BusinessMirror February 05, 2023

The ‘CEOs’ of Sagada

In the same land where their ancestors thrived, the local business people who offer visitors the “gifts” of Sagada may seem worlds apart from the business titans who gather yearly, also in a cold mountain retreat in Switzerland. But they do realize they have a unique wealth that no one else can take from them.

By Joel C. Paredes*

by Nonie Reyes

know our land and what is best to make it productive while conserving our environment,” says George.

Although they still continue to sell bottled honey, he recently transferred its production near Buguias, Benguet, and converted their farmland into an upland coffee plantation. Instead of buying coffee from nearby backyard farms to cope with increasing local demand of their “Dapliyan Coffee” brand, he opted to plant 3,000 upland coffee seedlings last year.

Natural rainfall

two years, only to reopen again last December when tourists have began returning as the local government loosened its Covid-19 restrictions.

prohibits the “torture” of animals.

The Dapliyans started their coffee business right after the nationwide lockdown at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, by harvesting their Arabica coffee beans which were grown in their backyard.

The Arabica variety, which makes up 60 percent of the world’s coffee but thrives only in the country’s highland areas like CAR, was already a fast-growing crop before the lockdown. “Sagada coffee,” on the other hand, became one of the favorite blends in local coffeeshops merely by word of mouth from foreign and local tourists who had immersed in the town, which has lately been tagged as one of the major international ecotourism destinations.

Still, its coffee production was merely a backyard crop since the local farmers were dependent on high-value vegetable crops.

According to Jessica, she started their business by convert-

ing the ground floor of their house into a coffeeshop, being strategically found near the outskirts of the población, or town proper. It turned out that the coffee shop was more of a showroom since it became a hangout for visiting traders looking for additional supply of the Arabica coffee because of its big demand in Metro Manila.

“We never expected that our backyard business would prosper in a pandemic. We just wanted to survive the crisis,” says George, a Baguio State University-trained forester, who decided to plant coffee before the pandemic since he was having problems sustaining the production of bee honey from his wild sunflower flower farm due to the recent surge of erratic rainfalls in the region.

According to the couple, they never had any formal training when they decided to shift to coffee farming. “Being natives of Sagada, we

MEANWHILE , Sagada’s natural rainfall all year round has become a blessing for local vegetable farmers like Linda Atiwag, who sells vegetables near the local municipal hall; and Agay Tamy, a regular vendor during the town’s “market day” every weekend.

Atiwag says their produce, which are displayed for retail and wholesale, were normally brought by visiting traders for distribution in major urban centers. She says they really wanted their vegetables to be more affordable, but they were dependent on agricultural inputs if they were to be commercially viable. This explains why Atiwag says she sells Sagada onions at P250 per kilo in the retail market, though it’s already half its regular cost in urban centers after being peddled by middlemen.

Preserving a cultural tradition

A VISIT to Sagada isn’t complete without a meal at the Pinikpikan House. Its owner, Helen Omaweng, 57, says she had to stop its operations—after 19 years—for almost

Being a member of the Applai community, she found it an obligation to serve pinikpikan, which is only being offered in her restaurant to continue to promote a “cultural tradition.” The Applai indigenous people, often referred to as Kan kanaeys even if they have different identities, are known to continue observing their own customs and traditions during occasions like weddings, deaths and other village-related activities, including convening to do the ceremonies for Kabuyan as their supreme being.

Pinikpikan, a “must-cook” food during these festivities, is prepared by beating a live native chicken with a stick prior to cooking, bringing the blood to its surface to improve the flavor of the dish. The chicken is then hung by its feet and briefly beaten with a stick, the feathers are then removed using a blowtorch, which adds to its smoky taste.

The cutting up of the chicken is, in itself, a ritual process since it has to be handled by an elder who examines its organs and bile.

Cooking is done like the tinola with ginger being mixed for flavor, but with the salted pork locally known as etag to add flavor to its soupy broth.

Surviving as a people

OMAWENG admits that she has to continue hurdling the problem of serving a local cuisine that may be considered in breach of the Philippine Animal Welfare Act, which

“I don’t want to comment on this,” says Omaweng, referring to the Philippine Animal Welfare Act of 1988, which prohibits “any person to torture any animal.” “It’s our tradition and I intend to preserve it,” she says.

Surprisingly, while foreign governments had been criticizing the pinikpikan and dog meat, which are traditional comfort food in the Cordillera region, Omaweng says most of her customers are curious foreigners.”

“I never heard any of my foreign customers complaining about the food. That means they appreciate it,” says Omaweng, who has been serving only pinikpikan since she reopened her restaurant with help from her two daughters who are public-school teachers.

“Actually, my problem now is that it’s more difficult to find local helpers because of the recent surge of restaurants and lodging inns,” she says. But only the locals are allowed to set up new businesses since the local government has decreed a ban on outsiders.

Her neighbor, Evelio Aspoen, a 48-year-old storeowner who processes etag for commercial production, agrees that their customs and traditions must be preserved if they were to survive as a people.

“Since our forefathers’ time, our village has been known for cooking pinikpikan with the etag, which some people consider unsanitary,” he says.

One local writer concedes the etag “may not be appealing to the uninitiated because it has a foul odor and most often has maggots

after several days of air drying the meat, probably because of its exposure to flies.” During its aging process, the meat is then often covered on the surface with a thin layer of milky white molds similar to the process of aging cheese. The molds are then rinsed off, and the etag is then “safe and ready to cook.”

Every February, the residents and the local government of Mountain Province even mount an annual celebration of the Etag Festival if only to highlight their favorite preserved meat and their tradition.

That also explains why Esther Pecdasen, at 91, continues to plant traditional upland rice and camote, which the natives consider their staple, and sells them during the weekend at the market through her daughter and other relatives who put up their own food stalls.

“We are a proud people, and we want to show that we will always have an abundance of nature’s bounty because of our ancestors,” she says.

Indeed, the “CEOs” of Sagada may seem worlds apart from the business titans who gather yearly, also in a cold mountain retreat in Switzerland. But they do realize they have a unique wealth that no one else can take from them. And for that, they always feel blessed and grateful.

*Joel C. Paredes has been a journalist for over four decades, with stints in both the local and international media. He was once director general of the Philippine Information Agency, and holds degrees in history and industrial relations from the University of the Philippines.

Photos

SMALL is big. Meet George Dapliyan and his wife Jessica, whose newfound venture as one of the small producers of the now famous high-quality “Sagada coffee” became an overnight success in this quaint yet scenic mountain resort town in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR).

GEORGE DAPLIYAN

JESSICA DAPLIYAN

AGAY TAMY EVELIO ASPOEN HELEN OMAWENG

LINDA ATIWAG ESTHER PECDASEN

Biden-McCarthy chemistry on debt: Not strangers but also not friends

By Josh Wingrove, Erik Wasson & Billy House Bloomberg News

The two men, neither strangers nor friends, met privately for just over an hour Wednesday in the Oval Office, seated under a portrait of Franklin Delano Roosevelt—a president Biden admires and one whose Depression-era New Deal gave rise to an expansion of government programs. In a few months, the US will come to the end of its credit limit and the ability to make good on its obligations. The question between now and then is whether Biden is willing to cut a deal on spending to raise the debt limit—and will McCarthy be able to deliver on any agreement he makes.

The duo’s interactions over the next several months will have a significant impact on the economy and, by extension, their political futures.

“I think, at the end of the day, we can find common ground,” McCarthy said as he left the White House.

Negotiations still possible

A WHITE House statement opened a door for potential negotiations, saying Biden welcomed deficit talks even as they would be “separate” from the debt ceiling.

The US already is at risk of slipping into a recession in the coming year. Breaching the debt limit would send financial markets tumbling and push borrowing costs higher for voters on their credit cards, cars and houses.

Voters would be looking to lay blame in the 2024 election, when Biden is expected to run for a second term and Republicans

will be trying to consolidate control of Congress.

Current partisan rhetoric has echoes of 2011, the last time a standoff brought the US to the brink of a default.

McCarthy at the time lambasted then-President Barack Obama for not taking fiscal talks seriously enough, a refrain he’s now reprising.

Democrats, meanwhile, blamed Republicans for brinkmanship on the debt limit in a confrontation that produced the first downgrade to the sovereign US credit rating. That case is fresh in Biden’s mind now.

Beyond the political posturing, some members of both parties hold out hope Biden and McCarthy share enough in their outlooks and temperaments—despite their generational difference—to pull back from the brink.

“I think they are both career public servants. I think they are both extremely political. I think they’re both pragmatic,” Representative Tom Cole, a senior House Republican from Oklahoma, said. “And I think they both know how to make a deal.”

‘Plodders’ BIDEN, 80, spent decades in the Senate and failed twice to ascend to the White House before winning the presidency in 2020. Like Biden, McCarthy, 58, has spent much of adult life in politics and began a plodding climb to the speakership, despite setbacks, almost as soon as he entered the House in 2007.

Their relationship, limited as it is, dates to when then-Vice President Biden acted as Obama’s congressional liaison and dealmaker. McCarthy at the time was rising through the House Republican leadership ranks. He served as chief recruiter for Republican candidates in the 2010 midterms. That election produced a GOP takeover of the House and set up the last debt-ceiling confrontation.

While vice president, Biden would occasionally host McCarthy, as well as other GOP lawmakers, for breakfasts at his official residence on the grounds of the US Naval Observatory in Washington.

But Biden’s main negotiating partner had been Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, with whom Biden served for decades.

This time, McConnell is leaving negotiations to McCarthy, who enters the fight politically weakened by

the drawn-out drama of his election as speaker.

McCarthy will have to navigate the demands of a vocal and agitated group of far-right Republicans, who have enough votes in the thin Republican majority to block any deal and can at any time mount a challenge to McCarthy’s speakership.

The Trump factor

WHATEVER ties Biden and McCarthy forged previously had cratered under the influence of former President Donald Trump, to whom McCarthy was deferential and beholden, and who still holds great sway over McCarthy’s caucus.

Trump, under whom the debt limit was lifted or suspended three times, has been exhorting Republicans to play “tough” on the issue.

Biden also has no history with most House Republicans, almost two-thirds of whom weren’t in office when Biden was making the rounds in Congress as vice president. And the House GOP has made it a high priority to investigate Biden’s administration and his family, particularly the president’s son Hunter Biden.

In the early months of Biden’s presidency, and in the aftermath of the January 6, 2021, insurrection at the Capitol, Biden gave McCarthy the cold shoulder. McCarthy on Wednesday suggested a potential thaw.

“At no time did someone get into a shouting match,” he told reporters at the Capitol. “That’s a positive for today.”

McCarthy entered Wednesday’s meeting without having a developed list of demands. He’s set out relatively vague guidelines for what he’s seeking—unspecified spending

cuts and laying out a path to balancing the budget, something the US government hasn’t done in over 20 years. Some Republicans have urged cutting defense spending, an unheard-of position in the past.

After meeting with Biden, he sought to tamp down concerns that a stalemate could push the government to the edge of a default and said talks were better than he expected. He is aiming for a twoyear agreement.

But he also reiterated GOP demands for spending cuts.

“We don’t have a revenue problem we have a spending problem,” he said, adding that an increase in the debt limit without an agreement on spending is “not going to happen.”

Biden has said he wants talks about attacking the nation’s debt to include revenue—which means raising taxes, something that would be difficult or even impossible for McCarthy to agree to. He’s also said he’s open to talks on cutting spending, but wants that separated from raising the debt ceiling.

