BusinessMirror July 29, 2023

LNG ADVANCES AMID R.E. PUSH

The Department of Energy is heartened by developments in shoring up the country’s supply of gas, but some advocates want a stronger push for renewable energy.

By Lenie Lectura

Linseed Field Power Corp., a local unit of global infrastructure firm Atlantic, Gulf & Pacific Co., launched commercial operations of its LNG import terminal, and received the country’s first LNG cargo delivery in April. It now supplies LNG to the 1,200-megawatt (MW) Ilijan natural gas power plant in Batangas.

The LNG power generation from the Ilijan plant is expected to significantly augment the net dependable capacity of the country in the face of a rapidly increasing demand post pandemic.

AG&P’s PHLNG is a landmark development that will serve to kick-start the Philippines’s LNG importation and regasification ability, delivering gas to secure the country’s current and future energy demand,” said AG&P Chairman Joseph Sigelman.

The other LNG facility is that of FGEN LNG Corp., which is set to receive its first LNG cargo in the next few weeks. It aims to start commercial operations of its interim offshore LNG terminal project in Batangas in October.

“ We are now in the dry commissioning phase that will continue up until around September when the FSRU [floating storage regasification unit)] will be commissioned, and in September we will

be doing the wet commissioning phase, which involves the receipt, storage and regasification of LNG.

“ We will then use that in our power plants to commission the power plants and LNG for the first time. So, it’s a natural progression,”

First Gen Chief Commercial Officer John Russel said.

DOE Director for Oil Industry Management Bureau Rino Abad said under the 2020-2040 Philippine Energy Plan, the projected additional gas-fired power plant capacity that would be needed is around 20,000 megawatts (MW), and this equates to an estimated 26 metric ton per annum (MTPA) of regasification capacity for busi-

ness-as-usual scenario and around 15,000 MW with an estimated regasification capacity of around 19 MTPA for clean-energy scenario.

The regasification capacity expected to commercially operate this year from the Linseed (3 MTPA) and First Gen (5.26 MTPA) totals only to around 8.26 MTPA, enough to support the 1,200-MW Ilijan power plant and 2,000 MW of First Gen’s existing four power plants,” he said in an interview.

A s of end of 2022, however, Abad said there are 3,500 MW of additional committed gas-fired power plants proposed to commercially operate from 2024 to 2027 with an estimated equivalent of an additional 4 MTPA of regasification capacity.

There are also an additional 7,700 MW, with an estimated equivalent of an additional 9 MTPA, of regasification capacity of indicative gas-fired power plants proposed to commercially operate

from 2026 to 2030.

“Hence, there indeed is a need for additional investment on our regasification capacity,” Abad said.

Hopefully, other aspiring LNG players will fast-track their plans to join the LNG bandwagon to fill the gap that the agency’s power bureau expects.

More LNG players

BASED on DOE’s list, a total of seven LNG terminal projects in the country have been approved. Aside from AG&P and FGEN LNG, the other five approved LNG projects are from Energy World Gas Operations Philippines Inc., Excelerate Energy L.P., Vires Energy Corp., Shell Energy Philippines Inc., and Samat LNG Corp.

S amat recently sought the DOE’s green light to proceed with the construction of its proposed $67-million small-scale LNG receiving terminal and regasifica

tion facility in Mariveles, Bataan.

It is targeted for commercial operation in the first half of 2024 to cater to the needs of small-scale independent power producers, manufacturing companies and transport fleets.

Small-scale LNG terminals are suitable for archipelagic countries like the Philippines since they can supply fuel to on-grid and off-grid areas. Such facilities are modular and can be constructed quickly. Energy World Gas proponent, Energy World Corp. (EWC), is about to complete the final phase of the construction of its LNG terminal and power plant in Pagbilao, Quezon. The lack of a transmission facility connecting its power project to the grid was cited as the main reason for the years of delay.

Continued on A2

THE Philippines already has two LNG (liquefied natural gas) projects that are enough to fuel the country’s gas plants, at least for now, according to the Department of Energy (DOE).

AG&P Chairman Joseph Sigelman: “AG&P’s PHLNG is a landmark development that will serve to kick-start the Philippines’s LNG importation and regasification ability, delivering gas to secure the country’s current and future energy demand.”

AG&P’s LNG import terminal in the Philippines, PHLNG, located at Batangas Bay. AGPGLOBAL.COM

LNG advances amid RE push

Shell, meanwhile, revived last year its planned LNG project to be located in Batangas City. It was in 2013 when the company first informed the DOE about its LNG plans that could entail an initial investment cost of P3.5 billion.

Vires Energy, a subsidiary of A Brown Corp., said commercial operation of its P6.15-billion LNG project—a floating storage and regasification unit and the 450-MW gas plant in Batangas—is expected by 2027.

E xcelerate Energy, meanwhile, has yet to inform DOE of its updated LNG plans. Th ose that are not on the DOE’s list yet but expressed interest to also join the LNG bandwagon are Aboitiz Power Corp., Atimonan One Energy (A1E), and ACE Enexor.

A boitiz Power and Japanese partner Jera are undertaking feasibility studies for an LNG project that could be put up in the Visayas or in Luzon.

A 1E, a wholly owned subsidiary of Manila Electric Company’s power-generation arm Meralco PowerGen Corp. (MGen), is seeking approval to put up a 2,400-MW gas power plant and an LNG terminal for approximately P175 billion in Quezon province.

ACE Enexor, meanwhile, has partnered with Gen X Energy to develop a 1,100-MW plant in Batangas that is capable of using natural gas and green hydrogen as fuel.

The DOE said all these developments are positive signals reflecting the continuous interest of the private sector in investing in critical infrastructure that will allow the country to import and utilize imported LNG, and complement the available gas from the Malampaya reservoir to meet the country’s growing energy demand.

Is LNG a burden?

THE Power for People Coalition (P4P) alleged that electricity sourced from gas is expensive, more so now if they are imported.

“There is nothing to welcome except more misery for consumers,” said Gerry Arances, P4P convenor.

The energy consumer advocate said the operation of the two LNG facilities also means more tankers passing through the vulnerable Verde Island Passage, a center of maritime biodiversity on which two million Filipinos depend on for their livelihood. “Higher volume of tanker traffic means increased possibility of accidents,” according to Arances.

His group is urging the DOE to focus more on renewable energy.

“All the DOE needs to do is to give more priority to ramp up their use in the grid. It’s time for DOE to make a U-turn, abandon its LNG plans, and embrace renewable energy,” he said.

The Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) said the economic sustainability of LNG remains in doubt amid power deal issues and global price volatility.

IEEFA noted that the cost of the country’s first LNG cargo remains undisclosed.

But, at current LNG prices in Asia, IEEFA estimates that rates from LNG-fired power generation in the Philippines could be roughly

P9 per kilowatt hour (kWh). And based on average global LNG prices last year, LNG-fired power could cost as much as P16/kWh.

The Philippines, according to IEEFA energy finance analyst Sam Reynolds, already pays among the highest power prices in Asia due largely to over-reliance on volatile imported fossil fuels. “When global coal, oil and gas prices spike, so do consumer electricity bills,” he said.

IEEFA stressed that any upside risk to LNG prices could derail the LNG import outlook given the power sector’s inherent sensitivity to fuel price increases in combination with the government’s policy to keep electricity prices affordable for consumers.

Gas aggregation

TO help cushion the impact of a surge in imported LNG prices brought about by the Ukraine-Russia war, there is a proposal to blend the Malampaya natural gas with imported LNG.

Th is gas aggregation strategy of Razon-led Prime Infrastructure Capital Inc. (Prime Infra) and Lopez-led First Gen recently won DOE’s support.

That’s what we are trying to prevent from happening in terms of spikes in the price of imported LNG, and the plan is to blend the lower price of Malampaya natural gas with the imported LNG so that we can soften the impact or the volatilities of imported LNG,” DOE Secretary Raphael Lotilla said.

Prime Infra and First Gen are already in discussions to develop a gas aggregation framework that provides the lowest cost possible for consumers, enhanced energy security and competitive market

for power generation; and complement ongoing commercial development of new indigenous natural gas fields.

The gas aggregator framework “establishes a resilient and efficient natural gas supply chain,” Prime Infra President Guillaume Lucci said in a statement.

The proposal, Lucci added, “would ensure a stable and sustainable baseload power supply.”

Prime Infra, through its subsidiary Prime Energy Resources Development B.V., is a member of the Malampaya consortium. It holds a 45-percent operating stake in the Malampaya gas-to-power project.

Malampaya extension, a key achievement

THE DOE has cited the renewal of the Malampaya service contract (SC) as one of the major accomplishments of the current administration.

The extension of SC 38 until February 22, 2039, was a key indicator of progress in the development of the natural gas industry in the Philippines, the agency said in a report.

E xtending SC 38 allows full production of the Malampaya field through full utilization of its remaining gas reserves of about 147 billion cubic feet. The DOE added that this would jump-start the exploration and development of other fields in the area believed to hold up to 210 billion cubic feet more of natural gas.

A lready, the operator of the Malampaya gas project has exceeded its target output for the months of April, May and June this year.

Gas sales in the second quarter

of 2023 reached 280 million standard cubic feet per day (MMSCFD) against a target of 274 MMSCFD.

We intend to maintain a reliable supply of indigenous gas to our customers while we continue the hard work of exploring for new sources to address the natural decline of the Malampaya gas field. We remain committed to being the partner of choice in providing energy sufficiency and security to the country,” said Prime Energy General Manager Donnabel Kuizon Cruz.

L otilla explained that it was necessary to extend the service contract so that the consortium would be encouraged to drill new wells near the Malampaya field.

“

The next step to that, since the drilling facilities will already be here, is it will actually be cheaper for drilling and other exploratory activities to be conducted in nearby areas of the country as well,” said Lotilla, referring to Sulu Sea and areas in the West Philippine Sea.

“So, the coming in of LNG complements this because the gestation period for the full development of all the other alternative gas fields will take some time. The importation of LNG will therefore secure the gas supply for the Ilijan and the First Gen plants in the meantime that we don’t have sufficient natural gas supply from Malampaya,” said the energy chief.

The establishment of LNG facilities addresses the expected shortfall in the country’s power supply at least in the near and medium terms. Despite concerns raised by some groups and experts, this is one of the intervention projects that the country desperately needs to address a possible energy crisis.

FIRST Gen’s 1000-MW Santa Rita Combined-Cycle Natural Gas-Fired Power Plant in Batangas City. FIRSTGEN.COM.PH

ENERGY World’s LNG Hub terminal on Pagbilao Island, the Quezon Province. ENERGYWORLDCORP.COM

PHL’s gains in Islamic banking cited at investor forum in UAE

ISLAMIC banking is an important component of the government’s financial inclusion program, a key official of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) told investors in Dubai.

BSP Assistant Governor Arifa A. Ala said Islamic banking provides financing options for both Muslims and non-Muslims. She is the BSP’s lead-advocate on Islamic banking and finance and Chairperson of the BSP-led Islamic Finance Coordination Forum (IFCF).

Ala also discussed recent milestones in the development of the Philippines’s Islamic banking and finance ecosystem to the stakeholders in the Middle East emphasizing the readiness of the country to accept new and potential Islamic banking players.

“The promotion of Islamic banking expands the BSP’s financial inclusion agenda of increasing broad and convenient access to high quality financial services for all Filipinos, including the minorities and underserved population,” Ala said during the recent Philippine Economic and Investment Summit (PEIS).

Ala said Islamic banking complements conventional banking by providing alternative forms of investments and financing options for both Muslims and non-Muslims alike.

She emphasized that Islamic finance on Shari’ah governance and risk sharing principles are seen to support the BSP’s financial stability mandate.

“The BSP remains steadfast in its commitment to support the growth of Islamic finance in the country by continuing its roles as a catalyst in re-shaping the Philippine Islamic banking landscape, an enabler of Islamic banks and Islamic banking windows, and a champion of financial inclusion and stability that meets the needs of the financially underserved population, create better opportunities and promote a high quality of life for all Filipinos,” Ala said.

Ala, participated in the 9th Annual Philippine Property and Investment Exhibition (PPIE) and inaugural PEIS held last May at Radisson Blu Hotel, Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The PPIE is the biggest, longest-running, Philippine business and investment forum in the Middle East, which provides opportunities for businesses and investors in the UAE to explore the huge potential of the Philippine market.

The PEIS promotes business and investment opportunities in the Philippines by highlighting economic forecasts/business trends, government initiatives, investment incentives and other laws and regulations that will encourage investors to invest in the Philippines.

Islamic banking was introduced in the country in 1973 with the opening of the Philippine Amanah Bank. The latter has since become an important part of the banking industry.

In 2021, the BSP created its own Islamic Banking Supervision Group and signed a memorandum of understanding with the Philippine Economic Zone Authority on the creation of Halal economic zones.

The following year, BSP reconstituted the Inter-Agency Working Group on Islamic banking into the Islamic Finance Coordination Forum.

The BSP also created the Shari’ah Supervisory Board for the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).

Official government data showed that Islam is the most predominant religion in BARMM; accounting for 4.49 million persons or 90.9 percent of the 4.94 million household population in the region in 2020.

It was followed by Region 9 (Zamboanga Peninsula) with 18.2 percent, Soccsksargen with 15.8 percent, Region 10 (Northern Mindanao) with 8.5 percent and Region 11 (Davao Region) and the Mimaropa Region with 3.5 percent each. Cai U. Ordinario

NGCP expands SIS team to boost efficiency in energy plant approvals

By Lenie Lectura

THE National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) said Friday it has put in place key measures to address delays in the approval of system impact studies (SIS).

T he grid operator said it expanded its SIS team with the recent hiring additional manpower. The move will boost the capacity of the organization to conduct more SIS simultaneously, NGCP said.

It is also adopting a clustering approach for SIS, grouping together power plants with a common connection point or study area. This clustering strategy, NGCP said, aims to streamline the process and accelerate the evaluation of multiple projects, enhancing the overall efficiency and reducing the waiting time for potential power plant developers.

Moreover, NGCP is in the process of outsourcing some aspects of the SIS process, pending the issuance of an accreditation system by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC). This outsourcing initiative is anticipated to further augment the organization’s capabilities and expedite the completion of SIS for various power plant proposals.

NGCP President and Chief Executive Officer Anthony Almeda pointed out that in more developed nations like the United States and the United Kingdom, the completion of grid impact studies typically takes more than three years. “Other countries usually operate on a ‘first-come-first-served’ basis. We do it on a ‘first-ready-first-served’ basis, in order to be faster and more efficient,” he emphasized.

The measures used by the NGCP to address the SIS backlog forms part of the company’s extensive plan to meet the country’s increasing

energy requirements. “Our company is a vital part of a much bigger energy landscape, with numerous roles and stakeholders. We take our functions and responsibilities very seriously, and continuously work towards a cohesive, centralized, and systematic approach to energy planning for our country,” Almeda said.

The other day, Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Raphael Lotilla said delays range from one and a half years to two years.

T he SIS is a critical assessment that determines the capacity of the power grid to accommodate a new generator, and identifies necessary improvements such as additional transmission lines, transformers, or substations.

“We need to improve for example on system impact studies because these have to be addressed upfront rather than later. The system impact studies are rather delayed,” the energy chief said.

“ The Executive Secretary is chairing this one so by the next meeting, for example, we will be looking at how the transmission concessionaire, NGCP, is going to specify the 60-day approval of just the system impact studies,” Lotilla added.

T he NGCP said that due to the increasing demand for power generation in the country, the number of applications for SIS surged significantly. Historically, however, majority of the applicants do not push through with their initial plans, with only around 28 percent of completed SIS resulting in the establishment of actual power plants.

“Although 7 out of 10 SIS applicants will not actually pursue their power investments, we are obliged to fully evaluate each application when they are passed on to us by the DOE. Accordingly, we have taken the necessary steps to expedite the process and improve its efficiency,” Almeda added.

By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas

THE national government posted a P551.716-billion budget deficit in the first half of the year as spending outpaced revenues during the period, latest Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) data showed.

The six-month period deficit was 18.17 percent lower than the P674.2 billion shortfall registered by the national government (NG) last year owing to “higher revenue outturn.”

