BusinessMirror June 01, 2024

‘GIVE IT A CHANCE TO WORK’

By Andrea E. San Juan

food and beverage player Nestlé Philippines, on how to move forward with the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) law, a measure that aims to hold large enterprises accountable for plastic packaging waste.

By Aniruddha Ghosal & Jae C. Hong

with tables placed outside. Workers, many of them migrants from across Vietnam, repair or salvage items like laptops, scarred mobile phones, camera lenses, tele-

Less than 2 years after its enactment, lawmakers, regulators and private business revisit the Extended Producers Responsibility Act

Pointing out that amending the law is not needed right now as the measure is already “straightforward,” Jose Uy III, the Senior Vice President and head of corporate affairs at Nestlé Philippines, said the country should first work on its environmental footprint.

“More than the revision, I think the EPR is already straightforward. Let’s work first on our footprint before we keep on revising. Let’s give it a chance to

make it work, and then we can trim or improve along the way,” Uy said at the forum organized by the BusinessMirror on Friday, billed as “Updates on the EPR Law Implementation and Sustainable Goals of 2030.”

The forum was held at the Hotel Lucky Chinatown, which belongs to the Megaworld Hotels and Resorts Corp. chain.

Mark Villar’s commitment BEFORE Uy spoke, Sen. Mark A. Villar addressed the forum and assured his support as lawmaker for any policy tweaks that may be needed through legislation or advocacy work, saying the EPR mandate is “close to my heart.”

In his speech, Villar said “it is important to [receive or discuss] updates so we see the impact of this law.”

He described the EPRA as “a proactive response to the critical imperative of addressing the issue of plastic waste,” noting UN reports that governments are falling far short of what’s required to reduce pollution from plastics.

Meanwhile, he cited the need to “encourage” local government units (LGUs) to “stimulate grassroots discussion on the importance of achieving Net Zero.”

The EPR Act or EPRA, enacted 18 months ago, was mainly authored by the other Villar in the Senate: Sen. Cynthia Villar, chair of the Environment committee and a declared champion of “circularity” in her lawmaking and personal initiatives.

JOSE UY III, Senior Vice President and head of corporate affairs at Nestlé Philippines

SEN. Mark A. Villar

CAITLIN NINA PUNZALAN, Corporate and Government Affairs Lead at Mondelez International

DIRECTOR Neil P. Catajay of the Department of Trade and Industry’s Bureau of Product Standards

CHARLENE GO-CO, Megaworld Hotels and Resorts Corp. group director of marketing communications

Overflowing e-waste: Vietnam’s sprawling recycling market turns trash into treasure

vision remotes, even entire air conditioning units. Other shops sell brand-new electronics alongside old, refurbished items.

The bustle is emblematic of a world that is producing more ewaste than ever—62 million metric tons in 2022, projected to grow to 82 million metric tons by 2030, according to a report by the United Nation’s International Telecommunications Union and research arm UNITAR. Asian countries generate almost half of it.

“We are currently generating e-waste at an unprecedented rate,” said Garam Bel, e-waste officer at the UN’s International Telecommunication Union.

Managing that waste is crucial. It’s filling up landfills at an alarming pace and dangerous chemicals like lead leak into the environment and harm human health. It also means missing out on recoverable resources—$62 billion worth in 2022, according to the UN report.

And that waste is rising five times faster than formal recycling.

Less than a quarter of electronic waste was properly collected and recycled in 2022. Some of the rest winds up in the hands of informal waste workers, like Nguyen, in different parts of the world. That’s especially the case in Southeast Asian nations where, the UN report found, none of the electronic waste is for-

mally collected or recycled.

Nguyen, 44, is one of three employees in the shop. His long years in the business have led to relationships with regular customers, including some other computer repair centers who rely on him for tricky jobs. It requires keeping up with changing trends and technology, so he’s constantly learning via friends and the internet.

He works 11 hours a day for a monthly salary of around $470— about 2 1/2 times the minimum wage in Vietnam’s biggest and most expensive city—with quick meals as his only breaks.

It’s demanding work that doesn’t come with health benefits or a retirement plan. Nguyen’s health is OK, but he worries about potentially dangerous chemicals in the electronic devices he dismantles without protective gear. Then there’s Ho Chi Minh City’s increasing extreme heat. The little shop can feel like an oven, particularly in summer.

“Sitting here can feel like death,” he said. “I just have to endure. I must work to make a living.”

Informal waste workers like Nguyen can help solve a problem that plagues formal operations: Getting their hands on enough waste to make recycling cost-effective. They don’t wait for people to bring it to them.

In Vietnam, for instance, waste workers fan out to people’s

homes and collect waste that can be salvaged from bins at street corners. Others, like Nguyen, have established networks to acquire discarded electronics.

“We source used items from everywhere—anyone who sells, I buy,” he said.

Formal recycling companies typically have certifications for dis-

mantling and recycle electronic devices using sophisticated machinery. They also take more precautions for the health risks of e-waste, which can include toxic components. For instance, crude processes like melting plastic circuit boards to recover valuable copper can expose people to highly toxic and persistent chemicals called dioxins that, in high levels, are linked to birth defects and cancer. Some devices also contain mercury. Copper, gold, silver and even some tiny amounts of rare earth minerals—necessary for smartphones, computer displays and LED

‘Give

Continued from A1

light bulbs—can be recovered from recycling. Only about 1% of the demand for 17 of those key minerals is met through recycling, according to the UN report. Bel, of the UN’s International Telecommunication Union, said he had no data on how much of those minerals are recovered via informal recycling.

Bel said that formal recyclers should try and work with informal workers to get access to more waste without hurting the livelihoods of the informal workers. That could have other advantages, like mitigating health risks for the informal workers, and ensuring that they don’t cherry-pick the most valuable parts of any waste and dump the rest.

Such collaborations are already being attempted in some places. In the Indian capital of New Delhi, for instance, a company called EcoWork has built a co-working space where informal recyclers can dismantle their waste. They can use modern machines to do it more safely, and aggregating it means better prices while also saving on transportation costs. And that makes it easier for companies that want to buy the salvaged materials at a scale that isn’t

possible otherwise.

“You can’t just say: Stop the informal sector from working on ewaste,” said Deepali Khetriwal, the co-founder of EcoWork.

Nguyen said that a similar collaboration of informal and formal waste workers in Vietnam would be great for informal workers in Vietnam. He’d have more computers to fix and salvage and make more money. “If we could formalize our work, that would be perfect,” he said. The Southeast Asian nation is among the few countries in the region with laws to deal with e-waste. It set up a national plan to manage e-waste in 2020, aiming to collect and treat 70% of it by 2025, and has been trying to integrate informal workers into formal systems to give them better protections.

Stopping isn’t an option for the tens of thousands of mostly women waste collectors like Nguyen Thi Hoan, 52. Unlike waste recyclers, where there are many more men, the collectors trudge several miles daily in Vietnam looking for trash. It’s one of the few things that women on the margins can do. Hoan moved to Ho Chi Minh City over a decade ago from the coastal Binh Dinh province in central Vietnam to try to escape poverty. She wakes every day at 4 a.m. in the tiny room she shares with two other people. She pushes her scrap cart—her biggest investment, costing $40—around Nhat Tao market from 6:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., collecting scrap from shop owners.

Electronic waste is the most valuable and she still remembers the time somebody sold her an old refrigerator. But all waste, ranging from aluminum or iron to the ubiquitous plastic and paper, has some value. On rare good days, she can collect up to 30 kilograms and make around $8.

She rarely takes breaks, but sometimes stops for water out of exhaustion from pushing the heavy cart around in extreme heat. At those times, she enjoys reading Doraemon comics—Japanese comic books about a time-traveling robotic cat—that she finds on her routes or gets as gifts from those who know of her fondness for the comics.

“I have to devote myself to this job as it’s my only option,” she said.

it a chance to work’

To get the ball rolling, Nestlé Philippines’ Uy said there is so much that the country needs to do as a whole, especially in implementing the law, enacted almost 18 months ago.

For instance, Uy explained, “We have to achieve the targets that have been set for 2023, 2024 until 2028. So I think no matter how many revisions you do, you know the Filipinos are very good in creating paper strategies. What we lack as a country is really in the implementation.”

“We need to walk the talk. We’re very brilliant in terms of paper work, but we need to take action. We’re a big country, 110 million Filipinos. If we work and put our minds together, we can make it happen. If we really want to,” said Uy, adding that discipline is key among Filipinos to successfully implement this law.

In his presentation “Going Beyond EPR: Our Journey to Circularity,” Uy said Nestlé—which was among the major firms that were ahead of the curb, or whose initiatives preceded enactment of the EPRA—had made a “big bold move in 2018” to attain Net Zero by 2050. It has since striven to prove it is not an idle target, but comes with realistic sub-goals, including: having 100 percent of electric

supply as renewable; or having 95 percent of packaging designed for recycling.

‘Clarify implementation’

FOR her part, Caitlin Nina Punzalan, Corporate and Government Affairs Lead of snack food company Mondelez International, also stressed that there is no need to add laws. Instead, she highlighted the need to “clarify the implementation” of the EPR law.

“The EPR law already provides more incentives for companies who perform not just collection but also other activities that are considered part of EPR, like information education campaigns, coastal cleanups, reduction of plastic use from total footprint,” Punzalan said at the same forum.

“What we’re just advocating for is to provide clearer guidelines on how these could be considered as part of the EPR program, might it be as a reduction from your total footprint so that it’s already considered part of the implementation or part of the percentage instead of just collection,” the Mondelez official also noted.

Through the government’s lens, Director Neil P. Catajay of the Department of Trade and Industry’s (DTI) Bureau of Product Standards (BPS) underscored the Trade department’s role in implementing the EPR law.

‘Cost implication’

TAKING into account the “cost implication” as businesses transition to a more sustainable packaging, Catajay said, “Our role later on is to ensure that the competitiveness of our industries will not be affected as we implement the law.”

The government official also noted the need to ensure that there will be a level playing field in implementing the law.

Catajay said the DTI’s mandate in implementing the provisions of EPR focuses on ecolabeling, standards, and certification of plastics later on.

“We’re trying to identify how we can support other government agencies like DENR, the DOH, later on for food packaging products as well as the industry,” he said. (See related story: https://businessmirror. com.ph/2023/06/30/governmentfood-and-beverage-firms-say-allmust-be-on-same-page-on-epr/)

Also at the forum, officials of the Megaworld Hotels and Resorts Corp. (MHRC) led by Charlene GoCo, group director of marketing communications, gave an overview of their group’s initiatives to attain sustainability, through, among others, their “MeGreen campaign”. Gigi Gaw, MHRC area director for sales and marketing, welcomed the participants. With a report by Butch Fernandez

USED remote controls for various home appliances in Nhat Tao recycling market. AP/JAE C. HONG

BAO LOC eats his lunch in his shop packed with refurbished gear motors in Nhat Tao market, the largest informal recycling market in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, Monday, January 29, 2024. AP/JAE C. HONG

A4 Saturday, June 1, 2024

BSP: May inflation likely at 3.7-4.5% range; driven by high electricity, vegetable prices

By Cai U. Ordinario

IGH electricity and vegeta-

Hble prices may have caused the increase in commodity prices to breach the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) inflation target in May 2024.

In a statement on Friday, BSP said inflation may have settled within the 3.7 to 4.5 percent range in May 2024.

The BSP’s inflation target is at 2 to 4 percent. However, in the Monetary Policy Report, the Monetary Board cut its risk-adjusted inflation forecast for this year to 3.8 percent from the 3.9 percent estimate in February.

“Continued increases in electricity rates and vegetables prices alongside recent peso depreciation are the primary sources of upward price pressures for the month,” BSP said.

Factors that are keeping inflation in check, BSP however said, include

lower prices of rice, fish, and fruits.

BSP added that the list includes lower domestic oil and LPG prices could offset the upside price pressures.

“Going forward, the BSP will continue to monitor developments affecting the outlook for inflation and growth in line with its data-dependent approach to monetary policy decision-making,” BSP also said.

In a separate statement, BSP said forward guidance is important in communicating and being transparent to stakeholders about interest rates.

However, the BSP adopted a “quiet period” which is a pre-determined 7-day period before each scheduled monetary policy meeting of the Monetary Board.

“[This is a period] when the release of information related to current or prospective monetary policy issues and decisions is limited until the official announcement of the monetary

policy decision to the public,” BSP said.

During this period, BSP said its officials and personnel who have knowledge or information related or pertaining to the upcoming monetary policy meeting.

The Governor of the BSP may only speak about the current monetary policy issues or prospective monetary policy decisions during the quiet period, with the concurrence (i.e., majority) by the Monetary Board.

Further, unless designated or authorized by the Governor, members of the Monetary Board, Deputy Governors, and Senior BSP Officers will not be allowed to accept media interviews or speaking engagements on topics related to current or prospective monetary policy issues and decisions.

Officials of the BSP are also barred from disclosing confidential information, express their personal opinions or provide analysis and

predictions to members of the public and other parties.

