BusinessMirror February 26, 2023

Rise of PHL’s P28-billion ‘healthcare currency’

Health Information Management seen as biggest growth driver in IT-BPM sector by 2028

By Roderick L. Abad Contributor

Carelon Global Solutions Philippines Inc. Country Head Nora Terrado recently revealed the rise of “currency of healthcare,” which, she said, is being managed pretty well in the Philippines.

Health Information Management (HIM), she added, is “one of the fastest-growing segments of the IT-BPM (Information Technology and Business Process Management) sector,” domestically and internationally.

As you know, the country, or specifically the IT-BPM industry, has this bold ambition to grow this industry to P28 billion by 2028, assuming that we have all ingredients to build it,” she said at a recent news conference for the official rebranding launch of Legato Health Technologies Philippines Inc. to Carelon Global Solutions Philippines Inc., held at their headquarters in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig.

“Now, healthcare, health information, and the related health practice, if you will, here in the Philippines represent around 10 percent to 13 percent [of the outsourcing industry]. And that is actually a similar share of the entire global landscape where 10 percent of the offshore services globally would really be for healthcare. So we are growing, accordingly,” she stressed.

Apart from the United States— seen to remain a growth driver in terms of demand—other major emerging markets for the local HIM sector include some of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) membercountries, such as Australia, Germany, Japan, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.

Complex healthcare problems

HEALTHCARE is, indeed, a complex industry the world over because a lot of systems are fragmented.

The most essential one that needs to be fixed, according to Terrado, would be the electronic medi-

cal records system. She cited, for instance, that it should be “improved [or] enhanced to make it more accessible for health services.”

For her, a change in the focus of consumers is also a must, explaining, “The consumers now demand whole health, not just in the Philippines. It’s important to actually improve primary care because if we focus on it, we can address the issue on affordability.”

Given the various challenges like the unabated high inflation rate worldwide, healthcare keeps on becoming exposed to the volatilities of the economic dynamics.

So what most healthcare providers and payers have been focusing on is to make health services affordable,” the top executive noted. And how to do that? Terrado recommended the use of technology and ensuring they have to be smart enough to utilize data and insights, and bring them all together.

Balance care, which is the service, with data-driven digital solutions. And that would require the use of technology and expertise,” she explained.

Care beyond the bedside APART from traditionally taking charge of the patients, providing care to them can be accomplished more than the confines of a hospital.

“The profession of healthcare is

beyond bedside,” stated the country head of Carelon.

In fact, she shared that there is now a high demand for telehealth, behavioral health, and even the social needs, which have an impact on the quality of life of an individual.

That is how it will evolve,” Terrado said of the future prospects for the entire healthcare industry.

Like what their organization strongly believes in, she also expects, “Clinical care continuum is really going to be an important aspect in how we will evolve and how we will solve the complex problem in healthcare.”

Sustaining growth

AMID the internal and external factors besetting the healthcare industry at present, including the Covid-19 pandemic, the outlook for the local HIM sector is still upbeat this year.

We see it growing about—on the conservative side—at least 13 to 15 percent, assuming the ingredients are right,” Terrado projected.

With this in mind, she pointed

out that it’s important for the industry to really focus on the essential things to build a stronger ecosystem.

The top official of Carelon in the country underscored the significance of honing further the skills of the Filipino workforce and improving the infrastructure in propelling the growth of this sector.

“Remember that the world is changing so fast. So to just prioritize on what the Philippines [ought to do], as a destination for healthcare services, the most important aspect in addition to demand generation is talent development. That’s one,” she said.

Second is infrastructure development in which our partners from the government are focusing on,” she added.

The ease of doing business would be important as well, Terrado mentioned, while noting also policy shaping to align regulations to that of the market demand.

That’s one thing we really appreciate our partners in government has been looking at,” she stressed.

Rebrand, expand CARELON Global Solutions Philippines Inc., formerly Legato Health Technologies Philippines, is known industry-wide as a leading provider of quality digital tools that streamline business operations for healthcare organizations.

Since its inception in December of 2018, the company has expanded with four offices all over the country—two in Manila and the other two in Iloilo—with a total workforce of nearly 7,000.

With its recent rebranding, this 100-percent export services company is now focused more on driving for exchange revenues for the country, with the US market in mind.

“I am very excited about the expansion plan,” Terrado bared of what’s in store for their organization, including their headcount target of 1,500 in the next 24 months.

But initially, what excites me is that we intend to create our core talent, our core team that we will train up to be health practitioners

in business process management who are trained in technology, data analytics, as well as enhance their expertise.”

She reiterated that they “really have to invest in high-quality, top talents who know the essence of the entire healthcare journey,” and develop them “not just in the domain experience, but also being knowledgeable and skillful in learning the essential digital capabilities around the delivery of care.”

Specifically, she cited the practitioners of healthcare, such as nurses and allied services, as well as people who will be molded to become experts in robotics, process automation and other technologies that would allow them “to create a slice and dice of data and convert them into information.”

Such developments in the pipeline are a clear “demonstration that the offshore services here in the country continues to go up the value chain,” Terrado said.

broader look at today’s business

THE Philippine peso may have recently taken a beating, but another currency in the country has appreciated—health information.

TERRADO at a recent news conference for the official rebranding launch of Legato Health Technologies Philippines Inc. to Carelon Global Solutions Philippines Inc., held at their headquarters in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig, on January 30, 2023.

Covid hasn’t taught the world how to deal with the next deadly virus

By Michelle Fay Cortez Bloomberg News

abrupt reversal of its Covid Zero policy, which took it to an extreme, has cast doubts over the approach, and left a gaping hole in the world’s game plan for the next pandemic.

Even outside China, elimination measures such as stay-athome orders proved politically unpopular and difficult to carry out. With some medical experts doubting whether airborne respiratory pathogens can be suppressed, global public health officials are now without a consensus on how best to contain new infectious diseases.

Early in the pandemic, proponents argued the strategy was morally, scientifically and economically superior to so-called mitigation approaches, such as slowing the spread of disease through physical distancing and limiting social gatherings or letting the virus

loose among the young while protecting more vulnerable members of the population.

A s cases spread throughout the world, the full weight of the policy emerged, demanding strict border controls, lockdowns and extensive testing and contacttracing. But it also required fast action and global coordination, which was difficult to achieve.

“ In hindsight, people could have said let’s throw everything we can at this pandemic and try to stamp it out,” said epidemiologist Michael Baker, who was the architect of New Zealand’s early elimination Covid response. “I think we had a reasonable chance

of doing it. But the opportunity is very early on in a pandemic. Once there’s global distribution, you’ve got a huge challenge.” C hina’s experience, marked by months-long lockdowns, isolation and family separations, showed simultaneously that elimination was possible and that it came at a cost too high for most countries, especially democratic ones, to bear.

Th e first example was in Wuhan, where Covid pervaded the city in late 2019 and was wiped out less than five months later.

‘Proof of concept’ “IT was quite a revelation that China was able to stop transmission in 2020 in Wuhan,” said Baker, who recently became the director of the Public Health Communication Centre in New Zealand, a non-profit group designed to improve the way medical information and research is conveyed. “That was the proof of concept.”

New Zealand, which had a little more of a heads up, followed China’s example. It halted the march of Covid with an intense, two-month stay-at-home order, plus other measures like contact tracing and quarantines. A handful of other governments in Asia

also pursued the policy, including in Hong Kong, Australia, Japan, Taiwan and Singapore, with varying degrees of success. Vietnam, Laos and Mongolia, with long borders and limited resources, also used it.

Th e initial benefits were clear. All were able to curb infections until pharmaceutical interventions like vaccines and antivirals were developed. During that time, healthcare providers learned how to best treat patients, such as giving them steroids and positioning them on their stomachs, which boosted survival.

Per-capita death rates in Covid Zero countries came in far below those that opted for mitigation, also known as flattening the curve.

W hile President Xi Jinping touted China’s success at saving lives, the unrelenting restrictions long after vaccines became widely available triggered protests, while dragging on the economy.

A cademics said the severity of China’s approach may have tainted the world’s perceptions of elimination measures which, when applied less harshly, have helped to contain deadly diseases like polio, measles and SARS.

“It created a false alternative in which a draconian, individual rightsdestroying lockdown was seen as one option, and the other was to do nothing,” said Amesh Adalja, a senior scholar at Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security.

C hina imposed a tracking system that forced millions of people to routinely get laboratory-run PCR tests to do things like go to the office, eat in a restaurant or ride the subway. Simply being in the proximity of someone who later tested positive could lead to home confinement or being taken to a quarantine camp.

I n Shanghai, 25 million people were locked down for two months in 2022. In other cities, workers fled manufacturing plants that used closed-loop systems that kept them inside the factories.

R esidents scaled fences and shoppers rushed exits when rumors of infections cropped up, for fear of being forced into weeks of isolation. Protests, once unheard of, erupted. I n the face of such discontent, China abruptly dropped its stringent elimination measures in December.

C hina wasn’t alone in grappling with the costs of elimination. Thousands of Australians caught outside the country when Covid flared were denied re-entry for more than 18 months, while

Aunified global response is now even less likely in the next pandemic. The number of emerging infectious diseases continues to grow due to global warming and the development of rural areas that are home to wild animals, which act as hosts for many viruses.

Melbourne endured six lockdowns over 262 days in a bid to keep the virus out. New Zealand’s “Go Hard, Go Early” approach was also criticized when tough lockdown steps led to rising unemployment and domestic violence. Both countries have since seen a change in leadership.

Public revolt

EVEN governments that decided against elimination, opting instead to flatten the curve, struggled to persuade people to follow basic control methods. In the US and many parts of Europe, topics like mask wearing and immunizations for high-risk people became political quagmires, despite studies showing they slowed infections and saved lives.

It was particularly difficult to persuade people to accept sacrifices like online schooling and social isolation without knowing how long the pandemic would last. Especially in the early stages, health officials were unsure which mitigation measures would prove successful or how long it would take to develop pharmaceutical interventions.

We were hoping we could switch this thing off,” with immunity from vaccination or previous infection preventing transmission of the virus, said Jodie McVernon,

director of epidemiology at the University of Melbourne’s Doherty Institute. “Those hopes were relatively short lived. We moved on from the idea that we can immunize the world and turn the infection off.”

Th e nature of Covid, with its mutations and hyper-infectivity, made elimination particularly challenging.

When you are dealing with Omicron, there is no threading the needle,” McVernon said.

“Once Omicron was out of the bottle, there was no squeezing the genie back in.”

A u nified global response is now even less likely in the next pandemic. The number of emerging infectious diseases continues to grow due to global warming and the development of rural areas that are home to wild animals, which act as hosts for many viruses.

C ountries that were able to initially follow an elimination strategy are likely to pursue it again, while those that couldn’t are unlikely to be swayed by the example set during Covid, said Chen Xi, an associate professor specializing in aging and public health at Yale University in Connecticut.

“ It all comes down to a country’s culture and political governance structure,” he said.

FOR much of the past century, a strategy known as elimination was the gold standard for dealing with deadly new viruses. But China’s

ONLOOKERS stand by the road during a protest in Beijing, in November last year. BLOOMBERG

Adani maps comeback strategy after $132 billion Hindenburg rout

By Chris Kay & Preeti Singh

ALMOST a month after a bombshell short seller report lopped off $132 billion in market value from Gautam Adani’s empire, the Indian billionaire has hired top-shelf US crisis communication and legal teams, scrapped a $850 million coal plant purchase, reined in expenses, repaid some debt and promises to repay more.

The ports-to-power conglomerate helmed by Adani—who used to be Asia’s richest person—is hoping to claw back the narrative with this playbook and calm jittery investors and lenders after US-based Hindenburg Research on Jan. 24 accused it of accounting fraud, stock manipulation and other corporate governance lapses. The Adani Group denies these allegations.

Adani and his aides have been in damage repair mode ever since. Besides a campaign to portray themselves as responsible borrowers with prepayments and on-time payments of debt, executives have also kicked off a series of meetings to pacify overseas bondholders, who were tapped by the tycoon for more than $8 billion funding in recent years.

Reflecting the group’s realization of the severity of the hit to its image, it has brought in Kekst CNC as a global communications advisor, Bloomberg News reported on February 11. The public relations firm co-headquartered in

New York and Munich is known for its work with other corporate blowups in recent years, like WeWork Inc.’s valuation implosion in 2019.

Kekst’s mandate is to help the group regain investor trust by laying out the proper context, not just on the Hindenburg allegations but other concerns that have swirled around the fundamental strength of the business, a person familiar with the matter said.

Kekst is working with Adani’s C-suite and communications team, and could put them through a “situation room”—the firm’s term for a simulated crisis in which executives are bombarded with tweets, calls from journalists and other stressful developments, said the person, who asked not to be named as they’re not authorized to speak publicly.

The Adani Group has also engaged American law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz to fight back against the short seller’s claims, the Financial Times reported citing unnamed sources. Wachtell is one of the most expensive US law firms

and has experience in defending clients facing attacks by shareholder activists.

A spokesperson for Adani Group didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Kekst declined to comment, while Wachtell didn’t respond to requests to comment.

‘Lingering questions’

THE moves show that “Adani, even after the stock market bloodbath, can still afford good lawyers,” said Bhaskar Chakravorti, the dean of global business at Tufts University’s Fletcher School. “As a global investor, I would still have lingering questions.”

His comments reflect how the saga has grown beyond the group to cast a shadow on India’s ability to rival China as an investment destination, sparking speculation from billionaire investor George Soros that it might even spur a “democratic revival” in the country. Adani is perceived to be close to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has not directly addressed the issue, but has lashed out at opposition parties who have called into question his relationship with the billionaire by highlighting their own past corruption scandals.

Narrative aside, investors say they’re watching two things: the group’s high leverage ratios and its ability to generate cash flow after losing $2.5 billion in fresh funds from its withdrawn share sale.

Adani management has been making steps to address these concerns. They told bondholders on a call Thursday that the goal is to cut the group’s ratio of net debt to Ebitda to below three times next year, from the current 3.2 times, Bloomberg reported citing people familiar with the matter.

Adani Power Ltd. has also called off a plan to acquire a coal plant project by DB Power Ltd. in central India, as part of the group’s overall effort to curtail capital expenditure and conserve cash.

Observers say more such moves may be required to turn the crisis around.

The group has “some very valuable assets” that generate cashflow, said Trinh Nguyen, a senior economist at Natixis SA in Hong Kong. “Should they want to, they can sell these assets and can find buyers.”

Repaying and prepaying of borrowings, both by the conglomer -

ates’ units and the Adani family themselves, have featured in the push to convince investors that the group does not face any liquidity or solvency issues despite its market value being cut in half.

The tycoon and his family prepaid $1.11 billion worth of borrowings on Feb. 6 to retrieve pledged shares in three Adani Group firms.

The ports unit announced plans on Feb. 8 to repay 50 billion rupees debt in the year starting April. The conglomerate also plans to prepay a $500 million bridge loan due next month after some banks balked at refinancing the debt, Bloomberg News reported.

“The current market volatility is temporary,” the tycoon said in the earnings statement of Adani Enterprises Ltd., the group’s flagship firm, which he said “will continue to work with the twin objectives of moderate leverage and looking at strategic opportunities to expand and grow.”

The conglomerate is now choosing slow and steady growth over the breakneck, mostly debt-fueled, expansion spree of recent years. The Adani Group has rapidly diversified from its ports and coal-based businesses to airports, green energy, data centers, cement, digital services and media.

Global audit

IT remains to be seen if the new strategy will convince investors to move past the Hindenburg report, or if the short seller’s allegations will continue to dog the tycoon. The conglomerate has been noticeably reluctant to address calls for independent investigation into the claims of corporate malfeasance and lack of regulatory compliance.

In recent earnings filings, Adani-owned Ambuja Cements Ltd.

and Adani Green Energy said the group is considering hiring independent firms to look into the issues of regulatory compliance around related party transactions and internal controls, but no firm announcements have been made so far.

Confirming a top-shelf global auditor would be “a positive move,” Chakravorti said, though it “doesn’t sound like a top-to-down thorough opening of the books.”

The tycoon also plans to appoint a financial controller to oversee his various trusts and privately held companies, the Financial Times reported citing unnamed sources.

