BusinessMirror March 20, 2023

ETERNAL IN MISAMIS Eternal Gardens celebrated the groundbreaking of its 12th memorial park in Barangay Patag, Opol, Misamis Oriental on March 18, 2023. Present at the event were local government officials: 2nd District of Misamis Oriental Rep. Yevgeny “Bambi” B. Emano (sixth from left), Opol Mayor Jayfrancis D. Bago (eight from left), Assistant Director of Rep. Lordan Suan, Roberto “Bert” Amplayo Jr. (fifth from right), former Cagayan de Oro Mayor and Rep. Constantino “Tinnex” Jaraula (fourth from right), Sangguniang Bayan member and chairman of the Land Development Committee Danilo Daroy Sr. (second from right) and Brgy. Patag, Opol chairman Hermito B. Laid (third from right). Also in photo are: Eternal Gardens Executive Officers: Chairman and CEO D. Edgard A. Cabangon (seventh from left), Vice Chairman Benjamin V. Ramos (first from right), President Numeriano B. Rodrin (third from left), VP for Finance Marvin C. Timbol (fourth from left), VP for Sales & Marketing Jose Antonio V. Rivera (first from left), Assistant VP for Engineering & Project Development Engr. Niño S. Sayco (second from left), and Cagayan de Oro Branch Manager Amor Leodones (fifth from left). Full story on A12.

Govt overshoots tariff collection goals–BOC

THE national government exceeded its tariff collection targets for the first quarter of 2023, according to the Bureau of Customs (BOC).

T he BOC reported over the weekend that tariffs collected by the government exceeded the target by P13.951 billion during the January 1 to March 13 period. Total collection reached P166.973 billion. The government’s goal was to collect P153 billion.

Of (this amount), P68.6 billion was garnered in the first month of Commissioner (Bienvenido) Rubio’s term,” the BOC said.

Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno earlier expressed his support for the BOC but he also challenged the agency to set “loftier targets.”

I challenge the Bureau of Customs to set a fresh vision and even loftier targets. I believe that you have what it

takes to become a modern and worldclass institution,” Diokno said in a statement.

B ecause of this, Rubio said the agency will implement five priority programs led by efforts to digitalize customs processes and hit or even surpass its targets.

T he programs will also include simplifying procedures and facilitate secure trade; curbing smuggling in all forms; and uplifting employee welfare and development.

R ubio bared these programs at the Stakeholders’ Night event to recognize their contributions to fulfilling the BOC’s mandates and present his plans and programs for the agency.

The Five-Point Priority Program is the testament of our commitment to improving efficiency, upgrading systems and processes, and promoting integrity and professionalism,” he said.

T he BOC also announced the creation

of an Advisory Council, which will be the official forum for communications and consultations between the Bureau and the business community.

A mong its intended functions is to assist the Commissioner in achieving excellent delivery of customs policies and services and identifying obstacles in trade facilitation that result in delays and unnecessary costs.

A side from plugging revenue leakages, the BOC attributes its success to its importers, who had fully complied with their payable duties and taxes, contributing to the positive collection performance of the agency.

T he BOC awarded its 2022 top importers during the event. Among those recognized were Petron Corporation, Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp., Toyota Motor Philippines Corp., Unioil Petroleum Philippines Inc., and Seaoil Philippines Inc., to name a few. Cai U.

By Cai U. Ordinario @caiordinario

THE country’s debt service payments last year amounted to P1.293 trillion, the highest in 36 years, based on data from the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr).

P rior to 2022, the largest debt payment was recorded in 2021 while the lowest was posted in 1986, when it reached P34.813 billion, based on existing government data.

H owever, the debt service payments last year were slightly lower than the initial target of the government. For 2022, the government programmed debt payments to reach P1.298 trillion.

B Tr data indicated that amortizations rose 2.02 percent to P790.32 billion in 2022 from P774.64 billion in 2021.

However, the data showed that interest rates posted a 17.1 percent growth to P502.858 billion in 2022 from P429.432 billion in 2021.

I n December, debt service payments soared 331.67 percent to P302.125 billion in 2022 from the P69.989 billion posted in 2021.

T he surge in debt service payments was driven by the 505.97 percent growth in amortization payments which reached P258.52 billion in 2022 from P42.662 billion in 2021.

I nterest payments also rose 59.57 percent to P43.605 billion in December 2022 from P27.327 billion in December 2021.

T he BTr earlier reported that the Philippines ended 2022 with an outstanding debt of P13.418 trillion, 14.4 percent higher than the P11.728 trillion recorded in end-2021.

H istorical Treasury data showed that it was the highest end-December outstanding debt recorded by the Philippines.

However, the country’s outstanding obligation at the end of last year was below the national government’s (NG) projected debt stock level of P13.43 trillion for 2022.

SEAFOOD FEST Various marine animals are on sale in the fish port of Punta Taytay, Negros Occidental. The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources has assured consumers that the

will have enough fish supply during the Holy Week despite various "supply chain challenges," including the oil spill in Oriental Mindoro. NONIE REYES

SOLON: TAX RACKETEERING RESULTS IN REVENUE LOSS OF P100B

reau of Internal Revenue (BIR) announced the filing of charges for evasion of taxes worth P25.5 billion against corporations using fictitious receipts, following a December 2022 raid on the corporations Buildforce Trading Inc, Crazykitchen Foodtrade Corp., Decarich Supertrade Inc., Redington Corporation. BIR alleged that these corporations have been operating for more than three years.

See “Solon,” A2

‘Inflation, war pose risks to supply chain’

B

USINESSESand logistics providers will continue to grapple with rising consumer prices as well as the Ukraine-Russia conflict, according to officials from top local firms.

O fficials from companies, including Ace Hardware and United States-based multinational conglomerate Honeywell, and the Procurement and Supply Institute of Asia (PASIA) spoke about the impact of geopolitical tensions on the supply chain during a forum held last March 15 in Taguig City.

A rnel Gamboa, Vice President for Logistics at Ace Hardware, said geopolitical tensions, such as the war between Russia and Ukraine led to a sudden halt in the movement of goods, including rare earth metals, flour, oil and fuel. This, he said, had an immediate impact on supply chains and inventories.

“ If you look at strategic sourcing, that’s also going to be quite a problem because we cannot readily shift to alternative sources when you have something happening immediately,” Gamboa said.

He noted that it is also difficult to enforce contracts because during a war, “contracts are not enforced anymore.”

“ So if you have an artificial shortage of supply…what happens to your supply chain? You will have some scarcity and thereafter you see an increase in prices which I think all of us have experienced since last year,” he added.

T he BTr data indicated the country’s debt service payments in 2022 were 7.4 percent higher than the P1.2 trillion posted in 2021.

By Andrea E. San Juan

country

12-M arrivals ‘achievable’ by 2028, says DOT chief

By Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo @akosistellaBM Special to the BusinessMirror

THE Department of Tourism (DOT) is optimistic

Ferdinand

R. Marcos Jr. ends his term in 2028.

I n a chance interview, Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco confirmed to the BusinessMirror that the figure was “achievable”, coming from a 4.8-million target this year. S he presented the agency’s National Tourism Development Plan (NTDP) of 2023-2028 during the Tourism Stakeholders’ National Summit on March 15, but no annual targets for domes -

tic and foreign arrivals, inbound and domestic receipts, employment, etc. were revealed. Her office asserted those targets will be disclosed after President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. approves the NTDP, a blueprint of strategies that will transform the Philippines into a “tourism powerhouse of Asia.” S he reported 2022 to be a “fruitful year” for the Philippine

tourism industry, underscoring that international arrivals reached 2.65 million last year, exceeding the DOT’s initial target of 1.7 million foreign visitors.

Last year’s international arrivals generated an estimated P214 billion in inbound receipts, exceeding the target of P155.03 billion by 38 percent. Some 5.2 million tourism-related jobs have also been created in the past year, she said, “exceeding our goal of 4.9 million in 2022.”

Arrivals as of March 15

FRASCO sees the momentum for

inbound arrivals continuing as government maintains its policy of simplifying its arrival procedures in the country. International tourist arrivals reached 1.15 million as of March 15, this year. Foreign nationals accounted for 92 percent or 1.06 million of said arrivals, while overseas Filipinos (Philippine passport holders permanently residing abroad) accounted for the rest at 90,180, according to DOT data.

O f the total arrivals for the period, 304,601 came from South Korea; followed by 211,315 from the United States; 58,768 from Canada; 54,830 from Australia; and 49,887 from Japan. The rest of tourists came from Taiwan at 36,138; China at 33,311; the United Kingdom at 32,888; Singapore at 28,271; Malaysia at 20,434; Germany at 19,914; and France at 17,613.

M ost stakeholders welcomed the DOT’s unveiling presentation of the NTDP 2023-2028, but expected more “granular” details on how the plan’s goals will be achieved, along with its targets.

Philippine Hotel Owners Association managing director Benito C. Bengzon Jr. said, “We’re, of course, very happy that DOT has put together the NTDP for 20232028. As one of the stakeholders in the tourism industry, it’s important for us to have an idea of the strategic direction of the DOT. The Secretary gave a very comprehensive presentation on where Philippine tourism should go. It would be interesting to find out what the specific programs now will be, because what is going to be key, is the execution.”

H e added, “We’re happy that she talked about more sustainable, inclusive approach to tourism. We’re also happy that she acknowledged the areas that we have to work on when she reported on the index and how we scored. I think moving forward, it’s also important to determine what the priorities are, what are the current roadblocks while we’re working on a more strategic approach. It would be helpful if we can identify some of the reasons why the tourists are not coming in big numbers.”

Challenges to the industry

FOR Dr. Ivan Henares, chair of the Heritage Conservation Society: “I was looking forward to listening to technical presentations about the Plan, and hopefully an actual copy of the Plan itself. [Wednesday’s] program was mostly cultural performances.”

O ne tourism stakeholder, who requested anonymity, also wondered about the lack of targets in the DOT’s presentation. “Yes, we already know where we came from, but where are we going?” he asked.

I n her presentation, Frasco cited the many awards the Philippines and several of its key destinations have received recently. However, she noted some challenges to the tourism industry; for one, the Philippines ranked 75th out of 117 economies in the World Economic Forum’s (WEF)

Travel & Tourism Development Index 2021, slipping two places from its 2019 ranking. The Philippines also ranked sixth of eight Southeast Asian nations included in the survey, behind Vietnam but ahead of Laos.

I n the same report, the Philippines also ranked last in the WEF tourism development pillars of Business Environment, Safety and Security, and managing Tourism Demand Pressure and Impact.

“ These corporations do not have any legitimate business activity, and were set only to sell fictitious sales invoices or receipts to their buyers for the latter’s claim of false and anomalous purchases. These receipts or invoices are called ‘ghost receipts,’ and economists have called the practice ghosting the tax authority,” Salceda said.

According to the BIR, the fraudulent operations of these corporations have resulted in some P17.63 billion in foregone income taxes and total deficiency value added tax amounting to P7.91 billion, for taxable years 2019-2021,” he added.

Salceda said that while the crime of tax evasion is punished under the Tax Code, it does not define the systematic and coordinated evasion of taxes, “which in every essential manner is economic sabotage, going by the doctrine that taxes are the lifeblood of the State.”

“ Schemes such as these should be distinguished from the usual attempt to evade taxes precisely because they constitute a systematic attempt to dismantle the credibility of the entire tax system, and could not be committed without networks of accomplices across the business sector and among tax authorities,” he said.

“ Because of the scale of their operations, unlike individual acts of tax evasion, systematic attempts to use fictitious transactions to evade taxes could completely undermine the tax system,” he added.

Salceda’s proposal seeks to define the offense of tax racketeering as “any coordinated scheme or operation to repeatedly or consistently evade or defeat any tax imposed under this Code through the fraudulent use of receipts, returns, and other records, with a minimum amount of P10 million in taxes avoided or attempted to be avoided.”

T he proposal also defines being a principal in such an offense as non-bailable, and subject to 17 to 20 years in prison. Taxpayers who benefit from tax racketeering, including those who purchase fake receipts, shall be punished as accessories. Meanwhile, public officials who facilitate such activities shall be charged as accomplices and punished with perpetual disqualification from public office.

The stiffer penalties aim to be a deterrent to the commission of such crimes, as well as a tool for tax authorities to be able to prosecute such offenses in a manner distinct from usual tax evasion,” said Salceda.

This bill is a request from the BIR, which shows you that their commitment to fighting these schemes is sincere. We will take the proposal up as soon as we can, of course, without getting in the way of the BIR’s intelligence and crackdown operations,” said the lawmaker as he lauded BIR Commissioner Romeo Lumagui “for cracking down on big fish” on his first months in the post.

Brad Santiago, Country Business Leader of Honeywell, said the conflict in Eastern Europe is delaying the delivery of required goods.

P rior to the war in Ukraine and Russia and the pandemic, Santiago said companies can expect certain deliveries in 30 days.

“ These days it’s not the case already because sometimes you have to consider potential delays,” he said.

PASIA President Charlie Vil -

laseñor said developments in the international arena have resulted in “a lot of demand volatility.” It’s very hard to predict what’s going to be in demand and more importantly, what we hear from CEOs nowadays is the biggest problem that they’re actually facing is trying to make the products available…to be sustainably, be on inventory, to actually serve the market,” he said.

“ For December, the [national government’s] total outstanding debt decreased by P225.31 billion or 1.7 percent from the end-November 2022 level primarily due to the effect of local currency appreciation and the net redemption of domestic government securities,” the Treasury said in a statement.

The Treasury said the NG’s debt-toGDP ratio eased to 60.9 percent in endDecember 2022 from 63.7 percent in end-September 2022. Furthermore, the country’s end-2022 debt-to-GDP ratio was lower than the 61.8 percent target under the NG’s medium-term

fiscal framework (MTFF). However, the end-2022 debt-toGDP ratio was slightly higher than the 60.4 percent recorded ratio in end-2021, based on historical Treasury data. This reflects the consistent drive to bolster debt sustainability through prudent cash and debt management backed by resurgent economic growth,” the Treasury said. Under the MTFF, the NG aims to bring down the debt-to-GDP ratio to less than 60 percent by 2025 and further down to 51.1 percent by 2028.

The IRR violates the equal protection clause of the constitution. It has a provision which is discriminatory as it penalizes employees who have been impacted by the massive termination by preventing them from being reemployed in the public service for five years,” Mangalindan said.

T he workers, who will be affected, were previously employed by a private manpower agency

contracted by DFPC until the Supreme Court ordered for their regularization since they were victims of illegal labor-only contracting.

T he reorganization plan was supposed to have taken effect last year but it was postponed upon the intervention of Tourism Secretary Christina G. Frasco. DFPC is a GOCC attached to the Department of Tourism.

“As market conditions and the modality of the transaction may have changed since then, the PCC remains open to notification consultation with parties to ensure proper and timely review of transactions,” the PCC said.

T he watchdog added: “The competition authority’s mandate is to evaluate the effect of acquisitions in relevant markets and its effects on consumers, such as whether the transaction will result in fewer choices and lesser competition.”

that international arrivals could reach 12 million by the time President

FRASCO

Speaker to resource persons: Tell the truth, or do prison time

HOUSE Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez on Sunday vowed to incarcerate anyone who will lie to the House Committee on Agriculture and Food.

T his, as the panel resumes its inquiry on Tuesday into the hoarding of agricultural products seen to have induced the skyrocketing of prices of onion and other products as well.

In a statement, Romualdez said lawmakers are working to unmask unscrupulous financiers and traders behind the onion and vegetable cartel in its hearings, as they have demonstrated their resolve by citing in contempt and detaining three officials of Argo International Forwarders Inc. for refusing to cooperate with their investigation.

According to Rep. Mark Enverga of Quezon Province, who is also chair of the House Committee on Agriculture and Food, the citation for contempt was lifted after the three assured the panel that they would cooperate and submit documents that could help establish price manipulation of onion, as well as provide leads to the identity of the cartel’s leaders.

I cannot stress enough for these resource persons the importance of cooperating with the committee: lie to lawmakers, and you will all find yourselves in jail,” warned Romualdez, as he pointed out that the committee’s mission is to reduce the prices of onions and dismantle the vegetable cartel.

“ We need to lower the prices of onions and decimate the cartel [as soon as] possible,” he added. “And I guarantee the imprisonment of those exploitative, abusive individuals and business owners behind the cartel. Our constituents need an immediate reprieve from the high prices of agricultural goods.” Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz

The Nation

Barzaga, Villafuerte call for ‘word war’ cessation as Lower House eases Senate qualms on ‘Cha-cha’

By Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz @joveemarie

ASENIOR lawmaker has called for a discourse among congressional leaders as a means to end the Charter change (Cha-cha) “word war” between the House of Representatives and Senate.

Rep. Elpidio Barzaga Jr. of Cavite appealed to House and Senate leaders to observe parliamentary courtesy, as he said differences in their opinions on the Charter change initiative could have been avoided had the Senate first voted on the measure before announcing that it does not have the numbers to push for such.

According to Barzaga, the word war started when Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri said the delay in the implementing guidelines’ enforcement of three laws: the Public Service Act, Retail Trade Liberalization, and Foreign Investment Act, appeared to be caused by the Lower House's push to revise the Constitution’s economic provisions.

“

It’s not our fault [that there was a] delay in the enforcement of the implementing guidelines of the three laws. The heads of the chambers of the lawmaking body are quarreling before the public,” Barzaga told Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers Friday on the latter’s radio program. “The issuance of the implementing guidelines of the aforementioned three laws is the act of the executive independent of the action of the House, and also of the Senate.”

Barzaga, one of the lawmakers calling for the amendments to the “restrictive” economic provisions of

the Constitution, said the House is in a hurry to have the initiative approved, as it wants to save money by holding the election of Constitutional Convention (Con-Con) delegates simultaneously with the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections in October.

T he administration lawmaker recalled that the delegates who crafted the 1973 Constitution were elected simultaneously with the 1971 local elections.

I f the Senate really does not have the numbers, Zubiri could have just ordered Sen. Robinhood Padilla not to proceed with the public hearings anymore, as it will only be a “waste of time.”

Barzaga felt that instead of prematurely announcing that it does not have the numbers, the Senate leadership should have just waited for the Senate Committee on Constitutional Amendments chaired by Padilla to vote on the Cha-cha measure in the committee level and if approved, debates and discussion shall be made in the plenary later on.

T he solon also defended the neophyte senator from critics questioning the former actor’s qualifications to head his panel, saying there is no rule that the chair of the Constitutional Amendments Committee must be a lawyer.

W hile the House Resolution 6 of both houses calls for the election of Con-con delegates to exclusively discuss amendments to the economic provisions, House leaders have admitted that no one can stop the delegates from introducing political amendments once the body is convened.

‘Ball now with Senate’ WITH the House’s overwhelming formal support for immediate constitutional reform, Representative LRay Villafuerte of Camarines Sur said “the ball is now in the Senate’s court” on whether the bicameral Congress is ready to help sustain the Philippines’s post-Covid economic growth momentum by ditching the 1987 Charter’s antiquated provisions that have been choking foreign direct investment (FDIs) streams for boosting economic activity and generating jobs.

“Given the supermajority vote in the House for both the resolution and its accompanying implementing on constitutional reform via the ConCon (Constitutional Convention) route, the ball is now in the Senate’s court on whether to consider fixing in timely fashion the anachronistic economic provisions of the Constitution that have for long put a dampener on FDI inflows,” Villafuerte said.

“Our senators need to give this latest constitutional reform initiative a chance,” he insisted, “if only out of consideration for the passage in quick succession by the House of Representatives of the resolution establishing a Con-Con to propose economic amendments to the 1987 Charter, and the accompanying bill on its operational details such as the composition of the would-be framers and the election of delegates to coincide with the October 30 balloting for barangay and SK officials.”

T he congressman was referring to the approval on third and final reading by 301, or almost all of the chamber’s 314 members last March 8 of Resolution of Both Houses (RBH) No. 6, and by the same number of

votes last March 14 of House Bill (HB) 7352, which is meant to be the implementing law for the former.

We have done our part in the House with the nearly 96-percent vote for RHB 6 and HB 7352,” he said. “It is now up to our senators to consider the Con-Con option in time for the selection of the elective delegates in a balloting to coincide with the polls for barangay and SK officials due on October 30.”

T he House-approved resolution and companion bill provide for a hybrid Con-Con with 251 members, comprising elective delegates at one delegate each for the country’s congressional districts, and appointive members to be chosen by the Senate President and Speaker to represent the judiciary, business, academe, farmers and fisherfolk, military, women and youth, senior citizens and persons with disabilities, as well as other basic sectors.

‘It’s for the economy…’

FOR Villafuerte, “a timely consideration of the Charter Change proposal now pending with the Senate committee on constitutional amendments will reveal to our people whether senators are indeed lukewarm about constitutional reform, as claimed by Zubiri, or a majority of them actually share our conviction that FDI inflows will remain sluggish despite our country’s status as one of the region’s outperforming economies post-pandemic, for so long as we hold on to the constitutional limits on foreign ownership or participation in Philippine businesses.”

He claimed the timely consideration of the Con-con proposal will

give the Commission on Elections (Comelec) enough time to hold the election of delegates simultaneously with the barangay and SK polls on October 3, and will be on target with HB 7352’s plan for the would-be ConCon to convene from November 30, 2023 to June 30, 2024.

However, in case the Charter Change proposal via the Con-Con route cannot muster enough votes, “we in the House would respect such a decision by a majority of our senators, and let this latest initiative on constitutional reform ‘kick the bucket,’” Villafuerte declared.

Zubiri said the other weekend that constitutional reform is not a priority in the Senate, because even if “I were to push it…truth is…we don’t have the numbers for Charter change.”

D espite assurances by some House members that they only want to amend the 1987 Charter’s restrictive economic provisions that discourage investors, Zubiri said: “We cannot control the flow of discussions among Con-Con delegates” once it is set up, and stop the framers from introducing changes to abolish the Senate and form a unicameral form of government.

Villafuerte allayed Zubiri’s fears of a possible switch from the current bicameral Congress to a unicameral legislature, in appealing to the Senate President and his other colleagues to have “open hearts and minds” on badly-needed constitutional reforms, as “the Con-Con proposal in the House neither has a hidden agenda to marginalize them in the voting on would-be amendment proposals, nor to abolish the Senate.”

Senate Blue Ribbon panel pressed to probe LTO’s ₧3.19-B IT project

SENATE Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel III is seeking an investigation on an alleged “undue payment” of the Land Transportation Office (LTO) connected to a P3.19-billion Road information technology (IT) infrastructure project.

T he senator has asked the Upper Chamber’s Blue Ribbon Committee to immediately act on his submitted resolution.

“It’s about time that the Blue Ribbon Committee conducts this muchneeded investigation into the details of this LTO contract,” Pimentel said.

