BusinessMirror May 09, 2022

who are eager to spend Christmas

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country in another strict lockdown,

tions to be put in place swiftly and

n Monday, May 9,29,2022 17 17 No.No.52 211 Monday, November 2021Vol.Vol.

See “Omicron,” A2

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

NATL DEBT,GOVT GOLDBORROWINGS PRICE BRING FOR 10 7-MO MOS DIP TO GIR TO LOW INP2.75T APRIL n

By Bernadette D. Nicolas

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Omicron risk spurs revival of quarantine rules in PHL

@BNicolasBM

HE national government’s gross borrowings as of end-October shrank by almost 6 percent year-on-year to P2.75 trillion.

By Samuel P. Medenilla @sam_medenilla

Latest data from the Bureau of the Treasury showed that the government’s gross borrowings during the 10-month period fell by 5.99 percent from P2.92 trillion a year ago.

With only two months left for this year, the latest figure is already equivalent to 89.6 percent of its P3.07-trillion borrowing program.

Broken down, gross domestic borrowings from January to October settled at P2.23 trillion, down by 5.08 percent from P2.35 trillion in 2020.

The bulk of the amount was PEOPLE walk past the mural of Gat Andres Bonifacio at Manila City Hall Underpass. sourced from Fixed Rate Treasury The country will celebrate the 158th birth anniversary of Filipino revolutionary Bonds (P1.19 trillion), followed by hero Gat Andres Bonifacio on Tuesday, November 30. ROY DOMINGO short-term borrowings from Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas or BSP (P540 billion), Retail Treasury Bonds/Premyo Bonds (P463.3 billion), Retail Onshore Dollar Bonds (P80.84 billion). In the same period, there was

By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas dating its registry following the also a net redemption of Treasury @jearcalas enactment of the Coconut FarmBills amounting to P43.94 billion. ers and Industry Trust Fund law.

Net debt redemption means ORE than 3 million Rosales explained that about there were more debts repaid comcoconut farmers and 500,000 coconut farmers and pared to the amount borrowed durworkers are now regisworkers were added to the PCA’s ing the period. tered with the government’s reg2018 list that had about 2.5 million Meanwhile, gross foreign boristry, which serves as the basis coconut farmers and farm workers. rowings in the same period also for the number of people to be The PCA’s next step is to concontracted by 9.7 percent to P518.7 covered by the utilization of the duct an exclusion-inclusion probillion from last year’s P574.4 billion.

By Bianca Cuaresma @BcuaresmaBM P75-billion coconut levy fund. cedure by making the updated This was raised through global Philippine Coconut Authority farmers’ registry public, providbonds (P146.17 billion), program (PCA) Deputy Administrator Roel ing everyone the opportunity to loans (P139.98 billion), euro-deM. Rosales said about 3.11 million check the veracity of the list, Ronominated bonds (P121.97 billion), coconut farmers and farm worksales added. a project loan (P86.41 billion), and ers have been registered with the “The list will be posted in public yen-denominated samurai bonds government since it started upspaces where people can easily see (P24.19 billion).

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NTER NATIONA L concerns over the possible spread of the more infectious Omicron Covid-19 variant prompted the government to reimpose mandatory facility-based quarantine for all arriving passengers in the country.

Acting Presidential spokesperson Karlo B. Nograles announced on Sunday that the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) suspended the implementation of its Resolution No. 150A (s.2021), effectively imposing stricter protocols for all inbound travelers.

To note, IATF Resolution 150A had allowed fully vaccinated non-visa travelers from Green List areas to enter the country without the need for facility-based quarantine as long as they secure negative Reverse TranscriptionPolymerase Chain Reaction (RTPCR) test within 72 hours prior to their departure. programs as President Duterte “Except for countries classified is expected to sign the industry as ‘Red,’ the testing and quarantine development plan in early 2022. protocols for all inbound internaRosales said the PCA will not tional travelers in all ports of entry stop updating its list of coconut shall comply with the testing and farmers and enjoined them to regquarantine protocols for ‘Yellow’ ister in order to reap the benefits list countries,” Nograles said, citing of the decades-long idled coconut the provision of IATF Resolution levy fund. “We will not stop at 3.1 No. 151-A. million. We hope that more indiHe noted Hong Kong, which has viduals will register in our coconut confirmed a case of the Omicron farmers registry,” he said. variant, will also fall under the YelThe updating of the coconut low list countries. farmers registry is mandated by The suspension of the rules for Republic Act (RA) 11524 or the “Green List” countries will be in CoconutByIndustry effect from November 28, 2021 to AndreaTrust E. SanFund Juan Act. possible global downturn of the See “3-M farmers,” A2 December 15, 2021. economy in the latter part of the Continued on A2 HE Department of Trade and year.

Industry (DTI) is confident “The rate of Philippine export Philippine in terms of both our key 36.2807 the n EU 56.5758 economy n SAUDIwill ARABIArecovery 13.4531 Source: BSP (November 26, 2021) continue to rebound and grow in export products and markets brings the coming months after exports greater optimism for a stronger grew 9.8 percent in the first quarter.

Philippine economy. The only unHowever, the pace of growth certainty is the possible global slowwould largely depend on “how down towards the second half of bad the world economies will be the year,” Lopez explained further. affected by the prolonged war in The DTI, in a news statement, Ukraine,” according to Trade Secnoted that 21 out of 48 Philippine retary Ramon Lopez. export commodity groups drive Philippine exports increased by the resurgence of the country’s 9.8 percent to $19.42 billion from export sector, recording consistent last year’s $17.68 billion based on increases in export sales as comthe preliminary data released by pared to three time periods: 2021, the Philippine Statistics Authority 2020, and pre-pandemic average (PSA) last Friday. over 2017-2019.

In March 2022, the country’s The trade industry noted that monthly exports reached $7.17 10 other export commodity groups billion, representing growth of 5.9 also recorded an increase in export percent from the $6.20 billion in sales this quarter. However, export February. performance has been inconsistent Despite the export recovery, the when compared to pre-pandemic trade chief emphasized that the and 2020 export levels. only thing to watch out for is the See “Exports,” A2

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

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HE country’s dollar reserves declined to its lowest in seven months in end-April, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said.

them. This allows everyone to see who are listed in the registry and if farmer doesn’t see his name then he shall coordinate with the PCA immediately,” he explained at a recent dialogue with coconut farmers.

“On the other hand, if people would see names on the list and they think they are not coconut farmers or their details are incorrect, they can report it to the PCA for immediate action,” he added.

The PCA official noted that the completion of the initial list of coconut farmers registry would be just in time for the expected rollout of coconut levy-funded

FIRST GENERAL ELECTIONS IN PANDEMIC: ACID TEST FOR PHL

See “Borrowings,” A2

months’ worth PESO EXCHANGE RATES n equivalent US 50.4600ton9.4JAPAN 0.4374 nofUK 67.2329 imports of goods and payments of

Data showed that the country’s gross international reserves (GIR) level settled to $106.76 billion as of end-April this year from the endMarch level of $107.31 billion.

It is a lso lower t ha n t he $107.705-billion GIR level in the same period last year.

The country’s April GIR is the lowest it has been since September last year, when the country’s dollar defenses hit $106.596 billion.

The country’s GIR is the level of foreign exchange holdings being managed by the Central Bank during a given period. The GIR is a crucial component of the economy as it is often used to manage the country’s foreign exchange rate against excess volatility.

According to the statement of the Central Bank, the latest GIR level “represents a more than adequate” external liquidity buffer

n HK 6.4722 n CHINA 7.9013 n SINGAPORE 36.8968 n AUSTRALIA

services and primary income.

It is also about 7 times the country’s short-term external debt based on original maturity and 5.5 times based on residual maturity.

Factors for decline

THE BSP attributed the month-onmonth decrease in the country’s GIR level mainly to the National Government’s (NG) foreign currency withdrawals from its deposits with the BSP, as the NG settled its foreign currency debt obligations and paid for various expenditures. The BSP also said the downward adjustment in the value of the BSP’s gold holdings due to the decrease in the price of gold in the international market affected the country’s level of reserves.

See “Debt,” A2

PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 52.3310

PRESIDENTIAL candidate Ferdinand Marcos Jr. poses with his family (from left), Simon, Vincent, wife Liza and Sandro during his “Miting de Avance” on Saturday, May 7, 2022, in Parañaque City, where his camp claimed a crowd estimate of over 1 million (top photo). ROY DOMINGO/AP

By Samuel P. Medenilla Over 65.83 million voters are @sam_medenilla

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LL eyes are now on polling precincts as the country holds its first ever National and Local Elections (NLE) during a pandemic.

expected to go out on May 9, 2022 to cast their votes in 106,174 clustered precincts nationwide, prompting concerns it could become a super spreader event for Covid-19.

See “First general elections,” A2

As exports grow, DTI upbeat but flags Ukraine fallout risks

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n JAPAN 0.4020 n UK 64.6916 n HK 6.6670 n CHINA 7.8652 n SINGAPORE 37.8251 n AUSTRALIA 37.2230 n EU 55.1778 n SAUDI ARABIA 13.9520

Source: BSP (May 6, 2022)

News

BusinessMirror

A2 Monday, May 9, 2022

Comelec busy fighting fake news on eve of elections

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By Samuel P. Medenilla

@sam_medenilla

LECTION-RELATED fake news spread on social media on the eve of the 2022 polls, prompting the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to go all-out with its counter-offensive against misinformation.

Among the issues flagged by Comelec George M. Garcia was the bogus resolution, which claimed the Comelec en banc had disqualified the party-list groups affiliated with the Makabayan bloc and senato-

rial candidate Neri J. Colmenares.

The fake resolution was also accompaniedby a supposed press statement by Acting Comelec spokesperson John Rex C. Laudiangco.

“That resolution is fake. The

Exports...

Continued from A1

This includes, among others, fresh bananas, pineapples and pineapple products, mangoes, and articles of apparel and clothing accessories.

In March, agro-based exports showed a 32.6-percent growth compared to the same period last year, which is mainly attributed to increased export sales of coconut

products at 63.3 percent and other fruits and vegetables including bananas and mangoes at 14.1 percent.

Meanwhile, for manufactured goods, growth for the month was driven by exports of electronic products (i.e. semiconductors, telecommunication, communication/ radar, and control and instrumentation products).

Commission, especially the First or Second Division, as well as the en banc have not released such a resolution,” Garcia said in a press conference on Sunday.

Acting Comelec spokesperson John Rex C. Laudiangco tagged both resolution and press statement as fake.

“Do not believe it. I have not issued any document to this effect. Any issues, any decisions will be officially communicated by the Comelec,” Laudiangco said.

Garcia also corrected the claims of social post, which claimed that trucks delivering ballots boxes were posted with campaign materials of presidential candidate Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos, Jr. “It was not from Comelec or our forwarder. It has no seal in its back,” the head of the Comelec anti-fake news Committee said.

Other fake news which were flagged by Garcia include claims that the elections are already decided due to the rigged vote counting machines (VCM) with the use of universal serial bus (USB).

“VCM machines cannot be manipulated. There is nothing in the machines where USBs can be inserted,” Garcia said.

The poll official warned the public against such fake news which aim to undermine the confidence of the public in the outcome of elections.

“For our citizens who rely on social media for their news, there is no truth in the election results.

They have to vote first. There will be such results by tomorrow (May 9) evening,” Garcia said.

Garcia vowed to go after those responsible for spreading the fake news.

Double-digit export growth rates were also recorded in garments at 23.2 percent, textile yarns/fabric at 27.7 percent, and travel goods and handbags at 41.2 percent.

According to a report published last week by S&P Global, Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), which measures manufacturing output, the Philippines’ PMI hit 53.2 in March, from 52.8 in February.

The DTI said the country’s manufacturing sector continues to benefit from increased demand

brought about by economic reopening and relaxation of Covid-19 restrictions.

“Output and new orders continue to grow, with the former expanding at the joint-fastest pace since July 2019,” it said in a news statement released on Sunday.

According to the trade chief, “the continuous growth of our manufacturing sector, as well as the Philippine economy’s growth trajectory in general, was propelled by continued economic reopening.”

UniTeam...

Continued from A12

Local celebrities Toni Gonzaga, Andrew E., Willie Revillame, Dulce, Cris Villongco, Kris Lawrence, Geneva Cruz, among others, entertained the UniTeam supporters.

Pinoy Rap Master Andrew E. energized the crowd with his unique style of rap songs and hinted that a landslide win awaits the UniTeam pair on Monday’s polls.

The crowd was treated to a 15-minute fireworks’ display and a worldclass synchronized drone show.

Actress-singer Toni Gonzaga rendered a tear-jerker version of the UniTeam theme song, Umagang kay Ganda before introducing Marcos.

The Partido Federal ng Pilipinas (PFP) standard-bearer was accompanied by his wife Louise AranetaMarcos, and sons Vincent, Sandro, and Simon, for a brief moment onstage.

In his message to supporters, Marcos thanked them for attending the miting de avance and answering the UniTeam’s call for unity.

“We await the day when we can say that we have improved our people’s lives because we worked together, were united. And when that day comes, we Filipinos can proudly say, ‘look at us Filipinos; we went through the crisis and have not just survived but are doing even better than before the pandemic,” Marcos Jr. said, speaking in Filipino.

Marcos also encouraged Filipinos to protect their votes and be vigilant on election day.

He appealed to all Filipinos to go out and vote and take part in determining the next leaders of the country.

Also present at the Miting de Avance were UniTeam Senate bets; #8 Herbert “Bistek” Bautista, #27 Jinggoy Estrada, #29 Atty. Larry Gadon, #30 Senator Win Gatchalian, #33 Gringo Honasan, #49 Robin Padilla, #54 Harry “Spox” Roque, #57 Gibo Teodoro, #62 Mark Villar, #64 Migz Zubiri, and #43 Rodante Marcoleta.

The UniTeam duo secured the support of at least 90 percent, or 73 out of 81 governors in the entire country, most of whom belong to many voterich provinces, according to UniTeam.

Aside from the strong alliances with political parties, the MarcosDuterte tandem maintained its dominance in the most reputable pre-election surveys.

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Debt...

Continued from A1

Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC) economist Michael Ricafort said he believes the country’s dollar defenses will rise and contribute to the country’s external position in the coming months.

“For the coming months, the country’s GIR could still increase and potentially post new record highs amid the continued growth in the country’s structural inflows

from OFW remittances, BPO revenues, foreign tourism as well as foreign invetstment/FDI inflows,” Ricafort said.

“Thus, near record high GIR and prospects of reaching new record highs in the coming months could further strengthen the country’s external position, which is a key pillar for the country’s continued favorable credit ratings for the second straight year,” he added.

First general elections...

Continued from A1

The Commission on Elections stressed the minimum health standards will be strictly enforced at polling precincts, which includes wearing of face masks, social distancing, and temperature checks.

Comelec Commissioner George M. Garcia, however, said vaccine cards and face shields will not be required for voters.

To prevent infections spreading in voting centers, he said voters with Covid-19-like symptoms including a temperature of over 37.5 degree celsius will be brought to isolation polling precincts.

Despite the challenge posed by the pandemic, Comelec Chairman Saidamen B. Pangarungan vowed to “protect the sanctity of the vote by all means and by whatever circumstances.”

Election monitoring

MEANWHILE, persons with disabilities and senior citizens will be allowed to vote in special polling precincts.

Election watchdog Legal Network for Truthful Elections (LENTE) will deploy 4,000 volunteers to help monitor the implementation of these additional polling venues.

“The focus of LENTE’s monitoring activities will be the implementation of election day procedures with a particular focus on health and safety protocols, and the voting experience of Persons with Disabilities, Older Per-

sons, Indigenous Peoples, and Persons Deprived of Liberty,” Lente said.

It will also focus on the regular election-related issues such as vote buying.

“For any reports of election offenses or questions on election procedures, LENTE can be reached on the following hotlines: 0917 106 6265 (Globe), (02) 7502 1591 (Landline), 0920 266 0944 (Smart), and on our social media pages,” Lente said.

As of Sunday Comelec reported it received at least 10 vote-buying cases, but it noted there could be more similar cases filed in city and provincial prosecutors.

High turnout

DESPITE the pandemic, Garcia said they still expect a high voter turnout.

A total 18,100 positions will be at stake, including those for the country’s new president, vice president and 12 senators.

To encourage more people to cast their votes, President Duterte declared Monday as a special nonworking holiday.

Those who will report for work will be paid an additional 30 percent of their basic wage on the first eight hours of work.

For work done more than eight hours, they shall be paid an additional 30 percent of their hourly rate on the said day and another 30 percent of their hourly rate if the overtime coincides with their rest day.

PHL economy...

Continued from A12

“In 2015, poverty was estimated at 23.5 percent. By 2018, we had reduced it to 16.7 percent. Prior to the pandemic, we were very much on track to achieving 14 percent or less. The reason why we are able to do this is because of our commitment to the zero-to-ten point socioeconomic agenda,” said Chua.

The Neda chief also noted the administration’s notable achievements since 2016 – key reforms like the Amendments to the Retail Trade Liberalization Act, Foreign Investment Act, and the Public Service Act. These, he said, will help relax foreign ownership restrictions and increase competition that can improve the quality of goods and services at lower prices.

The government also enacted the Comprehensive Tax Reform Program, which helped fund more infrastructure

and social services, and the Rice Tariffication Law in 2019, which supported rice farmers in improving their productivity and significantly lowering the price of rice.

EO No. 166 provides a 10-point policy agenda aimed at accelerating the economy’s recovery from the pandemic. It includes strategies such as reducing travel restrictions and accelerating the vaccination program, which will enable the economy to restart activity and bounce back.

“In the final months of the Duterte administration, we are vigorously pursuing the economy’s full recovery to restore jobs and bring more people out of poverty. Executive Order (EO) No. 166, signed a few weeks ago, fully opens the economy, and we are working on getting tourists back [and] getting travel back to as normal as possible,” he said.

VP Leni’s...

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Though hungry, tired and exposed to the searing heat of the sun, the supporters persevered and stood for hours, she noted.

“Thank you so much to all of you for joining me in this journey to fight for our country,” Robredo said in Filipino.

The vice president disclosed several days ago that her campaign or even this year’s presidential campaign has made a milestone, with her being the only candidate who has visited every corner of the country.

As she had always maintained, this year’s fight for the presidency goes beyond one man or one candidate; it involves the whole country and the future of Filipinos.

According to Robredo, despite the noise of the political campaign, Filipinos proved they are still capable of loving themselves and each other,

and as such, even the country.

Noting the hardships and daily economic struggle of poor Filipinos but who choose to remain positive despite their economic situation, the vice president promised her administration would give them reprieve, though not immediate.

“Ang panata ko, palalayain kayo ng gobyerno mula sa dumadagan sa inyo [My pledge is, this government will free you from the yoke weighing you down],” she said, vowing she would make sure every peso will count in uplifting the lives of Filipinos.

Robredo said it is the right of every Filipino to have a dignified future and it is their responsibility to fight for it.

“Tara, ipanalo na natin ang sambayanang Pilipino [Come, let’s make the Filipino nation win],” she said.

Economy BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug • Monday, May 9, 2022 A3

Many Pinoys suffered financial hardships, Gallup poll revealed

By Cai U. Ordinario @caiordinario

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AJORITY of Filipinos experienced financial difficulties during the pandemic as businesses closed and mobility restrictions were imposed, according to a Gallup poll.

In a post by Gallup’s analyst and writer RJ Reinhart, data from the US-based pollster, some 62 percent of Filipinos aged 50 or older were most likely to report difficulty getting by.

The data also showed that more than half or 58 percent of Filipinos

aged 30 to 49 years old and 52 percent of 15 to 29 year olds also experienced financial difficulties.

“As the recession hit the country, the percentages of Filipinos reporting they were now finding it difficult or very difficult to get by on their current income jumped by 11 percentage points or more across all three age groups between 2019 and 2020,” Reinhart said.

Apart from being financially insecure, many Filipinos feel unsafe in their communities. These, Gallup said, would be among the key issues that need to be addressed by

the next administration.

“Feelings of safety and attitudes about the economy separate younger and older Filipinos ahead of Monday’s presidential election. However, the particular importance of these differences in the election is unclear,” Reinhart said.

“These issues and the appeal of the two candidates in light of how they promise to address them may also weigh on many Filipinos as they cast their ballots,” he added.

In terms of safety, Gallup data showed nearly six in 10 Filipinos aged 15 to 29 or 57 percent said they feel

safe walking alone at night, which is essentially no different from the 56 percent who said so in 2016.

This figure was also 14 percentage points lower than the 71 percent of 30- to 49-year-olds who said they feel safe and 10 points lower than the 67 percent of those aged 50 and older who said the same.

Filipino women, Reinhart said, account for most of the lower safety numbers among young people.

A slim majority of women in the 15-to-29 age group or 51 percent reported feeling safe walking alone at night, still lower compared with

65 percent of men in this age group.

“Media reports and information from the Philippine National Police indicate that violent crime and theft declined in the country during the Covid-19 lockdown,” Reinhart said.

“Older Filipinos in 2021 generally felt safer walking alone at night than they did when Duterte took office, though the youngest Filipinos did not feel any safer and they continued to feel the least safe of any age group,” he added.

In his column in BusinessMirror, former Ateneo Center for Economic Research and Development (ACERD)

Director Alvin P. Ang said the next administration will be faced with a “rough and tough road ahead” as the country recovers from the pandemic and prepares for a perfect storm of rising commodity prices, debt, and global trade woes.

Ang said the next administration must avoid populist slogans that will only lead to greater debt. What is needed, he said, are “plans and strategies that can roll us forward on the rough and tough road ahead.”

(See the column here: https://businessmirror.com.ph/2022/05/06/ rough-and-tough-road-ahead/)

Pace of joblessness slows DAR breaks ground for housing sites for Lanao del Norte ARBs on re-opening of economy

By Jonathan L. Mayuga

By Samuel P. Medenilla

placed workers during the first four months of the year.

“In terms of major industry groups, most HE increase in the number of jobdisplaced workers were under construction less workers continued to slow down, (27 percent share or 46,371) and other serreaching only around 26,000 last vice activities (17 percent or 28,892) sectors,” month, a new report from the DeDOLE said in its latest displacepartment of Labor and Employment report.

EXCLUSIVE ment (DOLE) revealed.

The report noted other services That figure was significantly activities include membership orlower compared to the recorded permanently ganizations, the repair of computers and displaced workers in January (56,286), Febhousehold goods and other other personal ruary (52,206) and March (38,446). service activities.

Based from its preliminary Jobs DisT he DOLE report also cited that placement Monitoring report obtained 273,872 workers were affected by the

by BusinessMirror, DOLE said 23,798 implementation of flexible work arrangeof the newly unemployed workers last ments (FWA) and temporary closure by April were retrenched by 510 firms, while 8,009 companies.

2,692 lost their jobs with the closure of Most of the FWA-affected workers under104 establishments. went reduction of workdays (46,887), other The improvement in the country’s labor unspecified schemes (36,608), compressed market comes after the second month of work week (26,442), and telecommuting the government’s initiative to allow the work arrangement (22,413). full operation of the businesses and pubThe least implemented FWA schemes were lic transportation in most parts of the assignment of employees to other functions country, including the National Capital (547) and transfer of employees to other Region (NCR). branches or outlets (894).

Overall, the labor department was able to Meanwhile, 111,281 workers were affected by temporary closures. register 146,938 additional permanently dis@sam_medenilla

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Strong laws vs piracy seen to benefit consumers–group

By Rizal Raoul S. Reyes

@brownindio

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N advocacy group recently pushed for the strengthening of anti-piracy legislation specifically through site blocking and also called the Senate to immediately ratify the Philippines’ participation in the Regional Comprehensive Partnership (RCEP), whose intellectual property provisions will benefit the country.

“Ultimately, piracy is a bane to society in general, and to consumers in particular,” said lawyer Tim Abejo, co-convenor of CitizenWatch Philippines, in a press statement.

“Our group is one with many industry supporters already supporting site blocking and collaborating to put in place site-blocking mechanisms. But we need an enabling law so that these initiatives can be done in a more efficient and effective manner.”

Through a memorandum of understanding, the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL), National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), and various internet service providers have put up mechanisms to rapidly block pirated sites.

Critical mass

FURTHERMORE, IPOPHL has also recently partnered with the Asia Video Industry Association (AVIA) and the Motion Picture Association.

Currently, sites can be blocked within two hours from the release of an order from the NTC. Abejo, however, said this needs a bigger push from the stakeholders.

“Site blocking has to achieve critical mass to have observable, substantial impact.”

Abejo said studies have shown that site blocking only decreases piracy if a substantial number of sites are blocked.

“If just a few sites are blocked, then the users would only go to other unblocked sites. We need robust policies to get our

desired outcome,” he said.

He specifically called for the amendment of the Intellectual Property Code to give the IPOPHL greater administrative enforcement power and enable the NTC to block sites more swiftly.

“It would also allow for greater information sharing and development of effective site-blocking processes,” Abejo said.

Poll results

A YOUGOV survey commissioned by the Coalition Against Piracy showed 49 percent of Filipino consumers admitting to accessing pirated content increased from 49 percent in September 2020 to 61 percent in 2022 with the Philippines, Vietnam, and Malaysia having the highest content piracy rate.

“And it is not as if people did not know the negative consequences of piracy,” Abejo said.

“Despite the high percentage of those admitting to accessing illegal content, half of the respondents believe online piracy can cause people in the creative industry to lose their jobs.”

Around half of the respondents also say they know piracy results in profiting from content that is not theirs, increases the risk of malware infections on people’s devices, and that enable pirates to defraud society by evading taxes.

Media Partners Asia, a research and consulting group, said some US$120 million is lost annually by the subscription-based online streaming industry.

“The economic damage is just one dimension of the problem. The easy access to illegal streaming websites exposes users to malicious software that can lead to other cybercrimes such as phishing, identity theft and even more dangerous child pornography sites that are targeting Filipino children. These are cyber threats that the government and all of society must fight,” Abejo said.

@jonlmayuga

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HE Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) announced it recently led the ground-breaking of two sites in the towns of Magsaysay and Kalambugan in Lanao del Norte for housing projects that will benefit agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) in the province.

The project is being implemented under the project called “Building, Adequate, Livable, Affordable and Inclusive Filipino Communities,” or “Balai.” This project is a joint undertaking of the DAR with the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD), the DAR said in a statement.

Northern Mindanao Regional Director Zoraida O. Macadindang thanked personnel of local government units (LGUs) for supporting

the project by providing the location to build the houses. Macadindang also congratulated the participating agrarian reform beneficiaries organizations (ARBOs).

“Finally, this ground-breaking marks the commencement of building the housing project for our ARBs,” she added.

Houses would be built on a 24,324-squaremeter (sqm) land located and donated by the LGU of Barangay Lumbac, in the municipality of Magsaysay. The project is expected to benefit 144 ARBs of the Daan Campo Farmers’ Multipurpose Cooperative (DCFMPC).

The housing project in Kolambugan, on the other hand, is set to be built on a 25,000-sqm land located and donated by the LGU of Barangay Kulasihan and is intended for 152 ARBs of the Santo Niño-Sucodan Agrarian Reform Community Credit Cooperative (SSARCC).

According to Macadindang, each ARB is set to be awarded a 75-sqm house-and-lot.

She added that the total project area in each site includes the 1,500-sqm community facilities and 4,208-sqm housing utilities in Magsaysay and 3,615-sqm of housing utilities in Kolambungan.

Macadindang said that DAR will continually monitor the progress of the project, and has committed to provide support services and livelihood projects to the beneficiaries.

Lanao del Norte Governor Imelda Q. Dimaporo thanked DAR for providing the dream project of the farmers who will eventually live in it.

“They are not expecting that their dream, of not only owning an agricultural land but also of a decent house, would be fulfilled with this kind of housingprogramfromtheDAR,”Dimaporosaid.

E-vehicle law seen to help PHL lure more hi-tech investments

By Andrea San Juan

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HE enactment of the Electric Vehicle Industry Development Act (Evida) will help the Philippines attract more high-tech investments, according to Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez.

“With Evida, the Philippines is now in a stronger position to further attract hi-tech investments and create high-value jobs in the country by taking advantage of the ongoing global shift to EVs [electric vehicles] through strong national policy support,” Lopez said.

Lopez considers this measure a move towards reducing direct usage of oil products in

transport. In effect, this signifies mitigating air and noise pollution in urban areas, according to the trade chief. Further, this will reduce the transportation sector’s direct dependence on oil, especially amid rising fuel prices affecting both businesses and consumers, he added.

Evida, or Republic Act (RA) 11697, provides for a national policy framework to develop the electric vehicle industry in the Philippines. The law aims to promote innovation in the field of clean energy and sustainable transportation while developing a sunrise industry in the country and generating more employment.

In addition, Evida sets clear policy direc-

tions for the government to raise awareness on EVs, streamline regulations, boost local demand to attract EV production and build a robust EV-charging infrastructure.

Further, the law mandates the crafting of a Comprehensive Roadmap for the Electric Vehicle Industry (Crevi), which will be a national development plan for the EV industry to expedite the development, commercialization and utilization of EVs. The Evida will also serve as a blueprint for a comprehensive and coordinated policy direction among national government agencies in terms of promoting EV to ensure investors’ confidence and attract EV-related investments.

A4 Monday, May 9, 2022 • Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug

The Nation BusinessMirror

ROW issues derail completion of Boracay drainage project

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

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ESIDENTS and tourism stakeholders in Boracay Island balked at reports that the government has completed the rehabilitation of their island and is now ready for turnover to the local government.

Compliant Association of Boracay president Boyet Sacdalan told the BusinessMirror the drainage project being undertaken by the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (Tieza), for one, has yet to be completed.

“There’s still work that Tieza has to complete. Tieza is a slowpoke.”

Tieza is a government corporation tasked to build tourism infrastructure and ecozones, and chaired by the tourism secretary.

Another resident, who asked not to be identified, added, “Flooding still continues every time it rains hard. Many times the side opening/

exits of the pumping station were opened to release the drainage water into the lagoon in Bolabog. The system can no longer handle the water flow, and the gray water that is released stinks! Even in low tide or daytime they’ve had to open it to the dismay of our kite schools around the area as it’s really close to the beach.”

The resident also pointed out, “The Bulabog road is not yet finished, wetland developments are not completed, and the Bolabog beach brick foot path is not yet done.”

Sacdalan said the road from Azalea Resort in Station 2 going to Henann Resort has also not yet been finished.

No timeline from DPWH

A SOURCE at the Department of Tourism (DOT) who declined to be identified for this story confirmed that drainage work along Station 3 on the island is still ongoing. “Yes, the drainage project is not yet done.

Portions of Tieza are scheduled to be finished by June 15, but a portion

(10-15 percent) was transferred to the DPWH (Department of Public Works and Highways) because of unresolved right-of-way (ROW) issues, which the LGU (local government unit) did not attend to.”

The DOT source added, “For the DPWH portion, they still don’t have clear timelines when the project will be completed. Their portion is very crucial.”

