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‘On the verge of annihilation’ n

After losing vast grounds and some key leaders, NPA rebels may lose chance of cashing in on polls

IN this December 26, 2013, file photo, Communist New People’s Army rebels hold weapons in formation in the hinterlands of Davao. AP

By Rene Acosta

HREE months ago, the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA) issued a notice that the communist-led New People’s Army (NPA) was poised to collect millions of pesos through “permit-tocampaign” (PTC) and “permit-to-win” (PTW) fees they collect from candidates running for elective posts.

The government’s intelligence body claimed during a forum of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-Elcac) that the rebels have been exhorting from candidates to pay for the twin fees, both to campaign and even ensure their victory in areas they control or where they operate. While Filipinos see the country’s elections as an opportunity to elect new leaders regardless of whether the candidates are qualified or worthy for the offices they seek, the rebels, according to the security officials, consider any electoral exercise as a chance to replenish their operational funds by milking money from the usual “cash cows.”

Losing grounds

AS declared by the NICA, the NPA rakes in tens of millions of pesos during an election season, a claim that the military previously corroborated through its reports on election-related fund-raising activities of the rebels as recent as the 2016 presidential elections, which a popular candidate once reputedly “NPA-friendly,” Rodrigo Roa Duterte, won. This seasonal “money-mak-

ing” scheme of the rebels, however, may be facing a definitive end in the forthcoming elections, according to military officials. From the north to the southern parts of the country, the military claimed, the NPA had lost vast grounds to the government, not mentioning the attrition of its key and capable leaders as a result of sustained military operations. “There are no more possible areas in our area of responsibility that the NPA could still exert or enforce PTW and PTC,” declared Major Gen. Andrew Costelo, commander of the Army’s 7th Infantry Division and the concurrent acting commander of the Armed Forces Northern Luzon Command (Nolcom). “We degraded their manpower and capability to carry out hostile plans as we continue to work in close coordination with our police counterparts to conduct political risk assessment in our Joint Area of Operations (JAO) and assess the level of security each area needs. More so, deployment plans are crafted according to the needs of the areas that are susceptible to threats of the terrorist armed groups. With our sustained security operations, we prevented their

PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 51.4280

reemergence and constricted their strongholds,” Costelo pointed out. Nolcom’s area of operations covers the Ilocos Region or Region 1, Cagayan Valley or Region 2, Central Luzon and the Cordillera Administrative Region. With the fast approaching local and national elections, Costelo said, they have already alerted all units under the tactical and operational control of the area command to heighten their security and surveillance in their areas, aside from deploying forces in strategic locations within Nolcom’s areas of operations. A part of the military’s effort to curtail the move of the NPA to raise funds through the elections next year had been its sustained offensive operations, whose overarching goal is to end communist insurgency before Duterte steps down in June next year. As pronounced by Armed Forces Chief of Staff General Andres Centino, ensuring the integrity of the elections is one of the urgent tasks of the military. Checkpoints, individually or jointly manned by soldiers and policemen, have been put up around

the country to restrict not only the movement of criminals and private armed groups, but also even the rebels, while a gun ban was also enforced and observed around the country.

Money matters

THE NICA said that during elections, candidates must shell out huge amounts for the rebels’ PTC and PTW. Those running for gubernatorial and congressional posts must fork out between P2 million and P4 million; P1 million up to P2 million for vice gubernatorial positions; P500 million up to P1 million for mayoral positions; and between P500,000 and P800,000 for councilors. Before he retired as chief of the Philippine National Police, Gen. Guillermo Eleazar, who is gunning for a senatorial slot under the Partido Reporma, prodded candidates to shun paying the fees being imposed or demanded by the NPA, saying such is a violation of the law and tantamount to funding their operations and continued existence. The government claimed that the rebels have earned an estimat-

COMMUNIST rebel Jorge Madlos is seen during the celebration of the 42nd anniversary of the Communist Party of the Philippines, December 26, 2010, on Mount Diwata in southern Philippines. AP/PAT ROQUE

ed P196 million under the PTC and PTW schemes during the 2016 and 2018 elections, an amount that is comparatively smaller compared to what they have been supposedly earning during previous elections. The military reported that guerrillas might have earned at least P3 billion during the elections in 2007. More than a year ago, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) reported that at least 349 politicians— from members of Congress down to the barangay level—have been supporting the rebels and have contributed to their PTC and PTW fees. Of the number, 11 are governors, five are vice governors, 10 are provincial board members, 55 are mayors, 21 are vice mayors, 41 are councilors and more than 175 are barangay officials, including chairmen. The DILG urged the politicians to stop any financial contribution to the rebels, reminding them they could be held liable under the provisions of the anti-terrorism and anti-terrorism financing laws with NPA’s designation as a terrorist organization by the Anti-Terrorism Council. While Costelo doubted whether the NPA could still enforce and carry out their “election-related extortion activities” in the northern and central part of Luzon,” he said they are not taking chances. “We are continuously intensifying our intelligence efforts to track down the remaining members of the communist terrorist group (CTG) who plan to exploit the national elections for their altruistic intents,” he said. “We are continuing our focused military operations coupled with our intensified civil-military cooperation with partner agencies and stakeholders to prevent any extortion activities of CTGs and other threat groups in our joint area of operations,” he added.

Shortly before he assumed his post as the commanding general of the Army, Lt. Gen. Romeo Brawner publicly disclosed that rebels in northeastern Mindanao may have collected at least P1 billion in “extortion money,” or what the communist group calls “revolutionary tax,” during the last five years beginning 2016. A big chunk of the amount came from mining and construction firms. Brawner and military officials from Mindanao claimed that the more than a billion-peso collection represented 60 percent of the total collection of the communist group around the country. The collection effort, however, is seen to slow down in northeastern Mindanao due to the sustained military operations there, which has already netted key regional communist party leaders and commanders, including Jorge “Ka Oris” Madlos. Not only does the military expect the NPA’s fundraising activities to cease: their sphere of influence has been eroded to a point they may have lost much of their significance, especially in Northern Luzon in relation to the elections, Costelo said. “For the past two semesters, there has been no record of CTGinitiated atrocities, and we attribute it to our gallant men and women…and most importantly, the cooperation and support of the community in our campaign to eliminate the remaining members of the CTG,” Costelo said. “In addition, our Community Support Programs (CSPs) in collaboration with our local government executives, have been effective in addressing the issues and concerns of the community. And because of our CSPs, we drastically lessen the CTG’s capabilities to wreak terror, more particularly, their leverage to coerce the populace and even the candidates in election,” he added.

n JAPAN 0.4508 n UK 69.9575 n HK 6.6050 n CHINA 8.1097 n SINGAPORE 38.1740 n AUSTRALIA 37.1567 n EU 58.1856 n SAUDI ARABIA 13.7101

Source: BSP (January 21, 2022)

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Security scanners across Europe tied to China govt, military

By Erika Kinetz |

The Associated Press

T some of the world’s most sensitive spots, authorities have installed security screening devices made by a single Chinese company with deep ties to China’s military and the highest levels of the ruling Communist Party. The World Economic Forum in Davos. Europe’s largest ports. Airports from Amsterdam to Athens. NATO’s borders with Russia. All depend on equipment manufactured by Nuctech, which has quickly become the world’s leading company, by revenue, for cargo and vehicle scanners. Nuctech has been frozen out of the US for years due to national security concerns, but it has made deep inroads across Europe, installing its devices in 26 of 27 EU member states, according to public procurement, government and corporate records reviewed by The Associated Press.

Too big not to be noticed

THE complexity of Nuctech’s ownership structure and its expanding global footprint have raised alarms on both sides of the Atlantic. A growing number of Western security officials and policymakers fear that China could exploit Nuctech equipment to sabotage key transit points or get illicit access to government, industrial or

personal data from the items that pass through its devices. Nuctech’s critics allege the Chinese government has effectively subsidized the company so it can undercut competitors and give Beijing potential sway over critical infrastructure in the West as China seeks to establish itself as a global technology superpower. “The data being processed by these devices is very sensitive. It’s personal data, military data, cargo data. It might be trade secrets at stake. You want to make sure it’s in right hands,” said Bart Groothuis, director of cybersecurity at the Dutch Ministry of Defense before becoming a member of the European Parliament. “You’re dependent on a foreign actor which is a geopolitical adversary and strategic rival.” He and others say Europe doesn’t have tools in place to monitor and resist such potential encroachment. Different member states have taken opposing views on Nuctech’s security risks. No one has even been able to

PASSENGERS prepare to place items through Nuctech security scanners at the Brussels Eurostar train terminal on Monday, January 17, 2022. A growing number of Western security officials and policymakers fear that China could exploit Nuctech equipment to sabotage key transit points or get illicit access to government, industrial or personal data from the items that pass through its devices. Nuctech dismisses those concerns, countering that its European operations comply with local laws, including strict security checks and data privacy rules. AP/ERIKA KINETZ

make a comprehensive public tally of where and how many Nuctech devices have been installed across the continent. Nuctech dismisses those concerns, countering that Nuctech’s European operations comply with local laws, including strict security checks and data privacy rules.

What’s to worry about?

“IT’S our equipment, but it’s your data. Our customer decides what happens with the data,” said Robert Bos, deputy general manager of Nuctech in the Netherlands, where the company has a research and development center. He said Nuctech is a victim of unfounded allegations that have cut its market share in Europe nearly in half since 2019. “It’s quite frustrating to be honest,” Bos told AP. “In the 20 years we delivered this equipment we never had issues of breaches or data leaks. Till today we never had any proof of it.” In addition to scanning systems for people, baggage and cargo, the company makes explosives detectors and interconnected devices capable of facial recognition, body temperature measurement and ID card or ticket identification. Critics fear that under China’s national intelligence laws, which require Chinese companies to surrender data requested by state security agencies, Nuctech would be unable to resist calls from Beijing to hand over sensitive data about the cargo, people and devices that pass through its scanners. They say there is a risk Beijing could use Nuctech’s presence across Europe to gather big data about cross-border trade flows, pull information from local networks, like shipping manifests or

passenger information, or sabotage trade flows in a conflict. Airports in London, Amsterdam, Brussels, Athens, Florence, Pisa, Venice, Zurich, Geneva and more than a dozen across Spain have all signed deals for Nuctech equipment, procurement and government documents, and corporate announcements show. Nuctech’s ownership structure is so complex that it can be difficult for outsiders to understand the true lines of influence and accountability.

Ties that bind

WHAT is clear is that Nuctech, from its very origins, has been tied to Chinese government, academic and military interests. Nuctech was founded as an offshoot of Tsinghua University, an elite public research university in Beijing. It grew with backing from the Chinese government and for years was run by the son of China’s former leader, Hu Jintao. Datenna, a Dutch economic intelligence company focused on China, mapped the ownership structure of Nuctech and found a dozen major entities across four layers of shareholding, including four state-owned enterprises and three government entities. Today the majority shareholder in Nuctech is Tongfang Co., which has a 71-percent stake. The largest shareholder in Tongfang, in turn, is the investment arm of the China National Nuclear Corp. (CNNC), a state-run energy and defense conglomerate controlled by China’s State Council. The US Defense Department classifies CNNC as a Chinese military company because it shares advanced technologies and expertise with the People’s Liberation Army.

Xi has further blurred the lines between China’s civilian and military activities and deepened the power of the ruling Communist Party within private enterprises. One way: the creation of dozens of government-backed financing vehicles designed to speed the development of technologies that have both military and commercial applications. In fact, one of those vehicles, the National Military-Civil Fusion Industry Investment Fund, announced in June 2020 that it wanted to take a 4.4-percent stake in Nuctech’s majority shareholder, along with the right to appoint a director to the Tongfang board. It never happened —“changes in the market environment,” Tongfeng explained in a Chinese stock exchange filing. But there are other links between Nuctech’s ownership structure and the fusion fund. CNNC, which has a 21-percent interest in Nuctech, holds a stake of more than 7 percent in the fund, according to Qichacha, a Chinese corporate information platform. They also share personnel: Chen Shutang, a member of CNNC’s Party Leadership Group and the company’s chief accountant, serves as a director of the fund, records show. Nuctech maintains that its operations are shaped by market forces, not politics, and says CNNC doesn’t control its corporate management or decision-making. But Jaap van Etten, a former Dutch diplomat and CEO of Datenna, said the question was “whether or not we want to allow Nuctech, which is controlled by the Chinese state and linked to the Chinese military, to be involved in crucial parts of our border security and infrastructure.”

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Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug

More firms include commitment on how to achieve SDG–study

By VG Cabuag

OUR in five companies have now included a commitment in their respective sustainability reports, but less than half of them set measurable targets on how their actions can fulfill the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), according to a study conducted by the Global Reporting Initiative and Support the Goals. A study titled, “State of Progress: Business Contributions to the SDGs” was conducted by the groups, analyzing the answers of some 200 companies surveyed from around the world. The study said 83 percent of the companies affirm support for the SDGs, recognizing the value of aligning their reports with the goals, while 69 percent of companies articulate which goals are most relevant to their business. The study, however, showed that only 40 percent of the companies set measurable commitments for how they will help achieve the SDGs, while 20 percent include evidence to assess their positive impacts. “This study confirms the crucial role of sustainability reporting in enabling companies to explore how their actions impact on the 2030 Agenda, while providing the transparency needed for governments and the international community to measure progress on the SDGs. It is encouraging, therefore, that we are seeing most GRI reporting companies commit to alignment with the SDGs,” Peter Paul van de Wijs, GRI

chief external affairs officer, said. The research, meanwhile, gave some of its recommendations on how companies can improve their communications and performance, which includes providing targets on how they support the SDGs, particularly for those that connect most closely to the companies activities, products or business relationships. It also advised the firms to deepen their reporting on its positive contributions to the SDGs, while also responding to stakeholder demands for transparency on negative impacts and to collaborate on SDG reporting, sharing practices both up and down the value chain. The groups said the next step is to ramp up the role of the private sector in contributing to solutions for fulfilling the SDGs, which requires more in-depth and quantifiable disclosure, which links SDG performance with business strategy. “If we’re to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030, every business needs to understand how they can contribute to them. It’s wonderful to see that the majority of businesses in our research are showing their support for the goals. We now urgently need to see an increase in the number of businesses setting measurable targets that contribute to the SDGs, reporting on their progress and crucially helping their suppliers understand how they can get involved,” Colin Curtis, founder and director of Support the Goals, said.

Crypto enthusiasm prompts PHL bank to launch trading

nion Bank of the Philippines plans to offer trading and custodial services for cryptocurrencies to capitalize on fast adoption of digital tokens in the Asian nation. The average Filipino investor will likely hold 3 percent to 5 percent of their personal assets in digital assets like Bitcoin in five years assuming markets are “stable,” up from around 1 percent to 2 percent now, said Cathy Casas, head of the bank ’s blockchain and application programing interface group. Many crypto investors are young people, some of whom earn tokens from play-to-earn virtual games, she said. “It’s a way to future-proof our banking business,” Casas said in an interview. About 5 percent of the local population have dabbled in cryptocurrencies, Casas estimated. That’s in line with the global average, according to an estimate from Binance Holdings Ltd., operator of the world ’s largest cryptocurrency exchange. Like in most countries, cryptocurrency has its critics. Philippine central bank Governor Benjamin Diokno has cautioned against cryptocurrencies, saying they could “pose a danger to the financial system” as

they are “very vulnerable” to illicit activities like money laundering and terrorist financing.

