BusinessMirror May 23, 2023

Beyond Covid, PHL focused on economic devt

By Samuel P. Medenilla @sam_medenilla

FOLLOWING the World Health Organization’s (WHO) declaration of the end of the global health emergency from Covid-19 earlier this month, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. said the country will now shift its priorities from pandemic response to economic development.

“ We can now refocus our priorities on the development of our economy and the betterment of the lives of ordinary Filipinos,” Marcos said in his speech at the

Asian Development Bank (ADB) headquarters in Mandaluyong City on Monday.

H e said the government will now intensify its efforts to transform the economy so it will be better than its prepandemic levels.

Our goal is still to evolve our economy into one that is defined by sustainability, climate-resilience, responsiveness and of course inclusivity,”

Marcos said.

Under the government’s twopronged “transformative agenda,” the government will push for programs that develop and

protect the capabilities of individuals and families, while at the same time boost industry production to help in the generation of more quality jobs.

To facilitate the whole transformation process, these must be firmly implanted on the foundation of an enabling government environment that encompasses key aspects and sectors, such as peace and justice, infrastructure, inclusive finance, good governance, and climate and disaster resilience,” Marcos said.

He said the government will coordinate with ADB and other

multilateral lending institutions to achieve this goal of “transformative journey.”

M arcos stressed that universal health protocols will remain in place despite an economic-centered agenda.

E arlier this month, WHO said the pandemic is no longer a global health emergency of international concern amid the growing population immunity against Covid-19, coupled with declining fatalities from the disease.

Since it started recording Covid-19 incidents, WHO registered over 765 million Covid-19 cases worldwide.

BusinessMirror

FITCH SEES PHL RETURN TO ‘STRONG’ GROWTH

By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas @jearcalas

I n its report, the credit rating agency revised its outlook on the Philippines’s long-term foreign currency issuer default rating (IDR) to stable from negative.

Fitch Ratings explained that the revision “reflects” its “confidence” that the Philippines is now “returning” to strong economic growth post-pandemic.

F urthermore, the anticipated better economic performance would support the “sustained” reduction in the government’s debtto-GDP ratio.

The revision also reflects our assessment that the Philippines’ economic policy framework remains sound and in line with ‘BBB’ peers, despite its low scores on World Bank Governance indicators,” the debt watcher said in its report.

The revision comes despite some relative deterioration over the last years in credit metrics that previously had been strengths, including in government debt/ GDP and net external debt/GDP,” it added.

See “Fitch,” A2

EU-ABC: ‘POSITIVE’ SIGNALS BOOST PHL BID FOR MORE FDI

By Andrea E. San Juan

THE EU-Asean Business Council (EU-ABC) said it is now seeing “positive developments” from President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s economic team that will improve the Philippines’s standing as a destination for foreign direct investments (FDI) from Europe.

The Philippines is a country of huge potential but unfortunately has, until now, been underperforming compared to some of its Asean neighbors,” Chris Humphrey, Executive Director of the EU-Asean Business Council.

H owever, Humphrey noted,

“we are now seeing positive developments from the Economic Team under President Marcos Jr. that will surely improve the standing of the country as a destination for FDI from Europe.”

A ccording to Humphrey, being part of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) will spell a “significant” benefit to the Philippines.

M oreover, he said, “Hopefully, we will soon see the recommencement of FTA discussions with the EU: a rapid conclusion of that prospective Agreement, would really put the Philippines on the map for European businesses.”

See “EU-ABC,” A2

VOTING 254 against three and zero abstentions, the House of Representatives on Monday approved on third and final reading a consolidated bill providing for a 30-year national infrastructure program for 2023 up to 2052.

Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez said House Bill 8078 aims to put in place a long-term system of funding and sustaining public infrastructure projects for the benefit of the people.

This will be an all-encompassing program covering not only public works like roads, bridges and expressways, which we commonly refer to as infrastructure, but also energy, water resources, information and technology, agrifisheries, food logistics, and so -

cially-oriented structures such as school buildings and other educational facilities,” Romualdez said.

“ It would institutionalize the ‘Build Better More’ program of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to support a strong economy that would generate more job and income opportunities for our people, and build a resilient and reliable national infrastructure network,” he said.

H B No. 8078 mandates the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda), in consultation with implementing agencies and stakeholders, formulate the 30year infrastructure program in detail, including measurable targets and the selection, prioritization and phasing of specific projects.

CULTURAL TREASURE Billowing smoke reflected on the Pasig River marks the loss of a beloved landmark as the historic Manila Central Post Office, a neoclassical architectural masterpiece designed by Filipino architects Juan M. Arellano and Tomás Mapúa in 1926, was completely destroyed by a fire that broke out late Sunday, May 21, 2023. The iconic building, which served as Manila’s main postal office and housed the Philippine Postal Corporation, held a significant place in the city’s heritage. Story in Nation, A3 NONIE REYES

FITCH Ratings reaffirmed its BBB credit rating for the Philippines and improved its economic outlook for the country as it is projected a “return” to “strong” medium-term growth after the Covid-19 pandemic.

Synchronized ecozone IT systems eyed by Peza, DICT

By Andrea E. San Juan

A ccording to Peza Director General Tereso O. Panga, the MOU between the two government agencies are the two parties’ response to the call of President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. to “ramp up” digitalization in government to ensure fast and efficient delivery of ser

vices to the public.

For Peza’s part, he said it is committed to carry out Trade and Industry Secretary Alfredo E. Pascual’s directive to adopt digital transformation to boost the country’s competitiveness as an investment destination particularly for hightech and “innovator accelerator” companies.

We are once again making an -

other breakthrough as we continuously enhance data security, transparency, and government transactions to better serve our ecozone developers, locators, and investors making the country more conducive to do and expand businesses with,” the Peza chief said.

For his part, DICT Secretary Ivan John E. Uy expressed confidence that the MOU signing for e-governance between Peza and DICT will “unify” everyone as one government to push for the use of a single operating system for all government transactions ensuring a “faster, streamlined, and more convenient delivery of government services in the country.”

T he measure provides that the total annual allocation for the program shall be at least five percent of gross domestic product, provided

A ccording to the Peza chief, with DICT’s help and guidance, the efforts that Peza has exerted throughout these years, in connection with digitalization will “continue and remain steadfast to enhance office and administrative efficiencie, customer satisfaction, and the delivery of services for a much-improved ease of doing business (EODB).”

I n a statement on Monday, Peza said under the MOU, the DICT will “assess and evaluate as well as assist in the development and enhancement of current applications and systems of Peza and provide recommendations and strategy for the improvement of the agency’s ICT system.”

The DICT shall also provide an appraisal of the programs and projects that both agencies may agree to develop and shall ensure that identified and existing applications and systems of Peza will be integrated with DICT and that of the digitalization aspect of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s 8-Point SocioEconomic Agenda,” the investment promotion agency also noted.

I n turn, Peza “shall provide guidance on its processes and relevant information and data to DICT ensuring that respective systems and

that the constitutional command giving budgetary priority to education shall be observed. T he government may also tap

applications are interoperable.”

By adopting e-governance and advancing the development of various solutions, together, we can eliminate bureaucratic inefficiencies, reduce red tape, and provide faster and more convenient access to critical government services,” the DICT chief said.

Panga said that “Peza has recently rolled out its e-payment system and is set to launch its eLOA in June this year to automate the remaining office processes to further enhance the facilitation of ecozone shipments. This will make Peza among the trailblazers in government into cashless and paperless transactions.”

Meanwhile, Peza said it is also eyeing other high-impact IT infrastructure and automation projects for implementation this year such as hybrid internet connectivity in the ecozones, e-container tracking system with Bureau of Customs (BOC), electronic visa and building permits, e-financial management system, Engineering Permits Assessment Monitoring System (EPAMS), digital marketplace, full integration of the public ecozone command centers, and cyber security solutions.

official development assistance as funding source.

T he Neda and the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) shall determine the funding allotment for each implementing agencies based on their priorities, absorptive capacity and performance.

P rojects under the program may be undertaken by the national government through its implementing agencies, by the private sector through public-private-partnership (PPP) agreements, PPPs in partnership with local government units, or a combination of those modalities.

T he proposed law defines the functions and responsibilities of implementing agencies in each sector of the 30-year national infrastructure program, starting with transport and logistics; energy; water resources; information and communications technology; social infrastructure; and agri-fisheries modernization and food logistics.

It also lists numerous “core national infrastructure projects” throughout the country in each sector.

T he Neda is tasked to regularly update the list of core projects to reflect changes in development policies, in economic, physical and social conditions, and in the status of the projects.

To achieve efficiency and transparency, projects in the program may be procured through electronic online platforms. Implementing agencies may use automated management tools that can help track project implementation.

T he proposed infrastructure law holds implementing and oversight agencies accountable under existing laws, including the AntiGraft and Corrupt Practices Act and auditing rules, for the proper performance of their respective responsibilities and implementation of projects under the program.

I mplementing rules and regulations are to be issued by a committee composed of the Neda director general as chairman and all members of the Neda infrastructure committee as members, in consultation with stakeholders, including the private sector and local government units.

P rincipal authors of the bill include two House members who are former undersecretaries of the Department of Public Works and Highways: Romeo Momo Sr., who chairs the House committee on public works, and Salvador Pleyto.

Fitch Ratings said it estimates that the Philippines’ real GDP growth would be at above 6 percent over the medium term, which it noted is “considerably stronger” than the BBB median of 3 percent.

Fitch Ratings added that the 6-percent GDP reflects “normalization” of the country’s economic activity after the Covid-19 pandemic and positive effects of the government’s investment program, following a 7.6-percent economic growth last year. “Ongoing reforms to the business environment and investment regulations create upside potential for growth,” it said.

T he credit rating agency projected the country’s inflation “to moderate” to an average of about 4 percent next year, which is in line with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’s upper-end inflation target range.

Fitch Ratings said its inflation projection for the Philippines is based on “lower commodity prices, base effects and 425 [basis points] of rate hikes since the start of 2022.”

It explained, “We continue to view the central bank’s inflation-targeting framework and flexible exchange rate regime as credible. Last year’s interventions to mitigate peso volatility have been reversed.”

“ Monetary financing to the government during the pandemic was more limited and was

reversed more quickly than in some peers. The government’s response to the commodity price shock has been measured, for example in resisting calls to introduce fuel subsidies,” it added.

I n a statement, Finance Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno welcomed the Fitch Ratings’ report and claimed that the improved outlook for the Philippines is a “testament” to the country’s “robust macroeconomic fundamentals.”

D iokno noted that the improved economic growth was “evidenced” by the 7.6-percent GDP last year and 6.4 percent GDP in the first quarter of the year.

Fitch’s latest rating action reflects the strong economic activity which can be fostered by the improved investment climate in the country. The country’s growth is further supported by the steady improvement of our labor and employment conditions,” Diokno said.

“ We will continue to rely on structural reforms that will broaden opportunities and enhance the country’s productivity, particularly through higher investments in infrastructure. The full implementation of the six-year Medium-Term Fiscal Framework will support these investments while promoting fiscal sustainability,” he added.

M eanwhile, according to European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (ECCP) President Lars Wittig, the Philippines’s progress in attracting more foreign direct investments (FDIs) has undergone much “scrutiny” following the enactment of economic reforms and the recent creation of a “green lane” for strategic investments.

“Certainly, there is much opportunity for Europe and the Philippines to strengthen their economic ties, especially in line with their longstanding trade and investment relations,” Wittig noted.

It is highly encouraged that the Philippines further leverages its status as the only Asean country beneficiary of the [EU Generalised Scheme of Preferences Plus] EU GSP+ trade preference. We equally look forward to further advancements in the EUPH [Free trade agreement] FTA discussions, which are crucial for the Philippines to become a magnet for more European investments and increased trade,” Wittig added.

Meanwhile, in a statement on Monday, EU-ABC announced that the 2023 European-Philippine Business Dialogue will be held on

May 25, 2023.

N ow on its tenth run, the Dialogue will feature a series of high-level discussions on how private and public sectors can forge stronger economic ties between the Philippines and Europe, EUABC said.

O ne of the highlights of the Dialogue is the presentation of the ECCP’s latest set of Advocacy Papers. The annual publication of the Chamber aims to provide an overview of industry perspectives on pressing issues, and concerns, as well as corresponding policy recommendations, EUABC noted.

T he EU-Asean Business Council said the list of confirmed speakers includes Executive Secretary Lucas P. Bersamin, Special Assistant to the President Antonio Ernesto F. Lagdameo, Jr., Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno, Trade and Industry Undersecretary Maria Blanca Kim Lokin, and Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA) Director General Ernesto Perez. Guests include EU and Asean member states heads of mission and members of the diplomatic corps, as well as highlevel European and Asean business executives.

I n his opening statement at the Science committee hearing, Tulfo recalled the recent online hacks and scams against GCash and LandBank of the Philippines, as well as the massive data breach that exposed over 1.2 million records belonging to the Philippine National Police (PNP), National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR).

“ It is high time that our critical information infrastructure is protected. Our country’s economic stability, national security and the privacy of our citizens rely on this. We must acknowledge the ever-growing threats posed by cybercriminals, who

are becoming increasingly sophisticated in their malicious activities,” he said in a mix of English and Filipino.

T he senator also reiterated his appeal to the committee to support the passage of Senate Bill No. (SBN) 1701, otherwise known as the “Critical Information Infrastructure Act, which he authored. SBN 1701, according to the current version of the bill, hopes to address these online challenges by mandating that CIIs adopt and implement global information security standards and best practices to protect the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of vital information.”

THEPhilippine Economic Zone Authority (Peza) has inked an agreement with the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) for a “more synchronized and well-coordinated” ICT system in the ecozones.

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The Nation

LTO’s Tugade quits post due to differences with DOTr

By Lorenz S. Marasigan @lorenzmarasigan

CITING differences in ways of working with the Department of Transportation (DOTr), Land Transportation Office (LTO) Chief Jay Art Tugade has resigned from his post.  “Even as DOTr and LTO both aim to succeed in serving the public, our methods to achieve that success differ. For this reason, I am stepping down, so [Transportation] Secretary Jimmy Bautista will have the free hand to choose who he can work best with,” he said in a statement issued on Monday.

His resignation comes only a few weeks after he admitted that there is a shortage on plastic cards for physical licenses. The DOTr stepped in to procure the supplier of the cards.

Tugade was appointed by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. in November.

His office provided the media an “accomplishment report” during his half-a-year stint as the LTO chief.

T hese include digital transformation efforts, setting stable prices for driver education, extension of registration periods for new motorcycles, discounts for electronic vehicle users, reduction of fees, removal of periodic medical exams, and transparency measures, among others.

We extend our appreciation to Assistant Secretary Jose Arturo Tugade for his 7-month stint as Assistant Secretary of the Land Transportation Office. His pursuit of service innovations at LTO benefited the public, for which this office is grateful,” Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista said, when asked for comment.

He noted that the DOTr would provide a recommendation for Tugade’s replacement.

We will submit to the Office of the President our recommendation of an LTO Chief who can display the same fervor, while aligning efforts to the mission of this department,” Bautista said.

Tugade’s resignation will take effect on June 1.

Suspect in Degamo slay recants affidavits, denies knowing Rep. Teves and Miranda

By Joel R. San Juan @jrsanjuan1573

ONE of the suspects in the killing of Negros Oriental Governor Roel Degamo and nine others have recanted his affidavits linking suspended Negros Oriental Representative Arnolfo “Arnie” Teves Jr. and his former bodyguard Marvin Miranda as masterminds of the gruesome crime.

In his two-page affidavit of recantation submitted to the Department of Justice (DOJ), Osmundo Rivero accused police investigators of torturing and coercing him into admitting his participation in the crime that took place last March 4.

R ivero recounted on March 5, 2023, at around 9 a.m., he was flagging down a police vehicle in Bayawan City, Negros Oriental to report

his missing motorcycle but instead of getting an assistance he was told to board the vehicle and brought to the Philippine National Police-Provincial Intelligence Unit.

R ivero said he was surprised to find out that he was among those being considered as suspects in the Degamo slay case.

T he suspect was assisted by his lawyer Harold Montalbo in submitting his recantation to the Department of Justice (DOJ), which covers all the three affidavits he previously executed in connection with the Degamo slay case, and Montalbo also claimed that Rivero was not properly assisted by a lawyer when he executed his affidavits.

In his recantation, said that the Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) lawyer assigned to him told him to just give in to the demands of the police

Senate reso calls for probe into massive Manila Post Office blaze

By Butch Fernandez @butchfBM

IN the wake of the Manila Central Post Office fire, Senator Robinhood Padilla stressed Monday the need to improve preservation and protection measures for the country's cultural properties.

Padilla pressed for a Senate inquiry into the fire that razed the Manila Central Post Office Sunday night by filing Senate Resolution 627, directing the appropriate Senate committee to pursue an inquiry “with the aim of revisiting and strengthening policies for the preservation and protection of cultural properties against fire and other hazards.”

Padilla pointed out “this recent incident underscores the vulnerability of our national cultural heritage to fire and other hazards and highlights the urgent need to revisit and assess the effectiveness of existing preservation and protection measures.”

T he Padilla resolution reminds, “It is of public interest to provide policies that will prevent or mitigate the effect of fire and other hazards to protect and preserve our national cultural heritage.”

T he senator recalled that the Manila Central Post Office Building is an iconic neo-classical build-

ing designed in 1926 by American architects Ralph Doane and Tomas Mapua, and Filipino architect Juan Marcos de Guzman Arellano.

For almost a century, he noted the Post Office building was known as the grandest building of its time and is currently known as one of the dominating landmarks in Metro Manila.

Moreover, Padilla pointed out that in 2018, the Manila Post Office building was declared an “important cultural property.”

“

ßThe Manila Central Post Office is a tangible representation of the nation's culture and history, and its damage is a blow to the country’s cultural heritage,” the senator stressed. PRC responded AS soon as the PRC received the report about the fire, it deployed a PRC fire truck to the fire scene.

From 11:43 pm on Sunday until the general alarm was raised at 5:30 am the next day, PRC deployed a fire truck, a fire tanker, four ambulance units, 12 firefighters, and at least 14 emergency medical services (EMS) personnel from their stations in Manila City Chapter, PRC National Headquarters in Edsa-Mandaluyong, Port Area Manila, and Caloocan City Chapter. With Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco

SEC, PNP seize computers of online lender Realm Shifters BPO Services

By VG Cabuag @Villygc

THE Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Mon -

day said it seized the computer hardware and data of online lending operator Realm Shifters BPO Services/ FESL BPO Services in Pasig as the government continues to take down more entities engaged in unauthorized lending activities.

T he seizure was conducted in a joint operation on Tuesday, May 16, by the combined forces of the SEC Enforcement and Inves -

tor Protection Department and

Philippine National Police AntiCybercrime Group.

T he Pasig City Regional Trial Court Branch 159 issued the search warrant against Salvador Jennifer Mangubat, registered owner of Realm Shifters/ FESL, and other managers, supervisors, team leaders, operators and occupants of the office for misuse of device penalized under the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012.

T he joint operation resulted in the arrest of eight individuals identified as operators, managers, employees

and agents of Realm Shifters/FESL.

T he SEC has been receiving numerous complaints against online lending applications for various violations of RA No. 9474, or the Lending Company Regulation Act, and for abusive debt collection practices in violation of SEC Memorandum Circular on the Prohibition on Unfair Debt Collection Practices of Financing Companies and Lending Companies.

T he SEC warned that those who engage in abusive debt collection practices may now be criminally prosecuted.

to avoid getting hurt.   He said he was beaten up, strangled and suffocated by investigators to force him into admitting that it was Teves who ordered the attack on Degamo’s residence.

He added that he was offered to be placed under the Witness Protection Program if he cooperated with the police and also assured his family’s safety.

However, Rivero also expressed belief that his family has been taken into custody by authorities as they have been missing since March 5.

It’s not true that I know any Marvin. And it’s also not true that I pointed at the picture of Cong. Teves because I don’t know him and I never saw him,” Rivero said.

It’s also not true that I was aware of any plot to kill Gov. Degamo and I am not familiar with the guns and the

clothing used because I have never seen them,” he added.

T his developed as Rivero, through his counsel, filed a writ of habeas corpus petition before the Regional Trial Court of Manila City seeking to compel Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla and National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) director Medardo de Lemos to present before his wife Queenie Rivero, his twoyear-old son Jophiel and 15-year-old stepson Christian.

R ivero said he received information that his wife and two sons were taken by a team of soldiers from the Philippine Army together with members of the Municipal Police Station of Bayog, Zamboanga del Sur from their residence in Kahayagan, Bayog, Zamboanga del Sur.

He said his family was taken to the Office of the Provincial Police in

Camp Aberlon, Pagadian City before they were turned over to the NBI.    “Reports have also reached petitioner that his family was brought to Manila and provided accommodations by the NBI/DOJ agents,” the petition read. Rivero said his family did not commit any offense that would warrant their arrest or deprivation of their liberty.

There is no martial law in the Philippines, the confinement of petitioner’s family under the circumstances above narrated is utterly illegal,” the petition added.    A Writ of Habeas Corpus “is a writ directed to a person detaining another, commanding the former to produce the body of the latter at a designated time and place.”   It extends “to all cases of illegal and arbitrary detention by which any person is deprived of his liberty….”

PHL, ADB eye food stamp program, other measures vs climate change

By Samuel P. Medenilla @sam_medenilla

PRESIDENT Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. said the country would be weathering the worst effects of climate change by ramping up government spending for mitigation and adaptation initiatives with help from the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

M arcos assured the increased public infrastructures spending during his term would incorporate the elements of sustainability, climate resilience and disaster proofing to address the country’s high vulnerability to climate change.

It will be implemented in our water supply, in our sanitation, energy and transportation systems, including agriculture and food production and many other essential areas,” the President said during his visit to the ADB headquarters in Mandaluyong City on Monday.  “ Our options are limited, we must mitigate, we must adapt, and if we don’t do that we must suffer,” he added.

CPS

MARCOS said he is now eagerly

waiting for the completion of the Country Partnership Strategy (CPS) with ADB for 2024-2029, which will focus on investments related to climate change and the country’s workforce.

Climate change will be the lodestar for our integral national policies and investment decisions,” Marcos said.

F or his part, ADB President Masatsuga Asakawa, committed to continue extending aid to the Philippine government for its climate change response.

The Philippines is especially vulnerable to the impacts of climate change because of its exposure to severe weather events with 70 percent of the population residing along the coast,” Asakawa said.

“ADB is fully committed to helping the Philippines address climate change and it will be a core priority of our assistance going forward,” he added.

Expanded ODA coverage

ASIDE from climate change, he said the government is also eyeing partnership with ADB in upskilling the country’s workforce.

Traditionally, ADB has provided

assistance to infra, now the scope of the ODA [official development assistance] that we get through ADB has…increased and we are now talking about agriculture, we are talking about reskilling and retraining, we’re talking about climate change and its mitigation and adaptation, and perhaps we will go forward,” Marcos told reporters in a chance interview at the ADB headquarters.

A mong the new initiatives they are considering with ADB is a food stamp program to help minimize local hunger incidents, according to the President.  Marcos thanked ADB for consistently extending support to the government.

A sakawa said for this year alone, they expect to extend $4 billion funding to Philippines for its socioeconomic agenda.

T hese projects include the BataanCavite Interlink Bridge Project, the Davao City Public Transport Modernization Program, and the Integrated Floods Protection Resilience and Adaptation Project.  A DB became the country’s top sources of ODA last year after it contributed $10.74 billion for the government projects.

Dutch envoy gauges impact of dredging in Manila Bay

DUTCH Ambassador to the Philippines Marielle

Garadaets recently held a consultation meeting with Cavite fisherfolk to look into the impacts of dredging activities to people and the environment in Manila Bay.

In particular, the Dutch ambassador is looking into the alleged adverse environmental and social impact of the dredging operation of Boskalis, a Dutch maritime construction firm tapped by local corporations involved in one of the reclamation projects in Manila Bay.

Fisherfolk from various towns in Cavite asserted that the

Boskalis dredging project should be immediately terminated, citing its alleged adverse effects to fishing activities.

T hey alleged the activities cause the disruption of marine life and are driving away of fish due to noise pollution caused by dredging equipment.  The ongoing activities also trigger bigger waves and increased tidal currents in dredging sites.

Moreover, fisherfolk group Pamalakaya said fishing nets are being hauled by dredging equipment along with the sand.

L astly, the group said the ongoing activities are causing

a drastic decline in fish stocks, blaming it to dredging-related pollution, ecological disruptions, and stressors.

Pamalakaya spokesperson Ronnel Arambulo, who was present in the consultation, told the Dutch envoy to hold the Boskalis accountable for the damages it has inflicted on the livelihood of local fishers, as well as to the marine environment and fisheries resources.

T he group reported an 80 percent decline in the average fish catch of fisherfolk since the dredging operations started two years ago.  Jonathan L. Mayuga

Designation of Panaon Island as protected seascape pressed

AN international advocacy organization is urging Congress to pass a bill declaring Panaon Island as a protected seascape under the Expanded National Integrated Protected Areas System Act or RA 11038.

T he Department of Environment and Natural Resource (DENR) recently endorsed the designation to the House Committee on Natural

Resources chaired by Rep. Elpidio Barzaga Jr.

T he Panaon Island, situated in the southern tip of Southern Leyte, has up to 60 percent of very good coral cover, way above the national average of only 20 percent.

T he proposed seascape, if enacted, will be called Panaon Island Protected Seascape (PIPS). It has an area of about 61,204 hect-

ares or 612.04 sq. km covering the municipalities of Liloan, San Francisco, Pintuyan, and San Ricardo.

On May 15, the House Committee on Natural Resources provisionally approved the consolidated bill for the proposed Panaon Island seascape pending the submission of a minor revision to the technical description from the National Mapping and Resource Information Authority. The

mapping authority committed to submitting this by next week.

