FACTORY output in the Philippines slowed to a five-month low in January due to greater competition and expensive raw materials, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence.
In its latest Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) report, S&P Global Market Intelligence said the country’s PMI score reached 52.3 in January, slower than the 32-month high of the 54.3 score posted in December 2024.
S&P Global Market Intelligence said that while this pointed to an improvement of manufacturing conditions in the growth—the PMI score remains above the 50 threshold score—it was a five-month low.
“The solid underlying demand
trends contributed to a further rise in manufacturing output. However, the growth rate was the second-weakest in the current 10-month sequence of increase, as competition and rising raw material prices reportedly limited production activity,” the report stated.
The report noted that cost burdens and output charges both increased but at “historically subdued rates.”
“Rising prices for materials and transportation contributed to higher cost burdens, which manufacturers opted to largely pass on to their clients,” it stated.
Nonetheless, S&P Global Market Intelligence said if demand for Filipino goods continues to improve, factories may hire more workers to raise their output.
S&P Global Market Intelligence economist Maryam Baluch said their survey also showed that the May 2025 polls are likely to boost manufacturing output this year.
Baluch said industrial production growth this year is projected at 3.9 percent in 2025, up from 2.4 percent in 2024.
“The election year is also likely to provide a general boost to the manufacturing sector, as highlighted by some survey respondents,” Baluch said. “In fact, the anticipation of greater demand has already prompted goods producers to increase their inventory levels.”
The data also showed that expectations of higher sales led manufacturers to boost their purchasing
activities in January. S&P Global Market Intelligence said many firms concentrated on stock building. Stocks of finished goods rose following a sharp decline in December 2024. This was despite the presence of supply chain issues, such as the shortage of delivery trucks and port congestion. Nonetheless, S&P Global Market Intelligence said the “decline in vendor performance was the least pronounced in five months.” The growth in new sales saw the increase in firms hiring more workers. But this increase was offset by reports of resignations leaving manufacturing employment growth “largely stagnant” in January 2025.
UNIVERSAL TARIFF PLAN
OF TRUMP WORRIES PHL
By Andrea E. San Juan & Cai U. Ordinario
THEDepartment of Trade and Industry (DTI) said it will work closely with the United States government to address the concerns of the Philippines over the recently proposed universal tariff on imports.
Washington’s new tariff policy and a slowdown in monetary easing globally could raise uncertainties for Philippine economic growth this year, according to think tank Moody’s Analytics.
“We will actively engage in discussions to find a mutually beneficial solution that supports both our economies and further strengthens our trade and investment ties, including the possibility of preferential trade agreements,” Trade Secretary Cristina A. Roque told reporters in a Viber message on Monday. Roque said the DTI believes that free and open trade is essential for economic growth both in the Philippines and globally.
“We are working earnestly with our trading partners, including the US, to ensure that trade remains a driving force for prosperity,” she said.
“Since the US is the Philippines’s major trading partner and 8th largest export market for its agricultural products, the proposed universal tariff could potential impact Philippine exports to the US,” she added.
The extent of the impact, the Trade chief said, will depend on a number of factors, including the final tariff rate and the response of other countries.
“With this, the DTI is committed to ongoing dialogue with the US administration to convey our concerns about the proposed universal tariff,” she said.
“We are confident that through collaboration and open communication, we can reach a resolution that is beneficial to both our nations and our people,” she added.
Latest data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed that the United States is the Philippines’s top export destination as Philippine outbound shipments to the US amounted to $12.12 billion. The US accounted for a 16.6-percent share of Philippine merchandise exports which amounted to $73.21 billion in 2024.
Roque made her pronouncements a few days after the Foreign Buyers Association of the Philippines (FOBAP) said Philippine exporters of hard goods and garments are hoping for the reauthorization of the US Generalized Scheme of Preference (GSP) and for the government to start talks for a trade agreement (FTA) with the US.
FOBAP President Robert Young said that if the GSP is not reauthorized, the industry “will just be flat, we
the NPCC, chaired by Trade Secretary Maria Cristina Roque, that local prices have remained high despite the easing of global rice quotations and slashed rice tariffs to 15 percent.
“This emergency declaration allows us to release rice buffer stocks held by the National Food Authority [NFA] to stabilize prices and ensure that rice, a staple food for millions of Filipinos, remains accessible to consumers,” Laurel said in a statement. The agency noted that NFA currently holds a buffer stock of about 300,000 metric tons (MT) of rice, 50
By Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo Special to the BusinessMirror
ASIA will continue its strong performance this year, with its economies expanding by an average 4 percent, exceeding the projected global average of 3.3 percent.
According to the Asia House Annual Outlook 2025, India, Vietnam and the Philippines will be the region’s “star performers,” with the latter’s economy, especially predicted to expand by 6.25 percent, “driven
in large part by developments in its service sector economy and in private consumption growth.” Last year, the Philippine economy grew by 5.6 percent, less than the government target of 6-6.5 percent.
However, Asia House noted that no country in the region will be spared from the impact of higher tariffs imposed by the United States. Over the weekend, the Trump administration announced 25-percent import duties on Canadian and Mexican goods, and an additional
10-percent levy on goods imported from China. This could force China to dump its excess goods on its Asian neighbors, said the report, impacting on their domestic industries. Indonesian textile companies, for instance, have already closed due to cheaper fabric imports from China.
Preliminary estimates by the Philippine Statistics Authority showed $32.82 billion in imports from mainland China in 2024, while Philippine exports
percent of which could be released over the next six months to ensure sufficient supply for emergencies and disaster response.
However, it added that the grains agency may increase this volume if necessary, as it prepares to begin palay procurement in the coming weeks.
Under the amended Rice Tariffication Law (RTL), the DA Secretary is authorized to declare a food security emergency in response to extraordinary price increases.
This provision allows the DA chief to direct the NFA, which is legally restricted from selling rice directly to the public, to release buffer stocks to government agencies, local government units (LGUs), and the KADIWA ng Pangulo program.
“Despite efforts to liberalize rice imports and reduce tariffs, the domestic market has been slow to respond, with retail prices surpassing expectations. This volatility has left many Filipinos, particularly those in lower-income brackets, struggling to afford rice,” the DA said.
Meanwhile, the agency noted that the food security emergency will remain in effect until the situation improves, while the government has committed to regularly reviewing the situation to determine when it can be lifted.
The DA said Laurel’s declaration emphasizes the “delicate balance” the government must strike between open trade policies and domestic market stability.
“As rice is an essential commodity, ensuring affordable access for all consumers remains a top priority.”
Dwindling supplies prompt Manila to import red onions
By Ada Pelonia @adapelonia
THEPhilippines will import around 4,000 metric tons (MT) of red and yellow onions as stocks thin out, according to the Department of Agriculture (DA).
Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. confirmed that the agency would approve onion imports, with a caveat that these would only plug the projected shortfall in domestic supply for this month.
“Maybe 3,000 MT of red onions and 1,000 MT of white onions,” Laurel told the BusinessMirror on
Monday.
Data from the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) showed that the country’s red onion inventory as of January 24 stood at 7,281 MT while yellow onion stocks were estimated at nearly 800 MT.
The BPI estimated that red onion stocks would only last until this week while yellow onion supplies
Universal tariff plan of Trump...
Continued from A1
will just survive.”
“In garments, [export sales] could go even lower because we cannot anymore supply the buyers
with the quantity due to prices. Everybody is in a waiting game because of [the leadership of new US President Donald] Trump,” Young said.
had been depleted since January 29, based on the country’s daily consumption.
However, the agency noted that onion harvests would replenish inventories by end-February.
The BPI said the expected volume of red onions that will be harvested until February 28 would reach 17,200 MT, minus the supplies already in cold storage facilities. These additional stocks are expected to last for 41 days or until March 7.
For yellow onions, the Philippines is expected to produce 7,765 MT by the end of February.
The Philippines imported 1,830 MT of yellow onions. The agency estimated that the country’s additional yellow onion supplies would last for 71 days or until April 5.
Despite this, Agriculture Assistant Secretary Arnel de Mesa said the depleted supply would be aug-
Young, who’s also trustee for the textile, yarn and fabric sector of the Philippine Exporters Confederation Inc., said that with the revival of the US trade preference program, export revenues can increase 5 percent to 10 percent this year. (See: https://businessmirror. com.ph/2025/02/03/industrygroups-pin-hopes-on-u-s-gspfta/)
Challenges
MOODY’S Analytics said the strength of the domestic economy is “petering out,” adding that household consumption is slowing and the growth in government spending was merely “flattered” by a low base effect.
“The main challenge will come from abroad. The threat of a US tariff hike and the potential for slower global interest rate normalisation create uncertainty about global demand and are a risk factor for Philippine exporters and industrial producers,” it said. Consumption growth, Moody’s Analytics said, has been tepid despite the 75 basis point reduction in policy rates last year. This meant that the 5.75 percent over-
Fr. Luciano…
Continued from A20
Born in Argentina on May 28, 1973, Felloni moved to the Philippines in the early 2000s. He was first assigned to the Mother of Divine Providence Parish in Payatas, a povertystricken area in Quezon City.
Later, the social justice champion, who can fluently speak Filipino, served at Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Caloocan, where he focused on supporting families affected by the Duterte administration’s war on drugs.
He led faith-based rehabilitation programs for drug dependents, combining spiritual guidance with livelihood programs to help individuals rebuild their lives.
He was also a parish priest at Jesus, Lord of the Divine Mercy Parish in Mapayapa village, Quezon City.
Beyond his parish work, he also served as the social communications director for
Continued
intimidation to subvert democratic values.
“For too long, we have indulged the fantasy that economic engagement would liberalize China.... But Chinese leaders we now know have shown tremendous determination to avoid the fate of the Soviet Union less by emulating democracies than by exploiting, outmaneuvering, and undermining them,” he said.
Pottinger attacked China’s response to Covid-19, claiming that Beijing’s suppression of the Wuhan epidemic caused a worldwide calamity.
He also referred to China as “the biggest polluter in the world” and denounced its environmental
there reached $9.44 billion, for a trade deficit of $23.4 billion.
Higher inflation, higher interest rates
mented since some planters have started to harvest onions in early January.
“Some farmers have already started to harvest this January. The peak harvest season for onions is January to March,” De Mesa told reporters in a previous interview.
“It was announced since last year that red onion stocks in cold storage would last until February…the timing for dwindling stocks would coincide with the harvest season,” he added.
Retail prices of red onions ranged from P110 to P200 per kilo, higher than P100 to P170 per kilo recorded on January 2, based on the government’s latest price monitoring report.
Local white onions ranged from P80 to P140 per kilo while imported white onions stood at P80 to P160 per kilo.
night reverse repo rate remained significantly higher than the 3 to 4 percent prepandemic interest rates.
The think tank also said the economy last year was affected by slow tourist arrivals which it estimated to only be 30 percent lower than pre-pandemic levels due to the decline in Chinese tourists.
“In 2019, around one in five tourists flew in from China, but this fell to just one in 20 by the end of 2024,” Moody’s Analytics said. However, some growth drivers could prop up GDP this year. Moody’s Analytics said the May 2025 polls could increase consumption, which accounts for about 70 percent of the country’s GDP.
This, coupled with stable inflation and monetary policy easing, can encourage spending as households’ purchasing power recover.
Moody’s Analytics said inflation likely slowed to 2.7 percent last month. This is slower than the 2.9 percent posted in December 2024.
The think tank also said “the healthy inflow of remittances” will also provide consumption spending support.
the Diocese of Novaliches, where in 2021, he helped establish an online platform to reach out to isolated Covid-19 patients and provide them with prayer and support.
“Let’s not allow any single patient to go on without prayer, to go on without being blessed by a priest,” he said at the time. “Let’s help in our little and very simple way. Let us help with the grace of prayer.”
The pastoral leader was also known for his vlog series, “AlmuSalita,” which became one of the most followed among Catholic content creators. The series, which offered daily Gospel reflections, amassed 434,000 followers on Facebook.
The Diocese of Novaliches expressed deep sorrow at his passing.
“Fr. Luciano was a shining beacon of faith, hope, and love, touching the lives of many with his kindness, wisdom, humor, and compassion,” it said. “As we mourn his passing, we also celebrate his remarkable legacy of love and service—a legacy that will continue to live in the hearts of those he inspired.”
damage, unfair trade practices, and intellectual property theft.
Citing Beijing’s “no-limits” agreement with Vladimir Putin shortly before Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, he issued a warning about China’s close relations to authoritarian nations.
Pottinger charged that China was preparing for possible military action against Taiwan while simultaneously bolstering Moscow’s military aspirations.
Immediate action FORUM speakers called for immediate action to counter China’s influence.
In order to resist Beijing’s pressure, Pottinger called on democratic countries to fortify military deterrence in the Indo-Pacific, limit China’s access to Western cash and technol -
THE US has a trade surplus only with Singapore among members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean). It recorded its largest trade deficit with Vietnam at $110 billion in 2023, while it has a trade deficit of $4.4 billion with the Philippines.
“Trump despises trade deficits, and any steps he takes to reduce them in his second term could pose a threat to the outlook for Asia’s exportled economies….Higher US tariffs would make Asian goods relatively more expensive, leading to a fall in American demand, which would hurt Asia’s export-driven economies. [These also] would inevitably stoke inflation in the US and potentially trigger higher US interest rates and a stronger dollar, all of which would have consequences in Asia,” said the report, which was released before the new tariff policy was announced. Whenever the Federal Reserve raises its key policy rate, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) matches this to stabilize the local currency, tame inflationary pressures, and prevent capital outflows by investors seeking higher returns in the US, as the BSP did in 2022. Meanwhile, Asia House said investments in financial technology and telecommunications are currently propelling the Philippines’s digital economy, now contributing 9 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP), the sum of a country’s goods and services produced in a specific period of time.
PHL not a key FDI destination IT likewise noted the continued strength of remittances from overseas Filipinos, accounting for 8 percent of GDP, which provide stability and growth for the economy. Also, the Philippines’s successful US$2billion global bond issue last year will aid its shift to renewable energy and adoption of climate mitigation strategies. In a news statement, Michael Lawrence OBE, Chief Executive of Asia House, said: “The Philippines’ economic strength and focus on digital and green initiatives underscore its vital role in driving Asia’s growth in 2025.” Asia House is a London-based independent think tank; its Annual Outlook 2025 also includes a survey of some 50 businesses, and contributions from 40 experts to provide detailed forecasts and analyses of Asia’s economic landscape. However, the survey showed a little over 30 percent of the respondents thought the Philippines offered attractive investment opportunities this year. They believed Vietnam (68 percent), India (66 percent), and Indonesia (64 percent) held the most appeal in terms of investments. The BSP recently reported that foreign direct investments saw an 8.2-percent increase to $7.7 billion, year on year, a turnaround from the 17.5-percent drop to $6.5 billion in 2023 from the same period in 2022.
(See, “BSP reports 8-month high in October FDI,” in the BusinessMirror, January 11, 2025.)
ogy, outlaw CCP-controlled platforms like WeChat and TikTok, and fortify political and economic ties.
“For years, Chinese leaders have hidden their true intentions behind the facade of a country eager to join the international system and willing to abide by its norms. Dual messaging, that is, deceptive external propaganda for foreign ears twinned with authoritative internal guidance for party members, comes naturally with the party,” he added. In addition to calling on democratic leaders to oppose China’s economic lures and reveal its influence operations, Cassidy emphasized the necessity of more robust anti-corruption laws. Cassidy made it clear that the world cannot afford to delay action against China’s ambitions.
NTF-Elcac on
Cocopea withdrawal
from execom: Nothing much is lost
By Rex Anthony Naval
WHILE it respects the de -
cision of the Coordinating Council of Private Educational Associations of the Philippines (Cocopea) to withdraw from the body, the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-Elcac) on Monday said nothing is lost as the educational body remains one with their mission.
“While Cocopea respectfully withdraws membership from NTF-Elcac, it remains one with NTF-Elcac’s mission to achieve unity, peace, security, and socioeconomic development. Cocopea will continue to represent the private education sector in dialogues with the task force on matters that align with its goals and objectives,” the NTF-Elcac executive director, Undersecretary Ernesto Torres Jr. said in a statement.
He also maintained that Cocopea’s move was an internal one.
Earlier, the education group said that it is withdrawing from the NTF-Elcac Executive Committee (Execom) “to preserve academic
freedom which is essential in a democratic society.”
“This distinction is crucial— withdrawal from the Execom is one thing, but continued collaboration is another. The task force values its engagement with the private education sector, especially in advancing academic freedom, countering radicalization, and fostering an environment where education remains a pillar of peace and national development,” it added.
Torres said the NTF-Elcac remains firm in its campaign against violent extremism and terroristgrooming, particularly the deceptive recruitment of young students into armed struggle.
“We believe that schools should be centers of learning, free from exploitation by radical and extremist elements who prey on the idealism of youth to push their destructive agendas. Moving forward, we will continue close engagements with Cocopea and all educational institutions that share our vision of safe, secure, and development-oriented learning spaces for all Filipino students,” he added.
QC legislator cites need for breast ailments center
WITH the Philippines having the highest incidence of breast cancer in Asia, a lawmaker is pushing for the establishment of a state-of-the-art Mammography and Breast Cancer Center in Quezon City.
In line with the global observance of World Cancer Day, Quezon City Rep. Patrick Michael Vargas filed House Bill 3500, or An Act Establishing a Mammography and Breast Cancer Center, to provide accessible, affordable, and high-quality breast cancer screening, diagnosis, and treatment services to women in Quezon City and nearby areas. The center will be located in Novaliches.
“Breast cancer remains the most common cancer among Filipinas, with thousands of new cases detected annually. Through this bill, we aim to bring essential breast cancer services through early detection and proper treatment where access to specialized health care remains a challenge,” said Vargas, who represents the city’s Fifth District.
The World Health Organization reports that in 2022, the Philippines had the highest incidence of breast cancer in Asia, while cancer in general represents the third leading cause of death in the country.
In 2022, the WHO reported that breast cancer incidence in the Philippines was as high as 33,079.
World Cancer Day is observed
every February 4 to raise awareness about cancer, encourage its prevention, and mobilize action to address the global cancer pandemic.
The envisioned center will feature state-of-the-art equipment for breast cancer screening and diagnosis, along with patient support programs. It will also offer subsidized mammograms for indigent patients and conduct awareness campaigns to promote early detection.
Emphasizing the urgency of the measure, Vargas called on his fellow legislators to support the bill, which remains pending with the House Committee on Health.
For Vargas and his brother, former congressman and now Councilor Alfred Vargas, the fight against cancer is deeply personal. They lost their mother to the disease, making cancer advocacy a significant part of their legislative work. During his term in Congress, then Rep.Alfred Vargas co-authored Republic Act 11215, the National Integrated Cancer Care Act, a landmark law that strengthened cancer prevention and treatment programs in the country.
“Having experienced it firsthand, we understand the emotional, physical, and financial toll that the disease takes on every affected family. As lawmakers, we are at a vantage point where we can champion stronger policies that ease the struggles of cancer patients and their loved ones,” said Vargas. Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz
Gasoline prices up, kerosene, diesel down
By Lenie Lectura @llectura
OIL companies announced mixed price adjustments to take effect on Tuesday morning. In separate advisories, Petron, Shell, Caltex, Cleanfuel, Seaoil, Total, Unioil, Jetti, PTT, Phoenix said gasoline prices would increase by 70 centavos per liter. The price of diesel and kerosene will be reduced by P1.15 per liter and 90 centavos per liter, respectively.
Other oil companies are expected to follow suit.
Impeachment cases vs VP set to be sent to Speaker
By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz @joveemarie
SECRETARY General
Reginald Velasco of the House of Representatives
on Monday said that the three impeachment complaints filed against Vice President Sara Duterte will be transmitted to Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez within the week.
In an interview, House Secretary General Reginald Velasco said he will not wait for the fourth complaint because the proponents have been given ample time to file but failed.
“The complaints are still with me, but we have to act on it this week. We will act on it this week,” he said.
“As of now, [the fourth complaint] has not been filed yet... So, you know, I think we have given them enough time. So we will have to transmit the [three] impeachment complaints within this week,” Velasco explained.
Velasco said that any time one-third or 103 of the House members can endorse an impeachment complaint, it can bypass the House Committee on Justice and proceed directly to the Senate for trial.
“They are looking for a fasttrack process that will override all these requirements,” Velasco noted, emphasizing that at least 103 House members must endorse an impeachment complaint for it to be transmitted straight to the Senate. At present, three impeach -
ment complaints against Duterte have been filed before the Office of the Secretary General, citing grounds such as culpable violation of the Constitution, betrayal of public trust, plunder, malversation, technical malversation, and bribery.
Under the 1987 Constitution, the Speaker has 10 session days to include an impeachment complaint in the order of business and three session days to refer it to the justice committee. The Congress will take a break on February 7 in preparation for the May 2025 midterm elections. Sessions will resume on June 2. The House of Representatives emphasized that the chamber is constitutionally mandated to act on any duly filed impeachment complaint, in accordance with the 1987 Constitution. Velasco reiterated that the process is not discretionary but a constitutional obligation.
Pagcor warns against scammers
By Justine Xyrah Garcia
THE Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor) late Sunday night warned the public against letters and messages, most on social media, soliciting payments for fake licenses of alleged Philippine Overseas Gaming Operations (Pogo) hubs.
In a statement, Pagcor Chairman Alejandro H. Tengco said the agency has received reports of individuals deceiving potential investors by offering “limited” Pogo slots and falsely claiming that these operations will be directly managed by the gaming regulator.
“There is absolutely no truth to this. Pogos remain banned, and there are no plans to bring them back now or in the foreseeable future,” Tengco said.
Pagcor in the statement said scammers have been demanding up to P50 million in alleged attorney’s fees, consultation, and
assessment charges from their victims.
“We reiterate: Pogos will not reopen during the term of President Marcos. Pagcor is not entertaining, and will not entertain, any applications,” Tengco added.
The government earlier ordered the shutdown of Pogos owing to growing concerns over illegal activities, including tax evasion, money laundering, and human trafficking linked to their operations.
The total ban displaced over 80,000 workers, both local and foreign.
Pagcor previously estimated that the government would lose P20 billion to P25 billion annually from the Pogo shutdown.
This includes more than P6 billion in licensing fees and other payments made to the Department of Labor and Employment and the Bureau of Immigration.
However, the National Economic and Development Author -
ity has assured that the impact on the economy will be minimal, estimating that the Pogo closures would reduce the country’s gross domestic product by only 0.25 to 1 percent.
Pagcor urged the public to stay vigilant and report any fraudulent schemes involving Pogo licensing.
“Should you receive any text message or letter offering a Pogo slot, report them immediately to Pagcor, the police, or other law enforcement agencies because these are scammers who need to be stopped,” Tengco said.
‘Rogue Pogos’ THE Marcos administration has also committed to dismantling “rogue” Pogos, particularly illegal operators that may continue their activities despite the industry’s shutdown by the end of 2024.
Authorities warned in December that these underground operations could spread to residential areas, resorts, and hotels.
Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) Executive Director Gilberto Cruz said over 100 illegal Pogo hubs run by former employees of licensed operators are currently under surveillance.
“These are former Pogo workers who regrouped to set up small-scale operations inside homes, apartments, resorts, or hotels,” Cruz said in an interview on Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon. These operations reportedly employ hundreds of workers, with each site housing fewer than 50 foreign nationals to avoid detection.
“As long as they have a strong internet connection, they can operate anywhere. That’s what we’re monitoring now. By January, we expect these operations to spread further,” Cruz said.
The Paocc added that the government is working with Pagcor, the Department of the Interior and Local Government, and the National Police to stop these illegal activities.
Early childhood devt bill hurdles bicam panel
By Butch Fernandez @butchfBM
TThe new pump prices will take effect at 6:00 a.m. This is the second consecutive week of a rollback on diesel and kerosene prices.
Oil companies adjust pump prices every week to reflect movements in the world oil market. On January 28, oil companies implemented a decrease of P0.80 per liter for gasoline, P0.20 per liter for diesel and P0.50 per liter for kerosene. This was the fourth price adjustment for the year 2025. Gasoline has a total net increase of P2.65 per liter, diesel at P4.80 per liter and kerosene a total net increase of P3.80 per liter.
HE consolidated versions of House Bill 10142 and Senate Bill 2575 or the Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) Act was approved by the bicameral conference committee on Monday.
This comes at a critical time as recent findings from the Second Congressional Commission on Education’s (Edcom 2) Year Two Report reveal that only 25 percent of Filipino children between the ages of 6–12 months meet the recommended energy intake, with rates alarmingly low among those from impoverished households.
Senate Bill 2575, co-authored by the Edcom 2 co-chairperson,
Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian, introduces comprehensive measures to upgrade the quality of early childhood education. It proposes improvements in health, nutrition, and social service programs for children from birth to 4 years old.
“This measure is crucial for laying a strong foundation for the education of our young learners. The Edcom 2 report revealed that many Filipino children younger than 5 years old are at a severe nutritional disadvantage and do not have access to ECCD programs. By strengthening programs on health, nutrition, and early childhood education, we can ensure that future generations of Filipino children will have a stronger foundation for a brighter future,” Gatchalian said.
On the counterpart House bill, co-authored by the Edcom 2 co-chairperson, Pasig Rep. Roman Romulo, emphasized the importance of cohesive and integrated ECCD systems.
“Our goal is to ensure that every Filipino child receives the best start in life through accessible, high-quality care, nutrition, and education.
With such concerning statistics about our young children’s health, it’s clear that strengthening our early childhood care and development programs is more urgent than ever. Local governments should be at the forefront of this initiative, ensuring that the benefits of this law reach every child, especially those who need them most,” said Romulo. The bill mandates local
governments to actively implement and monitor ECCD programs within their jurisdictions. This includes the setup of local ECCD offices, ensuring that programs are tailored to meet the specific needs of their communities and are aligned with national standards.
