BusinessMirror January 30, 2022

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Living with the virus www.businessmirror.com.ph

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Sunday, January 30, 2022 Vol. 17 No. 114

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Experts weigh in on how to deal with Covid-19 that has cost millions of lives around the globe since its onset

A MOTHER and her two children walk past a mural of John, Paul, George and Ringo at “Barangay Beatles,” officially Barangay 330, in Santa Cruz, Manila, on May 27, 2020. NONIE REYES

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By Rory Visco

HERE is no question that Covid-19 is here to stay. With the numerous variants that came out of the mutations of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes Covid-19—from Alpha to today’s highly transmissible Omicron—a question remains: When will it stop?

Vaccination, according to experts, is the universally accepted solution to curb the spread and further mutations. But many also believe that Covid-19 will not go away, just like any common cold, cough or flu. It will be here to stay and planet Earth would just have to deal with it.

Recently, the Ateneo School of Government, through the Ateneo Policy Center, together with the Eastern Regional Organization for Public Administration, or EROPA, gathered four international experts in an online roundtable discussion titled “Recalibrating Inclusive Health and Economic Recovery in Southeast Asia: From Zero Covid-19 to Living with Covid-19.”

They picked the minds of ex-

“NO one is safe, unless everyone is safe and no country is safe, unless every country is safe.”—Dr. Chien-jen Chen, former Vice President of Taiwan and academician from Academia Sinica WWW.ROC-TAIWAN.ORG

PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 51.3930

perts from Indonesia, Taiwan, Singapore and from the Philippines, who all sat down and weighed in on what needed to be done so that countries that continue to struggle and fight the dreaded disease can move on from the pandemic. Their in-depth discussion centered on a dream that humanity, if it can’t stop Covid-19, can somehow just live with it.

The distrust factor

DR. Manuel Dayrit, former secretary of the Department of Health (DOH) and Professor from the Ateneo School of Medicine and Public Health, pointed to some problems that caused distrust among the public during the start of the pandemic. Specifically, Dayrit said allegations of corruption and issues like the Dengvaxia controversy were stumbling blocks that sowed distrust in the minds of many Filipinos.

For is part, Dr. Eko Prasojo, a Professor at the Faculty of Administrative Services of Universitas Indonesia, said that in the case of his country, a significant portion of their population would much rather listen to informal leaders such as religious or village chiefs when it comes to issues regarding the pandemic. As such, he said there’s

immense value in tapping these leaders to educate the public.

Asked about the situation regarding his country Singapore, Dr. Kai Hong Phua, Adjunct Senior Research Fellow, Institute of Policy Studies of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore, underscored the value of having expertise.

“Having a group of experts that have come to a consensus regarding the data that they are dealing with would help national leaders have a better grasp of the information that they would then share to the public. This would minimize confusion and foster greater trust in government communication moving forward,” Dr. Phua explained.

When asked to comment, Dr. Chien-jen Chen, former Vice President of Taiwan and academician from Academia Sinica, underscored that “it is very important to provide accurate information immediately through mass media, especially through electronic channels.”

He also stressed that eradicating vaccine nationalism is integral in protecting more people around the world against the virus. “Doing so will allow us to live with the virus without fear of it causing mas-

sive disruption in our economies and societies.”

“No one is safe unless everyone is safe, and no country is safe unless every country is safe,” Dr. Chen added. “We have to help each other. This is the only way. We need global solidarity for global health.”

Invest in primary health care

COMMENTING on the sudden spike of cases triggered by the Omicron variant, Dr. Phua said that a common-sense approach to managing cases would be to invest in a primary health-care system that can deal with patients in a more efficient manner.

“If you take the approach of a cost-effective and sustainable system, I think the emphasis should be on the primary healthcare system that’s able to monitor and detect symptoms early enough then refer them for better management at the more acute stages,” Dr. Phua added.

Another important thing, as far as Dr. Dayrit is concerned: the Philippines must invest in building its capacity to produce vaccines as this is key in addressing the needs of Filipinos. “We need to have some form of vaccine production capacity. Even if we can’t do the research, we need to have the capacity to be

able to copy and produce. If we can do that, we will have some security when it comes to vaccine supplies.”

On the question of striking a balance between economic recovery and mitigating this health crisis, Dr. Prasojo said that it’s important to continue the vaccine programs to ensure that the spread of the disease is managed well, but with that, governments should really zero in on propping up micro, small and medium enterprises as they are crucial in strengthening the economy.

The more prepared the people are to prevent transmission and prevent deaths, the better the balance will be so that there’s no need for a lockdown, according to Dayrit. “In our case, it became the default response. And if you lock down, you stop the economy.”

He proposed that the only way to achieve that balance, preventive-wise, is through vaccination and anti-virals, and put in the technology to make it more efficient. “If we’re able to do that, you prevent transmission through vaccination and anti-virals, you prevent deaths because your doctors are better prepared and your hospitals are buttressed, your economy can open. The balance is enabled by your pandemic preparedness,” Dr. Dayrit concluded.

n JAPAN 0.4456 n UK 68.8101 n HK 6.5976 n CHINA 8.0693 n SINGAPORE 37.9957 n AUSTRALIA 36.1344 n EU 57.2878 n SAUDI ARABIA 13.6982

Source: BSP (January 28, 2022)

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From Tiananmen to Hong Kong, China’s crackdowns defy critics

By Ken Moritsugu

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The Associated Press

EIJING—From the deadly crushing of Beijing’s 1989 prodemocracy protests to the suppression of Hong Kong’s opposition four decades later, China’s Communist Party has demonstrated a determination and ability to stay in power that is seemingly impervious to Western criticism and sanctions.

As Beijing prepares to hold the Winter Olympics opening next week, China’s president and party leader Xi Jinping appears firmly in control. The party has made political stability paramount and says that has been the foundation for the economic growth that has bettered lives and put the nation on a path to becoming a regional if not global power.

While many have benefitted economically, the price has been paid by those who wanted more freedom—from ethnic groups in the far western regions of Tibet and Xinjiang to the largely student-led protesters in Hong Kong in 2019.

The party leadership was divided when an earlier generation of student protesters took control for weeks of the symbolically important grounds of Beijing’s Tiananmen Square in 1989. The hardline leaders won and the protesters were crushed rather than accommodated, a fateful decision that has guided the party’s approach to this day.

“The world came up with the assumption that with economic engagement with China, China would thrive, which would give birth to a powerful middle class, which would give birth then to a civil society which would give birth then CHINESE President Xi Jinping is displayed on a screen as Type 99A2 Chinese battle tanks take part in a parade commemorating the 70th anniversary of Japan’s surrender during World War II, held in front of Tiananmen Gate in Beijing on Thursday, September 3, 2015. From the military suppression of Beijing’s 1989 prodemocracy protests to the less deadly crushing of Hong Kong’s opposition four decades later, China’s long-ruling Communist Party has demonstrated a determination and ability to stay in power that is seemingly impervious to Western criticism and sanctions. AP

to a democracy that would make China a responsible stakeholder in the world arena,” said Wu’er Kaixi, who as a university student helped lead the 1989 protests and now lives in exile in Taiwan.

That assumption, he added, proved naive and wrong.

Firm grip

BEIJING’S hosting of the 2008 Summer Olympics manifested hope that reforms might be on the way, bringing greater space for free speech, independent labor unions and protection of the cultural and religious identities of ethnic groups. Tibetan groups staged protests in China and abroad, disrupting the torch relay.

Nearly 15 years later, on the eve of the Winter Games, the reality is far different. Tibet remains firmly under Communist Party control, and the government launched a fierce crackdown against the Turkic Muslim Uyghurs in Xinjiang in 2017 and enacted new laws and loyalty requirements to drive out opposition in Hong Kong in response to massive protests that turned violent in 2019.

Under Xi, who came to power in 2012, the party has clamped down on dissident voices and anyone who challenges its version of events, from a #MeToo movement that flourished briefly to citizen journalists who exposed the crisis and chaos in Wuhan in the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Xi is now expected to be appointed to a third five-year term as the ruling party’s general secretary this fall, cementing his position as China’s strongest leader since Mao Zedong. With no term limits on the position, Xi could remain leader indefinitely, with no clearly defined rules on succession.

Xi approaches the party meeting bolstered by a strong economy, the ending of separatist violence in Xinjiang and the passage of a sweeping national security law and electoral changes in Hong Kong that have eviscerated the political opposition in the territory.

“Xi Jinping wants to become a leader like Mao,” said Joseph

‘X

i Jinping wants to become a leader like Mao.’ –Joseph Cheng

Cheng, a political scientist and veteran Hong Kong prodemocracy activist who now lives in Australia. Mao Zedong founded China’s communist state in 1949 and led the country for more than two decades.

Having maintained relative prosperity and rock-hard political control, Xi and the party face little pressure and see no need to make concessions, Cheng said.

“There are no checks and balances domestically and internationally. As a result, there is an increasingly authoritarian regime,” he said.

The suppression of the Tiananmen protests marked the end of a period of limited political liberalization in the 1980s. The chaos and violence of the 1966-76 Cultural Revolution and the decline of the Soviet Union had already impressed on the ruling party that political stability should be maintained at whatever cost.

‘Chinese dream’

THE crackdown carried out with tanks and assault troops was seen as the only way to ensure continued Communist Party rule and what Xi has since termed the realization of the “Chinese dream” of restoring the country’s position in the world.

The events of 1989 remain a taboo topic in China to this day.

Future years saw advocates for free expression and civil rights continue to push the boundaries.

Beijing responded to some appeals by releasing prodemocracy activists into foreign exile.

At the same time, the party opened new avenues for education and employment, loosened restrictions on the private sector and welcomed foreign investment. A new generation of young Chinese grew up with heightened expectations and little knowledge of the political turmoil of past years.

Despite their misgivings about the crackdown, China’s booming economy was too much of a draw to ignore, and Western democracies

swiftly re-engaged with the regime in the 1990s and 2000s.

More recently, the US has turned against China, viewing what is now the world’s second largest economy as a growing competitor as well as an opportunity.

China’s policies in Xinjiang, Tibet and Hong Kong, and on human rights in general, have brought travel and financial sanctions from the US and others on the officials and companies involved.

Beijing has responded with dismissals and disdain. A diplomatic boycott of the Olympics announced by Washington, the UK and others was greeted with contempt by Beijing for what it called a meaningless gesture that would change nothing.

China has sought to redefine human rights as improvements in the quality of life, and cites economic growth and poverty reduction as the real determinants. It has written off campaigns by foreign politicians, trade groups and companies to boycott cotton goods and other products from Xinjiang over allegations of forced labor.

China calls such claims “the lie of the century,” although some experts say the bad publicity may have prompted it to shut down its prison-like system of internment camps.

But activists’ calls to move the Olympics out of China have gone unheeded. A diplomatic boycott won’t stop the athletes from competing. Sophie Richardson, the China director for Human Rights Watch, said the International Olympic Committee lost all credibility on promoting human rights after choosing Beijing for the Winter Games.

Kaixi, the former Tiananmen protester and an ethnic Uyghur, said China could not have succeeded in its defiance without the acquiescence of the international community.

“China can only get away with all this because the world is giving in,” he said.

The World

BusinessMirror Chinese travel for Lunar New Year despite plea to stay put www.businessmirror.com.ph • Editor: Angel R. Calso

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EIJING—Chinese are traveling to their hometowns for the Lunar New Year, the country’s biggest family holiday, despite a government plea to stay where they are as Beijing tries to contain coronavirus outbreaks.

T he hol id ay, wh ic h st a r ts Wednesday, usually is the biggest annual movement of humanity as hundreds of millions of people who migrated for work visit their parents and sometimes spouses and children they left behind or travel abroad.

Some 260 million people traveled in the 10 says since the holiday rush started Jan. 17, less than before the pandemic but up 46 percent over last year, official data shows. The government forecasts a total of 1.2 billion trips this during the holiday season, up 36 percent from a year ago.

“I know we are encouraged to spend the New Year in Beijing, but I haven’t been back home for three years,” said Wang Yilei, whose hometown is Tangshan, east of the capital. “My parents are getting old and they are looking forward to seeing me.”

The Chinese capital, Beijing, is tightening controls to contain coronavirus outbreaks ahead of next week’s opening of the Winter Olympics, a high-profile prestige event.

China’s infection numbers are modest compared with India, South Korea and some other countries. But they challenge Beijing’s “zero tolerance” strategy that aims to keep the virus out of China by isolating every infected person.

Athletes, reporters and officials at the Winter Games are required to avoid contact with outsiders in hopes of preventing infection.

Some 106 of the 3,695 people who arrived from abroad for the

Games so far tested positive for the coronavirus. Two are athletes or team officials.

Authorities in Beijing have ordered mass testing for more than 2 million people in the capital’s Fengtai district following outbreaks there. Some families were ordered not to leave their homes.

Elsewhere, 1.2 million people in an area 60 miles (100 kilometers) south of Beijing that is being developed as a possible site for ministries to relocate were told to stay put.

Restrictions were imposed on Xiong’an New District this week after five cases were found in people who came from the capital, according to notices circulated online by residents. They said the controls would last seven days.

People who travel are required to show a negative result of a virus test within 48 hours before departure.

“We should go back home for the New Year as long as we can, if the local prevention policies allow us to,” said Wu Jinpeng, a university student who was en route from the southern island of Hainan to his hometown near Beijing.

Some travelers face the prospect of being ordered into quarantine if they arrive from areas deemed at high risk of infection.

Travelers are tracked by “health code” software on smartphones that records where they go and the results of virus tests.

“I called the government hotline of my hometown and they said I can go back, as long as my health code is green,” said Sun Jinle, a bank employee from Qinhuangdao, east of Beijing.

“If I live in Fengtai District of Beijing then I can’t (go home),” Sun said. “Luckily, I live in Tongzhou District,” which has no travel ban. AP

Intel tumbles as investments weigh on profit forecast

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ntel Corp. shares fell on Thursday after the company gave a disappointing profit forecast, fueling concern that Chief Executive Officer Pat Gelsinger’s costly turnaround plan will weigh heavily on the chipmaker’s financial performance.

Earnings will be 80 cents a share in the first quarter, excluding some items, Intel said Wednesday. Analysts projected 86 cents a share on average. Gross margins also are tightening at Intel, once one of the most profitable companies in the industry.

Shares of the Santa Clara, California-based company fell as much as 7.4 percent in intraday trading in New York. Before the report, the stock had been outperforming those of its chip peers this year.

Though demand for ser ver chips is helping bolster sales, the forecast adds evidence that profit is suffering from an Intel spending spree. Gelsinger, who took the helm last year, has embarked on an ambitious plan to overhaul Intel’s manufacturing. That includes a new factory hub in Ohio announced last week that could cost $20 billion. The hope is to restore Intel’s technological edge and head off a growing challenge from Asian rivals.

“This is a big investment cycle for us as a company. It is the right one for Intel, it is a critical one for our industry and for our nation,” Gelsinger said in an interview with Bloomberg TV. “At some point, the Street will see we are doing exactly what we say.”

The company’s leadership faced a series of questions about its profit margins on a conference call with analysts. Participants sought assurances that Intel is on a path to restoring the measure to historical levels above 60 percent.

Gelsinger and new Chief Financial

Officer Dave Zinsner reiterated that—while the company is currently spending heavily on new capacity and improving its production technology—the investment will pay off and eventually restore margins.

Intel’s finance chief said he’s confident the company can deliver a gross margin—the percentage of revenue remaining after deducting costs of production—in the 51 percent-to-53 percent range this year. And within five years, the measure will be back up to historical levels, Gelsinger said.