We call for the urgency of the measure as we race against time in achieving the targets and more importantly, in preserving the integrity of the natural life support system that our coral reefs, mangroves, seagrasses, and wetlands provide. The destruction of these invaluable havens for the people and

wildlife persists and will get worse if we will continue to lay back and take our own sweet time taking action,” said Atty. Liza Osorio, Oceana Acting Vice President.

A s a party to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the Philippines is committed to supporting the initiatives to ensure that at least 30 percent of the global ocean, especially areas of particu -

lar importance for biodiversity and ecosystem functions and services, are effectively conserved and managed by 2030.

Relatedly, in line with Sustainable Development Goal 14: Conserve and Sustainable Use the Oceans, Seas and Marine Resources, the Philippines set the goal of conserving at least 10 percent of its coastal and marine waters in 2020.

Romualdez welcomes SRP for onions to protect consumers from profiteers

By Raadee S. Sausa @raadeeboy

HOUSE Speaker Martin G. Romualdez has welcomed the move of the Department of Agriculture (DA) to implement a suggested retail price (SRP) for onions to protect consumers from profiteers and price manipulators as he also called for a crackdown against onion cartels.

Earlier, a ranking official said the DA would likely start Tuesday, or within this week, the implementation of an SRP of P150 per kilo for red onions and P140 per kilo for white onions with a warning that refusal to comply may lead to filing of charges in court.

“ The imposition of a SRP for onions, particularly now that market prices are on the uptrend anew, will shield our consumers from unconscionably high prices,” Romualdez said.

But extreme care should be taken to ensure that in the imposition of the SRP, the interest of stakeholders

such as the consumers, the traders, the market vendors, and especially our onion farmers are suitably protected,” he added. Romualdez also believes the imposition of the SRP alone would not address the recurring problem of wild price fluctuations of onion.

“As the hearings of the House Committee on Agriculture and Food have indicated, dismantling the onion cartel is a key element in ensuring the stable price of this commodity. Unless we destroy this cartel, this problem will haunt us again and again in the future,” Romualdez said.

Earlier, Romualdez urged authorities like the National Bureau of Investigation, the Philippine Competition Commission, and the DA to work together and pursue the leads obtained in the congressional hearings to build an airtight case against the onion cartel.

Putting members of this cartel behind bars will send the unmistakable message that the government

Petroleum companies adjust fuel pump prices

By Lenie Lectura @llectura

OIL firms announced Monday the implementation of mixed pump price adjustment starting this week.

Gasoline prices will go up by P0.80 per liter and diesel by P0.60 per liter. Meanwhile, kerosene prices will slightly go down by P0.10 per liter.

P etron, Shell, Caltex, Total, Unioil, Seaoil, PTT, and Phoenix said they would implement the new pump prices at 6 a.m. of Tuesday, May 23. Cleanfuel, on the other hand, will

adjust its prices at 4:01 p.m.

L ast week, oil companies implemented a per liter increase of P0.35 for gasoline, P1.40 for diesel and P1.20 for kerosene. These resulted to a year-to-date net decrease for diesel at P5.65/liter and kerosene at P6.30/ liter. Gasoline, on the other hand, has a net increase of P4.20/liter.

T he Department of Energy (DOE) said Dubai crude and MOPS prices of gasoline, diesel and kerosene increased as fears over the recent US banking crisis eased and after the US Energy Information Administration forecast global liquid fuels consumption to increase in 2023.

Also, the market remained concerned about the pace of China’s economic recovery.

The DOE said oil prices are largely driven by microeconomic concerns from the world’s two largest economies, US and China. Movements in the world oil market affect local pump prices.

will not tolerate any unfair trade practices that prey on the hapless consumer and farmers,” he said.

F urthermore, Romualdez has called for appropriate government assistance and incentives for farmers, particularly those growing onions, to encourage additional production and ensure ample supply.

The DA should provide necessary aid to our farmers, such as fertilizers, and build more cold storage facilities to encourage increased production. If we can produce enough, cartels will find it difficult to control the supply and manipulate prices,” he said.

“ The House of Representatives will be open to proposals from the DA geared towards achieving our food security goals,” the lawmaker added.

It could be recalled that when prices of onion surged to over P700 a kilo in December last year, Romualdez called for a congressional investigation in aid of legislation to address the issue and protect the consumers.

DAR installs 148 ARBs, issues CLOAs to 26 others in NegOcc

By Jonathan L. Mayuga @jonlmayuga

THE Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) recently installed 148 agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) and distributed certificates of land ownership award (CLOAs) to 26 farmers in Negros Occidental.

T he move aims to strengthen the farmers’ ownership of the lands they have been tilling for years.

From the 148 ARBs, 112 ARBs were installed in a 46-hectare land in Silay City, while 36 ARBs were also installed in Escalante City in an 18.87-hectare property.

Meanwhile, the 26 ARBs that received their land titles covered a total of 25.29 hectares of land also in the province of Negros Occidental.

In a statement, DAR Western Visayas Director Sheila Enciso said the installation of farmer-beneficiaries to their awarded land aims to provide lands to landless farmers.

These activities, conducted through the process of Land Acquisition and Distribution under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program [CARP], guarantee the farmers’ land security and social equity, and provide them with the necessary productive resources needed to ensure their economic viability and productivity,” she said.

Enciso added that layout and monumenting survey activities were also carried out to appropriately mark and indicate the technical descriptions of the lot specified in their CLOAs.

In Silay City, the lands involved in the installation were previously managed by Pacita Gayoso, et al., identified by Title Number T-9800, bearing Lot No. 672-B, with an area of 46.2957 hectares that is situated at Barangay Hawaiian; while properties in Escalante City were formerly managed by Rosario Carcueva with Title Numbers T-86317 and T-110614, bearing Lot Nos. 2620 and 2618, covering 18.8779 hectares, located at Barangay Paitan.

T he CLOAs for the distributed lands involved a landholdings previously owned by Gloria Galdeano, Ma. Teresa Elordi, Rural Bank of Sagay Inc., and Hermilinda Elordi, identified by Title Numbers P-18340, P-18101, T-155837, and P-17385, covering Lot Nos. 2838, 2841-B, 2 (2954), and 2658-E, having a total land area of 25.2966 hectares, situated at Barangay Libertad.

D A Assistant Secretary and spokesperson Kristine Evangelista earlier disclosed that the DA will also meet with stakeholders, led by farmers’ group Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura (SINAG), to discuss the issues affecting the supply and cost of onions.

“ We invited the stakeholders amid the increasing retail price of onions in the markets, ranging from P170 to P200 per kilo,” she said.

Evangelista added that the implementation of P150 per kilo SRP and the importation of onions would also be on the agenda during agriculture officials’ consultation with farmers’ groups.

[The SRP] will be part of the agenda, but before we can decide to impose an SRP, we have to make sure that we are using the right prices, and we are all on the same page in terms of farm-gate expenses of the traders,” Evangelista said.

A n SRP of P150 per kilo will ensure profit for traders and retailers, she added.

MOST farmlands in the country have low soil fertility because of “unsustainable practices,” a Department of Agriculture official revealed over the weekend.

T he degree of soil fertility in the country continue to decrease over the years, Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Soil and Water Management (DA-BSWM) Chief Agriculturist Karen Bautista said.

Ten years ago, our lands were at...moderate levels of soil fertility. It continues to degrade. There is degradation over the years because of some unsustainable agricultural practices,” she pointed out.

C iting their national soil fertility mapping project, Bautista stressed that about 82 percent of the farmlands in the country have moderate to low levels of soil fertility.

Meanwhile, the agriculturist said imported synthetic fertilizers such as urea lowered the level of nutrients in farmlands.

In response, Bautista said, the government is “aggressively campaigning” for a balanced

fertilization strategy to ramp up agricultural crop output.

Earlier, the DA Regional Field Office 9 said it will provide fertilizer assistance to rice farmers in the Zamboanga Peninsula.  T he DA program shall cover fertilizer assistance under the Production Support Services starting 2023 wet season and 2023-2024 dry season in riceproducing cities and municipalities in Zamboanga Peninsula. In order to facilitate the necessary preparations, the Rice Program will base the number of bags to be distributed on the submitted liquidation lists from the Office of the City/Municipal Agriculturist,” DA regional executive director Dennis Arpia said.

Because of budget constraints, the first priority are farmers who have received hybrid rice seeds from the DA-9 rice program.  Next on the list are farmers who have received certified rice seeds in irrigated areas and farmers who received certified rice seeds in favorable rain-fed areas. Raadee S. Sausa

Senate OKs bill hiking public school tutors’ allowance

THE Senate unanimously passed Monday on third and final reading an enabling legislation increasing the yearly supplies allowance of of all public school teachers.

W ith a unanimous vote of 22 senators present, Senate Bill No. (SBN) 1964, to be known as or the Kabalikat sa Pagtuturo Act, inched closer to ratification and enrolment for the President’s signing it into law. Its principal sponsor, Sen. Ramon Bong Revilla Jr., noted public school teachers are “overworked and yet, underpaid,” receiving only P24 a day under the current P5,000 teaching supplies allowance for the entire schoolyear. The current cash allowance also includes a P500 allocation for medical examination; if we deduct that from the purchase of teaching materials and equipment, it will only drop to P22 pesos per day. A box of chalk costs P68, a ream of bond paper costs P120, not including the internet load,” Revilla said in his sponsorship speech.

“ Teaching is the one profession that creates other professions, even the President of the country or even the bravest Senator — their thoughts and personality were shaped by our teachers,” Revilla said in mixed Filipino and English.

Under Senate Bill 1964 the teaching allowance gradually increases from the current P5,000 to P7,500 for school year 2023-2024 and P10,000 per teacher in the succeeding school years. The additional benefits shall not be subject to tax, it added.

Revilla also noted that the current teachers allowance allocation under the General Appropriations Act is P4.8 billion. He added the government only needs to allocate an additional P2 billion when the amount reaches P7,500; and P4.5 billion when it reaches P10,000 in the year 2025.

“ This is less than one percent of the total budget of the Department of Education in this era of the trillionpeso budget, it is too little for us to deny,” said Revilla, who also sits as

chairman of the Committee on Civil Service, Government Reorganization and Professional Regulation.

Revilla noted that "this very little support from the government is a huge help to every teacher, especially to those who intend to stay in the country and do not want to exchange their profession for dollars abroad.”

The senator thanked his colleagues for their support for the passage of Senate Bill No 1964, a substitution of SBNs 22, 94, 677, 1045, 1729 and 1831 authored by Revilla and Senators Robinhood Padilla, Sonny Angara, Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go, Jinggoy Ejercito Estrada, Joel Villanueva, Mark Villar, Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa and Win Gatchalian. “ Thank you to our colleagues here in the Senate for their full support of this proposal. With the passage of the ‘Kabilikat sa Pagtuturo Act,’ we are giving our dear teachers an assurance that they will always have the Senate as their ally in advocating, pushing, and fighting for their welfare" the senator said. Butch Fernandez

AI–the most impactful tech for 4th year in a row

nological development, according to the survey.

AI is reaching the tipping point where CEOs who have not yet invested in AI become concerned that they are missing something competitively important.

A heated competition is playing out in the vendor market, with tech giants such as Amazon, Microsoft and Google vying for enterprise buyin into their generative AI solutions and products.

By Henry J. Schumacher

IHAVE been writing about AI many times already and I am always telling myself that all has been said. But whenever I am preparing to write a new column and are looking at impacts on business, AI pops up again. Let my highlight a few developments:

CEOs think AI is the technology most likely to impact their industry in the next three years, according to 21 percent of respondents to a Gartner survey released last Wednesday. The firm surveyed 400 CEOs and other senior executives.

AI’s potential to accelerate productivity matches the top two strategic priorities CEOs are working on in 2023: growth and tech-

T he argument for implementing the technology is simple: generative AI will enhance efficiency by augmenting the capabilities of workers and lead to new income streams.

E xecutive leaders are starting to overcome the major changes of recent years, and moving toward an age in which talent, sustainability and next-level digital change will drive competitive performance.

Interest in the outcomes generative AI can deliver is outweighing concerns over risk or privacy issues, according to a previous Gartner survey. Two-thirds of executives say generative AI’s benefits outweigh potential risks. Nearly 1 in 5 leaders say their companies have advanced pilots or are in the production stages of using generative AI.

A s the technology powering generative AI applications evolves, regulation is still playing catch-up.

Some experts agree generative AI

and its potential effects on society require a more cohesive, thoughtful approach to legislation. But— in my view—two factors will make regulating AI extremely difficult:

1 .There’s a broad business opinion that the exciting advantages of generative AI outweigh the potential risks, including political risks.

2 . The development of new AI applications by competing companies is explosive. And young people are making use of the new developments daily and are forming new companies to exploit competitive advantages!

Some businesses are rushing to integrate large language models and generative AI capabilities and tools into their tech stacks, while others are taking a more cautious approach. No matter where a business is on its AI journey, there are risks and rewards that come with adopting new technologies.

In conclusion:

Human involvement will be key to how generative AI will shape our future.

Generative AI is capturing the zeitgeist, leading to questions about job loss and creation as tech evolves. Experts say it’s more likely to augment than replace.

I am looking forward to your responses; please contact me at hjschumacher59@gmail.com

DA official: Farmland soil fertility diminishes in PHL

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Tuesday, May 23, 2023 A5

At least 25 injured after 2 vessels collide in waters of Mandaue, Cebu–PCG report

By Rene Acosta @reneacostaBM

AT least 25 people were injured in a sea collision involving two vessels in the waters of Barangay Looc in Mandaue City, Cebu on Sunday, the Philippine Coast Guard reported on Monday.

Passenger vessel MV St. Jhudiel was sailing toward Cebu City from Ormoc City with 197 passengers, when it collided with LCT (Landing Craft Tank) Poseidon 23 at around 2:52 p.m., the report said.

T he PCG said the master of the passenger vessel reported that 25 of their passengers and crewmembers sustained minor injuries. No one from the Poseidon 23 was injured.

A n initial PCG investigation

showed that St. Jhudiel might have caused the mishap.

“ While underway, it (MV St. Jhudiel) experienced steering casualty and engine trouble causing it to collide with LCT Poseidon 23 that was on its way to Ormoc City from Mandaue City,” it said.

At the time of the incident, Poseidon 23 was carrying 17 rolling cargoes and 20 passengers, including drivers and cargo helpers. It returned to Ouano Wharf in Mandaue City, its port of origin, to assess the damage that it incurred.

T he PCG deployed a floating asset, a land vehicle and an ambulance as it responded to the maritime incident, while its special operations group augmented the search and

rescue operations.

T he Coast Guard’s Marine Environmental Protection Force in Central Visayas was also mobilized to conduct an oil spill assessment.

P CG spokesman Rear Admiral Armand Balilo said during a news briefing on Monday that they were continuing to investigate the sea collision, including whether the so-called “traffic separation scheme,” was observed before the incident.

He said they were also looking at the issue of sea worthiness because last week, St. Jhudiel already experienced problems with its hydraulics.

“ We are determining whether this is connected with yesterday’s (Monday) steering casualty,” Balilo said.

He said that Poseidon 23 tried to

avoid the collision, but still, it happened. MT Princess Empress oil spill cleanup MEANWHILE, the PCG said that it was preparing for the arrival of the Monrovian-registered Dynamic Support Vessel (DSV) “Fire Opal,” which will conduct the siphoning operations of the remaining oil onboard the sunken MT Princess Empress in Naujan, Oriental Mindoro.

T he DSV Fire Opal was chartered by the Malayan Towage and Salvage Corp. (MSTC) and contracted by the Protection and Indemnity (P&I) Insurance Club, Shipowners Protection Mutual.

T he vessel left Singapore on May 19 and will arrive in Subic on May 26.

GSIS readies launch of housing program for low-income workers in government

THE Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) on Monday said it will soon launch its low-cost housing program wherein government employees would just have to pay P12,000 monthly for a 40-square meter condominium unit.

GSIS President and General Manager Arnulfo Veloso said the state pension fund is now ready to launch its latest housing program during its anniversary this month, which is expected to be graced by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.

I n December last year, the GSIS signed a memorandum of under -

standing with the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development for the housing program for government employees.

(Related story: https://businessmirror.com.ph/2022/12/21/gsisset-to-launch-housing-programfor-government-workers/ )

Under the housing program, Veloso explained that the government employees would just have to pay P12,000 monthly for a 40-square meter condominium unit without the need to shoulder the downpayment.

“At this price, we are sure that the government employees with low-income or those with low salary grade

will be given a home,” Veloso said in a news briefing on Monday.

Veloso said the GSIS has already identified an initial site in Fairview, Quezon City for the housing units. The GSIS is looking to build three buildings in the area, with each property capable of having 200 units.

Kung sinasabi po na basic right po ng isang mamamayan ay ang bumoto, gusto ko pong idagdag na ang isa pong right ng isang mamamayan ay ang magkaroon po ng dignidad sa pamamagitan ng magkaroon ng bahay,” he said.

“At sisiguraduhin po natin lahat po ng miyembro ng gobyerno o ang ating tinatawag na mga kawani ay magka -

roon po ng dignidad sa pamamagitan ng pagkakaroon ng matatawag nilang sarili nilang bahay,” he added. (If we say that voting is a basic right of citizens, I just want to add that it is also their right to have dignity by having a home. And we will make sure that all members of the government will have dignity by having a home of their own)

T he GSIS housing program is in support of the Marcos administration’s flagship housing program dubbed as the Pambansang Pabahay para sa mga Pilipino  that seeks to address the country’s 6.5 million housing backlog.

‘Pag-asa island needs urgent attention, aid’

Power supply from generator sets is cut off by 10 in the evening. Cash, or what little of it they have, is often irrelevant as “there are no economic transactions and financial activities in the area.”

E strada continued: “Two decades after opening the once strictly military installation to civilian settlement, the island has remained fallow. This, despite the construction of the beaching ramp which would allow shallow-draft vessels or those with roll-on/roll-off capability to bring in essential landing engineering equipment and other construction materials for the development of the island.

T he repair of the Rancudo Airfield which sustained erosion damage is still ongoing. The 1.2-kilometer airfield that was constructed during the 1970s can accommodate only medium size military aircraft. We still have a long way to go if we are really keen on developing Pag-asa Island into a tourism and fishing destination or even a marine research hub.”

M issionary telecommunications service is being provided by Smart Communications which covers Pag-asa Island only.

T he senator deemed it his duty “to bring to the fore their daily struggles and advocate for the attention and assistance they desperately need. Pag-asa is a real island that can sustain human life and community.”   He added: “Let us also not forget the sacrifices made by our brave men and women in uniform who guard Pag-asa island with unwavering dedication. They, who face the brunt of the challenges and dangers posed by external forces, put their lives on the line to protect and defend our sovereignty. We owe it to them to support their mission by providing the necessary logistical support to carry out their duties effectively.”

Zubiri visit

ON Monday, Senate President Juan

Miguel Zubiri paid an official visit to the Philippine Army for a briefing on the army’s modernization plans, particularly as it transitions from mainly addressing internal threats to addressing territorial defense, under the Pagkakaisa 2023-2028 plan of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

T his visit comes on the heels of Zubiri’s visit to the Philippine Navy in early May, for the christening of two new patrol gunboats and the blessing of their newly upgraded Naval Shipbuilding Yard.

The Army presented its ongoing activities and plans, including engaging in 44 bilateral and multilateral trainings, hosting the ASEAN Armies Rifle Meet, and pursuing 29 projects for Horizon III of the AFP Modernization Program.

T he Army also presented its concept for the implementation of the proposed Mandatory Reserve Officers Training Corps Act, under which they are expecting 1.9 million students to enroll, and

Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas

continued from a32

for which the Army needs 3.7 billion for the implementation.

For his part, Zubiri expressed full support for the AFP Modernization Program.

He also discussed the pending armyrelated measures in the Senate, led by the National Defense Act, which is a priority measure of the Marcos administration, and the bill rationalizing the disability pension of veterans, which has been approved on third reading in the Senate. This increases the disability pension for military veterans, in accordance with their disability rate.

He also filed the Philippine Defense Industry Development Act (PDIDA), to support the AFP in building a credible defense posture.

“It is vital that we not only procure equipment and technologies from outside the country, but also develop our own capacity to produce the equipment that we need for our forces,” he said.

THE Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said it is closely coordinating with the Philippine Postal Corporation (PHLPost) regarding the PhilIDs that may have been affected by the fire at the Manila Central Post Office. Based on the initial information provided by the PHLPost, only PhilIDs for delivery in the City of Manila were affected by the fire.

The PSA is working with the PHLPost to determine the number of PhilIDs affected,” PSA said in a statement issued on Monday.

PSA also clarified that PhilIDs for delivery of the PHLPost are “sorted and stored” at the PHLPost Central Mail Exchange Center (CMEC) in Pasay City, which it said were unaffected by the fire.

We assure the public that the PhilIDs affected by the fire shall be replaced by the PSA at no additional cost to concerned registered persons, following protocols set by the PSA for such scenarios,” PSA said.

On Monday morning, a massive fire razed the Manila Central Post Office. According to the Bureau of Fire Protection, the fire was confirmed when a first alarm was raised shortly before midnight.

PSA: Natl IDs for delivery in Manila affected by post office fire

G20 delegates arrive in Kashmir as India puts region’s intense security out of view

By Aijaz Hussain Associated Press

SRINAGAR, India—

The meeting scheduled for later Monday is the first significant international event in Kashmir since New Delhi stripped the Muslim-majority region of semiautonomy in 2019. Indian authorities hope the meeting will show that the controversial changes have brought “peace and prosperity” to the region.

The delegates will discuss topics like green tourism and destination management. Side events on ecotourism and role of films in promoting tourist destinations have also been scheduled.

On Monday, the region’s main city of Srinagar appeared calm and roads never as clean. Most of the security checkpoints were removed or camouflaged with cubicle-like security posts made of G20 signages behind which security officials stood.

Officials said hundreds of officers were specially trained for what they call “invisible policing” for the event.

Shops in the city center also opened earlier than usual after several meeting between trade representatives and security officials. But authorities closed the main road leading to the convention center for civilian traffic and shut many schools in the city.

Mondays’ measures contrasted starkly to the security imposed in the days before the event. A massive security cordon was placed around the venue on the shores of Dal Lake in Srinagar with elite naval commandos patrolling in rubber boats in the water. The city’s commercial center was spruced up, with freshly black-topped roads leading to the lakeside convention center and power poles lit in the colors of India’s national flag.

“We have the making of a unique meeting,” India’s chief coordinator for the G20, Harshvardhan Shringla, told reporters Sunday. He said the event will have the highest representation of foreign delegates in comparison to previous tourism meetings India held in the states of West Bengal and Gujarat earlier this year.

Last week, the UN special rapporteur on minority issues, Fernand de Varennes, said the meeting would support a “facade of normalcy” while “massive human rights violations” continue in the region. India’s mission at the U.N. in Geneva rejected the statement as “baseless” and “unwarranted allegations.”

India’s tourism secretary, Arvind Singh, told reporters Saturday that the meeting “was not only to showcase its (Kashmir’s) potential for tourism but to also signal globally the restoration of stability and normalcy in the region.”

The region remains one of the world’s most heavily militarized territories, with hundreds of thousands of Indian troops. In 1989, a violent separatist insurgency erupted in the region that sought independence or a merger with Pakistan. India replied with a brutal counter insurgency and tens of thousands of civilians, soldiers and rebels have been killed in the conflict.

India’s crackdown intensified after 2019 when New Delhi took the region under its direct control. Since then See “G20,” A9

AN Indian policeman is seen on top of a police vehicle leading a cavalcade of delegates from the Group of 20 nations as they arrive to participate in a tourism meeting in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir on Monday, May 22, 2023. The meeting scheduled for later Monday is the first significant international event in Kashmir since New Delhi stripped the Muslim-majority region of semi-autonomy in 2019. AP/MUKHTAR KHAN

Delegates from the Group of 20 nations arrived in Indian-controlled Kashmir on Monday to participate in a tourism meeting condemned by China and Pakistan, as authorities significantly reduced visibility of the security in the disputed region’s main city.

Russia says it won Bakhmut, but Ukrainian military leaders say the battle is not over

By Samya Kullab The Associated Press

See “Bakhmut,” A11

G20.

Continued from A7

the territory’s people and its media have been largely silenced. Authorities have seized scores of homes and arrested hundreds of people under stringent anti-terror laws. The government says such actions are necessary to stop what it calls a “terror ecosystem.”

Authorities have also enacted new laws that critics and many Kashmiris fear could transform the region’s demographics.

The G20, made up of the world’s largest economies, has a rolling presidency with a different member setting priorities each year. India is steering the group in 2023.

India has been promoting tourism in Kashmir as a sign of peace since 2019 decision. But the region, known for rolling Himalayan foothills, has for decades been a major domestic tourist destination. Millions of visitors arrive Kashmir every year and enjoy a strange peace kept by ubiquitous security checkpoints, armored vehicles and patrolling soldiers.

The mainstay of Kashmir’s economy, however, continues to be agriculture, and tourism industry only contributes about 7 percent to the region’s GDP.

China, with which India is locked in a military standoff along the mostly unmarked border in the Ladakh region, has boycotted the event. Pakistan, which controls a part of Kashmir but, like India, claims the entire territory, has also slammed New Delhi for holding the meeting in Srinagar.

Both have argued that such meetings can’t be held in disputed territories.

India has dismissed Pakistan’s criticism, saying that the country is not even a member of the G20.

KYIV, Ukraine—Although Russia claims it has won control of Ukraine’s eastern city of Bakhmut, after a grinding nine-month conflict in which tens of thousands of fighters have died, top Ukrainian military leaders say the battle is not over.