Additional provisions in the bill call for the establishment of a standardized ECCD system that integrates comprehensive child development principles and a unified information system to monitor and evaluate program efficacy nationwide.
Co-authored by the Edcom 2 Commissioners –Sens. Joel Villanueva and Loren Legarda, and Rep. Mark Go, the bill will be sent to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. for signing into law.
Economy
Group calls on corporations to sanction domestic abusers
By Jonathan L. Mayuga @jonlmayuga
ANEWLY-FORMED alliance that advocates women’s and children’s rights on Monday called on institutions and corporations to take responsibility for addressing domestic violence, implementing systemic reforms, and holding perpetrators accountable.
the initiators of the movement said for her part.
She said: “Often, companies turn a blind eye, allowing abusers to remain in positions of power while survivors are silenced.”
For her part, University of the Philippines Faculty Regent Early Sold Gadong stressed the need for corporations to take responsibility instead of treating domestic violence as an external issue.
“We question why companies act swiftly to protect their brand reputation but do not have the same urgency to protect the dignity and rights of workers,” she said.
violence also leads to billions in productivity losses each year, the group said.
Former Gabriela Rep. Emmi de Jesus said when companies ignore domestic violence, they send a message that power and profit matter more than human dignity.
“The Zero VAWC Alliance has developed a Policy Framework that lays out concrete steps for institutions to address this issue. It is time for corporations to actively adopt these measures and prove their commitment to ethical and socially responsible governance.
Set goals that propel your business forward
IBy Henry J. Schumacher
AM convinced that we all want our business to move forward fast. I suggest we develop goals that will propel our business. Here are steps hat will help to achieve the target:
Step 1: Analyze last year’s performance. You can’t set the right goals without the correct information. So, take some time to gather data from the previous year to find areas of strength and weakness. Look at your:
deadlines for each goal. E.g. “launch a new service by Q3.”
Step 4: Develop an Action Plan FOR each goal, create an action plan that outlines:
The group Zero Violence Against Women and Children Alliance issued the call during the forum “End the Corporate Culture of Silence to End Domestic Violence” in Quezon City on Monday. The Zero VAWC Alliance was initiated by women’s rights advocates and survivors to break the corporate culture of silence and push for stronger policies, survivor protections, and leadership accountability.
“Silence harms victims by protecting abusers. To stay silent is to be complicit.”
“Domestic violence is not a private matter—it affects communities, workplaces and institutions,” former social welfare secretary Judy Taguiwalo, one of
The group cited the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) report that says four Filipino women aged 15-49 have experienced domestic violence, yet many cases go unreported due to fear, stigma, and lack of institutional support.
The economic cost of domestic
Gert Libang, national chairman of Gabriela urged Congress to revisit the anti-VAWC law to strengthen its implementation and explicitly mandate corporate responsibility in addressing domestic violence.
“Companies must be held accountable not just for the workplace, but also for how they respond to domestic violence affecting their employees,” she said.
DHSUD sees SWS’ rating as ‘motivation’ for 4PH
TBy Bless Aubrey Ogerio
HE Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) on Monday said it is focused on keeping the momentum going for the administration’s Pambansang Pabahay para sa Pilipino (4PH) Program.
This was after the Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey showed President Marcos received a “very good” rating for
helping disaster victims and a “good” rating for his housing efforts.
“This proves that we are on the right track with the implementation of 4PH. Slowly but surely, Pambansang Pabahay is gaining traction and we need to sustain it,” Housing Secretary Jose Rizalino Acuzar said in a statement.
The same statement said more than 56 projects under 4PH are at different stages of development, with some condominium
buildings already completed in Luzon, the Visayas and Mindanao.
Last year, the housing department rolled out two programs for disaster victims and supported the President’s “conveyor belt of aid” initiative after several destructive typhoons.
During these typhoons, it provided housing materials and essentials to the affected families and distributed cash assistance ranging from P10,000 to P30,000 through the Integrated Disaster Shelter
Think tank cites women’s role in disaster mitigation
WBy Cai U. Ordinario @caiordinario
OMEN are not just victims of climate change and manmade induced disasters but are integral to finding sustainable solutions to responding to them, according to the government’s think tank.
In a Policy Note, Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) Project Development Officer Jean Clarisse T. Carlos said women are among the most vulnerable during disasters.
Typhoon Haiyan affected 5.2 million women while women in conflict areas are among the most affected as they form a significant share of the 3.6 million people who were displaced in 2018.
“Women, especially those in marginalized and conflict-affected areas, must be recognized not only as victims but also as key agents in driving sustainable solutions,” Carlos said.
“Empowering women and ensuring their voices are central to policy creation and implementation will lead to more resilient communities and equitable outcomes,” she added.
The study recommended strategic communication, data collection, and the empowerment of local women researchers.
The recommendations also included policy harmonization, the use of intersectional analysis, and community engagement.
“The combined efforts of governments, civil society, and local women’s groups can foster a gender-sensitive framework that strengthens disaster risk reduction, peacebuilding, and recovery processes, ultimately creating a more equitable and sustainable future for all,” Carlos said.
In terms of communication, the study recommended the implementation of a nationwide communication strategy; provide crisis communication training for local leaders; and the integration of gender-sensitive messaging.
To enhance data collection and management, the recommendation was to implement intersectional data collection systems and create a centralized gender database.
Assistance Program.
However, the Local Shelter Plan Data from December 2019 showed that there are around 3.75 million squatter families, while the housing backlog stands at 6.5 million.
In response, DHSUD revised its target for 3.2 million units, costing around P4 trillion as of November last year. (See: https:// businessmirror.com.ph/2024/11/18/dhsud-cuts-housing-target-by-2028-from6-to-3-million/)
To empower local women, the study said, women should be provided with grants and fundings as well as fostering research collaboration and mentorship programs.
Harmonizing policies, the research stated, means launching a multistakeholder task force and conduct policy audits.
The research also stated that in terms of utilizing intersectional-based policy analysis means conducting an analysis to address how overlapping identities shape women’s experience during conflicts and disasters.
The recommendation also include conducting community-based researches, establishing feedback mechanisms, and train local women to become policy advocates.
The research stated that a 2016 Asian Development Bank (ADB) found that women caught in conflict and disasters face income losses of up to 30 percent.
The study also stated that “structural barriers, including limited access to resources and exclusion from decision-making processes in conflict resolution and disaster recovery efforts, further hinder their ability to rebuild and recover.”
n Revenue streams—what are your most profitable areas? Your biggest cost centers?
n Sales & marketing—can you spot trends in customer acquisition or marketing ROI?
n Operations—where is your business bottlenecked? Where might you be overstaffed?
n Employee performance— look at productivity and churn. Which direction are things going?
Step 2: Brainstorm areas for improvement. WRITE down all the possible things you could work on. This is a great group activity for your leadership team or even the whole company (depending on your size).
The data you’ve collected in step 1 should give you some idea of opportunity areas.
Once you’ve got a list, sort them in High and Low Impact opportunities.
One tip: don’t discount an idea just because it’s hard. Often the biggest impact things are hard to do. But you should be realistic about the effort required to get something done, and its chances of success.
Step 3: Set SMART goals
USE SMART criteria to set clear and actionable goals. SMART stands for:
n Specific: Define clear and precise goals. Instead of saying “increase sales,” say “increase sales by 12% in the next 6 months.”
n Measurable: Ensure each goal has quantifiable metrics. E.g. “Reduce customer acquisition costs by 15% by the end of the year.”
n Achievable: Set realistic goals based on your resources, budget and other constraints. E.g. if you have limited cash, avoid goals that would severely impact your monthly cash flow.
n Relevant: Align goals with your overall business objectives. Ensure they address the key areas for improvement identified earlier.
n Time-bound: Set
n Steps and Milestones: Break down each goal into smaller, manageable tasks. Set milestones to track progress.
n Resources: Identify the resources needed (time, money, personnel) and ensure they are available.
n Responsibilities: Assign tasks to specific employees. Ensure everyone understands their role and what is expected of them.
n Timeline: Establish a timeline with deadlines for each task and milestone.
Doubling down on one point there: always assign tasks to a single person. They can still bring in other people to contribute, but it’s one person’s responsibility to get it across the finish line.
Step 5: Monitor and Adjust GOALS are not static. Regularly check your progress and adjust based on new insights or changing circumstances. Schedule monthly and/or quarterly reviews to keep everything on track.
Having a simple KPI tracker is a good way to keep tabs on things. Make sure you’re regularly checking in and ask people to flag any roadblocks or necessary adjustments as soon as they identify them.
I h ave three closing thoughts: Efficiency. When you’re a small business with limited resources, efficiency is key. Think outside the box about how you can accomplish ambitious goals— what can you automate? What can you outsource? Who do you have in your network that could offer advice or guidance?
Be aggressive within reason . Your goals should be ambitious, but not impossible. If you say “triple revenue this quarter” and everybody knows it’s a pipe dream, your team won’t fight for it. It’s not all-or-nothing. If you’re hitting 100% of your goals, you’re setting your sights too low. I’m happy when my companies hit about 80% of their goals. I wish you success in propelling your business forward and would appreciate getting responses from you; contact me at hjschumacher59@gmail.com.
SC set to hear oral arguments on constitutionality of 2024 budget insertions, PhilHealth fund transfer
treasury last October 16.
TBy Joel R. San Juan @jrsanjuan1573
HE Supreme Court is set to conduct today (Tuesday) the oral arguments on the three consolidated petitioners assailing the constitutionality of the insertions in the unprogrammed appropriations in the 2024 General Appropriations Act (GAA) amounting to hundreds of billions of pesos as well as the order to transfer the P89.9 billion unutilized funds of Philippine Health Insurance Corporation’s (PhilHealth) to the national treasury.
The oral arguments on the three petitions filed by Senator Aquilino Pimentel III et al, Bayan Muna Chairman Neri Colmenares et al and the 1Sambayanan Coalition et al is scheduled to be held at 2 p.m at the Court’s En Banc Session Hall.
Among the substantive issues that will be tackled by the parties during the proceedings are: (1) Whether the Special Provision No. 1 (d) of the Unprogrammed Appropriations in the 2024 General Ap -
propriations Act (GAA) which authorizes the use of the Fund Balance of Government-Owned or Controlled Corporations to fund the identified purposes in the unprogrammed appropriations was validly enacted; (2) Whether Special Provision No. 1 (d) is unconstitutional; (3) Whether Department of Finance Circular No. 00032024 which directs the transfer of unused subsidies from GOCCs, including PhilHealth, to the national treasury is valid.
The Office of the Solicitor General headed by Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra is expected to represent respondents House of Representatives, DOF and Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin.
Other respondents namely the Senate and PhilHealth are expected to be represented by their chosen counsels during the oral arguments.
The oral arguments were originally sent by the SC on January 14 but was later moved to February 4.
The petitioners are asking the Court to declare as unconstitutional Department of Finance (DOF) Circular No. 003-204 and
Section 1(d) of XLIII of the 2024 General Appropriations Act (AA).
The DOF Circular directs the transfer of unused subsidies from government-owned and-controlled corporations (GOCCs), specifically PhilHealth amounting to P89.9 billion, to the national treasury to bolster the government’s unprogrammed appropriations
It was issued in line with Section 1(d) of XLIII of the GAA 2024, which the petitioners said was an “inserted” provision on unprogrammed appropriations.
Last October, the Court it issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) enjoining the further transfer of the remaining unutilized funds of PhilHealth to the national treasury.
The first tranche of PhilHealth’s unused funds amounting to P20 billion was released on May 10.
This was followed by the second transfer made on August 21 amounting to P10 billion.
The third tranche amounting to P30 billion was transferred to the national
The TRO was issued prior to the transfer of the last tranche of PhilHealth’s amounting to P29.9 billion which was supposed to be remitted on November 24.
The petitioners are also seeking the nullification of the P449.5-billion budget increase in the 2024 unprogrammed appropriations for violation of Article VI, Section 22 of the Constitution, which requires all laws to go through required legal proceedings unless “there is a public emergency and calamity.”
It also asked the Court to declare as void the Certification of Urgency for House Bill No. 8980 or the General Appropriations Bill absent the existence of any calamity or emergency under Article VI, Section 26(2) of the Constitution.
The group also asked that the Presidential Certification, the amount of P449.5 billion inserted in the unprogrammed appropriations under the 2024 GAA, and Section 1 (d) of XLIII of the Unprogrammed Appropriations in the 2024 GAA be declared void.
Makati’s job referral program hits 92% success rate, surpasses 2024 target with 14,710 hires
By Claudeth S. Mocon-Ciriaco @claudethmc3
OVER 14,000 jobseekers - both Makati City residents and non-residentshave been hired in 2024 through the Job Referral and Placement Program of the city’s Public Employment Service Office (PESO), Makati Mayor Abigail Binay said. Binay said from January to December last year, 14,710 of the 15,967 jobseekers referred to accredited private companies were employed, posting a hiring rate of 92 percent.
This has surpassed the program’s annual target hiring rate of at least 60 percent.
“The program’s success underscores Makati City’s commitment to address unemployment and support residents and non-residents in finding gainful employment,” she said.
The mayor emphasized the importance of sustained efforts to enhance employment opportunities, including strategic partnerships with the business community.
“Through innovative programs and partnerships, we aim to provide more job opportunities. The success of our job placement
program highlights the positive and lasting impact of partnerships between the city government and the private sector,” Binay said.
In 2024, Makati PESO organized two major job fairs—the Mega Job Fair and In-House Job Fair—to facilitate the job search for unemployed, underemployed, and displaced residents and non-residents.
Two mega job fairs were held at Ayala Malls Circuit Makati in June and October.
These events allowed hundreds of qualified applicants to connect directly with employers. During these fairs, 915 applicants registered, 550 were deemed competent,
PhilRice urges preemptive action as pest threats loom for rice crops
THE Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) urged farmers to take proactive steps against potential pest infestations early this year.
PhilRice said historical data from 1994 to 2024 compiled by the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) showed that rodents, brown planthoppers (BPH), rice stem borers, bacterial leaf blight (BLB), and rice black bugs (RBB) were the top threats to rice crops. It added that Central Luzon would be particularly vulnerable to these pests, while the Bicol Region is also projected to face severe infestations, especially from rodents and BLB.
The agency explained that rodents may cause yield losses ranging from 5 percent to 90 percent. They consume 10 to 12 percent of their body weight daily and can damage 30 to 300 tillers per night.
PhilRice said high infestations of rodents are expected in Central Luzon, Western Visayas, and Bicol. The agency also said BPH infestations, which cause hopperburn or brown patches on dried plants, are anticipated in Central Luzon and Eastern Visayas. “To manage BPH, farmers are encouraged to maintain a 20cm x 20cm planting distance, avoid artificial light sources near
seedbeds, use early-maturing varieties, and practice balanced fertilization by splitting nitrogen applications into three stages,” the PhilRice said in a statement.
It added that rice stem borers are another major concern since these cause deadheart or shoot drying during early growth and whitening during heading to flowering stage.
PhilRice noted that BLB infections, which result in wilting, yellowing, and drying of leaves, are also expected to spread in Bicol and Central Luzon. The agency advised using clean and resistant seed varieties, minimizing transplanting injuries, and
THE National Bureau of investigation (NBI) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) filed a complaint for murder and frustrated murder before the Department of Justice (DOJ) against former Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) general manager and retired police colonel Royina Garma and six others in connection with the killing of PCSO board secretary Wesley Barayuga in 2020. Aside from Garma, also named as respondents in the complaint were former National Police Commission (Napolcom) Commissioner Edilberto Leonardo, Police Lieutenant Colonel Santie Mendoza, police informant Nelson Mariano, former Police Senior Master Sergeant Jeremy Causapin, the gunman identified only as alias “Loloy” and a “John Doe.” The complaint was filed as a result of the joint investigation conducted by the
NBI-Organized and Transnational Crimes Division (OTCD) and the Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG) in compliance with Department Order No. 772 issued by the Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla. The order created a DOJ-NBI composite team tasked with coordinating with the PNP-CIDG to conduct a case build-up aimed at filing the appropriate charges in relation to the murder of Barayuga.
The NBI and the PNP said they found “sufficient pieces of evidence” to recommend the conduct of preliminary investigation and the eventual filing of charges against the respondents. Barayuga was gunned down by a motorcycle-riding man shortly while on his way home from the PCSO central office in Mandaluyong City on July 30, 2020. Barayuga’s driver survived the incident,
thus, the filing of frustrated murder complaint against the respondents.
The incident had previously been investigated by both the NBI and the PNP but it remained unresolved for four years due to lack of material witnesses.
However, Barayuga’s case was resurrected after Mendoza and Mariano confesed their involvement in the killing during the House of Representatives’ Quad Committee hearing held last September 2024.
They also claimed that Garma and Leonardo orchestrated Barayuga’s assassination.
In his sworn statement, Mendoza said it was Garma and Leonardo, who were his upperclassmen at the PNP Academy, who ordered him to find a hitman to kill Barayuga as early as 2019, citing his alleged involvement in illegal drug activities as the motive.
Mendoza said he contracted Mariano to
and 226 individuals were hired on the spot (HOTS).
The PESO Job Referral and Placement Program remains vital to Makati’s comprehensive strategy to boost employment and economic resilience. By connecting job seekers with employers and hosting large-scale job fairs, the city continues to empower its workforce and contribute to local economic growth and national development.
Residents and non-residents are encouraged to visit the My Makati Facebook page for updates about upcoming job fairs and employment services.
avoiding excessive nitrogen use.
The sap-feeding RBB, which attacks crops at nearly all growth stages, threatens Central Luzon, Calabarzon, and Western Visayas. Certain control measures include synchronous planting, direct seeding, using resistant varieties, and setting up light traps, PhilRice said.
Given the potential risks brought by pests on crops and yields, the agency stressed the importance of regular field monitoring, weed removal, and proper disposal of diseased plants to prevent pest outbreaks.
Central Luzon remained the country’s top rice-producing region in 2024, based on Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) data. Ada Pelonia
recruit an assassin to kill Barayuga.
It was Causapin who allegedly handed Mariano the amount of P300,000 as payment from Garma.
The NBP and PNP, however, recommended to the DOJ to consider Mendoza and Mariano as state witnesses against Garma and the other respondents.
Philippine officials earlier confirmed that Garma left the country last November and was arrested in the United States for possible money laundering and human rights violations.
“They’re actually after her properties which she stored there, her money laundering activities, and of course, human rights violations that were part of the Magnitsky Act,” Remulla early said.
The Magnitsky Act of 2016 is a law that allows the US government to ban entry, freeze assets and enforce other sanctions against foreign government officials involved in human rights offenses.
Joel R. San Juan
Bong Go supports distribution of essential medicines to barangays in Malinao, Albay to medical assistance across the country.
SENATOR Christopher “Bong” Go supported the distribution of essential medicines to 29 barangays in Malinao, Albay on Friday, January 31, as part of his continuing advocacy to enhance healthcare access, especially in grassroots communities.
Senator Go’s Malasakit Team also distributed snacks, shirts, basketballs, and volleyballs to some residents present during the distribution.
Senator Go also highlighted the role of Malasakit Centers, a flagship initiative he spearheaded through Republic Act No. 11463 or the Malasakit Centers Act of 2019, in providing streamlined access
The initiative, conducted in collaboration with Councilor Carol Ziga, aims to ensure that residents have immediate access to basic medications in times of emergencies. The distributed medicines are intended to be readily available in barangay health centers, strengthening the capacity of local communities to respond to urgent health needs. In his message, Go emphasized the importance of proactive healthcare support, stating, “Access to essential medicines can potentially save lives during emergencies. By providing these supplies directly to barangays, we are empowering communities to respond swiftly and effectively when health crises occur.”
“The Malasakit Center is a one-stop shop located in public hospitals where four government agencies collaborate to help Filipinos with their medical expenses,” explained Go, principal author and sponsor of RA 11463.
Currently, there are 166 Malasakit Centers nationwide, which have assisted more than 15 million indigent Filipinos, according to the Department of Health (DOH). These centers continue to ease the healthcare burden for many low-income families.
16. SHI, YAMING Chinese Customer Service Representative (Virtual)
Brief
17. GILL, MANVIR SINGH Indian Marketer For Virtual
52.
Brief
BusinessMirror
53. ZHONG, SHAOQING Mandarin Marketing Specialist
Brief Job Description: Collecting, analyzing, updating and summarizing online market trends and data.
OMNIARCH SOLUTIONS INC. Unit 2807, Cityland Pasong Tamo Tower, 2210 Don Chino
54. LI, DONG Mandarin Technical Support
Brief Job Description: Monitoring and maintaining computer systems and networks.
55. LI, XIAOKANG Mandarin Technical Support
Brief Job Description: Monitoring and maintaining computer systems and networks.
56. MENG, CHUNCHENG Mandarin Technical Support
Brief Job Description: Monitoring and maintaining computer systems and networks.
57. NIE, LEI Mandarin Technical Support
Brief Job Description: Monitoring and maintaining computer systems and networks.
58. TANG, JIEDONG Mandarin Technical Support
Brief Job Description: Monitoring and maintaining computer systems and networks.
59. WANG, YANJIE Mandarin Technical Support
Brief Job Description: Monitoring and maintaining computer systems and networks.
60. WANG, YU Mandarin Technical Support
Brief Job Description: Monitoring and maintaining computer systems and networks.
61. XIONG, HAOYING Mandarin Technical Support
Basic Qualification: Able to speak in Mandarin language.
Basic Qualification: Able to speak in Mandarin language. Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999
Basic Qualification: Able to speak in Mandarin language.
Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999
Brief Job Description: Monitoring and maintaining computer systems and networks. Basic
62. ZHANG, HAIBIN Mandarin Technical Support
Brief
63. ZHAO, LIANG Mandarin Technical Support
Brief
Trump tariffs spark trade war: ‘Some pain’ for Americans as relations with Canada, Mexico, and China deteriorate
By Josh Boak The Associated Press
PALM BEACH, Fla.—President Donald Trump said Sunday that Americans could feel “some pain” from the emerging trade war triggered by his tariffs against Canada, Mexico and China, and claimed that Canada would “cease to exist” without its trade surplus with the United States.
The trade penalties that Trump signed Saturday at his Florida resort caused a mix of panic, anger and uncertainty, and threatened to rupture a decades-old partnership on trade in North America while further straining relations with China. Trump on Sunday night returned from Florida and threatened to impose steeper tariffs elsewhere, telling reporters that the import taxes will “definitely happen” with the European Union and possibly with the United Kingdom as well.
He brushed aside retaliatory measures from Canada, saying, “If they want to play the game, I don’t mind. We can play the game all they want.” Trump said he plans to speak with his Canadian and Mexican counterparts on Monday.
By following through on his tariffs campaign pledge, Trump may also have simultaneously broken his promise to voters in last year’s election that his administration could quickly reduce inflation. That means the same frustration he is facing from other nations might also spread domestically to consumers and businesses.
“WILL THERE BE SOME PAIN? YES, MAYBE (AND MAYBE NOT!),” Trump said in a social media post. “BUT WE WILL MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN, AND IT WILL ALL BE WORTH THE PRICE THAT MUST BE PAID.”
His administration has not said what specific improvements would need to be seen in stopping illegal immigration and the smuggling of fentanyl to merit the removal of the tariffs that Trump imposed under the legal justification of an economic emergency. But Trump, speaking to reporters after Air Force One, landed said that the trade imbalances with Canada and Mexico would also need to be erased as a condition for lifting the tariffs.
The president also tried to clarify his post about the possible inflation, saying on Sunday: “We may have in the short term, a little pain, and people understand that. But long term, the United States has been ripped off by virtually every country in the world.”
The tariffs are set to launch Tuesday and triggered confusion as Canada’s US ambassador, Kirsten Hillman, told ABC News that her country was perplexed by the move because “we view ourselves as your neighbor, your closest friend, your ally.”
In his Truth Social post, Trump took particular aim at Canada, which responded with retaliatory measures. Trump is placing a 25 percent tariff on Canadian goods, with a
10 percent tax on oil, natural gas and electricity. Canada is imposing 25 percent tariffs, more than $155 billion Canadian (US$105 billion), on US products, including alcohol and fruit.
Despite Trump’s assertions that the US does not need Canada, one-quarter of the oil that America consumes per day is from its ally to the north. He reiterated his false claim that America subsidizes Canada by running a trade imbalance, a reflection in part of Canada exporting energy to the US Trump contended that without that surplus, “Canada ceases to exist as a viable Country. Harsh but true! Therefore, Canada should become our Cherished 51st State. Much lower taxes, and far better military protection for the people of Canada—AND NO TARIFFS!”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is encouraging Canadians to buy more Canadian goods, and says Trump’s moves will only cause pain across North America. More than 75 percent of Canada’s exports go to the US. Canada will first target alcohol, cosmetics and paper products; a second round later will include passenger vehicles, trucks, steel and aluminum products, certain fruits and vegetables, beef, pork, dairy products and more.
Canada is the largest export market for 36 states and Mexico is the largest trading partner of the US.
Mexico’s president, Claudia Sheinbaum, also announced new tariffs and suggested the US should do more within its own borders to address drug addiction. She and Trudeau spoke after Trump’s announcement and agreed “to enhance the strong bilateral relations” between Canada and Mexico, according to the prime minister’s office.
The Chinese government said it would take steps to defend its economic interests and intends to file a lawsuit with the World Trade Organization.
