BusinessMirror March 04, 2023

Washington assures Manila, for nth time, any armed attack on PHL ships, aircraft will set Mutual Defense Treaty in motion; but questions linger

‘BIG BROTHER’ IS WITH US?

By Rex Anthony Naval

WHILE the jury is still out on whether the incident where a purported Chinese militarygrade laser swept the bridge of Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) offshore patrol ship, BRP Malapascua (MRRV-4403) on February 6 and temporarily blinded the crew can be considered an armed attack, the United States in no uncertain voice announced that it will stand by the Philippines as stated in the Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT).

At the time of the laser-beaming incident, BRP Malapascua was escorting a rotation and resupply mission (RoRe) of the Philippine Navy (PN) on Ayungin Shoal, West Philippine Sea (WPS).

“On February 6, 2023, a China Coast Guard (CCG) vessel with bow number 5205 directed a militarygrade laser light at the PCG vessel BRP Malapascua (MRRV-4403) while supporting a RoRe mission of the PN in Ayungin Shoal in the West Philippine Sea,” the PCG said in a statement issued on February 13.

Ayungin Shoal is where the PN landing ship BRP Sierra Madre (LT-57) is grounded, serving as an outpost for a Marine contingent keeping watch over the area.

“As BRP Malapascua reached a 10NM [nautical miles] distance from Ayungin Shoal, the CCG vessel was monitored approximately 4NM of the ship’s dead ahead maneuvering from the portside heading starboard side. The Chinese ship illuminated the green laser light twice toward the BRP Malapascua, causing temporary blindness to her crew at the bridge. The

Chinese vessel also made dangerous maneuvers by approaching about 150 yards from the vessel’s starboard quarter,” the PCG added.

Shortly afterwards, BRP Malapascua altered course from Ayungin Shoal, as part of its deployment plan, and headed toward Lawak Island to continue her maritime patrol and support the BRP Teresa Magbanua (MRRV-9701) for the PCG’s own RoRe mission to its substations in the Kalayaan Island Group (KIG).

The PCG likewise condemned the incident, saying the action was a deliberate attempt to block the Philippine government ships on a mission to deliver food and supplies to military personnel aboard the BRP Sierra Madre

It also called the latest interference as a “blatant disregard for, and a clear violation of, Philippine sovereign rights in this part of the West Philippine Sea.”

Not the first instance of harassment

IN August 2022, the PCG said, the CCG also prevented their ships from coming closer to Ayungin Shoal.

“The CCG-5205 removed the

“The PCG will continue to exercise due diligence in protecting the country’s territorial integrity against foreign aggression. The AFP can always rely on the PCG to support their resupply mission in Ayungin Shoal. Despite the dangerous maneuver of the much larger CCG ships and their aggressive actions at sea, the PCG ships will always be in the West Philippine Sea to sustain our presence and assert our sovereign rights,” PCG Commandant Admiral Artemio M. Abu said.

US affirms MDT commitment to PHL AS this developed, US Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III, in a telephone call with Department of National Defense (DND) Officerin-Charge Senior Undersecretary Carlito Galvez Jr. on February 22, reiterated that an armed attack on any Philippine ships and aircraft at the South China Sea (SCS) will invoke commitments to the MDT.

cover of her 70mm naval armament when BRP Teresa Magbanua came close to Ayungin Shoal at a distance of 2.5NM. The said CCG ship, together with the two Chinese Maritime Militia (CMM) and CCG-5102, formed a 13NM-radius blockade with the grounded PN vessel as its reference to prevent Philippine government ships from reaching the AFP [Armed Forces of the Philippines] troops,” it added.

The PCG said it is evident that the CMM vessels took orders from the CCG to prevent the Philippine ships from entering the shoal.

It added that the CMM even deployed their utility boats to support the blockade and shadowing by the CCG.

Despite these challenges, the PCG said they remain steadfast in protecting the sovereignty and rights of the country and Filipinos in the West Philippine Sea.

“Secretary Austin reiterated that the US’ commitment to the alliance remains ironclad, and that an armed attack on Philippine Armed Forces, aircraft and public vessels, including the Coast Guard, anywhere in the South China Sea, would invoke US mutual defense commitments under Article IV of the MDT,” DND spokesperson Arsenio Andolong said in a statement.

Article IV of the MDT between the Philippines and the United States stipulates, “Each Party recognizes that an armed attack in the Pacific area on either of the Parties would be dangerous to its own peace and safety and declares that it would act to meet the common dangers in accordance with its constitutional processes.”

The MDT between the two nations was signed on August 30, 1951.

In the statement, Galvez expressed appreciation for the US government’s support for the Philippines in view of recent incidents

A CHINA Coast Guard ship flashes a green-colored laser at Philippine Coast Guard vessel Malapascua PHOTO COURTESY OF PCG

IN this May 15, 2017, file photo, a US Marine Osprey transport aircraft, carrying US troops with relief supplies, lands on a pier to simulate humanitarian assistance to test their readiness in disaster relief efforts during Balikatan 2017, a joint Philippines-US military exercise, in Casiguran, Aurora. AP/BULLIT MARQUEZ

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin shakes hands with his Philippine counterpart, Carlito Galvez Jr. at a joint press conference in Camp Aguinaldo on February 2, 2023. AP/JOEAL CALUPITAN

Bashing China is a bipartisan passion in evenly divided US Congress

By Anna Edgerton | Bloomberg News

Just back from a two-week recess, the House of Representatives held no fewer than three hearings and debated more than a dozen bills Tuesday focusing on the danger posed by what lawmakers argue is an increasingly aggressive Communist Party.

The flurry of activity was capped Tuesday night with the first meeting of the Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, a new congressional body led by 38-year-old Wisconsin Republican Mike Gallagher. Designed to mimic the January 6 hearings on the insurrection at the capital, it featured videos and charts warning of President Xi Jinping’s global ambitions—and was even held in the same room where those hearings occurred.

We must act with a sense of urgency,” Gallagher said in opening the three-hour hearing, which didn’t attract live television coverage. “Our policy over the next ten years will set the stage for the next hundred. We cannot allow the CCP’s tech-powered dystopia to prevail.”

The hearing underscored the depth of animosity that has blossomed within the US toward China as the world’s two largest economies spar over everything from Taiwan to the Covid-19 pandemic to hightech semiconductors and the alleged

spy balloon that the US shot down.

That bipartisan anger has pressured President Joe Biden to double down on export controls and sanctions to counter Xi despite Biden’s promises to keep the relationship from deteriorating further.

Part of the pressure on Biden is to restrict the US operations of TikTok, the popular short-video app owned by a Chinese company.

The House Foreign Affairs Committee approved a measure on Wednesday that would authorize Biden to ban TikTok in the US.

At Tuesday night’s hearing, witnesses including H.R. McMaster, who was national security advisor under former President Donald Trump, recounted China’s repression of dissent and the treatment of its Muslim minorities that led the US to accuse it of genocide.

Caution, protest

THERE were few notes of caution against ramping up tensions with China. But Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi of Illinois, the top Democrat on the new committee, said it must remain bipartisan and “avoid anti-Chinese or Asian stereotyping at all costs.”

We must recognize that the CCP wants us to be fractious, partisan and prejudiced,” he said.

Otherwise, the only dissenting voices came from a pair of protesters who held up signs, saying “China is not our enemy” and shouting “we need cooperation, not competition” before police escorted them from the room.

Other House committees on Tuesday debated what lawmakers portrayed as threats from almost every aspect of China’s leadership, military and economy. There was a bill meant to fight alleged organ harvesting in China, and another authorizing the president to ban TikTok in the US. There was one to hold China accountable over the alleged spy balloon. Another would seek to deny China access to technology allowing it to build under-

sea cables. And another would have the US stop categorizing China as a developing nation at international organizations.

It is a mood that has clearly made investors uneasy. As the hearing was underway, the American Chamber of Commerce in China issued a report saying that for the first time in its 25-year history, fewer than half of respondents ranked China as a top three investment priority.

“ Taken overall, China is no longer regarded by American companies as the primary investment destination it once was,” the organization said. Still, US-China trade endures, approaching record levels.

Meanwhile, China’s economy

is showing signs of a stronger rebound after Covid restrictions were abandoned, with manufacturing posting its biggest improvement in more than a decade, services activity climbing and the housing market stabilizing.

Stark turnaround

THE tone of the China committee’s first hearing marked a stark turnaround from 2016, when thenSecretary of State John Kerry said that when the US and China cooperate, “we accomplish more for everybody,” or Trump’s 2017 visit to China when the US sought its help countering North Korea’s nuclear program. “We love each other,” Trump later said of Xi.

The outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic changed all that, and animosity has only grown. The threat frequently cited in Tuesday night’s hearing was making sure China never feels emboldened to invade Taiwan.

In the Pacific, we can’t afford to let deterrence fail,” Democratic Representative Seth Moulton of Massachusetts said.

The sharpened competition has ground conversations to a halt, and the bipartisan push to portray China as the fundamental threat of the era has led some outside experts to plead for caution—and more conversation between Beijing and Washington.

On Tuesday, the Pentagon said that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin hadn’t spoken with his Chinese counterpart in more than three months, and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken postponed a trip to China after the balloon incident became known.

Blinken spoke with China’s top diplomat, Wang Yi, on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference but that meeting only strained ties even more. Blinken warned China against providing lethal military aid to Russia, while Wang accused the US of harboring a Cold War mentality.

The priority should be quickly securing a new date for Secretary Blinken’s trip to Beijing before the zero-sum environment that has emerged hardens,” said Suzanne DiMaggio, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. “It’s clear a range of serious issues are mounting that only can be managed through direct, high-level dialogue.”

‘BIG BROTHER’ IS WITH US?

Continued from A1

in the WPS, including the use of a military-grade laser against members of the PCG.

Recalling the President’s guidance that the Philippines will not give up an inch of its territory, Senior Undersecretary Galvez underscored that the Department will steadfastly uphold its mandate of protecting the country’s territorial integrity, sovereignty and sovereign rights,” Andolong said.

During the phone call, both Austin and Galvez exchanged views and updates on recent security developments and explored opportunities to work together in addressing common security challenges.

“Senior Undersecretary Galvez and Secretary Austin also agreed to expand cooperation with likeminded partners in the region, and emphasized the importance of keeping the Philippines-US alliance strong in order to maintain a free and open Indo-Pacific region,” the DND spokesman said.

A ndolong said the interaction between the two defense officials ended with “a hope to continue discussions during the upcoming Two-Plus-Two Ministerial Consultations sometime this year.”

The phone call between Austin and Galvez marked the second bilateral engagement between the two defense officials.

Th is follows the February 2 visit of Austin to the Philippines, where both nations agreed to designate four new “Agreed Locations” under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) in strategic locations in the country.

The Philippines and US sides agreed to designate four new ‘Agreed Locations’ under EDCA in strategic areas of the country. These sites will be announced in due time, i.e., when all the necessary consultations, coordination, staff work and other requirements are completed or complied with,” he explained.

A consensus was reached on the ‘Agreed Locations.’ However, these will be finalized and announced only when appropriate requirements are fulfilled,” Andolong said.

A ndolong earlier said the locations will only be made public once the necessary works and preparations are completed. Last week, however, as Galvez and other officials were briefing the Senate, several senators called them out for apparent lapses in the development of earlier EDCA sites, and wondered aloud why one location is in the northern Philippines, despite the understanding that the security arrangements with the US are meant to bolster the Philippines’s ability to defend its rights in the South China Sea.

Finalized after eight rounds of talks in August 2013, the EDCA, which was signed in 2014, allows US troops access to designated Philippine military facilities, the right to build facilities, and preposition equipment, aircraft and vessels, but rules out permanent basing.

The Philippine government is working with the US to build the future facilities at the Cesar Basa Air Base in Floridablanca, Pampanga; Fort Magsaysay Military Reservation in Nueva Ecija; Lumbia Airfield in Cagayan de Oro City; Antonio Bautista Air Base in Puerto Princesa City, Palawan; and Benito Ebuen Air Base in Cebu province.

Australia commits IN a related development, Galvez and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defense of Australia, Richard Marles shared the two countries’ aspiration for collective security and defense in Indo-Pacific during their high-level meeting on February 23.

We reaffirm the need to continue working together towards the common goal of maintaining a free, open and secure Indo-Pacific region,” the DND chief added.

“ The Philippines and Australia believe in the importance of collaboration among like-minded security partners to achieve a collective security and defense—those are the words of our honorable visitor—in the region, where nations could freely exercise their sovereign rights while pursuing stability and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific

and the Indo-Pacific,” he added. Marles likewise underscored Australia’s commitment to the maintenance of the global rulesbased order in partnership with the Philippines.

Today, I think Australia and the Philippines have a greater strategic alignment than we’ve had in any moment in our respective histories. Both countries are allies of the United States, both countries have China as our largest trading partner. Both the Philippines and Australia are completely committed to a global rules-based order,” the Australian defense chief stressed.

And so today, building on that sense of strategic alignment, we have talked about the way in which we can take what has been a very strong relationship between our two countries over many decades to an even higher level, and really, an unprecedented level,” Marles said.

More engagements eyed THE two defense officials also disclosed that Australian and Filipino defense forces are regularly conducting joint exercises and patrols. Th e Philippines and Australia agreed to take further steps in strengthening the people-topeople engagements for the continued development of the two nations’ individual and joint defense capabilities.

“ We are sending one of the largest contingents to Exercise Balikatan in the coming months, and we look forward to the Philippines, for the first time, sending observers to Exercise Talisman Sabre in Australia in August,” Marles said.

We’re going to work together to look at ways in which we can deepen the opportunities where Filipino servicemen and women can work alongside Australian servicemen and women and to that we’re building upon training, which is occurring right now in Mindanao. [We are] also looking at ways in which we can pursue joint patrols together in the South China Sea, and looking at ways in which we can do more exercises together,” he added.

IN a politically fractured Congress, a spate of hearings demonstrated that going after China has become one of Washington’s most unifying causes.

