BusinessMirror June 27, 2022 by BusinessMirror

‘Close borders, cut Omicron exposure risk’ By Cai U. Ordinario @caiordinario

LOSING the country’s borders is one of the most immediate courses of action the government must take to prevent the latest Covid-19 variant, Omicron, from reaching Philippine shores, according to local economists. T he new var iant is a threat, e s p e c i a l l y w it h t he hol id ay s coming up and more foreigners being a llowed to travel to the Philippines, De La Sa lle Universit y economist Mar ia Ella Oplas told BusinessMirror. The holidays usually bring in Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) who are eager to spend Christmas

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with their loved ones, while foreigners living in temperate regions usually want to relax in tropical countries like the Philippines. This year’s influx of OFWs is expected to be heavier since many of them were unable to come home for the holidays in December 2020. “My recommendation is to protect the borders. Do not allow people with a history of travel to countries with positive cases to enter,” Oplas said. “We should be more restrictive. [We have to be] more protective in terms of our measures.” Oplas said that while this will be a setback to some industries, this is a fair measure considering that this could help prevent placing the country in another strict lockdown,

n Monday, June 27, 262 Monday, November 29,2022 2021Vol.Vol.1717No.No.52

which, she said, the economy can no longer afford. “It is better that we do protective preventive measures than get exposed again. We have a lot to lose,” Oplas said. “We should do it now so that we can open just before Christmas. If it gets contained, we can open it again.” Ateneo Center for Economic Research and Development (ACERD) Associate Director Ser Percival K. Peña-Reyes said closing the country’s borders would be effective but should still adhere to the standards set by the World Health Organization (WHO). What is needed, Peña-Reyes told this newspaper, is for travel restrictions to be put in place swiftly and

for government to be proactive in imposing them. Previous instances when the country had the opportunity to impose travel restrictions did not prevent the spread of Covid-19. That was mainly because the decision was not made immediately, he said. “Kung papatay patay [If we’re slow] and we get caught flat-footed, [that’s risky] We were too reactive instead of proactive before. We should learn from that,” PeñaReyes said. “It’s a delicate balancing act. We need to push testing and tracing to be properly informed of our decisions. Blanket/shotgun approaches could have dire consequences on the economy.” See “Omicron,” A2

P25.00 P25.00 nationwide nationwide || 22 sections sections 20 20 pages pages ||

NATL GOVT BORROWINGS OIL PRICE SHOCK REDUX? FOR DIP‘POSSIBLE’ TO P2.75T $20010 A MOS BARREL By Cai U. Ordinario By Bernadette D. Nicolas

T T

@caiordinario

Omicron risk spurs revival of quarantine rules in PHL

@BNicolasBM HE world could see a repeat of the 2008 oil price shock this year if the HE national Russia-Ukraine war escalates and government’s an energy grosscrisis blows up in Europe, an economist borrowingsfrom as of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has warned. end-October shrank

by almost 6 percent year-on-year to In an Asian Development Blog, P2.75 trillion. ADB Economic Research and Re-

gional Cooperation Department economist Marcel Schröder said should this oil Latest datahappen, from theprices Bureauof of the could reach $200 per Treasury showed thatbarrel. the governWhile this would not lead the to ment’s gross borrowings during significant changes in ADB’s GDP 10-month period fell by 5.99 percent growth expectations region, from P2.92 trillion a for yearthe ago. it could inflation Withincrease only two monthsexpectaleft for tions by 1the percentage point to 4.6 this year, latest figure is already percent. equivalent to 89.6 percent of its “The possibility of aprogram. supply P3.07-trillion borrowing shock leads to domestic a large spike Brokenthat down, gross borin the price of January oil as high $200 rowings from to as October per barrel cannot be ruled out. settled at P2.23 trillion, down by For an escalation of 5.08 instance, percent from P2.35 trillion in 2020. The bulk of the amount was sourced from Fixed Rate Treasury Bonds (P1.19 trillion), followed by short-term borrowings from Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas or BSP (P540 billion), Retail Treasury Bonds/PreBy(P463.3 Bianca Cuaresma myo Bonds billion), Retail @BcuaresmaBM Onshore Dollar Bonds (P80.84 billion). In the same period, there was Sentral ng Pilialso a net ANGKO redemption of Treasury pinas (BSP) governor and Bills amounting to P43.94 billion. incoming Financemeans chief Net debt redemption Benjamin Diokno said the atthere were more debts repaid comtainment of an A-level credit pared to the amount borrowed durrating will be part of his main ing the period. focus as the gross head offoreign the DepartMeanwhile, bormentin of the Finance rowings same(DOF). period also In a recent speaking contracted by 9.7 percent toengageP518.7 ment with investor in billion from lastan year’s P574.4group billion. Singapore, Diokno said global while This was raised through the(P146.17 pandemic has taken the bonds billion), program Philippines ‘Road to A’ project loans (P139.98 billion), euro-dea step bonds backward, he plans to nominated (P121.97 billion), implement policies that and will a project loan (P86.41 billion), push forward that agendabonds anew yen-denominated samurai (P24.19 billion).

By Samuel P. Medenilla @sam_medenilla

the war in Ukraine could be followed by an immediate European Union ban on Russian oil. It is unlikely that other oil-exporting countries would fill the resulting shortfall of 3.5–7 million barrels per day in the short run,” Schröder said. A price of $200 per barrel is possible since oil prices peaked at $140 per barrel in June 2008. Schröder said this would be equivalent to $180 per barrel in today’s money. Oil prices surged to $140 a barrel in June 2008 from $90 a barrel in January 2008.

NTER NATIONA L concerns over the possible spread of the more infectious Omicron Covid-19 variant prompted the government to reimpose mandatory facility-based quarantine for all arriving passengers in the country. Acting Presidential spokesperson Karlo B. Nograles announced on Sunday that the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) suspended the implementation of its Resolution No. 150A (s.2021), effectively imposing stricter protocols for all inbound Continued on A4 travelers. To note, IATF Resolution 150A had allowed fully vaccinated PEOPLE walk past the mural of Gat Andres Bonifacio at Manila City Hall Underpass. non-visa travelers from Green List The country will celebrate the 158th birth anniversary of Filipino revolutionary areas to enter the country withhero Gat Andres Bonifacio on Tuesday, November 30. ROY DOMINGO out the need for facility-based quarantine as long as they secure negative Reverse Transcriptionin the coming years. Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT“Before the pandemic, the PCR) test within 72 hours prior Philippines was on its way to MASS WEDDING The threat of another variant-induced surge still hangs over parts of the country, but life must go on, risks and all. In the town of Pakil,toLaguna, Vince Soriano (not in photo) theirMayor departure. an A-level credit rating. The officiated wedding infollowing Barangay Kabulusan 30 couples officiallyeveryone tied the knot. By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas datinga mass its registry the where them. This allows toBERNARD see TESTA programs as President Duterte “Except for countries classified virus set us back temporarily @jearcalas enactment of the Coconut Farmwho are listed in the registry and if is expected to sign the industry as ‘Red,’ the testing and quarantine but the Philippine economy reers and Industry Trust Fund law. farmer doesn’t see his name then he development plan in early 2022. protocols for all inbound internamains strong, and than the governORE 3 million Rosales explained that about shall coordinate with the PCA imRosales said the PCA will not tional travelers in all ports of entry ment has sustained reform and coconutthefarmers 500,000 coconut farmers and mediately,” he explained at a recent stop updating its list of coconut shall comply with the testing and momentum,”workers Diokno are said.now regisworkers were added to the PCA’s dialogue with coconut farmers. farmers and enjoined them to regquarantine protocols for ‘Yellow’ “As such, is government’s not surpris- regBy Jovee Marie dela2.5 Cruz ity (PEZA) the Board InvestReview Boardto (FIRB), to ensure that Diokno and Secretary [Alfredo] tered withitthe 2018 list that hadN. about million “On thetoother hand, of if people ister in order reap the benefits list countries,” Nograles said, citing ingistry, that which the rating @joveemarie ments (BOI). Allowing to BPO areidled able to conduct Pascual are keen digitalization servesagencies as the basis coconut farmers and farm workers. would see names on the BPOs list and of thecompanies decades-long coconut the provision of on IATF Resolution unanimously affirmed theirto be implement work-from-home aralternative forms of stop working of economy. And a natural for the number of people The PCA’s next step is to conthey think they are not coconut levy fund. “We will not at 3.1arNo.the 151-A. investment-grade ratings ofof the has rangements will details help the rangements, such as more WFH,indiwhile consequence of digitalization is covered by the utilization duct Naneconomist-lawmaker exclusion-inclusion profarmers or their arecountry incormillion. We hope that He noted Hong Kong, which has theP75-billion Philippines throughout called on the Department deal the report currency remaining competitive through working remotely. should not coconut levy fund. cedure by making the updated rect,with they can it todepreciathe PCA viduals will register in our coconuttax confirmed a case ofWethe Omicron the pandemic a wave of Finance the tion, he noted. action,” he added. incentives. kill a development that isthe good Philippinedespite Coconut Authority farmers’ registry(DOF) public,and providfor immediate farmers registry,” he said. variant, will also fall under Yelof downgrades for many adDepartment of Trade and Industry House Committee on Ways and With the help of Congress, Salfor Filipino families, who have (PCA) Deputy Administrator Roel ing everyone the opportunity to The PCA official noted that The updating of the coconut low list countries. vanced and emerging mount a “concerted efMeans ChairmanofJoey Sarte list Salceda said the DTIisand DOF should nowThe reclaimed partofofthe their time M. Rosales said about econo3.11 million (DTI) checktothe veracity of the list, Rothe completion the initial farmers registry mandated by suspension rules for mies,” he added. toadded. manage business-process ceda said he hopesregistry to work with ensure that otherorflexible together thanks to flexible coconut farmers and farm work- fort” sales of coconut farmers would Republic ActWFH (RA)and 11524 the “Green List” countries will work be in outsourcing’s (BPO) shift from the the DOFinand the and work arrangements areFund kept.Act. arrangements,” he said. “Credit A2 with the ersSee have beenrating,” registered “The list will be posted in public be just time forDTI, the chair expected Coconut Industry Trust effect from November 28, 2021 to Economic Authorco-chair of coconut the Fiscal Incentives “Both [Benjamin] See 2021. “BPO,” A2 government since it started up- Philippine spaces where peopleZone can easily see See Secretary “3-M farmers,” A2 rollout of levy-funded December 15,

A-LEVEL CREDIT RATING PART OF DIOKNO’S FOCUS AT FINANCE

OVER 3-M FARMERS LISTED FOR P75-B COCO LEVY FUND

‘BPO shift from PEZA to BOI must be managed well’

See “Borrowings,” A2

PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 54.4910 n JAPAN 0.4038 n UK 66.8169 n HK 6.9420 n CHINA 8.1332 n SINGAPORE 39.1965 n AUSTRALIA 37.5770 n EU 57.3518 PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 50.4600 n JAPAN 0.4374 n UK 67.2329 n HK 6.4722 n CHINA 7.9013 n SINGAPORE 36.8968 n AUSTRALIA 36.2807 n EU 56.5758

Continued on A2

n SAUDI ARABIA 14.5224 Source: BSP (June 24, 2022) n SAUDI ARABIA 13.4531 Source: BSP (November 26, 2021)

News

BusinessMirror

A2 Monday, June 27, 2022

Marcos Jr. issues marching orders to new DOTr chief By Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo

@akosistellaBM Special to the BusinessMirror

HE best affordable transportation for all. This was the “marching order” of President-elect Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. to his incoming Transportation Secretary-designate Jaime J. Bautista. In a text message to the BusinessMirror, the former chief operating officer of pioneering flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) said, “My marching order from Marcos Jr. is to provide the riding public accessible, affordable, comfortable, and safe travel.”

A certified public accountant by training, who has worked close to 30 years in the aviation industry, Bautista faces a public transportation crisis mainly in Metro Manila, with commuters suffering almost daily in hellish queues at bus carousel stations along Edsa, the Mass Railway Transit Line-3, and the Parañaque Integrated Terminal Exchange. Aside from complaints from commuters, he will also have to deal with transport drivers and operators struggling to keep their vehicles on the road as the cost of fuel products continue to soar. He failed to give his opinion on

calls to temporarily suspend the excise taxes on fuel products to ease transport drivers’ woes.

Consultative, bargaining skills

COLLEAGUES of Bautista say he is up to the task at hand. Former Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas governor Amado Tetangco Jr., who was an independent board director at PAL, said, “With [Bautista’s] experience and background, he is well suited for the position of Transportation Secretary. He can lead the transport industry towards his objective of bringing it to global standards.”

A former colleague of Bautista, who requested anonymity, described the latter’s management style as consultative. “He listens and talks to everyone. He builds a community. This will serve him well as he will have to consult with not only transport groups, but all stakeholders (i.e., the riding public).” At PAL, Bautista has had to handle several labor strikes, oversee downsizing programs, and negotiate numerous collective bargaining agreements with the airline’s contentious labor unions. These bargaining skills will prove useful in his new job, as Bautista tries to balance the needs of his agency’s various stakeholders.

The North remembers

THE long-time aviation executive said he took on the challenge of heading up the Department of Transportation (DOTr), “after [Marcos Jr.] requested me to support his government. It’s difficult to say ‘no’ to a President elected by the majority.” Marcos Jr. was governor of Ilocos Norte when he spoke with Bautista, still with PAL then, to plead for the return of direct flights between Manila and Laoag. Shortly after, on April 1, 2004, the carrier launched four-times weekly service between both cities, for which Marcos Jr., according to sources, was

extremely grateful. Bautista, 65, said he had been busy since Thursday, “working on the transition from the office of Secretary Art [Tugade]. I hope [the public] can give us a chance to work on our plans in the next six years.” The DOTr is currently implementing several big-ticket projects such as construction of the Metro Manila Subway, Mindanao R ai lway, Nor th South Commuter Railway, Philippine National Railways Bicol Line, among others. The incoming DOTr chief is married to the former Josefina “Joji ” Nazareno; both of them had been happily doting on their two grandchildren from their only child, Jay mee. He once shared that his most memorable trip was aboard Shepherd One, the PAL f light that brought Pope Francis from Manila back to Rome in January 2015. “The Pope complimented the aircraft and our service,” said Bautista, and he asked the Pontiff to pray for him. Bautista currently holds directorships at various LT Group firms, and is also an independent director of the Zamora family’s Nickel Asia Corp., and Cosco Capital, the retail holding firm of Lucio Co. Bautista will have to give up these positions when he assumes his post at the DOTr.

BPO... Continued from A1

“The best way to do this is to manage the transition of BPO companies from PEZA registration to the more flexible enhanced deductions system, either still as exporters, or as BOI-registered domestic enterprises,” he added. Salceda said the country needs a concerted effort to craft the package and procedure for that shift, and to make BPOs understand this. “I have already pitched with the incoming Speaker and with several economists and incoming members of the Marcos Cabinet that one of the best ways to deal with currency depreciation is to simply earn more dollars. And the BPO sector is a big part of that strategy. We really need to allow them to work from home,” he said. Currently, Salceda said, BPOs are typically registered as “exporters” under the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises Law and are entitled to the 10-year, 5 percent on gross income rate and 4 to 7 years of income tax holidays. “My proposal is to encourage them instead to register under the enhanced deductions system, either as exporters or as BOI-registered domestic enterprises. Enhanced deductions reward training, knowledge transfer, research, and better worker pay,” the senior lawmaker said. “Basically, the fear of the FIRB appears to be that work-from-home reduces economic benefits from face-to-face work such as rent and spending on utilities and nearby establishments that serve workers,” he added. Salceda argued that WFH will still allow the country to earn dollars and employ workers, which is the point of tax incentives. “So, my proposed compromise is this: If you want to do workfrom-home, you will be required to register under enhanced deductions, either as an exporter or as an domestic market enterprise, depending on the level of economic contribution that you can still deliver to the country, despite WFH,” he added. “Besides, work-from-home has its own economic benefits such as lower overall fuel and transport consumption,” he added.

www.businessmirror.com.ph

DOE...

Continued from A12

Moreover, the agency lifted the moratorium on all gas exploration activities in the WPS in October 2020. This, it pointed out, was an exercise in foresight given the current global energy crisis. The DOE said the lifting of the moratorium encouraged Service Contract (SC) holders to restart investments in WPS exploration. Specifically, SC No. 72 and SC No. 75 contracted survey vessels to carry out exploration activities in Recto Bank. SC 72 is operated by Forum GSEC 101 Ltd., a 79.13-percent subsidiary of Pangilinan-led upstream oil and gas firm PXP Energy Corp.’s unit Forum Energy Ltd., with a 70-percent participating interest. PXP has a total economic interest of 54.36 percent in SC 72. SC 75 in northwest Palawan is directly operated by PXP Energy. It has a 50-percent participating interest. “On the DOE’s part, to ensure the safety and security of our oil and gas activities in the WPS, it held 11 meetings and briefings with all concerned service con-

tractors together with maritime law enforcement and security experts in the National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea,” the DOE added. However, the SJPCC suspended WPS oil and gas activities in March of this year. “Among the reasons for the suspension was China’s harassment of the survey vessels hired by our service contractors. At that time, the negotiations with China were also cited as another reason for the suspension,” said the DOE. PXP President Daniel Stephen Carlos earlier said despite the termination, the company remains a partner of government in developing indigenous petroleum resources in the country. “We will continue to coordinate with the DOE on this, especially in light of the incoming administration. Meanwhile, we aim to enhance the company’s value through the acquisition of new prospective areas and we’ll likewise remain open to evaluate the other opportunities in the region,” Carlos said. Lenie Lectura

DTI...

Continued from A12

One of the reasons that pushed DTI to establish an AI research hub is the growing number of tech startups using AI as a core technology in their business model, she explained. Specifically, according to the presentation of Aldaba, 50+ tech startups in the Philippines are using AI as a core technology in their business model. Applications cover a wide range of industries including fintech, e-commerce, advertising, healthcare, and IoT. Some of the tech startups which utilize AI are Rumarocket, Paylance, Instalimb, Tangere, Retailgate, Transitflix, Senti, TechAguru,

and many more. The goal of the National Art if ic ia l Intel l igence St rateg y Roadmap for the Philippines, launched in 2021, is to uplift the lives of the Filipino people, the countr y’s industr ies and the economy. Apart from these, the ultimate goal is to make the country an artificial intelligence center for excellence. “The main recommendation of the roadmap is for us to establish a center for AI research which is important in order to help us accelerate innovation as well as the digitalization of our MSMEs,” said Aldaba.

Credit rating...

Continued from A1

At present, the Philippines stands short of attaining an A rating across all major credit watchers: Moody’s rates the country at a Baa2, while S&P Global Ratings at BBB+. Both credit watchers has the country on a “stable outlook,” which means that the country’s rating is not expected to budge in the next 12 to 18 months. Fitch Ratings, however, rates the Philippines at BBB with a negative outlook, which means it could receive a downgrade should economic conditions deteriorate in the coming months. “As Finance Secretary under the incoming administration, I will make the attainment of an A- level credit rating as one of the goals of the Economic Team,” Diokno said. “This can be done by improving tax administration and adopting a fiscal consolidation framework, among others,” he added. Earlier, Diokno said he intends

to focus on streamlining tax administration before deciding on whether the country needs new taxes as part of its fiscal consolidation program. “The tax system has recently been reformed. There are many changes that were done by the present administration. There is room for better tax collection,” Diokno said, adding that making the system “taxpayer-friendly” through technology and digitization processes and other reforms could help make sure enough revenues are collected. “Although I said that this [current system] is a better tax system than the previous one, it is not perfect. It could be improved upon. But to me, the focus should really be first, let us implement the new tax system. And then find out if there is a need for further reform,” Diokno said.

Govt...

Continued from A12

Pay up

SALCEDA said the Philippine government “must make China understand that if they want us on friendlier terms, especially on resource development, they have to pay up.” “China is not a major Philippine investor. The island state of Singapore trumps China on that front by several multiples. It is not a major Philippine lender, on the scale of say, Japan. It is our second largest export market, but the United States still beats them there. So, if they want our favor, they have to pay up. Invest more in the country. Send us more tourists. Give us cheaper

loans,” Salceda said. “Otherwise, what it will look like is a military superior country just trying to coerce another neighbor,” Salceda added. R ig ht now, t he l aw m a ker said the countr y’s geopolitica l “ best fr iend ” is still Japan, w h ic h h a s s ho w n t i me a nd again that its interests a lign w ith the Philippines. “I would explore the possibility of the Philippines going on its own using Japanese capital, technology, and research as leverage in our talks with China over oil in WPS. Besides, it is in Japan’s interest to have a close friend be oil-producing,” he said.

The Nation BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug • Monday, June 27, 2022 A3

‘Better planning’ needed for non-immunocompromised kids By Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco @claudethmc3

HE Department of Health (DOH) on Sunday said that the roll-out of the first booster or third dose for the rest of the non-immunocompromised adolescents aged 12-17 years old

has been postponed. This, according to the DOH, was in favor of “better planning” between the National Covid-19 Vaccination Operations Center and local government vaccination units. “The DOH will provide updates as soon as there are further devel-

opments,” the DOH told reporters. Earlier, Health Secretary Francisco T. Duque III has approved the recommendation of the Health Technology Assessment Council to start giving Covid-19 booster shots to teenagers aged 12 to 17. Health Undersecretary Myrna C. Cabotaje said that the roll-out aims

to boost protection for children against Covid-19, ahead of the faceto-face classes. Likewise, the DOH has prioritized the administration of booster shots to immunocompromised teens first before the rest of the pediatric populations. The DOH has approved and re-

leased the guidelines for the roll out of booster shots for the said priority group. Under the guidelines, immunecompromised children are: those who have been receiving active cancer treatment for tumors or cancers of the blood; those who received an organ transplant and are tak-

ing medicine to suppress the immune system; those who received a stem transplant within the last two years or are taking medicine to suppress immune systems; and, those with moderate or severe primary immunodeficiency, such as DiGeorge syndrome and WiskottAldrich syndrome.

State U. opens school in old NPA bailiwick in Davao City By Manuel T. Cayon @awimailbox Mindanao Bureau Chief

AVAO CITY—The University of Southeastern Philippines (USEP) opened an extension campus in the former northern bailiwick of the communist New People’s Army in Paquibato District. The USEP and the city government launched the USEPMalabog extension campus in Barangay Malabog, Paquibato District on June 22 as part of outgoing Mayor Sara Duterte’s pet counterinsurgency project called “Peace 911.” Mayor Sebastian Duterte represented the city as its acting mayor. He was joined by USEP President Lourdes C. Generalao, Commission on Higher Education Regional Office XI Director Maricar R. Casquejo, Malabog

Barangay Captain Jessielito C. Areja, Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Practices (IKSP) Head for Ata IPs Tumanuran Boyson Anib Jr. “Along with promoting accessible education to far-flung areas in Davao City, establishing a tertiary education institution in the once conflict-torn territories of Paquibato District is also another way for the City Government of Davao to prevent insurgent entities from re-establishing a foothold in the area by educating the youth against its recruitment,” a statement from the city information office said.

Best defense

TWO courses are offered in the extension campus: Bachelor of Science in Agribusiness and Bachelor of Science in Entrepreneurship. “These courses were deemed

suitable for the agricultural district of Paquibato; with the aim to arm residents, especially indigenous people, with the knowledge to further promote growth and development in the once conflict-wrought area,” the office added. “We know how crucial education is in terms of development. For now, we start small but time will come when we achieve our goals of adding a college here in Paquibato,” Acting Mayor Duterte said. Areja said the extension campus would “shepherd young people towards peaceful and orderly living especially with Paquibato’s history of armed conflict.” He added that education would be the best defense the young may possess “to avoid indoctrination into insurrectionist ideologies and life of armed violence”. “This is part of our anti-

insurgency program because the youth are the most susceptible to recruitment. But now, they have the opportunity to go to college so their attention will be diverted to their education,” Areja said.

Infirmary level

THE USEP Annex building is currently housed at the Paquibato National High School. The land development and academic building construction budget of P54 million for the Malabog campus is funded by the city government while human resources, training and development would be administered by USEP. It was only last year that outgoing Mayor Sara Duterte inaugurated the Marilog District Hospital in Marilog, a northern district adjacent to Paquibato. The district hospital has been

elevated to an infirmary level hospital which has catered to more than 10,000 patients since the Department of Health approved its license in February last year. The Marilog District hospital has a 10-bed capacity, 14 medicalrelated services, and 73 medical and non-medical staff. The hospital provides outpatient services, delivery, and admission, minor surgical procedures, animal bite treatment services and Covid19-related services to more than 10,000 patients already.

No reason

MARILOG is 60 kilometers northwest of downtown, and the district has a dominant population of indigenous peoples. “We have a hospital here. We have doctors whom you can consult for any health issue. This is open seven days a week, 24

hours a day. There is no reason for people not to have access to our doctors or health care workers and medicines,” she added. Duterte said she wanted the district to be autonomous “so they can move faster since it got a license to operate from the Department of Health (DOH) in February 2021.” The district hospital also houses the DOH Botika ng Bayan and the Lingap sa Mahirap Marilog satellite office. She added that a similar hospital would be constructed in Paquibato District and in Mintal, the latter to be established in partnership with the University of the Philippines-Mindanao. The new hospital was expected to help de-clog the Southern Philippines Medical Center, the main public hospital here, It is currently the country’s largest government hospital.

A4 Monday, June 27, 2022 • Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug

Economy BusinessMirror

Labor turnover rate shows positive employment levels By Cai U. Ordinario @caiordinario

EARLY 100 workers out of 1,000 either got a job or lost one in the last two quarters of 2021, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA). The PSA’s Labor Turnover Rate (LTR) data showed 96 out of 1,000 workers were employed in the third quarter while 97 out of 1,000 were hired in the fourth quarter 2021. For every 1,000 employed persons, 89 workers in the third quarter and 91 workers in the last quarter were either laid off by their employers or voluntarily quit their jobs. “The results of the Labor Turnover Survey for the last two quarters of 2021 showed both positive employment growth at 0.7 percent in the third quarter and 0.6 percent in the fourth quarter,” PSA said.

“These labor turnover rates implied that for every 1,000 employed persons, seven workers were added to the total workforce during the third quarter and six workers in the fourth quarter,” it added. The data showed the services sector maintained its employment growth for the third and fourth quarters with labor turnover rates recorded at 0.7 percent and 1.1 percent, respectively. During the third quarter, the highest LTR was posted by the education sector with 7.5 percent followed by “other service” activities at 2 percent and “administrative and support service” activities at 1 percent. The lowest LTR was posted by transportation and storage with a contraction of 2.1 percent followed by “accommodation and food services” activities with 1.6 percent and “arts, entertainment and recreation”

at 1.4 percent. In the fourth quarter period, the main gainers included “accommodation and food services” activities with an LTR of 3.7 percent followed by the Professional, scientific and technical activities at 3.2 percent of the sector and transportation and storage at 2.6 percent. The sectors that posted contractions in LTR or those who lost more workers in the fourth quarter, included Information and communication with a contraction of 2.3 percent followed by Arts, Entertainment and Recreation at 2 percent and human health and social work activities, 1.4 percent. The agriculture, forestry and fishing sector recorded a negative turnover rate of 1.2 percent in the third quarter and posted a slight employment gain in the fourth quarter at 0.4 percent.

On the other hand, the labor turnover in the industry sector contracted 1.8 percent in the last quarter of 2021 after posting a growth of 0.6 percent posted in the third quarter. Under this sector, the highest reduction in employment or lowest LTR was a contraction of 2.9 percent was recorded in mining and quarrying during the 3rd quarter and 2.5 percent in construction in the last quarter of 2021. “It is worth noting that mining and quarrying bounced back in the fourth quarter as it registered the highest gain for the period at 10.6 percent labor turnover rate,” PSA said. T he LTS a ims to come up with timely information on labor market trends in the formal sector of the economy, the items of inquiry have been limited to employment, labor turnover and existing job vacancies.

Jalaur dam completion to preempt food security woes for BBM–Drilon By Butch Fernandez

@butchfBM

ENATE Minority Leader Franklin M. Drilon is pressing for the timely completion of the Jalaur River Multi-Purpose Project (JRMP) to preempt looming food security issues awaiting the administration of Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. At the same time, he said the Jalaur mega dam will effectively “address declining agricultural productivity.” In a statement over the weekend, Drilon affirmed that the Jalaur project, as soon as it gets on line, will “help address food security issues awaiting the incoming Marcos administration.”

Drilon envisions “the completion of this mega dam by December of next year,” saying the project will “provide the much-needed push in the incoming administration’s efforts to address the numerous challenges to the country’s food security.” At the same time, he expressed confidence that “its immediate completion will play a crucial role in the Marcos administration’s commitment to stabilize the food supply and improve food production.” The P11.2-billion irrigation project will provide the critical support needed by farmers and the agriculture sector “in order to improve productivity,” Drilon said. The construction of Jalaur Multi-

Purpose project will improve agricultural production in Western Visayas and the country,” added Drilon, who hails from that region. In addition, he projects the JRMP increasing annual production of rice in Iloilo to 300,000 metric tons from 140,000 metric tons and expand the production areas of sugarcane and other crops.” Drilon likewise held out hopes that President-elect Marcos, who will sit as agriculture secretary, will include among his priorities the construction and completion of agricultural facilities in the country such as JRMP. As of May 31, 2022, the project is 44.80-percent complete. Meanwhile, he lamented that the

project was “stalled for more than three decades,” a waste of opportunity given that “the P11.2-billion is the first large-scale reservoir dam outside of Luzon.” Drilon had helped secure the funding for JRMP from Korea through its Export-Import Bank which extended a $207-million loan to the country payable in 30 years at an interest rate of 0.15 percent per annum. The project is the single biggest Official Development Assistance (ODA) project of South Korea. He expects JRMP II to provide year-round irrigation to 31,840 hectares of farm lots in the Province of Iloilo and the whole of Western Visayas.

www.businessmirror.com.ph

DTI studying construction of factory to test new tech By Andrea San Juan

HE Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) plans to build a facility to test Industry 4.0 technologies, which could facilitate adoption of these methods. At the “2022 Manufacturing Summit” held last Tuesday, Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez said the DTI is conducting a feasibility study to construct a sustainable “Fourth Industrial Revolution” pilot factory that will host demonstrations and case applications of Industry 4.0 technologies that enterprises, especially micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), can access to facilitate the adoption of these technologies. DTI Undersecretary for Competitiveness and Innovation Group Rafaelita M. Aldaba said the factory is “actually being funded by the DTI and the work is being carried out by” Siemens Nixdorf Information Systems Philippines Inc. Aldaba said at a virtual business forum on Thursday that based on initial findings of the report, the results are positive and they are hoping to be able to raise the funds necessary for the DTI to be able to procure the equipment such as robots, machines, and computers, which she said will be used to support particularly the MSMEs. The Trade undersecretary said the department will be able to support the MSMEs “in terms of explaining to them, allowing them to enjoy and experience what these new technologies could mean to their businesses.” “Because by themselves, they won’t be able to invest [in] these [technologies],” Aldaba added. She emphasized that the idea is to put up the facility as a shared services facility and at the same time the large companies could also utilize it along with university re-

searchers as a place where they can do their prototyping, the validation of their projects, and for the startups to make it as their co-working or co-maker space. The DTI, Aldaba said, is hoping the factory could be put up by late next year as they are still completing the feasibility study this year and undergoing the construction process. “So hopefully later next year hopefully we’ll be able to put up the country’s first industry 4.0 pilot factory,” Aldaba said. Along with this, the Trade undersecretary divulged that there is already a location for the said facility and “there are also companies who are interested to house or to provide the land.” She emphasized that the location was purposefully chosen as it is the center of the manufacturing industry in the Philippines. “Based on the initial work that the Siemens team has carried out, the best place would really be in the Calabarzon area because that’s the center of our manufacturing industry so it’s in the Laguna, Batangas area,” Aldaba said. She hinted that the company that is interested to house it is also located within the vicinity, “where most of the manufacturers in the electronics and automotive sector are located.” In a nutshell, Industry 4.0 technology is the introduction of new systems to the manufacturing and traditional process introduced in the third industrial revolution. Industry 4.0 transforms the way companies manufacture, improve and distribute their products. In addition, companies also revolutionize the way they conduct their business. Industry 4.0 introduces how companies can utilize technology and the Internet of Things (IoT) to transform itself, as illustrated by the digital transformation pyramid.

