BusinessMirror July 11, 2023

inflation, rates to stymie growth goals’

HIGH inflation and interest rates are expected to prevent the Philippines from hitting its growth target this year, according to the latest economic brief from Maybank.

T he Philippine economy is expected to post a growth of only 5.5 percent by yearend. This is below the target set by the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC).

I n June, the DBCC said its growth assumption was set at 6 to 7 percent for 2023 and 6.5 to 8 percent between 2024 and 2028.

“ We expect Philippines’s real GDP 2023 growth to ease to 5.5 percent as we see growth being affected by global economic downturn and domestic headwinds due to the combo of elevated inflation and interest rates,” Maybank said. Hence, we expect sluggish external demand in coming quarters, with China’s economic activities so far [having] been slower than expected despite the zero Covid-19 policy exit and full reopening,” it added.

M aybank noted the results of the latest Business Outlook Survey by

the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showing businesses were less optimistic for the third quarter of the year and the next 12 months.

T he economic brief also cited the constraints identified by survey respondents, topped by high interest rates. Maybank noted that rising interest rates are expected to dampen business sentiment and job creation moving forward. However, Maybank noted the improvement in the recent employment numbers. Given this, Maybank expects the unemployment rate to continue improving.

L ast week, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported that the country’s unemployment rate was at 4.3 percent, the second lowest since April 2005 when the government changed the definition of unemployment, adopting the ILO’s. In November 2022, the jobless rate was at 4.2 percent. (Earlier story here: https:// businessmirror com.ph/2023/07/07/unemployment-down-to-second-lowest-ratein-may-psa/).

APRIL FDI DIP ON GLOBAL SLOWDOWN, INFLATION

By Cai U. Ordinario @caiordinario

HETPhilippines’s foreign direct investments (FDI) contracted anew in April on the back of a global economic slowdown and high inflation, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

B SP data showed FDIs contracted 14.1 percent to $876 million worth of net inflows in April 2023 from $1 billion in April 2022.

T he year-to-date FDI net inflows reached $2.9 billion, an 18-percent contraction from the $3.6 billion recorded in the comparable period in 2022.

The decline in FDI may be attributed to concerns over slowing economic growth and relatively high inflation levels globally,” BSP said.

T he data showed that in terms of components, net investments in debt instruments, which declined by 7.7 percent to $663 million, continued to comprise most of the country’s FDI for the period.

Net equity investments other than reinvestment of earnings registered the highest decline of 33.8 percent to $136 million.

B ulk of the equity capital placements during the month came from Japan, the United States and Singapore.

T he investments were channeled mostly to the manufacturing; real estate; and financial and insurance industries.

B SP explained that FDI are compiled based on the Balance of Payments and International Investment Position Manual, 6th Edition (BPM6).

F DI includes investment by a non-resident direct investor in a resident enterprise, whose equity capital in the latter is at least 10 percent, and investment made by a non-resident subsidiary/associate in its resident direct investor.

B SP also said FDI can be in the form of equity capital, reinvestment of earnings, and borrowings.

U.S. FIRMS PUSH NEW BUSINESS DEALS VITAL TO U.S. SECURITY

By Samuel P. Medenilla @sam_medenilla

MERICAN firms are now pushing for new cooperation and investment deals with the Philippines on sectors deemed crucial for United States (US) national security.

I n a statement, the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) said members of the Business Executives for National Security (BENS) made the disclosure during their meeting with President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. in Malacañang last Monday.

T he 10-member US-based business group said they are interested in signing new agreements related to health, digital infrastructure and energy programs.

T hey also lauded the President for “restoring the special and important alliance between the governments of the Philippines and the US.”

M arcos discussed how the government is addressing the problems in the priority sectors of BENs, which include the country’s lack of Filipino health care

workers (HCW) as they remain in demand in many countries, including the US.

A mong the initiatives to address the workforce shortage, he said, is a proposed arrangement wherein countries must train a sufficient number of replacements for Filipinos HCWs, who they will hire, as well as accelerating the board examinations of nurses.

T he chief executive also talked about the government’s efforts to fix energy issues through improved distribution mechanisms, and the mainstreaming of digitalization of government transactions to improve ease of doing business.

He also pointed out the country is engaged in retraining and re-skilling its workforce so they will meet the changing demands in the labor market.  “ We need to catch up in terms of training, in terms of getting involved in the new technologies that we are seeing for many, many reasons: for the digitalization, for the climate change, for the cybersecurity,” Marcos said.  See “US,” A2

Marina pitches seafarer issues in new IMO plan on ship GHG

By Lorenz S. Marasigan @lorenzmarasigan

THE Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) said on Monday it has “strongly advocated” for the recognition and inclusion of seafarers’ concerns in the revised International Maritime Organization (IMO) strategy on greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction from ships.

D uring the 80th session of the Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC), Philippine maritime and diplomatic representatives “emphasized the imperative of addressing seafarers’ interests in the strategy,” with Philippine Ambassador to the United Kingdom Teodoro

L. Locsin Jr. stressing that seafarers play a “crucial role” in achieving decarbonization objectives in the global shipping industry.

A ccording to the Marina, the Philippines has welcomed the adoption of the 2023 IMO Strategy on GHG Reduction from Ships “as a clear demonstration of the organization’s commitment to combating climate change.”

“ Notably, Item 3 in the MEPC resolution, which endorses the revised strategy, acknowledges the significance of addressing the human element and the impact on seafarers and other maritime professionals in ensuring a safe implementation of the strategy,” Marina said.

PEZA-approved H1 ecozone projects up 258% to ₧80.59B

By Andrea E. San Juan

investment promotion,” Panga said in a statement on Monday.

W ith the approved 102 new/ expansion projects in the first six months of the year, PEZA said 1,805,770 direct jobs are expected to be generated.

Meanwhile, the investment promotion agency said US$25.934 billion worth of exports are expected to be generated from the 102 new/ expansion projects.

O f the 102 new/expansion projects, PEZA said 43 ecozones are into the export sector; 24 are in the Information Technology (IT); 10 are ecozone facilities; 10 are ecozone development; 3 ecozone domestic market-oriented projects; 2 ecozone utilities, and 10 ecozone logistics.

Marcos: Mitigation plan for impact of El Niño to be unveiled this week

For June alone, PEZA said it expects to generate 3,475 jobs from the 22 greenlighted projects.

Moving forward, PEZA said it is ramping up its investment promotion and facilitation initiatives to bring in much-needed foreign direct investments (FDIs) into the country.

M eanwhile, the PEZA chief unveiled that for June alone, the investment promotion agency welcomed several French, Czech, and Dongguan delegations to the Philippines and facilitated the learning visit and study tour of the Ugandan and Papua New Guinean delegation.

By Samuel P. Medenilla @sam_medenilla

AMID growing concerns on the impact of El Niño on the country’s water supply, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. announced the government will soon unveil its plan to address such effects of the dry spell caused by the said phenomenon.

reconstitution of the El Niño task force, which will be tasked to implement the mitigation measures.

T he chief executive made the assurance after the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) declared the start of El Niño last week.

W ith this, PEZA Director General Tereso O. Panga expressed optimism that the investment promotion agency will “sustain” its growth path for the second half of 2023.

We remain optimistic that we

Marina...

Continued from A1

T he strategy emphasizes the need for a comprehensive approach to regulating safety in ships utilizing zero or near-zero GHG emission technolo-

will sustain our positive growth trajectory for the second half of the year, given the notable increase in our [key performance indicators] KPIs on investments, jobs and exports from a more aggressive whole-of-government approach in

gies, fuels, and energy sources.

It also underscores the “importance of assessing the strategy’s effects on seafarers and other maritime professionals.”

By including the concerns of seafarers into the strategy, the IMO shall “evaluate its instruments,

For the month of June alone, however, PEZA said it greenlighted P32.558 billion worth of investments, a 814.31-percent increase from the P3.561 recorded in June 2022.

T hese investments for June 2023 are equivalent to 22 projects while there are $481.88 billion worth of projected exports from these investment approvals.

guidance, and training standards to facilitate an equitable transition.”

I n addition, the Marina said, the Philippine delegation expressed its support for setting the ambitious goal of reaching net-zero GHG emissions from international shipping by 2050.

PEZA likewise received delegations from China, Taiwan, and Japan in the first semester of the year,” Panga said.

P anga stressed anew that with the inclusion of the ecozone development program in the country’s medium-term plan (20232028), “we aim to develop more ecozones in rural and new growth areas and introduce new frontiers catering to emerging and niche industries.”

T he delegation also emphasized the importance of scaling up and enhancing programs and partnerships for technical assistance and capacity building. “ These initiatives would particularly benefit developing countries, least developed countries, and small-island developing states in their transition towards sustainable shipping practices,” the Marina said.

T he delegation likewise sought stronger collaborations with other nations and industry stakeholders to achieve decarbonization goals.

A s part of the capacity-building efforts to support the implementation of the revised strategy, the IMO may develop a training and skills program for seafarers focused on reducing GHG emissions from ships. This program could be funded through initiatives such as the Integrated Technical Cooperation Program (ITCP) and GHG Technical Cooperation Trust Fund, as well as other programs sponsored by member states.

WB...

Continued from A20

Migration and aging

IN April 2023, with more countries expected to age, the World Bank sees the demand for migrants rising as aging countries would require migrants to boost their economies.

I n the World Development Report 2023, the World Bank said this is a unique opportunity to make migration work better for economies and people.

T he World Bank said the share of working-age adults will drop sharply in many countries. Apart from demographics, climate change is also expected to fuel the increase in the number of migrants.

T he World Bank said countries like Spain, with a population of 47 million, is projected to shrink by more than one third by 2100, with those above age 65 increasing to 39 percent from 20 percent of the population.

C ountries like Mexico, Thailand, Tunisia and Türkiye may also need more foreign workers because their population is no longer growing.

Meanwhile, climate change, the World Bank said, has led to the tripling of the number of refugees over the last decade. Further, about 40 percent of the world’s population—3.5 billion people—live in places highly exposed to climate impacts.

Speaking during a meeting in Malacañang, Marcos said the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) through its Water Resources Management Office (WRMO) is now finalizing the said plan.

“ We will have a plan for the mitigation of the effects of El Niño this week,” Marcos said.

H e noted that former Public Works and Highways Secretary Rogelio Singson will provide inputs for the contingency plan.

L ast May, the Presidential Communications Office announced the

S tate meteorologists said the effects of El Niño this month are still “weak,” but are expected to strengthen in the coming months.

Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) has already warned that 600,000 households may suffer long water disruptions due to the dropping water level of Angat Dam.  Marcos said the government is bracing for such scenarios through water catchment structures and proper management of existing dams.   We have a plan. So we are making sure that we will be ready when that time comes,” Marcos said.

Private hospital unions ask PBBM: Give HCW priority

THE United Private Hospital Unions of the Philippines (UPHUP) on Monday urged President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. to put healthcare workers in his priority agenda for Congress in his upcoming State of the Nation Address (SONA).

He must ensure that the country is protected by a robust health sector by ensuring adequate compensation and comprehensive benefits for workers in the industry,” the group said. “There is no shortage in nurses but better wages,” the UPHUP stressed.

O n Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Raymund “LRay” Villafuerte’s push for the Department of Health (DOH) to track down and hire the 120,000 licensed nurses, the group said, “unfortunately, the answer to this puzzle is right under their noses— poor pay and benefits.”

V illafuerte said that these 120,000 licensed nurses who are believed to be “jobless, underemployed, or doing non-nursing jobs” could help address the shortage of nurses in Philippine hospitals.

“ The honorable Congressman Lray Villafuerte is right on the money to ask the DOH where our nurses are,” the group said. Nurses, they said, opt not to work in the healthcare sector because of

T here were a total of 2.17 million unemployed Filipinos in May, a 760,000 decline year on year from the 2.93 million posted in May 2022. This was also 89,000 less than the 2.26 million posted in April 2023.

To sustain the country’s recent employment gains and ensure that Filipinos can secure the jobs of the future, workers need to enroll in

A mong the BENS members who participated in the Malacañang meeting were GardaWorld Federal Services President Pete Dordal; WinFertility President & CEO Roger Shedlin; Cavalry Asset Management Managing Partner & CIO John K. Hurley; Arnold & Porter LLP Senior Partner Ramon Marks; and Pescador Resources

President David C. McDonald.

A lso at the meeting were SPG International President & CEO Steve

the grim reality that entry-level pay, especially in the private sector, remains close to starvation wages.

T he group claimed that private hospital nurses receive a paltry entry-level salary ranging from P15,000 to 20,000, while their counterparts in the public health sector earn a minimum of P35,000.

“ This is why there are many nurses who just go for jobs in the call center industry, for example, which offers more competitive pay scales than private hospitals and clinics,” they added.

Moreover, they said, nurses are exposed to hazardous substances and viruses in private hospitals without the benefit of hazard pay.

Healthcare workers in the public health sector receive hazard pay amounting to P9,000 per month, while those in the private health sector only receive P100-300 per month if they have a recognized union,” the group lamented. A t the end of the day, they said, people will go for the job which is “safer and could better provide for them and their families.”

A s the proposed lifting of the public health emergency looms, UPHUP continues to demand the provision of compensation granted to healthcare workers as they continue to render services.

Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco

upskilling and lifelong learning programs. N ational Economic and Development Authority (Neda) Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan said retooling and upskilling as well as lifelong learning programs are already being offered by both government and private education and training institutions.

Cai U. Ordinario

Darnell; Crisis Response Company LLC President & CEO Robert Akin; Shield Capital Co-Founder & Managing Partner Raj Shah; BENS President & CEO Ret. Gen. Joseph Votel; and BENS Vice President of Programs Patrick Sweeney.  T hey will be in the country until Thursday to “engage with Philippine leaders at the nexus of business and national security and discuss potential areas for investment and cooperation in the country.”

THEPhilippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) said it has greenlighted 102 economic zone developer-locator projects with P80.585 billion worth of investments in the first half of the year, a 258-percent increase from the P22.489-billion investments recorded in the same period last year.

Fastech Honors Key Partners and Employees at 40th Thanksgiving Night

FASTECH Synergy

Philippines Inc., a leading Philippine semiconductor manufacturing company, celebrated 40 years of world-class manufacturing solutions with electronics industry leaders and partners at The Bellevue Manila, Alabang, Muntinlupa, last June 29, 2023. The celebration was held to acknowledge and award key partners, customers, suppliers, and employees.

Fastech top executives such as the Chairman of the Executive Committee, Mr. Lionel L. Belen; President, Engr. Allan P. Timonera; and Managing Director, Mr. Primo D. Mateo took to the stage to give their respective messages for the company’s anniversary. Dr. Brian L. Belen, President of First Asia Venture Capital Inc and Team First Asia, the mother company and group of Fastech respectively, also gave his speech which centered on the group’s IndustryAcademe Linkages.

He shared that through the years, Fastech has supported the development of a highly-proficient technical workforce from the source. This meant sponsoring various scholarship programs and joining initiatives that promote partnerships between educational institutions and industry players over the years. “The proper support to the supply of talent in this country remains critical to developing a workforce that is not just competent but which meets industry needs. For this reason, our group will continue

to support and develop industry-academe linkages. For Fastech in particular, this is not just as a way to remain competitive as an enterprise, but is also a means to contribute to nation building…,” Dr. Belen said.

On the other hand, in a video message from the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Secretary Alfredo E. Pascual congratulated Fastech on its 40th Anniversary. Adding that the company’s efforts for education, talent development, and sustainability, are aligned with the department’s principles. The Secretary also shared the department’s plans to industrialize with the help of science, technology, and innovation. “Science, Technology, and Innovation are crucial in achieving inclusive and sustainable development…Globally competitive and innovative industries will enable the Philippine economy to achieve significant growth,” he said. Aside from this, Sec. Pascual also highlighted the country’s electronics industry. Mentioning that the industry has and continues to contribute to the majority of the country’s exports - accounting for 54% (2.7 billion USD) of the total exports in April of 2023.

Similarly, Secretary Renato U. Solidum, Jr. of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), who also sent a video message, extended his message of support and congratulations to Fastech. Further saying that the DOST and Fastech have the similar goal of upholding Science, Technology, and Innovation while contributing to the economy. The secretary even went on to commend Fastech for being one

of the Philippines’ Best Employers for 2023 saying: “Let us acknowledge the fact that Fastech ranked 139 out of 2,000 eligible employers as one of the Philippines’ Best Employers for 2023, ranking 1st in the Filipino Semiconductor Companies category. Statista, …conducted the research and surveyed over 11,000 employees in total. By holding the opinions of the employees in the highest regard, we can safely say that the study reflects the exceptional satisfaction of Fastech employees, which is crucial to the longterm growth of the organization. This is a testament to Fastech’s strong commitment to empower and take care of its workforce.”

The awarding of Fastech’s Key Strategic Partners and Loyalty Awardees served as the main event of the evening. These are the business partners and employees that have supported Fastech over the years and have contributed greatly to the company’s success.

Microchip Technology Inc. and Transphorm Inc were awarded as Fastech’s leading partners in global manufacturing. Meanwhile, Focused Test Philippines Inc. was awarded as the company’s leading partner for technology.

Fastech also awarded SDI Corporation and GMV Materials Inc. as Valued Strategic Partners for Direct Materials; Sytron Pte Ltd and SPI Semicon Asia Inc. as Valued Strategic Partners for Indirect Materials; Aurotech Corporation and Micron Precision Philippines Inc as Valued Strategic Partners for Manufacturing Equipment Support; Linde Philippines Inc. and Shell Energy Philippines Inc. as Valued Strategic Partners for Facility Support; and Aldous Transport Corporation as a Valued Strategic Partner for Human Resources Support.

Over 180 attendees gathered for the celebration. Partners from the various industries were present such as Power and Renewable Energy, Aerospace, Telecommunications, and Automotive, among others.

For its 40th Anniversary Celebration, Fastech is expanding its scholarship programs in partnership with Batangas State University (BSU) – the National Engineering University of the Philippines, FAITH Colleges, and University of Cabuyao. In addition to that, the company will also revitalize and continue its employee academic support programs. For the next 5 years, Fastech will be donating approximately PHP 15 million in scholarships for students in senior high school, undergraduate, and taking up master's degrees from all three partner educational institutions.

The company will also be collaborating with these partner institutions to further develop a curriculum that is more aligned and addresses the current industry needs and requirements.

Fastech also continues to work with Manuel S. Enverga University Foundation (MSEUF) for the company’s Expanded Tertiary Education Equivalency and Accreditation Program (ETEEAP) – a program which aims to give its employees a professional development opportunity to enhance their skills. In addition to this, the company is also renewing its financial scholarship program for children of employees as well.

DTI Secretary Alfredo E. Pascual and DOST Secretary Renato U. Solidum, Jr.’s

Fastech Founder, Mr. Saturnino G. Belen; Fastech Chairman of the Executive Committee, Mr. Lionel L. Belen; Fastech President, Engr. Allan P. Timonera; Fastech Managing Director, Mr. Primo D. Mateo together with Fastech’s Loyalty Awardees

Fastech Chairman of the Executive Committee, Mr. Lionel L. Belen (1st row, 4th person from the left); Fastech President, Engr. Allan P. Timonera (1st row, 1st person from the right); Fastech Managing Director, Mr. Primo D Mateo (2nd row, 1st person from the left) together with all of Fastech’s Valued Strategic Partner Awardees.

DOTr chief calls for proactive collaboration to ensure domestic, global aviation security

By Lorenz S. Marasigan @lorenzmarasigan

DEPARTMENT of Transportation (DOTr) Secretary

Jaime Bautista urged aviation stakeholders to be proactive and contribute to global aviation security, as auditors of the International Civil Aviation Organization (Icao) assess the country’s aviation security protocols.  Icao auditors are in Manila—under the Universal Security Audit Programme (USAP) Continuous Monitor -

ing Approach (CMA)—to support the Philippines in addressing emerging threats and mitigate potential security risks in air travel.

“I urge everyone to actively engage in constructive dialogue and explore innovative ideas to leverage our capabilities to contribute to global aviation security. In doing so, we strengthen our collective ability to detect and mitigate potential security risks, ensuring the sustained resilience and integrity of global aviation systems,” Bautista said.

He noted the role of participants, auditors, and support staff in the

continuous monitoring, sharing of best practices, and coordination among various stakeholders in the aviation sector.

“We have assembled an exceptional lineup of experts who will shed light on essential aspects like airport and airline operations, intelligence and crisis response, management of acts of unlawful interference, risk management strategies, capacity-building, as well as streamlined collaboration among regulatory bodies and industry partners,” Bautista said.

Icao’s USAP CMA is a regular audit

that provides a progressive framework for continuous evaluation and enhancement of aviation security protocols, enabling stakeholders in air transportation to maintain vigilance in a rapidly evolving landscape.

“Let us continue to embrace this opportunity to collectively strengthen the foundation of aviation security and demonstrate our unwavering commitment in ensuring the security of the traveling public, as well as protect both private and public assets and infrastructure from all threats,” Bautista said.

QC, Camanava, Manila to experience daily service interruptions starting Wednesday

MAYNILAD customers in Caloocan, Malabon, Navotas, Valenzuela, Quezon City and Manila will experience daily service interruptions due to the “drastic cuts” in raw water allocation that started on Saturday, July 8.

The 48 cubic meters per second (CMS) allocation, which is lower than the 52 CMS given from April 16 to June 30 and the 50 CMS from July 1 to 7, means Maynilad will get less supply than it needs to sustain normal service levels, the company said in a statement.

“Spreading out the limited supply will necessitate the implementation of daily service interruptions in some portions of the West Zone starting July 12, 2023,” it said.

Maynilad’s supply augmentation projects, as well as local rains at the Ipo watershed, helped to mitigate the impact of lower releases from Angat Dam.

This, Maynilad said, would help limit the daily service interruptions to the nighttime

hours from 7 p.m. to 4 a.m. (or to 6 a.m. in some areas) despite the drastically lower allocation. Expected to be affected are barangays in Caloocan, Malabon, Valenzuela, Navotas, Quezon City, and Manila.

Affected customers are advised to remember the service interruption schedule, and to store water for their needs for hours of the day when supply will be unavailable. Mobile water tankers will also be deployed as needed.

“Upon resumption of water service, please expect some discoloration in the supply. This is a normal consequence of service interruptions, as the returning supply scours the naturally occurring mineral deposits inside the pipelines. When this happens, let the water flow out briefly until it clears but use the initial flow of water for non-drinking purposes, such as for flushing toilets, to avoid wastage,” Maynilad said in its water service advisory.

The company said it will coordinate closely with all Angat Dam stakeholders in balancing

the need between preserving the limited supply and managing the impact of lower allocations on water consumers. The company is also facilitating other supply augmentation projects so that more supply can be generated.

“As we strive to stretch available supplies and generate more water to mitigate the impact of El Niño, we call on all water consumers to do their share in the conservation effort by using water responsibly,” the Maynilad statement added.

National Water Resources Board (NWRB) Executive Director Sevillo David Jr. admitted that the reduction in raw water supply allocation becomes imperative to conserve water from Angat, the level of which has fallen below the 180 meters above sea level normal operating level.

“We have also decided to reduce the water allocation for irrigation from 28 CMS to 20 CMS which will affect farms in Bulacan and Pampanga because of this,” said David,

South Korea President Yoon, other key officials, to visit PHL–Palace

By Samuel P. Medenilla @sam_medenilla

SOUTH KOREA is eyeing to further boost its “strategic partnership” with the Philippines during the upcoming visit of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and other Korean officials in the country in the coming months, the Office of the President said on Monday.

National Assembly Speaker Kin Jin-Pyo and the South Korean Foreign Minister would also visit the country this year to meet their counterparts.

“S o we look forward to elevating our relationship formally to strategic partnership at an appropriate time including many, many areas [such as] security and defense cooperation, trade and investment, and people-to-people exchanges,” Lee said.

who echoed the call of the Water Resource Management Office (WRMO) to residents of Metro Manila and nearby provinces of Rizal, Cavite, and Bulacan to conserve water and practice rainwater harvesting, as much as possible.

“We really need to make this a regular thing [rainwater harvesting] to help reduce demand for treated water,” he said. Rainwater, he said, can be used to water plants, clean cars and garage and other non-essential water uses.