The latest budget deficit was 28.49 percent lower than the NG’s P771.5billion mid-year deficit program as actual expenditures fell short of target disbursements.

The NG’s first-semester revenues rose by 7.68 percent to P1.86 trillion from P1.727 trillion last year, while its expenditure inched up to P2.411 trillion from P2.401 trillion on an annual basis.

The Treasury said about 89 percent of the State’s revenue collections from January to June came from taxes, while the remaining 11 percent was from nontax collections. Collections by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) in the first half grew by 7.65 percent year-on-year to P1.219 trillion from P1.132 trillion.

Despite the increase, the BIR missed its P1.251-trillion revenue target set by the NG for the six-month period.

Meanwhile, the Bureau of Customs (BOC) collected a total of P433.4 billion for the first half, about P36.7 billion higher than its P396.7-billion revenue last year. The BOC was also able to surpass its six-month revenue target of P420.7 billion by P12.8 billion.

Earnings by the Treasury, meanwhile, declined by 10.68 percent to P93 billion from P104.1 billion.

“Nevertheless, BTr’s [Bureau of the Treasury] 6-month performance surpassed the program for the period by 92.20 percent or P44.6 billion and was already 59.52 percent [P34.7 billion] higher than the P58.3 billion full-year program driven by higher income from BSF investment, dividend remittances, as well as NG share from Pagcor profit and interest income from NG deposits,” the Treasury said.

The Treasury said revenue collections from other offices, such as those from privatization proceeds, rose to P110.2 billion in the first half, surpassing both last years’ figures and the target set by the national government. The amount was P28.1 billion higher than last year’s P82 billion and was also P28.4 billion than the programmed amount of P81.7 billion.

In terms of expenditure, the national government fell short of meeting its P2.6trillion programmed spending for the first half of the year. The national government was short by P170.5 billion to hit its P2.582trillion target expenditure for the first six

months of the year.

“The lower-than-programmed Interest Payments [IP]; ongoing implementation of some social protection programs, particularly the registration and validation of beneficiaries; as well as billing concerns from suppliers/creditors, such as late submissions of billing statements and compliance with documentary requirements have affected the spending outturn for the period,” the Treasury said.

Earlier, Finance Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno attributed the NG’s higherthan-expected revenues to better tax administration, such as cracking down on fake receipts, higher privatization earnings and digitalization efforts.

However, despite the higher revenues, he flagged the slow spending by government agencies.

The finance chief noted that the government is collecting more revenues than forecasted, while government agencies are underspending, which may cause delays in infrastructure programs, thereby hampering economic development.

“We are below our deficit target. For fiscal conservatives, that is nice, but not necessarily nice for development,” he told reporters last month.

“That is not good [for us] because we are trying to pick up for the pandemic and also, a big part of our budget is really infrastructure,” he added.

Real estate prices up 10.2% in Jan-March

By Cai U. Ordinario

REAL estate has become more expensive and posted a doubledigit increase in prices in the first quarter of the year, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

Based on the BSP’s Residential Real Estate Prices Index (RREPI) report, residential real estate prices posted a 10.2-percent growth in the January to March period of 2023.

BSP data showed residential real estate prices grew 5.7 percent in the first quarter of 2022 and 7.7 percent in the last quarter of 2022.

“The residential real estate prices of various types of new housing units in the Philippines continued to grow faster in Q1 [first quarter] 2023 at 10.2 percent year-on-year [YoY], but grew at a slower

pace of 1.4 percent quarter-on-quarter [QoQ], compared with the Q4 [fourth quarter] 2022 results,” BSP said.

The data showed this was driven by the 11.4-percent increase in residential real estate prices in Areas Outside the National Capital Region (AONCR).

The growth of residential real estate prices in the AONCR was only at 5.1 percent in the first quarter and 4.5 percent in the fourth quarter of 2022.

Prices of residential real estate in NCR or Metro Manila, however, slowed to 7.3 percent in the first three months of 2023. This was a significant slowdown from the 16.1 percent posted in the last quarter of 2022 and 9.7 percent posted in the first quarter of last year.

“On a QoQ basis, residential property prices expanded by 4.4 percent in the AONCR, but contracted by 4.3 percent in

Marcos gives IPPs in BOT deals tax cuts, penalty condonation

By Samuel P. Medenilla

R. Marcos

Ferdinand

PRESIDENT

Jr. granted tax cuts and penalty condonation to Independent Power Producers (IPP) operating under the BuildOperate-Transfer (BOT) with governmentowned or -controlled corporations (GOCCs) to ensure their continued operations.

Under Executive Order (EO) No. 36, which was issued on Tuesday through Executive Secretary Lucas P. Bersamin, Marcos said the IPPs’ real property tax (RPT), including levies accruing to the Special Education Fund on property, machinery, and equipment used for power production under BOT and similar schemes for calendar year 2023, will be reduced.

The reduction will be equivalent to tax due if computed based on the assessment level of 15 percent of the fair market value of the said property, machinery and equipment, depreciated at the rate of 2 percent per annum, less any amount already paid by the IPPs. T he issuance also condoned all interests and penalties on such deficiency RPT liabilities.

The President said RPT payments made by the IPPs over and above the reduced amount would be applied to their RPT liabilities in succeeding years.

The issuance was in response to threats issued by some local government units (LGU) against the affected IPPs, which will result in the levy and sale, at public auction, of affected properties.

the NCR,” BSP noted. By housing type, BSP said, prices of duplex housing units, single-detached/ attached houses, townhouses, and condominium units increased the year-onyear growth in the nationwide RREPI.

The prices of duplex housing units increased by 22.1 percent; single-detached/attached houses, 17 percent; townhouses, 1.8 percent; and condominium units, 1.2 percent.

The 1.4 percent quarter-onquarter (QoQ) growth in the RREPI was attributed to the higher prices of single-detached/attached houses by 4.7 percent and townhouses by 3.8 percent.

However, prices of duplex housing units and condominium units declined by 16.4 percent and 5.1 percent QoQ, respectively.

“Various local government units have taken the position that Independent Power Producers operating in their territories are not entitled to exemptions and privileges enjoyed by government owned or controlled corporations with respect to real property taxes on their property machinery and equipment used in the generation and distribution of electric power,” Marcos said. If the IPP s are unable to settle the RPTs and are forced to shut down their operations, the Chief Executive said, it would entail substantial losses to the government, force the public to resort to more costly electric power source alternatives, and cause rotating power outages.

H e also explained a substantial portion of the RPTs from IPPs has been contractually assumed by National Grid Corporation of the Philippines/Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corporation under the BOT scheme and therefore can be charged to the National Government.

IPOPHL to adopt Cloud computing strategies for IP registration services

By Andrea E. San Juan

THE Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) announced it would adopt Cloud computing strategies for intellectual property (IP) registration services to improve internal processes and efficiencies in data management.

IPOPHL Director General Rowel S. Barba said at a side event at the World Intellectual Property Organization’s (WIPO) 64th General Assemblies where the IP offices of Norway and Uganda also discussed their respective digital transformation initiatives, IPOPHL said.

Mor eover, the agency said Barba shared IPOPHL’s experiences in using the current version of the IP Administration System, its limitations, “pain points,” and his wish list for the new IPAS 4.0 implementation.

A ccording to IPOPHL, the IPAS is

a software developed and owned by WIPO and is offered to IP offices under collaborative arrangements for its provision, hosting and maintenance.

The software, it noted, enables the electronic processing of IP registration documents and is customizable to adopt internal workflows that reflect an office’s rules and procedures.

T he most recent release known as IPAS version 4.0 will be exclusively hosted in an Amazon Web Services (AWS) based in the EU, IPOPHL said.

Meanwhile, an earlier version, the IPAS 3.x was installed in IPOPHL in the early days of 2012 and is now showing its age. Barba reiterated that upgrading to IPAS 4.0, though very challenging, is the most logical choice for IPOPHL.

“ We know that the majority of the features previously missing in IPAS 3.x now come built-in as part of the IPAS 4.0

Too early to declare victory against inflation–BSP chief

IT’S too soon to declare victory.

high. Core inflation was at 7.4 percent in June and averaged 7.7 percent in the first six months of the year. “It’s too soon to declare victory. Core inflation remains high. There are still upside risks to inflation. For example, risks in the form of El Niño and further supply shocks.

We

Authority (PSA) in the first week of August would be included in the analysis of the Monetary Board that will determine its decision on policy rates.

Inflation is one of three challenges of the central bank mentioned by Remolona on Friday. The other two are the payment system and banking supervision.

Remolona said, however, the BSP is making headway in terms of payment

systems. He said the BSP will rely on the “magic of digitalization” to meet its target of raising to 70 percent the ratio of Filipinos with bank accounts.

He said banking supervision is still a challenge, even as he reiterated his earlier observation that the banking system is strong and was part of the solution in the speedy recovery from the pandemic. Cai U. Ordinario

package. It is also expected to include workflow fixes that had resulted in downtimes in the old version,” Barba said.

B arba revealed that WIPO has already committed to exploring how it can best support IPOPHL’s new requirements as the latter transitions to the latest IPAS version. WIPO has already given IPOPHL access to navigate the IPAS 4 test version by end-July, allowing the office more time to prepare for the transition.

“ We are truly grateful to WIPO for its valuable technical assistance. We hope to engage with them soon to have a deeper exchange on the level of support we will need to implement IPAS 4. We want to transition smoothly and sustain it at minimal costs and disruption as we move

toward greater ICT ambitions in the long term,” Barba added.

Last week, the IPOPHL chief told reporters that one of the vital amendments that IPOPHL wishes to see in the Intellectual Property code is the modernization of the intellectual property system.

“It ’s modernizing our IP system kasi nga kalakaran na sa mundo ngayon, puro tech na so gusto natin makasabay sa iba’t ibang mga IP offices sa iba’t ibang countries para ma-modernize natin yung system natin dito,” Barba said last week.

H e also noted, “Right now, we’re proud na I think IPOPHL is one of the government agencies na online. Salahatngmga filings naminngayondito, payment, 100 percent.”

NG budget deficit narrows 18.17% in H1 to ₧551.7B from ₧674.2B

Saturday, July 29, 2023

Bank officers’ survey: Households, businesses got more loans in Q3

By Cai U. Ordinario

HOUSEHOLDS and businesses may

have secured more loans in the third quarter of the year, according to the second quarter 2023 Senior Bank Loan Officers’ Survey (SLOS) of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

Based on the Q2 2023 Senior Bank Loan Officers’ Survey (SLOS), which uses the diffusion index (DI) method, respondent banks expect a net increase in overall credit demand from enterprises due to higher financing requirements.

The same trend in the third quarter is also expected among households due to expectations of higher household consumption and housing investment.

This was despite the second quarter 2023 results showing broadly unchanged loan demand from businesses at 69.6 percent and households at 65.6 percent.

Meanwhile, in terms of lending standards for loans to enterprises, data revealed that a larger proportion of respondents, at 89.1 percent, kept credit standards for businesses unchanged in the second quarter of 2023.

“The DI approach pointed to a net tightening of overall lending standards across all borrower firm sizes due to the following factors cited by respondents: (1) deterioration

MIF draws Malaysian biz leaders’ interest–PBBM

in the profitability of banks’ portfolios, (2) less desirable borrowers’ profiles, and (3) reduced tolerance for risk,” the BSP, however, said.

Over the next quarter, the SLOS showed expectations of generally unchanged credit standards for businesses, while the DI method pointed to bank respondents’ anticipations of net tightening of loan standards.

BSP said banks foresee an overall net tightening in loan standards for enterprises in the third quarter of 2023 given certain considerations.

These are the weakening profitability and liquidity of banks’ portfolios; deterioration of borrowers’ profiles; and reduced tolerance for risk.

In terms of Commercial Real Estate Loan (CREL), BSP said, the results showed that most respondent banks at 83.3 percent pointed to broadly steady lending standards CRELs.

“Results from the DI method indicated a net tightening of loan standards for CRELs in the second quarter of 2023 for the 30th consecutive quarter mainly due to weakening of borrowers’ profiles and lower risk tolerance,” BSP, however, said.

“In the next quarter, banks anticipate maintaining their credit standards for CRELS based on both the DI-based method and the modal approach,” it added.

Meanwhile, the majority of the surveyed banks or 69.7 percent also broadly retained their loan standards for loans extended to households in the second quarter of 2023.

However, the DI approach, BSP said, indicated a net easing of credit standards for household loans, particularly for housing, credit card, and personal/salary loans.

“Bank respondents associated the easing of lending standards for consumer loans mainly with an improvement in the profitability of banks’ portfolios, an increase in risk tolerance, less uncertain economic outlook, and more aggressive competition from banks and nonbank lenders,” BSP explained.

In the third quarter, the modal approach indicated a higher percentage of surveyed banks expecting generally unchanged credit standards for household loans.

The DI approach showed bank respondents’ expectations of a net easing in household loan standards in the third quarter of 2023 due to increased risk tolerance; improving profitability of banks’ portfolios for this market segment; and more desirable borrowers’ profiles.

The data also showed that in the second quarter of 2023, a higher percentage of bank respondents at 73.3 percent maintained overall credit standards for residential real

PCG searches for missing passengers of ill-fated motor boat in Laguna Lake

estate or housing loans. However, the DI-based method indicated a net easing of credit standards for housing loans, which was due to improving borrowers’ profiles and less uncertain economic outlook.

“While most respondent banks expect to maintain credit standards for housing loans in the third quarter of 2023, the DI method shows a net easing of housing loan standards for the following quarter,” BSP said.

The SLOS consists of questions on loan officers’ perceptions relating to the overall credit standards of their respective banks, as well as to factors affecting the supply of and demand for loans to both enterprises and households.

The analysis of the results of the SLOS focuses on the quarter-on-quarter changes in the perception of respondent banks.

The responses for the second quarter of 2023 SLOS were gathered between June 5 and July 12, 2023 from 48 banks out of the total 62 bank participants. The response rate of 77.4 percent is higher compared to the response rate of 75 percent in the first quarter of 2023 SLOS.

It should be noted that the number of respondents also decreased following the merger of Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) and BPI Family Savings Bank Inc. (BFSBI).

GROUPS NIX REPORTED PLAN TO AMEND FISHERIES CODE

THE Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF) drew a lot of interest from investors during the recent State Visit of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. to Malaysia.

“Everyone expressed interest because [it is related] to business,” Marcos told reporters in an interview on his return flight from Malaysia on Thursday.

W hen they were presenting the MIF to potential investors, he said they stressed the sovereign wealth fund will be “ran professionally and without undue political influence.”

T he Chief Executive said this was meant to allay the concerns of investors after what happened to the Malaysian government’s sovereign, 1Malaysia Development Berhad, which suffered losses amid allegations of embezzlement.

“Their experience here is not going to be a detriment. In fact, it is a way for them to—they are the most careful of all,” Marcos said.

T he Department of Finance (DOF) said the MIF is expected to become fully operational before the end of the year with the creation of the Maharlika Investment Corporation (MIC).

The MIC, which will be led by “non-politicians,” will be tasked to manage the MIF, which allows the go vernment to invest its surplus revenues in financial and real assets to its priority sectors, namely, agriculture, energy, digitalization, and climate-change mitigation.

But ev en if the implementation of the MIF is still pending, Marcos said he was able to secure P235 million worth of investment pledges from Malaysian companies.

H e estimated the said commitments would generate over 100,000 jobs.

Samuel P. Medenilla

INTERNATIONAL nongovernment organization Oceana and the fisherfolk group Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) have expressed their opposition over the plan to amend the Fisheries Code.

Reacting to President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s 2nd State of the Nation Address (SONA) announcing the plan to revise the Fisheries Code, the groups’ leaders fear that such an amendment only aims to allow commercial fishing within the 15-kilometer municipal fishing ground exclusive for small fishermen.

Pamalakaya national chairman Fernando Hicap strongly rejected the plan to amend the Fisheries Code to allow commercial fishing vessels to catch fish in municipal fishing grounds.

A commercial fishing vessel can harvest at least 3 tons of fish in one expedition, outcompeting small and mostly subsistence fishermen who live in coastal municipalities and are taking home an average of 5 kilos of fish per day.

Small fishermen w orking together with a bigger motorized fishing boat can harvest a lot more, but unlike commercial fishing vessels, they bring home less than a three-tonner commercial fishing vessel.

