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THE People Power Monument gets cleaned in preparation for the 36th anniversary of the 1986 Edsa People Power Revolution, the bloodless revolt that inspired similar regime changes elsewhere, and sent President Ferdinand Marcos to exile in Hawaii. NONOY LACZA

The 1986 Edsa Revolution: Lessons learned, then and now S

By Joel C. Paredes*

ILVESTRE AFABLE, until now, remains awestruck with the “mercurial emotions” of over a million people who took to the streets for a four-day vigil to protect military rebels during the 1986 Edsa People Power Revolution.

As the Ministry of National Defense (MND) information service chief, he was the only civilian in that hurriedly organized meeting on February 22, 1986, when then Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile and Gen. Fidel Ramos, then chief of the Philippine Constabulary-Integrated National Police (PC-INP), declared they were withdrawing support from then President Ferdinand E. Marcos.

Afable confided that, at first, it was really only a matter of their survival after Malacañang uncovered a coup plot which, Afable said, was initially hatched by a group of disgruntled military officers led by then Col. Gregorio “Gringo” Honasan, who called themselves the Reform the Armed Forces Movement (RAM).

Afable recalled phoning his family, telling them he might die at any moment, if the government troops loyal to the President moved in to quell the military uprising.

The strongman had just been proclaimed winner of the February 7 snap elections against popular opposition candidate Corazon Aquino, widow of Benigno ”Ninoy” Aquino Jr., who was gunned down on August 21, 1983, upon returning from a three-year US exile.

US connection

AFABLE admitted that the military rebels had “strategically”

linked with US authorities as early as September, even before Marcos called for a presidential election amid pressure from Washington.

“At that point in time, the coordination with US elements was already very active with the rebel groups,” he said. That was also the time when the RAM’s “planning became a serious effort,” according to Afable.

Meanwhile, crowds had just been drawn to Edsa, outside Camps Aguinaldo and Crame, by a call from influential Manila Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin, as droves of officers, lawmakers and high-profile government officials started abandoning the Marcos camp after his pyrrhic victory. The “revolution of the people,” General Ramos called it, after what began as a military uprising drew civilians pledged to protect the rebel soldiers.

“That was the first time that I realized that Filipinos were really crazy if you awaken their emotions. They will not sleep. They will not go home,” he said. “It’s really hair-raising to look at a million people around you. It gives you an insight on what kind of people we were [then],” Afable said.

And yet, Afable believes that while he finds the 1986 People Power Revolution that ousted Marcos after 21 years in power remains to be relevant today, it

PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 51.2880

HUNDREDS of thousands of people are seen on Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (Edsa), facing northbound toward the Boni Serrano Avenue-Edsa intersection (February 1986). JOEY DE VERA VIA PRESIDENTIAL MUSEUM AND LIBRARY

might not happen again for different reasons.

‘Disempowered’ people

IN Afable’s view, the Edsa revolt “was more of the middle class.

These are people who had lots of aspirations.” “[But] people now are very disempowered economically,” he said.

“Today, people are totally different.

They’re so hard up. It’s very hard to awaken any political ideals.”

He was also hardly surprised that Enrile and Honasan have since mended ties with the Marcoses, throwing their support behind the strongman’s son, Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., in his bid this May 9 to regain the presidency his father lost.

“JPE [Enrile] is really a pure

pragmatist. He makes decisions on the parameter of pragmatic things,” Afable said. He also painted Honasan as, “such a congenial person with a lot of patriotism,” adding he is one who “would not just shoot a person.”

Saying that “he [Honasan] took it as matter of political expediency,” Afable insisted that Honasan remains allied to his Philip-

pine Military Academy classmate Ping Lacson, another presidential hopeful, and “had simply accepted the support of BBM [Bongbong Marcos].”

Honasan was named part of the Senate slate of Marcos Jr., who framed his choices as in line with his UniTeam’s consistent vision of national unity for progress.

Continued on A2

n JAPAN 0.4463 n UK 69.8645 n HK 6.5763 n CHINA 8.0921 n SINGAPORE 38.1863 n AUSTRALIA 36.8402 n EU 58.2734 n SAUDI ARABIA 13.6684

Source: BSP (February 18, 2022)

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The 1986 Edsa Revolution: Lessons learned, then and now Continued from A1

Meanwhile, Afable noted how, under liberal democracy, “we have not moved upwards” despite the promises of leaders in the postMarcos era. “We never really broke the cycle of corruption even if we had brought him [Marcos] down,” said Afable, who ironically started as a social activist of the left-wing Movement for the Advancement of Nationalism (MAN) at the University of the Philippines. After Edsa, Afable continued to serve government in various capacities, and, before returning home to Baguio, was part of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s Cabinet.

Euphoria, reality check

THOUGH they were caught up in the euphoria of the “1986 People Power,” Dr. Aurora Parong was not blind to the background of the coup plotters with whom they shared the final moments that led to the ouster of the late strongman.

“These are the people who ordered the [political dissidents’] arrest.

[Juan Ponce] Enrile and [Fidel] Ramos, they knew the torturers of the martial law regime,” said Parong, a member the Medical Action Group (MAG), which provided medical assistance to Edsa protesters.

She had been active with the MAG following her release in 1984

from over a year in detention for charges of inciting to rebellion, a case that stemmed from her choice to practice medicine in her hometown of Bayombong in Nueva Vizcaya.

“I kept asking myself, ‘Was it right to support them, just to oust Marcos?’” Parong recalled.

Still, Parong noted that she eventually considered the Edsa uprising as part of a continuing struggle against the dictatorship, since her student days at the University of the Philippines. Her idealism, she pointed out, was also what prompted her to return to the barrio and set up her own clinic after graduation.

On the second day at Edsa, Parong already had a hint that there won’t be any violence. Their vigil, she recalled, had included parents and their children, along with people who never really had any political involvement.

“It was already like a picnic.

Still, we maintained our vigilance since you really don’t know what will happen later,” she said.

Killings go on, post-Edsa

ON those four historic days, student leader Leandro Alejandro and his wife Liddy were manning the Bayan secretariat after left-wing militants joined Corazon Aquino’s call for civil disobedience.

“We went to Edsa and helped mobilize people, not just in support

of the mutineers but because it was an uprising against the dictatorship,” said Liddy. “S’yempre, merong pag-aalinlangan dahil nandiyan na yung mga elite ume-eksena. Meron kasi tayong kasabihan: ikaw ang nagtanim, nag-ani at nagluto, pero iba ang kakain [Of course there was hesitation, because the elite were starting to project themselves. We have a saying: you plant the seeds, harvest and cook, but someone else eats].”

Worse, they were accused of being “outsiders” during the uprising because a big segment of the militant movement joined the boycott of the “sham” snap elections.

No less than Bayan chair, the late Sen. Lorenzo Tañada, the “grand old man of the Philippine opposition,” went on leave from the alliance, which was trying to build a wide anti-dictatorship network, and decided to campaign for Mrs. Aquino.

“So, Cory lost [the election]. She was cheated. It was when Marcos was proclaimed winner and that was enough reason to mobilize the people towards civil disobedience,” Liddy said. Then, when Corazon Aquino was finally swept to power, the militants were largely marginalized.

Meanwhile, Parong volunteered in the new government community health program, with then DSWD Secretary Mita Pardo de Tavera. She saw the bright prospects

of a new government anchored and the accompanying democratic space, when Mrs. Aquino ordered the release of all political prisoners and convened a commission to draft a new Constitution under a “revolutionary government.”

On November 13, 1986, however, tragedy struck: Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) leader Rolando Olalia and his driver Leonor Alay-ay were found dead in Antipolo, Rizal—their bodies mutilated.

Ka Lando, as he was known in the Labor movement, was one of the handful of militants who opened a dialogue with the new President, particularly in the labor sector, after joining a unity rally during the May 1 Labor Day celebration that year.

A National Bureau of Investigation report said the killings were a prelude to the staging of “God Save the Queen,” a coup plot blamed on the RAM to rid the Aquino Cabinet of left-wing members. After three decades, the Antipolo Regional Trial Court found three RAM members guilty of two counts of murder, and meted with the penalty of up to 40 years imprisonment. Nine other accused remain at large, and the brains behind the killings remained a mystery.

On January 2, 1987, the farmers’ march calling for comprehensive land reforms ended in violence when anti-riot personnel, including lawmen in plain clothes, opened fire on unarmed protesters, killing at least 12 and injuring 51 protesters near Mendiola Bridge leading to Malacañang Palace.

A month later, a platoon of government troops killed 17 farmers and their families, including six children, in Sitio Padlao in Lupao, Nueva Ecija, in retaliation for the death of their commanding officer who was sniped by New People’s Army (NPA) guerrillas.

After the “Lupao Massacre,” Mrs. Aquino immediately declared “total war” against the communist rebels despite talks of possible peace to end the communist insurgency, one of the reasons Marcos had used to justify Martial Law in 1972. At least 24 soldiers of the 14th Infantry Battalion were tried before a military court, but were all acquitted.

Parong, who was then already a member of the Task Force Detainees of the Philippines, recalled that Sister Mariani Dimaranan, the TFD chair, along with Sen. Jose Diokno, resigned from the Presidential Human Rights Commission to protest of the new government’s “total war” policy.

On September 19, 1987, Lean Alejandro was on his way to the Bayan office in Quezon City when a van cut into the path of his vehicle; a gunman rolled down the driver’s window and fatally shot him in the back and face with a single bullet.

He had just announced at a National Press Club news conference the militants’ plans for a nationwide strike against the military’s role in government.

Liddy, his widow, said she was never approached by any investigator on the case and the official probe was suddenly stopped two weeks later. No suspect was charged in court.

Before Mrs. Aquino’s term ended in 1992, a group of nongovernment organizations tagged some 50 rightwing vigilante groups as being backed by the military, citing a wave of human-rights abuses that resulted in the deaths of 1,064 people, mostly farmers and workers, the disappearance of 830 others and 135 cases of massacre.

“The insurgency continued because the changes that they were expecting never happened,” Parong said. Reforms that were integrated in government, she noted, “had not really changed the mindset of the military and police related to human rights.”

Nonetheless, Parong said Edsa remains relevant, not just because it continued to inspire nonviolent

regime change, as seen in East Germany and many other former Soviet bloc countries at the end of the Cold War era in 1989.

The struggle never ended, in her view.

“For several years, there were struggles against the dictatorship and there were struggles for economic change, but Edsa would not have happened unless several sectors organized themselves, and they had been struggling for sectoral changes,” she said.

She also cited how the succeeding governments recognized there were, indeed, political prisoners, although human-rights abuses continue to hound the country.

Parong participated in seeking reparations from the Marcoses, who merely offered a “compromise settlement” of $150 million, while they were exiled in Hawaii. The negotiations failed because the Marcoses’ proposed settlement was considered to be a “mere donation” when the class suit involved nearly $2 billion.

In 2014, Parong, who had worked for Amnesty International, was appointed to the Human Rights Victims Claims Board by then President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino, which led to the indemnification of 11,103 martial law victims from the alleged P10 billion in ill-gotten wealth recovered in Swiss banks.

‘New direction’

FORMER Rep. Jonathan dela Cruz concedes that people were already looking for a “new direction” amid the public outrage triggered by the 1983 Aquino assassination.

The snowballing protest movement was also compounded by the global economic crisis, its headwinds lashing the Philippine economy which contracted by 7.3 percent for two consecutive years starting 1984.

Mr. Marcos’s critics blamed the economic nosedive on the country’s “deb-driven” growth, along with the mismanagement of “crony-monopolized” sectors.

Dela Cruz, then the country’s ambassador-at-large in the Middle East—the leading destination of overseas Filipino workers—said that while there was a continuing clamor for change, “there was also a continuing effort of the old oligarchy to get back at Marcos.”

These problems, he said, were compounded by the US factor, since Mr. Marcos “was trying to stir away from the handshake of the big powers like America.” He added, but did not elaborate, that the continuing US pressure from Congress and media which fueled articles against the regime “was a campaign started a long time ago by certain forces in the US.”