Filed in August last year, Senate Resolution 147 seeks for a probe

on the LTO’s undue payment to the joint venture of Dermalog Identification System, Holy Family Printing Corp., as well as Microgenesis and Verzontal Builders, as he cited certain provisions of the law that “issuances are explicit in providing that as a general rule, no payment shall be made for services not yet rendered, or for supplies and materials not yet delivered under any contract with the government.”

T he solon pointed to Clause 10 of the General Conditions of the Contract (GCC) of the standard Philippine Bidding Documents for Goods that state: “Payments shall

be made only upon a certification by the [head of the procuring entity, to the effect that the goods have been rendered or delivered in accordance with the terms of this contract,] and have been duly inspected and accepted.”

He added that “10 percent of the amount of each payment shall be retained by the [procuring entity to cover the supplier’s warrant obligations under this contract,] as described in GCC Clause 17.”

In its 2021 Consolidated Annual Audit Report for the Department of Transportation, the Commission on Audit flagged the LTO “for the

PHL, Japan solidify security cooperation through SOFA

By Rene Acosta @reneacostaBM

THE proposed security agreement between Japan and the Philippines, which President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. brought out during his visit to Tokyo last month, is moving into full steam, as it was again discussed during the meeting of the military chiefs of the two countries over the weekend.

T he Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), which Marcos eyed between Manila and Tokyo, and will allow militaries of the two countries to conduct joint patrols and hold bilateral military training, was among the focus of the discussions between the Armed Forces of the Philippines Chief of Staff Gen. Andres Centino and Gen. Koji Yamazaki, who is the chief of the Japan Self Defense Forces.

Centino led a military delegation that attended the Defense and Security Equipment International (DSEI)-Japan—the only large-scale, fully integrated defense event that has ever taken place in the said Asian country held from March 4 to 17.

Military public affairs office chief Col. Jorry Baclor said that while in

Japan, Centino held high-level twoway talks with Yamazaki, as they tackled regional concerns.

“The two chiefs of defense discussed issues of mutual concern in the areas of maritime cooperation and defense, capability development, and the proposed Reciprocal Access Agreement or a SOFA, which will pave the way for more enhanced training and exercises between the [two countries],” Baclor said.

W hile Japan has been actively assisting the Philippines in the areas of maritime domain awareness, humanitarian assistance and disaster response, both cannot engage in actual military training because of the absence of an agreement.

Tokyo has been joining the “Balikatan”—the biggest annual military exercises between the United States and the Philippines, as an observer.

During his official visit to Japan early last month Marcos brought out the idea of a stronger military cooperation between Tokyo and Manila by eyeing for a security agreement. Both countries are facing an aggressive China in the East and South China Sea/West Philippine Sea (WPS).

Earlier the US said it will resume

joint patrols with the Philippines—a move that Australia wanted to duplicate, also with Manila. The Philippines has an existing Visiting Forces Agreement or VFA with Washington, and a Status of Visiting Forces Agreement or SOVFA with Canberra.

Baclor said that Centino also met with Gen. Yoshihide Yoshida, who is the chief of the Japan Ground SelfDefense Forces. Both discussed future partnerships and collaboration between the Philippine Army and the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force.

The meeting culminated with the traditional exchange of pleasantries, [with] Gen. Yamazaki's assurance to Gen. Centino of Japan's friendship and assistance on common security issues together with other like-minded countries in promoting a rules-based international order in the WPS to ensure a free and open Indo-Pacific,” Baclor said.

“For his part, Gen. Centino thanked Gen. Yamazaki for the genuine friendship and assistance in the ongoing capability development in the AFP, and for being one of the country's strongest allies when it comes to security [as well as] other economic and developmental activities,” he added.

undue payment given to the foreign information technology (IT) contractor Dermalog, despite incomplete turnover for the P3.19-billion Road IT Infrastructure project.”

Pimentel, in the resolution, also revealed various “unresolved issues” that have disruptions in the operations of various LTO sites, including the slow processing of documents in getting a driver’s license and its renewal, “as well as registration of vehicles, which have been attributed to its new IT system.”

T he minority leader saw the urgency in conducting an inquiry amid reports that two vehicles bearing the

same plate numbers were registered in the foreign-made IT platform of the LTO’s Land Transportation Management System (LTMS).

T hat was not the first time the system had alleged inaccuracies in its database after an individual was prohibited from renewing his driver’s license due to a motorcycle violation reflected in his LTMS account.

In an interview with GMA’s 24 Oras in August 2022, Leonyl Salvador said he was surprised to see an unpaid motorcycle violation in the LTMS which allegedly happened in Iloilo way back 2018.

S alvador claimed he does not drive a motorcycle, nor had ever been to Iloilo.

I n October 2022 the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority was shocked when it found out that a towed rundown truck had a valid LTO registration, which prompted the agency to investigate how wornout vehicles can pass the registration process without being detected in the LTMS.

T he LTMS is part of the P3.19billion Road IT Infrastructure project awarded to the joint venture of German IT firm Dermalog and its local partners in May 2018.

Vittorio V. Vitug

Communities harmed by oil spill entitled to reparation from tanker owner–solon

damage are legally responsible for

(1) Costs incurred in cleanup operations at sea or on shore, including expenses for preventive measures;

(2) Consequential loss or loss of earnings suffered by owners or users of property contaminated or damaged; (3) Pure economic loss or loss of earnings sustained by people, even if the property contaminated or damaged does not belong to them; (4) Damage to human health or loss of life; and

Rep. Johnny Pimentel of Surigao del Sur said on Sunday that “the law imposes strict liability for pollution damage resulting from spills of persistent oil from tankers, and ensures compensation for those who suffer economic losses or incur costs due to the toxic discharges.”

Pimentel, who is a member of the Lower House’s ecology committee

stated that “we expect the oil tanker’s owner to be swamped with compensation claims from individuals and entities harmed by the spill—including those forced to conduct their own cleanup activities.”

Under the Oil Pollution Compensation Law of 2007, or Republic Act 9483, Pimentel said owners of tankers that cause oil-pollution

(5) Environmental damages and measures of restoration.

MT Princess Empress was carrying 800,000 liters of industrial oil when it sank off the coast of Naujan, Oriental Mindoro on February 28, which caused a widespread oil spill into the Tablas Strait.

O wned by RDC Reield Marine

Services, the ill-fated oil tanker was sailing to Iloilo from Bataan when it experienced engine trouble and sank.

A t least 10 municipalities in the provinces of Oriental Mindoro and Antique are now under a state of calamity due to the spill that has affected more than 143,000 people including 14,000 fisherfolk, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council.

Dozens of people have also fallen ill due to oil toxicity, with at least 55 kilometers of shoreline already spoiled by the spill.

President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. has instructed the Philippine Coast Guard and other agencies to intensify their containment and cleanup operations.

BARMM receives fresh wave of agriculture, food biz funding

By Manuel T. Cayon Mindanao Bureau Chief

DAVAO CITY—The Bangsam-

oro Region recently had two new investments worth P129 million, which could generate 122 new jobs for local residents.

T he Bangsamoro Board of Investments-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BBOI-BARMM) said the investors were M&R Layer Poultry Farm and Timako Bay Seafood Resto, with total investments of P129,846,100.

M&R Layer Poultry Farm is an agricultural and agribusiness producer of halal egg production located at Barangay Buliok, Sultan Mastura, Maguindanao. It has a total project

cost of P107,346,100, and would need 92 workers.

The proponent is involved in commercial egg production of layer poultry farms.

“This is the second approved investment of the BBOI that focused on halal industry. BARMM is now in the process of developing and promoting halal industries as a mode of achieving equity and justice among our farmers and producers, and increasing employment opportunities for the domestic labor force,” said Minister Abuamri A. Taddik of the Ministry of Trade, Investment and Tourism.

Taddik said the region would make the practice of halal more

‘4PH’ to spur local economy, generate jobs–CamSur solon

By Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz @joveemarie

ASENIOR lawmaker on Sunday said the massive construction of housing units under the national government’s “Pambansang Pabahay Para sa Pilipino (4PH)” program is expected to generate an estimated P6-billion to P8-billion worth of local economic activity and create thousands of jobs.

P resident Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. recently broke ground on a trailblazing, high-rise mass-housing project with 10,000 units combined in Camarines Sur, which is the first such joint venture that the administration has undertaken in partnership with a provincial local government unit (LGU) under the “4PH” program, according to Rep. LRay Villafuerte.

T he solon noted that the 4PH housing project, once completed, will boast the tallest structure in Bicol at 25 storeys—higher than the current tallest building in the region, which is just 20 storeys tall.

“ This is the first province to ground-break this program, according to the DHSUD [Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development],” explained Villafuerte.

H e said the groundbreaking ceremony for the 12 residential towers—each rising 25 floors high in Naga City—highlighted

Marcos’s day-long visit in the province last Thursday, which also included the launching of a “Kadiwa ng Pangulo” outlet, a visit to a coconut-processing center, and the distribution of assorted government assistance to farmers and fisherfolk, small-scale entrepreneurs, flood victims and other local beneficiaries.

T he Chief Executive aims to close the housing gap—estimated at over 6 million homes—by building 1 million 4PH homes each year over his six-year term.

Villafuerte said that, given the DHSUD plan to build 6 million homes and the President’s P9-trillion infrastructure program, he had told the department that the government would be needing thousands of skilled laborers such as carpenters, plumbers, painters and welders for these projects.

T he housing complex in Naga City is the first national-LGU partnership project under the 4PH that the DHSUD has entered into with a provincial government, the congressman shared.

T he Home Development Mutual Fund, or “Pag-IBIG” has set aside P250 billion for the entire 4PH undertaking.

A s of March this year the DHSUD has separately signed four memoranda of agreement, and 83 memoranda of understanding with LGUs across the country.

competitive “through, among others, research and product development, quality-assurance measures [and] value-adding mechanisms, thereby making BARMM an active player in regional and international markets of halal products.”

The Timako Bay Seafood Resto, on the other hand, is a tourism-related facility and attraction located in Kalanganan II, Cotabato City, with a total project cost of P22,500,000 and would hire 30 laborers.

“The proponent aims to come up with a ‘halal restaurant by the beach’-type of ambiance,” Taddik added. “The restaurant will serve satisfying and savory seafood dishes. It will also offer catering services, and a function hall that can accommodate

By Jonathan L. Mayuga @jonlmayuga

ALOCAL waste-and-pollution watchdog on Sunday warned the public against buying cosmetics containing mercury that are being sold over the counter in the Philippines, despite already being banned in the United States.

E coWaste Coalition revealed that it had purchased 11 skinlightening products made in China, Pakistan and Thailand that were among those found to contain mercury by health authorities in the states of California, Minnesota and New York. Said cosmetic items were eventually banned in the US, but are still being sold online and in several local cosmetic outlets.

We obtained the items from cosmetic stores and from online sellers during our market monitoring,” revealed Aileen Lucero, who is the coalition’s national coordinator.

Minamata Convention sets 2020 as the “date after which the manufacture, import or export of the product shall not be allowed.”

“Six of these products are already covered by separate health advisories issued by the…Food and Drug Authority warning consumers against buying and using them,” she added. Among these 11 mercury-tainted products are five Pakistan-made cosmetics: Chandni Whitening Cream, Faiza Beauty Cream, Golden Pearl Beauty Cream, Goree Beauty Cream, and Sandal Beauty Cream. They were identified by the New York City Health Department as containing the lethal chemical.

a maximum of 200 persons.”

According to Datu Habib Ambolodto, who is a member of the BBOI-BARMM Board of Governors: “The coronavirus pandemic [has] had a devastating impact on the restaurant industry. Hopefully, this registration will significantly increase the possibilities of putting up restaurants to boost the economy of the region.”

“BBOI will exert more effort in promoting investments by conducting BARMM-wide Strategic Investment Priorities Plan consultations, and will even go out of its way to attract investors through business coaching and investment facilitation,” said BBOI-BARMM chair Mohamad Omar Pasigan.

“Based on the chemical screening we conducted, the items are contaminated with high levels of mercury ranging from 2,230 to 58,400 parts per million—way above the global limit of 1 ppm.”

“ Ten of these products were produced in 2021 or 2022, or after the global phase-out in 2020 of mercuryadded cosmetics such as skin-lightening products,” Lucero explained, “in clear defiance of the requirements of the Minamata Convention on mercury, as well as the Asean Cosmetic Directive (ACD).”

T he ACD lists mercury and its compounds among the “substances which must not form part of the composition of cosmetic products,” a decision adopted by the Asean Cosmetic Committee in 2007, while the

A lso sold locally are four Thailandproduced items with mercury: 88 Total White Underarm Cream, Meyyong Seaweed Super Whitening, Polla Gold Super White, and Snow White Armpit Whitening Underarm Cream. They were among those found to contain mercury by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and the Minnesota Department of Health.

A ccording to the latter: “Skinlightening products are rooted in colorism defined as discrimination that privileges light-skinned people over people with darker skin,” then warned that “skin lightening products may contain toxic chemicals (such as mercury, hydroquinone and/or steroids) that can negatively impact the consumer’s health and family living in the same space, such as children or elders.”

T he group also procured two China-made Jiaoli Miraculous Cream and Jiaoli 7-Day Specific Eliminating Freckle AB Set, which were among those tested and found to contain mercury by the California Department of Health (CDH).

DOLE reprograms listing of firms engaged in contractual hiring

By Samuel P. Medenilla @sam_medenilla

TO streamline the registration of firms engaged in contractual arrangements, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) has rechanneled the said processing to its Bureau of Local Employment (BLE).

Under DOLE’s Labor Advisory (LA) No. 5, Series of 2023, Labor Secretary Bienvenido E. Laguesma mandated “to establish and maintain a registration and/or licensing system to regulate private-sector participation in the recruitment and placement of workers.”

Prior to the said issuance, the La-

bor Department’s Bureau of Working Condition (BWC) maintained the said registration.

“The BLE has already initiated improvements in ensuring that the clients who will apply for noncoverage [of Department Order (DO) 174] will be served in the most efficient manner,” Laguesma told BusinessMirror in a text message.

DO 174 contains guidelines for permissible and nonpermissible contractualization.

LA 5, according to the head of DOLE, also aims to consolidate the agency’s policy-making initiatives for contractualization.

“With the BLE principally responsible for policy formulation

and managing both contracting arrangements and private employment agencies, the bureau will have a more direct and comprehensive approach to local employment regulation,” the labor chief explained.

“Consolidation will be very helpful in ensuring policies will be insync and contributory in timely and properly responding to the needs and concerns of both workers and employers,” he added.

He however noted that LA 5 will not affect the processing of applications for registration for firms with contractual arrangements, which would still be handled by DOLE’s regional offices.

According to him, the regional offices will also retain the responsibility of inspecting and monitoring such companies, as well as the revocation or cancellation of their registration for contractual employment, if needed.

In the previous administration, DOLE adopted a tough stance for contractual employment resulting in the issuance of DO 174 and Department Circular No. 01, Series of 2017, which clarified the application of the former’s provisions. It also launched a crackdown against companies implementing illegal contractualization, which benefited at least 800,000 workers as of July 2021.

Solon bats for P1/kWh more for ‘Lifeline’ consumers, as high inflation persists

By Butch Fernandez @butchfBM

TO offer people more breathing space amid lingering high commodity prices, Senator Sherwin Gatchalian recently proposed for the government to provide an additional subsidy of P1/kWh for low-income consumers, or a total of P418 million, to be sourced from the general appropriations fund.

With the effectivity of the “Lifeline Rate Extension Act” authored mainly by Gatchalian, a “lifeliner” in Metro Manila was able to save an average of P194.36 in February of last year, and even as high as P223.34

in the same month this year—an increase of 14.91 percent due to high inflation rates.

According to the senator’s estimates, savings incurred by beneficiaries in the previous month would have afforded them to buy 5.6 kilograms of rice based on the average retail price of regular-milled rice of P39.195 per kilogram, per data from the Philippine Statistics Authority.

However, with the additional P1/kWh from the government that the lawmaker is pitching, lifeline consumers can save an average of P296.67 every month. This can buy a family 7.5 kilos of rice, he said.

“ We’re glad that many of our people are getting relief from the law we pushed on the electricity lifeline rate,” Gatchalian said, mostly in Filipino. “But we can help them further bolster savings to cover their other needs, while high inflation rates persist.”

The lifeline rate subsidy has provided relief for 4.181 million households identified as beneficiaries of the “Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program” across the country. To qualify for the subsidy, beneficiaries of the 4Ps need to consume not more than 100-kilowatt hours of electricity per month.

O f the total number of beneficiaries, 209,210 households are in

Metro Manila.

T he subsidy is provided under Republic Act 11552, or the “Act Extending and Enhancing the Implementation of the Lifeline Rate, amending for the purpose Section 73 of Republic Act 9136, or the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001.”

T he country’s inflation rate in February 2023 eased a bit to 8.6 percent from 8.7 percent in January, but is still the highest in Southeast Asia. Energy remained one of the top contributors to inflation, accounting for 1.0 percentage point. In February 2022 the country’s inflation was just at 3 percent.

1st ‘Kadiwa ng Pangulo’ in Bicol posts ₧1.21-M record in sales

MALACAÑANG on Sunday announced that the very first “Kadiwa ng Pangulo (KNP)” outlet in the Bicol Region has so far generated more than P1 million in sales.

T he Presidential Communications Office (PCO) said the KNP stalls

in Pili, Camarines Sur were able to reach a total P431,162 on its first day, and P780,912 on the second.

“More Filipino sellers and consumers are enjoying the benefits of the [KNP] program of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s administration, as the outlet launched in Pili,

Camarines Sur has generated around P1.2 million in sales,” the PCO said.

As of late, the Marcos administration has launched more than 500 KNP outlets nationwide.

T he PCO likewise announced that the one in Cebu City has tallied total receipts amounting to P931,329.

Earlier this month the Chief Executive led the launch of a special stall dubbed “KNP Para sa Manggagawa” at the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines’s head office in Quezon City.

T he program is part of the continuing expansion of the Kadiwa centers nationwide aimed at giv-

ing a platform for Filipino farmers, fisherfolk as well as micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to generate more income through direct farm-to-consumer trade.

Marcos has repeatedly vowed to prioritize providing consumers with affordable basic goods amid rising

inflation in the country. He said the current government thrust is to assist MSMEs in recovering from the pandemic’s impact. At the KNP, consumers can purchase rice at P25 per kilo, plus other agricultural products. Azer Parrocha, with a report from Emmanuel Solis/PNA

COASTAL communities adversely affected by the massive oil spill from the sunken MT Princess Empress are entitled to compensation from the tanker’s owner, according to a lawmaker.

Ecology group warns: US-banned cosmetics with mercury sold in PHL

The World

North Korea launches missile amid US-S. Korea military drills

By Hyung-Jin Kim The Associated Press

SEOUL, South Korea—North Korea launched a

t h e n o rth’s continuation of missile test s showed its determination not to back down, despite the USSouth Korea exercises, which are the biggest of their kind in years. But many experts say the tests are also part of n o rth Korea’s bigger objective to expand its weapons arsenal, win international recognition as a nuclear state and get international sanctions lifted.

t he missile launched from the no rth’s northwestern ton gchangri area flew across the country before it landed in the waters off its east coast, according to South Korean and Japanese assessments. t h ey said the missile traveled a distance of about 800 kilometers (500 miles), a range that suggests the weapon could target South Korea.

t h e chief nuclear envoys from South Korea, Japan and the US discussed the launch on the phone and strongly condemned it as a provocation that threatens peace on the Korean Peninsula and in the region. t h ey agreed to strengthen their coordination to issue a firm international response to the n o rth’s action, according to Seoul’s Foreign Ministry.

South Korea’s military said it will proceed with the rest of the joint drills with the US and maintain a readiness to “overwhelmingly” respond to any provocation by no rth Korea. a s p art of the drills, the US on Sunday flew at least one longrange B-1B bomber for joint aerial training with South Korean war -

planes, according to South Korea’s Defense Ministry.

n o rth Korea is highly sensitive to the deployment of B-1Bs, which are capable of carrying a huge conventional weapons payload. i t r esponded to the February flights of B-1Bs by test-launching missiles, whose ranges showed they can reach some military airbases in South Korea.

Japanese Vice Defense Minister to shiro i n o said the missile landed outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone and that there were no reports of damage to vessels or aircraft in the area. h e s aid the missile likely showed an irregular trajectory, a possible reference to n or th Korea’s highly maneuverable, nuclear-capable K n -23 missile that was modeled on r ussia’s i s kander missile.

t h e US i n do-Pacific Command said the latest launch doesn’t pose an immediate threat to the US territory or its allies. But it said the n or th’s recent launches highlight “the destabilizing impact of its unlawful” weapons programs and that the US security commitment to South Korea and Japan remains “ironclad.”

t he launch was the no rth’s third round of weapons tests since the US and South Korean militaries began their joint military drills last Monday. t h e drills, which include computer simulations and field exercises, are to continue until t hursday. t h e field exercises are the biggest of their kind since 2018.

t he weapons n or th Korea recently tested include its longestrange hw asong-17 intercontinental ballistic missile designed to strike the US mainland. t h e n o rth’s state media quoted leader Kim Jong Un as saying the iC BM launch was meant to “strike fear into the enemies.”

t hursday’s launch, the n or th’s first iC BM firing in a month, drew strong protests from Seoul, tok yo and wa shington as it was carried out just hours before South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol flew to tok yo for a closely watched summit with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

During the summit, Yoon and Kishida agreed to resume their defense dialogue and further strengthen security cooperation with the United States to counter n or th Korea and address other challenges.

t i es between Seoul and to kyo suffered a major setback in recent years due to issues stemming from Japan’s 1910-1945 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula.

But n o rth Korea’s record run of missile tests last year—it launched more than 70 missiles in 2022 alone—pushed Seoul and to kyo to seek stronger trilateral security partnerships with wa shington, which also wants to reinforce its alliances in a s ia to better deal

with China’s rise and n o rth Korean nuclear threats.

n o rth Korea has missiles that place Japan within striking distance. Last o c tober, n or th Korea fired an intermediate-range missile over northern Japan, forcing communities there to issue evacuation alerts and halt trains.

a f ter Sunday’s launch, Kishida ordered a prompt response, including working closely with South Korea and the US, according to i n o, the Japanese vice defense minister.

a day before the start of the drills, n o rth Korea also fired cruise missiles from a submarine.

t h e n o rth’s state media said the submarine-launched missile was a demonstration of its resolve to respond with “overwhelming powerful” force to the intensifying military maneuvers by “the US imperialists and the South Korean puppet forces.”

a c cording to South Korean media reports, the US and South Korea plan more training involving a US aircraft carrier later this month after their current exercises end.

t h is suggests animosities on the Korean Peninsula could last a few more weeks as n or th Korea would also likely respond to those drills with weapons tests. Associated Press writer Yuri Kageyama in Tokyo contributed to this report

Japan and German leaders agree to strengthen ties, supply chain

By Mari Yamaguchi The Associated Press

to K Y o g e rman Chancellor

ol af Scholz and Japanese Prime

Minister Fumio Kishida on Saturday held the first round of government consultations in tokyo and agreed to strengthen economic and defense ties to better cope with China’s growing influence and global security concerns.

