seed Tennielle Madis clobbered Indonesia’s Joanne Lyn Hartono, 6-1, 6-1, Thursday to reach the girls’ singles quarterfinals of the Coca-Cola Philippine Tennis Association International Tennis Federation Juniors 2 at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center. The 17-year-old player from M’lang in North Cotabato will face sixth seed Naomi Hagi of Japan, who beat Pimmada Lim of Thailand, 6-2, 7-5. “It’s too hot today, but overall, I’m happy with the way I played,” said Madis, who trains at the Philippine Tennis Academy (PTA) founded by long-time sports patron Romy Chan. Madis competed at a J100 event in Hong Kong (November 26 to 30) and before that, she joined the two-leg J60 event in Changhua City in Chinese Taipei, winning the singles and doubles
with Steffi Marithe Aludo titles in the second leg last November 24. Chinese Taipei and Hong Kong have cooler temperatures, so she’s still adjusting to the weather here,” explained Southeast Asian Games medalist and former Davis Cupper Bobbie Angelo, who travels with Madis as PTA head coach. Madis is seeking a sixth singles title this year to add to her victories at the J30 Phinma Week 1 and 2 in Makati City in July and J60 events in Colombo (Sri Lanka) in September and Nonthaburi (Thailand) in October. S he also has three doubles titles with Aludo. Fourth seed Alexandra Cheishvili of Russia defeated Tarita Hobgsyok of Thailand, 6-1, 6-3, to secure a quarterfinal berth in the ITF Juniors J60 event supported by official ball
Technifibre.
The quarterfinalists in the boys
singles category are No. 1 Jay Lin Gibson (Canada), No. 2 Lin Hao-Yu (Chinese Taipei), No. 4 Luke Koh and Luke Jie Xi Ho (Singapore), No. 6 Miguel Iglupas (Philippines), No. 7 Koki Nara and Yoshito Oda (Japan) and Fu Wang Choi (Hong Kong).
TENIELLE MADIS is living up to her top seed billing advances to the girls’ singles quarterfinals.
PBy Doug Ferguson
The Associated Press
LAYERS must be assigned female at birth or have transitioned to female before going through male puberty to compete in Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) tournaments or the eight US Golf Association (USGA) championships for females under new gender policies published Wednesday. The policies, which begin in 2025, follow more than a year of study involving medicine, science, sport physiology and gender policy law. The updated policies would rule out eligibility for Hailey Davidson, who missed qualifying for the US Women’s Open this year by one shot and came up short in LPGA Q-school. Davidson, who turned 32 on Tuesday, began hormone treatments when she was in her early 20s in 2015 and in 2021 underwent genderaffirming surgery, which was required under the LPGA’s previous gender policy. She had won this year on a Florida mini-tour called NXXT Golf until the circuit announced in March that players had to be assigned female at birth.
“Can’t say I didn’t see this coming,” Davidson wrote Wednesday on an Instagram story. “Banned from the Epson and the LPGA. All the silence and people wanting to stay ‘neutral’ thanks for absolutely nothing. This happened because of all your silence.” By making it to the second stage of Q-school, Davidson would have had very limited status on the Epson Tour, the pathway to the LPGA. T he LPGA and USGA say their policies were geared toward being
D had a 1-2-10 haul. It was the first time the event was held since the 2018 edition in Brunei Darussalam as the Covid-19 pandemic a year later shut down sports.
The BIMP-EAGA Friendship Games also caps a run of three sports events in five weeks in this bustling trade hub after the International Canoe Federation Dragon Boat World Championships and the Batang Pinoy National Championships.
P hilip Adrian Sahagun of La Salle had a hand in five of Philippine Team A’s gold medals, going five for five in his events.
The Davaoeño tanker topped the boys’ 200-meter individual medley (two minutes, 13.52 seconds), the 100-m (1:00.82) and 200-m backstroke (2:14.38) and was part of the winning teams in the 4x100-m freestyle and 4x100-m medley.
University Athletic Association of the Philippines 2023 swimming MVP Quendy Fernandez, meanwhile, dominated for Philippines Team E. The Puerto Princesa lass and University of the Philippines star helped deliver five of the delegation’s 13 medals, winning the girls’ 50-m (30.22), 100m (1:07.21) and 200-m backstroke (2:27.62) and was a member of the winning 4x50-m medley and 4x50 freestyle squads.
The esports team of Philippines E also chipped in, rising from an early setback to win the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang title showdown with Philippines D, 3-1.
Indonesia’s campaign got a boost from its sepak takraw teams, winning the mens’ and women’s regu events over Philippine Team A.
Batang Pier prevails NorthPort’s Joshua Munzon—shown here being defended by Magnolia’s Jed Mendoza—waxes hot with 25 points, nine rebounds, five steals and three assists as the Batang Pier survive a vigorous last-ditch rally by the Hotshots for a 107-103 win on Wednesday night in the Philippine Basketball Association Commissioner’s Cup at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
inclusive of gender identities and expression while striving for equity in competition.
T he LPGA said its working group of experts advised that the effects of male puberty allowed for competitive advantages in golf compared with players who had not gone through puberty.
“Our policy is reflective of an extensive, science-based and inclusive approach,” said LPGA Commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan, who announced Monday that she is resigning in January. “The policy represents our continued commitment to ensuring that all feel welcome within our organization, while preserving the fairness and competitive
SENATOR Christopher “Bong” Go co-sponsored Senate Resolution No. 1245 earlier this week commending the national team for its remarkable achievements in the Ju-Jitsu International Federation (JJIF) World Championships held in Heraklion, Greece.
Chairperson of the Senate Committee on Sports, Go’s cosponsorship speech was formally inserted into the Senate records to underscore his support for Filipino athletes.
Primarily authored and sponsored by Senator Pia Cayetano, Go expressed his support for the resolution by recognizing the team’s hard work and dedication which brought honor and pride to the nation.
Go highlighted his admiration for young Filipino athletes, recalling his meeting with the Dojo Garage Deftac Greenhills Team, a group of young athletes aged 4 to 13 who recently won medals at the 2024 SJJIF World JiuJitsu Championships. In his message, Go emphasized that jiu-jitsu, like many sports, embodies values such as resilience, perseverance and respect—principles that align with Filipino culture.
“I recognize jiu-jitsu as a discipline that promotes resilience, perseverance and respect,” Go said. “These values are not only vital to sports but also deeply embedded in our Filipino identity.”
Go also lauded the efforts of the Jiu-Jitsu Federation of the Philippines (JJFP) in cultivating talent and promoting the sport as a means for personal and national development.
“The JJFP has consistently nurtured world-class athletes while fostering physical and mental growth among Filipinos,” he said. “Their dedication to the sport has contributed greatly to our country’s sports development.” An advocate for youth and sports development, Go reiterated his commitment to supporting athletes and fostering initiatives to uplift them.
As I always say, my office remains open to support our athletes,” he said. “Through my role as chairperson of the Committees on Sports and Youth, I will continue to push for measures that benefit our athletes and the younger generation.”
“At such a young age, these athletes have already honed their skills and brought honor to our nation. They exemplify the bright future of Philippine sports,” he shared.
“ Today, we honor our beloved athletes. Your sacrifices and dedication have brought immense pride to our country, and for that, we are forever grateful,” he said.
Go was instrumental in the establishment of the National Academy of Sports (NAS) through Republic Act No. 11470, a measure he co-authored and sponsored.
Located in New
equity of our elite competitions.” Mike Whan, the former LPGA commissioner and now CEO of the USGA, said it developed the updated policy independently and later