Investors have punished chip stocks this year, fearing the companies’ pandemic boom is ending.

But Intel has been largely spared their wrath. As of Wednesday’s close, it was one of only two stocks on the Philadelphia Stock Exchange Semiconductor Index to post gains in 2022, along with the American depositary receipts of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Intel ’s CEO also was asked whether he might consider selling off a portion of the company’s programmable chip unit, a division based on its 2015 acquisition of Altera Corp. Gelsinger answered that another spinoff already underway—of its Mobileye selfdriving business—may serve as a model for other such deals.

Intel’s leader has only been in place a year, meaning he’s still dealing with products and strategy shaped by his predecessors. Still, investors want to see evidence that his initiatives will help reverse market-share losses and slowing sales. Gelsinger, 60, has argued that products launched in January have already restored Intel’s edge over rival Advanced Micro Devices Inc. But analysts are still projecting that his company’s revenue will be flat in 2022, while AMD’s sales will grow 20 percent. Bloomberg News

Sunday, January 30, 2022

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Russia says it won’t start war as Ukraine tensions mount

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OSCOW—Russia’s top diplomat said Friday that Moscow will not start a war in Ukraine but warned that it wouldn’t allow the West to trample on its security interests, amid fears it is planning to invade its neighbor.

US President Joe Biden warned Ukraine’s leader a day earlier that there is a “distinct possibility” that Russia could take military action against the former Soviet state in February.

“There won’t be a war as far as it depends on the Russian Federation, we don’t want a war,” Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in a live interview with Russian radio stations. “But we won’t let our interests be rudely trampled on and ignored.”

Tensions have soared in recent weeks, and the United States and its Nato allies warily eyed a buildup of more than 100,000 Russian troops near Ukraine, worrying that Moscow was preparing to attack. Russia has repeatedly denied having any such plans, but has demanded that Nato promise Ukraine will never be allowed to join and that the alliance roll back deployments of troops and military equipment in Eastern Europe.

The US and Nato formally rejected those demands this week, though Washington outlined areas where discussions are possible, offering hope that there could be a way to avoid war.

Russia’s official response to those proposals will come from President Vladimir Putin, but the Kremlin has said there was “little ground for optimism.”

Lavrov echoed noted that grim note Friday.

“While they say they won’t change their positions, we won’t change ours,” he said. “I don’t see any room for compromise here.”

Putin opened the weekly meeting of his Security Council on Friday, saying only that it would address foreign policy issues. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the Russian leader may also discuss his reaction to the US rejection with French President Emmanuel Macron during their video call the same day.

Lavrov noted that the US suggested the two sides could talk about limits on the deployment of intermediate-range missiles, restrictions on military drills and rules to prevent accidents between warships and aircraft. He said that Russia proposed discussing those issues years ago—but Washington and its allies never took them up on it until now.

While he described the US offers as reasonable, he emphasized that Russia’s main concerns are to stop both Nato’s expansion and the deployment of the alliance weapons near Russia’s borders. He noted that international agreements say that the security of one nation must not come at the expense of others’—and that he would send letters to ask his Western counterparts to address that obligation.

“It will be hard for them to wiggle out from answering why they aren’t fulfilling the obligations sealed by their leaders not to strengthen their security at the expense of others,” he said.

As tensions build, Washington

warned Moscow of devastating sanctions if it invades Ukraine, including penalties targeting top Russian officials and key economic sectors. Several senior US officials also said Thursday that Germany would not allow a newly constructed pipeline—which is meant to bring gas directly from Russia—to begin operations if Russia invades Ukraine.

Asked about possible sanctions, Lavrov said that Moscow had warned Washington that their introduction would amount to a complete severing of ties.

While Moscow and the West are mulling their next steps, Nato said

it was bolstering its deterrence in the Baltic Sea region, and the U.S. ordered 8,500 troops on higher alert for potential deployment to Europe.

Russia has launched a series of military drills involving motorized infantry and artillery units in southwestern Russia, warplanes in Kaliningrad on the Baltic Sea, and dozens of warships in the Black Sea and the Arctic. Russian troops have also headed to Belarus for sweeping joint drills, raising Western fears that Moscow could stage an attack on Ukraine from the north.

The Ukrainian capital is just 75 kilometers (50 miles) from the border with Belarus.

Despite the alarming rhetoric, Ukrainian officials have repeatedly tried to project calm.

Ukraine’s Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov told parliament Friday that the total number of Russian troops near Ukraine— about 130,000—is comparable to Moscow’s military buildup in the spring of 2021, when Moscow eventually pulled its forces back after massive military exercises.

“ We haven’t obser ved a ny events or actions of military character that significantly differ from what was going on last spring,” with the exception of the deployment to Belarus, Reznikov said.

But that has so far not reassured many in the West. Biden warned Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Thursday’s call that the US believed there was a high degree of likelihood that Russia could invade when the ground freezes and Russian forces could attack Ukrainian territory from north of Kyiv, according to two people familiar with the conversation who were not authorized to comment publicly.

While concerns rise about an invasion, Ukraine is already beset by conflict. Following the 2014 ouster of a K remlin-fr iend ly president in Kyiv, Moscow annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula and backed an insurgency in the country’s eastern industrial hea r t l a nd. Fight ing bet ween Ukrainian forces and Russiabacked rebels has killed over 14,000 people, and efforts to reach a settlement have stalled. AP

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Sunday, January 30, 2022

The World BusinessMirror

Living with Covid proves tough for a gridlocked world economy

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he surging Omicron variant is complicating the recovery for a world economy that continues to be wracked by supply chain chaos, worker absenteeism and faltering assembly lines.

Supermarkets are struggling to stock shelves amid chronic staff shortages. Airlines are grounding flights. Manufacturers are facing disruption and shipping lines remain backed up. At the same time, surging energy prices are adding to inflation, pressuring central banks to raise interest rates even as the recovery slows.

Optimists argue that the economic hit from Omicron will be limited as vaccinations and boosters allow the disease to shift from an acute phase to an endemic one.

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said she doesn’t expect the variant to derail the US recovery.

Analysis by Nomura of Omicron’s impact on nations hit early like the UK and Canada shows shorter duration waves, faster descents from peaks and lower death rates than the Delta variant.

That means the psychological fear factor could soon fade and pentup demand for services would be unleashed.

Still, as the pandemic persists into its third year, it’s becoming clearer by the day that a return to economic normality is some way off. The global economy is now split between those countries living with the virus and China’s dogged pursuit of Covid-zero.

Such crosscurrents pose an unusual combination of challenges that risk getting baked into the longer-term outlook, according to economists at Citigroup Inc. Their counterparts at JPMorgan

Chase & Co. say global growth is now downshifting because of the Omicron drag.

The World Bank has already lowered its growth outlook and International Monetar y Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva on Friday predicted a difficult year for policy makers, saying 202z2 will be like “navigating an obstacle course.” The IMF will release new forecasts in coming days.

“There is a risk of underestimating the economic impact from the surge in Omicron cases,” said Tuuli McCully, head of Asia-Pacific economics at Scotiabank.

“While it seems that the severity of the variant is reduced and therefore the economic consequences would be milder and focused on the first quarter, it is still too early to say with certainty given that cases are skyrocketing in many parts of the world.”

T he infection surge comes as inflation pressures are forcing some central banks, led by the Federal Reserve, to shift toward raising interest rates. The US central bank, in a meeting of the policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee this week, is expected to signal plans to raise interest rates in March for the first time since 2018.

South Korea has already raised rates this month, its third hike since the summer, and emerging economies are also tightening.

China is the exception, cutting

rates to shield the economy from a property slump and slowing domestic growth.

“The Omicron wave sweeping the globe has already dealt a blow to the recovery. High frequency data from restaurant bookings to airline passenger numbers show demand stalling. Worker absenteeism and business closures are adding to supply stress. The good news: early evidence from the UK suggests the spike in Omicron cases—and impact on activity— may end almost as quickly as it began. The big unknown: what happens if Omicron collides with China’s zero-Covid strategy, pushing the world’s factory back into lockdown?” said Bloomberg Chief Economist Tom Orlik.

For many economies, the disruption is real.

From Australia to the US and the UK, food supply chains for supermarkets are being disrupted and prices have soared on the back of high freight rates, poor weather, labor shortages and energy costs. Airline travel continues to be dogged by travel restrictions and staffing shortages, with thousands of flights grounded around the world.

Heavy industry is also being squeezed. Shares of Toyota Motor Corp. fell on Friday after the automaker announced expanded production halts on rising Covid-19 cases and an ongoing chip shortage impacting its suppliers and operations in Japan.

Downshifting sales

In Europe, car sales slid for a sixth straight month in December, underscoring the uphill battle that its automakers face. Sourcing enough semiconductors will remain arduous this year, and the pandemic continues to weigh on consumer confidence.

In China, where much of the world ’s industrial components

and some consumer goods are produced shipping containers are stacking up at the already backedup Shenzhen port as congestion in the US and Europe ricochets back to Asia. The result: delivery delays that weigh on growth and add costs.

While China’s aggressive measures to suppress the virus has allowed factories to power through the pandemic, Omicron’s spread will make that approach even more difficult. Global manufacturers operating in China, including automaker Volkswagen AG, have reported disruption due to lockdowns and other restrictions.

Among those on the front lines are global shipping companies trying to meet solid demand from consumers and businesses amid logistical constraints like port congestion, rail backups and trucker shortages. Matson Inc., a Honolulu-based container carrier, said last week that “we expect these conditions to remain largely in place through at least the October peak season and expect elevated demand for our China service for most of the year.”

Be prepared

Hong Kong-based Willy Lin, whose company Milo’s Knitwear (International) Ltd. makes highend sweaters from its factory in Dongguan for clients in Europe, is stocking up on key material to ensure he can meet future orders as the supply snarls continue.

“We are telling our customers, if you want to place orders you must do it now,” said Lin, who is also chairman of The Hong Kong Shippers’ Council. The veteran industr y player is temper ing expectations for a quick return to normal.

“I am surprised that people still think these problems will go away soon,” Lin said. “It’s not realistic.”

Bloomberg News

Apple records highest-ever quarterly earnings in sign it tamed supply crisis

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pple Inc. rallied in late trading after quarterly revenue sailed past Wall Street estimates, marking a victory against a supply-chain crunch fueled by the pandemic and chip shortages.

Sales climbed 11 percent to a record $123.9 billion in the fiscal first quarter, the company said Thursday. Analysts had predicted $119.1 billion on average. Profit also beat projections, and the company predicted that sales would grow by a double-digit percentage in the March quarter.

The surprisingly strong results suggest that fears of supply upheaval were overblown. Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook had warned late last year that shortages could cost the company more than $6 billion in sales during the all-important holiday period. But the tech giant navigated the crisis and benefited from a flood of new products, including the iPhone 13, Apple Watch Series 7 and updated Macs.

The shares gained as much as 5.8 percent to $168.38 in extended trading. Before the report, they had fallen 10 percent this year, hurt by a broader downturn. The stock gained 34 percent in 2021.

Investors have been looking to Apple for reassurance after a recent rout battered technology stocks. Concerns about a sales slowdown and looming interest rates hikes have made the sector less appealing in the past month, with Apple itself suffering from

the retreat. After topping a market value of $3 trillion in early January, Apple is now worth $2.6 trillion.

Earnings for the Cupertino, California-based company rose to $2.10 a share in the first quarter, which ended December 25, well above the $1.90 estimated by analysts.

On a conference call, Apple e xecutives sa id supply-cha in constraints would ease further in the March quarter, though its rate of growth would decelerate for both the overall business and the services segment. Apple didn’t give a specific sales target, beyond saying it would be a record for the period. Analysts are predicting that revenue will top $90 billion. Gross margin will be 42.5 percent to 43.5 percent, Apple said.

The company also said there are now 1.8 billion Apple devices currently in use, up 300 million from two years ago. And it has 785 million paid Apple and third-party subscriptions on its platform, up from 745 million reported in the previous quarter.

The company generated $71.6 billion in revenue from its flagship product, the iPhone, beating Wall Street estimates of $67.7 billion. That’s up 9.2 percent from the year-ago quarter. The sales period represented the first full quarter of iPhone 13 revenue.

On the company’s earnings call, Cook said the entire iPhone 13 line contributed to the strong growth and declined to specify

if the Pro models were stronger performers than the cheaper versions.

The phone went on sale in September, several weeks earlier than the iPhone 12 did in 2020. Though the iPhone 13 was considered to be a modest update, users looking to upgrade to 5G service still clamored for the device.

“Supply-demand was largely in balance by quarter end, and China shipments were strong,” Bernstein analyst Toni Sacconaghi said in a note before the results were released.

The supply constraints hitting the iPhone 13 line and other new products, including the latest Macs and Apple Watches, resulted in shipment delays of several weeks. In Apple’s previous earnings report, the company said that the problems cost it $6 billion in sales—and warned that the holiday quarter would be even worse.

Against that backdrop, the results were a relief to investors. But not everything was rosy: Sales of the iPad were lower than projected. The company had said after its previous quarter that supply problems were hitting that product particularly hard. Japan also was a weak spot last quarter.

The iPad brought in $7.25 billion in the first quarter, compared with an estimate of $8.1 billion.

The company launched the most significant iPad mini update in the product’s history and a minor refresh to its cheapest tablet during the quarter, but struggled to get

enough supply to market. Chief Financial Officer Luca Maestri said that iPad shortages in the quarter were “pronounced,” and Cook said some of constraints were due to Apple reallocating key components to the iPhone.

“This is our eighth quarter reporting results in the shadow of the pandemic,” Cook said, “and while I can’t say it gets any easier, I can say I’m incredibly proud of the way our teams have come together.”

Apple generated $19.5 billion in services revenue in the first quarter, topping Wall Street expectations of $18.6 billion. The category grew 24 percent from a year earlier on strong App Store, Apple Music and iCloud subscription sales. Apple said earlier this month that developers generated about $60 billion from the App Store during 2021, but it didn’t share specific App Store revenue for the company.

The wearables, home and accessories division—a unit that includes the Apple Watch, Apple TV, AirPods, Beats headphones, the HomePod and other items— produced $14.7 billion during the quarter. That was up 13 percent from a year earlier and above the average estimate of $14.2 billion.

The category got a boost from new AirPods earbuds launching near the end of 2021 after not getting a similar upgrade in 2020. The Apple Watch Series 7, however, faced a release delay and significant shortages. Bloomberg News

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

‘Little giants’ are China’s weapons in US tech war

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n today’s China, behemoths like Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Tencent Holdings Ltd. are out of favor, but “little giants” are on the rise.

That’s the designation for a new generation of start-ups that have been selected under an ambitious government program aimed at fostering a technology industry that can compete with Silicon Valley. These oftenobscure companies have demonstrated they’re doing something innovative and unique, and they’re targeting strategically important sectors like robotics, quantum computing and semiconductors.

Wu Gansha won the little giants title for his autonomous driving startup after a government review of his technology. That gave the Beijing company, Uisee, an extra dose of credibility and financial benefits.

Last year, it raised more than 1 billion yuan ($157 million), including money from a state-owned fund. It’s also become a unicorn, with a valuation of at least $1 billion.

“It’s an honor to wear the little giant label,” Wu said. “The essence of the project is that the companies must possess some specialty that others don’t have.”

The program has been around for more than a decade, but it has taken on new prominence after Beijing launched a sweeping crackdown against leading companies like Alibaba and Tencent. The little giants label has become a valued measure of government endorsement, a signal for investors and employees that the companies are insulated from regulatory punishment. President Xi Jinping has given his personal blessing to the program.