Building owners and administrators, he said, should also heed the government’s call to conserve water to prevent another episode of severe water supply shortage.

David added that the NWRB has allowed Maynilad and Manila Water to source water from deep wells for the meantime that water level at Angat remains low to augment the supply of water to Metro Manila and other areas being serviced by the private water concessionaires.

Jonathan L. Mayuga

Gordon flags NMP’s ‘surreptitious’ plan to move ‘Sentinel of Freedom’

FORMER Tourism Secretary and former Senator Richard J. Gordon vehemently opposed the plan of the National Museum of the Philippines (NMP) to move the statue of Lapu Lapu or the “Sentinel of Freedom” from Agrifina Circle at the National Park in Luneta.

Gordon, who fought for the installation of the statue of Lapu Lapu, the “iconic and original hero of the Filipino people” at the Agrifina Circle in 2004, said the move is “disturbing and disconcerting.”

“Why would they move the Lapu Lapu statue and where would they relocate it? Why did they do this without consulting the stakeholders?” asked Gordon.

“The Lapu Lapu statue was a gift by the Korean people through the Korean Freedom League, as an expression of appreciation and admiration for the Filipino people who fought and died by their side in their fight for democracy,” he explained.

In a letter to Gordon that was delivered on July 4, NMP Director-General Jeremy R. Barns wrote: “....The monument, after technical assessment as well as consultation with its sculptor, has been found to require structural repair relative to its internal frame and foundation which, due primarily to exposure to the elements, has apparently weakened to a degree that prompts concerns on our part regarding its continued preservation and

integrity as well as of public safety should no action be taken.”

Gordon refuted Barns’ claim noting that the move would only be an “unnecessary expense.” He said: “The government did not spend on the Sentinel of Freedom. It was a gift by the Korean people. It does not appear that you have clear and definitive plans for the Lapu Lapu monument. Despite this, it appears that you commenced the destruction of the steps of the monument, thereby endangering its structural integrity. Thus, if the monument’s structural integrity had indeed been compromised, this is entirely your own doing.”

The former tourism chief and lawmaker said

the significance of the Lapu Lapu monument cannot be lost to our country. He said Lapu Lapu symbolizes the original struggle for independence by the Filipino people, from the time Lapu Lapu defeated an invading Magellan all the way to the execution of Rizal by the Spanish in Luneta in 1896, through the Philippine Revolution, the Philippine-American War, the Japanese War and the Korean War.

“Thus, Lapu Lapu, who comes from Visayas and Mindanao, and Rizal, who comes from Luzon, cannot be separated at the National Park. I would like to emphasize that the current location of the Lapu Lapu monument was carefully considered and deliberately chosen,” Gordon stressed.

D uring the presentation of his credentials to President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. in Malacañang, S outh Korean Ambassadordesignate Lee Sang-Hwa disclosed the planned visit of Yoon.

“H e [Yoon] really, really looks forward to visiting this...country, the Philippines,” Lee said during the event.

“If not this y ear, I’m sure sometime in the first half of next year as we mark our 75th [Philippine-South Korea relations] anniversary,” he added.

Mar cos, however, said he is eager to hold a bilateral meeting with Yoon during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in the United States in November.

“But after that [APEC Summit], I think both sides will now be able to plan better,” the Chief Executive said.

Areas for cooperation

ASIDE from Yoon, Lee said South Korean

H e also reiterated to the President of South Korea’s interests in the revival of the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant.

“We presented, submitted our proposal for a joint feasibility study [for the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant],” Lee said.

Marcos welcomed the possibility of strengthening the country’s already extensive cooperation with South Korea, which covers not only trade and investment, but also security and defense.

“I think w e can always look forward to a better future and stronger alliance,” the President said.

S outh Korea is Philippines’ fourth largest trading partner with trade between the two countries reaching $15.44 billion last year.

T he country also procures its military assets from South Korea, including two 2,600-ton multi-million frigates, 12 units of FA-50 aircrafts, and a Pohang-class corvette.

Rep. Co pushes RE tech in agri sector to

mitigate El Niño impact

ALEADER of the House of Representatives on Monday called for the utilization of renewable energy (RE) to help the agricultural sector mitigate the impacts of El Niño.

Ako Bicol Party-list Rep. Elizaldy Co, chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations, said it is necessary to take proactive measures to address the potential adverse effects of the weather phenomenon that is seen to bring hotter days ahead as it may affect rainfall patterns in various provinces that may result in decreased water supply or even drought.

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) earlier declared that El Niño is here in the country and that it may intensify in the coming months through the first quarter of 2024.

“Given the predictions from Pagasa, it is crucial that we take proactive measures to address the potential adverse effects of El Niño on our agricultural communities,” Co said.

For instance, he added, solar-powered water supply systems could help ascertain reliable access to clean water, especially in impoverished, far-flung, and upland communities.

He noted that solar-powered water supply

systems have proven successful in addressing the water needs of areas that require a sustainable and dependable water source.

The lawmaker said he is pursuing an innovative approach by collaborating with experts to implement solar-powered irrigation and “fertigation” systems in the Bicol Region.

Through this, he said, Bicol farmers would be provided with sustainable solutions to mitigate the impact of water scarcity and optimize agricultural practices.

“The proposed solar-powered irrigation facility, coupled with an advanced fertigation system, holds great promise in ensuring an uninterrupted and environmentally friendly water supply for our farmers,” said Co.

“We can harness the power of RE to ensure efficient water usage and enhance crop productivity in the Bicol Region. We can empower our farmers with sustainable and efficient methods to overcome the challenges posed by El Niño and maximize their agricultural output,” he added. By promoting responsible water management practices, adopting innovative technologies, and empowering communities, Co said the country could enhance its resilience and minimize the impact of El Niño on local farmers and their livelihoods.

Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz

₧105M in aid delivered to Mayon evacuees–PCO

THE government said at least P105

million worth of humanitarian aid was delivered to communities affected by the ongoing restiveness of Mayon Volcano, which started last month.

Citing the July 9, 2023 data of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) said the assistance benefited 38,376 individuals from 26 barangays in the Bicol Region.

Most of them are in 26 evacuation centers in Region 5, while the rest are living with their relatives,” PCO said in a post on its Facebook page last Monday.

It noted the funds used in helping the evacuees came from DSWD, local government units (LGU), non-governmental organizations (NGO) and other aid partners of the government.

T he amount can still increase as the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) retained the Alert Level 3 for Mayon Volcano as of Monday as it still showed signs of possible hazardous eruption.

Under the said aler t level, communities within the 6-kilometer radius of the volcano should remain evacuated.

Phiv olcs raised the alert level last month after registering an increase in rockfall events and earthquakes around the volcano. PCO assured the government still has P2 billion worth of relief resources, which can be used to help the affected evacuees.

Of which, P256,954,789.70 are quick response funds, while P1,799,694,154.02 are stockpiles of relief goods. Samuel P. Medenilla

Diesel

and kerosene

prices up, gas down at the pump starting today

OIL firms will implement mixed price adjustments for petroleum products this week.

For diesel and kerosene prices, an increase of P0.75 per liter and P0.50 per liter, respectively, will take effect at 6 a.m. of Tuesday, July 11.

Gasoline prices, meanwhile, will be slashed by P0.20 per liter on the same day.

T his was announced by Petron, Shell, Caltex, Seaoil, PTT, Phoenix, Total, and Unioil. Cleanfuel, meanwhile, will implement its price adjustment at 4:01 p.m.

Oil firms adjust their pump prices every week to reflect movements in the world oil market.

Last July 4, oil companies implemented a decrease of P0.70 per liter for both gasoline and diesel. Kerosene prices also went down by P0.85/liter. These price adjustments resulted in a year-to-date net decrease of P3.70/liter for diesel and P6.00/liter for kerosene. Gasoline, on the other hand, has a net increase of P5.85/liter.

Based on DOE monitoring during the

By Patrick V. Miguel

THE town of Carmona in Cavite is now officially a city after a total of 30,363 residents voted “yes” during a cityhood plebiscite on Saturday.

According to the board of canvassers, the total of yes votes was at about 96 percent, as 4 percent or 1,016 voters voted “no.”

“Carmona’s road to cityhood was not easy, considering that our small town did not fit the original criteria for cities set forth in the Section 450 of the Local Government Code,” Carmona City Mayor Dahlia A. Loyola told the BusinessMirror.

Section 450, or Requisites for Creation, of the Local Government Code indicates that a municipality may be converted into cityhood should the average annual income be at least P20 million.

In addition, Section 450 also requires that a municipality should either have a contiguous territory of 100 square meters, or a population of “not less than 150,000 inhabitants.”

In an email interview, Mayor Loyola said they have the “financial capability” to be a city, but were “limited by the standard on population and land area.”

With the passage of Republic Act No. 11683, or an act amending the criteria set in Section 450, Mayor Loyola said they were “given a chance” for Carmona’s cityhood.

Republic Act No. 11683 was approved after it lapsed into a law on April 10, 2022.

Following this, Congressman and

first week of July, the week-on-week price of Dubai crude has decreased by around $1.30 per barrel (bbl). MOPS (Mean of Platts Singapore) gasoline also decreased by about $2.05/bbl, diesel by $1.80/bbl, and kerosene by $1.90/bbl.

The local oil industry uses MOPS as benchmark for pricing of local products.

Before, the country uses Dubai crude. However, this translates to one to two months lag time in reflecting the cost of products as it entails three weeks of travel time and another week or two for refining the crude and transporting the products to the pump.

T he shift to MOPS was undertaken to become more responsive to the movements in the international market and local demand for fuel products. Basing price of products on MOPS will only entail five days for importation travel time and transfer to the pumps.

According to the DOE, there is a roughly P1 per liter increase or decrease in domestic oil price for every $3 change in MOPS.

Lenie Lectura

Meralco cuts July power rate on lower generation charge

By Lenie Lectura @llectura

ELECTRICITY rates for July will go down by P0.7213 per kilowatt hour (kWh) to P11.1899 per kWh, the Manila Electric Company (Meralco) announced on Monday.

For residential customers consuming 200 kWh, the adjustment is equivalent to a decrease of around P144 in their total electricity bill.

Meralco attributed the decline to the lower generation charge of P6.6066 per kWh this July from P7.2502 per kWh in June. Generation charge makes up bulk of the electricity rates.

former Mayor of Carmona Roy M. Loyola authored House Bill 3968, an act converting the municipality of Carmona as a city.

The bill was eventually approved by the Senate committee on local government last September.

According to Mayor Loyola, their journey to cityhood “has been a long and substantial one,” as it took them 12 years to convert Carmona into a city.

“It feels surreal, and I only have nothing but heartfelt gratitude to everyone who dreamed and shared this journey with us,” she said.

What’s next for Carmona City?

Mayor Loyola said they are expecting an increase in their budget, as Carmona City will be entitled to a greater share from the National Tax Allotment (NTA).

She added that they would “no longer” have to remit any portion of their income to the provincial government.

“The local government is empowered to ensure provision of faster, better, and accelerated programs and services for all sectors of our community,” Mayor Loyola said.

In addition, Mayor Loyola said he is eyeing Carmona City to be a “competitive and business-friendly” city to match other progressive cities in the country.

“We are hoping that this will increase our marketability and allow us to attract major investments, which in turn will yield us more revenues and economic opportunities that will translate to improved and enhanced services for our people,” the Carmona City mayor said.

Charges from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM) went down by P2.6597 per kWh as demand decreased amid the onset of the rainy season. Lower spot market prices reduced the imposition of the secondary price cap to only 9.21 percent of the time from 28.28 percent. WESM share was

higher this June supply month, accounting for around 15 percent of Meralco’s total energy requirement.

Charges from Power Supply Agreements (PSAs) and Independent Power Producers (IPP) also went down by P0.3915 and P0.4658 per kWh, respectively, mainly due to lower coal prices. Also contributing to the reduction was peso appreciation, which affected 20 percent of PSA and 97 percent of IPP costs. PSAs share for this period was 48 percent, while IPPs share was 37 percent.

Transmission and other charges, which include taxes and subsidies, also registered a net reduction of P0.0777 per kWh.

Collection of the Feed-In Tariff Allowance (FIT-All), meanwhile, remains suspended until the August billing month, as directed by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC).

Pass-through charges for generation and transmission are paid by Meralco to the power suppliers and

Govt distributes ‘Malusog’ rice seeds to 7 provinces

THE Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) distributed “Malusog” rice seeds to seven provinces in seven regions for their nutrition program. Department of Agriculture (DA) Undersecretary for Rice Program Leo Sebastian said.

In a news statement, Sebastian said the seven provinces that have initially planted vitamin A-rich Malusog rice seeds are: Quirino in Region 2; Catanduanes in Region 5; Antique in Region 6; Samar in Region 8; Lanao del Norte in Region 10; Agusan del Sur in Region 9; and Maguindanao in Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

He also asked PhilRice to eventually urge the local government units (LGUs) to get into farm clustering of 100 hectares each so these rice-producing provinces can participate in the overall Masagana Rice Industry Development Program (MRIDP) where all interventions will be given.

“The provinces were selected on the basis of: 1) prevalence of malnutrition; 2) rice production data and 3) support from LGUs,” Sebastian added.

Moreover, the PhilRice has started planting Malusog rice during the wet season

crop of 2022 in 38 hectares increasing it to 47 hectares during the dry season crop of 2023 and further raising the planted area to 200 hectares during this wet season.

For his part, PhilRice program head Ronan Zagado said that the highest yield attained during the dry season was 8.3 tons per hectare in Isabela.

Malusog rice is one of the new varieties released by the National Seed Industry Council, which PhilRice is now propagating initially for the identified seven provinces but would soon be deployed to other provinces under the overall DA MRIDP.

Malusog rice is a new variety of rice with a significant amount of beta carotene, which when regularly consumed as a staple can provide at least 30 percent of the estimated average requirement for vitamin A.

This beta carotene, similar to what is found in orange-colored fruits and vegetables, is converted to Vitamin A needed by the body.

Furthermore, the rice is intended to complement existing nutrition interventions to address vitamin A deficiency, a public health problem affecting children and pregnant and lactating women.

Raadee S. Sausa

Water Scarcity leads to water interruption

agriculture is globally responsible for the bulk of water consumption (up to 85 percent of the Philippines’ water demand comes from agriculture. Industry and the domestic sector are the next largest water consumers). Due to the annual increase of food demand, water demand is expected to double within the next 50 years.

Ways of overcoming this problem may be the increased use and treatment of rainwater, wastewater and the desalination of seawater. The latter, however, is a financially and energetically very complex procedure. Far simpler solutions may generally be seen in the field of saving water, raising public awareness of this precious finite commodity and in political framework concerning management and distribution of water.

By Henry J. Schumacher

THE information about water interruptions this week and the ongoing El Niño phenomenon reminds me of articles I wrote in 2015 about water scarcity and what should be done about it.

Although more and more people are consuming much more water, domestic water consumption is not the biggest problem. Regarding the different consumer sectors,

The worst-case scenario predicted is a water crisis in the Philippines by 2025. This prediction by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) identified Metro Manila, Metro Cebu, Baguio, Angeles and Davao as among those to be worst hit by a severe water shortage by 2025.

With this kind of scenario in 2015, my question is: What has been done since then by government and the private sector to address this danger?

Have government, water utilities and private business firms discussed issues such as increasing sustainable access to water supply, water security, conservation, water management and the perspective of the leading water users, especially agriculture that accounts for up to 85 percent of the freshwater used in the Philippines every year?

In March 2015, the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) urged the public to conserve water in the face of the El Niño phenomenon that might cause water shortages. Among the water conservation measures for households being encouraged by the MWSS include using a pail and dipper instead of the shower; turning-off the tap while washing, shaving or brushing teeth; not thawing frozen food under a running tap; watering plants or lawns during cooler parts of the day and regularly checking water pipes for leaks.

Individuals can start their conservation efforts by realizing freshwater is a finite resource that will one day be in dangerously short supply if wasted on needless activities such as watering house plants daily or washing cars with too much water.

In addition, the government and the private sector should work more

the grid operator, respectively; while taxes, universal charges, and FIT-All are all remitted to the government.

Meralco’s distribution charge,

meanwhile, has not moved since the P0.0360 per kWh reduction for a typical residential customer beginning August 2022

closely together to tackle the more pressing challenges to ensure future freshwater water supplies. Among these major challenges are privatizing other government-owned water utilities using improved versions of the public-private partnership model adopted in the Manila Water and Maynilad privatizations.

In 2011, it was suggested to create the National Water Resources Management Office (MWRMO), which would be under the Office of the President and would absorb all the economic regulation functions of agencies in the water supply sector. It would be responsible for management and protection of water resources for domestic water supply; irrigation; fisheries; hydropower; sanitation; aquaculture; flood control; navigation and recreation and control of water pollution and environmental restoration. Has it ever been established?

Let us realize that the hardest hit by a life-threatening water crisis will be the poor. It is therefore essential that the government and the private sector (and we as individuals) address water conservation and avoid the JICA prediction for 2025. am interested in your views; contact me at hjschumacher59@gmail.com

More ‘opportunities’ await Carmona, Cavite as PHL’s newest city–mayor

UN chief: Sudan on the brink of ‘full-scale civil war’ after nearly 3 months of fighting

By Samy Magdy The Associated Press

CAIRO—UN Secretary-General

Antonio Guterres said Sudan is on the brink of a “full-scale civil war” as fierce clashes between rival generals continued unabated Sunday in the capital of Khartoum.

Guterres warned late Saturday that the war between the Sudanese military and a powerful paramilitary force is likely to destabilize the entire region, according to Farhan Haq, deputy spokesperson for the UN chief.

Sudan descended into chaos after months of tension between military chief Gen. Abdel-Fattah

NEW YORK—Heavy rain spawned extreme flooding in New York’s Hudson Valley that killed at least one person, swamped roadways and forced road closures on Sunday night, as much of the rest of the

Burhan and his rival, Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, commander of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), exploded into open fighting in mid-April.

Health Minister Haitham Mohammed Ibrahim said last month that the clashes have killed over 3,000 people and wounded over 6,000 others. The death tally,

Northeast US geared up for a major storm. Rescue teams were attempting to retrieve the body of a woman in her 30s who drowned after being swept away while trying to evacuate her home. Two other people escaped.

however, is highly likely to be much higher, he said. More than 2.9 million people have fled their homes to safer areas inside Sudan or crossed into neighboring countries, according to UN figures.

The fighting began 18 months after the two generals led a military coup in October 2021 that toppled a Western-backed civilian transition government. The coup and ensuing conflict dashed Sudanese hopes of a peaceful shift to democracy after a popular uprising forced the military removal of longtime autocrat Omar al-Bashir in April 2019.

The war has turned the capital Khartoum and other urban areas across the country into battlefields.

Residents in Khartoum said fierce fighting was underway early Sunday south of the capital. The warring factions were

The force of the flash flooding dislodged boulders, which rammed the woman’s house and damaged part of its wall, Orange County Executive Steven Neuhaus told The Associated Press.

using heavy weapons in battles in the Kalaka neighborhood and the military’s aircraft were seen hovering over the area, said resident Abdalla al-Fatih.

In his statement, Guterres also condemned an airstrike Saturday that health authorities said killed at least 22 people in Omdurman, a city just across the Nile from Khartoum. The assault was one of the deadliest in the conflict so far.

The RSF blamed the military for the attack in Omdurman. The military denied the accusation, saying in a statement Sunday that its air force didn’t carry out any airstrikes in the city Saturday.

The secretary-general also decried the large-scale violence and casualties in the western region of Darfur, which has experienced some of the worst fighting in the ongoing conflict, Haq said in a statement.

“Her house was completely surrounded by water. The family tried to escape,” he said.

“She was trying to get through (the flooding) with her dog,” he added, “and she was overwhelmed by tidal-wave type waves.”

The extent of the destruction won’t be known until after sunrise, as residents and officials begin surveying the damage. But officials said the storm had already wrought tens of millions of dollars in damage.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul confirmed to WCBS radio that several people were missing and one home had been washed away.

The rains have hit some parts of New York harder than others, but officials said communities to the east of the state should brace for torrential rains and possible flash flooding.

Officials urged residents in the line of the storm to stay off the roads.

“The amount of water is extraordinary and it’s still a very dangerous situation,” Hochul said.

“We’ll get through this,” she said, but added that “it’s going to be a rough night.”

The governor declared a state of emergency Sunday for Orange County, about 60 miles (96 kilometers) north of New York City, where about 8 inches (20 centimeters) of rain poured down. She later extended the state of emergency to Ontario County in western New York, southeast of Rochester.

“We are in close communication with local officials and state agencies are participating in search and rescue efforts,” she said.

The state deployed five swift-water rescue teams and a high-axle vehicle to help with rescues in flooded areas.

Some video posted on social media showed the extent of flooding, with streams of brown-colored torrents rushing right next to homes.

West Point, home to the US Military Academy, was severely flooded. Officials worry that some historic buildings might have water damage.

The National Weather Service (NWS) issued flash flood warnings across parts of southeastern New York, describing it as “life threatening,” as well as warnings in northeastern New Jersey.

By Monday, “a considerable flood threat with a high risk of excessive rainfall is expected across much of New England,” NWS said in a tweet. Intense rain may be especially strong in Vermont and northeastern New York.

Showers and thunderstorms were also expected in New York City Sunday night and may lead to flash flooding, the National Weather Service New York tweeted.

The city’s emergency notification system tweeted that the heavy rain could cause “life-threatening flooding to basements” and instructed residents to “prepare now to move to higher ground if needed.”

State Route 9W was flooded, and the Palisades Interstate Parkway became so drenched that parts of it were closed, the New York State Police said in a statement.

“There is an utter disregard for humanitarian and human rights law, that is dangerous and disturbing,” Guterres said.

UN officials have said the violence in the region has recently taken on an ethnic dimension, with the RSF and Arab militias reportedly targeting non-Arab tribes in Darfur, a sprawling region consisting of five provinces. Last month, the governor of Darfur, Mini Arko Minawi, said the region was sliding back to its past genocide, referring to the conflict that engulfed the region in the early 2000s.

Entire towns and villages in West Darfur province were overrun by the RSF and their allied militias, forcing tens of thousands of residents to flee to neighboring Chad. Activists have reported many residents killed, women and girls raped, and properties looted and burned to the ground.

There were clashes between the military and the RSF elsewhere in Sudan on Sunday, including the province of North Kordofan, South Kordofan, and Blue Nile.

Egypt, meanwhile, said it will host a meeting on Thursday for Sudan’s neighboring countries. The gathering aims at establishing “effective mechanisms” to help find a peaceful settlement to the conflict in coordination with other international and regional efforts, Ahmed Fahmy, spokesman for Egypt’s presidency, said in a statement.

Fahmy provided no further details on the gathering.

The efforts come as talks between warring factions in the Saudi Arabian coastal city of Jeddah repeatedly failed to stop the fighting. The Jeddah talks were brokered by Saudi Arabia and the United States.

Millions of Chinese staying home hold back Southeast Asian growth

By Yihui Xie

SOUTHEAST Asian nations that were counting on Chinese travelers to drive tourism revenues and their economies post-Covid are finding the flow of visitors far from the flood they were hoping for.

China’s slower-than-expected economic recovery has left its population more hesitant to spend money heading abroad. The result: the number of Chinese arrivals in five Southeast Asian countries varied between 14 percent and 39 percent in May compared to the 2019 numbers, latest official data compiled by Bloomberg News show.

The visitor statistics suggest that Southeast Asia’s economic recovery this year will be muted, amid a dimming global growth outlook from tighter monetary policies and China’s faltering growth momentum.

Although Thailand, among the most tourism-reliant economies in the region, is benefitting from a rebound in post-pandemic travel demand, Chinese visitor arrivals are expected to miss the original official seven million target for 2023 by at least two million. The nation’s gross domestic product forecast for this year was cut by Nomura Holdings Inc. economists to 3.4 percent from the previously seen 4 percent on lower-than-expected tourism spending.

Bali, one of the most popular holiday destinations that accounts for the bulk of Indonesia’s total foreign visitors, saw demand for luxury hotels drop in the JanuaryMay period amid a substantial decline in tourists from China, according to securities firm PT Bahana Sekuritas.