Both sides have ruled out touching the two biggest components of federal spending: Social Security and Medicare. That’s despite the fact that in the latest CBO projections, increased spending on Social Security and major health entitlements are the major drivers of future budget deficits and debt.

Republican Rep. Mike Simpson, a longtime member of the appropriations committee, acknowledged that Biden has stronger ties with other Republicans like McConnell. But that wouldn’t necessarily stand in the way of a deal. “It can be a good thing not to have a relationship,” he said.

PRESIDENT Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy followed similar, winding paths to find themselves back at a familiar point: staring out over the brink of a debt ceiling crisis.

“Ithink they [Biden and McCarthy] are both career public servants. I think they are both extremely political. I think they’re both pragmatic. And I think they both know how to make a deal.” Rep. Tom Cole, a senior House Republican from Oklahoma

KEVIN MCCARTHY speaks to the media after meeting with President Joe Biden. BLOOMBERG

A SAVE the Children midwife provides Zarmina, 25, who is five months pregnant, with a pre-natal check-up in Jawzjan province in northern Afghanistan on October 2, 2022.

Top UN woman urges Muslims: Move Taliban into 21st century

By Edith M. Lederer The Associated Press

UNITED NATIONS—The highest-ranking woman at the United Nations said Wednesday she used everything in her “toolbox” during meetings with Taliban ministers to try to reverse their crackdown on Afghan women and girls, and she urged Muslim countries to help the Taliban move from the “13th century to the 21st.”

Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed, a former Nigerian Cabinet minister and a Muslim, said at a news conference that four Taliban ministers, including the foreign minister and a deputy prime minister, spoke “off one script” during meetings with her delegation last week.

She said the officials sought to stress things that they say they have done and not gotten recognition for—and what they called their effort to create an environment that protects women.

“Their definition of protection would be, I would say, ours of oppression,” Mohammed said.

Those meetings in the Afghan capital, Kabul, and the Islamic group’s birthplace in Kandahar were followed by a visit this week by UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths and heads of major aid groups. They are pressing the Taliban to reverse their edict last month banning Afghan women from working for national and international nongovernmental groups.

Speaking from Kabul on Wednesday, Griffiths said the focus of the visit was to get the Taliban to understand that getting aid operations up and running and allowing women to work in them was critical. The delegation’s message was simple—that the ban makes the groups’ work more difficult, he said.

“What I heard from all those I met (was) that they understood the need as well as the right for Afghan women to work, and that they will be working on a set of guidelines which we will see issued in due course, which will respond to those requirements,” Griffiths said.

Mohammed said her delegation, including the head of UN Women, which promotes gender equality and women’s rights, pushed back against the Taliban, including when they started talking about humanitarian principles.

“We reminded them that in humanitarian principles, non-discrimination was a key part...and that they were wiping out women from the workplace,” she said.

As a Sunni Muslim, like the Taliban officials, Mohammed said she told the ministers that when it comes to preventing girls’ education beyond sixth grade and taking away women’s rights, they are not following Islam and are harming people.

In one setting, Mohammed said, she was told by a Taliban official she didn’t name that “it was haram (forbidden by Islamic law) for me to be there talking to them.” These conservatives won’t look straight at a woman, she noted, so she said she played “that game” and didn’t look directly at them either.

“I gave as much as I think they gave, and we did push,” she said.

Mohammed said the Taliban have said that in due course the rights taken away from women and girls will come back so the UN delegation pressed for a timeline. “What they would say was ‘soon,’” she said.

The Taliban took power for a second time in August 2021, during the final weeks of the US and NATO forces’ pullout from Afghanistan after 20 years of war.

Mohammed said the Taliban, who have not been recognized by a single country, want international recognition and Afghanistan’s seat at the United Nations, which is currently held by the former government led by Ashraf Ghani.

“Recognition is one leverage that we have and we should hold onto,” Mohammed said.

Before arriving in Kabul, Mohammed’s delegation traveled to Muslim majority countries, including Indonesia, Turkey, Gulf states and Saudi Arabia, where she said there was wide support against the Taliban bans.

She said there is a proposal for the UN and the 57-member Organization of Islamic Cooperation to host an international conference in mid-March on women in the Muslim world.

“It’s very important that the Muslim countries come together,” she said. “We have to take the fight to the region...and we need to be bold about it and courageous about it because women’s rights matter.”

Griffiths, the undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs, and his delegation, including the heads of Care International and Save the Children US, did not travel to Kandahar, where the ban on Afghan women working for NGOs was issued on the orders of the reclusive Taliban supreme leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada.

Griffiths acknowledged Akhundzada’s top status but said there are many important voices among Taliban officials across the country.

“I don’t think it’s a simple matter of simply asking one man to take responsibility and to change an edict,” he said. “There is a collective responsibility for this edict, and I hope we’re building up a collective will to compensate for its ban.”

Save the Children’s Janti Soeripto said that there were meetings with eight ministries in two days and that some among the Taliban seemed to understand the need to reverse the ban.

“There’s resistance, they don’t want to be seen doing a U-turn,” she said. “If people don’t see the consequences as viscerally as we see them, people will feel less inclined.”

Mohammed said it is important for the UN and its partners to work more in some 20 Afghan provinces that are more forward leaning.

“A lot of what we have to deal with is how we travel the Taliban from the 13th century to the 21st,” she said. “That’s a journey. So it’s not just overnight.”

She said the Taliban told her delegation that it is putting forward a law against genderbased violence, which she called “a big plus” because rape and other attacks are increasing in Afghanistan.

“I want to hold the Taliban to champion implementing that law,” she said.

Mohammed said it is important to maximize whatever leverage there is to bring the Taliban back to the principles underpinning participation in the “international family.”

“No one objects to a Muslim country or Sharia (law),” she said. “But all of this cannot be re-engineered to extremism and taking views that harm women and girls. This is absolutely unacceptable, and we should hold the line.” The Associated Press writer Riazat Butt contributed from Islamabad

Global report highlights link between corruption, violence

By Kirsten Grieshaber The

Transparency International’s 2022 Corruption Perceptions Index, which measures the perception of public sector corruption according to experts and businesspeople, also found that governments hampered by corruption lack the capacity to protect the people, while public discontent is more likely to turn into violence.

“Corruption has made our world a more dangerous place. As governments have collectively failed to make progress against it, they fuel the current rise in violence and conflict – and endanger people everywhere,” said Delia Ferreira Rubio, the chairperson of Transparency International.

“The only way out is for states to do the hard work, rooting out corruption at all levels to ensure governments work for all people, not just an elite few,” she added.

The report ranks countries on a scale from a “highly corrupt” 0 to a “very clean” 100. Denmark is seen as the least corrupt this year with 90 points, and Finland and New Zealand both follow closely at 87. Strong democratic institutions and regard for human rights also make these countries some of the most peaceful in the world, the report said.

However, the report also shows that while Western Europe remains

the top-scoring region, some of its countries are showing worrying signs of decline.

The United Kingdom dropped five points to 73—its lowest ever score. The report said a number of scandals from public spending to lobbying, as well as revelations of ministerial misconduct, have highlighted woeful inadequacies in the country’s political integrity systems. Public trust in politics is also worryingly low, it said.

Countries like Switzerland, at 82, and the Netherlands, which scored 80 points, are showing signs of decline amidst concerns over weak integrity and lobbying regulations—even though their scores remain high in comparison to the rest of the world.

In Eastern Europe corruption is seen as remaining rampant as many countries reached historic lows.

Russia in particular was highlighted as a glaring example of corruption’s impact on peace and stability.

The country’s invasion of Ukraine almost a year ago was a stark reminder of the threat that corruption and the absence of government accountability pose for global peace and security, the report said. It added that kleptocrats in Russia, which is at 28 points,

have amassed great fortunes by pledging loyalty to President Vladimir Putin in exchange for profitable government contracts and protection of their economic interests.

“The absence of any checks on Putin’s power allowed him to pursue his geopolitical ambitions with impunity,” the report concluded. “This attack destabilized the European continent, threatening democracy, and has killed tens of thousands.”

Before the invasion, Ukraine, which scored 33 points, had a low score but was undertaking important reforms and steadily improving. Even after the outbreak of the war, the country continued to prioritize anti-corruption reforms. However, wars disrupt normal processes and exacerbate risks, the report pointed out, allowing corrupt actors to pocket funds meant for recovery. Earlier this month investigations exposed alleged war profiteering by several senior officials.

The index rated 180 countries and territories. Somalia was at

the bottom with 12 points; South Sudan tied with Syria for secondto-last with 13.

Only eight countries improved last year, among them Ireland with 77 points, South Korea with 63, Armenia at 46, and Angola at 33.

The report also pointed out how after decades of conflict, South Sudan is in a major humanitarian crisis with more than half of the population facing acute food insecurity—and corruption is exacerbating the situation.

In Yemen, at 16, where complaints of corruption helped spark civil war eight years ago, the report said that the state has collapsed, leaving two-thirds of the population without sufficient food in what has become one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world. Compiled since 1995, the index is calculated using 13 different data sources that provide perceptions of public sector corruption from businesspeople and country experts. Sources include the World Bank, the World Economic Forum and private risk and consulting companies.

UN expert: Myanmar junta will seek legitimacy in ‘sham’ vote

By Edith M. Lederer The

Associated Press

UNITED NATIONS—The independent UN special investigator on Myanmar warned Tuesday that the country’s military rulers plan to seek legitimacy by orchestrating a “sham” election this year and urged all countries to reject the illegal and “farcical” vote.

Tom Andrews also called for nations that support human rights and democracy to recognize the underground umbrella organization for opponents of military rule as the legitimate representative of Myanmar’s people.

He said in a report to the Human Rights Council released on the eve of the second anniversary of the ouster of Aung San Suu Kyi’s elected government that according to the constitution drafted by the military in 2008, its coup on February 1, 2021, “was illegal and its claim as Myanmar’s government is illegitimate.”

UN member nations, Andrews said, “have an important responsibility and role to play in determining whether Myanmar’s military junta will succeed in achieving its goal of being accepted as legitimate and gaining control of a nation in revolt.”

“You cannot have a free and fair

election when the opposition is arrested, detained, tortured, and executed,” journalists are prohibited from doing their job, and it is a crime to criticize the military, Andrews said at a news conference. He noted that most of the international community has refused to accept the military’s claim to be the legitimate government of Myanmar. A small minority, including China, Russia, India, Belarus, Saudi Arabia and Sri Lanka, have taken actions tantamount to recognition such as presenting diplomatic credentials to the junta leaders and strengthening military and economic relations, he said.

Andrews called for recognition and support for the National Unity Government, the main underground group coordinating resistance to the military. It was established by elected legislators who were barred from taking their seats when the military seized power.

Andrews said he is encouraged by the increasing engagement of the United States, the European Union and Canada with the National Unity Government.

Presenting the report at a news conference, Andrews called Myanmar’s situation “the forgotten war”

Continued on A4

Associated Press

BERLIN—Most of the world continues to fail to fight corruption with 95 percent of countries having made little to no progress since 2017, a closely watched study by an anti-graft organization found Tuesday.

POLICE block a protest against the jailing of opposition leader Alexei Navalny in Yekaterinburg, Russia on January 23, 2021. Transparency International’s 2022 Corruption Perceptions Index, which measures the perception of public sector corruption according to experts and businesspeople, reported Tuesday that governments hampered by corruption lack the capacity to protect the people, while public discontent is more likely to turn into

In Haiti, gangs take control amid disorder as democracy withers

By Megan Janetsky & Pierre Richard Luxama The Associated Press

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti— Jimmy Cherizier zips through Haiti’s capital on the back of a motorcycle, flanked by young men wielding black and leopard print masks and automatic weapons.

