BusinessMirror June 24, 2024

PBBM: No war with China over WPS

By Samuel P. Medenilla @sam_medenilla

EVEN with the “dangerous” challenge posed by the Chinese Coast Guard (CCG) in the West Philippine Sea (WPS), President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. said the country will not resort to war in resolving the issue.

T he chief executive made the remark during his talk with the troops of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Western Command (Wescom) in Camp General Artemio Ricarte in Puerto Princesa, Palawan on Sunday.

It came a day after the Philippine Coast Guard described the June 17 face-off between CCG and Philip -

pine naval units as a “wrong interpretation” of China’s intentions, adding that it does not fall under the definition of an “armed attack” that could invite escalatory action from Manila.

A t a forum on Saturday, PCG spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea Commodore Jay Tarriela had explained that the apparent aim of the Chinese coast guard sailors brandishing knives, pickaxes and other bladed weapons in the footage was to block the Philippine resupply mission at Ayungin Shoal, where the Philippines Armed Forces had posted the decaying ship  BRP Sierra Madre as some sort of sentinel.

T he Chinese had been blocking

Philippine RORE missions at Ayungin in line with their claim that it is their territory. The Ayungin Shoal is located within the country’s 200mile Exclusive Economic Zone, but China insists it is within its territory.

The CCG’s main objective, said Tarriela, “is not to have an armed attack or an aggression, but rather to prevent the Philippine government from completing the resupply mission.”

I n effect, what happened was a “wrong interpretation of the real intent of China,” he said.

A t the Wescom on Sunday, the President said, “We are not in the business [of instigating] wars—our great ambition is to provide a peaceful and prosperous life for every Filipino. This is the drum beat, this

is the principle that we live by and that we march by,” Marcos said.

M arcos Jr. visited Wescom after 80 of its officials and troops were subjected to attacks and intimidation from the CCG, while they were engaged in a resupply mission  to BRP Sierra Madre at the Ayungin Shoal last week.

D uring the incident on 17 June 2024, a CCG ship rammed the Filipino resupply sea vessel. Chinese personnel then boarded and attacked the Filipino crew with bladed and pointed weapons in an attempt to stop the resupply mission.

S eaman First Class Underwater Operator Jeffrey Facundo lost a finger during the melee.

FARMERS TO ASK HIGH COURT TO HALT EO 62

By Ada Pelonia

FARMERS’ groups will file a petition for temporary restraining order (TRO) before the Supreme Court to prevent the implementation of Executive Order (EO) 62, which reduced tariffs on key agricultural commodities, including rice.

V irginia Lacsa Suarez, legal counsel of the broad agriculture sector coalition Sinag, cited the “unreasonable” reduction in tariffs and the absence of consultation and public hearing that should have been conducted by the Tariff Commission (TC) as grounds for filing the petition.

“ We do not even know the recommendation made by the National Economic and Development Authority [Neda], then suddenly there is this EO 62,” Suarez said in a mix of English and Filipino during a press briefing over the weekend.

So this is surprising to us. Why the rush? What is at stake here is the livelihood of Filipino farmers,” she added.

Suarez also noted that groups are under time constraint because

EO 62 specifies that the tariff for rice will be slashed to 15 percent 15 days after the order is published in the Official Gazette or a newspaper of general circulation.

But we will do everything to prevent the implementation of EO 62,” Suarez said.

T he groups plan to file the petition from prohibition with prayer for a TRO or a writ of preliminary injunction before the High Court within the week.

S he also said they would talk to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and urge the administration to rescind the EO.

We should be helping Filipino farmers, but in reducing the rice tariff, we are bailing out the planters of other countries,” she added.

ERC reviews reliability index on power plant shutdowns

By Lenie Lectura

@llectura

THE Energy Regulatory Com -

mission (ERC) will review the “reliability index” on power plant outages to ensure that power facilities undergo the needed operational servicing for better performance.  Under the reliability index implemented since 2020, power generation companies are allowed to go offline for a certain number of days per year.

For instance, a power plant fueled by pulverized coal,  is allowed to be out of service for 44.7 days— comprising of 27.9 days of planned outages and 16.8 days of forced or unplanned outages. Coal plants running on circulating fluidized bed (CFB) technology, the allowable outages shall be for aggregate 32.3 days with 15.4 days of planned outages and 16.9 days

of unplanned outages. G eothermal plants are only allowed to be out for 19.7 days, with six days for planned outages and 13.7 days unplanned. Combined cycle plants are permitted for total outages of 20.2 days with 12.5 days for planned outages and 7.7 days for forced outages.

T he gas turbine plants have total outages of 29.2 days, or 6.5 days of planned and 22.7 days of unplanned outages. Diesel plants could go offline for 19 days, comprising of five days of  planned and 14 days of forced outages. For geothermal facilities, the allowed period is for total outages of 19.7 days—six days of planned and 13.7 days of unplanned outages. Hydropower facilities could be out for 29.9 days, consisting of 23.1 days of planned and 6.8 days of unplanned outages.

PHL HOTEL INVESTORS DRAWN TO BOHOL, EL NIDO, SIARGAO

By Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo

@akosistellaBM

Special to the BusinessMirror

PROPERTY developers feel so optimistic about the prospects in the tourism industry and the economy as a whole, that they are increasing allocations toward hotel real estate in the coming years. T his was among the findings of the Philippine Hotel Investment Outlook Survey for March-April 2024 by Leechiu Property Consultants (LPC) and the Philippine Hotel Owners Association (PHOA), which was distributed during the recent Philippine Tourism and Hotel Investment Summit 2024. “In contrast to more established hotel markets, developers in the Philippines lean towards greenfield hotel devel -

opments over acquiring existing properties...LPC has experienced a notable increase in land acquisition interest over the past year, reflecting a broader trend among developers nationwide as they pivot towards tourism-related developments,” according to the survey. It also found a shifting interest by investors to “emerging markets” such as Panglao Island, El Nido, and Siargao, although they were still keen on Metro Manila and Cebu City. “These [three] are increasingly identified as key growth hotspots offering compelling investment opportunities due to their untapped potential and rising popularity among tourists. Investors are particularly drawn to these regions by

BIGGEST HOTEL IN PARAÑAQUE CITY President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. (seventh from left) congratulates Alliance Global Group President and Chief Executive Officer Kevin L. Tan during the unveiling of the marker as Megaworld formally opens the 1,530-room

House Speaker Martin Romualdez; Pagcor chairman Alejandro Tengco; and key executives and officers from Megaworld and its hospitality arm, Megaworld Hotels & Resorts. MEGAWORLD PHOTO

ERC reviews reliability index on power plant shutdowns

Continued from A1

O il-fired generating facilities are given a total of 58.6 days of outages with 30.8 days of planned shutdown and 27.8 days of unscheduled outages; while biomass are allowed aggregate outages of 39.7 days with 32.7 days of planned shutdowns and 7 days of forced outages.

We are reviewing the reliability indices based on the petition filed by PIPPA [Philippine Independent Power Producers Association, Inc.] to make sure the indices are real measures of operational performance,” said ERC Chairperson Monalisa Dimalanta in a recent Viber message.

T he review, she said, could improve the agency’s “monitoring tools and impose appropriate penalties.”

PIPPA President Atty. Anne Escoro Montelibano said the ERC Resolution No. 10, Series of 2020 entitled, “A Resolution Adopting the Interim Reliability Performance Indices and Equivalent Outage Days Per Year of Generating Units,” has “unrealistic standards which even a new power plant will find it difficult to comply.”

“ Maintenance periods should be respected.  The forced outage

should be re-evaluated in accordance with internationally accepted standards. That’s all we’re asking, to review it and to align with reality and current standards,” said Montelibano via Viber.

P IPPA, which is composed of 28 power firms with a total 18,132-megawatt (MW) grid installed capacity,  said in its petition that power firms cannot change their planned outages, if only to comply with the interim outage rules. “Changing planned outages to shorter periods is unsafe and a health risk for the maintenance crew,” it said. Further, PIPPA said, shortening the required outages below the Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) prescribed durations will prevent the power firms from complying with OEM Good Utility Practices, thus exposing them to operational and financial risks which significantly affect the  overall reliability and availability of the plants. “In turn, this would pose more threat to the energy security of the grid,” PIPPA said. E ven the Department of Energy (DOE)  is in favor of a longer power plant shutdown period for maintenance.

In 2019, China was the second top tourism market of the Philippines, contributing 1.7 million tourists. In 2023, arrivals from major

“ We should allow also the plants sufficient time to do their maintenance work. We’re comparing the amount of time that we allow the plants to undertake those,” Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla had said.

Preventive maintenance is very important. And just like in aircraft, you have to have regular maintenance to be carried out and enough time to carry out the maintenance,” said the energy chief.

T he ERC earlier probed five power generation companies that exceeded the unplanned outage allowance. These are Masinloc unit 1 coal-fired thermal power plant and Sem-Calaca Power Corp. coal plant 2 in Luzon.  I n the Visayas, those exceeding the limits are the Mahanagdong geothermal power plant unit 2, Malitbog geothermal power plant unit 1, and Palm Concepcion Power Corp.  (PCPC) unit 1.

PCPC Panay unit

MEANWHILE , PCPC said over the weekend that its 135MW CFB power plant in Panay will be fully operational in August.

T he preliminary repair, which commenced last June 10, 2024, will reinsulate the damaged coils and

Middle East countries reached 79,041, up 15.3 percent from the 68,562 who arrived in 2019. The Middle East and India are considered

this is expected to make the power plant fully operational by August 3, 2024. This provisional fix is to enable the power plant to be functional at the soonest possible time to ensure a stable supply of electricity to the Island of Panay.

T he permanent repair, on the other hand, will be conducted concurrently during the annual Preventive Maintenance Schedule (PMS) in October to November 2025 due to the manufacturing lead time of the replacement parts from abroad.

We have notified various stakeholders across the energy sector and the government on this significant update,” it said.

I n 2023, the ERC imposed approximately P60 million in penalties on 14 power firms for breaching the allowable number of outage days.

T here is still an ongoing probe on 29 power generation companies that may have violated the prescribed number of outage allowance.

T he probe covered the months of April and May this year when a series of red and yellow alerts were hoisted over the Luzon and Visayas grids.  Dimalanta said the results of the probe will be out soon.

“opportunity markets”, from which arrivals have been growing at least 10 percent annually.

More Europeans eager to visit TOURISM stakeholders had long been urging the DOT to tweak its marketing strategy to push into other growing markets in order to compensate for the slow Chinese arrivals, a scenario seen to persist also due to China’s sluggish economy.

Frasco was at the Philippine Hotel Owners Association’s (PHOA) first Philippine Tourism and Hotel Investment Summit 2024, where she heralded the strong performance of the tourism sector in 2023, based on recent data released by the Philippine Statistics Authority. Prior to the summit, PHOA had also recommended attracting more tourists from Japan, Thailand, Taiwan, India, and Europe. (See, “Sans China, PHL must lure other Asians, Europeans,” in the Business Mirror , June 17, 2024.)

I n a separate interview with the BusinessMirror, Rajah Tours Philippines President Jose C. Clemente III pointed out that European markets have expressed strong interest in coming here.” While these are not yet in the high numbers as those of China prior to the pandemic, he said the DOT should be doing more to promote the Philippines in those markets, especially since their tourists stay longer and spend more when they travel.”

He cited Germany (42,421), the Netherlands (16,762), and Poland (8,088) whose citizens want to visit the Philippines. Based on DOT data, these were among top 30 markets as of June 12. Other markets that could be opportunities for the Philippines, he added, include Romania (2,882) and Bulgaria (1,380).

Confectionary

Six percent of imports across all categories originated from the United States and amounted to $23 million. Notably, the United States captured a 15 percent share of chocolate confectionery imports.”

According to the Gain report, this highlights the potential for growth in other categories, where the US market share currently sits at 3 percent or less.

However, it noted that achieving growth would require navigating competition from regional players who benefit from zero-tariff trade agreements, as well as competitors from the European Union (EU) and United Kingdom (UK).

B rick-and-mortar retailers were the dominant distribution channel for imported confectionery and ice cream products, capturing a substantial 65 percent market share.

T he report also noted that upper and upper-middle income classes are the primary consumers of imported confectionery and ice cream both as after-meal treats and gift choices.

Though price matters, they prioritize quality and unique flavors, and are willing to pay more for established brands and innovative offerings.”

the prospects of high returns and the ability to shape the development landscape from the ground up.”

T he Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) recently reported investments in the tourism industry by government and the private sector reached P509 billion in 2023, up  34 percent from the P379 billion in 2022. Last year’s investments fell short, however, of the P596.22 billion recorded in prepandemic 2019. The accommodations sector accounted for the largest amount of investments at P261.4 billion, or 51 percent of total. This was 29-percent less than the P370 billion invested in the sector in 2019.

More gov’t support needed

PHOA Executive Director Benito C. Bengzon Jr. said, “The investments are being made by Filipinos, which is a good indication of the confidence of hotel players. We do want the foreign investors to come in as well, but to entice them, there has to be strong market demand. They have to see more tourists and visitors.” Government’s target arrivals this year is 7.7 million, from the 8.3 million reached in 2019.

T he same survey showed 66 percent of respondents “[have] not received any benefit from government programs in their businesses,” while 34 percent said they have benefited from fiscal and non-fiscal incentives from the government, initiatives by local government units, as well as “promotional efforts to enhance their hotel operations.”

T he respondents recommended a slew of possible government assistance in the form of extended tax incentives, increased promotion and support, more incentives for sustainability, enhanced

T he groups also said they plan to file a separate case to the Ombudsman against the Neda and the members of the Tariff Commission.

“ They failed to do their duty and they even violated the law because they did not consult farmers and did not conduct public hearings,” Suarez said.

R epublic Act (RA) 10863 or Customs Modernization and Tariff Act (CMTA) mandated the TC to conduct an investigation and hold public hearings wherein “interested parties shall be afforded reasonable opportunity to be present, to produce evidence and to be heard” before any recommendation is submitted to the President by the Neda.

Hog raisers anxious

MEANWHILE , National Federation of Hog Farmers Inc. (NatFed) Vice Chairman Alfred Ng said a num-

accessibility, and streamlined collection of environmental fees. While studies have shown the willingness of travelers to pay environmental fees, they usually complain of the chaotic collection of these fees, such as in the jetty port gateway to Boracay Island.

Profit to exceed 30% MEANWHILE , the survey said 89 percent of the respondents expressed confidence in the growth of the hospitality industry in the medium term (1-3 years) while 95 percent were bullish “the industry will thrive beyond the next three years.” They were less confident about the next 12 months due to inflation, geopolitical risks, and “incomplete resumption of some international flights.” I nvestors also felt “remarkably strong” about their hotels with 64 percent of respondents projecting “their gross operating profit (GOP) to surpass 30 percent this year, despite inflationary pressures. Only13 percent of respondents expect a GOP of 20 percent and lower.” R espondents saw growth opportunities in the upper midscale hotel segment, “capturing 39 percent” of their interest, especially in second-tier cities and emerging townships. Upper midscale hotels are those charging between P4,700 and P5,700 per night like Park Inn by Radisson North Edsa, Tryp at the Mall of Asia Arena, and Savoy Hotel Manila. Occupancy rates in this hotel category has soared to 67 percent in 2023 from 48 percent in 2019.

Survey respondents represented over 10,000 hotel keys, covering properties across every major city and market segment in the country.

ber of backyard raisers are already thinking of quitting hog raising.

“ Many producers, especially backyard farmers, cannot continue if they do not have the support of government and if tariffs on pork imports would remain low,” Ng said. Only a few brave souls tried to venture into hog raising again but the backyard farmers have no capital. They are waiting for the government to come up with a solution to their predicament,” he added. Ng also said pork imports for this year will likely surpass the previous year’s volume of nearly 600,000 metric tons (MT).

Data from the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) showed that pork imports as of April 30 rose by 17.99 percent to 193,146 MT from the 163,690 MT recorded in the same period last year.

M alacañang later said it does not consider the incident as an “armed attack,” which will allow it to invoke the country’s Mutual Defense Agreement with the United States. Instead, it called the attack a “misunderstanding” which it hopes to address through dialogue with Beijing.

O n Sunday, Marcos gave recognition to the Filipino troops involved in the incident for exercising “restraint amidst intense provocation.”

T he Order of Lapu-Lapu is bestowed on government officials and personnel, as well as to private individuals, who provide extraordinary contributions to the President’s campaign or advocacy.

“As we award these medals, we remember that on June 17th, we made a conscious and deliberate choice to remain in the path of peace. The government will continue to provide all your needs and look after your welfare and your families’ welfare,” Marcos said.

He awarded the Order of LapuLapu Rank of Kampilan to Facundo, and the Order of Lapu-Lapu Rank of Kamagi to the 79 others, who joined the resupply mission.

RP to have missile corvette soon

ATIONAL Defense Secre -

Ntary Gilbert C. Teodoro Jr. has formally launched the country’s first missile corvette, the BRP  Miguel Malvar  (FF-06), at the Ulsan shipyard of Hyundai Heavy Industry (HHI) in South Korea.

“The first of the two vessels under the Navy’s Corvette Acquisition Program was launched in a ceremony on June 18, led by Secretary of National Defense Gilberto C. Teodoro Jr., together with senior officials from the Department of National Defense and the Armed Forces,” Director Arsenio Andolong, DND spokesman said in a statement.

The DND and HHI signed the P28 billion contract for two brand-new corvettes, which are capable of conducting anti-ship, anti-submarine, and anti-air warfare missions on December 28, 2021.

The first missile corvette is scheduled to be delivered to the Philippines in 2025 and the second, in 2026.

Monica Louise Prieto-Teodoro, special envoy to the United Nations Children’s Fund, led the ceremonial launching of the ship with HHI chief executive officer Lee Sang Kyun also in attendance. Andolong said this underscores the collaborative effort between the two nations.

“He [Teodoro] highlighted the proven quality and reliability of South Korean products and noted that future acquisitions would adhere to the Comprehensive Archipelagic Defense Concept. Key considerations for these acquisitions include supply chain reliability,

redundancy, corporate good governance, and the overall value for money,” Andolong added.

Teodoro during the event also stressed that the acquired capabilities must significantly contribute to establishing a credible deterrent posture for the Philippines.

“Moreover, Secretary Teodoro expressed his desire to instill the Korean value of ‘Indomitable Spirit’ or ‘bulguleui jeongsin’ within the Armed Forces. This value, characterized by standing up for what is right and showing unwavering resilience, has been pivotal in the progress and prosperity of South Korea. He believes it can similarly inspire the Philippines to reach its full potential,” Andolong said.

Teodoro also expressed his thanks to South Korea for its steadfast support of the Philippine position in the West Philippine Sea and in opposing unilateral aggression and illegal actions by China.

BRP Miguel Malvar is a 3,200-ton state-of-the-art surface combatant measuring 118.4 meters in length and 14.9 meters in breadth, with a cruising speed of 15 knots (about 28 kilometers per hour) and a range of 4,500 nautical miles (8,330 km). It is equipped with advanced weapon systems such as anti-ship missiles, vertical launch systems, and 3D Active Electronically Scanned Array radar.

The corvette will undergo sea trials and outfitting before being delivered to the Navy by 2025. The second Corvette, whose keel was laid on Friday, June 14th, is scheduled to be launched in December this year and delivered in 2026.  Rex Anthony Naval

Go pushes for improved public service delivery

ON FRIDAY, June 21, Sen. Christopher Go spoke to an assembly of barangay officials from the province of Leyte during the provincial congress of the Liga ng mga Barangay sa Pilipinas-Leyte Chapter held at the World Trade Center in Pasay City. Go, one of the guests of honor and speakers, in his speech emphasized the crucial role of grassroots leaders in improving public service delivery, enhancing disaster resilience and elevating community welfare.

“ Pinili kayo ng inyong mga nasasakupan dahil naniniwala sila sa inyong kakayahan sa pagsisilbi ,” said Go.

“Kaya’t huwag niyong biguin ang kanilang tiwala. Bagamat tayo ay may iba’t ibang titulo ako bilang senador at kayo bilang mga barangay officials— ayo ay pare-parehong lingkod-bayan na ang layunin at bisyo ay maghatid ng serbisyong may malasakit at mabuting pamamahala sa ating mga kababayan,” he added. Addressing the theme, “Managing an Inclusive Community Disaster Risk Reduction Towards a Balanced Participation and Response in Mitigating Disaster,” Go underscored the importance of preparedness amid recurring

To enhance mobility, BCDA eyes cable cars in John Hay

By Henry Empeño

CLARK FREEPORT

ZONE—The

Bases

Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) is considering the operation of a self-driven cable car system to provide alternative transportation and improve accessibility at Camp John Hay, a former military facility in Baguio City which is now a popular mountain retreat.

The BCDA said in a statement that the agency formalized two agreements with Japanese organizations during a high-level visit to Tokyo to ensure the smart and sustainable development of John Hay Special Economic Zone, New Clark City, and other economic zones under its management.

The first was a memorandum of understanding that BCDA President and CEO Joshua M. Bingcang signed with Zip Infrastructure Co. Ltd. CEO Takamasa Suchi to determine the viability

Motorcycle

By Lorenz S. Marasigan @lorenzmarasigan

Mcalamities and natural disasters in the country. With this, Go reiterated his legislative priorities focused on bolstering the nation’s capability to withstand natural disasters.

Bilang inyong senador, patuloy kong isinusulong ang mga hakbang tungo sa mas matibay at handang komunidad laban sa mga sakuna,” he said, emphasizing the need for a more proactive approach to disaster management. The senator detailed his advocacy for the establishment of the Department of Disaster Resilience through his filed Senate Bill 188, which aims to create an agency dedicated to building adaptive, disaster-resilient communities. Furthermore, he co-sponsored and is one of the authors of Senate Bill 2451, known as the Ligtas Pinoy Centers Act, intended to establish mandatory evacuation centers nationwide.

In his commitment to empowering local governance, Go also highlighted his filing of Senate Bill 197, or the Magna Carta for Barangays, which aims to enhance capabilities of barangay units to cater to their constituents while also proposing benefits for barangay officials akin to regular government employees.

of operating a self-driven cable car system at Camp John Hay.

The BCDA said that under this agreement, Zip Infrastructure shall prepare a feasibility study for the operations and maintenance of its self-driven cable car system called Zippar.

“This technology promises to enhance urban mobility, reduce traffic congestion, and promote environmentally sustainable transportation solutions,” Bingcang said in the statement.

“By leveraging Zippar tech -

nology, we can create a seamless and efficient transport system within Camp John Hay, making it more accessible and enjoyable for residents and visitors alike,” he added.

The Zippar system is touted to be a versatile design that allows riding in curves and branches while remaining automated and driven from a control center.

During the Japan trip, the BCDA also signed a three-year partnership with the Organization for PublicPrivate Partnerships Promotion Support (OPPS) of Japan to promote investment opportunities in New Clark City and other BCDA economic zones to Japanese companies.

Bingcang signed this agreement with OPPS Director and Vice President Kimikazu Uemura, with Japanese officials in the transportation, tourism, infrastructure and urban development signing as witnesses.

OPPS is a group of Japanese companies providing support services to realize public-private partnerships and private finance

initiatives. It helps industries screen infrastructure projects and supports coordination between Japanese companies and partner governments.

Bingcang said that through this partnership, the BCDA and OPPS seek to create business opportunities, promote information exchange between the public and private sector, and scope appropriate modes of partnership with Japanese investment firms.

Expected investment participation will come from such areas as housing, estate management, sports facilities operations and maintenance, transportation, waste-to-energy, smart city development, and retail, among others.

Bingcang said that leveraging on the OPPS network and expertise to attract investment and foster international partnerships “will be crucial and invaluable in raising awareness about the opportunities available in New Clark City and in facilitating collaborations with global stakeholders.”

firm to help cops in crime prevention, solution

OTORCYCLE taxi company MOVE IT said on Sunday it has partnered with the National Police to aid in the identification and arrest of riders involved in criminal activities.

Wayne Jacinto, MOVE IT general manager, said the company is taking a more proactive approach in going after erring rider-partners, especially after one of its rider-partners was implicated in an alleged robbery in San Juan.

“[We are] aware that there is always a possibility that unscrupu -

lous individuals could join MOVE IT or use our uniforms, with the end in view of concealing their intention to commit crimes,” he said.

Jacinto explained that MOVE IT will use its technological resources to support law enforcement, citing the quick identification and capture of suspects in the San Juan robbery.

“When we received reports that an alleged MOVE IT rider was involved in a crime, we immediately communicated with the National Police and worked to validate if the individual using a Move It uniform was one of our riders,” said Jacinto.

This, he explained, is “part of the protocols we have adopted in order to address incidents of this nature.”

This incident involved two individuals with one wearing a MOVE IT uniform. It was revealed that the implicated rider was also associated with another ride-hailing service.

Jacinto has warned the public to be vigilant against such tactics, highlighting the potential for any ride-hailing company to be exploited by criminals.

To further enhance public safety, Jacinto said MOVE IT will collaborate with the police and the

DBM releases ₧14B for veterans’ pensions

By Reine Juvierre Alberto @reine_alberto

THE Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has disbursed P14.046 billion to bankroll the regular pension of more than 130,000 retired military personnel.

In a statement issued on Sunday, the DBM said the release of funds was requested by the Department of National Defense (DND)-Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) General Headquarters (GHQ).

Budget Secretary Amenah F. Pangandaman has approved the

release of P14.046 billion funding on Friday, June 14, 2024, according to the DBM.

The DBM said the released budget will benefit a total of 139,172 military retirees who will all receive their pension for the months of July to September 2024.

The pension will also cover the resumption, transfer and restoration of pension of military retirees and their legal beneficiaries, the DBM added.

“We are committed to ensuring the timely budget release of benefits to our esteemed military retirees. The approval of these funds demonstrates our

dedication to honoring the service and sacrifice of our nation’s defenders and upholding our responsibility to protect their welfare,” Pangandaman said in the statement.

The DBM noted the fund released is chargeable against the Pension and Gratuity Fund (PGF) under the fiscal year 2024 General Appropriations Act (GAA).

Based on the 2024 GAA, a total of P142.956 billion is allotted for the PGF as well as terminal leave benefits, including separation benefits and incentives.

The PGF covers military retirees, war or military veterans of the DND,

Legislator assails drop in internet speed, wants deadline for telcos to shape up

By Jovie Marie N. dela Cruz @joveemarie

THE Philippines’ mobile internet speed dropped to an average of 32.12 megabits per second (Mbps) last month, resulting in a four-spot decline to rank number 83 globally in Ookla’s May 2024 Global Speedtest Index.

Makati City Rep. Luis Campos Jr. responded to this drop in rankings, stating, telecommunication companies are simply not doing enough to improve their networks.

“This is why we want Congress to pass a new law so that the government can set compulsory deadlines for telcos to deliver faster mobile internet speeds under pain of punitive regulatory fines,” Campos said.

“We want accelerating mobile internet speeds to improve public access to online resources, government services, education, and new opportunities,” Campos added.

Despite the decline, the Philippines ranked sixth among the 10 members of the Asso -

ciation of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) in the May 2024 rankings.

The five Asean members with faster average mobile internet speeds than the Philippines were Brunei (107.40 Mbps, nu,ber 15 worldwide), Singapore (99.29 Mbps, 21st worldwide), Malaysia (95.66 Mbps, number 25 worldwide), Vietnam (52.15 Mbps, 57th worldwide), and Thailand (48.76 Mbps, number 62 worldwide).

Campos has been batting for the passage of his House Bill 10215, which seeks to tag

Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) to explore additional safety measures. The partnership will help “determine what additional precautions can be adopted by MOVE IT or other ride-hailing apps to keep commuters and the public safe from thieves utilizing this particular criminal methodology.”

“In addition, we will also work to ascertain if MOVE IT is being maliciously singled out in cases like these, as similar incidents in the past have involved suspects pretending to be MOVE IT riders,” Jacinto said.

retired uniformed personnel of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), including those retired National Police (PNP) uniformed personnel, surviving heirs of deceased veterans and other retirees of the government.