“This is helpful to start-ups in many ways: It’s a subsidy. It’s a grant. It’s an honor. It’s a stamp of approval,” said Lee Kai-Fu, founding managing director of the venture firm Sinovation.

The program is key to the Communist Party’s ambitious strategy to reposition the country’s technology industry. For two decades, China largely followed the Silicon Valley model, allowing entrepreneurs to pursue their ambitions with little government oversight. That led to enormous successes, including e-commerce pioneer Alibaba, social media giant Tencent and ByteDance Ltd., creator of the hit TikTok short-video app.

But in a series of regulatory moves over the past year, Beijing made clear the technology industry must realign to conform with government priorities. Alibaba and Tencent were quickly forced to eliminate anticompetitive practices, while games companies had to limit minors to three hours of online play per week. More broadly, the government has signaled softer Internet services are out of favor.

Instead, Beijing aims to shift resources to strategically important technologies like chips and enterprise software. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has named 4,762 little giants since 2019, many in semiconductors, machinery and pharmaceutical industries. The designation typically comes with lucrative incentives from the central government or provincial authorities, including tax cuts, generous loans and favorable talent acquisition policies.

“What the country is trying to promote is more hardcore technology,” said Yipin Ng, founding partner of Yunqi Partners, a venture fund that is investing in little giants. “In that sense, this is more in line with what they are trying to promote—things that makes China more competitive.”

Governments from the US to Africa have established programs to support smaller enterprises, but China’s efforts dwarf those in terms of scale, resources and ambition. Xi, the country’s most powerful leader since Mao, has instituted a half dozen programs that will collectively disburse trillions of dollars in pursuit of economic might, social stability and technological independence.

The US trade war has stiffened the Communist Party’s resolve to build a self-sufficient industry. The country’s vulnerability was exposed when Donald Trump’s administration blacklisted national champions like Huawei Technologies Co. and Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. That prevented them from buying US components such as chipsets and industrial software, crippling operations.

The little giants concept dates back to at least 2005, when the local government in Hunan province instituted policies to support small enterprises. The central government’s powerful MIIT endorsed the Hunan campaign, which included land grants and financial support, as a model for developing the private sector. Local governments in places like Tianjin began their own initiatives.

It was in 2018, with the trade war, that the central government began to seriously push the program. MIIT announced a plan to create about 600 little giants that would develop core technologies. The procedure for winning the designation was designed to foster competition and identify the most promising companies.

Candidates apply with a six-page form detailing financial status, number of patents and research accomplishments. In the first round of selection, each province could nominate no more than a dozen companies.

The country’s top three tech hubs—Beijing, Shenzhen and Shanghai—had a combined quota of only 17 candidates.

Guan Yaxin, chief operating officer of Beijing-based ForwardX Robotics, said the process was relatively smooth for her company because it has proven innovations, with 121 patents globally, including 25 in the US. “This government endorsement is very helpful when I expand the business because the clients will understand we are not just a random startup,” she said.

MIIT has since expanded the program to thousands of companies, with about 1,000 “priority little giants” at the top of the hierarchy. Members of this rarefied club, which includes Wu’s Uisee, receive direct funding from the central government. In January, the Finance Ministry set aside at least 10 billion yuan to fund small and mid-sized enterprises until 2025, with the lion’s share directly financing the priority start-ups’ research. The goal is to create 10,000 little giants by 2025.

“It’s quite clear that this is a selection of companies very much subordinate to China’s specific industrial policy and needs,” said Barry Naughton, a professor and China economist at the University of California, San Diego. “They were partially picked because they are good firms, but an equally important criteria is they fit the urgent policy needs of the government right now.”

There are substantial risks. The success of China’s technology industry over the past 10 years came from giving entrepreneurs like Alibaba’s Jack Ma and ByteDance’s Zhang Yiming free rein to build their businesses.

Flipping the model to focus on the government’s priorities risks leading to waste and failure, Naughton said.

“These are small companies that are being nurtured because they can potentially be alternative suppliers. How do you nurture them? You throw money at them,” he said.

The little giants have become popular targets for venture capitalists, many of whom lost money on portfolio companies during Beijing’s crackdown. One VC said that some start-ups in the program have been able to raise capital in the last six months while boosting their valuations by 50 percent to 75 percent. Another VC reportedly invests only in companies identified as little giants by the government. AP

Science Sunday BusinessMirror

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

Sunday, January 30, 2022

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PHL to boost maritime security through space technologies

DOST officials during the 2024 Call for Proposals with DOST Council heads (from top left, clockwise) Undersecretary Rowena Cristina L. Guevara, DOST-PCIEERD Executive Director Enrico Paringit, DOST-PCAARRD Executive Director Dr. Reynaldo V. Ebora, DOST-PCHRD Executive Director Jaime Montoya and DOST-NRCP Executive Director Marietta Bañez Sumagaysay. DOST-PCIEERD photo

DOST targets ₧6.79-B fund for 304 R&D projects in 2024

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he Department of Science and Technology (DOST) is targeting to fund 304 research projects worth P6.79 billion in 2024 in order to leverage the country’s economic progress and provide solutions in response to Covid-19 pandemic.

Of the 304 research projects, 204 will be funded through the Philippine Council for Industry, Energy, and Emerging Technology Research and Development (DOST-PCIEERD) Grants-in-Aid worth P3.25 billion and 100 will be funded under the DOST-GIA worth P3.54 billion.

The research projects cover 21 priority areas, namely: energy; construction; utilities; transportation; food; process; mining and minerals; metals and engineering; advanced materials and nanotechnology; optics and photonics; information and communication technolog ies; electronics; ar tif icia l intel ligence; space technology application; convergence of emerging technologies/industry 4.0 and smar ter cities; env ironment; disaster risk reduction-climate

change adaptation; unmanned vehicle system; creative indust r ies ( ga me, a n i m at ion, a nd film), creative industries; and science communication.

Researchers may submit their proposals from March 1 to 31 through the DOST Project Management Information System.

“We encourage our researchers and innovators to answer our call.

The pandemic has put almost everything at a standstill, thus, the need to continuously make solutions through science-backed projects that would aid us to bounce back in the new normal,” Dr. Enrico C. Paringit, DOST-PCIEERD executive director said.

Paringit added that the funding opportunity will primarily encourage S&T collaboration and applied research among higher education institutes, government research and development institutes, and nonprofit S&T networks and organizations seeking funding for their R&D/S&T initiatives.

The approved proposals will be announced on June 8.

S&T Media Services

British Council offers women from PHL, other countries scholarships in STEM

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By Rizal Raoul Reyes

ilipino women involved in science, technology, engineering and mathematics may apply for a scholarship at a United Kingdom university under the second round of the British Council Scholarships for Women in STEM (WiS).

Besides women from the Philippines, the British Council is also inviting women from other Asian countries—Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam—to pursue a master’s degree or an early academic fellowship from a UK university, the British Council web site said.

Women from Brazil, Egypt, Mexico, Peru, Turkey, Ukraine can pursue master’s scholarships.

Over 100 scholarships from 26 universities are available starting in Autumn 2022 for the academic year from September/October 2022 to 2023.

The British Council said 29 scholarships are available for Filipino and Southeast Asians women in six UK universities— namely Brunel University, Teesside University, Liverpool John Moores University, Edinburgh Napier University, University of Glasgow and University of York.

Courses offered to Southeast Asian women include those on climate change, healthcare management, automation and water engineering, among others.

The scholarship covers financial support, including tuition, stipends, travel costs, visas, health coverage fees and special support for mothers who can bring their dependent children. There is no required age limit. “ To meet the challenges of the 21st century, we need more women and girls studying and work ing in STEM fields. But often, social and economic opportunities limit women from

advancing t heir professiona l ambitions,” said Leighton Er nsberger, d i rec tor for E duc at ion a nd Engl ish at t he Br it ish Cou nc i l in a st atement.

The UK has a world-renowned higher-education sector that is truly international, Ernsberger noted.

These scholarships will enable talented women to take up a lifechanging opportunity to develop their careers in their chosen STEM fields, and then harness the experience to make a greater impact for good when they return home, he pointed out.

Last year, 15 scholars from Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam travelled to the UK to start their master’s degrees as part of the first Scholarships for Women in STEM cohort.

The statement cited a United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization report saying that less than 30 percent of researchers worldwide are women, and only 30 percent of female students select STEM-related fields in higher education..

Globally, female students’ enrolment is low in information and communications technology (3 percent), natural science, mathematics and statistics (5 percent), and engineering, manufacturing and construction (8 percent).

The British Council pointed out that pursuing a career in STEM gives women equal opportunities and narrows the gender pay gap.

A typical STEM worker earns two-thirds more than non-STEM workers. Thus, providing women equal opportunities to pursue STEM careers helps narrow the gender pay gap and empower all women and girls.

Applications should be made directly to the participating universities and should meet the specific requirements.

Deadline for application differs according to university. The earliest deadline is February 14 and the latest is April 10.

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pace science and technology applications (SSTA) have various uses for the country’s development in agriculture and environment, among others, and in security, including in maritime response, security and domain awareness.

To this end, Philippine Space Agency (PhilSA) Director General Dr. Joel Joseph S. Marciano Jr. and National Coast Watch (NCW) Center Director Philippine Coast Guard Rear Admiral Roy A. Echeverria signed a memorandum of understanding in a virtual ceremony on January 19, a PhilSA news release said.

PhilSA Deputy Director General Dr. Gay Jane P. Perez, for Space Science and Technology, and NCW Deputy Director PCG Commander Mark Larsen Mariano witnessed the signing ceremony.

The partnership aims to establish information exchange and capacity-building on the use of SSTA for the concerns in the maritime sector.

The NCW is a PCG-led interagency maritime surveillance and coordinated response center.

Marciano expressed PhilSA’s comm it ment to bet ter ser ve and empower Filipinos through the ex pansion of space-related initiatives.

“This MOU reflects our mutual intention and willingness to work together to enhance the country’s maritime domain awareness, security and response through the increasing use of relevant space and ground-based technologies,” Marciano pointed out.

“Indeed, if one goal is to be able to watch over our coastlines,

coastal areas and coastal resources, then the vantage point of outer space is becoming invaluable and indispensable,” he added.

For his part, Echeverria said that in order to address the “daunting” and “ever-growing” challenges in maritime monitoring and security, the NCW has been partnering with other government agencies and institutions to enhance the maritime domain awareness (MDA) capabilities of the country, the news release said.

“This partnership with PhilSA will give the NCW added capability in terms of space science and technology, while we provide the PhilSA with MDA tools and other valuable information that the agency may need from the center,” Echeverria pointed out.

He expressed hope that the partnership will not be limited to information exchange, but also to the enhancement of their respective capabilities in terms of training and workshops.

Perez underscored during the event the importance of appropriate space enabled technologies in the country’s maritime security system.

“We are encouraged by the opportunity to assist the maritime security sector in taking on space science and technology capability onboard its options in protecting

PhilSA and NCW officials (from top left, clockwise) PCG Rear Admiral Roy A. Echeverria; PhilSA Director General Joel Joseph S. Marciano Jr.; PhilSA Deputy Director General Gay Jane P. Perez; and PCG Commander Mark Larsen Mariano at the virtual memorandum of understanding signing ceremony on January 19. PhilSA photo

the country’s extensive coastal areas, and make these resources safer for our people to access and navigate,” Perez said.

Mariano described the MOU between PhilSA and NCW as “another milestone.”

He pointed out that “no single agency can secure the maritime domain alone. SSTA is a vital element in monitoring the activities within our maritime jurisdiction which is vulnerable to unlawful activities, threatening our maritime security.”

T he MOU bet ween Phi lSA and NCW Center adds to the agency’s active involvement in the country’s maritime security initiatives.

Ph i l S A h a s been work i ng with the national defense sector through the regular provision of satellite data and images, in line with the agency’s mandate to promote national security and development.

Among the powers and functions of PhilSA under the Philippine Space Act is to improve the accessibility and availability of SSTA to assist other government agencies in the performance of their duties and mandates.

It also provides relevant SSTA

training, capacity-building, and consultation services to other government agencies, the private sector, and educational institutions, in line with its powers and functions under the law, the PhilSA news release said.

The PhilSA-NCW Center MOU establishes the following areas of cooperation: Sharing of scientific and technological know-how on SSTA, including relevant information and data on Automatic Identification System and satellite images; Sharing and submission of pertinent information or reports relevant to SSTA, maritime security, maritime response and maritime domain awareness; Capac it y-bu i ld ing t hrough the conduct of specialized training courses on the application of space-based technologies and platforms and tools on maritime security, maritime response, and maritime domain awareness; Research and development on topics relevant to SSTA, maritime security, maritime response, and maritime domain awareness, and; Organizing public conferences, symposia, workshops, and events as may be agreed upon by both parties.

IoT-smart greenhouse hydroponics turns lettuce as farm enterprise

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smart greenhouse hydroponics project in Iloilo now benefits a farm enterprise.

The project applies the Internet of Things (IoT) technologies to automate the monitoring and control of growth parameters for lettuce grown in a nutrient-filmtechnique hydroponics system.

The research team from Iloilo Science and Technology University (ISAT U), led by Project Leader Dr. Renerio S. Mucas, developed the hardware and firmware components and installed and tested them at Ephrathah Farms Inc. in Badiangan, Iloilo City.

“I am beyond satisfied with the system now,” said Engr. Ed Roderick V. Canuto, farm manager of Ephrathah Farms Inc. He used to visit the farm on early Sunday mornings to handle the tedious work that his farm attendant is doing on weekdays.

Now he just needs his mobile phone to check his greenhouse even in the middle of the night.

“I don’t need to go to the farm to decide whether to turn on or not the water cooling system.

Everything is controlled with my fingertips. Information is there,” Canuto said.

He recalled that during the first run of their production under the automated system, he “was surprised having the best production I ever had.”

He added: “I had 250g per

A sensor device set up inside the greenhouse to monitor humidity and temperature conditions. DOST-PCAARRD photo

lettuce head, I used to be happy with only 60g per head of lettuce. Monitoring the pH and other growth parameters and dosing the right amount of nutrients at the right time gave us consistent production yield,” he pointed out.

Ephrathah Farms used to manually record the microclimate and agronomic parameters essential for lettuce’s growth, with results that tended to be inconsistent, “leading to variable production yields.”

According to Canuto, the “smart greenhouse minimized

labor and made it less tedious for him and his attendant.”

The technology is a product of the recently completed project funded through the Science for Change Program-Collaborative Research and Development to Leverage Philippine Economy of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST).

DOST’s Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development (DOST-PCA ARRD) monitored the project.

During the virtual project terminal review organized by

DOST-PCA ARRD, Mucas highlighted the project’s initiatives and significant accomplishments.

He described the smart greenhouse hydroponics as equipped with sensors and communication technologies that automatically captures data on essential parameters, such as temperature, acidity or pH, electrical conductivity and water flow.

T he col lec ted d at a goes through an IoT platform for monitoring, analysis, and control.

Besides monitoring from a personal computer, the use of Android App enables a farm manager to remotely monitor the system’s status or control specific actuators for water f low, fertigation, and water cooling.

More than this automation, the locally developed control system for smarter greenhouse hydroponics uses low energy requirement and the greenhouse is run and powered by solar energy.

Generally, it helps improve efficiency in use of resources and nutrients while optimizing yield gains.

Canuto hopes t hat some hydroponics farmers will be able to avail themselves of this technology because he believes that technology automation can improve the agriculture sector. Ofelia F. Domingo/S&T Media

Services

A6

Faith

Sunday, January 30, 2022

Sunday

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

Pandemic hits collection churches’ plates, budgets

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iltmore United Methodist Church of Asheville, North Carolina, is for sale.