SMOKE rises from a building in Bakhmut, the site of the heaviest battles with the Russian troops in the Donetsk region, Ukraine on Wednesday, April 26, 2023. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Sunday, May 21, 2023, that Russian forces weren’t occupying Bakhmut, casting doubt on Moscow’s insistence that the eastern Ukrainian city had fallen. The fog of war made it impossible to confirm the situation on the ground in the invasion’s longest battle, and the comments from Ukrainian and Russian officials added confusion to the

matter. AP/LIBKOS

Bakhmut.

Ukrainian officials acknowledge they now control only a small part of Bakhmut.

But, Ukraine says, their fighters’ presence has played a key role in their strategy of exhausting the Russian military. And they say their current positions in the areas surrounding Bakhmut will let them strike back inside the 400-year-old city.

“Despite the fact that we now control a small part of Bakhmut, the importance of its defense does not lose its relevance,” said Col.-Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi, the commander of ground forces for the Ukrainian Armed Forces. “This gives us the opportunity to enter the city in case of a change in the situation. And it will definitely happen.”

The fog of war made it impossible to confirm the situation on the ground in Bakhmut. Russia’s defense ministry said Wagner mercenaries backed by Russian troops had seized the city, but Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Bakhmut was not being fully occupied.

In a video posted on Telegram, Wagner head Yevgeny Prigozhin claimed the city came under complete Russian control at about midday Saturday. Holding a Russian flag before a group of at least nine masked fighters in body army who were toting heavy weapons, Prigozhin proclaimed: “This afternoon at 12:00, Bakhmut was completely taken.”

More important for Ukraine has been the high numbers of Russian casualties and sapping of the morale of enemy troops for the the small patch of the 1,500-kilometer (932-mile) front line as Ukraine gears up for a major counteroffensive in the 15-month-old war.

“The enemy failed to surround Bakhmut. They lost part of the heights around the city. The continuing advance of our troops in the suburbs greatly complicates the enemy’s presence,” said Hanna Maliar, Ukraine’s deputy defense minister. “Our troops have taken the city in a semi-encirclement, which gives us the opportunity to destroy the enemy.”

About 55 kilometers (34 miles) north of the Russianheld regional capital of Donetsk, Bakhmut was an important industrial center, surrounded by salt and gypsum mines and home to about 80,000 people before the war, in a country of more than 43 million.

The city, named Artyomovsk after a Bolshevik revolutionary when Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union, was known for its sparkling wine produced in underground caves. It was popular among tourists for its broad tree-lined avenues, lush parks and stately downtown with imposing late 19th century mansions. All are now reduced to a smoldering wasteland.

Fought over so fiercely by Russia and Ukraine in recent months has been Bakhmut’s urban center, where Ukrainian commanders have conceded Moscow controlled more than 90 percent. But even now, Ukrainian forces are making significant advances near strategic roads through the countryside just outside, chipping away at Russia’s northern and southern flanks by the meter (yard) with the aim of encircling Wagner fighters inside the city.

Ukrainian military leaders say their months-long resistance has been worthwhile because it limited Russia’s capabilities elsewhere and enabled Ukrainian advances.

“The main idea is to exhaust them, then to attack,” Ukrainian Col. Yevhen Mezhevikin, commander of a specialized group fighting in Bakhmut, said Thursday.

Russia has deployed reinforcements to Bakhmut to replenish the lost northern and southern flanks and prevent more Ukrainian breakthroughs, according to Ukrainian officials and outside observers. Russian President Vladimir Putin badly needs to claim victory in Bakhmut, where Russian forces have focused their efforts, analysts say, especially after a winter offensive by his forces failed to capture other cities and towns along the front.

Ukraine’s tactical gains in the rural area outside urban Bakhmut could be more significant than they seem, according to some analysts.

“It was almost like the Ukrainians just took advantage of the fact that, actually, the Russian lines were weak,” said Phillips O’Brien, a professor of strategic studies at the University of St. Andrews. “The Russian army has suffered such high losses and is so worn out around Bakhmut that ... it cannot go forward anymore.”

Ukrainian forces in the outskirts of Bakhmut and in the city bore relentless artillery attacks until a month ago. Then, Ukrainian forces positioned south of the city spotted their chance for a breakthrough after reconnaissance drones showed the southern Russian flank had gone on the defensive, Col. Mezhevikin said. After fierce fighting for weeks, Ukrainian units made their first advance in the vicinity of Bakhmut since it was invaded nine months ago.

In all, nearly 20 square kilometers (8 square miles) of territory were recaptured, Maliar said in an interview last week. Hundreds of meters more have been regained almost every day since, according to Serhii Cherevatyi, spokesman for Ukraine’s Operational Command East.

“Previously we were only holding the lines and didn’t let Russians advance further into our territory. What has happened now is our first advance (since the battle started),” Maliar said.

Victory in Bakhmut does not necessarily bring Russia any closer to capturing the Donetsk region— Putin’s stated aim of the war. Rather, it opens the door

US to sign new security pact with Papua New Guinea amid competition with China

By Nick Perry The Associated Press

Papua New Guinea’s location just north of Australia makes it strategically significant. It was the site of fierce battles during World War II, and with a population of nearly 10 million people, it’s the most populous Pacific island nation.

The State Department said the new agreement would provide a framework to help improve security cooperation, enhance the capacity of Papua New Guinea’s defense force and increase regional stability.

At a breakfast meeting, Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape said his country faced significant security challenges, from skirmishes within the country to illegal fishing boats that lit up the night like skyscrapers.

“We have our internal security as well as our sovereignty security issues,” Marape said. “We’re stepping up on that front to make sure our borders are secure.”

But the agreement sparked student protests in the See “Security Pact,” A15

Bakhmut. . .

Continued from A11

to more grinding battles in the direction of Sloviansk or Kostiantynivka, 20 kilometers (12 miles) away, said Kateryna Stepanenko, a Russia analyst at the Institute for the Study of War, a US-based think tank.

Satellite imagery released this week shows infrastructure, apartment blocks and iconic buildings reduced to rubble.

In the last week, days before Russia announced the city had fallen into their control, Ukrainian forces retained only a handful of buildings amid constant Russian bombardment. Outnumbered and outgunned, they described nightmarish days.

Russia’s artillery dominance was so overwhelming, accompanied by continuous human waves of mercenaries, that defensive positions could not be held for long.

“The importance of our mission of staying in Bakhmut lies in distracting a significant enemy force,” said Taras Deiak, a commander of a special unit of a volunteer battalion. “We are paying a high price for this.”

The northern and southern flanks regained by Ukraine are located near two highways that lead to Chasiv Yar, a town 10 kilometers (6 miles) from Bakhmut, that serve as key logistics supply routes. One is dubbed the “road of life.”

Ukrainian forces passing this road often came under fire from Russians positioned along nearby strategic heights. Armored vehicles and pickup trucks driving toward the city to replenish Ukrainian troops were frequently destroyed.

With those high plains now under Ukrainian control, its forces have more breathing room.

“This will help us design new logistic chains to deliver ammunition in and evacuate the injured or killed boys,” said Deiak, speaking from inside Bakhmut on Thursday, two days before Russia claimed control of the city. “Now it is easier to deliver supplies, rotate troops, (carry out) evacuations.”

Danica Kirka in London contributed to this report.

PORT MORESBY, Papua

New Guinea—The United States is scheduled to sign a new security pact with Papua New Guinea on Monday as it competes with China for influence in the Pacific.

PAPUA New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape, right, shakes hands with New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins at a breakfast meeting in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea on Monday, May 22, 2023. AP/NICK PERRY

Singapore’s PM Lee feeling OK after testing positive for Covid

By Low De Wei

“I am generally feeling okay but my doctors have advised me to self-isolate until I am asymptomatic,” Lee, 71, said. Doctors have also prescribed him Paxlovid, an antiviral medication, because of his age. Lee said he took his most recent booster vaccine for the virus last November.

Lee, who has led the city-state for nearly two decades, has suffered occasional health scares in the past. He successfully underwent surgery for prostate cancer in 2015, and was separately diagnosed with lymphoma in 1992, although the cancer went into remission after treatment. He was also forced to pause a high-profile televised speech in 2016 after taking ill, although his doctors said it was not due to any major ailments.

Singapore won plaudits during the pandemic for keeping deaths relatively low compared to other nations. It has since pivoted to living with the virus by ditching measures such as compulsory mask wearing. Hospitalizations in the country have risen in recent weeks due to another Covid wave but authorities have said infections are past its peak. With assistance from Aradhana Aravindan/Bloomberg

Security Pact. . .

Continued from A13

second-largest city, Lae. And many in the Pacific are concerned about the increasing militarization of the region.

Last year, nearby Solomon Islands signed its own security pact with China, a move that raised alarm throughout the Pacific. The US has increased its focus on the Pacific, opening embassies in Solomon Islands and Tonga, reviving Peace Corps volunteer efforts, and encouraging more business investment.

But some have questioned how reliable a partner the US is in the Pacific, particularly after President Joe Biden canceled his plans to make an historic stop in Papua New Guinea to sign the pact. Biden would have been the first sitting US president to visit any Pacific Island country, but he ended up canceling to focus on the debt limit talks back at home.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken traveled in Biden’s place, arriving in Papua New Guinea early Monday. In response to news of Blinken’s impending visit, China warned against the introduction of “geopolitical games” into the region.

The US visit was timed to coincide with a trip by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was hosting a meeting with Pacific Island leaders to discuss ways to better cooperate.

New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins, who met with Marape for breakfast was also due to meet with Blinken in Papua New Guinea, said he welcomed the greater US interest in the region.

But he also drew a distinction to his own nation’s efforts.

“We are not interested in the militarization of the Pacific,” Hipkins said. “We are interested in working with the Pacific on issues where we have mutual interest. Issues around climate change. And we’re not going to be attaching military strings to that support.”

SINGAPORE’S Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has tested positive for Covid-19 for the first time, he said in a Facebook post Monday.

SINGAPORE’S Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong attends the 42nd Asean Summit in Labuan Bajo, East Nusa Tenggara province, Indonesia on May 10, 2023. Lee said Monday, May 22, 2023, he tested positive for Covid-19 for the first time after returning home from work trips in Africa and Asia. AP/ACHMAD IBRAHIM

Rishi Sunak returns from G-7 summit to cabinet scandal, migration disputes

SUELLA BRAVERMAN BLOOMBERG

By Philip Aldrick, Kitty Donaldson & Alex Wickham

UNITED KINGDOM

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is arriving back from the Group of Seven summit in Japan facing yet another cabinet scandal and Conservative Party finger pointing over soaring migration numbers.

At the center of both issues is Home Secretary Suella Braverman, an advocate of cutting back immigration who has come under fire for her handling of a speeding ticket last year. The Sunday Times reported over the weekend that Braverman had asked civil servants to help arrange a private drivingawareness course, in a possible violation of ministerial rules against using public employees for personal affairs.

Sunak will have to decide how to respond to the domestic flap after returning from meetings in Hiroshima on Russia’s war in Ukraine and other global issues. The Labour Party has called for an ethics inquiry and is expected to try to force Braverman to answer questions in Parliament on Monday, one opposition MP said.

Former Conservative Party Chairman Jake Berry told the BBC on Sunday that the episode raises questions about the use of civil servants, “so I think there are definitely questions to be answered.”

While Sunak intends to seek information about the incident, there was no immediate indication he wanted Braverman to leave the Cabinet, one government official said Sunday. Sunak planned to consult Monday with his ethics adviser, Laurie Magnus, on the case, a second person said.   “Ms. Braverman accepts that she was speeding last summer and regrets doing so,” the Home Office said in a statement. “She took the three points and paid the fine last year.”

The controversy comes barely a month after Sunak’s No. 2, Dominic Raab, resigned as deputy prime minister over an independent inquiry that found he had engaged in aggressive and intimidating behavior toward civil servants. Sunak, who has promised to restore professionalism in government after taking power in October, has already lost three cabinet members to scandal.

Braverman’s case comes at a particularly fraught time, with the government bracing for the release of migration figures Thursday that are widely expected to confirm a record surge of arrivals last year. The home secretary, who oversees immigration, gave a speech critical of the surge last week that was seen as an effort to position herself as a potential successor to Sunak.

Sunak sidestepped a question about whether he still backed Braverman during a news briefing before departing Japan. “I don’t know the full details of what’s happened, nor I have I spoken to the home secretary,” the prime minister said.

The incident complicated Sunak’s efforts to move the agenda onto issues such as relations with the European Union, a China reset and helping Ukraine defend itself. Sunak also announced new investments from Japanese businesses that he said would create hundreds of jobs and help grow the economy.

The prime minister appeared frustrated when Braverman was the first topic asked about during his wrap-up news conference Sunday. “Do you have any questions about the summit?” he asked a reporter.

Andrea Jenkyns, a Tory MP and former education minister, told GB News on Sunday that Sunak needed to do “less of the presidential flying around” and “get back to more Conservative-type policies.” He must commit to the party’s election pledge to bring down overall migration numbers, Jenkyns said.

Braverman has already been forced to exit one cabinet. She was fired in the final days of Liz Truss’s premiership in October after breaching security rules by sharing sensitive government information through her personal email. Sunak reappointed her to the post just six days later in one of his first acts as premier.

The prime minister “should have never had appointed her in the first place,” Labour’s health spokesman, Wes Streeting, told the BBC on Sunday. “He’s been too weak to sack her for incompetence and now he’s so weak, he won’t even call an inquiry into her conduct,” Streeting said. Bloomberg News

China bars Micron semiconductors in escalation of tech clash with US

In a statement Sunday, Beijing warned operators of key infrastructure against buying the company’s goods, saying it found “relatively serious” cybersecurity risks in Micron products sold in the country.

The components caused “significant security risks to our critical information infrastructure supply chain,” which would affect national security, according to the statement from the Cyberspace Administration of China, or CAC.

The results come more than a month after China announced an investigation of imports from America’s largest memory-chip maker. The tech sector has become a key battlefield over national security between the two largest economies, with Washington having already blacklisted Chinese tech firms, cut off the flow of sophisticated processors and banned its citizens from providing certain help to the Chinese chip industry. In a statement, the US Commerce Department said Beijing’s conclusion had “no basis in fact” and Washington will continue to try and limit industry disruptions with its allies.

Shares in Micron’s biggest industry rivals, Samsung Electronics Co. and SK Hynix Inc., gained in Seoul. Chinese chip stocks including sector bellwethers Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. and Hua Hong Semiconductor Ltd. climbed more than 3 percent in Hong Kong.

“No one should understand this decision by CAC as anything but retaliation for the US’s export controls on semiconductors,” said Holden Triplett, founder of Trenchcoat Advisors and a former FBI counterintelligence official in Beijing. “No foreign business operating in China should be deceived by this subterfuge. These are political actions pure and simple, and any business could be the next one to be made an example of.”

The move brings fresh uncertainty to the other US chipmakers that sell to China, the world’s biggest market for semiconductors. Companies like Qualcomm Inc., Broadcom Inc. and Intel Corp. deliver billions of chips to the country, which puts the components inside electronic products that are shipped all over the world.

US President Joe Biden voiced optimism about the China relationship on Sunday at the end of the Group of Seven summit in Japan. He said he expected ties between the two countries will start to “thaw very shortly.”

The Chinese cyber agency said in its statement Sunday that, while the country welcomes products and services provided by companies of all countries as long as they comply with its laws and regulations, the investigation into Micron products are a “necessary measure” to safeguard national security. It didn’t detail what the security risks were or identify specific Micron products that are now barred.

Micron, which has previously said it stood by the security of its products and commitments to customers, said in a statement Sunday it’s evaluating the conclusion of the review. The company is assessing its next steps, adding that it looks forward “to continuing to engage in discussions with Chinese authorities.”

Analysts at Jefferies including Edison Lee said in a research report that the CAC’s decision will likely have See “Micron,” A21

CHINA delivered the latest salvo in an escalating semiconductor war with the US, announcing that Micron Technology Inc. products have failed to pass a cybersecurity review in the country.

A SIGN marks the entrance of the Micron Technology automotive chip manufacturing plant on February 11, 2022, in Manassas, Va. Stepping up a feud with Washington over technology and security, China’s government on Sunday, May 21, 2023, told users of computer equipment deemed sensitive to stop buying products from the biggest US memory chip maker, Micron Technology Inc. AP/STEVE HELBER

Vietnam sees 6.5% growth target in 2023 as challenging

By Nguyen Xuan Quynh & Nguyen Kieu Giang

This year’s forecast expansion is proving to be “challenging” after a weak gross domestic product growth in the first quarter and as the construction sector and capital markets continue to face financial difficulties, National Assembly’s head of economic committee Vu Hong Thanh said at the opening session of the parliament on Monday in Hanoi.

Lawmakers also reiterated calls for the central bank to consider more policy rate cuts and for banks to bring lending rates lower to aid businesses. There are 104 trillion dong ($4.4 billion) worth of bonds due in the third quarter alone, which may present “hidden risk to the markets,” Thanh said.

State Bank of Vietnam has reduced its key rates twice this year after GDP slowed to 3.32% last quarter while exports shrank in three of the past four months, reflecting the risks that global and domestic challenges pose to one of the region’s fastest-growing economies.

“The world economic situation continued to decline, consumer demand in our main markets dropped sharply due to inflation, geopolitical tensions, and countries’ tightening monetary policies,” National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue said.

Vietnam, which rarely posts less than 5% GDP growth before the pandemic, is taking a hit from slowing global demand exacerbated by funding woes amid the government’s anti-graft campaign that’s deterred investors. Vietnam’s exports make up more than 100% of the economy, making it one of the most trade-dependent nations in the world.

“Property market and its businesses continue facing so many difficulties in liquidity, cash flows with many late in paying bond principals and interests,” Thanh said. At the same time, business activities in manufacturing, especially among small and medium enterprises are impaired by declining global orders, Deputy Prime Minister Le Minh Khai said in his speech.

Fitch Ratings said last week that while property sector risks have made operating conditions more difficult for banks in Vietnam, “liquidity crunch is easing and the banking system is likely to avert a sharp slowdown,” thanks to response of policymakers and lenders. With assistance from Cecilia Yap, Linh Vu Nguyen, Nguyen Dieu Tu Uyen, Aradhana Aravindan and Mai Ngoc Chau/Bloomberg

Micron. . .

Continued from A19

a small impact on Micron because it focuses on “critical information infrastructure,” meaning operations like data centers and cloud computing services with security risks. Most of Micron’s memory chips sold in China are actually used in consumer electronics, like smartphones and notebooks, they said.

“We believe this ban is narrowly focused as it applies to only CII operators,” they wrote. “Therefore, the ultimate impact on Micron will be quite limited.”

In the meantime, the Boise, Idaho-based chipmaker has been tightening ties with Japan. It’s poised to get about ¥200 billion ($1.5 billion) in financial incentives from the Japanese government to help it make nextgeneration memory chips in the country, Bloomberg has reported. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida met last week with a delegation of chip executives, including Micron Chief Executive Officer Sanjay Mehrotra.

Memory chips were already a flashpoint for US-China tensions. In December, Washington blacklisted Yangtze Memory Technologies Co., a state-backed flash memory maker in Wuhan, effectively capping China’s capabilities in advanced 3D Nand-style chips. YMTC had been in talks to supply the components to Apple Inc. for the iPhone before that development.

VIETNAM’S economic growth target of 6.5% this year may be at risk amid a global slowdown weighing on exports, lingering crisis in the local property sector and higher interest rates hampering businesses, according to lawmakers.

to form government

By Nicholas Paphitis The Associated Press

With 99.55 percent of the votes counted early Monday, Mitsotakis’ New Democracy party won 40.79 percent— twice the leftwing main opposition Syriza’s 20.07 percent. Socialist Pasok came in third at 11.46 percent. The margin far outstripped pollsters’ forecasts and was the biggest since 1974, when Greece’s first democratic elections were held after the fall of the seven-year military dictatorship.

But the one-off proportional representation system in effect Sunday means ND only gains 146 of Parliament’s 300 seats, five short of a governing majority. The new elections, expected in late June or early July, will revert to the previous system that grants the first party a bonus of up to 50 seats. That would ensure Mitsotakis a comfortable majority for a second term in power.

Later Monday, Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou is due to hand Mitsotakis the mandate to try to form a coalition government—which he is expected to return.

Hours after voting ended Sunday, the 55-year-old prime minister said he would “follow all constitutional procedures” but strongly implied he would not engage in coalition talks.

“Without a doubt, the political earthquake that occurred today calls on us all to speed up the process for a definitive government solution so our country can have an experienced hand at its helm as soon as possible,” he said.

Mitsotakis had long suggested he would not seek a coalition partner whatever the election outcome, advocating instead the stabilizing effect of strong, undivided governance.

If Mitsotakis hands back the mandate, it will then pass to Syriza leader Alexis Tsipras, and then to Pasok leader Nikos Androulakis—neither of whom have any realistic chance of success. Each will have a maximum of three days to try to form a coalition. Once all options are exhausted, a senior judge will be appointed caretaker prime minister and new elections called.

Tsipras, 48, called Mitsotakis on Sunday night to congratulate him.

“The result is exceptionally negative for Syriza,” he said in initial statements. “Fights have winners and losers.”

Tsipras, who was prime minister from 2015 to 2019, said his party would gather to examine the results and how they came about. “However, the electoral cycle is not yet over,” he said. “We don’t have the luxury of time. We must immediately carry out all the changes that are needed so we can fight the next crucial and final electoral battle with the best terms possible.”

Mitsotakis, a Harvard-educated former banking executive, came to power in 2019 on a promise of businessoriented reforms and has vowed to continue tax cuts, boost investments and bolster middle-class employment.

He has been credited with Greece’s successful handling of the pandemic and of two crises with neighboring Turkey, while overseeing high growth and job creation after the end of Greece’s 2009-2018 financial crisis, but a wiretapping scandal and a railway disaster damaged his ratings.

Greece’s center-right in landslide victory, but will need new vote

GREECE’S Prime Minister and leader of New Democracy Kyriakos Mitsotakis, center, addresses supporters at the headquarters of his party in Athens, Greece on Sunday, May 21, 2023. The conservative party of Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has won a landslide election but without enough parliamentary seats to form a government. AP/THANASSIS STAVRAKIS

ATHENS, Greece—It was the most tantalizing of victories. Despite inflicting the most crushing defeat in half a century on the opposition, Greece’s centerright Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is expected Monday to seek a second national election within weeks, as he lacks the majority in Parliament to govern alone.

Editor: Angel R. Calso

Iran nuclear site deep underground challenges West as talks on reviving atomic deal have stalled

By Jon Gambrell The Associated Press

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates—Near a peak of the Zagros Mountains in central Iran, workers are building a nuclear facility so deep in the earth that it is likely beyond the range of a lastditch US weapon designed to destroy such sites, according to experts and satellite imagery analyzed by The Associated Press.

The photos and videos from Planet Labs PBC show Iran has been digging tunnels in the mountain near the Natanz nuclear site, which has come under repeated sabotage attacks amid Tehran’s standoff with the West over its atomic program.

With Iran now producing uranium close to weapons-grade levels after the collapse of its nuclear deal with world powers, the installation complicates the West’s efforts to halt Tehran from potentially developing an atomic bomb as diplomacy over its nuclear program remains stalled.

Completion of such a facility “would be a nightmare scenario that risks igniting a new escalatory spiral,” warned Kelsey Davenport, the director of nonproliferation policy at the Washington-based Arms Control Association. “Given how close Iran is to a bomb, it has very little room to ratchet up its program without tripping US and Israeli red lines. So at this point, any further escalation increases the risk of conflict.”

The construction at the Natanz site comes five years after then-President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew America from the nuclear accord. Trump argued the deal did not address Tehran’s ballistic missile program, nor its support of militias across the wider Middle East.

But what it did do was strictly limit Iran’s enrichment of uranium to 3.67 percent purity, powerful enough only to power civilian power stations, and keep its stockpile to just some 300 kilograms (660 pounds).

Since the demise of the nuclear accord, Iran has said it is enriching uranium up to 60 percent, though inspectors recently discovered the country had produced uranium particles that were 83.7 percent pure. That is just a short step from reaching the 90 percent threshold of weapons-grade uranium.

As of February, international inspectors estimated Iran’s stockpile was over 10 times what it was under the Obama-era deal, with enough enriched uranium to allow Tehran to make “several” nuclear bombs, according to the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

President Joe Biden and Israel’s prime minister have said they won’t allow Iran to build a nuclear

weapon. “We believe diplomacy is the best way to achieve that goal, but the president has also been clear that we have not removed any option from the table,” the White House said in a statement to the AP.

The Islamic Republic denies it is seeking nuclear weapons, though officials in Tehran now openly discuss their ability to pursue one.

Iran’s mission to the United Nations, in response to questions from the AP regarding the construction, said that “Iran’s peaceful nuclear activities are transparent and under the International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards.” However, Iran has been limiting access for international inspectors for years.

Iran says the new construction will replace an aboveground centrifuge manufacturing center at Natanz struck by an explosion and fire in July 2020. Tehran blamed the incident on Israel, long suspected of running sabotage campaigns against its program.

Tehran has not acknowledged any other plans for the facility, though it would have to declare the site to the IAEA if they planned to introduce uranium into it. The Vienna-based IAEA did not respond to questions about the new underground facility.

The new project is being constructed next to Natanz, about 225 kilometers (140 miles) south of Tehran. Natanz has been a point of international concern since its existence became known two decades ago.

Protected by anti-aircraft batteries, fencing and Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, the facility sprawls across 2.7 square kilometers (1 square mile) in the country’s arid Central Plateau.

Satellite photos taken in April by Planet Labs PBC and analyzed by the AP show Iran burrowing into the Kūh-e Kolang Gaz Lā, or “Pickaxe Mountain,” which is just beyond Natanz’s southern fencing.

A different set of images analyzed by the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies reveals that four entrances have been dug into the mountainside, two to the east and another two to the west. Each is 6 meters (20 feet) wide and 8 meters (26 feet) tall.

