BusinessMirror May 29, 2022

ROTARY CLUB OF MANILA JOURNALISM AWARDS

2006 National Newspaper of the Year 2011 National Newspaper of the Year 2013 Business Newspaper of the Year 2017 Business Newspaper of the Year 2019 Business Newspaper of the Year 2021 Pro Patria Award PHILIPPINE STATISTICS AUTHORITY 2018 Data Champion

EJAP JOURNALISM AWARDS

BUSINESS NEWS SOURCE OF THE YEAR

(2017, 2018, 2019, 2020)

DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

2018 BANTOG MEDIA AWARDS

www.businessmirror.com.ph

A broader look at today’s business

Sunday, May 29, 2022 Vol. 17 No. 233

P25.00 nationwide | 3 sections 20 pages | 7 DAYS A WEEK

MARK THIS ‘MINE’ n

The PHL, through the Coast Guard, installs ‘sovereign markers’ to assert ownership over Kalayaan Island Group and West Philippine Sea

ONE of the buoys after it was installed on Pagasa Island. PHOTO COURTESY OF PCG

T

By Rene Acosta

HE Philippine government has firmed up its legal territorial ownership of the nine features that it currently occupies in the Kalayaan Island Group (KIG) and West Philippine Sea (WPS) by installing five buoys on four of the islands that will serve as “sovereign markers” for the country.

PRESIDENT-ELECT FERDINAND “BONGBONG” MARCOS JR.: “We have a very important ruling in our favor and we will use it to continue to assert our territorial rights. It is not a claim. It is already our territorial right.” AP

Two of the five buoys installed by the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) were placed on Pagasa Island, the biggest of the features in the KIG that is also the seat of government of the Municipality of Kalayaan, which is part of Palawan.

“These buoys are now our source of pride and honor in serving our great nation,” said PCG Commandant Admiral Artemio Abu following the installation of the floating markers that was carried out for two days in the middle part of this month.

Abu said PCG personnel “braved dangers” during the mission, which was carried out under the watchful eyes of numerous vessels from China and Vietnam.

On Thursday, President-elect

A CLOSER look at one of the buoys while being lowered from a PCG ship. PHOTO COURTESY OF PCG

ed as saying during his interview with journalists.

Legitimate claim PHILIPPINE Coast Guard personnel prepare one of the buoys during the installation of sovereign markers on Pagasa Island.

PHOTO COURTESY OF PCG

Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. said he would assert the country’s ownership of the WPS or the country’s 200-mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ) as affirmed by the UN Arbitral Tribunal, but which China is disputing.

“We have a very important ruling in our favor and we will use it to continue to assert our territorial rights. It is not a claim. It is already our territorial right,” he was quot-

PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 52.3790

THE KIG became an integral part of the Philippine territory by virtue of Presidential Decree (PD) 1596 issued on July 11, 1978, by Marcos Jr.’s father, the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos.

PD 1596 declared a cluster of islands and islets in the Spratly archipelago as a “distinct and separate municipality known as Kalayaan” under the province of Palawan.

The KIG was made a part of the country by reason of “history, indispensable need and effective control and occupation.”

When then President Marcos declared the KIG a part of the

country, no one among the present claimant states, including China, had protested.

At that time, the Philippines was still a military powerhouse in Asia, securing its skies with F-5 fighter jets. The Scarborough Shoal, which was occupied by China in 2012, used to be a target range for the F-5s and other aircraft of the Philippine Air Force along with the Americans.

Later, the Marcos Sr. administration issued warnings to countries and even future claimants that any attempts to reclaim the KIG would be considered an “assault against the Philippines.”

Strategic value

STRATEGICALLY perched, the KIG, or the Spratly Group of Islands, was used by the Japanese

Imperial Forces during World War II as a staging point for their invasion of the Philippines.

The islands offer numerous opportunities to station attack vessels, submarines and light aircraft that could patrol the southern part of the South China Sea. In installing the floating markers, the PCG said the buoys, which measure 30 foot each, should serve as “symbols of coastal state administration.”

According to Abu, the buoys should also denote the areas as special protected zones where mining and oil exploration are prohibited.