“It is obvious that the announcement of President Marcos to amend the Fisheries Code purportedly for harmonization was the result of the continuous lobbying of big-fishing firms to operate within the municipal waters,” Hicap said.

For its part, Oceana believes that contrary to the President’s pronouncement

in his SONA, Republic Act 10654 does not need to be amended.

“We must first comprehensively and fully implement key reforms that were introduced by RA 10654,” Oceana acting vice president Rose Liza EismaOsorio said.

According to Osorio, on top of the list that needs to be done is the sciencebased, ecosystem approach to managing our depleting fishing grounds through Fisheries Management Areas where efforts are just starting.

“We also must prioritize the implementation of transparency measures that are critical in combatting illegal, unreported, and unregulated [IUU] fishing, specifically the installation of vessel monitoring measures [VMM] on commercial fishing vessels and electronic reporting system [ERS] of fish catch that should be publicly accessible. The solution is not to amend, but instead to implement. We must ensure that all these measures are fully implemented to address the worsening conditions of our fisheries,” she said.

Oceana believes the Fisheries Management Area (FMA) system under the Fisheries Code, as amended, already provides a science-based, participatory, and transparent mechanism to sustainably manage our fisheries.

“The law is clear about the state’s policy, adopting the precautionary principle and management of the fishery and aquatic resources through the ecosystembased approach and integrated coastal

management through the FMA system,” said Osorio. Among the proposed amendments presented by the Bureau of Fisheries and A quatic Resources (BFAR) together with the commercial fishing sector call for a weakening of the Amended Fisheries Code, she noted.

This includes a compromise of Section 16 of RA 10654, which defines the jurisdiction of local government units, and Section 18, which effectively opens the use of municipal waters to commercial fishing activities. It was also clear that these proposals did not undergo the required consultations by all stakeholders, including the local governments that exercise direct jurisdiction over these waters.

Clearly, this is a blatant disregard of the 1987 Constitution because the proposed amendments undermine the preferential rights of subsistence fisherfolk to the use of local marine and fishing resources in municipal waters and of the State’s duty to protect the nation’s marine wealth with the priority to subsistence fishermen. The proposed amendment is short of the foresight needed to stop the further depletion of major fishing grounds inside municipal waters. This alarming development can affect all fishing sectors—both municipal and commercial. It bears stressing that we need to sustain the resources inside municipal waters using science-based legislation because these are important to all fisheries sectors alike,” Osorio said.

Jonathan L. Mayuga

By Rene Acosta

SEARCH and rescue teams from the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) and other government agencies are continuing to scour the Laguna Lake in search of passengers of a motorized banca that sank on Thursday afternoon, killing 26 people.

The tragedy struck as the government is busy attending to the effect of typhoon “Egay” by bringing emergency quick assistance to the affected families across the country, while at the same time, undertaking rescue operations and rehabilitation works.

“The search and rescue, and retrieval operations have resumed,” the PCG said in a statement issued on Friday as teams searched the waters of Talim Island in Binangonan, Rizal for the passengers of motor banca MB

Princess Aya.

The ill-fated vessel left Barangay Kalinawan, Talim Island in Binangonan on its way to Barangay Gulod, also Talim Island and part of Binangonan, when it capsized just 10 minutes after sailing.

The motorized banca was reportedly struck by a strong wind gust and a huge wave whipped up by Egay, which forced its passengers to panic and dashed to its left

side, causing the banca to flip over.

The PCG said 26 bodies were fished out, while 40 others were rescued. Of those drowned, 14 have been identified, while 12 others remain unidentified.

The MB Princess Aya has two crews and a boat captain, and has a maximum capacity of 42 passengers, but apparently, it was carrying more than its allowed limit.

Meanwhile, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) reported that casualties from Egay have risen to seven with 12 injured and 20 missing.

At least 140,923 families or 502,782 individuals were also affected in 1,612 barangays in Regions 1, 2, 3, 4-A, 4-B, 5, 6, 10, 11 and 12, and in the BARMM and CAR.

As of Friday, at least 82 roads and three bridges in the affected regions, especially in Luzon remained impassable, while power supply in 98 cities and towns and communication lines in seven other areas in Regions 1 and 2 are still down.

Egay also damaged or totally destroyed 2,002 houses.

Damage in the agriculture sector has been pegged at P58, 362, 028.53 and another P656, 329, 100 in government infrastructure projects.

StanChart foresees interest rate cut in December until Q3 2024

THE Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) may cut interest rates by a total of 75 basis points starting in December this year until the third quarter of next year, according to British multinational bank, Standard Chartered.

In a briefing on Friday, Standard Chartered said they expect a 25 basis point (bps) cut in key policy rates in December 2023 and another 50 bps cut between the first and third quarters of next year.

This effort to reduce interest rates will help the country attract more investments.

Standard Chartered bank economist Jonathan Koh said high interest rates is one of the reasons foreign direct investments (FDIs) have been low in the Philippines, even after adjustments made in the Foreign Investment Act (FIA).

“Really the key issue now is in terms of interest rates being very high to counter inflation. So I think we have to see inflation come off and once you see inflation come off, then probably you can start seeing loosening in monetary conditions and that should be a bit more supportive to get started,” Koh said.

Koh added while investors are now allowed to own up to 100 percent of certain businesses in the Philippines, thanks to the amendments to the FIA and the Build Operate Transfer (BOT) Law Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR), these came at a time when local and global interest rates are high.

He explained that with high interest rates, foreign investors are not keen on making investments because it would delay their returns on investment (ROI). This, he said is the reason the country’s FDIs are down 20 percent.

“When companies actually make their decision on investments, they actually do look at ROI and at the moment it’s very difficult to get attractive enough ROI to probably justify the high funding cost. So there’s probably going to remain, I think, a challenge for the investment side in the second-half of the year as well,” Koh said.

Given the low investments, the economy is expected to find it difficult to attain its 6 to 7 percent growth target this year. Standard Chartered only expects the economy to post a 5.3 percent growth on the back of high inflation and waning pent up demand.

Koh said pent up demand will normalize, especially with the latest employment numbers. He said while unemployment and underemployment have eased to record levels, more has to be done in terms of the quality of jobs. He noted that jobs growth in the formal sector has remained flat and most or 50 percent of the increase in the recent employment numbers have been driven by unpaid family workers as well as the self-employed.

With these kinds of jobs, Filipinos would have less spending power. This becomes a concern for a consumption driven economy like that of the Philippines.

Earlier, the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) said more needs to be done to improve the quality of jobs in the Philippines to reduce poverty.

In a Post-Sona Briefing on Wednesday, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan said the unemployment number has declined to 4.3 percent, the kind of jobless rate found in developed countries.

However, Balisacan recognized that attaining a low jobless rate is different from creating decent jobs. These jobs, he said, would allow the Philippines to bring down the poverty rate to 9 percent by 2028.

Balisacan said by improving the workforce, the government can also attract investments that will allow the establishment of factories and new age businesses—those into artificial intelligence—that will ensure the sustainability of the growth of the economy not only today but in the years to come. By building factories and plants that create new equipment as well as investments in roads and bridges, more businesses will come to the Philippines and provide quality jobs to Filipinos. Cai U. Ordinario

Sen. Mark Villar commends Frasco’s accomplishments as Tourism chief

SENATOR Mark Villar praised the Department of Tourism (DOT) for its major accomplishments in the past year.

“I would like to commend the DOT for their efforts in the past year. As stated by President BBM [President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.] in his SONA [State of the Nation Address], we already had 3 million international visitors just from January to July this year, that’s already 62 percent of the 4.8 million target for year 2023. This goes to show that the DOT has been relentless in their efforts to bring more tourists in the Philippines,” Villar said.

Domestic tourism also proved to be a catalyst for economic recovery and tourism industry resurgence with about 102 million domestic trips in 2022.

“Aside from the international tourism we must also recognize the efforts of DOT in terms of our domestic tourism. Malaking bagaynanapasiglangDOT, sapangungunani Secretary (Maria Esperanza Christina) Frasco, ang ating lokal na turismo sapagkat ito ay nakaka create ng maraming oportunidad para sa ating mga kababayan,” Villar said. The President also mentioned in his SONA that tourism plays a vital role in our economic recovery.

“As long as the DOT continues its current programs and policies, I’m confident we will not only hit record numbers in international and domestic tourists but we will also be the primary tourist destination in our region.” Villar said.

Viola Ford Fletcher, oldest living Tulsa Race Massacre victim, publishes memoir

Time

Manila eyes financial benefits for PWDs below 18 years old

By Roderick Abad Contributor

Vice Mayor John

Manila constituents.

“All the ordinances crafted by our councilors, the City Council, will be one click away for every Manileño,” he said.

As the highlight of the council’s 122nd founding celebration, an anniversary program will be held on July 31 at Ayuntamiento de Manila. The program will reminisce the early beginnings of the council amid its journey towards being future ready. Awards, rewards and plaques of recognition will be given to past and present council officials and employees for their service, loyalty, and contributions that made a positive impact on the council.

July 4, and becomes widely available for purchase on august 15. AP Photo/MAry

By Aaron Morrison AP National Writer

NeW YORK—Being a centenarian hasn’t slowed down Viola Ford Fletcher’s pursuit of justice.

In the last couple of years, Fletcher has traveled internationally, testified before Congress and supported a lawsuit for reparations—all part of a campaign for accountability over the massacre that destroyed Tulsa, Oklahoma’s original “Black Wall Street” in 1921, when she was a child.

Now, at age 109, Fletcher is releasing a memoir about the life she lived in the shadow of the massacre, after a white mob laid waste to the once-thriving Black enclave known as Greenwood. The book will be published by Mocha Media Inc. and becomes widely available for purchase on August 15.

In a recent interview with The Associated Press, she said fear of reprisal for speaking out had influenced years of near-silence about the massacre.

“Now that I’m an old lady, there’s nothing else to talk about,” Fletcher said. “We decided to do a book about it and maybe that would help.”

Her memoir, “Don’t Let Them Bury My Story,” is a call to action for readers to pursue truth, justice and reconciliation no matter how long it takes. Written with graphic details of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre that she witnessed at age seven, Fletcher said she hoped to preserve a narrative of events that was nearly lost to a lack of acknowledgement from mainstream historians and political leaders.

“The questions I had then remain to this day,” Fletcher writes in the book. “How could you just give a mob of violent, crazed, racist people a bunch of deadly weapons and allow them—no, encourage them—to go out and kill innocent Black folks and demolish a whole community?”

“As it turns out, we were victims of a lie,” she writes.

Tensions between Tulsa’s Black and white residents inflamed when, on May 31, 1921, the white-owned Tulsa Tribune published a sensationalized news report of an alleged assault by a 19-year-old Black shoeshine on a 17-year-old white girl working as an elevator operator.

With the shoeshine under arrest, a Black militia gathered at a local jail to prevent a lynch mob from kidnapping and murdering him. Then, a separate violent clash between Black and white residents sparked an all-out war.

Over 18 hours, between May 31 and June 1, the enlarged mob carried out a scorched-earth campaign against Greenwood. The death toll has been estimated to be as high as 300. More than 35 city blocks were leveled, an estimated 191 businesses were destroyed, and roughly 10,000 Black residents were displaced.

In her memoir, Fletcher writes of the bumpy ride out of town in a horse-drawn buggy, as her family

escaped the chaos. She witnessed a Black man being executed, his head exploded like “a watermelon dropped off the rooftop of a barn.”

The shooter had also fired his shotgun at her family’s buggy.

“We passed piles of dead bodies heaped in the streets,” she writes in the book. “Some of them had their eyes open, as though they were still alive, but they weren’t.”

Victims’ descendants believed that, once the conspiracy of silence around it was pierced decades later, justice and reparations for Tulsa’s Black community would follow. That hasn’t happened just yet—Fletcher and two other centenarian survivors are currently plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the city of Tulsa.

Ike Howard, Fletcher’s grandson and co-author of the memoir, said systemic racism has prevented Tulsa’s Black community from fully recovering from the massacre.

“They want to be made whole,” Howard said. “We speak for everybody that went through a similar situation, who are not here to tell their stories.”

“You can learn a lot from ‘Don’t Let Them Bury My Story.’ And we know that history can repeat itself if you don’t correct and reconcile issues,” he added.

Fletcher notes in her memoir just how much history she has lived through—from several virus outbreaks preceding the coronavirus pandemic, to the Great Depression of 1929 and the Great Recession of 2008 to every war and international conflict of the last seven decades. She has watched the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. lead the national Civil Rights Movement, seen the historic election of former President Barack Obama and witnessed the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement.

In 2020, Howard purchased his grandmother a brand new color TV for her birthday. Several months later, on January 6, the images of the mob attack on the US Capitol following the historic election of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris retraumatized her.

“With that horrific scene, all of what occurred back in 1921 in Greenwood came flooding back into my mind,” Fletcher writes in the book.

In the AP interview, Fletcher attributed her active lifestyle at an advanced age to her reliance on faith and family. While in New York last month to publicize the book with Howard and her younger brother, 102-year-old Hughes Van e l lis, Fletcher saw the cover of her memoir advertised on jumbo screens in Times Square.

Van ellis, a massacre survivor and World War II veteran whose words from his 2021 testimony to Congress serve as the foreword to his sister’s memoir, said he believes justice is possible in his lifetime.

“We’re getting pretty close [to justice], but we aren’t close enough,” he said. “We’ve got a lot more work to do. I have to keep on battling. I’m fighting for myself and my people.”

According to him, this ordinance is already pending in the 12th City Council of Manila, whose members are studying if the city government’s budget can afford to also give social amelioration or city allowance to PWDs aged 17 years old and below.

“That will be a big help for them,” he said in an interview on the sidelines of the Nation Builders and Mosliv Awards (NBMA) 2023 recently held at the Okada Manila in Parañaque City.

Currently, PWD residents in the country’s capital who are 18 years of age and above receive P500 per month from Manila’s Department of Social Welfare.

“Data on the number of minor

PWDs are still being gathered,” he said when pressed on the latest population of young PWDs in the city.

He added that they may consider raising the amount if ever the differently-abled youngsters in the city are not as many as their senior counterparts.

“This is because our PWD children mostly need our care,” the vice mayor said.

Nieto added that the City Council, through an ordinance passed by Sixth District Councilor Philip Lacuna, is pushing for a P3,000 to P5,000 burial assistance to all Manileños.

“This year, that ordinance is being studied thoroughly. It will be referred for fast approval of the Council,” he said.

In the upcoming 122nd Founding Anniversary celebration of the Manila City Council on July 31, the vice mayor bared that they will launch their web site, citycouncilofmanila. com.ph, wherein all the laws of the LGU will be readily available online. This is part of the city government’s digitalization program to facilitate transparency and accessibility for

Will the real adults please stand up?

By Nick Tayag

my sixty-zen’s WORtH

ASUPPOSeDLY mature lawmaker unabashedly sheds tears in public like a little boy accused of misdemeanor in class. Another legislator casually clips or grooms his mustache while conducting a public hearing, even as video cameras are documenting the proceedings. A pastor-leader of a religious community exalts himself to high heavens with all kinds of conjured divine titles, claiming to have supernatural powers.

Consider the former US President who lost in the last elections and is still being very much in the limelight. All he cares about is being admired and looked up to as the Best Person in the World. For years we’ve known that there’s something wrong about this man’s character.

An article in the reputable magazine Psychology Today (May 12, 2017) says that after a thorough evaluation, psychological scientists have concluded that “he is a four-year-old.” Yet he is already in his late 70s.

It’s becoming a widespread phenomenon: elderly men who possess the outward appearance and trappings of adulthood but who are on the inside predominantly just children. We have native terms to describe these supposedly adult individuals: “Isip bata” or “tumatandang paurong.”

The sad thing is they don’t realize they are in arrested development stasis.

This is why I utterly agree with what a professional psychologist has

pointed out: Emotional maturity has nothing to do with age

My fear is that we are becoming a nation led by kids in adult bodies. And we are allowing them to play with our lives.

But are we not supposed to keep the “child in us” alive even in old age as psychology experts and motivational gurus have been telling us?

The answer is: be childlike, not childish. Aye, there’s the rub.