The scale of the work can be measured in large dirt mounds, two to the west and one to the

east. Based on the size of the spoil piles and other satellite data, experts at the center told AP that Iran is likely building a facility at a depth of between 80 meters (260 feet) and 100 meters (328 feet). The center’s analysis, which it provided exclusively to AP, is the first to estimate the tunnel system’s depth based on satellite imagery.

The Institute for Science and International Security, a Washington-based nonprofit long focused on Iran’s nuclear program, suggested last year the tunnels could go even deeper.

Experts say the size of the construction project indicates Iran likely would be able to use the underground facility to enrich uranium as well—not just to build centrifuges. Those tube-shaped centrifuges, arranged in large cascades of dozens of machines, rapidly spin uranium gas to enrich it. Additional cascades spinning would allow Iran to quickly enrich uranium under the mountain’s protection.

“So the depth of the facility is a concern because it would be much harder for us. It would be much harder to destroy using conventional weapons, such as like a typical bunker buster bomb,” said Steven De La Fuente, a research associate at the center who led the analysis of the tunnel work.

The new Natanz facility is likely to be even deeper underground than Iran’s Fordo facility, another enrichment site that was exposed in 2009 by US and other world leaders. That facility sparked fears in the West that Iran was hardening its program from airstrikes.

Such underground facilities led the US to create the GBU-57 bomb, which can plow through at least 60 meters (200 feet) of earth before detonating, according to the American military. US officials reportedly have discussed using two such bombs in succession to ensure a site is destroyed. It is not clear that such a one-two punch would damage a facility as deep as the one at Natanz.

With such bombs potentially off the table, the U.S. and its allies are left with fewer options to target the site. If diplomacy fails, sabotage attacks may resume.

Already, Natanz has been targeted by the Stuxnet virus, believed to be an Israeli and American creation, which destroyed Iranian centrifuges. Israel also is believed to have killed scientists involved in the program, struck facilities with bomb-carrying drones and launched other attacks. Israel’s government declined to comment.

Experts say such disruptive actions may push Tehran even closer to the bomb—and put its program even deeper into the mountain where airstrikes, further sabotage and spies may not be able to reach it.

“Sabotage may roll back Iran’s nuclear program in the short-term, but it is not a viable, long-term strategy for guarding against a nucleararmed Iran,” said Davenport, the nonproliferation expert. “Driving Iran’s nuclear program further underground increases the proliferation risk.”

The World

US bomb designed to hit targets like Iran nuclear sites reappears amid tensions

By Jon Gambrell The Associated Press

D

UBAI, United Arab Emirates—As tensions with Iran have escalated over its nuclear program, the US military this month posted pictures of a powerful bomb designed to penetrate deep into the earth and destroy underground facilities that could be used to enrich uranium.The Warzone, an Internet news site, first reported on the publication of the photographs. The AP contacted Whiteman Air Force Base and the Air Force’s Global Strike Command with questions about the images. Within a day, the Facebook post vanished. Udoshi said the Air Force likely took them down because they revealed too much data about the bombs. “Immediate removal from the internet without comment (or) justification means there is a potential lapse,” Udoshi said.

What role would this bomb play?

IN this photo released by the US Air Force on May 2, 2023, airmen look at a GBU-57, or the Massive Ordnance Penetrator bomb, at Whiteman Air Base in Missouri. That US bomb, designed to destroy underground sites at the height of concerns a decade ago over Iran’s nuclear program, has briefly reappeared amid new tensions with the Islamic Republic. US AIR FORCE VIA AP

The US Air Force on May 2 released rare images of the weapon, the GBU-57, known as the “Massive Ordnance Penetrator.” Then it took the photos down—apparently because the photographs revealed sensitive details about the weapon’s composition and punch.

The publication of the photographs comes as The Associated Press reported that Iran is making steady progress in constructing a nuclear facility that is likely beyond the range of the GBU-57, which is considered the U.S. military last-ditch weapon to take out underground bunkers.

What do we know about the Massive Ordnance Penetrator?

THE US developed the Massive Ordnance Penetrator in the 2000s as concerns grew over Iran hardening its nuclear sites by building them underground.

The Air Force posted images of the bombs on the Facebook page for Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri. The base is home to the fleet of B-2 stealth bombers, the only aircraft that can deploy the bomb.

In a caption, the base said it had received two Massive Ordnance Penetrator bombs so a

Micron.

Continued from A21

Micron is the last remaining maker of computer memory based in the US, having survived brutal industry downturns that forced larger rivals such as Intel and Texas Instruments Inc. to bow out.

The majority of Micron’s products are made to industry standards, meaning the chips can be easily swapped out with those of rival manufacturers, such as Samsung and Hynix. Those two South Korean chipmakers have plants in China.

Memory chips also aren’t usually considered a cybersecurity risk because they don’t require any specific software or run code. They’re mostly basic grids of transistors used for storing data and, as such, haven’t typically been a vector of attack for hackers.

Micron derived nearly 11

munitions squadron there could “test their performance.”

It is not the first time the Air Force has published photos and videos of the bomb that coincided with rising acrimony with Tehran over its nuclear program. In 2019, the US military released a video of a B-2 bomber dropping two of the bombs. The Air Force did not respond to requests for comment on why it posted—and removed—the most recent set of photos.

What did we learn from the photos?

THE latest photos revealed stenciling on the bombs that listed their weight as 12,300 kilograms (27,125 pounds). It also described the bomb as carrying a mix of AFX-757—a standard explosive—and PBXN-114, a relatively new explosive compound, said Rahul Udoshi, a senior weapons analyst at Janes, an open-source intelligence firm.

The weight of the bomb, judging from the stenciling, shows the majority of it comes from its thick steel frame, which allows it to chew through concrete and soil before exploding. However, it remains unclear what the exact effectiveness of the weapon would be.

percent of its revenue from mainland China in its last fiscal year. While that’s relatively low compared with other major tech firms, much of the world’s electronics production goes through Chinese factories in some way and China’s move has the potential to harm Micron’s customer relationships.

The danger is that buyers in China will decide to play it safe after Beijing’s warning and move away from all of the US firm’s products. That could in turn divert business to Micron’s larger rivals, Samsung and Hynix.

After a previous tussle, Taiwan’s United Microelectronics Corp. settled a suit in 2021 brought by Micron accusing it of stealing and leaking its intellectual property to a Chinese partner. The case concerned an allegedly illegal transfer of Micron’s memory designs in a chip manufacturing deal between

THE AP reported on Monday that satellite imagery from Planet Labs PBC reveals Tehran has been digging tunnels in the mountain near the Natanz nuclear site in central Iran. Excavation mounds at the site suggest the facility could be between 80 meters (260 feet) and 100 meters (328 feet) under the ground, according to the experts and AP’s analysis.

Experts say the size of the construction project indicates Iran likely would be able to use the underground facility to enrich uranium as well—not just to build centrifuges. Those tubeshaped centrifuges, arranged in large cascades of dozens of machines, rapidly spin uranium gas to enrich it. Additional machines would allow Iran to quickly enrich uranium under the mountain’s protection.

That could be a problem for the GBU-57: In previously describing the bomb’s capabilities, the Air Force has said it could tear through 60 meters (200 feet) of ground and cement before detonating.

Could the US still try to drop the bomb?

US officials have discussed using two such bombs in succession to ensure a site is destroyed. But even then, the new depth of the Natanz tunnels likely presents a serious challenge.

Further complicating any possible US military strike is that the B-2 has been grounded since December when one caught fire after an emergency landing. The US still could fly the aircraft “if there’s an operational need,” said Col. Brus E. Vidal, a spokesperson for the Air Force’s Global Strike Command.

UMC and Jinjiang-based Fujian Jinhua Integrated Circuit Co.

Beijing’s latest announcement has already drawn condemnation from some lawmakers.

The ruling Communist Party makes it harder each day to do business in the People’s Republic of China, said Raja Krishnamoorthi, an Illinois Democrat and ranking member of the House Select Committee.

“Every business across America should be asking: Is it better right now to invest in the PRC,” he said, “or should it be investing more in the US and our allies and partners?”

Spy chief warns authoritarian states stoking anti-govt mood in Germany

By Frank Jordans The Associated Press

BERLIN—The head of Germany’s domestic intelligence agency warned Monday of a rise in anti-government extremism fueled by authoritarian states such as Russia that seek to divide society and topple the government.

German security agencies have disrupted several plots in recent years by small groups linked to the Reich Citizens movement accused of planning attacks on critical infrastructure, government officials and even the national parliament. While it is unclear how far advanced such plans were, authorities have expressed alarm that the alleged plotters had acquired weapons and included people who aren’t usually on the radar of security agencies, such as judges and police officers.

Thomas Haldenwang, who heads the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, or BfV, said the mixing of previously separate groups—from far-right extremists to QAnon conspiracy theorists—and their willingness to use violence was particularly worrying.

“What links all of these groups is that they despise our state and our democracy, reject it and want to abolish it,” he told The Associated Press in an interview in Berlin.

Haldenwang said anti-government extremists consciously use wedge issues to stoke fear and gain new followers. These include migration—where farright actors have perpetuated the myth of a “great replacement”— but also government measures to curb the coronavirus pandemic and combat climate change.

“All of these issues can be used to spread a particular narrative

and give the impression that the state isn’t in control of certain situations and therefore it needs to be toppled,” he said.

Recent government plans to encourage Germans to replace old oil and gas heaters with efficient and climate-friendly heat pumps have faced hostility from opposition parties but also extremist groups seeking to tap into homeowners’ fears that they’ll be saddled with high costs, despite warnings from experts that the alternative is more expensive in the long run.

“The more complex an issue is, the more intensively one has to deal with a topic, the more there is a tendency to seek simple answers and run after people who offer an easy solution for problems,” said Haldenwang. “Often those are people from the extremist circles.”

The BfV chief said such trends are actively fueled by countries like Russia, which has an interest in destabilizing democracy in Europe’s biggest economy.

“When they recognize that there are sentiments in the country that can lead to division, then those sentiments are supported,” he said. “And we see a large number of measures being taken (to that effect).”

Haldenwang cited disinformation being spread by Russian state media and internet platforms, but said key influencers are also targeted by Russia’s agents in Berlin

to carry propaganda into German society.

“Naturally there are attempts to get close to certain politicians on the right or left fringes,” he told The AP. “Less so to support those political parties than to use their role to split society.”

Aside from the far-right Alternative for Germany party, which has come under scrutiny from the BfV, among the most prominent figures attacking the government are Left party lawmaker Sahra Wagenknecht and Haldenwang’s own predecessor, Hans-Georg Maassen, who was fired five years ago after downplaying anti-migrant violence.

“Of course it’s nice for Russian actors if they can win such people over for their purposes and possibly use their influence in certain audiences,” said Haldenwang.

“If those people have a large number of followers in certain media then the aim of dividing society is achieved in that way,” he added.

“The fact that my predecessor allows himself to become a mouthpiece for this is something that irritates me beyond all measure,” said Haldenwang.

Germany and other European countries have expelled a considerable number of suspected Russian spies since the outbreak of war in Ukraine last year. China is also increasingly being seen as a threat in the theater of “hybrid warfare,” though Beijing’s efforts to undermine German democracy are considered more subtle than Moscow’s.

Coup plots such as those disrupted last year likely won’t be the last, Haldenwang warned: “We know of protagonists who are again talking about a ‘Day X’ when certain things are meant to happen.

“We are monitoring such efforts very intensively, very carefully, and I’m certain that we will be able to intervene in time together with other security agencies,” he said. “But I can’t completely rule out that groups will forms under the radar of the security agencies.”

India scorched by extreme heat with monsoon rains delayed

By Biswajeet Banerjee & Sibi Arasu

The Associated Press

LUCKNOW, India—Swathes of India from the northwest to the southeast braced for more scorching heat Monday, with New Delhi under a severe weather alert, as extreme temperatures strike parts of the country.

The Indian Meteorological Department issued a heat wave alert for seven southern and central states last week and broadened it to the capital and some northern states on Monday as sizzling temperatures breached normal levels.

It warned that blistering heat will continue for the next few days before rains bring some relief. The southwest monsoon is slightly delayed this year and will hit in the first week of June, causing temperatures to stay high longer than usual, it said.

As temperatures crossed 45 degrees Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit) in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, some parts suffered blackouts lasting more than 12 hours despite a March order for all power plants in the country run at full capacity to reduce power cuts. The heat wave in the state is likely to continue for two more days, a weather official said.

Hundreds of frustrated residents protested outside power stations near the state capital, Lucknow, and blocked roads over the weekend.

“Power cuts mean no ACs, no fans, and even no water. The scorching heat

has made our lives unbearable and the lack of power is adding to our misery,” said Ramesh Gupta, a Lucknow resident. He said his wife was forced to sleep in the car over the weekend with the air conditioning on high so their 9-month-old baby would stop crying.

The searing heat forced many residents of the city to seek refuge indoors. “We have become prisoners to the relentless summer as no one wants to venture out,” said Sudhir Sehgal, a teacher.

Sukhai Ram, a gardener who is paid only when he works, was forced to set down his tools. “I cannot work anymore now. I will work once the sun goes down,” he said, drenched in sweat.

Dairy workers wrapped their cans with jute to keep the milk from spoiling. Construction workers hosed themselves down for a temporary respite from the soaring heat.

Nighttime temperatures are also rising, sparking increased demand for electricity to run air conditioners and fans.

The main summer months—April, May and June—are always hot in most parts of India before monsoon rains bring cooler temperatures. But temperatures have become more intense in the past decade. During heat waves, the country usually also suffers severe water shortages, with tens of millions of its 1.4 billion people lacking running water.

A study by World Weather Attribution, an academic group that examines the source of extreme heat, found that a searing heat wave in April that struck parts

of South Asia was made at least 30 times more likely by climate change.

The heat caused 13 people to die at a government event last month in India’s financial capital of Mumbai, and prompted some states to close all schools for a week.

Scientists say temperatures are at least 2 degrees C (3.6 degrees F) hotter in South Asia than in pre-industrial times because of climate change. Currently, the world is averaging about 1.1 to 1.2 C (2 to 2.2 F) warmer.

“Access to healthcare and to cooling solutions like fans and air conditioners is missing for a lot of the population in this region,” said Emmanuel Raju, director of the Copenhagen Centre for Disaster Research at the University of Copenhagen.

South Asia is considered among the most vulnerable to climate change in the world, according to various global climate studies. But India, the largest country in the region and the most populous in the world, is also currently the third highest emitter of planet-warming gases.

Scientists say drastic measures to reduce carbon dioxide emissions are the only solution.

“Heat waves will become more common, temperatures will rise even more, and the number of hot days will increase and become more frequent” if we continue pumping greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, said Chaya Vaddhanaphuti, a professor at Chiang Mai University in Thailand.

Arasu reported from Bengaluru.

editorial

G-7 moves to counter economic coercion

The Group of Seven—France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada—on Saturday adopted a joint mechanism to counter economic coercion, a measure aimed largely at perceived hostile actions by China. The group’s communiqué announced the creation of an initiative, dubbed Coordination Platform on economic Coercion, to “increase our collective assessment, preparedness, deterrence and response to economic coercion.”

US officials described the move as a deliberate effort to show unity among the allies and a nod to Europe for coming around to facing the shared challenges posed by China.

“We want a free and fair international order,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said. “But we have to be aware of the risk of weaponization of interdependencies. That’s why our common response is de-risking not decoupling. We should stay coordinated, as fragmentation is costly and we need predictability for our businesses.”

From Bloomberg: “China responded to the Group of Seven nations’ new joint mechanism to counter economic coercion, accusing them of manipulation and interference in its internal affairs. China has serious concerns over the G-7 campaign unveiled this week, according to a statement released Saturday on the official WeChat account of its embassy in the UK. The G-7 has interfered in China’s internal affairs on issues related to Taiwan, Hong Kong, Xinjiang and Tibet and has stirred up tensions in the East and South China Seas in recent years, a spokesperson for the embassy said in the statement.”

In a testimony before the Congressional-Executive Commission on China in 2021, Bonnie S. Glaser, Director of Asia Program German Marshall Fund of the United States, said economic coercion—defined as a threatened or actual imposition of economic costs by a state on a target with the objective of extracting a policy concession—is an increasingly prominent instrument of Chinese foreign policy.

Glaser said China uses economic coercion to silence critics and achieve its political aims globally. “Unlike traditional economic sanctions, Beijing’s economic coercion usually relies on informal measures that provide plausible deniability and enable China to ratchet pressure up or down as needed. Whereas there are many instances of Chinese officials and state media threatening to take punitive economic actions against countries and foreign firms, there are very few cases where the Chinese government has publicly acknowledged implementing coercive acts,” she said.

Glaser cited, for example, what happened to Australia when it called for an independent investigation into the origins of the coronavirus. China’s ambassador to Australia warned that ordinary Chinese would say, “Why should we drink Australian wine? Eat Australian beef?” “Beijing subsequently cited violations of phytosanitary requirements as the reason for holding up imports of Australian beef, timber, and lobster. China also falsely alleged that Australia was dumping barley and wine and subsidizing the producers of those products. After months of vague import restrictions on Australian coal, the Chinese government formalized the ban by granting approval to Chinese power companies to source coal from a list of countries that did not include Australia,” Glaser said.

From an NBC report: Identifying instances of China’s coercive use of economic power isn’t always easy. “These things are very specific and almost idiosyncratic—case by case—and often difficult to prove,” Thomas Cynkin of the Atlantic Council said in a news briefing, citing an example of banana exports from the Philippines being left to rot on a dock in China and asking whether it was because Beijing was retaliating for some perceived slight or whether it was a simple mistake. Still, experts have been chronicling cases of what they describe as an abuse of China’s outsized influence as the world’s second largest economy.

The NBC report cited a report in March by the Center for Strategic and International Studies that pointed to a Taiwanese government office that opened in Lithuania two years ago. “The backlash was fierce. After the opening was announced, China rejected permits for Lithuanian food imports, and firms in the eastern European country had difficulty getting Chinese contracts approved,” the report said.

“There was never a communiqué before that ever mentioned coercion,” said US ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel. The G-7 adopted a coordinated strategy given the frequency that China deploys economic coercion to increase its leverage on issues such as territorial and maritime disputes, or to retaliate for being criticized for its human rights violations. It would do well for the leaders of the Chinese Communist Party to remember that China became one of the world’s fastest-growing economies after they implemented free-market reforms in 1979, and opened up to foreign trade and investment. Economic coercion can undo a lot of the good things that the Chinese people currently enjoy.

End of health emergency

THE EnTrEprEnEur

The road to normalcy is getting closer and closer. The World health organization has recently declared an end to Covid-19 as a global public health emergency.

Although WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus believes the virus is here to stay, the agency lowered the alarm because of the pandemic’s downtrend, with immunity increasing after more than 13.3 billion vaccine doses were administered worldwide.

In the Philippines, the recent uptick in weekly cases is not considered by the Department of Health as a cause for alarm. Authorities, nonetheless, encouraged people to wear face masks in highly-congested public places, such as transport terminals and wet markets, and continue observing health protocols like staying home when not feeling well and constantly washing our hands.

Despite the lingering concern over Covid, we should be grateful that we survived the past three years of the pandemic and are now close to restoring our pre-pandemic way of life.

We thank the Lord for giving us the opportunity to rebuild our community and economy and learn the lessons from the past. It taught us to become more health conscious, protect our environment and respect individual space. This should reflect the way we build our homes, offices, parks and infrastructure so that we

can breathe fresh air all the time. And encourage us to establish more hospitals and clinics in every community, making healthcare a priority sector in our economic development. Our recent experience reminds us that there is a better way of controlling the disease than locking down our borders and closing economic activities, which could heavily affect the poor particularly those who were self-employed. We paid a heavy toll because of the mobility restrictions in 2020, 2021 and first half of 2022, although we could not blame anybody because of the lack of vaccine at that time. We resorted to extreme measures because we were in a moment of panic and we wanted to survive.

Aware of the repercussions of imposing extreme restrictions on the economy, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said there is no need to restore emergency status in the country as “we are already on normal footing.”

As Covid cases begin to rise again, we should avoid pressing the panic button and waste the economic recovery efforts we made since the second half of 2022. Our economy has been steadily improving since then, thanks to the lifting of mobility restrictions and the

New five-star hotels are being constructed in Metro Manila and in other parts of the country, thanks to a vibrant domestic tourism sector, as more Filipinos can now afford plane tickets and good-quality accommodation. They also support local businesses by dining at restaurants and shopping at malls and other retail establishments spread across the nation.

opening of all economic sectors, including education, entertainment and tourism.

We have partly recovered millions of tourism jobs lost to the pandemic in the past three years, and a full recovery is expected in the next year or two. We could easily attract more than 10 million international visitors once new airports open and more infrastructure projects, hotels and resorts are completed. These projects will generate millions of additional jobs for our young labor force.

I support the Department of Tourism’s stance of no stricter travel rules despite rising Covid cases in the country, especially as minimum health protocols remain in place for tourism establishments.

I agree with the DOT’s plan to transform the Philippines into a “tourism powerhouse.” International visitor arrivals in the country hit the 2-million mark as of May 12, 2023. Most tourists came from South Korea, the United States, Australia, Canada, Japan, China, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, Singapore and Malaysia.

DOT Secretary Christina Frasco says “we are at the cusp of the mas-

sive success of tourism in the Philippines.” I share her optimism, based on the number of new hotels and resorts rising all over the Philippines.

New five-star hotels are being constructed in Metro Manila and in other parts of the country, thanks to a vibrant domestic tourism sector, as more Filipinos can now afford plane tickets and good-quality accommodation. They also support local businesses by dining at restaurants and shopping at malls and other retail establishments spread across the nation.

The good news is there is still room for improvement. Prior to the pandemic, we received 8.2 million foreign visitors and generated $9.3 billion in tourism receipts in 2019. It helped us stabilize our balance of payments, support the gross international reserves and manage our foreign exchange rate. This year, the DOT is looking at 4.8 million arrivals, or a little over half of our pre-pandemic capacity.

Tourism, in my opinion, will allow us to achieve faster economic growth in the future. It already contributed to the 6.4-percent expansion of the gross domestic product in the first quarter of 2023. In fact, our gross national income, or formerly known as GNP, expanded at a much faster rate of 9.9 percent in the first quarter, as net primary income from the rest of the world jumped 81.2 percent during the period.

The end of the health emergency will hopefully lift this sector as a growth driver and help the Philippines attain its potential as a tourism powerhouse.

For comments, send e-mail to mbv_secretariat@vistaland.com.ph or visit www.mannyvillar.com.ph

How bad? This bad OuTSIDE THE BOX

John Mangun

LooKInG out the window of my sixth-floor Makati office, I saw the 1990 Baguio earthquake before I felt it. A construction crane at the distance started swaying a split-second before the tremor swayed my own chair.

After about an hour, you could tell that this time it was different. There was not any wind. The rain was coming straight down in sheets of huge drops. By noon the water was already above the curb and even when the rain subsided, the water was not going down.

The official number of fatalities from Ondoy—Typhoon Ketsana—is

710 with property and agricultural damage cost estimated at about P25 billion. Some 2,400 people died from the Baguio earthquake with about P20 billion in damage. Those statistical numbers are individually meaningless. But given a choice, which would you prefer? The 2008 Global Financial Crisis is most comparable to the Baguio earth-

quake. It hits and then the cleanup and recovery. We are currently facing a prolonged Ondoy storm. When is it going to end and what will be the eventual damage?

A little history. The Global Financial Crisis was caused by too much bad consumer housing debt causing major failures of global financial institutions. The result was a freeze in liquidity—the ability to convert cash to assets and back again—and “frozen liquidity” freezes economies.

In order to “unfreeze,” central banks created what in effect was “free money” with interest rates even going negative, meaning that you had to pay for the privilege of loaning money to a government. Imagine going to the supermarket and the food is free. Human nature being what it is, we would take fancy chocolates and not green salads.

Commercial banks borrowed from one government to lend to

another government that was actually paying interest on its loans, consumers be damned; can’t trust them anyway. Corporations borrowed to inflate stock prices, not for productive purposes. Investors rode the stock prices. Governments borrowed from their central banks to fund “public welfare” which doubled.

The US “Total Public Debt as Percent of Gross Domestic Product” went from 64 percent in 2008 to 107 percent in 2019. The actual debt amount more than doubled. But “Total Global GDP Growth” never reached pre-2008 levels. I am old enough to remember this headline. CNN/January 29, 2020: “Bats, the source of so many viruses, could be the origin of Wuhan coronavirus, say experts.” By design or opportunity, the pandemic gave a pause to everything economic while the “experts” tried to figure out what

Manny B. Villar

Struggles of faithful taxpayers

Atty. Mabel L. Buted

TAX LAw fOR BuSiNESS

‘Bakit kasalanan ko? Parang kasalanan ko.”

This is a famous line of Bobbie, portrayed by Bea Alonzo in the movie “Four Sisters and a Wedding.” The line was uttered by Bobbie after Teddie, her older sister, was caught lying of having a successful career abroad. Teddie confessed that she lied because she is envious of the achievements of Bobbie. Bobbie voiced this line to tell her family that she should not be blamed for being successful because everything she is doing is for her family.

This line has gained popularity.

Many Filipinos use it to this day whenever they are being wrongly held accountable for certain things or issues. I would like to utter the same line for our faithful and diligent taxpayers. They file their tax returns and pay their taxes. They are the constant subjects of tax audits since they are captured in the BIR database. An entity or a person is in the radar of the BIR once he or she registers as a taxpayer. The BIR cannot tax entities and persons who conduct their business in the country and earn income here but are not registered.

For example, foreign corporations that carry out activities through online platforms or through permanent establishments are not in the BIR database. Individuals and corporations, especially the non-residents, who transact with these foreign entities, are also able to escape the BIR’s claws. As discussed by Atty. Dawilan in his last column, foreign entities that do business through permanent establishments are unable to comply with their tax obligations, primarily because there is no mechanism at present for them to register as taxpayers in the Philippines.