Aside from Pagasa, floating markers were also installed in Lawak, Likas and Parola Islands by PCG personnel aboard the BRP Corregidor, BRP Bojeador, BRP Suluan,

BRP Capones and tug boat Habagat.

Apart from proudly marking the islands as part of the Philippine territory, Abu said the buoys would also serve as navigational aids for Filipino fishermen and other sailors passing the KIG and the WPS. Likewise, the buoys should serve as the eyes and ears of the PCG in the KIG and WPS as they have a remote monitoring system and use satellite technology to transmit data to its national headquarters in Manila.

The two-day marker-laying operations were indeed challenging and dangerous—they were made while Chinese Coast Guard ships and maritime militia vessels were then at a near distance, along with Chinese and Vietnamese fishing vessels.

“My guidance to them was to let us be the one to challenge them.

But the Coast Guard Fleet said WPS is peaceful and the vessels from Vietnam and China are showing respect to the mission we are conducting,” Abu said.

In the past, Chinese Coast Guard ships have harassed both Philippine military and civilian vessels in the WPS, including resupply missions to Filipino soldiers guarding outposts in the territory.

Assert and occupy

THE installation of buoys in the KIG and in its adjoining EEZ was just part of the government’s efforts to make its presence stronger in those maritime waters and features, aside from the conduct of regular patrol and other maritime missions by the military and PCG. Last year, the PCG opened a newly upgraded station on Pagasa, while the government energized the island by installing solar-energy systems.

The military also put forward an initial plan to convert Pagasa into a logistics hub so that it could fully sustain its force deployment and patrols in the KIG and WPS.

n JAPAN 0.4121 n UK 66.0394 n HK 6.6729 n CHINA 7.7738 n SINGAPORE 38.1576 n AUSTRALIA 37.1577 n EU 56.2131 n SAUDI ARABIA 13.9659

Source: BSP (May 27, 2022)

NewsSunday BusinessMirror

A2 Sunday, May 29, 2022

www.businessmirror.com.ph

China wants 10 Pacific nations to endorse sweeping agreement

W

By Nick Perry | The Associated Press

ELLINGTON, New Zealand— China wants 10 small Pacific nations to endorse a sweeping agreement covering everything from security to fisheries in what one leader warns is a “game-changing” bid by Beijing to wrest control of the region.

A draft of the agreement obtained by The Associated Press shows that China wants to train Pacific police officers, team up on “traditional and non-traditional security” and expand law enforcement cooperation.

China also wants to jointly develop a marine plan for fisheries— which would include the Pacific’s lucrative tuna catch—increase cooperation on running the region’s internet networks, and set up cultural Confucius Institutes and classrooms.

China also mentions the possibility of setting up a free-trade area with the Pacific nations.

China’s move comes as Foreign Minister Wang Yi and a 20-person delegation begin a visit to the region this week.

‘Shadowy, vague deals’

IN Washington, US State Department spokesman Ned Price expressed concern Wednesday about China’s intentions, saying Beijing might use the proposed accords to take advantage of the islands and

destabilize the region.

“We are concerned that these reported agreements may be negotiated in a rushed, nontransparent process,” Price told reporters. He warned that China “has a pattern of offering shadowy, vague deals with little transparency or regional consultation in areas related to fishing, related to resource management, development, development assistance and more recently even security practices.”

Price added that agreements that include sending Chinese security officials to the nations “could only seek to fuel regional international tensions and increase concerns over Beijing’s expansion of its internal security apparatus to the Pacific.”

Wang is visiting seven of the countries he hopes will endorse the “Common Development Vision”— the Solomon Islands, Kiribati, Samoa, Fiji, Tonga, Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea.

Wang is also holding virtual meetings with the other three potential signatories—the Cook

FIJI’S Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama (top left) talks with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (top right) during a signing ceremony between the two countries at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Tuesday, May 16, 2017. China wants 10 small Pacific nations to endorse a sweeping agreement covering everything from security to fisheries in what one leader warns is a “game-changing” bid by Beijing to wrest control of the region. NICOLAS ASFOURI/POOL PHOTO VIA AP

Islands, Niue and the Federated States of Micronesia. He is hoping the countries will endorse the prewritten agreement as part of a joint communiqué after a May 30 meeting in Fiji he is holding with the foreign ministers from each of the 10 countries.