For now, Adani appears to be getting some reprieve from market losses after MSCI Inc. said it’ll postpone implementation of free float updates to the May index review. Any index cuts by MSCI of Adani Group shares can affect funds holding $15 billion, Rebecca Sin, a senior analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, wrote in a report Thursday.

In the long term, it will need to reckon with a reality in which its core growth strategy—rapid expansion through cheap debt—is no longer within reach.

The surge in borrowing costs for the company’s units in particular comes on the heels of the end of the global era of cheap funding, which the conglomerate took full advantage of.

“I don’t see it as a cakewalk but they seem pretty confident they can clear the debt obligations,” said Kranthi Bathini, chief market strategist at Mumbai-based WealthMills Securities Pvt. “We need to see how they refinance their debt.” With assistance from Ishika Mookerjee, Finbarr Flynn, Giulia Morpurgo, P. R. Sanjai, Tasos Vossos, Archana Narayanan and Ashutosh Joshi/Bloomberg

FDA’s own reputation could restrain misinformation fight

By Matthew Perrone AP Health Writer

WASHINGTON—The government agency responsible for tracking down contaminated peanut butter and defective pacemakers is taking on a new health hazard: online misinformation.

It’s an unlikely role for the Food and Drug Administration, a sprawling, century-old bureaucracy that for decades directed most its communications toward doctors and corporations.

But FDA Commissioner Dr. Robert Califf has spent the last year warning that growing “distortions and half-truths” surrounding vaccines and other medical products are now “a leading cause of death in America.”

“Almost no one should be dying of Covid in the US today,” Califf told The Associated Press, noting the government’s distribution of free vaccines and antiviral medications.

“People who are denying themselves that opportunity are dying because they’re

misinformed.”

Califf, who first led the agency under President Barack Obama, said the FDA could once rely on a few communication channels to reach Americans.

“We’re now in a 24/7 sea of information without a user guide for people out there in society,” Califf said. “So this requires us to change the way we communicate.”

The FDA’s answer? Short YouTube videos, long Twitter threads and other online postings debunking medical misinformation, including bogus Covid-19 remedies like ivermectin, the antiparasite drug intended for farm animals. “Hold your horses y’all. Ivermectin may be trending, but it still isn’t authorized or approved to treat Covid-19,” the FDA told its 500,000 Twitter followers in April.

On Instagram, FDA memes referencing Scooby-Doo and SpongeBob urge Americans to get boosted and ignore misinformation, alongside staid agency postings about the arrival of National

Handwashing Awareness Week.

The AP asked more than a half-dozen health communication experts about the FDA’s fledgling effort. They said it mostly reflects the latest science on combating misinformation, but they also questioned whether it’s reaching enough people to

have an impact—and whether separate FDA controversies are undercutting the agency’s credibility.

“The question I start with is, ‘Are you a trusted messenger or not?’” said Dr. Seema Yasmin, a Stanford University professor who studies medical misinformation and trains

health officials in responding to it. “In the context of FDA, we can highlight multiple incidents which have damaged the credibility of the agency and deepened distrust of its scientific decisions.”

In the last two years the FDA has come under fire for its controversial approval of an unproven Alzheimer’s drug as well as its delayed response to a contaminated baby formula plant, which contributed to a national supply shortage.

Meanwhile, the agency’s approach to booster vaccinations has been criticized by some of its top vaccine scientists and advisers.

“It’s not fair, but it doesn’t take too many negative stories to unravel the public’s trust,” said Georgetown University’s Leticia Bode, who studies political communication and misinformation.

About a quarter of Americans said they have “a lot” of trust in the FDA’s handling of Covid-19, according to a survey conducted last year by University of Pennsylvania researchers, while less than half said they have “some

trust.”

“The FDA’s word is still one of the most highly regarded pieces of information people want to see,” said Califf, who was confirmed to his second stint leading the FDA last February.

As commissioner he is trying to tackle a host of issues, including restructuring the agency’s food safety program and more aggressively deploying FDA scientists to explain vaccine decisions in the media.

The array of challenges before the FDA raises questions about the new focus on misinformation. And Califf acknowledges the limits of what his agency can accomplish.

“Anyone who thinks the government’s going to solve this problem alone is deluding themselves,” he said. “We need a vast network of knowledgeable people who devote part of their day to combating misinformation.”

Georgetown’s Bode said the agency is “moving in the right

FOOD and Drug Administration Commissioner Robert Califf testifies via video during a House Commerce Oversight and Investigations subcommittee hybrid hearing on the nationwide baby formula shortage on May 25, 2022, in Washington. Califf has spent much of his last year on the job warning that growing “distortions and half-truths” surrounding vaccines and other medical products are a major driver of sickness and death in America. AP/KEVIN WOLF

GAUTAM ADANI BLOOMBERG PHOTO

The World

Ardern, now Sturgeon: ‘Brutality’ of politics hits women the hardest

By Olivia Konotey-Ahulu

UK government blocked Scottish legislation on gender recognition, a campaign that received the full support of the Scottish leader.

of the global network Women Political Leaders, and a former vice-president of the European Parliament.

Nicola Sturgeon announced she was stepping down as Scotland’s first minister after eight years last week, prompting comparisons with former New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern who also cited the chronic pressures of the job. Sturgeon herself said a “brutality” toward those in public office has emerged in recent years. Over the course of their tenures, both were praised

for their leadership styles. Both had also faced, among a plethora of political issues, a barrage of sexist attacks.

At the time of stepping down, Sturgeon and Ardern were facing sizable political challenges. Ardern’s domestic popularity was waning to the extent that she might have lost the next general election. Meanwhile, Sturgeon’s resignation came shortly after the

FDA’s own reputation could restrain misinformation fight

Continued from A3

direction,” on misinformation, particularly its “Just a Minute” series of factchecking videos, which feature FDA’s vaccine chief Dr. Peter Marks succinctly addressing a single Covid-19 myth or topic.

But how many people are seeing them?

“FDA’s YouTube videos have a minuscule audience,” said Brandon Nyhan, who studies medical misinformation at Dartmouth College. The people watching FDA videos “are not the people we typically think about when we think about misinformation.”

Research by Nyhan and his colleagues suggests that factchecking Covid-19 myths briefly dispels false beliefs, but the effects are “ephemeral.” Nyhan and other researchers noted the most trusted medical information source for most Americans is their doctor, not the government.

Even if the audience for FDA’s work is small, experts in online analytics say it may be having a bigger impact.

An FDA page dubbed “Rumor Control” debunks a long list of false claims about vaccines, such as that they contain pesticides. A Google search for “vaccines” and “pesticides” brings up the FDA’s response as a top result, because the search engine prioritizes credible websites.

“Because the FDA puts that information on its website, it will actually crowd out the misinformation from the top 10 or 20 Google results,” said David Lazer, a political and computer scientist at Northeastern University.

Perhaps the most promising approach to fighting misinformation is also the toughest to execute: introduce people to emerging misinformation and explain why it’s false before they encounter it elsewhere.

That technique, called “pre-bunking,” presents challenges for large government agencies.

“Is the FDA nimble enough to have a detection system for misinformation and then quickly put out pre-bunking information within hours or days?” Lazer asked.

Califf said the FDA tracks new misinformation trends online and quickly decides whether—and when—to intervene.

“Sometimes calling attention to an issue can make it worse,” he notes.

Other communication challenges are baked into how the FDA operates. For instance, the agency consults an independent panel of vaccine specialists on major decisions about Covid-19 shots, considered a key step in fostering trust in the process.

But some of those experts have disagreed on who should receive Covid-19 vaccine boosters or how strong the evidence is for their use, particularly among younger people.

The FDA then largely relies on news media to translate those debates and its final decisions, which are often laden with scientific jargon.

The result has been “utter confusion,” about the latest round of Covid-19 boosters, says Lawrence Gostin, a public health specialist at Georgetown.

“If you’re trying to counteract misinformation on social media your first job is to clarify, simplify and explain things in an understandable way to the lay public,” said Gostin. “I don’t think anyone could say that FDA has done a good job with that.”

But the decision to step back from power plays out against a background of intense hostility and scrutiny, particularly for women leaders. Sturgeon, Scotland’s longest serving first minister, said last year she was worried sexism could be putting women off political life, and that in some ways the issue has got worse since her career started decades earlier. Former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark also said that Ardern encountered “a level of hatred and vitriol which in my experience is unprecedented in our country.”

Although social media has intensified the nature of criticism of politicians across the board, what female leaders face is unique, said Silvana KochMehrin, president and founder

By Victoria Milo & David Rising The Associated Press

BANGKOK—The 3-year-old boy had taken only two steps from his mother’s lap when a deafening explosion rang out. The blast caught the woman in the face, blurring her vision. She forced her eyes open and searched for her son around the jetty where they’d been waiting for a ferry, near their small village in southcentral Myanmar.

Through the smoke, she spotted him. His body lay on the ground; his feet and legs mangled with flesh peeled away, shattered bones exposed.

“He was crying and telling me that it hurt so much,” she said. “He didn’t know what just happened.” But she did.

The boy had detonated a landmine, an explosive device designed to mutilate or destroy whatever comes into its path.

Most countries have banned landmines for decades, since the UN Mine Ban Treaty was adopted in 1997. But in Myanmar, which isn’t party to the treaty, the use of mines has soared since the military seized power from the democratically elected government in February 2021 and armed resistance has skyrocketed.

Landmines are planted by all sides of the conflict in Myanmar, and they’re responsible for surging civilian casualties, including an alarming number of children as victims, according to an AP analysis based on data and reports from nonprofit and humanitarian organizations, interviews with civilian victims, families, local aid workers, military defectors and monitoring groups.

In 2022, UN figures show, civilian casualties from landmine and unexploded ordnance spiked by nearly 40 percent. Experts say this and other official tallies are vastly undercounted, largely due to difficulties monitoring and reporting during the conflict.

Despite incomplete numbers, experts agree the increase in Myanmar is the largest ever recorded.

Virtually no area is immune to the threat. Over the past two years, mine contamination has spread to

“Not only do you have the extremely complex and demanding job of running the country,” KochMehrin said, “you’re seen as representing women and that comes with a kind of specific gendered attacks.”

Women’s participation in politics across the world is still lagging.

As of September 2022, only 21 percent of government ministers were women, and gender parity won’t be reached for about half a century at the current rate of progress. Once in office, research suggests they have to contend with a greater amount of hostility than their male counterparts. Women elected officials are three times as likely to be targeted by abuse and harassment than their counterparts, according to a US study.

That’s partly because women are often judged on different

criteria to men. “There is ample research that female leaders are scrutinized more harshly and held to a higher standard in their jobs,” said Michael Smets, a professor at Oxford University. This is the case “especially when they are trailblazers in their organizations—or nations,” he said.

One example of that kind of scrutiny came just last year, when a video emerged of Finland’s Prime Minister Sanna Marin at a party. It was met with so much outrage that she was forced to take a drugs test in response to accusations of misconduct. Women in politics have also called out the harassment they face not just from the public, but within their profession: last year more than 120 politicians in Belgium signed an open letter condemning the “sexist, sexual and psychological violence by government officials” faced by some on a daily basis.

The growing challenges for women in political life contrasts

with efforts to have better gender representation among decision makers because of the attached benefits. Women policy makers prioritize issues that benefit the most vulnerable in society, such as healthcare, welfare and education, according to research by King’s College London: in India for example, there were 62 percent more drinking water projects in areas with women-led councils than in councils led by men. As Scotland and New Zealand figure out the legacy of their leaders, and what direction they will take next, Sturgeon’s and Ardern’s resignations provide an opportunity to re-evaluate what we expect from our leaders, KochMehrin said. “It’s about what kind of political environment do we have, what kind of leaders are successful in that?” she said. “People should not be afraid to go into politics.” With assistance from Ella Ceron and Kelsey Butler/Bloomberg

small family-run plot in Shan state. They’d just left to dig for sweet potatoes when the father of one of the boys heard a blast. He rushed to help but was too late. They’d been killed instantly. They’d triggered a mine.

The father, 47, tears up when he returns to the fields.

“But it’s my family’s business, so I have to come to the farm to make a living,” said the man, who spoke on condition of anonymity to protect himself and his relatives.

IN

Myanmar on December 7, 2022. The boy lost his legs in a landmine blast in July 2022. He speaks frequently about the blast, but his mother isn’t sure he’ll ever process what happened. “Maybe he still doesn’t understand,” she said. “He is still young.”

every state and region except for the capital city, Naypyitaw, according to Landmine Monitor, a group that tracks global landmine use.

The military also uses civilians as human shields, a practice widespread in the country for decades but raising alarms with increasing mine incidents. AP’s analysis found the military, known as the Tatmadaw, forced people to walk ahead of troops to detonate potential landmines in their path, protecting their own troops.

The Myanmar military, which has acknowledged mine use in the past, didn’t respond to a list of questions AP sent to their official spokesperson’s email.

When the fighting moves on, landmines don’t. Mines left behind can indiscriminately maim or kill those who happen upon them, years later.

It raises the specter of casualties for years to come. In countries including Egypt and Cambodia, people continue to die from millions of mines left behind long after conflicts have ended.

A persistent issue

“LEAVING an activated mine like this is the same as releasing a monster,” said a 26-year-old military defector who worked as a combat engineer platoon commander in Myanmar.

Like most who were interviewed by AP, the defector spoke on condition of anonymity to protect himself and his family from military retaliation.

Landmines and unexploded ordnance have been a persistent issue in Myanmar for more than four decades. The problem has grown exponentially since the military takeover, with heavier use of landmines in more parts of the country, said Kim Warren, a UN landmine specialist.

In 2022, 390 people were victims of landmines and unexploded ordnance in Myanmar, more than a 37 percent increase from 2021, according to figures compiled by UNICEF. Overall, 102 people were killed and 288 were wounded, with children making up some 34 percent of the victims, compared with 26 percent in 2021.

Still, Warren said, incidents are underreported.

Yeshua Moser-Puangsuwan, Landmine Monitor’s Myanmar expert, said his group counts only casualties it can confirm with confidence: “We’ve always been undercounting.”

Experts concede the total number of casualties may seem small, with Myanmar’s population of about 56 million, but say the rapid increase is distressing nonetheless. Experts are particularly concerned about children victims. Many are unaware of how lethal landmines and unexploded munitions are; some pick them up and play with them.

Many civilian victims encounter landmines during daily routines.

In March 2021, two teenage cousins were working on a

Many victims and families won’t know who was responsible for the blasts—the Tatmadaw or anti-military groups.

A member of a militia that operates in Sagaing said his group has removed nearly 100 mines thought to be planted by the military and plans to reuse them to augment its arsenal of homemade devices.

“A mine is an indispensable weapon to attack the enemy,” said the member, who spoke by phone on condition of anonymity over the sensitive information and fear the military would retaliate against his family.

One man in Myanmar’s western Chin state described how soldiers took him, his pregnant wife and their 5-year-old daughter captive, making them and 10 other civilians walk ahead, beating them with rifles if they refused.

“I thought: ‘Today is the day I die,’” said the man, who also spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal. They escaped— no mines detonated during their march.

Landmine Monitor documented similar incidents in other states, calling it a “grave violation of international humanitarian and human rights law.”

Myanmar and Russia were the only states documented to have used mines in 2022, according to Landmine Monitor.

The group also confirmed the military has been increasingly mining infrastructure such as mobile phone towers and power lines to deter attacks. Military-planted mines also are protecting at least two major Chinese-backed projects—a copper mine in Sagaing and a pipeline pumping station in northeastern Shan state that is part of China’s Belt and Road initiative,

THERE were just 30 women who were elected heads of state or government as of September last year. Now, after the shock resignations of two world leaders, that number is dwindling further.

MoserPuangsuwan said.

‘I just want my legs back’: Myanmar landmine casualties include children

this photo provided by the family, a young landmine victim learns to use his new prosthetic limbs at Hpa-An Orthopedic Rehabilitation Center in Hpa-An township, Karen State,

Balik Scientist discovers antimicrobial compounds for use in new antibiotics

ABALIK Scientist makes headway in drug discovery and development in the country by isolating antimicrobial compounds that can be used in formulating new antibiotics, a news release said.

Dr. Julius Adam V. Lopez was able to isolate the structure of novel and bioactive compounds from cultured marine actinomycetes—a group of unicellular bacteria—in the biobank of University of San Agustin (USA) in Iloilo City using Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR).