Construction material prices highest in March By Cai U. Ordinario @caiordinario

HE increase in construction material prices reached its highest level in March this year, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA). Based on the Construction Materials Retail Price Index (CMRPI) in the National Capital Region (NCR), it grew 4.8 percent in March 2022. This brought the first quarter average of the CMRPI to 3.7 percent. In February, the CMRPI posted a growth of 3.3 percent and 1.2 percent in March 2021. This means there was a 1.5-percentage point increase in prices between February and March this year while a 3.6

percentage point increase compared to March last year. “The CMRPI is a variant of the General Retail Price Index (GRPI), which measures the changes in the prices used by retailers to sell their goods to consumers and end-users relative to a base year,” PSA said. The increase in the CMRPI was driven by the 7.3 percent growth in the prices of tinsmithry materials followed by the 6.9 percent increase in the prices of plumbing materials. Tinsmithry material prices were at 5.2 percent in February 2022 and 1.8 percent in March 2021. Prices of tinsmithry materials averaged 5.6 percent in the first quarter of 2022. In terms of plumbing materials, the data showed the increase in the

price of these materials was at 4.5 percent in February 2022 and 0.5 percent in March 2021. This means the growth of prices in this commodity in March 2022 was a 2.4 percentage point increase from February this year and 6.4 percentage points more compared to March 2021. Other construction materials that posted increases include miscellaneous construction materials at 6.7 percent and electrical materials at 3.6 percent in March 2022. The market basket of the CMRPI is composed of 102 commodities and classified into seven major groups: carpentry; electrical; masonry; painting and related compounds; plumbing; tinsmithry; and, miscellaneous materials.

Oil price shock redux? $200 a barrel ‘possible’ Prices peaked at $147 a barrel in July 2008 and declined to $40 per barrel in December 2008. Schröder said the surge in oil prices in 2008 was driven by supply disruptions, similar to what is happening today. The only difference is that this year, the world also has to deal with geopolitical issues that involve “sanctions against a major oil producer.” Based on his estimates, the most benign impact is a 1-percentage point increase from ADB’s baseline assumptions in inflation to 4.6 percent this year. Inflation is also expected to average 2 percent next year. “It is more plausible, however, that an escalation of the invasion together with an oil price shock of this size will set off significant secondary effects. One possibility is an increase in inflation expectations that requires additional monetary policy tightening, and which also results in falling consumer confidence and business sentiment,”

Schröder said. If persistent inflation occurs because of a $200-per-barrel oil, this could lead to an inflation rate of 5.3 percent in 2022. Developing countries in Asia will experience a marked growth slowdown to 3.8 percent in 2022, which is 1.4 percentage points below baseline. In 2023, growth accelerates to 4.5 percent but remains 0.7 percentage points below the baseline. Headline inflation would surge even higher to 5.3 percent and 3.4 percent in 2022 and 2023, respectively. Should the high oil prices lead to “global financial turmoil,” inflation is expected to reach 5.3 percent this year. Developing countries in Asia would only grow by 2.3 percent in 2023, while the G3 and several economies in the region see contractions. In this scenario, Schröder said, the GDP level by the end of 2023 would be about 4 percent lower than in the baseline, which is about two-

continued from a1 thirds of the size of the Covid-19 shock in 2020. “Governments can help mitigate the impact of a high oil price. Over the short-term, they should implement measures to improve energy efficiency and other conservation policies to reduce petroleum fuel imports,” Schröder said. In the medium-term, governments must implement pricing and subsidy reforms in the energy sector to free up fiscal resources, Schröder added. This would, in turn, provide support to vulnerable groups adversely affected by high energy prices. Over the long term, Schröder said measures should be undertaken to strengthen energy security by diversifying the energy mix away from fossil fuels. Countries must work toward lowor zero-carbon energy resources for power, heating, and cooling; as well as promote and invest in e-mobility vehicles and infrastructure.

CARD FOR CASH

This May 28, 2022, photo courtesy of the Land Bank of the Philippines Inc. (Landbank) shows a Landbank San Carlos Branch staff distributing one of 4,298 CCT-UCT prepaid cards to program beneficiaries in the Municipality of Malasiqui, Pangasinan. (See story on B3) CREDIT: LAND BANK OF THE PHILIPPINES INC. (LANDBANK)

Sen. Pia joins health groups seeking veto of vaping bill continued from a12 “This decision of the SC is so relevant because when I worked on the FDA law (RA 9711)—that was 2009 in the 14th Congress, and I was just in my fifth year as a senator—I was already fighting that the FDA should regulate all products that affect health, because that’s the definition in the FDA Law. ‘Health product’ refers to any product that may have an effect on health,” Cayetano said. “In 2009, I fought for that,” she recalled, partly in Filipino. “Fast-forward to this Congress, in the last six months prior to the campaign period, I fought again for this, because of this new product called the e-cigs and the vapes. I explained that health products, as defined by law, is anything that affects health. And the example I gave—shampoo, conditioner, insect repellant, lotion, cosmetics, food products—all are regulated by FDA. So, vapes and e-cigs should also be regulated,” the senator stressed. “And now, the SC has upheld ba-

sically that principle—that if it is a product that affects your health, the FDA should regulate,” she added. She then asked the “vanguards of health...many of whom have worked on this FDA law, on tobacco control, and even now on these related products called vapes and e-cigs,” to weigh in on the matter. Dr. Maricar Limpin, Executive Director, Framework Convention on Tobacco Control Alliance-Philippines (FCAP), noted that, “every hour, 13 Filipinos die from tobacco use, according to the Global Burden of Disease report published in 2017.” This makes an agency with FDA’s mandate to crucial, she added, while expressing hopes that, “the incumbent President heeds the call of doctors and health advocates to veto the vape bill.” Definitely, Limpin said, “the DTI cannot do the job of protecting health; only the FDA has power to do that with the leadership of DOH.” Dr. Edgardo Ulysses Dorotheo,

Executive Director, Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance (SEATCA), noted that “in all other ASEAN countries, it is the ministry of health regulating tobacco products.” He found it “ unusual that here in the Philippines, the DTI was made the head of the interagency committee on tobacco.” Before the US surgeon general came out with the first report on smoking and health in 1964, cigarettes were considered as consumer products for 16 years. Since 1964, governments across the world have been regulating tobacco products as health products, Dorotheo added. “More than 8 million people are killed every year due to tobacco - more than 120,000 Filipinos a year. It is not just a regular consumer product. Cigarettes are now more harmful than before,” he added. For his part, ex-FDA chief Dr. Hartigan-Gosaidthat,“Afteralmost10years, we got the law interpreted correctly. Cigarettes are products that contain harmful substances that affect health.”

BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph Republic of the Philippines

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT Regional Office No. IV-A 4th Flr. Andenson Bldg. II, Brgy. Parian, Calamba City Telefax No.: (049) 545-7362

June 27, 2022

NOTICE OF FILING OF APPLICATION/S FOR ALIEN EMPLOYMENT PERMIT/S (AEP/S)

Notice is hereby given that the following companies/employers have filed with this Regional Office application/s for Alien Employment Permit/s:

NO.

ESTABLISHMENT BO CHENG RUBBER PHILIPPINES INC. Phase 3, Blk. 5, Lot 3, LTC-SEZ, San Fernando, Malvar, Batangas K&D MOLD-TECH CORP. Lot 1 Blk 6 Bldg. 3 CCMC Compound, CPIP, Batino, City of Calamba, Laguna

LEADING SUCCESS (PHILS.) GARMENTS INC. Bldg. 1, 2 & 3, GMBP, Maduya, Carmona, Cavite

HUAPING, LAI Engineering Manager Brief Job Description: Responsible for project communication and quotation plan JIN, YOUNGJONG Molding Manager Brief Job Description: Teach/guide Filipino employee for new mold technique

Brief Job Description: Assist directly the higher management relating to sales concern, translation of speech and work documents in oral and written form from English to Japanese or vice versa TU, DONGQIAO Pattern Maker Brief Job Description: Responsible in pattern making and interpret buyer’s specification requirement

Basic Qualification: With the ability to effectively delegate the work and with effective problemsolving skills

Salary Range: Php30,000 - Php59,999 Basic Qualification: Well experienced in the same industry

Salary Range: Php30,000 - Php59,999

Basic Qualification: With effective oral and written communication skills

Salary Range: Php90,000 - Php149,999 22 Basic Qualification: With skills in creating templates Salary Range: Php60,000 - Php89,999 23

MOA CLOUDZONE CORP. Island Cove II, Covelandia Road, Binakayan-Aplaya, Kawit, Cavite

NAME OF FOREIGN NATIONAL, QUALIFICATION AND SALARY POSITION AND BRIEF DESCRIPTION RANGE

YAMAGUCHI, RISA Sales Executive KODO (PHILIPPINES) INC. Bldg. 1 Panorama Compound 5, Lot 5 Blk 3, LTI Annex, City of Biñan, Laguna

MOA CLOUDZONE CORP. Island Cove II, Covelandia Road, Binakayan-Aplaya, Kawit, Cavite

HTET ZAW LIN PHYO Burmese Customer Service Representative

Basic Qualification: Able to speak, read and write Chinese language

Brief Job Description: Manage incoming calls and customer service inquiries

Salary Range: Php30,000 - Php59,999

KYAW KYAW HTOO Burmese Customer Service Representative

Basic Qualification: Able to speak, read and write Chinese language

Brief Job Description: Manage incoming calls and customer service inquiries

Salary Range: Php30,000 - Php59,999

LAW KYEIN SHONE Burmese Customer Service Representative

Basic Qualification: Able to speak, read and write Chinese language

Brief Job Description: Manage incoming calls and customer service inquiries

Salary Range: Php30,000 - Php59,999

JIN, YUANYUAN Chinese Customer Service Representative

Basic Qualification: Able to speak, read and write Chinese language

Brief Job Description: Manage incoming calls and customer service inquiries

Salary Range: Php30,000 - Php59,999

YAN, GUOSHUN Chinese Customer Service Representative

Basic Qualification: Able to speak, read and write Chinese language

Brief Job Description: Manage incoming calls and customer service inquiries

Salary Range: Php30,000 - Php59,999

FITRI DIANA Indonesian Customer Service Representative

Basic Qualification: Able to speak, read and write Chinese language

Brief Job Description: Manage incoming calls and customer service inquiries

Salary Range: Php30,000 - Php59,999

JECKY Indonesian Customer Service Representative

Basic Qualification: Able to speak, read and write Chinese language

Brief Job Description: Manage incoming calls and customer service inquiries

Salary Range: Php30,000 - Php59,999

SOFAN SYOFYAN Indonesian Customer Service Representative

Basic Qualification: Able to speak, read and write Chinese language

Brief Job Description: Manage incoming calls and customer service inquiries

Salary Range: Php30,000 - Php59,999

MOA CLOUDZONE CORP. Island Cove II, Covelandia Road, Binakayan-Aplaya, Kawit, Cavite MOA CLOUDZONE CORP. Island Cove II, Covelandia Road, Binakayan-Aplaya, Kawit, Cavite MOA CLOUDZONE CORP. Island Cove II, Covelandia Road, Binakayan-Aplaya, Kawit, Cavite MOA CLOUDZONE CORP. Island Cove II, Covelandia Road, Binakayan-Aplaya, Kawit, Cavite MOA CLOUDZONE CORP. Island Cove II, Covelandia Road, Binakayan-Aplaya, Kawit, Cavite MOA CLOUDZONE CORP. Island Cove II, Covelandia Road, Binakayan-Aplaya, Kawit, Cavite MOA CLOUDZONE CORP. Island Cove II, Covelandia Road, Binakayan-Aplaya, Kawit, Cavite MOA CLOUDZONE CORP. Island Cove II, Covelandia Road, Binakayan-Aplaya, Kawit, Cavite MOA CLOUDZONE CORP. Island Cove II, Covelandia Road, Binakayan-Aplaya, Kawit, Cavite MOA CLOUDZONE CORP. Island Cove II, Covelandia Road, Binakayan-Aplaya, Kawit, Cavite MOA CLOUDZONE CORP. Island Cove II, Covelandia Road, Binakayan-Aplaya, Kawit, Cavite MOA CLOUDZONE CORP. Island Cove II, Covelandia Road, Binakayan-Aplaya, Kawit, Cavite ROYALE LIFE PHARMA INC. B8 L2 Vicente St., San Antonio Heights Phase 2, San Antonio, City of Sto. Tomas, Batangas

Monday, June 27, 2022 CHIEM ANH KIET Vietnamese Customer Service Representative

Basic Qualification: Able to speak, read and write Chinese language

Brief Job Description: Manage incoming calls and customer service inquiries

Salary Range: Php30,000 - Php59,999

CHONG NHOC BAU Vietnamese Customer Service Representative

Basic Qualification: Able to speak, read and write Chinese language

Brief Job Description: Manage incoming calls and customer service inquiries

Salary Range: Php30,000 - Php59,999

CHONG TAI MUI Vietnamese Customer Service Representative

Basic Qualification: Able to speak, read and write Chinese language

Brief Job Description: Manage incoming calls and customer service inquiries

Salary Range: Php30,000 - Php59,999

HOANG THI CHANG Vietnamese Customer Service Representative

Basic Qualification: Able to speak, read and write Chinese language

Brief Job Description: Manage incoming calls and customer service inquiries

Salary Range: Php30,000 - Php59,999

LANG THI THOM Vietnamese Customer Service Representative

Basic Qualification: Able to speak, read and write Chinese language

Brief Job Description: Manage incoming calls and customer service inquiries

Salary Range: Php30,000 - Php59,999

LUU VAN MANH Vietnamese Customer Service Representative

Basic Qualification: Able to speak, read and write Chinese language

Brief Job Description: Manage incoming calls and customer service inquiries

Salary Range: Php30,000 - Php59,999

LY XUONG CUONG Vietnamese Customer Service Representative

Basic Qualification: Able to speak, read and write Chinese language

Brief Job Description: Manage incoming calls and customer service inquiries

Salary Range: Php30,000 - Php59,999

NGUYEN VAN HUY Vietnamese Customer Service Representative

Basic Qualification: Able to speak, read and write Chinese language

Brief Job Description: Manage incoming calls and customer service inquiries

Salary Range: Php30,000 - Php59,999

NGUYEN VAN NHAM Vietnamese Customer Service Representative

Basic Qualification: Able to speak, read and write Chinese language

Brief Job Description: Manage incoming calls and customer service inquiries

Salary Range: Php30,000 - Php59,999

SLEN LIN NGHIA Vietnamese Customer Service Representative

Basic Qualification: Able to speak, read and write Chinese language

Brief Job Description: Manage incoming calls and customer service inquiries

Salary Range: Php30,000 - Php59,999

SOOC LUU XUAN Vietnamese Customer Service Representative

Basic Qualification: Able to speak, read and write Chinese language

Brief Job Description: Manage incoming calls and customer service inquiries

Salary Range: Php30,000 - Php59,999

SY QUYNH VAN Vietnamese Customer Service Representative

Basic Qualification: Able to speak, read and write Chinese language

Brief Job Description: Manage incoming calls and customer service inquiries

Salary Range: Php30,000 - Php59,999

TRUONG THI TREO Vietnamese Customer Service Representative

Basic Qualification: Able to speak, read and write Chinese language

Brief Job Description: Manage incoming calls and customer service inquiries

Salary Range: Php30,000 - Php59,999

PHU MENH SENH Vietnamese Customer Service Representative

Basic Qualification: Able to speak, read and write Chinese language

Brief Job Description: Manage incoming calls and customer service inquiries

Salary Range: Php30,000 - Php59,999

ISLAM, NOOR Assistant Manager Technical

Basic Qualification: Minimum of 10 years of work experience at a pharmaceutical plant

Brief Job Description: Ensure smooth operations of vial machines

Salary Range: Php30,000 - Php59,999

CHIA HUI NYUK Malaysian Customer Service Representative

Basic Qualification: Able to speak, read and write Chinese language

Brief Job Description: Manage incoming calls and customer service inquiries

Salary Range: Php30,000 - Php59,999

GOH CHEE HONG Malaysian Customer Service Representative

Basic Qualification: Able to speak, read and write Chinese language

Brief Job Description: Manage incoming calls and customer service inquiries

Salary Range: Php30,000 - Php59,999

Any person in the Philippines who is competent, able and willing to perform the services for which the foreign national is desired may file an objection at DOLE Regional Office IV-A located at 3rd and 4th Floors, Andenson Building II, Parian, Calamba City, Laguna, within 30 days after this publication.

JOSEPH YONG KAH WEI Malaysian Customer Service Representative

Basic Qualification: Able to speak, read and write Chinese language

Please inform DOLE Regional Office IV-A if you have any information on criminal offense committed by the foreign nationals.

Brief Job Description: Manage incoming calls and customer service inquiries

Salary Range: Php30,000 - Php59,999

MICHAEL TIONG KWONG TAI Malaysian Customer Service Representative

Basic Qualification: Able to speak, read and write Chinese language

Brief Job Description: Manage incoming calls and customer service inquiries

Salary Range: Php30,000 - Php59,999

SUNGEUN ELECTRONICS PHILIPPINES CPIP-SEZ, Batino, City of Calamba, Laguna

KANG, HO KYU Mold Manager Brief Job Description: Oversee mold tooling operations to ensure that the daily schedule, production and quality standards are met

To avail of free job referral, placement, and employment guidance services, visit the nearest Public Employment Service Offices (PESO) or log on at http://www.philjobnet.gov.ph

Basic Qualification: At least 10 years of experience as a Mold Manager Salary Range: Php30,000 - Php59,999

6 A5 A

A6 Monday, June 27 , 2022

The World BusinessMirror

Russian troops capture east, fire missiles across Ukraine By David Keyton & John Leicester

The Associated Press

YIV, Ukraine—Russian forces were seeking to swallow up the last remaining Ukrainian stronghold in the eastern Luhansk region, pressing their momentum after taking full control Saturday of the charred ruins of Sievierodonetsk and the chemical plant where hundreds of Ukrainian troops and civilians had been holed up. Russia also launched dozens of missiles on several areas across the country far from the heart of the eastern battles. Some of the missiles were fired from Russian long-range Tu-22 bombers deployed from Belarus for the first time, Ukraine’s air command said. The bombardment preceded a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, during which Putin announced that Russia planned to supply Belarus with the Iskander-M missile system. Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said late Saturday that Russian and Moscow-backed separatist forces now control Sievierodonetsk and the villages surrounding it. He said the attempt by Ukrainian forces to turn the Azot plant into a “stubborn center of resistance” had been thwarted. Serhiy Haidai, the governor of the Luhansk province, said Friday that Ukrainian troops were retreating from Sievierodonetsk after weeks of bombardment and house-tohouse fighting. He confirmed Saturday that the city had fallen to Russian and separatist fighters, who he said were now trying to blockade Lysychansk from the south. The city lies across the river just to the west of Sievierodonetsk. Capturing Lysychansk would give Russian forces control of every major settlement in the province, a significant step toward Russia’s aim of capturing the entire Donbas. The Russians and separatists control about half of Donetsk, the second province in the Donbas. Russia’s Interfax news agency quoted a spokesman for the separatist forces, Andrei Marochko, as saying Russian troops and separatist fighters had entered Lysychansk and that fighting was taking place in the heart of the city. There was no immediate comment on the claim from the Ukrainian side. Lysychansk and Sievierodonetsk have been the focal point of a Russian offensive aimed at capturing all of the Donbas and destroying the Ukrainian military defending it—the most capable and battle-hardened segment of the country’s armed forces. Russian bombardment has reduced most of Sievierodonetsk to rubble and cut its population from 100,000 to 10,000. The last remaining Ukrainian troops were holed up in underground shelters in the huge Azot chemical plant, along with hundreds of civilians. A separatist representative, Ivan Filiponenko, said earlier Saturday that its forces evacuated 800 civilians from the plant

A boy holds his pet dog as his family evacuated from the war-hit area gets on an evacuation train in Pokrovsk, eastern Ukraine, on Saturday, June 25, 2022. AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky

during the night, Interfax reported. Ukrainian military analyst Oleg Zhdanov said some of the troops were heading for Lysychansk. But Russian moves to cut off Lysychansk will give those retreating troops little respite. Some 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) to the west, four Russian cruise missiles fired from the Black Sea hit a “military object” in Yaroviv, Lviv regional governor Maksym Kozytskyy said. He did not give further details of the target, but Yaroviv has a sizable military base used for training fighters, including foreigners who have volunteered to fight for Ukraine. Russian missiles struck the Yaroviv base in March, killing 35 people. The Lviv region, although far from the front lines, has come under fire at various points in the war as Russia’s military worked to destroy fuel storage sites. About 30 Russian missiles were fired on the Zhytomyr region in central Ukraine on Saturday morning, killing one Ukrainian soldier, regional governor Vitaliy Buchenko said. He said all of the strikes were aimed at military targets. In the northwest, two missiles hit a service station and auto repair center in Sarny, killing three people and wounding four, the Rivne regional governor, Vitaliy Koval, said. He posted a picture of the destruction. Sarny is located about 50 kilometers (30 miles) south of the border with Belarus. In southern Ukraine along the Black Sea coast, nine missiles fired from Crimea hit the port city of Mykolaiv, the Ukrainian military said. In the north, about 20 missiles were fired from Belarus into the Chernihiv region, the Ukrainian military said. Ukraine’s military intelligence agency said the Russian bombers’ use of Belarusian airspace for the first time for Saturday’s attack was “directly connected to attempts by the Kremlin to drag Belarus into the war.” Belarus hosts Russian military units and was used as a staging ground before Russia invaded Ukraine, but its own troops have

not crossed the border. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address that as a war that Moscow expected to last five days moved into its fifth month, Russia “felt compelled to stage such a missile show.” He said the war was at a difficult stage, “when we know that the enemy will not succeed, when we understand that we can defend our country, but we don’t know how long it will take, how many more attacks, losses and efforts there will be before we can see that victory is already on our horizon.” During his meeting in St. Petersburg with Lukashenko, Putin told him the Iskander-M missile systems would be arriving in the coming months. He noted that they can fire either ballistic or cruise missiles and carry nuclear as well as conventional warheads. Russia has launched several Iskander missiles into Ukraine during the war. Following a botched attempt to capture Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital, in the early stage of the invasion that started Feb. 24, Russian forces have shifted their focus to the Donbas, where the Ukrainian forces have fought Moscow-backed separatists since 2014. A senior US defense official, speaking in Washington on condition of anonymity, on Friday called the Ukrainians’ withdrawal from Sievierodonetsk a “tactical retrograde” to consolidate forces into positions where they can better defend themselves. The move will reinforce Ukraine’s efforts to keep Russian forces pinned down in a small area, the official said. After repeated Ukrainian requests to its Western allies for heavier weaponry to counter Russia’s edge in firepower, four medium-range American rocket launchers arrived this week, with four more on the way. The Ukrainian Defense Ministry released a video Saturday showing the first use of the High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS, in Ukraine. The video gave no location or indication of the targets. The rockets can travel about 45 miles (70 kilometers). The senior US defense official said Friday that more Ukrainian forces are training outside Ukraine to use the HIMARS and are expected back in their country with the weapons by mid-July. Also to be sent are 18 US coastal and river patrol boats. The official said there is no evidence Russia has intercepted any of the steady flow of weapons into Ukraine from the US and other nations. Russia has repeatedly threatened to strike, or actually claimed to have hit, such shipments.

Editor: Angel R. Calso

WHO panel says monkeypox not a global emergency ‘at this stage’ By Maria Cheng AP Medical Writer

ONDON—The World Health Organization said the escalating monkeypox outbreak in more than 50 countries should be closely monitored but does not warrant being declared a global health emergency. In a statement Saturday, a WHO emergency committee said many aspects of the outbreak were “unusual” and acknowledged that monkeypox—which is endemic in some African countries—has been neglected for years. “While a few members expressed differing views, the committee resolved by consensus to advise the WHO director-general that at this stage the outbreak should be determined to not constitute” a global health emergency, WHO said in a statement. WHO nevertheless pointed to the “emergency nature” of the outbreak and said controlling its spread requires an “intense” response. The committee said the outbreak should be “closely monitored and reviewed after a few weeks.” But it would recommend a re-assessment before then if certain new developments emerge — such as cases among sex workers; spread to other countries or within countries that have already had cases; increased severity of cases; or an increasing rate of spread. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreysus convened the emergency committee on Thursday after expressing concern about the epidemic of monkeypox in countries that haven’t previously reported the disease. “What makes the current outbreak especially concerning is the rapid, continuing spread into new countries and regions and the risk of further, sustained transmission into vulnerable populations including people that are immunocompromised, pregnant women and children,” the WHO chief said. Monkeypox has sickened people for decades in central and west Africa, but until last month, the disease had not been known to cause significant outbreaks in multiple countries at the same time and involving people with no travel links to the continent. Declaring a global health emergency means that a health crisis is an “extraordinary” event requiring a globally managed response and that a disease is at high risk of spilling across borders. WHO previously made similar declarations for diseases including Covid-19, Ebola in Congo and West Africa, Zika in Brazil and the ongoing effort to wipe out polio. The emergency declaration mostly serves as a plea to draw more global resources and attention to an outbreak. Past announcements have

had mixed impact, given that WHO is largely powerless when trying to convince countries to act. WHO said this week it has confirmed more than 3,200 monkeypox infections in about 40 countries that haven’t previously reported the disease. The vast majority of cases are in men who are gay, bisexual or have sex with other men and more than 80% of the cases are in Europe. A leading WHO adviser said last month the spike in cases in Europe was likely tied to sexual activity by men at two raves in Spain and Belgium, speculating that its appearance in the gay and bisexual community was a “random event.” British officials have said most cases in the UK involve men who reported having sex with other men in venues such as saunas and sex clubs. Scientists warn that anyone in close, physical contact with someone infected with monkeypox or their clothing or bedsheets is at risk of catching the disease, regardless of their sexual orientation. People with monkeypox often experience symptoms like fever, body aches and a rash; most recover within weeks without needing medical care. Monkeypox in Africa mostly affects people who come into contact with infected wild animals, like rodents or primates. There have been about 1,500 reported cases of monkeypox, including 70 deaths, in Congo, Cameroon and the Central African Republic. To date, scientists haven’t found any mutations in the monkeypox virus that suggest it’s more transmissible or lethal, although the number of changes detected show the virus has likely been spreading undetected for years. The version of the disease transmitting beyond Africa typically has a fatality rate of less than 1%, while the version seen in Africa can kill up to 10% of people affected. WHO is also creating a vaccinesharing mechanism for monkeypox, which could see vaccines go to rich countries like Britain, which currently has the biggest outbreak beyond Africa. Some experts warned that could entrench the deep inequities seen between rich and poor countries during the coronavirus pandemic. “France, Germany, the US and UK already have a lot of resources and plenty of vaccines to deal with this and they don’t need vaccines from WHO,” said Dr. Irwin Redlener, an expert in disaster preparedness and response at Columbia University. “What we should be doing is trying to help the countries in Africa where monkeypox has been endemic and largely neglected,” he said. “Monkeypox is not Covid, but our attention should not be so distorted that it only becomes a problem when it is seen in rich countries.”

Isolating China won’t help HK and Uyghurs, says Dutch leader Iraqi PM heads to Saudi, Iran for new dialogue

utch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said he opposes reconsidering trade relations with China over its policies toward Hong

Kong and its Uyghur minority. Rutte, whose country is among the European Union countries most closely intertwined with

Chinese production chains, said the EU should address those topics but shouldn’t isolate countries that don’t live up to European standards. His comments in an interview feed into Europe’s reassessment of individual and collective relations with China triggered most immediately by Russia’s war on Ukraine. Cutting ties with China won’t “help anyone in Hong Kong or the Uyghurs,” Rutte said in Brussels after an EU summit. “This is one of the reasons I believe the EU should be more of a geopolitical powerhouse, that we have to develop our own policies toward China, in close connection with the US,” he said. The Netherlands was the biggest importer of goods from China in 2021, according to EU data. China is the country’s third-biggest trade partner after neighbors Germany and Belgium. Dutch-based chip machine builder ASML Holding NV plays a sensitive role in trade relations due to China’s reliance on ASML technology to build up its chip-making industry. The company hasn’t been granted an export license to ship its most advanced machines to China. A trade dispute with China would have high costs for the Netherlands, a government economic analysis agency, the Central Planning Bureau, warned this week. Recent EU-Chinese contacts have reflected tensions in the relationship. After a summit in April, EU chief diplomat Josep Borrell said the talks were “a dialog of the deaf” with China refusing to discuss the war in Ukraine, human rights or other issues between the two sides. Bloomberg News

AGHDAD—Iraq’s caretaker prime minister arrived in Saudi Arabia on Saturday, his office said, on a visit that an official said aimed at reactivating Baghdadmediated talks between the kingdom and Iran. The official said Mustafa al-Kadhimi planned to travel to Tehran after the visit to Saudi Arabia. The visit seeks to open new avenues that would reactivate dialogue between the two regional foes, according to the official, who is privy to the Iran-Saudi dialogue track. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to divulge the information to the press. Al-Kadhimi’s office later said he arrived in the Saudi city of Jiddah for an official visit during which he would meet Saudi officials. It is al-Kadhimi’s second visit since he took the post of prime minister in May 2020. The Saudi-Iran talks aimed at defusing yearslong tensions between the regional foes began quietly in Iraq’s capital in 2021 as Saudi Arabia sought a way to end its disastrous war

against Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen. The conflict has spawned one of the world’s worst humanitarian disasters and brought bombs from rebel drones and missiles raining down on Saudi airports and oil facilities. A fifth and last round of talks was held in Baghdad in April before they were suspended again amid soaring Middle East tensions. Iran, the largest Shiite Muslim country in the world, and Sunni powerhouse Saudi Arabia severed diplomatic ties in 2016 after Saudi Arabia executed prominent Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr. Angry Iranians protesting the execution stormed two Saudi diplomatic missions in Iran, fueling years of animosity between the nations. Iraq borders both Iran and Saudi Arabia and is often caught in the middle of the two nations’ proxy wars. A l-K ad h i m i h a s st ressed he wants balanced relations with the two neighbors. Improving relations with Saudi Arabia was a key policy of his administration when he took office. AP

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Pope hails families, blasts ‘culture of waste’ after Roe By NICOLE WINFIELD

The Associated Press

OME—Pope Francis celebrated families Saturday and urged them to shun “selfish” decisions that are indifferent to life as he closed out a big Vatican rally a day after the US Supreme Court ended constitutional protections for abortion.