THE Capitol building in Washington, DC. ERIC LEE/BLOOMBERG

News BusinessMirror

BOC posts ₧63.015-B revenue collection in February–Rubio

By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas

THE Customs bureau on Friday said that its revenue collections in February rose by 6.03 percent to P63.015 billion from P59.433 billion posted in the same month of last year.

The bureau was also able to surpass its P61.827-billion collection target for the month of February, based on its preliminary report.

PBBM seeks private sector support in PHL’s push for full digitalization

By Samuel P. Medenilla

PRESIDENT Ferdinand R. Mar -

cos Jr. said fast and affordable

internet is now mandatory to boost the country’s international competitiveness.

During the 23rd International Cable Congress and Exhibit of the Federation of International Cable Television and Telecommunications Association of the Philippines (FICTAP) at the Manila Hotel on Friday, the President noted it would cost the country a lot of opportunities if it will lag behind in terms of internet service.

“We cannot do business without good internet coverage. We cannot trade with other countries without good internet and without good telecommunications,” he said.

“We cannot do all of the things that are necessary to transform our economy without good connectivity, with a high bandwidth, with good speed, and at a very affordable price. This is the aspiration,” Marcos added.

The President also urged the private sector to assist in government’s efforts in improving the internet

connection service nationwide, especially in remote areas.

Among the said initiatives are the National Broadband Program, Free Wi-Fi for All Program, the Luzon Bypass Infrastructure, and the establishment of shared Passive Telecommunications Tower Infrastructure Sites.

“These initiatives will build up our country’s digital infrastructure and achieve our targets in the Philippine Development Plan [PDP] for 2023-2028,” Marcos said.

Under the latest PDP, the government is pushing to increase the number of firms adopting e-commerce from 17 percent to 22 percent to 28 percent by 2028.

“I therefore enjoin the cable and telecommunications sector and the DICT [Department of Information and Communications Technology] to continue aligning and synchronizing your plans and programs so that we can improve public access to information and communications technology, as well as to provide the best digital services that we can to Filipinos not only in the urban areas, most especially those located in the remote parts of our country,” Marcos said.

Experts back proposal for trilateral defense cooperation in SCS and WPS

By Rene Acosta

AJAPANESE foreign policy and national security expert has supported the idea of a trilateral defense cooperation among the Philippines, Japan and the United States, and even pushed for a quad patrol in the West Philippine and South China Seas to mitigate China’s aggressive activities in support of its expansive maritime claims.

“It’s [security environment] evolving. It’s changing. We need support from people. So therefore, the process will be incremental. It should be politically correct without sending the wrong signal to the other side. It might take time. But the most important thing is we have that intention and we started doing it and it will continue so that the other side will not be misunderstood,” Professor Miyake Kunihiko said.

Kunihiko, research director of the Japan-based think tank the Canon Institute for Global Studies spoke on Friday at the forum “Strengthening Partnerships Toward a Free and Open Indo-Pacific,” which was partly sponsored by the Embassy of Japan and the Embassy of the United States in the Philippines.

He said a trilateral defense among the three countries is a “natural process” given the evolving and changing security environment in Southeast Asia and the Indo-Pacific as a whole, which experts claimed was principally forced by Beijing’s aggressive and coercive activities.

The Japanese expert pushed for joint patrols among the Philippines, Australia, Japan and the US in the South China Sea in order to check on China’s activities and maintain the region’s status quo.

“It’s another natural process because the sea is wide and big and ships are limited, so it’s pretty natural that instead of one country doing the whole thing, more countries work together to cover as much area as possible. I think it’s in the pipeline, we have to do this in order to

With the latest performance, the Bureau of Customs (BOC) has earned a total of P133.38 billion in the first two months of the year, P8.641 billion higher than its target collection

of P124.7388 billion for the Januaryto-February period.

“We will continue to innovate and implement sustainable reforms to boost the Bureau’s collection efficiency, which will contribute to the expansion and recovery of our national economy,” Customs Commissioner Bienvenido Y. Rubio said in a news statement.

“For this to be possible, we will also prioritize fostering a healthier trade environment through enhanced and modernized mechanisms for efficient trade facilitation and improved Customs operations for all our stakeholders,” he added.

Rubio said the bureau is committed to “boosting revenue collection, enhancing trade facilitation, and strengthening border protection while upholding good governance and curbing corruption.”

Last year, the BOC’s total revenue collections rose by 34 percent on an annual basis to a record high of P862.929 billion on the back of higher imports and better system of collection. (Related story: https://businessmirror. com.ph/2023/01/13/customs-collection-for-2022up-34-to-recordhigh-%E2%82%A7863b)

The BOC collected P643.562 billion in 2021. The BOC added that it surpassed its revenue collection target last year of P721.52 billion by 19.6 percent based on its preliminary report.

The BOC’s revenue collection this year is pegged at P901.3 billion.

Earlier, Finance Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno expressed confidence that Rubio will be able to deliver the necessary improvements to the bureau and hike its revenue collections. (Related story: https://businessmirror.com. ph/2023/02/14/diokno-asks-rubioto-prioritize-digitalization-of-bocto-improve-revenue-collection/)

Makati lifts closure order against Smart after ‘compromise agreement’ over taxes

By Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco

THE City Government of Makati

on Friday announced the lifting of the closure order issued against Smart Communications Inc.  Atty. Michael Camiña, Makati City legal officer and spokesman, said that the closure order was lifted after Smart has submitted documents in compliance with an earlier government order and court rulings.

Smart, which is wholly owned by PLDT, said in a statement that the development “follows the parties execution of a ‘compromise agreement’ on March 2, 2023 [Thursday], stating the terms of settlement of their pending local taxation issues.”

₧110.4-B rail projects seen to create more jobs in Luzon

maintain the status quo and prevent them from being changed by force. I think it’s a matter of time,” he said.

The US and the Philippines have already agreed to resume joint patrols as disclosed by US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin III during his earlier visit to Manila, while Australia’s Defence chief Richard Marles, who also visited the Philippines more than a week ago, said that he also discussed the possibility of joint patrols with his Philippine counterpart, Carlito Galvez Jr.

Kunihiko also said that Tokyo is serious in forging a defense agreement like the Status of Visiting Forces Agreement, which President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. has mentioned during his recent visit to Japan.

“It is not a means to coerce foreign countries. It is a means to send the right message to those who wish to change the status quo by force and not in compliance with international law. Then they will think twice. What we are doing is natural maritime policing operations. Unless you have a bad intention, you don’t have to worry,” he said.

Gregory Poling, senior fellow at the US-based Center for Strategic and International Studies and director of the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiatives, also underscored the need for Japan, the US and the Philippines to cooperate.

He noted Washington’s support to Tokyo and Manila, especially in the areas of defense, security and economy.

Stratbase president Dindo Manhit echoed the need for Manila to strengthen its alliance and partnerships with like-minded states.

“The current administration’s recent engagements with Japan and the United States include a potential trilateral defense mechanism and a Visiting Forces Agreement with Japan. Although no final agreements have been reached, the Stratbase ADR Institute sees these as opportunities to promote rules-based order through cooperation among like-minded states,” he said.

PRESIDENT Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. said the construction of the P110.4-billion Electromechanical (E&M) systems and track works of the Malolos-Clark Railway Project (MCRP) and the North-South Line Commuter Railway Project (NSRP) is expected to boost employment in the country.

Marcos said the civil works of the Contract Package (CP) NS-01 for the railway projects “are expected to generate thousands of jobs” and help address the “supply chain weakness” in Luzon.

The 147.26-kilometer railway line, once completed, he said, will generate even more work opportunities as it will reduce travel time from Clark, Pampanga to Calamba, Laguna from four hours to two hours.

“We recognize the fact that an efficient transportation system will have a multiplier effect on employment and on the economy,” Marcos said at the contract signing ceremony of the CP NS-01 in Malacañang last Friday.

The contract, which is being funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), was bagged by Mitsubishi Corporation.

CP NS-01 covers track works for the machine and depots; signaling system for the mainline and depots; telecommunications for the mainline and depots; power supply system at the substations; power distribution systems at the stations, between stations, depots; and Overhead Contact Line System for the mainline and depots.

It will also include the Automatic Fare Collection System; Depot and Workshop Facility at the depots; Training Facility; and Platform Screen Doors.

The implementation of CP NS01 is expected to start next month.

“It’s my hope that the DOTr [Department of Transportation] and Mitsubishi Corporation will not waver in their commitment to finish the contract package by 2028,” Marcos said. Samuel P. Medenilla

“The settlement was reached after Smart submitted to the Makati LGU [local government unit] its accounting records corresponding to revenues generated within the territorial jurisdiction of Makati for the relevant periods,” the statement read. Camiña added, “Again, we would like to remind all businesses operating in the city to comply with city ordinances and regulations.”

On the other hand, Smart assured that it remains committed to “complying with Makati City’s local

tax ordinances, and with relevant national laws, applicable in respect of local taxation, and thanks the Makati LGU for its prompt action to resolve the matter.”

“Smart assures the public and its customers that services remain available and accessible to all,” the telco stressed.

It may be recalled that on February 27, the Makati City government issued a closure order against Smart for its failure to settle over P3.2 billion covering the period of January 2012

to December 2015 and for operating without a business permit since 2019. In an order of desistance/closure dated February 23, 2023, the city said Smart’s headquarters, located at 6799 Ayala Ave. in Barangay San Lorenzo, allegedly violated Section 4A.01 of the Revised Makati Revenue Code or City Ordinance No. 2004-A-025. For her part, Makati City Mayor Abigail Binay reminded all businesses in Makati to comply with the laws and obtain the necessary permits before operating in the city.

PRESIDENT Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. shares a light moment with Aliw Broadcasting Corporation Chairman and President D. Edgard A. Cabangon, joined by Ms. Sharon Tan, as he arrives at the FICTAP convention at the Manila Hotel. The Cabangon-led Aliw Broadcasting Corporation and Aliw23, the newest digital TV channel in the Philippines, joined the two-day event organized by FICTAP.

Saturday, March 4, 2023

DBM READIES RELEASE OF P1,000 TCT ‘AYUDA’ THIS MONTH–PANGANDAMAN

By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas

THE Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said the P9.3billion budget for the new round of cash aid to Filipinos could be released within this month after it identified the funding sources

for the program.

Budget Secretary Amenah F. Pangandaman said the funding for the extended Targeted Cash Transfer (TCT) program would come from the “unreconciled” budget from the previous TCT round and from the contingent fund of the Office of the President (OP).

Pangandaman added that about P7 billion would come from the unreconciled budget of the previous TCT and the remaining from the OP’s contingent fund.

Pangandaman also said President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. is well aware of the extended TCT program, including tapping the

contingent funds of the OP, noting that it was the Chief Executive himself who instructed the Executive branch to bankroll another cash aid program.

“We can release the first P7 billion initially then yung next P2 billion since [the program would run for] two months,” she told reporters

in a recent interview.

Pangandaman said the disbursement of the P9.3-billion fund would be through Special Allotment Release Orders.

Earlier, Finance Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno disclosed that some 9.3 million poor Filipino households will soon receive P1,000 as the Marcos administration is extending the government’s TCT program aimed at mitigating the impact of rising costs of goods and services.

The TCT program will be extended for two months and shall start “soon” as it is just awaiting the announcement from Malacañang, Diokno said.

“This will be different from the 4Ps

[Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program].

Sometimes even if you are part of the 4Ps you will still be included in this program,” Diokno told reporters on the sidelines of the annual Reception for the Banking Community last week.

The TCT program ended last December 31, 2022 with 9.2 million Filipino households benefiting from the monthly P500 cash aid meant to help poor households cope with the economic impact of the Ukraine-Russia war. The cash aid program, which was initiated by the previous administration, distributed a total of P18.2 billion, with the last payouts being given last January 4 to 14.

DepEd: No suspension of classes next week due to transport strike

By Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco

THE Department of Education (DepEd) on Friday said that those who may not be able to attend in-person classes should be allowed to continue learning through

Alternative Delivery Modes (ADM) in view of a weeklong transportation strike starting on Monday, March 6.

“On the part of DepEd, there will be no suspension of classes po,” DepEd spokesperson Atty. Michael Tan Poa told the B usiness M irror

There will also be no suspension of classes in San Juan City after Mayor Francis Zamora signed an executive order stating that all schools in the city will revert to online classes if the transport strike will push through.

No F-2-F in Marikina

MEANWHILE , the city government of Marikina and DepEd-Marikina announced the suspension of face-to-face (F-2-F) classes at all levels for both public and private schools.

“Samgaarawnamayroongtigil-pasada, ipagpapatuloy ng mga mag-aaral ang kanilang gawain at pag-aaral sa kanilang tahanan gamit ang kanilang modules Sa mgamaykakayahan,maaaringmagsagawa ng online classes bilangalternative learning modality. [On the days of the transport strike, the students will continue with their classes using their modules. For those who have the capability to do the online class, may do so as an alternative learning modality],” the Marikina local government unit (LGU) and DepEd-Marikina stated.

QC’s ‘action plan’

IN anticipation of the weeklong transport strike, Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte said they have crafted an “action plan” to assist commuters who may be affected by the anticipated lack of public transportation.

B elmonte said the city’s Traffic and Transport Management Department (TTMD) would place Quezon City Bus Service units on standby for possible deployment to areas with a high number of stranded passengers.

“I have instructed the TTMD to prepare our buses for possible deployment to help our commuters. Makatutulong ang ating mga Q City Bus para mapagaan ang epekto ng transport strike,” said Belmonte.

These areas include Cubao, Commonwealth Avenue, Welcome (Mabuhay) Rotonda, Novaliches Bayan, LTFRB, East Avenue, Quezon Memorial Circle (QMC) and Fairview Area.

MMDA to deploy buses

THE Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA), for its part, said it would deploy buses to ferry affected passengers.

“We shall coordinate with the Department of Transportation and Department of the Interior and Local Government on the matter,” MMDA acting Chairman Romando Artes said. Artes also hinted at the possibility of lifting the Unified Vehicular Volume Reduction Program (UVVRP) or number coding scheme on Monday.