Already financially strapped because of shrinking membership and a struggling preschool, the congregation was dealt a crushing blow by the coronavirus.

Attendance plummeted, with many staying home or switching to other churches that stayed open the whole time. Gone, too, is the revenue the church formerly got from renting its space for events and meetings.

“Our maintenance costs are just exorbitant,” said the Rev. Lucy Robbins, senior pastor. “And we just don’t have the resources financially that we used to have to be able to do the kind of ministry work that we would like.”

Biltmore is just one of an untold number of congregations across the country that have struggled to stay afloat financially and minister to their flocks during the pandemic, though others have managed to weather the storm, often with help from the federal government’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and sustained levels of member donations.

The coronavirus hit at a time when already fewer Americans were going to worship services—with at least half of the nearly 15,300 congregations surveyed in a 2020 report by Faith Communities Today reporting weekly attendance of 65 or less—and exacerbated the problems at smaller churches where increasingly lean budgets often hindered them from things like hiring

full-time clergy. “ T he pandemic didn’t change those patterns, it only made them a little bit worse,” said Scott Thumma, director of the Hartford Institute for Religion Research and co-chair of Faith Communities Today.

Attendance has been a persistent challenge. As faith leaders moved to return to in-person worship, first the highly transmissible Delta variant and now the even faster-spreading Omicron have thrown a wrench into such efforts, with some churches going back online and others still open reporting fewer souls in the pews.

At Biltmore, for example, attendance at weekly services are down from around 70 pre-pandemic to just about 25 today, counting both in-person and online worship.

After congregants voted last May to put the church property—a twobuilding campus perched on a verdant knoll just off Interstate 40—on the market, church leaders are still figuring out what comes next, including where the congregation will call home.

But they hope to use some of the proceeds from the property sale to support marginalized communities and causes like affordable housing.

Unlike Biltmore, Franklin Community Church, about 20 miles outside of Nashville, Tennessee, doesn’t have its own sanctuary, holding services instead at a public school.

A “For Sale” sign stands in front of the Biltmore United Methodist Church in Asheville, North Carolina, in July 2021. Rev. Lucy Robbins via AP That turned out to be a blessing during the pandemic, with no need to worry about a mortgage, upkeep, insurance or utilities.

“We wouldn’t have survived if we’d had all that,” said the Rev. Kevin Riggs, the church’s pastor.

Still, it has been a battle. During the 15 months that services at Franklin went online-only, some members left for other congregations or got out of the habit of giving, according to Riggs.

Weekly attendance is down from around 100 to less than 40, and the Omicron spike recently forced the church to go virtual again.

The impact is felt in the collection plate: The money coming in now is just about a third of what it was before the pandemic, the pastor said.

The church has cut spending where it could, turned to grants to try to make up the difference and worked to raise more money from community mem-

bers who don’t attend but support the church’s ministries, such as serving homeless people.

“We’re surviving.…But we have felt the hurt,” Riggs said.

Another struggling congregation, Friendship Baptist Church in Baltimore, is essentially living week to week.

The predominantly Black church received a PPP loan of more than $55,000, but that barely made a dent in expenses.

The Rev. Alvin Gwynn Sr. has given up his pastor’s salary and for now is living off Social Security checks and his other job in construction.

Slumping attendance has hurt the bottom line there, as elsewhere. Friendship Baptist counts around 900 active members but only about 150 of them are showing up, making their donations especially crucial.

The church is “surviving because of the sacrificial giving of the 150,” said Gwynn, who doesn’t intend to start

drawing a paycheck again until the church is stable.

“They give way, way more than a normal offering each Sunday individually,” he said.

During the pandemic, experts said many congregations embraced online giving, which could boost contributions by $300 per person annually, according to The Faith Communities Today report.

More broadly, various other surveys and reports show a mixed picture on congregational giving nationwide.

Gifts to religious organizations grew by 1 percent to just over $131 billion in 2020, a year when Americans also donated a record $471 billion overall to charity, according to an annual report

by GivingUSA. Separately, a September survey of 1,000 protestant pastors by the evangelical firm Lifeway Research found about half of congregations received roughly what they budgeted for last year, with 27 percent getting less than anticipated and 22 percent getting more.

Hope Presbyterian Church in Austin, Texas, a largely upper-middle-class congregation of about 400, is among those that have enjoyed relative stability despite the pandemic.

The Rev. Josh Robinson had expected contributions to drop off when in-person services paused for more than a year, but they remained steady.

So have member pledges for upcoming gifts in 2022.

Some in the congregation even donated their government stimulus checks to the church, which used them to set up a fund to provide direct financial assistance to those who lost income due to the pandemic.

It all prompted the pastor to reexamine his own approach to the pandemic.

“I needed to step back and think, what did it mean for me as a spiritual leader to not have the same faith mindset, since I was anticipating a downturn?” Robinson said. “Here were the members of the church stepping up—I had to lean into that. And rightfully, I was able to do so with great joy.”

Even before, the church had embraced frugality in order to pay down its debt, which has fallen from $2 million in 2013 to less than $300,000 today.

When services went virtual, savings on utilities and other costs helped keep the budget balanced.

PPP loans of some $290,000 were also key to maintaining employees on the payroll and offsetting lost revenue from renting out space and other services.

At West Harpeth Primitive Baptist Church, another church in Franklin, giving is down but only slightly.

Hewitt Sawyers, the pastor, attributes that to the scant turnover among the more than 150-year-old historically Black congregation’s members, many of whom are committed to financially supporting the church and work in sectors that were less damaged by the pandemic than others.

“We’ve just been wonderfully, wonderfully blessed,” Sawyers said.

Budget projections for this year are rosy enough that West Harpeth leaders are hopeful they can tackle a needed building renovation.

“We are extremely optimistic about it,” Sawyers said. “We’re planning on trying to do that in ’22, and we feel very, very, very comfortable about trying to get that done.” AP

Manila archdiocese appoints new spokesman

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ardinal Jose Advincula of Manila has made three new appointments to his curia, including a new spokesman of the archdiocese.

In a circular issued on January 20 and made public on January 24, the cardinal named Fr. Reginald Malicdem as archdiocesan spokesman.

Malicdem, 43, has been the rector

Cardinal Jose Advincula and Fr. Reginald Malicdem at the Manila Cathedral on December 31, 2021. PHOTO BY PATRICK DOMINICK ROMERO

Omicron takes a toll on pagan community’s vital conferences

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agans are a decentralized community, comprising largely independent, small temples, covens and kindreds, with many people operating as solitary practitioners, without even a common doctrine to bring them together.

What they do have is conferences.

“In person events are our crossroads, agora, United Nations, Brigadoon, block party, state fair, and more,” said Ivo Dominguez Jr., an elder in the Assembly of the Sacred Wheel, in a statement to Religion News Service (RNS).

“Friendships and alliances are created and deepened. Issues are explored and sacred techniques are shared,” he said.

Dominguez is the founder of the long-running conference Between the Worlds, normally held in Delaware in conjunction with the appearance of certain astrological configurations.

After canceling their April 2020 meeting, Dominguez and his fellow organizers were hoping to gather later in January, but omicron has forced another postponement, to 2023.

As new cases have soared, cancellations and postponements have mounted, robbing pagans of the opportunity to connect with the larger religious and spiritual community of like minds.

Dominguez believes that the community can get by without meeting for a few years, but ultimately, he said, “I think we will suffer if we continue to be physically separated.”

In 2015, Dominguez’s Between the Worlds conference shared its

weekend w ith another mid-Atlantic pagan conference, Sacred Space, hosted by the Sacred Space Foundation.

Rather than compete, the two merged. But the 2020 lockdowns thwarted their plans and omicron dealt it a second blow in November 2021. After the final program was prepared for printing, omicron arrived.

“As we learned how contagious it is and as we watched local hospitals exceed capacity,” said Gwendolyn Reece, president of the Sacred Space Foundation, “the calculations completely changed.” The joint event is now planned for April 2023.

Other major events have had to adapt as well. The Conference on Current Pagan Studies, an annual academic-focused conference held in Claremont, California, moved its January 2022 event completely online.

The Gathering Paths, a new conference hosted by the organization Between the Veils, has postponed its San Jose, California, event twice. It is now scheduled for August 2022, with a virtual event planned for the original February weekend.

A cancellation is particularly hard on small nonprofits, such as the Sacred Space Foundation and the Assembly of the Sacred Wheel, which rely on ticket sales and donations to survive.

Most of their help comes from volunteers.

“Each time there were several hundreds of hours of work that were for naught,” Dominguez said.

Religion News Service via AP

of the Manila Cathedral for the past six years and previously served as chancellor of the archdiocese.

Prior to his current post, he was private secretary of two Manila archbishops— Card ina l Luis A ntonio Tagle and his predecessor, Cardinal Gaudencio Rosales.

The archdiocese also announced

the appointment of Fr. Jerome Secillano as minister of its Ministry on Public Affairs and Fr. Enrico Martin Adoviso as minister of the Ministry on Socio-Political Advocacy.

Secillano, the parish priest of Nuestra Señora de Perpetuo Socorro Parish in Sampaloc district, will replace Fr. Atilano Fajardo, who served the post

for several years.

He is also the current executive secretary of the Committee on Public Affairs of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines.

Succeeding Msgr. Hernando Coronel, Adoviso will head the body that oversees the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting. CBCP News

Pope: Global synodal path ‘a great opportunity to listen to one another’

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ATICAN—Pope Francis said a few days ago that the two-year global consultation process leading to the Synod on Synodality is “a great opportunity” for Catholics to listen to one another.

Writing in his World Communications Day message, released on January 24, the pope expressed concern that people were “losing the ability to listen,” both in the Church and wider public life.

“A synodal process has just been launched,” he wrote. “Let us pray that it will be a great opportunity to listen to one another.”

“Communion, in fact, is not the result of strategies and programs, but is built in mutual listening between brothers and sisters.”

Pope Francis formally invited the world’s Catholics last October to take part in a consultation process leading to the XVI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops in 2023.

In his new message, titled “Listening with the ear of the heart,” the pope reflected on biblical passages illustrating the importance of listening.

“Among the five senses, the one favored by God seems to be hearing, perhaps because it is less invasive, more discreet than sight and, therefore, leaves the human being more free,” he wrote.

“Listening corresponds to the humble style of God. It is the action that allows God to reveal himself as the One who, by speaking, creates man and woman in his image, and by listening recognizes them as his partners in dialogue.”

The pope lamented what he described as an absence of listening in public discourse.

Pope Francis during Mass in the Sistine Chapel on January 9. VATICAN MEDIA “The lack of listening, which we experience so often in daily life, is unfortunately also evident in public life, where, instead of listening to each other, we often ‘talk past one another,’” he observed.

“This is a symptom of the fact that, rather than seeking the true and the good, consensus is sought; rather than listening, one pays attention to the audience. Good communication, instead, does not try to impress the public with a soundbite, with the aim of ridiculing the other person, but pays attention to the reasons of the other person and tries to grasp the complexity of reality.”

“It is sad when, even in the Church, ideological alignments are formed and listening disappears, leaving sterile opposition in its wake.”

The pope signed the message on January 24, the Memorial of St. Francis de Sales, patron of writers and journalists.

He urged members of the media

to develop their listening capacities.

“Communication does not take place if listening has not taken place, and there is no good journalism without the ability to listen,” he said.

“In order to provide solid, balanced, and complete information, it is necessary to listen for a long time.

To recount an event or describe an experience in news reporting, it is essential to know how to listen, to be ready to change one’s mind, to modify one’s initial assumptions,” the he pointed out The pope suggested that listening to society was more critical than ever due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“So much previously accumulated mistrust toward ‘official information’ has also caused an ‘infodemic,’ within which the world of information is increasingly struggling to be credible and transparent,” he said.

He particularly encouraged journalists to tell the stories of migrants.

“Everyone would then be free to

support the migration policies they deem most appropriate for their own country,” he wrote.

“But in any case, we would have before our eyes, not numbers, not dangerous invaders, but the faces and stories, gazes, expectations and sufferings of real men and women to listen to,” he explained.

Quoting the German Lutheran theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who was executed by the Nazis in 1945, the pope underlined that there was also a great need for listening in the Church.

He said: “It is the most precious and life-giving gift we can offer each other. ‘Christians have forgotten that the ministry of listening has been committed to them by him who is himself the great listener and whose work they should share. We should listen with the ears of God that we may speak the word of God.’” World Communications Day, established by Pope Paul VI in 1967, will be celebrated this year on May 29, the day that some countries will mark the Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord, transferred from the preceding Thursday.

The theme of this year’s commemoration, the 56th, is “Listen!”

Concluding his message, Pope Francis compared the Church to a choir.

“With the awareness that we participate in a communion that precedes and includes us, we can rediscover a symphonic Church, in which each person is able to sing with his or her own voice, welcoming the voices of others as a gift to manifest the harmony of the whole that the Holy Spirit composes,” he said.

Catholic News Agency via CBCP News

Biodiversity Sunday BusinessMirror

Asean Champions of Biodiversity Media Category 2014

Sunday, January 30, 2022

Editor: Lyn Resurreccion

A7

Ericsson, PLDT, Smart partner February 2 is World Wetlands Day for environmental conservation

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By Rizal Raoul Reyes

ricsson, a multinational networking and telecommunications company, recently renewed its partnership with PLDT Inc., one of the Philippines’ telecommunication provider, and its wireless unit, Smart Communications, for nature conservation in the Philippines.

By signing a new memorandum of agreement (MOA), the three companies aim to leverage the use of technology and advanced machine-learning solutions to support environmental sustainability in Sasmuan, Pampanga.

The partnership also includes the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the local government unit (LGU) of Sasmuan.

“Our approach to sustainability and corporate responsibility is an integral part of Ericsson’s strategy and culture that is embedded across all our operations,” said Martin Wiktorin, head of Ericsson Singapore, Brunei and the Philippines in a news statement.

Wiktorin said the company’s vision is to create a world where limitless connectivity improves lives, redefines business and pioneers a sustainable future and this latest partnership embodies this.

“As a long-standing partner to Smart, we are constantly striving to leverage technology to create positive impact on communities, first with the use of IoT [Internet of Thing] to connect mangroves and now with AI [artificial intelligence] to further protect nature as well as the ecological biodiversity in the Philippines,” he added.

Melissa Vergel de Dios, first vice president and head of PLDT’s Sustainability and Investor Relations Offices, said the five-party collaboration will boost the conservation of the Sasmuan Bangkung Malapad Critical Habitat and Ecotourism Area (SBMCHEA) that was recently declared by the DENR as a protected area.

Located in Sasmuan, the project includes a 405-hectare mangrove wetland, which is an important habitat to many endemic, migratory, and

threatened water bird species.

Vergel de Dios pointed out that mangrove swamps are effective natural flood and typhoon barriers and help to preserve marine biodiversity.

In 2021, the mangrove swamps of Sasmuan were also designated as the eighth wetland of international importance in the Philippines under the Ramsar Convention, a treaty for the conservation and sustainable use of wetlands.

Under the MOA, Wiktorin said the Swedish firm will deploy AI-enabled CCTV cameras to identify migratory bird species, and hope to introduce more effective methods of preservation of endangered wildlife in Sasmuan.

Meanwhile, de Dios said PLDT will host the cloud system for the data that will be collected by the AI cameras, while Smart will provide end-to-end Internet mobile connectivity. The relevant data will then be processed via a dashboard made available to the DENR and the LGU of Sasmuan.

“This partnership demonstrates how we can leverage information and communications technology and connectivity in caring for the environment and preserving it for the next generation. Together with Ericsson, we continue to explore innovations to see how we can create more IoT and AI technology-based solutions that could address environmental challenges and help mitigate climate change,” de Dios explained.