Pope Francis presides over a mass celebrated by US Cardinal Kevin Joseph Farrell in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican for the participants into the World Meeting of Families in Rome on Saturday, June 25, 2022. The World Meeting of Families was created by Pope John Paul II in 1994 and celebrated every three years since then in different cities.

Francis has strongly upheld church teaching opposing abortion, equating it to “hiring a hitman to solve a problem.” At the same time, he has expressed sympathy for women who had abortions and made it easier for them to be absolved of the sin of undergoing the procedure. The Catholic Church holds that life begins at conception and must be protected and defended until natural death. Francis delivered his homily in a packed St. Peter’s Square at the end of the World Meeting of Families, a four-day conference held every few years aimed at helping church workers provide better pastoral care for families, especially those in difficulty. The head of the Vatican’s laity office, Cardinal Kevin Farrell, celebrated the closing Mass before tens of thousands of people given Francis has a bad knee that makes

AP Photo/Andrew Medichini

Francis didn’t refer to the ruling or explicitly mention abortion in his homily. But he used the buzzwords he has throughout his papacy about the need to defend families and to condemn a “culture of waste” that he believes is behind the societal acceptance of abortion. “Let us not allow the family to be poisoned by the toxins of selfishness, individualism, today’s culture of indifference and waste, and as a result lose its very DNA, which is the spirit of welcoming and service,” he said. The pope, noting that some couples allow their fears and anxieties to “thwart the desire to bring new lives in the world,” called for them not to cling to selfish desires. “You have been asked to not have other priorities, not to ‘look back’ to miss your former life, your former freedom, with its deceptive illusions,” he said.

it difficult for him to stand for long periods of time. The pope instead sat to the side of the altar and delivered the homily seated, though he was able to stand up easily for the reading of the Gospel and other moments with the help of a cane. The Vatican welcomed Friday’s ruling overturning Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that provided constitutional protections for abortion in the US. The move opens the doors for individual states to ban or restrict abortion access, with bans now expected in about half the US states. The Holy See’s main bioethics body, the Pontifical Academy for Life, said it “challenges the whole world” to reopen debate about the need to protect life. Abortion is legal in Italy and most of Europe. In an editorial Saturday entitled

“For Life, Always,” the Vatican’s editorial director, Andrea Tornielli, called for that debate to move away from polarized ideology to a dialogue that takes into account concerns about maternal mortality rates and helping women, especially poor ones, with paid parental leave and other assistance when they bring children into the world. “Being for life, always, also means defending it against the threat of firearms, which unfortunately have become a leading cause of death of children and adolescents in the US,” Tornielli wrote. Farrell, in his closing remarks at the end of the Mass, thanked Francis for his many initiatives in favor of families, citing in particular his teaching on the value of grandparents and his “many pronouncements in defense of life.”

Biden signs gun measure, says ‘lives will be saved’ Police says By Will Weissert

The Associated Press

A SHINGTON—President Joe Biden on Saturday signed the most sweeping gun violence bill in decades, a bipartisan compromise that seemed unimaginable until a recent series of mass shootings, including the massacre of 19 students and two teachers at a Texas elementary school. “Time is of the essence. Lives will be saved,” he said in the Roosevelt Room of the White House. Citing the families of shooting victims he has met, the president said, “Their message to us was, ‘Do something.’ How many times did we hear that? ‘Just do something. For God’s sake, just do something.’ Today we did.” The House gave final approval Friday, following Senate passage Thursday, and Biden acted just before leaving Washington for two summits in Europe. “Today we say, ‘More than enough,’” Biden said. “It’s time, when it seems impossible to get anything done in Washington, we are doing something consequential.” The legislation will toughen background checks for the youngest gun buyers, keep firearms from more domestic violence offenders and help states put in place red flag laws that make it easier for authorities to take weapons from people adjudged to be dangerous. The president called it “a historic achievement.” Most of its $13 billion cost will help bolster mental health programs and aid schools, which have been targeted in Newtown, Connecticut, and Parkland, Florida, and elsewhere in mass shootings. Biden said the compromise hammered out by a bipartisan group of

President Joe Biden signs into law S. 2938, the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act gun safety bill, in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington on Saturday, June 25, 2022. AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais

senators from both parties “doesn’t do everything I want” but “it does include actions I’ve long called for that are going to save lives.” “I know there’s much more work to do, and I’m never going to give up, but this is a monumental day,” said the president, who was joined by his wife, Jill, a teacher, for the signing. After sitting to sign the bill, Biden sat reflectively for a moment, then murmured, “God willing, this is gonna save a lot of lives.” He also said they will host an event on July 11 for lawmakers and families affected by gun violence. The president spoke of families “who lost their souls to an epidemic of gun violence. They lost their child, their husband, their wife. Nothing is going to fill that void in their hearts. But they led the way so other families will not have the experience and the pain and trauma that they had to live through.” Biden signed the measure two days after the Supreme Court’s ruling Thursday striking down a New York law that restricted peoples’ ability to carry concealed weapons. And Saturday’s cere-

mony came less than 24 hours after the high court overturned the Roe v. Wade decision, which had legalized abortion nationwide for nearly five decades. “Yesterday, I spoke about the Supreme Court’s shocking decision striking down Roe v. Wade,” Biden said. “Jill and I know how painful and devastating the decision is for so many Americans. I mean so many Americans.” He noted that the abortion ruling leaves enforcement up to the states, some of which have already moved to ban abortion or will soon do so. Biden said his administration will “focus on how they administer it and whether or not they violate other laws, like deciding to not allow people to cross state lines to get health services.” Asked by reporters about whether the Supreme Court was broken, Biden said, “I think the Supreme Court has made some terrible decisions.” He walked away without answering more questions, noting, “I have a helicopter waiting for me to take off.” While the new gun law does not include tougher restrictions long championed by Democrats, such as a ban on assault-style weapons and background checks for all firearm transactions, it is the most impactful gun violence measure produced by Congress since enactment a long-expired assault weapons ban in 1993. Enough congressional Republicans joined Democrats in supporting the steps after recent rampages in Buffalo, New York and Uvalde, Texas. It took weeks of closed-door talks but senators emerged with a compromise. Biden signed the bill just before departing Washington for a summit of the Group of Seven leading economic powers—the United States, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan—in Germany. He will travel later to Spain for a NATO meeting.

Spain unveils $9.5-B package to curb soaring living costs

ADRID—The Spanish gover nment has approved a package of emergency economic measures worth more than 9 billion euros ($9.5 billion) to try to temper the economic fallout from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said Saturday. “This war, and its economic and social consequences, have produced an extraordinary uncertainty when it comes to the European and international economy and, of course, the Spanish one,” Sánchez told reporters. “Consequently, we are cushioning this effect with the instruments that

we have and sharing in a fair, equitable way the economic and social costs of the war,” he added. The measures include a cut in the tax on electricity, from 10% to 5%, a reduction in the cost of monthly transit passes and a one-time payment of 200 euros ($211) for people who earn less than 14,000 euros ($14,756) a year and are not already receiving benefits. A series of previously announced measures, such as a 20-cent reduction on gasoline prices at the pump and a 15% increase for people on benefits, will be extended. The government is also in the pro-

cess of designing a tax aimed at the “extraordinary profits” earned by energy companies since Russia’s war in Ukraine sent prices soaring, said Sánchez, whose Socialists lead a coalition government. “It’s an initiative that is in tune with public opinion in our country,” the prime minister said. His announcement came less than a week after the opposition Popular Party won an unprecedented majority government in the southern Spanish region of Andalusia. Several analysts linked the Socialist loss in a region that was once a party stronghold to growing concerns over rising inflation and the cost of living. AP

5-month-old girl in car fatally shot in Chicago

HICAGO—A 5-monthold girl was shot to death while in the rear of a car in a neighborhood on Chicago’s South Side. The infant, who was identified as Cecilia Thomas, was struck in the head Friday evening when shots were fired from another vehicle in the South Shore neighborhood, according to police and the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office. Cecilia was taken to a hospital where she later died. A 41-year-old man in another vehicle was in good condition at a hospital after suffering a gunshot wound near his eye, Chicago police said. No arrests have been made, and authorities have provided no details on what led to the shooting or how it happened. Police said Saturday that they did not have any updates. The baby is among the youngest victims of gun violence in Chicago. She would have turned 6-months-old in four days, according to Natalia Derevyanny, a spokeswoman for the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office. As of June 19, the Chicago Police Department had recorded 282 homicides so far this year, down from the 316 recorded during the same period in 2021. Like many other cities in the US, Chicago reported a dramatic increase in homicides last year. The 797 homicides in the nation’s third-largest city in 2021—Chicago’s highest toll for any year in a quarter century— eclipsed Los Angeles’ tally by 400 and the total in New York by nearly 300. Crisis responder Andrew Holmes, who spoke with Cecilia’s mother, expressed anger at the shooter, saying, “you shouldn’t sleep at night” and urged the person to turn themselves in. “You just took this baby’s life. This baby was an infant, this baby didn’t do nothing to you,” he said. Activist Ja’Mal Green was offering a $5,000 reward for information about the shooting. AP

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negotiators put Russia oil G-7 leaders to address problems G-7 price cap on agenda for leaders on energy, inflation, Ukraine war G By Zeke Miller, Darlene Superville And Geir Moulson

The Associated Press

LMAU, Germany—President Joe Biden and his Group of Seven allies will huddle Sunday on strategies to secure energy supplies and tackle inflation, aiming to keep the fallout from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine from splintering the global coalition working to punish Moscow. Biden arrived in Germany’s picturesque Bavarian alps early Sunday morning for the annual meeting of the leading democratic economies, where the reverberations from the brutal war in Ukraine will be front and center in the discussion. He and the allies aim to present a united front in support of Ukraine as the conflict enters its fourth month. Biden will open his visit with a bilateral meeting with the summit’s host, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, before spending the afternoon in both formal and informal settings with the leaders of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the European Union. John Kirby, spokesman for the White House National Security

Council, said the summit will address problems such as inflation and other “challenges in the global economy as a result of Mr. Putin’s war—but also how to continue to hold Mr. Putin accountable” and subject to “constant consequences.” “There will be some muscle movements,” Kirby said from Air Force One as Biden flew to Germany. He declined to preview any announcements before the leaders met. Among the issues to be discussed are price caps on energy, meant to limit Russian oil and gas profits that Moscow can put to use in its war effort. The idea has been championed by US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. A senior Ger ma n of f ic i a l, speaking on condition of anonym-

US President Joe Biden, right, waves as he walks past Bavarian mountain riflemen and traditional costumers after his arrival at Franz-Josef-Strauss Airport near Munich, Germany, on Saturday, June 25, 2022, ahead of the G-7 summit. Biden is in Germany to attend a Group of Seven summit of leaders of the world’s major industrialized nations. Daniel Karmann/dpa via AP

ity in line with department rules, said the US idea of price caps was being discussed intensely, in terms of how it would work exactly and how it would fit with the US, EU, British, Canadian and Japanese sanctions regimes. Officials were also to discuss how to maintain commitments to address climate change while also solving critical energy supply needs as a result of the war. “There’s no watering down of climate commitments,” Kirby said. Biden is also set to formally launch on Sunday a global infrastructure partnership meant to counter China’s influence in the

developing world, which he had named “Build Back Better World” and introduced at last year’s G-7 summit. Kirby said Biden and other leaders would announce the first projects to benefit from what the US sees as an “alternative to infrastructure models that sell debt traps to low- and middle-income partner countries, and advance US economic competitiveness and our national security.” After Germany, Biden will travel to Madrid on Tuesday to meet with the leaders of the 30 members of NATO to align strategy on the ongoing war in Ukraine. Superville reported from Telfs, Austria.

Inflation ‘problem’ will get worse: Australian treasurer

u st r a l ia’ s i n f l a t i o n “problem” will get worse in coming months and the situation is expected to improve only in 2023, Treasurer Jim Chalmers said. Prices will be “significantly higher” than forecast during the last budget and expected during the recent election campaign, Chalmers told the Insiders television program on Sunday. He will give an updated estimate near the end of July, he said. Australia’s A$2.2 trillion ($1.5 trillion) economy is running hot with the tightest labor market in almost 50 years, resilient household consumption and still-strong loan demand. Reserve Bank of Australia

Australian Treasurer Jim Chalmers: “This inflation problem will get more difficult before it starts to ease.” Bloomberg photo

Governor Philip Lowe reiterated last week that Australians should gird for higher borrowing costs,

with inflation expected to accelerate to 7% in the final three months of the year and begin moderating only in early 2023. “This inf lation problem will get more difficult before it starts to ease,” Chalmers said. The central bank’s estimate of around 7% “doesn’t seem to me to be wildly off the mark,” he said. Lowe has warned about the impact of high wages on the central bank’s ability to keep inflation at a desired level. “If wage increases become common in the 4% and 5% range, it’s going to be harder to return inflation to 2.5%,” he said. The likelihood of strong wage

growth across the economy was rejected by critics including ACTU secretar y Sally McManus who described the prospect of widespread increases of more than 5% as “boomer fantasy land.” The government remains committed to strong and sustainable wage growth despite concerns that high labor costs will add to inflation that’s already rising faster than expected, Chalmers said. He wouldn’t be drawn on whether wage growth of 3.5% is sustainable as it depends on productivity and other conditions in the economy. “I’m not interested in nominating a specific number,” he said. Bloomberg News

New Colombian president pledges to protect rainforest By Fabiano Maisonnave

IO DE JANEIRO— Gustavo Petro, Colombia’s first elected leftist president, will take office in August with ambitious proposals to halt the record-high rates of deforestation in the Amazon rainforest. Petro has promised to limit agribusiness expansion into the forest, and create reserves where Indigenous communities and others are allowed to harvest rubber, acai and other nontimber forest products. He has also pledged income from carbon credits to finance replanting. “From Colombia, we will give humanity a reward, a remedy, a solution: not to burn the Amazon rainforest anymore, to recover it to its natural frontier, to give humanity the possibility of life on this planet,” Petro, wearing an Indigenous headdress, said to a crowd in the Amazon city of Leticia during his campaign. But to do that he first needs to establish reign over large, lawless areas. The task of stopping deforestation seems more challenging than ever. In 2021, the Colombian Amazon lost 98000 hectares (more than 240,000 acres) of pristine forest to deforestation and another 9,000 hectares (22,000 acres) to fire. Both were down from what they had been in 2020, but

2021 was still the fourth worst year on record according to Monitoring of the Andean Amazon Project (MAAP), an initiative of the nonprofit Amazon Conservation Association. More than 40% of Colombia is in the Amazon, an area roughly the size of Spain. The country has the world’s largest bird biodiversity, mainly because it includes transition zones between the Andes mountains and the Amazon lowlands. Fifteen percent of the Colombian Amazon has already been deforested, according to Foundation for Conservation and Sustainable Development, or FCDS. Destruction of the forest has been on the rise since 2016, the year Colombia signed a peace accord with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, that ended decades of a bloody armed conflict. “The peace process allowed people to return to formerly conf lictridden rural areas. As the returning population increasingly used the natural resources, it contributed to deforestation and increases in forest fires, especially in the Amazon and the Andes-Amazon transition regions,” according to a new paper in the journal “Environmental Science and Policy.” The presence of the State is barely felt in Colombia’s Amazon. “Once the

armed groups were demobilized, they left the forest free for cattle ranching, illegal mining and drug trafficking,” said Ruth Consuelo Chaparro, director of the Roads to Identity Foundation, in a telephone interview. “The State has not filled the gaps.” The main driver of deforestation has been the expansion of cattle ranching. Since 2016, the number of cattle in the Amazon has doubled to 2.2 million. In the same period, about 500,000 hectares (1.2 million acres) of forest were lost, according to FCDS, based on official data. This cattle expansion goes hand in hand with illegally seized land, said FCDS director Rodrigo Botero. “The big business deal is the land. The cows are just a way to get hold of these territories,” he told the AP in a phone interview. E x per ts a f f i r m t h at i l lega l ly seized lands are often resold to ranchers, who then run their cattle free of land use restrictions, such as the propriety’s size. Most of the destruction occurs in an “arc of deforestation” in the northwestern Colombian Amazon, where even protected areas have not been spared. Chiribiquete, the world’s largest national park protecting a tropical rainforest, has lost around 6,000 hectares (14,800 acres) since

2018, according to MA AP. During the campaign, Botero took Petro and other presidential candidates on separate one-day trips to the Amazon. They flew over cattle ranching areas, national parks and Indigenous territories. “A very interesting thing Petro and other candidates said was that they never imagined the magnitude of the destruction.” The feeling of ungovernability made a deep impression on each of them, Botero said. Almost 60% of Colombia’s greenhouse gas emissions come from agriculture, deforestation and other land use, according to the World Resources Institute. In 2020, under the Paris Agreement, Colombian President Ivan Duque’s government committed to a 51% reduction in emissions by 2030. To do that, it pledged to reach net-zero deforestation by 2030. The Amazon is the world’s largest tropical rainforest and an enormous carbon sink. There is widespread concern that its destruction will not only release massive amounts of carbon into the atmosphere, further complicating hopes of arresting climate change, but also push it past a tipping point after which much of the forest will begin an irreversible process of degradation into tropical savannah. AP

roup of Seven negotiators agreed that discussions on a potential price cap on Russian oil had progressed enough to send the issue to leaders to discuss at a summit starting Sunday in Germany, according to people familiar with the matter. The negotiators known as sherpas held what one official described as “intense” talks on the matter in the Bavarian Alps ahead of the summit. While there are many issues still to be ironed out, they reached an understanding that leaders should have a formal discussion about a price cap, the person said, asking not to be identified discussing private matters. Such a price mechanism would set an upper limit on imports of oil from Russia, which would be imposed unilaterally by each participating country and prevent Russia selling at a higher price. For European nations, it’s also a way to potentially defray inflation driven by energy prices as they grapple with the economic fallout of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. W hile Italy is among those championing the move—the US is also pushing for it—some European nations have been wary given it could potentially require the painful reopening of alreadyagreed European Union texts on sanctions against Russia. That would need the agreement of all

27 EU member states and be very difficult to do. It’s also unclear how key buyers of Russian crude such as China and India could be coaxed into complying with a price cap. One idea being floated by the US would be to allow them to keep accessing shipping insurance on oil cargo as long as they agree not to pay more than a certain price for the oil on board. The EU has agreed to ban insurance for the transportation of crude and petroleum products from Russia. A German government official said the questions that needed solving were not trivial but the group was at least on a path to finding an agreement. The US was confident a resolution would be found, a Biden official said. Asked about the proposal on Air Force One as President Joe Biden flew to Europe, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said leaders were looking for ways to minimize the hit from rising oil prices. But with key details still being worked on, another G-7 official said it remained unclear whether the leaders would be in a position to back the concept. G-7 states are eager to find a way to limit the Kremlin’s energy revenue while mitigating the impact on their own economies from steps to quickly curb their reliance on oil and gas from Russia. Bloomberg News

‘Total bloodbath’: Witnesses describe Ethiopia ethnic attack

AIROBI, Kenya—The heavily ar med men appeared around the small farming village in Ethiopia’s Oromia region, frightening residents already on edge after recent clashes between government troops and rebels. “The militants assured us that they will not touch us. They said they are not after us,” resident Nur Hussein Abdi told The Associated Press. “But in reality, they were surrounding our whole village for a deadly massacre. What happened the next day was a total bloodbath.” Abdi escaped by hiding on a rooftop, a horrified witness to one of the worst mass killings in Ethiopia in recent years. Hundreds of people, mostly ethnic Amhara, were slaughtered in Tole village and the surroundings on June 18 in the latest explosion of ethnic violence in Africa’s second most populous nation. Multiple witnesses told the AP they are still discovering bodies, with some put in mass graves containing scores of people. The Amhara Association of America said it has confirmed 503 civilians killed. Ethiopian authorities have not released figures. One witness, Mohammed Kemal, said he has witnessed 430 bodies buried, and others are still exposed and decomposing. Kemal begged Ethiopia’s government to relocate the survivors, saying the armed men had threatened to return. “They killed infants, children, women and the elderly,” resident Ahmed Kasim said. The Amhara Association of America said the dead include a 100-year-old and a onemonth-old baby, and some people were killed in a mosque where they had tried to hide. Residents and Oromia regional officials have blamed the Oromo Liberation Army, an armed group that Ethiopia’s government has declared a terrorist organization. An OLA spokesman denied it, alleging that federal troops and regional militia attacked the villagers for their perceived support of the OLA as they retreated from an OLA offensive. Again, Ethiopians are left wondering why the federal government failed to protect them from the violent side of the country’s ethnic tensions—and why ethnic minorities in a federal system based on identity

are left so vulnerable. Teddy Afro, Ethiopia’s much celebrated pop star, released two songs this week highlighting the crisis that has worsened in the past four years and dedicating his songs to civilians who have lost their lives. “It’s never an option to keep quiet when a mountain of death comes in front of me,” one of his lyrics says. On Friday, thousands of students at Gondar University in the neighboring Amhara region protested the killings and demanded justice. Ethiopia’s Prime Minister, Abiy Ahmed, has said security forces have launched a military operation against the OLA, but many Ethiopians appear skeptical after seeing the deadly cycle play out in the past. The president of the Oromia region, Shimelis Abdisa, on Thursday acknowledged that it will be difficult to arrange security in every location, but said the current operation “will cripple the enemy’s ability to move from place to place.” Ethnic Amhara are Ethiopia’s second-largest ethnic group but have found themselves under attack in some areas where they are in the minority. Several dozen were killed in attacks in the Benishangul Gumuz and Oromia regions over the past three years alone. “Ethnic Amharas who live outside of their region do not have legal and political representation, which results in no protection,” said Muluken Tesfaw, a community activist who tracks abuses against the Amhara. “There were even speeches by Oromia region government officials that seek to reduce Amharic-speaking people.” “An anti-Amhara narrative has been spreading for over 50 years now,” said Belete Molla, chairman of the opposition NaMA party. “The Amhara living in Oromia and Benishangul are hence being targeted.” He also accused some members of the Oromia region’s ruling party of “working for or sympathizing with the Oromo Liberation Army.” The latest mass killings brought international alarm. The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, has urged Ethiopian authorities to hold “prompt, impartial and through” investigations. The US State Department called on Ethiopians to “reject violence and pursue peace.” AP

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By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas @jearcalas

ANILA is optimistic that members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) will reach a consensus agreement on key agricultural issues, such as public stockholding and special safeguard mechanism (SSM), by next year. Agriculture Undersecretary Fermin D. Adriano said one of the country’s achievements in the recently concluded 12th WTO Ministerial Conference (MC12) was the inclusion of a permanent solution for public stockholding for food security purposes (PSH) and the establishment of a better SSM in the discussions leading to MC13. Adriano, who was the country’s co-head of delegation to the MC12, noted that trade ministers agreed in principle that the critical issues in agricultural negotiations shall serve part of the work program for the upcoming MC13 in December next year. The MC is the WTO’s highest policy making body wherein trade ministers from all the 164 member-countries meet biennially to negotiate on matters affecting global trade multilaterally. MC 12, which was held in Geneva, Switzerland, concluded last June 17 with an “unprecedented” adoption of a package containing 10 decisions and declarations ranging from curbing harmful fisheries subsidies to extending moratorium on e-commerce duties. “The main achievement was really just to put the issue of how to go about reducing domestic support subsidy, how to strengthen SSM and then how to build your public food stocking,” Adriano told reporters recently. “In other words, there is an acceptance now that those are important and we will put these as an agenda in this Ministerial Conference which means there will be a lot of discussions along the way before the 13th Ministerial Conference happens.” Adriano said the Covid-19 pandemic has shown to other countries the importance of having PSH and SSM amid the export bans and the disruptions to supply chains. “I think there is recognition that because of this crisis, interdependence is really important. And now, particularly with the Russia-Ukraine war, it shows emphatically that interdependence is present,” he said. The Philippine delegation went to Geneva two weeks ago and has taken a tough stance on the need for forge an agreement that would curtail domestic

support that are “distorting” trade and food production as well as a permanent solution on PSH and a development of an “effective” SSM (Related story: https://businessmirror.com. ph/2022/06/13/manila-seekswto-deal-on-ssm-fisheries/). However, MC12 ended without an adopted declaration or a decision on agriculture. The 164 members of the WTO did not achieve a consensus agreement on a draft ministerial decision on agriculture negotiations. The draft ministerial decision, however, stipulated that PSH shall continue post-MC12 with the goal of “agreeing and adopting” a permanent solution by MC13. Likewise, negotiations on SSM shall continue with the end goal of “making recommendations for ministers at MC13.” WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala pointed out that a declaration or decision on agriculture negotiations was not reached in the MC12 due to “sharp” differences among member-countries. However, Okonjo-Iweala noted that it doesn’t mean that the agriculture negotiations have been abandoned altogether due to lack of an adopted work program or decision. Okonjo-Iweala emphasized that Article 20 of the Agreement on Agriculture (AoA) captures the continuous work at the WTO regarding the reform of global agriculture trade. “Rather than have a debate in which we will not have a meeting of minds we decided to leave that for the moment. That document (Article 20 of the AoA) captures the pillars we intend to work on,” she said. “It is still a good document to go by. And I think post MC-12 we will now come back and move forward on the basis of that document. By no means is agriculture going to be left behind,” she added. The BusinessMirror earlier reported that the country’s agriculture sector stands to benefit from the slew of multilateral accords approved by WTO last MC12 that involved curbing harmful fisheries subsidies and refraining from imposing food export restrictions. The package includes declarations on the multilateral body’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic and another on emergency to food insecurity. A ministerial decision on exempting food purchases by the World Food Programme from export restrictions was adopted. (Related story: https://businessmirror.com. ph/2022/06/17/phl-agriseen-to-gain-from-wto-dealson-harmful-subsidies-foodexport-curbs/)

DOF warns against ‘double-dipping’ for crop insurance of coco farmers By Bernadette D. Nicolas @BNicolasBM

INANCE Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III ordered the interagency Trust Fund Management Committee (TFMC) to guard against “double-dipping” of government resources in providing health and crop insurance coverage to 2.5 million coconut farmers. Dominguez, who chairs the current TFMC, said the next batch of the interagency committee must ensure a “commercially viable” and “sustainable” health and crop insurance coverage for coconut farmers as provided under Republic Act (RA) 11524 or the Coconut Farmers and Industry Trust Fund (CFITF) Law. TFMC is tasked to oversee the use of the coco levy trust fund. In the last TFMC meeting under the Duterte administration, Dominguez said a minimum of P200 million is allocated annually to the Philippine Crop Insurance Corp. (PCIC) for the crop insurance of coconut farmers under the CFITF law and the Coconut Farmers and Industry Development Plan approved by the President. Apart from this, another P500 million is allocated to Philip-

pine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) to administer the health and medical program for coconut farmers and their families. “As the Trust Fund Management Committee, we need to ensure that there is no double-dipping of funds, that the crop and health insurance coverage to the coconut farmers should only come from the coco levy trust fund,” said Dominguez during the meeting held last June 16. Double-dipping is an unethical practice of filing two claims for one incident. Budget Undersecretary Kim De Leon agreed with Dominguez and assured him that the budget department will be reviewing the budget proposals of PCIC, PhilHealth, and other government agencies receiving allocations from the CFITF “to ensure that no double dipping of funds would occur.” To make the crop insurance coverage for coconut farmers sustainable, Dominguez recommended that premiums to be charged by PCIC should consider specific geographical and meteorological risks and include reinsurance mechanisms with the private sector “to reduce the financial burden on the coco levy trust fund.”

Dominguez, who served as agriculture secretary under the administration of former President Corazon Aquino, also expressed gratitude to the TFMC members for their “tremendous contribution to the final implementation and correction of the historical wrong that was done to the country’s coconut farmers.” In the same meeting, the Bureau of the Treasury reported that TFMC received the from the Land Bank of the Philippines the Certificate of Indebtedness with a principal amount of P1,121,141,234.00 with a fixed interest rate of 1.75 percent per annum for the sale of state shares in the United Coconut Planters Bank (UCPB). It also received P102,739,676.87 in cash proceeds for the sale of disputed UCPB shares and rights. These shares were classified by the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) as Coco Levy Assets under RA 11524. The proceeds from the disputed shares will be credited to a separate escrow account pursuant to the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of Section 9 to 11 of RA 11524, which states that a disputed Non-Cash Coco Levy Asset may be disposed of

pending dispute, provided that the proceeds shall be deposited to and maintained in an escrow account. The CFITF Law also provides that non-cash coco levy assets shall be privatized or disposed of and proceeds thereof shall augment the trust fund for the benefit of the coconut farmers. According to the Department of Finance, the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) earlier reported that the value of coco levy assets amounted to P113.88 billion as of December 2020 but the Commission on Audit found out that this was overstated by P2.63 billion, with its adjusted tally amounting to P111.25 billion. President-elect Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., who had announced that he will be taking the helm of the Department of Agriculture (DA), will be chairing the board of the Philippine Coconut Authority, the government agency tasked to implement the coco trust fund law. The coco levy fund came from the taxes imposed on coconut farmers during the term of the late dictator and former President Ferdinand Marcos Sr. which was supposedly for the development of the coconut industry.