‘Libreng Sakay’

THE Taguig city government will provide free rides to commuters from March 6 to 12 from 5 a.m. to 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. to 9 p.m.

These are the following routes of the “Libreng Sakay”:

Route 1 Bagumbayan → Cayetano Blvd. corner General Luna (vice versa)

Route 2 Napindan/Tipas/Sta. Ana → Cayetano Blvd. corner General Luna (vice versa)

Route 3 Waterfun → Market-Market (vice versa)

Route 4 Waterfun → Gate-3 (vice versa)

Route 5 DOST → Market-Market (vice versa)

Route 6. BCDA Petron → Market-Market (vice versa)

Route 7 Cayetano corner Gen. Luna → Petron BCDA Mayor Laarni Cayetano said vehicles that will be used for the “Libreng Sakay” would bear the official logo of Taguig City. The transport strike has been set by transportation groups to express opposition to the government’s public utility vehicle modernization program.

BARMM gives health gadgets to Bangsamoro senior citizens

By Manuel T. Cayon | Mindanao Bureau Chief

T he Ministry of Social Services and Development (MSSD) distributed on February 14 the health gadgets to the elderlies to allow them to monitor their health even outside the hospital.

T he distribution was conducted in Barangay Simsiman, Pigcawayan Cluster where the MSSD launched a new regular program dubbed “Hadiya: Care Packages for Elderly Bangsamoro,” which will provide health-care packages to indigent senior citizens.

H adiya is an Arabic term that means “gift,” the information office said.

U nder the program, indigent senior citizens are given a health

gadget package that allows them to monitor their health without having to depend on other members of their families.

T he Hadiya package consists of a digital blood pressure monitor, finger pulse oximeter, thermal scanner, pillbox, disposable facemask, liniment oil, alcohol, adult diaper, hot and cold compress, Talcum powder, relief rub, wooden back scratcher, powdered milk, socks, towel, burn ointment, Betadine, gauze bandage, surgical tape, cotton balls, bandaid, tissue roll, hygiene kits, and relief packs.

S andra Macacua, focal person of MSSD’s Older Persons and

Persons with Disability Welfare Program (OPPWDWP), and Lyca Therese Sarenas, MSSD chief-of-

staff, led the initial distribution to 60 senior citizens.

T here were 120 slots for the

gays from five municipalities of North Cotabato, which opted to be included in the territory of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

B eneficiaries were from Barangays Simsiman, Buricain, Matilak, Binasing, Balacayon, Patot, Libungan Toreta, Datu Mantil, Kadingilan, Upper and Lower Pangangkalan, and Lower Baguer in Pigcawayan.

M acacua said this was a new program of the ministry under OPPWDWP “that recognizes the significant role of the Bangsamoro elders in nation-building.”

The target beneficiaries are the frail and sickly elderly and those with other health conditions,” Macacua said.

program for the Special Geographical Area, the term used to designate the scattered baran -

T he Ministry is targeting a total of 2,000 senior citizens across the region to benefit from the gadgets. At least 450 beneficiaries would be selected from Maguindanao, 310 from Lanao del Sur A, 310 from Lanao del Sur B, 250 from Basilan, 310 from Sulu, 250 from Tawi-Tawi, 120 in Special Geographic Area, 95 from Cotabato City, and 95 from Marawi City.

DSWD steps up campaign against scammers targeting senior citizens

By Sarwell Meniano

TACLOBAN CITY—The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) in Eastern Visayas is stepping up its information drive to counter text scams promising relief allowance for older persons and retirees.

DSWD Eastern Visayas regional information officer Jonalyndie Chua sounded the alarm that scammers are using different platforms to dupe unsuspecting seniors, and urged them not to entertain text messages about relief allowances.

“We have received a report from a concerned citizen that there is a text message circulating over mobile phone users regarding the alleged unclaimed relief allowances for senior citizens and retired business owners,” Chua said in a phone interview Thursday.

The case prompted the

DSWD to double its information drive on the social pension program for senior citizens in the region.

The official clarified that there is no membership fee to become a potential beneficiary of the program. She added that all applicants are potential beneficiaries because they will go through thorough validation if qualified based on the program’s eligibility requirements.

“The validation is done by the staff of the Department of Social Welfare and Development together with our local government and not by unauthorized persons via text messaging,” she added.

Chua emphasized that no organization is authorized to collect fees for the application to become social pension beneficiaries.

She said the additional P500 social pension mandated under Republic Act No. 11916 is not yet

implemented pending the issuance of the law’s implementing rules and regulations.

The DSWD encourages senior citizens or their families to inquire from the official page of the DSWD regional office or visit the DSWD provincial offices, city or municipal social welfare and development offices, and local senior citizens affairs offices.

Social pension is additional government assistance in the amount of P500 monthly stipend to augment the daily subsistence and other medical needs of indigent elderlies, subject to a review every two years by Congress in consultation with the DSWD.

Indigent senior citizens refer to any elderly who is frail, sickly, or with a disability; without a pension; and no permanent source of income, compensation, or financial assistance from relatives to support his or her basic needs. PNA

Don’t misunderstand an introvert too quickly

your presence has to feel better than my solitude.

By Nick Tayag

MY SIXTY-ZEN’S WORTH

RECENTLY, a former college classmate and I had coffee together. During our chat, we hardly exchanged words, consisting of dangling conversations and lingering silences, while absentmindedly sipping our cafe latte, which soon became stale and cold.

A fter a while, we said our goodbyes and withdrew back to our respective comfort zones.

W hile regular fellows would probably say that it was all a waste of our time, on the contrary, we both had a swell time. Seriously. You see, we are both introverts and we had this tacit mutual respect ever since we got drawn to each other in college 50 years ago.

L et’s first touch base on what an introvert is, which is actually short for “introverted.” One dictionary defines

an introvert as “someone who is shy, quiet, and prefers to spend time alone rather than being with other people.”

That’s me. Except for “shy.”

A nother dictionary describes him as a “person with qualities of a personality type known as introversion, which means that he feels more comfortable focusing on his inner thoughts and ideas, rather than what’s happening externally. He enjoys spending time with just one or two people, rather than big groups or crowds.” Does someone you know behave in this way? You probably get frustrated or exasperated when you are in his or her company.

Horacio Jones, an author of self-help books, distills the essence of what an introvert is:

“I like being alone.

Therefore, in order to win me over,

You’re not competing with another person, you are competing with my comfort zone.”

O ne parent I know is worried about his adolescent daughter because she is verbally uncommunicative. He thinks that she has a speech defect or something. Or worse, she’s autistic. Yet her report card shows she is academically above average. She is also interested in sports, especially badminton and table tennis. Sometimes she likes to go biking alone. I told him not to worry; she is just an introvert.

In 2011, a research by psychologists Jennifer Grimes, Jonathan Cheek, and Julie Norem broke introversion into four main types: social introvert, thinking introvert, anxious introvert, and restrained introvert. In my case, I check all the boxes, except “anxious introvert.”

B ut let’s not get into categorizing. Let me just give you some tips on how to be more understanding and accepting of some -

one who is an introvert. Because you never know, he or she could be a loved one.

F irst of all, introverts are not talkers; most of the time we stay quiet. Someone once described me as “a man of few words.” This is why we come off as boring, dull and uninteresting conversationalists.

I learned early in my life that no one likes to be around a quiet person who doesn’t like to talk much. So an introvert accepts the fact that he does not fit in.

But there is a good reason why introverts don’t talk much.

T hey are in fact listening. They are silent on the surface, but believe me they are observing, intensely watching and studying your every move and word. Not just what you say, but your body language, your vibes, and the intention behind your words.

T hey may nod, and smile and go along. But trust me, they’re just being polite and courteous not calling you on your phony facade, your sugar-coated words, your “good” intentions, your fake personality.

O ne introvert says it best: “Don’t underestimate me because

I’m quiet. I know more than I say. Think more than I speak, and observe more than you know.”

A n introvert may not like to be in a group but he is not a loner or anti-social. People are sometimes surprised when I call myself an introvert, as I can be very friendly. The truth is most introverts like people. Although he is not a fan of small talk, he can tolerate it for short periods of time. Being in a crowd or attending a party or social function drains him emotionally, so he inconspicuously slinks away after spending a lot of time with others.

W hat people don’t see is the introvert’s need for recharging his batteries in quiet solitude. As much as he likes people, he also treasures his private space.

A n introvert values true connection with kindred spirits. If an introvert connects with you, it means that you matter to him.

As I said, when you’re trying to make friends with an introvert, be aware that he can see right through you. So be authentic and genuine or risk losing his trust. Once that happens, he will phase you out slowly and surely but very quietly. We introverts don’t like drama.

I t’s not often we introverts find the right people, however, so for the most part we just stay

silent and speak economically in conversation.

But if you are deemed to be the right person, some introverts will “converse” with you for hours on end about almost anything. Just be prepared for intermittent silences but appreciate that those still moments in between are not empty. They are pregnant with feelings and substance. For an introvert, elliptical silences can feel as intimate as spoken words.

Now that I have acquainted you a little about introverts, I hope you become more careful in shutting them out of the conversation. Befriend them. Employ them. They won’t waste your time in small talk. They will best fit in research, creative or investigative work. They will give you well-thought out reports. They can help you gauge people better because they’re sharp at seeing through facades or b.s.

My wild wish is for the world to have more introverts in our homes, workplaces, public places, and especially in public governance. Our world would then be quieter and we would be more attentive to each other. We would have less of talking and more of thinking and doing.

Blessed are the silent ones, they run deeper.

SENIOR citizens living in the Special Geographic Area of the Bangsamoro region received special gifts from the regional government on Valentine’s Day.

SENIOR citizens in the Special Geographic Area of the Bangsamoro region receive health-care packages under the Ministry of Social Services and Development’s “Hadiya: Care Packages for Elderly Bangsamoro” Program. PHOTO FROM MSSD’S FACEBOOK PAGE

SENIOR citizens in Samar province receive their social pension from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) in this undated photo. The DSWD in Eastern Visayas is stepping up its information drive to counter text scams promising relief allowance for older persons including retirees.

Filipino students victorious at IPFEST 2023 in Indonesia

ATEAM from Batangas State University (BSU) hoisted the Philippine tricolor higher with their special feat at the Integrated Petroleum Festival (IPFEST) 2023 Smart Competition.

Once again, Petroleum Engineering students from the country’s “National Engineering University” made their mark on the global stage—this time, in Bandung Institute of Technology, Indonesia on February 24.

With the theme: “Understanding the Ato-Z of Oil and Gas as a Strategy for Energy Transition,” this year’s Smart Competition was one of IPFEST 2023’s main events which challenged the brightest minds from various universities in Southeast Asia to showcase their knowledge in the oil and gas sectors, as the BSU learners tackled questions in a rally system, then delivered answers quickly and precisely.

Led by Engr. Miguel Paulo B. Abas as their coach, Team “Barrack Oil” composed of Nick Audrei R. Manila, Selwyn M. Medrano and Rhyan Antonio G. Evea emerged as champions; while Team “Trioil and Error’s” John Carlo Doria, Marcus Gabriel A. Gutierrez, and Russel Vincent V. Manalo clinched the first runner-up spot.

Having conquered the four stages of the competition including Online Preliminary, Elimination, Semifinals and Grand Finals, the teams defeated several institutions from across Southeast Asia and Europe, including those from Indonesia and Algeria, which made the victory even more astounding.

“We are incredibly proud of our ‘Red Spartans’ for their outstanding achieve -

Mapúa hails global citations, achievements on its 98th year

THE country’s leading engineering and technological educational institution

Mapúa University is marking nearly a century of providing quality education to Filipinos as its 98th founding anniversary nears.

Aptly themed “Great at 98! Vision Realized,” the celebration highlights the decadeslong pioneering, progressive and transformative learning Mapúa is known for.

ment at IPFEST 2023. We hope this victory inspires them to follow their [passions,] and strive for excellence in their respective disciplines,” BSU president Dr. Tirso A. Ronquillo remarked. “Their achievement, which brought glory and pride to the country, serves as an inspiration to the entire community.”

For BSU, their students’ triumphs are testimonies to their extraordinary talent, tenacity and exceptional teamwork, as well as “their capacity to raise the bar for the future of petroleum engineers,” which proved its leading position in offering quality engineering curriculum and producing top-notch petroleum engineering alumni who are future-ready and well-equipped to take on global challenges.

Nestlé Phils. donates tools, supplies to public schools

NESTLÉ Phils. recently marked the 10th year of its nutrition-advocacy program Nestlé Wellness Campus by turning over a water-filtration system, audio-video (AV) equipment and sanitation supplies to 10 public schools across the archipelago.

The donation, according to the global nutrition firm, is a testament to the program’s commitment to help educate and promote health and wellness practices among young students and their families.

As part of its milestone celebration, Nestlé Wellness Campus (NWC) inspired Nestlé Phils. employees to organize a voluntary fund-raising activity. The company then matched the amount they pledged, as the fund was allocated to benefit 10 schools: Palumbanes Integrated School in Palumbanes Island and Tibo Elementary School in Panganiban, both in Catanduanes; Tablon Elementary School in Cagayan de Oro; Luyungan High School in Bukidnon; Buhangin Central Elementary School’s Special Education (SpEd) Center and Davao City Special School in Davao; Niugan Elementary School and Pittland Elementary School in Cabuyao, Laguna; as well as Pinagtung-ulan Elementary School in San Jose and Ulango Integrated School in Tanauan, both in the province of Batangas.

“[At Nestlé Phils., we] recognize the importance of educating Filipinos about proper nutrition, especially at a young age. That has been the focus of [NWC] for the past 10 years, and we are overwhelmed by the support of our employees in ensuring that our public schools have the right tools, supplies and support to accomplish that,” said Jose Uy III, senior vice president and head of Public Affairs, Communications and Sustainability at Nestlé Phils.

Starts with clean water access

IN the most recent Expanded National Nutrition Survey, the Department of Science and Technology-Food and Nutrition Research Institute reported that undernutrition remains prevalent in rural areas and low-income households in the Philippines.