As the pack of bikes flies by graffiti reading “Mafia boss” in Creole, street vendors selling vegetables, meats and old clothes on the curb cast their eyes to the ground or peer curiously.

Cherizier, best known by his childhood nickname Barbecue, has become the most recognized name in Haiti.

And here in his territory, enveloped by the tin-roofed homes and bustling streets of the informal settlement La Saline, he is the law.

Internationally, he’s known as Haiti’s most powerful and feared gang leader, sanctioned by the United Nations for “serious human rights abuses,” and the man behind a fuel blockade that brought the Caribbean nation to its knees late last year.

But if you ask the former police officer with gun tattoos running up his arm, he’s a “revolutionary,” advocating against a corrupt government that has left a nation of 12 million people in the dust.

“I’m not a thief. I’m not involved in kidnapping. I’m not a rapist. I’m just carrying out a social fight,” Cherizier, leader of “G9 Family and Allies,” told The Associated Press while sitting in a chair in the middle of an empty road in the shadow of a home with windows shattered by bullets. “I’m a threat to the system.”

At a time when democracy has withered in Haiti and gang violence has spiraled out of control, it’s armed men like Cherizier that are filling the power vacuum left by a crumbling government. In December, the UN estimated that gangs controlled 60percent of Haiti’s capital, but nowadays most on the streets of Port-au-Prince say that number is closer to 100percent.

“There is, democratically speaking, little-to-no legitimacy” for Haiti’s government, said Jeremy McDermott, a head of InSight Crime, a research center focused on organized crime. “This gives the gangs a stronger political voice and more justification to their claims to be the true representatives of the communities.”

It’s something that conflict victims, politicians, analysts, aid organizations, security forces and international observers fear will only get worse. Civilians, they worry, will face the brunt of the consequences.

Tragic history

HAITI’S history has long been tragic. Home of the largest slave uprising in the Western Hemisphere, the country achieved independence from France in 1804, ahead of other countries in the region.

But it’s long been the poorest country in the hemisphere, and Haiti in the 20th century endured a bloody dictatorship that lasted until 1986 and brought about the mass execution of tens of thousands of Haitians.

The country has been plagued by political turmoil since, while suffering waves of devastating earthquakes, hurricanes and cholera outbreaks.

The latest crisis entered full throttle following the 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse.

In his absence, current Prime Minister Ariel Henry emerged in a power struggle as the country’s leader.

Haiti’s nearly 200 gangs have taken advantage of the chaos, warring for control.

Tension hums in Port-au-Prince.

Police checkpoints dot busy intersections, and graffiti tags reading “down with Henry” can be spotted in every part of the city. Haitians walk through the streets with a restlessness that comes from knowing that anything could happen at any moment.

An ambulance driver returning from carrying a patient told the AP he was kidnapped, held for days and asked to pay $1 million to be set free. Such ransoms are now commonplace, used by gangs to fund their warfare.

An average of four people are kidnapped a day in Haiti, according to UN estimates.

The UN registered nearly 2,200 murders in 2022, double the year before. Women in the country describe brutal gang rapes in areas controlled

by gangs. Patients in trauma units are caught in the crossfire, ravaged by gunshots from either gangs or police.

“No one is safe,” said Peterson Pean, a man with a bullet lodged in his face from being shot by police after failing to stop at a police checkpoint on his way home from work.

Meanwhile, a wave of grisly killings of police officers by gangs has spurred outrage and protests by Haitians.

Following the slaying of six officers, video circulating on social media—likely filmed by gangs— showed six naked bodies stretched out on the dirt with guns on their chests. Another shows two masked men using officers’ dismembered limbs to hold their cigarettes while they smoke.

“Gang-related violence has reached levels not seen in years… touching near all segments of society,” said Helen La Lime, UN special envoy for Haiti, in a late January Security Council meeting.

Henry, the prime minister, has asked the UN to lead a military intervention, but many Haitians insist that’s not the solution, citing past consequences of foreign intervention in Haiti. So far, no country has been willing to put boots on the ground.

The warfare has extended past historically violence-torn areas, now consuming mansion-lined streets previously considered relatively safe.

La Lime highlighted turf wars between Cherizier’s group, G9, and another, G-Pep, as one of the key drivers.

In October, the UN slammed Cherizier with sanctions, including an arms embargo, an asset freeze and a travel ban.

The body accused him of carrying out a bloody massacre in La Saline, economically paralyzing the country, and using armed violence and rape to threaten “the peace, security, and stability of Haiti.”

At the same time, despite not being elected into power and his mandate timing out, Henry, whose administration declined a request for comment, has continued at the helm of a skeleton government. He has pledged for a year and a half to hold general elections, but has failed to do so.

Social degradation

IN early January, the country lost its final democratically elected institution when the terms of 10 senators symbolically holding office ended their term.

It has turned Haiti into a de-facto “dictatorship,” said Patrice Dumont, one of the senators.

He said even if the current government was willing to hold elections, he doesn’t know if it would be possible due to gangs’ firm grip on the city.

“Citizens are losing trust in their country. (Haiti) is facing social degradation,” Dumont said. “We were already a poor country, and we became poorer because of this political crisis.”

At the same time, gang leaders like Cherizier have increasingly invoked political language, using the end of the senators’ terms to call into question Henry’s power.

“The government of Ariel Henry is a de-facto government. It’s a government that has no legitimacy,” Cherizier said.

Cherizier, a handgun tucked into the back of his jeans, took the AP around his territory in La Saline, explaining the harsh conditions communities live in. He denies allegations against him, saying the sanctions imposed on him are based on lies.

Cherizier, who would not tell the AP where his money came from, claims he’s just trying to provide security and improve conditions in the zones he controls.

dren touting an iPhone with a photo of his face on the back. A drone belonging to his team monitoring his security follows him as he weaves through rows of packed homes made of metal sheets and wooden planks.

Tailed by a cluster of heavily armed men in masks, he would not allow the AP to film or take photos of his guards and their weapons.

“We’re the bad guys, but we’re not the bad-bad guys,” one of the men told an AP video journalist as he led her through a packed market.

While some have speculated that Cherizier would run for office if elections were held, Cherizier insists that he wouldn’t.

What is clear, said McDermott, of InSight Crime, is that gangs are reaping rewards from the political chaos.

InSight Crime estimates that before the killing of the president, Cherizier’s federation of gangs, G9, got half of its money from the government, 30percent from kidnappings and 20percent from extortions. After the killing, government funding dipped significantly, according to the organization.

Yet his gangs have significantly grown in power after the group blocked the distribution of fuel from Port-au-Prince’s key fuel terminal for two months late last year.

The blockade paralyzed the country in the midst of a cholera outbreak and gave other gangs footholds to expand. Cherizier claimed the blockade was in protest of rising inflation, government corruption and deepening inequality in Haiti.

Today, G9 controls much of the center of Port-au-Prince and fights for power elsewhere.

“The political Frankenstein long ago lost control of the gang monster,” McDermott said. “They are now rampaging across the country with no restraint, earning money any way they can, kidnapping foremost.”

Horror stories

CIVILIANS like 9-year-old Christina Julien are among those who pay the price.

The smiling girl with dreams of being a doctor wakes up curled on the floor of her aunt’s porch next to her parents and two sisters.

She’s one of at least 155,000 people in Port-Au-Prince alone that have been forced to flee their homes due to the violence. It’s been four months since she has been able to sleep in her own bed.

Their neighborhood in the northern fringes of the city once was safe.

tied out. At night, gunfire would ring outside their window and when neighbors would set off fireworks, Christina would ask her mother if they were bullets.

“When there were shootings I couldn’t go in the yard, I couldn’t go see my friends, I had to stay in the house,” Christina said. “l had to always lay down on the floor with my mother, my father, my sister and my brother.”

Christina started having heart palpitations due to the stress and Sainteluz, a teacher, worried for her daughter’s health. At the same time, Sainteluz and her husband feared their kids could get kidnapped on the way to school.

In October, during Cherizier’s blockade, armed men belonging to the powerful 400 Mawozo gang stormed their neighborhood. That same gang was behind the kidnapping of 17 missionaries in 2021.

Christina saw a group of men with guns from a friend’s house and ran home. She told Sainteluz, “Mommy we have to leave, we have to leave. I just saw the gangsters passing by with their weapons, we need to leave!”

They packed everything they could carry, and sought refuge in the small, two-bedroom home of family members in another part of the city.

Life here is not easy, said Sainteluz, the main provider for her family.

“I felt desperate going to live in someone else’s home with so many children. I left everything, I left with just two bags,” she said.

Sainteluz scrambles to scrub clothes, cook soup for her family in the dirt-floored kitchen and help Christina sitting on an empty gasoline container meticulously doing her math homework.

Whenever a gust of wind blows through the nearby hills, the rusted metal rooftop of the house they share with 10 other people shudders.

The mother once worked as a primary school teacher, earning 6,000 Haitian gourdes ($41) a month. She had to stop teaching two years ago due to the violence. Now she sells slushies on the side of the road, earning a fraction of what she once made.

Young Christina said she misses her friends and her Barbie dolls.

But, the sacrifice is worth it, Sainteluz said. Over the past few months, she’s heard horror stories of her daughter’s classmates getting kidnapped, neighbors having to pay ransoms of $40,000 and killings right outside their house.

At least here they feel safer. For now, she added.

But she and her mother, 48-year-old Sandra Sainteluz, said things began to shift last year.

Cherizier walked through piles of trash and past malnourished chil -

The once bustling streets emp -

UN expert: Myanmar junta will seek legitimacy in ‘sham’ vote

the coup, he said. Andrews, a former US congressman who has appointments at the Yale Law School and Harvard’s Asia Center, said a new coordinated international response to the crisis in Myanmar is imperative.

Since the military came to power, he said, at least 2,900 people and probably many more have died, 17,500 people are political prisoners and at least 38,000 homes, clinics and schools have been burned to the ground. In addition, 1.1 million people have been displaced, more than 4 million children don’t have access to formal education, and 17.6 million people are expected to need humanitarian aid in 2023, up from 1 million before

The army’s ouster of Suu Kyi’s elected government was met with widespread public protests that security forces suppressed with lethal force. The futility of nonviolent protest drove opponents to armed resistance, which some UN experts and others have characterized as civil war.

According to Andrews’ report to the UN Human Rights Council, in the 22 months from the coup

through December 31, there were approximately 10,000 attacks or armed clashes between the military and anti-junta, ethnic resistance forces, and other groups.

Andrews urged all members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to distance themselves from the junta, condemn its actions, and support enforcement of international sanctions. While Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines and Brunei have reduced diplomatic engagement and rejected its claims of legitimacy, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam have engaged with the military, though Vietnam and Cambodia have said this doesn’t

equate to recognition.

The Associated Press journalists Evens Sanon and Fernanda Pesce contributed to this report from Port-au-Prince and accused the international community of failing to address the crisis along with “the junta’s systematic crimes against humanity and war crimes.”

Myanmar is a member of Asean and its military leader, Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, agreed to the organization’s five-point plan in April 2021 calling for an immediate cessation of violence, a dialogue among all concerned parties mediated by an Asean special envoy, but the junta has made little effort to implement it.