When we say inner child, we actually refer to that sense of wonder, fun and curiosity intrinsic in every child that believes and imagines the most fantastic things. Being childlike also means to be simple, pure, and honest. On the other hand, childish means being narcissistic, selfish, irresponsible, tactless, and putting a tantrum when things don’t go our way.

Two thousand years ago, St. Paul stated it very well: “When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things.” As we grow up and mature, as we are trained and disciplined, we should leave childish ways behind.

Dismayingly, many of us are guilty of fostering and encouraging perpetual immaturity. As parents, we have unknowingly been stunting the emotional growth of our children. That’s because we have not grown up ourselves. We play their little games. We ca-

ter to their selfish desires. When young kids crave for attention on social media, we allow and even help them to get attention, rather than the substance that they need to grow. We keep buying the latest digital toys they want because we’re afraid they’ll be left behind by their generation, FOMO (fear of missing out) as young people call it.

Or worse, some parents love to have “toys for the big boys” themselves. I know one father who likes to bring boxes of chocolates for his kids. But he consumes half of them himself. Parents are forgetting that children take after them. Parents teach by their actions, and these can influence their growth for better or for worse.

Psychologist and writer Dr. Nicole LePera says that the level of our emotional maturity comes from how our developmental needs were met as children. And, the modeling we get from our parent figures who teach us how to navigate our emotions. Take the case of one person whom I personally know very well. Let’s call him JT. He’s now in his early 40s, and according to sociologists, at this age, your main focus should be getting ready for your retirement. That means cutting down on debt and increasing retirement savings, and making sure your family is well taken care of and you’ve prepared for any worstcase scenarios. This is also the time for you to find purpose in midlife through meaningful activities and engaging in creative pursuits.

That’s not the case with JT. His main preoccupation is collecting expensive 4 wheelers and 2 wheelers. He likes to show off his new possessions on social media, tagging his buddies as if he is competing in a game called “look what I got” or “beat that.”

As if to compensate for the comforts that he was deprived of during his growing up years, JT is working long hours to earn as much as he can by any means to be able to lavish his family with material abundance and luxuries such as signature clothes, dining in expensive restaurants, staying in 5-star hotels, enrolling them

For the second time, Nieto was one of the “Awarded Vice Mayor of the Year” recipients at the NBMA 2023.

In line with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, this leading Sustainability Awards Festival in the country honors leaders from both the public and private sectors, youth groups, philanthropists, and sustainability organizations that have pitched in to nation-building through their programs, advocacies and prospects.

“I’m happy that my job as the vice mayor of Manila is once again recognized by the Nation Builders and Mosliv Awards. It inspires me to improve more on my duties as the City Council’s presiding officer and also as vice mayor,” he said.

in elite private schools and so on.

Most recently, he posted pictures of his family going on a luxury cruise to Mexico.

But what in fact makes an adult “mature”?

Gordon Allport, an influential American psychologist, says that one of the personality traits characterizing a healthy mature personality is a capacity to manage emotion as well as the ability to go beyond self-preoccupation and to have concern for others. In his mind, he occupies such a central place that he is unable or finds it difficult to see a situation from another person’s point of view.

In contrast, a “childish” adult doesn’t have that ability. At the core of his childishness you will find what I call “Self at the Center.” The usual manifestations are pride, self-exaltation and selfgratification. One characteristic is the inability to see much beyond his own ego preoccupations. And if a person can’t laugh at himself, that’s a red flag.

I’ve suffered my share of the ordeal of putting up with these childish fools. They come in a variety of shapes and sizes. He or she could be your boss or a colleague or friend or an elected politician. Many are physically attractive, that’s why they are adulated and they often get their way. They are enabled by sycophants who continuously feed their vanities with phony praises while siphoning off them.

It’s time to shut them off. Let’s start by calling out parents who refuse to grow up. Let’s stop giving immature, entitled, self-centered politicians public platforms on which to perform their childish acts. Let’s take away their unearned “honorific titles” and the emblems of office that are really meant for mature respectable adults. Let’s press the mute button on so-called pastors and religious leaders with outsized egos, who prattle about spiritual transformation and salvation while getting enriched and enjoying lives like rich pampered kids. Oh where oh where are the real mature adults now that we need them?

MANILA

Marvin Cruz Nieto, popularly known as Yul Servo, is hopeful for the immediate passage of a city ordinance extending the financial benefits currently being enjoyed by persons with disability (PWDs) of legal age and minors.

Vice Mayor John Marvin cr uz “Yul Servo” Nieto

TulSa Race Massacre survivor Viola Ford Fletcher gestures while speaking during an interview with The associated Press on June 16, 2023, in New York. at age 109, Fletcher is releasing a memoir about the life she lived in the shadow of the massacre after a white mob laid waste to the once-thriving Black enclave known as Greenwood. “Don’t let Them Bury My Story” is published Tuesday,

AltAffer

Editor: Mike Policarpio

Saturday, July 29, 2023

UPHSD brings PHL back on track in Shell energy-efficient car race

By Roderick L. Abad

THE University of Perpetual Help System-Dalta (UPHSD) made it to

and the Middle East.

Patience finally paid off for the UPHSD’s ALTAS Valor group, composed of Mechanical Engineering students Jacob Moises Torres, Emelito Montano Jr., Mark Angelo Jacinto, Reiven Christian Pagtakhan and Evan Anthony Gindoy. After four years of persistent attempts, they were able to bring the Philippines back on track at the annual global competition that challenges college

learners to design, build and test energy-efficient vehicles.

The 2023 SEM Asia-Pacific and the Middle East held at the Pertamina Mandalika International Street Circuit in Lombok, Indonesia gathered 76 team-participants from 13 countries in the regions. As it promoted safe and sustainable mobility, the contest required all vehicles to go through several stages of inspection.

FPIP, FIRST College launch P1-M scholarship program for marginalized Batangas students

“This is all about passing the checkpoints. You only do that if you have a thorough and deep understanding of the rules, and you can implement the rules properly,” said Race Director

Pepon Marave. Since the arrival of their vehicle last July 4, members of ALTAS Valor started addressing concerns they discovered with the guidance of team adviser Jo -

ebert Guzon. They worked tirelessly to address the said issues for three days.

While having a brake system problem during the final hour of the scheduled technical inspection, they unexpectedly got assistance from S.U. Racing Team of Kazakhstan to have the brakes fixed. This allowed them to prepare and pass the detailed scrutiny, thus making them beat the July 7 deadline, and finally hit the track on July 8.

“We are grateful for the [other teams’ assistance. Despite being rivals], they willingly helped us to pass the technical inspection,” said Torres, who is ALTAS Valor team manager. Winners for the three subcategories of Urban Concept vehicles were all from Indonesia, as Semar Urban UGM claimed the

Bangsamoro lawyer champions Muslim identity, culture, peace and human rights

BANGSAMORO Regionbased lawyer and Shari’ah counselor Ashyanna Alexine Adia Amira-Labi A. Bangcola recently took her oath as a Foreign Service Officer (FSO)-Class IV of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).

DESERVING students from the province of Batangas stand to benefit from a P1-million educational fund courtesy of two Lopez-led entities.

First Philippine Industrial Park (FPIP) president Francis Giles B. Puno and FIRST Industrial Science and Technology College Inc. (FIRST College) president Joaquin E. Quintos IV recently signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) to implement a holistic educational grant for eligible students.

The program is open to all incoming Grades 11 and 12 students who are currently enrolled in FIRST College and residing either in Tanauan City or Santo Tomas City in Batangas, according to a statement.

Those qualified will each enjoy a P74,500 financial grant per year for tuition and matriculation fees, plus P4,200 in monthly stipend and Internet load allowance. The scholarship fund—a pilot program for FPIP—will accept an initial batch of 13 indigent scholars.

As recipients under this holistic scholarship program, the eligible scholars will receive close guidance from FPIP and FIRST College, including “kumustahan” and counseling sessions. These interactions will help FPIP and FIRST College track the scholars’ progress, while en -

suring their academic and personal development.

First Philippine Holdings Corp. (FPH)—a diversified conglomerate of the Lopez family—established FPIP in 1996 with Sumitomo Corp. of Japan to create a world-class economic zone for global manufacturers and traders, as well as a platform for employing ordinary Filipinos, and for generating government revenues.

The 520-hectare ecozone, straddling Santo Tomas and Tanauan in Batangas, now provides employment for almost 80,000 Filipinos, aside from generating hundreds of millions of pesos in tax revenues for the host local government units.

FPH subsequently established FIRST College in 2018 with a vision to create a school that will deliver real-world, relevant, up-to-date and practical, technical training. Located inside FPIP, the college offers a unique curriculum and academic approach in close collaboration with industry partners, many of whom are FPIP locators themselves. This allows students to gain extensive hands-on learning experience with industry professionals as their mentors.

FPIP is a proud and consistent partner to its host-communities in providing jobs and programs to link educational gaps for its network-schools in the province.

PHINMA Educ. posts peak performances in SY 2022-23

PHINMA Education recently reported a notable performance of its students, as it posted a 79-percent overall passing rate in licensure exams for first-time takers in School Year 2022-2023.

Throughout the period, students and schools across the network were cited for ranking among the top of their categories nationwide across several disciplines. For instance, PHINMA-Cagayan de Oro College and PHINMA-Southwestern University were ranked first in Criminology and Optometry, respectively.

Graduates similarly showed stellar results in Nursing (98-percent board passing rate), Electrical Engineering (98 percent), Elementary Education (92 percent), Optometry (90 percent), Dentistry (90 percent), Pharmacy (89 percent), and Mechanical Engineering (85 percent).

With the output, the network produced 27 topnotchers from last year, which now adds up to 143 since 2004.

In Horizon Karawang—the first school managed by PHINMA Education in Indonesia—students Muhammad Rakha

and Meisya Rafacintya were chosen for the regional “Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation-NEXTGen Leadership” program. Both will be involved in projects that focus on mental health in Asia.

In his online address, PHINMA Corp. chair and CEO Ramon del Rosario Jr. said education will play a big factor among the Filipino youth, especially to those belonging to the marginalized sector: “We believe that the success of our students is much more meaningful because of their lives’ circumstances.”

At present, PHINMA Education has nine schools in the Philippines, and one in Indonesia. Last school year, its 30.4-percent increase in enrollment versus the previous period resulted in a 19-percent revenue increase year-on-year, and consolidated revenues of P4.5 billion.

PHINMA Education president and CEO Dr. Melito Salazar Jr. hopes that they will be able to reach more underserved students who need quality education the most, “so that they can uplift themselves, their families, and communities.” Rizal Raoul S. Reyes

As the new principal assistant at the DFA’s Maritime and Ocean Affairs Office, Bangcola helps safeguard and promote the country’s sovereign rights and jurisdiction in its exclusive economic zone and the West Philippine Sea.

“The sea and its wealth of resources are our heritage,” she started. “We must remember that we are its custodians. We must fulfill our responsibility to protect our territory for future generations.”

She added that “being a lawyer and an FSO provides me an official platform to make real changes. I am fortunate enough to be working at a government institution that allows me to pursue those advocacies in my line of work.”

The lawyer cofounded “Global Marawi”—a digital site that seeks to place the city on an international scale and eradicate the prejudice against its inhabitants. She looks forward to spreading awareness about the Bangsamoro identity and culture, peace and human rights, as well as the empowerment of women and the youth.

Bangcola also champions peace and conflict resolution, interfaith and interreligious dialogue, rights of internally displaced persons, human security, good governance and sustainable development, and expressed: “I’m a staunch advocate of peace-building, [plus] the protection of the rights of minorities and the oppressed.”

Having taken up Consular and Diplomatic Affairs at the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde (DLSCSB) School of Diplomacy and Governance, she is also a scholar of the “Benildean Excellence in Scholastics and Talent”—a coveted grant among applicants with exceptional academic outputs and impeccable leadership qualities.

As a Benildean Student Envoy (BSE), the lawyer recounted the college’s opportunities offered— from intensive lectures, to extracurriculars abroad: “Everything I learned helped me prepare for the FSO Exam, and continues to assist me now that I am an officer myself. We were mentored to think critically, present our points in a convincing and persuasive manner, [as well as] conduct ourselves in formal and diplomatic settings, and on matters of protocol.”

A cum laude graduate, Bancola was honored with the “Student Leadership” award. She then pursued being a Doctor of Jurispru -

dence at the Arellano University School of Law, where she earned its eighth “Honorable Mention and the Order of the Flaming Arrows” distinction.

Prior to becoming an FSO IV, she served as an Economic Diplomacy and Systems research assistant at the DFA’s Office of International Economic Relations, and a technical assistant at the Commission on Filipinos Overseas’s Policy, Planning and Research Division.

She likewise served as an educator at the Mindanao State University College of Law, and a legal researcher at the Bangsamoro Transition Authority’s Office of Parliament member Atty. Maisara C. Dandamun-Latiph at the Institute for Peace and Development in Marawi City.

Her academic papers on interfaith and interreligious dialogue and Marawi rehabilitation were also presented at various peaceresearch conferences. She is an active member of diverse groups, including Kalilintad sa Lanao : a c ommunity-based volunteer organization that fosters peace in Lanao del Sur through youth empowerment, education, and initiatives.

When asked for advice to aspiring lawyers, Bangcola urged them to “read. It may seem obvious, but it will surely help…build the foundation of your knowledge.”

hydrogen fuel-cell category top prize for the first time. Meanwhile, the segment’s four top teams from Singapore and Indonesia have successfully qualified for the World Championship finale slated on October 10 to 12 in India.

UPHSD’s entry will use their experience as a motivation to strive toward achieving a win in the next year’s competition. For Torres, “we will make sure that we will redeem ourselves from the challenges we experienced this year.”

Same holds true for Polytechnic University of the Philippines’ PUP Hygears, as they are determined on making a comeback in 2024 after missing the chance to hit the track this year due to technical aspects that needed further attention.

THE De La Salle Santiago Zobel (DLSZ) Strings ensemble was able to secure the fourthplace award with an outstanding rating at the 15th Summa Cum Laude (SCL) International Youth Music Festival on July 1 at the Golden Hall of the Musikverein in Vienna, Austria.

DLSZ Strings also bagged the “Gold Award” at the 2023 Bratislava Youth Music Festival Competition last July 7 at the Slovak Radio Concert Hall, Slovakia.

As the Philippines’s sole ensemble representative, the DLSZ Strings performed the “Holberg Suite” by E. Grieg, “Eine Kleine Nachtmusik” by W. A. Mozart, “Triptych” (a threepart work for string orchestra) by Alejandro Consolación, and the traditional homegrown music “Tatlong Awiting Pilipino” (arranged for strings) by Rommel Camba as their competition pieces.

The group also held a festival concert at the Pfarrgarten Probstdorf and MuTh in Vienna with a repertoire of “Symphony No.1, Sarabande (Second Movement)” from the Holberg Suite, “Queen of the Night Aria” for String Orchestra, “Gabriel’s Oboe (strings and solo cello),”

“Sarabande” (for solo cello) by J.S. Bach, “Intermezzo” from Cavalleria Rusticana Jazz Pizzicato, and one of the most popular patriotic songs: “Bayan Ko.”

In Bratislava, the group performed to the delight of audiences in St. Martin’s Cathedral, Klarisky Concert Hall, Primate’s Palace, and the Hviezdoslav Square. The ensemble arrived in Prague and premiered at the Smetana Hall on June 28. A pleasant addition to

the trip was a courtesy call to Ambassador Eduardo Martin Meñez at the Philippine Embassy in the Czech Republic, Ambassador Evangelina Lourdes Arroyo-Bernas at the Philippine Embassy in Austria, and an educational tour at the Vienna International Center of the United Nations Office.

According to the school’s Cultural Affairs Office-Music Unit, the DLSZ Strings’ participation in the said events was “a testament

The Muslim lawyer added a gentle reminder about the importance of motivation: “If you are working for something greater—whether it be for family, community, or a higher purpose—then never forget that spark, especially when you face hardship or roadblocks along your way.”

She likewise encouraged the youth to do their best even during times of failure: “Give it your all, and then some…nothing is ever [a] wasted effort…Even when you do not get the outcome you want at first, there is still value in learning and improving.”