The other side of the story

IN the meantime, Dela Cruz said Mr. Marcos was trying to get ahead with “liberalizing efforts” following years of martial law, which he lifted in 1981 while retaining many of his powers.

At the height of the Edsa revolution, Dela Cruz claimed that majority in the armed forces actually remained loyal to the President “until the last minute.”

“So, if you are talking about crushing the anti-Marcos protests, he could have done it, but he decided to go into exile to prevent any bloodshed,” Dela Cruz added.

He admitted that a “big factor” in the Marcos downfall was also the internal rift within the corridors of power. “Everybody knew that the President was sick.

There were a lot of groups within the Marcos camp that were already struggling or competing for influence and power,” he said.

Despite the President’s ouster, Dela Cruz believes that Marcos can still be remembered for his vision of nation-building for the country “being more modernized and participatory” in development.

This partly explains the grow-

ing popularity of his son Bongbong, the consistent survey frontrunner among presidential aspirants in the May elections. The Marcos forces have also remained intact, including their political and economic forces.

Finally, he pointed to the sense that, for all the political and economic reforms of the past 35 years, people had “this failed expectation” from 1986 to the present.

“Our lives were never really uplifted. We essentially remain a divided country, with continuing corruption and human-rights violations among other ills and problems,” he explained.

“So, because of the demonization of the Marcos administration, people are now asking, ‘What really happened?’

People became curious. Kasi ang mga magulang nila, sabi ‘ayos naman kami noon [because their parents were saying, ‘we were fine then’].”

A fragile democracy

NOW retired Supreme Court Associate Justice Adolf Azcuna asserts that the gains at Edsa need not be taken for granted. With the restoration of democratic institutions lost during martial law, including regular elections, the people can now choose the leaders that they want, he stressed.

Even Bongbong Marcos, according to Azcuna, has benefited from the democratic institutions, now that he is guaranteed regular and free election, although “everything is really up to the people.”

“That’s what democracy means. If you want to choose certain candidates [who] have links with the previous dictator, that’s up to them,” he said.

Still, he stressed, people should not forget the principle of accountability, enshrined in the 1987 Constitution which he helped write as a member of the constitutional commission. That Charter affirmed that “public service is a public trust” and that “public officials must at all times be accountable to the people.”

Azcuna underscored the need to be vigilant 36 years after Edsa, noting that “possibility that we can lose it [democracy].”

“We should always remember that the guardrails of democracy are free speech, free media, political opposition and regular and fair elections. Pag ’yan ay inalis o ginawang ineffective, mag-ingat tayo at mawawala yung tunay na demokrasya natin [if we remove or make those ineffective, we should be wary as we will lose genuine democracy],” said Azcuna.

“Now, do we want to go back to the past because it is the future that some of our people want? Go back to martial law, go back to controlling the economy, go back to arrests without warrant? Kill? If that is what they want, then so be it. This is a free country,” Azcuna said.

Meanwhile, on the campaign trail, it’s interesting that all presidential aspirants promise reforms and a better life. Bongbong Marcos pushes unity, saying the country will never progress if it keeps dividing itself between past and present. Isko Moreno offers himself as an alternative to the Marcos versus Aquino narrative as represented, he said, by Marcos Jr. and Vice President Leni Robredo. The Lacson-Sotto tandem promises to fix government so as to make better lives possible. The Pacquiao-Atienza duo offers similar hopes. Leody de Guzman and Walden Bello offer more radical reforms. All of them and the rest of the standard bearers—Ernesto Abella, Norberto Gonzales, Faisal Mangondatu and Jose Montemayor—promise to fight corruption. Yet if anything has survived in 35 years of reforms since Edsa, it’s corruption, morphing across regimes.

It’s anyone’s guess whether the next regime change will spell real change. * Veteran journalist Joel C. Paredes is a former director general of the Philippine Information Agency (PIA) and holds an A.B. History degree from the University of the Philippines.

The World

www.businessmirror.com.ph • Editor: Angel R. Calso

Ways to make future jobs in US better than today’s

J

By Ben Holland

udging by the record number of people who’ve quit their jobs in the pandemic—the so-called Great Resignation—millions of Americans don’t really like their work.

Which doesn’t mean they’re not worried about losing out to robots—there’s an undercurrent of fear that automation is poised to displace human labor anyway. And the pandemic has triggered or heightened a whole range of other anxieties about working life, from job quality, security and mobility to the strength of social safety nets.

In a new book titled “The Work of the Future: Building Better Jobs in an Age of Intelligent Machines,” a team of Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers published the results of a four-year project that examined these questions and plenty more.

Following is a summary of some of their findings and advice, illuminated by a conversation with two of the book’s authors.

Use technology better The US is short of workers right now, and may face a labor squeeze well after Covid, too. That suggests the key question isn’t whether there will be enough jobs—it’s whether those jobs will be good ones.

Part of the trick will be to find better ways to use technologies that already exist. Zoom calls have been around for a while, but it took the current crisis to push corporate managers into finding the most effective ways to use them.

In many industries, from meatpacking and warehousing to health care, the pandemic has accelerated the use of robots or computerization. But there’s been hiring in those industries, too, so workers aren’t necessarily getting replaced.

“Those things pull technologies from the future, five years closer to the present,” says David Autor, an MIT economics professor and one of the book’s co-authors.

The economy stands to benefit by becoming more productive, but that’s not true of every kind of automation. Self-checkout counters at supermarkets are an example of the “so-so” kind. “They waste your time,” Autor says. “They’re actually shifting work onto customers.”

The US could tweak the tax system so it doesn’t encourage business spending on every kind of automation, regardless of whether it helps workers or the wider economy, the authors say.

Train more people Taxes could be deployed to encourage training instead.

“There’s so many incentives and breaks that companies receive for investment in capital,” says Elisabeth Reynolds, who co-wrote the book as director of the MIT task force, and has served on the Biden administration’s National Economic Council since last year. “We really want them to lean in on the investment in human capital.”

The US government spends less on “active labor market policies”—which include improving job readiness and help in finding suitable work—as a share of its economy than all its developed-country peers, according to OECD data from 2017. However, American business has put more money into training since then.

More of the training needs to be geared toward helping people without college degrees to get middle-class jobs, an area where the US lags behind European countries like Germany, the book argues.

That’s something businesses are already looking at. Insurer Aon Plc, for example, dropped a degree requirement for some positions and organized its own specialized training via a local community college. International Business Machines Corp. and PwC have also relaxed their credential criteria.

Invest in research There’s plenty of innovation in the US economy, and often it draws on past research funded by the government, whether it’s in aeronautics and computer science or medicine. But there’s less of that investment happening right now.

Relative to historical levels—and to peers or competitors, from Germany to China—federal spending on research and development has fallen.

Those past investments “created enormous growth and opportunities,” Reynolds says. However, “the fruits of innovation, that productivity in the country, has not been shared across the board.”

The government should be plowing cash into the kind of “long-term, fundamental” research that businesses don’t have the incentive to take on, and that addresses important social problems like health care and climate change, the book—also co-authored by MIT aeronautics professor David A. Mindell—argues.

It should encourage technologies that augment human labor, rather than replace it, and try to spread innovation more evenly, both by geography and size of firm. In cases where public support turns into private profit—the government lent money to Tesla Inc., now the world’s most valuable carmaker, in its early days—an equity stake can help taxpayers enjoy some of the upside.

The Pentagon’s moonshot research arm, Darpa, is often cited as a successful incubator of innovations that turn out to be useful across the economy. The Biden administration wants to establish similar outfits for the health and construction industries.

Strengthen safety nets Training can help people move upward. Automation will replace some rote tasks. Still, for the foreseeable future, some people will be doing jobs like cooking burgers—and in the US they get a worse deal than in most of the rich world.

As well as raising minimum wages, the US needs to overhaul its benefits system so more employees enjoy the protections that are standard elsewhere, like paid vacation and sick leave, the book argues. In the pandemic, emergency programs offered unemployment insurance and other safety-net provisions to part-time and freelance workers, but those measures have since expired.

“We have two different employment regimes that are just night and day,” says Autor. One is built around the New Deal of the 1930s, when jobs were full-time and often stable for life; the other, which encompasses the growing gig workforce, offers Social Security but “almost no other protections.”

“What we need is a system that is more scalable than that,” he says.

Help workers make their voice heard US labor laws are rooted in an economy that no longer exists, the book argues.

Union membership outside of the public sector has plunged, one reason why so many jobs are badly paid.

Entire industries—including some of the fastest-growing, like home care— lack institutions for collective bargaining.

That’s partly down to the traditional setup of American unions, which organize company-by-company instead of across sectors like in some other developed countries, according to Autor.

“We need to be able to open up the model of worker voice, to try out new experiments,” he says. Bloomberg News

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Online harassment, real harm: Fixing the web’s biggest bug

By David Klepper

P

The Associated Press

ROVIDENCE, R.I.—It should have been a time of celebration: Brittan Heller would soon graduate from college and head to one of the nation’s top law programs.

But when a classmate with unrequited feelings for Heller wasn’t admitted to that same school, he turned his rage on her. He wrote a manifesto titled “A Stupid B---h to Attend Yale Law School” and posted it on a site popular with anonymous trolls. The man urged them to do their worst.

Soon strangers were making derogatory, sexualized comments and posting her pictures online. They made threats. Posted her personal information. At one point, FBI agents escorted Heller to class for her protection.

“People say, ‘Oh, just log off. Don’t read it. Turn off the computer,’” said Heller, who turned her personal experience from 15 years ago into a legal specialty as a leading expert on online harassment. “This is the 21st century, and people have a right to use the Internet for work, for pleasure or to express themselves. Telling people not to read the comments is no longer enough. We don’t talk enough about this problem, and we need to.”

Online harassment has become such a familiar part of the Internet that it can be hard to imagine the web without it. From teen cyberbullying to authoritarian governments silencing dissent, online toxicity is a fact of life for everyone, with women, teens and religious and racial minorities the most likely to be targeted.

And there is evidence the problem is getting worse In 2014, 15 percent of Americans said they had faced severe or significant online abuse, defined as stalking, physical threats, sustained harassment or sexual harassment. In 2021 the number was 25 percent, according to studies by the Pew Charitable Trusts.

Health care workers, journalists, teachers, police and government workers have all reported increases in online harassment in recent years, as the pandemic and political polarization led many people to release their anger and fear online.

Nearly three in four female journalists reported receiving threats or other forms of online harassment, according to a survey by UNESCO and the International Center for Journalists that polled more than 700 journalists in more than 100

countries. One in five of those said the harassment escalated to off line abuse or even assault.

The growth of the Internet has also expanded the ways that people can be targeted beyond merely e-mail to social media posts, direct messages, texts and streaming video. And with the rise of smartphones and cheap, ubiquitous Internet, harassment can now be a 24-7 problem for victims.

“We’ve made so many strides— there’s more awareness now—but it’s easy to get frustrated and to feel like we’ve gotten nowhere,” said Tina Meier, who started a foundation to teach kids and parents about online harassment after her daughter’s suicide in 2006.

Thirteen-year-old Megan Meier had been bullied by someone she met online who she thought was a teenage boy named Josh. The two had flirted until the person suddenly turned against Megan. “Everybody hates you,” “Josh” wrote. “The world would be a better place without you.”

Police later determined that “Josh” was actually an adult woman, the mother of one of Megan’s classmates.

While polls show all types of people are susceptible to online harassment, extensive research has shown that women and people of color are far more likely to be targeted. That’s also true for people with disabilities, people who belong to religious minorities and members of the LGBTQ community.

Women are more likely than men to say online harassment is a serious problem, Pew found. They’re also more likely to report being the victims of online sexual harassment and more serious abuse such as threats of physical harm.

The difference is so great that many men may not understand the severity of the demeaning language, sexualized insults and unwanted attention that women frequently face online.

