BusinessMirror March 15, 2024

By Cai U. Ordinario @caiordinario

FARMGATE prices of palay jumped by 38.6 percent year-onyear in February 2024, according to the latest data released by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

Based on the data, the average farmgate price of unmilled rice reached P25.21 per kilo in February 2024, compared with the P18.19 per kilo recorded in February 2023.

PSA data also showed that palay farmgate prices rose 1.2 percent from the average price of P24.92 per kilo recorded in January 2024.

“Farmgate prices refer to the prices received by farmers for the sale of their produce at the first point of sale net of the total marketing cost paid by the farmers,” PSA said.

Ambassador to Spain Philippe J. Lhuillier. Both activities of Hotel101-Madrid were led by DoubleDragon Chairman Edgar Injap Sia II, Hotel101 CEO Hannah Yulo-Luccini, and DoubleDragon Co-Chairman Tony

Tan Caktiong. Seen in leftmost photo are L-R: Equicom Group Chairman Antonio L. Go, Philippine Ambassador to Spain Philippe J. Lhuillier, DoubleDragon Chairman Edgar Injap Sia II, DoubleDragon Co-Chairman Tony Tan Caktiong, Minister of Economy, Finance and Employment of the Region of Madrid, Spain Rocio Albert Lopez-Ibor, Ferrovial Directoria Edificación Madrid Belen Marquina Susin, Ferrovial Director Region Centro Juan Luis Junguito Oppelt and Hotel101 Global CEO Hannah Yulo-Luccini.

At left, The Minister of Economy, Finance and Employment of the Region of Madrid, Spain, Rocio Albert Lopez-Ibor, delivers her message during the Hotel101-Madrid groundbreaking. Related story in Companies, B1.

By Cai U. Ordinario @caiordinario

THE national Economic and d evelopment Authority ( neda) said the use of Artificial i ntelligence (A i ) is inevitable for the Philippines.

And, knowing the Filipino worker, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan thinks A i is not a threat.

He said what is needed is a flexible workforce that can and will embrace A i to become more efficient. Balisacan pointed out

there are advantages to being open to A i “A i , i ’m not so worried at all. Because if you become worried if you are not doing anything about it, just like the emergence of internet or the emergence of computers,” Balisacan recently told reporters. “We have to retool. We have to use this as new tools rather than things that will replace us. That’s [how] i also see A i ,” he added.

By Malou Talosig-Bartolome

US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said on Thursday that its thrust to bring more American trade and investments to the Philippines is also aimed at helping the Philippines deal with its national security threats.

This as US State Secretary Antony Blinken will visit Manila Monday next week, exactly a week after the visit of Raimondo and 22 American business leaders.

“Economic security is national security,” Raimondo said in a conference call press briefing with Philippine and Thai media Thursday.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry

hit back at Raimondo, saying this strategy is a clear case of “economic bullying.”

b iden’s special trade and investment mission to Phl R A i Mondo noted that i ndo-Pacific Commander Admiral John Aquilino joined the President Biden’s Trade and i nvestment Mission (PT i M). “(Aquilino’s) presence during the visit underscored that the US has a government approach to the Philippines and the strength of both our national and economic security relationships with the Philippines,” Raimondo said.

Alsons profit leaps on rising power demand in Mindanao Use…

By Lenie Lectura @llectura

ALSONS Consolidated Resources (ACR) of the Alcantara Group posted a net income of P2.285 billion last year, higher by 22 percent from the P1.875 billion recorded in 2022.

ACR Deputy Chief f inancial o fficer Philip e dward Sagun said the company’s financial performance last year underscores the growing demand for power in its core markets in Mindanao.

“Aside from this, our participation in the w holesale e lectric -

ity Spot Market in Mindanao has opened additional revenue streams for the company, contributing to our financial growth.”

Revenues stood at P12.4 billion last year, higher by 3 percent from 2022.

Looking ahead, ACR remains

optimistic about its growth trajectory, particularly considering the expected increase in power demand to support the Philippines’s projected annual economic growth of 6.5 percent through 2028. The company is poised to further business expansion and portfolio diversification this 2024.

Marking ACR’s entry into the Visayas market, the company broke ground on its 95.2 megawatt (M w ) baseload backup power plant project in Barangay Imelda, Ubay Municipality in Bohol last year. This facility will serve as a backup source of electricity for Boholanos if the province gets isolated from the Visayas grid during calamities or natural disasters.

ACR’s portfolio includes three power facilities with an aggregate capacity of 468 M w, serving over

8 million people across 14 cities and 11 provinces.

The company aims to enhance its renewable energy (R e ) capacity to support the Department of e nergy’s goals of a 35-percent R e mix by 2030 and 50 percent by 2040. Currently, it is developing three renewable projects. These are the 14.5-M w Siguil Hydro Power Plant in Sarangani, the 37.8-M w hybrid Siayan Hydro-Solar Power Plant in Zamboanga del Norte, and the 42-M w Bago Hydro Power Plant in Negros o ccidental.

Meanwhile, the Alcantara Group, announced the retirement of Tirso Santillan Jr. as e xecutive Vice President and Chief e xecutive o fficer (C eo). The group’s current Deputy

DfA foreign Affairs Secretary e nrique Manalo said his US counterpart will be arriving in Manila Monday night, March 18. Blinken will meet Manalo and President ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Tuesday. This will be the second time for Blinken to visit Manila; his first was in 2022. China assails Biden trade mission

T H e Chinese foreign Ministry lashed out at the special trade and investment mission of US President Biden to the Philippines.

“Instead of focusing on economic cooperation with the Philippines, the US Presidential Trade and Investment Mission dwelled on so-called national security, and sounded clarion calls for ganging up against China’s technological development,” ministry spokesman wang wenbin told reporters in Beijing.

“Many sober-headed Philippine individuals are questioning: are the Americans really here to help the Philippines advance development?” he added.

Palay…

Continued from A1

“These prices are determined at the farmgate or first point of sale transactions and are also known as 'producer prices,’” it added.

The highest increase was recorded in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), where average price posted a year-on-year growth of 52.2 percent.

The average palay farmgate price in CAR reached P26 per kilo in february 2024, higher than the previous year’s P17.08 per kilo.

PSA data also showed that the slowest year-on-year increase in farmgate prices was recorded in e astern Visayas at 22 percent.

The average palay farmgate price went up to P23.2 per kilo in february 2024 from P19.01 per kilo in the same period last year.

o n a monthly basis, the highest increase in february was recorded in e astern Vi -

C eo Antonio Miguel B. Alcantara will assume Santillan’s post starting April 1. Alcantara brings 15 years of experience within Alsons Power to this new role.

“I am deeply grateful for Santillan’s exceptional leadership, which has been instrumental in shaping Alsons Power’s trajectory over the last thirty years. He led us through periods of significant growth and laid a solid foundation for our future endeavors.

Inspired by his commitment to excellence, I look forward to leading Alsons Power’s next chapter as we drive forward, embracing innovation and transformation with a steadfast focus on making a positive societal impact,” said Alcantara.

wang urged the Americans to “immediately cease the wrong practice of politicizing, instrumentalizing, and weaponizing economic, trade, and sci-tech issues, and should refrain from enticing its allies into decoupling from China.”

The Chinese foreign Ministry reiterated that the Americans’ move to restrict the export of semiconductors from China violates the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT)'s mostfavored nation (M f N) treatment. It also disrupts normal trade order and interrupts international production and supply chain. “It is a clear case of economic bullying. Such US restrictions on exports to China are under the pretext of “national security.” However, these measures go far beyond their excuse and gravely hinder the normal trade of ordinary chips for civilian use,” wang said.

“China stands ready to take all necessary measures to resolutely safeguard its legitimate rights and interests,” wang added.

sayas at 20.1 percent. PSA data also showed that the average farmgate price in the Bicol region contracted by 17.8 percent to P22.75 per kilo in february from P27.66 per kilo a month ago. The highest average farmgate proce was seen in the Ilocos region where it reached P28.41 per kilo in february 2024.

This was followed by western Visayas where farmgate prices averaged P26.68 a kilo; Central Luzon, P26.56; Cagayan Valley, P26.46; and CAR, P26. The lowest average palay farmgate price was recorded in the Bicol region where it reached P22.75; Davao region, P23.10; e astern Visayas, P23.2; S o CCS k SARG e N, P24.11; and Caraga, P24.5 per kilo. The PSA said the monthly data on the farmgate prices of palay are obtained from the results of the farm Price Survey for Palay conducted on the last five days of the reference month.

Continued from A1

Citing examples of how

AI can be tools to achieve greater efficiency, he said ChatGPT or Grammarly can help craft better letters or researches.

Preventing AI from being used will only delay the inevitable, he said.

The Neda chief said this is similar to the advent of the internet. If everyone shunned the use of internet, the world would have been in a worse state.

“In the end, our response should be, we would want a labor force that is truly agile, flexible, and [can] adjust to these technologies and challenges,” Balisacan said.

Labor market e ffoRTS to improve the chances of workers in the short- to the long-term will be included in the upcoming Trabaho Para sa Bayan (TPB) plan.

The plan hopes to address the needs of a changing labor market.

Balisacan noted that the problem in terms of unemployment and underemployment as well as the decrease in labor force participation would be included.

Balisacan attributed the decline in the labor force participation in January 2024 to workers who opted out of the labor force because of back-towork orders.

In January of 2023, he recalled, many were working from home but still fully employed. But when returning to the work site became mandatory, “perhaps that’s when many withdrew from the labor force,” Balisacan explained, partly in f ilipino.

Wage hike fallout

Howe V e R in terms of wages, the proposals to increase wages across the board lodged at the House of Representatives and Senate of the Philippines may not be immediately considered in the Trabaho Para sa Bayan (TPB) plan.

Balisacan noted that the main view of the TPB plan would have to be long term. This is why the start of the planning exercise will be the 10-year view between 2025 and 2035.

e arlier, the Neda warned that thousands of f ilipinos could lose their jobs, and the economy could suffer significant losses, due to the proposed P100 wage hike.

In an online forum last month, Balisacan said the P100 wage hike could render 100,000 to 340,000 f ilipinos jobless.

Given this, Balisacan said GDP growth could be reduced by 0.1 percentage points (ppts) to as much as 0.5 ppts, which he considered “significant.”

Balisacan said the country’s unemployment rate could increase by 0.2 ppts to 0.7 ppts. This could also lead to an increase in inflation by 0.2 ppts to as much as 0.8 ppts.

The extent of the impact will greatly depend on how the wage hike will be implemented. The impact will be less severe if it covers only minimum wage workers.

Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug

PBBM to push for ‘stronger’ PHL-US-Japan cooperation structure in next week’s meeting

PR e SID e NT Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. said will be pushing for the interoperability among participants of the Philippines-United States-Japan defense cooperation during his meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken next week.

h e said he wants to iron out the details of the defense cooperation during the said meeting on Tuesday, March 19, 2024.

“It is probably just formalizing what we are already doing, which will put a bit more structure to what we will do as a...interoperability and the actual joint cruises that we are having,” Marcos told reporters in an interview in Germany on Wednesday.

Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Secretary e nrique A. Manalo said aside from Blinken, who is expected to arrive in the country next Monday evening, Japan may

also send a representative for the meeting on defense cooperation.

“As for Japan, it’s not confirmed if they will be coming or not, but at this stage we haven’t received any confirmation,” Manalo told the President.

Last December, officials from the three countries pledged to boost their defense and security efforts amid the increasing aggression of Chinese ships in the South China Sea.

They made the pronouncement after the Chinese Coast Guard used water cannons against Philippine vessels, which were on rotation and resupply mission to Ayungin Shoal and Bajo de Masinloc.

Marcos reiterated he will not allow China to engage in “more active attempts to annex” the country’s territories during his administration. Samuel P. Medenilla

House website receives 541.66-M DDoS attacks

By Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz @joveemarie

The Information and Communications Technology Service (ICTS) Team of the house of Representatives reported Thursday a significant influx of internet traffic on the Congressional website, signaling a Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attack aimed at disrupting normal website functions.

Citing reports from the ICTS Team, h ouse Secretary General Reginald Velasco said an unprecedented 53.72 million attacks were detected between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m. on Wednesday, with origins traced to Indonesia, the United States, Columbia, India, and the Russian Federation.

Additionally, at 2:52 p.m. also on Wednesday, Velasco said an as -

tonishing 487.93 million attacks were registered, originating from sources in Tunisia, Thailand, and Greece.

These attacks, Velasco said, totaling 541.66 million, have been managed and blocked by the ICTS Team using the Cloudflare service.

“The ICTS Team has assured us that they have blocked and managed all of these attacks through the Cloudflare service, displayed an ‘under maintenance notice,’ restarted the servers, and continued normal operations. It has also been reported to the DICT. No further attacks have been observed since, and the ICTS Team continues to monitor for unusual internet activity on the website,” he said.

In response to this incident, Velasco said the house asked the DICT to conduct a thorough investigation into the origin and mo -

tives behind these DDoS attacks. h e said it is imperative to determine whether these attacks are perpetrated by local or foreign entities, or a combination thereof, and ascertain their underlying motivations, whether financial or political in nature.

According to Velasco, the house calls upon the ICTS to enhance its vigilance against future cyber threats. As a trusted source of information for the Filipino people, the Congressional website must remain operational at all times to fulfill its mandate of providing timely and relevant updates to the public, he said.

Velasco said the h ouse also assured the public that the situation has been contained, and measures have been implemented to fortify the website’s defenses

against potential future attacks.

The resolve of Congress to uphold its duties remains steadfast, and we remain committed to thwarting any attempts by malicious actors to undermine the integrity of our digital infrastructure, he said.

Velasco said the house commends the swift and adept response of the ICTS Team in addressing the DDoS attacks.

With this incident, Velasco reaffirmed the crucial role of competent IT professionals in safeguarding the integrity and accessibility of our digital platforms against malicious threats.

“We call on the ICTS to be more vigilant against these attacks. The Filipino people are counting on us to bring them relevant information through our website, so it must remain up and running at all times,” he added.

Ex-president Duterte continues to send ‘mixed signals’ on Cha-cha, PBBM says

By Samuel P. Medenilla @sam_medenilla

PR e SID e NT Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. said former president Rodrigo R. Duterte continues to give “mixed signals” on proposal to revise certain provisions of the 1987 Constitution. In an interview with reporters in Germany on Wednesday, the

Chief e xecutive said he is confused by the constantly changing statements of Duterte on the proposed Charter change.

“So, I will first look at what he said so I can understand it because it keeps changing. e very word he makes [on Cha-cha] is different. So I will try to make sense of it,” Marcos said partly in Filipino.

The President made the pronouncement when asked for a reaction on Duterte’s allegation that he is pushing for Cha-cha to extend his term.

Last month, Duterte said he is ready to back amendments on the provisions of the Constitution related to the economy and even the terms of the president if it will not apply to incumbent

officials.  h e reiterated the Marcos administration should not amend the Constitution if it will benefit its officials and supporters.

The h ouse of Representatives and the Senate are currently conducting separate hearings on their proposed amendments to the economic provision of the Constitution. Marcos said

he supports the said initiatives since it will help the country draw more foreign investments.

Aside from the issue of Cha -cha, Marcos and Duterte also clashed on the issue of a possible Mindanao independence movement. They also exchanged drug use allegations earlier this year.

Despite the said disagreements, Marcos said he does not

have any ill will against Duterte.  In fact, he said, he will be extending a birthday greeting to Duterte, who will be celebrating his 79th birthday on March 28.

“We will, of course, wish him a happy birthday, and many happy returns. For us Filipinos, we always respect such very important occasions,” Marcos said.

Friday, March 15, 2024

By Andrea E. San Juan @andreasanjuan

& Reine Juvierre Alberto

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is seeking an additional funding of around P170 million to establish additional vape testing facilities to ensure that the products are compliant with prescribed standards.

Ahead of the effectivity of the implementation of vape products, which are registered with the Bureau of Philippine Standards (BPS) in June 2024, the Trade department, which has the primary mandate to ensure that heated tobacco products ( h TPs) are compliant with standards, the agency is also seeking additional funding to upgrade vape-testing facilities.

Currently, DTI-Consumer Protection Group

(CPG) Assistant Secretary Amanda Nograles said the agency has a lab in Cavite but aims to establish three more facilities in the country.  “The device itself, we’ll be able to test the batteries or anything about the device in our lab in Cavite. For the consumable, if we don’t have the appropriate facility or equipment for that, we accept submissions of results from accredited laboratory,” the consumer protection official noted.  “DTI aims to establish 3 more facilities: Chemical Analysis Testing Facility for e -liquid; Chemical Analysis Testing Facility for h TP, and Calibration Laboratory for h TP, Vape, and other Testing equipment,” Nograles told the B usiness M irror in a Viber message.

“The DTI is seeking for an additional budget to establish the additional testing facilities to further ensure that the products’ safety and quality are in conformance with

the standards,” she added.

The vape law took effect in December 2023. By June 2024, Nograles explained that the entry of vape products or h TPs that did not go through BPS product certification would no longer be allowed to enter or be sold in the country.

By January 2025, the consumer protection official said the agency would inspect the vape products circulating in the market. “‘Pag wala kang DTI product registration or certification, ‘yun na yung subject to confiscation,” she said.

Meanwhile, the consumer protection arm of DTI said it would study the Department of h ealth’s (DO h ) proposal to ban disposable vapes.

With this, Nograles explained the dangers of using disposable vape, saying, “The issue with disposable vape is the device includes the actual product into one whole system na

DOJ and ChR ink pact for expeditious compensation of human rights victims

he Department of Justice-Board of Claims (DOJ-BOC) and the Commission on h uman Rights (C h R) signed Thursday a memorandum of agreement (MOA) instituting a referral system for expeditious processing of claims for victims of victims of human rights abuses, such as extra-judicial killings ( e JK), torture, enforced disappearances, and other violent crimes.

process initiatedC h R

The DOJ-BOC likewise endorses to the C h R cases of human rights violations not

hindi siya divisible into the actual vape device and the consumable.”

She further noted that disposable vapes are harmful because it’s difficult to test the effects of the pod itself considering its structure as opposed to the actual vape device, which can be detached from the consumable.

“Kasi ngayon ang rule natin subject to mandatory product certification and registration yan starting June 2024 kaya nire-ready na natin yung testing natin ng mga devices at tsaka yung consumables niya. Ngayon we currently accommodate yung mga pag-submit nila ng testing from accredited labs,” said Nograles.

BIR seizes smuggled vapes in Laguna

I N a related development, the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) reported Thursday

compensable under RA 7309 for their evaluation and possible assistance.

Under the MOA, the DOJ is obliged to accept and evaluate referrals for claims from the C h R, provide a docketing system for the cases referred, conduct trainings, seminars and focus group discussions for the C h R about the Victims Compensation Program.

On the other hand, the C h R is mandated

to inform their clients about the existence of the referral system, assist and refer qualified applicants, appoint a focal person, accept referrals from the DOJ for claimants not falling under RA No. 7309 and create an inventory of past cases which may still qualify to the Victims Compensation Program (VCP).