This apparent deficiency makes it hard for the BIR to investigate and audit them. Thus, our government’s collection efforts are geared towards taxpayers that are registered. This same deficiency makes us therefore question the fairness and equity as well as the effectiveness of our tax system and administration. It seems to be weak. Our government should intensify its efforts and actions to address this kind of inadequacy. Our honest taxpayers should not be put at a disadvantage and be placed in a more difficult situation just because they are the registered and compliant ones.

Not only are faithful taxpayers the focus of the BIR in tax investigation cases, they are also not adequately protected in their dealings with the BIR.

In tax audits, for example, we have seen them bear the burden on matters that are not their own doing. To illustrate, those who have filed an application for a tax treaty relief are assessed by the revenue examiners for deficiency taxes for lack of BIR’s approval on their application. Yet, their request has been pending

Continued from A30

to do with the massive global debt.

The response to the virus—mass lockdowns—did not just slow things down. It killed the global economy. Governments borrowed even more to keep the peasants from revolting. By the end of 2021, global debt was 256 percent of GDP at $226 trillion and is now at 340 percent and $305 trillion, respectively.

Add to the disaster, global inflation was 8.3 percent end-2022 after 2.9 percent in 2009 and 1.4 percent in 2015. Last year was the time to raise interest rates to stop inflation.

Federal Funds Rate Average Yield in 2020 was 0.36 percent. It is now 5.25 percent.

The current global economic disaster is not the “Baguio earthquake.” It is “Tropical Storm Ondoy.”

We are facing a situation as bad as creeping Alzheimer’s. As bad as an inoperable brain tumor. As bad as

Buy Pinoy, build Pinoy

LABOREM EXERCENS

ACOAlITION of over a hundred farmer and fisherfolk organizations (FFOs) managed to delay the ratification of Philippine membership in the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership for over a year, from late 2021 to early 2023. The main argument raised by the coalition is the country’s general lack of readiness to participate in a free-trade agreement dominated by China, Japan, South Korea and Australia-New Zealand. They cited the 2021 study of Dr. Rashmi Banga, a senior economist of UNCTAD, who wrote that the trade situation of the Philippines and several Asean members (Cambodia, Malaysia, Myanmar and Thailand) is likely to deteriorate under the RCEP’s free-trade arrangement.

the other. The winners: the big corporate importers-distributors; the losers: rice farmers and consumers.

for resolution for too long with the Bureau’s office. It is not the fault of these taxpayers if they could not obtain the BIR’s approval if they have done their part and have sufficiently established that they are entitled to tax relief. However, they are still being penalized for any delay on the part of the BIR.

Sometimes, taxpayers are also required to submit various accounting records and books of account that have already been submitted to the BIR as part of their regular compliance. The BIR already has custody of the documents that they are asking the taxpayers to produce. Thus, taxpayers should not be held liable if they fail to submit documents that have already been submitted. But this is not what happens. In this instance, a subpoena may be issued and the taxpayers will be summoned. Taxpayers are then forced to retrieve old documents and incur administrative costs to comply in the fear that criminal prosecution will ensue if subpoenaed documents are not submitted.

Also, in refund applications, taxpayers will still have to undergo an audit process, when they are just trying to recover excess taxes paid to the government.

No matter how our taxpayers faithfully comply with their tax obligations, they will always seem to be flawed and lacking in the eyes of our tax authority unless the current system in the BIR is put in check. I hope that the current administration can hear the cries of taxpayers, so that Bobbie’s lines will never be uttered again.

The author is a junior partner of Du-Baladad and Associates Law Offices (BDB Law), a member firm of WTS Global.

The article is for general information only and is not intended, nor should be construed as a substitute for tax, legal or financial advice on any specific matter. Applicability of this article to any actual or particular tax or legal issue should be supported therefore by a professional study or advice. If you have any comments or questions concerning the article, you may e-mail the author at mabel.buted@ bdblaw.com.ph or call 8403-2001 local 160.

being in an abusive relationship.

Recent headlines. “US Leading Economic Indicators Tumble For 13th Straight Month,” the sharpest downside reversal excluding the 1973 oil crisis and in 2007. “US

Now Spends More Servicing Its Debt

Than on National Defense.” “China is of particular concern, as its debt makes up a third of global corporate debt.” Meanwhile, “Indebted Chinese provinces are asking Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds for help.”

As global interest rates increase, “Emerging Market” debt service becomes more impossible. “An Associated Press analysis of a dozen countries most indebted to China— including Pakistan, Kenya, Zambia, Laos and Mongolia—found most were devoting more than a third of government revenue to paying off foreign debt.”

There is not a single ray of sunshine coming through the global financial storm. Actually, that is not entirely true. Two words contradict that statement: Southeast Asia.

The fears of the FFOs have very strong material basis. The agricultural sector has shrunk continuously after several trade liberalization episodes. In fact, it is in shambles today.

The first episode happened in the early 1980s when the IMF and World Bank imposed on the debtcrippled administration of the late President Ferdinand Marcos Sr. an “agricultural deregulation” program. This program contributed to the death of the “Masagana 99,” which enabled the country to achieve rice self-sufficiency in 1976-1980. Agricultural deregulation reduced the government’s stabilization role in the rice market such as giving price support to palay (for the farmers) and rice (for the consumers), keeping interest on M 99 loans low and manageable, and maintaining the irrigation and agriculture services running.

The second trade liberalization episode occurred in 1994-1995 when the Philippines joined the World Trade Organization. The battle cry of the Senate ratifiers then: “We cannot afford to be left behind.” To fast track the ratification process, rosy projections of job gains from WTO membership were submitted

by DA, DOLE, DTI and NEDA. Accordingly, 500,000 new jobs a year would be created in industry, and another 500,000 new jobs in the case of agriculture. Scorecard after the WTO ratification? The Philippines has become a net agriculture-importing country beginning in 1995. Growth in the industrial sector has been weak or stagnant, and in the agricultural sector declining. Production-wise, the agri sector output today is equivalent to 8-9 percent of the GDP. As to the projected one million jobs a year to be generated by WTO membership, they have remained mere paper projections.

In 2019, the government enacted the Rice Tariffication Law, which downsized the role of the National Food Authority (NFA) in the palay and rice market and upsized the role of the big private rice traders in the importation and distribution of rice. As documented by the Federation of Free Farmers, the immediate effect of the RTL is the precipitous decline of palay price and income of rice farmers, on one hand, and the relatively unchanged high price of rice for the consumers compared to the pre-RTL years of 2017-2018, on

With the RCEP ratification, the FFO coalition, now joined by major trade union federations, asserts that the future is bleak for agriculture as well as industry. And yet, the RCEP Senate sponsors, principally Senators Migs Zubiri and Loren Legarda, are adamant: more exports and more jobs for the Philippines to be ushered in by stronger performance of agriculture and MSME sector in the RCEP area. As to the fears that the country would be inundated with foreign products, their answer: “No worry” because the government is strengthening the country’s safeguard trade measures, intensifying campaign against smuggling, raising the budget for the DA’s flagship programs, and is setting up an Oversight Committee on RCEP.

But over two months after the RCEP ratification, the Senate’s Oversight Committee still has to come up with a concrete readiness program. A readiness program should be able to flesh out what is the country’s “offensive” programs (meaning the promotion of existing “exportables” as well as development of new ones through organized campaign for innovation and higher government spending on R&D and science-industry-government coordination), “defensive” programs (meaning the institutionalization of strong measures against dumping and smuggling and support to vulnerable groups such as weak MSMEs), and “coherence” programs (meaning there should be productive linkages between industry and agriculture, genuine partnership between government and the farming sector, and so on).

Unfortunately, we don’t see any program, or even a rough policy outline, of how the Senate Oversight Committee and the government as a whole shall handle the competitiveness challenges posed by a more liberalized free-trade arrangement in the huge RCEP area. It appears that

the general attitude of the policy makers is simply one of allowing the free interplay of supply and demand forces to determine the country’s so-called “comparative advantages”.. Free the market and let the investors come in! Free the market and let the strong grow and the weak die on the wayside or make their own survival adjustments!

Such a neo-liberal laissez-faire attitude is the same attitude that prevailed among the policy makers in relation to the various episodes of trade liberalization as summarized above. And look at the outcomes. Stagnant Philippine manufacturing compared to our Asian neighbors. Collapsing agriculture. Dependence of the country on only two economic legs—remittances of OFWs and earnings of call center/BPO sector workers.

It is against the above background that the call of the bigger FFO/trade union coalition really makes sense— Bantay RCEP and Buy Pinoy. The first means monitoring of what the Senate and the government have promised to do to make our agriculture and the economy as a whole winner in this RCEP game.

The second means success in surviving the RCEP competition and winning growth and jobs for the country with the support our government and the Filipino people can give. However, Buy Pinoy should not be seen as merely a general call for Filipinos to buy or patronize Pinoy products. It is a call to build a stronger Philippine economy, one that can stand not only on OFW remittances and call center/BPO earnings but also, and more importantly, on the two real sectors of a strong economy: strong manufacturing and strong agriculture.

Buy Pinoy means Build Pinoy, build a new economy. (More in the next issue of Laborem Exercens).

Dr. Rene E. Ofreneo is a Professor Emeritus of the University of the Philippines.

For comments, please write to reneofreneo@ gmail.com.

Biden, McCarthy to hold pivotal meeting on debt ceiling as time to resolve standoff grows short

By Lisa Mascaro, Stephen Groves & Zeke Miller

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON—President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy are set to meet at the White House at a pivotal moment as Washington works to strike a budget compromise and raise the nation’s borrowing limit in time to avert a devastating federal default.

The meeting Monday afternoon between the Democratic president and the new Republican speaker will be critical as they race to prevent a looming debt crisis. After a weekend of start-stop talks, both men appeared upbeat as they face a deadline, as soon as June 1, when the government could run out of cash to pay its bills.

Biden and McCarthy spoke by phone Sunday while the president was returning home on Air Force One after the Group of Seven summit in Japan. “It went well, we’ll talk tomorrow,” Biden said in response to a shouted question upon his return late Sunday.

The call revived talks and negotiators met for 2 1/2 hours at the Capitol late Sunday evening, saying little as they left. Financial markets turned down last week after talks stalled.

McCarthy, R-California, told reporters earlier Sunday that the call with Biden was “productive” and that the on-again, off-again negotiations between his staff and White House representatives are focused on spending cuts.

Biden told a press conference before departing from Japan: “I think that we can reach an agreement.”

The contours of an agreement appear within reach, and the negotiations have narrowed on a 2024 budget year cap that would be key to resolving the standoff. Republicans have insisted next year’s spending cannot be more than current 2023

levels, but Democrats have refused to accept the steeper cuts McCarthy’s team first proposed.

A budget deal would unlock a separate vote to lift the debt ceiling, now $31 trillion, to allow more borrowing to pay bills already incurred bills. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Sunday that June 1 is a “hard deadline.”

“We’ll keep working,” said Steve Ricchetti, counselor to the president, as the White House team exited talks late Sunday.

McCarthy said after his call with Biden that “I think we can solve some of these problems if he understands what we’re looking at.” The speaker added, “But I’ve been very clear to him from the very beginning. We have to spend less money than we spent last year.”

McCarthy emerged from that conversation sounding optimistic and was careful not to criticize Biden’s trip, as he had before. He did caution, “There’s no agreement on anything.”

Earlier, Biden used his concluding news conference in Hiroshima, Japan, to warn House Republicans that they must move off their “extreme positions” over raising the debt limit and that there would be no agreement to avoid a catastrophic default only on their terms.

Biden said “it’s time for Republicans to accept that there is no deal to be made solely, solely, on their partisan terms.” He said he had done his part in attempting to raise the bor-

rowing limit so the government can keep paying its bills, by agreeing to significant cuts in spending. “Now it’s time for the other side to move from their extreme position.”

GOP lawmakers have been holding tight to demands for sharp spending cuts with caps on future spending, rejecting the alternatives proposed by the White House for reducing deficits in part with revenue from taxes.

Republicans want to roll back next year’s spending to 2022 levels, but the White House has proposed keeping 2024 the same as it is now, in the 2023 budget year. Republicans initially sought to impose spending caps for 10 years, though the latest proposal narrowed that to about six. The White House wants a two-year budget deal.

A compromise on those topline spending levels would enable McCarthy to deliver for conservatives, while not being so severe that it would chase off the Democratic votes that would be needed in the divided Congress to pass any bill.

Republicans also want work requirements on the Medicaid health care program, though the Biden administration has countered that millions of people could lose coverage. The GOP additionally introduced new cuts to food aid by restricting states’ ability to waive work requirements in places with high joblessness. But Democrats have said any changes to work requirements for government aid recipients are nonstarters.

GOP lawmakers are also seeking cuts in IRS money and, by sparing Defense and Veterans accounts from reductions, would shift the bulk of spending reductions to other federal programs.

The White House has countered by keeping defense and nondefense

spending flat next year, which would save $90 billion in the 2024 budget year and $1 trillion over 10 years.

All sides have been eyeing the potential for the package to include a framework that would speed energy project developments.

And despite a push by Republicans for the White House to accept parts of their proposed immigration overhaul, McCarthy indicated the focus was on the House’s previously approved debt and budget package. Republicans had also rejected various White House revenue proposals, with McCarthy insisting personally in his conversations to Biden that tax hikes are off the table.

For months, Biden had refused to engage in talks over the debt limit, contending that Republicans in Congress were trying to use the borrowing limit vote as leverage to extract administration concessions on other policy priorities.

But with the June 1 potential deadline looming and Republicans putting their own legislation on the table, the White House launched talks on a budget deal that could accompany an increase in the debt limit.

McCarthy faces a hard-right flank that is likely to reject any deal, which has led some Democrats encouraging Biden to resist any compromise with the Republicans and simply raise the debt ceiling on his own to avoid default.

The president, though, said he was ruling out the possibility, for now, of invoking the 14th Amendment as a solution, saying it’s an “unresolved” legal question that would become tied up in the courts.

Miller reported and Associated Press writer Josh Boak contributed from Hiroshima, Japan. Associated Press writers

Farnoush Amiri, Colleen Long and Will Weissert contributed to this report from Washington.

Dr. Rene E. Ofreneo

Not only are faithful taxpayers the focus of the BIR in tax investigation cases, they are also not adequately protected in their dealings with the BIR.

this will require constant communication to Headquarters counterpart, with strong financial acumen and ability to build effective relationships, influence other and work effectively in a highly matrixed organization and with strong process improvement/project management focus.

140.

XIN Mandarin Cost Control Analyst

Job Description: Provides significant support, through the use of Mandarin language to senior professionals in China, Taiwan and other Mandarin speaking counterparts and clients. Analyze maintenance,

Mass exodus from AFP if MUP reform mishandled

RESTIVE ranks of military and uniformed personnel in active service are mulling over options, including a “mass exodus,” if they are covered by the proposed reforms in the pension and benefit system, Senator Ronald Dela Rosa disclosed on Monday.

A former chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP) before joining the Senate, dela Rosa warned about looming mass protests or exodus of active soldiers, policemen and other uniformed personnel in the service if they are automatically covered by the Palace-proposed changes in their existing pension and benefit system, without consultations.

S enator dela Rosa noted that “as of now, President Marcos Jr. and his economic team, along with lawmakers, are working on reforms” in the retirement and benefit system, mindful that if nothing is done, it could cause government to suffer a fiscal collapse.

H e reiterated the assertion of economic managers that the risk of fiscal collapse springs from the fact that while the pension requirements of retirees in the uniformed sectors are constantly ballooning, those in active service are not being required to contribute anything to the fund, thus further limiting its capacity to service the pension needs.

T he sums being borrowed to pay out to retirees are now even bigger than the funds needed for the maintenance and other operating expenses of those in the active service, dela Rosa added, citing testimonies in Senate hearings.

A t the last Senate hearing, Defense Officer-incharge Carlito Galvez Jr. had said that as many as 70 to 80 percent of those in the active service are now planning to go on early retirement because of their fear that the new reform bills reducing the retirement  benefits and imposing contributions on those in active service will be enacted and apply to them.

F inance Secretary Benjamin Diokno, who has been leading the push for critical reforms in the pension system for military and uniformed personnel (MUP), had said that it is only fair to make those in active service contribute a percentage of their salaries to a pension fund, in much the same way that other non-MUP State workers contribute to their pension fund throughout their working life.  Unless this is done, the burden will continue to be borne by taxpayers, and this will soon become unsustainable, he said.

A t the weekend, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. said he and the economic team were working hard to craft reforms toward a self-sustaining system that would avert a fiscal collapse. Butch Fernandez

Napoles cases: No graft in 1, convicted in another

By Joel R. San Juan @jrsanjuan1573

THE Sandiganbayan on Monday cleared porkbarrel scam mastermind Janet Lim Napoles of the 16 counts of graft  charges in connection with the multimillion-peso Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) projects of Senator Ramon “Bong” Revilla, but found her guilty in similar charges involving another lawmaker.

T he graft charges, according to the Sandiganbayan’s First Division are “predicate crimes of plunder in People v. Ramon “Bong” Revilla, Jr.”, under which Napoles has a been previously charged and convicted together with Revilla’s former chief of staff Richard Cambe.

T he Sandigabayan explained that since the charge of plunder against Revilla, Cambe and Napoles is based on “predicate acts,” which constitute a violation of Section 3 ( e ) of Republic Act No.

3019 or the Anti-Corrupt and Practices Act , “the accused’s liability could no longer be determined in the cases as these offenses were already included in the plunder case for which they were already prosecuted for.”

“ This face became even more apparent after the presentation of the same testimonial and documentary evidence in both cases,” the Sandiganbayan declared.

I n 2021, Revilla was acquitted by the Sandiganbayan of the same

charges in connection with his PDAF funds while Cambe died in prison.     A side from Napoles, the Sandiganbayan also declared accused Gondelina Amata, Ofelia Ordoñez, Sofia Cruz, Evelyn Sugcang, Francisco Figura, Ma. Rosalinda Lacsamana, Marivic Jover, Consuelo Lilian Espiritu, Victor Roman Cacal and Maria Ninez Guañizo not guilty of the graft charges.

However, the Sandiganbayan declared former deputy director general  of the defunct Technology and Livelihood Resource Center (TLRC) Dennis Cunanan and several others guilty of the charges and sentenced to a maximum of eight years of imprisonment.

Guilty in Cagas case

IN a separate ruling that was also released on Monday, the Second Division of the anti-graft court found  Napoles guilty of two counts of graft and two counts of malver -

sation in connection with the alleged misuse of pork-barrel funds involving former Davao del Sur 1st District  Representative Douglas Cagas.      Napoles and several others were ordered to indemnify the government in the amount of P30.72 million for the two counts of graft and two counts of malversation.

A side from these, the anti-graft court sentenced Napoles to a maximum of 10 years of imprisonment for each count of graft and a maximum of 17 years of imprisonment for each count of malversation.

“Thus, this Court finds that the accused actively connived and conspired to act in that manner to cause the disbursement of Cagas’ PDAF to fake or unaccredited NGOs (non-governmental organizations) to the prejudice of the government,” the ruling stated.

T he case against Cagas has been dismissed by the anti-graft court due to his death.

E-governance, game-changer but solons flag cyber security

By Butch Fernandez @butchfBM

SENATORS on Tuesday vowed to fast-track measures pushing e-governance in the country, seeing it as a way to hasten progress and inclusion in society, while assuring the public they will track efforts to ensure cyber security and data privacy at all times.

S en. Alan Peter Cayetano said he is banking on “e-governance as a game-changer” in the Philippines, but stressed this will require both public and private sectors working hard together to fully implement it. P residing at a joint hearing led by his Committee on Science and Technology, Cayetano said, “we must see e-governance as a blessing to our country because it makes government services more efficient, less prone to corruption, and more inclusive.”

Monday’s hearing, he explained, was convened to pursue the issue of “how to modernize the country’s digital infrastructure to ensure that all Filipinos have access to affordable, quality, secure, and up-to-date information and communication technologies.”

T he senator saidd it will include both the government and the private sector working together to “make sure there is reliable and affordable broadband internet service for everyone.”

A part from ensuring internetenabled devices are made available at affordable prices, Cayetano pointed out that “accessible and affordable internet will go a long way in leveling the playing field, especially for Filipinos living in remote areas since information will be made available to them.”

Cutting red tape MOREOVER , Cayetano pointed to the need to create computer and mobile applications and online content that are “designed to enable and encourage participation, interaction, and development.”

C iting the often long and frustrating process of accessing government services and even financial assistance, Cayetano said people want a simpler and more convenient way to connect with the government.

WOES, AGAIN

Tondo, Manila, on Monday, May 22, 2023, amidst the announcement of daily water service interruptions by Maynilad Water Services Inc. in Metro Manila, particularly affecting parts of Pasay, Parañaque and Cavite. The interruptions are a result of low water production caused by a combination of increased turbidity levels in the raw water from Laguna Lake and a leak in the filtering system of the Putatan water treatment plant. ROY DOMINGO

‘Pag-asa island needs urgent attention, aid’

THE Senate leadership on Monday assured the Army that the chamber will support their budgetary needs for 2024, even as senators were urged to pay attention to the urgent need to provide more resources to Pagasa Island, the former military site transformed into a civilian community, and the most important symbol of Philippine sovereignty in the West Philippine Sea.

B eyond crafting and pushing for legislative measures that will strengthen the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri said that in his meeting last week with Budget Secretary Mina Pangandaman, “I told her how crucial it is that we not underbudget for the AFP in the 2024 National Expenditure Program.”

Z ubiri added on Monday: “I

Armed Forces

and equipment of our neighboring countries. For that to happen, we need better ships, new jets, missile systems, and armaments, among other things. This will cost a lot, but that’s the cost of protecting the country.”

Hours after Zubiri made the assurance to the Army, Sen. Jinggoy Estrada delivered a privilege speech drawing attention to the “plight of our kababayans in the remote and isolated Pag-asa Island—the largest landform of the Kalayaan Island Group which includes Ayungin Reef and Rizal Shoal and the islets of Lawak, Patag, Likas, Kota, Panata, Parola, and Pag-asa.”

K alayaan, a fifth-class municipality, is the least populated town in the Philippines, Estrada noted, with 350 civilians or 65 households  currently living on Pag-asa Island as of May this year, 73 of them children.

R ecalling his encounters with Pag-asa residents when he visited the island last May 18, Estrada noted the severe lack of basic infrastructure and public services like health and education, and said authorities were dutybound to provide for these people, given the significance of their community.

Joining Estrada on the  island visit were Armed Forces of the Philippines Chief of Staff Gen. Andres Centino, Naval Forces West commanding general Alan Javier, Philippine Air Force commanding general Lt. Gen. Stephen Parreño, several other military officers and some Senate reporters.

“ For far too long, our brothers and sisters in Pag-asa Island have lived in constant uncertainty. They have endured the harsh realities of a life cut off from essential services and opportunities that many of us take for granted,” Estrada said.

Their access to healthcare, education, and even the basic necessities of life is hampered by their geographic isolation. Their hopes and dreams often seem distant, obscured by the vastness of the sea that surrounds them.”

B esides the separation from loved ones for months due to lack of transportation options, those living on Pag-asa must contend with the absence of basic health services or a hospital; pregnant women must be airlifted months before their due date to ensure their safe delivery. There is no nurse, doctor, or even a midwife to tend to resident.

T he 73 elementary students are taught by just two teachers—sometimes three, when a soldier volunteers to help teach them. And their classrooms still bear the damage wrought by  Super Typhoon Odette in December 2021.

C ayetano believes e-governance can be a “game-changer” because it not only speeds up services but removes avenues of corruption. “E-governance will not be a slow evolution but a quantum leap— from slow and corruption-riddled to fast and clean processes. It will eliminate possibilities of corruption in the government’s provision of services,” he said.

T he main author of the E-Governance Act of 2022, Sen. Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go, said his bill seeks to mandate the government to establish an integrated and interconnected information and resource-sharing and communications network between the national and local government, set up an internal records management information system and the digitization of paper-based workflows for a more efficient and transparent public service.

In the end, E-governance will result to better governance, and a government that is more responsive to the needs of our people,” Go said Cyber security

SEN. Raffy Tulfo focused on bolster online defense measures of critical information infrastructure (CII) institutions from cyberattacks and malicious actors that steal sensitive information and e-money.

WATER

An elderly woman lines up plastic containers to collect water in Barangay Quezon,

Editor: Jennifer A. Ng

Companies

Tuesday, May 23, 2023

B1

Globe gains ₧96B as tower sale deals overshoot target PAL, Citem tie up for food trade fair

By Lorenz S. Marasigan @lorenzmarasigan

Rizza Maniego- e a la, the company’s CFo, said Globe’s tower sale transactions — signed with various tower companies—reached P96.32 billion, representing the sale of 7,509 towers.

Initially, Globe wanted to sell only 7,000 of its tower assets. Its recent transaction with Unity Digital Infrastructure Inc., which

involved the sale of 447 towers, enabled Globe to exceed its target.

“At the moment I think we have upped our tower sale. We will see if there are any more opportunistic transactions for the balance year but the fact that we’re at 7,509 is already over our target,” she said.

To date, Globe has successfully transferred 44 percent or 3,120

assets out of the 7,059 acquired by tower companies, yielding approximately P40.5 billion.

Proceeds of the divestment program will be used to bankroll Globe’s capital investments. It will likewise help in freeing up cash flow for the telco.

Upon receipt of all tower sale proceeds, Globe expects its gross debt to earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization (ebitda) ratio to be around 2.2x, aligning with pre-pandemic levels.