Andrews said the military’s hold on the country “is weakening,” saying that his investigation has found that international sanctions have made it difficult for the junta to move and access funds to keep its operations going. But “the problem is that the sanctions are not coordinated,” he said.

JIMMY CHERIZIER , the leader of the “G9 et Famille” gang, talks with members of his gang while taking a ride on the back of a motorcycle in his district of Delmas 6 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti on January 24, 2023. Cherizier, best known by his childhood nickname Barbecue, has become the most recognized name in Haiti. AP/ODELYN JOSEPH

₧1-M cash awaits winner of 2023 BCYF Innovation Award

TO further encourage innovators in the country, the Benita and Catalino Yap Foundation (BCYF) is once again leading the holding of its Innovation Award this year to recognize individuals, teams or organizations who have initiated or developed an innovation that have measurable and tangible results improving their operations or their areas of concern.

Through the Shell LiveWIRE Program, the global flagship enterprise program of Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. that promotes entrepreneurship, innovation and meaningful employment, the awardee shall receive the P1,000,000 cash prize that could be used for business upgrades, additions, expansion, or any other steps in order to elevate the innovation.

The award is part of BCYF’s Comprehensive Social Development Program, which consists of Research, Education, Events and Developmental Social Enterprise.

It was conceived as a result of meeting various organizations and young people who have implemented innovative initiatives that improved their operations and their areas of concern.

Among the criteria of the award is that the innovation must have been implemented in a viable, functioning and registered organization and/or business for at least the last five years with two years of profitable operations both on Profit and Loss and Cash basis, and must have material impact on the bottom line of the company.

Also, there must be better-than-sufficient technical facilities, laboratory equipment and technology investment support over the past five years, including training of appropriate and adequate personnel and that there must be proven commitment to sharing the innovation with others.

Nominations may be submitted under the five categories: government service, small-medium enterprises, education, technology, and industry.

Anyone may submit an entry with no cost involved and selfnomination is encouraged.

Submission of nominations is on February 15. 2023.

Nominations with complete requirements must be emailed to bcyf.innovationawards2023@gmail.com.

Original copies of the requirements must be mailed to BCYF-SABRE, Saint Mutien College, Don Cornelio Subd., McArthur Highway Dau, Mabalacat City, Pampanga 2010.

During the virtual launch of the BCYF Innovation Awards 2023 on December 15, 2022, with assistance from the Science and Technology Information Institute of the Department of Science and Technology, Science Secretary Renato U. Solidum Jr., expressed support to the 2023 BCYF Innovation Awards and other shared initiatives of BCYF.

The BCYF Innovation Awards is among the activities organized by the BCYF in celebration of the Philippine Innovation Month, which aims to highlight the role of Innovation in Social Development.

It was launched in Malacañang under Presidential Proclamation 172, s. 2017, declaring the third week of February as “Philippine Innovation Week.”

Other activities lined up are the Innovation Forum, CEO Breakfast, Philippine Game Changers Conference (ChangeCon), and Ideas Conference. S&T Media Services

National Scientist Angel C. Alcala, 93

NATIONAL Scientist Angel

Chua Alcala passed away on February 1 at age 93.

Alcala was recognized for his outstanding scientific contributions to the systematics, ecology, diversity of amphibians and reptiles and marine biodiversity, reef fishes, and conservation of marine protected areas, the National Academy of Science and Technology said.

He was a former secretary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

He was known for his fieldwork to build sanctuaries and to promote biodiversity in the aquatic ecosystems of the Philippines

He was named a National Scientist by President Benigno S. Aquino III in 2014 in recognition of his research on ecology and diversity of Philippine amphibians and reptiles, marine biodiversity, and marine-protected areas.

His pioneering establishment of no-take marine protected areas (MPAs) in the 1970s helped the Philippines increase and preserve marine biodiversity, including fisheries, the Pew Charitable Trusts said in its web site.

No-take MPAs have been institutionalized by the Philippine government and are now part of the provisions of the country’s Fisheries Code. There are now more than 1,000 MPAs throughout the Philippines.

Among the awards and recognitions that he received were the Ramon Magsaysay Award in 1992 that acknowledged him for pioneering scien -

What do students ask when they meet a

cosmonaut?

five spaceflights, including longduration stays in the International Space Station and nine spacewalks.

His accomplishments earned him the recognition as Hero of the Russian Federation.

and

teachers

on February 1.

As expected, the attendees took advantage of the rare opportunity and asked him questions.

The Philippine Space Agency (PhilSA) and the Russian Embassy in Manila held the session with around 130 senior high-school students and science teachersm featuring Yurchikhin, a retired Russian cosmonaut of Greek descent, PhilSA said in a news release.

“Could you describe how it feels to be in space?” a student asked. In his answer, Yurchikhin likened zero gravity to freedom and encouraged students to experience space on their own someday.

“I cannot exactly tell you how

it feels. You should taste [experience] it…. It is your feelings. I can only tell you mine. But every day when I was in space, I check in with myself and I felt happy every time I had the chance to fly in space.”

Another student asked: “What is the most beautiful thing you have seen on the horizon of space?”

“The most beautiful thing I’ve seen in all of space, in all of that darkness, is our planet,” Yurchikhin said.

He pointed out: “Being a cosmonaut is a very interesting profession, and I would like to invite you to this profession.”

The cosmonaut has been on

He was also one of the five cosmonauts selected to raise the Russian flag at the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics opening ceremony.

Yurchikhin graduated from the Moscow Aviation Institute in 1983 as a mechanical engineer, specializing in airspace vehicles.

In 2001, he graduated with a Ph.D. in Economics from the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration.

Before the afternoon event in QCSHS, Yurchikhin and his team from the Russian Embassy in Manila paid a courtesy visit to PhilSA in Eastwood, Quezon City. He took part in a knowledgesharing session with PhilSA staff and their children. Taking advantage of the cosmonaut’s presence, the children also had the opportunity to ask him questions, PhilSA said.

PhilSA Director General Joel Joseph Marciano Jr. said: “It is not a common opportunity for people who have gone to space to visit our country. The interaction between Dr. Yurchikhin and the kids and students is truly inspirational. We see this visit as promoting this inspirational aspect of space.”

Marciano added: “It is important for our country that our young people continue to be motivated to pursue their aspirations of contributing to the country. That includes one of them possibly becoming a future astronaut or cosmonaut from the Philippines. So hopefully, this interaction today leaves a lasting impression in the minds of young people to continue to push the boundaries of our humankind.”

PhilSA forges partnerships and collaborations with the international space community to promote public awareness and information, advance space education, and strengthen international relations to grow and sustain a robust global space ecosystem, the space agency said.

Innovators urged to apply for research fund from DOST

‘ANTICIPATING future changes and laying out strategic investments for innovation are key factors to national progress,” said Science Secretary Renato U. Solidum Jr.

The Science chief made the statement during the second leg of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) Call for Proposals 2025 campaign held at a hotel in Alabang on February 1. The event’s aim was to encourage researchers in availing themselves of research and development (R&D) funding from the DOST.

tific leadership in restoring and conserving the coral reefs of the Philippines.

He received the Field Museum Founders’ Council Award of Merit in 1994 for his contributions to environmental biology, He was awarded the Pew Fellowship in Marine Conservation in 1999 for his continued, exceptional work in marine conservation.

In 2017, Alcala was named an Asean Biodiversity Hero. In 2018, he was named a member of the Fulbright Philippines Hall of Fame, and was awarded Oceans Legend by Pemsea during the East Asian Seas Congress in Iloilo City.

Two species of Philippine snakes were named in his honor: Lycodon alcalai and Opisthotropis alcalai. Likewise, one species of nudibranch is named after him: Chromodoris alcalai.

His wake will be held at Silliman University Church, Dumaguete City. Necrological service and state funeral will be held at the same venue on February 10. Interment will follow at the Dumaguete Memorial Park.

“We believe R&D output creates the foundation for our country’s continuous development. The proposals submitted today may be the next inspiring initiative towards a better future for the Philippines,” Solidum said.

The event converged members from industry, the academe, government agencies, communities and associations to share their ideas and support the country’s innovation environment.

The period of submission of proposals is from March 1 to May 31, 2023. Interested parties may visit the DOST Project Management Information System (DPMIS).

For the new R&D proposals, the DOST said some of the priority areas for Industry, Energy and Emerging Technology, include energy; construction; utilities; transportation; food; process; mining and minerals; metals and engineering; advanced materials and nanotechnology.

Some Health Research and Development priority areas are Drug Discovery and Development (Tuklas Lunas), functional foods, nutrition and safety, reemerging and emerging diseases, OMIC technologies for health, diagnostics, biomedical engineering for health, digital and frontier technologies for health.

For agriculture, priority research areas in crops include mango, coffee, and sugarcane.

DOST is also looking for R&D projects in managing economically important emerging pests and animal feeds resource enhancement.

“From health innovations, nutrition, agricultural and aquatic breakthroughs, to technologies that will support our industry, most specially the MSMEs [micro, small and medium enterprises], R&D promotes excellence and provides the potential to elevate our country’s status and encourage economic growth,” said DOST Undersecretary for R&D Leah J. Buendia.

“We hope that through this Call Conference, we may again fund the next big milestone in supporting our country’s socio-economic goals” Buendia added.

For years now, the DOST has invested in high-impact and sustainable programs that are significant in addressing national concerns. This is aligned to the research priorities along the four major areas of human well-being promotion, wealth creation, wealth protection, and sustainability, the DOST said.

The Science agency identified some of

the top R&D projects that answered national priority needs.

Among them were the R&D projects in support of the country’s fight against Covid-19. One study was led by Dr. Benedict Maralit of the Philippine Genome Center (PGC) on the monitoring of Covid-19 cases through whole genome sequencing of the virus from patients.

The project aims to use genomic epidemiology perspective to track the virus and develop a deeper understanding of its characteristics.

As early as 2012, the DOST, through the Philippine Council for Health Research and Development invested more than P900 million in Omics research for health.

The funding was used for programs in human multi-omics research, which identified possible genetic markers among Filipinos associated with non-communicable diseases, such as hypertension, stroke, diabetes and heart attack.

The investment also gave way to the establishment of the PGC not only in Luzon

but also its satellite facilities in Visayas and Mindanao, and the launch of the Clinical Genomics Laboratory, the services of which were in the forefront of the response and genomic biosurveillance during the height of the pandemic.

With the rising oil prices and the negative impact of global warming, DOST poured funds into the E-mobility program which supported the electrification of the transportation system. This resulted in the development of e-trikes, e-boats, and the conversion of tricycles in the country.

The DOST-Philippine Council for Industry, Energy and Emerging Technology Research and Development developed an entire ecosystem of an electric transport, which included chargers for the electric vehicles, researches on storage, and parts that can be locally fabricated for the maintenance of these new vehicles.

The DOST’s Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic, and Natural Resources Research and Development (DOST-PCAARRD) pursued its Industry Strategic S&T Programs in the agriculture, aquatic, and natural resources sector.

Branding its initiatives and outputs as Galing, or the Good Agri-aqua Livelihood Initiatives toward National Goals, the DOSTPCAARRD in 2016-2022, funded programs and projects that led to significant findings in genomics, biotechnology, nanotechnology, and smart farming.

In August 2015, the National Research Council of the Philippines initiated the country’s first comprehensive research program for Lake Lanao, the second largest lake in the country.

Six projects were funded for a comprehensive study of the physical, chemical, biological, socioeconomic, and political impacts of the lake to save it from degradation caused by human activities.