“Compensating victims of injustice is a form of mandatory justice accorded by the Rule of Law which no rule or formality should hinder in any way,” Justice Secretary Jesus

right

paying the

that it had seized over 1,000 master boxes filled with smuggled vape products with a tax liability of about P75 million from a warehouse located in San Pablo City in Laguna.

The BIR said the operation led to the seizing of a total of 1,029 master boxes containing 102,900 bottles of Flava-branded vape products.

The BIR computed that the total tax deficiency amounted to a total of P75.745 million.

Internal Revenue Commissioner Romeo

Crispin Remulla stressed. The DOJ was represented by Undersecretary-in-Charge for BOC Deo Marco, while the C h R was represented by chairperson Richard Palpal-latoc during the signing. “This Department is hopeful that after today, we can facilitate greater accessibility to the programs of the Board of Claims and of the C h R, and in the process, further this Department’s campaign on compassionate justice,” Marcos said. Meanwhile, Justice Undersecretary Raul Vasquez of the DOJ- h uman Rights Office said the Justice department would be coordinating with Malacañang to endorse

Internal Revenue Code, as amended.

as a priority bill h ouse Bill 5029 that would increase the compensation of human rights victims, violent crimes as well as those unduly incarcerated. h ouse Bill 5029 intends to amend Section 4 and 9 of Republic Act No. 7309 entitled “An Act Creating A Board of Claims under the Department of Justice for Victims of Unjust Imprisonment or Detention and Victims of Violent Crimes and For Other Purposes.”

Under the proposed law, victims of violent crimes may collect up to P50,0000 each from the DOJ-BOC, which is a 500 percent increase to the present P10,000 compensation. Joel R. San Juan

Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug

Poe raises alarm over illegal POGO activities in PHL anew

By Butch Fernandez @butchfBM

SENATOR Grace Poe promptly aired an alarm Thursday following the recent raid of illegal gambling den in Tarlac baring anew on how illegal operations of offshore gaming has spawned in the country victimizing the public. The lawmaker lamented that

crimes associated with these pernicious Philippine Offshore Gaming Operation (POGO) activities have become “more vicious, including human trafficking, prostitution, kidnap for ransom, torture, online scam and fake IDs and passports.”

She recalled “as early as September last year, a Senate panel has recommended the ban on POGOs as they have made the country a

PBBM says mom Imelda fit to go home after bout with pneumonia

PRESIDENT Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. said his mother, former First Lady Imelda R. Marcos, is already fit to return home after being hospitalized for pneumonia.

“So, she is in good spirits and she’s—the usual good sign: she wants to go home. She is complaining about the food at the hospital and she wants to go to so many places,” the Chief Executive told reporters partly in Filipino in an interview in Germany last Wednesday.

He said his mother’s fever has already subsided and she is now feeling better.

The former first lady was confined

to a hospital earlier this month after suffering from a fever due to her pneumonia infection. She was required to remain in the medical facility until she finished her course of antibiotics.

Marcos said his mother is already scheduled to come out of the hospital on March 14, 2024.

“So, I look forward to seeing her again back on her feet and out of the hospital,” Marcos said. The President has just completed his working visit in Germany earlier this week and is now on his state visit to the Czech Republic.

Samuel P. Medenilla

fertile ground for various crimes.”

Poe added she “found it interesting to note from reports that in the Tarlac raid, the spokesperson of the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission said that the request for the warrants was made after information from the Malaysian Embassy came about its national being detained inside the complex.”

Moreover, the senator pointed

TBy Rex Anthony Naval

HE Philippine Army (PA) on Thursday announced that a combined arms brigade would be taking part in Battle Period 2 of its Combined Arms Training Exercise (CATEX) Katihan, which will take place in Tarlac today, Friday. Col. Louie Dema-ala, PA spokesperson, said Battle Period 2 is among the highlights of Katihan, which formally opened last March 8 in Fort Magsaysay, Nueva Ecija and will conclude on the 22nd of March.

A combined arms brigade is equivalent to around 1,000 military personnel and is equipped with armored personnel carriers, light tanks, artillery and artillery/howitzer units.

The event would be held jointly in Camp O’ Donnell, Barangay Sta. Lucia, Capas and Camp Edwin Rabina Air Base, also in Capas.

out “without a concrete policy yet on the cessation of POGO operations, it is incumbent for our law enforcers and concerned government agencies to intensify their actions to thwart the fraudulent activities.”

“Our inability to stop the POGOrelated crimes will be a mockery of our laws,” she said, warning, “this will perpetuate the cycle of exploitation and abuse not only of Filipinos but of their foreigner victims.”

PBBM differentiates his admin’s anti-drug drive from predecessor to German leader

PRESIDENT Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. cited Wednesday the “overhauled” government campaign against illegal drugs to allay the concerns of Germany on the matter.

In an interview with reporters, Marcos said German Chancellor Olaf Scholz inquired during their bilateral meeting about updates on the investigation of the International Criminal Court (ICC) on the brutal war against illegal drugs during the administration of former president Rodrigo R. Duterte.

He explained to Scholz that the government no longer recognizes the jurisdiction after the country withdrew from the Rome Statute in 2019.

rehabilitating those who became addicted to its use.

This was in contrast to the approach of the Duterte administration, which made use of aggressive police operations against illegal drug traffickers, which killed about 6,000 drug suspects and resulted in the ICC probe on the matter.

“And so, we are on a much different approach and he [Scholz] listened to my explanation. I think we’re satisfied with that,” the President said.

Marcos also told Scholz there is no longer any need for the ICC to conduct a probe on the drug-related killings since local authorities and courts are already into the said cases.

ABy Joel R. San Juan @jrsanjuan1573

COMPLAINT was filed before the Office of the Ombudsman against Commission on Higher Education (CHED) Chairman Prospero “Popoy” De Vera in connection with the alleged unaccounted P10.3-billion higher education development fund allocated for the free tuition and living allowance of government scholars as provided under Republic Act (RA) 10931 or the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act.  Agapito Lubaton, administrator and chief executive officer of Marvelous College of Technology (MCT), located in Koronadal City, filed the complaint on Tuesday, March 12.

MCT is one of the private higher educational institutions (HEI) authorized to accept government scholars in the absence of a state university or college in a certain area.

In his four-page complaint affidavit, Lubaton specifically charged De Vera for negligence of duties as public official, violation of RA 11032 or the Ease of Doing Business Law, grave abuse of power and authority amounting to unfair and oppressive action, moral injury cause to hopeful students and educational institutions and non-payment of living allowances for grantees/student scholars.

The complainant said the CHED chief failed to “faithfully comply with its mandate to provide sufficient subsidy for free tuition and students living allowance, which under the said law had clearly pointed out for the appropriation of funds.”

Lubaton explained that student grantees enrolled in HEIs are under the Unified Student Financial Assistance System for Tertiary Education or UniFAST, which is in charge of implementing RA 10931 to ensure that all eligible Filipinos get access to adequate and equitable education.

Under the UniFAST program, scholars are to be provided P30,000 per semester for tuition fee and living allowance. CHED is supposed to remit the corresponding amount to the concerned schools.

“Chairman De Vera had only paid and given the tuition fee in the amount of P10,000 for school year [SY] 20212022 but the P20,000 living allowances of students per semester for about two years now has not been paid up,” the complaint read.

Lubaton said CHED’s total unpaid dues for SY 2021-2023 amounted to P2.1 billion.

“Additionally, Mr. De Vera utterly failed to provide and give preferential attention and prompt action on the twoyear delay in the payment of UniFAST for no apparent and valid reason,” it added.

According to Lubaton, the implementation of the UniFAST went smoothly during the early years of the program, but problems cropped up during SY 20212022 and 2022-2023 after CHED failed to remit the law-mandated funding for student scholars.

But Lubaton said that what surprised him more was the two-year closure of the UniFAST portal for validation of student scholars, which resulted in an increase in the number of students dropping out due to financial difficulties providing for their

school fees and other needs.

Just recently, according to Lubaton, the UniFAST portal was opened after two years of closure but, at the same time, CHED also issued a new memorandum order implementing changes in UniFAST guidelines by eliminating the original provisions stating that areas with state colleges and universities-local colleges can accept students who will automatically be part of the UnifFAST scholarship program.

“However, in the aforementioned new guidelines all students will be considered scholars provided their names appear in the DSWD [Department of Social Welfare and Development] Listahan 3.0, [The Philippine National Profile of the Poor] which was processed by the DSWD in 2020 but unfortunately, what appears in the said list are the names of the parents not the list of names of the students,” the complaint-affidavit said.

“The aforesaid guidelines were changed and modified without proper consultation with stakeholders,” it added.

Darilag case

DE VERA also clarified that he is not part of any Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) in the agency or in any state university and college (SUC).

“And I am not in a position to manipulate procurement activities,” De Vera said as he denied that he favored a supplier in the procurement of goods and services as alleged by suspended CHED Commissioner Aldrin Darilag.

De Vera maintained he did not instruct Darilag to make the supplier

Higher temperatures to cut GDP growth–BSP report

“The

impact components of consumer prices, the results show that the inflationary impact of temperature shocks on food prices is deeper in magnitude and long-lasting in period at 0.79 ppt. vis-à-vis the effect on non-food prices, which is rather small at 0.31 ppt. and transitory up to 2 years only,” the paper stated. Hotter temperatures would also have wideranging impacts across sectors in the economy. The largest impact is on agriculture. Rising temperatures brought by climate change could reduce palay production by 1.83 ppts and corn production, 3.51 ppts. However, the hotter temperatures could lead to higher mango production or by 3.1 ppt. “These results show that

In terms of its impact on the manufacturing and services sectors, higher temperatures could reduce factory output by 1.8 ppts and services growth, 0.7 ppts. However, labor productivity in heat-exposed industries such as construction, transportation, and manufacturing will not be significantly affected.

The economists said the results showed that workers in these industries are already used to the hot working conditions such that an increase of one degree celsius in mean temperatures will not have a significant impact on their productivity.

Given these findings, the economists recommended that the government increase its spending and investment on research and development (R&D), particularly for agriculture.

Citing findings of other studies, the economists noted that only 0.4 percent of their value added in agricultural sector was invested in agricultural research in 2017 and 2016,respectively.

“It is crucial for the country to go through a

fensive lines along (the) Central Luzon area in Tarlac. Likewise, scenario injects triggering operations are included with units performing different operations as part of the combined arms brigade,” he added. CATEX “Katihan” is the first-ever large-scale exercise that

will effectively test the Army’s capability

CHED chief faces complaint before Ombudsman for ‘unaccounted’ P10.3-B higher education fund

win government contracts.

Darilag also complained of abuse of authority, harassment and oppression against him.

“He also accuses me of preventing his staff from doing any work and subjecting them to needless inspection of their clothes or belongings. I do not know the specifics of the complaint so it is difficult for me to respond in detail to his allegations,” De Vera said as he categorically stated, “I am not part of any Bids and Awards Committee in CHED or in any state university and college and I am not in a position to manipulate procurement activities.”

He stressed that any complaints of violation of bidding procedures must” therefore be addressed to, and resolved by the CHED commission en banc or the Board of Regents of individual SUCs.”

“In connection with his preventive suspension, I would like to state that the 90-day suspension order was issued by the Executive Secretary,” he said, adding that CHED served the said suspension order to Darilag, per the directive of the Office of the President.

The OP also instructed CHED to form a fact-finding committee. De Vera said that the committee is currently looking into the allegations raised against Darilag.

“The Committee will report their findings to CHED, who will thereafter submit such reports to the Executive Secretary. The staff in his office is not prohibited to go to work in CHED. I have not issued any memorandum regarding his staff,” De Vera said. With Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco

Continued from A18

paradigm shift—from being commodity-driven to taking a holistic agricultural system approach through a rigorous implementation of policies and programs to promote climate-resilient agriculture technology and practices to ensure food security amid rapidly changing climate,” the economists said.

The economists also said the impact of climate change on various crops can be useful in crafting financial products that would be suitable to climate change conditions.

They said risk weights used by banks and insurers can be aligned and refined to take into consideration crops being cultivated for loan account or insurance coverage.

“I also went further and said we have actually completely changed the concept of the anti-drug campaign. Which is something that I’ve said before and even before the election,” Marcos said.

Marcos added his administration focuses on preventing the spread of illegal drugs and

“And so, it’s really a question of jurisdiction and we have our own investigations and we’re capable of conducting our own investigations and, so we are, we are continuing to do so,” the President said during his meeting with Scholz last Tuesday.  Samuel P. Medenilla

Israel plans to direct Palestinians out of Rafah ahead of anticipated offensive

By Tia Goldenberg The Associated Press

TEL AVIV, Israel—The Israeli military said Wednesday it plans to direct a significant portion of the 1.4 million displaced Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip’s southernmost town of Rafah toward “humanitarian islands” in the center of the territory ahead of its planned offensive in the area.

The fate of the people in Rafah has been a major area of concern of Israel’s allies—including the United States—and humanitarian groups, worried an offensive in the region densely crowded with so many displaced people would be a catastrophe. Rafah is also Gaza’s main entry point for desperately needed aid.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said a Rafah offensive is crucial to achieve Israel’s stated aim of destroying Hamas following the militants’ October 7 attack in which about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed and around 250 taken hostage and brought into Gaza. Israel’s invasion of Gaza has killed more than 31,000, according to Gaza health officials, left much of the enclave in ruins and displaced some 80 percent of Gaza’s 2.3 million people.

Israel’s chief military spokesman, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, said moving those in Rafah to the designated areas, which he said would be done in coordination with international actors, was a key part of the military’s preparations for its anticipated invasion of Rafah, where Israel says Hamas maintains four battalions it wants to destroy.

Rafah has swelled in size in the last months as Palestinians in Gaza have fled fighting in nearly every other corner of the territory.

The town is covered in tents.

“We need to make sure that 1.4 million people or at least a significant amount of the 1.4 million will move. Where? To humanitarian islands that we will create with the international community,” Hagari told reporters at a briefing.

Hagari said those islands would provide temporary housing, food, water and other necessities to evacuated Palestinians. He did not say when Rafah’s evacuation would occur, nor when the Rafah offensive would begin, saying that Israel wanted the timing to be right operationally and to be coordinated with neighboring Egypt, which has said it does not want an influx of displaced Palestinians crossing its border. The US has been firm with Israel over its concerns about Rafah, and Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday that Washington had yet to receive from Israel its plans for civilians there.

“We need to see a plan that will get civilians out of harm’s way if there’s a military operation in Rafah,” he told reporters in Washington after convening a virtual ministerial meeting on Gaza aid with officials from the UN, the EU, Britain. Cyprus, Qatar

and the UAE. “We’ve not yet seen such a plan.”

At the start of the war, Israel directed evacuees to a slice of undeveloped land along Gaza’s Mediterranean coast that it designated as a safe zone. But aid groups said there were no real plans in place to receive large numbers of displaced there. Israeli strikes also targeted the area.

More than 31,270 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza and most of its 2.3 million people forced from their homes, Gaza’s Health Ministry says. The ministry doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count, but says women and children make up two-thirds of the dead.

Israel blames the civilian death toll on Hamas because the militants fight in dense, residential areas. The military has said it has killed 13,000 Hamas fighters, without providing evidence.

Meanwhile, fighting continued across Gaza. An Israeli strike Wednesday hit a food distribution site in southern Gaza run by UNRWA, the UN agency that works with Palestinian refugees, killing one staff member from the agency and wounding

Indian farmers rally in New Delhi, demanding legislation for minimum profitable crop prices

two-thirds of them who own less than 1 hectare (2 1/2 acres) of land.

Nthe capital were that the farmers not use their farm vehicles. They were also barred from carrying sticks or swords to avoid clashes with police.

The protesters carried placards demanding free electricity for farming.

They contended that without guarantees for their crop prices, they would be at the mercy of the markets and that would spell disaster, especially for the more than

The rally, organized by the United Farmers Front, was held at Ramlila Ground, which is used for religious festivals, major political meetings and entertainment events.

The police permitted the rally also on the condition that the farmers wouldn’t bring in more than 5,000 people, the Press Trust of India news agency said.

The protests come at a crucial time for India, which has a national election in April-May, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling party widely expected to secure a third successive term. Farmers are a particularly influential voting bloc in India with their sheer numbers. More than 60% of India’s 1.4 billion people depend on farming for their livelihoods.

The farmers are also pressing the government to keep its promises to waive loans and withdraw legal cases brought against them during their 2021 protests.

Several talks so far have failed to break the deadlock. Thousands of farmers have been protesting separately in Shambhu, a town some 200 kilometers (120 miles) from the capital, since Feb. 13. Authorities have barricaded highways leading to New Delhi with cement blocks, metal containers, barbed wire and iron spikes to prevent the farmers from entering. The farmers have brought in bulldozers and excavators to try and push through.

On February 21, clashes between farmers and police left one protester dead as the farmers tried to resume their march to the Indian capital after talks with the government failed to end an impasse over their demands for guaranteed crop prices.

Haryana police said 12 officers were injured after protesters attacked them with sticks and pelted them with stones.

The farmers paused their protest and hunkered down near the town of Shambhu, close to the border between Punjab and

Growing inequalities and deteriorating conditions: UN warns of drifting apart in global development

UBy Edith M. Lederer The

pandemic levels, the report said.

“It’s

ways,” Steiner said at a news conference. “Why does this matter? Not only because it creates more vulnerability, it creates also more misery and protracted poverty, growing inequality.”

The growing inequalities are compounded by the concentration of

22 others.

The death brings to 165 the number of workers for the agency killed during the past five months of fighting, according to UNRWA. Gaza’s health authorities said a total of five people were killed in the strike on the yard of an UNRWA warehouse.

Hagari said the army was looking into the report.

The conflict has sparked a humanitarian disaster that has led to growing hunger. Aid delivery has been hobbled by Israeli restrictions, the ongoing hostilities and the breakdown of order inside Gaza, according to the United Nations. Israel denies it is restricting the entry of aid.

The crisis has been particularly acute in northern Gaza, Israel’s initial target in the early weeks of the war.

Hagari said Wednesday Israel plans to “flood the area” with aid, with plans to scale up the entry of goods from multiple points in northern Gaza, after half a dozen trucks delivered aid entered from the north on Tuesday as part of a pilot program. He did not say how many more trucks were expected to enter and at what frequency.

Hagari also said representatives from the US military were expected in Israel this week to further coordinate a planned US floating pier that will be built off the coast of Gaza, which he said would be “significant” for northern Gaza.

The US and other countries have also been airdropping food into northern Gaza in recent weeks to help alleviate the crisis. Aid groups said airdrops and bringing sea shipments are far less efficient and effective than bringing in food by truck.

The Associated Press writer Matt Lee contributed to this report from Washington.

Haryana states, as their unions engaged in discussions with government ministers.

They rejected a proposal offering them five-year contracts of guaranteed prices on a set of certain crops, including maize, grain legumes and cotton.

Two years ago, tens of thousands of farmers camped out on the outskirts of New Delhi forcing Modi to repeal new agriculture laws in a major reversal for his government.

Jagjit Singh Dallewal, one of the farmers leading the march, said they did not want any violence, but condemned the federal government over the massive security measures.

The protest organizers say the farmers are seeking new legislation that would guarantee minimum prices for 23 crops. The farmers believe this would help stabilize their income.