Even Singapore, which had credited the travel boom for ruling out a recession this year, has seen numbers disappoint. Chinese visitors during January to May totaled 310,901, compared to 1.55 million in the same period in 2019, according to data from the city-state’s tourism board.

Southeast Asia isn’t alone in hosting fewer Chinese visitors. Japan, too, is experiencing a lower turnout of Chinese travelers compared to pre-pandemic years. Still, the Asian nation is seeing a new group of shoppers that are replacing the once-dominant mainland spenders.

Retail giant Takashimaya said recently that non-Chinese tourists

accounted for almost 70 percent of its total sales between March and May from tourists, compared with just 20 percent during prepandemic days.

That trend is a cue for Southeast Asian nations, including Malaysia, which went all out to woo Chinese travelers this year, to diversify their target markets and end their reliance on visitors from the world’s second-biggest economy.

Summer tour bookings by Chinese for Southeast Asian destinations do not have significant improvements from the first half of the year, said Qiu, a Guangzhoubased employee of GZTC International Tour Company, who asked to use only one name citing rules against speaking to the media. Even the most popular destinations, such as Singapore and Malaysia, only saw about 30 percent of the pre-pandemic demand during the summer holiday, while others including Thailand were at 10 percent, he said.

A slower increase in flight capacity has also been a drag on tourism recovery. Flight capacity between China and the region is improving, but most routes are still well below pre-pandemic levels—with Singapore being the outlier, data from aviation analytics company Cirium shows.

Lack of tour groups also contributed to the slow pace of recovery, according to Bloomberg Intelligence’s Eric Zhu. In the first quarter of this year, only 1.6 percent of Chinese traveling in tour groups went overseas, down from 30 percent from the same period in 2019, data from the Ministry of Tourism and Culture showed.

However, countries and industry observers are optimistic that Chinese tourists will hit the road in the latter half of the year. While current figures are modest, Singapore looks forward to the continued growth in Chinese visitor arrivals, a spokesperson for its tourism board said.

“It is still early days yet since China’s reopening,” said Selena Ling, chief economist at OverseaChinese Banking Co. “I’m hopeful that the Chinese visitor numbers will improve into the second half of 2023.” With assistance from Yudith Ho, Suttinee Yuvejwattana, Nguyen

Xuan Quynh, Kevin Varley, Grace Sihombing, Claire Jiao, Danny Lee, Daniela Wei, Momoka Yokoyama, Ram Anand and Ravil Shirodkar/ Bloomberg

‘Life threatening’ flooding overwhelms New York roadways, killing 1 person

MAP head Du-Baladad calls for concrete steps to reverse unfolding education ‘crisis’ in PHL

By Andrea E. San Juan @andreasanjuan

for students under this program.

The lifespan of EDCOM II is three years but actions are already being taken through the proposal of laws, and recommendations for enabling policies and reforms. Among these is House Bill No [HBN] 7370, which provides for independent councils that will recommend to the government the skills and jobs that are in step with the developments in the industries. Another significant one is the Senate Bill No. [SBN] 2029 and SBN 1754, both seeking to improve the early childhood care in the Philippines as child stunting is one of the causes of poorer cognitive development,” the MAP head stressed.

This situation is a crisis waiting to happen and the consequence will put our competitiveness and national growth on the line. Education is critical to innovations and inventions, and [with the absence of] these two, our development will stagnate and so will our progress,” MAP President Benedicta Du-Baladad said in a news statement issued on Monday.

T he business group said it believes that easing the education crisis should be one of the c ountry’s top priorities especially in an age where employment is transforming from traditional to digital. With this transition, MAP said, keeping students in school is a “major challenge.”

D u-Baladad emphasized that prior to the pandemic, Filipino students are already lowest in reading and second to lowest in Math and Science, according to the PISA 2018 results.

T he MAP chief added this even worsened during the pandemic because the lockdowns stopped physical attendance, with the system shifting to online distance learning mechanisms.

D u-Baladad also noted the lack of supervision that teachers do onsite contributed to further deterioration. She noted this “negatively” impacts the quality of education and graduates produced by the educational institutions.

With this, the head of MAP recognized the key education reforms relevant to addressing the education crisis in the country. Apart from these, Du-Baladad also cited the

business group’s recommendations moving forward, including a system that will qualify a student for better job opportunities through a n ational certification program.

Meanwhile, she noted the Republic Act 11899 or the Second Congressional Commission on Education II Act, which created the EDCOM II to address the education crisis, look at the entire system, and come up with targeted and measurable reforms— “could not have come at an opportune time.” The MAP head also noted that a public-private partnership in education is an idea whose time is “ripe.”

The Senate and House of Representatives passed their respective measures setting up Edcom II on May 23, 2022, and the consolidated bill lapsed into law—Republic A ct or RA 11899—last July 23.

E dcom II is tasked to set “specific, targeted, measurable and t ime-bound solutions” aimed at developing a “more holistic, harmonized and coordinated education ecosystem.”

Moreover, Du-Baladad said a system for micro credentialing should be created “in such a way that a national certification program will qualify a student for better job opportunities and higher wages.”

I n line with this micro-credentialing system, she mentioned a relevant law which can be a “significant step” to tackle issue on providing better opportunities, the Batang Magaling Act, which she said was filed to seek the reform of the senior high school system in the country, “embedding” national certification

Meanwhile, Du-Baladad said there is a need for effective and efficient management of public schools to streamline operations, remove duplications, improve the ratio of employees and administrators and be proficient in fiscal management.

L ikewise, she said the local government units (LGUs) must also “actively” participate in monitoring results of student performance by providing the Department of Education (DepEd) with “timely” information on the issues of delivering education.

Further, the MAP head said the programs of Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) should be redesigned to be “more future-oriented.”

That means being updated to the technological advancement of the industries and training the teachers and trainors to look at how they can prepare the students proactively through innovative delivery, instead of a highly structured one,” Du-Baladad said.

She also stressed that the time has come for a public-private partnership in education, as this collaboration is “indispensable” in creating a work force that is skilled and ready to actively engage.

“After all, one of education’s primary reasons for being is to ensure that its graduates are adequately prepared for gainful employment or for enterprise building. As the biggest ‘consumers’ of these graduates, we are all too willing to do our share in preparing them to be productive and competitive, or do business with them in t he future,” Du-Baladad said.

DTI garners P73.75-B investment leads from Europe trip—Pascual

THE Europe Investment Roadshow led by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has resulted in P73.75 billion worth of investment leads, with renewable energy and IT and Business Process Management (IT-BPM) sectors receiving the larger share in the investment pie. Following the three-week trip of the Philippine delegation to Europe, particularly in France, United Kingdom, Belgium, The Netherlands, and Germany, to lure more investments into the country, Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Secretary Alfredo E. Pascual reported that the team has clinched P73.75 billion worth of investment leads.

In a statement released by the DTI on Monday, Pascual explained that the P73.75billion investment leads figure is equivalent to 16 “positive” investment leads. He also unveiled the breakdown of the sectors of these projects.

The trade chief said six projects are in the renewable energy (RE) sector, six are in the ITBPM sector, particularly four on the establishment and expansion of global business centers and shared services in IT solutions for cybersecurity and one lead in game development; while two are in manufacturing, and one in

construction services; and, one in acquisition.

However, he said the three-week investment trip of the Philippine delegation to Europe generated 48 project investment leads.

Out of these 48 leads, the trade chief said 14 are in the area of manufacturing and related services such as in training and Integrated Circuit (IC) Design; 16 are in the area of IT-BPM such as Global Businesses Services/Shared Services Centers, Healthcare Information and Management Services, Clinical Research/Trials, IT solutions for cybersecurity and game development; 15 are in the area of RE, particularly in onshore/offshore shore wind, solar, and hydrogen; and three in infrastructure and construction related services.

Meanwhile, BOI Managing Head Ceferino S. Rodolfo divulged that among the infrastructure-related investments secured from the roadshow is a tunnel boring machine, an equipment which will be used to complete the Metro Manila Subway Project.

Rodolfo, meanwhile, explained to reporters that while there were 48 projects as investment leads, the 16 projects “‘yun lang ‘yung merong numbers. Ibig sabihin, pag may

number, mayroon na talagang due diligence na ginawa ‘yung mga companies.”

Pascual said while the 32 remaining projects have not yet presented investment figures unlike the 16 leads, these projects have already expressed interest in investing.

Meanwhile, the trade chief explained the timetable of the investment leads that the Philippine delegation secured from the three-week investment trip in Europe, if not all, will “come to fruition” within the next five years.

Pascual illustrated the process that the investments go through, saying that before they come to fruition, these investments would have to go through “initial studies.”

He cited an RE project and investments related to manufacturing as an example.  “Nagulat ako kausap ko yung mga may renewable project nakita ko ’yung timetable nila, naku kasi ano palang pagpasok nila dito meron sila of course initial studies galing sa World Bank in terms of wind resources kung offshore wind ’yan but they will have to confirm that. So they’ll have to commission studies kasi malaking investment yan,” Pascual explained.  Andrea E. San Juan

THE Management Association of the Philippines (MAP) is calling on all sectors to help reverse the unfolding education “crisis,” warning that failure to do so may put the country’s competitiveness and national growth on the line.

editorial

Protect yourself from online fraud

The Internet has benefited the world by connecting users to valuable online information. No matter where you are, as long as you have Internet access, you can learn anything you need to know in an instant. however, the increasing use of the Internet also makes it easier for scammers to trick people into giving away their money.

Internet scamming has become a global problem, with criminals operating from various countries across the world. An Analytics Insight article listed the Philippines as one of the “top 10 Internet scamming countries in the world in 2023.” Filipino scammers are reportedly known for carrying out various forms of scams, including romance scams, investment scams, and employment scams, like what the recently raided POGOs were doing. The other countries in the list are Nigeria, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Romania, Russia, South Africa, Ukraine, and the United States.

According to Statista, e-commerce losses to online fraud were estimated at $41 billion globally in 2022. The figure is expected to grow to $48 billion in 2023.

The US Federal Trade Commission said Americans reported losing nearly $8.8 billion to fraud in 2022. The FTC received 2.4 million complaints last year from citizens who reported losing more money to investment scams—$3.8 billion—than any other online fraud.

In the Philippines, the Securities and Exchange Commission recently issued a warning against a new online scam, advising the public against investing in Dairy Farmers of America Inc. (DFA), an entity that is impersonating a dairy cooperative based in the US. The SEC said the real Dairy Farmers of America is a farmer-owned milk marketing cooperative and dairy processor based in the state of Kansas. (Read, “SEC warns public against investing in fake dairy co-op,” in the BusinessMirror, July 7, 2023).

The SEC said the fraudulent Dairy Farmers of America Inc. is using the web site dfacow.com and is being promoted on Facebook and YouTube by the following accounts: Mariana Canoy TV, DFA Investments, and Mariana Canoy YouTube channel.

The fake DFA promises that investments will be used to buy cattle to be raised for milking purposes where the profits from the sale of the milk are to be given to those who invest. Prospective investors are required to sign up on DFA’s web site sent by an upline together with his referral link. Upon signing up, the investors are required to deposit money to the DFA app to be used in the project. In return, investors are promised guaranteed returns from as low as 3 percent to as high as 66 percent for investments ranging from P100 to P10,000, which they will receive in 30 days.

If an online investment opportunity looks too good to be true, think twice and double-check things. Be sure to check whether a web site is a scam web site or a legit web site. Go to scamadviser.com, which rates a web site automatically by looking at where the server of the web site is located, its SSL certificate, who owns the domain name, and other public and private sources.

There are other tools available online to help you know if you are being scammed. Every piece of information that someone shares with you online can be checked, including web site links, e-mail addresses, phone numbers, and company information.

Don’t trust unexpected contact, and resist demands to act quickly. Online scammers work hard to appear trustworthy, and it’s good to do some research before you grab an opportunity on the Internet. You have the power to protect yourself and your hard-earned money from online scams.

Long-term solution to El Niño

Guterres has called on the world to safeguard water resources to avert conflict and ensure future global prosperity. Water, he says, is “the most precious common good” and “needs to be at the center of the global political agenda.”

The el Niño phenomenon, or a period of extended drought, is one climate change problem that needs a long-term solution. It is occurring more often and could have permanent and damaging effects if we do not treat it as a persistent economic threat.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. last week was quick to recognize that crop production would bear the brunt of the El Niño phenomenon that might last until the first half of 2024. Reduced crop output, as we know, leads to higher inflation, which the government is starting to tame. But worse than the inflationary impact is the ensuing dire situation of our rural farmers, who mostly rely on harvests and their income from them for their daily sustenance.

Another obvious impact of the extended dry spell is the reduced supply of potable water to millions of Filipino consumers in urban centers and the rural areas. The lack of ample water supply is actually an age-long problem worldwide even without El Niño, and climate change is exacerbating the situation.

Some 11 million families, per the National Water Resource Board, face

the predicament and are forced to rely on “unprotected” deep wells, springs, rivers, lakes and rainwater for their household needs. Lack of sanitation facilities, according to NWRB Executive Director Dr. Sevillo David Jr., has also forced some families to defecate in the open, risking water contamination and diseases.

The United Nations, meanwhile, is not remiss in warning about the global water shortage. The United Nations, in the latest edition of the UN World Water Development Report, says between two and three billion people worldwide experience water shortages. About 2 billion people (26 percent of the population) do not have safe drinking water, and 3.6 billion (46 percent) lack access to safely managed sanitation, according to the report.

UN Secretary-General Antonio

The El Niño is a reminder to our policymakers to treat the water resource problem more seriously.

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration has already warned some 36 provinces may experience a dry spell while at least two provinces may suffer from drought.

The weather phenomenon has reared its ugly head this early. The water levels in all major dams in Luzon have been going down, with Angat Dam’s reserve nearing the 180-meter critical level as of last week. A reserve below this elevation means reduced water supply to Metro Manila and other users that depend on Angat, including irrigation and the power sector.

The Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System has warned an estimated 632,000 Metro Manila households may be affected by water service interruptions arising from low allocation and lack of rain over the watersheds.

The lower water level due to El Niño and reduced rainfall are expected to decrease the volume of other water resources such as lakes and rivers that feed into rural irrigation

‘No-brainers’ in ‘brainer’ market

John Mangun

OuTSIDE THE BOX

DurINg 40 years of market trading, I learned a truth. The “fat and the lazy” are never able to make profits outside of a “nobrainer” market.

“Fat and the lazy” has nothing to do with body weight or exercise habits. It has everything to do with possessing the character to frequently enlarge one’s “comfort zone” and the capability to adapt.

From the bottom in 2009 (PSEi 1825) to the top (PSEi 8764) in 2018, the Philippine Stock Exchange had a great ride. Many found the stock market for the first time, and many made money buying Initial Public Offering shares, the “rocket-chips,” and every hot tip that came from the gurus who suddenly appeared like mosquitoes on a hot, humid night.

PSE Inc. had a profitable time too. In 2010, revenues were P822 million, and the Earnings Per Share amounted to P6.83 with the share price closing at P152 from the 2008 close at P56.25. By end 2013, revenues topped P1.5 billion and the

EPS hit P11.53. As of year-end 2022, revenues were high at P1.6 billion and EPS ended at P9.11.

Maybe a better indication is from the financials of listed stockbroker COL Financial Group Inc. The stock price has gone from P1.10 to the current P3.00 after the monthly closing high in 2021 at P4.40. The 2018 EPS was P1.08. The 2022 EPS was P0.05.

Now, since the “PSE Fiesta” ended, squealing from all the previous stock market “geniuses” is reaching to the heavens. “Why isn’t the market up?” “Why is the volume low?” “Why does the Stock Market gods hate me?” Hint. The Stock Market gods do nothing except drink expensive champagne, eat luxurious appetizers, and sit laughing at us, investors.

Once again, stock price and volume are determined only by the Buyers, not the Sellers. Every morn-

ing thousands of department store employees at SM, Robinsons, Metro, and all the other malls wait for Buyers just like at the stock market. No buyers means no business, just like on the PSE.

I am told that the reason the PSE is a ghost town is because traders/ investors have been disillusioned by “Calata, Abra, and other high flyers back then by pump and dump.” I suppose we could go back even further to BW Resources during the Estrada presidency. Maybe we should blame the Filipino equivalent of Enron’s “cook-the-books” accounting fraud of Victorias Milling.

The answer is much simpler. You buy a stock for only one reason: because you believe the price will be higher tomorrow and the day after the day after that. You sell for many reasons—cash for a new car, a vacation, tired of waiting for a profit, tired of holding a paper loss, among countless other “justifications.”

Therefore, a Buyer asks the question: “Do I believe the price will be higher tomorrow?” If not, then no buying and the result is no price movement higher and no volume.

Combine that with normal Selling and “Welcome to the 2023 PSE.”

Except this is the point. PSE from 2009 to 2018 was a “No-Brainer” market. But the “No-Brainers” always stay in, doing the same thing

canals. Our farmers, no doubt, will suffer the most from the dry spell.

Perhaps, we should take the warning of the UN’s World Meteorological Organization more seriously. The onset of El Niño, according to WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas, will greatly increase the likelihood of breaking temperature records this year and triggering more extreme heat in many parts of the world and in the ocean.

“The declaration of an El Niño by WMO is the signal to governments around the world to mobilize preparations to limit the impacts on our health, our ecosystems, and our economies,” says Taalas. Our local government units should be drawing up mitigating measures now to lessen the impact of the dry spell on consumers and our farmers. But beyond these stopgap actions, our policymakers should start considering long-term preemptive measures against El Niño and other natural disasters. It may be wise to consider the construction of alternative and mini dams, and other water impoundments to protect Filipinos from destructive weather phenomena. We can also introduce modern technology to our farmers, and droughttolerant crops as part of the solution.

For comments, send e-mail to mbv_secretariat@vistaland.com.ph or visit www.mannyvillar.com.ph

that made them money in a basic one-direction market, having learned little particularly about enlarging one’s “comfort zone” and increasing their capability to adapt.

Those that did learn made fortunes trading the strong volatile swings from January 2020 to now. The PSEi was at 5740 in September 2022 and rose to 7040 in January 2023. Even now, profits can be squeezed out by the Brainers.

A person on our Facebook group “PSE for Seniors” put everything in perspective with this truly enlightened comment. “Hope to overcome fear of PSE.” At our upcoming seminar, I will answer this lady’s concern.

During the lockdowns, literally millions of Filipinos faced their personal financial disaster by taking the enormous challenge to “enlarge one’s “comfort zone” and the capability to adapt.” They took the terrible cards they were dealt and still won.

No one should ever say that stock market investing is for everyone. But everyone that does invest should treat it like a business that requires time and effort. Otherwise, buy Lotto tickets until the next “No-Brainer” market starts again.

E-mail me at mangun@gmail.com.

THE EnTrEprEnEur Manny B. Villar

South Korea’s Yoon pushes for strong resolve against North’s nuclear ambitions at Nato summit

By Hyung-Jin Kim | The Associated Press

SEOUL, South Korea—South Korea’s president says it’s time to clearly demonstrate strong international resolve to deter North Korea’s nuclear ambitions, and he plans to discuss how to cope with the North’s expanding weapons arsenal with North Atlantic Treaty Organization (Nato) leaders this week.

Yoon Suk Yeol will attend the annual Nato summit being held this year in Vilnius, Lithuania, on Tuesday and Wednesday as part of a two-nation trip that includes a stop in Poland.

“Now is the time to clearly demonstrate that the international community’s determination to deter North Korea’s nuclear weapons program is stronger than North Korea’s desire to develop nuclear weapons,” he said.

It’s the second consecutive year that Yoon will take part in the summit, underscoring his push to deepen ties with the world’s biggest military alliance. South Korea faces a mix of security challenges, including North Korea’s nuclear program and the USChina strategic rivalry. Last year, he became the first South Korean leader to attend a Nato summit when he took part in Spain.

In written responses to questions from The Associated Press ahead of his departure, Yoon said South Korea will stress at the Nato meeting the importance of international cooperation against “North Korea’s illegal acts.” He also said a new Nato-South Korean document will take effect at the summit to institutionalize cooperation in 11 areas, including non-proliferation and cybersecurity.

North Korea’s headlong pursuit of reliable nuclear weapons has taken on new urgency after it test flew more than 100 missiles and openly threatened to use nuclear weapons in potential conflicts with South Korea and the United States since the start of last year.

Whether North Korea possesses functioning nuclear missiles is still a source of debate. But according to a South Korean government estimate in 2018, North Korea already had up to 60 nuclear warheads. Experts say North Korea is able to add six to 18 new warheads every year.

In response to North Korea’s missile tests, Yoon, a conservative who took office in 2022, took steps to beef up his country’s own missile capability and expand military drills with the United States. Yoon and President Joe Biden in April announced plans to reinforce their countries’ deterrence capabilities, such as the periodic docking of a US nuclear-armed submarine in South Korea and the establishment of a new bilateral nuclear consultative group, whose inaugural meeting is slated for next week in Seoul.

In its typical, fiery rhetoric, North Korea’s Defense Ministry warned Monday the deployment of the US submarine may incite “the worst crisis of nuclear conflict in practice.”

It also threatened to shoot down US spy planes. South Korea’s military countered it maintains a readiness to repel potential North Korean provocations.

Yoon’s discussion of North Korea with Nato leaders could trigger a backlash from North Korea, which has called increasing cooperation between Nato and US allies in Asia a process to create an “Asian version of Nato” that it said will raise regional animosities.

North Korea argues its weapons testing spree was meant to issue a warning over the expanded South Korean-US military drills that it views as invasion rehearsals. Yoon says he wants to opt for peace through strength, though he remains open to dialogue with North Korea.

“Peace is never as certain and reliable as when it is backed by powerful

force and deterrence,” Yoon added.

“Strong international sanctions against North Korea have the effect of preventing the advancement of its nuclear and missile capabilities.”

In Vilnius, Yoon said that there will be “several opportunities” for him to speak with Biden over a range of topics, such as the strengthening of the US security commitment and the expansion of trilateral security cooperation between Seoul, Washington and Tokyo.

Yoon said he and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida also plan to hold a bilateral meeting there. He said he and Kishida will be able to discuss the advancement of bilateral relations but also ways to expand mutual solidarity and international cooperation.

Relations between South Korea and Japan have improved significantly in recent months, with Yoon taking a major step toward resolving a thorny dispute over Japan’s colonial-era mobilization of forced Korean laborers. The Yoon-Kishida meeting in Vilnius is expected to touch upon Japan’s contentious plan to release treated wastewater from the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant, which was recently approved by the UN nuclear watchdog but is still opposed by many in neighboring countries.

During the summit in Vilnius, Nato leaders are expected to offer more help in modernizing Ukraine’s armed forces as the Russian invasion of the country continues with no end in sight. They are also expected to create a high-level forum for consultations and reaffirm that Ukraine will join their alliance one day.

Yoon said South Korea has provided humanitarian and financial support to Ukraine in a variety of forms and that supplies of de-mining equipment, ambulances and other materials “are in the works” following a request from Ukraine. He said South Korea has also already provided support to repair the damaged Kakhovka Dam in Ukraine.

South Korea, a growing arms exporter, has avoided directly providing arms to Ukraine in line with its long-standing policy of not supplying weapons to countries actively engaged in conflict. Leaked US intelligence documents posted online earlier this year indicated that South Korea’s National Security Council “grappled” with the US in March over an American request to provide artillery ammunition to Ukraine.

“The Korean government will continue to fulfill its necessary role in tandem with the international community in order to safeguard the freedom of Ukraine,” Yoon said. “On top of this, we will work out multipronged support measures needed for the prompt post-war restoration of peace in Ukraine and its reconstruction.”

Yoon is invited to the Nato summit along with the leaders of Japan, Australia and New Zealand, a sign of strengthening ties between Nato and nations in the Asia-Pacific region. The four countries were invited to last year’s summit as well.

“Just as incidents in Europe can have a substantial and consequential impact on the Indo-Pacific region, Indo-Pacific events can have immense ramifications for countries in Europe,” Yoon said. “In particular, the war in Ukraine has reminded us all that a security crisis in one particular region can have a global impact.”