Geopolitical concern

MICRONESIA’S president, David Panuelo, has told leaders of the other Pacific nations his nation won’t endorse the plan, warning it would needlessly heighten geopolitical tensions and threaten regional stability, according to a letter from Panuelo obtained by the AP. Among other concerns, Panuelo said, the agreement opens the door for China to own and control the region’s fisheries and communications infrastructure. He said China could intercept emails and listen in on phone calls.

Panuelo called the Common Development Vision “the single most game-changing proposed agreement in the Pacific in any of our lifetimes” and said it “threatens to bring a new Cold War era at best, and a World War at worst.”

Panuelo declined to comment on the letter or the proposed agreement.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said Wednesday he didn’t know about Panuelo’s letter.

“But I don’t agree at all with the argument that cooperation between China and the South Pacific island countries will trigger a new Cold War,” he said.

Like some other countries in the Pacific, Micronesia is finding itself increasingly caught between the competing interests of Washington and Beijing.

Micronesia has close ties to the US through a Compact of Free Association. But it also has what Panuelo describes in his letter as a “Great Friendship” with China that

T

he Common Development Vision is “the single most game-changing proposed agreement in the Pacific in any of our lifetimes…[that] threatens to bring a new Cold War era at best, and a World War at worst.’

—Micronesian President David Panuelo he hopes will continue despite his opposition to the agreement.

The security aspects of the agreement will be particularly troubling to many in the region and beyond, especially after China signed a separate security pact with the Solomon Islands last month.

That pact has raised fears that China could send troops to the island nation or even establish a military base there, not far from Australia. The Solomon Islands and China say there are no plans for a base.

The May 30 meeting will be the second between Wang and the Pacific islands’ foreign ministers after they held a virtual meeting last October.

Those who follow China’s role in the Pacific will be scrutinizing the wording of the draft agreement.

Provisions

AMONG its provisions: “China will hold intermediate and high-level police training for Pacific Island countries.”

The agreement says the countries will strengthen “cooperation in the fields of traditional and non-traditional security” and will “expand law enforcement cooperation, jointly combat transnational crime, and establish a dialog mechanism on law enforcement capacity and police cooperation.”

The agreement would also see the nations “expand exchanges between governments, legislatures and political parties.”

The draft agreement also stipulates that the Pacific countries “firmly abide” by the one-China principle, under which Taiwan, a self-ruled island democracy, is considered by Beijing to be part of China. It would also uphold the “non-interference” principle that

China often cites as a deterrent to other nations speaking out about its human-rights record.

The agreement says that China and the Pacific countries would jointly formulate a marine spatial plan “to optimize the layout of the marine economy, and develop and utilize marine resources rationally, so as to promote a sustainable development of blue economy.”

China also promises more investment in the region by mobilizing private capital and encouraging “more competitive and reputable Chinese enterprises to participate in direct investment in Pacific Island countries.”

China also promised to dispatch Chinese-language consultants, teachers and volunteers to the islands.

The AP has also obtained a draft of a five-year action plan that’s intended to sit alongside the Common Development Vision, which outlines a number of immediate incentives that China is offering to the Pacific nations.

In the action plan, China says it will fully implement 2,500 government scholarships through 2025.

“In 2022, China will hold the first training program for young diplomats from Pacific Island countries, depending on the pandemic situation,” the draft plan states, adding that China will also hold seminars on governance and planning for the Pacific nations.

In the draft action plan, China says it will build criminal investigation laboratories as needed by the Pacific nations that can be used for fingerprint testing, forensic autopsies, and electronic forensics.

China also says it will also spend an additional $2 million and send 200 medics to the islands to help fight Covid-19 and promote health, and promises to help the countries in their efforts to combat climate change.

TheWorld

BusinessMirror Worry about stagflation, dreaded ‘S word’ of the ‘70s, begins to grow www.businessmirror.com.ph • Editor: Angel R. Calso

By Paul Wiseman

AP Economics Writer

W

ASHINGTON—Stagflation. It was the dreaded “S word” of the 1970s.