The government protects agricultural producers against sharp falls in farm prices by setting a minimum purchase price for certain essential crops, a system that was introduced in the 1960s to help shore up food reserves and prevent shortages. The system can apply up to 23 crops, but the government usually offers the minimum price only for rice and wheat.

economic wealth, the report said. It pointed to almost 40 percent of global trade in goods concentrated in three or fewer countries. And it said the stock market value of the three largest tech companies in 2021—Amazon, Apple and Microsoft—surpassed the gross domestic product of more than 90 percent of the 193 UN member nations that year.

Steiner said the world’s nations should be joining forces to focus on major threats in the 21st century, especially climate change, the next pandemic and the emergence of a digital economy and artificial intelligence.

The World

Election disinformation takes a big leap with AI being used to deceive worldwide

By Ali Swenson & Kelvin Chan The Associated Press

LONDON—Artificial intelligence is supercharging the threat of election disinformation worldwide, making it easy for anyone with a smartphone and a devious imagination to create fake—but convincing—content aimed at fooling voters.

It marks a quantum leap from a few years ago, when creating phony photos, videos or audio clips required teams of people with time, technical skill and money. Now, using free and low-cost generative artificial intelligence services from companies like Google and OpenAI, anyone can create highquality “deepfakes” with just a simple text prompt.

A wave of AI deepfakes tied to elections in Europe and Asia has coursed through social media for months, serving as a warning for more than 50 countries heading to the polls this year.

“You don’t need to look far to see some people...being clearly confused as to whether something is real or not,” said Henry Ajder, a leading expert in generative AI based in Cambridge, England.

The question is no longer whether AI deepfakes could affect elections, but how influential they will be, said Ajder, who runs a consulting firm called Latent Space Advisory.

As the US presidential race heats up, FBI Director Christopher Wray recently warned about the growing threat, saying generative AI makes it easy for “foreign adversaries to engage in malign influence.”

With AI deepfakes, a candidate’s image can be smeared, or softened. Voters can be steered toward or away from candidates—or even to avoid the polls altogether. But perhaps the greatest threat to democracy, experts say, is that a surge of AI deepfakes could erode the public’s trust in what they see and hear.

Some recent examples of AI deepfakes include:

n A video of Moldova’s pro-Western president throwing her support behind a political party friendly to Russia.

n Audio clips of Slovakia’s liberal party leader discussing vote rigging and raising the price of beer.

n A video of an opposition lawmaker in Bangladesh—a conservative Muslim majority nation—wearing a bikini.

The novelty and sophistication of the technology makes it hard to track who is behind AI deepfakes. Experts say governments and companies are not yet capable of stopping the deluge, nor are they moving fast enough to solve the problem.

As the technology improves, “definitive answers about a lot of the fake content are going to be hard to come by,” Ajder said.

Eroding trust

SOME AI deepfakes aim to sow doubt about candidates’ allegiances.

In Moldova, an Eastern European country bordering Ukraine, proWestern President Maia Sandu has been a frequent target. One AI deepfake that circulated shortly before local elections depicted her endorsing a Russian-friendly party and announcing plans to resign.

Officials in Moldova believe the Russian government is behind the activity. With presidential elections this year, the deepfakes aim “to erode trust in our electoral process, candidates and institutions—but also to erode trust between people,” said Olga Rosca, an adviser to Sandu. The Russian government declined to comment for this story.

China has also been accused of weaponizing generative AI for political purposes. In Taiwan, a self-ruled island that China claims as its own, an AI deepfake gained attention earlier this year by stirring concerns about US interference in local politics.

The fake clip circulating on TikTok showed US Rep. Rob Wittman, vice chairman of the US House Armed Services Committee, promising stronger US military support for Taiwan if the incumbent party’s candidates were elected in January.

Wittman blamed the Chinese Communist Party for trying to meddle in Taiwanese politics, saying it uses TikTok—a Chinese-owned company—to spread “propaganda.”

A spokesperson for the Chinese foreign ministry, Wang Wenbin, said his government doesn’t comment on fake videos and that it opposes interference in other countries’ internal affairs. The Taiwan election, he stressed, “is a local affair of China.”

Blurring reality

AUDIO-ONLY deepfakes are especially hard to verify because, unlike photos and videos, they lack telltale signs of manipulated content.

In Slovakia, another country overshadowed by Russian influence, audio clips resembling the voice of the liberal party chief were shared widely on social media just days before parliamentary elections. The clips purportedly captured him talking about hiking beer prices and rigging the vote.

It’s understandable that voters might fall for the deception, Ajder said, because humans are “much more used to judging with our eyes than with our ears.”

In the US, robocalls impersonating US President Joe Biden urged voters in New Hampshire to abstain from voting in January’s primary election. The calls were later traced to a political consultant who said he was trying to publicize the dangers of AI deepfakes.

In poorer countries, where media literacy lags, even low-quality AI fakes can be effective. Such was the case last year in Bangladesh, where opposition lawmaker Rumeen Farhana—a vocal critic of the ruling party—was falsely depicted wearing a bikini. The viral video sparked outrage in the conservative, majority-Muslim nation.

“They trust whatever they see on Facebook,” Farhana said. Experts are particularly concerned about upcoming elections in India, the world’s largest democracy and where social media platforms are breeding grounds for disinformation.

A challenge to democracy

SOME political campaigns are using generative AI to bolster their candidate’s image.

In Indonesia, the team that ran the presidential campaign of Prabowo Subianto deployed a simple mobile app to build a deeper connection with supporters across the vast island nation. The app enabled voters to upload photos and make AI-generated images of themselves with Subianto.

As the types of AI deepfakes multiply, authorities around the world are scrambling to come up with guardrails.

The World

Plan to install new leadership in Haiti appears to crumble after political parties nix proposal

By Dánica Coto & Evens Sanon

The Associated Press

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti—A proposal to install new leadership in Haiti appeared to be crumbling Wednesday as some political parties rejected the plan to create a presidential council that would manage the transition.

The panel would be responsible for selecting an interim prime minister and a council of ministers that would attempt to chart a new path for the Caribbean country that has been overrun by gangs. The violence has closed schools and businesses and disrupted daily life across Haiti.

Jean Charles Moïse, an ex-senator and presidential candidate who has teamed up with former rebel leader Guy Philippe, held a news conference Wednesday to announce his rejection of the proposed council backed by the international community.

Moïse insisted that a three-person presidential council he recently created with Philippe and a Haitian judge should be implemented.

“We are not going to negotiate it,” he said in a loud voice as he wiped his forehead with a handkerchief. “We have to make them understand.”

His ally, Philippe, who helped lead a successful revolt in 2004 against former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and was recently released from a United States prison after pleading guilty to money laundering, said no Haitian should accept any proposal from the international community. In a video posted Tuesday on social media, Philippe accused the community of being complicit with Haiti’s elite and corrupt politicians and urged Haitians to take to the streets.

“The decision of Caricom is not our decision,” he said, referring to the regional trade bloc whose leaders presented the plan to create a transitional council. “Haitians will decide who will govern Haiti.”

Other high-profile Haitian politicians declined to participate in the proposed transitional council. Among them were Himmler Rébu, former colonel of Haiti’s army and president of the Grand Rally for the Evolution of Haiti, a party that is part of a coalition awarded a spot on the transitional council.

He said in a statement that the party prefers that a judge from Haiti’s Supreme Court assume the reins of power.

Rébu added that the party is “ashamed and angry” upon seeing “the search for positions of power that do not take into account the responsibilities attached to them.”

Meanwhile, former senator Sorel Jacinthe and young politician Jorchemy Jean Baptiste, both supporters of Prime Minister Ariel Henry and the December 21 coalition that backs him, called Radio Caraïbes separately Wednesday to argue why their choice for the transitional council was the best one.

Caribbean leaders who announced the plan for the transitional council did not respond to messages for comment.

The plan emerged late Monday following an urgent meeting involving Caribbean leaders, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and others who were searching for a solution to halt Haiti’s crisis of violence.

Hours after the meeting, Henry announced Tuesday that he would resign once the council was in place, saying that his government “cannot remain insensitive to this situation.”

Henry remains locked out of Haiti because gang attacks have shuttered the country’s airports. He is currently in Puerto Rico.

The gang attacks began February 29, when Henry was in Kenya to push for the United Nations-backed deployment of a Kenyan police force. The deployment has been temporarily suspended.

“My concern is that the longer there is a power vacuum and an effort to figure out a way forward on the political side, every day that delays resolutions, many, many people are dying,” said William O’Neill, the UN’s independent expert on human rights in Haiti.

Armed men in the capital of Port-au-Prince have set fire to police stations and stormed the country’s two biggest prisons, releasing more than 4,000 inmates. Among those who fled are gang leaders of at least seven communities, according to information given by officials who are not being quoted by name out of safety concerns.

As of March 10, gunmen attacked, looted or torched at least 30 state institutions, more than 600 homes and private businesses and nearly 500 public and private vehicles, the officials said.

Gangs also have attacked neighborhoods in a rampage that has left scores dead and more than 15,000 homeless. More than 130 people were killed between February 27 and March 8. Meanwhile, at least 40 gang members were killed between February 29 and March 10, the officials said.

“This is absolutely catastrophic,” O’Neill said. “I describe Port-au-Prince now as an open-air prison. There is no way to get out: land, air or sea. The airport is still not functioning.”

By Tuesday, the attacks were subsiding, with some businesses and banks reopening, although schools and gas stations remained closed. Public transportation restarted, and more Haitians could be seen Wednesday going about their business.

While some activity has resumed, many people are still concerned that gangs might resume their attacks.

Regional block Caricom gave the organizations that were offered positions on the council until Wednesday to submit the names of people who would represent them. As of midday Wednesday, no list had been submitted.

The nine-member council has seven positions with voting powers.

Votes were offered to Pitit Desalin, Jean-Charles’ party; EDE/RED, a party led by former Prime Minister Claude Joseph; the Montana Accord, a group of civil society leaders, political parties and others; Fanmi Lavalas, Aristide’s party; the Jan. 30 Collective, which represents parties including that of former President Michel Martelly; the December 21 Agreement, a group that backed Henry; and members of the private sector.

The remaining two nonvoting positions would go to a member from Haiti’s civil society and its religious sector.

It was not immediately clear who will be awarded a position on the council if it was rejected by certain political parties.

Coto reported from San Juan, Puerto Rico.

N. Korea’s Kim drives new-type tank during drills and calls for efforts to prepare for war

By Hyung-Jin Kim The Associated Press

SEOUL, South Korea—North Korean leader Kim Jong Un joined his troops in training to operate newly developed battle tanks as he called for bigger efforts to prepare for war, state media reported Thursday.

The North’s tank training was seen as a response to the annual 11-day South Korean-US military

drills that are to end later Thursday. The North views its rivals’ exercises a rehearsal for invasion.

TODUNG MULYA LUBIS, a prominent Indonesian lawyer who represents presidential candidate Ganjar Pranowo, gestures as he speaks during a talk in Jakarta, Indonesia on Thursday, March 14, 2024. The camps of the two presidential candidates who appear to have lost in Indonesia’s election last month said Thursday they plan to challenge the results in the Constitutional Court with allegations of widespread fraud. AP/DITA ALANGKARA

Indonesian presidential rivals plan to contest official election results with allegations of fraud

By Niniek Karmini The Associated Press

JAKARTA, Indonesia—The camps of the two Indonesian presidential candidates who appear to have lost in an election last month said Thursday they plan to challenge the official results in the Constitutional Court with allegations of widespread fraud.

Indonesians voted on February 14 for a successor to popular President Joko Widodo, who is serving his second and final term. The election is a three-way race among current Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto and two former provincial governors, Anies Baswedan and Ganjar Pranowo.

Subianto is a former general linked to past human rights abuses that had the incumbent president’s tacit backing because Widodo’s son is Subianto’s vice-presidential running mate. Subianto claimed victory on election day after unofficial tallies showed that he won the poll with nearly 60 percent of the votes.

The General Election Commission has officially tallied over 78 percent of the votes as of Thursday, with Subianto taking 58.82 percent, Baswedan 24.50 percent and Pranowo 16.68 percent. Baswedan and Pranowo have refused to

concede and alleged fraud in the election. The official vote-counting process, which is lengthy and laborious, may take up to 35 days to be completed—the maximum time regulated by the Elections Law—and the election commission is expected to announce the official winner by March 20.

“I’m now preparing a petition to go to the Constitutional Court,” said Todung Mulya Lubis, a prominent lawyer who represents Pranowo and his running mate Mohammad Mahfud. “That’s the only legal course that we have to settle the election disputes, and for that we need a lot of witnesses and experts to testify.”

Lubis said that election irregularities occurred before, during and after the polls, but noted his team has had difficulty getting witnesses to testify in court, saying they were intimidated by authorities. He acknowledged that successfully challenging the election result with such a wide margin of victory will be difficult.

“There’s no way you can prove that, so we will argue that when we talk about election disputes, we are not only talking about the outcome of the election, but we are also talking about the process of the election, prior to the election,” Lubis told foreign journalists at a news conference on Thursday.

The North’s training on Wednesday was designed to inspect tankmen’s combat capabili -

ties and involved the new-type main battle tank that Kim called “the world’s most powerful,” the

official Korean Central News Agency. During the training, heavy tanks moved around various simulated harsh combat circumstances and fired rounds at targets. Kim mounted one of the new-type tanks and drove it himself, “adding to the high militant spirit of the tankmen of our army,” KCNA said.

North Korea’s Defense Ministry earlier vowed to carry out “responsible military activities” in reaction to the ongoing South Korea-US military exercises in the South. Kim later supervised artillery firing drills.

The South Korean-US training involve a computer-simulated command post training and 48

Japanese high court ruling: Denying same-sex marriage unconstitutional

By Mari Yamaguchi The Associated Press

TOKYO—A Japanese high court ruled Thursday that denying same-sex marriage is unconstitutional and called for urgent government action to address the lack of any law allowing for such unions.

The court does not have the power to overturn the current marriage law, which has been interpreted to restrict marriage as between a man and a woman. Government offices may continue to deny marriage status to same-sex couples unless the existing law is revised to include LGBTQ+ couples, or a new law is enacted that allows for other types of unions.

The Sapporo High Court ruling said that not allowing same-sex couples to marry and enjoy the same benefits as straight couples violates their fundamental right to have a family.

A lower court issued a similar ruling earlier Thursday, becoming the sixth district court to do so. But the Tokyo District Court ruling was only a partial victory for Japan’s LGBTQ+ community calling for equal marriage rights, as it doesn’t change or overturn the current civil union law that describes marriage as between a man and a woman.

Five previous court decisions in various cities said Japan’s policy of denying same-sex marriage is either unconstitutional or nearly so. However, unlike the Sapporo ruling Friday, none of the lowlevel courts clearly deemed the Japanese government’s existing policy to reject same-sex couples unconstitutional.

Japan is the only member of the

Group of Seven nations that still excludes same-sex couples from the right to legally marry and receive spousal benefits.

Support for marriage equality has grown among the Japanese public in recent years, but the governing Liberal Democratic Party, known for its conservative family values and reluctance to promote gender equality and sexual diversity, remains opposed to the campaign.

In the Tokyo ruling, the court said the right to marry, have a family and enjoy advantages marriage brings—such as tax deductions and social security benefits—are guaranteed for everyone, and that lack of the legal right to same-sex couples deprives them of their basic right.

The Tokyo ruling also acknowledged the right for anyone to live based on their sexuality and sexual identity, and the traditional family values and marriage are changing, and equality of same-sex marriage is increasingly accepted in international and corporate communities. The court said the government’s

lack of effort to implement legal marriage equality is not unconstitutional, but expressed hope for the parliament to enact a law for same-sex marriage.

Marriage equality is now recognized in dozens of countries, not only in Western countries like Greece and the United States but also in Asia, with Nepal allowing same-sex marriage registration starting in 2023, according to the Marriage for All Japan, a civil group supporting the lawsuits.

While Japan’s conservative government has been criticized as stonewalling diversity, recent surveys show a majority of Japanese back legalizing same-sex marriage. Support among the business community has rapidly increased.

Tokyo enacted an LGBTQ+ awareness promotion law in June that critics said was watered down. The Supreme Court separately ruled that Japan’s law requiring compulsory sterilization surgery for transgender people to officially change their gender is unconstitutional.

Election disinformation takes a big leap with AI being used to deceive worldwide

Continued from A12

The European Union already requires social media platforms to cut the risk of spreading disinformation or “election manipulation.” It will mandate special labeling of AI deepfakes starting next year, too late for the EU’s parliamentary elections in June. Still, the rest of the world is a lot further behind.

The world’s biggest tech companies recently—and voluntarily—signed a pact to prevent AI tools from disrupting elections. For example, the company that

owns Instagram and Facebook has said it will start labeling deepfakes that appear on its platforms.

But deepfakes are harder to rein in on apps like the Telegram chat service, which did not sign the voluntary pact and uses encrypted chats that can be difficult to monitor.

Some experts worry that efforts to rein in AI deepfakes could have unintended consequences.

Well-meaning governments or companies might trample on the sometimes “very thin” line between political commentary

kinds of field exercises, twice the number conducted last year.

North Korea has dialed up its weapons testing activities since early 2022 in a bid to modernize and enlarge its nuclear and missile arsenals. The US and South Korea have expanded their training exercises and a trilateral drill involving Japan in response.

Experts say Kim likely wants to use his upgraded weapons arsenal to win US concessions like extensive relief of international sanctions on North Korea. They say North Korea is expected to extend its testing activities and ramp up warlike rhetoric this year as both the United States and South Korea hold major elections.

Growing inequalities and deteriorating conditions: UN warns of drifting apart in global development

Continued from A11

But instead, he warned, there is increasing division and growing frustration and polarization.

He said a significant response has been the emergence of populism, which is anti-elite and hostile to international cooperation. He said that “is increasingly dividing societies, radicalizing the political discourse, and essentially turning more and more people against each other.”

The report says advancing global collective action to tackle the world’s major challenges is hindered by an emerging “democracy paradox”—90 percent of people worldwide endorse democracy but for the first time over half the respondents in a global survey expressed support for leaders that risk undermining the foundations of democracy.

Territorial conflicts will continue to crop up, but the threats to human security in the 21st century will more often require being able to collaborate, Steiner said.

“We are driving ourselves deeper and deeper into a condition where our ability to solve problems is actually being compromised,” he said. “You will not stop climate change with missiles. You will not stop the next pandemic at your border with a tank, and you’re certainly not going to stop cybercrime with missiles.”

Steiner said it is important to dial down the temperature, misperceptions and misinformation “because they’re actually being weaponized in turning people against each other.”

He said there also has to be a very careful look “at where inequality has become so extreme that it actually erodes the political willingness to cooperate.”

The report calls for more spending on global public goods that benefit all people, including stabilizing climate and the planet, to harness new technologies to improve human development, and to improve the global financial system to benefit lowincome countries.

to disenfranchise voters. And software isn’t the only threat. Candidates could try to deceive voters by claiming that real events portraying them in an unfavorable light were manufactured by AI.

and an “illegitimate attempt to smear a candidate,” said Tim Harper, a senior policy analyst at the Center for Democracy and Technology in Washington.