Client education

R egulators around the world have taken notice of crypto’s rapidly growing appeal, and some are taking steps to limit marketing to consumers. Singapore this week told companies in the sector to stop most consumer-facing marketing, citing concerns that retail traders might get burned. Bitcoin has lost nearly 40 percent from its November peak, after jumping more than fourfold over the previous 12 months. “We are making efforts to educate our clients also via social media, making sure that they are safe,” Casas said. T he bank ’s custodial ser v ices for digital assets will also be capable of covering tokenized bonds, Casas said. In 2019, UnionBank became the first Philippine lender to launch its own stablecoin—called PHX—providing rural banks in its network easier access to remittances and payments. UnionBank w ill use a system developed by Switzerland ’s Metaco for managing its digital-asset operations, according to a statement from Metaco on Thursday. Bloomberg News

and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), an attached agency of the Department of Agriculture. President Ferdinand E. Marcos Sr. laid out the groundwork for the program when in 1978, he ordered barangay officials and fisherfolk association members to be deputized and trained as fish wardens. The indigenous Badjao or SamaBajau tribe have historically lived along the coastal areas of Tawi Tawi, Sulu, Basilan, and some coastal towns of Zamboanga City. Clashes in Mindanao and harassment from armed groups in their areas have driven some Badjao families to urban areas such as Manila, where many fell into poverty and resorted to begging in the streets. The UniTeam also appealed to local government units (LGUs) to treat the Badjaos with dignity and respect and prevent the harsh treatment many of them suffer when being forcibly

‘You’re not even an UNCLOS member:’ China hits US on Spratly Island dispute

By Malou Talosig-Bartolome

eijing rejected the findings of the United States State Department showing that China’s claims in the South China Sea are “unlawful” and “gravely undermines the rule of law” in the oceans. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said the US is not even a signatory of United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and sets “double standards” by invoking UNCLOS provisions on China. “The US refuses to join the Convention, but styles itself as the judge. It wantonly misrepresents the Convention and adopts double standards out of selfish gains. Such political manipulation is irresponsible and undermines international rule of law,” Wang said during a media conference in Beijing. On the other hand, Manila welcomed the research paper published recently by the US State Department’s Bureau of Oceans and International Environment, which echoed the decision handed out by a United Nations arbitral tribunal in 2016. “We welcome the affirmation of the 2016 Arbitral Award by the US State Department’s Limits in the Seas No. 150: People’s Republic of China: Maritime Claims in the South China Sea,” the Department of Foreign Affairs said in a news statement. US is not a claimant state of the disputed South China Sea territory. Aside from the Philippines and China, other claimant states of the oil-rich disputed territories are Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam and Taiwan. The US State Department has been examining maritime claims of coastal states all over the world since 1970s to “assess their consistency with international law.” Although the US was one of the participants during the final stages negotiations of UNCLOS, it has not ratified it. In 2013, the Philippines questioned the claim of China of its “historic rights” based on nine-dash line in their maps and maritime entitlements of certain rocks that China has made into artificial islands. The Hague-based tribunal ruled in favor of the Philippines. The Philippines also said the US State Department’s review is also “consistent” with the 2021 joint vision statement between the Philippines and US wherein both countries stated that China’s maritime claims “are inconsis-

BBM-Sara UniTeam to tap Badjaos as ‘Bantay Dagat’ in fight vs illegal fishing he BBM-Sara UniTeam believes that Badjaos or “sea gypsies” can effectively fill the role of sea patrollers in coastal communities to protect the marine environment and prevent illegal fishing. Presidential aspirant and former Senator Ferdinand“Bongbong”Marcos Jr. and his running-mate Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte said that Badjaos have the prerequisite skillset to become effective force multipliers in implementing our marine environment protection laws. “Being expert fishermen, deep-sea divers, and navigators, Badjaos possess the skills to become effective ‘Bantay Dagat’ deputies,” the UniTeam said. “Their heritage and culture have always been tied to the sea, and they can be an invaluable ally in our environmental protection efforts,” the UniTeam added. The Bantay Dagat program is currently under the Bureau of Fisheries

Saturday, January 22, 2022

rounded up. “It is time for us to end this unwritten policy of exclusion against the Badjaos. They are Filipinos and deserve the opportunities available to everyone. They must be treated with respect and dignity and not herded like cattle every time they are apprehended. This kind of callous treatment must stop,” the UniTeam said. The UniTeam added that besides giving employment through the Bantay Dagat program, they would ensure that livelihood projects and education opportunities are accessible to the Badjaos. “Like most Filipinos, they [Badjaos] too aspire for a brighter future. We see livelihood and education as the two essential elements to lift them out of poverty. We commit to giving that to them. No one will be left behind. Sama-sama tayong babangon muli, “ the UniTeam added.

tent with the international law of the sea as reflected in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.” China stressed that as a signatory to UNCLOS, it values greatly its mem-

bership and “earnestly observes the Convention in a rigid and responsible manner.” However, China’s position since the start of the proceeding remains the same—it does not accept nor recognize the arbitration tribunal’s decision. Manila, on one hand, argued that the arbitral decision, “in pursuant to the Convention, is legally binding on the Philippines and [China].” “The Arbitral Tribunal violated the principle of state consent, exercised its jurisdiction ultra vires and rendered an award in disregard of law. It gravely violates UNCLOS and general international law. The award is illegal, null and void,” Wang added.

South China Sea is “generally stable,” thanks to cooperation among claimants in the region, China claimed. Wang accused US as the one which “has frequently made provocations” and “driven wedges among regional countries,” apparently in reference to US naval ships and fighter jets deployed to conduct “ freedom of navigation patrols.” “This wins no support, and the international community can see this very clearly,” Wang said. “China will work with Asean countries to stay committed to maintaining peace and stability in the South China Sea, and promote prosperity and development in the region.”

BusinessMirror

Saturday, January 22, 2022

Senate urged to prioritize RCEP ratification by Feb

News

he Australian-New Zealand Chamber of Commerce Philippines (ANZCHAM) is urging the Senate to concur with the ratification of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), which the Philippines signed in November 2020. In a news statement ANZCHAM said RCEP would be important to support the recovery of the Philippines from the devastating economic effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. The RCEP is an economic treaty brokered by Asean, of which the Philippines is a member. It is a free trade agreement among the 10 members of the Asean Plus five—Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam, and Australia, China, Japan, New Zealand, and South Korea. It is considered to be the largest trade bloc in the world, representing 30 percent of the global GDP or $26.2 trillion. “As an organization representing businesses with strong ties to countries that have already ratified the RCEP [Australia and New Zealand], we understand that the Philippines, especially its export industry severely hit by the pandemic, stands to miss out if this groundbreaking free trade agreement is not ratified. We urge the Senate to prioritize concurrence before the adjournment of the session in February,”said Daniel Alexander, president of ANZCHAM.

NBI nabs five in Pampanga for alleged involvement in BDO hacking incident

By Joel R. San Juan

HE National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) on Friday announced the arrest of five members of the “Mark Nagoyo Heist Group,” including two Nigerian nationals, for their involvement in the hacking of the country’s largest bank, BDO, which affected more than 700 customers late last year.

At a news briefing, NBI Officerin- Charge Er ic Distor identified the suspects as Ifesinachi Chukw uemeka Peter Nwadi, Fountain A naek we, (a l ias Daddy C ha mp), Jherom A nthony Taupa, Ronely n Panaligan and Clay Rev illosa. They were arrested in simultaneous operations in Pampanga last January 18 by operatives of the NBI’s Cybercrime Division (NBI-CCD). Taupa, who is believed to be one of the masterminds of the Nagoyo Heist Group, was arrested in an entrapment conducted on January 18 in Floridablanca, Pampanga. He was arrested while selling “scampage” or phishing web site, particularly an imitation of GCash web page to an NBI informant. An informant said Taupa modified the code in order to gather the log in details of unwitting victims, who will

access scampage in the belief that they were opening GCash’s official portal. T he ow ner of t he sca mpages would then be able to get into their victim’s GCash accounts to steal their hard-earned funds. “The buy-bust operation was then conducted wherein information and subject Taupa agreed on the price of P2,000 to be paid in cash direct as consideration for the scampage. The operation resulted in the arrest of subject Taupa after receiving the marked money. Taupa admitted that he was selling GCash scampage which he stored in his computer,” the NBI reported. On the same day, Anaekwe and Nwadi were arrested in Mabalacat, Pampanga after the NBI-CCD received information from a person who had transactions with the two foreigners. The informant, according to the NBI, voluntarily appeared before the NBI-CCD to give information regarding several individuals believed to be members of the Mark Nogoyo Heist Group.

Based on initial reports, the group was able to access the accounts of BDO’s more than 700 customers while bypassing the one-time-pin (OTP) requirement and the drained funds from those accounts. E-mail confirmation for the bulk of the illegal transfers showed that they were made by a certain Mark Nagoyo. “According to the informant, subjects were engaged in the business of providing access devices to anyone looking for options to cash out funds fraudulently obtained. These access devices range from bank accounts, crypto, wallets, or even point-of-sale terminals of otherwise legitimate merchants,” NBI said. “Further, when a certain Mark Froilan called the informant about money cash outs, the latter contacted ‘Daddy Champ’ who then said that he will provide the informant three different accounts so she can be transferring in it P10 million each, apparently referring to the funds from BDO alluded to by Mark Froilan,” it added. Armed with the information provided by the informant, the NBI conducted an entrapment operation against the two Nigerians who were caught in the act of offering accounts for sale. Also arrested in separate operations by NBI-CCD were Panaligan and Revillosa who were also involved in the BDO hacking as web developer and downloader. The suspects have been subjected to inquest proceedings before the Department of Justice (DOJ) for trafficking in unauthorized access devices under Section 9 of RA 8484 or the Access Devices Regulation Act of 1998 and for misuse of devices under Section 4(a)(5)(i)(aa) of RA 10175, also known as the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012.

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Popcom debunks depopulation from Covid vaccination ‘yarn’

By Cai U. Ordinario

he Commission on Population and Development (Popcom) has reminded the public that there was no truth in depopulation allegations caused by Covid-19 vaccines. In a news statement, Popcom Executive Director Juan Antonio Perez III said rumors have spread that there was an increase in mortality rates in the country due to the vaccination program launched in March 2021. Perez said these claims made by advocates against Covid-19 vaccinations were based on “inaccurate assumptions and analysis of available data.” “The increase in deaths compared to the previous years has been noted since July 2020. Comparing the first six months of 2021 to the first six months of 2020, there was an increase of 88,191 deaths,” Perez said. “One can attribute over half of that increase, or 51 percent, to Covid-19, and the rest to ischemic heart disease, hypertensive disease, and other diseases which also increased in the same period,” he added. Perez also said that aside from Covid-19 itself, increasing mortalities due to ischemic heart disease and hypertension could be attributable to increased vulnerability of sick members of the population to their morbid condition. “We noted decreased attendance in health centers and doctors’ clinics caused by hesitancy among patients to go to health facilities which were swamped with Covid-19 cases, as well as increasing barriers to care as one has to obtain a schedule to see a physician, and limitations on the availability of health providers who

were unavailable due to increasing caseloads and illness,” he added.

Depopulation

Perez explained that depopulation pertains to the decrease in the population living in an area represented by a negative total population change. Based on the 2020 Population and Housing Census in the Philippines, the country’s population grew 1.63 percent annually, with about 1.6 million population added annually, by calculating for registered births minus deaths, and accounting for migration, which is usually a minus in the Philippines. Perez said the interplay of the recent number of births and deaths is still contributing to a net positive increase in the total population of the country. This means depopulation is “nowhere in the near future for the Philippines.” Popcom said the assumption of a depopulation claim was based on the increasing number of deaths over births over a one-month period alone, in September 2021. However, from January 2021 to October 2021, there were 267,444 more births than deaths. Perez said the recent decline in births leading to lower natural increase in population in the last two years were due to women and couples opting to delay having children; lower number of marriages and family formation in general; and increasing use of modern family planning methods. He added the decline in births started in December 2020, when births went down to 115,997, then declined further in succeeding months in 2021, with the lowest births seen in February 2021 at 82,535. This happened well before the March 2021 rollout of vaccinations for Covid-19.

Private sector investments crucial to natl digital upgrade–think tank

he government should ride the momentum of collaboration with the private sector to establish long-term and sustainable programs in the digital sphere, according to a think tank. “Investments in technology contemplate the future; they generate exponential benefits not only to today’s Filipinos but the next generation,” said Professor Victor Andres “Dindo” Manhit, president of Stratbase ADRi. He said the prolonged lockdown hastened Filipinos’ adoption of technology not only in their professional but also in their personal lives. “The pandemic taught us, even those who were not inclined to believe it, that the digital world not only covers the work that we do but also the details of our everyday lives,” he said. “We learned it was possible to buy our groceries or medicine, talk to a doctor, and conduct our banking affairs online. Our children went to school online. Connectivity became a basic human need.” But the government has its hands full with responding to the pandemic and to other problems like endemic corruption. “The logical course of action is to turn to the private sector as an indispensable partner,” he added.

Twin surveys

“Filipinos do not only know that the private sector is important to our national progress. They are also aware of how the private sector can help achieve it,” said Manhit. Surveys by top polling firms Social Weather Stations and Pulse Asia, both commissioned by Stratbase, support Manhit’s statements that the people are cognizant of the crucial role that the private sector plays. In October, the Social Weather Stations found that at least eight in 10 Filipinos believed that the growth of the Philippine economy would be accelerated if the government collaborated more actively with the private sector. Respondents to the same survey also said that the private sector can help boost the economy by creating jobs (65 percent), expanding livelihood opportunities (57 percent), and helping lift the lives of Filipinos out of poverty (46 percent). The same sentiments surfaced two months later with the results of a Pulse Asia Research survey, which revealed

Filipinos thought the private sector can help create jobs (58 percent), lift Filipinos out of poverty (57 percent) and expand livelihood opportunities (52 percent). In fact, 81 percent of the respondents agree that the government should engage the private sector to invest in public infrastructures such as roads, bridges, and airports to save government funds for Covid-19 response.

Digital shift

“Let’s make no mistake about it—there have been initiatives toward a digital transformation even before Covid-19,” Manhit said. “But these were, at best, uneven and uncoordinated. There was no blueprint for a national digital shift that cuts across sectors or geographic areas, and most of the efforts were concentrated on urban centers with existing digital infrastructure.” Manhit said that the pandemic should have provided the government with a clear insight into what the country needs to achieve its digital potential. And then, recognizing that the private sector has the wherewithal and the expertise to build and maintain such initiatives, the government should actively pursue collaboration to enable more Filipinos to cross the digital divide. “Cloud-based solutions, for instance, are an indispensable and inexpensive tool for small businesses and entrepreneurs,” said Manhit. At the same time, he emphasized the need to empower Filipinos through training and upskilling. “We not only need to make technology available; we also need to update and upgrade the skills of our people so they can make the most out of the available digital technologies,” he said.

Collaborative, not divisive, leaders

With the elections just around the corner, Manhit underscored the importance of choosing leaders who will inspire confidence among investors and who will undertake programs with the private sector in good faith and mutual respect. “The private sector has the best interests of the country in mind and would gladly step up to the challenge if given the opportunity to thrive in a stable and supportive regulatory environment and good governance,” Manhit said.

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

TheWorld BusinessMirror

Saturday, January 22, 2022

Surging gasoline costs unsettle Asia as inflation poses challenge S

urging gasoline prices are posing a tricky new problem for governments as they seek to nurse virus-hit economies back to health. In Asia, South Korea has taken steps to ensure a steady supply of the key fuel while tracking prices, and Japan may soon hand aid to local refiners. India, the region’s second-biggest oil consumer, has had an unofficial freeze on prices for almost two months ahead of elections in several key provinces. “Higher gasoline prices are the most straightforward way for the average guy on the street to feel the effects of inflation,” said Howie Lee, an economist at Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. in Singapore. “It is also the fastest way to create a spiral of rising inflation pressures. That is why politicians tend to sit up and take notice when gasoline prices rise too aggressively.” Gasoline prices are strong from the US to Asia as increased mobility lifts consumption, with crude oil rallying to the highest level since 2014 this month. That’s adding to inflationary pressures just as other raw materials including foodstuffs also surge, squeezing the wallets of pandemic-weary consumers. In Asia, reduced fuel exports from powerhouse China have tightened supplies. Retail inflation in India rose for a third month in December, and more pain may be on the way. The country’s consumer prices this year are expected to grow the fastest among the world’s 10 largest economies, according to a Bloomberg survey. China, South Korea and Japan made the bottom of the list. In Japan, higher energy prices are squeezing household budgets, where inflation expectations are at the highest since 2008, in part due to costlier gasoline. The South Korean central bank is also worried about rising prices as inflation topped 3 percent for a third straight month in December. Meanwhile, Indonesia is coping with a surging subsidy bill amid rising fuel prices. Right now, pricing patterns signal a firming market. Across the US as well as Asia the motor fuel is in a bullish structure called backwardation, indicating traders expect a summer of relatively weak supply and strong demand. In Europe too, the forward curve is backwardated from April through December, and the structure is currently much steeper than seasonal norms.