Kishida told a joint news conference after the talks that the sides agreed to strengthen supply chains in minerals, semiconductors, batteries and other strategic areas, in order to “counter economic coercion, state-led attempts to illegally acquire technology and non-market practices,” apparently referring to China.

“Japan and g e rmany, both industrial nations that share fundamental values, need to take global leadership to strengthen resilience of our societies,” Kishida said.

Scholz brought six of the 17 Cabinet members for talks with Japanese counterparts, including economy, finance, foreign, interior, transport and defense ministers. t h ey discussed deepening economic and national security cooperation in the i n do-Pacific region, as well as China’s assertiveness in pressing its maritime territorial claims and its closer ties with r u ssia. g e rmany has similar “government consultations” framework with several countries.

Editor: Angel R. Calso

daughter widens lead for thai premiership in new poll

By Anuchit Nguyen

Paetongtarn Shinawatra, daughter of former t h ai premier t h aksin Shinawatra, and

her

Pheu t h ai party widened leads as the voters’ top choice in the latest opinion poll ahead of a general election tentatively scheduled for May.

Paetongtarn, who represents the Southeast a s ian nation’s largest opposition party, garnered 38.2% of support in a poll of 2,000. it ’s the latest edition of a quarterly survey by the nat ional i n stitute of Development a d ministration. he r approval jumped from 34% in the previous poll conducted in December.

t he Pheu t h ai party, which seeks to end nearly a decade of military-backed rule, got 49.75% of backing in the survey, an increase from 42.95% in December’s poll. t he party has pledged to lift the minimum wage by 70% and boost economic growth to an average of 5% annually if voted into power.

i nc umbent Prime Minister

Prayuth Chan- o cha garnered the backing of 15.7% of respondents, also up from December’s 14%, ranking him third. t h e coup-leader-turned-premier kicked off his campaign to extend his rule by ordering the dissolution of the nation’s parliament, a prerequisite for the May poll.

Prayuth, 68, submitted a de -

cree to disband the house of r e presentatives for royal endorsement, he told reporters during a trip to Chiang Mai on Friday. t he order, which may be published in the r o yal ga zette on Monday, will come just days before the house’s four-year term ends on March 23. Prayuth is buying more time to campaign and recruit members to run for his new party, which lists him as the sole prime minister candidate.

Pledges from the top nine parties so far will require about 3.14 trillion baht ($92 billion) per year, after excluding their overlapping policies, according to an analysis by t h ailand Development r ese arch i n stitute. t he litany of promises from the two main parties will require 2 trillion baht each per year to implement, the institute said. Bloomberg News

i n to kyo, the two leaders again condemned r u ssia’s war on Ukraine and agreed to continue tough sanctions against Moscow and strong support for Ukraine, Kishida said.

r u ssia’s nuclear threat has made atomic weapons disarmament even more difficult and divided the international community, Kishida said, adding that it’s crucial to get China, r u ssia and other nuclear states to resume discussing nuclear disarmament.

Kishida is an advocate of a world without nuclear weapons, though critics say being under the US nuclear umbrella makes his stance less convincing.

Scholtz said the government consultations will “further advance our strategic cooperation, and they’re a very important part of giving a new drive

to this close cooperation we want to achieve together,” g e rman news agency dpa reported.

i n separate talks, the two defense ministers confirmed the g e rman armed forces’ continued engagement in the i ndo-Pacific region and a stronger military cooperation between the countries.

Japanese Defense Minster Yasukazu h a mada and his g e rman counterpart Boris Pistorius agreed to coordinate closely in future regional deployments of the g e rman military and step up joint exercises. t h ey also agreed to seek a legal framework to facilitate increased joint defense activities, as well as cooperation in defense equipment and technology, the Japanese Defense Ministry said in a statement.

Japan, noting growing threats from

China and n o rth Korea, has been expanding military cooperation beyond its main ally, the United States, and has developed partnerships with a u stralia, Britain, e u ropean and Southeast a s ian nations. Kishida’s government last year adopted a new national security strategy under which Japan is deploying long-range cruise missiles to strengthen its strike-back capability, a major break from the country’s postwar self-defense-only principle.

Scholtz visited Japan last year before going to China, making a point of prioritizing g e rmany’s economic ties with tokyo over Beijing. Scholz is pushing to diversify g e rmany’s trade partners, while speaking out against a complete decoupling from China.

Japan, along with the United States, is seeking ways to stand up to increasing Chinese economic influence in the region. tokyo also wants to reinforce economic security with other democracies in areas such as supply chains and the protection of sensitive technologies, apparently as a counter to China.

But Japan, which is a top US ally and a major trade partner with China, is in a delicate situation and must balance its position between the two superpowers.

For g ermany, China was its biggest trading partner in 2021 for the sixth consecutive year, as business ties have flourished even though political relations have turned tense.

By Gianfranco Stara The Associated Press

Vati C a n C i t Y —Pope Francis met Saturday with thousands of refugees and charity groups hosting them in it aly as he sought to promote legal migration routes to europe as an alternative to smuggling operations that he said have turned the Mediterranean Sea into a “cemetery.”

Francis said “humanitarian corridors,” which have operated in it aly since 2016, saved lives and helped newly arrived asylum-seekers get acclimated while church groups provided housing, education and work opportunities.

“ hu manitarian corridors not only aim to bring refugees to it aly and other european countries, rescuing them from situations of uncertainty, danger and endless waiting; they also work toward integration,” he said.

t h e Sant’ e g idio Catholic charity, the Federation of ev angelical Churches and the wa ldensian Church spearheaded the ecumenical humanitarian transfer initiative in it aly, which has brought more than 6,000 people

to europe, Francis was told.

Under the program, aid workers identify asylum candidates in refugee camps and process initial paperwork to bring them into ita ly on humanitarian grounds. o nce they arrive, they are then provided with assistance to settle and apply for asylum.

Families from Syria, a fghanistan, rwanda and Ukraine were in the Vatican auditorium to meet with the pope.

“ it w as important for me to come here to show the world that humanitarian corridors are one of the most beautiful things this world has to offer for people who deserve” safety and dignity, ol iver Chris i . K abalisa, a 22-yearold from rwanda, said. “Because as a refugee, we do not leave our country because we want to, but because we are constrained, we are forced to.” a f ghan refugee n a zani Shakvulla said women in her country were suffering, banned from education, work and travel, and need help from the Vatican and charity groups “to support the humanitarian corridors and find a way to evacuate or find a way that girls in a fghanistan get education.”

Shinawatra garnered

P e Francis meets with refugee families in the Paul V i hall at the Vatican on

Pope promotes ‘humanitarian corridors’ for asylum-seekers

short-range ballistic missile toward the sea on Sunday, its neighbors said, ramping up testing activities in response to ongoing US-South Korean military drills that it views as an invasion rehearsal.

er

an Chancellor o af Scholz, right, and Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida attend an honor guard welcoming ceremony at the prime minister’s official residence in tokyo on Saturday, March 18, 2023. DAv i D mA r euil/ p o ol p h oto vi

Russia, Ukraine extend grain agreement to aid world’s poor

By Karl Ritter The Associated Press

The United Nations and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced the extension, but neither confirmed how long it would last. The UN, Turkey and Ukraine had pushed for 120 days, while Russia said it was willing to agree to 60 days.

Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov tweeted Saturday that the deal would remain in effect for the longer, four-month period. But Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told Russian news agency Tass that Moscow “agreed to extend the deal for 60 days.”

“Any claim that it’s prolonged for more than 60 days is either wishful thinking or deliberate manipulation,”

Russia’s deputy ambassador to the UN, Dmitry Polyansky, said.

Ukraine and Russia are both major global suppliers of wheat, barley, sunflower oil and other affordable food products that developing nations depend on. Two ships carrying more than 96,000 metric tons of corn left Ukrainian ports on Saturday bound for China and Tunisia, according to UN data.

This is the second renewal of the agreement that Ukraine and Russia signed with the United Nations and Turkey last July to allow food shipments from three Black Sea ports following a halt to shipping after Russia invaded its neighbor over a year ago on Feb. 24, 2022.

Russia has complained that a separate agreement with the United Nations

By Nicole Winfield & Gabriela Selser

The Associated Press

VATICAN CITY—The Vatican said Saturday it had closed its embassy in Nicaragua after the country’s government proposed suspending diplomatic relations, the latest episode in a yearslong crackdown on the Catholic Church by the administration of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega.

The Vatican’s representative to Managua, Monsignor Marcel Diouf, also left the country Friday, bound for Costa Rica, a Vatican official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The Vatican action came a week after the Nicaraguan government proposed suspending relations with the Holy See, and a year after Nicaragua forced the papal ambassador at the time to leave. It’s not clear what more the proposed suspension would entail

to overcome obstacles to shipments of its fertilizers that was part of the July package has not produced results.

Russia’s UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia told the UN Security Council on Friday that the United Nations has to recognize it has “no leverage to exempt Russian agricultural export operations from Western sanctions,” and therefore Russia would only extend the deal until May 18.

“If Brussels, Washington and London are genuinely interested to continue the export of food from Ukraine through the maritime humanitarian corridor, then they have two months to exempt from their sanctions the entire chain of operations which accompany the Russian agricultural sector,” Nebenzia said. “Otherwise, we fail to understand how the package concept of the secretary-general of the United Nations will work through these simple agreements.”

The International Rescue Committee expressed disappointment Saturday that the deal is only for 60 days, stressing that countries in East Africa in particular will be entering the lean grain season at the time of its expiration in May, including Somalia which receives over 90% of its grain from Ukraine and is beset by unprecedented drought and on the verge of famine.

Stéphane Dujarric, the spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said in a statement that 25 million metric tons (about 28 millions

tons) of grain and foodstuffs had moved to 45 countries under the initiative, helping to bring down global food prices and stabilizing markets.

“We remain strongly committed to both agreements, and we urge all sides to redouble their efforts to implement them fully,” Dujarric said.

The war in Ukraine sent food prices surging to record highs last year and helped contribute to a global food crisis also tied to the lingering effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and climate factors like drought.

The disruption in shipments of grain needed for staples of diets in places like Egypt, Lebanon and Nigeria exacerbated economic challenges and helped push millions more people into poverty or food insecurity. People in developing countries spend more of their money on basics like food.

The crisis left an estimated 345 million people facing food insecurity, according to the UN’s World Food Program.

Food prices have fallen for 11 straight months. But food was already expensive before the war because of droughts from the Americas to the Middle East—most devastating in the Horn of Africa, with thousands dying in Somalia. Poorer nations that depend on imported food priced in dollars are spending more as

their currencies weaken.

The agreements also faced setbacks since it was brokered by the UN and Turkey: Russia pulled out briefly in November before rejoining and extending the deal. In the past few months, inspections meant to ensure ships only carry grain and not weapons have slowed down significantly.

That has helped lead to backlogs in vessels waiting in the waters of Turkey and a recent drop in the amount of grain getting out of Ukraine.

Ukrainian and some US officials have blamed Russia for the slowdowns, which the country denies.

While fertilizers have been stuck, Russia has exported huge amounts of wheat after a record crop. Figures from financial data provider Refinitiv showed that Russian wheat exports more than doubled to 3.8 million tons in January from the same month a year ago, before the invasion.

Russian wheat shipments were at or near record highs in November, December and January, increasing 24% over the same three months a year earlier, according to Refinitiv. It estimated Russia would export 44 million tons of wheat in 2022-2023. Andrew Wilks in Istanbul, Elise Morton in London, Julie Walker in New York and Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this report

in diplomatic terms.

Relations between the church and Ortega’s government have been deteriorating since 2018, when Nicaraguan authorities violently repressed antigovernment protests.

Some Catholic leaders gave protesters shelter in their churches, and the church later tried to act as a mediator between the government and the political opposition.

Ortega branded Catholic figures he saw as sympathetic to the opposition as “terrorists” who had backed efforts to overthrow him. Dozens of religious figures were arrested or fled the country.

Two congregations of nuns, including from the Missionaries of Charity order founded by Mother Teresa, were expelled from Nicaragua last year.

Prominent Catholic Bishop Rolando Álvarez was sentenced to 26 years in prison last month after he refused to board an airplane that flew 222 dissi -

dents and priests to exile in the United States. He also was stripped of his Nicaraguan citizenship.

Pope Francis had remained largely silent on the issue, apparently not wanting to inflame tensions. But in a March 10 interview with Argentine media outlet Infobae, after Alvarez’s sentencing, he called Ortega’s government a “rude dictatorship” comparable to Hitler’s that was led by an “unbalanced” president.

According to Vatican News, the care of the Vatican’s embassy, or nunciature, was entrusted to the Italian government, according to diplomatic conventions. The report said diplomats of the European Union, Germany, France and Italy gave Diouf, the chargé d’affaires, a farewell salute before he shuttered the diplomatic post and left.

During the farewell ceremony, Germany’s ambassador to Nicaragua, Christoph Bundscherer, expressed re -

gret at the embassy’s closure and asked Diouf to share a message with Pope Francis, according to a statement on the German Embassy’s Facebook page.

“Together with the Catholic Church, the representatives of the European Union in Nicaragua will also always defend the Christian values of freedom, tolerance and human dignity,” Bundscherer said, according to the statement.

The Nicaraguan government, which since September 2018 has banned all opposition demonstrations in the country, also restricted Catholic activities inside churches, including banning the traditional street processions that thousands of Nicaraguans used to celebrate in the lead up to Holy Week and Easter.

The restrictions forced church authorities to hold the Stations of the Cross procession on the grounds of the Metropolitan Cathedral of Managua, as they did Friday. Selser reported from Mexico City

Pakistani police storm home of former PM Khan, arrest 61

By Babar Dogar

The Associated Press

LAHORE, Islamabad—Pakistani

police stormed former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s residence in the eastern city of Lahore on Saturday and arrested 61 people amid tear gas and clashes between Khan’s supporters and police, officials said.

Senior police officer Suhail Sukhera, who led the operation in an upscale La -

hore neighborhood, said police acted to remove a barricade erected by members of Khan’s Tehreek-e-Insaf party and his defiant supporters. He said they blocked the lanes around Khan’s residence with concrete blocks, felled trees, tents and a parked truck. Khan was not in the home, having traveled to Islamabad to appear before a judge to face charges he sold state gifts while in office and hid his assets. The judge postponed that hearing un -

til March 30.

Sukhera said baton-wielding Khan supporters attempted to resist police by throwing stones and Molotov cocktails and a man on the roof of Khan’s residence opened fire. At least three police officers were injured.

Sukhera said police broke open the main door of Khan’s residence and found automatic weapons, Molotov cocktails, iron rods and batons used in attacks on police during the week.

Sukhera said that inside the sprawling residence, illegal structures had been erected to shelter people involved in attacks on police that have injured dozens of officers.

Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah said later that police would do a complete search of Khan’s home, where they found bunkers and suspected more illegal weapons and ammunition were hidden. Witnesses in Lahore said police at -

From highlands

By Gonzalo Solano & Regina Garcia Cano The Associated Press

QUITO, Ecuador—Juan Vera lost three relatives when a strong earthquake that shook parts of Ecuador and Peru on Saturday brought down his niece’s home. The government has offered to pay for the woman’s funeral and those of her baby and her partner, but Vera wonders why local authorities allowed his relatives to live in such an old home to begin with.

“Because of its age, that building should have been demolished already,” Vera said outside the morgue in Ecuador’s community of Machala, where he was waiting for the three bodies to be released. “...I’m sorry, the mayor’s office is the entity that has to regulate these things through its planning departments so that the buildings are in good condition to be rented out or inhabited.”

The earthquake with about 6.8 magnitude, as reported by the US Geological Survey, killed at least 15 people, injured hundreds and brought down homes and buildings in vastly different communities, from coastal areas to the highlands. But in Ecuador, regardless of geography, many of the homes that crumbled had a lot in common: They housed the poor, were old and did not meet building standards in the earthquake-prone country.

The earthquake centered just off the Pacific Coast, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Guayaquil, Ecuador’s second-largest city. One of the victims died in Peru, while 14 others died in Ecuador, where authorities also reported that at least 381 people were injured and dozens of homes, schools and health care centers were damaged.

The office of Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso reported that 12 of the victims died in the coastal state of El Oro and two in the highlands state of Azuay.

One of the victims in Azuay was a passenger in a vehicle crushed by rubble from a house in the Andean community of Cuenca, according to the Risk Management Secretariat, Ecuador’s emergency response agency.

In El Oro, the agency also reported that several people were trapped under rubble. In the community of Machala, a two-story home collapsed before people could evacuate, a pier gave way and a building’s walls cracked, trapping an unknown number of people.

Quito-based architect Germán

Narváez said the houses most affected during earthquakes are those with deficient construction

tempted to disperse Khan’s supporters by firing tear gas and chased them to several homes in the Zaman Park neighborhood.

Khan’s lawyer appeared in an Islamabad court on Saturday after a top court a day earlier suspended Khan’s arrest warrant, giving him a reprieve to travel to Islamabad and face charges in the graft case without being detained.

Khan had been holed up at his home in Lahore since Tuesday after failing to appear at an earlier hearing in the case. His supporters hurled rocks and clashed with

to

coast, quake hits Ecuador, Peru

and that lack foundation, structure and technical design. He added that the houses are also old and built with materials such as adobe, which was once frequently used in Andean communities.

“At critical moments of seismic movements, they tend to collapse,” he said.

Ecuador is particularly prone to earthquakes. In 2016, a quake centered farther north on the Pacific Coast in a more sparsely populated area of the country killed more than 600 people.

In Peru, the earthquake was felt from its northern border with Ecuador to the central Pacific coast.

Peruvian Prime Minister Alberto Otárola said a 4-year-old girl died from head trauma she suffered in the collapse of her home in the Tumbes region, on the border with Ecuador.

Peruvian authorities also reported that four homes were destroyed and the old walls of an Army barracks collapsed in Tumbes.

Saturday’s earthquake destroyed the home of Dolores Vaca in Machala. The moment she felt the first jolt, she said, she ran out into the street while her husband managed to drag their daughter out. Then, “everything fell apart, the house flattened, everything was lost,” she said. Vaca’s neighbors were not as lucky. She said five died when the house next to hers collapsed.

In Guayaquil, about 170 miles (270 kilometers) southwest of the capital, Quito, authorities reported cracks in buildings and homes, as well as some collapsed walls. Videos shared on social media show people gathered on the streets of Guayaquil, which anchors a metro area of over 3 million people, and nearby communities.

One video posted online showed three anchors of a show dart from their studio desk as the set shook. They initially tried to shake it off as a minor quake but soon fled off camera. One anchor indicated the show would go on a commercial break, while another repeated, “My God, my God.”

A report from Ecuador’s Adverse Events Monitoring Directorate ruled out a tsunami threat.

Machala student Katherine Cruz said her home shook so badly that she could not even get up to leave her room and flee to the street.

“It was horrible. I had never felt anything like this in my life,” she said. Garcia Cano reported from Ca -

report

baton-wielding police for two days to protect the former premier from arrest.

Khan’s motorcade arrived Saturday near the federal judicial complex in Islamabad, where his supporters also clashed with police who prevented them from entering the complex. The enraged Khan supporters threw rocks at police who responded by lobbing tear gas canisters to disperse them. Sanaullah said many of Khan’s supporters were armed. Associated Press writer Zarar Khan in Islamabad contributed

KYIV, Ukraine—An unprecedented wartime deal that allowed grain to flow from Ukraine to countries in Africa, the Middle East and Asia where hunger is a growing threat and high food prices are pushing more people into poverty was extended just before its expiration date, officials said Saturday.

racas, Venezuela. Associated Press writer Franklin Briceño in Lima, Peru, contributed to this

The e a ubonne bulk carrier ship docks in the port of Mombasa, Kenya on November 26, 2022. An unprecedented wartime deal that allows grain to flow from Ukraine to countries in Africa, the Middle e a st and Asia where hunger is a growing threat and high food prices are pushing more people into poverty has been extended, officials said Saturday, March 18, 2023. AP Photo/Gideon M A u ndu

Agriculture/Commodities

Farmgate prices of dried palay up in C. Luzon

By Raadee S. Sausa

THE farmgate prices of unmilled rice in Central Luzon—the country’s rice granary—ranged from P19 to P21 per kilogram, an official of the Department of Agriculture (DA) said over the weekend.

T he prices of dry palay in the region were higher than the average of P18.21 per kg recorded by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) in the first quarter of 2022.

Crispulo Bautista, director of DARegion 3, said the agency monitored palay prices in the region’s seven riceproducing provinces.

B autista said the average farmgate prices of fresh or newly harvested rice ranged from P16 to P17 per kg.

R ice traders in Intercity Industrial Estate and Golden City Business Park in Bocaue/Balagtas towns in Bulacan, which are considered as major rice trading centers for Metro Manila residents, said the average dried palay prices range from P23

to P24.50/kilo depending on the quality and variety.

At these prices, average production costs for a 50-kilo sack of rice with 60 percent recovery translate to P1,763.33 to P1,878.33 or an average of P35.27 to P37.57 per kilo, according to the traders.

T hese figures, they said, do not include the mark-up prices of wholesalers and retailers.

Farmers in Central Luzon are currently harvesting their dry season crop.

S amahang Industriya ng Agrikultura (Sinag) recently said subsidizing rice will enable President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to make good on his promise to reduce the retail price of the staple to P20 per kilogram.

T he group said, however, that strategies for pulling down the retail price of rice must not depress farmgate prices.

We can lower the retail cost of the rice if we can introduce interventions that would lower the cost of producing palay, cut postharvest

BFAR: Fish prices still stable

THE Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), an attached agency of the Department of Agriculture, said it does not expect the oil spill in Oriental Mindoro to put pressure on local fish prices.

Right now we are not looking at the possibility that it will have an effect on the prices at a national scale,” BFAR Spokesperson Nazario Briguera told the BusinessMirror in an interview.

“It’s summer and we are in the

despite Oriental

peak season for fishing, so this would mean supply will be available to ensure stable prices.”

Briguera also noted that fishing grounds that were off-limits to fishers due to the closed fishing season are now open. This, he said, gives fishers the opportunity to increase their catch.

BFAR had assured the public that the country would have adequate fish supply during the Holy Week, when

demand for seafood spikes.

We are in the peak season of fishing activity, so we expect to meet the high demand for fish during the Holy Week,” he said.

BFAR said, however, that fish production in Mindoro and nearby provinces may be affected by the continuous leakage of industrial oil from the sunken MT Princess Empress.

A lso, Briguera said expensive fuel and postharvest losses re -

main as the biggest challenges of the fishing industry.

“Oil prices are fluctuating. Sometimes, it increases and affects fishing activities, so the DA-BFAR is implementing a subsidy program and utilizing payao technology for small-scale fisherfolk,” he said.

losses and remove non-productive players in the whole rice supply chain,” Sinag Executive Director Jayson Cainglet said.