A coordinated harassment campaign against female video game designers that began in 2014, known as Gamergate, became so pervasive—including threats of rape, torture and murder— that some women hired security or went into hiding.

Online harassment has also been used globally to attack journalists, dissidents and others in the public arena.

Tina Meier, founder of the Megan Meier Foundation, poses for a photo in the foundation’s office on December 8, 2021, in St. Charles, Mo. Meier’s daughter, Megan, committed suicide in 2007 at the age of 13 after being harassed by a “friend” on MySpace who later turned out to be the mother of a classmate who was using the fake account to bully the unsuspecting teen.

AP/Jeff Roberson

Political consultant Maria Cardona began receiving nasty e-mails and direct messages once she began presenting her opinions on national news shows. She’s noticed that many of her critics seem focused on the idea that an outspoken Latina woman could be considered an authority on politics.

One typical message read: “I hope you get raped and have your throat slit.”

“They want to shut us up, they want to scare us, they want to intimidate us,” said Cardona, who now keeps her office locked after someone showed up to accost her in person.

Anonymity can make it easier to be cruel without fear of offline repercussions. It’s a phenomenon called the online disinhibition effect, and it’s one reason why trolls feel comfortable saying things they would never say to someone in person.

As part of a 2009 settlement of Heller’s lawsuit against her harassers, she asked to meet them face-to-face.

One was a 17-year-old boy who had posted that he’d like to gouge Heller’s eyes out and have sex with her corpse. “ They all essentially said the same thing: that they didn’t realize their actions were impacting a person in that way, that they didn’t realize there was a person on the other side of the screen,” Heller recalled.

“And they all said, ‘I am so sorry.’”

California enacted the nation’s first law against cyberbullying in 1999, and most states have since followed suit. Enforcement can be difficult, however, as the lines between harassment and free speech can be blurry. Police and prosecutors often lack sufficient training or resources.

Tech companies say they are getting better at identifying and stopping harassment. For example, Instagram, which is owned by Facebook parent

company Meta, made several changes designed to reduce harassment, including putting warning labels on potentially abusive language and making it easier to block or report harassers.

Yet those moves haven’t been enough. Internal Facebook documents leaked by former employee Frances Haugen show that executives are aware of the potential for their products to be used to harass people. One internal study cited 13.5 percent of teen girls saying Instagram exacerbates suicidal thoughts and 17 percent saying it worsens eating disorders.

“Online harassment is a problem for everybody, but I think it’s especially problematic for kids,” said Natalie Bazarova, a professor at Cornell University who studies social media.

She said a multifaceted approach is required to address the problem: leg isl at ion to requ ire minimum safeguards from tech companies, technical innovations and extensive educational efforts such as simulations that teach teens to spot cyberbullying and use social media safely.

Technical solutions include automated systems that f lag posts for signs of harassing language—allcapital letters, repetitive phrases, certain key words—or instituting a short delay before users can respond to posts, giving them a chance to cool off.

Now in its “awkward adolescence,” the Internet is not the first invention to change how humans communicate, Heller said.

“People said similar things about the telegraph, the telephone and the television—that they were somehow going to ruin society,” she said. “They were all regulated about 25 years into their life cycle. Those regulations didn’t kill the telephone, the television or the radio.”

US could see a century’s worth of sea rise in the next 30 years

By Seth Borenstein AP Science Writer

A

merica’s coastline will see sea levels rise in the next 30 years by as much as they did in the entire 20th century, with major Eastern cities hit regularly with costly floods even on sunny days, a government report warns.

By 2050, seas lapping against the US shore will be 10 to 12 inches (0.25 to 0.3 meters) higher, with parts of Louisiana and Texas projected to see waters a foot and a half (0.45 meters) higher, according to a 111-page report issued Tuesday by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and six other federal agencies.

“Make no mistake: Sea level rise is upon us,” said Nicole LeBoeuf, director of NOAA’s National Ocean Service.

The projected increase is especially alarming given that in the 20th century, seas along the Atlantic coast rose at the fastest clip in 2,000 years.

LeBoeuf warned that the cost will be high, pointing out that much of the American economy and 40 percent of the population are along the coast.

However, the worst of the longterm sea level rise from the melting of ice sheets in Antarctica and Greenland probably won’t kick in until after 2100, said ocean service oceanographer William Sweet, the report’s lead author.

Warmer water expands, and the melting ice sheets and glaciers add more water to the worlds oceans.

The report “is the equivalent of NOAA sending a red flag up” about accelerating the rise in sea levels, said University of Wisconsin-Madison geoscientist Andrea Dutton, a specialist in

sea level rise who wasn’t part of the federal report. The coastal flooding the US is seeing now “will get taken to a whole new level in just a couple of decades.”

“We can see this freight train coming from more than a mile away,” Dutton said in an email. “The question is whether we continue to let houses slide into the ocean.”

Sea level rises more in some places than others because of sinking land, currents and water from ice melt.

The US will get slightly more sea level rise than the global average. And the greatest rise in the US will be on the Gulf and East Coasts, while the West Coast and Hawaii will be hit less than average, Sweet said.

For example, between now and 2060, expect almost 25 inches (0.63 meters) of sea level rise in Galveston, Texas, and just under 2 feet (0.6 me-

ters) in St. Petersburg, Florida, while only 9 inches (0.23 inches) in Seattle and 14 inches (0.36 meters) in Los Angeles, the report said.

While higher seas cause much more damage when storms such as hurricanes hit the coast, they are becoming a problem even on sunny days.

Cities such as Miami Beach, Florida; Annapolis, Maryland; and Norfolk, Virginia, already get a few minor “nuisance” floods a year during high tides, but those will be replaced by several “moderate” floods a year by mid-century, ones that cause property damage, the researchers said.

“It’s going to be areas that haven’t been flooding that are starting to flood,” Sweet said in an interview.

“Many of our major metropolitan areas on the East Coast are going to be increasingly at risk.”

Journey

»life on the go

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BusinessMirror

Sunday, February 20, 2022

Editor: Tet Andolong

Sailing. Sun. Sea. W

By Bernard L. Supetran

hen pop icon Christopher Cross’s hit song “Sailing” hit the airwaves in 1980, every other baby boomer and Gen X-er was raring to hop on to the nearest boat and glide on the water. With a mesmerizing melody and enticing lyrics, who wouldn’t want to go sailing and rough it out in the sun and sea.

“Fantasy, it gets the best of me when I’m sailing; All caught up in the reverie, every word is a symphony. Won’t you believe me?” says one of the song’s stanzas.

But with the archipelago’s infinite coastline, sailing in the Philippines isn’t just a daydream but a bucket list within easy reach.

Thanks to aficionados, this ancient skill and mode of transport has grown by leaps and bounds evident in numerous sailing sporting events which bring in local and foreign sailors in fun-filled contests across the country.

Despite the pandemic, regattas or sailing tournaments have been among the few sports allowed under the government’s health protocols because of its non-contact nature and the open-air setting which ensures physical distancing.

The best time to sail is this time of the amihan monsoon which promises adrenaline-pumping strong wind and waves which tests the mettle of the mariners even as they frolic in sea of green.

Racing this weekend is the Busuanga Cup, one of the country’s sought-after races, which is backed this year by the BPI Asset Management and Trust Corp. and organized by the Philippine Inter Island Sailing Foundation (Phinsaf). Running from February 17 to 22, the event which covers the 135-nautical mile Punta Fuego to Busuanga Race, and

the Doni Altura Memorial Races in Busuanga, and the Linapacan Rally around the Calamian Island Group in northern Palawan.

Inter-club competition will be equally exciting as celebrated boats from the yacht clubs of Puerto Galera, Punta Fuego, Manila, Subic Bay, and the Lighthouse-based Subic Sailing are also taking part.

“The Philippines is an undiscovered paradise for sailing, as it is an environment-friendly sport and is safe to do even during pandemic.

With thousands of beautiful islands, friendly people, moderate wind and seas, it has the potential to put the archipelago on the map as the best in the world,” says Phinsaf President Monchu Garcia which been organizing sailing events to help promote the country as a sports tourism hub.

In between the races, sailors will do corporate social responsibility activities by donating 2 printers with ink to a school, and cash for the rehabilitation of 2 village churches.

Down south in Legazpi City, the Exciting Bicol Oz Goose National Championships fires off on February 26 and 27 to launch Bicol region as the archipelago’s newest sailing haven. Set at the Albay Gulf across Legazpi Boulevard, the iconic perfect-coned Mayon Volcano will provide a majestic backdrop.

The first of its kind in the re-

Punta Fuego Regatta

Albay Yacht Club in Legazpi City

Busuanga Cup

Sailing at Taal Lake Yacht Club

gion, the event is organized by the Albay Yacht Club (AYC) and the Philippine Home Boatbuilders Yacht Club (PHBYC), and supported by the Department of Tourism Region 5 and the governments of Legazpi City and Albay Province.

“Bicol has been gaining in popularity with the country’s water sports enthusiasts, from wakeboarders, surfers, paddlers, scuba divers and now, sailors. Its natural beauty its

main appeal, the people’s warm hospitality in embracing water sports compound its overall charm,” says DOT Regional Director Herbie Aguas.

He said that potential sailing spots will be explored in the nearby provinces to make it a community sport and help breed a new generation of water sports athletes.

T he Oz Goose sa i lboat, which was introduced locally in 2015, is gaining popularity

Amorita Resort celebrates its 15th year of love

among boat hobbyists because of its ease in building, affordability and maneuverability. To date, there are about 100 boats at its base at the Taal Lake Yacht Club (TLYC) in Talisay town, the AYC in Legazpi, and various parts of the country.

Dubbed by Lonely Planet as the country’s “sailing mecca,” TLYC is a public-friendly place to get initiated in sailing in Oz Goose and later in the 16-foot twin-hulled Hobie catamaran.

On March 5 and 6, the prestigious Punta Fuego Regatta returns to Na-

sugbu after its two-year hiatus due to the pandemic. The annual tilt will bring out the proverbial “toys for the big boys” yachts of the captains of industry and witness the exciting renewed friendly rivalry of grizzled veterans in the waters.

As Christopher Cross’s famed song says in its refrain, “Sailing takes me away to where I’ve always heard it could be.

Just a dream and the wind to carry me. And soon I will be free.”

Sailors could only agree. Believe me.

Savor Mexican fiesta on a plate with Kenny Rogers Roasters’ Chipotle Spicy Roast and Ribs

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Overlooking Alona Beach, Amorita Resort, Panglao Bohol.

I

t has been 15 years since Amorita Resort first opened its doors to guests, and the resort has nothing but gratitude to those who have been part of its journey.

Located on a limestone cliff with an unforgettable view of Alona Beach and the Bohol Sea, the resort has since blossomed into a multiawarded luxury resort and the No. 1 resort in Panglao Island in Bohol. A favorite of local and foreign tourists alike for its personalized service, It now boasts 98 luxurious rooms which include its sought-after picturesque Pool Villas.

The past few years, as we all know, have been difficult—from the pandemic that affected pretty much all industries worldwide to the onslaught of Typhoon Odette in the Visayas region last December.

Despite all these, Amorita Resort has remained resilient and con-

tinues to provide its dear guests with smiles and unparalleled experiences through the world-class Filipino hospitality that the resort has always been known for.

To celebrate its anniversary, Amorita Resort has lined up several exciting activities and offers this year. Guests will be treated to new dining experiences and introduced to epic local adventures.

Amorita Resort kicks off 2022 with the first installment of Beats (Bohol Eats) on February 12, bringing to Bohol internationally acclaimed Chef Margarita Fores. Chef Fores was hailed Asia’s Best Female Chef of 2016, the first time a Filipino female chef has been chosen for the prestigious award. She is known to be one of the purveyors of Italian cuisine in the country by giving us an elevated twist to classic Italian flavors through her

JUNIOR Suite

successful restaurant concepts such as Cibo and Lusso.

