Ling inflation are expected to support the Philippines’s manufacturing sector in the coming months, even as the factory purchasing managers’ index (PMI) showed a slowdown in February, according to a global financial analytics firm.
In its latest report, S&P Global Market Intelligence noted that the country’s PMI score stood at 51 in February. This marks a slight decline for the second consecutive month from 52.3 in January and is below December 2024’s 32-month high of 54.3.
Per S&P Global Market Intelligence, manufacturing conditions
have remained in expansion territory for the past 18 months, but the latest increase was modest and the weakest in nearly a year.
“Underpinning the improvement across the Filipino manufacturing sector was a further improvement in demand trends and another monthly rise in new orders,” the report stated.
The report also noted that after a period of robust growth in late 2024, the pace of expansion moderated in February.
“The expansion in new factory orders was the weakest in seven months. Growth in new export orders also cooled. Subsequently, the expansion in production also moderated, with output growth at its
softest since July 2024,” it added. With demand cooling and production requirements adjusting, manufacturers scaled back on purchasing activity, marking the slowest rate of increase in 15 months. However, firms also reported a rise in backlogs for the first time in five months, indicating some pressure on capacity.
“Although the rate of accumulation in work in-hand was modest, it was the most pronounced seen in nearly two years,” the report said. “Consequently, companies utilized their inventories to meet order requirements and thereby reduced their input stock holdings, signifying the first decrease in three months.”
Nonetheless, even if the con-
fidence weakened to a 10-month low, firms remained optimistic about demand trends, with expectations that election-related spending could provide a boost.
Maryam Baluch, S&P Global Market Intelligence economist, said that while the latest data indicated that output and new orders expanded at a slower pace, employment levels rose for the first time in three months as companies worked to meet demand.
“Meanwhile, inflationary pressures eased, thus suggesting that the central bank will continue to proceed with a loosening of its monetary policy. This could in turn boost somewhat weakened business confidence and support further new order growth,” Baluch said.
MAY STRAIN POWER GRID
By Lenie Lectura
THE Department of Energy (DOE) released on Monday afternoon the demand forecast for the year, possibly reaching 14,769 megawatts (MW) for Luzon, 3,111 MW for Visayas, and 2,789 MW for Mindanao.
The numbers are higher than last year’s actual peak demand of 14,016MW in Luzon recorded last April 24; 2,681MW in Visayas on May 21,2024 and 2,577MW in Mindanao on May 22, 2024.
“Without mindful consumption, this surge could strain the power grid, potentially leading to supply challenges and price fluctuations in the spot market,” DOE Secretary Raphael P.M. Lotilla said. In terms of supply for the year, the DOE said the maximum adjusted available generating capacity for Luzon is at 15,504 MW in Luzon, 3,040 MW in Visayas and 3,314 MW in Mindanao as outlined in the Grid Operating Maintenance Program (GOMP) 2025-2027 and committed power projects for 2025. The agency said there are new power projects under testing and commissioning those could add 1,890 MW in Luzon and 193 MW in Visayas. Additionally, the Luzon-Visayas and Visayas-Mindanao high-voltage direct current (HVDC) interconnections enhance supply availability and improve reserve margins by enabling capacity sharing of 250 MW and 450 MW, respectively. Meanwhile, with this year’s La Niña, rainfall is expected to help moderate rising temperatures across the country. The National Irrigation Administration (NIA) has also assured the DOE that water releases will continue until June or July. This will be particularly beneficial for the Pantabangan and Magat dams, which serve both irrigation needs and the energy sector by helping meet Luzon’s power requirements. As temperatures rise with the onset of the summer season, the DOE
By Reine Juvierre S. Alberto @reine_alberto
COIN deposit machines (CoDMs) deployed by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) have collected P1.308 billion as of February 15, and the central bank targets doubling the number of machines by the second half of the year.
Since the launch of 25 CoDMs on June 20, 2023, the total coin collection reached P1.308 billion. This amount is 5.91 percent higher than the P1.235 billion collected last month, January 15, 2025.
In terms of pieces, the BSP said 326.188 million pieces of coins have been deposited. This is a 4.99-percent increase from the 310.679 million pieces of coins deposited in the previous month.
Transactions made through the CoDMs reached 299,457 deposits since the program’s launch. Deposits also increased by 5.08 percent from the 284,974 transactions last month.
The CoDMs accept 1 centavo, 5 centavos, 10 centavos, 25 centavos, P1, P5, P10 and P20 coins.
All denominations of the BSP Coin Series and New Generation Currency (NGC) Coin Series are accepted by the machine.
BSP Deputy Governor Bernadette Romulo-Puyat told BusinessMirror that 25 more CoDMs will be deployed in the second half of 2025.
“We will expand the project and install an additional 25 CoDMs nationwide this year,” Romulo-Puyat said.
The BSP launched the CoDM Project in partner retail establishments across the Greater Manila Area to encourage the public to deposit idle coins in order to improve coin re-circulation in the country. The central bank had explained then that keeping millions of coins stuck in private places is not fiscally sound, because producing new coins is quite costly.
The deployment of 25 CoDMs in select retail establishments of SM Store, Robinsons Supermarket and Festival Mall in the Greater Manila Area is the first phase of the project’s implementation.
The initiative aims to address
TBy Ada Pelonia @adapelonia
HE country’s earnings from coconut oil exports surged to over $2 billion last year as international quotations improved significantly, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
Figures from the PSA showed that the value of crude and not chemically modified coconut oil exports jumped by 85.4 percent to $2.19 billion from $1.18 billion in 2023.
Crude coconut oil grew by 51.3 percent to $1.24 billion in 2024 from $819.69 million, while coconut oil not chemically modified skyrocketed by 163 percent to $946.37 million from $359.78 million, based on PSA data.
Netherlands was the top market of the Philippines’s coconut oil exports last year at $604.65 million, while the United States trailed at $537.53 million.
Other top markets for the country’s shipments of the tropical oil were Malaysia at $312.21 million, Indonesia at $138.94 million, Italy at $127.21 million, and China at $110.32 million.
PSA data also showed that the volume of coconut oil exports reached 1.67 million metric tons (MMT) in 2024, higher than the 1.13 MMT
outbound shipments recorded in the previous year.
The United Coconut Association of the Philippines (Ucap) attributed the spike in coconut oil prices last year to the tightness in coconut supply caused by El Niño and rising global demand.
Ucap said the average quotation of coconut oil settled at $1,512 per metric ton (MT) in 2024, or 40.78 percent higher than the average $1,074 per MT recorded in the previous year. Currently, it averages $1,980 per MT.
The industry group traced the spike in coconut oil prices to a combination of factors. For one, El Niño stressed coconut trees, leading to a 20-percent reduction in yield since water scarcity affected productivity.
Ucap said the booming demand for the tropical oil globally had also put pressure on prices. This rising demand was traced to a shift in market preference, where coconut oil is seen as a “more sustainable, organic, and natural alternative raw material” for a variety of uses such as culinary trends and personal care.
“The combination of diminished supply due to El Niño and the persistent growth in global demand for coconut products have created the perfect storm for a spike in coconut oil prices over recent months.”
reminded the public to adopt energy efficiency measures to manage electricity consumption and ensure the stability of the country’s power supply. On Monday, several local government units suspended face-to-face classes due to high level of heat index.
To help maintain a stable and reliable energy supply, the DOE encourages all consumers to adopt practical and effective demandside management strategies without compromising productivity and operational performance. This includes refraining from or rescheduling high-energy-consuming activities during peak hours— typically from 11am to 3pm on weekdays and 6pm to 9pm on weekends in Luzon, and from 11am to 3pm and 6pm to 9pm in Visayas and Mindanao—where electricity demand is at its highest. By shifting energy-intensive operations to off-peak hours, consumers can help ease the strain on the grid, improve energy efficiency, and contribute to a more sustainable power system.
The DOE underscores the importance of collective action in energy conservation and sustainable consumption patterns. “By making simple adjustments in daily routines, consumers can contribute to a more sustainable and efficient use of electricity, helping to prevent power interruptions and ensuring that energy resources remain sufficient throughout the summer season,” Lotilla added.
PHL won’t suffer same fate as Ukraine–Romualdez
By Malou Talosig-Bartolome
PHILIPPINE ambassador to Washington D.C. Jose Romualdez said he does not think that the country would suffer the same fate as Ukraine, which is now facing the possibility of waging war against Russia without the help of the Americans.
“First of all, there is no conflict—I mean a direct conflict— that is happening unlike in Ukraine,” Romualdez told the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines (Focap).
Romualdez said the objective of their heightened diplomatic and military engagements with the Americans is to “deter any potential conflict” in the face of Chinese increasing aggression in the South China Sea .
“The strategy is for deterrence, which is exactly what we are working on,” he said. The US has been supporting Ukraine in the war against Russia for the past three years since Russia invaded Ukraine.
However, over the weekend, Trump and Vice President JD Vance berated Ukrainian President
Volodymyr Zelensky during their meeting in front of reporters in the Oval Office. This, after Trump had made it clear during his campaign that he would end the Ukraine-Russia War, claiming that Russian President Vladimir Putin trusts him.
The fiery exchange between Trump, Vance and Zelensky raised doubts and questions about the US commitment to European security outside Ukraine. The US has a treaty obligation with Nato: any attack on a Nato ally is considered an attack on America.
The Philippines and the US also have a 73-year old Mutual Defense Treaty, negotiated and signed after World War II, which obliges one to help another if attacked by an aggressor. The treaty, however, is ambivalent on whether the scope includes the South China Sea, although both the Trump 1.0 and Biden administrations have previously assured Manila that the MDT covers any attack on military or Philippine Coast Guard assets in the South China Sea.
According to Romualdez, aside from the US, the Philippines has also recently boosted its bilateral defense ties with other like-minded
countries like Japan and Australia by holding military exercises with them.
He stressed, though, that the long-term objective of the Philippines is to have a credible defense force, which does not depend on the help of the US and other allies.
At the moment, the Philippines is holding on to the promises made by aides of US President Donald Trump that the defense alliance remains “ironclad.”
Romualdez has established good network relations with both the Republicans and Democrats, since he was stationed in Washington D.C. during the first term of the Trump administration and later on during the Biden administration.
From all indications, he said, Trump 2.0 is still committed to the Philippines.
The State Department has waived the freeze on aid to the Philippines worth US$ 336 million. This is part of the US$500million Foreign Military Assistance (FMA) program allocated last year to the Philippine armed forces by the US Congress.
Romualdez said he hopes the rest of the US$164 million FMA will be given when the 90-day review of all foreign aid is lifted. He also said that Republican Sen. Bill Hagerty, a member of the US Senate Foreign Relations
Committee, and Democrat Sen. Tim Kaine have indicated that they would push for additional US$2.5-billion allocation for the modernization of the Philippine armed forces in the next four to five years.
Aside from this, the Filipino diplomat believes that the Luzon Economic Corridor, the infrastructure-heavy initiative by the US and Japan to stimulate economic growth in Metro Manila, Subic, Clark and Batangas, will continue.
“While we have this special relationship that we have with the United States, we’re not dependent only on them. We are inviting other countries to join us in this effort to help the Philippines be economically secure so that we can play a major part in precisely deterring any country from being a dominant in this market,” he explained. He conceded, though, that the developments in the White House are keeping him awake because “it can very well affect our partnerships down the road.”
“I think what President Trump says and what he does is something that we just have to simply take with the grain of salt, so to speak, because that’s the way he is. His objective to find peace is noble. How he is going to achieve it is what we have to watch out for,” Romualdez said.
hit the country. DA estimated that El Niño caused at least P15 billion worth of damage to the agriculture sector.
Labor’s demand LABOR groups want the government and employers to implement stronger heat protection measures as the country is expected to face extreme temperatures this week.
The groups said extreme heat poses serious health risks—particularly for those working outdoors or in poorly ventilated spaces.
The Federation of Free Workers (FFW) warned on Monday that the ongoing heat surge is part of a broader climate crisis, which the government should have been better prepared for.
FFW Vice President Julius Cainglet said the group had already raised concerns about heat stress as early as November, when the country was reeling from the impact of super typhoons.
“We are yet again experiencing the impact of climate change. The urgency comes from the report of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) at the beginning of [29th Conference of the Parties Climate Summit], which said hotter days have been experienced by the world and hotter days lie ahead. Extreme heat is a hazard to workplace,” Cainglet told BusinessMirror. The WMO earlier confirmed that 2024 was the warmest year on record, with global temperatures exceeding the 1850 to 1900 average by more than 1.5 degrees Celsius.
It also reported that ocean warming had reached unprecedented levels, with temperatures rising even in the upper 2,000 meters—an alarming trend that contributed to last year’s extreme heat.
Given these conditions, FFW is pushing for companies to integrate extreme heat risks into their workplace safety protocols.
address critical gaps in the supply chain, particularly for highvalue crops and fishery products.
Each ice plant will have a daily production capacity of around 10 metric tons (MT), he added. Currently, the spoilage of high-value crops ranges from 35 to 40 percent.
Laurel noted that the Philippine Fisheries Development Authority (PFDA) and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) could provide the funding for these sustainable ice plants.
“With proper cold storage and ice facilities, farmers and fishermen could expand their market reach, selling their products to areas farther from their production sites without relying on expensive refrigerated trucks,” the DA said. Ada Pelonia
research grants and funding opportunities aimed at developing new techniques, materials, and designs.
the need to improve digital infrastructure particularly in rural areas to ensure that all MSMEs can participate in the digital economy.
“The government should offer affordable digital literacy training programs to equip MSMEs with the skills needed to leverage digital tools for marketing, sales, and operations,” added the PIDS study.
In addition, it noted that ecommerce adoption should be prioritized by supporting the development of platforms which will cater to the specific needs of cultural MSMEs to help them access wider markets.
To preserve cultural heritage, the study said cultural MSMEs must also be supported through
“Likewise, design centers should be established to foster collaboration among artisans, designers, and technologists, driving innovation,” the paper said.
The study also noted that strengthening intellectual property protections for traditional designs will help safeguard heritage while encouraging growth.
The study was published on the website of PIDS, and was written by authors June Ann J. Casimiro, Karenina B. Romualdo, and Via Shane R. Santiago. The authors highlighted the need to protect the country’s cultural MSMEs, saying those engaged in traditional expressions such as crafts, textiles, and culinary arts, are “vital” for preserving heritage and driving local economic growth.
The group said workplaces’ occupational safety and health committee, where workers must have representation, should actively address heatrelated hazards.
FFW also wants heat stress insurance included under social protection programs to ensure that workers keep earning even if operations are halted due to unsafe temperatures.
The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) has likewise urged immediate compliance by employers with Department of Labor and Employment’s Labor Advisory No. 8, Series of 2023, which mandates heat risk assessments, improved ventilation, and hydration access in workplaces.
TUCP President and House Deputy Speaker Raymond C. Mendoza said additional interventions—such as mandated heat breaks, a buddy system for monitoring workers, and heat stress education—must be enforced immediately.
“No worker should suffer heat exhaustion, collapse from dehydration, or, worse, die on the job due to preventable heat stress. Protecting workers from extreme heat is not optional but a shared moral and legal [obligation] of labor employers, government, and all stakeholders,” Mendoza said.
With outdoor workers in construction, agriculture, and logistics among the most vulnerable, the union stressed that stronger enforcement of workplace heat safety measures is crucial to preventing productivity losses and untimely deaths.
Samuel P. Medenilla, Justine Xyrah Garcia, Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco
in GCash and Maya, bank deposit through GoTyme or converted into a shopping voucher in SM Stores nationwide. There is no minimum and maximum amount required for the conversion of deposited coins to SM shopping vouchers. For crediting to GCash, the minimum amount is P1.00, while the maximum amount depends on the GCash wallet limit of the depositor.
Estrada assails Chinese social media posts claiming Palawan
By Butch Fernandez @butchfBM
AN angry chairman of the Senate Committee on National Defense on Monday slammed claims by Chinese quarters on social media claiming that the island-province of Palawan, calling it “a blatant affront to our nation’s sovereignty and another reckless distortion of historical truth.”
Lahat na lang , our territorial waters, aerospace at ngayon pati probinsya , inaangkin nila [Everything—our territorial waters, aerospace and now, even a province, they are claiming], a fuming Sen. Jinggoy Estrada said.
“This latest baseless and inaccessible historical fiction, as asserted by our National Historical Commission of the Philippines [NHCP], on Chinese social media platforms over the jurisdiction and ownership of Palawan Island” should be strongly objected to, he added.
“Palawan was never a part of China and the NHCP clearly asserted that these false claims circulating in Chinese social media platforms are devoid of any credible historical or legal foundation. Isa na namang fake news ito na
pinapakalat nila at mabuti na lang ay maagap ang NHCP sa pag- call out sa hindi kapani - paniwala at hinugot sa hangin na salaysay [This is another piece of fake news that they are spreading, and it’s good the NHCP was quick to call them out for this incredible narrative spun from thin air].”
He urged relevant government agencies to remain vigilant against dissemination of any form of disinformation or fringe propaganda challenging our territorial sovereignty. He stressed: “ Sa atin ang Palawan at malinaw na malinaw ito [Palawan is ours and this is abundantly clear]. No amount of internet trolling can change or rewrite history and create confusion to influence public perception.”
Palawan, a resource-rich province in the Mimaropa (Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon and Palawan) region, is often dubbed “the last frontier” and hosts some of the best fishing grounds, ecological systems and internationally acclaimed tourism draws.
The Kalayaan Island Group, a hotspot in tensions between the Philippines and China in the constant cat-and-mouse of maritime forces, is a municipality under Palawan.
Career Caap personnel back new chief
CAREER personnel of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (Caap) on Monday expressed full support and commitment to the leadership of their newly-appointed acting chief, Raul del Rosario.
In a statement the Caap personnel said that with his extensive background in aviation and defense, del Rosario is well-equipped to guide the agency in advancing the civil aviation sector.
Bringing over four decades of distinguished service, the statement said, “Director General del Rosario has held key leadership positions including vice president of the Clark International Airport Corporation and commander of the Western and Central Commands of the Armed Forces, among others. He holds a master’s degree in Defense Studies from the University of Canberra, Australia, and a bachelor’s degree from the Philippine Military Academy. Throughout his career, he has undertaken numerous specialized training programs including Flight Safety Management and Aircraft Accident Investigation.”
During the flag-raising ceremony on Monday, del Rosario reaffirmed his commitment to ensure continuity and advancing progress within the Caap.
“We will work tirelessly to ensure the continued modernization of our airports and air navigation systems, enhancing operational efficiency and passenger experience. Efforts will be made to further strengthen regulatory processes, allowing for smoother transactions and better services for airline operators and the flying public,” he added. CAAP stands united in its commitment to supporting Director General del Rosario’s vision of strengthening aviation safety, operational efficiency, and regulatory excellence. Under his leadership, CAAP is poised to further enhance the country’s air transport system, ensuring its safety, security, and global competitiveness.
The statement added: “Additionally, Caap extends its deepest gratitude to Captain Manuel Antonio Tamayo for his exemplary service and leadership. Captain Tamayo’s tenure as Director General was marked by his unwavering dedication to aviation safety, regulatory excellence, and industry development. His invaluable contributions have laid a strong foundation for CAAP’s continued progress.
“As CAAP embarks on this new chapter, it remains steadfast in its mission to uphold the highest standards of civil aviation.” Nonie Reyes
Govt to mitigate toll hike at Nlex
MALACAÑANG said the government is ready to mitigate the possible impact of the toll increase at the North Luzon Expressway (Nlex) to consumers.
In a press briefing on Monday, Palace Press Officer Clarissa Castro said the Palace is checking with concerned agencies if the toll increase will lead to higher prices of goods, particularly agricultural products, which are
delivered through the Nlex.
“We will check if there is a price increase and if there is, if it is reasonable,” she said in Filipino.
“It will still undergo study to make sure it will not be a burden to the people if there will be such an increase,” she added. She made the remark after the Alliance of Concerned Truck Owners and Organizations
‘Right policies’ key to AI-driven progress’
THE government can harness artificial intelligence (AI) for national development through the right policies, infrastructure and partnerships, Science and Technology
Secretary Renato Solidum Jr. said.
Congressman to senatorial bets: Why so silent on China?
By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz @joveemarie
ALEADER of the House of Representatives on Monday questioned the silence of several senatorial candidates regarding the growing threat of Chinese espionage in the Philippines, saying national security should be a top priority for anyone aspiring to become a senator.
House Assistant Majority Leader Jay Khonghun made the remark in the wake of the recent arrest of suspected foreign spies conducting surveillance on key government and military sites.
As chairman of the House Special Committee on Bases Conversion, Khonghun, who represents Zambales, emphasized that national security should be a top priority for any aspiring senator, especially given the mounting evidence of intelligence-gathering operations linked to China.
“National security is a major issue, yet why does it seem like no one wants to speak up? The Senate is responsible for crafting laws that strengthen our defense. We need to hear their plans for safeguarding the country,” Khonghun said.
Authorities recently dismantled an alleged Chinese espionage ring operating in the country.
The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) uncovered surveillance activities targeting
high-security locations, including Malacañang, the general headquarters of both the Armed Forces (AFP) and National Police (PNP) on Epifanio de los Santos Avenue in Quezon City.
Among those arrested were two Chinese found in possession of advanced surveillance equipment capable of intercepting mobile communications.
Khonghun called for immediate action, urging Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro to intensify counterintelligence operations and enhance coordination among security agencies. He warned that repeated security breaches by foreign operatives should serve as a wake-up call for policymakers.
“We cannot ignore these incidents. If we continue to disregard them, how can we defend our country?” he added.
Beyond defense concerns, Khonghun also raised alarms over potential foreign interference in the 2025 elections. With cyberattacks and disinformation
campaigns increasingly being used as geopolitical tools, he urged the Commission on Elections (Comelec) and the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) to implement stronger safeguards against foreign manipulation of the electoral process.
Risk
HOUSE Deputy Majority Leader Paolo Ortega V on Monday urged Filipinos to remain vigilant in the upcoming midterm elections, warning that China’s recent claim over Palawan, combined with mounting evidence of Beijing funding certain candidates, poses a direct threat to the country.
Ortega, who represents La Union, stressed that voting for pro-China candidates is tantamount to surrendering national interests to foreign powers.
“China started with the West Philippine Sea. Now, they are claiming Palawan as their own. Think about it – if there are candidates receiving funds from China, whose interests will they protect? Our nation’s or their funders’?” Ortega asked.
Recently, Chinese social media platforms have been flooded with videos and posts falsely claiming that Palawan belongs to China.
Circulating on WeChat, Douyin, and Weibo, these clips reference misleading maps and fabricated historical texts to suggest that the island was once part of Chinese territory. Some even feature digitally altered images of Palawan with Chinese flags, subtly conditioning both Chinese citizens and Filipinos to accept the falsehood that the province is not part of the Philippines.
“In the past, they claimed Scarborough Shoal. Before we
knew it, they had built bases in the West Philippine Sea. Now, Palawan is their target. If we’re not vigilant, we might wake up one day to find Chinese structures already standing there,” Ortega warned.
Ortega emphasized that China’s claim over Palawan has no historical or legal basis.
Apart from being the largest province in the Philippines by land area, archaeological discoveries in the Tabon Caves—one of Southeast Asia’s most significant prehistoric sites—prove that Palawan has been inhabited for over 50,000 years. The remains and artifacts found in the Tabon Caves represent some of the earliest evidence of human civilization in the Philippines.
“From the past to the present, Palawan has always been Filipino. At no point in our history has it ever belonged to China. Any falsehoods they spread to claim otherwise are outright distortions of the truth,” Ortega declared. Ortega warned that China’s assertion over Palawan is part of a broader strategy to expand its influence – not just through military force but also through political and economic leverage.
“The real question is: How is China strengthening its influence in our country? Not just through warships at sea, but through elections. Their weapons now are not guns but money, propaganda, and deception,” he asked.