RUSSIAN cosmonaut Dr. Fyodor Yurchikhin receives a Multispectral Unit for Land Assessment (MULA) plushie from PhilSA Director General Dr. Joel Joseph S. Marciano Jr. during his courtesy visit. MULA is the biggest commercial-grade satellite currently being developed by the Philippines.

Russian cosmonaut Dr. Fyodor Yurchikhin tells stories about his space missions to students and teachers of Quezon City Science High School. PHILSA PHOTO

ONE DOST—or all of DOST’s agencies acting as one—support the country’s innovation environment.

(From left) DOST Calabarzon Regional Director Emelita Bagsit, DOST PCAARRD’s Juanito Batalon, DOST Mimaropa Regional Director Josefina Abilay, DOST Undersecretary Leah J. Buendia, Science

Secretary Renato U. Solidum Jr., DOST PCHRD Executive Director Jaime Montoya, DOST PES Director Cesar Pedraza, DOST NRCP Executive Director Bernardo Sepeda and DOST PCIEERD Exec. Director Enrico C. Paringit. DOST PHOTO

Calls for Pope Benedict’s sainthood make canonizing popes seem the norm

LIKE many others around the world, I watched the funeral of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI live on the Internet. Before the service began, an unexpected announcement came over the loudspeakers requesting that members of the assembled crowd refrain from raising any banners or flags.

Nevertheless, toward the end of the liturgy, at least one large banner was displayed, reading “Santo Subito,” an Italian phrase that means “sainthood now.”

Identical signs were raised at the 2005 funeral of Pope John Paul II, who was officially canonized nine years later. The connection between these events has not gone unnoticed, leading some to raise questions about expectations that every future pope will be acclaimed as a saint.

As a specialist in Catholic liturgy and ritual, I know that in the contemporary church, no one, from popes to laypeople, is ever officially proclaimed a saint immediately after death. The way that saints are chosen has changed over the centuries, and that has affected the “wait time” between death and canonization.

Antiquity and early Middle Ages

IN the early church, Christianity was illegal in the Roman Empire. Those who were executed after refusing to renounce their faith were venerated immediately after their deaths; individuals or small groups would pray at martyrs’ graves, believed to be places of special holiness, where heaven and earth meet.

Those who were imprisoned for their faith but released—called confessors—were venerated by their communities in the same way.

After the legalization of Christianity in the early fourth century, other men and women who had lived lives of exceptional virtue were also recognized as holy ones and called saints.

For the next several centuries, most saints were venerated at the local level.

Bishops often approved many of these saints for wider regional veneration. Just before the year 1000, Ulrich of Augsburg, an ascetic German bishop, became the first saint to be officially canonized by a pope.

By the early 12th century, it was left to the the popes to officially proclaim most saints. In later years, popes insisted on this exclusive prerogative.

The later Middle Ages

ALTHOUGH the cases—called causes—of those already locally

revered for their holiness were brought to Rome for examination and approval, there was no set timeline for the process.

However, no highly regarded Christian was canonized immediately after death. Instead, the investigation of their cases could take years to reach a conclusion.

The proclamation of St. Anthony of Padua in the 13th century was the fastest canonization during this period. A member of the Franciscan Order of Friars Minor—meaning Little or Lesser Brothers—this young priest was acclaimed for his simple, eloquent preaching.

Anthony died in 1231 and, because of his reputation, was canonized less than a year later, even faster than St. Francis of Assisi, the renowned founder of the Franciscans.

Only two years after Francis’s death in 1226, Pope Urban IX proclaimed him a saint because of his “many brilliant miracles.”

Other causes could take longer. For example, the canonization of St. Joan of Arc took almost 500 years.

During the Hundred Years’ War between England and France in the 14th and 15th centuries, this French teenager experienced visions of saints directing her to liberate France. She helped win an important battle but was later captured and convicted by the English of heresy.

In 1431, Joan was executed by being burned at the stake. In 1456, Pope Callixtus III declared Joan of Arc innocent of heresy, and she continued to be venerated by the French for centuries afterward.

Increasing French nationalism played a role in advancing her cause, and Pope Benedict XV proclaimed her a saint in 1920, praising her long-standing reputation for holiness and her life of “heroic virtues.”

JARO’S FEAST OF OUR LADY OF CANDLES

Iloilo devotees attend the Mass at Jaro Cathedral, the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Candles in Jaro, Iloilo City, on February 2. The day celebrates the annual feast of the district of Jaro in Iloilo City. Ilonggos from all over Iloilo province would visit the Jaro Cathedral to honor Nuestra Senora de la Candelaria (Our Lady of Candles), the patron saint of Jaro. The title commemorates Mary’s ritual purification during the Presentation of Jesus. It’s origin was when Halakha (Jewish law) ordered that firstborn sons be redeemed at the Temple in Jerusalem when they were 40 days old. The feast day is also known in the Catholic Church as the “Feast of the Presentation of Jesus Christ” because it commemorates the first time His mother, Mary, brought Him to the temple.

Modern changes

IN the 16th century, the canonization process became more standardized. The process of canonizing saints was handled in one specific office, the Sacred Congregation of Rites, part of the overall papal bureaucracy, the Curia.

Later, in the 17th century, Pope Urban VIII set a 50-year waiting period between the death of a potential candidate and the submission of a case for canonization, to ensure that only worthy candidates would be nominated.

However, the process was reformed during the 20th century. In 1983, Pope John Paul II set a new fiveyear waiting period for the Vatican office, now known as the Dicastery for the Causes of the Saints.

This waiting period before a cause may be submitted can be, and has been, waived at the discretion of the pope.

In 1999, Pope John Paul II waived it for the cause of Mother Teresa. The process began then, only two years after her death in 1997, and she was proclaimed St. Teresa of Calcutta by Pope Francis in 2016.

After the death of John Paul II himself in 2005, his successor, Pope Benedict XVI, again waived the waiting period for his case to proceed. Only nine years later, in 2014, Pope Francis proclaimed John Paul II a saint.

However, in the intervening years, questions were raised about what some considered to be a hasty or premature advancement of John Paul II’s cause.

Criticisms of the process

ELEVEN popes have served the Catholic Church since 1900. Three—Leo XIII, Benedict XV and Pius XI—have not been nominated. Pope Pius X, who died in 1914, was canonized 40 years later in 1954.

So far in the 21st century, several more popes have entered or completed the process.

Pius XII, who died in 1958, has been named “Venerable”—the second step of the canonization process—despite ongoing controversy over his actions during World War II.

But over the past 10 years, four popes—John XXIII, Paul VI, John Paul I and John Paul II—have been proclaimed saints, an unusual situation in modern Catholic history.

It can seem that canonizing popes has become routine in the 21st century. Some even suggest that this trend marks a new era of personal holiness in those elected to the papacy.

However, not everyone cheers this trend.

Critics cite the rapid canonization of Pope John Paul II as an example of potential problems. His lengthy reign and widespread popularity led to a special pressure on Pope Francis to move quickly on his cause.

Afterward, however, more evidence was uncovered raising questions about the pope’s handling of the clergy abuse crisis.

Politics within the church can also come into play.

For example, conservatives could push strongly to canonize a more traditionally minded pope, while progressives might support a candidate with a broader point of view.

This seems to be why two popes— John XXIII, who called the Second Vatican Council in 1962 to reform and renew the church, and John Paul II, who strove to curb some of the more progressive elements—were both canonized at the same ceremony.

The papal power to waive even the brief five-year waiting period makes these problems even more acute. Some have even suggested imposing a moratorium on papal canonizations, or at least lengthening the waiting period before a pope’s cause could be considered.

The Catholic Church teaches that saints are proclaimed so that others might be inspired by their lives and examples of “heroic virtue.”

But it takes time to thoroughly examine each cause individually, and hidden flaws may not be uncovered until much later after the candidate’s death.

This was true for St. John Paul II, and might be the case for Pope Benedict XVI. But no one is recognized a saint simply because he served as pope.

Joanne M. Pierce, College of the Holy Cross/The Conversations (CC) via AP

CBCP HEAD: ‘CANCEL CULTURE’ IS CONTRARY TO SYNODALITY

THE head of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines issued a warning against so-called “cancel culture” during his address to the CBCP three-day plenary assembly that started on January 28.

Speaking on the first day of the assembly, Bishop Pablo Virgilio David, CBCP president, said cancel culture has become a negative trend in society through the influence of social media.

“Nowadays, with a click of a finger, it is so easy to simply unfollow, unfriend, or cancel out the social media account of anyone who represents a contrary opinion,” David said.

“It is the exact opposite of synodality in the sense that it stops any further dialogue or conversation,” he said.

The CBCP head then reminded the bishops that being “supreme bridge-builder” is a role not only exclusive to the pope.

“We are ourselves called to participate in his role as a supreme bridge-builder, a facilitator of dialogue, reconciliation and communion in the

local Churches entrusted to our care,” he added.

In January 2022, Pope Francis had made the same warning on cancel culture, which is “invading many circles and public institutions”.

“As a result, agendas are increasingly dictated by a mindset that rejects the natural foundations of humanity and the cultural roots that constitute the identity of many people,” he said in his annual address to the Vatican diplomatic corps.

Around 80 bishops gathered at the Pope Pius XII Catholic Center in Manila for their 125th plenary assembly.

The gathering marks their second faceto-face meeting since the Covid-19 pandemic erupted in March 2020.

Among those present in the meeting are Cardinal Jose Advincula of Manila and Cardinal Orlando Quevedo, the archbishop emeritus of Cotabato.

Archbishop Charles Brown, Apostolic Nuncio to the Philippines, also delivered his address to the assembly at the start of the day’s session. CBCP News

POPE IN CONGO: ‘HANDS OFF AFRICA!’

ROME—In his first speech in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Pope Francis urged the international community to give the central African country its autonomy while not turning a blind eye to exploitation and violence.

“This country and this continent deserve to be respected and listened to; they deserve to find space and receive attention,” the pope said on January 31 in the garden of the Palais de la Nation in Kinshasa.

“Hands off the Democratic Republic of the Congo!” he continued, as spectators cheered and applauded. “Hands off Africa! Stop choking Africa: Africa is not a mine to be stripped or a terrain to be plundered.”

Pope Francis landed in Kinshasa, the capital city of the DRC, in the afternoon on January 31; the visit is the first leg of a sixday trip that will also include South Sudan.

The streets of the pope’s five-mile drive from the N’Dolo Airport to the presidential residence were lined with thousands of locals who cheered and waved flags.

Francis met privately with President Felix Tshisekedi before an audience with the country’s authorities, diplomats and representatives of civil society.

“May Africa be the protagonist of its own destiny!” the pope said. “May the world acknowledge the catastrophic things that were done over the centuries to the detriment of the local peoples, and not forget this country and this continent.”

The pope continued, “We cannot grow accustomed to the bloodshed that has marked this country for decades, causing millions of deaths that remain mostly unknown elsewhere.”

Pope Francis’ speech noted the DRC’s endurance of political exploitation, what he called “economic colonialism,” child labor, and violence.

“This country, so immense and full of life,

this diaphragm of Africa, struck by violence like a blow to the stomach, has seemed for some time to be gasping for breath,” he said.

“As you, the Congolese people, fight to preserve your dignity and your territorial integrity against deplorable attempts to fragment the country, I come to you, in the name of Jesus, as a pilgrim of reconciliation and of peace,” the pope said.