Guests at this month’s Beats will surely be treated to a worldclass dinner that can only be experienced at the picturesque Amorita Resort. This one-of-akind gastronomic event is available only on February 12 for P3,000 inclusive of a five course dinner specially prepared by Chef Fores and Amorita Resort’s signature cocktails, curated

by Don Papa Rhum. Proceeds from this event will be given to typhoon stricken Bohol Communities.

A morita Resort w ill also launch in summer a new restaurant concept to offer its’s guests more dining options during their stay. It’s new chophouse aims to be the next food destination in Bohol.

With more to love, v isit Amorita Resort this year and ma ke moments memorable, Book t he Choose A mor ita package, starting at P15,000 ++ for a two-night stay with roundtr ip transfers, d a i ly breakfast, and a special private dinner for two.

This event is sponsored by AirAsia is the world’s best lowcost airline for 12 years running awarded by Skytrax, flying you to Bohol and many more exciting destinations across the Philippines, Asia, and beyond. Download the AirAsia Super App now for amazing deals on flights, hotels, and more!

For inquiries and reservations, you may call Amorita Resort at (038) 532 9002 or 0917 726 4526 or visit www.amoritaresort.com.

t’s hot and fiery at Kenny Rogers Roasters as it lets diners experience savory and deliciously healthy food with the Chipotle Spicy Roast and Ribs, all set to make a comeback this January 2022!

The go-to meal for all the adventurous food lovers who particularly enjoy a little kick to their food, each plate of the Chipotle Spicy Roast and Ribs brings in all the fiesta elements and vibrancy to the palate. The chicken and ribs are roasted and grilled to a perfect orange-golden brown with spices on the surfaces. To elevate the juicy roasted chicken and ribs, the meat is cooked with smoked hot chili taste and aroma balanced with herbs and spices. Complementing it are two new sauce options: the Salsa Caliente to bring the spice to the next level, and the Salsa Verde to balance and clean the palate with its citrus flavors.

Guests have the option to enjoy the Chipotle Spicy Roast (P320) Solo B Plate which includes a quarter chicken or the Chipotle Spicy Ribs (P525) Solo B Plate which comes with half slab rib.

Both come with two side dishes, java rice, muffin, and two new sauces—the Salsa Caliente and Salsa Verde. Now, that’s truly a dish like no other—filled with vibrant colors and delicious flavors.

Of course, these offerings are more fun when shared with the whole family or friends. Kenny Rogers Roasters will also be offering the Chipotle Spicy Roast Group Meal (P1,130) which includes a

whole roast chicken, and the Chipotle Spicy Ribs Group Meal (P1,915) comes with a whole slab rib. Both options come with the Salsa Verde and Salsa Caliente, Java Rice, 4 side dishes and muffins, and 1.5 liters of Coke. Even better, customers can add the new Creamed Corn, a delicious side dish made of corn kernels in creamy white sauce, perfectly baked to flatter your tastebuds.

To complete the whole Mexican fiesta experience, customers can also avail the Grilled Tortilla as an add-on for only P20.

Experience party on a plate and try the Chipotle Spicy Roast and Ribs on Facebook (https://fb.watch/aJOdUKUHld/) and Youtube (https://youtu. be/6U3Lt9cAppw). It’s available at Kenny Rogers Roasters nationwide for dinein, takeout or delivery through Kenny Rogers Roasters web site: www.kennyrogersdelivery.com.ph.

For more updates, follow Kenny Rogers Roasters official social-media pages: @KennyRogersPH on Facebook and @kennyrogersph on Instagram.

Science Sunday BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph • Editor: Lyn Resurreccion

Sunday, February 20, 2022

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DOST provides P15.95M for ASF vaccine research

DepEd celebrates Filipina scientists, role models on Intl Day of Women and Girls in Science

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he Department of Education (DepEd) early this month highlighted some outstanding Filipino women scientists to inspire more young girls to venture into the field of science during celebration of the 2022 International Day of Women and Girls in Science.

The eminent Filipino women scientists who shared messages of empowerment were Dr. Rowena Cristina Guevara, Undersecretary for Research and Development of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST); Dr. Gay Jane Perez, deputy director-general of the Philippine Space Agency; and Dr. Maria Ruth Pineda-Cortel, researcher at the UST Research Center for the Natural Sciences and finalist in the Asean-US Science Prize for Women 2020, a DepEd news release said.

The inspiring story of Philippine Genome Center Executive Director Dr. Cynthia Palmes-Saloma on her journey to being a scientist was also featured.

“At DOST, in our research and development grants, almost half of the project leaders are women, and among our scholars in science and engineering almost half are women,” Guevara said partly in Filipino.

For her part, Cortel noted that while the gender gap hinders the dreams of women and girls to contribute to science, she believes “that if we work together as one, as women and girls of science, we can smash stereotyping and defeat discrimination against women and girls in science.”

Perez said: “The event is an opportunity for us women to serve as beacons of hope to each other, especially to the young girls of today. I encourage all women to persevere and break the barriers so that women in this field will one day be the norm rather than an exception.”

“I am proud of the women who continue to uphold gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls involved in the field of science. This should abolish longstanding biases and gender stereotypes that are steering girls and women away from science-related fields,” said Education Secretary Leonor Magtolis Briones.

DepEd Undersecretary Diosdado M. San Antonio highlighted that celebrating women and girls, who have contributed to science, is something that deserves the support of anyone passionate about equity, sciences, nation-building through a lot of innovations that only those with scientific minds can contribute.

“I fully believe that the Philippines is one country that is among the most gender-equal countries in the world, especially in dealing with gender issues, concerns, and development,” San Antonio said.

The International Day of Women and Girls in Science, observed annually by the UN on February 11, is implemented by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and UN-Women in collaboration with institutions and civil society partners that aim to promote women and girls in science, DepEd said.

T

he African swine fever (ASF), a highly contagious and fatal viral disease of domestic and wild pigs, may soon be controlled in the country.

A Batangas-based veterinary research and diagnostics company that is doing research on vaccine for ASF received a P15.95 million financial assistance from the Department of Science and Technology (DOST)’s Science for ChangeBusiness Innovation through S&T (BIST) for Industry Program.

DOST’s move was in response to the immediate need for animal vaccine research and development (R&D), particularly for ASF, a BIST Program news release said.

The financial assistance to BioAssets Corp. that is based in Sto. Tomas, Batangas, will be used to acquire the latest technologies that will help establish its point-of-need animal health diagnostic system and provide foundational support for ASF vaccine development.

It includes a Mobile Laboratory Unit that will be equipped with portable diagnostic devices and will be set-up in resourcelimited areas.

BioAssets is one of the many companies that is helping the government in identifying the means to diagnose, treat and eventually control ASF in the country.

“With great potential, the Bio Assets Corp., through the BIST program may be able to expand the function of vaccine R&D and address the ASF,” said Science Secretary Fortunato T. de la Peña.

“Through R&D, we will be able to find innovative technologies that will protect public health and ensure food safety,” de la Peña added.

According to DOST Undersecretary Rowena Cristina L. Guevara,

“The BIST program strengthens the capabilities of our local companies and enables them to overcome barriers through the outputs of R&D.” Guevara added that “it is designed to assist Filipino-owned companies to innovate and develop competitiveness through acquisition of new and relevant R&D equipment—like in this case, tools for diagnostics research.”

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, 51 out of 81 provinces in the Philippines have confirmed cases of ASF as of July 2021. The first case was reported in July 2019, several months before the spread of Covid-19 virus globally.

ASF is a viral disease that infects pigs at all stages. It causes hemorrhage in the skin and internal organs of the swine leading to its eventual death.

While ASF cannot be transmitted to humans, it significantly affects the swine industry in all countries with reported ASF cases, including the Philippines.

According to the Bureau of Animal Industry of the Department of Agriculture, the swine industry contributes 16 percent of the country’s agricultural growth.

Thus, if not treated, ASF will have an impact not only on the agriculture industry but to the Philippine economy as well.

To date, there is still no vaccine or treatment for ASF. The government is continuously doing preventive measures and forged partnerships with local and international R&D-based companies and agencies to study and find treatment for the swine virus.

Dr. Homer D. Pantua, the BioAssets Corp. CEO and BIST project leader, said the local swine industry currently “employs only

strict biosecurity measures and depopulation.”

Pantua said: “Gaps on these aspects of animal health translate to multibillion pesos potential income loss based on the reported number of pigs culled during the ASF crisis.”

Through the BIST Program, “we hope to employ innovative measures that would control the transmission of disease and prevent further losses in pork production,” he added.

Support from DOST, such as the BIST, “will help the private sector and the government in addressing the challenges we face with infectious diseases in animal production through a comprehensive and unified approach.” Pantua explained.

De la Peña said the collaborative effort is expected not only to achieve the primary goals of addressing the pressing need of the animal industry in the country.

Ultimately, it will pave the way to the Philippines’ self-sufficiency in animal health diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccines, de la Peña added.

The mobile laboratory unit of BioAssets Corp. that is doing research vaccine for ASF and other veterinary research and diagnostics. DOST S4C-BIST photo

Girls still fall behind boys in top scores for AP math exams in US T

‘Lakbay Galing’ YouTube series showcases agri-aqua initiatives

A

fter decades of growth, the number of high-school girls who take Advanced Placement (AP) math exams in the United States is now almost the same as the number for boys.

In 1997, 83 girls for every 100 boys took an AP math exam. By 2019, that number rose to 96 for every 100 boys.

But when it comes to getting top scores on an AP math exam, boys still outnumber girls. In 1997, 52 girls for every 100 boys made the top score.

By 2019, that number rose to 69 for every 100 boys. This is what I found in my peer-reviewed study. It was published in Journal for the Education of the Gifted in 2021.

After analyzing the test scores for over 10 million students who participated in the AP math exams from 1997 to 2019, I examined the rates of changes in participation and top achievement in the AP Calculus AB, Calculus BC and Statistics tests.

My study predicts that if this trend continues, it may take up to 60 years to close the gender gap among top scorers in the Calculus BC exam and roughly 30 years in the Calculus AB and Statistics

Rubik’s cube: The study of its possible moves is a concrete application of group theory in algebra. Wikimedia Commons VNU 1.2

exams.Why it matters Gender-related gaps in general K-12 math achievement have been gradually diminishing to none since the 1960s.

However, more men major in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields than women.

As an example, according to a

2021 report published by the National Science Foundation, when it comes to engineering degrees, women only earned 12 percent of bachelor’s, 18 percent of master’s and 18 percent of doctorates in the field in 2016.

A joint report done by the National Council of Super visors of Mathematics and the

National Council of Teachers of Mathematics found that gender differences in school mathematics contribute to significant disparities in educational attainments in STEM subjects.

This is particularly true for AP math courses, which are among the most common college level classes taught in US high schools.

In light of those reports and my findings, I suspect in order for women to be better represented in STEM careers, it will take more than just increasing their participation in AP math courses.

Rather, the focus should be more on empowering more girls get the top scores on AP math exams, as those scores can be an important predictor of who pursues a STEM career.

Ways to empower more girls to get the top scores include increasing their math confidence, interest and early math achievement.

In order to more rapidly close the gap between girls and boys who get the top scores on AP math exams, educators must discover and implement more effective ways to prepare girls for advanced math courses. Kadir Bahar, University of Georgia/The Conversation

he accomplishments of the Good Agri-Aqua Livelihood Initiatives toward National Goals (Galing) Program is being bannered in a YouTube Series titled, “Lakbay Galing.”

Galing is a program of the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST-PCAARRD) “Lakbay Galing” captures the different science and technology (S&T) initiatives and outputs of the Galing-PCAARRD program nationwide accented by the scenic spots, culture, and facts about the featured locality, a DOST-PCAARRD said in a news release.

The Galing-PCAARRD program started as a pandemic response in 2020. The program had three components that focus on technologyinformation sharing, sustainable food production technologies, and livelihood generation for families affected by COVID-19.

In its recent instalment, shown in an online news conference, the program added “Pagkain at Kabuhayan sa Pamayanan, Rebuilding the Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources in Response to Covid-19, and Smart Food Value Chain Program” to cater to the needs of more beneficiaries.