Furthermore: “Do not sacrifice either mind or heart. Pursue excellence and at the same time, have empathy for others.”

to the Filipino’s remarkable talent, rich culture, and pride in musical excellence.”

The SCL International Youth Festival is a world-renowned international celebration for young musicians that provides a prestigious stage for music ensembles from across the globe. Choirs, bands and orchestras from Australia, Austria, Canada, China, Italy, Puerto Rico, Singapore, Taipei, Norway, the Netherlands, Spain and the United States participated in the event.

The DLSZ Strings, led by Conductor Leopoldo Sumera Jr., Strings Teacher Shelly Isaga, Music Unit Head Daryl Galicia and Cultural Affairs Office Head Lynette Feliciano, is a musical ensemble of select high-school students enrolled in the Special Music program. With such, students develop their musical skills, deepen their sensitivity to music, and cultivate an appreciation for the art form.

The group has participated in local and global performances and competitions where it won Gold awards: the Chicago International Music Festival in 2019, and Singapore Raffles International Music Festival in 2019 and 2022.

A6

the final race of the recently concluded Shell Eco-marathon (SEM) Asia-Pacific

FPIP president Francis Giles B. Puno and FIRST College President Joaquin E. Quintos IV (second and third from left) sign the agreement for a scholarship program that will help deserving Batangueño students.

Strings outstanding at 15th SCL intl youth music fest

THE ALTAS Valor Group officially passed the technical inspection during the 2023 Shell Ecomarathon Asia-Pacific and the Middle East held in Lombok, Indonesia.

SECRETARY of Foreign Affairs Enrique Manalo and lawyer-Shari’ah counselor Ashyanna Alexine Adia Amira-Labi A. Bangcola at her oath-taking DLS-CSB

CITY OF A HUNDRED SPIRES ExPlORINg THE OlD AND NEw wORlD APPEAl OF PR AgUE

Old and New World Appeal

The best way to explore Prague is on foot. I walked along the river until I reached the famous Dancing ho use, a Frank Gehry design. The construction of that architectural gem took place from the early 1990s to the mid-1990s. This structure has a distinct curving tower that would make onlookers think they’re seeing dancing figures. It was a modern contrast to the many other designs as I walked around the city. he re I found Baroque, Art Nouveau, and Gothic design influences scattered in different neighborhoods.

A Walk to the Past

I m A De my way back to the Old Town also known as Stare m e sto

and dove into Prague’s prettiest (and busiest) district. As I looked around, the Old Town h a ll and the Church of Our Lady before Tyn caught my attention. The Old Town h a ll contains the famous Astronomical Clock wherein figures parade in front of the clock face every hour. The Tyn Church draws your attention to its spires, two of the hundreds you’ll see in the city. This centuries old church is home to 17th century pipe organs and Baroque paintings.

The square itself is full of beautiful buildings that are centuries old. It’s no surprise that tourists congregate to this part of Prague to eat, drink, or simply hang out. Don’t let the crowds ruin your visit as the area is picturesque.

I followed the throng of people as they made their way to another city landmark, the Charles Bridge. The latter is one of the most renowned bridges in the continent. It spans more than 600m and is lined with intricate statues, one of which is ho ly Roman e mperor Charles IV. You’ll find beautiful Gothic gates on both ends of the bridge. It was already late when I crossed the bridge into the Prague Castle grounds. The illuminated buildings added to its splendor. I took a few photos and looked up at the castle and decided to return the next day.

Of Royalty and Presidents

Be F OR e I m ade my way to Prague

Dealing with flight disruptions

he re are some tips from travel bugs that might help avoid wasted hours at the airport and the stress of air travel:

Take the first flight

Castle, I explored Wenceslas Square. It was fortunate that the accommodation I stayed in was within walking distance of the historic square. It has a long and storied history dating to the 14th century. Bohemian King Charles IV founded Prague’s New Town and this expansion included markets, one of which was a horse market. Fast forward to modern times, what used to be a horse market is now Wenceslas Square. It got its name from Bohemia’s patron saint. The square is a gathering place for celebrations and peaceful rallies. It’s also lined with many shops, hotels, restaurants, and cafes. I retraced my steps to Charles Bridge and crossed it again to reach

Prague Castle. I made my way up to the huge complex. The most striking building that immediately grabbed my attention was St. Vitus Cathedral. The work on the church began in 1344 and spanned around six centuries to build. Its architects took architectural influences from Gothic, Baroque, and Renaissance designs. Its consecration took place in 1929. The interior is just as fetching as its detailed exterior with its stained-glass windows, chapels, frescoes, and paintings.

After visiting St. Vitus Cathedral, I took my time exploring the Prague Castle grounds. Kings, knights, and the royal court roamed this area for centuries. It was originally a walled fortress but

has undergone substantial changes and enlargements. I saw vestiges of the castle’s former glory when I went into the Vladislav h a ll and St. George’s Basilica. The castle is no longer the home of royalty, but it’s now the residence of the country’s president. One of the main draws of the castle is the overlooking views it provides visitors. Perched high above Prague, it’s a perfect location to see the numerous spires towering over the city. I took a last look at the views. I thought about the long history of the city. These changes didn’t happen overnight, it took centuries to get to this point. Why hurry through life? I thought to myself.

might be a safer bet—that’s if you have a day to spare or if you can work remote for a day. If the destination is land-locked, consider going by private vehicle or bus.

Give more slack

FLIGh T d isruptions are an unfortunate reality of air travel.

W hile this is nothing new, bad weather, increased lightning alerts, a shortage in spare parts, delayed plane repairs, backlogged aircraft deliveries, and inadequate aviation infrastructure have all converged to create more turbulence in commercial air travel—much to the dismay and ire of many air travelers.

On any given day, social media goes

hot with complaints over delayed and cancelled flights.

To be fair, the rise in delayed and cancelled flights is mostly beyond the control of any airline. But helping ease the ire and stress of passengers—perhaps by providing adequate e xplanation, are things that airlines can definitely manage.

h a ving said that, just because flights are disrupted does not mean our activities have to be interrupted.

Wh IL e getting up before the witching hour is not ideal, statistically, re d-eye or early morning flights are less likely to be cancelled or severely delayed. That’s because disruptions have a domino effect which cascades to flights later in the day. In addition, if you are flying to destinations where there are multiple flights (or multiple airlines) for the same route, booking the first flight of the day increases your chances to get on another flight in the event of a cancellation.

Book flexible airfare

Tem P TING a s basic economy fares may be, shell out a little bit more so your ticket is refundable, “rebookable,” or can be stored in a travel f und. Rather than risk losing the entire amount, you can get your money b ack or reschedule your travel should your flight get disrupted.

On a related note, the same logic applies for hotel bookings. Non-refundable bookings tend to be much c heaper but given the uncertainties in air travel these days, consider flexible or refundable hotel bookings.

Consider travel insurance

G AINING p opularity as travel restarted post-pandemic, travel insurance comes in handy in case there a ny changes, delays or cancellations before departure, as well as any incidents during your trip. Do your

re search and read the fine print before finalizing any purchase with an i nsurance provider. Bear in mind that the most expensive ones do not necessarily have the best cover.

Over land or sea

Wh IL e air travel is typically the most expedient way to travel long distances, it might make sense to take a look at travelling by land or by sea with the turbulence in the skies. Sailing from m a nila to Cebu for instance, takes about 22 hours. Going by boat

I F you have a scheduled meeting or event, avoid “photo-finish” flights. This increases your risk of not being able to make it on time (or even m ake it at all), not to mention the stress and anxiety should your flight be disrupted. If possible, fly the day before your scheduled event and keep a flexible schedule on the day of your return flight.

Hawk eyes on your booking

I T p ays to be vigilant with your bookings—especially if you booked your f light months in advance. Watch out for schedule changes so you have time to adjust travel plans, and rebook or reschedule as necessary.

Bottomline: Air travel will continue to be disrupted. There is no telling when the situation will ease. For now, the best thing we can do is to adjust what is within our control and hope for smoother air travel in the very near future.

Tourism Editor: Edwin P. Sallan

Story & photos by Joshua Berida

IarrIved a few hours later than I should have from Bucharest. However, I didn’t want to let this mishap ruin the remaining day. I went to my accommodation and left my things first before heading out to explore what Prague has to offer.

SAMSUNG has just launched new devices, including the Z Flip 5 and the Z Fold5, at Galaxy Unpacked 2023 which was livestreamed from South Korea.

PHOTOD BY DINNA CHAN VASQUEZ

• Editor: Gerard S. Ramos

Samsung launches new phones, devices, including a Flip and a Fold

Forbes, CNBC cite Tala anew as fintech leader in growing PHL market

By Roderick L. Abad Contributor

MY first Android phone was the Samsung Galaxy S3 and I remember that I had to take a few lessons from an Android expert in order to learn how to navigate it. I used that phone for years, after which I gave it to my daughter. Eventually, my S3 went to a third owner—my nephew.

I also used a Samsung Note for several years. Two years ago, I rediscovered Samsung, thanks to the Z Flip 3.

Samsung has just launched new devices, including the Z Flip 5, and the Z Fold5, at Galaxy Unpacked 2023, which wa’s livestreamed from South Korea.

The 3.4-inch by 1.9 inch Z Flip 5, which runs on Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform for Galaxy, has a Flex Hinge and a Flex Window. It’s also thinner by 2mm at 15.1mm than the Flip 4. The hinge is also more durable and has a premium open/close feel. The crease is less noticeable that the Samsung Flip phones of previous generations. The Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 is also stronger.

At the heart of the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 is the best selfie experience. Multi-frame processing combines multiple images to create a single image with the AI Object Aware Engine. AI analyzes subjects and scenes to dramatically improve detail and clarity in digital zoom. It also has multi-layer-beast sophisticated technology for natural tone control and skin texture expression. Multi-frame processing also reduces noise and improves clarity at low light in video and photos. The Flip 5 is also powered by ISOCELL, the same image sensor in the Galaxy 23.

The Flip 5 comes in colors inspired by nature, including Mint, Lavender, Cream and Graphite.

Samsung’s Fold phones are Korean drama staples but in real life, these are productivity and multitasking powerhouses with large greens, S Pen, and flexible powerful cameras.

The Z Fold5 is lighter by 10g at 253g and thinner by 2.4mm at 13.4mm. It runs on Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform for Galaxy and makes use of AI via the Machine Learning Algorithm. The Fold5 provides a flagship camera experience with tele (3x), wide 50 mp OIS, and ultra wide 12 mp. It comes in Icy

BY MATT O’BRIEN AND ZEKE MILLE�

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON—President Joe Biden said Friday that new commitments by Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft and other companies that are leading the development of artificial intelligence technology to meet a set of AI safeguards brokered by his White House are an important step toward managing the “enormous” promise and risks posed by the technology.

Biden announced that his administration has secured voluntary commitments from seven US companies meant to ensure that their AI products are safe before they release them. Some of the commitments call for third-party oversight of the workings of the next generation of AI systems, though they don’t detail who will audit the technology or hold the companies accountable.

“We must be clear eyed and vigilant about the threats emerging technologies can pose,” Biden said, adding that the companies have a “fundamental obligation” to ensure their products are safe.

“Social media has shown us the harm that powerful technology can do without the right safeguards in place,” Biden added. “These commitments are a promising step, but we have a lot more work to do together.”

provides outstanding vividness with real black and high-color reproduction. The display has a 16:10 ratio. For enhanced eye comfort, the new tablet has Low Blue Light, Eye Care Display, and Eye Comfort Mode.

Two other tablets—the 11-inch Tab S9 and 12.4-inch Tab S9+—were also released.

The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Mobile Platform for Galaxy on which the tablets run will give the user faster and more responsive performance, and dynamic graphics. Gamers can play more than dynamically with Ray Tracing, which provides lifelike and detailed images.

With the new outdoor visibility features, the images and video are bright and clear in any weather.

The Intelligent Outdoor Algorithm automatically detects high illumination and enhances visibility in outdoor environments through tone mapping (contrast, color and skin tone).

The tablets are built to last with flagship quality, armor aluminum, and IP68. They can endure 30

churn out new images and other media has brought public fascination as well as concern about their ability to trick people and spread disinformation, among other dangers.

The four tech giants, along with ChatGPT-maker OpenAI and startups Anthropic and Inflection, have committed to security testing “carried out in part by independent experts” to guard against major risks, such as to biosecurity and cybersecurity, the White House said in a statement.

That testing will also examine the potential for societal harms, such as bias and discrimination, and more theoretical dangers about advanced AI systems that could gain control of physical systems or “selfreplicate” by making copies of themselves.

The companies have also committed to methods for reporting vulnerabilities to their systems and to using digital watermarking to help distinguish between real and AI-generated images or audio known as deepfakes.

Executives from the seven companies met behind closed doors with Biden and other officials Friday as they pledged to follow the standards.

“He was very firm and clear” that he wanted the companies to continue to be innovative, but at the same time “felt that this needed a lot of attention,” Inflection CEO Mustafa Suleyman said in an interview after the White House gathering.

“It’s a big deal to bring all the labs together, all the companies,” said Suleyman, whose Palo Alto,

tablet to the smart phone and images can be dragged and dropped immediately.

Samsung also released the Galaxy Watch 6 and Watch 6 Classic which have features that include Sleep Coaching, Personalized Fitness Coaching and Enhanced Health Insights.

The Refined Circle Frame elevate the wearable experience with all new designs and optimized performance. The display and screen are 20 percent larger and brighter, the battery is bigger, and the bezel is 30 percent slimmer and the rotating bezel is 15 percent thinner. Users can mix and match a variety of straps with a with a wider selection of new watch faces. The Galaxy Watch 6 is 40mm and 44mm while the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic is 43mm and 47mm. The new Samsung watches get call and text notifications, have a camera controller, camera, remote view, and Google and third-party apps.  More information is available at www.samsung.com/ ph/. ■

California-based startup is the youngest and smallest of the firms. “This is supercompetitive and we wouldn’t come together under other circumstances.”

The companies will also publicly report flaws and risks in their technology, including effects on fairness and bias, according to the pledge.

The voluntary commitments are meant to be an immediate way of addressing risks ahead of a longerterm push to get Congress to pass laws regulating the technology.

Some advocates for AI regulations said Biden’s move is a start but more needs to be done to hold the companies and their products accountable.

“A closed-door deliberation with corporate actors resulting in voluntary safeguards isn’t enough,” said Amba Kak, executive director of the AI Now Institute. “We need a much more wide-ranging public deliberation, and that’s going to bring up issues that companies almost certainly won’t voluntarily commit to because it would lead to substantively different results, ones that may more directly impact their business models.”

While voluntary, agreeing to submit to “ red team” tests that poke at their AI systems is not an easy promise, said Suleyman.

“The commitment we’ve made to have red-teamers basically try to break our models, identify weaknesses and then share those methods with the other large language model developers is a pretty significant commitment,” Suleyman said.

A GLOBAL financial technology (fintech) company that is present in the Philippines, Kenya, Mexico and India, Tala has been consistently recognized by media giants for its innovative way of giving loans to underserved markets worldwide.

For the seventh straight year, the firm has been included in the prestigious Forbes Fintech 50 list and the fourth successive year in the exclusive 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 chief executive officer and founder Shivani Siroya said.

To date, the mobile lender has disbursed more than $4 billion to customers across three different continents. In the Philippines alone, more than three in four Filipino borrowers report that their daily lives have totally improved after partnering with the credit provider.

Customers are highly satisfied and cite Tala’s efficient loan approval process and its reliable and easy-to-use application as the key reasons.

About 98 percent of borrowers agree that they understand the terms and conditions of their loan, as 99 percent of them trust the fintech with their personal information.

“At Tala, we are committed to helping Filipinos achieve financial inclusion by giving them reliable and convenient access to credit. We have helped more than two million people in the Philippines to have a financial identity and visibility,” noted Tala senior director and global customer experience operations Iona Iñigo-Mayo.

Such recognitions from Forbes and CNBC are a testament to the company’s unwavering commitment to bringing microloans to consumers and micro-entrepreneurs in the country via modern technology and machine learning strategies.

Its flexible, customer-centric loan products and services are indicative of the firm’s transition to becoming a leading financial partner for the nation’s underbanked and unbanked sectors aiming to reach their financial goals.