Income tax on digital

Tax law for business

ThE Supreme Court (SC) in a recent decision has defined the income source and the situs for tax purposes of satellite communication. This decision is of particular interest because the legal principles that it espouses may be applicable to the digital economy.

It is interesting to note that the bills that are pending in both houses of Congress as regards digital tax limit the taxation of digital economy to value added tax (VAT). The bills are silent on their income tax exposure. Does the mere silence of the eventual Digital Tax Law make these digital platforms immune from income tax?

Under our income tax law, any foreign corporation is taxable only on income derived from sources within the Philippines. It is subject to final tax on its gross income received during each taxable year from all sources within the Philippines. The tax due shall be withheld at source by the income payor (withholding agent), who shall be responsible for filing the applicable return and remitting the tax withheld to the BIR.

In the case of Aces Philippines (GR 226680, January 30, 2023), the SC ruled that satellite communication that is initiated by a foreign corporation and is transmitted in the coun-

try is subject to final withholding tax.

In this case, Aces Philippines entered into an Air Purchase Agreement with Aces Bermuda. Aces Bermuda undertook to provide satellite communication time to Aces Philippines. The Air-Time Purchase Agreement clearly provides that the communication services rely on the entire Aces System consisting of a satellite that is interconnected with terminals and gateways. The technology was designed in such a way that local service providers (e.g., Aces Philippines) can access, connect to, and use the Aces Satellite System. In turn, the local service providers can cater to their local subscribers (e.g., Philippine subscribers) whose calls require access to the Aces Satellite System to be able to contact and be connected to another mobile/landline number. Thus, the fulfillment of Aces Bermuda’s undertaking requires the satellite to have transmitted/routed the call and a gateway to

have received the call as routed by the satellite. At the point of transmission, Aces Philippines has not been given access to the Aces System yet. It is only when the call is actually routed to its gateway that Aces Philippines is able to connect its local subscriber to the intended recipient of the call. In this sense, the gateway’s receipt of the call signifies completion/delivery of Aces Bermuda’s service.

2) The accrual of satellite air time fees marks the inflow of economic benefits.

The set up is very similar to digital platforms. Amazon or Netflix are based in another country. But they are able to cater to their local subscribers directly or through their branches or offices in the Philippines. Clearly, they enjoy economic benefits. By analogy with the Aces Philippines case, the situs of the income-producing activity is in the Philippines. In the Aces Philippines case, the income-generating activity is directly associated with the gateways located within Philippine territory. Aces Philippines admits that the gateway’s receipt of the call as routed by the satellite (i.e., second segment of Aces System) takes place in the Philippines. Similarly, when subscribers of digital platforms click on their computers and they are able to buy or watch a movie using these platforms, while in the Philippines, the situs where they derive economic benefit is clearly in the Philippine territory.

Satellite communication and the Internet are very similar. They have no boundaries. Foreign juris-

prudence and foreign statutes have exempted satellite communication from income tax. The SC is aware of this. But its hands are tied. It can only interpret what our law provides, i.e., when there is economic benefit, non-resident foreign corporation is subject to income tax and the payor of the income to the non-resident foreign corporation must withhold the tax.

Are Netflix, Amazon, and Youtube liable to income tax? Yes, if we follow the principles laid down in the Aces Philippines case.

Our present bills on digital tax require foreign digital companies to register in the country with the promise that they will only be charged VAT and not income tax. If the intention is not to subject these companies to income tax, an express provision exempting them from such must be included in the law. Otherwise, a decision like the Aces Philippines case may arise. If this happens, it will be open season for tax assessments and our country will lose the confidence of the digital world.

The author is a senior partner of Du-Baladad and Associates Law Offices, a member-firm of WTS Global.

The article is for general information only and is not intended, nor should be construed as a substitute for tax, legal or financial advice on any specific matter. Applicability of this article to any actual or particular tax or legal issue should be supported therefore by a professional study or advice. If you have any comments or questions concerning the article, you may e-mail the author at rwin.c.nideajr@ bdblaw.com.ph or call 8403-2001 local 330.

Yellen’s China trip offers economic guardrails for rivalry

By Viktoria Dendrinou & Christopher Anstey

Tr EASUry Secretary Janet yellen’s two-day engagement with top officials in Beijing offered a way for the US and China to contain damage in their economies from the two nations’ intensifying rivalry.

While on the military side, there’s been no resumption of bilateral communication—amid risky encounters between the two sides’ air and maritime forces—Yellen’s high-profile visit suggested hope for guardrails in economic competition.

In 10 hours of meetings Friday and Saturday, Yellen said she sought to convince China’s newly installed economic team that the US isn’t bent on seeking “economic advantage” against the country. Though the Biden administration has ramped up controls on key exports and is considering curbs on American companies’ outbound investments, Yellen emphasized that the measures Washington takes are “targeted” and designed only to safeguard national security.

“No one visit will solve our challenges overnight,” Yellen said Sunday in Beijing. “But I expect that this trip will help build a resilient and productive channel of communication with China’s new economic team.”

The export-controls issue could present an early test of strength of the guardrails Yellen has sought to erect. The administration has been expected in coming weeks to unveil an executive order by President Joe Biden that will set up reviews of, and ultimately restrictions on, US investments in semiconductors, artificial intelligence and quantum computing.

During Yellen’s visit, the Chinese side asked the US to take concrete actions to address concerns over economic sanctions and containment, according to a statement from the Ministry of Finance on Monday. The Chinese side also reiterated its concerns about issues including tariffs, export controls and a ban on products produced in Xinjiang, according to the statement.

The US export curbs have the potential to cut off certain investments in semiconductors, artificial intelligence and quantum computing in China.

“I’m sure that they will be closely monitoring our actions,” Yellen said in a press conference. “We want to open up channels so that they can

express concerns about our actions. And we can explain—and possibly, in some situations, respond to—unintended consequences of our actions.”

Yellen’s remarks were the clearest statement yet that Washington would potentially take Beijing’s views or feedback into account in implementing or designing measures against China.

China’s Premier Li Qiang, who met with Yellen Friday, told her that “overstretching” the concept of security “does no good for the economic development of the two countries and the whole world,” according to Xinhua, China’s state news agency.

That message was repeated in Yellen’s five hours of engagement with her newly appointed top economic counterpart, Vice Premier He Lifeng, according to Xinhua.

The Treasury chief repeatedly sought to emphasize that deep and broad bilateral economic relations are a good thing. It’s important for the two nations to “make sure businesses understand there is a wide swath of economic interactions that are uncontroversial to both sides,” she said.

For China, the engagement occurred against a backdrop of a weaker-than-expected economic recovery in the wake of the end of pandemic restrictions.

Yellen’s message may ease any concerns among US allies that Washington has embarked on a path dedicated to fragmenting the global economy between an American and a Chinese bloc. Washington has put pressure on Japan and the Netherlands to join its restrictions of exports of key cutting-edge technological exports to China.

From the perspective of the broader global community, Yellen’s visit —coming weeks after Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s trip to Beijing—offers an image of responsible engagement at a time when many nations are deeply opposed to having to choose sides in any new Cold War.

Yellen’s language in Beijing “sent a very strong signal to the business and international community, and to the rest of the world, that the US and

China should work together,” said Henry Wang, founder of the Center for China and Globalization, a policy research group in Beijing.

The US and China have been stepping up efforts to boost influence in the so-called Global South. Yellen will have an opportunity to allude to the newly reinstated high-level engagement with China when she meets with fellow finance chiefs from the Group of 20 emerging and developed nations in India this month.

Her remarks in Beijing also suggested a new term to describe US efforts to promote trade and investment in places other than China.

“We seek to diversify, not to decouple,” Yellen said on Friday. The following day, she said “I’ve heard my Chinese counterparts express skepticism about decoupling—and have expressed some concern that derisking amounts to decoupling. And I felt that it was extremely important for me to address this issue.”

She emphasized that “derisking involves attention to clearly articulated and narrowly targeted, national-security concerns, as well as broader concern with diversifying our supply chains,” applied only to “a few important sectors.”

A Xinhua commentary published Friday said that “acts of short-sightedness and a Cold-War mindset will easily damage any progress already made to rekindle bilateral ties.” It also said that pushing for derisking “would not fool the Chinese side to believe the United States has given up its efforts to contain China.”

Tariff issue

A TRUE rapprochement would arguably require the US and China dismantling the raft of trade-tariff increases levied during the Trump administration.

Tariffs were raised in the talks in Beijing, Yellen said Saturday. The US is now conducting, by statute, a four-year review of those measures.

“The results are not yet in,” she said.

Any broad reduction in tariffs would involve political risk for Biden, who’s seeking reelection in November 2024. Republican candidates have staked out strong anti-China stances, and GOP lawmakers would likely lambast a return to businessas-usual in the economic relationship.

“It’s unrealistic to think economics can be divorced from nationalsecurity concerns,” said Mark Sobel,

a former senior Treasury official who’s now US chairman of the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum.

“Yellen’s trip will not likely alter the underlying dynamic of the economic relationship,” he said.

National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday as Biden traveled to London that “there’s been no change” in the frozen militaryto-military contacts between China and the US.

New team Y ELLEN ’S meetings marked an opportunity for the administration to get to know President Xi Jinping’s new economic team, which has taken shape since he broke modern precedent last October by extending his tenure as head of the dominant Chinese Communist party.

A Treasury official said the team went into the talks without much understanding of how the new officials worked together. Yellen’s visit has kicked off with sit-downs with her former counterpart, Liu He—a fluent English-speaking veteran of the international stage with whom she had developed a rapport—and Yi Gang, the US-educated titular governor of the central bank.

“Liu He and Yi Gang spoke English and, in general, knew international relations much better than the current team,” said Alfred Wu, an associate professor at the National University of Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy. “The current team has mostly been promoted within the country, they’ve never been exposed to the international environment.”

The US side didn’t enter the meetings with any expectation of specific progress, a Treasury official said, speaking on condition of anonymity to describe the talks. In the end, the group got a warm reception and the key session with He Lifeng went notably longer than expected, the official said. Both sides agreed that they want to see more, continued communication, at multiple levels, the official said.

“It was great to see her here, great to see her continue to have discussions that Secretary Blinken had,” said Michael Hart, president of AmCham China, who met with Yellen during her visit. With assistance from Lucille Liu, Rebecca Choong Wilkins and Philip Glamann / Bloomberg

atty. irwin C. nidea Jr.

A20

Tuesday, July 11, 2023

A

A ccording to the latest report by the International Air Transport Association (IATA), May 2023 traffic data showed carriers in the Asia Pacific region playing catch-up and leading the 41-percent growth in international traffic year-on-year, in terms of revenue passenger kilometers (RPKs).

A sia Pacific stood out with a 156.7-percent growth in traffic versus the level in May 2022, “maintaining the very positive momentum since the lifting of the remaining travel restrictions in the region earlier this year.” While just inching up this year, the Middle East and North America were already 17.2-percent and 1.8-percent above 2019 levels, respectively.

I n a news statement, IATA Director General Willie Walsh said:

“We saw more good news in May. Planes were full, with the average load factors reaching 81.8 percent. Domestic markets reported growth on pre-pandemic levels. And, heading into the busy Northern summer travel season, international demand reached 90.8 percent of pre-pandemic levels.”

J ust recently, the Philippine Statistics Authority reported increased spending by Filipinos traveling abroad, supporting a pent-up demand for international air travel.  (See, “PSA: Pinoy wanderers hike spending in vacations abroad,” in the BusinessMirror , July 10, 2023.) Air capacity among Asia Pacific carriers rose 136.1 percent in May 2023 year-on-year, with the passenger  load factor having increased to 77.3 percent, up from

WB: Digital tech can help labor exporters manage migration

By Cai U. Ordinario @caiordinario

AMID the rising need for workers by aging countries, digital technology could help migrant sending countries better manage the costs of migration, according to the World Bank.

I n a briefing on Monday, Ndiamé Diop, World Bank Country Director for Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Thailand, said digital technology can allow Filipino talents to accept work from abroad while staying home with their families.

T his will address not just the need for workers in countries— including the rapidly aging ones —that are in need of them, but also allow countries like the Philippines to avoid brain drain in certain sectors like information technology.

“ It will allow many workers to provide their services from a distance, in some cases even without leaving the Philippines. There’s a huge potential in the patterns of immigration and the way in which it contributes to destination countries but also to home countries.

I’m pleased the Philippines has made it a top priority,” Diop told reporters. D igital technology, Diop added, could also work both ways for the Philippines in terms of getting access to foreign talent.

Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) Director Catherine Sy said it could also pave the way for the government to get access to Filipinos abroad in terms of upskilling workers in the country while staying in their host countries.

“ Some occupations, you have to provide the service physically. But for all professions and occu -

PHL, MEXICO KEEN ON BOOSTING CULTURAL, TRADE COOPERATION

70.3 percent in the same month last year, as per IATA data.

IR passenger demand continues to recover worldwide, having reached 96 percent of the pre-pandemic levels in 2019, last May.People need and love to fly. The strong demand for travel is one element supporting a return to profitability by airlines.  In 2023 we expect airlines globally to post a $9.8 billion net profit. It’s an impressive number, particularly after huge pandemic losses,” noted Walsh. “But a 1.2-percent average net profit margin is just $2.25 per departing passenger. As a return, that is not sustainable in the longterm.”

How to keep carriers profitable

HE added, “Moreover, it appears that, while the pandemic has changed many things in aviation, it has not righted aviation’s famously unbalanced value chain. The latest indication came last week as European airports announced a €6.4 billion ($7 billion) collective profit in 2022. In comparison, IATA estimates that European airlines made a $4.1-billion profit for the same year. We don’t begrudge any business hard-earned profits. But this does raise an interesting question. Is airport economic regulation effectively defending the public interest when a monopoly supplier (airports) can generate seemingly much healthier returns

than the competitive businesses (airlines) they supply? Governments should at least take a look.”

Meanwhile, domestic air traffic in May grew by 36.4 percent in RPKs  compared to the year-ago level, but was already 5.3-percent above the May 2019 level. “This is the second month in a row domestic traffic has exceeded pre-pandemic levels,” noted  IATA. Domestic RPKs account for some 42 percent of total air traffic in 2022.

W hile the People’s Republic of China’s domestic air traffic accounted for just 6.4 percent of the worldwide growth in domestic air traffic, its local traffic jumped a substantial 132 percent in RPKs in May 2023, as available seat capacity grew by 233 percent in the same month.

T he US domestic market accounted for 19.2 percent of worldwide domestic traffic, but grew just 7.1 percent in RPKs, as available seats capacity rose just 9.6 percent.

D omestic Japan grew a significant 39 percent with a 7.1-percent increase in available seat kilometers. Domestic India was also a notable market with a 13.6-percent rise in air traffic as per RPKs, with available seats up by 2.7 percent.

I ATA represents some 300 airlines compromising 83 percent of global air traffic.

By Samuel P. Medenilla @sam_medenilla

P

Marcos made the pronouncement during the presentation of credentials of Mexico’s Ambassador-designate Daniel Hernandez Joseph in Malacañang on Monday.

He noted the use of new technology, which became mainstream during the pandemic, can help bridge the country’s vast distance with Mexico.

So I think that changes the relationship and that changes the possibilities, the potentials that we should explore,” the Chief Executive said.

A mid the ongoing celebration of the 70th Anniversary of bilateral relations between the Philippines and Mexico, both the President and Joseph agreed to increase the two countries’ cooperation not only on culture, but also on trade.

Ph ilippine trade with Mexico has been steadily increasing since 2020, reaching $1.1 billion last year.

I n recognition of the coun -

try’s historical and cultural ties with Mexico, Joseph disclosed that Mexico’s national university made an offering this year in the area of Filipino studies.  “ It’s just beginning, which again, like I said, opens new opportunities for furthering the knowledge and exchange of each other today not only in history, but who we are together and what we can do together today,” the Mexican diplomat said.

For his part, Marcos thanked the Mexican government for taking care of the Filipino community in Mexico.

A s of February 2023, government data showed there are 1,206 Filipinos in Mexico, mostly employed in craft and trade related jobs.

DOJ slams PNP unit in Las Piñas POGO raid

pations, the location doesn’t matter anymore, you can provide the services anywhere. That’s the new element that tech brings to migration,” Diop said. Technology can also allow the country to better leverage migration for development as migration continues to suffer from major challenges, according to the country’s recruitment sector.

I n the forum on migration on Monday, Marc Capistrano of Staffhouse International Resources said the major challenges of sending workers abroad have been saddled by slow processing and the language proficiency of workers.

C apistrano said that while the Philippines has been sending workers abroad for decades, the processing of these workers is very slow and considered the longest compared to other migrant-sending countries.

I n terms of language proficiency, Capistrano said, the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) level 7, which is required for migrant workers, was still difficult to attain for Filipino applicants abroad.

A part from these, Capistrano cited the recognition of the educational attainment of Filipino workers as another challenge. This has only been remedied recently by the addition of two more years in Philippine education.

H e added that some requirements of host countries also prevented them from filling the global demand for workers. Some of these have to do with skills and work experience.

J

At a press briefing, Remulla disclosed that the five suspects earlier arrested and subjected to inquest proceedings have been ordered released pending further preliminary investigation.

R emulla indicated that the PNPACG failed to allege specific illegal acts committed by the suspects and present evidence that would warrant the immediate filing of a human trafficking case before the court.

There were  no specific grounds for the arrests, no specific acts, no specific complaints that would warrant the arrest. They just conducted the raid, they just went there just to fish.  That’s what we have been saying for a time....We told them we need to do a case build-up before we do that,” Remulla said.   Of the 2,000 individuals supposedly rescued, Remulla  said around 1,100 are still in the Las Piñas POGO facility.    O n the other hand, those who were found without visas were already ordered to leave the country while foreigners with visas will have to undergo visa cancellation proceedings before they are allowed to leave.

R emulla noted that police conducted the raid without coordination with the DOJ despite a previous agreement of a joint case build-up before a raid is done.

R emulla said the DOJ will not tolerate the  police’s practice of indiscriminate arrest even without a strong case, which often results in planting of evidence.

down with

PNP chief Maj. Gen.

AsPac carriers catching up as global air traffic surges

RESIDENT Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on Monday said the Philippines could still improve its trade and cultural cooperation with Mexico through digital connections.MARCOS

Editor: Jennifer A. Ng

Filinvest REIT: Co-working spaces to beef up portfolio

By VG Cabuag @villygc

“We are glad to announce our fresh wins, as we strive to meet the renewed demand for high-quality office spaces from both new and existing tenants who recognize the value of our sustainability thrust,” Maricel Brion-lirio, the company’s president and CeO, said.

“This will allow us to grow and diversify our portfolio of sustainable commercial properties that elevate the lives and well-being of our community.”

Co-working facility operators and

new business process outsourcing (BPO) tenants will add about 7,000 square meters in new leases.

The company said it is also in advanced talks with two major BPO firms looking to expand their current leases with FI l RT. a n a merican professional services firm headquartered in ne w York with about 100,000 employees globally is about to sign for additional two floors in one of the company’s 16 buildings in northgate Cyberzone in a l abang.

a nother existing tenant, a BPO company headquartered in europe with over 50,000 employees globally, is expected to follow suit for an additional 2,300 square meters of office space.

This brings the company’s expected new leases to 12,400 square meters. This is on top of the almost 10,300 square meters of new leases signed earlier this year.

The company said it is accelerating its co-working or flexible office space solutions in partnership with the largest provider in the Philippines to respond to the shifting customer demand brought about by hybrid work setups. This will not only provide an additional source of revenues but it will also balance the office leasing portfolio.

One of the company’s objectives is to diversify the office portfolio by reducing the concentration on large BPO names and increasing the share of co-working and traditional tenants in the mix. This will be done while continuing to service the needs of expanding and

migrating BPOs.

It said the strategy is to expand in key central business districts in Metro Manila and toward major regional hubs in the Philippines with high and stable occupancy and deliver additional value by driving more efficient and sustainable cost of operations.

new asset acquisitions will continue to focus on Grade a commercial properties and will expand beyond office leasing to include other asset classes such as retail, leisure, residential and industrial properties into its portfolio.

The company said its weighted average lease expiry (Wa le) is 7.1 years as of the first quarter, and is forecast to increase as new leases and renewals for the year set in.

In the first half, six of the company’s properties were awarded certification under eDGe (excellence in Design for Greater ef ficiency), an international green building standard created by the International Finance Corp. These were Vector One, Vector Two, Plaza a , Plaza D, Filinvest Two and Filinvest Three.

CPG redeems ₧3-B preferred shares

Real estate developer Century Properties Group Inc. (CPG) has fully redeemed its P3billion preferred shares. The said shares, which were cumulative, non-voting, non-convertible, non-participating, redeemable peso-denominated, were issued by the company and listed on the Philippine Stock exchange on January 10, 2020. The company’s board approved the optional redemption of the said preferred shares in its special board meeting last May 12. The preferred shares were redeemed at its redemp-

tion price of P100 apiece.

“The full redemption of the preferred shares is part of our strategic program that is anchored on prudent financial management and debt reduction with the goal of strengthening our balance sheet to support our growth expansion,” Ponciano S. Carreon Jr., the company’s CFO, said.

“We continue to see an active and liquid domestic capital markets and we intend to tap the same if needed for our capital funding purposes.”

CPG’s outstanding total debt as of the end of December 2022 was down

to P17.3 billion, from P18.4 billion the previous year due to repayment of P1.1 billion in short-term and long-term debt.

In april 2022, CPG also redeemed its P3 billion fixed-rate retail bonds.

CPG’s income for the first quarter rose 21 percent to P302.38 million from the previous year’s P249.43 million as most of its business segments have recovered.

Revenues for the period grew 28 percent to P3.33 billion from the previous year’s P2.61 billion.

“The sustained good performance of our first-home market

business segment reflects well the strong market appetite for quality, strategically located, and affordable homes, which serves not only every Filipino’s aspiration but also helps address the big housing backlog that our government is also prioritizing,” CPG executive Chairman Jose e B. a ntonio said.

“We remain bullish in terms of business expansion and implementation of our strategic plans for this segment which, in the process, create value for our stakeholders and support our government’s efforts towards nation-building.” VG Cabuag

D&L Batangas plant starts operations

Che M IC a l manufacturer

D& l Industries Inc.’s P10.5billion plant in Batangas, which will export at least half of its output, has started operations.

Ta I Wa n Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) reported better-than-expected sales on a boom in artificial intelligence (a I) applications demanding more of the industry-leading firm’s chipmaking capacity.

Second-quarter revenue totaled n T$480.8 billion ($15.3 billion) according to Bloomberg’s calculations. That marked a 10-percent decline on the prior year, though the drop was not as bad as feared, beating an average analyst estimate of n T$476.2 billion. Sales in June came in at nT$156.4 billion. TSMC is the primary contract manufacturer of nv idia Corp.’s a I accelerator chips, widely seen as the best hardware for training large data models such as the one underpinning Open a I ’s ChatGPT.

The Taiwanese firm’s shares were unchanged on Monday before it reported the monthly sales figure. Goldman Sachs analysts earlier raised their target price for the company to nT$700. The stock has risen more than 25 percent since the beginning of the year, despite the company’s caution that revenue for 2023 might fall low- to mid-single digits in US dollar terms. Bloomberg News

The company said it issued its first invoice on Monday, which marks the commencement of the plant’s commercial operations as defined by the Philippine economic Zone authority (Peza).

“Today, we celebrate an important milestone. a f ter facing several challenges in the form of a pandemic, strict lockdowns during the construction, and global supply chain bottlenecks, our next generation facility in Batangas has finally started commercial operations,” D& l President and C e O a l vin l ao said.

The plant has moved into a softopening status with several production lines already up and running.

D& l said it expects full commercial operations in the next couple of months after the final finetuning works on the remaining parts of the plant have been completed.

“This marks the beginning of an exciting journey as we venture into new global markets and manufacture higher value added products. Our Batangas plant puts us in a good position as global demand returns,” l ao said.

Township-Special economic Zone in Batangas. The said plant will enable D& l to move a step closer to its customers by providing customized solutions and simplifying their supply chain, which is of high importance given ongoing global logistical challenges.