Lopez is a Department of Science and Technology Balik Scientist being hosted by USA, the DOST Balik Scientist Program (DOSTBSP) news release said. His work focused on capacitybuilding initiatives in handling the NMR technology among Filipino researchers in the Visayas and Mindanao region.

Lopez used the NMR to purify

the marine samples and identify β -lactamase inhibitors (drugs that are co-administered with betalactam antimicrobials) which prevents antimicrobial resistance and improves efficacy of antimicrobial treatment, the DOST- BSP said.

The study has been done under the Philippine marine beta-lactamase inhibitor project also in USA.

Science Secretary Renato U. Solidum Jr. expressed his excitement about the potential impact of Filipinos gaining knowledge on using the NMR.

“Advancing our efforts in drug discovery and development and building the NMR competency within the Visayas and Mindanao regions shall help us

address perplexing health issues and opens avenues for locally available, accessible and practical solutions,” Solidum said.

“The NMR is a powerful tool to study molecular structures and dynamics of complex systems and widen our understanding of the world we live in which includes

discoveries of anti-cancer drugs and antibiotics,” he added.

DOST Undersecretary for R&D Leah J. Buendia said “We need to strengthen and optimize our country’s R&D portfolio in drug discovery and development.”

“Through expert engagement like the DOST Balik Scientist

Pres. Marcos Jr. issues EO creating council to recruit, reward scientists in govt service

By Samuel P. Medenilla

PRESIDENT Marcos Jr. issued

an executive order (EO) creating a council, which will be tasked in the recruitment, career progression, recognition and reward of scientists in public service.

Under EO 17, which was issued last Monday, the Implementing Rules and Regulations of the Scientific Career System (SCS) as stated in Executive Order 901 (s.1983) was revised.

Among its salient provisions was the creation of the  Scientific Career

Council (SCC), which will manage the SCS.

The SCC will be headed by the chairman of the Civil Service Commission and by the secretary of the Department of Science and Technology, both as ex-officio cochairmen.

The council will be tasked to manage the entrance and career progression or advancement based on qualifications, merit and scientific productivity and career path to scientists, as well as incentives and rewards to ensure the attraction and retention

of highly qualified personnel in the science and technology sector.

It will also create a Technical Working Group and Special Technical Committees (STCs) to serve as an advisory body and screening committee.

STCs will be created for different fields of specialization and will have at least five members recognized by authorities in their respective fields and who will serve for two years.

Scientists who will be appointed through the SCS will be ranked from Scientist 1 to Scientist V and will get

Program, we can be part of R&D milestones such as creating the first team of Filipino NMR spectroscopy experts who all have the capacity to discover and formulate new drugs. This engagement will also create a big difference in the earning potential of local pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies,” Buendia added.

Lopez, who took his doctorate degree in Hokkaido University in Japan, has extensive experience in natural products chemistry and NMR Spectroscopy.

By using advanced NMR techniques, he led the discovery of new cytotoxic cyanobacteria termed as wewakazole B and new fatty acids amides, columbamides, which are the fundamental blueprint or structures for several medicinal drugs.

In this engagement with USA, Lopez developed an NMR training module with both theoretical and practical aspects of the NMR spectroscopy.

He served as trainer on theory and practical skills for researchers from the academe and industries, such as USA, Mindanao

State University-Iligan Institute of Technology, Central Mindanao University, University of Southern Mindanao and DOST Regional Office VI.

Widening the skillset among Filipino researchers especially for researchers outside the greater Manila in using the NMR creates significant implications for the development of new antibiotics and other drugs.

The presence of an NMR in the Visayas will hasten the isolation and identification of novel compounds as these addresses logistics requirements of spending cost to ship samples to Manila.

An initiative of the DOST, the Balik Scientist Program is part of the Philippine government’s efforts to build a strong science and technology ecosystem in the country.

The enactment of the Balik Scientist Act in June 2018 paved the way for DOST to grant returning Filipino scientists with competitive benefits, such as daily subsistence allowance, health insurance, and roundtrip airfare.

S&T Media Services

a compensation plan comparable to those of the Career Executive Service.

Those who will be recruited from national government agencies, state universities and colleges will be compensated through their respective appropriations.

In the case of scientists recruited by government-owned or controlled corporations, they will be compensated through their respective corporate operating budgets, while for those from local government units, their salaries will be charged against their respective local funds.

Bicol pili farmers get needed S&T, machineries support

PILI farmers in the Bicol Region received support from the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (Searca) to help them revive their livelihood activities that were stalled by the pandemic and typhoons.

Through its Grants for Research toward Agricultural Innovative Solutions (GRAINS), Searca funded a project of the Socio-Economic Development Program MultiPurpose Cooperative (SEDP-MPC) called “Technology Adoption for People-Centered Innovation and Livelihood Integration (Pili).”

Searca Program Head for Emerging Innovation Glenn Baticados said that with GRAINS, Searca is pushing for starter technologies and projects that will benefit farming communities.

According to SEDP-MPC Chairman Jovic Lobrigo, pili is a viable product amid poverty brought about by disasters and vulnerability.

“We have the so-called tree of hope—pili—for resiliency, environmental and financial sustainability,” he said.

“By promoting pili-based livelihood, we give farmers and entrepreneurs the opportunity to recover and earn more,” Baticados said.

Searca Director Dr. Glenn Gregorio said the Pili project was the groundwork for a facility that aims to help 500 farmers and 1,300 women entrepreneurs generate

20 percent added income from pili processing.

Gregorio said the SEDP-MPC engaged 17 barangays in five municipalities to prepare to launch a pili processing facility in Albay.

Eighty-five percent or more than 6,000 tons of pili in the country is produced annually in the Bicol Region. The most useful part of the crop is the kernel.

Gregorio explained that the pili pulp is often discarded. However, the SEDP-MPC has trained farmers and entrepreneurs to extract oil and create value-added products, such as candy, chips and sauce to maximize the use of pili pulp.

He said the Pili project tested the machineries for pulp oil processing, including filtering and

pressing. Enhancing the machines doubled the production capacity.

Now available at the SEDP Community Store are 175 liters of oil produced from the pili drupes purchased from 73 farmers in the towns of Manito, Camalig, Daraga, Tabaco, Bacacay and Malilipot in Albay province.

Gregorio said pili oil can be used as raw material for cosmetics, medicines and food.

Moreover, training on making soap and massage oil from pili was also conducted.

“The participants in the Pili project were taught to grow their planting materials and manage pests and diseases to ensure the quality of the source,” Gregorio said.

He added that the Pili project

served as a market for the pili farmers’ harvest and created a source of livelihood for production workers, pickers, traders, and processors.

The two years of the Covid-19 pandemic were followed by three consecutive typhoons in Bicol within a month.

Meanwhile, Santeh Aquaculture Science and Technology Foundation sponsored the construction of the pili processing facility called SDPC Pili Hub. Santeh Foundation President Philip Ong said the hub is an effort to mitigate the future effects of disruptions with SEDP microenterprises that Santeh helped in the past seven years.

“It is time to be more ambitious and build a more sturdy and permanent production and consolidation hub. We chose to do it with Pili. We hope it will help many farmers to sell their products and their pili harvest at the right price,” Ong said.

He added that they aim to create pili products that will sell all over the world.

The Rotary International Foundation, in partnership with Rotary Club Legazpi West, provided the equipment.

The Pili project is also supported by Germany-based Misereor, SEDP microfinance, the Department of Science and Technology, Bicol University, and local government units.

DOST-PCHRD PHOTO

₧65.7-M program formulating herbal cures for cancer, diabetes

TREATING diseases like cancer, diabetes and inflammation with herbal medicines may soon be within reach based on the program being developed at the University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman.

Led by Dr. Irene Villaseñor of UP Diliman, the program in its phase 2, is titled, “Discovery and Development of Health Products [DDHP]: Formulation, Standardization and Metabolic Profiling of Disease-Specific TopTier Plants for Pre-Clinical and Clinical Development.”

It aims to develop standardized and stable dosage forms of selected plant extracts for preclinical and clinical development.

The P65.78-million program is being supported by the Department of Science and TechnologyPhilippine Council for Health Research and Development, said a DOST-PCHRD news release.

The plants were selected and classified through orthogonal assays, or using different methods, which confirms the bioactivity, or biological activity, of the extracts compared to the primary assay, or first test.

During the formulation stage, the plant extracts are assessed and developed into dosage form that is suitable for human consumption.

“It is one of the most important stages of drug discovery and development as it determines the characteristics of all the active substances and pharmaceutical ingredients to be used in designing and formulating a dosage form which may be derived from preformulation studies, standardization and metabolite profiling,” the DOST-PCHRD said.

The program has produced and extensively studied 17 plant extracts, established extraction method, optimized the extraction

parameters, completed the pharmacopeial tests of four spray-dried ethanolic extracts (SDE), completed the acute oral toxicity tests of four SDEs, undergone preliminary excipient formulations (the substance formulated alongside the active ingredient of a medication) for eight SDEs, putatively identified 15 compounds, and completed method development/ optimization for four plants, the DOST-PCHRD explained.

Once the formulation is completed, the project team will proceed to scaling it up, where they will produce enough dosage forms with the goal of eventually testing their safety and efficacy through pre-clinical and clinical stages, the DOST-PCHRD added.

PCHRD Executive Director Dr. Jaime Montoya highlighted the importance of herbal medicine development.

“Herbal medicine plays a large role in the community and is wellaccepted in the rural areas. Validating the use of these traditional medicinal plants through research is a step closer into bridging the gap between evidence-based research and our fellow Filipino people,” he said.

This program is under the herbal track of the Tuklas Lunas Program which is implemented by the DOST-PCHRD.

The DDHP Formulation and Standardization Program Phase 2 started in September 2021 and will be completed in September 2023, with a total funding from DOST-PCHRD amounting to P65,784,206.56.

The Tuklas Lunas Program is the drug discovery and development initiative of the DOST, which aims to produce world-class medicines derived from Philippine biodiversity by leveraging on local expertise.

DOST Balik Scientist Dr. Julius Adam Lopez (left), hosted by the University of San Agustin in Iloilo, trains Filipino researches. DOST PHOTO

Pope on Lent: ‘We need to listen to Jesus’

VATICAN—In his message for Lent 2023, Pope Francis encouraged Catholics to listen to what Jesus wants to tell them through the Scriptures and through others.

Using the story of Jesus’ Transfiguration as a launching point, Francis addressed both the journey of Lent and the Catholic Church’s ongoing Synod on Synodality in the message released on February 17.

The pope recalled “the command that God the Father addresses to the disciples on Mount Tabor as they contemplate Jesus transfigured. The voice from the cloud says: ‘Listen to Him.’”

“The first proposal, then, is very clear: we need to listen to Jesus,” he said. “Lent is a time of grace to the extent that we listen to Him as he speaks to us.”

“During this liturgical season,” he continued, “the Lord takes us with Him to a place apart. While our ordinary commitments compel us to remain in our usual places and our often repetitive and sometimes boring routines, during Lent

we are invited to ascend ‘a high mountain’ in the company of Jesus and to live a particular experience of spiritual discipline—ascesis— as God’s holy people.”

Pope Francis said one of the ways Jesus speaks to us is through the Word of God, which we can hear at Mass.

But if one cannot attend Mass during the week, it is a good idea to still read the daily readings of the liturgy, the pope encouraged.

“In addition to the Scriptures, the Lord speaks to us through our brothers and sisters, especially in the faces and the stories of those who are in need,” he added.

Francis’s second suggestion for Lent was to confront the difficulties of ordinary life remembering that Lent is a period that leads to Easter.

“Do not take refuge in a religiosity made up of extraordinary events and dramatic experiences, out of fear of facing reality and its daily struggles, its hardships and contradictions,” the pope said.

“The light that Jesus shows the

Pope intervenes anew, restricts the celebration of Latin Mass

ROME—Pope Francis has intervened for the third time to crack down on the celebration of the old Latin Mass, a sign of continued friction with Catholic traditionalists.

Francis reasserted in a new legal decree published last Tuesday that the Holy See must approve new celebrations of the old rite by signing off on bishops’ decisions to designate additional parish churches for the Latin Mass or to let newly ordained priests celebrate it.

The decree states that the Vatican’s liturgy office, headed by British Cardinal Arthur Roche, is responsible for evaluating such requests on behalf of the Holy See and that all requests from bishops must go there.

For weeks, Catholic traditionalist blogs and websites have reported a further crackdown on the old Latin Mass was in the works, following Francis’ remarkable decision in 2021 to reimpose restrictions on its celebration that were relaxed in 2007 by then-Pope Benedict XVI.

Francis said at the time that he was acting to preserve church unity, saying the spread of the Tridentine Mass had become a source of division and been exploited by Catholics opposed to the Second Vatican Council, the 1960s meetings that modernized the church and its liturgy.

Roche’s office followed up a few months later to double down on the Vatican’s position with a series of questions and answers that made clear that celebrating some sacraments according to the old rite was forbidden.

The new decree doesn’t restrict the celebration further but merely repeats what was previously declared. Its insistence on Roche’s authority in the process appeared aimed primarily at quashing traditionalist claims that the cardinal had exceeded his mandate.

Francis signed off on the decree on Monday during a private audience with Roche.

Francis’ crackdown on the old Mass outraged his conservative and traditionalist critics, many of whom have also attacked him for his focus on the environment, social justice and migrants.

Francis says he preaches the Gospel and what Jesus taught, and has defended the restrictions by saying they actually reflect Benedict’s original goal while curbing the way his 2007 concession was exploited for ideological ends.

Joseph Shaw, chairman of the Latin Mass Society in Britain, which promotes the old Mass, called the new document “grave” since it confirmed that bishops need explicit permission from Roche’s office to use parish churches for Tridentine Masses.

In a series of tweets, Shaw noted that when the office has been asked for such permissions to date, the office “has typically been restricting the number of locations and giving the permission for only two years.”

He said that would lead to uneven access to the old Mass, where it would be easy to find alternative locations in some places but impossible in others.

disciples is an anticipation of Easter glory, and that must be the goal of our own journey, as we follow ‘Him alone,’” he said. “Lent leads to Easter: the ‘retreat’ is not an end in itself, but a means of preparing us to experience the Lord’s passion and cross with faith, hope and love, and thus to arrive at the resurrection,” he added.

Pope Francis compared the

journey of Lent and the Church’s ongoing Synod on Synodality to a “strenuous mountain trek.”

While we hike up the mountain, we must keep our eyes on the path before us, but at the top, we are rewarded by the beautiful panorama that confronts us.

“So too, the synodal process may often seem arduous,” he said, “and at times we may become discouraged. Yet what awaits us at

the end is undoubtedly something wondrous and amazing, which will help us to understand better God’s will and our mission in the service of His kingdom.”

The Vatican’s Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development announced on February 17 that it will hold a communication campaign based on Pope Francis’s Lenten message.

Beginning on Ash Wednesday, February 22, the dicastery will present every week, via its website, a new “step” on the journey of Lent.

The campaign, “With Him on the mountain: Lenten penance and the synodal journey,” will include reflection questions based on Scripture passages and the pope’s message.

“The Lenten journey of penance and the journey of the Synod alike have as their goal a transfiguration, both personal and ecclesial,” Pope Francis said. “A transformation that, in both cases, has its model in the Transfiguration of Jesus and is achieved by the grace of His paschal mystery.”

The pope also spoke about the newness of Christ and His fulfillment of the ancient covenant.

“In a similar way, the synodal journey is rooted in the Church’s tradition and at the same time open to newness,” he said. “Tradition is a source of inspiration for seeking new paths and for avoiding the opposed temptations of immobility and improvised experimentation.”

Francis said a Lenten penance “is a commitment, sustained by grace, to overcoming our lack of faith and our resistance to following Jesus on the way of the cross.”

“To deepen our knowledge of the Master, to fully understand and embrace the mystery of His salvation, accomplished in total self-giving inspired by love, we must allow ourselves to be taken aside by Him and to detach ourselves from mediocrity and vanity,” he encouraged.

“We need to set out on the journey, an uphill path that, like a mountain trek, requires effort, sacrifice and concentration,” he said. Cathoic News Agency via CBCP News

Card. Advincula tells faithful: Observe Lent with sincerity

CARDINAL Jose Advincu -

la of Manila challenged Catholics on Ash Wednesday to observe the season of Lent with sincerity and pure intention.