Major generative AI services have rules to limit political disinformation. But experts say it remains too easy to outwit the platforms’ restrictions or use alternative services that don’t have the same safeguards.

Even without bad intentions, the rising use of AI is problematic. Many popular AIpowered chatbots are still spitting out false and misleading information that threatens

“A world in which everything is suspect—and so everyone gets to choose what they believe—is also a world that’s really challenging for a flourishing democracy,” said Lisa Reppell, a researcher at the International Foundation for Electoral Systems in Arlington, Virginia.

Swenson reported from New York. Associated Press writers Julhas Alam in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Krutika Pathi in New Delhi, Huizhong Wu in Bangkok, Edna Tarigan in Jakarta, Indonesia, Dake Kang in Beijing, and Stephen McGrath in Bucharest, Romania, contributed to this report.

PLAINTIFFS and others hold a banner in front of Sapporo Hight Court in Sapporo, Hokkaido, northern Japan on Thursday, March 14, 2024. The banner reads: “Unconstitutional judgement by high court, too. Marriage Equality Now.” The Sapporo High Court ruling said that not allowing same-sex couples to marry and enjoy the same benefits as straight couples violates their fundamental right to have a family. KYODO NEWS VIA AP

The World

www.businessmirror.com.ph Friday, March 15, 2024 A15

Report says Yemen’s Houthis have a hypersonic missile, possibly raising stakes in Red Sea crisis

By Jon Gambrell

The Associated Press

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates—Yemen’s Houthi rebels claim to have a new, hypersonic missile in their arsenal, Russia’s state media reported Thursday, potentially raising the stakes in their ongoing attacks on shipping in the Red Sea and surrounding waterways against the backdrop of Israel’s war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

The report by the state-run RIA Novosti news agency cited an unnamed official but provided no evidence for the claim. It comes as Moscow maintains an aggressively counter-Western foreign policy amid its grinding war on Ukraine.

However, the Houthis have for weeks hinted about “surprises” they plan for the battles at sea to counter the United States and its allies, which have so far been able to down any missile or bomb-carrying drone that comes near their warships in Mideast waters.

The Houthis’ main benefactor, Iran, claims to have a hypersonic missile and has widely armed the rebels with the missiles they now use. Adding a hypersonic missile to their arsenal could pose a more-formidable challenge to the air defense systems employed by America and its allies, including Israel.

“The group’s missile forces have successfully tested a missile that is capable of reaching speeds of up to Mach 8 and runs on solid fuel,” a military official close to the Houthis said, according to the RIA report. The Houthis “intend to begin manufacturing it for use during attacks in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, as well as against targets in Israel.”

Mach 8 is eight times the speed of sound.

Russia has maintained close ties with Iran, relying on Iranian bomb-carrying drones to target Ukraine. Russian state media, particularly its Arabiclanguage services, have closely reported on Yemen’s yearslong civil war that pits the Iranbacked Houthis against forces of the internationally backed Yemeni government, supported by a Saudi-led coalition.

Hypersonic weapons, which fly at speeds higher than Mach 5, could pose crucial challenges to missile defense systems because of their

speed and maneuverability.

The danger from a hypersonic missile depends on how maneuverable it is. Ballistic missiles fly on a trajectory in which anti-missile systems like the US-made Patriot can anticipate their path and intercept them. The more irregular the missile’s flight path, such as a hypersonic missile with the ability to change directions, the more difficult it becomes to intercept.

China is believed to be pursuing the weapons, as is America. Russia claims it has already used them on the battlefield in Ukraine. However, speed and maneuverability isn’t a guarantee the missile will successfully strike a target. Ukraine’s air force in May said it shot down a Russian hypersonic Kinzhal missile with a Patriot battery.

In Yemen, Abdul Malik alHouthi, the Houthi rebels’ secretive supreme leader, boasted about the rebels’ weapons efforts at the end of February.

“We have surprises that the enemies do not expect at all,” he warned at the time.

A week ago, he similarly warned: “What is coming is greater.”

“The enemy ... will see the level of achievements of strategic importance that place our country in its capabilities among the limited and numbered countries in this world,” al-Houthi said, without elaborating.

After seizing Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, in 2014, the Houthis ransacked government arsenals, which held Soviet-era Scud missiles and other arms.

As the Saudi-led coalition entered Yemen’s conflict in 2015, the Houthis arsenal was increasingly targeted. Soon— and despite Yemen having no indigenous missile manufacturing infrastructure—newer missiles made their way into rebel hands.

Iran long has denied arming the Houthis, likely because of a yearslong United Nations arms embargo on the rebels. However, the US and its allies have seized multiple arms shipments bound for the rebels in Mideast waters. Weapons experts as well have tied Houthi arms seized on the battlefield back to Iran.

Iran also now claims to have a hypersonic weapon. In June, Iran unveiled its Fattah, or “Conqueror” in Farsi, missile, which it described as being a hypersonic. It described another as being in

Key Samsung shareholder vote to test South Korea’s commitment to reforms

ABy Youkyung Lee

of

is the largest investor in Korea’s

and

of a 7%

in Samsung C&T. “If there’s a high proportion of that minority, that will be a really strong signal of dissatisfaction by the minority investors on the current path of the company,” said James Smith, chief investment officer of Palliser Capital UK Ltd. “If there’s a change in terms of value up at Samsung, it sets a really great precedent for other companies.”

Palliser, which has a 0.62% stake in Samsung C&T, estimates corporate reforms in the company may unlock as much as $25 billion in value.

development.

Iran’s mission to the U.N. did not respond to a request for comment Thursday, nor did the US Navy’s Bahrain-based 5th Fleet, which patrols Mideast waterways.

Israel’s military—which also has come under Houthi fire since the war against Hamas erupted on Oct. 7 when Hamasled militants attacked Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking 250 others hostage—similarly did not respond to a request for comment.

The Houthis have attacked ships since November, saying they want to force Israel to end the war in Gaza, which has seen over 31,000 Palestinians killed in the besieged strip. The ships attacked, however, have increasingly had little or no connection to Israel, the US or other nations involved in the war.

But the assaults have raised the profile of the Houthis, whose Zaydi people ruled a 1,000-year kingdom in Yemen up until 1962. Adding a new weapon increases that cachet and puts more pressure on Israel after a cease-fire deal failed to take hold in Gaza before the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Earlier in March, a Houthi missile struck a commercial ship in the Gulf of Aden, killing three of its crewmembers and forcing survivors to abandon the vessel. It marked their first fatal attack by the Houthis on shipping.

Other recent Houthi actions include an attack last month on a cargo ship carrying fertilizer, the Rubymar, which later sank after drifting for several days, and the downing of an American drone worth tens of millions of dollars.

Fabian Hinz, a missile expert and research fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, said he wouldn’t be surprised if Iran transferred a new, hypersonic weapon to the Houthis. However, the question is how maneuverable such a weapon would be at hypersonic speeds and whether it could hit moving targets, like ships in the Red Sea.

“I wouldn’t exclude the possibility that the Houthis have some system that has some maneuvering capability to some extent,” Hinz said. “It is also possible for the Iranians to transfer new stuff for the Houthis to test it.”

Korea discount

LAST month, the company urged shareholders to vote against the activist investors’ request for a payout of 4,500 won per common share and for 500 billion won ($380 million) of share buybacks, saying that would pose a “burden on the management.” The demands would also limit the company’s ability to secure investment resources for long-term growth, Samsung C&T added.

The company is the largest shareholder of Samsung Biologics Co. and a key stakeholder of Samsung Electronics, Asia’s biggest electronics firm. But its shares have lagged the surge in its main assets.

The combined market value of Samsung C&T’s stake in five listed group entities has increased by 14 trillion won since early 2018 while its market value fell by more than 3 trillion won during that period, ISS said.

“It’s a company that is the typical case of Korea Discount,” said Cha SoYoon, a fund manager at BNK Asset Management Co. in Seoul. “While Samsung Biologics and Samsung Electronics shares jumped several fold, Samsung C&T hasn’t gained much.” With assistance from Yoolim Lee/Bloomberg

Security concern: Foreign nationals posing as Filipinos

The recent revelation that some unscrupulous foreign nationals are posing as Filipinos by using legitimate governmentissued documents, such as Philippine passports, is a matter of grave concern. This alarming scheme, which involves the illegal acquisition of passports and other identification cards, should be treated as a national security concern that requires the immediate attention and collaboration of all relevant government agencies. (Read the BusinessMirror story: “Foreigners with legitimate PHL passports, government-issued IDs ‘national security concern,’” March 8, 2024).

The Bureau of Immigration (BI) has rightly sounded the alarm, emphasizing the need for a whole-of-government approach in addressing this issue. BI Spokesperson Dana Sandoval aptly highlighted the urgency of the situation, stressing that the involvement of multiple government agencies is essential to effectively combat this threat. It is imperative that the BI, along with the Philippine Statistics Authority and other concerned agencies, work together to identify and apprehend individuals involved in this fraudulent activity.

The revelation of this scheme came to light during an investigation by the House Committee on Public Order, which exposed the importation of a significant amount of illegal drugs. The discovery that Chinese nationals were posing as Filipinos by illegally obtaining passports and identification cards raises serious questions about the effectiveness of the system in place to verify the authenticity of these documents.

The government’s prompt and decisive action to enhance the procedures surrounding the issuance of government-issued identification is of utmost importance. It is imperative to guarantee their robustness and imperviousness to tampering.

The BI’s commitment to cooperate and provide information on previous interceptions and related data is commendable. Transparency and collaboration are essential in conducting a thorough investigation and implementing strong measures to prevent the recurrence of such incidents. Additionally, the BI’s commitment to enforcing strict immigration formalities for arriving and departing foreigners, as well as monitoring the activities of aliens residing in the country, demonstrates their determination to comprehensively address this issue.

Citizens can also play a vital role in combating this fraudulent activity. The encouragement from the BI for concerned citizens to report any illegal aliens abusing Philippine documents is a step in the right direction. Public vigilance and cooperation can help law enforcement agencies in identifying and apprehending individuals involved in this deceptive scheme.

In light of these developments, it would do well for our legislators to take decisive action by crafting laws that impose heavy fines and imprisonment for foreign nationals found in possession of Philippine passports and other legitimate documents that were spuriously obtained. Such legislation would serve as a strong deterrent and send a clear message that the Philippines will not tolerate any attempt to compromise its national security.

Moreover, it is crucial for the government to invest in technology and systems that enhance the security features of government-issued documents. Employing advanced verification methods, such as biometric technology, can significantly reduce the risk of fraudulent acquisition and misuse of these important identification documents.

Addressing the issue of foreign nationals posing as Filipinos is not only a matter of national security but also a matter of safeguarding the integrity of our government institutions. It is incumbent upon all concerned government agencies, legislators, and citizens to work together to combat this deceptive scheme. By doing so, we can protect our nation, preserve the integrity of our identification systems, and ensure the safety and wellbeing of our people.

Unleashing the full potential of tourism as a driver of growth

SM. angara

Better Days

ince the economy opened up after the covid-19 pandemic, tourism has been a key contributor to the growth of the Philippine economy. Based on official data from the Philippine Statistics Authority, tourism made up 6.2 percent of the economy as measured by gross domestic product. The tourism sector is also an important player when it comes to providing jobs for our people. According to the Department of Tourism (DOT), the tourism sector employs 5.35 million Filipinos or about 11.4 percent of the total employment in the country. That means that more than one in every 10 Filipinos are working in the tourism sector.

For the first two months of 2024, the DOT recorded a total of 1.2 million foreign visitors to the country. As of March 5, the DOT reported a total of 1,227,815 international tourist arrivals. For the entire year, the country targets to generate 7.7 million arrivals. If realized, this would surpass the 2023 total of 5.45 million tourist arrivals. Comparing the data from the first two months of 2024 to the same period in 2023, it was up by only 22.86 percent from the 999,390 arrivals recorded.

Looking at the data on a per month basis using January as a baseline, we will see that we still have ways to go in reaching the numbers before the pandemic. In January of 2024, a total of 574,439 international tourists visited the Philippines. This represented a jump of 110,271 tour-

ists over the same period in 2023. If we go back to January of 2020 or just before the Covid-19 pandemic put to a grinding halt all economic activities globally, the current year’s tally pales in comparison to the 782,132 posted at the time. What this shows us is that there is still a huge potential for growth for our tourism sector. One particular area that could jumpstart the growth of the sector is the diving industry. Speaking at the Philippine International Dive Expo (PHIDEX), Tourism Secretary Christina Frasco noted that the diving industry contributed P73 billion to the economy in 2023, which was almost two times the 2022 figure of P37 billion. This does not come as a surprise considering that the Philippines was awarded as Asia’s leading dive destination for

a fifth consecutive year in 2023 by the World Travel Awards. The award was based on public votes and validation from the group’s panel of travel professionals.

The Philippines is among the 17 mega biodiverse countries in the world, with more than 20,000 species of plants and animals that are not found anywhere else in the world. We have 2.2 million square kilometers of natural resources. Over 500 species of corals and 2,000 species of fish reside in our waters. This places us in a very strong position as a premier destination for divers.

We have a lot of already popular diving spots known to both domestic and international divers. These include the waters off Cebu, Palawan, Puerto Galera and even the Tubbataha Reef. There are a lot of lesser known diving spots that are slowly introducing themselves to the world. My home province of Aurora, for one, is making its mark as a diving destination. Baler has long been known as a leading destination for surfers. In fact, Baler has been declared as the birthplace of Philippine surfing by virtue of Republic Act 11957, which lapsed into law in August 2023. Now, Aurora is positioning itself as a destination for freediving. Growing in popularity, freediving is evolving from a way of life for local fisherfolk to a hobby for casual divers and a competitive sport for professionals.

In his speech before the 2024 PHIDEX, which was read by Secretary Frasco, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. emphasized the strengthening of

collaboration between local and international stakeholders. The President was optimistic that the growth of the diving industry will be further boosted by programs such as the Dive Travel Exchange Business-toBusiness meetings. Infrastructure also plays an important part in bringing in more tourists to the country. It is worth noting that the current administration has recognized this with its Build Better More program. We need more airports with modern facilities and higher capacities, better transportation for greater mobility and health facilities at the tourist destinations that can provide services that are required for different types of emergencies. We hope to see the completion of the rehabilitation and expansion of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport and Clark International Airport terminals and the development of new facilities such as the soon-to-be completed Bulacan airport. Increasing the capacity of our airports is crucial if we are to compete with our Asean neighbors in bringing in more tourists. There is still a lot of room for growth in the industry and with the appropriate interventions, tourism could become a key driver of growth for the Philippines in the years to come.

Senator Sonny Angara has been in public service for 19 years—9 years as Representative of the Lone District of Aurora, and 10 as Senator. He has authored, co-authored, and sponsored more than 330 laws. He is currently serving his second term in the Senate.   E-mail: sensonnyangara@yahoo.com| Facebook, Twitter & Instagram: @sonnyangara

Educational liberalization, innovation, and economic growth

iDr. Leonardo a. Lanzona Jr.

n last week’s congressional hearings on constitutional provisions on education, proponents against amendments argued that opening our schools to foreigners would make our schools vulnerable to foreign control and, in the process, compromise our nationalistic values. The association between liberalization and the lack of patriotism and vulnerability has perennially blocked progress in this country, as this has led invariably to protectionism and inefficiency.

In other Asian countries, policymakers paid more attention to research, prompted by government incentives. The higher education and technical vocational training sectors in these countries could collaborate with the industrial sector to assimilate the transferred foreign technology and make the adaptations necessary for foreign technology to fit within the local technical, economic, and social context. Some alliances between industry and leading research universities were also capable of leading to

deeper assimilation and diffusion of foreign technology through reverse engineering and R&D to change the transferred foreign technology. Thus, the liberalized education sectors in these countries were able to attract foreign investments and, consequently, improve economic growth. Innovation is recognized as a necessary factor of industrialization and growth in developing countries but is costly, risky, and path-dependent. Even now, ground-breaking innovation is highly concentrated in a few rich

countries, linked with specific forms of university science and research ability, and among a small number of firms. Therefore, external sources of technology account for a large part of productivity growth in most developing countries.

If foreign technologies were easy to diffuse and adopt, a country with meager technological ability could follow a catch-up strategy to access and more rapidly deploy the most advanced technologies. Currently, this positive association between innovation and growth is one emerging consensus, ranging from the broad diffusion and effects of mobile technologies to associated value-adding financial and health services.

The literature has provided significant evidence of international technological spillover effects from developed countries to Asian countries. Lowerincome countries can receive support from the innovations that originate from the developed countries, but the benefits can be reached only if these countries simultaneously interact with developed countries through trade and lift the restrictions in education to generate domestic technological capabilities. Many studies have shown that the

best investment in innovation does not depend on economic conditions, but on disincentives and non-economic restrictions that prevent countries from having the ability to take advantage of the current technology. In the Philippine case, this lack of ability originates from the constitutional restriction of allowing more foreign participation. By allowing more foreign participation in terms of investment and labor, the country is expected to experience the following. First, greater efficiency in the production of quality education will be achieved, as less-qualified educators and lower-standard institutions will be weeded out by the competition process. Along with adequate regulation, the lower quality inputs from abroad will presumably not be allowed to enter the country.

Second, given equal access to these schools, graduates from this system will best be able to manage the changes in the labor market, since education quality and innovation create greater employment opportunities. Empirical evidence suggests that innovation tends to create rather than destroy jobs for highly skilled workers.

Third, education policy reforms

sonny

Anna Sorokin–the unrepentant con artist

ELizabETh hoLm ES, melissa Caddick, Elizabeth bigley and other scammers may have conned corporations and people out of millions, but a nna Sorokin, who operated under the alias a nna Delvey, stands out because of her audacious schemes, fabricated persona and lack of remorse for her web of lies.

While the amount of Anna’s fraud may not have reached $500,000, she targeted friends and acquaintances and relished the fact that they fell prey to her manipulation.

One can watch Anna’s interview with Liam Bartlett on 60 Minutes Australia two years ago to witness her brazen and wanton deceit. Even Bartlett, a seasoned journalist, said he found it disconcerting that such a young woman could be so devoid of guilt for the crimes she committed.

When asked by Bartlett, “How can you have a clear conscience?” Sorokin replied with a smile, saying, “how could I not? I just don’t feel guilty and that’s it. There’s not much to explain.”

Anna was born in 1991 in Russia to Vadim Sorokin, a truck driver and a housewife mother (whose name is unknown). The family moved to Germany when Anna was 16, where the future scammer struggled with the German language.

At the age of 22, she travelled to New York to work for Purple, a fashion magazine, in 2013. Here, she began her rather simple con—she adopted the name Anna Delvey and pretended to be a German heiress about to inherit $60 million from her father.

Anna was exceptional with her pretenses and had a particular level of confidence in her pack of lies, including an aristocratic background and a forthcoming multi-million inheritance. In public, she portrayed an image of someone flush with money, giving $100 tips to servers and hotel staff, staying in hotels, eating in fancy restaurants and donning designer clothes.