The council also highlights its ever-increasing support to its

stakeholders in the agriculture, aquatic and natural resources (AANR) sectors by creating S&Tbased solutions that ease the impact of the pandemic and address the sector’s future challenges.

“The Galing-PCAARRD is a result of several decades of culture of good work and innovation of DOSTPCAARRD in caring and development of the sector of agriculture, fisheries and natural resources.

Because of the program, the needs of many communities were heard and given solutions,“ said Science Secretary Fortunato T. de la Peña in his message in Filipino.

According to DOST Undersecretary for R&D Rowena Cristina L. Guevara,, the program was able to address the needs of the regions amid Covid-19 pandemic.

“The government agencies, despite being challenged by Covid-19 pandemic, the suport of DOSTPCAARRD to its stakeholders, especially in the different regions.

Through Galing PCAARRD program, the implementation of the projects in the agriculture, fisheries and natural resources were made better,” Guevara said in Filipino.

Galing-PCAARRD, as the holistic execution of the council’s mandates and banner programs being the leader in AANR innovations, guarantees that “basta Galing, tatak PCAARRD.” Marie Faye M. de Castro/S&T Media Services

Faith

Sunday, February 20, 2022

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Sunday

Editor: Lyn Resurreccion • www.businessmirror.com.ph

Survey: More Filipino Catholics believe in ‘live-in’ before marriage

By Samuel P. Medenilla & Cai U. Ordinario

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osanna (not her real name) has been living with her partner without marriage for 17 years now. They are blessed with five children. She said having no money prevented them from getting married, but they still dream of a church wedding and saving for it.

Melanie (not her real name) is a single mother with three children from a relationship that did not also have the benefit of marriage.

Rosanna and Melanie are among the growing number of Filipinos who prefer living with their partners before marriage.

A “live-in” status before receiving the sacrament of marriage is now acceptable to most Filipinos, according to a survey from Church-run Radio Veritas.

In its latest Veritas Truth Survey (VTS), Radio Veritas said that a whopping 45 percent of its 1,200 respondents favored living together prior to getting married.

On the other hand, the “nationwide survey reveals that 40 percent would agree that couples should get married first before living together,” said the VTS results.

The remaining 15 percent of the VTS participants were undecided.

VTS head, sociologists Bro. Clifford T. Sorita, said the concept of “living in ‘’ prior to marriage was more acceptable among younger respondents particularly teens (13 to 20 years old) at 51 percent; and young adults (21 to 39 years old) at 58 percent.

Those who are against the scheme are mostly adults (40 to 60 years old) at 48 percent; and elderly (61 years old and above) at 61 percent.

Radio Veritas President Anton CT Pascual said the result of the latest VTS should be a “wake up” for the Church to intensify its information drive on the importance of marriage.

“We should evangelize our Catholic faithful on the transcendental value of marriage which places God in the union between husband and wife,” Pascual said.

Sorita said: “This comes from the ‘instant mentality,’ which comes from this young age group. The somewhat prolonged courtship process our elderly have experienced is something foreign among our young.”

The latest VTS, which asked the question: “Should couples get married first before living together; and not engage in a common-law partnership [live-in] arrangement?” was held online from January 1 to 31 with a +/- 3 percent margin of error.

Civil and church marriages It should be noted that the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) recorded a total of 240,775 marriages in 2020, the start of the pandemic.

This was a 44.26 percent decline from the 431,972 marriages posted in 2019.

Almost half, or 49.8 percent, of these marriages, or 119,903 marriages, were “solemnized” through civil ceremonies. This was a 28.07 percent decline from the 166,691 marriages in 2019.

It was notable that there were less civil ceremonies in 2020 compared to 2019 when these rites only accounted for 38.6 percent of the total number of marriages in that year. The share of these marriages in 2020 compared to 2019 represented a decline of 11.2

percentage points.

In terms of marriages solemnized under the Roman Catholic Church, the data showed they accounted for 67,233, or 27.9 percent, of the total marriages in 2020. This was a 57.03 percent contraction from the 156,481 marriages solemnized by the Catholic Church in 2019.

In terms of share, similar to civil ceremonies, there was also a decline.

In 2019, marriages solemnized by the Catholic Church accounted for 36.2 percent, which meant there was an 8.3 percentage point decline in the share in 2020 compared to 2019.

The data also showed that there were 3,212 marriages solemnized through Muslim rites and 2,272 solemnized through tribal ceremonies.

Some 48,155 other marriages were solemnized through other religious rites.

Gender and Age Majority of marriages solemnized through the civil rites happened among males and females aged 25 to 29 years old. There were 45,436 males whose marriages were solemnized through a civil ceremony and 46,470 females.

The data also showed that the second age group that married through civil rites is the 30 to 34 age group among males at 28,626 and the 20 to 24 year old age bracket for females at 30,851 marriages.

It can be noted that while there were no males aged under 15 years old who got married through civil

ceremonies, five females who were in the same age group were married through these rites.

For marriages solemnized through the Roman Catholic Church, both males and females belonging to the 25 to 29 age bracket composed the bulk of these marriages. There were a total of 27,420 males and 28,799 females in this age group who got married through Catholic rites.

It can be noted that like civil ceremonies, there were no males under 15 years old who got married through Catholic rites. However, there was one female in this age group who got married through the Catholic Church.

In terms of marriages solemnized under Muslim tradition, the bulk of males and females belonging to the 25 to 29 years old and 20 to 24 years, respectively were done through Muslim rites. This consists of 905 males aged 25 to 29 years old and 913 females aged 20 to 24 years old.

However, PSA data show that as many as 25 females and two males below 15 years old were married through Muslim rites. The bulk of male and female children married in 2020 pegged at 51 children, were done through Muslim tradition.

In terms of tribal ceremonies, the bulk of males and females getting married through these rites belonged to the 20 to 24 year old age bracket. There were 792 males and 791 females married through tribal rites in this age group.

A total of 12 female children and zero males aged below 15 years old were married through tribal rites.

This accounted for the second highest number of children under 15 years old married in 2020.

The data, the PSA said, is based on actual registration of marriages through Municipal Form 97. These forms are obtained from the Office of City and Municipal Registrars nationwide and submitted to the Office of the Civil Registrar general.

PHL faith leaders celebrate World Interfaith Harmony Week

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he Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (the Church) and faith leaders from different faith traditions and beliefs joined together to celebrate the World Interfaith Harmony Week in a series of events and activities in the first week of February.

The faith leaders came together in an expression of love and unity under the direction of Uniharmony Partners Manila and the Manila Church People Ecumenical Fellowship, a news release from the Church said.

They included Elder Steven R. Bangerter of the Philippine Area Presidency of the Church; the leaders of the Fo Guang Shan Mabuhay Temple; Peacemakers Circle of the Phils.; National Council of Churches in the Philippines; Focolare Movement; Imam Council of the Philippines; Brahma Kumaris; and Religions for Peace Philippines.

This year’s World Interfaith Harmony Week celebration was significant as it also marked the inaugural International Day of Human Fraternity on February 4.

Due to pandemic restrictions, the event was streamed via Facebook live to allow members of the different denominations to participate virtually.

The theme of this year’s celebration was the spirit of love and hope as one family moving together to serve and protect our common home.

The celebration aimed to bring the interreligious and ecumenical communities to one family working together to deliver joint action to address the climate emergency.

Among the faith leaders who attended the World Interfaith Harmony Week were Elder Steven R. Bangerter of the Philippine Area Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints; Shakun Vaswani of Bhama Kumaris; Imam Ebra Moxsir of the Imam Council of the Philippines; and Venerable Master Hsing Yun of the the Fo Guang Shan Mabuhay Temple. Photos from the Church

The World Interfaith Harmony Week, organized by the United Nations, aims to promote a culture of peace through mutual understanding and interreligious dialogue.

It promotes harmony between all people regardless of their faith.

It recognizes that at the core of all faith systems and traditions is the desire and capacity to live in harmony and peace with each other and with the natural world.

In her address, Dr. Shakuntala Vaswani, co-president of the Peacemakers’ Circle of the Philippines, said, «Love, compassion, and peace is the center of all religions. We have to bring these values in our families and communities.»

Ted and Asela Arago from the Focolare Movement also shared about man’s responsibility as stewards of the earth.

They said, «Our role is to save the natural environment. The planet must live to provide a home for humanity. Therefore, a healthy ecology is the foundation of peace.»

Meanwhile, Bangerter focused on Christlike service. He said, «God takes our actions to love and care for others deeply. He takes it as a service to Him.» In the Climate Forum later that week, resource speaker, Rev. Fr. John Leydon, chairman of the Laudato Si Movement Philippines, spoke about unity and working together to care for the world around us.

Leydon spoke of the planetary ecological crisis, and tackled the history of religions and the role these play in taking action to climate concerns.

Following his remarks was a discussion among Uniharmony

Partners Manila, where leaders responded to the challenges and recommendations of Leydon.

A respect for the diverse beliefs and unique contributions of all the world’s faiths is one of the hallmarks of the Church.

From its earliest days, the principle of religious liberty and tolerance has always been upheld: «We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may.» (Articles of Faith 1:11) The Church teaches that God created the earth to provide a place for the human family to learn, progress and improve. God first created the earth and all living things spiritually, and all living things have great worth in His eyes.

One of the Church’s most sacred religious ceremonies includes a portrayal of the loving care taken by God in creating the earth as a place for learning, experience and joy.

Latter-day Saints live in various environmental and economic circumstances throughout the world and have differing needs and capabilities.

Though the Church does not typically take a stand on specific governmental or regulatory proposals for dealing with environmental challenges, it teaches these essential principles of stewardship and reverence, hoping they are remembered and applied in the lives of members as they care for God’s creations, it said in the news release.

St. Teresa of Avila File

St. Irenaeus of Lyon.

Wolfymoza Wikimedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)/CBCP News

Why are some Roman Catholic saints called doctors of the church?

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n January 2022, Pope Francis bestowed the title doctor of the church on St. Irenaeus of Lyons, a Christian bishop who died about A.D. 200. For centuries, Christians in both the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches have venerated him as a saint.

As a specialist in medieval Christianity, I found myself reflecting on the meaning of this title and why is it important today. There are over 10,000 saints recognized by the Roman Catholic Church.

However, only a few dozen of them have been named a doctor of the church, an honorific that recognizes the importance of their teaching, scholarship and writings.

Early saints

In early centuries, Christians executed in the Roman Empire for refusing to renounce their faith—called martyrs, meaning witnesses—were commemorated by their local communities and referred to as holy: sanctus or sancta, in Latin.

The graves of these saints were considered holy places, and believers would visit them to pray.

Later, those who had been imprisoned but not put to death were honored by other Christians because of their outstanding courage and strength of faith. Their communities called them confessors because they professed their faith.

Other titles were eventually added to distinguish additional categories of saints, such as bishop, priest or widow.

Even children were, and still can be, approved for saintly veneration.

For the first thousand years, holy men and women were venerated as saints regionally, usually with the approval of the local bishop. Later, the popes took charge of officially proclaiming saints, and a formal process developed for examining the applications, or causes, of saintly candidates proposed by regional bishops or other religious groups.

Scholars and teachers

Over time, a handful of Christian saints and teachers became especially renowned for their writings or scholarship.

A few from the early centuries of the church were recognized as important teachers, or fathers of the church, by both Western and Eastern churches—which finally split into the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches, respectively, in the 11th century.

In the Middle Ages, other saintly teachers in Western Europe were acclaimed specifically as doctors of the church by the authority of popes.

Some revered theologians began to be known as doctor of a specific idea or characteristic.

For example, contemporaries of the medieval theologian St. Albert the Great, who died in 1280, came to refer to him as the “universal doctor” because of the wide range of topics he covered in his writings.

Even one or two of the earlier fathers of the church acquired these additional titles, such as St. Augustine. This North African saint, one of the most influential Christian theologians, died in 430 and became known as the “doctor of grace” because of his theories about grace as a free gift of God. In several regions, local communities gave similar titles to other respected figures even if they were not officially recognized as saints.