Aside from Unity, Globe has also signed deals with Phil-Tower Consortium Inc., Miescor Infrastructure Development Corp. (MIDC), and Frontier Tower Associates Philippines.

e a la said Globe plans to “keep

its strategically important towers for its operations.”

By focusing on these towers, she said the company aims to enhance its operational efficiency and ensure reliable services for its customers, strengthening its overall performance.

Globe expects its core business to post “mid-single digit” growth this year, “despite the major macroeconomic headwinds” that it forecasts in 2023.

In the first quarter, Globe saw its net income decline by 47 percent to P7.3 billion from P13.7 billion, largely because of the one-time gain it posted the year prior from the sale of its data center.

The company’s core net income was flat at P5.1 billion.

Meralco commissions substation

By Lenie Lectura @llectura

The Manila e l ectric Co.

(Meralco) has recently commissioned a substation in Laguna as part of its commitment to provide reliable power service to its customers.

The new Real 115 kV-34.5 kilovolt substation located along Real Road in Calamba City, Laguna is expected to relieve the neighboring Calamba substation and boost available capacity that will benefit customers in the city, as well as those in portions of the cities of Tanauan and Sto. Tomas in Batangas.

The project involved the energization of two 34.5 kV distribution feeders serving enterprise customers, housing complexes and subdivisions, and key establishments such as the Calamba City ha ll, and Sto. Tomas Doctors hospital and Medical Center.

“Meralco is continuously working to improve its distribution system to deliver safe, sufficient, and reliable power service to its customers as part of its commitment to support the government’s thrust to improve infrastructure and achieve energy security in the country,” it said on Monday.

Meanwhile, Meralco’s local retail

electricity supplier unit said it will be adding more renewable energy (R e) sources in its supply portfolio.

As of end-March, MPower serves customers with a combined requirement of more than 1,000 megawatt (MW) of which 180 MW are sourced from R e MPower is set to increase this capacity to 800 MW in the next two years.

“As the consciousness towards sustainability grow, we expect demand for R e to similarly increase. By 2025, our target is for R e to account for at least 40 percent of our total supply mix,” said MPower Senior Vice President and head of MPower Roberto Almazora.

MPower is the sole offtaker of Nuevo Solar energy Corp.’s (NSeC) 68-MW solar farm located in Currimao, Ilocos Norte, which commenced commercial operations last March. NSeC is a joint venture between MGenRenewable energy, Inc., and Vena energy.

“This new partnership marks an important milestone in our commitment to continue diversifying our supply portfolio by taking in more renewable energy projects, not only to meet the demand of our customers for sustainable energy, but also to support the national agenda to transition to clean energy sources,” Almazora said.

Ayala-owned carrier to expand fleet

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

AIRSWIFT Airlines Philip-

PATIeN TS who took the diet drug Wegovy for a year had a reduced risk of heart disease, a promising finding that sent Novo Nordisk A/S shares to a record.

The stock rose as much as 3.1 percent in Copenhagen in response to study results presented over the weekend. Wegovy’s prodigious success has turned Novo into europe’s second-most valuable firm behind the luxury group LVMh People followed in the Wegovy trial presented at the e u ropean Congress on ob esity saw their 10year risk of cardiovascular disease decline by 18 percent, said Andres Acosta, an associate professor of medicine at the Mayo Clinic. Researchers used a standardized survey of heart risk to assess about 100 people, mostly White women, who took Wegovy over the course of a year at clinic sites around the United States.

The study took place in the real world rather than a clinical trial, meaning there was no control group, so researchers couldn’t say for sure whether the improvement was due to Wegovy, known generically as semaglutide, or whether other factors could have been at play. But the outcome is a positive sign as doctors await results from a larger, more rigorous trial being run by Novo, Acosta said in an interview. Bloomberg News

pines, the commercial carrier of the Ayala Group, is looking forward to increasing its seat capacity this year as it connects more leisure destinations in the country.

In an email interview with the BusinessMirror, AirSWIFT President and C e o Alfonso Reyes said, “We are seeing significant leisure travel demand in 2023 and are very bullish on being able to finally put the difficult years of the pandemic behind us.”

he added, “We will be increasing seat capacity by 30 percent by the end of the year to meet this strong demand, as e l Nido continues to develop as one of the country’s top tourism destinations.”

The additional seat capacity will be provided by the acquisition of a brand-new turboprop ATR 72-600 through a lease contract, which will beef up the boutique airline’s existing fleet of two 48-seater ATR 42-600s and two 70-seater ATR 72-600s. The new plane is expected to be delivered by December. In Manila, the airline operates out of Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) terminal 4.

Leisure travel demand

The “work-from-anywhere” mode has helped lift leisure travel demand among Filipinos and foreign tourists alike, noted Reyes, such that he forecasts AirSWIFT’s average passenger load factor to rise to

82 percent this year, even higher than the 73 percent average in prepandemic 2019.

“Leisure travel demand seems to be much stronger now compared with 2019. We do not think this is necessarily just revenge travel but possibly shifting travel patterns, as the continuation of hybrid ‘workfrom-anywhere’ models allow for more long weekends and more travelers being able to mix work with leisure travel. So far we are seeing this trend both with local and foreign travelers,” he said.

The airline plans to expand its routes this year connecting e l Nido in Palawan and Siargao, Surigao del Norte. “The strategy has always been to connect A h RC (AyalaLand hotels and Resorts Corp.) destinations such as e l Nido and Sicogon, to not only Manila, but as many other major gateways or tourism destinations in the country as possible,” added Reyes. Last year, the carrier relaunched all flights that were halted by the pandemic: Manila-Coron and Manila-Sicogon; e l Nido to Boracay, Cebu, Coron; and a Tagbilaran- and Clark- e l Nido. A new route was also introduced last year between Manila and Tablas (Romblon).

Fuel, parts challenges

The carrier has its roots in Island

Transvoyager Inc., a chartered carrier which flew daily flights from e l Nido. It became a commercial airline in 2015 when it rebranded as AirSWIFT, three years after acquisition by the Ayala Group. The carrier is now operated by Ayala Land Inc., whose hospitality unit has also benefited from the surge leisure travel. (See, “ALI hotel unit to add more rooms this year,” in the B usiness M irror , May 8, 2023.)

The business is not without its disadvantages, however, especially with the lack of heft afforded by legacy airlines and more established low-cost carriers. “The main disadvantages [of operating as a commercial carrier now] are the difficulty of adding flights from Manila given the existing runway congestion at Naia, and being able to keep ticket prices more affordable given the very high inflation and cost of fuel,” said Reyes.

“There is also the challenge of being able to resolve maintenance issues as quickly as possible so as not to significantly disrupt flight schedules, as the availability of spare parts globally is much tighter than before, as aircraft parts manufacturers continue to have supply chain issues,” he noted.

According to its parent unit’s 2022 annual report, the lifting of travel restrictions and rebound in leisure travel improved the carrier’s revenues to P1.2 billion in 2022, just 29 percent less than its revenues in pre-pandemic 2019. Flights more than doubled to 5,330 versus 2,573 in 2021.

FLAG carrier Philippine Airlines has tied up with the Center for International Trade e x positions and Missions (Citem) for the upcoming IFe X Philippines 2023. This year’s edition of IFe X will be held at the World Trade Center Metro Manila in Pasay City from May 26 to 28.

PAL will serve as the official carrier for Citem’s long-running trade event and sourcing program for local and global food and ingredients.

“We at Citem recognize PAL’s vital contributions to the country’s international trade relations and economy. This signing will mark the beginning of many more partnerships, in hopes of contributing to the empowerment of Filipino micro, small, and medium enterprises and making the lives of Filipinos better as a whole,” said Dr. edward Fereira, executive director of Citem.

According to Fereira, their teamup is “pivotal” in their efforts to promote Filipino food, as well as their other brands, such as Create Philippines, Manila FAMe and Sustainability Solutions exchange.

PAL President and Coo Stanley Ng said that the airline is honored to be the official carrier and partner for the local and international undertakings of the Department of Trade and Industry’s export promotion arm.

“We congratulate Citem for providing export-driven programs, spearheading participation in overseas trade fairs, organizing signature events in the Philippines and highprofile promotional activities in key markets abroad.”

An estimated 10,000 local and foreign buyers and visitors are expected to participate in this gastronomic exposition of over 500 Philippine-based and international exhibitors.

Among the products on display include beverages, fine food and specialties, fruits and vegetables, biscuits and confectioneries, snacks and crispy savory food products, meat and poultry, dairy products, grain products, seafood and marine products, organic and natural products, raw materials and food ingredients, and equipment and services.

IFe X Philippines will serve as a platform for business-to-business activities, as well as multi-sensory sourcing experiences via cooking demonstrations, product presentations, and special events and seminars.

The event’s 16th edition will feature a number of thematic and innovative exhibits of local and international food brands, namely, Flavor Finds, open house, and IFe X K itchen. Roderick L. Abad

LoPez-LeD energy Development Corp. (eDC) is set to complete its P7-billion binary power plant in Albay in the third quarter.

Its parent firm reported last week that the 28.9-megawatt (MW) Palayan binary project is targeted for commercial operations by September. The binary plant will produce energy from the waste heat of a unit of eDC’s existing 130-MW BaconManito (BacMan) geothermal power plant. The project is also expected to expand the existing BacMan plant.

The company earlier said the Palayan binary plant was expected to generate 600 jobs for the community. Also, the low carbon project will reduce 72,200 tons of carbon emissions every year. eDC is also engaged in another binary project. The 3.6MW Mindanao 3 binary project was inaugurated last April 27, 2022.

The project will make use of existing brine from eDC’s 103-MW Mindanao 1 & 2 geothermal power

facilities to generate additional energy without the need for additional drilling.

The heat from the brine will be used to generate electricity for the new power plant before it is re-injected back to the reservoir. It was synchronized to the Mindanao Grid on March 12, 2022, and passed its grid compliance testing by the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines.

The project will not only contribute reliable power to the Mindanao region but it will also avoid around 25,000 tons of equivalent carbon dioxide each year through the use of clean geothermal energy in lieu of coal, the company said.

eDC’s over 1,480MW total installed capacity accounts for 20 percent of the country’s total installed renewable energy capacity while its 1,181MW geothermal portfolio accounts for 62 percent of the country’s total installed geothermal capacity.

This has put the Philippines on the map as the third largest geothermal producer in the world. Lenie Lectura

Globe Telecom Inc. said on Monday it has exceeded its tower sale targets with gross proceeds reaching close to P100 billion.

Novo shares up by 3.1%

BTr bags ₧15B from sale of triple-tenor T-bills

By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas @jearcalas

THE Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) on Monday made a full award of its auctioned triple-tenor Treasury bills (T-bills), raising the total target amount of P15 billion as investors’ asking rates fell below secondary market levels.

The Treasury raised P5 billion each from the tendered 3-month, 9-month and 1-year government securities.

“The 91-day, 182-day and 364day T-bills fetched average rates of 5.777 percent, 5.898 percent and 5.945 percent, respectively, all lower than the previous auction and the prevailing secondary market rates,” a statement the Treasury issued after the auction read.

The secondary market rates for the auctioned T-bills were as follows:

5.823 percent for 91-day; 5.906 percent for 182-day; and, 5.951 percent for the 364-day short-term debt paper. The Treasury’s auction committee noted that Monday’s tender was oversubscribed by four times as total bids reached P60.7 billion. Broken down, the total amount tendered for each T-bill auctioned by the Treasury were as follows: P14.062 billion for 91-day; P20.080 billion for 182-day; and, P26.528 billion for 364-day.

Bidders for the 91-day T-bills’ asking interest rates ranged from a low of 5.75 percent to a high of 5.8 percent.

For the 182-day debt paper, investors sought rates ranging from 5.88 percent to 5.918 percent while the 364-day T-bill fetched rates ranging from 5.928 percent to 5.95 percent.

The national government plans to raise a total of P175 billion this year from the sale of government securities with P100 billion com-

ing from the auction of Treasury bonds (T-bonds) and P75 billion from T-bills.

For the whole year, the national government plans to borrow P2.207 trillion with a 75:25 mix in favor of domestic sources.

In terms of domestic borrowings, the national government aims to raise a total of P1.654 trillion, P54.1 billion of which coming from the sale of T-bills while the remaining amount would come from the auction of T-bonds.

Rules of thumb in personal finance No. of BIR-registered tobacco-goods sellers doubled

TheRe are many rules of thumb when it comes to personal finance. Different sources (whether books, online articles, or videos) have suggested different “sign post” rules that we can follow to improve our financial situation.

These include the rules of thumb on the following: savings (common suggestions are 10-percent to 20-percent savings rate per month); on emergency funds (common suggestions are 3-months’ to 6-months’ worth of expenses); on debt payment (snowball method, in which loan payment is paid from smallest to largest debt); on investment (invest in mixture of various asset classes, in alignment with risk appetite of investor); on insurance (coverage should be at least 5-years’ worth of annual expenses); and, many others.

These are good starting points and these should be fine-tuned based on the actual situation and capability of the household. however, these rules of thumb are about the conceptualization and implementation of a financial plan.

Are there any rules of thumb that will help household steer towards financial stability that improves financial foundation, mindset, and can be applied immediately? There are two rules of thumb that could be employed in relation to this: the 3-minute rule when listing expenses and the 3-minute rule when spending. These 3-minute rules focus on the fundamental part of financial planning, which is cash management. The 3-minute rule when listing expenses just means that in a day with 1,440 minutes, we only need 3 minutes or less to write down our expenses. This is 0.21 percent of our day at most. So, barring any real-time emergencies, the habit of listing expenses should really be practiced by the household and there should likely be little excuse not being able to do so.

One important thing to remember to develop the habit of listing expenses is the adage that “what one can measure, one can improve” or its converse, “one cannot improve on something that could not be measured.” There is no specific format to be followed and listing expenses

could be in free-form. What matters is that expenses are being listed regularly. By being mindful of this rule of thumb, listing expenses is being instilled in the household and develops awareness on how a household allocates it financial resources.

The other 3-minute rule is the rule of thumb when spending. This means that it takes 3 minutes to determine whether a small item purchase is worth it. This rule takes from Vicky Robin and Joseph Rodriguez’s book “Your Money or Your Life.” In the book, the authors propose the computation of life energy by dividing after taxes income by the time allocated to earn such income.

The life energy is the time of life spent to earn a peso of a household’s income (e.g. a household allocating 50 hours to earn P10,000 means such household earns P200 per hour and an item worth P1,000 means five hours of work rendered for that item).

Knowing a household’s life energy also pivots the household to focus financial resources on what really matters and the rule of thumb of recalling the computed life energy serves as final check before committing to purchase of small items. Giving three minutes to deliberate worthiness of a purchase in terms of life energy promotes mindfulness when spending.

These proposed 3-minute rules can be used quickly and, despite its ease of implementation, the benefits provided by these rules when it comes to cash management are immense. So on our next purchases, let’s decide how many hours of work have we done in exchange and do not forget to write it down.

John Hero Salvador is a registered financial planner of RFP Philippines. To learn more about investment planning, attend the 101st batch of RFP program this May 2023. To register, e-mail info@ rfp.ph or text 0917-6248110.

The number of registered firms engaged in the sale of cigarette, vape and other tobacco products more than doubled to 103 from 45, latest Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) data showed.

BIR Commissioner Romeo D. Lumagui Jr. issued Memorandum Circular (MC) 57-2023 that listed the registered manufacturers, importers and exporters of various tobacco products as of May 15.

An additional 58 firms were added to the list compared to the previous list published by the bureau in June 2022, according to the annexes of the latest memorandum circular.

“This Circular is hereby issued to intensify the campaign of the Bureau of Internal Revenue against illicit tobacco products,” Lumagui said in the MC dated May 16 and was posted on the BIR’s website on May 19.

Lumagui reminded the registered firms that their products “must comply” with the requirement on graphic health warning and the affixing of

BIR Tax Stamps, except for those selling vapor products and novel tobacco products. Based on the BIR’s latest list, there are currently seven manufacturers of locally produced cigarettes for domestic sale, up from the five listed in the BIR’s June 2022 memorandum circular.

The seven manufacturers are Associated Anglo-American Tobacco Corp., JT International (Philippines), MPe Tobacco Trading, PMFTC Inc., Rolyo Cigarette Inc., Talengtan Brothers & Sons Inc. and Yosimite Oriental Supersystem Inc.

The seven companies combined for a total of 113 cigarette brands JT International (Philippines) having the most brands registered at 41 followed by PMFTC Inc. with 33 brands. Rolyo Cigarette Inc. and Yosimite Oriental Supersystem Inc., which were the two new registered firms this year, did not have any cigarette brands registered, the BIR’s list showed.

The BIR list showed that the number of local cigarette manufacturers for export remained unchanged at just two firms: PMFTC Inc. and Talengtan Brothers & Sons Inc. however, the number of cigarette brands registered for export by PMFTC Inc. increased to 45 from 33 last year while Talengtan Brothers & Sons Inc.’s number of registered brands was unchanged at 20.

The latest BIR list also showed that the number of PeZ A-registered cigarette manufacturers quadrupled to 13 firms from just three last year.

The 13 firms are Baisisen Global Corp., Fourthstripe Manufacturing Corp., Gold Tree Tobacco Manufacturing Corp., Golden Leaf Manufacturing International Inc., hongcim Int’l Corp., JT International Asia Manufacturing Corp., Magnum Tobacco Manufacturing Corp., Noble Leaf Manufacturing Inc., One Subic Premier Manufacturing Corp., Pan Subic Brothers Manufacturing Corp., Prudence Development & Management

Corp., Thaitian Cigarette and Tobacco Corp., and TM8 enterprises Inc.

Of the 13 firms, the following eight do not have registered brands yet: Fourthstripe Manufacturing Corp., Golden Leaf Manufacturing International Inc., hongcim Int’l Corp., Noble Leaf Manufacturing Inc., One Subic Premier Manufacturing Corp., Pan Subic Brothers Manufacturing Corp., Prudence Development & Management Corp. and Thaitian Cigarette and Tobacco Corp.

The number of registered cigarette importers grew by two to 14 from 12 last year.

Meanwhile, the number of registered manufacturers of vapor products rose by 14 firms to 27 companies while the number of importers of vapor products expanded by 23 companies to 26 firms.

The total number of importers of heated tobacco products rose to 11 from 7 while the BIR recorded three new importers of novel tobacco products. Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas

BIR runs after CPA of firms linked to ‘ghost receipts’ sale

The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) revoked last Monday the accreditation of an accountant who served as an external auditor of the companies criminally-charged by the bureau for selling ghost receipts.

BSP & BANK OF BOTSWANA This Thursday, May 11, 2023, photo shows Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Felipe M. Medalla (seated center) during a meeting with the Bank of Botswana at the BSP Head Office in Manila wherein the BSP chief underscored the country’s commitment to creating an enabling regulatory environment that promotes responsible innovation, resilient financial systems and financial inclusion. Also in the photo (seated, from left) are BOB Deputy Governor Tshokologo Alex Kganetsano and Advisor Sheila Malebogo Sealetsa; (standing, from left) Novus Transact Philippines Corp. Country Head Ariel B. Gumabao; BoB Head of Property Management Procurement and Projects Moeti Modimana and Banking Manager Vincent Golebetswe; RCBC Executive Vice President Angelito M. Villanueva; BoB Director Julius Ghanie; Novus Technologies President and CEO Ricardos Khoury; BoB Coordinator Ruth Baitshepi; and, Novus Technologies Vice President of Strategic Initiatives Sidath Wijeratne. CREDIT: Bangko SEnTRal ng P lIPInaS

BOC, US Embassy eye cooperation for border mgmt

The Bureau of Customs (BOC) and the US embassy in Manila are exploring possible areas of cooperation to intensify border control and safeguard national security through capacity and skills building.

In a statement, the BOC said Customs and US embassy officials met recently regarding “potential areas of cooperation and possible means of strengthening the relationship” between the two agencies.

The BOC added that officials from both parties discussed various topics that included cooperation opportu-

nities in law enforcement, maritime operations, investigations, capacity building and advanced technology implementation.

The meeting also discussed the possible provision of technical expertise and skills building to be extended by the US embassy to the BOC’s en forcement and Security Service (BOC-e S S).

“This consultative meeting represents a significant step forward in establishing a strong collaboration between the BoC and the embassy of the United States of America. Both parties are committed to leveraging their col-

lective expertise and resources to ensure more robust customs operations and safeguard national security,” the bureau said in a statement on Monday.

The BOC said it aims to “achieve excellence in securing and protecting customs authority across the border” by collaborating with the US embassy.

The BOC said it was represented by Commissioner Bienvenido Y. Rubio, Customs Deputy Commissioner Teddy Raval and the heads of the e S S, the Financial Management Office, the e xternal Affairs Office and the Interim Training Development Division. The

US embassy, on the other hand, was represented in the meeting by Jason Perez, a member of the Marine Corps embassy Security Group and Patrick Braun, chief of the Information Support Team.

“The establishment of a strong collaboration between the BOC and the US embassy will undoubtedly enhance the capabilities and technical know-how of BOC personnel. This will create opportunities to intensify border protection and combat smuggling further,” Rubio was quoted in a statement as saying.

Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas

The BIR said it has also filed necessary administrative and criminal charges against the accountant whom the agency identified as Jennifer Cunanan Roncesvalles.

The BIR explained that Roncesvalles was the one who issued the Certified Public Accountant (CPA) certificate attached to the financial statements of the companies involved in the sale of “ghost” receipts.

“She is now facing a criminal case before the Department of Justice (DOJ) and an administrative case for the revocation of her license before the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC),” the bureau said in a statement issued last Monday.

The revocation of Roncesvalles’s license and the filing of charges against her was part of the BIR’s “Run After Fake Transactions,” or “Raft,” program that seeks to purge companies using fake receipts to evade tax obligations.

The BIR noted that Roncesvalles violated Sections 8(A) (2), (4), and (1) of Revenue Regulation (RR) 11-2006, as amended by RR 04-2010.

The BIR earlier explained that the modus involves registered companies issuing receipts to another company for a non-existent product or service

in order for the latter to avail of tax deductions.

“This serves as a warning to all CPAs involved in “ghost” and/or fake receipts. You will lose your PRC [Professional Regulation Commission] license. You will lose your BIR accreditation. You will be imprisoned for tax evasion,” BIR Commissioner Romedo D. Lumagui Jr. was quoted in the statement as saying.

“Uphold the core values of being a CPA. Your profession and stature in society, confer not only prestige but also that of a higher responsibility to the financial system of the country,” Lumagui added.

The BIR disclosed that it is now auditing the buyers of the fake receipts.

Publicly-available PRC documents online showed that Roncesvalles’s accreditation application as an individual in the practice of public accountancy was approved by the Professional Regulatory Board of Accountancy last August 2020. Roncesvalles’s accreditation is valid until July 29 of this year, according to the Board of Accountancy’s Resolution 35 (series of 2020).

In March, the BIR made its first tax rap against four companies it discovered were engaging in fake transactions. The BIR said such transactions cost the government at least P25.5 billion in lost revenues.

(See: https://businessmirror.com. ph/2023/03/17/bir-files-tax-evasion-case-vs-ghost-companies-infake-transactions/ ) Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas

Napocor to borrow add’l ₧10B from LandBank to sustain off-grid power services

By Lenie Lectura @llectura

The National Power Corp. (Napocor) will borrow an additional P10 billion from the Land Bank of the Philippines (Landbank) on top of the P5 billion it has recently secured to aid the state firm in sustaining off-grid power services.

Napocor President Fernando Martin Y. Roxas said rotational brownouts that were earlier anticipated to happen

in SPUG (Small Power Utilities Group) areas were averted because Napocor was able to borrow P5 billion from LandBank.

“Not anymore because we’ve been able to borrow P5 billion,” he said when asked if Napocor reduced SPUG operating hours. “We will add P10 billion from LandBank also. Yes, to buy all of the fuel that we will need,” Roxas said. Napocor is still securing approvals for the P10-billion credit line from

LandBank.

“We already asked for the Monetary Board approval and beginning to apply for the sovereign guarantee. We’re hoping to get it by August or September this year. hopefully, August this year,” Roxas said.

In January this year, Napocor proposed reduction in SPUG operating hours of SPUG power plants from March 1 to end of this year. It earlier proposed that SPUG plants operating for 24 hours a day

be reduced to 15 hours, while those that operate for 16 hours will operate for 12 hours. Those that run for less than 16 hours will run for five hours.

Napocor is mandated to supply electricity to 299 missionary areas or those that are not connected to the grid. These areas are currently powered by diesel plants through the Napocor SPUG program. however, the rising cost of diesel in the international market has affected Napocor’s financial position. Its pay-

ables to operate SPUG plants and barges amounted to P1 billion for the November to December 2022 billing period while its payables to new power providers and qualified third parties amounted to P5.5 billion. Additional funding, reduction in SPUG operating hours, and an increase in universal charge for missionary electrification (UCMe) were all considered so Napocor’s operations in off-grid areas could continue.

Roxas earlier said Napocor is targeting to convert all SPUG areas to fully on renewable energy before 2030. “hopefully, the first 25 percent would start next year and then work on the rest of the 75 percent after that. Maybe two years to reach the full 25 percent and another four years to reach close to a 100 percent,” he said.

Only two percent of SPUG operations are currently powered by renewables, Roxas said.

peRsonal finance

John Hero salvador

❶ MOON Dune Carlo Magno, mixed media, 24”x24”

❷ BLUE Mountain, Carlo Magno, mixed media, 60”x72”

A celebration of Carlo Magno’s percipience

career decision that sent shockwaves to the local art industry. More importantly, the move reinvented Magno as a visual artist. Today, he is known for minimalist abstractions rich in texture and charged with intense emotions.

Two decades after making the daring transition via an exhibition aptly titled Transformation at Galerie Joaquin, Magno collaborated anew with the gallery in his recently-concluded one-man show, Percipience. The exhibition, which closed on May 8, celebrated Magno’s artistic journey with a vast selection of mixed media artworks and trophy-sized sculptures.