“ Bahagi rin po ito ng isinusulong na  Bagong Pilipinas ni  Pangulong Marcos na kung saan walang Pilipino ang maiiwan.  [This is also part of the Bagong Pilipinas advocated by President Marcos where no Filipino is left behind],” Pangandaman added.

As of end-May 2024, the DBM has released 88.7 percent or P5.114 trillion of the P5.767-trillion national budget for 2024. A total of P653.078 billion of the national budget remains undistributed.

high-speed internet connection as a basic telecommunication service to which every Filipino enjoys a right of access, rather than a value-added service. The reclassification would empower the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) to impose rising minimum mobile internet speed targets that telcos must hit within prescribed deadlines.

Telcos that are unable to reach the target speeds would be subjected to severe fines of up to P1 million per day, or P365 million per year, until they achieve compliance. In the April 2024 Speedtest rankings, the Philippines ranked 79th worldwide with a mobile internet speed that averaged 32.37 Mbps.

PHOTO taken during the launching of BRP Miguel Malvar.

Groups: Naia on way to being most expensive airport in Asia

By Lorenz S. Marasigan @lorenzmarasigan

THE impending increases in passenger fees as well as charges for aircraft movements will make the Ninoy Aquino International Airport the most expensive airport in Asia, consumer and aviation groups said.

A consumer group on Sunday asserted that improvements should precede the proposed increase in airport fees at Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia)—and not the other way around.

At the same time, aviation groups argued that the proposed fee increases would also affect landing and takeoff charges for airlines, which could become significantly higher than those at other major Southeast Asian airports, including Singapore’s Changi Airport.

This, the aviation groups warned, could make Naia the “most expensive airport in Asia.”

CitizenWatch Philippines Coconvenor Kit Belmonte opposed the proposed fee hikes, saying that the increase will unfairly burden passengers and deter tourists and businesses from visiting the Philippines.

He even described the proposed increase as “premature” and “brazen.”

“We urge the government and the winning airport consortium to stop this looming hike. It is a brazen, unconscionable imposition on longsuffering passengers who have had to endure inadequate facilities and substandard service in our airports,” Belmonte said.

He highlighted the financial struggles of many Filipinos, emphasizing that the fee hike would only add to their burdens. He also argued that the

increase would contradict the government’s efforts to attract investments and tourists.

“The increase will also be an additional, unnecessary cost that would discourage businesses and tourists from coming and staying here. It will run counter to the administration’s drive to attract investments and visitors,” he added.

Belmonte said the proposed almost 100 percent fee increase involves the passenger service charge spike for local travelers, from P200 to P390, and a 73 percent hike for international travelers, from P550 to P950.

Earlier, this proposal drew criticism from three aviation groups— the Air Carriers Association of the Philippines, the Board of Airline Representatives, and the Airline Operators Council. They have called on the Department of Transportation to reject the “unreasonable and unaffordable” hikes.

Furthermore, CitizenWatch Philippines questioned the timing of the proposed fee increases.

“The new deal promises to improve our airport, but why is the public being made to pay up long before such changes are implemented, and the benefits realized?” Belmonte pointed out.

He outlined the improvements expected from the new deal, including fully functional passenger terminals, well-maintained runways, and upgraded safety and firefighting standards. These improvements, Belmonte argued, should be in place before any fee increases are considered.

“In short, at a time when Naia has yet to become a truly passenger-centric premier gateway, the idea of burdening customers with higher fees is simply unacceptable,”

PhilHealth subsidy for dialysis patients now ₧4K per session

THE Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) will increase the financial support for hemodialysis from P2,600 to P4,000 per session, the Department of Health (DOH) announced.

The PhilHealth Board also approved catheter insertion and blood transfusion payments that may be claimed separately from the main case rate for admission.

In its regular meeting on Friday, the PhilHealth Board en banc discussed improving financial coverage for Renal Replacement Therapy (RRT), which includes Hemodialysis and Peritoneal Dialysis.

Belmonte added.

“Naia has been at the center of so many controversies in the past—issues that have tarnished its reputation not only among Filipinos but before the world. A premature fee hike, long before any improvements are experienced and realized, is the last thing our airport, our country, and our people need,” he explained.

San Miguel Corp.-led consortium New Naia Infrastructure Corp. won the bid to operate and maintain Naia. Company officials were unavailable for comment.

When sought for comment, the Department of Transportation (DOTr) clarified that the adjustments are driven by a 160 percent average increase in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) over the last 24 years and the need for significant capital expenditures to rehabilitate and expand the airport.

The DOTr explained that the proposed fee increases, which exclude the Passenger Service Charge, were discussed with representatives from the Air Carriers Association of the Philippines (ACAP), the Board of Airline Representatives (BAR), and the Airline Operators Council (AOC) during a consultation meeting on June 11, 2024.

This meeting was held at the Asian Development Bank, the DOTr’s transaction advisor for the Naia PublicPrivate Partnership (PPP) Project.

Transportation Undersecretary for Aviation and Airports Roberto Lim emphasized that the fee increases comply with various executive orders, joint circulars from the Department of Finance, the Department of Budget and Management, the National Economic and Development Authority, and

Republic Act 9485, also known as the Ease of Doing Business Act.

“The airport needs very significant capital investment to bring it up to an acceptable service standard for passengers, to improve safety and to increase the number of landing and take-off slots available for airlines,” Lim said.

He also highlighted that the airport fees and charges have remained unchanged since 2000, under Manila International Airport Administration (Miaa) Administrative Order 1.

Furthermore, the DOTr pointed out that the airline industry has seen a rapid recovery since the pandemic, with total passenger numbers at Naia in 2023 exceeding those of 2018.

This increase in traffic underscores the urgent need for capital investment to improve operational efficiency and enhance the passenger experience. Consequently, the DOTr believes that the strong market demand can absorb the additional increase in air fares.

Lim also stressed that the planned fee increase is included in the approved Parameters, Terms, and Conditions specified in the Tender Documents provided to bidders for the Naia PPP Project.

While “certain revenues at the airport will be shared with [the] Government, the Passenger Service Charge is excluded from the revenue share. The PSC is one of the largest components of overall airport revenue streams,” said Lim.

The DOTr has requested the three airline associations to provide quantified evidence supporting their claim that Naia will become the “most expensive airport” in terms of total charges per passenger for both international and domestic flights.

Pinoys spend nearly ₧1-T on travel in 2023

By Cai U. Ordinario @caiordinario

FILIPINOS spent nearly a trillion pesos on shopping as well as entertainment and recreation services while on vacation here and abroad in 2023, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said.

The latest Tourism growth data from the PSA indicate that Filipinos spent P722.16 billion on shopping, entertainment and recreation while on vacation in 2023.

This was composed of P537.738 billion worth of shopping in domestic destinations nationwide, followed by P126.236 billion on entertainment and recreation services.

This was followed by P29.059 billion for shopping and P29.129 billion for entertainment and recreation services in foreign destinations.

Spending for shopping locally grew 53.52 percent in 2023 from P350.265 billion in 2022. Spending on shopping in 2023 was the highest since the P556.362 figure recorded in 2019.

Expenses for entertainment and recreation services almost doubled or posted a growth of 95.47 percent from the P64.581 billion posted in 2022. This was also the highest amount spent on these services since the P193.668 billion posted in 2019.

Spending for shopping abroad in 2023 increased by 12.55 percent from the P25.819 billion posted in 2022. It was the highest since the P61.38 billion recorded in 2019. Entertainment and recreation services spending abroad increased 5.8 percent from the P27.532 billion posted in 2022. Spending for these services was the highest since the P49.088 billion posted in 2019.

Apart from shopping and experience, domestic tourism expenditures more than doubled or posted a growth of 111.74 percent for accommodation

services for visitors to P585.840 billion in 2023 from P276.681 billion in 2022. However, the growth in spending for accommodation services for visitors abroad was not as steep and was only at 8.03 percent to P60.488 billion in 2023 from P55.99 billion in 2022. Another major expense for tourists was miscellaneous services. PSA said this included “health goods and services, wellness and personal care, and foreign exchange services, among others.”

Spending for these services nationwide increased 52.1 percent to P684,492 in 2023 from P450.033 billion in 2022. Similar to accommodation services, the growth in expenses for

expenditure posted a 10 percent growth, from P189.29 billion in 2022 to P208.25 billion in 2023. Internal tourism expenditure, comprising inbound and domestic tourism expenditure, grew by 75.3 percent from P1.92 trillion in 2022 to P3.36 trillion in 2023.

Optimism high on Senate’s approval of changes to Rice Tariffication law

By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz @joveemarie

In a statement, the department said the next step will be a detailed PhilHealth Circular and operationalization by PhilHealth management to ensure that the improved benefit can already be claimed. RRT covers options for dialysis that treat kidney failure. However, these treatments cannot fully cure but only extend the lives of end-stage kidney failure patients.

FHealth Secretary Teodoro J. Herbosa who is the PhilHealth) Board chairman, upon direction of President Marcos made it the priority of the PhilHealth Board of Directors to increase the corporation’s package rate for hemodialysis as suggested also by Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez. The PhilHealth Board, upon recommendation of the Benefits Committee oficer -incharge, Health Assistant Secretary Albert Domingo, approved the increase to P4,000. This, the DOH said, aligns with the Second State of the Nation Address (Sona) of the President, where he stated that dialysis is now free for the majority of Filipinos.

Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco

Think tank: LNG will enhance Philippines’s energy security

By Rizal Raoul S. Reyes @brownindio

Stratbase Institute president Victor Andres Manhit emphasized the importance of the private sector’s support to push the development of the liquefied natural gas (LNG) industry.

“There is always the opportunity for the private sector to work in closer collaboration with the government to jumpstart this industry,” Manhit said in a statement.

“Aside from the energy stability and environmental benefits, developing LNG as a stable source of power will foster more infrastructure development, technology transfer, job creation, and trade, all of which will substantially contribute to the country’s overall economic growth and prosperity,” he added.

In a recent forum organized by Stratbase, in partnership with CitizenWatch Philippines, some of the biggest energy

OLLOWING Speaker Martin Romualdez’s announcement that House and Senate leaders are nearing an agreement on the proposed changes, a senior lawmaker expressed optimism on Sunday regarding the Senate’s approval of an amendment to the Rice Tariffication Law (RTL) when session resumes next month.

Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Raymund Villafuerte said that the proposed amendment, combined with President Marcos’s recent approval of a significant reduction in rice import tariffs, aims to lower rice prices to below P30 per kilogram.

“With rice accounting for a sizeable share of the food expenses of Filipinos, most especially of poor or low-income families, writing a law to amend RA 11203 by restoring certain regulatory and trading powers of the

companies expressed their support to the government’s plan to develop the liquefied natural gas (LNG) industry to ensure energy security.

In line with the National Renewable Energy Program, the government is pursuing an ambitious national renewable energy (RE) power generation mix target of 50 percent by 2040. In the process, LNG will serve as the cleaner transitional bridge from fossil fuels to renewable energy.

In addition, American oil and gas giant ExxonMobil Corporation said it is fundamental for Asian countries to continue to build on their resilience and meet energy demand while lowering emissions through LNG.

The company’s LNG Market Development and Origination Vice President, Shahrukh Mirza, noted that the Philippines has built a new LNG import infrastructure, which “will go a long way towards energy security, reliability, and stability.”

“ExxonMobil is interested in supporting the Philippines with reliable energy supply.

NFA [National Food Authority] to intervene in the market and make the staple more affordable and accessible for our consumers is one way for us lawmakers to help take the edge off sticky inflation,” he said.

Romualdez recently indicated that the House and Senate are close to an agreement on RTL reforms. This was the focal point of Romualdez’s first official meeting with Senate President Francis Escudero, aiming to ensure food security and economic stability for farmers while providing affordable, quality rice to Filipinos.

Villafuerte, a lead proponent of the House-passed amendatory law (HB 10381) to RA 11203, is more optimistic now that senators will pass their version of the proposed amendments to the RTL when the 19th Congress reopens for its third and final session on July 22.

Prior to his first official meeting with Romualdez on June 13, Escudero said

We have more than 140 years of history in the global energy industry, and are leading in energy with more than 40 years experience in building long term energy resilience for our customers by producing affordable, lower carbon intensity energy such as LNG,” Mirza said.

“Securing long term energy supply as a reliable and flexible energy source will enable the country to deliver strong growth while completing its GHG reduction plan,” he added.

Global Business Power Corporation (GBPC), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Meralco PowerGen Corporation, expressed readiness to respond to the energy challenges in the country, including the development of the LNG industry.

Aside from being considered as a cleaner and more environmentally friendly alternative to fossil fuels, GBPC Chief Operating Officer Dominador Camu said LNG is equally abundant and traded in the international market, and can be stored and transported like any other international

that senators will give priority to this amendment-RTL proposal when the 19th Congress resumes sessions in July.

Villafuerte emphasized the need for timely action on the RTL, noting its potential to reduce rice prices to as low as P30 per kilogram, down from the current range of P50 to P65.

The Department of Agriculture (DA) said the Palace-approved cut in rice import tariffs to 15 percent is expected to cut rice prices by P6 to P7 per kilo.

As of mid-May, the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) reported that over 1.88 million metric tons of imported rice had arrived, primarily from Vietnam, Thailand, and Pakistan. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) projects Philippine rice imports to reach 4.2 million metric tons by 2025.

Addressing concerns about restoring the NFA’s regulatory and trading powers,

commodities.

“Our two-pronged strategy for power generation growth is, first, expand our RE [renewable energy] portfolio using renewable sources such as solar and wind; then second, build new High Efficiency Low Emissions [Hele] baseload power plants with clear-cut focus on developing and investing in cleaner fuel alternatives, such as LNG and other innovative thermal technologies,” Camu explained.

“The development of additional power plants, particularly LNG to Power, is a strategic imperative for the Philippines. It is a crucial step towards meeting our fragile electricity supply, mounting power demand, and influx of VREs [variable renewable energy] to ensure a resilient, reliable, and sustainable energy supply in the next decade,” he added.

Villafuerte clarified that market intervention would be a last resort during food security emergencies. Congressional oversight would ensure proper implementation and prevent potential abuses. HB 10381 seeks to amend RA 11203 by allowing the NFA to purchase palay from local farmers or import rice with the approval of the DA Secretary. Additionally, the bill proposes extending the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) validity for six more years and increasing its annual budget from P10 billion to P15 billion. Villafuerte reiterated that the RTL amendments are designed to reduce rice prices and stabilize the market, limiting the impact of unregulated imports and middlemen’s price manipulation. According to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), rice stocks fell by nearly 11 percent to 1.64 million metric tons in April from 1.84 million metric tons last year.

“AP is investing in the energy future of the Philippines… The Philippines has a bright economic future ahead of it that will improve the lives of many Filipinos and we must secure it. We also acknowledge that although we are not a key contributor to climate change, we too must contribute to adjust energy transition,” Aboitiz explained.

“To meet these dual transitions, both human and climate, Aboitiz Power has set ambitious goals to grow its generation fleet towards 10 gigawatts [GW] with a 50-50 capacity mix between renewable and thermal energy by 2030. But achieving this

Similarly, Aboitiz Power (AP) Corporation said it is investing in the energy future in the Philippines. AP Chief Corporate Services Officer Carlos Aboitiz said gas plays an important role in energy security, which includes the transition of Filipinos out of poverty and into modern society with all of its social benefits.

Editor: Jennifer A. Ng

‘First border inspection will protect PHL animals’

HBy Ada Pelonia @adapelonia

OG raisers belonging to the National Federation of Hog Farmers Inc. (NatFed) urged the Department of Agriculture (DA) to conduct first border inspection on all imported meat products to prevent the entry of animal diseases into the Philippines.

Alfred Ng, Vice Chairman of NatFed, made the pronouncement after the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) confirmed last Friday the country’s first case of Q fever in imported goats at a governmentrun farm in Marinduque.

“Dapat maging seryoso ang DA at ipursigi na nila yung first border inspection [DA should push for first border inspections of agricultural goods],” Ng told reporters during a press briefing over the weekend.

He attributed the entry of African swine fever into the country to the lack of first border inspec

tion. “The government can easily address imported animal diseases if it conducts stringent first border inspection on imports.”

Last June 21, BAI announced that it culled over five dozen goats imported from the United States following the detection of Q fever at a government breeding station in Marinduque.

Agriculture Secretary Franciso Tiu Laurel Jr. said he ordered the immediate condemnation and tracing of all infected goats and animals exposed to the infected ruminants. He also instructed a temporary ban on importing goats from the United States.

“This is a very serious matter. We will leave no stone unturned to ensure that the health of Filipinos is not compromised. It is imperative that we act immediately and decisively to eradicate this disease that poses serious threats to both animals and humans,” Laurel said in a statement.

The BAI said two dozen imported goats left in the quaran -

tine facility in Pampanga were also condemned even before tests were conducted on the ruminants to eliminate any possible source of Q fever infection. Other animals within the Marinduque breeding stations were also culled.

BAI National Veterinary Quarantine Services Division OIC Chief

Christian Daquigan said Q fever can be transmitted to humans and other ruminants like sheep, goats, and cattle. It can be spread through urine, feces, and birthing fluids.

Daquigan said Q fever tends to manifest through abortion in pregnant goats and sheep while most often show no signs of the disease.

FIRB resolution boosts investments in agri, says BOI

By Andrea E. San Juan @andreasanjuan

HE Board of Investments

T(BOI) announced a “surge” in agricultural investments after the Fiscal Incentives Review Board (FIRB) issued a resolution allowing the agency to approve projects with an investment of up to P15 billion.

“From February 2 to June 11, the BOI has already approved six projects with investment capital between P1 billion and P15 billion,” the investment promotion agency said in a statement.

The BOI said these projects represent investments worth P13.38 billion, with the agriculture sector accounting for almost half at P6.05 billion.

Trade Secretary Alfredo E. Pascual, who co-chairs the BOI, said recent approvals with investments ranging from P1 billion to P15 billion highlight the benefits of in-

creased investment thresholds for the agriculture sector.

“These projects, upon completion, will drive the adoption of new technologies and strengthen food security,” Pascual said, adding that this is “crucial” to meet the rising food demand, and sustain resilient agricultural systems despite climate change and other challenges.

According to BOI, investments in agriculture include the registration of a new producer of dressed whole, further processed, or cut-up chickens; a dairy farm and milkprocessing facility; and a cold storage facility project.

The FIRB approved Resolution No. 003-24 last February 2, which increased the investment capital threshold for projects handled by Investment Promotion Agencies (IPAs) to P15 billion from P1 billion.

While IPAs now handle applications up to P15 billion, projects exceeding this amount remain under FIRB’s jurisdiction.

The Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) said the FIRB move to hike the investment capital threshold for projects assigned to IPAs would “empower” these agencies to perform as this means giving them more authority to generate investments and grant tax incentives.

“The PCCI welcomed this recent issuance of FIRB. This would mean more projects will have to be decided quickly at the IPA level without going through the approval of FIRB, which became the bottleneck for incentives,” PCCI President Enunina V. Mangio said last February.

The PCCI said agribusiness, IT-BPM and creative industries, manufacturing, mining and mineral resources, and tourism are some of the major industries that are “ideal” for local and foreign investments.

According to the FIRB Resolution No. 003-24, the FIRB Board recognized the need to increase

Ports post new fish unloading record in

May

Tthe investment capital threshold to promote the ease of doing business in response to the concerns raised by some IPAs, and to align with the policy proposals in Congress which seeks to give more authority to the IPAs in granting incentives. (Related story: https://businessmirror. com.ph/2024/02/20/firb-ups-investment-capital-threshold-foripa-projects/)

Since the implementation of the CREATE Act in 2021, the FIRB has approved 28 projects valued at over P1 billion but below P15 billion, with a total investment of P126.61 billion.

“This increased project cost threshold for IPA approval affirms the government’s push to streamline business processes and manage incentives prudently. This sends a clear message to investors: The Philippines is actively fostering an environment conducive to sustainable business growth,” said Pascual.

plex continued to supply consumers with sufficient fish volume at 222.389 MT.

“BAI is conducting extensive surveillance in the affected areas to identify and manage any new cases promptly. Additionally, BAI is collaborating with the local government unit for further actions within Marinduque,” Daquigan said during a press briefing.

Agriculture Assistant Secretary and Spokesman Arnel de Mesa told reporters that the situation had been “controlled.”

“If there is going to be a declaration of an outbreak, it will be localized. It will be confined in areas where the goats were delivered,” De Mesa said in a mix of English and Filipino.

The DA assured the municipality of Sta. Cruz, Marinduque that all necessary assistance to contain and eliminate the infection will be provided by the agency.

Meanwhile, Laurel ordered the suspension of certain BAI personnel pending investigation, a review of BAI’s quarantine and disease control protocols, and potential

blacklisting of the importer of the infected goats.

The agri chief recently issued Special Order (SO) 867 creating a special fact-finding committee to investigate and determine the facts and circumstances regarding the alleged violations and irregularities of the BAI officials in relation to the goats infected with Q Fever.

The committee would be headed by DA Assistant Secretary for Policy and Regulations Paz Benavidez II together with OIC Assistant Secretary for DA Inspectorate and Enforcement Carlos Carag, and DA Legal Services Director Willie Ann Angsiy.

Q fever is a zoonotic disease caused by Coxiella burnetii, as described by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. The US Center for Disease Control noted that while most people recover from the zoonotic disease without antibiotics, those displaying symptoms require treatment, typically with doxycycline.

FAO unveils new project dashboard

THE Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) said its new online dashboard provides an “easy way” for the public to understand the large amount of project data it publishes. The launch of the dashboard underscores FAO’s commitment to transparency, by allowing users to explore where funding comes from, how it is distributed across different areas of its work and how these projects help to deliver on priority areas under its Strategic Framework and advance progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

“It will help you—our Members, our donors and other partners—to be able to easily track funding flows and connections between resources, projects and thematic areas.

Since May 2017, FAO has been publishing data on a quarterly basis in accordance with the International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI), a common standard for publishing open, highquality data on humanitarian and development projects and spending.

IATI publishers range from donor governments to development finance institutions, UN organizations, NGOs and private sector entities, all of which commit to making their data easier to access, use and understand.

The dashboard goes beyond IATI requirements by allowing users to understand not only funding flows and project activities, but also how FAO’s work contributes to Organizational and global goals.

The Navotas Fish Port Complex trailed behind with 23,312.20 MT of fish products delivered to consumers in the capital region and nearby provinces, having “[taken] advantage of the peak season.”

The PFDA said that its Luzon ports, Lucena Fish Port Complex and Bulan Fish Port

HE unloading volume in regional fish ports nationwide hit another record high in May despite the effects of El Niño and the onset of the rainy season. The Philippine Fisheries Development Authority (PFDA) recorded its highest fish unloading in the agency’s history last month with 66,587.86 metric tons (MT) delivered in the country’s regional fish ports (RFP). The volume last month was also higher compared to last year’s 42,814.9 MT. The agency said May’s catch represented a 10.51-percent increase from the previous month’s unloading. According to PFDA, the General Santos Fish Port Complex accounted for more than half of the total unloading record delivered to consumers for the month at 34,747.19 MT.

Complex, experienced a “minor setback” in May but managed to supply 1,817.06 MT and 2,310.55 MT of fish, respectively.

For the sole Visayas port, the Iloilo Fish Port Complex maintained a five-month positive unloading streak after transporting 3,172.54 MT of fish to its consumers.

The PFDA said the Zamboanga Fish Port Complex and the Sual Fish Port also saw a “successful streak” for three consecutive months with 898.94 MT and 78.715 MT, respectively.

It noted that the Davao Fish Port Com -

The agency said the Camaligan Fish Port had a “significant jump” in May at 28.284 MT, a 956.56-percent increase from the previous month’s 2.68 MT of fish delivered to consumers.

The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) reported that the damage to the fisheries sector caused by El Niño reached P61.64 million.

The production losses incurred in the Ilocos Region reached P32.65 million; Western Visayas, P26.56 million; and Cordillera Administrative Region, P1.2 million.

The report also revealed that the dry spell affected 3,086 fishers. Ada Pelonia

China’s pork probe is yet another blow for struggling

THE threat of China slapping tariffs on the European Union’s pork is the last thing the continent’s beleaguered industry needs.

China, the world’s biggest pork consumer, this week announced a probe on imports from the EU that could result in tariffs as part of a trade tit-for-tat. The bloc’s top exporters of the meat—like Spain and Denmark—warn that any levies will further hit overseas sales that have been falling for several years, hurting the entire supply chain from farmers to processors.

The EU is already losing its crown as the No. 1 pork exporter. After benefiting from demand in China when African swine fever ravaged herds, European shipments have struggled

as Chinese output rebounded and the bloc had its own outbreaks of the disease. Farmers’ profits have also been squeezed by higher feed and energy costs and consumers eating less pork, prompting processors to cut jobs, close slaughterhouses and target more local markets.

The pork probe is the latest retaliation in a spat that has also included Chinese electric vehicles and European brandy. If tariffs do come in, EU hog suppliers may also find it hard to find new markets for niche products—such as pig ears—that China buys.

“We are becoming hostages in a trade war we aren’t even really part of,” said Danish pig farmer Torben Farum, who counts China as a buyer of his products. “We actually have

enough to contend with and then this just comes on top.”

China imported 930,000 tons of pork and pork offal products— worth $1.86 billion—from around the world in the first five months of year, customs data show. Spain, Denmark and the Netherlands were among the biggest suppliers.

While overall European pork exports have dropped in recent years, China remains a crucial buyer for the EU as its single biggest overseas market for the meat. But China has needed to import less as its herd recovers, with sluggish consumption amid an economic downturn adding to an oversupply there.

For now, pork and offal products from Europe are clearing customs normally, according to industry

EU farmers

sources who are closely watching the situation. Even so, some traders in China are now snatching up frozen pork product stocks at ports and in warehouses amid worries that any future trade measures against EU shipments could push up prices of those products, industry sources said. If the year-long probe does lead to duties, that could benefit rival exporters like the United States and Brazil, whose supplies are already competitive in China. Total US shipments in 2024 are forecast to be on par with the EU.

It’s unclear how quickly China’s probe will progress. The investigation means companies have to register with Chinese authorities, and they may be questioned by Beijing before any decision is taken on po -

“You will see today that the dashboard enables users to view and analyze project data by recipient or country destination, by donor, as well as by the Four Betters and the SDGs,” said FAO DirectorGeneral Qu Dongyu in his remarks during the launch of the dashboard. Qu noted how the dashboard provides greater transparency and accessibility in the use of resources in FAO projects and that it is available on a dedicated FAO Transparency Portal accessible from the FAO homepage.

tential tariffs, said Anne Richard, director at French industry association Inaporc.

“For now, we are in waiting mode,” she said. “It will be complicated to replace China in the short term, as it’s our No. 1 market.”

A Ministry of Commerce spokesman on Thursday said China has the right to launch anti-dumping measures after the release of preliminary results, in accordance to related domestic and World Trade Organization rules.

China has targeted agricultural trade before. It lifted punitive tariffs on Australian wine exports this year, signaling an end to a threeyear campaign of trade pressure on Canberra that also included barley.

It also imposed lengthy restrictions on US poultry that affected companies such as Tyson Foods Inc. and Pilgrim’s Pride Corp., before lifting

Users can explore FAO’s delivery according to the Organization’s Strategic Framework, drilling down to Program Priority Areas under each of the “four betters”— better production, better nutrition, better environment and a better life—and according to the SDGs, down to the level of indicators under each goal.

In-depth information on each project is available in a section on highlights, where users can access terminal reports factsheets, informing of the impact and results of each project.

a ban on shipments in 2019.

Finding new buyers

A KEY concern for many European suppliers is finding alternative markets to send offcuts of carcasses such as trotters, snouts, ears and head meat, said Miguel Angel Higuera, director of Spanish pig-farmers group Anprogapor. Last year, China accounted for 65 percent of the 3.2 billion kroner ($460 million) worth of by-products Denmark exports, according to the Danish Agriculture and Food Council.

