BusinessMirror December 10, 2022

A broader look at today’s business ROTARY CLUB OF MANILA JOURNALISM AWARDS 2006 National Newspaper of the Year 2011 National Newspaper of the Year 2013 Business Newspaper of the Year 2017 Business Newspaper of the Year 2019 Business Newspaper of the Year 2021 Pro Patria Award PHILIPPINE STATISTICS AUTHORITY 2018 Data Champion www.businessmirror.com.ph n Saturday, December 10, 2022 Vol. 18 No. 59 P25.00 nationwide | 16 pages | 7 DAYS A WEEK

Mark V ISRAEL SHIPYARDS LTD. CC-BY-SA-3.0

SHALDAG

By Rex Anthony Naval

UGE Goliaths are known to end up dead after being hit by accurate slingshots made by small courageous and swift-footed Davids.

H

Th is comparison is very apt for the Philippine Navy’s (PN) newly acquired and commissioned fast attack interdiction craft-missiles (FAIC-Ms), which the naval leadership intends to use to protect the country’s porous maritime territories, a result of its archipelagic nature.

As you know, the Philippines’ geographic configuration is unique. It is characterized by complex and contested waters, porous borders and proximity to major regional sea lines. This archipelagic nature of our country therefore presents both opportunities and challenges to the Philippines’ maritime security,” PN Flag-Officer-in-Command Rear Admiral Toribio Adaci Jr. said during the commissioning of two FAIC-Ms on November 28.

The FAIC-Ms are also known as the “Acero” class gunboats in the PN service and based on the Shaldag Mark V, an Israeli-made, combat-proven, all-aluminium light and fast vessel with high payload capacity, providing exceptional maneuverability and seakeeping.

It has a high firepower-to-displacement ratio designed to operate in naval security missions and can efficiently protect exclusive economic zones and littoral waters.

The first two out of a batch of nine are named BRP Nestor Acero (PG-901) and BRP Lolinato To-ong (PG-902). “The two FAICs are specially designed to equip the Navy’s capability in addressing threats within this complex and unique archipelagic condition in a precise and swift manner,” Adaci said.

The Navy chief added that “quick intercept capabilities” of the FAIC-Ms—brought by its maximum speed of 40 knots—are ideal for “addressing current and emerging security threats.” These vessels are named after two Philippine Marine Corps heroes and Medal of Valor recipients—the late Private First Class Nestor Acero and the late 1st Lt. Lolinato To-ong.

‘Acero’-class capabilities

THESE 32-meter high-speed vessels are also equipped with remote

stabilized weapons, and shortrange missiles that are capable of delivering precision strikes against larger hostiles and high-value targets on land and sea.

Four of these FAIC-Ms will be armed with non-line-of-sight (NLOS) missiles with pinpoint accuracy and a range of 25 kilometers, while the other five will be armed with Typhoon-mounted 30mm main cannons and .50-caliber heavy machine guns.

These ships also have a displacement of 95 tons and a range of 1,000 nautical miles.

The acquisition of these FAICMs is among the 2019 projects approved by former President Rodrigo R. Duterte under the Horizon 2 List of the Armed Forces of the Philippines Modernization Program.

These nine FAIC-Ms were acquired by the Philippines from Israel Shipyards Ltd. for P10 billion.

The NLOS advantage DESPITE its relatively small size, Adaci said the FAIC-Ms can hit any target up to 32 nautical miles, thanks to its NLOS missiles.

It is designed for NLOS

“As you know, the Philippines’ geographic configuration is unique.missiles; if you recall we have the multipurpose attack craft [MPACs], which is fitted with a missile system and has a range of more or less eight kilometers, but these Shaldag Mark V, when fitted with this missile system, can have a range of approximately 32 kilometers,” he explained.

The PN chief was referring to the 12 MPAC units of the Navy, of which six are armed with the Spike-ER surface-to-surface missiles. Adaci said that the NLOS could hit anything as long as its target acquisition system is operating properly.

“It can be fired indirectly; even if the target is on the other side of the mountain, you can still hit the target as long as target acquisition is accurate,” he added.

Enhancing littoral defense MEANWHILE, PN spokesperson Commander Benjo Negranza said the acquisition of these ships is a boost to the Navy’s littoral defense capabilities. Littoral refers to the near shore that is part of a sea, lake, or river that is near a shore.

This acquisition aims to strengthen the country’s naval capability in terms of enhancing littoral defense and maritime interdiction operations as it will complement the previously acquired 12 MPACs of the PN,” he added.

Negranza also said the addition to the PN is a significant step forward in their ongoing capability

upgrade geared towards achieving a minimum defense posture.

He added that FAIC-Ms will be useful in defending vital choke points, key sea lines of communication, and littoral areas of the country where terrorist groups and other lawless elements operate. These ships are expected to replace the force of patrol killer medium (PKM) or medium-sized patrol craft.

Negranza said the FAIC-M acquisition program also represents a major leap in the country’s Self Reliant Defense Posture Program as the deal involves the transfer of technology that allows local manufacturing of the ships in the PN shipyard in Naval Station Pascual Ledesma, Cavite.

Earlier, then PN chief Vice Admiral Giovanni Carlo Bacordo said the FAIC-Ms will also give the Navy the capability to defend key sea lines of communications, such as the Mindoro, Balabac, Sibutu, Basilan Straits, against conventional threats.

15 more FAIC-Ms eyed ACCORDING to Adaci, there are plans to acquire 15 more Israelmade Shaldag Mark V missile boats, which are the basis of its Acero-class patrol gunboats. “We are planning to get 15 additional Acero-class gunboats [to beef up the] nine [now in the pipeline],” Adaci said.

The additional Acero-class

I don’t know the exact delivery dates next year but this shall be throughout [next year],” Adaci.

The last batch of three will

be built at the PN shipyard in the Naval Station Pascual Ledesma in Cavite, and is scheduled for 2024.

Adaci said Israel Shipyard Ltd. would help the PN rehabilitate the old shipyard and make it more modern and allow it to build these types of ships.

It is characterized by complex and contested waters, porous borders and proximity to major regional sea lines. This archipelagic nature of our country therefore presents both opportunities and challenges to the Philippines’ maritime security.”—Navy Flag-Officer-in-Command Rear Admiral Toribio Adaci Jr. PHILIPPINE NAVY

gunboats would help them meet their requirements in “patrolling the seas of the country.”

BRAND-NEW Israeli-made Acero-class Patrol Gunboats of the Philippine Navy, BRP Nestor Acero (PG901) and BRP Lolinato To-ong (PG902). PHILIPPINE NAVY

The Federal Reserve is deflating financial bubbles, without a crash

By Rich Miller Bloomberg

• The cryptocurrency market— once valued at $3 trillion—has shrunk by more than two-thirds.

Investor-favored technology stocks have tumbled by more than 50 percent.

• Red-hot housing prices are falling for the first time in 10 years. Most importantly—and surprisingly—all this is occurring without upending the financial system.

“It’s astonishing,” said Harvard University professor Jeremy Stein, who as a Fed governor from 2012 to 2014 paid special attention to financial stability issues. “If you told any one of us a year ago, ‘we’re going to have a bunch of 75 basispoint hikes,’ you’d have said, ‘Are you nuts? You’re going to blow up

the financial system.’”

Fed policymakers have long shied away from using monetary policy to address asset bubbles, saying interest-rate hikes are too blunt a tool for such a mission. But the current deflation in asset prices could help achieve the soft landing in the economy Chair Jerome Powell and his colleagues are seeking.

A broader financial blowup can’t be ruled out. But the current episode for now marks a sharp contrast with the bursting of the US property-price bubble that triggered a deep downturn from 2007 to 2009, and the tech-stock meltdown that helped push the economy into a mild recession in 2001.

Partly in recognition of the

risks—and the fact they’ve already raised interest rates a lot—Powell & Co. are primed to throttle back rate increases to 50 basis points next week, after four straight 75 basis-point moves.

Here’s how their campaign has helped affect asset markets so far: Housing cooldown, not meltdown ULTRA-LOW borrowing costs, along with a surge in demand for properties outside of urban centers during the pandemic, saw housing prices soar. Those are now coming down under the weight of a more-thandoubling in mortgage rates this year.

Financial reforms instituted after the financial crisis helped ensure that the latest housing cycle didn’t feature the kinds of loosening in credit standards seen in the early 2000s. The so-called Dodd-Frank measures have left banks much better capitalized, and much less leveraged than they were back then.

Banks are also awash in deposits, courtesy of the excess savings that Americans built up while holed up during the pandemic, said Wrightson ICAP LLC chief economist Lou Crandall.

This housing downturn is different from the 2008 crash,” Bloomberg chief US economist Anna Wong and colleague Eliza Winger said in a note. Mortgage credit quality is higher than it was then, they wrote.

W hile nonbank lenders—socalled shadow banks—have become a massive new source of credit in US housing in recent years, the mortgage market still has an effective backstop in the form of the nationalized financiers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

“Maybe we shouldn’t be surprised that housing isn’t more disruptive to the financial system—because we federalized it,” said former Fed official Vincent Reinhart, now chief economist at Dreyfus and Mellon.

Crypto collapse, contained MUCH of the speculative excess seen during the pandemic was centered on crypto. Luckily for the Fed and other regulators, that’s proved to be largely a self-enclosed ecosystem with the firms inside it mostly indebted to each other. A broader integration with the financial system might have made the downturn much more destabilizing.

“It wasn’t providing any services to the traditional financial

Harvard University professor Jeremy Stein, who as a Fed governor from 2012 to 2014 paid special attention to financial stability issues

system or the real economy,” said former Bank for International Settlements chief economist and Brandeis University professor Stephen Cecchetti, who likened the crypto market to a multiplayer online video game.

So yes, many players in the market have been hurt by the crypto crack-up, but the fallout elsewhere has been minimal.

Tech tumble, but no dot-com bust STOCKS of technology-sector firms that prospered during the era of pandemic lockdowns have also plunged, wiping out trillions of dollars in market capitalization. But the decline has been gradual, spread out over the course of the last year as Fed rates marched higher.

A nd the losses, while large, are a fraction of the scale seen in the bursting of the tech bubble at the start of the century. The Nasdaq Composite Index is down a little over 30 percent from its high reached last year, but that compares with an almost 80 percent crash two decades ago.

The broader stock market has held up even better, with the S&P 500 Index about 18 percent off of its record high hit in January.

“By and large equities aren’t leveraged,” Cecchetti said. “And the people that own them tend to be pretty well off.”

No all-clear THE full financial fallout from the Fed’s inflation-fighting crusade may not be evident quite yet. Not only are more rate hikes in the pipeline, but the central bank continues to shrink its balance sheet, through so-called quantitative tightening. The only other time the Fed conducted QT, it had to end the process sooner than expected, following bouts of market volatility.

Shocks can occur suddenly, as the recent blowup in the UK bond market showed, auguring caution.

And policymakers don’t have as much information as they’d like about what’s going on in the lessregulated shadow banking arena.

“That’s a problem,” former Fed Chair Ben Bernanke said in a lecture in Stockholm on Thursday marking his receipt of the Nobel Prize in Economics. While there’s been some increased regulation of the shadow banks, it’s “not nearly enough.”

One continuing source of worry is the $23.7-trillion market for US Treasuries, long thought to be the most liquid and stable in the world. Paradoxically, the DoddFrank-inspired rules have made the market more brittle by discouraging big banks from acting as intermediaries in the buying and selling of Treasury securities.

Given the potential for bigger financial pitfalls, Harvard’s Stein cautioned against taking too much comfort from the relative calm seen so far.

There’s also concern the financial damage from the central bank’s tightening campaign has been limited because investors in stocks and corporate bonds are clinging to the belief the Fed will quickly come to their rescue if markets suffer a deep dive.

W hile the Fed might “soften” its efforts to tighten credit if it were faced with a major financial disruption, such action would likely be temporary, said Stifel Financial Corp. chief economist Lindsey Piegza.

The Fed is hyper-focused on fighting inflation,” she said.

Former Fed Vice Chairman Alan Blinder is among those who are optimistic the US will get through the current cycle without undue financial carnage.

Though policymakers always have to worry about what they don’t know—especially the unknown unknowns—“I’m reasonably optimistic” a breakdown can be avoided, the Princeton University professor said.

THE Federal Reserve hasn’t had much success so far in wrestling down sky-high inflation, but its monetary tightening campaign is having a major impact in deflating asset bubbles that swelled during the pandemic.

NUTHAWUT SOMSUK DREAMSTIME.COM

“I

t’s astonishing. If you told any one of us a year ago, ‘we’re going to have a bunch of 75 basis-point hikes,’ you’d have said, ‘Are you nuts? You’re going to blow up the financial system.’”

Electricity bills to rise slightly in Dec as Meralco refund ends

By Lenie Lectura

ELECTRICITY bills this month will slightly go up by P0.3297 per kilowatt hour (kWh), bringing the overall rate for a typical household to P10.2769 per kWh from the previous month’s P9.9472 per kWh.

For residential customers consuming 200 kWh, this is equivalent to an increase of around P66 in their total electricity bill, according to the Manila Electric Company (Meralco).

This month’s overall rate increase was mainly due to the completion of a distributionrelated refund equivalent to P0.4669 per kWh for residential customers. There are still three ongoing refunds for residential customers, totaling P1.3340 per kWh, being implemented by Meralco that continue to to temper customers’ monthly bills. However, these are expected to be fully refunded by December 2022, January 2023 and May 2023, and the impact of the higher bills will subsequently be felt beginning June 2023.

For the next electricity bill, rates are expected to go higher because of the completion of one of the three refund orders and the result of the cessation of Meralco’s power supply agreement (PSA) with South Premiere Power Corp. (SPPC).