For Trump, the open question is whether inflation could be a political pressure point that would cause him to back down. As a candidate, Trump repeatedly hammered Democrats over the inflation under President Joe Biden that resulted from supply chain issues during the coronavirus pandemic, the Biden administration’s own spending to spur the recovery and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Trump said his previous four years as president had low inflation, so the public should expect the same if he came back to the White House. But he also said specifically that higher inflation would stagger the US as a nation, a position from which he now appears to be retreating with the promise of even more tariffs to come.
The US president did not offer details Sunday about when he would impose tariffs elsewhere, but he said they would be coming “pretty soon” for the EU, which is also composed of US allies.
Larry Summers, treasury secretary in the Clinton administration, said the tariffs were a “selfinflicted wound to the American economy.”
He told CNN’s “Inside Politics” that “on the playground or in international relations, bullying is not an enduringly winning strategy. And that’s what this is.” And the ultimate winner, Summers suggested, would be Chinese leader Xi Jinping because “we’ve moved to drive some of our closest allies into his arms” and “we’re legitimating everything he’s doing by violating all the international norms that we set up.”
Outside analyses make clear that Trump’s tariffs would hurt the voters that he intended to help, meaning that he might ultimately need to find a resolution.
An analysis by the Budget Lab at Yale shows that if the tariffs were to continue, an average US household would lose roughly $1,245 in income this year, in what would be the overall equivalent of a more than $1.4 trillion tax increase over the next 10 years.
Goldman Sachs, in a Sunday analyst note, stressed that the tariffs go into effect on Tuesday, which means they’re likely to proceed “though a last-minute compromise cannot be completely ruled out.”
The investment bank concluded that because of the possible economic damage and possible conditions for removal “we think it is more likely that the tariffs will be temporary but the outlook is unclear.” The Associated Press writers
US warns Panama to reduce Chinese influence over canal or face retaliation
By Matthew Lee & Juan Zamorano The Associated Press
ANAMA CITY—US Secretary of State Marco
PRubio brought a warning to Panamanian leader
José Raúl Mulino on Sunday: Immediately reduce what President Donald Trump says is Chinese influence over the Panama Canal area or face potential retaliation from the United States.
Rubio, traveling to the Central American country and touring the Panama Canal on his first foreign trip as top US diplomat, held face-to-face talks with Mulino, who has resisted pressure from the new US government over management of a waterway that is vital to global trade.
Mulino told reporters after the meeting that Rubio made “no real threat of retaking the canal or the use of force.”
Speaking on behalf of Trump, who has demanded that the canal be returned to US control, Rubio told Mulino that Trump believed that China’s presence in the canal area may violate a treaty that led the United States to turn the waterway over to Panama in 1999. That treaty calls for the permanent neutrality of the American-built canal.
“Secretary Rubio made clear that this status quo is unacceptable and that absent immediate changes, it would require the United States to take measures necessary to protect its rights under the treaty,” the State Department said in a summary of the meeting. The statement was unusually blunt in diplomatic terms, but in keeping with the tenor and tone Trump has set for foreign policy. Trump has been increasing pressure on Washington’s neighbors and allies, including the canal demand and announcing Saturday that he was imposing major tariffs on Canada and Mexico. That launched a trade war by prompting retaliation from those close allies.
Mulino, meanwhile, called his talks with Rubio “respectful” and “positive” and said he did not “feel like there’s a real threat against the treaty and its validity.”
The president did say Panama would not be renewing its agreement with China’s Belt and Road Initiative when it expires. Panama joined the initiative, which promotes and funds infrastructure and development projects that critics say leave poor member countries heavily indebted to China, after dropping diplomatic recognition of Taiwan and recognizing Beijing.
Rubio later toured the canal at sunset with its administrator, Ricaurte Vásquez, who has said the waterway will remain in Panama’s hands and open to all countries. Rubio crossed the lock and visited the control tower, looking down over the water below, where a red tanker was passing through.
Earlier, about 200 people marched in the capital, carrying Panamanian flags and shouting “Marco Rubio out of Panama,” “Long live national sovereignty” and “One territory, one flag” while the meeting was going on. Some burned a banner with images of Trump and Rubio after being stopped short of the presidential palace by riot police.
Rubio also pressed Trump’s top focus—curbing illegal immigration—telling Panama’s president that it was important to collaborate on the work and thanked him for taking back migrants. Rubio’s trip, however, comes as a US foreign aid funding freeze and stop-work orders have shut down US-funded programs targeting illegal migration and crime in Central American countries.
In a Sunday evening post on X, formerly Twitter, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said he’s heading to the US-Mexico border Monday to visit troops deployed as part of Trump’s immigration crackdown.
In a Wall Street Journal opinion piece on Friday, Rubio said mass migration, drugs and hostile policies pursued by Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela have wreaked havoc, and port facilities at either end of the canal are run by a China-based company, leaving the waterway vulnerable to pressure from the Beijing government.
“The president’s been pretty clear he wants to administer the canal again,” Rubio said Thursday. “Obviously, the Panamanians are not big fans of that idea. That message has been brought very clear.”
Despite Mulino’s rejection of any negotiation over ownership, some believe Panama may be open to a compromise under which canal operations on both sides are taken away from the Hong Kong-based Hutchison Ports company, which was given a 25year no-bid extension to run them. An audit into the suitability of that extension is already underway and could lead to a rebidding process.
What is unclear is whether Trump would accept the transfer of the concession to an American or European company as meeting his demands, which appear to cover more than just operations.
Rubio’s trip, which will also take him to El Salvador, Costa Rica, Guatemala and the Dominican Republic, comes amid a freeze in US foreign assistance. The State Department said Sunday that Rubio had approved waivers for certain critical programs in countries he is visiting but details of those were not immediately available.
The Associated Press writer Ellen Knickmeyer contributed from Washington.
WHO chief asks nations to intervene as US withdrawal threatens global health security
By Maria Cheng & Jamey Keaten The Associated Press
GENEVA—The World Health Organization chief asked global leaders to lean on Washington to reverse President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from the UN. health agency, insisting in a closeddoor meeting with diplomats last week that the US will miss out on critical information about global disease outbreaks.
But countries also pressed WHO at a key budget meeting last Wednesday about how it might cope with the exit of its biggest donor, according to internal meeting materials obtained by The Associated Press. A German envoy, Bjorn Kummel, warned: “The roof is on fire, and we need to stop the fire as soon as possible.”
For 2024-2025, the US is WHO’s biggest donor by far, putting in an estimated $988 million, roughly 14 percent of WHO’s $6.9 billion budget.
A budget document presented at the meeting showed WHO’s health emergencies program has a “heavy reliance” on American cash. “Readiness functions” in WHO’s Europe office were more than 80 percent reliant on the $154 million the US contributes.
The document said US funding “provides the backbone of many of WHO’s large-scale emergency operations,” covering up to 40
. It said responses in the Middle East, Ukraine and Sudan were at risk, in addition to hundreds of millions of dollars lost by polioeradication and HIV programs.
The US also covers 95 percent of WHO’s tuberculosis work in Europe and more than 60 percent of TB efforts in Africa, the Western Pacific and at the agency headquarters in Geneva, the document said.
At a separate private meeting on the impact of the US exit last Wednesday, WHO finance director George Kyriacou said if the agency spends at its current rate, the organization would “be very much in a hand-to-mouth type situation when it comes to our cash flows” in the first half of 2026. He add -
ed the current rate of spending is “something we’re not going to do,” according to a recording obtained by the AP.
Since Trump’s executive order, WHO has attempted to withdraw funds from the US for past expenses, Kyriacou said, but most of those “have not been accepted.”
The US also has yet to settle its owed contributions to WHO for 2024, pushing the agency into a deficit, he added.
WHO’s executive board, made up of 34 high-level envoys including many national health ministers, was expected to discuss budget matters during its latest session, which opens Monday and is set to run through February 11.
WHO’s leader wants to bring back the US
LAST week, officials at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were instructed to stop working with WHO immediately.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told the attendees at the budget meeting that the agency is still providing US scientists with some data— though it isn’t known what data.
“We continue to give them information because they need it,” Tedros said, urging member countries to contact US officials. “We would appreciate it if you continue to push and reach out to them to reconsider.”
Among other health crises, WHO is currently working to stop outbreaks of Marburg virus in Tanzania, Ebola in Uganda and mpox in Congo.
Tedros rebutted Trump’s three stated reasons for leaving the
agency in the executive order signed on January 20—Trump’s first day back in office. In the order, the president said WHO mishandled the Covid-19 pandemic that began in China, failed to adopt needed reforms and that US membership required “unfairly onerous payments.”
Tedros said WHO alerted the world in January 2020 about the potential dangers of the coronavirus and has made dozens of reforms since—including efforts to expand its donor base.
Tedros also said he believed the US departure was “not about the money” but more about the “void” in outbreak details and other critical health information that the United States would face in the future.
“Bringing the US back will be very important,” he told meeting attendees. “And on that, I think all of you can play a role.”
Kummel, a senior advisor on global health in Germany’s health ministry, described the US exit as “the most extensive crisis WHO has been facing in the past decades.”
He also asked: “What concrete functions of WHO will collapse if the funding of the US is not existent anymore?”
Officials from countries including Bangladesh and France asked what specific plans WHO had to deal with the loss of US funding and wondered which health programs would be cut as a result.
The AP obtained a document shared among some WHO senior managers that laid out several options, including a proposal that each major department or office might be slashed in half by the end of the year.
WHO declined to comment on whether Tedros had privately asked countries to lobby on the agency’s behalf.
Experts say US benefits from WHO
Some experts said that while the departure of the US was a major crisis, it might also serve as an opportunity to reshape global public health.
Less than 1 percent of the US health budget goes to WHO, said Matthew Kavanagh, director of Georgetown University’s Center for Global Health Policy and Politics. In exchange, the US gets “a wide variety of benefits to Americans that matter quite a bit,” he said. That includes intelligence about disease epidemics globally and virus samples for vaccines.
Kavanagh also said the WHO is “massively underfunded,” describing the contributions from rich countries as “peanuts.”
WHO emergencies chief Dr. Michael Ryan said at the meeting on the impact of the US withdrawal last week that losing the US was “terrible,” but member states had “tremendous capacity to fill in those gaps.”
Ryan told WHO member countries: “The US is leaving a community of nations. It’s essentially breaking up with you.” Kavanagh doubted the US would be able to match WHO’s ability to gather details about emerging health threats globally, and said its exit from the agency “will absolutely lead to worse health outcomes for Americans.”
“How much worse remains to be seen,” Kavanagh said.
Cheng reported from Toronto.
Ukraine’s eastern front crumbles as Russian offensive intensifies
By Samya Kullab, Vasilisa Stepanenko & Evgeniy Maloletka The Associated Press
POKROVSK REGION, Ukraine—A dire shortage of infantry troops and supply routes coming under Russian drone attacks are conspiring against Ukrainian forces in Pokrovsk, where decisive battles in the nearly three-year war are playing out—and time is running short.
Ukrainian troops are losing ground around the crucial supply hub, which lies at the confluence of multiple highways leading to key cities in the eastern Donetsk region as well as an important railway station.
Moscow is set on capturing as much territory as possible as the Trump administration is pushing for negotiations to end the war and recently froze foreign aid to Ukraine, a move that has shocked Ukrainian officials already apprehensive about the intentions of the new US president, their most important ally. Military aid has not stopped, Ukrainian President Volodymyr
Zelenskyy has said.
Ukrainian soldiers in Pokrovsk said that Russian forces switched tactics in recent weeks, attacking their flanks instead of going head-on to form a pincer movement around the city. With Russians in control of dominant heights, Ukrainian supply routes are now within their range. Heavy fog in recent days prevented Ukrainian soldiers from effectively using surveillance drones, allowing Russians to consolidate and take more territory.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian commanders say they do not have enough reserves to sustain defense lines and that new infantry units are failing to execute operations. Many pin hopes on Mykhailo Drapatyi, a respected commander recently appointed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as ground forces chief, to shift the dynamic and counterattack.
“The war is won by logistics. If there is no logistics, there is no infantry, because there is no way to supply it,” said the deputy commander of the Da Vinci Wolves battalion, known by the call sign Afer. “(Russians) have learned this and are
doing it quite well.”
Poor weather at the worst time
A COMBINATION of factors led Kyiv to effectively lose the settlement of Velyka Novosilka this past week, their most significant gain since seizing the city of Kurakhove in the Donetsk region in January.
Scattered groups of Ukrainian soldiers are still present in Velyka Novosilka’s southern sector, Ukrainian commanders said, prompting criticism from some military experts who questioned why the higher command did not order a full withdrawal.
The road-junction village is 15 kilometers (9 miles) from the neighboring Dnipropetrovsk region, where authorities have begun digging fortifications for the first time since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, anticipating further Russian advances.
Russia amassed a large number of infantry around Velyka Novosilka, soldiers there said. As heavy fog set in in recent days, Ukrainian drones “barely worked” to conduct surveillance, one commander near
Pokrovsk told The Associated Press. Longrange and medium-range surveillance was impossible, he said. He spoke on condition of anonymity in order to speak freely about sensitive military matters.
“Because of this, the enemy was amassing forces...taking up positions, digging in. They were very good at it,” he said. It was at that fateful moment that Russian forces launched a massive attack: Up to 10 columns of armored vehicles, each with up to 10 units, moved out from various directions.
Ukrainian logistics in peril KEY logistics routes along asphalted roads and highways are under direct threat from Russian drones as a result of Moscow’s recent gains, further straining Ukrainian troops.
Russian forces now occupy key dominant heights around the Pokrovsk region, which allows them to use drones up to 30 kilometers (18 miles) deep into Ukrainian See “Ukraine,”
MICHAEL RYAN, Executive Director, WHO Health Emergencies Programme, speaks to journalists during a press conference organized by the Geneva Association of United Nations Correspondents (ACANU) at the World Health Organization (WHO) headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland on December 14, 2022. MARTIAL TREZZINI/KEYSTONE VIA AP
Goma hospitals overwhelmed as Congo conflict intensifies, hundreds wounded
By Vivien Latour The Associated Press
GOMA, Congo—Hundreds of wounded people have poured into overcrowded hospitals in Goma, a major city in eastern Congo, as fighting rages on between government forces and the Rwandabacked rebels who say they captured the city of around 2 million people.
“They will get infected before we can treat them all,” said Florence Douet, an operating room nurse at Bethesda Hospital, as she attended to patients with varying degrees of injuries.
Since the start of the M23 rebels’ offensive on Goma on January 26, more than 700 people have been killed and nearly 3,000 have been wounded in the city and its vicinity, officials say. Bethesda hospital alone said it receives more than 100 new patients each day, overstretching its capacity of 250 beds.
Bethesda is one of several hospitals in Goma that The Associated Press visited that has inadequate personnel and supplies. The city hosts many of the close to 6.5 million people displaced by the conflict, which is one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises.
As more people arrived at the hospitals with gunshot wounds or shrapnel injuries, many were forced to share beds while others lay on the floor, writhing in pain from their wounds as they waited for medical attention.
“This is the first time I’m experiencing this,” said Patrick Bagamuhunda, who was wounded in the fighting. “This war has caused a lot of damage, but at least we are still breathing.”
The M23 rebels are backed by some 4,000 troops from neighboring Rwanda, according to UN experts, far more than in 2012 when they first captured Goma. They are the most potent of the more than
100 armed groups vying for control in Congo’s mineral-rich east, which holds vast deposits critical to much of the world’s technology.
Unlike in 2012, when the rebels first captured Goma and held it for days, they say they now plan to march to Congo’s capital, Kinshasa, which is 1,000 miles (1,609 kilometers) away, describing the country as a failed state under President Félix Tshisekedi.
The fighting in Congo is deeply rooted in ethnic conflict. M23 says it is defending ethnic Tutsis in Congo. Rwanda has claimed the Tutsis are being persecuted by Hutus and former militias responsible for the 1994 genocide of 800,000 Tutsis and others in Rwanda. Many Hutus fled to Congo after the genocide.
Hospitals are running out of supplies
MEDICAL workers at Kyeshero Hospital in Goma say they are treating an increasing number of patients with bullet wounds.
“We removed 48 bullets yesterday,” Johnny Kasangati, a surgeon at the hospital, said on Friday as he examined a patient under a tent.
Kyeshero is also severely overcrowded, hitting more than 200% of its capacity on some days, according to Joseph Amadomon Sagara, a project coordinator for Doctors Without Borders, which runs the hospital.
In the past, hospitals in Goma could transport wounded patients
by boat to South Kivu’s main Bukavu city 180 kilometers (111 miles) away, but transport across Lake Kivu was suspended during the rebellion and roads have been mostly closed amid by clashes.
The fighting in and around Goma has also disrupted supply chains, leading to shortages in medical supplies that aid groups rely on. Some of it previously entered the city through its international airport, which is now under rebel control.
“Goma was cut off from the world. It was a total blackout,” said Virginie Napolitano, Goma’s emergency coordinator for Doctors Without Borders.
The aid group’s stockpiles, along with those of other groups, have also been looted amid the chaos.
“We’re getting by with what we had in the cabinets, but I don’t know for how long,” Napolitano said.
How many have died in the conflict?
CONGO’S government has confirmed 773 deaths and 2,880 injured persons at morgues and hospitals. The toll could be higher, it said, citing fears of finding mass graves and more bodies.
The Maternité de la Charité Hospital in Goma was among those struggling to find space for the dead.
“We had 66 bodies here. Fifty-
six were transferred to the provincial hospital, where the morgue has more space than ours,” said Jules Kafitiye, the hospital’s medical director.
“We need to avoid decomposition due to disease,” he added, pointing to a tent where bodies were being stored.
Fears of disease spread as morgues overflow SCORES of bodies lay on streets and in hospitals in Goma after the city’s capture, raising fears of disease outbreaks in the region, which is also facing mpox and cholera outbreaks.
The UN health body warned last week that repeated mass displacement in Congo has created ideal conditions for the spread of endemic diseases in displacement camps and surrounding communities, including cholera, which saw more than 22,000 infections last year, and measles, which affected close to 12,000 people. The region also battles with chronic child malnutrition.
“There’s a fear for the disease to be spreading widely in communities,” said Dr. Boureima Hama Sambo, the World Health Organization’s representative in Congo. “But at this point, we cannot say because we have not been able to get there.”
The Associated Press journalist Justin Kabumba in Goma contributed.
US aid freeze intensifies crisis at Syria IS families camp amid
By Bassem Mroue The Associated Press
AL-HOL,
Syria—Ahmad Abdullah
Hammoud was lucky to have some food stored to feed his family after a US-funded organization abruptly suspended its aid activities at the sprawling tent camp in northeastern Syria where they have been forced to stay for nearly six years.
His family is among 37,000 people, mostly women and children, with alleged ties to the Islamic State group at the bleak, trash-strewn al-Hol camp, where the Trump administration’s unprecedented freeze on foreign aid caused chaos and uncertainty and worsened the dire humanitarian conditions.
Human rights groups have for years cited poor living conditions and pervasive violence in the camp, which houses mostly wives and children of IS fighters as well as supporters of the militant group.
When the freeze was announced shortly after Trump took office, US-funded aid programs worldwide began shutting down operations, including the organization that runs many operations at al-Hol, which works under the supervision of the US-led coalition formed to fight IS.
The US-based Blumont briefly suspended operations, according to the camp’s director. It had been providing essentials such as bread, water, kerosene and cooking gas.
Blumont didn’t reply to questions.
“We were troubled when Blumont suspended its activities,” said Hammoud,
who denies links with IS and had been sheltering in an IS-controlled area after being displaced during Syria’s civil war.
“Believe me, we did not find food. Even bread only came at 2 p.m.,” said another camp resident, Dirar al-Ali.
Camp director Jihan Hanan told The Associated Press that other aid agencies, including the World Health Organization, had ceased some operations.
“It is a disgraceful decision,” Hanan said of the Trump administration’s action, adding that some residents argued they should be allowed to leave if food cannot be provided.
She said Blumont distributes 5,000 bags of bread daily at a cost of about $4,000, something that local authorities in the Kurdish-run enclave cannot afford.
Uncertain times ahead
HANAN said Blumont received a two-week waiver from the Trump administration and resumed work on January 28. It is not clear what will happen once the waiver ends.
Mazloum Abdi, the commander of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces that control northeastern Syria, said he has raised the aid freeze issue with officials from the US-led coalition.
“We are on the verge of finding an alternative to this decision,” Abdi said, adding that an exemption might be issued for northeastern Syria.
The US freeze comes as IS tries to take advantage of the vacuum created by the fall of Assad’s government in early December
to insurgents. Another cut in food supplies could lead to riots by camp residents that IS, which has sleeper cells there, could exploit.
Hanan said the camp had received information from the US-led coalition against IS, the Iraqi government and the US-backed and Kurdish-led SDF, that IS was preparing to attack the camp after Assad’s fall. Security was increased and the situation is under control, she said. The SDF runs 28 detention facilities in northeastern Syria holding some 9,000 IS members. Security at al-Hol camp and the detention facilities are not expected to be affected by the US aid freeze, according to Hanan and an official at the largest detention facility in the northeastern city of Hassakeh, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.
The main part of al-Hol houses some 16,000 Iraqis and 15,000 Syrians. In a separate, heavily guarded section known as the Annex are another 6,300 people from 42 countries, the vast majority of them wives, widows and children who are considered the most die-hard IS supporters.
The camp has no paved roads and piles of trash. Teenagers and children with almost nothing to do spend their time playing soccer or wandering around.
Children in the Annex threw stones at visiting AP journalists and shouted “You are a Satan” and “The Islamic State is lasting.”
‘Sustenance is from God’
A CHINESE woman in the Annex, who identified herself as Asmaa Ahmad and
food shortages
said she came from the western region of Xinjiang, described her husband as “an Islamic State martyr” killed in 2019 in the eastern Syrian village of Baghouz, where IS lost the last sliver of land it once controlled. Ahmad, who is in the camp with her four children, said she does not want to go back to China, fearing persecution. Asked about the temporary loss of US aid, she replied:
“Sustenance is from God.”
She said she is waiting for IS members to rescue her family one day.
Al-Hol is the most dangerous place in the world, camp director Hanan asserted, adding that countries should repatriate their citizens to prevent children being fed the extremist ideology. “This place is not suitable for children,” she said.
The US military has been pushing for years for countries who have citizens at al-Hol and the smaller, separate Roj Camp to repatriate them.
“Without international repatriation, rehabilitation and reintegration efforts, these camps risk creating the next generation of ISIS,” Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla, head of US Central Command, said during a visit to al-Hol in mid-January.
Hanan said that since the fall of Assad, many Syrians in the camp have expressed a desire to return to their homes in areas held by the country’s new rulers. She said camp authorities decided that any Syrian who wants to leave can go.
Even if the camp population drops, “there will be a disaster” if US aid is suspended again, she added.
AMEDIC treats people wounded during fighting between Congolese government troops and M23 rebel forces in Goma’s Kyeshero hospital on Saturday, February 1, 2025. AP/MOSES SAWASAWA
Tuesday, February 4, 2025
Southeast Asia eyes nuclear power to supercharge its energy transition
By Victoria Milko & Aniruddha Ghosal
The Associated Press
JAKARTA,
Indonesia—Southeast
Asia’s only nuclear power plant, completed four decades ago in Bataan, about 40 miles from the Philippine capital Manila, was built in the 1970s but left idle due to safety concerns and corruption. It has never produced a single watt of energy.
Now the Philippines and other countries in fast-growing Southeast Asia are looking to develop nuclear energy in their quest for cleaner and more reliable energy.
Nuclear energy is viewed by its proponents as a climate solution since reactors don’t emit the plant-warming greenhouses gases released by burning coal, gas or oil. Advances in technology have helped reduce the risks from radiation, making nuclear plants safer, cheaper to build and smaller.
“We see multiple signs of a new era in nuclear power across the world,” said Faith Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency, adding that it expects 2025 to be a historical high for nuclear-generated electricity because of new plants, new national plans and interest in smaller nuclear reactors.
Nuclear energy has been used for decades in wealthier nations like the US, France and Japan. It produces about 10 percent of all electricity generated worldwide, with 413 gigawatts of capacity operating in 32 countries, according to the IEA. That is more than African’s entire generating capacity. The IEA says construction of new nuclear power plants needs to “accelerate significantly” in this decade to meet global targets for ending emissions of greenhouse gases.
Southeast Asia will account for a fourth of global energy demand growth between now and 2035, and fossil fuels account for most of the region’s energy capacity. Many countries in the region are showing interest in building nuclear power plants—which typically
produce one gigawatt of power per plant—to help clear their smoggy skies and boost capacity.
Indonesia plans 20 nuclear power plants. A Korean company is assessing restarting the mothballed Philippine plant. Vietnam has revived nuclear plans, and Malaysia’s future plans include nuclear energy. Singapore signed a nuclear cooperation agreement with the US last year, and Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Myanmar have shown interest in nuclear power.
But nuclear power plants are expensive, take years to build and require a long time to become profitable. Vietnam suspended a nuclear project in 2016 after costs soared to $18 billion, but on January 14, it signed a deal with Russia on atomic energy cooperation.
International financing for nuclear energy is becoming more available, said Henry Preston, a United Kingdom-based communications manager for the World Nuclear Association, noting that 14 major financial institutions endorsed a goal for tripling global nuclear energy capacity by 2050 at the latest Climate Week NYC.
Financing sources are still limited, though. The World Bank does not fund any nuclear energy development projects.
“We hear the call from some stakeholders to explore nuclear power to decarbonize energy and improve energy supply reliability,” a World Bank spokesperson said in a recent written response to questions from The Associated Press. “We continue to have conversations with our board, management, and external stakehold -
ers to understand the facts. Any reconsideration of our position is ultimately a decision for our member countries.”