The new plant will also be instrumental in the company’s goal of putting the Philippines on the map as a quality manufacturing hub for sustainable, natural and organic products. The company is gearing up towards launching a full range of shelf-ready products for its export customers, made from coconut oil, for the personal and baby care, cosmetics and beauty care, household cleaning, health and nutrition and

food and vegetable oils categories that are sustainable, natural and organic.

This initiative offers a plug-andplay solution for global brand owners who are looking to beef up their sustainable product offerings.

Being in a Peza location, D& l s Batangas plant is required to maintain at least half of its export revenue contribution to be able to take advantage of Peza tax incentives. a s such, the said facility will be focused on developing new markets.

It will use coconut oil, as the product continues to gain traction globally as a sustainable, natural and organic substitute for many petroleum or palm-oil based applications. VG Cabuag

Filinvest Reit Corp. (FilRt), the real estate investment trust of the Filinvest group, on Monday said it is expanding its leasing portfolio despite headwinds as it looks to add over 12,000 square meters in new leases as well as new co-working spaces.

Borrowers’ aegis vs zealous lenders urged

By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz @joveemarie

an end to these inhumane debt collection practices.”

Still on Playstore

THE lawmaker also noted that the Philippine Association of Loan Shark Victims Inc. (Palsvi) has gathered over 32,000 signatures in its online petition asking the government to shut down about 101 online lending apps (OLAs). The group claims employees of these OLAs “threaten, embarrass, intimidate, and cause utter grief to the unfortunate victims.”

Their members have also filed complaints before the Philippine National Police (PNP) Anti-Cybercrime Group against several online lenders.

sustained its crackdown against erring lending companies by canceling their registrations, shutting them down, and securing convictions in courts against some of their operators.

Despite these efforts, unregistered, illegal, and abusive online lending firms have continued to mushroom, the lawmaker said.

Illegal, abusive practices

THE absence of a law that would tighten regulation over online moneylenders is among the reasons why abusive debt collectors proliferate in cyberspace, Duterte added.

However, lawmakers said the State is mandated to legislate measures that will allow the stringent implementation of these penal laws.

Under HB 6681, a debt collector is prohibited from engaging in any conduct that is intended to “harass, oppress, humiliate, or abuse any debtor in connection with the collection of a debt.”

to have violated provisions of the measure.

So-called “microloan” apps make it easy for borrowers to obtain loans as they do not require collateral and paperwork and can be processed in as fast as 24 hours.

Davao City 1st District Rep. Paolo

Z. Duterte seeks bills seeking to regulate the online lending sector when Congress resumes session in two weeks’ time. Duterte said prioritizing the discussion of these bills would speed up the passage of a law that would expressly prohibit the unfair, deceptive, and shameful practices resorted to by online loan sharks.

The lawmaker cited there’s House Bill (HB) 6681 or the proposed Fair Debt Collection Prac-

tices Act, which he filed last nearly six months ago with Benguet Rep. Eric G. Yap and ACT-CIS Partylist Rep. Edvic G. Yap. HB 6681 aims to provide the legislation that would regulate the collection practices of lending companies. “More victims have continued to come out to report being harassed, shamed, threatened, and forced to pay usurious interest charges,” Duterte said. “Both the Executive and Congress need to act fast to put

The best investments for your short term goals

WHAT do you want to do this summer? Do you want a 1-week vacation in Boracay? What do you want to buy within the next few months?

Do you want to buy a new smartphone? A new laptop? What about next year, or two years from now?

Do you want to buy a car? Start your own business? Pay that downpayment for your dream home?

It doesn’t matter what you want to do, or what you want to buy, as long as it’s happening in three years or less, then it’s considered a shortterm goal. And when it comes to short-term goals, the following are the best investments where you can put your money in.

Savings account

YES, a savings account is technically an investment because it earns interest over time and is always better than leaving your money under the mattress.

It’s a great place to put your money for your short-term goals because it’s almost zero risks, with bank closure and inflation as the only reason you’ll lose money (or the value of your money).

When should you invest in a savings account? When your goal is set to less than a year. Where should you invest? At any financially-stable commercial bank so that the risk of bank closure is almost negligible.

What type of savings account should you open? Passbook savings accounts are okay but ask your bank if they have similar products that have better interest rates.

Short-term time deposit accounts

TIME deposits are the most popular type of investment among Filipinos, in my observation. Your money earns at higher interest rates than a savings account in exchange for some liquidity. But just like the former, time deposits are almost zero risks.

When should you invest in a short-term time deposit account?

When your goal is set to three years or less.

Where should you invest? Shop around and see which banks can offer you acceptable terms. If you’re looking for the highest interest rates, then rural banks will have the best offer but understand that they are less stable than commercial banks.

What type of short-term time deposit account should you open?

It depends on your goal. If it’s less than a year, then I suggest a 90-day (or shorter) time deposit. If it’s more than a year, then you can go for the

Several of the OLAs mentioned in the online petition continue to be available on the Google Playstore, the group said. These apps remain despite a policy implemented by Google in May last year that requires developers of OLAs in the Philippines to submit a personal loan application declaration and other necessary documentation before they are allowed to publish on the Playstore platform.

Duterte noted that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has

“Our laws need to catch up with technology, which while providing ease and convenience to consumers, have also given rise to abusive practices that have ruined not only the reputations, but also the lives of their victims,” the Davao City lawmaker said.

The illegal and abusive practices of online lenders violate the provisions of various laws and regulations, such as the Cybercrime Prevention Act, the Data Privacy Act, the Revised Penal Code, and SEC Memorandum 18 (series 2019).

These include the following: use or threat of violence or other criminal means; the use of obscene and profane language; and, the disclosure, publication or posting of the names and other personal information of the borrowers who allegedly refuse to pay debts.

Onerous conditions

HB 6681 prohibits the collection of any amount such as interest, incidental fees, and other charges, unless such amount is expressly authorized by the agreement creating the debt or permitted by law. It also prohibits false, deceptive, and misleading representation in collecting debts.

The measure also holds debt collectors liable for damages in individual or class action suits if found

However, many of these online lenders charge usurious interest rates, with victims reporting that they have received only a fraction of the loan they borrowed, but were required to pay the full amount with interest in less than a week. These onerous conditions were not explicitly expressed in the terms of the loan, according to the Palsvi. If the borrower fails to pay even just once, he or she is subjected to abusive phone calls, threats of physical injuries and other crimes and public shaming in social media, or by telling friends, officemates, and relatives through text messages about their failure to settle their debts.

The petition by Palsvi claims “victims” of these OLAs have lost their jobs, broken off relationships and friendships, and suffered extreme grief, trauma and depression to the point of wanting to end their lives.

Treasury fails to raise ₧15-B target in T-bills auction

By Cai U. Ordinario @caiordinario

THE national government only raised P14.4 billion at the Treasury Bills (Tbills) auction last Monday, according to the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr).

The auction committee said it fully-awarded bids for the 91-day and 182-day T-bills but partially-awarded the 364-day T-bills.

day securities fetched average rates of 5.973 percent and 6.266 percent, respectively. Meanwhile the 364-day T- bill was capped at 6.339 percent.

The government received total bids of P11.128 billion for the 91-day T-bills and accepted P5 billion. With this, the auction committee rejected P6.128 billion worth of bids.

lion worth of bids.

This is now the seventh consecutive T-bills auction that saw investors’ asking rates increasing on a week-on-week basis.

ernment plans to borrow P180 billion from the domestic market next month from the auction of T-bills and T-bonds.

6-month or annual term.

Low-risk pooled funds

POOLED funds are either Unit Investment Trust Funds (UITF) or mutual funds.

Your money has the potential to earn higher than a time deposit account, but you’re already subject to possible losses if the market goes down by the time your goal deadline comes. But historically, the value of units or shares in low-risk pooled funds rarely dips unless a massive financial crisis happens in the country.

So if the economy looks good, or even just “flat,” then low-risk pooled funds become a good investment choice in the short term.

When should you invest in lowrisk pooled funds? When your goal is set to one year or more. Where should you invest? For UITFs, you can just go to any commercial bank. For mutual funds, go to any SECregistered mutual fund company.

What type of low-risk pooled funds should you invest in? The most common types are the money market fund, fixed income fund, government securities fund, and short-term bond funds.

There are many others, just ask the bank or the mutual fund company for their products with the most conservative risk profile.

Summary

IF your investment objective is happening in three years or less, then the best investments are the three mentioned above.

Don’t put your money in the stock market and other investments with a moderate or high-risk profile because you might come up short when your goal is due (unless you’re willing to take the risk).

Always remember that low-risk investments are for your short-term goals, moderate-risk investments are for your medium-term goals (3 years to 7 years), and high-risk investments are for your long-term goals (7 years or more).

Fitz Villafuerte is a registered financial planner of RFP Philippines. To learn more about personal-financial planning, attend the 103rd RFP program this Septmber 2023. To inquire, e-mail info@rfp.ph or text at 0917-6248110. The views of Mr. Villafuerte do not necessarily reflect those of the BusinessMirror

With the decision, the BTr said the committee failed to book the P15-billion total offering it initially intended to raise.

“The auction was 1.8 times oversubscribed, attracting P27.6 billion in total tenders,” according to the BTr. Data showed the 91-day and 182-

briefs➜ Lender vows to restore watersheds

For the 182-day T-bills, the government received a total of P8.328 billion and accepted P5 billion. This means, the auction committee rejected P3.328 billion.

In terms of the 364-day T-bills, the government received P8.104 billion worth of bids but only accepted P4.417 billion. This meant the auction committee rejected P3.687 bil-

THE retail banking arm of China Banking Corp. announced it vows to assist in the restoration of watersheds, especially in communities where the bank provides services. CBS China Bank Savings Inc. said its employees will mobilize on July 15 to plant 750 tree saplings in La Mesa Watershed in Quezon City as an initial commitment to nationwide forest conservation and restoration, in order to mitigate the impact of extreme weather brought by climate change. “CBS is no stranger to the effects of increasingly severe weather events, which have damaged branches and the property and businesses of CBS customers over the past 15 years of operations,” CBS President James Christian T. Dee was quoted in a statement as saying.

➜ US media fetes online lender

TECHNOLOGY firm InVenture Capital Corp., doing business as Tala, has been included in the “Forbes Fintech 50” list and the fourth successive year in the “CNBC Disruptor” list. “From day one, Tala has been focused on delivering essential financial services to the world’s underestimated and underbanked people. We are honored to be recognized for our impact year after year, and we thank our 8 million customers worldwide for trusting Tala with their financial needs,” Tala CEO and Founder Shivani Siroya was quoted in a statement as saying. The Santa Monica, California-headquartered firm operates in the Philippines as Tala Financing Philippines Inc. Roderick L. Abad

➜ Manulife PHL appoints new CFO, CRO THE Manufacturers Life Insurance Co. (Phils.) Inc. (Manulife PHL) named Justin Helferich and Katerina V. Suarez as new Chief Financial Officer and new Chief Risk Officer, respectively. The local business of global financial services provider Manulife said through a statement that Helferich “will be instrumental in achieving the company’s growth ambitions in the country” while Suarez “will lead the efforts to mitigate operational risks to drive business profitability and productivity.”

“To respond to the rising consumer demand, Manulife Philippines continues to strengthen its leadership team by appointing industry veterans who will lead the Company in pursuing growth opportunities and navigating market and industry risks, while serving our customers with excellence,” President and CEO Rahul Hora said.

Last week, the national government kicked off its July borrowing program on a low note as it raised only P9.2 billion of its P15-billion target from the auction of shortterm debt papers due to rising rates.

The BTr earlier said the auction committee was forced to settle with partial awards across the three tenors of T-bills as rates went beyond current secondary market benchmark levels and were also higher than the last tender.

For this month, the national gov-

Broken down, the Treasury said it plans to raise P60 billion from Tbills across four auctions and P120 billion from Treasury bonds across four auctions as well.

The national government was unable to borrow from the domestic market its intended amount of P185 billion for June, as rising interest rates hounded much of the state’s auction for short-term debt papers (Related story: https://businessmirror.com.ph/2023/06/28/ ng-borrowing-goal-for-junemissed/)

Digital adoption surge offers opportunity for PHL startups

By Rizal Raoul S. Reyes @brownindio

THE Philippines presents a remarkable opportunity for startups to flourish due to a convergence of favorable factors as it has always been known to foster a vibrant entrepreneurial spirit.

NSTK (SG) Co. Pte. Ltd. (Enstack) CEO and Co-founder Macy Castillo told the BusinessMirror the presence of millions of online sellers showed their remarkable creativity and resilience in their businesses especially during the Covid-19 pandemic.

According to data from the Department of Trade and Industry, there are at least two million e-commerce sellers as of October 2022.

“The digital landscape has experienced significant growth, particularly accelerated by the pandemic-induced digital shift, leading to a surge in digital infrastructure and government initiatives promoting digital adoption,” Castillo told the BusinessMirror in an interview.

Moreover, she said the digital revolution has created a conducive environment for startups to thrive, with an increasing number of Filipinos embracing entrepreneurship and leveraging technology to build their businesses.

“The Philippines is witnessing a renewed energy and passion for entrepreneurship, fueled by the availability of resources, supportive ecosystems, and a growing pool of talent,” Castillo added.

To promote entrepreneurship in the country, she said the Singaporean firm recently launched a P1-million competition to support aspiring entrepreneurs and help them turn their business dreams into a reality. The contest will run from July 1 to December 31, 2023, and offers the grand prize to the business using the Enstack platform that generates the highest gross sales during their best two months in the competition.

To level the playing field for the SMEs, Castillo said only the first P25,000 of every order will count towards their tally and their transactions must be completed using Enstack’s payment or shipping solutions. At the end of the 6-month contest period, Castillo said the total completed sales will be calculated. She said they will compare each best two months of an SME to determine the winner of a million pesos.

During the firm’s roadshow in the country, Castillo said they encountered a “vast range of unique businesses, each tailored to their specific markets and communities.”

She said Enstack wants the competition to serve as a launchpad for similar creativity and innovation.

“We anticipate a diverse mix of participants, including seasoned entrepreneurs and aspiring business owners who are finally ready to pursue their dreams,” she said.

“We believe that our user-friendly platform allows even new entrepreneurs to effortlessly build and run their online stores, empowering them to be their own bosses and turn their business dreams into reality,” Castillo added. “With our dedicated support and simplified path to success, we are excited to see a surge of creativity, growth, and entrepreneurial spirit throughout the competition.”

She said the firm will also be awarding special prizes for participants in the contest. They can also expect a dedicated team offering guidance and support throughout the competition, Castillo added.

Other opportunities, she said, include access to a series of exclusive webinars that feature industry experts.

“Our platform itself is designed to remove the friction costs of setup, enabling participants to build and launch their stores quickly and effectively,” Castillo said.

LAWMAKERS have underscored the urgency of passing a law to shield borrowers from public shaming, extortionate interest charges and other vicious online lending practices despite a supposed government crackdown against abusive moneylenders.

PeRSOnaL FInanCe

Fitz Gerard Villafuerte

BusinessMirror

A delectable preview of Sansó’s ‘Last and Best’ modernos

recondite six-month stay in Iran in the 1990s. The pieces reflect the middle eastern country’s visual character, from the geometric art of Islam and its bright mosaics to its stunning mountain ranges and sun-kissed valleys.

After being exhibited from the mid-2000s to the early 2010s, the series is set to enter the spotlight once again at next month’s MoCAF (the Modern and Contemporary Art Festival) in an exhibition titled The Last and the Best of Sansó’s Modernos

TODAY’S HOROSCOPE By

Eugenia Last

CELEBRITIES BORN ON THIS

DAY: Justin Chambers, 53; Dina Eastwood, 58; Lisa Rinna, 60; Richie Sambora, 64.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: This is a year of giving and taking. Getting along with others will make your life easier and encourage you to spend more time with like-minded people. Don’t fear what you don’t know; open your mind to information and try something new. Loyalty, dedication and finishing what you start will pay off. Your numbers are 4, 12, 22, 26, 31, 42, 49.

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Express yourself, ask questions and sign up for something within your budget that puts a smile on your face. Choosing what’s best for you will make a difference in how you view others and the world. Romance is favored. ★★★

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Be openminded and considerate. Focus on something that benefits you instead of trying to convince others to share your beliefs. Give everyone the same freedom you wish for yourself. A steady pace will get you where you want to go. ★★★

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Determine what you want to pursue. Someone will try to stand in your way if you are too vocal about your plans. Use intelligence, be willing to put in the effort and keep heading in the direction that beckons you. ★★★

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Don’t let your emotions stand in your way. Evaluate each situation before you say something you regret. Honesty and integrity will attract people who work just as hard as you do. Put your energy behind those who will do the same for you. ★★★★

and churro. Meanwhile, the colorful artworks of Sansó’are printed on the desserts.

“In partnership with MoCAF and Fundacion Sanso, The Writers Bar’s new afternoon tea highlights one of the most distinguished living painters, Juvenal Sanso,” said Aubrey Ada, Raffles & Fairmont Makati Hotel manager. “The afternoon tea program showcases savory and sweet canapes inspired by Sanso’s art, which were specially curated by the Raffles Makati creative culinary team, led by our executive chef, Bela Rieck.”

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Unnecessary change and overspending will be your downfalls. Don’t make a move that can jeopardize your income. Nothing is as it appears, and until you get what you want in writing, sit tight. Concentrate on self-improvement, not changing others. ★★

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Having an open mind will help you grasp information that will bring about unexpected positive change. Your commitment to what and who you love will play a role in your success and encourage you to expand your options and opportunities. ★★★★★

UNMISTAKABLE in its delicate blend of orange and blue skies and textured rock formations, the Brittany Series remains a defining gem of Juvenal Sansó’s rich oeuvre. These stylized, imagined landscapes, as eminent Philippine art scholar Rodolfo Paras-Perez described it, is “structurally as simple as a Haiku poem.”

Equally moving nonetheless is another Sansó series that features much more color and figuration.

At the turn of the 21st century, the Presidential Medal of Merit Awardee introduced new styles by revisiting his earlier works from the 1950s onwards. One of these is the Moderno Series, inspired by his

The show will feature the Sansó’s Moderno Series collection during the run of MoCAF 2023 from July 28 to 30, 2023, at the Grand Ballroom of the Fairmont Makati.

As a prelude of sorts to the showcase, Fundacion Sansó, a private, non-profit institution established to promote the legacy of the living legend, presents Sansó at The Writers Bar. The Afternoon Tea Program at The Writers Bar of Raffles Hotel Makati features vignettes of Sansó’s works, including a pop-up exhibition of an actual Moderno work, Sansó giclees, art plates, posters, and books about the artist.

The activation, of course, offers a special tea experience with a curated menu, which is inspired by Sansó’s art. Staying true to artist’s heritage, the menu presents touches of Spanish favorites, like gazpacho

“[Our partners for this project] developed a great visual and gustatory treat inspired by the works of Sansó,” said Fundacion Sansó director Ricky Francisco.

Sansó at The Writers Bar also serves as a preview of the pieces to be presented by the Fundacion Sansó Museum Shop, including an exclusive peek at the limited-edition Sansó x Rega Turntable, which is a special collaboration with the UK audio brand. The Museum Shop, according to the institution, aims not only to be a retail store, but to be a “platform for education, empowerment, and art appreciation through its curated products.”

Sansó at The Writers Bar runs until September 6, 2023, at Raffles Hotel Makati (www.raffles.com/makati). ■

The Listening Biennial 2023 opens at UP Diliman

THE Listening Biennial 2023 launched its second edition in Asia at the Tokyo Camões, Embassy of Portugal on July 6. The exhibition component of The Listening Biennial 2023 Asia program opened to the public over the weekend, July 8, at the ParolaUP Fine Arts Gallery at the University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City.

The launch activities included a sound bath by artist Anjeline de Dios, a performance from multidisciplinary art collective Elemento, and a

walkthrough with the exhibiting artists and curator.

Section one of the exhibition “use your ears” playfully borrows its title from the Filipino utterance “mata kasi ang gamitin, ‘wag bibig!” (search with your eyes, not your mouth!).

It gathers works from 25 artists from different regions selected by the Biennial’s five curators: Brandon LaBelle (Germany), Rayya Badran (Lebanon), Guely Morato (Bolivia), Luísa Santos (Portugal), and Dayang Yraola (Philippines).

Primarily a listening exhibit, “use your ears” comprises listening terminals at the Gallery Ground Floor Lobby. Installed across different sites at the venue were the second and third sections of the exhibition, titled here is no sound artist, just sound art Adopting this proposition from art historian E.H. Gombrich, the exhibit aims to illustrate the Manila art scene’s participation in the discourse of sound art, in line with Yraola’s ongoing inquiry of what sound art is/may

be in Manila through Sonic Manila Research.

Featuring installation works both new and restaged from 19 Philippinebased artists, these sections converse with those of nine artists of The Listening Biennial Asia partners from UAE/Bahrain, Japan, Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore.

The exhibition runs untilAugust 11, open from 9 am to 4 pm, Tuesdays to Fridays, and by appointment on Mondays and Saturdays at the UP Fine Arts Gallery.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Keep your finances, health and legal matters to yourself. Trusting others with personal information will make you vulnerable. A strict rule regarding spending will help you avoid unnecessary purchases. Personal gain will be yours if you focus on self-improvement, not changing others. ★★★

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): You’ll attract solid and stable people. Be receptive to information shared, but don’t alter your life to benefit someone else. A physical risk will result in injury or illness. Pay attention to details and responsibilities. ★★★

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Put pressure on yourself to get things done. Don’t believe everything you hear. If you want to get things done, be the one to call the shots. Emotional matters will escalate if trust issues arise. ★★★

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Fixing up your surroundings will lift your spirits and prompt you to entertain. Limit your spending, but don’t scrimp on items that encourage personal growth. Home improvements and investments will pay off and raise your profile among peers. ★★★★★

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Keep your options open. Discussing your future with someone in a position of power will make you rethink how best to move forward. A lesson that encourages wealth will take you in a new direction. Put your energy into something that satisfies your soul. ★★

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): A crash course in money management will get you moving in a lucrative direction. Knowing where every penny goes will help you tighten your purse strings to save for something meaningful. Distance yourself from people who are poor role models. ★★★★

BIRTHDAY BABY:

You are helpful, emotional and persistent. You are flexible and responsive.

‘triple letter s-core’ BY LANDON HORTON

The Universal Crossword • Edited by David Steinberg/Anna Gundlach/Jared Goudsmit

‘Insidious 5’ topples ‘Indiana Jones’ before ‘Mission: Impossible’ launches

THE BBC SUSPENDS PRESENTER OVER CLAIMS HE PAID A TEENAGER FOR EXPLICIT PHOTOS

LONDON—The BBC said on Sunday that it has suspended a leading presenter who is alleged to have paid a teenager for sexually explicit photos. As senior British politicians urged a rapid investigation, the broadcaster said it was working to establish the facts of “a complex and fast-moving set of circumstances.”

The UK’s publicly funded national broadcaster was scrambling to head off a worsening crisis after The Sun newspaper reported allegations that the male presenter gave a youth £35,000 ($45,000) starting in 2020 when the young person was 17. Neither the star nor the youth was identified. Amid speculation on social media about the identity of the presenter, several of the BBC’s best-known stars spoke up to say it wasn’t them.

Though the age of sexual consent in Britain is 16, it’s a crime to make or possess indecent images of anyone under 18. The Sun said the young person’s mother had complained to the BBC in May but that the presenter had remained on the air. The BBC said in a statement on Sunday that it “first became aware of a complaint in May,” but that “new allegations were put to us on Thursday of a different nature.”

The broadcaster said “the BBC takes any allegations seriously and we have robust internal processes in place to proactively deal with such allegations.” It said the corporation had also been in touch with “external authorities,” but did not specify whether that was the police.

“This is a complex and fast-moving set of circumstances and the BBC is working as quickly as possible to establish the facts in order to properly inform appropriate next steps,” the BBC said. “We can also confirm a male member of staff has been suspended.” Culture secretary Lucy Frazer held crisis talks with the broadcaster’s director-general about what she called “deeply concerning” allegations. She said director general Tim Davie had assured her the BBC was “investigating swiftly and sensitively.”