“We must remember – this isn’t just happening during elections. We are already being flooded with fake news and deceptive narratives on social media, conditioning us to believe that China is a good friend. But we must ask ourselves: Is a friend someone who enters our territory without permission?” Ortega added.
Survey shows public satisfied with military
By Rex Anthony Naval
HE Armed Forces (AFP)
Ton Sunday night said the agency’s high ratings at the latest “Tugon ng Masa” survey conducted by Octa Research reflects the public’s satisfaction on the military’s accomplishments.
“The survey revealed that 76 percent of Filipinos are satisfied with the AFP’s overall accomplishments, leading to a net satisfaction rating of +74. This rating has
remained consistently high since June 2024, reflecting public approval of the AFP’s efforts,” the AFP Public Affairs Office director, Col. Xerxes Trinidad, said in a message sent to reporters.
He added that the survey also shows that trust in the AFP is equally strong, with 75 percent of Filipinos expressing trust in the military, resulting in a net trust rating of +73.
The Octa Survey was conducted from November 10 to 16 last year with around 1,200 adult Filipinos as respondents.
(Actoo) warned that the toll increase will lead to more expensive goods for consumers.
Last Sunday, Nlex Corp. started charging higher rates with the approval of the Toll Regulatory Board.
Prior to the latest increase, TRB also allowed the Nlex Corp. to adjust its toll rates in June 2024. However, the Board exempted trucks transporting agricultural products and accredited by the Department of Agriculture from the toll rate increase last year and even granted them rebates.
“The survey also highlighted strong support for the AFP’s modernization, with 79 percent of respondents emphasizing the importance of enhancing the military’s capabilities for national security,” Trinidad said. It also underscored the importance of international partnerships as 78 percent of Filipinos expressed support for strengthening alliances and cooperation with other likeminded nations.
Actoo claimed the TRB approved the latest toll hike without public consultation. It said it will submit a letter to the Department of Transportation (DOTr) to call for the suspension of the toll hike.
Castro said they are verifying Actoo’s claim before they relay it to President Marcos and concerned government agencies.
“Because we should really hear what the people complain about so that we can come up with better solutions for these kinds of sentiments,” she said. Samuel P. Medenilla
“Furthermore, an overwhelming 83 percent of respondents affirmed their belief in the AFP’s political neutrality, viewing it as essential for ensuring safe, fair, and peaceful elections,” Trinidad said.
And as the AFP remains committed to its mandate, Trinidad said the results of this latest survey also emphasized the importance of supporting AFP’s modernization efforts, as well as its role in maintaining regional and global peace and security.
UEL pump prices will be slashed starting Tuesday, oil compaies announced on Monday.
“As we move forward, we seek to enhance AI policies through ethical governance, invest in AI-driven industries, and ensure that AI is a force for good—aligned with the values of fairness, accountability, and sustainability,” Solidum said during the AI Action Summit in Paris, France, earlier in February.
For DOST, among these initiatives are AI PINAS and the Smarter Philippines through Data Analytics Research and Development, Training and Adoption (Sparta) program, which has trained over 49,000 individuals in data science and AI applications.
Moreover, he pointed to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) AI Readiness Assessment (RAM) Report as a valuable resource in refining AI governance, ethics and regulatory frameworks in the country.
Highlighting ongoing efforts to strengthen AI governance and investment, he noted at the ministerial exchange that from 2018 to 2024, the Philippines funded more than 100 AI-focused research and development (R&D) projects.
The agency also launched the “eight bigticket R&D programs” on February 5, which includes an AI Hub designed to establish a national center for emerging AI research, foster local startups and promote collaborations in the field.
“With the right policies, infrastructure, and partnerships, the government can unlock AI’s full potential to improve people’s lives and advance the country’s sustainable development goals,” Solidum said. Bless Aubrey Ogerio
Gasoline prices will go down by P0.90 per liter, diesel by P0.80 per liter, while kerosene prices will be slashed by P1.40 per liter. This was announced by Petron, Shell, Caltex, Unioil, Seaoil, Cleanfuel, PTT, Phoenix, Total and Jetti. They will adjust their prices at 6:00 a.m of March 4 except for Cleanfuel which will adjust its prices at 8:01 a.m. This is the first price rollback this month for diesel and kerosene. Prior to this week’s adjustment, pump prices were on the rise for two consecutive weeks. Local pump prices are adjusted every week to reflect movements in the world oil market.
Director Rodela Romero of the Department of Energy’s Oil Industry Management Bureau (DOE-OIMB) last week cited South Korea’s sluggish fuel demand owing to the lowered tax benefits, high US refined product inventories, easing geopolitical risk due to progress on Ukraine-Russia cease-fire deal; and possible low demand due to upcoming tariffs being imposed by US. On February 25, oil companies implemented an increase of P0.70 per liter for gasoline, P0.40/liter for diesel and P0.20/liter for kerosene. Lenie Lectura
A4
Tuesday, March 4, 2025
DENR hit for tolerating idle EPs, MPSAs
ABy Butch Fernandez @butchfBM
LLOWING inactive, non-op -
erational, invalid or unused exploration permits (EPs) and mineral production sharing agreements (MPSAs) to persist is contrary to the declared policy of the Philippine Mining Act of 1995, said Senate President Francis Escudero, who is heading a Senate inquiry into the matter. Escudero presided over the Environment, Natural Resources, and
Climate Change Subcommittee public hearing on Monday.
He noted that the Philippines is among the top 10 countries in the world that have rich mineral resources: fifth in global mineral reserves; third in gold; fourth in copper; fifth in nickel; and, sixth in chromite.
Senate Resolution 1310, filed by Escudero, said that despite the country’s rich mineral resources, the poor management and utilization of the mining areas diminish the potential positive impact of mining on economic growth
The End of Privacy?
By Henry J. Schumacher
ORE and more authori -
Mties, stakeholders and even criminals are closely interested in the privacy of individuals at the top of companies. The time when the private sphere was largely protected by law is over.
In this new environment, executives should adapt to the changing situation if they want to protect their careers and finances.
The traditional concept of separating a person’s role as a member of the management board from their private self, the idea of “The King’s Two Bodies” (the duality of the CEO), no longer holds. Social media is not the only factor making board members and executives more public figures; Tesla CEO Elon Musk is an extreme example of this; even more so after he joined the Trump Cabinet and plays No. 2. Furthermore, the societal division accelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic, the polarization surrounding the US and China technology hubs, and the loss of trust in institutions of Western democracies have intensi -
fied this previously unnoticed paradigm shift.
Since 2021, the Edelman Trust Barometer has recorded a high societal expectation for companies to act on these shifts. This is further justified because it protects the reputation of top executives and builds trust with stakeholders. According to the 2021 report, nearly 70 percent of respondents expect CEOs to take personal stands on political and social issues.
Over the past years, there has been a significant expansion of the influence stakeholders have over business decisions, partly due to new laws but also owing to the growing societal focus on CEOs and their personal conduct. By 2022, nearly 80 percent of respondents wanted CEOs to make binding personal statements about their political or social stances.
Companies must now orient themselves in a way that takes into account the personal lives of their leaders. This includes statements made by board members on topics ranging from political views to their personal or business networks outside the company.
Companies should expand their
and employment. He noted that in 2024, the gross value added from mining and quarrying accounted for only 0.71 percent of the annual gross domestic product (GDP), and the sector employed just 0.54 percent of the total workforce as of November 2024.
“Why is that? Why aren’t we benefiting from it? What laws and regulations need to be changed, and where exactly is the problem that prevents continuous operations? Is the exploration or mining itself being hindered because some companies hold permits
risk management radar to consider personal issues as well. At least once a year, they should inquire about adherence to codes of conduct, possibly through governance surveys or interviews regarding sensitive topics.
The most important aspect is raising awareness. Executives must consider the interests of the company even in their private lives.
In conclusion, let me remind you that external individuals, such as hackers, virus writers, and ransomware peddlers, are often seen as the biggest threat to organizations. However, industry statistics consistently indicate that insiders pose a larger danger. It makes sense when you consider the damage that a single disgruntled employee (or an employee unaware of good security practices) could cause to a company, based on access privileges outsiders don’t possess. Allowing employees to access data to do their jobs is a
that are not being utilized?” Escudero asked.
The resolution stated that inactive, non-operational, invalid, or unused EPs and MPSAs hinder the government from issuing permits or entering agreements with other contractors.
They also prevent financially and technically capable entities from applying for new exploration permits or mineral agreements in areas where non-performing EPs or MPSAs exist.
double-edged sword. Permitting organizational staff to install and use external hard disks, flash drives, and even personal media players makes the task of stealing corporate information that much easier.
Allow me to add an amazing policy change of well-known Jeff Bezoz. His Washington Post is one of the most government-critical icons in the US media. This did not change when Amazon founder Jeff Bezos took over the newspaper in 2013. But now Bezos has sent an instruction to his editorial staff that can only be interpreted as the billionaire bowing to the Trump-friendly zeitgeist in the US. “I am writing to inform you of a change to our opinion pages,” says a message to the editorial staff that Bezos published on the X platform. And: We will write every day to support and defend two pillars: personal freedoms and free markets. Of course, we will cover other issues as well, but we will leave opposing viewpoints to be published by others.
I am sure you will agree with Bezos’ view regarding personal freedoms and free markets!!!!
I would certainly be interested to receive your reaction to my fear of the ‘End of Privacy”’; you can reach me at hjschumacher59@gmail.com.
www.businessmirror.com.ph
Strict measures mulled vs forwarders over undelivered, balikbayan boxes
By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz @joveemarie
THE House of Representatives and government agencies are pushing for tougher accountability measures against freight forwarders and consolidators involved in missing or undelivered balikbayan boxes, as concerns grow over fraudulent shipping practices victimizing overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).
During a recent technical working group (TWG) meeting, Party-list Rep. Marissa Magsino of OFW, Migrant Workers Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac, and stakeholders discussed possible legislative and administrative solutions to ensure balikbayan boxes reach their intended recipients.
The meeting follows two congressional hearings on House Resolution 499, which seeks to address widespread complaints from OFWs regarding mishandled or lost shipments.
Magsino said among the issues raised was the need to hold consolidators and de-consolidators accountable through solidary or subsidiary liability in lost or undelivered balikbayan boxes.
She said the chamber also explored requiring de-consolidators to post a performance bond as a prerequisite for accreditation with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the Bureau of Customs (BOC), ensuring financial accountability for lost shipments.
Apart from civil liability, another key point of discussion was the possibility of defining fraudulent practices in balikbayan box
shipments as criminal acts under either the Revised Penal Code or a special law, Magsino said. Magsino said the panel also tackled proposed amendments to the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act (CMTA) to reinforce the tax exemption on balikbayan boxes and prevent their wrongful auction.
She added that the TWG examined policies on reversing the “abandoned” status of balikbayan boxes to ensure rightful owners can reclaim their shipments.
To further strengthen enforcement, Magsino said the DMW, BOC, and Department of Trade and Industry will draft a Joint Administrative Order (JAO) outlining clear guidelines on how erring consolidators and deconsolidators will be penalized should they fail to deliver balikbayan boxes to OFW families.
“This joint agreement aims to provide a structured mechanism for imposing sanctions and ensuring accountability across all parties involved in the shipping process,” said Magsino.
“We must act now. OFWs work hard to send these ‘Balikbayan Boxes’ to their families, and it is unacceptable that their trust continues to be exploited. We need real accountability, stronger safeguards, and immediate solutions. Let’s ensure that every ‘Balikbayan Box’ reaches its rightful owner, undamaged, untampered, and on time,” she said. The TWG is expected to submit its final recommendations to the House Committee on Overseas Workers Affairs for possible inclusion in pending legislation or executive action.
Colliers: PHL a ‘beacon of opportunity’ for investors due to new tax incentives
By Bless Aubrey Ogerio
THE Philippines is reinforc -
ing its position as an investment destination with recent amendments to tax regulations and the introduction of the CREATE MORE Act, according to a real estate consultancy firm.
Colliers, in its latest release, said that the Philippines stands out as “a beacon of opportunity” for investors amid ongoing global market uncertainties.
“By offering reduced tax rates, enhanced deductions, and comprehensive incentives for key sectors like IT-BPM [information technology and business process management] and
manufacturing, the government has created a favorable business environment that will likely attract even more foreign investments in the coming years,” it stated. Under the revised implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of the Tax Reform Act, registered businesses can access tax benefits such as the Income Tax Holiday (ITH), which grants full tax exemption for a set period, and the Special Corporate Income Tax (SCIT), which imposes a 5 percent tax on gross income. Meanwhile, the CREATE MORE Act, signed into law last year, introduces further incentives for the ITBPM sector, extending a 7-year ITH
for new export-oriented investments and granting VAT zero-rating for local services tied to registered projects.
Even with these incentives, foreign investments recorded a net outflow of $283.69 million in January, a 273.99 percent increase from $75.83 million in the same month of 2024, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. (See: https://businessmirror. com.ph/2025/03/03/global-jitterscause-exodus-of-hot-money/)
Colliers also emphasized that the country’s tax incentives remain “globally competitive,” aligning with best practices in investment-friendly countries.
“For example, the 20 percent Corporate Income Tax rate introduced under
the CREATE MORE Act is on par with other international tax regimes such as Singapore’s 17 percent rate and Ireland’s 12.5 percent,” it explained.
On the real estate front, it also reiterated the resiliency of Metro Manila’s office market, alongside the promising outlook for the IT-BPM sector.
Colliers’ earlier report showed that Metro Manila’s office vacancy rate stood at 19.8 percent in Q4 2024, with 2.8 million square meters of available space. On the other hand, IT-BPM office space transactions reached 246,672 square meters in 2024, lower than the 281,892 square meters recorded in 2023, which it attributed to market caution amid political uncertainty.
“As businesses look for stable, costeffective opportunities in the region, the Philippines remains a competitive hub for growth, innovation, and longterm success,” Colliers said.
Candidates turn to social media as 2025 senatorial race heats up, report reveals
By Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz @joveemarie
AS the 2025 senatorial race heats up, candidates have increasingly turned to social media to engage with voters, as revealed by the latest Auditus Social Media Report of Publicus Asia.
The report said among all candidates, ACT-CIS Rep. Erwin Tulfo emerged with 1.4 million engagements as the most engaging figure under Alyansa ng Bagong Pilipinas (ABP), surpassing Sen. Bong Revilla with 1.3 million and Sen. Imee Marcos with 1.2 million.
SC asked to interpret ‘forthwith’ in the constitutional provision on the conduct of impeachment process
ABy Joel R. San Juan @jrsanjuan1573
PETITION for declaratory relief was filed Monday before the Supreme Court (SC) asking the justices to interpret the word “forthwith” in the constitutional provision on the conduct of impeachment proceedings before the Senate.
The petition was filed by a high school teacher Barry Tayam, who is running for a congressional seat in the lone district of Las Piñas City this coming elections.
In his petition, Tayam asked the Court to explain the definition of “forthwith” since Senate President Francis Escudero interpretation differed with some legal experts and lawyers.
and presidential cousin and House Speaker Martin Romualdez and alleged misused of her confidential funds.
The Articles of Impeachment against her were transmitted to the Senate on the same day.
Duterte, on the other hand, has criticized Marcos Jr., his wife and Romualdez of corruption and for conspiring to eliminate her as a possible contender in the 2028 presidential elections.
Tayam noted that Escudero’s position runs contrary to the opinion of some of his peers in the Senate and legal experts who claimed that the trial impeachment should proceed immediately.
Tayam also asked the Court of its position on the constitutionality of “passing the burden of the impeachment from the 19th Congress to the 20th Congress.”
Chairman George Erwin Garcia, the poll body is not regulating campaign activities on social media for the 2025 midterm elections due to the absence of an existing law governing digital electioneering.
Moreover, several candidates from ABP received neutral sentiments, suggesting their campaign messages struggled to resonate amid President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s endorsements and public statements.
Polling firms released their survey results, where the leading candidates for the 2025 midterm elections include Erwin Tulfo, Manny Pacquiao, Camille Villar, Lito Lapid, Pia Cayetano, Abby Binay, and Tito Sotto.
However, the report also said the survey results did not translate into significant online mobilization from netizens to actively
However, it said Revilla recorded the highest positive engagement rate at 46.1 percent, followed by Sen. Francis Tolentino at 39.4 percent, Sen. Pia Cayetano at 23 percent, and former Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos at 22.5 percent. According to Commission on Elections
campaign for these candidates.
It said candidates employed various digital strategies to connect with voters. Revilla engaged audiences through personalized livestreams and campaign advertisements, while Marcos distanced herself from the impeachment controversy. Sen. Bato dela Rosa tackled “pro-China” allegations, and Sen. Bong Go focused on health-care reforms. Meanwhile, Pastor Apollo Quiboloy framed his candidacy as a “divine mission.”
The report said social media also became a battleground for controversies. Sagip Rep. Rodante Marcoleta stirred debates over the West Philippine Sea dispute, while Atty. Vic Rodriguez challenged President Marcos Jr. to take a drug test amid budget-related corruption allegations.
The Auditus Social Media Report also said
SC reprimands Parañaque judge for discourteous treatment of a lawyer during court proceedings
THE Supreme Court (SC) has reprimanded a Parañaque trial court judge for conduct unbecoming of judge for his discourteous treatment of a lawyer and his use of inappropriate language in the courtroom.
In an 18-page ruling penned by Associate Ramon Paul Hernando, the Court en banc deemed it proper to impose the penalty of reprimand against Judge Brigido Artemon M. Luna II with a stern warning that a repetition of the same or similar act will be dealt with severely.
“By repeatedly addressing Atty. [Keith Albert] King as ‘darling’ and ‘hijo’ and speaking to him in patronizingly about his supposed ignorance of the law and inexperience, Judge Luna failed to uphold the exacting standards of his office and display the level of respect to which every lawyer, and indeed every person, appearing before the court is entitled,” the SC declared.
“For the foregoing reasons, the Court finds that Judge Luna’s comportment during the
criminal case proceedings constitutes conduct unbecoming of a judge,” the SC added, The case stemmed from an administrative complaint filed on January 10, 2018 by Bloomberry Resorts and Hotels, Inc. (Bloomberry), which operates Solaire Resort and Casino (Solaire) in Parañaque City, over Judge Luna’s handling of the two counts of estafa complaint it filed against its card game dealer Joselito Eliz Meneses Asistio and patron Anthony Noveno Clavito. Bloomberry accused Asistio and Clavito of conspiring with each other to defraud the company by engaging in a “past-posting” cheating scheme.
Under this scheme, Asistio allowed Clavito to place a bet at the winning combination in the card game of baccarat after the winning combination had already been announced by the former, thus ensuring the success of Clavito’s bet. Bloomberry claimed that through this scheme, Asistio and Clavito were able to defraud Bloomberry in the amount of P200,000.00.
After the preliminary investigation, the Office of the Paranaque City Prosecutor found probable cause to indict the two and filed with the Parañaque RTC the corresponding Information for two counts of estafa.
The case was raffled to Branch 196, presided over by Judge Luna who subsequently issued an arrest warrant against the two.
However, only Clavito was arrested while Asistio is still at large and King entered its appearance as private prosecutor for Bloomberry.
During the court proceedings, Bloomberry said the judge excluded senior surveillance operator Ramon Valenzuela from testifying on the CCTV footage of Asistio and Clavito engaging in the past-posting scheme, citing his lack of authority from Bloomberry to disclose the latter’s trade secrets.
On June 16, 2017, Judge Luna issued an order disqualifying King as private prosecutor on the ground of his “inability of appreciating the rules of evidence in the conduct of trial” and restored full control
Go advocates for enhanced fire safety efforts as country observes Fire Prevention Month
SENATOR Christopher “Bong” Go underscored the importance of fire safety and prevention as the country marks Fire Prevention Month this March. A consistent advocate for disaster resilience, Go reminded Filipinos to stay vigilant against fire hazards and assured continued government support for fire victims.
Fire Prevention Month, observed annually in March, serves as a nationwide campaign to raise awareness about fire hazards and safety measures. Established through Presidential Proclamation No. 115A, the observance highlights the need for heightened vigilance, particularly during the dry season when fire incidents peak. The Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) spearheads various initiatives including community drills, educational campaigns, and inspections to minimize the risk of destructive fires. Go, who has been regularly assisting fire victims across the country, reiterated the need for community cooperation and proactive measures to reduce fire-related incidents.
“Alam kong mahirap mawalan ng tirahan, lalo na kung galing ito sa sunog na walang pasintabi kung umatake. Pero
huwag po kayong mawalan ng pag-asa. Magtulungan lang po tayo dahil tayu-tayo rin ang magdadamayan sa ganitong pagsubok,” he said.
The senator has long been known for his swift response to fires and calamities, personally visiting affected communities to provide immediate assistance.
“Ang gamit ay nabibili, ang pera ay kikitain, subalit ‘yung perang kikitain ay hindi po nakakabili ng buhay. A lost life is a lost life forever. Importante ay buhay tayokayapangalagaannatinangbuhayna ibinigay sa atin ng Panginoon,” he added.
Beyond immediate emergency response, Go has been pushing for long-term solutions to strengthen fire prevention and response capabilities nationwide. He highlighted the ongoing modernization efforts of the BFP under Republic Act No. 11589, or the BFP Modernization Act of 2021, which he principally authored and co-sponsored.
“Karagdagang kagamitan firefighters, atmonthly education campaigns paraturuan ang ating mga kababayan na mag-ingat, ‘yan po ang BFP Modernization Act. Dahil bawatbahaynanasusunog,nadadamayang kapitbahay. Kaya dapat doble ingat tayo,”
stressed Go.
The law mandates a ten-year modernization plan that includes enhanced training, better equipment, additional firefighters, and nationwide fire prevention campaigns in coordination with local government units.
“Ang sunog ay hindi lang aksidente, kadalasan ito ay resulta ng kapabayaan o kakulangan sa paghahanda. Kaya patuloy
several independent candidates leveraged social media to promote their platforms. Bam Aquino championed free tertiary education, with endorsements from former Vice President Leni Robredo and Senator Risa Hontiveros. Ben Tulfo campaigned against political dynasties, while Ariel Querubin and Bonifacio Bosita positioned themselves as “alternative choices” with strong anti-corruption and economic reform messaging.
The report tracks mentions, engagements, sentiments, and topics relevant to the 28 senatorial candidates across platforms such as Facebook, Twitter (X), Instagram, news sites, forums, and Reddit from January 16 to February 15, 2025.
The official campaign period for national positions, including senatorial and party-list races, began on February 11, 2025.
of the prosecution of the case to the public prosecutor.
On June 19, 2017, the public prosecutor intended to present another witness, Rudolfh Gonzales, the senior surveillance technician supervisor of Bloomberry, to authenticate the processes used to create the CCTV footage and the CD containing the footage.
Judge Luna again refused to hear Gonzales’s testimony because he had no authority from Bloomberry to disclose its supposed “trade secrets.” After a month, Judge Luna issued an order acquitting Clavito.
This led to Bloomberry’s filing of administrative complaint for gross ignorance of the law, bias, and gross misconduct and sought the judge’s dismissal from the service, forfeiture of his retirement benefits, and disqualification from reinstatement or appointment to any public office.
However, the Court held that the orders of the judge do not amount to gross ignorance of the law due to the lack of proof that he was motivated by bad faith, dishonesty, hatred, or an intent to do harm.
Joel R. San Juan
natin itong tututukan sa pamamagitan ng masmaayosnakagamitanatmasmaraming bumberonahandangrumespondeanumang oras,”Go explained.
Go also highlighted the recently enacted RA 12076, also known as the Ligtas Pinoy Centers Act. Signed on December 6, 2024, the law mandates the establishment of permanent, safe, and well-equipped evacuation centers in all cities and municipalities across the Philippines.