Developing robust nuclear energy policies and regulations, now lacking in many countries, could catalyze more funding by reassuring investors, Preston said.
Technological advances are making nuclear power more affordable, experts say.
Small modular reactors, which advocates say can generate up to roughly one-third the amount of power of a traditional reactor, can be built faster and at lower costs than large power reactors, scaling to fit the needs of a particular location. Advocates say they are safer due to simpler designs, lower core power, and more coolant, giving operators more time to respond in case of accidents.
Critics question how inexpensive the technology might be since smaller reactors have not been widely commercially deployed, said Putra Adhiguna of the Jakarta-based think tank Energy Shift Institute.
The small modular reactors already operating are run by state-owned entities that aren’t transparent about performance or costs. The cost of the first such reactor that was to be commercially deployed in the US inflated by about half before it was cancelled, he said. The Idaho-based project had a target of delivering 40 years of electricity at $55 per megawatt-hour, but project costs climbed to $89 per MWh, according to a report by The Institute for
Energy Economics and Financial Analysis.
Nuclear disasters dimmed earlier enthusiasm for nuclear power in Southeast Asia. Ukraine’s 1986 Chernobyl disaster was a factor behind the decision to shelve the project in the Philippines. Meltdowns in 2011 at the Dai-ichi nuclear power plant in Fukushima, Japan, following a catastrophic earthquake and tsunami also raised worries, leading Thailand to halt its nuclear power plans.
In 2018, Malaysia’s then prime minister Mahathir Mohamad cited such disasters when deciding against using nuclear energy.
Some other challenges remain. Markets for nuclear technologies remain concentrated in a few countries—Russia controls roughly 40 percent of the world’s supply of enriched uranium—and this is a “risk factor for the future,” said an IEA report. It added that safely disposing of spent fuel and other radioactive waste is essential to gain public acceptance of nuclear power.
For countries like Vietnam, a lack of trained engineers and scientists is also a big obstacle. It estimates that it will need around 2,400 trained personnel to revive its nuclear program.
“This is not just about the program but about building a nuclear power ecosystem and technology for the future,” the state-run VN Express cited Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien as saying.
Ghosal reported from Hanoi, Vietnam.
North Korea slams US secretary of state, warns against ‘coarse remarks’ as tensions rise amid Trump’s overture
By Hyung-Jin Kim The Associated Press
SEOUL, South Korea—In its first direct criticism of the Trump administration, North Korea lashed out at US Secretary of State Marco Rubio for calling it a “rogue” state and warned Monday that such “coarse and nonsensical remarks” will never contribute to US interests.
The statement is the latest in a series of North Korean signals that it’s not interested in resuming diplomacy with the United States anytime soon, though Trump has said he’ll reach out to its leader Kim Jong Un.
Many experts say that Kim, preoccupied with his deployment of troops to Russia, is likely concentrating on developments in the Russia-Ukraine war for now. But they say Kim would eventually seriously consider Trump’s overture if he assessed he cannot maintain the current solid partnership with Russia after the war ends.
“Now, Kim Jong Un is desperate to maintain the unshakable alliance with Russia but it remains to be seen whether Russia would do so as he wishes,” said Moon Seong Mook, an analyst for the Seoul-based Korea Research Institute for National Strategy.
Here’s a look at prospects for a possible restart of the Trump-Kim diplomacy: Trump hints at return to negotiations with Kim DURING his first term, Trump met Kim three times in 2018-19, becoming the first sitting US president to hold a summit with a North Korean leader. The negotiations over North Korea’s nuclear program eventually fell apart, but Trump’s return spawned speculation that a fresh round of talks could begin soon.
On his inauguration day, Trump, speaking to US troops in South Korea via video, bragged of his personal ties with Kim.
“You have somebody with pretty bad intentions, I guess,” Trump said. “You would say that although developed a pretty good relationship with him but he’s a tough cookie.”
During a Fox News interview broadcast on Jan. 23, Trump called Kim “a smart guy” and “not a religious zealot.” Asked whether he will reach out to Kim again, Trump replied, “I will, yeah.”
North Korea keeps up its hostility against the US.
North Korea hasn’t directly responded to Trump’s overture but has pressed ahead with its weapons testing activities and bellicose rhetoric against the US. In December, Kim vowed to implement the “toughest” anti-US policy.
Kim likely doubts what concessions
he could wrest from Trump, given their previous talks collapsed in Vietnam after the American president rebuffed Kim’s offer to dismantle his main nuclear complex, a limited denuclearization step, in return for broad sanctions relief. The breakdown was probably a setback for Kim domestically though the summits provided him with the badly needed diplomatic recognition on the world stage.
“Kim personally suffered huge humiliation due to a no-deal in Hanoi,” said Kwak Gil Sup, head of One Korea Centre, a website specializing in North Korean affairs. “I don’t think he would promptly respond to Trump’s overture.” Kim said in November that the negotiations with the United States only confirmed Washington’s “unchangeable” hostility toward his country and described his nuclear buildup as the only way to counter external threats. Kwak said North Korea will still likely avoid high-profile provocations like a nuclear test, knowing that Trump focuses more on other issues like tariff wars and China.
On Monday, North Korea’s Foreign Ministry said that Rubio’s comments reaffirmed that the US hostile policy remains unchanged. It likely referred to Rubio’s appearance on “The Megyn Kelly Show” on Jan. 30, in which he called North Korea and Iran “rogue states” while addressing foreign policy challenges.
For now, Kim is focused on the Russia-Ukraine war KIM’S priority seems to be an estimated 10,000-12,000 North Korean troops sent to support Russia’s three-year war efforts against Ukraine, the North’s first major participation in a foreign war. North Korea has supplied a vast amount of artillery and other conventional weapons to Russia as well.
In return, North Korea appears to be receiving economic and military assistance from Russia. Last June, Kim and Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a landmark pact vowing mutual military assistance if either country is attacked. Seoul, Washington and their partners worry Putin might give Kim sophisticated technologies that can sharply enhance his nuclear missile programs.
The booming ties with Russia have helped Kim bear the brunt of the US-led pressure campaign on North Korea. But it’s not clear if the two countries would maintain the same level of relationship after the war’s end.
“When the war is over, Kim may not be such a vital partner for Putin any longer,” Moon said. “Given that, if Kim fails to win what he wants from Putin, he could switch his diplomatic policy focus to the United States.”
New Belgian prime minister, once a separatist, takes oath and vows to govern for all regions
By Raf Casert The Associated Press
BRUSSELS—Belgium has a new prime minister whose political purpose was long to break up the nation, gut the state structures and give ever more autonomy to his northern Flanders at the cost of everyone else.
Bart De Wever took the oath early Monday, looking straight at King Philippe, the latest monarch of a royal house he so long had little but disdain for because it symbolized the old concept of Belgian unity.
“I swear allegiance to the king,” he said.
It was another indication how times change, and bold demands for Flemish independence have made room for the hope of gradual change and finding a renewed balance between Dutch-speaking Flanders, with 6.7 million people, francophone Wallonia, with 3.7 million, and multilingual Brussels, with 1.2 million.
The prime minister and leading ministers took the oath in Dutch and French while several others on the 15-member team from both sides of the linguistic divide stuck to their own language during a short ceremony at the Royal Palace.
“You can ... not take part in a government
and wait until the system can be taken as a whole. I never believed in that,” he told De Standaard newspaper. “The other option is to take part when you can, and obtain things for your community, and that is what we did.”
“When you don’t take part, you are certainly left emptyhanded,” he added.
Language issues are woven throughout the past century, as the French-dominated nation gradually made way for a balanced political scene while Wallonia’s industrial prowess waned and Flanders’ economic power rose.
De Wever of the Flemish nationalist N-VA
party succeeds Alexander De Croo, who has remained in office as a caretaker since the June elections last year. De Wever will join his fellow European Union leaders at a summit in Brussels later Monday.
“We will have a government that will clean up the budget, implement a fair social policy, reward work, implement the strictest migration policy ever, abolish the nuclear phase-out, and invest in safety,” N-VA said in a statement.
One issue immediately stood out— gender balance. When De Croo had achieved quasi parity between men and women on his team, De Wever only has three women
having to step in to stabilize the front line.
on his team of 15, and none among the four vice premiers. He has said he regrets it, but never made it a key point in the coalition talks.
De Wever brought an eclectic mix of five parties together to break a 7-month deadlock in coalition talks. The Flemish nationalist was only given a shot at successfully brokering a coalition because the PS socialists, De Wever’s political nemesis, lost their generations-long grip on Wallonia. It allowed him to get a deal with a free-market MR party. In Flanders, the Vooruit socialist party will have to make sure the cornerstones
of Belgium’s welfare society survive. The government program is set to cut social benefits in an attempt to tackle the nation’s debt-burdened budget. Overall, the nation has debt totaling just over 100% of GDP, putting it among the worst in the 27-nation EU. With Vooruit on board, the francophone MR liberals, the centrist CD&V and Engages and the N-VA complete the coalition, controlling 81 of 150 seats in the House for a comfortable majority. The length of coalition talks highlighted however how difficult it was to bridge fundamental gaps between the different parties.
This also means that in poor weather, military vehicles, including armored personnel carriers, tanks and pickup trucks, have to trudge through the open fields to deliver fuel, food and ammunition, as well as evacuate the wounded.
In a first-aid station near Pokrovsk, a paramedic with the call sign Marik said
front lines. The Pokrovsk-Pavlohrad-Dnipro highway is “already under the control of Russian drones,” said the commander at Pokrovsk’s flanks. Russian forces are less than 4 kilometers (2 1/2 miles) away and are affecting Ukrainian traffic, he said. “Now the road is only 10 percent of its former capacity,” he said. Another paved highway, the MyrnohradKostyantynivka road, is also under Russian fire, he said.
evacuating wounded soldiers once took hours, now it takes days.
“Everything is visible (by enemy drones) and it is very difficult,” he said.
New recruits are unprepared
UKRAINIAN soldiers in Pokrovsk said shortages of fighting troops are “catastrophic” and challenges are compounded by newly created infantry units that are poorly trained and inexperienced, putting more pressure on battle-hardened brigades
Afer, the deputy commander, complained that new recruits are “constantly extending the front line because they leave their positions, they do not hold them, they do not control them, they do not monitor them. We do almost all the work for them.”
“Because of this, having initially a 2-kilometer area of responsibility, you end up with 8-9 kilometers per battalion, which is a lot and we don’t have enough resources,” Afer said. Drones are especially hard to come
Trump’s aid freeze wreaks havoc on Africa’s critical aid programs
By Gerald Imray, Mogomotsi Magome, Farai Mutsaka & Mark Banchereau The Associated Press
JOHANNESBURG—Four
days after President Donald Trump signed an executive order freezing almost all US foreign aid, an e-mail landed in Claris Madhuku’s inbox in rural Zimbabwe. Stop all activities immediately, it said.
The message confirmed Madhuku’s fears that Trump’s return to office might affect his organization’s efforts to save African girls from child marriages.
Many Africans had known that Trump’s “America First” outlook meant their continent was likely to be last among his priorities. But they hadn’t expected the abrupt halt to foreign aid from the world’s largest donor that stops money flowing for wideranging projects like disease response, girls’ education and free school lunches.
Even after global outrage prompted some exemptions to Trump’s order, sub-Saharan Africa could suffer more than any other region as most global aid pauses 90 days for a spending review. The US gave the region more than $6.5 billion in humanitarian assistance last year. For Madhuku and countless others, the damage has been done. His Platform For Youth and Community Development is one of hundreds of small non-governmental organizations in Africa that receive assistance from the
US government—and ultimately from the American people—to do good work.
Without US aid, Madhuku’s group can’t give around 100 volunteers allowances for food and public transport as they do outreach seeking to keep girls in school and out of early marriages.
“We had to stop everything, no warning, no time to adjust,”
Madhuku said. “I appreciate that Trump might have some justification in trying to account for American taxpayers’ money ... but it has caused disaster here.”
The world’s most successful foreign aid program FOR many in Africa, thoughts immediately turned to arguably the world’s most successful foreign aid program, the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR.
Over two decades, the program with bipartisan support has been credited with saving more than 25 million lives, the vast majority in Africa, the continent it was designed to help most.
“The world is baffled,” the
health minister of South Africa, the country with the most people living with HIV, said after the US freeze on aid.
The minister, Aaron Motsoaledi, said the US funds nearly 20% of South Africa’s $2.3 billion annual HIV/AIDS program through PEPFAR, and now the biggest response to a single disease in history is under threat.
More than 8 million in South Africa live with HIV, and authorities say PEPFAR helps provide lifesaving antiretroviral treatment to 5.5 million people every day.
HIV patients are turned away US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has announced that programs offering “life-saving” assistance including medicine, medical services, food and shelter would be exempted from the aid freeze, though what qualifies is not immediately clear.
The United Nations AIDS program said many organizations receiving PEPFAR funding had closed due to the aid pause and there was “lack of clarity and great uncertainty about the future.” More than 20 million people globally receive HIV treatment with PEPFAR support, UNAIDS said.
In South Africa’s largest city, Johannesburg, and elsewhere, PEPFAR-funded facilities were still shut days after the exemptions were announced and HIV patients were referred to government hospitals and clinics.
In Johannesburg’s largest township, Soweto, two workers at the PEPFAR-funded HIVSA center turned patients away. And a notice at the renowned Wits RHI Key Populations Clinic, which serves adults and children living with HIV, read: “We apologize for the inconvenience this causes.”
Delays could be dangerous
EXPERTS said the effects on HIV programs remain unclear but the consequences could be swift, even dangerous.
“We need to know a lot more before we can say people won’t die directly because of the pause to funding,” said Charles Kenny, a senior fellow at the Center for Global Development in Washington, noting that while the waiver should cover HIV drugs, HIV diagnostic tests are also critical to ensure treatment gets to those who need it.
Denmark’s PM asserts Greenland not for sale amid US tensions, calls for EU unity on sovereignty issues
By Lorne Cook The Associated Press
BRUSSELS—Denmark’s prime minister insisted on Monday that Greenland is not for sale and called for a robust response from her European Union partners should US President Donald Trump press ahead with his threat to take control of the island.
“I will never support the idea of fighting allies. But of course, if the US puts tough terms on Europe, we need a collective and robust response,” Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen told reporters in Brussels as EU leaders gathered for defense talks. Greenland, home to a large US military base, is an autonomous territory of Denmark, a longtime US ally. Last month, Trump left open the possibility that the American military might be used to secure Greenland, as well as the Panama Canal. “We need Greenland for national security purposes,” he said.
Frederiksen said she has “great support” from her EU partners on the fact “that everybody has to respect the sovereignty of all national states in the world, and that Greenland is today a part of the Kingdom
of Denmark. It’s part of our territory and it’s not for sale.”
She acknowledged US concerns about security in the Arctic Region, where Russia and China have been increasingly active.
“I totally agree with the Americans that the High North, that the Arctic region is becoming more and more important when we are talking about defense and security and deterrence,” Frederiksen said, adding that the US and Denmark could have “stronger footprints” in Greenland, in security terms.
“They are already there and they can have more possibilities,” she said, underlining that Denmark itself can also “scale up” its security presence. “If this is about securing our part of the world, we can find a way forward,” Frederiksen said.
Last week, her government announced a roughly 14.6 billion kroner (nearly $2 billion) agreement with parties including the governments of Greenland and the Faeroe Islands to “improve capabilities for surveillance and maintaining sovereignty in the region.”
It would include three new Arctic naval vessels, two additional long-range surveillance drones and satellite capacity,
Kenny said even short interruptions to antiretroviral treatment—which stops the virus replicating in the body—are risky.
“HIV viral loads rebound in about three weeks if you go off antiretrovirals,” he said.
Overall, even senior officials in the aid community are not sure which US-funded programs are allowed to at least briefly continue operations.
The Trump administration has warned contractors and staffers with USAID—the agency responsible for dispersing America’s foreign aid—they could be disciplined if they speak to anyone outside the agency without top-level approval, and aid groups fear they may permanently lose funds if they speak publicly.
Stopping aid in war zones
A HUMANITARIAN official told
The Associated Press that at least 1.2 million people in Congo could lose life-saving support because of the aid freeze. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter, said almost half of their organization’s funding is from USAID.
Overall, more than $100 million for the organization’s humanitarian programs in more than 30 countries worldwide has been halted, according to the official.
The block on aid came during a major escalation in fighting in eastern Congo, where millions of people were already displaced and where outbreaks of the mpox virus were declared a global health
emergency last year. In civil-war-torn Sudan, which is grappling with cholera, malaria, and measles, the aid freeze means 600,000 people will be at grave risk of catching and spreading those diseases, the official said. Even with the exemption for life-saving services, the official said their organization had been told they should not resume any USAID-funded activities until they received notification that the waiver applies to them.
the Defense Ministry in Copenhagen said.
Frederiksen’s remarks came as EU leaders met for defense talks but with no clear sign yet from Trump about how he intends to try to end Russia’s war on Ukraine. The Europeans fear that any attempt to pull together a quick deal would not be favorable to Ukraine.
U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte were set to join the bloc’s 27 leaders at a self-styled “retreat” at Egmont Place in the Belgian capital. The summit agenda focuses on EU-US cooperation, military spending and ramping up Europe’s defense industry.
The meeting comes as Europe’s biggest land conflict since World War II approaches its third anniversary, and with confidence in Trump shaky as he threatens his allies with tariffs. Trump already slapped duties on European steel and aluminum during his first term.
“We were listening carefully to those words, and of course we are preparing also on our side,” EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said. But, she underlined, “there are no winners in trade wars. If…the US starts a trade war, then the one laughing on the side is China. We are very interlinked.”
Imray reported from Cape Town, South Africa, Mutsaka reported from Harare, Zimbabwe, and Banchereau reported from Dakar, Senegal. Associated Press writers Maria Cheng in London, Ellen Knickmeyer in Washington and Jacob Zimba in Lusaka, Zambia, contributed to this story.
A MAN sits outside the closed Isizinda Sempilo clinic in the Johannesburg township of Soweto Thursday, January 30, 2025. AP/ALFONSO NQUNJANA
DepEd tackles critical principal shortage to improve PHL education editorial
Ev Ery public school in the Philippines must have a principal to ensure effective leadership and management, which are critical for fostering a positive learning environment. The principal serves as the educational leader, responsible for setting academic standards, implementing policies, and overseeing the school’s operations. This role is essential for coordinating teachers’ efforts, facilitating professional development, and engaging with parents and the community.
Unfortunately, almost 25,000 public schools in the country lack school heads. The news that the Department of Education (DepEd) plans to prioritize the promotion and reclassification of qualified Head Teachers and Teachers-in-Charge into formal principal positions is a welcome and muchneeded development for our education system. (Read the BusinessMirror story: “Where there’s a school, there must be a principal—Angara,” February 1, 2025).
The DepEd’s commitment to implement a 1:1 principal-to-school policy is a pivotal step in the right direction. Ensuring that every school has a dedicated principal will go a long way in strengthening instructional leadership, improving policy implementation, and fostering a supportive learning environment for both teachers and learners.
Furthermore, the plan to assess the distribution of qualified principals across regions and develop strategies to fairly reallocate them to areas experiencing shortages is a prudent approach. By addressing the uneven distribution of qualified school leaders, the DepEd can ensure more equitable access to quality education, regardless of a school’s geographical location.
The initiatives to decentralize the National Qualifying Examination for School Heads (NQESH) and expand targeted training programs under the National Educators Academy of the Philippines are also crucial in improving the accessibility and pipeline of aspiring school leaders. By making the NQESH more accessible and providing comprehensive support for potential principals, the DepEd can empower more educators to take on these vital leadership roles.
The sheer number of schools without dedicated leadership is staggering. The findings of the EDCOM II serve as a wake-up call, highlighting not only the scale of the issue but also the urgent need for a systematic approach to leadership in education. As Education Secretary Juan Edgardo Angara rightly pointed out, a school without a principal is akin to a ship without a captain. Effective school leadership is crucial for fostering an environment conducive to learning, driving teacher performance, and ultimately enhancing student outcomes. As we look ahead, it is essential to recognize that the success of this initiative hinges not just on the appointment of principals, but also on the support and resources provided to them. School heads must be empowered with the training, tools, and authority necessary to lead effectively. This includes fostering a culture of collaboration among teachers, engaging with parents and communities, and implementing innovative practices that respond to the unique needs of their schools.
Addressing the shortage of school heads is a critical step for the DepEd to take in order to build a more robust and effective education system. Principals play a pivotal role in setting the vision and culture of a school, as well as providing crucial leadership and support to teachers. By prioritizing the recruitment, development, and retention of high-quality school heads, DepEd can establish an educational environment that truly empowers students to reach their full potential.
PSEi: Leading GDP indicator
vOUTSIDE THE BOX
irTUALLy all my professional life has been studying for the PhD of market wisdom. it has not simply been an intellectual exercise or hobby. Think of it like being the coach of Barangay Ginebra, trying to win.
You must understand the rules of the game and how to take advantage of them. There are dozens of factors—not only the players—to consider. In the NBA, home teams have a sweet spot, winning 60 to 65 percent of games, thanks to the crowd’s energy or maybe home cooking. How does the coach mitigate that advantage when playing an “away” game? Should we emphasize defense or offense?
Stock market strategies are the same. Offense and defense. The PSEi took a 4.0 percent tumble last Friday—but for me, it is No. Big. Deal. It’s like watching a horror movie; you know there will be scary parts, but you’ve seen this story before.
Trading in February and March 2020 does not count because of the Covid panic. But the last week of September 2022 gave us an 8.3 percent drop. March 14, 2022 saw a 4.15
percent fall. August 24, 2015 had a 6.7 percent disaster. Then again, a 5.1 percent upside move happened in May 2021.
However, large single week or daily declines do not happen like Harry Potter casting a spell. These moves are always in the context of prior price movements.
Last week, and notably Friday, had no adverse financial repercussions for me. I adopted a defensive strategy in mid-October. In three months, I have bought probably 15 different issues amounting to 200 trades, all swiftly liquidated for meager gains or minimal losses. I traded DITO most often followed by VITA. I needed something to do since GTA VI is still not out.
Since the end of September, the PSEi has been in a 16-week decline. I cannot hope to fight or beat that. Any upside movements never changed
the negative trend, and I do not take substantial positions when prices are going down. Ever.
Turning to Philippines’ economic growth, the latest data shows a full year 2024 increase of 5.2 percent. While the comments were that the stock market reacted to the less-than-forecast results, the PSEi predicted sour economic results rather than the GDP predicting negative stock market price movement.
Some economists were expecting better GDP numbers. But the PSEi was already waving the red flag. For the 4th quarter 2024 (October, November, and December) the PSEi was down 10.48 percent.
Contrary to “Expert Wisdom”, the PSEi is a leading, not lagging, indicator of GDP growth. The “Wisdom of the Crowd”—do not confuse with Collective Wisdom; “shared knowledge used in collaboration”—is the overall opinion of a diverse and independent group of individuals and it yields the best judgement.
The Prediction or Betting markets were more accurate at forecasting the US election results. Both Kalshi and Polymarket had Trump at 60 percent favored to win a week before the election. The last New York Times
National polling average was Harris plus 1 at 49 percent. Real people making real decisions with their real money know best.
Why was the stock market un-
happy with the GDP growth even though 5.6 percent is favorable by comparison to our peers? GDP internals show “Private consumption grew by 4.8 percent in 2024, marking the slowest growth in 14 years outside the period affected by the Covid-19 crisis.”
That’s enough. I could stop my analysis right there. But there is more. The GDP coming in below target was largely influenced by a disappointing fourth quarter where GDP expanded by 5.2 percent over 2023, matching but not beating the third quarter’s results.
Yet there is some positive news. The economy grew by 1.8 percent quarter-on-quarter in the three months ending December 2024, up from 1.5 percent in the previous period. Ok, more negative. This was below the expected 1.9 percent. Also, the growth in private consumption for the third quarter of 2023 was 5.1 percent.
The bottom line is that Q4 2024 was as rainy day bleak. The stock market, like a weathervane, has been spinning towards “gloomy.” And there’s a trading gap at PSEi 5,780. I’ll be ready to buy when the sun decides to shine. Until then, I am just watching the clouds.
E-mail me at mangun@gmail.com. Follow me on Twitter @mangunonmarkets. PSE stock-market information and technical analysis provided by AAA Southeast Equities Inc.
Senior USAID staff on leave after clash with Musk’s DOGE team
By Alberto Nardelli & Nick Wadhams
T. Anthony C. Cabangon
Lourdes M.
SEnior security staff at the US Agency for international Development were put on leave after refusing to allow Elon Musk’s DoGE team to access classified systems, people familiar with the matter said, as operations of the relief agency appeared largely paralyzed.
The security officials contended that staff with Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency lacked the clearances required to see the information, making them legally obligated to deny access, according to the people. Asked Sunday about the situation, President Donald Trump said it’s been run “by a bunch of radical lunatics and we’re getting them out.”
The broadsides from Trump and Musk—who called it a “criminal organization” earlier in the day—were the latest in a stunning series of attacks on USAID that left US-funded foreign assistance overseas all but paralyzed in recent days. It was also shaping up as a test of Trump’s power, with Musk in a supporting role, to hobble an agency that was codified by Congress in 1998.
The agency’s website was taken offline over the weekend and last week, more than 50 senior officials at USAID’s Washington office—the
majority of the agency’s senior career leadership—were recently put on administrative leave. A network error or blank page was encountered when attempting to access the site, usaid.gov, across various countries and devices.
That came amid a barrage of tweets from Musk on Saturday and Sunday attacking USAID. At one point he accused it of funding bioweapon research “including Covid-19.” At another he said it was “a viper’s nest of radical-left marxists who hate America.”