There is an expected overall impact of an additional P0.28 per kWh in the January 2023 bills. The suspension of the SMC contract will also most probably result in an upward adjustment...But we are expecting an upward adjustment because of the completion of the refund in January and the possible impact of the suspension of SMC supply,” said Meralco spokesperson Joe Zaldariaga in a press briefing.

Meralco’s distribution charge, on the other hand, has not moved since the P0.0360 per kWh reduction for a typical residential customer beginning August 2022.

Generation charge went down by P0.1942 to P6.7975 from P6.9917 per kWh the previous month.

Charges from PSAs decreased by P0.2079 per kWh as the First Natgas-San Gabriel plant went back online last October 15 coming

from the scheduled maintenance outage from October 1 to 14. The Peso’s appreciation, which affected 38 percent of PSA costs that are dollar-denominated, also contributed to the reduction.

Further pulling down the generation charge was the P1.3985 per kWh reduction in Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) charges due to the improved supply situation in the Luzon grid. While average daily capacity on outage remained at the 3,900MW level, the reduction in both peak and average demand in the November supply month resulted in fewer impositions of the secondary price cap, which was triggered only 21 percent of the time in November versus October’s 52 percent.

Independent Power Producer (IPP) charges, on the other hand, inched up by P0.0545 per kWh. First Gas-Sta. Rita Module 10 was on scheduled outage from November 4 to 11 and on November 19 to 20, while Sta. Rita Module 40 was also on scheduled outage from November 12 to 27. The Peso’s appreciation tempered the increase in the IPP rate, as 98 percent of IPP costs were dollar-denominated.

IPPs, PSAs, and WESM accounted for 41 percent, 52 percent, and 7 percent, respectively, of Meralco’s total energy requirement for the period.

Transmission charge for residential customers increased by P0.0753 per kWh due to higher ancillary service charges of the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines.

Meanwhile, taxes and other charges registered a net decrease of P0.0183 per kWh mainly due to the absence of feed-in tariff allowance (FIT-All) following the issuance of the Energy Regulatory Commission’s Resolution, suspending the collection of P0.0364 per kWh FIT-All rate for three months starting December 2022 until the February 2023 billing periods.

Pass-through charges for generation and transmission are paid to the power suppliers and the grid operator, respectively, while taxes, universal charges, and FIT-All are all remitted to the government.

2 papers on anti-cancer, antibacterial properties of plants get DOST funding

By Manuel T. Cayon

DAVAO CITY—Two research papers on medicinal properties of malunggay and a widely growing shrub locally called lagnub were awarded each a P50,000 fund from the Department of Science and Technology- Philippine Council for Health Research and Development (DOST-PCHRD).

One paper on the possible anti-cancer property of malunggay (Moringa oleifera) is the thesis of Joshua M. Cambronero, a Bachelor of Science in Food Technology student from UP Mindanao.

The other paper would study lagnub (Ficus septica Burm.), on its possible application to treat staph infection (Staphylococcus aureus).

This is the undergraduate paper of Raffy Cañeda from the University of Southeastern Philippines.

Cambronero said his research would further investigate the plant for its antioxidant and anticancer properties through various extraction methods.

He said he was aware of the malunggay “being widely studied for its health benefits”.

Cambronero said he was grateful for the research grant to help him pursue “a more complex research design and expose him to more prominent platforms”.

“The funding will allow me to contribute to this body of knowledge that seeks to better people’s lives, specifically in the field of drug discovery from natural products,” he added.

Cañeda of USEP said he was interested in exploring the anti-bacterial property of lagnub, saying this plant “is locally popular for its medicinal use in treating skin infections”.

“Lagnub fresh leaves are also used to promote sweating during fever and get rid of headaches,” he added.

“The result of the research will provide information on the antibacterial potential of Lagnub against staph infection that is difficult to treat because of resistance to some antibiotics,” said Cañeda, a BS Biology student and the lead researcher.

Cañeda said conventional antibiotic use “is now challenged by emerging antimicrobial resistance, reduced susceptibility, poor oral bioavailability, and high treatment costs for the marginalized

sector, so my research will hopefully address some problems in public health”.

“As a science student, having the undergraduate thesis grant in natural products from DOST-PCHRD will allow me to pursue higher research goals and methods which are often costly on my part. The grant will truly help me work more on my study which is beneficial for establishing reliable and significant results,” Cañeda said.

The research grant funding was provided by DOST-PCHRD to sustain the research culture in natural products and increase the number of researchers specializing in the field, the DOST said. It said the grant “supports the Tuklas Lunas Program (Drug Discovery and Development Program) of the DOST-PCHRD, which aims to develop safe, effective, and affordable alternative drugs from the country’s naturalresources.”

Wider trade gap causes BOP to contract in Q3

By Cai U. Ordinario

THE country’s ballooning trade deficit caused the balance of payments (BOP) position to register a contraction of $4.7 billion in the third quarter, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

The BSP said the contraction in the BOP was a reversal from the $1.3-billion surplus recorded in the same quarter last year.

This was due to a wider current account deficit of $5.8 billion in the third quarter of 2022 compared with the $974-million deficit in the same quarter in 2021.

“This development was driven by the wider trade in goods deficit, which

was partly muted by the increase in net receipts in the primary and secondary income, and trade in services accounts,” the BSP said.

The financial account registered higher net inflows or net borrowing by residents from the rest of the world amounting to $2.8 billion in the third quarter of 2022 versus the $2.6-billion net inflows in the same period last year.

“(This stemmed) from the sustained net inflows in the other investment, direct investment, and financial derivatives accounts,” BSP said.

9-month deficit up MEANWHILE , BSP said the BOP position posted a higher deficit of

BUSINESS GROUPS PITCH BILL CRIMINALIZING B2B BRIBERY

By Andrea E. San Juan

BUSINESS organizations have proposed a measure to Congress which aims to criminalize bribery in the private sector.

“It ’s not yet a bill but we passed it to our potential champions in Congress. It’s actually about criminalizing bribery that goes on in the private sector,” Alexander Cabrera, chairman of Integrity Initiative and also chairman of PwC Philippines, said at a virtual forum on Friday.

The Integrity Initiative chairman said the proposed measure is about giving gifts or promising favors to members of the private sector, with the goal of winning a contract, a bid, or “any transaction that they will have an advantage over the other.”

“Any business transaction which is not being done on the merits, and you’re winning because of special favors or gifts that goes into this antibribery in the private sector,” Cabrera said.

Cabrera highlighted a feature of the proposed bill which enforces whistleblowing. He said, “In fact if there’s something that they’re seeing and you’re not doing anything about it, you can be subject to penalties under this bill.”

H e noted what usually happens in the private sector: when fraud occurs, “they sweep it under the rug, the person is let go and that emboldens probably the process because the most that you will be punished of is you will just be let go.”

H owever, he expressed hope that the “criminal aspect hanging over the heads of people who will get involved, I hope that it will actually help the private sector and the economy as a whole.”

Meanwhile, Royal Cargo Inc. CEO Michael Raeuber said business-to-business (B2B) corruption should be criminalized. He said “we have been working on the bill and the bill is hopefully pending soon.” Raeuber is the cice chairman of Integrity Initiative Inc. Cabrera told the B usiness M irror that the business organizations pitching the measure to combat bribery in the private sector are Management Association of the Philippines (MAP), American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines, and Institute of Corporate Directors.

A ccording to the Makati Business Club (MBC) web site, the organization called Integrity Initiative was organized in 2009 and supports the legislation against B2B corruption while working on an Integrity Casebook.

In fac t, Cabrera unveiled on Friday at the same virtual forum hosted by MBC an Integrity Casebook, a publication which he said “is largely based on the experience of companies like PwC, Shell, Royal Cargo, and members of the Integrity Initiative.”

These experiences, he noted, zero in on those firms’ experiences in overcoming “ethical dilemmas” without engaging in bribery.

Cabrera also underscored the importance of scrutinizing the “other end” of corruption.

We often complain about corruption but we’re not really looking at the other end. There could be no corruption if no one pays and the person that pays is the private sector. This is actually actual cases and how the private sector concerned handled this case and resolved the case without putting in a bribe,” Cabrera stressed.

$7.8 billion in the first nine months of 2022 from the $665-million deficit recorded in the same period a year ago.

BSP said this was driven by a wider current account deficit of $17.8 billion compared to the $2.3-billion deficit in the same period last year, which in turn was the result of a higher trade in goods deficit.

The financial account also registered higher net inflows of $10.3 billion in the first three quarters of 2022 from the $1.3-billion net inflows recorded in the same period last year.

“This was mainly due to lower net outflows of portfolio investments and higher net inflows of other investments,” BSP said.

PBBM

The BSP also said the country’s gross international reserves (GIR) amounted to $93 billion as of end-September 2022, lower than the $106.6 billion registered as of end-September 2021 (full story: https://businessmirror.com. ph/2022/12/08/debt-forex-operations-slash-end-november-girto-93-95b/).

The peso-dollar trade averaged P56.36 per $1 in the third quarter of 2022. On a quarter-on-quarter basis, the peso depreciated by 6.6 percent from an average of P52.64 per $1 in the second quarter of 2022. Similarly, the peso depreciated by 11.1 percent from an average of P50.11 per $1 recorded in Q3 2021.

eyeing

to bag P6.2-B investments in EU-Asean gab

PRESIDENT Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. is eyeing to secure at least P6.2 billion worth of investments and hold 10 bilateral talks during his trip to Belgium next week for the European Union-Association of Southeast Asian Nation (EU-ASEAN) Commemorative Summit.

In a press conference onFriday, Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Assistant Secretary Daniel Espiritu disclosed the President will meet with multinational consumer goods company, Unilever in the trip for the possible construction of a new state-of-the-art manufacturing facility for personal care products in Cavite province.

“This is for expansion of investments to the tune of P4.7 billion. Now it is expected to generate at least 130 projected employment for the Philippines,” Espiritu said.

Marcos will also speak with a shipbuilding and navigation and logistics company, which is considering building a shipyard with an investment of P1.5 billion in the country.

If finalized, it will create 500 to 600 direct

and indirect jobs.

The President will also have speaking engagements with infrastructure and renewable energy company, and a wholesale market and international logistics hub management company.

He will also participate at the C-Suite or CEO Suite Luncheon for the EU-ASEAN Business Summit and at the 10th ASEAN-EU Business Summit during his trip to Belgium.

“Hopefully, for this networking, the Filipino businessmen will be able to come up with deals with their European counterparts,” Espiritu said.

He will also hold bilateral talks with Belgium, Estonia, Czech Republic, Spain, Denmark, Germany, Poland, Finland, Netherlands, and the European Union.

“So this will be a very busy trip for the President, and we hope that this will redound to a lot of benefits for the Filipino people, not only for ASEAN,” the DFA official said.

Samuel P. Medenilla

ILO chief vows fairness in probe of PHL labor rights

By Samuel P. Medenilla

SINGAPORE—International Labour Organization (ILO) Director-General Gilbert F. Houngbo has vowed to ensure the fairness of the high-level tripartite mission (HLTM) which will look into alleged rampant labor rights violations in the country next month.

Houngbo made the commitment during his meeting with the Filipino Workers Delegation at the sidelines of the 17th Asia and the Pacific Regional Meeting (APRM) on Thursday.

“He vowed that the mission would be fair and would ensure that the ILO Supervisory Mechanisms would work as mandated by ILO statutes,” Federation of Free Workers (FFW) Vice President Julius Cainglet told BusinessMirror in an SMS.

The mission will be in the country from January 23 to 29, 2023

Aside from Cainglet, the representatives from Sentro ng mga Nagkakaisa at Progresibong Manggagawa, Kilusang Mayo Uno, and Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP)— the Philippine affiliate of the International Trade Union Confederation— were also in the meeting.

“He was happy to see that trade unions of the Philippines were working as one. All affiliates of the ITUC in the Philippines were present in the meeting,” the labor leader said.

“We only raised the issue of the

Philippines as it was only the Filipino Workers Delegation that met him.

The Council of Global Unions (CGU) was there to observe,” Cainglet said.

Among the issues they raised were the over 50 labor leaders killed in the country as well as the alleged government red-tagging and harassment of local labor unions.

Govt talked to ILO FOR his part, Labor Undersecretary Benedicto Ernesto R. Bitonio, Jr. said they communicated with the ILO and as well as the concerned authorities in preparation for the arrival of the HLTM.

He said the members of the HLTM will be the one to select which employer and labor it will like to interview.

“And even though the mission is still not here yet, we are already starting to improve the guidelines in the engagement of the police whenever there is a strike,” Bitonio told BusinessMirror in an interview.

In preparation for the arrival of the HLTM, SENTRO Secretary General Josua Mata said the CGU Pilipinas is conducting a series of workshops so labor unions in the country can craft a unified report for the ILO HLTM.

“The report would detail cases of FOA violations in the country and provide our analysis how FOA (freedom of association) is systematically violated in the country,” Mata said.

“We believe the ILO HLTM will be fair,” he added.

Diokno on Maharlika Wealth Fund: Don’t deprive people of chance at ‘prosperity’

By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas

DESPITE the growing opposition, the economic managers of the Marcos Jr. administration are urging Congress to fast-track the passage of Maharlika Wealth Fund (MWF), which they claimed would lead to a more “prosperous” Philippines.

In a press briefing, Finance Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno said the world economic managers are backing the passage of the MWF, which they described as “long overdue.”

“We urge the immediate enactment of the bill creating the Maharlika Investments Corp. Let us not delay economic progress. Let us not deprive people of this opportunity for prosperity,” Diokno said Friday noon.