Stockpile release

The Biden administration in the US has invested a lot of time and effort trying to tame pump prices, orchestrating an unprecedented coordinated release of strategic petroleum reserves along with Japan and South Korea. The president has also been urging OPEC and its allies to open up their taps faster. Still, that’s had only a limited, temporary impact in the face of rising demand, with average retail prices barely lower than the seven-year high hit in November. The underlying problem is the oil market remains hot. Brent has surged 26 percent since the start of December to about $86 a barrel, and banks including Goldman Sachs Group Inc. have forecast it’ll hit $100 in the summer. Gasoline futures in the US jumped by almost a quarter over the same period, as have Asian benchmark prices for 92RON gasoline in Singapore. Faced with the challenge, South Korea slashed fuel taxes in October as part of its effort to rein in inflation. Since then, local gasoline prices eased for nine weeks, before steadying and the government fears they may now rebound as global prices spike. Ahead of the upcoming Lunar New Year break, typically a period of increased travel, Seoul is asking refiners to keep prices stable. In Japan, the average gasoline price may hit 170 yen ($1.49) a liter soon, a threshold that triggers emergency aid from the government for refiners. In China, gasoline prices in Beijing have been inching higher, while still keeping below a three-year high reached last October, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The emergence of Omicron just weeks before the Lunar New Year and the Winter Olympics prompted authorities to lock down buildings and neigborhoods, keeping thousands of residents off the streets ahead of the holidays when locals typically return to their hometowns for celebrations. India cut taxes on gasoline and diesel in November, leading to a one-time drop in pump prices that had been hitting records. Since then, fuel retailers have kept prices steady, despite rising costs, ahead of elections in several provinces where Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party faces a stiff challenge. “Asian economies have been worried about rising gasoline prices for a while, but even more so now as inflationary expectations become more entrenched,” Lee said. Bloomberg News

One of China’s busiest ports jammed by coronavirus and global ship delays

ontainers are stacking up at the already backed-up Shenzhen port in China as congestion in the US and Europe ripples back to Asia, delaying ships picking up goods from the manufacturing and technology hub. Manufacturers in southern China are currently making a last push to ship out goods before the Lunar New Year holiday which starts next week, with the People’s Daily reporting that trucked volumes into Shenzhen’s Yantian terminal on January 13 were about 30 percent above December levels. Those goods are stacking up as ships coming to pick them up have in turn been delayed by congestion in the US and Europe. Ships arriving to the Yantian terminal are delayed by an average seven days and the number of ships arriving from Europe and the US has fallen more than 40 percent in the past two weeks, the terminal said in a customer advisory Wednesday. That comes on top of the problems Shenzhen port was already facing, with a viral outbreak earlier this month leading to lockdowns of districts, testing of workers and trucking delays at the Yantian and Shekou container terminals. The congestion has prompted the Yantian terminal to say it will start restricting the acceptance of containers. To stop operations getting worse, from Friday full containers can only be trucked in four days before vessels are due to berth, the operator said. The number of ships at the joint anchorage for Shanghai and Ningbo ports was the lowest since September. That may indicate that ships are skipping the ports there to avoid congestion, although shipping volumes also tend to drop ahead of the holidays. This week is the peak period to ship goods in and out of China as workers will start to head home for the holiday from next week, according to digital freight forwarder Zencargo. That’s followed by a lull in activity before shipping demand picks up in mid-February. Ports globally are still grappling with congestion as the pandemic heads into its third year, piling further pressure on supply chains affected by shortages of workers as the Omicron variant spreads. Bloomberg News

BusinessMirror

Saturday, January 22, 2022

ESTABLISHMENT / ADDRESS No.

ESTABLISHMENT / ADDRESS

NAME OF FOREIGN NATIONAL , POSITION AND BRIEF DESCRIPTION

QUALIFICATION AND SALARY RANGE

No.

3MWORKS CORP. 12 Susana Ave., North Susana Exec. Village, Matandang Balara, Quezon City

NONG, XUEJIN Chinese Customer Specialist 10.

PATHAK, VIKAS Principal Technical Consultant 1.

Brief Job Description: Development and customization of Baan ERP. Handling of functional areas finance, logistics, service and distribution. Development of customer BOD and DAL programming. Deployment of ERP

Basic Qualification: Electronics and Computer Science graduate with 12 years of experience Salary Range: Php 90,000 - Php 149,999

8 STONE BUSINESS OUTSOURCING OPC 5-10/f Tower 1, Pitx Kennedy Road, Tambo, City Of Parañaque

MELANI PRASTUTI Customer Service Representative Mandarin Speaking 2.

Brief Job Description: Build sustainable relationship of trust through open and interactive communication in Mandarin Speaking.

Basic Qualification: Knows how to recommend potential products or services to management by collecting customer information and analyzing customer needs.

CHE SIU CHUI E-commerce Consultant (Chinese Speaking) Brief Job Description: Provide chat support to clients.

Basic Qualification: Knowledgeable in computer applications / can multi-task and keen to details / able to speak Chinese and English fluently

Brief Job Description: Managing incoming calls and customer service inquires

KEE ZHU ER E-commerce Consultant (Chinese Speaking) Brief Job Description: Provide chat support to clients.

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

LEE HENG YEONG E-commerce Consultant (Chinese Speaking) Brief Job Description: Provide chat support to clients.

CHENG, KAI-YUAN Senior Trackwork Specialist 11.

LIOW YI HOW E-commerce Consultant (Chinese Speaking) Brief Job Description: Provide chat support to clients.

Basic Qualification: Knowledgeable in computer applications / can multi-task and keen to details / able to speak Chinese and English fluently

Brief Job Description: Review and check railway alignments and profiles.

NAY PAING OO E-commerce Consultant (Chinese Speaking) Brief Job Description: Provide chat support to clients.

DUGGAL, ASHISH Senior Manager-BPO 12.

Brief Job Description: Manage relationships with the client stakeholder(s), Oversee project execution on multiple projects and take action in case of slippages; Manage client expectations on overall project delivery

YANG, SHUYUN Investigation Specialist I

Brief Job Description: communicate effectively via email and/or telephone with our customer base – buyers, merchants, and internal customers,take appropriate action to identify and help minimize the risk posed by fraud patterns and trends, consistently achieve/exceed weekly productivity and quality standards, and participate in ad hoc projects/assignments as necessary.

Basic Qualification: proficiency in both english and chinese languages, adept with microsoft office, communicate effectively with customer basebuyers and merchants, consistently achieve weekly productivity and quality standards Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

ANOC99 CORPORATION 5/f To 10/f Ayala Malls Manila Bay Building D., Macapagal Blvd. Cor. Aseana Street, Tambo, City Of Parañaque

WU, YONG Chinese Customer Service 9.

Brief Job Description: Managing incoming calls and customer service inquires

Basic Qualification: Able to speak, read, and write chinese language Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

Basic Qualification: Excellent communication and analytical skills; Graduate in any discipline and Postgraduation (preferred) Exposure to working onshore or with onshore clients is desirable

ZOU, JIALIN Channel Sales Specialist

13.

Brief Job Description: Fulfill the target of the company and manage the local team to support local partners; handle the management’s channel system planning, construction, maintenance; continuously optimize the management’s mode and mechanism of channel operation; organize product recommendation meetings, exhibitions and customer groups, and ensure the results.

Salary Range: Php 150,000 - Php 499,999

20.

14.

Brief Job Description: Responsible for providing overall leadership in the pursuit of the Company’s business objectives and strategy

15.

Brief Job Description: Manage contractual cost, schedule and service or product deliverables as they relate to the delivery organization. Support the Project Executive (PE) in identifying growth opportunities and contract profitability

22.

16.

Brief Job Description: Work with corporate management in order to improve, plan & implement strategies

23.

17.

Brief Job Description: Managing incoming calls and customer service inquiries

Brief Job Description: Managing incoming calls and customer service inquiries FRENKI Chinese Customer Service

24.

Brief Job Description: Managing incoming calls and customer service inquiries GUO, FUCHENG Chinese Customer Service

25.

Brief Job Description: Managing incoming calls and customer service inquiries HOW CHEE YUEN Chinese Customer Service

26.

Brief Job Description: Managing incoming calls and customer service inquiries HUANG, JUN Chinese Customer Service

27.

Salary Range: Php 500,000 and above

28.

Brief Job Description: Managing incoming calls and customer service inquiries LIU, TONG Chinese Customer Service Brief Job Description: Managing incoming calls and customer service inquiries REN, WEI Chinese Customer Service

Basic Qualification: Professional knowledge on function, business unit or country operations. Understand organizational resources, priorities, needs and policies Salary Range: Php 150,000 - Php 499,999

Basic Qualification: College graduate, speaks & write fluently (English)

29.

30.

Brief Job Description: Managing incoming calls and customer service inquiries TAN, CHENMING Chinese Customer Service

31.

Brief Job Description: Managing incoming calls and customer service inquiries WANG, DONG Chinese Customer Service

32.

Brief Job Description: Managing incoming calls and customer service inquiries WONG BOON CHONG Chinese Customer Service

33.

Basic Qualification: Able to speak, read, and write Chinese language Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

Brief Job Description: Managing incoming calls and customer service inquiries SHI, XIANYU Chinese Customer Service

Salary Range: Php 60,000 - Php 89,999

MOA CLOUDZONE CORP. 4th-11th Flr. Nexgen Tower, C4 Rd. Edsa Ext., Barangay 76, Pasay City

ANDI IRAWAN Chinese Customer Service

Brief Job Description: Managing incoming calls and customer service inquiries DONY Chinese Customer Service

Basic Qualification: Bachelor’s degree. At least 25 years experience in financial sector with 10 year spent in senior leadership

J-NA ALLOUT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS CORP. 3/f Lipams Bldg., #48 President Avenue, B. F. Homes, City Of Parañaque

MARTIN, PAUL ANTHONY American Senior Marketing Consultant

Brief Job Description: Managing incoming calls and customer service inquiries DIVALDO ZHANGRINTO Chinese Customer Service

IBM BUSINESS SERVICES, INC. 8th Floor, 1800 Bldg., Eastwood City, Libis, Quezon City

UNAD, SHEHAN Delivery Project Executive

Brief Job Description: Managing incoming calls and customer service inquiries DEWI LIE Chinese Customer Service

EAST WEST AGEAS LIFE INSURANCE CORPORATION 15th Flr. One World Place, 32nd St. Bonifacio Global City, Fort Bonifacio, City Of Taguig

WILLIAMS, GLENN JOHN President And Chief Executive Officer (ceo)

Brief Job Description: Managing incoming calls and customer service inquiries CHEN, LIANG Chinese Customer Service

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

Basic Qualification: Must hold a bachelor’s degree in functional materials or anything related; proficient in English and Chinese languages and is able to communicate with customers both in writing and verbal; with at least 2 years working experience as e-commerce operation manager; with background in sales training and management.

Brief Job Description: Managing incoming calls and customer service inquiries CHEN, GONGWEI Chinese Customer Service

Basic Qualification: College graduate; preferably 3 years trackwork experience; fluent in mandarin/basic English.

DAHUA TECHNOLOGY (HK) LIMITED (PHILIPPINE REPRESENTATIVE OFFICE) 19/f Marco Polo Ortigas Manila, Sapphire Road, Ortigas Center, San Antonio, City Of Pasig

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 AMAZON OPERATION SERVICES PHILIPPINES, INC. B21 Three E-com Moa Complex, Harbour Drive Cor. Bay Shore, Brgy. 076, Pasay City

18.

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

NAME OF FOREIGN NATIONAL , POSITION AND BRIEF DESCRIPTION CHAN PEY KHOON Chinese Customer Service

21.

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Knowledgeable in computer applications / can multi-task and keen to details / able to speak Chinese and English fluently

Basic Qualification: Able to speak, read, and write chinese language

No.

COGNIZANT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS PHILIPPINES, INC. 2nd, 3rd, And 4th Floors, Science Hub Tower 4 Bldg., Mckinley Hill Cyberpark, Fort Bonifacio, City Of Taguig

Basic Qualification: Knowledgeable in computer applications / can multi-task and keen to details / able to speak Chinese and English fluently Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

QUALIFICATION AND SALARY RANGE

19.

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Knowledgeable in computer applications / can multi-task and keen to details / able to speak Chinese and English fluently

ESTABLISHMENT / ADDRESS

CHAN CHUN CONSTRUCTION PHILIPPINES CORPORATION L2b B8 Belvedere St., Doña Manuela Subd, Pamplona Tres, City Of Las Piñas

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

ALTERA KARNA BUSINESS CORP. Unit No. Unit A & O Flr., No.5/f Eighty One Bldg. Newport Bldg. St., Barangay 183, Pasay City

NAME OF FOREIGN NATIONAL , POSITION AND BRIEF DESCRIPTION

www.businessmirror.com.ph

34.

Brief Job Description: Managing incoming calls and customer service inquiries

ZENG, XIANDING Chinese Customer Service Brief Job Description: Managing incoming calls and customer service inquiries

QUALIFICATION AND SALARY RANGE Basic Qualification: Able to speak, read, and write Chinese language Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Able to speak, read, and write Chinese language Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Able to speak, read, and write Chinese language Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Able to speak, read, and write Chinese language Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Able to speak, read, and write Chinese language Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Able to speak, read, and write Chinese language Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Able to speak, read, and write Chinese language Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Able to speak, Read, and Write chinese language Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Able to speak, read, and write Chinese language Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Able to speak, Read, and Write chinese language Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Able to speak, Read, and Write chinese language Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Able to speak, Read, and Write chinese language Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Able to speak, Read, and Write chinese language Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Able to speak, Read, and Write chinese language Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Able to speak, read, and write Chinese language Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Able to speak, read, and write Chinese language Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Able to speak, Read, and Write chinese language Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

ESTABLISHMENT / ADDRESS No.

NAME OF FOREIGN NATIONAL , POSITION AND BRIEF DESCRIPTION ZHANG, WANGSHENG Chinese Customer Service

35.

Brief Job Description: Managing incoming calls and customer service inquiries ZHANG, ZHIMIN Chinese Customer Service

36.

Brief Job Description: Managing incoming calls and customer service inquiries ZHENG, ZIQIANG Chinese Customer Service

37.

Brief Job Description: Managing incoming calls and customer service inquiries

ESTABLISHMENT / ADDRESS QUALIFICATION AND SALARY RANGE Basic Qualification: Able to speak, read, and write Chinese language Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

38.

39.

40.

41.

42.

Brief Job Description: Customer support and data base services

HUANG, LINGYUN Chinese Customer Service Brief Job Description: Customer support and data base services

LIANG, QIANHANG Chinese Customer Service Brief Job Description: Customer support and data base services

LIAO, YANZHEN Chinese Customer Service Brief Job Description: Customer support and data base services

LU, JIAYUN Chinese Customer Service Brief Job Description: Customer support and data base services

PAN, ZHONGJIE Chinese Customer Service 43.

44.

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Able to speak, read, and write Chinese language

45.

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

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

51.

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

52.

47.

Brief Job Description: Customer support and data base services

ZHENG, YANGYANG Chinese Customer Service Brief Job Description: Customer support and data base services

Brief Job Description: Customer support and data base services

Basic Qualification: Knowledgeable in computer application with good oral and written communication skills Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

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

53.

54.

Brief Job Description: Customer support and data base services

Brief Job Description: Knowledgeable in computer applications with good oral and written communication skills

TANG CHANH CU Vietnamese Customer Service Brief Job Description: Customer support and data base services

TRANG THI LUU Vietnamese Customer Service 55.

Brief Job Description: Knowledgeable in computer applications with good oral and written communication skills

SHI, JIAJING Mandarin Collection Officer

56.

Brief Job Description: Responsible for conducting loss mitigation and recovery efforts with regard to a company’s delinquent or charged-off accounts includes making calls to determine and possibly cure customer delinquencies, assuring that all files have current financial statements at all times, and establishing payment arrangements to cure past due debts.

48.

Brief Job Description: Knowledgeable in computer applications with good oral and written communication skills

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Knowledgeable in computer application with good oral and written communication skills

ITO, TAKAFUMI Senior Enterprise Advisor 57.

Brief Job Description: Provide technical guidance and advisory service for business development using various technical skills

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

FUJIMOTO, RYO Senior Technical Advisor

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

Brief Job Description: Provide technical guidance leveraging on the global experience on the industry business trends such as environment analysis using Tableau Software, Network Function Virtualization Systems, and Random Access Network Optimization

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

62.

Basic Qualification: College Graduate Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

Basic Qualification: Knowledgeable in computer applications with good oral and written communication skills Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

LEE HONG MING Customer Service Representative (Translator) Brief Job Description: Must be fluent to speak Bahasa language

MAK BARRY Customer Service Representative (Translator) Brief Job Description: Must be fluent to speak Bahasa language

OOI ENG HWA Customer Service Representative (Translator) Brief Job Description: Must be fluent to speak Bahasa language

HA THI KIM KHA Associate-cs Internet 64.