“When my pigs go to the slaughterhouse, they are being cut up and then—roughly speaking—the bacon goes to England, the ham goes to Italy, the snouts, ears and tails go to China, and the pork roast we’ll eat here in Denmark,” Farum said. Bloomberg News

23

Covelandia Road, Binakayan, Pulvorista, Kawit, Cavite

24

34

Indonesian Customer Service Representative

Brief Job Description: Manage incoming calls and customer service inquiries.

Covelandia Road, Binakayan, Pulvorista, Kawit, Cavite LUIS FRANCELIN

Indonesian - Customer Service Representative

Brief Job Description: Manage incoming calls and customer service inquiries.

25 MERIT LEGEND SOLUTIONS INC.

Covelandia Road, Binakayan, Pulvorista, Kawit, Cavite HWONG AI XING

Malaysian Customer Service Representative

Brief Job Description: Manage incoming calls and customer service inquiries.

26 MERIT LEGEND SOLUTIONS INC.

Covelandia Road, Binakayan, Pulvorista, Kawit, Cavite

27

Covelandia Road, Binakayan, Pulvorista, Kawit, Cavite

28 MERIT LEGEND SOLUTIONS INC.

Malaysian - Customer Service Representative

Brief Job Description: Manage incoming calls and customer service inquiries.

Myanmari - Customer Service Representative

Brief Job Description: Manage incoming calls and customer service inquiries.

Covelandia Road, Binakayan, Pulvorista, Kawit, Cavite LE KHAC BANG

Vietnamese Customer Service Representative

Brief Job Description: Manage incoming calls and customer service inquiries.

29 MERIT LEGEND SOLUTIONS INC.

Covelandia Road, Binakayan, Pulvorista, Kawit, Cavite PHU THI NGA

Vietnamese Customer Service Representative

Brief Job Description: Manage incoming calls and customer service inquiries.

Basic Qualification:

Able to speak, read and write Chinese and Indonesian language.

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

Basic Qualification:

Able to speak, read and write Chinese and Indonesian language.

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

Basic Qualification:

Able to speak, read and write Chinese and Malaysian language.

Salary

Basic Qualification:

Able to speak, read and write Chinese and Malaysian language.

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

Basic Qualification:

Able to speak, read and write Chinese and Myanmari language.

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

Basic Qualification:

Able to speak, read and write Chinese and Vietnamese language.

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

Basic Qualification:

Able to speak, read and write Chinese and Vietnamese language.

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

Basic Qualification:

30

Covelandia Road, Binakayan, Pulvorista, Kawit, Cavite

31

Covelandia Road, Binakayan, Pulvorista, Kawit, Cavite

32

THAI, TUAN VU

Vietnamese - Customer Service Representative

Covelandia Road, Binakayan, Pulvorista, Kawit, Cavite

35 NEW WAVE INFOTECH LIMITED PHILIPPINES, INC.

6th, 7th, 9th-12th Floor, Southwoods Office Tower 2, San Francisco, City of Biñan, Laguna

Brief Job Description:

VU VAN TRANG

Foreign Marketing

Brief Job Description: Plan sales and advertising campaigns, collect and analyze market research data.

36 NIPPON PREMIUM BAKERY INC.

Lot 10, Block 2, First Philippine Industrial Park II, San Rafael, City of Sto. Tomas, Batangas

37 SATO PHILIPPINES AIDC SOLUTIONS, INC.

Bldg. 8, Panorama Compound 6, Laguna Technopark Annex, Biñan, City of Biñan, Laguna

38 SEM-CALACA POWER CORPORATION

San Rafael, Calaca, Batangas

39 SQUARED ROUTE TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION

Covelandia Road, Binakayan, Pulvorista, Kawit, Cavite

40 SQUARED ROUTE TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION

Covelandia Road, Binakayan, Pulvorista, Kawit, Cavite

Able to speak, read and write Chinese and Vietnamese language.

Salary

Brief

Basic Qualification:

Able to speak, read and write Chinese and Vietnamese language.

Brief

Basic Qualification:

Covelandia Road, Binakayan, Pulvorista, Kawit, Cavite

33

Brief Job Description: Manage incoming calls and customer service inquiries.

Covelandia Road, Binakayan, Pulvorista, Kawit, Cavite LUONG HONG PHONG

Vietnamese - Customer Service Representative

Brief Job Description: Manage incoming calls and customer service inquiries.

Able to speak, read and write Chinese and Vietnamese language.

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

Basic Qualification:

Able to speak, read and write Chinese and Vietnamese language.

Salary Range:

Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

41 SQUARED ROUTE TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION

Covelandia Road, Binakayan, Pulvorista, Kawit, Cavite

TAKIGUCHI, SHION

Senior Corporate Planning Analyst

Brief Job Description: Monitor

WATANABE, SHINYA

General Manager

Brief Job Description: Responsible to manage the overall business operation of Sato Philippines AIDC Solutions Inc.

QIN, XIANWEI

Technical Services Consultant Brief Job Description: Oversee the major equipment maintenance activities and guide for the maintenance plan

QI, NAN

Chinese Customer Service Representative Brief Job Description:

SONG, BINGSHUO

Chinese

CHEN, BIN

Chinese Customer Service Representative Brief Job

Covelandia Road, Binakayan, Pulvorista, Kawit, Cavite CHEN, HAIXIN Chinese

43 SQUARED ROUTE TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION

Covelandia Road, Binakayan, Pulvorista, Kawit, Cavite

44 SQUARED ROUTE TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION

Covelandia Road, Binakayan, Pulvorista, Kawit, Cavite

GONG, SHUAIXIN Chinese

GUO, YANXIN

Chinese Customer Service Representative

Covelandia Road, Binakayan, Pulvorista, Kawit, Cavite

46 SQUARED ROUTE TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION

Chinese Customer Service Representative

Brief Job Description: Manage incoming calls and customer service inquiries.

Covelandia Road, Binakayan, Pulvorista, Kawit, Cavite LI, CANRAN

Chinese Customer Service Representative

Brief Job Description: Manage incoming calls and customer service inquiries.

47 SQUARED ROUTE TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION

Covelandia Road, Binakayan, Pulvorista, Kawit, Cavite LIANG, PINHENG

Chinese Customer Service Representative

Brief Job Description: Manage incoming calls and customer service inquiries.

48 SQUARED ROUTE TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION

Covelandia Road, Binakayan, Pulvorista, Kawit, Cavite LIN, SHISHUN

Chinese Customer Service Representative

Brief Job Description: Manage incoming calls and customer service inquiries.

49 SQUARED ROUTE TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION

Covelandia Road, Binakayan, Pulvorista, Kawit, Cavite LIU, PEIWU

Chinese Customer Service Representative

Brief Job Description: Manage incoming calls and customer service inquiries.

50 SQUARED ROUTE TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION

Covelandia Road, Binakayan, Pulvorista, Kawit, Cavite PENG, MINWEI

Chinese Customer Service Representative

Brief Job Description: Manage incoming calls and customer service inquiries.

51 SQUARED ROUTE TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION

Covelandia Road, Binakayan, Pulvorista, Kawit, Cavite SUN, BAOGANG

Chinese Customer Service Representative

Brief Job Description: Manage incoming calls and customer service inquiries.

52 SQUARED ROUTE TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION

Covelandia Road, Binakayan, Pulvorista, Kawit, Cavite WEI, JUNXIN

Chinese Customer Service Representative

Brief Job Description: Manage incoming calls and customer service inquiries.

Basic Qualification:

Able to speak, read and write Chinese language.

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

Basic Qualification:

Able to speak, read and write Chinese language.

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

Basic Qualification:

Able to speak, read and write Chinese language.

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

Basic Qualification:

Able to speak, read and write Chinese language.

Salary Range:

Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

Basic Qualification:

Able to speak, read and write Chinese language.

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

Basic Qualification:

Able to speak, read and write Chinese language.

Salary Range:

Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

Basic Qualification:

Able to speak, read and write Chinese language.

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

Basic Qualification:

Able to speak, read and write Chinese language.

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

Basic Qualification:

53 SQUARED ROUTE TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION

Covelandia Road, Binakayan, Pulvorista, Kawit, Cavite WEI, SHIDE

Chinese Customer Service Representative

Brief Job Description: Manage incoming calls and customer service inquiries.

54 SQUARED ROUTE TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION

Covelandia Road, Binakayan, Pulvorista, Kawit, Cavite WEI, SHIHAI

55 SQUARED ROUTE TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION

Covelandia Road, Binakayan, Pulvorista, Kawit, Cavite

Chinese Customer Service Representative

Brief Job Description: Manage incoming calls and customer service inquiries.

Chinese Customer Service Representative

Brief

56 SQUARED ROUTE TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION

Covelandia Road, Binakayan, Pulvorista, Kawit, Cavite

57

Covelandia Road, Binakayan, Pulvorista, Kawit, Cavite

58 SQUARED ROUTE TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION

Covelandia Road, Binakayan, Pulvorista, Kawit, Cavite

59 SQUARED ROUTE TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION

Covelandia Road, Binakayan, Pulvorista, Kawit, Cavite

60 SQUARED ROUTE TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION

Covelandia Road, Binakayan, Pulvorista, Kawit, Cavite

61 SQUARED ROUTE TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION

Covelandia Road, Binakayan, Pulvorista, Kawit, Cavite

62 SQUARED ROUTE TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION

Covelandia Road, Binakayan, Pulvorista, Kawit, Cavite

63 SQUARED ROUTE TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION

Covelandia Road, Binakayan, Pulvorista, Kawit, Cavite

64 SQUARED ROUTE TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION

WEI, SHIREN

Chinese Customer Service Representative

Brief Job Description: Manage incoming calls and customer service inquiries.

TAI SENG ANN Malaysian Customer Service Representative

Able to speak, read and write Chinese language.

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

Basic Qualification:

Able to speak, read and write Chinese language.

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

Basic Qualification:

Able

Salary

Covelandia Road, Binakayan, Pulvorista, Kawit, Cavite

65 SQUARED ROUTE TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION

Covelandia Road, Binakayan, Pulvorista, Kawit, Cavite AUNG HEIN WIN

66 SQUARED ROUTE TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION

Covelandia Road, Binakayan, Pulvorista, Kawit, Cavite AUNG MOE OO

67 SQUARED ROUTE TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION

Covelandia Road, Binakayan, Pulvorista, Kawit, Cavite

68 SQUARED ROUTE TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION

Covelandia Road, Binakayan, Pulvorista, Kawit, Cavite

69 SQUARED ROUTE TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION

Covelandia Road, Binakayan, Pulvorista, Kawit, Cavite

70 SQUARED ROUTE TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION

Covelandia Road, Binakayan, Pulvorista, Kawit, Cavite

71 SQUARED ROUTE TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION

EI MOE THU

Myanmari Customer Service Representative

Brief Job Description:

Manage incoming calls and customer service inquiries.

EI PHYO THU

Myanmari Customer Service Representative

Brief Job Description:

Manage incoming calls and customer service inquiries.

EI PHYU SIN KHAING

Myanmari Customer Service Representative

Brief Job Description:

Manage incoming calls and customer service inquiries.

HONEY MIN

Myanmari Customer Service Representative

Brief Job Description: Manage incoming calls and customer service inquiries.

Basic Qualification:

Able to speak, read and write Chinese and Myanmari language.

Salary Range:

Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

Basic Qualification:

Able to speak, read and write Chinese and Myanmari language.

Salary Range:

Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

Basic Qualification:

Able to speak, read and write Chinese and Myanmari language.

Salary Range:

Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

Basic Qualification:

Able to speak, read and write Chinese and Myanmari language.

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

Basic Qualification:

SAI WUN LATT

79 SQUARED ROUTE TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION

Covelandia Road, Binakayan, Pulvorista, Kawit, Cavite

CORPORATION

Covelandia Road, Binakayan, Pulvorista, Kawit, Cavite

Myanmari Customer Service Representative

Covelandia Road, Binakayan, Pulvorista, Kawit, Cavite

82 SQUARED ROUTE TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION

Covelandia Road, Binakayan, Pulvorista, Kawit, Cavite BUI, THUY HANG Vietnamese

Covelandia Road, Binakayan, Pulvorista, Kawit, Cavite HOWN KAUNG @ WAI YAN

72 SQUARED ROUTE TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION

Myanmari Customer Service Representative

Brief Job Description: Manage incoming calls and customer service inquiries.

Able to speak, read and write Chinese and Myanmari language.

Salary Range:

Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

Basic Qualification:

Covelandia Road, Binakayan, Pulvorista, Kawit, Cavite

Covelandia Road, Binakayan, Pulvorista, Kawit, Cavite KHUN SAI PYAE SONE OO

73 SQUARED ROUTE TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION

Covelandia Road, Binakayan, Pulvorista, Kawit, Cavite

74 SQUARED ROUTE TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION

Myanmari Customer Service Representative

Brief Job Description: Manage incoming calls and customer service inquiries.

MI MI OO

Myanmari Customer Service Representative

Brief Job Description: Manage incoming calls and customer service inquiries.

Covelandia Road, Binakayan, Pulvorista, Kawit, Cavite NAY LIN TUN

75 SQUARED ROUTE TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION

Covelandia Road, Binakayan, Pulvorista, Kawit, Cavite

76 SQUARED ROUTE TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION

Covelandia Road, Binakayan, Pulvorista, Kawit, Cavite

77 SQUARED ROUTE TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION

Covelandia Road, Binakayan, Pulvorista, Kawit, Cavite

78 SQUARED ROUTE TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION

Covelandia Road, Binakayan, Pulvorista, Kawit, Cavite

Myanmari Customer Service Representative

Brief Job Description: Manage incoming calls and customer service inquiries.

NILAR AUNG

Myanmari Customer Service Representative

Brief Job Description: Manage incoming calls and customer service inquiries.

PHWE SAN

Myanmari Customer Service Representative

Brief Job Description: Manage incoming calls and customer service inquiries.

SAI HAT

Myanmari Customer Service Representative

Brief Job Description: Manage incoming calls and customer service inquiries.

SAI WAI YAN ZIN

Myanmari Customer Service Representative

Brief Job Description: Manage incoming calls and customer service inquiries.

Able to speak, read and write Chinese and Myanmari language.

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

Basic Qualification:

Able to speak, read and write Chinese and Myanmari language.

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

Basic Qualification:

Able to speak, read and write Chinese and Myanmari language.

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

Basic Qualification:

Able to speak, read and write Chinese and Myanmari language.

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

Basic Qualification:

Able to speak, read and write Chinese and Myanmari language.

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

Basic Qualification:

Able to speak, read and write Chinese and Myanmari language.

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

Basic Qualification:

Able to speak, read and write Chinese and Myanmari language.

Salary Range:

Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

84 SQUARED ROUTE TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION

Covelandia Road, Binakayan, Pulvorista, Kawit, Cavite

85 SQUARED ROUTE TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION

Covelandia Road, Binakayan, Pulvorista, Kawit, Cavite

86 SQUARED ROUTE TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION

Covelandia Road, Binakayan, Pulvorista, Kawit, Cavite

87 SQUARED ROUTE TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION

Covelandia Road, Binakayan, Pulvorista, Kawit, Cavite

88 SQUARED ROUTE TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION

Covelandia Road, Binakayan, Pulvorista, Kawit, Cavite

CHAU MINH Vietnamese

CHONG TAI MUI

Vietnamese Customer Service Representative

DO THI HONG HANH

Vietnamese Customer Service Representative

Brief Job Description:

incoming calls and customer service inquiries.

DUONG VAN TUAN Vietnamese

HOANG THI HAI YEN

Vietnamese Customer Service Representative

Brief Job Description:

incoming calls and customer service inquiries.

HOANG VAN THANG

Qualification:

- Php 59,999 89 SQUARED ROUTE TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION

Covelandia Road, Binakayan, Pulvorista, Kawit, Cavite

90 SQUARED ROUTE TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION

Covelandia Road, Binakayan, Pulvorista, Kawit, Cavite

Vietnamese Customer Service Representative

Brief Job Description:

HOANG VAN TRUONG

Vietnamese Customer Service Representative

Brief Job Description:

Manage incoming calls and customer service inquiries.

Basic Qualification:

91 SQUARED ROUTE TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION

Covelandia Road, Binakayan, Pulvorista, Kawit, Cavite

92 SQUARED ROUTE TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION

Covelandia Road, Binakayan, Pulvorista, Kawit, Cavite

93 SQUARED ROUTE TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION

Vietnamese Customer Service Representative

Brief Job Description: Manage incoming calls and customer service inquiries.

Vietnamese Customer Service Representative

Brief Job Description: Manage incoming calls and customer service inquiries.

Covelandia Road, Binakayan, Pulvorista, Kawit, Cavite LIU SI PHUONG

94 SQUARED ROUTE TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION

Covelandia Road, Binakayan, Pulvorista, Kawit, Cavite

95 SQUARED ROUTE TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION

Covelandia Road, Binakayan, Pulvorista, Kawit, Cavite

NO. ESTABLISHMENT

96 SQUARED ROUTE TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION

Covelandia Road, Binakayan, Pulvorista, Kawit, Cavite

97 SQUARED ROUTE TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION

Covelandia Road, Binakayan, Pulvorista, Kawit, Cavite

98 SQUARED ROUTE TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION

Covelandia Road, Binakayan, Pulvorista, Kawit, Cavite

99 SQUARED ROUTE TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION

Covelandia Road, Binakayan, Pulvorista, Kawit, Cavite

100 SQUARED ROUTE TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION

Covelandia Road, Binakayan, Pulvorista, Kawit, Cavite

101 SQUARED ROUTE TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION

Covelandia Road, Binakayan, Pulvorista, Kawit, Cavite

Basic Qualification:

Able to speak, read and write Chinese and Vietnamese language.

Salary Range:

Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

Basic Qualification:

Able to speak, read and write Chinese and Vietnamese language.

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

Vietnamese Customer Service Representative Brief Job Description: Manage incoming calls and customer service inquiries. Basic Qualification:

LY LY MUI

Vietnamese Customer Service Representative

Brief Job Description: Manage incoming calls and customer service inquiries.

NGUYEN THI MAI

Vietnamese Customer Service Representative

Brief Job Description: Manage incoming calls and customer service inquiries.

NAME OF FOREIGN NATIONAL, POSITION AND BRIEF DESCRIPTION

NGUYEN THI NGUYET

Vietnamese Customer Service Representative

Brief Job Description: Manage incoming calls and customer service inquiries.

NGUYEN TIEN DUNG

Vietnamese Customer Service Representative

Brief Job Description: Manage incoming calls and customer service inquiries.

NGUYEN XUAN DANG

Vietnamese Customer Service Representative

Brief Job Description: Manage incoming calls and customer service inquiries.

NGUYEN TIEN DAT

Vietnamese Customer Service Representative

Brief Job Description: Manage incoming calls and customer service inquiries.

NGUYEN, THI MAI

Vietnamese Customer Service Representative

Brief Job Description: Manage incoming calls and customer service inquiries.

NHIN VY VY

Vietnamese Customer Service Representative

Brief Job Description: Manage

Covelandia Road, Binakayan, Pulvorista, Kawit, Cavite

Able to speak, read and write Chinese and Vietnamese language.

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

Basic Qualification:

Able to speak, read and write Chinese and Vietnamese language.

Salary Range:

Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

Basic Qualification:

Able to speak, read and write Chinese and Vietnamese language.

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

QUALIFICATION AND SALARY RANGE

Basic Qualification:

Able to speak, read and write Chinese and Vietnamese language.

Salary Range:

Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

Basic Qualification:

Able to speak, read and write Chinese and Vietnamese language.

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

Basic Qualification:

Able to speak, read and write Chinese and Vietnamese language.

Salary Range:

Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

Basic Qualification:

Able to speak, read and write Chinese and Vietnamese language.

Salary Range:

Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

Basic Qualification:

Able to speak, read and write Chinese and Vietnamese language.

Salary Range:

Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

Covelandia Road, Binakayan, Pulvorista, Kawit, Cavite

SQUARED ROUTE TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION

Covelandia Road, Binakayan, Pulvorista, Kawit, Cavite

106 SQUARED ROUTE TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION

Covelandia Road, Binakayan, Pulvorista, Kawit, Cavite

107 SQUARED ROUTE TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION

Covelandia Road, Binakayan, Pulvorista, Kawit, Cavite

108 SQUARED ROUTE TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION

Covelandia Road, Binakayan, Pulvorista, Kawit, Cavite

109 SQUARED ROUTE TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION

Covelandia Road, Binakayan, Pulvorista, Kawit, Cavite

110 SQUARED ROUTE TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION

Covelandia Road, Binakayan, Pulvorista, Kawit, Cavite

THI DONG HA

TRINH

TRAN PHAT LAY Vietnamese Customer Service Representative

TRAN, VAN TRUNG

Vietnamese Customer Service Representative

Brief Job Description: Manage incoming

TRUONG VAN SAU

111 SQUARED ROUTE TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION

Covelandia Road, Binakayan, Pulvorista, Kawit, Cavite VI THI LANH Vietnamese Customer Service Representative

Brief Job Description:

112 SQUARED ROUTE TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION

Covelandia Road, Binakayan, Pulvorista, Kawit, Cavite VO THI THAO CHAM Vietnamese Customer Service Representative

Editor: Angel R. Calso

39 people killed in Israeli strikes across northern Gaza–officials

By Wafaa Shurafa & Jack Jeffery The Associated Press

EIR

DAL-BALAH, Gaza Strip—At least 39 people were killed by Israeli strikes across northern Gaza on Saturday, as rescue workers scrambled to find survivors beneath the rubble, according to Palestinian and hospital officials.

Fadel Naem, director of the alAhli Hospital in Gaza City, told The Associated Press that more than three-dozen bodies arrived at the hospital. The Palestinian Civil Defense, an emergency group active in Gaza, said its emergency workers were digging for survivors at the site of a strike in the Shati refugee camp west of Gaza City and that it had pulled several dozen bodies from a building hit by an Israeli strike in an eastern neighborhood of Gaza City.

Israel said Saturday that its fighter jets struck two Hamas military sites in the Gaza City area but did not elaborate further.

The deaths come a day after at least 25 people were killed in strikes on tent camps and 50 wounded near the southern city of Rafah. Israel said Saturday that it was continuing to operate in central and southern Gaza and has pushed ahead with its invasion of Rafah, where over a million Palestinians had sought refuge from fighting elsewhere. Most have now fled the city, but the United Nations says no place in Gaza is safe and humanitarian conditions are dire as families shelter in tents and cramped apartments without adequate food, water or medical supplies.

A separate Israeli strike Saturday in Lebanon’s eastern Bekaa Valley killed a member of the military wing of al-Jamaa al-Islamiya, or the Islamic Group, a Sunni Muslim faction closely allied with Hamas, according to the group. The member was the seventh killed by Israeli strikes in Lebanon since the war began.

The Israel-Hamas war erupted on October 7 when Hamas militants who stormed southern Israel killed about 1,200 people and took some 250 others hostage. Israel has responded by bombarding and invading the enclave, killing more than

37,400 Palestinians there according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians in its count.

Also Saturday, Israel’s army said an Israeli man was fatally shot in the northern West Bank town of Qalqilya, where Israeli forces fatally shot two militants Friday, the latest flare of violence in the territory since the Israel-Hamas war erupted. At least 549 Palestinians in the territory have been killed by Israeli fire since the war began, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry, which tracks the killings. Over the same period, Palestinians in the West Bank have killed at least nine Israelis, including five soldiers, according to UN data. Israeli nationals are prohibited from entering Qalqilya and other areas of the West Bank that fall under the under the control of the Palestinian Authority.

In April, the death of a 14-yearold Israeli settler sparked a series of settler attacks on Palestinian towns in the territory. The army said a Palestinian was later arrested in connection with the killing.

On Saturday, the Palestinian Health Ministry said a 12-yearold Palestinian boy died from his wounds after being shot by Israeli forces in Ramallah last week. Commenting on the shooting, the Is -

raeli army said its forces raided alAmari refugee camp near Ramallah to arrest a suspect Friday and then opened fire on a group of Palestinians who were pelting them with stones.

Israel said Saturday that it was investigating a separate incident into conduct of its soldiers after a video surfaced online showing an injured Palestinian being transported on the hood of an Israeli armored car in the northern West Bank. The army said the man in the video was a wanted suspect and injured during an exchange of fire between Palestinian militants and Israeli forces near the city of Jenin. The man was being transported to a Red Crescent ambulance situated nearby, it said. The army said the conduct in the video didn’t “conform to the values” of the army. Anger across the country is growing at the government’s handling of the war in Gaza and the hostage crisis.

On Saturday, tens of thousands of people demonstrated in Tel Aviv calling for new elections and for the government to bring the hostages home. Among the families were the parents of Naama Levy, an Israeli soldier who marked her 20th birthday in captivity. Jeffery reported from Ramallah and Associated Press writers Bassem Mroue in Beirut and Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv contributed to this report.

3 dead in bombing as Russia

launches

missiles on Ukrainian energy facilities

KBy Tom Williams The Associated Press

YIV, Ukraine—At least three people were killed in a r u ssian bombing attack on Ukraine’s second city, Kharkiv, on s at urday afternoon, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. Another 38 people were wounded in the attack, Kharkiv Mayor Ihor te rekhov said. Four aerial bombs were launched against the city, damaging residential buildings, shops and public transport stops, said Kharkiv regional Gov. o l eh sy niehubov.

h e said that four of the wounded were in serious condition.

t h is r u ssian terror with guided aerial bombs must and can be stopped. Bold decisions from our partners are needed so that we can destroy r u ssian terrorists and r u ssian combat aircraft where they are,” Zelenskyy wrote on the messaging app te legram.

Zelenskyy said last month that Ukraine still urgently needs at least seven more Patriot missile systems to fend off r u ssian strikes against the power grid and civilian areas, as well as military targets, with devastating glide bombs that wreak wide destruction.

r u ssia has also continued to target Ukraine’s energy infrastructure with a new barrage of missiles and drones overnight, officials in Kyiv said. t h e attacks damaged energy facilities in the southeast and west

and injured at least two workers.

Ukraine is struggling with a new wave of rolling blackouts after relentless r u ssian attacks on energy infrastructure that started three months ago took out half the country’s power generation capacity.

Ukraine’s air defenses intercepted 12 of the 16 missiles and all 13 drones launched by r u ssia, the air force said. s t ate-owned power grid operator

Ukrenergo said the strikes damaged equipment at facilities in southeastern Zaporizhzhia and the western Lviv region. two energy workers were injured in Zaporizhzhia when a fire broke out at an energy facility, according to regional Gov. Ivan Fedorov. With no major changes reported along the 1,000-kilometer (600-mile) front line, where a recent push by the Kremlin’s forces in eastern and northeastern Ukraine has made only incremental gains, both sides have taken aim at infrastructure targets, seeking to curb each other’s ability to fight in a war that is now in its third year. Moscow’s overnight attack on Zaporizhzhia and Lviv follows Ukrainian military strikes on three oil refineries in southern r u ssia overnight into Friday. Air defenses destroyed five drones over the s e a of Azov and the country’s western Bryansk and s m olensk regions, the r ussian Ministry of Defense said. A man was killed in shelling of r u ssia’s Belgorod region, which borders

Palestinian mourners pray at the body of Mohammad Hoshiya, 12, during his funeral in the West Bank village of Qatana, southwest of Ramallah on saturday, June 22, 2024. the Palestinian Health Ministry said Hoshiya died from his wounds after being shot by israeli forces in Ramallah last week. Commenting on the shooting, the israeli army said its forces raided al-amari refugee camp near Ramallah to arrest a suspect last Friday

Putin’s pact with North Korea raises alarms: A bold challenge to Western interests amidst Ukraine crisis

By The Associated Press

Behind the smiles, the balloons and the redcarpet pageantry of President Vladimir Putin’s visit to north Korea last week, a strong signal came through: in the spiraling confrontation with the US and its allies over Ukraine, the Russian leader is willing to challenge Western interests like never before.