“Given the nature of the allegations, it is important that the BBC is now given the space to conduct its investigation, establish the facts and take appropriate action. I will be kept updated,” she wrote on social media. AP

By Lindsey Bahr The Associated Press

INDIANA JONES

short-lived. In its second weekend in theaters, the Disney release was usurped by another franchise fifth— horror film starring and directed by Patrick Wilson scared up $32.7 million in ticket sales from 3,188 theaters, according to studio estimates on Sunday.

It did better than the last installment, Last Key, from 2018 and is the most any PG-13 horror movie has earned in its debut in the past two years.

Insidious 5 was not well reviewed—but modestly budgeted scary movies are often critic-proof when it comes to the box office. This Blumhouse-produced franchise starring Wilson and Rose Byrne began in 2011 under the direction of James Wan and has been responsible for over $570 million in global box office returns—and none of the films have cost more than $16 million to produce. Only the first movie received a “fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes, the more often garner sub 40 percent scores.

“The horror genre seems to have a never-ending allure for audiences,” said Paul Dergarabedian, the senior media analyst for comScore. “Horror movies are profitable and they’re popular. Audiences love them and the accountants love them, too.”

It was shrewd of Sony to release Insidious on the weekend between two Hollywood tentpoles, in this case Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny and Mission: Impossible—Dead Reckoning Part I, which opens on Wednesday. But it was still a surprise that it was able to take No. 1 from something as well-known as Indiana Jones

“It was a perfect release date,” Dergarabedian said. “This adds more complexity to the dynamics of the marketplace.”

Indiana Jones 5 took second place in its second weekend with $26.5 million in North America (down 56 percent from its opening), bringing its domestic total to $121.2 million. Globally it’s earned an estimated $247.9 million.

GMA NETWORK NAMES

NESSA VALDELLON SENIOR

VICE

PRESIDENT FOR GMA PICTURES

GMA Network has announced the appointment of Valdellon as senior vice president for GMA Pictures effective July 1, 2023. Valdellon, who is the Network’s concurrent first vice president for public affairs pivoted a department of documentary and news magazine producers to become creatives and producers of top-rated soaps, romantic comedies, historical dramas, and drama anthologies.

Under her leadership, GMA Public Affairs has broadened its message-making to a wider audience through a diverse lineup of formats and titles including a slate of films under GMA Pictures.

Valdellon currently heads the production of the following films: the edgy romance The Cheating Game, the fantasy drama Firefly, the horror movie Penthouse 77, the science fiction romance Version 2, as well as 4K documentary The Lost Sabungeros.

Prior to venturing into filmmaking, she was production head for over 30 GMA Public Affairs programs, including the multi-awarded newsmagazine program Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho, the blockbuster series Lolong, the George Foster Peabody awardees Reel Time and I-Witness, and the New York Fest multi-medalist Reporter’s Notebook, among many others. Valdellon is credited for creating the full programming grid for GMA News TV which was launched in 2011. While running the channel, she also cowrote and produced awardwinning social realist series Bayan Ko and Titser

In 2018, she won for GMA Network a YouTube innovation grant for the digital newscast Stand for Truth, the network’s pioneering mobile journalism newscast. Valdellon began her career as a producer for The Probe Team and served as long time executive producer for the show.

With GMA for 20 years now, she started her work in the network as program manager and pioneered in reality production with programs, such as Wish Ko Lang, Extra Challenge, Imbestigador and Survivor Philippines, bringing these to the top of Philippine television ratings.

She has served as a New York Festivals grand jury member for five years and running. Valdellon is also in her third year as juror for the Asian Academy Creative Awards.

Indy had some other competition too, in Sound of Freedom, a child trafficking drama starring Jim Caveziel, that opened on July 4 and nearly boasted similar ticket sales for the day. Sound of Freedom was made and distributed by Angel Studios, a faith-based, crowdfunded operation, and managed to come in third place this weekend with an estimated $18.2 million from 2,850 theaters.

Brandon Purdie, head of theatrical distribution at Angel Studios, said in a statement that the numbers

exceeded expectations and attributed its success to word of mouth.

“We’re deeply grateful to AMC, Cinemark, Regal, and all our theater partners—and their hard-working theater staff members—for working with us to accommodate the surging demand for this film and having the courage to release Sound of Freedom during the busiest movie season of the year,” Purdie said. Part of Angel Studios operation involved the ability to buy “pay it forward” tickets on behalf of others. On opening day, the studio estimated that $11.6 million came from direct box office and $2.7 million through the pay it forward option. The film has been popular among right-wing pundits too and has appeared on QAnon message boards.

Joy Ride also made its theatrical debut this weekend in 2,820 locations and earned an underwhelming $5.9 million to take sixth place behind Elemental and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. The R-rated comedy directed and cowritten by Adele Lim follows four friends on an international trip, played by Ashley Park, Sherry Cola, Stephanie Hsu and Sabrina Wu.

The modestly budgeted Lionsgate release got rave reviews out of the South by Southwest Film Festival and maintains a 91 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes, but it didn’t motivate big crowds this weekend. Those that did go (58 percent women, 72 percent over age 25, according to PostTrak) gave it a “B-” CinemaScore,

Celebrating new sounds and new singles

AMAZING musical artist and actress Nicole Laurel has just released her latest original single, “What Matters Most.”

“I wrote the song with sleepless eyes in the midst of a hot summer sunrise after wrapping up another production session. I recall going down the media rabbit hole to debrief from another song we had just finished. Producer Gabe Dandan and I found ourselves immersed in the soundtrack of the film Cadillac Records featuring blues royalties, such as Etta James, Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf,” she told us in a recent chat.

The inspiration for this song is mostly from the quartet music of the 1950s-1960s. The amazing thing with such a brilliant artist is that oftentimes, Laurel just allowed herself to draw inspiration from classic roots to retain that classic sound she envisioned for this composition.

Waxified Sound Production also came in and transformed the sound back to that retro era with its post production and spacial audio expertise. The track was mixed and mastered in Dolby Atmos by Waxie Joaquin.

There is no doubt that “What Matters Most” is a heartfelt love song. Laurel makes it a point to always celebrate love in as many forms as she could. “This five-minute track encapsulates that nostalgic feeling of falling freely in love—no regrets, no qualms, no hanging questions, no holding back. I’d like to think that it’s a classic yet crisp new take on no-nonsense

blues.”

The song is Laurel’s birthday treat to everyone who has remained in her life and inspired her to continue making music. “People come and go, but there are those who stay—not because of circumstances but by choice, and I am forever grateful to them no matter what. They are the ones who matter most.”

The music video of “What Matters Most” is set to be released this week with a special music event to be held at the posh Salon De Ning of The Peninsula Manila on August 1.

ABBY AND HER CHAPMAN STICK

GMA Network is all out in supporting promising musical artists. Take, for instance, Abby Clutario who has just released a new single, her rendition of the Voltes V closing theme song “Chichi Wo Motomete.” The country’s leading network gathered a select

suggesting the movie did not meet expectations, which can sometimes be because of how the film was marketed. The hope is that word-of-mouth might help Joy Ride in the coming weeks.

Joy Ride is one of several raunchy, adult comedies in theaters this summer, including the Jennifer Lawrence movie No Hard Feelings, which earned $5.3 million in its third weekend, bringing its domestic total to $40.3 million.

In more limited release, The Lesson, a literary chamber thriller starring Richard E. Grant and Daryl McCormack, opened to $157,752 from 268 screens.

With the summer movie season at its midway point, there is concern about the overall box office, which is about on par with where it was at the same point in 2022.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at US and Canadian theaters, according to comScore.

1. Insidious: The Red Door, $32.7 million

2. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, $26.5 million

3. Sound of Freedom, $18.2 million

4. Elemental, $9.6 million

5. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, $8 million

6. Joy Ride, $5.9 million

7. No Hard Feelings, $5.3 million

8. Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, $5 million

9. The Little Mermaid, $3.5 million

10. Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken, $2.8 million. n

group of media personalities to have an intimate getting-to-know session with Clutario recently, and this young lady certainly shows a lot of promise.

We learned about a new musical instrument called the Chapman stick that Clutario uses in most of the songs she sings. The Chapman stick is an electric musical instrument devised by Emmett Chapman in the early 1970s. A member of the guitar family, the stick usually has 10 or 12 individually tuned strings and is used to play bass lines, melody lines, chords, or textures.

“I was fascinated by it when I first came across the Chapman stick,” she said, adding, “It gives a soothing feel to the melody and it sort of stuck with me. It sounds very similar to a cello. Bumagay din sa timbre ng voice ko. I had to order one because it is not available locally. So many are curious to know about the stick and hopefully I can teach a few people to play it someday.”

Clutario shared that she continues to very overwhelmed by the feedback she gets because of the Voltes V song she recorded. And she also credits AltG Records for paving the way for her to be able to sing the song.

Asked if she has plans to sing the theme songs of GMA Network’s new shows, she immediately let out a giggle and her eyes lit up: “I will seize every opportunity to sing any song the network will offer. It will be a privilege, especially for someone like me who is just starting to carve a name for myself.”

NESSA VALDELLON

Securitization to boost development of capital market, says new BSP Gov

NEWLY appointed Bangko

Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor

Eli Remolona said on July 4, 2023 that one of the goals of the BSP is the development of the country’s capital market, and securitization supports this goal of the country’s central money authority.

In a meeting with the National Home Mortgage Finance Corporation (NHMFC) Alternate Board of Directors and key officials led by NHMFC

President Renato L. Tobias, Governor Remolona stressed that securitization liquefies non-liquid assets, allowing the production of more loans and mortgages which help develop the capital market. He added that capital market development ultimately supports the liquidity of monetary banks.

President Tobias expressed his appreciation to the BSP for their support in NHMFC’s mandate to provide liquidity in the housing sector through the secondary mortgage market.

NHMFC is the government’s only secondary mortgage institution and a key shelter agency of the Department of Human Settlements and Urban

Development headed by Secretary Jose Rizalino Acuzar, who is also the Chairman of the NHMFC Board of Directors.

FIFA stages 24th Cebu Franchise Expo with theme

‘Opportunity, Connect and Collaborate’ on July 14

OVER the years, FIFA or the Filipino International Franchise Association has always been committed to showcasing the best franchise expos in Visayas and Mindanao. For this year, the 24th Cebu Franchise Expo with the theme “Opportunity, Connect, and Collaborate” will be staged at the SM Seaside City Cebu, Mountain Wing Atrium on July 14 and 15, 2023, during mall hours and offers free entrance to all aspiring entrepreneurs.

FIFA strives to provide innovative and emerging concepts that attract potential customers in the fast-growing markets nationwide, ranging from sectors such as Food and Beverages, Health and Beauty Wellness, Bakeshops, Logistics, Petroleum, Payment Solutions, Pharmacy, and support industries to Franchising and Business.

The 24th Cebu Franchise Expo has been a one-stop-shop franchise exposition, thanks to active and effortful exhibitors, for those interested in investing their hard-earned money into a franchise business.

first-rate taste profiles. These gain advantages to both our partners and our consumers in terms of monetary value. Behind Julie’s access as the Philippines’ favorite neighborhood bakery is the continuing story of hard work and passion for serving on a daily basis every Filipino fresh, good quality, and affordable bread.

THE award-winning campaign, Marriott Moments, returned bigger and brighter this year, with the theme “Paving the way to more winning moments.” With the two events combined, the second season of “Marriott Moments A- Fair” and the 9th edition of “Marry Me at Marriott,” the event kicked off winning moments which will last a lifetime while showcasing a collection of art pieces mirroring life’s heartfelt instants.

Last 2022, “Marry Me at Marriott” became a part of a market-wide awardwinning campaign dubbed, “Marriott Moments,” aimed at providing a deeper meaning to the initiative, acknowledging the significant role that the brand Marriott, and its expanding presence through the growing number of hotel brands in the Philippines, plays in driving the hotel, and wedding and events industries to an auspicious place, such as, showcasing the most reputable celebrated fashion designers like Ezra Santos, Rhett Eala, Albert Andrada, Val Taguba, Jaggy Glarino, and up-andcoming ones like Jezelle Amorado, while also providing the platform for weddings and events suppliers to brandish their creativity and capabilities.

This year’s Marriott Moments was presented by the largest global travel and lifestyle program, the Marriott Bonvoy, as the brand aims to offer more and connect our members to more of what they love. With a total of seven Marriott properties currently operating, two more to open before the year ends, and more in plan for the Philippines, it aims to give endless memorable experiences with our 31 hotel brands and over 8,500+ locations worldwide for more winning moments.

Highlighting three major components, Online, On Ground, and On Stage, the campaign is able to create an integrated plan in bringing more winning moments that branch out to timeless memories. The campaign also expanded in imparting knowledge to different disciplines with a capacity building seminar held in COLLAB, Sheraton Manila Hotel last February, and the Marriott Moments Culinary Arts Conference earlier this June featuring 20

KEY officials and Alternate Board of Directors of the National Home Mortgage Finance Corporation (NHMFC) paid a courtesy visit to the newly appointed Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Eli Remolona. NHMFC is the sole government entity engaged in securitization. In the photo from left are Gaudencio Hernandez, VP Ma. Luisa Favila, Department of Finance Assistant Secretary Glenda Rumohr, NHMFC President Renato L. Tobias, BSP Governor Eli M. Remolona, BSP Deputy Governor Bernadette Romulo-Puyat, Housing Assistant Secretary Krizzy Crawford De Leon, VP Carolina Cortez, VP Ma. Victoria Alpajaro and NHMFC

chefs from nine Marriott properties in the Philippines, the biggest gathering of culinary arts experts in the history of Marriott’s existence in the country.

Online, through the hotel’s official YouTube channel, sub-branded as My Favorite Travel Channel (MyFTC), the #MYMarriottMoments series continues from last year to showcase experiences of real people sharing their memorable events held at Marriott Hotel Manila to further increase the campaign’s online presence.

On Ground, “Marriott Moments A-Fair” featured top wedding and event suppliers that showcase their prowess through their specialty booths curated by COTE Events. From Tiger Weddings and Events by Tiger Lim, EventStyles by Kathy Sy-King, Kyno Kho Flowers and Events, Stan Creative Designs, Miel’s Flowershoppe and Event Styling, 2171 Floral Creations, and Concept+Design by Pio Herras, with their booths ranging from birthdays to anniversaries.

On Stage, the 9th edition of “Marry Me At Marriott” featured six celebrated designers. The homecoming of celebrated designer Ezra Santos, a Filipino designer based in the United Arab Emirates and one of the leading fashion figures in the Middle East and his reunion with Val Taguba as close friends; Rhett Eala and Jaggy Glarino, which highlighted the contrast co-existence of classic and contemporary experiences; and Albert Andrada and Jezelle Amorado, which showcased the harmony of a proud mentor and a grateful protégé in fruition.

The Executive Chef of Marriott Hotel Manila’s culinary arts team, Chef Meik “The Big Chef” Brammer shared, “Regardless of which Marriott property you spend your vacation in or hold your catering and celebrations with. You are guaranteed to become the winner you deserve to be.”

With the same value for excellence and passion towards memorable dishes fit for all occasions, all Marriott hotels strive to give you that winning moment.

More room for dessert! In line with the theme and ethereal venue, the culinary team amplified their winning moment with their dessert garden of Strawberry Fields,

Chocolate Davao, London Fog, “Burnt” Basque Cheesecake, and Churros de Davao.

As grand as the event itself, nine towering cakes were on display, all prepared by the culinary team of Manila Marriott Hotel. Eight themed cakes with one grand cake as the Grand Marriott Moments Cake containing prizes for the first 300 guests, with prizes ranging from exclusive Food and Beverage and Room vouchers from the nine Marriott properties to special gift items from our partners’ Perfume Dessert, Jergens, Caronia, and Liese.

The hotel doesn’t simply create food for your event, but rather, the team creates food for the soul, one that would imprint significant and blissful memories for your special day.

Creating more winning moments, the event is in partnership with Marriott Hotel Manila’s sister hotels, Sheraton Manila Hotel, Clark Marriott Hotel, Sheraton Manila Bay, Sheraton Cebu Mactan Resort, The Westin Manila, and in cooperation with Courtyard by Marriott Iloilo, Four Points by Sheraton Palawan Puerto Princesa, and Fairfield by Marriott Cebu Mandaue.

To add on to more winning moments, the following partners made it more timeless and memorable: COTE Events, SAGA Ph, Jesi Mendez Salon, Cebu Pacific, Bernie Pasamba and The Music, Masters, 10-inch Lights and Sounds, Stage Riggers, Precision Digital Broadcast Solutions Inc., LX Events, ro, Always in Motion, Bella Banquets, Rent Unlimited, Packetswork Corporation, LuChris Printing, Emperador, Distillers Inc., TW Steel, Twin Princess Gems, Avignon Clinic, Rotary Club Passport One, Perfume Dessert, Lumi Candles, Jergens, Liese, Caronia, Michael Ruiz Event Styling, FlowerStore.Ph, KAO Manila, Newport World Resorts, Lifestyle Asia.

Photo and Video Partners, Pix and Reel Republik, Benjie Tiongco Photography, Jaja Samaniego and Pearl Studio, Mico Studios, Metrophoto, Chestknots Studio, Niceprint Photography, Amady Manila Inc, Bob Nicolas Wedding Films, Notion in Motion, Jason Magbanua Wedding Videography, Treehouse Story, and Cinemaworks Wedding Art Film.

FIFA is very excited to present the sponsored partner brands participating in this year’s expo, such as RK Franchise Consultancy, Flash Express, Coolers Delight, Don Macchiatos, Uncle Brew Philippines, Mr. Potato, Julie’s Bakeshop, But First, Coffee and Avigate App, and exhibiting companies include Dampa Express, Bigby’s Restaurant, Braddex Batchoy and Steam Rice, Codelikeus Technologies, Baa Baa Thai Tea, Mgas, Lite Clerk, MyChoice Ice Cream, Chinooks Roast and Fried Chicken, Everything but cheese, Brow and Beyond, RCBC, BPI, Metrobank, Citibank, The Hungry Pita, Dr. Care Pharmacy, Eatlog, Hiro Lifestyle, Ystilo Salon, Teacher A’s HL, LemonZilla, Master Siomai, BurgerBomb, Dermacare, Mr. Lemon, House of Franchising, Pizzafy, Sol’s Halo-Halo and Desserts and Lugaw ni Bossing and many more.

Uncle Brew is the new innovation in the industry of coffee that brews and serves a variety of affordable hot and iced drinks. The brand operates on low-cost ingredients with

Flash Express is a logistics and transportation company that operates a doorto-door pickup and delivery service; apart from Flash Express service, the company also provides other services that cover all areas to be the integrated E-Commerce services provider, such as Flash Logistics that provide large items delivery service, Flash Fulfillment that deals with goods storage, Flash Home or parcel delivery agent service, and Flash Money or financial service. Baa Baa Thai Tea was initially conceptualized in 2018. Its first brand was established in April 2019 at Sta. Mesa, Manila, with only a take-out counter. Baa Baa Thai Tea wanted to create a new business and expand through franchising as it is a great way to help families, friends, and people in the community who wish to have their own business that is proven profitable. To this date, Baa Baa Thai Tea has 71 successful operating outlets. The Avigate App was established in 2015 as a mobile POS software for franchises; we’ve since become a pioneer in next-level chat commerce in the Philippines. Coolers Delight is a total refreshment parlor offering halo-halo, floats, shakes, juices, milk tea, waffle and pizza, currently has 150 branches nationwide.

FIFA is proud to announce esteemed media partners for the 24th Cebu Franchise Expo, such as FranchisingPH Magazine, Panay News, Philstar Global, BusinessMirror, BusinessWorld, SMNI News Channel, 96.3 Lite rock owned and operated by Exodus Incorporated, who will be joining us to amplify this premier event. Stay tuned for comprehensive coverage and exclusive insights from our media partners, as we bring you the latest updates and highlights from the expo!

If you are interested in franchising your business, please visit the booth of RK Franchise Consultancy and get a free consultation with Sheena Kay Kotik and her experienced Team. RK Franchise Consultancy has developed over 900 Filipino Companies into successful Franchise Systems, for those who want to learn more about franchising, RK Franchise Consultancy will hold a Franchise Seminar entitled “All About Franchising and Trademarking” on July 16, 2023, from 1:30 pm to 5:00 pm at Eastland Hotel and Residences Kotik, president of RK Franchise Consultancy, and the Trademark Specialist of FIFA Filipino International Franchise Association, Sokrie Malaco and various Franchise owners as Guest speakers. For details, please get in touch with 0917.860.9329 / 0933.864.2553 / 0933.864.2552 or visit www. cebufranchise.com.

Park Inn by Radisson North EDSA - The First Hotel Brand in the PHL to Launch PlasticShreds

PARK Inn by Radisson North EDSA has become the first hotel in the Philippines to partner with Diversey’s PlasticShreds Sustainable Program, marking a significant milestone in the fight against plastic pollution.

Key stakeholders who witnessed the collaboration on June 20, 2023 included Stefan Phang, Global Director of ESG & Creating Shared Value at Diversey, Inc, along with the Diversey team, Ann Olalo, General Manager of Park Inn by Radisson North EDSA, and her team and Chef Leah Magallanes, Vice President of Quality & Sustainability at SM Hotels and Conventions Corp. Phang expressed his enthusiasm for the partnership stating, “PlasticShreds is the latest Diversey program that Park Inn by Radisson North EDSA, Philippines has embraced. Previously Diversey and Park Inn by Radisson North EDSA had worked together to run Soap For Hope, which reprocess used hotel guests soaps into new soap bars, and Linens For Life, which repurposes end-of-life hotel linen into new products such as face masks, school uniforms for children, kitchen aprons, tote bags, soft toys and others.”

“These programs not only protect the environment by diverting tons of hotel discards from landfills, incinerators and oceans, but also help local communities by enhancing their livelihoods as well as providing them items that protect them such as soaps and face masks. We are very happy that Park Inn by Radisson North EDSA is a strong partner with us in our programs, and that PlasticShreds and other CSV programs are helping the hotel to achieve the Hospitality Sustainability Basics certification ahead of deadline.”

Ann Olalo, General Manager of Park Inn by Radisson North EDSA shared, “We are committed to operate a responsible and sustainable business, as part of Radisson Hotel Group’s commitment to Responsible Business and Hotel Sustainability Basics. We are proud to partner with Diversey in various sustainable initiatives and this latest synergy is our commitment to reduce single use plastic and environmental impact in our local community. We plan to upcycle these shredded plastic chips and produce planter boxes and miniature pots for hotel use and guest amenity.”

“The launch of PlasticShreds, and the other community programs which our hotels run together with Diversey, contribute to meeting the criteria of Hotel Sustainability Basics, the verified level of essential hotel sustainability which all Radisson Hotel Group properties will comply with in 2024. As a winner of the 2022 company award for Responsible Business, the Park Inn by Radisson North EDSA is one of our best in class hotels in our company focus on Think People, Think Community and Think Planet.” says Inge Huijbrechts, Global Senior Vice President Sustainability at Radisson Hotel Group.

edition. From left, Cluster Marketing Communications Officer Christelle Tolisora, Pio Herras of Concept+Design, Joyce Aguilar of 2171 Floral Creations, Miguel and Ela Bautista of Miel’s Flowershoppe, Stan Chua of Stan Creatives, Kyno Kho of Kyno Kho Flowers and

Events, Kathy Sy-King of Eventstyles by Kathy Sy-King, Tiger Lim of Tiger Weddings and Events, Cluster Director of Marketing Communications Archie Nicasio, Cluster Marketing Communications Manager Belle Cahulogan, and renowned Event Host RJ Ledesma.

Marriott continues to bring award “Winning Moments” with the 9th installment of the bemedalled Marry Me at Marriott

Acting Corporate Secretary Atty. Joshua Emmanuel Cariño.

Stymied by Supreme Court, Biden wants voters to have the final say on his agenda

By Colleen Long & Zeke Miller The Associated Press

When the court’s conservative majority effectively killed his plan to cancel or reduce federal student loan debts for millions of people, Biden said, “Republicans snatched away the hope that they were given.” When the justices ended race-based affirmative action in college admissions, he said, “This is not a normal court.” When they overturned Roe v. Wade and a national right to abortion last year, the President said, “Voters need to make their voices heard.”