Unfortunately, the source said, completion of the project was overtaken by the campaign season, adding, “The LGU (Malay government) has no political will to resolve the ROW problem. No one wants to move the informal settlers.”

Phase 1 of the two-phase, fourstage drainage expansion project was completed by Tieza in 2014 at a cost of P91.8 million. Phase 2 has a budget of P1 billion and was supposed to have been completed by Tieza in the third quarter of 2019.

It was delayed anew and was supposed to have been finished by December 2021. Phase 2 includes the

construction of Pumping Station 4, sea outfall pipeline, upgrade of the main road drainage, interior drainage, among others.

Acting Environment Secretary Jim O. Sampulna said in a recent news statement the Boracay InterAgency Task Force (BIATF) was ready to turn over the island to the Malay LGU by June as the beach waters are now SB-Compliant, meaning it is safe for swimming, and nine wetlands have already been recovered. (See, “Task Force wraps up rehab, readies turnover of Boracay Island to Malay, Aklan local execs,” in the BusinessMirror, May 5, 2022.)

The BIATF, tasked to oversee the rehabilitation of Boracay Island after President Duterte dubbed it “a cesspool,” was supposed to have completed its work in two years after its creation in May 2018, through Executive Order No. 53. Its term was extended until June 30, 2022 via EO 147, after the pandemic suspended rehabilitation work.

Lacson hopes for ‘silent Senate ready to receive revolution’ by voters CoCs, ERs–Sotto

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NDEPENDENT presidential bet Sen. Panfilo “Ping” M. Lacson voiced hopes Sunday of seeing a quick end to “the bitterness and animosity” triggered during the homestretch of the last 90-day campaign for tightly contested seats in the May 9 national and local elections.

Even as the official vote counts’ nationwide results have yet to come in, Lacson and his vice presidential running mate, Senate President Vicente C. Sotto III, shared a wish the results will “come to an end as well.”

Posting the message on his Twitter account early Saturday, Lacson aired hopes the Philippines and the Filipino people will become “one nation, one people again.”

“Dear God. Thank You for keeping us ALL safe from illness and injury as we finish the race to submit ourselves to the will of the people,” Lacson prayed, adding: “May the bitterness and animosity be buried with the memories of the most grueling 90 days of our lives and be one nation, one people again.”

Lacson recalled that during the last 90 days of the campaign period, he and Sotto were joined by their team supporters, as well as their senatorial bets, visiting provinces, including remote areas, and held town hall meetings where they listened to the plight of residents and “offered onthe-spot solutions whenever possible, all the while discussing thoroughly their program of

governance once elected.”

Lacson, likewise, noted the campaign period was also challenging for himself “physically and mentally,” as he had to “deal with trolls” from the camps of other candidates, as well as adjust his campaign after officials of his former party, Partido Reporma, decided to support another candidate.

The senator capped his presidential campaign Friday night with a miting de avance in Cavite, his home province, followed by a caravan Saturday in parts of Southern Luzon.

At the same time, Lacson likewise called “for a silent revolution where Filipinos secure a better future for the next generation” by using their pens to shade the names of deserving candidates on their ballots on May 9.

Joining Lacson at Friday’s miting de avance at the Verdant Square, Friday evening (May 6) were vice presidential bet Senate President Sotto III, and senatoriables Ma. Dominga “Minguita” B. Padilla, Guillermo Lorenzo T. Eleazar, Emmanuel ‘Manny’ F. Piñol, Joseph Victor ‘J V ’ Ejercito and Gregorio ‘Gringo’ B. Honasan II. Lacson rallied support for the five senatorial candidates who stuck with him and Sotto through thick and thin throughout the 90day national campaign period.

Butch Fernandez

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ENATE President Vicente C. Sotto III assured over the weekend the Senate is ready to receive the Certificates of Canvass (COCs) and Election Returns (ERs) for president and vice president after the closing of the election precincts on Monday, May 9.

The Senate is mandated, under Article VII, Section 4 of the Constitution, to receive the returns of every election for President and Vice-President, duly certified by the board of canvassers of each province or city.

As provided in the law, the returns shall be transmitted to Congress. The Senate President shall receive the CoCs and shall open all the certificates, in the presence of the Senate and House of Representatives in a joint public session, not later than 30 days after the day of the election. Congress shall proceed to canvass the votes.

Senate Secretary Myra Marie D. Villarica confirmed arrangements were made for the Senate’s reception of the COCs and the Ers, which shall be livestreamed via the Senate’s YouTube channel, starting from 6 p.m. on May 9.

“This is the first time we will broadcast live the arrival and deposit of all election documents for 24/7 in the Senate YouTube channel,” Villarica said. “We are taking this opportunity to advance our digital initiatives and ensure transparency of the entire activity.”

According to her, the Senate has also tightened security, particularly where the ballot boxes of the COCs and the ERs will be stored.

“Aside from CCTV cameras located in strategic areas, we will also have roving cameras manned

by personnel from the Public Relations and Information Bureau (PRIB),” she added.

Villarica reminded only vehicles transporting the ballot boxes containing the COCs and ERs and other authorized vehicles shall be allowed to enter the indoor parking area. Vehicles bearing the Office of the Sergeant-At-Arms (OSAA) car stickers will be allowed to park at the open parking area on a “firstcome, first served” basis. A “No ID, No Entry” policy will be strictly implemented, she said.

According to Villarica, a daily status report of all arriving COCs will be shown on a LED screen display at the second floor of the Senate building for public viewing. Members of the media may request for the status report from the PRIB as early as 9 a.m.

She said health and safety protocols would be enforced during the reception of the COCs and ERs. A disinfection and sanitation area will be set-up outside the Senate building, she added.

“As per our health and safety standards, we will ask Commission on Elections (COMELEC) personnel to wait for their turn in bringing in the ballot boxes. Unlike in the previous elections when they can enter the Senate building at the same time, we have a holding area where they can wait for their turn before entering the lobby,” Villarica said.

She said enclosures were installed at the Recto Room on the second floor of the Senate building for ballot boxes containing the COCs and in the basement for the ballot boxes containing the election returns. Butch Fernandez

Isko caps campaign and offers self as 3rd force to BBM, Leni

By Roderick L. Abad

Contributor

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@rodrik_28

WO days prior to the May 9 local and national elections, Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko” Moreno Domagoso and his slate held the final salvo of their campaign with a Miting de Avance at the Moriones Linear Park in Tondo—the very place where he grew up confronting poverty that eventually led to his determination to rise and become successful in his chosen career in governance.

He earlier explained the choice of venue was his show of gratitude to friends, neighbors and residents in the area where his public service journey began.

Alluding to his colorful life and political saga, his camp dubbed his concluding sortie as a “celebration of hope, life and courage.”

His last campaign speech threw jabs at his political rivals—Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Leni Robredo— who have been topping the presidential surveys.

In an apparent jab at the Robredo camp holding its miting de avance in Makati’s financial district, the hub of the rich and elite, he referred to them as “yung mga nasa Ayala.”

The same tone was shown in his speech posted recently on his official social media account, wherein Domagoso shared that what drove him to run for the

top electoral position is his desire to bring change to the country’s leadership.

For the past 39 years that the Philippines has been under the various administrations that are either allied with only two popular political clans—the Aquinos and the Marcoses—he is offering an alternative to people who are fed up with their continuing political rift.

“Magnilay-nilay kayo: gusto n’yo pula, I love you. Gusto n’yo dilaw, I still love you. But if you want peace of mind, I love you more,” his Twitter post said.

“I’m going to sacrifice myself to address ‘yung problema ng taumbayan, I’m offering my supreme sacrifice. If you want peace of mind,

available po ako,” he stated in another post.

If elected president, Moreno has promised to pursue a “Life and Livelihood” economic policy to solve poverty, hunger, unemployment, inequality and social injustice via effective, efficient and prudent handling of government resources under an open, transparent and inclusive administration, as detailed in his 10-point Bilis Kilos Economic Agenda.

Running on his senator ia l slate in Aksyon Demokratiko are entrepreneur and educator Dr. Carl Balita, Mindanao advocate Samira Gutoc, and Manila politician Jopet Sison. His running mate is Dr. Willie Ong.

www.businessmirror.com.ph

CA junks BI officials’ bid to dismiss DOJ case vs them in Pastillas scam

By Joel R. San Juan @jrsanjuan1573

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HE Court of Appeals (CA) has denied the petition filed by two employees of the Bureau of Immigration (BI) seeking the dismissal of the administrative complaint filed against them before the Department of Justice (DOJ) for their alleged involvement in the so-called “Pastillas” bribery scheme that paved the way for the unbated entry of Chinese nationals into the country.

In a seven-page resolution penned

by Associate Justice Maria Elisa Sempio Diy, the CA’s Seventh Division held that the DOJ order issued on August 10, 2021 is an interlocutory order since it denied petitioners’— Abdu Fahad Calaca and Phol Bendana Villanueva—motion to dismiss the administrative case and ordered the continuation of its proceedings.

It noted that the DOJ’s order is not an award, judgment, final order, or final resolution of a quasi-judicial agency from which an appeal may be brought through a petition for review.

The CA explained that a final order disposes of the subject matter in its entirety or terminates a particular proceeding or action, leaving nothing more to be done except to enforce the decision.

On the other hand, an interlocutory order deals with preliminary matters and the trial on the merits is yet to be held and the judgment rendered.

The CA noted that the Supreme Court has prohibited an appeal from an order denying a motion for reconsideration of an interlocutory order.

“An order denying a motion to dismiss an action is interlocutory, hence, not appealable,” the CA stressed.

The CA explained the rationale behind the rule proscribing the remedy of appeal from an interlocutory order: to prevent undue delay, useless appeals and undue inconvenience to the appealing party .

In February 2020, the Senate conducted an investigation on the “Pastillas scheme” perpetrated within the ranks of the BI, an agency under the DOJ. The illegal activity was called Pastillas scheme because the bribe used for the illicit entry of a foreign national was supposedly rolled up in a manner that resembles a “pastillas

de leche” treat, a popular Filipino milk- based candy.

Under the Pastillas scheme, upon the arrival of foreign nationals at the airport, immigration officers involved in the scheme are under instruction to allow them entry into the country without instituting the necessary checks, screening, or profiling as what is standard for arriving non- Filipinos.

Consequently, BI Commissioner Jaime Morente formed a Fact-finding Investigation Committee (FFIC) to look into the alleged irregularity.

On February 20, 2020, the FFIC issued a show cause order to all concerned BI employees, which included Calaca and Villanueva.

After several months, the FFIC issued a report finding prima facie case for grave misconduct and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service against the petitioners and other BI personnel.

It was further recommended that a formal administrative investigation against them without prejudice to the filing of an independent criminal action.

On October 23, 2020, DOJ Secretary Menardo Guevarra issued a formal charge for grave misconduct, gross neglect of duty, and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service against the two and other BI personnel.

The petitioners then filed before the DOJ a motion to dismiss the case, arguing that two other administrative cases relating to the same charges had been filed against them before the Office of the Ombudsman, one initiated by the Ombudsman’s Field Investigation Office (FIO), and another initiated by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).

Thus, it is argued that the state has committed forum shopping against them which warrants the dismissal of the case.

However, the DOJ denied the motion to dismiss, saying the DOJ and the Ombudsman exercised concurrent jurisdiction over administrative cases involving officials and employees of the BI. The DOJ added that since it first acquired jurisdiction over the administrative charge, it should continue to exercise said jurisdiction to the exclusion of the Office of the Ombudsman.

This prompted the two BI officials to elevate the case before the CA.

‘Ka’ Leody, Walden to push pro-labor causes after polls

By Rizal Raoul S. Reyes @brownindio

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ARTIDO Lakas ng Masa will continue to be active in pushing for the implementation of pro- labor measures after the May 9 polls.

In a weekend breakfast forum in Quezon City, PLM leaders Leodegario “Ka Leody” de Guzman and Professor Walden Bello vowed to be active in advancing pro-labor, pro-Filipino and other progressive issues to the Filipinos. Some of the advocacies the PLM will be pushing are the implementation of the P750 minimum wage, abolition of employment agencies and the negation of labor contracting scheme.

“Civil society organizations must be proactive. On the part of the PLM, it will work together with other progressive organizations to fight the economic neoliberalism prevailing in the country,” de Guzman, the party’s presidential bet in the May 2022 polls, said in Filipino.

De Guzman and Bello, the first ever socialist presidential and vicepresidential tandem in Philippine election history also discussed the final version of their socialist program of government at the May 7 Pandesal Forum with media at 83-year-old Kamuning Bakery Cafe in Quezon City, s they capped their campaign.

They urged the electorate to vote for system reforms and not for the usual traditional politicians and political dynasties.

They lamented the lopsided, money-dominated electoral system which has for generations favored the entrenched traditional political dynasties and business elites as well as their vested interests, while De Guzman and Bello reiterated that they are fighting for the welfare and rights of millions of workers, farmers, fishermen and other marginalized people.

“The May 2022 elections also saw the consolidation of the so-called fat dynasties,” de Guzman said.

Bello said PLM will also work for the decriminalization of abortion and implementaton of divorce in the Philippines. “The country has an average of 600,000 illegal abortions every year,” he pointed out.

De Guzman said that the past seven months’ election campaign was deemed by their group as a victory already, having given them the opportunity to educate the public and to raise questions about fundamental socio-economic and political inequities.

Asked on the comparison between the 1987 participation of Partido ng Bayan and PLM, de Guzman said observed the progressive sector has gained more traction as more Filipinos have become exposed to their progressive ideas and principles.

Agriculture/Commodities BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Editor: Jennifer A. Ng • Monday, May 9, 2022 A5

‘War boosts demand for PHL coco products’

By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas @jearcalas

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HE Philippines’s exports of coconut-based products, such as coconut flour, will continue to grow this year due to the increasing demand for sustainable and alternative products to farm goods that have become more expensive following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Rose Villaruel, Philippine Coconut Authority’s (PCA) trade and market development manager, said the rebound in coconut-based exports seen in 2021 will continue this year.

Earnings from coconut exports last year grew by almost 60 percent

DOF: Grains agency cuts losses due to rice tariff law

By Bernadette D. Nicolas @BNicolasBM

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TATE-RUN National Food Authority (NFA) managed to cut its net loss to P9.6 billion in 2021 after its powers and functions in rice importation and most of its regulatory functions were stripped away by the Rice Tariffication Law (RTL).

The Department of Finance’s (DOF) Corporate Affairs Group reported to Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III that NFA’s net loss last year was down by 37.8 percent from P15.44 billion in 2020.

The figure does not include the national government’s (NG) subsidy support to NFA amounting to P30.65 billion and P7.46 billion in 2020 and 2021, respectively.

Under Republic Act 11203, NFA was reduced to a rice buffer stocking agency which sources its stocks exclusively from local farmers.

“The targeted use of its buffer stock as mandated by law meant lower procurement volumes, which can be funded solely out of subsidies from the NG. Thus, it no longer needed to borrow funds to augment the financial resources needed for procurement activities,” said the report of the DOF-CAG headed by Undersecretary Antonette Tionko.

As a result, the NFA gradually slashed its outstanding borrowings and financial charges.

Finance Assistant Secretary Soledad Emilia Cruz said billions were saved by the government on the back of the NFA’s organizational restructuring and its operating costs were reduced because of its lower procurement volumes.

Meanwhile, Cruz said NFA also distributed about 1.76 million bags of rice in 2021 and 5.79 million bags in 2020 to NG agencies and local government units in line with its mandate to provide necessary buffer stocks for calamites and other emergencies.

Before RTL was passed in 2019, the NFA used to regulate all rice imports and was the chief importer of the grain in the country, Dominguez earlier said. It used to receive an average of P11 billion a year in tax subsidies from 2005 to 2018.

So far, the government has already earned P46.6 billion in rice import tariffs during the first three years of the RTL’s implementation.

These tariffs went to the annual P10-billion Rice Competitiveness Enhancement, which is used to finance programs that will sharpen the competitiveness of palay growers by providing them with easy access to fertilizer, farm machinery and equipment, high-yield seeds and cheap credit; and offering them skills training programs on farm mechanization and modern farming techniques.

The DOF said the opening of the rice market following the RTL led to lowering of rice prices and dislodged the staple as the main contributor to country’s overall inflation rate.

to nearly $2 billion due to the surge in the value of all coconut-based shipments, according to Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) data.

Excluding coconut oil, the Philippines exported $508.639-million worth of other coconut-based products (desiccated coconut, copra meal, coco coir, coco charcoal, etc), which was 53.62 percent higher than the previous year’s $331.068 million (Related story: https://businessmirror.com.ph/2022/04/28/phl-cocooil-exports-may-breach-1-5b-ontight-vegetable-oil-supply/).

“The trend is expected to continue because of the growing demand for healthy food and prefer-

ences for natural, environmentfriendly products,” Villaruel told the BusinessMirror.

Alternative materials

VILLARUEL said the ongoing global crisis will increase the demand for certain Philippine coconut-based exports, such as coconut flour.

“More so, as supplies of other raw materials become more expensive brought about by the global crisis, alternative materials will find their place, such as coconut flour as alternative to wheat flour.”

The latest PSA data showed that exports of all coconut-based products in the first quarter rose by 92.1

percent to $747.21 million from last year’s $389.01 million.

The export value of other coconut products, excluding coconut oil, from January to March rose by more than half to $148.189 million from $96.512 million.

The country’s exports of desiccated coconut jumped by 47.1 percent to $115.30 million from $78.4 million while shipments of copra meal/cake, an alternative raw material for making animal feeds, grew by 31.5 percent year-on-year to $19.19 million.

In 2021, the country’s shipments of copra meal grew by 52.4 percent to $397.262 million from $260.739 million in 2020, based on PSA data.

Exports of coconut flour, an alternative to wheat flour, rose by 16.86 percent to $5.387 million last year from $4.609 million in 2020.

Activated carbon

VILLARUEL said the outlook for activated carbon is also positive as demand for the raw material in various industries like pharmaceuticals and electronics remains robust.

“Demand will continue to grow because the product is used in industrial, pharmaceuticals, electronics and even mining industries which are continuously growing.”

However, Villaruel noted that the uptick in global and domestic

demand for coconut charcoal will pose a challenge to the country’s activated carbon exports. Coconut-based charcoal is the raw material used for manufacturing coconut-based activated carbon.

“Of course demand [for coconut charcoal] is growing. Increasing use of charcoal will deter growth of activated carbon because it will reduce the raw material base.”

Exports of activated carbon last year went up by 16.2 percent to $143.939 million from $123.856 million in 2020 while exports of coconut shell charcoal more than doubled to $36.757 million from $15.082 million.

DA to resume distribution of cash aid to rice farmers

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HE Department of Agriculture (DA) said it will resume the distribution of financial aid to rice farmers after the May 9 elections.

In his message during a recent event in Nueva Ecija, Agriculture Secretary William D. Dar said the DA’s rice farmers financial assistance (RFFA) program, which provides P5,000 cash aid to rice farmers tilling two hectares and below, will resume this week.

“You can trust that our President will do everything for the betterment of your life and livelihood. We, the members of the Cabinet, will also do our best to help you until June 30, 2022,” Dar said in Filipino.

The DA chief made the statement last May 6 during a ceremony where farm machines worth P142.5 million were turned over to 71 farmers’ cooperatives and associations (FCAs) under the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) mechanization program.

In late April, the Comelec granted the DA’s request for exemption from the election ban of its various programs, such as the Rice Farmers Financial Assistance Program, Fuel Discount to Farmers and Fisherfolk Program, Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund Program, National Rice Program Seed, Fertilizer, Machinery and Equipment Distribution, National Rice Program, National Corn Program and Special Area of Agricultural Development Program.

Agriculture Undersecretary for Operations Ariel T. Cayanan earlier told the BusinessMirror that the DA will work double-time to implement the various programs, such as the fuel subsidy and cash assistance,

AS palay husks fly, farmers at a farm in Nueva Ecija work with threshers in this 2018 BusinessMirror file photo. BERNARD TESTA

that were temporarily halted by the election ban.

“We have a commitment that our programs will not be politicized. We understand that the intention of the ban was to avoid programs to be used in politics,” he said.

“We will implement our programs and give the necessary interventions directly to the farmers without the presence of any politicians. Farmers must receive their aid whether there is an election or not.”

The DA issued Memorandum Circular (MC) 30 that outlined the guidelines for the distribution of the rice farmers’ financial assistance (RFFA) for fiscal years 2022 until 2024.

In particular, the MC specified the rules for the prioritization of farmer-beneficiaries for cash assistance under the RFFA in accordance with Republic Act 11598 or the Cash Assistance For Filipino Farmers Act. Under the MC, Filipino rice farmers who have not received any financial assistance from the government will be prioritized in the next tranch-

As wheat prices soar, Africa pivots to cheaper alternatives

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LOBAL wheat prices are so high that African consumers are starting to ditch the grain from their diet.

Food producers in Kenya, Egypt, Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria and Cameroon say they’re mixing cheaper alternatives into their breads, pastries and pastas. Local rice, manioc flour and sorghum are substituting for wheat, which has spiked about 40 percent this year as Russia’s invasion squeezed exports from Ukraine, one of the biggest shippers.

These domestic crops are less exposed to trade disruptions and global inflation, thus offering some protection from food prices that remain near record levels.

Kenya imports about 44 percent of its wheat from the Black Sea region, and the surging prices helped stoke inflation to 6.5 percent in April. Unga Group Plc, the Nairobi-based maker of Exe brand wheat flour and Jogoo maize flour, is seeing a shift in sales to its Amana line of rice and pulses.

“There is a spike in the price of maize and wheat driving consumers to other alternatives,” managing director Joseph Choge said. “Pulses and

rice sales are growing, while wheat is coming down.”

The farm-gate price of corn has doubled, and millers are struggling to get enough supplies, he said.

Global supplies of wheat could shrink even more as India considers restricting exports after severe heat waves damaged crops, Bloomberg News reported. The government said it didn’t see a case for such controls.

Previously, the country slashed its production estimate for this season but said there’s enough supply to meet domestic demand.

“We could be seeing some pressure toward greater consumption of domestically produced coarse grains,” said Shirley Mustafa, an economist at the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization.

The FAO cut its 2022 outlook for global wheat production, saying the forecast for Ukraine remained below average. The war likely will reduce the harvested area by at least a fifth.

Egypt is the biggest buyer of wheat, with more than 80 percent of imports coming from Ukraine and Russia. Governmentpurchasesarerunning13percent behind last year. Bloomberg News

es of the cash aid.

“The criteria in the prioritization of farmer beneficiaries are presented by tier taking into consideration the following: receipt of cash assistance from DA, registration in RSBSA [Registry System for the Basic Sectors in Agriculture], and rice area cultivated,” the document read.

Rice farmers categorized under Tier 1 or those who have not yet received any cash assistance from the DA’s programs such as the RFFA 2019, Financial Subsidy for Rice Farmers 2020 and Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund-RFFA shall be prioritized.

This shall be followed by rice farmers under Tier 2 or those who received cash assistance once with rice farmers who have received cash assistance twice already being categorized in Tier 3, according to the document.

Regardless of tier, rice farmerbeneficiaries must be registered in the government’s RSBSA and must be farming rice areas of 2 hectares and below, the DA said.

The government, through the DA, has been providing financial cash assistance to rice farmers using the tariffs in excess of P10 billion collected from rice imports since 2019.

Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas

The World BusinessMirror

A6 Monday, May 9, 2022

China’s Covid-19 lockdowns disrupt global supply chains

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hina’s lockdowns to contain Covid-19 have snarled operations at the world’s largest port in Shanghai and stalled activity in major cities, affecting the supply chains of businesses from Tesla Inc. to Apple Inc.

Trade data on Monday will provide clues to the extent of the damage. Chinese export growth likely slowed to its weakest pace since June 2020, while imports probably contracted for a second month, a sign of weak consumer spending as millions of residents in Shanghai and elsewhere were confined to their homes.

As manufacturer to the world, the disruptions in China are weighing on the global economy and add another risk to the inflation picture. In Shanghai, where most of the populations have been under some form of lockdown for more than five weeks, the government is trying to get production back on track. Yet many foreign businesses say they’re still unable to resume operations.

Early indicators for trade aren’t promising. South Korean exports,

a barometer of worldwide demand, grew by double digits in April, yet shipments to China dropped, suggesting China’s slowdown is a product of its own Covid restrictions.

“Disruptions to production and deliveries may adversely impact shipments. The output and delivery components in April’s official PMI data deteriorated to the worst levels since the nationwide lockdown in early 2020,” according to Bloomberg economists.

China’s inflation data will also be in focus as shortages of food and other goods, also triggered by lockdowns, drive up costs. Consumer price growth is forecast to accelerate, while factory gate inflation likely remained elevated in April.

The Communist Party’s top leaders have pledged more stimulus to meet an economic growth target of about 5.5% this year. Credit data

for April due this week will show whether monetary and fiscal support have had the desired effect of stoking borrowing.

Meanwhile, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang warned of a “complicated and grave” employment situation as the country imposes sweeping lockdowns to contain Covid outbreaks.

Li instructed all government departments and regions to prioritize measures aimed at helping businesses retain jobs and weather the current difficulties, according to a statement late Saturday, which cited the premier’s comments in a nationwide teleconference on employment.

“Stabilizing employment matters to people’s livelihoods, it is also a key support for the economy to operate within a reasonable range,” Li said, urging businesses to resume production with Covid-fighting measures in place.

China’s top leaders doubled down on the nation’s Covid-Zero strategy last week, warning against any attempts to question the lockdowndependent approach even as economic activity contracted sharply in April amid factory closures and supply-chain disruptions.

China reported 4,384 new Covid-19 cases for May 7. Shanghai, which has been under some form

of lockdown for weeks, recorded 3,975 new infections, down from 4,000-plus daily infections earlier.

The financial hub announced Saturday it would postpone entrance examinations for colleges and high schools until July, while some of the city’s biggest manufacturers have said they are trying to restart plants.

Beijing logged 62 new cases as authorities in the capital scramble to contain a wider spread. Its eastern Chaoyang district, home to embassies and offices of multinationals including Apple Inc. and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., ordered the closure of some businesses providing non-essential services such as gyms and movie theaters to minimize infections.

Li reiterated at the meeting that China will also promote the healthy development of Internet platform companies to support employment.

Chen Yulu, vice governor of the People’s Bank of China, said the central bank would put a greater focus on stabilizing growth and increasing support for the real economy. In a Xinhua interview published Saturday, Chen also said authorities will help smaller banks increase their lending capability through the sale of perpetual bonds. Bloomberg News

French President Emmanuel Macron inaugurated for second 5-year term

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ARIS—French President Emmanuel Macron was inaugurated for a second term on Saturday, vowing to take action to avoid any further escalation of Russia’s war in Ukraine and promising he would promote France and Europe on the world stage.

Macron was reelected for five years after winning the April 24 presidential runoff against far-right rival Marine Le Pen. “The time ahead will be that of resolute action for France and for Europe,” Macron said, promising to “take action relentlessly with a goal, which is to be a more independent nation, to live better and to build our own French and European responses to the century’s

challenges.”

Macron also promised to find a “fair method” to govern the country and ease its social tensions by making the government and parliament work together with unions, associations and other people from France’s political, economic, social and cultural worlds.

“I will have only one compass: serving,” Macron said. “Serving our country ... serving our fellow citizens ... serving our children and our youth ... to whom I pledge to hand down a more liveable planet and a more living and stronger France.”

For a president at ease speaking for hours on end, Macron’s speech was surprisingly short—and handwrit-

ten. But afterwards, he took time to shake hands, exchange cheek kisses and chat individually with scores of guests.

While Macron presided over strict lockdowns and coronavirus vaccine mandates as the pandemic swept through France, most Covid-19 restrictions have now been lifted and there was no sign of masks or social distancing at the inauguration.

The event seemed unusually childfriendly for French presidential ceremonies, with several dignitaries bringing their children—and at least two in baby strollers. Macron, 44, has no children of his own but has stepchildren and grandchildren, some of whom were there.

At his arrival in the reception hall of the Elysee, Macron winked at his wife, Brigitte Macron.

About 500 guests were invited to the ceremony. They came primarily from the world of politics, though also included actors, health care workers, military officers and former Presidents Francois Hollande and Nicolas Sarkozy. Most of those who received a coveted invite were white men in suits, despite a growing push for diversity in French politics.

Hollande, a Socialist who ran France from 2012 to 2017, said “I think there will be considerable hardship,” listing the war in Ukraine, rising prices, the decreasing purchasing power and climate-related issues. AP

Dictator’s son, rights lawyer vie for Philippine presidency

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A NIL A , Phi l ippines— More than three decades after a largely peaceful "People Power" revolt overthrew Ph i l ippi ne d ic t ator Ferd i n a nd Marcos, his son and namesake has emerged as the top contender in Monday's presidential election based on most voter-preference surveys.

Here are some key facts about the major issues, the leading candidates and election concerns:

What’s at stake

If Ferdinand Marcos Jr. triumphs, it will be a stunning reversal of the 1986 pro-democracy uprising that booted his father out of office into global infamy. Many Filipinos remember the human rights atrocities and plunder that unfolded under his dictatorship and would likely push back against any perceived threat to democracy or Marcos Jr.'s attempt to recover his family's assets that were seized by the government as ill-gotten wealth.

The winner stands to inherit immense problems, including an economy battered by the coronavirus pandemic, deeper poverty and unemployment, hyperinflation due to skyrocketing oil and gas prices, decades-old insurgencies and inflamed political divisions. Outgoing populist leader Rodrigo Duterte's successor also likely faces calls to prosecute him for his bloody crackdown on illegal drugs that has left thousands of mostly poor suspects dead and alarmed the international

community. The International Criminal Court has been investigating the killings as a possible crime against humanity.

Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

A former provincial governor, congressman and senator, the 64-yearold son of the late dictator is waging the most impressive attempt yet of the Marcos family to recapture the presidency. His mother, Imelda Marcos, twice unsuccessfully attempted to retake the seat of power after returning with her children to the Philippines from exile in the United States, where her husband died in 1989.

Marcos Jr. has defended his father's legacy and steadfastly refuses to apologize for and acknowledge the atrocities and plunder during the dictatorship. Married to a lawyer, with whom he has three sons, he has stayed away from controversies, including a past tax conviction and the Marcos family's refusal to pay a huge estate tax. Throughout his campaign, he tenaciously stuck to a battle cry of national unity. He denies accusations that he financed a yearslong social media campaign that harnessed online trolls to smear opponents and whitewash the Marcos family's checkered history, daring critics to "show me one."

Leni Robredo

As an economics student at the state-run University of the Philippines in the 1980s, Leni Robredo

joined the massive protests that led to the ouster of the elder Marcos. The 57-year-old also took up law and successfully ran for a seat in the House of Representatives in 2013 in her first foray into politics after her husband, a respected politician, died in a plane crash in 2012.

She defeated Marcos Jr. in the 2016 vice presidential race with a narrow margin in their first electoral faceoff.

Her advocacies center on defending human rights and empowering the poor partly by teaching them their legal rights.