Diokno disclosed some of the amendments to the provisions of the current house bill seeking to create the MWF.

In particular, the finance chief revealed the new sources of seed fund for the MWF under the current ver -

sion of the bill, which has excluded the mandatory contributions from state-run pension funds—the Social Security System (SSS) and the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS).

Diokno said two government financial institutions—the Land Bank of the Philippines and the Development Bank of the Philippines—will now contribute P50 billion each to the MWF.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) shall also remit the entirety of its declared dividends to the MWF for the first two years of enactment of the country’s proposed sovereign wealth fund, Diokno added.

Diokno explained, however, that the BSP will only be required to contribute 50 percent of its declared dividends to the MWF starting from the third year to allow it to build up its capitalization to P250 billion. This means that 50 percent of the BSP’s declared dividends shall go to the national government, which in turn will be used to prop up the central bank’s capitalization.

Once the BSP’s capitalization reaches P250 billion, the Central Bank will now be mandated to contribute 100 percent of its declared dividends to the MWF, Diokno said.

Other sources of the MWF will be the Philippine Amusement Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) that will contribute at least 10 percent of its gross gaming revenues, general appropriations or supplemental appropriations from Congress, mining royalties under the proposed new fiscal regime, proceeds from the privatization of government assets and private borrowings, Diokno added.

“The bigger the contribution [to the MWF] the bigger their roles are in the fund. Based on Article 5 section 16 of the revised bill, the contributors to the fund shall be given seats in proportion to their investments,” he said.

‘Tempering’ objections

DIOKNO clarified that the SSS and GSIS were removed from mandatorily contributing to the MWF to “temper”

the growing objections by the public.

Diokno pointed out that the SSS and GSIS may still opt to join the MWF should their respective fund managers deem it to be necessary.

“[It is] without prejudice for them to contribute later, should their respective boards approve their contributions,” he said.

The finance chief reiterated that the proposed MWF has all the necessary transparency and accountability mechanisms to ensure prudent use of the national government’s money.

“We economic managers of the Marcos Jr. administration strongly support the creation of the MWF as a vehicle to move forward the agenda for prosperity and achieve economic goals of the administration,” Diokno said.

“The establishment of a sovereign wealth fund is a tried and tested investment vehicle that has been used by governments both in the first world countries and in the developing countries to achieve their economic objectives,” Diokno added.

MWF SAFEGUARDS, BSP FUND USE LEGALITY TACKLED

By Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz

WITH the expected high profits from the Maharlika Wealth Fund (MWF) investments, an economistlawmaker on Friday said the national government can ultimately deliver highly effective programs on health, education, food security, social protection, job creation, and poverty reduction.

D uring a hearing on the proposed MWF, House Committee on Appropriations Senior Vice Chairperson Stella Luz Quimbo said the

goal of a sovereign wealth fund is to provide funding for the government’s social services.

“That is precisely the goal of a sovereign wealth fund. The bill creates an investment vehicle that will pool surplus funds of the government and ensures that it will be managed professionally and transparently. We will fund financial investments and projects that have high returns but are lacking capital,” she said, partly in Filipino.

“This investment vehicle will ensure that the government is able to maximize returns to investments of funds that are not currently

needed by GFIs and GOCCs. These additional investment returns can be used to augment the national budget to fund our ever growing needs as a nation,” she added.

Quimbo assured that they will put in place safety nets that will be the success of this project.

“One: the bill tasks the Board of Directors to engage an internal and an external auditor. Two: the books and accounts of the fund are within the ambit of the powers of the Commission on Audit. Three: there is a Joint Congressional Oversight Committee to monitor the implementation of this proposal.

Four: the Board is also mandated to report to the President on its investment performance.

Five: the qualifications to be a member of the Board have been set very high; he or she must be an expert in corporate governance or in investments. Six: there is a risk management unit to ensure that the corporation is achieving a prudent balance between risk and rewards.

Finally, there’s a cap on administrative and operating expenses at 2 percent of its initial capitalization,” she added.

BSP charter, capitalization

IN response to reports that Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Felipe Medalla has now committed to allocate a portion of the BSP’s profits into the proposed Maharlika Wealth Fund (MWF), House Deputy Minority Leader and Bagong Henerasyon Rep. Bernadette Herrera advised central bank officials to revisit their charter and ensure that no stipulations are violated.

Medalla initially e xpressed strong apprehensions about investing its foreign reserves into the fund.

According to a recent announcement by Quimbo, however, the BSP Governor had a change of heart after congressional leaders agreed not to touch the central bank’s Gross International Reserves (GIR), and instead use its dividends.

“He became supportive when we assured him that the reserves would not be used for funding, but rather, the profits. For example, profits from a windfall can be used to invest in the fund,” Quimbo said in Filipino.

H errera, however, called to mind a requirement in the BSP charter that may affect its involvement in the MWF.

There is a clear requirement that the capital of the Bangko Sentral shall be P200 billion, to be fully subscribed by the Government of the Republic of the Philippines, hereafter referred to as the Government: Provided, that the increase in capitalization shall be funded solely from the declared dividends of the Bangko Sentral in favor of the National Government,” she added.

“Therefore, until the BSP reaches P200 billion in capitalization, all dividends must first go to it as the national government’s capital payment. According to their financial statements, the BSP has not yet reached this P200-billion level at present,” Herrera noted.

“S o the only way a contribution to the MWF can happen is either the BSP will have enough profits in 2021-2022 to reach the P200 billion, and anything above that can go to the MWF, as Senior Vice Chairperson Congresswoman Quimbo said. The second scenario is that they will divert the profits immediately even without reaching the P200-billion requirement, by making amendments to

the law,” she further explained.

H errera said the 2021 balance sheet shows an equity of P136 billion, way below the P200-billion level. Given this, the Partylist lawmaker suggested that the next step should be to determine exactly how much BSP’s current capital is, and whether or not it will be realistic to expect excess funds on top of the P200 billion requirement.

“I hope tha t my observations are not misconstrued—I am definitely not opposed to the concept of a Sovereign Wealth Fund, and I am sure that the intentions behind establishing one for our country are good and beneficent. Since this is a big step, however, we must take it very cautiously and carefully. Doing it right is always better than doing it quickly,” she said.

For his part, BSP Deputy Governor Francis Dakila also pointed out that the MWF would help advance economic growth, accelerate job creation, expand infrastructure, strengthen connectivity, as well as achieve energy and food security.

Mean while, Dakila said the BSP could contribute 100 percent of its annual dividends until the amount needed to start up the fund is reached.

Also on Friday, Finance Assistant Secretary Jun Bernabe expressed support for the measure, saying that it would promote economic growth by helping government financial institutions preserve and optimize the use of their finances.

Amendments

MEANWHILE , the House decided to remove the Philippine president as chairman of the board of directors of the Maharlika Wealth Fund Corp. to be created under the bill.

The bill creates the Maharlika Wealth Fund Corp. (MWFC), an independent corporate body, that shall act as vehicle for the purpose of mobilizing and utilizing the MIF for investments in transactions that will enable the fund to reap returns on investments while contributing to the overall goal of reinvigorating job creation and poverty reduction by steering the economy back to its high-growth path.

“With regards to the chairman, we basically amended the proposal by our author to remove the president as chairman and to replace it with the Secretary of Finance,”said House Committee on Banks and Financial Intermediaries Chairman Irwin Tieng.

O n the 15-man board’s composition, Tieng said that there will now be four independent directors, not just two.

Under the bill, the Maharlika Wealth Fund, an independent fund, adheres to the principles of good governance, transparency and accountability. The fund shall be sourced from the investible funds of the country’s top performing GFIs, the Treasury of the Philippines and Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.

The bill said the fund shall be used to invest on a strategic and commercial basis in a manner designed to promote fiscal stability for economic development, and strengthen the top-performing GFIs through additional investment platforms that will help attain the national government’s priority plan.

The establishment of the Maharlika Wealth Fund was patterned after the sovereign wealth fund of other countries, to maximize the profitability of investible government assets.

Blood test could detect Alzheimer’s disease years before symptoms occur

DSWD-11 distributes ₧427-million social pension to 284,700 seniors

By Che Palicte

DAVAO CITY—The Department of Social Welfare and Development in Davao Region (DSWD-11), through the Social Pension for Indigent Senior Citizens (SocPen) program, completed its fourth-quarter payout to some 284,700 recipients in the area.

By Low De Wei

ASIMPLE blood test that can detect Alzheimer’s disease years before symptoms appear may be one step closer to reality, as researchers devise a new method to find it early.

T he latest test focuses on amyloid beta proteins that have misfolded and are starting to clump together in the brain, a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease. At one time, they could only be found during an autopsy. Now they are often uncovered with advanced imaging tests.

Finding patients earlier in the course of their disease will give them time to prepare and make changes that could help them later, said senior author Valerie Daggett, a professor of bioengineering at the University of Washington. A spate of positive news from companies including Eisai Co. and rival Eli Lilly & Co. has renewed hope that effective treatments may be found to slow the mental decline.

For early treatment, we first need early diagnosis,” she said in an interview. “Also, with an early diagnosis there are lifestyle modifications that can prove helpful and buy time for other therapeutics to come on the market,” she said.

Toxic proteins

THE new approach involves measuring levels of what’s known as toxic oligomers, a buildup of those misfolded proteins that over time are believed to contribute to Alzheimer’s disease. The study involved blood donated years earlier by 310 people.

Out of 53 people verified after death to have had Alzheimer’s disease, 52 had signs of the toxic oligomers on average six years earlier.

More significantly, they were also present in 11 people who seemingly had no memory problems or signs of dementia when they gave the blood.

Follow up records were available for 10 of those volunteers, and all were subsequently diagnosed with symptoms consistent with Alzheimer’s disease, according to the report published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Of the 220 people without the toxic oligomers in their blood, two were subsequently found to have signs of the disease.

T he tests currently in commercial use are limited to diagnosing people who already have symptoms. For example, Fujirebio Diagnostics Inc.’s Lumipulse G ß-Amyloid Ratio test—which was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration in May—is a lab-based test intended for adults aged 55 years and older with cognitive decline.

Sc ientists previously have touted blood tests for predicting the disease, with Japan’s Shimadzu Corp. and Roche Holding AG among firms that have looked into the method in the past. Most remain in the trial stage.

C2N Diagnostics LLC, which has a commercially available blood test to detect amyloid, announced last week it will launch another version in the first quarter of next year that will look for both amyloid and the tau protein that has also been linked to the disease.   With assistance from Kanoko Matsuyama/Bloomberg News

Maria Victoria Arancon, DSWD11 SocPen unit head, said Wednesday a total of P427 million was disbursed by the agency for the program.

T he number of beneficiaries and corresponding amounts of assistance per province were tallied as follows: Davao Occidental with 22,028 beneficiaries at P33 million; Davao Oriental—46,199 beneficiaries (P69.29 million); and Davao de Oro—52,669 beneficiaries (P79 million).

A lso included were Davao del Sur with 41,648 beneficiaries (P62.47 million); Davao del Norte —56,554 beneficiaries (P84.83

million); and Davao City—65,602 beneficiaries (P98.4 million).

We are very grateful for the assistance and cooperation of the local government units officials who augmented us during the payout, as well as the officials from the Office for Senior Citizens Affairs of their respective barangays,” Arancon said.

T he SocPen program is in line with the fulfillment of the obligation of the government to the most vulnerable sector through social protection and for the full implementation of RA 9994 or the Expanded Senior

Citizens Act of 2010.

It provides a monthly stipend amounting to P500 to augment the

183,718 senior citizens in Caraga now fully vaccinated–DOH-13

BUTUAN CITY—Some

183,718 senior citizens in the Caraga Region are fully vaccinated against Covid-19 as of November 26, the regional Department of Health (DOH-13) office said Wednesday.

“ The number of fully vaccinated senior citizens under the A2 category represents 88.6 percent of the total number of A2 population target for vaccination in the region,” DOH13 said in a statement.

In this city, the agency said 38,029 senior citizens are fully vaccinated during the period or a vaccination rate of 135.2 percent.

In the provinces, 41,649 senior citizens are fully vaccinated against Covid-19 in Agusan del Sur; followed by Surigao del Sur,

Why do good things happen to bad people?

By Nick Tayag

MY SIXTY-ZEN’S WORTH

WHY do bad people seem to prosper while good people suffer? Why is it that illbred, dishonest, and corrupt people seem to be rewarded with material blessings while people who work hard and try to live a good honest life can’t catch a break?

W hy do a few seem to get away with law-breaking, while others suffer injustice? Why do conmen keep conning? Why do scams continue to flourish? Why do people keep getting manipulated and exploited by some so-called church leaders despite scandals?

Sometime ago, we were cheering on a whistle blower who exposed the “under the table” deals being made from multimillion peso government projects. The money about to be made was so scan-

dalously hefty that one top government executive was prompted to ask the dealmakers to “moderate their greed.”

T he poor fellow not only got fired, he even ended up in jail. Meanwhile, the people he blew the whistle on are not only scot-free but have gone on to bag other questionable big government projects.

Meanwhile, politicians found to have profited from embezzlement of government funds are allowed to post bail and then even get elected anew, while an official who stuck her neck in the pursuit of the truth gets maligned and even jailed on apparently trumped up charges and with no recourse to bail.

W hen you keep reading about the contemptible things that unscrupulous people do for the sake of power

and status, driven by greed, and never face the consequences, it is only normal to ask: why does it seem like evil people are successful in life? They get everything they want, they keep getting blessed and they live longer.

W here is God in all this? It’s a mystery as old as man. Even faithfilled God loving people sometimes find this hard to understand. Consider the grieving mothers of young teens and wives of poor urban dwellers who were summarily judged and mercilessly executed as drug addicts or couriers only to see the perpetrators enjoying impunity and even given promotions. Needless to say, they will never be able to comprehend this mystery. Their faith in God must not only have been stretched but even ripped apart.