The off limit topics are on macroeconomic developments, prevailing monetary policy issues, or upcoming monetary policy decisions, on or off the record, during the quiet period.

“Only information that has already been cleared for publication by appropriate officials, made widely available to the public prior to the quiet period and without reference to prospective monetary policy decisions may be provided,” the BSP said.

As for the technical staff, BSP said those who have knowledge of confidential information related to the upcoming monetary policy meeting due to their role as technical staff of the Advisory Committee, shall be subject to the same restrictions.

However, the technical staff may carry out their responsibilities in connection with public dissemination of regularly published reports during the quiet period.

This includes providing factual background information and answering technical questions specific to a scheduled media or data release.

SSS adopts a flexible work arrangement in its Main, Makati offices; Branch offices working hours remain unchanged

THE Social Security System (SSS) announced that all its branch offices nationwide will remain open and operate on regular business hours to accommodate its members, pensioners, and claimants as the SSS implements a flexible work arrangement starting on Monday, June 3, 2024, to help mitigate traffic congestions especially in Metro Manila.

SSS President and Chief Executive Officer Rolando Ledesma Macasaet clarified that

under the flexible work arrangement, the SSS headquarters in Quezon City and its corporate office in Makati will have a one-day work from home and four-day work in office schedule while all SSS branch offices nationwide, including SSS Diliman Branch, will continue to be opened daily.

Macasaet said the employees reporting in the SSS Main Office in Quezon City will be working from home on Mondays and will be working in the office very Tuesdays to Fridays.

“Meanwhile, SSS employees reporting in our corporate office in Makati will be working in the office every Mondays to Thursdays and will be working from home on Fridays,” Macasaet said.

However, Macasaet emphasized that the business operations of the 254 SSS branch offices nationwide will not be hampered by the modified work schedule.

“We want to notify everyone that SSS branch offices nationwide including our SSS Diliman Branch in Quezon City will continue to be open every day and they will follow their normal operations, ensuring the seamless delivery of services to our members, pensioners and their beneficiaries,”

Macasaet said.

SSS Executive Vice President Voltaire P. Agas said all branch offices will be open from 8:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. from Monday to Friday, while selected SSS offices in the malls will start their operations from 9:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m. from Monday to Saturday.

“All our branch offices will continue to accept various SSS transactions, including tellering services in SSS offices with tellering facility,” Agas said.

Further, Agas said that SSS members and claimants are encouraged to take advantage of the 24/7 online transaction services through the My.SSS Portal, such as filing of benefit claim and loan applications.

IFRC chief Forbes calls Philippine Red Cross a case study for success in fighting Covid-19

THE world was not prepared for Covid-19, and there is an urgent need to be ready when the next public health emergency comes.

This was the gist of the World Disasters Report Forum presented on May 30 at Makati Shangri-La by the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) and International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), in cooperation with the Australian Government and the United Nations (UN) Philippines.

The report highlighted the need for preparedness, “both the ways preparedness ahead of Covid-19 was inadequate, and how to prepare more effectively for future public health emergencies. We must now prepare our societies for the next public health emergency. Being truly prepared, therefore, means being ready to prevent, respond and recover, and to learn lessons for next time.”

In the report, IFRC SecretaryGeneral Jagan Chapagain pointed out that preparedness is based on the principles of trust, equity, and local action.

Speaking at the forum, IFRC president Kate Forbes acknowledged PRC’s successful fight against the pandemic. “Our previous model of technical support and asset deployment from the Federation and other National Societies...was no longer effective. We needed to change. We needed to rewrite our playbook. This is where the Philippine Red Cross led the way. It is the case study for success in connecting with and empowering local communities. The Philippine Red Cross has been successful at working in local communities for decades. When

the COVID-19 pandemic struck, the Philippine Red Cross had the tools, resources, and network to help communities. As you can read in the report, the PRC anticipated the needs of communities, it leveraged their trust, and implemented local action that kept communities safe.”

PRC Chairman and CEO Richard J. Gordon recalled how the support of PRC’s corporate partners and its 2 million volunteers allowed the Philippines’ largest humanitarian organization to save lives amid the onslaught of Covid-19.

He said: “We have it in us as a country...to meet every challenge, bear every burden or suffering. But when we get together, especially when we have leaders we can follow, and instead of saying it’s not my problem, we say I’ll be part of the solution…”

Other speakers at the forum were PRC Secretary-General Dr. Gwen Pang, UN Philippines Resident coordinator Gustavo Gonzales, Australian Embassy in the Philippines Counsellor Thanh Le, IFRC Asia Pacific Regional Director Alexander Matheou, and IFRC Philippine Delegation Program Coordinator Gopal Mukherjee.

The forum panelists included Dr. Paulyn Jean Ubial, Molecular Laboratory Head of PRC’s Covid-19 Response; Dr. Charlotte Chiong, Dean of the University of the Philippines College of Medicine; Dr. Maria Clarissa Alejandro, CEO of Healthway QualiMed; Ms. Oyunsaikhan Dendevnorov, Unicef representative to the Philippines; and Australian Embassy’s Dr. Thanh Le. Dr. Eric Tayag was the moderator.

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Time BusinessMirror Our

Leyte elderly tapped for DOT’s community tour guide program

TBy Roel Amazona

the tour,” she said. The training also aimed to capacitate the seniors to provide excellent quality service of globally competitive standards to tourists.

After t heir prog ram complet ion, they could now apply for DOT accreditation to become full-fledged tour guides, Tiopes said.

Leyte is versatile when it comes to tourist destinations. The province is home to the stunning Kalanggaman Island and its white powder y sand beach the longest bridge in the countr y, and a

NCSC hopes for swift passage of elderly measures in Senate

By Wilnard Bacelonia

MANILA—The National Commission of Senior Citizens (NCSC) is looking forward to the swift approval of the four bills that Filipino elderly have been waiting for after getting the nod of the House of Representatives.

These measures are House Bill (HB) No. 10312 or the proposed act enhancing the discount on purchases of goods and ser vices of senior citizens and persons with disability (PWDs); HB 10313, or the proposed

promotion of senior citizens and PWDs by including ser vices in the eGOV super app; HB 10188, or the proposed Senior Citizens Protection Against Fraud Act; and HB 10423 the proposed granting of a univer-

How a math dummy

ity to be able to bring out the best of our place, the place we call home. You are the heart of

60-year-old beauty contestant’s dream of being crowned Miss Argentina comes to an abrupt end

By Isabel Debre | The Associated Press

BESIDE my favorite seat for reading is a set of books I am currently leafing through:

“The Dancing Wu Li Masters,” “A

S hor t Histor y of Nearly Ever ything,” and “Genius,” the biographies of Alber t Einstein and Richard Feynman, a world-renowned physicist. Accessible in my digital librar y is “The Theor y of Ever ything” by Stephen Hawkings.

W hat do t hey all have in common? Physics!

How d id a math averse ord inar y fellow l i ke me develop a late fascination w ith this branch of science? Good quest ion.

Trut h to tell, I ba rely passed Physics and C hem ist r y i n High Sc hool and College. I was terrif ied of Mat hemat ics, whic h is t he foundat ion for lea r ning t he sciences. Axioms, theorems, theories, for mu las, computations went over my head.

For the swimsuit portion of the Miss A rgent ina contest, Rod ríg uez c hose a modest one-piece suit with a shawl draped over her shoulders, giving the crowd a shimmy as fans whooped and blew air horns.

But the judges preferred Magali Benejam, a 29-year-old actress and model from Cordoba who donned a skimpy blue bikini and sky-high stilettos to win “best swimsuit” and ultimately beat out the 27 other contestants to be crowned Miss Argentina. “I’m so excited and so gratefu to be here because the competition was

Miss America contest.

For decades, the Miss Universe pageant openly described itself as an extravaganza of unmarried women in their late teens and twenties strutting around for judges to rate their looks and personalities. As more and more people found that troubling, organizers realized how far the

Rodríguez told The Associated Press backstage after the event, still dressed in her red cocktail dress with slits revealing her legs. “It was adventure and I had no expectations of this other than taking on a new challenge.”

By Nick Tayag

related topics t hrough t he a r t of stor ytell ing. T hat to me is t heir supreme ac hievement.

In pa r t icu la r Ca rl Sagan had t hat talent, ra re even among top scient ists, to communicate complex scient if ic ideas to t he general publ ic. A pioneer in space explorat ion and in t he searc h for extraterrestrial intell igence, he spent his l ife probing ideas t hat a roused t he publ ic imag inat ion. He was in t he words of one of his peers, physicist Freeman Dyson’s “sor t of scient i f ic democ rat i zer—mak i ng t he obscure accessible for all.”

Carl Sagan sparked my personal interest to know more about ot her scient ists. T his is why I now have a shor t biog raphy of Isaac Newton

I was better at Biology because there was less math in that subject.

Probably because I have a hol ist ic or a non-l inea r mind. My t hink ing tends to be more conceptual rather t han l inea r I have a mind f rame t hat focuses on t he big pict ure, or t he “g rand sc heme of t hings,” instead of gett ing too caught up in t he deta i ls.

But I love science in general, because I am nat urally curious, and even as a c hi ld, I’ve always wanted to understand t he Universe or at least t he unknowns of it. I also l i ked to watc h mag icians do t heir tricks, and unknown to me t hen, t hey were using t he principles of physics in many of t heir amazing feats.

T here a re two g ifted w riters who kept me i nterested i n t he sciences: T homas Lew is and Ca rl Sagan, who were bot h f irst-class scient ists w it h doctorate deg rees. I loved their books from the moment I espied t hem and even now I love to reread t hem f rom t ime to t ime to get my juices going. Even i f t he books a re about sc iencerelated topics, t hey a re mat h-f ree and w ritten in simple but g racef u l lang u age. Most impor tantly, t hey evoke t he wonder, awesomeness and myster y of nat ure and t he universe, or shou ld I say creat ion. If you st udy t heir style of w riting closely, you w i ll see t hat t hey open up t he for midable science-

sal social pension to senior citizens, amending the Senior Citizen Act.

In an inter view at the Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon program on Monday, NCSC Chair person Franklin Quijano said senior citizens are “celebrating” after the approval of these measures at the House, but it is still like a “glass half full” without the Senate’s approval.

“That’s because these bills still need to go through the Senate, so we are hoping, we are hopeful that the Senate will act faster on them because these laws are like rain. When it rains, it pours, a lot of benefits will come to our senior citizens,” Quijano said.

HB 10312 ensures that discounts for senior citizens and PWDs will be honored even during promotions; while HB 10188 aims to educate seniors and their families about fraud prevention.

more interest ing and understandable for t he non-mat hemat ically incl ined layman. I got interested in it because it combines physics and phi losophy, phi losophy being anot her side interest of mine.

T he book shows t he simpl icity and mag ic of moder n physics, including qu ant um t heor y and relat ivity, and makes t he layman real i ze t hat physics really is t he st udy of humanity’s place in t he universe, and t hat exploring it is l i ke going on an excit ing advent ure. But so fa r for me, t he best read for lay people who want to u nderstand more about physics w it hout heavy mental l i ft i ng i s t he book I ment ioned at t he beg i nn i ng: “T he H i stor y of Ever yt hi ng” by Bi ll Br yson. Br yson i s known as one of t he best t ravel w riters who know how to expla i n a rcane and esoteric c u lt ures i n exc it i ng w itty way. As a t ravel w riter, he takes t he poi nt of v iew of someone who doesn’t know muc h about a place, whic h, i n t hi s case, i s a foreign world called Physics. He takes u s on a jour ney i nto t he world of atoms, big bang, relativ ity, quantum

and t hick biog raphies of Alber t E i nste i n and phys ic i st R ic h a rd Feynman.

But there’s so much of moder n physics that flies straight in the face of a non-linear non-mathematical person like me who has a different experience of the world. W hen you deal w ith things such as quantum physics and relativ ity, you bump your head into a thick wall about the inherent unknowability of electrons, time and space distortions, 4t h -d i mens ion and fa r -beyond space, particle collisions, light that is both a wave and a particle, and semi-conscious photons.

T hank God, I st umbled on a book w it h t he t itle “T he Dancing

Wu Li Masters: An Over v iew of t he New Physics by Ga r y Zu kav.”

T his book as a primer for beg inners on t he subject of qu ant um physics was w ritten to make it

pa r t icles i n a l ig ht hea r ted way, sh a ri ng our ignorance about t he subject, ask i ng t he same du mb quest ions typical lay people h ave i n m i nd and gett i ng educated i n a respectf u l way. For t hose who hate to read but wou ld prefer to watc h why not cl ick on many ava i lable documenta ries and c hannels on YouTube t hat a re designed to expla in physics and other sciences in simple lang uage and v isuals that simple folks like us can easily grasp. Tr y v isiting suc h c hannels as “Astrum,” “Big T hink,” “Bright Side,” and ot hers. If you don’t l i ke stra ight fact u al doc u menta ries or monotonou s talk ing heads, I can recommend an interest ing Japanese d rama series on a popu la r streaming platfor m called ”Innocence: Fight Aga inst False C h a r ges,” w hic h I av idly watc h Using principles of phys-

HB 10423 seeks to amend the social pension for senior citizens, providing a universal monthly grant of at least P1,000; and HB 10313 focuses on improv ing the eGov PH Super App for seniors, incorporating user-friendly features and link ing it w ith the National Identification database.