PHL lifts ban on poultry products from 3 European countries

HE Philippines has lifted the temporary import ban it slapped on poultry products from Denmark, Spain, and Czech Republic. Agriculture Secretary William D. Dar signed and issued three memorandum orders (MOs) that formalized the reopening of the Philippines’s borders to poultry products from the three European countries. In the MOs, Dar said the three European countries are now free from the highly pathogenic avian influenza in accordance with the provisions of Chapter 10.4 of the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) Terrestrial Animal Health Code. Dar said the risk of contracting bird flu from importing poultry meat, day-old chicks, eggs and even semen from the three European countries is now negligible. “All import transactions of the above bird species shall be in accordance with existing rules and regulations of the DA [Department of Agriculture],” Dar said in Memorandum Orders (MO) 45, 46 and 47. The three MOs were signed last June 24 and were made public recently. The MOs took effect also on June 24. “All orders, rules and regulations or parts thereof which are inconsistent with the provisions of this order are hereby repealed or amended accordingly,” Dar said. Imports of poultry products from Czech Republic and Denmark have

BUSINESSMIRROR FILE PHOTO

PHL sees WTO reaching deal on SSM and public food stocks in 2023

Editor: Jennifer A. Ng • Monday, June 27, 2022 A9

been temporarily banned since last year while imports from Spain were banned since January this year. European countries grappled with a wave of bird flu outbreaks last year prompting importing countries like the Philippines to impose a temporary import ban to protect their respective local poultry population from the animal disease. However, the import bans on European countries left the local meat processing industry scrambling for sources of mechanically deboned meat (MDM) of poultry, a key raw

material in manufacturing various products like hot dogs. (Related story: https://businessmirror. com.ph/2021/05/25/less-than45-days-will-hotdogs-soon-behard-to-find/) The tight MDM poultry supply forced local meat processors to increase the prices of their processed meat products as raw materials from other countries, such as Brazil and the United States became more expensive. (Related story: https://businessmirror. com.ph/2021/05/31/meat-pro-

cessors-set-list-price-hikes-hotdogs-to-cost-more/) Manufacturers such as San Miguel Food and Beverage Inc. CDO Foodsphere Inc. and Frabelle Corp. all hiked their hot dog prices last year due to more expensive raw materials. The country’s chicken MDM imports from January to May rose by 14.68 percent year-on-year to 82,354.645 metric tons (MT), with bulk of which or about 51,439.876 MT came from Brazil, the latest Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) data showed. Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas

DENR-CSU project aims to conserve PHL bamboo species T HE Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has partnered with the Cagayan State University (CSU) to implement a research and development project that aims to conserve and propagate economically-important bamboo species in the Philippines. The Bamboo Characterization Project costs P1.6 million, consisting of P1.261 million from DENR and P340,000 from CSU. Aside from involving DENR’s local offices in Cagayan, implementor includes Municipal Environment and Natural Resources Offices of Cagayan, and the Central Analytical Laboratory of CSU. Project Leader Jeff M. Opeña said they will implement phytochemical screening and DNA barcoding of se-

lected bamboo species, while exploring the pharmaceutical-industrial prospects of bamboos. Alvin Jose L. Reyes and Eddie B. Abugan Jr of the Project Management Division (PMD), a unit of the DENR’s Foreign Assisted and Special Projects said bamboo has numerous industrial, pharmaceutical, phytochemical, medical, nutritional, and food advantages. Reyes and Abugan said the characterization of bamboo germplasm is an important connection between conservation of diversity and utilization of germplasms such as seeds or living tissues that carry genetic resources useful in plant breeding and conservation. Proponents of the bamboo project recently made a presentation

before members of the Protected Area Management Board (PAMB) of the Palaui Island Protected Landscape and Seascape (PIPLS) in Sta. Ana, Cagayan, in relation to its petition for a gratuitous permit to conduct the bamboo characterization and sample collection activities on the island. The project, which also aims to refurbish a research laboratory in CSU-Gonzaga, will collect and characterize different species in different ecosystems in Cagayan Province. Proponents said DNA barcoding will be a modern and innovative way to characterize bamboo species. It will accelerate experts’ identification of the species that they desire to use based on traits—such fast propagation or medicinal proper-

ties, they said. Bamboo has been traditionally characterized based on its flowering frequency or abundance—annual flowering, sporadic or regular flowering, and gregarious flowering. “However, characterization using floral morphology posed a limitation and difficulty due to the requirement of long period of time which can occur in years or even decades,” Reyes and Abugan said in a statement. Moreover, biochemical characterization through phytochemical (plant chemistry) screening enables experts in pharmaceuticals and medicine to detect plant secondary metabolites in bamboo which have utilization potentials in the industry. While primary metabolites include small molecules like amino

acids and sugars, secondary plant metabolities such as alkaloids, anthocyanin, flavonoids, phenols, saponins, steroids, tannins, and terpenoids are studied for medicinal plant herbal purposes, among other possible commercial uses. Former DENR Secretary Roy A. Cimatu ordered in November 2020 the extensive propagation of bamboo in Cagayan Valley to prevent massive flooding that plagued the province arising from Typhoon Ulysses. Executive Order (EO) 879 also mandated that 25 percent of the annual school desks of the Department of Education should be made of bamboo. EO 879 creates the Philippine Bamboo Industry Development Council (PBIDC). The DENR’s own reforestation ar-

eas should be planted with bamboo in its directive to DENR-attached Forest Management Bureau, Laguna Lake Development Authority, and Mines and Geosciences Bureau. Aside from involving DENR’s local offices in Cagayan, the implementor of the project includes Municipal Environment and Natural Resources Offices of Cagayan, and the Central Analytical Laboratory of CSU. Aside from preventing flooding effects of typhoons, DENR also aims to use bamboo as tool to climate change mitigation. Bamboo is known to sequester five metric tons of carbon dioxide per hectare of plantation. Bamboo is also being planted in the rivers of Marikina and Bicol—areas usually flooded during typhoons.

A10 Monday, June 27, 2022 • Editor: Angel R. Calso

Opinion BusinessMirror

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editorial

Positive news

gainst the backdrop of earthshaking events and momentous political and economic developments, it is sometimes difficult to remember that life goes on. We are too far removed in time to recall when it took days if not weeks for “The News” to travel around the world.

Spain proclaimed the autonomy of colony Puerto Rico on November 25, 1897, although the news did not reach the island until January 1898. While it is important to read the “Front Page,” we are limiting our knowledge and missing out on other important issues, and that is not beneficial for the individual or the nation. There is no excuse for this information deficiency, and it is the fault of journalists who ignore less “sexy” stories. The primary purpose of journalism—forgotten by many news organizations—is to make the world a better place by creating more well-informed citizens. And “well-informed” does not mean only about “advocacy issues.” The Philippine Nuclear Research Institute of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST-PNRI), just “began the loading of TRIGA nuclear fuel in the core of the Philippine Research Reactor-1 Subcritical Assembly for Training, Education, and Research [PRR1 SATER], signaling the start of the nuclear commissioning as the country’s sole nuclear reactor training facility” (https://www.pnri. dost.gov.ph/). The PRR-1 facility was shut down in 1988, leaving the country without an operating nuclear facility for the last 34 years. This may not seem like an important issue. However, the purpose is to give the research and academic community access to further knowledge and education on the nuclear science. Yes, there will be real-world applications for this specifically if and when the Philippines looks closer at nuclear power generation in a world that is rejecting “dirty” fuels to maintain a modern healthy lifestyle. While ignoring this event, we also have not been told about the accomplishment of one of our own nuclear researchers. “Dr. Thomas Neil B. Pascual, S&T Fellow of DOST-PNRI, won the International Best Abstract Award 2022 from the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging [founded in 1954]. Dr. Pascual’s abstract thoroughly detailed the result of his systematic review of 18-FDG PET/ CT, used to evaluate brain tumors, diagnosis, and response to treatment.” This might be more important than which starlet is being cheating on by which husband. Another story that has yet to penetrate the local news has direct relevance to the Philippines. The deadliest animal on Earth—humans excluded—is the mosquito because of the wide variety of illnesses it spreads including malaria and arboviruses West Nile, yellow fever, Zika, chikungunya and our own scourge, dengue. New research from the University of Leeds has identified a way to protect against multiple different mosquito viruses by vaccination or even using an ointment against mosquito saliva. By targeting a specific molecule in mosquito saliva called sialokinin, the researchers believe it could be possible to protect against mosquito-borne diseases. The “Gallup Global Emotions 2021” survey found that we were on top of the world for the question “Did you learn or do something interesting yesterday?” Filipinos ranked number one with 78 percent saying “YES.” Half of us are stressed out but 75 percent of Filipinos were both well rested and enjoyed the day before. While not new news as it was from late 2020 and early 2021, the Philippines ranked number two on “Highest Positive Experiences Worldwide,” a survey of how people felt on most days. Not all the important news are negative.

PNoy’s honesty, honor, and courage

We would remember that during the six years that he was president, the Philippine economy grew annually. Aquino also bravely faced China on the West Philippine Sea issue. Largely through his government’s efforts, the country gained an arbitral win in July 2016 against China’s excessive claims in the disputed territories.

Indeed, there is much to thank President Noynoy for— his sacrifices and hard work fueled the country’s economic revival. His administration glittered with achievements. There is a meme circulating on social media listing all of his milestone achievements during his term—that list is very long. We cannot deny that many of the projects being completed by the current administration were started during President Noynoy’s term. We would remember that during the six years that he was president,

government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. This resulted in the creation of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. These are just some of the numerous projects and programs accomplished during his administration. The fruits of his excellent leadership are being enjoyed by Filipinos today, and will be enjoyed for many years to come. And yet, President Noy keeps on giving through his friends and allies. For example, an endowment fund named after Noynoy Aquino, established by his batchmates and friends at the Ateneo, has

Atty. Jose Ferdinand M. Rojas II

RISING SUN

t’s been a year since former President Benigno “Noynoy” S. Aquino III died on June 24, 2021 at the young age of 61. Last Friday, a holy mass was celebrated at the Church of the Gesu, Ateneo de Manila University, to mark his first death anniversary. His loyal friends and family graced the occasion.

A comforting choice in Bautista for Transport department

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the Philippine economy grew annually. Aquino also bravely faced China on the West Philippine Sea issue. Largely through his government’s efforts, the country gained an arbitral win in July 2016 against China’s excessive claims in the disputed territories. President Noy also tackled corruption through his anti-corruption campaign, “Daang Matuwid.” He also worked hard to revive the peace process in Mindanao, which led to a preliminary peace pact between the

raised P15 million for the Ateneo education of scholars from outside the capital. President Noynoy will be remembered as a leader who served simply; he refused the drama and chest-beating. He just worked sincerely to serve his “bosses,” the Filipino people. President Noynoy firmly believed in accountability and transparency, which is perhaps why his leadership has been described as “competent, compassionate, committed, and conscientious.” He was an honorable and dignified representative of our country on the international stage, gaining for the Philippines and the Filipinos much respect and admiration from the rest of the world. As we remember him this time, let us allow our dearly departed president to inspire us with these words he uttered when he was still with us, “May you always believe, just as I do, that the Filipino is really worth fighting for. That the Filipino will indeed rise up to the occasion, that God has a good plan for all of us and this will take place in his time. Keep the faith, know that this is just a phase.”

Thomas M. Orbos

STREET TALK

ncoming President Marcos’ choice of Jaime “Jimmy” Bautista to head the DOTr comes at a time when Filipino commuters are experiencing myriad of transport issues.

The incoming transport secretary is a good choice, knowing how he managed to successfully steer our flag carrier through turbulent skies, enabling PAL to grow and become profitable. As PAL chief, his crisis management acumen as well his rapport with all the airline’s stakeholders—investors, creditors, personnel, the union, and most importantly, the passengers—spelled the difference in his efforts to save Asia’s first airline. It was not an easy task, and Bautista, with his quiet unassuming demeanor, extracted everyone’s cooperation for Philippine Airlines, not just to rise from its quagmire but to earn approval ratings from the international aviation community. This kind of stakeholder support is much needed at a time when our public transport is practically hanging by the thread. With fuel prices going up and with no downward trajectory in sight, things will only get worse. In recent months, commuter lines have gotten longer with many ditching their private vehicles because of the high cost of fuel.

Meanwhile, public transports have gotten scarcer, again for the same reason. Without a sufficient fare increase, operators and drivers would rather avoid plying their routes. Increasing the fares can only go so far. Government subsidy, while it works in the short term, will only lead to more problems for our cash-strapped government. Taking out the excise tax on fuel is easier said than done. Judging from how Bautista has confronted past crisis situations, he will engage stakeholders throughout this difficult time. This is important. We may not be out of the storm yet, but definitely it will be comforting to know that there is a steady hand at the pilot’s chair telling us the real situation as he tries to find a solution to the problem at hand. It would also seem that land transport would be the first order of battle for our new transport secretary and his team. For one, the transport crisis is most heartfelt in this sector. Land-based vehicles transport the most number of passengers and cargo compared to oth-

er modes of transportation. Every Filipino takes the road everyday as a pedestrian, passenger or motorist. Jeepneys alone account for more than 32 million trips a day. For sure, the other sectors—rail, aviation and maritime—that are all vital in ensuring the connectivity of our people and economy have their respective concerns. But unlike maritime and air where the players can be counted on your fingers, or the rail transport where the government is the prime mover, land transport players comprise more than a million operators and drivers, mostly mom & pop setups that practically depend daily on their jeepneys, tricycles, etc., not including the many colorum UVs and habal-habals. Here, one would need to engage with them almost every day. It is, as they say, the sari-sari or retail component of transport and definitely the noisiest. Relative to this are the road transport programs that are bothering our road stakeholders. What happens now to the jeepney modernization program, the largest non-infra program of the Duterte administration? Expected to be achieved in 2019, it is nowhere near 30 percent completed. How about the mandatory roadworthiness program? What’s keeping the government from implementing this, given the many unroadworthy vehicles on the road that could endanger many lives? What about the data management modernization of our land transport agencies, the LTO and the LTFRB? In many cases our transport bureaus are still operating on “Jurassic” DOS, or even doing

work manually. We had budgets for those; the question then is why are we not yet there. What about route rationalization that should answer ample transport to specific passenger demands per road corridors and pre-position transport terminals rather than having multitudes scattered all over, causing traffic and inefficiency? How about the muchdelayed entry of electric vehicles or the more sustainable, environment friendly bike and pedestrian network, given that our road transport accounts for a 3rd of our pollution, making us notoriously in the top tier globally. Then there is that persistent corruption at the street corner or near the license renewal and registration centers. All of these are just the tip of the iceberg, so to speak, if we are to describe what needs to be done at the DOTr. We may no longer have the “republika ng walang plaka” problem, but the problems we have right now with land transport are pretty much as compelling to resolve. That is why it is definitely assuring for someone like Jimmy Bautista to be appointed to the DOTr. A professional career manager with no ego and nothing to prove, he will come in, engaging all stakeholders to join hands and resolve these problems at hand. With him at the helm, people see no other interests being served except the people’s welfare. Such a man is what we need to bring order to our chaotic transportation world.

The author may be reached at tmo45@georgetown.edu

Opinion BusinessMirror

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Biden’s mission in Europe: Shore up alliance against Russia

The inaugural promise

Siegfred Bueno Mison, Esq.

THE PATRIOT

By Zeke Miller & Darlene Superville | The Associated Press

UNICH—President Joe Biden is out to sustain the global alliance punishing Russia for its invasion of Ukraine as he embarks on a five-day trip to Europe as the 4-month-old war shows no sign of abating and its aftershocks to global food and energy supplies are deepening. Biden first joins a meeting of the Group of Seven leading economic powers in the Bavarian Alps of Germany and later travels to Madrid for a summit with leaders of the 30 Nato countries. The visit comes as the global coalition to bolster Ukraine and punish Russia for its aggression has showed signs of fraying amid skyrocketing inflation in food and energy prices caused by the conflict. Biden was given a red-carpet welcome after he arrived in Munich on Saturday night, greeted with Bavarian music, dozens of people in traditional dress and children presenting him with flowers. He also signed a guest book. Biden and the G-7 leaders intend to announce a ban on importing gold from Russia, according to a person familiar with White House planning who was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly. Gold is Moscow’s second largest export after energy. The Ukraine war has entered a more attritional phase since Biden’s last trip to Europe in March, just weeks after Russia launched its assault. At that time, he met with allies in Brussels as Ukraine was under regular bombardment and he tried to reassure Eastern Europe partners in Poland that they would not be the next to face an incursion by Moscow. Russian’s subsequent retreat from western Ukraine and regrouping in the east has shifted the conflict to one of artillery battles and bloody house-to-house fighting in the country’s industrial heartland, the Donbas region. While US officials see broad consensus for maintaining the pressure on Russia and sustaining support for Ukraine in the near term, they view Biden’s trip as an opportunity to align strategy for both the conflict and its global ramifications heading into the winter and beyond. Allies differ over whether their goals are merely to restore peace or to force Russia to pay a deeper price for the conflict to prevent its repetition. John Kirby, spokesman for the White House National Security Council, said the summit will address problems such as inflation and other “challenges in the global economy as a result of Mr. Putin’s war—but also how to continue to hold Mr. Putin accountable” and subject to “constant consequences.” “There will be some muscle movements,” he said from Air Force One as Biden flew to Germany. Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, is set to address both summits by video. The US and allies have shipped his country billions of dollars in military assistance and imposed ever stricter sanctions on Russia over the invasion. Kirby said previously that allies would announce new “commitments” to further sever Russia from the global economy and make it more difficult for Moscow to acquire technology to rebuild the arsenal it has depleted in Ukraine, and to crack down on sanctions evasion by Russia and its oligarchs. G-7 summits have traditionally put global finance issues front and center, but amid soaring inflation in the US and Europe, few concrete actions are expected. “There are different drivers of inflation in these various economies, different things that can be used to address it,” said Josh Lipsky, director of the Atlantic Council’s GeoEconomics Center. He foresees “a lack of an ability to do something coordinated on inflation, other than really talk about the problem.” Biden has blamed much of the rise in prices on Russia’s invasion

of Ukraine, especially in the energy markets, as US and allied sanctions have limited Moscow’s ability to sell its oil and gas supplies. Sustaining the Western resolve will only get more challenging as the war drags on and cost-of-living issues pose political headaches for leaders at home, US and European officials said. Finding ways to transition from Russian energy to other sources— without setting back longstanding goals to combat climate change—is set to be a key discussion point. “There’s no watering down of climate commitments,” Kirby said. Russia was once a member of what was then the G-8. It was expelled in 2014 after it invaded Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula, a move that foreshadowed the current crisis. A top priority of Western officials heading into the summit is finding a way to get Ukraine’s vast grain harvest out onto the world market, as the United Nations and others warn of tens of millions of people being cast into hunger because of tight supplies. The most impactful changes would require an agreement from Russia to stop targeting food and food infrastructure as well as agreeing to the establishment of a sea corridor to allow exports of grain from Ukraine. In Madrid, Biden will help promote Nato’s effort to welcome Finland and Sweden into the alliance after the Russian invasion of Ukraine led the two historically neutral democracies to seek the protection of the mutual-defense association. Kirby declined to say whether Biden will meet with Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who has indicated he plans to block the two countries’ accession into Nato unless he receives concessions. Adding new members requires unanimous support from existing Nato members. US officials have maintained optimism that the two countries will be welcomed into the alliance, but have played down expectations for a breakthrough in Madrid. Biden speaks often of the world being in a generational struggle between democracies and autocracies that will set the global agenda for the coming decades. He aims to use the trip to show that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has “firmed up” democracies on the threats from autocracies in both Moscow and Beijing. The president is also securing a significant step by Nato to recognize China as an emerging challenge to the alliance. The formal reference of China in Nato’s new “Strategic Concept,” the first update to its guiding principles since 2010, fulfills efforts by multiple US presidents to expand the alliance’s focus to China, even in the face an increasingly bellicose Russia. In a symbolic step, Nato has invited Pacific leaders from Japan, South Korea, New Zealand and Australia to the summit. Kirby said China “will be a significant focus” for the G-7 and cited Beijing’s “coercive economic practices.” Biden is also set to relaunch a global infrastructure investment program meant to counter China’s influence in the developing world, which he had named “Build Back Better World” and had introduced at the 2021 G-7 summit. Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin accused Nato of trying to “start a new Cold War” and warned against the alliance “drawing ideological lines which may induce confrontation.” Superville reported from Telfs, Austria. Associated Press writers Will Weissert and Aamer Madhani in Washington contributed to this report.

nder Article VII, Section 5 of the 1987 Constitution, the President and Vice President shall openly and solemnly swear (or affirm) that he/she will faithfully and conscientiously fulfill his/her duties, preserve and defend the Constitution, execute its laws, do justice to every man, and consecrate himself/ herself to the service of the nation.

All public servants, during every Flag Raising ceremony and after the singing of the National Anthem, collectively swear: “I am a Filipino. I pledge my allegiance to the flag of the Philippines and to the country it represents, with honor, justice and freedom; Put in motion by one Nation for God, for Nature, for the People and for Country.” Since the law requires the pledge to be recited as written and therefore should be recited in Filipino, to wit: “Ako ay Pilipino. Buong katapatang nanunumpa sa watawat ng Pilipinas at sa bansang kanyang sinasagisag. Na may dangal, katarungan at Kalayaan na pinakikilos ng sambayanang Maka-Diyos, Makakalikasan, Maka-tao at Makabansa.” By this oath of office, the President and Vice President as well as all public servants have sworn to serve the country composed of members who have love for God, Nature, People, and Country. Assuming that the enumeration is a hierarchy, then God ranks first. Almost always, at least in the Philippine setting, the oathtakers end with a solemn phrase, “So help me God” (“Kasihan nawa ako ng Diyos”), practically saying, I implore your aid, Almighty God. However, by law, such solemn phrase can be omitted voluntarily. When omitted,

the declaration as aforementioned becomes an affirmation instead of an oath; the latter being more of a pledge to God, in acknowledgement of a higher being. Author Jonathan Belcher wrote that the phrase “so help me God,” is actually an abbreviated form of the oath, “So may God help me at the judgment day if I speak true, but if I speak false, then may He withdraw His help from me.” In the Bible, Numbers 30:2 tells us, “When a man makes a vow to the Lord or takes an oath to obligate himself by a pledge, he must not break his word but must do everything he said.” The solemnity and sanctity of an oath taking ceremony impresses upon the oath taker the need to seek God’s help in his commitment to perform whatever functions and duties he swore to do upon his assumption to office. By saying, “So Help Me God,” all public servants are acknowledging a Higher Being to hold them accountable to perform what they promised. Starting a job in government takes more than just a commitment to serve the people; it takes a vow before God to perform the many things required by the office coupled with a great responsibility and sacred trust for which

Monday, June 27, 2022 A11

they will have to give an account one day before God. The Bible has declared that all authority comes from God and that those that exist have been instituted by Him. In the process, top leaders in government, President BBM and Vice President Sara Duterte in particular, are God’s servants for the good of their constituents. God is already supposedly all over the country—in the Philippine Constitution (Preamble), in local government units (seals and mottos), in the hearts of each public servant (oaths), and most recently, in the Philippine currency where the new P1,000 bill says, “Pinagpala Ang Bayan Na Ang Diyos Ay Ang Panginoon.” The challenge that lies ahead is how leaders in government can set into practice the God within them. Since a significant number of public servants are believers and have sworn to ask for His help in the performance of their duties by way of their Oath of Office, they have God within them. Unfortunately, majority of these public servants, supposedly faithful to the Lord, are not as open about their faith. Being open about one’s faith appears to be taboo in most government agencies. Usually, after taking the Oath of Office, the President and Vice President deliver a speech to inspire their constituents, set a roadmap, and encourage the entire government workforce to follow one drumbeat. However, a perusal of the past inaugural speeches of past Chief Executives showed that only a handful referred to God. President Duterte in 2016 and President MacapagalArroyo in 2001 opted to inject some quotations in their inaugural speeches from US President Franklin Roosevelt and Dr. Jose Rizal, respectively. President Benigno Aquino in 2010 opted to share his family contribution to a Philippine

democracy by saying—I had a simple goal in life: to be true to my parents and our country as an honorable son, a caring brother, and a good citizen. My father offered his life so our democracy could live. My mother devoted her life to nurturing that democracy. I will dedicate my life to making our democracy reach its fullest potential: that of ensuring equality for all. My family has sacrificed much and I am willing to do this again if necessary.” To inspire the Filipino people, President Marcos said in 1965— “Not one hero alone do I ask from you—but many; nay all, I ask all of you to be the heroes of our nation. Offering all our efforts to our Creator, we must drive ourselves to be great again… Come then, let us march together towards the dream of greatness.” Such attribution to our Creator sets the tone that the President should serve not many but one. Serving the Filipinos is good, but serving God is way better. Yet, these big words mean nothing unless accompanied with a mindset of “doing everything for God,” after all the Bible provides that any work should be for the Lord. But for leaders, there has to be a transition from “doing everything for God” to “doing everything with God,” as part of their Oaths of Office. Assuming and hoping that he will acknowledge Him by his side, President BBM should do well for the Philippines. 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.

Abortion foes, supporters map next moves after Roe reversal

By Leah Willingham & Scott Bauer | The Associated Press

HARLESTON, W. Va.—A Texas group that helps women pay for abortions halted its efforts Saturday while evaluating its legal risk under a strict state ban. Mississippi’s only abortion clinic continued to see patients while awaiting a 10-day notice that will trigger a ban. Elected officials across the country vowed to take action to protect women’s access to reproductive health care, and abortion foes promised to take the fight to new arenas. A day after the Supreme Court’s bombshell ruling overturning Roe v. Wade ended the constitutional right to abortion, emotional protests and prayer vigils turned to resolve as several states enacted bans and both supporters and opponents of abortion rights mapped out their next moves. In Texas, Cathy Torres, organizing manager for Frontera Fund, a group that helps pay for abortions, said there is a lot of fear and confusion in the Rio Grande Valley near the US-Mexico border, where many people are in the country without legal permission. That includes how the state’s abortion law, which bans the procedure from conception, will be enforced. Under the law, people who help patients get abortions can be fined and doctors who perform them could face life in prison. “We are a fund led by people of color, who will be criminalized first,” Torres said, adding that abortion funds like hers that have paused operations hope to find a way to safely restart. “We just really need to keep that in mind and understand the risk.” Tyler Harden, Mississippi director for Planned Parenthood Southeast, said she spent Friday and Saturday making sure people with impending appointments at the state’s only abortion clinic—which featured in the Supreme Court case but is not affiliated with Planned Parenthood— know they don’t have to cancel them right away. Abortions can still take place until 10 days after the state attorney general publishes a required administrative notice. Mississippi will ban the proce-

dure except for pregnancies that endanger the woman’s life or those caused by rape reported to law enforcement. The Republican speaker of the Mississippi House, Philip Gunn, said during a news conference Friday that he would oppose adding an exception for incest. “I believe that life begins at conception,” Gunn said. Harden said she has been providing information about funds that help people travel out of state to have abortions. Many in Mississippi already were doing so even before the ruling, but that will become more difficult now that abortions have ended in neighboring states like Alabama. Right now Florida is the nearest “safe haven” state, but Harden said, “we know that that may not be the case for too much longer.” At the National Right to Life convention in Atlanta, a leader within the anti-abortion group warned attendees Saturday that the Supreme Court’s decision ushers in “a time of great possibility and a time of great danger.” Randall O’Bannon, the organization’s director of education and research, encouraged activists celebrate their victories but stay focused and continue working on the issue. Specifically, he called out medication taken to induce abortion. “With Roe headed for the dustbin of history, and states gaining the power to limit abortions, this is where the battle is going to be played out over the next several years,” O’Bannon said. “The new modern menace is a chemical or medical abortion with pills ordered online and mailed directly to a woman’s home.”

Protests broke out for a second day in cities across the country, from Los Angeles to Oklahoma City to Jackson, Mississippi. In the LA demonstration, one of several in California, hundreds of people marched through downtown carrying signs with slogans like “my body, my choice” and “abort the court.” Turnout was smaller in Oklahoma City, where about 15 protesters rallied outside the Capitol. Oklahoma is one of 11 states where there are no providers offering abortions, and it passed the nation’s strictest abortion law in May. “I have gone through a wave of emotions in the last 24 hours.... It’s upsetting, it’s angry, it’s hard to put together everything I’m feeling right now,” said Marie Adams, 45, who has had two abortions for ectopic pregnancies, where a fertilized egg is unable to survive. She called the issue “very personal to me.” “Half the population of the United States just lost a fundamental right,” Adams said. “We need to speak up and speak loud.” Callie Pruett, who volunteered to escort patients into West Virginia’s only abortion clinic before it stopped offering the procedure after Friday’s ruling, said she plans to work in voter registration in the hope of electing officials who support abortion rights. The executive director of Appalachians for Appalachia added that her organization also will apply for grants to help patients get access to abortion care, including out of state. “We have to create networks of people who are willing to drive people to Maryland or to D.C.,” Pruett said. “That kind of local action requires organization at a level that we have not seen in nearly 50 years.” Fellow West Virginian Sarah MacKenzie, 25, said she’s motivated to fight for abortion access by the memory of her mother, Denise Clegg, a passionate reproductive health advocate who worked for years at the state’s clinic as a nurse practitioner and died unexpectedly in May. MacK-

enzie plans to attend protests in the capital, Charleston, and donate to a local abortion fund. “She would be absolutely devastated. She was so afraid of this happening—she wanted to stop it,” Mackenzie said, adding, “I’ll do everything in my power to make sure that this gets reversed.” The Supreme Court’s ruling is likely to lead to abortion bans in roughly half the states. Since the decision, clinics have stopped performing abortions in Arizona, Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Missouri, South Dakota, West Virginia and Wisconsin. Women considering abortions already had been dealing with the near-complete ban in Oklahoma and a prohibition after roughly six weeks in Texas. In Ohio, a ban on most abortions from the first detectable fetal heartbeat became law when a federal judge dissolved an injunction that had kept the measure on hold for nearly three years. Another law with narrow exceptions was triggered in Utah by Friday’s ruling. Planned Parenthood Association of Utah filed a lawsuit against it in state court and said it would request a temporary restraining order, arguing it violates the state constitution. Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota, where abortion remains legal, signed an executive order shielding people seeking or providing abortions in his state from facing legal consequences in other states. Walz also has vowed to reject requests to extradite anyone accused of committing acts related to reproductive health care that are not criminal offenses in Minnesota. “My office has been and will continue to be a firewall against legislation that would reverse reproductive freedom,” he said. Bauer reported from Madison, Wisconsin. Associated Press reporters Rebecca Boone in Olympia, Washington; Bob Christie in Salt Lake City; Ken Miller in Oklahoma City; Dave Kolpack in Minneapolis; Emily Wagster Pettus in Jackson, Mississippi; Christopher Weber in Los Angeles; and Tammy Webber in Fenton, Michigan, contributed to this story

A12 Monday, June 27, 2022

SEN. PIA JOINS HEALTH GROUPS SEEKING VETO OF VAPING BILL By Butch Fernandez @butchfBM

H I L E “r e j o i c i n g ” that the Supreme Cour t upheld the mandate of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to regulate tobacco products, Sen. Pia Cayetano has joined doctors and health advocates pushing for the veto of the vape bill, which the 18th Congress approved, and gives to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), not FDA, the main task of regulating vape products. The SC decision “is clearly that the FDA must regulate all products that affect health. So this to me would clearly include vapes and e-cigs. On that note, it makes it simpler if the President [Duterte] would veto the bill. A lot of us are quite confident because naiintindihan niya ang [he understands the] science. We are hoping talaga [really] that he would veto,” Cayetano said in a news briefing where she was joined by several leading health advocates, including former FDA chief Dr. Kenneth Hartigan-Go. However, Cayetano noted, partly in Filipino, that, “from what I know, the Vape Bill is not yet in Malacañang and I

am surprised, since that was passed in January and yet it’s not yet with Malacañang. So as far as I am concerned, when June 30 comes around” and the bill is with the President,… “we pray that he will do the right thing and veto it.” “However, if it has not been sent to Malacañang before June 30, tapos na yan [that bill is over]. Because it was not sent to the President on time.” Referring to incoming President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., she added, “And my prayer is that the new President and his administration would uphold health care. I know the President comes from a tobaccogrowing [province], but I also know that the President will do what he needs to do to protect the health of the Filipino people.” Cayetano convened the briefing to expound on the implications of the recent “ landmark Supreme Court decision that is very sciencebased and upholds the right of Filipinos to health.” In that SC case (GR 2200431), where the high court upheld the FDA’s “power and authority” to regulate tobacco products, she and Minority leader Franklin M. Drilon had acted as intervenors. Continued on A4

Govt urged to lift suspension of oil and gas drilling in WPS

By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

@joveemarie

OLLOWING the termination of negotiations for the planned joint exploration between Manila and Beijing in the West Philippine Sea, a senior lawmaker on Sunday urged the government to lift the suspension of gas and oil drilling activities in Recto Bank.