The

announced for the first time that Russia could provide weapons to the isolated country, a move that could destabilize the Korean Peninsula and reverberate far beyond.

He described the potential arms shipments as a response to NATO allies providing Ukraine with longer-range weapons to attack Russia. He bluntly declared that Moscow has nothing to lose and is prepared to go “to the end” to achieve its goals in Ukraine.

Putin’s moves added to concerns in Washington and Seoul about what they see as an alliance in which North Korea provides Moscow with badly needed munitions for its war in Ukraine in exchange for economic assistance and technology transfers that would enhance the threat posed by Kim’s nuclear weapons and missile program.

A landmark pact

T H e new agreement with Pyongyang marked the strongest link between Moscow and Pyongyang since the end of the Cold War.

Kim said it raised bilateral relations to the level of an alliance, while Putin was more cautious, noting the pledge of mutual military assistance mirrored a 1961 treaty between the Soviet Union and North Korea. That agreement was discarded after the Soviet collapse and replaced with a weaker one in 2000 when Putin first visited Pyongyang.

Stephen Sestanovich, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations noted that when Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev signed the deal with Pyongyang in 1961, he also tested the world’s biggest nuclear bomb, built the Berlin Wall and probably started thinking about moves that led to the Cuban missile crisis in 1962.

“The question for Western policymakers now is whether Putin is becoming comparably reckless,” Sestanovich said in a commentary.

“His language in North Korea—where he denounced the United States as a ‘worldwide neocolonialist dictatorship’—might make you think so.”

South Korea responded by declaring it would consider sending arms to Ukraine in a major policy change for Seoul, which so far only has sent humanitarian assistance to Kyiv under a longstanding policy of not supplying weapons to countries engaged in conflict.

Putin insisted Seoul has nothing to worry about, since the new pact only envisions military assistance in case of aggression and should act as a deterrent to prevent a conflict. He strongly warned South Korea against providing lethal weapons to Ukraine, saying it would be a “very big mistake.”

“If that happens, then we will also make corresponding decisions that will hardly please the current leadership of South Korea,” he said.

Asked whether North Korean troops could fight alongside Russian forces in Ukraine under the pact, Putin said there was no need for that.

Potential weapons for Pyongyang

L A ST m onth, Putin warned that Russia could provide long-range weapons to others to hit Western targets in response to NATO allies allowing Ukraine to use its allies’ arms to make limited attacks inside Russian territory.

He followed up on that warning Thursday with an explicit threat to provide weapons to North Korea.

“I wouldn’t exclude that in view of our agreements with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea,” Putin said, adding that Moscow could mirror the arguments by NATO allies that it’s up to Ukraine to decide how to use Western weapons.

“We can similarly say that we supply something to somebody but have no control over what happens afterward,” Putin said. “Let them think about it.”

Sue Mi Terry, senior fellow for Korea studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, warned that Moscow could share weapons technologies with Pyongyang to help improve its ballistic missile capabilities, noting there is evidence of this happening already, with Russia possibly providing help to North Korea with its successful satellite launch in November, two months after Kim last met Putin.

“This is deeply concerning because of the substantial overlap between the technologies used for space launches and intercontinental

ballistic missiles,” Terry said in a commentary.

“Russia can also provide North Korea with critical help in areas where its capabilities are still nascent, such as submarine-launched ballistic missiles.”

While raising the prospect of arms supplies to Pyongyang that would violate UN sanctions, Putin also said Russia would take efforts at the world body to ease the restrictions—an apparent signal that Moscow may try to keep arms supplies to Pyongyang under the radar and maintain a degree of deniability to avoid accusations of breaching the sanctions.

Russia and North Korea have rejected assertions by the US and its allies that Pyongyang has given Moscow ballistic missiles and millions of artillery shells for use in Ukraine.

Going ‘to the end’ in a confrontation with the West By explicitly linking prospective arms shipments to Pyongyang to Western moves on Ukraine, Putin warned Kyiv’s allies to back off as he pushes his goals in the war—or face a new round of confrontation.

“They are escalating the situation, apparently expecting that we will get scared at some point, and at the same time, they say that they want to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia on the battlefield,” Putin said. “For Russia, it will

mean an end to its statehood, an end to the millennium-long history of the Russian state. And a question arises: Why should we be afraid? Isn’t it better, then, to go to the end?” Alexander Gabuev, director of the Carnegie Russia e u rasia Center in Berlin, said Putin’s statement reflected an attempt to discourage the US and its allies from ramping up support for Kyiv as Russia pushes new offensives in several sectors of the front line.

“The situation is becoming increasingly dangerous, and Russia believes that it should quickly rap the West over its knuckles to show that its deeper engagement in the war will have a price,” he said in remarks carried by Dozhd, an independent Russian broadcaster. He noted that Putin’s statement that Moscow wouldn’t know where its arms end up if sent to Pyongyang could have been a hint at North Korea’s role as an arms exporter.

Treading cautiously with China P U TIN S v isits to North Korea handed a new challenge to Pyongyang’s top ally, China, potentially allowing Kim to hedge his bets and reduce his excessive reliance on Beijing. China so far has avoided comment on the new pact, but many experts argue that Beijing won’t like losing sway over its neighbor. e v er since Putin invaded Ukraine, Russia has come to increasingly depend on China as the main market for its energy exports and the source of high-tech technologies in the face of Western sanctions. While forging a revamped relationship with Pyongyang, the Kremlin will likely tread cautiously to avoid angering Beijing.

“Whether this upgraded Russia–North Korea relationship will be without limits depends upon China,” which will watch events closely, said e d ward Howell of Chatham House in a commentary. “Beijing will have taken stern note of Kim Jong Un’s claim that Russia is North Korea’s ‘most honest friend.’ Despite the likely increase in cooperation in advanced military technology between Moscow and Pyongyang, China remains North Korea’s largest economic partner.” US aircraft carrier arrives in South Korea for joint military drills amid surging North Korean threats

By Kim Tong-Hyung | The Associated Press

seo U l , s o uth Korea— a nuclear-powered Us aircraft carrier arrived s at urday in s o uth Korea for a three-way exercise involving Japan as they step up military training to cope with n o rth Korean threats, which have escalated following a security pact with r u ssia.

t h e arrival of the Us s t h eodore r o osevelt strike group in Busan came a day after s o uth Korea summoned the r u ssian ambassador to protest a major deal between r u ssian President v l adimir Putin and n o rth Korean leader Kim Jong Un this week. t h e agreement pledges mutual defense assistance in the event of war. s o uth Korea says the deal poses a threat to its security and warned that it could consider sending arms to Ukraine to help fight off the r u ssian invasion as a response—a move that would surely ruin its relations with Moscow.

Following a meeting between their defense chiefs in s ing apore earlier in June, the United st ates, s o uth Korea and Japan announced the Freedom e d ge drills.

t h e r o osevelt strike group will participate in the exercise that is expected to start within June. s o uth Korea’s military didn’t immediately confirm specific details of the training.

r e ar a dm iral. Christopher a l exander, commander of Carrier st rike g r oup n i ne, said the exercise is aimed at sharpening tactical proficiency of ships and improv -

ing interoperability between the countries’ navies “to ensure we are ready to respond to any crisis and contingency.”

s o uth Korea’s navy said in a statement that the arrival of the carrier demonstrates the strong defense posture of the allies and “stern willingness to respond to advancing n o rth Korean threats.” t h e carrier’s visit comes seven months after another Us aircraft carrier, the Us s Carl v i nson, came to s o uth Korea in a show of strength against the n o rth.

Following completion of the exercise, the r o osevelt strike group will leave for the Middle e a st to “continue promoting regional stability, deter aggression, and protect the free flow of commerce in the region,” Pentagon spokesperson Maj. g e n. Pat r y der said in a statement.

t h e r o osevelt strike group also participated in a three-way exercise with s o uth Korean and Japanese naval forces in a p ril in the disputed e a st China s e a, where worries about China’s territorial claims are rising. i n the face of growing n o rth Korean threats, the United st ates, s o uth Korea and Japan have expanded their combined training and boosted the visibility of strategic Us military assets in the region, seeking to intimidate the n o rth. t h e United st ates and s o uth Korea have also been updating their nuclear deterrence strategies, with s e oul seeking stronger assurances that wa shington would swiftly and decisively use its nuclear capabilities to defend its ally from a n o rth Korean nuclear attack.

KBy Samya Kullab The Associated Press

H a r K iv region , U kraine— w e eks after the decision allowing Ukraine to use U s - supplied weapons for limited strikes in r u ssian territory, the country is having some success in halting r u ssia’s new push along the northeast front, but military commanders are clamoring for restrictions on long-range missiles to be lifted.

Deteriorating battlefield conditions forced the U s t o permit Ukraine to use we stern-supplied artillery and rocket systems to defend the eastern city of Kharkiv by targeting border regions where the Kremlin’s forces assemble and launch attacks. t h e impact was swift: Ukrainian forces pushed r u ssian positions back, won time to better fortify their own positions and even mounted small offensive actions.

But commanders said that without the ability to use long-range guided missiles, such as ata C M s t heir hands are tied.

“ w e c ould target ( r u ssian) brigade command points and the entire northern grouping, because they are located 100 to 150 kilometers from the front line,” said Hefastus, an artillery commander in the Kharkiv region who goes by his callsign. “ n o rmal ammunition can’t get at them. w i th this kind, we can do a lot to destroy their centers of command.”

t h e Ukrainian commanders interviewed spoke on condition that their callsigns be used, in line with brigade rules.

t h e U s expanded the scope of its policy to allow counterstrikes across a wider region Friday. But the Biden administration has not lifted restrictions on Ukraine that prohibit the use of U s - provided ata C M s t o strike inside r u ssian territory, according to three U s officials familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly.

t h e U s began providing Ukraine with long-range ata C M s earlier this year, but with rules, including that they cannot be used to strike inside r u ssia and must be used within sovereign territory, which includes land seized by the r u ssians.

t hat p revents attacks on airfields and military in -

frastructure in r ussia’s deep rear, underscoring a common Ukrainian complaint that we stern allies anxious about potentially provoking r u ssia are undermining Ukraine’s ability to fight effectively.

Ukrainian officials are pushing U s allies to be able to strike particular high-value targets inside r u ssia using ata C M s , which can reach over 100 kilometers (62 miles).

“Unfortunately, we still cannot reach, for example, airfields and their aircraft. t h is is the problem,” yeh or Cherniev, deputy chairman of the parliamentary committee on national security, defense and intelligence, said earlier this month. “ t hat ’s why we are asking (allies) to lift the restrictions to use long-range missiles against limited military targets in the territory of r u ssia.” s i nce late May, Ukraine has been able to target r u ssian troops and air defense systems 20 kilome -

ters (12 miles) from the border in the Kharkiv region. Moscow opened a new front in the region on May 10, capturing village after village in a sweeping advance that caught Ukrainian troops unprepared. t h ough not a panacea, the move has greatly slowed r u ssia’s momentum, even allowing Ukrainian troops to make advances along the northeast border, including recently recapturing areas southwest of vo vchansk, according to local reports. Brigades there said high mobility army rocket systems, or H i M a rs , w ere fired hours after permission was granted, destroying an air defense complex outfitted to launch the deadly missiles.

a t t he time, the stakes were high as Ukrainian military leaders anticipated another assault designed to divert troops from other intense battlegrounds in the Donetsk region. First Deputy Defense Minister i v an Havryliuk told t h e a s sociated Press that at least 90,000 r u ssian troops deep in r u ssian territory were gearing up for a new assault.

t h e H i M a rs were not silent for the whole day,” Hefastus said, recalling the first hours when permission was granted to use the rocket systems. “From the first days, Ukrainian forces managed to destroy whole columns of troops along the border waiting for the order to enter Ukraine.”

“Before, we couldn’t target them. i t w as quite complicated. a l l warehouses with ammunition and other resources were located a 20-kilometer distance beyond what we could hit,” he said. t h e dynamics shifted almost immediately, allowing Ukrainian forces to stabilize that part of the front line. s o ldiers near a strategic area north of Kharkiv where fighting to push r u ssian troops back is ongoing said enemy troops had moved positions several kilometers back. s u ch claims could not be independently verified. ta ctics have changed” as a result of Ukraine’s improved striking ability, said Kalina, a platoon commander for the Khartia Brigade. Before, they were only able to hit incoming infantry assaults; now, they can employ more artillery against r u ssian firing points. Associated Press writers Volodymyr Yurchuk in Kyiv, and Aamer Madhani, Matt Lee and Tara Copp in Washington, D.C., contributed to this report.

Floods ravage Iowa, forcing evacuations as extreme heat wave broils much of US

By Ed White & John Hanna The Associated Press

Floodwaters forced people out of their homes in parts of Iowa, the result of weeks of rain, while much of the United states longed for relief saturday from yet another round of extraordinary heat.

Sirens blared at 2 a.m. in Rock Valley, Iowa, population 4,200, where people in hundreds of homes were told to get out as the Rock River could no longer take rain that has slammed the region. The city lacked running water because wells were unusable.

Mayor Kevin Van Otterloo said a state helicopter was on its way to help but was called off when boats were able to reach stranded residents.

“We’ve had so much rain here,” he said. “We had 4 inches last night in an hour and a half time. Our ground just cannot take anymore.”

Gov. Kim Reynolds declared a disaster for 21 counties in northern Iowa, including Sioux County, which includes Rock Valley. In drone video posted by the local sheriff, no streets were visible, just roofs and treetops poking above the water.

In South Dakota, Gov. Kristi Noem declared an emergency after the southeastern part of the state received heavy rainfall. The town of Canton, 30 miles (48 kilometers) southeast of Sioux Falls, has received 18 inches (45.72 centimeters) of rain.

Several highways were closed, including a key stretch of Interstate 29 south of Sioux Falls that later reopened. Sioux Falls, the state’s largest city, had more than 7 inches (17.7 centimeters) of rain in three days.

“Even though the rain is slowing down, we need to keep vigilant,” said Noem. “The worst of the flooding along our rivers will be Monday and Tuesday.”

Elsewhere in the US, the miserable grip of heat and humidity continued.

The National Weather Service said roughly 15 million people were under a heat warning—the highest level of

alert

— while another 90 million were under a heat advisory. Millions across the country have had their lives disrupted by stretches of unusually high temperatures.

Last year the US experienced the most heat waves since 1936, experts said. An AP analysis of data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that excessive heat contributed to more than 2,300 deaths, the highest in 45 years of records.

Temperatures around 100 degrees Fahrenheit (37.8 degrees Celsius) were predicted for Washington, D.C., and Richmond, Virginia, while Philadelphia; Newark, New Jersey; Columbus, Ohio; and Detroit were bracing for the high 90s.

Heat-related hospital visits in New York State lately were 500% higher than on the average June day, according to the Department of Health.

“We still have this prolonged heat wave across portions of the Ohio Valley and into the Northeast,” weather service meteorologist Marc Chenard said. “We get a little bit of relief by early in the week, at least in the eastern US, the Northeast, but in general above-normal temperatures are going to cover a large portion of the country even into next week.”

In southeastern Michigan, DTE Energy said 7,400 customers remained without power as of Saturday afternoon due to storm-related outages, down from 75,000 earlier in the week.

A heat index of around 100 Fahrenheit (37.8 Celsius) didn’t stop Florida couple Judy and Bill Watson from watching the Tigers play the White Sox at Detroit’s Comerica Park. Their afternoon visit was a milestone: Bill

Watson has now seen games at all 30 MLB ballparks.

“We’re from Florida. You might be interviewing the wrong people about heat,” the 71-year-old Bradenton man said with a smile. “We drank water, beer occasionally. We were just happy it didn’t get rained out.”

Across the country in California, temperatures in the state’s Central Valley were expected to reach as high as 106 Fahrenheit (41.1 Celsius), and the NWS issued a heat advisory through 8 p.m. Nearly 4,000 homes and businesses in Sacramento lost power for less than an hour in the middle of the day, the Sacramento Bee reported.

In Iowa, power was cut off at wastewater treatment plants in Hawarden and Spencer, which together have 14,000 residents.

Aiden Engelkes said he and his girlfriend grabbed clothes, cats and bottled water and left their flooded first-floor apartment in Spencer for a friend’s dry space on the fourth floor. His Chevy SUV was under the roiling water outside, except for a bit of its antenna. Across the street, he said, friends were on a roof waiting for help.

“It’s terrifying,” said Engelkes, 20.

While the chances for rain were forecast as small into the middle of next week, the National Weather Service predicted expanded flooding before then in the area as high water moved downstream on several rivers

in northern Iowa.

Flooding also closed state highways and county roads in southern Minnesota. Windom, a town of about 4,800 people, received 1.25 inches (3.2 centimeters) of rain on top of earlier heavy downpours, and the Des Moines River there had a record crest.

“We’re having a tough time just keeping up, putting up barricades,” city council member Jenny Quaid said. “We put barricades up, and then all of a sudden the water’s rising so much, the barricade’s way back in the water.”

In New Mexico, heavy rain and flash flood warnings prompted officials to order some evacuations, with shelters set up for displaced residents.

The NWS announced a flash flood emergency on Friday night through early Saturday. The impacted areas included the city of Las Vegas, New Mexico, and communities near Albuquerque.

In Ruidoso, a mountain village in New Mexico, full-time residents will be allowed to return Monday after they were forced out by wildfires, though everyday life won’t return to normal.

“You’re going to need to bring a week’s worth of food, you’re going to need to bring drinking water,” Mayor Lynn Crawford said on Facebook. Hanna reported from Topeka, Kansas. AP reporters Julie Walker in New York City and Ken Miller in Oklahoma City contributed.

Thousands of iran-backed fighters offer to join hezbollah in fight against israel

By Bassem Mroue & Qassim Abdul-Zahra

The Associated Press

Beirut t h ousands of fighters from i ran-backed groups in the Middle e a st are ready to come to l e banon to join with the militant h e zbollah group in its battle with i sr ael if the simmering conflict escalates into a full-blown war, officials with i ran-backed factions and analysts say. a l most daily exchanges of fire have occurred along l e banon’s frontier with northern s rael since fighters from the h amas-controlled Gaza Strip staged a bloody assault on southern i sr ael in early o c tober that set off a war in Gaza. t h e situation to the north worsened this month after an sr aeli airstrike killed a senior h e zbollah military commander in southern l e banon. h e zbollah retaliated by firing hundreds of rockets and explosive drones into northern i s rael.

i sr aeli officials have threatened a military offensive in l e banon if there is no negotiated end to push h e zbollah away from the border.

o v er the past decade, i ran-backed fighters from l e banon, i raq, a f ghanistan and Pakistan fought together in Syria’s 13-year conflict, helping tip the balance in favor of Syrian President Bashar a s sad. o f ficials from i ran-backed groups say they could also join together again against i sr ael.

h e zbollah leader h a ssan n a srallah said in a speech Wednesday that militant leaders from i ran, i raq, Syria, ye men and other countries have previously offered to

send tens of thousands of fighters to help h e zbollah, but he said the group already has more than 100,000 fighters.

“We told them, thank you, but we are overwhelmed by the numbers we have,”

n a srallah said.

n a srallah said the battle in its current form is using only a portion of h e zbollah’s manpower, an apparent reference to the specialized fighters who fire missiles and drones.

But that could change in the event of an all-out war. n a srallah hinted at that possibility in a speech in 2017 in which he said fighters from i ran, i raq, ye men, a f ghanistan and Pakistan “will be partners” of such a war.

o f ficials from l e banese and i raqi groups backed by i ran say i ran-backed fighters from around the region will join in if war erupts on the l e banon- i sr ael border. t h ousands of such fighters are already deployed in Syria and could easily slip through the porous and unmarked border.

Some of the groups have already staged attacks on i sr ael and its allies since the i sr ael- h am as war started o c t. 7. t h e groups from the so-called “axis of resistance” say they are using a “unity of arenas strategy” and they will only stop fighting when i sr ael ends its offensive in Gaza against their ally, h am as.

“We will be (fighting) shoulder to shoulder with h e zbollah” if an all-out war breaks out, one official with an i ran-backed group in i raq told t h e a s sociated Press in Baghdad, insisting on speaking anonymously to discuss military matters. h e r efused to give further details.t h e official, along with another from i raq, said some advisers from

i raq are already in l e banon.

a n official with a l e banese i r an-backed group, also insisting on anonymity, said fighters from i raq’s Popular Mobilization f o rces, a f ghanistan’s fat imiyoun, Pakistan Zeinabiyoun and the ran-backed rebel group in ye men known as h outhis could come to l e banon to take part in a war.

Qassim Qassir, an expert on h e zbollah, agreed the current fighting is mostly based on high technology such as firing missiles and does not need a large number of fighters. But if a war broke out and lasted for a long period, h e zbollah might need support from outside l e banon, he said.

h nting to this matter could be (a message) that these are cards that could be used,” he said.

i sr ael is also aware of the possible influx of foreign fighters.

e ran e t zion, former head of policy planning for the sr aeli Ministry of f o reign a f fairs, said at a panel discussion hosted by the Washington-based Middle e a st i nstitute on t h ursday that he sees “a high probability” of a “multi-front war.”

h e said there could be intervention by the h o uthis and i raqi militias and a “massive flow of jihadists from (places) including a f ghanistan, Pakistan” into l e banon and into Syrian areas bordering i sr ael.

Daniel h a gari, i sr ael’s military spokesman, said in a televised statement this past week that since h e zbollah started its attacks on i sr ael on o c t. 8, it has fired more than 5,000 rockets, anti-tank missiles and drones toward i sr ael.

“ h e zbollah’s increasing aggression is bringing us to the brink of what could be

Us diplomat affirms strong relations with Vietnam days after Putin’s visit

By Aniruddha Ghosal The Associated Press

HANOI, Vietnam—A senior US diplomat held talks in Vietnam on Saturday and said that the trust between the two countries was at an “all-time high,” just days after Russian President Vladimir Putin’s state visit to Hanoi.

US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and Pacific Affairs Daniel Kritenbrink insisted that his trip was unrelated to Putin’s visit on Thursday. Vietnam had elevated the United States to its highest diplomatic status, comprehensive strategic partner, last year, putting it at the same level as China and Russia. The elevation of the US ties suggested that Vietnam wanted to hedge its friendships as Western companies look to diversify their supply chains away from China.

Kritenbrink was speaking at a briefing for selected media in Hanoi.

A recording of the interaction was reviewed by The Associated Press. Putin’s trip to Hanoi had triggered a sharp rebuke from the US Embassy in Hanoi, which said that “no country should give Putin a platform to promote his war of aggression and otherwise allow him to normalize his atrocities,” referring to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, now in its third year.

The American East Asia envoy echoed those concerns but said that he made it clear to Vietnamese officials that the “main reason” for his trip was the partnership between the US and Vietnam. He met Vietnamese Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son.

“Only Vietnam can decide how best to safeguard its sovereignty and advance its interests,” he said, while stressing the economic relations between Vietnam and its largest export market, the US. Trade between the two countries was $111 billion in 2023 — compared to just $3.6 billion between Vietnam and Russia.

Russia remains important for Vietnam, not just because it is an old ally from the Cold War era, but also because it continues to be its biggest defense supplier and Russian oil exploration technologies help maintain

a wider escalation, one that could have devastating consequences for l e banon and the entire region,” h a gari said. “ i sr ael will continue fighting against i ran’s axis of evil on all fronts.”

h e zbollah officials have said they don’t want an all-out war with i sr ael but if it happens they are ready.

“We have taken a decision that any expansion, no matter how limited it is, will be faced with an expansion that deters such a move and inflicts heavy i sr aeli losses,” h e zbollah’s deputy leader, n ai m Kassem, said in a speech this past week.

t h e u n . special coordinator for l e banon, Jeanine h ennis-Plasschaert, and the commander of the u n . peacekeeping force deployed along l e banon’s southern border, l t . Gen. a r oldo l á zaro, said in a joint statement that “the danger of miscalculation leading to a sudden and wider conflict is very real.”

t h e last large-scale conflict between i sr ael and h e zbollah occurred in the summer of 2006, when the two fought a 34day war that killed about 1,200 people in l e banon and 140 in i sr ael.

Since the latest run of clashes began, more than 400 people have been killed in l e banon, the vast majority of them fighters but including 70 civilians and non-combatants. o n t he i sr aeli side, 16 soldiers and 11 civilians have been killed. te ns of thousands have been displaced on both sides of the border. Abdul-Zahra reported from Baghdad. Associated Press writers Ellen Knickmeyer in Washington and Abby Sewell in Beirut contributed to this report.

Vietnam’s sovereignty claims in the contested South China Sea.

Kritenbrink said that China’s increasingly assertive actions in pressing its claims to virtually the entire South China Sea were a cause of “great concern” for the region and the world.

The territorial disputes, which involve China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan, have long been seen as an Asian flashpoint that could pit the US against China if the high seas confrontations escalate into an armed conflict.

Vietnam said Friday that it was ready to hold talks with the Philippines to settle their overlapping claims to the undersea continental shelf in the South China Sea in a diplomatic approach that contrasts with China.

“We think that China’s actions, particularly its recent actions, around the Second Thomas Shoal, vis-à-vis the Philippines have been irresponsible, aggressive, dangerous, deeply destabilizing,” Kritenbrink said. He stressed that defense treaties between the US and its ally the Philippines were “ironclad.”

The Philippines said Friday it has no plan to invoke its mutual defense treaty with the US after the Chinese coast guard reportedly rammed, boarded and used machetes and axes to damage two Philippine navy boats in a chaotic faceoff that injured Fili

pino navy personnel.

India, Bangladesh strengthen ties with defense agreement, aiming to counter China’s influence

By Ashok Sharma The Associated Press

DELHI—India

EW

Nand Bangladesh on Saturday moved to bolster their defense relationship and signed agreements for expanding cooperation in maritime security, ocean economy, space, and telecommunication sectors, as New Delhi tries to present itself as a regional power and a counterweight to China.

The agreements were signed during Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s visit to India, the first foreign leader to visit New Delhi since Narendra Modi became the country’s prime minister for a third term two weeks ago.

Modi welcomed Bangladesh’s decision to join his Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative to expand and facilitate regional cooperation of India’s maritime neighbors. He said the deals with Dhaka were part of his country’s pursuit of a neighborhood-first approach.

Hasina told reporters in New Delhi that the two countries decided to boost the sharing of river waters and cooperation in the power and energy sectors.

She also met Indian industry leaders and invited them to invest in Bangladesh, which plans to develop bigger ports, waterways, rail, and road connectivity. India loaned Bangladesh $8 billion in the last eight years, to help expand that infrastructure. Since Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League party came to power in 2009, she has acted to address New Delhi’s concern about Indian militant groups taking shelter in Bangladesh. However, an agreement on sharing the waters of the River Teesta remains elusive. The question of illegal immigration from Bangladesh to India also has dogged bilateral ties for years.

India is Bangladesh’s largest export destination in Asia. Trade between the two countries touched $15.9 billion in the financial year 2022-2023. New Delhi mainly exports cotton, motor vehicles, sugar, iron, steel, aluminum, electrical and electronic equipment to Bangladesh. It imports cereal, pulp paper and board, cement, and raw hides from Bangladesh.

Bangladesh also enjoys good ties with China, its major trade partner mostly for raw materials. But maintaining a close relationship with Beijing is challenging for Bangladesh, which also balances diplomatic and trade relationships with India and the United States, China’s main rivals. Bangladesh’s garment industry, which brings in more than 80% of foreign currency from exports, is heavily dependent on China for raw materials.

PUVMP needs a tune-up: Balancing progress and jeepney drivers’ welfare editorial

The Public Utility Vehicles Modernization Program has been a topic of discussion and debate for several years. The recent statements from the Senate Public Services Committee, including both the former and current chairman, shed light on the persisting issues surrounding the program. While the aim of modernizing public transportation is commendable, it is crucial to consider the impact on the livelihoods of drivers and the welfare of commuters. The government needs to address these concerns and develop a more humane and feasible timeline for the PUVMP. (Read the BusinessMirror report, “Senators to regulators: PUV modernization must be affordable, not jeopardize commuters,” June 22, 2024).