S ans subsidy, retail prices of the staple range from P42 to P46/ kilo in other stores. The average farmgate price of rice has reached P23/kilo.

“Farmers are encouraged to produce rice because prices are attractive this cropping season,” Cainglet said in the vernacular.

D ata released by the PSA in January showed that the output of the crops subsector in 2022 fell by 1 percent year-on-year due to the impact of typhoons on farms and reduced application of planting inputs by farmers because of higher than usual costs.

Palay production last year declined by 210,000 metric tons (MT) to 19.75 million metric tons (MMT) from the record-high volume 19.96 MMT posted in 2021, PSA data showed. Corn output, likewise, fell by 45,000 MT to 8.255 MMT from 8.3 MMT in 2021.

Mindoro oil spill Aboitiz unit, Pampanga’s Best ink power supply deal

T he Philippines’s farm output last year was reduced by 0.1 percent on an annual basis to P1.75 trillion at constant 2018 prices as better live-

stock and poultry productions offset contractions in crops and fisheries.

T he Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said in a report it published in January that the output of the fisheries subsector in 2022 declined by 5 percent year-on-year.

T he value of the country’s agricultural output last year was P1.935 billion lower than the P1.758 trillion recorded amount in 2021, according to the PSA. Raadee S. Sausa

California strawberry fields in danger as another soaking looms

ALREADY submerged strawberry fields across California are girding for yet another deluge, threatening a $3 billion industry in the United States’s largest food hub.

We were supposed to be picking berries in two or three weeks,” said Soren Bjorn, president of the Americas for top berry distributor Driscoll’s Inc. “That’s clearly not going to happen.”

T he latest in a torrent of downpours is expected to strike this week as a new atmospheric river crashes ashore. After the state’s driest threeyear period on record, the California storms are bringing desperately needed water but at great economic and human cost. More than 20 people have died due to the heavy rain and flooding and extensive crop losses in the biggest US food producing state will contribute to supply shortfalls and grocery-store inflation.

For California’s strawberry industry, flooding from breached levees has made it impossible to even begin to assess damages in the evacuated farming community of Pajaro. Driscoll’s is bracing for a big chunk of crops there to be lost, said Bjorn, who estimates about $30,000 is spent to grow a single acre.

In the Monterey Bay region south of San Francisco, about 20 percent of strawberry fields have been hit by flooding, according to the Califor-

nia Strawberry Commission, which represents all of the state’s growers. Last year, about 40,000 acres of strawberries were planted in the state and accounts for roughly 90 percent of US production, according to the commission.

Consumers shouldn’t see a gap in availability right now, commission spokesman Jeff Cardinale said. As far as the underwater berries, it’s too early to know how the market might be impacted, he said.

W hile it is unknown how badly

this year’s harvests will be hit overall, strawberry prices almost are certain to rise. A producer price index for the berries rose 8.7 percent last year on top of a 41 percent spike the year before, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. A

12-ounce package of fresh strawberries was $3.17 last month on average, consumer prices show, though some retailers will charge double or even triple that depending on location, demand and availability. Prices tend to inch lower in winter, when crop production in other places like Florida and Mexico starts to ramp up, but that dip is expected to be short-lived.

“

There’s going to be an impact on national supply,” said Nick Wishnatzki of Wish Farms, a fourth-generation year-round berry supplier to the Americas. Wish Farms, whose crop portfolio is about 60 percent strawberries, has lost 5 percent of acreage so far and is now trying to assess damage from the latest storms.

“ Things have been pretty tough for us,” Wishnatzki said. The company already is about four weeks behind its production schedule. “It’s going to be really hard to make up.”

T he so-called atmospheric rivers behind the recent soakings are long plumes of moisture that rise out of the central Pacific and travel across the sky, landing on California and the west coast of North America. They can deliver as much water as passes through the mouth of Mississippi River. Although they can occur in other parts of the world, in California they are crucial for providing the state with its annual water needs, but also threaten terrible damage. Bloomberg News

By Lenie Lectura @llectura

ADVENTENERGY Inc.

(ADVENT), a subsidiary of Aboitiz Power Corp. (AboitizPower), was tapped as a retail electricity supplier of processed meat producer Pampanga’s Best Inc.

A DVENT will supply 1,700 kilowatts (kW) to the four-hectare production facility of Pampanga’s Best in San Fernando, Pampanga. “ We would like to thank Pampanga’s Best Inc. for this collaboration as it helps us remain on-track with our vision to have a positive impact on more customers,” saidAboitiz Power Retail Head James Byron Yu.

“The food industry is of national importance and we are honored to be in a position to serve this market with our energy products.”

“ With Aboitiz Power, we are able to continue our promise to manufacture excellent food products for every Filipino home to enjoy,” Pampanga’s Best President Angelo D. Hizon Jr. said. “We do this by utilizing the best and most advanced technology and processes while acting on our corporate social responsibility for the community and the environment.”

AboitizPower is the holding company for the Aboitiz Group’s investments in power generation, distribution, and retail electricity services. It also owns distribution utilities that operate in highgrowth areas in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.

The company will build an additional 3,700 MW of renewable energy, growing its existing Cleanergy capacity threefold by 2030.

Sultan Kudarat coffee farmers get training from PRDP

By Manuel T. Cayon @awimailbox

Mindanao Bureau Chief

DAVAO CITY—Coffee grow -

ers from Sultan Kudarat have received technical training from the World Bankfunded Philippine Rural Development Project (PRDP), which also secured financial support from the European Union.

T he World Bank and EU jointly financed a series of trainings for

coffee farmers in Sultan Kudarat to improve the production and quality of coffee produced in the province, as well as to improve their entrepreneurial skills and management of coffee in the area.

T hree batches of trainings for coffee growers dubbed “Knowledge on Agri-preneurship and Productivity Enhancement” (KAPE) Training, started in December 2022. The next two trainings were conducted in February and March this year, the PRDP said.

T he KAPE training was organized by the Department of Agriculture, which implements all the PRDP programs in Mindanao to strengthen key players along the coffee value chain.

PSO Mindanao I-PLAN head Elden Karl Requilme said the KAPE training paved the way for the certification of 20 coffee trainers, who in turn trained 61 coffee farmers to become agricultural entrepreneurs or agri-preneurs. “ The coffee trainer’s role is to men-

tor coffee farmers in crafting their respective coffee farm and enterprise business plans.”

T he inaugural batch of KAPE training was conducted with partners from Sultan Kudarat State University (SKSU) with Nestle Philippines through its Government and Industry Affairs Executive Donnel Jun Tiedra. Tiedra was the resource trainer for the first batch of trainers from SKSU, and DA in Region 12. T he training was attended by local

agriculture officers of the municipalities of Lebak, Kalamansig, Esperanza, Bagong Bayan, and Senator Ninoy Aquino as well as professors and technical staff on agriculture from SKSU.

T he second batch in Senator Ninoy Aquino town underwent training last February 21-24 while the third batch in Kalamansig were trained last February 28 to March 2.

T he KAPE training provided coffee farmers knowledge and skills on coffee farm plan, inte -

grated nutrient, pests and disease management and coffee farm business management.

Farmers were also given farm tools, such as pruning shear, grafting knife, and a saw for coffee rejuvenation and farm maintenance.

T he PRDP said its scale-up program would allow more support to come in for the coffee industry in Sultan Kudarat through public-private partnerships with companies, such as Nestle Philippines, and state universities and colleges, such as SKSU.

CCC: 1.2M farmers in PHL to benefit from APA project

By Samuel P. Medenilla @sam_medenilla

The Climate Change Commission (CCC) said in a statement that the bulk or $26.3 million of the fund for the “Adapting Philippine Agriculture to Climate Change (APA)” will come from the Green Climate Fund (GCF).

T he remaining $12.98 million of the initiative will come from domestic resources.

T he APA was approved by the GCF Board at its 35th Meeting in Songdo, Korea held from March 13 to 16, 2023.

“ We welcome the decision of the

GCF Board to approve the APA Project, which will be instrumental in building the capacity of our farming communities, as well as of the government and private sector, to understand and manage climate risks and adopt climate resilient agriculture practices,” Climate Change Commission Vice Chair and Executive Director Robert E.A. Borje said.

T he project was proposed by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the Depart-

ment of Agriculture.

It will be implemented by the the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) and the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Service Administration (Pagasa) starting this year until 2030.

APA aims to develop climate-resilient agriculture (CRA) services and information through the use of low emission technologies and then mainstream it so it can be adopted by local farmers.

Upon the completion of the initia-

tive, it is expected to help reduce 1.86 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MtCO2e) over 20 years. It will cover at least nine provinces in Regions 2, 5, 10, 12, and the Cordillera Administrative Region. High impact, climate-resilient agriculture initiatives such as the APA, have the potential to significantly contribute to the country’s socio-economic development, while enhancing adaptive capacities of our agricultural systems to climate change,” Borje said.

Palafox to chair business conference and expo of PCCI this year–Barcelon

By Andrea E. San Juan

THE Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry

(PCCI) said Principal Architect and Urban Planner Felino Palafox Jr. will lead this year’s 49th Philippine Business Conference and Expo (PBC&E).

PCCI President George T. Barcelon announced the selection of Palafox following an executive session by the PCCI Executive Committee that “unanimously voted” for the urban planner.

T he PCCI said Palafox is the

Chamber’s Vice President for Trade Mission and Director of the Environment & Climate Change, Infrastructure and Construction Committee.

B arcelon described Palafox as “someone who can stir the conference to greater heights by showcasing his long-term vision for the country’s urban, regional, and national development.”

“

We are happy to announce the appointment of Jun as the 49th PBC&E Chair. The PCCI believes in his capability, expertise, and commitment to lead this conference,” he said.

For his part, Palafox said, “I am

deeply honored for the trust of my colleagues in PCCI to lead this conference. I know the task ahead will be daunting but everything will become easy with their support and guidance. I will definitely make this conference worth remembering.”

Palafox is the founder of multidisciplinary firm Palafox Associates, with fields of expertise encompassing Architecture, Urban and Regional Planning, Environmental Planning, Site Planning, Master Planning, Urban Design, Interior Design, Engineering, and Strategic Development Advisory.

T he PBC&E is PCCI’s annual busi-

ness event that gathers policymakers, business leaders, diplomats, members of the academe, and micro, small, and medium enterprises to meet and discuss issues and come up with policy recommendations.

In last year’s 48th PBC&E, under the leadership of Ferdinand Ferrer, Chairman and CEO of EMS Group of Companies, the PCCI called on the national government to focus on attaining food security and enabling the free flow of electricity nationwide by integrating the Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao grids, among others.

During the business conference,

the PCCI unveiled a set of policy resolutions which it submitted to President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. The conference and expo kicked off in October 2022.

T he major business group also prodded the government to reform the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation into a “science-based and transparent” healthcare system and encourage Public-Private Partnerships in the implementation of the Universal Healthcare Law.

O n employment, the business group urged the government to work together with the private sector to

“reenergize” the economy by supporting new investments to generate employment, providing assistance to pandemic-surviving micro, small, and medium enterprises, amending all “restrictive and punitive” labor laws and enact laws that will increase productivity.

PCCI also called on the government to provide “world-class” integrated transport systems and water and waste management infrastructure and to “decouple” the regulatory and commercial functions of the Philippine Ports Authority and other similarly situated transport agencies.

AT least 1.25 million poor farmers are expected to benefit from a $39.3-million project that seeks to boost the climate change resilience and development of the country’s agriculture sector.

editorial

Competence and ‘skin in the game’

EvEry organization is only as good and therefore successful as the people running it. The first qualification is that they need to be competent and suited for the job. If the company is producing baked goods, you should expect to see people overseeing the operation with some expertise in baking rather than plumbing.

Granted that it would not be only about knowledge of dough and ovens as there are also distribution and marketing aspects. But those are downthe-line specialty positions. At the top and ultimately a bakery is about baking bread, cake, and similar food items.

The other best qualification is that those at the top have a deep personal interest in success, which usually means a financial vested interest. All employees have an interest in a company’s success, but usually only as far as their individual compensation is concerned.

A business owner knows that at some point they may have to sacrifice their personal self-interest for the sake of the company and its employees. A “vested interest” means much more than simply having to find another job if the business fails.

Company names are important. This is especially true if it identifies an individual person or family, such as Ford Motor Company, Ayala Corp., or Lola Beng’s Food Haus. Over time, the company becomes synonymous with the individual or family. ShoeMart—now SM—is Henry Sy and his family. Companies also create their place in the business world with the identity they want to create.

The past two weeks, Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) has been all over the news. The name tells you, “We are a bank, and we are tied to the tech capital of the world—Silicon Valley.” The area’s top employers are Applied Materials, Intel, AMD, Nvidia, and Dell, the heart of technology.

SVB is the second largest banking failure in the history of the US. The “Silicon Valley” part was successful. The “Bank” part, not so much.

Just one member of Silicon Valley Bank’s Board of Directors had a career in banking. Prior to the bank’s failure, its website peddled the fact that “SVB’s Board of Directors include one African-American, one member of the LGBTQ community, two military veterans, and our board is comprised of 45 percent women.” The board members were successful in their own right as politicians, advocates for noble causes such as employment diversity and human rights, and one was chosen for “His experience and passions for winemaking, technology, investing and philanthropy.”

What they did not know anything about was running a bank, which is a unique business in itself. Just as an example, of the 12 members of the Board—including independent Directors—of Metrobank (Metropolitan Bank & Trust Company), nine are career bankers.

Statistician, risk analyst, and former options trader Nassim Taleb in 2018 wrote a book—“Skin in the Game.” His thesis is that “skin in the game”— having a measurable risk when making a major decision—is necessary for commercial efficiency and risk management. C-suite—a term to describe high-ranking executives in an organization—do not have skin in the game as their combined ownership of the 50 largest US corporations amounts to less than 10 percent. They care about their personal compensation first and then the stock price if publicly listed because of their stock options.

SVB’s parent company, SVB Financial Group, is 98.97 percent owned by institutional investors, while 1.61 percent is owned by individual stakeholders, including, presumably, the Board of Directors of SVB and its management. Where is the “skin in the game” of the people running the bank and protecting depositor interests?

Literature and its performance

RISING SUN

For three days at the Cultural Center of the Philippines, literature takes center stage as Performatura Festival 2023—a festival of the written word and performances—happens from March 31 until April 2, 2023. The three-day event starts at 10:30 a.m. at the Tanghalang Ignacio B. Gimenez (CCP Black Box Theater). It coincides with the celebration of Women’s Month (March) and Araw ni Balagtas 2023, the 149th birth anniversary of Francisco Baltasar, one of the greatest Filipino poets. Here is a rundown of the events under this year’s theme, “Performatura Goes Pop.”

On the first day, March 31, vlogger and entrepreneur Carlo Ople will be launching his book, “Suweldo is Not Enough.” There will be a panel of speakers, a shoe auction, and a poetry performance by Hannah Leceña—all of this happens in the morning. After lunch, the session shifts its focus to women with the turnover of the printed copies of the book “In Certain Seasons: Mothers Write in the Time of Covid” and the launch of “Lila: Mga Tula,” a book of poems written by women from Linangan sa Imahen, Retorika at Anyo

The festival director is Dr. Vim Nadera, Jr. Performatura Festival 2023 is open to the public. And while entrance to the events is free, guests are encouraged to donate a book to serve as an admission ticket to each segment. The collected books will go to CCP’s partner libraries. For inquiries, send e-mail to ccpintertextualdivision@gmail.com or call 8832-1125 local 1706 or 09193175708.

(LIRA). There will also be talks by women writers and literary performances. And finally, at around 6:00 p.m., the film “Brutal,” directed by National Artist for Film Marilou Diaz Abaya and written by National Artist for Film and Broadcast Arts Ricky Lee, will be screened. Lee will lead a talkback session afterward.

On April 1, the festival will focus on the spoken word, with the Ampalaya Monologues, a spoken word collective, and Mark Ghosn, Ampalaya founder, headlining the celebrations. National Artist for Literature

Gemino Abad will deliver a talk on performing poetry. At the Spoken Camp, a page-to-stage writing workshop, participants will get the chance to develop their writing skills. There will also be performances by spoken word artists, backed by indie musicians. And finally, an open mic session is happening in the evening.

On its last day, April 2, the festival pays tribute to Francisco Balagtas with a talk by Chris Mooney Singh on Balagtasan and World Literature. The Makatas along with Ingay Likha battle rap artists (flip-toppers) Tulala, Zantasa, and D.O.C. will also perform in the morning. At around 2:00 p.m. National Artist for Literature Virgilio Almario will speak about

the significance of Bataan in the life of Balagtas. This will be followed by performances of some teachers and students from Bataan High School for the Arts and workshops on music, dance, and visual arts. Capping the festival will be KamPerformatura’s offering of poetry and performances by the youth participants, which will kick start the competition Tanghal-Makata 2023. Spoken word expert Mark Ghosn, poet performer Kooky Tuason, and mambabalagtas from Bulacan Melandro Pascual will be part of the panel of judges. Librarian Juireo Abela of Lucena City, Tanghal-Makata 2021 winner, will present a Sam Peñaso trophy and laurel sculpture by poet Raul Funilas to this year’s winner. The closing segment will be presented by GSIS Museum, LIRA, and Unyon ng mga Manunulat sa Pilipinas.

The festival director is Dr. Vim Nadera Jr. Performatura Festival 2023 is open to the public. And while entrance to the events is free, guests are encouraged to donate a book to serve as an admission ticket to each segment. The collected books will go to CCP’s partner libraries. For inquiries, send e-mail to  ccpintertextualdivision@gmail.com or call 8832-1125 local 1706 or 0919-3175708.

Increasing concern on Nord Stream destruction

are now serious efforts to broker a peace with a China initiative. Websites such as that of Blitz, which tackle the other side of the Ukraine crisis, give a better perspective of the Ukraine crisis.

THEr E are worrying concerns over the destruction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline and one such coming from Poland dwells on how the United States will benefit from such an “enterprise” as its bombing. A web site, Blitz, cited a March 18 Polish edition of Mysl Polska, which posited that the United States actually unleashed a war with Europe.

The purpose of the attack was to increase the energy and economic dependence of the Old World on the supply of American liquefied natural gas (LNG), as well as to conquer the market for nuclear technology, Blitz said, citing the Polish paper’s view: “For Europeans, the underwater explosion, arranged by American, Norwegian and British terrorists, is the first shot in a full-scale US war against Europe.”

It also stated that, among other things, Washington is seeking to resume the arms race, which means for Central Europe the loss of the status of a nuclear-free zone. Also, Blitz cited talk in Europe about the pipeline’s destruction itself. According to Denis Denisov, an expert at the Financial University under the

Government of the Russian Federation, told Izvestia that an active discussion was beginning in Europe on the topic of the explosion at Nord Stream.

In particular, the European Platform for Cooperation and Dialogue organized a conference—“Sabotage of the Nord Stream, an economic blow to Europe.” The political scientist expressed hope that not only experts, but also the leaders of European countries “will become more actively involved in this topic and will say who is the main interest in this terrorist act.”

The Nord Stream pipeline sabotage has become part of the Ukraine crisis, now still ongoing and from the looks of it, the crisis may go on for some more time although there

For globally dominant Western media, Russia has waged an unprovoked war on its neighbor, but has been beaten back with massive aid to Ukraine from the United Statesled Nato. And here, there is a curious fact that one of our readers cited.

According to the British newspaper Guardian, there are many such examples when the supposedly selfless support by lobbyists of Ukraine interests in the US leadership brings them huge profits. These companies, along with the US military-industrial complex, do not even hide their direct interest in continuing to pump the Kyiv regime with weapons.

And they are not even more interested in a speedy end to the RussianUkrainian conflict. So how are funds allocated to Ukraine? According to official data, since the beginning of the conflict, the US has provided Ukraine with $50 billion in aid of various types. Of this, $23 billion in military aid has been provided. This money is virtual, not a single cent of it is seen by Kyiv. According to a law passed by the US Senate in May 2022, payment for future deliveries comes directly from the

budget to the local military industry. Ukraine ends up receiving the promised weapons and the billions of dollars in debt, plus, of course, interest.

From March to November of last year alone, the Americans transferred 47,000 tons of all kinds of weapons and ammunition to the Kyiv regime. Already by June, it is estimated that US military corporations had managed to make almost $30 billion on these deliveries— twice as much as all other Western countries combined. And this led to speculations in the stock market.

In just a month after the start of the special military operation, the share price of Lockheed Martin rose from $354 to $453, increasing in value by 28 percent. Shares of Raytheon Technologies, Northrop Grumman and General Dynamics rose by an average of 17 percent over the same period.

Thanks to the imposition of antiRussian sanctions and the almost complete severance of the EUs economic ties with Russia, LNG exports from America to Europe increased by 260 percent compared to 2021.

After February 24, 2022, about 500 US tankers began shipping oil to Europe. From December 2021 to December 2022, US oil exports increased 52 percent.

So the question arises: who benefits from a prolonged Ukraine war?

Atty. Jose Ferdinand M. Rojas II

Joel L. Tan-Torres

DEBIT CREDIT

Part One

We Filipinos are engrossed in following our telenovelas, whether these are korean dramas or our own local series.

The Philippine tax community has its own telenovela. I call this the tele-tax-novela (novela). This novela dwells on the “Official Receipts (OR) for Sale” racket. It started about three months ago and continues to evolve.

The most current edition of this tele-tax-novela was featured on March 16, 2023. On that day, Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) Commissioner Romeo Lumagui filed tax evasion charges amounting to P25.5 billion against four corporations whose names were used in the sale of fictitious official receipts or invoices by certain nefarious corporations. The criminal charges filed by the BIR at the Department of Justice (DOJ) were against Buildforce Trading Inc., Crazykitchen Foodtrade Corp., Decarich Supertrade Inc., and Redington Corp.

This tele-tax-novela began in December 2022. This started with a raid by National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) agents of the office of Brenterprise International Incorporated (Brenterprise) at a condominium building in Eastwood City. Brenterprise allegedly was printing and selling fake ORs to conniving taxpayers. These scheming business enterprises who bought fake receipts from Brenterprise were then able to decrease their tax liabilities as they used these fake documents to pad their income tax expenses and valueadded tax (VAT) input credits. These have resulted in tax collection losses amounting to billions of pesos, as per BIR estimate. There are four main actors in this tele-tax-novela. First, our government enforcement officers, which now include the BIR, NBI, and DOJ. They perform the role of pursuing the prosecution of these tax evasion cases. A very difficult role to play, and at this stage, we are not sure how their roles will evolve. Will they turn out to be the heroes or the tormented and losing actors of this novela? They are against the villains of this series. These include the masterminds and sellers of the fake ORs,

the conniving buyers of these ORs, and the corporations that may have been involved in the crime with the use of their business names in the fake OR scheme. I will call the first set of actors as the Masterminds, the second set as the Partners, and the last set of actors as the Scapegoats.