Such deception allowed her to penetrate New York high society events and get to hob nob with the who’s who in the city’s fashion and art sets. Anna scammed friends and acquaintances— making them pay for meals, plane fares and hotel accommodations with the promise that she would pay them after—promises she never fulfilled. Asked what she thought about the people she scammed in New York, her reply was, “Yeah, it’s like they did not strike me as too smart or talented.”

To sustain her lavish lifestyle, Anna forged documents, issued fraudulent checks and produced sham wire trans -

Eagle Watch . . .

continued from A16

with liberalization can consider a series of complex interactions between process and product innovation, between mature sectors and new sectors, between job creation and job destruction, and between reputable processes and untrustworthy schools or training centers. In many Asian countries, education reforms were implemented alongside educational liberalization. While increasing foreign participation is difficult to isolate from the rest of the other education reforms, it is part of the modernization program of these more developed countries.

For instance, Thailand and Vietnam have implemented educational liberalization reforms with substantial regulation. Liberalization has been used in Thailand in its effort to decentralize its education system, giving more authority to schools and local communities. Vietnam has made efforts to modernize its education system, focusing on curriculum up -

Ormoc in my mind, by the bay

Sfer confirmations to banks and individuals that granted her loans without collateral to the tune of $275,000. Small potatoes, some might say, compared to the multi-million scams of other white-collar crooks—but Anna’s audacity and boldness are unparalleled. Her scam blew up in the media, and she was exposed as nothing but a charlatan in designer clothes (as most con artists tend to be). She was arrested in 2017 at the age of 26, and in 2019, she was found guilty of grand larceny and theft, serving almost four years in prison.

When she was released in 2021, she remained unfazed and impervious to the media’s descriptions of her as a convicted felon, hustler, fraudster, barracuda, con artist, swindler and scammer.

Asked by Bartlett about her crimes, Anna said, “I don’t see this case as a crime at all. How about that? What was so criminal that I’ve done?”

In that “60 Minutes” interview after her release from prison, you could see Anna’s sociopathy in living color. She found it amusing and laughable that Bartlett felt disconcerted about her unrepentant behavior and total lack of guilt and remorse.

Anna ridiculed her victims’ stupidity, showed a perverse satisfaction in the scams she pulled off and seemed to relish the fact that she was able to defraud banks and investment groups to boot. She had this to say about her victims: “I just asked them, and they either said yes or no.”

While she said she was sorry for her wrong decisions in an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper, she didn’t apologize to her victims who lent her money because she said her credit card was not working or she left her wallet at home.

Like most fraudsters, Anna was so convincing about her lies and confident about her tricks to dupe people of money. Cunning swindlers like Anna should be exposed for what they are, instead of being glamorized by the media, as they have the capacity to ruin lives and destroy people’s trust.

Anna’s story serves as a cautionary reminder that we should be wary of people who flaunt elegance or noble backgrounds to gain our trust and money.

dates, teacher training, and increased flexibility to adapt to changing needs. While education progress may be influenced by various factors in each country, the role of liberalization is undeniable.

Finally, many consider protecting basic education from this process. Nevertheless, the reasons for liberalizing basic education are the same as in higher education: adaptability and responsiveness to diverse learning needs; innovation in teaching methods curriculum development, and educational resources; and competition among schools. More importantly, if we are to liberalize higher and technical education, basic education must provide the capable students who can transition from foundational to further learning. The trifocalization of education in this case can lead to skill exclusion, as only the higher-income students may have more access to higher learning. To avoid this form of discrimination, one must liberalize all levels.

Dr. Leonardo A. Lanzona Jr. is Professor of Economics at the Ateneo de Manila University.

Tito Genova Valiente annoTaTions

amar and Leyte were songs first before they became islands of destiny from our home in Ticao, in masbate. These melodies filled our afternoons and early evenings. They were about distant mountains and bird-tricksters who sang the naughtiest of meanings, early lessons for a little boy about the kind of humor that the old men and women loved to hear as they drank tuba and “Shoktong” (a herbal wine originally named “siok hoc tong”).

If there were stories to be told, these came across the sea from the towns of Samar and Leyte, and not from Bikol peninsula. Those lands were our affinity. They taught us the culture of the land. And also the histories—from the Pulajanes to the cult figures of the turn of the century.

To my grandmother’s dulcet voice, we listened to a character named Mano Palabyo (such a name!) He was an itinerant vendor who sold expensive food (“na mahal magbaligya/adobo, sitsaron/kaupud an mantika”).

Imagine that delicacy: pork cooked with its fat intact. That food was eaten with a young eggplant (“pinapadisan pa sin luyak na tarong”). But then Mano Palabyo’s food was not cheap. The reason being was that Mano Palabyo sourced his food from distant places—“bukid ikapito” (the seventh mountain) and it took him three boats (“ginsakay tulo ka baroto”) to carry his merchandise.

The song was complex and complicated. As our grandmother sang, she would have different versions of the same song. At certain points, she would sing of Mano Palabyo and a certain Inday. But there were also moments when our grandmother would shift her narrative to a naughty bird, a parrot na “waray batasan” or ill-mannered bird.

Somewhere along the way, Mano Palabyo vanished and, in his place, the naughty bird took center stage, causing a ruckus and making one’s childhood not only fantastic but irremediably unforgettable.

There were those old photographs

of grand-aunts and grand-uncles in some places in Samar and Leyte. The sepia images were blurred with the passage of time but the dedications written in flowing cursive handwritings told of places that seemed immoveable. Tacloban held great moments for these relatives. What were they doing there in those times when geographical mobility was not aided by viable means of transportation?

What love did those places now keep in albums held for some kin?

Being in Ormoc was going back to those old photographs. Remembering became framed: A great-aunt is seen squinting in one, the sun is harsh, and her dress blended with the whitewashed bench of a plaza. Two young men stand, their Americana cerrada unblemished like their gentlemanly ways, romance in the offing perhaps, or even a a double heartbreak from a lovely Leyteña? In another photograph—in fact, a series—“Palo, Leyte” is seen written below the grand posture of a woman we identify as our granduncle’s future wife. And so last week, on the way to

Ormoc, passing by the town of Palo was passing through remembering. Where did she stand here?

The hills rushed past us as we drove through towns that came from those old cameras.

The last time I was in Ormoc was many years ago. My brother, Carlo, who is now in London, worked for years in this place. He only had pleasant memories of hardworking, fun-loving health workers. I had my own favorite stories about them, how they would carry boxes of medicine —these nurses and midwives—up to the mountains. They would leave each box on their way up, their loads unburdened, as they trudged up to those communities needing their help. As they came down, they would work their way through the cluster of families that, by this time, had already received their supplies for that week.

That night, I met these health workers. There was a barayle, a dance party, and they had, according to my

in slippers. Where are the dance instructors, I was excited to know. Whoa, when the dinner was nearly over, the Latin beat soared above the din of laughter and loud conversation, the two lechoneros freshened up a bit and transformed themselves into gallant dance partners! The men did not matter that evening, only the music and the friendship and the wild, wild laughter of these brave women did. Like this city of Ormoc. In other towns and in other histories, ruins would have been celebrated but here in this clean and green place, there are the lands of majestic memories, of battles fought in the bay as narratives alive. The place lives on in its recalling of a past, not ruinous but reigning side by side with what the sites have become—active repositories of storytelling.

Like the Tulay de Perdon. There is another historical bridge near the sea, behind the old city hall, and it properly bears the name “Puente de la Reina.” But in this humble, almost forgotten bridge, the Spanish label is banished and the more common “tulay” is celebrated. As the tale goes, here on this bridge, when the funeral procession passes by, the bearers of the bier confess a lightening of their load, a sign that the sins of the deceased have been pardoned.

brother, DIs or dance instructors. They would dance the night away after a long day of work. But before the dance there was a lechon, on the table, being ministered by two young men, one in sleeveless shirt, the other

Compensability of seafarer’s pre-existing

On that bridge last Monday, I promised to go back, and bring all my sad memories next time. Let us see what this Bridge of Forgiveness can do, what of the past can be pardoned and what will never be absolved. If not, we can always ask Ormoc to build another bridge for remembering things and forgiving oneself forever.

E-mail: titovaliente@yahoo.com

illness if aggravated by working environment

PDennis Gorecho

Pinoy Marino Rights

r E-ExiSTing illness may be compensable if aggravated by the seafarer’s work. Thus ruled the Supreme Court in the case of seafarer Christopher Calera vs hoegh Fleet Services Phil. (g r no. 250584, June 14, 2021) who was declared as totally and permanently disabled due to a back injury.

Before actual boarding of the vessel, the seafarer slipped in the bathroom of the hotel and suffered injury. Upon embarkation, he immediately reported the incident, as well as the excruciating pain and recurring numbness he had been experiencing on his lower back and extremity after said incident. He requested for pain reliever but was not given any. And instead of showing compassion, his superiors ordered him to immediately get to work, making him carry heavy baggage and cans of grease. Due to continuous pain, he was medically repatriated a month after embarkation. The company denied liability arguing that he was claiming compensation for an illness—lumbar disc disease, different from that for which he was repatriated—perianal abscess.

The Court ruled in favor of the seafarer noting that he was already suffering from mechanical lumbago and perianal abscess upon embarkation. Circumstances show that

the injury suffered at the hotel that would have otherwise been not compensable was aggravated by his work on board the vessel.

The Court stressed that the injury was work-related or more specifically, work-aggravated due to the strenuous work on the first day and lack of medical attention, the seafarer’s condition worsened, and he even had difficulty getting out of bed the next day.

The POEA standard employment contract (SEC) defines work-related injury as one “arising out of and in the course of employment.”

Compensable illness or injury cannot be confined to the strict interpretation of the POEA-SEC as pre-existing conditions may be compensable if aggravated by the seafarer’s work.

His duties and responsibilities involved carrying heavy loads and the performance of other strenuous activities such that it can reasonably be concluded that his work caused or at least aggravated his illness.

It is of no moment that he suf-

fered the injury at the hotel for it is not necessary that the nature of the employment be the sole and only reason for the illness or injury suffered by the seafarer.

It is not required that the employment be the sole factor in the growth, development, or acceleration of the illness to entitle the claimant to the benefits incident thereto.

Regardless if the illness is listed or not as occupational diseases, it is enough that the employment had contributed, even in a small measure, to the development of the disease.

In Magsaysay v. Laurel (March 20, 2013 GR 195518), the seafarer’s constant exposure to hazards such as chemicals and the varying temperature, coupled by stressful tasks in his employment caused the aggravation of a seafarer’s medical condition.

In Seagull Shipmgt. v. NLRC (388 Phil. 906), the seafarer had served the contract for a significantly long amount of time  and his work exposed him to different climates and unpredictable weather, which could trigger a heart attack or heart failure. His employment had contributed, even to a small degree, to the development and exacerbation of his disease.

In Calvero v. E.C.C., (117 SCRA 452), the Court stressed that the exact cause of the ailment suffered is not significant, and the possibility that factors other than the employment, such as advancing age, may have caused or contributed to the development of the ailment, is not a drawback; for what is material and decisive is that the employment contributed even in a small degree in

aggravating the ailment. In Corcoro, Jr. v. Magsaysay MOL Marine Inc. (GR 226779, August 24, 2020), the Court said that while the seafarer has a preexisting illness, such does not prove that his working condition did not aggravate the illness. When it is shown that the seafarer’s work that required physical labor wherein he performed a wide variety of responsibilities, may have contributed to the establishment or, at the very least, aggravation of any pre-existing disease, the condition/ illness suffered by the seafarer shall be compensable.

In Nisda v. Sea Serve Maritime Agency (GR 179177, 23 July 2009), once an illness is shown to have supervened in the course of employment, there arises a rebuttable presumption in law that illness arose out of, or at least was aggravated by, such employment.

In Castor-Garupa v. ECC (GR 158268, April 12, 2006), the degree of proof required to validate work connection is merely substantial evidence, that is, such relevant evidence as a reasonable mind might accept as adequate to support a conclusion. What the law requires is a reasonable work-connection and not direct causal relation. It is enough that the hypothesis on which the workman’s claim is based is probable. Probability, not the ultimate degree of certainty, is the test of proof in compensation proceedings.

Atty. Dennis R. Gorecho heads the Seafarers’ Division of the Sapalo Velez Bundang Bulilan Law Offices. For comments, e-mail info@sapalovelez. com, or call 0917-5025808 or 0908-8665786.

DMW GIVES PINOY SEAFARERS

TO SKIP RISKY ZONES

By Samuel P. Medenilla @sam_medenilla

THE Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) is now crafting a new mechanism to ensure Filipino seafarers can exercise their right to refuse to sail in “highrisk” areas (HRA).

“We are currently working on an additional mechanism on how to intensify [the exercise of the right to refuse in] these situations and to prevent the loss and injury of our seafarers,” DMW Undersecretary Bernard P. Olalia said in a television interview on Thursday.

He said they want to ensure seafarers will be able to exercise the right, which will be considered a voluntary pretermination of  their employment contract, at any time, while they are sailing.

The DMW official made the remark following the death of two of the 15 Filipino crew of the merchant vessel (MV) True Confidence, when it was hit by a missile attack from Houthi rebels, while passing the Gulf of Aden last week.

Three other Filipino crew of True Confidence were injured, while the remaining

11 Filipino sailors were unharmed. All of them have been repatriated.

Under DMW protocols, Filipino sailors onboard ships passing HRAs have the right to refuse sailing.

Those who will invoke such right will be repatriated at company’s cost and given compensation equal to two months’ basic wage as well as bonus equal to basic wage, payable for 5 days minimum plus per day if longer.

They will also receive double compensation for death and disability and mandatory requirement to increase security arrangements equivalent to International Ship and Port Facility Security Level 3.

Olalia said they will make sure the Filipino crew of True Confidence or their families will be able to get the said entitlements.

“We are preparing all the necessary documentation so we can help them get all of their entitlements,” he said.

He said this will be on top of the help they will provide to the beneficiaries including psychosocial services, financial aid and medical assistance.

Controversial resort within Chocolate Hills now closed

By Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo @akosistellaBM Special

THE controversial resort nestled amid Chocolate Hills in Bohol is now closed.

On its Facebook page, Captain’s Peak Garden and Resort announced: “To our valued guests. This is to inform you that our resort is temporarily closed until further notice. Sorry for the inconvenience.”

The closure was likely due to the revocation of its business permit, which the Sagbayan municipal government said it would do, after a video of a vlogger’s visit to the resort went viral. (https://tinyurl. com/4hjnz6ft)

The Department of Tourism (DOT) said the resort, owned by former seaman Edgar Buton, was not accredited with the agency, a requirement before local goverment units (LGUs) issue permits to primary tourism enterprises (PTEs) since 2017.

Senator Cynthia Villar, chair of the chamber’s Committee on Environment and Natural Resources, heeded the call of Senator Nancy Binay to investigate the controversy over the resort.

Not DOT-accredited

THIS developed as the municipal government of Sagbayan, the town where Captain’s Peak is built, has cancelled the resort’s business permit, which was issued on January 9, 2024, according to a report by ABS-CBN News. The resort was constructed in 2018 and has been receiving guests via Facebook since March 2018.

Speaking on ANC on Thursday, Sagbayan Executive Secretary Felito Pon said, “We now have the order [to revoke the business permit]. We will serve it today to cease and desist all its operations and ongoing construction.” Chocolate Hills is on the tentative list of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization’s

(Unesco) World Heritage Sites.

In a news statement, the DOT said Captain’s Peak Resort “is not an accredited tourism establishment....and there is no pending application for accreditation for the same.” It added that its regional office in Central Visayas, has been coordinating with the Bohol provincial government “since August 2023 to express its concerns regarding this matter, especially recognizing the necessity of preserving the integrity of this natural resource.”

Nancy to DENR: We deserve an explanation!

IN an advisory dated August 26, 2022, the DILG reiterated its Memorandum Circular 2019-17, which states that LGUs have to ensure that all PTEs have complied with and have obtained DOT accreditation before operations. “Tourism enterprises [which] fail to act on their deficiencies within a reasonable period may face closure,” said DILG Secretary Benhur Abalos then.

For her part, Villar said on Thursday, her committee “will be filing a resolution to find out how this came about.” On Wednesday, Senator Nancy Binay filed PS Resolution No. 967 directing the proper Senate Committees to conduct an inquiry, in aid of legislation, on the reported construction of the structures within the vicinity of the major tourism destination.

“It’s infuriating and heartcrushing to see resorts constructed at the foot of Chocolate Hills. At

first glance, we already know there is something wrong,” said Binay in Filipino. The hills were declared a National Cultural Monument on June 18, 1988, and is also recognized by Unesco as the Philippines’ first global geopark.

“We want the DENR [Department of Environment and Natural Resources], PAMB [Protected Area Management Board], BEMO (Bohol Environmental Management Office), PENRO [Provincial Environment and Natural Resources] and the LGUs to explain why even with Chocolate Hills’ protected status, construction permits continue to be granted,” she added.

No ECC—DENR

THE lawmaker noted that PAMB “favorably endorsed” the proposal to develop Captain’s Peak Resort in 2022 and 2023.

In a news statement, DENR said Captain’s Peak Resort should have been temporarily closed last September after it was found operating without an environmental clearance certificate (ECC). The viral video was posted on Facebook on March 6, 2023 by vlogger Ren the Adventurer, and shows a massive swimming pool surrounded by cottages and pool slides, at the foot of Chocolate Hills.

DENR said it “issued a Temporary Closure Order last September 6, 2023, and a Notice of Violation to the project proponent [of the resort] last January 22, 2024 for operating without an ECC.”

HBy Cai U. Ordinario @caiordinario

IGHER temperatures brought by climate change will significantly reduce the country’s GDP growth, according to the latest discussion paper released by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

In the paper titled, “Macroeconomic effects of temperature shocks in the Philippines: Evidence from impulse responses by local projections,” BSP De -

partment of Economic Research (DER) economists said a 1-degree celsius increase in mean temperatures could lead to a 0.37-percentage-point reduction in economic growth.

The reduction increases if El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events are taken into consideration and would reduce GDP growth by 0.47 ppts.

“In the long run, output growth declined by a cumulative 1.12 ppts eight [8] years after the shock when controlling for the

occurrence of floods and storms while controlling for ENSO periods did not yield a significant result although the sign remained negative,” the economists also said.

Further, a 1-degree celsius increase in temperature could lead to higher inflation over a period of up to four years.

The economists said this will lead to a “cumulative increase of 0.77 ppt in headline inflation after the initial shock.”

FEEL HEALTHY Rotarian Paul Anthony T. Koh, Mr. Emmanuel R. Ledesma Jr., Guest Speaker and President/CEO of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation, and Vice President Reginald T. Yu of the Rotary Club of Manila are seen

Conglomerate San miguel Corp. (SmC) on Thursday said its income in 2023 surged despite lower revenues due to a correction in oil prices which affected the performance of Petron Corp. and its power unit.

SMC

“We had a strong finish to 2023, which was marked by a healthy operating income and ebITDa [earnings, before interest, depreciation and amortization] thanks to our continuous efforts to maximize operational efficiencies, aligned with our sustainability agenda,” San Miguel president r amon S. a ng said. our robust performance again reflects our resilience and ability to deliver a strong bottom line despite macroeconomic uncertainties, and

Un IV er S al r obina Corp. (urC) on Thursday said its income last year slid by 12 percent to P12.8 billion from the previous year’s P13.95 billion despite higher sales.