The latest partnership is a follow up to the Connected Mangroves project in 2017, where an IoT solution for the reforestation of mangroves was also deployed in Sasmuan.

Data such as water level, humidity, soil moisture and temperature, was also captured by solar-powered sensors via wireless connectivity over a cloud system.

De Dios said the data gathered allowed the community to better manage the area’s conservation. Based on a census in 2020, over 50,000 birds are using SBMCHEA as a migration stopover.

When endangered species recover, humans may need to make room for them

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magine discovering a sea lion in the middle of the woods, more than a mile inland from the beach. Or coming face to face with one of these curious creatures in a local swimming pool or on your front porch.

These encounters are happening in New Zealand with the return of the endangered New Zealand sea lion, the world’s rarest sea lion species.

The females normally move up to a mile (about 1.5 kilometers) inland with their pups during the breeding season to protect them from rougher conditions at the coast—but now there are a lot more humans in the way.

Encounters between wild animals and humans can be dangerous for both sides.

Sea lions have been stabbed, clubbed, shot and accidentally hit by cars. Roads, fences and residential development can block their movement inland.

Some females and pups have adapted to commercial pine forests on private lands that could one day be cleared or developed.

As an ecologist, I study species around the world whose populations are recovering after decades or even centuries of immense human pressures and exploitation.

Nations are now preparing for a landmark UN conference on protecting Earth’s biodiversity that will take place in China from April 25 to May 8; one important question is how humans can strike a new balance with recovering species, such as sea lions, sharks and whales, and make space for these resilient creatures to thrive .

Making way for sea lions

Like many other creatures valued for their meat or fur, New Zealand sea lions were historically hunted to near-extinction.

For the past 150 years, remnant populations could only be found on New Zealand’s undeveloped subantarctic islands, more than 300 miles

from the nation’s mainland. Today, their population is estimated at 12,000.

These animals typically return to and breed at the original location where they were born, but in 1993, a female sea lion gave birth on the mainland for the first time in centuries.

Since then, her offspring have bred for five generations. Other females have followed, and some 20 pups are now born on the mainland each year.

When wild species recolonize areas or shift their ranges in this way, scientists can make predictive models to help determine where the animals could settle in the future and take steps to protect them.

But traditional versions of these models can’t account for when and where the recovering species may interact with humans, because these encounters are new developments and may occur under conditions that differ from the past.

In a study published in November 2021, my team and I addressed this issue by creating an integrated species distribution model database, whic h pa irs a lgor it hmic models with expert knowledge to highlight suitable habitats and f lag areas for concern.

Through it, we found and mapped 395 potential breeding grounds for sea lions all over the New Zealand mainland. We also identified humanrelated challenges for the animals, such as roads and fences that could block their inland movement.

Our research can help wildlife managers and local officials search for sea lions, post sea lion crossing signs on roads, verify or restore breeding sites and determine where to work with landowners and spread awareness.

This kind of tool can help inform similar efforts for other species that are recovering or moving into new habitats and regions in response to climate change. Veronica Frans, Michigan

State University/The Conversation (CC)

Wetlands are not wastelands; they are highly productive ecosystems

By Jonathan L. Mayuga

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h e World Wet l a nd s Day (WWD) is celebrated every February 2 to raise global awareness about the important role of wetlands for people and planet.

It marks the date of the adoption of the Convention on Wetlands on February 2, 1971, in the Iranian city of Ramsar.

This year, the celebration is the first time that WWD will be observed as a United Nations international day after it was adoption by the General Assembly on August 30, 2021, in a resolution co-sponsored by 75 member states.

The WWD theme this year is “Wetlands Action for People and Nature,” to highlight the importance of actions “to ensure the conservation and sustainable use of wetlands for humans and planetary health.”

The Philippines, through the Biodiversity Management Bureau (BMB) of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, (DENR) celebrates WWD in support of its international commitment to protect and conserve wetlands.

Global celebration As part of the global celebration, and in recognition of the value of wetland ecosystems in the Asean region, the Philippine-based Asean Centre for Biodiversity (ACB), in partnership with the Department of Freshwater Wetlands Conservation, General Directorate of Natural Protected Areas of the Ministry of Environment of Cambodia, the Society for the Conservation of Philippine Wetlands, and the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, will be conducting a series of events for the celebration of WWD. “As this year’s Asean chairman, Cambodia is underscoring the importance of enhancing the capacity of the region to respond against climate change and natural disasters,” ACB Executive Director Theresa Mundita S. Lim told the BusinessMirror via Messenger on January 25. “ T hus, the Asean W W D 2022 event will highlight the significance of wetland protection and conservation as a key contributor to Asean’s response against the impacts of climate change, and to pandemic recovery and prevention,” Lim added.

Lim said this year’s theme underlines the importance of wetlands in sustaining people’s health and livelihoods, and its crucial role in addressing biodiversity and the climate crises.

“The events aspire to intensify regional awareness on the conservation, sustainable and wise use, and restoration of wetlands in the region,” she noted.

Vanishing ecosystems According to the UN World Wetlands Day Secretariat, about 90 percent of the world’s wetlands have been degraded since the 1700s and wetlands are lost three times faster than forests.

It noted that while wetlands are critically important ecosystems that contribute to biodiversity, climate mitigation and adaptation, freshwater availability, world economies and more, protection and conservation initiatives remain wanting.

In the Philippines, wetland conservation is one of the mandates of the DENR through its Caves, Wetlands and Other Ecosystems Division (Cawed).

What is a wetland?

Republic Act 11038, or the Expanded National Integrated Protected Area Systems Act (ENipas Act), defines wetlands as a wide variety of inland habitats, such as marshes, peatlands, floodplains, rivers and lakes, and

The Laguna de Bay, one of country’s largest inland freshwater lake, is a productive fishing ground and the biggest aquaculture hub in the Philippines. It is one of the most economically important water bodies in the Philippines. Photo courtesy of Pamalakaya coastal areas, including salt marshes, mangroves, intertidal mudflats and seagrass beds, and also coral reefs and other marine areas no deeper than 6 meters at low tide, as well as humanmade wetlands, such as dams, reservoirs, rice paddies and wastewater treatment ponds and lagoons.

According to the DENR-BMB, wetlands are land areas flooded or saturated with water, either seasonally or permanently such that they take on the characteristics of a distinct ecosystem.

To be considered as a wetland, an area should have the following characteristics, Anson Tagtag, OIC division chief of the DENR-BMB’s Cawed, told the BusinessMirror via email on January 23.

1) It should be covered by water or has waterlogged soil for at least seven days during the growing season; 2) Life forms have adapted to life in the wetlands, e.g. plants develop special adaptation mechanism, such as stilt roots, pneumatophores, etc.; and 3) The soil is hydric, which means that the substrate, since filled with water, will not have enough oxygen for some plants to grow such as big evergreen trees,” Anson Tagtag, OIC Division Chief of the DENR-BMB’s Caves, Wetlands and Other Ecosystems Division (CAWED) told the BusinessMirror via email on January 23.

3 largest inland wetlands in the Philippines The Philippines has three categories of wetlands: inland wetlands, human-made wetlands, and marine and coastal wetlands.

The country boasts of large wetlands—the three largest inland wetlands of the Liguasan Marsh, Agusan Marsh and Laguna Lake.

A conglomeration of Libungan, Ligawasan and Ebpanan Marshes, Liguasan Marsh spreads over the provinces of Maguindanao, North Cotabato and Sultan Kudarat.

T he Ag usan Marsh—home to ”Lolong,” the largest saltwater crocodiles ever to be captured alive—is a well-known wetland complex comprising marshes, lakes, swamps, rivers and peatlands. It is recognized worldwide having been declared as a Ramsar Site and an Asean Heritage Park.

Meanwhile, the Laguna Lake is the largest lake in the country and the third largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia.

Home to endemic wildlife Wetlands are critical for biodiversity, they are home to more than

100,000 known freshwater species alone, and continuously growing as new species are discovered.

The Liguasan and Agusan marshes serve as habitat of various native and endemic flora and fauna, and are known to support endemic bird species.

“They also support various migratory waterbirds, providing habitat for staging, wintering, roosting and feeding birds,” the DENR-BMB added.

These two large marshes are known habitats of the critically endangered Philippine crocodiles and the Philippine duck. Both species are considered vulnerable species.

Importance of wetlands Tagtag explained that wetlands are “highly productive ecosystems, providing many important benefits or goods and services.”

They provide many ecosystem services—such as 1) provisioning services (e.g. fish and other food, raw materials, water supply, hydropower); 2) regulating services (e.g. carbon sequestration, water purification, flood mitigation); 3) cultural services (e.g. sacred natural sites and other faith sites, recreation, tourism and ecotourism); and 4) supporting services (e.g. primary production, nutrient cycling, global water cycle).”

Some wetlands like the Laguna Lake are known for its many economic uses and benefits. These include fishing, transportation, agriculture, recreation, industrial cooling, hydropower generation and water supply.

Wetlands create sustainable products and livelihoods. Globally, 61.8 million people earn their living directly from fishing and aquaculture. Including their families, more than 660 million people depend on these sectors.

Nature’s shock absorber In an earlier telephone interview, Tagtag spoke of wetland ’s importance as an important natural defense system against calamities like strong typhoons.

He said wetlands, however, are only able to perform its function as a “shock absorber” when they are in their natural state, undisturbed by human activities.

“The best way to use nature is by not using them at all,” he pointed out.

He added that while wetlands can help protect communities from disaster in times of natural calamities, they, too have their limits.

Peatlands and wet grasslands in river basins act as natural sponges, absorbing rainfall, creating wide surface pools and

reducing floods in streams and rivers, Tagtag pointed out.

This storage capacity also helps safeguard against drought. Coastal wetlands, such as coral reefs, mangroves, tidal flats, deltas and estuaries, can limit the damaging effects of storm surges and tidal waves by acting as a physical barrier that reduces the water’s height and speed.

Threatened ecosystems Tagtag said historically, throughout the world, wetlands have often been mistakenly regarded as wastelands because they are wet, soggy, muddy areas that bred mosquitoes, flies, diseases and had unpleasant odor.

“Because wetlands were not productive for our traditional needs, such as shelter or agricultural production, [they] were thought of as places to avoid, and in many cases eliminated.

As a result, large areas of wetlands were drained and converted for other land uses, such as housing developments and farmland,” he said.

Threats to wetlands include habitat destruction, overexploitation and unsustainable utilization, proliferation of invasive alien species, pollution, poaching and illegal trade, incompatible tourism activities, overlapping and conflicting policies, drought and climate change, among many others.

Saving wetlands The DENR currently implements the Philippine Inland Wetland Conservation Program (PIWCP) and the Coastal and Marine Ecosystems Management Program (CMEMP)for the wise-use and sustainable management of Philippine wetlands.

The PIWCP covers wetlands’ inventory and database management, profiling and assessment, management planning, and management plan implementation, as well as the monitoring of the program implementation.

At the same time, the CMEMP covers the establishment and strengthening of the Marine Protected Area (MPA) Network through: assessment, mapping and site selection, management plan development, and maintenance and protection.

A major strategy being pursued by the DENR-BMB is the continuous production of CEPA materials regarding the importance and conservation of wetlands to promote public awareness, instil social and environmental consciousness and effect behavior change toward wetlands ecosystems, Tagtag said.

Sports BusinessMirror

Watch out for Endrick, 15

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ADRID—Playing in the final of an under-21 tournament for Brazilian club Palmeiras, 15-year-old Endrick collected the ball behind the midfield line and started to make a run toward goal.

He sped past a couple of defenders with ease. A third brought him down a few meters later, but Endrick quickly got up after a roll on the ground and continued with the ball.

A fourth defender had to come in to help, finally stopping him with a hard foul.

Endrick laid on the ground for a few moments with his arms outstretched as the crowd continued to cheer from the stands.

Endrick Felipe Moreira de Sousa is the latest Brazilian teen sensation, the next promising star attracting attention from European soccer.

The talented forward had already scored a goal in Tuesday’s 4-0 victory over Santos in the final of the Copa São Paulo, Brazil’s most traditional youth competition, and won the awards for best player and best goal—a beautiful bicycle kick from outside the area in the quarterfinals.

This week, Endrick was the main story on the front page of Spanish sports daily Marca, receiving more prominence than tennis great Rafael Nadal after one of his victories in the Australian Open. The newspaper said Real Madrid

was the front-runner to try to sign him, though there were also talks about Barcelona and other top clubs wanting to join the race as well.

Endrick—who impresses with his strong runs, smart finishes and nifty ability to get around opponents—doesn’t even have a professional contract yet. He’ll only be able to sign one in Brazil when he turns 16 in July. A move to Europe will only be allowed by Fifa when he turns 18.

His path could be similar to the ones taken by other recent Brazilian promising stars such as Vinícius Júnior and Rodrygo, who secured early deals with Madrid as teenagers and then made the trip across the Atlantic after turning 18. The Spanish powerhouse paid nearly €45 million ($w50.3 million) for each player.

Endrick, who moved to São Paulo with his family just to try his luck with Palmeiras, has the same people representing him as Vinícius.

His quick rise prompted calls by some Palmeiras fans to have him included in the squad that will play in the Club World Cup in February, but Coach Abel Ferreira said it’s too early have him in the main team. He said “a trip to Disneyland” would be more appropriate for Endrick and his family at the moment.

“There is no rush. He’s only 15,” said Ferreira, the Portuguese coach who led Palmeiras to two straight Copa Libertadores titles since arriving in 2020. “With time I’m sure he’ll make it to the main team.”

Endrick said he agreed with the coach and doesn’t want to skip too many steps.

“I want to focus on playing in the youth squads for now,” he said.

“Hopefully I’ll move up and I’ll have a whole new career ahead of me.”

European clubs are hopeful as well. AP ENDRICK becomes Brazil’s latest soccer sensation.

Conmebol: ‘No chance’ of biennial World Cups

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UENOS AIRES, Argentina— The president of South America’s soccer confederation has reiterated that teams from the region would boycott Fifa’s plans for a biennial World Cup and said there is “no chance” that such a proposal will go through.

Alejandro Dominguez, the president of Conmebol, told The Associated Press on Thursday that it’s a “waste of time” for Fifa President Gianni Infantino to continue pushing his desire to stage a World Cup every two years.

“Conmebol will not play every two years and that is final.... It is a ‘no go,’ there’s no chance,” Domínguez said in an interview.

“This [plan] was dead at birth, we have made it clear from day one.”

Infantino has insisted that staging the World Cup every two years instead of every four years will allow more countries to qualify and create more interest and revenue. But Dominguez said South American and European teams, which have won every edition of the tournament since 1930, will not take part under that format.

“Without European and South American teams I have doubts that one can achieve these revenues they talk about,” Dominguez said.

UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin has also publicly opposed Fifa’s plan, and their joint disapproval of the proposal seems to have brought the European and South American governing bodies closer together.

Ceferin visited Conmebol’s headquarters two weeks ago for a celebration for Dominguez’ sixth anniversary at the helm. But Dominguez insisted that they don’t have a personal beef with Infantino.

“This is not action against Infantino,” he said. “It is just impossible to think that we can have a World Cup every two years.”

“It would kill Copa America, and Copa America is a very important source of income for our associations. That would not be equivalent to a World Cup every two years,” he added.

Dominguez also said the controversial proposal for biennial World Cups will not affect Infantino’s chances to remain as Fifa president in the next elections.

“Today I don’t see any rival that is emerging or reemerging, someone that proposes something different to Infantino’s leadership,” the Conmebol president said.