With more benefits to come that aim to protect, educate, and provide the elderly with better ser vices, Quijano urged senior citizens to prioritize their health and live longer

“With longevity, you will have a series of gifts coming from the government: At 80 years old— P10,000; 85—P10,000; 90 —P10,000; 95— P10,000,” he said referring to the Republic Act 11982, or the Expanded Centenarians Act that was signed into law by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr in Februar y. PNA

ics by way of ind isputable scient if ic experiments as ev idence, an u nconvent ional you ng Japanese lawyer is able to overturn w rongful conv ict ions. W hi le prov id ing enter ta ining d rama, eac h episode is act u ally a quick lesson in physics, whic h leaves me t hink ing: if only our science teac hers had taught it t his way in High Sc hool, I wou ld not have developed a phobia for science subjects.

All t his read ing and watc hing leaves me w it h a sense of hope about exc it i ng t ra i l-blaz i ng developments brought about by new physics and ot her new branc hes of science of bio-med ical technology. We may not be awa re of it but we’re in the midst of a revolution in healt h and med icine. T his is good news for aged seniors l i ke us who a re fac ing my riad healt h issues because of t he inev itable decl ine of our bod ies.

In fact we a re now using t heories associated w it h ampl it udes, fluid pressure, and waves in d iagnostic rad iology, nuclear med icine and rad iat ion oncology. A lot of moder n med ical treatments and imag ing tec hniques a re based on qu ant u m physics. Lasers, made possible by qu ant um mec hanics, a re now commonly used in opht halmology as it is in der matology and ot her treatments.

Alber t Einstein was quoted as say ing, “Fut ure med icine w i ll be t he med icine of f requencies.” Now t here a re f requency t herapies in t he ma rket t hat matc h t he v ibrat ion f requency of human cells designed to help react ivate dor mant cells and repa ir damaged cells. Today A r t i f ic i al Intell i gence (meaning robots) a re ut i l i zed to increase speed and accuracy in t he healt hca re realm, g iv ing doctors a better understand ing of healt h and disease and the ability to make more decisions based on data. We’ve ba rely scratc hed t he surface in the application of physics to med icine. We’re

Editor: Mike Policarpio

PHL, US open ‘escape room’ for biodiversity learning

AN interactive new attraction at The Mind Museum in Taguig City invites children and adults to learn more about safeguarding the natural world.

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) launched the “Biodiversity Crisis Escape Room” in time for International Day for Biological Diversity on May 22.

Developed in partnership with the Bonifacio Art Foundation Inc. and funded through USAID’s P1.35-billion ($25 million) “Sustainable Interventions for Biodiversity, Oceans and Landscapes (SIBOL)” initiative, the “escape room” offers a hands-on learning experience for visitors who will have to solve unique biodiversityrelated puzzles and challenges to exit the room.

Young visitors will also enjoy the room’s television program “MIND S-COOL,” which features puppet characters navigating through a biodiversity crisis.

“Biodiversity loss not only

UWC to give out global grants for senior high-school students

FILIPINO secondaryschool students can now apply for senior highschool scholarships abroad in one of the United World Colleges (UWCs) in countries like Canada, Japan, Costa Rica, Singapore, India, Germany, and the United States.

The international institution announced that it is looking for “the brightest and most talented Filipino students.”

Learners are selected based on their potential and motivation to make a difference in today’s world, independent of their socioeconomic means.

More than 80 percent of students selected received partial or full financial support, including all-inclusive coverage of tuition fees, flight cost, room and board, books, exam registration fees, and curricular field trips, among other expenses depending on the student’s financial needs.

To be eligible, the applicant must be a Filipino citizen 16 to 18 years old by August 2025, and studying in a Philippineaccredited educational institution until Grade 10, and is a current or incoming senior high-school student who believes in UWC’s values, vision and mission. Applications are open only until June 15, 2024. Apply via: https://www.ph.uwc.org/how-toapply/apply-now UWC is a global movement that makes education a force to unite people, nations and cultures for peace and a sustainable future. It has a network of 18 international boarding schools called “colleges” on four continents, with volunteer-run national committees in more than 150 countries.

threatens the survival of countless species, but also undermines the stability of ecosystems and the services they provide, impacting human wellbeing and livelihoods,” Deputy Mission Director Rebekah Eubanks of USAID Philippines said. “We must all become active participants in this plan to safeguard the [Philippines’s] rich biodiversity for future generations.”

During the launch, Eubanks also handed over to Department of Environment and Natural Resources’ (DENR) undersecretary for Legal and Administration Ernesto Adobo Jr. the “ Sukat ng Kalikasan” (“Measurement of Nature”) toolkit. Developed over three years by USAID and DENR also under the SIBOL initiative, “Sukat…” offers standardized, evidence-based methods for measuring and assessing the value of the country’s natural assets, allowing the Philippine government to

more informed decisions in its conservation efforts.

“‘Sukat…’ is a product of our collective action to measure the country’s ecological, socioeconomic and cultural values and baselines,” Adobo Jr. said. “Its approach improves the accuracy of determining conservation targets and measuring ecosystem services.”

The DENR official explained that, being customized for the Philippine context, the publication’s objective is “to appreciate the values that our ecosystems provide, so that we are in a more resilient position to manage our natural resources sustainably while achieving our development goals.”

‘Munti’ scholars pay it forward by teaching LGU’s kids to read

By Roderick L. Abad

FOR the Muntinlupa City’s local government unit (LGU), it’s time to give back as they devote their time to teach young readers the joy of reading.

The Philippines is one of 18 megadiverse countries in the world, hosting 70 percent of the Earth’s flora and fauna. Through SIBOL, USAID supports the Philippines’ efforts to achieve a resilient environment and inclusive green growth.

Following its run in Taguig City, the attraction will also tour other locations, including Subic (Harbor Point, June 15 to 16), Puerto Princesa City (Robinson’s Mall, June 29 to 30), and Davao City (Abreeza Mall, July 27 to 28). The escape room will eventually return as a regular attraction at The Mind Museum in August.

form of scholarships. They tutor and support elementary students academic levels deemed critical in developing reading proficiency and literacy.

Along with other volunteers, participating scholars in the program employ the “MARUNGKO” method, which has been found to help young readers learn faster, instead of the traditional “abakada.” Student-tutors also underwent coaching training for the “Brigada…,” which is a collaboration between the Department of Education, MSD, and the school’s Parent-Teachers Association.

Cebu International School commences centennial year

By Manuel T. Cayon

EBU CIT

CY ’S global school has signaled the start of its centennial this school year to demonstrate its “lifelong presence” as one of the country’s leading international learning institutions.

“The prestigious Cebu International School [CIS] is proud to announce the commencement of its 100th Centennial Anniversary with the opening of [School Year [S Y] 2024-2025 this August, reaffirming our] commitment to nurturing globally-minded citizens,” it announced recently.

The CIS said that “as this historic milestone is reached, CIS has firmly established itself as one of the leading international schools in the Philippines, providing a quality holistic international education that challenges students to be globally engaged, positive contributors in a competitive, changing world.”

It said S Y 2024-2025 “will be marked by a series of special events,

projects, and initiatives that celebrate CIS’s rich history and commitment to excellence.”

The school was established in 1924 as the Cebu American School, and changed its name in 1973 “to better reflect the growing diversity of its student body and its focus on nurturing young minds [into becoming] global citizens.”

It said its centennial celebration “is a testament to its rich history of academic growth, cultural diversity, and commitment to lifelong learning.”

“Over the past century, CIS has earned international recognition as a quality [learning] + provider, particularly over the last 25 years as an internationally accredited school that offers the reputable International Baccalaureate (IB) programs,” said Dr. Gwyn Underwood, who is the superintendent of CIS.

“As we celebrate our centennial this year, we look forward to honoring our past, celebrating our present, and preparing for our future,” Underwood added.

iACADEMY bags first prize in Huawei’s global technology tilt

Beneficiaries of the Muntinlupa Scholarship Division (MSD) are taking part in the ongoing “ Brigada Pagbasa ” project, together with several other community reading programs aimed at raising literacy and reading proficiency in the city.

THE De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde (DLS-CSB) has announced the appointment of Martin Czyrus Romero as the new director for the Benilde Center for Inclusive Education (CIE) effective second term of Academic Year (AY ) 2023 to 2024.

Romero initially joined the Benildean community in July 2014 as a research assistant in the Office of Institutional Effectiveness and Research. He played a vital role in improving the college’s entrance examination, specifically tailored for the new graduates of the K-12 program in the Philippines. The new director, who is also a certified mental health first responder, worked as a learning support-case manager in January 2017. In that role, he supervised students with specific

Mayor Ruffy Biazon expressed his gratitude to the scholars who are returning the favor to the LGU in recognition of the support they received, which in turn helped them achieve their goals and dreams in the

learning needs and psycho-emotional concerns. He managed multiple collaborative programs that improved the social skills of differently-abled learners.

Romero was eventually appointed

Other avenues to participate in the city’s reading programs are through the “Maximizing Opportunities for Valuing English” or “MOVE” at Muntinlupa Elementary School; “ Basa Batang Munti a storytelling activity for children with disabilities at the Muntinlupa City Public Library; and via the Muntinlupa Reading Book Club by the Tourism, Culture, and the Arts Department.

The reading initiatives form part of the greater “Womb to Work” program instituted by the city government to ensure the holistic development of Muntinlupeños.

as the officer in charge director for Benilde CIE. During his term, he collaborated for the “Inclusion Services Fund,” which was used for scholarship grants for “Filipino Sign Language Program” enrollees, as well as the implementation of interpretation, assessment, and doctor-consultation fees.

Romero likewise spearheaded sensitivity-training seminars geared toward equipping the Benildean community with necessary skills to handle students with learning needs. With units under the Master of Arts in Counseling at the De La Salle University Manila, he is the present faculty adviser of “Best Buddies Philippines:” a nonprofit organization that promotes friendship to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

IACADEM Y recently announced its historic victory as the first Philippine team to win the grand prize in the Huawei ICT CompetitionComputing Track Global Finals.

According to a statement, this remarkable achievement marks a significant milestone for both the school and the Philippines in the field of information and communication technology.

Over the course of the competition, the iACADEM Y team of Nicholas Barilea, Ryan Caezar Itang, Justine Benedict Umali, with Professor Jayson Viernes and Dean Kiko Napalit as coaches, showcased their superior talents and innovation as they bested other teams from all over the world in one of Huawei ICT Competition’s most competitive contests to date.

iACADEM Y said the win does not just demonstrate its remarkable level of innovation. The victory also underscores the unparalleled excellence and commitment that its students can deliver.

Just this year, iACADEM Y made history by being the first Philippine team to bag first prize in the Huawei ICT Competition-Computing Track Asia Pacific (APAC) Region. Continuing that run of regional success enabled the team to achieve at a global level too, and further consolidated the institution’s position as one that drives forward academic excellence and invention.

The Huawei ICT Competition is known for providing a platform that tests the best minds in computing and information technology. iACADEM Y ’s win in the APAC and Global final cements its reputation of continuously building a legacy of excellence, critical thinking, and technical specialization among its learners.

“I am so incredibly proud of our students and faculty for everything they have done to achieve this incredible win. This is their victory,” said iACADEM Y president Dr. Vanessa Tanco. “We’re extremely proud of this feat and the recognition that it confers upon iACADEM Y, and the Philippines. Being awarded the grand prize at both APAC and Global levels of the Huawei ICT Competition further solidifies our reputation in delivering world-class education, as well as preparing them to compete on a global level.”

For the school, the historic win not only celebrated the triumphs of its talented students, but also shone the spotlight on the institution’s unwavering commitment to excellence and innovation in education. As the first Philippine team to land in the top spot in the Huawei ICT Competition-Computing Track Global Finals, iACADEM Y continues to set new standards and inspire future generations of ICT professionals.

UNDERSECRETARY Ernesto Adobo Jr. (right) receives from Deputy Mission Director Eubanks a copy of the “SukatNgKalikasan” publication. make

A SCHOLAR-TUTOR teaches young learners the joy of reading.

THE triumphant iACADEMY team

CIS turns 100 this academic year

Tourism&Entertainment

Tourism Editor: Edwin P. Sallan

DIVINE AND SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCING THE ASHRAM LIFE IN INDIA

WHAT do Mark Zuckerberg, Julia Roberts, Steve Jobs, The Beatles, “Eat, Pray, Love” author Elizabeth Gilbert, and this writer have in common? Certainly not an eight-figure net worth. Rather, we have all stayed in an ashram in India.