“As we help improve people’s financial situation and achieve their goals, we strive to further promote financial literacy and collaborate with companies and organizations that are working to make financial services more accessible,” he said.

set by the White

House

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has said he will introduce legislation to regulate AI and is working closely with the Biden administration “and our bipartisan colleagues” to build upon the pledges made Friday.

A number of technology executives have called for regulation, and several attended an earlier White House summit in May.

Microsoft President Brad Smith said in a blog post Friday that his company is making some commitments that go beyond the White House pledge, including support for regulation that would create a “licensing regime for highly capable models.”

Some experts and upstart competitors worry that the type of regulation being floated could be a boon for deep-pocketed first-movers led by OpenAI, Google and Microsoft as smaller players are elbowed out by the high cost of making their AI systems adhere to regulatory strictures.

The White House pledge notes that it mostly only applies to models that “are overall more powerful than the current industry frontier,” set by recent models such as OpenAI’s GPT-4 and image generator DALL-E 2 and similar releases from Anthropic, Google and Amazon.

A number of countries have been looking at ways to regulate AI, including European Union lawmakers negotiating sweeping AI rules for the 27-nation bloc that could restrict applications deemed to have the highest risks.

Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft and other tech firms agree to AI safeguards

HOW TO UNLOCK BUSINESS

SUCCESS

FOLLOWING the grand launch of GCash Insider last year, the Philippines’ No. 1 finance super app kicked off its second insights and solutions event last June, giving business partners exclusive access on how they can better scale up their businesses.

GCash Insider, under the fintech company’s Partner Solutions program, was recently themed “Passion Forward” as it discussed how customer insights can be utilized and how GCash’s line-up of digital solutions can help businesses address the evolving market demands.

During the fireside chat, industry leaders and partners sat down to share their experiences, namely AirAsia head of travel Rowena Rivera, Mineski Global (MGames) business development manager Franco Pantangco, and GCash head of new businesses Winsley Bangit, with GCash chief marketing officer Neil Trinidad as the session’s moderator.

In a fast-paced world, businesses seek better ways to connect with their customers by understanding consumer preference and purchases that define ever-changing trends. This is the same strategy that AirAsia used to effectively address their consumers’ demands to develop a one-stop-shop platform, particularly for their travel needs, Rivera emphasized that with AirAsia’s partnership with GCash, they were able to average 5 percent in ad click rates which is above industry standard.

Pantangco, on the other hand, said that MGames was able to reach both new and repeat users by maximizing GCash’s in-app ad products ranging from targeted media channels, to direct broadcast campaigns and blasts for a more targeted approach—creating a holistic experience for their customers and solidifying its growing fanbase with a 7x increase in GLife users.

These changes in consumer behaviour are the key factors in determining the proper solution to each marketing need, which is why GCash found the need to develop simpler yet more effective product suites, backed by data and insights, that can ensure businesses will hit their targets.

“When it comes to business, one thing is clear—if the customer sees your platform is so much easier, they will keep coming back. The key is to never underestimate Filipino consumers when it comes to their unique ability in adapting to industry trends and changes, especially in the new normal,” said Trinidad.

Cash head of new business Winsley Bangit emphasized that engaging in relevant discussions on how to implement smart and efficient solutions to connect to customers is crucial in taking a business to the next level.

“I’ve seen the growth and development of the passions and behaviors of our users and as we are working with our partners, it is clear that their customers are also changing. It’s for us brands and business leaders to show the way and give them that access and opportunities,” Bangit explained.

Businesses also had the chance to connect and learn from case studies from GCash’s partner brands during the event, to help them become more efficient, increase sales, and achieve scale.

Moreover, the event also gave brands an opportunity to learn more about the various features of GCash’s Partner Solutions program— allowing them to target the right audience using relevant digital tools through advertising, trade, scoring, and sustainability solutions promo. The program also highlighted the security and antifraud controls in place to ensure campaign quality, and data-rich performance reports with deep user insights.

More information is available at bit.ly/ gcashpartnersolutions.

BusinessMirror

For the multihyphenate multitaskers

that colors are vibrant and evenly saturated. The wide viewing angles allow you to enjoy content in both tablet and laptop modes without compromising visual quality. The Yoga 9i offers two display options: a 4K OLED or a 2.8K OLED. The 4K version, with a resolution of 3840 x 2400 pixels, provides an incredibly sharp and detailed display.

GONE are the days when solely specializing in one field guaranteed a prosperous career. In these more dynamic times, individuals are increasingly recognizing that being good at just one job may no longer be sufficient to achieve their full potential. Instead, the emergence of multihyphenates is revolutionizing the modern career landscape.

The successful professionals of today are those who make use of their talents and embrace a diverse range of skills. They are no longer content with being limited to a single expertise; instead, they actively seek ways to expand their horizons and pursue various passions simultaneously.

In this new era, the ability to seamlessly integrate a variety of skills and knowledge has become a powerful asset. Multihyphenates possess the agility to swiftly switch between roles, adapt to new challenges, and explore innovative career paths. This flexible approach not only allows for continued growth and self-discovery but also opens doors to unique possibilities that would have been unimaginable in the past.

As the demand for versatile talents increases, so does the need for technology that can keep up with this new breed of professionals. One such device that embodies the essence of adaptability and versatility is the Lenovo Yoga 9i. In a world where being multifaceted is celebrated, this 2-in-1 laptop is purposefully designed to complement the dynamic lifestyles of the modern multi-hyphenate.

In this review, we will explore how the Lenovo Yoga 9i embraces the spirit of multihyphenates, from creative professionals, content creators, business executives, and even students who want a device that offers a seamless blend of power, creativity and mobility. With its premium design and highperformance capabilities to its innovative features that cater to diverse needs, the Yoga 9i represents a device that resonates with the modern professional who is driven to excel in not just one field.

DESIGN: The Yoga 9i’s design is a testament to Lenovo’s commitment to craftsmanship. Its sleek and smooth aluminum chassis, coupled with rounded corners, stand out and provide a premium and elegant look and feel.

The device’s compact size, measuring just 12.52 x 9.06 x 0.6 inches and weighing around 3.09 pounds, makes it easy to bring around and comfortable to hold in tablet mode. The inclusion of a black active stylus and a grey fabric sleeve adds further value, catering to users who are always on the go. However, it is worth noting that the absence of a built-in charging storage for the stylus could be a minor inconvenience, and you really need to bring the sleeve just to have a place for the stylus so it won’t easily get lost.

A VISUAL FEAST: Since you will probably be looking at the screen of a laptop all the time, it’s great to know that the Yoga 9i’s stunning 14-inch OLED touchscreen display is nothing less than captivating. With its 2.8K resolution, vibrant colors, and sharp contrasts, the visuals on this device are truly breathtaking. Whether you’re streaming movies, browsing the web, or using the stylus for creative projects, the display provides an immersive experience.

The 16:10 aspect ratio and Dolby Vision

support enhance the viewing experience further, ensuring

PORTS: The Yoga 9i offers a selection of ports to ensure seamless connectivity. With multiple USB-C and Thunderbolt 4/ USB4 ports, a USB-A port, and a 3.5mm headphone/mic jack, the device provides the necessary versatility for a range of computing tasks. I did need some time to adjust to the position of the power button on the side of the laptop. While suitable for tablet use, it may take some time to get accustomed to and presents a risk of accidental sleep or power-off actions.

PERFORMANCE—POWER TO FUEL YOUR PRODUCTIVITY:

Equipped with Intel’s 13th Gen Raptor Lake processors, the Yoga 9i delivers exceptional performance to tackle various computing tasks. From web browsing and media streaming to light gaming, this laptop can handle it all easily. Including 16 GB of memory, multiple storage options, and Windows 11 further enhance the laptop’s performance and usability.

The version we reviewed features a 13th Gen Intel Core i7 processor with Iris Xe graphics, providing a balance of power and efficiency. This configuration is well-suited for professionals who rely on designrelated programs like Photoshop. The combination of processing power, a clean design, and the included stylus pen makes the Yoga 9i a great choice for professionals in UX/UI design and stylus work.

During our testing, the laptop performed admirably in everyday tasks, such as web browsing, document editing, and media consumption. It handled multitasking with ease, allowing for a smooth and efficient workflow. While it may not match dedicated gaming laptops, it provides ample power for day-to-day work and entertainment. Light gaming is also possible on the Yoga 9i, making it a versatile option for users who enjoy casual gaming sessions.

SONIC BOOM: Much like the display, I immediately loved the Yoga 9i’s audio capabilities. The device boasts a rotating soundbar developed in collaboration with audio experts Bowers & Wilkins.

If this is the first time you’ve heard about the brand, Bowers & Wilkins, commonly known as B&W, is a British company that produces consumer and professional loudspeakers and headphones.

It was founded in 1966 by John Bowers in England and is one of the world’s leading speaker brands and is synonymous with innovative sound technology and ground-breaking design. So putting that sound heritage in a laptop guarantees a definitive listening experience that you’ll never forget. With a combination of tweeters and woofers, it delivers rich and full sound that surpasses expectations for a laptop of its size. Whether you’re enjoying music, watching movies, or engaging in video conferences, the audio quality will leave you impressed.

The soundbar, conveniently located at the hinge of the device, ensures front-facing audio regardless of whether the laptop is in tablet or laptop mode. The audio output is clear, well-balanced, and free from distortion. It provides an immersive audio experience that enhances media consumption, making it a

standout feature of the Yoga 9i.

The device’s versatility is further accentuated by its 2-in-1 form factor, allowing for seamless transitions between laptop and tablet modes. The ability to flip the display and use it as a tablet provides a unique user experience and caters to various usage scenarios. Whether you’re presenting slides, taking handwritten notes, or simply consuming media, the Yoga 9i adapts effortlessly to your needs.

While the battery life may fall slightly short of some competitors, lasting around 10 hours in our tests, it is still sufficient for a typical day’s use.

Lenovo’s Rapid Charge Boost technology enables quick charging, providing up to two hours of runtime with just 15 minutes of charging. This feature ensures that you can quickly recharge the device when needed, reducing downtime and keeping you productive.

Priced starting at ₱109,995, the Lenovo Yoga 9i requires a significant investment, that’s why it’s nice to know that Lenovo’s Premium Care services ensure your peace of mind.

This feature-packed three-year warranty policy also offers direct and easy connections to Lenovo technicians who can provide fast solutions for PC issues and holistic comprehensive support 24/7 chat support via phone, e-mail, and WhatsApp. If the issue can’t be solved with remote troubleshooting, users can easily schedule appointments for on-site support, skipping the hassle of waiting in line.

With all the work these multihyphenates are up to, the last thing they need would be to deal with accidents that may compromise the device and the data stored in it. Lenovo offers 3-year Accidental Damage Protection to help users stay ahead. From accidental drops, spills and bumps to structural failures including electrical surges, Lenovo’s Accidental Damage Protection offers in-person assistance wherein trained technicians can perform diagnostic tests on-site and make quick fixes using Lenovo-qualified parts. Making sure only Lenovoqualified parts are in your devices will reduce the need for more intensive repairs.  Also, if the PC is not damaged beyond repair, the end user’s own PC is returned. If repair is not possible, the entire system will be replaced at no additional charge.

FINAL WORD: The Lenovo Yoga 9i offers what it means to have a truly versatile and high-performing laptop. From its elegant design to its stunning display, seamless connectivity, robust performance, and immersive audio, it offers a complete package that caters to the needs of various users. Whether you’re a tech enthusiast or a non-technical user, the Yoga 9i provides an exceptional computing journey that will leave you in awe and inspired to pursue your passions. ■

The World

Meloni and Biden eye deeper ties as Italy weighs pivot from China

ITALIAN Prime Minister Giorgia

“It is crucial to keep a constructive dialogue open with Beijing,” Meloni said, addressing reporters after a meeting at the Oval Office with Biden Thursday. “A decision on the Belt and Road will be taken by the December deadline.”

The most far-right leader to visit the White House in years has been working on a delicate choreography to reshape diplomatic

Negative views of China rise over foreign policy, poll finds

PERCEPTIONS of China

abroad are souring largely because of its foreign policy decisions, according to a survey from the Pew Research Center, which also found a lack of confidence in President Xi Jinping. Majorities in 15 of the 24 nations surveyed held an unfavorable opinion of China, with negative ratings at record highs in 10 of them.

Japan and Australia had the highest number of people expressing discontent, at 87 percent. Beijing has been criticizing Tokyo over its plans for discharging wastewater from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant, while China and Australia are just getting over a spat that ranged from the origins of Covid-19 to trade.

Pew said about three-quarters of all respondents to the survey conducted from February to May “think China does not take into account the interests of other countries in its foreign policy,” while more than half “say China interferes in the affairs of other nations a great deal or fair amount.”

Some four-fifths of US respondents held a negative view of China. Washington and Beijing have been at odds over a range of issues, especially Taiwan and technology. The Biden administration has rallied allies to impose controls on exports of high-end chip equipment to China, largely to curb its military ambitions.

Last month, China said it would place restrictions on exporting two metals that are crucial to parts of the semiconductor, telecoms and alternative energy industries. The move appeared aimed at giving Beijing leverage as it pushes

See “China,” A11

Editor: Angel R. Calso •

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia—

relations with China. Officials in Rome have been privately reassuring the US that Italy will exit the investment pact with China, which made the country an outlier in the Group of Seven nations, of which Italy will take the presidency next year.

Bloomberg reported earlier this week about Meloni’s plan to not go public on her decision to pull out during the short trip to

Washington. Meloni said Thursday she is planning to visit China among her next trips.

Italy signed up to Belt and Road in 2019 under Chinafriendly premier Giuseppe Conte. The pact, due to renew automatically at the end of the year if no action is taken, has posed persistent questions about where Rome’s loyalty lies.

For months, Meloni has been trying to work out how to wriggle out of the commitment without provoking retaliation from Beijing.

An invitation to the White House is a routine courtesy for Italian prime ministers, and Biden already hosted Meloni’s predecessor Mario Draghi. But for Meloni the visit was an opportunity for assertiveness, especially on China and on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, two areas on which Italy has sometimes been seen as soft. While Meloni has never wavered on her support for Ukraine, her

coalition partners—the anti-immigrant League and the centerright Forza Italia—have in the past cultivated friendly ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Earlier, Biden said he and Meloni also planned to discuss “legitimate migration challenges” stemming from Africa, as well as space cooperation.  Both Biden and Meloni have struggled to reconcile their migration policies with campaign rhetoric, though they have come at the issue from opposite sides of the political spectrum.

While the US president indicated he would lift immigration restrictions enacted under his predecessor ex-President Donald Trump upon entering office, he’s been criticized for imposing new rules that make it tougher for undocumented migrants to claim asylum. Meloni was elected on a hardline immigration platform but since has softened her stance.  Bloomberg News

Vladimir Putin told leaders and officials from most African countries Thursday that Russia is making every effort to avert a global food crisis despite concerns that its withdrawal from a deal allowing grain shipments from Ukraine will cause price spikes.

The Russian leader spoke at the opening session of a two-day RussiaAfrica summit attended by a sharply lower number of African heads of state and government compared with a previous summit in 2019. While discussing the halted Black Sea grain deal, he promised large no-cost shipments of grain to six African countries.

“Our country will continue supporting needy states and regions, in particular, with its humanitarian deliveries. We seek to actively participate in building a fairer system of distribution of resources. We are taking maximum efforts to avert a global food crisis,” Putin said.

“I have already said that our country can replace Ukrainian grain, both on a commercial basis and as grant aid to the neediest African countries, more so since we expect another record harvest this year,” he said.

Russia intends to ship up to 50,000 tons of grain aid to Burkina Faso, Zimbabwe, Mali, Somalia, Eritrea and Central African Republic in the next three to four months, Putin said.

Without directly referring to Putin’s promise, UN SecretaryGeneral Antonio Guterres took a swipe Thursday at donations of grain to developing nations, saying they cannot compensate for the impact of Moscow’s cutoff of grain exports from Ukraine, which along with Russia is a major supplier to the world market.

The UN chief said the United Nations is in contact with Turkey,

Ukraine, Russia and other countries to try to reestablish the deal that saw Ukraine export over 32,000 tons of grain, allowing global food prices to drop significantly.