For Americans of a certain age, it conjures memories of painfully long lines at gas stations, shuttered factories and President Gerald Ford’s much-ridiculed “Whip Inflation Now” buttons.

Stagflation is the bitterest of economic pills: High inflation mixes with a weak job market to cause a toxic brew that punishes consumers and befuddles economists.

For decades, most economists didn’t think such a nasty concoction was even possible. They’d long assumed that inflation would run high only when the economy was strong and unemployment low.

But an unhappy confluence of events has economists reaching back to the days of disco and the bleak high-inflation, high-unemployment economy of nearly a half-century ago. Few think stagflation is in sight. But as a longer-term threat, it can no longer be dismissed.

Last week, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen invoked the word in remarks to reporters: “The economic outlook globally,” Yellen said, “is challenging and uncertain, and higher food and energy prices are having stagflationary effects, namely depressing output and spending and raising inflation all around the world.”

On Thursday, the government estimated that the economy shrank at a 1.5 percent annual rate from January through March. But the drop was due mostly to two factors that don’t reflect the economy’s underlying strength: A rising trade gap caused by Americans’ appetite for foreign products and a slowdown in the restocking of businesses inventories after a big holiday season buildup.

For now, economists broadly agree that the US economy has enough oomph to avoid a recession.

But the problems are piling up. Supply chain bottlenecks and disruptions from Russia’s war against Ukraine have sent consumer prices surging at their fastest pace in decades.

The Federal Reserve and other central banks, blindsided by raging inflation, are scrambling to catch up by aggressively raising interest rates. They hope to cool growth enough to tame inflation without causing a recession.

It’s a notoriously difficult task. The widespread fear, reflected in shrunken stock prices, is that the Fed will end up botching it and will clobber the economy without delivering a knockout blow to inflation.

This month, former Fed Chair Ben Bernanke told The New York Times that “inflation’s still too high but coming down. So there should be a period in the next year or two where growth is low, unemployment is at least up a little bit and inflation is still high.”

And then Bernanke summed up his thoughts: “You could call that stagflation.”

What is stagflation?

There’s no formal definition or specific statistical threshold.

Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, has his own rough guide: Stagflation arrives in the United States, he says, when the unemployment rate reaches at least 5 percent and consumer prices have surged 5 percent or more from a year earlier. The US unemployment rate is now just 3.6 percent.

In the European Union, where joblessness typically runs higher, Zandi’s threshold is different: 9 percent unemployment and 4 percent year-over-year inflation, in his view, would combine to cause stagflation.

Until about 50 years ago, economists viewed stagflation as a near-impossibility. They hewed to something called the Phillips Curve, named for its creator, economist A.W.H. “Bill’’ Phillips (1914-1975) of New Zealand. This theory held that inflation and unemployment move in opposite directions.

It sounds like common sense: When the economy is weak and lots of people are out of work, businesses find it hard to raise prices. So inflation should stay low. Likewise, when the economy is hot enough for businesses to pass along big price hikes to their customers, unemployment should stay fairly low.

Somehow, reality hasn’t proved so straightforward. What can throw things off is a supply shock—say, a surge in the cost of raw materials that ignites inflation and leaves consumers with less money to spend to fuel the economy.

Which is exactly what happened in the 1970s.

Saudi Arabia and other oil-producing countries imposed an oil embargo on the United States and other countries that supported Israel in the 1973 Yom Kippur War. Oil prices jumped and stayed high. The cost of living grew more unaffordable for many. The economy reeled.

Enter stagflation. Each year from 1974 through 1982, inflation and unemployment in the United States both topped 5 percent. The combination of the two figures, which came to be called the “misery index,” peaked at a most miserable 20.6 in 1980.

Stagflation, and especially chronically high inflation, became a defining feature of the 1970s.

Political figures struggled in vain to attack the problem. President Richard Nixon resorted, futilely, to wage and price controls. The Ford administration issued “Whip Inflation Now” buttons. The reaction was mainly scorn.

Has stagflation arrived?

No. For now, the stagflation glass is only half-full.

There’s “flation’’ for sure: Consumer prices shot up 8.3 percent in April from a year earlier, just below a 41-year high set the previous month.