The company said “higher comparables from gain on land sale” in 2022 had an impact on its financial results last year. urC’s core net income rose by 6 percent to P12.6 billion, driven by operating income growth. However, this was tempered by higher interest rates, the company said.

Sales for the year reached P158.4 billion, up 6 percent from the previous year’s P149.9 billion, already a high base, as both the branded con-

our commitment to continue investing on nation-building projects.”

San Miguel said the company’s food and beverage business will continue its growth trajectory, aided by a positive consumer demand backdrop, favorable inflationary environment, and strong brand following.

“The infrastructure business is seen to sustain its growth trajectory with continued traffic growth across its network, along with increased travel throughout the country,” it said.

“Meanwhile, with its increased capacity, the cement business is expected to benefit from both private and public sectors’ push for economic and infrastructure development.”

San Miguel Food and beverage Inc. had revenues of P379.8 billion,

a 6-percent increase from the previous year, with all business units reporting sales growth on account of improved volumes and pricing strategies.

net income jumped 10 percent to P38.1 billion from the previous year’s P34.66 billion.

San Miguel global Power reported a 23-percent decline in revenues to P169.59 billion from last year’s P221.38 billion, because of lower contracted volumes and prices due to reduced fuel tariffs. newcastle coal indices averaged $172.79 per metric ton in 2023, compared to $360.19 per MT in 2022.

The fourth quarter saw a 32-percent increase in volumes from the year-ago figure, a turnaround from the declines in the first three quarters of the year, partly due to higher sales volume from the San roque hydropower plant, and increased contributions from its battery energy storage system network.

operating income was up 13 percent to P32.5 billion due to lower cost to supply, and exposure to better spot prices during the period resulting from the suspension of the 670-MW power supply agreement of South Premiere Power Corp.

net income rose by threefold to P9.9 billion from the previous year’s P3.13 billion.

Petron Corp.’s revenues settled at

P801.02 billion, slipping 7 percent from the previous year’s P857.6 billion, as prices continued to correct from record-high levels in 2022. The full year average price of benchmark Dubai crude stood at $82 per barrel in 2023, down 15 percent from $96 in 2022.

net income rose by half to P10.13 billion from the previous year’s P6.69 billion.

SMC’s infrastructure unit registered consolidated revenues of P34 billion, 17 percent higher than the previous year. This was mainly brought about by sustained growth across all operating toll roads.

Combined average daily traffic volume reached 1million vehicles, an 8 percent increase from 2022 level, buoyed by continued increase in travel activities. net income went up by 33 percent year-on-year to P11.4 billion.

The cement business, comprised of eagle Cement Corp., northern Cement Corporation, and Southern Concrete Industries Inc., registered a fourfold growth in consolidated revenues to P37.2 billion in 2023, mainly due to the full-year consolidation of eagle in 2023, and the start of commercial operations of its new facility in Davao del Sur.

The company had a net income of P5.98 billion, a turnaround from the previous year’s loss of P599 million.

sumer foods and the agro-industrial and commodities businesses continued their momentum into the fourth quarter, growing sequentially versus the previous quarter. “o ver the past few years the company has made purposeful strategic decisions to enter new segments outside our core categories in the Philippines and to build new legs in International, all of which we are seeing come to fruition,” Irwin l ee, the company president and Ceo, said.

“We have also continued to make good progress in our Fuel for growth program, surpassing our initial commitments on operational efficiencies and savings. These initiatives will al-

TBy Andrea E. San Juan @andreasanjuan

IlanD-baSeD Shera,

H a

one of the largest manufacturers of fiber cement boards in a sean, is investing P2 billion in a 5-acre construction plant which will rise in an industrial park in Mabalacat, Pampanga by the end of this year.

The Thai firm said it opted to expand to the Philippines because it has seen “a lot of potential” in product placement in the country.

“We did a lot of market penetration and worked with our distributor here for more than 15 years already. a nd we have seen a lot of changes in the demand in the market for the construction industry and we’re seeing a big opportunity here in the Philippines,” Shera Country Head Thunnop Jumpasri told reporters on the sidelines of the Philippine World building and Construction exposition (WorlDbe X) which kicked off last Thursday.

“We need to make sure that we understand the market first and not

low us to continue delivering on our mission—to provide our consumers with good food and beverage choices for the years to come.” Sales for the branded group, excluding packaging, reached P108.4 billion for the year, a mere 2 percent growth from last year’s level.

The Philippine market grew 3 percent from the same period last year, delivering P75.6 billion in revenues. Categories showed a mixed performance, with snacks and ready-todrink beverages driving growth, offsetting challenges in some segments.

The international market, meanwhile, closed the year with P32.8 billion in revenues, growing by 2 percent

only the market. We need to understand the need, the culture of the country before we have the operation. a nd in the Philippines, we are confident because we’ve been here for more than 15 years and we understand a lot of demand, the needs of Filipino customers. a nd we are eager to have the factory within this year.”

Jumpasri said the firm is planning to produce 200,000 metric tons of fiber cement building materials per year in the country. “That is the capacity that we plan.”

He said the construction plant in Mabalacat, Pampanga is expected to provide around 120 to 150 jobs.

He noted that in the Philippines alone, Shera is expecting to grow its sales by 10 to 15 percent this year from the P1.5 billion recorded in 2023.

Meanwhile, Jumpasri said Shera can use the Philippines as a base to export to other countries considering its strategic location.

The 5-acre facility will rise within the TeCo Industrial Park in Mabalacat, Pampanga.

from the same period last year, on the back of the performance of Vietnam and Malaysia.

Sequential quarter-on-quarter growth was seen in Thailand and Indonesia as they recovered from price corrections executed earlier this year, the company said.

The agro-industrial and commodities group ended the year with P48.8 billion in sales, up 16 percent from the same period last year. a ll three businesses—agro-industrial, sugar and renewables, and flour—maintained their double-digit growth driven by higher volumes, favorable sugar prices, and continued growth of pet food.

VG Cabuag

T eCo is a 250-hectare industrial park that is privately owned and registered with the Philippine economic Zone authority, according to the industrial park’s website.

“The industrial park houses a growing community of companies such as electronics, engineering, food, energy, paper making, and manpower,” T eCo said.

It is situated near newly constructed highways and expressways, international airports, and seaports, making it a strategic location for domestic and international trade in the country.

“Its proximity to major road networks allows locators to save costs on logistics while improving operational efficiency for their import and export needs,” T eCo said.

university of a sia and the Pacific economist Victor a abola said the Philippines could experience a construction and housing boom that may last three to four decades. (Full story here: https://businessmirror. com.ph/2023/07/21/3-4-decade-phlconstruction-boom-seen/ )

By Lenie Lectura @llectura

Pl DT Inc. will source renewable energy ( re ) from aC en r enewable e nergy Solutions ( a C en re S) to energize 33 of the phone giant’s facilities in the g reater Metro Manila.

a mong the facilities transitioning to re is the P l DT-Smart Integrated o perations Center in Makati City, a 24/7 command center that oversees network operations and manages performance of P l DT’s extensive fiber infrastructure and the wireless facilities of its subsidiary Smart Communications Inc. across the country.

P l DT will leverage on a C en re S’ portfolio of solar, and geothermal power solutions to strengthen operational efficiency and reduce dependency on electricity from fossil fuel and nonrenewable sources.

“This supply agreement with a C en re S expands and diversifies renewables in the energy mix of our key facilities. o ur continuous transition to re supports the direction to make our P l DT facilities eco-efficient and futureready,” said P l DT Vice President and Sector Head for Property and Facilities l eo g onzales.

a lso, the supply agreement with the retail electricity unit of a C en is expected to generate

savings in energy and operating costs for P l DT, as well as support its continuing groupwide decarbonization roadmap with an estimated reduction of almost 21,000 tons of carbon emissions annually.

“We are keen on supporting P l DT as it continues to transition to re and use more renewable energy to power its operations that are vital to our country’s connectivity and digital infrastructure. a C en is looking forward to this venture that will help foster an energy-secure future for our telecommunications industry,” said a C en Senior Vice President for Market Transformation Tony Valdez.

The P l DT g roup has crafted a roadmap that aims to reduce its Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent by 2030, coming from a 2019 baseline. u nderpinning this target, the group has been venturing into the use of renewables, green technologies, and various resource optimization initiatives for its network sites, business offices, and key facilities nationwide.

“This is a model that we aim to keep scaling up to accelerate our decarbonization roadmap and support the global ambition to achieve net Zero by 2050,” said Pl DT First Vice President, Chief Sustainability o fficer, and Head of Investor r elations Melissa Vergel de Dios.

gross remittance, the BIR noted. The policy is in line with Revenue Regulation (RR) 16-2023 that the BIR issued on December 21 last year.

RR 16-2023 imposes a 1-percent withholding tax on one-half of the gross remittances made by e-marketplace operators and DFSPs to sellers/merchants for the goods or services sold/paid through their platform/facility.

Online sellers and merchants with an annual total gross remittances—or the total amount received by the e-marketplace from the payment of sales or goods— not exceeding P500,000 are exempted from the 1-percent withholding tax.

Meanwhile, online sellers and merchants with gross remittances of more than P500,000 must immediately submit the prescribed BIR-received SD to the e-marketplace operator or DFSP, the BIR added.

Online merchants with a lower income tax rate are also exempted from withholding tax and must submit proof of entitlement to the e-marketplace of DFSP. Individuals engaged in business or practicing a profession are required to withhold tax. This tax is deducted at the source of income by the employer which they then remit to the BIR.

The BIR added that the burden of the tax is upon the seller although the mode of payment of the tax is through withholding by the buyer or by the e-marketplace operator or DFSP.

An e-marketplace is a digital service platform for online shopping, food delivery, and booking accommodations, such as resorts, hotels, motels, inns, houses, condominium units, bed space, and rooms for rent, among others. An e-marketplace also covers the use of other modes of payment such as credit cards, e-wallet of the platform, and other mobile payment services.

DFSPs, meanwhile, are financial technologies capable of offering financial services including banking services, insurance services, payment, and money transmission services among others.

Reine Juvierre Alberto

Banking&Finance

Recto: Exempt exporters from VAT

By Reine Juvierre Alberto

FINANCE Secretary Ralph G. Recto said exporters should be exempted from value-added tax following the “difficulties” encountered by registered export enterprises (REEs) in obtaining their VAT refunds.

This, as Senator Risa Hontiveros sought Recto’s comment on amending the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises (CREATE) Act because of

THE Philippine Council of Associations and Association Executives (PCAAE) recently added a new membership category called “lifetime honorary member” and has inducted the following:

Florentino “Jun” S. Dulalia, chairman and CEO of the Dulalia Group of Companies; Vilma R. Ligahon, president and CEO of Riavin Realty Development Corp.; and, Eunina V. Mangio, president of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

A “lifetime honorary member” is a special and prestigious membership category typically reserved for individuals who have made significant contributions, achievements, or demonstrated exceptional dedication to their organizations.

This category offers several benefits to the association, as follows:

1. Enhanced prestige and recognition. The public acknowledgment of lifetime honorary members reflects positively on the association, enhancing its reputation and standing within the profession, industry or community.

2. Long-term relationship building. Granting lifetime honorary memberships strengthens the bond between the association and the individuals who have demonstrated unwavering support and leads to enduring relationships that benefit the organization over the long term.

3. Access to expertise and guidance. Lifetime honorary members’ continued involvement provides the association with access to insights and guidance that can be instrumental in decision making and strategic planning.

4. Financial support and fund-

ASIAN nations are seeing a revival in inflation pressures, signaling weakening support for the region’s bonds. Headline inflation data in February from Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, South Korea, China, India and Taiwan exceeded economist estimates mostly due to a surge in food prices. Sustained price pressures will pose a risk to emerging Asian bonds, as they may potentially delay interest-rate cuts by the region’s central banks. “These surprises have been largely led by food prices, reflecting the confluence of El Nino impacts and the Lunar New Year,” said Philip McNicholas, an Asia sovereign strategist at Robeco Group in Singapore. Taiwan and the Philippines in particular are seeing resilient core price momentum, which will make it harder for these economies to ease monetary policy imminently. It will also increase the risk of a further shift higher in their yield curves, he added.

Emerging Asian bonds handed

be sufficiently dealt with directly through changes to the IRR.

Recto, deviating slightly from his predecessor, said that it is more important to amend the CREATE law instead of changing the IRR.

In Recto’s view, exporters are not VAT-able because they are competing globally.

the difficulty in getting exporters’ VAT refunds.

Hontiveros added that Recto’s predecessor, former Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno, believes that this “problem” of VAT refunds can

Octavio Peralta Association World

raising. While lifetime honorary membership is primarily an honorary designation, it may also encourage financial support from recipients in a position to contribute financially and attract additional donors or sponsors interested in supporting an association with a strong and prestigious membership base.

5. Positive public relations.

The recognition of lifetime honorary members can be leveraged for positive public relations, showcasing the association’s commitment to excellence and the acknowledgment of outstanding contributions. Media coverage of the association’s relationship with prominent individuals can enhance its visibility and public image.

6. Attraction of new members and increased member engagement. The association’s affiliation with distinguished lifetime honorary members can make it more appealing to potential new members seeking to join a respected and influential organization. Their presence can also inspire and engage other members, fostering a sense of pride and commitment within the association. Meanwhile, he benefits to lifetime honorary members are:

1. Recognition and prestige. Lifetime honorary members are publicly recognized for their significant contributions, achievements, or long-term commitment to the associ-

“Dapat gawin natin ilagay na natin sa batas na exempted sila nang sa ganon [What we should do is to put it in the law that they are exempted so that] they will be more competitive globally as well at hindi na tayo magkaroon ng problema sa usaping VAT refunds [and we won’t have problems when it comes to VAT refunds],” Recto said. The amendments to the CREATE law are included in the CREATE to Maximize Opportunities for Reinvigorating the Economy (CREATE

MORE) bill, which aims to streamline the tax refund system registered business enterprises (RBEs) and institutionalization of risk-based classification of claims and audit framework.

The Department of Finance (DOF) said the CREATE MORE bill will improve the timeliness, efficiency, and predictability of the VAT refund process.

Recto said he expects the CREATE MORE bill to be passed by the House of Representatives at the end of the month and eventually be brought to the Senate.

Meanwhile, Hontiveros also asked for Recto’s opinion on computerizing the process as a complement to the amendments of the Create law.

The secretary said digitalization is President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr.’s

priority as well as the DOF and its attached agencies, such as the Bureaus of Internal Revenue and Customs, and the whole administration.

As the world changes, Recto said it would be better if potential investors could easily put up a business and register it with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), as well as pay taxes all done online.

If the whole government adapts digitalization of its services, corruption will be lessened and efficiency will be greater, Recto added.

“Malaki ang paniniwala ko, sa loob ng apat na taon, hindi man natin matapos lahat [I strongly believe that in four years, even if we will not finish everything], we will greatly improve the situation,” he said.

By Cai U. Ordinario @caiordinario

ation which enhances their personal and professional prestige within the profession, industry or community.

2. Special recognition at events. Lifetime honorary members are often given special recognition at association events, conferences, or ceremonies. This spotlight reinforces their status and allows them to share their insights and experiences with the broader membership.

3. Access to resources. Associations extend special privileges, such as access to research materials, publications, or exclusive resources, to lifetime honorary members to facilitate ongoing engagement and learning.

4. Legacy and influence. Lifetime honorary members become part of the association’s history and legacy. Their influence and impact on the organization endure, leaving a lasting mark for future generations.

5. Opportunities for giving back. Some lifetime honorary members choose to give back to the association in the form of mentorship, sponsorship, or other forms of support. This reciprocal relationship allows them to contribute to the association’s continued success.

6. Enhanced professional and personal networks. The association’s network can become an extended professional and personal community for lifetime honorary members which can lead them to new opportunities, collaborations, and friendships.

Octavio B. Peralta is founder and volunteer CEO of the Philippine Council of Associations and Association Executives, the “association of associations.” The views he expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of the BusinessMirror. E-mail: bobby@ pcaae.org.

THE Insurance Commission (IC) and Citibank NA Philippines Branch forwarded ideas related to sustainable insurance through digitization and collaboration.

In a recent event, Citi Country Officer for the Philippines Paul A. Favila announced that parent company Citigroup Inc. has pledged $1 trillion to help meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. Favila said half of the amount the American bank holding company committed would go to environmental finance.

Favila added that Citi has committed to achieving net zero emissions in its operations and financing activities by 2030 and 2050, respectively.

“We are working together to contribute to Citi’s commitment globally, as well as to the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) goals of the Philippines,” Favila said. “Our commitment to a more sustainable future cuts across our businesses, functions and teams.”

The forum also highlighted the vulnerability faced by the Philippine agricultural sector due to climate change and the gaps in agriinsurance.

The importance of multi-sectoral partnerships in achieving climatesmart agriculture and building adaptive and sustainable communities were highlighted during the second panel discussion.

The event also explored best practices and key learnings in digitizing insurance processes. It stressed the

need for continued development of new digital solutions, especially in the far-flung areas, to foster innovation and inclusivity in society.

At the panel discussions, industry experts pointed out challenges being faced by the microinsurance sector, such as the instability of the economy, concerns on taxes and finding the right balance for pricing strategies, among others.

In the event, Philippine Insurance Commissioner Reynaldo Regalado discussed the strategic directions for microinsurance in the country. He focused on the institutionalization of financial literacy, collaboration, growth and digitalization.

Regalado also emphasized the role of the microinsurance sector in recovery and rebuilding efforts.

“It is important for us to have the mechanisms and services that will help secure the financial stability and resiliency of our people especially those who are in the marginalized sector of our society,” he said.

The event was organized in celebration of the National Microinsurance Month and provides a platform to discuss the challenges and opportunities facing the microinsurance industry.

The event was organized by the Microinsurance MBA Association of the Philippines Inc. (MiMAP) also known as RIMANSI, in partnership with the Insurance Commission, and with the support of the Citi Foundation, ICMIF Foundation, CARD Mutually Reinforcing Institutions and CARD Pioneer Microinsurance Inc.

Memecoin trading near pre-crypto bubble burst

THE memecoin frenzy in the digital-asset market shows no signs of stopping, with trading volumes now at levels last seen just before the burst of the last crypto bubble more than two years ago. Considered as some of the most speculative and volatile cryptocurrencies, memecoins such as Dogwifhat and Pepe are far outstripping the gains registered by market bellwether Bitcoin that has dominated the headlines. Trading volume for the top memecoins, which often trade for a fraction of a cent, reached nearly $80 billion in the past week, according to data compiled by blockchain data firm Kaiko. That’s the highest since October 2021.

“Historically, a surge in meme tokens has often signaled a market top,” Dessislava Aubert, research analyst at Kaiko, said. “However, it is difficult to predict whether this will continue to be the case now as new capital is entering the crypto markets. We also observe that some of these tokens are increasingly driven

by idiosyncratic factors and are less correlated with Bitcoin.” Pepe, a frog-themed coin, and dogwifhat—a dog pictured wearing a hat—continued racking up fresh highs in the past week, according to tracker CoinGecko. The total market value of the memecoin sector has reached more than $60 billion on Wednesday.