Guterres told reporters at UN headquarters in New York that taking millions of tons of Ukrainian grain out of the global market will lead to higher prices. The higher costs “will be paid by everybody, everywhere, and namely by developing countries and by the vulnerable people in middle income and even developed countries,” he said.

“So, it’s not with a handful of donations to some countries that we correct this dramatic impact that affects everybody, everywhere,” Guterres added.

UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric noted that Guterres pointed at Russia’s “systematic bombardment” of Ukrainian ports and grain facilities, which he called “a serious escalation.” Dujarric said the bombing will have a serious impact on any resumption of Ukrainian grain exports.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre also said Russia’s promise to donate grain to African nations did not compensate for pulling out of the deal on Ukrainian grain.

“A handful of donations to some countries cannot replace the millions and millions of tons of grain exports that help stabilize food prices around the world,” JeanPierre said.

US State Department spokesman Vedant Patel noted the US pays for about half of the budget for the World Food Program compared to Russia’s contribution of less than 1 percent. “So it’s pretty clear to us who is actively committed to addressing the dire concerns of food security,” Patel said. Both Russia and Ukraine are major grain suppliers. AP

debris in the aftermath of a fire which authorities say started at an e-bike shop and spread to upper-floor apartments, Tuesday June 20, 2023, in New York. Federal officials are looking into cracking down on defective lithium-ion batteries that power hoverboards, scooters and motorized bicycles because of a rash of deadly fires caused by exploding batteries. The effort comes as New York City implements new laws meant to reduce the number of fires, injuries and deaths in a city where e-bikes have become ubiquitous. AP

NEW YORK—The explosion early on a June morning ignited a blaze that engulfed a New York City shop filled with motorized bicycles and their volatile lithium-ion batteries. Billowing smoke quickly killed four people asleep in apartments above the burning store.

As the ubiquity of e-bikes has grown, so has the frequency of fires and deaths blamed on the batteries that power them, prompting a campaign to establish regulations on how the batteries are manufactured, sold, reconditioned, charged and stored.

Consumer advocates and fire departments, particularly in New York City, are urging the US Consumer Product Safety Commission to establish mandatory safety standards and confiscate noncompliant imports when they arrive at the border or shipping ports, so that unsafe e-bikes and poorly manufactured batteries don’t reach streets and endanger homes.

During a forum focused on ebikes and lithium-ion batteries held Thursday in Bethesda, Maryland, the commission’s chair, Alexander D. Hoehn-Saric, said it was

an “urgent moment” that requires attention.

“Voluntary standards are not enough,” he said, siding with fire officials and other safety advocates who expressed broad support for mandatory standards for batteries and electrical systems in micromobility devices that include battery-powered scooters, bicycles and hoverboards.

These aren’t typical fires, said New York City Fire Commissioner Laura Kavanagh. The batteries don’t smolder; they explode. “The number of fire incidents has rapidly increased. Other cities across the country have begun seeing these issues as well, and municipalities that are not yet experiencing this phenomenon may be facing similar incidents in the future,” Kavanagh told the commission.

“We have reached a point of crisis in New York City, with ion batteries now a top cause of fatal fires in New York.”

With some 65,000 e-bikes zipping through its streets—more than any other place in the US— New York City is the epicenter of battery-related fires. There have been 100 such blazes so far this

year, resulting in 13 deaths, already more than double the six fatalities last year.

Nationally, there were more than 200 battery-related fires reported to the commission—an obvious undercount—from 39 states over the past two years, including 19 deaths blamed on micromobility devices.

Hoehn-Saric called on Congress to strengthen the commission’s authority so it can “move rapidly toward establishing mandatory standards” that could reduce destructive and deadly fires caused by malfunctioning lithium-ion batteries.

The task is being spearheaded by Democratic members in New York’s congressional delegation, including US Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, as well as US Rep. Ritchie Torres. Because mandatory standards don’t exist, Schumer said, poorly made batteries have flooded the US, increasing the risk of fires.

In many cases, authorities have been challenged to track the source of batteries manufactured overseas, many of them bought online or from aftermarket dealers. AP

CHINA’S economic recovery continued to lose momentum in July, high frequency indicators show, with consumers pulling back on spending and the property market showing no signs of a rebound.

H ousing sales in the country’s biggest cities continued to fall, car sales contracted and business sentiment, especially among smaller firms, weakened, the data showed.

T hat sets the stage for possibly more gloomy economic news when China releases official July data from next week, starting with the purchasing managers index on Monday. The consensus among economists is that economic growth will now come in closer to the government’s target of around 5 percent this year, with much depending on the recovery in consumption and the property market.

Beijing has signaled more support for the struggling housing sector, but has stopped short of promising stronger monetary and fiscal stimulus. Without that aid, the economy will probably just “muddle through” the rest of the year, Citigroup Inc. and other banks have said.

Here’s a look at some of the recent highfrequency indicators for July:

Business confidence

SMALL and medium-sized companies were the least upbeat about their prospects in six months in July, according to a survey by Standard Chartered Plc.

The bank’s China Small Medium Enterprises Confidence Index eased to 50.7 this month—falling closer to the 50 level that separates expansion from contraction—as new export orders dropped and hiring slowed.

High-Tech Manufacturing ACTIVITY in emerging industries such as green technology, high-end equipment manufacturing, and new energy vehicles shrank this month for the first time since December, according to a poll by China Logistics Information Index (Beijing) Co. and a research institute linked to the Ministry of Science and Technology.

Busi nesses are being forced to cut output prices despite facing higher input costs, which underscores insufficient demand in

many sectors, according to the survey. That will “erode corporate profits, making it more difficult for firms to reinvest,” Chen Zhi of the research institute said in a statement accompanying the release of the survey results.

T he EPMI is a leading indicator for the official manufacturing PMI, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

Car sales

PASSENGER vehicle sales declined 4.8 percent in July from a year earlier, and 8.6 percent compared with June, according to preliminary estimates by China’s Passenger Car Association. Sales of new energy cars, which the government has been pushing hard this year as a consumption pillar, surged 27.5 percent on year but fell 6.8 percent from the previous month, the figures show.

Housing market

THE weekly average of new housing sales by floor space in China’s tier-one cities is on pace to hit its six-month low, according to Bloomberg calculations based on figures in the first 21 days of July provided by China Real Estate Information Corp. Trading in the four metropolitans of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen is a barometer of the country’s overall property market.

Infrastructure spending

LOCAL governments have slowed the pace of bond sales used to finance infrastructure projects in July. That suggests infrastructure growth is unlikely to accelerate in the near term.

The issuance of local government special bonds so far this month has been a third less than what was sold in June, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. There’s usually a lag of about a month between the debt sale and the actual investment made, Cinda Securities Co. has previously estimated.

Despite the figures, commodity prices have rallied on the back of Beijing’s promises to provide more support to the real estate sector. Glass futures traded in Zhengzhou is in line to book its fifth straight week of gains while copper has risen more than 5 percent from a June low on the London Metal Exchange. Iron ores are trading near a nearly four-month high. Bloomberg News

Meloni said US President Joe Biden fully trusts the country’s plan to establish balanced relations with China, as Italy mulls a strategy to disentangle from a controversial investment pact known as China’s Belt and Road Initiative.

As e-bikes proliferate, so do deadly fires blamed on exploding lithium-ion batteries

Putin promises no-cost Russian grain shipments to six African countries

China early economic data show growth weakening further in July

World

Fighting intensifies in southeastern Ukraine with Kyiv claiming gains in counteroffensive

confirmed that Ukrainian forces have taken part of the village that was the focus of Ukraine’s attacks in recent days. If Russian defenses in the area collapse, it would open the way for the Ukrainian forces to push southward toward the coast. Ukrainian authorities have kept operational details of the counteroffensive under wraps, and they have released scant information about its progress.

Battles in recent weeks have taken place on multiple points along the over 1,000-kilometer front line as Ukraine wages a counteroffensive with Westernsupplied weapons and Westerntrained troops against Russian forces who invaded 17 months ago.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy congratulated his troops on reclaiming control of a village, while Putin praised Russian troops “heroism” in repelling attacks in the southeastern Zaporizhzhia region.

Putin insisted on state TV that the Ukrainian troops’ push “wasn’t successful,” and charged that they suffered heavy casualties, although it was not possible to independently verify his claim. Putin was in St. Petersburg at a summit of African leaders.

Ukrainian troops have made only

China. . .

Continued from A10

the White House to lift its curbs.

China has come in for widespread criticism over its partnership with Russia, which it has maintained despite Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine last year. Critics also say Beijing has restricted political freedoms in Hong Kong, curbed religious activities in Tibet and Xinjiang, and stepped up intimidation of Taiwan.

The US will bar Hong Kong’s leader, John Lee, from attending a major economic summit in the US this fall after earlier sanctioning him over the crackdown, the Washington Post reported, citing unidentified US officials familiar with the matter.

The news comes just as Hong Kong is set to decide whether to ban a controversial protest song from its Internet Friday, a move that could force Western tech firms to reconsider their presence in the finance hub.

Chinese diplomats have criticized similar Pew surveys in the past, saying they don’t represent the entire international community. They also say that the nation’s military is purely for defensive purposes.

Three-quarters of the Pew survey respondents said they had little or no confidence in Xi to do the right thing. Uncertainty over Xi’s policies was underscored this week when the government removed his handpicked foreign minister, Qin Gang, after a one-month disappearance without saying why.

Still, Xi was viewed more favorably in South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya. Those countries are all members of Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative. Under the infrastructure program, China has extended about $900 billion over the past decade around the world, including in Africa.

Also, at least half of the people in six middle-income countries said Chinese investment helped their economies. Bloomberg News

incremental gains since launching a counteroffensive in early June, and Putin has repeatedly claimed Ukraine has suffered heavy losses, without offering evidence.

Ukraine has committed thousands of troops in the region in recent days, said a Western official who was not authorized to comment publicly on the matter.

A US official said Ukraine has begun to commit troops from the 10th Corps, although it’s not certain all of its units are moving into the fight.

Ukraine had been holding the 10th Corps in reserve, with the expectation it would be used to exploit gaps or soft spots the ground forces opened up. Those additional new forces would be used to take advantage of places where Ukrainian troops have been able to break through some of Russia’s defenses.

The US official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss ongoing military operations.

Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told Pentagon reporters last week that Ukraine was “preserving their combat power” and that a “significant” amount of it had not yet entered action as Ukrainian forces slowly and deliberately worked

their way through the Russian minefields.

It was unclear how the current effort differs from previous ones by the Ukrainian military to break through deeply entrenched Russian defenses. The Russian army has set up vast minefields to stymie Ukrainian advances and used combat aircraft and loitering munitions to strike Ukrainian armor

and artillery.

Zelenskyy posted a video Thursday in which a group of Ukrainian soldiers said they had taken control of the village of Staromaiorske in the Donetsk region next to the Zaporizhzhia province. “Our South! Our guys!

Glory to Ukraine!” Zelenskyy declared.

Russian military bloggers have

However, Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said Wednesday that troops are advancing toward the city of Melitopol in the Zaporizhizhia region.

The seizure of Melitopol near the Sea of Azov would be a major success for Ukraine, which hopes to punch through the land corridor between Russia and the Crimean Peninsula, illegally annexed by Moscow in 2014. That could split Russian forces into two and cut supply lines to units farther west. Russia currently controls the whole Sea of Azov coast.

The Institute of Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, reported that Ukrainian forces launched “a significant mechanized counteroffensive operation” in western Zaporizhzhia on Wednesday and “appear to have broken through certain pre-prepared Russian defensive positions.” AP

Kim Jong-un at military parade with newest missile to hit US

KIM JONG UN was joined by high-level delegations from Russia and China at a military parade in Pyongyang where North Korea showed off its newest missile designed to deliver a nuclear warhead to the US.

Among the weapons on display was North Korea’s Hwasong-18 intercontinental ballistic missile, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported Friday about the event held the night before. Multipurpose attack drones also flew around the parade skies, KCNA said, without saying whether Kim spoke at the event.

Initial photos released by North Korea showed Kim sitting between Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Li Hongzhong, a

member of the Communist Party of China’s 24-member Politburo.

“This is the largest, most overt North Korean display of nuclearcapable systems with foreign officials,” Ankit Panda, a senior fellow in the nuclear policy program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, wrote on social media.

“The message is clear: Kim has the backing of two powerful regional partners,” who are also veto-wielding members of the United Nations Security Council, he added.

Kim also gave Shoigu a tour of a weapons exhibition, showing him nuclear-capable missiles and other arms. The Russian minister’s visit has stoked US concerns about Pyongyang sending munitions to help the

Kremlin’s war effort in Ukraine.

The visits were the first by senior foreign delegations since Kim shut the country’s borders at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic about three years ago and are the latest sign of an opening by the isolated country. But there has been no indication that North Korea is ready to accept foreign tourists, who have in the past provided cash for the sanctions-hit nation.

The celebrations, coinciding with the 70th anniversary of the signing of the Armistice Agreement that ended Korean War fighting on July 27, 1953, come at a crucial time for Kim. He is looking to powerful friends in Moscow and Beijing for support to fend off new sanctions as he

‘No’ possibility Joe Biden pardons his son Hunter, White House says

WHITE House Press Secretary Karine JeanPierre ruled out any possibility that President Joe Biden will pardon his son Hunter Biden, who is facing tax and gun charges.

Asked by a reporter at Thursday’s briefing if there was any chance of a pardon, JeanPierre flatly said “no.” “I just said no. I just answered,” Jean-Pierre added, when pressed by the reporter.

A plea agreement between Hunter Biden and prosecutors over tax charges and a firearm violation is in limbo after a federal court judge refused to sign off on the terms of the deal during a hearing Wednesday. The judge raised questions about whether the agreement with prosecutors precluded future charges on other matters.

The younger Biden admitted his guilt at the start of the nearly

four-hour hearing in Wilmington, Delaware, but ended up entering a plea of not guilty after the agreement was derailed.

Under the original deal, Biden had intended to plead guilty to two misdemeanor tax crimes committed in 2017 and 2018 and enter an agreement with prosecutors to avoid prison on a charge of possessing a gun while addicted to an illegal drug.

Hunter Biden’s plea agreement has become a lightning rod for Republicans, who allege he received favorable treatment because of political influence and that the Justice Department failed to fully investigate the business dealings of the Biden family, including the President. The plea deal was struck with David Weiss, the US Attorney for Delaware, who was appointed under former President Donald Trump. House Republicans have

launched investigations into the business dealings of Biden family members, seeking to promote unverified claims that Joe and Hunter Biden engaged in corruption.

They have also sought to contrast the treatment of the younger Biden with that of former President Donald Trump, who is facing federal charges over his handling of classified documents and a New York state case over alleged hush money payments.

Trump’s lawyers are bracing for yet another potential indictment— this time in Special Counsel Jack Smith’s probe into efforts to overturn the 2020 election results.

On Thursday, the ex-president sent out a fundraising email to supporters, invoking Hunter Biden’s plea agreement and trying to draw contrasts to his legal cases. Bloomberg News

increases the potency of a nuclear arms program designed to deliver strikes on the US and its allies.

The North Korean leader is also seeking to ease up on pandemic border controls that slammed the brakes on his economy.

The military parade allows Kim to showcase his latest weaponry, much of which has evolved from systems developed by his nation’s closest partners. China fought with North Korea in the war and the Soviet Union helped supply the political and military backing to state founder Kim Il Sung, the grandfather of the current leader who sent troops across the border in 1950 to start the conflict.

“Various attack and reconnais -

sance drones flew in demonstrations while circling in the sky over the square, doubling the joy of the people celebrating the victory of Juche Korea,” KCNA said. Even through the Korean War ended with a cease-fire to halt the stalemate, North Korea celebrates the end of fighting as a victory. Kim appears to have found new ways of making money by selling munitions to Russia to aid its war on Ukraine, the US has said. Signs of a resumption of trade with China, historically North Korea’s biggest trading partner, led Fitch Solutions to estimate the economy returned to growth after two full years of contraction, though significant uncertainties remain. Bloomberg News

Japan airs concerns on China-Russia military exercises in defense report

JAPAN expressed serious concern over joint exercises between China and Russia in its annual defense report, calling the military drills by its nucleararmed neighbors clear and deliberate provocations directed at itself.