Consumer prices are surging largely because the economy rebounded with unexpected vigor from the brief but devastating pandemic recession. Factories, ports and freight yards have been overwhelmed trying to keep up with an unexpected jump in customer orders. The result has been delays, shortages and higher prices.

Critics also blame President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion stimulus plan of March 2021 for overheating an economy that was already hot. The Ukraine war made things worse by disrupting trade in energy and food and sending prices up.

But the “stag’’ has yet to arrive: Even though the government reported Thursday that economic output shrank from January through March, the nation’s job market has kept roaring.

Every month for the past year, employers have added a robust 400,000-plus jobs. At 3.6 percent, the unemployment rate is just a notch above 50-year lows. This week, the Fed reported that Americans are in solid financial health: Nearly eight in 10 adults said last fall that they were “doing okay or living comfortably”—the highest proportion since the Fed started asking the question in 2013.

Still, the risks are accumulating. And so are concerns about potential stagflation. Fed Chair Jerome Powell acknowledged this month that the central bank might not be able to achieve a soft landing and dodge a recession. He told American Public Media’s “Marketplace” that he worries about “factors that we don’t control”—the Ukraine war, a slowdown in China, the lingering pandemic.

At the same time, inflation has been eroding Americans’ purchasing power: Prices have risen faster than hourly pay for 13 straight months. And the nation’s savings rate, which soared in 2020 and 2021 as Americans banked government relief checks, has fallen below pre-pandemic levels.

Europe is even more vulnerable to stagflation. Energy prices there have skyrocketed since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Unemployment in the 27 EU countries is already 6.2 percent.

Why did stagflation vanish for so long?

For four decades, the United States virtually banished inflation. In the early 1980s, Fed Chair Paul Volcker had jacked up interest rates so high to fight inflation—30-year mortgage rates approached a dizzying 19 percent in 1981—that caused back-to-back recessions in 1980 and 1981-1982. Yet Volcker achieved his goal: He managed to rid the economy of high inflation. And it stayed away.

“The Fed has worked hard since the stagflation of the late 1970s and early 1980s,” Zandi said, “to keep inflation and inflation expectations closer to its target,” which is now around 2 percent.

Other factors, including the rise of low-cost manufacturing in China and other developing countries, kept a tight lid on prices that consumers and businesses pay.

The United States has endured periods of high unemployment—it reached 10 percent after the 2007-2009 Great Recession and 14.7 percent after Covid-19 erupted of 2020. Yet until last year, inflation had remained at bay. In fact, not since 1990 has the nation faced a year of Zandi’s 5 percent-inflation, 5 percent-unemployment stagflation standard.

AP Writer Fatima Hussein in Washington contributed to this report.

Sunday, May 29, 2022

A3

How an energy expert triggered Vladimir Putin with one word

By Michael P. Regan & Vildana Hajric

D

to ask the first question. I started to ask a question, I mentioned the word ‘shale.’ And he started shouting at me saying shale’s barbaric. He knew that US shale was a threat to him in two ways. One, because it meant that US natural gas would compete with his natural gas in Europe, and that’s what we’re seeing today. And secondly, this would really augment America’s position in the world and give it a kind of flexibility it didn’t have when it was importing 60 percent of its oil.

The question started off innocuously. I was going to ask him a normal question about diversifying your economy. And I said ‘shale,’ and to be shouted at by him in front of 3,000 people, a really unpleasant experience. The other person on the stage was chancellor Merkel, who was chancellor of Germany for 16 years. And you can see the enmity between the two. But Merkel’s now being criticized for policies like shutting down nuclear that led to Germany being more dependent on Russian gas. And the judgment of history is shifting a little bit.

aniel Yergin was at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum in 2013 when he got a daunting request: Could he pose the first question from the audience to Vladimir Putin?

“I started to ask a question, I mentioned the word ‘shale’,” he recalls, referring to a once-unconventional source of oil and natural gas that by then was flowing freely in the US due to advances in production techniques. “And he started shouting at me, saying shale’s barbaric.”