“I have greatly desired to be here and now at last I have come to bring you the closeness, the affection, and the consolation of the entire Catholic Church,” he pointed out.

Violence in eastern DRC has created a severe humanitarian crisis with more than 5.5 million people displaced from their homes, the third-highest number of internally displaced people in the world.

Pope Francis was scheduled to meet with victims of violence from the eastern part of the country on February 1 in Kinshasa following a Mass that is expected to draw 2 million people. Roughly half of the 90 million people in the DRC are Catholic.

“I am here to embrace you and to remind you that you yourselves are of inestimable worth, that the Church and the pope have confidence in you, and that they believe in your future, the future that is in your hands, your hands,” Francis emphasized, “and for which you deserve to devote all your gifts of intelligence, wisdom, and industry.”

The pope added: “The heavenly Father wants us to accept one another as brothers and sisters of a single family and to work for a future together with others, and not against others.”

God, he said, “is always on the side of those who hunger and thirst for justice. One must never tire of promoting law and equity everywhere, combating impunity and the manipulation of laws and information.”

Hannah Brockhaus/Catholic News Agency via CBCP News

POPE Benedict XVI in Les Combes, Val D’Aosta, Italy, in 2006. L’OSSERVATORE ROMANO

BISHOP Pablo Virgilio David, president of CBCP, delivers his welcome address during the 125th CBCP Plenary Assembly at the Pope Pius XII Catholic Center in Manila on January 28. CBCP NEWS

POPE Francis arrives in the Democratic Republic of Congo on January 31 on the first leg of a sixday trip that will include South Sudan. VATICAN MEDIA

Asean Champions of Biodiversity

Media Category 2014

Biodiversity Sunday

Editor: Lyn Resurreccion

Preserving Ifugao’s culture, tradition through agrobiodiversity

Story & photos by Jonathan L.

Mayuga

MEET Milagros Dulnuan, president of the Fruitful Farmers’ Association in Ifugao province in the Cordilleras. Wearing the traditional Ifugao women’s clothes of blouse and tapis (wrap-around skirt), Milagros was arranging the various agricultural products and byproducts showcasing the Agrobiodiversity Project outside a crowded conference hall at a hotel in Taguig City.

Dulnuan, who hails from Hingyon, Ifugao, was a presenter of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) booth during the two-day event in January.

The event showcased successful Global Environment Facility (GEF)-funded projects as part of the GEF-National Multi-Stakeholder Dialogue that was organized by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

Showcasing various agrobiodiversity products, the FAO booth also showcased traditional rice varieties from Ifugao, and an assortment of rice-based food, such as cookies with sesame seeds, bars, inamot, imbuleh/binakle (rice cake), ginitaan.

Also showcased in the FAO booth were ginger and ginger-based products like tea and candy; taro chips, cookies and various handicrafts.

Best practices

CONRADO BRAVANTE of the DENR’s Foreign Assisted and Special Projects Service (FASPS) said “the exhibit was intended to bring to the participants and to the public the gains of the projects, which are related to biodiversity, chemicals and waste, land degradation, international waters and climate change.”

Through the exhibit, the DENR, FASPS and GEF, intended to display the best practices with the hope of

replicating the successful projects in other areas, Bravante told the BusinessMirror in an interview at the sideline of the event.

Under the eighth replenishment cycle of the GEF for the Philippines, a $52 million funding opportunities for communities in the focal areas were identified by GEF and the DENR.

At the opening of the exhibit on January 18, the FAO Agrobiodiversity Project stood out as Dulnuan shared the Ifugaos’ indigenous knowledge, skills and practices that promote sustainable food production practices that lessen the adverse environmental impact of agriculture.

Besides the products from Ifugao, the FAO booth also showcased various produce by women beneficiaries from Lake Sebu, South Cotabato, such as hand-woven abaca and t’nalak cloths of the T’boli people.

What is agrobiodiversity?

THE FAO defines agrobiodiversity, or agricultural biodiversity, as the variety and variability of animals, plants and micro-organisms that are used directly or indirectly for food and agriculture, includ -

ing crops, livestock, forestry and fisheries.

Agrobiodiversity includes harvested crop varieties, livestock breeds, fish species, and nondomesticated, or wild resources within fields, forests and rangeland, including tree products, wild animals hunted for food, and aquatic ecosystems.

It also includes nonharvested species in production ecosystems that support food provision, including soil micro-biota, pollinators and other insects, such as bees, butterflies, earthworms and greenflies, and nonharvested species in the wider environment that support food production ecosystems, such as agricultural, pastoral, forest and aquatic ecosystems.

Under threat

LIKE biodiversity, agrobiodiversity is under threat.

According to FAO, various local food production systems are under threat, including knowledge, the culture and skills of farmers.

“With this decline, agrobiodiversity is disappearing; the scale of the loss is extensive. With the disappearance of harvested species, varieties and breeds, a wide range

cal governments and schools, and participated in public forms to highlight the importance of resource conservation.

Holcim Philippines President and CEO Horia Adrian said: “Coprocessing is an important part of our efforts to advance circularity in the construction industry.”

of unharvested species also disappear,” FAO said.

Alarming loss

IN the last 100 years, the FAO said the scale of loss of agrobiodiversity is alarming. It noted that since the 1990s, some 75 percent of plant genetic diversity has been lost as farmers worldwide have left multiple local varieties and landraces for genetically uniform, high-yielding varieties.

It said that 30 percent of livestock breeds are at risk of extinction. It is alarming that six breeds are lost each month.

Currently, FAO said that 75 percent of the world’s food is generated from only 12 plants and five animal species.

Worse, of the 4 percent of the 250,000 to 300,000 known edible plant species, only 150 to 200 are used by humans, with rice, maize and wheat contributing nearly 60 percent of calories and proteins obtained from plants.

ABD Project

ACCORDING to FAO’s ABD Merchandise Module, the Philippines is one of six areas identified by the GEF as priority genetic reserve lo -

By Rizal Raoul Reyes

cations for wild relatives of agricultural crops.

“It serves as the home of over 5,500 traditional rice varieties, and boasts of a broad spectrum of indigenous and endemic species of vegetables and fruit crops,” it said.

It is for this reason that the Dynamic Conservation and Sustainable Use of Agro-Biodiversity in Traditional Agro-Ecosystems of the Philippines Project (ABD Project) was conceptualized. It aims to enhance, expand and sustain the dynamic conservation practices that sustain globally significant ABD.

The project was made possible by a GEF grant of $2.18 million, with co-financing of $11.52 million.

Its implementation, which started in 2016, was concluded last year, benefiting more than 2,000 farmers in 17 communities in the municipalities of Hingyon and Hungduan in Ifugao, and Lake Sebu in South Cotabat o.

Support to farmers

THE project is helping farmers through the provision of livelihood assistance, such as trainings and farm tools to help augment their income.

It is assisting farmers conserve

traditional crops and practices, contributing to the protection of the environment.

In Hingyon, Ifugao, the project has provided various assistance to farmers, honing their knowledge and skills in enterprise development and farming system on heirloom rice and upland vegetable.

Farm machinery, tools and community seed banks were provided by the program.

Empowering women

SPEAKING in Filipino, Dulnuan said with the ABD Project, they came to realize the importance of preserving and conserving their culture and tradition, such as Ifugao’s heirloom rice.

She said most of their organization’s members are women, who have become very productive because of the training in food processing.

“In our town, because of the project, the local government unit passed a resolution promoting locally produced rice,” Dulnuan said.

With the various export-quality products the Ifugao farmers are currently able to produce, she said their Fruitful Farmers’ Association is looking forward to having their own facility through the help of GEF or other funding institutions, to comply with the requirement of the Food and Drugs Association (FDA).

“One of the requirements of the FDA is a food processing facility.  That is why we are hoping to have financing for the facility so that we can get the FDA approval that will allow us to export our products,” she said.

According to Dulnuan, women members of various groups from different areas covered by the project were given the opportunity to shine.

“For every product, there’s one processor assigned to do it. For example, for ginger candy, one person is assigned to it. Mostly, women farmers are into this project more than men,” she said.

HOLCIM Philippines’ waste management unit Geocycle is helping 35 cities and municipalities stay clean and divert materials away from landfills.

Holcim converts 1M tons of waste for fuels, raw materials for cement

ONE of the leading building solutions provider in the country, Holcim Philippines Inc. converted around a million tons of qualified wastes into alternative fuels and raw materials for cement production in 2022 as it accelerates circular construction in the construction industry, the company’s news release said.

Through its waste management unit Geocycle, Holcim made productive use of discarded materials from industries and communities through cement kiln co-processing. This helped the company conserve virgin natural resources and avoid

high-carbon traditional fuels, such as coal, while providing partners a safe and environment-friendly waste management solution.

Among the beneficiaries of the company’s circular economy drive are 35 municipalities and cities nationwide, which were able to divert waste away from landfills.

Geocycle also helped industrial partners manage wastes, including nonrecyclable plastics. Furthermore, the company completed the installation of facilities for co-processing ozone-depleting substances. The unit conducted lectures on proper waste management for lo -

He added: “Our success in reusing discarded materials is further reducing our consumption of natural resources and carbon footprint. This also enables us to help industries and communities achieve their zero waste objectives. We are excited to continue growing our co-processing operations to further contribute to building progress in the country.”

Co-processing is a government-approved and globally recognized waste management technology that repurposes qualified discarded materials into alternative low-carbon fuels and raw materials in making cement.

Among the environmental advantages of co-processing are the extremely high temperatures of kiln and longer treatment time that prevent formation of harmful gasses. There are also no residues to be landfilled.

Holcim Philippines is increasing its use of low-carbon fuels in cement manufacturing to reduce carbon emissions, cut use of virgin raw materials and contribute to managing wastes in the country in a sustainable manner, the news release said

IT would have been a different scenario in the Philippines if the country just fully implemented Republic Act 9003, or the Ecological Solid Waste Management (ESWM) Act.

Gloria Estenzo Ramos, vice president of Oceana Philippines, said that RA 9003 would have been a game changer which could have helped the country formulate a better green agenda.

“If we had just complied with the provisions of the law, we could have achieved a zero waste campaign,” she said in her presentation on “Plastics Impacts on Climate, Health and Human Rights” during the celebration of the International Zero Waste Cities Conference 2023: Zero Waste to Zero Emission in Quezon City on January 26.

“The provisions are really good based on the hierarchy of ecological principles in accordance with the very source of recycling,” Ramos added.

Sen. Loren Legarda authored RA 9003, which was signed into law on January 26, 2001.

According to Legarda, the law emphasizes recycling to ensure less garbage that is actually brought to the sanitary landfill.

Meanwhile, the waste that would be brought to the final disposal site is effectively maintained.

Moreover, it bans open dumps, the use of incinerators and burning of waste. It promotes the use of environment-friendly disposal of solid waste.

Ramos pointed out it is still challenging to implement recycling in the local government units as they need a big push to convince their solid-waste management committees to carry out their mandate.

She said the more than two years of Covid-19 has exacerbated the plastics crisis as online deliveries proliferated because people had to stay at home and buy their needs online.

She said the Philippines is one of the largest contributors of plas -

tic waste with 2.7 million tons of plastic waste generated each year and an estimated 20 percent of this ends up in the ocean, Even the deepest parts of the Philippines are not spared from plastic pollution, according to Ramos.

She cited the research of Filipino oceanographer Dr. Deo Florence Onda, who discovered that even Tubbataha Reef is experiencing plastic pollution.