T he new language came in a so-called defense white paper approved by the government on Friday. China and Russia conducted six joint military exercises last year, the most in data going back in two decades, and accounting for two thirds of all China’s joint drills.

Japan has t erritorial disputes with both countries and its relations with Russia have turned increasingly sour since Vladimir Putin launched his full-scale invasion on Ukraine last year. In a break with its pacifist traditions, Tokyo has provided non-lethal military aid to Kyiv.

Japan’s Defense Ministry expressed particular concern in the report about joint Chinese-Russian patrols by bombers that were staged while Japan was hosting a summit of leaders of fellow Quad group members US, Australia and India in May 2022. The ministry also refers to a “one-sided escalation” of Chinese military activity in the vicinity of Japan.

W hile Russia and China have stepped up their military cooperation, Japan has also sought to deepen its defense ties with a variety of partners beyond its formal treaty ally, the US. That has included South Korea, with whom formerly rocky ties have turned more positive under President Yoon Suk-Yeol, who has backed hawkish policies toward China and North Korea.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida this month attended the Nato summit for the second consecutive year, agreeing on a plan to deepen cooperation with the bloc. China has warned Nato against expanding its geopolitical reach and said Japan should be “prudent on military and security issues.”

T he report is the first of its type to be published since Japan adopted new defense policy documents last year and laid out plans to increase military spending by about 60 percent over five years.

It also c omes as China and Russia dispatched high-powered delegations this week to North Korea for celebrations to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of Korean War fighting. The three countries are considered by Japan and its partners as posing the greatest security threat to the region. Bloomberg News

KYIV, Ukraine—Fierce fighting raged Thursday in southeastern Ukraine, where a Western official said Kyiv has launched a major push and Russian President Vladimir Putin said “hostilities have intensified significantly.”

UKRAINIAN soldiers fire toward Russian position from a trench on the frontline in Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine, Friday, June 23, 2023. Battles are also raging along the southern front in Zaporizhzhia, where Ukrainian forces are making minimal gains and coming up against formidable Russian fortifications. AP

AUSTRALIAN coach Alen Stajcic is wary of “wounded” Norway as the Filipinas battle the European powerhouse on Sunday for a spot in the knockout round at the climax of Group A action in the FIFA Women’s World Cup at the Eden Park in Auckland.

I’m wary of the wounded animal. They (Norway) have taken a hit to their pride and I expect them to come out fighting,” Stajcic said Friday after the team’s workout at Olympic Park. “They are [former World Cup] champions for a reason. They have a fightback in them so we have to be ready for that.”

Earlier tipped as group favorites, the celebrated Grasshoppers are in last place following their 0-1 setback to the Ferns last week and a scoreless standoff to Switzerland in Hamilton last Tuesday.

In contrast, the surprising Filipinas are running third with three points following their 1-0 upset of the Ferns in Wellington, acutely aware that a second straight win guarantees them a place in the knockout round-of-16.

T he hosts, who also have three points as Stajcic’s charges but are in second place on goal difference, battle the  pacesetting Swiss in Dunedin simultaneously, with the winner likewise advancing outright into the knockout stage.

The Aussie mentor remained respectful of their formidable foes, saying: “They are former World Cup winners [in 1995], they are former Olympic gold medalists, the pedigree within the country and women’s football is enormous.

You have a Ballon d’Or winner in Ada Hegerberg, they have players playing at the highest level at Barcelona, who are probably their best players. They may be ranked No. 12 now but they have been in the top 10 for the past 20 to 30 years. They are fantastic.”

He noted that Hegerberg, who pulled out of the game against Switzerland due to a groin injury, could be back in harness “because she’s a champion and she has earned the right to be a champion. You don’t get to be a Player of the Year Award unless you are an amazing footballer.

We have an immense amount of

By Malou Talosig-Bartolome

ASIDE from the Philippines, Filipino-Americans and Americans are rooting for Filipinas in their debut at the FIFA Women’s World Cup in New Zealand.

So proud of these Pinays!

You got us partying in the US at 3:30 a.m. & it’s a work night! #HayNaku #WorthIt,” Liam Mendoza, a Fil-Am recruiter based in Louisiana commented on the Instagram post of FIFA announcing the 1-0 victory of Filipinas against New Zealand Tuesday.

According to Yahoo! Sports, 18 of the 23 players who form part of the Philippine women’s football were born in the US, including Sarina Bolden and Olivia McDaniel, who were key to the victory over the Ferns.

I n California, one Filipinas player drew the most attention— Reina Bonta.

The 24-year-old playing out of Yale University is the daughter of two

STAJCIC WARY OF WOUNDED GRASSHOPPERS

tion to feel confident and that they can put points on the board.”

The Philippines was an overwhelming group underdog until the stunning win over New Zealand,  throwing the race for the two round-of-16 slots wide open until the last day of group play.

Stajcic was generally satisfied with the squad’s workout, noting that “the team is good spirits. Everyone is focused and ready for the challenge that lies ahead.”

Together for the last 18 months, “one of the strengths of this team is that we are able to refocus so quickly. And there is a real sense of maturity around  this team and around that process that is one of the strengths of this team,” according to the coach.

Given how the group has played out, Stajcic observed that all four squads would be feeling pressure entering Sunday’s matches.

Yes there’s pressure but if you don’t like pressure then you should be playing in elite sport. It doesn’t always happen in the World Cup, but this is one of those groups when all four teams can go through the next round,” he explained.

respect for her and the team. It’s going to be a big challenge.”

He wouldn’t sell his own players short, though, underscoring the fact that “it is unbelievable to think that we are in this position. Any neutral person around the world would have not put any money on us to be in this position.”

To be ahead of Norway in the league table after two matches is almost unheard of from any neutral pundit. We have earned the right to be in that position so that gives me  a lot of belief and confidence.

They [the Filipinas] have earned the right to feel like that, in this posi-

All four teams need a result. Switzerland is on top but they can also lose their spot in the next round and Norway are in the bottom. If any team wins they are through. It is a really unique group that shows that it is tight and tough,” he stressed.

Since the pressure will be on everyone, we will have to be ready for battle.  It will be equal.”

Fil-Ams in US root for Filipinas and here’s why

is considered the second most powerful position in US local politics such as they can indict US presidents (such as the New York attorney general on former President Donald Trump), or even catapult to national scene (such as Kamala Harris of California who later on became vice president).

B efore his stint as a politician, the Quezon City-born Rob Bonta studied in Yale University and became the captain of the soccer team.

Thus, when Reina was tapped for the Filipinas, the Bontas were very ecstatic.

HIDILYN, THE GRADIUATE, EYES WORLDS, ASIAN GAMES

Information Technology.

By Josef Ramos

OLYMPIC and world champion

prominent politicians in California.

Reina’s dad, Rob Bonta, is the attorney general of California; and her mom, Mia, is a member of California State University.

Unlike in the Philippines where the attorney general’s position is presidential appointive, the US attorney general is an elective position. It

DOT: From courtside to paradise

THE Philippines will wear its Puso on its proverbial sleeve as it hosts the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 with the backing of the national government through the Department of Tourism (DOT).

The DOT will give fans reasons to love the Philippines by marrying world-class basketball with worldclass experiences in 15 destinations through travel packages available from August 1 to September 30.

“ We see the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 as an opportunity to, first and foremost, re-introduce the Philippines to the world on the strength of its natural assets, awardwinning destinations, and cities on the rise,” DOT Secretary Christina Frasco said during the official launch on Tuesday.

“ This is also the time for Filipinos to come together to support the Philippine team, as well as a chance for citizens of the world to remember their sense of nationhood,” she added.

W hile the action gets going at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City and SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay, tourism experiences to Bacolod, Batangas, Bohol, Boracay,

Cavite, Cebu, Davao, Ilocos Norte and Sur, Iloilo, La Union, Manila, Palawan, Pampanga and Tagaytay promise to give a taste of colorful and wonderful Filipino culture.

Several travel packages to go “from courtside to paradise” are already available at discoverphilippines.travel with credit cards, GCash, Maya, and GrabPay as payment options.

Th is is very much in line with both the FIBA Local Organizing Committee and DOT’s aim of sharing the Philippines’ love for basketball and for life to the whole world.

It was funny because I FaceTimed my dad and my mom in a group call.

I was crying, so there were some concerned looks! They were all confused because they didn’t know if they were happy or sad tears. I couldn’t get the words out for a little while, so they were very relieved when they finally realized they were happy tears! My fa-

ther was really supportive. He said I’d earned it and deserved it. Those were important words to hear from the person who made me love the sport,” Reina said in an interview by FIFA

But it was her grandmother, Cynthia, who was most emotional about Reina representing the Philippines. Cynthia migrated to the US in the late 1970s and became one of the activist leaders in San Francisco who organized and championed the rights of Filipino and Latino farmworkers.

She [Lola Cynthia] was over the moon. My parents were happy because I was fulfilling a childhood dream, and my lola was happy about that too, but I think she was even happier than I would be representing her country. That meant everything to her,” Reina shared.

To show their support, the entire Bonta family went to New Zealand and watched the game.

Donaire targets age record in fight vs Mexican for WBC ‘bantam’ title

AGELESS Nonito “The Filipino Flash” Donaire Jr. will try to regain a world title and break his own record as the oldest bantamweight champion, when he fights Mexican slugger Alexandro Santiago on Sunday (Philippine time) at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.  Donaire, 40, will do whatever it takes to recapture the World Boxing Council (WBC) bantamweight belt it lost to now unified super bantamweight world titleholder Japanese Naoya Inoue, and become the country’s second world boxing champion after double super bantam champ Marlon Tapales.

“It’s good that the fight was moved to the later date for a bigger stage and bigger event, giving me the right mindset and improving

Hidilyn Diaz-Naranjo will be competing in both the world championships in Riyadh and the Asian Games in Hangzhou, the fresh Business Management graduate at the College of Saint Benilde confirmed to BusinessMirror on Friday.

T hanks to a more than threeweek gap between her world championships and Asian Games bid, the 32-year-old Diaz-Naranjo has enough window to program her body and focus.

She’ll be competing for an automatic qualification for the Paris 2024 Olympics on September 8 in Riyadh and will shoot for her second consecutive Asian Games title in Hangzhou on October 2.

I have time to recover and even some short days of rest,” DiazNaranjo said. “I can compete in both.”

Diaz-Naranjo, meanwhile, has finally secured her diploma after toiling through college amid her hectic and tedious campaign in becoming a world and Olympic champion.

A fter six years of nights deprived of full sleep an elite athlete needs, she has finally clinched her coveted degree in Bachelor of Science in Business Administration Major in Business Management from the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde School of Management and

my endurance,” Donaire told BusinessMirror through overseas call, noting that everything’s fine about his condition especially his weight at 118 pounds.

Originally, the fight was scheduled last July 15, but later on moved to July 29 to become one of the undercard attractions of the main event showdown between unified champion Errol Spence Jr. and reigning World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight champion Terence Crawford.

He spent a few months of training in Cebu City as early as May, before returning to the Sin City last month for the final phase of his training, where he also brought Cebu’s Omega trainer Julius Erving as his defensive trainer in the US.

Julius is focusing on enhancing my defensive capabilities while my

“ I am already 32 and I was able to prove that, even though I stopped schooling, I can still come back, I can still study, and I can still graduate,” she said.

I n 2017, then-Saint Benilde President Br. Dennis Magbanua, FSC, personally visited her at the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex to offer her a scholarship—DiazNaranjo just clinched a silver medal at the Rio 2016 Olympics.

D iaz-Naranjo enrolled under the Blessed Arnould Study Assistance Program, a financial grant awarded to BSBA Marketing Management and BSBA Business Management applicants.

“ It is a milestone in my life,” she said. “I can concentrate now more in my trainings and competitions.”

I n the same breathe as she wanted a college diploma, Diaz-Naranjo still wants to the country more honors.

As a Filipino athlete, I want to represent Philippines in the biggest stage whether it’s the Olympics or the Asian Games,” she said.

S he’ll be competing at 59 kgs in both worlds and Asiad, needing one or two more major competitions to get a return ticket to next year’s Paris Games.

We plan to start training camp on August 2,” she said, referring to her Team HD headed by husband and coach Julius Naranjo.

wife Rachel [Donaire] is focusing on my offense,” Donaire (42-7 win-loss record with 28 knockouts) added. “I just have to maximize my reach and height advantage in this fight.”

Santiago, 27, who forced a draw with former International Boxing Federation (IBF) super flyweight champion Jerwin Ancajas in 2018, is known for being a slugger but an awkward type of boxer who frustrates his opponent.

He is holding a 27-3-5 win-loss-draw record with 14 knockouts.

Donaire is taller at 5-foot7 than Santiago who is only 5-foot-2, giving the Filipino a slight advantage in reach. But he will not be too confident in the fight, saying: “I got that punching power, so I have to be more disciplined by using my jabs.” Josef Ramos

ALEN STAJCIC: Norway has taken a hit to their pride and I expect them to come out fighting.

IN California, one Filipinas player draws the most attention—Reina Bonta.

DEPARTMENT of Tourism Secretary Christina Frasco leads the campaign’s official launch.

HIDILYN DIAZ-NARANJO fulfills her dream of securing a college diploma.

BusinessMirror A13 www.businessmirror.com.ph Saturday, July 29, 2023

31.

HUANG, XIPING Mandarin Security Officer Brief Job Description: The Mandarin Safety Officer will be a strategist and a leader able to steer the company to the most profitable direction while also implementing its vision, mission and long term goals.

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

Basic Qualification: Proven experience as Mandarin Safety Officer, excellent communication, interpersonal and presentation skills. Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

experience as Mandarin Staff Captain, excellent communication, interpersonal and presentation skills. Basic Qualification: Associate/Supervisor shall provide uncompromising quality support to improve the operation of the Admin Team. Performs administrative duties related to the operations of the human resource and business services office the Chinese team. Provides administrative support to ensure efficient operation of Sales Training Department. Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 35.

HUANG, JINGNONG Mandarin Staff Captain Brief Job Description: The Mandarin Staff Captain will be a strategist and a leader able to steer the company to the most profitable direction while also implementing its vision, mission and long term goals. HE, CHENG Chinese Speaking Admin Associate Brief Job Description: Responsible for providing overall administrative support to the team he/she will be assigned to (Chinese team).

- Php 59,999 HE, JIANSHEN Chinese Speaking Admin Associate Brief Job Description: Responsible for providing overall administrative support to the team he/ she will be assigned to (Chinese team).

CHANGMING Basic Qualification: Associate/Supervisor shall provide uncompromising quality support to improve the operation of the Admin Team. Performs administrative duties related to the operations of the human resource and business services office the Chinese team. Provides administrative support to ensure efficient operation of Sales Training Department. Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 36.

Captain will be a strategist and a leader able to steer the company to the most profitable direction while also implementing its vision, mission and long term goals. Basic Qualification: Ability to concentrate for lengthy periods. Good in verbal communication and written. Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 37.

experience as Mandarin Staff Captain, excellent communication, interpersonal and presentation skills. CHONG TECK SEONG Chinese Speaking Data Entry Clerk Brief Job Description: Gathering invoices, statements, reports, personal details, documents and information from employees, other departments and clients.

Mandarin Staff CHAVAN, AMOL GANPATI Chinese Speaking Data Entry Clerk Brief Job Description: Gather data and capture the information from databases.

Basic Qualification: Ability to concentrate for lengthy periods. Good in verbal communication and written. Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 38.

Basic Qualification: Ability to concentrate for lengthy periods. Good in verbal communication and written. Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 39.

CHUNG, TI-WEI Chinese Speaking Data Entry Clerk Brief Job Description: Gather data and capture the information from databases.

Basic Qualification: Ability to concentrate for lengthy periods. Good in verbal communication and written. Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 40.

DO THI NGAN Chinese Speaking Data Entry Clerk Brief Job Description: Gathering invoices, statements, reports, personal details, documents and information from employees, other departments and clients.

HU, XIANGZHENG Chinese Speaking Data Entry Clerk Brief Job Description: Gather data and capture the information from databases.

Basic Qualification: Ability to concentrate for lengthy periods. Good in verbal communication and written. Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

67.