He said the traditional disciplines of prayer, fasting and charity are not intended to be empty but to draw people closer to God and to a life lived out of faith.

“Let the ashes on our head remind us to pray with sincerity of heart, fast in genuine solidarity with the ones who are suffering and give alms out of hearts that are truly contrite and compassionate,” Advincula said.

The cardinal made the remarks during Mass at the archdiocese’s chancery chapel in Manila’s Intramuros district.

“This season is a blessed time for us to turn away from hypocrisy and worldly attachments and go home into the warm embrace of our loving God,” he said.

People trooped to churches last Ash Wednesday as they observe the start of Lent, a 40-day period of prayer, penance and

almsgiving in preparation for Christianity’s most solemn feast of Easter.

In Metro Manila, parish

churches have reverted to the imposition of ashes on the faithful’s forehead for the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic started in 2020.

Advincula said the Ash Wednesday practice of placing ashes on the forehead is a Biblical symbol of repentance, reminding the faithful of man’s sinfulness before God and His mortality.

The priest who imposes the ashes says, “Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return” or “Turn away from your sins and believe in the Gospel.” But while everything in this world will come to and end, the cardinal pointed out that “only one thing is forever—the love of God.”

“The ashes we stain on our [foreheads] are shaped as crosses in order to remind us of the love of God,” he said. “We are created out of love, we are created for love.” CBCP News

Abrahamic House in UAE houses a church, synagogue and mosque

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates—On the shores of the Persian Gulf, a new complex houses a Catholic church, a Jewish synagogue and an Islamic mosque in the capital of the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The Abrahamic Family House offers a concrete, marble and oak manifestation of the UAE’s publicized push toward tolerance after hosting Pope Francis in 2019 and later diplomatically recognizing Israel in 2020.

Worshippers have already prayed and communed at the site on Abu Dhabi’s Saadiyat Island, while the general public will be allowed in next month.

However, the UAE still criminalizes proselytizing outside of the Islamic faith. Security also remains a concern as well for Jewish worshippers in this new outpost on the Arabian Peninsula, whether from Israel’s regional enemy Iran or from those angered by Israel pursuing settlements on land Palestinians seek for their future state.

Organizers declined to speak on camera last Tuesday to The Associated Press about the project, even as they led journalists around the site.

The UAE, a federation of seven sheikhdoms, announced plans for the Abrahamic Family House in

2019 during the country’s “Year of Tolerance.”

Designed by the British-Ghanian architect Sir David Adjaye, the site includes the three houses of worship and a center connecting them for future events.

The site itself stands out as a stark, white-marble place of worship in a capital more known for its oil industry, ongoing arms fair, glass towers and beachfront hotels.

The three houses of worship—the St. Francis of Assisi Church, the Moses Ben Maimon Synagogue and the Imam alTayeb Mosque—stand at triangle points, each a structure of about 30 cubic meters.

Triangular fountains lay inside parts of the grounds, providing a bubbling background against the sound of construction taking place elsewhere on an island that is already home to the domed Louvre Abu Dhabi, a museum opened under an agreement with France.

Behind the site, the massive falcon wings of the under-construction Zayed National Museum rise overhead as workers climbed through its scaffolding on Tuesday.

While each house of worship is the same size, all appear different on the inside.

In the church, eastward windows with morning light frame a marble altar and lectern with a crucifix above it. Oaken pews sit inside for the faithful under suspended wooden columns hanging from the ceiling.

The synagogue has similar pews, with the Ten Commandments inscribed in Hebrew at the front. A room for the Torah is located behind the front. Bronze netting hangs from the ceiling, playing with the light from the windows and a skylight above.

The mosque has shelves for the Quran and also outside, for the faithful to remove their shoes, hidden behind Islamic geometric designs. Gray carpeting covers the floor, with two microphones under and one above on the minbar, the platform where the imam stands for Friday prayers. Moveable walls separate the men’s and women’s sections.

Officials gave no figure for the cost of construction of the site, though the materials alone likely cost hundreds of millions of dollars.

Still, proselytizing outside of the Islamic faith remains illegal in the UAE and Islam is enshrined as the official religion in the country’s constitution, with government websites even offering online

applications to convert.

Conversion from Islam to another religion, however, is illegal, as is witchcraft and sorcery, the US State Department has warned. Blasphemy and apostasy laws also carry a possible death sentence—though no such execution is known to have been carried out since the UAE became a nation in 1971.

Despite facing restrictions, Buddhists, Christians, Hindus and others in the UAE have never faced the violence that has targeted their communities in Syria and Iraq during the rise of the Islamic State group and other militants.

Security appears to be a major concern for the site. Though hidden as much as possible, metal detectors screen those coming into the facility. Security cameras can be seen at every major corner, both inside and outside the houses of worship.

On Tuesday, black-suited private security guards also ran mirrors around vehicles to check their undercarriages for explosives—a measure rarely seen in the Emirates. Hard-line media in Iran have previously described the UAE as a “legitimate” target, given its recognition of Israel.

Jon Gambrell/Associated Press

POPE Francis. VATICAN MEDIA

FR . Joseph Don D. Zaldivar imposes ash on a parishioner of Santisima Trinidad Parish in Malate, Manila, last Ash Wednesday. Parish churches have reverted to the imposition of ashes on the faithful’s forehead for the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic started in 2020. Ash Wednesday marks the start of 40 days of Lent. LYN RESURRECCION

Editor: Lyn Resurreccion

Revitalizing rivers of life in Asean

By Jonathan L. Mayuga

Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City prospered because of Saigon; Malaysia’s Kuala Lumpur has the Klang River; Indonesia’s Jakarta has the Ciliwung; and the Philippines’ capital region, Metro Manila, has the Pasig River.

A life support system

RIVERS are special ecosystems. They are a life support system not only for humans, but for a diverse species of plants and animals as they are natural habitats that provide food and water.

Economically, rivers provide food production, the much-needed boost through irrigation.

In many cases, rivers also provide faster, efficient and relatively safe means of transportation—the reason why Manila, the country’s capital city, thrived during the Spanish period.

Under siege

BUT the rivers are constantly facing threats. The Philippines’s Pasig River was once tagged as biologically dead and one of the world’s dirtiest rivers.

Lately, rivers are under siege not just by toxic chemical wastes from industries, but also from garbage from various sources, including the dreaded plastic.

Recognizing the socio-economic and ecological importance of rivers, river rehabilitation programs have been launched by governments in the past, with the hope of optimizing the benefits of having a healthy river.

Asean integrated river management

IN the Asean, a five year regional project, titled Reducing Pollution and Preserving Environmental Flows in East Asian Seas Through the Implementation of Integrated River Basin Management (IRBM), was launched in Manila on February 17.

The project aims to develop practical and innovative ways for various stakeholders—communities, industries and governments—to work together to revitalize Southeast Asia’s rivers.

These rivers provide natural

habitats for various plants and animals, food production and water sources for millions of people.

As many rivers pass through densely populated towns and cities, waste and sediment eventually flow out to sea.

According to the Asean Regional Action Plan on Combatting Marine Debris, plastic is estimated to account for 80 percent of all marine debris in the ocean.

Supported by Global Environment Facility (GEF) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the project will establish functional IRBM mechanisms in major river basins of six Asean member states of Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam.

Integrating knowledge about rivers, seas

“IT will integrate knowledge about the vital connections between rivers and seas. Best practices and pitfalls shall be shared for other rivers to emulate and avoid,” Dr. Inthavy Akkharath, chairman of the Asean Working Group on Water Resources Management, explained in a media statement during the project’s launching.

“Effective governance will allow us to continue to utilize the water and other ecosystem services that river basins provide despite the threats of extreme events and climate change,” said Dr. Carlos Primo David, undersecretary for Integrated Environmental Science and supervising undersecretary of the Philippines’s Department of Environment and Natural Resources River Basin Control Office, during the event.

Rapidly growing water demand

“ WATER use among Asean countries is growing rapidly, while water quality and quantity challenges threaten to derail much-needed economic growth,” said Dr. Selva Ramachandran, UNDP Resident Representative to the Philippines.

“We’re glad to help address the critical issue of freshwater governance in river basins beyond national juris -

dictions, addressing transboundary issues, such as pollution, watershed management, climate change impacts and disaster risks,” she added.

“The project is a testament of Asean’s collective and forward-looking action to improving water resources management in our region,” said Ekkaphab Phanthavong, deputy secretary-general of Asean for the Asean Socio-Cultural Community.

Sea-to-source governance

THE Partnerships in Environmental Management for the Seas of East Asia (Pemsea), the implementing agency of the project, will work closely with the governments and stakeholders in Asean member states to improve source-to-sea governance, as well as build the capacity to plan and strengthen river basin management mechanisms.

“We view this project as a natural extension of Pemsea’s work on integrated coastal management—as rivers are natural conduits to our coasts and open seas,” explained Pemsea Executive Director Aimee Gonzales.

“We are excited to institutionalize the use of the integrated river basin management approach; produce state of the river basin reports, which will be the first of its kind in the region; test innovative solutions in select pilot sites within the identified river basins; while mainstreaming gender equality and social inclusion from the design, planning and all the way to implementation at the regional, national and river basin level,” Gonzales pointed out.

Project objectives

GONZALES told the BusinessMirror in an interview via Messenger that the project’s objectives is to

Climate discussions with youth through art

AS part of a larger effort to bring arts, culture and youth engagement into climate discussions, the second “Poets for Climate” exhibit was held recently at the University of Makati.

The exhibit featured selected poems and artworks depicting how the climate crisis is undoing and transforming the landscapes and places on earth.

Titled, “The Making and Unmaking of Places: Stories of Loss, Resilience and Restoration Using Poetry and Art,” the exhibit was curated by The Climate Reality Project Philippines in partnership with the government of Makati City and the British Embassy Manila. It ran at the University of Makati until February 24.

The exhibit was an off-shoot of Poets for Climate, a collaborative project between the Climate Reality Project branches in Africa, Canada, and the Philippines in response to When Is Now.”

It was a global art movement initiated by the Agam Agenda that links together poems, visual arts, murals and more forms of creative expressions that reflect people’s lived experiences of climate change.

The exhibit followed the first Poets for Climate exhibit hosted by Makati City and the British Embassy Manila in October 2022 at the Makati City Hall, and the two Poets for Climate e xpositions s taged by Climate Reality Philippines with Climate Reality Indonesia and the Climate Vulnerable Forum

(CVF) at the sidelines of the 27th Conference of the Parties (COP27) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Sharm El-Sheik, Egypt, in November 2022.

“We couldn’t have asked for a more fitting next stop—the University of Makati, which is home to creative young Filipinos bearing an unprecedented potential as genuine advocates for climate action,” said Nazrin Castro, manager of Climate Reality Philippines Branch, during the opening of the exhibit.

“Through Poets for Climate, we want you—the youth—to feel empowered not just in communicating the urgency and the solvability of the climate crisis but also in demanding our leaders to do right for the planet and the future of your generation,”

Castro said.

Alistair White, Chargé d’affaires at the British Embassy Manila, thanked Climate Reality Philippines, Agam Agenda, and the CVF for promoting arts and storytelling as a platform to amplify the voices of the most vulnerable to climate change.

“The future of young people is tied to the future of the planet,”White said, emphasizing the critical role of the youth in climate action. “A part of our broader and longer-term effort is to drive the collaboration between the different climate and environmental stakeholders and that’s why we’re here today.

That’s why this collaboration is so important for the present and the future,” he shared.

Carissa Pobre, Strategist

for Creative

improve governance and management responsiveness and capacities in integrated water resources management, reduce nutrient pollution loading, protect environmental flows and alleviate climate vulnerability through the promotion of integrated river basin management in priority river basins in six Asean countries.

Through the project, the proponents aim to conduct baseline assessments, such as biophysical profiles, socio-economic demographic forecasts, governance and management arrangements, pollutant loadings and sources to develop State of River Basin reports.

“We will also conduct pilot IRBM projects to improve governance and management, do feasibility studies, business plan, financing and improve interagency and multisector coordination,” she said.

Ultimately, she said the project’s objective is to enhance policies and economic incentives, develop IRBM strategy and action plan, knowledge management and enabling capacities on water quality, monitoring, reporting, develop IRBM practitioners, document and share good players, and SouthSouth learning exchange.

Key result areas

THE proponents also identified key result areas that include state of river basin reports, integrated river basin management plans, potential blended financing and investments on integrated solid waste management facilities in pilot sites within river basins, and integrated information management systems, including water quality river monitoring systems in river basins.

The project also hopes to create a network of IRBM learning centers and

Communication of the Agam Agenda, also highlighted the role of collaboration in climate action during the launch of the exhibit.

Explaining the concept behind W hen Is Now and how Poets for Climate has fed into the campaign, Pobre said, “We are seeding specific stories from specific places—places like Guiuan in [Eastern] Samar that responded to a particular contribution of poetry from a poet from Guam for instance. Here, Climate Reality Leaders and advocates responded to these various stories.”

Pobre shared that besides Climate Reality, When Is Now is also supported by 58 vulnerable countries of the CVF.

Affirming the city government’s continuous support to the fight for climate justice, Makati City Vice Mayor Monique Lagdameo, meanwhile, said that Makati City is proud to continue hosting Poets for Climate.

“The power of art lies in its ability to bring people together to reflect, discuss, and take action. This exhibit will be an inspiring reminder to all of us that building a better future with collective action is possible,” she said during the launch.

Dr. Elyxzur Ramos, president of the University of Makati, also expressed appreciation for the opportunity to host the exhibit. “We hope that our students and other stakeholders in this university will have a greater appreciation of the efforts that you are doing to promote awareness about climate change,” he said.

trained IRBM practitioners in six Asean member-states.

Six river basins have been identified as pilot sites. They are: Cambodia: Kampong Bay River Basin and pilot site Kampot City; Indonesia: Ciliwung River Basin and Depok City; Lao PDR: Nam Tha River Basin and Sedone City; Philippines: Imus Ylang Ylang River and General Trias; and Vietnam: Vu Gia-Thu Bon River Basin and pilot areas in Da Nang and Quang Nam.

Commitments and momentum

ACCORDING to Gonzales, the identification of the river basins as project sites were based on commitments and momentum of both the national and local governments to utilize, build capacities and talents, including funds and investments.

Another is to operate learning sites to develop IRBM capacities through hands-on application and demonstration of best practices, technologies and professional skills, while promoting government-business community through participatory process with gender equality and social inclusion.

“The project sites were identified during project preparation stage,” she said, adding that the criteria to select the river basins were discussed with Asean member states.

“Questions like: Is the site priority [river basin] for government?; Is the receiving coastal and sea area a priority coastal and marine area?; Is there adequate information and knowledge on the site?; and Are there previous or ongoing programs covering governance and management?” she said.

Good news for biodiversity

SOUGHT to comment, Executive

Zambo del Norte LGU converts waste into useful products through tech

THE municipality of Tampilisan in Zamboanga del Norte, is using technology to reduce the volume of solid waste in the area and turn them into useful products.

Some 15 personnel from the municipality have recently completed a handson training on the use, operation and maintenance of bioreactor and plastic densifier technologies.

The four-day training was organized by the Department of Science and Technology Regional Office IX (DOSTIX) through its Provincial Science and Technology Office in Zamboanga del Norte, and in cooperation with DOST’s Industrial Technology Development Institute (DOST-ITDI).

Experts from DOST-ITDI, Engr. Pierre Jordan Mendoza, Engr. Benjamin Santos and Joannalene Tuazon, served as resource persons and trainers.

Al Rey M. Catubig, Municipal Environment and Natural Resources Office (Menro)-designate of Tampilisan, said they are very happy that the DOST has prioritized their municipality in the deployment of the technologies.

“Now, we can properly and efficiently

manage our collected solid wastes and convert them into compost and bricks,” Catubig said.

He added that the implementation of the technologies will greatly improve their solid waste management program and bring about significant changes in Tampilisan through the support of its local officials.

Catubig noted that the municipality will now be able to reduce the volume of solid waste and turn them into useful products.

The training was part of a package of interventions provided by DOST-IX to Tampilisan through the initiative titled, “Upgrading the Solid Waste Management Program of LGU Tampilisan through Adoption of Bioreactor and Plastic Densifier Technologies.”