Brief Job Description: Backed Content Editing or Content Moderation Process for Social Media: Process Requires Candidate to work on the content uploaded on social media Reviewing the Upload Posts and take necessary action

CHEN, XIAOMIN Business Development Analyst

65.

Basic Qualification: College Graduate. Fluent in Mandarin, Cantonese, Taiwanese Language. Excellent interpersonal and communication skills. Atleast 1 Year experience related to the position. Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

Salary Range: Php 150,000 - Php 499,999

Brief Job Description: Develop, implement and communicate metrics reporting processes and documentation across plants and companies in collaboration with operations, marketing and sales functions; Fluency in English and Mandarin Language is a must. Leading and executing various special projects with senior leadership primarily related to the evaluation of possible growth strategies or driving operational improvement.

NI, QIUFU Consultant

Basic Qualification: College graduate (Economics degree, very fluent in Japanese (speaking & written); at least 20 years extensive international experience in the telco and ICT industry specifically with regard to IOT, XR and AI.

Basic Qualification: Proficiency in accounting software, financial management experience; Fluent in Mandarin & English.

Basic Qualification: Knowledgeable in computer application Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Knowledgeable in computer application Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Knowledgeable in computer application Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Knowledgeable in computer application Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

Basic Qualification: Strong Understanding of Social Media Platforms , Content Moderation and Or Digital Content Management Work Streams Ability to work in multiple toold/ web browser windows simultaneously Salary Range: Php 90,000 - Php 149,999

TANZILA TRADING INC. U-29 3/f Bac., Bagong Milenyo F.b. Harrison St., Barangay 76, Pasay City

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

SITC LOGISTICS PHILS., INC. Unit 256 E 2/f Velco Myers Bldg R S Oca Cor. A C Delgado Sts., Port Area, O68, Barangay 650, Port Area, City Of Manila

Brief Job Description: Directing financial planning and strategy create accounting system with English and Chinese version so that both Filipino and foreign employees can use it.

Brief Job Description: Must be fluent to speak Bahasa language

Basic Qualification: College Graduate

Basic Qualification: College graudate (Electrial and Electronic Engineering); very fluent in Japanese (speaking & writing); at least 9 years extensive international experience in the telecommunications and ICT industry and technical knowledge on Network Functions Visualization (NFV) systems, and Software Defined Networking and introduce NFV systems for Multi-vendor EPC (Evolved Packet Core) software, Network Quality Improvement, especially Radio Access Network (RAN) optimization

QUALIFICATION AND SALARY RANGE

SUTHERLAND GLOBAL SERVICES PHILIPPINES, INC. 12th Floor Philplans Corporate Center, Kalayaan Avenue & Triangle Drive, Fort Bonifacio, City Of Taguig

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

Salary Range: Php 150,000 - Php 499,999

59.

JANICE TAN PINMEI Customer Service Representative (Translator)

Basic Qualification: College Graduate

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

61.

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

Salary Range: Php 150,000 - Php 499,999

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

Basic Qualification: College Graduate

60.

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Knowledgeable in computer applications with good oral and written communication skills

NAME OF FOREIGN NATIONAL , POSITION AND BRIEF DESCRIPTION

SUNSEA WORLD TECHNOLOGY INC. Unit 207 2/f Tower 1 Cityland Vito Cruz Tower, P Ocampo St. 078, Barangay 719, Malate, City Of Manila

66.

YU, YUANYANG Finance Manager PITER Indonesian Customer Service

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

No.

PLDT INC. Ramon Cojuangco Bldg., Makati Avenue, San Lorenzo, City Of Makati

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

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

QUALIFICATION AND SALARY RANGE

ONPOINT CORP. Unit Ug-11 Ug/f Cityland 10 Tower 2, 154 H.v. Dela Costa Cor. Valero Sts., Bel-air, City Of Makati

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

Basic Qualification: College Graduate

LAU VONG LENH Vietnamese Customer Service

NGUYEN THI THUAN Vietnamese Customer Service

58.

46.

YANU, RACHAN Thai Customer Service

LUNG MINH HIEU Vietnamese Customer Service

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

WANG, JIADONG Chinese Customer Service

ZHENG, GUOQIANG Chinese Customer Service

Brief Job Description: Customer support and data base services

ESTABLISHMENT / ADDRESS

63.

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

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

Brief Job Description: Customer support and data base services

50.

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

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

YE, SHENG Chinese Customer Service

SUSANTO Indonesian Customer Service

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

Brief Job Description: Knowledgeable in computer applications with good oral and written communication skills

Brief Job Description: Customer support and data base services

49.

NAME OF FOREIGN NATIONAL , POSITION AND BRIEF DESCRIPTION

Basic Qualification: Able to speak, Read, and Write chinese language

NEW ORIENTAL CLUB88 CORPORATION Sky Garage Bldg., Aseana Avenue, Entertainment City, Tambo, City Of Parañaque

GAO, YUAN Chinese Customer Service

No.

Saturday, January 22, 2022

Brief Job Description: Compiling and presenting information orally, visually and writing, must be fluent in English and Mandarin language. Making recommendations for improvement, using computer models to test them and presenting findings to client. Developing and implementing new procedures or training.

Basic Qualification: Must be flexible. analytical and good communicators. In the next few sections, we look at the academic requirements. professional certifications and soft skill requirements for BA roles; Fluency in English, Mandarin and Vietnamese Language is a must Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 Basic Qualification: Well developed core consulting skills of research, analysis , presentation and attention to detail. Aptitude to grasp new concepts and effectively produce results. Exceptional problem-solving skills-an analytical, innovative and creative mindset. Fluency in English and Mandarin language is a must. Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

VOLENDAY INC. U1406 14/f Pacific Star Bldg., Sen. Gil Puyat Cor. Makati Ave., Bel-air, City Of Makati FAN, SHIJIANG Project Control Manager

67.

Brief Job Description: Workout Project Integrated Plan Based, Monitor Project Delivery Progress and Assess the Gap Between Plan and Actual Communicate and Align with customers in terms of program , Regional Customer Interface and Regional Customer Communication Daily Management and Cooperation

Basic Qualification: To Provide Consulting, Technical and Advisory Services Salary Range: Php 60,000 - Php 89,999

WHDSMART GHANAFC MANAGEMEMT SPORTS INSTRUCTION SERVICES Unit 2b, Angeles Street 4, Krus Na Ligas, Quezon City

ANNAN, ISAAC KWAME SEFA Football Coach 68.

Brief Job Description: Football Training for Kids, you shall be responsible for overseeing the football training sessions of the team, following a schedule approved by the Management Sports Development Office.

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Any person in the Philippines who is competent, able and willing to perform the services for which the foreign national is desired may file an objection at DOLE National Capital Region located at DOLE-NCR Building, 967 Maligaya St., Malate Manila, within 30 days after this publication. Please inform DOLE National Capital Region if you have any information on criminal offense committed by the foreign nationals.

ATTY. SARAH BUENA S. MIRASOL REGIONAL DIRECTOR

Saturday, January 22, 2022

TheWorld BusinessMirror

China vows ‘no mercy’ in Xi battle vs corruption, big tech

hina vowed to curb the influence of technology companies and root out corruption tied to the “disorderly” expansion of capital, a sign that authorities may expand a regulatory crackdown that erased more than $1 trillion of market value last year.

In a sweeping communique following the plenary session of the Chinese Communist Party’s top anti-graft group, the government said it would break the ties between money and power, and tackle corruption in a range of industries. It also pledged to target political factions and interest groups within the party, the official Xinhua News Agency reported on Thursday. “Efforts will be made to investigate and punish corrupt behaviors behind the disorderly expansion of capital and platform monopolies, and cut off the link between

power and capital,” the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection said in the statement. “Show no mercy to those who engage in political gangs, small circles, and interest groups within the party, and strictly educate, manage and supervise young cadres.” The comments suggest President Xi Jinping’s government isn’t finished with a regulatory onslaught that upended industries from e-commerce to education and ride-hailing last year. They also served as a warning for Communist Party officials to keep their heads down ahead of

a once-in-five-year meeting later this year, at which Xi’s expected to secure a third term in office. Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. in particular took a hit on Friday, falling as much as 4.9 percent in Hong Kong after China’s Central Television (CCTV) network aired a five-part documentary series, “Zero Tolerance,” to coincide with the anti-graft meeting. An episode Wednesday night featured Zhou Jiangyong, the former party chief of eastern Hangzhou city, who allegedly used his influence to help his younger brother’s businesses—one of which included Jack Ma’s Ant Group Co. as an investor, according to a local media report in August. While CCTV made no mention of the link to Ant in the documentary, the timing spooked investors. Alibaba’s decline stood in stark contrast to mild gains in its largest Chinese tech peers on Friday. The company’s representatives didn’t respond to a written inquiry seeking comment.

Bribes, guns

Another CCTV episode revealed how Sun Lijun, former vice public

security minister, received bribes worth $14 million in small seafood boxes. He also faces charges of stock manipulation and gun possession. The communique Thursday night called for strictly enforcing anti-corruption efforts in elections, infrastructure projects and transactions involving public resources, with an emphasis on defusing hidden debt risks in local governments. Earlier this month, the antigraft body placed the chairman of China Life Insurance Co. under investigation in a surprise move. A nationwide anti-corruption crackdown focusing on financial institutions and regulators has netted more than 20 officials since its start in October as authorities step up scrutiny of the nation’s $54-trillion financial system. Adding further uncertainty to the outlook for tech firms, Reuters reported earlier this week that China’s Internet regulator would require tech companies to seek approval before making investments or raising funds. The Cyberspace Administration of China said the reports were untrue. Bloomberg News

Biden issues new warning to Russia over invading Ukraine

ENEVA—US President Joe Biden said Thursday that any Russian troop movements across Ukraine’s border would constitute an invasion and that Moscow would “pay a heavy price” for such an action. It was the latest White House effort to clear up comments Biden made a day earlier when he suggested that a “minor incursion” by Russia into Ukrainian territory could result in a more measured response by the United States and allies. Facing an avalanche of criticism from Republican lawmakers and Ukrainian officials that Biden’s comments had invited limited military action by Russian President Vladimir Putin, Biden sought to clarify his remarks at the start of a meeting at the White House focused on domestic policy. “I’ve been absolutely clear with President Putin,” Biden said. “He has no misunderstanding: Any, any assembled Russian units move across the Ukrainian border, that is an invasion,” said Biden, adding that an invasion would be met with a “severe and coordinated economic response.” His comments came as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken prepared to meet Friday in Geneva with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in a high-stakes bid to ease tensions that appears likely to fail. Biden said the US was preparing for Russia to take action that fell outside the parameters of conventional warfare. “Russia has a long history of using measures other than overt military action to carry out aggression—paramilitary tactics, socalled gray zone attacks and actions by Russian soldiers not wearing Russian uniforms,” he said. On Wednesday, Biden said he thinks Moscow will invade and warned Putin that Russia would pay a “dear price” in lives lost and a possible cutoff from the global banking system if it does. But Biden also prompted consternation among allies by saying the response to a Russian invasion “depends on what it does.” “It’s one thing if it’s a minor incursion and then we end up having a fight about what to do and not do,

Ukrainian soldier stands in the trench on the line of separation from pro-Russian rebels, in Mariupol, Donetsk region, Ukraine on, January 20. President Joe Biden has warned Russia’s Vladimir Putin that the US could impose new sanctions against Russia if it takes further military action against Ukraine. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is warning of a unified, “swift, severe” response from the United States and its allies if Russia sends any military forces into Ukraine. AP

et cetera,” he said. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was among those expressing concern. “We want to remind the great powers that there are no minor incursions and small nations. Just as there are no minor casualties and little grief from the loss of loved ones,” he tweeted. Before traveling to Geneva, Blinken warned in Berlin that there would be a “swift, severe” response from the United States and its allies if Russia sent any military forces into Ukraine. “If any Russian military forces move across the Ukrainian border and commit new acts of aggression against Ukraine, that will be met with a swift, severe, united response from the United States and our allies and partners,” Blinken told a news conference with his German counterpart. Later, Blinken accused Russia of threatening the foundations of world order with its buildup of an estimated 100,000 troops near Ukraine. Russia must face a concerted and severe global response if it invades, he said in a speech in Berlin, the city that symbolized the Cold War split between East and West. “These are difficult issues we are facing, and resolving them won’t happen quickly,” Blinken said. “I certainly don’t expect we’ll solve them in Geneva tomorrow.” He later told an audience at the

Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences that Russia’s actions toward Ukraine are an attempt to subvert international norms and just the latest in a series of violations of numerous treaties, agreements and other commitments Moscow has made to respect the sovereignty and territory of other countries. “Perhaps no place in the world experienced the divisions of the Cold War more than this city,” Blinken said. “Here, President Kennedy declared all free people citizens of Berlin. Here, President Reagan urged Mr. Gorbachev to tear down that wall. It seems at times that President Putin wants to return to that era. We hope not.” Blinken met earlier with top diplomats from Britain, France and Germany to project a united front over concerns that Russia may be planning to invade Ukraine. He met Ukraine’s president in Kyiv a day earlier. Blinken took pains Thursday to stress the US and its partners were united, noting that American diplomats have held more than 100 meetings with allies in recent weeks “to ensure that we are speaking and acting together with one voice when it comes to Russia.” “That unity gives us strength, a strength I might add that Russia does not and cannot match,” he said. “It’s why we build voluntary alliances and partnerships in the first place. It’s also why Russia recklessly

seeks to divide us.” In Washington, the Biden administration announced Thursday it has levied new sanctions against four Ukrainian officials who administration officials say are part of a Russian influence effort to set the pretext for an invasion. The sanctions name parliament members Taras Kozak and Oleh Voloshyn and two former government officials. All four have been intimately involved in disinformation efforts by Russia’s federal security service, known as the FSB, according to Treasury. Russia denies it is planning an invasion and, in turn, accused the West of plotting “provocations” in Ukraine, citing the delivery of weapons to the country by British military transports in recent days. Russi a n Foreig n Min ist r y spokeswoman Maria Zakharova alleged Ukrainian and Western talk of an imminent Russian attack was a “cover for staging large-scale provocations of their own, including those of military character.” Russia wants binding security guarantees, including a permanent prohibition on Ukrainian membership in Nato, to which Kyiv aspires, and the removal of most of the US and allied military presence in eastern Europe. The US and its European partners say they are willing to consider certain less-dramatic gestures but that the Russian demands are out of the question and that Putin knows they are nonstarters. That, Blinken said, is proof of Putin’s ulterior motive. “So far, our good-faith gestures have been rebuffed—because, in truth, this crisis is not primarily about weapons or military bases,” he said. “It’s about the sovereignty and self-determination of Ukraine and other post-Soviet states. And at its core, it’s about Russia’s rejection of a post-Cold War Europe that is whole and free.” Russia on Thursday announced sweeping naval maneuvers through February, some apparently in the Black Sea, involving over 140 warships and more than 60 aircraft. Separately, Spain’s defense minister said the country was sending two warships to the Black Sea with Nato approval. AP

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Australia, UK work on security ties as Beijing’s clout expands

ritain’s top foreign and defense officials will meet their Australian counterparts in Sydney on Friday to advance a security pact involving nuclear-powered submarines and share notes on countering China’s growing clout. UK Foreign Secretary Elizabeth Truss and Secretary of State for Defense Ben Wallace are meeting Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Marise Payne and Minister for Defense Peter Dutton for the first time since Canberra signed the deal in September. Under the so-called AUKUS partnership, which cover a range of new security agreements, Australia would be able to build and operate nuclear-powered submarines for the first time with the help of the UK and US. The deal immediately prompted China and its neighbors to warn of an escalating arms race in the region. For Britain and America it was an opportunity to grow their presence in the Indo-Pacific while Australia strengthened its ties with old allies as it grappled with rising aggression from Beijing and high Chinese tariffs on some exports. In an interview with The Australian published before the talks, Truss said the security pact was a “fantastic agreement to be taking forward” and the intention was to foster closer industrial collaboration. “It is also about much closer technological collaboration because this is where a lot of the battle for the future will be fought,” she told the newspaper. “It won’t just be fought in traditional defense. It will be in cyber space, the use of quantum technology, and of artificial intelligence. These are the areas where we do want AUKUS to go very deep,” she added. Local media said a plan to deploy British nuclear submarines to

Australia may be announced after the talks on Friday.