The daughter of a trial court judge, Robredo does not belong to any of the prominent families that have dominated Philippine politics for generations, and is running as an independent propped by a network of campaign volunteers. As the opposition vice president, who was separately elected from Duterte, she condemned the killings of mostly poor drug suspects as part of his crackdown, angering the brashtalking leader and straining their ties for years. The mother of three has been cited for her integrity and a lifestyle that shuns the trappings of power — she used to regularly travel alone by bus to her home province as a congresswoman.

Other contenders

Eight other presidential aspirants have lagged far behind in pre-elections surveys, including Manny Pacquiao, the 43-year-old former boxing star, who vowed to build houses for

the poor and lock up corrupt politicians in a "mega-prison." Manila Mayor Isko Moreno, a 47-year-old former TV heartthrob, banked on his rags-to-power life story and public awe over his massive cleanup of the capital. Sen. Panfilo Lacson, a 73-year-old former national police chief, has promised to continue exploiting his investigative skills to expose major government corruption.

Securing the vote

Aside from the presidency, more than 18,000 government posts will be contested in the elections, including half of the 24-member Senate, more than 300 seats in the House of Representatives, as well as provincial and local offices across the archipelago of more than 109 million Filipinos. About 67 million have registered to cast their ballot during the 13-hour voting starting at 6 a.m., an hour longer than the midterm elections in 2019 to compensate for slower queues due to social distancing and other coronavirus safeguards.

Thousands of police and military personnel have been deployed given longstanding risks posed by communist and Muslim rebels and a history of often bloody family and political rivalries in rural areas. In 2009, gunmen deployed by the family of southern Maguindanao province's then-governor massacred 58 people, including 32 journalists, in an attack on an election convoy that shocked the world. AP

Editor: Angel R. Calso

Ukraine evacuates civilians from steel plant under siege

By Elena Becatoros & Jon Gambrell The Associated Press

Z

A POR IZHZHI A , U kraine— Russian forces kept up their barrage of southern Ukraine, hitting the major Black Sea port of Odesa with cruise missiles and bombarding the steelworks up the coast in Mariupol, where Ukrainian fighters remained trapped underground after the last civilians were brought out to safety.

Moscow was aiming to complete its conquest of Mariupol in time for Victory Day celebrations on Monday. But it was facing stiff resistance elsewhere.

In a sign of the unexpectedly effective defense that has sustained the fighting into its 11th week, Ukraine’s military flattened Russian positions on a Black Sea island that was captured in the war’s first days and has become a symbol of resistance.

Western military analysts also said a Ukrainian counteroffensive was advancing around the country’s second-largest city, Kharkiv. Ukraine’s military said retreating Russian forces destroyed three bridges on a road northeast of the city to try to slow the Ukrainian advance.

The largest European conflict since World War II has developed into a punishing war of attrition that has killed thousands of people, forced millions to flee their homes and destroyed large swaths of some cities.

Ukrainian leaders warned that attacks would only worsen in the lead-up to Victory Day, when Russia celebrates Nazi Germany’s defeat in 1945 with military parades. Russian President Vladimir Putin is believed to want to proclaim some kind of triumph in Ukraine when he addresses the troops on Red Square on Monday.

US Secretar y of State A ntony Blinken said Saturday that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his people “embody the spirit of those who prevailed during the Second World War.” He accused Putin of trying “to twist history to attempt to justify his unprovoked and brutal war against Ukraine.”

“As war again rages in Europe, we must increase our resolve to resist those who now seek to manipulate historical memory in order to advance their own ambitions,” Blinken said in a statement as the United States and United Kingdom commemorate the Allied victory in Europe.

The most intense fighting in recent days has been in eastern Ukraine, where the two sides are entrenched in a fierce battle to capture or reclaim territory. Moscow’s offensive there has focused on the Donbas, where Russiabacked separatists have been fighting since 2014.

The governor of the Luhansk region, one of two that make up the Donbas, said a Russian strike destroyed a school in the village of Bilogorivka where 90 people were seeking safety in the basement. Gov. Serhiy Haidai, who posted pictures of the burning rubble on Telegram, said 30 people were rescued. The emergency services later reported that two bodies had been found and more could still be buried under the rubble. Rescue work was suspended overnight but was to resume on Sunday.

Haidai also said two boys aged 11 and 14 were killed by Russian shelling in the town of Pryvillia, while two girls aged 8 and 12 and a 69-year-old woman were wounded.

Moscow also has sought to sweep across southern Ukraine both to cut off the country from the sea and create a corridor to the breakaway Moldovan region of Transnistria, long home to Russian troops. But it has struggled to achieve those objectives.

On Saturday, six Russian cruise missiles fired from aircraft hit Odesa, where a curfew is in place until Tuesday morning. Videos posted on social media showed thick black smoke rising over the Black Sea port city as sirens wailed.

The Odesa city council said four of the missiles hit a furniture company, with the shock waves and debris badly damaging high-rise apartment buildings. The other two missiles hit the Odesa airport, where the runway had already been taken out in a previous Russian attack.

Air raid sirens sounded several

times early Sunday, the city council said.

Satellite photos analyzed by The Associated Press showed Ukraine targeting Russian-held Snake Island in a bid to impede Russia’s efforts to control the Black Sea. An image taken early Saturday by Planet Labs PBC showed that most of the island’s buildings had been destroyed by Ukrainian drone attacks, as well as what appeared to be a Serna-class landing craft against the island’s northern beach.

The image corresponds with a Ukrainian military video showing a drone striking the Russian vessel, engulfing it in flames. Snake Island, located some 35 kilometers (20 miles) off the coast, figured in a memorable incident early in the war when Ukrainian border guards stationed there defied Russian orders to surrender, purportedly using colorful language.

In Mariupol, Ukrainian fighters made a final stand against a complete Russian takeover of the strategically important city, which would give Moscow a land bridge to the Crimean Peninsula, annexed from Ukraine during a 2014 invasion.

Satellite photos shot Friday by Planet Labs PBC showed vast devastation at the sprawling Azovstal seaside steel mill, the last pocket of Ukrainian resistance in the city. Buildings had gaping holes in the roofs, including one under which hundreds of fighters were likely hiding.

After rescuers evacuated the last civilians Saturday, Zelenskyy said in his nightly address that the focus would turn to extracting the wounded and medics: “Of course, if everyone fulfills the agreements. Of course, if there are no lies.”

He added that work would also continue Sunday on securing humanitarian corridors for residents of Mariupol and surrounding towns to leave.

The situation at the plant has drawn the world’s attention, with the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross desperately trying to organize evacuations.

In recent days, fighters inside described bringing out small groups of civilians who had been hiding there for weeks. The fighters said via social media that both they and the Russians had used a white flag system to halt fighting in order to get civilians out.

But Russian forces have intensified fire on the mill with mortars, artillery, truck-mounted rocket systems, aerial bombardment and shelling from the sea, making evacuation operations difficult.

Three Ukrainian fighters were reportedly killed and six more wounded during an evacuation attempt Friday.

Capt. Sviatoslav Palamar, the deputy commander of the Azov Regiment, said his troops had waved white flags, and he accused Russian forces of firing an anti-tank weapon at a vehicle.

It remains unclear what will happen to the estimated 2,000 fighters at Azovstal, both those still in combat and the hundreds believed to be wounded. In recent days the Ukrainian government has been reaching out to international organizations to try to secure safe passage for them.

The fighters have repeatedly vowed not to surrender.

Zelenskyy said officials were trying to find a way to evacuate them.

He acknowledged the difficulty, but said: “We are not losing hope, we are not stopping. Every day we are looking for some diplomatic option that might work.”

Russian forces have probed the plant and even reached into its warren of tunnels, according to Ukrainian officials.

Kharkiv, which was the first Soviet capital in Ukraine and had a prewar population of about 4 million, remained a key target of Russian shelling in the northeast. Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said Saturday that the Russian military also hit large shipments of weapons from the US and other Western countries with Iskander missiles in the region. His claims couldn’t be independently verified.

Gambrell reported from Lviv, Ukraine.

Yesica Fisch in Bakhmut, David Keyton in Kyiv, Yuras Karmanau in Lviv, Mstyslav Chernov in Kharkiv, Lolita C. Baldor in Washington and AP staff around the world contributed to this report.

BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Monday, May 9, 2022

A7

Republic of the Philippines

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

25.

PHAN CONG TUONG Vietnamese

VIETNAMESE CUSTOMER RELATIONS OFFICER Handle the concerns of the people who buy their company’s products or services.

26.

PHAM HONG SON Vietnamese

VIETNAMESE CUSTOMER RELATIONS OFFICER Handle the concerns of the people who buy their company’s products or services.

Php30,000.00 – Php59,999.00

27.

NGUYEN THANH LONG Vietnamese

VIETNAMESE CUSTOMER SERVICE Offer full range of customer service to employer and clients

Php30,000.00 – Php59,999.00

28.

LE VAN LINH Vietnamese

VIETNAMESE CUSTOMER RELATIONS OFFICER Handle the concerns of the people who buy their company’s products or services.

Php30,000.00 – Php59,999.00

29.

XIAOXI NONG Chinese

CHINESE CUSTOMER RELATIONS OFFICER Offer full range of customer service to employer and clients.

Php30,000.00 – Php59,999.00

30.

JULYANTO Indonesian

INDONESIAN CUSTOMER SERVICE Offer full range of customer service to employer and clients.

Php30,000.00 – Php59,999.00

31.

NGUYEN THANH HIEN Vietnamese

VIETNAMESE CUSTOMER SERVICE Offer full range of customer service to employer and clients.

Php30,000.00 – Php59,999.00

32.

FULI LU Chinese

MANDARIN CUSTOMER SERVICE Offer full range of customer service to employer and clients.

Php30,000.00 – Php59,999.00

33.

TRI OKTAVIANUS Indonesian

INDONESIAN CUSTOMER SERVICE Offer full range of customer service to employer and clients.

Php30,000.00 – Php59,999.00

34.

MINGXING ZHAO Chinese

MANDARIN CUSTOMER SERVICE Offer full range of customer service to employer and clients.

Php30,000.00 – Php59,999.00

35.

NGUYEN THE CUONG Vietnamese

VIETNAMESE CUSTOMER RELATIONS OFFICER Handle the concerns of the people who buy their company’s products or services.

Php30,000.00 – Php59,999.00

36.

JINTAO WANG Chinese

MANDARIN CUSTOMER SERVICE Offer full range of customer service to employer and clients.

Php30,000.00 – Php59,999.00

37.

NGUYEN VIET TAM Vietnamese

VIETNAMESE CUSTOMER RELATIONS OFFICER Handle the concerns of the people who buy their company’s products or services.

Php30,000.00 – Php59,999.00

38.

TAN BOON PIN Malaysian

MALAYSIAN CUSTOMER SERVICE Offer full range of customer service to employer and clients.

Php30,000.00 – Php59,999.00

May 09, 2022

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

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

Name and Address of Employer: ATLANTIC GULF AND PACIFIC COMPANY OF MANILA, INC. AG&P-SEZ, Brgy. San Roque, Bauan, Batangas

1.

Name and Citizenship of Foreign National

Position and Job Description

Monthly Salary Range

GAYAN DULSHAN WEERASINGHA ARACHCHIGE Sri Lankan

CONSULTANT SYSTEMS Provide software development plan that meets future needs of clients and markets based on state-of-the-art technologies

Php150,000.00 – Php499,999.00

Name and Address of Employer: MOA CLOUDZONE CORPORATION Brgy. Binakayan Pulvorista, Kawit, Cavite Name and Citizenship of Foreign National

Position and Job Description

Monthly Salary Range

PHAM VAN HOANG Vietnamese

VIETNAMESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE Manage incoming calls and customer service inquiries

Php30,000.00 – Php59,999.00

3.

TRAN HUU TRONG Vietnamese

VIETNAMESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE Manage incoming calls and customer service inquiries

Php30,000.00 – Php59,999.00

4.

TRIEU VAN DE Vietnamese

VIETNAMESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE Manage incoming calls and customer service inquiries

Php30,000.00 – Php59,999.00

2.

6.

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Php30,000.00 – Php59,999.00

7.

PHAM THI NHU NGOC Vietnamese

VIETNAMESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE Manage incoming calls and customer service inquiries

Php30,000.00 – Php59,999.00

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LAM MY HUYEN Vietnamese

VIETNAMESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE Manage incoming calls and customer service inquiries

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NGUYEN THI XUAN CHI Vietnamese

VIETNAMESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE Manage incoming calls and customer service inquiries

Php30,000.00 – Php59,999.00

NGUYEN QUANG MANH Vietnamese

VIETNAMESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE Manage incoming calls and customer service inquiries

12.

VU VAN TRONG Vietnamese

VIETNAMESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE Manage incoming calls and customer service inquiries

Php30,000.00 – Php59,999.00

13.

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INDONESIAN CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE Manage incoming calls and customer service inquiries

Php30,000.00 – Php59,999.00

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15.

DIANTI Indonesian

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Php30,000.00 – Php59,999.00

9.

10.

11.

Php30,000.00 – Php59,999.00

INDONESIAN CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE Manage incoming calls and customer service inquiries

17.

SAPTA PRATAMA Indonesian

INDONESIAN CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE Manage incoming calls and customer service inquiries

Php30,000.00 – Php59,999.00

18.

DARWANTO Indonesian

INDONESIAN CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE Manage incoming calls and customer service inquiries

Php30,000.00 – Php59,999.00

TASLIM Indonesian

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Php30,000.00 – Php59,999.00

CHINESE CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE Manage incoming calls and customer service inquiries

Php30,000.00 – Php59,999.00

16.

19.

20.

HUI ZHANG Chinese

Name and Address of Employer: PHISONIC TECHNOLOGY CORPORATION GGBP, Buenavista II, General Trias, Cavite

39.

YESSY Indonesian

Php30,000.00 – Php59,999.00

40.

41.

Position and Job Description

Monthly Salary Range

HO GEN HAN Malaysian

MALAYSIAN CUSTOMER RELATIONS OFFICER Handle the concerns of the people who buy their company’s products or services.

Php30,000.00 – Php59,999.00

22.

TRAN THI NHUY Vietnamese

VIETNAMESE CUSTOMER RELATIONS OFFICER Handle the concerns of the people who buy their company’s products or services.

Php30,000.00 – Php59,999.00

23.

CAO VAN QUANG Vietnamese

VIETNAMESE CUSTOMER RELATIONS OFFICER Handle the concerns of the people who buy their company’s products or services.

Php30,000.00 – Php59,999.00

HOANG VAN CHUNG Vietnamese

VIETNAMESE CUSTOMER RELATIONS OFFICER Handle the concerns of the people who buy their company’s products or services.

Php30,000.00 – Php59,999.00

24.

Position and Job Description

Monthly Salary Range

ZHIYONG HE Chinese

SMT TECHNICAL ADVISOR Develop, implement and lead improvements of manufacturing concepts for common SMT procedures and systems

Php30,000.00 – Php59,999.00

BIN LU Chinese

SMT TECHNICAL ADVISOR Develop, implement and lead improvements of manufacturing concepts for common SMT procedures and systems

Php30,000.00 – Php59,999.00

Name and Address of Employer: CYBERPOWER SYSTEMS MANUFACTURING, INC. Brgy. Buenavista II, General Trias, Cavite

GUOBO FU Chinese

Position and Job Description PRODUCTION ADVISOR Assist the Production Managers in preparing project plan, budget and schedule

Monthly Salary Range Php30,000.00 – Php59,999.00

Name and Address of Employer: LOFTY FUTURE INNOVATION E-COMMERCE TRADING CORPORATION Brgy. Maliksi, Bacoor, Cavite

Name and Address of Employer: BRICKHARTZ TECHNOLOGY, INC. Lot 4044, Molino Boulevard, Niog 3, Bacoor City, Cavite

21.

Name and Citizenship of Foreign National

Name and Citizenship of Foreign National

Name and Citizenship of Foreign National

Php30,000.00 – Php59,999.00

42.

Name and Citizenship of Foreign National

Position and Job Description

Monthly Salary Range

KEJUN OUYANG Chinese

OPERATION DIRECTOR Coordinate with customer and internal department

Php30,000.00 – Php59,999.00

Any person in the Philippines who is competent, able and willing to perform the services for which the foreign national is desired may file an objection at the DOLE Regional Office within 30 days from the date of publication.

Please inform the DOLE Regional Office if you have an information of any criminal offense committed by the foreign nationals.

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

The World BusinessMirror

A8 Monday, May 9, 2022

Two Omicron variants fast spreading in South Africa

S

outh Africa’s daily coronavirus test positivity rate neared a record, rising above 30 percent on Saturday for the first time in almost five months as two sublineages of the Omicron variant spread rapidly ahead of the nation’s winter season.

There were 8,524 new Covid-19 cases identified, representing a 31.1% positivity rate of those tested, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases said in a statement on its website. That’s the highest rate since the 32.2% recorded on Dec. 15, when a record 26,976 cases were recorded.

The surge means South Africa is close to its highest positivity rate yet. The record so far was 34.9% on Dec. 14.

The positivity rate is taken as an indicator of how fast the disease is spreading through the community as many cases go undetected.

Still, only five deaths were

recorded in the last 48 hours and just over 2,600 people are in the hospital with the disease. At the peak of the wave in mid-2021 when the Delta variant was rampant, hundreds of people were perishing daily and hospitalizations peaked at about 16,000.

South Africa, which together with Botswana identified the Omicron variant in November, was the first country to experience a wave driven by the strain and the way it played out was seen as an indication for what could happen elsewhere. Last month South African scientists identified two Omicron sublineages,

The risk of lingering symptoms after Covid-19 appears influenced by the strain of coronavirus that caused the infection, according to an analysis from the UK, where an estimated 1.8 million people reported experiencing long Covid in early April.

The odds of reporting fatigue, shortness of breath, difficulty concentrating and other persistent symptoms were 50% lower following infections likely caused by the Omicron BA.1 variant than those likely caused by the Delta strain, the Office for National Statistics said in a report Friday.

By Cedar Attanasio & Brian Melley The Associated Press

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Pope, hobbled by knee problem, looks forward to S. Sudan trip

R

Long Covid risk

The difference was only found among adults who were double vaccinated when infected. Among those who were triple vaccinated, the difference wasn’t statistically significant.

Among triple vaccinated adults, the odds of reporting long Covid were higher following infection with the Omicron BA.2 variant than the BA.1 variant, the analysis found.

More than two-thirds of those with self-reported long Covid, or 1.2 million people, said their symptoms adversely affected their day-to-day activities, and almost a fifth said their symptoms limited them a lot, according to the statistics bureau.

Most long Covid symptoms don’t seem to be life threatening, but things like shortness of breath or fatigue can be disabling.

The US Government Accountability Office said in a March report that long Covid could affect the broader economy through decreased labor participation and an increased need for use of Social Security disability insurance or other publicly subsidized insurance. Bloomberg News

New Mexico residents brace for extreme wildfire conditions

Pope Francis arrives in a wheelchair to attend an audience with nuns and religious superiors in the Paul VI Hall at The Vatican on Thursday, May 5, 2022. Pope Francis, whose mobility has been limited of late by a nagging knee problem, is looking forward to visiting South Sudan in July, according to a joint message by the pontiff, the archbishop of Canterbury and a Scottish church official. AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino

OME—Pope Francis, whose mobility has been limited of late by a nagging knee problem, is looking forward to visiting South Sudan in July, according to a joint message by the pontiff, the archbishop of Canterbury and a Scottish church official.

The Vatican on Saturday released the text of the message, which refers to previously announced plans by Francis to make a July 5-7 pilgrimage to South Sudan. The Holy See two months ago announced that the pontiff would make the latest African pilgrimage of his nine-year-old papacy, beginning with a pastoral visit in Congo on July 2.

The message was addressed to South Sudanese political leaders and signed by Francis, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby and Jim Wallace, Moderator of the Church of Scotland. The three church officials will visit South Sudan together.

The message referred to last month’s celebrations of Easter, which for Christians marks their belief that Jesus rose from the dead after crucifixion. Jesus “shows us that a new way is possible: a way of forgiveness and freedom, which enables us humbly to see God in each other, even in our enemies,” the trio of churchmen wrote.

Last summer, Francis and Welby marked the 10th anniversary of the independence of South Sudan by urging rival political leaders there to make the personal sacrifices necessary to consolidate peace, and

BA.4 and BA.5, and laboratory experiments have since shown that those strains can reinfect those who have already had the original Omicron strain.

The current surge in infections and positivity shows that even though previous waves have been caused by the emergence of new variants the sublineages are now having the same effect, Tulio de Oliveira, who runs gene sequencing institutes in South Africa said on Twitter.

the message released on Saturday elaborates on that exhortation.

The path of forgiveness and freedom, the message published on Saturday said, “leads to new life, both for us as individuals and for those we lead. It is our prayer that you will embrace afresh this way, in order to discern new avenues amid the challenges and struggles at this time.”

“We pray too that your people will experience the hope of Easter through your leadership. In anticipation of our Pilgrimage of Peace this coming summer, we look forward to visiting your great country,” the message concluded.

On Thursday, Francis, 85, was seen for the first time in public using a wheelchair. He has apologized for the limits a painful knee ligament ailment has caused on his activities of late. For months, Francis has been limping badly and often leans on the arms of aides to navigate steps or to sit down or rise from chairs after delivering speeches.

The majority of South Sudan’s population is Christian. Churches helped rally international support when the South Sudanese fought for independence from Sudan, which is overwhelmingly Muslim.

Previously, the three church leaders have pressed for more work to be done to ensure peace and reconciliation in the new East African nation. Francis has strived to use his papacy to further the cause of peace, particularly in poorer nations. AP

AS VEGAS, N.M.—With the worst of the thick wildfire smoke having blown out of town, residents of this small northern New Mexico city tried to recapture a sense of normalcy Saturday as their rural neighbors hunkered down amid predictions of extreme fire conditions.

Shops and restaurants reopened, the historic center was no longer just populated by firefighters, but there was a widely felt sense of anxiety, loss, and wariness of what lay ahead.

“It’s literally like living under a dark cloud,” said Liz Birmingham, whose daughter had persistent headaches from the smoke. “It’s unnerving.”

While the city for now seemed spared of danger, rural areas were still threatened as the fire was driven by winds so fierce all firefighting aircraft had to be grounded. And the worst could be yet to come.

A combination of strong winds, high temperatures and low humidity were forecast by the National Weather Service to create an “exceptionally dangerous and likely historic stretch of critical to extreme fire weather conditions” for several days.

Some 1,400 firefighters worked feverishly to contain the largest fire burning in the US. The blaze, now more than a month old, has blackened more than 269 square miles (696 square kilometers)—an area larger than the city of Chicago.

Part of the fire was started by Forest Service workers who lost control of a prescribed burn meant to reduce fire risk. State leaders have called on the federal government for accountability, including reparations.

Nationwide, close to 2,000 square miles (5,180 square kilometers) have burned so far this year, with 2018 being the last time this much fire had been reported at this point, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. And predictions for the rest of the spring do not bode well for the West, where long-term drought and warmer temperatures brought on by climate change have combined to worsen the threat of wildfire.

Thousands of residents have evacuated due to flames that have charred large swaths of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in northeastern New Mexico.

The fire’s main threat was now to the north, where flames burning vegetation clogging the forest floor threatened several small rural communities, fire spokesman Ryan Berlin said.

Firefighters, who typically rely on calmer winders and lower temperatures to make progress in the evening, have been hindered by unexpectedly strong winds at night.

The threat to Las Vegas, a city of 13,000, was reduced after vegetation was cleared to create containment lines. Local officials on Saturday allowed residents of several areas on the city’s northwestern outskirts to return to their homes, Berlin said.

The city looked like a ghost town earlier in the week, with businesses shuttered, schools closed and the tourist district empty but for resting firefighters. By Saturday, it was in a partial state of recovery.

National Guard troops carried cases of water, people lined up to sign up for relief from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and US Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., met with local officials and toured the shelter housing some of the displaced.

“We don’t know if our houses are getting burned, or if it’s gonna stop,” said Domingo Martinez, an evacuee from rural Manuelitas northwest of Las Vegas. “I hope it dies down so we can go home.”

Martinez, who is staying with his son on the east side of town, visited an old friend and neighbor who had been living in the middle school shelter for 15 days.

Outside the school, Martinez got a free haircut from Jessica Aragón, a local hairdresser who volunteered her time. “I love that everyone is coming together,” Aragón said. “I think a smile is worth a thousand words.”

Birmingham was one of four dog owners leading German shepherds and a black Labrador through an obedience course in a park next to a library. All had been touched in some way by the fire.

One was a construction worker whose work sites had all been reduced to ash.

Fire officials warned Las Vegas residents that they should still be ready to leave and not to let their guards down because winds will pick up. High winds and increasing smoke will also make it difficult—or impossible—to fly water-dropping choppers and planes dumping fire retardant.

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US added 428,000 jobs despite surging inflation

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A SHINGTON—A merica’s employers added 428,000 jobs in April, extending a streak of solid hiring that has defied punishing inflation, chronic supply shortages, the Russian war against Ukraine and much higher borrowing costs.

Friday’s jobs report from the Labor Department showed that last month’s hiring kept the unemployment rate at 3.6%, just above the lowest level in a half-century.

The economy’s hiring gains have been strikingly consistent in the face of the worst inflation in four decades. Employers have added at least 400,000 jobs for 12 straight months.

At the same time, the April job growth, along with steady wage gains, will fuel consumer spending and likely keep the Federal Reserve on track to raise borrowing rates sharply to fight inflation.

The US stock market slumped again Friday on concern that the strength of the job market will keep wages and inflation high and lead to increasingly heavy borrowing costs for consumers and businesses. Higher loan rates could, in turn, weigh down corporate profits.

“With labor market conditions still this strong—including very rapid wage growth—we doubt that the Fed is going to abandon its hawkish plans,” said Paul Ashworth, chief US economist at Capital Economics.

The latest employment figures did contain a few cautionary notes about the job market. The government revised down its estimate of job gains for February and March by a combined 39,000.

And the number of people in the labor force declined in April by 363,000, the first drop since September. Their exit slightly reduced the proportion of Americans who are either working or looking for work from 62.4% to 62.2%. Many industries have been slowed by labor shortages. The nation remains 1.2 million jobs shy of the number it had in early 2020, just before the pandemic hammered the economy.

“We need those people back,’’ said Beth Ann Bovino, chief US economist at S&P Global.

Bovino noted that some Americans are remaining on the sidelines of the workforce out of lingering concerns about Covid-19 or because of difficulty finding affordable daycare for unvaccinated children.

In the meantime, employers keep handing out pay raises. Hourly wages rose 0.3% from March to April and 5.5% from a year ago.

Prices, though, are rising faster than pay is.

“Yes, we saw a bump in wages,” Bovino said. But with inflation at 40-year highs “people are still squeezed.’’

Across industries last month, hiring was widespread. Factories added 55,000 jobs, the most since last July. Warehouses and transportation companies added 52,000, restaurants and bars 44,000, health care 41,000, finance 35,000, retailers 29,000 and hotels 22,000. Construction companies, which have been slowed by shortages of labor and supplies, added just 2,000.

Yet it’s unclear how long the jobs boom will continue. The Fed this week raised its key rate by a half-percentage point—its most aggressive move since 2000— and signaled further large rate hikes to come. As the Fed’s rate hikes take effect, it will become increasingly expensive to spend and hire.

In addition, the vast economic aid that the government had been supplying to households has expired. And Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has helped accelerate inflation and clouded the economic outlook. Some economists warn of

a growing risk of recession.

For now, the resilience of the job market is particularly striking when set against the backdrop of galloping price increases and rising borrowing costs. This week, the Labor Department provided further evidence that the job market is still booming. It reported that only 1.38 million Americans were collecting traditional unemployment benefits, the fewest since 1970. And it said that employers posted a record-high 11.5 million job openings in March and that layoffs remained well below pre-pandemic levels.

What’s more, the economy now has, on average, two available jobs for every unemployed person.

That’s the highest such proportion on record.

And in yet another sign that workers are enjoying unusual leverage in the job market, a record 4.5 million people quit their jobs in March, evidently confident that they could find a better opportunity elsewhere.

Chronic shortages of goods, supplies and workers have contributed to skyrocketing price increases—the highest inflation rate in 40 years. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in late February dramatically worsened the financial landscape, sending global oil and gas prices skyward and severely clouding the national and global economic picture.

The Fed, which most economists say was much too slow to recognize the inflation threat, is now raising rates aggressively. Its goal is a notoriously difficult one: a so-called soft landing.

“Trying to slow the economy just enough, without causing a recession,” said Rubeela Farooqi, chief US economist at High Frequency Economics. “Their track record on that is not particularly good.”

Giacomo Santangelo of the jobs research firm Monster is among economists who say they think a recession is coming. Even so, Santangelo said, the Fed “doesn’t have much of a choice’’ other than raising rates to combat the inflation spike.

For now, many business people, especially in industries like retail and hospitality, are still struggling with a tight labor market.

David Culhane is one of them.

Since opening the White Mountain Taver n in Lincoln, New Hampshire, in August 2020, Culhane has raised his hourly starting wage from $12 to $15. Yet he still can’t bring his employee count up to the 15 he needs. He worries that he won’t have enough people to handle the summer tourist season.

His labor shortages are costly.

With a full staff, Culhane could serve many more customers that he can now. In the meantime, food and electricity prices are rising.

In response, Culhane has had to raise the prices of some menu items by up to 50%. He now prices his 8-ounce steak with truffle parmesan fries and asparagus at $25, up from $17.

In his view, he has no choice.

“As (inflation) gets higher, and if we don’t adjust to that,” he said, “we are not going to make it.”

To fully achieve the staff levels they need, some companies may have to do more than raise pay.

“Employers and business leaders will need to go above and beyond salary increases to win the war for talent,’’ said Karen Fichuk, CEO of the staffing company Randstad North America.

“That will mean responding to new cultural norms and generational differences.’’

Many young people, she said, want jobs that provide an attractive work-life balance, prioritize diversity and offer the opportunity to make a positive difference in society. AP

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Judge rejects Trump lawsuit challenging ban from Twitter

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OS ANGELES—A San Francisco judge tossed out former President Donald Trump’s lawsuit challenging his permanent ban from Twitter.

US District Judge James Donato said Friday that Trump failed to show Twitter violated his First Amendment right to free speech. Free speech rights don’t apply to private companies and Trump failed to show Twitter was working as a state actor on behalf of Democrats, the judge wrote.

“The amended complaint merely offers a grab-bag of allegations to the effect that some Democratic members of Congress wanted Mr. Trump, and ‘the views he espoused,’ to be banned from Twitter because such ‘content and views’ were ‘contrary to those legislators’ preferred points of view,’” Donato wrote. “But the comments of a handful of elected officials are a far cry from a ‘rule of decision for which the State is responsible.’ Legislators are perfectly free to express opinions without being deemed the official voice of ‘the State.’”

Trump sued Twitter, Facebook and Google’s YouTube in July 2021, claiming they illegally censored him.

The platforms suspended Trump after the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection, in which his followers violently stormed the Capitol building in an attempt to block Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s presidential win.