An ashram is not akin to a cult. It’s typically a quiet, isolated place where one can stay for reflection and spiritual growth. Ashram is to Indian religion what a monastery is to Buddhism. It is also similar to a seminary or a convent in Christianity. There are ashrams all over India, but those in the city of Rishikesh are particularly interesting and popular for both locals and foreigners.

Nestled at the foothills of the Himalayas, where the Ganges [or Ganga] River gains strength, Rishikesh is a sacred pilgrimage site known as the center for yoga and meditation. It is mentioned in Hindu mythology and ancient scriptures as a place for yoga, penance and meditation. Hence, for centuries, sages, yogis and spiritual leaders have journeyed to Rishikesh for spiritual growth and learning.

Tired of the rat race, the people around me, expectations, and the daily dose of toxicity in our culture, society, and the workplace, I made my way to Parmarth Niketan, one of the largest and most popular ashrams in India. It was my choice to disconnect from my reality and head to a place where could be alone, cut-off from everything and everyone familiar, with no idea what to expect or do.

How to book an ashram stay THERE are two ways you can stay in an ashram. You can “donate” a certain amount in exchange for staying, or you can do “seva,” or service such as cleaning or doing some work at the ashram. chose the former as it was the safer choice especially since was

not sure how things are done in India. Most of the major ashrams have websites and contact details. Before I found Parmarth Niketan, asked for referrals, checked reviews, asked friends to connect me with other friends. Do research on the ashram itself—the leaders, classes, schedules, among others. Ashrams are devoid of creature comforts. Beyond clean and functional, do not expect soft beds or pillows or fluffy towels. Accommodations are very spartan and not all rooms have airconditioning or WiFi. Staying in an ashram is not experiential travel.

A day in an ashram life

THE ashram is huge, bustling with activity and people. On any given day, there are at least 2,000 people in the ashram, and that number easily triples during spiritual ceremonies and events. In fact, the daily Ganga Aarti, a sunset thanksgiving ceremony along the banks of the Ganges, draws thousands of visitors to Rishikesh.

Even with so many people, Parmarth Niketan is peaceful and calm with lush gardens, alcoves and corners for quiet meditation and reflection, trees that frame terracotta arches and buildings. Altars and areas for prayer are spread across the ashram grounds and along the banks of the Ganga.

My day starts at 4:30am so can get ready for morning prayers at 5:00am. The swami (a religious leader) and devotees pray in Hindi, but the hums are lulling and help silence the mind. Each day, I’d move to another area of the prayer hall or in one of the benches right outside, where the soft chants can still be heard. Afterwards, I head straight for the morning yoga session, walking quietly past a couple of yogis and devotees who have been meditating overnight.

Morning yoga is led by resident yoginis who are used to the mix of locals and foreigners in their classes. The session

focuses in breathing and holding poses to awaken the senses and prepare for the rest of the day. By this time, it’s past sunrise and I need a cup of hot chai (that’s tea— no coffee available). I rush to the courtyard for Yagya Puja, an ancient Vedic spiritual practice which aims to purify the mind, body and spirit by burning herbs to create a healing smoke. The blessing is usually led by the spiritual leader of Parmarth Niketan, Swami Chidinand Saraswati, an internationally-recognized humanitarian.

The rest of the day is spent either talking about the Bhagavad Gita, equivalent to Bible study or a pastor’s message, sitting by the banks of the Ganges River, or doing some sightseeing and exploring. Parmarth Niketan is also home to world-renowned motivational speaker Sadhvi Bhagawati Saraswati, author of the bestseller “Hollywood to the Himalayas; and Swami Sevananda Saraswati, a renunciate who used to lead a hectic corporate life in the US. Because both are American, it became easier to converse and share thoughts and insights.

At 4:00pm, it’s back on the yoga mat then everyone prepares for the Ganga

scramble and fall out of balance as we crawl into our boat. Hopping one foot aboard, I looked at the sky, hoping it would open up a large enough window for the sun and the blue skies to show. Half an hour into our sea voyage, the tide turned literally into smaller waves, and figuratively, as the thick clouds parted to expose glimpses of the blue sky. Mercedes’ Magnificent 7 Islands THE province of Camarines Norte has long

Aarti at sunset. The crowd gets really thick at the ashram, so usually go early to get a good spot. Even if the prayers and songs are in Hindi, it was quite the experience to share the same space with India’s rich, powerful and famous, as well as the poorest of the poor.

On some evenings, found myself chatting with the Pujya Swamiji himself, who speaks perfect English. Hundreds of celebrities, politicians and the who’s who in India make their way to Rishikesh to meet with Swami Chidinand Saraswati and it’s considered a great honor to chat with him. He would offer words of wisdom and say a prayer with me before calling it a night.

The ashram had a strict curfew and the gates are locked at 9:00pm to prevent cows and leopards from entering the premises.

What to eat, what to wear FOOD in Rishikesh is generally simple, with most restaurants serving sattvic food—which has no onions, garlic or strong spices. There is no meat or dairy. Ashram food is very simple. I lined-up, picked-up a stainless steel tray, and the

been on the radar of beachgoers and island junkies, thanks to the popularity of the Calaguas group of islands, which have some of the best powdery white sands. Unbeknownst to most, another group of islands numbering at least 7 lay scattered off the coast of the town of Mercedes, sharing many of the same features as Calaguas: verdant foliage, turquoise waters, coral reefs, and powdery white sands.

Dubbed the Siete Pecados, these islands east of Camarines Norte, namely Apuao Grande, Malasugui, Canton, Canimog, Caringo, Quinapaguian, and Apuao Pequeña, can be hopped in a day or two. Since we

staff would put food in it. Most times, I had to share a table—which allowed me to make new friends. did have my cheat days—getting Indian sweets like gulab jamun, rasgulla and some lassi.

Because Rishikesh is considered a holy place, dress code was modest—nothing that revealed legs and shoulders. Most wore cotton tops paired with pants or long skirts—some had dupattas (shawls) to cover their heads. Inside the ashram, wore tunic tops over yoga clothes. But when ventured out to sightsee, I wore a shirt, pants and hiking shoes.

What else to do in Rishikesh RISHIKESH itself is a quaint city, but outlying areas offer rafting, hiking and other adventure trips. Probably the most famous attraction in Rishikesh is the abandoned Maharishi Mahesh Yogi ashram, which is where The Beatles had their retreat in 1968. While the ashram is in ruins, the structures where John, Paul, George and Ringo stayed are still intact. There are murals littered across the ashram which is also used to shoot TV shows, commercials

only had half a day to explore, we only visited Quinapaguian and Apuao Pequeña. We docked at the other side of Quinapaguian because of the rising tide level, and from there, we walked for about 45 minutes to the other side to check out a new beach resort. As we did so, we passed by a small community, affording us the chance to get a glimpse of an incredibly simple way of life. Friendly smiles greeted my from the small windows of tiny nipa huts as children ran and play over big lawns, and gardens, while fishermen make their way along a path that leads to the shoreline. Rain threatened once again as we made

our way back to our boat. However, as we set out for our next stop, Apuao Pequeña, the weather finally improved as the clouds gave way to the sun and the bright blue sky. Hammocking and Chill at Apuao Pequeña Island

JUST as we were approaching our next stop, the weather became friendlier and as the sun begins to shine brightly, saw the long sandbar of Apuao Pequeña and its neighboring island Apuao Grande glistening glossily against the blue colored sea water. As our boat captain turns off the engine and we glide over the soft sand, the towering trees in the island arrested my attention. “I would love to sleep on a hammock there”, I told myself. Indeed, the 40-hectare island is ideal for laying out a hammock and unwinding, since it is dotted with numerous Agoho

and movies.

Walking along the bank of the Ganges, you will find quaint shops, temples, and a myriad of sights and sounds of devotees bathing or praying in the river. Just a few hundred meters from the ashram, the Ram Jhula suspension bridge offers stunning views. At the opposite end of this pedestrian bridge, the equally stunning Lakshman Jhula bridge is steeped in mythology as the place where Lord Laxman, the brother of Lord Rama crossed the Ganges. Hop on a motorcycle and explore the rest of the city’s ghats and temples. Or, get traditional Ayurveda treatments at one of the local spas.

So, why stay in an ashram at all? IT’S not a vacation after all, but staying in an ashram has allowed me to step-back from the normal, escape the frenzy of daily life, and go into hermitage. It’s immersion and introspection free from distractions. More importantly, an ashram is a community of people who want to make a difference and be part of something divine and spiritual. It’s an experience I don’t regret doing and would do again.

trees, which at first glance resemble a pine tree. The Agoho tree, indigenous to the Philippines and other countries in Asia and the Pacific, can grow up to a height of 40 meters, providing ample shade over Apuao Pequeña.

An annual Hammock Festival takes place here in the summer peak of May. It is an event that brings campers to the island, sleeping on hammocks and tents and engaging in activities such as beach clean-up and other conservation efforts.

As our group readied our sumptuous boodle-fight feast on the island, I hurriedly got my drone camera and walked over to the edge of the sandbar taking my shoes in the middle to feel the powdered sands beneath my feet.

Apuao Pequeña, which is joined by the long sandbar to the larger Apuao Grande, is everything I imagined it to be. Following our hearty lunch, I found a lone hammock tied between two Agoho trees and lied there for half an hour, just enjoying the cool breeze while staring at the swaying branches above me.

I felt tranquility wash over me, like the stillness one gets after a good meditation. Suddenly, whatever worries I had with me upon waking up, such as concerns about the weather and some personal doubts, the precious moments spent on the idyllic Apuao Pequeña seem to have replaced them all with bountiful positive energy. Nature, as beautiful as idyllic Apuao Pequeña, is indeed the greatest remedy for blues.

Photos by Charo Logarta

Story & photos by Marky Ramone Go

THE Sandbar connects the island to Apuao Grande

MORNING Yagya Puja to cleanse the mind, body and spirit THE meditation cave used by John Lennon

THOUSANDS attend the Ganga Aarti ceremony at sunset

THE Ram Jhula bridge

THE ruins of The Beatles Ashram

PARMARTH Niketan is one of the biggest ashrams in India drawing thousands of devotees daily

CHILLING on a hammock

THE thick Agoho trees is a favorite also of thousands of fruit bats

THE weather finally cleared a few minutes before we arrived on the island

TT my adult life, I have had a love-hate relationship with the AP Stylebook. As a journalist who did newsdesk work for years, the AP Stylebook served as a guide for how I wrote and edited my stories. I am not a journalism or communications major and I got into writing by accident so there were a lot of things I didn’t know.

By the time you read this, if you got this far, the 57th Edition of the AP Stylebook would have been released and you know that you’re old when you realize that there are now several digital versions of this.

The AP Stylebook is available in spiral-bound print and several digital formats.

Future print editions of the AP Stylebook will

The AP Stylebook and how it shaped the language of generations

be published biennially. This comes as more users prefer to subscribe to AP Stylebook nline, which has regular updates throughout the year.

The AP Stylebook nline has all listings, including an Ask the Editor feature with extensive archives, a pronunciation guide with phonetic spellings and audio pronouncers, and Topical uides about news events. sers can even add their own entries, make notes, and receive noti ications throughout the year when AP’s editors add or update listings.

The last edition, the 56th, was for 2022-2024 so the the 57th is for 2024-2026.

The spiral-bound Associated Press Stylebook, 56th Edition, included more than 300 new or revised entries. There were specialized chapters that covered sports, business, punctuation, data journalism, health and science, news values, polls and surveys, and digital security for journalists. There was also a chapter on inclusive storytelling and revisions on the chapters on religion and social media. By the way, it was the 56th Edition that sparked a bit of controversy when it said the proper way to refer to the platform formerly known as Twitter was “X.” You could also refer to it as the “X platform.” This did not sit well with netizens.

If you are wondering what the AP Stylebook is, it is used as a writing and editing reference in newsrooms, classrooms, and corporate o ices worldwide. pdated regularly since its initial publication in 1953, the AP Stylebook is a must-have reference for writers, editors, students and professionals.

It provides fundamental guidelines for spelling, language, punctuation, usage and journalistic style. It is the de initive resource for journalists. It’s not unusual for one journalist to ask another, “What does the AP Stylebook say?”

In our milieu, asking each other what the AP Stylebook says we are following a certain language style that needs to be consistent. For example, I worked for a newspaper where the style was to refer to the current president of the country as “President arcos” and therea ter as the President. Another newspaper’s style would refer to the current president as Mr. Marcos consistently.

Every news organization has its own individual style and many of them are largely based o f that of The Associated Press, except for those that are based in or originated from Europe and countries that used

to be British territories.

I once worked in a European news agency where the style is to say “the Philippines are” instead of “the Philippines is.” The word “recognize” was spelled “recognise.”

I used to hate the AP Stylebook because it was a reminder that I am not a graduate of a journalism or communications course.

Thus, it made me feel inadequate. But now that I am older, I appreciate how it has helped shaped my writing skills and how consistent my use of the English language is.

For me, one of the major updates in the AP Stylebook was when editors announced their intention to lowercase “internet” and “web” in all instances during the American Copy Editors Society convention in April 2016. In all my former editing posts, web and internet were always “Web” and “Internet.”