Tayam was referring to Article XI Section 3(4) of the 1987 Constitution which states: “In case the verified complaint or resolution of impeachment is filed by at least one-third of all the Members of the House, the same shall constitute the Articles of Impeachment, and trial by the Senate shall forthwith proceed.”
Senate President Escudero earlier said the impeachment court will convene once the Senate is in session, and had set the date July 30 as the start of the impeachment trial against Vice President Duterte.
Tayam, who claimed to be neither a supporter or critic of Duterte, said his petition also seeks to determine whether there has already been a delay in the conduct of impeachment against Vice President Sara Duterte due to Escudero’s refusal to immediately convene the Senate as an impeachment court.
It can be recalled on that on February 5, the House of Representatives impeached Duterte for allegedly plotting to assassinate President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., his wife First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos
“What I am interested in is what would be the interpretation of the SC about this petition. I believe that this could be part of the jurisprudence since this is a ‘sui generis’ [unique] and can be a landmark case, and at the same time be part of the doctrine in future impeachments during a campaign period,” he added.
A similar petition was earlier filed by lawyer and former Presidential Commission on Good Government special government counsel Catalino Generillo Jr. asking the High Court to direct it to immediately constitute an impeachment court and begin the proceedings against Duterte. Generillo Jr. argued that the Constitution does not permit the Senate to delay its duty during recess, stating that it must promptly constitute itself as an impeachment court and try the Vice President. Generillo also cited Article XI Section 3 of the Constitution in seeking the immediate conduct of impeachment proceedings against the Vice President.
76 SAF men sent to help secure Sablayan facility
THE Bureau of Corrections announced the deployment of 76 members from the Philippine National Police Special Action Force (SAF) to augment the security at the Sablayan Prison and Penal Farm (SPPF) in Occidental Mindoro. Bureau of Corrections Director General Gregorio Pio P. Catapang Jr. explained that the SAF’s deployment was in line with ongoing efforts to bolster safety protocols and ensure effective management within the facility.
“The integration of these highly trained officers aims to further enhance the prison’s security measures, particularly following directives from Justice Secretary Crispin “Boying” Remulla regarding the transfer of inmates with drug-related convictions to SPPF,” Catapang said.
Following the deployment of SAF operatives, BuCor Deputy Director General for Operations, Assistant Secretary. Gil Torralba led a combined operation known as Task Force Sanib Puersa, in conducting a greyhound operation within Camp Pasungi inside SPPF on Monday.
The task force included members from the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), and the Philippine National Police (PNP) Special Action Force The operation resulted in the seizure of nine assorted cellphones, tobacco products including one rim and two packs of cigarettes, several cellular phone chargers, and sixteen assorted bladed weapons from persons deprived of liberty (PDLs).
Based on Torralba’s report to Catapang, the operation was successfully executed with recruits from SPPF along with PDEA K9 units for search efforts, while BuCor personnel provided security and observational support.
“These proactive measures underscore the Bucor’s commitment to maintaining order and improving security protocols within penal facilities,” Catapang said.
“The collaboration among various law enforcement agencies reflects a united front in addressing issues related to contraband and ensuring a safer environment for both staff and persons deprived of liberty,” he added. Joel R. San Juan
Israel faces global condemnation over aid blockade to Gaza amid ceasefire tensions
By Tia Goldenberg & Samy Magdy
The Associated Press
TEL AVIV, Israel—Israel faced sharp criticism as it stopped the entry of all food and other supplies into Gaza on Sunday and warned of “additional consequences” for Hamas if a fragile ceasefire isn’t extended.
Mediators Egypt and Qatar accused Israel of violating humanitarian law by using starvation as a weapon.
The ceasefire’s first phase saw a surge in humanitarian aid after months of growing hunger. Hamas accused Israel of trying to derail the next phase Sunday hours after its first phase had ended and called Israel’s decision to cut off aid “a war crime and a blatant attack” on a truce that took a year of negotiations before taking hold in January.
In the second phase, Hamas could release dozens of remaining hostages in return for an Israeli pullout from Gaza and a lasting ceasefire. Negotiations on the second phase were meant to start a month ago but haven’t begun.
Israel said Sunday that a new
US proposal calls for extending the ceasefire’s first phase through Ramadan—the Muslim holy month that began over the weekend—and the Jewish Passover holiday, which ends April 20. Under that proposal, Hamas would release half the hostages on the first day and the rest when an agreement is reached on a permanent ceasefire, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. The militants currently hold 59 hostages, 35 of them believed to be dead.
The US had no immediate comment. Netanyahu said Israel is fully coordinated with the Trump administration and the ceasefire will only continue as long as Hamas keeps releasing hostages. Saying the ceasefire has saved countless lives, the International
Committee of the Red Cross said that “any unraveling of the forward momentum created over the last six weeks risks plunging people back into despair.”
UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher called Israel’s decision “alarming,” noting that international humanitarian law makes clear that aid access must be allowed.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres urged all parties to make every effort to prevent a return to hostilities in Gaza, and called for humanitarian aid to flow back into Gaza immediately and for the release of all hostages, said spokesman Stéphane Dujarric.
Five non-governmental groups asked Israel’s Supreme Court for an interim order barring the state from preventing aid from entering Gaza, claiming the move violates Israel’s obligations under international law: “These obligations cannot be condition on political considerations.”
The war has left most of Gaza’s population of over 2 million dependent on international aid. About 600 aid trucks had entered daily since the ceasefire began on January 19, easing fears of famine raised by international experts.
But residents said prices shot up as word of the closure spread.
From the heavily destroyed Jabaliya urban refugee camp, Fayza
Nassar said the closure would worsen dire conditions.
“There will be famine and chaos,” she said.
Hamas warned that any attempt to delay or cancel the ceasefire agreement would have “humanitarian consequences” for the hostages. The only way to free them is through the existing deal, the group said.
Families of hostages again pressed Israel’s government.
“Postponing the negotiation on the deal for everyone’s (release) can’t happen,” Lishay Miran-Lavi, wife of hostage Omri Miran, said in Tel Aviv. “Hostages
don’t have time to wait for an ideal deal.”
Israel was accused of blocking aid throughout the war ISRAEL imposed a siege on Gaza in the war’s opening days and only eased it under US pressure. UN agencies and aid groups accused Israel of not facilitating enough aid during 15 months of war.
The International Criminal Court said there was reason to believe Israel had used “starvation as a method of warfare” when it issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu last year. The allegation is also central to South Africa’s
case at the International Court of Justice accusing Israel of genocide. Israel has denied the accusations. It says it has allowed in enough aid and blamed shortages on what it called the UN’s inability to distribute it. It also accused Hamas of siphoning off aid—an allegation that Netanyahu repeated Sunday. Kenneth Roth, former head of Human Rights Watch, said Israel as an occupying power has an “absolute duty” to facilitate humanitarian aid under the Geneva Conventions, and called Israel’s decision “a resumption of the war-crime starvation strategy” that led to the ICC warrant.
The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 hostage. Israel’s offensive has killed over 48,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. It says more than half of those killed were women and children. It does not specify how many of the dead were combatants.
Israeli bombardment pounded large areas of Gaza to rubble and displaced some 90 of the population.
Magdy reported from Cairo. Associated Press writers Ellen Knickmeyer in Washington and Josef Federman in Jerusalem contributed to this report.
Starmer urges European leaders to strengthen support for Ukraine amid shifting US alliances
By Brian Melley & Emma Burrows
The Associated Press
ONDON—British Prime Minister
LKeir Starmer rallied his European counterparts Sunday to shore up their borders and throw their full weight behind Ukraine as he announced outlines of a plan to end Russia’s war.
“Every nation must contribute to that in the best way that it can, bringing different capabilities and support to the table, but all taking responsibility to act, all stepping up their own share of the burden,” he said.
Starmer’s exhortation to 18 fellow leaders that they need to do the heavy lifting for their own security comes two days after US backing of Ukraine appeared in jeopardy when President Donald Trump lashed out at Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and said he wasn’t grateful enough for America’s support. The meeting had been overshadowed by the extraordinary scolding that took place on live television at the White House.
Starmer used the opportunity as part of his broader effort to bridge the gap between Europe and the US and also salvage what had seemed like the start of a peace process before Friday’s spat.
Starmer said he had worked with France and Ukraine on a plan to end the war and that the group of leaders—mostly from Europe—had agreed on four things.
The steps toward peace would: keep aid flowing to Kyiv and maintain economic pressure on Russia to strengthen Ukraine’s hand; make sure Ukraine is at the bargaining table and any peace deal must ensure its sovereignty and security; and continue to arm Ukraine to deter future invasion.
A ‘coalition of the willing’ FINALLY, Starmer said they would develop a “coalition of the willing” to defend Ukraine and guarantee the peace.
“Not every nation will feel able to contribute but that can’t mean that we sit back,” he said. “Instead, those willing will intensify planning now with real urgency. The UK is prepared to back this with boots on the ground and planes in the air, together
with others.”
It is far from certain whether Russian President Vladimir Putin will accept any such plan, which Starmer said would require strong US backing. He did not specify what that meant, though he told the BBC before the summit that there were “intense discussions” to get a security guarantee from the US.
“If there is to be a deal, if there is to be a stopping of the fighting, then that agreement has to be defended, because the worst of all outcomes is that there is a temporary pause and then Putin comes again,” Starmer said.
Starmer said he will later bring a more formal plan to the US and work with Trump.
Before arriving in London, French president Emmanuel Macron suggested in an interview with a French newspaper that he and Starmer are proposing a “truce in the air, on the seas and energy infrastructures” that would last a month.
There would be no European troops in the coming weeks and troops would only be deployed on the ground at a later stage, he said.
BRITAIN’S Prime Minister Keir Starmer, front center, hosts the European leaders’ summit to discuss Ukraine, at Lancaster House, London, Sunday, March 2, 2025. Front row from left, Finland’s President Alexander Stubb, France’s President Emmanuel Macron, Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk. Center row from left, Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, European Council President Antonio Costa, Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and Romania’s Interim President Ilie Bolojan. Back row from left, NATO secretary General Mark Rutte, Netherlands’ Prime Minister Dick Schoof, Sweden’s Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Norway’s Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store, Czech Republic’s Prime Minister Petr Fiala, Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Turkey’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Hakan Fidan. JUSTIN TALLIS/POOL VIA AP
The question, Macron said, is “how we use this time to try and get an accessible truce, with negotiations that will take several weeks and then, once peace is signed, a deployment.”
Two diplomatic steps forward, one back EUROPE has been anxious since Trump initiated direct peace talks with Putin, who had been isolated by most Western leaders since invading Ukraine three years ago. The scramble to remain relevant and protect European interests as their once stalwart ally appeared to be cozying up to Putin was even more troubling when Trump called Zelenskyy a dictator and falsely said Ukraine started the war. Meetings last week had provided some hope—until Zelenskyy’s trip to the White House on Friday.
Visits to the Oval Office by Starmer and Macron, who had declared his visit a “turning point,” were seen as steps in the right direction. The meetings were cordial and Trump even took a gentler tone toward Ukraine, though
he would not commit to providing US security guarantees and maintained that Europe would need to provide peacekeeping troops.
Within 12 hours of Starmer’s return from Washington, the talk of peace seemed to collapse as Trump and Vice President JD Vance berated Zelenskyy for challenging Trump’s assertions that Putin could be trusted.
During his Sunday press conference, Starmer rejected the suggestion that the US was no longer a reliable ally.
“There are no two countries as closely aligned as our two countries and our defense, our security and intelligence are intertwined in a way no two other countries are, so it’s an important and reliable ally for us,” he said.
Starmer does not trust Putin STARMER told the BBC before the summit that he does not trust Russian President Vladimir Putin but does trust Trump. Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni said she was sorry for what happened with Zelenskyy in Washington. Meloni is both a strong Ukraine supporter and—as head of a far-right party—she is a natural ally of Trump. She was the only European leader to attend his inauguration. She told reporters following the meeting that Europe must remain focused on its common goals and that “dividing the West would be disastrous for everyone.”
“We need to work to reinforce our unity, and I think that Italy can play a role, not just in its own interest, but in everyone’s,” she said. “I don’t want to take any other scenario into consideration.”
Starmer hosted the meeting at Lancaster House, a 200-year-old mansion near Buckingham Palace, following his charm offensive with Macron to persuade Trump to put Ukraine at the center of negotiations and tilt his allegiances toward Europe. Leaders from Germany, Denmark, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain, Canada, Finland, Sweden, the Czech Republic and Romania were at the summit. The Turkish foreign minister, the NATO secretarygeneral and the presidents of the European Commission and European Council were also in attendance.
AID
Ukraine. . . Continued from A6
Turning Ukraine into a ‘steel porcupine’ STARMER used sweeping terms to describe
the challenge ahead, saying Europe was at a crossroads in its history and needed to step up to meet “once in a generation moment.”
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen emerged from the meeting and said she would present a plan to “rearm Europe” to
bolster the bloc’s security after a long period of underinvestment.
As for the future of war-torn Ukraine, von der Leyen said it needs security guarantees. “We have to put Ukraine in a position of strength so that it has the means to fortify
itself and to protect itself,” von der Leyen said. “It’s basically turning Ukraine into a steel porcupine that is indigestible for potential invaders.”
Last week, Starmer pledged to boost military spending to 2.5 percent of gross
domestic product by 2027. Other European nations may follow suit.
Starmer pledged to supply more arms to defend Ukraine, announcing that the UK will use 1.6 billion pounds ($2 billion) in export financing to supply 5,000 air defense missiles.
The Associated Press writers Jill Lawless in London, Colleen Barry in Milan, Karel Janicek in Prague and Samuel Petrequin contributed.
Editor: Angel R. Calso •
Pope Francis stable and improving, no longer needs mechanical ventilation
By Nicole Winfield & Paolo Santalucia The Associated Press
ROME—Pope Francis remained in stable condition and didn’t need any mechanical ventilation Sunday, the Vatican said. It was a sign that he had overcome the possible complications from a respiratory crisis Friday and that his breathing function overall was improving as he recovers from pneumonia.
The 88-year-old pope did continue to receive high flow supplemental oxygen after Friday’s coughing episode, which sparked fears of a new lung infection. Doctors in their late Sunday update said Francis remained stable but again referred to the complexity of his overall condition and kept his prognosis at guarded, meaning he wasn’t out of danger. Francis, who has been in the hospital since February 14, rested, prayed in his private chapel
and participated in Mass after a morning visit from the Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, and his chief of staff, Archbishop Edgar Pena Parra. The content of their talks wasn’t known, but even when at the Vatican, Francis meets at least weekly with them. He again skipped his weekly noon blessing to avoid even a brief public appearance from the hospital. Instead, the Vatican distributed a message written by
the pope from Gemelli Hospital in which he thanked his doctors for their care and well-wishers for their prayers, and prayed again for peace in Ukraine and elsewhere.
“From here, war appears even more absurd,” Francis said in the message, which he drafted in recent days. Francis said he was living his hospitalization as an experience of profound solidarity with people who are sick and suffering everywhere.
“I feel in my heart the ‘blessing’ that is hidden within frailty, because it is precisely in these moments that we learn even more to trust in the Lord,” Francis said in the text. “At the same time, I thank God for giving me the opportunity to share in body and spirit the condition of so many sick and suffering people.”
Signs point to a recovery MANY signs indicated he was improving, especially after a respiratory crisis on Friday afternoon that resulted in him inhaling vomit during a coughing fit and raising the possibility of new infection. Doctors aspirated the vomit and put him on noninvasive mechanical ventilation, a mask that pumps oxygen into
China eyeing US farm exports for retaliation, report says, as importers rush to beat tariffs
The new orders index rose to 51.1.
BBy Elaine Kurtenbach
The Ap Business Writer
ANGKOK—Chinese manu -
the lungs.
He used the ventilation on Saturday, alternating it with just supplemental oxygen, and by Sunday no longer needed it.
Doctors also reported he had no fever or raised white blood cell levels, which would have indicated his body was fighting a new infection. The doctors had said they needed 24 to 48 hours after Friday’s coughing episode to determine if there were any negative impacts on Francis’
overall condition. The passage of time and positive reports Sunday suggested he had overcome the episode successfully.
The pope, who had part of one lung removed as a young man, has lung disease and was admitted to Gemelli on Feb. 14 after a bout of bronchitis worsened and turned into a complex pneumonia in both lungs.
Prayers continued to pour in FRANCIS’ hospitalization has
come as the Vatican is marking its Holy Year, drawing pilgrims to Rome from all over. Many have added a pilgrimage destination to their itineraries so they can pray for Francis at the Gemelli hospital, which is around a 20-minute drive from the Vatican, longer in rush hour or on public transport.
The Rev. Riccardo Fumagalli had accompanied a group of young people from Milan to Rome for the Jubilee and would have attended Francis’ Angelus prayer in St. Peter’s Square on Sunday if he had delivered it as usual. Instead, they went to Gemelli.
“It seemed good to us to come here to express our closeness, especially of these teenagers, to be close to the Holy Father to pray for him, to pray for this moment of illness,” he said. Cancer patient Antonino Cacace was also arriving Sunday at Gemelli from Milan for his own treatment, saying he has to undergo surgery in the coming days and was counting on Francis’ prayers.
“I am glad the pope is giving me help,” he said. “I am on the ninth (floor) and he is on the 10th (floor). I hope to meet him and see him,” he said.
Japan won’t join UN meeting on nuclear weapons ban, citing security concerns and US deterrence
By Mari Yamaguchi The Associated Press
“US agricultural and food products will most likely be listed,” it said, citing an unnamed source. Last week, Chinese Commerce Ministry officials had said the two sides were in a “dialogue” about trade.
The stronger-than-expected data came as Chinese leaders gathered in Beijing for the annual session of the National People’s Congress. Lawmakers are expected as usual to endorse policies and priorities set by the ruling Communist Party, which could include some fresh help for the economy as it slows to annual growth many economists forecast will fall to about 4.5 percent this year.
Surveys of factory managers showed China’s official purchasing managers index rose to 50.2 percent from 49 percent in January, though that was just above the 50 level that marks the break between contraction and expansion.
facturers reported an uptick in orders in February as importers rushed to beat higher US tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump, as a Chinese state media report said that Beijing was considering ways to retaliate. Trump earlier imposed a tariff of 10 percent on imports from China and that will rise to 20 percent beginning Tuesday. He also ended the “de minimis” loophole that exempted imports worth less than $800 from tariffs, in a blow to companies whose online sales direct to consumers had soared in recent years. The Global Times, a newspaper of China’s ruling Communist Party, said Monday that Beijing was studying both tariffs and nontariff moves to counter Trump’s higher tariffs. Asked about that report, Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said that “China will take all necessary measures to firmly safeguard own legitimate rights and interests.”
Steady industrial production suggests that government spending and “front running” to beat the higher tariffs supported stronger business activity last month, Zichun Huang of Capital Economics said in a report.
“But growth still looks at risk of slowing this quarter, at least partially reversing the pick-up in Q4 (October-December). And that’s before the hit from tariffs is felt in earnest,” Huang wrote.
Another survey released Monday, the Caixin manufacturing PMI survey, showed a similar improvement. That survey tends to show trends in smaller and export-oriented companies, Lynne Song of ING Economics said in a commentary.
“This could be a valuable gauge of the impact new tariffs are having on the manufacturing sector. With an additional 10 percent tariff set to come into effect tomorrow, this seems likely,” she said.
Sudden increases in tariffs and other factors have raised uncertainty over the outlook for the world’s second largest economy, which grew at a 5 percent annual pace last year, just meeting Beijing’s official target.
Premier Li Qiang will present an annual work report to the congress as it opens on Wednesday that traditionally provides the annual growth target for this year, among other policies and economic updates.
2025 is the last year of leader Xi Jinping’s “Made in China 2025” blueprint for upgrading Chinese industries to become global leaders in advanced technology. It also marks the end of China’s 14th five-year plan, the party’s traditional mid-term policy-setting document.
A key priority is likely to be outlining ways to get Chinese consumers to spend more, a weak point in the state-dominated economy following the disruptions of the Covid-19 pandemic. The government has moved to provide more support for private industry in recent months as part of that effort. Exports and targeted spending increases have also helped.
Asian currencies face renewed headwinds as tariff fears escalate
By Malavika Kaur Makol
THE outlook for emerging Asian currencies is worsening again after US President Donald Trump announced new tariffs on China, curbing optimism that his threats were mainly bargaining ploys.
Regional currencies have tumbled over the past week, with the Thai baht and South Korean won both sliding about 2 percent, as rising fears over a global trade war sapped risk appetite. Asian currencies have also unwound part of their January rally as a number of central banks in the region cut interest rates to support growth.
There are “significant risks” to the outlook for Asia currencies, “especially if the US administration adopts a more aggressive
tariff policy against Asia,” said Eric Lo, a fund manager for panAsian bonds at Manulife Investment Management in Hong Kong. “Additionally, we believe that the preference of Asian central banks to cut policy rates this year could limit the appreciation of Asian currencies.”
A Bloomberg index of emerging Asian currencies has dropped about 0.8 percent over the past week as Trump announced an additional 10 percent tax on Chinese imports, along with 25 percent tariffs on Mexico and Canada. That decline accelerated a retreat in the gauge from a two-month high set on February 24
The renewed tariff fears have added to range of headwinds facing Asian currencies. Central banks in South Korea and
Thailand are among those that have recently cut rates to bolster growth, putting them at odds with their global peers in countries such as Brazil. Asian currencies have also been dragged lower as the dollar rallied amid an increase in demand for the greenback following Trump’s election victory.
“It’s hard to get excited about FX performance in the region,” said Rob Drijkoningen, co-head of the emerging markets debt team at Neuberger Berman Asset Management in The Hague. Among the negatives are the fact that yields are relatively low across the region, and also the US tariff pressures on China even though they are unlikely to rise as high as the original threat of 60 percent, he said.
Drijkoningen said his fund was buying assets of countries that have a lower correlation with the US to help reduce the volatility, such as Brazil and Sri Lanka.
Emerging Asian currencies are set to see increasing volatility this year due to concerns over rising global trade frictions, though they could get some relief if the US economy finally starts to show signs of a slowdown, according to abrdn Plc.
“Asian currencies could only remain strong against the dollar if the US growth numbers remain weaker-than-expected, which would lead to a more dovish Federal Reserve and potentially, a less mercantilist US state,” said Edmund Goh, investment director of fixed income for Asia at abrdn in Singapore. Bloomberg News
TOKYO—Japan will not attend a UN conference on the treaty banning nuclear weapons, a top government official in Tokyo said Monday, noting US nuclear deterrence is crucial to the country’s security and that its participation would send the “wrong message.”
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said Japan’s national security is the primary reason it will not participate as an observer at the conference, which starts Monday in New York.
“Under the severe security environment, nuclear deterrence is indispensable to defend the people’s lives and assets, as well as Japan’s sovereignty and peace,” Hayashi told reporters. Japan’s participation as an observer at the conference would “send a wrong message about the Japanese policy (supporting) nuclear deterrence and interfere with our effort in security, peace and safety.”
The UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons was approved in 2017 and went into force in 2021 following a decades-long campaign aimed at preventing a repeat of the US atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of World War II.
Japan, despite being the only victim of the nuclear attacks, has refused to sign
the treaty, saying its goal is not feasible without the participation of any of the nuclear weapons states. Hayashi said participating as an observer would also interfere with Japan’s ongoing effort to gain support for strengthening the non-proliferation treaty and hinder nuclear disarmament.
He did not give further details about Japan’s next steps.
Japanese officials have said they share the ultimate goal of achieving a nuclear-free world but that Japan needs to be realistic amid growing global conflicts. Atomic bombing survivors and their supporters have criticized Japan’s government for making a hollow promise while clinging to the US nuclear umbrella.
The survivors and their supporters have urged the Japanese government to participate in the conference as an observer amid growing global attention after Nihon Hidankyo, the atomic bombing survivors’ grassroots organization, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize last year.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba is a defense expert and vocal supporter of nuclear deterrence who has called for a more open debate about the role of US extended deterrence in the region. Japan has also expressed more openly its desire to ensure “extended deterrence” by US nuclear weapons in recent years amid growing tensions with China.