Among the three villains, I sense that the Scapegoats have the most minor roles or are the least guilty, or even not guilty at all. These Scapegoats may have been unwittingly used by the Masterminds in their evil crimes. They may have previously existed, conducted business operations for some time, and registered with the BIR and the Securities and Exchange Commission, but are now not anymore in operation or are considered “cannot be located taxpayers” pursuant to BIR Revenue Memorandum Circular 982010. Or these Scapegoats can even be non-existent and fabricated by the Masterminds to suit their evil plans. Could it be possible that the Masterminds did a search on nonactive corporations and used and inserted their names in the ORs that they were printing and subsequently selling to their Partners? With this storyline, as the tele-tax-novela story proceeds, the Scapegoats may just be removed from the novela series. Will the DOJ or the tax court decide that these Scapegoats are not guilty beyond reasonable doubt and dismiss the charges filed against them by the BIR? Abangan ang susunod na kabanata.

To be continued.

Joel L. Tan-Torres was the former Dean of the University of the Philippines Virata School of Business. Previously, he was the Commissioner of the Bureau of Internal Revenue, the chairman of the Professional Regulatory Board of Accountancy, and partner of Reyes Tacandong & Co. and the SyCip Gorres and Velayo & Co. He is a Certified Public Accountant who garnered No. 1 in the CPA Board Examination of May 1979. He is now back to his tax practice with his firm JL2T Consulting. He can be contacted at joeltantorress@yahoo.com.

Israel, Palestinians meet in Egypt to ease tensions

By Samy Magdy & Tia Goldenberg |

The Associated Press

CAIRO—Israeli and Palestinian officials were meeting Sunday in the Egyptian resort town of Sharm elSheikh in a bid to ease tensions between the sides and rein in a spiral of violence ahead of a sensitive holiday period beginning this week.

The meeting was the second attempt by the sides, shepherded by regional allies Egypt and Jordan as well as the US, to end a year-long spasm of violence that has killed more than 200 Palestinians and more than 40 people in Israel.

Whatever progress emerged out of the previous meeting late last month, which ended with pledges to de-escalate tensions, was quickly derailed when a new burst of violence erupted on the same day. A Palestinian gunman shot and killed two Israelis in the occupied West Bank and Jewish settlers in response rampaged in a Palestinian town, destroying property and leading to the death of one Palestinian.

Bloodshed has surged since the last meeting, making expectations for the second installment low. Still, mediators want to ease tensions ahead of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which begins this week and which coincides next month with the Jewish holiday of Passover.

Ahmed Abu Zaid, a spokesman for

Siegfred Bueno Mison, Esq.

To help and to be helped The tele-tax-novela THE PATRIOT

SidekickS are known as the closest companions of a principal, like Robin is to Batman, or Tonto is to The Lone Ranger, or chewbacca (Star Wars) is to Han Solo. Real life examples of sidekicks include former SAP and now Senator Bong Go (to former President Rodrigo duterte) and NBA forward Scottie Pippen to Michael Jordan of the chicago Bulls. Their lives are practically intertwined that you cannot talk about one without the other.

Evidently, sidekicks remain in the sideline while their respective principals bask in the limelight. These days, sidekicks can also be called as personal assistants who are wired to help their principals in anything and everything. And, for the most part, these fiduciary relationships organically grow and mature through the years.

People around me would testify that my current farm manager, driver, and all-around guy, Ruel Ramirez, is my sidekick, without whom, my life would not have been easier for the past 12 years! When I hired him, I did not plan to make him a sidekick; he and I just naturally evolved into one helper relationship. In general, any helper, in its generic sense, can perform sidekick duties, albeit temporarily.

Most helpers play a minor role. But one unique kind of helper, who can appear in a one-time event, helps shape a person’s destiny. Most of these destiny helpers hardly know that they are helping another. In the Bible, for instance, Pharaoh’s daughter was a destiny helper to salvage the baby Moses at birth. In my case, I consider two retired generals, Juanito Gomez (deceased) and Charlie Tanega, as some of my destiny

Let’s all be helpers to one another since we were designed not to be alone in any journey, professional or personal. And, whenever we help, our efforts should be based on love, the very foundation of our creation based on the Designer’s Manual—the Bible.

life, others for a very long time!

helpers as they allowed me to take up further law studies while still in the military service. Without these two generals sent my way, I would not have become a lawyer.

Another destiny helper of mine is Atty. Alexander Lacson, who convinced me and helped me transition from a soldier to a lawyer, and Niels Riconalla, founder of the Fellowship of Christians in Government (FOCIG) who mentored me in my ongoing journey following Jesus Christ.

In a marriage, husband and wife are not just destiny helpers but ought to be “suitable ones”—where one sees and covers the other’s blind spots, where one complements if not completes the other, where both works as a team for the sake of the family. In the Bible, Genesis 2:18 tells us that, after creating Man, God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.” “Suitable helper” in Hebrew is “ezer knegdow,” wherein the word “knegdow” literally refers to “standing opposite to.” Suitable helpers are not just mere sidekicks, who serve not as co-equals, or destiny helpers, who appear in our lives temporarily in crucial times. Suitable helpers are partners for a higher cause, some for

I am fortunate to have a suitable helper these days in the person of Gary Galvez. He and I share divergent views, yet we go along. In our distant past, I was enforcing the law while he was breaking it. Some say I am the more liberal but “boring” type, while he can be the ultra-conservative but “fun” type of an adviser.

Armed with the element of “knegdow” (opposite) in our relationship, Gary and I have partnered in a radio show explaining life events from the lens of the law of the land and law of the Lord and have appeared in a few workshops/seminars about faith-based leadership. We recently put up a consultancy firm, together with other thought leaders, aimed at helping organizations perform better through good governance and Bible-based principles. Gary and I are far from having a sidekick relationship like Batman and Robin or former President Duterte and Bong Go. We agreed to use “agape,” the kind of sacrificial love that unites and heals, as our anchor in this helper relationship. Our help to each other does not mean incidental help, as in a token assistance or temporary aid.

Necessarily, since suitable help is akin to fish and water, the Greatest Suitable Helper is our Almighty God as found in Psalms 46:1 where it said, “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. God helps us by sending people our way, including His only Son to help us if

not save us. In turn, Jesus Christ, before his crucifixion, never abandoned His disciples as He left them (and us) with a Helper. “And I will ask the Father and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever…” (John 14:16). Believers can never survive their life’s journey without reliance on the Suitable Helper in the form of the Holy Spirit who dwells in our hearts. Ultimately, we appeal our trials and attribute our successes to His abundant grace.

Helpers of various kinds are sent along our paths in times of need. Created not to be alone, all of us can be helpers to another as much as we have helpers sent along the way. In government, whether sidekicks or helpers, they are disguised as either “special or confidential or technical assistant” whose influence may just be as powerful than their principals. In the corporate sector, these trusted aides are often referred to as personal secretaries or vice-presidents. In our personal lives, these helpers are either spouses or partners or family members who serve as guardrails to protect us from harm that we may inflict on ourselves.

Let’s all be helpers to one another since we were designed not to be alone in any journey, professional or personal. And, whenever we help, our efforts should be based on love, the very foundation of our creation based on the Designer’s Manual—the Bible

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

Will Americans end up footing the bill for bank failures?

By Christopher Rugaber | The Associated Press

WASHiNGTON—The government’s response to the failure of two large banks has already involved hundreds of billions of dollars. So will ordinary Americans end up paying for it, one way or another? And what will the price tag be?

It could be months before the answers are fully known. The Biden administration said it will guarantee uninsured deposits at both banks. The Federal Reserve announced a new lending program for all banks that need to borrow money to pay for withdrawals.

the Egyptian foreign ministry, said Sunday’s meeting would be attended by “high-level political and security officials” from each side, as well as from Egypt, Jordan and the US. He wrote on Twitter that the talks are part of efforts to achieve and support calm between Israel and the Palestinians.

Palestinian official Hussein alSheikh tweeted that the meeting was meant to “demand an end to this continuous Israeli aggression against us.”

There was no immediate comment from Israel on the meeting, but Israeli media said senior security officials were set to attend.

The upcoming period is sensitive because large numbers of Jewish and Muslim faithful pour into Jerusalem’s Old City, the emotional heart of the conflict and a flashpoint for violence, increasing friction points. Large numbers of Jews are also expected to visit a key Jerusalem holy site, known to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary and to Jews as the Temple Mount, which the Palestinians view as a provocation. Clashes at the site in 2021 helped trigger an 11-day war between Israel and Hamas.

While the violence began under the previous Israeli government, it has intensified in the first two months of Israel’s new government, headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his coalition. Goldenberg reported from Tel Aviv, Israel.

On Thursday, the Fed provided the first glimpse of the scale of the response: It said banks had borrowed about $300 billion in emergency funding in the past week, with nearly half that amount going to holding companies for the two failed banks to pay depositors. The Fed did not say how many other banks borrowed money and added that it expects the loans to be repaid.

The goal is to prevent a broadening panic in which customers rush to pull out so much money that even healthy banks buckle. That scenario would unsettle the entire financial system and risk derailing the economy.

Taxpayers will probably bear no direct cost for the failure of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank. But other banks may have to help defray the cost of covering uninsured deposits. Over time, those banks could pass higher costs on to customers, forcing everyone to pay more for services.

Here are some questions and answers about the cost of the bank collapses: How is the response being paid for?

MO ST of the cost of guaranteeing all deposits at both banks will likely be covered by the proceeds the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. receives from winding

down the two banks—either by selling them to other financial institutions or by auctioning off their assets.

Any costs beyond that would be paid for out of the FDIC’s deposit insurance fund, which is typically used in the event of a bank failure to reimburse depositors for up to $250,000 per account. The fund is maintained with fees paid by participating banks.

Both Silicon Valley and Signature banks had a strikingly high share of deposits above that amount: 94 percent of Silicon Valley’s deposits were uninsured, as were 90 percent of deposits at Signature. The average figure for large banks is about half that level.

If necessary, the insurance fund will be replenished by a “special assessment” on banks, the FDIC, Fed and Treasury said in a joint statement. Though the cost of that assessment could ultimately be borne by bank customers, it’s not clear how much money would be involved.

Kathryn Judge, a law professor at Columbia University, said a bigger cost to consumers and the economy could stem from potentially major changes to the financial system that result from this episode.

If all customer deposits were considered guaranteed by the government, formally or informally, then regulations would need to be strengthened to prevent bank failures or lessen their costs when they do happen. Banks might have to pay permanently higher fees to the FDIC.

“It’s going to require us to revisit the entire bank regulatory framework,” Judge said. “That’s

Taxpayers will probably bear no direct cost for the failure of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank. But other banks may have to help defray the cost of covering uninsured deposits. Over time, those banks could pass higher costs on to customers, forcing everyone to pay more for services.

far more significant than the modest costs that other banks will pay.”

Will taxpayers be on the hook?

PR ESIDENT Joe Biden has insisted that no taxpayer money will be used to resolve the crisis.

The White House is desperate to avoid any perception that average Americans are “bailing out” the two banks in a way similar to the highly unpopular bailouts of the biggest financial firms during the 2008 financial crisis.

“No losses associated with the resolution of Silicon Valley Bank will be borne by the taxpayer,” read the joint statement from the Treasury, Fed and FDIC. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen defended that view Thursday under tough questioning from GOP lawmakers.

The Fed’s lending program to help banks pay depositors is backed by $25 billion of taxpayer funds that would cover any losses on the loans. But the Fed says it’s unlikely that the money will be needed because the loans will be backed by Treasury bonds and other safe securities as collateral.

Even if taxpayers aren’t directly on the hook, some economists say the banks’ customers still stand to benefit from government support.

“Saying that the taxpayer won’t pay anything ignores the fact that providing insurance to somebody who didn’t pay for insurance is a gift,” said Anil Kashyap, an economics professor at the University of Chicago.

“And that’s kind of what happened.”

So is this a bailout?

BI DEN and other Democrats in Washington deny that their actions amount to a bailout of any kind.

“It’s not a bailout as happened in 2008,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat from Connecticut, said this week while proposing legislation to toughen bank regulation. “It is, in effect, protection of depositors and a preventive measure to stop a run on other banks all around the country.”

Biden has stressed that the banks’ managers will be fired and their investors will not be protected. Both banks will cease to exist. In the 2008 crisis, some financial institutions that received government financial aid, like the insurer AIG, were rescued from near-certain bankruptcy.

Yet many economists say the depositors at Silicon Valley Bank, which included wealthy venture capitalists and tech startups, are still receiving government help.

“Why is it sensible capitalism for somebody to take a risk, and then be protected from that risk when that risk actually happens?” asked Raghuram Rajan, a finance professor at the University of Chicago and former head of India’s central bank. “It’s probably good for the short term in the sense that you don’t have a widespread panic....But it is problematic for the system long term.”

Many Republicans on Capitol Hill argue that smaller community banks and their customers will shoulder some of the cost.

Banks in rural Oklahoma “are about to pay a special fee to be able to bail out millionaires in San Francisco,” Sen. James Lankford, a Republican from Oklahoma, said on the Senate floor. Associated Press writer Fatima Hussein and video journalist Rick Gentilo contributed to this report.

DOE to seek legal guidance over SC decision on JMSU

By Lenie Lectura @llectura

THE Department of Energy (DOE) said over the weekend it would seek legal guidance following the Supreme Court’s (SC) decision that invalidated as unconstitutional the Tripartite Agreement involving China, Vietnam and the Philippines.

The Department of Energy will study the Supreme Court decision and its implications. The DOE will work closely with the Office of the Solicitor General and the Department of Justice in determining the next steps to be taken on the matter,” Energy Undersecretary Alessandro O. Sales said on Saturday.

I n a decision released in full last Friday but promulgated on January 10, 2023, the SC invalidated as unconstitutional the Tripartite Agreement for Joint Marine Seismic Undertaking (JMSU) in the Agreement Area

in the South China Sea by and among China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC), Vietnam Oil and Gas Corp. (PetroVietnam) and Philippine National Oil Co. (PNOC).

T he JMSU was signed on March 14, 2005, before incumbent Secretary of Energy Raphael P.M. Lotilla assumed office in his first tenure as Energy Secretary. The Philippine party to the JMSU was PNOC, represented by then PNOC President and CEO Eduardo V. Manalac.

I t can be recalled that in January this year, the SC declared the 2005 Tripartite Agreement

unconstitutional for allowing wholly-owned foreign corporations to participate in the exploration of the country’s natural resources without observing the safeguards provided in Section 2, Article XII of the 1987 Constitution. It took 14 years for the SC to rule on it.

U nder the undertaking, joint explorations will be conducted in the South China Sea, covering 142,886 square kilometers. The agreement covers six islands claimed and occupied by the Philippines in Spratly—Pag-Asa Island, Likas Island, Lawak Island, Kota Island, Patag Island, and Panata Island. However, up to 80 percent of the JMSU site is within the Philippines’s 200-mile

ANTITRUST BODY MONITORING PLDT-SKY CABLE AGREEMENT

By Lorenz S. Marasigan @lorenzmarasigan

exclusive economic zone, prompting the filing of petitions seeking to declare the agreement unconstitutional.

T he petition was filed by former Rep. Carlos Isagani Zarate (Bayan Muna) in 2008.

T he respondent said then that Section 2, Article XII of the Constitution was inapplicable because it only covers exploration, development and utilization of natural resources and not preexploration activities, which the JMSU covers.

T he SC, noting that the term “exploration” pertains to a search or discovery of something in both its ordinary or technical sense, ruled that the JMSU involves the exploration of the country’s natural resources, particularly petroleum.

C iting the text of the fifth whereas clause of the JMSU, which states the Parties “expressed desire to engage in a joint research of petroleum resource potential of a certain area of the South China Sea as a pre-exploration activity,” the Court said that it is clear that the JMSU was executed for the purpose of determining if petroleum exists in the agreement area.

WHILE the multibillionpeso acquisition by the PLDT Inc. of the broadband business of Sky Cable Corp. has yet to be notified to the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC), the anti-trust watchdog said it is “monitoring the developments surrounding the proposed transaction.”

PLDT announced last Thursday that it entered into a share and purchase agreement with Sky Vision Corp., ABS-CBN Corp., and Lopez Inc. to acquire their shares in Sky Cable Corp. for P6.75 billion.

The closing of the proposed transaction shall be subject to compliance with certain conditions precedent which include, among others, the termination or cessation of operations by Sky of its pay TV and cable businesses, obtaining all applicable government approvals and clearances, obtaining all required consents and corporate actions, and payment of the purchase price,” the PLDT disclosure read.

T he Pangilinan-led integrated telco noted that the transaction is in line with its goal to “narrow

the digital divide,” explaining that the transaction will “benefit the existing broadband subscribers of both PLDT and Sky.”

By merging their operations, PLDT and Sky will be able to “strengthen and expand” the coverage of their services, reach remote areas, and upgrade customer experience.

W hen sought for comment about the P6.75-billion acquisition between the Pangilinan and Lopez Groups, the PCC said: “The PCC notes that previous acquisition plans involving PLDT and Sky Cable have been rescinded in 2020 and 2022 for various reasons, including PLDT’s own assessment then of possible overlaps with Sky in their products and services.”

To recall, PLDT and ABSCBN terminated several investment deals that involved the following: the acquisition by ABS-CBN of 34.99 percent of total voting and outstanding capital stock in TV5 Network Inc., a PLDT unit, for P2.16 billion; and the P2.86-billion investment by Cignal Cable Corp. into Sky Cable Corp. T he deals were called off due to political pressure from lawmakers and regulatory bodies. See “Antitrust,” A2

Eternal Gardens breaks ground for 12th memorial park in Misamis Oriental

ETERNAL Gardens celebrated the groundbreaking of its 12th memorial park in Barangay Patag, Opol, Misamis Oriental, on March 18, 2023.

P resent during the event were local government officials: 2nd District of Misamis Oriental Congressman Yevgeny “Bambi” B. Emano, Opol Mayor Jayfrancis D. Bago, Assistant Director of Congressman Lordan Suan, Roberto “Bert” Amplayo Jr., Former Cagayan de Oro Mayor and Congressman Constantino “Tinnex” Jaraula, Sangguniang Bayan Member and Chairman of the Land Development Committee Danilo Daroy Sr. and Brgy. Patag, Opol Chairman Hermito B. Laid; and Eternal Gardens Executive Officers: Chairman and CEO D. Edgard A. Cabangon, Vice Chairman Benjamin V. Ramos, President Numeriano B. Rodrin, Vice President for Finance Marvin C. Timbol, Vice President for Sales & Market -

ing Jose Antonio V. Rivera, Assistant Vice President for Engineering & Project Development Engr. Niño S. Sayco, and Cagayan de Oro Branch Manager Amor Leodones.

A lso in attendance were officers, staff, and salesforce of Eternal Gardens.

Eternal Gardens President Numeriano Rodrin shared that this milestone is a testament to the unwavering commitment of Eternal Gardens to being a top developer of first-class memorial parks in the Philippines. “It is a symbol of our shared vision, values, and aspirations,” he shared.

T he provincial and local government officials of Misamis Oriental, on their messages, also expressed their gratitude to the management of Eternal Gardens for choosing the Municipality of Opol as the location of its 12th memorial park. They pledged to support the company the best way possible.

Eternal Gardens Chairman and CEO D. Edgard A. Cabangon conveyed his gratitude to the government officials for their warm welcome and support to Eternal Gardens. He said that the company’s way of expressing appreciation is to deliver a high-quality memorial park and excellent memorial services for the people of Misamis Oriental.

T he establishment of this new branch of Eternal Gardens is another milestone for the company’s continued thrust for expansion. Same with other branches, it will also house Eternal Chapels, a provider of complete mortuary and chapel services. At present, it has 11 premier parks located in key cities in the country.

Eternal Gardens is a member of the ALC Group of Companies founded by the late Amb. Antonio L. Cabangon Chua, and is currently chaired by D. Edgard A. Cabangon.

FFW: Marcos must rethink ‘rightsizing’ of Duty Free

By Samuel P. Medenilla @sam_medenilla

THE issuance of the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) for the “rightsizing” of Duty Free Philippines Corp. (DFPC) without consultation from its labor union has sparked concerns that it will result in “mass labor displacement.”

T he Federation of the Free Workers (FFW) renewed its appeal to President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. to halt the enforcement of the “haphazard-prepared” reorganization plan, which is expected to lead to the retrenchment of over 700 DFPC workers.

“ The President has the authority to stop this ill-prepared plan as he has the power to do so under Section 5 [a] [6] [i] of Republic Act 10149, also known as the GOCC

[Government-Owned and Controlled Corporation] Governance Act of 2011,” FFW said in a statement issued last Sunday.

T he group urged the President to postpone DFPC’s rightsizing plan “indefinitely” until its issues can be ironed out.

F FW made the pronouncement after the DFPC management released the IRR for the rightsizing plan last Thursday.

T his despite the opposition and pending appeal of the United Workers of Duty-Free Philippines (UWDFP-FFW)—the certified bargaining negotiation agent of the rank-and-file employees of the said establishment—on the said righsizing plan.

“ We were informed that the management of Duty-Free Philippines has already adopted an

implementing rules for the reorganization without the union or employees participation and without waiting for the resolution of our motion for reconsideration before the Governance Commission for GOCC—this is preposterous,” said UWDFP-FFW President Ernesto Mangalindan.

‘Unfair provisions’

UNDER the IRR, FFW said the affected DFPC workers will lose their security of tenure and will be required by their management to reapply for the approved plantilla positions, which are less than half of the existing jobs. It also has a provision which barred the retrenched workers from immediately seeking reemployment in other government offices.

Companies

Editor: Jennifer A. Ng

Monday, March 20, 2023

Terminated PSAs of Meralco, SMGPH firms to be reviewed

By Lenie Lectura @llectura

THE Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) will review the terminated power supply agreements (PSAs) of the Manila Electric Company (Meralco) and the subsidiaries of San Miguel Global Power Holdings (SMGPH) Corp. for possible violations.

“[The] ERC will review the validity of the termination and observance of parties of the proper notice and procedures to see if there is any violation,” ERC Chairman Monalisa C. Dimalanta said in a text message.

On Friday night, Meralco said it was informed by SMGPH that the PSAs—with a total capacity of 1,800megawatts (MW)—between Meralco and Excellent Energy Resources Inc. (EERI) and with Masinloc Power Partners Co. Ltd. had been terminated.

“We confirm receipt of notices from San Miguel Global Power,” said lawyer Jose Ronald V. Valles, head of Meralco’s Regulatory Management Office. These two PSAs are supposed to deliver 1800MW starting 2024 until 2025 to Meralco. Under the PSAs, EERI should deliver 1,200MW of gas-generated capacity starting December 2024 and the remaining

600MW from Masinloc Power starting May 2025.