If we are asking these questions, we are just echoing a desire to see justice, a railing against the reign of evil. The prophet Jeremiah directly asked God: “Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all the faithless live at ease? You have planted them, and they have taken root; they grow and bear fruit.” Habakkuk also asked

God, “Why do You remain silent when the wicked devours one more righteous than he?”

Is God playing us for fools?

No, say our spiritual advisers. God sees and waits. God is just withholding His full wrath. In other words, we must endure. We want instant karma, but it seems that the way of His karma carries a lot of wait.

T hey console us by saying that God’s final display of justice will not be observed in this life, but will be revealed when Christ comes to “judge the living and the dead.”

And others would say, God is giving them all the chance to mend their evil ways, so that those who are the objects of his wrath may yet repent and find forgiveness and redemption in Christ.

Like the question why do bad things happen to good people, we will never be fully satisfied with an answer.

I can only explain partly. The wicked prosper because society, including you and me, allows them, perhaps even enables them, to prosper. We tolerate them. We never call them out. Maybe because our silence has been bought. Thus we are partly complicit in fostering this culture of impunity.

As someone said, a conman doesn’t have to be smart if his victims are stupid enough or they do nothing.

It’s time we shamed the corrupt, the deceitful, and the unprincipled by our collective outcry and contempt. Let’s make virtuousness and honesty in people something to admire and emulate again. Let us not be immobilized from doing what is right even when the rest are going along with downright illegal and dishonest practices and looking the other way. Let us have the courage to stand up and tell the truth when it is so obvious we are being conned and manipulated.

“ Where’s the karma?” is my daughter’s refrain when she sees nothing bad happening to wrongdoers. I tell her to just wait because there are consequences we can’t see. Let’s not be quick to jump to a conclusion based on what you see alone. You can look at actions, but not discern the heart. Greedy, corrupt and unscrupulous people don’t necessarily have joyful, contented hearts.

In the Old Testament, we read: “There is a great evil I have observed under the sun—riches kept by their owner for his own injury.” Even an evil person is given wealth so that it might prove to be the cause of his undoing or even his demise.

41,005; Surigao del Norte, 29,858; Agusan del Norte, 25,417; and Dinagat Islands, 7,760.

T he highest percentage of seniors vaccinated during the period per province are: Agusan del Sur at 91.9 percent; followed by Agusan del Norte (85.9 percent); Surigao del Sur (84.3 percent); Surigao del Norte (67.9 percent); and Dinagat Islands (66.9 percent).

T he same report also indicated that 3,867,882 Covid-19 vaccines were administered in Caraga during the period, with 1,756,996 individuals fully vaccinated, and 1,898,757 others given their first dose.

For booster shots, 57,295 have received their two doses of the vaccine, while 389,569 individuals got their first jab. PNA

Remember, the heavens send rain on the just and on the unjust. Good and bad times happen to all of us. Even to bad people, we just don’t see the bad things happening to them because we are too focused on their material prosperity. As Robin Williams reminds us with a quote widely misattributed to Plato: “Everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about.” Bad people who are prosperous materially have their own problems too, certainly even more complicated than ours.

Maybe they eat more, enjoy the convenience of luxury cars, the comfort of a luxurious home, and the privileges and entitlements of their social status. But like us, they too have bills to pay. They worry. They get sick. They meet accidents. Their homes get robbed. Their roofs leak. If we prick them, don’t they bleed too, to borrow the famous line from “Merchant of Venice.”

In my case, I am too busy with my own difficulties to bother about them. Things will eventually even out. When we see that we are all experiencing good and bad times in life, as in the rain and sunrise, let us choose to help and support those going through situations we are experiencing as well.

A BENEFICIARY receives his P1,500 cash aid during the November 25, 2022 payout of the Social Pension for Indigent Senior Citizens Program in Davao City. Around 284,700 elderly in Davao Region received the cash aid. PHOTO COURTESY OF DSWD-11

daily subsistence and other medical needs of indigent senior citizens. PNA

THE Department of Health in the Caraga Region (DOH-13) reports that 183,718 senior citizens in the area are fully vaccinated against Covid-19 as of November 16 this year. The number represents 88.6 percent of the target number of seniors for vaccination in the region. PHOTO COURTESY OF DOH-13

SCIENTISTS previously have touted blood tests for predicting the disease, with Japan’s Shimadzu Corp. and Roche Holding AG among firms that have looked into the method in the past.

BLOOMBERG PHOTO

Senators salute Santo Tomas U med, surgery faculty on sesquicentennial

SEVERAL solons lauded the University of Santo Tomas Faculty of Medicine and Surgery (USTFMS) on its 150th founding year.

To mark the sesquicentennial, the Senate of the Philippines sponsored Senate Resolution 336 for the faculty’s “valuable contribution in developing medical and health-care educational institutions in the country.” It was read during the 34th Plenary Session held on December 5.

Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri led the passage of the resolution with Senate Majority Floor Leader Joel Villanueva as cosponsor, who is a Thomasian alumnus and a former member of the university’s “Growling Tigers” basketball team.

Zubiri also acknowledged UST’s reputation as one of the leading universities in the country that continuously produces batches of professionals that embody excellence in different fields: “Whenever you talk about the top universities in the Philippines, UST is always a part of the Top 4…” as he mentioned that the institution produces excellent Thomasian architects, doctors and lawyers.

Likewise, Villanueva commended the faculty for producing three topnotchers and garnering the highest number of passers in the recent October 2022 licensure exams: “As a Thomasian, I am confident that UST-FMS will continue its tradition of excellence in medical education, health-science research, and community services guided by Christian ethics and values,” Villanueva said.

He acknowledged UST-FMS being the oldest medical school in the country. It was established in 1871 and had Dr. Jose Rizal as one of its students: “Prior to the establishment of UST, Filipinos had to go to Mexico to study medicine.”

The senate majority floor leader added that over the years UST had produced over 40,000 doctors, some of whom became secretaries of the health department and national leaders. The university also consistently ranks in the list of best-performing schools in the physician licensure examination.

The senator from Bulacan imparted that the school has been a beacon for health-care professionals in the battle against the pandemic: “Amid the new normal, they came up with learning setups that best suit the delivery of education, especially [with its] ‘Internal Medicine Clerkship’ program.”

For her part, Sen. Grace Poe extolled UST-FMS “for producing respected and excellent health practitioners, such as May Parsons, the Filipino-British nurse who administered the first Covid-19 vaccine shot outside…clinical trials.” She said her father-in-law, who was an otolaryngologist, also graduated from the faculty.

Citing her experience, Poe vouched for the competence and character of doctors and nurses at the UST Hospital.

Meanwhile, Sen. Christopher Lawrence Go congratulated the faculty, as he is “honored to cosponsor [the proposed senate resolution].” He com -

mended UST’s medical arm on its sesquicentennial, and for its considerable contribution to the development of medical and health-care educational institutions in the country.

“I would like to express my profound gratitude to the whole community of UST-FMS for [its] undying commitment to help our fellow Filipinos through their various medical initiatives and programs,” the solon remarked. “Your contributions to our country’s health sector are indeed worthy of celebration.”

Go, who is chairperson of the Committee on Health and Demography, further commended the faculty for producing more than 400 new Filipino physicians yearly.

Sen. Jinggoy Ejercito-Estrada also thanked the UST-FMS for the award bestowed upon his mother, former senator Luisa Ejercito-Estrada, in 2018. Like the latter, he shared that his wife Precy is an alumna of the university.

Tesda-Canada govt link up to boost TVET training for Filipino workers

By Roderick L. Abad

FILIPINOS aspiring to work in Canada stand to benefit from the partnership between the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda) and the Canadian government aimed at upskilling and providing employment opportunities.

Tesda Director General Danilo P. Cruz and Canadian Health Minister Paul Merriman of the Province of Saskatchewan reiterated this commitment during their recent discussion on possible areas of cooperation in technical-vocational educational training (TVET). (Read the BusinessMirror, Dec. 8: “Canada’s Saskatchewan Province keen on tapping Pinoy HCWs’ global renown.)

“Through these programs, thousands of job opportunities can potentially be created for our Filipino workers, particularly in health care and agriculture industries,” Cruz said. “We will continue to develop and improve our training programs for Filipinos to be equipped with the necessary skills needed in the industry, and for them to have better employment opportunities here and abroad.”

The meeting featured a dialogue on the TVET development collaboration and bridging programs between Canada and the Philippines through Tesda.

Tesda Deputy Directors General Aniceto D. Bertiz III, Tonisito Umali, Josefino Torres, Vidal Villanueva and other officials from the agency, as well as del -

egates from the government of Canada, witnessed the discussions.

Health Care Services National Certificate (NC) II, Caregiving (Elderly) NC II, Caregiving (Clients with Special Needs) NC II, Caregiving (Grade Schooler to Adolescent) NC II, and Emergency Medical Services NC II are among the Tesdadeveloped health-related courses suitable for jobs in Canada.

Training regulations on Medical Transcription NC II, Contact Tracing NC II, Dental Hygiene NC IV, Dental Laboratory Technology Services NC I, Dental Laboratory Technology Services (Fixed Dentures/Restorations) NC II, Dental Laboratory Technology Services (Removable Dentures/Appliances) NC II, and

Base Bamboo Acad. gives free bamboo-based construction-tech workshops for pro builders

BASE Bahay Foundation Inc. (Base Bahay) continues to hold free online and inperson workshops as part of its continuing professional development (CPD) programs under the Base Bamboo Academy.

Said programs are key to the foundation’s advocacy as the global leader in bamboo-based research and technology to propel bamboobased technology and other alternative building technologies into the mainstream construction industry.

Accredited by the Professional Regulation Commission to hold CPD courses, the Base Bamboo Academy has been conducting free learning modules for workers and professional builders such as architects and civil engineers since 2021.

In September the academy held online and in-person workshops on Bamboo Standards for architects, contractors, civil engineers, and professional builders. Entitled “Bamboo Standards: Guiding Principles and Codes behind the Cement-Bamboo Frame Technology,” sessions covered discussions on PNS ISO 22157: Physical and Mechanical Properties of Bamboo, PNS ISO 19624: Grading of Bamboo Culms, and PNS ISO 22156: Bamboo Structures.

For contractors, Base Bahay runs an accreditation program which, when completed, unlocks access to a series of training programs,

research, and more information on the latest technology in bamboo housing and other alternative construction materials. Accredited contractors are also able to engage in construction projects with other partner-organizations.

For industry workers, the academy offers accredited programs by the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority on masonry and carpentry. It also covers the basics of employing Base Bahay’s signature Cement-

Bamboo Frame Technology. Skills-training programs allow workers to earn their Tesda National Certificate II, which they can use for other projects.

To date Base has trained over 500 civil engineers and architects in CPD, and certified more than 100 workers through its Tesdaaccredited courses.

Martin Lenin Santos, architect and urban planner of the Department of Human Settle -

Pharmacy Services NC III are also made available.

The Canadian Embassy in the Philippines earlier announced that Saskatchewan is open to hiring hundreds of Filipino health-care workers.

Meanwhile, Tesda eyes to develop new training courses—whether full-blown Training (TR) or Competency Standards— for needed health-care technical skills and jobs that lack programs, especially those that do not require higher education.

Likewise, there are existing TRs related to health-care occupations that require review for updating to ensure the integration of standards under the post Covid-19 new normal and the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

ments and Urban Development, said: “We welcome these learning programs, as we continue to look for innovative materials and construction methods to provide solutions to our housing problems and backlog in our country.”

Base Bahay continues to work with different organizations engaged in building affordable yet high-quality housing solutions with its Cement-Bamboo Frame Technology. More than 1,200 have been constructed, with another 500 in the pipeline through ongoing builds.

“Looking at available data between 2011 and 2016, the Philippines has a huge housing backlog of 5.7 million. This translates to a need to build 2,602 homes per day over the next six years,” added Pablo Jorillo, Base Bahay’s general manager. “Architects and civil engineers are key to providing resolution to this backlog. Renewal of their professional licenses requires 15 CPD units. We offer the continuous learning opportunities they need through our Base Bamboo Academy.”

Content taught in the academy’s curriculum is guided by research, testing and training at the Base Innovation Center. Established partnerships with local and international universities also enrich elements imparted at the academy.

Currently Base Bahay is working on the inclusion of bamboo in the National Structural Code of the Philippines, and is on its way to being published next year, which also makes the topics timely.

For more information on Base Bahay and learning programs available through the Base Bamboo Academy, visit http://www.basebuilds.com.

PHL must level-up educational funding to arrest ‘learning poverty’—think tank

By Rizal Raoul S. Reyes

INVESTING heavily in education will extricate the country from “economic and political malaise,” according to an official of a Singaporebased think tank.

“[The Philippines is experiencing quite low education levels, which is a function of 30 years of meager investments. It is underinvested in learning] infrastructure for 60 years—not 10, not 20,” Bain & Company Southeast Asia’s founding partner Charles Ormiston told the BusinessMirror in a recent interview. “So even increasing investment rates, which should have a very high payback, will take many years to make up for the deficit in spending.”

According to a 2021 World Bank report, Filipino students’ proficiency levels were below minimum standards. Further, the Philippines was ranked last in reading, and second to the last in Science and Mathematics, among 79 countries.

Meanwhile, the Philippine Business for Education (PBEd) outlined challenges facing Philippine education. They include low quality of learning, demand for quality teachers, poor teacher-content knowledge, dismal licensure examination results, and limited learning.