Myanmar’s head of military government travels to ally Russia for talks with Putin
BANGKOK—The head of Myanmar’s military government traveled to Russia on Monday on an official visit to a major ally of the Southeast Asian nation that has been shunned by much of the West for overthrowing a democratically elected government and subsequent brutal repression. Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, who departed from the military airport in the capital, Naypyitaw,
MRTV reported. The report said Min Aung Hlaing will also
with
and discuss bilateral
and security with the aim to strengthen strategic cooperation. Russia, along with China, is a major supporter and arms supplier of Myanmar’s military government. Russian-made fighter jets are used in attacks on territory under the control of ethnic minority groups, many of which are allies with pro-democracy resistance forces.
See
CATHOLIC faithful attend a nightly rosary prayer for the health of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s
Square at the Vatican, Sunday, March 2, 2025. AP/MOSA’AB ELSHAMY
Trump’s next first speech to Congress bound to have little resemblance to his last first one
By Calvin Woodward The Associated Press
WASHINGTON—The nation will hear a new president sing a far different tune in his prime-time address before Congress on Tuesday night. Some Americans will lustily sing along. Others will plug their ears.
The old tune is out—the one where a president declares “we strongly support NATO,” “I believe strongly in free trade” and Washington must do more to promote clean air, clean water, women’s health and civil rights.
That was Donald Trump in 2017. That was back when gestures of bipartisanship and appeals to national unity were still in the mix on the night the president comes before Congress to hold forth on the state of the union. Trump, then new at the job, was just getting his footing in the halls of power and not ready to stomp on everything.
It would be three more years before Americans would see Democratic Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California, then the House speaker and his State of the Union host in the chamber, performatively rip up a copy of Trump’s speech in disgust over its contents.
On Tuesday, Americans who tune into Trump’s address will see whether he speaks to the whole country, as he mostly did in his first such speech in the chamber as president, or only to the roughly half who voted for him.
They will see also whether he hews to ceremony and common courtesies, as he did in 2017, or goes full bore on showmanship and incitement.
How Democratic lawmakers will react— whether they make a scene—is another question. At least four have invited fired federal workers to come as their guests.
Trump gives the speech days after assailing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to his face and before the cameras in the Oval Office for not expressing sufficient gratitude for U.S. support in Ukraine’s war with Russia. It was a display of public humiliation by an American president to an allied foreign leader with no parallel in anyone’s memory.
Jarrett Borden, walking to lunch on Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, Florida, this past week, expressed ambivalence about Trump, having heard a lot of “hogwash” from him even while liking some of what he has done. Borden anticipates a good show Tuesday and will watch.
“I want to see if he’s going to leave the mic open for Elon Musk, like it’s an open mic at a club or something,” he said, citing the billionaire architect of Trump’s civil service purge. “This is what he’s been doing recently, which is comical.”
In Philadelphia, visual artist Nova Villanueva will spend Tuesday evening doing something—anything—else. She
is into avoiding politics and social media altogether these fraught days.
“Yeah, it’s kind of sad,” she said. “It’s almost like I have to be ignorant to be at peace with myself and my life right now.”
A new president’s first speech to Congress is not designated a State of the Union address, coming so close to the Jan. 20 inauguration. But it serves the same purpose, offering an annual accounting of what has been done, what is ahead and what condition the country is in, as the president sees it.
It is customary in modern times for the president to say the state of the union is strong, no matter what a mess it may be in. Trump won the election saying the state of the union was in shambles and he was going to make it right.
The Trump who addressed Congress on Feb. 28, 2017, is recognizable now, despite the measured tone and content of that speech. After all, he had already shocked the political class by assailing “American carnage” from the inaugural stage.
He told Congress that night he wanted NATO members to spend more on their armed forces, wanted trade to be “fair” as well as free, and wanted foreign countries in crises to be made stable enough so that people who fled to the US could go back home. But he did not open his first term with the wrenching turns in foreign policy, civil service firings, stirrings of mass deportation or cries of “drill, baby, drill” of today.
In a line that could have come from any president of either party, Trump noted in his 2017 speech that, “with the help of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, we have formed a council with our neighbors in Canada to help ensure that women entrepreneurs have access to the networks, markets and capital they need to start a business and live out their financial dreams.”
Now he belittles Trudeau as “governor” of a land he wants to make the 51st state and is about to slam with tariffs, along with Mexico. Canadians, not known for displays of patriotism, are seething about their neighbor and rushing to buy and fly their flag.
In Philadelphia, small-time entrepreneur Michael Mangraviti cannot help but take some satisfaction in Trump’s scouring of the bureaucracy as the firings pile up with scant regard for how well people did their jobs or how those jobs helped keep services to the public running.
“He said for years and years, ‘Drain the swamp, drain the swamp,’” Mangraviti said. “But, you know, now is the time to actually drain the swamp.”
The Associated Press video journalists Tassanee Vejpongsa in Philadelphia and Daniel Kozin in Hollywood, Florida, and AP Chief Congressional Correspondent Lisa Mascaro contributed to this report.
European defense stocks jump amid military spending pledge
By Julien Ponthus & Jan-Patrick Barnert
EUROPEAN defense stocks surged, piling on about $30 billion in market value, after the region’s political leaders offered Ukraine their support and pledged to boost defense spending amid concerns of a US pullback.
The Stoxx Europe 600 Index was up 0.5 percent at 10:53 a.m. in Paris with defense stocks rallying, many of them with double-digit gains. Rheinmetall AG and Dassault Aviation SA rose as much as 19 percent while Saab AB advanced 15 percent at one point in early trading. A Goldman Sachs Group Inc. basket of European defense stocks rose as much as 16 percent to a record, extending its year-todate increase to 63 percent.
“This is the trade of the quarter for sure,” said Mabrouk Chetouane, head of global market strategy at Natixis Global Asset Management. There’s going to be further momentum in sectors like tech and defense as the rally in European equities starts to become more concentrated, he said.
The UK and France have been seeking to build what Prime Minister Keir Starmer called a “coalition of the willing” to participate in peacekeeping forces and help reassure Kyiv about the durability of any peace. French President Emmanuel Macron told Le Figaro newspaper after a gathering of political leaders in London over the weekend that the EU should provide €200 billion ($208 billion) to boost its defense capabilities.
The prospect of a surge in defense spending by European countries has led to a sharp rally in the shares of companies involved in the sector. Rheinmetall, one of Europe’s biggest suppliers of material for land forces, has already gained 67 percent so far this year and is up more than 800 percent since the Russian invasion of Ukraine started three years ago.
Vincent Juvyns, global market strategist at JPMorgan Asset Management, said that public defense spending will rise sharply in coming years, even if peace in Ukraine remains a possibility for 2025, recent diplomatic clashes between allies notwithstanding.
“One senses a large consensus for Europe to take its future in its own hands, and that more military
spending is coming,” he said. Europe’s 2025 rally has boosted continent’s market value by $100 billion so far this year, decisively outperforming the US stock market.
February saw the Stoxx Europe 600 extending its lead over the S&P 500 since the end of November. The European benchmark has outpaced its US peer by 10 percentage points over three months. The prospect of peace in Ukraine has been one of the drivers of the rally.
“There is currently no reason for the momentum in Europe to stop. When you look at the defiance some investors have towards US markets where growth is slowing down and the remaining doubts on China, Europe is a good place to rotate and redeploy capital,” said Enguerrand Artaz, a macro strategist and fund manager at La Financière de l’Echiquier in Paris. Investors have diversified their exposure since the US elections, reducing holdings in expensive US stocks while increasing allocation toward Europe. The heavy rotation has extended in February as macro-economic surprises turned negative in the US, triggering growth worries, while the case for artificial intelligence spending has started to show some cracks.
European defense stocks are one of the main beneficiaries of this rotation, with military spending from the European bloc expected to increase drastically over the next few years.
For BAE Systems Plc, Europe’s largest weapons maker, defense spending has continued to strengthen over the past year, Chief Executive Officer Charles Woodburn said on a conference call last month.
The British aerospace and defense contractor said the UK’s plan to increase its military budgets will support its major submarine and frigate programs, and that it’s well positioned to benefit from weapons sales to NATO members.
“Our growth opportunities
are significant and we remain focused on consistently executing our long term strategy to deliver top line growth, margin expansion and solid cash generation,” Woodburn said.
One question on investors’ minds is if the region’s defense companies have sufficient capacity available to ramp up output. Even in the event of a peace agreement, there’s a lack of industrial bandwidth available, meaning order books will remain full for years to come.
“The German industry can redeploy itself into the sector,” Artaz said.
On the equity research side, JPMorgan Chase & Co. analysts led by David Perry raised their price targets by an average of 25 percent, saying the Europe’s rearmament cycle was now “for real” and the US’s increasing reluctance to subsidize the region’s defense would lead to more at-home production and fewer imports.
“The events of the last two weeks have turbo-charged this thesis,” Perry wrote. “We believe that we will now enter a phase where valuation multiples increase, with earnings upgrades following in time.”
To be sure, other investors caution that the geopolitical instability might weigh on the economy and act as a drag on growth.
“Every day bring its lot of contradictory news and this uncertainty is starting to take its toll on the real economy, on investment decisions and consumption,” Raphael Thuin, head of capital markets strategies at Tikehau Capital in Paris, said referring to the European leaders’ summit in London weekend’s
“This is not a sustainable new driver for market: earnings, growth, tariffs, interest rates are what investors remain primarily focused on”.
Here’s what market participants are saying: Emmanuel Cau, Head of European Equity Strategy at Barclays: “More than ever, the direction of travel for Europe seems towards more policy loosening, both fiscal and momentary, likely to be growth positive. And more defense spending seems the only way to go, likely to keep supporting defense stocks. Progress towards a ceasefire in Ukraine still looks possible post the week end events, but shape and timing look very uncertain.
“Overall, it may well turn out to be a positive for Europe to stand on its own two feet, but this will
take time. In the meantime geopolitical risk has certainly gone up, fiscal capacity is constrained and tariffs threat looms. So the jury is still out on whether this watershed moment in global politics will result in a more integrated, more independent and ultimately stronger Europe down the road, or result in more fragmentation. A make or break moment for Europe.”
Kevin Thozet, member of the investment committee at Carmignac in Paris: “The main ‘positive’ or rather silver lining in such a context is that European institutions have proved that they can be creative at times of existential crisis. If the so-called old continent does finally manage to speak as one, this would prove to be positive for European assets eventually. If not in absolute, in relative terms.”
Daniel Varela, CIO at Piguet Galland: “Despite the intense political news of the past three days, the likelihood of a ceasefire in the coming months remains high, which points to a short-term reduction in political risk and, consequently, a favorable reaction from the stock markets, particularly in Europe.
“The impact on the European economy should be positive over the years and obviously defense stocks are expected to continue outperforming. The prospect of a ceasefire or peace in Ukraine should indeed result in a continued recovery of European stock markets in 2025.”
Eli Mizrahi, Managing Partner of Targa 5 Advisors, in Geneva: “The UK and France’s decision to provide security guarantees to Ukraine and work on a peace plan is a significant step toward strengthening European security. It demonstrates Europe’s commitment to stability and its willingness to take greater responsibility in the region’s future. This effort also comes at a sensitive time, as tensions have emerged between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Donald Trump over Trump’s position on military aid. Beyond its geopolitical impact, this initiative provides reassurance to markets by reducing uncertainty and reinforcing investor confidence. A strong and lasting security framework for Ukraine can help support economic resilience and long-term stability in Europe.”
Andrea Tueni, head of sales trading at Saxo Banque France: “I think the markets are mainly taking focus on the fact that we are moving towards a ceasefire, we just don’t know what form it will take yet. If Europe finds itself alone in having to help Ukraine, it is clearly a challenge that can continue to benefit the value o f the defense sector.”
Gerry Fowler, Strategist at UBS AG: “European leaders have been increasingly recognizing the increased urgency of self-reliance. Given the starting point is one of significant reliance in key areas like technology and defense, European political cohesion may be seen as a positive by longer term investors as it raises the likelihood that the reforms proposed by Draghi are implemented.
“European countries have already committed to very large defense spending increases and this may accelerate further. The stocks have moved a long way to reflect this accelerated growth but while upward revisions continue, investors won’t worry too much about valuations.” With assistance from Isolde
PRESIDENT Donald Trump delivers his State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington, as Vice President Mike Pence and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-California, watch, February 5, 2019. AP/ANDREW HARNIK
PHL flagship projects and Pinoy commuters: Inside the DOTr’s new infrastructure initiative
THE establishment of the Flagship Project Management Office (FPMO) by the Department of Transportation marks a significant step forward in addressing the country’s critical infrastructure needs. Under the leadership of Transportation Secretary Vince Dizon, this initiative aims to streamline the implementation of priority projects that promise to enhance connectivity and reduce travel times for millions of commuters. While the ambition is commendable, the department faces substantial challenges that must be addressed to ensure the success of this initiative. (Read the BusinessMirror story: “DOTr creates flagship project management office to hasten work,” February 27, 2025).
The creation of the FPMO as the central body to oversee flagship infrastructure projects reflects a much-needed recognition of the complexities involved in executing large-scale transport initiatives. Dizon’s commitment to personally lead this office and impose strict deadlines on key projects like the Metro Manila Subway and the North-South Commuter Railway signals a proactive approach to governance.
However, the path forward is fraught with challenges. Dizon’s acknowledgment of the resignation of approximately 400 DOTr engineers highlights a significant issue: the retention of skilled personnel. With better salaries offered by the private sector, the DOTr risks losing its most valuable asset— its workforce. The department must address the underlying causes of these resignations, particularly salary delays, to cultivate a stable team capable of driving these ambitious projects to completion.
Dizon’s candid discussion of the resignation crisis underscores the urgent need for the DOTr to prioritize its human resources. Engineers and other professionals are essential for the successful execution of infrastructure projects, and their departure could derail progress. Ensuring timely salary payments and fostering a supportive work environment are critical steps that the DOTr must take to retain talent.
In his recent statements, Dizon has highlighted the pressing need to improve the country’s mass transit system. His acknowledgment of the long-term nature of these improvements, coupled with immediate measures such as enhancing the EDSA busway, demonstrates a balanced approach to addressing the nation’s transportation woes. However, the focus on immediate fixes must not overshadow the necessity for comprehensive, long-term planning.
The challenges of right-of-way acquisition and congestion are multifaceted issues that require innovative solutions. Dizon’s emphasis on government funding for short-term enhancements is commendable, but it must be coupled with a vision that includes sustainable practices and investments in public transport infrastructure.
As the DOTr embarks on this ambitious journey with the FPMO, it is imperative for all stakeholders—government officials, engineers, and the public—to unite in support of the shared goal of improving the nation’s transport system. The road ahead will undoubtedly be challenging, but with a committed leadership and a motivated workforce, there is hope for a transformative future.
Transportation is not merely about infrastructure; it is about the daily lives of millions of Filipinos. As Secretary Dizon leads this initiative, he must maintain open lines of communication with his team and the public, ensuring transparency and accountability at every stage. The success of the FPMO will depend not only on the completion of projects but also on the collective effort to foster a reliable and efficient transportation system that meets the needs of the Filipino people.
Opinion
The governmental corruption cesspool
GJohn Mangun
OUTSIDE THE BOX
OVERNMENT is not just crooked now and then—it is the Petri dish, the festering swamp where corruption breeds like maggots. Power fused with money sparks a greed inferno, and history stands as a grotesque freak show of rulers, bureaucrats, and lawmakers mangling public trust into private loot.
In Italy they are described as “Tangentopolista” (Bribesville Resident), “tangente” meaning kickbacks. Russians call them “Oboroten v Pogonyakh” or Werewolf in Epaulettes, likening them to mythical creatures who betray their duty for personal gain. A “Tea Drinker” (Chai Taker) in Kenya is an official who demands “tea money” as a bribe. In the Philippines, the crooked, corrupt public officials are Buwaya or crocodiles.
From Mesopotamia’s tax-gorging priests in 2400 BCE to Rome’s provincial leech Gaius Verres, who drained Sicily dry by 70 BCE, the truth screams bloody murder. Today? All you need to do is read the front page. Give someone, almost anyone, a title and the PIN to the public bank
account, and they will claw wealth from it with both hands.
The US Constitution tried to chain the beast, granting Congress power only to tax and spend for “general welfare.” But that proved to be a flimsy rope, and the “necessary and proper” clause is a free pass to cook the books. Today? Multi-trillion budgets bloat with crony cash, barrels of pork, and “special interests” like hyenas looking for a fresh kill. Corruption is not a glitch or an accident. Corruption is in the government’s DNA, hardwired and pulsating.
Enter Davy Crockett, a poor frontiersman who learned to read and write as an adult, who became a one-man wrecking ball against the scam. In 1828, while serving as a US
Congressman, Crockett faced a tearful proposal to grant a pension to the widow of a deceased naval officer. Public funds for a private sob story, and, even if valid and noble, without any constitutional grounding.
Crockett understood the situation but also smelled the stink. His dirtpoor Tennessee neighbors rebuilt a burned-out town with their own hands and empty pockets, not government giveaways. He roared “It’s not yours to give!,” a line that should be carved onto every greedy politician’s forehead with a rusty knife.
To Crockett, government funds were not a loot-bag for sentimental gestures or ballot-box bait. Officials have a blood-forged pact, vowing that public funds are for roads, defense, and survival. Crockett argued that Congress had no right to spend taxpayers’ money on private charity without explicit authority from the Constitution.
Today, politicians hurl billions at their buddies—subsidies for fat-cat donors, bridges to nowhere, “infrastructure” morphing into private jets. “General welfare,” the US Constitution says, not “special favors.” Tell that to senators slobbering over votes like rabid dogs fighting for scraps. Crockett’s logic slashes deep: the treasury is not their personal ATM.
You want a solution to this reek-
ing cesspool of corruption? You need to torch your ballot box delusions— elections, Edsas, even Trump’s shiny Government Efficiency squad will not slay this beast. All that is just slapping lipstick on a “Buwaya.” Voters are not the culprits; no candidate slate, saint or sinner, rewrites the equation. Humans stay greedy until the grave.
Even with all the hysteria and controversy—and the far underwater approval rating of Elon Musk—most US voters see the rot and “believe corruption, inefficiency, and red tape are major problems in the federal government”. Maybe the minority group are financially dependent on the 3 million civilian workers, as the national government is the nation’s largest employer—just like the Philippines.
Crockett’s ghost holds the only blade sharp enough: force budgets cut to bones—roads, guns, survival for the most fragile of society. Or the theft will continue. Period. Fat rats fuel power’s greed; Crockett knew starving them was the only way to choke the corruption beast. Gut the swamp rats or watch them swallow you and your money.
E-mail me at mangun@gmail.com. Follow me on Twitter @mangunonmarkets. PSE stock-market information and technical analysis provided by AAA Southeast Equities Inc.
Shipping profit boom evaporates on US tariffs, Red Sea reopening
GT. Anthony C. Cabangon
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By Chloé Meley & Rachel Yeo
LOBAL shippers from AP Moller-Maersk A/S to Cosco Shipping Holdings Co., which logged windfall earnings last year, may see a reversal of fortunes in 2025 as a potential reopening of the Red Sea route and punitive US tariffs loom.
Plans by US President Donald Trump to introduce new import levies are damaging trade, while the prospect of a lasting ceasefire in the Middle East could redirect traffic back through the Suez Canal, driving rates lower.
Global liner rates fell 5.9 percent sequentially in the week ended Feb. 27, after earlier breaking below $3,000 per 40-foot container for the first time since early May, according to World Container Index data. The Shanghai Containerized Freight Index has lost 57 percent from its peak in July.
“The liner industry is a volatile industry, vulnerable to booms and busts,” said Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Lee Klaskow. Shipping companies “probably wouldn’t have had a good year without the Red Sea crisis,” Klaskow said, estimating that detours through the Cape of Good Hope added 10 to 15 days to voyages.
“There appears to be no organic drivers to help stem the continuing decline in 2025,” Klaskow and fellow BI analyst Kenneth Loh said in a February 20 research note.
Increased US tariffs on Chinese goods will likely reduce volumes in container shipping by 1.5 to 2 percentage points in 2025, according to Kepler Cheuvreux analyst Axel Styrman, who estimates growth of 3.5 percent to 4 percent when excluding the levies. The reopening of Red Sea routes—expected at some point in the course of the year—could reduce container shipping demand by around 6 percent, his calculations show.
“If both these events materialize, capacity utilization—which also will be negatively impacted by continued high fleet growth—will come under severe downward pressure in 2025, with a potential decline in spot rates by 30 percent to 40 percent compared with 2024,” Styrman said. The nearterm benefits from front-loading ahead of tariffs are also fading from China, said Parash Jain, HSBC’s global head of transport and logistics research.
Trump’s plans also threaten the longer-term outlook for the industry, Citi analysts including Kaseedit Choonnawat wrote in a note, say-
ing the proposed levies could mean higher unit costs for the transpacific route. Cosco Shipping appears most at risk given its high mix of Chinesebuilt vessels, while Taiwanese and Japanese liners may be potential beneficiaries, they said.
Maersk has forecast underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization of $6 billion to $9 billion in 2025, down from $12.1 billion last year. A reopening of the Red Sea lane by mid-year would point to the low end of the guidance range, but it could reach the high end if vessels can’t transit there until year-end, it said on February 6.
“2025 looks on shaky ground” for Maersk, Bernstein analyst Alex Irving wrote in a note.
Asian shipping firms, set to report next month, also face profit declines in 2025. Shanghai-based Cosco, the world’s largest shipping company by market value, more than doubled net income last year, it said in a preliminary report in January. Consensus shows profit sliding almost 50 percent this year.
Taiwan’s liners, more exposed to the transpacific container trade that generally sees larger swings in freight rates, are no different. While Evergreen Marine Corp.’s 2024 adjusted net income is seen jumping fourfold, it’s expected to sink more than 30 percent in 2025. Yang Ming Marine
Transport Corp. could see 2024 net income surge more than 10-fold, but slide more than 50 percent this year. Japan’s Nippon Yusen KK’s net income for the fiscal year ending March 2026 is seen dropping 45 percent.
Tariff uncertainty
WHILE the impact of the Suez Canal reopening is well understood by shipping companies, they’re more dismissive of the tariff threat, analysts said. Maersk expects consumer demand to defy the intensifying trade war, forecasting 4 percent growth in the global container market this year.
“Container shipping companies realize that the reopening of the Suez Canal will have a material impact on spot rates, however it seems that they don’t believe the tariffs will hurt the market severely,” Kepler Cheuvreux’s Styrman said.
Hapag-Lloyd AG also downplayed the potential impact of tariffs on its most recent earnings call. “The first time that Trump was in power, we certainly saw the effects of the tariffs that he imposed for goods coming out of China,” Chief Executive Officer Rolf Habben Jansen said in January. “That did not necessarily mean that global trade went down, but it’s more that flows have changed. And I would not be surprised if that’s going to be something similar this time.” With assistance from Tara Patel /Bloomberg
UK says Europe needs ‘coalition of the willing’ for Ukraine
By Alex Wickham & Irina Anghel
KEIR STARMER said a “coalition of the willing” was needed to provide Ukraine with security guarantees after any USbrokered ceasefire, as the UK prime minister urged European leaders gathered in London to rapidly ramp up defense spending.
Starmer said that such a grouping would likely include the UK and France and “one or two others,” who would work with Ukraine on a “plan to stop the fighting.” His remarks came after a week of frantic diplomacy marked by a disastrous Oval Office clash between US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy over the prospects of a ceasefire with Russia without American security guarantees.