“It becomes a fundamental question of the constitution and the separation of powers,” said Jeremy Konyndyk, president of Refugees International and a former senior official at USAID. “What they seem to be attempting to do is assert by presidential fiat that DOGE can just shut down a federal agency. We’re in uncharted territory here.”
The confrontation at USAID add-
ed to signs that Musk’s team of government efficiency enforcers have been gaining access to government systems. He said earlier that DOGE is shutting some down payments to federal contractors. He had also said the US Department of Health and Human Services was cutting payments to Lutheran Family Services, a faith-based charity that has been providing social services to refugees.
Musk’s team pushed back against the idea that they had done anything wrong at USAID.
“No classified material was accessed without proper security clearances,” Katie Miller, who Trump said in December was joining DOGE, wrote on X. The standoff was first reported by CNN.
The fast-moving developments follow an executive order by Trump last month to halt and reevaluate US foreign aid. Billions of dollars in US assistance that are typically coordinated by the independent agency were frozen, and several senior officials suspended. That order left many aid recipients, especially across Africa and in Ukraine, scrambling. The agency provides support for everything from humanitarian projects to health initiatives to disaster relief.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has issued a waiver for certain “lifesaving humanitarian assistance” as a three-month review is carried out to determine which of the thousands of US foreign aid projects align with Trump’s vision. But billions of dollars in aid remain halted. And agency staff are also battling a suspicion among Trump appointees and loyalists that USAID was secretly funding abortions even though it is barred from doing so.
Democratic senators said that Trump’s team was preparing an executive order to fold USAID into the State Department. Trump suggested Sunday that a decision about the agency’s future would be made later. Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said the attempted “total destruction” of USAID was “happening as we speak” but that Trump “cannot unilaterally close a federal agency.” The agency’s programs are also often built into key foreign policy priorities such as helping countries’ energy transition, competing with China on infrastructure projects, and countering Moscow’s and Beijing’s influence. With assistance from Skylar Woodhouse and Iain Marlow /Bloomberg
John Mangun
Investors buy dollars, brace for stock slide as trade war begins
By Liz Capo McCormick, Carter Johnson & Ruth Carson
hAVing lived with the risk of a US-led trade war for weeks, financial markets reopened Monday needing to deal with the reality.
Investors favored the US dollar in early Asia trading and stocks and equity futures slid after President Donald Trump carried out his threat to impose general levies of 25 percent on Canada and Mexico and 10 percent on Chinese goods starting on Tuesday, sparking commitments to retaliate from other governments.
Bloomberg’s gauge of the US currency advanced more than 1 percent, S&P 500 futures slumped close to 2 percent, while the Canadian dollar weakened to touch its lowest since 2003. The Mexican peso fell nearly 3 percent, while the risk-sensitive Australian dollar, seen as particularly exposed to the threat of US tariffs against China, dropped more than 1 percent. The yuan weakened around 0.5 percent offshore.
Talk of tariffs alone has benefited the greenback since Trump’s election. Last week was its best since mid-November, with the Bloomberg index up nearly 1 percent. US stocks fell on Friday with carmakers and China-exposed companies leading the slide. Bond traders must decide whether to focus on elevated risk in markets or inflation concerns— benchmark Treasuries fluctuated in early Monday trading.
“Trade tensions may escalate in the short run as other countries are politically obligated to retaliate or mimic the US policies,” said Stephen Jen, chief executive at Eurizon SLJ Capital. “This for the shorter-term should support more dollar strength and higher US yields.”
Behind the bullish dollar position is the bet that tariffs will fuel inflationary pressures and keep US interest rates elevated, while also hurting foreign economies more than the US and adding to the greenback’s safehaven lure. Foreign currencies get hurt as American demand declines for costlier imports.
“While a statement from President Trump indicating that the dollar is too strong could impact financial markets, the overall outlook remains unchanged— tariffs and domestic inflationary pressures are likely to sustain the fundamental trend of dollar appreciation,” said Shoki Omori, chief global desk strategist at Mizuho Securities in Tokyo.
“We expect selling pressure to hit the peso and Canadian dollar at tomorrow’s Asia open, but it’s difficult to assess just how severe the move will be,” said Karl Schamotta, chief market strategist at Corpay in Toronto. “Financial markets may undergo a painful adjustment process in the coming weeks as participants begin to take the president seriously and literally.” Marco Oviedo, a strategist at XP Investimentos in Sao Paulo, said tariffs are “clearly contractionary” for Mexico. With indefinite, across-theboard tariffs, the peso should be at 23 per dollar, said Olga Yangol, head of emerging market research and strategy at Credit Agricole. That’s far below the 20.67 per dollar where the peso was last trading Friday.
Net short positions on the Australian dollar, worth $4.5 billion, are now at their highest in nearly a decade. Trump has also made threats against the European Union, which could leave the euro undermined, and potentially reaching parity with the dollar as early as March, according to Mizuho EMEA.
“Navigating currency markets right now feels like trying to interpret chaos theory in real time,” said Tifo Rouane of Conyers Trust in Bermuda. “With the current surge in geopolitical tensions, policy unpredictability, and divergent economic recovery trajectories, it’s no surprise
Opinion
Relief measures on real property ownership
AInvestors favored the US dollar in early Asia trading and stocks and equity futures slid after President Donald Trump carried out his threat to impose general levies of 25 percent on Canada and Mexico and 10 percent on Chinese goods starting on Tuesday, sparking commitments to retaliate from other governments.
that FX markets are behaving with heightened sensitivity.”
Stock whiplash
TR ADERS are on alert for big swings in stock markets in sectors that are considered the front lines of any trade war. A UBS Group AG basket of stocks at risk from the proposed tariffs sank almost 4 percent on Friday on concerns levies would fan inflation and hit bottom lines.
Automakers such as General Motors Co. and Stellantis NV, which have global supply chains and massive exposure to Mexico and Canada, could see significant moves. Electric vehicle manufacturers Tesla Inc., and Rivian Automotive Inc. could also feel the pinch. Mentions of the word “tariffs” are already surging on earnings calls.
The Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index, which is comprised of companies that do business in China but trade in the US, fell 3.5 percent on Friday.
“No matter what the negotiating outcomes are, higher tariffs and retaliation are on the horizon,” said Prashant Newnaha, strategist at TD Securities in Singapore. “Supply chain headaches are back and higher costs and higher prices beckon.”
The dollar continues to be backed by a formidable base of supportive positioning. Non-commercial traders continue to hold $33.7 billion in netlong positions. Hedge funds also hold net longs on the greenback, according to dealing desks. Those investors are likely to let those positions ride until retaliatory measures are announced.”
While Trump said last week he was unfazed about the response of markets to his trade policies, Ed AlHussainy, a rates strategist at Columbia Threadneedle Investment, said the president had now “embarked on the riskiest tariff strategy with a high probability of retaliation.”
“I expect a tightening of financial conditions,” he said. “Think a drawdown in equities, wider credit spreads.”
Treasuries were able to eke out a gain at the start of the year amid cooler-than-forecast inflation data. But fixed income traders will need to now balance an elevation of risk in markets against the inflationaryconsequences of tariffs and Trump’s bias to restricting immigration and easier fiscal policy.
The Bloomberg US Treasury index is up about 0.5 percent for the year. “If there is a selloff in equities I expect investors to flock to the safety of bonds,” said Subadra Rajappa, head of US rates strategy at Societe Generale. “Inflationary impact of higher tariffs could lead to higher inflation expectations and flatter curves.”
The fixed-income market faces some other challenges in the coming days. Data on jobs and inflation are looming that will help shape expectations for the Federal Reserve after policymakers paused their easing cycle last week and signaled they’re in no hurry to cut again. Also ahead, is the first Treasury refunding announcement under President Trump’s administration on Wednesday. With assistance from Maria
atty. rodel C. unciano
Tax Law for Business
nother important feature of republic Act (r A) 12001 or the real Property Valuation and Assessment reform Act (rPVAr A) is the grant of real property tax amnesty on unpaid real property taxes.
As provided under the law, the real property tax amnesty shall cover penalties, surcharges, and interest from all unpaid real property taxes, including Special Education Fund, idle land tax, and other special levy taxes that accrued prior to the effectivity of the RPVARA on July 5, 2024. This can be availed within a period of two years from the effectivity of the RPVARA on July 5, 2024, or until July 5, 2026.
Pursuant to its Implementing Rules and Regulations and as circularized by the Bureau of Local Government Finance in Memorandum Circular No. 003-2025, the concerned local government units (LGUs) need not issue an ordinance for the implementation of the grant of the real property tax amnesty. The non-issuance of the ordinance shall not prevent the grant of tax amnesty provisions of the law.
So, delinquent real property owners may already avail themselves of the real property tax amnesty with-
out awaiting for an ordinance to be issued by the concerned LGU. An LGU may nevertheless issue an ordinance, at its option, only to determine the means and method of payment of the delinquent real property taxes.
The grant of real property tax amnesty pursuant to RA 12001 is an essential complement to the Estate Tax Amnesty program of the government pursuant to RA 11213 as amended by RA 11569 and further amended by RA 11956. To recall, the estate tax amnesty has granted concerned taxpayers the opportunity to transfer their inheritance from their decedents through the payment of an estate tax at a rate of six percent of the decedent’s total net taxable estate so that the title to the properties may be transferred to the heirs without having to pay the penalties that had accumulated due to the failure to pay the estate tax on time.
As it stands now, the estate tax amnesty covers the estate of decedents who died on or before May
31, 2022, whose estate taxes have remained unpaid or have accrued as of May 31, 2022. The period of availment is only until June 14, 2025.
Hopefully, the real property tax amnesty pursuant to RA 12001 and the estate tax amnesty pursuant to RA 11213, as amended, would be able to encourage heirs and administrators alike to facilitate the transfer of real property ownership from the name of the decedents to the heirs.
There is one more obstacle though that heirs will have to face in transferring their inheritance to their own name. And that is the payment of the tax on the transfer of real property ownership as required under the Local Government Code (LGC) of 1991.
Note that aside from the national internal revenue tax, which is the estate tax, the LGC of 1991also allows LGUs, specifically, the provinces and cities, to impose tax on sales, donations, barters, or on any other modes of transferring ownership or title over real properties within their territorial jurisdictions, at the rate of not more than 50 percent of one percent of the total consideration or fair market value of the properties involved in a transfer. And like any other tax, the tax on transfer of ownership over real property is also subject to surcharge and interest due to late payment. The Tax Amnesty Act and its amendments as well as the RPVARA failed to extend amnesty on the local transfer tax.
To recall, in support of the gov-
ernment’s estate tax amnesty program and to align with the national government’s objective of giving reasonable tax relief to estates with deficiency taxes, the Bureau of Local Government Finance attempted to provide relief to taxpayers by encouraging LGUs to grant relief on surcharges and interest on tax on transfer of real property ownership. LGUs, however, cannot grant this relief without a local ordinance duly enacted by the local sanggunian for this purpose. This is pursuant to Section 192 of the LGC of 1991, which allows LGUs to grant reliefs or even tax exemptions to taxpayers under such terms and conditions as the local sanggunian may deem necessary. Thus, to further encourage concerned taxpayers to avail themselves of the government’s tax amnesty program on real property ownership, LGUs may enact ordinances granting reliefs on the imposition of surcharges and interests on tax on transfer of real property ownership.
The author is a partner of Du-Baladad and Associates Law Offices (BDB Law) (www.bdblaw.com. ph), a member-firm of WTS Global. The article is for general information only and is not intended, nor should be construed as a substitute for tax, legal or financial advice on any specific matter. Applicability of this article to any actual or particular tax or legal issue should be supported therefore by a professional study or advice. If you have any comments or questions concerning the article, you may e-mail the author at rodel.unciano@ bdblaw.com.ph or call 8403-2001 local 380.
Marcos should appoint a Comelec commissioner from the opposition
By Atty. Romulo B. Macalintal
With the retirement of two Commission on elections (Comelec) commissioners this month, there appears to be an urgent need for President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. to appoint a commissioner of the Comelec recommended by the opposition parties to restore, if not maintain, the confidence of the people in the poll body in light of the recent rebukes from the Supreme Court involving its issuance of several temporary restraining orders (tros) against the decision of the Comelec in 12 disqualification cases.
Former Chief Justice Artemio Panganiban said that he cannot remember “any Comelec that has committed as many gravely abusive acts again and again and again on practically the same ground – the failure to observe the basic constitutional rights to due process and equal pro-
tection of the laws.”
Thus, because of this development, we cannot blame the stakeholders in the forthcoming 2025 elections to feel wary, especially the candidates and the law profession, of the independence, integrity and competence of the officials who will
conduct the said elections.
It is important that our people be fully informed of the reasons why and how such alleged abusive acts are committed by the Comelec in rendering their decisions on such very important and sensitive matters involving the right to vote and be voted for. This can only be achieved by appointing a Comelec commissioner recommended by the opposition, ensuring that their voice is represented and guaranteeing an independent and impartial Comelec.
And this is not a new suggestion. As a matter of fact, President Marcos’ father, the late President Ferdinand Marcos, Sr., granted the request of the opposition in 1984 when he ap-
pointed then Congressman Ramon Felipe as a Comelec commissioner recommended by the opposition. Felipe later became chairman of the Comelec after the 1986 People Power Revolution.
While Comelec Chair George Erwin Garcia recommends that the new commissioners come from within the ranks or Comelec “insiders” who know elections “like the back of their hands,” we have also a lot of young and competent practicing election lawyers who are as knowledgeable and experienced in the field of election law practice who could decide cases with full integrity and honesty.
Atty. Romulo B. Macalintal is an election lawyer
Trump targets loophole Temu, Shein used to take on Amazon
By Jennifer A. Dlouhy, Josh Wingrove & Spencer Soper
PreSident donald trump’s new trade levies against China, Canada and Mexico include a broadside against international e-commerce, with apparent plans to extinguish a long-held tariff exemption for packages worth less than $800.
Trump’s executive orders directing 25 percent levies on Canada and Mexico—plus a 10 percent duty on China—specify that the “de minimis” exemption for small packages no longer applies. Under the exemption, products below that dollar amount are able to enter the US without tariffs—a boon for China’s e-commerce retailers who ship often cheaper wares directly to consumers in the US.
Washington is taking aim at a loophole that retailers from PDD Holdings Inc.’s Temu to fashion-focused Shein have exploited for years to expand rapidly in the US. That’s given Chinese-linked e-commerce companies—which grew by hawking smaller packages in much higher volumes to consumers—huge advantages over market incumbents such as Amazon.com Inc. Critics say the flood of parcels from China is hard to monitor and may contain illegal or dangerous goods.
Trump’s decision—while earlier than some analysts expected—had been largely anticipated by Temu and Shein. Since last year, they’ve begun diversifying their logistics chains, expanding networks in the US and moving to bigger bulk orders.
Still, a formal closure is expected to hit a fast-growing market segment. Temu US accounts for a low-teen percentage of PDD’s revenue, Jefferies has estimated. Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and JD.com Inc. have thriving US businesses. And it raises questions about Shein’s highly anticipated initial public offering, a mega-debut investors expect to take place as soon as this year.
“Temu’s efforts in ramping up its local warehouse/semi-managed model over the past year could help,” Citigroup analyst Alicia Yap wrote. But “the new tariffs will still have a negative read-through to Temu’s growth in 2025 and beyond.”
Alibaba, JD, Shein and Temu representatives did not respond to requests for comment.
The full scope of the de minimis changes—whether they apply just to the new tariffs issued Saturday or to older existing trade levies—was not clear. A White House spokesman did not respond to questions about its reach.
However, trade lawyers said Trump’s language cracking down on the de minimis exemption could apply broadly, even to existing duties
against China, Canada and Mexico.
American shoppers and companies imported about $48 billion worth of shipments from the world under that loophole in the first nine months of last year, according to US Customs and Border Protection estimates.
Temu in particular exploded in the US by offering steep discounts on a variety of products for people willing to wait a week or so for delivery. The popular marketplace—which EMarketer Inc. estimates will sell $30 billion in products to US shoppers this year—became an alternative to Amazon as well as retail chains such as Hobby Lobby, Party City and dollar stores.
Shoppers showed they were willing to wait for delivery in exchange for discounts, defying Amazon’s quick delivery model. By sending individual orders direct to customers from China, they avoid tariffs through the de minimis exemption. Large retail chains that buy inventory wholesale imported on ships generally pass the tariff costs along to customers.
A senior administration official who briefed reporters on the new tariffs Saturday sought to justify ending the exemption, saying that the US loses a tremendous amount of tariff revenue and that the loophole for smaller value packages also impedes the ability of US customs officials to catch fentanyl moving into the country. The official did not specify the scope of the change.
Lawmakers have warned that the de minimis route makes it easier for fentanyl and the precursor chemicals used to make the deadly drug to evade customs and enter the US undetected.
Large loophole
T HE smaller-value shipments account for more than a tenth of China’s exports to the US, according to research from economists at Nomura Holdings Inc.
The total volume of de minimis shipments into the US hit 1.4 billion packages in fiscal year 2024, according to US Customs and Border Protection, about double the number in 2022. Discount online retailers like Temu and Shein contributed significantly to the spike in volume.
Sensing such a change, Temu has already been shipping more inventory in bulk to the US and paying tariffs to have it stored in warehouses near big cities to narrow delivery times. That shift should help blunt the effects of the de minimis change, but will still put pressure on its discount model.
Amit Khandelwal, a professor at the Yale University Jackson School of Global Affairs said in an e-mailed statement that “de minimis shipments were relatively more important for lower-income consumers” and that removing the exemption would hurt those buyers more. With assistance from James Mayger, Debby Wu and Vlad Savov/Bloomberg
Experts tell democracies to resist China economic lures
By Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz @joveemarie
CHINA’Saggressive expansionism and growing global influence came under sharp scrutiny at the 27th Parliamentary Intelligence-Security Forum (PI-SF) in Manila, where security experts and US lawmakers warned of Beijing’s escalating military aggression, economic coercion, and covert political interference in democracies worldwide.
Held at the Batasang Pambansa, the forum featured strong criticism from former US Congressman Robert Pittenger, US Senator Bill Cassidy, and former Deputy National Security Advisor Matt Pottinger. The speakers accused the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) of using military expansionism, political infiltration, and economic subversion to undermine the global order.
and economic connections with Russia, North Korea, and Iran, cautioning that its support inflames conflicts and gives authoritarian rulers more confidence.
He also emphasized how China uses illegal financial networks, economic extortion, and cyberwarfare to impose political control over weaker countries.
“This mission began 10 years ago with the sole purpose of providing information so that you could make good decisions,” Pittenger said.
“We learned that through the state revelations, there were many people who didn’t understand the oversights related to what we do to manage information sharing and intelligence sharing,” he added.
tional rules, principles, or norms,” he said.
Cassidy cautioned that China uses illegal financial incentives to co-opt foreign leaders and render them economically reliant.
He claimed that by investing in infrastructure and development projects in disadvantaged countries, the CCP then uses such countries as leverage for geopolitical dominance.
According to Cassidy, China’s expansionist strategies have mostly targeted the Philippines.
Outrage in Manila has been stoked by Beijing’s unlawful forays into the West Philippine Sea, its construction of manmade islands, and its harassment of Filipino fishermen.
“We have many challenges in the world today, spawned in large part by the nemesis in this region— China,” he said. “We are affected in Iran, North Korea, and Russia. For each of those threats and challenges we have, much of their commitment, their support, and their investment come from China. We all understand that.”
Pittenger cited China’s military
The PI-SF’s founder, Pottinger, characterized China as a major supporter of authoritarian governments.
PHL lawmakers seek fair, sustainable trade policies in Indo-Pacific region
THE leadership of the House of Representatives on Monday called for stronger regional economic frameworks to promote fair and sustainable trade policies in the Indo-Pacific region.
Speaking at the Parliamentary Intelligence-Security Forum (PI-SF) in Manila before current and former international lawmakers, diplomats, and security and technology experts, Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez emphasized that economic vulnerabilities and geopolitical tensions, as well as technological disruptions, require a coordinated global response.
Romualdez warned that economic vulnerabilities remain a serious security concern, particularly in the Indo-Pacific, where supply chain disruptions, economic coercion, and widening inequalities could destabilize growth.
“The Indo-Pacific’s economic security depends not just on its strategic location but also on the resilience of its economies and institutions,” Romualdez said.
He warned that without adequate social protections, 266 million people in Asia could fall into poverty by 2040.
To counter this, he called for stronger regional economic frameworks through the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) to ensure fair and sustainable trade policies.
He also emphasized the need to protect supply chains and critical industries, particularly in key sectors like semiconductors, critical minerals, and advanced manufacturing.
“We must strengthen multilateral economic frameworks like RCEP and CPTPP, ensuring their inclusive and equitable implementation,” Romualdez said.
“We must also secure global supply chains, particularly in semiconductors, critical minerals, and advanced manufacturing, against disruptions caused by geopolitical tensions or natural disasters,” he added.
Also, Romualdez urged policymakers to prioritize climate-resilient economies and sustainable infrastructure, stressing that economic resilience goes hand in hand with environmental protection.
This year’s PI-SF forum, hosted in Manila, centered discussions on the Indo-Pacific, which includes economic powerhouses such as China, Japan, India, and South Korea.
“We gather at a critical moment when the Indo-Pacific—home to 4.7 billion people, or 60 percent of the global population, and a driving force of global trade and innovation—is both a region of immense opportunity and unprecedented challenges,” Ro -
mualdez said.
Sovereign rights ROMUALDEZ also affirmed the Philippines’ commitment to international law in asserting its sovereign rights in the West Philippine Sea.
He cited the 2016 Arbitral Tribunal ruling under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos), which rejected expansive maritime claims in the region. He stressed that upholding this decision is essential for regional stability.
“For the Philippines, the situation in the West Philippine Sea remains a direct and urgent concern. This is not just a matter of territorial integrity—it is a test of the international community’s commitment to upholding international law and ensuring freedom of navigation,” he said.
He warned against gray-zone tactics, coercive actions, and militarization of artificial islands that threaten peace and stability.
He noted that the Philippine government has passed key legislative measures, such as the Philippine Maritime Zones Act and the Philippine Archipelagic Sea Lanes Act, to reinforce its maritime jurisdiction.
“The West Philippine Sea issue underscores the importance of preserving a rules-based international order,” he said.
“For smaller nations like the Philippines, this order serves as a safeguard against the arbitrary use of power and ensures that disputes are resolved peacefully, through dialogue and diplomacy, rather than coercion or intimidation,” he added.
He urged fellow parliamentarians to support multilateral cooperation and uphold the rule of law, recognizing that the Indo-Pacific is not just a region of competition but of shared aspirations for stability and progress.
Growing risks ALSO, the Speaker underscored the growing risks of cyber threats, disinformation, and the misuse of artificial intelligence (AI), warning that emerging technologies must be governed responsibly to prevent destabilization.
“The Indo-Pacific stands at the forefront of technological innovation, but emerging technologies also pose risks to political stability, economic security, and social trust,” he said.
He also emphasized that technology must be used to advance development goals, including investments in renewable energy and climate adaptation.
“Our collective challenge is to establish clear regulations and safeguards to prevent the malicious use of technology—whether through cyberattacks, data breaches, or AI-driven disinformation campaigns,” he said. Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz
Meanwhile, Cassidy, speaking via video message, accused Beijing of using corruption as a weapon to undermine democracies.
“The geopolitical importance of the Philippines as both a freedomloving world and to the Chinese Communist Party is quite evident. Yet, it’s got the whip of its brain on it. There would never be a war with China that the Philippines would be unable to win. One of the main reasons we’re at odds with China is because they do not respect interna-
Cassidy also cited China’s extensive practice of debt-trap diplomacy, which involves using large infrastructure loans to influence governments in Southeast Asia, Latin America, and Africa.
‘Silent Cold War’
FOR his part, Pottinger described China’s strategy as a “silent Cold War,” using disinformation, economic dependency, and military
FR. Luciano Ariel Felloni, an Argentine missionary priest known for his work in helping victims of extrajudicial killings (EJK) and those in drug rehabilitation, died February 2 after a prolonged battle with cancer. He was 51 years old.
Felloni had been undergoing treatment for cancer in recent months, which he publicly revealed in late 2024. In his last post on social media on January 17, he described it as a “roller coaster.”
“One day you are super ok and the next
you are down with fever. So difficult to plan,” he stated.
“Salamat sa aking mga parishioners, kasamahan pari sa bikaryato at mga kaibigan sa inyong pasensya at pangunawa sa lahat na cancel plans and activities. Napapagod pero di naman susuko sa laban na ito. [Thank you to parishioners, priest-companions in the vicariate, for your patience and understanding in all the cancelled plans and activities. I am growing tiored but I won’t give up in this fight]. Your prayers keep me strong! Salamat.”
BSP prods banks: Go beyond OTPs for security
By Reine Juvierre S. Alberto @reine_alberto
THE Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) is encouraging banks to adopt more advanced authentication methods apart from the commonly used one-time passwords (OTPs) to ensure a higher level of protection for consumers.
Deputy Governor for Corporate Services Sector Elmore O. Capule said the BSP aims to gradually deviate from using OTPs for authentication in online transactions.
“Our objective is to make it future-proof. You know how technology is. If you say that what we have right now is efficient, then by next week or next year, it may no longer be,” Capule said over the weekend.
Deputy Governor for Payments and Currency Management Sector Memento E. Tangonan said OTPs are becoming obsolete, as other regulators such as the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) are against the method.
Capule said the transition to more advanced mechanisms will involve industry consultations to determine the tThis comes after the BSP issued a draft circular to amend the manuals of regulations for banks and nonbank financial institutions on information technology risk management to strengthen the implementation of Republic Act No. 12010 or the Anti-Financial Account Scamming Act (Afasa).