For Principal Efren Matienzo Jr. of Palumbanes Integrated School, this was evident among the students in the remote island-community. When he was assigned to the school at the height of the pandemic in 2020, he saw a TV program that labeled the island as “Islang Salat.”

“According to that documentary, mal -

nutrition was prevalent in the island; one of its causes was the lack of clean water supply,” Matienzo explained. He added that the school was below the Department of Education’s standards when it came to hygiene and water sanitation, among others. There was also no water source within Palumbanes Island that passed the requirements of the rural health unit.

This became a concern for the principal, who cited its long-term effect on a student’s cognitive function, including overall ability to learn and perform in school.

As such, he implemented the NWC and emphasized the need to educate all students from Kindergarten to Grade 12 about the seven healthy habits. He then prioritized efforts to secure a water filtration system for the school and local community, which the NWC recently turned over.

“All our 550 students will now be able to drink clean water,” he said, furthering that in addition to the students, more than 130 households will also directly benefit from the project once it’s operational. “As I would always tell our teachers, [our efforts were not in vain]. We must give them everything that we can because the students deserve it.”

Right educational tools make all the difference

STUDENTS of Tibo Elementary School also inspired their principal to aim for more.

Located in the mountains of Catanduanes, the school did not have AV facilities. Teaching tools were limited and outdated, and this situation was affecting the students’ attendance rates and eager -

ness to learn.

As principal, Arnel Fernandez knew that the school, teachers, parents and the entire community needed to adapt a mode rn way of teaching and learning to give the students a brighter future.

When Nestlé Phils., through the NWC, awarded the school with an AV package, Fernandez was overjoyed: “The equipment can help us in many aspects. In the students’ day-to-day learning, we only [resorted to] traditional…teaching. Today our Grade 1 students are learning…to read with the help of the TV sets.”

In addition, they now have a sound system for the flag ceremony and do the NWC “dancercise” activity every morning. According to the principal, the students are able to watch the steps through a monitor while dancing together and in sync—something they weren’t able to do before.

He added that they are also able to use the equipment to educate the parents and the rest of the community about the NWC’s healthy habits. By conducting monthly meetings with Tibo’s parents, barangay officials, health officials and other stakeholders, they will be able to further implement health and wellness practices together and create a bigger impact.

Aside from the two schools, NWC also provided sanitation supplies such as alcohol, soap for handwashing, and face masks to eight other public schools as they welcomed back students for face-toface classes.

Last school year Nestlé Phils. also donated learning equipment for SpEd students in Metro Manila and Calabarzon Region.

In the past year it was included in the prestigious “Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2023” where only four Philippine universities were cited; and the “QS Asian University Top 100 Best Universities in Southeast Asia” list.

The higher education institution (HEI) has also received a “QS-Wharton Digital Readiness-Gold Award” for its Ubiquitous Online Experience (ÚO x): an initiative in delivering full online programs through its digital-learning platforms.

Mapúa also cemented global tie-ups with Arizona State University (ASU) for its business and health-sciences programs, with the University of Cambridge Judge Business School’s Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance (CCAF), and Fintech Alliance.Ph (FTAP) for its “Fintech and Regulatory Innovation (FTRI)” program.

“These accomplishments are the fruits of our unrelenting efforts to gain national and international credibility and accreditation, so students are always assured of quality education and, at the same time, have a definitive competitive advantage when they start their careers,” said Mapúa University president and CEO Dr. Reynaldo B. Vea.

This was seconded by Prof. Dante Sauquillo, chair of the Department of Physics which hosts the 98th anniversary festivities: “This year’s theme commemorates the achievement of our vision to be among the world’s best. Thus, it is but fitting to celebrate with all the people who supported this vision…the administration, nonteaching staff, faculty members, alumni, and our students.”

In keeping with its victory theme, the university will host “The Cardinal Excellence Awards,” which will recognize outstanding students in their co- and extracurricular activities, and the “Service Awards,” which will honor loyal and dedicated teaching and nonteaching personnel.

Competitions such as the “OutcomesBased Education Research and Best Practices,” Technopreneur Pitch contest, essay-writing competition, ethics bowl, leadership seminar, Filipino writing tilt, Physics Olympics and Math Wizard will also be conducted to encourage academic excellence among students. The educational institution will also distribute gift packs to 98 disadvantaged families as a way of sharing the blessings that the Mapúa community has received in the past years. Twenty of them in Bangued, Abra will receive access to affordable and free energy through solar-panel installations. Such effort is part of Mapúa’s pledge in addressing the seventh United Nations Sustainable Development Goal of “affordable and clean energy,” which will benefit the Cordillera Region until 2030.

To cap the festivities, the “premier technological and engineering school” will unveil its Centennial Logo, which heralds the official countdown to its 100th year in 2025. It will also launch the “Mapúa Centennial Lectures:” a series of 100 discourses led by school officials and alumni that will cover research, education, technology, innovations, internationalization, the school’s history, and other special topics.

While the university’s anniversary is a culmination and celebration of its recent achievements, it also ushers in another year of projects, innovations, and milestones. The HEI is expected to launch new business and health-sciences programs in collaboration with ASU, produce its first batch of FTRI graduates through its CCAF and FTAP partnership, as well as increase its globally accredited program offerings via the Asean University Network-Quality Assurance Network.

Mapúa was founded in 1925 by Don Tomas Mapúa as a private university that offered engineering courses. The Yuchengco Group of Companies acquired its ownership in 1999 and after 20 years, merged its educational bodies under iPeople Inc. with the Ayala Corp. Education Inc., with the former as the surviving entity.

According to a statement, the university has grown and evolved into “one of the world’s best since its establishment, and it is envisioned to continue its status in the years to come.”

British Council opens scholarships for Fil. women in science, technology

THE British Council is offering scholarships anew to Filipinas who wish to pursue their Master’s degrees in the United Kingdom (UK) covering areas related to science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

In partnership with 21 UK universities, the Philippines has been chosen as one of the country-beneficiaries for its “Women in STEM” scholarship grants.

The council’s communications manager for Southeast Asia Janelle AlmosaraCapiral told the BusinessMirror that this is the third time they are offering the scholarship program to Filipinas, which we started in 2019.

Dedicated to more than 100 women globally, the initiative is also made available in the Americas, South Asia, and East Asia.

“The British Council has always been [keen on aiding] efforts to improve the quality of education worldwide,” said Country Director Lotus Postrado. The educational grant covers tuition, monthly stipend, travel costs, visa and healthcoverage fees. It is also offered to women with dependents.

A short presessional English course will be provided for scholars who might need to achieve the required language proficiency while studying.

Candidates must manifest a need for financial support, and should have an undergraduate degree that will enable them to gain access to one of the preselected postgraduate courses. They are also expected to be active in their field, with work experience or proven interest in their specialization.

Application period is from March to May 2023, with deadlines varying based on the partner-university.

Qualified candidates can take up a course of study in the UK for the academic year from September/October 2023 to 2024. They are eligible for Master’s degree scholarships and early academic fellowships in Middlesex University, University of Strathclyde, and Newcastle University.

The British Council has been operating in the Philippines for 45 years, performing impactful projects such as developing transnational education programs and supporting science education scholars through the “Newton Agham” fund. Adding to these impressive initiatives is an educational grant for Filipinas in the STEM strand.

“We are excited to offer opportunities such as the ‘Women in STEM’ scholarship to Filipinas, whom we know are extremely talented and can benefit greatly through this program,” Postrado shared. Roderick L. Abad

TIBO Elementary School faculty members receive audiovisual equipment from the Nestlé Wellness Campus.

Saturday, March

BSU’S “Red Spartans” raise the country’s flag in their recent triumph overseas

Tourism&Entertainment

Editor: Carla Mortel-Baricaua

Missing Dracula anD other iMpressions of transylvania

Story and photos by Joshua Berida

Itook the bus that traveled directly to Sinaia from Bucharest’s main airport. The drive passed through the country’s scenic countryside dotted with farmlands and towns. The things I’d do and see while in the country’s transylvania region crossed my mind. The only thing I knew about it was Dracula (who else?). I’ve read good things about the places I’d visit and now I would finally get the chance to see them.

A look into the past in Sinaia

tH e s leepy town of Sinaia is home to one of r o mania’s most popular attractions, Peles Castle.

King Carol I of r o mania had the foundation for the castle built in August 1873. He did so because he found the surrounding mountain views beautiful. t h e architects of the castle combined different aesthetic influences drawn from the r e naissance, Baroque, Italians, and Germans just to name a few. t he inauguration of the castle took place in October 1883. fa st forward to today, instead of royalty, tourists flock to the castle to rediscover its past. t h e striking façade will draw your eyes to its towers, murals, and details on its walls. It has more than 100 rooms, but only a select few are open to tourists. Inside I saw statues, paintings, weapons, armor, gold, rugs, tapestries, and other items from different parts of the world that only royalty could own or have a use for.

Not too far from Peles Castle is

another architectural gem, Pelisor Castle. t h e latter isn’t as grand as Peles but is quite eye-catching on its own right. King Carol I had this other castle built between 1899-1901. He had it constructed as the house of his nephew and heir. Architect Karel Liman drew inspiration from the Art Nouveau style when he designed the palace. One could see this from the castle’s exterior.

After seeing both castles, I was eager to discover more of the region. I took the bus to Brasov, another city in tr ansylvania.

Wandering in Brasov I WOu L DN ’ t want to pass up a chance to explore a quaint city in tr ansylvania, thankfully Brasov fits that description. During the Middle Ages, the kings of Hungary invited German Saxons to settle in the Southern Carpathians in what is now Brasov. t h e Germans accumulated a fortune trading to both the Ottomans and e uropeans. to day, you’ll see

vestiges of Brasov’s storied past.

Piata Sfatului or Council Square was amid the hustle and bustle of trade during the 14th century. As I walked around this area, locals and tourists alike loitered around the square to dine in one of the restaurants or simply take pictures of the picturesque old town. Not too far from the Council Square is the Gothic-influenced Biserica Neagra or Black Church.

t he Germans in Brasov had it built in the 15th century. During the 16th century, Lutheran services replaced Catholic masses. I walked

Sailing action returns to Taal Lake

After a two-year suspension due to the pandemic, competitive sailing has returned to ta al Lake Yacht Club ( t LYC) with the holding of the recent 2022 Philippine Hobie 16 National Championships, the country’s longest-running Hobie sailing tournament.

Situated by the lakeshores of ta lisay, Batangas and a jump-off point to ta al Volcano, t LYC has been dubbed by Lonely Planet as the country’s “sailing mecca” because of its ideal winds the whole-year round. fo r the tournament’s 24th edition, two doctors proved their mettle outside the medical field as they dominated the five-race competition.

Ophthalmologist Michael Ngu of the Manila Doctors Hospital, along with crew Lindo Pahayahay, topped

the tournament which determines the year’s top Hobie 16 sailor. Coming in at second place is Sunpower Philippines general manager Glenn e v erett, crewed by wife Jana. r ounding up the winning circle at

third place is Dennis Cruz, a Makati Medical Center ophthalmologist and former Philippine e y e Doctors Association president, and his local crew, Jason Mendoza. t h e awards were presented by

along Strada r e publicii, the city’s main pedestrian street. Here, I saw restored traditional buildings that are now restaurants or bars. Brasov is a small city with a vibrant vibe and a mixture of old and new. Its old town is just as charming as similar places I’ve been to while traveling around e u rope.

All things Dracula

Br A N C astle is one of the places I didn’t want to miss while I was in r o mania. t h e castle is accessible from Brasov and buses frequently ply this route. Due to its popular -

ity, plenty of tourists queued to buy a ticket and enter the castle. I waited patiently until I finally got in. t h e castle itself wasn’t as impressive as Peles Castle. t h e people managing Bran Castle went all in on associating it with Bram Stoker’s Dracula. t he re is no clear evidence that Bram Stoker has ever been to tr ansylvania and Vlad the Impaler, the person closely associated with Dracula, was never the ruler of Bran Castle. However, it resembled the description of Bram Stoker’s Dracula Castle. Despite this, tourists

still flock to the castle. e x hibits about the occult (some were quite kitschy) and Dracula were on display in various rooms. Outside of fiction, the history of the castle is interesting. It dates to the 14th century when King Louis I of Hungary allowed tr ansylvanian Saxons to build a castle to ward off the Ottoman’s expansion. t h e castle has changed hands over time and has undergone renovation to serve as a fortress against invaders. t h e castle now functions as a museum not just for exhibits about Dracula, but also about the r o manian royal family that used to live there. t h e castle’s exterior was more impressive in my opinion. It’s perched on a hill with beautiful overlooking views of its surroundings. Despite my initial disappointment, I was glad I went to see Bran Castle in person. tr ansylvania has other noteworthy towns, old, fortified churches, and destinations. fo r this trip, I only got impressions of the region that would serve as memories to look back on.

ta lisay municipal Mayor Nestor Natanauan.

t h e Hobie 16 National Championships started in 1995 at its t LYC homebase, and was rotated around Subic Bay, Laiya Beach in San Juan, Cebu, Anvaya Cove in Bataan, and Punta f u ego and ta li Beach in Nasugbu, Batangas. In an adjunct tournament held

the next day, t LYC commodore Peter Capotosto and Jazmine Lucero of topped the Governor’s Cup, a new single race format which sailed around ta al Volcano. Named in honor of the provincial chief executive of Batangas, the Cup is the annual year-end multi-race tourney which showcases the sports tourism potential of ta al Lake.

Governor Hermilando Mandanas, a tourism champion in the Calabarzon region, awarded the top winners. t h e sailing events were sponsored by San Miguel Beer, Club Balai Isabel, Barako Coffee, and Active Boating and Watersports as media partner, and supported by the Municipality of ta lisay and the Province of Batangas.

Pele S Castle is a masterpiece of German new-Renaissance architecture.

When in Romania, the Peles Castle is a must-see for tourists.

PeliS o R is a small palace built on the same domain as Peles Castle.

inSiD e Bran Castle, there are many exhibits focused on Dracula.