The partnership between Conmebol and UEFA will include friendlies between South American and European teams before the World Cup in Qatar, Dominguez said.

Brazil and Argentina, who have already qualified for the tournament in Qatar, have long complained about the difficulty in scheduling matches against European rivals.

“Speaking about a Nations League between South America and Europe is very important. The Europeans also know they have to play against South Americans.

Home and away,” the Conmebol president said.

Copa America winners Argentina and European champions Italy will face off in June. There’s also a proposal for continental runners-up Brazil and England to clash before Qatar. AP CONMEBOL President Alejandro Dominguez says “a World Cup every two years is a waste of time.” AP

A8 | S

unday, January 30, 2022 mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph Editor: Jun Lomibao

SCHOOLCHILDREN warm up before taking ski lessons at the Vanke Shijinglong Ski Resort in Yanqing on Thursday. AP

WINTER SPORTS BOOM IN CHINA

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EIJING—Holding his skis beside a bunny slope, Li Wei enthuses over his winter job as a farmerturned-ski coach on the northwestern outskirts of Beijing.

The tall, tanned 36-year-old works December to March at a resort in the Yanqing district, which will host skiing, luge and other sliding events at the Winter Olympics, which open next week.

The ruling Communist Party is using the Games to promote winter sports, many of which are new to most Chinese, for fitness and business opportunities.

Skiing “boosted my income to another level,” said Li, who charges 400 to 500 yuan ($60 to $80) per lesson— almost as much as his family earns in a week growing corn during warmer months. He also finds skiing relaxing.

“After a few slides down the intermediate slope, all my troubles are gone,” he said.

Many in Beijing have long enjoyed winter ice skating on canals and lakes.

But now, young Chinese are expanding their aspirations from basketball, football and gymnastics to sports such as hockey and skiing.

The government and private companies have built ice rinks and ski runs. Public schools are adding skating and other winter sports.

Parents are opening

their wallets to pay for hockey teams and skating lessons. Villages near ski slopes are building inns to serve wellheeled tourists.

“I want to be an ice hockey player in the future,” said 8-year-old Guo Yuchen, who took up the sport at 4 and trains seven hours a week at a rink in Beijing. “Then I can bring glory to my country.”

Wu Mengkai, 11, said hockey made him more extroverted and a “very sunny person.”

“You can’t be introverted when you play ice hockey,” Wu said. “You have to be brave enough to fight.”

The buildup to the Winter Olympics set these trends in motion, said Mark Dreyer, author of the book “Sporting Superpower: An Insider’s View on China’s Quest to Be the Best.”

“We’ve also seen a more organic push from China’s middle class, recognizing the value of sports not just for their children, but for themselves,” Dreyer said.

The Winter Games will take place without foreign tourists or ordinary spectators under China’s “zero tolerance” strategy that aims to keep the virus out of the country. Athletes, reporters and officials are required to stay within areas that isolate them from general public.

Some 106 of the 3,695 people who arrived from abroad for the Games so far tested positive for the coronavirus.

THE Netherlands’ Ranomi Kromowidjojo celebrates her victory in the women’s 50-meter freestyle final at the European Aquatics Championships in Duna Arena in Budapest in May last year. AP

Two are athletes or team officials.

The Chinese capital has tightened anti-virus measures and ordered mass testing of some 2 million people in one district following outbreaks. Some families are barred from leaving their homes.

Foreign sports brands see growth opportunities in China but are frustrated that marketing and business development are hampered by the anti-virus controls and ban on most foreigners from entering China.

“That’s kind of put a damper on things,” said Jeffrey Potter, president of Proskatecorner Pte. Ltd., the China distributor of American hockey equipment maker True.

If not for the virus, the marketing boost from the Olympics would have been bigger, really helping the economy and making hockey more popular, Potter said in a video conference interview from Toronto.

At the Vanke Shijinglong Ski Resort, where Li teaches, visitor Long Xuelian said she fell in love with skiing on her first try despite taking many spills.

“More and more friends of mine know how to ski,” said Long, who was taking a break from skiing and chatting with her friend.

The resort’s visitor numbers have risen by 15 percent to 20 percent a year since Beijing and neighboring Zhangjiakou were awarded the Winter

Games in 2015, according to its marketing manager, Liu Yingkai. Liu said numbers were up 40 percent last year, even with the pandemic.

Zhang Xiaodong grew up in Zhangjiakou but never learned to ski, so he’s taking up the sport as an adult. “I have to learn how to ski so when I bring my kid here next time, I’ll know how to teach my kid,” the IT engineer said.

At least 8,000 people in Beijing are on hockey teams, the Communist Party newspaper People’s Daily quoted Xing He, the deputy secretary general of the Beijing Ice Hockey Association, as saying.

“Matches are held more frequently, and school teams come here for training,” said Wang Yuming, general manager of the Star Hong-ao Ice Sports rink in western Beijing.

Nationwide, more than 450 ice rinks and 300 snow resorts have been built since 2015, though some have closed at times during the pandemic, said Li Sen, director of the Beijing Olympic organizing committee’s General Planning Department.

Skiing and other sports have given an economic boost to villages near resorts.

“For tourists to eat, there must be restaurants around,” said Jiang Xinwei of Analysys International, a research firm in Beijing.

Houheilong Miao, a village in Yanqing, has a view of the Olympics skiing venue in the distance. Its 20 mostly vacant traditional courtyard houses have been turned into lodgings and a cafe dubbed the “Winter Olympic Home.”

Wang Haifang, a mother of two, is among local residents hired to work as baristas, butlers and cleaners. She welcomed seeing the once-rundown village cleaned up like modern urban areas of Beijing.

“In the past year, everything got into shape,” she said. AP

Three-time Olympic champion swimmer Kromowidjojo retires

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HE HAGUE, Netherlands— Three-time Olympic champion swimmer Ranomi Kromowidjojo of the Netherlands announced her retirement Thursday, bringing to an end a career that saw her compete at four Summer Games and win multiple world titles.

“After 16 years of top sport my professional swimming career is complete,” the 31-year-old Kromowidjojo said in a message on Instagram.

Kromowidjojo won her first Olympic gold medal in an Olympic record at the 2008 Beijing Games as part of a dominant Dutch 100-meter freestyle relay team that also included Inge Dekker, Femke Heemskerk and Marleen Veldhuis.

Four years later in London, she won both the 50- and 100-meter individual freestyle titles.

Kromowidjojo also won two long course world titles with the Dutch 100-meter freestyle relay team and an individual 50-meter freestyle world title, as well as 14 individual and relay short course world titles.

“Swimming will always be my passion, but no longer at a professional level,” she said.

Swimming Australia, meanwhile, released the findings of a report

into alleged misogyny in the sport, saying the “open and frank” feedback from female participants was “difficult to read.”

The report was commissioned last June after Olympic silver medalist Maddie Groves alleged there was a misogynistic culture in swimming and then withdrew from the national trials for the Tokyo Olympics. At the time, Groves said she wanted to deliver a “lesson to all misogynistic perverts in sport and their bootlickers.”

An independent panel established to investigate the treatment of women and girls in swimming gathered information from more than 150 participants, including current and former athletes, coaches, parents and administrators.

Among 46 recommendations, the report calls for the establishment of a group to promote gender equality within swimming “to address areas such as leadership opportunities for women as coaches, officials, administrators and executives.”

It recommends quotas to ensure the representation of women at the advanced and performance coaching level and calls on Swimming Australia to “never again select an all-male team” to manage national and international competitions. AP

BusinessMirror

January 30, 2022

How to remain youthful and resilient despite stress

2

BusinessMirror JANUARY 30, 2022 | soundstrip.businessmirror@gmail.com

YOUR MUSI

CONSTANT LEARNING Alexa Ilacad on channeling heartbreak into music

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By Stephanie Joy Ching

ALENT runs in Alexa Ilacad’s family.

As a scion of the famous Ilacad family known for their involvement in shaping numerous musical artists and also later producing films that did very well in the box office, it comes as no surprise that Alexa has become a sought after singer and actress.

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: Bernard P. Testa Nonie Reyes

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Recently, she became one of the celebrity housemates in the latest season of Pinoy Big Brother: Kumunity Season 10.

Last year, Alexa’s original song, “Love At First Sight”, was nominated for Awit Award’s Best Pop Recording. Prior to even entering the PBB House in 2021, Alexa released “Stay Right Here” and is set to drop new music this 2022.

Alexa’s music are usually characterized by her catchy pop tunes and high pitch vocals.

Already a promising actress, Alexa is also a talented singer who can give life to every song she performs, especially the ones she wrote herself.

As such, it is no wonder Alexa decided to expand her vocal storytelling skills with her latest single, “Paano.” A pop ballad about heartbreak, Alexa states that the song was written in 2016 during a car ride one rainy day.

“For ‘Paano’ specifically, I wrote this in 2016 fresh from heartbreak. And I really wasn’t into writing songs back then, but I didn’t know how I could channel my emotions. I had so many questions in my head,” One car ride later, Alexa had all the lyrics planned out. Sensing she had something special in her hands, she sought the help of her best friend, Eunice Jorge of Gracenote, who also helped produce Alexa’s first album.

“I knew what I felt, and all the questions I had in my head, the lines I wanted to write down. I really wanted a song out of this pain I’m feeling,” she explained.

So they got to work,

experimenting with different styles until the originally acoustic sound of “Paano” turned into an electropop tidal wave that complemented Alexa’s harrowing, desperate vocals.

“The first draft was just an acoustic version, and we really wanted something similar to ‘Love at First Sight’ and ‘Stay Right Here’ which is really more pop. So Eunice adjusted it to give it a really unique sound,” Throughout this process, Alexa also shared that she learned how to simply let things go, especially her work.

“I get really greedy,” she admitted, stating that she treats every song she writes

ALEXA Ilacad

as her own child. “But Eunice really taught me that’s why you have a producer—you have to collaborate and you have to be open to criticism and comments,” Additionally, this project also inspired Alexa to be excited about the current direction of her career, hopefully making a mark in the international scene in the near future.

“I believe I’m only as good as my last work and I’m really passionate about what I do and I’ve done my best to secure my spot in the industry,” she said.

Alexa Ilacad’s “Paano” and her other songs are now streaming in Spotify and other major digital platforms.

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soundstrip.businessmirror@gmail.com | JANUARY 30, 2022

BUSINESS

SoundSampler

by Tony M. Maghirang

NOTHING BUT OPM From bedroom pop to P-Pop

BLOOM. – “fallinloveagain” KYLE Pulido, or bloom., hails from Davao City. His debut single “fallinloveagain” has an Indie pop feel that takes inspiration from widely known bedroom pop artists such as Clairo, Boy Pablo, and Phum Viphurit, to name a few. “bloom.” started as an idea a solo passion project, aside from his band 3AM, where no limitations are set to any creative pursuits. In practice, bloom. doesn’t want to be tied down to any one sound or one genre and has decided to use a single vocal effects chain on all of his songs.

MARIS Racal and raven

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ARIS RACAL and raven – “Pumila Ka” Maris Racal is back with another track that fits cohesively in the country’s ever-diversifying P-Pop music landscape. Featuring up-and-coming singer-songwriter and rapper raven, Maris Racal’s latest single “Pumila Ka” asserts her knack for shaking up outdated conventions in mainstream music.

On her latest release, Maris claps back with an empowering tune that emphasizes how people need to be more aware and considerate of those around them. “I wanted to write a really relatable song and I was thinking of everyday expressions that I could build a song around,” Maris explains. “The inspiration for this song is the Filipino expression ‘Pumila Ka’ usually endearingly delivered among friends when competing for a crush.”

THE ADAMANT - Strangers START the New Year with a bang. With their new single “Stranger,” The Adamant talks about severing ties and holding your head up high as you say goodbye to a person who was once an important part of your life.

On the flipside, the single reminds us that what’s most important is

ourselves, so if someone is toxic, it’s time to walk away. Featuring a heavy bass line and an in-yourface beat, “Strangers” is driven by the groove right from the get-go all the way to its head-banging outro.

JARLO BÂSES - “Kalapati” FILIPINO singer-songwriter Jarlo Bâse is ready to carve his own lane in the music industry with the release of his first official single for a major label. Recorded at Sonic State Audio, “Kalapati” doesn’t sound like a total diversion from his previous releases, but it has a more pristine quality to it. The laid-back tune finds the promising newcomer embracing a lighthearted but soulful direction while remaining adept in making accessible R&B/ pop music that yields ecstatic returns. Lyrically, the song deals about “loving someone for reasons that actually matter,” and as Jarlo Bâse puts it, “accepting them for who they are now, not for who they were, and definitely not for who we want them to be someday.”

LOLA AMOUR (feat. Leanne and Naara) – “Click” THE song depicts the irony of TV shows being an escape from the same problems one has in her own life.

The thing is, when there is usually something about the actor or actress or something that happened to him/her that causes you to relate to that character. You feel for the character and you want to root for that character because you see yourself in them such that sometimes you neglect the same problems you have in your own life. In the end, it’s your favorite TV show character that fixes his/her problems and not you.

BAJULA – “Bad Man” TWO months after the release of their debut single on various streaming platforms, Alvin “Vertigo” Guanlao and Jolo “Frazier” Juatco of the electronic soul duo Bajula return with a follow-up track that blends bedroom R&B/ pop confessionals with homemade instrumentation. According to Frazier, he wrote “Bad Man” to capture and represent at least one of the stages of a typical relationship, which is ‘flirting’ and getting to know the person on a surface level. He explains, “In terms of describing the actual song, Bad Man is about the internal battles of a reluctant pursuer towards a girl he likes. The theme is kind of flirty but chill in terms of the instrumentation and arrangement.”

PERKINS - New Love WELCOME the New Year with good vibes. The Perkins, previously known as Perkins Twins, release their first ever original composition and production with their latest pop song “New Love,” which tells the story of a love that is different and well, new. While one may have been ‘burned’ or traumatized by past love, the Twins, with their soft vocal deliveries, encourage the listeners that there is a kind of love that is not ‘like the movies’ and they are ready to give it to the listener through their song. The catchy melodies accompanied by a bopping beat will make you fall in love again.

YOUNG COCOA – “Manila” FILIPINO hip-hop artist Young Cocoa has been propelled back into the spotlight. His debut single “Manila” has received resurgence in popularity after K-Pop music act Enhypen included it in Ami Paris XVI – Curated by Enhypen Spotify playlist.

With his new single’s unexpected success, the young rapper/singer-songwriter said, “The fact that renowned figures in the Korean music scene openly recommend my music makes it even crazier to digest. All I can really say is it’s changed how I appreciate my own music and gives me so many reasons to be grateful.”

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How to remain youthful and resilient despite stress

By Jolanta Burke & Padraic J. Dunne RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences

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bit of stress can be good for your mental and physical well-being, but too much can lead to anxiety, depression and other health problems.

It can also make you age faster. So learning to become more stressresilient is important if you’re not in a hurry to grow old fast.

Studies have shown that people who aren’t good at managing their stress can increase their risk of dying prematurely by 43 percent. The increase in deaths might in part be due to the effect stress has on DNA. Your cells are constantly making copies of themselves, and when a cell divides, the two strands unravel and an identical copy is made of each—well, most of the time.

Sometimes mistakes happen during the replication process, especially at the end of DNA strands. These mistakes can cause mutations in the copied DNA, leading to the cell becoming cancerous.

Luckily, cells have protective caps called telomeres at the ends of the DNA strand that are designed to ensure these

“There is no need to protect yourself from all stress, only the distress that lasts for a long time. The kind that is relentless and prevents you from living your life to the fullest.” Photo by Shaurya Sagar on Unsplash mistakes don’t happen. Meanwhile, some cells in the body, especially the immune cells that fight infection, possess molecules called telomerase.