Valles said Meralco will exhaust all options in order to replace the capacity under the terminated PSAs that underwent competitive selection process (CSP) in February 2021. The PSAs were submitted for ERC approval in March 2021. “We intend to rebid the same capacity to cover the same term. Let’s wait for the result of that bidding,” he replied when asked for the impact of the terminated PSAs on Meralco consumers.

Another round VALLES said Meralco will request that the Department of Energy (DOE) to conduct another round of CSP “as soon as possible.” However, Meralco would first have to submit to the DOE the proposed terms of reference for the CSP.

When sought for comment, En-

ergy Secretary Raphael P.M. Lotilla said in a text message that his office would wait for the filing.

Dimalanta, meanwhile, commented that the termination would have an impact “on the supply for 2023-2024 because these PSAs are supposed to start delivering then.”

San Miguel Global Power has yet to issue a comment when asked for the reason of the termination.

Consumer advocacy group People for Power (P4P) claimed that the reason for the termination was “due to the unaffordability of selling electricity using coal and gas.”

“We welcome this development. In the past, P4P also filed our opposition to the CSP that brought forward these contracts, which would have allowed SMC’s subsidiaries and Meralco to pass onto consumers additional costs from highly volatile prices of coal and gas electricity.

With EERI and Masinloc Power backing out, consumers are spared from the surely costly bills they would have been charged out of the two contracts,” P4P Convenor Gerry C. Arances was quoted in a statement as saying.

‘Best’ bids

HOWEVER, EERI and Masinloc Power were the two “best” bids that offered a low levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) of P4.1462 per kilowatt hour (kWh) for EERI and P4.2605 per kWh for Maisnloc Power. Both offers were below the LCOE reserve

Alternergy to issue ₧2.5B ‘green’ bonds

ALTERNERGy Holdings Corp.

plans to issue up to P2.5billion green bonds to partly finance its plan to build up to 350 megawatts (MW) of renewable energy (RE) projects in the next three years to five years.

“We expect two capital-raising from the capital market in the next few months. One of that is green bonds. We hope to launch that in the next few months so that we are aligning the timing of that in the implementation of our projects,” Alternergy President Gerry P. Magbanua said. “We’re looking at P2 billion to P2.5 billion for green bonds after IPO [initial public offering].”

Alternergy is eyeing to list on the Philippine Stock Exchange on March 24. It will offer up to 1.150 billion in primary shares, representing 30.11 percent of the company’s economic ownership, at a maximum price of P1.48 per share.

The company will also issue an over-allotment option of up to 115 million shares for a stabilization fund to be managed by BDO Capital, the joint issue manager and joint lead underwriter.

For IPO proceeds, “we’re looking at P1.4 billion; there’s already specific uses for that,” Magbanua said. The executive was referring to the 6.8-MW Lamut-Asipulo hydropower project expected to start operations by 2024 and the 28-MW Solana power project in Bataan.

“We have a portion of use of proceeds from the IPO will be channeled towards our equity participation in Lamut and Solana projects,” Magbanua said.

Alternergy earlier announced a P20-billion capital expenditure (capex) for its planned 220 MW of onshore wind, 33 MW of solar and 50 MW run-of-river (ROR) hydro projects.

“For the entire group in the next three to five years, we’re looking at a total capex of P20 billion for the lineup of the projects we have. Alternergy is embarking on a triple play strategy where we’re looking at developing ROR hydro projects, solar projects and wind projects,” Magbanua said.

The capex will be financed by a combination of equity (30 percent) and project financing (70 percent), Magbanua added.

He said that the company is open for partnerships albeit retaining at least 51 percent or 50 percent plus one share in the renewable projects that it has lined up.

“There’s a number of interested parties who want to partner with us in other technologies,” he said. The company founded by former Energy Secretary Vicente S. Perez Jr. aims to build 1,245 MW of RE capacity in the next five years. Lenie Lectura

Role of trees commonly overlooked–RSA

SAN Miguel Corp. (SMC) President and CEO Ramon S. Ang lamented recently that the role of trees and forests in people’s lives is “commonly overlooked.”

“The role of trees and forests in our lives is basic but commonly overlooked--or worse, ignored,” Ang said in a speech during the celebration of the anniversary of the Million Trees Foundation Inc. (MTFI) Nursery and Eco Learning Center last March 16 at the La Mesa Watershed.

“Apart from providing us with valuable resources such as food and building materials, trees also protect us against land erosion and flooding,” Ang said in his speech read by Edgar L. Dona, operations head of San Miguel Holdings Corp. (SMHC).

“In the case of watersheds, they help ensure that there will be water for human survival,” Ang added.

Fortunately, according to the SMC CEO, the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) and the MTFI have not let their guards down and have been successful in reforesting target watershed during the last couple of years.

“With the help of institutional partners and volunteers, they were able to surpass the five million trees target and have set another ambitious goal. And that is to plant 10 million more trees by the year 2030,” Ang said.

P1-M donation

DEMONSTRATING its continu-

price of P5.2559 per kWh.

Back then, the bid offers of Mariveles Power Generation Corp., Atimonan One Energy Inc. (A1E), and GNPower Dinginin Ltd. Co. (GNPD), which stood at P4.3321 per kWh, P4.6338 per kWh, and P5.2500 per kWh, respectively, were considered by the Third Party Bids and Awards Committee as the “possible next best bids.”

Earlier, two SMGPH subsidiaries terminated their PSAs with Meralco after the ERC rejected their request to temporarily hike electricity prices due to financial losses caused by rising fuel prices and inflationary pressures.

The Court of Appeals (CA) granted the petition for a writ of preliminary injunction filed by South Premiers Power Corp. (SPPC), effectively suspending the power supply contract for 670MW that was supposed be sourced from Ilijan gas plant and supply the capacity to Meralco.

“The purpose of injunction is to prevent threatened or continuous irremediable injury to the parties before their claims can be thoroughly studied and adjudicated,” the CA explained. “Its sole aim is to preserve the status quo until the merits of the case are fully heard.”

B1

Vivant income falls 10% as power business slows

VIVANT Corp. said its income last year fell 10 percent to P1.6 billion from the previous year’s P1.77 billion on lower contribution of its power business.

The company said it recognized P53.59 million in non-recurring income, which mainly stemmed from gains resulting from the remeasurement of foreign currency held and the fair value of some of its investments. Netting out the oneoff items, Vivant’s core net income for the year closed at P1.54 billion, 15-percent lower than the previous year’s P1.8 billion.

“By adapting to the challenging business environment, we have been able to pursue our expansion plans in power with particular focus on growing our RE (renewable energy) portfolio as we continue to develop our water projects,” Vivant CEO Arlo A.G. Sarmiento said. “All these are aligned to our commitment to provide solutions that support economic development and improve everyday living in our communities.”

Total income contribution of the power business segment was lower by 13 percent year-on-year at P2.25 billion. Power generation and electricity distribution comprised the bulk of the profits for the year accounting for 64 percent and 33 percent of total, respectively.

The power generation business ended 2022 with total income contribution of P1.45 billion from the pre-

vious year’s P1.72 billion, a 16-percent decline. The company attributed the decline to the diesel group, particularly the on-grid assets, which recorded an 80-percent drop in contribution at P131.73 million.

“Lower revenues from ancillary services and spot market sales brought down the group’s performance for the year. Moreover, a subsidiary incurred one off expenses related to the purchase of its plant assets in April 2022,” the company said.

Off-grid assets

MEANWHILE, the firm’s off-grid assets showed a strong recovery in earnings as it recorded a 273 percent expansion in income, to P61.91 million from the previous year’s P16.62 million. Operations of all island utilities showed significant expansion in energy sales. Investments in coal assets generated profits of P1.13 billion in 2022, up by 53 percent from the previous year. Improved revenues from spot market sales, lower operating expenses and the fuel cost management of an associate resulted to improved profitability for the year.

The retail group posted an income of P52.96 million, an 18 percent reduction in bottomline, as the retail electricity supply companies posted a 29 percent earnings decline at P48.73 million in income, while the solar rooftop business exhibited a reversal with a positive contribution of P4.23 million during the year. VG Cabuag

ing support to the annual “Million Trees Challenge,” the Manila Water Co. and the Manila Water Foundation (MWF) announced a donation of one P1 million to the MTFI on its second year anniversary as an organization.

This would be Manila Water’s third donation as it has done so every year since 2021. That year, the donation was made for the development of the MTFI’s onsite office and the establishment of a nursery at the 5-hectare property at the La Mesa Watershed.

At the anniversary event, the donation handover ceremony was held after the message of MWF President and Manila Water President and CEO Jose Victor Emmanuel A. De Dios. Jonathan L. Mayuga

Collapse of US banks seen to impact OF remittances

THE collapse of US-based Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and Signature Bank (SB) may not have an impact on the local banking sector but local economists are still closely monitoring the situation, particularly in light of remittances.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) earlier assured the public that the Philippine banking system “remains safe and sound” despite recent developments since local banks do not have “material exposure to the failed institutions.”

However, Unionbank Chief Economist Ruben Carlo O. Asuncion said they are “closely watching” how the collapse of the banks would affect remittances coming from Filipinos based in the United States who would be affected by the closure of SVB and SB.

“We recognize that there are many Filipinos in California and [they] may be affected by the closure, specifically of SVB, that caters to Silicon Valley clients,” Asuncion told the BusinessMirror. “Although we lack specific data to garner a clearer picture, it is good to watch if Filipinos [Fil-Ams] employed or indirectly employed within the Silicon Valley system.”

One of the challenges in monitoring, however, is the availability of information. Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU) Department of Economics Chairperson Alvin P. Ang told this newspaper that there is not enough information about the sending practices of migrants in the US.

Ang said it is possible that if second generation migrants in the US are the ones working and are exposed to the collapsed financial institutions, they may not be the ones sending remittances since the first generation may also be living in the US.

However, he admitted that since there is not enough data to support this, it would be difficult to say how

plausible this is. What is certain, Ang said, is that the US government’s recent decision to bailout the banks would not have an impact on remittances.

“There are few OFWs in the US. The bulk of the country’s remittances from the US come from professionals. But if these are second generation [Filipinos], it’s possible they are not sending remittances,” Ang explained to the BusinessMirror in the vernacular.

Asuncion added that “from what we know so far, we do not think that the adverse financial event will make any dent on the prospects of OFW remittances moving forward.”

Last Friday, the BSP said it recognized the actions taken by banking supervisory authorities in the US to address the potential contagion risk from the closure of banks. However, the BSP said it “will respond accordingly as market conditions evolve.”

“Our longstanding efforts in consultation with the industry in setting prudent standards and executing risk practices remain the key pillar in safeguarding the interests of the Filipino people,” BSP said. “We reiterate our earlier statement that our banks do not have any material exposure to the failed institutions.”

Earlier, the Bankers Association of the Philippines (BAP) assured the public that the fallout from failed US banks will not have a “substantial” or “material” impact on the country’s banking system.

The BAP explained that local banks have “diversified” deposit bases that include all sectors of the Philippine economy, allowing them “to continuously provide the liquidity needs of their clients.”

The group added that Philippine banks’ current capital and liquidity ratios continue to “exceed” the requirements set by the BSP.

Cai U. Ordinario

Perspectives

BSP expects to pay off debts incurred in 2022

By Cai U. Ordinario @caiordinario

The BSP reported that borrowings of Philippine residents from abroad reached $111.3 billion at the end of 2022, which was $4.8 billion more than the $106.43 billion posted in 2021.

Most or 85.1 percent of these debts are medium- and long-term in nature or those with maturities longer than one year.

“The weighted average maturity for all MLT [medium- and long-term] accounts increased to 17.2 years from 16.9 years in the previous quarter, with public sector borrowings having a longer average term of 20.6 years compared to 7 years for the private sector,” the BSP said.

Outstanding external debt (EDT), the BSP said, refers to all types of borrowings by Philippine residents from non-residents following the residency criterion for international statistics.

Short term accounts or those with original maturities of up to one year, account for only 14.9 percent of the outstanding debt stock and consist of bank liabilities, trade

credits and others.

“This means that FX [foreign exchange] requirements for debt payments are still well spread out and, thus, manageable,” the central bank said.

Spending for recovery

THIS translated to an external debt to GDP ratio of 27.5 percent. This is higher than the EDT to GDP ratio of 26.8 percent in the previous quarter and 27 percent in end-2021. This was due to higher public and private spending for pandemic recovery as well as efforts to enhance business and commercial activity, the BSP said.

“The EDT to GDP ratio of 27.5 percent signals manageable debt levels as well as the sustained capability of the country to service foreign borrowings in the medium- and longterm,” the central bank said.

Of the MLT accounts, BSP said 56.5 percent have fixed interest rates, 41.7 percent carry variable coupon rates, and 1.8 percent balance are non-interest bearing.

Public sector external debt rose

First things first: General Counsels and ESG priorities

INCREASINGLY, organizations are adopting a business approach that goes beyond mere legal compliance into a “doing the right thing” mindset, by integrating Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) factors into their everyday business decision-making processes.

ESG has also expanded the General Counsel role beyond being strictly a legal advisor to the Board, into becoming a strategic advisor, supporting the business and C-suite to navigate legal and reputational risks inherent in the ever-evolving ESG agenda, as well as highlighting opportunities presented by ESG. Those GCs who embrace their expanded competencies and maximize their involvement in ESG will become an even more valuable resource to their Board.

Business leaders in the Philippines are already integrating ESG principles and practices into their business frameworks and operations. They understand that mere compliance is not enough and that real and systemic changes must be implemented in their organizations to ensure they truly live out ESG principles.

KPMG in the Philippines Vice Chairman and COO Emmanuel P. Bonoan shares: “General Counsels play an important role in advising their organization’s leaders and board in how to adopt sound and impactful ESG practices that are compliant to existing and upcoming regulations and can be transparently reported to various stakeholders.”

ESG and the GC intersection

1. Environmental: Transition to Net Zero.

The Environmental element of ESG focuses on our impact on the world we live in. It also addresses the “what?”—as in what we need to do, what we need to reuse more and consume less of and what we can do to nurture biodiversity and nature.

Climate change has dominated the Environmental, focusing on what organizations need to do to remove carbon from their business activities (known as

“decarbonization”) to deliver the Net Zero economy required by the Paris Agreement.

“Decarbonization” impacts an organization’s core global business model and operations. Many clients are committing to material reductions in their carbon emissions well in advance of 2050.

GCs are well positioned to inform the board about ESG’s impact on different parts of their organization and specifically to lead on:

n Transition strategy. GCs play a pivotal role in creating and protecting longterm value through navigating the legal risks by supporting the business model’s transition and by ensuring both strategy and products and services are designed to meet sustainable needs now and for the future.

n Compliance. Businesses are confronted by a myriad of ESG requirements to incorporate into their business processes e.g., risk assessments and decision-making, as well as into their operating models. GCs need to future-proof business operating models by anticipating the impact of ESG laws and regulations and ensuring operating models and products and services comply. Failure to comply with ESG laws may result in sanctions.

n Reporting and disclosures. Responsibility for ESG reporting is often falling to GCs. As such, GCs must lead in identifying ESG reporting and disclosure laws, as well as maintaining collaborative business networks to ensure reporting is accurate and meets investor demands while avoiding reputational risks, including greenwashing.

n Access to capital and insurance

Failure to demonstrate an ESG strategy may prove an obstacle to securing financing or obtaining insurance, including D&O insurance. GC’s existing legal risk management functions mean they’re already involved in numerous ESG-related challenges and these new challenges require a further pivot by GCs to support continued access to capital and insurance.

2. Rise of Social.

The ESG Social element elaborates the “why?” of promoting an organization’s economic and social contribution to the communities they operate in. GCs play a fundamental role in delivering:

n Sustainable supply chains. Geopolitical impacts are forcing companies to rethink traditional supply chains. GCs need to examine the legal implications of supply chain changes as even the smallest shift can have implications for a business’s operating model and legal risk appetite.

n Workforce. GCs and HR are creating workforces fit for the future in diverse and safe environments and GCs are critical in implementing new laws to avoid human rights violations such as modern slavery and child labor—not just in an organization’s activities but also in their supply chains.

3. Governance.

The “G” in ESG stands for Governance, which focuses on “how” an organization achieves ESG objectives using traditional governance structures, policies and procedures, board oversight, Enterprise Risk Management and ethical behaviors that must be consistently demonstrated.

An organization’s license to operate is a familiar concept to all GCs. ESG-related laws, together with increased stakeholder capitalism scrutiny, transparency and accountability, are requiring a further considerable investment of a GC’s time.

GC priorities in this area include:

n Corporate purpose. Intense public scrutiny of corporate governance is challenging long-accepted legal concepts which GCs must ensure remain “fit for purpose.”

n Board expertise. Commentators have criticized some Boards’ lack of ESG sophistication. KPMG’s view is for GCs to partner with ESG experts to upskill and guide the Board.

n ESG risks. GCs have a unique view of their organization, enabling them to identify where risks might be better mitigated. While managing legal risks has always been a function of GCs, ESG requires GCs to extend their focus to reputational

by $2.6 billion to $67.4 billion from $64.8 billion in the previous quarter. The increase slightly raised its share to total vis-à-vis private sector external debt from 60 percent to 60.6 percent.

About $59.8 billion or 88.7 percent of public sector obligations were NG borrowings, while the remaining $7.6 billion pertained to loans of government-owned and controlled corporations, government financial institutions and the BSP.

Private sector

PRIVATE sector debt also grew from $43.1 billion as of end-September 2022 to $43.9 billion as of end-December 2022, albeit slightly decreasing from 40 percent to 39.4 percent.

The increase was due largely to net availments of $354 million, followed by the transfers of Philippine debt papers from residents to nonresidents of $228 million and positive FX revaluation of $116 million.

Meanwhile, the Philippines’s major creditor countries were Japan with $14.7 billion followed by the United States of America at $3.5 billion and the United Kingdom at $3.2 billion.

Loans from official sources such as multilateral and bilateral creditors had the largest share (37.9 percent) out of the total outstanding debt, followed by borrowings in the form of bonds/notes (33.1 percent) and obligations to foreign banks and other financial institutions (22.9 percent); the rest (6.1 percent) were owed to other creditors (mainly suppliers/ exporters).

In terms of currency mix, the

risks, especially in relation to accusations of greenwashing, climate change litigation and shareholder activism (which has become personal with derivative actions against Directors).

n Horizon scanning. GCs lead the challenge to keep apprised of laws impacting business activities in all jurisdictions in which their businesses operate.

Continually evolving ESG laws, including “soft law,” makes horizon scanning more difficult especially as individual elements of ESG can result in overarching “false friends” and cross-border conflicts.

n Data. GCs can save their C-suite from drowning in a potential ESG data lake. The GC role again extends beyond legal compliance here to balancing the need to disclose quality data required to inform investor decisions, while ensuring that data disclosure is controlled and does not lead to competitive advantage or incur risk from ESG activists.

n ESG policies. GCs are taking responsibility for ESG policies and initiatives aligning financial and societal performance and ensuring accountability, effective decision-making and compliance by integrating the organization’s ESG commitments into the wider corporate framework. This includes its supply chain, contractual precedents and recruitment, retention, payments and promotion practices.

The excerpt was taken from the KPMG Thought Leadership publication: https://kpmg.com/uk/en/blogs/home/ posts/2022/11/-esg--general-counsels-and-esg-priorities.html

© 2023 KPMG Intl Ltd., a private English company limited by guarantee, has Philippine partnership R.G. Manabat & Co. as a member-firm. All rights reserved.

more information, e-mail ph-kpmgmla@kpmg.com or visit www.home.kpmg/ph.

country’s debt stock remained largely denominated in US Dollar (77.9 percent) and Japanese Yen (8.8 percent) while the 13.3 percent balance pertained to 15 other currencies, including the Euro, Philippine Peso and Special Drawing Rights.

Bond issuance

MEANWHILE, the BSP data also showed that net availments of $8.4 billion, largely by the national government, and prior periods’ adjustments of $1.6 billion.

These were tempered by the negative FX revaluation of $2.6 billion and the increase in residents’ investments in Philippine debt papers issued offshore of $2.6 billion.

The external debt also increased by 3.1 percent or $3.4 billion from the $107.9-billion level posted at the end of September 2022.

The BSP said the increase in debt stock in the last quarter of 2022 was driven by the national government’s issuance of $2 billion worth of Global Bonds.

Private sector banks, the data showed, also sought external financing which reached $765 million to support relending activities and serve maturing obligations.

“The appreciation of other currencies against the US Dollar increased the US Dollar equivalent of borrowings denominated in other currencies, resulting in an overall positive foreign exchange revaluation of $1.5 billion,” BSP explained. “This FX revaluation, along with prior periods’ adjustments [$59 million], further contributed to the rise of the debt stock.”

Scam alert raised on extended SIM registration days

By Butch Fernandez @butchfBM

WHETHER or not authorities decide to extend the period for Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) registration, there must be no letup in the crackdown on scammers, whose “work” continues to manifest in the inbox of many subscribers, the head of the Senate public services committee said at the weekend.

Sen. Grace L. Poe exhorted authorities to clamp down on mobile phone scammers without letup as the registration of SIM continues.

Poe, principal author of the SIM Registration law or Republic Act (RA) 11934, said scams through text still appear in the inbox of subscribers, including recent messages saying their online bank account has been blocked.

“There are still SIM farms out there and spoofing tools. Sinister minds will never stop hatching ways of stealing information and duping people,” Poe said.

The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) recently reported a reduction in spam messages, but Poe warned, “we must never underestimate the lawbreakers.”

She urged the DICT and telecommunications companies to pull out all the stops to make the public register their SIM number on or before the April 26, 2023 deadline.

According to the DICT, around 45.8 million or 27.12 percent of the 169 million SIMs are in use nationwide.

RA 11934 requires all existing subscribers to enlist their mobile numbers with their service network.

When all SIMs have been registered, the government can now easily track digital fraud and make wrongdoers accountable.

The DICT may decide to extend the period of enlistment for 120 days more. Unregistered SIM cards would be deactivated.

According to Poe, while the law allows for an extension, this should be used to further step up the SIM registration campaign.

“With the law, we expect all fraudulent and unwanted text messages to die a natural death. But we must not let our guard down,” Poe said.

“The extension period, if so decided by the DICT, will be for the legitimate subscribers to register and avoid disruption in their mobile phone services. This should not extend the heydays of the scammers,” Poe added.

BEFORE Filipinos born today become eligible to vote, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) expects the country to have already paid off the foreign debts it incurred as of the end of last year.

How a warrant for Putin Puts new sPin on Xi visit to russia

By Matthew Lee AP Diplomatic Writer

Chinese President Xi Jinping’s plans to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow next week highlighted China’s aspirations for a greater role on the world stage. But they also revealed the perils of global diplomacy: hours after Friday’s announcement of the trip, an international arrest warrant was issued for Putin on war crimes charges, taking at least some wind out of the sails of China's big reveal.

The flurry of developments—which followed China's brokering of an agreement between Saudi Arabia and Iran to resume diplomatic relations and its release of what it calls a “peace plan” for Ukraine—came as the Biden administration watches warily Beijing's moves to assert itself more forcefully in international affairs.