The companies cited concerns he would incite further violence.

The ruling comes as Elon Musk, the world’s wealthiest man, is in the process of purchasing Twitter for $44 billion.

The deal has raised questions about whether, Musk, a selfdescribed free speech absolutist, would reinstate the former president.

Trump, who has continued to repeat lies about his 2020 election defeat in speeches, has started his own social network, Truth Social. He said last week that he wouldn’t rejoin Twitter if given the chance.

The suit had sought to reinstate Trump’s account, which had roughly 89 million followers, and those of five others who claimed they were also censored by Twitter. The group had sought unspecified damages and class action status on behalf of others removed from the platform.

Legal experts had predicted the lawsuit would fail but suggested Trump would milk it for political purposes. Trump’s political action committee immediately began raising money after the lawsuit was announced last year.

The lawsuit had also sought a declaration that Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act was unconstitutional.

The act says providers such as Twitter can moderate services by removing obscene posts that violate their standards and cannot be held responsible for content posted by others.

Trump had only shown a “vague and speculative allegation” that he believed he would not have been banned if Twitter wasn’t granted immunity by Section 230, Donato said.

Donato gave Trump another opportunity to amend his complaint. Trump’s lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment. AP

Crews work through 2nd night after Cuba hotel blast kills 27

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AVANA—Crews worked through a second night searching for victims of a hotel explosion that killed at least 27 people in Cuba’s capital and left more than a dozen missing amid the rubble.

The Hotel Saratoga, a luxury 96-room hotel in Old Havana, was finishing renovations when an apparent gas leak produced a massive explosion on Friday.

Just steps from Cuba’s capitol, the Saratoga’s façade was sheared off, burying workers inside and apparently passersby outside under concrete and twisted metal.

The explosion came in the late morning when the streets and plaza in front of the stately hotel would have been full of pedestrians.

On Saturday evening, Dr. Julio Guerra Izquierdo, chief of hospital services at the Ministry of Health, raised the death toll to 27 with 81 people injured.

The dead included four children and a pregnant woman. Spain’s President Pedro Sánchez said via Twitter that a Spanish tourist was among the dead and that another Spaniard was seriously injured.

Some 37 people remained hospitalized, according to the Health Ministry.

Earlier Saturday afternoon, a representative of Grupo de Turismo Gaviota SA, which owns the hotel, said 13 of its workers remained missing. Gov. Reinaldo García Zapata said Saturday evening that 19 families had reported loved ones missing and that rescue efforts would continue.

At least one sur v ivor was found early Saturday in the shattered ruins.

Authorities said the cause of

the explosion was still under investigation, but believed it to have been caused by a gas leak. A large crane hoisted a charred gas tanker out of the rubble Saturday.

The explosion is another blow to the country’s crucial tourism industry.

Crews busily worked to clean up the surrounding streets and by late Saturday, substantial pedestrian traffic had resumed.

Some nearby buildings were also heavily damaged by the explosion that blew out windows and rattled walls.

Even before the coronavirus pandemic kept tourists away f rom Cuba, t he countr y was struggling with tightened sanctions imposed by former US President Donald Trump and kept in place the Biden administration.

Those limited visits by US tourists to the islands and restricted remittances from Cubans in the US to their families in Cuba.

Tourism had started to revive somewhat early this year, but the war in Ukraine deflated a boom of Russian visitors, who accounted for almost a third of the tourists arriving in Cuba last year.

Attention began to shift to an official visit by Mexico President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who arrived in the capital Saturday night. López Obrador was wrapping up a five-country tour that began in Central America.

Cuba President Miguel DíazCanel visited Mexico during its Independence Day celebrations last year. López Obrador has recently spoken out against the apparent US government intention of excluding Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua from the Summit of the Americas it will host in Los Angeles in June.AP

Monday, May 9, 2022 A9

‘Please pay attention’: Scientist flagged heart-pill toxins early on

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scientist at a China-based company that makes crucial ingredients for generic drugs warned a year before the start of a global recall that some blood-pressure pills could become tainted with potentially cancer-causing chemicals, according to court documents.

Zhejiang Huahai Pharmaceutical Co. makes active ingredients for generic drugs including valsartan, which is taken by millions of people to treat hypertension. In July 2018, valsartan made with Huahai ’s products was recalled for containing N-Nitrosodimethylamine, or NDMA, a chemical that can increase the risk of cancer after prolonged exposure at the levels detected in the drugs.

People who are prescr ibed blood-pressure treatments often take them routinely for years. Generic valsartan, which is part of a class of drugs known as angiotensin II receptor blockers, has been sold in the US for a decade.

Since the first batches were recalled, there has been a global effort—and legal wrangling— aimed at figuring out how NDMA got into the drug, and whether pills should have been removed from pharmacies sooner.

When Novartis AG detected NDMA in valsartan ingredients it bought from Huahai during routine testing in June 2018, the potential for the drug to become contaminated during manufacturing wasn’t well-known. The Swiss drugmaker developed the brand-name version of valsartan, marketed as Diovan, and its Sandoz unit sells a generic.

While the discovery surprised Novartis and regulators, an internal Huahai e-mail shows that some of its officials were told of the possibility as early as July 2017. The message was made public last month in multidistrict litigation in the US District Court in New Jersey.

The e-mail from scientist Jinsheng Lin, who worked in a special quality unit at Huahai, was written as the company was trying to alter its approach to production of another heart drug called irbesartan, a chemical cousin of valsartan. A proposed new way to make irbesartan, he wrote, was unlikely to work because of

a potential contamination issue.

The process created an impurity that “is similar to the N-nitrosodimethylamine that occurs in valsartan when quenched with sodium nitrite, and its structure is very toxic,” Lin wrote.

Plaintiffs’ lawyers in the US have seized on the message, which was addressed to Lin’s supervisor and other company managers, as evidence that Huahai could have acted earlier to protect consumers.

“This is somebody, in 2017, clearly stating the root cause for the NDMA in the valsartan and recognizing that it is in the valsartan,” plaintiffs’ attorney Adam Slater, of the law firm Mazie Slater Katz Freeman, said in a hearing in September, according to a transcript unsealed April 18.

“What is the explanation from counsel for why Dr. Lin, almost a year before the disclosure to the rest of the world, knew that there was NDMA and knew exactly how it was being caused?”

Since the recall, similar problems have surfaced in more medications. Digestive drug Zantac was pulled from the market in 2020 for containing NDMA. Some versions of the widely used generic diabetes drug metformin were recalled. Pfizer Inc. and Sandoz found nitrosamines—the chemical family that includes N DM A — i n mu sc le re l a xe rs, smok ing-cessation dr ugs and other blood-pressure pills.

A llison Brow n, a Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom lawyer representing Huahai in the US, said the company couldn’t have known based solely on the e-mail that a carcinogen would be formed in its production of valsartan.

“This e-mail involves complex scientific issues that will be addressed by scientific experts in the valsartan litigation,” Brown said in a statement. “This e-mail was written in Chinese and highlights the difficulties associated

with translating from the original language and culture.”

Lin didn’t respond to a request for comment sent to a personal e-mail account. Huahai didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Evidence battle

Hundreds of people in the US sued Huahai and other drugmakers in 2019, alleging they got cancer after taking valsartan.

The claims were consolidated to streamline pretrial proceedings.

Lawyers have been haggling over evidence and testimony, a debate complicated by security laws in China. In one instance, the court ordered that Huahai official Baohua Chen be deposed, but defense lawyers say China’s government wouldn’t let him leave the country. As a result, the plaintiffs have sought a default judgment against Huahai; a ruling on the motion is pending.

Huahai wanted to keep the full text of Lin’s e-mail confidential, but a retired judge overseeing pretrial disputes, Thomas Vanaskie, ruled against the company in January. The plaintiffs posted the e-mail on the docket in March.

“This literally is a smokinggun document,” Slater, the plaintiffs’ lawyer, said at a June 2021 proceeding.

Seven Huahai managers who were addressees on Lin’s e-mail had been asked to produce documents related to the recall, but it was only included in records from Min Li, Lin’s boss, according to Slater. At the hearing in September, Slater said that Huahai never meant to reveal the e-mail, but it slipped through because Li transferred files to a new laptop in June 2018, causing the message to be re-dated to a time period after Novartis informed Huahai of the contamination.

Jessica Priselac, an attorney at the law firm Duane Morris who represented Huahai until April, said in September that Huahai didn’t try to hide the e-mail. The company doesn’t have a centralized server, so e-mails don’t get saved unless they’re saved on personal computers, she said.

Priselac didn’t respond to an email seeking comment.

Vanaskie said the circumstances surrounding the discovery of the e-mail were “troubling” but declined to force Huahai to do a new document search, saying there wasn’t any direct evidence that anyone at the company deliberately destroyed evidence. He said that he would require Huahai to produce documents about

the project Lin was working on to improve irbesartan production.

Chemical reaction

Global regulators have determined that NDMA was caused by chemical reactions that occur as valsartan is manufactured.

In February 2019, the European Medicines Agency said in a 41page report that the compound sodium nitrite and a solvent called dimethylformamide, or DMF, react with each other to form NDMA in the drug. The conclusion was largely based on analyses conducted at the request of the EMA by pharmaceutical companies that sold the recalled valsartan.

At the time of the first recall in 2018, the FDA said there was no way companies could have known to test products for NDMA. An agency inspector raised concerns in 2017 about Huahai’s quality testing after a visit to its factory in Linhai, but regulators took no immediate action. The FDA banned Huahai from sending product from the factory to the US in 2018; it lifted the ban last year.

“Because it was not anticipated that NDMA would occur at unacceptable levels in the manufacturing of the valsartan API, manufacturers at that time would not have been expected to test for it as an impurity, said Audra Harrison, an FDA spokeswoman.

Since the valsartan recall, the industry now knows what processes may lead to nitrosamine contamination and has better analytical technology to detect the compounds, Harrison said.

Quenching, a part of the drugmaking process that was the focus of Lin’s e-mail, is used to eliminate excess amounts of a chemical that may be toxic but that creates essential reactions in manufacturing. In valsartan, sodium azide helps form a critical “tetrazole ring” of four nitrogen atoms and one carbon atom, but it must be removed from finished pills. Sodium nitrite is one option for quenching sodium azide.

At the end of his message, Lin pointed to a 2013 valsartan patent from another Chinese company that discusses using an alternative to sodium nitrite in quenching. The patent doesn’t mention NDMA, but Lin wrote that it recommends the substitution because sodium nitrite produces the dangerous impurities. “This indicates that other companies have paid attention to the quality problem very early on,” Lin wrote.

“So leaders please pay attention to this issue.” Bloomberg News

Saudi King Salman admitted to hospital for medical tests

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UBAI, United Arab Emirates—Saudi Arabia’s octogenarian monarch underwent medical tests on Sunday, state-run media reported, just weeks after he had the battery of his pacemaker changed.

The report in the official Saudi Press Agency did not provide further details about King Salman’s condition or the nature of the medical examinations. It said that the king, 86, was admitted to King Faisal Specialist Hospital in the Saudi port city of Jiddah.

The monarch’s health is closely watched because he holds absolute power in the kingdom.

King Salman ascended to the throne in 2015 and has ap-

pointed his 36-year-old son, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, as his successor. However, he has also already empowered Prince Mohammed to lead day-to-day affairs.

Since his elevation to power, Prince Mohammed has upended the kingdom with dizzying social reforms, sidelined royal rivals and cracked down on perceived opponents, sparking controversy.

Earlier this year, state media reported that King Salman was hospitalized in Riyadh to have the battery of his heart pacemaker replaced. In 2020, he had surgery to remove his gallbladder after a stint in the hospital that revived speculation about the state of his health. AP

In this photo released by Saudi Royal Palace, Saudi King Salman attends the G-20 Leaders’ Summit via videoconference at the royal palace in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Oct. 30, 2021.

Saudi Arabia’s octogenarian monarch underwent medical tests on Sunday, May 8, 2022, state-run media reported, just weeks after he had the battery of his pacemaker changed.

Bandar Aljaloud/Saudi Royal Palace via AP

A10 Monday, May 9, 2022 • Editor: Angel R. Calso

Opinion BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

editorial

Again, do not cheat!

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ccording to the election violence forecaster at the University of Central Florida, 2020 saw more election-related violence than any year in the past four decades. Fifty-four percent of national elections that took place in 2020 had some form of violence.

The reasons countries are prone to election violence are simple. Obviously, a history of election violence indicates violence is “normalized” is the first clue. When voters are not given a choice to vote for opposition candidates is another factor. Some countries allow only a “Yes” or “No” vote for the incumbent without another option. The threat of military intervention in an election leads to violence.

One news source headline: “More violence, threats reported vs politicians in Cebu City.” The reality is, a less biased newspaper writes, “The Philippine National Police has so far recorded fewer incidents of election-related violence this year compared to the two previous elections.

The PNP has recorded 53 cases of election-related incidents since the start of the election period on January 9.” That is good news despite the Commission on Elections (Comelec) having placed 104 municipalities and 14 cities under the “red category,” the highest alert level for possible election-related violence.

But the primary reason for both pre-election and post-election violence is the people not trusting that the vote counting represents the will of the people.

The following is from our editorial on May 6, 2016: “The 2016 presidential election is finally winding down to a close.

The campaign season has seen bitterness with inflammatory rhetoric that has, in some ways, stretched the fiber of Philippine society. That is not a good situation.

“Maybe, as some think, this is the most important political event and election in the history of the country. Perhaps, though, in the bigger picture, it will turn out to be just another turnover of power from one administration to another. Only time will tell.

“However, what is critically important is whether the Philippines, its government, its people, and its institutions have progressed beyond the evils of a false democracy.

“One person who embodies government evil—Joseph Stalin—said, “It is enough that the people know there was an election. The people who cast the votes decide nothing. The people who count the votes decide everything.” This is where the greatest danger to the nation lies.

“While this quotation of Stalin’s shows the potential of evil in government, what it shows more is the potential failure of the people to protect their democratic rights.

“It is up to each individual voter to protect and preserve the process.

A clean and fair election rests only in your hands. It is your personal obligation to make sure that the will of the people is heard. Do not only depend on the authorities to protect your vote.

“The Commission on Elections and media outlets have made great efforts to educate voters as to the process and procedures, as well as voters’ rights. Do not ignore this information, because you do so at your own risk.

“To those who are thinking about cheating the people of their vote, think again carefully. We believe that the people are ready for you, hopefully more prepared to do battle for their democracy than any time before. If the outcome of this election is tainted, we may see an uprising of popular discontent that will make past ‘People Power’ seem minor in comparison. You have been warned.

“Support the candidate whom you believe will be the best for your future and the future of the nation. But support even more strongly the right of the will of the people to be followed.”

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Make time for health-giving activities Atty. Jose Ferdinand M. Rojas II

RISING SUN

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t’s a day late but I’m sure there are some of you who have yet to take your moms out on a Mother’s Day date or are just about to get something for her for the occasion. Everyone’s been busy campaigning, finalizing their list of candidates to vote for, and actually going to the precincts to vote. After fulfilling our nationalistic duty, it might be the perfect time to spend time with our moms or to treat yourself, if you are a mom who needs some me time.

I recently received a special announcement from Novotel Manila about their Mother’s Day offerings, which are all valid for the whole month of May. They have a Mother’s Day Special Room offer for two adults and two children 15 years old and younger for just P6,000 nett/night, including breakfast at Food Exchange Manila. Another

offer is their Sunday brunch buffet for P2,488/person also at Food Exchange Manila. Finally, InBalance Spa has a spa-cation offering for moms at P5,888, which includes the use of the pool and steam room, followed by their signature scrub, a 60-minute aromatherapy massage, and facial treatment. The offer also includes dining credits worth P1,200

One of the positive things to come out of the pandemic is the proliferation of webinars, which are usually free of charge. We can now access exclusive information without having to leave the house or pay for anything.

at The 6th Manila. Novotel Manila is in Cubao, Quezon City. nnn

One of the positive things to come out of the pandemic is the proliferation of webinars, which are usually free of charge. We can now access exclusive information without having to leave the house or pay for anything.

If you are concerned about your or your loved ones’ health (who wouldn’t be?), then you might find this series of webinars worth your time.

SMIC-ITCM (Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine Inc.) in the Philippines is organizing a series of free webinars on health awareness.

These are open to the public and will be conducted by professional and

certified experts on the respective topics. To register, all you have to do is send your name, age, e-mail address, location, and contact number to smicitcmphilippines@gmail.com On May 21 from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m., the topic is “Sluggish, tired?

TCM helps you regain your energy” to be conducted by Berenice LimarkYu, MD, CAMA. Marika Biag, MD, CAMA will talk about the “Effect of the emotions on one’s health” on June 4 (same time). On June 18, Clara Ysabelle Domingo, MD, CAMA will be discussing “Office workers: Neck pain, back pain selfmanagement” and Kathryn Lopez, IND. ENG., CAA will talk about “Cold hands and feet? How TCM can help you” on July 2.

Topics have been lined up for July 16, August 6 and 20, September 3 and 17, October 18 and 22, November 5 and 19, December 3 and 17, January 7 and 21, 2003, and February 4 and 18, 2023. Please check out SMIC-ITCM’s Facebook page for details—facebook. com/SMICTCM.

Ukrainian scientists see working amid war as act of defiance

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By Christina Larson | AP Science Writer

nton Vlaschenko often hears shelling outside his office in Ukraine’s second-largest city of Kharkiv, not far from the front lines of the war. He sometimes even sees smoke rising from Russian tanks hit by missiles.

But the 40-year-old zoologist continues his work, dissecting and labeling bat tissue, as he probes the disease ecology of the flying mammals.

When news of the war overwhelms him, he says, it helps to have something familiar to do with his hands.

He also sees it as an act of defiance.

“Our staying in Ukraine, our continuing to work—it’s some kind of resistance of Russian invasion,” Vlaschenko said via Zoom, a barrage of shelling audible in the background.

“The people together in Ukraine are ready to fight, not only with guns.

We don’t want to lose our country.”

His resolve isn’t unique. Like other Ukrainians whose labors aren’t essential to the war effort, the scientists and academics want to continue their important work where they can.

A common refrain is that they want to stay connected to their scholarly community, which provides a shard of normalcy amid the chaos and violence, and “keep the light of Ukrainian science and humanities alive,” said Yevheniia Polishchuk, who teaches at Kyiv National Economic University.

As vice chair of the Young Scientists Council at Ukraine’s Ministry of Education and Science, Polishchuk organized an online survey of academics to assess their situation and needs after the February 24 invasion. An estimated 4,000 to

6,000 scholars had left Ukraine by early April— mostly women with families—but about 100,000 stayed.

Most who went abroad wound up in Poland and elsewhere in Eastern Europe, getting temporary positions at European institutions. Some scientists have received grants from the Polish Academy of Sciences, US National Academy of Sciences, and other organizations. Polishchuk, now in Krakow with her children and husband, is a visiting professor at a university for May and June but says she hopes to return to Kyiv when fighting stops.

“We don’t want the war to result in a brain drain from Ukraine,” she said.

While Ukrainian scholars are appealing to international scientific bodies for assistance—including remote work opportunities and access to journals, datasets, archives and other materials—there is also a will to prevent the war from permanently sapping talent and momentum from the country’s academic and professional ranks, which will be needed to rebuild after fighting stops.

“Most of our scholars do not want to move abroad permanently; they want to stay in Ukraine,” Polishchuk said.

Shortly after the war began, Ivan Slyusarev, a 34-year-old astronomer, helped the director of Kharkiv National University’s observatory move

As vice chair of the Young Scientists Council at Ukraine’s Ministry of Education and Science, Polishchuk organized an online survey of academics to assess their situation and needs after the February 24 invasion. An estimated 4,000 to 6,000 scholars had left Ukraine by early April—mostly women with families—but about 100,000 stayed. computers, monitors and other materials into the basement, which had sheltered equipment and historical artifacts when Nazi forces occupied the city during World War II. The observatory’s main telescope is located in a field in Russia-occupied territory, about 70 kilometers (43 miles) from Kharkiv on the road to Donetsk. Slyusarev said he doesn’t know its condition, but thinks Ukrainian forces blew up a nearby bridge to stop the Russian advance.

He is relying on scientists outside Ukraine to continue his work.

Astronomers in the Czech Republic have sent him observational data from their telescope so he can keep analyzing the properties of metallic asteroids. He also can see data from a small robotic telescope in Spain’s Canary Islands. He operates mostly from a home office on the outskirts of Kharkiv.

Slyusarev, who says he became an astronomer because of “romantic” ideas about the stars, finds refuge in scientific discovery. Astronomy “produces only positive news” and is a welcome respite from daily life, he said.

“It’s very important in wartime,”

he added.

After the war started, theoretical physicist and astronomer Oleksiy Golubov left Kharkiv to join his parents in Batkiv, a village in western Ukraine.

Although the buildings of the Kharkiv Institute of Physics and Technology were “ bombed and shelled and virtually destroyed,” Golubov said, the school continues to offer some remote classes. He has been keeping in touch with students online—in Kharkiv, in western Ukraine and in Poland and Germany.

The 36-year-old scientist is also a coordinator and trainer for the Ukrainian students preparing to compete in the International Physicists Tournament, a competition for tackling unsolved physics problems, which is being held in Colombia this month. The students, who had been training online, met this week in Lviv for the first time—following train journeys delayed by the war.

“We still want to take part and prove that even inconveniences like war can’t stop us from doing good science and having a good education,” he said.

Golubov, who was turned down from joining the military because of a paralyzed hand, submitted a paper in March to the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics and wrote in the acknowledgements, “We are grateful to Ukrainians who are fighting to stop the war so that we can safely finish the revision of this article.”

Some scholars, like Ivan Patrilyak, dean of the history department at Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, have enlisted. Eighteen See “Ukrainian,” A11

Opinion BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Tax financing a bankrupt state

The joy of discovering wrong Siegfred Bueno Mison, Esq.

THE PATRIOT

Joel L. Tan-Torres

DEBIT CREDIT Ninth part

T

O minimize the irritants and problems that perenially arise in Bureau of Internal Revenue-taxpayer tax audit related engagements, institutional or structural solutions should be instituted by the BIR and other government agencies, with the assistance of taxpayers, advocacy groups, and tax professionals.

The BIR has long been exercising this coercive tax audit function.

The problems attendant to this have also long been in existence. Though there have been improvements on the part of the BIR in terms of its performance in recent perception surveys on curbing corruption and irregularilites in its operations, including in the tax audit process, these problems continue to persist.

The key to instituting reform in these situations is to enhance the governance in the system. These include promoting transparency and accountability; limiting BIR and taxpayer discretion and intervention in tax audit related matters; and strengthening the oversight and monitoring activities.

A structural reform that can be instituted towards this outcome is the adoption of innovative digital measures. This includes an automated audit selection system. With a data-driven and risk based audit selection process in place, the determination of the taxpayers to be audited will be based more on the potential for increasing tax revenues and pinpointing tax issues, rather than discretionary judgement by the BIR official tasked to oversee the tax audit system.

Equally important is implementing an effective monitoring of the tax audit processes and engagements, such as the electronic Letter of Authority monitoring system.

When I was the BIR Commissioner in 2010, I instituted an electronic monitoring and administration of the Letter of Authority processes.

In Revenue Memorandum Order No 44-201 and 62-2010, the first digital system on Electronic Letter of Authority Monitoring system (e-LAMS) was adopted. This was intended to automate the issuance of the LOAs and to secure the integrity and credibility of the BIR tax audit process.

To date, this e-LAMS continue to be operationalized by the BIR. I note, however, that after more than 12 years in use, the e-LAMS should be upgraded to include other functionalities, such as more data driven decision making and even the use of artificial intelligence in the pinpiointing of audit issues to be investigated and assessment of examination results. Presently, there have not been so much applications

A structural reform that can be instituted towards this outcome is the adoption of innovative digital measures. This includes an automated audit selection system. With a data-driven and risk based audit selection process in place, the determination of the taxpayers to be audited will be based more on the potential for increasing tax revenues and pinpointing tax issues, rather than discretionary judgement by the BIR official tasked to oversee the tax audit system.

Ukrainian . . .

“Each of these families has its own terrible story of war,” he wrote in an e-mail. “And everyone, like me, dreams of our victory and coming back home.”

He said the Russian forces “are doing everything they can to impose their propaganda.”

Vlaschenko, the Kharkiv zoologist, wanted to protect 20 bats in his care from the shelling, so he carried them to his home, a walk of about an hour. It also helped to preserve his valuable research, which couldn’t be easily replaced, even if buildings and labs can be rebuilt after the war.

“All the people who decided to stay in Kharkiv agreed to play this dangerous and potentially deadly lottery,” he said, “because you never know in what areas a new rocket or new shell would hit.”

As he scrambles to record data and safeguard his rare samples, he sees it as part of his mission—“not only for us, but also for science in general.”

continued from A10

months ago, he was hosting a speaker series on the legacy of World War II and lecturing about the Holocaust.

Now, he’s with a territorial defense unit in Kyiv.

Igor Lyman, a historian at the State Pedagogical University in Berdyansk, had to flee when Russian forces occupied the port city early in the war. Before leaving, he had seen the troops break into dormitories to interrogate students and order administrators to teach in Russian, rather than Ukrainian, and use a Moscow-approved curriculum. He said the directors “refused and resigned.”

He later settled in a camp for internally displaced persons at Chernivtsi National University, living in a dormitory with academics from Kyiv, Kharkiv, Chernihiv, Kherson and other cities.

Monday, May 9, 2022 A11

put in place to enhance the post audit monitoring and assessment process.

This phase is important in the tax audit cycle to ensure that an adequate tax audit has been carried out that brings in the commensurate tax audit revenues; tax loopholes are identified and plugged; data are compiled for preparation of future risk based and data driven audit selection criteria; the recommendations for tax assessments are reasonable and reduce cases of arbitrary or frivolous findings; and be the basis for the performance evaluation of BIR officials and examiniers involved in the process.

These recommendations are doable. There are available best practices in digital technology and tax audit practices that can provide inputs for the BIR to effect these much needed innovative digital solutions to its tax audit system. With these immediately put into place, the BIR can alleviate the precarious situation of a bankrupt state requiring tax financing.

To be continued.

Joel L. Tan-Torres is the 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.

This column accepts articles from the business and academic community for consideration for publication. Articles not exceeding 600 words can be e-mailed to jltantorres@up.edu.ph.

I

nspirational leader Andy Stanley once said: “Difference is inevitable. Division is a choice.” In his book, “Not In It To Win It,” Stanley explained how tension is created not by difference in opinions but by allowing these innate differences to divide and polarize society. Each word can be taken negatively to the point that there is no middle ground or room for healthy conversations. Apparently, there is a breakdown in communication among the people who are supposed to look out for each other.

Interestingly, fear plays a definitive role in the equation. It happens to be the root of all division as everyone is afraid of losing. Hitler employed it by forcing his Nazi opinions, just as much as Mandela did that by fighting for his values. Rightly or wrongly, fear has been the best weapon to get people on one’s side.

Long have we observed that some leaders can genuinely lead from the middle without having to combat an “enemy.” Others need to “create” an enemy to lead, generating a straightforward battle of “right versus wrong” or “good against evil.” Of late, polarization has gotten worse due to the open space in social media where opinions are sometimes taken as truths.

Said fact has taken a foothold in an endeavor as running for an elective office. It can often require taking sides and recruit as many allies and supporters by attacking the opponent. Leading up to this election, experts and “wannabee” experts have aired their opinions as to what will happen if the other side wins. Save for a few, these peddlers of information and opinions, wittingly or unwittingly, use fear that lead to a fragmented society.

Differences in opinions ultimately come out due to differences in perspectives and values.

In the 2022 national elections, opinions and subsequent endorsements coming from the “idealists”, mostly those from the academe and people of faith, will necessarily differ from the “pragmatics,” primarily those who are exposed to real world challenges of business and politics.

Lenses of these groups are just dif-

ferent, but not automatically wrong.

Undeniably, there is joy in finding out whether an opinion or a belief is wrong. The pleasure comes as spawn of a process, and not on account of one’s selfish gratification in the discovery. But one can only find out if they are open to challenge and discourse to explain their beliefs, precisely entailing the need for opening one’s ears to other people’s opinions. Indeed, listening is a choice inasmuch as it is a virtue. Admittedly, differences are inevitable, yet when divergent perspectives are founded on common values, then “team unity” founded on “radical love” can be a reality in this country (pun intended).

Applying these truths to our right to vote, we can readily ascertain that our own lenses will drive voting choices. We all have voted quite a few times and for various reasons. Some have actively campaigned for candidates and lived through the consequences. Risk or reward, I have seen supporters become “beneficiaries” as the spoils of victory are abundant for those who took a stand. Celebrities and business owners who took sides in the 2022 campaign, openly or privately, for free or for a fee, have taken risks.

But for religious leaders who openly endorsed a candidate over the other have tread on dangerous grounds.

Perhaps in desperation, certain priests have brought politics inside the place of worship. A politicized church can have dire consequences since religious authorities can undermine their influence in the end.

To promote a specific candidate is just as bad as demonizing another.

I rather see these men and women of faith to lead from the middle and simply share the values that Jesus Christ taught us while here on earth.

Telling the congregation that one is so wrong is different from inspiring them to see what is right. To convince others towards a certain choice can easily backfire, especially when the fear-creating content and the methods are outright confrontational.

I believe that no one can compel others to vote against his or her conscience. Even God gave free will to Adam and Eve. Believers are given free will since the time of the first man and woman. Adam made a choice out of an opinion, sadly coming from a wrong source of information. Adam was duped into “trying out” the forbidden fruit due to the first ever masterful propagandist.

We, being God’s creation, lived and are living out the consequences of Adam’s wrong choice. All human beings are sinful in nature as a result of one Adam who exercised free will the wrong way. The Bible, in Galatians 5:13, tells us, “You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge in the flesh, rather, serve one another in love.” Fortunately, Jesus Christ made a choice of submitting to God’s divine sovereignty. His death and resurrection may not be His choice, but definitely it is God’s will. This simply teaches us to direct our free will to God’s sovereignty, knowing that His plans, not ours, are always perfect.

These elections have cultivated a lot of opportunities for the exercise of one’s freedom to choose.

Taking a notch higher, more and more people have been inclined to echo their choices on others, short of imposing on them their preferences. I echo the words of Miss Universe 2018 Catriona Gray when she declared: “We need to remember that the government has the power to change our lives but we have the power to change the government”.

During my self-initiated house-tohouse campaigning, I too want to have that change in government by changing the opinion of others.

I, however, realized that change in the opinions of others cannot come from me but only through God. Free will is assured not only under the law of the land but also in the Law of the Lord. The people’s desire to

change government is still subject to God’s will.

Gone are the glory days of GUNS, GOONS, and GOLD in influencing voter’s choices, I guess. These days, information has replaced these “coercive” weapons. As we cast our vote today and, in the future, the best and most accurate information we can rely on is found in the Holy Book.