Telomerase can add the beads back (telomeric repeats) in immune cells (and some others, such as cancerous cells), meaning that aging can be reversed in these cells.

Telomerase can add the beads back, meaning that aging can be reversed in the cells in question.

This makes sense as immune cells have to replicate many times to fight viruses and bacteria. Without telomerase, they would reach their Hayflick limit and disappear, leaving organisms with no protection. Unfortunately, however, even telomerase stops working properly when people reach their 80s and lose their immune cells to aging.

Smoking, excess alcohol consumption, being overweight and stress are all associated with telomere loss. Telomerase does not work as efficiently when a person suf-

fers from excessive stress, and this causes premature aging.

Adopting a healthy lifestyle, such as eating a plant-based diet, can stop and even reverse the process. And physical activity, especially intense exercise, can also increase telomerase activity. Thus, leading a healthy life can decrease the speed of aging as can managing your stress.

‘Eustress’ vs ‘distress’ As we mentioned earlier, not all stress is bad. In psychology, we differentiate between “eustress” (positive stress), which is necessary for us to succeed at work, in sport and relationships, and “distress” (negative stress), when pressure becomes too much for us to manage. Distress is what most of us mean when we say or feel that we are stressed; it is also what might speed up aging in your cells.

There is no need to protect yourself from all stress, only the distress that lasts for a long time. The kind that is relentless and pre-

vents you from living your life to the fullest.

Embracing stressful events and using coping strategies such as seeking help from friends or becoming resourceful when dealing with challenges, can create stress resilience, which in turn is associated with longer telomeres. Also, reappraising an anxiety-provoking event, such as taking on a public speaking engagement, by perceiving it as exciting can help you to manage stress. These techniques can stop eustress from becoming distress and enhance stress resilience.

Resilience is the ability to bounce back after adversity and become resistant to daily stressors. Besides problem-solving, social support and effective use of coping strategies, mindfulness can also help you become more resistant to daily stressors.

Other techniques include doing things that enhance your positive emotions, such as reading a book, listening to music, or playing a computer game. Experiencing positive emotions broadens your mind, allowing you to perceive and draw from your psychological, intellectual and social resources, especially when experiencing adversity.

We can’t yet be sure that these psychological strategies affect telomeres and, by extension, the aging process. However, telomere length and telomerase activity in your cells do seem to be negatively affected by stress and positively affected by stress management.

If you have lifestyle changes you can make to help you develop stress resilience, you might want to adopt them.

They might just add some precious years onto your life. The Conversation

Doomscrolling takes an emotional toll

Here’s how to make your social-media timelines a happier place

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icture this: it’s April 2020, you’re between Zoom meetings, and scrolling through your social-media newsfeed. Headlines like “Death toll continues to rise,” “COVID-19 may cause long-term health implications” and “Health-care systems overwhelmed” flash across your screen. Your mood takes a dive, but you can’t stop scrolling.

Research on the effects of bad news on mood more generally suggest exposure to negative Covid news is likely to be detrimental to our emotional well-being. Early evidence on the effects of Covid news consumption on mental distress reflected this.

For instance, one study conducted in March 2020 involving more than 6,000 Americans found that the more time participants spent consuming Covid news in a day, the unhappier they felt.

Meanwhile, our study suggests that spending as little as two to four minutes consuming negative news about Covid-19 can have a detrimental impact on our mood.

Although we didn’t see an improvement in mood among participants who were shown positive news stories involving acts of kindness, this may be because the stories were still related to Covid. In other research, positive news stories have been associated with improvements in mood.

Making your social media a more positive place What can we do to look after ourselves, and make our time on social media more pleasurable? One option is to delete our social-media accounts altogether. Figures show almost half of Facebook users in the UK and the US considered leaving the platform in 2020.

4 BusinessMirror

But how realistic is it to distance ourselves from platforms that connect nearly half of the world’s population, particularly when these platforms offer social interactions at a time when face-to-face interactions can be risky, or impossible?

Given that avoidance might not be practical, here are some other ways to make your experience on social media more positive.

Be mindful of what you consume on social media. If you log on to connect with other people, focus on the personal news and photos shared instead of the latest headlines.

Seek out content that makes you happy to balance out your newsfeed. This may be images of cute kittens, beautiful landscapes, drool-worthy food videos or something else.

You could even follow a social-media account dedicated to sharing only happy and positive news.

January 30, 2022

Use social media to promote positivity and kindness. Sharing good things that are happening in your life can improve your mood, and your positive mood can spread to others. You may also like to compliment others on social media. While this might sound awkward, people will appreciate it more than you think.

Importantly, we’re not suggesting that you avoid all news and negative content. We need to know what’s happening in the world.

However, we should also be mindful of our mental health.

As the pandemic continues to alter our lives and newsfeeds, our findings highlight the importance of being aware of the emotional toll negative news takes on us. But there are steps we can take to mitigate this toll and make our social media a happier place. The Conversation

sunday, January 30, 2022

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Chibi Sto. Niño: reinvigorating faith with youthful vibes page 9

Sigfreid Barros-Sanchez: A Storyteller and a Gentle Giant Cover story

The Creators behind the Dream Walker comics

Dream Walker’s Kat has the power to transport herself into dreams on a mission.

BusinessMirror

Sunday, January 30, 2022 3

The Creators behind the Dream Walker comics

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He also shared an interesting thought to ponder. For him, every civilization is historically drawn to fantasy and mythology.

The latter, he said, is one of the foundations of human intellectual constructs such as religion and culture.

Flores’ views on constructs and religion might be practical but he also drives a point about dreams.

“All of us walk through our dreams... even non-Filipinos. The main character is universal...relatable. Sometimes, we even fly in dreams. Who doesn’t want to relate to that?” he posed.

By Katherine A. LLemit Images courtesy of Mike Sutton & Noel Flores

t all started with a familiar face. Miles away from his home, Noel Layon Flores was taking up his post graduate studies in scenic New Zealand, a paradisiacal place akin to the wonderful world of the fictional Encantadia he helped build, when he took notice of Mikey Sutton’s social media post about an all-too-familiar face—Kate Valdez.

Sutton was posting about the striking chinita morena beauty who rose to fame by playing Mira in the 2016 sequel of Encantadia.

Flores, who worked on the show as lead visual designer, reached out to the Filipino-American on social media and made it possible for him to meet the actress remotely.

Sutton was recovering from a near-fatal stroke in 2018 when he first saw Valdez. His mother used to watch the actress’ family drama Onanay aired in the same year.

“When I saw Kate for the first time, I was like, ‘That’s her!’”

Sutton recalled.

He has found his muse for his very first comic book, Dream Walker, a tale about a blogger named Kat who enters a person’s dream, retrieves objects from it, and uses them to fight the monsters.

From shojo to supernatural adventure

Sutton was impressed with Valdez’s acting. He particularly likes how the actress acts with her eyes.

Sutton believes that Valdez has the most effective facial reactions. Her beauty, he added, is timeless.

With a face in mind, he began to write his dream comic book. Initially, he wanted to write a comic that is similar to a shojo manga or Japanese comics written for female readers that often highlight romantic relations. He is a fan of Japanese mangaka (comic writer) Rumiko Takahashi, who is known for writing shojo mangas.

Some of Takahashi’s works were adapted into anime and were aired in the country such as

Ranma 1/2 and Inuyasha.

Much as he would want to keep writing his first comics, Sutton was stuck for months writing his first draft. It took for his muse’s suggestion that his dream comics immediately took shape. Valdez recommended him to watch Netflix’s The Chillin’ Adventures of Sabrina, an adaptation of the hit 90s fantasy teen show about the titular witch, Sabrina.

It only took him sitting through the first episode of the Netflix show and he was able to finish his comic book’s script in a week.

It also helped that he was inspired by Takahashi’s Mermaid Saga, which he found disturbing, in writing Dream Walker. The saga tells about an ancient legend about immortality being achieved by eating a mermaid’s flesh.

Apart from his love of horror, Sutton said Dream Walker is “steeped” in gothic rock and New Wave inspirations, citing the music of Joy Division, The Cure, and Echo & The Bunnymen. It is a tribute to his radio roots back in the 1980s in Manila when he was introduced to New Wave via WXB 102.

Growing up with the tale of the aswangs

The comic book fan is no stranger to horror. His introduction to the aswangs and manananggals (Filipino supernatural vampiric creatures) is similar to most Filipinos. He was told of their lore by his own mother telling him about the aswang climbing on the roof and stealing babies with their

Coming soon

Follow Kat’s adventures in the realm of reality and dreams as told in Dream Walker. long tongues.

His love for horror led him to a theater in his birthplace Angeles City in Pampanga in 1984. He watched the very first installment of the popular Regal Films horror franchise Shake, Rattle, and Roll.

The three-part movie featured the episodes “Baso” starring Rey “PJ” Abellana, Arlene Muhlach, and Joel Torre; “Pridyider” starring Charito Solis and Janice de Belen and directed by Ishmael Ber na l; and “Mananang ga l ” starring Herbert Bautista, Irma Alegre, and Mary Walters and directed by Peque Gallaga.

His favorite is Gallaga’s episode. He called the late director a “real visual stylist.”

“I love the provincial background in the tale; it was so different from the American, British, and Italian horror movies that I grew up on. It’s been at the back of my mind for 38 years,” he said.

He thought that he had outgrown the horror stories from his childhood. He even stopped

believing in ghosts as he got older. It all changed, however, when he lived in a haunted house in Angeles City after coming back from the US. “My room was haunted. There was a female phantom with a gigantic mouth and no torso,” he recalled.

Banking on fear

Flores, on the other hand, is pragmatic even with his vast imagination and love for worldbuilding.

He created some of TV’s most unforgettable characters in shows like the aforementioned Encantadia and Mulawin vs. Ravena (2017), which shares some sort of a “cinematic universe” with the 2016 Encantadia.

Does he believe in the horrific creatures he drew in Dream Walker?

“They exist in the inner fears of people and fear is a powerful thing to exploit. Fear is a commodity in what we are doing,” Flores said.

Flores is back in the country and is among those who await the premiere of Voltes V Legacy this year since he was its lead visual artist.

He has heard of “Sang’gre,” the planned spin-off of Encantadia set for airing this year. He does not know if he is going to be part of the show but wishes the production best of luck.

Now based in Seattle, Washington, Sutton has his hands full as the editor-in-chief of the popular comics-oriented, pop culture web site GeekosityMag.com.

He is excited about their creative collaboration and complimented Flores’ interpretation of his story.

“I was shocked when he sent me the first Dream Walker art. It looks like a film. I was amazed at how he shifted styles with the dream and reality scenes,” Sutton shared.

He said Flores has the “enigmatic qualities” of Bernie Wrightson and Barry Smith and the “spirit of vintage” of Filipino artists Alfredo Alcala and Nestor Redondo.

Both Filipino artists worked for DC Comics in the 1970s.

Flores described his drawing style as “pretty much Western with regular cross hatching strokes” for the main narrative.

For Sutton, it all translates to a visually appealing art for his dream comic book.

On February 14, Dream Walker will be sold online via the Second Skin Comics web site. A number of comics shops in the United States will carry Dream Walker.

For interested parties and readers in the Philippines, they can contact Mikey Sutton at this email address: thephoenix@yahoo.com.

Sto. Niño De Pasion and other chibi saints hail from the Immaculate Conception Parish in Pandi, Bulacan

Chibi Sto. Niño measures just 3.5 inches.

Sto. Niño’s image in ‘chibi’, meaning small proportions in Japanese.

Pocket-sized Sto. Niño comes in Spanish monarchy robes.

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Chibi Sto.Niño: reinvigorating faith with youthful vibes

By Lila Victoria F. Mortel Photos courtesy of Immaculate Conception Parish in Pandi, Bulacan

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s a staple of Catholic Filipino households, the Sto. Niño represents the many things we value; our faith, our children and our culture, all wrapping itself in a statue that holds historical and cultural value.

It began its legend as Ferdinand Magellan’s gift to Raja Humabon and his Chief Consort in 1521, the Sto. Niño found its way to Catholic Filipinos’ hearts by its miracle to remain undamaged after a raging battle. Since then, it is believed to have miraculous powers, with its veneration continuing today as the Philippine’s oldest Christian artifact.

With its Flemish design and deep history, the Sto. Niño has become one of the most popular symbols of Christian Filipino faith, occupying home altars, school displays and even places of business. As a cultural symbol, it calls on to the Filipino love for children and the youth, surviving the test of time through its festivals, devotees and evolution.

Catholics in different parts of the country celebrate the Sto. Niño on the third Sunday of January and among these festivals, the Sinulog Festival is the grandest one.

Dubbed as the queen of Filipino festivals, the Sinulog festival has moved its festivities online due to the sudden rise of COVID-19 cases.

Because of this, devotees turn to alternative expressions of faith to honor the venerated symbol, finding their platform in online celebrations and other modern iterations.

Through technology and faith, the Sto. Niño has recently finds itself celebrated in a novel way; Chibi Saints, a statue small in size that fashions itself as a child in cherubic affection, continuing the Sto. Niño’s importance to our culture and extending it to newer generations.

The Sto. Niño and the youth With its name loosely translated

from Spanish as the ‘holy child’, the Sto. Niño appears as a child Christ dressed in Spanish monarchy red, adorned in its hands a scepter and globus cruciger. Its original iteration stands 12 inches long; three times bigger than its new chibi saint iteration, both donning the same costume and childlike appearance, the only difference being their size and the chibi saint’s cherubic stature of a younger child.

The Sto. Niño image as the child Christ speaks to the youth physically, reflecting their own emerging appearance. Rev. Fr. Joselin L. San Jose, the originator of chibi saints in the Philippines, points out their novelty to the youth, stating “The youth relates to the appearance of Chibi Sto. Niño saints as a young person, while reminding the elderly of their earlier days.”

Through its relatability, the Sto. Niño touches the energy of the youth and the vitality the elderly once had. This intergenerational recognition speaks to the history and age of the Sto. Niño.

The Chibi Sto. Niño echoes an attitude Filipinos have held close to themselves through time, receiving a more modern take through the creation of chibi saints.

As a symbol of youth, the Sto. Nino’s physical relatability can be attributed to the conditions our youth grow into. The Filipino youth of today and older generations grew into a culture interconnected to the Christian faith, finding joy in the cultural celebrations we create around it.

Through the weekly solemnity of the Mass and explosive

Chibi Sto. Niño De Cebu solicits affinity from the young faithful. celebrations of our faith like the Sinulog festival, the Sto. Niño and its modern chibi version signify an enduring experience of Christian Filipinos in their faith and culture.

In activities such as recognizing the Sto. Niño and celebrating its history yearly, we create a cultural experience that gets passed from generation to generation. This familiar practice creates a relationship between the Sto. Niño and the youth, manifesting in chibi saints as a newer version of appreciating the enduring traditions.

The Sto. Niño and our culture Culturally speaking, the Sto. Niño symbolizes the Filipino’s affinity for children and youthfulness. Chibi saints give this affinity a new dimension through its novelty and accessibility with Fr. San Jose saying: “[In fact,] the concept of Chibi Saints is like children in costume, promoting creativity among Filipinos”.

This promotion of creativity through our expression of faith can

be traced to the cultural need to personalize our belongings, including symbols of religion. In Filipino Catholic households, it is common to see the Sto. Niños wear different costumes or uniforms of culturally respected professions, such as a policeman, instead of its traditional red monarchical costume. Additionally, the chibi saint concept of a child donning a holy costume can be directly tied to the Sto. Niño.