BAtAn G AS Governor Mandanas with Governor’s Cup winners Jazmine lucero and Peter Capotosto

tAliS Ay Mayor nestor natanauan and top winners lindo Pahayahay and Michael ngu

Phili PPin e hobie nationals at taal lake

to DAy, the Council Square is the center for recreation and social events.

B R An Castle Bran is now Romania’s most-visited attraction.

t h e Peles Castle is the former home of the Romanian Royal Family.

A girl named Hope Expansive

portfolio behind realme domination of local smartphone market in 2022

BY RIZAL RAOUL S. REYES

ON Sunday, Liza Soberano became a trending topic on social media after she uploaded a video on her YouTube channel talking about, in essence, how her creativity and artistry were stifled in the 13 years she has been an actress.

“I’ve sacrificed my childhood, I’ve sacrificed my freedom, and I’ve sacrificed my happiness to present Liza Soberano to the world. I think I’ve earned the right to finally be me, to finally be able to do things for me, as Hope Soberano.”

“I’ve been in six feature films, over 500 episodes of teleseryes, and have only really dabbled into three main genres—romance, comedy and drama. Since I was 16, I had only really worked side by side with one main co-star, with the same production company, rotating around the same three directors. During all those years, I was never really asked for my input, my thoughts, my ideas,” she said.

Liza was under ABS-CBN’s Star Magic for 11 years and was handled by Ogie Diaz. She has been paired with her “LizQuen” co-star Enrique Gil and they starred in several movies and shows together such as Forevermore, Dolce Amore, Everyday I Love You and Alone

Together

In June 2022, she dropped her previous management and joined James Reid’s Careless Music.

On Tuesday, it was announced that Liza was joining the digital banking app Maya as its Brand Ambassador and Chief Advocacy Officer.

“Liza resonates with Maya’s values of defiance and optimism. She has defied conventions for Filipino actresses and taken her career into a bold new direction, reshaping what it means to be successful for this generation. And she lives with optimism, knowing she can use her personal platform to advocate for meaningful change. We are thrilled to embark on this meaningful collaboration and journey of empowering Filipinos to do banking their way alongside Liza, who is as much a game-changer as Maya,” said Maya chief marketing officer Pepe Torres.

Maya hopes to encourage more of its app users to use its digital banking services. Maya Bank is one of only six digital banks in the Philippines that the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas granted a license to operate.  Maya said (based on data from data.i) it has over 1.5 million bank customers, making it the No. 1 digital banking app in the country in terms of app downloads and monthly active users.

Among the many innovations of Maya is its bestin-class consumer savings account that offers easy account opening with just one valid ID, a high-interest

with up to 10 percent daily interest rate per annum starting March 7, 2023.

Maya is the first finance app to offer customers their own @username, making sending money as easy as tagging friends in TikTok or Instagram.

Customers also love its sleek black Maya card, accepted by over 80 million merchants worldwide.

These innovations have made Maya the No. 1 digital banking app and the highest-rated finance app on the App Store and Google Play, beating leading e-wallet and bank brands. Maya is regulated by the BSP, and deposits are insured up to P500,000 per depositor by the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. (PDIC).

As brand ambassador, Liza co-created Maya’s new marketing campaign, breaking the mold of traditional celebrity endorsements and changing the game for marketing financial services.

As Chief Advocacy Officer, Liza will champion shared advocacies for financial inclusion with Maya and lead key initiatives. This starts with joint initiatives for Save The Children, the world’s leading independent organization for children, which Liza has been the ambassador of since 2021. At the same time, she will help drive the advocacy agenda within Maya from their product roadmap to company

Flagship device made even more desirable

IF camera tech is at the top of your smartphone must-haves list, then look no further than the Huawei P50 (consumer.huawei.com/ph), the unanimous mobile photography champ.

The P50 made a splash with glowing reviews from tech experts and gadget enthusiasts, and now it has been made even more desirable with a Huawei promo ongoing until March 31.

Available at the online Huawei Store, Lazada, Shopee and all Huawei Experience Stores nationwide, this limited-time promotion offers the Huawei P50 for P30,999 from its original SRP of P35,999. It’s an incredible deal for mobile photography buffs, given the phone’s leading-class shooting capabilities, premium design, dazzling display, and Huawei’s intelligent cross-device features. Adorning the back of the Huawei P50 is its iconic Dual Matrix “dazzling eyes” camera layout that incorporates a simplified and geometric design.

The two orbs house the True-Form Dual Matrix Cameras, powered by Huawei XD Optics and Fusion Pro imaging engine that

captures images with unparalleled clarity. Round the front, there’s the 90 Hz TrueChroma display that outputs 1.07billion colors, on top of an ultra-smooth and responsive touch experience.

All that is wrapped in a cutting-edge design reinforced with nothing less than IP68 splash, water, and dust resistance.

In terms of performance, the 5nm Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 chipset blasts through any resource-intensive app and process with no hint of stutter. With a 4,100 mAh battery and 66W Huawei SuperCharge out of the box, the Huawei P50 is capable of enduring all manner of heavy tasks even on a busy day. The ridiculously fast SuperCharge top-up ensures the device keeps going as long as you need to.

Meanwhile, Huawei Share delivers a smooth, cross-device file-sharing experience without the need for wires. Sync your smartphone files with a laptop or PC (such as the MateBook Series) through wireless pairing and move/view files between both screens without fuss.

ultimately drives financial empowerment, especially with the youth. Liza’s collaboration with Maya also opens a new door for her as she finally gets the chance to be on the other end of the lights and cameras, cocreating the brand’s latest campaign.

“The past year has given me an opportunity to reflect on what I want for my life and my career. And when it comes to brands, I’ve decided to be more intentional about my partnerships. I want to work with brands that resonate with me personally, with products I actually use, and with companies I believe in,” said Liza.

“I’m excited for everyone to level up their banking experience with me through Maya because I love using their app. On top of that, working with Maya truly feels like a level up for me—it’s a joy to collaborate with them creatively, and I’m excited for the professional challenge of becoming their Chief Advocacy Officer.”

Among Liza’s goals, therefore, is for financial literacy to be talked about in more schools and households.

Now that Liza has a corporate title, she now has her own company e-mail.

Watch her TVC for Maya at youtu.be/KCUHDCXq_ bQ. ■

A WIDE portfolio and a smartphone line that caters to different users’ needs—whether in features, functionality, or both—has made realme  the leading brand in the Philippine market, according to a top official of realme

“Knowing that the Philippines is still predominantly a price-sensitive market where cost-efficiency is king, we introduced narzo in a bid for further inclusivity on our products. We have our eyes and ears constantly on-ground, and through this we pinpointed that the majority of the demand is on entry-level and practical features,” Austine Huang, realme Philippines vice president  for marketing, told BUSINESSMIRRO� in an e-mail interview.

Since it entered the Philippine market in 2018,  she said realme’s goal has always been to make leap-forward technology accessible to the majority. Huang also stressed that it is laser-focused to be the market leader, adding the accolades it receives along the way are just a bonus.

Huang also commended her team and business partners for the success of the brand.

In its latest report, the  International Data Corporation’s Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker said realme maintained market leadership in 2022 by launching several new smartphones in the narzo series to cater to the price-conscious customer, while Transsion was the only company in the top 5 rankings that registered growth. Both of its Infinix and Tecno brands upscaled their products in bringing in more models in the higher price range of US$100+, such as Infinix’ Note series and Tecno’s Pova and Camon series, while itel continued to cater to the entry-level segment.

“Realme was able to sustain its momentum through aggressive promotions and price drops for some of its C series models both in online and offline channels. Furthermore, realme’s #realmewithyou holiday campaign that kicked off with the launching of the realme 10 series has triggered sales,” Angela Jenny V. Medez, senior market analyst-IDC Philippines, said in another e-mail interview with BUSINESSMIRROR.

“Realme has a vast nationwide reach with access to several online selling channels,” Medez added.

According to Medez, “Developing markets are more susceptible to price changes since these households in general have lower disposable income, so any price increase would have a higher impact on the purchasing power of a low income market. Also, the Philippines is highly dependent on imports such as food and oil hence making the country vulnerable to any currency depreciation or global oil price hikes.”

To ensure market leadership, Huang said realme will provide more value to the local consumer by introducing top-of-mind lifestyle brands for the Filipino youth market, complemented by narzo catering to the Filipino everyman.

She said realme will also introduce new smartphone models in 2023, including AIOT devices that enrich the entire realme ecosystem, and special brand campaigns that will bring more Squad members into the fold.

Huang said realme will continue to support its realme Mobile Legends Cup (RMC) , its grassroots esports initiative. She said, “The RMC will continue to uplift and support local gaming talent. This year, we’ll also be holding the RMC Regional Campus Wars and the RMC Women’s League, to provide avenues for provincial players and to promote gender inclusivity in support of women in the industry.”

• Editor: Gerard S. Ramos

www.businessmirror.com.ph

BusinessMirror

Editor: Gerard S. Ramos • Saturday, March 4, 2023

THIS image released by Sony Interactive Entertainment shows a scene from the video game Gran Turismo Sophy. Grand Turismo players have been competing against computer-driven race cars since the franchise launched in the 1990s, but the new AI driver that was unleashed last week on Grand Turismo 7 is smarter and faster because it’s been trained using the latest AI methods.

BRINGING MUSIC IDOLS, FANS CLOSER

FILIPINO singer-songwriter and producer Zack Tabudlo is taking over Viber’s Backstage Pass Channel, just in time for the launch of his anticipated sophomore album, ZACK: FOR ALL, on Valentine’s Day.

Backstage Pass, with now over 1.2 million subscribers, is a space where artists like Zack and their fans can have a good chat. It gives music enthusiasts access to never-before-seen photos, videos and other content that’ll allow them to get to know their favorite stars better. It’s where fans can ask their questions and get messages straight from them too!

As part of the takeover, fans of the 2021 hit song “Binibini” music genius can expect not only to exchange messages with him, but they also get to enjoy exclusive sticker pack and custom Viber Lens. The musician is also expected to hold a group video call event with his fans through Backstage Pass.

Zack is one of the top artists of UMG Philippines that serves as a regional branch of multinational music corporation, Universal Music Group (UMG). At only 21, he has been crowned as the most streamed local artist in the Philippines on Spotify with 7.5 million monthly listeners and the third overall, trailing global pop behemoths Taylor Swift and BTS.

Known for his melancholic songs and tunes about falling in and out of love, Zack got his big exposure as a contestant in the first season of The Voice Kids when he was 12. While he didn’t make it to the finals, he still pursued music and started a solo career in 2018, eventually signing with UMG to release his debut album, Episode, in 2021. His hits include “Nangangamba,” “Habang Buhay,” “Asan Ka Na Ba” and “Pano.”

“I’m happy to connect with my fans in new ways through Viber’s Backstage Pass, especially now that I have released my second album,” says Zack. “The fans have been part of my journey as an artist so it’s great to keep this connection going. Thankful to Viber for making this happen.”

“Viber has always been rooted in connecting people. Backstage Pass is a channel created specifically for our music-loving Viber users,” adds David Tse, senior director APAC at Rakuten Viber. “We’re excited to have Zack Tabudlo on board. As one of the brightest stars of Filipino music today, we know that he has been a favorite among Viber users. We’re glad that we’re able to provide a platform where the artist and his fans can deepen their connection and create fun memories together.”

AI learns to outsmart humans in video games—and real life

BY MATT O’BRIEN The Associated Press

SPEED around a French village in the video game Gran Turismo and you might spot a Corvette behind you trying to catch your slipstream. The technique of using the draft of an opponent’s racecar to speed up and overtake them is one favored by skilled players of PlayStation’s realistic racing game.

But this Corvette driver is not being controlled by a human—it’s GT Sophy, a powerful artificial intelligence agent built by PlayStation-maker Sony. Gran Turismo players have been competing against computer-generated racecars since the franchise launched in the 1990s, but the new AI driver that was unleashed last week on Gran Turismo 7 is smarter and faster because it’s been trained using the latest AI methods.

“Gran Turismo had a built-in AI existing from the

DANISH PARLIAMENT URGES TO REMOVE TIKTOK OVER CYBERSECURITY

COPENHAGEN, Denmark—The Danish parliament on Tuesday urged lawmakers and employees with the 179-member assembly against having TikTok on work phones as a cybersecurity measure, saying “there is a risk of espionage.”

The popular video-sharing app, which is Chinese-owned, faces intensifying scrutiny from Europe and the US over security and data privacy amid worries that TikTok could be used to promote pro-Beijing views or sweep up users’ information.

Danish parliamentary Speaker Søren Gade said that an email had been sent out Tuesday to lawmakers and employees with ”a strong recommendation that you delete the TikTok app if you have previously installed it.”

The assembly acted after an assessment from Denmark’s Center for Cyber Security, which had said there was a risk of espionage. The agency is part of Denmark’s foreign intelligence service.

“We adapt accordingly,” Gade said in a statement.

It wasn’t immediately known how many Danish lawmakers have TikTok installed. In recent days, several politicians have publicly announced that they had deleted the app from their work phone for cybersecurity reasons.

Earlier this month, the European Union’s executive branch said it has temporarily banned TikTok from phones used by employees as a

cybersecurity measure.

The EU’s action follows similar moves in the US, where more than half of the country’s 50 states and Congress have banned TikTok from official government devices.

In Norway, which isn’t a member of the 27-nation EU, the justice minister was forced to apologize this month for failing to disclose that she had installed TikTok on her government-issued phone. AP

beginning of the game, but it has a very narrow band of performance and it isn’t very good,” said Michael Spranger, chief operating officer of Sony AI. “It’s very predictable. Once you get past a certain level, it doesn’t really entice you anymore.”

But now, he said, “this AI is going to put up a fight.”