Zero Waste Month celebrations originated in the Philippines in 2012 when youth leaders issued a Zero Waste Youth Manifesto calling for, among other things, the celebration of a Zero Waste Month.

This was made official when Presidential Proclamation 760 was issued, declaring January as Zero Waste Month in the Philippines. It was promoted widely by nongovernment organizations and communities that had already adopted this approach to manage their waste.

To date, more than 25 cities across the region have established zero waste models.

They showcased innovations in source separation, organics management, materials recovery and plastics regulation. Several cities have also incorporated waste assessment brand audits.

MILAGROS Dulnuan, president of the Fruitful Farmers’ Association in Ifugao province, is tending to the group’s products as a participant during the GEF-National Multi-Stakeholders’ Dialogue that was led by the DENR at a hotel in Taguig City last January 18 and 19. Various agricultural biodiversity products and byproducts are showcased during the event.

‘LGUs face challenges in carrying out solid-waste law’

OCEANA Philippines VP Gloria Estenzo Ramos

By Tim Reynolds

The Associated Press

AS LeBron James closes in on Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and is about to become the National Basketball Association’s (NBA) career scoring leader the journey has included several memorable moments. And there have been many. Many.

Through 20 seasons and four NBA championships, the list of James’s unforgettable nights is immeasurably long. But here are five that stand out.

THE MASK

THE highest-scoring game of his career came on March 3, 2014, when LeBron James— playing with a mask to protect a facial fracture—toyed with the Charlotte Bobcats, scoring 61 points to set a Miami Heat record that still stands.

He made 22 of 33 shots in a 124-107 win by the Heat. He made his first eight 3-pointers, the last of them officially listed as being from 29 feet but seemed to be deeper.

Even the Bobcats were awed.

“You take away his 61 points,” Charlotte’s Al Jefferson said, “and we still had a fighting chance there at the end.”

THE LOOK GAME 6 of the 2012 Eastern Conference finals did not start with Miami in great shape. The Heat were in Boston, trailing the series 3-2, one loss away from elimination and—after losing in the NBA Finals the year before, the first season of LeBron James’s tenure in Miami—quite probably needing to win to keep Miami from overhauling the roster.

James missed his first shot.

He made his next 12 shots.

He finished with  45 points, 15

MEMORABLE LEBRON JAMES MOMENTS

rebounds, five assists —and an intense look cameras caught him making during the game is still a meme today. Miami won 98-79, came home to beat the Celtics in Game 7 and went on to beat Oklahoma City for James’s first NBA title.

“He was absolutely fearless tonight, and it was contagious,” Heat Coach Erik Spoelstra said.

THE STREAK

ON May 31, 2007, LeBron James and the Cavaliers went to Detroit for Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals, series tied 2-2 entering what would become a doubleovertime thriller.

Drew Gooden made a free throw with 2:49 left in regulation to draw Cleveland within 88-84. And that was the last point he, or any Cavs player not wearing No. 23, would score that night.

James scored Cleveland’s final 25 points— and 29 of the Cavs’ last 30—to lift his team to a 109-107 win and a 3-2 series lead. He even had the game-winner, a layup with 2.2 seconds remaining.

Messi has doubts competing at 2026 World Cup at 39

BUENOS AIRES—Lionel Messi may be in doubt as to whether he’ll be still playing for Argentina at the 2026 World Cup but he’s sure about one thing: he wants Lionel Scaloni to stay on as head coach until then, regardless.

The 35-year-old Messi led Argentina to the title in Qatar last December and wasn’t entirely sure if his fifth trip to the World Cup would be his last. The next edition will take place in Mexico, Canada and the United States when Messi is 39.

Messi told newspaper Olé in an interview published Thursday that he’d regularly said his age would make it difficult to play another World Cup.

“I love playing soccer, I love what I do and while I am feeling well and feel I am fit and

continue to enjoy it, I will do it. But it seems to be too much until the next World Cup,” he told the newspaper. “I have to see where my career goes, what I will do. It depends on many things.”

In the near future, he suggested he wants to play in next year’s Copa America in the US to help Argentina defend its title.

“I will stay a little longer, I have to enjoy this,” he said.

Scaloni is negotiating an extension of his contract with the Argentinian soccer federation and Messi thinks the coach should remain on the job.

“He is very important for the national team,” Messi said. “To continue with this process would be spectacular.”

Asked what it was like returning to his

club París Saint Germain after Argentina beat France on penalties to win the World Cup, Messi said he didn’t have deep discussions about it with his teammate Kylian Mbappé, the French striker.

“One doesn’t want to speak and bring the topic of the final,” Messi said, recalling his own experience after losing the 2014 World Cup final to Germany in Brazil. “I was also on the other side, I lost a World Cup final and I didn’t want to talk about it.”

“Truth is there is no problem with Kylian, quite on the contrary,” Messi said.

Messi is set to play for Argentina in friendlies to be scheduled in Buenos Aires in March to celebrate the team’s third World Cup title with their fans. AP

Ghana water polo grows looking for more diversity

BACK at the very beginning, right when the idea of water polo in Ghana started swimming into reality, Prince Asante got out a couple of balls and caps in front of a handful of curious kids.

He decided to try a scrimmage, but he had no nets. So they put a soccer bench on each side of the pool.

It was “enthusiastic confusion,” he said. And the caps—which have protective cups that go over a player’s ears—well, they were particularly amusing.

“Somebody said, ‘Oh, water brassiere, thank you very much,’ a water bra,” a chuckling Asante said.

That was one of the first meetings of the Awutu Winton Water Polo Club, a budding league in a tough part of the world for the Olympics’ oldest team sport—and a true passion project for the energetic Asante.

Growing up in Coronado, California, he was often the only Black face in the pool or his classes. He went in search of a water polo that looked more like him, and found it in the waters of his father’s homeland.

“This is like my baby, and it’s cute because, you know, it cries and it’s growing up, but it needs all of your attention, 24-7,” the 31-year-old Asante said.

“Whenever I talk about it, it’s great, because it’s something that I would have loved to see as a kid.”

In Ghana, dangerous rip tides off the country’s coast have caused countless drownings over the years. That’s led to trepidation about deep waters in a nation where low- and middleincome families already have limited access to swimming pools.

When Asante first started swimming in African communities, he saw looks of fear and panic on faces because “they all have stories of someone going out and not coming back,” he said.

The Awutu Winton club has seven teams representing three regions of Ghana. Players range in age from 7 to 25, and the league includes a group of about 20 women. It had 85 athletes and 10 coaches when it opened its new season last month in Ghana’s capital, Accra.

Asante said most of his Ghana players had some knowledge of swimming when they joined the program, but not in deep water, where the sport is played.

“Treading water and how to handle the water polo ball was very difficult when I started playing,” said Ishmael Adjei, 20. “But as time goes on, I could see I am improving personally.”

Adjei’s club is part of San Diegobased Black Star Polo, an organization founded by Asante that also works on creating aquatic opportunities for African and AfricanAmerican communities in the United States.

“When I started playing, [my family]

thought it was just a waste of time,” Adjei said, “because you had to help them do the family chores and you would take a timeout to go and have training...but as time goes on, they are getting interested.”

Any significant growth in Africa would be a welcome development for a sport that has wrestled with a lack of diversity for decades, much like aquatics in general. Even in the places where water polo is most popular—such as California, and parts of southern Europe— there are very few players of color.

Egypt and South Africa are the only African countries that have played men’s water polo at the Olympics. South Africa became the first women’s team from the continent to make it to the Games when it finished 10th in Tokyo in 2021. World Aquatics said it doesn’t have player participation figures broken down by ethnicity.

“I think it’s vital for the growth of our sport to break out of the normalcy that it’s been the last century, of traditional water polo nations,” said former US player Genai Kerr, who serves on the board of the Alliance for Diversity in Water Polo.

The second of three brothers, Asante got into swimming and water polo after his family became good friends with the family of fivetime US Olympian Jesse Smith. Asante played college water polo at

He finished with 48 points—Cleveland closed out the series with a Game 6 win and sent James to the NBA Finals for the first time.

“We threw everything we had at him,” said Detroit guard Chauncey Billups, now the Portland Trail Blazers coach. “We just couldn’t stop him.”

THE PROMISE

LEBRON JAMES had promised Cleveland a championship. And then he left in 2010 for Miami, a move that left Cavs fans jilted for

years—especially when he won two titles there. But when he returned in 2014, all was forgiven. Two years later—June 19, 2016—he finally delivered what Cleveland had waited generations for.

He had 27 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists, plus a chase-down block of Golden State’s Andre Iguodala to keep the game tied with just under two minutes to go. The Cavs went on the Warriors’ floor and dethroned the champions, winning 93-89 and capping a comeback from a 3-1 series deficit.

It was the first major championship for the city of Cleveland since the Browns in 1964.

THE FOURTH LEBRON JAMES’S fourth title came with almost no fans there. A handful of team employees and a very select group of invitees were the only ones inside the bubble at Walt Disney World in Lake Buena Vista, Florida when the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Miami Heat in the 2020 NBA Finals.

It capped a season delayed by the pandemic and one where the Lakers had to grieve the death of Kobe Bryant earlier that year.

James once again had a triple-double in the title-clincher, this time 28 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists. The Lakers won 106-93, taking the series 4-2.

“Our organization wants their respect. Laker Nation wants their respect,” James said that night. “And I want my damn respect, too.”

California Lutheran University and got his degree in psychology. He competed professionally in Brazil and trained in Europe.

He often felt he stood out as a Black man.

“Just being used to everybody being able to see me and standing out,” he said, “and I’m the one everybody notices first, on every class, every team.”

It was different in Ghana, the birthplace of his father, Dr. Kofi Sefa-Boakye. Asante’s mother, Elizabeth, is from Los Angeles, and she met Kofi when they were students at the University of Southern California.

Asante started going to Ghana with his father after he graduated from high school. He often brought balls and caps on trips to visit family. In 2018, he reached out to the country’s swimming federation, and it held an event at Awutu Winton Senior High School—one of the

only schools in the country with a pool—where it made a donation and promoted the program.

“What he’s doing is awesome, because it’s so difficult to start something from scratch,” Smith said.

A relatively small geographic footprint can put a sport at risk of losing its place at the Olympics, according to Victoria Jackson, a sports historian and clinical assistant professor of history at Arizona State University. But, Jackson said, decisions about what sports to include are hard to predict and reflect politics, relationships and subjectivity.

Jackson said an all-Black water polo team at the Olympics could have a profound effect on the sport.

“I mean, it’s that quote, right? ‘You can’t be what you can’t see,’” she said. “It’s immediately horizon expanding.” AP

LEBRON JAMES adjusts his protective mask during the first half of Miami’s game against Charlotte in 2014, bursts into tears during his championship run with Cleveland in the 2016 Finals against Golden State and smiles as the LA Lakers beat the Heat in Game 6 of the 2020 Finals. AP

CREATING SOUNDTRACKS

JVKE wants music to be a soundtrack for people’s lives

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By Patrick V. Miguel

LIKE some artists, JVKE (pronounced as Jake) caught the people’s attention with his music on TikTok in 2020. Originally, he started making TikTok videos with his mother, and throughout, he realized the app’s potential in reaching a wide audience. That was when he decided to put his music “out there,” in the digital landscape that billions of people use regularly in their daily lives.

“I realized how powerful TikTok was and so I started putting my own personal music on there and started promoting it and since then that’s pretty much what I’ve been up to,” the 21 year old singer-songwriter said.