“Majority of teacher methods based on classroom observations in Mindanao were categorized as ‘low’ or ‘medium-low’ in

terms of quality of instruction, [as disclosed by the World Bank in 2019],” the PBEd shared. “The study also showed [that Filipino] children had ‘low levels of fostering socioemotional skills.’”

With a learner-teacher ratio of 32.8 in elementary and 27.4 in secondary, the Philippines contends with a shortage of educators, which is worse than its Asean neighbors. The Department of Education needs to fill up some 160,000 vacancies of teachers between 2014 and 2020.

Worsening the situation, one in every three Filipino children are undernourished, and thus “not ready to learn,” based on a 2019 World Bank survey.

PBEd said limited learning creates a gap between years of schooling and learning-adjusted years. Moreover, it said that 12.8 years of schooling in the Philippines is equivalent to just 8.4 when adjusted for learning years, which results in a “learning gap” of 4.4 years.

According to a United Nations Children’s Fund report: “More than 85 percent of Filipino students experience ‘learning poverty,’ defined by the World Bank as ‘the share of 10-year-olds who cannot read or understand a simple story.’”

Based on reports, Ormiston said the national government will need to exert “herculean efforts” to propel the country’s educational standards to greater heights.

DLS-CSB serves food packs, school supplies to indigent kids courtesy of Chinese Embassy

TO celebrate Chinese National Day and the Filipino-Chinese Friendship Day, the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China and the LF Joy Foundation—an institution providing medical and educational support to Filipino youth in need—recently donated food packs and school supplies to some 300 children from neighboring communities and partner-nongovernment organizations (NGOs) of the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde (DLS-CSB).

Dubbed as “Love Sharing,” the initiative was conducted in collaboration with the college’s Center for Social Action (CSA). Beneficiaries included young learners aged 4 to 13 from Barangays 4 1, 46 and 48 from the City of Pasay, and Barangays 731, 742, 743, 745, 746, 752 and 755 from the City of Manila.

To express their gratitude to the donors, the children prepared a touching program that exhibited the respective cultural and friendly relations between the Philippines and China. Several recipients championed the beauty and elegance of traditional Fili -

pino and Chinese costumes in a fashion show. Some kids channeled their artistic talents and creativity in a postermaking contest themed “Together, We Can Make a Difference.” A friendly dance competition likewise provided a venue for the kids to showcase their respective interpretations of the fan dance, ribbon dance and umbrella dance. Others demonstrated Philippine folk dances such as tinikling maglalatik , and cariñosa

They also extended support to the nonprofit NGOs committed to promote the physical, social, economic and educational well-being of the youth, including Educational Research and Development Assistance Foundation Inc., AKAP sa Bata Phils., GEMS Heart Foundation, and Unang Hakbang Foundation.

The collaboration has provided avenues for the embassy and the foundation to explore future partnerships, in line with DLS-CSB’s academic and nonacademic programs, as well as mission opportunities.

SENATE President Juan Miguel Zubiri (center) hands a copy of Senate Resolution 336 to UST officials, witnessed by the rest of the lawmakers. UST FB/HANS MALGAPU

INTERESTED architects, contractors and civil engineers may sign up for free online and in-person continuing professional development workshops at the academy. HILTI FOUNDATION/EZRA ACAYAN

Editor: Carla Mortel-Baricaua

Plaza Premium GrouP redefines aviation HosPitality services

World-class clark International airport (crK) in Pampanga has just leveled up its passenger services in partnership with the Plaza Premium Group, the pioneer and industry leader in innovating global airport hospitality services and facilities.

Now, “every-Juan” can have a taste of premium facilities with the opening of the Plaza Premium Lounge, ALLWAYS (Airport Meet & Assist Services), and TGM Root98, an airport dining outlet that serves Japanese and Korean cuisines.

“We welcome Plaza Premium Group at Clark International Airport with its top-notch amenities, world-class services, and food and beverage offerings with the ad -

dition of Plaza Premium Lounge, ALLWAYS Meet & Assist Services, and TGM Root98 as it further elevates every passenger’s experience at CRK,” said Noel Manankil, Chief Executive Officer of Luzon International Premier Airport Development Corporation (LIPAD), which manages and operates Clark International Airport.

ALLWAYS Lounge

Th E f irst lounge one will come

across upon entering the Departure h a ll of the Clark International Airport is the ALLWAYS Lounge, a meet-and-assist service with a concierge facility. Since it is located in the area where travelers check in, CRK passengers can come in accompanied by immediate family members. ALLWAYS’ friendly staff provides seamless airport assistance from departure, transit, and arrival for smooth coordination in all aspects of the passengers’ needs.

It is very convenient to have someone who is knowledgeable and can assist in various passenger situations, such as fasttracking requirements that include Customs, Immigration, and Quarantine Checkpoints, a bundled Plaza Premium Lounge service, airport transfers, as well as other concierge services such as hotel bookings, flower bouquet arrangement, dinner reservation, and business center use.

ALLWAYS also has a secured lounge area with baggage han -

dling, and luggage wrapping to ease the airport journey experience. Indeed, a distinct hospitality service right inside Clark International Airport.

The Plaza Premium Lounge

Th I S i s Plaza Premium Group’s second addition to the Plaza Premium Lounge in the Philippines. The first one is in Mactan International Airport in Cebu, which was launched early this year. Plaza Premium Lounge is a pay-per-use facility that is open to all types of passengers who would like to spend time in comfort during layovers and transfers at the Clark International Airport. The lounge access costs P2,480 per person which is good for two hours. In this luxurious space, you can top-up P550 to use the shower amenities and P800 for the smoking room.

With the aim to redefine comfort for all types of travelers from business to leisure, from the solo traveler to family groups, a variety of seating types and configu -

rations is well-thought of. It’s so spacious, the lounge can easily accommodate up to 170 people.

The Plaza Premium Lounge is equipped with huge sofas, massage chairs, electrical plugs, a co-working space, buffet snacks, unlimited sodas, juices, and wines.

It is carefully curated in design, and the unique amenities provide a premium experience for airport passengers. With a range of local and international food offered alongside a self-serve coffee and drink station, the lounge is the prime option for passengers’ layovers in the airport today.

Meanwhile, travelers on business and first class may automatically use the Plaza Premium Lounge. A VIP Meet & Greet area and in-lounge flight information are also part of the set-up. It is primarily a space to work, unwind and recharge.

TGM Root98 and Bar

A S part of its hospitality facilities, Plaza Premium Group also recently

launched its food and beverage offers, introducing

customization

Its concept is derived from JAKO—an eatery that

Japanese and Korean cuisine.  Their best sellers are the Beef Bibimbap, Tonkatsu Curry Don, Beef Gyudon, and Korean Seafood Tofu Stew. The outlet offers plant-based and vegan food options with locally sourced ingredients.

h e adquartered in h o ng Kong, the Plaza Premium Group has gained top recognition including “World’s Best Independent Airport Lounge” for six consecutive years by Skytrax World Airline Awards, and “Best Airport Lounge Operator” for TTG Asia magazine.

LIPAD’s partnership with the Plaza Premium Group completes CRK’s holistic aviation hospitality services. The Plaza Premium Lounge is located at Level 3, International Departures of the Clark International Airport in Pampanga.

By Regina Arguelles

Aw A y from Manila’s capricious hustle and bustle, Taal Vista Hotel evokes a soothing sense of being enveloped by tradition and something palpably festive in the air. I can’t help but feel as though my time here will be special.

Recently, was lucky enough to join members of the media in Taal Vista Hotel’s Christmas tree lighting ceremony and a Night of Music and w i ne to welcome the festive season. The annual celebration held the theme “A Season of Lights.”

Despite the sudden, heavy downpour, warm smiles from the hotel staff i nstantly dispelled the nippy atmosphere. w e were ushered into the dining tables of Café Veranda and treated to a variety of local dishes and international food items. Being a vegetarian posed no issue; I had a lot of options to choose from. I particularly enjoyed their house blend Crazy Basil drink.

The skies cleared after lunch, so we took the opportunity to explore.

The Ridge overlooking the Taal lake and volcano form a breathtaking setting. Lush greens make it an ideal place t o connect with pristine nature and

a perfect backdrop for taking holiday shots! A popular destination among nature lovers, the incredible panoramic view is one of the reasons why it’s w orth visiting. Sweet, enticing aroma of bibingka and puto bumbong at the veranda patio transported me to a Christmas nostalgia like no other.

T he celebration officially commenced with w e lcome Cocktails at the Main Lobby.

Regional Director OIC Marites Castro of Department of Tourism IV-A, graced the event and led the Christmas tree lighting ceremony together with Elizabeth Sy, President of SM Hotels and Conventions Corporation, Peggy Angeles, E xecutive Vice President of SM Hotels and Conventions Corporation, and Ramon Makilan, General Manager of Taal V ista Hotel. The tree lighting showcased a handcrafted Christmas tree uniquely produced for Taal Vista Hotel by skilled Pampanga artisans.

There was a heart-warming touch of philanthropy through a formal gift giving ceremony for the children of Augustinian Sisters Servants of Jesus and M ary, the beneficiaries of the celebration.

G uests were treated to a superb five-course dinner paired with exquisite

wines from Don Revy. The menu was ingeniously put together by the culinary team led by Executive Jayme Natividad.

The menu includes amuse-bouche, a Trio of Tagaytay mushroom crepes with parmigiano cream with caviar paired with Hahn Estate Chardonnay 2020,USA; Cinnamon-roasted squash with arugula, romaine, and barley salad with citrus vinaigrette partnered with Hahn Estate Chardonnay 2020, USA; Ginger, chamomile, and mint sorbet; deuxieme entrée, a f illet of beef roulade sous vide, gratin potatoes, sauce au poivre matched with Maxwell Silver Hammer Shiraz 2018, Australia; and Panna cotta with Don Papa rum and pineapple-mango compote paired with La Gioiosa Moscato N V, Italy.

The vegetarian version was an indulgence of mouth-watering starter and in termediate courses, consisting amusebouche, a Trio of Tagaytay mushroom crepes with cashew-parmigiano cream paired with Hahn Estate Chardonnay 2020,USA; Cinnamon-roasted squash with arugula, romaine, and barley salad with citrus vinaigrette together with Hahn Estate Chardonnay 2020, USA; Roasted cauliflower soup; Ginger, chamomile, and mint sorbet; followed by deuxieme entrée, a vegetable la -

sagna

Among the highlights of the event were Christmas favorite renditions performed by the DLSU—Dasmariñas Chorale under the direction of John Angelo D iamos; performance by vocal powerhouses, Bianca Lopez-Aguila and Keiko C ressida Cayanga of The Nightingales. Exceptional solo pianist Jon Joe Ayala Mercado’s beautiful tunes set a welcoming tone for conversation and eating.

P eggy Angeles, President of SM Hotels and Conventions Corporation, Maritess Castro, Regional Director OIC of the D epartment of Tourism IV-A and Jojo Vega, President and Managing Director of Don Revy Philippines were keynote speakers.

“Taal Vista is akin to a beacon of light that sits atop the hills of Tagaytay, watching over the community that i t has served with gracious hospitality, “said Ms. Angeles.

w i th their spectacular view, festive air, cheerful lights, excellent food, comfortable accommodation and holiday activities, there’s no better place to enjoy t he season than with Taal Vista Hotel.

Story & photos by Arabelle Jimenez

Ratatouille, homemade gluten f ree pasta with Maxwell Silver Hammer Shiraz 2018, Australia; and fresh sliced fruits for dessert paired with La Gioiosa Moscato NV, Italy.

menu

with the opening of TGM Root98 and Bar which is adjacent to Plaza Premium Lounge.

combines

/FACEBOOK’S

Meta logo sign is seen at the company headquarters in Menlo Park, California on, October 28, 2021. Facebook parent Meta’s quasi-independent oversight board said on Tuesday, December 6 that an internal system that exempted high-profile users including former President Donald Trump from some or all of its content rules needs a major overhaul. AP

Meta oversight board urges changes to VIP moderation system

BY KELVIN CHAN The Associated Press

LONDON—Facebook parent Meta’s quasiindependent oversight board said on Tuesday that an internal system that exempted highprofile users, including former US President Donald Trump, from some or all of its content moderation rules needs a major overhaul.

The report by the Oversight Board, which was more than a year in the making, said the system “is flawed in key areas which the company must address.”

Meta asked the board to look into the system after The Wall Street Journal reported last year that it was being abused by many of its elite users, who were posting material that would result in penalties for ordinary people, including for harassment and incitement of violence.

Facebook’s rules reportedly didn’t seem to apply to some VIP users while others faced reviews of rulebreaking posts that never happened, according to the Journal article, which said the system had at least 5.8 million exempted users as of 2020.

The system—known as “XCheck,” or crosscheck—was exposed in Facebook documents leaked by Frances Haugen, a former product manager turned whistleblower who captured worldwide headlines with revelations alleging that the social media company prioritized profits over online safety and galvanized regulators into cracking down on hate speech and misinformation.

Nick Clegg, Meta’s president for global affairs, tweeted that the company requested the review of the system “so that we can continue our work to improve the program.”

To fully address the board’s recommendations, “we’ve agreed to respond within 90 days,” he added.

The company has said cross-check, which applies to Facebook and Instagram, was designed to prevent “overpolicing,” or mistakenly removing content thought to be breaking the platform’s rules.

The Oversight Board’s report said that the cross-check system resulted in users being treated unequally and that it led to delays in taking down content that violated the rules because there were up to five separate checks. Decisions on average took more than five days, it found.

For content posted by American users, the average decision took 12 days, and for Afghanistan and Syria, it was 17 days. In some cases, it took a lot longer: one

piece of content waited 222 days—more than seven months—for a decision, the report said, without providing further details.