Visit an artificial intelligence laboratory at universities and companies like Sony, Google, Meta, Microsoft and ChatGPT-maker OpenAI and it’s not unusual to find AI agents like Sophy racing cars, slinging angry birds at pigs, fighting epic interstellar battles or helping human gamers build new Minecraft worlds—all part of the job description for computer systems trying to learn how to get smarter in games. But in some instances, they are also trying to learn how to get smarter in the real world. In a January paper, a University of Cambridge researcher who built an AI agent to control Pokémon characters argued it could “inspire all sorts of applications that require team management under conditions of extreme uncertainty, including managing a team of doctors, robots or employees in an ever-changing environment, like a pandemic-stricken region or a war zone.”

And while that might sound like a kid making a case for playing three more hours of Pokémon Violet, the study of games has been used to advance AI research—and train computers to solve complex problems—since the mid-20th century.

Initially, AI was used on games like checkers and chess to test at winning strategy games. Now a new branch of research is more focused on performing open-ended tasks in complex worlds and interacting with humans, not just for the purpose of beating them. “Reality is like a super-complicated game,” said Nicholas Sarantinos, who authored the Pokémon paper and recently turned down a doctoral offer at Oxford University to start an AI company aiming to help corporate workplaces set up more collaborative

In the web-based Pokémon Showdown battle simulator, Sarantinos developed an algorithm to analyze a team of six Pokémon—predicting how they would perform based on all the possible battle scenarios ahead of them and their comparative strengths and weaknesses.

Microsoft, which owns the popular Minecraft game franchise as well as the Xbox game system, has tasked AI agents with a variety of activities—from steering clear of lava to chopping trees and making furnaces. Researchers hope some of their learnings could eventually play a role in real-world technology, such as how to get a home robot to take on certain chores without having to program it to do so.

While it ”goes without stating” that real humans behave quite differently from fictional video game creatures, “the core ideas can still be used,” Sarantinos said. “If you use psychology tests, you can take this

information to conclude how well they can work together.”

Amy Hoover, an assistant professor of informatics at the New Jersey Institute of Technology who’s built algorithms for the digital card game Hearthstone, said “there really is a reason for studying games” but it is not always easy to explain. “People aren’t always understanding that the point is about the optimization method rather than the game,” she said.

Games also offer a useful testbed for AI—including for some real-world applications in robotics or health care—that’s safer to try in a virtual world, said Vanessa Volz, an AI researcher at the Danish startup Modl.ai, which builds AI systems for game development.

But, she adds, “it can get overhyped.”

“It’s probably not going to be one big breakthrough and that everything is going to be shifted to the real world,” Volz said.

Japanese electronics giant Sony launched its own AI research division in 2020 with entertainment in mind, but it’s nonetheless attracted broader academic attention. Its research paper introducing Sophy last year made it on the cover of the prestigious science journal Nature, which said it could potentially have effects on other applications such as drones and selfdriving vehicles.

The technology behind Sophy is based on an algorithmic method known as reinforcement learning, which trains the system by rewarding it when it gets something right as it runs virtual races thousands of times.

“The reward is going to tell you that, ‘You’re making progress. This is good,’ or, ‘You’re off the track. Well, that’s not good,’” Spranger said.

The world’s best Gran Turismo players are still finishing ahead of Sophy at tournaments, but average players will find it hard to beat—and can adjust difficulty settings depending on how much they want to be challenged.

PlayStation players will only get to try racing against Sophy until March 31, on a limited number of circuits, so it can get some feedback and go back into testing. Peter Wurman, director of Sony AI America and project lead on GT Sophy, said it takes about two weeks for AI agents to train on 20 PlayStations.

“To get it spread throughout the whole game, it takes some more breakthroughs and some more time before we’re ready for that,” he said.

And to get it onto real streets or Formula One tracks? That could take a lot longer.

Self-driving car companies adopt similar machinelearning techniques, but “they don’t hand over complete control of the car the way we are able to,” Wurman said. “In a simulated world, there’s nobody’s life at risk. You know exactly the kinds of things you’re going to see in the environment. There’s no people crossing the road or anything like that.” ■

China’s fragile property market underscored by hesitant buyers

fore concluding that the property market is resuming its upward trend,” said Raymond Cheng, head of China and Hong Kong research at CGS-CIMB Securities. “Overall, Chinese homebuyers’ confidence is still very fragile.”

2. New homes

US warns companies against doing biz with Russia sanctions evaders

affordability is the worst in China, existing-home transactions have warmed up since mid-February. There were two days where the city saw more than 150 units transacted, a threshold untouched since at least October, according to official data by the city’s housing bureau.

THE US warned companies to be on guard for transactions that could help Russia evade western sanctions, especially if they’re linked to China, Turkey and a handful of other nations, as officials look to step up sanctions enforcement a year into the invasion of Ukraine.

sent to countries like Uzbekistan and stripped of semiconductors that then find their way to Russia.

Despite a slew of measures to boost demand and the end of Covid Zero, Chinese residents remain reluctant to commit their savings to a sector that’s seen its worst downturn. That’s prompting analysts to expect more policy support coming out of the National People’s Congress this month, as Beijing refocuses its attention to economic growth.

“In order to stabilize the economy, authorities will likely reaffirm support for first-time homebuyers and those who wish to upgrade,” said Xu Yuejin, an associate director at China Index Holdings. “This paves the way for more policy easing around the national congress.”

In addition to measures at the annual parliamentary gathering, Xu said he expects more big cities to loosen restrictions on housing purchases, albeit in the less important districts.

Here are five metrics that take

the temperature of China’s real estate market, gauging the state of homebuyer demand.

1. Second-hand market

MORE Chinese residents are checking out second-hand homes, with viewing rates at their best since at least September 2021, according to alternative data provider Sandalwood Advisors, which tracks the metric via a real estate platform in China.

In the biggest cities, including Shenzhen and Shanghai, about 178,000 visits were paid to existing homes per week on average in February, jumping 86 percent from November when China was still in lockdown. Interest rebound was also sharp in tier-2 cities, mostly in regional hubs.

That said, the viewings are not all translating into purchases.

“Although the numbers look stronger than expected, we think we need to see more evidence be -

INTEREST in new homes is also bouncing back after the Lunar New Year holiday, according to an index by property agency Centaline Group. A single new project was visited by an average 0.63 buyers in the third week of February, the most since mid-2021.

That may benefit cash-strapped developers in the run-up to a traditionally quick season of sales in March and April. Builders have scaled back on discounts, and may increase supply this month, according to China Real Estate Information Corp.

Sales mostly hinge on residents’ ability to generate income after the economy goes back to normal. Business activity could improve in the next few months, but it will likely be a “gradual process,” according to Zhiwei Zhang, president and chief economist of Pinpoint Asset Management.

3. More transactions

IN Shenzhen, where housing

4. New sales fluctuate

THE purchase rate of new homes across the country, however, remains unstable. Only about a third of units offered were sold on debut, halving from a peak in mid-January, according to Centaline Group data tracking 29 cities.

5. Fear of leverage

THE nation’s outstanding mortgages rose only 1.2 percent last year, a sharp slowdown from 11 percent-plus growth at the end of 2021. Residential mortgages, which accounted for about 30 percent of loan books for China’s largest banks as of June, are considered to be among the highestquality assets.

Weakening expectations over property prices may prompt households to continue deleveraging, said Michelle Lam, Greater China economist at Societe Generale SA. Bloomberg News

Asian stocks follow Wall St up on interest rate hopes

BEIJING—Asian stock markets followed Wall Street higher Friday after a Federal Reserve official raised hopes the US central bank might not step up its anti-inflation fight as much as feared.

Shanghai, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Sydney advanced. Oil prices retreated.

Wall Street rose Wednesday for the first time in three days after the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, Raphael Bostic, expressed support for raising the Fed’s benchmark lending rate to a range of 5 percent to 5.25 percent—less than many investors are forecasting.

Bostic said the Fed might be able to suspend additional rate increases by mid-year, sooner than some expect.

Stocks advanced following those “dovish comments,” said Anderson Alves of ActivTrades in a report.

The Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.4 percent to 3,322.11 and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong gained 0.8 percent to 20,582.54.

China is beginning its annual legislative session, where leaders are expected to affirm policies meant to spur growth after a long slowdown worsened by Covid-19.

The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo gained 1.4 percent after government data showed Japan’s unemployment rate edged lower in January.

The Kospi in Seoul gained less than 0.1 percent to 2,427.07 and Sydney’s S&P-ASX 200 added 0.4 percent to 7,281.20.

New Zealand and Bangkok declined while Singapore and Jakarta advanced.

On Wall Street, the benchmark S&P 500 index rose 0.8 percent to 3,981.35, rebounding from a loss early in the day following Bostic’s comments.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 1 percent to 33,003.57. The Nasdaq composite gained 83.50, or 0.7 percent, to 11,462.98.

Bostic’s comments countered comments by other Fed officials who say rates might have to be raised more and stay elevated

longer to extinguish stubborn inflation after job growth, consumer spending and price rises were stronger than expected.

Data on Thursday showed fewer Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week despite interest rate hikes to cool business activity. That is positive for workers, but the Fed worries strong employment might fuel inflation.

Traders have raised forecasts of how high the Fed will raise rates and for how long.

Treasury yields, which respond to expectations of Fed policy, widened again Thursday.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury, or the difference between its market price and payout at maturity, widened to 4.06 percent from 4.00 percent late Wednesday and from less than 3.40 percent earlier this year. It is near its highest level in four months.

The two-year yield rose to 4.90 percent from 4.88 percent. It is close to a 16-year high.

Investors also are cutting expectations of US corporate profits

due to warnings inflation and interest rates might cool consumer demand.

Macy’s rose 11.1 percent after reporting stronger profit and revenue for the holidays than analysts expected. It also gave a forecasted range for earnings this year that was above some analysts’ expectations. On the losing side was Telsa, which sank 5.9 percent. It said its next generation of vehicles will cost half as much but gave few details about its design.

In energy markets, benchmark US crude lost 27 cents to $77.89 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The contract rose 47 cents on Thursday to $78.16. Brent crude, the price basis for international oil trading, shed 28 cents to $84.47 per barrel in London. It gained 44 cents the previous session to $84.75.

The dollar declined to 136.59 yen from Thursday’s 136.76 yen. The euro gained to $1.0608 from $1.0590. AP

Ex-Malaysian PM gets rare legal victory in one of his 1MDB cases

FORMER Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak scored a rare legal victory Friday as the country’s high court freed him from one of his cases involving troubled state fund 1MDB.

Justice Mohamed Zaini Mazlan ruled that the prosecution

had failed to adduce credible evidence that warrants a conviction for Najib in his corruption trial related to the audit report of 1MDB.

Najib was charged in 2018 of abusing his position to order amendments to the government’s

audit report of 1Malaysia Development Bhd to protect himself from criminal, civil or regulatory action. These include erasing the presence of fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho, or Jho Low, at a 1MDB board meeting.

“There was no evidence to show that the auditor general was forced to attend the meetings or make changes to the audit report,” Mohamed Zaini said in his judgement. “As for the gratification that was alleged to have sought, I agree that there was no causal link between the amendments made and the gratification alleged.”

The audit case was among the multiple trials that Najib faces in relation to 1MDB, which became the focus of a scandal that

An advisory from the departments of Commerce, Justice and Treasury said companies should be on the lookout for “transshipment points” where goods are legally purchased and then sent on to Russia or Belarus. Those locations include China, Hong Kong, Macau and Russia’s close neighbors Armenia, Turkey and Uzbekistan, according to the notice.

The advisory amounted to a warning that businesses could be held responsible if parties they transact with turn out to be front companies assisting President Vladimir Putin’s war effort. In the past, the US has imposed steep fines on sanctions violators even in cases when they argued they hadn’t meant to break the law.

“Businesses of all stripes should act responsibly by implementing rigorous compliance controls, or they or their business partners risk being the targets of regulatory action, administrative enforcement action or criminal investigation,” the departments said.

The note echoed remarks from Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Uzbekistan earlier this week, when he said the US was on the lookout for evasion from central Asian states. Officials have said they fear appliances such as washing machines and refrigerators are

In the second year of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the US has placed a new focus on clamping down on sanctions evasion. Treasury officials have traveled to countries such as Turkey and the United Arab Emirates to underscore the message that providing material support to Russia’s war effort will land the offending parties on the wrong side of US sanctions policy.

The message is particularly complicated when it comes to China, which has increased its shipments of semiconductors and other forms of technology to Russia but is one of the US’s largest trading partners and its chief geopolitical rival.

The joint statement warns of a series of red flags that could indicate a company or country is helping to supply Russia by hiding the true nature of the transactions. These include the use of shell companies, lack of an online presence, the use of personal email addresses or home addresses and unexplained changes to standard documents.

To avoid running afoul of US sanctions, companies should screen current and new customers and other parties in their supply chains and cross-check them against individuals and entities on US blacklists. They should also keep up with regular guidance from the Commerce and Treasury Departments and strengthen their compliance programs.

Bloomberg News

Fed speech scrapped after participant shows porn flick footage in Zoom room

AVIRTUAL event featuring Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller was scrapped Thursday after a participant displayed pornographic content that was visible to viewers.

Waller had planned to deliver remarks on the economic outlook to the Mid-Size Bank Coalition of America, which was hosting the event.

Thursday’s program “was the victim of a teleconferencing or Zoom hijacking,” Brent

Tjarks, executive director of the group, said via email. “We are working with Zoom and information technology support to ensure this deeply regrettable incident never happens again.”

After releasing Waller’s prepared remarks, the Fed said in a statement that “there are technical difficulties with Governor Waller’s virtual event and it has been canceled.”

Bloomberg News

US Ambassador Cindy McCain to head UN World Food Program

UNITED NATIONS—US

Ambassador Cindy McCain was appointed Thursday to head the UN World Food Program (WFP), the world’s largest humanitarian organization which aims to help nearly 150 million people confronting conflicts, disasters and impacts of climate change this year.

spawned probes in Asia, the US and Europe. He is now serving a 12-year prison sentence for a separate corruption conviction linked to 1MDB’s former unit SRC International. Malaysia’s high court on Friday also granted an acquittal to former 1MDB President Arul Kandasamy for charges of abetting Najib in altering the audit report.  Both had previously pleaded not guilty and were released on a 500,000 ringgit bail each. The prosecution closed its case in September last year after calling more than a dozen witnesses—including Arul—to testify, according to local media. If convicted, they would have each had to face up to 20 years’ jail and a fine. Bloomberg News

The appointment of McCain, widow of Arizona senator and 2008 Republican presidential candidate John McCain. was jointly announced by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Director-General Qu Dongyu.