Read: Dog Coin? Frog Coin? Inside a $50 Billion Crypto Joke: QuickTake Memecoins have been a longexisting phenomenon in crypto, as small investors and promoters see the microscopic prices of memecoins as an opportunity to quick post huge returns despite the lack of traditional fundamentals.

“It’s not a great reflection of the actual realizable price,” said Thomas Perfumo, head of strategy at Kraken Digital Asset Exchange. “So for example, if you saw a memecoin that supposedly had a market capitalization of a billion dollars, it’s very unlikely that anyone would be able to sell anywhere close to a billion dollars of it without materially impacting the price.” Bloomberg News

Headline inflation data in February from Thailand, indonesia, the Philippines, South Korea, China, india and Taiwan exceeded economist estimates mostly due to a surge in food prices. PhotograPher: Dimas arDian/BloomBerg

B4 Friday, March 15, 2024

BYD Cars Philippines recently ushered in a new era of electrified mobility with the recent opening of its flagship dealership in Bonifacio Global City (BGC) in Taguig City. Harmony New Energy Auto Service operates the new BYD facility in the heart of the country’s premier commercial and business district along 28th Street in Bonifacio Global City. It will cater to BYD electric vehicle customers with its extensive display and services. BYD Cars Philippines is the distributor of BYD passenger cars in the country. Operating under AC Mobility, Ayala Corporation’s electric mobility platform.

“BYD Global City marks the beginning of our entry into the Philippine automotive market,” said Jack Feng, Chairman of China Harmony Auto Holding Limited, parent company of Harmony New Energy Auto Service. “We believe in the promise of an electrified mobility future that BYD champions. Through BYD Global City, we are determined to showcase the clear benefits of owning a BYD to a growing number of Filipino motorists who believe in the brand. With our extensive experience in luxury and premium brands in the region, and with the dedication of our sales and after-sales teams, we intend to provide the best purchase and ownership experience for every BYD customer.”

BYD Global City is China Harmony Auto Holding Limited’s first automotive venture in the Philippines. The company focuses on the main business of luxury and super luxury automobile sales, covering the whole industry chain of new energy vehicle manufacturing, sales, and after-sales service, and

TEditor: Tet Andolong • www.businessmirror.com.ph

will provide customers with highquality travel services of high efficiency, convenience, and harmony between people and vehicles. As of 2023, the group has represented 14 luxury and super luxury brands, 79 authorized dealer outlets, and a service network covering 40 cities in 16 provinces in China.

Harmony Group always adheres to the core values of “simplicity, efficiency, happiness, and efforts are equal to all in.” It aims to create a respected century-old enterprise and deeply engages in the main business of luxury and super luxury automobile sales. In addition, it invests in intelligent manufacturing, sales, and aftersales business of new energy vehicles, focuses on the present, lays out the future, and seeks to create an automobile service industry ecosystem with mutual support, business collaboration, and coevolution of various business sectors. It creates a harmonious life in the digital era for users with the ultimate intelligent technology and service experience and leads

‘No. 1 in the heart of every Filipino’

OYOTA Motor Philippines (TMP) scored another milestone when it recently feted high performing dealerships as the world’s No. 1 carmaker revealed its record-breaking sales results in 2023—breaching the 200,000mark in units sold last year.

Shaina Mae Semana said honored lavishly likewise were TMP’s dealership network and top performing outlets at the Toyota Dealer Awards during the wellattended  mobility company’s annual Dealer Conference.

Highlighted with a grand reveal was Toyota’s another outstanding

achievement of its 22nd “Consecutive Triple Crown” feat for being number one again in passenger car sales, commercial vehicle sales and overall sales. TMP also thanked the dealers for “tirelessly serving the mobility needs of customers from near or far,” buttressing the automaker’s reputation as the undisputed leader in all spheres of the motoring industry.

“Last August, we celebrated our 35th year anniversary here together with the Chairman of Toyota Motor Corporation, Mr. Akio Toyoda,” said TMP Chairman Alfred V. Ty in

the industry’s future development.

Flagship facility

FEATURING the latest BYD Global Brand Identity standards, the property boasts a 620-square-meter showroom that can accommodate up to 12 vehicles and houses

his address to the dealers. “While Chairman Toyoda acknowledged the Philippines as among Toyota’s Top 10 global markets, he made it very clear that his greatest wish is for Toyota to be number one in the HEART of every Filipino.”

Ty added: “As Chairman Toyoda declared in Toyota’s new vision— we will invent our path forward together. He also advised us that while we must aim high, we must also care deeply—about people, society, the economy, our environment, the future and about creating cars and services that truly bring happiness to all.”

The TMP Chairman was joined by Vice Chairman David Go, President Masando Hashimoto, Executive Vice President Jing Atienza, and Senior Vice President Masahiro Haoka in honoring the top performing dealers.

The awardees:

President’s Award of Excellence

a dedicated customer lounge with food and beverage services. The new dealership will also feature the latest design and safety technologies available in the BYD electric vehicle lineup through informative displays. Aside from highlighting the

Large Business Division

Toyota Marilao, Bulacan, Inc.

Medium Business Division

Toyota North Edsa

Small Business Division

Toyota Subic, Inc.

President’s Customer Satisfaction Cup of Excellence

Toyota Marilao, Bulacan, Inc.

President’s Value Chain Award of Excellence

Toyota Balintawak, Inc.

My heartfelt congratulations to Cosco Oben, the brains behind the successes of Toyota’s Marilao, North Edsa and Balintawak. Your near-sweep of the major awards spoke volumes on creativity and leadership. Cheers!

Said Hashimoto: “Congratulations everyone for a job well done. As ONE TEAM, we made 2023 one of our most historic

various models across the local BYD range, the new facility has up to eight service bays to accommodate general Preventive Maintenance Services and general repairs for BYD electric vehicles. BYD Global City provides services such as wheel alignment, underchassis inspection, and repairs to complement the low-maintenance requirements of every brand-new BYD electric vehicle.

“We are proud to welcome BYD Global City to the growing network of premium BYD dealerships across the country,” said Antonio Zara III, president of Mobility Access Philippines Ventures Incorporated (MAPVI). This Ayala Corporation company exclusively distributes BYD cars in the country. “The opening of BYD Global City signifies the strong commitment of the BYD brand in the Philippines. Our partnership with Harmony Auto is just the beginning of many more opportunities to expand the reach of BYD across the country. The impressive scale of BYD Global City’s launch and the

years ever.  I believe we are in a good position to help define and create the future of mobility in the Philippines.”

Also feted were Toyota Outstanding Performers in Sales and Service (TOPS):

TOPS Finest Marketing Professional of the Year

Pamela Jaloro Santos of Toyota Valenzuela, Inc.

TOPS Finest General Job Service Advisor of the Year

Rodrigo Calimlim Bauzon of Toyota Dagupan.

TOPS Finest Body and Paint Service Advisor of the Year

Shala Boquirin Suan of Toyota Pasig.

“The road to becoming a TOPS awardee had not been easy, but your persistence in overcoming all the challenges that come with it had brought you this far,” TMP

extensive services it offers shows how BYD Cars Philippines intends to serve the needs of Filipino electric vehicle buyers.”

For his part, James Ng, Managing Director of BYD Philippines and Singapore, welcomes the collaborative partnership with Harmony Auto as an authorized dealer of BYD Cars Philippines.

“We congratulate BYD Global City as it opens its new dealership facility in the heart of the country’s business capital.”

“Together with Ayala Corporation and MAPVI, we are constantly searching for the right dealer partners to help grow the BYD brand in the Philippines. Harmony Auto’s background in the luxury car market in Hong Kong and its familiarity with the BYD brand make it a natural fit for our business objectives in the Philippines. With BYD Global City and Harmony Auto, we look forward to a productive future as we aim to make the BYD brand a top-of-mind choice in the Philippine automotive market,” he added.

Vice President for Value Chain and Customer Experience Operations, Mike Masamayor, said. “It is my earnest hope that you continue to be an inspiration to those around you and remain steadfast in delivering more heart-touching experiences to our customers at the same time.”

More power, indeed.

PEE STOP Jade Sison-Mendoza writes to say Lexus will unfurl its new electrified line-up on March 18.  I can’t wait to see the Lexus LBX, the latest “small” muscle of the country’s new No. 1 brand in the high-end segment for quite some time now…Thea Geronimo says the BMW Festival of Deals is set March 15-17 at 9th Ave. cor. 30th in BGC Taguig.  Test drive on schedule, too...Nelda Castro reports that Mitsubishi’s second leg of its showcase of new pick-up technologies is on March 22-24 at SM San Fernando, Pampanga. All the best, Nelda!

THE newly-opened BYD flagship dealership in BGC

•

B6

Remaking the traditional to unique and exceptional

AS far back as I can remember, Spanish cuisine has always been part of my family life. It was my late father’s favorite; during his birthday, or a visit by homecoming relatives, and other special occasions, we would dine at a number of his preferred Spanish restaurants (Casa Colas which later became Alba’s, Patio Guernica or Minggoy’s), while La Cibeles was the regular go-to for a merienda of churros con chocolate.

Even at home, my lola would cook her Bacalao (ala Cavite though) for Good Friday, and Lengua Estofado for Christmas Day or New Year’s Day, as we received relatives from her side of the family. I continue the Good Friday tradition, although tweaking my lola’s recipe by adding green olives for a slightly-sour and sweet crunch.

So when I had the chance to travel to Madrid, one can imagine that not just my tummy was full, but my heart was happy as well, as I savored a delectable array of dishes that reminded me of my childhood, at the same time opening me up to other creative and inspiring palate pleasers.

Cantabria by Chele Gonzalez, the new restaurant of The Westin Manila, is more than the Paella Valenciana, Callos, Canonigo, and other popular Spanish dishes we have become fond of. This northern Spanish province, which is the chef’s hometown, has encouraged him to create a menu inspired by its rich coastline, generous rivers, and lush green mountains, with some unique twists.

“Spanish cuisine continues to evolve over time, and so do tradition and techniques. Cantabria presents a unique side of Spanish cuisine and raises the bar by showcasing a blend of tradition and trends through a flavorful journey,” says Gonzalez. We take on a

creative and sophisticated approach to seafood, and showcase a unique side of Spanish cuisine unknown to most, together with innovative Tapas, meats, and other Spanish favorites,” he adds. We also serve rustic and traditional Spanish comforts from steaks to paellas, sangria, vino and more.”

At the grand opening of Cantabria on March 6, which also coincided with the first anniversary of The Westin Manila, a premium hotel managed by Marriott International, we got a very substantial preview of what the new restaurant offers its dining patrons and eager fans of Spanish cuisine.

Among the starters, I favored the Tiradito de Pargo (sliced snapper, avocado and lime salsa, radish and cilantro oil) and the Ostra dela Casa (signature oyster with sherry mignonette, green apple, chives), which were bright, briny and sweet. The Tiradito was particularly enhanced with the citrusy flavor of the lime salsa.

The Tapas are given a sophisticated and creative twist with delectable bites like the Ravioli de Carne Guisado con Espuma de Parmesano (braised beef and porcini ravioli with parmesan espuma and basil oil), one of my favorites that night, and evoked the close historical and gustatory ties between Italy and Spain.

The mains were all delightful, but the star of the evening was definitely the Rodaballo a la Parrilla (grilled wild turbot fish); the turbot, a flat fish, was caught off the waters of Cantabria, and is prized for its delicate flavor. Because of its scarcity in the wild— although there are countries that do farm them—the dish costs P2,000 per 200 grams at the restaurant. (The closest taste I could compare it with is the rabbitfish, locally known as kitang, which is equally a premium product in most wet markets, costing about P600 per kilo.)

I also very much enjoyed the Arroz Negro De Vierra y Chipirones (black ink creamy rice with grilled scallops, baby squid, herb aioili), which is closer to a seafood risotto and so delicate yet flavorful. Another Italian touch to seafood Cantabria is known for.

The Presa Iberico con Patata y Mojos (grilled pork Iberico steak, fried marble potatoes, green and red mojo sauces) will probably fit my definition of comfort food. It is a superb alternative to any craving for a steak-and-potatoes dinner, after a long night

at the office, or as a weekend reward for surviving a particularly difficult week. Although mojo sauces were provided, the red being the spicier version, the steak is delectable enough to be relished on its own. If one prefers to use a sauce, a Cuban inspiration, I would recommend the green, which gives the meat a mild citrusy lift. We were served two desserts to complete our tasting, and it was the Toffee, Cacao, Avellana y Café (Caramel mouse, chocolate sponge, caramelized hazelnut) that made me heart-happy. It was both sweet and bitter, but divinely luscious. It is best paired with coffee, for sure, but alas, it was night time and I was looking forward to my precious sleep, so I had peppermint tea instead. The dessert was the perfect ending for a pleasant night of tastings and amazing flavors.

Alexander Dietzsch, general manager of The Westin Manila, says they chose to open a Spanish restaurant because the cuisine is popular not just internationally but in the Philippines as well. “There are a lot of Chinese restaurants around here, and a lot Italian restaurants, so we found that Spanish fills that niche and you can offer a new concept.” A media colleague commented, although I have yet to personally check it, that Cantabria could be the only hotel-hosted Spanish restaurant, not just in the Ortigas District but in the entire Metro Manila. For now, the restaurant is open for dinner, but Dietzsch says if they receive a good response from diners, they may open for lunch as well. The dayto-day kitchen operations will be overseen by Chef de Cuisine Ivan Saiz Sordo, who also hails from Cantabria. He is expected to ably execute Gonzalez’s well-crafted menu, being familiar with the vision of the executive chef who he has worked with in a number of restaurants around the Philippines. Their lineage, culinary roots, and common love for seafood brought them back together at The Westin Manila, to bring to life to flavors they learned and loved.

Cantabria by Chele Gonzalez may not be the Spanish restaurant we have grown up with, but it takes us to a wonderful place where the traditional becomes unique and exceptional.

TODAY’S HOROSCOPE

By Eugenia Last

CELEBRITIES BORN ON THIS DAY: Kellan Lutz, 39; will.i.am, 49; Eva Longoria, 49; Bret Michaels, 61.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Stay in touch with the people who bring out the best in you. Explore what life has to offer and see who wants to come along. It’s time to set yourself free and declutter your life. Use your imagination and trust your instincts to lead you in a direction that encourages you to use your skills, wisdom and knowledge to promote happiness, respect and love. Your numbers are 4, 9, 16, 24, 33, 36, 49.

ARIES (March 21-April 19): You can enter into conversations that can further your interests if you network or participate in an activity or event you enjoy. Think twice before you spend on unnecessary trinkets or possessions. ★★★★

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Set your sights on what you want and relentlessly push forward. How you present yourself and what you have to offer will have the most significant impact. Call on those who can help you further your goals, but don’t reveal your secrets. Be humble. ★★★

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Put emotional issues aside. Participation is your ticket to rejuvenation. Consider physical activities you enjoy and work them into your daily routine. Feeling prepped and alive will help you make more exciting decisions and encourage you to befriend people who share your mantra. ★★★

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Concentrate on what you can do to get ahead. Look for new ways to use your skills and create something that makes you feel young and alive. Don’t slip into a routine that makes your life monotonous or sends off a negative tone. ★★★

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Talk to someone who sparks your interest and informs you of things you’d like to investigate. Sitting back, relaxing, enjoying what life offers and exploring what’s available will change your life and encourage memorable moments. Take responsibility for your happiness. ★★★

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Don’t let your emotions become a frenzy when staying calm and putting your focus where it can do you some good is necessary. Change is the path to peace of mind and letting go of what’s no longer working for you. Redefine your next move. ★★

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Get involved in something that intrigues you, and pay attention to what others expect of you. Choose to partner with people who challenge you intellectually and make you aspire to be and do your best. Don’t give in to lethargy when enthusiasm is your ticket forward. ★★★★★

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Too many choices will confuse you. Consider what makes the most sense and head in that direction. Following others will never satisfy your needs. Let resourcefulness set your pace and lead to the success you desire. ★★★

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Emotions will surface if you face off with someone who challenges or competes with you. Refuse to give anyone the upper hand. Choose intelligence over force, and you’ll outsmart anyone who tries to make you look bad. ★★★

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): It’s all about where you put your energy, how you handle your cash and what you want to do next. Stop dreaming and start doing what makes you happy. Life is too short to coast along when you have so much to offer and enjoy. ★★★

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Pay attention to what’s happening at home. A change is overdue, and it’s best to make it before someone forces your hand. Speak up, air your grievances and be willing to compromise, but don’t let anyone take advantage of you. Fair is fair. ★★★★★

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Adjust your finances, rethink your future and look for exciting prospects. Refuse to let others cause you emotional turmoil. Know when to say no and how to move forward and toward what’s in your best interest. Don’t fear the unknown. ★★

LONGTIME CRUSH

THERE’S a persistent rumor that a certain public figure, who’s married to a high-profile personality, is in love with a certain government official. This love is reportedly the reason why the public figure and his wife have had rifts. If it’s not clear whether the government official reciprocates this love. The public figure reportedly has had a crush on the government official since he was a university student. Unfortunately for him, she had a boyfriend at the time. She is single now but he is not. Or will he be single soon?

NO MORE MONEY

SO why did the program end? According to rumors, the producers owe hundreds of millions to the network and other people, including talents and suppliers. At first, the network was willing to wait for payment because the program was rating very well and this added to their overall ratings. But this isn’t the case anymore so there is no more reason for the program to stay. The producers also owe the talents a lot of money and it’s not clear whether payment will ever be made.

‘Blue Room’ in Ormoc

Sometimes a film needs the right audience. I was stating the obvious to Ma-an Asuncion Dagñalan, the filmmaker behind the phenomenal Blue Room. But it was good, proving the highly apparent: at the SM Cinema in Ormoc, her film about a rock band composed of relatively privileged kids, exposed to the realities of justice and questionable police protocols, triggered some strong responses from the young audience present that morning.

The film begins with these young individuals gathering at their usual haunt. All are carrying emotional baggage common among persons their age. Between them, old hurts have happened. A member who has disappeared for a while in search for the meaning in his life has resurfaced; this brings back some memories not exactly happy. An ex-girlfriend also arrives at the scene while the former boyfriend remains keenly aware of what she has done to him. A fight ensues and they all leave after that.

CASH ONLY

THIS controversial public figure has been running the best cash operation for more than 20 years. What he would do is recruit good-looking young people for his organization. He would then rent a big house in the country’s big cities for them to stay in. So what does it have to do with his recruits? They are tasked to go out everyday to sell stuff like biscuits abd ballpens. They start their spiels with, “I am a working student. Please help me by buying these.” Because these young people are personable and well-dressed, people believe them. They end up buying the biscuits and ballpens. This is how the controversial figure gets his money.

FIERCELY PROTECTIVE

DON’T ever mention the name of this sexy star in the presence of the beautiful star. There are rumors that the star’s husband has a crush on the sexy star and that he’s made a pass at her. The sexy star is too scared of the beautiful star to even flirt with the husband but she was sorely tempted several times. The sexy star has had a big crush on the husband since she was young but she knows having a fling with him will not be good for her career. The beautiful star is fiercely possessive of her husband and she has clout in the industry.