Surigao del Sur Rep. Johnny Pimentel, chair person of the Hou se st rateg ic i nte l l igence committee, said, “Now that the talks have been terminated, the department should withdraw its suspension order.” This way, he added in a statement, “the private parties contracted by the Philippine government to develop the offshore Sampaguita gas discovery in Recto Bank can proceed with their drilling activities.” According to Pimentel, the DOE on April 6 ordered the private operators of Service Contract (SC) 72 and SC 75 to put on hold their exploration activities in the West Philippine Sea in deference to the

country’s talks with China on possible cooperation arrangements and the maritime areas to which they would apply. Prior to the suspension order, he said the DOE gave the operator of SC 72, Forum Energy Ltd., until October 16 this year to drill its two commitment wells in Sampaguita at a cost of $100 million (P5.4 billion). Last week, Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro L. Locsin Jr. said talks for the planned joint exploration between Manila and Beijing in the West Philippine Sea have been “completely terminated” upon instructions of President Duterte. “The President had spoken. I carried out his instructions to the

letter: oil and gas discussions are terminated completely. Nothing is pending; everything is over,” Locsin said in his speech during the 124th founding anniversary celebration of the Department of Foreign Affairs. Sampaguita is estimated to contain anywhere from 3.5 to 4.6 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of gas, which is comparable to if not larger than Malampaya’s 3.4 tcf of gas reserves when the latter was first discovered by Shell Philippines Exploration B.V. in 1992. Sampaguita has been dubbed the country’s next Malampaya. The undeveloped hydrocarbon field below the seabed is located 250 kilometers southwest of Malampaya, which has been supplying 20 percent of Luzon’s electricity demand for more than two decades. Pimentel earlier warned that Malampaya might be depleted by 2027, and without fresh gas from Sampaguita, Luzon could face power shortages in the years ahead.

Renegotiate

FOR his part, House Ways and Means Chairman Joey Sarte Salceda is suggesting to President-elect Ferdinand Marcos Jr. that the country recalibrate the terms of its joint development efforts with China over West Philippine Sea assets to instead

require independent, “internationally-observed” exploration of possible oil and gas reserves first before a joint development agreement is carried out. Salceda made the comments in response to the Duterte government’s recent withdrawal from talks with China over a joint energy project. “I still think that it is in our best interest to find a live-and-let-live solution with China on utilizing West Philippine Sea resources. As we have seen in Ukraine, military confrontation is a no-winners scenario. And, this is a question of Philippine independent interest, so we should not depend on our Western partners either.” “Instead, I strongly suggest to PBBM that we renegotiate a way to approximate an inventory of WPS energy assets independently, with international observation and audit. That way, we know the kind of resources we are negotiating about without undermining our sovereignty.” Salceda said independent exploration before joint development will allow the Philippines to make a rational, nationally self-interested decision about what kind of joint development agreement the Philippines will undertake. See “Govt,” A2

DTI begins preps for AI DOE: Talks go on with research hub; private firms to foot $20-M bill SC holders By Andrea E. San Juan

HE Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has begun preparations for the establishment of the $20-million Artificial Intelligence (AI) research hub, to be funded by the country’s top conglomerates. At the recent 2022 Manufacturing Summit, the Trade department said it has started preparations to set up the Philippines’s Center for AI Research (CAIR). CAIR’s goal is to make the country a Center of Excellence in artificial intelligence and at the same time help the micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs). “It will be a collaborative hub for training, AI consultancy services, AI product development, and AI technology incubation services that will definitely benefit Philippine MSMEs,” the DTI said in a statement. In an interview, outgoing Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez said the country’s top conglomerates have agreed to be part of the program. In fact, he said that the program will be funded by the private sector. However, Lopez did not name the conglomerates. “They’re funding it, putting equity. So the project we set up, I can’t dictate [the pace]...as there is no government fund, it’s private-sector led. We did all the groundwork so that it’s all prepared already; only the funding is bein g awaited,” said Lopez, partly in Filipino. “So that’s why were saying that these private conglomerates are very much interested; they’re together in this, there’s no competition because this is for AI development,” added Lopez. Meanwhile,at a virtual business forum on Thursday, DTI Undersecretary for the Competitiveness and Innovation Group Rafaelita Aldaba said that based on a study released by Kearney and EDBI, the Philippines has the potential to unlock $92 billion or 12 percent of GDP

by 2030 if the country will be able to harness the power of AI. Aldaba added that the Trade department is pursuing a public-private partnership for the AI research hub, which the Trade undersecretary said already resulted in discussions among conglomerates and other multinational tech companies. “For the AI [research and development] R&D center, the model or approach that we’re looking at really is it’s going to be a public private partnership and we’ve already discussed quite a lot with many of the conglomerates in the country, except that the talks were temporarily halted during the elections; but we committed to resume the discussions immediately after the elections,” said Aldaba. “There are many other companies, multinational tech companies actually, who are interested to participate in building this center,” added Aldaba. She stressed that Vietnam already has its own governmentfunded AI research center which is tied up with a university. For the Philippines, Aldaba said, “In our case, it’s going to be a partnership to be led by the private sector, which the government is going to support with the universities.” She added that the academe will also be an important part of this artificial intelligence hub. On the timeline, Aldaba said the Trade department aims to build it as soon as possible in order so initial operation can start this year or next year at the latest. She said they received pledges from companies “that are interested to offer particular building…location where to put the center but right now we need to raise funds.” As they are still raising funds, Aldaba said DTI aims to allot the funds for powerful computers as well as salaries of scientists and other researchers who will be working in the AI center. See “DTI,” A2

for oil, gas

HE Department of Energy (DOE) said at the weekend that it continues to hold talks with existing service contract holders for exploration activities despite the termination of joint oil and gas negotiations with China. “The DOE firmly stands for the assertion of Philippine sovereign rights through the promotion of exploration in the WPS [West Philippine Sea]. Following the SJPCC’s [Security, Justice, and Peace Cabinet Cluster] suspension order and now with the termination of negotiations with China, the DOE, in coordination with the SJPCC for safety and security concerns, continues to pursue talks with existing service contract holders so they can proceed with their work programs,” a statement from the office of Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi said. Last Thursday, outgoing Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro L. Locsin Jr. announced the termination. The agency, which has been designated as the Co-Vice Chair in the Inter-Governmental Joint Steering Committee (IGJSC), said it firmly stands for asserting Philippine sovereign rights through the promotion of exploration in the WPS. The IGJSC serves as the official negotiating forum between China and the Philippines. The committee members met only once in October 2019. “The IGJSC convened only once on October 28, 2019 and no agreement was reached during said meeting,” said the DOE. Despite this, the DOE said it doggedly promoted exploration in the WPS through the Philippine Conventional Energy Contracting Program, where it opened areas for application and nomination, reviewed bids, and issued licenses. See “DOE,” A2

Companies

Editor: Jennifer A. Ng

Monday, June 27, 2022

Arthaland sets aside ₧7.4B for capital spending plan

By VG Cabuag

@villygc

roperty developer Arthaland Corp. said it is allotting some P7.4 billion in capital expenditures (capex) this year, most of which will be used for the launch of its upscale projects in the coming months. Arthaland Vice Chairman and President Jaime C. Gonzalez said the capex will be used to fund land acquisition as well as for the development of ongoing projects. The company said it will launch projects with a gross development value of P17.5 billion this year. These include the Eluria, six mid-

rise buildings within the followon component of Sevina Park, as well as the commercial lots for sale also in Sevina Park. Eluria, Arthaland ’s pioneer development in Makati, will be a sustainable luxury residential development in Legazpi Village which will be launched this year.

Located within a walking distance from Greenbelt mall, it will have a total gross floor area of approximately 14,600 square meters. “This ultra low density, multicertified residential address will offer spacious limited edition designer homes elevated with unsurpassed quality, attention to detail, and exceptional white glove service,” Gonzalez said. Eluria will be offering only 37 residential units with a maximum of two apartments per floor. Elevator cabins are designed to open into residents’ personal lobbies to provide security and privacy. Arthaland is also set to launch its follow-on residential component at Sevina Park within the third quarter of 2022. “This will be our flagship project that will expand Arthaland’s

horizon and cater to a broader market segment,” Gonzalez said. The project will be comprised of six mid-rise residential buildings with the first tower scheduled to be launched in the third quarter. The first tower will offer a mix of studio and one-bedroom units and it will have a gross floor area of approximately 16,300 square meters. I n add it ion, A r t h a l a nd i s poised to launch commercial lot sales within the Sevina Park this year 2022 as part of the amenities to community within the area. Approximately 10,000 square meters of land zoned for commercial use will be launched for sale this year while the remaining area of approximately 5,500 square meters will be retained by Arthaland for its own development and use.

Jollibee to acquire more foreign brands

ast-food giant Jollibee Foods Corp. (JFC) said it will continue its expansion by acquiring more international brands mainly from North America and China this year. Ernesto Tanmantiong, the company’s president and CEO, also said the company will continue its focus on its home market, the Philippines, and on the two of the world’s biggest economies that will fuel its growth, while improving on its recent acquisition. “(We will) expand our market leadership in our fast-growing home market here in the Philippines, by leveraging our multibrand portfolio to compete at different price points and market segments, while strategically expanding our store network, especially with our foreign franchise

brands, given the success of our Burger King, Panda Express, and soon Yoshinaya,” Tanmantiong said. “We will continue to expand strategically and profitably in international markets through aggressive organic expansion and strategic acquisition in our three pillar markets. These are the Philippines, China and North America,” he said during the company’s stockholders’ meeting. Last year, the company continued with its store network expansion, opening 399 stores with a total capital expenditure of P7.9 billion for both new stores and renovation of existing stores. Of the 399 stores opened in 2021, 314 were opened overseas despite the surge of the omicron variant of Covid-19. Jollibee also increased its commitment to 225 million Singapore

dollars to Titan Dining LP, the private equity fund owning the Tim Ho Wan brand. It also added Yoshinoya to its portfolio as its first Japanese-cuisine restaurant chain in the Philippines, while also acquiring a majority stake in Milkshop International Co. Ltd., which owns the popular Taiwanese bubble tea brand Milksha with over 250 outlets globally. Tanmantiong said it will also focus on turning around the operations of its recently-acquired brands such as Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf (CBTL) and Smashburger, both of which are US brands. For CBTL, it strengthened its management team, as it saw doubledigit growth in system-wide sales. The company hopes the pandemic restrictions will continue to ease for the rest of the year, in order for CBTL

to continue its growth momentum. For Smashburger, JFC said it also strengthened its organization structure, rebranded its stores, menu and its advertising campaigns. “We anticipate our existing stores to be profitable by the second half of 2022 and will carry into full year of 2023. I am confident that with our strong leadership team, passionate employees, dedicated franchisees and improved pillars, we will be able to achieve our long term growth plans,” Tanmantiong said. For the first quarter of the year, Jollibee generated an operating income of P2 billion driven by the acceleration of profit growth in the Philippines. Attributable net income for the period, reached P2.3 billion, 14 times higher than the previous year’s P152.6 million. VG Cabuag

SEC joins PLDT: Jupiter to go live in July ANNA as partner P By Lenie Lectura @llectura

he Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has joined the Association of National Numbering Agencies (ANNA) as partner, in its bid to make the Philippine capital market more accessible and transparent. ANNA confirmed the membership of the SEC as a partner during its 30th anniversary general meeting, hosted by Euroclear Bank SA/ NV in Brussels, early this month. “We are incredibly pleased to have the Philippines Securities and Exchange Commission join ANNA at this time when our member organization is growing, and as international financial standards are continuing to become ever more important to ensure global interoperability and transparency in the capital markets,” ANNA Chairman Dan Kuhnel said. The ANNA is a global member association seeking to foster standardization within the financial industry by promoting standard identifiers. Founded in 1992 by 22 numbering agencies, ANNA’s membership has grown to more than 120 global members and partners allocating ISIN, FISN and CFI codes on behalf of their local jurisdictions. VG Cabuag

HILIPPINE Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) will switch on its United StatesTranspacific Jupiter cable system next month, boosting the phone giant’s extensive fiber network. The project, which links the country to the landing station in Daet, Camarines Norte, is expected to provide greater capacity in multiple Terabits per second to customers as well as cable diversity to ensure ability to re-route traffic in the event of undersea cable cuts. “Investments on infrastructure like Jupiter allow PLDT to provide the vital connectivity that powers our digital economy, enabling us to help transform the country into a globally competitive and digitallyempowered nation,” PLDT and Smart First Vice President and Head of Enterprise Business Group Jojo G. Gendrano said. “Specifically, this will fortify the Philippines’ position as the next strategic data center hub for global hyperscalers.” Submarine fiber optic cables serve as the global backbone connecting countries. PLDT’s investment in the Jupiter cable system increases and reinforces the capacities and the resiliency of the telco leader’s existing undersea fiber links, to deliver mas-

BusinessMirror file photo

sive amounts of data traffic going in and out of the country to the US. Jupiter uses an “open cable model,” which allows consortium members to increase their capacities as needed by investing in technologies that boost data throughput, PLDT explained. “This means that by integrating advanced submarine line terminal facility, PLDT can scale up Jupiter’s capacity even as global data traffic grows rapidly and exponentially.” Jupiter is anticipated to increase PLDT’s international capacity of 20 Terabit/s to about 60 Terabit/s to US and Japan further establishing its lead, and ready to scale with the growing demands of digital services. These include the delivery of Cloud services, Fintech, and rich media content, which seamlessly complements PLDT’s existing fixed and mobile services. “It will also enable us to increase

international capacity into our data centers—now a major component of the country’s digital ecosystem— and enhance the attractiveness of the country as an investment destination. Moreover, it will allow us to uplift the infrastructure we provide to BPO’s to support their hyper-connectivity requirements, not only in Metro Manila but also in other parts of the country. Lastly, Jupiter will help us support and deliver more advanced digital services such as the increasing adoption of Cloud services and the roll out of 5G for the benefit of our customers,” added Gendrano. The Jupiter Cable system is a joint project of global providers spanning 14,000 kilometers from the US West Coast, Japan, and in Daet, Camarines Norte in the Philippines. This will bring PLDT’s total number of international cabling systems to 17.

Pandemic hastens PSE shift to digital

he Philippine Stock Exchange Inc. (PSE) will start floorless trading on Monday, as the pandemic has hastened its shift to full digital and more brokers had decided to conduct transactions offsite. Last Friday, the PSE has permanently shut down its trading floor in its building at the Bonifacio Global City in Taguig. The move ended its 64-year history of having a physical trading floor. Luis Limlingan, managing director at Regina Capital Development Corp. said the market may not be focusing too much on the floorless trading of the PSE as a lot is happening both in the Philippines and abroad. “After this week, there will be other areas of attention such as semester-end window dressing, the inauguration of the new administration, global macro data linked to inflation,” Limlingan said. “Also, we have grown accustomed to this set-up as many traders weren’t using the floor during the pandemic.” The PSE has shut down its trading floor in 2020, when the pandemic was first declared in March. The trading floor was re-opened months later and a system was set up which allowed for full remote trading of brokers to avoid disruptions due to surges in Covid-19 cases. In February 2018, on Chinese New Year, the bourse merged its trading floors at its headquarters in Bonifacio Global City in Taguig. The building was named after the PSE. Prior to this, the PSE maintained two trading floors--one in Makati and another one in Pasig. Ramon S. Monzon, PSE presi-

dent and CEO, said when the bourse moved to the PSE Tower, only 85 of 132 active trading participants (TPs) availed of booths and dealer room spaces. “With the Covid-19 pandemic, these 80 plus TPs experienced offsite trading firsthand when we had to go floorless due to the lockdowns. This clearly demonstrated to the TPs that seamless trading can be done so long as they are connected to the PSE’s trading platform. Finally, when the time came to renew their leases at the trading floor, only 29 of the 85 TPs renewed their leases, making it more practical for everyone to go on a full floorless trading,” Monzon said. “The use of this trading floor may have been short-lived, but we will repurpose this 695 square meter space to more productive use for our stakeholders.” The Manila Stock Exchange (MSE) was organized in 1927, but the first formal reference to it having a trading floor was in 1958 when the MSE moved to the Filipinas Building in Plaza Moraga, Manila. The MSE divided the sixth floor area of the said building into three sections, the exchange offices, a section for the public, and the trading floor. The 1964 MSE publication that chronicled its history also mentioned that exchange members were assigned to one booth at the trading floor, which had direct phone lines to their respective offices. It was described that one wall of the floor had boards for posting of quotations and done transactions and another wall had boards for data on listed stocks, including production reports of mining firms. VG Cabuag

Recommerce is here to stay, says report

ECOMMERCE is one trend that keeps on rising amid retail change during the pandemic and is indeed here to stay, according to the 2022 research on digital disruption trends by the Carousell Media Group (CMG) and the Interactive Advertising Bureau Southeast Asia and India (IAB SEA+India). The report, which was presented in their recent webinar, provides an overview of the attitude in shopping and sustainability of consumers in the region. In the Philippines alone, 75 percent of Filipino consumers prefer sustainable and eco-friendly brands. Nine out of 10 or 92 percent— millennial and Gen Z groups being the majority—like products made from natural ingredients; and 90 percent favor local products as they perceive them to be healthier and better for their wellbeing, as they support the local economy and help generate jobs. According to CMG Head of Client Strategy Saniya Gupta, these new generation of shoppers drive the shift to recommerce and are proud in having pre-loved items in a more sustainable way through marketplaces like their platform to do so or resell items they no longer use. “My prediction for the future is that secondhand will be the first choice in the near future, and that recommerce will be as ubiquitous as e-commerce. But in order to achieve this, companies like Carousell need to continue providing a full funnel seamless process in shopping with

services like authentication, shipping and returns policy, that the ecommerce services can provide right now,” she said. The study also revealed some of the ways consumers address environmental concerns, such as purchasing fewer new items, buying and selling second hand on Carousell, bringing bags when shopping, and looking for sellers and brands with sustainability ethics and manufacturing processes. In fact, 55 percent of Filipinos have purchased or sold pre-loved items on the platform, while 25 percent choose to buy items from sellers with sustainability practices. “We’re seeing everything from mundane daily tasks to health and self-development being enabled from your mobile device. We also see that Carousell’s hyper-engaged audiences are prioritizing sustainable shopping to protect the planet,” IAB SEA+India Regional Chief Executive Officer Miranda Dimopoulos said. “It is also gratifying to see that our Carousell marketplaces are now synonymous with sustainability and social ethics, and we have seen a quantum increase in usage of our recommerce marketing platforms over the past two years,” she added. With the movement gaining ground, brands and other online selling platforms will eventually start leveraging on sustainability by helping ethical consumption and normalizing second-hand buying as consumers’ first choice in the long run. Roderick L. Abad

Companies BusinessMirror

Monday, June 27, 2022

PSE STOCK QUOTATIONS

June 24, 2022

Net Foreign Stocks Bid Ask Open High Low Close Volume Value Trade (Peso) Buy (Sell) FINANCIALs

ASIA UNITED BDO UNIBANK BANK COMMERCE BANK PH ISLANDS CHINABANK EAST WEST BANK METROBANK PHIL NATL BANK PSBANK RCBC SECURITY BANK UNION BANK BRIGHT KINDLE COL FINANCIAL IREMIT PHIL STOCK EXCH

490,650 312,821,264 25,229 263,616,158.50 3,709,685 536,090 63,381,235 780,874 19,847 225,400 15,928,428 1,025,145.50 1,492,330 353,500 10,080 1,010,800

-76,766,673 -122,582,742 2,449,665 -247,193 715,505 169,594 7,119,654 -105,178.50 -606,100

INDUSTRIAL AC ENERGY 7.37 7.38 7.34 7.43 7.33 7.37 5,799,700 42,738,588 ALSONS CONS 0.91 0.96 0.96 0.96 0.96 0.96 2,000 1,920 ABOITIZ POWER 29.25 29.5 28.65 29.5 28.65 29.5 1,758,400 51,135,335 RASLAG 2.01 2.02 2.04 2.06 2.01 2.01 11,383,000 23,078,590 BASIC ENERGY 0.36 0.365 0.355 0.365 0.35 0.365 1,240,000 446,350 FIRST GEN 17.16 17.28 16.96 17.34 16.96 17.16 668,500 11,457,468 FIRST PHIL HLDG 61 61.5 61.1 61.1 61 61 1,360 83,000 MERALCO 355.8 357 370 372.8 357 357 637,870 230,723,242 MANILA WATER 16.5 16.7 16.44 16.7 16.42 16.7 156,100 2,576,446 PETRON 3.01 3.03 3.11 3.11 3 3.01 2,531,000 7,646,650 PETROENERGY 4.61 4.7 4.87 4.88 4.7 4.7 72,000 338,950 PHX PETROLEUM 9.5 9.99 9.88 9.99 8.92 9.99 38,300 368,343 SYNERGY GRID 12.14 12.2 12.22 12.22 12.1 12.2 2,441,500 29,745,538 PILIPINAS SHELL 18 18.02 17.56 18.02 16.5 18.02 97,900 1,699,126 SPC POWER 8.8 8.86 8.8 8.9 8.7 8.8 150,900 1,326,287 SOLAR PH 1.53 1.54 1.5 1.55 1.5 1.54 12,808,000 19,547,130 AGRINURTURE 4.55 4.6 4.52 4.63 4.49 4.63 69,000 317,580 AXELUM 2.21 2.29 2.22 2.29 2.21 2.29 267,000 606,340 CENTURY FOOD 22.15 22.2 22 22.15 21.6 22.15 1,486,700 32,718,010 DEL MONTE 14.14 14.48 13.98 14.5 13.98 14.48 502,400 7,089,280 DNL INDUS 6.73 6.74 6.5 6.75 6.5 6.74 501,800 3,336,540 EMPERADOR 19.66 19.7 19.48 19.82 19.48 19.7 12,474,600 246,040,360 SMC FOODANDBEV 48.8 48.85 48.7 48.9 47.2 48.85 44,800 2,182,300 FIGARO COFFEE 0.58 0.59 0.56 0.58 0.56 0.58 2,488,000 1,419,070 ALLIANCE SELECT 0.56 0.58 0.58 0.58 0.58 0.58 12,000 6,960 FRUITAS HLDG 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.12 1.05 1.09 5,942,000 6,475,920 GINEBRA 99.95 100 100 102 100 100 33,090 3,309,498 JOLLIBEE 196.9 200 193 200 192.9 200 521,900 102,761,050 KEEPERS HLDG 1.09 1.1 1.07 1.1 1.07 1.09 389,000 422,110 LIBERTY FLOUR 16.62 18.98 17.14 17.14 16.62 16.62 18,900 322,500 MAXS GROUP 4.5 4.55 4.4 4.55 4.4 4.55 24,000 107,340 MG HLDG 0.112 0.118 0.112 0.113 0.112 0.112 700,000 78,700 MONDE NISSIN 12.72 12.84 12.8 13.06 12.62 12.84 4,824,900 61,537,736 SHAKEYS PIZZA 6.8 7 6.8 6.8 6.8 6.8 402,000 2,733,600 ROXAS AND CO 0.54 0.55 0.54 0.56 0.54 0.55 334,000 185,640 RFM CORP 3.97 4 4 4 4 4 3,000 12,000 ROXAS HLDG 1.53 1.56 1.57 1.57 1.54 1.56 40,000 62,130 SWIFT FOODS 0.085 0.09 0.091 0.091 0.09 0.09 1,280,000 115,970 UNIV ROBINA 95.2 95.3 95 95.5 95 95.3 1,143,020 108,909,309 VITARICH 0.58 0.6 0.57 0.58 0.57 0.58 42,000 24,280 CEMEX HLDG 0.62 0.63 0.64 0.65 0.62 0.63 516,000 327,030 EAGLE CEMENT 12.1 12.28 12.34 12.34 12.04 12.3 7,000 85,868 EEI CORP 3.18 3.25 3.2 3.25 3.15 3.25 32,000 102,270 HOLCIM 5.14 5.2 5.2 5.2 5.2 5.2 50,000 260,000 MEGAWIDE 3.15 3.18 3.06 3.25 3.06 3.15 281,000 873,430 PHINMA 18.54 19.48 19.5 19.5 19.5 19.5 700 13,650 TKC METALS 0.72 0.79 0.8 0.8 0.78 0.78 29,000 22,960 VULCAN INDL 0.78 0.79 0.78 0.78 0.76 0.78 72,000 55,860 CHEMPHIL 125.2 130 130.2 130.2 130 130 340 44,226 CROWN ASIA 1.66 1.75 1.78 1.78 1.78 1.78 5,000 8,900 EUROMED 1 1.02 1 1 1 1 1,000 1,000 MABUHAY VINYL 5.75 5.79 5.79 5.79 5.79 5.79 1,100 6,369 PRYCE CORP 5.25 5.55 5.3 5.38 5.25 5.25 53,300 280,163 GREENERGY 1.62 1.65 1.65 1.67 1.62 1.63 4,556,000 7,512,630 INTEGRATED MICR 6.06 6.1 6.14 6.14 6.04 6.06 9,700 58,916 IONICS 0.51 0.56 0.53 0.53 0.5 0.5 115,000 58,900 PANASONIC 5.61 5.96 5.97 5.97 5.6 5.61 3,400 19,642 SFA SEMICON 0.93 0.98 0.94 0.94 0.94 0.94 2,000 1,880 CIRTEK HLDG 2.27 2.28 2.23 2.29 2.23 2.27 659,000 1,491,610

-1,669,581 7,786,460 -162,200 -7,655,970.00 -3,660 15,842,366 273,192 759,100 -8,587,532 118,876 265,330 -198,210 -1,159,115 978,600 1,146,615 75,437,104 -22,590 -2,320 1,090 -664,328 3,652,168 1,070 5,600 -42,231,990 -544,000 52,410 -36,677,136 -109,580 -48,000 -22,550 1,780 -91,150 9,020

HOLDING & FRIMS

ABACORE CAPITAL AYALA CORP ABOITIZ EQUITY ALLIANCE GLOBAL ANSCOR ANGLO PHIL HLDG ATN HLDG A COSCO CAPITAL DMCI HLDG FILINVEST DEV GT CAPITAL JG SUMMIT LODESTAR LOPEZ HLDG LT GROUP METRO PAC INV PRIME MEDIA SM INVESTMENTS SAN MIGUEL CORP TOP FRONTIER WELLEX INDUS

43.85 117.8 8.41 87.2 26.8 7 49 17.6 56.7 19.6 88.55 75 2.27 3.4 0.72 188.1

1.33 620 49.95 9.09 8.6 0.75 0.41 4.23 8.48 7 467 48.05 0.52 2.93 8.08 3.55 3.26 799 101.4 105 0.25

43.9 117.9 8.79 88 26.95 7.01 49.95 17.68 56.9 19.9 89.9 75.95 2.35 3.5 0.84 190

1.34 625 51.5 9.1 8.99 0.84 0.415 4.3 8.59 7.05 473 48.75 0.57 2.96 8.13 3.61 3.27 801.5 101.8 117 0.29

43 116.7 8.4 86.5 26.8 6.99 48 17.58 55.8 19.6 87.85 75.8 2.4 3.5 0.84 190

1.31 606 49.3 9.1 8.85 0.79 0.405 4.31 8.34 7 460.2 47.6 0.57 2.93 8.1 3.54 3.18 794 101.8 117 0.25

43.9 118.7 8.41 89.75 26.9 7.04 49.95 17.7 55.8 19.6 89.9 76.75 2.4 3.5 0.84 190

1.36 625 51.5 9.17 8.94 0.84 0.415 4.31 8.59 7 477.8 48.75 0.57 2.97 8.2 3.61 3.26 804 101.8 117 0.25

43 116.5 8.4 84.4 26.8 6.99 47.5 17.56 55.1 19.6 87.7 73.05 2.25 3.41 0.84 190

1.31 606 49.1 8.97 8.75 0.75 0.405 4.24 8.32 7 460.2 47.15 0.57 2.93 8.04 3.53 3.1 780.5 100.2 117 0.25

43.9 117.8 8.41 88 26.9 7.01 49.95 17.68 55.1 19.6 89.9 75.95 2.27 3.5 0.84 190

1.34 625 51.5 9.1 8.94 0.75 0.415 4.25 8.59 7 473 48.75 0.57 2.97 8.09 3.61 3.26 801.5 101.8 117 0.25

11,400 2,671,130 3,000 3,057,550 138,200 76,500 1,278,400 44,300 360 11,500 179,030 13,540 653,000 103,000 12,000 5,320

21,605,000 270,510 891,400 2,601,000 2,200 302,000 320,000 292,000 8,640,700 92,400 56,940 1,280,100 1,000 303,000 1,455,700 7,964,000 4,559,000 270,970 76,970 900 40,000