McCain has been the US envoy to Rome-based WFP and FAO since November 2021, and the UN and FAO chiefs called her “a champion for human rights” with “a long history of giving a voice to the voiceless.”

McCain will succeed David Beasley, a former South Carolina governor who has led WFP over the last six years, including through the Covid-19 pandemic and the global food crisis sparked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Beasley was at the helm when the WFP was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2020 in part for being “a driving force in efforts to prevent the use of hunger as a

weapon of war and conflict.”

Guterres and Qu praised Beasley for his “deep compassion.”

“He has humanized for the world the women and children most affected by hunger and has used his powerful voice to bring awareness and substantial resources to one crisis after another,” they said in the joint announcement.

Beasley’s term ends April 4 and McCain then takes over as executive director. Her appointment was made after consultation with WFP’s executive board.

The board’s president, Poland’s Ambassador Andrej Pollok, welcomed her selection., saying she takes over “at a moment when the world confronts the most serious food security crisis in modern history.”

An advocate for children, McCain has served on the board of directors for Operation Smile, a nonprofit organization dedicated to addressing facial deformities for children around the world, visiting India, Morocco and Vietnam, the joint announcement said.

McCain also founded the American Voluntary Medical Team, which provides emergency medical and surgical care to impoverished children throughout the world, the UN and FAO chiefs said.

CHINA property buyers are back on the hunt, but not quite ready to invest, underscoring the tenuous state of the country’s real estate market.

THE Biden administration is set to release an aggressive new national cybersecurity strategy on Thursday that seeks to shift the blame from companies that get hacked to software manufacturers and device makers, putting it on a potential collision course with big technology companies.

The 35-page strategy, shared in advance with a group of reporters, asserts that software makers must be “held liable when they fail to live up to the duty of care they owe consumers, businesses or critical infrastructure providers.”

“Responsibility must be placed on the stakeholders most capable of taking action to prevent bad outcomes, not on the endusers that often bear the consequences of insecure software nor on the open-source developer of a component that is integrated into a commercial product,” according to the document.

The new strategy commits the administration to work with Congress and the private sector “to develop legislation establishing liability for software products and services.”

President Joe Biden said in a statement that the strategy “takes on the systemic challenge that too much of the responsibility for cybersecurity has fallen on individual users and small organizations.”

A top Google official, for one, said his company welcomed the Biden administration plan. Phil Venables, Google Cloud’s chief information security officer, said there are many products in the marketplace that don’t have basic protections built in. The strategy could force companies that aim to undercut competitors with cheap products that lack security protections to meet minimum security standards, an important development, Venables said.

Senior US officials have publicly complained that technology companies, including Microsoft Corp. and Twitter Inc., have failed to sufficiently secure user accounts.

Jen Easterly, director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, this week fired a broadside over such failings, including flawed code and poor practices, which she said make users susceptible to hacks.

Such an ambitious effort comes despite the failure of the Biden administration to advance legislation in its first two years to rein in the power of the biggest tech companies, including Alphabet Inc.’s Google, Apple Inc., Amazon.com Inc. and Meta Platforms Inc.

The White House endorsed such moves although critics said it didn’t push the Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer hard enough. Schumer didn’t put a major tech reform bill up for a vote last year.

A senior administration official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to brief reporters, conceded shifting liability for cybersecurity breaches to software companies would require legislative action and was part of a long-term process that could take as long as a decade. The official added that the administration didn’t expect to see a new law on the books within the next year.

The next presidential election is less than two years away, raising the question of whether the administration can even come close to delivering the most ambitious goal of its new strategy to protect Americans from hackers.

The senior official later told Bloomberg News that the administration would seek to capitalize on bipartisan support for greater cybersecurity. However, short of legislative action, customers could bring civil claims against software and device manufacturers in a bid to improve security standards and shape market forces, an approach the administration endorses, the official said.

The official said there was room for collaboration with the software industry rather than confrontation. In addition, the administration hopes that its plan will force companies to do better in securing its software to win customers in a competitive marketplace, the official said.

The administration’s strategy also promises a stronger stance against ransomware, in which criminals encrypt a victim’s files until an extortion fee is paid. (Many attackers now steal files, too, and threaten to post them publicly unless paid).

In increasingly aggressive approach to disrupting such groups, the Justice Department last year closed down crypto exchanges used by ransomware criminals through the use of sanctions and the FBI earlier this year took down the Hive ransomware group by seizing control of servers and websites used by its members in coordination with German and Dutch officials.

The strategy will also seek to expand minimum cybersecurity requirements for critical infrastructure sectors without additional legislation, likely to be one of its most achievable aims.

Anne Neuberger, deputy national security adviser for cyber and emerging technology, told reporters the administration recognized information-sharing and partnership with industry alone was inadequate to overcome risks to US critical infrastructure and that the administration now needs to “implement minimum mandates.”

She added that the administration had already put in place minimum cybersecurity requirements for pipelines and railways and would announce them for additional industries, though she did not say which ones.

Neuberger said the US government can use purchases to shape a market. As a New Yorker, she said she appreciates restaurant hygiene ratings that are included entrance doors, and that labeling software and devices could similarly enable customers to make more secure choices.

Chris Inglis, who worked on the strategy during his tenure as Biden’s national cyber director, told Bloomberg News during his final days in the post last month that Congress “gets a vote” on the plan.

“We will continue to work with the Congress to determine what they want to do, what they’re willing to do, but we need to use executive authorities as well,” he said. “The regulatory framework that I think will emerge has to benefit from a high degree of consultation and the lightest possible touch and some degree of harmonization, so we don’t actually exercise some duplication of effort which wastes time in one or more corners.”

The World

China joins Russia in refusing to agree to G-20 stand on war

encounter on the sidelines of the meeting, their first in-person encounter since the war began a year ago.

“I told the foreign minister what I and so many others said last week at the United Nations, and what so many G-20 foreign ministers said today: End this war of aggression, engage in meaningful diplomacy that can produce a just and durable peace,” Blinken told reporters, referring to a UN vote condemning Russia’s invasion.

Earlier Thursday, China had emphasized the need for G-20 diplomats to build off a consensus at the November summit in Bali, signaling an effort to move past divisions over the conflict.

“We should build on our good work in Bali and press ahead for greater progress,” Qin said.

“Given the state of polarization around Ukraine, a consensus could not be reached,” India’s top diplomat Subrahmanyam Jaishankar told reporters after a meeting of the G-20 foreign ministers in New Delhi on Thursday. “There are occasions when you don’t have an agreement among G-20 countries.” India later issued a chairman’s statement that confirmed Russia and China didn’t agree to language that G-20 leaders had negotiated in Bali, Indonesia, only four months ago. It said “most members strongly condemned the war in Ukraine, and stressed it is causing immense human suffering” through inflation, food security and other risks.

A similar meeting of G-20 finance ministers and central bank heads over the weekend also failed to reach a consensus on wording,

forcing India as host to issue a chair’s summary instead of a joint communique. The lack of consensus raises questions over whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi can bridge the divide in time for a leaders’ summit in September.

Much depends on the state of US-China relations, which have spiraled in the wake of a positive meeting between leaders Joe Biden and Xi Jinping in November. The US downing of an alleged Chinese spy balloon led to the postponement of a trip by Secretary of State Antony Blinken to Beijing, which sparked a new round of tit-for-tat recriminations by the world’s biggest economies.

In India on Thursday, Blinken pressed Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov to end the invasion during a brief and unexpected

The circumstances of the meeting were unclear. During a stop in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, on Wednesday, Blinken said he had “no plans” to meet Lavrov or China’s foreign minister, Qin Gang, at the G-20. Yet Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, said Blinken approached Lavrov and “we didn’t push him away.”

Lavrov “disregarded in his usual manner” what Blinken told him, Zakharova said in dismissive comments on state television. “It doesn’t deserve our attention. There was nothing interesting.”

The Kremlin and Russian media outlets have adhered to the official euphemism “special military operation” to describe the yearlong invasion of Ukraine. Calling the conflict a “war” has been made a criminal offense in Russia. China has also avoided using the word “war.”

Qin also met Jaishankar on Thursday, according to a statement from China’s Foreign Ministry. Qin called for efforts “to promote normalized management of the border situation at an early date,” the ministry said.

The two countries’ troops clashed on their long-disputed border in 2020, leading to at least 20 deaths on the Indian side. Tensions between the countries over border issues linger, and the incident sent anti-China business sentiment soaring in India.

Since then, India has banned the apps of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., Tencent Holdings Ltd. and ByteDance Ltd., and raided, probed and penalized a raft of other Chinese tech companies from phone makers to fintech service providers.

China’s No. 2 diplomat also met Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly, according to the Foreign Ministry in Beijing. He called accusations that Beijing interfered in Canada’s elections “nonsense.”

Bloomberg News

US, Sokor plan joint military drill set to anger Pyongyang

THE US and South Korea plan to hold large-scale military drills in a move set to anger Pyongyang, which has promised an unprecedented response to the exercises and threatened to turn the Pacific Ocean into its “firing range.”

The two allies will hold their “Freedom Shield” exercise from March 13 to 23, which will bolster a “joint defense posture in the face of North Korea’s nuclear and missile threat,” the militaries from the US and South Korea said Friday in a statement.

The drills would feature largescale joint outdoor movement training, including joint landing training and reflect “modified security environments” as a result of

North Korean advancements in its missile and nuclear arms capabilities, the statement read.

Kim Yo Jong, the influential sister of the North Korean leader, last month in a speech to the ruling party, threatened retaliation against joint drills by saying “there is no change in our will to make the worst maniacs escalating the tensions pay the price for their action.”

She also made the “firing range” comment, hinting the state could start testing whether its warhead designs can withstand the heat of reentering the atmosphere.

The last time North Korea launched a missile into the Pacific was October 2022, when it fired a Hwasong-12 intermediate-range

ballistic missile over Japan, flying at a distance of 4,600 kilometers, and marking the longest range traveled by a North Korean missile to date.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, who took office in May, brought back joint military exercises with his country’s US ally.

The drills had been scaled down or halted under former President Donald Trump, who was hoping the move would facilitate his nuclear negotiations with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Trump’s three meetings with Kim from 2018, however, led to no concrete steps to wind down Pyongyang’s nuclear program, which only grew in strength and size as the in-person diplomacy

eventually fizzled.

North Korea for decades has called the joint exercises a prelude to an invasion and nuclear war. Last month, it test fired an intercontinental ballistic missile designed to deliver a nuclear warhead to the American mainland a day after its Foreign Ministry threatened the US with “unprecedentedly persistent and strong counteractions” for holding joint military exercises with South Korea.  Japan, which North Korea has listed as one of its mortal enemies, has joined several drills with the US in South Korea in recent months but there was no indication if its military would take part in the upcoming exercises. Bloomberg News

WHY SARA NETANYAHU’S HAIR SALON TRIP ENDED WITH RIOT POLICE

JERUSALEM—The scene signaled a grave national emergency—dozens of riot police charged through the streets of Tel Aviv as crowds of anti-government protesters howled and roared. Their mission: to rescue Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s wife from a swanky salon where she was getting her hair done.

The protesters’ Wednesday night siege of the beauty parlor, accompanied by chants of “shame, shame,” cast a spotlight on Sara Netanyahu, a divisive figure long intertwined with her husband’s political career.

She has drawn scorn for a reputation of living a lavish lifestyle at the taxpayers’ expense—an image only reinforced by her decision to get her hair done in the center of a city wracked by unrest that turned violent Wednesday for the first time.

Israelis have also accused Netanyahu, a former air hostess turned educational psychologist, of wielding undue influence over her husband, pressuring him over political appointments and policy issues.

Here’s a look at what has made Sara Netanyahu so controversial over some three decades on the political stage.

Hey, big spender SARA NETANYAHU , 64, has garnered

sensational headlines over the years for allegedly misappropriating public funds, overspending on household expenses and pocketing gifts from world leaders, among other things. In 2019, she accepted a plea bargain to settle accusations that she misused $100,000 in public funds to order lavish meals from celebrity chefs at the prime minister’s official residence, although she already had cooks on the government payroll.

She also has become entangled in Benjamin Netanyahu’s corruption trial, which has precipitated the country’s yearslong political crisis.

In exchange for political favors, the prime minister allegedly accepted gifts from billionaire friends that included tens of thousands of dollars in crates of champagne and extravagant jewelry for Sara Netanyahu, and struck backroom deals with newspaper publishers aimed at scoring more favorable coverage of his wife. He denies all wrongdoing.

Most recently, a parliamentary committee approved new spending money for the Netanyahus, including an increase of thousands of dollars each year in clothing and makeup expenses for Sara Netanyahu.

“The general feeling is that this is a very greedy couple,” said Israeli journalist

Amir Oren. “It does have a sort of Marie Antoinette vibe.”

Temper tantrums

OVER the years, Sara Netanyahu’s household help has consistently accused her of explosive tirades and mistreatment. In one case, a leaked phone conversation surfaced of Netanyahu screaming at her publicist about how a gossip column omitted a mention of her educational credentials.

In another, the family’s nanny said Netanyahu fired her for burning a pot of soup, kicking her onto the curb without her clothes or passport.

Two domestic workers have won damages in lawsuits accusing Netanyahu of making their lives miserable. In court testimony, one of them revealed Netanyahu’s taste for pink champagne and other expensive luxuries. Friends and staff over the years have shared accounts about Netanyahu’s extreme outbursts and unhealthy obsession with cleanliness.

Netanyahu’s family has depicted themselves as the casualties of a press war. They brought a libel suit against Ehud Olmert, a former prime minister, after he described them as being “mentally ill.”