Among its 32 recommendations, the board said Meta “should prioritize expression that is important for human rights, including expression which is of special public importance.”

Human rights defenders, advocates for marginalized communities, public officials and journalists should be given higher priority than others put on the cross-check list because they are business partners, such as big companies, political parties, musicians, celebrities and artists, the report said. “If users included due to their commercial importance frequently post violating content, they should no longer benefit from special protection,” the board said.

Addressing other flaws, the board also urged Meta to remove or hide content while it’s being reviewed and said the company should “radically increase transparency around cross-check and how it operates,” such as outlining “clear, public criteria” on who gets to be on the list.

The board upheld Facebook’s decision to ban

Trump last year out of concern he incited violence leading to the riot on the US Capitol. But it said the company failed to mention the cross-check system in its request for a ruling. The company has until Jan. 7 to decide whether to let Trump back on.

Clegg said in a blog post that Meta has already been making changes to cross-check, including standardizing it so that it’s “run in a more consistent way,” opening up the system to content from all 3 billion Facebook users and holding annual reviews to verify its list of elite users and entities.

After widespread criticism that it failed to respond swiftly and effectively to misinformation, hate speech and harmful influence campaigns, Facebook set up the oversight panel as the ultimate referee of thorny content issues it faces. Members include a former Danish prime minister, the former editor-in-chief of British newspaper the Guardian, as well as legal scholars and human rights experts.

Some critics have previously questioned the board’s independence and said its narrow content decisions seemed to distract from wider problems within Facebook and concerns about government regulation. ■

MISS UNIVERSE PHILIPPINES CELESTE CORTESI TAKES PART IN PERIOD ADVOCACY FOR TEENS

their monthly period is good news to me.

The multinational brand recently had a community engagement event attended by highschool students from San Antonio High School in Parañaque City.

During the event, the all-teen-girl audience learned about the importance of having the right sanitary pad partner for their menstruation needs. The outreach program, dubbed #BeNextPeriodReady, was staged by Johnson & Johnson Philippines (J&J Philippines) alongside ABS-CBN Foundation and Miss Universe Philippines to support Modess’ advocacy on menstrual health education.

as it does not require a learning curve.

“Modess is committed to help teens improve the state of their menstrual health, hygiene and habits the next time they get their period,” said Jason Khu, senior brand manager for Modess of J&J Philippines.

During the event, Khu also talked about the reality that teens faced during the pandemic with regard to having their first period.

Celebrating football

Lenses

A GLOBAL leader in private and secure messaging and voice-based communication, Rakuten Viber announces the launch of interactive and gamified football-related features, including a chatbot, AR Lenses, a sticker pack, and international and national sports media Channels to follow the latest news in international football competitions. The new features kicked off in November and be available for two months.

Football is the most popular sport globally with billions of fans spreading over 200 countries. In celebration of the sport and its ability to bring countries together from every corner of the world, Viber has launched a campaign enabling its users to follow along and engage with all the football news.

Viber’s 2022 global football campaign will help its millions of app users celebrate the sport with match predictions chatbot to inspire friendly competitions within private or group chats. To follow alongside their favorite team, users’ predictions can be posted on the global leaderboard for a chance to win exciting prizes. Additional features include: AR Lenses, for when teams score, themed frames with footballs, and more; Gamified Lenses, which enable users to try to score a goal or see how many times the user can head the ball; Stickers, featuring footballrelated images and lingo in English, as well as in 18 additional languages; and Channels, with nine sports media channels ensuring fans stay up to date with the latest stories and breaking news about their home teams.

“With so many passionate football fans around the world, and with Viber’s global audience, we wanted to enable our users to get involved and stay connected to one another. We are excited to offer many different rewards and interactive content to our users,” says Atanas Raykov, senior director growth top markets of Rakuten Viber.

“Our users can celebrate their home football team’s wins alongside their friends, family, and colleagues. Sharing your predictions, finding out the score of the latest game, or checking the global leaderboard will be as easy as opening the Viber app.”

THERE is no doubt that students suffered so much during the pandemic. They were forced to stay at home. Those who lived in congested areas were not even allowed to play outside. It is true that the pandemic really messed with the lives of a whole generation of children.

As if learning wasn’t difficult enough, they had to study online. Their parents, who were already burdened with rising school fees, had to upgrade Internet connections at home and buy gadgets they couldn’t afford. Kids had to sit through hours of online classes when they should be in classrooms face-toface with their teachers and peers.

I may still wear a mask 90 percent of the time in public and I still don’t go out much, but I’m glad that the schools are open once again and kids are back where they belong. I’m also happy that big corporations are paying attention to the needs of children.

Feminine care brand Modess (www.modess.com ph) launching an advocacy for teen girls in relation to

This advocacy is related to the lockdown as many teenagers got their menstruation during that time and the experience of having your period at home is very different than when you’re in the classroom.

I mean, I’m sure many of us have horror stories related to having your menstruation while in class. Menstruation is a subject that young girls can’t talk about freely with anyone, especially their parents and elders.

There are also many fallacies about menstruation.

Growing up, girls are told not to exercise when they have their period when the truth is that physical activity relieves menstrual symptoms and makes you feel energized. Periods also don’t last for exactly one week. They can be longer or shorter. Anything excessively longer than a week needs medical attention though. There are also many ways of dealing with period blood. Women may use tampons and menstrual cups but the most common and widely available is the sanitary pad. It is also the easiest to use

The ABS-CBN Foundation also joined in advancing the advocacy on menstrual health and hygiene for our young girls. Its involvement is in helping distribute 2,500 menstrual hygiene kits to different schools and communities nationwide as young girls go back to in-person learning.

Beauty queens Celeste Cortesi, Miss Universe Philippines 2022, and Annabelle McDonnell, Miss Universe 1st runner, were also present during the event.

Cortesi shared her menstrual health journey to the students and gave some advice.

“Young girls should be able to talk about it freely with other people. Society should be more open about the need for girls to have access to menstrual health information and be next-period ready. As Miss Universe Philippines, I continue to inspire girls through our way of being relatable and campaigning the message heavily everywhere,” said Cortesi.

Toward the end of the event, the students, together with the ABS-CBN Foundation and the J&J team, joined the mural painting activity, where the girls were asked to think of the one word or phrase that they wish to empower themselves, a goal that has been set by the brand’s campaign. ■

worldwide with a new chatbot, stickers, AR

and more

Startup accelerator launches $10M fund for Filipino Web3 startups

A STARTUP accelerator, Archipelago Labs (A-Labs) has been officially launched to invest and accelerate the growth of the most promising startups and talents in the Philippines’s Web3 ecosystem.

Backed by reputable partners from the Philippine Digital Asset Exchange (PDAX), Oak Drive Ventures Inc., and Magellan Digital Investment Group (MDIG) with a fund size of $10 million, A-Labs boasts a strong network of mentors, experts and capital partners who will support the startups in growing their ventures.

The program aims to back startups and founders at the grassroots level through investment funding, advisory and structured programs such as hackathons, incubation and accelerator programs targeting specific verticals and stages of development and growth.

A-Labs focuses on deploying capital in earlystage startups that address the gaps in the industry through sustainable business models and sound token economics. It is led by founders that have a good track record in technology, crypto and business, with sectors focused on the intersection of Web2 and Web3, consumer applications, infrastructure, tools, DeFi and the Metaverse.

“This marks the start of our journey in equipping founders, startups and builders with the support and tools they will need to create meaningful and impactful products, infrastructure and services. Doing these provides value from the ideation to the growth stages of each startup and will, in return, create a better ecosystem for Web3 here in the Philippines,” Archipelago Labs Executive Director Lance Pormarejo said during a briefing in Makati City on Thursday.

Founded in 2022, A-Labs is made up of three founders and three principals who have already made significant contributions to the startup and Web3 arena. “We believe that with a credible support system, startups can have a higher chance of success navigating and traversing the archipelago. Through A-Labs, we aim to create better digital experiences through web3 technologies for every Filipino,” Pormarejo said.

Part of the A-Labs’ inaugural cohort is Playdex, a startup building infrastructure for Web3 gaming through an NFT rental marketplace.

By the end of 2022, A-Labs aims to release its first iteration of the State of the Archipelago, a quarterly report on all things Web3 in the Philippines. In 2023, the accelerator program will run its first cohort for the Archipelago Labs Accelerator Block (ALAB), an 8-week cohort-based accelerator program. More information is available at www.archipelagolabs.xyz.

FACEBOOK PARENT META THREATENS TO REMOVE NEWS FROM PLATFORM

FACEBOOK parent Meta Platforms Inc. said on Tuesday it will be “forced to consider” removing news content from its platform if Congress passes legislation requiring tech companies to pay news outlets for their material.

The Journalism Competition and Preservation Act, if passed, would allow news companies to collectively negotiate with social platforms over the terms on which their material appears on their sites.

Meta said it would rather pull news from its platforms than “submit to government-mandated negotiations that unfairly disregard the value we provide to news outlets.” The value, Meta said in a statement tweeted by spokesman Andy Stone, includes “increased traffic and subscriptions.”

Meta, which is based in Menlo Park, California, has taken similar stands in the past. Last year, it briefly blocked news from its platform in Australia after the country passed legislation that would compel tech companies to pay publishers for using their news stories. It later struck deals with Australian publishers.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat from Minnesota and the bill’s sponsor, said the legislation simply allows news organizations to band together to negotiate better prices for their news content with “the biggest companies the world has ever known.”

“In one quarter Google made $66 billion in ad revenue while newspapers and little radio stations folded left and right,” she said. “We’re just simply trying to get a fair price for content.”

Marites in the metaverse

set the stage for launching a non-fungible token (NFT) collection that will soon include exclusive benefits or perks to owners or holders, including access to events, discounts in shops, or private consultations with Marites Allen.” Marites also shared the probability of further using AR to let shoppers try on her Frigga charms and Frigga fashion line without the need to visit her shops.

DID you know that the term “metaverse” originated in the 1990s? The term was coined in Neal Stephenson’s 1992 science fiction novel Snow Crash, where humans control programmable avatars to interact with each other and software agents in a three-dimensional virtual space.

Sounds familiar? Ironically, while a movie based on the novel has yet to be released, Ready Player One featured a game called the OASIS, a virtual world so compelling that people would rather “live” there than in reality. Contrary to what many believe, the metaverse isn’t just a single game, virtual space or entity created by Facebook—Meta—but rather a multitude of digital platforms that world builders hope can someday be stitched together to form a cohesive, interoperable whole.

But Facebook’s rebranding did make “metaverse” one of the buzzwords of the year and now the marketing industry seems to be obsessed with the metaverse, and brands are scrambling to establish their own virtual environments, sell digital collectibles, and stake their claim to the virtual world of the near future.

Last week, even the holiday celebrations have become part of the “metaverse,” so to speak, via nonfungible tokens (NFTs).

MetaverseGo in partnership with SM Megamall announced the availability of Astro NFTs via the first Christmas 3D Billboard in the Philippines. In the 3D show which you can watch on SM Megamall’s giant billboard until January 6, 2023, Santa Claus and his adorable little helpers Astro and Metmet ride across the metaverse, bringing gifts from Santa’s Mega In Space factory—including the Astro NFT.

to do is scan the QR codes placed across establishments within SM Megamall to redeem your own Astro NFT. Astro NFT holders are entitled to a free spin per scan per unique establishment that entitles them to win gift certificates from Uniqlo, The Moment Group, Slimmers World, Plains and Prints, and Crocs. They are also entitled to a free 1-day Game Pass which they can use to play within the MetaverseGo app.

FENG SHUI IN THE METAVERSE?

WITH the popularity of NFTs, even feng shui is making its way to the metaverse. Feng Shui Queen Marites Allen is bringing one of the oldest beliefs to the future by incorporating augmented reality and NFTs into her wildly popular Chinese Zodiac books. Marites partnered with Kaloscope, a new socialmedia platform, to introduce augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR) and extended reality (XR) experiences into her annual Feng Shui convention happening online this December 17 and 18, 2022, to help her followers prepare for the coming Year of the Water Rabbit.

Initially, Marites will be launching her Golden Zodiac books during the event. This set of 12 horoscope books comes with QR codes which, when scanned with mobile phones, will transform flat images of products into three-dimensional objects—the closest one can get to holding and feeling their animal signs. The horoscope books, feng shui planner and almanac are annually updated to include important indications for the Chinese New Year and how to use them as guides for prosperity and success during any given year.

“I realize that many Frigga followers have been collecting these references over the years, which is not surprising because each one contains valuable tips and insights that readers find very useful,” Marites said at a recent press conference.

“Now, ownership of these Golden Zodiac books will

Internationally recognized for Feng Shui and Chinese astrology, Marites brings with her a wealth of training under various masters from Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Hong Kong, and China. Earlier this year, Marites became a member of the Philippine Women Innovators in Blockchain. Blockchain technology, along with AR and VR, plays a big role in the Metaverse as it allows the use of NFTs and cryptocurrencies to trade any virtual asset, while it keeps an enterprise well-managed and sustainable.

Also, at the presscon Marites shared some of her 2023 forecasts, declaring the coming year as “the year of letting go.” Marites explained that 2023 is the time to let go of things that no longer serve us and people who do not bring peace into our lives, though she did say that the center sector of 2023 has romance at its core. “This is the year that a lot of people who may have separated may reconcile. For some who may be delaying their weddings because of Covid, this may be the time to do it,” Marites explained.

Chinese astrology sources say that the ruling animal sign of each year has qualities that may have important indications for what’s in store for the entire year for different individuals, businesses, and even world affairs.