Formal lists of these doctors were compiled and expanded during the 16th through 20th centuries.

Today, the Roman Catholic Church lists 37 saints officially recognized by papal pronouncement as doctors of the church.

Until after the Second Vatican Council, which met from 1962 to 1965 and initiated significant modern reforms in the church, all doctors of the church were men—usually bishops or priests. In the following decades, that changed.

Today the Catholic Church recognizes four saintly and learned women from several different centuries for their theological and spiritual writings.

They include the 16th-century Spanish mystic Teresa of Avila and the 12th-century German abbess Hildegard of Bingen, an expert on herbal medicine and botany as well as liturgical drama and music.

‘Doctor of unity’

So, why add another doctor now? St. Irenaeus was already recognized as one of the early fathers of the church. Born during the second century in what is now Turkey, he served as bishop of Lyons in what is now France—moving from one side of the Roman Empire to the other.

He wrote forcefully against a philosophical and religious movement called gnosticism— from the Greek word gnosis, or knowledge—which he saw as a heresy threatening to separate Christians from beliefs handed down by Jesus’ apostles.

Gnostic Christians taught that the physical world was created not by God, but by a lesser spiritual being, either in error or out of malice.

They rejected the traditional Christian beliefs that material reality and the human body were fundamentally good, and held that the body was a worthless obstacle to achieving spiritual perfection.

Irenaeus argued against the gnostics, insisting God created both material and spiritual reality and that both were rooted in God’s goodness.

His critique of the gnostic view of Christian teaching reaffirmed the importance of the teaching of the apostles, based on the writings of the Old Testament prophets and the four Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

So Irenaeus’s teaching was valued by later theologians working to strengthen the church’s definition of orthodox beliefs.

In 2021, members of the St. Irenaeus Joint Catholic-Orthodox Working Group, an unofficial group of theologians seeking to enrich mutual understanding, met in Rome.

During that meeting, Pope Francis stated his intention to officially declare the saint a doctor of the church. As the pope later noted, Irenaeus’ life and teaching serve as a bridge between Eastern and Western Christianity.

In his own life, he served churches in both traditions, and, despite their individual differences, strove to keep them united against divisive teachings.

Because of the influence of his theology and the example of his ministry, St. Irenaeus will be one of those doctors of the church, like St. Albert the Great, to be given a distinctive honorific title: “doctor of unity.”

At a time when disease, environmental disasters and wars threaten to divide Christianity and the world, many believe that a saintly “doctor of unity” may well inspire a more hopefilled future. Joanne M. Pierce, College of the Holy Cross/The Conversation (CC)

Biodiversity Sunday BusinessMirror

Asean Champions of Biodiversity Media Category 2014

Sunday, February 20, 2022

Editor: Lyn Resurreccion

A7

10 endemic PHL species victims of Odette's ferocity

A

By Jonathan L. Mayuga

t least 10 Philippine species were seen to have been seriously affected by Typhoon Odette (international name Rai) that devastated the Visayas and Mindanao last December, an official of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) said.

Natividad Y. Bernardino, OIC director of the DENR’s Biodiversity Management Bureau (BMB), said despite the lack of exact figures on the extent of the damage, “Typhoon Odette has undeniably posed serious damages to wildlife and its habitats.”

Odette has severely affected the Siargao Island Protected Landscape and Seascape.

Severely affected

I nter v ie w ed v i a e - m a i l , Natividad said that while the DENR-BMB is in the process of assessing the damage brought about by the ty phoon to all affected areas, she noted that it is apparent that it has caused severe destruction not only to protected areas but also to other important ecosystems in the Visayas and Mindanao. “ I mpor t a nt w i ld l i fe s pe cies and ecosystems are being monitored by the DENR and its conservation partners. But due to limited resources, there has been no extensive research or study conducted in the country yet regarding the impact of natural calamities to ecosystems and wildlife,” she explained.

“Ultimately, just like humans, other living organisms, including wildlife species, are particularly vulnerable to natural disasters,” she said.

Severely affected species

The endemic threatened species that were seen affected by Odette in the Visayas and Mindanao include the Philippine tarsier, one of the world’s smallest primates; bird species, such as the Mindanao hornbill, southern rufous hornbill, writhed hornbill, Camiguin hanging parrot, and reptile species, including the Philippine crocodile and sailfin lizard.

Natividad said flying foxes, such as the golden-crowned flying fox and giant fruit bat are also feared to have been severely affected by the devastating typhoon.

It was reported on television news a few days after the typhoon that some residents failed to see tarsiers on trees where they used to perch.

Important species

The endemic species affected

by Odette are considered important because of their uniqueness and the ecosystem function they provide.

Philippine tarsier is one of the tourist attractions in Bohol, the site of the famous Chocolate Hills.

The Mindanao hornbill, southern rufous hornbill and writhed hornbill are endangered species, the same w ith the Camiguin hanging parrot, because their populations in the wild is dwin-

Elephant tusks are stacked in one of around a dozen pyres of ivory, in Nairobi National Park, Kenya, on April 28, 2016. AP/Ben Curtis

DNA analysis of elephant ivory reveals trafficking networks

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ASHINGTON —As few as three major criminal groups are responsible for smuggling the vast majorit y of elephant ivor y tusks out of Africa, according to a new study.

Researchers used analysis of DNA from seized elephant tusks and evidence, such as phone records, license plates, financial records and shipping documents to map trafficking operations across the continent and better understand who was behind the crimes.

The study was published last week in the journal Nature Human Behavior.

“When you have the genetic analysis and other data, you can finally begin to understand the illicit supply chain— that’s absolutely key to countering these networks,” said Louise Shelley, who researches illegal trade at George Mason University and was not involved in the research.

Conservation biologist Samuel Wasser, a study co-author, hopes the findings will help law enforcement officials target the leaders of these networks instead of

The Philippine tarsier is one of the world’s smallest primates. This tarsier from Bohol province is about 5 inches long, with a tail longer than its body. Wikimedia Commons

low-level poachers who are easily replaced by criminal organizations.

“If you can stop the trade where the ivory is being consolidated and exported out of the countr y, those are really the key players,” said Wasser, who codirects the Center for Environmental Forensic Science at the Universit y of Washington.

Africa’s elephant population is fast dwindling. From around 5 million elephants a century ago to 1.3 million in 1979, the total number of elephants in Africa is now estimated to be reduced to around 415,000.

A 1989 ban on international commercial ivory trade hasn’t stopped the decline. Each year, an estimated 1.1 million pounds (500 metric tons) of poached elephant tusks are shipped from Africa, mostly to Asia.

For the past two decades, Wasser has fixated on a few key questions: “Where is most of the ivory being poached, who is moving it, and how many people are they? ” He works with wildlife authorities in

A rufous hornbill, a unique bird found on Mount Busa Sarangani LGU photo

A juvenile Philippine crocodile.

DENR, BMB monitoring activities

Photo by Gregg Yan

dling due to habitat loss and hunting and poaching.

The Philippine crocodile, specifically the Crocodylus mindorensis, is endemic to the Philippines. It is also on the brink of extinction due to habitat loss and hunting.

The population of the sailfin lizard is declining due to the same reasons. They are hunted by illegal wildlife traders for the multibillion-peso illegal pet trade.

Considered as keystone species, the importance of the goldenKenya, Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia and elsewhere, who contact him after they intercept ivory shipments.

He flies to the countries to take small samples of tusks to analyze the DNA. He has now amassed samples from the tusks of more than 4,300 elephants trafficked out of Africa between 1995 and today.

“That’s an amazing, remarkable data set,” said Princeton University biologist Robert Pringle, who was not involved in the study. With such data, “it becomes possible to spot connections and make strong inferences,” he said.

In 2004, Wasser demonstrated that DNA from elephant tusks and dung could be used to pinpoint their home location to within a few hundred miles.

In 2018, he recognized that finding identical DNA in tusks from two different ivory seizures meant they were harvested from the same animal—and likely trafficked by the same poaching network.

The new research expands that approach to identif y DNA belonging to elephant parents and of fspring, as well as siblings— and led to the discover y that only a ver y few criminal groups are behind most of the ivor y traf ficking in Africa.

Because female elephants remain in the same family group their whole life, and most males don’t travel too far from their family herd, the researchers hypothesize that tusks from close family members are likely to have been poached at the same time, or by the same operators.

Such genetic links can provide a blueprint for wildlife authorities seeking other evidence—cell phone records, license plates, shipping documents and financial statements—to link different ivory shipments.

P r e v io u sl y w h e n a n i vor y s hip ment was intercepted, the one seizure wouldn’t allow authorities to identif y the organization behind the crime, said Special Agent John Brown III of the Office of Homeland Securit y Investigations, who has worked on environmental crimes for 25 years. AP

weather events.

Natural calamities are considered serious threats and detrimental to the biodiversity of the countr y’s protected areas because of the damages that they may cause to the important and unique ecosystems and wildlife in the areas.

The DENR-BMB, she said, has been actively involved in conducting assessment in affected protected areas after the occurrence of devastating natural calamities to determine the extent of the damage to its ecosystem, flora and fauna species and the communities that are dependent on them.

crowned flying fox and giant fruit bat can never be overemphasized.

They are considered as the forest’s natural farmers, because their droppings, that include seeds of the fruits they eat, enhance forest vegetation, plus the bonus of the natural fertilizer their feces bring to forests.

Vulnerable protected areas

Natividad said the protected areas and the wildlife species t he y host a re v u l nerable to natural calamities or extreme

“A notable initiative of the DENR-BMB in the assessment of a protected area after a natural calamity was when a destructive phreatomagmatic eruption of Taal Volcano in January 2020 that greatly damaged a huge part of the Taal Volcano Protected Landscape,” she said.

“Unfortunately, the assessment activity was halted when Covid-19 pandemic hit the country in early 2020 [starting in March],” she pointed out.

Nat i v id a d s a id t he DE N RBMB has been involved in

s i m i l a r a c t i v it ie s b e fore.

After the onslaught of Typhoon Ulysses (international name Vamco) in the latter part of 2020, she said, the Environment department created a composite team represented by the DENR Calabarzon, Bicol Region, Central Luzon and Regional Offices of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau, Environmental Management Bureau and the DOST-BMB to monitor, evaluate and recommend appropriate measures to be undertaken for the recovery of affected legislated and proclaimed protected areas in Cagayan, Marikina and Bicol River Basin. “ The initiatives of the DENR is in line with the issuance of E x e c ut i v e O rd e r1 20, or t he ‘Strengthening Rehabilitation a nd Recover y Ef for ts in t he Ty phoon-hit Areas through the Creation of Build Back Better Task Force,’” she said.

The DENR, she said, is focused on the key areas that focus on intensified water management.

The objective is primarily focused on the enhancement of existing forest cover, easement recovery and riverbank stabilization, establishment of series of check dams and gabions, intensification of forest protection, she noted.

PH, UK agree on work plan on climate, environment

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he Philippines and the United Kingdom (UK) have agreed on a joint work plan that will guide them in identifying the collaboration areas that they should prioritize after the conclusion of the two governments’ Climate Change and Environment Dialogue on February 10, said the joint news statement furnished by the British Embassy Manila.

The Philippines was represented in the dialogue by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), while UK was represented by the British Embassy Manila.

Environment Secretary Secretary Roy A. Cimatu, also the chairman of the Cabinet Cluster on Climate Change Adaptation, Mitigation and Disaster Risk Reduction, said that the joint work plan will “guide the priority areas of engagement, including regional facilities and programs announced at the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow, Scotland, in November 2021.”

“This dialogue marks another milestone event highlighting the partnership of the Philippines with the government of [UK],” Cimatu said.

He added that it shall also build on the earlier priorities on climate change and the environment, identified by both parties during the first Climate Change and Environment Dialogue held in November 2020 as “part of the key pillars of the UK-Philippines enhanced partnership which focused on energy transition and nature-based solutions and adaptation.”