One of the provisions in the cir-
cular is the limitation on the use of interceptable authentication mechanisms, such as OTPs through texts or email.
“With the increasing prevalence of social engineering attacks aimed at obtaining login credentials, BSFIs should limit the use of authentication mechanisms that can be shared to or intercepted by third parties unrelated to the transaction,” the BSP said in the draft circular.
Capule said the provision depends on the sophistication of the bank and its system. While for rural or thrift banks, using OTPs is enough, for digital banks, the system should be “more robust and advanced.”
“While what we have now is maybe sufficient for now, we want
them to continually upgrade,” Capule said.
Based on the circular, financial institutions offering complex digital products or handling highvolume or high-value online transactions must implement stronger authentication mechanisms, such as biometric authentication, behavioral biometrics, passwordless authentication, adaptive authentication and artificial intelligence and machine learning.
Other safeguards for financial accounts suggested were the 24-hour transaction hold after key account changes, restrictions on installing mobile applications on unsecured devices, prohibition of unauthorized scripts, integrity checks for transactions and adoption of strong device fingerprinting.
See “Fr. Luciano,” A2
See “Experts,” A2
BALANCING THE EGGCONOMY Stacking up for demand,
Editor: Jennifer A. Ng
Ayala group’s terminal hub operational in 2027–DOTr
By Lorenz S. Marasigan @lorenzmarasigan
AFTER almost a decade of delay, the government promised to deliver the Taguig City Integrated Terminal Exchange (TCITX) by 2027, before President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. steps down from office.
Transportation Secretary Jaime J. Baustista said the facility—awarded to the Ayala Group in 2015—
should be operational in two years, as Monday saw the government and the private sector breaking ground
anew for the construction of the multimodal terminal.
“We eagerly anticipate its completion and operational launch in the first quarter of 2027,” Bautista said.
The Ayala Group won the auction for the 35-year Build-Transfer-andOperate (BTO) Integrated Transport System-South (ITS-South) a decade ago. The P5.2-billion project was supposed to start construction a year after the award.
It was held up by issues pertaining to right-of-way, according to the Department of Transportation (DOTr). Pre-construction activities were also done, but the pandemic required
them to scale back, the DOTr added.
The TCITX is a multimodal transport hub designed to streamline passenger movement between Southern Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao, and Metro Manila.
Located within the Arca South complex in Taguig City, it will serve as a centralized transfer point for buses, the Philippine National Railways (PNR) and the Metro Manila Subway, easing congestion on major roads like EDSA.
Spanning 5.57 hectares, the facility is expected to accommodate 160,000 passengers and 5,200 vehicles daily.
AC Mobility led EV sales in 2024
By Andrea San Juan @andreasanjuan
AC Mobility Holdings Inc., the official distributor of BYD passenger vehicles in the country, have sold nearly 5,000 BYD-branded passenger vehicles, representing an 82-percent share in the Philippine New Energy Vehicle (NEV) market for 2024. In a statement last Monday, AC Mobility said of the 4,780 passenger vehicles sold, 2,078 comprised the BYD’s Seagull, Dolphin, Atto 3, T3, Seal, Han, and Tang models. With a 69-percent market share
Psalm lots in South sold for ₧473M
THE Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management (PSALM) Corp. announced it sold three lots in Batangas and Laguna for P473 million to Maibarara Geothermal Inc. (MGI).
The state firm said in its social media page that it successfully conducted the bidding of its Maibarara Property last January 30.
Composed of three lots with an area of about 58,911 square meters, the Maibarara Property is situated in San Rafael, Santo Tomas City, Batangas, and Calamba City, Laguna.
The bid submitted by the lone bidder amounted to P473,168,100, which is the same as minimum bid price. This bid was conditionally accepted, pending the completion of the post-qualification process.
Psalm’s Privatization, Bids and Awars Committee declared that this process would verify the accuracy and authenticity of the eligibility documents provided by the MGI.
The MGI is a joint venture of PetroGreen Energy Corp. (65 percent), Phinma Energy Corp. (25 percent) and PNOC Renewable Corp. (10 percent). The company developed and operates the 20-megawatt (MW) Maibarara-1 and the 12-MW Maibarara-2 Geothermal Power Project (MGPP) in Santo Tomas, Batangas. The Psalm said the proceeds from the successful privatization of any of its asset will be utilized to settle the remaining stranded contract costs and stranded debts that Psalm had assumed from the National Power Corp. (NPC). Lenie Lectura
Synergy stock hike to let MIC in NGCP
THE Synergy Grid & Development Phils. Inc. (SGP) announced last Monday it is poised to hike its authorized capital stock (ACS) to give the Maharlika Investment Corp. (MIC) a 20-percent stake in the company, which holds a 40-percent share in the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP).
In a disclosure to the stock exchange Monday, the SGP said it has no convertible preferred shares based on its ACS. The company said it will have to apply for the increase of its ACS with the Securities and Exchange Commission in order to create and issue convertible preferred shares.
The MIC will then subscribe to newly-created SGP preferred shares, which would be equivalent to approximately 20-percent equity interest in SGP. The latter will entitle the MIC to appoint two out of nine directors in SGP’s Board of Directors.
As of now, the MIC has not appointed a representative to the NGCP board.
cent of NGCP. It has been reported last week that the transaction documents must be signed within 90 days, with a possible extension of another 90 days if necessary. This gives the MIC a maximum of 180 days to finalize the deal SGP. The deal will generate funds for the capital expenditures of the NGCP.
In November last year, the NGCP said over P600 billion is being set aside for the development of more than a hundred capital-expenditure transmission projects in the pipeline. These projects consist of the Balaoan-Laoag 500-kilovolt transmission line, the Western Luzon 500-kV Backbone Stage 2, Tuy-Dasmariñas 500-kV line and the Batangas-Mindoro interconnection project across Luzon.
in the battery-electric vehicle (BEV) segment, AC Mobility said it leads the country in BEVs sold last year. According to the company, the “Sealion 6 DM-I” is the brand’s top-selling model as it sold 2,669 units last year.
“From July, when BYD Cars Philippines introduced it to the market, to December, it was also the bestselling model in the combined NEV and hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) segments, with a 19 percent market share,” AC Mobility said.
The sales performance of its electric vehicle offerings pushed BYD’s overall growth by 8,900 percent in 2024 compared to 2023 sales.
“Strong sales confirmed BYD’s rank as the 11th best-selling automotive brand in the Philippines, with a 1-percent market share, even bettering several established big automotive players and other Chinese brands,” the car brand noted.
According to AC Mobility, another key factor in the brand’s growth in the Philippines is its “rapid and extensive dealership expansion.” The BYD-distributor increased its dealerships from two at the start of last year to 25 at the close of 2024. The company plans to add 52 more dealer locations this year.
“The growing network of BYD
dealerships and service centers and ACMobility’s expanding footprint of EV charging stations across the country are part of the dynamic ecosystem ACMobility envisions in supporting and encouraging the country’s transition towards electric mobility,” according to the company.
“As ACMobility’s charging network rapidly expands nationwide, the company is also developing digital platforms that will allow individuals and businesses to easily access charging infrastructure and service centers across the country,” the distributor of the Chinese-brand BYD added.
Tigon power project green-laned
THE Board of Investments (BOI) has granted a green lane certificate for a P12.36billion solar power project by Tigon Power Corp., which will soon rise in Mabacalat, Pampanga.
In a statement issued last Monday, the investment promotion agency attached to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said the project is a ground-mounted solar power plant over an aggregate area of 405.52 hectares with a target installed capacity of 301.580 megawatts (MW), direct current and 246.604 MW, alternate current.
The project is being developed by Tigon Power’s unit, the Sapang Balen Solar Sustainable Energy Corp. (SBSSEC), a special purpose vehicle specifically created to develop the solar power project.
According to the BOI, the project is expected to generate up to 5,000 direct and indirect employment opportunities during its stages of construction, commissioning, op -
erations, and maintenance.
The agency explained that Tigon Power has a total project capacity of almost 1GWp (global warming potential), highlighting its commitment to sustainable power generation in the country. The investment promotion agency also said that the company is 100-percent Filipino-owned.
According to the BOI, its OneStop Action Center for Strategic Investments (Osacsi) will continuously monitor the actions taken by agencies on applications for permits and licenses and shall submit a report accordingly.
The Green Lanes, established through Executive Order 18 in
February 2023, aims to speed up and simplify the permit and licensing processes for strategic investments, driving economic growth and innovation in the Philippines.
As of January 17, 2025, the Osacsi has endorsed 179 strategic investments, amounting to P 4.55 trillion. These projects were mostly activities relating to renewable energy, food security, digital infrastructure, and manufacturing industries.
BOI Executive Director of the Investments Assistance Center, Bobby G. Fondevilla, awarded the Green Lane Certificate of Endorsement to SBSSEC CEO Mayleen Ting. Andrea San Juan
Treasuries traders warn of stagflation risk
US bond markets are flashing a warning to US President Donald Trump that his move to unleash tariffs on top trading partners risks fueling inflation and stymieing growth.
Short-end Treasury yields rose as much as eight basis points to 4.28 percent on Monday as longer-dated rates held steady, flattening the curve by the most since November. Such moves are typically associated with stagflation — when inflation and elevated interest rates harm bonds in the short term, only for subsequently weaker growth to make longer-term debt more appealing.
Traders have pared bets on the extent of easing from the Federal
Reserve this year and now see a 50 percent chance of two quarterpoint rate cuts this year, down from 90 percent on Friday.
Over the weekend, Trump made good on his threat to impose levies on the exports of Canada, Mexico and China, while reiterating a warning to the European Union that tariffs “will definitely happen.” Goldman Sachs Group Inc. is positioning for further curve flattening, and firms including BNP Paribas SA, Singapore’s DBS Bank Ltd. and Japan’s SMBC Nikko Securities Inc. said this puts the US economy at risk of falling into stagflation.
“Trump’s policy mix has increased stagflationary risks in
the economy,” Calvin Tse, head of Americas macro strategy and US economics at BNP in New York wrote in a note. That implies the Fed will keep rates on hold for the next couple of meetings while it judges whether growth or inflation risks are “more serious”, they added.
With gasoline and food not excluded from tariffs, BNP strategists flag the risk that long-term inflation expectations could keep pushing higher and they like 10year inflation-linked Treasuries.
“If this does indeed materialize, we think that rate hikes become a real possibility from the Fed this year, even in the face of lower growth,” they added. Bloomberg News
The details involving the increase in ACS were not available as of press time.
The MIC intends to invest in NGCP through the subscription of shares in SGP, which would result in MIC owning approximately 20 percent of the equity interest in SGP that indirectly owns around 40 per-
In Visayas, the NGCP intends to construct the Cebu-Lapu-Lapu 138kV line, Amlan-Dumaguete 138-kV line, Luzon-Visayas HVDC bipolar operation, Calbayog-Allen 138-kV line, Nabas-Caticlan-Boracay 138kV line, Barotac-Viejo-Unidos 230kV line and Panay-Guimaras 138-kV interconnection.
In Mindanao, the NGCP cited the Laguindingan 230-kV substation and the Kabacan 138-kV substation. The NGCP is currently seeking regulatory approval of its maximum annual revenue for its fifth regulatory period covering the years 2021 to 2025. Lenie Lectura
BPI posts double-digit income growth in ‘24
DESPITE higher operating expenses, Ayala-led Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) still booked double-digit growth in its net income for 2024.
In a statement, the BPI said its net income grew 20 percent to P62 billion in 2024 while its fourth-quarter net income posted an eight percent growth to P14.1 billion.
According to the lender, the 21.3-percent increase in its operating expenses to P83.8 billion led to the 71 basis point decline in its cost-to-income to 49.3 percent.
The bank said the increase in its operating expenses was driven by higher manpower, technology and volume-related expenses.
The BPI said its net income still grew due to its P170.1-billion worth revenue, which grew 23 percent compared to 2023.
The higher revenues was driven by the 22.3-percent increase in net interest income to P127.6 billion, as the average asset base expanded 16.8 percent and net interest margin widened 22 basis points to 4.31 percent.
The bank also said higher revenues was due to the 25.3-percent increase in non-interest income to P42.6 billion.
“(This was) driven by higher income from the credit card, wealth management and bancassurance businesses, as well as gains from securities trading,” BPI said.
BPI said it booked full year provisions of P6.6 billion, up 65 percent from last year while its non-performing loan ratio was at 2.13 percent and its NPL coverage ratio stood at 106.2 percent. The bank’s loans stood at P2.3 trillion, an 18.2-percent increase over the previous year. This is inclusive of the portfolio acquired from the merger with Robinsons Bank Corp.
The BPI said organic loan growth was at 13 percent driven by the growth in both institutional and non-institutional segments. Institutional loans grew 11.1 percent, while non-institutional loans surged 41.7 percent. This was driven by strong growth across all portfolios led by “Business Banking,” which grew 126 percent; “Personal Loans,” 92.1 percent; and, “Microfinance,” 62.3 percent. In terms of funding, the BPI said this grew 14.2 percent to P2.78 trillion. This was driven by a shift from time deposits to bonds issuance as a more costefficient funding source, leading “Other Borrowed Funds” to rise 19 percent. Total deposits stood at P2.6 trillion, up 13.9 percent year-onyear, mainly from the growth in time deposits. The Bank’s CASA Ratio was 63.2 percent, with the Loan-to-Deposit Ratio at 87.5 percent, while CASA vs Total Funding was at 59.5 percent and Loan-to-
THE
By VG Cabuag @villygc
Ayala group announced it will host a forum with the private-sector led US–Philippines Society to assess conditions under President of the United States Donald Trump.
According to the Ayala group, presentations in a session during the 2-day forum called “Outlook 2025” will review global and regional trends, American diplomacy in the Asia/Pacific and Philippine
DOUBLEDRAGON Corp. on Monday has started selling its P10 billion, 7-year retail bond offer after receiving its permit to sell from the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The company said it has received the order of registration and permit to sell from the regulator January 31.
The paper carries a fixed coupon rate of 7.77 percent per year. There will be a minimum purchase of P50,000.
Offer period started on Monday through February 14, and tentative listing date at the Philippine Dealing and Exchange Corp. is on February 21.
Landbank of the Philippines, RCBC Capital Corp. and Unicapital Inc. were picked as the deal’s joint issue Managers, joint lead underwriters and bookrunners.
This retail bond offering is set to be the one and only peso retail bond offering of DoubleDragon for the entire year.
government priorities.
“The session seeks to examine the implications of [the] Trump Administration’s policy actions as well as to discuss the upcoming Philippine mid-term elections,” it said.
The offering will become the second tranche from its bond program set and approved by the SEC via shelf registration in 2024 and the final third tranche is planned for issuance by next year 2026 yet.
The pipeline capital-raising issuances at this stage of DoubleDragon’s growth is intended to further increase its cash position and further strengthen its balance sheet in line with the DoubleDragon’s goal to become a mature company by this year, the company said.
The export of Hotel101 brand is expected to eventually become one of the major US Dollar inflow generators to the Philippine economy.
DoubleDragon’s string of titled investment properties strategically planted in prime locations spread out in Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao and overseas serves as its strong underlying solid foundation.
The upcoming Hotel101 Global listing in the US to further strengthen DoubleDragon’s bal -
in ‘24 income
THE Aboitiz-led UnionBank of the Philippines posted a 31 percent increase in its net income in 2024 on the back of its consumer business, margin expansion, and higher fee-based revenues.
In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), Unionbank posted a net income of P12 billion at the end of 2024.
“Our retail-focused strategy allowed us to book record-high top line revenues. We should see the continued improvements in our net income moving forward, as we realize the synergies brought about by our integrated consumer operations,” Chief Financial Officer Manuel R. Lozano was quoted in the statement as saying.
The bank said its consumer loans now accounted for 61 percent of its total loan portfolio. This was nearly thrice the industry average.
Now with 17 million retail customers, the bank was able to diversify its loan portfolio across credit cards, mortgage loans, personal/salary loans, and vehicle loans.
“After completing the migration of Citi-branded consumer accounts early last year, we continue to invest heavily to ensure that we elevate customer experiences,” President and CEO Ana Aboitiz
Delgado said. “We are committed to deliver differentiated product offerings and experiences to our now 17 million customers across all of their preferred customer touchpoints.”
Unionbank the Philippines said its net revenues grew 12.4 percent to P79.5 billion in 2024 while its net interest income increased 11.6 percent to P58 billion.
The bank’s net interest margin is driven by its net interest margin expanded by 49 basis points to 6 percent. It noted that its net interest margin is among the highest in the industry.
Further, the bank’s fee income as a proportion of its assets is nearly double the Philippine banking industry’s average, fueled by increasing customer transactions such as bills payments and funds transfers, as well as interchange and other cardrelated fees.
“I am confident that our renewed focus on customer-centered innovation will allow us to deliver greater value this year and in the years to come,” Delgado said. Notwithstanding the Bank’s continued investments in customer engagement programs, operating expenses grew 1.4 percent versus the previous year to P44.3 billion in 2024. Cai U. Ordinario
Delegates also look forward to identifying win-win trade and investment initiatives between the Philippines and the United States.
The delegates will convene in Manila on February 10 to February 11 for a meeting that represents the first private sector-led forum on US–Philippines engagement since the recent electoral transition in the United States.
Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala, co-chairman of the body, will host the 2025 board meeting program, while co-chairman and former Ambassador John D. Negroponte will lead the US delegation.
“Co-chairs will also welcome new members to the Society board, which include business, professional and civic leaders,” the Society said. Headquartered in Washington, the US–Philippines Society was launched 2012 with the mission of enhancing and strengthening relations and, simultaneously, raising awareness of today’s Philippines through programs on business, governance, culture, shared history, education, strategic issues and conflict resolution.
ance sheet. The two major equity capital raises in the pipeline are expected to significantly boost DoubleDragon’s balance sheet and
As an independent, non-partisan, bi-national organization, the US–Philippines Society plays an important role in fostering mutual understanding of the dynamics underpinning the longstanding US–Philippines relationship, and provides continuity in that relationship amid political change.
Banking&Finance
CB exec sees Islamic digital banking boom
ABy Reine Juvierre Alberto @reine_alberto
centr A l bank official expects monetary authorities would issue the country’s first digital Islamic bank license, leading to an expansion of financing activities that comply with Sharia.
Financial Supervision Sector
Deputy Governor Chuchi G. Fonacier said over the weekend that two
Islamic banks showed intent to apply for a digital banking license after the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas
Leveraging friction to create better money habits
FRICTION, in science, is a force that resists the motion of two objects from colliding against each other.
Hand brakes were created to prevent the car from crashing with another car or object. Non-slip slippers or shoes are designed to keep people, especially the elderly and pregnant women, safe from wet slippery floors. Simply put, friction slows down motion and minimizes unintended accidents.
In behavioral economics, friction is an obstacle that makes it more difficult or time-consuming for people to make decisions or accomplish tasks. So how can you leverage friction in your daily lives to reach your financial goals?
Increase friction to address your poor spending patterns
IF you’re not already aware, one of the reasons behind your poor spending habits is convenience.
While convenience, like debt, is neither good nor evil, its overall effect is determined by the intention of the person or group of people who leverage it.
For example, if you want to decrease your unexpected and impulsive expenditures, you will need to create several friction points to keep you from exhausting your financial resources. It will require constant, deliberate work on your part to make this happen.
Your initial course of action will be to eliminate the triggers. You need to make it harder for yourself to spend money.
You must uninstall your online e-commerce applications from your phone. Further, you will need to disable all social media network notifications.
While it’s ideal to deactivate those, if you’re a business owner and depend on social media to sell your goods or services online, this is a modest step that can help you cut down on frivolous purchases. Never save credit card or debit card information on any website so that you will always have to deal with the inconvenience of entering your information whenever the temptation to spend arises.
From the vendor’s point of view, convenience helps to increase sales because it’s simple for customers to click a button and be done. The sale has been verified.
Customers no longer have to worry about making final purchasing decisions due to convenience. Combine that with other marketing traps, and the revenues will keep flowing in.
Decrease friction to create sound financial habits
WHAT if you aim to maintain your savings target for this year? It’s simple. Just take the opposite action. To develop the habit, you need to minimize the friction points or the obstacles and implement another potent behavioral economics concept known as “nudge.”
(BSP) lifted the moratorium on new licenses beginning this year.
One bank already has a presence here in the Philippines and is eyeing to venture into digital banking, while the second lender has no existence in the country yet but is a major player in Malaysia, Fonacier said.
“Last month, before the moratorium was officially lifted, there were two very interested players. There’s no formal application yet because they’re trying to complete the documentary requirements,” she added.
Under its rules, the BSP is allowing a maximum of ten digital banks to operate in the Philippines. Six digital banks are already operating
Richard H. Thaler, an American economist and famous author who wrote about this topic, defines nudge as any minor aspect of the environment that draws our attention and influences our behavior. It does it without forcing anyone to do anything or offering financial incentives. How do less friction and nudge play in instilling your money-saving habits?
Setting up an automated savings plan to a different account is the most convenient option. Next is to open an account at a nearby bank branch.
Then select a deposit account that makes it difficult for you to take money out (this is a form of friction) such as passbook account with no ATM.
The inconvenience of long queues at the counter, traffic, emergencies, and impulsive shopping will make it more difficult for you to keep to your savings target so it’s best to automate it. You won’t forget it once you’ve set it. Investing is no different. Some investment companies offer you the option to automate your investment strategy.
Set a reminder on your phone, if you don’t wish to enroll in an automated savings plan, on the particular dates of your paychecks to remind you to log into your internet banking to review your savings and investments balance. This will help you develop the habit while also double-checking whether there are any issues with your account that should be reported to your bank immediately.
The reminder itself serves as a kind of nudge to get you to take action. However, product placements, commercials, and newspaper advertisements are forms of nudges as well.
Spend some time considering whether you really want anything before committing to it, and don’t let marketing tricks steer your decision-making.
One strategy to regain control of your financial management against these unethical sales practices is to use the same strategies—convenience and nudge—that compliance professionals employ to influence the outcomes of your decisions in their favor by applying the steps outlined above.
You are the buyer and you ought to have the final say over how your money is spent and allocated.
Rosemarie Gases is a Registered Financial Planner of RFP Philippines. views in this article do not necessarily reflect those of the BusinessMirror’s. To learn more about financial planning, attend the 110th RFP Program this March 2025. To inquire about the program, please email at info@ rfp.ph for details.
in the country while four additional licenses are yet to be awarded to new or converting banks.
The central bank is also expecting the entry of another major Islamic bank, aside from Maybank, to put up shop here after enticing a major player during its roadshows in Indonesia and Malaysia, according to Fonacier.
The BSP aims to double the number of Islamic banks in the country, from three to six or seven players within the next five years to bring more competition and improve financial inclusion, especially in the Mindanao region, the BSP Deputy Governor said.
Meanwhile, two more banks are
looking to apply for a digital banking license, according to Fonacier.
Although the two new players have no physical presence in the Philippines, they are already established as digital banks in their jurisdictions.
The Monetary Board requires the applicants to have a good value proposition with a different business model from the existing ones.
“It has to have a very good value proposition—that they will be addressing a specific need of the current market and at the same time bring in also innovative business models,” Fonacier said.
Digital banks that hold a license from the BSP are Maya Bank Inc.,
Overseas Filipino Bank Inc., Tonik Digital Bank Inc., UNObank Inc., UnionDigital Bank and GoTyme Bank Corp. Digital bank applicants must submit the required documentation to the BSP, including a feasibility study with financial projections aligned with the proposed business model and demonstrate business viability while meeting capital requirements. Applicants must display unique value propositions or innovative business models not currently available in the market. They must also submit to an independent review of information technology systems with the findings reported to the BSP.
Banks in disaster areas given wider berth on loans
By Cai U. Ordinario @caiordinario
BANKS with presence in areas affected by recent typhoons are being given a wider berth for loans and operations by the Monetary Board.
In its Memorandum M-2025-003, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said these banks include those with end-user borrowers located in areas devastated by Tropical Storm “Kristine” and Super Typhoons “Leon,” “Ofel” and “Pepito.”
The BSP said in order to receive the regulatory relief, eligible banks must notify the central bank of their intention to avail of the regulatory
Planbank
relief measures. The reckoning period of these measures are the dates when the typhoons made landfall on the affected areas.
“These relief measures are aimed at enabling banks to carry on with their business operations after extreme weather events and extend equivalent financial relief to their affected borrowers,” the memorandum read.
Under the memorandum, the request for post approval of financial assistance provided to officers affected by the typhoons that are not within the scope of BSP’s approved purposes under the Manual of Regulations for Banks (MORB) may still be made on or before March 31, 2025.
This covers the request for the
makes saving easier via new product
THE Rural Bank of Canlubang Planters Inc. (Planbank) announced it will launch its newest product, the “Easy Save Deposit” (ESD) account, on Wednesday.
“According to the 2021 Financial Inclusion Survey by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, more than half of the country’s adult population now owns a financial account,” a statement by Planbank read. “This indicates a clear desire for secure, straightforward options to grow their finances. Planbank aims to further expand this access with the ‘Easy Save Deposit.’”
According to Planbank, the ESD account combines the familiarity of a passbook with the modern convenience of an ATM card.
“It is more than just a savings account: it’s a tool for your financial journey. Whether you’re a student taking your first steps in financial independence, a young professional building your future, a seasoned entrepreneur growing your business, or a retiree enjoying the fruits of your labor, this account is tailored for you.”
According to the rural bank, the account requires an initial deposit and a maintaining balance of P3,000. The account starts earning interest once your average daily balance reaches P5,000, and interest is paid out at the end of every month, the lender added.