Another aspect of my character that the AP Stylebook helped me with is being politically correct. Young people are so amazed that I am not the usual tita that says just about anything. It was the AP Stylebook that discouraged the use of the words “child prostitute” and “mistress” and the use of the word “spree” in reference to shopping and festivities and not to shootings.

Another important thing I learned from the AP Stylebook is this: Identify people as transgender only when relevant, and always use the name by which they live publicly. nless it is central to the story you are writing, you should avoid mention of a person’s gender transition or gender-con irmation surgery in any news coverage because it is intrusive and insensitive.

It was in 2017 when it was announced that the AP Stylebook will include guidance on the limited use of “they” as a singular pronoun. Before that, it was unheard of because a plural pronoun should agree in number with the antecedent.

It was also in 2017 when one of the AP Stylebook editors said, “Not all people fall under one of two categories for sex or gender, according to leading medical organizations, so avoid references to both, either or opposite sexes or genders as a way to encompass all people.”

So, yes, you could say that the AP Stylebook not only taught me how to navigate my writing career but it also, in a way, raised me.

Fortinet says PHL needs to invest more in cybersecurity

MA cybersecurity provider Fortinet recently said cybercriminals are taking advantage of new industry vulnerabilities.

In a recent press brie ing held in Bonifacio lobal City, Taguig City, Fortinet Philippines country manager Alan Reyes told reporters that the country needs to strengthen its capabilities to develop a substantial pool of skilled cybersecurity experts to protect the country’s digital infrastructure.

“The Philippines also needs to invest in building a cybersecurity infrastructure,” he said.

“Based on industry report, the Philippines only spends approximately 0.2 percent [P2] for every P1, 000 revenue. There are only two fulltime employees for every 1,000 employees,” Reyes added.

Citing Fortinet’s Fort uard abs’ 2 2023 lobal Threat andscape Report, Reyes said cybercriminals are exploiting new industry vulnerabilities 43 percent faster than irst half of 2023. Reyes said the fast-changing landscape requires a shi t to a platform-centric approach in cybersecurity.

“Traditional, disparate solutions can no longer manage the diverse technologies, hybrid work models, and IT T integration that characterize modern networks,” he said.

“Fortinet’s AI-powered, uni ied security and network platform addresses these complexities by providing comprehensive threat protection, automated vulnerability management, and streamlined operations. This integrated strategy not only reduces costs and operational complexity but also ensures that organizations can quickly adapt to new threats, thereby building robust and future-proof cybersecurity operations,” Reyes added.

Reyes pointed out that threat actors are moving quite fast based on the second half of 2023 indings with attacks starting on average 4.76 days a ter new exploits were publicly disclosed.

Reyes said vendors have to dedicate themselves to internally discovering vulnerabilities and developing a patch before exploitation can occur (mitigate instances of 0-day vulnerabilities).

Further, he said vendors must proactively and transparently disclose vulnerabilities to customers to ensure they have the information needed to e fectively protect their assets before cyberadversaries can exploit N-day vulnerabilities.

Rashish Pandey, vice president of marketing and communications, Asia and Australia New ealand, Fortinet, said ighting cybercrime requires a culture of collaboration, transparency

and accountability on a larger scale than from just individual organizations in the cybersecurity space. e added that collaboration with high-pro ile, well-respected organizations from both the public and private sectors, including CE Ts (Cybersecurity Emergency Response Teams), government entities, and academia, is a basic tenet of Fortinet’s commitment to enhance cyber-resilience globally. It’s through constant technology innovation and collaboration across industries and working groups, such as Cyber Threat Alliance, Network Resilience Coalition, Interpol, the World Economic Forum (WEF) Partnership Against Cybercrime, and WEF Cybercrime Atlas, which will collectively improve protections and aid in the ight against cybercrime globally.

“The 2 2023 lobal Threat andscape Report from Forti uard abs underscores the speed at which threat actors are exploiting newly disclosed vulnerabilities. In this environment, both vendors and customers play crucial roles, particularly in Southeast Asia. Vendors must ensure robust security throughout the product lifecycle and maintain transparency in vulnerability disclosures. As cybersecurity threats become more sophisticated, adopting a platform-centric approach, powered by AI, is vital,” he said.

NGO backs PBBM’s call for intensified fight against sexual abuse of kids online

Contributor

IN appreciation of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s recent appeal for an escalated drive to combat molestation and exploitation of children, Save the Children Philippines has reaffirmed its support for this continued fight of his administration.

“We are one with the President and the nation in addressing this silent pandemic that has affected and stolen the future of millions of children in the Philippines,” said Save the Children Philippines chief executive officer Atty. Alberto T. Muyot.

According to him, the chief executive’s sentiments on the alarming cases of online sexual abuse or exploitation of children (OSAEC) and proliferation of child sexual abuse or exploitation of materials (CSAEM) force them to make sure they take on a “whole of community approach” to stop it.

Data from the 2015 National Baseline Study on Violence Against Children showed that one of two children is a victim of violence online that is often facilitated by their birth parents and kin. Based on the government’s key findings, the average age of a victim when referred or rescued is 11 years old, with less than one year old being the youngest. Mostly, OSAEC victims are female at 86 percent while their male counterparts stand at 14 percent. By and large, this family-based crime is made possible by biological parents (41 percent) or relatives (42 percent) of the victims.

Save the Children has been working with children, the government, and multi-sector partners to raise awareness and beef up the capacity of children, youth and other stakeholders in OSAEC-CSAEM protection and prevention. Notably, the group’s advocacy efforts led to the enactment of Republic Act 11930, or the Anti-OSAEC-CSAEM Law, in 2022 and its implementing rules and regulations.

Its OSAEC prevention programs and advocacy contributed to the passage of the Anti-OSAEC Ordinances in the cities of Tagum, General Santos, and Iligan. Continuing its commitment, Save the Children vows ongoing support for the government’s initiatives in enforcing the Anti-OSAEC-CSAEM Law, including reinforcing child protection mechanisms to protect kids from all forms of violence and abuse both online and offline.

“We call on our local government units, law enforcement, members of the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) and relevant agencies, as well as the communities, civil society and the private sector to ensure that Anti-OSAECCSAEM policies and programs are implemented, and services are made available so children are protected at all times,” Muyot said.

OPENAI FORMS SAFETY COMMITTEE AS IT STARTS TRAINING LATEST ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE MODEL

OPENAI says it’s setting up a safety and security committee and has begun training a new AI model to supplant the GPT-4 system that underpins its ChatGPT chatbot.

The San Francisco startup said in a blog post on Tuesday that the committee will advise the full board on “critical safety and security decisions” for its projects and operations.

The safety committee arrives as debate swirls around AI safety at the company, which was thrust into the spotlight after a researcher, Jan Leike, resigned and leveled criticism at OpenAI for letting safety “take a backseat to shiny products.”

OpenAI co-founder and chief scientist Ilya Sutskever also resigned, and the company disbanded the “superalignment” team focused on AI risks that they jointly led.

Leike said on Tuesday he’s joining rival AI company Anthropic, founded by ex-OpenAI leaders, to “continue the superalignment mission” there.

OpenAI said it has “recently begun training its next frontier model” and its AI models lead the industry on capability and safety, though it made no mention of the controversy. “We welcome a robust debate at this important moment,” the company said.

AI models are prediction systems that are trained on vast datasets to generate on-demand text, images, video and human-like conversation. Frontier models are the most powerful, cutting edge AI systems.

The safety committee is filled with company insiders, including OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Chairman Bret Taylor, and four OpenAI technical and policy experts. It also includes board members Adam D’Angelo, who’s the CEO of Quora, and Nicole Seligman, a former Sony general counsel. The committee’s first job will be to evaluate and further develop OpenAI’s processes and safeguards and make its recommendations to the board in 90 days. The company said it will then publicly release the recommendations it’s adopting “in a manner that is consistent with safety and security.” AP

S.

MOBILE USERS CONSUME MORE DATA IN Q1 AS DEMAND FOR CONNECTIVITY

SOARS

GLOBE has observed a sustained uptrend in demand for mobile data, as it logged 1,610 petabytes of mobile data traffic in the first quarter of 2024, a 19 percent increase from the same period last year at 1,352.

The average mobile data consumption per user has also seen a sharp hike, surging by 24 percent to an average of 15.6 GB per month. This increase is indicative of the growing engagement and reliance on mobile data among consumers, as digital content consumption and online activities continue to rise. This drove the growth of Globe’s mobile data revenues by 10 percent in the first three months of the year, reaching P23.8 billion, up from P21.7 billion in the same period last year.

This significant growth is largely propelled by the widespread adoption of smartphones and the burgeoning popularity of data-intensive applications, Globe said.

“Our commitment to enhancing our network capabilities and expanding our services to meet the evolving needs of our customers is evident in these results. As mobile data becomes a more predominant part of our revenue stream, we are more determined than ever to invest in state-of-the-art technology and infrastructure to provide our customers with an unparalleled digital experience,” said Darius Delgado, head of Globe Consumer Mobile Business.

As digital platforms become increasingly embedded in the day-to-day lives of consumers, mobile data usage has grown exponentially. Mobile data now accounts for 82 percent of Globe’s total mobile revenues, up from 80 percent last year.

In contrast, traditional mobile services such as voice and SMS have seen slight declines of 2 percent and 3 percent year-on-year, respectively, with revenues dipping to P3.4 billion and P1.9 billion. This shift underscores a broader trend in consumer preference toward data-driven communication over conventional voice calls and text messaging.

Globe continues to cater to the digital lifestyle of Filipinos, who are increasingly turning to mobile solutions for their communication, entertainment and shopping needs. The company remains focused on bolstering its mobile data services and maintaining its leadership in a highly competitive market. More information is available at www.globe.com.ph.

Nvidia’s

profit soars, underscoring its dominance in chips for artificial intelligence

SAN FRANCISCO—Nvidia on Wednesday overshot Wall Street estimates as its profit skyrocketed, bolstered by the chipmaking dominance that has made the company an icon of the artificial intelligence boom. Its net income rose more than sevenfold compared to a year earlier, jumping to $14.88 billion in its first quarter that ended April 28 from $2.04 billion a year earlier. Revenue more than tripled, rising to $26.04 billion from $7.19 billion in the previous year. “The next industrial revolution has begun,” CEO Jensen Huang declared on a conference call with analysts. Huang predicted that the companies snapping up Nvidia chips will use them to build a new type of data centers he called “AI factories” designed to produce “a new commodity— artificial intelligence.” Huang added that training AI models is becoming a faster process as they learn to become “multimodal”—that is, capable of understanding text, speech, images, video and 3D data—and also “to reason and plan.”

The company reported earnings per share—adjusted to exclude one-time items—of $6.12, well above the $5.60 that Wall Street analysts had expected, according to FactSet. It also announced a 10-for-1 stock split, a move that it noted will make its shares more accessible to employees and investors.

And it increased its dividend to 10 cents a share from 4 cents. Shares in Nvidia Corp. rose 6 percent in after-hours trading to $1,006.89. The stock has risen more than 200 percent in the past year. The company, based in Santa Clara, California, carved out an early lead in the hardware and software needed to tailor its technology to AI applications, partly because founder and CEO Jensen Huang began to nudge the company into what was then seen as a still halfbaked technology more than a decade ago. It also makes chips for gaming and cars.

The company now boasts the third highest market value on Wall Street, behind only Microsoft and Apple. AP

JBL Tour Pro 2: Screen time with your buds

ALTHOUGH the 14-plus-hour light from Manila to London remains the longest plane ride I’ve been on, the -hour journey to ubai for the global launch of the POCO F6 series felt surprisingly even more drawn out. eparting at 7 am from Manila, and with ubai operating four hours behind, we touched down just a ter lunch local time, leaving us with almost a full day itinerary.

While I do prefer early morning lights, the challenge on this trip was being stuck in the middle seat making it almost impossible to sleep comfortably.

So I had to ind ways to stay occupied in between those in light meals. Thankfully, Emirates o fers a better selection of movies and music (better than their meals). What they didn’t have was a good pair of noise-canceling earbuds to drown out the screaming kids and and chatty seatmates. Thankfully, I brought my pair of BL Tour Pro 2 earbuds, which gave me (almost) business-class privacy.

A ter reviewing all sorts of earbuds the past few years, it’s become harder to distinguish them when they all come in similar pebble-shaped cases. Besides the generic look, many earbuds tread a familiar path: decent sound quality, a snug it, and perhaps a dash of waterproo ing or noise cancellation. Thankfully, the BL Tour Pro 2, breaks this mold as it introduces a standout feature a smart charging case with a built-in touchscreen. Which prompts the question: Will a charging case with a screen de ine the future of earbuds? o you need this feature? And, most importantly, how good does it sound?

DESIGN AND BUILD QUALITY

THE BL Tour Pro 2 earbuds feature a sophisticated design that balances aesthetics with functionality. They sport a sleek combination of glossy and matte inishes, making them immediately eye-catching.