The project was funded through DOST’s Small Enterprise Technology Upgrading Program (Setup) with P2,005,000 total funding assistance.

Setup is a flagship program of the DOST that provides innovation funds and technical support to small and medium enterprises to improve productivity, reduce production costs,

Director Theresa Mundita Lim of Asean Centre for Biodiversity (ACB)

warmly welcomed the Asean Integrated River Basin Management Project.

“The project, being focused on addressing marine pollution and improving water quality, will indeed contribute immensely to protecting biodiversity in our inland waters and oceans,” she told the BusinessMirror via Messenger on February 20.

According to Lim, a biodiversity expert and staunch advocate of mainstreaming biodiversity, the project complements the work that the ACB is undertaking with the Asean member states, on marine protected areas and on transboundary conservation of marine species and biological resources, based on ecological interconnectivity.

“It is paving the way for our future partnerships with Pemsea and with other intergovernmental and civil society organizations to achieve a truly integrated, cross-sectoral and multi-disciplinary approach to protecting our water systems in the Asean region,” Lim said.

According  to Lim, ensuring clean water supply and food security in our regional seas will require better scientific and technical understanding and appreciation of the biodiversity, including plants, animals, microorganisms, genetic materials, and ecosystems, in different bodies of water found in the Asean, including their value as indicators of and nature-based solutions for poor water quality.

“Partnerships among relevant regional organizations will be essential toward a successful integrated river basin management in the Asean,” she pointed out.

and enable MSMEs to level up their operations.

The project funded the acquisition of key equipment, such as a 1-ton capacity bioreactor and plastic densifier that were developed by DOST-ITDI.

The bioreactor converts biodegradable waste into organic compost, which can be used as a soil conditioner for urban gardening or farming. It uses an inoculant to break down organic matter in solid wastes and hasten the decomposition process.

The plastic densifier, on the other hand, processes nonbiodegradable waste, such as plastic, cellophane and Styrofoam, into usable flowerpots and decorative blocks.

Tampilisan is a fourth class municipality in Zamboanga del Norte. Like most municipalities in the country, it faces serious concerns on solid waste management.

In the past, the municipality struggled to properly dispose its solid waste collected from the different communities. This led to the accumulation of collected garbage, which pose serious environmental and health hazards.

With the technology introduced by DOST, the environmental problems of the communities will now be addressed appropriately.

RIVER RANGERS in the Philippine province of Cavite, south of Metropolitan Manila, rid a stream of plastic waste. Rivers form natural conduits to the sea, meaning much of the trash that flows through them eventually winds up in the ocean. GREGG YAN, PEMSEA PHOTO

SILT and fertilizer from mountains and lowland farms turn rivers brown. Tons of mud, gravel and silt are then discharged in river deltas to choke off light-dependent marine habitats like coral reefs and seagrass beds. GREGG YAN, PEMSEA PHOTO

MANY of the largest cities in the world were built beside rivers. This is also the case in Southeast Asia, a region that is rich in biological diversity.

WWE’s presence online broadens, doesn’t appear to be slowing down

A8 | SundAy, FebruAry 26, 2023 mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph

Jun Lomibao

Editor:

WORLD Wrestling Entertainment, or WWE, an organization that is already king of the ring on social media, will attempt to expand its online presence this year with the $6.5 billion sports entertainment company hinting that it may put itself up for sale.

W WE surpassed 20 million followers on its flagship TikTok account during its most recent quarter, the first sports league to do so, and it’s launching three international TikTok accounts after the WWE Español TikTok handle reached nearly 2 million followers in its first year, according to the company.

W WE’s presence online is already broad and it does not appear to be slowing down.

The company’s YouTube channel topped 92 million subscribers in the fourth quarter, making it one of only 10 channels on the platform to surpass the 90 million subscriber mark, according to Paul Levesque, the company’s chief content officer and director who wrestled under the name Triple H.

To put those numbers in perspective, the National Basketball Association has 19.8 million subscribers, the National Football League has 10.6 million, and Major League Baseball has 4.05 million.

Part of the reason is that, unlike the National Football League, National Basketball Association and Major League Baseball, the WWE has no off season. It churns out new content from television shows and premium live events all year long and its fans eat it up.

The online presence of the company is so pervasive that it seeps into the social media posts from some of the world’s biggest athletes.

A fter defeating the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LVII, Kansas City Chiefs quarterback and MVP Patrick Mahomes posted a photo of himself on Twitter holding the Vince Lombardi trophy in one hand, and a WWE belt in the other.

Th at photo has been viewed more than 23 million times and that number keeps rising.

Constant innovations that are blended with entertainment sets WWE apart on social media platforms, said Christopher Zook, chairman and chief investment officer of CAZ Investments.

It has consistently found ways to generate interest and stay ahead of the growing changes in consumer behavior,” Zook said. “The viral, fanservice nature of their content is how they have built so much staying power.”

I ncreased sports viewership has put a premium on the value of organizations with a large following and that moves WWE to the front of the line for companies looking to expand into new areas, said Zook, particularly when seeking to reach key demographics willing to spend.

A nd the platforms on which the WWE is focused increasingly attract a crowd with discretionary income to spend.

A mong those between the ages of 18 and 29, 95 percent say they use YouTube, according to a Pew Research Center survey on social media use by US adults in 2021.

TikTok is expected to overtake Facebook next year as the mostconsumed social network among US adults over the age of 18, according to Insider Intelligence. The research firm expects 18-to-24-year-old TikTok users in the US to spend an average of 1 hour on the platform every day this year.

A nd WWE has been quick to partner with people that have a massive following on social media platforms, most recently the social media personality Logan Paul.

Th ree months after signing a contract with WWE last year, Paul took out a cell phone and filmed himself jumping from the ropes and onto Roman Reigns. That video garnered more than 40 million views across Paul’s and WWE’s social platforms in less than 24 hours, according to Levesque, topping all social media posts for the Stamford, Connecticut, company last year. AP

NEXT BIG THING ON SNOWBOARD

COPPER MOUNTAIN, Colorado—The 11-yearold snowboarder from China has jokes. Lots of them. She even wants to write a joke book one day.

How do you know if a plant is smart?” Patti Zhou playfully asked.

“It has square roots.”

I nstant giggles. It’s just the kid in her shining through.

The Beijing-born, Colorado-based Zhou could be the next big thing in snowboarding, maybe even this weekend at her Dew Tour debut in Copper Mountain, Colorado.

She might have even been a halfpipe/slopestyle contender at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy—if only there weren’t age requirements (she won’t be 15 yet). It’s the same sort of thing that kept two-time Olympic halfpipe champion Chloe Kim on the sideline for the 2014 Sochi Games.

Z hou reasons it just gives her more time to learn bigger tricks

like one of her favorite halfpipe riders, Olympic gold medalist Ayumu Hirano from Japan.

Z hou started riding a snowboard at the age of 2—was even given a lollipop to sweeten the deal (strawberry-flavored, she believes). It didn’t take her long to fall in love with her mountain surroundings.

“ When I was young, I thought the mountain was so big and so scary and so dark. But the mountain is actually alive,” said Zhou, who’s slated to compete in the halfpipe and super streetstyle competitions on Saturday at the Dew Tour, along with a halfpipe high air & best trick jam on Sunday. “So when I go snowboarding I always try to find the animal creatures in there.”

Then, she gives them names.

A particularly tall deer she once saw she named after Australia’s particularly tall snowboarder Scotty James, who has earned two Olympic medals in the halfpipe. An inquisitive crow she named after Hirano. And a squirrel bouncing around in the woods she named after two-time Olympic silver medalist Danny Kass.

A ll part of her fun and games.

R aised in Beijing, she and her family have now settled into Silverthorne, Colorado (they rent a place from Norwegian snowboarder Torstein Horgmo). Ask her where she’s from these days and she jokes: “I say that I’m from ‘Beijing, Colorado.’ Everybody’s like, ‘What?’”

A t ypical morning for her during snowboarding season starts off with a bowl of Cocoa Puffs (her favorite), and a trip to nearby Copper Mountain for training sessions (or just to ride). No session is complete, though, without sharing some hot fries smothered in ketchup with her younger sister.

Then, it’s homeschool time, where her favorite subject is “all of them,” she proudly announced. If pressed, though, history tops the list.

I f there’s time, she might watch one of her favorite science fiction movies, which include “The Martian,” “Interstellar,” “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial,” “The Matrix,” and “Avatar.”

Th at may explain why her top place to visit would be Mars.

“ Maybe if I live there for a few

a break to start a family and, like everything else, was rendered inactive during the pandemic. Melencio ruled the Penang Open Championships last September 10 and the Danspiration Open Championships in Kuala Lumpur a day later. She then snatched the Amateur Latin crown in the 10th Singapore Open Dancesports Championships last November.

Melencio and her partner Jumil Edera Bacalso will be rocking anew on the global dance floor when they compete in the Amateur Open Latin of 2023 Asia Open Dance Tour-Asian Open Dance Championships in Tokyo on Sunday where they will face the challenge of 30 other couples.

VETERAN international dance athlete Judith Anne Melencio never stops jiving and winning.

At 32, Melencio, of San Rafael, Bulacan has been an active dance competitor and trainer at least for the past 25 years—inspiring dancers of all ages to excel in their craft and bring their winning acts on the international dance floor.

Melencio fell in love with dancing when she was only 7 and has competed locally and globally in Latin and Standard. She’s one of the top athletes of the DanceSports Council of the Philippines Inc., the governing body for dancesports in the country.

Her journey as  a national dance athlete and certified instructor continued to accelerate after she took

I have been in the dance sports competitions since when I was seven,” Melencio said. “I really love this sport. Besides competing, I also teach aspiring dance athletes in different fields—basics and advance.”

But I still compete internationally, which I love most. I love winning not only for myself but also for our country,” she said. “It’s not just expressing our inner self when we dance, it also shows the proper perfect movement, the grace and how competitive one can be.”

She and Bacalso will also compete in the World Grand Prix Open in Taipei on April 9, before throwing their hat on the dance floor in the Blackpool Dance Festival from May 20 to June 2 at the Winter Gardens

days, I might find an alien,” she said.

“I’d name it after me—’Patti the Second.’”

See, jokes.

But this was serious business:

Watching all the action unfold at the Winter Games last February in the mountains outside of Beijing. She was captivated—and motivated—by the triple corks of Hirano on his way to an Olympic gold medal in the halfpipe.

She also drew inspiration from Eileen Gu, the freestyle skier who grew up in the US but competes for her mom’s homeland of China. Gu won gold in big air and halfpipe, along with silver in slopestyle. Same sort of motivation struck while watching Su Yiming , the Chinese snowboarder who won Olympic gold in big air and silver in slopestyle.

China is booming now with sports

and (Su and Gu) inspired so many young people to start riding,” said Zhou, whose sponsors already include Burton, Oakley, Woodward Copper and Sun Bum. Snowboarding isn’t the only sport where Zhou is making waves. She’s also a surfer and frequently trains at a wave pool in Waco, Texas. She said both sports are complementary to each other. So she envisions a similar path for both.

I see myself going to the Olympics in snowboarding but after snowboarding I’ll try to get there in surfing as well,” said Zhou. “Try to get a title or something.”

For now, she’s trying out new tricks—and new material for her joke book. What’s the biggest cat?” she asked. “A Sno-Cat,” she cracked in reference to the enclosed-cab, truck-sized vehicles designed to move on, well, snow.

I just made that up,” she said through laughter. AP

For Melencio, dancing –and winning–never stops

Church Street Blackpool in London.

The eldest in a family of dancers, Melencio first got noticed overseas when she swept the Junior Open Standard and Latin categories of the Singapore Millennium International Open DanceSports Championships in 2004.

She also has in her collection the Philippine Juvenile Latin and Standard titles from 1998 to 2000 and the Junior Latin and Standard crowns of the World Superstars Dance Festival in Tokyo, Japan, in 2002.

At the second International Sports Games “Children of Asia” Sports Dancing Event Junior 1 Latin American Discipline in Yakutsk, Russia, in 2000, she wound up ninth among hundreds of participants.

Melencio has trained and produced dozens of competitive pairs since 2007 when she was just 17— including rising amateur star Judilyn Melencio, her sister, and Benny Co.

It’s a great feeling to share your knowledge in dancesports but I still compete and win,” she said.

KANSAS City Chiefs Patrick Mahomes wears a WWE belt as he celebrates the team’s Super Bowl victory at a gathering in Kansas City, Montana. AP

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‘ME AND MY GUITAR’ Ruel returns to Manila to thrill Filipino fans anew

By Patrick V. Miguel

Indeed, it is enough as his Filipino fans waited years for this. Ruel shared that he had a wide following of Filipino fans, particularly on Facebook which he noticed one time. “I never used Facebook in the past 3 years but everytime someone texted me and was like there’s so many on Facebook from the Philippines,” he said.

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Ruel performed at the Grand Venice Canal last Saturday, February 18, prior to the release of his upcoming album “4th Wall.”

Reflecting on his last concert in the Philippines, Ruel shared, “It was an incredible experience and it’s such a strong memory.”

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According to him, he was excited to be back and could not wait to do a “proper show.”

With his performance at the Grand Venice Canal, Ruel happily enthused, “It’s just acoustic. It’s just me and my guitar and all the people, and I think that is enough.”

Ruel also expressed his gratitude the first time he came to Manila and saw his fans waiting for him at the airport. He narrated, “At the airport there’s a bunch of people waiting at the first Manila show and that was really cool to see everyone again and yeah, I’ve been chatting with them a little bit.”

Before his show at the Grand Venice Canal, Ruel was asked what he expects to happen at the show. He candidly shared, “It’s just me and my acoustic guitar and just trying my best to not forget any chords cause I’m not a great guitarist.”

“I’ll give it my best shot but yeah, it’s fun doing the guitar and you can just play whatever you want, so I’m excited,” the now-20 year old singer-songwriter added.

Breaking the ‘4th Wall’

“4th Wall” is Ruel’s upcoming and long-awaited album, eyeing for a release on March 3 this year.

He is initially known for his 2019 song “Painkiller” with 265 million streams on Spotify as of writing, and this time, he is ready to release new hits with “4th Wall.”

Ruel shared that “4th Wall” was inspired by films, particularly ones that broke the “fourth wall” such as The Truman Show (1998) and Fight Club (1999).

“Those two (films) are like ones that really inspired the album and those two kinda show my whole visual idea of the album,” he said.

Asked on the hardest part of finishing the album, Ruel revealed that it was in fact “finishing it.”

“It was just hard to get everything in place and to make sure everything felt like it was the right thing to do and to think that the music is great,” he explained.

He added, “I still wanna make it to portray where I wanna go next musically and what it looks like.”

T. Anthony C. Cabangon

IN 2019, Ruel who was 16 at that time, graced the stage in the Philippines and sang for his Filipino fans. There were schedules of him returning the next year, but because of the COVID-19 pandemic, everything was postponed. Three years later, he came back, and this time, with more music to sing in a “free concert.”

Ruel

SoundSampler

by Tony M. Maghirang

Remembrances and future-gazing with legends and newbies

FERVIDS, Fervids

AFTER a lazy “1-2-3-4’ count off, Legazpi City-based Fervids unravel the slithering beauty of “Ziggy Wannabe” that namechecks both Lou Reed and David Bowie in musical and lyrical boldness. Right now, it’s the one song where the shoutout “Your moptop looks stupid!” makes sense. Then again, the John Fervid-fronted band lives and thrives in the sonics of the British Invasion initiated by four famous moptops of all time. It’s actually Fervids’ foundation that they manage to multiply from the Bealtesque rock and roll of “Adult Adversary” to the short sharp Stonesy groove of Shawowbox” to the punkish The Strokes energy of “Kursaid Line.” It’s garage rock, all right, and this one’s festooned with jewels from a glittery lineage.

ONE CLICK STRAIGHT, One Click Straight

IT’S the array of beats and rhythms that pulls you in to the sophomore album of One Click Straight, which should also push them into the forefront of today’s new OPM idols. Add the fact that the songs that make up the album deal with timeless issues of youth: selfreliance and independence (“Untitled #2” ), angst (“Hahayaan ,” “Gitna”) and search for true love (“Siya”). Really, the cool backbeat and the handsome riffs make you want to know what the vocalist is talking about and he can be crafty and sideways in his delivery. One Clock Straight is that smart young band deserves more than just a single play or two.