In Percipience, the featured abstract pieces carry Magno’s signature use of striking red against a backdrop of gradient gray with gestural strokes of metallic copper and daubs of black, as seen, in Olden Days for one. Meanwhile, the sculpture, titled Girl Rising, displays the artist’s painstaking attention to detail with the subject evoking determination and courage.

TODAY’S

Eugenia Last

CELEBRITIES BORN ON THIS

DAY: Kelly Monaco, 47; Jewel, 49; Drew Carey, 65; Joan Collins, 90.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Look at what’s possible and discard ideas that will slow you down. Educate yourself to support your long-term goals, and turn this into a year of progress and determination with an outcome that makes you proud. Distance yourself from those trying to get you to do things that help them more than you. Put yourself first and your energy into fulfilling your dreams. Your numbers are 8, 15, 24, 30, 34, 41, 43.

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Be aware of what happens at home. Discuss your concerns and figure out how to resolve domestic issues that disrupt your life. Make it clear where you stand, what you want to do and how you intend to help others. ★★

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): It’s time for a change. Don’t wait for things to fix themselves when it’s up to you to initiate what makes you feel good about your future. Nurture meaningful relationships and make it known what and who you want in your life. Romance is favored. ★★★★

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Travel, education and communication will help lead you to your destination of choice. Stop analyzing and start doing what matters most to you. A change in how you handle money or present yourself to the world will have a positive impact on your life. ★★★

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Helping others will help you put your life in perspective. Reach out, and you’ll discover suggestions and remedies you can apply to yourself and others. Learn as you go and practice what you learn. Love is on the rise. ★★★

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Show interest in what others do, but do things your way when it comes to how and what you contribute. Being true to yourself will satisfy your ego and ensure you stay in control of the outcome. Maintain integrity and remain within budget. ★★★

HYPERREALISM defined the first half of Carlo Magno’s 40-year artistic career, marked by an instinctive play of light and shadow that brought to life his paintings of old houses, antique furniture and cultural artifacts.

In 2003, after establishing an impressive oeuvre of figurative artworks, the senior artist felt like he hit a wall. Magno wanted to do something else, something more, and shifted to abstraction. It was a bold mid-

Magno began his career at the tail-end of the Modernist era of Philippine art. He started as an architecture student at the Mapua Institute of Technologoy, before shifting in 1976 to the Fine Arts program of the Philippine Womens University. In 1980, an art auction inspired him to take up painting, influenced by PWU alumni Prudencio Lamarroza and Rafael Cusi. Before long, he was winning one art competition after the other.

Of course, dealing with details is nothing new to Magno. His evolving aesthetic remains rooted in the concept of evoking emotions, carried through elements that the viewer understands and resonates with. In Percipience, as the show’s exhibition note highlights, the seasoned artist “has struck a balance between the real and the abstract, expression and representation, the implied and inferred.”

Carlo Magno’s Percipience ran from May 4 to 13, 2023 at Galerie Joaquin BGC (0915-7391549/ galeriejoaquinbgc@gmail.com). The gallery is on the Upper Ground Floor of One Bonifacio High Street Mall, 5th Avenue corner 28th Street, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig. ■

Capturing women in arts at CCP touring exhibit

WHO and what defines women’s image?

These are the questions that are explored in the touring exhibit of the Cultural Center of the Philippines, titled Woman: Thesis and Antithesis. Curated by Yuchengco Museum director Jeannie Javelosa, the exhibit features artworks that highlight women as subject matter, and celebrated women artists amid the evident gender divide in the field of visual arts in the Philippines. The exhibit is divided into two sections: the Women in Society collections displayed at the ground floor, and the Women Expressions exhibited at the third floor of Yuchengco Museum.

The Women in Society collection chronicles women’s various roles in society while stimulating the critical thinking of audiences of whether women are represented properly over time. Meanwhile, in the Women Expressions collection, arts

have become an extension of women’s expressions on particular issues they face in a patriarchal society. Consisting of different feminist overtones, some artworks militantly advocate for shifts and changes in their roles as women and how they are perceived.

collaboration with the Yuchengco Museum in Makati City.

“For the next three years, the CCP is going to be closed and we are delighted

that we have friends just like the Yuchengco Museum with whom we can work so that the CCP can continue its activities in the performing arts, visual arts, literary arts, and the other elements of culture and the arts with which we deal,” said CCP chairperson Jaime C. Laya, who expressed heartfelt gratitude to CCP’s partner organizations in helping the 54-year-old institution continue its mission in the promotion and preservation of the Philippine arts and culture.

The exhibit runs until June 24 at the Yuchengco Museum at the RCBC Plaza, corner Ayala Avenue and Senator Gil J. Puyat Avenue in Makati City. Visiting schedule is Monday to Sunday, from 10 am to 6 pm. Entrance fee for adults is P100, with discounted price of P50 for students, seniors and PWDs. Admission is free on June 24.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): A change of plans will lead to valuable information. You can help others by using what you learn and incorporating it into your daily routine. A meaningful partnership will encourage you to explore possibilities. Don’t expand too quickly. Time is on your side.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Keep your feelings and intentions to yourself. An open mind will help you recruit new ideas that encourage positive changes and a home environment that allows you to expand your ideas. Don’t let emotions stifle your dreams. ★★

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Positive change is up to you. Evaluate your situation and what will make you happy. The changes you implement will help you structure an environment that energizes your creative spirit and points you in a better direction. Romance and travel are favored.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Put more thought into improving your medical, financial or contractual issues, and you’ll find a way to eliminate what is no longer a benefit. Condensing debt will ease stress. Compete with yourself, not others.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Get busy eliminating your to-do list. Free up time to do something with someone you love later in the day. Home improvements will make your downtime more enjoyable and change the dynamics between you and those closest to you. Romance is favored. ★★★

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Think twice before you listen to or follow someone. Choose to do what suits you best. Focus on home, health and happiness, and take the road that intrigues you the most. Don’t let anyone coerce you into doing something that doesn’t interest you. ★★★

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Accentuate what you know and do best, and you’ll be happy with the results. Consider how you can use your skills uniquely to bring in additional cash. Updating your image will boost your confidence and encourage romance.

BIRTHDAY BABY: You are affectionate, intuitive and generous. You are playful and flexible.

‘the color of money’ BY SAM ACKER

Show BusinessMirror

In Cannes, Harrison Ford bids adieu to Indiana Jones

By Jake Coyle

The Associated Press

CanneS, France—

Festival crowd stood in rapturous applause, a visibly moved stage, trying to keep his emotions in check.

The warmth of the audience and a clip reel that had just played had left Ford shaken.

“They say that when you’re about to die, you see your life flash before your eyes,” he said. “And I just saw my life flash before my eyes—a great part of my life, but not all of my life.”

If last year’s Cannes was partially defined by its tribute to Top Gun Maverick has belonged to Ford. This time, it’s been far more poignant. Ford, 80, is retiring Indiana Jones, saying goodbye to the iconic swashbuckling archeologist more than 40 years after he first debuted, with fedora, whip and a modest snake phobia.

re

BroAdCAST giant Gma network Inc. continues to be the most-watched, most trusted, and most-awarded network in the country.  In its Annual Stockholders’ meeting on may 17, Gma reported that it reinforced its dominance as the no. 1 Philippine media conglomerate across TV, radio and online platforms.

Nielsen TV Audience Measurement data from January to December 2022 showed that Gma’s combined people net reach, including GTV and its other digital channels, was at 96 percent or 78 million viewers in Total Philippines.  In terms of ratings, the network’s flagship channel, GMA-7, ranked first in overall Channel Rankings. Its second free-to-air channel, GTV, was in the second spot, while its DTT channels, I heart movies and heart of asia, ranked 5th and 6th, respectively.

The network also dominated the list of top programs in 2022. Twenty-eight of the top 30 shows in both nielsen nUTam and PhInTam People

Ratings were from Gma landing on the top 3 spots were the epic series Lolong, the flagship newscast 24 Oras, and multi-platform leader Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho.

“I am very proud to say that GMA continues to be the home of groundbreaking programs. our entertainment Group produced the stellar masterpiece Maria Clara at Ibarra.... We also changed the preprime-time habit of Filipino TV viewers with Family Feud Philippines while the first season of Running Man Philippines, coproduced with SBS Korea, was well-accepted by the Filipino audience. Abot Kamay Na Pangarap continues to be the No. 1 daytime program on TV and online. needless to say, we maintained our supremacy in ratings and content in 2023,” said Gma Network chairman and CEo Atty. Felipe L. Gozon.

GMA’s mega-series Voltes V Legacy is now the top entertainment program in the country, according to Nielsen data from May 8 to 11. Voltes V: Legacy The Cinematic Experience, released in over 70 Sm cinemas nationwide, performed well at the box office, and due to insistent public demand its run was extended in select theaters.

In the international arena, Gma reached more Global Pinoys through its landmark partnerships in various over-the-Top (oTT) and mobile platforms.

The year 2022 was a period of digital milestones for the network. Gma led in video viewership on Facebook and YouTube and continued to win in emerging platforms. It finished 2022 with more than 75 million subscribers across its various YouTube channels and reached 162.4 million followers/fans in its official Facebook accounts. With high reach and engagement levels in all its digital platforms, Gma’s online properties delivered 34.5 billion video views.  Its diversification vehicle, GMA Ventures, made several local and international investments. Gma also collaborated with various content producers to create top-notch content for TV, online, oTT, and films. It closed content licensing deals with international streaming leaders Netflix and Viu, among several others. The network is also returning to the silver screen with six films in the pipeline.  despite lower financial indicators due to global disruptions and advertising industry cutbacks, Gma continued to deliver strong returns to its shareholders. With its exemplary fiscal management, the network’s consolidated revenues once again surpassed the P20-billion mark, a back-to-back feat from 2021. on may 16, the network paid its shareholders P5.35 billion in cash dividends. Since its listing on the Philippine Stock exchange in 2007, Gma has declared total dividends amounting to P45.99 billion—equivalent to an average of 96 percent of the network’s net income after tax year-on-year.

“2022 was a year of ‘Strengthening our Paths

To Growth’. We fortified our core business while progressively creating foundational breakthroughs... armed with a wide reach, superior content and technology, and the most talented people in the industry—I am hopeful that the next years will be Gma’s best years,” said atty. Gozon.

It’s been a moving farewell tour—most of all for Ford, who has teared up frequently along the way. Speaking to reporters Friday, Ford was asked: Why give up Indy now?

“Is it not evident?” he replied with a characteristically sheepish grin. “I need to sit down and rest a little bit. I love to work. character. and I love what it brought into my life. That’s all I can say.”

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny Jones film, premiered on Thursday night in Cannes, bringing an affecting coda to the franchise begun with 1981’s Raiders of the Lost Ark the next three were all directed by Steven Spielberg from a story by George Lucas, Ford’s final chapter is directed and cowritten by James Ferrari filmmaker.

The gala, one of the most sought-after tickets at Cannes this year, also included an honorary Palme d’or given to Ford. The next day, Ford was still struggling to articulate the experience of unveiling his final turn as Indiana Jones.

“It was indescribable. I can’t even tell you,” said Ford. “It’s just extraordinary to see a kind of relic of your life as it passes by.”

Following the disappointment of 2008’s littleloved Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull, the possibilities for a fifth film lingered for years and went through many iterations. Ford said he was intent on seeing a different, less youthful version of Jones. Dial of Destiny is set in the 1960s and finds Indiana as a retiring professor whose long-ago exploits no longer seem so special in the age of space exploration.

“I wanted to see the weight of life on him. I wanted to see him require reinvention and support. and I wanted him to have a relationship that was not a flirty movie relationship,” said Ford, who stars

alongside Phoebe Waller-Bridge. “I wanted an equal relationship.”

Ford is clearly deeply pleased with the movie. he was especially complimentary of his castmates and Mangold, whom he said did more than “fill the shoes that Steven left for us.”

everything has come together to support me in my old age,” said Ford with a wry grin. The movie begins with an extended sequence set back in the final days of WWII. In those scenes, Ford has been de-aged to appear much younger. Lucasfilm chief Kathleen Kennedy was quick to say that an AI-crafted Ford won’t be used by the company in the future. Ford called the employment of a de-aged version of him “skilled and assiduous”—and didn’t make him jealous.

“I don’t look back and say I wish I was that guy. I’m real happy with age,” said Ford. he then added, with an expletive, that it could be worse. “I could be dead.”

expands its music dominance

Phenomenal all-male music group SB19 has just released its latest song “Gento,” much to the delight of music fans worldwide. The Pinoy Pop group released this song ahead of the scheduled drop of its muchawaited eP Pagtatag scheduled early June. eP means extended play, a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but is shorter than an album.

“Gento” refers to a race or a group of people related ethnically or genetically, and SB19 seeks to show the world the kind of unique artistry it has as Filipinos through this new song. launched in 2018, the allmale group composed of Pablo, Justin, Stell, Ken and Josh has continued its steady rise and gained global attention with every new song they release.

The latest song and the forthcoming eP are meant to showcase SB19 as it explores new music styles and genres. “as a group, we aim to continue evolving and experimenting, so we can at least be at par with what the world is seeing and listening to and watching. Complacency should have no place in any musical artist or group for that matter, because music continues to take different shapes and forms and depth as we move forward into the future,” explained Justin.

handpicked and trained by ShowBT Philippines, the members of SB19 continue to spread their wings and some have even released solo singles. Fans

Ford isn’t retiring from acting. he has two ongoing TV series (Shrinking, 1923) and he said he remains committed to working.

“my luck has been to work with incredibly talented people and find my way into this crowd of geniuses and not get my ass kicked out,” said Ford. “and I’ve apparently still got a chance to work and I want that. I need that in my life, that challenge.”

Ford, like Indiana, isn’t departing without his hat. he’s kept one, Ford said, but he more prizes the experience of making the films. “The stuff is great but it’s not about the stuff.”

and Ford can still turn heads. one female reporter declared that the 80-year-old was “still hot” and asked Ford—who briefly appears shirtless in the movie—how he stays fit. After a few chuckles and some mention of his avid cycling, Ford answered with mock pomposity. “I’ve been blessed with this body,” he replied. “Thanks for noticing.” n

sB19

No one size fits all in healthcare; localized solutions are the key

THE government and the private sector need to work together to provide proper healthcare in any country, whether rich or poor, the chief medical officer of the largest US healthcare company told Makati Business Club members.

Dr. Margaret-Mary Wilson, Chief Medical Officer and Executive Vice President of UnitedHealth Group, said this was borne by her experience in Nigeria, the UK, and the US, where poverty, regulatory and process constraints, and inequities, respectively, resulted in patients not getting the care they need. Together, they can provide targeted, or “local” solutions, rather than ineffective one-size-fits-all strategies.

“Everyone deserves access to safe, equitable, and affordable healthcare,” Dr. Wilson said. “The solution to better healthcare access must be local. No one can build a healthcare ecosystem for anyone else. Localized approaches make the ground that drives better access to care.”

The Philippines passed its Universal Healthcare Law in 2019 but funding and coverage remain low. Over the past 15 years, private sector groups including Metro Pacific Investments Corp., Ayala Corp., the Unilab Group, and JG Summit Holdings Inc. have built new hospital, clinic, and pharmacy networks across the country, while private HMOs have operated for decades. Government and private sector collaboration deepened during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Dr. Wilson was the first speaker in MBC’s Global Leaders series, which aims to help Philippine business leaders think, act, and compete more globally through in-depth engagements with industry leaders worldwide to create more and better jobs and improve Filipino lives. The series is sponsored by SGV.

Dr. Wilson believes the keys to management and leadership are the “leadership muscles” of authenticity and

with ambiguity, a “dynamic, agile, and flexible” culture, and the initiative that comes with not fearing failure.

“You need to create an environment of psychological safety where people are not afraid to fail. That’s how you keep your team comfortable and innovative through difficult times,” she said. “We all need to build models that are dynamic, agile, and flexible. We have to move away from thinking of industries through the lens of size and magnitude. If you focus on these, you become rigid.”

Part of having an innovative and dynamic culture is diversity.

“The whole point of diversity is embracing different ideas and approaching problems together,” Dr. Wilson said. “Innovation is thwarted when one doesn’t consider diversity.”

To promote diversity, leaders, especially those from minority or marginalized groups, need to be more visible, she said.

“I’m a woman, an African immigrant, and a lesbian — and I’m a leader,” Dr.

Wilson said. “The journey has not been without bigotry. What I have learned and benefitted from is the power of visibility and authenticity. It’s important for me as a leader for my teams, partners, and clients to see me and all that I represent. People cannot become what they do not see.”

Dr. Wilson said AI and other technology can help fast-track bureaucratic processes that slow down and limit access to healthcare, but they won’t replace humans, despite shortages in healthcare workers around the world.

“Ten years from now, we will not recognize healthcare. More and more, we have seen technology being leveraged to conveniently bring healthcare to the consumer,” she said. “Globally, we are facing a healthcare workforce shortage. We need to recognize that professional talent cannot be replaced by technology.”

UnitedHealth is the biggest healthcare company in the U.S. and the only healthcare company among the Top 10 U.S. Companies by sales. Its Optum unit has a BPO operation in Manila and is a member of MBC.

10,000 sari-sari store owners and trade partners attend the opening day of Puregold Sari-Sari Negosyo Convention

THE Puregold Sari-Sari Store Negosyo Convention 2023 is a celebration of the Filipinos’ entrepreneurial spirit. Participated by 10,000 sari-sari store owners and trade partners who trooped to the World Trade Center on May 18, 2023 the opening day of the three-day event was a colossal success.

The annual convention is Puregold’s salute and way of showing gratitude to the over 800,000 members nationwide of its Tindahan Ni Aling Puring (TNAP) program. During the first day of the Convention, Puregold President Vincent Co was excited to note thousands of sari-sari store owners showing up for the convention. “It always brings me pride to see our sari-sari store owners come together,” said Vincent. “Today we continue to immerse our members in all our first-to-market programs like Puregold Mobile, P-Wallet and more. Giving them access to such, and to consistent wide variety, complete, and low-priced goods will grant TNAP members a chance to maximize their supply and services in their local communities.”

Beyond the Convention, Puregold continues to introduce members to the Aling Puring app, yielding additional business by making them community hubs for cash in, cash out, loading and bills payment.

Puregold also aims to educate and encourage members on the new ways or methods of doing business via the use of cashless modes of payment like its own P-wallet. Members get one percent cashback when they top up their P-wallet, which is embedded in the Puregold Mobile app and can be used for in-store and in-app grocery shopping, as well as bills payment and loading.

Enterprise growth is the essence of the Puregold Sari-Sari Store Convention 2023. As with previous years, small to medium enterprises were welcomed with exclusive value deals via bulk promos as offered by various participating trade partners. Leading FMCG companies included the biggest names such as Nestlé, URC, Unilever, P&G, San Miguel, Monde Nissin, PMFTC, Century Pacific, Coca-Cola, Del Monte, Globe, Gcash, Kojiesan and NutriAsia, among many others.

Aside from Puregold President Vincent Co, the kick-off event was also graced by the presence of Puregold’s top executives such as Lucio Co, Group Chairman of Cosco Capital; Susan Co, Puregold Chairwoman and guest speaker Senator Imee Marcos.

Puregold’s commitment to strengthening the bonds between big business and sari-sari stores was further affirmed through Puregold’s Chairwoman Susan Co’s welcoming remarks, which emphasized the importance of helping sari-sari stores evolve to be the Tindahans of Tomorrow.

“It is our customers’ welfare that drives us to carry on despite the challenges we faced, especially during the past couple of years,” said Co. “While we continue to adapt to the times and transform as a company, each and every endeavor always puts our customers as the prime beneficiaries. Bawat programa, ang aming mga Ka-Puregold ang laging panalo.”

And with 10,000 TNAP members in attendance on the opening day of the convention, the uptrend of sari-sari store businesses shows no signs of slowing down.

BREN Esports bullish on outlook, to expand in Singapore

MOBILE Legends is the most famous and most downloaded mobile game having millions of esports players and enthusiasts following their favorite esports groups. BREN Esports has instilled discipline on all its players, giving the team a formidable and super competitive image in the tough esports field.

BREN ESports is the biggest and most successful team in the Philippines, the only locally grown squad with a full-service training facility READ. BREN Esports, also known as BREN EPro, has partnered with EMERGE Sports for its expansion in Singapore.

“We aim to be the leading eSports ecosystem in the Philippines with the principles of transparency and collaboration with partners who share the same vision to nurture the growth of esports locally and internationally,” said Bernard Lu Chong, President and CEO of Bren Esports; and Esports Arena(MeSA), BrenProTV and Next  Talents, BrenPro, Inc.

Currently, Bren  Esports is part of the first franchise league in the country, The Nationals, which features a traditional league format where franchise teams compete in four game titles that cater to  different gaming communities (PC gaming, mobile gaming,  console gaming, and a wildcard game). This league also aims to be the main pool for national esports athletes who will compete in tournaments sanctioned by the SEA Games, Asian Games and the Olympics. The league is broadcast live in ESPN5.

Recently, the Court of Appeals dismissed

a case and recalled a warrant of arrest against Lu Chong. On the alleged charges involving Lu Chong with Fortuneyield. Lu Chong was able to prove that he was no longer connected with Fortuneyield when I a a crime was allegedly committed on or about March 22, 2019, by reason of his resignation, assignment of shares, and replacement as President of the said company long before the said commission of the crime, has been sufficiently established.

CONQUEST, AcadArena’s summer gaming, music and pop culture celebration is happening on June 2 to 4, 2023 at the SMX Convention Center.

CONquest is loaded with a roster of guests featuring Valkyrae, Pokimane, Fuslie, Sykkuno, and The Rose.

There will be new activities like Music Night, Food Street, and Valorant Challenger PH Split 2. On top of that, bigger advocacies will be championed this year.

The Music Night is an optional add-on for every ticket holder. This activity features

artists like The Rose and James Reid. The most-anticipated Valorant Challengers PH Split 2 is also going to CONquest 2023. Attendees will witness epic battles from organizations in the country on their journey towards the Ascension League. Passes include Day Pass (P800), ThreeDay Pass (P2,000), Premium Pass (P20,000), as well as add-ons Music Night (P5,000), and The Rose Meet & Greet (P750). Hurry before tickets run out at https:// www.conquestph.com/tickets. See you in the skies!

Subway®, Mayani support the call to fight against malnutrition with #SubwayGivesPack campaign

MALNUTRITION has reached alarming rates in the Philippines, especially among marginalized indigenous groups. Thirty percent of Filipino children face chronic malnutrition due to unequal access to nutritious food, resulting in cognitive delays and long-term health consequences.

With a goal to help alleviate malnutrition, multi-national restaurant chain Subway® launched its #SubwayGivesPack campaign in partnership with Mayani, the fastest-growing farm-to-table platform in the Philippines.

Mayani directly sources locally-grown produce and catch from organized smallholder farmers and fisherfolk across six regions in the archipelago, and provides them access to a sustainable market: from retail customers to top supermarket chains, international hotels, and restaurant groups. This partnership will strengthen Subway®’s commitment to promoting a healthier lifestyle and save hundreds of children from hunger.

The campaign aims to provide Mayani’s Aeta farmer community in Zambales with 200 nutrition packs containing healthy food items, such as fresh vegetables. These will give them better access to proper nutrition

and improve their well-being, especially the undernourished children.

“We’re beyond excited to welcome Subway® into Mayani’s ecosystem of partners. It’s an important milestone for us to cocreate change with a global brand and enable Subway® to localize and deepen its positive impact among communities,” said by JT Solis, the Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer of Mayani, who led the structuring of the partnership deal.

Subway® recently celebrated its 26th year in the Philippines on the back of a strong reception by the Filipino market for fresher alternatives than the traditional fast-food offers. The campaign started to roll-out already across all Subway stores in the country.

“Subway® has come a long way since our first franchise, and it continues to expand to multiple areas in the country thanks to the efforts of our Franchisees, Sandwich Artists and our loyal guests,” Jean Gagarino, Subway®’s Territory Manager

Subway®’s #BetterForYou initiative is not just about giving healthier foods to customers; it also focuses on fostering a better community for Filipinos.

a

THE event was kicked off with the presence of Puregold President Vincent Co, Chairman of Cosco Capital Lucio Co, Puregold Chariwoman Susan Co, and Senator Imee Marcos who was the event’s guest speaker.

DR. Margaret-Mary Wilson, Chief Medical Officer and Executive Vice President of UnitedHealth Group, with Makati Business Club Executive Director Francisco Alcuaz Jr. during the final remarks. comfort

shared.

And together, we can make

big difference for those in need.

A GLOBAL brand with a heart for the community. The leadership team of Subway® Philippines and Mayani’s top management. From top left to right are Kin Nonog, Chief Operating Officer and Lance Villanueva, Co-Founder/Chief of Fulfillment. At the bottom from left to right are Jean Gagarino, Territory Manager; JT Solis, Co-Founder/Chief Executive Officer. The parties signing their partnership agreement at Subway® J12 Anabu II-D in Imus Cavite.

CONquest, gaming industry’s biggest event, to happen on June 2 at SMX Convention Center in Pasay City

‘Clock has hit midnight’: China loans pushing world’s poorest countries to brink of collapse

By Bernard Condon The Associated Press

An Associated Press analysis of a dozen countries most indebted to China—including Pakistan, Kenya, Zambia, Laos and Mongolia—found paying back that debt is consuming an ever-greater amount of the tax revenue needed to keep schools open, provide electricity and pay for food and fuel. And it’s draining foreign currency reserves these countries use to pay interest on those loans, leaving some with just months before that money is gone.

Behind the scenes is China’s reluctance to forgive debt and its extreme secrecy about how much money it has loaned and on what terms, which has kept other major lenders from stepping in to help. On top of that is the recent discovery that borrowers have been forced to put cash in hidden escrow accounts that push China to the front of the line of creditors to be paid.