28,731,260 168,177,575 45,269,820 23,649,088 19,409 229,150 129,900 1,240,610 73,172,535 646,800 26,767,726 61,906,210 570 899,790 11,794,414 28,478,880 14,401,590 215,846,710 7,820,546 105,300 10,000

PROPERTY ARTHALAND CORP 0.54 0.55 0.55 0.55 0.55 0.55 54,000 29,700 ANCHOR LAND 6.9 7 7 7 7 7 400 2,800 AYALA LAND 26.85 26.9 25.85 27.1 25.85 26.85 12,560,200 334,976,965 AYALA LAND LOG 3.2 3.24 3.26 3.26 3.12 3.23 226,000 720,570 ALTUS PROP 12.62 13.56 13.56 13.56 13.56 13.56 3,600 48,816 ARANETA PROP 2.08 2.1 2.08 2.12 2.06 2.1 2,635,000 5,503,240 AREIT RT 34.35 34.4 34.5 34.9 34.3 34.4 462,100 16,002,515 CITYLAND DEVT 0.58 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.69 0.7 13,000 8,990 CROWN EQUITIES 0.082 0.085 0.086 0.086 0.081 0.085 270,000 22,920 CEB LANDMASTERS 2.49 2.5 2.5 2.52 2.49 2.49 81,000 202,090 CENTURY PROP 0.38 0.385 0.38 0.385 0.38 0.38 130,000 49,450 CITICORE RT 2.41 2.42 2.4 2.5 2.4 2.42 2,192,000 5,331,850 DOUBLEDRAGON 8.04 8.1 7.99 8.1 7.99 8.04 93,100 750,419 DDMP RT 1.46 1.47 1.45 1.47 1.45 1.46 802,000 1,169,740 DM WENCESLAO 6.74 6.75 6.75 6.8 6.74 6.74 30,100 203,228 EVER GOTESCO 0.246 0.249 0.246 0.249 0.246 0.249 5,020,000 1,248,590 FILINVEST RT 6.72 6.75 6.99 6.99 6.63 6.74 654,900 4,405,486 FILINVEST LAND 0.86 0.88 0.85 0.88 0.85 0.86 7,667,000 6,618,570 8990 HLDG 10.1 10.38 10.1 10.38 10.1 10.38 2,000 20,256 PHIL INFRADEV 0.93 0.98 0.92 0.99 0.91 0.93 101,000 96,480 CITY AND LAND 0.72 0.73 0.71 0.73 0.71 0.73 31,000 22,330 MEGAWORLD 2.2 2.21 2.17 2.27 2.17 2.2 53,342,000 117,387,970 MRC ALLIED 0.192 0.197 0.191 0.197 0.191 0.192 1,100,000 211,770 MREIT RT 15.26 15.3 15.2 15.58 15.12 15.26 287,900 4,397,916 PHIL ESTATES 0.375 0.39 0.37 0.38 0.37 0.38 690,000 261,950 PRIMEX CORP 1.99 2.02 1.95 2.02 1.95 2.02 2,105,000 4,144,980 RL COMM RT 6.08 6.1 6 6.35 6 6.1 2,000,500 12,232,677 ROBINSONS LAND 16.62 17.3 16.5 17.3 16.42 17.3 1,026,800 17,384,990 ROCKWELL 1.2 1.31 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2 7,000 8,400 SHANG PROP 2.45 2.56 2.57 2.57 2.57 2.57 1,000 2,570 STA LUCIA LAND 2.91 3.04 2.96 3.04 2.91 3.04 16,000 48,430 SM PRIME HLDG 36 36.35 35.05 36.4 35.05 36.35 6,205,400 223,591,430 SUNTRUST RESORT 0.96 1.02 1.03 1.03 1.03 1.03 5,000 5,150 PTFC REDEV CORP 43.25 62.95 43.25 43.25 43.25 43.25 100 4,325 VISTA LAND 1.99 2 2.01 2.01 1.96 2 556,000 1,110,750 VISTAREIT RT 1.71 1.72 1.73 1.73 1.71 1.72 4,483,000 7,715,900 SERVICES ABS CBN 9 9.17 8.9 9.17 8.9 9.17 72,500 664,033 GMA NETWORK 11.3 11.48 11.2 11.5 11.2 11.3 262,800 2,965,454 MLA BRDCASTING 7.77 7.78 7.78 7.78 7.78 7.78 100 778 GLOBE TELECOM 2,120 2,150 2,100 2,150 2,090 2,150 42,080 89,245,290 PLDT 1,698 1,700 1,685 1,738 1,685 1,700 138,615 236,516,040 APOLLO GLOBAL 0.037 0.038 0.036 0.039 0.036 0.038 146,600,000 5,584,600 CONVERGE 18.42 18.5 18.8 19.62 18.24 18.5 16,754,400 315,887,238 DFNN INC 2.95 3.1 2.95 3.15 2.91 3.1 127,000 383,740 DITO CME HLDG 3.68 3.71 3.61 3.73 3.61 3.71 2,034,000 7,488,210 JACKSTONES 1.52 1.62 1.6 1.63 1.6 1.63 21,000 33,630 NOW CORP 1.13 1.14 1.13 1.17 1.13 1.14 1,000,000 1,148,030 TRANSPACIFIC BR 0.28 0.285 0.28 0.285 0.28 0.28 720,000 202,450 2GO GROUP 6.83 6.99 7 7 6.83 6.83 2,300 15,879 ASIAN TERMINALS 13.42 13.84 13.9 13.9 13.9 13.9 100 1,390 CHELSEA 1.33 1.34 1.34 1.35 1.34 1.34 30,000 40,310 CEBU AIR 41.75 41.8 41.5 42.25 41.5 41.8 92,900 3,885,410 INTL CONTAINER 184 185 180.1 185.9 180.1 185 1,448,680 266,870,069 MACROASIA 4.08 4.16 4.08 4.29 4 4.16 316,000 1,291,590 PAL HLDG 5.4 5.88 5.55 5.55 5.4 5.4 97,300 533,715 HARBOR STAR 0.81 0.86 0.84 0.84 0.81 0.81 113,000 92,680 BOULEVARD HLDG 0.076 0.078 0.075 0.079 0.075 0.076 32,970,000 2,541,520 DISCOVERY WORLD 1.6 1.7 1.7 1.7 1.7 1.7 5,000 8,500 WATERFRONT 0.42 0.445 0.42 0.42 0.42 0.42 10,000 4,200 STI HLDG 0.315 0.325 0.32 0.32 0.32 0.32 70,000 22,400 BELLE CORP 1.19 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.19 1.2 418,000 501,160 BLOOMBERRY 5.68 5.69 5.59 5.72 5.59 5.69 584,000 3,323,333 PACIFIC ONLINE 1.38 1.45 1.38 1.38 1.38 1.38 89,000 122,820 LEISURE AND RES 1.37 1.38 1.35 1.37 1.34 1.37 891,000 1,206,160 PH RESORTS GRP 0.83 0.84 0.81 0.85 0.81 0.83 1,116,000 930,930 PREMIUM LEISURE 0.395 0.4 0.395 0.4 0.395 0.4 1,870,000 742,700 PHILWEB 5.48 5.49 5.46 5.54 5.38 5.49 4,728,900 25,927,420 ALLDAY 0.295 0.3 0.295 0.305 0.295 0.3 5,290,000 1,587,250 BERJAYA 5.53 6.1 5.53 6.1 5.53 6.1 3,200 17,800 ALLHOME 4.42 4.45 4.45 4.45 4.4 4.45 52,000 230,800 METRO RETAIL 1.44 1.45 1.45 1.45 1.44 1.45 682,000 988,090 PUREGOLD 30.5 30.65 30.5 30.85 30.2 30.5 677,500 20,659,480 ROBINSONS RTL 46.3 46.5 46 46.7 45.95 46.3 122,100 5,653,635 PHIL SEVEN CORP 51 53 51 51.5 51 51.5 3,350 171,835 SSI GROUP 1.21 1.22 1.21 1.23 1.21 1.22 2,422,000 2,954,980 WILCON DEPOT 23.5 23.55 23.85 23.85 23 23.5 1,107,500 26,026,790 APC GROUP 0.195 0.198 0.2 0.2 0.195 0.195 230,000 45,190 MEDILINES 0.57 0.58 0.57 0.59 0.56 0.58 742,000 422,130 PRMIERE HORIZON 0.4 0.405 0.4 0.415 0.4 0.405 1,810,000 736,050 SBS PHIL CORP 3.76 3.96 3.78 3.96 3.76 3.96 6,000 22,780 MINING & OIL

ATOK 6.9 7 7 7 6.9 6.9 48,900 340,480 APEX MINING 1.38 1.39 1.38 1.4 1.38 1.39 1,261,000 1,755,310 ATLAS MINING 4.62 4.64 5 5 4.6 4.62 1,271,500 5,975,913 BENGUET A 5.91 6.1 6.29 6.29 5.91 5.91 126,900 764,055 BENGUET B 5.98 6.1 6.45 6.45 5.98 6.1 101,100 634,740 COAL ASIA HLDG 0.212 0.234 0.228 0.229 0.225 0.225 140,000 31,810 CENTURY PEAK 2.67 2.7 2.64 2.7 2.64 2.7 70,000 188,940 FERRONICKEL 2.29 2.31 2.3 2.32 2.29 2.29 2,664,000 6,102,950 LEPANTO A 0.133 0.136 0.131 0.136 0.131 0.136 2,570,000 346,950 MANILA MINING A 0.009 0.0094 0.0093 0.0094 0.0091 0.0094 56,000,000 518,500 MARCVENTURES 1.45 1.47 1.4 1.5 1.4 1.47 1,066,000 1,548,740 NICKEL ASIA 6.28 6.29 6.2 6.35 6.2 6.28 3,366,500 21,102,864 ORNTL PENINSULA 0.68 0.72 0.68 0.72 0.68 0.72 272,000 186,020 PX MINING 3.3 3.31 3.68 3.68 3.3 3.31 2,427,000 8,359,580 SEMIRARA MINING 33.7 33.75 33.5 34.25 33.5 33.75 1,709,300 57,823,185 ACE ENEXOR 7.7 7.97 7.9 7.97 7.9 7.97 19,200 152,136 ORNTL PETROL A 0.01 0.011 0.011 0.011 0.01 0.011 50,000,000 544,400 PHILODRILL 0.0083 0.0085 0.0085 0.0085 0.0085 0.0085 1,000,000 8,500 PXP ENERGY 4.15 4.2 4.55 4.55 4.2 4.2 285,000 1,240,410 PREFFERED HOUSE PREF A 98.4 100 98.8 98.8 98.8 98.8 59,130 5,842,044 AC PREF B1 501 502 502 502 501 501 9,000 4,517,000 AC PREF B2R 500 502 500 500 500 500 2,300 1,150,000 CEB PREF 41.4 42 41.5 42 41.35 41.55 29,700 1,234,110 CPG PREF A 99.5 101 101 101 101 101 50 5,050 DD PREF 99.6 100 99 100 99 100 14,160 1,413,816 FGEN PREF G 100.2 104.1 104.4 104.4 104.4 104.4 90 9,396 MWIDE PREF 2A 94 98.75 93.4 93.4 93.1 93.1 1,200 111,987 MWIDE PREF 2B 96 99.5 99.5 99.5 99.5 99.5 500 49,750 MWIDE PREF 4 97 99 99 99 99 99 19,000 1,881,000 PNX PREF 3B 99.8 100.9 100.9 100.9 100.8 100.9 790 79,707 PNX PREF 4 972 980 978 978 978 978 710 694,380 PCOR PREF 3B 1,060 1,070 1,070 1,070 1,060 1,060 150 159,620 SMC PREF 2F 76 77 77 77 77 77 10 770 SMC PREF 2I 76.1 78.4 76.05 76.3 76 76.3 11,400 866,830 SMC PREF 2J 74.25 75.8 75.8 75.8 75.8 75.8 40 3,032 TECH PREF B2D 54.2 56.5 54 54 54 54 3,500 189,000 PHIL. DEPOSITARY RECEIPTS GMA HLDG PDR 11.1 11.48 11 11.1 11 11.1 14,900 165,190 WARRANTS TECH WARRANT 0.46 0.48 0.415 0.48 0.415 0.48 90,000 41,600

11,705,850 -40,449,425 7,612,000 -3,522,027 6,125 1,630 -145,270 -53,422,354 6,061,054 10,003,305 -828,630 -4,739,198 -8,171,850 29,464,185 4,523,192 -12,759,570 -239,520 -48,300 -5,301,185 4,980 273,150 91,178 -3,552,575 -5,443,310 12,059,690 816,376 -4,128,670 4,355,936 -14,298,135.00 -409,950 25,850 -23,475,790 32,432,870 -72,724,402 288,650 -179,720.00 -111,825 -3,015,420 476,790 -110,410 -448,800 -728,837 40,000 -100,614 132,050 57,720 -15,855,190 772,435 -125,935 2,562,000 12,014,645 590 -208,080 -1,464,047.00 -13,530 188,940 1,991,990 5,181,248 -869,510 -7,740,305 105,000 -1,129,885 -859,200 -120,080

SMALL & MEDIUM ENTERPRISES

CTS GLOBAL HAUS TALK ITALPINAS MERRYMART XURPAS

0.9 0.97 0.73 1.3 0.295

0.91 1 0.75 1.32 0.3

EXHANGE TRADE FUNDS FIRST METRO ETF

94.6

95.2

0.91 1 0.69 1.32 0.3

0.93 1 0.73 1.37 0.3

0.9 0.97 0.69 1.29 0.3

0.9 1 0.73 1.32 0.3

820,000 49,000 109,000 1,513,000 310,000

741,200 48,970 76,540 2,011,200 93,000

93.5 94.6 93.5 94.6 20,340 1,920,485

-27,000 -5,260 5,535

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Solar PHL bags most of RE capacity in energy auction

By Lenie Lectura

@llectura

OLAR Philippines has bagged most of the renewable energy (RE) contracts to develop 2,000-megawatt (MW) capacities under the country’s first Green Energy Auction Program (GEAP). Data from the Department of Energy (DOE) website showed that Solar Philippines won 70 percent of all RE capacity in the DOE auction, or 1380MW out of 1996MW across all technologies, and 91 percent of all the solar capacity, or 1350MW out of 1490MW. These are the 200MW Concepcion Tarlac 2 of Solar Philippines Commercial Rooftop Projects, Inc. (SPCRPI), 280MW Santa Rosa Nueva Ecija 2 of Solar Philippines Nueva Ecija Corp., 450MW Tayabas solar power of SPCRPI, 30MW Calatagan wind power of Solar Philippines Calatagan Corp., 300MW Kananga-Ormoc solar power of Solar Philippines Visayas Corp., and 120MW General Santos solar power of SPCRPI. Last week, Solar Philippines said it has submitted power contract of-

fers for its proposed 10 gigawatts, or 10,000MW, of solar projects that are targeted for commercial operations mostly in 2025 and 2026. The DOE said there were 24 bidders, eight were from solar, another eight from wind, seven were from run-of-river hydro, and one was from biomass. The auction was held last June 17. The following power projects were also cleared by the agency. These are the 60MW Kapangan hydro of Cordillera Hydroelectric Power Corp., 20MW Sablan 1 hydro of Hedcor, Inc., 40MW PAVI Green Naga solar of PAVI Green Renewable Energy, Inc., 88.980MW Talugtug solar of Greenergy Solutions, Inc., 70MW Caparispisan II wind of Amihan Renewble Energy Corp., 160MW Balaoi abd Caunayan wind of Bayog Wind

STOCK-MARKET OUTLOOK Last week

Share prices fell for the third consecutive week, with the main index touching the 6,000-point level last week, as trading remained volatile due to several factors, including the interest rate hike of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and the peso hitting a 10-year low. The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index lost another 114 points to close at 6,217.56 points. The main index closed almost flat at the start of the week, but was down for three straight sessions, even reaching its year-to-date low of 6,065 on Thursday, when the BSP raised its rates. The BSP, as expected, raised its rates by 25 basis points and also revised its inflation expectations to 5 percent this year, up from the previous 4.6 percent. Year-to-date, the main index has lost almost 13 percent since the start of the year or 905.07 points. It will enter the bear market level when its fall reaches 20 percent. Most of the sub-indices were down, led by the broader All Shares index that shed 57.32 points to 3,337.63 points, the Financials index fell 53.88 to 1,500.70, the Industrial index gained 0.06 to 8,785.23, the Holding Firms index gained 65.05 to 5,853.06, the Property index declined 98.85 to 2,869.59, the Services index lost 83.45 to 1,624.16 and the Mining and Oil index plunged 722.35 to 10,862.61. For the week, losers edged gainers 150 to 75 and 26 shares were unchanged. Top gainers were Prime Media Holdings Inc., Lorenzo Shipping Corp., Raslag Corp., I-Remit Inc., Philweb Corp. and Mabuhay Vinyl Corp. Top losers were Philippine Trust Co., Philex Mining Corp., Pacifica Holdings Inc., Atlas Consolidated Mining and Development Corp., Cirtek Holdings Philippines Corp., Anglo Philippine Holdings Corp. and LBC Express Holdings Inc.

This week

Trading may remain volatile this week as negative sentiment still prevails as the index nears the bear market. “As the macro environment remains, note that the allure of cash flow-secure, high dividend yielding securities are warranted as the market contends with fixed assets that reprice higher rates,” broker 2TradeAsia said. The oath-taking of President-elect Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. will also take place this week. The broker said there may be a quarter-end window dressing of funds at the end of the month. Meanwhile, Japhet Louis O. Tantiangco, senior research analyst at Philstocks Financials Inc., said there may be episodes of bargain hunting during the week. “Still, bearish sentiment is expected to remain weighing on the overall market amid lingering downside risks. This includes the weakened peso which is already nearing the P55 per US dollar level; mounting upside risks to inflation; and the possibility of a global economic slowdown amid the recession risk in the US, and the ongoing Russia - Ukraine War,” he said. The market’s immediate support is seen at the 6,100 to 6,150 range and immediate resistance is seen at the market’s 10-day exponential moving average at 6,308.05.

Stock picks

Broker Regina Capital Development Corp. advised to make a position on the stock of Ayala Land Inc. (ALI) as the stock had been falling for seventh consecutive sessions since the previous week. “Another angle that supports a rebound in ALI’s price is weak trading volume. On Thursday, ALI registered a trading volume that was much weaker than its three-day volume average, implying that the sellers are slowing down. In a situation like this, traders may consider taking a gradual position on ALI,” it said. Ayala Land shares closed Friday at P26.85 apiece. Meanwhile, it advised to sell on rallies on the stock of Emperador Inc. (EMP) as it outpaced the majority of its blue-chip peers amid the wide selldown in the local market. The broker said after the stock rose more than 2 percent during one of the trading sessions last week, it still did not see any hint of weakness on its technical indicators “However, keep in mind that EMP is nearing its resistance which could then trigger profit taking, so make sure to lock in gains whenever the rally continues,” it said. Emperador shares closed last week at P19.70 apiece. VG Cabuag

Power Corp., 100.8MW Kalayaan 2 wind of CleanTech Global Renewables, Inc., 13.2MW Nabas 2 wind of Petrowind Energy, Inc., 3.7MW Malitbog hydro of Philnewriver Power Corp., 3.7MW Silo-O hydro of PPC, 4.85MW Mat-I 1 hydro of Philnew Hydro Power Corp. (PHPC), 6.9MW Clarin hydro of PHPC, and 3.4MW biomass cogeneration of Cotabato Sugar Central Company Inc. The winning bidders were ranked based on their offers from the lowest to highest bid price and stacked corresponding to the respective RE technology per grid. They will be awarded with 20-year power supply contracts. “All winning bidders shall submit to the DOE the original copy of their respective affidavit of undertaking and the corresponding performance bond within 35 days and 60 calendar days, respectively, from the date of posting of this notice,” the June 24 notice, signed by Energy Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi, stated. Cusi said the country’s first green energy “is a significant step in encouraging more power generation investments in renewable energy,

while protecting the interest of Filipino consumers—a testament to the country’s commitment to developing indigenous and clean sources of energy at competitive prices.” The agency said the success of this competitive process will set the benchmark for the future auction rounds, as the resulting Green Energy Tariff (GET) will reflect the value of electricity. The Energy Regulatory Commission has already set the ceiling rate for the first round of GEAP, with the Green Energy Auction Reserve (GEAR) price for solar at P3.6779 per kilowatt-hour (kWh), wind at P6.0584 per kWh, biomass at P5.0797 per kWh, and run-of-river hydro at P5.4913 per kWh. Through the GEAP, the DOE paved the way for immediate and timely investments; supported the development of, and increased financing access for new or additional capacities under a competitive process; as well as implemented programs that promote environmental sustainability, which will aid the country’s transition to renewable energy.

mutual funds

June 24, 2022

NAV One Year Three Year Five Year Y-T-D per share Return* Return Stock Funds ALFM Growth Fund, Inc. -a 195.83 -12.06% -9.91% -6.47% -15.99% ATRAM Alpha Opportunity Fund, Inc. -a 1.2926 -8.09% -7.67% -4.23% -22.33% ATRAM Philippine Equity Opportunity Fund, Inc. -a 2.6762 -12.86% -13.57% -9.11% -17.35% Climbs Share Capital Equity Investment Fund Corp. -a 0.6862 -11.95% -10.47% n.a. -9.29% First Metro Consumer Fund on MSCI Phils. IMI, Inc. -a 0.6382 -13% -10.51% n.a. -17.21% First Metro Save and Learn Equity Fund,Inc. -a 4.4474 -8.99% -7.1% -4.3% -14.19% First Metro Save and Learn Philippine Index Fund, Inc. -a 0.6549 -8.19% -9.8% -7.21% -16.39% MBG Equity Investment Fund, Inc. -a 76.12 -24.04% -14.48% n.a. -19.39% PAMI Equity Index Fund, Inc. -a 40.0906 -11.98% -8.96% -5.09% -16.7% Philam Strategic Growth Fund, Inc. -a 420.21 -12.26% -8.77% -5.02% -16.07% Philequity Dividend Yield Fund, Inc. -a 1.2081 5.53% -3.53% -1.49% -10.93% Philequity Fund, Inc. -a 30.7014 -10.05% -8.03% -4.05% -16.11% Philequity MSCI Philippine Index Fund, Inc. -a 0.7885 -11.4% -9.6% n.a. -16.24% Philequity PSE Index Fund Inc. -a 4.1495 -11.09% -8.35% -4.47% -16.35% Philippine Stock Index Fund Corp. -a 691.31 -11.55% -8.42% -4.54% -16.56% Soldivo Strategic Growth Fund, Inc. -a 0.6176 -13.61% -13.11% -7.28% -17.94% Sun Life Prosperity Philippine Equity Fund, Inc. -a 3.1003 -12.47% -11.05% -5.91% -17.88% Sun Life Prosperity Philippine Stock Index Fund, Inc. -a 0.787 -11.84% -8.7% -4.79% -16.68% United Fund, Inc. -a 2.913 -10.56% -8.4% -3.72% -15.25% Primarily invested in Peso securities (units) Philequity Alpha One Fund, Inc. -a 0.989 -8.95% n.a. n.a. -14.94% Philippine Stock Index Fund Corp. -a 842.43 n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. Exchange Traded Fund (shares) First Metro Phil. Equity Exchange Traded Fund, Inc. -a,c 93.1769 -11.19% -8.21% -4.15% -16.42% Primarily invested in foreign currency securities (shares) ATRAM AsiaPlus Equity Fund, Inc. -b $0.9249 -26.01% -2.53% -1.18% -17.9% Sun Life Prosperity World Voyager Fund, Inc. -a $1.4364 -19.52% 3.19% 4.38% -22.21% Balanced Funds Primarily invested in Peso securities (shares) ATRAM Dynamic Allocation Fund, Inc. -a 1.5207 -9.43% -4.7% -3.1% -10.12% ATRAM Philippine Balanced Fund, Inc. -a 2.0575 -8.51% -4.14% -2.76% -9.82% First Metro Save and Learn Balanced Fund Inc. -a 2.4507 -5.96% -2.94% -1.39% -8.93% First Metro Save and Learn F.O.C.C.U.S. Dynamic Fund, Inc. -a 0.1894 -3.02% n.a. n.a. -9.38% NCM Mutual Fund of the Phils., Inc. -a 1.8359 -6.21% -1.98% -0.73% -8.97% PAMI Horizon Fund, Inc. -a 3.3451 -9.45% -3.95% -2.15% -11.16% Philam Fund, Inc. -a 14.9826 -9.57% -4.11% -2.22% -11.06% Solidaritas Fund, Inc. -a 1.919 -7.11% -3.95% -2.2% -9.54% Sun Life of Canada Prosperity Balanced Fund, Inc. -a 3.1955 -9.4% -6.56% -3.29% -12.38% Sun Life Prosperity Dynamic Fund, Inc. -a 0.8285 -6.63% -6.23% -2.93% -13.17% Primarily invested in Peso securities (units) Sun Life Prosperity Achiever Fund 2028, Inc. -a 0.8789 -11.01% -5.03% n.a. -11.2% Sun Life Prosperity Achiever Fund 2038, Inc. -a 0.7936 -12.72% -8.18% n.a. -15.98% Sun Life Prosperity Achiever Fund 2048, Inc. -a 0.7795 -13.12% -8.64% n.a. -16.53% Primarily invested in foreign currency securities (shares) Cocolife Dollar Fund Builder, Inc. -a $0.03317 -13.35% -4.11% -1.57% -12.57% PAMI Asia Balanced Fund, Inc. -b $0.9174 -18.71% -2.6% -1.05% -14.03% Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Advantage Fund, Inc. -a $3.9151 -16.82% 1.25% 2.73% -18.47% Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Wellspring Fund, Inc. -a,2 $1.0096 -15.37% -1.92% -0.02% -15.77% Bond Funds Primarily invested in Peso securities (shares) ALFM Peso Bond Fund, Inc. -a 372.47 0.06% 2.11% 2.24% -0.49% ATRAM Corporate Bond Fund, Inc. -a 1.8899 -1.96% -0.04% 0.01% 0.28% Cocolife Fixed Income Fund, Inc. -a 3.2261 -0.07% 1.92% 3.28% -0.55% Ekklesia Mutual Fund Inc. -a 2.1676 -4.2% -0.19% 0.56% -3.73% First Metro Save and Learn Fixed Income Fund,Inc. -a 2.3959 -1.89% 1.29% 1.57% -1.24% Philam Bond Fund, Inc. -a 4.1794 -6.98% 0.17% 0.49% -4.92% Philam Managed Income Fund, Inc. -a 1.3045 -1.38% 2.48% 2.56% -1.11% Philequity Peso Bond Fund, Inc. -a 3.8811 -2.37% 1.8% 2.18% -2.14% Soldivo Bond Fund, Inc. -a 1.0068 -2.96% 2.35% 1.63% -2.08% Sun Life of Canada Prosperity Bond Fund, Inc. -a 3.1255 -2.7% 1.95% 2.5% -1.94% Sun Life Prosperity GS Fund, Inc. -a 1.6914 -3.24% 1.06% 1.81% -2.27% Primarily invested in foreign currency securities (shares) ALFM Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. -a $481.47 -0.93% 1.68% 1.8% -1.65% ALFM Euro Bond Fund, Inc. -a Є210.8 -4.21% -1% -0.09% -4.19% ATRAM Total Return Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. -b $1.0689 -10.23% -3.37% -0.94% -11.21% First Metro Save and Learn Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. -a $0.0243 -6.9% -1.72% -0.49% -6.54% PAMI Global Bond Fund, Inc -b $0.8958 -15.14% -6.31% -3.67% -12.42% Philam Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. -a $2.21 -12.07% -2% -0.19% -11.8% Philequity Dollar Income Fund Inc. -a $0.0607609 -3.53% 0.92% 1.22% -2.46% Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Abundance Fund, Inc. -a $2.7606 -13.21% -3.59% -1.71% -13.63% Money Market Funds Primarily invested in Peso securities (shares) ALFM Money Market Fund, Inc. -a 132.08 1.37% 2.31% 2.53% 0.68% First Metro Save and Learn Money Market Fund, Inc. -a 1.0635 1.02% 1.59% n.a. 0.55% Sun Life Prosperity Peso Starter Fund, Inc. -a,1 1.3254 1.56% 2.16% 2.48% 0.74% Primarily invested in foreign currency securities (shares) Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Starter Fund, Inc. -a $1.0637 0.58% 1.16% n.a. 0.29% Feeder Funds Primarily invested in Peso securities (units) ALFM Global Multi-Asset Income Fund Inc. -a 43.2355 n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. Sun Life Prosperity World Equity Index Feeder Fund, Inc. -a 1.1925 -5.89% n.a. n.a. -13.77% Primarily invested in foreign currency securities (units) ALFM Global Multi-Asset Income Fund Inc. -a $0.8131 -17.87% n.a. n.a. -16.18% a - NAVPS as of the previous banking day. b - NAVPS as of two banking days ago.

c - Listed in the PSE.

d - in Net Asset Value per Unit

(NAVPU). 1 - Renaming was approved by the SEC last July 8, 2021 (formerly, Sun Life Prosperity Money Market Fund, Inc.). 2 - Adjusted due to stock dividend issuance last November 25, 2021.

"While we endeavor to keep the information accurate, the Philippine Investment Funds Association (PIFA) and its members make no warranties as to the correctness of the newspaper’s publication and assume no liability or responsibility for any error or omissions. You may visit http://www. pifa.com.ph to see the latest NAVPS/NAVPU."

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Banking&Finance

PNB to shut down JV with Mizuho Leasing By VG Cabuag

@villygc

HILIPPINE National Bank, the lender led by tycoon Lucio Tan, said it is winding down the operations of its joint venture with Japan’s Mizuho Leasing Co. by 2024 as a result of the pandemic that impacted its business in the country. In its disclosure, the lender said the corporate term of its joint venture PNB-Mizuho Leasing and Finance Corp. will just be up to March 31, 2024. “PNB and Mizuho mutually agreed to wind down operations of PMLFC due to the impact of Covid-19 pandemic to the operations of the joint venture company and the domestic leasing industry,” the lender said in its disclosure. “The winding own process of the joint venture company is expected to be completed within the next 24 months,” it said. The said joint venture started its operations in the country in 1998.

Among its services include finance leases, operating leases, term loans and receivables discounting. Last year, PNB has infused additional capital of up to over half a billion pesos in its joint venture with Japanese leasing and finance firm IBJ Leasing Co. to increase its shareholdings. IBJL is under the Mizuho Financial Group. The said transaction increased the ownership of PNB in the joint venture to 83.5 percent from 75 percent. In 2015, the Securities and Exchange Commission approved the change of name to PNB-IBJL Leasing and Finance Corp. after the Japanese leasing company increased its stake in the partnership to 25 percent from 10 percent at the time. The joint venture was renamed to its current corporate name in April last year. PNB shares closed Friday at P17.68, up by P0.08 from the previous close.