Strained ties

Australia and the UK have seen diplomatic relations with Beijing grow chilly in recent years. The two have spoken out publicly against China’s military posturing toward Taiwan, while concerns over human rights abuses in Xinjiang and Hong Kong led both countries to join a coalition of Western nations in a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympic Games. China has denied the allegations of human-rights abuses and said politicizing the Olympic Games runs “counter to the spirit of the Olympic Charter.” Payne and Truss signed an agreement on Thursday to “maintain an Internet that is open, free, peaceful and secure,” which will, in part, target state-based hackers and work to protect Asia Pacific nations from malicious cyber activity. News of the UK parliament speaker warning that an agent of China was involved in political interference activities has resonated in Britain, said Rory Medcalf, head of the Australian National University’s National Security College. The UK incident was similar to events in Australia in late 2017, which led to the government unveiling new laws to limit foreign interference in domestic politics, including a ban on overseas donations. China saw Australia’s legislation as squarely targeted at them, which led to a long downturn in relations between Canberra and Beijing. “Of course Australia was the canary in the coal mine when it came to Chinese influence operations in democratic politics,” Medcalf said. “The British security establishment has its eye on the long term,” he added. Bloomberg News

Japan widens virus curbs as Omicron surges in cities

OKYO—Restaurants and bars will close early in Tokyo and a dozen other areas across Japan beginning Friday as Japan widens Covid-19 restrictions due to the Omicron variant causing cases to surge to new highs in metropolitan areas. The restraint, which is something of a pre-state of emergency, is the first since September and is scheduled to last through February 13. With three other prefectures— Okinawa, Hiroshima and Yamaguchi—under similar measures since early January, the state of restraint now covers 16 areas, or one-third, of the country. While many Japanese adults are fully vaccinated against Covid-19, few have gotten a booster shot, which has been a vital protection from the highly contagious omicron variant of the coronavirus. Throughout the pandemic, Japan has resisted the use of lockdowns to limit the spread of the virus and has focused on requiring eateries to close early and not serve alcohol, and on urging the public to wear masks and practice social distancing, as the government seeks to minimize damage to the economy. Under the latest measure, most eateries are asked to close by 8 p.m., while large events can allow full capacity if they compile antivirus plans. Critics say the measures, which almost exclusively target bars and restaurants, make little sense and are unfair. After more than two years of repeated restraints and social distancing requests, Japanese are increasingly becoming less

cooperative to such measures. People are back to commuting on packed trains and shopping at crowded stores. Japan brief ly eased border controls in November but quickly reversed them to ban most foreign entrants when the omicron variant began spreading in other countries. Japan says it will stick to the stringent border policy through end of February as the country tries to reinforce medical systems and treatment. The tough border controls have triggered criticism from foreign students and scholars who say the measure is not scientific. Tokyo logged 8,638 new cases of coronavirus infection Thursday, exceeding the previous record of 7,377 set just the day before. At a Tokyo metropolitan government task force meeting, experts sounded alarm at the fastpaced upsurge led by omicron. Norio Ohmagari, Director of the Disease Control and Prevention Center of National Center for Global Health and an advisor to the Tokyo metropolitan government panel, said Tokyo’s daily new cases might exceed 18,000 within a week if the increase continues at the current pace. Though only some of the soaring number of infected people are hospitalized and occupying less than one-third of available hospital beds in the Japanese capital, experts say the rapid upsurge of the cases could quickly overwhelm the medical systems once the infections further spread among the elderly population who are more likely to become seriously ill. AP

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Covid deaths and infections rising at US nursing homes By Meg Kinnard & Bryan Gallion

Nursing homes have been holding vaccine clinics and town hall meetings to stress the importance of the shots. They also got another tool to increase vaccinations Thursday when the US Supreme Court upheld a Biden administration vaccine mandate for most health-care workers in the US. About 57,200 nursing home workers—by far the highest number on record during the pandemic—had the virus in the week ending January 9, a more than tenfold increase from a month earlier, according to the CDC. Sharon Wheeler was shocked to learn that her 88-year-old, dementiastricken father recently contracted Covid-19 at a Naperville, Illinois, nursing home. She said she hopes the fact that he is fully vaccinated and boosted will help him pull through. She said she suspects visitors and residents coming and going around the holidays brought Covid-19 inside. Wheeler hasn’t been allowed to see her father, but the staff told her he had mild symptoms. “I worked so hard to make sure he never got [Covid-19], because I was so terrified,” she said. “He’s such an older man, and I don’t want to lose him this way.” Vaccines are just one of the many tools that should be used to defend the elderly against Omicron, said Eric Feigl-Ding, an epidemiologist and senior fellow at the Federation of American Scientists. He also recommended testing of visitors, mandatory boosters and the use of medical-grade masks like N95s and high-efficiency air filters. “We need to build a Fort Knox around protecting nursing homes, but we’re not doing that right now, and that’s why cases are surging,” Feigl-Ding said Thursday. “We’re going to have exponential numbers of hospitalizations and deaths.” The virus dealt a devastating blow in late November to the New Hampshire nursing home Todd Fernald runs, called Webster at Rye, where 100 percent of residents and staff were vaccinated—but not boosted. “Covid ripped through this building in 10 seconds,” Fernald said, recalling how, on the day that extra shots were scheduled to be administered, an outbreak occurred that would ultimately kill six residents, infect dozens of others and sicken 20 employees.

The Associated Press

OVID-19 infections are soaring again at US nursing homes because of the Omicron wave, and deaths are climbing too, leading to new restrictions on family visits and a renewed push to get more residents and staff members vaccinated and boosted. Nursing homes were the lethal epicenter of the pandemic early on, before the vaccine allowed many of them to reopen to visitors last year. But the wildly contagious variant has dealt them a setback. Nursing homes reported a nearrecord of about 32,000 Covid-19 cases among residents in the week ending January 9, an almost sevenfold increase from a month earlier, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A total of 645 Covid-19-related deaths among residents were recorded during the same week, a 47-percent increase from the earlier period. And there are fears that deaths could go much higher before Omicron is through. Despite the rising numbers, the situation is not as dire as it was in December 2020, when nursing home deaths per week topped out at about 6,200. Experts credit the high vaccination rates now among nursing home residents: About 87 percent are fully vaccinated, according to CDC data. Covid-19 shots and boosters provide strong protection against severe illness, hospitalization and death, but the sick and elderly are uniquely vulnerable to the virus. Nursing home officials say they are responding to the outbreak by limiting visitors to common areas instead of allowing them into residents’ rooms, and by reinstituting social distancing. Some states, like New York, have put their own measures in place, like requiring proof of a negative test for visitors and providing all with surgical masks. Nursing homes are also working to drive up vaccination numbers, especially for boosters. Sixty-three percent of nursing home residents nationally have received an extra dose. Booster numbers are much worse for staff members. About 83 percent are fully vaccinated, but only 29 percent have gotten an extra dose.

By Azer Parrocha

ANILA—Malacañang has renewed its call for local government units (LGUs) to consider house-to-house vaccination drives to get more senior citizens and persons with comorbidities vaccinated against Covid-19. Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles, acting presidential spokesperson, said providing vaccination services at home would provide convenience for these priority groups, especially those who have difficulty traveling to vaccination sites. “’Yung house-to-house campaign will be very effective para ’yun sa accessibility at meron din po tayong mga kababayan na talagang nahihirapan sila lumabas, nahihirapan pumunta sa vaccination sites [in terms of accessibility and we also have countrymen who really have difficulty going out, traveling to vaccination sites],” Nograles said in a radio interview.

PNA PHOTO

Nograles acknowledged that some LGUs are already carrying out houseto-house vaccination drives but noted that LGUs outside the Metro Manila and neighboring provinces would also have to do the same. “’Yung hindi makakapag biyahe. Kailangan reach out nalang tayo sa kanila [Those who cannot travel, we have to reach out to them],” Nograles said.

He emphasized the need for cooperation between the national and local governments as well as the general public to achieve the country’s vaccination goals. Meanwhile, Nograles defended again the directive of President Duterte for village chiefs to restrict the movement of individuals not vaccinated against Covid-19.

Duterte’s directive comes as the country grapples with a spike in Covid-19 cases anew. Citing health experts, he said unvaccinated individuals who contract Covid-19 have a higher risk of complications, like hospitalizations and death from the virus, compared to those who are vaccinated. “It’s really for the protection of those unvaccinated,” he said. Currently, over 54 million Filipinos have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19. The Philippines aims to reach its goal of fully vaccinating 90 million Filipinos before the end of June. On Sunday, the Department of Health reported 37,154 additional cases of Covid-19, bringing the total number of cases in the country to 3,205,396. Fifty more deaths brought the death toll due to Covid-19 up to 52,907 while 30,037 more people getting better increased recoveries to 2,864,633. PNA

Unvaccinated people 60 years old and up face monthly fines in Greece By Derek Gatopoulos The Associated Press

THENS, Greece—Greece imposed a vaccination mandate Monday for people 60 and older as a spike in infections has put sustained pressure on Greek hospitals, where most of the seriously ill patients belong to that age group. Older people failing to get vaccinated will face penalties, starting at a 50-euro ($57) fine in January and followed by a monthly fine of 100 euros ($114) after that. About 69 percent of Greece’s 10.7 million people are fully vaccinated, just under the EU average of 70.3 percent. Covid-19 deaths and daily hospitalizations in Greece have increased following the arrival of the highly contagious Omicron variant, although the overwhelming majority of people in the hospital or dying of the virus have the Delta variant. Pressure on ICU capacity has eased slightly. Health Minister Thanos Plevris said the fines would be collected

By Nick Tayag

MY SIXTY-ZEN’S WORTH

‘A

House-to-house jabs for seniors, people with comorbidities pushed

What’s the whole point, Philippines?

NG hirap mong dalhin, Pilipinas.” (Philippines, you’re such a heavy burden to carry.) That’s what I remember Lea Salonga saying as she ventilated her feelings of frustration about what’s wrong with our people. And immediately she got bashed on social media by people who were too quick to misunderstand her or predisposed to silence anyone who dares to voice any criticism about the current state of affairs. Which actually proved her point. Deep in my heart, I could empathize with her buntong hininga (sigh) her ulos ng damdamin (emotional effusion). Sometimes in my low moments, I too begin to ask the question, what’s the point of having a country like the Philippines. As a nation, we’re so divided by hatred and acrimonious bickerings. It’s

Editor: Angel R. Calso • Saturday, January 22, 2022

as if the pulse of our nation is coming from many differing heartbeats. We never seem to agree on anything. The wrong leaders keep beguiling us and we keep electing them. The same names keep cropping up to plunder the nation’s wealth. Nakakapagod kang dalhin.(So tiresome to carry.) In his small book entitled 12 Wonderful Things about the Filipino and Our Motherland, Filipino lawyer, poet, businessman, civil society leader, and NGO leader Alex Lacson laments the fact that there’s so much negativity about the Filipino and our country, asking why do we lack faith in the Filipino, in ourselves as a people? Why do we look down on our fellow Filipinos? Why do we have difficulty trusting one another? We are a nation that is drifting be-

cause we don’t have an anchor, an ideological mooring. We don’t have a set of revelations, a collective set of truths that we can all agree on, hold on and rally around. “Puso, Pilipinas” is a battle cry we are fond of using as a way to galvanize us in sports events. But the emotion dissipates as soon as the athletes we are rooting for fail to deliver. Sure we have patriotic slogans like the Filipino is worth dying for or living for but what are we supposed to die for? We are not even proud of our identity because we don’t have one. Even our constitution is a copy of other constitutions. “Country above all” is another empty platitude we love to brandish to project a sense of patriotism. But why? What does this country stand for? What noble vision do our people aspire for? “Inang bayan” we reverently say but in reality we put more importance on personalities, willing to bash other Filipinos for them, even willing to hate our families for them. Even so-called intellectuals or who should know better don’t think twice about serving under the banner of their chosen personalities.

through the tax office with the money going to help fund state hospitals. “The age factor is important because of its impact on the public health service,” Plevris told private Open TV on Sunday. Greece imposed a vaccination mandate for health-care workers last year. And starting February 1, vaccination certificates for adults will expire after seven months unless the holder receives a booster shot. New infections surged sharply in early January but have eased over the past week. The vaccination mandate for the 60 and older age group was announced in late December and, according to government data, 41.5 percent of the 530,000 people targeted by the measure are now fully vaccinated. Opinion polls suggest strong public support for the mandate, but some lawmakers across party lines have questioned the legality of singling out a specific group. The government defended the measure as

Most of us were probably absent during our classes in history and Philippine constitution. If not, we were sleeping. And today, we wake up to find out that we have slept away our rights as citizens. We allowed the law to be weaponized and the noble spirit of the law has been distorted and manipulated and turned around to strike down our individual rights one by one. Probably because we didn’t know any better. We never learned to value and fight for our democratic ideals because probably we never appreciated, understood them or internalized them. Meron ka bang saysay, Pilipinas? May kapupuntahan ka ba? Saan ka ba talaga patutungo? (What is the significance of all these, Philippines?) What are our set of common beliefs that will enable us to say that we are worth dying for? It is time to take stock of ourselves. We need an inspiring but unsparing examination of our ideals. If we have them, what are these? We need to begin looking for these on which to build on. We need to coalesce around some enduring ideas that we can aspire for or move towards. Why did we want to be independent in the first place? What is our main revelation, our credo, the mystery of our national faith?

AN elderly woman wearing a face mask to curb the spread of coronavirus, walks in central Athens on Monday, January 17, 2022. Greece has imposed a vaccination mandate for people over age 60, as coverage remains below the European Union average and while a recent spike in infections has sustained pressure on hospitals. AP PHOTO/PETROS GIANNAKOURIS

constitutional, citing a 2020 high court decision allowing public day care centers to refuse children who had not been vaccinated for childhood illnesses. Government spokesman Giannis Oikonomou said only people with

Can the Kartilya be our national ideology, our anchor, our unifying vision? Can Rizal’s writings provide us this integrating idea? Or have we just been running on empty for the past 120 plus years? Is it all just puso? Really? Walang malalim na kaisipan (No depth or substance?) Do we have an organically developed ideology comparative to “e pluribus unum” of America or “liberte, fraternite, egalite,” of France or pancasila of Indonesia? For a country on the verge of a turning point in an increasingly divisive era, we need something to hold us together in spite of our differences. What is a Filipino? What do Filipinos believe? Why do we act as we do? What ideals do we have to guide our national destiny? Regardless of our politics we need to revisit or revalue our country’s high-minded heritage. What are the ideals quintessentially Filipino that animate us, galvanize us, unify us? In college, we were required to write a paper on a play by Luigi Pirandello entitled “Six Characters in Search of an author.” It was a play in the absurdist genre and revolved around six “characters” claiming that they are the incomplete creations of an author who couldn’t finish the work for which they

legitimate health exemptions, those who had suffered a recent infection and applicants for home vaccination appointments that were delayed would be spared the fine. “The law will be fully enforced,” Oikonomou said.

were conceived. It is supposed to be performed on an empty stage. That’s how I view the Philippines right now. We are an unfinished nation. The building of our national character is incomplete, still in progress, revealing our people’s fluid realities and identity confusion. Are we really just moving along, improvising and inventing things as we move along? We need to turn to common beliefs that will provide a unifying focus for our thoughts and our lives, the patrimony of all Filipinos. We cannot be bound together by just emotion. But by things that transcend emotion, by common principles, and ideals that define our true national character. What are these? I alone do not have the answers. The definition of our national character cannot just be invented or copied or picked from the shelf. It must be developed one citizen at a time. Right now we can only feel hopeful like the ever optimistic Alex Lacson who in his little book writes: “I believe that God has a beautiful story for us as a people…that we need the guidance and the wisdom of the Almighty to soften our hearts and egos so we would learn to see each other as brethren, and so we would learn to work with each other as one family.”

A10 Saturday, January 22, 2022

Education BusinessMirror

Editor: Mike Policarpio

Reskilling, upskilling crucial amid pandemic

USINESSES require focus on reskilling and upskilling their people for them to adapt to changes, especially those brought about by the pandemic. Philippine Trade Training Center (PTTC), the training arm of the Department of Trade and Industry,

is eyeing at sector development, identifying in-demand skills, as well as necessary expertise and

competencies responsive to the industry’s needs. “We have seen a lot of changes; [a lot has] happened because of the [health crisis],” PTTC Executive Director Nelly Nita Dillera said. “A lot of new in-demand skills came out…from the pandemic, digital transformation and all these things.” She said industry players themselves are involved in the development of training courses or modules.