Countries in AP’s analysis had as much as 50 percent of their foreign loans from China and most were devoting more than a third of government revenue to paying off foreign debt. Two of them, Zambia and Sri Lanka, have already gone into default, unable to make even interest payments on loans financing the construction of ports, mines and power plants.

In Pakistan, millions of textile workers have been laid off because the country has too much foreign debt and can’t afford to keep the electricity on and machines running.

In Kenya, the government has held back paychecks to thousands of civil service workers to save cash to pay foreign loans. The president’s chief economic adviser tweeted last month, “Salaries or default? Take your pick.”

Since Sri Lanka defaulted a year ago, a half-million industrial jobs have vanished, inflation has pierced 50 percent and more than half the population in many parts of the country has fallen into poverty.

Experts predict that unless China begins to soften its stance on its loans to poor countries, there could be a wave of more defaults and political upheavals.

“In a lot of the world, the clock has hit midnight,” said Harvard economist Ken Rogoff. “China has moved in and left this geopolitical instability that could have long-lasting effects.”

How it’s playing out

A CASE study of how it has played out is in Zambia, a landlocked country of 20 million people in southern Africa that over the past two decades has borrowed billions of dollars from Chinese state-owned banks to build dams, railways and roads.

The loans boosted Zambia’s economy but also raised foreign interest payments so high there was little left for the government, forcing it to cut spending on healthcare, social services and subsidies to farmers for seed and fertilizer.

In the past under such circumstances, big government lenders such as the US, Japan and France would work out deals to forgive some debt, with each lender disclosing clearly

what they were owed and on what terms so no one would feel cheated.

But China didn’t play by those rules. It refused at first to even join in multinational talks, negotiating separately with Zambia and insisting on confidentiality that barred the country from telling non-Chinese lenders the terms of the loans and whether China had devised a way of muscling to the front of the repayment line.

Amid this confusion in 2020, a group of non-Chinese lenders refused desperate pleas from Zambia to suspend interest payments, even for a few months. That refusal added to the drain on Zambia’s foreign cash reserves, the stash of mostly US dollars that it used to pay interest on loans and to buy major commodities like oil. By November 2020, with little reserves left, Zambia stopped paying the interest and defaulted, locking it out of future borrowing and setting off a vicious cycle of spending cuts and deepening poverty.

Inflation in Zambia has since soared 50 percent, unemployment has hit a 17-year high and the nation’s currency, the kwacha, has lost 30 percent of its value in just seven months. A United Nations estimate of Zambians not getting enough food has nearly tripled so far this year, to 3.5 million.

“I just sit in the house thinking what I will eat because I have no money to buy food,” said Marvis Kunda, a blind 70-year-old widow in Zambia’s Luapula province whose welfare payments were recently slashed. “Sometimes I eat once a day and if no one remembers to help me with food from the neighborhood, then I just starve.”

A few months after Zambia defaulted, researchers found that it owed $6.6 billion to Chinese state-owned banks, double what many thought at the time and about a third of the country’s total debt.

“We’re flying blind,” said Brad Parks, executive director of AidData, a research lab at the College of William & Mary that has uncovered thousands of secret Chinese loans and assisted the AP in its analysis. “When you look under the cushions of the couch, suddenly you realize, ‘Oh, there’s a lot of stuff we missed. And actually things are much worse.’”

Debt and upheaval

CHINA’S unwillingness to take big losses on the hundreds of billions of dollars it is owed, as the International Monetary Fund and World Bank have urged, has left many countries on a treadmill of paying back interest, which stifles the economic growth that would help them pay off the debt.

Foreign cash reserves have dropped in 10 of the dozen countries in AP’s analysis, down an average 25 percent in just a year. They have plunged more than 50 percent in Pakistan and the Republic of Congo. Without a bailout, several countries have only months left of foreign cash to pay for food, fuel and other essential imports. Mongolia has eight months left. Pakistan and Ethiopia about two.

“As soon as the financing taps are turned off, the adjustment takes place right away,” said Patrick Curran, senior economist at researcher Tellimer. “The economy contracts, inflation spikes up, food and fuel become unaffordable.”

Mohammad Tahir, who was laid off six months ago from his job at a textile factory in the Pakistani city of Multan, says he has contemplated suicide because he can no longer bear to see his family of four go to bed night after night without dinner.

“I’ve been facing the worst kind of poverty,” said Tahir, who was recently told Pakistan’s foreign cash reserves have depleted so much that it was now unable to import raw materials for his factory. “I have no idea when we would get our jobs back.”

Poor countries have been hit with foreign currency shortages, high inflation, spikes in unemployment and widespread hunger before, but rarely like in the past year.

Along with the usual mix of government mismanagement and corruption are two unexpected and devastating events: the war in Ukraine, which has sent prices of grain and oil soaring, and the US Federal Reserve’s decision to raise interest rates 10 times in a row, the latest this month. That has made variable rate loans to countries suddenly much more expensive.

All of it is roiling domestic politics and upending strategic alliances.

In March, heavily indebted Honduras cited “financial pressures” in its decision to establish formal diplomatic ties to China and sever those with Taiwan.

Last month, Pakistan was so desperate to prevent more blackouts that it struck a deal to buy discounted oil from Russia, breaking ranks with the US-led effort to shut off Vladimir Putin’s funds.

In Sri Lanka, rioters poured into the streets last July, setting homes of government ministers aflame and storming the presidential palace, sending the leader tied to onerous deals with China fleeing the country.

China’s response

THE Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in a statement to the AP, disputed the notion that China is an unforgiving lender and echoed previous statements putting the blame on the Federal Reserve. It said that if it is to accede to IMF and World Bank demands to forgive a portion of its loans, so do those multilateral lenders, which it views as US proxies.

“We call on these institutions to actively participate in relevant actions in accordance with the principle of ‘joint action, fair burden’ and make greater contributions to help developing countries tide over the difficulties,” the ministry statement said.

China argues it has offered relief in the form of extended loan maturities and emergency loans, and as the biggest contributor to a program to temporarily suspend interest payments during the coronavirus pandemic. It also says it has forgiven 23 no-interest loans to African countries, though AidData’s Parks said such loans are

mostly from two decades ago and amount to less than 5 percent of the total it has lent.

In high-level talks in Washington last month, China was considering dropping its demand that the IMF and World Bank forgive loans if the two lenders would make commitments to offer grants and other help to troubled countries, according to various news reports. But in the weeks since there has been no announcement and both lenders have expressed frustration with Beijing.

“My view is that we have to drag them—maybe that’s an impolite word—we need to walk together,” IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said earlier this month. “Because if we don’t, there will be catastrophe for many, many countries.”

The IMF and World Bank say taking losses on their loans would rip up the traditional playbook of dealing with sovereign crises that accords them special treatment because, unlike Chinese banks, they already finance at low rates to help distressed countries get back on their feet. The Chinese foreign ministry noted, however, that the two multilateral lenders have made an exception to the rules in the past, forgiving loans to many countries in the mid-1990s to save them from collapse.

As time runs out, some officials are urging concessions.

Ashfaq Hassan, a former debt official at Pakistan’s Ministry of Finance, said his country’s debt burden is too heavy and time too short for the IMF and World Bank to hold out. He also called for concessions from private investment funds that lent to his country by purchasing bonds.

“Every stakeholder will have to take a haircut,” Hassan said.

China has also pushed back on the idea, popularized in the Trump administration, that it has engaged in “debt trap diplomacy,” leaving countries saddled with loans they cannot afford so that it can seize ports, mines and other strategic assets.

On this point, experts who have studied the issue in detail have sided with Beijing. Chinese lending has come from dozens of banks on the mainland and is far too haphazard and sloppy to be coordinated from the top. If anything, they say, Chinese banks are not taking losses because the timing is awful as they face big hits from reckless real estate lending in their own country and a dramatically slowing economy.

But the experts are quick to point out that a less sinister Chinese role is not a less scary one.

“There is no single person in charge,” said Teal Emery, a former sovereign loan analyst who now runs consulting group Teal Insights.

Adds AidData’s Parks about Beijing, “They’re kind of making it up as they go along. There is no master plan.”

Loan sleuth

MUCH of the credit for dragging China’s hidden debt into the light goes to Parks, who over the past decade has had to contend with all manner of roadblocks, obfuscations and

falsehoods from the authoritarian government.

The hunt began in 2011 when a top World Bank economist asked Parks to take over the job of looking into C hinese loans. Within months, using online data-mining techniques, Parks and a few researchers began uncovering hundreds of loans the World Bank had not known about.

China at the time was ramping up lending that would soon become part of its $1 trillion “Belt and Road Initiative” to secure supplies of key minerals, win allies abroad and make more money off its US dollar holdings. Many developing countries were eager for US dollars to build power plants, roads and ports and expand mining operations.

But after a few years of straightforward Chinese government loans, those countries found themselves heavily indebted, and the optics were awful. They feared that piling more loans atop old ones would make them seem reckless to credit rating agencies and make it more expensive to borrow in the future.

So China started setting up offshore shell companies for some infrastructure projects and lent to them instead, which allowed heavily indebted countries to avoid putting that new debt on their books. Even if the loans were backed by the government, no one would be the wiser.

In Zambia, for example, a $1.5 billion loan from two Chinese banks to a shell company to build a giant hydroelectric dam didn’t appear on the country’s books for years.

In Indonesia, a Chinese loan of $4 billion to help it build a railway also never appeared on public government accounts. That all changed years later when, overbudget by $1.5 billion, the Indonesian government was forced to bail out the railroad twice.

“When these projects go bad, what was advertised as a private debt becomes a public debt,” Parks said. “There are projects all over the globe like this.”

In 2021, a decade after Parks and his team began their hunt, they had gathered enough information for a blockbuster finding: China’s hidden loans amounted to at least $385 billion in 88 countries, and many of those countries were in far worse shape than anyone knew.

Among the disclosures was that Laos was on the hook for a $3.5 billion Chinese loan to build a railway system, which would take nearly a quarter of country’s annual output to pay off.

Another AidData report around the same time suggested that many Chinese loans go to projects in areas of countries favored by powerful politicians and frequently right before key elections. Some of the things built made little economic sense and were riddled with problems.

In Sri Lanka, a Chinese-funded airport built in the president’s hometown away from most of the country’s population is so barely used that elephants have been spotted wandering on its tarmac.

Cracks are appearing in hydroelectric plants in Uganda and Ecuador, where in March the government got judicial approval for corruption charges tied to the project against a former president now in exile.

In Pakistan, a power plant had to be shut down for fear it could collapse. In Kenya, the last key miles of a railway were never built due to poor planning and a lack of funds.

Jumping to the front of the line

AS Parks dug into the details of the loans, he found something alarming: Clauses mandating that borrowing countries deposit US dollars or other foreign currency in secret escrow accounts that Beijing could raid if those

countries stopped paying interest on their loans.

In effect, China had jumped to the front of the line to get paid without other lenders knowing.

In Uganda, Parks revealed a loan to expand the main airport included an escrow account that could hold more than $15 million. A legislative probe blasted the finance minister for agreeing to such terms, with the lead investigator saying he should be prosecuted and jailed.

Parks is not sure how many such accounts have been set up, but governments insisting on any kind of collateral, much less collateral in the form of hard cash, is rare in sovereign lending. And their very existence has rattled non-Chinese banks, bond investors and other lenders and made them unwilling to accept less than they’re owed.

“The other creditors are saying, ‘We’re not going to offer anything if China is, in effect, at the head of the repayment line,’” Parks said. “It leads to paralysis. Everyone is sizing each other up and saying, ‘Am I going to be a chump here?’”

Loans as ‘currency exchanges’

MEANWHILE , Beijing has taken on a new kind of hidden lending that has added to the confusion and distrust.

Parks and others found that China’s central bank has effectively been lending tens of billions of dollars through what appear as ordinary foreign currency exchanges.

Foreign currency exchanges, called swaps, allow countries to essentially borrow more widely used currencies like the US dollar to plug temporary shortages in foreign reserves. They are intended for liquidity purposes, not to build things, and last for only a few months.

But China’s swaps mimic loans by lasting years and charging higherthan-normal interest rates. And importantly, they don’t show up on the books as loans that would add to a country’s debt total.

Mongolia has taken out $5.4 billion in such swaps, an amount equivalent to 14 percent of its total debt. Pakistan took out nearly $11 billion in three years and Laos has borrowed $600 million.

The swaps can help stave off default by replenishing currency reserves, but they pile more loans on top of old ones and can make a collapse much worse, akin to what happened in the runup to 2009 financial crisis when US banks kept offering ever-bigger mortgages to homeowners who couldn’t afford the first one.

Some poor countries struggling to repay China now find themselves stuck in a kind of loan limbo: China won’t budge in taking losses, and the IMF won’t offer low-interest loans if the money is just going to pay interest on Chinese debt.

For Chad and Ethiopia, it’s been more than a year since IMF rescue packages were approved in so-called staff-level agreements, but nearly all the money has been withheld as negotiations among its creditors drag on.

“You’ve got a growing number of countries that are in dire financial straits,” said Parks, attributing it largely to China’s stunning rise in just a generation from being a net recipient of foreign aid to the world’s largest creditor.

“Somehow they’ve managed to do all of this out of public view,” he said. “So unless people understand how China lends, how its lending practices work, we’re never going to solve these crises.”

C ondon reported from New York and Washington. AP writers Munir Ahmed in Islamabad and Noel Sichalwe in Lusaka, Zambia, contributed to this report.

ADOZEN poor countries are facing economic instability and even collapse under the weight of hundreds of billions of dollars in foreign loans, much of them from the world’s biggest and most unforgiving government lender, China.

PEOPLE jostle each other to buy subsidized sacks of wheat flour in Quetta, Pakistan on January 12, 2023, after a recent price hike of flour in the country. An Associated Press analysis of a dozen countries most indebted to China—including Pakistan, Kenya, Zambia and Laos—found the debt is consuming an ever-greater amount of tax revenue needed to keep schools open, provide electricity and pay for food and fuel. AP/ARSHAD BUTT

B8 Tuesday, May 23, 2023

mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph

Editor: Jun Lomibao

Santiago returns to Subic seeking to repeat as full Ironman champ

INES SANTIAGO returns to the very site of her big victory last year to make it two-ina-row in the Century Tuna full Ironman Philippines on June 11 at the country’s triathlon capital in Subic Bay.

Santiago scored a wire-to-wire victory when the premier endurance race hit the road again after a twoyear pandemic hiatus, bucking the back-breaking 3.8-km swim, 180-km bike and 42-km run race in 12 hours, 13 minutes and 27 seconds.

T he 41-year-old Negrense also topped the Ironman 70.3 Cebu, also last year, virtually making her the triathlete to beat in the grueling race held side-by-side with the Ironman 70.3 to be disputed over the 1.9-km swim, 90-km bike and 21-km run event.

Santiago, who took up running in 2012 and then added swimming and biking to her exercise regimen, also went on to become the first Filipina finisher in the IM World Championship last October.

M ary Jane Baluyot, who placed second to Santiago in full Ironman, is also in the early roster of bidders with the Century TriHard spearhead going all-out to stop the top Herbalife Nutrition bet from re-asserting her mastery of the field in the event organized by The Ironman Group/ Sunrise Events Inc.

The centerpiece full IM event sponsored by Century Tuna has lured close to 500 entries with more expected to join the survival of the fittest and the toughest.

Registration is ongoing. For registration, visit www.ironman.com/ ironmanphilippines or www.ironman. com/im703-subicbay

K een competition is also seen in

the other age categories, both in the male and female sides, including in the 25-29, 30-34, 35-39, 40-44, 50-54, 55-59, 60-64, 65-69, 70-74 and 75-and-above.

T he Subic Ironman 70.3 roster has also continued to swell, which also features various age classifications while another stellar field is expected to dispute top honors in the IM 70.3 relay event.

M eanwhile, 50 slots to this year’s World Championship in Nice, France will be up for grabs in the full IRONMAN and IM 70.3. The Kona, Hawaii world tilts, meanwhile, are offering 25 spots in the full IM and 30 seats in the IM 70.3.

L eading the event’s backers are title sponsor Century Tuna, global premier partners Vinfast, Active, Gatorade, Hoka, Roka, Breitling Co., Fulgaz, Hyperice, Qatar Airways, Red Bull, Santini and Wahoo; Asia supplier partners Always Advancing, Ekoi and Nirvana; media partners Outside and Sportgraf.com; venue host Subic Bay, and Lightwater, NLEX/SCTEX, 2Go and Prudential Guarantee.

Gilas returns to work June 1

THE national pool for the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) 2023 World Cup will be formed on June 1, according to Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) President Al Panlilio.

Practice starts June 1,” said Panlilio, adding that the SBP has started communicating with Utah Jazz star Jordan Clarkson on his availability for Gilas.

“I have an open line now with Jordan’s dad, Mike Clarkson, and we are supposed to talk again after he

KOREAN TRIES TO SPOIL FUN

KIM SEOYUN mounts a campaign for the elusive first win on the Ladies Philippine Golf Tour (LPGT) as the young Korean tries to grab the limelight from the brewing rivalry between Harmie Constantino and Daniella Uy in the Internatioal Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI) Villamor Philippine Masters starting on Wednesday at the Villamor Golf Club.

Runner-up to amateur Rianne Malixi at Riviera last October and to Pauline del Rosario at Caliraya Springs last month, Kim also moved into title contention at Luisita two

bogeys in the first seven holes in the final round and ended up fifth instead after a 78.

“ The last Luisita tournament was really disappointing. The last day was really stressful. All my shots were a mess,” Kim said. “Nevertheless, I think it’s a point where I can try again.”

There’s really no way to go for the 16-year-old campaigner but up and she worked on her irons during the break in pursuit of another crack at the crown in the P1 million championship.

I’m practicing my iron shots intensively. I’m also paying a lot of attention on my game to minimize

Constantino who calls the flat but demanding layout home, have the proverbial local knowledge, Kim remains hopeful of her chances for a breakthrough in the tournament organized by Pilipinas Golf Tournaments Inc. and held side-byside with the men’s tour. I haven’t played at Villamor yet. But I heard that the fairways are narrow, so I know that the tee-shot is very important. I will not stop in pursuing my goal and I will always do my best to achieve it.”

So do Constantino and Uy, who are tipped to dispute the crown again after figuring in a heated duel at Luisita with the former snaring the crown in sudden death. Constantino also ruled the inaugural ICTSI Villamor Match Play Invitational last November.

But the rest of the bidders, including top local amateur Mafy Singson, are also all geared up for a shot at the title on a tight course which favors no particular player and which puts emphasis on accuracy and ball control, including Chihiro Ikeda, Marvi Monsalve, Florence Bisera, Pamela Mariano and the steady Sarah Ababa. ompleting the compact cast are Sheryl Villasencio, Gretchen Villacencio, Lovelynn Guioguio, Lucy Landicho, Eva Miñoza, Kristine Fleetwood, Apple Fudolin, Majorie Pulumbarit and Monica Mandario.

Yulo sets target at Asian tourney

Singapore by June 12.  Carlos Yulo and Juancho [Besana] will come from Japan while others will fly from the Philippines and Aleah Finnegan from the United States,” Carrion-Norton said. “This tournament is very big for our gymnasts for them to realize their Olympic dreams.”

Rolling Thunder

speaks with Jordan,” he said.

Gilas head coach Chot Reyes announced last week of a plan for a training camp in Lithuania or playing in a pocket tournament with US Division 1 National Collegiate Athletic Association teams.

R eyes, who is on a short vacation after the golden conquest in Cambodia, said the FIBA World Cup requires a much higher level of preparation.

The Philippines is lead hosting the World Cup with Japan and Indonesia from August 25 to September 10.

Josef Ramos

Tolentino in special PSA Forum

FTER a three-week break following the country’s campaign in the 32nd Southeast Asian Games, the Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA) resumes its weekly Forum on Tuesday with no less than Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) president Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino as the lone guest of the special session at the Conference Hall of the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex. olentino, also mayor of Tagaytay City, is expected to assess the Philippine performance in the Cambodia SEA Games where it finished a fighting fifth or one notch below the 2021 edition in Hanoi, but collected 58 golds for the most the country ever had in SEA Games held overseas since 1987.

e POC president will also talk about the Filipino athletes’ coming bid in the Asian Games in Hangzhou this September where some of the sports serve as qualifiers to the Paris 2024 Olympics.

The session starts early at 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. as Tolentino will be attending to pressing matters at noon.

D uring the session, the PSA also holds the induction of its officers and board members led by newly-elected president Nelson Beltran, sports editor of the Philippine Star.

Tolentino, the current president of the Integrated Cycling Federation of the Philippines (Philcycling), will administer the oath.

Beltran enjoins all members and officials of the country’s oldest media organization to attend the session presented by San Miguel Corp., Milo, Philippine Sports Commission, POC and the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp.

The weekly Forum is livestreamed via the PSA Facebook page fb.com/ PhilippineSportswritersAssociation and aired on a delayed basis over Radyo Pilipinas 2, which also shares it on its official Facebook page.

himself fighting outside of his karate comfort zone— kickboxing, mixed martial arts and professional boxing provided him the competition and the challenges he was eager to take on.

His early childhood was life in the streets and tough neighborhoods that toughened him up for the battles ahead.

Peter moved to Japan when he was 18 to continue his Kyokushin Karate training which was three times a day and earned his black belt after only five years and as they say, the rest is history as habits that were formed then molded him into accomplishing and achieving things in every fighting system he got into.

These days, the father of two is still fighting, figuratively speaking that is not literally. His competitive nature in him doesn’t stop him from learning.

IF there are two words to describe the life of former kickboxing world champion Peter “The Chief” Graham, it would be the finishing kick or finishing move if you will, “Rolling Thunder.”

To say he’s been tried and tested in both the octagon and the ring is an understatement. The man’s life story is a Netflix documentary waiting to happen.

A s I was conversing with him on “Sports For All,” I was in the presence of a decorated martial artist who challenged

Graham owns, manages and operates a gym of his own teaching kids and continuing his advocacies and issues that he feels strongly about.

Peter is married to Silvia who is from Brazil. The former Bellator mixed martial arts heavyweight contender speaks fluent Portuguese, so what can the man not do right?

I c an imagine “The Chief” overlooking what he has created and established from years of blood, sweat, and tears and see a sense of satisfaction and fulfilment. Either that or Peter constantly looks for the next challenge.

CARLOS YULO leads a team to the Singapore competition.

ulo won the all-around and parallel bars gold medals in the recent Cambodia 32nd Southeast Asian Games where Besana and John Ivan Cruz also triumphed. lso competing in Singapore are Justin Ace de Leon and Gwynn Jann Timbang. ompeting in the women’s division are SEA Games gold medalist Aleah Finnegan, Lucia Gutierrez, Kylee Ann Kvamme, Emma Lauren Malabuyo and Lucia Mari Manzano. e Philippines won four gold, two silver and two bronze medals to place second behind Vietnam (9-2-2) in the Cambodia gymnastics competition.

Table tennis gets closer to realizing SEA Games goal

TABLE tennis officials hailed the performance of the national team in the 32nd Southeast Asian Games in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

Richard Gonzales and John Russel Misal captured a bronze medal in men’s doubles and only dropped their semifinal match to world rated and eventual gold medalist Izaac

Quec and Koen Pang of Singapore.

Kheith Rhynne Cruz also competed in women’s singles and doubles with RJ Fadol, and women’s team with Fadol, Angel Laude, Emy Rose Dael and Muse Balatbat.

L aude also teamed up with Edouard Valenet in mixed doubles.

The Philippine Table Tennis Federation Inc. (PTTF) thanked

AFP vs Judiciary in UNTV Cup finals

THE Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Cavaliers outlasted the National Housing Authority (NHA) Home Masters, 8174, in their sudden death playoff to advance to the finals of the 9th UNTV Cup Sunday at the Paco Arena in Manila.

Th is time it was Mark Salupado who shone brightest for the threetime champions with his clutch plays in the pivotal period to help take the fight out of the stubborn Home Masters and arrange a title clash with the Judiciary Magis.

Game 1 of the best-of-three title series is Wednesday at the Novadeci Convention Center in Quezon City.

The chosen charity of the winning team in the event organized by Breakthrough and Milestones Productions International CEO and President Daniel Razon will earn a tax-free P3

million top prize.

I n the Executive Face-Off match, the PNP Responders beat the Judiciary Magis, 86-78.

Five AFP players finished in double figures with Darwin Cordero mak ing 21 points with 13 rebounds and Salupado contributing 10 points and six rebounds apart from the hustle he provided that led to several vital baskets down the stretch.

Former Letran star Boyet Bautista and Jerry Lumungsod combined for 28 points.

W ith the loss, the Home Masters were relegated to a battle for third place against the PNP Responders.

Joel de Mesa and Joshua Alejandro led the Responders with 30 and 19 points, respectively.

the Philippine Sports Commission, Philippine Olympic Committee, Abet Reyes of Prottec and Bill Yap of Huaching Foundation for the support to the team.

The PTTF is also optimistic about the direction of the national team following the results of the SEA Games.

“Aside from getting a bronze medal, we competed in four events, some of them reached the quarterfinals and came close to a medal as most of them were close matches,” PTTF president Ting Ledesma said. “We are in the right direction and we will strive harder to produce more medals in the future.”

The PTTF formed the team through a national selection held last March in Puerto Princesa City and underwent rigorous training leading up to the SEA Games.

L edesma said the federation is now preparing for the Southeast Asian Table Tennis Association juniors tournament next month.

THE Cavaliers’ Mark Salupado goes for the basket.

KIM SEOYUN goes after her first Ladies Philippine Golf Tour crown at Villamor.

MEMBERS of the Philippine team post with table tennis officials in Phnom Penh.

INES SANTIAGO getting all harnessed up for the grueling race.