Senator Grace Poe’s emphasis on the need for a comprehensive plan is well founded. It is disheartening to learn that after seven years of implementation, there is still no solid plan in place for the thousands of drivers and operators who have invested their lives in this industry. The Department of Transportation (DOTr) must prioritize the completion of route plans before reducing the number of PUV units. Without clear routes and efficient management, the modernization program will fall short of its objectives and cause unnecessary disruptions to the existing transportation system.

Furthermore, the government must ensure that the transition to modernized vehicles is affordable for drivers. Senator Poe rightly questions the necessity of importing expensive units when local manufacturing can provide a more cost-effective alternative. Supporting local manufacturers not only promotes domestic industries but also helps to alleviate the financial burden on drivers. The implementation of the PUVMP should not render thousands of Filipinos unemployed or compromise the accessibility of transportation for commuters.

In addition to addressing affordability, the government needs to improve its budget utilization rate and disburse allocated funds effectively. Senator Poe’s mention of the poor utilization rate and the failure to disburse the allocated budget for programs like Tsuper Iskolar and EnTSUPERneur raises concerns about the transparency and efficiency of the implementation process. The DOTr must be held accountable for managing the budget appropriately and ensuring that financial resources are utilized for the benefit of drivers and operators.

The remarks from Senators Raffy Tulfo, JV Ejercito, and Robinhood Padilla further highlight the need for alternatives and coordination within the modernization program. Senator Tulfo rightly points out that the high cost of modern jeepneys poses a significant burden on drivers who earn meager daily wages. Exploring alternative solutions and considering the restoration of the traditional jeepney design can provide viable options that address both modernization and affordability concerns.

Additionally, coordination between the modernization of PUVs and the overall transit system is essential. Senator Ejercito’s call for the integration of PUV modernization into a comprehensive master plan is valid. The government should ensure that the routes and franchises issued align with the broader transit system, creating a seamless and efficient transportation network.

Senator Padilla’s support for local manufacturers and the recognition of the vital role played by jeepney drivers in public transport is commendable. Protecting the interests of thousands of jeepney drivers and ensuring their livelihoods are not compromised should be a priority throughout the modernization process. Balancing the goals of modernization with the preservation of local industries and the welfare of drivers is crucial for the success of the PUVMP. Modernizing public transportation is essential, but it should not come at the expense of the livelihoods of drivers or the accessibility of transportation for commuters.

The PUVMP, while aiming for a modern and efficient public transportation system, must be implemented in a way that doesn’t leave drivers and commuters behind. This program is not just about upgrading vehicles; it’s about improving the lives of millions of Filipinos who rely on public transportation. The Senate’s call for a more humane and feasible approach is a crucial step towards achieving this goal.

BusinessMirror

So we ranked low on creative thinking, what now?

TRISING SUN

here was a controversial post recently lamenting the shallowness of reading materials available in a popular bookstore chain. In essence, the poster suggested that readers should focus more on local titles written by good writers and books that promote critical thinking. Some people reacted negatively to the post, arguing that a nation that reads anything at all is better than one that doesn’t read.

A recent study conducted by the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) showed that Filipino students performed poorly, ranking near the bottom among 64 countries in terms of their ability to think creatively. We were second to last, alongside Albania, Uzbekistan, and Morocco.

Could this be because we don’t read the right books? Rep. Roman Romulo of Pasig City, chairperson of the House’s basic education committee, said the results indicate a need to improve our students’ fundamental competencies in reading, mathemat-

ics, and science. Rep. Romulo’s point is supported by data showing that Filipino students have consistently ranked among the world’s weakest in math, reading, and science since 2018, the year we joined the PISA test. But how can we help our students use their imagination and think outside the box? Rep. Romulo suggested that it should start with the mastery of basic functional literacy, including reading comprehension and basic math and science. It would be difficult for students to think creatively if they can’t even understand the sentences or situations described in

test questions. Additionally, teachers need to be upskilled with appropriate training based on their and their students’ needs. Uncreative teachers may find it difficult to teach creativity or encourage their students to be creative. The government and educational institutions must collaborate to provide teachers with the necessary tools and methodologies to promote a more innovative learning environment. This includes workshops, continuous professional development programs, and exposure to new teaching strategies that emphasize creative thinking and problem-solving skills.

Creativity is an advanced quality that begins with imagination and is essential for creating sophisticated works like music, poetry, paintings, films, and other forms of art. Ideally, it should be nurtured from a young age so children grow up in a creative and supportive environment. It is a lifelong endeavor and should be a constant feature in our daily lives. There is a need to incorporate creative activities not just in school but also at home.

Having said this, parents and guardians play a crucial role in this aspect by providing a stimulating

environment that encourages curiosity and exploration. Simple activities such as storytelling, drawing, and engaging in imaginative play can significantly impact a child’s creative development.

Returning to my initial point about the choice of reading materials, perhaps it is safe to say that some curation is necessary if the goal is to develop creative thinkers. We can’t become creative if we continue to consume media that do not support our creative growth.

Bookstores and libraries should take an active role in promoting literature that challenges the mind and nurtures creativity. This can be achieved by featuring works from local authors who provide diverse perspectives and by stocking books that encourage critical thinking and imaginative exploration. To develop a generation of creative and critical thinkers, it is imperative to address the quality of educational content and the competencies of educators. By cultivating a culture that values and nurtures creativity both in educational institutions and at home, we can hope to see significant improvements in our students’ ability to think creatively and solve complex problems.

Interesting sidelights in the Meralco franchise narrative

There are interesting sidelights to the ongoing narrative regarding the renewal bid for the franchise of Manila electric Co. And the battle lines seem to dwell on two issues that are being touted by those groups against the renewal of its franchise. Let us bring them to light so that they are well ventilated.

The first issue that crops up is the issue of ownership. Those opposed say that there are no records about who or what company really owned Meralco. And this is being raised in the committee hearings of Congress where the question on who owns Meralco is being raised during deliberations on its franchise renewal.

One question being propounded is whether the Lopez clan still exercise ownership control of the utility and on this score reference is cited on the use of GSIS funds to purchase the ownership of the utility’s subscribers during the term of President Ferdinand Marcos Sr. Later, it was returned to the Lopez clan on the ascendancy of President Aquino.

But this is disputed by House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Rep. Joe y Sarte Salceda, who said that the ownership of Meralco is a non-issue. Salceda, a topnotch

market mover during his time with Barings Securities, said that “government ownership of Meralco has also long been resolved.”

Salceda, who is pushing for the renewal of the franchise of Meralco, cited that there are 63 million shares owned by foreigners or 5.59 percent of the total 1.1 billion shares of the electricity distribution company as per its May foreign ownership disclosure. Being a listed company, Meralco is mandated to fully disclose the ownership of its shares as well as other material information on the company. According to Salceda, “of the 450 million shares that foreigners are allowed to own, Meralco has only 63 million shares actually owned by foreigners.” He added: “It has been the long-held policy of past administrations not to undermine the 19861991 reviews of Meralco’s ownership,

which gave the plurality of shares or 2 percent to the government.”

The second issue pertains to the WACC rates, or the weighted average capital cost, which critics opposing the franchise renewal argue is excessively high at approximately 15 percent for Meralco to charge. On this, the opponents to the franchise renewal, notably Congressman Dan Fernandez, say the WACC is no longer accurate.

Fernandez cites the earnings of Meralco in zeroing in on the WACC rates, which plays a pivotal role in determining our power bills. And here, those opposed say that Meralco is earning much from the rates set by regulators.

But this is disputed by Meralco spokesperson Joe Zaldarriaga, who said that Rep. Fernandez’s claims are inaccurate as Meralco’s rates are at par with the service it provides.

“Our rates and service are monitored strictly by the regulator and records show that we have always outperformed and have more than complied with the level of service expected from us,” Zaldarriaga said.

“As far as our rates are concerned, records will also show that at current levels Meralco’s charges are lower than many jurisdictions in the country, which is the reason why some areas are clamoring for Meralco’s level of service,” Zaldarriaga added.

Indeed, if there are issues on the power rates that Meralco is charging, then how come there are several

business organizations that bat for the franchise renewal. This means that Meralco is providing reliable electricity and driving the nation’s economic growth.

Last week, the Federation of Philippine Industries (FPI) strongly endorsed the renewal of Meralco’s legislative franchise, highlighting the power distributor’s pivotal role in maintaining stable electricity service amid recent supply challenges. In a letter addressed to Congressman Gustavo Tambunting, Chairman of the House Committee on Legislative Franchises, FPI Chairman Jesus L. Arranza commended Meralco for its efficient service and proactive measures in mitigating supply imbalances. The renewal of Meralco’s franchise, according to FPI, is crucial for the stability and competitiveness of Philippine industries.

“We urge the Committee to recognize Meralco’s significant contribution to the manufacturing sector. By renewing its franchise, the Committee would ensure the stability needed to propel Philippine industries forward,” Arranza highlighted. Also, the Advocates and Keepers Organization of Overseas Filipino Workers (AKO-OFW), a party-list, has also expressed vigorous support for the distribution utility’s franchise renewal. The organization advocates for OFW employment in economic zones, which heavily depend on good power quality—a standard consistently met by Meralco.

Atty. Jose Ferdinand M. Rojas II

LITO GAGNI

Principles-based tax planning

TFood sovereignty

Joel L. Tan-Torres

DEBIT CREDIT

Part two

HoSe in the accountancy, tax, and business sectors should keenly follow the forthcoming implementation of the Guidelines of tax planning and related services (Guidelines) https:// www.ethicsboard.org/publications/final-pronouncement-revisionscode-addressing-tax-planning-and-related-services). These Guidelines were drafted by the International ethics Standards Board for Accountants (IeSBA) of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) for global implementation, including the Philippines, by June 30. 2025. There are groundbreaking rules that are included in these Guidelines. These rules shall govern the practice of tax planning activities by professional accountants in commerce and industry, practice, and other sectors. These may also have impact to non-accountants doing tax planning activities.

Before the implementation in 2025, the Professional Regulatory Board of Accountancy (BOA) and the Philippine Institute of Certified Public Accountants (PICPA) are presently undergoing consultation with the affected stakeholders on these Guidelines. There should be a thorough discussion among BOA, PICPA, and Certified Public Accountants (CPAs) on the provisions of the Guidelines, including the disclosure and transparency requirements. These provisions are sensitive since these require measures that may impinge on the confidentiality of information and CPA-client relationships. I cite below some of the paragraph sections and pertinent provisions:

1. N on-compliance with Tax Laws and Regulations.

“280.8

A1. If, in the course of performing a tax planning activity, a professional accountant becomes aware of tax evasion or suspected tax evasion, or other non-compliance or suspected noncompliance with tax laws and regulations by an employing organization, management, those charged with governance or other individuals working for or under the direction of the employing organization, the requirements and application material set out in Section 260 (Responding to Non-compliance with Laws and Regulations) apply.”

2. R esponsibilities of Management and Those Charged with Governance of the Employing Organization.

“280.9 A1. In relation to tax planning, management, with the oversight of those charged with governance, has a number of responsibilities, including: xxx Making appropriate disclosure of tax strategy, policies, or other tax-related matters in the financial statements or other relevant public documents in accordance with applicable reporting requirements.”

3. Tax Planning Arrangements Involving Multiple Jurisdictions.

“280.16 A1. There might be circumstances where a professional accountant becomes aware that an employing organization is obtaining a tax benefit from accounting for the same transaction in more than one jurisdiction, especially if there is no tax treaty between the jurisdictions. In such circumstances, while the employing organization might comply with the tax laws and regulations of each jurisdiction, the accountant might advise management to disclose to the relevant tax authorities the particular facts and circumstances and the tax benefits derived from the transaction in the different jurisdictions”

4. Potential Threats Arising from Performing a Tax Planning Activity.

“280. 19 A4. Examples of actions that might be safeguards to address such threats include:

xxx Having the employing organization provide full transparency about the tax planning arrangement to the relevant tax authorities, including the goals, business and legal aspects, and ultimate beneficiaries of the tax planning arrangement.”

Before the implementation in 2025, the Professional Regulatory Board of Accountancy and the Philippine Institute of Certified Public Accountants are presently undergoing consultation with the affected stakeholders on these Guidelines. There should be a thorough discussion among BOA, PICPA, and Certified Public Accountants on the provisions of the Guidelines, including the disclosure and transparency requirements.

5. N on-compliance with Tax Laws and Regulations.

“380.8 A1. If, in the course of providing tax planning services, a professional accountant becomes aware of tax evasion or suspected tax evasion, or other non-compliance or suspected noncompliance with tax laws and regulations by a client, management, those charged with governance or other individuals working for or under the direction of the client, the requirements and application material set out in Section 360 (Responding to Non-compliance with Laws and Regulations) apply.”

6. Potential Threats Arising from Providing a Tax Planning Service.

“380.19 A4. Examples of actions that might be safeguards to address such threats include: xxx Having the client provide full transparency about the tax planning arrangement to the relevant tax authorities, including the goals, business and legal aspects, and ultimate beneficiaries of the tax planning arrangement.”

7. Disagreement with the client.

“380.22. If the client decides to pursue the tax planning arrangement despite the professional accountant’s advice to the contrary, the accountant shall advise the client to:

xxx (c) Consider communicating the details of the arrangement and the difference of views to the external auditor, if any.

380.22 A1. As part of communicating the matters set out in paragraphs R380.21 and R380.22, a professional accountant might consider it appropriate to raise the relevant matters with those charged with governance of the client.”

How will these provisions, once effected, impact the confidentiality of information, data privacy, and CPA-client relationships? I will dwell on these and more in the continuation of my column next week.

To be continued

Joel L. Tan-Torres was a former Commissioner of the Bureau of Internal Revenue. He has also held the various positions of Dean of the University of the Philippines Virata School of Business, Chairman of the Professional Regulatory Board of Accountancy, Tax partner of Reyes Tacandong & Co. and the SyCip Gorres and Velayo & Co., and director of various corporate boards. He is a Certified Public Accountant who garnered No. 1 in the CPA Board Examination of May 1979. He is now back to his tax and consultancy practice and can be contacted at joeltantorress@yahoo.com and his firm JL2T Consultancy.

Siegfred Bueno Mison, Esq.

THE PATRIOT

Some professors of Ateneo Law School recently went to Hanoi, Vietnam for their annual Faculty Development Trip. Aside from the hot and humid weather, what I will remember the most about my first time in that part of Vietnam was how the people looked like, at least those who I saw in the capital city—tireless, slim, alert, as if always in a hurry. To put in bluntly, I hardly saw any Vietnamese who was plump, fat, or chubby. I think food is a major factor considering the typical Vietnamese meal is largely composed of fresh vegetables, fresh seafood, with a combination of herbs and spices. It appears that there is no threat to food security; after all, Vietnam is one of the biggest producer and exporter of rice and even coffee.

Ironically, the Philippines now imports rice from Vietnam, despite having learned rice cultivation techniques from Filipino agricultural experts just a few decades ago. Food security in the Philippines leaves much to be desired due to the prevailing lack of infrastructure, including farm-to-market roads, insufficient irrigation systems, and inadequate agricultural facilities. This issue has persistently plagued the nation, often serving as a recurring political promise during election campaigns In a forum a few days ago, Congressman Argel Cabatbat posited the concept of food sovereignty, something far superior than just having sufficient food to eat. For Cong. Argel, the four pillars of food security—availability, access, utilization, and stability can be further enhanced by focusing not on the sheer quantity but the process behind the production. He said that people should be concerned not just about sufficiency but the assurance that the food they eat comes from sources that are fair and just to its farmers and environmentally friendly, among others. According to a US

Too

food organization, food security is more about “healthy and culturally appropriate food produced through ecologically sound and sustainable methods.” Hence, abundance of food is essential, but the means of producing it is far more important. There is no food sovereignty when there is overexploitation of labor resulting to an imbalance of the burden of food production among farmers, traders, capitalists, and other stakeholders. Sound food sovereignty policies look at food more than just a commodity, but a gift of life, which should not be abused by technological innovations that undermine food systems. Food sovereignty promotes the people’s right to define their own food and “to determine the extent to which they want to be self reliant” (Nyeleni Declaration 2007). Some can be “food secure” by way of aid packages, but may not have “food sovereignty” because their access to their own food production is compromised, if not limited by forces beyond their control.

The Philippines being an inherent agricultural state, I think leaders of this country should embrace

late the hero

By Atty. Nino Juan Part one

Too late the hero: How invoking police power does not make up for regulatory inaction. I say this about the energy Regulatory Commission (eRC) as an electricity consumer and a lawyer. And in the spirit of full disclosure, as a former eRC executive Director. I say this about two recent issuances from the eRC that seemingly may have been rendered with the best intentions in mind. In truth, however, they only mask a crisis of regulation and indecision. In the process, these recent issuances create far graver problems than that which the eRC wishes to address—the country’s ballooning power rates.

The first is the ERC’s Order on June 13, 2024 in ERC Case No. 2024017MC. In this Order, the ERC gives blanket approval for the deferment by the Distribution Utilities (DUs) of the recovery of their WESM costs. This results to the immediate, albeit artificial, lowering of the generation charge of at least 58 DUs that procured up to 99.86 percent of their generation supply requirement from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM). Manila Electric Company (Meralco), the country’s biggest DU, has just announced its reduction in the generation charge for this month. As a Meralco customer, I am torn between celebrating the issuance of the Order and writing this opinion. Well, the latter has prevailed. In the absence of “the confluence of extraordinary conditions” that the ERC cites in its Order, the DUs are billed by the WESM Market Operator for their electricity purchases from generator companies that are not covered by bilateral power supply agreements (PSAs) with them. The DUs then include these WESM costs in full in the calculation of their generation charges for the current billing month, which they then impose on and collect from their captive

this identity and focus on food sovereignty and not just food security. We may out-talk India and beat them in the business process outsourcing but we can never outmanufacture Korea and other Asian neighbors. Our country was blessed with abundant natural resources, on land and in the sea. There were programs in the past focused on agriculture, specifically rice production, like Masagana 99, way back in 1973. Sadly, most agricultural experts consider it more as a failure. While the program briefly addressed the rice shortage, it could not sustain the farmer production due to the problematic credit system and the use of pesticides that were harmful to the environment. Former Agriculture Secretary Domingo Panganiban opined in one webinar that the program collapsed because it forgot about the small farmer and replaced the technicians with non-agriculturists. Compounded with the low loan repayment and rising farmer debt, Masagana 99 ended quietly 10 years after its creation. The government, at that time, could not simply wave a magic wand and instantly create self-reliant farmers.

In the Bible, believers agree that everyone has the right to produce their own food and be self-reliant, pursuant to God’s instructions in Genesis 2:15. “In the beginning,” God created food not only as a source of sustenance, but to serve as an integral connection between God and mankind. Man was created to be a major component in food production. Yet, when it comes to food, the Bible goes beyond bread alone. Physical food can be good and necessary but spiritual nourishment is the most essential just as how Jesus taught us in John 6:35, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” Applying what believers have read in the

Bible or have been taught to them by genuine ministers is crucial to spiritual growth. Similar to physical food sovereignty, believers also need to scrutinize those who have been giving them spiritual food given the many fake preachers whose congregations are fixed on them and not to the Almighty God. I think churches whose leaders are twisting God’s Word for their selfish desires need to be exposed for they are giving spiritual food that comes from corrupted versions. Believers need to be more circumspect in studying the Bible, as there can be “holy instructors” who can be the devil in disguise. For each believer not to experience the same fate as Masagana 99, which had a great start but poor ending, issues on spiritual food sovereignty must be nipped in the bud as in the case of cult-like organizations like Socorro Bayanihan Services in Surigao del Norte. However which way their members refute it, SBSI remains as a cult to many believers. The leaders of the Catholic Church consider the belief of SBSI that its leader, Senior Agila, is the reincarnation of the Santo Niño, as an insult to Jesus Christ. Believers must have the courage to stay away from these false teachers and teachings. As in the case of healthy Vietnamese people who rely on fresh food for sustenance, believers should lean on “fresh,” unadulterated spiritual food that can only come from One Holy Book!

A former infantry and intelligence officer in the Army, Siegfred Mison showcased his servant leadership philosophy in organizations such as the Integrated Bar of the Philippines, Malcolm Law Offices, Infogix Inc., University of the East, Bureau of Immigration, and Philippine Airlines. He is a graduate of West Point in New York, Ateneo Law School, and University of Southern California. A corporate lawyer by profession, he is an inspirational teacher and a Spirit-filled writer with a mission. For questions and comments, please e-mail me at sbmison@gmail.com.

possibility now that some generators may have to renegotiate with fuel suppliers for installment payments or incur new obligations to make up for the unanticipated reduced cashflows. For such new obligations, since they have no recourse from their customers, they are forced to absorb the added costs. Worse, they may have to postpone or scrimp on planned plant maintenance while they await t he DUs’ payments, which can then result to more unplanned outages, red alerts, and WESM spikes. These are just some of the unseen costs of deferment.

To force the generators to make this sacrifice, the ERC invokes police power. Police power requires the concurrence of two things: a lawful subject and a lawful method.

market customers. After collection, these amounts are remitted to the WESM Market Operator who then pays the generators that provided the generation supply to the DUs. In short, the generation companies sell electricity through the WESM and the DUs’ captive customers buy, consume the electricity, and after more than a month, pay for the electricity they consumed. Under normal conditions, for the generators, there is already a lag between the generators’ actual generation of electricity (and incurring of cost) and receipt of payment from the consumers.

The effect of the Order dated June 13, 2024, therefore, is to lengthen that lag. The payments that are due to the generation companies get deferred by the ERC directive for the DUs to recover their WESM generation costs from their consumers over a period of four months, instead of just one month. While the impact of the DUs’ WESM exposures is mitigated and the consumers get to enjoy “artificially” low generation prices for the current month, the generators’ collections are delayed also. The consumers remain liable for these deferred costs and will pay in full eventually. But with this ERCmandated deferment, there is the

The ERC maintains that these two are present when it issued the Order on June 13, 2024. It explains: “The high WESM prices during the summer months, coupled with the high WESM exposure of several DUs, is a lawful subject of the Commission’s exercise of its delegated police power authority. The partial deferral of payments for WESM charges and the corresponding staggered collection from electricity consumers for the purpose of mitigating the effects on the latter of the exorbitant power rates during period of unprecedented heat waves, causing sharp increase in demand coinciding with significant capacity outages, satisfies the requisite of lawful subject.”

That ERC has delegated police power is not disputed. In fact, it is the very foundation of its regulatory authority. Whether or not it is proper for the ERC to invoke police power under the circumstances is not what I intend to write about. I will leave that to the legal experts and perhaps the higher courts to decide. What I am interested in are the circumstances that gave rise to “the confluence of extraordinary conditions” and what role the ERC played in creating the environment

that bred these “extraordinary conditions.” What are these conditions anyway and could they have been prevented in the first place?

The ERC cites the following conditions to justify its invocation of police power: 1) declaration of market suspension on certain trading intervals due to insufficiency of supply; 2) high WESM prices; and 3) high exposure of at least 58 DUs to WESM, meaning that these DUs procured a staggering 20 percent or more of their supply requirements through the WESM, instead of bilateral PSAs. All the DUs operating throughout the country are under obligation to procure enough generation supply to meet the requirements of their captive customers. Generally, they comply with this obligation by contracting directly with generators under a PSA or indirectly through the WESM. Before contracting under a PSA, the DUs are required to undergo an open and transparent Competitive Selection Process (CSP), which is done under the Department of Energy’s (DOE) auspices, from approval of their Power Supply Procurement Plans (PSPPs) up to the final Terms of Reference for their CSP. The CSP takes several months to complete and there is no guaranty that it will conclude in the execution of a PSA at first try. Once a PSA is executed, the DU and generation company submit the same to the ERC by filing a PSA Application for the ERC’s approval of the rates at which the generation company will be paid for its generation supply under the PSA (PSA Application). Only after the ERC approves the PSA can the DU implement such PSA. If the DU implements the PSA without awaiting the ERC’s approval, the PSA is treated as ineligible and the DU is prohibited from including its associated costs under such ineligible PSA in its generation charge computation. On top of this, the DU is administratively penalized with fines that can amount to millions.

To be continued

DOT TWEAKS PROMOTION TACK TO FILL CHINESE ARRIVALS GAP

By Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo @akosistellaBM Special

BusinessMirror

to the

HE Department of Tourism

T(DOT) is finally revising its promotions strategy to sell the Philippines more to key and so-called opportunity markets, so as not to rely on mainland China to boost inbound arrivals to prepandemic levels.

Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco on Friday acknowledged the security concerns surrounding the issuance of tourist visas to Chinese nationals amid their increasing involvement in illicit activities in the country, as well as rising diplomatic tensions between Manila and Beijing. “They’re [China] still among our top 10 [markets], but we are recalibrating our efforts so we can double the arrivals from South Korea, increase tourists from the US, and hopefully, we can open up Japan. And according to our tourism stakeholders, we’re seeing high demand from India and the Middle East,” she said in a mix of English and Filipino.

The imposition of more requirements for visas coming into the Philippines will certainly pose challenges in terms of ushering in more Chinese tourists to the country. However, we understand the policy direction as well as the decision of the Department of Foreign Affairs [DFA], especially that it is

based on certain security components,” she added.

The DFA recently imposed more requirements on Chinese tourist visa applications and previously suspended the electronic visa application process in China in December. But it is currently pilot-testing the e-visa scheme in India, the largest source of outbound tourists in Asia in 2022, with 21 million international travelers that year.

2.73M arrivals as of June 12

DATA from the DOT showed the Philippines received some 2.73 million inbound tourists from January 1 to June 12, 2024, of which foreign tourists accounted for 93.15 percent or 2.55 million, while the rest were overseas Filipinos or Philippine passport holders permanently residing abroad.

The key markets for the period were: South Korea with 722,887 tourists (26.44 percent of total); followed by the United States 434,592 (15.9 percent); China 177,268 (6.5 percent); Japan 166,898 (6.1 percent); Australia 118,679 (4.34 percent); Canada 105,478 (3.86 percent); Taiwan 101,366 (3.71 percent); United Kingdom 76,916 (2.81 percent); Singapore 69,750 (2.55 percent); and Malaysia 45,053 (1.65 percent). India placed 13 among the Philippines tourism markets, with tourists reaching 37,356 in the period.

NG end-April infra spending improves 18.2% to ₧335.7B

By Reine Juvierre S. Alberto

ment’s infrastructure spending improved as of end-April as the state disbursed P335.7 billion to fast-track the construction of roads and modernize defense projects.

L atest data from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) showed state infrastructure expenditure and other capital outlays from January to April 2024 rose by 18.2 percent to P335.7 billion from P284 billion recorded in the same period a year ago. T he DBM said the increase in spending for infrastructure was due to the implementation of various road infrastructure programs of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and defense modernization projects of the De -

partment of National Defense (DND).

For April alone, infrastructure spending and other capital outlays also increased by 36.2 percent year-on-year to P118.9 billion from P87.3 billion in 2023.

The strong infrastructure spending performance was largely on account of the implementation of infrastructure projects of the DPWH,” the DBM said.

T hese projects include the construction, repair and rehabilitation of roads, bridges and flood control structures and the con -

struction of administrative, hospital and multi-purpose buildings, the DBM added.

Specifically, the DBM cited the release of local counterpart funds for various Department of Transportation (DOTr) foreign-assisted projects to enhance road networks as a contributor to the growth in expenditures.

Moreover, the DBM also attributed the boost in infrastructure spending to the implementation of capital outlay projects under the Revised Armed Forces of the Philippines Modernization Program (RAFPMP) of the DND amounting to P8.6 billion to strengthen national security capabilities.

O verall state spending as of end-April 2024 rose by 16.2 percent to P1.7 trillion from last year’s P1.463 trillion. For April, national government disbursements grew by 32.2 percent year-on-year to P494.5 billion from P373.9 billion in 2023.

“Almost all expenditure items increased, but more significant expansion was recorded in maintenance and other operating expenses [MOOE], infrastructure and other capital outlays, interest payments, and subsidy support to government corporations,” the

DBM noted.