“We’ve got to find those countries in Europe that are prepared to be a bit more forward-leaning—I’m not criticizing anyone here,” Starmer told the BBC in an interview on Sunday. “But rather than sort of move at the pace of every single member, every single country in Europe, which would, in the end, be quite a slow pace, I do think we’ve got to probably get to a coalition of the willing.”
The British prime minister, along with others including France’s Emmanuel Macron, have been working the phones since the bust-up at the White House raised the risk of a sudden halt in American support for a war that has raged for more than three years. Starmer spoke with both Macron and Trump after hosting Zelenskyy in Downing Street on Saturday, describing the conversations as “a step in the right direction.”
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni stressed the need to keep the trans-Atlantic alliance together during a visit to Downing Street ahead of the summit. “It is very, very important that we avoid the risk that the West divides,” Meloni told Starmer.
The Trump administration has privately made clear it wants a public apology from Zelenskyy to mend relations, one European official said.
At the heart of European concerns has been Trump’s direct and fastpaced diplomacy with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who launched his full-scale invasion of the Ukraine in February 2022 and still controls about one-fifth of the country’s territory. The US president has at the same time urged the Europeans to take the leading role in supporting Ukraine, prompting governments across the continent to further ramp up defense spending.
Still, few are keen to put their troops closer to danger as part of any peacekeeping force in Ukraine. Starmer is convening more than a dozen leaders at Lancaster House, following a similar summit two weeks ago in Paris, in a bid to strengthen Ukraine’s position, secure a “lasting peace” and plan for security guarantees. Starmer was expected to tell attendees—including Macron, Meloni, Zelenskyy, as well as delegations from Canada, Germany, Norway and Turkey—that they need to face the
The British prime minister, along with others including France’s Emmanuel Macron, have been working the phones since the bust-up at the White House raised the risk of a sudden halt in American support for a war that has raged for more than three years.
“brutal reality” about defense spending, according to a British official. They must realize that “carefully crafted speeches” backing Ukraine won’t be enough to persuade Trump to agree to the security guarantees they want, the official said.
The grouping underscores the need to both move more quickly than the consensus-driven European Union and bring in some outside members with more robust military capabilities. Starmer has sought to reassert leadership in Europe postBrexit by pledging to increase the defense budget to 2.5 percent of economic output, up from 2.3 percent currently.
Finland’s president, Alexander Stubb, said that Russia won’t stop with Ukraine if it’s not countered with strength in any negotiations over a ceasefire or peace. “The only thing that Vladimir Putin understands is power,” Stubb told Bloomberg TV on Sunday in London. “You show any kind of a weakness and he will basically go after you.”
Starmer said on Sunday that the UK and France were seeking to help secure any truce brokered by Trump and Putin. “We’ve now agreed that the UK along with France and possibly one or two others will work on a plan to stop the fighting and we’ll discuss that plan with the United States,” he told the BBC.
Asked if Trump had agreed to provide a US military “backstop” for any ceasefire agreement, Starmer said only that an American security guarantee was an “intense part of the discussion” during his meeting with the president on Thursday in Washington.
While the British prime minister said he thought Zelenskyy had done nothing wrong in the Oval Office and that the encounter between the two presidents had made him “uncomfortable,” he declined to criticize Trump. He said it was better for the UK to continue talking with both sides and that he believed the US president wanted a deal with staying power.
“I’m clear in my mind, that he does want lasting peace. He does want an end to the fighting in Ukraine,” Starmer said in the interview. “I’m absolutely clear that’s what his motive is.” With assistance from Donato Paolo Mancini, Zoe Schneeweiss, Kati Pohjanpalo and Francine Lacqua /Bloomberg
Opinion
Tax refund tango: Dancing around CREATE MORE’s RRs
JUSTTAX LAW FOR BUSINESS
last week, in the article entitled “CREATE MORE’s draft RR,” our Firm’s Senior Partner, Atty Irwin Nidea, Jr., wrote about the then-recently issued draft revenue regulations for CREATE MORE. He identified possible issues concerning the rules and procedures for tax refunds, among others. Soon afterward, the draft regulations turned final as the BIR ultimately issued Revenue Regulations (RR) Nos. 5-2025 to 11-2025.
While the BIR appears to have addressed Atty. Nidea’s concern on the “restart” of the 90-day period to process, it would appear that several more refund issues are still left unresolved. Borrowing the words of Atty. Nidea, some questions have been answered, but some answers have sparked more questions.
For today, we will focus on RR Nos. 6-2025 and 8-2025, which laid down the respective refund procedures involving claims relating to excise taxes on petroleum products sold to international carriers and tax-exempt entities as well as claims involving input taxes. Let me highlight some of the prevailing issues in these RRs: First , the RRs implemented an innovation introduced by CREATE MORE: the request for reconsideration to the CIR. According to the
rules, a request for reconsideration on the full or partial denial of the taxpayer’s claim for refund should be limited to questions of law. It should be noted that the “question of law” limitation is not in CREATE MORE.
Further, the RRs provided that appeal to the Court of Tax Appeals (CTA) is available only in cases of: (i) full or partial denial of the request for reconsideration; or (ii) inaction on the claim for refund or request for reconsideration.
Unfortunately, the limitation imposed by the BIR on what may be the subject of a request for reconsideration created a searing gap on the remedy available to taxpayers. What about claims that were wholly or partially denied based only on questions of fact?
If only questions of law may be
the subject of a request for reconsideration, can taxpayers (whose claim for refund was denied on factual determinations) directly appeal to the CTA? It would seem that this may not be allowed since the remedy of appeal to the CTA under the RR is limited to the two scenarios mentioned above.
Is the taxpayer then required to still file a request for reconsideration on claims for refund wholly or partially denied based on factual matters? Will the BIR accept the request for reconsideration notwithstanding the absence of a question of law? Or can taxpayers already seek judicial redress because of the ambiguity in the rules? This gap, if not filled, threatens to make tax refunds uncertain for taxpayers.
Second, CREATE MORE, in addition to the request for reconsideration, standardized the period for processing tax refunds. For claims involving excise taxes on petroleum products sold to international carriers and tax-exempt entities, the BIR now has 90 days (from the original 180 days) to process it which is similar to the period for processing refund claims involving input taxes. Further, the law provided that failure to promulgate the rules shall not prevent its implementation upon its effectivity (which was on November 28, 2024).
But what does the revenue regulations say? Once more in both RR Nos. 6-2025 and 8-2025, the BIR modified the implementation of the 90-day period to process refund claims to apply only to those filed on or after
April 1, 2025. In other words, the RR is saying that for refund claims involving excise taxes on petroleum products sold to international carriers and tax-exempt entities which were filed from November 28, 2024, to March 31, 2025, the 180-day period should apply. If the law (which includes the 90day period revision) says that it must be implemented on November 28, 2024, can the rules modify this and effect the revision at a later date? What period should apply for refund claims filed from November 28, 2024, to March 31, 2025, when reckoning the period of inaction: 90 days or 180 days? The inconsistency may prove costly to certain taxpayers as it may result in the loss of their right to seek an appeal with the CTA in cases of inaction on their refund claims. CREATE MORE was supposed to address the concerns in the original CREATE. I do hope that these gaps and inconsistencies are resolved soon to live up to the aspirations of CREATE MORE. There is still time.
The author is a junior partner of Du-Baladad and Associates Law Offices (BDB Law) (www. bdblaw.com.ph), a member-firm of WTS Global. The article is for general information only and is not intended, nor should be construed as a substitute for tax, legal or financial advice on any specific matter. Applicability of this article to any actual or particular tax or legal issue should be supported therefore by a professional study or advice. If you have any comments or questions concerning the article, you may e-mail the author at jomel.manaig@ bdblaw.com.ph or call 8403-2001 local 140.
Dollar bears seize on notion of crumbling US exceptionalism
By Anya Andrianova & Carter Johnson
PRESIDENT Donald Trump’s tariff threats once again lifted the dollar last week, but a growing group of investors is betting against the greenback amid signs the US economy is cooling and on concern a trade war will weaken it further.
The expanding chorus of greenback bears includes asset managers Invesco and Columbia Threadneedle and hedge fund Mount Lucas Management. On Wall Street, Morgan Stanley and Societe Generale are warning clients that going long the dollar is an overcrowded trade that may not hold up.
They’re looking past the daily gyrations sparked by tariff announcements, and as they see it, the narrative around the greenback is only darkening. Instead of deriving support from the prospect that import levies could reignite inflation and keep interest rates elevated, there’s now concern that all the uncertainty around tariffs risks undermining an economy that already shows signs of cooling.
The result is that market expectations for Federal Reserve interest-rate cuts have intensified, diminishing the greenback’s appeal. And the aura of US economic exceptionalism that underpinned the dollar’s 7.1% surge last quarter is dimming as investors ponder Trump’s domestic and foreign policies, that include efforts to slash federal expenses and broke a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine.
“I don’t think he can send the dollar much higher, because it’s really expensive,” said Kit Juckes, head of currency strategy at SocGen in London. “But can he send it lower? He absolutely can, if he damages the US economy.”
Market peril
THE world’s primary reserve currency is now almost 2 percent below the postelection peak it reached before Trump’s inauguration, amid a risk-on wave that also boosted stocks and Treasury yields.
Last week drove home the peril of going short the dollar in the current environment. The greenback surged on Thursday, paring its February decline, after Trump said that 25 percent tariffs on Mexico and Canada would take effect March 4. He also said he would impose an additional 10 percent tax on Chinese imports.
The US currency extended gains on Friday in the aftermath of a heated exchange between President Trump and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy, leading to the collapse of a peace agreement with Russia and a potential deal on critical minerals. In an interview after the Oval Office bustup, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent reiterated that tariffs are likely to generate substantial revenue.
Fading enthusiasm
HEADLINES on tariffs have tended to help the dollar because generally speaking they make imports more costly, potentially hurting demand for those goods and reducing the need for the currencies to buy them.
At the same time, investors got a reminder last week of the headwinds the
economy is facing, as pending home sales slumped to a record low and jobless claims rose to the highest this year, partly due to job-cut announcements at federal agencies. It’s that backdrop that has bears convinced they’re leaning in the right direction.
“For a period of time the market priced only the positive side” of the administration’s policies, said David Aspell, co-chief investment officer at Mount Lucas, which has $1.7 billion under management. “You also need to fully price things that they’re trying to do that are going to be growth-negative.”
The fund holds a short position on the dollar versus peers including the pound and the Mexican peso as the post-election enthusiasm over US growth fades. Invesco, meanwhile, flipped to underweight the dollar from overweight a few weeks ago on better-than-forecast data out of Europe.
At Columbia Threadneedle, Ed AlHussainy says he’s been shorting the dollar against emerging-market currencies since December. When bullishdollar positioning increased after the Fed signaled it would slow its easing, his thought was that he may not be able to get much more out of the trade. The rates strategist said he plans to keep the short position for at least six months.
The US currency’s pullback from its recent peak is reminding Morgan Stanley strategists of the start of Trump’s first term in 2017. Back then, the currency slumped after he took office, reversing a rally that followed his November 2016 election win.
Bonds too
THE shift in sentiment is rippling through the Treasury market too. Trad-
Singapore probes potential fraud in Nvidia AI chip shipments
SBy Gao Yuan & Mackenzie Hawkins
INGAPORE is investigating whether Dell Technologies Inc. and Super Micro Computer Inc. servers shipped to Malaysia housed Nvidia Corp. chips barred from China, outlining a case that’s highlighted the role of middlemen in funneling high-end semiconductors.
The country’s law minister on Monday outlined specifics of the probe after local media reported police arrested several people for their alleged roles in procuring and shipping Nvidia chips in violation of US sanctions. They stand accused of misleading server suppliers of the actual end-users of the
hardware, which were shipped from Singapore to Malaysia, Law Minister K Shanmugam told reporters. Authorities are now investigating if the servers, made by Dell and Super Micro, made their way to other countries, he said.
The case is casting a spotlight on Singapore-based entities’ role in channeling Nvidia chips to China and potentially other countries restricted by the US. The case comes weeks after Bloomberg News reported that the US was investigating whether Chinese artificial intelligence sensation DeepSeek had circumvented US chip curbs with help of third parties in Singapore. Singapore has requested further information from Malaysia and the
US to determine the final destination of the servers, Shanmugam said.
“The question is whether Malaysia was a final destination or from Malaysia it went to somewhere else, which we do not know for certain at this point,” he said.
A preliminary investigation found that the chips in those servers could potentially subject the devices to US export restrictions.
“We assessed that the servers may contain Nvidia chips,” Shanmugam said, stopping short of confirming that.
Nvidia relies on companies such as Dell, Super Micro and Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. to make the servers that house its coveted AI chips. Those companies then sell the
servers either directly or through intermediaries to data center operators across the world.
Super Micro and Dell were already among companies scrutinized for their potential role in how Nvidia chips subject to US export controls end up in China. Nvidia asked Super Micro and Dell to audit customers in Southeast Asia to verify that they still possess the Nvidia-powered servers they bought, the Information reported in December, citing a person close to the US Department of Commerce.
Shanmugam didn’t link the case directly to DeepSeek or any Chinese buyer because the investigation is still ongoing. He also said the case isn’t tied di-
rectly to US export controls, saying the fraud investigation is an independent probe conducted by Singapore after receiving an anonymous tip off, rather than request from a sovereign country. Washington has for years been trying to crack down on China’s ability to access restricted technology via third countries, most recently by expanding semiconductor trade curbs to cover most of the world. Those latest rules—which the Trump administration is currently reviewing—establish maximum thresholds for the AI computing power than can be exported to places from Southeast Asia to the Middle East, where US officials are worried about Beijing’s influence.
ers have driven two-year yields to the lowest since October as expectations build for deeper Fed easing.
A break lower in yields on additional signs of economic weakness is “the dollar bear case,” said George Catrambone, head of fixed income at DWS Americas. “For a meaningful decline in the dollar you need to see the market price in more cuts, but it will ultimately also depend on what other central banks are doing.” For now, traders see around nearly 0.70 percentage points of Fed rate reductions by year-end, compared with about 0.85 percentage points for the European Central Bank.
That differential helps explain why the market, overall, still has a bias toward greenback strength. In futures, for example, speculators such as hedge funds are still leaning toward dollar gains even after trimming bullish bets to the lowest since late October.
But the great unknown, of course, is how tariffs will play out.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. strategists expect more dollar gains should sweeping levies ultimately come to pass, and they said in a Wednesday note that the market was underpricing that risk. Meanwhile, Morgan Stanley, argued last week that the dollar’s major peers have become less sensitive to tariff announcements in recent weeks, which could extend the dollar’s slide. Investors, for their part, don’t seem to see tariff-fueled turbulence ending any time soon.
“Volatility is likely to increase, but it is not clear to me that the US dollar comes out winning,” said Alessio de Longis at Invesco. With assistance from Michael Mackenzie /Bloomberg
Early signs indicate that the Trump administration will intensify those efforts. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick suggested that Chinese AI startup DeepSeek evaded US export controls to build its R1 model and pledged a “very strong” response. Trump officials are currently investigating whether DeepSeek managed to access advanced Nvidia chips via third parties in Singapore, Bloomberg has reported.
A senior Singaporean official said last month that Nvidia chips that have been shipped to the country only accounted for less than 1 percent of the US giant’s revenue, even though the Santa Clara, California-based firm billed more than a fifth of its sales to buyers in the city state. Bloomberg
Atty. Jomel N. Manaig
Tuesday, March 4, 2025
Don’t forget cultural MSMEs amid surge of imports–PIDS
By Andrea E. San Juan @andreasanjuan
THEgovernment should provide incentives to domestic production of raw materials and aspiring artisans in order to save the country’s cultural micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). This, amid the unlevel playing field brought about by mass-produced and imported goods, according to a study by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS).
The PIDS paper noted that despite supportive measures like the Philippine Creative Industries Development Act of 2022 and the Philippine Development Plan 20232028 (NEDA 2023), challenges persist in scaling operations, adopting new technologies and expanding market access.
technology, financial constraints, and complex government regulations,” the paper noted.
The local think tank underscored that market globalization and mass production “further pressure” small enterprises relying on handcrafted or culturally specific products, saying these are often “undercut” by cheaper, factory-made alternatives.
In addition, the paper noted that the decline of traditional skills among younger generations threatens the long-term survival of cultural MSMEs.
Further, the study underscored that balancing tradition with innovation is “crucial” for these small enterprises, “as adapting to modern market demands without compromising cultural integrity is a significant hurdle.”
innovation-driven strategies and targeted policy recommendations such as financial support, simplified regulations, and digital literacy programs which the local think tank said are essential for sustaining these businesses.
Recommendations
THE study emphasized the need to put in place measures to level the playing field, ensuring fair competition and addressing “unfair” trade practices, such as the dumping of cheap imports.
“Domestic production should be supported by providing incentives for the local production of raw materials and finished goods, reducing reliance on imports,” the local think tank noted.
DA TO PROVIDE COLD CHAIN, FOOD LOGISTICS SYSTEMS
THE Department of Agriculture (DA) will provide energy-efficient cold chain and food logistics system projects as part of efforts to boost the farm sector’s productivity.
Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. signed memorandum circular (MC) 5, which stressed the need to tackle infrastructure challenges and ensure the availability and accessibility of food supply.
“There is a strong need to effectively connect production with consumption, especially considering the vast distances between farms and the target markets,” the circular read.
“Poor infrastructure results in high transportation costs, wastage, lower farmer’ s income and food insecurities.”
“The projects offer more efficient logistics support to the farmers, especially after production or when bringing the farm produce closer to the market, end users or consumers,” the DA said. It added that these could also effectively manage the distribution of quality food in other markets in case of an oversupply.
Solar-powered ice plants
MEANWHILE , the DA recently said it is keen on establishing solar-powered ice plants to minimize spoilage and postharvest losses of farm goods.
The agriculture chief said this would boost food supply efficiency while potentially increasing the income of farmers and fishers, particularly in remote regions.
The study, citing data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), said cultural MSMEs are an “integral” part of the creative economy, which contributed P1.72 trillion to the country’s gross domestic product in 2023.
Despite these obstacles, the study noted that cultural MSMEs are motivated by the desire for economic survival.
“MSMEs contribute to cultural heritage and local economies while grappling with challenges such as competition from mass-produced goods, difficulty maintaining skilled workforces, limited access to
Palace crafts interagency action plan as extreme heat cancels classes
MALACAÑANG said Monday a new interagency action plan is in place to respond to the effects of soaring head indexes which reached “dangerous” levels as the summer season nears, and forced a suspension of classes in at least eight local government units.
Palace Press Officer Clarissa “Claire” Castro made the assurance in a briefing with Palace reporters after the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) reported areas in Quezon City and Pampanga reached 46 Celsius, a level within danger classification of its head index.
According to the Department of Education (DepEd) classes were suspended in Malabon, Las Piñas, Paranaque, Manila, Marikina (early dismissal for morning classes), and Pasay.
Meanwhile, in the cities of Valenzeula and Caloocan, only Kindergarten up to Senior High School public schools Public have declared the suspension of classes. San Juan City, in the other hand, will implement adjusted class schedules to protect students from extreme heat.
Mayor Francis Zamora has issued Executive Order No. FMZ-193, Series of 2025, implementing an adjusted class schedule for all public schools, including child development centers in the city. This measure will take effect starting March 4, 2025. Under the new schedule, morning classes will run from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m., while afternoon classes will be held from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. Zamora said this adjustment aims to minimize students’ exposure to the hottest hours of the day -10 a.m. – 3 p.m. and reduce the risk of heat-related illnesses.
To ensure continuous learning, students will be given supplemental academic activities to complete at home during the remaining school hours.
For private elementary schools, high schools, colleges, and universities in San Juan, the city govern-
ment left the decision to the respective school administrations.
However, local officials strongly encourage these institutions to avoid holding in-person classes during peak heat hours for the safety and well-being of students.
PAGASA’s two-day forecast showed that the heat index could reach 46 degree celsius on March 3 and 4.
Meanwhile, DepEd said, there was no suspension of classes in Visayas and Mindanao.
Action plan
ACCORDING to Castro, the Palace-led action plan includes public reminders from the Department of Health (DOH) on what to do to avoid health problems from high temperatures.
The Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), Castro said, will also come out with their action plans.
“So, as of now, we will collate the other actions plans about this [high heat index], but the DOH already released their message about this,” Castro said.
The Presidential Communications Office (PCO) undersecretary said they will soon meet the three agencies to get more details on their interventions.
“I will look into the status [of the consolidation of action plans] later after this press briefing,” Castro said.
She said the government is now also bracing for the possible economic impact of the rising temperatures.
“The government will always prepare for this. If it will affect the economy, we will be prepared for it,” Castro said, when asked how the high heat index will affect government targets this year.
Last year, the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) blamed the country’s slower-thanexpected economic growth to the effects of the El Niño phenomenon, which caused nationwide droughts, and the series of typhoons, which
“MSMEs are motivated by the desire for economic survival, community empowerment, and cultural preservation,” the PIDS paper said.
However, to ensure these small merchants’ success, the paper underscored the need to put in place
In terms of “preserving” traditional knowledge, the paper said there is a need to link experienced artisans with young craftspeople who can “facilitate the transfer of skills and expertise, while financial incentives, such as scholarship grants, can encourage the pursuit of traditional crafts.”
On enhancing digital literacy, the local think tank pointed out
The DA through its Agriculture and Fisheries Logistics Office (AFLO) included in its infrastructure investments plan the provision of energyefficient cold chain and food logistics system. This would include a Cold Storage Warehouse (CSW) and the necessary machinery and equipment; ice plant; refrigerated hauling or refrigerated delivery trucks; tram line, trading posts and other similar market facilities, among others.
“By introducing ice early in the supply chain—from farm to storage, or even directly to market—we can extend the shelf life of produce,” Laurel said in a statement.
“For vegetables, ice can preserve freshness for 5 to 7 days, and for fish, up to 7 days.” Powered by renewable energy sources, such as solar and battery systems, the DA chief said the ice plants would help
DA, BOC seize P202-M imported frozen fish
By Ada Pelonia @adapelonia
THE Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Bureau of Customs (BOC) on Monday seized P202 million worth of frozen fish at Manila South Harbor.
The agencies conducted a spot check on two 40-foot container vans, which revealed boxes of frozen mackerel or tamban and frozen round scad or galunggong instead of the processed plant-based commodities from China as declared in the shipping manifest. The two vans inspected were among a batch of 19 such vans.
Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI)
Director Gerald Glenn Panganiban
explained that his agency had previously alerted the BOC about the shipments, which were declared to contain 550 metric tons (MT) of frozen fried taro sticks, sweet potato balls, and various frozen food items.
However, the agency said the spot check on two container vans consigned to Straradava Household Products Co. Ltd. showed that the cargo contained mackerel and not taro products as claimed, in a clear violation of importation regulations.
The DA said the shipment arrived in Manila South Harbor on January 21, and some of the 17 other suspected, yet-to-be-inspected container vans were consigned to Fendee Consumer Goods Trading, a company sharing the same Binondo address as
Straradava.
While processed plant-based foods fall under the jurisdiction of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) within the Department of Health (DOH), imported fish and marine products are regulated by the DA’s Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR). Meanwhile, Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. issued a warning to unscrupulous businessmen that the DA and its bureaus are closely monitoring such activities. He then informed FDA Director General Samuel Zacate of the smuggling case to ensure interagency coordination. Laurel also commended the BPI staff stationed at Manila’s ports,
noting their role in uncovering the violation of the Anti-Agricultural Economic Sabotage Act or the law imposing stricter penalties for smugglers and other offenders.
“These dedicated BPI personnel should be emulated [...] Their diligence led to the discovery of this clear violation,” Laurel was quoted in the statement as saying. Among those present during the inspection were BOC officials led by Commissioner Bienvenido Rubio, Zacate,
Nathaniel Liberato, Panganiban, Assistant Director for Regulatory Services Ruel Gesmundo, NPQSD Chief Joan May Tolentino, PQS South Harbor OIC-Area Manager Henrick Exconde, and BFAR Director Elizer Salilig.