Our Almighty God never endorses a specific candidate, but He surely endorses the values of one who is in Christ. From a believer’s perspective, one who is in Christ is one who bears the fruits of the Holy Spirit – “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self control” (Galatians 5:22-23). In a matter of days, Filipinos will have a new set of leaders. I urge my fellow believers to accept and respect the voice of the majority. Whoever wins the elections—his or her authority is established by God, as set forth in Romans 3:1, thus: “Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.” Post elections, to pursue opposition and enmity therefore would be to foster division. Remember, division is a choice. For those who actively campaigned for the winning candidates, best to be gentle and magnanimous in victory, in keeping with what Apostle Paul implored us to do in Galatians 5:25-26, “Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.” Much as we can be tempted to mockingly refer to the non-winners as “talunan,” know that boasting or bragging is never an act that Jesus or any of His followers would do.

Politics is too low and shallow a thing to divide us.

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.

South Korea’s next leader faces escalating North Korean nuke threat

S

By Hyung-Jin Kim & Kim Tong-Hyung | The Associated Press

EOUL, South Korea—During his election campaign, South Korean President-elect Yoon Suk Yeol had tough words for North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, saying he would teach his rival some manners and sternly deal with his provocative missile tests with a strengthened alliance with the United States.

But as he takes office Tuesday for a single five-year term, the conservative Yoon must now confront an increasingly belligerent Kim, who openly threatens to use atomic bombs and is reportedly preparing for his first nuclear test explosion since 2017, part of an effort to build warheads that specifically target South Korea.

North Korea has a history of trying to rattle new governments in Seoul and Washington to gain leverage in future negotiations. But if Kim orders a nuclear test, Yoon would be left with very limited options to deal with Kim at the start of his presidency.

There’s skepticism among experts over whether Yoon, despite his rhetoric, can accomplish something meaningfully different from outgoing President Moon Jae-in while North Korea continues to reject talks and focuses instead on expanding its nuclear and missile programs despite limited resources and economic difficulties.

“North Korea has the initiative. Regardless of whether conservatives or liberals are in power in South Korea, North Korea is pressing ahead with [missile tests] under its own weapons development timetable before it tries to tip the balance later,” said Park Won Gon, a professor at Seoul’s Ewha Womans University. “North Korea will now continue its provocations, but there are no ways to stop it.”

Moon championed engaging North

Korea and once shuttled between Pyongyang and Washington to arrange the now-stalled nuclear diplomacy.

Even after North Korea urged Moon not to meddle in its dealings with Washington and insulted him, Moon still worked to improve relations and shied away from hitting back at the North.

Yoon has described Moon’s appeasement policy as “subservient” and accused him of undermining South Korea’s seven-decade military alliance with the United States. To neutralize North Korea’s nuclear threats, Yoon said he would seek a stronger US security commitment and enhance South Korea’s own missile strike capabilities, though he remains open to dialogue with the North.

During a rally before the March 9 election, as he slammed Moon for failing to strongly criticize Kim’s repeated missile tests, Yoon said that if elected, “I would teach [Kim] some manners and make him come to his senses completely.”

Yoon has faced criticism that some of his policies are unrealistic and largely rehash past policies that failed to persuade North Korea to denuclearize.

For example, Yoon said he would push for economic cooperation projects linked to progress in denuclearization steps by the North. Two past South Korean conservative presidents offered similar proposals from 2008 to 2017, but North Korea rejected the overtures.

Yoon said he would seek to establish a trilateral dialogue channel among Seoul, Pyongyang and Washington, but experts see little chance North Korea, which destroyed an unoccupied South Korean-built liaison office on its territory in 2020, will accept that idea now.

“The US-South Korea alliance could flourish, but North Korea’s nuclear weapons and missile program will further advance and that could elevate tensions on the Korean Peninsula to maximum levels. It’s hard to expect any meaningful progress in inter-Korean relations,” said Yang Moo Jin, a professor at Seoul’s University of North Korean Studies.

Nam Sung-wook, a professor at Korea University in South Korea, said a policy of linking incentives to denuclearization “has reached its limits and will eventually never appeal to North Korea” because Pyongyang is highly unlikely to abandon a nuclear program that has reached such strength.

During his confirmation hearing last Monday, Yoon’s nominee for foreign minister, Park Jin, told lawmakers that North Korea “appears to have no intentions of denuclearizing voluntarily.”

He said the best option to stop North Korean provocation would be using a combination of pressure and dialogue to convince Pyongyang to opt for a path toward denuclearization.

After test-launching a dozen missiles potentially capable of reaching the US mainland, South Korea or Japan this year, Kim recently said his nuclear weapons won’t be confined to their primary mission of deterring war if his country’s interests are threatened.

Park, the professor, called Kim’s comments “dangerous” because they suggest North Korea could use its nukes even in an accidental border clash or

if it misjudges Seoul’s military moves.

Recent satellite photos show North Korea is restoring a previously closed nuclear testing facility in possible preparation for its seventh atomic explosion.

Experts say that test is related to North Korea’s push to manufacture warheads small enough to be mounted on tactical short-range missiles targeting South Korea, citing some of the North’s recent tests of such weapons. Nam said a nuclear test would make it extremely difficult for the Yoon government to try to resume talks with North Korea.

Kim seems to be trying to use his weapon tests to force the West to accept his country as a nuclear power so he can try to negotiate sanctions relief and security concessions from a position of strength. Experts say Kim is able to push forward his weapons programs because the UN Security Council cannot impose new sanctions while its veto-wielding members are divided. The US is involved in confrontations with Russia over its invasion of Ukraine and with China over their strategic rivalry.

Yoon’s possible overdependence on the US alliance may cause Seoul to further lose voice in international efforts to defuse the North Korean nuclear issue while giving Pyongyang less reason to engage in serious talks with Seoul, said Lim Eul-chul, a professor at Kyungnam University’s Institute for Far Eastern Studies in Seoul. He said Seoul would need to create wiggle room for nuclear diplomacy and lure Pyongyang to talks with a flexible carrots-and-sticks approach.

How to boost the South Korea-US alliance to better deal with North Korean nuclear advancement will likely top the agenda when Yoon meets President Joe Biden in Seoul on May 21.

A12 Monday, May 9, 2022

SUPPORTERS of presidential candidate and incumbent Vice President Leni Robredo gather for her final campaign rally in Makati City on Saturday, May 7, 2022. About 67 million registered Filipino voters will pick a new president today, with Ferdinand Marcos Jr., son and namesake of the ousted dictator leading pre-election surveys, and Robredo, who leads the opposition, as his closest challenger. LENI MEDIA BUREAU VIA AP

‘PHL economy can hit ’19 growth this year’

T

By Cai U. Ordinario

@caiordinario

HE Philippine economy can still return to its prepandemic growth this year amid the fragile Covid-19 recovery and rising commodity prices, according to a fearless forecast by the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda).

Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Kendrick T. Chua said in a recent forum in New York that the economy continues to heal from the impact of the lockdowns imposed to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

Chua said growth is possible because of the progress in achieving the zero-to-10-point socioeconomic agenda which also provided the Philippines with strong foundations to better address the challenges of the pandemic.

“Without a doubt, the pandemic and its adverse economic impacts are indeed testing the Philippine economy like never before. But unlike past crises, the Philippines has solid fundamentals to address this crisis,” Chua said.

“It is very important at the outset to have a strong macroeconomy so that you have enough buffers and enough resources to withstand any shocks, and you can concentrate on improving the welfare of the people,” he added.

Chua explained that the zero to 10 socioeconomic agenda paved the way for the country to achieve its target of lifting 6 million Filipinos out of poverty in 2018, four years ahead of schedule.

See “PHL economy,” A2

UniTeam claims record 1-M crowd at BBM-Sara 3rd miting de avance P

RESIDENTI AL frontrunner Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr. and his running mate Inday Sara Duterte capped the official campaign period with a miting de avance attended by what they estimated to be over 1 million supporters at the Solaire open grounds in Parañaque City on Saturday.

The duo’s campaign, which kicked off last February 8, 2022,

ended on a high note as the miting de avance, the UniTeam said, demolished all previous crowd estimates in the 90-day campaign period.

Marcos, number 7 in the Comelec official ballot and forecasted as runaway winner in all major surveys, thanked supporters in their third and last miting de avance.

Earlier, the BBM-Sara UniTeam also held miting de avance in Visayas (May 3 in Guimbal, Iloilo)

and in Mindanao (May 5 in Tagum, Davao del Sur).

Marcos said the miting de avance in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao were to thank millions of their supporters who never left them in the 90-day campaign period.

The star-studded event in Parañaque on Saturday edged out the grand rally in Cebu they held last April.

See “UniTeam,” A2

VP Leni’s vow as Makati turns pink: Freedom from your yoke

By Rene Acosta

V

@reneacostaBM

ICE President Leni Robredo capped her campaign for the presidency in a “miting de avance” in Makati City on Saturday night which drew hundreds of thousands of supporters (organizers’ estimate: 780,000) with her ultimate campaign speech revolving around the messages of faith, love and hope for and among Filipinos and

a future for the country.

The grand rally held on the last day of the campaign for today’s presidential elections turned the stretches of Makati Avenue and Aya la Avenue in Makati City into a joint sea of humanity and made the financial district temporarily glow in her pink campaign color.

Organizers and members of the Robredo campaign team said the attendance was much bigger than

the crowds in tens of thousands that showed up in her day-long penultimate grand rallies in Sorsogon, Albay and in her home province of Camarines Sur on Friday.

The presidential candidate began her 12-minute speech by recalling the sacrifices of her supporters who walked and borrowed money from friends and acquaintances just to attend her rallies and other gatherings.

See “VP Leni’s,” A2

Companies

Editor: Jennifer A. Ng

Monday, May 9, 2022

B1

Pilipinas Shell plans to build import terminal in Visayas

P

By Lenie Lectura

@llectura

ilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp.

(PSPC) announced plans to build another import terminal after it recently broke ground on its fourth facility in Mindanao.

During an online briefing after the company’s stockholders’ meeting last week, PSPC President Lorelie Quiambao-Osial hinted that the fifth import terminal would be built in the Visayas area.

“To be more competitive, we need to be in one major island outside of Luzon and Mindanao,” said Osial.

The oil company is currently constructing its fourth import terminal in Darong, Southern Mindanao. The 67-million-liter capacity import facility is expected to be operational by the third quarter of 2024.

The other three are the Shell Import Facility Tabangao (SHIFT) in Batangas with a 263-millionliter capacity; the North Mindanao

Import Facility (NMIF) in Cagayan de Oro City with a 90-million-liter capacity; and the Subic Import Terminal, northwest of the National Capital Region, with a 54-millionliter capacity.

“We are building import terminals for us to be more competitive in the market that we are playing in.

In the fuels [business], the bigger the vessel that you can import, the more competitive the prices will be,” said PSPC Vice President for Supply and Distribution Kit Arvin Bermudez.

The Darong import facility is a 50-50 joint venture owned by Northern Star Energy Corp. and the DMCI Construction and Equipment Resources Inc.

With the Darong import facility, PSPC has plans to establish more than 80 new Shell Mobility sites in Southern Mindanao by 2025. The Shell sites are designed to enhance customer experience, offer both fuel and non-fuel products, enable more forms of transportation, and lower carbon footprint through innovation.

“The Darong Import Facility will allow us to fulfill our commitment to support economic activities as the Philippines continues to recover from COVID-19. It strengthens our capacity to continue to deliver quality fuels to our customers, consistent with our organization growth plans,” said PSPC Vice President for Corporate Relations Serge Bernal.

Osial said PSPC would have five import terminals by 2025.

The oil firm will retain its yearly capital expenditure (capex) spending at P3 to P4 billion annually. Of the amount, 60 percent will be dedicated to the expansion of mobility footprint, and the remaining 40 percent will be utilized to further beef up its supply chain network.

“We are keeping in line with our 5-year strategy of spending P3 to P4

billion of capex program, but we are rearranging some of our priorities in terms of where to spend and where to invest. We are shifting to more company owned sites than dealer owned sites,” said PSPC Chief Finance Officer Rey Reynaldo Abilo.

Out of 43 new stations, Abilo said majority of these are companyowned sites. “In terms of yield and profitability, this yields higher profits to the company becauce of the full mobility offer it brings to the customers.”

Randolph del Valle, PSPC vice president for mobility, said around 40 to 60 mobility stations will be constructed this year. “We are building more company-owned sites, bigger footprint to ensure that we have the compete offer. We are not just a fuel station, but we are a mobility destination to offer various items beyond fuels.”

In 2021, PSPC reported a net income of P3.9 billion, a reversal of the previous year’s P16.18-billion loss. “In 2021, which was a very remarkable year, we took concrete steps towards recovery and growth in line with our reset and refocused strategy,” said Osial.

RRHI income rises on strong sales R

obinsons Retail Holdings Inc. (RRHI) said its attributable income in the first quarter rose 25 percent to P1.18 billion from the previous year’s P945 million, as many of its segments performed well.

Sales rose more than 10 percent to P39.42 billion from the previous P35.61 billion, as the company said it benefited from its diversified formats amid the imposition of varying quarantine restrictions.

Robinsons Retail said the company saw strong performance from essentials and double-digit sales growth in non-discretionary formats, while e-commerce sales “re-

mained to be in a growth pattern” as it doubled compared to last year and contributed 4 percent of total sales.

“The strong first quarter performance validates our optimism entering 2022. We saw upbeat performance across our formats in the first quarter of 2022 as consumers regained greater mobility to visit stores and grew even more accustomed to online shopping,” Robina Gokongwei Pe, the company’s president and CEO, said.

“For the rest of the year, we are hopeful that the re-opening story we have been waiting for will be more apparent, with the resumption of face-to-face classes and re-

turn of more employees to on-site work arrangement. We also anticipate the presidential elections to boost spending. While rising inflation could lead to down trading, we expect this to be offset by pent-up demand with consumers being more inclined to spend as the economy opens up.”

The company said its same store sales growth was at 4.9 percent for the period. Drugstore, department store and specialty store segments delivered double-digit growth, given increased economic activity resulting from eased restrictions starting February.

RRHI’s attributable net income

last year rose 39 percent to P4.47 billion from the previous P3.21 billion, despite flat sales.

Revenues came in flat at P153.32 billion from the previous P151.07 billion. For the fourth quarter alone, when it made more than its income in 2021, the company’s profits doubled to P1.76 billion from the previous year’s P825 million. Revenues, meanwhile, grew 7 percent to P44.4 billion from the previous P41.49 billion. Same store sales growth was at 2.3 percent, mainly due to the strong performance of the drugstore, department store, convenience store and specialty store segments. VG Cabuag

Eternal Gardens honors top sales producers for 2021

A

fter two long years, Eternal Gardens once again recognized its top sales producers during its Grand Annual Awards Night for 2021 last April 28 at the Citystate Tower Hotel in Ermita, Manila. The event, which was entitled Our Heroes and Legends, was also broadcasted via Zoom to the sales associates who were not able to join the awarding ceremony.

In his keynote speech, Guest of Honor and Dagupan City Mayor Marc Brian C. Lim praised the top sales producers of Eternal Gardens, saying that “all of you are deserving of the awards that you will be receiving tonight. I am truly honored and privileged to be part of tonight’s occasion.”

Lim began his message by sharing the story of how he met Eternal Gardens founder, Ambassador Antonio L. Cabangon Chua, years ago when his father, the late former Dagupan City Mayor Benjamin S. Lim, asked him to join them for a private lunch. “If you want to talk about legends and heroes, Amba is a legend and hero. We are all here today because of what he has built through the years. And the next legends and heroes are the siblings who will take this business further,” he said, adding that “all of us here tonight are also heroes in our own right.

Despite the difficult circumstances that we have encountered in the last two years because of the pandemic, we still hit our sales target.”

For his part, Eternal Gardens

Dagupan City Mayor Marc Brian C. Lim (third from left) receives the glass-encased image of The Transfiguration of Jesus Christ from Eternal Gardens Chairman and CEO D. Edgard A. Cabangon (second from left) as a token of appreciation for gracing the Grand Annual Awards Night of Eternal Gardens.

With them are (from left) Numeriano B. Rodrin, President and COO; Benjamin V. Ramos, Vice Chairman; Jose Antonio V. Rivera, Vice President for Sales & Marketing; and Marvin C. Timbol, Vice President for Finance. PHOTO BY RUDY ESPERAS

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer D. Edgard A. Cabangon extended his heartfelt thanks and congratulations to all the outstanding sales associates.

“Nagpapasalamat kami sa inyo dahil sa inyong pagmamalasakit, commitment, at dedication sa ating kumpanya. Paulit-ulit kong sinasabi na dahil sa inyo, nandito kami, at patuloy na magpupursigi na i-develop pa ang Eternal Gardens,” he said. Cabangon also thanked Mayor Lim for gracing the event despite his busy schedule because of the campaign. He is currently running for reelection. “We are very grateful at may bisita tayo, si Mayor Brian Lim, na itinuturing

na nating pamilya,” Cabangon said.

Other Eternal Gardens executives were also present to welcome the awardees, namely Vice Chairman Benjamin V. Ramos, President and Chief Operating Officer Numeriano B. Rodrin, Vice President for Sales & Marketing Jose Antonio V. Rivera, and Vice President for Finance Marvin C. Timbol.

The 2021 Awardees were led by Saturnina G. Alcantara, first place, General Agency Manager category; Helen S. Constan, first place, Regular Unit Manager category; Ric G. Barte, first place, Regular Sales Counselor category; Maria Cecilia M. Romas-

anta, first place, League Manager category, and Rachelle Anne M. Aguilar, first place, Sales Counselor category.

As part of their incentives, the qualified sales associates were treated to an all-expenses paid trip to Puerto Princesa, Palawan.

Founded by Ambassador Cabangon Chua in 1976, Eternal Gardens currently operates a total of 11 memorial parks found in key cities around the country including Caloocan City (in Baesa); the Cities of Dagupan, Biñan and Batangas, in two barangays (Balagtas and Concepcion); and the Cities of Lipa, Naga, Cabanatuan, Santa Rosa, Cagayan de Oro, and Cabuyao.

‘Opportunities abound in PHL property market’

T

he official and residential sectors are expected to perform well this year and will offer promising opportunities for real estate professionals.

The sanguine outlook could be attributed to the spike in commercial property inquiries and market deals, as well as a surge in the number of condominiums completed last year.

According to Maricris S. Joson, director of client services at Colliers, office transactions grew by 18 percent to 134,000 square meters in the fourth quarter of 2021 from 69,000 sq m in the previous quarter.

Overall existing supply stands at 2 million sq m of which 1 million are registered under the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (Peza).

“What’s driving the office sector is still BPO [business process outsourcing sector]. Most BPOs still prefer to be in Peza buildings,” she said.

New supply in Metro Manila is seen hitting 900,000 sq m in 2022.

Most of these completions will come from Ortigas, where new infrastructure and green buildings rise amid the pandemic, not to mention more ongoing constructions that will result to appreciation of property values in the coming months.

Because the office segment is a tenant-leaning market, Joson said it is timely to consolidate offices or relocate. This opens a chance for brokers to beef up marketing initiatives on office listings, capturing businesses that require a new commercial space for expanded or downsized operations.

In terms of the housing sector, the property consultancy firm found out that condominium completions went up by 159 percent last year despite significant delays in construction in 2020 due to lockdown

restrictions.

Among real estate hotspots in Metro Manila, Bay Area is the one to watch out for as it has a supply of 30,000 condo units, per Colliers Associate Director Joey Bondoc. “[It] has overtaken Makati CBD [central business district] in terms of its share of the total condominium supply in the capital region,” he said, while noting that the total inventory in the country’s financial capital is 28,500 only.

Aside from the Bay Area, Fort Bonifacio has dominated the new completions in the metropolis. Both CBDs will cover 70 percent of new projects set to kick off this year, Colliers projected.

Other factors boosting the residential property demand include the heightened vaccination rates, strong interest in horizontal projects, and the 2022 remittance growth target of 4 percent, Bondoc added.

To seize the ready market, Lamudi Chief Executive Officer Kenneth Stern reminded practitioners who attended its recent networking event about the importance of a supportive community. He said: “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”

Anurag Verma, director of broker classifieds and partnerships at Lamudi, also underscored the use of property technology or “proptech” like their portal in seeing success in the brokerage industry. “[Lamudi] attracts more than two million potential property seekers every month. That generates about 10 percent conversion into inquiries,” he noted, emphasizing that consistent online visibility and networking enable brokers to capture property seekers with unique needs and preferences. Roderick L. Abad

B2

Companies BusinessMirror

Monday, May 9, 2022

Sogo wants to open hotels in key cities in PHL–exec

By Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo

A

@akosistellaBM Special to the BusinessMirror

SOGO in every city. That’s the ambitious aim of the hotel firm, as it continued to expand beyond Metro Manila, with the latest branch opening in Davao.

Hotel Sogo’s marketing manager Sue Geminiano told the BusinessMirror, “The business direction is to expand not only towards the south, but actually to almost all key cities in the country.”

At Wednesday’s BM Coffee Club, which tackled the topic of Revenge Travel, she also said, “Hotel Sogo has really been fearless even during the pandemic. We were able to expand in 2021 even if it’s pandemic, we added four branches, and we are expanding more, even in 2022. We are putting up a Hotel Sogo in dif-

ferent provinces.”

Aside from the newest branch in Davao, the three other branches opened last year were along Timog Ave., Edsa-Taft, and Fairview. This brings the hotel firm’s total branches to 45, many of which had catered to hospital frontliners at the beginning of the pandemic, and as quarantine facilities for returning overseas Filipino workers.

“We plan to have at least 5 branches per year. Our target for expansion is like 7-11,” she said, by way of comparison. “I believe Sogo

STOCK-MARKET OUTLOOK Last week

Share prices made small gains last week, but volumes were low as overseas markets tumbled after the US Federal Reserve raised its interest rates by 50 basis points.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index gained 28.65 points to close at 6,759.90 points.

It was a four-day trading week after Malacañang declared May 3 as a holiday in observance of Eid’l Fitr or the Feast of Ramadhan.

Volume of trade was thin at an average of just P5.04 billion as against the year-to-date average of P6.64 billion, with Monday just getting P2.85 billion worth of trades as many decided to take an extended day off. Foreign investors accounted for 46 percent of the trades and were net sellers at P3.63 billion.

All other sub-indices managed to post gains, with the exception of the Holding Firms index, which fell 69.91 points to close at 6,271.66 points.

The broader All Shares index gained 16.56 to 3,621.70, the Financials index was up 4.46 to 1,612.31, the Industrial index rose 154.66 to 9,336.09, the Property index added 16.69 to 3,072.82, the Services index climbed 34.79 to 1,916.91 and the Mining and Oil index increased 82.66 to 11,607.42.

For the week, losers edged gainers 111 to 105 and 31 shares were unchanged.

Top gainers were Philweb Corp., PH Resorts Group Holdings Inc., Araneta Properties Inc., Prime Media Holdings Inc., iPeople Inc., Roxas Holdings Inc. and Boulevard Holdings Inc. Top losers were City and Land Developers Inc., ACE Enexor Inc., Mabuhay Holdings Corp., Medco Holdings Inc., Paxys Inc., United Paragon Mining Corp. and Easycall Communications Philippines Inc.

This week

Trading may remain volatile this week as investors digest the US Fed’s rate hike, which may push other central banks to follow its lead, including the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas that which could raise its rates as early as this month.

It will be another four-day work week as Monday is Election Day and was declared as a holiday by the government.

“Power shifts tend to cause jitters in lieu of policy uncertainties and unwinding of execution risk, but also tend to benefit equity-holders in the medium term, owing to higher consumer spend and aggressive policy rollouts,” broker 2TradeAsia said.

This year’s election, the broker said, is different from the past as there may be more pent-up anxiety tied to fundamentals.

The new leaders of the country will face either the tail-end of the pandemic or another infection surge as seen in other wealthy countries, an inflationary global climate due to the war in Ukraine and a rate-sensitive investment community, it said.

Immediate support for the main index is seen at between 6,500 to 6,700 points and resistance at 7,000 points.

Stock picks

Broker Regina Capital and Development Corp. advised to trade the range on the stock of Aboitiz Equity Ventures Inc. (AEV) after its share price cooled down after last week’s rally.

“Directional indicators are showing that buying pressure picked up after a two-week decline, coupled with increasing momentum and relatively decreasing selling pressure. So far, we see a solid consolidation base between its support at P50 and resistance at P54,” it said.

AEV shares closed last week at P50.50 apiece.

Meanwhile, it advised to sell on rallies on the stock of Globe Telecom Inc. as it outperformed the main index, snapping its three-day losing streak and closing with strong gains.

“Seemingly, it has formed a double bottom pattern between the P2,160 and P2,300 band, therefore suggesting a bullish trend reversal, at least in the near term,” the broker said, adding that it may be able to break its resistance level of P2,470.

Globe Telecom shares closed on Friday at P2,464 apiece. VG Cabuag

is the largest, fastest-growing hotel chain in the industry…. We are doing this because we want to open more job opportunities to our kababayan in other places in the Philippines.”

Despite the loss of the quarantine business this year, as government lifted pandemic restrictions for inbound travelers, the hotel firm remains optimistic about its income prospects for the year. While she declined to reveal actual figures, Geminiano said they are targetting to equal their 2019 bottomline this year: “Target income is not even pegged in comparison to 2020 or 2021; we are basing it on 2019 (prepandemic), and yes the plan still remains [firm] as well as the outlook.”

The hotel firm, whose tagline “So Clean, So Good,” went viral during the pandemic, is a unit of the Global Comfort Group Corp., which also owns Eurotel, ICON Hotel, and other real estate concerns. In 2018, it took over the management of the landmark Apo View Hotel in Davao.

Just three months after the country went into a pandemic lockdown in

2020, Hotel Sogo announced its “New Normal Playbook,” which introduced technology-driven innovations in their corporate uniforms, lobby layout, and installed foot-door openers, no-contact keys and toilet fixtures, along with UVC disinfection lights for rooms and other contact points.

It earned private praise even from Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo Puyat who shared with this reporter, “They are showing the way for the big hotels.”

For her part, Geminiano said, “We continue to research and develop equipment like these for some added features for the hotel, so everyone is so clean, so good, so safe.”

Other panelists at the Coffee Club forecast a turnaround in the tourism industry as Filipinos go on revenge travel, spending more even on higher airfare, room rates, and extra amenities in destinations. (See, “Revenge travelers are splurging like there’s no tomorrow,” in the BusinessMirror, May 4, 2022.)

mutual funds

May 6, 2022

NAV

One Year Three Year Five Year

per share Return*

Y-T-D Return

Stock Funds ALFM Growth Fund, Inc. -a

219.86

8.42%

-6.02%

-4.02%

-5.68%

ATRAM Alpha Opportunity Fund, Inc. -a

1.496

18.08%

-2.8%

-0.42%

-10.11%

9.44%

-9.68%

ATRAM Philippine Equity Opportunity Fund, Inc. -a 3.0525

-6.47%

-5.72%

-7.78% n.a.

-2.63%

First Metro Consumer Fund on MSCI Phils. IMI, Inc. -a 0.6899 3.37%

-7.77% n.a.

-10.51%

First Metro Save and Learn Equity Fund,Inc. -a

10.75%

-3.66%

-1.53%

-4.43%

0.7391

15.59%

-5.82%

-4.83%

-12.53% n.a.

-10.22%

Climbs Share Capital Equity Investment Fund Corp. -a 0.7366 2.68% 4.9532

First Metro Save and Learn Philippine Index Fund, Inc. -a MBG Equity Investment Fund, Inc. -a

84.78

-11.31%

PAMI Equity Index Fund, Inc. -a

45.2719

9.08%

-4.86%

-2.56%

Philam Strategic Growth Fund, Inc. -a

472.13

8.26%

-4.8%

-2.7%

-5.7%

Philequity Dividend Yield Fund, Inc. -a

1.3303

23.81%

0.09%

0.61%

-1.92%

Philequity Fund, Inc. -a

-1.3%

-5.03%

-5.93%

34.7532

11.04%

-3.82%

Philequity MSCI Philippine Index Fund, Inc. -a

0.8943

10.86%

-5.21% n.a.

Philequity PSE Index Fund Inc. -a

4.6868

10.2%

-4.17%

Philippine Stock Index Fund Corp. -a

780.42

9.74%

-4.25%

-1.94%

-5.8%

Soldivo Strategic Growth Fund, Inc. -a

0.7054

8.79%

-9.26%

-4.72%

-6.27%

Sun Life Prosperity Philippine Equity Fund, Inc. -a 3.5236

-1.87%

-5% -5.52%

9.03%

-6.91%

-3.22%

-6.67%

Sun Life Prosperity Philippine Stock Index Fund, Inc. -a

0.8888

9.43%

-4.55%

-2.19%

United Fund, Inc. -a

8.49%

-4.57%

-1%

-4.93%

3.2678

-5.64%

-5.9%

Primarily invested in Peso securities (units) Philequity Alpha One Fund, Inc. -a

1.1346

Philippine Stock Index Fund Corp. -a

951.99 n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a.

12.23% n.a. n.a.

-2.42%

Exchange Traded Fund (shares) First Metro Phil. Equity Exchange Traded Fund, Inc. -a,c 105.3271

10.38%

-3.97%

-1.5%

-5.52%

Primarily invested in foreign currency securities (shares) $0.9775

-21.74%

-1.77%

0.56%

-13.23%

Sun Life Prosperity World Voyager Fund, Inc. -a $1.5752

ATRAM AsiaPlus Equity Fund, Inc. -b

-9.74%

6.76%

6.85%

-14.69%

Balanced Funds Primarily invested in Peso securities (shares) ATRAM Dynamic Allocation Fund, Inc. -a

1.5842

-1.79%

-2.9%

-2.17%

-6.37%

ATRAM Philippine Balanced Fund, Inc. -a

2.1781

2.61%

-2.14%

-1.46%

-4.53%

5.83%

-0.63%

0.3%

-3.05%

First Metro Save and Learn Balanced Fund Inc. -a 2.6088

First Metro Save and Learn F.O.C.C.U.S. Dynamic Fund, Inc. -a 0.2022

9.53% n.a. n.a.

NCM Mutual Fund of the Phils., Inc. -a

4.27%

0.44%

1.9522

0.67%

PAMI Horizon Fund, Inc. -a

3.5932

3%

-0.89%

-0.61%

-4.57%

Philam Fund, Inc. -a

16.1068

2.95%

-1.16%

-0.68%

-4.39%

Solidaritas Fund, Inc. -a

2.0493

4.73%

-1.53%

-0.82%

-3.4%

Sun Life of Canada Prosperity Balanced Fund, Inc. -a 3.4724 4.77%

-3.59%

-1.44%

-4.79%

Sun Life Prosperity Dynamic Fund, Inc. -a

-2.78%

-0.93%

-4.75%

0.9089

11.48%

-3.25%

-3.2%

Primarily invested in Peso securities (units) Sun Life Prosperity Achiever Fund 2028, Inc. -a

0.933

-1.52%

-2.52% n.a.

-5.74%

Sun Life Prosperity Achiever Fund 2038, Inc. -a

0.881

4.05%

-4.39% n.a.