According to Planbank, it has streamlined the process to make your everyday banking effortless. This includes options for in-person transactions with your passbook and quick access to your funds through ATMs. The ATM service allows for
TBy Andrea San Juan
HE Philippines should leverage free trade agreements (FTAs) and address non-tariff measures (NTMs) to enhance its tobacco industry’s position in the global market, according to Department of Trade and IndustryBureau of International Trade Relations (DTI-BITR). At the International Tobacco Summit held recently, DTI-BITR Director Sherylyn D. Aquia explained that FTAs play a “crucial” role in strengthening
daily withdrawals up to P20,000, with a maximum of P10,000 per transaction. Moreover, there is no limit to the number or amount of withdrawals allowed per day when using a passbook.
Deposits are insured by PDIC up to P500,000 per depositor. Additionally, your ESD funds can be used as collateral for loans, providing an additional layer of financial flexibility, the lender said.
The ESD account is available to: individuals who are at least 13 years old and able to manage their own finances; parents or guardians of children under 13 years of age; and single proprietorships under the owner’s name. Planbank’s dedication to their communities drives them to offer financial solutions to help individuals achieve their goals, one deposit at a time.
Planbank, founded on November 24, 1952, in Calamba City, Laguna, is the second oldest rural bank in the Philippines, originally established by a cooperative of sugar planters from Laguna, Cavite, and Batangas. Licensed by the Banko Sentral ng Pilipinas on January 25, 1953, it has a long history of supporting farmers, individuals, and SMEs.
In October 2013, Ambassador Antonio L. Cabangon Chua acquired Planbank, making it part of the ALC Group of Companies, a diversified conglomerate currently chaired by D. Edgard A. Cabangon.
Today, Planbank operates 13 branches in Laguna, Bulacan, and Batangas, remaining a key player in improving the economic well-being of its clients and communities.
the Philippine tobacco industry’s global market presence as these trade deals provide platforms to address market access concerns and trade rules. Aquia also noted that free trade deals will support “legitimate” trade and enhancing trade cooperation. She added that securing preferential tariffs and clear
post-approval of the grant of loans, advances, and any form of credit accommodation to bank officers. These must be submitted to the appropriate supervising department of the central bank for regularization.
The memorandum also said the affected banks will not receive penalties on legal reserve deficiencies, if any, by thrift banks, rural banks and cooperative banks computed under Section 255 of the MORB on “Reserve Deficiencies; Sanctions,” starting from reserve week 18 October 2024 up to six months.
This grace period will be subject to terms agreed by banks and borrowers concerned. However, they may agree to a grace period that is
shorter than six months.
“Banks are expected to discuss with their borrowers the other available options aside from the temporary grace period empowering the latter to make informed decisions considering their financial capabilities,” the BSP said.
The central bank also noted that the loans subject to temporary grace period shall be excluded from the computation of past due and nonperforming loan ratios of banks. These loans, however, remain subject to prudential reporting for supervisory purposes that need to be submitted electronically to the BSP and copy furnished the ESG Supervision and Surveillance Group.
BTr upsizes T-bills
award for 4th consecutive time
THE Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) upsized the award of Treasury bills (T-bills) for the fourth consecutive time as auction yields trailed the declining secondary market trading levels.
On Monday, the auction committee raised the volume of T-bills to P27.6 billion, higher than the P22-billion programmed offering. The auction was 3.2-times oversubscribed with total bids reaching P70.649 billion, prompting the committee to double the non-competitive bids for the 91-day and 182-day tenor debt papers.
The Treasury generated P9.8 billion from the 91-day T-bills with bids reaching P27.950 billion. Average yield settled at 5.101 percent, 1.2 basis points lower than the previous auction’s 5.113 percent yield. Interest rates ranged from a low of 5.050 percent to a high of 5.123 percent.
Meanwhile, the 182-day T-bills slightly declined to 5.477 percent by 1.1 bps from last week’s 5.488 percent. The lowest rate for the tenor stood at 5.418 percent while the highest was at 5.518 percent.
The auction committee accepted P9.8 billion of the total P22.350 billion bids tendered for its sale of 182-day T-bills. Furthermore, average yield for the 364-day T-bills went down by 5.3 bps to 5.671 percent from the 5.724 percent previous yield. The rate settled between 5.600 percent and 5.720 percent.
A total of P20.349 billion in bids was tendered as the government accepted the programmed P8 billion for its sale of 364-day T-bills.
All auction yields were below the secondary market trading rates, with the three-month tenor at 5.279 percent, 5.522 percent for the six-month tenor and 5.712 percent for the one-year tenor, based on the Philippine Bloomberg Valuation (PHP BVAL) benchmarks.
T-bill auction yields declined after the latest week-on-week decline in most
short-term PHP BVAL yields due to relatively benign inflation, according to Michael L. Ricafort, chief economist at the Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC). Commodity prices accelerated to 2.9 percent in December 2024, which could justify possible local policy rate cuts and reduction in big banks’ reserve requirement ratio (RRR), Ricafort added.
“These would further reduce borrowing costs/financing costs in the economy with the outright cut in policy rates by another -0.50 in 2025 and the cut in large banks’ RRR would infuse about P330 billion in the banking system that could be used by banks for more lending activities at lower lending rates,” the RCBC executive said. Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Eli M. Remolona Jr. said over the weekend that a rate cut is on the table in its upcoming meeting on February 13, as the economy continues to underperform.
Remolona said the BSP could reduce key policy rates by 50 bps this year to bring down interest rates to 5.25 percent. An initial 25-bps policy rate cut could be delivered in the first half of the year while another 25-bps will follow in the second half. “Not every meeting we’ll see a policy rate decline,” added the central bank governor. The Monetary Board members are discussing the possibility of lowering the RRR for big banks by 200 bps to 5 percent in the middle of the year, either June or July. This year, the national government will borrow P2.545 trillion, following an 80:20 mix in favor of local sources. A total of P88 billion is programmed for this month’s offering of T-bills, while P115 billion is targeted to be raised from
personal fInance
rosemarie Gases
Art BusinessMirror
Katrina Cuenca’s tetrachromacy transcends color
CHARGED Elegance (above);
2014 BBC feature followed art teacher
AConcetta Antico leading her pupils to the park. She talked about the manifold colors flashing the shimmering lake. She would turn to her students to see their reactions. They would nod— except, it turned out, they only affirmed out
of politeness. What she saw so vividly appeared invisible to them.
Antico is able to perceive colors most people cannot due to a condition called tetrachromacy. Health and wellness website Healthline describes it as the ability to see “color through four cones, which are located in the back of your eyeball. This allows people to see colors others don’t, since most only have three cones.” A study published on ScienceDirect acknowledged how the condition is perceived as a “superpower.”
“I’m kind of shocked when I realize what other people aren’t seeing,” Antico said in the BBC story. Sharing the same sentiment is Katrina Cuenca. The Filipino visual artist only learned recently that she, too, has the condition that allows a subpopulation of women to enjoy an extra dimension of color vision.
It was a shocking discovery that wasn’t all too surprising. The abstractionist has always had her own style of playing with colors, and while the diagnosis figures in the explanation, her innate creativity and boldness remain her defining qualities as an artist.
Cuenca began painting in the 1990s on her own. She always had the penchant for experimentation, playing with figures, patterns and textures as representations of her life experiences. Over the years, she headlined multiple well-received solo exhibitions and has participated
SEE “CUENCA,” B5
The British Museum says it is partly closed after a fired employee shut down IT systems
LONDON—The British Museum, the country’s most popular tourist attraction, was partially closed to the public on Saturday after an employee who had been fired broke in and shut down computer systems, museum management said.
The museum in central London, which attracts almost 6 million visitors a year, closed its temporary exhibitions and part of its permanent collection after the alleged attack on Thursday.
“An IT contractor who was dismissed last week trespassed into the museum and shut down several of our systems,” the museum said in a statement on Friday. “Police attended and he was arrested at the scene.
“We are working hard to get the museum back to being fully operational but with regret our temporary exhibitions have been closed today and will remain so over the weekend—ticket holders have been alerted and refunds offered.”
The Metropolitan Police force said officers were called on Thursday evening “to reports that a man had entered the British Museum and caused damage to the museum’s security and IT systems.” It said a man in his 50s was arrested on suspicion of burglary and criminal damage. He has been released on bail while inquiries continue.
The 266-year-old museum has had a rocky few years. It is still trying to track down some of more than 1,800 objects believed to have been stolen by a former curator and offered for sale online.
Peter Higgs, who worked in the museum’s Greece and Rome department for 30 years, was fired in July 2023 and is being sued by the museum. He denies the allegations.
Museum director Hartwig Fischer resigned in August 2023, acknowledging the institution’s management failed to heed warnings that artifacts including gold jewelry, semi-precious gems and antiquities dating to the 15th century B.C. were being stolen from its collection and sold on eBay.
The museum, filled with treasures from around the world, is also facing growing pressure to return artifacts taken from other countries during the period of the British Empire—notably the Parthenon Marbles, 2,500-year-old sculptures that were removed from Athens in the early 19th century by British diplomat Lord Elgin.
Greece has campaigned for decades for the marbles to be returned. The British Museum is banned by law from giving the sculptures back to Greece, but its leaders have held talks with Greek officials about a compromise, such as a long-term loan. AP
Emerging venue for arts and culture events
REPRESENTING Clark Development Corp. (CDC) president and CEO Atty. Agnes VST Devanadera, vice president for administration and finance Jose Miguel dela Rosa shares insights on Clark Freeport Zone being a perennial choice for art exhibits. On January 25, the Junior Chamber International (JCI) Angeles City Culiat, in partnership with CDC and Holy Rosary Parish Church, opened the exhibition Kalilukan Culiat: Pisamban Maragul at Clark Museum.
The photo captures the museum’s jam-packed lobby during the opening reception. The exhibit featured the works of 27 Kapampangan visual artists, including meticulously designed 3D models reimagining the Holy Rosary Parish Church. The event coincided with Angeles City’s 195th Foundation Day, 61st Cityhood Anniversary, and the launch of
By Eugenia Last
favor. Partnerships look promising, and the opportunity to do something good for someone you love will bring you closer together.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Incorporate change into your routine. Follow your heart, and you’ll discover something about yourself and those you encounter. Put the effort in, and you’ll stabilize your life and the relationships that are meaningful to you. Let your actions speak for you. ★★★★
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Opportunity knocks; open the door and let it in. Today is not the time to waffle; take control and make things happen. Network, charm and share your vision with someone you want to work alongside. Build your dreams and put your skills to good use, and your vigor will entice others to participate. ★★★
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Refuse to let the jibber-jabber you encounter from those trying to enforce their agenda get in your way or cost you your dreams, hopes and wishes. Participate in networking functions, talk to experts and put your energy and enthusiasm toward achieving your goal. ★★★
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Refuse to drag your feet when there is much to do. Letting someone sidetrack you will cause anxiety and regret. Look for opportunities and forge ahead instead of waiting for approval. Do what works for you. There is money and self-respect to gain if you act on your own behalf. ★★★
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): A change will spark your imagination and get you back on track. Discovering what makes you happy and implementing it into your routine will encourage lively new connections with people who value similar life goals. Being open about what you want with those you love will put your mind at ease. ★★★★★
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Take your time, or you’ll miss something that can set you back or point you in the wrong direction. You will flourish if you question everything and look for opportunities that fit your criteria. It’s all about choice, astuteness and follow★★
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Simplify your life. Walk away from instability and focus on what you can achieve. Get involved in pastimes that ease stress and give you something to look forward to, and you’ll meet people who share life’s little pleasures. A creative outlet will encourage you to expand your skills and qualifications.
BIRTHDAY BABY: You are intuitive, thoughtful and disciplined. You are emotional and outspoken.
with me’ BY DAN ZARIN The Universal Crossword • Edited by David Steinberg/Anna Gundlach/Adrian Johnson/Jared Goudsmit/Taylor Johnson
Show BusinessMirror
Bacolod
joins roadmap dev’t for PHL film industry
BACOLOD City Government officials and Negrense filmmakers met with the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) and global creative industries research organization Olsberg•SPI to discuss the development of a strategic roadmap for the future of the country’s film industry.
Councilor Em Legaspi Ang, secretary to the Mayor Atty. Marty Go, Bacolod Film Festival (BFF) 2024 director Seymour Sanchez, and Department of Local Economic Development and Investment Promotions head Dr. Mae Ferrer-Llamas and colleagues Zabrina Bentley and Aisel Joyce Tupas welcomed project development officers Rachelle Villaluna and Kianne Cho of the FDCP policy and planning unit and Olsberg•SPI representatives Joshua Hines-Dedman and Kayleigh Hughes at the Office of the City Mayor on January 16.
The consultative meeting focused on the Bacolod filmmaking industry, the city’s pitch to become a Unesco Creative City of Film, the recently concluded BFF, and proposals for a filmmaking workshop or bootcamp.
The Bacolod City Government expressed its willingness to foster partnerships and collaborations to help further improve the city’s creative industry.
After the meeting, regional filmmakers and industry professionals from Negros Occidental gathered at Cinematheque Centre Negros to meet with the same team from FDCP and Olsberg•SPI for a separate group discussion organized by the Sine Negrense Film Festival.
FDCP is collaborating with Olsberg•SPI to come up with a roadmap that “will underpin the FDCP’s main priorities of strengthening the country’s domestic film industry and expanding the potential to attract more international productions.”
Filmmakers from BFF, Sine Negrense, Margaha Film Festival, La Salle Film Society, Hinigaran National High School, and others engaged “in meaningful discussions on workforce development, infrastructure, production incentives, distribution challenges, and sustainable practices in filmmaking” with the goal of strengthening the Philippine film industry and amplifying its presence on the global stage.
Last year, 10 filmmakers showcased their short films with the theme Stories with a Smile during the Bacolod Film Festival held at SM City Bacolod and Ayala Malls Capitol Central cinemas from September 12 to 15. Sa Pwesto ni Pistong (The Barber’s Chair), written and directed by Vincent Joseph Entuna, won BFF Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Screenplay.
FDCP chairman and chief executive officer Jose Javier “Direk Joey” Reyes, who also headed the BFF 2024 jury, and Olsberg•SPI CEO Leon Forde signed a strategic roadmap partnership to “deliver goals and targets that will address challenges and gaps, and will also outline the strategic direction of the Philippine film industry in the next five to 10 years.”
On the verge
TWO rising stars on the GMA Sparkle camp are on the verge of making it big this year, and we hope they both will play their cards right.
Seb Pajarillo is starting to soar as a performance artist with a new single, titled “Dati Pa.” Nicknamed from Sebastian, this young man told us that he is bent of giving his all as a singer this new year of the wooden snake.
“I am lucky that I am still young and am able to explore many possibilities. I used to like sports and football was my universe. Then the possibility of being a singer came along after the pandemic so I embraced the opportunity and even recorded my first single, titled ‘Want You.’”
The former Ateneo football varsity player continued: “Then GMA Playlist pitched a list of songs to me, and ‘Dati Pa’ resonated with me the most. This new single challenged my vocals and I like challenges.”
Pajarillo said this might be a perfect song for those who are in the process of moving on after a heartache.
“It’s love month and Valentine’s Day is coming, so I guess it’s a good song choice to listen to, one that is both healing and soothing at the same time.”
The tall 22-year-old charmer is also trying out acting, bagging a role in Mga Batang Riles and he will also be part of the supporting cast of Sanggang Dikit, a romantic comedy series which stars Dennis Trillo and Jennylyn Mercado.
“I enjoy performing, whether onstage as a singer or in front of the cameras as an actor. At this point, I’m just taking everything in, learning the ropes, and hopefully have an original song that will become a hit
or play a character on TV that will be so memorable that it would open bigger doors for me in this business. I am keeping my fingers crossed,” he shared.
ASHLEY IS NOW A LADY
ONE of GMA Network’s rising stars turned 18 recently and she celebrated her auspicious day at the Manila Diamond Hotel with the people that mattered.
Ashley Sarmiento was all smiles with her royaltythemed party, donning gowns in blue and purple shades. Aside from her family, the affair was attended by Sparkle head Joy Marcelo, Zephanie, Jon Lucas, Herlene Budol, Prince Clemente, Althea Ablan, comedians Empoy Marquez and Jayson Gainza, the P-pop group Cloud 7, and Sarmiento’s best friend Marco Masa.
“A debut is something that every teenage girl looks forward to, and I am just so thankful that my special
night progressed so smoothly, and everyone special to me came to share my special night,” she mused. Gifted with many talents, Sarmiento is one of the few hopefuls that the Sparkle stable is grooming to be the next big star. After her stint in The Black Rider and Return to Paradise, Sarmiento is a mainstay of the weekly youth-oriented musical-drama show Maka which just aired the first episode of its new season over the weekend.
She told us that she’d make more time to focus also on her music. “I’m a budding singer-songwriter, and I’m able to use music as an outlet for my innermost feelings that are often suppressed. I dream of being able to release a few singles that I have composed, and who knows—maybe even an album this year.”
Sarmiento started as a child actress in many
ABS-CBN shows and later on made that big leap to the GMA camp where a bright future looms. n
‘MAD MEN’ STAR JON HAMM HONORED AS HARVARD’S HASTY PUDDING MAN OF THE YEAR
ACTOR Jon Hamm, who rose to fame as ad executive
Don Draper on the AMC series Mad Men and more recently appeared in Fargo and Landman, was honored on Friday night as the 2025 Man of the Year by Harvard University’s Hasty Pudding Theatricals.
The theater group, which dates to 1844 and claims to be the world’s third-oldest still operating, said Hamm will receive his Pudding Pot award at a celebratory roast. Afterward, he will attend a performance of Hasty Pudding Theatricals’ 176th production, 101 Damnations
“I can’t believe there are so many people here,” Hamm said after accepting his Pudding Pot award.
“Did you all seriously think I was dead? This is such a wonderful honor.”
Before accepting the Pudding Pot, Hamm endured a roasting at the hands of two members of the Hasty Pudding Theatricals. They mocked his height, poked fun at the fact he had not won an Academy Award and suggested many previous winners were better looking.
To make their point, they even had him take part in a contest with someone wearing a Paul Rudd mask, the 2018 winner of the award. Hamm also participated in a trivia contest with an piece of deli meat on a table—who the presenters suggested had won the 2017 Academy Award for production design.
artist subscribes to the idea that the circle represents wholeness and good fortune, as she opens up to new possibilities and creative growth this year.
in the longest-running visual arts fair in the Philippines, ManilART, in 2020 and 2021.
Cuenca recently exhibited in her birthday solo show at Galerie Joaquin Rockwell, honoring her ever-evolving creative vision by paying tribute to its newly discovered layer. The show, titled Tetrachromacy, explores her dynamic approach to creating art. Aside from seeing exclusive colors, she also senses unique angles and approaches in her artmaking process. She remains in equal parts curious and courageous in discovering and incorporating different styles, materials, and perspectives to her works.
The exhibition presents Cuenca’s latest imaginative sculptures and paintings, some on round canvasses. The
In Charged Elegance, for instance, the artist presents her trademark abstract forms in soft pastel against a supercharged blue leaf background for an electrifying contrast. Elsewhere blooms a garden of Cuenca’s imagination. Garden of Dreams showcases unfurling figures in pink and lilacs bursting from a black space in the middle of the frame; a powerful use of contrast once again with an captivating interplay between light and color.
Tetrachromacy by Katrina Cuenca ran from January 21 to 31. Galerie Joaquin Rockwell is located at the R3 Level, Power Plant Mall, Rockwell Center, Makati City.
n For inquiries, contact Galerie Joaquin at 0915-4145502, e-mail galeriejoaquinrockwell@gmail.com, or visit www.facebook.com/artfairph.
items. Among them was selling car insurance to a baby driver and a pen to a woman who had just landed her dream job and was promptly fired. Then, there
was selling a lifetime voucher for bath time with Harry Potter.
“Hi, do you love Daniel Radcliffe? How about Harry Potter?” Draper asked an excited woman on stage. “I would say let’s sit in a tub together but that sounds like, A, terrifying, and B, marginally illegal.”
Afterwards at a press conference, Hamm credited Saturday Night Live creator Lorne Michaels with bringing out his funny side and said Don Draper was the most challenging and fun character that he has ever played. He also cast doubt on the prospect of his character Monty Miller on Landman being resurrected.
“Usually when you’re surrounded by your loved ones on a hospital bed and they’re crying and the machine has a flat line on it, it’s not great,” he joked.
Hasty Pudding Theatricals gives the awards to people who have made lasting and impressive contributions to the world of entertainment.
Hamm is best known for starring in Mad Men, but he has had a storied acting career. Among his achievements, he received Emmy, Golden Globe, and Screen Actors Guild Award nominations for his portrayal of Sheriff Roy Tillman in the FX series Fargo he has starred in several movies, including Bad Times at the El Royale, and he has hosted Saturday Night Live three times. AP
‘MAKA’ Season 2 features new journey of Gen Z gang in MacArthur Academy
AN exciting chapter opens in the lives of the Gen Z gang as they step into a new world for the second season premiere of GMA Public Affairs’ hit youth-oriented series MAKA, which premiered on February 1 at 4:45 p.m.
After the heartbreak of losing Douglas MacArthur High School for the Arts, the MAKA squad embarks on a new journey—thinking life will be better and more comfortable as they enter the private school, MacArthur Academy.
However, a new kind of competition awaits them as fresh faces emerge, making their lives—in terms of school, performing and romance—even more challenging than before.
Returning for Season 2 with their significant roles in the series are
Sparkle stars Zephanie, Marco Masa, Ashley Sarmiento, Olive May, John Clifford, Chanty from the K-pop group Lapillus, Sean Lucas, and May Ann Basa, also known as Bangus Girl.
Giving some twists and turns in the lives of the new students of MacArthur Academy are the new cast members: Shan Vesagas, Josh Ford, Elijah Alejo, and Bryce Eusebio. They will also be joined by Status by Sparkle influencers MJ Encabo and Cheovy Walter.
The youth-oriented series is directed by Frasco Mortiz, who brings a whole new flavor to the show.
MAKA Season 2 airs Saturdays, 4:45 pm, on GMA and via Kapuso Stream. Global Pinoys can watch it via the international channel GMA Pinoy TV.
SEB PAJARILLO (right) and Ashley Sarmineto
FDCP chairman and CEO Jose Javier “Direk Joey” Reyes receives token of appreciation from BFF 2024 Director Seymour Sanchez
JON HAMM with his Harvard University Hasty Pudding Theatricals Man of the Year award. AP
Graduates From Pioneering Plastics Research Program Spark Hope for Environmental Waste Issue
RESEARCHERS from diverse backgrounds in engineering and biological sciences recently graduated from the Plastics Research Methods
Intensive Educational and Research Stay (PReMIERS) Fellowship Program, an environmental research collaboration on ocean plastics, a growing concern worldwide.
The PReMIERS Fellowship Program is a capacity-building program under the Circular Explorer Project, a collaboration between UP MSI, Marine Environment Resources Foundation Inc., Holcim, Circular Explorer, and One Earth One Ocean. Up-and-coming research fellows embark on a two-month program across the Philippines, in relation to the science exploration of the Circular Explorer—a research vessel designed by Holcim and One Earth-One Ocean to recover marine waste and provide data to academic bodies such as UP and the DOST. At the end of the program, the fellows will be part of a wider network of around 100 researchers from 50+ universities and national agencies across the country who had also been intensively trained by a team led by Dr. Onda and supported by the Holcim Group through the Circular Explorer project since October 2022.
The Circular Explorer is not just a
vessel, it’s also an educational center empowering local communities to help raise awareness and educate people on the importance of marine preservation and the circular economy. Fellows Erish T. Daranciang, M.Eng and Christian Mark S. Guyo, M.Sc., both doing their PhD programs in UP Diliman; Leomered P. Medina, a M.Ed. student from Bulacan State University; and Christsam Joy S. Jaspe-Santander, M.Eng., a PhD student from University of San Carlos, showcased their research on marine waste using the data collected onboard the Circular Explorer. These studies are key to understanding and crafting science-based and data-driven interventions and policies in solving marine waste issues in the Philippines, where ocean plastics present a growing environmental problem.
“A lot of research has already been done, a lot of expertise built, and a number of publications have come
Sarah Geronimo’s Next Big Show Redefines Live Music
ASIA’S Popstar Royalty, Sarah Geronimo, is set to headline Enigma Music City on February 8, 2025, from 1 pm onwards, at Bridgetowne Open Grounds in Pasig City. This music festival promises an immersive experience, blending music, art, and interactive storytelling.
Geronimo is set to deliver a new setlist, promising fans an electrifying performance. In addition to Geronimo, the lineup includes James Reid, Barbie Almalbis, Adie, Arthur Nery, Drag Race PH S3 Queens, The Juans, Rob Deniel, Janine Tenoso, Paul Pablo, Ace Banzuelo, Over October, Loki, Alamat, and Kaia. The event also features Enigma Club for live music, a food center, sponsor booths, and the Enigma Mall for merchandise and themed retail experiences.
Tickets are available in four tiers: VIP (P3,980), Platinum (P2,550), Gold (P1,620), and City (P640). For more information and to purchase
out, but we still have a long way to go. It’s a challenge to decentralize what we know to encourage more scientists to do research in the field and contribute to the further understanding of the problem,” says Dr. Deo Onda, Associate Professor of the University of the PhilippinesMarine Science Institute (UP MSI). “The PReMIERS program contributes to this by creating experts, one fellow at a time.”
During the fellowship, they were equipped with tools and skills needed to conduct plastics research under the supervision of a core of mentors - from data collection in Manila Bay onboard the Circular Explorer, to microplastics extraction and analyses in Bolinao Marine
Laboratory in Pangasinan, to application of AI and data analytics in UP Baguio.