Calling the shots?

CRITICS of Netanyahu’s family have accused

Sara Netanyahu of interference in the prime minister’s decision making. Former officials have testified recently in court that she wielded undue influence over top security appointments. In January, a retired general testified that Sara Netanyahu interviewed him for 45 minutes for the job of the prime minister’s military secretary, after Benjamin Netanyahu had left the room. “For the last few years, there has been no appointment of a senior official that was not interviewed or influenced by Sara,” said Gayil Talshir, professor of political science at Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

She has been accused of pushing her husband further to the right and helping drive his government’s determination to overhaul the country’s judiciary—a plan that has prompted some of the largest protests in Israeli history and drawn widespread condemnation from across Israeli society and around the world. Given her past legal troubles, critics argue, she has just as much stake in the government’s plan to weaken the court system as her husband. Sara Netanyahu and her son, Yair—similarly a lightning rod for controversy—have repeatedly incited against Israel’s “elites”—the media, the bureaucrats, the civil servants. Benjamin Netanyahu insists that his wife keeps out of affairs of state. AP

CHINA and Russia refused to join other Group of 20 nations in a statement in which most members condemned Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine, showing divisions remain entrenched on how to end a conflict that has roiled the global economy.

Biden admin’s cyber plan would hold software makers responsible in hacks

A12 SAturdAy, MArch 4, 2023 mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph

Editor: Jun Lomibao

PHILIPPINE Sports Commission (PSC) chairman Richard Bachmann lead the ribbon-cutting ceremony in the Cebu facility with (from left) PSC commissioners Edward Hayco and Walter Torres, Olympian Elreen Ando and PSC commissioner Olivia “Bong’’ Coo

PSC eyes consolidated calendar

THE Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) wants a consolidated national calendar and a more comprehensive grassroots program aimed at producing future world-class athletes.

“ We don’t have a lot of resources so a consolidated calendar would help us all avoid duplications, overlaps and allow us to prepare better,” PSC chairman Richard Bachmann said.

We have to continue to cultivate the grassroots in order to feed the elite level with fresh talents,” added Bachmann, who also intends to establish satellite offices all over the country “to make sure that the agency has point persons to oversee the grassroots program in their respective areas.”

Bachmann and PSC commissioners Edward Hayco, Olivia “Bong’’ Coo and Walter Torres visited the Cebu City Sports Commission and Local School Board at the Labangon Elementary School and the Cebu City Sports Center where they observed local sports activities.

The PSC officials also helped launched the Guinness record attempt for the largest rhythmic gymnastics hula hoop workout.

They also graced the inauguration of the PSC Regional Training Center for weightlifting with Tokyo Olympian and Southeast Asian Games medalist Elreen Ando, who hails from Carreta in Cebu City.

This is a good way to have more Elreen Andos and Hidilyn Diazes in Philippine sports,” Bachmann said. “I hope we can develop more homegrown talent and strengthen our national team, and to nourish our chances of winning more Olympic gold medals in the future.”

Fil-French rules table tennis trials

EDOUARD VALENET IMPERIAL and Eljey Dan Tormis earned berths in the national team to the Cambodia 32nd Southeast Asian Games following their strong performance in the recent Philippine Table Tennis Federation Inc. (PTTF) National Selection 2023 in Puerto Princesa City.

I mperial and Tormis are firsttime members of the national team, where they will be joined by female players Kheith Rhynne Cruz, Angelou Joyce Lauden, Rose Jean Fadol and Sendrina Andrea Balatbat.

R ichard Gonzales and John Russel

Misal are seeded in the national team because of their doubles silver medal at the Hanoi 31st SEA Games last year, along with Jann Mari Nayre and Emy Rose Dael who are currently training in Europe.

T he Filipino-French Imperial won nine of his 10 matches in the third and final round of the selection process, while Tormis, a 19-year-old from the Hua Ching Foundation of philanthropist Bill Yap in Mandaue City, placed second with an 8-2 win-loss record.

C ruz went undefeated in 12 matches in the third round of the women’s division, followed by Laude (11-1), Fadol (9-3) and Balatbat (8-4).

The selection began with all players—31 men and 30 women— grouped and played a single roundrobin format with the group winners advancing to the next round.

A ll group winners were bracketed into four for another single roundrobin with the top two in each group making it to the third and final round where they play another set of round-robin this time with the one national player from the men and three from the women included.

‘IDES OF MARCH’ FOR L.A. LAKERS?

LEBRON JAMES is expected to miss most of March with an injured tendon in his right foot, the Los Angeles Lakers said on Thursday.

I f that timetable holds, the Lakers will have to find a way to stay in the playoff race without the league’s alltime scoring leader.

The Lakers did not disclose the full extent of the injury, saying it was a tendon issue and that he will be “reevaluated in approximately three weeks.” If James misses three more weeks, starting with Thursday, that would keep him out for at least 10 of the Lakers’ final 19 games.

James was hurt in the Lakers’ win at Dallas on Sunday. He has already

missed two games with the injury, with the Lakers splitting those contests.

In the short term, we’ll all have to pull in the same direction,” Lakers coach Darvin Ham said after his team—without James and Anthony Davis—beat Oklahoma City, 123-117, on Wednesday.

At 30-33, the Lakers are 11th in the Western Conference standings, one game from the No. 10 spot—and the last spot in the play-in round. They’re also just 2 1/2 games back of sixth place, and the final guaranteed playoff spot.

That’s good news, and so is what’s left for the Lakers on the schedule. Only seven of their final 19 games are against teams that currently

have records over .500—with several games against other teams jostling for position in the West postseason chase.

The Lakers start a five-game homestand Friday against Minnesota.

James leads the Lakers in scoring at 29.5 points per game. He said at the All-Star break last month that the team’s closing stretch this season would be some of the most important games he has played—noting he didn’t want to miss the postseason for a second consecutive year.

The Lakers are 6-10 without him in the lineup this season, and 24-23 in games he has appeared.

I f the timetable does not significantly change, this would be only the third time in James’s 20year career that he misses at least 10

Bethel Academy prevails in battle of Cavite teams in PNVF U18 meet

BETHEL Academy stood out in a battle of Cavite teams following a hardearned 25-21, 21-25, 25-19 victory over Santo Niño de Praga (SNP) in the Philippine National Volleyball Federation (PNVF) U-18 Championships on Friday at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum.

The girls have the skills, the technics and the fundamentals, what they need to polish is their attitude toward a match—to never doubt themselves,” said Ludlo Dulce, coach of Bethel Academy that is playing out of the City of General Trias in the tournament organized by the PNVF headed by Ramon “Tats” Suzara.

The victory was the second straight for Bethel Academy, while the loss sent the Trece Martires-based SNP to its first defeat in four matches.

Santa Rosa City beat Canossa Academy of Lipa City (1-1), 25-18, 25-15, to improve to 2-1 won-lost in Pool C in the other girls match

De La Salle-Lipa defeated New Gen Volleyball Club (103) of Santa Cruz (Laguna), 25-11, 25-7, to stay unbeaten in two matches in Pool A and Nagcarlan (Laguna) rallied past Parañaque Thunderbolts Club (1-2), 21-25, 25-14, 25-20, to improve to 2-2 in Pool B also of girls action.

But I’m really happy that the girls have learned to trust each other— from setter, libero to our  spikers—to just play their game,” said Dulce, who played varsity volleyball for the Lyceum of the Philippines University from 2012 to 2017.

Bethel Academy’s 17-year-old middle blocker Mary Shane Retarta, open spiker Atasha Doroja, setter Marga Adia, libero Alyana Viniegra and spiker April Tre-inta combined forces in the third set to quash their opponents’ bid to turn the game around.

consecutive games.

He missed a 20-game stretch late in the 2020-21 season with an ankle sprain, and a 17-game stretch in the 2018-19 season with a groin injury. Those stints both came since he joined the Lakers; he never had that long of an extended absence during his times with Cleveland or Miami.

James has logged nearly 65,000 minutes in regular-season and playoff games since entering the league— almost 20,000 more than any other player in that span.

AN injured LeBron James will be out three weeks forcing the Lakers to find a way to stay in the playoff race without the league’s all-time

Southwoods extends lead to 19 over Eastridge on Otake’s 34 pts

MANILA Southwoods showed the depth of its talents on Friday by posting 127 points at Club Filipino de Cebu in the penultimate round of the 74th Philippine Amateur Men’s Interclub golf team championships in Cebu.   T hree players scored in the 30s, led by Masaichi Otake’s 34, as Southwoods pulled away with 401 points going into the final day at the Cebu Country Club

(CCC) on Saturday.

O take, bouncing back from a pedestrian 29 on Friday, bucked three pickups with an eagle and four birdies to fuel Southwoods’ assault.

Ryan Monsalve and Shinichi Suz u ki added 33 and 32, respectively. One of the 28 of Kristoffer Arevalo and Lanz William Uy counted.

Despite the 19-point lead over Eastridge, Southwoods captain Thirdy Escano was disappointed over his team’s lackluster score.

Any score below 130 is unacceptable,” said Escano who gave his players a piece of his mind. “This is not the score that we trained hard for. It seemed the players were just contented beating their flight mates.”

E scano said he wanted his players to excel and become successful pros someday like Tom Kim and Yuto Katsuragawa.

How can we achieve that if we score poorly?” he asked.

Setting aside his disappointment, Escano said he can now sleep soundly after staving off the initial challenge posed by Eastridge.

The Binangonan-based squad posted 120 points, drawing 31 from Tonton Asistio, the 30s from Timothy Clark Co and Ronel Tagaan, and 29 from Loyd Labrador.

O n 382, Eastridge leads CCC by six points.   C arl Almario and Jacob Cajita each scored 34 points to lead CCC which matched Eastridge’s output. Bayani Garcia and Jufil Sato counted with 28 and 24, respectively.   Del Monte also struggled with 119 to bring its total to 359. Scoring for the team were Raul Minoza 31, Mark Ivan Parilla 30, Julius Langamin 30 and Enzo Fregil 28.   I n the hotly-contested Founders division, the Orchard took a twopoint lead over Riviera and Alabang after tallying 115 points.

Tae Won Kim and Young Sook Kim posted 31 and 30, respectively as the Orchard hiked its total to 340.   R iviera was led by Patrick Gene Tambalque who turned in 33 points while Alabang leaned on a pair of 29s from Justin Tambunting and Wan Soo Kim.

A t ight battle also shaped up in the Aviator class with CCC Team 2 erecting a two-point lead over Alta Vista.

Marco Mendoza sparkled for CCC Team 2 with 38 points while Alta Vista drew 32 from Yap Gabriel Jr.   C lub Filipino de Cebu leads the Sportswriters division with 288 points while Alta Vista Team 2 held sway in the Friendship with 255.

MASAICHI OTAKE leads Manila Southwoods’ charge with a 34.

YULO ON TRACK IN DOHA

CARLOS “CALOY” YULO is going 3-for-3 in Doha after reaching the finals of parallel bars and vault to add to a gold medal-potential floor exercise in the International Gymnastics Federation Artistic World Cup Series on Friday at the Aspire Dome in the Qatari capital.

Yulo got 14.933 points—8.633 in execution and 6.3 in difficulty— in topping the qualifiers in the bars, an event where he clinched bronze at last year’s world championships in Liverpool.

T he 22-year-old Tokyo Olympian went on to score 14.800 points

Magsayo fights Figueroa in Ontario

Center Arena in Ontario, California.

T he fight is for the interim World Boxing Council (WBC) featherweight belt—enough for Magsayo to build a new path to becoming world champion again.

Magsayo, 27, said he prepared hard for Figueroa to redeem himself from his split decision loss to Mexican Rey Vargas last July 9, losing

his world title in his first defense.

T he pride of Tagbilaran City admitted in the pre-fight news conference that the 26-year-old Figueroa would definitely be a tough customer.

“ For this fight, it’s going to be different. Rey Vargas is a running man. And this guy [Figueroa] comes to fight,” Magsayo said. “So big is the

to also rule the vault, the artistic gymnastics discipline he dominated at the Kitakyushu worlds in 2021.

H e was second in his pet event floor exercise—he was world champion in the discipline in 2019, earning him a slot to the Tokyo Games—to fulfill his promise of doing better in Doha than in the Cottbus first lef where he got bronze in the bars.

T he finals are set Saturday.

Phenomenal,” Gymnastics Association of the Philippines (GAP) President Cynthia Carrion-Norton told BusinessMirror on Friday through an internet call. “The

difference and I expect a brawl.”

Brandon Figueroa is not going to back out,” he said, adding “he comes forward.”

Trained by Marvin Somodio, Magsayo sports a 24-1 win-loss record with 16 knockouts to Figueroa to 23-1-1 win-loss-draw record with 18 knockouts.

Whatever happens in this fight, whatever style he is going to do, forward, backward and everything, we are going to be ready for that,” Magsayo said. “I

judges approached me and said that I have a real good best athlete in my hands.” “That’s Caloy when he’s focusing,” she added. U krain’s Illia Kovtun (14.766) and Armenia’s Artur Davyatan (14.733) were second and third behind Yulo in the bars, with Israel’s Artem Dolgopyat (14.766) and Japan’s Kazuki Minami (14.566) also finishing behind the pride of Leveriza in the vault.

“ It’s not only his skill but the way he performs like a good athlete,” Carrion-Norton said. “They say he’s much better than the Olympic champion [Dolgopyat] in style.”

Yulo placed second in the floor exercise qualification Thursday with 14.500 behind Dolgopyat (14.600).

Josef Ramos

have been fighting good fighters, good body punchers and I can take it.”

Figueroa, on the other hand, said that he “can break” Magsayo into pieces with his height, reach and power. I look to fight and I’d go there, dominate my opponent, break him down, go in there, and take him out,” Figueroa said. “That’s my job.” F igueroa added: “I’m not a big talker. I don’t talk too much but there’s going to be a knockdown in this fight.” Josef Ramos

BETHEL Academy goes 2-0 won-lost while dealing over Santo Niño de Praga its fist defeat in four matches.