FINE old-time balladry earns a new boost in The Murder Capital’s appropriation of post-punk modus operandi to craft songs that are tender and fierce in the same breath. The frontman sings in clear tones, enunciating every word as though singing only to you. In the same space, the other members of the band launch counterpoints that give love songs an edgy, giddy ambience. Tender and unforgiving, as they were. Palpitating sounds, ambulance siren, and shoegazey synths graze lines like “I saw you watching things you’re not supposed to.” The magic of mixing the traditional with the non-traditional is all over The Murder Capital’s exhilarating new album.

VICEGRIP, Uncertain Joy

DESPITE the band’s powerful name, the music in the EP “Uncertain Joy” smacks of lounge music for seniors in the afternoon of their lives. But hold the thought—it’s hardly dirge-like. Well, opener “Ride” is watered-down attempt at shoegaze and the band quickly picks up the slack in the stomping post-punk of “Sharp Lips Kiss,” the twinkling dance sway of “Telephone Wire” and the new wave jangle of “Uncertain.” There’s still joy in remembering things past and rocking.

GODFATHER of punk. The Ig. The Stooges wild frontman. These claims to ignominious fame has hounded Iggy Pop’s career, if it can be called that, but also kept alive his name in the hearts and minds of true rock fans. Aged 75, Iggy Pop releases a new album that just about rehashes (in a good way) everything that has endeared him to those who love “outsider music.” Right at the start, the self-referencing monster rocker “Frenzy,” he mouths off about kicking the pricks while on a later track, “Modern City Rip-Off,” he sums up his life thus, “I don’t know how to die/I don’t know how to cry.” The best of the lot has to be the final track where he beautifully recycles in your face all things about living desperately on the sidelines. There’s not much nothing new here but it hasn’t stopped the fact that Iggy Pop’s one defiant maddafucka.

WORMROT, Hiss

THIStrio from Singapore is at the top of the heap for 2022 of “The Quietus,” my favorite go-to site for new metal. First off, the music on “Hiss” is self-referential—lots of death metal hisses and ghoulish howls that, I suppose, only the cognoscenti would embrace. At the end of the day (match), what I want to say is that Asians can find their place in the international market outside of The Grammy’s and Billboard. They just happen to be what our former masters tell us is what’s good for us. Time to loosen those ties.

Check out the sounds reviewed on this page on digital music platforms, especially bandcamp.

IGGY POP, Every Loser

THE MURDER CAPITAL Gigi’s Recovery

Pay-Per-Chew: More restaurants trying subscription programs

by Dee-ann Durbin

The Associated Press

Large chains in the US like Panera and P.F. Chang’s as well as neighborhood hangouts are increasingly experimenting with the subscription model as a way to ensure steady revenue and customer visits. Some offer unlimited drinks or free delivery for a monthly fee; others will bring out your favorite appetizer each time you visit.

These food establishments are following a trend: The average American juggled 6.7 subscriptions in 2022, up from 4.2 in 2019, according to Rocket Money, a personal finance app.

An expression of love?

“Thi S is just another way for customers to provide a level of support and joy and love for our offerings,” said Matt Baker, the chef at Gravitas, a Michelin-starred

restaurant in Washington.

For $130 per month, Gravitas Supper Club subscribers get a three-course takeout meal for two. Baker said Gravitas shifted to takeout during the pandemic but saw demand fizzle once its dining room reopened. The Supper Club—which serves about 60 diners per month—keeps that revenue flowing.

The upscale Chinese chain P.F. Chang’s also saw an opportunity to increase to-go orders with its subscription plan, which launched in September. For $6.99 per month, members get free delivery, among other perks.

Rick Camac, executive director of industry Relations at the institute of Culinary Education, said he expects many more restaurants to offer subscriptions in the coming years. Consumers are accustomed to them, he said, and the regular monthly income helps restaurants manage their cash flow.

Not a secret formula

BU T not all subscription programs have had success. in 2021, On the Border Mexican Grill introduced its Queso Club, which offered free cheese dip for a year for $1. The program stopped taking new subscribers a year later.

Edithann Ramey, On the Border’s chief marketing officer, said more than 150,000 people signed up for the Queso Club, and members visited seven times more often than the average guest. But the Dallasbased chain wasn’t making enough to cover the cost of the dip.

On the Border is now retooling the program and expects to reintroduce it later this year. it may charge more or move to a monthly model, Ramey said, but the subscription element will remain.

“it ’s becoming kind of a hot trend and we want to stay as a leading brand,” Ramey said.

Taco Bell is also tinkering with its $10 Taco Lover’s Pass, which lets subscribers get a taco every day for a month. The pass was introduced in January 2022 and again in October; it generated buzz, but the chain is trying

to think of ways to make it more valuable to consumers, said Dane Mathews, Taco Bell’s chief digital officer. A subscription could promise faster service, for example, or unlock unique menu items. Other restaurants have dropped subscriptions, saying they have their hands full just running the kitchen.

Other businesses have had better luck. St. Louis-based Panera had nearly 40 million members in its loyalty program in early 2020, but it wanted to convince them to drop in more often. So it launched a subscription program that offered unlimited coffee and tea for $8.99 per month. Customers started coming in several times a week, and about one-third of the time they bought food.

Last year, Panera expanded the subscription. Now, members can pay $11.99 per month or $119.99 per year for unlimited hot and cold drinks. Annual subscribers also get free delivery.

Eduardo Luz, Panera’s chief brand and concept officer, won’t share exact numbers but he said members now make up 25 percent of the chain’s transactions. “it ’s a huge traffic driver,” he said.

Chris hosford, a communications consultant in southern California, joined Panera’s subscription plan a year ago. he passes four or five Paneras on his regular routes and often stops to grab a coffee and a bite to eat. “it ’s not a huge amount of savings for me—probably $5-10 in the average month,” hosford said. “But i’m good with that.” Cover photo by Yente Eynde/pexels.com

Five emerging trends that could change our lives online

ThE way we live our lives online is rapidly changing. New technologies are set to transform the online world, affecting everything from social media to how people and businesses make money from their creativity.

if you’re feeling confused by the pace of change, here’s what you need to know about five trends on the cusp of making a major impact.

1Generative AI

The uses for A i and the more specific field of machine learning (where software improves at a task with experience) are only likely to grow. The A ipowered chatbot ChatGPT is a high-profile example. Microsoft recently invested US$10 billion (£8.2 billion) investment in the chatbot’s parent company showing how seriously these online tools are being taken.

it was seen by some journalists as the start of an “A i war” between Microsoft and Google. The latter company has been incorporating A i into its search engine to improve the answers people get. Jasper.ai

is another forward-thinking use of A i This online service generates written content for blogs, social media posts and letters.

2The metaverse

The “metaverse” is intended to make the online world more like the real one, through the use of virtual reality (VR) headsets. i n stead of interacting with a two-dimensional profile on social media, you would don your VR headset to be represented by an avatar in a 3D virtual world. Your avatar would be able to communicate with other ones in a space modelled on the real world. Online shops could take the form of 3D virtual spaces so customers could browse in much the same way they would in their everyday lives.

YouTube and Meta are both building libraries of 360-degree video and images, as well as computer-generated objects and backgrounds that can be used to build the 3D environments that your avatar would explore in these virtual worlds.

3

Digital certificates

The owners of 360-degree video and computer-generated landscapes designed for use in the metaverse will want to sell their digital creations. To prevent unauthorized use, a kind of token called an NFT can provide these items of digital content with certificates of authenticity and ownership.

These non-fungible tokens allow the content to be bought and sold with confidence, something that’s increasingly happening with the use of cryptocurrency.

Despite a recent drop in the NFT market, forecasts by the US stock exchange Nasdaq suggest the tokens could perform well in 2023.

4Blockchain

A kind of digital record, or ledger, called a blockchain could help underpin private networks of people online, providing a safe space for them free from trolls, stalkers and fraud. These networks have discarded the top-down management used else-

where in favor of a more democratic form of governance with no central authority.

‘Workfluencers’

5

Businesses have taken note of the rise of social media influencers and are adopting their approach to reach target audiences. They are making use of what’s called an employee advocate, or “workfluencer.” Companies have realized that employees’ social media profiles and posts may better convey the brand than corporate accounts.

When crafted thoughtfully, social media posts by employees can seem significantly more authentic to other users than corporate PR. People have grown more honest about day-to-day work life, rather than only producing stories on professional milestones and achievements.

Organizations are likely to build procedures to encourage teams and employees to communicate and distribute material on the company’s behalf. The Conversation

Consumers are willing to pay monthly subscription fees for streaming services, pet food and even toilet paper. and now some restaurants are betting they’ll do the same for their favorite meals.

MaT T BakEr, chef and owner of Gravitas, poses for a portrait inside the restaurant in Washington. Gravitas has a subscription service offering a monthly meal for two. AP

Wine Dine&

Eating my way through Spain, and a Three Star Michelin restaurant

By Brian K. Ong

IT all started with a trip to Shanghai, China for

(anything that has been mentioned in top-list in media, or part of the World’s Best, or Michelin-starred). Spain, apparently has the 5th most Michelin Star restaurants, next to France, Japan, Italy and Germany.

Michelin stars are awarded to a restaurant which Michelin (yes, the tire company) considers the very best in a given city. It is also considered a hallmark of fine dining by many of the world’s top chefs and restaurant patrons, and recipients gain immense prestige and exposure along with this honor.

One Star means that the restaurant is considered “very good in its category” having a quality menu and prepares cuisine to a consistently high standard.

The trip went on smoothly and we instantly clicked. That trip became, I would say, the litmus test and the start of our once-a-year adventure to new places around the world.

In 2016, we went to Maldives, and the next year to Italy and Greece. In 2019, we did a road trip across Europe into Czech Republic, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, and Austria. And just as everything opened up last year, our revenge travel destination was decided to be in Spain.

Spain, being one of the ultimate foodie destinations, and the birthplace of paella and jamon serrano,

among others, tickled the foodie in us all. Not to mention all the other things Spain is famous for – Picasso, Gaudi and La Sagrada Familia, its Mediterranean beaches, countryside vineyards and wine, and its UNESCO World Heritage Sites. A s with any other destination we go to, we often pick a restaurant to splurge on and enjoy.

Michelin-starred restaurants WE MAKE it a point to research about the food and the best places to eat in the destination we travel to — whether it be the oldest restaurant, or the most awarded one

Two Stars mean the restaurant has excellent cuisine delivered in a unique way and has something exceptional to offer — it’s “worth a detour” to visit while traveling.

W hile, Three Stars mean the restaurant has exceptional cuisine and thus “worth a special journey” just to visit. Rather than being a stop on the way to a destination, this restaurant is the destination itself. This restaurant serves distinct dishes that are executed to perfection.

Decision made NEXT to Alain Ducasse, who holds the record with most Michelin stars as of date (20 Michelin stars across his restaurants), Martin Berasate-

gui comes second with 12 Michelin stars, and one of the two three-Michelin-starred restaurants of his is Lasarte in Barcelona.

That was it. It was decided that we would try Lasarte! In all honesty, it was my first time in my life to dine in a three-Michelin-starred restaurant, and this was also true with all of my companions.

We have been eating our way through Spain – from the birthplace of Paella in Valencia, to the Mercados in Madrid, a wine tour in Bodegas de los Herederos del Marqués de Riscal, to the oldest restaurants – we tried them all.

L asarte by Martin Berasategui was the cherry on top of our whole trip to Spain, aptly so during the last leg in Barcelona.

The cost

THE first thing you might wonder and ask is how much would it cost for you to be able to enjoy a meal at a Three Michelin Star restaurant.

The menu was a choice between the six-course Lunch Menu at EUR190 or a little more than Php11,000 or the 12-course Full Tasting Menu at EUR305, or roughly Php18,000.

We chose the former.

Lasarte promises that “our main purpose is to create an unforgettable gastronomic experience… comme il faut,” and this is exactly what they gave us.

The food was a given, as it left us speechless. Every dish was great – it had a variety of flavors with the freshest ingredients used, and the culinary techniques displayed on the plate. The bottled olive oil specially made for Lasarte and their homemade breads and butters were some of the piece de resistance.

But it was also beyond the food, or the carefully curated wine list.

Carefully orchestrated

FROM the moment you walk in the door, to the way we were assisted to our table, to how the water was poured in our glasses, to how the chef prepared the dishes, up until dessert and even as we left the restaurant, it was all carefully orchestrated and masterfully executed.

“It was a wow experience every step of the way,” says my GM Ms. Gel.

The whole experience was exceptional, and something you need to experience at least once in your life.

We are all no strangers to five star hotels, as we have worked in or have experienced service in five star hotels in the Philippines or abroad, but being a awarded the Three Stars certainly puts a stamp that the restaurant goes above and beyond and gives you a whole new experience in terms of service and product quality.

Lei’s daughter Audrey, who recently just graduated from college, found the experience to be very nice.

“Having the pleasure of tasting the

food in this renowned restaurant was truly an experience of a lifetime, and the perfect way to conclude the trip to Spain.” And I concur.

Culinary destination

BARCELONA, and I dare say Spain as a country, is a culinary destination with a lot of unique and beautiful experiences brought about by its rich culture and heritage, and I would say passion.

However, it doesn’t mean that you cannot discover a stellar restaurant or an out of this world degustation or a meal that will change your life in a restaurant outside of being awarded a Michelin recognition.

Because, indeed you can. And because, that was exactly what we did and experienced in the whole road trip, I mean food trip, around Spain – from Valencia, Granada, Seville, Madrid and finally Barcelona.

Food is ultimately an experience — and so whether you dine in a Michelin restaurant, or a food stall in the market, it is absolutely your personal connection, your palette, your understanding, and what you make of it that’s what’s going to set it apart from any other.

Above it all, as with any experience, it is best shared with your family, friends or loved ones.

W here to next, guys?

an immersion for the hotel group I work in. I was new with the Hotel101 Group, and my GM back then, Lei Apostol, who is now the VP for Customer Service Operations of Cebu Pacific, told me and my GM now, Gel Gomez, that we were to have a trip to China to see Jin Jiang Hotels, where we got the master franchise of Jinjiang Inn in the Philippines.

Brian K. Ong. CGSP is the Head of Public Relations of the Hotel101 Group.

One of the appetizers, tomato crisp topped with pieces of raw shrimp and green curry crème

A millefeuille of foie gras, eel, and caramelized apple

Wine Tour at the Bodegas de los Herederos del Marqués de Riscal, one of the favorite Spanish wines of the group

Cod confit with sour cream, mustard and Kale

Lamb shoulder with aubergine miso, crispy sweetbread, spicy juice

Traveling the world with, from left, Hotel101’s Gel Gomez, Audrey Policarpio, Cebu Pacific’s Lei Apostol, my brother Jason Ong, and Discovery Suites’ Carlo Cruz, together with Lasarte’s Chef Paolo Casagrande

Red mullet in suquet with Vinum Acre pearls, smoked sardine and celeriac

Cinnamon spheres, tangerine and roses

Wine&

OKADA MANILA’S LA PIAZZA: A GASTRONOMIC JOURNEY OF WELL CURATED ITALIAN CUISINE

LA PIAZZA Ristorante Italiano has an exciting new menu, featuring a combination of elevated Italian staples and the restaurant’s all-time classic dishes. From scrumptious appetizers to delectable main courses, flavorful steaks and decadent desserts, the restaurant offers a gastronomic journey for discerning palates.

Choose from a marvellous selection of aperitivi (aperitifs) such as prosciutto e melone (Parma ham, cantaloupe, gorgonzola and walnuts), salumi (salame, prosciutto crudo, mortadella, prosciutto cotto, etc.), burrata, and more. There are also two kinds of zuppe (soups), namely the rich crema di zucca (pumpkin soup) and the robust zuppa di mare (seafood soup).

For the main course, La Piazza Ristorante Italiano’s dalla griglia (from the grill) menu includes a variety of steaks, most notably the tomahawk, carrè d’agnello (rack of lamb), grilled Iberico pork rack, gambero (prawns) and aragosta (lobster) with appetizing sides. For those who prefer the classics, the restaurant has pollo arrosto (roasted chicken), spigola al cartoccio (Chilean seabass), and veal Milanese (breaded veal escalope), among others. There is also a mouthwatering selection of spectacular fresh

pasta dishes and popular pizza varieties that remain crowd favorites.