Rosalina Constantino, executive director at the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, said “Tulong Trabaho [Job Assistance]” is the latest addition to the agency’s scholarship programs that seek to reskill and upskill target beneficiaries, including employed workers. “We have actually revisited the implementing guidelines in order to integrate the new normal arrangements in [implementing the] Tulong Trabaho scholarship, and

US donates distance learning set to CDO’s e-Skwela center

HE United States, through the US Agency for International Development (USAID), handed over P2.2 million ($44,000) worth of distance learning equipment to support Cagayan de Oro City’s Alternative Learning System (ALS) e-Skwela Center. Included in the equipment donation last month were 50 desktop computers, webcams, headphones, wireless routers and other tools for distance learning in ALS. USAID Philippines Acting Mission Director Sean Callahan virtually turned over the equipment to the Department of Education’s (DepEd) ALS Assistant Secretary G.H. Ambat, Mayor Oscar Moreno of Cagayan de Oro City, and Rep. Rolando Uy. The Cagayan de Oro e-Skwela Center is one of five being supported by USAID. Other centers are in the cities of Legazpi, General Santos, Angeles, and Davao City. Total package of support for the centers amounts to P12 million ($240,000). Through its Opportunity 2.0 pro-

PARTNERS from Cagayan de Oro City led by Mayor Oscar Moreno (center), receive education equipment from USAID

gram, USAID has been supporting DepEd ALS’ continuity and pandemic-response plan, which helps restore access to education for vulnerable out-of-school youth. “The US government, through USAID, has supported DepEd in reinvigorating education programs,” said Callahan. “We are working hard so that vulnerable [and] outof-school youth who have stopped school due to the pandemic are given the opportunity and tools to adapt,

grow and have a better tomorrow.” Ambat added: “The pandemic worsened the out-of-school youth’s lack of access to education. This magnified their vulnerability, leaving them less able to pursue education and progress toward better economic opportunities for themselves and their families. We are happy that USAID remains one of DepEd’s strongest partners, committed to supporting us in improving the quality of basic education

for Filipino youth.” Last year USAID supported DepEd in developing self-paced ALS modules and trained ALS teachers to deliver this new content using modern modalities to overcome pandemic-related challenges. To date more than 16,000 out-ofschool youth have benefited from these new modules. Over 2,500 ALS teachers and implementers have so far been trained on flexible delivery modalities nationwide.

A STILL from “Sina Alexa, Xander at ang Universe” from De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde

ematographer for “Lysistrata,” while Corlisse Nicolas from DLS-CSB was named Cardinal Best Film Editor for “Sina Alexa….” Jodie Dantes and Noay from UP Open University jointly won the Cardinal Best Screenwriter for “Miss Informed.” The Cardinal Best Sound and Music Scorer Award went to De Leon, Darlene Ballano, and Bryant Gali of MINT College for their work in “Ang Pagdadalaga...” The Cardinal Best Production Designer Award was given to two finalists: Catherine Chu of UP Open University for “Miss Informed,” as well as DLSCSB’s Melissa Cuarderno and Ralph Mojica for “Sina Alexa...” Ruby Ruiz captured the Cardinal Best Performance of an Actress for “Ang Pagdadalaga…,” while Pascual took the Cardinal Best Performance of an Actor. In the high-school category, Dela Cruz and Palisoc for “Dapithapon,” as well as Morales “Sa Labas,” shared the Cardinal Best Director honors. Stephen Dominic Bonifacio from FEU High School-Morayta was adjudged Cardinal Best Cinematographer for “Ilaw.” Dela Cruz won Cardinal Best Film Editor for his work in “Dapithapon,” while MSU-Malabang Community High School’s Norjannah Haron was awarded the Cardinal Best Screenwriter for “Ahmad and Abdul.”

FEU High School-Morayta’s Jan Angelo Segador and Donelle Serrano won Cardinal Best Sound and Music Scorer for “Ilaw,” while the Cardinal Best Production Designer Award was given to both Althea Luna Vian Waoi for “Ilaw,” and Amelia Elizabeth Perez for “Sa Labas.” Teri Lacayanga of “Ilaw” took the Cardinal Best Performance of an Actress Award, and Abdul Jabbar Boloto of “Ahmad & Abdul” was hailed with the Cardinal Best Performance of an Actor plum. Filmmaker Seymour Sanchez, actress Elora Españo, as well as film and music video director James Robin Mayo served as jurors. CineMapúa, the longest running student short film festival in the country, also extended special awards that focused on audience impact, animation, and gender sensitivity. “By Catch” from Polytechnic University of the Philippines-Sta. Mesa won the Animated Narrative Picture Award. Distinguished as Most Viewed Films were “The Congressus” from Mapúa UniversityMakati for college, and “Dapithapon” from Siena College-Taytay for highschool. The Most Gender-Sensitive Film Award went to “Orpheus” from General Santos City National Secondary School of Arts and Trades for the high-school category, and “Lysistra-

ta” from UP-Diliman for college. Foreign students also joined this year’s festival, as CineMapúa opened the World Short Film section that featured four international films from four different countries: “My Black Heart” by Garush Ghazaryan of the Yerevan State Institute of Theatre and Cinematography in Armenia; “Grandma’s Tale of the Magical Outenga” by Rishab Thakur of Whistling Woods Int’l. from Mumbai, India; “Split” by Kang Zheng Shueen of The One Academy from Selangor, Malaysia; and “Tears of Gold” by Richie Chooi of Shih Hsin University of Taipei, Taiwan. Dr. Reynaldo B. Vea, president and CEO of Mapúa University, said: “Filipino students, including those in high school, simply love to tell stories through films. With CineMapúa, we provide a means for them to express their creativity.” This was seconded by Prof. Benigno B. Agapito Jr., dean of Mapúa’s School of Media Studies and chairman of CineMapúa: “This 19th year of CineMapúa empowers students to continue creating quality stories. [The film fest] reminds them that stories know no boundaries and no limitations, no matter the situation.” “The students’ film entries this year are visual designs that show the best story forms and styles to best illustrate the possible alternative focus of film production,” Agapito added. “These films reflect the young imagination and creativity of the students toward social realities.” CineMapúa was first organized in 2002 to give Mapúa students an avenue to hone their creativity and skills in filmmaking and visual stor ytelling. Since then the student short-film festival has expanded to include entries from around the Philippines and foreign countries.

sector to really have a say in determining…the priority areas that need particular attention when it comes to trade.” Constantino said Tulong Trabaho can help MSMEs as target beneficiaries, including employed workers seeking skilling, upskilling or reskilling. It also equips workers with know-how in emerging and new industries, and provides them with high-level technical skills, according to her. PNA

From wastewater to fertilizer: DLSU’s faculty-student team-up recognized for sustainable, pioneering research

CineMapúa recognizes PHL’s best student short films of 2021, debuts world section HE 19th CineMapúa Film Festival’s Virtual Awarding Ceremony saw an overflow of unbridled talent and creativity, as it showcased 25 of the best local and international student short films. The annual festival organized by Mapúa University’s School of Media Studies drew the interest of budding filmmakers despite the ongoing pandemic. This year the festival received more than 100 entries, where 25 finalists were chosen. CineMapúa declared “Sina Alexa, Xander at ang Universe” by Vahn Leinard Pascual from De La SalleCollege of Saint Benilde (DLS-CSB) winner of the Cardinal Gold Film Award in the collegiate category. Meanwhile, “Ilaw” by Aldwin Jerico Atutubo from FEU High School-Morayta earned the Cardinal Gold Film Award in the highschool category. Other collegiate winners included “Miss Informed” by Earvic Noay from University of the Philippines (UP)-Open University, and “Ang Pagdadalaga ni Lola Mayumi” by Shiri Francesca de Leon from MINT College, which took home the Cardinal Silver Film Award and the Cardinal Bronze Film Award, respectively. A Special Jury Award was also given to “Silang Mga Naligaw Sa Limot,” also by Pascual. Aside from “Ilaw,” high-school winners had brilliant pieces such as “Dapithapon” by Ethan John dela Cruz and Marie James Palisoc from Siena College-Taytay which took a Cardinal Silver Film Award, and “Sa Labas:” a piece by Jadrien Marc Morales from MINT College which received the Cardinal Bronze Award. CineMapúa also recognized the artistry, hard work, and determination of the people behind each short film. For the collegiate category, Noay was awarded Cardinal Best Director. Jerome Ignacio from UP-Diliman won Cardinal Best Cin-

in order to provide additional assistance to affected industries and displaced workers due to the…pandemic,” Constantino said. “Coverage of the training program…funded under the scholarship…shall include industry-specific and area-based skills requirements proposed by [firms], industry groups, as well as micro, small and medium enterprises [MSMEs],” she added. “This allows the private

TE A M of researchers from De La Salle University (DLSU) and De La Salle-Araneta University (DLSAU) placed second in the Philippine Water Challenge (PhlWC) for “Project NexCities [Water-Energy-Nutrient Nexus in Cities of the Future]: Wastewater to Fertilizer.” The awarding ceremony was held on December 14, 2021. Project NexCities is an initiative that aims to demonstrate ways fertilizers can be produced from septic-tank wastewater and used in agriculture. DLSU faculty members involved in the undertaking were Prof. Michael Promentilla, Dr. Aileen Orbecido and Dr. Arnel Beltran of the Department of Chemical Engineering. Maria Eda Apple Suplido, executive director of DL SAU-Ag r ivet Sciences Institute, is the main proponent for the project. She was joined by Elma Pulgarinas, Elmer Montebon, Emmie Marie Rosales, and Rey Arniel Japay. Master of Science Chemical Engineering student Regina Damalerio, Science Research Specialist and MS Environmental Engineering graduate Engr. Alberto Longos, as well as University of Surrey PhD student Engr. Carla Mae Pausta, were also part of the award-winning group. Aside from DLSU and DLSAU, Project NexCities partnered with University of Surrey and the Society for the Conservation of Philippine Wetlands. The Project NexCities concept identifies factors involved in efficient energy and resourcewastewater management to improve water resources, enhance water quality, develop sustainable-food production, and create positive social impact. It aims to contribute to the

achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals No. 6 on “Clean Water and Sanitation” and No. 11: “Sustainable Cities and Communities.” For the PhLWC, the researchers submitted a small-scale solution for less than 1,000 households for community access to safe sanitation facilities (Theme No. 2). According to them, over 2 billion people worldwide have no or limited access to sanitation, and more than two-thirds of these unserved people are also found in the rural communities. The team added that many areas in the country use septic-tank systems, with most of the sewage being discharged without proper treatment. This contributes to “nutrient pollution” in water bodies, and that poorly designed or maintained septic tanks may also result in an increased incidence of waterborne diseases. “Our innovative approach to solve the underlying problems is to rethink the sanitation system as a resource-oriented system to reduce cost burden and losses of nutrients relative to existing sanitation systems in the Philippines,” says Promentilla. “The main product from the resource recovery is a recovered phosphate fertilizer which can be used by our farmers for crop cultivation or by social enterprises to promote circular bio-economy.” Organized by the United States Agency for International Development or USAID’s Safe Water Project, the PhlWC is a platform to promote innovations, support improvements, and scale-up the application of such innovations. The team received P100,000 partnership fund and five mentorship package sessions.

T.I.P. nails 2021 ISO surveillance audit

HE Technological Institute of the Philippines (T.I.P.) again aced its periodic ISO quality-management surveillance audit and at the top of its game when it comes to delivering world-class education in the new normal. T.I.P.’s efforts on increasing enrollment numbers while retaining its pool of students and instructors were audited by international quality assurance company Det Norske Veritas (DNV), yielding positive results with no nonconformities. “ The pandemic has been fraught with so many challenges, but we still continue to give our best now more than ever to make sure that we’re able to deliver superb student services,”

said President Dr. Elizabeth Quirino-Lahoz of T.I.P. With its robust informationtechnology network, the institution cited DNV as “keen on… ongoing developments in the transition to limited face-toface learning.” The school also consistently invests in its teaching and nonteaching staff through the provision of incentives, research and scholarship grants, online training, as well as seminars on mental health, cyber security and other social issues. As in-person classes slowly make a comeback, T.I.P. eyes the safe return of its fully vaccinated students and faculty, with strict health protocols in place both in its Manila and Quezon City campuses.

Tourism&Entertainment Time travel on foot: A Closer Look at Pasig River’s Heritage BusinessMirror

Editor: Carla Mortel-Baricaua

The Pasig River connects Laguna de Bay to Manila Bay

The William A. Jones Memorial Bridge is commonly known as Jones Bridge.

Regina Building is a neoclassical beaux-arts commercial structure built in 1915.

Built in 1938, the Calvo Building was designed by renowned architect Fernando Hizon Ocampo.

Story & photos by Benjamin Locsin Layug

or our first city tour after the easing of Covid-19 restrictions, my son Jandy and I joined the free Pasig River Heritage Appreciation Walk hosted by Renacimiento Manila, a private organization whose main goal is to usher in a cultural rebirth in Manila. They, as well as other groups, oppose the proposed 19.37-kilometer long Pasig River Expressway (PAREX), an elevated expressway which would be built on top of and straddle the length of the river. Renacimiento stresses that the P95billion project poses a threat to Manila’s environment and cityscape. The two-hour tour, promoting the Pasig River’s cultural treasures, would cover Liwasang Bonfacio, Jones Bridge, Plaza Moraga, Escolta and Santa Cruz. For Renacimiento, knowing the cultural and historical significance of this area of the Pasig River is the key in understanding why it is important that PAREX never sees the light of day.

As parking would be a problem during the tour, we just opted to take the LRT from Gil Puyat to UN Avenue Station, the nearest station to the assembly area. As we arrived early, we took time to explore the Andres Bonifacio Monument Park, with its musical dancing fountain and its glass-encased, 3-ft. tall fragment of the Berlin Wall, before

having breakfast at the Hidden Café. By 9:30 a.m., our 30-pax group was already gathered at Liwasang Bonifacio where we were briefed by Renacimiento Manila president Diego Gabriel Torres. T he 700 -square-meter public square, formerly Plaza Lawton, was an ideal assembly area as it is one of four freedom parks in the City of Manila (the others are Plaza Miranda, Plaza Dilao and Plaza Moriones), where protests and rallies may be held without requiring permission from local authorities. Our tour started by 10 a.m. with Diego leading the way to the Liwasang’s backdrop—the Manila Central Post Office, the center of the Philippine postal services and the headquarters of the Philippine Postal Corporation. Designed in Neo-Classical by Filipino architects Juan M. Arellano (who also designed the Old Legislative Building and Metropolitan Theater) and Tomas Mapua and American architect Ralph Harrington Doane, it is one of the greatest examples of American Colonial architecture in the Philippines. From the Post Office, we made our way to the iconic and historic Jones Bridge. Named after William A. Jones, the principal author of the Jones Law (Philippine Autonomy Act of 1916), this arched girder bridge, inaugurated

Natividad Building is an outstanding example of beaux-arts architecture.

in 1921, replaced the Fuente de España (Bridge of Spain) whose middle span collapsed during the heavy rains of September 1914. The aforementioned Juan Arellano took over from William Parsons and finished the bridge’s final design using French Neo-Classical architecture, with heavy piers embellished with faux-stone and concrete ornaments and four concrete plinths with four statues, collectively called La Madre Filipina, done by sculptor/painter Ramon Lazaro Martinez. Du r ing World Wa r II, t he bridge was bombed by retreating Japanese troops. After the war, the bridge was rebuilt, its Neo-Classical aesthetic replaced with an unadorned, unaesthetic and quite banal architecture, a far cry from Arellano’s vision. However, in 2019, a P20-million rehabilitation project, by Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso, “restored” the Jones Bridge to its near-original architecture, with 80 Beaux Artsinspired lamp posts, similar to those on Paris’ Pont Alexandre III, installed. Its four plinths were also reconstructed to accommodate the La Madre statues (one transferred from Rizal Park and the other three are replicas). Today, the bridge is now a hit in social media, its cinematic appearance making it a favorite for selfies and

Saturday, January 22, 2022 A11

The Liwasang Bonifacio is the city square and transport hub in front of Manila Central Post Office.