Yergin, the vice chairman of S&P Global, discussed the incident on the latest episode of the “What Goes Up” podcast, along with other insights from his book “The New Map: Energy, Climate, and the Clash of Nations.” US shale oil and gas have had a much bigger impact on geopolitics than people recognize, Yergin says. It has posed a threat to Putin in multiple ways, especially as US natural gas would compete with Russia’s in Europe.

Below are lightly edited and condensed highlights of the conversation.

How did everyone get Russia so wrong?

How did the US become a big oil and gas producer?

Now there’s a kind of revisionism that the world shouldn’t have traded with Russia, shouldn’t have tried

It was a revolution. We had eight presidents in a row, starting with Richard Nixon right up through Barack Obama, saying ‘We want to become energy independent.’ And it seemed a joke, it was never going to happen. But there was this technology called shale, which really involves hydraulic fracturing, as it’s called, combined with horizontal drilling.

And there was one really obsessed individual—it’s so interesting, the role of obsessed individuals in economic change—named George P. Mitchell, who was convinced if you just worked somehow, even though the textbooks said it was impossible, you could make it work. And for 20 years, 25 years people scoffed, but then it did work. And even his own company, people were telling him not to spend money on it. But if he hadn’t spent that money, I’m not sure that we would’ve been where we were.

And then in the early 2000s, you started to see wildcatters—independents, as they’re called—small companies starting to adapt that technology. And then people said, ‘Oh, US natural gas supply, instead of going down is going up. And then they said, well, if it works for gas, maybe it works for oil too—in about 2008, 2009. So this all really happened in that period from about 2008, that’s when it all really began, the shale revolution. And it just took the US from an entirely different position. And if you had told people in 2002 that the US was going to be the world’s largest oil producer, larger than Russia, larger than Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest producer of natural gas, and this year, the world’s largest exporter of LNG, they would’ve said you’re living in a fantasy world.

It occurred to me as I was reading your book that the US going from being renowned as the biggest consumer of energy in the world to now a major producer almost escalates the geopolitical tensions.

Does it make America’s influence different in this environment?

That’s absolutely right. I deal with a lot of things from Ukraine to climate in the book, but I start with shale because shale’s really had a much bigger impact on geopolitics that people recognize. The story I tell in the book is when I was in St. Petersburg at a conference where Putin was speaking—3,000 people there—I was told

to integrate Russia into the world economy, particularly as Putin got more and more authoritarian. But, you say, well, what was the alternative? To leave it festering there? The best thing was to get it anchored in the world. Putin, he’s been in power now almost as long as Joseph Stalin. And I think he was becoming more and more authoritarian and people who have known him over the years said that Covid changed him. He was isolated for two years.

He wasn’t meeting Western business people. He wasn’t meeting Western government officials and so forth.

So I don’t think there was an alternative to not trying to integrate Russia into the world, but obviously what’s happening now is the world, at least the Western world, is slamming the door on Russia.

Is Europe going to be able to just soldier on without succumbing to Russia and their demands when it starts getting colder again?

That’s the question that’s really weighing now because in terms of oil, there’s enough crude oil in the world. You have to move it around, but between strategic stocks, between demand being down in China, you can manage that. When you get into products like diesel, it gets

harder. And then you’re going to the hardest thing with natural gas, and that is exactly as you go into the winter. So the big question now is can they fill storage so that they can get through the winter, and, by the way, not only stay warm, but also keep industry operating. And I think we can say that Putin made a series of decisions which kind of were irrational—that his army was really good, that Ukraine wouldn’t be able to resist, that the US had just gone through getting out of Afghanistan and was deeply divided, that Europe was so dependent on his energy that they would say, ‘OK, this is terrible, but life goes on.’ And none of that happened. But I think he’s still calculating. And he said that ultimately this energy disruption—and we are in a huge disruption of energy markets—would be such a big threat to the European economy that the coalition that now exists would fall apart. I think that’s his wager right now. And the Achilles heel is what you pointed to: what happens as Europe goes into the fall and winter.

And we’ve had at least one German, very prominent industrialist, who said, “This is too dangerous for the European economy. We should negotiate something with Putin.”