Not to be missed is an assortment of decadent desserts at La Piazza Ristorante Italiano, like diplomatico (puff pastry, sponge cake with chamomile ice cream), panna cotta, tsokolate tart, tiramisù, and raviolo fritto kesong puti e miele, a unique dessert with some Filipino fusion.

The restaurant serves an interesting variety of wines and cocktails to complement each meal. Drawing attention from wine connoisseurs is La Piazza Ristorante Italiano’s collection of the most premium and sought-after wines. Each bottle is carefully selected, preserved, and displayed at the restaurant’s exclusive wine cellar.

L a Piazza Ristorante Italiano’s offerings can be enjoyed in the Trattoria, with its high tables and a bar, makes for a more relaxed and casual setting. A few steps away is the luxurious Ristorante, a beautiful dining area adorned with stunning Swarovski crystal chandeliers and plush seating perfect for a romantic date or an intimate get-together with friends or family.

L a Piazza is located at the Crystal Corridor, Pearl Wing. For reservations, please send an email to RestaurantReservation@okadamanila.com or call +632 8555 5799.

Singapore’s Tunglok Seafood opens in Metro Manila

FROM the group that brought Singapore’s Tung Lok Signatures to the Philippines comes a new Singaporean seafood concept. Focusing on offering the best of Singaporean-Chinese style seafood, Tung Lok Seafood opens its first branch in S Maison at

Conrad Manila in Pasay City.

Tung Lok Seafood specializes in offering the best of Singaporean-style seafood prepared with the quality and standards synonymous with the Tung Lok brand. Celebrate special occasions and intimate gatherings with friends

and family in any of Tung Lok Seafood’s four (4) private rooms, each with a capacity of 10-20 guests. Perennial favorites include TungLok’s Signature Chili Crab with a side of mantou, Wasabi Mayo Prawns, Lobster Sashimi, Australian Beef Tenderloin, and many

more delectable dishes.

The phrase "Tung Lok" comes from a Cantonese saying which means “happy together”. Tung Lok Group started as a familyowned business in Singapore during the 1980s. Today, Tung Lok has expanded to over 30 stores

across Singapore, China, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Philippines.

Tung Lok Seafood and Tung Lok Signatures stores were introduced to the Philippines by the same group that brought international brands such as Mango Tree, Mango Tree Cafe, Sen-ryo, and Genki

Sushi to the country.

Tung Lok Signatures opened at City of Dreams in August 2022 while Tung Lok Seafood opened its first store at S Maison in February 2023. Tung Lok Seafood offers a wider variety of seafood dishes.

Belmont Hotel Manila’s weekend dinner buffet is a delight after a long work week

BELMONT Hotel Manila is the go-to hotel for seasoned travelers. Its strategic location across NAIA Terminal 3 and inside Newport City has made it the choice hotel for those looking for effortless convenience.

But other than being a ‘home away from home’ for both the business and leisure set, Belmont Hotel Manila has also grown to become a fuss-free dining destination.

Café Belmont is Belmont Hotel Manila’s food hub. The all-day dining restaurant serves buffet breakfast and an a la carte menu

that consists of curated local and international dishes including a pastry kiosk for takeout homemade sweets and savories.

Every Friday and Saturday evening it gives its guests a little extra by way of its sumptuous “Hello, Weekend! Dinner Buffet.” Belmont centers on key food stations

that deliver taste and quality that guests will keep coming back to. Since it started, the crowd favorites are the Hotpot, Oysters, Pizza, and Carving stations. But other than these, guests may also indulge in an array of main dishes, salads, makis, sushis, pasta, and desserts.

To further enhance the dining mood and to set the tone for the weekend, a dinner buffet at Café Belmont also features live acoustic performances that will complement the yummy food.

The “Hello, Weekend! Dinner Buffet” is at P1,350 nett per person.

Children five years old are free of charge, while six to 12 years old are 50 percent off. It is available every Friday and Saturday from 6:30 PM to 9:30 PM. For reservations, please call 5318 8888 or email dine@belmontmanila.com.

Dine&

Talented chefs from Spain introduce Extremadura cuisine through La Fiesta

EVEN though chefs Francisco

Romero and Carlos Garcia were miles away from their home region of Extremadura in Spain, home for them has always been the kitchen. And this time, they brought a part of Extremadura to the Philippines by gracing the kitchen in Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar, Quezon City.

the Philip -

pines for quite some time, owning two restaurants in the country— The Black Pig in Alabang and The Pig Pen in Nuvali. Meanwhile, this is Romero’s first time in the Philippines.

A sked how it feels to be in the Philippines, Romero told BusinessMirror in Spanish, “It’s a very nice experience because it is the first time that I come to the Philippines.”

I’m very proud to be here to promote the town of Extremadura and it’s an amazing experience,” he added.

Celebration of Spanish culture

ROMERO and Garcia were invited to spearhead the kitchen in the very first La Fiesta. La Fiesta is the celebration of Spanish culture featuring Spanish wines, liquor and beer from all the regions of Spain.

The invited region for this year is the Extremadura region which is located in the west of Central Spain. It has a magnificent culinary tradi-

tion and a rich history that dates back to the Roman Empire. The cities of Merida (the Roman Augusta Emerita), Caceres, and the Monastery of Santa Matria de Guadalupe are World Heritage Sites.

Extremadura is also recognized for its environment, characterized by its reserves of water and natural diversity. It has 72 natural spaces under official protection, which makes it a unique region in Europe.

L a Camara, together with the support of the Spanish Embassy, spearheaded La Fiesta which was held in Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar, Quezon City. More than 300 guests joined the celebration.

Curated platter

TO START the evening’s dinner, Romero and Garcia served a carefully curated “Regional Cheese and Iberian Charcuterie Platter.” It was composed of Iberian Jamón, Iberian Chorizo, Queso Ibores D.O.P. cheese with red pep -

per, and Membrillo: quince preserve from Extremadura.

Following the charcuterie platter was the starter “Mollu de Bacalao.” The starter is a salad with lettuce hearts, cod fish, orange, black olives, olive oil from Extremadura, and Red Pepper.

Next was the main dish composed of Iberian pork loin, Cabecero de cerdo ibérico, fora peppers, Zorongollo salad, chestnut puree, and Queso Ibores D.O.P cheese sauce.

Garcia revealed that the Iberian pork loin is his personal favorite. He said, “My favorite is the main course with the pork… it’s very classic.”

But what is a set menu without a dessert?

Of course, dessert was served, with Extremadura flavor as well. Garcia and Romero served in each plate a biscuit of figs with honey and orange sauce; and Técula Mécula: Spanish almond and egg tart with chocolate sauce.

48 hours preparation ACCORDING to Carlos, cooking for 300 people is challenging enough, but the most challenging was that it took them 48 hours to prepare everything. Once everything was served, Romero expressed nothing but satisfaction and pride. He said, “It is satisfying to give back and to introduce something that came from my town, my region, and to share it with the customer. It’s very satisfying. I feel very proud of it.”

He is proud to represent their home region Extremadura, which according to him has yet to be discovered by many people since the airport is 500 kilometers away. Romero reflected, “The Philippines have yet to discover that part of Spain because everybody only knows Barcelona… and it’s a very unknown region because the airport is 500 kilometers away.”

He added, “It’s very isolated but we resemble a lot with the Philippines because of the flavor… it’s a little bit like a married couple.”

Marco Polo Ortigas Manila honors its people in Forbes Travel Guide Five-Star Award

FOR the seventh year in a row, Marco Polo Ortigas Manila (MPOM) was handed the coveted Five-Star Award by the Forbes Travel Guide.

F orbes Travel Guide is the only independent, global rating system for luxury hotels, restaurants, and spas. They verify luxury based on meticulous standards and have deemed MPOM as one of the few hotels in the Philippines which could stand among the elite hotels in the world.

“ It is an honor to receive this prestigious award for the seventh consecutive year. We are thankful to our team for the hard work and exceptional service they provide every day, as well as our valued guests for supporting this journey,” said Colin Healy, General Manager of Marco Polo Ortigas Manila. “We will continue to give back and be of service for our guests to explore, discover, and experience the best of Philippine hospitality.”

To give back to its guests, MPOM has announced a celebratory promo which offers the Bed and Breakfast rate starting from a Deluxe Room.

This includes breakfast for two; club access; an automatic upgrade to the next room category; special Forbes chocolates as a turn-down amenity; and 20 percent off in the top-quality Continental and Asian buffet at Cucina, the authentic Cantonese cuisine at the award-winning Lung Hin restaurant, and the signature cocktails and hors d’oeuvres at Vu’s Sky Bar and Lounge. The booking period is from February 16 to March 10, 2023, and can be used until May 31, 2023.

Gue sts who fancy Afternoon Tea can also avail of MPOM’s package for two with their choice of our signature English or Asian tea at P1,265, between February 17 to March 31, 2023.

R ounding it all up is MPOM’s Thank You Raffle with a Superior Room overnight stay at stake, along with seven exclusive benefits:

n Continental Club lounge access.

n Afternoon Tea for two at

the Connect Lounge with two glasses of Prosecco.

n A 30-minute complimentary spa service for two.

n20 percent discount in all dining outlets.

n A P1,000 voucher at Café Pronto offering beverages, pastries and sandwiches.

n A bottle of red wine and selected artisan chocolates. n A free upgrade on the next staycation via direct booking.

P romotions and offers are subject to terms and conditions.

K nown as “The Philippines’ First Sky Hotel”, Marco Polo Ortigas Manila stands tall at 45 floors and is centrally located in the vibrant Ortigas Commercial Business District. Complementing the hotel’s world-class service are its luxury hotel rooms, impressive views of the Ortigas skyline, diverse food and beverage outlets, an indoor temperaturecontrolled pool, a fitness center, and the Flow spa, among other amenities fit for a modern world-class traveller.

F or more information and updates, visit marcopolohotels. com, like Marco Polo Ortigas Manila on Facebook, and follow @marcopolomanila on Instagram. For reservations, call (+632) 7720 7777.

Romero is originally from Cáceres, while Garcia was born in Acedo, both towns are part of the

Extremadura region, located in the west of Central Spain. Garcia has been in

Story and photos By Patrick Miguel

The main dish which consisted of Iberian pork loin, Cabecero de cerdo ibérico, fora peppers, Zorongollo salad, chestnut puree, and Queso Ibores D.O.P cheese sauce.

Mollu de Bacalao

Regional Cheese and Iberian Charcuterie Platter

Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar Quezon City was all glammed up for the event.

Chef Francisco Romero and Chef Carlos Garcia

Wine Dine&

WEEKEND DELIGHTS AT SAVOY HOTEL MANILA

22 Prime’s Unlimited Steak & Sides Returns in March 2

2 Prime, Discovery Suites’ award-winning steakhouse, has established a following of carnivores who share the love for highquality, flavorful and juicy steaks. For the past years, guests have always looked forward to the monthly SteakOut: Unlimited Steaks and Sides to feast on unlimited servings of USDA ribeye steak plus an assortment of side dishes and desserts.

O n March 17 and 18, 2023, 22 Prime’s muchanticipated unlimited steak returns to satisfy every steak lover’s craving. Diners are in for a real treat as selections of scrumptious side dishes and desserts are served buffet style.

2 2 Prime’s USDA ribeye steak comes with a variety of homemade sauces and will be cooked to your preferred doneness a la minute. Savor all this goodness from

6:00PM to 9:00PM, for only P2,800 nett per person. Keep your wine glass full and ready to pair every forkful of meat with a sip of wine for an additional P1,200 nett per person for two hours of free-flow of wine.

B ook your seats before it gets fully booked. For inquiries and reservations, please contact us at (+632) 7719 8888 / (+632) 7719 6805 / (0966) 496 2355.

Tiger Sugar Philippines’ New Coffee Variants and Brown Sugar Almond Croissant - The Perfect Blend for Coffee Lovers!

INTRODUCING the newest addition to the already impressive lineup of Tiger Sugar Philippines - the Tiger Sugar Coffee variants. If you are a coffee lover, you are in for a treat!

WEEKENDS will never be the same with Savoy Hotel Manila’s offerings.

Delightful Weekend Buffet

We are taking your Delightful Weekend Buffet to the next level with a wider variety of spreads!

Sumptuous appetizers to soups and salads, plus a variety of international main course offerings and sweet endings will definitely be a great way to satisfy your weekend food

cravings!’

It’s available every Friday and Saturday, from 6 pm to 9 pm, with live entertainment and costs P1,188 for adults and P594 for children ages six to 12 years old.

Asian Sunday Bowl Buffet

Any plans for your Sunday lunch? Why not head to Savoy Café and enjoy a feast of your Asian Cuisine Cravings. Asian Sunday Bowl Buffet is available every Sunday, from 12 noon to 2:30 pm for only P699 for adults and Php349 for children ages six to 12 years old.

For table reservations, please call +632 5317 2817 or email dine@savoymanila.com.

Tiger Sugar has always been known for their top-notch milk teas that come in a variety of flavors, from classic to fruit-infused ones. Now, they are expanding their menu to cater to the coffee enthusiasts out there. With four exciting flavors to choose from, you can indulge in your coffee cravings anytime, anywhere.

First on the list is the classic Tiger Sugar Coffee, made with premium Arabica coffee beans and combined with the signature brown sugar syrup that Tiger Sugar is famous for. It’s the perfect balance of strong and sweet that will surely awaken your senses.

For those who prefer a stronger kick, the Espresso Latte variant is a must-try. It’s a combination of smooth milk and bold espresso, with a drizzle of brown sugar syrup that gives it a unique and distinct flavor.

If you’re feeling a bit adventurous, why not try the Creamy Cappuccino? It’s a velvety mix of frothy milk and espresso, topped with a dollop of whipped cream, and

sprinkled with cocoa powder. It’s a coffee lover’s dream come true.

L astly, the Matcha Latte with Brown Sugar is the perfect blend of sweet and bitter, with a generous serving of premium matcha powder, milk, and the iconic brown sugar syrup that Tiger Sugar is famous for. It’s a unique twist to the classic matcha latte that’s sure to delight your taste buds.

But that’s not all! Tiger Sugar is also introducing a new product - the Brown Sugar Almond Croissant, made in collaboration with Ijo Bakery: The Batangas Viennoiserie. This flaky and buttery pastry is filled with a rich almond cream and drizzled with the same brown sugar syrup that Tiger Sugar is known for. It’s a perfect complement to your cup of coffee or milk tea.

A nd for those who can’t decide between coffee or milk tea, Tiger Sugar has an ongoing promo until February 28. You can enoy a Milk Tea and Croissant Combo for only PHP 250! That’s a great deal that you don’t want to miss.

So head on over to the nearest Tiger Sugar branch and try out their new coffee variants and Brown Sugar Almond Croissant. It’s a perfect way to start your day or cap off your afternoon.

Food safety is everyone’s responsibility, says food safety expert

THE government, food manufacturers, food service establishments, primary producers, and consumers each have their own responsibilities when it comes to food safety, said food scientist Ziggy Felongco.

The government is responsible for creating and enforcing these policies, and even the consumers should be aware of proper food handling practices and demand proper information about food,” he explained.

Felongco was the guest in BusinessMirror’s podcast titled “Food Safety Fridays: What is food safety and why it matters?”

He added that the “ultimate responsibility” is with the food industry as they have the “economic benefit from food.”

Felongco cited a food safety magazine which stated that recognizing food safety is “open to various interpretations.” According to him, it is deemed either a process or

a discipline.

Despite its lack of definition, food safety prevents people from getting sick.

“Generally, when we say food safety, we’re talking about making sure [that] they would not get sick from consuming food,” he said

Food is not safe if it has “unpleasant odors and sourness” and if there are “gray, cloudy, cottony growth” that are often found in old breads.

He added that leftover food could be dangerous, especially if it has been reheated multiple times, as microorganisms could be present.

The domino effect

FOODBORNE illness is caused by the consumption of food that has already been contaminated. Common symptoms include diarrhea, vomiting, and fever and this could cost workers to be absent from work.

“Foodborne diseases remain a

cause for concern in nations around the world whether developing or developed countries. Everybody eats and it’s because it causes human suffering which would then lead to a domino effect,” he said.