Perspectives Exploring the world of artificial intelligence

N this digital age, we are now facing a totally different sphere where technology has been transforming the world we live in. To minimize costs and to improve efficiency, companies have relied on third parties over the years, focusing on value-added tasks, sharing risks and boosting of competitive positions. Contractual agreements or paper assessments to secure suppliers are no longer being utilized.

Natural Language Understanding (NLI), the advanced digital worker could look through the onboarding process by having the user describe the tasks the vendor will handle for the company. Technology has paved its way to provide products and services that will make our human activities so much easier. However, it is expected that the speed of adoption would, of course, be better and faster in developed countries.

The utilization of artificial intelligence in various business sectors

Managing security risks with AI technology

AI has been making its name in this digital era. AI is the “capability of machines to imitate human cognitive functions in doing simple to complex tasks.” An AI digital worker can handle different tasks and interactions with vendor points-of-contact. These advanced digital workers are considered smart enough to ask follow-up questions based on the services that the vendors provide. Moreover, the AI-powered technology could work on the third-party security process, answering questions from the internal business teams.

Adoption of digital workers

BUSINESSES and enterprises have been seizing opportunities in different sectors such as automation and outsourcing. All over the world, AI has also been utilized in hospitals, scientific laboratories, and manufacturing companies in the country. These trends have been transforming various industries in the modern age. The vendor could be onboarded, wherein the AI digital worker provides guidance to user through validation to know if the vendor already exists in the system. With strong AI capabilities together with

ADDRESSING the quantitative and qualitative factors, associated with data may be a challenge that is difficult to discuss. Third-party security efforts were represented by companies and organizations, big or small. There are different challenges that these businesses may encounter. To stay efficient, the AI digital worker also gives importance to large data processing, insight generation, and allowing a shift in focus to key risk areas. For businesses, AI requires a a value proposition that focuses on the benefits of streamlined workflows; , automation-related efficiencies, reduced overhead, training, and costs. The advantage of an AI digital worker fixing the third-party security program can support the operating cost reduction, effective risk mitigation and minimizing unnecessary spending. The excerpt was taken from the KPMG Thought Leadership publication “Streamlining third-party risk management with AI.” © 2022 R.G. Manabat & Co., a Philippine partnership and a member-firm of the KPMG global organization of independent member-firms affiliated with KPMG Intl Ltd, a private English company limited by guarantee. All rights reserved. For more information on KPMG in the Philippines, you may send a message via social media or visit www.home.kpmg/ph.

BusinessMirror

Editor: Dennis D. Estopace • Monday, June 27, 2022

Rice tariffs collections rise as import volumes surge

By Bernadette D. Nicolas

@BNicolasBM

ICE tariffs collected by the government in the first five months of the year climbed to P8.35 billion as import volumes surged.

Customs Deputy Commissioner Edward James Dy Buco told members of the Department of Finance (DOF) executive committee that the rice import duties they collected from January to May this year grew 14 percent from P7.32 billion in the same period last year as import volumes jumped by 37 percent. As of end-May this year, 1.43 million metric tons of the grain have entered in the country, 36.9 percent more than the 1.04 million MT shipped in the comparable period in 2021. In a report, Dy Buco said the bureau kept its rice tariff collections on track despite the continued drop in the average value of rice in the world market, which fell 16.3 percent yearon-year to P16,712 per MT as of endMay from P19,977 per MT. For May alone, the Customs of-

ficial also said they also collected P1.7 billion, up by 3.2 percent from P1.65 billion in the same month last year as they saw double-digit growth in rice import volume. Rice imports in May this year rose by 18.8 percent to 290,979 MT from last year’s 245,033 MT. Under the Rice Tariffication Law (RTL), all import duties collected from rice imports beginning March 5, 2019 go to the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) and other agriculture modernization programs. Collections in excess of the P10 billion fund go to the Rice Farmer Financial Assistance. President Duterte signed the RTL into law on February 14, 2019. The law, which later took effect on March 5, 2019, replaced rice import quantitative restrictions with tariffs. The DOF has since said that the

enactment of RTL also paved the way for lower rice prices, noting that the staple is no longer a main contributor to inflation. However, some rice industry groups have lamented that the RTL led to a drop in farmers’ income as farm-gate prices plunged to as low as P7 per kilogram in certain provinces in the country. International debt watcher Fitch Ratings also earlier warned against amending the RTL, a move that president-elect Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. previously said he intends to pursue to make the measure more local farmer-friendly and to stop the country’s too much dependence on rice imports. Fitch said amending the law could not only curb rice imports and push up rice prices but also “hurt” the government’s tax revenue and reiterated that “a reversal of tax reforms that leads to sustained higher fiscal deficits could also result in a rating downgrade.” Dy Buco also reported the BoC has already collected P5.8 billion in duties on imported pork as of endMay this year from a total volume of 353 million kilograms (kg). The collection was propelled by presidential orders issued that lowered pork import tariff rates and increased allowable import volumes on the com-

modity. The directives, which took effect in April last year, sought to boost pork supply and stabilize retail prices in the domestic market after the outbreak of the African Swine Fever, a disease that hurt domestic hog production. Of the total import volume, 125 million kg were processed from January 1 to May 31. The figure is higher by 32 percent compared to the 94.93 million kg reported in the same period last year. Estimated foregone revenues due to lower pork tariff rates have already reached P5.2 billion from April 9 last year to end-May this year, Dy Buco said. Executive Order (EO) 128, which lowered pork import tariffs to 5 percent within its minimum access volume and 15 percent outside MAV for the first three months, took effect from April 7 to May 14, 2021. EO 134, which superseded EO 128 and took effect on May 17 last year, set tariffs on pork imports under the MAV to 10 percent for the first three months, and 15 percent in the next nine months. For imports outside the MAV, the tariff rates were set at 20 percent for the first three months and 25 percent for the succeeding nine months.

Duty Free PHL appeals for funding assistance from NG By Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo @akosistellaBM Special to the BusinessMirror

OVID-19 travel restrictions increased the losses of Duty Free Philippines Corp. (DFPC) in 2021, necessitating the government firm to appeal for funding assistance from the national government. In its latest audit of DFPC’s finances, the Commission on Audit (COA) said the firm posted a net loss of P558 million in the year ending December 31, 2021, up 47 percent from the net loss of P379 million in 2020. “These continued losses placed the company in a precarious state as it already incurred P156-million deficit in its equity and may already require negotiation from the national government for possible assistance/ funding,” the COA said. Under Republic Act 9593 (Tourism Act of 2009), DFPC has an authorized capital of P500 million that has yet to be fully paid by the national government. Prior to RA9593, the government firm was set up with a P50-million capital from the Phil-

ippine Tourism Authority (now the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority), and has been sustaining its operations from its sales and revenue. Profits of the DFPC are supposed to help fund the tourism projects of its parent unit, the Department of Tourism (DOT). The agency had earlier mulled the possibility of privatizing DFPC. (See, “DOT chief: Duty Free firm’s privatization possible,” in the BusinessMirror, September 5, 2019)

‘Qualified opinion’

THE COA said that “management commented that, due to the impact of Covid-19 pandemic to DFPC’s business operations, they have already been sending letters requesting financial support to DBM [Department of Budget and Management] which covers both subsidy and relief from the National Government and request for the P500 million capitalization to be included in their General Appropriations Act Fiscal Year (FY) 2023.” “Moreover, DFPC is currently working for the implementation of proposed online shopping program

in order to update its current selling presence in the retail travel industry,” the audit agency said. Prior to the pandemic, DFPC earned a profit of P470.37 million in 2019. The COA rendered a “qualified opinion” on the government firm’s financial statements, due to the wrong computation of its Property, Plant and Equipment (PPE) and Retained Earnings/Deficit, contrary to Philippine accounting standards. The pandemic travel restrictions resulted in a “drastic drop” in DFPC sales. Even when these restrictions were eased, allowing the firm to reopen several stores, its net sales fell 45 percent to some P1.71 billion in 2021. Expenses fell 36 percent to P2.29 billion that same year. Aside from making representations with the DBM to pay up the firm’s subscribed capital, the COA also advised DFPC to: “establish strategies that will adapt to the changes in trade and tourism industry, while coping with the Covid-19 during the pandemic and beyond; and Continue to maintain cost-

cutting measures to minimize costs and losses as well as to economically spend its resources.”

Disallowances unsettled

WHILE the firm had no unsettled audit charges and suspensions, it still had unsettled audit disallowance amounting to some P28.65 million. The bulk of this at P28.61 million was a disallowed car plan benefit of DFPC’s executives and managers “due to non-submission within the reglementary period of required documents stated in the Notices of Suspension” issued on February 19, 2018. The rest of the disallowances were travel expenses and excess claims for inland transportation and per diem in 2018. The government firm has a total workforce of 767, of which 757 are regular employees while seven are job order personnel. DFPC currently operates stores at the following: Fiesta Mall in Parañaque; the Ninoy Aquino International Airport terminals 1, 2 and 3 in Pasay; and, the international airports in Davao, Kalibo, Clark, Iloilo and Bacolod (Silay).

LandBank expands card facility for CT programs

BOUT 10 million beneficiaries under the Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) and Unconditional Cash Transfer (UCT) Programs of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) as of May 31, can now access a wider array of banking services, through their upgraded prepaid cards from the Land Bank of the Philippines Inc. (LandBank). The existing LandBank prepaid cards of the beneficiaries have been upgraded

automatically into transaction accounts with expanded features to provide more convenient banking services. “We continuously enhance our products and services to meet the growing needs of our diverse clientele,” LandBank President and CEO Cecilia C. Borromeo was quoted in a statement as saying. “This includes our delivery of government subsidies, geared towards providing vulnerable sectors with improved access to formal financial services.”

The LandBank CCT-UCT prepaid cards now allow receiving of funds from LandBank accounts through fund transfers via the state-run lender’s mobile banking app (MBA), iAccess, remittance system for overseas remittances, automated teller machines and from other bank accounts via InstaPay and ATM fund transfers. Beneficiaries are also now able to load their LandBank CCT-UCT Prepaid Cards via the bank’s 231 cash deposit machines

and over-the-counter at select LandBank branches nationwide, as of May 31, allowing them to secure and save funds through their own transaction accounts. In addition, beneficiaries can use 2,822 LandBank ATMs for cash withdrawal, bills payment, purchase of mobile prepaid load, and fund transfers to Landbank and other bank accounts. The LandBank CCT-UCT prepaid card can also be used to cash-out funds from the bank’s 924 agent banking partners nationwide.

Alibaba Cloud rolls out services to get share in booming PHL fintech business By Rizal Raoul S. Reyes @brownindio

LIBABA Cloud, the digital technology and intelligence backbone of Alibaba Group, recently rolled out a new fintech support program aiming to get share in the local market. In a recent online briefing, Leo Liu, General Manager of the Philippines, Hong Kong and Macau SAR at Alibaba Cloud Computing Co. Ltd., told report-

ers the program will offer clients (local financial technology companies) access to “advanced cloud technologies, free technical training and professional consultations.” According to Liu, each eligible company will receive up to $10,000 in cloud coupons, which can be redeemed against Alibaba Cloud products and services as well as support from Alibaba Group’s ecosystem. He said that eligible companies will

benefit from updated technology solutions from Alibaba Group’s ecosystem and its affiliated company Ant Group Co. Ltd.—including those that facilitate e-commerce and payment processes—to help participating companies “maximize emerging opportunities in the Philippines.” Moreover, Liu said Alibaba Cloud will link up fintech companies with local and global investors and accelerators to help grow their businesses. Liu said Alibaba Cloud’s program

aims to “speed up the digital transformation of businesses via secure, reliable and scalable cloud solutions, while helping boost financial inclusion in the country.”

Operational efficiency DURING the summit hosted by the Singapore-headquartered A libaba Group subsidiary, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Benjamin E. Diokno said that “through digitalization, consumers will enjoy financial prod-

ucts that are convenient, affordable and fit for purpose.” “It will also help financial institutions broaden their client base and improve their operational efficiency,” Diokno added. According to Liu, the firm “is excited to witness what the future holds for the digital industry and particularly the fintech sector in the Philippines.” “We are already seeing transformation and strong expansion in these ar-

eas, and we aim to further stimulate this through initiatives like the Fintech One program,” he added. Earlier this year, Alibaba Cloud introduced a FinTech Industry Sandbox Program in partnership with the Philippines’s FinTech Alliance.ph. The partnership will enable financial businesses to explore the use of advanced cloud computing products and fintech services from Alibaba Cloud in a riskfree testing environment.

Explainer BusinessMirror

B4 Monday, June 27, 2022

www.businessmirror.com.ph A DISPLAY with fuel prices at a gas station in Berlin, Germany, Sunday, June 19, 2022. People across the world are confronted with higher fuel prices as the war in Ukraine and lagging output from producing nations drive prices higher. AP/Markus Schreiber

How much for gas? Around the world, pain is felt at the pump By Daniel Niemann, Paola Corona, Jade Le Deley and Hau Dinh The Associated Press

OLOGNE, Germany—At a gas station near the Cologne, Germany, airport, Bernd Mueller watches the digits quickly climb on the pump: €22 ($23), €23, €24. The numbers showing how much gasoline he’s getting rise, too. But much more slowly. Painfully slowly. A MAN walks past a petrol station price board in central Rome, Wednesday, June 15, 2022.

“I’m getting rid of my car this October, November,” said Mueller, 80. “I’m retired, and then there’s gas and all that. At some point, you’ve got to scale back.” Across the globe, drivers like Mueller are rethinking their habits and personal finances amid skyrocketing prices for gasoline and diesel, fueled by Russia's war in Ukraine and the global rebound from the Covid-19 pandemic. Energy prices are a key driver of inflation that is rising worldwide and making the cost of living more expensive. A motorcycle taxi driver in Vietnam turns off his ride-hailing app rather than burn precious fuel during rush-hour backups. A French family scales back ambitions for an August vacation. A graphic designer in California factors the gas price into the bill for a night out. A mom in Rome, figuring the cost of driving her son to camp, mentally crosses off a pizza night. Decisions across the world’s economy are as varied as the consumers and countries themselves: Walk more. Dust off that bicycle. Take the subway, the train or the bus. Use a lighter touch on the gas pedal to save fuel. Review that road trip—is it worth it? Or perhaps even go carless.

For the untold millions who don’t have access to adequate public transportation or otherwise can’t forgo their car, the solution is to grit their teeth and pay while cutting costs elsewhere. Nguyen Trong Tuyen, a motorcycle taxi driver working for the Grab online ride-hailing service in Hanoi, Vietnam, said he’s been simply switching off the app during rush hour. “If I get stuck in a traffic jam, the ride fee won’t cover the gasoline cost for the trip,” he said. Many drivers have been halting their services like Tuyen, making it difficult for customers to book rides. In Manila, Ronald Sibeyee used to burn P900 ($16.83) worth of diesel a day to run his jeepney, a colorfully decorated vehicle popular for public transportation in the Philippines that evolved from US military jeeps left behind after World War II. Now, it’s as much as P2,200 ($41.40). “That should have been our income already. Now there’s nothing, or whatever is left,” he said. His income has fallen about 40 percent due to the fuel price hikes. Gasoline and diesel prices are a complex equation of the cost of crude oil, taxes, the purchasing power and wealth of individual

AP/Alessandra Tarantino

countries, government subsidies where they exist, and the cut taken by middlemen such as refineries. Oil is priced in dollars, so if a country is an energy importer, the exchange rate plays a role—the recently weaker euro has helped push up gasoline prices in Europe. And there’s often geopolitical factors, such as the war in Ukraine. Buyers shunning Russian barrels and Western plans to ban the country's oil have jolted energy markets already facing tight supplies from the rapid pandemic rebound. There's a global oil price— around $110 a barrel—but no global pump price due to taxes and other factors. In Hong Kong and Norway, you can pay more than $10 per gallon. In Germany, it can be around $7.50 per gallon, and in France, about $8. While lower fuel taxes mean the US average for a gallon of gas is somewhat cheaper at $5, it's still the first time the price has been that high. People in poorer countries quickly feel the stress from higher energy prices, but Europeans and Americans also are being squeezed. Americans have less access to public transport, and

even Europe's transit networks don't reach everyone, particularly those in the countryside. Charles Dupont, manager of a clothing store in Essonne region south of Paris, simply has to use his car to commute to work. “I practice eco-driving, meaning driving slower and avoiding sudden braking,” he said. Others are doing what they can to cut back. Letizia Cecinelli, filling her car at a Rome gas station, said she was biking and trying to reduce car trips “where possible.” “But if I have a kid and I have to take him to camp? I have to do it by cutting out an extra pizza,” she said. Pump prices can be political dynamite. US President Joe Biden has pushed for Saudi Arabia to pump more oil to help bring down gas prices, deciding to travel to the kingdom next month after the Saudi-led OPEC+ alliance decided to boost production. The US and other countries also have released oil from their strategic reserves, which helps but isn’t decisive. Several countries have fuel price caps, including Hungary, where the discount doesn't apply to foreign license plates. In Germany, the government cut taxes

JEEPNEY driver Jet Marty dela Cruz eats lunch inside his vehicle to save fuel instead of heading home as he takes a break at a gasoline station in Quezon City on Monday, June 20, 2022. Around the world, drivers are looking at numbers on the gas pump and rethinking their habits and finances. AP/Aaron Favila

by 35 euro cents a liter on gasoline and 17 cents on diesel, but prices soon began to rise again. Germany also has introduced a discounted 9-euro monthly ticket for public transportation, which led to crowded stations and trains on a recent holiday weekend. But the program only lasts for three months and is of little use to people in the countryside if there’s no train station nearby. In fact, people are pumping just as much gas as they did before the pandemic, according to Germany’s gas station association. “People are filling up just as much as before—they’re grumbling but they’re accepting it,” group spokesman Herbert Rabl said. Is there any relief in sight? A lot depends on how the war in Ukraine affects global oil markets. Analysts say some Russian oil is almost certain to be lost to markets because the European Union, Russia's biggest and closest customer, has vowed to end most purchases from Moscow within six months. Meanwhile, India and China are buying more Russian oil. Europe will have to get its supply from somewhere else, such as Middle

Eastern exporters. But OPEC+, which includes Russia, has been failing to meet its production targets. For many, spending on things like nights out and, in Europe, the near-religious devotion to extended late summer vacations, are on the cutting table. Isabelle Bruno, a teacher in the Paris suburbs, now takes the bus to the train station instead of making the 10-minute drive. “My husband and I are really worried about the holidays because we used to drive our car really often while visiting our family in southern France," she said. “We will now pay attention to train tickets and use our car only for short rides." Leo Theus, a graphic designer from the San Francisco Bay Area city of Hayward, has to be “strategic” in budgeting gas as he heads to meet clients—he might not fill the tank all the way. Gas prices in California are the highest in the US, reaching close to $7 per gallon in some parts of the state. When it comes to going to a club or bar after work, “you’ve got to think about gas now, you got to decide, is it really worth it to go out there or not?” Theus said.

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Style

BusinessMirror

Editor: Gerard S. Ramos

• Monday, June 27, 2022

EASY SUMMER STYLE

AFTER two years, it’s back to the beach, back to exciting getaways, and back to summer fun in the sun. It’s also back to great summer style at Surplus, your one-stop-shop for summer finds. There are vibrant and colorful sundresses, stunning swimwear, as well as rash guards and board shorts if you plan to make waves in surf capitals. For guys, there are tropical tops, casual button-downs and relaxed shorts, perfect for the beach or just simply strolling around the city. Located in most SM Supermalls, Surplus also has surfing shoes, statement-making hats, stylish bags, and candycolored water bottles to complete your summer look. For a more convenient shopping experience, Surplus can also be found at Lazada, Shopee, SM Malls Online, and ShopSM.

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❶ GO casual with button-down polo, printed shirt,chino shorts and beach bag.

❷ PRINTED top

ALBERT ANDRADA with Markki Stroem, Beatrice Luigi Gomez, Celeste Cortesi, Rabiya Mateo and Rhian Ramos PHOTOGRAPHED BY ANGELA CAMAQUIN.

‘Infinite Moments’ begin with that dreamy dress A

FTER a three-year hiatus, “Marry Me at Marriott” staged a smashing comeback recently. On its eighth edition, the country’s definitive wedding extravaganza featured eight fashion designers the Manila Marriott Hotel deemed the finest at the moment. The Marriott Grand Ballroom showcased the bridal finery of upcoming designers Jazel Sy, Joe San Antonio, Julianne Syjuco and Andrea Tetangco; the fairly established Happy Andrada and Debbie Co; and the “seniors” Randy Ortiz and Albert Andrada. “We’ve been preparing for this event for the past six months. We’ve done a lot of introspection and through that process, we’ve realized that it’s not just the weddings that we’ve missed but the gathering of people and being with the people that are important to us,” says Archie Nicasio, Cluster Director of Marketing Communications of Manila Marriott, Sheraton Manila and Courtyard Iloilo. The “Marriott Moments” is an overarching campaign where “Marry Me at Marriott” falls under. The first aspect of the campaign is online, Nicasio explains, which is the revamped YouTube channel, called My Favorite Travel Channel. Next is on-ground, when on July 23 and 24 Marriott will be launching its new facility in the Grand Ballroom, which is the MGBX or the convention center. Third is the one onstage, the signature event that is the “Marry Me at Marriott,” which is initiated by Marriott Bonvoy, the hotel’s travel and lifestyle membership program. Randy Ortiz, a celebrated designer favored by celebrities, shares: “It’s really a welcome change for all of us that we’d all be working depending on which generation you come from. But more than anything else, it’s really the synergy of creative talent and at the same time the aftershock of the pandemic. So you can just imagine all those emotions into one. I’m really expecting so much from these young designers because I know that this is really their time to shine. Thank you to Marriott again for giving

them this chance and, at the same time, for including senior designers to be part of this event. I just feel so honored.” Ortiz’s suite was opened by reigning Binibining Pilipinas International Hannah Arnold, with Miss Eco Philippines 2022 Ashley Subijano, newlyweds Jasmine Maierhofer Patrimonio and Wilma Doesnt as the beautiful brides. His grooms included Sam Ajdani and Joshua de Sequera. “They’re very elegant. They’re very simple yet you can see that there is always a distinct touch that makes it a Randy O bride and groom. Embellishments can be very simple or sometimes minimal, or I don’t even do bead work. But at the end of the day, I know that when I create something, it’s within the limits of my creativity,” Ortiz says. “The creative industry was the hardest-hit business during the pandemic, and even up to now we are still struggling. So it takes a lot of effort and that’s where I get my inspiration—from the struggle that I went through during the pandemic,” Ortiz remarks. “Being in this business, how beautiful it is. I am just so happy that I chose this profession. I have no regrets. I am so passionate about it. And as I’ve said, I hope to continue doing clothes until the last drop of my blood.” In the phenomenal finale, Albert Andrada delivered luxury. “An Albert Andrada bride is one who is rich, one who is very elegant, and one who

can flaunt that she is the most beautiful bride on her day. She is one who carries the gown or the dress opulently.” As the opening bride, Kapuso Actress Rhian Ramos was ravishing as usual. Then as an explosive closing, Andrada paraded three Miss Universe Philippines winners—Rabiya Mateo, Beatrice Luigi Gomez and Celeste Cortesi—as his breathtaking brides. “My inspirations for my gowns this year—of course, I’m known for being opulent. So you’d see more crystals, more blings, more beadworks. My inspirations are the Goddess of Beauty and the last virgins of the Renaissance,” Andrada says. “I want to leave a legacy that what I have learned abroad, I want to pass it on to the next generation. My ultimate goal is to have a scholarship grant to every Filipino—not every Filipino, I can’t afford that, but for those who can’t afford to go into fashion,” Andrada declares. “We have to nurture and we have to mentor this young generation, and we have to let them know they have to be confident that when we say Filipinos, we are a talented group.” The world-class hotel chain remains excited and optimistic that weddings and milestones will still be celebrated despite the pandemic, as expressed on Saturday night by its Multi-Property Vice President Bruce Winton: “It’s been an interesting three years. There are many reasons why I feel privileged to be here tonight. But most importantly, the interconnectedness of the events business, the importance of milestone events—those infinite moments that you’ve heard about—we’ve missed them. We felt the impact of not having them. Everybody who is deeply intertwined in these fabulous, interesting, fun business of events has been missing something—something critical, something important. But we’re back here tonight celebrating. To celebrate being back together, to celebrate infinite moments, and, really, to be thankful just for being here.” n

and chino shorts for a relaxed summer vibe.

PRINTED polo and shorts for your next tropical adventure.

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❸ PACK this pretty dress for your next summer getaway

❹ STAY cozy with sleeveless top, long pants and bag.

Sustainability in beauty: Do you know your carbon footprint?

BEING a beauty enthusiast, I am guilty of accumulating more makeup and skin-care products than I should. For instance, owning 10 lipsticks is too much for the average person but when I am down to just 10 lipsticks, I panic. I am also guilty of not reusing many bottles, jars and other containers of beauty products. In the last two years, however, I have reassessed my material girl tendencies after finally convincing myself that I only have one face. This means I don’t need 20 foundations. Owning two bottles is more than enough. I don’t even need five lipsticks, much less 10. I attended Watsons Philippines’ recent sustainability event, dubbed “Do Good for the Planet,” and the topic was how you could reduce your carbon footprint, which is essentially the amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere because of your energy needs. The food you eat, the car you drive, the power used to light up your home, the airplane you ride when you travel, even the clothes you wear all contribute to your carbon footprint.

“To reach the state called carbon neutrality, each person should not emit more carbon dioxide than what they can offset,” said Jack Warren of ClimatePartner, a company that offers climate action solutions. During the event, Warren encouraged guests to measure their carbon footprint by logging on to ClimatePartner’s web site (bit.ly/3bi1mV6). The average global carbon footprint is 4 - 9. I got 12.41, which is way higher than the average largely because of purchases for the home that I made in the last year. Anna Oposa of Save Philippine Seas, who hosted the event, acknowledged that the pandemic brought up many challenges for those who are trying not to avoid single-use plastics and other things. “We saw that to avoid contamination, we had to throw away masks, face shields and other related stuff after only one use and that was a challenge. It continues to be a challenge. But it does not have to be that way. For example, Filipino moms have always been sustainability advocates. Everybody has that cupboard with the plastics.” Social and mindful entrepreneur Rizza Lana Sebastian and Cat Trivino of Communities for Organized Resource Allocation, who were panelists during the Watsons event, also offered tips on how we can reduce our carbon footprint. Trivino said that looking at our trash bins at home and doing an edit would be a good first step. “Looking at what we throw away and deciding which ones we or others can still use is important. It’s also important that we understand what carbon footprint is and how we can minimize ours,” she said. Other tips the panelists shared to reduce one’s carbon footprint, aside from the obvious, include eating less meat

and going for vegetables instead, recycling and reusing containers, using less paper products such as tissue and wet wipes and making smart choices when traveling. This was Watsons’ first sustainability event held offline after a series of Do Good webinars as part of the retailer’s mission to encourage customers to do good for the planet by choosing products with better ingredients, going for product refills whenever possible, opting for clean beauty products, and picking products that come in better packaging so they can be reused. “We want people to know that we’re here not just to make people healthy and pretty. ‘Do Good’ is now part of our tagline. It used to be ‘Look Good, Feel Great.’ Now, it’s ‘Look Good, Do Good, Feel Great.’ We’re also here to help the planet. Do Good for us means doing good for the planet and the communities we are in,” said Watsons public relations and sustainability director Viki Encarnacion. Watsons has over 1,200 Sustainable Choices products in its 900+ stores nationwide and online channels. Actually, there are Sustainable Choices areas in stores, as I discovered recently. I usually shop online or via Watsons’ Express Delivery service on the app. My favorite sustainable product from Watsons is the Green Tea Extract Bamboo Ultra Soft Toothbrush. As someone who loves beauty, I try to avoid samples and sachets. Plastics find their way in waterways and end up in the ocean, threatening coastal and marine biodiversity. Sachets, including those beauty samples that we love to get, comprise more than half of the world’s plastic waste. For more information about Watsons’ sustainability program, go to interactive.watsons.com.ph/ sustainablechoices.

WATSONS public relations and sustainability director Viki Encarnacion

B6 Monday, June 27, 2022

Massive blood donation drive resolves National blood shortage in South Korea

N March, a US-based non-profit organization Memorial Blood Centers (MBC) declared the blood “emergency” due to a lack of the stock of type O blood at only 1-2 day supply and appealed to the public participation in a single blood donation that can save up to three lives. According to the Red Cross, blood is used for a variety of purposes, including serious injuries caused by accidents, surgical procedures, anemia, childbirth, and cancer treatment. But since blood cannot be artificially produced, experts say that the only solution to the blood supply lies in donating blood. In South Korea, a group of over 18,000 people participated in the massive blood donation drive from April 18 to May 1. It was recorded as the largest group blood donation in the country. The donors were volunteers from the Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light (HWPL) and church members of New Heaven New Earth Church of Jesus which are both led by Chairman Lee Man-hee. According to the Blood Management Center of the Korean Red Cross, the blood donations equate to 3.5 days' blood supply (1 day's blood supply is

equivalent to 5,029 blood donations). Due to the voluntary blood donations, the national blood supply shortage that has been ongoing since the beginning of this year due to the Omicron variant has been resolved at once. HWPL, headquartered in Seoul, South Korea, is a non-governmental organization under the UN Economic and Social Council and Department

of Global Communications, carrying out long-term peace projects through education, relief operations, and youth empowerment based on solidarity with civil society and international organizations in 193 countries. It is looking to take their current blood donation campaign called Life ON, Life Sharing Blood Donation Campaign to the Philippines.

Concepcion appeals to HTAC to approve second boosters

OLLOWING the decision of the Health Technology Assessment Council (HTAC) to recommend Covid-19 booster shots for teenagers aged 12 to 17, Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion made urgent his appeal for the body to approve second booster shots for employees, or those 50 years and older. Concepcion said vaccinations have a high acceptance rate among employees and that the private sector already has its own supply of vaccines. Moreover, majority have already taken their first booster shots and may already be in need of second boosters. Allowing second boosters for this segment, he said, will bring many benefits “We are in the middle of an economic

storm and we need to protect people who are now keeping our economy afloat,” he said. Rising fuel and commodity prices, said the Go Negosyo founder, are threatening the country’s economic recovery, along with fears of stagflation. Concepcion stressed that it is now more important for the economy to remain open and that it cannot risk losing more productive members of the workforce to severe illness considering many may now be experiencing waning immunity against Covid. The Department of Health has already approved the recommendation of the HTAC to give teens a booster shot following the completion of primary doses. Second booster shots, meanwhile, remain available only to

healthcare workers, the elderly (60 years and above), and immunocompromised individuals. The CDC continuously updates its guidelines, and last May expanded its guidance for booster doses to be given to children ages 5 through 11. “Many productive workers fall within this age range of 50 years and older. Though they are now more vulnerable because of their age, they still cannot avail of the second boosters because they’re still not 60,” he said. The National Vaccine Operations Center reports a little over 70 million individuals have completed their primary doses as of June 21, but only 14.7 million have availed of their first booster shots.