SINULOG MEETS THE SERENISSIMA: THE PHILIPPINES AT VENICE CARNIVAL For the first time in history, the Philippines took center stage at the Carnevale di Venezia, captivating audiences with vibrant folk dances at Piazza San Marco. The London-based Lahing Kayumanggi Dance Company, along with the Filipino Community of Vicenza and Venezia, showcased traditional performances like Sinulog and Bulaklakin, bringing Filipino culture to one of the world’s most celebrated festivals. Consul General Elmer G. Cato, together with key officials, led the Philippine delegation in this landmark event, which was supported by the Department of Tourism. PHOTO COURTESY OF THE PHILIPPINE CONSULATE GENERAL IN MILAN
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Editor: Jennifer A. Ng
Weak coal prices pull down earnings of Semirara in ’24
By Lenie Lectura @llectura
Consunji-led semirara Mining and Power Corp. (sMPC) posted a 30-percent decline in earnings last year due to “normalizing” energy markets.
In a report to the stock exchange Monday, SMPC said it posted a net income of P19.6 billion last year from P27.9 billion in 2023.
In the fourth quarter alone, SMPC generated P3.9 billion in net income, down 26 percent from P5.3 billion in the same period last year, due to weaker contribution from the coal segment, while the power segment remained relatively stable.
SEMCalaca Power Corp. (SCPC) and Southwest Luzon Power Generation Corp. (SLPGC) are its power subsidiaries.
The coal segment contributed 57 percent of net income, followed by SCPC, 29 percent, and SLPGC, 14 percent.
Revenues contracted by 15 percent to P65.19 billion from P76. 96 billion, mainly due to lower selling prices for both coal and electricity,
while increased sales volume provided some relief.
“The effect of weaker selling prices was cushioned by recordhigh coal shipments and power generation, increased electricity sales and lower government share,” the company said in a report.
SMPC is the only verticallyintegrated power generator in the country that runs on its own fuel. As the largest domestic coal producer, it supplies fuel to power plants, cement factories, and other industrial facilities. It also exports coal to China, South Korea, Brunei, and other nearby markets.
Operating expenses went up by 12 percent to P4.81 billion while government share plunged by 40 percent to P6.38 billion due to lower coal revenues and narrow margins.
“Despite price corrections, we
focused on key factors within our control—maximizing production, achieving record-high coal shipments and power generation. Our disciplined strategy and dedicated team played a crucial role in navigating energy market shifts,” said SMPC President, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Sustainability Officer Maria Cristina C. Gotianun.
In 2024, SMPC set new records, with total shipments reaching 16.5 million metric tons (MMT), coal production hitting 16 MMT for the third consecutive year, and gross power generation totaling 5,358 gigawatt hours (GWh).
The average Newcastle Index (NEWC) in the fourth quarter of 2024 edged up by 2 percent to $137.7 from $135.6, while the Indonesian Coal Index 4 (ICI4) dropped 12 percent to $51.8 from $58.9.
Overall average selling price (ASP) of electricity slid 3 percent to P4.16/ kilowatt hour (kWh) from P4.29/kWh, on the combined effect of a decline in spot average selling price (ASP), higher bilateral contract (BCQ) ASP and improved sales volume.
In the fourth quarter of 2024 versus fourth quarter of 2023, SMPC’s net income grew 26 percent from P3.1 billion, driven by better contributions from the coal segment. Total ship -
D&L earmarks P1B for capital spending
By VG Cabuag @villygc
Chemi C a l manufacturer D& l i ndustries i nc. said it will set aside some P1 billion for its capital expenditures (capex) this year as it ramps up the operations of its Batangas plant.
D& l President a l vin D. l a o said the 2025 capex budget is lower than the P1.16 billion spent by the company last year. h e n oted, however, that the company has almost completed its factory in Batangas.
“Capex peaked in 2022 (at P3.5 billion) and it will continue to be lower. There are some projects that were started at the main
phase of construction a couple of years ago that have been completed recently and we still have to release the retention fees,” l a o told reporters in a press briefing. “at the same time, we are still making minor expansions, not as big as what we’ve done in the past couple of years, but on a much smaller scale. So there will still be some capex, but expectation is for it to be lower than what we did last year.” D& l s Batangas plant is expected to continue ramping up operations this year and is projected to increase its contribution to the company’s net income for 2025. i t i s seen as key to the growth in the company’s
export revenues.
The plant booked a net income of P244 million in 2024, despite early losses due to startup costs, with earnings in the fourth quarter alone reaching P248 million. i n general, the trend should be upwards (of P248 million), although in some quarters, it might go down to below P200 million or even P100 million. But it will be seeing higher lows and higher highs in the succeeding quarters, so it will be definitely higher for the full year and its contribution to the bottom line (of D& l )
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Eternal Plans: 44 years of relentless commitment
IN t he pre-need industry where many have come and gone, Eternal Plans, Inc., remains steadfast. While some of its contemporaries have folded and closed their doors, the company has weathered every storm, overcoming economic downturns, global crises, and the challenges brought by an ever-changing world. Through it all, Eternal Plans has remained committed to its mission—helping Filipino families prepare for the future.
Today, March 4, 2025, Eternal Plans is not just celebrating 44 years of service but also reaffirming its dedication to its clients. More than just a business, Eternal Plans has been a trusted companion in life’s most important moments, standing by families when they need it most.
A Legacy of Strength and Perseverance
F O UNDED b y Ambassador Antonio
L. Cabangon Chua, Eternal Plans was built on the values of integrity, dedication, and service. Despite facing economic challenges, global crises, and even the unprecedented impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the company has never wavered in its commitment.
“Our founder, my father, always believed that challenges should never hold us back,” said Vice Chairman and CEO D. Antoinette C. Cabangon-Jacinto. “He used to say,
‘Kung magpalipad ka ng saranggola, huwag mong hintayin ang hangin. Itakbo mo.’ That mindset of pushing forward, of creating opportunities rather than waiting for them, is what has kept Eternal Plans moving forward for 44 years.” And move forward it did. Eternal Plans has continuously evolved, adapting to the changing times and embracing innovation to serve its customers better.
Innovating for the Future R E COGNI z I NG the growing needs of Filipino families, Eternal Plans has strengthened its digital transformation efforts, whether in salesforce activities or attending to client inquiries. It has expanded its services by opening new offices in key locations to bring its offerings closer to more communities. Beyond this, the company has diversified its
ments contracted 19 percent to 4.3 MMT from 5.3 MMT on lower production and limited inventory of commercialgrade coal.
During the same period, Semirara coal ASP dropped 15 percent to P2,821 per metric ton (MT), from P3,305 per MT, on stabilizing market prices and higher proportion of lower-grade coal shipments. Total production decreased 31 percent, from 4.2 MMT to 2.9 MMT, following pre-stripping of two new blocks in Narra mine.
The power business contributed P4.63 billion revenues. Total gross generation rose by 8 percent to 1,290 GWh from 1,195 GWh, on expanded average capacity of SCPC following restoration of SCPC Unit 2’s dependable capacity to 300 megawatts (MW).
As a result, total power sales rose by 13 percent to 1,223 GWh from 1,078 GWh, with 56 percent of generated electricity sold to the spot market.
At the end of 2024, 30 percent of the 840MW dependable capacity of the power segment is contracted. Net of station service, which fluctuates periodically, SMPC has 504.10MW available for sale to the spot market.
For this year, SMPC expects NEWC and IC14 to consolidate around $114.6 and $48.9, respectively. “To diversify its export market, the company is actively expanding its reach beyond China and Soth Korea, establishing access to India, Thailand, Japan, and Vietnam, to reduce reliance on a single major market.”
Also this year, SMPC expects spot prices to average P4.01/ KWh, 22 percent lower than P514/KWh in 2024, driven by the full impact of the recently added baseload plants and of the additional 2,100MW in supply capacity scheduled to come in the year.
“The election season may also contribute to increased electricity demand, providing upside for the market.”
THE E nergy Regulatory Commission (ERC) is adopting a new regulatory process to help resolve disputes raised by power industry stakeholders and consumers.
The agency promulgated last week Resolution No.5 Series of 2025, adopting the ERC Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Policy and Manual to standardize and streamline the implementation of ADR mechanisms.
In a nutshell, ADR allows consumers to avail of mediation and arbitration as means to settle claims or disputes with their utilities, or disputes between different energy stakeholders. In other words, there may not be a need to go through the formal, lengthy and sometimes costly advertorial process of filing a case with the ERC.
“The Commission actively encourages and promotes ADR as a means to expedite conflict resolution between regulated entities and consumers. With the institutionalization of our ADR policy, we are providing consumers and regulated entities with a more
efficient avenue for resolving disputes,” said ERC Chairperson Monalisa Dimalanta. ADR processes are generally preferred modes of resolving disputes compared to formal court proceedings.
Pursuant to the Republic Act 9285 or the “Alternative Dispute Resolution Act of 2004,” administrative bodies, including the ERC, are mandated to encourage and actively promote the use of ADR as an important means to provide speedy and impartial justice and help declog court dockets.
The ADR Policy will likewise complement the existing Revised Rules of Practice and Procedure (RRPP) on consumer complaints of ERC, where sections on ADR may be further expanded to improve processes on dispute resolutions.
“This institutionalization emphasizes the efforts of ERC to foster a regulatory environment where conflicts are addressed fairly and expeditiously, ultimately strengthening consumer protection and stakeholder confidence in the energy sector,” added the ERC chief. Lenie Lectura
investments, including the establishment of columbariums within its sister company, Eternal Gardens. It is also actively recruiting more salespeople and providing training programs to support their professional growth. Through these initiatives, Eternal Plans continues to evolve, ensuring that it remains a trusted partner in preparing for life’s most important moments.
A Commitment That Lasts M OR E t han its achievements, what truly defines Eternal Plans is its dedication to its planholders. Through the years, the company has not only provided financial security but has also been a “Karamay mo sa buhay”—a steadfast partner that stands by Filipino families when they need it most.
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Banking&Finance
‘Weak peso to face bearish pressures this year’
By Reine Juvierre Alberto @reine_alberto
THE Philippine peso faces bearish pressure as the central bank’s dovish policy stance and widening current account deficit are seen to further weaken the currency.
Analysts at BofA Securities Inc. forecast the peso to depreciate to the P61 level in the first quarter of 2025 and further weaken at a peak of P62 in the second quarter to third quarter of the year. This will eventually
Expense or investment? How to spend wisely on gadgets?
PURCHASING new gadgets— smartphones, laptops, tablets, even smartwatches—is something that most individuals enjoy doing. Companies launch newer models with improved features from time to time, which prompt many to upgrade. But first, ask yourself: Is this an investment or an expense?
Understanding the difference AN expense is something you purchase that does not benefit you in the long run. It is money spent without return. An investment, however, benefits you, both financially and in terms of usefulness.
For example, purchasing an expensive smartphone just to follow the trend is an expense. But if you need it for work—such as online selling, vlogging, or freelancing—it can be an investment.
How to spend wisely on gadgets
THE following are some practical tips to help you navigate when to purchase and when to save your money:
1. Check your needs. Before you spend, ask yourself, “Do I really need this?”
If your current phone or laptop is still in good condition, upgrading is not that necessary or urgent at the moment. Many consumers buy new gadgets even if their old ones are still functional, which amounts to unnecessary spending. Instead of always upgrading, ask yourself if your current gadget can still carry out its function. If it’s still functioning well, it’s best to delay the spending and save the money meanwhile.
2. Check if it’s for work, business, or for leisure. If a tool helps you earn money or makes you work efficiently, it is an investment. For example, if you are a graphic artist, you need a good laptop to work. If you create content, a good camera or phone can make your business flourish.
When purchasing a new gadget primarily for entertainment, like a gaming console (unless it serves a wider purpose, e.g., content creation or professional gaming) or a social media phone, it is more likely to be a luxury than a necessity.
3. Think about the durability. Some gadgets are cheap but are not long-lasting.
Purchasing low-quality gadgets may be cheap at first, but if they are easily damaged, you will end up paying more. Rather than purchasing the cheapest, look for gadgets that are long-lasting and durable. Sometimes paying a little more in quality may benefit you in the long run.
4. Think about the depreciation. Most gadgets depreciate quickly.
Unlike real estate or other assets,
rebound to P61 in the last quarter.
“We believe policy desire for easier financial conditions remains a negative for Philippine peso,” they said in a report.
The weakening of the US dollar and the hawkish surprise from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) recent policy meeting caused the peso to stabilize during the past month, analysts said.
Despite the BSP’s decision to hold key policy rates steady at 5.75 percent, it maintained a dovish guidance with the possibility of further rate cuts this year.
BSP Governor Eli M. Remolona Jr. said the BSP is still in the easing cycle and not thinking about raising rates.
Further, analysts said the widening in current accounts deficit over the last year drove the demand for the US dollar, leaving a funding gap.
A more defensive stance from the BSP has supported the peso as the funding gap was met with a drawdown of reserves, they noted.
“Historically, BSP’s worries about weaker FX have been more tied to the inflation pass-through. But low inflation currently and lower imported prices would mean that per-
sistent smoothing is unwarranted,” they added.
Moreover, the upcoming midterm elections could also bring higher political uncertainty but the key risks remain to be food price shock and higher commodity prices.
Analysts said this could lead to the widening of the country’s twin deficits—budget deficit and current account deficit—as geopolitical risks due to border clashes with China could impact tourism and export flows.
“We recommend hedging the Philippine peso, as hedging costs remain low, and we expect the peso to trade
weaker due to US dollar strength and dovish BSP,” analysts said. Nevertheless, a constructive outlook on bonds was maintained by analysts at BofA as domestic factors provide room for further rate cuts this year, consistent with BSP’s guidance.
Liquidity injection would also support onshore demand for bonds, including from banks and retail investors, analysts said. A more expansionary fiscal stance this year will unlikely cause funding concerns, as local investors will absorb bond issuance, they added.
GSIS members tapped flexible loan facility for business
THE chief of the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) noted last Monday that majority of GSIS members who tapped the multi-purpose loan flex (MPL Flex) facility used the funds for putting up businesses.
In a televised news program, GSIS President and General Manager Jose Arnulfo A. Veloso said P315 billion was disbursed to over a million GSIS members through the MPL Flex.
gadgets become outdated very quickly. A brand-new smartphone may depreciate by half in a year. Before purchasing, think if you are willing to spend money on a gadget that will become outdated very easily. If not, think of waiting for the upgrade or looking for a slightly used but still a working one.
5. Compare prices and look for offers. If you need to purchase a gadget, do not rush.
Compare prices at various stores, look at online offers and wait for sales. Many brands offer discounts for certain occasions like paydays or holiday sales.
If you have a tight budget, think of buying reconditioned or second-hand gadgets from reputable sources. Some of them are still in excellent condition but are much cheaper than new ones.
6. Set a budget and avoid impulse buying. One of the most common mistakes that people make is impulse buying.
Just because a gadget is discounted does not mean that you need it. Make a budget before buying anything. Stick to your budget and do not use loans or credit cards to buy unnecessary items. If you really need a new computer or mobile phone, save up for it first rather than buying on credit and paying high interest.
7. Sell or exchange old devices. Rather than letting old devices stay idle and gather dust, sell or trade them for a discount on the new devices.
There are stores that have tradein programs so that you can trade your old phone for a discount for a new one. Selling old devices gives you an opportunity to get some money back, so it would be easier for you to buy new ones.
Spending on new gadgets is not inherently a bad thing, but it must be done wisely. Before buying, ask yourself if this is an expense or an investment. If it will make you earn money or make you more efficient in your work or business, it is an investment. But if you just want to keep up with the trends or be entertained, then you might want to save your money, or get cheaper but quality ones.
Being wise with your purchases allows you to enjoy technology without breaking your finances. Remember that not all gadgets are worth upgrading—sometimes the best thing to do is to make the most out of what you already have.
Clyde Gamolo is a Registered Financial Planner of RFP Philippines. The views he expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of the BusinessMirror’s. To learn more about financial planning, attend the 110th RFP Program this March 2025. E-mail info@rfp.ph for more details.
Introduced in September 2023, the facility allows members to borrow up to 14 times their monthly salary or P5 million, with a 6-percent interest rate and a 15-year repayment period. “It consolidates all the existing loans of a member, except housing loan,” and “gives an additional fund for members to use for any purpose.”
“Many of our borrowers use it as capital for their business. Some of our members established their own
computer shops, food businesses and others. In this way, the benefits are doubled: they earn more while helping their community,” Veloso said.
Meanwhile, the GSIS chief reported that its short-term loan program MPL Lite has granted P7.2 billion to nearly 200,000 members as of January 2025.
Under MPL Lite, members can borrow from P5,000 to P50,000 for urgent needs, with 6-month to 2-year repayment terms.
The GSIS also introduced a loan buyout program, the MPL Max, which allows members to consolidate their debts at interest rates as low as 6 percent compared to other lenders with double-digit interest rates.
“We can see how difficult it is for many members, especially teachers, due to the high interest rates of private lenders,” Veloso said.
The MPL Max facility allows repayment terms of three to 10 years,
Security Bank posts 23% income growth last year
By VG Cabuag @villygc
THE Security Bank Corp. announced last Monday that it posted last year a record-high net income of P11.2 billion, up 23 percent from the previous P9.1 billion year-on-year (Y-o-Y).
Revenues grew 28 percent Y-oY to P54.9 billion from the previous P42.95 billion. Net interest income increased 26 percent to P43.7 billion, while net interest margin for the full year reached 4.73 percent.
Total non-interest income also increased 36 percent to P11.2 billion, while service charges, fees and commissions grew 47 percent to P8.9 billion, led by increase in fees from bancassurance, credit cards and loans, it said.
“Growth and investment were the defining outcomes for 2024. We thank our clients, teammates and stakeholders for the partnership and collaboration. We carry that momentum into 2025 as we leverage our investments to support clients and execute on our ‘better banking’ promise,” Security Bank President and CEO Sanjiv Vohra said.
Total deposits increased to P801 billion, up 32 percent Y-o-Y and up 11 percent quarter-on-quarter (Q-
o-Q), the bank said. CASA (current account/savings accounts) deposits increased by 16 percent Y-o-Y and by 11 percent Q-o-Q, according to the lender. The CASA as percent of total deposits was at 52 percent.
The country’s seventh-largest lender opened 21 new branches last year, increasing its branch network to 346 branches as of December 31, 2024.
Net loans increased to P678 billion, up 26 percent Y-o-Y and up 9 percent Q-o-Q. Retail and MSME loans combined sustained its growth, up 37 percent Y-o-Y. Wholesale loans accelerated to 21 percent growth rate Y-o-Y from the 19 percent posted in the previous quarter.
The growth in retail and MSME loans was driven by home loans which grew 19 percent Y-o-Y, credit cards which rose 64 percent, auto loans which grew 54 percent and MSME loans which grew 54 percent.
The bank said it has liquidity coverage ratio at 178 percent, net stable funding ratio at 130 percent, capital adequacy ratio at 13.8 percent and common equity tier 1 ratio at 12.9 percent Total assets, meanwhile, increased to P1.1 trillion, up 30 percent Y-o-Y, while shareholders’ capital was at P141 billion, up 4 percent Y-o-Y.
with borrowing limits of up to P5 million. A memorandum of agreement between GSIS and the borrower’s agency is required to avail of the program.
Moreover, members in calamityaffected areas can borrow through GSIS’s Emergency Loan Program, which carries a 6 percent interest rate, a 3-year repayment period and redemption insurance.
Pensioners can borrow P20,000, while those with an existing balance can renew up to P40,000.
Further, about 98 percent of loan transactions are done through the GSIS Touch mobile application.
With 1.7 million active application users, Veloso said 82 percent of retirees and 85 percent of survivorship beneficiaries are using the app for their “proof of life” requirement.
“They no longer need to travel or rent in the GSIS office. This is a
huge impact, especially for our senior citizens. We do not stop innovating,” Veloso said.
The GSIS chief added that starting March 3, the app will offer a facial authentication feature, allowing members to log in without a user ID or password.
“This technology adds security and convenience for our members. It provides a way for them to make transactions anywhere and anytime while strengthening protection against fraud and identity theft,” Veloso said.
The GSIS reported recently that its 2024 net income from operations grew by 21 percent to P135.7 billion from P112.1 billion in 2023. Strong returns on investments and insurance operations propped up its total income by 10.29 percent to P326.86 billion in 2024. Total assets also increased by 9.23 percent to P1.83 trillion. Reine
Loan growth, asset devt boost PSBank’s income
DOUBLE-digit loan growth and improved asset quality pushed Philippine Savings Bank (PSBank) to a record-high net income last year.
The thrift banking arm of the Metrobank Group reported on Monday it booked a net income of P5.21 billion in 2024, a 15 percent increase from P4.53 billion in 2023. This led to the bank’s higher return on equity of 12.4 percent in 2024 from the previous year’s 11.7 percent.
PSBank’s core revenues, consisting of net interest income, service fees and commissions, also rose by 4 percent to P14.11 billion. Meanwhile, the increase in operating expenses “remained under control” at 4 percent due to cost optimization strategies.
Meanwhile, the lender recorded a 15 percent year-on-year growth in total gross loans, reaching P144 billion as of the end of December 2024, driven by strong demand across consumer and commercial lending segments.
With the expansion in PSBank’s loan portfolio, its gross non-performing loans (NPL) ratio settled at 2.6 percent compared to last year’s 3.3 percent ratio.
By the end of 2024, the bank’s total assets stood at P216 billion, while total deposits reached P165 billion.
The bank’s capital adequacy ratio (CAR) settled at 23.6 percent and posted a common equity tier 1 (CET1) ratio of 22.5 percent after capital funds improved by 10 percent to P44 billion.
The bank’s capital funds grew by 10 percent to P44 billion, translating to a capital adequacy ratio (CAR) of 23.6 percent and a common equity tier 1 (CET1) ratio of 22.5 percent, both above the regulatory minimum set by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.
“Our record-high performance reflects our commitment to sustainable growth and quality, and the unwavering trust of our clients,” PSBank President Jose Vicente Alde said.
“Looking ahead, we expect to capitalize on the growing and evolving needs of consumers,” Alde added.
PSBank is the retail banking arm and a subsidiary of the Metropolitan Bank and Trust Company. To date, PSBank’s nationwide network has reached 250 branches with over 500 in-branch and offsite ATMs. Reine Juvierre S. Alberto
Group slams COA chief court presence as contentious
THE Sin Tax Coalition condemned last Monday the appearance of the Commission on Audit (COA) Commissioner before the Supreme Court without prior leave of court at the February 25 oral arguments on the transfer of funds of the PhilHealth to the National Treasury.
“As a commissioner of an independent constitutional body with audit jurisdiction over the respondents, appearing for the same and espousing their position is a clear manifestation of a conflict of interest and a blatant disregard for
the autonomy of COA,” said Cielo Magno-Gatmaytan, who is also a petitioner of GR 274778, Pimentel et al. vs. House of Representatives. Magno, former Undersecretary of Finance, called as “deplorable” the move of the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel (OGCC) to call a COA Commissioner Douglas Michael N. Mallillin to “lawyer” on behalf of the respondents. It is a bastardization of the limits set forth by the 1987 Constitution to establish checks and balances, read the statement
by the Sin Tax Coalition. “A COA Commissioner must shield himself from conflict of interest or any appearance thereof,” the group noted. “His statements are inconsistent with the findings of CoA for several years, in an attempt to defend the actions of DOF. Further, he was only appointed as a COA Commissioner on February 10, less than a month before the February 25 oral arguments.