-6.72%

Sun Life Prosperity Achiever Fund 2048, Inc. -a

0.8706

5.06%

-4.71% n.a.

-6.78%

Primarily invested in foreign currency securities (shares) Cocolife Dollar Fund Builder, Inc. -a

$0.03387

-10.92%

-2.25%

-0.94%

$0.9659

-15.14%

-0.91%

0.33%

-9.48%

Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Advantage Fund, Inc. -a $4.1844 -10.03%

3.99%

4.51%

-12.86%

Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Wellspring Fund, Inc. -a,2 $1.0593 -10.55%

0.27%

1.21%

-11.62%

PAMI Asia Balanced Fund, Inc. -b

-10.73%

Bond Funds Primarily invested in Peso securities (shares) ALFM Peso Bond Fund, Inc. -a

373.25

0.62%

2.36%

2.4%

-0.28%

ATRAM Corporate Bond Fund, Inc. -a

1.8904

-1.13%

0.07%

0.26%

0.3%

3.241

0.56%

2.35%

3.53%

-0.09%

2.2049

Cocolife Fixed Income Fund, Inc. -a

-2.33%

0.66%

1.08%

-2.07%

First Metro Save and Learn Fixed Income Fund,Inc. -a 2.4153 -0.65%

Ekklesia Mutual Fund Inc. -a

2.15%

1.74%

-0.44%

Philam Bond Fund, Inc. -a

4.2604

-4.65%

1.71%

1.07%

-3.08%

Philam Managed Income Fund, Inc. -a

1.3165

-0.31%

3.17%

2.79%

-0.2%

Philequity Peso Bond Fund, Inc. -a

3.9245

-0.85%

2.82%

2.48%

-1.04%

Soldivo Bond Fund, Inc. -a

1.0125

-1.36%

3.23%

1.89%

-1.53%

Sun Life of Canada Prosperity Bond Fund, Inc. -a 3.1531

-0.97%

2.91%

2.91%

-1.08%

Sun Life Prosperity GS Fund, Inc. -a

-1.72%

2.09%

2.2%

-1.37%

1.7069

Primarily invested in foreign currency securities (shares) ALFM Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. -a

$482.09

-0.35%

1.96%

1.95%

-1.53%

ALFM Euro Bond Fund, Inc. -a

Є213.79

-2.7%

-0.35%

0.28%

-2.83%

ATRAM Total Return Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. -b $1.0692

-8.92%

-11.19%

-2.92%

-0.89%

First Metro Save and Learn Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. -a $0.0246 -5.02%

-0.93%

-0.24%

-5.38%

PAMI Global Bond Fund, Inc -b

-5.19%

-3.24%

-11.34% -10.05%

Philam Dollar Bond Fund, Inc. -a

$0.9068

-13.74%

$2.2539

-9.21%

-0.2%

0.42%

$0.0609693

-2.79%

1.65%

1.35%

-2.12%

Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Abundance Fund, Inc. -a $2.793 -11.04%

-2.09%

-1.18%

-12.61%

Philequity Dollar Income Fund Inc. -a

Money Market Funds Primarily invested in Peso securities (shares) ALFM Money Market Fund, Inc. -a

131.7

1.31%

2.39%

2.53%

First Metro Save and Learn Money Market Fund, Inc. -a

1.0618

1.04%

1.69% n.a.

0.39%

Sun Life Prosperity Peso Starter Fund, Inc. -a,1 1.3227

1.53%

2.28%

2.49%

0.39%

0.54%

Primarily invested in foreign currency securities (shares) Sun Life Prosperity Dollar Starter Fund, Inc. -a $1.0629

0.6%

1.23% n.a.

0.22%

Feeder Funds Primarily invested in Peso securities (units) ALFM Global Multi-Asset Income Fund Inc. -a

44.47 n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a.

Sun Life Prosperity World Equity Index Feeder Fund, Inc. -a 1.2416

2.37% n.a. n.a.

-10.22%

Primarily invested in foreign currency securities (units) ALFM Global Multi-Asset Income Fund Inc. -a

$0.8755

-11.57% n.a. n.a.

-9.74%

a - NAVPS as of the previous banking day. b - NAVPS as of two banking days ago. c - Listed in the PSE. d - in Net Asset Value per Unit (NAVPU).

1 - Renaming was approved by the SEC last July 8, 2021 (formerly, Sun Life Prosperity Money Market Fund, Inc.).

2 - Adjusted due to stock dividend issuance last November 25, 2021.

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

www.businessmirror.com.ph

PSE STOCK QUOTATIONS

May 6, 2022

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

ASIA UNITED BDO UNIBANK BANK COMMERCE BANK PH ISLANDS CHINABANK EAST WEST BANK METROBANK PHIL NATL BANK RCBC SECURITY BANK UNION BANK BRIGHT KINDLE COL FINANCIAL FILIPINO FUND NTL REINSURANCE PHIL STOCK EXCH SUN LIFE

66,325 395,689,946 2,185,570 158,274,462.50 9,714,190 2,477,827 124,500,897.50 1,777,360 146,550 29,302,239 6,051,836 20,170 58,290 3,901 19,840 878,990 23,650

5,334,923 1,200,000 -44,899,805 1,042,415 -1,290,998 -34,128,451 90,050.00 138,650 3,263,237 -1,953,172 -19,200 617,780 -

INDUSTRIAL AC ENERGY 7.58 7.6 7.5 7.75 7.43 7.6 7,084,600 53,824,216 ALSONS CONS 0.91 0.94 0.91 0.92 0.91 0.91 385,000 352,850 ABOITIZ POWER 32.5 32.55 32.4 32.7 31.8 32.5 2,829,600 91,845,850 BASIC ENERGY 0.36 0.365 0.38 0.38 0.36 0.365 1,600,000 588,150 FIRST GEN 23.3 23.5 23.85 23.85 23.15 23.5 112,700 2,655,785 FIRST PHIL HLDG 69.85 70 70.2 70.2 69.85 69.85 3,820 266,844.50 MERALCO 342 344 340 344.8 335.6 344 321,850 110,331,146 MANILA WATER 17.48 17.5 17.66 17.9 17.5 17.5 3,460,800 61,141,656 PETRON 3.41 3.44 3.49 3.49 3.39 3.4 494,000 1,689,420 PETROENERGY 5.05 5.1 5 5.09 5 5.09 244,000 1,231,822 PHX PETROLEUM 9.9 10.2 10.2 10.2 10.2 10.2 500 5,100 SYNERGY GRID 12.1 12.14 12.24 12.3 12.08 12.14 641,700 7,792,904 PILIPINAS SHELL 17.22 17.48 17.48 17.48 17.3 17.48 41,300 718,212 SPC POWER 13.94 13.98 13.96 13.98 13.88 13.98 167,900 2,341,982 SOLAR PH 1.51 1.54 1.49 1.54 1.46 1.54 58,676,000 88,490,330 AGRINURTURE 4.57 4.69 4.73 4.73 4.58 4.69 1,224,000 5,762,530 AXELUM 2.49 2.58 2.5 2.58 2.49 2.58 510,000 1,291,910 CNTRL AZUCARERA 11.52 12 12 12 12 12 400 4,800 CENTURY FOOD 21.75 22.35 22.75 22.75 21.7 21.75 1,248,400 27,546,280 DEL MONTE 14.22 14.3 14.2 14.28 14.2 14.28 15,800 224,880 DNL INDUS 7.29 7.3 7.28 7.31 7.2 7.3 576,400 4,199,114 EMPERADOR 20 20.05 19.98 20.7 19.9 20 2,862,400 57,363,342 SMC FOODANDBEV 59.9 60.45 59.9 60.5 59.05 60.45 123,810 7,439,008 FIGARO COFFEE 0.52 0.53 0.53 0.53 0.51 0.53 1,830,000 953,430 ALLIANCE SELECT 0.61 0.64 0.63 0.65 0.61 0.63 981,000 626,940 FRUITAS HLDG 1.02 1.03 1.02 1.05 1.01 1.03 928,000 953,090 GINEBRA 106 106.8 105 106.8 105 106.8 690 73,056 JOLLIBEE 217.4 220 222.8 222.8 217 217.4 343,670 75,131,912 KEEPERS HLDG 1.21 1.22 1.21 1.22 1.2 1.22 595,000 722,740 MAXS GROUP 6.1 6.12 6.15 6.15 6.1 6.12 27,300 167,130 MG HLDG 0.128 0.129 0.128 0.128 0.128 0.128 80,000 10,240 MONDE NISSIN 13.38 13.44 13.74 13.8 13.34 13.38 7,209,400 97,546,110 SHAKEYS PIZZA 7.82 8.28 7.8 8.3 7.77 8.3 852,700 6,989,707 ROXAS AND CO 0.5 0.51 0.51 0.52 0.5 0.51 304,000 154,790 RFM CORP 3.97 4.16 4.12 4.12 4 4 654,000 2,620,170 ROXAS HLDG 1.13 1.27 1.26 1.27 1.26 1.27 30,000 37,810 UNIV ROBINA 109 109.8 109 111 108.8 109 1,191,390 130,434,162 VITARICH 0.64 0.65 0.63 0.65 0.63 0.64 255,000 163,840 CEMEX HLDG 0.8 0.81 0.82 0.82 0.79 0.81 4,219,000 3,401,040 EAGLE CEMENT 12.1 12.2 12.2 12.2 12 12.2 31,200 377,084 EEI CORP 4.37 4.42 4.43 4.43 4.32 4.4 85,000 373,130 HOLCIM 5.23 5.25 5.24 5.25 5.16 5.25 20,600 107,729 MEGAWIDE 5.11 5.17 5.19 5.19 5.05 5.17 83,400 428,179 PHINMA 19.74 19.9 19.9 19.9 19.9 19.9 6,700 133,330 TKC METALS 0.74 0.79 0.75 0.75 0.74 0.74 52,000 38,530 VULCAN INDL 0.86 0.88 0.9 0.9 0.86 0.88 2,106,000 1,829,580 CROWN ASIA 1.75 1.82 1.82 1.82 1.82 1.82 1,000 1,820 PRYCE CORP 5.67 5.72 5.62 5.67 5.62 5.67 3,200 18,099 CONCEPCION 19.2 19.98 19.14 19.2 19.12 19.2 2,100 40,210 GREENERGY 1.49 1.5 1.51 1.54 1.48 1.51 18,963,000 28,611,030 INTEGRATED MICR 7.08 7.15 7.2 7.2 6.98 7.08 87,400 618,817 IONICS 0.67 0.69 0.68 0.68 0.68 0.68 17,000 11,560 PANASONIC 6.17 6.3 6.2 6.2 6.2 6.2 100 620 SFA SEMICON 1.11 1.14 1.15 1.15 1.14 1.14 34,000 39,080 CIRTEK HLDG 2.96 3 3 3.02 2.91 2.97 293,000 870,550

-2,435,937 -230,000 -25,990,355 -7,600 -39,020 55,880.00 -58,283,442 3,798,864.00 -130,010 -3,273,134 -5,242 582,770 -2,020,420 5,102,620 45,070 4,800 5,478,190 -508,087 -446,812 -4,329,684 25,700 -35,944,170 -12,100 -23,878,818 104,490 -995,770 9,550,794 -1,856,690 33,575 -13,930.00 26,050 8,666,810 35,660 -297,000

HOLDING & FRIMS

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

43.85 128 11.92 94.4 28 7.67 52.8 18.72 19.64 102.5 76.5 1.98 3.65 6.5 0.64 208 2,252

1.17 4.12 730 50.5 10.98 9 0.9 0.47 0.465 662 4.8 8.21 6.95 506 53.8 7 6.6 0.5 2.94 8.62 0.325 3.79 1.35 0.88 845.5 105 0.275

44.65 129.1 12.1 95 28.1 7.7 52.85 18.8 20.6 102.7 77.25 2.08 3.69 6.99 0.71 209 2,484

1.18 4.5 733.5 50.6 11 9.21 0.92 0.485 0.49 4.83 8.3 7.13 508 55 7.28 7.49 0.53 2.97 8.68 0.335 3.8 1.44 0.9 848 106.5 0.3

44.25 128 11.96 97 27.75 7.75 52.4 19 19.6 102.2 75.8 2.09 3.65 6.51 0.68 210 2,232

1.18 735 50.6 11.22 9.15 0.93 0.48 0.485 662 4.87 8.2 7.13 510 55.5 7.27 6.6 0.5 2.97 8.68 0.325 3.8 1.34 0.88 840 106.5 0.275

44.8 129.3 12 97 28 7.77 53.8 19 20.6 103.2 77.5 2.09 3.69 6.51 0.68 210 2,498

1.18 750 51.65 11.26 9.21 0.93 0.485 0.49 662 4.92 8.32 7.13 514 56.1 7.28 6.6 0.53 2.97 8.69 0.325 3.82 1.46 0.9 848 106.5 0.275

43.85 127 11.9 94.4 27.65 7.67 52.15 18.6 19.6 102.2 75.5 1.96 3.6 6.5 0.64 208 2,232

1.17 730 50.5 10.94 9.15 0.9 0.46 0.485 662 4.8 8.08 7.13 504 53.8 7.27 6.6 0.5 2.97 8.6 0.325 3.78 1.34 0.88 832 104.5 0.275

44.65 128 12 94.4 28 7.67 52.85 18.72 20.6 102.5 77.2 1.97 3.69 6.5 0.64 208 2,498

1.18 730 50.5 11 9.21 0.9 0.48 0.49 662 4.8 8.3 7.13 506 53.8 7.28 6.6 0.53 2.97 8.68 0.325 3.79 1.44 0.9 845.5 106.5 0.275

1,500 3,082,280 182,500 1,659,260 348,500 321,900 2,347,210 94,700 7,200 285,580 78,990 10,000 16,000 600 30,000 4,220 10

4,864,000 360,240 1,751,460 4,767,600 1,200 1,110,000 4,140,000 60,000 360 1,650,000 5,918,500 100 201,480 1,652,890 5,000 2,000 2,000 3,000 841,300 20,000 10,687,000 339,000 208,000 906,610 75,520 600,000

5,706,680 265,854,280 88,785,207.50 52,724,972 11,040 999,030 1,945,200 29,350 238,320 7,949,350 48,528,193 713 102,267,450 89,860,613 36,399 13,200 1,030 8,910 7,272,082 6,500 40,606,880 484,420 184,810 763,599,450 8,012,538 165,000

PROPERTY ARTHALAND CORP 0.55 0.58 0.56 0.57 0.56 0.57 14,000 7,960 AYALA LAND 32.5 32.7 32.45 32.9 32.1 32.5 13,005,200 421,691,545 AYALA LAND LOG 4.22 4.3 4.44 4.44 4.22 4.22 2,005,000 8,599,000 ARANETA PROP 1.24 1.3 1.27 1.33 1.21 1.3 635,000 811,760 AREIT RT 38.25 38.4 38.45 39.25 38.25 38.25 1,642,300 63,221,505 A BROWN 0.81 0.86 0.81 0.81 0.81 0.81 104,000 84,240 CROWN EQUITIES 0.092 0.093 0.091 0.093 0.091 0.092 140,000 12,850 CEB LANDMASTERS 2.72 2.73 2.72 2.75 2.72 2.72 282,000 769,080 CITICORE RT 2.54 2.55 2.54 2.56 2.52 2.54 2,234,000 5,667,500 DOUBLEDRAGON 7.96 8 8 8.1 7.91 7.96 93,700 752,287 DDMP RT 1.56 1.57 1.52 1.58 1.47 1.56 5,790,000 8,983,810 DM WENCESLAO 6.88 6.9 6.88 6.9 6.88 6.9 16,900 116,572 EMPIRE EAST 0.219 0.227 0.22 0.22 0.22 0.22 200,000 44,000 EVER GOTESCO 0.242 0.247 0.242 0.243 0.242 0.242 620,000 150,140 FILINVEST RT 7.31 7.32 7.31 7.32 7.28 7.31 1,066,400 7,787,682 FILINVEST LAND 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.04 1.02 1.02 658,000 677,030 GLOBAL ESTATE 0.9 0.91 0.9 0.9 0.9 0.9 397,000 357,300 8990 HLDG 13.3 13.4 13.32 13.52 13.1 13.4 204,700 2,715,446 GOLDEN MV 641 675 634.5 675 634.5 675 40 25,785 CITY AND LAND 0.78 0.8 0.78 0.79 0.78 0.79 27,000 21,260 MEGAWORLD 2.83 2.84 2.85 2.86 2.82 2.83 6,995,000 19,856,720 MRC ALLIED 0.213 0.214 0.219 0.219 0.212 0.214 4,130,000 885,410 MREIT RT 17.64 17.66 17.7 17.7 17.6 17.66 3,045,500 53,759,608 PHIL ESTATES 0.38 0.405 0.385 0.385 0.38 0.38 490,000 188,150 PRIMEX CORP 2.67 2.7 2.64 2.73 2.63 2.7 1,290,000 3,445,980 RL COMM RT 7.36 7.4 7.35 7.45 7.35 7.36 4,394,600 32,602,297 ROBINSONS LAND 19.4 19.5 19.92 20 19.22 19.5 4,994,000 97,984,062 PHIL REALTY 0.226 0.245 0.214 0.245 0.214 0.245 380,000 90,700 ROCKWELL 1.35 1.43 1.36 1.36 1.35 1.35 5,000 6,760 SHANG PROP 2.48 2.59 2.48 2.5 2.48 2.5 57,000 142,160 STA LUCIA LAND 2.8 2.91 2.78 2.92 2.78 2.92 55,000 153,560 SM PRIME HLDG 35.2 35.7 36.8 36.8 35.2 35.2 6,370,100 226,238,110 VISTA LAND 2.47 2.49 2.53 2.53 2.41 2.49 664,000 1,650,390

SERVICES ABS CBN 12.82 12.9 12.7 12.96 12.7 12.9 139,800 1,801,884 GMA NETWORK 12.58 12.7 12.78 12.78 12.48 12.7 1,220,100 15,352,220 GLOBE TELECOM 2,444 2,464 2,328 2,470 2,304 2,464 92,725 225,189,210 PLDT 1,890 1,895 1,890 1,939 1,881 1,890 142,285 271,897,280 APOLLO GLOBAL 0.041 0.042 0.042 0.042 0.041 0.042 98,000,000 4,056,800 CONVERGE 29.15 29.25 29.6 30.05 29.05 29.15 8,226,900 242,135,160 DFNN INC 3.11 3.26 3.18 3.3 3.04 3.26 1,043,000 3,329,230 DITO CME HLDG 4.99 5 4.89 5 4.76 5 4,218,000 20,702,260 JACKSTONES 1.63 1.69 1.69 1.69 1.69 1.69 1,000 1,690 NOW CORP 1.39 1.4 1.4 1.44 1.38 1.4 2,944,000 4,149,040 TRANSPACIFIC BR 0.305 0.31 0.315 0.315 0.305 0.31 1,000,000 309,600 2GO GROUP 7.05 7.1 7.3 7.3 6.81 7.05 35,700 249,662 ASIAN TERMINALS 13.6 13.9 13.9 13.9 13.9 13.9 14,300 198,770 CHELSEA 1.49 1.51 1.5 1.5 1.49 1.49 91,000 135,830 CEBU AIR 45.2 45.9 45.5 46.2 44.5 45.2 79,300 3,627,325 INTL CONTAINER 220 220.2 213.2 221.8 211.2 220.2 1,847,720 406,978,082 LBC EXPRESS 22.25 23.95 22.15 22.15 22.15 22.15 100 2,215 MACROASIA 5.13 5.15 5.2 5.21 5.12 5.15 690,900 3,565,484 PAL HLDG 6.1 6.2 6 6.2 6 6.2 37,100 229,874 HARBOR STAR 0.65 0.67 0.65 0.68 0.65 0.65 41,000 26,680 BOULEVARD HLDG 0.073 0.074 0.074 0.081 0.071 0.073 121,640,000 9,241,000 WATERFRONT 0.43 0.44 0.43 0.435 0.43 0.43 120,000 51,700 STI HLDG 0.345 0.355 0.345 0.355 0.345 0.355 360,000 127,600 BELLE CORP 1.25 1.29 1.3 1.3 1.25 1.29 250,000 316,440 BLOOMBERRY 6.25 6.28 6.2 6.3 6.18 6.28 4,850,700 30,423,349 PACIFIC ONLINE 1.31 1.35 1.35 1.35 1.35 1.35 49,000 66,150 LEISURE AND RES 1.36 1.39 1.3 1.39 1.3 1.39 2,389,000 3,237,390 PH RESORTS GRP 1.28 1.29 1.25 1.35 1.2 1.28 12,576,000 16,175,840 PREMIUM LEISURE 0.48 0.485 0.485 0.49 0.48 0.485 21,580,000 10,489,850 PHILWEB 3.1 3.13 2.84 3.19 2.77 3.1 13,055,000 39,966,360 ALLDAY 0.42 0.425 0.42 0.425 0.415 0.425 6,400,000 2,687,600 BERJAYA 5.6 6.35 5.99 5.99 5.99 5.99 900 5,391 ALLHOME 7.8 7.9 7.8 7.8 7.73 7.8 13,300 103,223 METRO RETAIL 1.4 1.43 1.4 1.4 1.4 1.4 58,000 81,200 PUREGOLD 33.6 34.3 35 35.45 33.6 33.6 823,700 27,983,045 ROBINSONS RTL 53.45 53.5 54 54 53 53.5 186,110 9,956,340 PHIL SEVEN CORP 62 62.95 63 63 62 62 53,050 3,340,975 SSI GROUP 1.19 1.2 1.2 1.21 1.19 1.2 2,401,000 2,874,540 WILCON DEPOT 27.05 27.45 27.5 27.75 27 27.05 372,300 10,095,230 APC GROUP 0.215 0.23 0.23 0.23 0.23 0.23 110,000 25,300 EASYCALL 4 4.37 4.02 4.02 4.02 4.02 1,000 4,020 IPM HLDG 6.85 7 7 7 7 7 11,000 77,000 MEDILINES 0.75 0.76 0.76 0.77 0.74 0.76 626,000 472,520 PAXYS 1.81 1.98 1.81 1.81 1.81 1.81 1,000 1,810 PRMIERE HORIZON 0.475 0.48 0.49 0.49 0.47 0.48 4,260,000 2,025,250

MINING & OIL ATOK 5.9 6.1 6 6.3 6 6.1 268,300 1,667,124 APEX MINING 1.52 1.53 1.52 1.55 1.49 1.52 1,380,000 2,084,900 ATLAS MINING 5.94 5.95 6.2 6.2 5.95 5.95 3,497,000 20,952,112 BENGUET A 7.2 7.24 6.95 7.22 6.95 7.22 252,600 1,767,250 BENGUET B 7 7.2 6.89 7.39 6.75 7.2 266,600 1,814,505 COAL ASIA HLDG 0.242 0.255 0.242 0.242 0.242 0.242 220,000 53,240 DIZON MINES 4.72 5.29 5.28 5.28 5.28 5.28 100 528 FERRONICKEL 2.61 2.65 2.63 2.69 2.59 2.65 9,826,000 25,615,480 LEPANTO A 0.138 0.139 0.14 0.14 0.14 0.14 10,000 1,400 LEPANTO B 0.138 0.142 0.137 0.137 0.137 0.137 800,000 109,600 MANILA MINING A 0.0097 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.0097 0.01 2,500,000 24,540 MANILA MINING B 0.0099 0.01 0.0099 0.0099 0.0099 0.0099 2,000,000 19,800 MARCVENTURES 1.64 1.65 1.59 1.65 1.55 1.64 4,415,000 7,094,430 NICKEL ASIA 7.71 7.72 7.56 7.86 7.56 7.72 2,704,800 20,915,002 ORNTL PENINSULA 0.92 0.94 0.95 0.95 0.87 0.94 42,000 37,810 PX MINING 4.85 4.88 4.82 4.91 4.8 4.88 894,000 4,349,600 SEMIRARA MINING 28.25 28.3 27.75 28.6 27.75 28.3 1,761,700 49,829,960 UNITED PARAGON 0.006 0.0063 0.0062 0.0062 0.0061 0.0061 12,000,000 73,600 ACE ENEXOR 14.9 15 15.5 15.6 14.8 15 1,006,300 15,207,052 ORNTL PETROL A 0.011 0.012 0.011 0.012 0.011 0.012 10,000,000 111,000 PHILODRILL 0.0092 0.0094 0.0091 0.0096 0.0091 0.0094 30,000,000 282,000 PXP ENERGY 4.29 4.3 4.38 4.5 4.22 4.3 524,000 2,286,670

PREFFERED AC PREF B1 500 517.5 501.5 501.5 500 500 1,800 901,310 AC PREF B2R 498 509 502 502 498 498 7,000 3,497,110 BRN PREF A 105 105.9 105 105.9 105 105.9 64,290 6,789,592 CEB PREF 45.3 45.9 45 45.75 45 45.75 2,200 99,565 DD PREF 99.7 99.8 99.8 99.8 99.8 99.8 11,470 1,144,706 EEI PREF B 105.6 109 109 109 109 109 200 21,800 FGEN PREF G 102.9 105.5 102.8 102.8 102.8 102.8 10 1,028 GTCAP PREF A 1,010 1,020 1,010 1,010 1,010 1,010 1,000 1,010,000 JFC PREF A 980 990 970.5 970.5 970.5 970.5 50 48,525 MWIDE PREF 4 98.5 99.9 99.9 99.9 99.9 99.9 90 8,991 PNX PREF 3B 97 100.9 99.2 100.9 96.6 100.9 2,080 204,849 PNX PREF 4 987 989 988 989 988 989 1,050 1,038,300 PCOR PREF 3A 1,057 1,070 1,057 1,057 1,057 1,057 50 52,850 PCOR PREF 3B 1,088 1,119 1,086 1,086 1,086 1,086 155 168,330 SMC PREF 2F 76.35 77.9 76.3 78.2 76.3 78.2 57,200 4,452,717 SMC PREF 2H 75.1 75.6 75.1 75.6 75.05 75.1 15,210 1,142,266 SMC PREF 2I 78.5 79.4 78.1 78.2 78.1 78.2 1,200 93,820 SMC PREF 2J 74.75 76.1 74.6 74.6 74.6 74.6 200 14,920 SMC PREF 2K 74.6 75.75 75.2 75.8 74.55 74.55 15,660 1,176,448.50 TECH PREF B2D 54.5 55 55 55 55 55 990 54,450

PHIL. DEPOSITARY RECEIPTS ABS HLDG PDR 12.5 12.66 12.7 12.7 12.7 12.7 30,000 381,000 GMA HLDG PDR 12.3 12.46 12.48 12.48 12.46 12.46 1,700 21,188

WARRANTS TECH WARRANT 0.56 0.57 0.57 0.6 0.56 0.57 293,000 167,530

5,161,310 -138,531,120 -31,669,425 105,544 19,600 -6,110,550 13,759,250.00 -55,498,875 -41,057,686 5,940 -1,132,213 -1,395,050 124,460 -339,208,760 -4,908,195 -13,573,285 -743,490 -35,572,500 21,760 -185,370 36,249 665,590 -285,415 15,720 -75,610 224,430 -14,980 -19,598,950 11,550 -1,871,000 7,156,349 5,205,852 -2,450 -100,655,105 -150,640 79,123,810 -3,115,840 4,100 -34,372,135 -336,600 5,147,710 1,400 48,420 -74,575 90,118,926 -1,783,806 10,760 -38,400 2,372,134 -64,800 -385,280 -766,300 178,800 659,900 23,355 -70,000 -14,039,120 -4,529,263.50 44,234 1,087,680 -633,805 1,500 -23,300 -292,820 169,450 887,574 -1,742,565 19,576,760 -9,900 34,740 7,835,565 418,180 -17,514,565 -5,469,194 -18,500 -901,310 220,500 21,800 -1,010,000 38,820 14,920.00 3,744 11,800

SMALL & MEDIUM ENTERPRISES ALTUS PROP CTS GLOBAL HAUS TALK ITALPINAS MERRYMART XURPAS

16.6 0.99 1.1 0.87 1.61 0.305

16.7 1 1.13 0.88 1.63 0.315

EXHANGE TRADE FUNDS FIRST METRO ETF

103.5

104.5

16.64 1 1.13 0.86 1.63 0.31

16.8 1.02 1.13 0.88 1.63 0.31

16.64 0.99 1.12 0.86 1.59 0.305

16.7 1 1.13 0.88 1.61 0.305

57,300 10,498,000 87,000 203,000 1,242,000 410,000

956,902 10,511,470 98,300 175,930 1,999,930 127,000

-258,410 48,210 -

104.7 105 102.8 103.5 19,390 2,018,489 96,153

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Banking&Finance

Reviving OPSF to bring fiscal challenge–expert

By Cai U. Ordinario

@caiordinario

I

F the country is to survive the current spike in commodity prices led by oil, it should resort to oil stockpiling instead of reviving the Oil Price Stabilization Fund (OPSF), given the expected fiscal challenge of managing such a fund.

This is the recommendation of a Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) Senior Research Fellow in a discussion paper titled, “On the OPSF and the Downstream Oil Industry Deregulation: Lead Us Not into Reversal Temptation and Deliver Us from Obfuscation.”

PIDS Senior Research Fellow Adoracion M. Navarro said reviving the OPSF would be anti-poor.

If the OPSF is revived, Navarro said it disproportionately benefits the rich more than the poor as data shows the rich accounting for a much bigger share of oil consumption.

This will be complicated by the government’s lack of expertise when it comes to “managing the fund and controlling the deficits of the fund.”

“Reviving the OPSF will likely result in the national government having to bail out the special fund using the general fund, displacing funding for anti-poverty programs in the process,” Navarro said.

Keeping strategic oil reserves is common practice by net oil-importing countries, added Navarro, also a former National Economic and Development Authority Undersecretary. While this is not yet part of the National Energy Plan, stockpiling is proposed to be done by the stateowned Philippine National Oil Co..

“If such will be feasible and affordable, it should be viewed as strictly a buffer during instances of severe oil supply disruption rather than as a regular price stabilization tool. In

that way, it will be consistent with the deregulation law that promotes private sector-led competition,” Navarro said.

Based on the data, she said, the fuel expenditure of the 20-percent richest families nationwide accounts for 50.61 percent of the total fuel family expenditure in the economy.

The poorest 20 percent of the population, however, accounts for only 4.06 percent of the total fuel family expenditure in the economy.

She noted that the richest 20 percent accounts for 48.8 percent of total family income while the poorest 20 percent account for 5.93 percent of total family income nationwide.

In noting the government’s weakness in managing funds of such nature, she said: “the likely delays in reimbursing oil companies may even reverse the competition gains in the medium to long run and discourage investments in expansion or encourage withdrawals of investments, thereby restricting access of the general population to competitively priced petroleum products.”

However, Navarro said, one challenge in stockpiling is that on its own, it will not generate profit. This may be the reason industry players are “lukewarm to the idea of institutionalizing the minimum inventory requirement.”