For his part, British Ambassador Laure Beaufils underscored the significance of the dialogue as it seeks to address the defining challenges of the current time, which are climate change and environmental degradation.

“The UK and the Philippines have just launched a new Enhanced Partnership in November 2021. Climate change and environmental issues constitute a key pillar of this,” Beaufils said.

The Philippines and UK governments have agreed on a joint work plan on climate change and environment degradation. In the photo, showing the signed joint work plan that they adopted, are (from top left, clockwise) DENR Undersecretary Analiza Rebuelta-Teh; British Ambassador to the Philippines Laure Beaufils (back) with the embassy‘s Political Counsellor Rebecca Shah; Ken O‘Flaherty, UK government’s COP26 Regional Ambassador to Asia-Pacific and South Asia; and DENR Assistant Secretary Marcial C. Amaro Jr. British Embassy Manila photo He pointed out: “I’m proud of what the UK and the Philippines have already achieved together on climate-related issues and we committed to building on this success today and in the year to come.”

According to Beaufils, the dialogue helped both governments agree on “joint actions to build resilience, tackle global emissions, and halt and reverse the loss of biodiversity.”

Taking stock of the progress achieved during the first dialogue in November 2020, the Second Climate Change and Environment Dialogue highlighted the key elements of the ongoing cooperation, such as formulation of the long-term strategy, provision of analytical tools to revisit the Nationally Determined Contribution and develop the National Adaptation Plan, and conservation of critical species and ecosystems across the Philippines.

I t also fo c us e d on four s t r a t e gic obje c tiv e s for 2 0 2 2.

T his in clu d e b uildin g t h e r e sil ience of the economy, ecosystems and communities in the contex t of climate change ; est ablishing a development pathway toward long-term climate-responsive strategies; mobilizing sustainable finance and greening the financial sector; and strengthening collaboration and increase awareness of institutions and communities in tackling climate change.

The UK agreed to provide a combination of programs, technical assistance, including practical research studies, policy support and market development mechanisms, technology partnerships, and sharing best practices to deliver on these objectives, the joint news statement said.

Sports BusinessMirror

Athletes lament Olympic spirit’s ‘absence’ in Milan-Cortina 2026

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EIJING—From the cosmopolitan fashion of Milan to the Alpine chic of Cortina d’Ampezzo, the next Winter Olympics are being promoted as a feast of culture, cuisine and—obviously—sports.

After three straight Winter Games on new slopes in Sochi and in Asia, plus the 2010 edition in Vancouver, the 2026 Olympics will be back in the Alps.

For the International Olympic Committee (IOC), going back to Europe’s most famous mountain range—where the Winter Games made their debut in 1924 at the French resort of Chamonix—will mark a return to more familiar terrain after taking the Games to new audiences in Sochi, Pyeongchang and Beijing.

Yet several European skiers—including two prominent Italians—have reservations about how the Milan-Cortina Games are being organized.

The 2026 Games will be the most widespread Olympics ever, with venues spread out over 22,000 square kilometers across a vast swath of northern Italy—from the regions of Lombardy and Veneto to the provinces of Trento and Bolzano.

“There will be no Olympic spirit,” three-time Olympic medalist Federica Brignone said this week after her bronze in giant slalom, before winning another bronze in Alpine combined.

“Everyone will be in their own area. It’s good to take advantage of the existing structures and not consume and build new venues—from an ecological standpoint it will be much better,” Brignone added. “But in terms of Olympic atmosphere, I’m not sure how it will be but I don’t think it will be very nice.”

The 2026 organizers have heeded IOC president Thomas Bach’s reform plan, Agenda 2020, which allows for more flexible bids that take advantage of existing infrastructure—even if that means using venues far flung from the Games’ main city.

Hockey, figure skating and short track speedskating will be held in Milan in 2026; cross-country skiing, ski jumping and Nordic combined in Val di Fiemme; longtrack speedskating in Baselga di Pine; snowboarding and

freestyle in Livigno; biathlon in Anterselva; men’s skiing in Bormio; and women’s skiing, sliding and curling in Cortina d’Ampezzo.

The division of Alpine skiing between Bormio and Cortina will keep the men and women, respectively, divided by a five-hour car ride that includes a detour into Switzerland because the most direct route goes over mountain passes that are closed in winter.

“I don’t like that,” Norwegian skier Lucas Braathen said. “It’s so cool to have everyone be in one location.

I’m here to make new foreign friends and to see all types of culture, and then they’re dividing us.”

Defending World Cup giant slalom champion Marta Bassino cited organizational problems at her home world championships in Cortina last year—which was held without spectators because of the pandemic.

“Even without fans it was difficult and bothersome. The parking was an issue,” Bassino said.

“Those are the small details that make a difference.”

Construction delays are also an issue with the official handover to Milan-Cortina coming up at Sunday’s closing ceremony in Beijing.

A century-old sliding track in Cortina needs to be completely rebuilt at a cost of nearly $60 million. Work hasn’t started yet, although the Veneto region presented a reconstruction plan for the track in December.

In Baselga, refurbishment work on the outdoor speedskating track, again, has not started.

Likewise, the more than $1 billion slated for road and railway improvements, plus other infrastructure, has not been put to use for the most part.

“We are way behind,” organizing committee president Giovanni Malago, who is also president of the Italian Olympic Committee, said in November.

A new mayor in Turin has shown interest in hosting speedskating at the existing indoor oval built for the 2006 Games—if Baselga doesn’t work out.

Still, there are four years to go.

“We’ll put on a great show,” said Giuliano Razzoli, the 2010 Olympic slalom champion who likely competed in his last Olympics in Beijing. “And the entire world will want to come to Italy.” AP

A8 | S

unday, February 20, 2022 mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph Editor: Jun Lomibao

CHINA’S He Binghan competes in the men’s halfpipe qualification on Thursday in Zhangjiakou, China. AP

BEIJING OLYMPICS TURN POLITICAL B

By Stephen Wade The Associated Press

EIJING—For two weeks and more, China’s stance on questions about its politics and policies has been straightforward: It’s the Olympics, and we’re not talking about these things.

That changed Thursday at the Beijing organizing committee’s last regularly scheduled daily news conference, three days before the end of the Games. The persistent and polite refusal to answer such questions gave way to the usual state of affairs at news conferences with Chinese officials—emphatic, calibrated answers about the country’s most sensitive situations.

Taiwan? An indivisible part of

China. The Uyghur population of the Xinjiang region? Not being pushed into forced labor. China’s sovereignty?

Completely unassailable under international norms.

“What I want to say is that there is only one China in the world,” organizing committee spokeswoman Yan Jiarong said, calling it “a solemn position” for China. She referred to other assertions about China’s treatment of Uyghurs and living conditions in the northwestern region of Xinjiang as “based on lies.”

President Thomas Bach said International Olympic Committee (IOC) officials had talked with the Chinese about the statement, but he used measured words to explain it.

“This problem we did not ignore,” Bach said Friday at a news conference.

“Both organizations—BOCOG [Beijing organizers] and the IOC— have restated their unequivocal commitment to remain politically neutral as is it is required by the Olympic charter.”

It was only a matter of time before these topics burst at the seams. The run-up to the Games was overshadowed by a diplomatic

boycott led by the United States, which centered on China’s human-rights record—China was determined to keep the focus only on sports but is also very committed to vigorously defending its stances publicly.

In the final regularly scheduled briefing before the Games close on Sunday, Yan and IOC spokesman Mark Adams were peppered with questions about Taiwan, Xinjiang and the safety of Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai.

Following up on a question about Taiwan’s reported attempt to skip the opening ceremony, Yan asked for extra time to address the status of the selfgoverning island, which China views as its sovereign territory.

She often opened in English but switched to Chinese to make key points, rendered in English by an interpreter.

“Mark, could I just make some supplementary remarks?” Yan said in English. Then, shifting to Chinese: “Taiwan is an indivisible part of China and this is a well-recognized international principle and well recognized in the international community. We are always against the idea of politicizing the Olympic Games.”

Transgender swimmers bring spotlight to Ivy championship

C FOR Iszac Henig and Lia Thomas, it’s an example of the environment that has surrounded them for more than a year as they’ve sought to showcase their talents and compete at the sport’s highest level. AP

Mayweather’s team races way into Daytona 500

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AYTONA BEACH, Florida— Floyd Mayweather Jr. has a puncher’s chance at winning the Daytona 500.

The retired boxer can thank driver Kaz Grala for leading The Money Team Racing into Sunday’s season-opener with a last-lap pass that earned him a spot in Nascar’s biggest race.

The 23-year-old Grala overcame a speeding penalty on pit road to catch JJ Yeley and advance Thursday night in a Daytona 500 qualifying race.

Score another KO for Mayweather.

“I went from puke to puke,” Grala said. “Puking nervous to puking excited at the end.”

Daytona marks the

official debut of The Money Team Racing after a lengthy delay.

Grala took the No. 50 Chevrolet—a number chosen in a nod to Mayweather’s 50-0 record— into a race as one of the open cars that had to race its way into the Daytona 500.

Six teams came to Daytona battling for four “open” spots in Sunday’s 40-car field. Two spots were filled in time trials—former Formula One champion Jacques Villeneuve will make his Daytona 500 debut, as will Noah Gragson for Beard Motorsports—and one spot was available in each of the two qualifying races.

Grala had to be the highest

AMBRIDGE, Massachusetts— There isn’t much to indicate anything other than a typical college swim meet is taking place this week at Harvard University’s Blodgett Pool.

No demonstrations or protests outside the building. But there is evidence of the discussion surrounding the sport during the past year.

An “8 Against Hate” sign is

displayed above the pool between flags representing each of the schools competing in the Ivy League women’s swimming championship. Athletes from several schools also wore shirts featuring the statement.

There’s also the public address announcement made before every session that reminds spectators the conference is committed to putting on an event “free of racist, homophobic or

finisher among the “open” teams and got Mayweather into the Daytona 500 with an 18th-place finish.

“There really was no option but to make this race,” Grala said.

Mayweather—part of the recent

Nascar wave of celebrity ownership that includes Michael Jordan and Pitbull—did not attend the race. But he did FaceTime with Grala before the race and offered his young driver some encouragement.AP

DRIVER Kaz Grala takes the No. 50 Chevrolet—a number chosen in a nod to Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s 50-0 record in professional boxing. AP

Adams was immediately questioned by a non-Chinese reporter who suggested that Yan, herself, had “politicized” the Games by raising China’s stance on Taiwan.

Adams dodged the question.

“There are views on all sorts of things around the world, but our job is to make sure that the Games take place,” Adams said.

A Games volunteer, a young Chinese graduate student, got a question she did not expect when a reporter asked if she knew who Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai was and, further, did she believe Peng was safe.

Peng, once the world ’s topranked doubles player, three months ago accused a former high-ranking politician of sexual assault. Peng’s comments were immediately scrubbed from China’s censored internet.

“Well, I am sorry,” the young woman replied. “I don’t really know that.”

One reporter asked Adams directly about the IOC’s position on the reported existence of “concentration camps” in Xinjiang, and whether China was using forced labor there.

Adams suggested the question was not “particularly relevant” to the briefing, and then went on to praise the power of the Olympics to unite people.

Yan again made sure China’s view was heard.

“I think these questions are very much based on lies,” she said. “Some authorities have already disputed this false information. There is a lot of solid evidence. You are very welcome to refer to all that evidence and the facts.”

Yan had a similar response when a reporter asked Adams if IOC uniforms and other IOC garments were produced by Uyghur labor—or from Xinjiang cotton.

transphobic discrimination.”

For Lia Thomas and Iszac Henig, it’s an example of the environment that has surrounded both for more than a year as they’ve sought to showcase their talents and compete at the sport’s highest level.

Their personal journeys and participation in the Ivy championships are the latest in an ongoing national conversation about the rules that govern the participation of transgender athletes in college athletics.