As expected, a lot of TikTok users (content creators mostly) used his music as a sound on their videos. His song “Upside Down” is among the most popular songs from the app with 15 million video creations, gaining the reputation of “TikTok song.”

Nevertheless, JVKE’s artistry should not be labeled only as a “TikTok song” (as it often comes off as derogatory nowadays). After all, his songs are more than a “TikTok song.”

His 2022 album “this is what ____ feels like (Vol. 1-4)” is different from his earlier releases, projecting a soundtrack that narrates relatable stories.

According to JVKE, it has always been a goal of his to “create a soundtrack for people’s life from all different sorts of experience.”

He added, “If my music can’t be a

soundtrack to a moment, then I’m not really proud of it. I want my music to be able to accompany all the different experiences that we have as humans, and just have people resonate as they listen to the music.”

JVKE deleted TikTok from his phone for a year now—but that is not a setback for him. Now that he has established his name and gained millions of streams on Spotify, he looks forward to creating more music in the future. After all, music is what he loves the most to do.

“I think there’s so much more left in me that I have yet to release out into the world,” he reflects.

Asked on his plans for the future, he shared, “I just love writing songs, and so my long term plan is to just keep going and to keep doing what I’ve been doing and just be open to whatever might come my way.”

“It’s just been a really amazing ride [so] I’m so excited to just keep it moving,” he added. “I’m very happy where I’m at right now, [and] I’m excited for where I will be.”

Music transcending language barriers “MUSIC and melody is a language that everyone speaks,” JVKE quotes in an interview with Soundstrip. He resonates with the quote, expressing joy that people all over the world listen to his music.

“Even if I may not speak the same language as everyone across the world, everybody speaks melody, everybody knows when something is beautiful and so I think that I’m able to communicate with a lot of all these people just through the music,” he said.

In one word, he described it as “cool” being able to “connect” across the world.

And speaking of language, JVKE has recently released a new and French version of “golden hour,” collaborating with French artist blond.

Despite performing sold out shows in New York and Los Angeles, JVKE said that he has yet to perform live that much, saying that it’s still “new” to him. However, he looks forward to performing more live shows in the future, planning on going international.

“I’m really excited just for the performances that I have coming up cause it’s gonna be sick I know it’s gonna be so much fun,” he enthused.

T. Anthony C. Cabangon

JVKE - i can’t help it. Photby Brandon Pugsley

JVKE - golden hour Artwork

JVKE - this is what ___feels like (Vol. 1-4) - album artwork

SoundSampler

by Tony M. Maghirang

A new Dawn is breaking T

HE Dawn has a new single titled “Earth” which in sound and spirit takes a detour from the band’s classic canon. One hears tones and staccatos that namecheck heavy rock icons of yore while its mood carries over to more somber climes.

The band itself has taken some makeover, being currently a mix of old hands and new faces with Jett Pangan on vocals, Sancho and Francis Brew Reyes on guitars, Bim Yance on bass and JB Leonor on drums.

In a private conversation with Soundstrip, Jett said, “‘Earth’ started out in one of the occasional online drinking sessions Francis and I would have during the (pandemic) lockdowns. I had a vocal melody and some scratch lyrics for verses and I asked Francis to shadow the melody. So, I sang the verse and he plugged in his guitar.”

Francis added, “We both

agreed it should be an in-yourface unapologetically rocked-out heavy angry guitar tune so I dialed up an overdriven tone and played staccato double-stops akin to what Angus Young would occasionally do with AC/DC. Jett loved it right away, so we agreed on a tempo and I immediately made a Garageband work file. Once the structure was set with a basic drum loop, guide bass, and my guitar parts, we sent the file to the rest of the guys and they recorded their parts in their respective little home studios.”

Francis further mused, “‘Earth” came from a more somber place; Jett and I talked about how weirdly

messed-up the world had become, politically and socially, even before the pandemic. Covid-19 obviously amplified paranoia and distrust further. The tune was born out of frustration and helplessness. crisis fatigue and apathy… recipes for disaster.”

‘Earth’ in Session

DURING the recording, it was Jett on all vocals, Sancho and Francis on guitars, JB on drums, and Mon Legaspi on bass. Sadly, it was Mon’s penultimate session with the band.

Francis recalled, “Mon added his own brilliant accents and ideas to the basslines I wrote on the demos. He played notes that changed the chordal harmony, but more importantly, gave that part of the song a lift that also emphasized the lyric. That is an important lesson for anybody in any band: you can play the most mind-boggling lick or the most ethereal atmospheric texture in the known universe but if it doesn’t support the lyric, who needs it?”

For all his chops, Mon was ultimately a songwriter’s bassist. As a songwriter himself, he had sensibility and sensitivity.

When Mon passed, The Dawn was derailed emotionally. It was the most unexpected and unpleasant thing and he always be dearly missed.

Moving forward

IS a new album in the offing?

Jett replied, “We were not planning on any new album when we were recording “Earth” although we talked about writing more. Seriously, we’ve been working on new music the past two years with no goals except to keep our wits together.

“Well, we unexpectedly have a new bassist in Bim Yance (ex-True Faith) who volunteered to help us out on a couple remaining gigs last year. His enthusiasm must have rubbed off on us. Now we’re seriously working on new ideas with the immediate goal of finishing them as proper songs. An album I think is possible.”

THE Dawn

From cookies to chips: Ultra-processed foods may contribute to cognitive decline

by Sara N. burke associate University of Florida

Many factors that contribute to cognitive decline are out of a person’s control, such as genetics and socioeconomic factors. But ongoing research increasingly indicates that a poor diet is a risk factor for memory impairments during normal aging and increases the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. But when evaluating how some diets may erode brain health as we age, research on the effects of consuming minimally processed versus ultra-processed foods has been scant—that is, until now.

Two recent large-scale studies suggest that eating ultra-processed foods may exacerbate age-related cognitive decline and increase the risk of developing dementia. In contrast, another recent study reported that ultra-processed food consumption was not associated with worse cognition in people over 60.

Although more research is needed, as a neuroscientist who researches how diet can influence cognition later in life, I find that these early studies add a new layer for considering how fundamental nutrition is to brain health.

Lots of ingredients, minimal nutrition

UlTr A-processed foods tend to be lower in nutrients and fiber and higher in sugar, fat and salt compared to unprocessed or minimally processed foods. some examples of ultra-processed foods include soda, packaged cookies, chips, frozen meals, flavored

nuts, flavored yogurt, distilled alcoholic beverages and fast foods. even packaged breads, including those high in nutritious whole grains, qualify as ultra-processed in many cases because of the additives and preservatives they contain.

Another way to look at it: You are not likely to find the ingredients that make up most of these foods in your home kitchen.

But don’t confuse ultra-processed with processed foods, which still retain most of their natural characteristics, although they’ve undergone some form of processing. This includes canned vegetables, dried pasta or frozen fruit.

Parsing the research

In a december 2022 study, researchers compared the rate of cognitive decline over approximately eight years between groups of people that consumed different amounts of ultra-processed foods.

At the beginning of the study, over 10,000 participants living in Brazil reported their dietary habits from the previous 12 months. Then, for the ensuing years, the researchers evaluated the cognitive performance of the participants with standard tests of memory and executive function.

Those who ate a diet containing more ultra-processed foods at the start of the study showed slightly more cognitive decline

compared with those that ate little to no ultra-processed foods. This was a relatively modest difference in the rate of cognitive decline between experimental groups. It is not yet clear if the small difference in cognitive decline associated with higher consumption of ultra-processed foods will have a meaningful effect at the level of an individual person.

The second study, with about 72,000 participants in the UK, measured the association between eating ultra-processed foods and dementia. For the group eating the highest amounts of ultra-processed foods, approximately 1 out of 120 people were diagnosed with dementia over a 10year period. For the group that consumed little to no ultra-processed foods, this number was 1 out of 170.

Brain-healthy diets

even when the processes that lead to dementia are not occurring, the aging brain undergoes biochemical and structural changes that are associated with worsening cognition. But for adults over the age of 55, a healthier diet could increase the likelihood of maintaining better brain function. In particular, the Mediterranean diet and ketogenic diet are associated with better cognition in advanced age.

The Mediterranean diet emphasizes the consumption of plant-based foods and

healthy fats, like olive oil, seeds and nuts. The ketogenic diet is high in fat and low in carbohydrates, with the primary fiber source being from vegetables. Both diets minimize or eliminate the consumption of sugar.

our research and the work of others show that both diets can reverse some of these changes and improve cognitive function—possibly by reducing harmful inflammation.

Although inflammation is a normal immune response to injury or infection, chronic inflammation can be detrimental to the brain. studies have shown that excess sugar and fat can contribute to chronic inflammation, and ultra-processed foods might also exacerbate harmful inflammation.

The uncertainties

dIsenTA nglIng the specific effects of individual foods on the human body is difficult, in part because maintaining strict control over people’s diets to study them over long periods of time is problematic. Moreover, randomized controlled trials, the most reliable type of study for establishing causality, are expensive to carry out.

so far, most nutritional studies, including these two, have only shown correlations between ultra-processed food consumption and health. But they cannot rule out other lifestyle factors such as exercise, education, socioeconomic status, social connections, stress and many more variables that may influence cognitive function.

This is where lab-based studies using animals are incredibly useful. r ats show cognitive decline in old age that parallels humans. It’s easy to control rodent diets and activity levels in a laboratory. And rats go from middle to old age within months, which shortens study times.

l ab-based studies in animals will make it possible to determine if ultra-processed foods are playing a key role in the development of cognitive impairments and dementia in people. As the world’s population ages and the number of older adults with dementia increases, this knowledge cannot come soon enough. The Conversation

5 foods you might not realize are ultra-processed

UlTr A-processed is not just another name for junk—although foods like soft drinks, confectionery and chips are ultra-processed. There are many packaged foods we’d normally consider healthy that are ultra-processed.

1Breakfast cereals Many cereals and breakfast drinks marketed as healthy are ultra-processed. They can contain maltodextrins, processed proteins and fibers, and colors. oats, on the other hand, contain just one ingredient: oats!

2Protein and muesli bars and balls despite the healthy hype, many of these are ultra-processed, containing processed fibers and proteins, invert sugars (sugars modified through an industrial process) and non-caloric sweeteners.

3

Plant-based ‘milks’

Many dairy alternatives contain emulsifiers, vegetable gums and flavors. not all brands are ultra-processed so check the ingredients list. some soy milks only contain water, soybeans, oil and salt.

4Breads

some packaged breads contain emulsifiers, modified starches (starches altered through industrial methods) and vegetable gums—they’re usually the plastic wrapped, sliced and cheaper breads. Fresh bakery breads, on the other hand, are rarely ultra-processed.

5Yogurts

Flavored yogurts often contain additives like thickeners, noncaloric sweeteners or flavors. c hoose

plain yogurts instead.

supermarkets are dominated by ultraprocessed foods, so it can be difficult to avoid them entirely. And sometimes choices are limited by availability, allergies or dietary intolerance.

We can all make positive changes to our diet by choosing less processed foods. But governments can also legislate to make minimally processed foods more available and affordable, while discouraging the purchase and consumption of ultra-processed foods.

ScieNtiStS have known for years that unhealthy diets, particularly those that are high in fat and sugar, may cause detrimental changes to the brain and lead to cognitive impairment.

Two recent large-scale studies suggest that eating ultra-processed foods may exacerbate age-related cognitive decline and increase the risk of developing dementia.