Total allotment releases reached P4.958 trillion, equivalent to 86 percent of the P5.767 trillion national budget for 2024, as of endApril, according to the DBM. A total of P809.2 billion or 14 percent of the obligation program remains undisbursed.

For the month of May, some P88.6

TBy Ada Pelonia

HE Philippines’s confectionery and ice cream market will surpass its peers in the Asia Pacific, according to a Global Agricultural Information Network (Gain) report.

The Philippine market for confectionery and ice cream, including both local and imported products, reached an estimated retail value of $1.2 billion in 2023,” the report read.

“ Under a forecast of eight percent compound annual growth rate, this market will surpass Asia-Pa -

cific’s 5-percent growth, reaching $1.8 billion by 2028.”

It added that chocolate confectionery dominated the market, accounting for 38 percent of total sales, followed by ice cream (34 percent), sugar confectionery (25 percent), and gum (3 percent).

T he Gain report noted that the market is “well-established,” with local processors having two-thirds of the market share. Universal Robina is a key player in the chocolate and sugar confectionery segments. Mondelez and Delfi Foods are significant competitors in the chocolate confectionery market, while

Columbia also holds a strong position in sugar confectionery. The gum market is led by Mars Wrigley and Columbia, with Unilever-RFM, Froneri, and San Miguel Foods being the leading players in the ice cream market.

A s for the imports, the Philippines purchased $390 million worth of confectionery and ice cream from other countries in 2023. Sugar confectionery constituted the largest share (49 percent), followed by ice cream (27 percent), chocolate confectionery (23 percent), and gum (one percent). See “Confectionary,” A2

A16 Monday, June 24, 2024

Editor: Jennifer A. Ng

B1 Monday, June 24, 2024

Prime Energy set to drill 3 wells in Malampaya–exec

By Lenie Lectura @llectura

Prime energy resources Development (Prime energy) is set to drill two wells in the Camago and malampaya east fields and a third exploration well, approximately 15 kilometers north of malampaya, in 2025.

“They will be drilled at the same time, total of three. I think it will start middle of next year,” said Prime energy Managing Director and General Manager Donnabel Kuizon Cruz.

The drilling of the two wells is estimated to cost $800 million while the budget for the third well has yet to be finalized. “The third is an exploration well. It’s included in the plan but the budget for it has to be approved separately,” she added.

A fourth well is possible only after the results of the drilling for the three wells are determined.

“It depends on the outcome next year. If the outcome is very good,” added Cruz.

Prime e n ergy operates the Malampaya Deep Water-Gas-toPower Project, the country’s first and only indigenous gas resource off the province of Palawan. The gas field supplies indigenous fuel to four gas-fired power plants in Batangas— Santa Rita, San Lorenzo, San Gabriel and Avion.

Cruz said Malampaya plays a critical role in ensuring that the Philippines is shielded from volatility, the stability of gas prices, and energy security as indigenous gas guarantees fuel supply unlike liquefied natural gas (LNG) which is more vulnerable to market shocks. She said during strong winds

and waves, LNG floating storage and other facilities could be disconnected from their berths and pause the supply of gas to power plants. This is in stark contrast to Malampaya production facilities which had been designed to withstand inclement weather.

During the April heat wave, when the Luzon grid was on yellow and red alert, Malampaya operated at close to 120 percent of its current system capacity. This, she said, allowed Luzon consumers to saved 50 centavos to P20 per kilowatt hour in their electric bills.

“Imagine what would have happened if this weather situation was global and we couldn’t even import LNG,” said Cruz. “By using LNG, we became more vulnerable to market shocks. Indigenous gas prices remain largely stable against these shocks, cushioning our electricity bills from its adverse effects.”

The Malampaya gas project also provides remittances to the government for use in energy development projects.

“For every peso of net revenue or sales from Malampaya gas, 60 centavos is remitted to the government.

This amounts to $300 to $500 million annually for use in energy development projects,” Cruz said.

energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla said energy security is the Marcos administration’s priority and that it will tap renewable energy to achieve its goals.

In the transition to full renewable energy use, Lotilla said the government is pursuing a “robust natural gas strategy.”

“Successful exploration and production activities will not only contribute to the country’s energy security goals but also drive economic growth, create employment opportunities, and generate revenue stream. Ultimately, the Filipino people will be benefited,” said Lotilla.

“ex ploration and development of these resources including the building of necessary infrastructure will certainly take time, making it essential to have a reliable energy transition source in the meantime. This is where LNG plays a crucial role, serving as a cleaner substitute for traditional fossil fuels and a more reliable source than renewable energy.”

Malampaya supplies 20 percent of Luzon’s electricity requirements.

SunAsia Energy bags solar deals

The Department of energy

(DOe) has issued a total of 10 solar energy operating contracts (SeOC) to SunAsia energy Inc., paving the way for the development of floating solar projects with its partner Blueleaf energy Philippines.

These 25-year SeOC have a combined capacity of 1,318 megawatts (MW) spread across Laguna de Bay.

Tetchi Capellan, President and CeO of SunAsia energy, expressed the company’s readiness to spearhead the world’s largest floating solar project. Construction will start next year, and commercial operations will

CICC to sue telcos over unregistered SIM cards

The Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC) is pursuing legal action against telecommunications companies and their agents that failed to account for thousands of unregistered SIM cards that have been used in fraudulent activities.

According to CICC executive Director Alexander K. Ramos, ongoing investigations showed findings that unregistered SIM cards are increasingly being used to receive online bank transaction messages, facilitating cybercrime.

“It’s time for the government to get tough on these telcos,” he said. he added that recent law enforcement operations targeting organized crime have led to the seizure of thousands of SIM cards, many of which were either unregistered or associated with fake identities. Ramos said the CICC will meet with the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) to discuss their findings. The majority of the seized SIM cards are prepaid Smart SIM cards, though some Globe prepaid cards linked to GCash accounts were also found. Lorenz S. Marasigan

Globe signs pact for Open Gateway

GLOBe Telecom Inc. on Sunday said it has joined the GSM Association’s (GSMA) Open Gateway initiative, allowing it to accelerate its digital innovation programs.

According to Globe President ernest Cu, the company signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with GSMA to improve the interoperability and delivery of mobile services globally through collaboration and standardization.

Through this partnership, Globe gained access to the GSMA Open Gateway, an Applications Programming Interface (API) facility designed to transform the telecom industry.

The initiative supports an APIdriven economy, enabling developers and cloud providers to access operator networks via single entry points, thus facilitating rapid service deployment on a global scale.

“This groundbreaking effort allows real-time access and interconnection with the Globe network via open global APIs, opening up numerous opportunities for delivering more value to our customers and generating new revenue streams,” Cu said.

functionality in 5G networks. We welcome Globe Telecom to this innovative new program.”

The GSMA’s Open Gateway launched with eight network APIs, including SIM Swap API, Quality on Demand API, Device Status API, Number Verification API, Simple e d ge Discovery API, One Time Password (SMS) API, Carrier Billing—Check Out API, and Device Location API.

These APIs enhance capabilities such as security, fraud prevention, secure authentication, and locationbased services.

Cu said Globe sees vast potential for these APIs in sectors like ehealth, agritech, emergency services, carbon accounting, and the Internet of Things (IoT). Additionally, they can benefit education, entertainment, secure eCommerce, and transportation through improved systems and user experiences.

start in 2026.

“This initiative is a testament to our commitment to clean energy goals. It’s not just about harnessing solar power; it’s about creating sustainable job opportunities, boosting the small-medium enterprise thru tourism, and significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions,” Capellan said.

Locals were hired to build and maintain the said pilot project. Their work includes cleaning of solar panels and removal of water lilies. SunAsia is developing the livelihood program wherein these water lilies

OUTLOOK

will be utilized for a community handicraft industry.

Last week, Blueleaf energy Philippines and its partners announced that they intend to build 1.5 gigawatts (GW), or 1,500 megawatts (MW), of floating solar projects in Laguna which would cost $1.5 billion.

Also, Blueleaf and SunAsia energy, Inc. will develop a 1.3GW floating solar facility in Laguna Lake.

In August 2023, Laguna Lake Development Authority and the partners signed a Renewable energy Contract Area Utilization Agreement

Last week

Share prices fell last week as investors decided to sell their holdings, sending the benchmark index back to the 6,100-point level.

The benchmark Philippine Stock e xchange index (PS e ) fell 225.22 points to close at 6,158.48 points.

“The local market is seen to be exhibiting a bearish bias, running an eight-day losing streak. With its decline, the market has already touched a new low for the year. It has also drawn near its support at the 6,150 level,” Japhet Louis O. Tantiangco, senior research analyst at Philstocks Financials Inc., said. average for the four-day trading week reached P4.53 billion. Foreign investors, who cornered half of the trades, were net sellers at P2.75 billion. a l other sub-indices ended in the red with the broader a l l Shares index falling 72.55 points to close at 3,375.20 points, the Financials index declined 106.87 to 1,864.83, the Industrial index shed 196.65, the h o lding Firms index declined 42.89 to 5,511.64, the property index plunged 98.84 to 2,357.56, the Services index decreased 76.99 to 1,871.98 and the Mining and Oil index was down 141.43 to 8,544.36. For the week, losers edged gainers 132 to 84 and 25 shares were unchanged.

Top gainers were Philippine Trust Co., r oxas and Co. Inc., r e public Glass h o ldings Corp., Italpinas Development Corp., Philippine Bank of Communications, Seafront r e sources

Corp. and a s iabest Group International Inc.

Top losers, meanwhile, were Imperial r e sources Inc., Vivant Corp. Liberty Flour Mills Inc., a n chor Land h o ldings Inc., Keppel Philippines h o ldings, Inc. a and B shares, Central a z ucarera de Tarlac Inc. and Keppel Philippines Properties Inc. this week

Share prices may remain down this week as investors await the results of the policy meeting of the Monetary Board.

“With its recent downturn, the market has been driven to more attractive levels. Thus, we may see some episodes of bargain hunting in next week’s trading. h o wever, we do not expect the market to stage a strong rally yet until investors hear positive narratives on the timing of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ [BSP] policy easing,” Tantiangco said.

“Investors will be watching out for cues on the BSP’s monetary policy outlook. h nts of rate cuts soon may cause a turnaround in the market’s current direction. Investors are also expected to monitor the peso’s movement against the US dollar. Sustained weakness of the local currency may weigh on market sentiment especially on those of foreign investors.”

Meanwhile, 2Trade a s ia said the first half of 2024 is likely to “end with a whimper.”

“So far, the PS e i is down 3.3 percent year-to-date, after tallying a gain of 9.62 percent last a p ril, back when it breached the key 7,000 level. The

for the 10 blocks of hundred hectares each in Laguna Lake. The project will span the towns of Cabuyao, Sta. Rosa, Calamba, Victoria, and Bay.

NKS Solar One Inc., the joint venture between Blueleaf and NKS energy Utilities, Inc., is targeting to put up a 250MW floating solar project in Caliraya and Lumot Lakes in Laguna. This is expected to be the first utility-scale floating solar project in the country. Construction will start in the fourth quarter this year while commercial operation is targeted in the first quarter of 2026. Lenie Lectura

recent slide to 6,100, from a technical perspective, will bring the index back to the 6,000 where it was range bound for most of the second semester of 2023 and flirting near the 5,000 zone,” it said.

It said a quick look at index constituents shows that 16 out of 30

PS e i members are trading at or within 10 percent of their 52-week lows, which opens up opportunities to range trade and/or lock in yields and payout. Immediate support is seen at 6,000 points and resistance at 6,300.

stock pick

May Ba n K Securities has kept its buy rating on Mreit Inc., the real estate investment trust of Megaworld Corp., after the company said will add six offices into its portfolio from its sponsor firm. The property-for-share swap raises Mreit’s gross leasable area by 48 percent to 482,055 square meters.

“We expect regulatory approvals to be completed by fourth quarter,” the broker said. “a l though we increase our 2024/2025 earnings estimates by 8 percent and 39 percent, we cut our target price by 4 percent given the addition of 926 million shares.”

“We also adjust our beta assumption to account for concentration risk in offices. We keep our buy rating as total upside remains attractive at the current price.”

Mreit’s shares closed at P12.68 apiece.

VG Cabuag and Lorenz S. Marasigan

Julian M. Gorman, GSMA Asia Pacific head, welcomed Globe to the initiative, highlighting its importance for the mobile industry in the Philippines and beyond.

“By doing so, they’re helping developers gain universal access to operator networks both within the country and around the world through a set of common APIs. This will help drive the mobile economy and the launch of new services that deliver better customer experiences, combat fraud and unleash new

“Leveraging open APIs across various sectors will help us significantly scale our ICT portfolio, even as we pursue our mission to solve our customers’ pain points at scale. enabling seamless integration and innovation will significantly help API development and improve user experiences.”

By optimizing its 5G network and utilizing these APIs, Globe aims to deliver better services to both individual and business customers.

“GSMA’s vision and initiative have paved the way for groundbreaking solutions across multiple industries, enhancing how we live and work. We look forward to continued collaboration, driving innovation and delivering transformative solutions to our customers,” Cu said. Lorenz S. Marasigan

BloomBerg

Banking&Finance Sumitomo Mitsui keen on PHL bond offerings–DOF

ECONOMIC PITCH Finance Secretary Ralph G. Recto met with senior officials of Nomura last June 20, 2024 in Tokyo to explore opportunities for collaboration in the country’s fundraising activities and public-private partnerships (PPPs). Recto encouraged Nomura to participate in the government’s Build Better More program consisting of big-ticket infrastructure projects open for PPPs, noting that private sector participation is now made easier and faster through the PPP Code. Nomura showed strong interest in supporting the country’s infrastructure projects, renewable energy market, and sustainability programs. The firm also expressed eagerness in supporting the Philippines’ future issuances of Samurai bonds. Key Nomura officials present during the meeting were Senior Managing Director and Global Head of Investment Banking Masahiro Goto; Managing Director and Joint Head of Capital Markets Tatsuya Yasuda; Managing Director and Joint Head of Syndicate Akihiro Igarashi; Executive Director and Head of International Debt Capital Markets Masanori Kazama; and Nomura Philippines Country Head Miguel Ozaeta. Joining Recto were Department of Finance Undersecretaries Maria Luwalhati Dorotan-Tiuseco, Charlito Martin Mendoza, Catherine L. Fong, Rolando G. Tungpalan, and Domini S. Velasquez; and National Treasurer Sharon P. Almanza. Contributed photo

Japan retail investors eye risky wagers on yen intervention

AN army of retail traders appears to be reloading bets for a rebound in the yen as the currency’s slide increases the chances of Japan intervening in the market again.

Bullish positions on the yen against the dollar have been building since mid-May via futures contracts that cater to individual Japanese investors, data from Tokyo Financial Exchange Inc. show. These wagers tumbled on April 29 and May 1-2, around the time when the government is thought to have stepped into the market, indicating that retail traders sold the yen to take profit.

With the yen dropping back toward 160 versus the dollar, retail traders are on the edge of their seats wanting intervention to come as soon as possible, according to Takuya Kanda, head of research at the analysis unit of Gaitame.com, a Japanese online brokerage that caters to individual forex traders.

Trying to ride the government’s coattails to riches is a risky strategy, especially for those using borrowed money to amplify returns. Some investors were badly burned when the Ministry of Finance ordered the Bank of Japan into the market to defend the currency in April and May. But others who got the timing right made millions of yen. “I should say, thank you MOF. It’s a huge opportunity,” said Keisuke Oikawa, a 58-yearold Japanese retail investor based in Singapore. Oikawa said he made about ¥1.5 million ($9,400) from various crosscurrency trades that took advantage of fluctuations in the market around when Japan intervened in April-May.

Comments on Friday from the nation’s top foreign-exchange official, Masato Kanda, are likely to give fresh encouragement to traders like Oikawa. Kanda said Japan would continue to take appropriate measures to address any excessive moves in the yen, despite being included in the US Treasury Department’s so-called “monitoring list” for forex practices.

The number of currency trading accounts in Japan rose to a record 12.4 million last year, according to Gaitame.com. While many individuals hold small positions, they matter as a group in the world’s currency markets, with research from

the central bank showing that Japanese investors account for nearly 30 percent of the global retail trading.

Government figures show that Japan spent a record amount of ¥9.8 trillion to support the yen between April 26 and May 29. While officials haven’t stated which days they intervened, the moves in the market point to April 29 and May 1.

Those who positioned themselves early for that intervention—or quickly bought yen as the government came into the market—and then locked in profits before it retreated, benefited handsomely.

Others weren’t so lucky.

Hayato Imaizumi, a 41-year-old manager of a bar called Stock Pickers in Tokyo’s upscale district of Ginza, said he lost 80 percent to 90 percent of his currency investments as he bought the yen when it was trading at around 147 to the dollar, thinking intervention would happen sooner.

“I didn’t think it would go to 160, and thought it would eventually come back,” said Imaizumi, whose bar is a popular place for retail investors meet and network. After the massive loss, the 10-year veteran forex trader is wondering if he should quit currency trading and focus on stocks instead.

Kumiko Ishikawa, senior analyst at Sony Financial Group Inc., said now that the yen broke 159, there is a strong sense of caution about intervention.

Mari Iwashita, chief market economist at Daiwa Securities Co., said the speed of moves from here will be important for authorities in deciding whether to intervene, along with their view on its likely effectiveness.

The yen ended Friday at 159.80 to the dollar.

Kenichi Kashiwada, a 47-year-old trader and sake bar owner based in Hong Kong, said he made ¥5 million by selling the dollar just as it began to sink due to intervention, and bought it back as it fell even further. But he also said the market turbulence during April-May has unnerved him and that he’s trimmed back on dollar-yen trades.

“I think there are more opportunities for profit than before, but there may also be more opportunities for loss,” said Kashiwada. “It’s scary.” Bloomberg News

SBy Reine Juvierre Alberto

umitomo mitsui Banking Corp. (SmBC) signaled its interest in supporting the Philippines’s upcoming issuance of Samurai and uS dollar bonds, according to the Department of Finance (DoF).

The DOF said on Sunday that Finance Secretary Ralph G. Recto met with senior officials of Japanese bank SMBC and securities firm SMBC Nikko last June 21 at their headquarters in Tokyo, Japan, to explore opportunities for investments and collaboration to generate funds for the Philippines.

“[SMBC and SMBC Nikko] expressed eagerness to support the country’s future issuances of Samurai and US dollar bonds and reaffirmed SMBC’s commitment to continue investing in the Philippines,” the DOF said.

SMBC has supported the Phil-

ippines’s international financing efforts, such as the past Samurai bond issuances and co-hosting the Philippine Economic Briefings in Japan, including the recent event last June 21.

SMBC Nikko, meanwhile, is a Japanese securities firm engaging in the operation of large-scale comprehensive securities broking and trading services.

The Philippine government raised ¥70.1 billion (around P29.1 billion or $550 million) through its issuance of four-tranche green Samurai bonds in April 2022, with 5-year, 7-year, 10year and 20-year tenors.

Recently, the government also raised $2 billion by issuing dualtranche Fixed Rate Global Bonds in May 2024, which followed the state’s $1 billion 5.5-year Sukuk in December 2023, $3 billion triple-tranche bond offering in January 2023 and $2 billion triple-tranche bond offering in October 2022.

“Japan’s strong investor base, with a keen interest in yen-denominated assets, has helped maintain affordable and lower interest rates for our Samurai bond issuances. As such, it makes perfect sense for us to increase our financial integration,” Recto said in his keynote speech at the Philippine Economic Briefing in Japan on June 21.

The DOF has adjusted upward the government’s borrowing plan to P2.57 trillion, higher by 4.47 percent than the P2.46 trillion originally set, due to the lowering of government’s growth target to 6 to 7 percent.

The government will follow a 75:25 borrowing mix, wherein 75 percent of the amount would come from the local debt market while the remaining quarter would be borrowed externally.

“Despite our heavy bias in domes-

tic financing, we will continue tapping the Samurai market as a viable option for our fundraising activities,” Recto said in his speech.

“Recently, the Philippines’ high credit ratings were also affirmed, including our A-minus grade from the Japan Credit Rating Agency and triple B plus from R&I. This summarizes all our efforts in exercising fiscal discipline and prudent debt management,” the Finance chief added. The DOF said the meeting was attended by Honorary Special Adviser to the Board of SMBC Nikko and a board member of SMFG Yasuyuki Kawasaki, Senior Management Executive Officer/Co-head of Global Banking Unit of SMBC Yoshihiro Hyakutome, Senior Management Executive Officer/Head of Global Capital Market of SMBC Nikko Tatsuya Suzuki, Managing Director and Philippine Country Head of SMBC Yasuhi Iwata and Managing Director and Head of Debt Capital Market of SMBC Nikko Hiroyuki Kinoshita. Recto was joined by DOF Undersecretaries Maria Luwalhati Dorotan-Tiuseco and Domini S. Velasquez and National Treasurer Sharon P. Almanza.

Dollar winning streak extends into fifth week

AKEY gauge of the dollar strengthened for a fifth week as the timing for the Federal Reserve’s first interest-rate cut remains cloudy.

The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index edged 0.1 percent higher in the past five days, marking the longest stretch of weekly advances since February. The gauge ended the day at the highest level on a closing basis since early November.

The dollar’s resilience kept the pressure on peers this week, including the yen. The Japanese currency weakened for a 10th session in 11 on Friday, ending the session at 159.80 against the greenback—just shy of the closely watched 160 level. The

British pound and Swiss franc also slumped.

“I don’t really see much to turn the tide for the dollar until the Fed cuts,” said Helen Given, a foreignexchange trader at Monex Inc. “The yen and Swiss franc could stand to suffer the most through the next few months, until the Fed moves materially toward easing.” US benchmark rates at the highest level in more than two decades are bolstering the dollar as traders look for signs the Fed is ready to pivot.

This week, Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee said policymakers will be able to lower interest rates if inflation continues to cool as it did last month while Thomas Barkin at

Perspectives

the Richmond Fed said he needs further clarity on the path of inflation before a cut.

In contrast, many other central bank are starting to succumb to economic pressures and lower local borrowing costs, even as rate disparities with the US weigh on their currencies.

The dollar’s reign has wreaked havoc across currency markets, especially in Japan where ultra-low interest rates have sent the yen spiraling down against the greenback this year.

Authorities in Japan signaled that they are ready to take appropriate measures in the event of outsized currency moves. They have already spent a record amount to prop up the

The path to collective cyber resilience

AS organizations continue to navigate the complexities of our interconnected digital landscape, managing an ecosystem of Information Technology, Operational Technology and Internet of Things products has never been more critical. With the increasing threat landscape, evolving regulations and growing reliance on supplier networks, achieving comprehensive cyber resilience is essential for success.

Resilience in the digital age demands a holistic approach TO become truly resilient in today’s reality—where the rapid pace of change is accelerating—organizations should look at the system as a whole or, at least, the digital ecosystems in which they operate.

Modern companies are not simple, stand-alone entities but increasingly part of interconnected networks—ecosystems—that can cut across sector boundaries and provide new opportunities for innovation, efficiency and growth. In today’s hyper-connected environment, digital trust becomes critical as increased interconnections unleash significant new challenges and the need to transform resilience.

Organizations are increasingly dependent today on third, fourth and fifth parties within their supply networks. While this level of collaboration offers significant benefits, it also introduces new risks that should be managed.  Meanwhile, government institutions globally are recognizing their

responsibility to ensure a collective approach to bolstering digital resilience and fostering digital trust. As the landscape evolves, so must resilience strategies if companies hope to thrive. Lastly, citizens and consumers of digital technology have increasing expectations for the reliability and trustworthiness of the digital products and services they rely on. Meeting these changing expectations through a transparent approach to digital trust is becoming a key differentiator for organizations.

A collective, long-term strategy is essential

DR IVEN by the need for information sharing, trust technologies such as privacy-enhancing technologies (PETs) and blockchain potentially enable and fuel collaboration between ecosystem partners. Instead of mere compliance-driven agreements between organizations, collaboration will ultimately benefit the organizations involved.

It’s revealing and informative to consider how an “ecosystemic” perspective is already making a difference for many leading companies. These global giants recognize that their production processes, efficiency, and competitiveness rely on a wide array of suppliers in diverse sectors. In some cases, they provide a platform on which other partners can prosper or share resources that ultimately benefit the entire ecosystem, including the platform provider. In other cases, the goal is to make the entire ecosystem resilient.

A leading chipmachine maker, for

example, recognizes that its high-tech manufacturing process completely relies on numerous diverse suppliers, and a costly cyberattack on any of these companies could disrupt its entire business. To make the system as a whole resilient, it has begun sharing resources meant for its own security with its partners and vice versa.

Many organizations, amid limited financial resources, skills and technology, might prefer to focus on maturing their own cybersecurity before looking at suppliers’ security. But beware—that approach represents a short-term gain in the face of a much-needed long-term approach as the threat landscape expands and grows in sophistication.

Digital trust underpins a truly cyber-resilient ecosystem

BE YOND the need for a clear strategy, a governance structure and well-defined financial and legal boundaries, digital trust is one of the key components of a truly cyber-resilient ecosystem.

KPMG, together with the World Economic Forum and other collaborators, has developed a global framework for digital trust. This framework serves as a decision-making guide for organizations, enabling the development and deployment of reliable, trustworthy technology and, through it, trusted collaboration ecosystem wide. The WEF defines digital trust as public expectations that “digital technologies and services—and the organizations providing them—will protect all stakeholders’ interests and uphold societal expecta-

currency and dissuade speculative traders, to the tune of more than $60 billion in April and May. Leveraged fund bets against the yen reached a record level in April on the gap between US and Japan’s rates, though bearish bets have since been trimmed. Their wagers against the Swiss franc reached the highest since November 2021 this month, with the currency losing about 6 percent against the dollar so far this year. The franc weakened further after Swiss officials lowered the benchmark rate for a second-straight meeting on Thursday. The euro has fallen about 2 percent against the dollar since the European Central Bank cut rates on June 6. Bloomberg News

tions and values.” As digital dependencies proliferate—exponentially amplifying both risks and mistrust—cybersecurity expenditures surge. This necessitates a paradigm shift to a truly modern perspective that transcends conventional approaches to safeguarding our increasingly interconnected environments. Business should focus more intently on becoming resilient through a collective approach, alongside and beyond keeping our individual organizations secure. Visionary cybersecurity leaders should set the long-term strategy with their ecosystem partners and build trust on a personal level by leveraging the potential of trust technologies. Only then will we be able to efficiently build resilient digital societies that can make a difference in a world of change.  This excerpt was taken from the KPMG Thought Leadership publication: https://kpmg.com/xx/en/ home/insights/2024/05/the-path-to-collectivecyber-resilience.html.

UNPLUGGED CHILDHOODS:

How European parents are resisting smartphone pressures

By Joseph Wilson & Laurie Kellman The Associated Press

BARCELONA, Spain—Try saying “no” when a child asks for a smartphone. What comes after, parents everywhere can attest, begins with some variation of: “Everyone has one. Why can’t I?”

But what if no pre-teen in sight has one—and what if having a smartphone was weird? t h at’s the endgame of an increasing number of parents across e u rope who are concerned by evidence that smartphone use among young kids jeopardizes their safety and mental health—and share the conviction that there’s strength in numbers.

From Spain to Britain and Ireland, parents are flooding WhatsApp and te legram groups with plans not just to keep smartphones out of schools, but to link arms and refuse to buy young kids the devices before—or even into—their teenage years.

After being inspired by a conversation in a Barcelona park with other moms, e l isabet g a rcía Permanyer started a chat group last fall to share information on the perils of Internet access for children with families at her kids’ school.

t he group, called “Adolescence

Free of m o bile Phones,” quickly expanded to other schools and then across the entire country to now include over 10,000 members. t h e most engaged parents have formed pairs of activists in schools across Spain and are pushing for fellow parents to agree not to get their kids smartphones until they are 16. After organizing online, they facilitate realworld talks among concerned parents to further their crusade.