It would generally result in economic losses,” the food safety specialist added.

According to a report by the World Health Organization (WHO), the risk of foodborne diseases is “most severe” in low and

middle-income countries. This is highly linked to unsafe water, poor hygiene, “insufficient food safety legislation,” among others.

“Cumulatively, if they were unable to work and more [are] hospitalized [nang] sabay-sabay ‘yung economic burden… would definitely be massive,” Felongco said.

Full episode of the podcast “Food Safety Fridays: What is food safety and why it matters?” is available on Spotify Patrick Miguel

22 Prime’s USDA ribeye steak

NARRATIVES FROM HISTORICAL MAPS

The Murillo Velarde map was drawn by the Jesuit Father Pedro Murillo Velarde and published in Manila in 1734, and considered as the first and most important scientific map of the Philippines.

Turk Empire map of 1628

NARRATIVES FROM HISTORICAL MAPS AS TOLD BY RENOWNED LENSMAN PER-ANDRE HOFFMANN

Story by Carla Mortel-Baricaua Images

of Memories of the Orient

IT was a lazy Saturday morning at Ortigas Market that led me to discover a unique find—a treasure trove of historical maps. As I passed by, I vaguely noticed the Murillo Velarde Map of 1734 in front of me when this friendly fellow stepped up to point out its many pertinent details. It turns out he’s Per Andre Hoffmann, world famous and multiawarded photographer, known as the “magician of light,” but on that day, I got to know him more through his collection of antique maps and the stories that came with it.

His successful career as a photographer took him to over one hundred countries that also prompted him to build his fine collection. “A few decades ago I had the unique opportunity to purchase a bulk of historical maps; some of which were stunning and wonderfully hand colored and showed all corners of the world, all regions and countries. I have continued collecting until now, and I have focused on beautifully colored maps. I prefer regions, countries or cities close to my heart, my homelands Germany, Norway and the Philippines. I now have a humble collection of 16th/17th/18th/19th century maps of nearly all countries, regions and continents, the World, biblical and Celestial Star Maps, which are truly out of this world,” says Hoffmann.

As a collector, he cherishes his possessions as so much more than just artifacts to be put on display. As he says: “Historical Maps are a glimpse into the past, its history, culture, scientific achievements, zeitgeist and its implications on our lives. Regardless of where we call home, these insights into the past guide

us to an understanding of how history has shaped us as we are— our ancestry and family history, race and ethnicity, language, culture and our life as it is today. The awareness of a multicultural, mutual history allows us to understand the self and develop not only a personal identity, but also a collective identity, a sense of homeland and belonging – the fundamental building blocks of a national identity and nation building...and ultimately a sense of belonging to a larger family –the human race.”

Per-Andre Hoffmann, veteran photographer and Canon Ambassador, is also a collector of historical maps.

courtesy

NARRATIVES FROM HISTORICAL MAPS AS TOLD BY RENOWNED LENSMAN PER-ANDRE HOFFMANN

and founded the Orientalis Fine Art Gallery, where high quality reproductions of the historical maps are available under the “Memories of the Orient” brand.

Continued from Page 3

As he leafed through the old parchment, the decorated lensman now turned historical storyteller shared his fascination over pieces that are among his favorites. One is the detailed illustration of the first sea battle in Asia between the Spanish and Dutch in 1600. “The Spanish Captain/Vice-Governor was commanded to hunt down the Dutch, who were pirating Philippine waters. On this perilous quest he invited friends and family to join him on the galleon ‘San Diego.’ Historic records show about 500 people boarded the battleship in their finest clothes and jewelry. They brought slaves and servants, fine porcelain dining ware, luxurious beds, trunks and the very best of foods. Surely, they had a ball at sea, but the party was crashed when the Dutch warship ‘Mauritius’ opened fire, and the ‘San Diego’ could not return fire because it was overloaded and the gun ports were submerged. It sunk off the coast of Nasugbu. Its wreck would be found in 1992 and yield a treasure in porcelain and gold pieces.

Another map of 1595 had an enormous historical impact, as it revealed that there was an unknown passage into the Waters of South East Asia, allowing the Dutch and the British to bypass the Portuguese forts in the Malacca Strait and sail through the Indonesian Sunda Strait. This ended over one hundred years

of Portuguese rule in South East Asia and enabled the British and Dutch to exploit the region and establish the largest companies the world has ever seen. In the 17th century the British and Dutch East India Companies had market capitalizations of about 6.8 and 8.2 trillion USD in today’s value.

In comparison: Apple, the most valuable company of 2022, has a value of 2.5 trillion USD.”

Of course, he eventually veered toward the “mother of all maps.”

The Murillo Velarde Map weighed heavily, along with other maps, in the Philippine’s claim to territorial rights over parts of the South China Sea, or more aptly the West Philippine Sea, in a dispute with China.

“The Murillo Velarde Map of 1734 is a scientific and artistic masterpiece and one of the Philippines most important historical artifacts. Not only because of its importance in proving the Philippines territorial integrity (in The Hague), but also because it offers an incredibly rich insight into the unique history of the Philippines and its life in the 18th century. These insights are a powerful vessel to promote self-esteem in the heritage of the Philippines, pride in the Filipino homeland and dedication to your Filipino compatriots.”

These, among other maps, were first mounted in his residence in Forbes Park, Makati. Accessible only to a privileged few, it was his friends, the late President Fidel Ramos, Sir Washing -

ton Sycip and other prominent personalities, who convinced him to share his pieces to a larger audience. Since he was far too busy with other commitments to start this endeavor on his own, it was his Filipino partner, Edianna Ortega, who took charge

Not to be mistaken as mere copies, these reproductions went through a painstaking process, a serious makeover to bring out the details without sacrificing their authenticity. It begins with the most decorative maps being chosen and recreated in great detail as digital files. Then they are “cleaned” of ugly folds, stains and tears, while keeping its antique look. After which, each one is printed on museum grade materials such as the heavy German canvas, and printed with light fast, non-fading Japanese pigments, far from the usual offset prints with fast fading ink on the common paper.

“Our historical maps come either rolled, or beautifully framed. We can also customize them a bit according to specific clients’ requests. We do not use the ubiquitous, prefabricated, fake-wood Chinese frames, instead we make

our own frames in various designs. Most popular is our classy vintage style, with hand-made hardwood that are locally-sourced, frames that are very much favored by our customers in government agencies, embassies, upscale business clubs, restaurants, among others,” shares Ortega.

“And by the way” jests Per-Andre, “would it not be unseemly to offer the most famous Philippine map, which proved the Philippines territorial rights in the West-Philippine-Sea-dispute with China, in a made-in-China frame?”

We then exchanged smiles as more stories came and livened the day with newfound memories, connections and a quick boost to one’s cultural identity.

Hoffmann’s historical maps and vintage photography can be viewed and purchased at the Memories of the Orient stall in the Legazpi Sunday Market, or in the Ortigas Saturday Market. They can also be contacted through email ( Memoriesoftheorient@gmail.com) or www.memoriesoftheorient.com

Connecting the past to the present. On the 1734 Murillo Velarde map, an illustration showed a man in a guinit (coconut fiber) cape (inset). An almost identical “raincoat” is seen on a 1993 photograph of a Tinguian Boar Hunter taken by Per-Andre Hoffmann and available as Fine Art Print.

FEU FILMMAKERS GET LION’S SHARE OF REALIFILM AWARDS

STUDENT filmmakers from Far Eastern University recently grabbed the majority of the awards in “REALIFILM 2023 | Haze of Truth: Underlying Gap of Life,” an interschool film competition organized by the Silip@Lente Adamson University (SILAU), in collaboration with the AdU Cultural Affairs Office.

Josh Van Ulric Campo and his production team from Recto Pictures led the winners from FEU Department of Communication by bagging Best Director, Best Screenplay, Award of Virtue, Award of Excellence, and the Gold Award for “All the Things Left Unsaid.” In Campo’s short film, a boy narrates his life as a queer individual, speaking about his inner child in a very mundane setting.

Campo, who also designed the film’s sound, collaborated with producer, assistant director, and editor Sophia Amoyen, production manager and script supervisor Jamelah Tumanguil, cinematographer and animator Samantha Lorraine Ramirez, co-cinematographer Roen Cue -

to, camera operator and sound recordist Sean Ballesteros, production designer, co-animator, wardrobe, and hair and makeup artist Gener Pescadero, lighting director CJ Ablaza, set designer and talent coordinator Kyle Estrella, location manager and set designer Nell Dariane Villareal, and production coordinator and clapper Mikka Llarena.

Fellow FEU DepComm student Rianne Martinez brought home Best Production Design for “Save the Last Dance for Me” from Sine Sibol and TaraTahak Productions. The film follows the story of a young man (Aristedes Lamorena, Jr.) who meets a mysterious woman (Bjorn Pestaño) in the middle of a forest.

FEU Film Society president

Patrick Pangan won “Best Editing” for “If You Leave Me, Please Let Me Know” from Sine Sibol, peliksmata projects, and Pelikula Persona. In the film, which Pangan also wrote and directed, a young boy (Kaloy Estrella) finds a connection with a giant tree in front of their house.

FEU also bagged the Best Supporting Actor award for Ron Gabriel Yu of Project Horsemen’s “Hilahil,” Best Musical Scoring for “Banaag” of SinagTala Films and TaraTahak Productions, and Best Poster for Mar-ian Ejandra of “Ang Babayi” of 120 Frames Production, Bluelight Production, and Talahib Films.

The other winners of REALIFILM, which had “Romanticizing Life and Social Issues” as its theme, are “Sa Mga Mata ng Bata” by Chauncy Cruz of De La SalleCollege of Saint Benilde, Silver Award, Award of Virtue, SILAU’s Choice Award, and Best Actor for Kenshin Lagutan; “Hindi Kita Malilimutan” by Vahn Pascual, DLS-CSB, Bronze Award, Award of Virtue, and Best Cinematography for Reeve Ducusin; “Malikmata” by Jean Evangelista, DLSCSB, Best Supporting Actress for Czarina Sinio; and “Papa, Huwag Po” by Ron Ruzzel Valencia of Bulacan State University, Best Sound and Best Actress for Abygayle Magcasi. The awarding

ceremony was held last January 27 at the AdU Theater.

Other FEU finalists include “Akin ang Buhok Ko” written and directed by Luke Salazar, “Baka Búkas, Bukás Na” by Ely Baculo, and “Heels On” by

FEU DepComm program chair Herwin Cabasal lauded the FEU films for being “proud to tell the stories of the unheard and explore the gaps in today’s society.”

Daniel John Sanchez.

Story & photos by Seymour Barros Sanchez

Josh Van Ulric Campo and his production team for “All the Things Left Unsaid”

A still image from “All the Things Left Unsaid” short film.

Ang Babayi poster

Carla Mortel Baricaua

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“All the Things Left Unsaid” by FEU student filmmakers sweeps awards at REALIFILM 2023.

Short film “All the Things Left Unsaid” is about a young boy and his life as a queer individual.

“All the Things Left Unsaid” is the winning entry of Josh Van Ulric Campo and Recto Pictures production team.

Art Diversity delegation take a closer look at the Angono-Binangonan Petroglyphs. AAAP

Art works by Filipino artists from Art Diversity exhibit are on display at the World Trade Center Metro Manila.

Art pieces created and brought by Indian artists complete the on-going exhibit until February 28. A crowd gathers at the Art Diversity exhibit on its opening day. WTCMM

STRENGTHENING PHILIPPINE AND INDIAN CULTURAL TIES THROUGH ART

Art Diversity

Participating Artists

Mabuhay Philippines

Nemi Miranda

Raul Isidro

Atoy Apostadero

Juno Galang

August Santiago

Aaron Bautista

Keiye Miranda Tuazon

Cecille Artillaga

Rosalie V. Gonzales

Sarah Pallarca

Aries Hernandez

Bernardo Balagtas

Dolpee Alcantara

Eric Egualada

Adonis Carado

Rading Caringal

Don Miranda III (Photographer)

Namaste India

Asurvedh

Suresh Kumar

Amit Dutt

Mamoon Nomani

Vimal Chand

Vijaya Ved

Ashwani Kumar Prithviwasi

Shikha Sinha

This age-old cultural affinity was put to the fore once more with the recent holding of “Art Diversity,” an exchange program between visual artists from the Angono Ateliers Association Philippines (AAAP) and the Arth Art International India.

The weeklong art interaction was participated in by 17 painters from the Angono-based group, one of the country’s oldest associations, led by renowned muralist and sculptor Nemi Miranda, AAAP president Bernie Balagtas, and exchange project director August Santiago.

The New Delhi-based association is composed of 17 contemporary artists headed by Sushil Shriwastwa, CEO and curator of the Arth Art International.

For an immersion into the Philippine art scene, the joint group visited the National Museum in Manila and the

Angono-Binangonan Petroglyphs, art communities in Rizal Province, the studio of painter Raul Isidro, and the University of Sto. Tomas Museum, which boasts of an impressive repository of colonial-era ecclesiastical and visual art, and historic artifacts.

The art exchange culminated with the opening of the public exhibit at the World Trade Center Metro Manila in Pasay City which will run until the end of February.

The cocktail launch was attended by Filipino and foreign diplomats, First Secretary of the Indian Embassy Kannan Chockalingam, local government officials, and officers of the Indian Cultural Association of the Philippines.

According to Nemi Miranda, the successful convergence of the artists from two different nations is a realization of a long-standing

aspiration for the AAAP to showcase the universality of the language of art despite the diversity.

He said that both groups are looking forward to a reciprocal visit to India for Filipinos to have a deeper appreciation of the richness of the subcontinent’s thousand years old civilization, rich history and cultural heritage.

Meanwhile, Department of Tourism—Calabarzon regional director Marites Castro reaffirmed the agency’s continuing support to artistic initiatives in Angono and the rest of the Southern Tagalog region.

“For more than four decades, the Department of Tourism (DOT) through its regional office, has given its all-out support to the various artistic and cultural initiatives of Angono as it showcased its artistry in both national and interna -

tional tourism events, trade shows, expos, and cultural exchanges. The DOT continue to journey with artists in the Calabarzon region as they promote artistic and cultural initiatives in the global stage as ambassadors of goodwill,” she enthused.

Situated in the outskirts of Metro Manila, Angono is a little town by the shores of the Laguna Lake which is recognized by the government as the “Art Capital of the Philippines” because of the abundance of hundreds of painters, sculptors, mixed media artists, musicians, writers, poets, theater actors, brass band and orchestra players.

It also takes pride in producing two National Artists—the eminent historical muralist Carlos “Botong” Francisco, and composer and bandmaster Lucio San Pedro regarded as the “Creative Nationalist” for his body of

Vandana Verma

Rajender Kumar

Reena Chaudhary

Amrit Kapoor

Vikram Kumar

Sunhil Chawla

Sushma Yadav

Rajneesh Gautam

Jyoti Tamhane

Sushil Shriwastwa (Art Curator)

works of patriotic music. The Art Exchange is supported by the DOT’s Calabarzon and National Capital Region offices, the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, Municipality of Angono, Municipality of Cardona, Department of Foreign Affairs, Embassy of India, Embassy of the United States of America, Securities and Exchange Commission, National Museum, SM Supermalls, Hotel 101, Obra ni Juan, and the University of Sto. Tomas.

Artist “Nemi” R. Miranda of the Angono Ateliers Association Philippines is one of the prime movers of Art Diversity exchange program. WTCMM

WTCMM Chairman & CEO Pamela D. Pascual (2nd from right) is joined by (from left) WTCMM EVP & COO Arturo P. Boncato, Jr., Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Czech Republic Eduardo R. Menez, and Vice President & Founding Trustee of Global Peace Foundation Edgardo O. Castro. WTCMM

Present during the program are (from left) host Bernard Supetran, Rohit Chivukula; Secretary & Trustee of Indian Cultural Association of the Philippines (ICAP), Mili Dhingra; Vice President & Trustee of ICAP, Pamela D. Pascual; Chairman & CEO of WTCMM, Shalini Saha; Trustee of ICAP, and Irish Talay, Senior Manager for Membership & Events of WTCMM.

Story & photos by Bernard Supetran

THE Philippines and India are two Asian countries which share so many things in common in terms of history, culture, and way of life, which date back to centuries before they were colonized by Western powers.