Burke Building is also known as the location of the first elevator in Manila.

pre-nuptial photo shoots. Descending a side stairs from the bridge brought us to historic Escolta, the country’s erstwhile “Queen of Streets” and premier shopping mecca from the early 1900s to the 1960s. With the emergence of bustling commercial and business districts of Makati (Ayala Center) and Quezon City (Araneta Center), the prestige of Escolta gradually faded and it has lost its appeal. However, recent initiatives by conservation groups (Renacimiento Manila included) are trying to revive its glorious past. Escolta, a vast open-air museum, houses some of the country’s proud 20th century achievements in the field of arts and architecture. Unfortunately, some were destroyed or irreparably damaged during World War II and, during the post-war reconstruction, were completely demolished to pave the way for new buildings. These include the Crystal Arcade, the country’s first air-conditioned shopping mall which also housed the Manila Stock Exchange. However, others survived and are still around. Both ends of Escolta open into impressive open spaces (Plaza Sta. Cruz and Plaza Moraga). In between are scattered a number of historical Art-Deco, Neo-Classical and Beaux Artsstyle buildings designed by world-

renowned Filipino (Andres Luna de San Pedro Juan Nakpil, Fernando Ocampo, Carlos Arguelles, etc.) and foreign architects (Fernando dela Cantera Blondeau, etc.) and artists (Francesco Riccardo Monti) of the time. These we explored during our walking tour. Facing each other are the fancy, Art Deco-style pink and white First United Building (built in 1928) and the elegant, white Beaux Arts-style Regina Building (completed in 1934). Further out is the simple Burke Building (built in 1919), named after the cardiologist William J. Burke who introduced and installed the first electrocardiograph in the country. The first Otis elevator in the Philippines was installed in this building. The charming, 4-storey Beaux Arts-style Natividad Building (built in the early 1920s), one of the most beautiful landmarks in the area, has an alluring, ivory and white-colored facade, evocative of a French café in a Parisian neighborhood. The stunning, Beaux Arts-style Calvo Building (built in 1938), with its richly-decorated façade, is home to the little-known Escolta Museum. Across the street from the Calvo Building is the decaying and dilapidated shell of the majestic, Mesopotanian-inspired Art Deco-style Capitol Theater, built in 1935.

SHANGRI-LA THE FORT, MANILA BRINGS YOU SINGAPORE STAYCATION REIMAGINED

hangri-La The Fort, Manila in partnership with the Singapore Tourism Board, transports guests to the future of travel that comes with a twist with Singapore Staycation Reimagined. Guests can enjoy a sneak peek of future travel experiences to the hub of shopping and nirvana of culinary experiences, Singapore. Experience an urban staycation that brings your senses to life at every stop at Shangri-La The Fort, Manila. With rates starting at P11,450++, book Singapore Staycation Reimagined for your next mini break covering the period from December 1, 2021 to February 28, 2022 and enjoy a myriad of flavors

of Singaporean specialties and Shangri-La The Fort, Manila signatures: breakfast for two

(2) at High Street Café; in-room 3-course dinner of Singaporean Chili Crab for two (2); and

goody bag of amenities from the Singapore Tourism Board featuring Gryphon tea, Salted

Egg cereal, Blond flavor Fossa chocolate, Aroma Truffle chips, Bee Cheng Hiang sliced pork

bakkwa, Jewels Nonya Heritage rock sugar sticks in 24K Gold, Souvenir Kit of Merli plush toy and keychain, and TruLife’s bird’s nest with rock sugar. For leisurely recreation, guests may enjoy lounging in or relaxing outdoors with the following package inclusions: high-speed Wi-Fi and broadband Internet access; access to Kerry Sports Manila, the largest indoor fitness and wellness complex for your safe workouts, and use of outdoor swimming pools. For more information about Singapore Staycation Reimagined at Shangri-La The Fort, Manila, visit bit.ly/SingaporeStaycationReimagined or email reservations.slfm@ shangri-la.com.

BusinessMirror

A12 Saturday, January 22, 2022 • Editor: Gerard S. Ramos

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Microsoft buys game maker Activision Blizzard for about $70B Brother SDX1200 Scan N’ Cut

Start the year inspired to create IT’S a new year, and along with it comes a brandnew opportunity to seize the moment and do even better than the year before. Whether you want to organize your life in the new year or start creating more out of your inspirations, Brother (www.brother.com.ph) has your back to help you kick 2022 off in the right way. First, there’s the Brother Creative Center, a free online portal that has hundreds of ready-made templates for various occasions and purposes, all editable to your heart’s delight. Explore the different categories and try out different printables from planners, organizers, lists, calendars, to even games and educational activities. Brother Ink Tank printers, meanwhile, bring them to life. A great model for home use is the DCP-T420W, which easily print everything you create with dazzling vividness and clarity while keeping maintenance costs down. Its wireless feature means you can print anywhere at home with your desktop or mobile devices. It’s not hard to be in the mood to be productive when you’ve got a reliable printer at your side. Finally, the Brother SDX1200 Scan N’ Cut machine is the perfect hobby machine that rounds out your craft. Scan anything with its built-in scanner that captures up to 300 DPI, and cuts paper to these designs with its blade sensor technology. The Brother Creative Center is also filled with décors and displays that you can DIY, and with the help of the Scan N’ Cut, there’s no limit to what you can create to make it a fun, inspired year. With all of these tools you can use, it won’t be hard to get started on a creative 2022.

OPPO PHL sees good prospects in 2022 By Rizal Raoul S. Reyes OPPO Philippines recently said 2020 and 2021 were both banner years for the company as it remained one of the top choices of Filipinos mobile phone users. “Both years have been successful for OPPO. We’ve retained being a part of the top 3 smartphone brands in terms of market share for both 2020 and 2021, which reflects the strong demand for OPPO products in the Philippines,” Zen Han, vice president for national sales of OPPO Philippines, told BusinessMirror in an online interview. Based on the global data of the brand’s market performance, the Philippines is one of the top 5 markets, having been able to record 21.1 percent in market share in 2020 despite the threats of the pandemic. In terms of sales growth, Han said the brand posted a 32 percent increase in sales in 2021 from 2020 driven by e-commerce as people continue to transition to digital. “OPPO is also one of the top 3 smartphone brands with the highest sales on e-commerce in 2021,” Han pointed out. Furthermore, he said 2021 was a significant year for the brand because it launched a lot of new innovations such as the OPPO x 2021 which is the first rollable smartphone in the world, and in the recently concluded OPPO Inno Day 2021, it officially launched Find N, AR Glass and MariSilicon X. He said the company received a lot of great feedback about their 2021 innovations from media and consumers alike. “Find N alone garnered 1 million registrations,” Han said. Han said the brand will introduce more smartphone models with cutting-edge camera technologies this year, adding this will allow the company to address consumer demands for a more elevated quality of camera system for better visual content on social media. “The Internet of Things (IoT) will also be very important for OPPO this year as we ramp up efforts further in expanding our IoT ecosystem by offering a lot of new wearables and TWS devices,” he remarked. He said the company remains bullish in 2002 as more people are becoming digital-driven, which enables them to launch new products that would fit their modern smart life.

By Matt O’Brien

The Associated Press

ICROSOFT is paying the enormous sum of nearly $70 billion for Activision Blizzard, the maker of Candy Crush and Call of Duty, a deal that would immediately make it a larger video-game company than Nintendo while raising questions about the deal’s possible anti-competitive effects. The all-cash $68.7 billion deal will turn Microsoft, maker of the Xbox gaming system, into one of the world’s largest video game companies. It will also help it compete with tech rivals such as Meta, formerly Facebook, in creating immersive virtual worlds for both work and play. If the deal survives scrutiny from US and European regulators in the coming months, it could be one of the biggest tech acquisitions in history. Dell bought data-storage company EMC in 2016 for around $60 billion. Activision has been buffeted for months by allegations of misconduct and unequal pay. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella addressed the issue Tuesday in a conference call with investors. “The culture of our organization is my No. 1 priority,” Nadella said, adding that ”it’s critical for Activision Blizzard to drive forward” on its commitments to improve its workplace culture. Activision disclosed last year it was being investigated by the Securities and Exchange Commission over complaints of workplace discrimination and in September settled claims brought by US workforce discrimination regulators. California’s civil rights agency sued the Santa Monica-based company in July, citing a “frat boy” culture that had become a “breeding ground for harassment and discrimination against women.”

Wall Street saw the acquisition as a big win for Activision Blizzard Inc. and its shares soared 25 percent in trading Tuesday, making up for losses over the past six months since California’s discrimination lawsuit was filed. Shares of Microsoft slipped about 2 percent. Last year, Microsoft spent $7.5 billion to acquire ZeniMax Media, the parent company of video game publisher Bethesda Softworks, which is behind popular video games The Elder Scrolls, Doom and Fallout. Microsoft’s properties also include the hit game Minecraft after it bought Swedish game studio Mojang for $2.5 billion in 2014. The Redmond, Washington, tech giant said the latest acquisitions will help beef up its Xbox Game Pass game subscription service while also accelerating its ambitions for the metaverse, a collection of virtual worlds envisioned as a next generation of the internet. While Xbox already has its own game-making studio, the prospect of Microsoft controlling so much game content raised questions about whether the company could restrict Activision games from competing consoles, although Nadella promised the deal would help people play games “wherever, whenever and however they want.” The acquisition would push Microsoft past Nintendo as the third-largest video game company by global revenue, behind Playstation-maker Sony and Chinese tech giant Tencent, according to Wedbush Securities analyst Daniel Ives. “Microsoft needed to do an aggressive deal given their streaming ambitions and metaverse strategy,” Ives said. ”They’re the only game in town that can do a deal of this size with the other tech stalwarts under massive tech scrutiny.” Meta, Google, Amazon and Apple have all attracted increasing attention from antitrust regulators in the US and Europe, but the Activision deal is so big that it will also likely put Microsoft

into the regulatory spotlight, Ives said. Microsoft is already facing delays in its planned $16 billion acquisition of Massachusetts speech recognition company Nuance because of an investigation by British antitrust regulators. Microsoft is able to make such a big all-cash purchase of Activision because of its success as a cloud computing provider. But after years of focusing on shoring up its business clients and products such as the Office suite of email and other work tools, Ives said Microsoft’s failed 2020 attempt to acquire social media platform TikTok may have “really whet the appetite for Nadella to do a big consumer acquisition.” Pushback against the deal was immediate from consumer advocacy groups. “No way should the Federal Trade Commission and the US Department of Justice permit this merger to proceed,” said a statement from Alex Harman, competition policy advocate for Public Citizen. “If Microsoft wants to bet on the ‘metaverse,’ it should invest in new technology, not swallow up a competitor.” White House press secretary Jen Psaki had no comment on Microsoft’s announcement at her briefing Tuesday, but emphasized the Biden administration’s recent moves to strengthen enforcement against illegal and anticompetitive mergers. Started in 1979 by former Atari Inc. employees, Activision has created or acquired many of the most popular video games, from Pitfall in the 1980s to Guitar Hero and the World of Warcraft franchise. Bobby Kotick, 59, has been CEO since 1991. Microsoft said it expects the deal to close in its 2023 fiscal year, which starts in July. It said Kotick will continue to serve as CEO. After the deal closes, the Activision business unit would then report to Phil Spencer, who has led Microsoft’s Xbox division and will now serve as CEO of Microsoft Gaming.

New Twitter campaign is a brilliant marketing move HOW many times have you tweeted 11:11 wishing for something good to happen? Maybe for a sick loved one to get well, for your favorite onscreen love team to end up together in real life, or for you to have more money. It was probably with this trend in mind that Twitter launched a huge out-of-home campaign, called “Tweet it into existence” across eight North American cities including New York, Los Angeles,

IMAGE FROM TWITTER

Houston, Chicago and Toronto featuring historic tweets from celebrities including Megan Thee Stallion, Diamond DeShields, Niall Horan, Issa Rae, Bubba Wallace, Simi Liu and Demi Lovato. The tagline “Tweet it into existence” is a call to action for all the dreamers out there. As part of the campaign, Twitter is donating nearly $1 million to charities of the stars’ choice on their behalf, including Boys and Girls Club, Destination Crenshaw, The 3-D Foundation and UNICEF Canada. With the campaign, Twitter has taken over the big screens at Yonge-Dundas Square and Union Station in Toronto. In 2018, Simu Liu tweeted, “OK Marvel, are we gonna talk or what #ShangChi.” Of course, we know what happened in 2021 and that tweet is

now a billboard in Toronto. Essentially, the campaign is saying that if you dream it, tweet it. I know that many people say Twitter is dead but that’s mainly because they can’t seem to fully get into it or they’ve been cancelled in some form on the platform. But Twitter is very much alive and is the home of fan culture, not just K-pop, and other points of interest in society. During the pandemic, people on Twitter have raised funds for the sick, the needy, the homeless and society’s rejected and dejected. It may seem an overly optimistic campaign but #TweetItIntoExistence can have the power to bring hope, especially for the platform’s young users who have spent two years of their lives away from school or work, their friends and the things that normally make them happy such as concerts, coffee shops, bookstores and parties. In 2010, a young boy named Niall Horan tweeted, “applied for xfactor, hope it all wrks out.” In 2014, Megan Thee Stallion tweeted, “I need a team bc I promise rap gone take off for me.” So, yes, like Horan and Megan Thee Stallion, a young Twitter user may already tweeted their hope and dreams and one day, it will be on a billboard. There is always hope.

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BusinessMirror

Editor: Gerard S. Ramos

• Saturday, January 22, 2022 A13

Life happens on livestream UST when you thought we already have all sorts of influencers—from fashion, food, tech, fitness, travel, etc.—have you ever heard of sleep influencers? Making money while you sleep is probably everyone’s dream (or goal), given that its tough enough to earn a living while you are awake. But for some “sleep streamers”, they are making money just by staying in bed. One of them is Alex Shannon (@followthenap). Since 2018, Shannon has been traveling the world to sleep in some of the most luxurious locations. And then there are the live sleep streamers who earn thousands of dollars by recording themselves trying to sleep and encouraging their followers to disrupt it—via donation notifications. YouTuber Tyler Krause (pillowtalkTK) recorded himself talking and walking in his sleep while his girlfriend reacted. Streamer Ice Poseidon, on the other hand, made $5,000 in eight hours for trying to sleep in 2017. But perhaps the biggest earner is Twitch streamer “Asian Andy” who made $16,000 in just one night by doing a “sleep stream.” Instead of just watching him sleep, he goaded his viewers into making donations so that disruptive noise will be made. He set up text-to-speech recognition so whenever a fan donates money and sends a message, that message will be read aloud. His viewers used their messages to get Alexa to play loud music, imitate a dog barking, make his alarm clock go off and even alerted him that someone was at his window. Not bad for someone who used to drive Uber for $16 an hour. There’s no stopping the growth in popularity of video content over the last few years and with the arrival of 5G and faster Internet, content creators are more than happy to switch to video to gain even more followers—and make more money. According to statistics, the video streaming market will grow to $223.98 billion by 2028. Research also found that live videos hold users’ attention 10-20 times longer than pre-recorded, on-demand content with millennials being the largest group of consumers with 63 percent of people ages 18-34 watching live-streaming content regularly. When in-person venues closed due to the global pandemic, streaming became the only viable option for various professionals—including artists, musicians, dancers, and chefs, among many others—to distribute their content. Live streaming platform 17LIVE noted a nearly 300-percent increase in signed streamers from 2019-2020. There’s also a growing community of streamers who are making a living live-streaming their niche hobbies and everyday lives. What is often called IRL (Internet slang for “in real life”) streaming increased 63.1 percent between Q4 of 2020 and Q1 of 2021, and a growing number of athletes, painters, bands, chefs, medical practitioners, cosplay lovers and social-media influencers, among others, are becoming IRL streamers. Live-streaming has become so popular because it brings content creators together with their fans. The relationship is further cultivated by streamers in

What sets 17LIVE apart from all existing live streaming apps and services in the Philippines? Unlike other platforms, 17LIVE has a lot of cooperation with local entertainment industries all around the world. With our global resources, we can build up a complete ecosystem for our streamers to thrive within our platform and expand their career path with us. We also have internally produced content capability, so that we can provide more chances and opportunities for our streamers to further cultivate their capabilities and get more exposure on our platform.

ALEX LIEN, CEO of 17LIVE for Taiwan and Southeast Asia

their call-outs of fans and subscribers who interact, often in exchange of items that cost real money, and the feeling of having your favourite streamer giving you a shoutout among the thousands of fans brings a certain feeling of satisfaction—which viewers are more than happy to pay for. We recently got to chat with Alex Lien, 17LIVE CEO for Taiwan and Southeast Asia as the streaming app expands its presence in the Philippines and Southeast Asia to provide local content creators a new venue for their streams. The company has become the biggest platform for live entertainment in Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong and several other countries with more than 46,000 contracted artist globally. With the tagline “Life Happens Live”, 17LIVE wants to create irreplaceable moments with live streaming technology where users can create a world to connect with anyone to empower expressions and connections.