“When I started this, I just hoped I would find four other families who thought like me, but it took off and kept growing, growing and growing,” g a rcía Permanyer says. “ m y g oal was to try to join forces with other parents so we could push back the point when smartphones arrive. I said, ‘I am going to try so that my kids are not the only ones who don't have one.’”

A push, with the help of Spain’s government It isn't just parents. Police and public health experts were sounding the alarm about a spike of violent and pornographic videos being witnessed by children via handheld devices. Spain’s government took note of the momentum and banned smartphones entirely from elementary schools in January. n o w they can only be turned on in high school, which starts at age 12, if a teacher deems it necessary for an educational activity.

“If we adults are addicted to smartphones, how can we give one to a 12-year-old who doesn’t have the ability to handle it?” g a rcía Permanyer asks. “ t h is has gotten away from us. If the Internet were a safe space for children, then it would be fine. But it isn’t.”

t h e movement in Britain gained steam this year after the mother of 16-year-old Brianna g h ey, who was killed by two teenagers last year, began demanding that kids under 16 be blocked from accessing social media on smartphones.

“It feels like we all know [buying smartphones] is a bad decision for our kids, but that the social norm has not yet caught up,” Daisy g r eenwell, a Suffolk, e n gland-area mother of three kids under age 10, posted to her Instagram earlier this year. “What if we

could switch the social norm so that in our school, our town, our country, it was an odd choice to make to give your child a smartphone at 11? What if we could hold off until they’re 14, or 16?”

She and a friend, Clare Reynolds, set up a WhatsApp group called Parents United for a Smartphone-Free Childhood, with three people on it. She posted an invitation on her Instagram page. Within four days, 2,000 people had joined the group, requiring g r eenwell and Reynolds to split off dozens of groups by locality. t h ree weeks after the original post, there was a chat group for every British county, one of the organizers said on WhatsApp.

It’s an uphill climb PAR e nt S r allying to ban smartphones from young children have a long way to go to change what’s considered “normal.”

By the time they’re 12, most children have smartphones, statistics from all three countries show. Look a little closer, and the numbers get starker: In Spain, a quarter of children have a cellphone by age 10, and almost half by 11. At 12, this share rises to 75 percent. British media regulator o f com said 55 percent of kids in the UK owned a smartphone between ages 8 and 11, with the figure rising to 97 percent at age 12. o f com added another statistic to their report last year: o ne i n five toddlers, ages 3 or 4, owns a smartphone. Parents and schools that have succeeded in flipping the paradigm in their communities told t h e Associated Press the change became possible the moment they understood that they were not alone. What started as a tool to keep in touch with buddies has morphed into something more worrisome to keep away from kids— akin, these parents assert, to things like cigarettes and alcohol.

In g r eystones, Ireland, that moment came after all eight primary school principals in town signed and posted a letter last m ay t hat discouraged parents from buying their students smartphones. t h en the parents themselves voluntarily signed written pledges, promising to refrain from letting their kids have the devices.

“ t h e discussion went away almost overnight,” says Christina Capatina, 38, a g r eystones parent of two preteen daughters who signed the pledge and says there are almost no smartphones in schools this academic year.

“If [kids] even ask now, you tell them: We’re just following the rules. t h at’s how we live.”

For m ò nica m a rquès of Barcelona, no signed pledge was necessary to get the same result. She polled the parents of her daughters’ grade two years ago and she was surprised to see that “99% of them were as terrified or more so than I was.” She shared the results of her questionnaire, and says that this year, when her daughter started high school, not one student in her grade had a smartphone.

And as for that other excuse that kids supposedly need a smartphone so parents can keep tabs on them, m a rquès says an old-school cell phone

In an era where smartphones have become ubiquitous, a growing number of European parents are pushing back against the trend of young children owning these devices. Their concerns about safety, mental health, and the overall impact on childhood development have led to a grassroots movement advocating for tech-free childhoods.

without Internet access like the one her daughter carries is a perfect substitute.

An increasing scrutiny Someth I ng like a consensus has built for years among institutions, governments, parents and others that smartphone use by children is linked to bullying, suicidal ideation, anxiety and loss of concentration necessary for learning. China moved last year to limit children's use of smartphones, while France has in place a ban on smartphones in schools for kids aged six to 15. t h e push to control smartphones in Spain comes amid a surge in notorious cases of children viewing online pornography, sharing videos of sexual violence, or even participating in creating “deep fake” pornographic images of female classmat es using generative artificial intelligence tools. Spain's government

says that 25 percent of kids 12 and under and 50 percent of kids 15 and under have already been exposed to online pornography. Prime m i nister Pedro Sánchez said Spain is facing an “authentic epidemic” of pornography targeted at minors.

t h e threats include adults taking advantage of minors they meet online, such as the recent arrest of two “influencers” in m a drid for having allegedly sexually assaulted underage girls who followed them on t i k to k.

t h e dangers have produced school bans on smartphones and online safety laws. But those don’t address what kids do in off hours.

“What I try to emphasize to other principals is the importance of joining up with the school next door to you,” says Rachel h a rper, principal of St. Patrick’s n a tional School, one of the eight in g r eystones to encourage parents to refrain from smartphones for their kids. “ t h ere’s a bit more

strength that way, in that all the parents in the area are talking about it.”

t h e parents’ concerns are diverse.

Some fear the day when their young kids ask to get a phone like their friends. o t hers have young teens with phones and regret they followed the herd during what they consider a naïve phase when screens were just a way to let kids have fun and chat with their friends. Parents speak of having emerged from a state of blissful ignorance about the internet.

t h e home isolation of the Covid-19 pandemic offered a firsthand glimpse of their kids staring at screens and getting clever about hiding what they were seeing there—and what was finding them.

“ t h e screens were seen as a escape valve that let adults work and kept kids occupied, whatever that meant,” says m a cu Cristófol, who started a group of concerned parents in m a laga, in southern Spain, after

she heard of the ballooning parents group in Barcelona. “ t h at was when I thought, where are we going? We have become hostages of screens.” Capatina says she saw her 11-yearold daughter change the day she came home from a playground and shared that a girl there had recorded video of the scene on a smartphone.

“Panic, panic, panic,” Capatina recalls of her daughter’s reaction. n o thing really major happened,” Capatina says, “but I saw the pressure and anxiety levels increasing where they hadn’t before. And I thought, that’s not healthy. Children shouldn’t have to worry about things like that.”

But if the kids can’t have smartphones, are the parents cutting back their own online time? t h at’s tough, multiple parents say, because they’re managing families and work online. Capatina, an interior designer, says she shows her kids what she’s been doing online—work, for example, or schedules—“to hold myself accountable.”

Laura Borne, a g r eystones mom of kids ages 5 and 6 who have never known smartphones, says she is aware of the need to model online behavior—and that she should probably cut back.

“I’m trying my best,” she says. But just as with the children she parents, the pressures are there. And they’re not going away.

The 2024 Binibinis of Mindanao

IT’S the 60th edition of the country’s longestrunning beauty pageant, and the stakes are a million times higher. Literally.

With a whopping P1 million as prize money each for the titles of Binibining Pilipinas International 2024 and Binibining Pilipinas Globe 2024, and P400,000 each for the two runners-up, Binibining Pilipinas Charities Inc. is reasserting its top-tier status.

Angelica Lopez of Palawan, Binibining Pilipinas International 2023 who has yet to compete abroad, and Annalena Lakrini of Bataan, The Miss Globe 2023 second runner-up, will crown their successors on July 7 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

There are 40 official candidates for the Class of 2024, five of which hail from Mindanao: Bukidnon’s Sheny Sampang, Camiguin’s Abegail Jajalla, General Santos City’s Shannen Manzano, Misamis Oriental’s Mythosela Villanueva, and Zamboanga’s Kylie Atilano.

They are all one in declaring: “Basta taga Mindanao, gwapa!” Over the years, the island has produced representatives for Miss International such as Lilia Eloisa Andanar (1989) from Cagayan de Oro, Gladys Andre Dueñas of Pagadian (1995), Susan Jane Ritter of Zamboanga City (1997), and Nadia Lee Cien Shami of Cotabato (2007).

At the time of the Binibining Pilipinas press presentation on June 7 and the national costume show on June 11 at the New Frontier Theater, the finals of Miss Universe Philippines 2024 was still on everyone’s mind.

There were seven candidates from Mindanao out of 54 at MUPh, not one advanced to the semifinal round. As a Mindanaoan myself, I posed a question to the Binibinis of Mindanao:

“In the other national pageant, Mindanao was completely shut out of the Top 20. As Mindanaoans, how are you going to prevent that from happening at Binibining Pilipinas?”

GENERAL SANTOS CITY.

SHANNEN MANZANO. BINIBINI 20

ShaNNeN was a Top 24 semi-finalist at Miss World Philippines 2021, and a special awardee this year as World Vision Ambassador for Children. She’s 19, a college student and her advocacy is youth empowerment and development

“hello everyone, I’m Binibining 20 from General Santos City. Maayong adlaw sa inyo nga tanan. I’m happy to be here.

“I think we can prevent that by being our authentic selves. We should focus more on showcasing what Visayans are. Because we are very beautiful, sweet and genuine people. And I feel like by doing that and being confident in presenting ourselves to the whole nation of Filipino people, I

ReJURaN is essentially a skin-healing procedure occurring from the inside out using salmon DN said to be the beauty secret of many Korean idols and actors and actresses.

Rejuran is an injectable. Is it a filler that makes your face look firmer, or is it a toxin like Botox that prevents a muscle from moving for a limited time so you look wrinkle-free? It is neither.

Rejuran’s active ingredient, salmon DN like a wake-up call for your cells. It stimulates repair and regeneration, and results in a fresher and more radiant complexion. “Unlike fillers, which is a foreign body in your face, there’s a big mass on your face. This is different. you inject [the Rejuran] in, your body produces your own collagen. It’s yours, right? And the product that we inject disappears after that,” said Dr. Sandy Chris Tan, TritanMed’s senior vice president for research and development, during the launch of Rejuran Philippine Academy.

think we can conquer the stage and go to the Top 20 or even more.”

ZAMBOANGA. KYLIE ATILANO. BINIBINI 35

KyLIe is a 20-year-old student whose advocacy is better access to quality healthcare for everyone

“Buenas tardes. I am Kylie atilano, representing Asia’s Latin City and the Sardines Capital of the Philippines—Zamboanga. For me, I think we Mindanaoans are just underestimated by people because I think some may have not stand out that much because of shyness or anxiety, but I think I agree with Shannen on the point that you should just be yourself, believe that you can do it, be confident, be strong, and smile through that stage because your authentic self will always shine through and through no matter what you do.

Mindanaoans, we are sweet, lovable and kind, [as you will discover] if you get to know us more and better in the upcoming events.”

MISAMIS ORIENTAL. MYTHOSELA

VILLANUEVA. BINIBINI 18

MyThOSeLa is a unit manager and property specialist. her advocacy is financial freedom through building connections.

“We all know that Mindanao has shown us being positive and resilient. So, laban, taga-Mindanao!

“So all you have to do is just prepare ourselves and conquer this stage. And of course, the Binibining Pilipinas is not just about glitz and glamor, but it’s a great platform for our personal advocacy, which is influencing young people like us. To be the voice of this generation, we are the future leaders of our

BUKIDNON. SHENY SAMPANG. BINIBINI 15

SheNy is 20, an SK chairman, and her advocacy is cultural sensitivity along the ideals of Bukidnon.

“Let’s pray for [us getting into the Top 20 and beyond]. It’s pretty simple. I’m going to let the national stage and people know the beauty of the Philippines— the beauty of a Filipino woman and [the heart of a Mindanaoan].”

CAMIGUIN. ABEGAIL JAJALLA. BINIBINI 8

aBeGaIL is a 20-year-old student whose advocacy is sustainable tourism.

“I honestly don’t know how other pageants choose their finalist, thus I’m not in the right position to comment about it but I believe in Binibining Pilipinas, it’s going to be a different game. you know, as long as I stay true to myself and my purpose, and show the best that I am to the people, then I’ll have no regrets whatever the results may be.” n

Rejuran Philippine Academy, a collaboration between TritanMed Aesthetics and Pharma Research,

under the strictest protocols. When injected into the skin, the product is “seen” by fibroblasts (the cell that produces collagen) and this “tells” the cells to produce collagen. Rejuran claims benefits that include improving skin elasticity; brightening and plumping skin; shrinking pores; improving the look of scars; balancing moisture and controlling oil; reducing lines and wrinkles; and smoothening skin texture.

the morning after my treatment. One issue being raised about Rejuran is pain. There is pain (3/10 for me) but that isn’t unusual. Believe me, the TikTok videos on this are vastly exaggerated. Injectors also use a topical anesthesia prior to treatment. Accordingly, doctors at the Rejuran Philippine academy have developed a method to minimize potential pain during the procedure, which

they plan to teach to other Rejuran injectors in the A VITAMIN C LINE FOR SENSITIVE SKIN

QUICKFX’s new Sen-C Bright range is formulated for s you know, using a vitamin C serum can be tricky. Use of vitamin C serums can cause skin irritation to occur, especially in those with sensitive skin or a vitamin C allergy. Symptoms of vitamin C irritation can include redness, mild to severe burning, and stinging. At the heart of the Sen-C Bright Line lies a unique blend of Pure Vitamin C and Vitamin Tree Water mixed and formulated to deliver impressive brightening results without compromising on

The Sen-C Bright range comes with three hero products, each tailored to address specific skincare needs. The products include: Sen-C Bright Overnight Serum, which harnesses the power of 5 percent Pure Vitamin C and 5 percent Vitamin Tree Water to reveal a brighter and even complexion come morning.

Sen-C Bright Micellar Water, which is a sensitive-skin friendly micellar water that offers a refreshing cleanse without the oily, sticky feel often associated with traditional makeup removers. n Sen-C Bright Day Serum Cream, which combines the brightening power of vitamin C with

June 24, 2024

PHLPOST BOARD ELECTS INNOVATION EXPERT AS POSTMASTER GENERAL, CEO

THE Philippine Postal Corporation (PHLPost) Board of Directors announced the election of Chairman Mike Planas as its new Postmaster General and CEO during the annual election on June 18, 2024. His oathtaking and assumption of office also on June 18, 2024 marks the start of new leadership that vows to reenergize the country’s post office.

The Chairman and Postmaster General/CEO has an impressive academic background from the University of the Philippines (UP Diliman), American University and the Asian Institute of Management (AIM). He previously served as Councilor in Quezon City and as Consultant to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization.

Under the leadership of Planas, the agency is poised to modernize its operations and attain an

unprecedented growth trajectory. He commits to lead the post office towards a digital and cultural transformation that will bring it up to pace with the fast growing mail and parcel service industry while staying true to its mandate of serving the people.

“With a wide network of more than 1,200 post offices in the country, there is an untapped potential and challenge to bring the post office up to pace with modern delivery practices while servicing the most remote or missionary areas. You don’t expect commercial couriers to deliver mail and packages to far flung areas, but The Post Office can and will continue to serve the public—wherever they are,” Planas said.

With the support of the PHLPost Board, Planas is set to expand and develop new product lines and build alliances across the logistics value chain to

boost PHLPost’s revenues. The Post Office will tap its vast assets of warehouse facilities and will partner with e-commerce hubs to better meet the evolving demands of Filipinos here and abroad.

“Logistics is the backbone of modernization by effectively moving forward the flow of goods and mail. We have to revitalize and upgrade the postal service to meet the daily needs of the Filipinos and make its mark as a top earner GOCC,” he said.

An innovation leader and digital transformation expert, Planas sees The Post Office as an institution that can innovate and reinvent itself by bringing technology into its system. “To prosper, we have to reboot the postal service business and invest in growth opportunities,” he said.

Recently the Asian-Pacific Postal Union (APPU) congratulated his appointment as the new Chairman of the Philippine Postal Corporation. He is looking forward to future collaboration and partnership with the other member countries of the union.

PHLPost is a government-owned and controlled corporation (GOCC) where the CEO is elected annually by the members of the Board from among its ranks consistent with the GOCC Law or Republic Act No. 10149. Since his appointment as Chairman by President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. in May 2024, the hardworking and hands-on leader has visited various post offices, including Davao City Central and Tagum post offices. He has since committed to lead by example, promote “malasakit” among the employees, and rehabilitate the 100-year-old main post office in Manila destroyed by fire last year. Planas aspires to upgrade and upskill the workforce of PHLPost to provide the public with enhanced and efficient services.

and tourism who will be sharing valuable information on the latest marketing trends and industry best practices.

Major segments of the summit’s second edition include:

n A speech on “Cultural Exchange Through Tourism: Building Bridges Across Borders” by Sharlene ZabalaBatin, Department of Tourism Regional Director for the National Capital Region.

n A panel discussion on leadership entitled “Leading with Heart and Vision: Discover Leadership Styles That Inspire Teams and Shape Unforgettable Experiences” featuring hospitality bigwigs namely Megaworld Managing Director Cleofe Abiso; Anya Hospitality Managing Director Juan Roca; City of Dreams Property President Geoff Andres; and General Managers

Ann Olalo of Park Inn by Radisson North Edsa; and Anna Liza Vergara of the Sheraton Hotel Manila.

n “Skyward Trends: Forecasting the Future of

Airlines in 2025 and Beyond,” a presentation on developments in the airline industry and how they will impact local tourism and hospitality will be shared by Salvador “Bud” Britanico Jr., Vice President for Sales of Philippine Airlines.

n A discussion on “Connecting the Dots: Online Distribution Strategies for Seamless Hospitality Experiences” with founders and heads of companies of global online distribution booking platforms as panelists—Marco Bacchilega, CEO of Bakuun Holdings; Jaideep Advani of RatePing Hotel Pricing Intelligence; Tarun Joukani, Director of STAAH Ltd; and Sara Elorza, Tiket.com’s Vice President of International Business; and Julien Kuchenbuch, Regional Manager for Strategic Partnerships, Asia Pacific of Hotelbeds. Chris Legaspi, Chief Commercial Officer of Archipelago International, will be the distinguished panel’s moderator.

n Multi-awarded broadcast journalist and former international television news anchor, now Senior Vice President of Corporate Relations of SM Investment Corporation, Rico Hizon will lead the very timely topic “Leveraging Trust and Transparency: Countering Misinformation.”

n Bruce Winton, the esteemed Multi-Property Vice President for the Philippines of Marriott International, will present the topic “Green Horizons: Sustainable Practices and Innovations in Hospitality” and share groundbreaking examples happening in the Philippines and around the world.

The crucial Meetings, Incentives, Conventions & Events (MICE) tourism segment will be given prominence during the summit with the presentation and updates on the “Philippine MICE Roadmap” through

GoTyme Bank creates Fraud and Crime Division to intensify fight against fraud

GOTYME Bank, a collaboration between the Gokongwei group of companies and the multi-country digital banking group Tyme Group, has set up its Fraud and Crime Division to intensify its fight against fraud.

The group is headed by Jason Brasileño, formerly the bank’s head of fraud strategy, who will consolidate the bank’s defense against fraud, improve fraud detection, and catch and prosecute fraudsters and scammers. GoTyme Bank recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC) of the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), the country’s lead agency for preventing and suppressing cybercrime, to boost their collaboration for real-time safeguards against

cybercrime. GoTyme is also forging collaborations with other government agencies like the Philippine National Police (PNP), the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) to catch the cybercriminals.

Further, GoTyme Bank will work closely with authorities, including banking industry associations, to improve legislation that will put safeguards against cases of fraud and scams, and to help law enforcement agencies effectively monitor and investigate reported fraud cases. Internally, GoTyme Bank is enhancing its “know your customer” or KYC process of verifying the identity and address of customers before and after transactions. It has implemented a state-of-theart AI-driven system to track suspected fraudulent transactions as it improves its monitoring system

speaker Joel Pascual, President of PEPTarsus Corp. Hospitality sales and marketing executives, general managers, owners, and even HRM educators and students, may look forward to engaging in discussions on other topics such as “Hire and Inspire: Talent Development and Retention” by speaker Divine Delos Reyes, Megaworld Hotels & Resorts’ Head of People Management; “Economic Outlook & Tourism Trends” will be presented by Ronilo Balbieran, a faculty member of the School of Economics of the University of Asia and the Pacific (UA&P), and the Vice President of REID Foundation, Inc; and “Sales and Marketing Innovations for Driving Growth” with prominent hospitality industry personalities—Patria Puyat (Holiday Inn Manila Galleria and Crowne Plaza); Carmela Bocanegra (Chroma Hospitality, Inc); Joanne Golong-Gomez (Conrad Hotel Manila); Melissa Carlos (AyalaLand Hotels); and Loven Ramos (The Ascott Limited); and moderator Neil Rumbaoa (SM Hotels and Conventions Corp)—leading and participating in the lively discussions.

“Attending the 2024 Sales and Marketing Hospitality Summit is not just about learning the latest trends; it’s about shaping the future of our industry together,” says Loleth So, HSMA President and Group Commercial Director of Megaworld Hotels & Resorts. “Join us as we collaborate, innovate, and elevate the standards of hospitality sales and marketing, driving success for all.”

The 2nd HSMA Sales and Marketing Summit on June 27 is open to sales and marketing professionals of any industry, educators, and students.

Registration fees are set at P3,800 for HSMA members, and P4,800 for non-members, inclusive of buffet lunch and snacks. For more information, send a Viber message to Riza Pangan at 0917 804 1274 or visit the HSMA website hsma.org.ph/2024-summit/ and follow @HSMAPH on Facebook and Instagram.

of transactions and accounts through a set of predefined rules based on recognized patterns of fraudulent activities or behavior.

GoTyme Bank assures the public that there is a human being answering an alleged victim’s call. A scam victim can call GoTyme Bank hotline #GO8888 to report a fraud case and file a police report as soon as possible.

Albert Tinio, GoTyme Bank’s co-CEO, says, “We believe security is a two-pronged approach. While we invest in the latest and greatest security technology, we know that user education plays a vital role. We teach everyone how to identify these scams and encourage them to immediately report any suspicious activity to us and the police.”

He adds that by empowering users with knowledge and a reporting system, GoTyme Bank seeks to “create an environment where scammers have a harder time succeeding. When users are alert and aware, it deters scammers from attempting to exploit them.”

GoTyme Bank urges customers to scam-proof their resources and do fast scam reporting.

THE prestigious Asia’s Golden Icon Awards, powered by Asia’s Golden Icons Awards and Events Inc. (AGIA Inc.), recently concluded its highly anticipated event on May 31, 2024, at the luxurious Okada Manila. This remarkable gathering brought together leaders from various industries, sectors, and prominent personalities from across the Asian region, celebrating their significant impacts, achievements, and contributions to society.

Founded by the renowned Chairman, Dr. Ronnel Ybanez, AGIA Inc. is on a mission to recognize and appreciate outstanding individuals and business entities for their remarkable accomplishments and positive influence on communities. The organization aims to create a network that promotes brand awareness, inspires growth, cooperation, and fosters economic and social development.

Building on the success of the Asia’s Golden Icon Awards, the Asia’s Golden Icons Awards and Events Inc. (AGIA Inc.) is now gearing up for its next major initiative – a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) event in collaboration with the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) and Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) scheduled for June 29, 2024, at the East Avenue Medical Center in Quezon City. This event will be graced by the esteemed presence of the Asia’s Golden Icon Awards Executive Council, a distinguished group of leaders deeply passionate

about making a transformative impact on society.

The Executive Council comprises luminaries such as Sergio Ortis-Luis, Jr. (President, Employers Confederation of the Philippines), Consul Eunina Mangio (President, Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry), Cristina Gonzales Romualdez (Philanthropist, Actress, and City Mayor), Congresswoman Marissa Del Mar Magsino (OFW Party-List

CHAIRMAN and Postmaster General/CEO Mike Planas takes his oath and assumes office on June 18, 2024.

LAB ON WHEELS Las Piñas City Mayor Imelda Aguilar and Vice Mayor April Aguilar took part in the blessing of Las Piñas Lab on Wheels. This mobile laboratory van is an initiative of the Aguilar Administration that will provide free laboratory services to all Las Piñeros. Free lab services include chest X-ray, ECG, FBS and cholesterol and Lipid profile.

OntOlOgical cOaching and cOmmunicatiOns

OVERHEARD the other day—“it seems everyone these days is a coach.” Whereas the coaches of old were evoked images of strict disciplinarians who would impose strict regimens on athletes, today’s coaches aren’t exclusively for sports. In fact, more prevalent today are those who delve into health, life and career.

Modern day coaches guide, not order, unpack, not burden, and help one figure things out, not assume or presume they know better. Coaches are not meant to advise, but to ask the questions that help you determine the solution that best suits you. After all, who knows your self better than yourself?

One Filipina overseas who has taken on the challenge of being a life and career coach is Dr. Katrina Gisbert-Tay. Gisbert-Tay is a practitioner of ontological and somatic coaching, or in layman’s terms, coaching through the use and understanding of language, emotions (ontological) and the body (somatics).

Gisbert-Tay’s practice is based on being aware of people’s assessments, of being a more intune observer of life and of others, and of being a more active listener. Ontological coaching helps people or groups become more aware of how the way they perceive themselves or their situations can impact on the way they react to what they call “breaks in transparency”, more commonly known as breakdowns in daily life, regardless of

n Cannes Lions 2024 honors WPP as CreaT i ve Com Pa ny of T h e y e ar CANNES, FRANCE—The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity has named WPP as Creative Company of the Year for 2024, with Ogilvy taking home Creative Network of the Year.

WPP agencies collected a total of 160 Lions, including a Titanium, six Grand Prix, 27 Gold, 43 Silver, and 83 Bronze Lions, with winners representing 41 different countries.

The Coca-Cola Company, whose global marketing partner is WPP Open X, was named Creative Brand of the Year for the first time in its history.

This news follows the May announcement that Unilever,

one of WPP’s biggest clients, was named Creative Marketer of the Year for 2024. The Creative Company of the Year award is given to the company that earned the most points across its agencies.

During June’s Cannes Lions Festival, Ogilvy’s DAVID received a Titanium Lion and Grand Prix for JCDecaux’s “Meet Marina Prieto,” while WPP Open X led by Ogilvy won a Grand Prix for Coca-Cola’s “Recycle Me” and Ogilvy PR (Onefluence) also collected a Grand Prix for CeraVe’s “Michael CeraVe.”

VML’s Scholz & Friend” won a Grand Prix for “The 100th Edition” for Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, as did Grey for Sol Cement’s “Sightwalks” and Ogilvy and Mindshare for Vaseline’s Transition Body Lotion. AKQA’s “Pink Chip” for DEGIRO and UN Women picked up no less than three Gold and two Silver Lions, capping a performance that saw wins from every WPP network

severity.

A doctor in the Philippines, Gisbert-Tay began her ontological journey in 2016 when a friend invited her to join the coach training program of the The Coach Partnership, of which she is now a part of. Initially, she’d joined for personal reasons—specifically to improve her parenting skills, “but what I found was far more impactful.”

“The program focused on deep inner work and self-discovery, challenging me to explore my beliefs, emotions and patterns of behavior. This process of self-exploration and personal growth significantly changed how I interacted with my children,” Gisbert-Tay shares. “It was a transformative journey that went beyond acquiring skills—it reshaped my understanding of self and relationships.”

Gisbert-Tay pursued coaching as a career after completing the program and has not looked back. In fact, it was she that got me into the program and I can attest to ontological coaching’s effectiveness in making a difference in my life. It was during the program that I realized that the practice was not only applicable in one-on-one coaching situations, but in public relations and communications as well.

“Ontological coaching stands out because it is fundamentally transformational, focusing on the core of who we are and how we perceive the world,” GisbertTay explains. “It delves deep into the ‘observer’ within us, exam -

across every discipline.

WPP’s media agencies EssenceMediacom, Mindshare, and Wavemaker had a very strong festival, with GroupM ending the week as the industry’s leading media group with 90 Lions, up from 59 last year.

Mark Read, CEO of WPP, said, “I am absolutely thrilled for our clients, people, and agencies whose brilliant work these awards recognize. To win Creative Company of the Year for WPP and Network of the Year for Ogilvy, with The CocaCola Company being named Creative Brand of the Year for the first time in its history, is a remarkable achievement. Thank you to everyone who has made this such a successful Cannes Lions for WPP and our fantastic clients.”