Nonetheless, the former Neda official said, the government’s participation in managing oil reserves is strictly for contingencies and will not directly compete with the private sector.

“During oil supply disruptions, it is in everybody’s interest to avoid economic losses and ensure a critical level of supply through an aggregate strategic reserve composed of government stockpile and industry-held stockpile,” Navarro said.

Security Bank to stop funding coal projects

By VG Cabuag

M

@villygc

ID-sized lender Security Bank Corp. said it will no longer fund coal-fired power projects in the country by next year as part of the Philippines pledge to international agreements aimed at cutting the country’s emission of pollutants.

The bank said the decision was in line with the framework set by the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) and the 2015 Paris climate agreement to cut greenhouse gas emissions and limit global warming for a more sustainable future.

In 2020, the bank’s board approved its sustainability framework, which outlines its principles in addressing environmental, social, and governance issues.

Last year, the board approved its environmental and social risk management system, which details the policies and enhanced due diligence required for identifying, addressing and mitigating environmental and social risks in the bank’s operations, lending and investing practices and supply chain.

“A focus of our ESRMS is to specifically address sustainability and climate risk, as well as health and safety risk in our operations, investment practices, and supply chain. A key aspect of the ESRMS is our coal policy, which specifies our commitment to discontinue financing the construction of new coalfueled power generation plants, with a view to exit funding coal generation by 2033,” Eduardo M. Olbes, the bank’s chief financial officer and chairman of the bank’s sustainability com-

mittee, said.

According to market and consumer research company Statista, the Philippines still relies on coal as the main source of energy, as of 2020, with 57 percent of the country’s energy needs coming from it.

Renewable energy sources such as hydro, wind, solar and geothermal energy make up only 21 percent of the country’s energy resources.

The bank said it will work with its clients in the energy sector who are committed to sustainable development by supporting the use of low carbon energy sources and financing new technologies to help in the transition to a low-carbon economy. The bank will provide these clients with support, both from a lending and capital market perspective.

The bank has also identified priority UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) that highlight areas where Security Bank intends to concentrate its efforts to deliver meaningful outcomes.

These include Good Health and Well-Being (SDG 3), Quality Education (SDG 4), Decent Work and Economic Growth (SDG 8) and Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure (SDG 9). These SDGs are integrated to its mission of enriching lives, empowering businesses, and building communities sustainably.

“Security Bank is committed to long-term sustainability by advocating lending, investment, and procurement activities that will help the country transition to a lower carbon economy and build resilience to climate change,” Olbes said.

Security Bank’s shares closed last Friday at P102.50 apiece.

BusinessMirror

Editor: Dennis D. Estopace • Monday, May 9, 2022

B3

NG gross borrowings lower by over a fifth vs Q1 2021

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By Bernadette D. Nicolas

@BNicolasBM

HE national government’s gross borrowings in the first quarter of the year fell to P1.08 trillion, lower by over a fifth than a year ago.

From January to March this year, government’s gross borrowing level contracted by 21.7 percent from P1.38 trillion in the same 3-month period in 2021, latest data from the Bureau of the Treasury showed.

Cornering the lion’s share of the total were domestic borrowings, which plunged by 34.8 percent year-on-year to P849.1 billion from P1.3 trillion

as the government began winding down short-term borrowings from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas from P540 billion to P300 billion. The drop in domestic borrowings was also due to the net redemption of P139.5 billion in Treasury bills.

Net debt redemption means there were more debts repaid compared to the amount borrowed during the

period. Locally, the government also borrowed P457.8 billion through its issuance of Retail Treasury Bonds and P230.86 billion through fixed rate Treasury Bonds.

On the other hand, foreign borrowings in the first three months of the year nearly tripled to P233 billion from only P79.45 billion as of end-March last year.

Gross foreign borrowings during the period grew as the government successfully raised P117.3 billion through its issuance of three-tranche dollar-denominated global bonds, including its maiden green bonds.

Other sources of foreign borrowings include program loans (P89.08 billion) and project loans (P26.62 billion).

For March alone, gross borrowings dropped by 4.4 percent yearon-year to P589.9 billion from

P617.3 billion.

The government borrows to meet its spending requirements as well as to finance its budget deficit.

As of end-March, the national government’s outstanding debt has hit a new record-high of P12.68 trillion as borrowings continued to pile up after officials addressed the health and economic impact of the pandemic.

By the end of this year, the government expects the country’s outstanding debt to soar to P13.42 trillion.

To recall, the country posted a 16-year-high debt-to-GDP ratio of 60.5 percent by the end of 2021.

This is expected to peak this year at 60.9 percent before going down to 60.7 percent and 60.4 percent in 2023 and 2024, respectively, based on estimates earlier obtained by the BusinessMirror from Finance Chief Economist Gil S. Beltran.

SBCorp imposes interest rates on loans for MSMEs

By Andrea San Juan

T

HE Small Business Corp.

(SBCorp), the financing arm of Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), recently announced it has imposed an interest rate on loans extended to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

During the launch of a new flagship loan program, the SB Corp laid out its new online loan facilities available to multi-sectoral MSMEs. Previously with the Bayanihan Cares program, which SBCorp launched during the early part of the pandemic, loans didn’t carry an interest rate but charged annual service fees of 4 percent. The recentlylaunched program, meanwhile, imposes interest rates on loans with SBCorp saying this is due to lack of funds to sustain lending to MSMEs. SBCorp President and CEO Luna E. Cacanando explained that the “Bayanihan Cares” lending program offered a zero-interest as it had P8 billion in funds provided by the national government.

However, Cacanando said, that fund is nearly depleted. “’Yung pondo na yun paubos na nga.

So yung gagamitin ngayon ng SBCorp na pondo, sariling pondo kung saan kelangan din po natin magbayad ng ating mga employees at ating mga gastusin para sa pagpapalakad ng program na ito.” [SBCorp will now use its own fund where we also have to pay our employees, our expenses for running these programs.]

“We are a GOCC kasi wala tayong national budget every year,” Cacanando further explained. “As a GOCC we have to cover our expenses for all our revenues. So, gusto po natin maging sustainable ang SBCorp.

Hindi po tayo pwedeng magkaroon ng negative income or malugi kasi that is not an acceptable practice as a GOCC,” [We cannot have a negative income or go bankrupt because that is not an acceptable practice as a GOCC.]

With this, Cacanando said the government-owned and -controlled corportaion (GOCC) would need to impose interest rates that are “reasonable” as compared to banks and other lending institutions in loans to MSMEs. She said the SBCorp’s monthly 1 percent interest rate is the most reasonable.

“Pinakamura na ’yung 1 percent per month at base po at diminishing balance, it’s really more of sustainability para tuloy tuloy pa rin ’yung lending programs,” she added. [SBCorp is trying to make our interest rate very reasonable and compared to the bank and others who lend to MSMEs, the cheapest is 1 percent per month and based on diminishing balance, it is really more of sustainability to continue still the lending programs.]

The three subprograms mentioned under the newly-launched lending program include the following: multi-purpose loan for multisectoral MSMEs; Rise Up Turismo; and, Rise Up Tindahan loan. The newly-launched lending program was given the name “Rise Up,” which stands for “Resilient, Innovative and Sustainable Enterprises: Unleash your Powers.”

The multi-purpose loan covers all MSMEs, including existing current borrowers of SBCorp. The Turismo loan, meanwhile, includes MSMEs engaged in tourism activities regardless of accreditation. The Tindahan Loan consists of sari-sari stores, retail stores, dealers and distributors under a network of partners in the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCGs) industry.

The multi-purpose lending subprogram consists of a micro multipurpose loan, first-time borrowers and suki. This sub-program covers MSMEs with at least 1-year business track record and loan requirement of up to P300,000.

A first time borrower is an MSME with at least 3-year business track re-

cord and a loan requirement of more than P300,000. It requires submission of financial statements filed with the Bureau of Internal Revenue in the past three years.

The “suki” loan is intended for existing borrowers of SBCorp in good standing, with at least 6-months repayment track record.

The requirements for loans below P300,000 are: government-issued ID; barangay business permit; pictures and videos of business operation; and corporate documents, if applicable.

For loans above P300,000, the requirements are: government-issued ID; BMBE Certificate or Mayor’s Business Permit; pictures and videos of business operation; and, corporate documents, if applicable.

The “Rise Up Tindahan” subprogram extends loans to sari-sari stores with FMCG accreditation and to retail stores, dealers and distributors with FMCG accreditation.

FOR the Micro Tindahan Loan, the loanable amount is up to P300,000. For the SME Tindahan Loans, the loanable amount is up to P5 million. The “Tindahan” (store) category provides a grace period of up to 12 months on the principal amount.

The requirements for the loan include: a government-issued ID; barangay business permit for loans up to P100,000; pictures and video of business operations and assets; corporate documents, if applicable; and, FMCG reference number.

SME Tindahan loans requirements are: government-issued ID; mayor’s permit; corporate documents (i.e. Secretary’s Certificate); FMCG accreditation number; and, proof of asset size not exceeding P100 million.

“Rise Up Turismo,” meanwhile, consists of primary tourism enterprises, secondary tourism enterprises and tourism support services.

Primary tourism enterprises include but are not limited to, hotels,

resorts, apartment hotels; adventure and/or sports facilities; and, ecotourism facilities.

Secondary tourism enterprises include but are not limited to, restaurants, tourism training centers, tourist shops and zoos.

Tourism support services include, but are not limited to, fast foods, eateries, coffee and beverage shops, bake shops and food vendors.

“Rise Up Turismo” provide a loanable amount of up to P5 million, a grace period of up to two years, no interest and no collateral.

Approved loans

According to SBCorp, it has approved loans amounting to P3.77 million.

“Rise Up” is a loan program that aims to sustain the gains of MSMEs that have survived the past two years of crisis, by providing multi-purpose loans that have soft terms and can be easily accessed, SBCorp documents revealed.

SBCorp is a non-bank government financial institution created in 1991 under Magna Carta for MSMEs (Republic Act 6977 as amended by RA 8289 and RA 9501).

It is under the policy program and administrative supervision of the MSME Development Council of the DTI. The financing arm of DTI is mandated to engage in development initiatives for MSMEs, implementing comprehensive policies and programs to assist MSMEs in all areas, including but not limited to finance and information services, training and marketing.

It is also the program implementer of Bayanihan Cares, the program intended to help MSMEs affected during the pandemic.

Under Bayanihan 2, the government has set aside P8 billion for the loan assistance program for MSMEs. Of the amount, P4 billion went to the DTI while P4 billion was set aside for the Department of Tourism.

Plenty of catalysts to help push Treasury rates above 2018 highs

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HE relentless bear market in US Treasury debt is on the cusp of a new phase, with yields across much of the maturity spectrum on course to crack above their 2018 highs and several major potential catalysts to help such a move.

Center stage will be April consumer price inflation on Wednesday, forecast to ebb from March rates that were the highest since 1982. Federal Reserve officials, who raised rates by a half point this week and set a June 1 date to begin reducing holdings of Treasuries, will be out in force discussing their approach to inflation. Meanwhile, the Treasury’s biggest month of debt sales for the Mayto-July financing quarter kicks off with auctions of 3-, 10- and 30-year debt.

Even if none of those provides a logical impetus for higher yields, liquidity has deteriorated, making the Treasury market more susceptible to big shifts.

Bloomberg’s US Government Securities Liquidity Index, which measures the average yield error for notes and bonds maturing in at least a year, approached its highest level of the year Friday. The two-year yield’s range exceeded 25 basis points for the third time this year on the day of the Fed meeting.

“This is a once-in-decade moment in capital markets,” said James Camp, director of fixed-income at Eagle Asset Management. Correlations are rising and “cross-asset volatility is incredible.

We have nowhere to hide.”

A weekly survey of Treasury inves-

tors by JPMorgan Chase & Co. this week found a historically high level of riskavoidance; neutral positioning was at its highest level since March 2020.

The surge in yields was led by real, or inflation-protected, notes and bonds, an indication that tightening financial conditions rather than inflation expectations were the primary driver. It accompanied steep declines for US equities that sent the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index to the lowest level in nearly a year.

For shorter-maturity Treasuries like two- and five-year notes, exceeding the 2018 highs would mean returning to levels last seen before the 2008 financial crisis. For the benchmark 10-year, its 2018 peak of 3.25 percent was the highest level since 2011.

The two-year yield this week peaked at 2.85 percent, within 26 basis points of its 2018 high. The five-year reached 3.08 percent, two basis points from 2018 levels. The 10-year yield’s 19-basis-point increase to 3.13 percent was overshadowed, though, by the 27-basis-point increase in the 10-year inflation-protected yield, from just below 0 percent a week earlier.

The real yields on Treasury InflationProtected Securities have climbed as the Fed’s posture has bolstered confidence that rates in consumer price growth have peaked. Five-year TIPS yields Five-year TIPS yields rose more than 150 basis points in 40 trading days through May 3, the fastest pace since 2008.

Bloomberg News

Explainer BusinessMirror

B4 Monday, May 9, 2022

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Why Victory Day in Russia is different this year

RUSSIAN military vehicles roll down Red Square during a rehearsal for the Victory Day military parade in Moscow, Russia, on May 7, 2019. AP/Alexander Zemlianichenko

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By The Associated Press

HE invasion of Ukraine means that fewer Russian tanks and other military hardware will rumble through Moscow’s Red Square today, when the country marks its victory over Nazi Germany in World War II. The patriotic fervor associated with the sacred holiday, however, could be as strong as ever.

This year's Victory Day won't just honor a conf lict that ended 77 years ago. Many Russians will be thinking about the thousands of troops fighting in neighboring Ukraine. Signs of support for the military have grown across the country since the invasion began February 24, with the letter “Z” appearing on billboards and signs in the streets and subways, and on television and social media.

The Kremlin has refused to refer to the fighting in Ukraine as a “war,” instead calling it a “special military operation.” Some observers believe that President Vladimir Putin could use the holiday to finally declare the operation to be a war in order to bolster Russia's national commitment to the effort.

A look at the significance of Victory Day in Russia:

War and remembrance

THE Soviet Union lost a staggering 27 million people in World War II, which it calls the Great Patriotic War. The conflict, which devastated cities and the countryside, caused enormous suffering and left a deep scar in the national psyche.

Victory Day is a rare event in the nation’s divisive post-Soviet history that is revered by all political players, and the Kremlin has used that sentiment to encourage patriotic pride and underline Rus-

sia’s role as a global power.

The annual celebrations feature a massive military parade on Red Square showcasing the latest armaments from tanks to fighter jets to nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missiles.

This year, the array of weapons to be displayed in the parade has been significantly curtailed from last year in an apparent reflection of the military's heavy engagement in Ukraine.

RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putin attends a military parade marking 74 years since the victory in WWII in Red Square in Moscow, Russia on Thursday, May 9, 2019. AP/Alexander Zemlianichenko

Fighting ‘neo-Nazis’

IN ordering the invasion, Putin declared that it was aimed at the “demilitarization” of Ukraine to remove a perceived military threat to Russia by "neo-Nazis”—rhetoric condemned by Ukraine and the West as a fictitious cover for a blunt act of aggression.

To try to back up the claim, Putin and his officials have pointed to the adulation by Ukraine's right-wing groups of nationalist leaders Stepan Bandera and Roman Shukhevych, who sided with the Nazis during World War II and their perceived use of Nazi units' symbols.

The rhetoric also has been used by the Kremlin to try to bolster public support for the war amid heavy losses of troops and equipment and massive economic damage from Western sanctions.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who is Jewish, has derided the Kremlin “denazi-

RUSSIAN troops march during the Victory Day military parade to celebrate 74 years since the victory in WWII in Red Square in Moscow, Russia, on May 9, 2019. AP/Alexander Zemlianichenko

fication” claim. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov fired back by drawing a parallel between Zelenskyy and Adolf Hitler—a statement that has drawn sharp criticism from Israel.

Rushing the offensive?

SOME in Ukraine and the West expected Putin to try to seek quick

gains before the May 9 holiday in a possible attempt to present it as a decisive victory and use it as an exit from what increasingly looks like a disastrous quagmire bleeding Russia's resources and threatening its stability.

A f ter a fa i led at tempt to storm Kyiv and other big cities in Ukraine's north in the early stages

of the war, the Kremlin has shifted its focus to the eastern industrial heartland known as the Donbas, where Moscow-backed rebels have been fighting Ukrainian government forces since 2014. That conflict erupted weeks after Russia's annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula.

The Russian military has rearmed and resupplied its forces withdrawn from Kyiv and moved them to Donbas in an apparent attempt to encircle and destroy the most capable and seasoned Ukrainian troops concentrated there.

But that offensive in the east has faced staunch Ukrainian defenses and made only incremental advances, dashing Kremlin hopes for a quick victory. Significant gains look all but impossible before May 9.

In an interview this week, Lavrov said: “Our military isn't going to artificially link its action to any date, including Victory Day.”

Upping the ante

SOME Russian hard-liners have

criticized the Kremlin for using only a limited force and urged a nationwide mobilization effort.

Some Western officials and observers believe Putin may use May 9 to formally declare a war and announce a total mobilization of the population to boost troop numbers for an offensive.

“He’s been rolling the pitch, laying the ground for being able to say, ‘Look, this is now a war against Nazis, and what I need is more people,’" British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace told LBC Radio last week.

Ukraine's intelligence chief, Kyrylo Budanov, issued a similar warning Monday, alleging that Russia has covertly begun preparations for a broad mobilization.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed the claims as “nonsense” on Wednesday.

R u s s i a n aut hor it ie s h av e claimed that only volunteer contract soldiers have been fighting in Ukraine, even though many conscripts were taken prisoner in the war's initial days.

Russia's military has about 1 million ser v ice personnel—400,000 of them contract soldiers, including 147,000 in ground forces. Western officials estimated the initial strength of Russia's invasion force at about 180,000.

The military acknowledged losing 1,351 soldiers as of March 25 and hasn't updated its casualty numbers since then. Western officials have said Russian losses were much heavier and estimated that up to a quarter of Moscow's initial attacking force was made unfit for combat.

If the war drags on, the current Russian troop numbers in Ukraine could be insufficient to sustain the operations, forcing the Kremlin to rely on poorly trained conscripts or call up reservists.

T he K remlin faces a stark choice between trying to win the war with a limited force or attempting to bolster its troops in Ukraine with draftees and reservists, a move that could bring public outrage and potentially destabilize the political situation.

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Style

BusinessMirror

Editor: Gerard S. Ramos

• Monday, May 9, 2022

The potent power of pink WHEN YOUTH GETS A NEW NAME

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INK continues to captivate. Since its role as the color of activism during the 2020 US elections, pink remains in our collective consciousness. By the time model Chrissy Teigen arrived at the Grammys 2022 red carpet in a Nicole + Felicia ballgown, fashion bible Vogue has decreed that bright fuchsia is the color of the year.

Pink has supplanted Very Peri, which was announced as the color of the year for 2022 by Pantone, the world-leading expert in color. At the international fashion weeks for Fall/Winter 2022, Versace, Richard Quinn, Chanel, and Giambattisa Valli presented several variations of pink creations.

The most stupendous display of pink, however, was by Pierpaolo Piccioli for his Valentino Pink PP Collection. “Pink is rampant everywhere, in a total estrangement that includes the set, and that is reiterated by the occasional total black and total white intermissions. Pink [is] a manifestation of the unconscious and a liberation from the need for realism,” the Italian house notes. “The accumulation of pink elements is such as to eliminate the visual shock to bring out, together, the unique character of the person, expressed by the face and the eyes, and the work on the pieces of clothing: the signs that shape them into a silhouette, the textures that give them consistency, the decorations that are part of the construction.” n PINK IS QUEENLY. The world’s longest-reigning monarch, Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II, is celebrating her Platinum Jubilee this year. To commemorate this milestone, the Royal Collection Trust released a hardcover book, titled The Queen: 70 Glorious Years.

The official souvenir publication “document[s] Her Majesty’s early life before she acceded to the throne in 1952, her official role as monarch, her travel at home and abroad in support of the Commonwealth, and her fondness for animals and family life.”

On the cover, the smiling Queen wears a pink suit and matching fascinator. I’m not quite sure if the ensemble is by Angela Kelly, whose formal title is Personal Advisor to Her Majesty (The Queen’s Wardrobe). What’s definite, though, is that the Queen loves to wear colorful clothing. n PINK AND GILDED. Kim Kardashian may have worn to the Met Gala (formally called the Costume Institute Gala or the Costume Institute Benefit) the Marilyn Monroe “Happy Birthday, Mr. President” dress from 1962, but the one on-theme was Ariana Rockefeller, who wore a vintage Elizabeth Arden ivory gown designed by Ferdinando Sarmi made for her grandmother, Peggy Rockefeller, in 1954. This year’s theme was “Gilded Glamour,” and Ariana being the great-great-granddaughter of John D. Rockefeller, an industrialist who made his fortunes during the Gilded Age, was on point.

Amid the glitz, pink again shone bright. Fil-Am designer Monique Lhuillier made a custom rose faille gown with Watteau train and opera length gloves for model-actress Molly Sims. Valentino Pink was vibrant, as seen on acclaimed actress Glenn Close wearing a hot-pink suit complete with matching gloves, an embellished grand cape and fuchsia drop earrings; newlyweds Nicola Peltz Beckham and Brooklyn; and Romanian actor Sebastian Stan, in a pink coat, pink shirt, pink trousers, pink sunglasses, pink sneakers and pink socks. n PINAY AND PINK. At the Grammy Awards, music’s biggest night, proud Filipino-American musical superstars dominated. Bruno Mars, who is part of R&B duo SilkSonic with Anderson Paak, won four Grammys. Olivia Rodrigo won three

GLENN CLOSE in Valentino (GETTY IMAGES); Iris Mittenaere in Michael Cinco (BONG TAN/@MICHAEL5INCO); Jane Fonda in vintage Gucci (PHOTOGRAPHER: LAUREN DUKOFF); Cass Laforteza in Arwin Meriales (@MAKIEPH); Saweetie in Valentino (JORDAN STRAUSS/INVISION/AP) Queen Elizabeth II (ROYAL COLLECTION TRUST); Sebastian Stan in Valentino (ANDREW KELLY/REUTERS); Scarlet Envy in archival Scaasi, Nicky Doll in @ durdoux tulle cape and @mirimari_fashion (@MATTHEWPANDOLFE); Harnaaz Sandhu in Marc Rancy (@MARCRANCY)

awards, including Best New Artist. H.E.R. won her fifth Grammy award, for Best Traditional R&B Performance. Rob Schneider’s daughter, country singer Elle King, was nominated in the country-record category. For her first appearance at the Grammys, first-time nominee Saweetie—for best rap song (“Best Friend”) and best new artist—the rapper wore a twopiece, custom fuchsia ensemble by Valentino with matching evening gloves. n PINK’S INCLUSIVE. The fashion divas of RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 11, Scarlet Ency and Nicky Doll, donned dueling pink gowns for a high-couture pictorial. Scarlet, famed for her “Am I the Drama? Am I the villain?” stint at All-Stars 6, wore archival Scaasi.

Nicky, recently announced as the main host-judge for Drag Race France, wore Durdoux and Mirimari.

Hereabouts, a group of 11 neophyte designers mounted “Pink Revolution” in support of presidential candidate Leni Robredo and vice presidential hopeful Kiko Pangilinan. “It’s a historical fashion show, where freedom is infinite,” declares young designer Arwin Meriales. n PINK IS UNIVERSAL. Miss Universe 2021 Harnaaz Sandhu felt “Powerful in Pink” when she wore a Carolina Herrera dress when she talked about menstrual equity to a group of young Filipinas days before she served as judge at Miss Universe

Philippines 2022. The Indian beauty then wore another pink piece for a side event, “La Vie En Rose,” a custom-to-fit modern terno top paired with an ivory white pencil skirt with bias side fall by Marc Rancy.

At the national finals, former Miss Universe winners and hosts Pia Wurtzbach, Demi-Leigh Tebow and Iris Mittenaere wore show-stopping couture creations with a LED backdrop of pink roses. Iris looked particularly opulent in a couture Michael Cinco gown with gold French paillettes with dramatic floor-sweeping sleeves. “So proud to wear a traditional Filipino dress,” the French stunner said. n PINK IS ETERNAL. Jane Fonda, who has the most remarkable showbiz career of any Living Legend today, is the cover girl for Glamour magazine’s May issue. Wearing a pink and black vintage Gucci gown, she is photographed against a backdrop of her very first Glamour cover, from July 1959. In the inside pages, she wears a hot-pink Marine Serre jacket, top and tights, COS pants and Manolo Blahnik shoes.

“If somebody had told me that, at almost 85 years old, I’d still be working as much as I am and feeling as good as I do, I wouldn’t have believed them,” Fonda reflects. “If you stay curious, you will also stay young for a long time. I’m younger now than I was when I was 20. I didn’t give up. I kept going. I tried to get better. I did.” n

ETHICAL global beauty brand The Body Shop (www.thebodyshop.com.ph) has taken the bold move to change the name of its best-selling skincare range, Drops of Youth, to Edelweiss. The new name also comes with a new formula and extended lineup.

The game changer is the Edelweiss extract containing Leontopodic acid, a unique and powerful ingredient that’s 60 percent stronger than ferulic acid, a known antioxidant.

Edelweiss, after all, is the resilient flower with the antioxidant power. Many of us know Edelweiss from a song in the classic movie and musical The Sound of Music, but it’s so much more. For centuries, it has been widely used in folk medicine and in Alpine tradition, as giving this flower to a loved one is the ultimate show of dedication.

Found growing in brutal Alpine conditions against extreme wind, snow and rain, the resilient Edelweiss flower thrives. It protects and repairs itself, thanks to its natural antioxidants, including Leontopodic acid, which is only produced when the flower is in distress.

The properties of Edelweiss have been shown to maintain skin barrier health, as well as smooth the skin’s surface, helping you keep a radiantly fresh face, whatever your age. That’s why Edelweiss is the beauty industry’s best-kept secret. The new and improved range has been reformulated to deliver double the concentration of Edelweiss.

Edelweiss stem cells and Edelweiss extract, which contain hard-working antioxidants, are combined with natural-origin peptides, known to boost the skin’s defense mechanism and barrier function. While most peptides on the market are synthetic, The Body Shop sources from rice, a natural-origin alternative.

The Edelweiss lineup still includes the legendary Concentrate and favorites from the Drops of Youth range but has been expanded to include two more products—Edelweiss Cleansing Concentrate and Edelweiss Intense Smoothing Cream—so all your daily skin needs are covered.

Made within strict “green chemistry” principles, Edelweiss is organically farmed and responsibly harvested by hand by The Body Shop’s trusted supplier.

It is carefully and respectfully cultivated in areas where the flower is not endangered to respect the Alpine biodiversity. It is then extracted using zero chemical waste, first through drying the plant, and then distilled using a renewable process.

Today’s facial cleansing devices are on a whole new level FACIAL cleansing devices are something I got into quite late, just early this year to be exact, but I really love them. My first one was the Foreo Luna 3 Plus, which also doubles as a firming face massager. I recently got the Foreo Luna play smart 2, which looks like my first device’s younger sister but is quite different really.

The Foreo Luna play smart 2 cleans your skin without stripping it of moisture just like the Foreo Luna 3 Plus, but it has added features such as smart skin sensors that measure and analyze your skin’s moisture levels to recommend the best cleansing routine for you. Paired with the Foreo For You app, the innovative Luna 24k gold-plated skin sensors measure the skin’s moisture levels at a rate of 1,000 times per second.

The Foreo Luna play smart 2 is smaller in size to the Foreo Luna 3 but it has the same soft and flexible silicone touch points combined with sonic pulsations (as many as up to 8,000 pulses per minute). The device gently brushes across the top layer of the skin to remove makeup, dirt and excess oil. The silicone, by the way, is 35 times more hygienic than

nylon bristles.

For use with the app, simply hold the 24K gold-plated dual-sensors to each main area of the skin, the forehead and both cheeks and chin for 10 seconds each. The app will tell you the condition of your skin with a numbered percentage.

The app then recommends the pulsation intensity and the duration you should clean each area of your skin.

Apply your preferred cleanser on your face and turn the Foreo Luna play smart 2 on and use small circular motions for each area. The device will pause briefly to tell you to move on to the next area.

You can save this routine on the app so you can use it even without WiFi or mobile data.

What I love about the Foreo Luna play smart 2 is the added skin analysis feature, which gives you an indication if your skin is in good or bad shape.

The Foreo Luna play smart 2 (P5,280) comes in Mint For You, Cherry Up, Tickle Me Pink and Peek-A-Blue and is now available on the Foreo Official Store in Lazada (foreo.se/u1gj) and Sephora PH (foreo.se/ikni).

One other thing I’ve been loving lately is Pure Culture’s Wild Algae line, specifically the Quench Creme. I may be biased because my colleague Kim Reyes Palanca is behind the line but the brand has won a beauty award from an Australian group that espouses organic and clean beauty.

I’m not normally easily swayed by clean beauty jargon but Pure Culture’s Wild Algae line (there’s also a tonic and a

serum) is something I really like. The Quench Creme is light and has a strong earthy smell that’s not offensive at all. The product, which contains cica and niacinamide, is perfect for summer because it is light but moisturizing. The products are available at purecultureph.com.

Another product I’ve been enjoying is the CND Solar Oil. Going out with ragged nails and cuticles is a pet peeve. I usually use Lush Lemony Flutter, which is okay for nighttime but too oily for the day. This Solar Oil is an oil that dries in minutes and it’s very moisturizing.

Solar Oil has jojoba oil and vitamin E to keep your nails smooth and your cuticles not looking raggedy. Because of constant hand sanitizing and washing, my nails have been really problematic lately and this has helped a lot with that problem. Solar Oil also smells good (like almonds). I don’t get my nails polished but my friends do say their manicures last longer because of this.

You can find CND Solar Oil and other hand and nail products in Nail Addik by Creative Nails and www. newsummitcolors.com.

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B6 Monday, May 9, 2022

Globe unveils new enterprise plans

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S the world slowly moves forward to post-pandemic life, enterprises are on the cusp of seeing the next evolution in the workplace with more and more employees preferring a hybrid work setup. This then calls for business leaders to rethink how their operations will adjust moving forward.

To respond to this critical need, Globe Business is launching GPlan Enterprise– its newest portfolio of postpaid plans that enhance communication and collaboration between business leaders and the workforce, wherever they are.

GPlan Enterprise allows subscribers to get the best value for their mobile plan more than the usual all-net calls, unlimited text and landline offers, and bigger data allocations that go with their subscription.

Through this new set of postpaid plans, they can optimize Globe’s 5G network and expect excellent customer service with dedicated and trained Account Managers who provide expertise and assistance on their concerns.

They can also tap into Globe Business’ synergies with value-added, information, and communications technology partners like Yondu, Zoom, and GCash, which provide them with essentials that will ramp up business productivity in a hybrid, remote, or even in-office work setup.

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OR the past 12 years, Globaltronics has been the exclusive digital media partner of PPCRV. They have a shared advocacy of promoting clean, honest, accurate, meaningful, and peaceful elections.