“Likewise, we are disappointed over Commissioner Mallilin’s ending statement, which argued that the transfer of PhilHealth funds
to the National Treasury is justified since PhilHealth is guaranteed by the government in case of insolvency. To advocate that GOCCs rely on sovereign guarantee is reckless, essentially encouraging government corporations to be financially irresponsible. The letter of the law is clear – ang pera ng PhilHealth ay para sa PhilHealth, at ang pera ng PhilHealth ay para sa kalusugan ng mamamayan,” Magno ended. The next oral arguments are scheduled for tomorrow, March 4, Tuesday.
Art BusinessMirror
PHL’s J.M.W Turner? Evolving Montegrande strengthens his claim to the title
NAOMI BANAL BELIEVES BEING A WOMAN MEANS BEING UNSTOPPABLE TO mark National Women’s Month this March, Arte Bettina presents Naomi Banal’s solo exhibit Endless Possibilities IV, featuring huge abstract works in an enticing mix of bold colors and neutrals. “As we celebrate National Women’s Month, I embrace the power of being a woman who is an artist, a mother, a wife, a sister, and an aunt,” Banal said. “In my mid-50s, there are no limits. Being a woman means being unstoppable.”
Each piece in the collection reflects Banal’s boundless creativity and her belief in art’s endless possibilities. Her signature translucent layers floating in vibrant colors find pride in some of the exhibited canvases. A clean and minimalist look takes over the other frames as the artist explores the white-on-white palette, including organic, earth colors on her now-famous sheer shapes. Naomi Banal’s Endless Possibilities IV is on view
ABSTRACTIONIST Naomi Banal
RADIANT luminosity. Dramatic intensity. A masterful symphony of light and color in stupendous landscape and seascapes paintings.
While these pertain to the artistic style of revolutionary 18th-century English Romantic painter
J.M.W. Turner, Filipino abstractionist Kenneth Montegrande has been building a strong case for the same to be said of his own. A little over a decade in his practice and the self-taught painter has established himself as one of the foremost mid-career local artists in the genre. In his upcoming solo exhibition, however, Montegrande proves that there’s more to his art in a showcase of his creative evolution.
“‘Beyond limits, but still within the boundaries of God’s guidance,’ that’s the concept of the 22nd solo exhibition of Kenneth Montegrande, as his strong faith informs his art,” said curator Ricky Francisco of the show, titled Beyond Limits, which opens on March 8 at Galerie Joaquin Rockwell.
“It’s about not letting ourselves to set limits sa mga possibilities that we can do sa buhay natin,” Montegrande said. “’Yung mga exploration natin, dyan tayo mag go-grow along the way.”
The artist’s creative pursuit in his upcoming exhibition was likewise exhibited by Turner himself, whose 250th birth anniversary is being celebrated year-round this 2025. The Turner comparison started for Montegrande as soon as he decided to paint the scenic Manila Bay. A bona fide son of the country’s capital, he grew up watching what’s widely considered the Philippines’ most beautiful sunset. The image of the sinking sun lighting up the skies and seas in soft, gradient hues was deeply ingrained in him. When he decided to paint the scene from memory, he produced on canvas a stunning rendition that drew shades of Turner who, of course, was tagged as the “painter of light.”
Like Turner before him, Montegrande does not merely depict light. Instead, he seems able to capture, harness, and reflect its ethereal, transformative effect that transcends mere representation. Thus, his works inspire awe, as well as a range of emotions. In particular, Montegrande’s intense scenes communicate hope, given his intended faith-based message that the Almighty always provides, shining like the sun through clear or troubled skies.
It’s this brand of strong and moving abstract expressionism that catapulted Montegrande to new heights in the arts scene following his career in public relations strategy and events. For one, the artist became the youngest artist to exhibit at the Malacañang Palace Museum. He has also been featured as a guest artist in museums like Fundacion Sanso, where he had the honor of exhibiting with Presidential Medal of Merit awardee Juvenal Sanso. More impressive, even, is how Montegrande quickly rose on the global stage. He enjoys the distinction of being the first Filipino and Southeast Asian artist whose works are housed
in the prestigious collection of Contemporary Arts Foundation, founded and directed by Yusaku Maezawa, a Japanese billionaire and mega art collector. In this collection, his works reside in the company of a world record-breaking Basquiat, as well as select pieces of internationally renowned artists like Picasso, Christopher Wool, Jeff Koons, Bruce Nauman and Alexander Calder. Montegrande has also been featured in solo exhibitions in global art capitals like New York and Hong Kong.
For his upcoming presentation at Galerie Joaquin Rockwell, which serves as this year’s edition of his annual birthday showcase, Montegrande presents his latest artistic evolution. Francisco, the curator, alluded to “new elements” to be featured in the artist’s landscapes and seascapes. These pertain to appearances of the moon, lighthouse, and, more recently, galleon, on Montegrande’s canvasses. Each proves to be a natural addition to the artist’s dramatic scenes as they unlock new layers in the narrative, whether it’s a ship braving the stormy seas or the lighthouse illuminating through the fog.
Montegrande’s introduction of these elements also ties in Turner’s own artistic journey, albeit in reverse. On the one hand, the British painter’s earlier works deal more with figurative accuracies before transitioning later in his career to the general effects of color and light, with only the barest representation of mass. On the other hand, the Filipino artist started
SEE “MONTEGRANDE,” B5
Eugenia Last
put your life in perspective. Distance yourself from uncertainty, aggravation and temptation; you’ll recognize the best path forward. Discipline and moderation will be your ticket to success. Revise your plans to suit your needs and budget, and encourage worthwhile prospects. ★★★★★
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Live, learn, love and explore what life offers. Socializing, sharing information and meeting new people will lead to personal growth, positive change and opportunities. Let your charm be your calling card, and your intelligence and holding power will attract someone with plenty of benefits. ★★★
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Put your best foot forward, and you’ll dazzle everyone with your insight, talent and integrity. Change is within reach if you follow your passion. Get the ball rolling by sharing your innovative ideas and plans. The best is yet to come if you stick to the rules and say no to temptation. ★★★
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Think before you act. Take everyone and everything into account before you make a move. Rely on your instincts and trust in yourself. Verify information, and take a minimalist approach to life, love and spending. ★★★
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Make changes to your space that are conducive to saving money. Updating your home to run more efficiently, downsizing to make your life easier and exploring other places and possibilities will pay off. Put your energy into
RIDING the Waves of Life, 2024, acrylic on canvas, 52"x 52"
Light of the Seasons (Circle of Life Series), 2025, acrylic on canvas, 48"x48"
Show BusinessMirror
Strip club Cinderella story ‘Anora’ wins best picture, best actress, best director at 97th Academy Awards
By Jake Coyle The Associated Press
LOS ANGELES—Anora, a strip club
Cinderella story without the fairy tale ending, was crowned best picture at the 97th Academy Awards on Sunday, handing Sean Baker’s gritty, Brooklyn-set screwball farce Hollywood’s top prize.
In a stubbornly fluctuating Oscar season, Anora, the Palme d’Or-winner at the Cannes Film Festival, emerged as the unlikely frontrunner. Baker’s tale of an erotic dancer who elopes with the son of a Russian oligarch—unusually explicit for a best-picture winner—was made for just $6 million.
But Oscar voters, eschewing blockbuster contenders, like Wicked and Dune: Part Two, instead added Anora to a string of recent indie best picture winners, including Everything Everywhere All at Once, CODA and Nomadland
For a film industry that’s been transformed by streaming and humbled by economic turmoil, Baker and Anora epitomized a kind of cinematic purity. On the campaign trail, Baker called for the return to the 90-day exclusive theatrical release.
“Where did we fall in love with the movies? At the movie theater,” Baker said on Sunday. “Filmmakers,
Continued from B4
with purely abstract works, before molding his forms to allude to sceneries. Following this inverse loop, could we see Montegrande dive into realism at some point?
Regardless, the artist seems set on—as his exhibit title suggests—going beyond his “limits.” Aside from new elements in his familiar works, Montegrande hints at a creative venture into figurative abstraction. Set to debut in the show is the artist’s flower series, a concept many years in the making. The lone piece features Montegrande’s new subject, unfurling in his signature strokes and color. It’s a new execution that still feels within his realm.
“Part din talaga [‘yung bulaklak] ng buhay ko,” said the self-confessed flower enthusiast. “Hindi ko siya pinilit na gawin, kasi ang gusto ko sa artwork ko is marami pang taong ma-touch, especially with the messages.”
A staple in a Montegrande solo is a charity component. He had previously donated a portion of his sales to scholars through Fundacion Sansó, Escuela Taller Foundation, International Care Ministries or ICM, and other non-government organizations. For, Beyond Limits the artist will be working with The Philippine Star’s social arm, Operation Damayan, together with PeopleAsia Magazine
Asked why he believes now’s the time to branch out in his art, Montegrande kept his answer simple.
“I believe that things fall into place in His time,” he said. “When the right time comes, the Lord will make it happen.” n
keep making films for the big screen.”
In personally winning four Oscars on Sunday, Baker tied the mark held by Walt Disney, who won for four different films in 1954. That Baker and Disney share the record is ironic; his The Florida Project took place in a Florida low-budget motel in the shadow of Disneyland.
“Long live independent film!” shouted Baker from the Dolby Theatre stage.
Twenty-two years after winning best actor for The Pianist, Adrien Brody won the same Oscar again for his performance as another Holocaust survivor in Brady Corbet’s The Brutalist Brody’s win came over Timothée Chalamet (A Complete Unknown), who had the chance of becoming the youngest best actor ever, a record owned by Brody—just short of 30 when he won for The Pianist
“I’m here once again to represent the lingering traumas and the repercussions of war and systematic oppression and of antisemitism and racism and othering,” said Brody. “I pray for a healthier and happier and more inclusive world. If the past can teach us anything it’s to not let hate go unchecked.”
Mikey Madison won best actress for her breakthrough performance in Anora, a victory that came over the category favorite, Demi Moore (The Substance). Sean Baker, the filmmaker of Anora, won best director, best original screenplay and best editing.
“I want to thank the sex worker community,” said Baker, echoing comments he made when Anora won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival.
“They have shared their stories. They have shared life experiences with me over the years. My deepest respect. Thank you. I share this with you.”
The Oscars otherwise spread the love around,
BY some twist of fate, Boom Labrusca and his son Tony find themselves working for shows in GMA Network. The older Labrusca is in the main cast of the second season of Lolong, while Tony is the lead male actor in the new romance-dramedy series Binibining Marikit.
“Perhaps it’s a good kind of coincidence, but I’m really happy that aside from the fact that both of us have regular work, we are also part of shows in one network,” shared Boom who is enjoying his work days with Lolong, produced by the studio’s Public Affairs division.
“Every taping day gets me excited, and I’m grateful that my role is given focus and importance by the creatives and writers of Lolong. It is very satisfying if an actor feels that his character is an important part of
dishing out awards to Anora, Conclave, Wicked and The Substance. Eight of the 10 movies nominated for best picture came away with at least one award at the Dolby Theatre on Sunday. That included the beleaguered Netflix contender Emilia Pérez, which, despite a backlash to old offensive tweets by star Karla Sofía Gascón, won best supporting actress for Zoe Saldaña.
The night’s first award, presented by Robert Downey Jr., went to Kieran Culkin for best supporting actor. Culkin has cruised through the season, picking up award after award, for his performance alongside Jesse Eisenberg in A Real Pain
The biggest upset early on came in the best animated feature category. Flow, the wordless Latvian film upset DreamWorks Animations’ The Wild Robot. The win for Flow, an ecological parable about a cat in a flooded world, was the first Oscar ever for a Latvian film.
Wicked stars Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo kicked off the ceremony with a tribute to Los Angeles following the wildfires that devastated the Southern California metropolis earlier this year.
Grande sang “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” Erivo performed Diana Ross’ “Home” and the Wicked stars joined together for “Defying Gravity” from their blockbuster big-screen musical.
Later, Wicked, the biggest box-office hit among the best picture nominees, won awards for production design and costume design.
Best makeup and hairstyling went to The Substance for its gory creations of beauty and body horror.
Though the Oscars featured the first time an actor was nominated for portraying a sitting US president (Sebastian Stan as a young Donald Trump in The Apprentice), politics went largely unmentioned in the
the narrative of a TV series and my role inspires me to give it my best every time the camera grinds,” he said. Boom also shared that he takes his hat off to Lolong lead star Ruru Madrid when he observes him on the set. “I feel that he is very consistent as an actor and his passion is also very evident. As a person, he also treats each and every one on our set with the same respect and camaraderie that makes every work day a pleasurable one.”
When our topic shifted back to his son Tony, Boom said that all is getting better as far as their relationship is concerned. “I guess it’s an open book that we were estranged for many years, especially when my son was growing up overseas. But when show business beckoned and destiny brought him to the Philippines, it was inevitable that we’d cross paths again.”
Boom added, “And I’m mighty glad that our bond is getting stronger as we both strive to be more mature, as actors and as individuals. Tony adores his brother Sebastian. I’m not saying that we are rushing to make up for all those years that we lost, but we are both taking small, good steps to make sure that the love, presence and respect are always there.”
Meanwhile, Tony, who has always been associated with ABS-CBN, is elated that he grabbed the offer when GMA reached out to cast him for Binibining Marikit
first half of the ceremony.
Host Conan O’Brien avoided the topic completely in his opening monologue. The first exception was presenter Daryl Hannah, who announced: “Slava Ukraini” (“Glory to Ukraine!”)
O’Brien’s most sincere comments were reserved for Los Angeles, itself, in speaking about the enduring “magic and grandeur” of film in wake of the wildfires.
After a topsy-turvy Oscar season in which frontrunners were constantly shuffled, old tweets hobbled a top contender and space was held for Wicked, Sunday’s Academy Awards brought to a close one of the most unpredictable Oscar races in recent memory.
Splashes of color decorated the red carpet— Timothée Chalamet in yellow, Ariana Grande in pink, Colman Domingo in red—as stars streamed into the Dolby Theatre. Some attendees sported pins for Ukraine. Guy Pearce, nominated for his performance in The Brutalist, wore a “Free Palestine” pin on his lapel.
This year’s Oscars are unspooling after a turbulent year for the film industry. Ticket sales were down 3 percent from the previous year and more significantly from pre-pandemic times.
The strikes of 2023 played havoc with release schedules in 2024. Many studios pulled back on production, leaving many out of work. The fires, in January, only added to the pain.
The ceremony took place days following the death of Gene Hackman. The 95-year-old two-time Oscar winner and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, were found dead on Wednesday at their New Mexico home. Morgan Freeman, his co-star in Unforgiven and Under Suspicion honored him.
“This week, our community lost a giant,” said Freeman, “and I lost a dear friend.” n
“My dad’s manager, who happens to be a good friend of my manager Mario [Colmenares], linked him with a network executive who asked about me, and all went smoothly after just one call. Everything fell into place, and we also gave ABS-CBN the proper courtesy and told them we have a very good offer from GMA. I am just happy that I am enjoying work tremendously, and the people I’m working with—actors and production staff—are awesome.”
He volunteered that he jells very well with the lead star of the series, beauty queen turned actor Herlene Budol. “She is such a bundle of pure joy, and her energy is something else. Ours is almost always a happy set, very light, which is ideal since work becomes a breeze for every one.”
When reminded that his dad Boom is also working on series for GMA, Tony was all smiles. “I know, and I’m happy for both of us. My relationship with him has never been better, and there is so much space for us to grow more as father and son.”
Perhaps, some day soon, we will find Boom and Tony working in one project together. “That will certainly be awesome!” Tony mused.
Life’s inevitable cycles often amuse us, and the amazing stories about the colorful lives of Boom and Tony are perfect example of how fate can play a big part in shaping our destinies and make what may seem unthinkable, happen.
SEAN BAKER
MIKEY MADISON ZOE SALDAÑA
KIERAN CULKIN
ADRIEN BRODY
EVAP Reaffirms Strong Support for EVIDA Law, Closely Monitors EVIS Development
THE Electric Vehicle Association of the Philippines (EVAP) reiterated its full support for the Electric Vehicle Industry Development Act (EVIDA) as the country moves forward in accelerating electric vehicle adoption. EVAP remains committed to working closely with the government and stakeholders to ensure that the law’s provisions are properly implemented to create a robust and sustainable EV ecosystem in the Philippines.
A crucial component of EVIDA is the Electric Vehicle Incentives Scheme (EVIS), which is expected to drive investments, encourage local manufacturing, and make EVs more accessible to Filipino consumers. EVAP is actively monitoring its development and continues to engage with policymakers to ensure that the incentives are properly structured to benefit both industry players and end users.
Edmund Araga, President of EVAP, emphasized the importance of a wellexecuted EVIS in the country’s transition to sustainable mobility. “The EVIDA law has laid the foundation for the growth of the electric vehicle industry in the Philippines. The proper implementation of EVIS will
be a game-changer, making EVs more affordable and incentivizing businesses to invest in charging infrastructure and local assembly,” Araga stated. Under EVIDA, various government agencies are tasked with implementing incentives such as tax breaks, reduced import duties, and non-fiscal benefits like priority registration and dedicated parking spaces for EVs. These measures are expected to stimulate demand and encourage private sector participation in building the necessary infrastructure. EVAP continues to work with the Department of Energy, the Department of Trade and Industry, and other key agencies to ensure that policies are aligned with
industry needs.The association also remains proactive in addressing concerns from stakeholders, including clarifications on incentive eligibility, regulatory compliance, and technical standards. Aside from policy advocacy, EVAP
WORLDBEX Illuminates Latest Trends in Construction, Design
AS WORLDBEX geared up for another remarkable edition, WSI held its annual Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) signing with its sponsors and partners last January 28, 2025 at the SMX Convention Center Manila.
Coinciding with welcoming the Chinese New Year, and the Year of the Wood
Snake, WORLDBEX dives deeper into a worldwide sustainable perspective, finding the perfect balance between harmony and environmentally friendly options through the use of contemporary design techniques to achieve inner peace in one’s space.
Renowned interior designer, Dr. Leo Almeria said that, “Balance and harmony are
basic principles of feng shui. Incorporating natural elements, such as plants, wood, and stone, can bring inner peace to your space. They are aesthetically pleasing and can help purify the air – promoting a healthier living environment.”
Joseph L. Ang, the Founding Chairman of WORLDBEX, also gave his remarks on the upcoming year and what to expect for this coming WORLDBEX, saying “The Year of the Wood Snake is known to be a year full of life-changing transformation and rebirth opportunities, solidifying WORLDBEX as a world-wide destination to explore our possible solution for our sustainable future.”
He then continued “this event offers a unique opportunity to connect with the community, celebrate our progress, and build a sustainable and vibrant future together.”
WORLDBEX 2025 is organized by Worldbex Services International and is happening from March 13 to 16, 2025, at the World Trade Center Metro Manila and SMX Convention Center Manila. Register now at www.worldbex.com
Philippine Food Expo Returns: Celebrating Innovation, Culinary Heritage this April 2025
THE 17th Philippine Food Expo, the country’s premier food trade show, is set to take center stage from April 4 to 6, 2025 at the World Trade Center, Metro Manila. Organized by the Philippine Food Processors and Exporters Organization (PHILFOODEX), Inc. and managed by Cut Unlimited, Inc., the expo promises to be a vibrant celebration of the latest trends, innovations, and products in the food industry.
With a mission to unite food industry professionals, entrepreneurs, and enthusiasts from across the globe, the Philippine Food Expo serves as an invaluable platform for networking, exploring new business opportunities, and discovering the rich and diverse culinary landscape of the Philippines.
The Philippine Food Expo is not just an exhibition; it’s a platform for collaboration, inspiration, and advocacy for the nation’s rich culinary heritage. Through this event, PHILFOODEX, Inc. aims to highlight the best of the Philippine food industry while fostering innovation and celebrating local excellence.
The 17th Philippine Food Expo will bring together key stakeholders, industry leaders, and culinary enthusiasts for three days of meaningful engagement. Everyone can look forward to:
• Showcasing the Best of Philippine Food: From traditional delicacies to modern innovations, the expo will feature a comprehensive array of food products that reflect the country’s dynamic food culture.
• Networking Opportunities: Connect with industry leaders, exporters, manufacturers, and innovators to explore potential partnerships and collaborations.
• Franchise and Business Opportunities: Aspiring entrepreneurs and investors will have the chance to explore franchise options from participating local food franchisers. Whether you’re looking to start your own food venture or expand an existing business, the expo will provide insights into lucrative franchising opportunities in the Philippine food industry.
• Special Events and Interactive Activities: Enjoy live cooking demonstrations by renowned chefs, including Abigail “Lumpia Queen” Marquez, Chef Chris Carangian, Chef Jose
Sarasola, and Premium Choice. Experience cake decorating demos by Chef Emily Peralta, and gain insights into the latest trends in the catering industry from FCAP or Food Caterers Association of the Philippines.
• Seminars and Workshops: Gain valuable insights from industry experts on the latest trends, technologies, and strategies in the food sector.
• Culinary Competitions: Watch budding chefs from schools across the country compete in exciting categories such as Food Styling and Photography, Philippine Regional Table Setting, Kitchen Masters, PINASarap Breakfast, Modern Filipino Dessert, Healthy Pasta, Mystery Ingredient and Knowledge Challenge.
• Advocacy for Culinary Heritage: Celebrate and champion the unique flavors and traditions that make the Philippines a global culinary destination.
Whether you are an industry professional, an aspiring entrepreneur, or simply a food enthusiast, the 17th Philippine Food Expo is an event you cannot afford to miss. Mark your calendars and experience the creativity, diversity and innovation that define the Philippine food industry. Product screening is ongoing. For those interested to join as exhibitors, contact us via email at info@eventsbycut.com or (02) 8363 4900/8362 2266. For more information, visit philippinefooedexpo.ph. Stay updated by following us on Facebook, Instagram and Viber community (Philippine Food Expo). #PhilFoodExpo2025
BYD Cars Philippines and its official distributor in the country, ACMobility, hosted their first-ever campus showcase at the De La Salle University (DLSU). Held from February 10 to 12, 2025 at the Henry Sy Sr. Hall Grounds, the event offered DLSU students, faculty, and staff the opportunity to explore the latest advancements in electrified vehicle technology and engage with the future of transportation.
“As we continue to champion the future of mobility, it’s exciting to see the next generation of leaders engaging with cuttingedge technologies like those from BYD. This campus showcase at De La Salle University is an important step in making electric vehicles accessible to young Filipinos, sparking their curiosity and empowering them to drive positive change for both their communities and the planet,” says Bob Palanca, Managing Director of BYD Cars Philippines.
The BYD Tech Tour featured an impressive array of the brand’s latest electric vehicles, including the Sealion 6 DM-i, Seagull, and Seal. Attendees witnessed live demonstrations of these vehicles, providing a hands-on experience. Product specialists from BYD Cars Philippines were also onsite to answer any questions and share the specifications and key features of the vehicles on display.
Additionally, visitors participated in a series of immersive activities designed to raise awareness of the benefits of EVs and sustainability. Exclusive prizes from ACMobility were also up for grabs, further enhancing the interactive nature of the event.
“This tech tour highlights the impressive lineup of BYD electric vehicles including the BYD Sealion 6 and the BYD Seal, bringing the future of mobility closer to communities across the Philippines. By sharing these innovations, we are empowering people to adopt a more sustainable and efficient way of traveling, driving positive change for both the environment and future generations,” says Bob Palanca, Managing Director of BYD Cars Philippines.
More than showcasing BYD’s impressive lineup of EVs, the BYD Tech Tour also
actively promotes EV awareness through events like the Philippine Electric Vehicle Summit (PEVS). The annual gathering brings together industry leaders, government officials, and consumers to discuss the latest developments, showcase new EV models, and encourage collaboration in advancing e-mobility in the country.
Araga reaffirmed EVAP’s commitment to pushing the industry forward. “The success of EVIDA and EVIS depends on strong collaboration between the government and private sector. We must ensure that these programs translate into real benefits for Filipinos—more accessible EVs, a reliable charging network, and a thriving local EV industry,” he added.