The similarity is not lost in devotees, as Fr. San Jose shares the Chibi Sto. Niño is very well patronized by the faithfuls.

As this culture endures, it finds itself reflected economically. The Sinulog festival celebrating the Sto. Niño brings important tourism revenues to the Visayas region, most especially in Cebu and its neighboring municipalities.

Since 2016, the festival has brought 1 to 15 million people yearly in Cebu, with people all over the world expressing their faith in the Sto. Niño. Because of the pandemic, the Sinulog moved its festivities online, raising recently at least P260,000 for victims of

typhoon Odette.

Since its introduction in October 2021, the Chibi Sto. Niño stands among as one of the best sellers in the Immaculate Conception Minor Seminary, providing important finances to the Church’s seminary and scholars.

Through this, the Sto. Niño as a symbol is reflected in the community it helps, guided by the culture we have created around it.

The Sto. Niño continues to be one of the most enduring symbols of Filipino Christianity today, finding itself with modern iterations such as its online festival celebrations and chibi saints. With its miraculous beginnings came a faith that shaped our culture, and our culture shaping our local faith.

The interconnection of culture and faith found in the Sto. Niño and other religious symbols created chibi saints and added another dimension of faith the youth needs.

As the present progresses into the future one thing is for certain; faith touches us in the symbols we celebrate, may it be through times of joy or hardships.

PARA SA INA, SAN SEBASTIAN BASILICA’S RUST TO ART EXHIBIT

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Carla Mortel Baricaua

Editor

Ed Davad

Creative Director

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Dennis Cruz Guevarra Charmine Rose Arquibel

Advertising Sales Manager Account Manager

For general advertising information, please contact: Dennis Guevarra at 09776806561 dennis.cruzguevarra@yahoo.com Charmine Rose Arquibel at 09985643854 charquibel.philippinesgraphic@gmail.com

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he San Sebastian Basilica Conservation and Development Foundation Inc., in partnership with 22 local artists, is proud to host Para Sa Ina: Rust to Art Exhibit, a fully digital fundraiser to celebrate the fusion of faith, innovation, and art. The event is open until April 2022 with all proceeds going to support the teams of people who continue to work on the restoration of the historic basilica.

Curated by Asst. Prof. Mary Ann Venturina-Bulanadi, PhD of the University of Sto. Tomas, this online selling exhibition will feature 35 unique paintings, sculptures, and mixed media pieces that incorporate rust collected from the all-metal San Sebastian Basilica. Local artists experimented with various methods and materials to create works inspired by their reflections on the devotions to Nuestra Señora del Carmen

de San Sebastian (Our Lady of Mt. Carmel of San Sebastian) and Nuestra Señora de la Salud (Our Lady of Health), and their history in the basilica.

“The rust takes on new meaning...becomes a new beginning, a renewal of faith, a birthing of new ideas, and best of all, a conduit of our love to the Blessed Mother.

It becomes light in a moment of darkness and despair,” explains curator Asst. Prof.

Venturina-Bulanadi.

Para Sa Ina will be the second rust to art exhibit hosted by the foundation since 2018 with Reredos, an informal group of artists specializing in religious art. They also welcomed other well-respected local artists like Joe Datuin, Lawton Ladao, and Al Perez to this year’s line-up.

The digital exhibit opened on January 28 and will be available exclusively on the foundation’s website www. sansebastianconservation. org. The artworks will be available to purchase through the foundation from the opening day until April 2022.

For more information about Para Sa Ina: Rust to Art Exhibit, you may contact the foundation at officialstore@ savesansebastian.org or visit the official Facebook (www. facebook.com/savessbasilica) or Instagram (www.instagram.com/savessbasilica).

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Sunday, January 30, 2022 9

Sigfreid Barros-Sanchez: A Storyteller and a Gentle Giant

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By Seymour Barros Sanchez Photos by Leo Velasco

orn in Tondo. Raised in San Andres Bukid. Went to elementary school in Vito Cruz Extension. Studied high school in Malate.

Took up college in Recto. Marched in Mendiola. Became part of Ricky Lee’s Trip to Quiapo. Educated himself in filmmaking and shot films in the different nooks and alleys in Manila.”

This was how my late brother, independent filmmaker, actor, TV and commercial director Sigfreid Barros-Sanchez used to describe himself in his blogs, profiles, and social media posts. At the age of 46, Sigfreid or Direk Sig to many, Sig to some, and Pidoy or Impe to his childhood friends and relatives, died of stroke, kidney disease, and other complications at the Philippine Heart Center last January 3.

As a filmmaker, he directed 10 independent projects including his trilogy of films about films, namely “Lasponggols” for the first Cinemalaya Film Festival in 2005, and “Ang Mga Kidnaper ni Ronnie Lazaro” and “Huling Biyahe,” which both won awards at the Sineng Pambansa National Film Festival in 2012.

He also helmed “Ang Anak ni Brocka” for the first Cinema One Originals in 2005, and documentaries “Ang Gitaristang Hindi Marunong Magskala” for the Cine Totoo Documentary Festival in 2014 and “We Will Never Play in Manila Again!” for CineFilipino in 2016. His last directorial job for a full-length film was also in 2016 for “Magtanggol” starring Tom Rodriguez and Ejay Falcon.

After that, he wrote “Baklad” directed by his good friend Topel Lee for ToFarm Film Festival and went back to advertising in 2017.

As writer Marra Lanot described his filmography, “Sigfreid Barros Sanchez produced films

which are raw and rich, celebrating those in the ‘laylayan’ of the movie industry. He didn’t follow acceptable aesthetics to impress and win awards. He followed his heart, blending harsh reality with wit and the comic, something only a genius can do. His untimely demise is a huge loss to Philippine cinema.”

“These films, Barros-Sanchez, making references to aspects of Filipino popular culture, taking note also that in his fiction films, he portrayed the lives of the lowly workers in the industry - the clapper, the utility driver, the reporter, the dubber - have afforded him a unique voice in Philippine independent cinema, no one can come close. This is the source of my deep grief,” Filipino Arts and Cinema International or FACINE founder and artistic director Mauro Feria Tumbocon Jr. shared in his tribute.

Sigfreid and I grew up in a family of artists and writers. We were born at the Mary Johnston Hospital where our grandmother used to work as a nurse. We graduated at the nearby Rafael Palma Elementary School where we became part of the school publication. He and our eldest brother later studied at the PCU Union High School of Manila where he continued writing articles and started drawing comic strips.

He almost did not end up as a professional writer when he grew to more than six feet. At 6’4”, he

SIGFREID BARROS-SANCHEZ, the indie filmmaker who created beyond the industry’s norms.

Direk Sigfreid at work with cinematographer Arvin Viola. thought that being a writer would make him a geek. That time, he was taking up Political Science at the University of the EastRecto campus. And because of his height, he tried out for a basketball varsity slot.

Back then, Sigfreid saw himself having a future at the Philippine Basketball Association.

One day, while he was at the UE

gym, someone left a copy of the student publication, UE Dawn, which had a short story entitled “Ang Pluma” written by Prestoline Suyat. He was inspired by the story, so he went back to writing.

He later became part of the school paper and the cultural organization Pinsel Sining. Although his dreams of playing in the PBA did not materialize, he would end up

directing segments for the league.

At 16, Sigfreid was already writing articles for the now-defunct Rock N’ Rhythm magazine where he would further develop his appreciation for bands and artists who tackled “more meaningful and more truthful themes than what the local media fed Continued on Page 11

Direk Sigfreid shares a boat with the crew on the way to a film shoot.

Direk Sigfreid smiling while on the set.

On the set, Sigfreid directs the late Arvin “Tado” Jimenez and Raul Morit.

Sigfreid with mentor Ricky Lee.

Direk Sigfreid works with children on a shoot.

Direk Sigfreid with his punk rocker style while on the set.

SIGFREID directing actress Mercedes Cabral.

At the set of Ang Mga Kidnaper ni Ronnie Lazaro, written and directed by Direk Sigfreid.

SIGFREID gives directions to Ver Jacinto and Glenn Ternal on camera.

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Sunday, January 30, 2022 11

Sigfreid Barros-Sanchez: A Storyteller and a Gentle Giant Continued from Page 9 him.” We were roommates when we were younger. I remember I would wake up in the morning while he just slept after a night of covering events. I would check out his bag for cassette tapes of the latest bands during the height of the Pinoy alternative music scene that time—back when Club DREDD in Cubao and Mayrics Bar in España were still in existence.

As a staunch supporter of Pinoy punk rock, he incorporated elements of it into his films. He attributed his love for cinema to black and white movies from LVN and Sampaguita Pictures shown in the early ‘90s on RPN 9 and Piling-Piling Pelikula on IBC 13.

“I was kicked out of the library in second year high school for courting schoolmates inside instead of reading and for being one of the most ‘makulit’ students. I was banned from entering its premises for the rest of my high school days,” he narrated in interviews.

I recall him going home in the afternoon to watch the early films of Dolphy, Panchito, and his “long-time crush Bella Flores.”

At night, we would watch Pinoy Westerns and action movies that featured the Lapids, Aristorenas, and Weng Weng, and even the comic antics of Chiquito, Tintoy, and Cachupoy.

In college, his Humanities professor, Henry Alvir, introduced their class to Filipino short films made by student filmmakers from Mowelfund. “My teacher appeared in one of the short films, Jon Red’s ‘Trip’ about a young boy who rides a jeepney to Manila but by encountering different characters inside the jeep, he feels he has seen the city already and has second thoughts of alighting from the vehicle when he reaches the metropolis. Rox Lee’s short film ‘Tito’s Wedding’ was also another hilarious experience.”

Sigfreid was already familiar with Rox’s works from his “Cesar Asar” comic strips and those he did for the song magazine Jingle.

“I already had this ‘fan’ syndrome for his works. And I was not disappointed as it made me laugh all throughout the 15-minute short that also featured his brother Mon Lee as a priest and a very talented actor Georgie Boy as the

Lourd De Veyra and Sigfreid share a light moment in between takes.

Jun Sabayton engages Direk Sigfreid in a conversation. nephew who is forced to marry by his uncle,” he recalled.

When he helmed “Lasponggols,” he made sure Jon and Rox would act in it. Fortunately, they obliged. He also worked with actors they usually cast in their films, who became his idols— Raul Morit and Soliman Cruz. The film also did not veer away from the dark comedy genre of “Trip” and “Tito’s Wedding.”

Sigfreid decided to leave UE

to learn more about filmmaking in 1999 when he became part of Ricky Lee’s 11th Scriptwriting Workshop. He then studied directing at the Filipino Feature Filmmaking class of the late Marilou Diaz-Abaya in Ateneo and later signed up for the 10th Cinema-A s-A r t Fi lmma k ing Workshop at the University of the Philippines Film Center where he further honed his craft under Tikoy Aguiluz and Raymond Red,

among others. He would personally meet Topel here as one of his classmates who would later introduce him to directing music videos, where he would merge his love for films and music.

He served as assistant director to Topel for Bamboo’s “Hallelujah” music video and they co-directed Sugarfree’s “Hari ng Sablay” which won Best Music Video at the 18th Awit Awards.

He would direct music videos

on his own, among them were Hale’s “The Day You Said Goodnight” which became the most requested music video in 2005, Kyla’s “Till They Take My Heart Away,” Parokya ni Edgar’s “Gitara,” Stonefree’s “Anghel,” and “Aksyon Star,” a part of the omnibus film project “Imahe Nasyon” for Viva.

Sigfreid worked as a script reader for Viva in 2000. He was given an opportunity to write his first screenplay in “Alas Dose.”

Erik Matti and Richard Somes were also just starting that time, whom he would later become close friends and learned the ropes from them. His indie stint later, he claimed, “has freed him as an artist and has helped him in making films that, hopefully, will free others as well.”

He paid it forward by offering his talents and equipment to aspiring filmmakers. He became a speaker in film workshops and other related events. He screened his films for free and opened his film sets to observers. He encouraged and inspired a lot of young filmmakers to take that extra bold step to reach and even surpass the feats that they have achieved. Despite his height and built, he was a gentle giant.

Josef De Guzman of Psoriasis Philippines shared that one of their organization’s campaigns was Sigfreid ’s idea, “Perhaps the most successful campaign of PsorPhil to date is the HugMe-Campaign. It was so successful that it reached different parts of the globe and was used by other national Psoriasis organizations to prove that Psoriasis is NOT contagious. This campaign was a brainchild of a very dear friend Direk Sigfreid Barros-Sanchez who has helped patient organizations in their campaigns,” he said.

Sigfreid was a loving husband to Kaye, father to Basti, Kobe, Kubrick, and Seth, and older brother to us, Sylvester, Margaux, and Sean. A fundraising campaign was set up to help pay for his hospital bills: https://gofund.me/d30ebc9f Video messages and other tribute videos were also posted on the Para Kay Sig YouTube channel and Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/ groups/parakaysig

Historic Rizal Park in the heart of Old Manila

A GATEWAY TO MANILA’S SIGHTS: PART I

F

by Jami Ledesma

rom 1912 to 2003, the country’s premier horse racing events were held at what used to be the San Lazaro Hippodrome in the heart of Manila. Fast forward to 2017 when a new kind of excitement first opened its doors on the same spot that was once home to the historic track, this time in the form of a world-class 22-story lifestyle and tourism destination.

Like a phoenix that rose from the ashes, Winford Manila Resort & Casino (WMRC) stands in what is now known as San Lazaro Tourism and Business Park, a 40acre ground that is also home to thriving businesses, residential communities, and office spaces.

As a result of its rapid gentrification, the area was proclaimed a tourism economic zone with an information technology component in 2009.

But more than a luxury hotel brand with spacious suites and facilities at par with 5-star hotels in the country, perhaps one of WMRC’s most endearing features is the very locale wherein it is situated. Rising high above the many residential and commercial structures that populate much of Santa Cruz, Manila, WMRC is just a heartbeat away from some of the most popular sights of the nation’s capital.

Known as the “Walled City’, the historic Intramuros is Manila’s oldest district that best represents the city’s rich heritage. Home to the sprawling grounds of Fort Santiago, the cobblestone roads and Spanish architecture collectively contribute to the locale’s rustic charm. The kalesa, a traditional horse-drawn carriage, is a popular mode of transportation for

Dangwa Flower Market

Winford Manila Resort & Casino in San Lazaro tourists and the best way to take in the sights inside the walled tourism spot, which also include the UNESCO World Heritage Site San Agustin Church, the National Museum, and the Manila Cathedral.

A short hop from Intramuros is sprawling Rizal Park. Also

known as Luneta, this historical urban park in Old Manila is one of the largest of its kind in the region. It is a favorite leisure spot for locals and tourists alike, often crammed with visitors on Sundays and national holidays.

An important site in Philippine history, Rizal Park is named after the country’s national hero, Jose Rizal, as it was here where he was executed on December 30, 1896. Other attractions in the area include the National Museum of Fine Arts and the National Planetarium.

For the hopeless romantic looking to surprise their better half with a bouquet this Valentine’s Day, the Dangwa Flower Market located in the City of Manila’s Sampaloc district sells all kinds of beautiful blooms at

equally attractive prices. Independently- owned stalls abound with street vendors selling floral arrangements at both wholesale and retail rates, up to 90 percent cheaper than flower shops in Metro Manila’s malls. Dangwa Flower Market is located on Dos Castillas Street at the Dimasalang Road intersection.

All these points of interest can easily be reached from WMRC with the assistance of the hotel’s concierge. Visit www. winfordmanila.com for more information, or call the Winford Manila Resort & Casino reservations hotline at +63 (2) 528-3600 for inquiries. Follow Winford Manila on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for the latest updates on special events and promotions.