On May 9, the partnership marks the 3rd national elections that will be covered together. It previously covered the 2012 and 2016 national elections. Additionally, with the thrust to go fully digital in the parallel count, this is a special milestone as Globaltronics powers PPCRV with the biggest LED command screen so far.

For this year, PPCRV has a relatively huge command center — the Quadricentennial Pavilion (QPav) in the University of Santo Tomas.

Globaltronics equips the QPav with a

16-meter x 3-meter LED command screen for media play and control. Spanning almost the entire length of the QPav, this LED screen will create larger-than-life images and great visual impact during presentations, projections, and media feeds.

Globaltronics is also providing the venue a major digital upgrade with 16 iPosters to serve as directional signages in the command center. These are sleek and slim fine-pitched free-standing LEDs that create dynamic and crisp displays.

For almost 20 years, Globaltronics has been the country’s pioneer and leading provider of high quality digital display solutions. Its main thrust is to provide the best digital solutions that increase brand equity of its clients through full Digital Out-Of-Home (DOOH) services.

Finest gourmet food and drinks now available in Clark

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“Globe Business is committed to staying relevant to the needs of the times to ensure that enterprises are equipped with the right tools to push their businesses forward and keep up with the evolving workplace. With GPlan Enterprise, they are able to provide their employees the

needed support to keep them productive and connected no matter where they are,” said Issa Cabreira-Guevarra, Globe Chief Commercial Officer.

To know more, visit https://www. globe.com.ph/business/enterprise/mobility/ postpaid.html.

Former Google and Facebook executive joins PHilippine Neobank Tonik as Chief People Officer

HE Philippines’ first neobank Tonik, announced today that former Google HR Director for Japan and Asia-Pacific (JAPAC) and Meta (Facebook) Director of User Operations, Manoj Varghese, has officially joined its leadership roster. Joining the transformative digital bank as Chief People Officer, Varghese will spearhead the continuous growth and cultural

Globaltronics, PPCRV partner in the parallel count for the May 2022 national elections

integration of one of Southeast Asia’s fastest growing and sought-after fintech companies.

“As a veteran in leading cross-cultural teams in the JAPAC region and coupled with his extensive experience in the tech industry, Manoj brings invaluable expertise in further growing our workforce and footprint across our multiple hubs. His mission includes working with our diverse teams as we ramp up and solidify our efforts in accelerating financial inclusion in the Philippines,” says Greg Krasnov, Founder and CEO of Tonik.

During his run at Google, Varghese led the set up and expansion of the tech giant’s JAPAC headquarters in Singapore primarily hiring and onboarding the regional leadership team. This enabled Google to further grow its Engineering, Sales, and Operations teams not just in Singapore locally, but also across the Asia Pacific.

Similarly, Varghese also led and executed notable wins for Meta during his threeyear stint at the tech giant—building and managing the community operations team, and working closely with global product,

engineering, and policy team members to support over 1 billion Facebook users.

Varghese recently completed the Sloan Fellow Programme at the London Business School.

“People are the heartbeat of any business, as all workforces play a critical role in moving the needle towards growth.

As digital banking becomes a necessity now more than ever, it’s crucial for us to build a robust roster of leaders ready to serve the Filipino community. With this commitment, I’m excited to support Tonik’s world-class management team in driving financial inclusion in the Philippines and several more emerging markets into greater heights,” explains Varghese.

Tonik is supervised by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and deposits are insured by the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation (PDIC). Its unique cloud-based solution is powered by global financial technology leaders such as Mastercard, Amazon Web Services, and Finastra.

Learn more, visit https://tonikbank.com/.

Gift Mom with a Grueheim vacuum cleaner

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MOTHER’S love knows no boundaries. She will do everything and anything for her family, to the point that she forgets to take care of herself.

This month dedicated for mothers, why not give your Mom the break she deserves?

Take over the household chores and cook your Mom a special meal. If you have any extra money, take her out for lunch and go shopping afterwards. Get her that gadget she always wanted. Or, get her something that will help her with her household chores — a Gruenheim vacuum cleaner.

Gruenheim vacuum cleaning system makes use of ecologically pure water filter technology. The multi-purpose health cleaning machine serves as an air purifier, air disinfectant, air sanitizer, aromatizer and air medication all rolled into one.

It can also dry vacuum the floor, ceiling, wall, curtains or blinds and window screens. The vacuum cleaner can also be used to shampoo carpets, sofas, mattresses and even chairs.

It has the capacity to remove 99.9 percent of harmful fine dust from the air. It is not only user friendly; it is also energy consumption friendly.

This state of the art vacuum cleaner is a product of Gruenheim GmbH & Co. KG. The company was founded in

2014 and is based in Stuttgart, Germany and is a subsidiary of Luckner & Lahusen Group GmbH & Co. KG. Its direct distributor in the Philippines is Gruenheim Philippines Inc. The line of high-end, ecological, innovative and premium home appliances includes Gruenheim Vacuum cleaning system which makes use of pure water filter technology; Gruenheim Steam cleaning system with innovative industrial technology.

For more information, call 09175984968 or email gruenheimph@gmail.com

STEEMED journalists in the mainstream and local media were served with premium quality locally made food and beverages through a simple charcuterie during one of their media forum at Clark Media Center (Bale Balita).

Balitaan Bale Balita is a regular media event in Clark which is spearheaded by the Capampangan in Media, Inc (CAMI).

Representatives from PL Aguila Manufacturing Inc. led by Niña Aissa B. Leonardo, Account Manager for North and Central Luzon, arranged simple grazing area where it featured the company’s well-loved selections of sausages, smoked ham, bacon, dried meat and cold cuts.

PL Aguila’s sausage selections include Cheese Krainer, Frankfurter, Mini Frankfurter, Mini Hungarian, Schublig, Kielbasa, Italian Garlic, Hungarian, Cheese Bratwurst, Bacon and Cheese, Breakfast Links, Chorizo and Andouille.

They also make Double Smoked Ham, Chinese Rolled Ham, Barbecue Liempo, Country Ham, Honey Ham and American Cooked Ham are also some of the products

by PL Aguila. Bacon lovers can choose from premium Bacon Trimmings, Honey Cured Bacon, Country Style Bacon, and Bacon Steak.

PL Aguila also served the officers and members of CAMI healthy alternative juices

and concentrates under the banner “Golden A” premium beverages.

Some of these are tea concentrates under Golden A such as Hibiscus Red Tea, Green Tea with Lychee, Peach Tea, Red Raspberry, and Premium Tea with Calamansi. Their thirst quencher products feature sweetened concentrates of grapes, mango, four seasons, dalandan, and calamansi.

“We continuously strive hard to maintain our products perfect and globally competitive”, says Leonardo.

Leonardo added that the family who owns PL Aguila started the business in 1975 and has been successful in achieving premium quality of its food and drinks.

In Clark Freeport Zone, PL Aguila’s products are available at ACCES Cooperative, Bldg. 2126, C.P. Garcia St., Clark Freeport Zone (Press C).

PIONEERING THE NEXT WAVE OF SUSTAINABILITY. Boston Consulting Group Managing Director Ming Teck Kong and ACEN CEO Eric Francia were the main speakers in the recently concluded final session of the BCG-Makati Business Club Pioneering the Next Wave of Sustainability series. Kong and Francia discussed how companies can work with communities and external partners in pursuing a holistic climate agenda. Two factors to consider are knowing what ESG issues are important to your stakeholders and what is relevant to the long-term success of your business.

Business leaders in the session also shared how they execute ESG strategies - including upcycling plastic waste into eco-bricks, investing in renewables, and updating company policies to encourage inclusivity in the workplace.

Public-private sector teamwork in Philippine COVID success cited at China Boao forum

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RESIDENTIAL Adviser for Entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion shared at an international forum the Philippines’s successes in its battle against the Covid-19 pandemic. Speaking to highranking public and private sector officials and international media at the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) Annual Conference 2022 held last April 21 in Hainan, China, the founder of the non-profit Go Negosyo emphasized the importance of publicprivate sector cooperation in its response to the pandemic.

“Our public-private partnership was the most important way to help us achieve the success we have achieved now,” said the Go Negosyo founder. The Philippines today enjoys a low-risk classification, having successfully managed the pandemic through a combination of mobility restrictions and aggressive vaccination, which has been largely credited to the close cooperation between the government and the private sector.

The three-day BFA annual conference gathered delegates from all over the world to discuss the post-pandemic development agenda for Asia and the rest of the world.

The event was formally opened by Chinese President Xi Jinping.

During the forum “International

Cooperation in the Fight Against Covid-19 in the New Era,” Concepcion related how in November 2020, the government, private sector and vaccine manufacturers entered into an agreement called A Dose of Hope, which made it possible for the Philippine government to overcome regulatory roadblocks and allow it to procure vaccines.

“The public sector has also done a lot of work in the past 24 months, not only purchasing vaccines, but also purchasing a large number of medical facilities for vaccine antibody testing to better respond to the outbreak,” he shared in the forum.

The private sector-led initiative Project ARK made available various SARS-CoV2 testing innovations early in the Covid-19 outbreak in 2020.

“Our country and the private sector, as well as vaccine providers, have cooperated together, especially AstraZeneca, [which] has also provided us with a lot of help,” he said. Concepcion cited how the cooperation of key government officials such as Department of Health Sec. Francisco Duque and IATF (Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases) Chief Implementer Carlito Galvez Jr. made it possible for the private sector to contribute in the overall pandemic response efforts.

Marketing BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Monday, May 9, 2022 B7

Your mind matters ‘I

PR Matters

By Abigail Ho-Torres

T’S all in the mind.”

How many times have you heard t h i s — f rom work m ates, bosses, friends, relatives, loved ones? It could be about anything: work-related anxiety, aches and pains without any known source, or a bogeyman inside your closet. Since “it’s all in the mind,” whatever it is will just go away when you think happy thoughts, right?

Maybe. Or more likely not.

The Mental Health Association of America (MHA) has designated the month of May as Mental Health Month—to spread awareness that mental health is something everyone should care about. This year’s theme is “Back to Basics.”

“After the last two years of pandemic living, many people are realizing that stress, isolation, and uncertainty have taken a toll on their well-being. Our goal is to provide foundational knowledge about mental health and mental health conditions and information about what people can do if their mental health is a cause for concern,” the MHA said on its website.

Admit it or not, no matter your economic status, state of health, or overall disposition, Covid-19 had some—or a huge—effect on you. And rightfully so. The pandemic and the resulting lockdowns literally came out of nowhere, turning all our lives upside-down.

Here in the Philippines, many employees lost their jobs as businesses closed shop amid the longest lockdown in the world. Those who were able to keep their jobs found themselves suddenly dealing with mental health issues: anxiety, depression, intense stress.

According to a survey conducted by mental health and well-being organization MindNation earlier this year, around 5 out of 10 employees admitted to having mental health issues, including depression, anxiety, stress, and feelings of emptiness.

Close to two-thirds of the respondents, or 60.67 percent, said they were stressed, while more than half, at 56.08 percent, felt anxious. Around a third of the respondents felt emptiness (33.94 percent) and depression (37.22 percent). The top three sources of mental health challenges for them were Covid-19 fears (56 percent), performance pressure at work (55 percent), and financial matters (35 percent).

A 2021 study zeroed in on an even more alarming topic: suicidal thoughts among employees. The “Suicidal Ideation and the Workplace” study stemmed from findings from MindNation’s mental health pulse surveys conducted from September 2020 to June 2021. From the 5,868 respondents analyzed, the organization isolated the answers of 465 employees identified as suicidal.

Based on the survey results, it was found that most of the employees who admitted to entertaining suicidal thoughts were female (61 percent), young (85 percent were 18-34 years old), single (83 percent), and childless (67 percent). Night shift employees were also more prone to being suicidal, at 40 percent of the isolated respondents.

Most of the suicidal employees had less positive feelings and thoughts toward their companies vis-à-vis all employees surveyed.

Only 59 percent of suicidal employees said they were satisfied with their companies,

Brand & Business: ‘Your partner in life’: Allianz PNB Life promises a secure future for Filipinos

MANILA, PHILIPPINES—Filipinos have always had a tenuous relationship with health. The biggest reason for this is, simply put, poverty—many Filipinos do not want to burden their loved ones with the financial stress of dealing with health concerns, or they need to prioritize other things, such as basic necessities. Unfortunately, this means many ignore symptoms of illness, which may

lead to serious complications down the road.

In 2021, 23.7% or 26.1 million Filipinos were reported to be poor, and this was primarily due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many were caught financially unprepared for lockdowns, or worse, their loved ones catching the virus and needing treatment. Filipinos could no longer ignore even the mildest symptoms out of fear that it may be Covid-19. Health and financial security became the biggest concern, and that led Filipinos to one of the things they used to overlook—insurance.

The Philippines saw an increase in people availing or renewing their insurance premiums during the pandemic. The Insurance Commission (IC) reported a 5.9% growth in total

WWW.FREEPIK.COM

Employees’ mental state

versus 77 percent of the total respondents.

Suicidal employees also reported feeling less proud to be working with their companies and less valued by their organizations. Significantly less of them also felt they could be themselves at work.

In general, mental health issues had headaches, burnout, taking a long time to complete tasks, thinking to quit, and committing more errors as the most significant effects on employees and the work that they do.

Companies, in effect suffer some losses, too.

Mental health-related losses

“THE biggest loss for companies when their employees are faced with mental health issues is productivity loss. Suicidal employees are feeling significantly more productivity loss [51 percent] compared to the total base [40 percent]. Moreover, the average of the claimed hours lost in work due to mental health challenges was 2.6 hours a day, which is much more compared to the average of the total base,” the MindNation study said.

“This is evidence that heavy mental health challenges are detrimental to employee pro-

premiums, and this was because Filipinos were becoming more self-conscious about their health and being prepared for the future.

“It is very important to have one, especially at this time. You’ll never know when your health is at risk,” said one insurance user.

“I’ve personally experienced borrowing money from friends because one of my family members got hospitalized and our savings was not enough.”

Many Filipinos are registered to PhilHealth. In fact, the organization reported in 2020 that it had nearly 95 million Filipinos covered by its insurance policies, whether as members or dependents. Unfortunately, that still leaves 15.2 million Filipinos without coverage, and even those who do, admit that they only have PhilHealth because it is an

ductivity and it could lead to talent loss for 42 percent of suicidal thinking employees. With mental health problems taking up much of an employee’s head space, it becomes harder to fully prioritize other things in their lives such as work,” it further stated.

Both absenteeism, measured by number of sick leaves filed, and presenteeism, or just being physically present while performing less, were clear manifestations of mental health issues among employees, both for the general population and those identified as suicidal.

It can be difficult for companies to pinpoint mental health issues as the main culprit for these productivity losses though, as employees continue to hesitate to report their mental health challenges. Most employees who take a mental health break state a physical health issue as the reason for their filed leaves. Many others just do not state a reason at all.

How companies and co-workers can help MINDNATION psychologist Eiza Fusingan said companies can provide mental

employment benefit.

Still, there is great hope for Filipinos on the horizon. As Filipinos, especially the Gen Z-ers who are joining the workforce, start moving towards securing their future and that of their families, many are looking for an insurance provider that suits their needs, offers products that suit their budget and lifestyle, and are just as committed to protecting what matters most.

Allianz PNB Life is currently the Philippines’ fastest-growing insurance company. Since 2019, Allianz has been recognized as the number one insurance brand in the world, and for good reason.

As a leading insurance provider, all of Allianz PNB Life’s products and services are designed to meet the lifetime financial planning, wealth accumulation, and well-

health-related support to employees by partnering with a mental health organization that offers round-the-clock consultations with psychologists and psychiatrists.

Mental health leaves may also be included in employee benefits. It is also important to ensure that the workplace is free from bullying, harassment, and discrimination.

Managers can also help by trying to understand their team members’ personality types better so they can respond appropriately in various situations. This can be done by conducting regular one-on-one and team meetings.

They should also be careful with the words that they use in communicating with their teammates. While management requires a degree of firmness, managers should avoid using harsh and critical words that can create negative emotions and lead to irrational behaviors. Point out weaknesses, but include ways to improve them. And don’t forget to acknowledge good work.

In conflict situations, use “I-words” instead of “You-words,” e.g. “I feel you are not taking your work seriously when you do not submit on time” versus “You are irresponsible.” Highlight what you are feeling about the situation instead of the other party’s flaws. The “You-word” approach could make the receiving party feel attacked, which could lead to brooding and the possibility of retaliation.

Taking a “time-out” and “self-soothing time” when there is tension and conflict can also allow all parties to take a step back and rationalize the situation. Once the situation has cooled down enough, involved parties can discuss the issue again in a less emotionally charged state and eventually resolve the issue in an appropriate manner.

Team members should also normalize conversations about regulating emotions, managing conflict, handling stress, and improving productivity so they can support each other.

While looking after their teammates, managers should also practice self-care to prevent them from suffering from mental health issues themselves.

“At work, we all have roles and responsibilities. However, fulfilling these roles and responsibilities should not come to the point where your mental health suffers, for it will eventually lead to a decline in work performance. Thus, creating a conducive and healthy environment where the managers and team members work together for personal and professional growth is of great importance. Each member of the team would have a significant role to achieve this goal,” Fusingan said.

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 organization for PR professionals around the world. Abigail L. Ho-Torres is AVP and Head of Advocacy and Marketing of Maynilad Water Services, Inc. She spent more than a decade as a business journalist before making the leap to the corporate world.

We are devoting a special column each month to answer our readers’ questions about public relations. Please send your questions or comments to askipraphil@gmail.com.

being aspirations of every Filipino family.

Not only that, but Allianz PNB Life is also heavily involved in advocacies that greatly impact the society. Allianz scored 92 points out of 100 in the 2021 Dow Jones Sustainability Index due to its efforts in addressing climate change, and are consistently included in Bloomberg’s Gender Equality Index because of its policies on social inclusion in the office space.

Its sustainability campaigns, RideSafe and No Filter, stressed the importance of protecting the environment through lifestyle changes, and its most recent endeavor, Kickoff!, was launched to give young, amateur Filipino football and futsal players a platform to show their skills. Allianz PNB Life has also partnered with

SOS Children’s Villages in helping the victims of Typhoon Odette rebuild their homes.

All these activities, kicked off within the last year alone, prove Allianz PNB Life’s commitment to bettering the lives of countless Filipinos.

“Our mission at Allianz PNB Life is ‘Secure the future’. This is the idea behind every single decision we make,” said Allianz PNB Life President and CEO Alexander Grenz. “Everything we have done so far—our sustainability campaigns like RideSafe, partnering with SOS to help Typhoon Odette victims, and even products we have in the works – these were all done with the intention of giving Filipinos confidence in their tomorrows…that their lives, and their futures, are secured by the things Allianz PNB Life efforts.”

Sports

KNIGHTS-RED LIONS IN FINALS

BusinessMirror

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| Monday, May 9, 2022

mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph Editor: Jun Lomibao

UP MAROONS RULE GAME 1

By Josef Ramos

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NIVERSITY of the Philippines (UP) again brandished a never-say-die game but this time at the most crucial phase of Season 84 University Athletic Association of the Philippines men’s basketball action.

The Fighting Maroons brought down the vaunted Blue Eagles for the second time this season via an 81-74 overtime victory in Game 1 of the best-of-three Finals witnessed live by more than 11,000 fans at the Mall of Asia Arena on Sunday night.

One more win and the Fighting Maroons are UAAP champions again after 36 years when a Benjie Parasled squad, spiced by the dynamic frontcourt dup of Ronnie Magsanoc

and Eric Altamirano, gave UP, a founding member of the league, its first men’s basketball title.

If the Fighting Maroons were on the driver’s seat in overtime, they weren’t in regulation when they played catch-up to their “fourpeat-seeking” rivals from across Katipunan.

And it took a courageous and cold-blooded three-pointer from James Spencer to send the game to overtime at 70-all.

“We had our ups and downs on both ends of the court,” UP Coach Goldwin Monteverde said. “But we just kept reminding each other not to give up.”

Not to give up the Fighting Maroons did—a trait they flashed since the last day of the eliminations when they dealt the Blue Eagles their

Handball team goes spotless

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World Cup-bound PHL women’s football team takes on Cambodia

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Annis and Hali Long, who spent the last month in Sydney, Australia, for training camp that included friendly matches against Fiji and Tonga.

“We’re looking forward to this tournament,” Stajcic said. “It’s an important tournament for us and we want to really build on the performances in the Asian Cup. A lot of teams underestimated us in the Asian Cup, and we’re certainly not going to do that here.”

Battle to stave off relegation WHEN Roy Hodgson said following Watford’s 0-1 loss to Crystal Palace last Sunday, “[We] fought until the last minute,” that’s hardly any consolation.

The loss to Crystal Palace confirmed that even with three matches left in the 2021-22 Premier League season, Watford will be relegated to the second division.

The Hornets have a 6-4-25 record—second worst to Norwich’s 5-6-23.

Everton, with five matches left, is holding on for dear life as

JAMES SPENCER defies two Blue Eagles defender in regulation and later nails a “three” that sends Game 1 to overtime. free-throw line, for UP, while Lucero finished with 17 points, 13 rebounds and two blocks.

Spencer also stepped up with 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the field, while Malick Diouf— who fouled out with 4:42 left in overtime—finished with 10 points, 15 rebounds, four assists, three

steals and one block.

Ange Kouame led the Blue Eagles with 18 points, 11 rebounds, four blocks, four assists and two steals.

SJ Belangel and Raffy Verano each tallied 17 points for Ateneo.

Dave Ildefonso was limited to only six points on 2-of-6 shooting while committing six turnovers.

Drake 4th, Malaysia wins 1st SEAG gold medal

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HE Philippine beach handball team snatched its second straight victory at the expense of Singapore, 22-19, 22-16, at Tuan Chau Island in Quang Nihn Province, Vietnam, on Sunday.

The win was a fitting followup to the Filipinos’ 18-16, 18-16 upset of Thailand, which clinched silver in the 2019 Philippines Games, behind Vietnam, two days ago.

HE Philippine women’s football team aims to build on its recent success as it vies in the 31st Southeast Asian Games football competition starting on Monday in Cam Pha, Vietnam.

The Filipinas, who qualified for the FIFA Women’s World Cup for the first time after reaching the semifinals of the Asian Football Confederation Women’s Asian Cup in India early this year, open their campaign against Cambodia at 7 p.m. in Group A on Monday at Cam Pha Stadium.

Coach Alen Stajcic will have 20 players at his disposal for the tournament although two key names from the Asian Cup will not be around to fuel their bid.

Chandler McDaniel, who scored against Thailand, is sidelined by an ACL injury she suffered in the Asian Cup semifinals against Korea Republic, while Katrina Guillou is out due to club commitments.

The SEA Games is not in the FIFA window, which meant clubs are not compelled to release their players.

“It just gives someone a chance to step up and try to get a position in the squad,” Stajcic said.

Japan-based stars Quinley Quezada and Sarina Bolden are both available for selection, along with captain Tahnai

first loss in 39 games spanning three seasons, 84-83, on Labor Day May 1.

On Friday night, that unrelenting stance reared its teeth to the hilt as the Fighting Maroons staved off the De La Salle Green Archers’ upset bid in their do-or-die Final Four duel, 78-74.

Trailing by three in the extra period, UP unleashed eight straight points on Zavier Lucero’s threepointer, Ricci Rivero’s and-one and Carl Tamayo’s layup for a 79-74 lead with a little over two minutes left.

The Fighting Maroons then applied a suffocating defense that dealt Ateneo scoreless until the final buzzer.

UP could bring the trophy back to Diliman in Game 2 set at 6 p.m. also at the MOA Arena.

Rivero had 19 points, including a flawless 11-of-11 from the

ETRAN survived a scare from University of Perpetual Help System Dalta, 77-75, to advance outright to the Finals for the second straight season in the National Collegiate Athletic Association seniors basketball tournament on Sunday at the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan.

San Beda University beat Mapua, 73-67, in the other Final Four game to send the Finals to a Knights-Red Lions showdown.

Game 1 of the race-to-two series starts with Game 1 at 3 p.m. on Wednesday also at the San Juan venue.

The fourth-ranked Altas gave the back-to-back titleseeking Knights everything they’ve got—and even had a shot at sending the game to overtime or winning it—but fell short of extending the semifinals duel to a deciding game.

Jielo Razon missed a potential game-winning triple in the dwindling seconds that allowed Letran to extend its perfect run this season to 10 games.

Rhenz Abando matched his career-high 24 points he highlighted with two crowdpleasing slam dunks to go with three rebounds, two assists and two steals. Jeo Ambohot produced a double-double effort of 14 points and 14 rebounds for the Knights.

Fran Yu had 13 points, including a free throw that gave the Knights a two-point lead in the final 7.4 seconds. He also had five rebounds and three assists.

It was the end to an improbable journey for Perpetual Help, which hurdled Arellano University and College of Saint Benilde in the play-in stage and arrange the semifinal duel with Letran.

The Altas pulled off those two wins almost without forward Kim Aurin, who missed a second straight game because of chickenpox.

Razon led Perpetual Help with 21 points, 11 rebounds and four assists while Jeff Egan added 14 points, four assists and two steals.

Having beaten their opponents with an average of 13 points in the eliminations, the Knights’ two-point victory against the Altas was their closest winning margin this season.

RIANA DRAKE finished fourth—and last—in the women’s 1-meter springboard of diving on Sunday afternoon, a performance that could auger well for the youngster in future Southeast Asian Games.

Only 17 and a SEA Gamesfirst-timer, Drake was ranged against experienced divers Nur Dhabitah Sabri and Kimberly Bong Quian, who finished 1-2 in

the event, thus, allowing Malaysia to win the first top medals of the Games that has yet to formally open on Thursday.

Sabri, a multi-medalist in Commonwealth and Asian Games and owner of four SEA Games gold medals, scored 290.45 points while her equally experienced teammate posted 230.00 points for the silver in the event that only had four competitors.

The Filipinas, supported by the Philippine Olympic Committee and Philippine Sports Commission, are looking forward to playing in a packed stadium, especially against host Vietnam, whom they play on Tuesday in the women’s football venue sitiated some 200 kms away from main hub Hanoi.

“Playing in India with no crowds was really disappointing,” he said.

“But hopefully we’re moving towards a post Covid world and I’m sure the players will be enjoying playing in a full stadium here especially when we play Vietnam in a few days’ time.”

Red-hot Alcaraz beats Djokovic, makes Madrid Open final

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ADRID—Rafael Nadal one day. Novak Djokovic the next.

The list of victims of Spanish teenager Carlos Alcaraz keeps growing.

And so does the hype over tennis’s newest sensation.

After defeating his idol Nadal in the quarterfinals on Friday, the 19-year-old Alcaraz rallied to beat

Vietnam also got into the medal tally board early on Ngo Phuong Mai’s bronze in the event with a 224.00 score in the diving competitions being staged at the My Dinh Aquatics Center in Hanoi.

Drake will compete in the women’s 3-meter springboard on Tuesday.

The 1-meter springboard for women wasn’t on the Philippine SEA Games program in 2019.

top-ranked Djokovic, 6-7 (5), 7-5, 7-6 (5), after more than three-and-ahalf hours on Saturday to reach the Madrid Open final.

“It was one of those matches to enjoy,” Alcaraz said. “Despite the tension, despite being the semifinals, being 7-6 in the third-set tiebreaker ... I’ve enjoyed it. Until the last point I was being able to smile.”

In the women’s final, Ons Jabeur of Tunisia won her biggest career title by defeating Jessica Pegula of the US in three sets.

Jabeur, the first Arab woman in the top 10, won, 7-5, 0-6, 6-3, for her

second career title.

“When I had the match point, I was like, I had to win it from the beginning, otherwise it’s going to be very tough for me,” Jabeur said. “But I’m very happy and trying to realize that I won today, really.”

Pegula, a one-time tour winner, will reach a career-high No. 11 ranking on Monday.

Alcaraz became the first player to beat Nadal and Djokovic at the same clay-court event. He converted his third match point in front of a raucous home crowd on the Caja Mágica center court. AP

THE list of victims of Spanish teenager Carlos Alcaraz keeps growing. AP

THE Lady Azkals are ready for action.

it is currently in the relegation zone with a 9-5-19 record.

Leeds United, with only one more match played than the Toffees, is in 16th spot, and is also in danger of being demoted after spending these last two seasons in top flight football.

The teams that are relegated stand to lose a lot of sponsorship and television money. Although there is the parachute scheme to help teams financially, it isn’t enough and many squads lose their best players. That means they need to start building a team that can get them back to top flight football.

And it isn’t easy or even automatic.

Some teams take years to recover from relegation. Leeds is one example.

After it was relegated following the 2003-04 season, it stayed down for 16 years before it returned for the 2020-21 season.

In that 16-year span, Leeds also spent three seasons in the third division before moving back to the second division.

Leeds surprised in its first season back during the 2020-21 campaign but midway, everyone figured the team out. And whatever magic then manager Marcelo Bielsa had has since dissipated. He was first mid-way through this difficult season.

Sunderland, which was relegated from the Premiership

it the end of the 2016-17 season, had sunk even lower. It has been in the third division for the last four years. It’s fifth in a league of nine squads.

I keenly followed the two seasons of Sunderland on Netflix titled, “Sunderland ‘Til I Die,” and even if I do not root for the Black Cats as they are nicknamed, I feel for them.

Of that squad that was relegated in the 2016-17 season, only one player remains to this day–midfielder Aiden McGeady who previous to moving to Sunderland, was with Everton.

Two of his more prominent teammates on the Black Cats that season—John O’Shea and Lee Cattermole— have since retired.

Last Friday, the Black Cats looked to further their escape from League One (third tier of English Football) after a 1-nil win over newly relegated Sheffield United.

If you saw the travails of Sunderland’s fall from the PL, it is heartening for any Black Cats fan to see how they have consistently drawn over 30,000 fans in 23 matches this season.

While that helps financially, it will take them a while to build a team to get them out of where they are.

Both Norwich and Watford were promoted to the Premier League after the 2020-21 season. Brentford, the third squad promoted, is at 12th spot, and safe

from any relegation.

Watford has spent six of the last seven years in the Premier League and will be going down for the second time in three seasons.

Norwich has spent six of the last 11 years in the PL, but like Watford, will go down for a second time in three years.

And should Everton join Norwich, it will be the first time for the team to be relegated in its 144-year history.

Its final fixtures include Watford on the road at Vicarage Road after which the team goes home to play Brentford. It defends home turf once more against but this time against Crystal Place then travel to London to play Arsenal in the final game of the season.

At home in Goodison Park last October 23, the Toffees got waxed, 5-2. Brentford held serve at their Community Stadium for a 1-nil win last November 28, 2021. Everton lost to Crystal Place, 3-1, last December 13.

It managed to chalk up a 2-1 win against Arsenal at Goodison in December 7. All four matches were played under a vastly different mindset—they weren‘t in the relegation zone then—and under a different manager in Rafa Martinez.

While the battle for the Premiership still isn’t decided, the relegation battle is just as interesting. Save perhaps for the four clubs in question.