As Biden heads into the 2024 election, he is running not only against the Republicans who control one-half of Congress but also against the conservative bloc that dominates the nation’s highest court. It’s a subtle but significant shift in approach toward the Supreme Court, treating it more like a political entity even as Biden stops short of calling for an overhaul.

That shift is becoming apparent in everything from the White House’s messaging to its legal strategy.

“The president respects the court’s authority, but if its judgments are going to be political and there are members of the court who are saying that, he owes it to voters to make it clear what his positions are and what he’s doing to address it,” said Ron Klain, his former chief of staff.

“Many members of the current

court testified that Roe is settled law and still overturned it,” he added, referring to the court’s ruling on abortion. “That has its consequences.”

Biden, who once led the Senate Judiciary Committee, is focusing on the politicization of the court as a way to encourage voters to back him. Yet he has not embraced any effort to make big changes to the court.

Instead, Biden is increasingly vocal about his belief that the court is abandoning mainstream constitutional interpretation. He tells voters they need more Democrats in Congress and a Democrat in the White House to counter the impact of the conservativeleaning court.

Biden has won his share of cases, including on immigration, before a court where conservatives hold a 6-3 majority. But the student loan defeat capped a term when justices imposed significant roadblocks.

White House officials say Biden is keen to explore other ways to pursue the same priorities and explain to the American people about the obstacles.

“There’s only upside in running against the court as an institution because the court is doing things that are wildly unpopular and they’re preventing the president from implementing his agenda,” said Chris Kang,

chief counsel of the progressive group Demand Justice and a onetime deputy counsel to President Barack Obama.

“I think that it’s important to make clear that the Supreme Court is making it impossible to implement and advance policies that should not have any controversy attached to them,” he added.

Republicans are working to portray Biden as overstepping his legal authority in pursuit of his agenda. They say the high court’s policies are in step with much of the country and they are trying to motivate their own voters by highlighting what the GOP has achieved through court rulings.

Former President Donald Trump, at the recent Faith and Freedom Coalition conference in Washington, praised the three justices he had nominated to the Supreme Court. “Exactly one year ago today, those justices were the pivotal votes in the Supreme Court’s landmark decision ending the constitutional atrocity known as Roe v. Wade,” Trump said.

He drew a standing ovation by

noting that “conservatives had been trying for 50 years,” to overturn that ruling. “But I got it done and nobody ever thought it was a possibility.”

Other administration officials said the court’s conservative dominance has lowered the political cost to Biden when the justices scuttle some of his legally suspect actions such as on student loans and coronavirus mandates. On the latter, the Supreme Court struck down Biden’s attempt to require employees of large companies to get shots but left the requirement in place for health care workers, though by that time the pandemic had started to wane.

Klain insisted that everything Biden has put forward had a solid legal basis and was approved by the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel.

“There was no sense of taking the legal issues lightly or just do it and take whatever the court says,’’ he said.

Confidence in the Supreme Court fell to its lowest point in at least 50 years after the leaked draft opinion in the abortion case

in 2022. Those who view the current court favorably are largely Republican.

According to the Pew Research Center’s September 2022 report, only 28 percent of Democrats and Democrat-leaning independents now view the court favorably, down nearly 40 percentage points since 2020. And people in the United States increasingly favor term limits.

Positive views of the court among Republicans and those who lean Republican have increased to 73 percent. As a result, the partisan gap is larger than at any other point in the 35 years of polling that Pew has done on the court.

Republicans have focused for years on remaking the federal judiciary and Supreme Court. When Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-K.Y., was the majority leader, he refused to even meet in 2016 with Obama’s pick for the high court—current Attorney General Merrick Garland, a federal judge at that time. The nomination stalled until a Republican president, Trump, took over.

Establishment GOP operatives backed Trump because of his pledge to name as many judges to the bench as possible. Their gamble worked. Trump ended up with three Supreme Court nominees and 54 federal appeals court judges, reshaping the courts for a generation.

Democrats are now finally understanding the power of judges as a voting tool, and Biden has made judicial nominations a priority, appointing a record number of judges for a president at this point in his first term, including some of the most diverse picks yet to the judiciary. Biden aides plan on highlighting those accomplishments during the reelection campaign, but acknowledge it’s only a small salve to their troubles at the high court.

Biden has taken to warning voters about what else the Supreme Court might do in the future, whether rolling back samesex marriage rights or access to contraception.

“President Biden is being direct with the American people about the stakes these extreme decisions that jettison decades of longstanding precedent have for their fundamental freedoms and their daily lives,” said White House spokesman Andrew Bates.

Part of Biden’s unwillingness to go further to reshape the Supreme Court comes from a sense of history. Those pushing social change stood by the court after Brown v. Board of Education, a major civil rights case, and even Roe v. Wade, holding up its autonomy as a way to push forward. Backing away from that, particularly for an establishment Democrat like Biden, is not easy.

As Biden said in an interview with MSNBC, “I think if we start the process of trying to expand the court, we’re going to politicize it maybe forever in a way that is not healthy,”

Leah Litman, a professor of law at the University of Michigan and co-host of “Strict Scrutiny” podcast about the Supreme Court, said that while Biden was unlikely to go that far, “there are a variety of things that Democratic politicians could run on that would actually allow them to more explicitly push back against the court.”

Besides expanding the size of the Supreme Court and or the lower courts, she said, other options include stripping the Supreme Court of jurisdiction over certain cases, setting term limits and implementing ethics changes.

All of them, she said, are things the party could embrace “as part of their recognition that the court has politicized itself.”

Pope Francis names 21 new cardinals, including two prelates based in Hong Kong and Jerusalem

By Frances D’emilio

The Associated Press

VATICAN CITY—Pope Francis on Sunday announced he has chosen 21 new cardinals, including prelates from Jerusalem and Hong Kong—places where Catholics are a small minority—as he continues to leave his mark on the body of churchmen who will select his successor.

The pope announced his picks during his customary weekly appearance to the public in St. Peter’s Square, saying the ceremony to formally install the churchmen as cardinals will be held on September 30.

Among those tapped are several prelates holding or about to assume major Vatican posts, including the archbishop from La Plata, Argentina, Archbishop Victor Manuel Fernández, 59, whom the pope just named to lead the Holy See’s powerful office for ensuring doctrinal orthodoxy and overseeing processing of allegations of sexual abuse against the clergy worldwide.

The new cardinals also include Hong Kong Bishop Stephen Sau-yan Chow, 64, and the Vatican’s top official in the Middle East, Monsignor Pierbattista Pizzaballa, 58, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem.

Those two churchmen guide flocks in geopolitical areas of keen concern to the Vatican.

On Sunday, in remarks preceding his reading out of the list of new cardinals, Pope Francis expressed hope that Israeli and Palestinian authorities would take up “direct dialogue” to end the “spiral of violence”—a reference to recent deadly clashes.

Francis repeatedly has cited the hardships of the Christian minority in the

Middle East in recent decades.

In an interview in April with The Associated Press, Pizzaballa, an Italian prelate who is the top Catholic churchman in the Holy Land, said that the region’s 2,000-year-old Christian community has come under increasing attack, with the most right-wing government in Israel’s history emboldening extremists who have harassed clergy and vandalized religious property at a quickening pace.

For decades, the Vatican and China have experienced tensions alternating with improvement of relations over the Communist-led nation’s insistence that it has the right to appoint bishops and the jailing of priests who professed loyalty to the pope.

Earlier this year, the Hong Kong bishop, who, like Francis, is a Jesuit, made the first visit to mainland China in nearly 30 years by a prelate in that post.

In announcing their names, Francis said the appointment of cardinals from across the globe “expresses the universality of the Church that continues to announce the merciful love of God to all men of the Earth.”

Cardinals serve as advisers to the pontiff on matters of teaching and administration, including the Vatican’s scandal-plagued finances. But their most crucial duty is gathering in a secret conclave to elect the next pontiff.

Francis has now named nine batches of new cardinals in his 10-year papacy. Even before this latest group, he had already appointed the large majority of those eligible to elect the next pontiff— those aged under 80. With the latest appointments, the number of cardinals who meet that condition stands at 137.

That means, increasingly, the men who will vote for whoever succeeds Francis, in the event of his resignation or death, are churchmen supportive of his values, priorities, and perspectives, and who share his vision for the future of the Catholic Church.

Three of the churchmen chosen to receive the cardinal red work in Africa, a continent where the Church has experienced growth in recent decades. They are Monsignor Stephen Brislin, 66, archbishop of Cape Town, South Africa; Monsignor Protase Rugambwa, 63, co-adjutor archbishop of Tabora, Tanzania; and Monsignor Stephen Ameyu Martin

Mulla, 59, archbishop of Juba, South Sudan, which the pope visited earlier this year.

The office that Francis appointed Fernández to is traditionally headed by a cardinal. But the speed with which the La Plata archbishop was tapped publicly as a cardinal—eight days after the appointment—was notable and highlights the attention the pontiff gives to that office.

A US-based group that tracks how the Catholic hierarchy deals with allegations of sexual abuse by clergy says Francis made a “troubling” choice in picking the Argentine archbishop, who, in 2019, refused

to believe victims who accused a priest in that archdiocese of sexually abusing boys.

Two others holding important offices at the Vatican were also among the pope’s picks on Sunday. They are the Chicago-born Monsignor Robert Francis Prevost, 67, who heads the Dicastery for Bishops; and Monsignor Claudio Gugerotti, 67, an Italian in charge of the Dicastery for Eastern Churches.

Also on the list are:

Monsignor Americo Manuel Alves Aguiar, an auxiliary bishop from Lisbon, Portugal, which the pope will visit next month for a Catholic youth jamboree, was also on the

list. At 49, he is exceptionally young for a cardinal.

Monsignor Sebastian Francis, 71, bishop of Penang, Malaysia, who heads the bishops conference of Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei; Monsignor Francois-Xavier Bustillo, 54, a Franciscan and native Spaniard who is bishop of Ajaccio, on the French island of Corsica; Monsignor Luis Jose Rueda Aparicio, 71, archbishop of Bogota, Colombia; and Monsignor Grzegorz Rys, 59, archbishop of Lodz, Poland.

Monsignor Emil Paul Tscherrig, 76, a Swiss prelate who is the first nonItalian to serve as papal ambassador to Italy and San Marino; and Monsignor Christopher Louis Yves Pierre, 77, a Frenchman whose diplomatic postings included Washington, D.C.

Monsignor Angel Sixto Rossi, 64, a Jesuit who is archbishop of his native Cordoba, Argentina; Monsignor Jose Cobo Cano, 57, who was just appointed last month by Francis to be archbishop of Madrid; and the Rev. Angel Fernández Artime, 62, a Spaniard who is rector major of the Salesians, a congregation of priests present in 133 countries.

Three of the 21 new cardinals are 80 or older and thus not eligible to vote in a conclave. They are Italian prelate, Agostino Marchetto, 82, who served as the top Vatican diplomat in Belarus, Madagascar, Mauritius and Tanzania; Monsignor Diego Rafael Padron

WASHINGTON—After major blows to his agenda by the Supreme Court, President Joe Biden is intent on making sure voters will have the final say.

PRESIDENT Joe Biden speaks on the Supreme Court ruling on affirmative action in college admissions in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on June 29, 2023, in Washington. As Biden heads into 2024, he’s not only running against the Republicans who control the legislative branch, he’s also running against conservatives who dominate the co-equal judicial branch. It’s a subtle, but significant, shift in approach toward the nation’s highest court—treating it more like a political entity. AP/EVAN VUCCI

Sanchez, 84, archbishop emeritus of Cumana, Venezuela; and a Franciscan priest, Luis Pascual Dri, 96, famed for hearing confessions in the pope’s native Buenos Aires and who has been praised by Francis for his stress on mercy.

POPE Francis prays in front of new Cardinals during consistory inside St. Peter’s Basilica, at the Vatican on Aug. 27, 2022. Pope Francis has announced he has chosen 21 new cardinals, including prelates from Jerusalem and Hong Kong, places where Catholics are a small minority. The pope announced his picks during his customary appearance on Sunday, July 9, 2023, to the public in St. Peter’s Square, saying the ceremony to formally install the churchmen as cardinals will be held on September 30. AP/ANDREW MEDICHINI)

PBBM to award SEA, Asean Para Games medalists in Malacañang

PRESIDENT Ferdinand

“Bongbong” Marcos Jr.

will personally present on July 20 at the Malacañang Palace the cash incentives to more than 500 medalists in the 32nd Southeast Asian Games and 12th Asean Para Games Cambodia hosted last May.

“ We are grateful for President Marcos’s decision to personally award the incentives to Team Philippines, an expression of his admiration to our national athletes and their unwavering passion and dedication for representing the country,” said Philippine Sports Commission (PSC)

Chairman Richard Bachmann.

The PSC will release P60 million and P14 million in cash bonuses for the SEA Games and Para Games medalists, respectively, as provided for by Republic Act 10699, or the Expanded National Athletes and Coaches Incentives and Benefits Act.

Under the law, a SEA Games gold medalist will receive P300,000, silver medalist P150,000, and bronze medalist P60,000. Gold, silver, and bronze medalists in the Para Games are entitled to receive P150,000, P75,000 and P30,000, respectively.  Funding for the bonuses from the government was taken from the net income of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. that is remitted to the National Sports Development Fund of the PSC.

In the past, the PSC conducted two separate awarding for the SEA Games and Para Games medalists, but I believe it is more fitting to join the two for the President’s first-ever incentives awarding during his administration,” added Bachmann, who will be joined by his commissioners during the ceremony.

Serbian coach Djordjevic eyes impressive finish for Chinese five

CAN National Basketball Association Finalist and twotime MVP Nikola Jokic lead Serbia to victory against the team’s former coach Sasha Djordjevic who’s now coaching Chinba?

The goal is always the same, to win a medal. Serbia is always going for a medal,” so said Djordjevic back in 2019 when he was still the head coach of Serbia heading into the FIBA Basketball World Cup. They looked good at the start by sweeping the group stage against the Philippines, Angola and Italy with a combined 120 point winning margin.

However, their chase for a podium spot abruptly ended with a 97-87 loss to Argentina in the quarterfinals.

Serbia still finished fifth, thanks to a win against the United States, but it was a disappointing ending as they felt they had a good enough team to win it all. D jordjevic resigned after that to

HIDILYN GOES LOCAL

By Josef Ramos

OLYMPIC and world champion Hidilyn Diaz Naranjo takes a break from her overseas campaign by competing on local soil for the first time perhaps in more than a decade in the National Weightlifting Selection for the Hangzhou 20th Asian Games that starts Wednesday and ends Sunday at the SM Bacolod City.

“ I will be competing there,” the 32-year-old Zamboanga City weightlifter told BusinessMirror on Monday.

D iaz Naranjo will be competing at 59 kgs, her new target at the Paris 2024 Olympics, with Cambodia Southeast Asian Games gold medalist Erleen Ann Ando giving way and will vie at 64 kgs.

“ I believe these two athletes will dominate their respective weight classes and they will both make it in the Asian Games,” Samahang Weightlifting ng Pilipinas (SWP)

Secretary-General Patrick Lee said.

Diaz Naranjo and Ando will also compete at 59 and 64 kgs, respectively, in Hangzhou which is not an Olympic qualifier, according to Lee.

Hidilyn [Diaz-Naranjo] has already submitted her inclusion also

in the Asian Games,” Lee added.

Forty weightlifters are participating in the tryouts that will select members of the national team to Hangzhou.

D iaz Naranjo is hoping to draw momentum from the Bacolod tournament to bounce back from her disappointing debut at 59 kgs at the Asian Weightlifting Championships last May 7 in Jinju, South Korea, where she missed the podium. Her sights are on the world championships, which will be staged ahead from September 2 to 17 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, of the September 23 to October 8 Asian Games.

The world championships are so important,” said Diaz-Naranjo of her third Olympic qualifier after the Bogota worlds last December and the Asian championships last May.  S he topped three events at 55 kgs in Bogota for her first world championships gold medals, but finished fourth overall in the Asian championships at the heavier 59-kg class.

The two-time Southeast Asian Games gold winner and 2018 Asian Games champion needs to compete in three to four more Olympic qualifying tournaments to make her fifth Olympic Games in Paris.

PHL tops pool in AVC Taiwan tilt

WIMBLEDON, England—

Twice,  Iga Swiatek  was a single point from exiting  Wimbledon  on Sunday, a single point from the sort of confounding defeat at the place that gives her so much more trouble than any of  the other Grand Slam tournaments

Down a set and 6-5 in the second against Belinda Bencic, the No. 1-ranked Swiatek steeled herself and dispensed with the pair of match points. She erased the first with a booming forehand, the second with a forceful backhand, and soon enough, Swiatek was not just back in the contest, she was controlling it.

F rustrated in the late afternoon sunshine at Centre Court, so close to defeat in the early evening shadows, Swiatek managed to reach the Wimbledon quarterfinals for the first time by coming back for a 6-7 (4), 7-6 (2), 6-3 victory over the 14th-seeded Bencic.

I threw everything I could at her,” Bencic said, “and I pushed her to the limit.”

Swiatek, a 22-year-old from Poland who will face wild-card entry Elina Svitolina of Ukraine for

end his successful six-year stint as the Serbian national team coach.

The 55-year-old tactician is set to coach in his third straight World Cup as he leads China.

The 2019 World Cup hosts had a frustrating performance at home as they finished 24th overall, losing the Olympic spot to Iran. Now the coach and the Asian powerhouse team that both felt they fell short in 2019 are out to make statement. For Djordjevic, there may be no bigger statement heading into the World Cup than not including superstar Guo Ailun in his extended roster.

Everyone needs to work hard to earn a place in the national team’s training camp,” Djordjevic said. “I want my players to understand that only President Yao Ming and I are guaranteed a spot in the World Cup, so every player must put in a lot of effort to secure their ticket.”

Nuggets of Nuggets

IT’S already been almost a month since the Denver Nuggets won their first National Basketball Association title and as I look back, as with past NBA champions, there are stories and back stories on some of the players.

B efore we get into those narrations, in past NBA Finals, there’ve been countless behind the scenes ongoings with the players and as far as we can remember, before Game 3 of the 1990 Finals between the Portland Trailblazers and the reigning and defending champions the Detroit Pistons, Joe Dumars Sr., father of then Pistons’

a semifinal berth, extended her unbeaten run to 14 matches, which includes claiming her fourth major title at the French Open last month.

S wiatek has won three championships at Roland Garros, and  one at the US Open, but she never before had been past the fourth round at the All England Club. Last year, she had a 37-match winning streak snapped during a third-round Wimbledon loss.

So comfortable on the red clay of Paris, so capable on the hard courts in New York—and at the Australian Open, where she has made it to the semifinals—Swiatek is just not quite the same player yet on the grass used at the year’s third Grand Slam tournament.

I wasn’t sure that it’s going to end that way. I’m happy that I kind of kept my belief and I just played and I didn’t look back,” Swiatek said. “For sure this match is going to give me more belief. I’m happy that it was really tight and I could still play my game. These are important moments, for sure. You have to kind of take all the positive stuff from matches like that.”

Svitolina, a 2019 semifinalist at Wimbledon who had a baby last October and returned to the tour this April, advanced Sunday by edging

two-time major champion Victoria Azarenka 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (11-9).

After giving birth to our daughter, this is the second-happiest moment in my life,” Svitolina said.

T he other quarterfinal on the top half of the women’s bracket will be No. 4 Jessica Pegula vs. 2019 French Open runner-up Marketa Vondrousova.

O ne men’s quarterfinals established Sunday was No. 8 Jannik Sinner against Roman Safiullin. No. 7 Andrey Rublev moved on but had to wait to find out his opponent, because seven-time Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic’s match against No. 17 Hubert Hurkacz was suspended at night after Djokovic took the first two sets 7-6 (6), 7-6 (6). That will resume Monday.

T he big-hitting Bencic unfurled a right upper arm heavily wrapped in beige and white tape from her shoulder to above her elbow to deliver powerful shot after powerful shot. It was the kind of display that carried her to two medals for Switzerland—a gold in singles, a silver in doubles—at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, and a semifinal appearance at the 2019 US Open.

A nd Swiatek frequently displayed signs of dismay. AP

Limketkai, Anciano prevail in JPGT-Sta. Elena

CHAZ LIMKETKAI and Rafa Anciano hacked out close victories in driving competition but ruled their respective sides in contrasting fashions in Round 2 of the Junior Philippine Golf Tour (JPGT) 2023 Series at the Sta. Elena Golf and Country Club in Laguna Sunday.

L imketkai scored 54 points in the long game of the three-part skills challenge in the 13-14 age category as he edged Sebastian Saycon (52 points) after emerging on top in chipping (35 points) and finishing joint third with Ramon Fabie (37 points) in putting.

He pooled 126 points to dominate Saycon, who assembled 98 points, while Juan Benedicto Angeles placed third overall with 97 points in the event organized by Pilipinas Golf Tournaments Inc. that also features competitions in 9-10, 11-12 and 15-18 age brackets

shooting guard Joe Dumars, passed away.

A ccording to basketballnetwork.net, “His dad passed away a few hours before Game 3 of the NBA Finals due to congestive heart failure. Debbie kept her promise. She only shared the bad news with Isiah Thomas, Pistons coach Chuck Daly and assistant Brendan Malone. All of them could only look at Dumars with pity.”

Debbie is the wife of Joe Dumars.

O n June 16, 1996, Michael Jordan scored 22 points, grabbed nine rebounds, dished out seven assists and won his fourth NBA championship after leading the 72-10 Bulls to an 87-75 Game 6 victory over the Seattle SuperSonics.

Unlike most memorable Jordan Playoff performances, the most memorable image of MJ from this game wasn’t one of a game-winner, a breathtaking dunk, or anything on the court; the most memorable image was him crying on the locker room floor after the game.

The reason why Jordan was so emotional and collapsed on the floor after the win was because it was Father’s Day and this was his first championship since his father, James Jordan, was murdered in 1993, according to ballislife.com

To me, he’s the greatest of all time.

B ack to the newly minted NBA Champions, the Denver Nuggets. Who can forget the story of Nikola Jokic, not known for his athleticism or leaping ability or speed and quickness. He was selected 41st overall in the second round of the 2014 NBA Draft.

conducted in separate dates. Angeles took the putting honors with 42 points, nipping Bien Luis Fajardo, who posted 40 points, with Limketkai and Fabie sharing third place.

L imketkai bested Gabriel Handog (31 points) in chipping while Angeles settled for third with 27 points.

A nciano totaled 103 points, barely edging Maria Monserrat Lapuz, who assembled 102 points, while Levonne Talion placed third with 76 points in the girls’ side of the series put up by the International Container Terminal Services Inc. to boost junior golf and at the same time discover talents from the ranks.

THE Philippines beat  scored a thrilling 22-25, 25-21, 26-24, 23-25, 15-12 win over Mongolia on Monday to sweep Pool D of the Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) Challenge Men’s Cup at the University of Taipei Hall in Taiwan.  H ard-hitting Marck Espejo, Steven Rotter and Ryan Ka joined forces in the fifth set to out off the Mongolians en route to 2-0 win-loss record and a slot in the knockout final 12 stage that starts on Wednesday.

E spejo erupted for 36 points on 29 kills, five service points and two blocks for the team fielded by the Philippine National Volleyball

Federation led by Ramon “Tats” Suzara. The Filipinos also swept Macau, 25-21, 25-15, 25-14, last Sunday. M ongolia finished the eliminations at 1-1 while Macau went winless.

Suzara congratulated the team of Brazilian coach Sergio Veloso but reminded them to sustain their momentum in the tournament that features 15 Asian nations.   T he Philippines joins host Taiwan, Australia, South Korea, Hong Kong, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, India, Vietnam and Bahrain in the playoff round along with either Saudi Arabia or Thailand, which has yet to complete their pool play.

Choco Mucho faces F2 Logistics in PVL Invitational eliminations

CHOCO MUCHO and F2

Logistics expect to come out fresh and strong after a long break—with new ploys and surprises to startle each other—in pursuit of an all-important win in the Premier Volleyball League Invitational eliminations at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig City Tuesday.