Bloomberg News

A4

TheWorld BusinessMirror

Sunday, May 29, 2022

Widespread disbelief over North Korea’s tiny Covid-19 death rate

By Hyung-Jin Kim

S

The Associated Press

EOUL, South Korea—According to North Korea, its fight against Covid-19 has been impressive: About 3.3 million people have been reported sick with fevers, but only 69 have died.

If all are coronavirus cases, that’s a fatality rate of 0.002 percent, something no other country, including the world’s richest, has achieved against a disease that has killed more than 6 million people.

The North’s claims, however, are being met with widespread doubt about two weeks after it acknowledged its first domestic Covid-19 outbreak.

Experts say the impoverished North should have suffered far greater deaths than reported because there are very few vaccines, a sizable number of undernourished people and a lack of critical care facilities and test kits to detect virus cases in large numbers.

North Korea’s secretiveness makes it unlikely outsiders can confirm the true scale of the outbreak. Some observers say North Korea is underreporting fatalities to protect leader Kim Jong Un at all costs. There’s also a possibility it might have exaggerated the outbreak in a bid to bolster control of its 26 million people.

“Scientifically, their figures can’t be accepted,” said Lee Yo Han, a professor at Ajou University Graduate School of Public Health in South Korea, adding that the public data “were likely all controlled (by the authorities) and embedded with their political intentions.”

The most likely course is that North Korea soon proclaims victory over Covid-19, maybe during a June political meeting, with all credit given to Kim’s leadership. The 38-year-old ruler is desperate, observers say, to win bigger public support as he deals with severe economic difficulties caused by border shutdowns, UN sanctions and his own mismanagement.

“Diverse public complaints have accumulated, so it’s time to (strengthen) internal control,” said Choi Kang, president of Seoul’s Asan Institute for Policy Studies. “Kim Jong Un has been

taking the lead in the anti-epidemic efforts to show that his campaign is very successful and to reinforce his grip on power.”

Before North Korea on May 12 admitted to an omicron outbreak, it had maintained a widely disputed claim that it had zero domestic infections for more than two years. When the North at last publicized the outbreak, many wondered why now.

It was initially seen as an attempt to exploit the outbreak to get foreign humanitarian assistance. There were hopes that possible aid by Seoul and Washington could help resume longstalled diplomacy on Pyongyang’s nuclear program.

Kim has called the outbreak a “great upheaval” and launched what his propaganda teams call an all-out effort to suppress it.

He’s held several Politburo meetings to criticize officials, inspected pharmacies at dawn and mobilized troops to support medicine delivery.

A health official explained pandemic responses on state TV, while state newspapers have churned out articles on how to deal with fever, including gargling with saltwater and drinking honey or willow leaf tea.

“Honey is a rarity for ordinary North Koreans. They likely felt bad when their government asked them to drink honey tea,” said Seo Jae-pyong, a North Korean defector-turned-activist in Seoul.

“I have an elder brother left in North Korea and have big worries about him.”

Every morning, North Korea releases details about the number of new patients with fever symptoms, but not with Covid-19. Experts believe most cases should be counted as Covid-19 because while North Korean health authorities lack diagnostic kits, they still know how to distinguish the symptoms from fevers caused by the other prevalent infectious diseases.

A teacher takes the body temperature of a schoolgirl to help curb the spread of the coronavirus before entering Kim Song Ju Primary School in Central District in Pyongyang, North Korea, on October 13, 2021. According to North Korea, its fight against Covid-19 has been impressive: About 3.3 million people have been reported sick with fevers, but only 69 have died. AP/Cha Song Ho North Korea’s daily fever tally peaked at nearly 400,000 early last week; it has nosedived to around 100,000 in the past few days. On Friday, it added one more death after claiming no fatalities for three consecutive days.

“Our country set a world record for having no single (Covid-19) infection for the longest period ... and we’ve now made an achievement of reversing the tide of the abrupt outbreak in a short period,” the main Rodong Sinmun newspaper sa id Thursday. “ This evidently proves the scientific nature of our country’s emergency anti-epidemic steps.”

Medical experts question the validity of North Korea’s stated fatality rate of 0.002 percent. Given that South Korea’s mortality rate of unvaccinated people for the Omicron variant was 0.6 percent, North Korea must have similar or higher death rates because of its low capacity to treat patients and its people’s poor nutrition, said Shin Young-jeon, a professor of preventive medicine at Seoul’s Hanyang University.