US President Joe Biden said Friday he believes the decision by the International Criminal Court in The Hague to charge Putin was “justified.” Speaking to reporters as he left the White House for his Delaware home, he said Putin “clearly committed war crimes.”

While the US does not recognize the court, Biden said it “makes a very strong point” to call out the Russian leader for his actions in ordering the invasion of Ukraine.

Other US officials privately expressed satisfaction that an international body had agreed with Washington’s assessment that Russia has committed war crimes and crimes against humanity in Ukraine.

Asked about the Xi-Putin meeting, Biden said, “Well, we’ll see when that meeting takes place.”

The Biden administration believes China's desire to be seen as a broker for peace between Russia and Ukraine may be viewed more critically now that Putin is officially a war crime suspect, according to two US officials. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the matter publicly, said the administration hopes the warrants will help mobilize heretofore neutral countries to weigh in on the conflict.

A look at the Xi-Putin meeting and how it may be affected by the warrant.

What is the significance of Xi meeting with Putin?

T H e visit to Russia will be Xi's first foreign trip since being elected to an unprecedented third term as China's president.

It comes as Beijing and Moscow have intensified ties in steps that began shortly before Russia's invasion of Ukraine with

a meeting between the two leaders in Beijing during last year's Winter Olympics at which they declared a “no limits” partnership.

Since then, China has repeatedly sided with Russia in blocking international action against Moscow for the Ukraine conflict and, US officials say, is considering supplying Russia with weapons to support the war. But it has also tried to cast itself in a more neutral role, offering a peace plan that was essentially ignored. The meeting in Moscow is likely to see the two sides recommit to their partnership, which both see as critical to countering what they consider undue and undeserved influence exerted by the U.S. and its Western allies.

What is the significance of the ICC arrest warrant issued for Putin?

In the immediate term, the ICC's warrant for Putin and one of his aides is unlikely to have a major impact on the meeting or China's position toward Russia. n e ither China nor Russia—nor the United States or Ukraine—has ratified the ICC's founding treaty. The US, beginning with the Clinton administration, has refused to join the court, fearing that its broad mandate could result in the prosecution of American troops or officials.

That means that none of the four countries formally recognizes the court's jurisdiction or is bound by its orders, although Ukraine has consented to allowing some ICC probes of crimes on its territory and the US has cooperated with ICC investigations.

In addition, it is highly unlikely that Putin would travel to a country that would be bound by obligations to the ICC. If he did, it is questionable whether that country would actually arrest him. There is precedent for those previously indicted, notably former Sudanese President Omar Bashir, to have visited ICC members without being detained.

However, the stain of the arrest warrant could well work against China and Russia in the court of public opinion and Putin's international status may take a

hit unless the charges are withdrawn or he is acquitted.

What is the view from Washington?

US officials have not minced words when it comes to Xi's planned visit to Moscow. White House n a tional Security Council spokesman John Kirby called Beijing’s push for an immediate cease-fire in Ukraine a “ratification of Russian conquest” and warned that Russians could use a cease-fire to regroup their positions “so that they can restart attacks on Ukraine at a time of their choosing.”

“We do not believe that this is a step towards a just, durable peace,” he said. Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan this week called on Xi to also speak with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the Ukrainian leader has also expressed interest in talks with Xi.

What is the view from Kyiv?

S P e A KI n g before the ICC warrant was unveiled, Ukrainian analysts cautioned against falling into a potential trap ahead of the Xi-Putin meeting. “We need to be aware that such peace talks are a trap for Ukraine and its diplomatic corps,” said Yurii Poita, who heads the Asia section at the Kyiv-based n e w g e opolitics Research n et work.

“Under such conditions, these peace talks won’t be directed toward peace,” said n a taliia Butyrska, a Ukrainian analyst on politics related to e a stern Asia. She said the visit reflects not so much China's desire for peace but its desire to play a major role in whatever post-conflict settlement may be reached.

“China does not clearly distinguish between who is the aggressor and who is the victim. And when a country begins its peacekeeping activities or at least seeks to help the parties, not distinguishing this will affect objectivity,” Butyrska said. “From my perspective, China seeks to freeze the conflict.”

What is the view from Moscow?

eV en i f China stops short of providing military assistance to Russia as the US and its allies fear, Moscow sees Xi’s visit

as a powerful signal of Chinese backing that challenges Western efforts to isolate Russia and deal crippling blows to its economy.

Kremlin spokesman Yuri Ushakov noted that Putin and Xi have “very special friendly and trusting personal ties” and hailed Beijing’s peace plan. “We highly appreciate the restrained, well-balanced position of the Chinese leadership on this issue,” Ushakov said.

Observers say that despite China’s posturing as a mediator, its refusal to condemn the Russian action leaves no doubt about where Beijing’s sympathy lies.

“The Chinese peace plan is a fig leaf to push back against some Western criticism on support for Russia,” said Alexander g a buev, a senior fellow at the Carnegie e n dowment for International Peace. “The optics that it creates is that China has a peace plan, both parties of war endorsed it and were ready to explore the opportunities and then it was killed by the hostile West.”

What is the view from Beijing?

C H I ne S e o fficials have been boasting about their new-found clout in the international arena as their country’s foreign policy has become increasingly assertive under Xi.

In announcing the Xi visit, China's foreign ministry said Beijing’s ties with Moscow are a significant world force. “As the world enters a new period of turbulence and change, as a permanent member of the U n S ecurity Council and an important power, the significance and influence of China-Russia relations go far beyond the bilateral scope,” it said.

It called the visit “a journey of friendship, further deepening mutual trust and understanding between China and Russia, and consolidating the political foundation and public opinion foundation of friendship between the two peoples for generations.”

Associated Press writers Aamer Madhani in Washington and Hanna Arhirova in Kyiv contributed to this report.

Ch Ine se President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin pose for a photo on the sidelines of the shanghai Cooperation Organisation (sCO) summit in samarkand, Uzbekistan, on september 15, 2022. Alex A nd r d e myA n chuk, Sputnik, k r emlin p o ol p h oto vi A A p

Style

A countryside soiree in the UK

nticEd to pursue further studies and better employment options, Filipinos have flocked to the United Kingdom. Hundreds of thousands work in the health-care, hospitality and housekeeping industries, with a vast majority settling in London.

Day on march 21

VIETNAMESE Ambassador Hoang Huy Chung, multi-awarded poet and educator Prof. Dr. Jose “Butch” Y. Dalisay Jr., award-winning poet and poetry therapy pioneer Prof. Vim Nadera and The Makatas trio of poets shall recite poems and speak at the annual celebration of World Poetry Day on March 21, 10 am, at 84-year-old Kamuning Bakery Café on Judge Jimenez Street corner K-1st Street, Barangay Kamuning, Quezon City.

This was announced by owner and poet Wilson Lee Flores. Poetry lovers and the public are invited. Customers can bring an original poem in any language to pay for a free cup of hot brewed Benguet Arabica coffee at Kamuning Bakery Café from 5:30 am to 9 pm.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) first adopted March 21 as World Poetry Day during its 30th General Conference in Paris in 1999, and the annual celebration of World Poetry Day has been one of the unique civic projects of Flores when he bought and revived the historic, iconic Kamuning Bakery Café because he writes poetry in English and Filipino.

Diplomat Hoang Huy Chung is ambassador of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, one of Asia’s fastest-growing economies. Vietnamese poetry originated in the form of folk poetry and proverbs.

Vietnamese poetic structures include Lục bát, Song thất lục bát, and various styles shared with Classical Chinese poetry forms, such as those found in Tang Dynasty poetry. More recently, there have been new poetry and free poetry.

Vietnam’s revered revolutionary and leader Ho Chi Minh was also a writer, poet and journalist who wrote books, articles and poems in Chinese, Vietnamese and French.

Professor Butch Dalisay is award-winning novelist, playwright, screenwriter and poet; winner of 16 Palanca literary awards and the Palanca Hall of Fame Award; former vice president of University of the Philippines (UP); book author; columnist of the newspaper Philippine Star Prof. Vim Nadera is an award-winning poet, pioneer of poetry therapy in the Philippines, former director of the UP Institute of Creative Writing and the Philippine High School for the Arts.

The Makata are three poets who will showcase the 99-year-old tradition of Balagtasan, a Filipino form of debate done in verse which began in July 1924. Wilson Lee Flores said that 2024 will be the centennial of the Balagtasan.

For inquiries on World Poetry Day at Kamuning Bakery Café, text, Telegram or Viber 09178481818 or 09363095017, or e-mail pandesalforum@gmail.com or willsoonflourish@gmail.com.

Other locations that Filipinos usually prefer are Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham, and Leeds. But dynamic communities of migrants are emerging outside of the regions more familiar to Filipinos.

One of these is in Doncaster, a bustling city in South Yorkshire, England, which is most famous for its horse races.

One of Doncaster’s enterprising Filipino-British residents, Lou Mary Tomsczyk knows that even if her kababayans have managed to adapt to the British way of life, they still long for a glimpse of home. So together with Marie Fairbank, CEO of Parkfleet Consultancy and Services Ltd. and a leading figure in the Fil-Brit community, Tomsczyk organized the “First South Yorkshire-Doncaster Fashion Show Dinner Event” at the Hilton Garden Inn on February 25. “Fashion shows are always held in London and not all Pinoys, especially from the countryside, have the chance to watch Filipino designers showcase their collections,” Tomsczyk said via e-mail. “It is very expensive for Filipinos to watch shows at London Fashion Week because they have to stay in hotels or spend for transportation. Thus, we the producers explored other venues where there is a huge Filipino population.”

The designers they tapped were Jhay Layson and Jian Lasala, who both presented formalwear. Layson, a favorite stylist before he progressed into designing, showcased red-magenta laser-cut crystallized gowns modeled by Fil-Brit beauty queens such as Christa Borja Miss World Peace Queen 2018; Kierra Ferreira, Miss Glamour UK and 1st runner-up, Miss Philippines-UK 2019; Kacey Coleen, Miss Swimsuit

UK 2015; Cynthia Washington; and Keisha Quijano Cooke, Miss Philippines-UK 2019.

“I just want to showcase Filipino design and Filipino traditional gowns, suits and barongs in the UK,” Layson, who is also a talent manager and the owner of TCMI Fashion Academy Philippines, said of his “Ani [Harvest]” collection. “As a young fashion designer, I just want to show the world the best version of myself and take inspiration from the world around me to create fresh and original designs.”

The event gathered Filipinos and their friends from Leeds, Hull, Sheffield, Liverpool, Harrogate, York, Whitby, Coventry, Scotland and Wales. Notable attendees include Sir David Roche, an awardee of Queen Elizabeth and a former director at the World Bank; Amy Reyes, Philippine Embassy labor attache; Erroll and Elsie Isip, founders of Barrio Fiesta; child model Jasmine White; and Harrison and Mia Bottomley.

“Another reason why we organized the event in Doncaster is because there has never been a Filipino fashion-dinner event ever held in Yorkshire. Most of all, it was to help Filipino designers be known outside

London,” says Tomczyk. “With the fashion-show platform, we intend to promote Philippine tourism.”

The event was also to promote “London Barrio Fiesta 2023,” a bigger and bolder endeavor for Fairbank and the Isip couple to mount a truly Filipino cultural spectacle in the UK. They have already held a presscon on March 10 at the House of Lords to drumbeat the affair.

Tomczyk said of the Doncaster show: “Modesty aside, we have very positive reviews and people request that we should do it again this September. We will be inviting Filipino designers who cannot afford expensive joining fees to showcase their collections” at the same time as the London Fashion Week.

“Events such as the fashion-dinner in Doncaster is a way for us to promote Philippine fashion and culture outside London. It is also a way of uniting Filipinos in the countryside who cannot and have not experienced a fashion show,” says Fairbank. “We aim to help in uplifting the image of Filipinos in the United Kingdom, and to make this a yearly event for Filipino designers and talents for them to have a venue to showcase their collections outside London.” n

Summer pop-up for Kultura’s Filipino Design Studio

JUST in time for summer, Kultura’s Filipino Design Studio showcases tropical-inspired finds in a setting of earthy neutrals and natural materials that conjure idyllic Philippine getaways.

This pops up at SM Aura Premier from March 16 to April 2 after its successful debut at Kultura at The Podium in September last year.

Envisioned as a space of inspiration and community, the Filipino Design Studio aims to highlight and support exceptional local talent, giving consumers all the reasons to love local.

Have fun in the sun with uniquely Filipino fashion finds: Gwapitos’ island life inspired looks from Siargao, the country’s surfing capital; Nino Franco’s effortless blend on modern fashion with traditional ethnic hand embroidery from the T’boli tribe of Mindanao;

Beauty brand’s pore obsession inspires a pore care line

Finally, everyone’s favorite makeup primer now has a pore care line, which includes six high-performing products: cleansing oil, cleanser, foaming toner, two masks, and a niacinamide-rich moisturizer.

First, a disclaimer: Benefit prefers to call this collection a pore care line instead of skin care. The brand also doesn’t make any promises except that these will keep your pores clean.

This is why I love the brand. Their products are always fun and colorful but backed by research. They will not promise anything they cannot fulfill.

because I was intrigued by the foam. I expected my skin to feel tight after application but it didn’t. It just felt clean. I love the foam because it translates to less product wastage. You just need a pump on the palm of your hand. There’s also no

Matthew and Melka’s fun, fresh accessories featuring the colors of local flora and fauna; Anmari & Co’s handmade bags made from buntal, raffia, rattan and tikog sourced all over

Many of the Design Studio items support communities: Eva Marie’s vibrant, handwoven accessories and home décor are made from tikog grass by the women of Samar; 11th Earth Home Décor’s earth friendly collection using upcycled materials are crafted by indigent communities in the provinces; Luid Lokal celebrates the natural beauty and texture of wooden ware handmade by communities in Pampanga; Rurungan sa Tubod Foundation’s caftans and wraps are made with fabrics handwoven on traditional looms by women from fishing and farming villages in Puerto Princesa.

n Benefit doesn’t make any lofty promises except that the products will keep the pores on your face clean. If you want whitening or anti-aging, these aren’t the products for you. I love how this message is clear from the beginning.

CHRISTA BORjA, Miss World Peace Queen 2018; Kierra Ferreira, Miss Glamour UK and first runner-up Miss Philippines-UK 2019; Marie Fairbankm event organizer; elsie Isip, Barrio Fiesta finance director; featured fashion designer jhay Layson; Lou Mary Tomczyk, singer and one of the producers; Kacey Coleen, Miss Swimsuit UK 2015; and Keisha Quijano Cooke, Miss Philippines-UK 2019.

One of Benefit Cosmetics’ flagship products is the Porefessional Face Primer, which helps makeup stay put and blurs the look of pores. Along with Benetint, Porefessional was my entry product into the brand. I used it not only as a primer but also to retouch over makeup. The latter is a little known fact about Porefessional, which the brand launched in 2010. You can apply it over makeup and it won’t disturb anything.

Over the years, the Porefessional line expanded to include a retouching balm and a powder, which are now both discontinued. Such is Benefit’s dedication to the study of pores.

The Porefessional Get Unblocked Cleansing Oil is the first step in double cleansing. Like most cleansing oils, you apply it on your face, rub gently for a minute, emulsify with a few drops of water, and rinse off. The next step to cleansing is the Porefessional Good Cleanup Foaming Cleanser, which is formulated without sulfates. If you don’t wear makeup, by the way, there’s probably no need to double cleanse. This foaming cleanser is enough.

The Porefessional Tight ‘n Toned Pore-refining AHA

+ BHA Toning Foam has chemical exfoliants that help to gently slough away dead skin, leaving the surface smoother. Both AHAs (alpha hydroxy acids, like glycolic acid) and PHAs (polyhydroxy acids, like gluconolactone) are chemical

The Porefessional Deep Retreat Pore-clearing Clay Mask about clay masks. This one is easy to rinse and doesn’t tug on the skin when you remove it. The mineral-rich kaolin clay mattifies excess oil. After application, the mask dries down to a lilac color and little white dots appear to show where oil is being drawn out of your skin. You keep this on for 30 minutes. I just apply it on my problem areas instead of the whole face.

The Speedy Smooth Quick Smoothing Pore Mask is one of the collection’s best sellers. It applies like a moisturizer and dries down to a clay. It contains clay, kelp, hyaluronic acid, and squalane.

The Porefessional Smooth Sip Lightweight Smoothing Moisturizing for Pores is a lightweight gel cream that I think even those who don’t use moisturizer will enjoy using. This moisturizer has niacinamide and squalane.

So here’s what I like about the Porefessional pore care line:

n The products are in aluminum containers so they’re reusable and recyclable. Plus, they look like they’re travelfriendly.

n For this collection, the brand focused on including the right amount of the right active ingredients to address specific pore-related concerns.

n The containers are visually appealing and come in yellow, turquoise, and purple.

n All the products are good.

What I don’t like about the line:

n It could be expensive for most of its target market, which are students and young professionals. But if I was someone on a budget and could buy only one product, I’d probably get the foaming toner.

n The line is made mostly for those with oily or oilycombination skin types so if your skin is very dry, the only products for you are the cleansing oil, the foaming toner, and the moisturizer.

The products are available at Benefit Cosmetics boutiques.

ReLAx in style with nino Franco’s Kahayag shirt, designed with hand-embroidery by the T’boli tribe of Mindanao.

THe Sigul dress, a blend of traditional T’boli tribe embroidery and modern design by nino Franco.

Monday, March 20, 2023

Sonic branding: The power of Sound in communicaTion

AT our recent CommuniTalks Series 4, an advocacy of the Philippine Chapter of the International Public Relations Association (IPRA), we tackled a very interesting and emerging trend in Public Relations. It’s called Sonic Branding and the guest speaker on this topic—one of the pioneers and movers of this practice was Mike Constantino, Founder and CEO of Homonym who spoke before a jampacked auditorium of students at the University of the Philippines.

PR Matters

By Karen Alparce-Villanueva

Sonic branding is the strategic, purposeful and consistent use of sound and music in branding and marketing to shape perception and behavior. Employing audio in a brand context—with a scientific approach to creativity, production and targetin—has been proven to help produce a tangible return on investment. Whoever the audience may be, there’s a signature sound that’s perfect for the brand and the target audience/s. Top marketers all over the world are already enjoying the benefits of having a sonic brand and identity. In fact, according to Mike Constantino, sound is the next great marketing frontier. To illustrate, in 2021, there was a 136-percent increase in US brands that launched a sonic brand because it resulted in 88% higher recall. In addition, there was an 8.5 times faster reaction time in recognizing sound vs. Visual stimulus.

Why sonic branding is important

EVERY brand should have an audio signature. A brand’s sound is increasingly as important as the way a brand looks. Whoever the audience may be, there’s a signature sound that’s perfect for the brand and the target audience. Top marketers all over the world are already enjoying the benefits of having a sonic brand and identity. A brand has the potential to strengthen its connection with consumers, make its brand personality distinct from competitors and increase KPIs like brand affinity, recall, consideration. There is an opportunity to differentiate your brand through sonic branding and turn it into a competitive edge.

ty pes of sonic branding

S O NIC B randing can be applied in many different ways and in varying platforms. A sonic brand includes four principal elements: voice, music, sound effects and a sonic logo. Here are several examples of platforms:

1. For Ads and Campaigns— Stinger/OBB & CBB for all video/

ment expansion efforts into more e merging sites and business hubs while continuing its network infrastructure improvements and re storation across the country this 2023.

n EastErn CommuniC ations

dEdiC atE s P1 billion for infrastruC turE E xPansion in 2023

MANILA, PHILIPPINES—Eastern Communications, the Philippines’ premier telecommunications company, has earmarked one billion p esos for capital expenditures this year as part of its ongoing national expansion and rollout of fiber network services.

E astern Communications’ capital expenditure amounting to P 1.04 billion is allotted to aug -

Driven by Eastern Communications’ current offering of connectivity and internet products and t he increasing demand for reliable ICT solutions, with cloud services, and cybersecurity suite, the telco reported a revenue increase of 7% in 2022 compared to its 2021 performance. Consequently, customer s atisfaction also increased to score 90.92% in 2022, fulfilling the Eastern promise of high-touch service.

“ We are proud of our high touch approach, and this has become our competitive advantage. Our 2022 customer satisfaction score shows

radio/digital content

2. In-Store Music—Audio Logo + curation based on music preference of target market per branch/ location

3. Walk in Music—Audio Logo + curation based on music preference of target market

4. Hold Music—Curation based on music preference of target market

5. Lobby and Elevators—Curation based on brand identity & music preference of target market (e.g., Office, outlets)

6. App Sound & Notifications —Audio Logo

7. Website—Audio Logo

8. Podcast—Audio Logo, Branded Content

9. Radio Show—Audio Logo, Branded Content

10. For Jingles & Songs—Audio Logo, arranged based on Sonic Identity

11. Activations & Events—Curation based on music preference of target market and different versions based on the occasion/ campaign

m us ical preferences can reveal your true identity YOUR t aste in music shows your personality & dictates your preferences. Again Mike gave the following examples:

n REFLECTIVE & COMPLEX:

our dedication to continuously delight our customers. We will bring this commitment with us as we expand to more areas in the country,” said Vince Tempongko, Co-Coordinator for Eastern Communications.

Eastern Communications expands to help more businesses evolve T HE I CT solutions company kickstarted the year by launching its 2 023 campaign “Evolve Every Day” to democratize technology throughout the country and launch initiatives to help Filipinos and businesses thrive.

This year, Eastern Communications will continue its Via Eastern e xpansion campaign and extend its coverage across Visayas and Mindanao to provide more services

inventive, have active imaginations, value aesthetic experiences, consider themselves to be intelligent, tolerant of others, and reject conservative ideals.

n INTENSE & REBELLIOUS: tend to be curious about different things, enjoy taking risks, are physically active and consider themselves intelligent.

n UPBEAT & CONVENTION -

AL: cheerful, socially outgoing, reliable, enjoy helping others, see themselves as physically attractive and tend to be relatively conventional.

n ENERGETIC & RHYTHMIC: talkative, full of energy, are forgiving, see themselves as physically attractive and tend to eschew conservative ideals.