Do you think 17LIVE will have the same success in the Philippines as it has in countries like Japan and Taiwan? The Philippines has a special cultural environment and social community. People enjoy a lot from interactions with each other. Besides, we also did lots of studies and surveys from both users and competitors’ perspectives. Filipino users have a very high recognition for live streaming service. With the success and learning around the world, we are quite confident in entering the Philippines market and hoping to bring more exciting content to this market. Does the app have a tutorial to help new users learn how to take full advantage of everything 17LIVE has to offer? We provide a comprehensive tutorial to new streamers when they join 17LIVE, including platform regulations, community rules and secrets of fan management. Besides, we have collaborated with many agencies to lead our contracted streamer to walk through problems and difficult situations, and assure them receiving all the help we provide. For users who watch streaming, our app provides a complete tutorial process about basic interaction. Moreover, users can also learn from advanced users and this pattern gradually

becomes a unique community circle, which is an unbreakable social experience to all users. What advice would you give to new users who will use the app as a source of revenue to make their content stand out and attract more audiences? The key lies in the user journey total package. The most important thing is how streamers leverage the resources our platform provides and create their user experience to attract the right target audience. Streamers can design their home page and profile photo to express his/her own characteristics and uniqueness. During live streaming, streamer interaction, streaming room atmosphere, and the topic you chose will influence how you position your own content. On the other hand, the biggest advantage of live streaming is the prompt reactions. You can adjust yourself in a short time. To sum up, know your target audience; position your own content; create your own user journey; be able to quickly adjust yourself. What requirements do users of the 17LIVE app need to meet before their content can be monetized? We welcome all talented Filipino content creators joining us if they are looking for a place where they can be easily noticed. Our recommendation algorithms are simple and easy to understand. Creators can gain hot spots easily by interacting with users. Based on our observation, the way that Filipinos use live streams is unique. For example, casual chats and sharing on random topics are highly appreciated by most users, music and talk show contents are also common and popular in this region. The key factor is the interactions between the streamers and fans. The income will also increase along with fan retention, as well as personal awareness in the social media. With a 17LIVE global portfolio, we wish to bring the Filipino special culture and talent that can be seen all around the world.

Support for employee welfare, local communities to recover from Typhoon Odette THE devastation that Typhoon Odette brought was felt across several areas in the Philippines—mainly Palawan, and the Visayas and Mindanao regions. Globe’s own employees were not spared. At least 630 employees were affected by the severe weather disturbance. In response, Globe released an initial cash assistance for all affected employees and partnered with PureGo and the Ayala Group to deliver relief goods. The internal #ALAGANGGLOBE donation drive has so far collected over P750,000, with employees contributing to augment support for their fellow Globe employees across the country. Through its sister company Ayala Land Inc., Globe is also providing temporary shelter for those whose homes were severely damaged. It is also offering home restoration support with interest-free company loans, Ayala Cooperative loan products, and Globe Cooperative loan products. “Our people are the most important resource. Our Crisis Team has been working tirelessly in ensuring that our fellow Globe

employees and their families have access to essentials during this time,” said Ato Jiao, Globe Chief Human Resource Officer. He added, “As our people work to help the Filipino communities in Visayas, Mindanao, and Palawan restore connection to communication services, we will continue to support our employees and their families’ needs so that we may all bounce back from this endeavor together.” Globe has activated all of its disaster response teams to support various response and recovery activities, including monitoring of network restorations, internal and external coordination, funds disbursement, site restoration, communications support deployment and delivery of relief goods, among others. The company has allotted budgets and food provisions to support on-site duty personnel and employees in charge of network restoration. Globe has also ensured that the office in Cebu can be accessible to employees as safe workstations and that there is enough diesel fuel for the generators. Satellite phones were also provided to support teams.

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PLDT Home High Speed Hitters set goal high in PVL 2022 tilt

VICTORIA AZARENKA sits with her son Leo during a press conference following her third round win at the Australian Open on Friday. Eighth-seeded Paula Badosa of Spain also advances to the next round. AP

STAUNCH supporter of sports, the country’s largest fully integrated telco PLDT has revamped its professional volleyball team as it prepares for the 2022 Premier Volleyball League (PVL) season. Under its new banner, the PLDT Home High Speed Hitters has welcomed a new roster of talented players who are ready to give their best during the tournament. The team has also named George Pascua as its new head coach, bringing his experience as a multititled coach and his expertise as part of the women’s national team program. “We are grateful for the service of our previous players and Coach Roger Gorayeb. We wish them all the best in their future endeavors,” said Jude Turcuato, First Vice President and Head of Sports at PLDT and Smart. “We are also looking forward to work with Coach George and our players.” Fans will still get to witness the hardcourt action of PLDT veterans Rhea Dimaculangan, Chin Basas, Eli Soyud and Iza Viray. Joining them are reigning PVL Best Libero Kath Arado, Jessey De Leon, Dell Palomata, Jovy Prado, Lhara Clavano, Wendy Semana, Fiola Ceballos, Mean Mendrez, Jules Samonte, Heather Guino-o and Mika Reyes. “As a company who believes in the values that we learn from sports, the winning culture is something that we expect in any MVP team,” Turcuato said. “But we understand that it’s not always an easy feat, that is why we will continue to support our team and help them achieve their goals, one step at a time.” Volleyball fans can follow the journey of PLDT Home High Speed Hitters through their official Instagram account: https://instagram. com/pldthighspeedhitters/, official Facebook Page: https://www.facebook. com/HighSpeedHitters/, and official TikTok account: www.tiktok.com/@ pldthighspeedhitters.

MARK “MAGNIFICO” MAGSAYO eats salmon for lunch four days before he goes to battle. COURTESY COACH JEANETH ARO

MAGSAYO GOES AFTER RUSSELL JR.’S WORLD TITLE By Josef Ramos

ELBOURNE, Australia— Before Victoria Azarenka had a chance to analyze both players she might meet next, a question was posed to her son about the two-time Australian Open champion’s third-round performance. Five-year-old Leo, wearing his sunglasses in the news conference room and sitting on his mother’s knee, responded succinctly: “Awesome!” Thanks, kid. Azarenka’s own highlights from her 6-0, 6-2 win over 15th-seeded Elina Svitolina on Friday included the “amount of aggressivity I could bring point after point, applying a lot of pressure, the consistency. The break points I faced, I played really strong.” “Yeah, taking control of my end

of the court,” she added. “I think that’s what I’m more happy about.” She’ll next play French Open champion Barbora Krejcikova, who rallied from a set and a break down against No. 26-seeded Jelena Ostapenko to win, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4, and advance to the fourth round in singles at Melbourne Park for the first time. The 24th-seeded Azarenka, who won the title at Melbourne Park in 2012 and 2013 and has been a US Open finalist three times, is into the fourth round here for the first time since 2016 after extending her winning record to 5-0 against Svitolina. She accumulated nearly twice as many winners, 17, as unforced errors, nine, and never faced a break point. Svitolina made mistake after mistake, 26 unforced errors in all.

Since a quarterfinal run in Australia in 2016, Azarenka lost first-round matches last year and in 2019, and missed the hard-court tournament in 2017, 2018 and 2020. The 32-year-old former world No. 1 from Belarus is feeling comfortable right now, fulfilling the dual roles of player and mother in Melbourne. Azarenka was asked if it was more demanding, distracting or relaxing to have her son with her on the tour. “All of the above,” she said, laughing, as Krejcikova and Ostapenko were playing. “It’s definitely not a distraction, I will never say that. Being a parent is not easy. He’s full of personality—I don’t know where he gets it from!” Leo flipped his tournament credential around on its lanyard as his mother responded to questions

Rebisco retools Flying Titans T

Lopez 1st round leader with 67, Saso runs second

| Saturday, January 22, 2022 mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph Editor: Jun Lomibao

AWESOME MOM!

PLDT Home gears up for the new volleyball season.

RLANDO, Florida—Gaby Lopez of Mexico began a new year and her seventh Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) Tour season with a simple, and potentially prophetic, Instagram post: “Surprise me, 2022,” she wrote. Lopez jumped out to the lead Thursday in the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions, piecing together what she considered a near-perfect opening round to the new season. She made six birdies in a 5-under 67 at Lake Nona Golf and Country Club. Lopez led by one shot over a foursome of players at 68 that included three major champions: world No. 1 Nelly Korda, who won her first major last year in the KPMG Women’s PGA; Danielle Kang, the 2017 Women’s PGA champion; and US Open champion Yuka Saso, who bogeyed her final hole. Saso started the season officially playing for Japan. Also at 68 was Ryann O’Toole, a 34-year-old American who won for the first time last summer. Lopez is a two-time winner on the LPGA, her last being a triumph at the 2020 Tournament of Champions across town, when she outlasted Nasa Hataoka in a seven-hole playoff at Tranquilo Golf Club. This week

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features a limited field of 29 LPGA tournament winners from the last three seasons competing next to 50 celebrities. Looking back, Lopez said she enjoyed carrying the crown as “champion of champions.” Apparently, she enjoyed it enough to jump right back in the mix. For Lopez, her solid play at Lake Nona was a continuation of a hot finish to 2021, when she recorded top-10 performances in three of her final four starts. Lopez said she enjoys competing in the pro-am format of this event, as she is able to switch off her brain from constantly thinking about golf. Starting on Lake Nona’s back nine, she enjoyed her walk alongside former NFL standout Marcus Allen and former MLB slugger Joe Carter, taking full advantage by asking them how they approached their respective sports from a mental standpoint. “I’m comfortable out there, being able to talk just different topics other than golf and what you did in the holidays,” she said. “But being able to talk about mentality and psychology out there, I mean with the biggest superstars in each event out there, it’s pretty amazing. I really take advantage of that.” Nelly Korda, who won the

Gainbridge LPGA at Lake Nona in February, got off to a poor start, making bogeys at two of her first four holes, but soon showed the form that lifted her to four LPGA victories a year ago, including her first major, as well as an Olympic gold medal in Tokyo. She birdied three consecutive holes starting at the short, par-4 fifth, and moved to 4 under for her round when she hit hybrid from 222 yards to 4 feet at the 522-yard 11th to set up an eagle. After accomplishing so much last season, does she see any openings to improve any specific areas of her game? “Every part of my game,” Korda said. “I mean, mental aspect, I think even the physical aspect of it. Every part of the game can get better, always. The game of golf is constantly moving forward, and you kind of have to move with it.” Jessica Korda, Nelly’s older sister, opened defense of her Tournament of Champions title with a solid round of 69, playing 17 bogey-free holes before finishing with a bogey at the difficult, 398-yard closing hole. Michelle Wie West, competing for the first time since the Women’s PGA last summer, opened with a round of 1-under 71. She made five birdies on her day, including a three-birdie run that started at the par-5 11th. AP

HE new year brings the same dedication as Rebisco shows once again its all-out commitment to volleyball with a renewed focus and goal of getting its professional teams in the Premier Volleyball League (PVL) to a better finish. Entering its third season in the PVL, Head Coach Oliver Almadro’s team aims to build on its first two stints as they aim for a podium finish this time around and raise the level of competition in the Philippines’s first professional volleyball league higher. After adding experienced and skilled veterans in setter Jem Ferrer and middle Cherry Nunag in November, Choco Mucho signed four key players that will strengthen the team’s championship drive—Desiree Cheng, Isa Molde, Aduke Ogunsanya and Thang Ponce. Cheng and Molde will provide the

US athletes for Beijing Games 100% vaccinated

from within the room and online. He yawned at least once and blew air onto the microphone. “I always feel privileged that I’m able to have him here,” Azarenka said. “These kind of moments are really priceless for me. To be able for me to share that with my son is pretty incredible.” In other results on Day 5, fifthseeded Maria Sakkari beat No. 28 Veronika Kudermetova, 6-4, 6-1, to move into a fourth-round match against 21st seed Jessica Pegula of the US, who beat Nuria Parrizas Diaz, 7-6 (3), 6-2. Eighth-seeded Paula Badosa advanced with a 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 win over Marta Kostyuk. The night session later Friday featured two much-anticipated matchups that could lead to an even bigger one. AP much-needed scoring in the wings while Ogunsanya and Nunag will join the defensive middle blocking spots composed of Bea De Leon and Shannen Palec. Ponce will support Denden Lazaro on floor defense. “Choco Mucho is a team we consider to still be a work in progress. We are confident our new talented players will address the needs of the Titans and further strengthen what has already been built by the team,” Choco Mucho Flying Titans team manager Rollie Delfino said. With all PVL teams preparing heavily for another action-packed tournament, the Choco Mucho Flying Titans v 3.0 are ready to bring their A-game on the court this season. “The competitive spirit, the passion, the pride, and the willingness to do more together with faith is what I see this team being all about,” Almadro said.

SPEN, Colorado—The US Olympic team’s top doctor says all of the 200-plus athletes heading to Beijing for the Winter Games next month are fully vaccinated, and not a single one asked for a medical exemption. Chief Medical Officer Jonathan Finnoff told The Associated Press the 21-day quarantine period the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is requiring for unvaccinated participants, combined with the education the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee provided, “really resonated with the athletes.” “Vaccination is sort of the foundation of our Covid mitigation protocol,” Finnoff said Thursday. In September, the USOPC introduced a policy requiring US athletes

A WORKER wearing a face mask uses a blower to clean the snow on a decoration for the Beijing Winter Olympics Games on display at Tiananmen Square. AP

ARK “MAGNIFICO” MAGSAYO brings an unbeaten record atop the ring as the pride of Tagbilaran City targets American Gary Russell Jr.’s World Boxing Council (WBC) featherweight title on Sunday at the Borgata Hotel in Atlantic City, New Jersey. With Senator Manny Pacquiao—who once held the world featherweight belt—already retired, Magsayo, 29, attempts to follow the world boxing icon’s footsteps in the 12-round fight promoted by Premier Boxing Champions. “I’m the fighter who wants to beat him [Russell] more than anyone else,” Magsayo, unbeaten in 23 professional fights with 16 knockouts, told the fight’s final news conference on Friday in Atlantic City. “I’m here to give him his second loss on Saturday night.” “He’s a good fighter and I’ve wanted to fight him for a long time,” said Magsayo, who is coming off a three-fight winning streak in the US. “Now, the opportunity is here and I can’t wait for the fight.” Magsayo trained under Hall of Famer Freddie Roach and his assistant Marvin Somodio at the Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles. He will be facing a world champion who hasn’t fought in almost two years. “I’m not expecting Russell to be rusty on fight night, but I can adjust,” Magsayo said. “I have speed just like Gary does. On Saturday, we’ll put our skills up against each other.” Russell last fought on February 8, 2020, beating Tugstsogt Nyambayar of Mongolia via unanimous decision in Pennsylvania. He holds a 31-1 record with 18 knockouts. But the American is confident he remains in world champion form. “There are no concerns about ring rust. I’m always in the gym. I haven’t taken two months off from training since I was about four or five,” Russell said. “Boxing is not just what I do, it’s a lifestyle for me.” “If I go out there and I destroy Mark on Saturday, then the big fights that I want, those fighters won’t be in a rush to face me, not that they are now anyway,” he said. “I’m always trying to give the same message when I enter the ring. I believe in intellect over athleticism, no matter the situation.” MP Promotions President Sean Gibbons told BusinessMirror that Magsayo is in harness for Russell despite the American winning all his fights in six years since losing to former World Boxing Organization champion Vasyl Lomachenko on June 21, 2014, in Carson City via majority decision. Magsayo is coming off a split decision win over American Rigoberto Hermosillo in October 2020 in Los Angeles, beat another American Pablo Cruz in Connecticut in April 2021 via a third-round technical knockout and defeated Mexican Julio Ceja through brutal 10th round knockout in August in Las Vegas. Pacquiao won crowns in eight divisions and snatched The Ring title from Mexican star Marco Antonio Barrera via an 11th-round technical knockout in November 2003. to be fully vaccinated by December 1 unless they had a medical exemption. About a month later, the IOC put out guidelines calling for full vaccinations or a three-week quarantine period upon entering China. Heading into Summer Olympics in Tokyo last year, Finnoff estimated that 100 of the more than 600 Americans competing weren’t vaccinated. The US will finalize the members of the winter team this week. It is expected to include about 240 athletes. Qualifying for the Paralympics is still ongoing, but Finnoff said so far, the USOPC hasn’t received requests for exemptions from potential Paralympians. AP