Weighing just 6.1 grams each, they o fer that reassuring he t and secure it without becoming uncomfortable over long listening sessions. The inclusion of three di ferent ear tip sizes allows users to ind the perfect seal, enhancing both comfort and sound isolation. I wore them and watched a couple of full movies, and it didnt hurt my ears.

THE SMART CASE: A GLIMPSE INTO THE FUTURE?

THE most distinctive feature of the Tour Pro 2 is undoubtedly its smart case. Housing a 1.45-inch touchscreen, the case brings a new approach to managing your listening experience. From this screen, you can control playback, manage volume levels, switch between ANC and Ambient modes, and even customize the equalizer settings without ever touching your phone. This might seem super luous at irst, but it shines in scenarios where quick, hassle-free control is quite useful like during workouts or when juggling groceries. Moreover, the case displays crucial information such as battery life and connection status, and features like a timer and even a lashlight. And because you can control almost everything from the case, you don’t need to make adjustments when you pair it with your laptop or a di ferent device.

BASS AND BEYOND

BL has traditionally excelled in cra ting earbuds that produce rich, dynamic sound, and the Tour Pro 2 is no exception. The bass is robust and well-de ined,

for Harman Professional,

providing the depth and punch that bass lovers will appreciate. This prowess in low-end sound reproduction does not overshadow the mids, which are rendered with clarity and richness, making vocals stand out beautifully in tracks.

The ANC functionality of the Tour Pro 2 is just as impressive. It e fectively silences background noise, from the hum of a busy caf to the rumble of city tra ic and as I mentioned, those annoying plane noises. The earbuds also o fer Ambient and TalkThru modes, so i didnt even have to take them o f when the pretty light attendant approached me and asked “Fish or chicken, sir?” twice.

Battery performance is commendable as well, with the earbuds providing up to 10 hours of playback and the case adding an additional 30 hours. This extended life is perfect for long lights, commutes or even weekend getaways. The inclusion of quick charging adds convenience, o fering hours of playback with just a few minutes of charging.

Connectivity is quick and seamless thanks to Bluetooth 5.3, ensuring stable and quick pairing with a wide range of devices. The earbuds also support Google Assistant and Alexa, which enhances their utility for users integrated into smart home ecosystems.

IS IT WORTH THE PREMIUM PRICE?

THE BL Tour Pro 2 stands out not just for its fabulous sound quality but also for its innovative and very useful smart case. While the additional functionalities of the case might seem like a luxury to some, they o fer a glimpse into a future where even our earbuds become more interconnected and capable than ever.

The BL Tour Pro 2 was a bit pricey when it was irst released but a ter several price drops (you can get it now for about P11,500), it’s a bit easier to recommend to audiophiles seeking a blend of excellent sound quality, standout design, and a ni ty smart case.

THE FUTURE OF AVL SOLUTIONS

LAST week, hundreds of dealers, consultants, system integrators and audio, video and lighting (AVL) professionals gathered for the “2024 Harman Connect ay Philippines” held at at the Sheraton Manila, Pasay City. Harman Connect ay is considered the premiere event for AVL solutions for the hospitality, corporate, education and government verticals, showcasing next generation hardware and so tware platforms.

Nick Screen, director of channel sales, Harman Professional, APAC, said the timing synchronizes with growth trends in the hospitality and meeting, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE) space in the Philippines.

Screen adds that their legendary brands have always been synonymous with innovation and

through the Covid pandemic, Harman continued its commitment to R and Innovation and that customers are now seeing the bene its and results of this investment. “Harman is committed to growing our business in the Philippines,” stressed Screen. uring the pandemic, we added an in-country business development resource and focused on training our partners. The investment has continued with the recent addition of an in-country application engineer to the team. We now have a solid sales channel, great coverage across vertical markets and a dedicated system integrator network supporting our products, and solutions capable of delivering both small and large projects.

Screen also discussed the complete refresh of their BL Portable PA Solutions, including the hugely successful S X900 and award-winning VTX A6. BL Venue Synthesis and the recent acquisition of FLUX:: mean that BL Professional has a full set of design tools and solutions for immersive audio. The Martin Professional Lighting portfolio go from strength to strength with its MAC ixtures using light engines that have been developed in house. The new MAC Viper XIP and MAC One have really captivated the market and already seeing huge demand. The AMX portfolio has been through a complete refresh, including the arrival of the new MUSE controllers. These powerful and secure devices not only support multiple scripting languages (Python, avaScript, and Groovy) but also support low-based development using the Node-RE development tool.”

“BSS Omni marks the launch of the next generation SP platform and the arrival of the AVX Suite of So tware ushering in a new era of installed AV so tware at Harman. While the iconic brands remain, our AV technology platforms are fully integrated, so much so that BSS OMNI will include onboard AMX MUSE Technology and AVX Control will fully support AMX Varia touch panels,” said Screen.

Harman Professional Solutions engineers and manufactures audio, video, lighting and control (AVLC) products for entertainment and enterprise markets, including live performance, audio production, large venue, cinema, retail, corporate, education, government, hospitality, broadcast and more. With leading brands including BL Professional, A G, Martin, AMX, Soundcra t, BSS Audio, Crown, dbx Professional and Lexicon Pro, Harman Professional delivers powerful, innovative and reliable solutions that are designed for worldclass performance. Harman Professional Solutions is a division of Harman International, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. The Singapore-based executive further explained that Harman’s ambitious ive year plan aims to expand brand coverage across the Philippines and together with local partners bring the evergrowing portfolio of new products and technologies to untapped cities and markets, further unlocking their potential.

NICK SCREEN, director of channel sales

APAC

BROKEN POLE NO PROBLEM

THIS TIME FOR EJ IN NORWAY

Kids in harness for fun, adventure in Subic Ironkids

TSubic Bay. Open to kids aged 6 to 15, the swimbike-run features categories in the 13-15 age group (50-meter swim, 6-km bike and 2-km run); 11-12 group (200m swim, 4km bike and 1.5km run); 9-10 division (150m swim, 4km bike and 1.5km run): and 6-8 class (and 100m swim, 2km bike and 1km run).

The relay competition features mixed team categories for ages 11-15 (200m swim, 4km bike and 1.5km run) and 6-10 (100m swim, 2km bike and 1km run).

“This event goes beyond competition, it’s about providing exposure for these enthusiastic kids,” said Princess Galura, Regional Director of the organizing The Ironman Group. “We are proud to nurture the future stars of Philippine triathlon.”

Registration continues until race week. For details, or visit http://ironkidsphil.com/ site/ or social media accounts ironkidsphil on Facebook and Instagram.

The Ironkids, a prelude to the Century Tuna full-distance Ironman Philippines and the IM 70.3 Subic Bay on June 9, has long complemented the Ironman series, nurturing talent and promoting an active lifestyle among children, fostering values like discipline and sportsmanship while curbing gadget addiction.

Registration for the main events full IM PH and IM 70.3 is also open.

This year’s event boasts a strong international presence with 44 countries represented in the full Ironman— Philippines 147 entries, Japan 54, France 18, US 16 and Singapore 10.

The IM 70.3 Subic Bay attracted athletes from 39 countries—304 from the host, 24 from Vietnam, 13 each from Great Britain and Japan and 10 from Thailand.

The Team Tents Competition aims to foster camaderies in the Subic Bay community, offering a top prize of P10,000 cast and another P10,000 worth of Century Tuna and Vita Coco products.

By Josef Ramos

IT happened again—Ernest John “EJ”

Obiena’s pole broke at the Oslo Bislett

Diamond Games in Norway on Friday morning.

After clearing 5.72 meters that

eventually was enough for the world

No. 2 to clinch the silver medal, Obiena went for 5.82 metes and there his pole snapped in two.

But because his world-class opponents on the field are his buddies off it, Obiena got to compete further with a pole lent to him

LANCASTER, Pennsylvania—Former champion Yuka Saso leaned on her putter to survive a brutally tough start to the US Women’s Open on Thursday, an opening round that featured Nelly Korda making a 10 on her third hole and only four players barely beating par. Saso had three big par putts to start the back nine at Lancaster Country Club, rolled in two medium-length birdie putts toward the end of her round and finished with three putts from the collar of the 18th green for bogey and a 2-under 68. It felt even lower than that considering all the carnage around her. The leading 10 players from the women’s world ranking had an average score of 75.5—including Korda’s 80—and only two-time major champion

Minjee Lee was not over par.

“It’s a US Open. It’s a major. It’s the biggest major championship, and I think it’s one of the most difficult weeks that we’ll play,” Saso said. “I don’t tell myself to be confident or anything like that.”

Saso, who seized on a Lexi Thompson meltdown in 2021 to win the Women’s Open at Olympic Club, led by one shot over Andrea Lee, Wichanee Meechai of Thailand and recently crowned NCAA champion Adela Cernousek of France.

Cernousek, a junior at Texas A&M, had company among amateurs. Three of them were in the group at even-par 70—US Women’s Amateur champion Megan Schofill, Catherine Park and 15-year-old Asterisk Talley, who is coming off her first US Golf Association

by KC Lightfoot.

“EJ broke another rod [pole],” his physiotherapist Antonio Guglietta told

B USINESS M IRROR on Friday via internet chat.

“We think all the poles inside his bag are now damaged.”

“But the team is now doing everything to find a solution to this issue,” he added.

Karma went well for Lightfoot as the

American won the gold medal at 5.81 meters.

Greece’s Emmanouil Karalis also cleared 5.72m also on his first attempt to make the podium also with a silver medal.

Obiena went for 5.81 using Lightfoot’s

title at the US Women’s Amateur Four-ball Championship.

Lee, who picked up her second major in the Women’s Open at Pine Needles two years ago, holed out from 15 feet just off the green at the par-3 17th to get back to even par.

“Just come back and try and beat the course again,” she said.

The rest of the Ladies Professional Golf Association Tour’s biggest stars took a beating, none as bad or as shocking as Korda. The No. 1 player in women’s golf, Korda arrived at Lancaster having won six of her last seven tournaments. Three holes into her opening round, she was sent reeling.

Korda hit from a back bunker into a stream on the par-3 12th hole, and then pitched into the stream from the other side twice on her way to a 10. She added four bogeys over the next 15 holes and signed for an 80, matching her highest round as a professional.

“Not a lot of positive thoughts, honestly,” Korda said. “I just didn’t play well today. I didn’t hit it good. found myself in the rough a lot.

DIGIPLUS Interactive Corp. (DigiPlus), one of the fastest-growing digital entertainment companies in the country, continues to expand its product offerings with BingoPlus Poker and Tongits+.

BingoPlus Poker is an all-in-one card app that offers a range of card games that can be enjoyed by both casual and more

pole but to no avail.

American Sam Kendricks, German Bo Kanda Lita Baehre and Dutch Vloon Menno finished fourth to sixth also with 5.72s.

In pole vault, joint golds or silvers are allowed and in this case in Oslo, the podium was occupied by Lightfoot, Obiena and Karalis and the bronze medal was no longer awarded.

Obiena’s outdoor season is on a rollercoaster ride despite debuting with a gold at the Los Angeles Grand Prix early this month.

World and Olympic champion and record holder Armand Duplantis skipped the Norway tournament.

Obiena will head to Stockholm for the Diamond League Bauhaus-Galan leg on Monday.

Bacyadan tackles UkranianHungarian opponent HERGIE BACYADAN battles Hungary’s Veronika Nakota on Saturday afternoon hoping to nail a win that would move her a victory away from clinching a ticket to the Paris Olympics.

Bacyadan is aiming to make boxing’s women’s 75-kg class in Paris from the second and final World Olympic Qualifying Tournament at the Hua Mak Indoor Stadium in Bangkok.

Nakota, originally fighting for Ukraine switched citizenship to Hungary in the aftermath of the Russian invasion, was world youth champion in 2022.

“Obviously she’s a very talented boxer,” Marcus Manalo, secretary-general of the Association of Boxing Alliances in the Philippines, said of Bacyadan’s opponent.

Bacyadan is coming of a resounding 5-0 victory over Spain’s Dunia Mas Martinez.

National coach Ronald Chavez has Bacyadan’s basic fight plan all laid out.

“She just got to be busy especially with her jabs before unleashing her straight,” Chavez said. “The goal is to hurt her opponent so she’ll have second thoughts on attacking.”

“But if that doesn’t work, Hergie will go for the ‘hit and move,’” he added.

“But overall, she looks great and in top condition,” Chavez said of the 29-year-old fighter from Taloctoc in Tanudan Kalinga who’s facing an opponent who’s 10 years younger.

Already qualified for Paris are light heavyweight Eumir Felix Marcial and women’s featherweight Nesthy Petecio and flyweight fighter Aira Villegas.

Jround, finished with a 37-36 card on three birdies and four bogeys.

Her four-day total of three-under 285 beat Ng by 20 shots for a new record early in the series.

Ng closed with a 76 for a 305 aggregate while Lia Duque placed third with a 310, matching Lee’s over-over par score on both the first and third nines of the Pradera Verde golf complex.