In the car, they indulge in a bit of drugs, not the kind that should alarm anyone, at least those who are into it. But they drive past the checkpoint and miss out on a traffic sign deliberately hidden. This is by far too common but we know the consequences. Ignorance of the law excuses no one. Blindness to signs...oh well, that does not excuse anyone either.

What happens is a full-blown nightmare as the policemen arrest the group. They are introduced to a kind of investigation where not even the most intelligent interlocution or any wayward questioning has no peer. As if that is not enough, they meet the chief of police (Soliman Cruz, deliciously crooked and astutely evil) who has all the tricks in the world of injustice and corruption in his fat belly. The young men and one woman are subjected to pressures short of physical torture. They are forced to negotiate and, in the process, expose who they are.

All this did not escape the attention of the young audience during the Talk Back that followed the screening.

“Was there a backlash at you?” “How did you deal with the pressure?” “Were there no complaints from the organization [the police] referred to in the film?”

“Were you ever afraid?’

These were the questions—and more—asked of Ma-an Asuncion Dagnalan at the end of the screening of Blue Room

“Why is it called ‘Blue Room’?” Finally, that question came up.

It is rare that in film screenings (unless it is a premiere) outside Metro Manila are the filmmakers ever present. It was a treat therefore for the audience, mostly composed of senior high school students from different educational institutions around Ormoc, to

with the director being around, we could all say, the author is alive and she is here.

Whereupon, we all proceeded to what we were there in Ormoc in the first place—we were reintroducing the art form called cinema and doing it through an exercise called “how to read a film.”

Reading a film means not only viewing a film as entertainment but also seeing it as a source of discourse. With its filmmaker being present, Blue Room became an issue not only about the injustices around us and how a system perpetuates social inequalities; the film was also about how a woman filmmaker navigates important issues in her society.

At the center of this new way of reading films, Maan Asuncion Dagñalan spoke of how it was important for her to tell the truth via a popular medium called cinema. But to do that, there was a need for preparation and research. For the filmmaker, to be able to lay down the facts, one must look for ways to dig them through the many filters and gaps in society. What is a talk-back without the admiration of the

It must be said that, outside of the compelling story

one who made sense, was rational and unwavering. She was also a woman. As was the film director, Ma-An Asuncion-Dagnalan, who came across as nononsense and brave. All this was not lost on the audience even if some of the questions thrown were hiding many anxieties, such as: are the youth ready for this kind of tough cinema? Are we ready to act on the ills of societies?

The film Blue Room was produced by Ma-Ann Asuncion Dagñalan, Harlene Bautista, Will Fredo, Ferdinand Lapuz, and co-produced by Carlo Obispo and Maylyn Villalon Enriquez. It streams on Netflix. It won the Best Foreign Film at the 19th edition of LA Femme International Film Festival (LAFIFF) in Los Angeles, California. The event was done in observance of the National Arts Month and with the cooperation of the local government of Ormoc and the local tourism office. The executive committee on cinema under the National Commission for Culture and the Arts was the main agency spearheading the celebration. n

GMA chairman Atty. Felipe L. Gozon, network personalities honored at Eastwood City Walk of Fame

GMA Network chairman Atty. Felipe L. Gozon led network personalities honored at the 18th Eastwood City Walk of Fame held on March 6, 2024. Gozon was among the luminaries in media and entertainment who were inducted with their own star for their outstanding contributions in the fields of television, movies, radio, news and public affairs, music, theater, and social media.

Expressing his gratitude for the recognition, Gozon said, “Little did I know that someday, magkakaroon ako ng [star sa] Walk of Fame, sapagkat ‘di naman ako artista, so I am very, very proud and privileged to have a star on the Walk of Fame.”

From a seasoned blue-chip lawyer with a stellar academic background, Atty. Gozon became a visionary leader in the media industry.

As the network’s CEO from 2000 to 2023, Gozon propelled GMA (www.gmanetwork.com) from a distant second to the top broadcast

network in the Philippines. In 2023 alone, the network’s remarkable growth was evidenced by its robust roster of over 300 exclusive stars, more than 300 accolades, and a record-breaking achievement of surpassing 47 billion views across its digital platforms.

Gozon’s visionary approach has notably reshaped the Philippine media scene. The introduction of “fantaserye” formats like Mulawin and Encantadia marked a new era in storytelling, blending myth with reality. Continuing this legacy are shows, like Maria Clara at Ibarra and Lolong, which echo Filipino culture and heritage. GMA’s reentry into films through Firefly was both critically acclaimed and commercially successful. His vision is for GMA to evolve continually and always be mindful of its responsibility to the next generation. Under Gozon’s stewardship, GMA has been consistently recognized by various international

award-giving bodies, including being a fourtime winner and the only Philippine recipient of the highly prestigious George Foster Peabody Awards. GMA is also the first Filipino media and broadcasting company to sign with the United Nations (UN) Global Impact. The network currently operates 108 TV stations and 21 radio stations nationwide. GMA—together with GTV and digital channels I Heart Movies, Heart of Asia, Pinoy Hits, and Hallypop—reaches a projected total of 73 million viewers in Total Philippines. Several Kapuso personalities were also among this year’s Walk of Fame inductees. Earning their Philippines 2023

Sanya Lopez. Dee is currently in the cast of GMA Public Affairs’ action-packed drama series Black Rider upcoming Abot Kamay na Pangarap Yap was likewise honored under the Television

Renowned star-maker and Sparkle Johnny “Mr. M” Manahan was also honored with his own star on the Walk of Fame.

Under the News and Public Affairs category, GMA Integrated News showbiz reporter Lhar was also awarded while veteran Joel Reyes Zobel of Super Radyo DZBB 594 was also inducted for Radio.

GMA Network president and CEO Gilberto and senior vice president for programming, talent management, worldwide, and support group, and president and CEO of Atty. Annette Gozon-Valdes were also present

FROM left: Lhar Santiago, Joel Reyes Zobel, Richard Yap, Sanya Lopez, Johnny “Mr. M” Manahan and Alden Richards.

GMA Network chairman Atty. Felipe L. Gozon

PHOTO OF KATHY STEVENS FROM UNSPLASH.COM

PHL gets an ‘A’ as host of Asian aquatics meet

WORLD Aquatics (WA)

president Captain Husain Al-Musallam praised the country’s hosting of the recent 11th Asian Age Group Aquatics Championships (AAGC) at the New Clark City Aquatics Center in Capas, Tarlac.

“Before I came here, I wasn’t thinking about the facility I will see, but what I saw was beautiful,” said Al-Musallam during his visit in the championships that the country hosted for the first time. “It’s not Asia but you can also host world events.”

More than 1,400 athletes from 33 Asian countries took part in swimming, diving, water polo and artistic swimming during the two-week competitions which the WA authorized as a Paris Olympics qualifier.

Philippine Aquatics Inc. (PAI) led the local organizing committee in hosting the event supported by Malacañang through Memorandum Circular 43.

“The volunteers, the organizing committee, Philippine Aquatics, the city, airport—all one team,” Al-Musallam said. “It’s very rare that you find everybody together, everybody working to create a very good environment for the athletes to compete.”

“You deserved a 10,” the Kuwaiti head of the international federation added.

PAI president Michael “Miko” Vargas humbly accepted the high rating.

“We truly appreciate not only your presence but also the support and guidance you’ve been giving to aquatics in Asia, especially the Philippines,” Vargas said. “From the bottom of our hearts, we thank you.”

PAI secretary-general, Batangas First District Rep. Eric Buhain, said it’s an honor to draw a positive response from the WA.

“We’re very grateful to the trust given by World Aquatics to Philippine Aquatics,” Buhain said. “We will use this trust to work harder and always keep our best foot forward every step of the way. This success, this honor is not just for PAI but for the Filipino nation.”

Farid Fatahian, Asia Aquatics liaison officer to the championships, said that with the success of the event in Capas, he’s already looking forward to the Philippines hosting another Asian-level competition.

“I’m very satisfied [with the Philippine hosting] and Asian Aquatics is very happy with what you have done for the success of AAGC,” Fatahian said.

Obiena, Biado top performers in February

PHILIPPINE sports rode the exploits of billiards ace Carlo Biado and pole vault superstar EJ Obiena to get the ball rolling in 2024.

Biado ruled the Chinese Taipei Open with the 40-year-old beating Bernie Regalario, 13-7, in an allFilipino final to hoist the trophy for the year’s first ranking event of the World Nine-ball Tour and lead the Philippine Sportswriters Association’s achievers for January.

Joining Biado in the honor roll were youngsters Alex Eala and Rianne Malixi, who sparkled in international tennis and golf, respectively.

Eala, 18, clinched her first pro doubles title in the W50 Pune, India, where she and Latvian partner Darja Semenistaja upset top seeds Naiktha Baius of Great Britain and Fannin Stellar of Hungary, 7-6 (8), 6-3, in the championship.

The 16-year-old Malixi, on the other hand, flew the flag in the Australian Master of the Amateurs in Melbourne where she reigned supreme with a seven-under 285, beating India’s Avani Prashanth by one shot.

In February, Obiena, the Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA) 2023 Athlete of the Year, took his turn to shine.

The world No. 2 pole vaulter opened the season with a smashing

SARAH ABABA erased a daunting four-stroke deficit in just one-hole to propel herself to victory in the International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI) Apo Golf Classic with a closing 73 that ended a prolonged drought on the Ladies Philippine Golf Tour (LPGT) on Thursday.

Ababa rebounded from a two-bogey setback after five holes with a chipin birdie on the par-five No. 6 as she capitalized on Mafy Singson’s triple bogey on the same hole in a rare four-shot swing that dramatically shifted the momentum in a final round duel of local talents in Davao City. Trailing by two strokes after 36 holes and falling by four after No. 5, Ababa drew level at four-over after six holes, seized the lead with another birdie on the seventh and extended her advantage to two strokes as Singson faltered with a bogey on No. 8. She kept her composure by opting for conservative play and reaped the rewards with a string of pars to hike her lead to four as Singson struggled with bogeys on Nos. 12 and 15 and ended up with a 77.

Despite Singson’s birdie on No. 16 coupled with Ababa’s three-putt mishap, Ababa remained steadfast and matched her opponent’s last two pars to nail the victory by two strokes with a four-over 220 total.

“I didn’t expect to win after falling behind by four early on,” Ababa said. “But my father [Edgar] always says, if it’s meant for me, it’s meant for me.”

Indeed, it was her day to shine.

Ababa thanked her timely birdies on Nos. 6 and 7, which she said were the key to her victory.

“Those birdies were incredibly lucky. I chipped in on No. 6 and made a long putt [30 feet] on the seventh,” Ababa said. “I played steady the rest of the way.”

Despite a moment of anxiety when she three-putted from 24 feet on No.

Sarah soars to victory as Mafy fumbles in Apo

16, Ababa held her nerve to pound out the win—her first since Sherwood Hills in 2015 to snap a winless streak on the premier ladies golf circuit organized by Pilipinas Golf Tournaments Inc.

Ababa credited her father, who sacrificed the chance to play in the men’s tournament to caddie for her, for his invaluable support.

“It’s an important win for me,” said Ababa, fighting back tears. “Aside from winning on my home course, my father sacrificed playing his own round just to help me.”

“He actually wanted to play [in the PGT] but decided to caddie for me because he was confident in my abilities. I’m truly grateful, both to him and to the Lord,” she added.

It was a disappointing finish for Singson, who hoped to launch her professional career with a victory on her home turf.

Winner of two LPGT events as an amateur, Singson settled for second place with a 222 after a 76, earning P85,000 as a full-pledged professional.

“I drove to the right, hit a branch and played before a canal from a stymied lie. I then went for the green, tried to put it in the middle but pulled it a bit and got stuck in the bunker. I hit two balls to get out and three-putted,” said Singson of her misfortune on No. 6, which she birdied in the first round.

Mikha Fortuna, despite playing in the championship flight, failed to mount a significant challenge, settling for third at 226, also after a 77. She received P68,000.

Chanelle Avaricio rallied with a 74 to finish fourth at 227 while Harmie Constantion placed fifth at 232 after a 77 followed by Laurea Duque (77-234), Daniella Uy (76-235), Miya Legaspi (79235), Rev Alcantara (82-237) and Lois Kaye Go (80-239).

Arevalo takes turn as leader with gutsy 71 in third round

KRISTOFFER AREVALO came out smoking from a thirdround battle of survival to craft a brave 71 and find himself a bewildered leader in the International Container Terminal Services Inc. Apo Golf Classic Thursday.

Navigating through the intricate layout, Arevalo was atop the leaderboard filled with big names at two-over 218, one stroke ahead of reigning Philippine Golf Tour Order of Merit winner Jhonnel Ababa and another shot clear of three other contenders.

The unpredictable nature of the course has seen a new leader emerge every day since the start of the 2.5 million championship—kickoff leg of this year’s 10-leg circuit.

Despite the pressure of being ahead, the 24-year-old Arevalo remained remarkably composed.

“Honestly, I don’t feel any pressure,” a confident Arevalo said. “One thing I’ve learned from winning many tournaments while growing up is just to just play, literally play.”

“If pressure comes in, it will really affect me,” he said. “But if I play

triumph in the Memorial Josip Gasparac in Croatia behind a new meet record of 5.8 meters and followed it up with another gold medal at the ISTAF Indoor Meet in Berlin with a season’s best 5.93m effort.

Obiena’s twin conquests was the highlight for a success-filled February for Filipinos in many fronts.

Multi-titled cuemaster Lee Van Corteza and reigning world 10-ball queen Chezka Centeno made it a clean sweep for the country in the Las Vegas Open.

Corteza edged Biado for the men’s crown, 4-2, 4-3, while Centeno outclassed Chinese Chen Siming, 4-2, 4-2, for the title in the distaff side.

my game, I won’t feel any [pressure].”

Arevalo faces stiff competition from Ababa and a charging Guido van der Valk.

Ababa mounted a strong recovery from a challenging round, posting four birdies against a bogey in the last seven holes to stay firmly in contention at 219 despite a 76.

Van der Valk, on the other hand, pressed his bid with a 73 highlighted by a birdie on No. 18, tying Jay Bayron, who carded a 74, and Korean Minwook, who also shot a 76, at 220.

Van der Valk joindd Ababa and Arevalo in the final round, while Bayron, Minwook and Keanu Jahns clash in the second-to-last group in what looms to be a wild final round test of will and character.

Jahns, who finished second to Tony Lascuña here in 2019, also battled back with a 72 to tie Lascuña, who floundered with a 76 after a 70, and Korean Hyun Ho Rho, who shot a second

straight 73, at 221, while Zanieboy Gialon took solo ninth at 222, also after a four-over card.

Mars Pucay, who forced a six-way logjam at the top at four-over total with three birdies in the first six holes, slowed down with three bogeys in the last 12, finishing with a 72 for joint 10th at 223 with Marvin Dumandan, who fired a 70. In the midst of intense competition, Arevalo emphasizes the importance of proper nutrition to sustain his performance on the demanding course.

“I would bring sandwiches and cold drinks. It’s hot out there and I need to stick to my routine,” Arevalo said.

Approaching the final round with excitement, he remains focused on his game plan, acknowledging the unpredictability of golf and the challenges that lie ahead.

Top lady boxer Nesthy Petecio sparked a four-gold haul in the Boxam Elite Tournament in La Murcia, Spain—Petecio dominated the women’s featherweight, while Rogen Ladon (men’s flyweight), Aira Villegas (women’s lightfly) and Hergie Bacyadan (women’s middleweight) did the same in their respective divisions.

Gilas Pilipinas kicked off the Tim Cone era with a two-game sweep of the opening window of the FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers. Cone’s Gilas 12 demolished Hong Kong on the road, 94-64, then walloped Chinese Taipei at the PhilSports Arena, 106-53, to lead Group B.

It’s called

“I don’t know if I’m really playing well, but I’m not going to dwell on the fact that I’m leading. I’m just going to continue executing my game plan,” said Arevalo, who made four cuts in seven tournaments in his rookie season last year.

2 teams share lead in Southwoods

IN-FORM  Shinichi Suzuki fueled another potential title charge at the Southwoods Invitational with new partner Yoshikazu Hino as the duo produced 90 points to tie Rolly Tolores and Faustito Caballero Jr. after the completion of the first round in Carmona, Cavite, Thursday.

Suzuki, a key member of the Manila Southwoods squad that clinched its ninth championship in the recent Philippine Airlines Interclub, and Hino flourished in the Best Ball format play at the Masters where they matched the Tolores-Caballero tandem’s 90-point output under the Stableford Points scoring system.

Suzuki captured the overall gross team championship last year with Teruhisa Taguchi.

They led by two points over Joseph Tambunting and Derek Ramsay and Raul Magpantay and Manny Rubio, who posted identical

88s in Division I in the last of two batches competing in the 36-hole tournament which boasted a record 325 teams.

Batch 1 resumes play Friday in sequential tee times also at 6 a.m. while the second batch will complete their 36-hole round on Saturday in a shotgun style format at 7 a.m.

Theody Pascual and Ferdie Barbosa scored 86 points for fifth in the premier category while Batch I top scorers Kazuo Murakami and Renie Floro slipped to joint sixth with 84 points alongside the pairs of Jaco Yupangco-Raffy Ocampo and Michael Chan-Tomas Pohang.

Meanwhile, three tandems shared the Division II lead, highlighting the competitiveness among the competing teams in the host club’s centerpiece tournament backed by Platinum sponsors CWC International Corp., Calamba Doctors Hospital and Calamba Doctors College.

MRI test up for Paalam’s bad shoulder

CBy Josef Ramos

ARLO PAALAM’S right shoulder will undergo a

wrestled him to the canvas in the Olympic qualifier early this week in Busto Arsizio, Italy. “It’s very frustrating but I need to rest and recover then see the effect of this injury,” the 25-year-old two-time Southeast Asian Games gold medalist said. “Nobody expected this, it’s purely an accident,” Paalam also injured his left shoulder in his silver medalclinching campaign in Tokyo, but has recovered since although he had to adjust from a flyweight to featherweight as he

tries to return to the Olympics. Doctors at the Saint Luke’s Medical Center in Bonifacio Global City will supervise the test.

“There are parts in my shoulder that hurts although I can still move or stretch,” he said. “But I think there’s no fracture.”

His coaches opted Paalam to discontinue his round-of-16 bout with Turkmenistan’s Shukur Ovezov so as not to aggravate the njury.

“My opponent targeted my shoulder and I couldn’t punch,” he said. “My right hand can do a lot but I couldn’t use it.”

Paalam needed one more victory in Busto Arsizio to return to the Games along with fellow Tokyo silver medalist Nesthy Petecio and Olympics firsttimer Aira Villegas.

Paalam will fly home to Cagayan de Oro City to visit his family and rest.

“I have to go back to to see my baby and my wife to be motivated and inspired to reach the Olympics again,” said Paalam, referring to his wife Earl Shane and nine-month-old Carlshay Celeste.

Bangkok will host the final qualifier for Paris from May 23 to June 3.

WORLD Aquatics president Captain Husain Al-Musallam (left) with Philippine Aquatics Inc. president Michael Vargas (left) and secretary-general Rep. Eric Buhain.