EON Group wins bronze for Best Use of Analytics at Campaign Asia’s PR Week & Awards Asia 2022

HE EON Group, one of the largest independent, Filipino-owned, and awardwinning integrated communications firms in the Philippines, wins Bronze for Best Use of Analytics at PRWeek and Campaign Asia’s PR Awards Asia 2022. EON’s entry, titled Measuring Filipinos’ Trust During a Pandemic, is based on its latest Philippine Trust Index (PTI), a proprietary nationwide research study that examines the country’s trust landscape and measures the levels and quality of trust Filipinos have for social institutions. EON has been producing this study biennially for the past decade. The PTI is EON’s landmark project that capitalizes on data-centric intelligence and insights. For 2021, it used data gathered from a face-to-face nationwide study conducted from August to September 2021 among 800 respondents from different socio-economic and demographic backgrounds. It compared the findings with the Groundswell Report from EON’s Strategic Planning and Analytics unit, which used keywords to scan and gather online public conversations held between August 2020

Rolex Grand Prix to deliver a thrilling finale to CHIO Aachen

ATING back to 1924, the CHIO Aachen is among the oldest, most revered events in equestrian sport, one of supreme excellence against which others are measured. This year, the 10-day elite competition which started on June 24 and will culminate with the five-star Rolex Grand Prix on July 3, will feature the world’s best horse and rider combinations. Rolex has been a key supporter of the CHIO Aachen since 1999 as part of its 65year commitment to equestrianism. The alliance includes long-standing partnerships with all four Majors that comprise the Rolex Grand Slam of Show Jumping, namely The Dutch Masters, the CSIO Spruce Meadows ‘Masters’ Tournament, the CHIO Aachen and the CHI Geneva. Initiated in 2013, the Rolex Grand Slam rewards a rider who wins three consecutive Majors, a feat requiring a sustained display of precision, teamwork and technical prowess. Rolex Testimonee Daniel Deusser, the defending champion, is the live contender for the sport’s

O you want to do good and at the same time enjoy good food? Visit Overdoughs which offers their very own versions of donuts or doughnuts, mouthwatering chunky cookies or Chonky Cookies, brownies or brookies, pizza and fries. “I wanted to start a food business and I was looking at trends around and then I realized there were different kinds of donuts that were not being served here. So that is what I wanted to introduce to the market,” related Francis Carl Reyes, CEO and Founder of Caravan Food Group Inc., the company behind Overdoughs and Elait! “We started with donuts, donut holes and then we transitioned to fried cookie dough and then we transitioned to baked cookies. That’s where we are now,” he added. If you are into ice cream, Overdoughs

also offers Elait ice cream where customers can witness ice cream being rolled with their favorite flavors right in front of them.

Deaf partners

THE doing good part is that customers who buy Overdough’s many products are providing employment and opportunities for most of their employees who are deaf. “I remember an experience before when I was a teenager visiting a clothing shop. The employees at the shop were all at the cashier talking to each other. And then there was a guy who approached me but he was not talking. He was trying his best to really assist me and it was then that I noticed that there was a name tag and the word deaf was placed there,” related Reyes. That was Reyes’ first experience with a deaf person who he felt was the “epitome of good customer service. No matter who you are, he is going to assist you. No

Sign language

HE also posted basic sign language in all the branches so that customers can learn how to communicate with them. Currently Reyes has around 30 deaf partners in his 12 branches. In the future, he hopes to convert more of their Overdoughs outlets into cafes so that customers get to savor their other products like pizzas, fried chicken, fries and empanadas. Currently, only one outlet in Greenhills has been converted. “We really want to offer the full experience and hopefully, we can also start providing sign language classes so that our customers can eat, can learn and can interact,” he said. For more information, visit www. overdoughs.ph and @overdoughsph on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.

most coveted prize following victory at The Dutch Masters in March. Deusser will be buoyed by the support of his home crowd and the World No. 9, said: “CHIO Aachen is one of the best shows in the world and one I look forward to every year. To win the Rolex Grand Prix there last year was incredible and I will certainly do my best to repeat my performance again this year. To be heading there as the Rolex Grand Slam of Show Jumping live contender is very exciting.” Accompanying Deusser in the quest to master the challenging course set by worldrenowned designer Frank Rothenberger will be Testimonee Martin Fuchs, winner of the Rolex Grand Prix at CHI Geneva last December and the 2022 FEI Jumping World Cup Final™. The Swiss World No. 1 will compete against compatriot Steve Guerdat, winner of the CP ‘International’, presented by Rolex at Spruce Meadows last year. To know more, visit www.rolex.com. (sent with celebration effect)

Garfield continues to bring joy in the new normal

HE most famous cat, Garfield continues to bring joy in today’s general setting that is currently referred to as the “new normal”. As life slowly begins to open again, Garfield introduces its latest collection that is good for both indoor and outdoor activities. The designs come in a pair of tops and bottoms designed to take the wearer from the “stay-

Overdoughs is not your ordinary bakeshop judgement.” That experience made him decide that he would employ deaf partners for his store. He tried out the partner program initially with Elait. When he saw that it was doing well, he implemented it at Overdoughs. Initially, Reyes started with two able and two deaf partners and he would be observing how they were doing their jobs. “I saw that the customers were interacting with them. And we made sure that we put a system in place where the customers and the deaf partners will have an easy time. Then we have LED writing board where people can communicate easily,” Reyes said.

and August 2021 and manually tagged them for expressing either trust, distrust, or a neutral sentiment in social institutions. By looking at the country’s trust landscape from both on-theground and online perspectives, the PTI 2021 was able to zero in on the factors that influenced public trust during the pandemic and provide context and nuance to them. “We’re very happy to continue the EON tradition of championing Filipino excellence through substantive work that benefits every stakeholder whose success depends on trust,” says Malyn Molina, President and Chief Operating Officer of the EON Group. “As builders of trust, we will continue to monitor the country’s trust landscape and its dynamic movement across industries.”

at-home” parties to the malls and visits to relatives and friends. The bottoms come in jeans topped with shirts made from high quality denims and cotton that provide both fashion and comfort for kids. While it brings joy in clothing, Garfield garments for kids also bring joy in its charity work through its “Garfield gives back” activities. While the favorite clothing brand gave joy with the introduction of its former image models namely Kathryn Bernardo of ABS CBN, Miguel Tan Felix of GMA 7, Gabby Garcia and Maybeliene, among others, Garfield takes pride to say that its former image model, Manila Mayor Isko Moreno, was the brand’s image model during his younger years in showbiz. Isko was chosen not just for his good looks but because of his personality and attitude in general.

PAGCOR releases P30.09 million aid to three beneficiaries

HREE new beneficiaries received funding for their respective community development projects after the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) released a total of P30.09 million in financial grants on June 21, 2022 at the agency’s Executive Office in Manila. The provincial governments of Marinduque and Ilocos Sur as well as the Nueva Vizcaya Police Provincial Office received their cash grants from PAGCOR Chairman and CEO Andrea Domingo, who was joined in the distribution of checks by President and COO Alfredo Lim and Directors Gabriel Claudio and James Patrick Bondoc. Marinduque was granted P28 million, which Provincial Governor Presbitero Jose Velasco. Jr. said will be used for the construction of four covered courts in different barangays. “Napakalaking bagay nitong donasyon sa amin ng PAGCOR dahil maraming tao ang makikinabang sa itatayong covered courts sa

apat na barangay sa Marinduque,” he explained. Said structures, Velasco added, can be used as evacuation centers during calamities and venues for various sports and livelihood programs. Ilocos Sur, meanwhile, received P1.89 million for the procurement of 55 computer sets that will be distributed to ten municipalities and one city in the first legislative district of the province. Acting Provincial Treasurer Ronnette Victa, who represented Governor Ryan Luis Singson received the donation. The state-run gaming firm also turned over P199,833 to the Nueva Vizcaya Police Provincial Office Director Police Colonel Ranser Evasco to finance the purchase of a laptop with printer and a TV set. “Napakahalaga po ng mga kagamitang aming bibilhin sapagkat halos lahat ng aming conference ngayon eh virtual na. Kaya’t lubos po kaming nagpapasalamat sa PAGCOR sa tulong-pinansyal na kanilang ipinagkaloob sa amin,” Evasco noted.

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Monday, June 27, 2022 B7

Beyond the selfie and the scenic views: What are post-pandemic travelers looking for?

PR Matters By Edd Fuentes

Awards: Meralco Group’s pandemic response for public welfare programs amass 22 Philippine Quill awards

MANILA, PHILIPPINES— Electric power distribution company Manila Electric Company (Meralco) is among the top winners in the 19th Philippine Quill Awards, with 22 awards for programs demonstrating excellence in its pandemic response communications centered on public welfare. Recognized for its internal and external communication programs, the Meralco Group exemplified purposeful communications that made a significant impact on the lives of its stakeholders amid the ongoing fight against Covid-19. “We have always been committed to creating programs that will help and empower the public in addressing chal-

lenges in their day-to-day lives, which continued on despite the pandemic. The challenge actually invigorated our people to strive harder because we understand how crucial electricity service is during all those months of lockdown, and work from home and online distance learning set-ups,” said Meralco Vice President and Head of Corporate Communications Joe Zaldarriaga. “To be recognized for these is truly an honor and one that pushes us to develop and implement more programs that provide benefits for the public good,” he added. Topping the list of Meralco’s winning entries are pandemic response communication programs centered on health and safety, customer-centric initiatives, service excellence, and stakeholder engagement. These include the company’s communication campaign on “Unwavering Service and Malasakit amid the Pandemic and May-June 2021 Power Shortage,” which focused on providing relentless and 24/7 assistance to customers in need, as well as continued

VICTOR FREITAS | PEXELS.COM

E used to travel to be awed by new sights, feel the air of a foreign country on our skin and take numerous selfies (we still do!). But then the pandemic happened. Our priorities changed, perspectives were altered, and it seems, the way we travel, particularly our expectations, have shifted as well. That’s not to say we are not as thrilled to hop on a plane and go on an adventure in faraway places. If the huge beach crowd in Boracay is any indication, people these days are out to go on a revenge travel to make up for all those dreary and anxiety-filled months when we were all cooped up at home. Yup, despite the additional post-pandemic travel requirements, people can’t wait to leave home and travel. But the expectations are hugely different. For one, travellers have higher expectations from hospitality establishments specifically in terms of hygiene and safety protocols. During the recent meeting of the members of the local chapter of the International Public Relations Association (Ipra) which focused on Philippine Tourism, Jojo Clemente III, president of the Tourism Congress of the Philippines (TCP), shared an insightful presentation on the Philippine tourism landscape. The TCP is the private sector consultative body designed to assist the government in the development, implementation and coordination of Philippine tourism policy. Aside from leading the TCP, Jojo is also the president of Rajah Tours Philippines, one of the biggest travel agencies in the country. In his presentation, Jojo shared his observations on what travelers are looking for, post pandemic. Experiential tours top the list, he said.For instance, travelers to the island of Bohol would most likely prefer to go on an educational tour about honey

bees at the bee farm, or a visit to the local weaving community where they can experience firsthand how traditional weaving is done. They would definitely would want more than a selfie with the Chocolate Hills or the island’s famous Tarsier. These attractions might still be included in the itinerary but there has to be an “experiential” or a more active and tactile element. Human-oriented tourism is another trend that experts say is happening, not just in the Philippine but across the world. According to Jojo, tours that explain and show the culture and history of people on a deeper scale are attracting more interest among tourists. Culinary experiences are another big trend, and it becomes more attractive if the tour includes a short cooking class teaching tourists how to concoct delicacies or dishes using local ingredients. Tourists also frequently ask for recommendations on destinations with more open spaces and less people.

extensions of no disconnection and expanded installment payment arrangements for those affected financially by the pandemic. The company also won for its energy efficiency campaign for the summer months called “Providing Consumers the Power During Summer.” Meralco was also recognized for its initiative to suspend collection of certain costs from business customers, under the “Safeguard the Economy at All Costs by Waiving Energy Demand Charge” program. One Meralco Foundation (OMF) bagged awards for its community efforts through the “Household Electrification Program: Powering-Up Communities Amidst the Pandemic” and “Meralco One for Trees: Helping Farmers Survive the Pandemic through Sustainable Reforestation.” Meralco also ensured its external stakeholders are safe and informed despite the pandemic through “Meralco Power Up Live,” “Meralco Corporate Partners Viber Community,” “Meralco’s Facebook Page,” virtual “Quarterly Operating

from long-haul markets such as Europe and North America, Jojo also emphasized the need to appropriate budget for marketing so that the Philippines will be in step with our Asean neighbors which are raking in a fair share of tourist arrivals from these markets.

Jojo Clemente III, president of the Tourism Congress of the Philippines (TCP)

Given this scenario, Jojo advises hospitality establishments to be ready for these trends in order to attract more visitors and give much-needed boost to their businesses. Government help is badly needed in developing more destinations and gateways that will cater to

and Financial Media Briefings,” and “Putting Things in Perspective” campaign to communicate the upward trends of power rates in 2021. Meralco also upgraded its customer payment process via the “Fitting the Bill: Meralco makes paying bills easier with the Customer Account Number.” “Meralco’s 2020 Corporate Reports (Power On, Live Life and Give Hope)” was again recognized, after its win at the recently concluded Gold Quill Awards. Meralco also fronted a safety communications campaign called “Safety First: Empowering Enterprises to Fight an Invisible Enemy.” The company also made sure its employees were protected, healthy, and equipped with helpful information with “#AyokoMagViral: A Meralco internal campaign against Covid-19” and “Biyaheng Meralco: A Virtual Townhall with our CEO.” Meralco PowerGen Corporation subsidiary Atimonan One Energy Inc. was also recognized for its pandemic response programs benefiting its host community, namely:

the altered demands of tourists, as well as investments for tourism infrastructure such as more hotels, airports and other forms of transportation. To achieve these, closer collaboration between the public and private sector is needed. Since majority of tourist arrivals come

“Kaisa sa Kabuhayan: Aplaya Sardines Enterprise with Atimonan Fisherfolks” and “Kaisa sa Kalusugan radio health program”. Meralco’s “Customer Experience Index (CXI): The Case of Meralco Business Center” is one of the only three winners that made the cut in the communication research category. Other winning entries of Meralco include “Stronger Together-The 2020 MVP Academic Achievement Awards Virtual Ceremony,” “MVP: The Man and His Art—A Visual Inventory of Filipino Artistry Gracing the Halls of Philippines’ Major Companies,” and the campaign to launch the Meralco push towards sustainable transportation with “Electric Motorcycle Deployment for Meralco Business Center Field Representatives” campaign. Organized by the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) Philippines, the Philippine Quill Awards is considered the country’s most prestigious awards program in the field of business communication—em-

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 premier association for senior communications professionals around the world. Edd Fuentes is the founder and CEO of FuentesManila, a Manilabased PR agency founded in 1990. Edd is a Board Member of Ipra Global representing South Asia for the last 7 years. PR Matters is devoting a special column each month to answer our readers’ questions about public relations. Please send your questions or comments to askipraphil@ gmail.com

phasizing the excellent use of communication in achieving goals and in making a difference in society. “For as long as I have been involved with the Quills, Meralco has always been a beacon of communications excellence. Meralco is a communicator that prioritizes its role as a mover, a force for good, in Philippine society,” IABC President Belle Tiongco said. “That’s a mindset, I believe, that organizations should emulate so that communications can really be a platform for national development. Mabuhay Meralco, for your performance in this year’s Quills,” she added. The Quills are bestowed to companies, organizations, and institutions for the use of excellent communication programs, research, learning and development, and skills to achieve business goals and make a difference in society. This year’s awardees come from a crop of more than 800 entries, which is the highest in Quill history. The 19th Philippine Quill Awards ceremony will take place in July 2022.

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Monday, June 27, 2022

SERENA STILL IN THE GAME

IMBLEDON, England—Serena Williams joked—or was it a joke?—that she activated the “Out of office” message on her e-mail account so anyone trying to reach her about her many non-tennis activities while she’s at Wimbledon would know why no response arrived immediately. Great as Williams is with a racket in her hand, successful as she’s been, her sport has never been the only activity that interested her or occupied her time. All of which might very well be a factor in why, just shy of 41, she is still in the game, returning to singles action for the first time in a year, and was smiling and chuckling occasionally while taking questions Saturday in the All England Club’s main interview room during a pre-tournament news conference. “A little surreal,” the 23-time Grand Slam champion said, “sitting here again.” She hasn’t competed in singles since she injured— “ripped” was the verb the American used—her right hamstring during the opening set of her first-round match at Centre Court in 2021. That disappointing exit provided “a tremendous amount of motivation,” she said. “I didn’t retire. I just needed to heal physically, mentally. And I had no plans, to be honest. I just didn’t know when I would come back. I didn’t know how I would come back,” Williams said. “Obviously, Wimbledon is such a great place to be, and it just kind of worked out.” No one else knew until recently when, or whether, Williams would play again, a not-insignificant matter, considering what a transcendent figure she is. She wouldn’t say whether this will be her last appearance at the All England Club, offering simply: “I can only tell you that I’m here. Who knows where I’ll pop up next?” The seven-time Wimbledon singles champion made a brief appearance this week in doubles at a grass-court event in Eastbourne, but Tuesday’s outing against Harmony Tan will be a much bigger deal. Williams said she decided to play Wimbledon “some time ago,” saying she made up her mind before the French Open, which began on May 22. Williams, a former No. 1 now ranked outside the Women’s Tennis Association’s top 1,200 and allowed into the Wimbledon field via a wild-card invitation,

THE vaunted French machine goes 4-0 won-lost in the Quezon City leg. NONIE REYES

Olympic champ France wields broom

GREAT as Serena Williams is with a racket in her hand, successful as she’s been, her sport has never been the only activity that interested her or occupied her time. AP

practiced on Centre Court on Friday. She arrived for her session just as current No. 1 Iga Swiatek, who is on a 35-match winning streak, wrapped up hers. “I was pretty overwhelmed.... I didn’t know how to react perfectly. I wanted to meet her. I saw that she had so many people around her. I don’t know her team. It was pretty weird,” Swiatek said, likening the feeling to when she was younger and “too shy to say ‘Hi’ to anybody.” “Just seeing her around is great, because she’s such a legend,” Swiatek continued. “There’s nobody that has done so much in tennis.” Williams has done plenty outside of tennis, too. That includes forays into business with investment firm Serena Ventures and entertainment via past acting roles and by joining her older sister, Venus—a seventime major singles champion not entered in Wimbledon this year—as executive producers for “King Richard,” the film about their father that was nominated for five Academy Awards. “A part of me feels like that is a little bit more of my life now than tournaments.... I absolutely love what I do. I love investing in companies,” Williams said. “And then the Oscars was really fun.... At best, you think of winning Grand Slams, not being nominated for an Oscar for a film that you produce.” This is hardly her first comeback after time away

because of operations, other health problems and having a baby. Williams also never was someone who entered every possible tournament, even when physically fine. “Inever playedasmuch asthenextplayerthroughout my whole career. I think that was all subconscious, me taking care of myself and knowing how to take care of myself,” she said. “A lot of people have to learn that. I think that was something that my parents built into me.” Williams did not answer every query put to her by reporters on Saturday. She avoided topics such as the US Supreme Court decision Friday that stripped away women’s constitutional protections for abortion (“I don’t have any thoughts that I’m ready to share right now”), the All England Club’s ban on players from Russia and Belarus because of the war in Ukraine (“I’m going to step away from that”) or what it feels like to be without former coach Patrick Mouratoglou (“I didn’t even think about it”). But ever the competitor, ever the perfectionist, Williams was prepared when someone wanted to know what she would consider a good outcome for her at Wimbledon. “You know the answer to that,” she said, punctuating her reply with a laugh and a roll of her eyes. “Come on, now.” AP

mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph • Editor: Jun Lomibao

B J R

LYMPIC champion France defeated Germany, 25-16, 25-19, 19-25, 25-21, to sweep the Quezon City leg of the Volleyball Nations League (VNL) on Sunday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. But on top of the sweep, it was the Filipino hospitality and enthusiasm on the game that pleased and amazed the world No. 3 French. “It’s the first time I discovered the Philippines and it’s really nice to play here. The experience is fantastic,” said Tokyo Olympian Stephen Boyer, who posted 16 points and six digs in their fourth win on Philippine soil. “We’re hoping that we inspired the Filipinos with our performance.” Despite struggling in the third set, the French, who only lost to World No. 1 Poland in Week 1 last June 12 in Ottawa, Canada, had a steady performance in the fourth set to claim the important win witnessed by more than 7,000 fans who grew to more than 10,000 later in the day. “It’s always good to win. It’s not the best way but it’s okay. We have to restart in the fourth set and the most important is the victory. We are going to rest and travel. Our next stop is our games in Japan and just continue to go on our way,” he added. Tokyo Olympics Most Valuable Player Earvin N’ Gapeth returned with 18 points on top of two blocks, nine digs and four receptions after one match rest against crowd-favorite Japan, as the French spikers improved to a league best 7-1 record. Japan, meanwhile, pulled off a 25-21, 22-25, 2518, 25-19 victory over Slovenia to cap its Quezon City stint with a 3-1 record also on Sunday. The Slovenians rallied from a 17-22 hole in the second set with an 8-0 run capped by a Rok Mozic’s powerful kill to level the match. “We lost a set...we didn’t attack,” Yuki Ishikawa said through an interpreter. Japan, which lost to France in the Tokyo Games final last August, pulled its act together behind Ishikawa, Yuji Nishida and Kentaro Takahashi to

EMBATTLED WEIGHTLIFTING NAMES NEW LEADER

IRANA, Albania—Iraqi official Mohammed Jalood was elected president of the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) in chaotic scenes on Saturday. In an election more than a year overdue, more controversy and confusion was stirred up when nine of the 11 candidates for president withdrew just before voting began. A vote was taken but Qatari candidate Yousef AlMana protested that Jalood signaled his withdrawal, too, when the two men sat together before the vote—which would have left Al-Mana unopposed. After the officials in charge ruled Jalood could take part after all because they couldn’t be sure whether he signaled his withdrawal or not, Al-Mana then told delegates he was stepping aside “to satisfy all of you.” That made Jalood the new president without a vote count. Jalood is a longtime IWF official who held the post of general secretary until Saturday and worked closely with Al-Mana at the Asian Weightlifting Federation. Jalood thanked Al-Mana for withdrawing and called him “a good friend” in comments on the IWF web site.

“Today, we have taken the first step in building a stronger organization, one that is more resilient and more ambitious,” he said. Among the candidates who withdrew was Maxim Agapitov of Russia, after the Court of Arbitration for Sport overturned an earlier decision to bar him from standing. He was joined by Ursula Papandrea of the United States, who was interim president briefly in 2020 until she was ousted by the board after pushing for anti-doping and governance reforms. The incumbent interim leader, Michael Irani from Britain, didn’t run. Jalood is the first permanent president since Tamás Aján stepped down in 2020 after controlling the IWF for 44 years. He faced allegations that failed drug tests were covered up and millions of dollars were unaccounted for under his presidency. Aján was banned for life last week by CAS. Those revelations, followed by bitter infighting at the IWF, have put weightlifting’s Olympic status at risk. The International Olympic Committee has left weightlifting off the initial list of sports for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, though it could reinstate it later. AP

That NBA dream

AYS after the National Basketball Association (NBA) Draft snub of Kai Sotto, it is still a hot topic. As I shared on Facebook as well, it is easy to second guess a decision and missed opportunities. People forget that a draft like even an All-Star voting process—is a crap shoot. Some will be drafted, some deserving ones missed. It isn’t like that is exclusive to the NBA. Even the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) is not immune to that. Furthermore, like in any other league and any other sport, being

RISING STARS Rising Kidapawan City stars Jose Kael Palo (second from left) and Dhea Cua hold their trophies as they pose with Palawan Pawnshop-Palawan Express Pera Padala Davao coordinator Marivic Loquinario (left) and Grace Mercado, president and CEO of Aqua Verde Sports and Leisure following their title romps in the Palawan Pawnshop Aqua Verde national age-group tennis tournament in Bangkal, Davao City, last Friday.

drafted doesn’t automatically mean one will be signed. The league is replete with undrafted players who went on to become stars in their own right. So, the NBA dream of Kai Sotto is still alive. It might be a more challenging route though. But it is still there for him to take. Nevertheless, I saw a good heaping of comments made online. Many were horrendous. Some were outright stupid. You cannot say that it is your opinion. The comebacker is—is it an informed opinion? Do not hide behind that faux saying about “respect my opinion” because that does not hold any water at all. And race has nothing to do with this as one idiot ventured. Or even politics and an old-boy network. Err, the sons of NBA legends Scottie Pippen, Shaquille O’Neal and Ron Harper were not drafted at all. Pippen’s son was thought to have limited athleticism and suspect in his impact in big games. Nevertheless, he was signed to the Los Angeles Lakers’ Summer League team. It was the same for Shaquille O’Neal’s son, Shareef, who will be the younger Pippen’s teammate on the Summer League squad. Ron Harper Jr. was snapped up in a two-way deal to play for the Toronto Raptors’ Summer League squad. And, I saw some comments that the best way to the NBA is to play in the United States or go through the D or G-League. Well, we saw Japeth Aguilar and Kobe Paras unsuccessfully try the

former while Ray Parks and Kiefer Ravena were in the latter. There is no exact formula save perhaps for one sports truism—you have to stand out against elite competition. You cannot win awards playing against smaller foes. One is expected to dominate after all. One needs to boogie with the big boys. You have to remember that the pros are the best of the best. While there are some considered as projects. At the least, you are close to a finished product. Let me repeat that...close to the finished product. Yes, because there are players who were great in college but got even 10x better in the NBA. Does Michael Jordan ring a bell? And he isn’t alone. But again, he was top player. If one goes to play college ball in the US, you have to dominate. You need to put up great stats and have scouts, basketball observers, and media people gushing about you. The path for international players to the NBA is a circuitous path—you need to dominate at home and abroad. Luka Doncic dominated in all his age groups—including older ones—in his native Slovenia. At age 15, he played for Real Madrid in Spain. Three years later, he led Real Madrid to a Euroleague championship. Along the way, he won everything. If you look at China’s first NBA player—Wang Zhizhi who I saw play, he dominated the Chinese Basketball Association, led China to a FIBA Asia title, and played very well in the 2000 Sydney Olympics prior to

return home with a 6-2 record overall,. “The result is okay, we did get three points,” said Ishikawa, who led his team with 21 points on three service aces, eight digs and seven receptions. Tatsu Otsuka hammered 13 kills with 10 receptions and eight digs, while Nishida had two service aces to finish with 12 points with eight digs and seven receptions. Mozic led Slovenia with 20 points including two blocks and six receptions, Toncek Stern added 16 points, while skipper Tine Urnaut had 11 points, six receptions and four digs. Slovenia fell in a tie with Germany with a 3-5 card in the event that has Mikasa, Ganten, Gerflor and Senoh as global sponsors and global suppliers, PLDT Home as presenting partner, Rebisco, MG Philippines, TOP Speed Insurance, Asics and Maynilad as official sponsors, Havas Ortega, The Look Company, Summit Outdoor Media, Marketing Media Ventures, Strong Media Advertising Solutions. 91.5 Win Radio, Philippine Olympic Committee, Philippine Sports Commission, City of Taguig, Quezon City and F2 Logistics as official suppliers.

Cuarto defends IBF ‘minimum’ belt vs Mexican R

ENE MARK CUARTO fights Mexico’s Daniel Valladares in his hometown of Nuevo León on Saturday to defend one of only two remaining world boxing crowns held by a Filipino. At stake is Cuarto’s International Boxing Federation (IBF) minimumweight belt. The only other Filipino world champion, Mark Magsayo, will also defend his World Boxing Council featherweight belt against another Mexican, Rey Vargas, on July 9 at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. Cuarto and his trainer coach Nonoy Neri left Manila for Mexico over the weekend. The Filipino was informed of the fight only a week ago but the 25-year-old Zamboanga del Norte pug expressed confidence that he can get the job done. “I don’t like to think negatively about my late arrival in Mexico. So far, I am in good condition, well-prepared and I will go back home with my belt,” Cuarto told BUSINESSMIRROR before boarding their flight on Sunday. “I will just give him a good fight— better than his last fight against a Filipino.” Cuarto referred to Valladares’s world title fight last February 2020 when he suffered a technical draw against former IBF champion Pedro Taduran in Monterrey. Cuarto, however, dethroned Taduran via unanimous decision in February 2021 in General Santos City and a year later, repeated with a technical majority decision to keep the belt in Digos City last February. Marc David Lontayao, the special assistant of MP Promotions head Sean Gibbons, believes Cuarto was in good condition physically and mentally. “He’s in good shape and he’s ready to fight,” Lontayao said. Cuarto is sporting a 20-2-2 win-lossdraw record with 11 knockouts while the 28-year-old Valladares has 25-3-1 card with 15 knockouts. Josef Ramos

being drafted by the Dallas Mavericks. New Zealand’s Steven Adams played for the Wellington Saints of his country’s National Basketball League where he was not paid in order to keep his American college eligibility open. He helped the Saints win the title then transferred to the University of Pittsburgh where he was named the Big East’s Rookie of the Year and won All-Rookie honors. He declared for the NBA Draft the next season and was selected by the Oklahoma City Thunder. The common denominator here is—dominate. Not just in your immediate environment but go out of your comfort zone to play abroad. But wait… did every player selected in the draft...dominate? If you look at the Golden State Warriors’ third and last pick, Gui Santos with the 55th pick...the only thing on his resume was helping Brazil win a gold medal in the Fiba South American U17 championship. They selected him because they are intrigued by his height and athleticism. They like the fact that for someone who stands 6-foot-8, he loves to attack the basket. Take note...athleticism. While Sotto had flashes of potential while playing professional ball in Australia, they were more flashes than anything. He needs to put up stellar stats. He needs to win and dominate. He needs to bulk up and prove to be strong. One of the people in his corner told me hours after the draft that Kai knows now what he needs to do and he is determined to pursue it. I can only wish him the best.