The 6:30 p.m. clash between the Flying Titans and Cargo Movers stakes no less than the first semifinal slot in Group B after the two teams swept their first two matches in the short single-round eliminations in the twodivision mid-season offering of the league organized by Sports Vision.

Petro Gazz, meanwhile, seeks to improve its 1-1 mark, also in Group B, as it faces Farm Fresh, winless in two games, in the 9:30 a.m. opener of a busy four-game bill, ushering in the last four eliminations playdates. Cignal also tries to stay in the semis hunt for its second win in three games against Foton in another Group B match at 12 noon with the Tornadoes, like the Foxies, out to break into the win column in three starts. C hery Tiggo and Akari, toting identical 0-1 slates, tangle in the lone Group A clash at 4 p.m. Games are aired on PVL.ph, One Sports, and One Sports+ with live streaming on Smart Livestream, Cignal Play and Pilipinas Live.

With both teams boasting of seasoned campaigners and reinforced by top-notch recruits and rookies, it will be a question of execution and desire, particularly if and when the match goes to a nerve-wracking finish. T he lull has given both sides time to sharpen their skills, strengthen the facets where they are strong at, and improve on the areas where the other side could cash in on and capitalize.

I’m happy we have a lot of options now but I have to make sure that they gel in together,” said F2 Logistics coach Regine Diego before the league headed to the nine-day break.

W hen you look at him, he looks a bit pudgy and he neither jumps high nor runs fast but he holds the record for fastest triple double achieved in 14 minutes and 33 seconds. His basketball IQ is out of this world and he is very fundamentally sound.

H is game isn’t fancy. Not a lot of French pastry. Simple but effective and it obviously gets the job done. In this writer’s opinion, he should’ve won his third straight MVP.

Nuggets small forward Michael Porter Jr. underwent three back surgeries to get to where he is. In 2018, from a possible first overall pick, he fell all the way to the 14th pick.

A ll of that is now water under the bridge as Porter averaged almost a double-double in points and rebounds in the NBA finals helping out Nikola Jokic and Aaron Gordon with rebounding.

A nother great story is Nuggets shooting guard Jamal Murray’s. The greater story though is the faith, patience, and commitment shown to him from team owner Stan Kroenke all the way to Head Coach Michael Malone.

After Game 3 on Saturday, Nuggets head coach Michael Malone shared an eye-opening conversation he had with Murray after he’d missed the entire 2021-22 season with a torn ACL.”

M alone said that the day after Murray’s knee injury, the star guard asked his coach if the organization was going to trade him because he was “damaged goods.”   I remember being in the bus with him...and he had tears

in his eyes, and that was the message. ‘Hey man, you’re gonna come back from this. And not only are you going to come back, you’re going to be better,’” said Malone.  I hugged him and said, ‘Hell no, you’re ours. We love you, we’re going to help you get back, and you’re going to be a better player for it,” said Malone, when Murray asked if the Nuggets were going to trade him.”— si.com

Enough said.

The two journeymen on the Nuggets, Jeff Green and Ish Smith, finally winning the big one after everything they’ve been through.

Jeff Green’s journey almost ended abruptly, “He remembers the general managers and league executives who told him he wouldn’t stick in the league after he underwent successful open-heart surgery in 2012. As Green celebrates the 10-year anniversary on Sunday of his fivehour surgery to repair an aortic aneurysm, he’s thankful for a whole lot, including those who doubted him.

A lot of GMs, a lot of teams told me I wouldn’t even make it past five [years],” Green told The Denver Post. “To be here [at] 10, I’m just blessed, man. I’m thankful…and I’m glad they told me that.”— denverpost.com

A nd the last but not the least, third string point guard Ish Smith. Smith holds the record of playing for the most NBA franchises at 13. As a Denver Nugget, Smith became the only player in NBA history to win an NBA title with his 13th NBA team.

RAFA ANCIANO (left) and Chaz Limketkai display their medals after topping Round 2 Sunday.

IGA SWIATEK tries to refresh in her chair during a change of ends break in her match against Belinda Bencic Sunday. AP

Project Manager: Rodel A. Suarez

PPA 49 thAnniversary

A BusinessMirror Special Feature

PPA MARKS 49TH YEAR BUILDING BETTER AND MORE PROGRESSIVE PORTS IN THE COUNTRY

THE Philippine Ports Authority

(PPA) is marking its 49th year this week with an auspicious celebration to highlight the sustained gains and headways that it has achieved a little over a year after President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. became the country’s 17th president.

Building on the gains of the massive infrastructure program of former President Rodrigo Duterte, widely known as “Build, Build, Build” that was really instrumental in keeping the Philippine economy afloat even at the height of the onslaught of the Covid-19 pandemic, the PPA took it upon itself to sustain it by initiating its own BBM program.

W hile the program initials obviously reflect the moniker that the President has been known for, the PPA’s BBM unofficially stands

for “Building Better and More” progressive ports.

The program originated from the first State of the Nation Address (SONA) delivered by the President in July 2022 when he stated: “The infrastructure program of the Duterte administration must not only continue but, wherever possible, be expanded. We shall confidently build on this firm foundation established by my predecessor. As it is in building an edifice, we must keep the momentum and aspire to BUILD BETTER MORE.”

President Marcos’ first objective upon assuming the presidency was to give the Philippine economy its much-needed shot in the arm as the country gets back on track in the aftermath of the restrictions brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic that had commerce and trade reeling especially in 2020 and 2021.

Like a phoenix emerging from the ashes, the Philippines also rose from the debilitating economic effects of the pandemic. The PPA took it upon itself to start things off on a

high note by building 30 first-rate and new infrastructure projects that are projected to greatly help the ease of doing business, enhance travel and connectivity for an archipelagic country in the years ahead.

PPA General Manager Atty. Jay Santiago summed the agency’s strategic objective when he said then "Pursuant to the marching order of President BBM, we have undertaken initiatives to minimize logistic cost, at least on the part of PPA, to ensure that we make our operations more

efficient. A lot of our stakeholders are willing to pay the right price for the right service as long as it is efficient, as long as it is transparent, as long as it is reasonable. "

Week-Long Anniversary Celebration

WHILE it has all the reasons to make a grand celebration for its 49th anniversary, the PPA, in keeping with its sound fiscal management strategy, is opting for a localized but meaningful

week-long celebration from July 10 to 14, 2023.

The first day shall be highlighted by the opening of the PPA bazaar, the revealing of the new PPA mascot, PEC, and some Corporate Social Responsibility activities including a blood donation drive. The agency will also have a photo booth to cater to its employees and guests who will be visiting its offices during the week.

Abra De Ilog Port Expansion Project, Port of Abra, Occidental Mindoro

Isabela Port Improvement Project, Port of Isabela, Isabela City, Basilan

PPA 49 thAnniversary

PPA MARKS 49TH YEAR BUILDING BETTER AND

On Tuesday, July 11, the PPA shall have a press conference titled “Kapihan sa Pantalan” where the agency is expected to officially launch its 30 Ports Projects.

The day-long anniversary celebration and festivities will also happen on Tuesday since July 11 is the actual date of the PPA anniversary and shall be highlighted as well by the launching of the PPA’s Kariton project.

Come Wednesday and Thursday, the agency shall be conducting a workshop for its Port Managers and MROs.

On Friday, July 14, the PPA will continue the celebration in-house with a Wellness Day for its employees and will wrap up the week with another CSR activity featuring an outreach program at Hospicio De San Jose.

PPA Induces Philippine Ports Acceleration

THE PPA sets the tone of its BBM program with its 30 Ports Projects and all of them were anchored on the solid Build Better More foundation.

By Build, the PPA embarks on building improved access to opportunities and economic growth as the ports are regarded as gateways to trade and commerce.

With Better, the agency is de-

termined to provide more convenient and efficient services to the public and all port stakeholders. Digitalization and innovation have become an integral part of PPA’s operations especially during the height of the pandemic when faceto-face transactions and mobility at the ports were constrained. Modern technologies have really influenced and impacted the way stakeholders do business with the PPA making it seamless and practically hassle-free.

By More, the PPA continues to explore potentials for more connectivity through the development and improvement of new ports in the country.

Because of the sterling infrastructure accomplishments of the PPA, Philippine ports recently received the country’s highest ranking in the World Bank (WB) Logistics Performance Index (LPI) since 2007, jumping from 60th place to 43rd or 17 rungs higher in the latest WB LPI report released in 2023.

Apart from the massive surge in ranking, the PPA also posted a staggering P20.4 billion in revenues in 2022, the highest ever recorded by the agency from the time of its inception in 1974. The recordbreaking revenues of the PPA also came with record highs in terms of cargo volumes, dividend remit-

tance, passenger and ship calls, and development projects, all indicative of the agency’s sound fiscal management.

Indeed, PPA’s strong performance in the past year have induced Philippine ports acceleration and it is likely to continue in the years ahead given the determination of the leadership to continue building on its gains.

The PPA has also coined a new meaning for its acronym in the vernacular with Pagbangon (recovery), Pag-unlad (progress), Abot-tanaw (within sight) which is not just a whiff of optimism but already a reality with the 30 infrastructure port projects that the agency has successfully embarked on.

Strongest Performers in Southeast Asia

UNDER the PPA’s program development thrusts, Philippine ports continued its significant role in economic globalization, leading the development among countries in Southeast Asia as reflected in the latest data from Drewry Maritime Research, surpassing static volumes of other ports in the region.

The port strategy report showed that the Port of Manila was the only port in Southeast Asia that recorded a double digit volume growth last year, even surpass-

ing the largest ports in the region which mostly recorded either single digit increase or worst, decline in volumes as well as revenues.

One of the ways to measure the effectiveness of ports can be through Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit (TEU) which is the exact unit of measurement used to determine cargo capacity for container ships and terminals.

In 2022, the Port of Manila handled a total of 5,474,484 TEUs, marking a significant 10 percent increase compared to the 4,976,014 TEUs handled in 2021, making it the 7th busiest gateway port in Southeast Asia (including all container, gateway, transshipment and domestic cargo).

The research also shows that in terms of gateway volumes, the Port of Manila ranked 6th, with a growth rate of 10.7 percent after handling a total of 3,962,111 TEUs in 2022 compared to 3,580,642 TEUs in the preceding year.

On the other hand, ports in southern Philippines also demonstrated huge growth such as the Port of Cebu which ranked 13th, with a 2.5 percent year-on-year increase after handling 937,052 TEUs in 2022 from 914,111 TEUs in 2021; and the Port of Davao, at the 15th spot, with a 0.1 percent growth, handling 824,898 TEUs in 2022 from 824,343 TEUs in the previous year.

On a per terminal basis, the Manila International Container Terminal (MICT), the Philippines’ largest international gateway, ranked 3rd among the largest gateway ports in the region (excluding transshipment and domestic volumes) after handling 2,508,119 TEUs in 2021, just behind Westport Kelang Multi-Terminal in Malaysia and Saigon NewPort - Cat Lai Terminal in Vietnam.

MICT got into the 11th spot out of the top 20 terminals in the region while Manila North Port ranked 19th.

Santiago said the successes of Philippine ports is a product of commitment, hard work, and transparency to create more port infrastructures that are at par with global trade.

The PPA is further improving its level of commitment towards strengthening and evolving Philippine ports to cater to global demands. The figures last year are a

testament that Philippine ports are one of the leading ports in Southeast As T he growth in container volume as shown in the research translates into better figures for the economy, creating a ripple effect in all sectors.

“ These figures are not just development in the Philippine ports’ Southeast Asia ranking. These are contributing factors that can positively impact our economy, including transportation, logistics, and manufacturing, generating employment opportunities and contributing to economic development," Santiago further emphasized.

Towards a Stronger Maritime Nation

FOLLOWING the directives of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to make the maritime industry great again, the PPA prioritized both the continuation of the ongoing projects and the improvement of the state-run ports.

Given that the Philippines is a maritime nation, I believe that it is time for us to make the maritime industry once again a top priority," said PBBM during a recent Maritime Forum.

Out of the 30 seaport infrastructure projects initiated by the PPA, 11 infrastructure projects were completed in 2022, six projects were completed early this 2023, and 13 projects are still ongoing this year.

"It has been business as usual since we got back, we continue to veer away from the grip of the pandemic by contributing to the economy and increasing our revenues by 16 percent, more than the P17.5 billion in year 2021 and P16.6 billion in year 2020. We believe this is a good sign and a great shift in gears during this rebound of the economy,” said Santiago.

The PPA general manager said these increasing figures are proof of the agency’s efficient management of expenses and streamlined delivery of services to port users and stakeholders.

In the past 10 years, the next highest total revenue of PPA was recorded during the pre-pandemic year 2019 amounting to P18.3 billion which is five percent higher than the income reached in 2018, so my point is, we can always sur-

pass the initial target because we have set our own high value goals,” he pointed out.

PPA 2022 reports highlighted performance with a 7.15 percent (527,131 TEUs) increase of containers handled at ports nationwide that caused a 5.01 percent (143,880 TEUs) improvement in the volume of domestic cargoes. This is same as the foreign containers that had an 8.51 percent (383,251 TEUs) increase for the same year.

Despite the challenges brought about by the pandemic, the PPA is determined to rise and to provide seamless connectivity between and among islands.

During the first year in office of President Marcos, PPA was able to complete 30 seaport infrastructure projects encompassing the country’s three major islands wherein 17 projects were in Luzon, four projects in the Visayas, and nine projects in Mindanao. “ We will not boast about what we have completed but the services will speak for themselves. The number of projects we have accomplished is nothing compared to the effect of these PPA projects and initiatives to the lives of the Filipino people, how we made their lives convenient and comfortable,” enthused Santiago.

The 30 Ports Projects

n Abra De Ilog Port

The port of Abra de Ilog serves as the primary northern gateway of the province of Occidental Mindoro to/from the mainland Luzon. This is where most of the agricultural goods from Occidental Mindoro are transported to other areas.

Abra De Ilog port’s improvement had been neglected for many years. With 1,071,309 passengers in 2019, passenger traffic showed an erratic but consistently increasing trend with an average annual growth rate of 10.36 percent.

Based on the economic growth rate of 3.29 percent for cargo traffic, and average annual growth rate of 13.99 percent for rolling cargo traffic and 10.36 percent for passenger traffic, the port is expected to handle 5,831 MT of cargoes, 307,999 MT rolling cargoes, 1,753,772 passengers and 8,212 vessels by 2024.

In view of the increasing port traffic, construction of port op -

Special Feature Anniversary

MORE PROGRESSIVE PORTS IN THE COUNTRY

the years ahead.

In view of the increasing calls for conventional vessels, there is a need for the provision of additional berthing facilities. Based on estimates, the existing container yard is no longer sufficient to handle the expected increase in container traffic and to complement the proposed berthing facility, provisions for additional back-up area appear necessary Other port projects of the PPA in the top 10 include the extension of the wharf and reclamation of back-up area in port of Iligan, Lanao del Norte, construction of back up area and port of Coron, Palawan, expansion of back up area with roro ramp in the port of Lipata, Surigao del Norte, and construction of port operational area in port of Calapan, Oriental Mindoro.

n Port of Currimao

Through the agency’s continuous ef-

fort in connecting people to different places, it has now developed projects that contribute to the growth of trade and tourism.

A mongst the many seaport projects is the P152.6 billion worth of construction of Port operation area in the Port of Currimao, Ilocos Norte that is expected to administer to 56,597 foreign/cruise passengers along with 82,492 MT of cargoes and 61 rolling cargoes for essential goods movement in the North Luzon region.

Currently, it has a completion rate of 87.44 percent and is expected to serve as a new port of call in the Philippines and an additional asset to the cruise industry.

n Port of Ubay

The construction of Passenger Terminal Building in the Port of Ubay, Bohol is also at 91.48 percent complete. This is the province’s principal gateway to

the provinces of Leyte and Samar connected to Matnog, Sorsogon, giving access to Manila and access to Mindanao through Southern Leyte.

n Capinpin Port Meanwhile, the Capinpin Port expansion project in Bataan is at 99.78 percent completion rate and is expected to divert traffic from Manila to accommodate the Bataan Export Processing Zone.

n Port of Calatagan

Building access also means the construction of port operational area in the Port of Calatagan, Batangas now at its 97.278 percent completion rate. The project will serve as an expanded RoRo berthing and stair landing facility.

n Ambulong Port, Culasi Port, and Port of Cagayan De Oro, Port of Lucena

PPA is indeed maximizing the infrastructure boom upon the completion of Ambulong Port expansion project to support RoRo operations, side by side with the extension of RC Wharf from Port of Culasi, and the construction of continuous RoRo ramp at the Port of Cagayan de Oro.

The construction of back-up area and transit shed project at the Port of Lucena, Quezon is now at 99.189 percent completion rate and is progressing ahead by 10.349 percent. The one-story transit shed with an area of 2,230 sqm. will serve as a temporary storage for valuable/perishable goods.

In line with this, Calapan Port’s construction of port operational area is already at 85.599 percent completion rate, which will supply the space demand of its users.

The port with the second largest

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erational area appears necessary to complement the port operations by providing ample area for general cargo storage, and marshalling, queuing and parking of rolling cargoes.

n Port of Nasugbu

Based on the annual average cargo volume of Port of Nasugbu at more than 20,000 MT handled at the port with an estimated 3.25 percent growth rate per year, the cargo traffic is expected to reach at 31,135 MT by 2024.

On the other hand, the passenger traffic, with an estimated growth rate of 2.50 percent from 2022 to 2024, is estimated at 62,135 in 2024.

The existing breakwater constructed at the port of Nasugbu is already in disrepair and has not been able to properly address the protection of the port of Nasugbu resulting in constant damage needing regular repairs.

The previous breakwater was constructed purposely to serve as protection/barrier of the inlet being used by local fishermen in the pursuit of their daily activities and as shelter during inclement weather. With this new breakwater, it will now properly address the required tidal protection of the port.

The proposed additional breakwater aims to protect the existing facilities at the Port of Nasugbu against the adverse effects of “Habagat” and will provide safety and efficiency during the yearround port operations.

n Port of Isabela

The port of Isabela is the main gateway port of PPA towards Basilan and Sulu provinces in Mindanao. Once rehabilitated, this will pave the way for improved commerce and tourism in the area. Improvement of the existing Reinforce Concrete (RC) Wharf includes the demolition of the existing wharf (1,549 sqm) and the construction of the roro ramp and RC platform.

A s of March 2023, this project is 91.48 percent com-

plete, the delays were caused by the negative weather condition and the restoration works on the damaged structures brought by super typhoon Odette including clearing of the entire construction area and the delivery of the materials.

With the expansion at the Port of Isabela, Basilan has initiated to accommodate additional RoRo vessels calling at the port to enhance passenger arrivals together with commerce and trade in the area.

n Port of Calapan

The port of Calapan is the main port serving Oriental Mindoro. It can accommodate fast crafts, conventional, and RoRo vessels. In the past 10 years, the volume of passenger traffic handled at the port was observed to be increasing gradually. By year 2023, the cargo traffic is projected at 71,164 MT, vessel and passenger traffic is estimated at 5,867,081.

Hence, the rehabilitation/expansion of the existing Passenger Terminal Buildings 1 and 2 is deemed necessary to maximize the capacity and usage of the PTB as well as to provide convenience to the passengers. The Passenger Terminal Building is now open to the public after its inauguration on March 27 this year and is now being used as the largest PTB in the country.

The problems experienced last year by the passengers including not being able to fit inside the terminal, and the lack of available space for them, are now gone and have been addressed by this new terminal.

nPort of Ozamiz, Port of Iligan, Port of Coron, Port of Lipata Ozamiz Port is one of PPA’s base ports and plays a major role in the economic system of the province of Misamis Occidental. From 2012 to 2016, the average growth rate of Ozamiz Port is at 6.38 percent and is expected to rise in

PPA 49 thAnniversary

C4

Tuesday, July 11, 2023

A BusinessMirror Special Feature

PPA MARKS 49TH YEAR BUILDING BETTER AND MORE PROGRESSIVE PORTS IN THE COUNTRY

Passenger Terminal Building, Port of Cagayan de Oro has two projects close to completion. The gate complex at the Port of Cagayan de Oro in Misamis Oriental, which foresees to decongest road traffic in the port area and the rehabilitation/ upgrading of power substation that is expected to provide better and efficient electricity supply to the newly built Passenger Terminal Building and Back-Up Area.

n Mauban Port, Esperanza Port Mauban Port also received an upgrade. The construction of Mauban Port back-up area and port operations building shall serve as a one-stop-shop for all port users, a workplace for PPA personnel, and convenient space for passengers waiting for their ships and vessels.

Same goes with Masbate’s Port of Esperanza construction of backup area and port lighting system now with LED floodlight fixtures installed. Esperanza Port has direct links to other ports such as Port of Maya in Daanbantayan, Cebu and to the province of Ormoc through the ports of Kawayan, Naval, and San Isidro.

In addition, the port is an identified link in the Central Nautical Highway Program of the national government.

n Matnog Port, Port of Coron

Another done project that dealt with the same priority space is the

Matnog Port expansion and upgrading project that amounted to P323.6 billion.

The Port of Coron construction of back-up area has been completed and is now serving 500 passengers on a daily basis, from its former capacity of 250 passengers only. It now features modern facilities including a breastfeeding room, charging stations, prayer room and all gender restrooms for the various needs of the people. This was built to cater to the influx of tourists.

n Port of Virac, Port of San Jose, Port of Guiuan, Port of Maguino-o

When it comes to additional space for increased volume of RoRo vessels, Port of Virac has conducted and completed its RC pier extension and provision of RoRo ramp and RC pier extension at the Port of San Jose, which shall serve the estimated 263,101 MT of cargoes, 42,920 passengers and 467 vessels by the end of the year. The extension of RC Wharf project in the Port of Guiuan in

Eastern Samar has been completed as of August 15, 2022. The rehabilitation/upgrading of existing backup area and the construction of the Passenger Operations Building (POB) at Port of Maguino-o, Calbayog, Samar has been completed on March 31, 2023. The back-up area is now surrounded with new security fences and the newly built POB is now fully operational and can accommodate 400 passengers. The project is now providing better services to Calbayog City and the neighboring provinces

of Samar and Northern Samar.

n Doña Helene Port

To boost tourism in Mindanao, ongoing is the construction of Doña Helene Port that is with a completion rate of 79.864 percent. The port is an asset with linkages to Poblacion, Socorro, and Hayanggabon, Claver.

The construction of the RC platform and RoRo ramp will accommodate incoming vessels in the future with its breasting dolphin, an infrastructure instrument used to protect a boat from hitting the pier or dock. The port lighting system will also have a 100-watt LED single angle bar floodlight steel post fixture.

n Cobo Port, Port of Lawigan

Cobo Port development project has already been completed and will soon be open to the public. This will enhance the flow of goods by providing an extra arm to the Port of Tabaco, boosting trade, commerce, and tourism in the area.

Lastly, the completed upgrade and expansion of Port of Lawigan, Bislig, Surigao del Sur will cater to larger vessels and provide efficient port operations.

Digitalization: Key to Faster and Corruption-Free Transaction

The PPA is sustaining its drive towards digitalization, believing that it is key to swift and corruption-free transactions of users and stakeholders in the ports.

During the Department of Transportation (DoTr) Strategic Planning held in December last year, Santiago emphasized the importance of expanding PPA’s communication infrastructure for transparency and connectivity of projects and transactions across the country.

“This digitization is really our highest priority now at PPA to prevent occurrence of usual problems encountered by people at the port. Once it is fixed and everything is done online, prolonged waiting of passengers will be avoided and inconvenience at trips will be prevented,” explained the PPA general manager.

Ensuring that government has smooth and fast process for facilitation of the economy’s further development is included in the eight-point Socioeconomic agenda of the Philippine Development Plan 2023 to 2028 by President Marcos, according to the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA).

“Let’s revive the economy through digitalization, this is a big step for the continuous improvement of government services. We at PPA, are ready to streamline every transaction at ports and eliminate third-party operators or fixers,” Santiago added.

It can be recalled that the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) allocated P12.47 billion for the President’s goal toward digital transformation of all government transactions.

—Rodel Suarez

Rehabilitation and Expansion of Existing Passenger Terminal Building, Port of Calapan, Calapan City Oriental Mindoro