The Korean’s stellar performance, highlighted by a brilliant six-under 66 in the first round, eclipsed Geoffrey Tan’s 19-shot triumph in the boys’ 11-14 category Thursday.

“In the last nine holes, I was super relaxed, having fun and felt no pressure,” said Lee, who initially aimed to score as low as possible. “But after going one-over at the front nine, I told myself, maybe not under-par but just do my best till the end.”

“The fairway conditions were tough because of the weather, but don’t feel bad about that because still did my best and had fun. I think that’s what matters,” she added.

With a series of imposing victories, the 16-year-old believes she’s ready to turn professional.

“I’ll wait another month to join amateur tournaments. In July, might try to turn pro. I’m not in a hurry, but really want to experience the field in the LPGT and see what it feels like to be a professional,” Lee said.

Suzuki, meanwhile, secured a six-shot victory over Tristan Padilla in the premier division on a 288 total. The Manila Southwoods standout extended his overnight five-stroke lead to nine with a run of eight pars against Padilla’s four consecutive bogeys in the first nine.

Suzuki’s closing one-over par card also proved enough to cushion the impact of a wavering 38 finish.

Reflecting on his performance this week, Suzuki emphasized the need to improve his patience especially during challenging stretches of competition.

“I think the only thing I need to work on at this stage is my patience. I tend to rush my shots,” said Suzuki, referring on his second-round struggle where he scored a 78 after an impressive opening 70. He, however, rebounded with a remarkable 67 in the pivotal round, leading to his runaway victory.

Padilla staged a late rally with three birdies in a solid closing effort in the third nine, but ultimately, his 74 led to a 294 total for second. Mark Kobayashi claimed third place with a 301, also after a two-over card.

Making a 10 on a par 3 will definitely not do you any good at a US Open.

“Yeah,” she concluded, “just a bad day at the office.”

It was a bad day for so many others. Rose Zhang, who ended Korda’s five-tournament winning streak three weeks ago in New Jersey, looked to be shell-shocked when she walked off the 18th green with yet another three-putt bogey and a 79.

Lydia Ko and Brooke Henderson each shot 80. The average score for the field was 75.2. AP

9, Pusoy, and many more. Players can try their luck and play bets by playing online through its website,gamefun.ph. Meanwhile, Tongits+ brings the fun and excitement of playing the

Lee’s victory mirrored Shinichi’s younger brother Ryuji’s second consecutive win in the nationwide series sponsored by the International Container Terminal Services Inc. and organized by Pilipinas Golf Tournaments Inc. (PGTI).

The duo had also dominated their respective categories in the circuit’s opening leg at Splendido Taal two weeks ago. Ryuji Suzuki emerged as the standout player in the 8-10 age division, while Georgina Handog secured the girls’ crown in the youngest category, and Lisa Sarines reigned supreme in the girls’ 11-14 play of the series supported by PGTI official apparel Kampfortis Golf.

Looking ahead, the third leg of the series, which aims to nurture young talent and promote the sport in a cooperative environment, resumes on June 10-13 at Pinewoods Golf Club in Baguio. The tour will then head to the Visayas for a threeleg stint in Iloilo, Bacolod and Negros Occidental.

ERNEST JOHN “EJ” OBIENA seems to be saying “Look ‘ma, I have two poles now.”

IWON LEE and Shinichi Suzuki turned the final round of the 15-18 division of the Junior Philippine Golf Tour (JPGT) Luzon Series 2 into commanding victories as they posted similar 73s at the Pradera Verde Golf and Country Club Friday in Lubao, Pampanga. Lee, who all but secured her second consecutive JPGT crown by amassing a 17-stroke lead over Reese Ng in the third

JIWON LEE and Shinichi Suzuki pose under a tree with their medals. ROY DOMINGO

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

Saturday, June 1, 2024 A11

Guilty on all 34 charges: Trump becomes first former US president convicted of felony crimes

By Michael R. Sisak, Jennifer Peltz, Eric Tucker, Jill Colvin & Michelle L. Price

The Associated Press

NEW YORK—Donald Trump became the first former American president

to be convicted of felony crimes

Thursday as a New York jury found him guilty

of all 34 charges in a scheme to illegally influence the 2016 election through a hush money payment to a porn actor who said the two had sex.

Trump sat stone-faced while the verdict was read as cheering from the street below could be heard in the hallway on the courthouse’s 15th floor where the decision was revealed after more than nine hours of deliberations.

“This was a rigged, disgraceful trial,” an

angry Trump told reporters after leaving the courtroom. “The real verdict is going to be Nov. 5 by the people. They know what happened, and everyone knows what happened here.”

Judge Juan M. Merchan set sentencing for July 11, just days before the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, where GOP leaders, who remained resolute in their support in the aftermath of the verdict, are expected to formally make him their nominee.

The verdict is a stunning legal reckoning for Trump and exposes him to potential prison time in the city where his manipulations of the tabloid press helped catapult him from a real estate tycoon to reality television star and ultimately president. As he seeks to reclaim the White House in this year’s election, the judgment presents voters with another test of their willingness to accept Trump’s boundary-

breaking behavior.

Trump is expected to appeal the verdict and will face an awkward dynamic as he returns to the campaign trail tagged with convictions. There are no campaign rallies on the calendar for now, though he traveled Thursday evening to a fundraiser in Manhattan that was planned before the verdict, according to three people familiar with his plans who were note authorized to speak publicly.

He’s expected to appear Friday at Trump Tower and will continue fundraising next week. His campaign was already moving quickly to raise money off the verdict, issuing a pitch that called him a “political prisoner.”

The falsifying business records charges carry up to four years behind bars, though Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg

Continued on A

World defense officials hold talks in Singapore with tensions between China, US as backdrop

By David Rising The Associated Press

SINGAPORE—Government leaders, defense officials and diplomats from around the world are gathering in Singapore for Asia’s premier security forum this weekend, at a time of increasing tension and competition for influence between the United States and China in the IndoPacific region.

Beijing in recent years has been rapidly expanding its navy and is becoming growingly assertive in pressing its claim to virtually the entire South China Sea, which has led to an increasing number of direct conflicts with other countries in the region, most notably the Philippines and Vietnam.

The US, meantime, has been ramping up military exercises in the region with its allies to underscore its “free and open Indo-Pacific” concept, meant to emphasize freedom of navigation through the contested waters, including the

Taiwan Strait. China also claims the democratic self-governing island of Taiwan and has said it would not rule out using force to take it.

Since territorial hostilities with China surged last year in the South China Sea, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s administration has taken steps to forge new security alliances with a number of Asian and Western countries and allowed a US military presence in more Philippine bases under a 2014 defense pact.

Marcos opens this year’s Shangri-La Dialogue, hosted by the In-

Oil giant Saudi Aramco offers a second stock tranche worth billions of dollars

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates—Saudi Arabia said Friday it will sell a second sliver of stock in its state oil giant Aramco worth billions of dollars, its first tranche since its initial public offering back in 2019. Saudi Aramco, formally known as the Saudi Arabian Oil Co., acknowledged the stock sale in a corporate disclosure online. It put the number of shares being offered at 1.545 billion, priced at between $7.12 and $7.73 a share.

ternational Institute for Strategic Studies, with a keynote address Friday.

This week, Marcos already expressed concerns over a new law issued by China giving its coast guard license to seize foreign ships “that illegally enter China’s territorial waters” and to detain foreign crews for up to 6 0 days. The same law also made new reference to 2021 legislation that says China’s coast guard can fire upon foreign ships if necessary.

With Philippines ships now regularly confronted by the Chinese, there are concerns that a low-level confrontation could

lead to an escalation, said Eugene Tan, a professor of international law at the Singapore Management University.

“I don’t think these countries are really looking to go to war with each other, but the concern with these skirmishes is that sometimes when you have a miscalculation, then things could rapidly deteriorate into the use of force,” he said.

“And I think the last thing that countries in the region would want, particularly as they focus on the post-pandemic recovery, would be to have a regional conflict at the doorstep.”

This year’s conference comes just a week after China held massive military drills around Taiwan, staging a simulated blockade of the island after it inaugurated a new government that refuses to accept Beijing’s insistence that the island is part of China.

China regards Taiwan as a renegade province that must come under its control, by force if necessary.

The US, like most countries, does not have formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan but is bound by its own laws to provide the island with the means to defend itself.

The US called China’s military exercises “reckless.”

Bilateral contact between the American and Chinese militaries broke down in 2022 after then-US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan, infuriating Beijing.

That has slowly been reestablished in recent months, and US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun, who are both attending the Shangri-La Dialogue, met with each other Friday even before the forum began.

It was the first face-to-face meeting the two have had since direct talks broke down, though they have spoken previously by phone.

The two were expected to talk

about establishing a channel of direct communication between military commanders responsible for the area around Taiwan and the rest of the region, said Pentagon spokesperson Lt. Col. Marty Meiners.

“We are committed to delivering on the president’s direction to increase military-to-military communication,” he said.

“The department will continue to engage in active discussions with PRC (People’s Republic of China) counterparts about future engagements between defense and military officials at multiple levels.”

Tan said he wouldn’t expect any big breakthroughs from the talks, but that it was important that the two were in direct contact to “reduce the temperature” between the two countries.

“We would probably be expecting too much of the Shangri-La Dialogue to expect any sort of concrete moves forward,” he said.

“The Shangri-La Dialogue is really providing the opportunity for very incremental steps in trust and confidence building.”

Austin is due to address the forum Saturday morning, while Dong will on Sunday, the final day.

AP journalists Syawalludin Zain in Singapore and Tara Copp in Washington contributed to this story.

Biden authorizes Ukraine to use American weapons for defensive strikes inside Russia, US officials say

By Matthew Lee, Aamer Madhani & Zeke Miller

The Associated Press

Just 1.73 percent of the company, a narrow sliver, has been traded on the Tadawul, Saudi Arabia’s stock exchange, since the company’s 2019 IPO. This additional offer represents 0.64 percent of all the company’s shares. The Saudi government remains the dominant shareholder in Aramco, with shares also going toward the kingdom’s sovereign wealth funds as part of its efforts to rapidly diversify the country’s economy away from oil.

At the high range of the valuation, that would make the shares worth some $11.9 billion. They’ll begin being sold on Sunday to institutional investors and on Monday to retail investors. Aramco has a market value of $1.8 trillion, making it the world’s sixth most valuable company behind Microsoft, Apple, NVIDIA, Google owner Alphabet and Amazon respectively.

WASHINGTON—President Joe Biden has given Ukraine the go-ahead to use American weaponry to strike inside Russia for the limited purpose of defending Kharkiv, according to four US officials familiar with the matter.

The officials, who requested anonymity to discuss the sensitive matter, underscored that the US policy calling on Ukraine not to use American-provided ATACMS or longrange missiles and other munitions to strike offensively inside Russia has not changed.

Biden’s directive allows for US-supplied weapons to be used for “counterfire purposes in the Kharkiv region so Ukraine can hit back against Russian forces that are attacking them or preparing to attack them,” one official said.

Ukrainian officials have stepped up calls on the US administration to allow their forces to defend themselves against attacks originating from Russian territory. Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, is just 20 kilometers (12 miles) from the Russian border.

Biden’s decision was first reported by Politico.

Ukrainian officials, most notably Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, have been increasingly vocal in arguing that the restriction was putting Ukrainian forces in an untenable situation as Russia intensified attacks around the northeast Kharkiv region.

The advances came with Russia exploiting a lengthy delay in replenishment of US military aid and as Western

Europe’s inadequate military production has slowed crucial deliveries to the battlefield for Ukraine.

Talks about changing the policy intensified inside the Biden administration more than two weeks ago, after Russia stepped up its offensive around Kharkiv, according to one of the officials familiar with the White House deliberations.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan and Gen. CQ Brown, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, held a secure video conference with their Ukrainian counterparts in which the Ukrainian side pressed for permission to use US weaponry to hit Russian positions across the border that were being used to attack the Kharkiv region, according to a US official familiar with the White House deliberation.

Following that May 13 meeting with the Ukrainians, Sullivan, Austin and Brown huddled and agree to make a recommendation to Biden to alter the policy.

Sullivan presented the recommendation to Biden two days later, making the case that it was common-sense for the Ukrainians to be able to strike back to counter the attacks on their land that were originating from Russian territory. Biden agreed.

Later on May 15, Biden had a follow-up conversation with Gen. Christopher Cavoli, who leads US European command, Austin and Sullivan and asked them to move forward on finalizing the details to the change in policy.

Meanwhile, during Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s visit to Kyiv two weeks ago, Zelenskyy made his case for using American weapons to strike back at positions in Russia that were launching attacks into north and northeast Ukraine.

Blinken was convinced and brought that message back to Washington, according to three US officials familiar with the top US diplomat’s thinking.

Blinken met with Biden and Sullivan on May 17, following his visit to Kyiv, and shared what he heard from Zelenskyy and made clear that he also supported giving the Ukrainians more leeway to strike back on Russia. Still, Biden remained cautious and asked for due diligence before giving final approval.