Part of the lecture also looked at examples of successful Sonic Branding case studies. An audio branding audit was also done looking at the winning and losing candidates of political elections and how sound contributed to their success or failure. Commonalities among the winning campaigns include the ff:

n Use of existing songs, same arrangements but remade with different lyrics and message

n More often use known music and/or popular kinds of genres in their campaigns, eg. Budots, “Otso

t o Filipinos. Eastern Communications’ cutting-edge technology a nd unparalleled customer service through its Philippine Domestic Submarine Cable Network (PDSCN), which recently landed in Z amboanga, and will also be available in the remaining sites, Liloy a nd Dipolog in Zamboanga del Sur; Maasin, Leyte; and Mactan, Cebu.

n mommyki launChE s onEstoP aPP for PE ts, fE aturing shoP s, sErviCE s, sittEr s, trainErs, and morE MANILA, PHILIPPINES—Pet owners now have an easier and more convenient way to buy all their pet needs from birth to rebirth through Mommyki The Super Pet App, the Philippines’ first-ever one-stop mobile application for

otso,” Rap, EDM-like, etc.

n Usually incorporates the candidate in the performance of the song. Either short spiel, singing or dancing, they take part in it and are visibly and audibly present.

n A common theme is that they are inclusive of the poor and present themselves as understanding their situation. Thus, they can help the people with their situation.

n Overall, the winning campaigns’ music seem to play on a sense of belongingness with the impoverished and captures their attention through entertainment and popularity.

Finally, the process by which Sonic Branding can help brands include the following:

n Determine Sonic Identity and develop that into a unique Sonic Brand

n Convert Sonic Brand into practical applications—end-toend music and audio marketing initiatives—that will help with KPIs like Brand Affinity, Brand Lift, Awareness, Engagement, Mentions, Retention/Loyalty, etc.

n Utilize key partnerships as well as local and global networks to provide music-first insights and activate the latest audio innovations to the brand’s advantage so its soundscape will continue to develop along with the brand, the

everything about pets for their entire life cycle. It held its soft launch during the AnimalCon 2023 at the SMX Convention Center, Pasay City, last February 10 to 12.

The app is a virtual pet mall that allows buyers to avail of products and services from different m erchants, suppliers, and service providers located in Metro Manila.

Currently, the platform, which caters to all pets in the animal kingdom, features pet shops only. But s oon it will include pet grooming, breeders, sitters, trainers, funeral services, boutiques, parties, hotels, veterinarians, insurance and rescue organizations, among others.

It also has an in-app digital baby book for pets to help pet parents in storing information about their pets, and monitoring vaccination

audiences and the times.

In summary, Mike Constantino says Sonic branding is a modern and powerful tool that uses auditory elements to reinforce brand identity. Used appropriately, it can carry strong emotional value which connects the audience with the brand as much as visual elements.

PR Matters is a roundtable column by members of the local chapter of the United Kingdom-based International Public Relations Association (Ipra), the world’s premier association for senior professionals around the world. Karen AlparceVillanueva is founder of HealthPRx Communications Inc., a policy and advocacy consultancy focused on health care. She is president of the Philippine Alliance of Patient Organizations, the national alliance of 48 patient groups in the country. She is also a Board Member of the AsiaPacific Patient Safety Network, the Philippine Tuberculosis Society and the International Alliance of Patient Organization’s Patients for Patient Safety Observatory.

We are devoting a special column each month to answer the reader’s questions about public relations. Please send your comments and questions to askipraphil@gmail.com.

and health check-up schedules.

The minimum viable product (MVP) or initial version of Mommyki The Super Pet App can be d ownloaded from Apple App Store and Google Play Store.

Mommyki The Super Pet App is a passion project of co-founders and couple Geoffrey Ogang, a finance director in a tech company, and Pebbles Sanchez-Ogang, a non-profit e xecutive. The mobile app is named after Mommyki, the 14-year-old Yorkshire Terrier (Yorkie) dog of the co-founders’ family. The difficulty in finding products and s ervices for Mommyki, especially when she departed in the middle of the pandemic, sparked the idea. The co-founders are also open to partnership opportunities and investors.

iPr a’s first hybrid Communitalks at the uP College of mass Communication with speaker mike Constantino and uPCmC dean Ernan Paragas (at the center) flanked by the iPr a members and the student audiences behind.

mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph |

Editor: Jun Lomibao

ALIDO EYES TITLE REPEAT IN ILOILO

back-to-back title run.

“I’m going in there with a lot of confidence, aiming to get my third win,” said Alido, who rallied from five strokes down and toppled one big gun after another to snare the International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI)

By Josef Ramos

THREE Filipino-Americans standing over six feet and a renowned Brazilian coach have been added to the national men’s volleyball team to the Cambodia 32nd Southeast Asian Games.

Philippine National Volleyball Federation (PNVF) president Ramon

“Tats” Suzara formally introduced Brazilian coach Sergio Veloso and heritage players 6-foot-3 Michael Raymund Vicente, 6-foot-5 Steven Rotter and 6-foot-6 Cyrus De Guzman to the media in a Pasay City restaurant over the weekend.

Suzara also announced that the PNVF drew the support of Foton Motor Philippines which donated a national team van through Foton Philippines General Manager Levy Santos. The target should be win, win and

win and fight for the medal or fight for the gold,” the 57-year-old Veloso told reporters at the Golden Bay Restaurant in Pasay City.  “But it’s a one set a time for us and I believe they have the capability to win as a unit.”

Veloso, whose previous assignment as an International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) accredited coach was in the Maldives, will be working closely with his PNVF counterpart Odjie Mamon in the national team.

Suzara is confident Veloso and the heritage players would fill up voids in the national squad.

“ The arrival of the three FilipinoAmericans and coach Sergio [Veloso] is very promising especially for Cambodia,” said Suzara, who thanked Foton Philippines for supporting the mobility needs of the federation.

He also expressed gratitude to

the global platform Fil-Am Nation Select headed by Christian Gopez for introducing the Filipino-Americans to the national team.

I’m having a blast. It’s my first time leaving the United States and be on my own. I don’t have anyone to rely on aside from myself and my teammates, my coaches,” said Rotter, an opposite spiker from La Palma, California, who played for Long Beach City College, California State University and semipro team LA Blaze in the US.

V icente, a wing spiker from San Jose, California, on the other hand, played in the US NCAA Division I team Concordia University Irvine.

“ Training has been really good. We’re taking a little bit of time and we get this,” Vicente said.

De Guzman, on the other hand, is a middle blocker from New York and played in the US NCAA Division III for Hunter College and also for New York Pride and North East Force in the Volleyball League of America.

The men’s team will undergo a training camp in Osaka, Japan, from April 3 to 20 ahead of the May 5 to 17 Cambodia SEA Games.

DLSU nears 1st rd sweep, Ateneo ends skid

DE LA SALLE University foiled

Adamson University,  2225, 25-14, 25-16, 25-19, on Sunday to move closer to a first round sweep in University Athletic Association of the Philippines Season 85 women’s volleyball action at the FilOil EcoOil Centre in San Juan.

We had a shaky start, perhaps Angel [Canino] was still groping for her form because she missed days of training getting under the weather,” De La Salle interim head coach Noel Orcullo said.

Ateneo, meanwhile, checked an alarming four-game skid by beating University of the Philippines (UP), 25-16, 25-20, 25-22, to close its firstround eliminations campaign.

Vanie Gandler led the Blue Eagles with 17 points scattered through 13 attacks, two blocks and two service aces.

Faith Nisperos made 14 points along with five digs, while AC Miner produced seven points for the Lady Eagles who are languishing at sixth place with a 2-5 record.

We missed this feeling. I thank the players for accepting the challenge

because I challenged them to take pride and have a strong character in this game no matter what,” Ateneo head coach Oliver Almadro said.

Jewel Encarnacion had 11 points, nine digs and nine receptions and Niña Ytang had four blocks for seven point UP, which fell to 1-5.

C anino tried to will De La Salle in the first set with back-to-back crosscourt kills for a 22-23, but Trisha

Tubu and Lucille Almonte provided the clutch for Adamson University to smell an upset.

But that was the best the Lady Falcons could muster as the Lady Archers made got their chemistry flowing the rest of the way to snare their sixth straight victory.

The victory provided the lady Spikers a boost in morale heading into their showdown with the National University Lady Bulldogs, the reigning champions, at 2 p.m. Wednesday at the Mall of Asia Arena.

The Lady Spikers are enjoying their best start since Season 77 (2014-15) where they also went 6-0.

to the next lower tier the next season—or the Football League One. They spent four seasons there before they got promoted to the Championship once more.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like they will be promoted back to the Premier League any time soon as they are currently 11th in the table with a 14-11-13 record.

I f we move laterally to another sport, Kamaru Usman just lost his rematch with UFC welterweight champion Leon Edwards.

Usman was on his way to beating Edwards in their second meeting last year but a kick to the jaw flattened him and the welterweight belt transferred waists.

IRA ALIDO oozes with confidence following his come-from-behind victory in Bacolod City.

IT took Ira Alido nearly three years before he could nail a second career victory. But three days into the next Visayan stop of the Philippine Golf Tour (PGT), the young star feels so good about his chances of completing a

Negros Occidental Golf Classic over the ot only will the 22-year-old Alido bring momentum to the ICTSI Iloilo Golf Challenge beginning Wednesday but also the drive and inspiration to hoist another PGT trophy with Chanelle Avaricio also all primed up for another title crack in the women’s side of the event e couple matched stirring comefrom-behind victories at the tough Marapara course with Alido fighting back from five down to beat the likes of Tony Lascuña, Rupert Zaragosa, Frankie Miñoza, Zanieboy Gialon and Guido van der Valk, and Avaricio overcoming a huge 8-stroke deficit to edge Sarah Ababa. But while the duo will face the same field they upstaged in Bacolod, they will be as much tested as the rest when they tackle the Iloilo Golf and Country Club course, the oldest in Southeast Asia, which requires accuracy off the tee and sound iron play and short game to buck the

Maximum entry breached for Highlands Ladies Cup

TWO days after heralding the return of the Highlands Ladies Cup, tickets have been sold out with a maximum of 200 players set to vie for top honors in various divisions when the milestone 15th staging of event is held on April 29.

I n fact, the Tagaytay Highlands Ladies Chapter (THLC) said it will make full use of the Tagaytay Midlands’ three courses, including the Lucky 9—to accommodate the big number of entries that further underscored the popularity the fiesta-like fun but competitive tournament has generated before the pandemic.

It will be one big ‘par-tee’ in Tagaytay on April 29,” said THLC president Rosalind Wee of the upcoming event that will also mark the Tagaytay Ladies team’s 18th founding anniversary.

Backed by Diamond sponsors W

Group Inc. and Willie Ocier, the Highlands Ladies Cup will feature players of all genders with various titles to be disputed in different divisions under the System 36 scoring format.

The tournament, supported by Platinum sponsors CLC Marketing Ventures Corp., Parola Maritime Agency Inc., Powerball Gaming and CWC International Regent Travel (gold) and ComWorks and Kaiser International. Health Group (silver) will have a shotgun start at 8 a.m.

M aking up the bronze sponsors’ list are WeeCom Developers, Olive Tree Corp., GM Eloah Agrocrops Co., RCW Construction and Development Corp., ELTX Logistics Corp., H&E Multimix Mfg., Prime Star Distributors Inc., RGO Lab & Industrial Diagnostic Center, Concrete Masters, Manila Bankers Life Insurance Corp., Morning Glory Co. Inc., Omniversal Assurance Agency Corp.

challenges quietly lying in the trees, tall hills and rolling terrains.

But after scoring a follow-up to his breakaway title run at Riviera-Langer in 2020, Alido said he’s more than ready to take up the challenge from his peers and a slew of veterans as well as from the water-laced course.

It was a big confidence-boost,” said Alido of his Marapara win that also underscored his readiness to resume his campaign elsewhere. “I’ve been working really hard the past year and definitely now, it’s helping me to prepare to play more events abroad.”

The rest of the locals, however, are also more than ready to stir their respective title drive and foil Alido’s bid for a second straight championship in the circuit organized by Pilipinas Golf Tournaments Inc.

I’ll try to recover, I’m confident my putting would click there [Iloilo],” said Lascuña, who missed forcing a playoff at Marapara with a shaky approach on the closing par-5 hole and a flubbed birdie try from 25 feet.  A lso out to redeem themselves from their failed title bid in Bacolod are Gialon, Miñoza and van der Valk, who all figured in the tight final round battle, along with Clyde Mondilla, Jhonnel Ababa, Zaragosa, Jay Bayron, Albin Engino, Boni Salahog, Reymon Jaraula and 2018 champion Jobim Carlos.

Ironman 70.3 in Davao gets going Sunday

AN INTREPID field of endurance athletes— including 18 pros and dozens of age-groupers from record 46 countries—braces for a fast, grueling race when the Alveo Ironman 70.3 Davao Philippines fires off Sunday at the Azuela Cove.

O rganizers of the event powered by Petron have guaranteed the best racing experience for the huge field all geared up for a test of power, speed and stamina in the highly popular race to be disputed over the 1.9-km swim, 90-km bike and 21-km run race.

Following Davao’s successful staging of the Ironman 70.3 in 2018 and 2019 ruled by Mexico’s Mauricio Mendez and Germany’s Markus Rolli, respectively, the course has been spruced up to championship condition one week before the blue-ribbon event is held.

“ We have set a fantastic race at the same racecourse they have enjoyed while making improvements along the way,” race director Neville Manaois said. “We have maintained a fast but challenging swim, a single loop flat bike layout, and a hot and punishing run course.”

T hat should put emphasis on sound preparations and proper conditioning with the organizing The Ironman Group/ Sunrise Events Inc., the sponsoring Alveo Land Corp. and host Davao City ensuring everything is in place for the duration of the keenly awaited event to be spiced by the Girls Fun Run on March 24 and the IronKids on March 25.

Stopping the skid

THERE’S that saying in sports of bouncing back after a loss. A loss can be frightening if it goes unchecked. Confidence and morale go down and sometimes, it goes on this shocking and dizzying downward spiral.

W hen Sunderland was relegated from the English Premier League in May of 2017, they went to the Championship. There they struggled as well and dropped

Th is past Sunday, it was a more confident Edwards who faced him and punished him with leg kicks and superb takedown defense. All Usman had were strikes but even Edwards got his own licks in.

A nd by match’s end, Edwards retained the title by majority decision. Usman is on his first ever losing streak. If he claims he didn’t suffer from any lingering effects of his previous loss, this one, well, it could.

O ver at Formula 1, after the poor decision that saw Max Verstappen be allowed to line up next to Lewis Hamilton in the final race of two seasons ago, the World Driver’s

Championship was lost to the former although Mercedes did retain the Constructors Championship.

I f Mercedes was expected to bounce back in the 2022 season, they unfortunately did not.

Not only did Verstappen annex his second consecutive Driver’s Championship, but Red Bull finally took the Constructors Championship from Mercedes that finished third (one behind Ferrari).

Th is 2023 season, the opening Grand Prix in Bahrain saw a 1-2 finish for Red Bull with Verstappen and Sergio Perez taking the honors. The evergreen Fernando Alonso, now with Aston Martin, finished third.

L ewis Hamilton finished fifth while George Russell crossed the line in seventh.

A fter the race, Hamilton pronounced Mercedes as “going backwards.”

A pparently, Mercedes stuck with their “zero sidepod” design in their car that saw them struggle mightily last season.

Team principal Toto Wolff promised radical changes, this early in the season? That remains to be seen.

W hile winning certainly isn’t everything, losing, well, it is a bad thing. Anxiety, disappointment, anger, and

confusion increases. The only time it isn’t is when you learn from one’s mistakes and move forward and upwards and not backwards.

L osses can open cracks that weren’t there. Consecutive losses widen the hole until the entire thing comes crumbling down.

Two University Athletic Association of the Philippines seasons ago, the University of the Philippines (UP) Fighting Maroons handed Ateneo a loss at the worst time possible… on the eve of the play-offs. Although Ateneo bounced back in their next game, not against UP in the finals. The flaws were exposed.

However, they did bounce back this past season and returned the favor by taking the crown back from UP.

N ow, I will follow with great interest the Saudi Arabia Grand Prix (that will be all but over by the time you read this column). Ditto with what happens next with Kamaru Usman (after Edwards said in the pretrilogy match that he was going to open the door for the former’s retirement).

There’s no written manual on how to deal with losing streaks. It’s a different scenario for everyone. And from that, there is much to be learned also about one’s self.

PHILIPPINE National Volleyball Federation (PNVF) president Ramon “Tats” Suzara is presented the symbolic key to the PNVF Foton Team Van by Foton General Manager Levy Santos (fifth and sixth from left) during a turnover ceremony on Saturday in a restaurant in Pasay City. With them are (from left) national player Jayvee Sumagaysay, PNVF secretary-general Donaldo Caringal and chairman Dr. Arnel Hajan, national player Mylene Paat, PNVF national team chairman Tonyboy Liao, Filipino-American Steven Rotter, Brazilian coach Sergio Veloso and Filipino-American players Cyrus De Guzman and Michael Raymond Vicente. ROY DOMINGO

3 Fil-Am players, Brazilian coach add power to men’s vball squad

NONIE REYES

THE Lady Spikers are dominating the field by going unscathed in six matches.

ExecutiveViews

Injecting new life into Asian Hospital

By Anne Ruth Dela Cruz

HE was just leaning to enjoy retirement when he received a call from the former Human Resources director of MSD who had joined Metro Pacific Health (MPH), the largest private hospital operator in the Philippines. It has a nationwide portfolio of 19 hospitals, supported by two allied health colleges, a growing network of primary care clinics and cancer care centers, and a central clinical laboratory.

I wasn’t aware that he had joined MPH and he talked to me about the challenges that Metro Pacific Health was going through and their vision was to integrate all of these hospitals together,” recalled Dr. Beaver R. Tamesis, President and CEO of Asian Hospital and Medical Center.

In particular, he mentioned that Asian Hospital is their flagship and they asked me to come in to see what I could do in terms of growing the reach of Asian Hospital and increasing the number of patients we could actually serve. So I said that it sounded interesting. It’s related to health but not really something that I had focused on all of my career. So I said yes, I might as well try a different challenge,” he continued. His family could only scratch their heads and wonder why Dr. Tamesis decided to go back to work after having worked for MSD for 27 years. His last eight years were spent as Managing Director and President of MSD. He also served as President of the Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Association of the Philippines for six years.

First time

DR. TAMESIS pointed out that this would be the first time he would be managing a hospital full time. His only experience of working at a hospital was to contribute ideas to the marketing department of another tertiary hospital.

“It’s extremely different from running a pharmaceutical company. However, there are many areas of commonalities and it’s really the people. It’s really about how you grow people, how you recognize talent, how you give them the recognition that is due them and then plan their career growth. In that way you can constantly motivate them, you can keep them excited waking up in the morning to come to work because they know they are doing something, contributing something for the greater good. That aspect is very, very similar,” he said.

A s for running a hospital, Dr. Tamesis pointed out that he had to address many concerns. This included the air conditioning, power consumption, the daily influx of patients, whether the patients are getting the right service at the right time, privacy concerns and the doctor community.

During my first couple of months, I would conduct listening tours just to listen to the doctors, what their thoughts were, what they wanted Asian Hospital to be, how they saw themselves participating in the growth, development and fulfillment of the potential of Asian Hospital,” he said.

So those were the myriad of issues that I had to face, to deal with but the good thing is that I was able to bring in all the 27 years of management experience that I had. That was readily transportable,” Dr. Tamesis added.

Fulfilling its potential

WITH regards to his plans for Asian Hospital, Dr. Tamesis said the hospital “has to be able to fulfill its potential,” noting that the hospital has not been fully outfitted for all floors “ We still need to be able to

reach out to the greater public so that it is not just the village dwellers. We have to be broader, ‘democratic’ in terms of the people that we reach, the services that we have for them,” he said, adding that Asian also needs to bring in the different types of technology and modes of treatment that are already present in the different parts of the world.

He acknowledged though that

Asian Hospital already “has some fantastic stuff.” Dr. Tamesis said he was proud of the Asian Cancer Institute because it has the Tomotherapy where “you don’t actually need to screw in a metal crown” and that the radiation beams are able to hit the tumors without having to involve the surrounding tissue.

A sian Hospital’s cardiovascular services, Dr. Tamesis said, “is

really top of the time in terms of world class quality.”

“ We are ensuring that all our pathways are there to make sure that any heart attack patient who comes through the door, we can attend to them immediately and actually even do angioplasty if necessary on some of these patients,” he added.

In terms of stroke care, he pointed out that Asian Hospital is

nursing care at Asian Hospital, describing the level of attention they give to patients as “unsurpassed in terms of quality.” While he acknowledged that the country is suffering from a shortage of nurses, Dr. Tamesis said Asian Hospital is fortunate that it has “a steady supply of nurses.” “ We have a regular pipeline so that we can constantly replace those who feel the need to already migrate. This means that we have tie-ups with schools, the review centers so that when they pass the board exams, we have a steady supply of nurses who can potentially come in with the appropriate orientation and get familiarized with the different tools that we have and eventually be deployed,” Dr. Tamesis said.

Management style

WHEN asked about his management style, Dr. Tamesis said he wanted to be more collaborative and be more of a coach. He sees himself encouraging his staff to adopt their innovations, helping them to open their eyes and give them a new perspective of things.

“Often times, they find the solutions themselves. That is what I love about a really smart, knowledgeable and highly experienced management time. Often times, it is just a matter of opening their eyes or giving them a different perspective. They can really run it," he said,

He describes his first few months at the helm of Asian Hospital as “extremely intense” as he was going through the listening tours and trying to understand the issues of Asian Hospital and what more can be done to bring the hospital to its full potential.

“I think we came up with the right diagnosis and my leadership team got fully o board with it and we signed off in the middle of January that this is what we are going to work on and already we are seeing hopeful signs that people are responding,” Dr. Tamesis noted.

Back to the beach AS TO where he sees himself five years from now, Dr. Tamesis said he sees himself going back to the beach to enjoy his retirement.

I often tell people that we have to plan our obsolescence because sooner or later we have to have a successor. It is important that we always and constantly think of the next person in line so that we can move them up and groom them because that is also a way of retaining them,” he related.

He also regularly checks on himself to ensure that he is not stale and that he continues to bring value to the company he works for.

“I can tell you that after eight years of sitting in my President and CEO role of the previous company, I could feel that I was getting a bit stale. It would be unfair for the company if I continued. They had extended me a couple of times already,” Dr. Tamesis said.

They were still asking if I wanted. I said it was time for me to go. So you have to listen to that voice inside of you that says, okay, maybe it’s time for you to go. You might not be bringing in enough juice anymore,” he added.

also capable of carrying out brain bypass surgery.

“ We have heard all about heart bypass surgery and now we can also do brain bypass surgery. Our clinical staff are doing a lot of fantastic work and they are already starting to integrate all the things that we do, our pathways, among others,” he said.

Dr. Tamesis also lauded the

Now having made the commitment to help reinvigorate Asian Hospital, Dr. Tamesis said, "My Leadership team and I are fully committed and engaged to ensure that ALL the stakeholders (patients, doctors, nurses, technologists, back office employees, etc) are engaged, their voices heard, as we plot the path forward to exciting growth in our service offerings, continually improving the patient journey and experience of Asian Hospital, as we move briskly into the 21st century while honoring the Legacy of our Founders, and past leaders. So yes, exciting times ahead!"

DR. BEAVER R. TAMESIS, PRESIDENT AND CEO, ASIAN HOSPITAL AND MEDICAL CENTER