The Rabbit is seen as calm, gentle, quick and alert, and this animal sign has become a symbol of peace, prosperity, and longevity in Chinese culture. Thus, 2023 is also predicted to be a year of hope.

“Wholistic is the way to go in 2023 and beyond. With the adverse effects of the pandemic years still hovering around us, we need to be able to manage ourselves and our surroundings. With this awareness, we hope to inspire participants to use those feng shui indications to their advantage. So that, whatever challenges there may be, there will be reasons to jump for joy in 2023,” she concludes.

You can get tickets to the online event via www. frigga.com.ph or www.frigga.co.uk. ■

Google appeals huge Android antitrust fine to EU’s top court

LONDON—Google is challenging a record

European Union antitrust fine that took aim at the Android operating system’s role in restricting mobile competition and consumer choice.

The company said Thursday that it filed the appeal against the €4.125 billion ($4.3 billion) penalty “because there are areas that require legal clarification from the European Court of Justice,” the EU’s top court.

Google previously appealed to a lower tribunal, which had slightly lowered the original 4.34 billion-euro penalty in a decision largely siding with the European Commission. It’s the largest-ever

antitrust fine issued by the commission, the 27-nation bloc’s top competition watchdog.

In its 2018 decision, the commission found that the dominance of Google’s Android resulted in less competition and consumer choice. The US tech giant had argued that free and open-source Android resulted in cheaper phones and spurred competition with its chief rival, Apple.

Android is the most popular mobile operating system, beating Apple’s iOS.

“Android has created more choice for everyone, not less, and supports thousands of successful businesses in Europe and around the world,” Google

said Thursday. The fine was one of three blockbuster antitrust penalties that the commission hit Google with between 2017 and 2019, highlighting the bloc’s early role in cracking down on tech giants.

Google also is appealing its first EU antitrust penalty, a €2.4 billion fine for unfairly favoring its Google Shopping comparison service, to the Court of Justice, which can only rule on points of law.

It’s appealing the third penalty, a €1.49 billion fine for abusing its dominance in online search ads, to the EU court’s lower tribunal. AP

Jake San Diego, MetaverseGo co-founder and chief business development officer, said the Astro NFT is the very first NFT execution of a mall in the Philippines. Astro NFT is an art collectible with an actual utility, allowing shoppers to own their first NFT, or add to their existing collection. Astro NFT is free with no spending requirement. To avail, all you have

Editor: Gerard S. Ramos •

Rondina-Gonzaga pair reach quarterfinals of Subic spikefest

SUBIC—Sisi Rondina and Jovelyn Gonzaga didn’t only eliminate opponents from Canada and the Czech Republic, but more importantly beat the pressure to win at home as they earned a quarterfinal-round seat in the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Futures  at the Subic Bay Sand Court on Friday.

We just enjoyed the game,” the 26-year-old Rondina, perhaps the country’s most popular beach volleyballer, said. “We did our job— like I focused more on defense and Jov [Gonzaga] on blocks.”

R ondina and Gonzaga, pairing for the first time in a major international competition, beat the taller Darby Dunn and Olivia Grace Furlan of Canada, 21-19, 21-18, in their morning match of the main draw.

T hey came back two hours later at noon to dispose of Czechs Valerie Dvornikova and Anna Pospisilova, 21-14, 21-16, to keep the country’s campaign alive in the event organized by the Philippine National Volleyball Federation.

We made adjustments and we approached our assignments one match at a time,” said the former University of Santo Tomas ace Rondina, owner of back-to-back Southeast Asian Games bronze medals with Bernadeth Pons.

R ondina was paired with Gonzaga as Pons rehabs from a shoulder injury.

Pons was in the stands cheering the five Philippine teams competing in the event supported by the Philippine Sports Commission, PLDT Home and Rebisco and also backed by Akari, F2 Logistics, Asics, SBMA, Philippine Olympic Committee, Smart Giga Play, Cignal Play, OneSports, OneSports+,

Senoh and Mikasa.

For Gonzaga, the pressure came from both the home fans and playing alongside Rondina, where expectations are high for her to level up.

“ It was tough because I’m playing with Sisi and the pressure is there for me to step up,” said Gonzaga, an Army personnel who was tabbed to back up Rondina only two weeks ago.

Gonzaga had to level up late in their match against the Czechs when cramps struck Rondina. Fortunately, the match was almost in the bag before she could be immobilized.

PNVF President Ramon “Tats” Suzara, meanwhile, credited Brazilian beach volleyball coach Joao Luciano Kioday, whose only came aboard more than a week ago but already the national team showed a marked improvement.

They are fighting for every ball,” Luciano said. “I think the short time they have training under me is that they understand what I want. It’s just only the beginning so we focused on a well-organized system of receiving and setting in 10 days. We just did the basic things.”

The other Filipina pair of Genesa Jane Eslapor and Floremel Rodriguez opened their campaign in the main draw with a 21-7, 21-13 victory over Singapore’s Eliza Hong and Zhao Rong Phua, but couldn’t sustain their drive against Israel’s Yahli Ashush and Anita Dave, 13-21, 16-21.

Jude Garcia and Krung Arbasto beat Japan’s Ryoto Sato and Ryo Shindo, 2-0, but later lost to Latvia’s Martin Plavins and Mikhail Samoilov, 19-21, 21-18, 7-15, to bow out of the men’s main draw.

The knockout quarterfinals are set Saturday.

HIDILYN’S CORONATION: LONG, TEDIOUS CAMPAIGN

By Josef Ramos

HIDILYN DiazNaranjo’S success at both the Olympics and world championships wasn’t achieved overnight, national weightlifting association president Monico Puentevella reiterated.

“Hidilyn didn’t get it overnight. She really worked so hard from the beginning to finally win those awards,” Puentevella told BusinessMirror on Friday, a day after Diaz-Naranjo won her first world championships gold medal in Bogota, Colombia, to compliment her Olympic success in Tokyo last year.

“God provided everything for her—to become stronger than ever,” said Puentevella, head of the Samahang Weightlifting ng Pilipinas.

D iaz-Naranjo swept all three golds in the women’s 55 kgs class in Bogota—93 kgs in snatch, 114 kgs in clean and jerk and 207 kgs in total lift—to fulfill her world championships mission and complete her collection of titles that include gold medals from the Asian Games, Southeast Asian Games and weightlifting World Cup.

Her victory in Bogota also kicked off her bid to return to the Olympics as the world championships were the first of six qualifiers for the weightlifting competitions at Paris 2024.

P uentevella said Diaz-Naranjo’s sacrifices were incomparable but their fruits were priceless.

There were times when Hidilyn didn’t spend Christmas with her family as she had to focus only on her trainings,” Puentevella said. “That’s why I’m overwhelming happy to see her walk on top of the podium again.”

Diaz-Naranjo’s journey began when WEIGHLIFTING association head Monico Puentevella gives Hidilyn Diaz Naranjo a congratulatory kiss on the forehead.

Ramsay leads Time Cargo charge

TIME Cargo Logistics—behind the steady play of Derek Ramsay—scored 115 points to pull away by 15 points over Forest Hills after the third round of the Am-A of the 72nd Fil-Am Men’s Invitational in Baguio City.

PACQUIAO VS. DK YOO

BOXING icon Manny Pacquiao returns to the ring in a six-round exhibition match against South Korean YouTube sensation DK Yoo on Saturday at the Korea International Exhibition Center in Ilsanseo-gu in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province in South Korea, Pacquiao has retired in 2021 but declared he’s fighting again for charity—he’s building homes at the Pacman Village in General Santos City, a campaign promise he made when he ran for president last May.

JOHNNY ARCILLA

The top-seeded Arcilla, chasing a follow-up to his victory in last week’s Brookside Open and fourth win in the season about to end, trampled young John Sonsona, 6-1, 6-0, after drawing a bye to move into the third round of the Group A tournament against Joseph Tiamzon, who crushed Calvin Canlas, 6-2, 6-2.

The 10-time Philippine Columbian Association Open champion Arcilla, who also lorded it over the field in Puerto Princesa and in Pintaflores

The 43-year-old eight-division world champion said the exhibition bout would determine if he could make a comeback next year.

“ We did a lot of training and I think this is a good stepping stone to my comeback in boxing,” said the former senator Pacquiao. “I thought it’s easy to retire, I didn’t realize that I’m getting back in the ring to keep fighting.”

He added: “I really missed boxing, I don’t get lazy in terms of workout to put me in good physical condition.”

Pacquiao’s lost his last pro fight

R amsay opened with two birdies to negate a bogey at No. 4 and

against Cuban Yordenis Ugas on August 21, 2021, in Las Vegas. He announced his retirement on September 29 also last year to focus on his presidential bid.

“ He’s one of the best boxers in the world so I’m very excited and I’m very happy,” said the South Korean martial artist DK Yoo, who fought former UFC fighter Bradley Scott in a boxing match in December last year.

Pacquiao retired with 62 wins highlighted by 39 knockouts with eight losses and two draws.

Top guns advance in Zentro Open

Festival, is also shooting for a second straight doubles crown, this time with Nilo Ledama after teaming up with Ronard Joven last week.

The No. 2 Pague, on the other hand, overpowered junior campaigner Marc Jarata, 6-1, 6-1, for a third round clash with Jeric Accion, who bundled out Christian Llavore, 6-3, 6-2, in the lower half of the 64-player draw of the event serving as part of the Palawan Pawnshop-Palawan Express Pera Padala circuit put up by Palawan Pawnshop president and CEO Bobby Castro.

Th ird ranked Vicente Anasta and No. 4 Charles Kinaadman

likewise eased past Hans Asistio, 6-1, 6-3, and Mateo Rivas, 6-1, 6-1, respectively, while fifth seed Eric Jed Olivarez also served notice of his title bid by blasting Marco Macalintal, 6-0, 6-1, in the week-long tournament sponsored by Newtech Mega Transport Solutions, Hacienda Galea, People’s General Insurance, Corp., Subic Truckboy International and Dingalan Fireworks.

already had 19 at the turn. He made 17 coming home to lead the way with 36 points with David Guangko contributing 27 and Rusty Bayani and Renie Floro adding 26 each for Time Cargo’s 297 total.

Forest Hills got 29 from general manager Raymond Bunquin, 26 from JB Gosiaco, 25 from Edgar Lee and

22 from Ronnie Littaua for 102 and a 282 aggregate.

X 1R-Tipsy Pig-Mizuno moved up to third with 269. Marvin Caparros, the PR manager for Mercedes-Benz, led with 31 and got ample support from Raymond Co (26), JB Garcia (26) and Neil Arce (23).

C amp John Hay Golf Club (95323) remained on top of the Fil-A division, but its lead was cut to only six by Summit Point (105-317). Eight

she was an innocent looking 17-yearold province girl from Zamboanga City in the Beijing 2008 Olympics. She had a forgettable stint in London 2012, but was unrelenting and bagged silver four years later in Rio de Janeiro.

Then came Tokyo which was delayed a year because of Covid-19 and Diaz-Naranjo was stuck in Malacca with then boyfriend and trainer Julius Naranjo for the entire 2020 and half of 2021.

O n July 26, 2021, Diaz-Naranjo won the country’s first Olympic gold medal and exactly a year later, tied the knot with Julius.

Despite deciding to get married this year, she never turned her back on her country. She still worked hard to achieve the World Championships,” Puentevella said.

“She’s blessed by God.”

Obviously up next for DiazNaranjo are the Paris Games.

Hidilyn is now preparing for the Paris Olympics,” Puentevella said.

“She really wanted to qualify again and try to get another gold medal.”

points adrift was Uragun-1 (96-315). Kumpadres virtually bagged the title by scoring 94 points in the third round for a commanding 54-point lead with one round to go in the Fil-C division.

R onald Busto of Isabela made an ace at the 18th hole of Camp John Hay Golf Club and won a brand new Vespa S125. He used a 7-wood and Titleist ProV1 ball with Dexter Midon and Joselito Santos as flightmates.

‘The Kill’ Chope bags third URCC crown at Chan’s expense

easily negated Filipino Arvin Chan’s striking skills with his expertise in grappling and jiu-jitsu and finished off his foe one minute and 45 seconds in the first round via rear naked choke to annex interim welterweight belt at the URCC 81 Decade of Success at the Cove in Okada Manila.

I just wanted to cement my legacy in the URCC,” said the 33-year-old Chope, the 2013 featherweight and 2016 lightweight URCC champion.

“This like my comeback fight in the URCC and Arvin [Chan] has a sevenfight win streak so I did my best to get hope’s impressive win was witnessed by more than 3,000 fans.  e 6-foot-4 Chope, now based in Bangkok, improved his win-loss record to 40-19 27 by submission, 23 of which came by the same rear naked choke—while the 5-foot-10 Chan fell to 9-6 won-lost.

fter the fight, reigning URCC welterweight champion Jon Adajar entered the cage and challenged Chope to a unification bout next year.

e durable South Koreans, meanwhile, busted the Filipino troika of Sugar Ray “The Mammoth” Estroso, former URCC champion Caloy “The Bad

Boy” Baduria and Boss Bullet Manlilic in a thrilling 3 Versus 3 battle that was part of the main event.

Despite losing Won Tae Cho due to a disqualifying kick against a fallen Bullet, the Koreans still prevailed after Estroso suffered an injured shoulder prior to the fight’s resumption. This forced Team Philippines’s Baduria to fight by his lonesome against South Korea’s chosen fighter.

Team South Korea then chose the bigger Jeong Minhun over Jeon Young Jun, and Minhun easily clobbered and pinned Baduria to the corner.

B aduria fought valiantly but absorbed several unanswered blows that prompted a referee stoppage.