As EV adoption continues to gain momentum, EVAP remains at the forefront of advocating for policies and programs that will shape the future of sustainable transportation in the Philippines. The association encourages all stakeholders to work together in realizing a cleaner, more efficient, and electric-powered future for the country.
provided the opportunity for the DLSU Eco Archers Team, a student group known for competing in the Shell Eco-Marathon, to showcase their latest work: the Zeta Urban Concept. Now in its 9th iteration, the event marked the vehicle’s first public appearance since competing in the Shell Eco-Marathon in Indonesia back in July of 2024.
“BYD is proud to be part of the movement toward a sustainable future, and through our campus tech tours, we aim to inspire the next generation to make a positive environmental impact. These events empower young minds to embrace green technology and lead the way toward a cleaner, brighter future,” says Aiffy Liu, Country Head of BYD Philippines. To further showcase its lineup of vehicles and cutting-edge technology, BYD will host a series of Tech Tours in Metro Manila which are as follows:
Ayala Malls Manila Bay - March 7 to 9
Alabang Town Center - Jun 20 to 22
SM The Block North Edsa -July 4 to 6
SM Dasmarinas - August 1 to 3
SM Mega Mall - August 29 to 31
Robinsons Magnolia - September 12 to 13
BGC Amphitheater - December 7 to 9
BYD will also have tech tours outside of Metro Manila on the following dates and places:
SM City Seaside Cebu - April 25 to 27
Ayala Malls Capitol Bacolod
Edmund Araga, President of Electric Vehicle Association of the Philippines
Trump’s moves test limits of presidential power and the resilience of US democracy
By Nicholas Riccardi The Associated Press
DURING his first six weeks in office, President Donald Trump has embarked on a dizzying teardown of the federal government and attacks on long-standing institutions in an attempt to increase his own authority.
He has pardoned those who attacked the US Capitol to overturn his 2020 election loss, placed loyalists atop the FBI and military, and purged the Department of Justice, which dropped investigations against Trump allies. He declared control over independent agencies such as the Federal Election Commission, punished media outlets for coverage he dislikes and his allies suggested he could defy court orders.
Those who monitor democracy across the globe had warned that a second Trump term could endanger America’s 240-year experiment with democracy. His opening weeks in office have done nothing to dispel those concerns.
cluding ones seeking to eliminate agencies created by Congress and ending birthright citizenship for the children of parents who are in the US illegally.
Trump campaigned last year promising to dismantle what he contends is a corrupt government bureaucracy, which he blames for failures during his first term and his subsequent prosecution. On his first day in office, the new president told reporters his goal was to “give the people back their faith, their wealth, their democracy and indeed their freedom.”
Chuck Schumer of New York, to “investigate” previous statements they had made. One statement related to Musk and another dealt with the conservative Supreme Court justices who were in the majority ruling that ended the constitutional right to abortion.
“This notion that you can use your power to reward your friends and punish your enemies—it reminds me of something that has long been a staple of Latin American politics,” said Casas-Zamora, who is from Costa Rica.
“I feel like I’m living through this twice,” said Maria Ressa, a journalist who won a Nobel Prize after being prosecuted by the government of former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte in 2019, on a call last week about the threat of Trump to democracy.
“What you’re seeing is exactly that—think about it as death by a thousand cuts,” she said. “You’re bleeding so much that, at some point, the body politic dies.”
‘What democracy is all about’ TRUMP has certainly embraced the image of a strongman.
The president declared, “we are the federal law” and posted on his social media site that “He who saves his country does not violate any law”—a quote often attributed to Napolean Bonaparte. The official White House account posted on the social media site X an image of a smiling, crowned Trump with the words “LONG LIVE THE KING.”
Trump’s supporters say he actually is trying to preserve American democracy by giving voters what they want—a strong president. How strong Trump can become is in question. Courts have paused several of his executive orders, in -
“Trump is using the classic elected authoritarian playbook,” said Brendan Nyhan of Dartmouth College, who joined more than 800 other political scientists in signing a letter warning that Trump is undermining the rule of law and the basic constitutional principle of checks and balances. “It’s almost embarrassing how crude it is.” Nyhan said some of Trump’s moves echo those made by others who won democratic elections and then moved to centralize control, such as Hungary’s Viktor Orban. Those who have resisted authoritarians in other countries say they are alarmed by what is happening in the United States.
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office in February, billionaire Elon Musk, who Trump tapped to spearhead cuts to the federal government, claimed he is the one trying to “restore democracy.” Some of the lawsuits seeking to stop Musk’s actions have been unsuccessful, allowing him to proceed.
“The people voted for major government reform and that’s what the people are going to get,” Musk told reporters. “That’s what democracy is all about.”
But many who track democracy warn that Musk’s conception is incomplete.
“The power you gain through the ballot box is not unlimited power. That’s the essence of liberal democracy,” said Kevin CasasZamora, secretary general of the Stockholm-based pro-democracy group International IDEA.
‘Undermining our democratic traditions’
ON the world stage, Trump and his administration have alarmed longtime allies in Europe over whether the US remains committed to NATO and his siding with Russia in talks to end the war in Ukraine, a country the Kremlin invaded three years ago, and at the United Nations last month.
On Friday, Trump berated
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office. Russian officials and many Trump allies expressed glee; European nations reacted in horror.
US Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., said the close relations between the Trump administration and Russian President Vladimir Putin’s government amounted to an existential threat. “This PutinTrump alliance means abandoning our allies, supporting authoritarianism and undermining our democratic traditions,” he said in a social media post.
The common theme throughout Trump’s moves is about expanding his personal power, said Josh Chafetz, a Georgetown law professor.
“It’s not even clear what it’s power in service of,” he added, noting that Trump has few strong ideological convictions.
Politicizing federal law enforcement
DESPITE concerns that the administration would disregard the judiciary, Trump and Musk said it would obey court rulings and even-
Unilever’s woes in Indonesia carry warning for its new CEO
By Claire Jiao & Dasha Afanasieva
FERNANDO FERNANDEZ , who took over Saturday as the new CEO of Unilever Plc, has a track record in emerging markets that have driven the expansion in recent years of what’s one of the world’s biggest consumer goods groups. The 37year company veteran will need all the skills he can muster for a market where the maker of Dove soap and Ben & Jerry’s ice cream faces some of its most-entrenched problems: Indonesia. Consider what he’s up against: At Aeon supermarket on the outskirts of Jakarta, Unilever’s Rinso detergent was recently priced at 75,500 rupiah ($4.60) against a discounted 29,800 rupiah for local rival Wings Group’s SoKlin. The capital’s food stalls that use sweet soy sauce—a staple of dishes from chicken satay to “nasi goreng”—buy Wings’ Kecap Sedaap label that’s 3,000 rupiah cheaper than Unilever’s Bango brand. Some of the corner stores sprouting across the country say they can’t directly stock Unilever goods because the company doesn’t take small orders. Urbanization is driving consumers in emerging markets like Indonesia from supermarkets and hypermarkets to small, neighborhood mom-and-pop shops and mini marts, and inflation has fostered penny-pinching habits. That has the maker of Persil, Vaseline and other countryspecific brands struggling to re-tailor its strategy. Caught on the wrong foot by nimble local players that have eaten into its market with freebies, slashed prices and rapid product upgrades, the London-based
company last month reported a 30% plunge in 2024 net income in the country — the sixth consecutive annual decline.
Unilever’s local rivals’ “game is simple: just cut the price,” said Willy Goutama, an equity analyst at PT Maybank Sekuritas Indonesia. “They are willing to operate at a loss if that means gaining market share; Unilever, like many multinationals, tends to prioritize profitability...Most of the time, Unilever is too late to react.”
For Fernandez, 58, who’s taking over after the abrupt ouster of Hein Schumacher this week, fixing operations in Indonesia is urgent. It’s among a slew of challenges, which include spinning off the ice-cream business and cutting costs, as he’s pushed by the company’s board to transform the sprawling group faster. With annual sales of around €2 billion, Indonesia accounts for just over 3% of Unilever’s global sales. But as problems in the Southeast Asian
nation are increasingly mirrored elsewhere, it has become a test case for Unilever’s developing-markets operations, which rake in around €35 billion annually, or about 58% of total revenue.
Getting strategies right in emerging markets is crucial for multinationals like Unilever, Nestle SA and Procter & Gamble Co. that rely increasingly on the rising middle classes in these countries to drive growth. But a new cohort of ambitious domestic players is threatening market shares and profit margins. Local brands have already taken a majority share of the food and beverage market in Indonesia, overtaking multinationals—a trend that’s accelerating, according to a study by Boston Consulting Group.
Multinational companies’ strategies that worked for decades in emerging markets have slowly unraveled as hungrier homegrown companies have gained in size
and sophistication and as geopolitical and macroeconomic uncertainties have tipped the scales toward buying locally—from the Gaza-conflict-led boycott of western products to the emerging tariff wars being driven by US President Donald Trump.
“Historically, MNCs led the premium segment, supported by the perception that foreign brands were superior, aspirational, and symbolized trendiness and quality. However, in recent years, that ‘halo effect’ has waned and local brands have substantially increased their quality and competitiveness,” according to consulting company Bain & Co.
Unilever, which was one of the first multinationals to arrive in Indonesia during the sunset years of Dutch colonial rule in the 1930s, is now floundering even as the world’s fourth-most populous nation’s economy expands at an annual clip of 5%.
The company’s market share has steadily eroded: Between 2016 and 2023, it lost 3-4 percentage points in home products, 11 points in personal-care goods and 15 points in ice-cream, according to Euromonitor International. Officials at the group’s Indonesian unit didn’t respond to requests for a comment.
Fernandez is well aware of the company’s challenges in the country. “There are some serious long-standing issues that are related with a lack of differentiation of our portfolio against a very strong local competitor that tends to operate with a significant discount on pricing,” Fernandez, then the company’s chief financial officer, said during Unilever’s capital markets day in November. “We will correct whatever we need to correct.”
With his experience in emerging
tually seek congressional approval for the changes they are making. Still, Musk and some other Republicans have also called for impeaching judges who rule against the administration.
There are plenty of other warning signs, chiefly the aggressive use of the Department of Justice to promote Trump’s political interests.
The department directed prosecutors to dismiss corruption charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams, citing his cooperation with the administration’s immigration crackdown. That led to several senior Justice Department officials resigning after saying such a deal was dangerous and some former top prosecutors warning about the risks to the rule of law.
Trump’s pick to be US attorney for the District of Columbia, Ed Martin, represented some defendants who attacked the US Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Martin, in his interim post as the top federal prosecution in the nation’s capital, contacted at least two congressional Democrats, including Senate Minority Leader
markets, Fernandez may be well placed to turn things around with more localization as opposed to the current top-down strategy, Citigroup Inc. analyst Lakshmi Rowter in Jakarta wrote in a note on Tuesday. The executive, who joined Unilever in 1988, has overseen some of the group’s bestperforming markets, including Brazil and the Philippines. He was also president of the Latin America division.
But as Indonesia — the country with the world’s biggest Muslim population — heads into the Ramadan season, its “local competitors are chasing growth and giving heavy distributor promotions,” suggesting the company’s sales slump will persist, the analyst said.
Globally, retail sales for the consumer products industry—spanning food, beverages, and household and personal care products—rose 7.5% in 2024 to $7.5 trillion, with emerging markets the biggest growth engine, according to Bain. Over the period, Unilever’s underlying sales advanced 4.2%, as its operations in Indonesia, India and China struggled.
Cost cuts and streamlining operations across the group can go so far, but growth will eventually need to come from expanding sales, especially from lesssaturated emerging markets.
Unilever sells its goods in almost all of the world’s 193 countries. The recent global wave in inflation has reined in spending, especially in richer countries, where shoppers have traded down to supermarket-owned labels. In emerging markets, local companies like Wings have turned into formidable rivals. Wings, founded in 1948 in Surabaya by two Indonesian entrepreneurs who made laundry soap in their backyard and peddled it on bikes door-to-door to households, corner stores and bazaar stalls, has steadily
Threatening perceived enemies T RUMP has escalated attacks on media outlets whose coverage he dislikes, kicking them out of their Pentagon workspace or barring them from the Oval Office and Air Force One and picking which will be allowed to cover his events. His appointee to head the Federal Communications Commission is investigating PBS and National Public Radio, which receive federal money.
Trump also issued an executive order to take control of independent agencies such as the FCC, Federal Election Commission and Securities and Exchange Commission.
Some leading Democrats have used striking analogies in warning about Trump’s actions. In a State of the State address last month that ended with a scathing assessment of Trump’s actions, Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker, who is Jewish, implored lawmakers to remember what gave rise to Nazism in Germany nearly a century ago.
“If we don’t want to repeat history,” Pritzker said, “then for God’s sake in this moment we better be strong enough to learn from it.”
The Associated Press writers John O’Connor in Springfield, Illinois, and Didi Tang in Washington contributed to this report.
expanded over the decades. The privately held company now sells personal care and home products as well as food and beverages, targeting the mass market and often going head to head with Unilever’s higher-priced offerings.
Groups like Unilever say their ability to invest heavily in innovation and economies of scale make them more effective in the long term. But market share once lost can be hard to regain. Western companies are likely to struggle to reverse the impact of the Gaza-conflict-driven boycott calls. Anna Manz, Nestle’s chief financial officer, said in November that the world’s biggest food company had lost half a percentage point of sales growth to boycotts. Unilever wasn’t spared.
While the boycotts will likely hit a trough as the conflict in the Middle East winds down, the “recovery for Unilever will be slow if it doesn’t address its other issues around pricing and distribution,” said Maybank’s Goutama. Unilever’s products like Clear shampoos and Pond’s facial wash take coveted eyelevel spots in more premium supermarkets in Indonesia like Farmers Market and Foodhall. But in mid-range groceries and mini marts like Indomaret and Alfamart toward which sales are increasingly gravitating, they are relegated to lessprominent spots.
Small West Java shops like the one run by Adi—who, like many Indonesians goes by just one name—dot the Southeast Asian archipelago, providing essentials to people who live and work in the neighborhood. Adi buys Unilever products from larger grocery stores and resells them. “I don’t get stocks directly from Unilever because they usually have a minimum [order],” unlike local producers, he said. With assistance from Jennifer Creery/Bloomberg
Steph dunks, then declares: Never again!
PHILADELPHIA—Stephen Curry dunked!
The Golden State Warriors star had the ball alone for a seemingly easy, uncontested layup against the 76ers, when—for the first time in six years—he instead threw down a one-handed jam.
Curry dunked for the first time since February 21, 2019, at the Warriors’ old home, Oracle Arena.
He noted—after he scored 29 points and 13 assists in Saturday night’s loss to Philadelphia—that he hasn’t dunked at the new home, Chase Center. For good measure, the four-time National Basketball Association (NBA) champion and league career three-point leader says he never will.
Curry, who turns 37 this month, said after the game he was retired from dunking.
Curry’s breakaway dunk cut the 76ers’ lead to 109-104 midway through the fourth quarter.
“I’ve been feeling pretty good,” Curry said. “I’ve been dealing with some knee stuff all year. Take advantage of a cherry-pick opportunity. That will probably be my last dunk, though. I’m calling it right now, that was the last one you’ll ever see.”
Warriors assistant coach Jerry Stackhouse had teased Curry about his lack of dunking during a morning shootaround. After Curry’s
slam, he pointed toward Stackhouse on the bench.
“It was a very random comment this morning and the fact that it happened was hilarious,” Curry said. Save the viral social media clip. There won’t be another one.
“For sure,” Curry said. “I will only lay the ball up. It took everything out of me to get up there.”
Durant: We embarrassed ourselves A BRUTAL season for the Phoenix Suns hit a low Sunday night with a humiliating 116-98 home loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
“ We didn’t play up to our standards at all,” All-Star forward Kevin Durant said. “We embarrassed the fans and we embarrassed ourselves the way we played. I want us to be better.”
There’s not much evidence that’s going to happen.
P hoenix lost for the 11th time in 14 games and fell to 28-33 for the season. The team is four games behind the Dallas Mavericks for the final spot in the Western Conference play-in tournament and will need a minor miracle over the last 21 games of the season just to have a chance at the postseason.
It’s far from the situation that the Suns expected back in October. They started the year with championship aspirations with a highly-paid and accomplished roster that includes Durant, four-time All-Star Devin Booker and three-time AllStar Bradley Beal. But af ter an encouraging 8-1 start to the season, the Suns have a 20-31 record since Nov. 13. Injuries haven’t helped, but the Suns were at full strength Sunday night and still got routed in their own building.
“We’ve got to go on a run, but it’s got to start,” coach Mike Budenholzer said. “There’s no doubt that the standings, the circumstances that we’re in, there’s an awareness and we’ve got to do something to change it.”
Phoenix actually led 51-49 at halftime Sunday, but Minnesota rallied for an 8372 lead heading into the fourth. AP
By Josef Ramos
ORTHPORT walks on thin ice
Nin Game 4 of the Batang Pier’s best-of-five semifinals series against the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Gin Kings in the Philippine Basketball Association Commissioner’s Cup. But the top seeds entering the playoffs are not losing hope.
“ We’re just really trying to be positive as we stick together,” said Arvin Tolentino, main man of NorthPort which is down 0-3
in the series.
“It’s really a hard thing to do now being down 0-3.”
“ We’re also surprised at what happened in our last three games because we really prepared hard,” he added.
T he first three games of the series were one-sided—93-115 in Game 1, 106-119 in Game 2 and 100-127 in Game 3 on Sunday night—for an average losing margin of 20 points.
From a spectacular 23 points, 7.4 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game average in the elimination round, Tolentino dropped
to 11.6 points and 5.3 rebounds in three games in the semifinals.
“Our confidence was high after the elimination round because we also beat Ginebra [119-116]. We have a mental advantage coming into the series,” Tolentino said. “We also prepared for two weeks, so we did not expect this to happen.”
He said all they can do is to fight back and survive.
“Good thing we still have one more chance, so we must play our best,” he said.
Kadeem Jack, a candidate for the Best
Ramoga, Calvo rule sprint triathlon in P’Princesa
AMES VAN RAMOGA and Sofia
Adriana Calvo topped the Sunrise Sprint race in Puerto Princesa City on Sunday following remarkable comefrom-behind victories in the men’s and women’s divisions, respectively. Van Ramoga was sixth in the 750-meter open-water swim, but unleashed a blistering 33-minute and 19-second time in the 20-km bike leg to surge ahead and held off a charging John Paul Daquioag in the closing 5-km run to bag the men’s overall title with a total time of 1:17:37 ( swim and run splits 16:45 and 22:43).
Daquioag, despite a strong 20:07 run
finish, settled for second place at 1:17:46 after falling behind in the bike leg (36:38). Mejares Naune Elison, who came out of the water with an impressive 15:20 swim, struggled in the bike (38:54) and run (22:10) but held on for third at 1:21:07. On the women’s side, Calvo faced an even greater challenge, trailing by five minutes after a 20:49 swim but roared back with a dominant 44:13 bike split and sealed victory with a 28:07 run to cross the finish line in 1:39:17. L ucienne Aragones positioned herself for the win with a swift 15:47 swim, maintaining the lead despite a
Mental skills coach
48:49 bike leg, but faded in the run (34:26), ultimately conceding victory to Calvo by five minutes.
Princess Kedtag secured third in 1:52:17 (24:24 swim, 47:21 bike and 30:57 run), edging Thailand’s Mariette Scoop (1:55:37) for the final podium spot.
T he event, organized by Sunrise Events Philippines, provided an exhilarating test for aspiring triathletes and seasoned racers alike, proving that resilience and strategy are just as crucial as raw speed in multisport racing.
Big step forward for FIVB Men’s Worlds as top brass meet again
MAJOR updates on the country’s hosting of the FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship Philippines 2025 were tops on the agenda of the second Inter-Agency Meeting organized by the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) on Monday at the GSIS Conference Hall in Pasay City.
Department of Tourism Secretary Christina Frasco joined PSC chairman Richard Bachmann and Philippine National Volleyball Federation president Ramon “Tats” Suzara in briefing representatives from more than 20 government and private agencies which form the Task Force for the hosting as provided for by Administrative Order No. 30 from Malacañang.
“I t’s all systems go and the preparations are going on smoothly,” Suzara said.
B achmann, who heads the InterAgency Task Force, committed full
Import award, continues to give the Batang Pier big numbers of 30.6 points and 8.33 rebounds in the semifinals.
But they weren’t enough to neutralize Ginebra’s wellbalanced scoring with six Gin Kings—Jamie Malonzo (25), Justine Brownlee (22), Japeth Aguilar (17), S cottie Thompson (15), RJ Abarrientos (10) and Troy Rosario (10)—producing solid big numbers in Game 3.
Mall of Asia Arena and the Smart Araneta Coliseum. The full support of the government is guaranteed for this historic and world-class event,” Bachman said.
R epresented in the meeting were the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. and the Departments of Trade and Industry, Health, Foreign Affairs, Public Works and Highways, the Interior and Local Government and Information and Communications Technology. They were joined by the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority, Commission on Higher Education, Senate of the Philippines, PHLPost, Commission on Immigration, Customs, Philippine National Police, National Intelligence Coordinating Committee, Climate Change Commission and the MVP Group, as well as representatives from the cities of Pasay, Manila, Taguig and Quezon City.
and behaviors effectively, including skills like goal setting, self-awareness, focus, positive self-talk, stress management, decision-making and visualization, often used to enhance performance in various areas like sports, academics, or the workplace.
W hat does a mental skills coach do? As per AI Overview:
“A mental skills coach, often called a ‘mental performance coach’ or ‘sports psychologist,’ works with athletes or individuals to improve their mental game by teaching psychological strategies to enhance focus, confidence, resilience, and overall performance under pressure, typically using techniques like visualization, positive self-talk, and stress management methods to overcome mental barriers and reach their full potential.”
In my humble opinion, athletes cannot reach their full potential physically if they don’t reach their full potential mentally. Mental fatigue is tougher than physical fatigue. The mind tells the body what to do so they both have to be on the same page.
We’ve seen and heard countless stories of athletes compartmentalizing pain and illness to still be able to perform at a high level.
A product of Northern Arizona University, Jenn is also a content creator using her social media presence to talk about
Game 4 is on Wednesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. R ain or Shine, meanwhile, got back at TNT Tropang Giga, 103-98, also last Sunday to prevent getting swept in their own semifinals series. Gian Mamuyac, Adrian Nocum and C aelan Tiongson led the Elasto Painters in neutralizing the Rondae Hollis-Jefferson-led Tropang Gi ga to send the series to 1-2.
mental skills like grit, toughness and resilience.
Expand Your Game is a platform founded by Ireland to “inspire female soccer players to focus on their mental wellness, empowering them to cultivate a healthy relationship with the game and to maximize their performance on the field.”
According to www.expandyourgame.com, “Players estimate that up to 90 percent of the game is mental, yet they typically spend 10 percent or less of their total training time focused on developing the mental side of their game. W hen mental skills training is not prioritized, impossibly high, unrealistic expectations of perfection and win-at-allcost mentalities can dominate the soccer experience. This creates a very narrow definition of success and sets in motion a self-defeating cycle in which players can start to define their self-worth based on performance, which is a dangerous spot when it comes to mental wellness and ability to make a difference on the field.
We strive to help players redefine success and rediscover the joy in soccer by giving them tools to navigate the pressure, grow their confidence, play with consistency, build mental toughness, and lead from everywhere.
B y growing their mental skills toolkit, players can elevate their game to the next level, overcoming mental
performance. At Expand Your Game, our mission is to empower players to become their own best inner-coach, stay in the game by focusing on what they can control, and show up as the type of person and teammate they want to be, in the good times and
STEPHEN CURRY dunks for the first time since February 21, 2019, at the Warriors’ old home, Oracle Arena. AP
PNVF President Ramon “Tats” Suzara (standing) discusses with of Tourism Secretary Christina Frasco (left) and PSC Chairman Richard Bachmann.