Rob Reilly, Chief Creative Officer of WPP, commented, “Creative excellence comes down to three things: people, process, and passion. But to do it at scale takes an unwavering partner -

ining the unique lens through which we view our experiences and interactions.” It is this observer that connects the practice to communications, as it is by being a better observer that one can communicate more clearly and deliver messages more effectively.

“Our perspectives shape our reality, and by recognizing that we are authors of our narratives, we gain the power to change our lives by shifting our narratives. This process is incredibly powerful, as it opens new possibilities for action and choice, ultimately leading to different and more fulfilling outcomes.”

Now imagine being more cognizant of our personal perspectives, otherwise known as our “context”, which encompasses our past experiences and biases, and being able to use that recognition to more thoroughly craft messages for audiences because we also become more aware of theirs?

“Ontology is the study of being,” Gisbert-Tay reveals. “Ontological coaching, from my perspective, involves guiding individuals to understand and transform how they perceive and interact with the world. It takes a humanistic approach, focusing on how we create results through the observer we are.”

Such is the power of being proficient in ontological coaching and using that proficiency not just in coaching situations, but in engaging others in day to day interpersonal situations. On a personal level, the generational divide can be narrowed by a better comprehension of another’s context—what may apply to you may not to another simply because they were born in a different time. Sound familiar?

This is particularly interesting when dealing with clients who you don’t know very well, as well as those you may only know through social media or in indirect ways, but who expect you to take them on and “get” them simply by their being who they are. Utilizing ontological tools

ship between our brilliant agencies and our brave brand partners. Thank you all for believing in the transformational power of creativity.”

Devika Bulchandani, Ogilvy’s Global CEO, added, “It was inspiring to see so many agencies with unbelievable work this week. Our industry moves forward when we all come together to celebrate and champion the undeniable impact that creativity can have on our clients’ businesses and the communities we live in. I’m extremely proud of Ogilvy’s performance, but I am also incredibly gratified that collectively, as an industry, we proved that creativity always wins.”

n Chei L Wor LDW i D e C e L e braT e s a To Ta L of 6 W ins aT Cannes Lions 2024 CANNES, FRANCE—Creative network Cheil Worldwide took home a total of five Lions, including a Gold, a Silver, three

Dr. KatrinaGisbert-Tay,practitioner ofontologicalandsomaticteaching

and understanding during your initial meeting can help unpack who they are, what they need and how they actually want to be perceived or communicated.

To this end, the use of language is specifically crucial.

“Language is not just a tool for creating action,” Gisbert-Tay reveals. “”It is an action itself. Being mindful of how we use language is essential because it shapes our results and defines our narratives about ourselves and the world”. The same holds true for our clients.

“In ontological coaching, we play close attention to the language patterns of clients, exploring how their words reflect and reinforce their internal states and worldviews”. By doing so, ontological coaches and those versed in the practice are able to “recognize limiting narratives and transform them into empowering ones”. Simply changing your wording can shift a mood or alter perspectives, Gisbert-Tay says. Shifting from “I can’t do this” to “I’m learning to do this” can make all the difference.

If you are not already intrigued by how ontological coaching can change your perspective both personally and socially, Gisbert-Tay distinguishes the ontological approach from the traditional methodologies

Bronzes, and a Young Lions Bronze at the 2024 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. On top of these client works winning big, Cheil’s Young Lions representatives also took home A Bronze award.The final winners were revealed on the last day of Cannes Lions, with the Festival held from June 17 to June 21.

“Samsung Impulse” by Cheil Spain won three Lions, including a Gold in Design. The project involved the development of an AI app for Samsung’s smartwatches that helps people with speech disorders. An algorithm based on Natural Language Processing analyzes and translates words into rhythmic vibrations, allowing users to have an invisible and inaudible assistant guiding fluent speech. The work also won a Silver in Health & Wellness, and a Bronze in Brand Experience & Activation.

A Bronze in Direct went to “Try Galaxy Fold Experience” by Cheil Worldwide. To get iPhone users to experience Galaxy Z

more commonly known about. “Unlike transactional or solutions-focused coaching, which often aims at addressing specific problems or achieving immediate goals, ontological coaching goes deeper. It fosters profound self-awareness, encouraging individuals to explore their beliefs, emotions and patterns. This deep introspection leads to sustainable change.”

So what has the change been for Gisbert-Tay, who now supports executives in Singapore and beyond in their lives and careers?

“As a doctor, I was trained to have the answers, to fix, and make things better. As a coach, I recognize my clients are whole and complete as they are. There is nothing to ‘fix.’ My role is to support them in unlocking their potential and going from good to great.”

Today, Gisbert-Tay’s focus goes back to what she joined the ontological coaching program for in the first place - being a good parent. “Coaching has profoundly impacted all aspects of my life. As a wife and mother, I practice pausing and responding. I find myself asking coaching questions to stimulate thinking instead of telling my kids what to do. I recognize that I need to be the change for myself and that creates a ripple effect on all my relationships.”

PR Matters is a roundtable column by members of the local chapter of the United Kingdom-based International Public Relations Association (IPRA), the world’s premiere association for senior communications professionals around the world. Margarita Locsin-Chan is an overseas Filipino in Singapore currently engaged in volunteer work with various organizations in the Philippines, Singapore and the United Kingdom.

We are devoting a special column each month to answer our readers’ questions about public relations. Please send your questions or comments to askipraphil@ gmail.com.

Fold for themselves, the firsthand demo where two iPhones are synced and placed side-byside transforms into a single, immersive Galaxy Fold interface where users can watch, play, and see the difference for themselves.

“Samsung The Art of Hack” by Cheil Spain won a Bronze in Creative Commerce. Samsung’s The Frame is a lifestyle TV shaped like a frame that doubles as a digital canvas in standby mode. Taking advantage of this particularity, the promo hacked the Spanish tax system by selling the TV as art with a lower VAT than that of TV. Through a dedicated website, users could upload or paint any drawing on the web and automatically obtain a discount for being classified as art.

At the Young Lions competition, where young professionals had the opportunity to showcase their talent and achievements, Cheil Worldwide won a Young Lions Media Bronze.

France holds off Brazil in thrilling VNL 5-set win

FRANCE notched a moraleboosting win ahead of the FIVB Volleyball Nations League (VNL) Finals in Poland, overcoming Brazil, 2523, 27-29, 13-25, 25-19, 18-16, Sunday in the VNL Week 3 action at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.

O pposite spiker Theo Faure racked up 29 points on 25 attacks, three service aces and a block as the French completed a stellar comeback from a 1-2 deficit, giving them an overall 8-4 win-loss slate—two victories in four matches in the Manila leg. France, with a 7-4 record, and former VNL champion Brazil, in seventh place at 6-5, are set to see action in the final eight in Poland next week.

The VNL stint is also a huge boost for France as it prepares for its title defense in the Paris Olympics. It’s important for the team to play against the big teams like Brazil as we’re both heading into the VNL finals and the Olympics. We try to win and improve the level every match. I’m happy that we grew up along the way,” head coach Andrea Giani said.

This is our second time here. It’s fantastic and perfect for the fans with how many were watching every game.”

F aure’s thunderous kill pushed France to match point before middle blocker Quentin Jouffroy connected on a service ace to highlight their 3-0 closeout from a 15-16 deficit for the win.

K evin Tillie posted 14 points while Yacine Louati and Jouffroy had eight points each for France.

R icardo Lucarelli Souza had 18 points to lead world No. 6 Brazil.

O ther teams set for the finals are Slovenia (10-1), reigning VNL champion Poland (9-2), Italy (8-3), Canada (8-4) and Japan (8-3).

E arlier, Germany beat Iran, 25-20, 25-23, 25-20.

Moritz Karlitzek scored 21 points on 17 hits, two blocks and two aces as the world No. 9 Germans went 2-2 in Manila and finished at 5-7 overall for 12th place in the 16-team VNL. Josef T. Ramos

Alas takes shape, players shaping up

By Aldrin Quinto

WHAT beats four aces? Philippine National Volleyball Federation Inc.

(PNVF) president Tats Suzara hopes to draw five or more.

SENATOR Christopher “Bong” Go (eighth from left) with John Febuar Cezina, Vanessa Sarno, Philippine Sports Commissioner (PSC) commissioner Olivia “Bong” Coo, Elreen Ando, Carlos Yulo, PSC executive director Paulo Tatad, Joanie Delgaco, Aira Villegas, Nesthy Petecio, Hergie Bacyadan, Carlo Paalam, Philip Salvador and PSC commissioner Eduard Hayco.

las Pilipinas looks to beef up the teams ahead of major international competitions in the coming months with Suzara eager to bring in some Filipino-American talent—the early estimate pegged at four or five for the men’s squad and still to be determined for the women’s side.

The more the merrier, but we should have a target of four or five for the men,” Suzara said. “For the women, we’ll see, and for beach volleyball.”

round 45 players have signed up for the Philippine volleyball tryouts in Los Angeles this week. e roster remains fluid approaching the one-year countdown to the FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship 2025 and Suzara says the areas that could benefit most from Fil-Am reinforcement are the middle blockers and

opposite hitter positions.

Taller setters could also help bring a new dimension to Alas Pilipinas’ system and Suzara says they may consider tapping a Fil-Am playmaker especially with the Philippines hosting 31 teams from across the globe, likely to be headlined by 2022 world champion Italy, 2020 Olympic gold medalist France, top-ranked Poland and Asian powerhouse Japan.

No place for the unfit ANGIOLINO FRIGONI has officially taken over the Alas Pilipinas men’s squad and this early, looks set to shuffle the deck.

Former coach of Italy, the Netherlands and Egypt, Frigoni has a little over a year to mold a team worthy of taking the floor in the FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship 2025.

S uzara revealed that the Italian tactician has determined that not all players in the current pool are in top fighting form.

At least two players have been called out by the veteran coach, but Suzara declined to name names.

They’re somewhat on the heavier side,” Suzara said. “Coach

Paris-bound bets get cash incentives ahead of Olympics

By Josef T. Ramos

SENATE Sports Committee chair

Senator Christopher “Bong” Go presented members of Team Philippines with P500,000 “pabaon” each before they do battle in the Paris Olympics that open in a little over a month’s time.

The financial incentive, Go said, is his way of expressing his admiration to the Olympics-bound Filipino athletes most of whom flew to Metz, France, with Philippine Olympic Committee president Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino for a first-of-a-kind pre-Games monthlong training camp. Filipino athletes are not after incentives but for the honor that they will bring to the country

every time they compete,” Go told reporters after turning over his financial assistance totaling P7.5 million to the athletes on Friday morning at the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) conference room.

“ Pride and honor can never be bought,” he told the athletes. “The honor you will bring to the country will be forever cherished and remembered by fellow Filipinos.”

P SC commissioners Olivia “Bong” Coo and Eduard Hayco and executive director Paulo Tatad assisted Go in distributing the incentives to weightlifters John Febuar Cezina, Vanessa Sarno and Elreen Ando, gymnast Carlos Yulo, rower Joanie Delgaco and boxers Aira Villegas, Nesthy Petecio,

Del Monte golfers ready for action as JPGT Visayas leg goes to Bacolod

THREE talented golfers from Mindanao will try to make their mark in the International Container Terminal Services Inc.

(ICTSI) Junior Philippine Golf Tour

(JPGT) Bacolod Visayas Series starting Monday at the Bacolod Golf and Country Club in Binitin, Murcia.

K eith Pagalan, Simon Wahing and Coby Langamin will add excitement to the boys’ premier 16-18 age category of the first of two Bacolod City tournaments that form part of the three-leg JPGT Visayas Series which kicked off last week in Iloilo. W inners in the four age divisions (boys and girls) are all part of the Bacolod roster vying not just for victories but also for ranking points for the national match play finals in

the flag (football)

October after the 14-leg nationwide circuit organized by Pilipinas Golf Tournaments Inc.

Bacolod’s John Rey Oro and Iloilo’s Rhiena Sinfuego aim for back-to-back wins in the 16-18 class, which will be contested over 72 holes, while Inno Flores and Alexie Gabi strive for similar success in the 13-15 division, spanning 54 holes.

K urt Flores and Cailey Gonzales

Frigoni doesn’t like that. Players have been told ‘Don’t go to my gym unless you’re fit.’”

The Alas Pilipinas squad under coach Sergio Veloso that saw action in the Bahrain Challenge Cup had Marck Espejo, Jau Umandal, Jade Disquitado, Nico Almendras, Noel Kampton, Owa Retamar, Joseph Bello, Leo Ordiales, Kim Malabunga, JP Bugaoan, Rwenzmel Taguibolos, Lloyd Josafat, Josh Ybanez and Vince Lorenzo.

The PNVF chief also called on the team to be ready for battle as the federation works to raise the teams’ level of play with exposure events being lined up.

“Coach Figoni is here to share his expertise, lead the team and elevate the players’ skills,” Suzara said.

Friendly matches against top Japanese teams—Panasonic Panthers, Suntory Sunbirds and Nagoya Wolfdog—are being arranged to be held toward the oneyear countdown September 12 “ We’re looking forward to the one-year countdown,” Suzara said. Brazilian coach Veloso, meanwhile, has been assigned director of the new junior development program.

Dark League ‘Estudyante’ nationals up

DARK LEAGUE Studios shifts into high gear with the launch of a campus esports league series culminating in Estudyante Esports: The National Championships later this year.

Competition is set in Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, Valorant, League of Legends and Tekken 8 with separate eliminations and semifinals in the National Capital Region, Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao, culminating in on-site finals in September.

Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng

Muntinlupa, Lyceum of Subic Bay, Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila, Dr. Juan G. Nolasco High School, Our Lady of Fatima University-Quezon City, Capitol Hills Christian School, Systems Plus College Foundation and Pateros Technological College are among the teams expected to compete.

ark League chairman Bobby Rosales said the vision is to redefine esports within academia with a program that aims to establish a structured framework for students to participate in competitive gaming without compromising academic excellence.

Esports is here and we in the academe must embrace it. There is so much that has happened in the

(10-12) and Kvan Alburo and Eliana Mendoza (8-9) will compete over 36 holes.

e spotlight, however, will be on Pagalan and his teammates from Manolo Fortich High School in Bukidnon as they set out to demonstrate their worth while preparing for the four-leg JPGT Mindanao Series starting next month.

dding to the competition in the boys’ centerpiece division is Cavite’s Patrick Tambalque, a category winner in last year’s JPGT national finals.

past few years in terms of technology. The challenge is not in the younger generation but in us, the older generation, how we accept and shift in this new paradigm,” said PLM president Atty. Sonny Reyes of DLS’ vision. Philippine Sports Commission chairman Richard Bachmann expressed support for the development of esports during the esports summit at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum in March. Gathering students from more than a hundred schools and incorporating esports within and beyond the academic curriculum is indeed monumental for the longevity of this program,” Bachmann said. Nationwide registration begins Tuesday and will run until July 16. Schools and campus esports organizations looking to become affiliated with Estudyante Esports may inquire via estudyanteesports.dls@ gmail.com or via the Estudyante Esports Facebook account. Aldrin Quinto

Tambalque, who tied for fourth in the Luzon Series’ first leg at Splendido Taal, is expected to be a strong contender throughout the tournament, designed to nurture young talent and promote camaraderie among participants. The JPGT operates independently from other junior golf organizations, ensuring no scheduling conflicts and fostering a cooperate atmosphere, allowing for a well-organized and focused series that enhances the experience of all participants and supports their development in the sport.

tell Filipinos that you cannot miss out on this world game and the world of opportunity that comes along with it.  You want to get involved in this world sport whether for fun or to be paid or sponsored. Plus, there are going to be travel opportunities.” Coach John Bankhead and his son, Wesley are closely working with the Inspire Sports Academy to promote the game among elementary and high school kids.

“The adults are into it,” noted Bankhead. “To make this grow, we need to work with the young. I am confident that Filipinos will excel in this

ROSALES

TIMOTHEE CARLE of France rises over Brazil’s Lucas Saatkamp. NONIE REYES

JOHN REY ORO tries to make it two-in-row in his home course.

Editor: Francine Medina

Araw ng Maynila

SIMPLY NO PLACE LIKE MANILA

By Francine Medina

IMMORTALIZED in film, musical, and visual masterpieces, Manila—the city that never sleeps—still finds itself at the core of the archipelago’s many business, financial, and cultural activities.

Just as new urban centers are being created with the new-normal way of working and living, and with new infrastructure and technological innovations driving enterprises out of the city to explore other potential hubs for industries, Manila steadfastly remains the capital and seat for the national government. It was on June 24, 1571 when the Spanish navigator Miguel Lopez de Lagazpi established the City of Manila and where he also became its first governor-general. On June 24, 1976, then President Ferdinand Marcos, Sr., further asserted Manila's place as the country's capital and seat of national government.

Named as the World's Leading City Destination in 2023 by the World Travel Awards, Manila received a nod from the esteemed body for its excellence and notable business initiatives.

Consider its many engaging spots: Baroquestyle San Agustin Church, which is an inscribed World Heritage Site; new architectural marvel Binondo-Intramuros Bridge; Chinatown; revived Metropolitan Theater; contemporary arts and retail hub Escolta; classic Luneta Park; vibrant Manila Bay; and so much more.

Uninsulated from the

problems plaguing urban living, including its waste management challenges, pollution, and growing population of 14, 943, 000, a 1.87% increase from 2023, Manila is also moved to participate in sustainable development goals through various initiatives.

R ecognizing the power of community, the local government has been receptive to the initiaties of various Manila-based groups such as Plastic Bank, Ecowaste Coalition, Lampin Club, and Mother Earth Foundation; Dewaste Solutions; Green Space; Suds Sustainable Suds; to name a few. The goal is to eliminate at least 30% of the accumulated plastic waste in the city. In a bid to mitigate air pollution in the city, the city’s local government unit has also taken the initiative to keep Roxas Boulevard car-free Sundays. Lauded as a positive green effort, carless Sundays in the area has given pedestrians more space for strolling, jogging, and enjoying the tranquil Manila Bay area. W ith more infrastructure projects set to ease Metro Manila traffic, and with a booming property sector, Manila surely gives many reasons for businessmen and travelers alike to keep coming back to it.

MANILA: A CITY

“Manila, Manila I keep coming back to Manila Simply no place like Manila Manila, I’m coming home…”

THE iconic line from the song

"Manila" by Filipino band Hotdog continues to resonate, drawing Filipinos and even foreign hearts back to the vibrant capital, with Manila's rich culture, thriving art scene, and lively festivals celebrate the city's unique heritage, making it a beloved destination for many.

Under the proclamation No. 599, S. 2024, Malacañang declared Monday, June 24, 2024, a special (nonworking) day in the city of Manila.

On its 453rd founding anniversary, it is one of the oldest cities in the world and recognized as the heart of the Philippines. Manila has witnessed centuries of cultural exchange, from pre-colonial indigenous influences to Spanish, American, and Asian influences and is reflected in its architecture, museums, and traditions.

But beyond its rich history, the city is also known for its role in providing a platform for the creative industry, from emerging to established artists.

The city has seen a surge in cultural, artistic, and festival celebrations supported by institutions like the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP), National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), and with the Department of Tourism (DOT).

Manila is a melting pot of cultures that reflect a unique blend of East and West. The city's cultural scene is thriving, with numerous theaters, galleries, and performance venues.

The CCP, for instance, is a hub for Filipino performing arts, showcasing everything from traditional dance and music to contemporary theater. Annual events like the Pasinaya Open House Festival further highlight the richness of Manila's cultural offerings. Recently, the CCP hosted Virgin Labfest (VLF) 19: Pintog, an annual event since 2005 featuring unpublished, untried, and untested one-act

plays. The festival runs from June 12 to June 30 this year.

With ongoing support for the local entertainment industry, practitioners are optimistic about the future of the Philippine theater and arts industry, provided there is appropriate backing from authorities and adherence to industry ethics.

And Manila's theater venues such as the Metropolitan Theater, Rizal Park Theater, and even venues in universities like De Le Salle University and St. Scholastica's College are paving the way for a more reenergized performing arts scene.

The Charm of Manila’s Old Hotels

Manila's rich history is also encapsulated in its famous old hotels, which have stood as witnesses to the city's evolving landscape. These establishments not only offer luxurious accommodations but also serve as living museums, showcasing the architectural and cultural heritage of bygone eras.

Opened in 1912, The Manila Hotel is an iconic symbol of grandeur and history. Designed by American architect William Parsons, this hotel has hosted numerous prominent figures, including General Douglas MacArthur and celebrities like The Beatles. Its grand lobby, with its opulent chandeliers and classic woodwork, transports guests back to the early 20th century, while its modern amenities ensure a comfortable stay.

W hile The Peninsula Manila affectionately known as "The Pen," has been a landmark in the city since 1976. Famous for its grand staircase and elegant lobby, The Peninsula is a blend of Filipino warmth and international luxury. It has become a favorite spot for both locals and tourists, offering exquisite dining options and impeccable service.

Additionally, the Luneta Hotel, built in 1918, is a testament to French Renaissance architecture. Lo-

a

for visitors seeking a unique and historic stay. Festive spirit And for the spiritual aspect, Manila's festive spirit is palpable through its various cultural and religious celebrations like the Feast of the Black Nazarene, held every January 9, sees millions of devotees thronging the streets to participate in the Traslación, a massive procession of the statue of the Black Nazarene.

Living Heritage

Beyond its historical allure, Manila's vibrant arts scene is a dynamic blend of traditional and contemporary expressions. From street art in the neighborhoods of Bonifacio Global City in Taguig to the curated exhibits at the National Museum that reflects the city's soul. The National Museum Complex, housing the National Museum of Fine Arts, the National Museum of Anthropology, and the National Museum of Natural History, showcases the rich artistic and cultural heritage of the Philippines. Masterpieces by Filipino artists such as Juan Luna and Fernando Amorsolo are displayed, offering visitors a deep dive into the nation's artistic legacy. In this vein, the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) has announced the deadline for submissions for the Order of National Artists, set for June 30, 2024. Th is prestigious honor celebrates individuals who have significantly enriched Filipino arts and culture. Nominations are welcomed from governmental and non-governmental cultural organizations, educational institutions, private foundations, and councils.

Meanwhile, the Intramuros district, with its cobblestone streets and historic buildings, is another hub of cultural activity. Art galleries, theaters, and museums within this walled city offer a vibrant cultural experience. Fort Santiago, San Agustin Church, and Casa Manila Museum are must-visit sites that provide a glimpse into Manila's storied past. Anniversary celebration To commemorate Manila Day, the Intramuros Administration invites

By John Eiron R. Francisco

cated near Rizal Park, this boutique hotel offers a charming glimpse into Manila's colonial past. Its intricate façade and vintage interiors make it

picturesque choice

Sights and sounds. Clockwise from extreme left: Chinatown (PHOTO BY BERNARD TESTA/BUSINESSMIRROR); Quiapo (PHOTO BY BERNARD TESTA); Intramuros (PHOTO BY MARA RIVERA/UNSPLASH); and Manila

BY

Maynila

THAT BECKONS

MERALCO INTENSIFIES ANTI-URBAN BLIGHT CAMPAIGN TO PROMOTE PUBLIC SAFETY

BEYOND its responsibility to power homes and communities, the Manila Electric Company (Meralco) also plays a vital role in promoting public safety as the country’s largest distribution utility.

The Manuel V. Pangilinan-led utility recently ramped up its campaign against urban blight, particularly in high-density areas, to ensure the integrity of its distribution facilities and prevent accidents that may be caused by overloading of unauthorized wire attachments.

For Meralco, close coordination with other stakeholders – including local government units (LGUs), and telco and cable companies – are crucial to the success of the program.

In a recent Anti-Dangling and Unauthorized Wire Attachments Operations, Meralco teamed up with the Manila City LGU to address urban blight concerns.

A s the Philippine capital marks its 453rd founding anniversary, Meralco reaffirms its commitment to promoting public safety among Manileños on top of delivering reliable, stable, and continuous electricity service at the least cost possible.

therefore avoiding overloading and untoward incidents.

“Unauthorized wire attachments to our poles pose operational risks and endanger lives. We are appealing to telco and cable companies to secure the necessary approvals before attaching to our facilities,” Meralco Vice President and Head of Corporate Communications Joe R. Zaldarriaga said.

In Manila City alone, Meralco has conducted various wire-clearing operations to address urban blight. Recent operations were in Binondo, Quiapo, and Ermita where Meralco crews did not only address dangling and idle wires but also corrected leaning poles, and conducted maintenance works to ensure the integrity of distribution facilities.

Prior to the return of the Black Nazarene Procession in January this year, Meralco immediately heeded the request of the Manila City LGU to conduct anti-urban blight operations

LONGTIME PARTNERS IN NATION BUILDING

Recently, the Metro Manila Council (MMC) passed a resolution urging LGUs in the capital region to pass ordinances that would regulate the installation of telecommunication and electric wires in a bid to address dangling cables or “spaghetti” wires. The move is a welcome development for Meralco, which has long been conducting wire-clearing operations in coordination with various LGUs, and telco and cable companies.

With foreign attachments identified as one of the most common causes of pole troubles, Meralco has been pleading to cable and telco companies to coordinate with the distribution utility and follow the process for wire attachment application process. This is to ensure and maintain the distribution facilities capacity to support these foreign attachments,

along the route of the Traslacion.

Meralco is one with the government in advocating for public safety. Rest assured that we will continue to coordinate with LGUs and telco and cable companies across our franchise area on this,” Zaldarriaga said.

A side from LGUs, Meralco is also working closely with other government agencies such as the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) in addressing urban blight concerns. Similar operations have also been conducted in other areas across Meralco’s franchise such as in the cities of Marikina, Pasig, Quezon, the municipality of Pateros, portions of Bulacan, Dasmarinas in Cavite, and Binan in Laguna with other areas in the pipeline.

FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE COMMUNITY

In one of the operations, BFP Fire Superintendent Fire Marshal and Pasig City Elaine Baylon-Evangelista emphasized the importance

of company’s public safety campaign, considering that overloaded poles and dangling wires can cause traffic and fire incidents.

Based on the joint inspection by Meralco and BFP, Baylon-Evangelista revealed that majority of the dangling and idle wires connected to the distribution utility’s poles are unauthorized telco and cable wires or foreign attachments.

“ The community will benefit from this initiative, as it makes the streets more pleasant to look at, would also help preserve the integrity of electric poles and of course, guarantee the safety of the residents,” she said in Tagalog.

In Manila City, residents are the ones who stand to benefit the most from the strengthened campaign against urban blight.

During a wire-clearing operation in Ermita, Joseph de Hitta, a security guard working in a mall in the city, thanked Meralco linecrews for removing low-sagging and idle wires, saying it would lessen the worries of people crossing the street.

The people walking on the streets no longer have to worry that the pole might fall because of the heavy wires attached to it. It’s good that Meralco regularly fixes their facilities,” he said in Tagalog.

Evelyn Mapilisan a sari-sari store owner shared De Hitta’s sen -

timents, saying the correction of the overloaded electric poles has helped ease her worries of possible accidents.

“I no longer have to worry of the possibility that a pole might fall and hit me. Now I can talk to my neighbors on the streets without worrying about our safety,” she said.

Street vendor Mikaela Cao meanwhile noted how the wireclearing operations would benefit motorists as well.

“ This is for our safety. Before even motorcycles and vehicles have to slow down because of the spaghetti wires. Now, they can pass by without having to worry of these things,” she said in Tagalog.

With public safety as a priority for Meralco, the distribution utility will continue to be a reliable partner of the government in promoting and advocating the cause to continuously empower communities. We will continue to do more of these because we in Meralco put a premium on safety—not just on our employees but on the customers and communities we serve,” Zaldarriaga said.

“Ensuring public safety is a shared responsibility, so we also ask for the everyone’s support and cooperation by reporting incidents of dangling wires to authorities,” he concluded.

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.”

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

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.

T he “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.

T he 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. T he 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.