“ It was such an awesome night. Everybody went all out but it’s just too bad the last fight ended that way,” URCC founding President Alvin Aguilar said. “The Koreans were supposed to be disqualified for a foot stomp [on Bullet] while Sugar hurt his shoulder.”

I n the other mixed martial arts bouts, Mariano “The Hitman” Jones of Costa Rica crushed Filipino Gester Maglaque in 4:39 of the first round to get a stoppage win in their 185-lb clash, while, Dunlee Stewart beat John Tirona via a first-round technical knockout in a 170-lb tussle.

BOXING icon Manny Pacquiao and South Korean YouTube sensation DK Yoo at Friday’s media event.

PHOTO BY WENDELL ALINEA

FORMER UFC campaigner Will “The Kill” Chope returned to the Universal Reality Combat Championship (URCC) action in style by capturing his third title in three different weight classes with a smooth yet lethal performance on Tuesday night.  Chope

Will “The Kill” Chope pummels Arvin Chan.

and Jose Maria Pague fashioned lopsided victories to lead the charge of the big guns in the Zentro Open National Open Championships at the Zentro Tennis and Recreational courts in Apalit, Pampanga, Thursday.

China, Saudi Arabia set to hold regular summits as ties solidify

By Salma El Wardany & Philip Glamann

CHINA and Saudi Arabia agreed to hold regular summits between their leaders, solidifying ties between the world’s No. 2 economy and its top supplier of oil.

In a meeting in Riyadh on Thursday, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman agreed to hold summits every two years as they upgraded the relationship to a comprehensive strategic partnership, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.

The two nations also signed slew of energy and investment pacts, though details on those were scant. They announced plans to synchronize Xi’s signature Belt and Road infrastructure program with the kingdom’s Vision 2030, which aims to wean the economy off a reliance on oil.

Xi and Prince Mohammed “reviewed aspects of partnership and joint coordination efforts,” the state-run Saudi Press Agency said. Xinhua said Xi agreed to help boost Chinese tourism to the Middle Eastern nation and expand cultural links. The Chinese leader is set to meet a broader range of Arab leaders on Friday.

Taken together, the moves show willingness for the two countries to strengthen relations just as both see ties with the US cool. In October, President Joe Biden accused Riyadh of allying with Russia on oil production cuts, vowing unspecified “consequences.” Total US-Saudi trade shrank from some $76 billion in 2012 to $29 billion last year.

The two countries will strengthen collaboration at the United Nations, the Group of 20 and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, Xi wrote in an editorial in Saudi newspaper Al Riyadh.

China’s engagement with the region shows it is illustrating that “an alternative world order” can exist, said Raffaello Pantucci, a senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.

“It suits both Riyadh and Beijing to highlight they have other options to the US, or important partnerships on the world stage that do not include the West,” he said.

Neither Saudi nor Chinese state news outlets provided many details about the agreements that were signed, beyond saying that others involved sectors such as information technology, cloud services, medical industries and construction.

These included an agreement with China’s Huawei Technologies Co. on cloud computing and high-speed Internet complexes in Saudi Arabia. Last month, the Federal Communications Commission moved to seal off Huawei from the US market for telecoms equipment.

The Saudi investment ministry and Shandong Innovation Group Co. also inked an agreement to build an aluminum plant, and the Saudi government said it signed an MOU to set up a hydrogen cracking project.

Saudi Arabia has started work on a large facility for green hydrogen in Neom, a Red Sea city under construction. Green hydrogen, a fuel seen as crucial to the global transition to cleaner energy, will be generated using solar and wind power.

With assistance from Rebecca Choong Wilkins/Bloomberg.

IN this image taken from footage by Saudi State TV, Chinese President Xi Jinping, left, listens to the Chinese national anthem next to Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Thursday, December 8, 2022. SAUDI PRESS AGENCY VIA AP

LIAO, DEHAO Chinese Speaking Business Development Associate

Brief Job Description: Assist/help customers, give customers information about product and services

Basic Qualification: With at least 6 months customer service experience/good in oral communication and written

Basic Qualification: With at least 6 months customer service experience/good in oral communication and written Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 28.

Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

Basic

Basic

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

Basic

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 129.

Brief Job Description:

The MANDARIN FINANCIAL MANAGER commissioning analyst will be a strategist and a leader able to steer the company to the most profitable direction while also implementing its vision, mission and long-term goals.

130.

131.

Brief Job Description: The MANDARIN PROJECT SUPERVISOR will be a strategist and a leader able to steer the company to the most profitable direction while also implementing its vision, mission and long-term goals.

Basic Qualification: Proven experience as MANDARIN FINANCIAL MANAGER excellent communication, interpersonal and presentation skills.

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

Basic Qualification: Proven experience as MANDARIN PROJECT SUPERVISOR excellent communication, interpersonal and presentation skills.

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

Basic Qualification:

135.

SHENG, MINGFENG Customer Service Representative

Brief Job Description: Customer support and data base services.

Basic Qualification: Knowledgeable in computer application with good oral and written communication skills.

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

SKYLUCK CORPORATION #360, Unit 243 Shaw Center Mall, Shaw Blvd. Penthouse Shaw I.t. Center, Addition Hills, City Of Mandaluyong

KIM, CHANGHWAN Korean Marketing Consultant

136.

Brief Job Description: Make initial prospecting and qualifying of leads via consultative approach

Basic Qualification: Can Speak and Write Korean Language Fluently, and Preferably With Six (6) Months Experience as Office Staff

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

SOLIDLEISURE SOLUTIONS INC. Unit 2602-d & 2603-a West Tower, Psec Exchange Road, Ortigas Center, San Antonio, City Of Pasig

Basic

SUMITOMO

Basic Qualification:

150.

ANI KAROLINA Bahasa Language Customer Service Representative

Description:

Basic Qualification:

TENERITY PHILIPPINES CORP.

Floor, W Fifth Building, 32nd St. Cor. 5th Avenue, Bonifacio Global City, Fort Bonifacio, City Of Taguig

BOTE MATOMBA, AURELIO Spanish Team Lead

140.

Brief Job Description: Directly manage a team of customer care advisor, establish effective and timely communication with customer care advisor to ensure issues are addressed.

151.

152.

Brief

Basic

Basic Qualification: Proficient in Writing, Reading, and Speaking in Both English and Korean/ Bahasa/ Chinese/ Vietnamese/ Malaysian/ Cambodian Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

Basic Qualification: Proficient in Writing, Reading, and Speaking in Both English and Korean/ Bahasa/ Chinese/ Vietnamese/ Malaysian/ Cambodian

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

Basic Qualification: Proficient in Writing, Reading, and Speaking in Both English and Korean/ Bahasa/ Chinese/ Vietnamese/ Malaysian/ Cambodian

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

CARINA FADILLAH AFRIANTO Bahasa Language Customer Service Representative

Brief Job Description: Professionally handle incoming requests from customers and ensure that issues are resolved both

FILINA Bahasa Language Customer Service Representative Brief Job Description:

handle

Basic Qualification: Excellent interpersonal, listening, written and verbal communication skills, ability to work collaboratively in a team environment, excellent leadership, interpersonal, and two-way communication skills.

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

TOYOTA COROLLA SAPPORO PHILIPPINES HOLDINGS INC. 256 Batangas North St., Ayala Alabang Village, Alabang, City Of Muntinlupa

KONO, HIROKAZU Business Consultant

Brief Job Description:

The MANDARIN QUALITY INSPECTOR commissioning analyst will be a strategist and a leader able to steer the company to the most profitable direction while also implementing its vision, mission and long-term goals.

141.

Brief Job Description: Analyze vehicle sales data and generate monthly reports; work with local vehicle body suppliers to come with commercial vehicle modification; generate business plans as to how to market customized commercial vehicles; improve current BP processes by finding out problems and countermeasures in each stage; formulate a business plan to convert out-sourced

Bahasa Language Customer Service Representative

Language

Brief Job

Both English and Korean/ Bahasa/ Chinese/ Vietnamese/ Malaysian/ Cambodian Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

Mandarin Financial Manager

ZHANG, DONGYA Mandarin Project Supervisor

SHAN, HONGQIAO Mandarin Quality Inspector

103.

ZULWIRANDI PUTRA Indonesian Language Customer Service Representative

Brief Job Description: Manage large amounts of incoming phone calls.

Basic Qualification: At least 1 year experience in any field using computer as primary job tools.

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

NATURAL9 CORPORATION Unit 8c-1, 8 Rockwell Building, Hidalgo Drive, Rockwell Center, Poblacion, City Of Makati

LA DUC HUNG Vietnamese Chef Assistant

Basic

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

Basic

104.

Brief Job Description: Ensuring that food served are of excellent quality and authentic taste are consistently achieved, modifying menus or create new ones that meet quality standards, estimating food requirements and food/labor costs, supervise kitchen staff’s activities, performing other duties assigned by the company.

Basic Qualification: Ability to assist and direct kitchen staff in meal preparation, creation, plating and delivery and ensure that kitchen activities operate in a timely manner. Ability to work with minimal to no supervision. Train new kitchen employees to meet restaurant and kitchen standards. Manage the kitchen team in the executive chef’s absence. High level of attention to detail. With Experience in Chinese Restaurants. Fluent in the Chinese Language, both oral and written.

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

110.

TRAN VAN VINH Vietnamese Chef Assistant

Brief Job Description: Ensuring that food served are of excellent quality and authentic taste are consistently achieved, modifying menus or create new ones that meet quality standards, estimating food requirements and food/labor costs, supervise kitchen staff’s activities, performing other duties assigned by the company.

Basic Qualification: Ability to assist and direct kitchen staff in meal preparation, creation, plating and delivery and ensure that kitchen activities operate in a timely manner. Ability to work with minimal to no supervision. Train new kitchen employees to meet restaurant and kitchen standards. Manage the kitchen team in the executive chef’s absence. High level of attention to detail. With Experience in Chinese Restaurants. Fluent in the Chinese Language, both oral and written.

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

VU TRI NGOC Vietnamese Chef Assistant

111.

Brief Job Description: Ensuring that food served are of excellent quality and authentic taste are consistently achieved, modifying menus or create new ones that meet quality standards, estimating food requirements and food/labor costs, supervise kitchen staff’s activities, performing other duties assigned by the company.

Basic Qualification: Ability to assist and direct kitchen staff in meal preparation, creation, plating and delivery and ensure that kitchen activities operate in a timely manner. Ability to work with minimal to no supervision. Train new kitchen employees to meet restaurant and kitchen standards. Manage the kitchen team in the executive chef’s absence. High level of attention to detail. With Experience in Chinese Restaurants. Fluent in the Chinese Language, both oral and written.

Basic Qualification:

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 90.

105.

LIU SON QUI Vietnamese Chef Assistant

Brief Job Description: Ensuring that food served are of excellent quality and authentic taste are consistently achieved, modifying menus or create new ones that meet quality standards, estimating food requirements and food/labor costs, supervise kitchen staff’s activities, performing other duties assigned by the company.

Basic Qualification: Ability to assist and direct kitchen staff in meal preparation, creation, plating and delivery and ensure that kitchen activities operate in a timely manner. Ability to work with minimal to no supervision. Train new kitchen employees to meet restaurant and kitchen standards. Manage the kitchen team in the executive chef’s absence. High level of attention to detail. With Experience in Chinese Restaurants. Fluent in the Chinese Language, both oral and written.

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

LUC QUOC CUONG Vietnamese Chef Assistant

106.

Brief Job Description: Ensuring that food served are of excellent quality and authentic taste are consistently achieved, modifying menus or create new ones that meet quality standards, estimating food requirements and food/labor costs, supervise kitchen staff’s activities, performing other duties assigned by the company.

Basic Qualification: Ability to assist and direct kitchen staff in meal preparation, creation, plating and delivery and ensure that kitchen activities operate in a timely manner. Ability to work with minimal to no supervision. Train new kitchen employees to meet restaurant and kitchen standards. Manage the kitchen team in the executive chef’s absence. High level of attention to detail. With Experience in Chinese Restaurants. Fluent in the Chinese Language, both oral and written.

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

107.

NGUYEN TIEN THANH Vietnamese Chef Assistant

Brief Job Description: Ensuring that food of excellent quality

NEO INCORPORATED North Tower Centrum Bldg.,

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

Basic

Basic

Php 59,999

108.

TONG VAN HAI Vietnamese Chef Assistant

Brief Job Description: Ensuring that food served are of excellent quality and authentic taste are consistently achieved, modifying menus or create new ones that meet quality standards, estimating food requirements and food/labor costs, supervise kitchen staff’s activities, performing other duties assigned by the company.

Basic Qualification: Ability to assist and direct kitchen staff in meal Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

Basic Qualification: Ability to assist and direct kitchen staff in meal preparation, creation, plating and delivery and ensure that kitchen activities operate in a timely manner. Ability to work with minimal to no supervision. Train new kitchen employees to meet restaurant and kitchen standards. Manage the kitchen team in the executive chef’s absence. High level of attention to detail. With Experience in Chinese Restaurants. Fluent in the Chinese Language, both oral and written.

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

TRAN NGOC HOA Vietnamese Chef Assistant

109.

Brief Job Description: Ensuring that food served are of excellent quality and authentic taste are consistently achieved, modifying menus or create new ones that meet quality standards, estimating food requirements and food/labor costs, supervise kitchen staff’s activities, performing other duties assigned by the company.

Basic Qualification: Ability to assist and direct kitchen staff in meal preparation, creation, plating and delivery and ensure that kitchen activities operate in a timely manner. Ability to work with minimal to no supervision. Train new kitchen employees to meet restaurant and kitchen standards. Manage the kitchen team in the executive chef’s absence. High level of attention to detail. With Experience in Chinese Restaurants. Fluent in the Chinese Language, both oral and written.

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999