Sullivan convened the administration’s national security leaders for a conversation the following week, and they all agreed to move forward. Sullivan received final approval from Biden several days ago, but the guidance did not go into effect until Thursday, the official said.

It wasn’t an easy decision to make. Since the start of the Russian invasion in February 2022, Biden has been steadfast in his opposition to Ukraine’s offensive use of Americanmade weaponry, concerned that the action could be seen as provocative and lead to Moscow widening the war.

Blinken said in Moldova on Wednesday that US policy on how Ukraine deploys American weapons is constantly evolving, hinting that Washington may alter its unwritten prohibition on Ukraine’s use of them for attacks on Russian territory. On

Thursday, Blinken joined NATO foreign ministers for a meeting in Prague, where during a tour of a Czech military base he saw armored vehicles that are being sent to Kyiv.

Although US officials insist there is no formal arms ban, they have long made clear that they believe the use of American weapons to attack targets inside Russia could provoke an escalatory response from Moscow, something that Russian President Vladimir Putin has promised. That position, Blinken noted, was a “hallmark” of the Biden administration’s stance on Ukraine to “adapt and adjust” as needed.

“As the conditions have changed, as the battlefield has changed, as what Russia does has changed in terms of how it’s pursuing its aggression, escalation, we’ve adapted and adjusted, too, and I’m confident we’ll continue to do that,” Blinken said at a news conference in Moldova.

“We’re always listening, we’re always learning, and we’re always making determinations about what’s necessary to make sure that Ukraine can effectively continue to defend itself, and we’ll continue to do that,” he said.

Calls for a change in policy have been mounting.

Earlier this week, French President Emmanuel Macron and NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said that Western countries should not object if Ukraine needs to strike inside Russia to defend itself. Stoltenberg reaffirmed that position on Thursday.

“I believe that time has come to (re)consider some of these restrictions to enable the Ukrainians to really defend themselves,” he said. “We need to remember what it is. This is a war of aggression launched by choice by Moscow against Ukraine.”

The right to self-defense, he said, “ includes also striking legitimate military targets outside Ukraine.”

Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky said at a NATO-related event Thursday in Prague that Ukraine needs resources to counter Russia’s relentless assault.

“Ukraine cannot fight against Russia with one hand tied behind its back,” he said. “Ukraine must be able to fight against Russia’s barbaric invasion even on Russian territory. Political resolve must be backed by credible capabilities.”

Norway’s foreign minister, Espen Barth Eide, told Norwegian broadcaster NRK that his country believes Ukraine “has a crystal-clear right under international law to attack Russia inside Russia as part of the defense of its territory.”

Biden’s decision comes as he’s set to travel to France early next month to attend D-Day 80th anniversary commemorations in Normandy, a watershed moment in changing the course of World War II. Zelenskyy is among dozens of world leaders expected to attend the D-Day commemorations. (Lee reported from Prague.

TheAssociated Press writers Karel Janicek in Prague and Ellen Knickmeyer contributed to this report.

PARTICIPANTS walk at the lobby of the Shangri-La Hotel, the venue for the 21th International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) Shangri-La Dialogue, Asia’s annual defense and security forum, in Singapore on Friday, May 31, 2024. AP/VINCENT THIAN

Saturday, June 1, 2024 A13

Guilty on all 34 charges: Trump becomes first former US president convicted of felony crimes Continued from A

would not say Thursday whether prosecutors intend to seek imprisonment, and it is not clear whether the judge—who earlier in the trial warned of jail time for gag order violations—would impose that punishment even if asked.

The conviction, and even imprisonment, will not bar Trump from continuing his White House pursuit.

Trump faces three other felony indictments, but the New York case may be the only one to reach a conclusion before the November election, adding to the significance of the outcome. Though the legal and historical implications of the verdict are readily apparent, the political consequences are less so given its potential to reinforce rather than reshape already hardened opinions about Trump.

For another candidate in another time, a criminal conviction might doom a presidential run, but Trump’s political career has endured through two impeachments, allegations of sexual abuse, investigations into everything from potential ties to Russia to plotting to overturn an election, and personally salacious storylines, including the emergence of a recording in which he boasted about grabbing women’s genitals.

The case’s general allegations have also been known to voters for years and, while tawdry, are widely seen as less grievous than the allegations he faces in three other cases that charge him with subverting American democracy and mishandling national security secrets.

Ahead of the verdict, Trump’s campaign had argued that, no matter the jury’s decision, the outcome was unlikely to sway voters and that the election would be decided by issues such as inflation.

Even so, the verdict is likely to give President Joe Biden and fellow Democrats space to sharpen arguments that Trump is unfit for office, though the White House offered only a muted statement that it respected the rule of law. Conversely, the decision will provide fodder for the presumptive Republican nominee to advance his unsupported claims that he is victimized by a criminal justice system he insists is politically motivated against him.

Trump maintained throughout the trial that he had done nothing wrong and that the case should never have been brought, railing against the proceedings from inside the courthouse—where he was joined by a parade of high-profile Republican allies—and racking up fines for violating a gag order with inflammatory out-of-court comments about witnesses.

After the verdict, Trump lawyer Todd Blanche said in television news interviews that he did not believe Trump received a fair trial and that the team would appeal based on the judge’s refusal to recuse himself and because of what he suggested was excessive pretrial publicity.

Republicans showed no sign of loosening their embrace of the party leader, with House Speaker Mike Johnson lamenting what he called “a shameful day in American history.” He called the case “a purely political exercise, not a legal one.”

The first criminal trial of a former American president always presented a unique test of the court system, not only because of Trump’s prominence but also because of his relentless broadsides on the foundation of the case and its participants. But the verdict from the 12-person jury marked a repudiation of Trump’s efforts to undermine confidence in the proceedings or to potentially impress the panel with a show of GOP support.

“While this defendant may be unlike any other in American history, we arrived at this trial and ultimately today in this verdict in the same manner as every other case that comes through the courtroom doors, by following the facts and the law and doing so without fear or favor,” Bragg said after the verdict.

The trial involved charges that Trump falsified business records to cover up a hush money payment to Stormy Daniels, the porn actor who said she had sex with the married Trump in 2006.

The $130,000 payment came from Trump’s former lawyer and personal fixer Michael Cohen to buy Daniels’ silence during the final weeks of the 2016 race in what prosecutors allege was an effort to interfere in the election. When Cohen was reimbursed, the payments were recorded as legal expenses, which prosecutors said was an unlawful attempt to mask the true purpose of the transaction.

Trump’s lawyers contend they were legitimate payments for legal services. He denied the sexual encounter, and his lawyers argued at trial that his celebrity status made him an extortion target.

Defense lawyers also said hush money deals to bury negative stories about Trump were motivated by personal considerations such as the impact on his family, not political ones. They also sought to undermine the credibility of Cohen, the star prosecution witness who pleaded guilty in 2018 to federal charges related to the payments, by suggesting he was driven by personal animus toward Trump and fame and money.

The trial featured weeks of occasionally riveting testimony that revisited an already well-documented chapter from Trump’s past. His 2016 campaign, threatened by the disclosure of an “Access Hollywood” recording that captured him talking about grabbing women sexually without their permission, also faced the prospect of other stories about Trump and sex surfacing that could have harmed his candidacy.

Trump did not testify, but jurors heard his voice through a secret recording of a conversation with Cohen in which he and the lawyer discussed a $150,000 hush money deal involving a Playboy model, Karen McDougal, who has said she had an affair with Trump. Trump denies that affair.

Daniels herself testified, offering a vivid recounting of the sexual encounter she says they had in a Lake Tahoe hotel suite. The former publisher of the National Enquirer, David Pecker, testified about how he worked to keep stories harmful to the Trump campaign from becoming public at all, including by having his company buy McDougal’s story.

Jurors also heard from Keith Davidson, the lawyer who negotiated the hush money payments on behalf of Daniels and McDougal. He detailed the tense negotiations to get both women compensated for their silence but also faced aggressive questioning from a Trump attorney who noted Davidson had helped broker similar hush money deals in cases involving other prominent figures.

The most pivotal witness, by far, was Cohen, who during days of testimony gave an insider’s view of the hush money scheme and what he said was Trump’s detailed knowledge of it.

“Just take care of it,” he quoted Trump as saying. He offered jurors the most direct link between Trump and the heart of the charges, recounting a meeting in which a plan to have Cohen reimbursed in monthly installments for legal services was discussed.

The Associated Press

96.

98.

Php

104.

105.

106.

107. WAN, TAOTAO plans and works to meet sales quotas.

ideas, and research to strategies. Can

MEDEIROS, RICHARD TODD Consultant

HOLDINGS CORPORATION City Of Taguig

management and

HONGSEOK

290. MA, SOO JIN languages, both verbal and Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

291. SEO, HOJIN

292. SON, DONGWOOK

293. SON, YONGJUN

294. WU, JIANNAN

295. YOO, HAKYEON

SHIMIZU PHILIPPINE CONTRACTORS, INC.

296. TOMII, TERUAKI Project Manager

SHOPEE PHILIPPINES

- Php 59,999

both verbal and

30,000 - Php 59,999

JIANWEI languages, both verbal and Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 281.

HOSEONG

both verbal and Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 282. JOUNG, KYOUNGA languages, both verbal and Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

283. KANG, MYOUNGGU languages, both verbal and Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 284. KIM, MINWOO languages, both verbal and Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 285. KIM, YUNMIN languages, both verbal and Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

286. LEE, DONG-MIN languages, both verbal and Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

287. LEE, JAEWOOK languages, both verbal and Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

288. LEE, WONJOON languages, both verbal and Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

289. LI, SHIJU languages, both verbal and Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

languages, both verbal and Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

languages, both verbal and Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

languages, both verbal and Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

languages, both verbal and Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

languages, both verbal and Php

AMID A HARVEST OF AWARDS, YOUR SUPPORT COUNTS MOST

THE pandemic tested the media industry, forcing newsrooms around the world to overhaul the way they do their job while following strict health protocols in order to survive a deadly infection.

The BusinessMirror, the country’s premier national business daily, was tested like everyone else, and survived, even continuing to live up to its promise to provide a broader look at today’s business.

In November 2021, the business broadsheet was recognized as the “Business News Source of the Year” for 2020 by the Economic Journalists Association of the Philippines (Ejap), the country’s premier organization of business reporters, editors and wire agencies. It was a 4-peat for BM, having gotten the same honors for the years 2017, 2018 and 2019.

And, as in the past Ejap awards, it also swept half of the individual categories, with its seasoned reporters adjudged as best in their respective coverages.

Earlier in 2021, the BusinessMirror was given the Pro Patria Award by the Rotary Club of Manila, for “its commitment of valuable resources for the protection of free expression and its resilience in disseminating fair and truthful information resulting in an informed and enlightened citizenry.”

Rotary journalism awards in its short 16-year existence.

The BusinessMirror has also consistently reaped top awards in the Brightleaf Journalism Awards for Agriculture and the Philippine Agricultural Journalists-San Miguel Corp. (PAJ-SMC) Binhi Awards, also for the best in agriculture journalism.

The BusinessMirror was also repeatedly adjudged the leading daily in biotechnology journalism, a recognition bestowed by the Jose G. Burgos Jr. Biotechnology Journalism Awards.

The “broader look” mantra also drew recognition from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) which named the BusinessMirror, at its first awards rites in 2018, as the inaugural “Data Champion.”

In the first “Bantog Science for the People” awards for media from the Department of Science and Technology, the BusinessMirror got the top award for the Institution category for Print; and the grand prize in the individual category for science journalist Stephanie Tumampos.

In 2018, Environment Reporter Jonathan Mayuga received the Luntiang Aligato award from the Climate Reality Project, a nonprofit organization founded by Nobel Laureate and former US Vice President Al Gore.

The Broader Look at biodiversity was also recognized. It was named among the Asean Champions of

Biodiversity, for the Media Category, by the Asean Centre for Biodiversity.

The Broader Look also extended to the paper’s corporate social responsibility. It organized and staged the first-ever recognition rites for the best of the Philippines’s friends in the world, with the “MISSION PHILIPPINES: The BusinessMirror Envoys & Expats Awards.” The initiative won a Gold Anvil in 2019. Distinguished institutions in government have also repeatedly recognized the BusinessMirror’s role in spreading the word about the work they do—information that shines a light on good governance and committed public service to uplift people’s hopes. Most notably, these are the Social Security System and Pag-IBIG Fund. Sixteen years, two of them in a pandemic, have tested the promise of a Broader Look. But they are also a measure of the unstinting support of friends—advertisers and news sources alike—and readers who continue to believe in that promise.

THANK YOU, EVERYONE. YOUR LOVE AND SUPPORT IS OUR MOST IMPORTANT TROPHY.

j from the prestigious R which named it “Busin of the Year” for 2018-2 in 2020. In all, it has r

It was just the latest recognition from the prestigious Rotary Club, which named it “Business Newspaper of the Year” for 2018-2019, and again in 2020. In all, it has received six top