Speaking at the ceremony, Samuel Manlosa Jr., Head of Geocycle of Holcim Philippines advised the new graduates.
“The problem needs a lot more attention, and scientists are the ones that know how to contextualize the problem in a way that can be more appreciated,” he says.
“Don’t stop when the study gets published. From being a scientist to being an advocate, use data to transform. And if we do that, there’ll be more of a push to collaborate, and eventually affect policy that benefits the environment.”
True to this goal, the PReMIERS Fellowship Program is designed to train
the fellows to become systems thinkers, effective communicators, and advocates on the use of science and data in informing and educating the public about plastics pollution.
Holcim and the Circular Explorer remain committed to supporting initiatives that promote sustainable practices and environmental stewardship, recognizing the vital role of research and education in tackling global environmental challenges.
The PReMIERS Fellowship Program is now accepting its next batch of participants for 2025. Call for entries officially closes on February 15, 2025. For more information, visit UP MSI’s Microbial Oceanography Laboratory’s Facebook page.
Win Year-Round Philippine Airlines Business Class Flights with Maya
JET off to your dream destination in ultimate style: reclining in comfortable seats with spacious legroom, savoring full-course meals, and sipping champagne as you soar above the clouds. That’s the magic of Business Class, and Maya is here to make it happen as they team up with the country’s flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL). This Happy YOU Year, you can turn 2025 into something extraordinary and reach sky-high rewards just by using Maya on the daily. Fly anywhere, all year, in PAL Business Class!
Here’s How You Can Make 2025 Simply Extra GET a shot at luxe trips to your dream destinations by racking up raffle entries with every P500 transaction from any of the following:
Spend with Maya to Earn Extra Savings. New year, new money moves! With Maya, every swipe of your card, QR payment, or online purchase isn’t just about spending — it’s about growing. Earn up to 15 percent on your Maya Savings, and snag up to five percent cashback on Landers purchases, two percent on dining, and one percent everywhere else with your Landers Cashback Everywhere Credit Card. Because why shouldn’t spending feel this rewarding?
Save big for your 2025 Adventures. That bucket-list trip isn’t going to pay for itself. Build your travel fund with Maya’s Personal Goals where you can get an instant six percent p.a. interest until January 31, 2025 or stash your
BINGOPLUS, your comprehensive digital entertainment platform in the country, showcased fun, entertainment and prizes at the Sinulog Festival 2025. To commemorate the grandest and most colorful festival in the country, BingoPlus honored the celebration by flying to the Queen City of the South, Cebu. The Sinulog Festival is a traditional celebration that honors the Santo Niño (Child Jesus). It is Cebu’s annual festival, held on the third Sunday of January. It is best known for its colorful dancing, parades, and fireworks.
An all-out celebration empowered by BingoPlus took place in Cebu from January 10 to 19, 2025.
closer. Borrow Money Without the Drama. Forget the stress of borrowing money. Maya Easy Credit’s
and conditions apply.
first day, January 18, Yad Robal Jayme, TJ Marquez and Jeff Moses led as the main performers. Meanwhile, Nik Makino, Siobe Lim, Shao Lin, and Curse One starred on the second day, January 19. There
THE traditional dance
BingoPlus kicked off the party with a mini fiesta at different barangays. Rising stars Will Ashley and Lance Carr performed on January 11, while ultimate hunks Luke Conde and Ahron Villena showed off on January 12. Attendees also got to enjoy the BingoPlus booth that was set up at the venues. The booths offered a life-size experience of BingoPlus’ games such as Pinoy Drop Ball, Lucky Spin and more. It was available in Plaza Independencia, Fuente Osmena, Cebu Sports Complex and Parade Route. The Cebuano people’s beauty and talent are remarkable. BingoPlus events are proof of this. One of them is the pre-pageant for Miss Cebu on January 11. The best on the runway received a P10,000 cash prize. Moreover, on January 15, the Miss Cebu Coronation Night was held and the winner took home a cash prize of P50,000. On January 17, there were various activities including Sinulog Idol 2025. The winner was awarded a cash prize of P15,000. The Sinulog Festival Queen, with the title of Miss BingoPlus Festival Queen, triumphed with P20,000 total of cash prize. The Sinulog Dance Crew Competition winner took home P10,000, and the Sinulog Open-style Competition has a cash prize of P5,000. The brand raised the bar high and produced a twoday concert, featuring a superb array of artists. On the
PReMIERS fellows together with Project Leader Dr. Deo Florence Onda, PReMIERS Core Adviser Dr. Paul Samuel Ignacio, partners from Holcim Philippines Inc., One Earth-One Ocean and guests from Poseidon International.
showcasing the culture of Cebu during the Sinulog Festival 2025.
The power of independent journalism: From her Brooklyn apartment, she ‘scooped’ the US media
By David Bauder Ap Media Writer
FIRST word of the Trump administration’s since-rescinded order to freeze spending on federal loans and grants came not from a major news organization, but from a woman working alone in her Brooklyn apartment.
Marisa Kabas’ scoop this past week was a key moment for a growing cadre of journalists who work independently to gather and analyze news and market themselves as brands. Many are refugees from legacy outlets while others are scrappy newcomers like Kabas, who found traditional career paths unappealing or out of reach.
“This week has been careerchanging,” Kabas said in an interview. “In a sense, my job has changed overnight.”
She was sitting at her kitchen table last Monday, sifting through e-mails on her laptop, when a source forwarded her a copy of a memo announcing the freeze sent by the Office of Management and Budget’s acting director. Kabas has her own website, the Handbasket, but to give the story wider visibility, she posted a screen shot of the memo on the social media site Bluesky.
Then she waited. Her stomach was in knots.
She calmed herself with a walk on a frigid night. Despite her belief in independent journalism—and her own work—she recognized that to many, news only becomes “real” when it appears in a major outlet. Three hours later, The Washington Post published its story, with a hat-tip to Kabas. The directive caused such an uproar that the administration walked back its order two days later.
Kicking around jobs until she found her calling KABAS , 37, kicked around in various journalism and publicist jobs and freelanced for outlets like MSNBC.com, the Huffington Post and New Republic. She started her website in 2022 primarily for personal writing and decided to go “all in” with journalism the next year. The advantage to going it alone is that “I get to write about things that I care about,” she said. “I don’t have to work
on assignments that are given to me that I don’t care about.”
The down side is she’s all alone, dependent upon her own hustle.
Kabas wrote on excongressman George Santos, the raid on a weekly newspaper in Kansas and Elon Musk, although much of her writing was essays instead of reported work.
Like many in the independent journalism world, she doesn’t hide her opinions. She wrote that the OMB memo was “a truly unhinged document that sounds like it was written by the world’s most petty 4Chan poster.”
“She’s got attitude, she’s got personality,” said Greg Munno, a journalism professor at Syracuse University. “I think attitude and personality help these independent journalists connect with readers and potentially sources.”
Indie journalists making their mark in a variety of subject areas
A WIDE variety of independent journalists have made their mark, often working on publishing platforms like Substack and Beehiiv.
Seamus Hughes’ Court Watch pulls together interesting legal documents from around the country. Heather Cox Richardson’s Letters From an American explores the intersection of history and today’s politics. Peter Geoghegan’s Democracy for Sale investigates money in politics.
Casey Newton, a former editor at The Verge, looks at the tech world on Platformer,
and this past week urged people worried about the A.I. company DeepSeek to take “a few long, deep breaths.” Molly Knight’s The Long Game writes smartly about sports and even admits to her clunkers, like recently revisiting her prediction that the Texas Rangers would repeat as American League champions.
Oliver Darcy left CNN to break news and offer commentary about the media on his own site, Status. Two former Washington Post journalists have set up their own shops: opinion writer Jennifer Rubin’s site, The Contrarian, boasts the tagline “Not owned by anybody,” and tech writer Taylor Lorenz’s User Mag broke its own news last week on conservative
influencer Candace Owens’ new venture.
Days ago, CNN anchor Jim Acosta announced he was setting up shop at Substack after quitting the network rather than accept a transfer to a middle-ofthe-night time slot.
“Independent journalism is now the way forward,” Dan Rather, the former CBS News anchor and perhaps quintessential old-school journalist, posted on Facebook Thursday. “Sadly, we can no longer rely on legacy media to hold the powerful accountable.”
Expand the definition of independent journalist more broadly, and you can include the exploding world of podcasts, many of which played a key role in the presidential election, and TikTok or YouTube influencers who comment on the news.
The more that traditional news outlets shrink or die, “something is going to fill that gap,” said Jeremy Littau, a Lehigh University journalism professor. “There is going to be a need for it.”
How much room is there for journalists and who can you trust?
IT’S exciting for those who seek variety and new voices, particularly with legacy media lagging in public esteem. The danger comes in figuring out who to trust in a world where a single person often performs the role of reporter, editor, sales person and business manager.
That’s particularly important with breaking news, Littau said. Who is out there cutting corners, or repackaging things they see online without the standards that a traditional news organization imposes?
Munno is skeptical about how much support there is in the marketplace.
“I don’t think the consumer’s appetite for news is high enough to support a really deep pool of independent journalists that would be able to create an audience and make a living,” he said.
Kabas cobbled together what she considered a typical journalist’s living— translation: modest—before this past week. Her earnings through the Handbasket come through subscribers who pay $8 a month or $80 annually. This week alone, she jumped from 800 paid subscribers to about 1,500.
Her scoop is making her rethink the purpose of her work, that now the pressing need is to report deeply on how the country is changing as the result of its new government. She’s even thinking of hiring another reporter to help.
“I’ve gone from very much taking my time, sitting with my thoughts and writing from a personal perspective to being a breaking news reporter,” Kabas said. “They are very different skills.” (David Bauder writes about the intersection of media and entertainment for the AP. Follow him at http://x.com/ dbauder and https://bsky.app/ profile/dbauder.bsky.social)
Out of reach American dream: High home prices and mortgage rates dash homeownership dreams for many California families
By R.j. Rico
The Associated Press
THE Petersen family’s twobedroom apartment in northern California is starting to feel small.
Four-year-old Jerrik’s toy monster trucks are everywhere in the 1,100-square-foot unit in Campbell, just outside of San Jose. And it’s only a matter of time before 9-month-old Carolynn starts amassing more toys, adding to the disarray, says her mother, Jenn Petersen.
The 42-year-old chiropractor had hoped she and her husband, Steve, a 39-year-old dental hygienist, would have bought a house by now. But when they can afford a bigger place, it will have to be another rental. Petersen has done the math: With mortgage rates and home prices stubbornly high, there’s no way the couple, who make about $270,000 a year and pay about $2,500 in monthly rent, can afford a home anywhere in their area.
According to October data from the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, a San Jose family with a median income of $156,700 would need to spend 80 percent of their income on housing—including an $8,600 monthly mortgage payment— to own a median-priced $1.54 million home. That’s far higher than the general rule of thumb that people should pay no more than 30 percent of their income on a mortgage or rent. Moving out of state is out of
the question for the Petersens— they have strong family ties to the area and their income would plummet if they move to a lower cost-of-living area. “I’m not willing to give up my job and close connections with my family for a house,” Petersen said.
The issue is widespread and near historic highs nationally: As of last fall, the median homeowner in the US was paying 42 percent of their income on homeownership costs, according to the Atlanta Fed. Four years ago, that percentage was 28 percent and had not previously reached 38 percent since late 2007, just before the housing market crash.
“The American dream, as our parents knew it, doesn’t exist anymore,” Petersen said. “The whole idea that you get a house after you graduate college, get a steady job and get married? I’ve done most of those milestones. But the homeownership part? That just doesn’t fit financially.”
First-time homeowners are getting older
THE same is true for an increasing number of American families.
In 2024, the median firsttime homebuyer was 38 years old, a jump from age 35 the previous year, according to a recent report by the National Association of Realtors. That’s significantly above historic norms, when median first-time buyers hovered between 30 and
32 years old from 1993 to 2018.
The biggest driver of this trend, experts said, is simple: There are far too few houses on the market to match pent-up demand, driving prices past the point of affordability for many people who are relatively early in their careers. Coupled with high mortgage rates, many have concluded that renting is their only option.
“Wage growth hasn’t kept up with the increase in home prices and interest rates,” said Domonic Purviance, who studies housing at the Atlanta Fed. “Even though people are making more money, home prices are increasing at a faster rate.”
That gap has left many out of the housing market, which for generations has been a way for Americans to build equity and wealth that they can pass down or leverage to buy a larger
home. It’s also led to widespread worries about housing in the US. About 7 in 10 voters under age 45 said they were “very” concerned about the cost of housing in their community, according to AP VoteCast, a survey of more than 120,000 voters in the 2024 election.
Is the dream of homeownership going to fade?
BRIAN MCCABE , a sociology professor at Georgetown University, said he frequently tells his students that “there are few things that all Americans agree on, but one of them is that they’d rather own a home than rent.”
McCabe said homeownership, especially as a wealth-building tool, is the right move for many, especially if the owner intends to be in one place for a long time. But he also said many
are realizing that not owning a home has its advantages, too— it gives people more flexibility to move and allows them to live in exciting neighborhoods they would not be able to afford to buy property in.
McCabe said millennials are getting married later, having children later, have a stronger desire to stay in cities and, especially due to remote work, value the flexibility of being able to move with ease—all of which he said could prompt an end to the notion that homeownership is the “apex of the American dream.”
“The big question is whether we see the sheen of homeownership start to fade,” McCabe said. “It’s such an interesting cultural marker: Why is owning a home the pinnacle for so many people?”
It’s a question Petersen wrestles with because she knows any three-bedroom home she found in her area would leave her family “house poor.”
“I used to subscribe to the idea that owning a house is just a natural milestone you have to reach,” she said. “At some point, though, what are you sacrificing by just owning a house and gaining equity? I want to be able to travel with my kids. I want to be able to sign them up for extracurriculars. How are we supposed to do that if we’re paying a mortgage that’s most of our take-home pay?” Petersen said she’ll “always hold out a little bit of hope” that homeownership will be in her
family’s future. But if they find a townhouse to rent that has space for her kids and fits within their $3,600 monthly rental budget?
“I’d take that,” she said. Some cities are providing crucial aid to first-time homebuyers LIFELONG Boston resident Julieta Lopez, 63, spent decades hoping to buy a home but watched as prices became increasingly out of reach.
“The prices in Boston just got higher and higher and higher and higher,” said Lopez, who works for the city traffic department issuing tickets for parking violations.
Two years ago, furious to learn that her subsidized apartment’s monthly rent was being hiked to $2,900, Lopez, who earns about $60,000 annually, took out her phone and began searching for government programs that help first-time homebuyers. She was determined to finally own her own place.
Within months, she had succeeded. Lopez qualified to receive $50,000 from the local Massachusetts Affordable Homeownership Alliance nonprofit and another $50,000 from the city of Boston’s Office of Housing—funds that helped her with a down payment on the $430,000 two-bedroom condominium she shares with her 30-year-old son. She now pays about $2,160 a month on her mortgage.
THIS undated photo provided by Marisa Kabas shows her holding up a press credential on October 4, 2024 in Pittsburgh. MARISA KABAS VIA AP
STEVE PETERSEN, left, and his wife Jennifer watch as their daughter Carolynn tries to stand inside their apartment in Campbell, California, Wednesday, January 15, 2025. AP/GODOFREDO A. VÁSQUEZ
B8
Tuesday, FeBruary 4, 2025
mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph
Editor: Jun Lomibao
Tolentino
leads PHL campaign in Harbin Asian Winter Games
TBy Josef Ramos
WENTY athletes are flying to Harbin this week for the ninth edition of the Asian Winter Games which Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) president Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino intended to use as springboard to the country’s goal of clinching a first-ever Winter Olympics medal.
Tolentino heads for the popular Chinese winter destination on Tuesday to lead a 20-athlete delegation in the Asian Winter Games that start with Friday’s opening ceremony at the Harbin International Convention Exhibition and Sports Center and closes on February 14.
“I believe our winter sport athletes can deliver, not in terms of medals, but in terms of the exposure and experience that’s needed as we also put weight on our thrust for the Winter Olympics,” said Tolentino on Monday.
T he 20 athletes headed for Harbin, China’s foremost winter destination, is the biggest so far for the Philippines, according to Tolentino, but he announced that snowboarder Adrian
Lee Tongko suffered a knee injury while training in Hakuba in Japan and won’t be with the team anymore.
Team Philippines is composed of Francis Ceccarelli and Tallulah Proulx in slalom of Alpine skiing, Laetaz Amihan Rabe in free ski slopestyle, big air and halfpipe of snowboarding, as well as short-track speed skater Peter Groseclose, figure skating pair of Isabella Gamez and Alexander Korovin and figure skaters Paolo Borromeo, Cathryn Limketkai and Sofia Frank.
Joining them are the men’s curling team of Benjo Delarmente, Alan Frei, Christian Haller, Enrico Pfister and Marc Pfister and the women’s squad of Anne Bonache, Kathleen Dubberstein, Leilani Dubberstein, Sheila Mariano and Jessica Pfister also of curling.
A total of 1,275 athletes from 34 countries are seeing action in 64 events in 11 sports—alpine skiing, biathlon, cross country, curling, figure skating, freestyle skating, ice hockey, short track speed skating, ski mountaineering, snowboarding and speed skating—in Harbin.
We are optimistic and confident this team would get all the honing opportunities that would help them qualify for next year’s Winter Olympics,” Tolentino said. “We’ve already succeeded in winning gold medals in the Summer Olympics, and the thrust is to win medals in the Winter Olympics.”
I taly will host the Winter Olympics in Milano Cortina from February 6 to 22 next year in Milano Cortina.
R icky Lim is the chef de mission in Harbin.
Jim A pelar, president of Philippine Ski and Snowboard Federation (PSSF), received the bad news on Tongko’s knee from his coach Kevin Bernier.
“Kevin [Bernier] told me the swelling did not subside, so, Kevin feels that he may only hurt himself more competing with a swollen right knee,” Apelar said. “He had a bad fall, unfortunately just few days from the competition.”
Luka makes emotional farewell to Dallas fans
LUKA DONCIC released an emotional farewell to Dallas on Sunday, the same day a trade sending him from the Mavericks to the Los Angeles Lakers in a swap for fellow All-National Basketball Association (NBA) player
Anthony Davis was finalized.
Doncic said in a letter to the city that he “wanted so badly to bring you a championship” and that he thought he’d spend his career in Dallas.
“For a young kid from Slovenia coming to the US for the first time, you made North Texas feel like home,” Doncic wrote. “In good times and bad, from injuries to the NBA Finals, your support never
Bacolod rolls out red carpet for PAL Interclub squads
changed. Thank you not only for sharing my joy in our best moments, but also for lifting me up when I needed it most.”
Doncic was enormously popular in Dallas—and everywhere else. His No. 77 Mavericks jersey ranked eighth among best-sellers through NBAStore.com over the first half of the season. On Sunday night, some Doncic items remained for sale on the Mavs’ shopping site.
His jersey sales will likely skyrocket again now, when the Lakers make his new ones available.
“Grateful for this amazing opportunity,” Doncic wrote in another social media post, linking it to one from the Lakers’ accounts welcoming him to Los
THE excitement is building as the prestigious 76th Philippine Airlines (PAL) Interclub prepares to return in a week’s time with golfers from across the country and overseas gearing up for one of the most anticipated events in the Philippine golfing calendar.
Angeles. “Basketball means everything to me, and no matter where I play the game, I’ll do so with the same joy, passion and goal—to win championships.”
Doncic had built deep ties to Dallas off the floor, including through many charitable organizations. He had given large sums of money to various entities in North Texas and arranged for Jordan Brand sneakers—he represents the brand—to be given to frontline workers in the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The appreciation was mutual. When Doncic led Slovenia to a berth into the Tokyo Olympics that were held in 2021, Dallas County Commissioners declared July 6 of that year as “Luka Doncic Day” in celebration of both his on- and offcourt accomplishments. In only 422 games, he ranks sixth on Dallas’ all-time scoring list, is second in three-pointers in Mavs history behind only Dirk Nowitzki, is third on the club list in rebounds and fifth in assists. To all the organizations I’ve worked with throughout
against each other rather than individual players going head-to-head.
The team-based competition fosters a deep sense of camaraderie among participants, creating an environment where collaboration and strategy are just as important as skill.
As the 2025 edition draws near, anticipation is building for the new teams and old rivals to battle it out on the course.
K nown for its rich history, competitive spirit and strong sense of camaraderie, the PAL Interclub stands as a beacon of excellence in the world of golf.
VILMARIE TOOS and Faith Mangyao beat University of Santo Tomas’s (UST) Cheng Dadang and Angelica Del Mar, 18-21, 21-10, 15-8, to give National University Nazareth School (NUNS) its first University Athletic Association of the Philippines high school beach volleyball crown Sunday at Sands SM By The Bay. Toos was named Most Valuable Player and her partnership Mangyao duplicated their elders’ conquest— also the first for NU—in women’s volleyball action also at the expense of UST last November. We’re so happy with this title, we went through a lot of struggle to get this one,” Toos said. “We prepared so hard that we skipped going on vacation during the holidays and trained instead.”
The NUNS pair, which had Laiza Benigay as reserve, didn’t only halted UST’s bid for a fourth straight crown, but also completed a sweep of the Tiger Sands and the season. UST, however, won its first boys’ title
through JM Lagaran and Lance Malinao, who beat NUNS’s Wayne Dionela and Kian Tan, 21-14, 13-21, 16-14, to go unbeaten in nine matches. L agaran, also named boys’ MVP, and Malinao displayed resiliency in the final by rising from an 8-12 hole to frustrate the Bullpups’ bid to win back-to-back crowns.
A damson University’s Ella Gonzalvo and Meagan Pineda swept Far Eastern UniversityDiliman’s Sheena Cafe and Aleah Devosora, 21-17, 21-12, to again claim the girls’ bronze medal. Far Eastern University-Diliman, on the other hand, bagged third place in the boys’ side after Zedrick Calimlim and Tyler Ramos defeated Adamson University’s Brice Malinao and Gian Ygot, 22-20, 19-21, 15-13. Go nzalvo was named the Rookie of the Year thus duplicating her feat in indoor volleyball while De La Salle-Zobel’s Luis Papa was the top rookie in the boys’ side.
S et to take place in Bacolod’s two finest courses—the Negros Occidental Golf and Country Club and Bacolod Golf Club—the tournament is not only a showcase of individual talent but also a true test of team strategy and sportsmanship.
Since its inception, the PAL Interclub has brought together golf teams from all over the Philippines and beyond, creating an atmosphere of fierce competition and mutual respect.
For over several decades, the PAL Interclub has remained a highlight for golfers of all levels and with its unique format, it is one of the few tournaments where teams compete
THE Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) is now priming up for the selection of 10 other names who will formally join the 50 Greatest Players in time for the league’s grand 50th anniversary celebration.
M anila Southwoods and Del Monte are expected to bring their best talents to defend their men’s regular and senior titles.
The senior tournament is set February 10 to 13 while the men’s regular event gets going from February 18 to 21. The 76th edition will see the return of Buddy Resurreccion as tournament director after a 13-year hiatus. He ran the event from 1996 to 2012.
Resurreccion led Aguinaldo to a three-year title romp from 1988.
In 2000, Resurreccion suggested the use of Players Point Average to classify the teams—based on the players’ fiveyear average scores.
It was discontinued a few years ago, but Resurreccion vowed to revive it starting next year.
C ommissioner Willie Marcial said the select panel is led by four-time MVP Ramon Fernandez and fellow MVPs Atoy Co and Allan Caidic to scrutinize 10 deserving honorees who are going to be added to the 40 Greatest Players earlier named by the league.
A lso part of the selection committee are champion coach Dante Silverio, former league commissioner Renauld “Sonny” Barrios, former sports editors Ding Marcelo (Bulletin), Al Mendoza (Philippine Daily Inquirer), Philippine Star sports editor Nelson Beltran, who is also president of the Philippine Sportswriters Association, and veteran broadcasters Quinito Henson and Andy Jao. Fernandez, Co and Caidic were part of the 25 Greatest Players named in 2000.
T he panel convenes on Friday in what Marcial said would be a series of meetings to determine the rightful names that will comprise the new list of the PBA’s Greatest Players.
M arcial said he and some members of the league will help facilitate the nomination and eventually the selection process.
T he commissioner added he’s going to suggest for the panel to take a look at the players by batches starting in the league’s inception in 1975 in order not to miss out on possible names deserving to be included in the list.
Also up for discussion is the outright inclusion of San Miguel Beer big man June Mar Fajardo, who is the only player in PBA history to win a record eight MVP awards, including six straight from 2014-2019.
the final leg of the Korean Ladies Professional Golf Association (KLPGA) Dream Tour’s first-ever overseas competitions set to take place in two weeks. The International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI) Worldwide Link Philippine Ladies Masters 2025, slated February 12 to 14 at The Country Club
The historic 54-hole championship will showcase the finest Filipina golfers—including Harmie Constantino, Daniella Uy, Chanelle Avaricio, Mikha Fortuna, Mafy Singson, Marvi Monsalve, Florence Bisera, Chihiro Ikeda,
LPGT and TLPGA, making it a truly international showcase of talent. The tournament also serves as the second leg of the TLPGA circuit for the season, further elevating its significance on the tour calendar. KLPGA CEO Lee Young-mi expressed her excitement about this groundbreaking collaboration.
LPGT tournaments in Taiwan from 2018 onwards.
DALLAS Mavericks fans show their disappointment over the departure of Luka Doncic for the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for Anthony Davis. AP
PHILIPPINE Olympic Committee president Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino is looking beyond the Harbin Asian Winter Games.