Both Thomas, a senior at the University of Pennsylvania, and Henig, a junior at Yale University, are transgender.

Thomas is a transgender woman and former male swimmer for the Quakers, and has followed the NCAA and Ivy League’s rules since she began her transition in 2019 by starting hormone replacement therapy. Henig is swimming for Yale’s women’s team while transitioning to male, and he competes in some of the same events as Thomas.

Thomas has been a star this season, entering this week’s championship as the top qualifier in the 200-, 500- and 1,650-meter freestyle events. Some of her wins this season have been by wide margins, including in Thursday’s 500-meter freestyle final, which she won by half a pool length and set a new pool record in a time of 4:37.32. AP

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February 20, 2022

Placebos and their powerful healing effect on the body and mind

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Angelina Cruz on expanding her musical horizons

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By Stephanie Joy Ching

INCE her standout music scene debut in 2017 with her version of “Can’t Help Falling In Love”, Angelina Cruz has established her ability to capture her listeners’ hearts with her soulful vocals. Her stripped-back cover of “Hanggang Kailan” by Orange and Lemons back in 2018 also became a standout hit, now with over 10 million streams on Spotify and counting.

Now armed with an original song, “Ayoko Lang”, Angelina uses her newfound range to talk about struggling to heal and move on.

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A smoky, sultry yet melancholic number written by August Rigo, Angelina describes “Ayoko Lang” as extremely different from her previous works both sonically and thematically.

She also shared that the song was “one step closer to the sound that I’ve been wanting,” sharing that she took inspiration from the music she usually listened to like indie pop.

“My previous releases were really different. They were acoustic and really mellow compared to this. I’ve been doing that type of sound for so many years, kaya ngayon I’ve really decided to explore different sounds and different genres and I feel that this single is one step closer to that.”

Although the song speaks of moving on in terms of a romantic relationship, Angelina shares that she resonated more in terms of healing from past experiences instead of relationships.

“I feel like most of us, if not everyone, has experienced past relationships, past experiences where we have to heal or move on from something or someone, so I was able to really resonate with it.

Nakakarelate ako sa song na ito with my past experiences. Basta healing, and the song is really

about struggling to heal,” she confessed.

Another key feature of the song is the rustic sounding guitar that blended perfectly with Angelina’s vocals, provided by the

ANGELINA Cruz

ever-talented Filipino-Canadian Ricky Tillo, who rose to fame as the tour guitarist of Lady Gaga.

“I’m really grateful to work with them. I’m so happy na parang this is one step closer to doing what I really want to do, to explore new things and different artists. It’s really nice and it’s super fulfilling.”

With this release now out, Angelina now feels more emboldened to try out new things with her music.

“I’ve been learning the keyboard and posting my covers on my instagram, but i’m still really trying to master the keyboard,” she further shared.

From trying out new genres and subjects to learning a new instrument, Angelina’s future as a musician looks to be a very interesting ride.

“Ayoko Lang”

by Angelina Cruz is no available on all digital streaming platforms under Universal Record.

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soundstrip.businessmirror@gmail.com | FEBRUARY 20, 2022

BUSINESS

SoundSampler

by Tony M. Maghirang

New from Spoon, Loner, Snail Mail & Sam Fender plus OPM VA’s

LONER Make Noise

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EDROOM pop musician Loner aka Lean Ordinario has been trafficking in mellow electronica to foreground his thoughts on romance and heartbreak. “Make Noise,” his latest EP, may appear he’s ready to jump into the merry pranksters’ bandwagon but majority of his new tracks remain in the sad sack zone.

It’s not a misery rut, by any chance, because cuts like “Cut To The Chase,” “Ikaw Lamang” and the titular track radiates with the giddy feel of happy release by your lonesome.

In that context, even the boisterous beat of “New To Me” seems right at home with the laidback company.

SPOON Lucifer on the Sofa

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OR most music fans, critically acclaimed American band Spoon have always existed between user-friendly pop and the more raucous yet compelling

strain of guitar-driven rock.

Ten albums into an illustrious career, they double down on the former, proffering a string of relentlessly massive choruses, crowd pleasing hooks and striking chords that will likely resonate with the next generation of power-pop bands.

Frontman Brett Daniels’ soulful voice is a thing of beauty stitching together the acoustic elegance of “My Babe” to the shifting melodicism of Wild” to the ecstatic blues rock of “The Devil & Mr. Jones.” ‘Lucifer in the Sofa’ is a handsome package of staggering breadth.

SNAIL MAIL Valentine

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OO late for this month’s red-letter day, you say?

No worries. The Valentine on the album title refers to affairs of the heart that have gone wrong. Right at the title track, vocalist Lindsey Jordan asks, “So why do you want to erase me, my darling Valentine?”

Elsewhere, on “Headlock,” apparently a song about suicidal tendencies, Lindsey bares her jealous heart, singing, “When did you start seeing her?” Both songs are of a piece with other tracks such as “Ben Franklin” that deals with the darker side of falling out of love. The strange thing, you go through the pains of loss since the luscious soundscapes dished out by folk-pop band Snail Mail are

such attractive backdrops.

There’s beauty in hurt? You tell me.

SAM FENDER Seventeen Going Under

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IDING on a musical platform that shouts out Bruce Springsteen wannabe, 27-year old singer/ songwriter Sam Fender’s sophomore album goes for broke not for “Thunder Road” but for the working class.

Then again, not John Lennon’s “Working Class Hero” but for the anonymous workingman who’s marginalized economically and politically.

So, you get fist raising anthems and stirring romantic tunes that warms the warmth and spurs the mind to cry for the dispossessed. They’re enough to overcome Fender’s bleak observations even as they give hope to fight for another day.

mixed during the live stream.

Megumi Acorda is a favorite in this corner so do Shirehound & Busking, no question about that.

The biggest surprise is The Alex Pinpin Propaganda Machine whose two contributions,“Kahon” and “Ano Ang Aming Kasalanan?,” are Rage Against The Machine-like adaptation of the progressive poetry of Alex Pinpin, one of the Tagaytay 5 abducted by the military in 2006 and subsequently accused of being “communist rebels.”

That is, if RATM backpedaled to a more accessible, less strident rock attack. Alyana Cabral’s “Jimmy’s Song” belongs to the same spectrum with the acoustic singer/songwriter adopting a Peter, Paul & Mary sensitive pose in describing the travails of a detained activist.

For You I’ll Stay: A 2021 GSS Sampler

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VARIOUS ARTISTS Alternatripph: Pa​-Extend Po!

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N all live! Compilation, the main agenda here is that All of the songs were recorded and

SSUED by a queer-run, queer-focused cassette label, this sampler wants you to check your transphobia, homophobia, sexism, and toxic machismo by the door. Once done, you get to savor the harder-thanthou punk rock of Catpuke, the metal ‘gaze of Polar Lows and the twee pop of Grrl Cloud. The ‘fuck you’ implied in the label description is obvious only in the punchy rockers but make no mistake, it grows on you slithering underneath the more accessible fun stuff.

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Placebos and their powerful healing effect on the body and mind

By Elissa H. Patterson & Hans Schroder University of Michigan

D

id you ever feel your own shoulders relax when you saw a friend receive a shoulder massage? If you said “yes,” congratulations, your brain is using its power to create a “placebo effect.” If you said “no,” you’re not alone. Thankfully, the brain is trainable.

Since the 1800s, the word placebo has been used to refer to a fake treatment, meaning one that does not contain any active, physical substance. You may have heard of placebos referred to as “sugar pills.”

Today, placebos play a crucial role in medical studies in which some participants are given the treatment containing the active ingredients of the medicine, and others are given a placebo. These types of studies help tell researchers which medicines are effective, and how effective they are. Surprisingly, however, in some areas of medicine, placebos themselves provide patients with clinical improvement.

As two psychologists interested in how psychological factors affect physical conditions and beliefs about mental health, we help our patients heal from various threats to well-being. Could the placebo effect tell us something new about the power of our minds and how our bodies heal?

Real-life placebo effects Scientists today define these so-called placebo effects as the positive outcomes that cannot be scientifically explained by the physical effects of the treatment. Research suggests that the placebo effect is caused by positive expectations, the provider-patient relationship and the rituals around receiving medical care.

Depression, pain, fatigue, allergies, irritable bowel syndrome, Parkinson’s disease and even osteoarthritis of the knee are just a few of the conditions that respond positively to placebos.

Despite their effectiveness, there is stigma and debate about using placebos in US medicine. And in routine medical practice, they are rarely used on purpose. But based on new understanding of how nonpharmacological aspects of care work, safety and patient preferences, some experts have begun recommending increas-

“The power of the placebo comes down to the power of the mind and a person’s skill at harnessing it.” Photo by William Farlow on Unsplash ing the use of placebos in medicine.

The US Food and Drug Administration, the organization that regulates which medicines are allowed to go to the consumer market, requires that all new medicines be tested in randomized controlled trials that show they are better than placebo treatments. This is an important part of ensuring the public has access to high-quality medications.

But studies have shown that the placebo effect is so strong that many drugs don’t provide more relief than placebo treatments. In those instances, drug developers and researchers sometimes see placebo effects as a nuisance that masks the treatment benefits of the manufactured drug.

That sets up an incentive for drug manufacturers to try to do away with placebos so that drugs pass the FDA tests.

Placebos are such a problem for the enterprise of drug development that a company has developed a coaching script to discourage patients who received placebos from reporting benefits.

shown that it is even more likely to make them feel better because all of those elements subtly convey the message that they must be good treatments.

Part of the beauty of placebos is that they activate existing systems of healing within the mind and body. Elements of the body once thought to be outside of an individual’s control are now known to be modifiable. A legendary example of this is Tibetan monks who meditate to generate enough body heat to dry wet sheets in 40-degree Fahrenheit temperatures.

A field called “Mind Body Medicine” developed from the work of cardiologist Herbert Benson, who observed those monks and other experts mastering control over automatic processes of the body. It’s well understood in the medical field that many diseases are made worse by the automatic changes that occur in the body under stress.

If a placebo interaction reduces stress, it can reduce certain symptoms in a scientifically explainable way.

How does a placebo work?

Nontoxic and universally applicable

The power of the placebo comes down to the power of the mind and a person’s skill at harnessing it. If a patient gets a tension headache and their trusted doctor gives them a medicine that they feel confident will treat it, the relief they expect is likely to decrease their stress. And since stress is a trigger for tension headaches, the magic of the placebo response is not so mysterious anymore.

Now let’s say that the doctor gives the patient an expensive brand-name pill to take multiple times per day. Studies have

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In addition to the ever-increasing body of evidence surrounding their effectiveness, placebos offer multiple benefits.

They have no side effects. They are cheap. They are not addictive. They provide hope when there might not be a specific chemically active treatment available. They mobilize a person’s own ability to heal through multiple pathways, including those studied in the field of psychoneuroimmunology. This is the study of relationships between the immune sysFebruary 20, 2022

tem, hormones and the nervous system.

By defining a placebo as the act of setting positive expectations and providing hope through psychosocial interactions, it becomes clear that placebos can enhance traditional medical treatments.

Using placebos to help people in an ethical way The placebo effect is recognized as being powerful enough that the American Medical Association considers it ethical to use placebos to enhance healing on their own or with standard medical treatments if the patient agrees to it.

Clinically, doctors use the principles of placebo in a more subtle way than it is used in research studies. A 2013 study from the UK found that 97 percent of physicians acknowledged in a survey having used some form of placebo during their career. This might be as simple as expressing a strong belief in the likelihood that a patient will feel better from whatever treatment the doctor prescribes, even if the treatment itself is not chemically powerful.

There is now even an international Society for Interdisciplinary Placebo Studies.

They have written a consensus statement about the use of placebos in medicine and recommendations for how to talk with patients about it. In the past, patients who improved from a placebo effect might have felt embarrassed, as if their ailment were not real.

But with the medical field’s growing acceptance and promotion of placebo effects, we can envision a time when patients and clinicians take pride in their skill at harnessing the placebo response. The Conversation