In a study published by the Johns Hopkins University last year, North Korean ranked 193 out of 195 countries for its ability to deal with an epidemic. UN reports in recent years said about 40 percent of its people were undernourished. North Korea’s free socialist public health care system has been in shambles for decades, and defectors testify that while in the North, they bought medicines at markets or somewhere else.

“North Korea wouldn’t really care about fatalities at all,” said Choi Jung Hun, a defector who worked as a doctor in North Korea in the 2000s. “Many

North Koreans have already died of malaria, measles, chickenpox and typhoid. There are all kind of infectious diseases there.”

Choi, now a researcher at a Korea University-affiliated institute in South Korea, said North Korea likely decided to admit to the omicron outbreak because it sees it as less lethal and more manageable. He suspected North Korea set up a scenario to raise up and then bring down fever cases so as to boost Kim’s leadership.

L ee, t he Ajou professor, sa id North Korea may have overstated its earlier fever cases to give “a powerful shock ” to the public to rally support for the government, but avoided releasing details of too many deaths to stave off public unrest.

The outbreak could eventually kill more than 100,000, if people remain unvaccinated and die at the same death rate as in South Korea, Shin, the Hanyang professor, warned.

The North Korean outbreak will likely last several months, Moon Jin Soo, director of the Institute for Health and Unification Studies at Seoul National University, said. It’s urgent to ship anti-viral pills and other essential medications to North Korea, rather than vaccines whose roll out would take at least a couple of months, he said.

“North Korea could spend a couple more months massaging the statistics, but they could also abruptly announce their victory this weekend,” said Ahn Kyung-su, head of DPRKHEALTH. ORG, a website focusing on health issues in North Korea. “North Korea always operates beyond your imagination.

It’s hard to predict what they’ll do, but they do have a plan.”

Baby formula shortage in US highlights racial disparities

By Jacquelyn Martin, Adriana Gomez Licon & Terry Tang The Associated Press

C

OLUMBIA, Md.—Capri Isidoro broke down in tears sitting on a chair at the office of a lactation consultant. The mother of two had been struggling to breastfeed her 1-month-old daughter ever since she was born, when the hospital gave the baby formula first without consulting her on her desire to breastfeed.

Now, with massive safety recall and supply disruptions causing formula shortages across the United States, she also can’t find the specific formula that helps with her baby’s gas pains.

“It is so sad. It shouldn’t be like this,” said Isidoro, who lives in the Baltimore suburb of Ellicott City. “We need formula for our kid, and where is this formula going to come from?”

As parents across the United States struggle to find formula to feed their children, the pain is particularly acute among Black and Hispanic women. Black women have historically faced obstacles to breastfeeding, including a lack of lactation support in the hospital, more pressure to formula feed and cultural roadblocks.

It’s one of many inequalities for Black mothers: They are far more likely to die

from pregnancy complications, and less likely to have their concerns about pain taken seriously by doctors.

Low-income families also face a particular struggle: They buy the majority of formula in the US. Experts fear small neighborhood grocery stores that serve these vulnerable populations are not replenishing as much as the larger retail stores and that some of these families do not have the resources or means to hunt for formula.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 20 percent of Black women and 23 percent of Hispanic women exclusively breastfeed through six months compared to 29 percent of white women. The overall rate stands at 26 percent. Hospitals that encourage breastfeeding and overall lactation support are less prevalent in Black neighborhoods, according to the CDC. The Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses also says Hispanic and Black women classified as low wage workers had less access to lactation support in their workplaces.

The racial disparities reach far back in America’s history. The demands of slave labor prevented mothers from nursing their children, and slave owners separated mothers from their own babies to have them serve as wet nurses, or women who breastfeed other women’s children.

In the 1950s, racially targeted

commercials falsely advertised formula as a superior source of nutrition for infants.

And studies continue to show, Black mothers are more likely to receive inhospital formula introduction than white mothers, which happened to Isidoro after her emergency cesarean section.

Physicians say introducing formula means the baby will require fewer feedings from his mother, decreasing the milk supply as the breast is not stimulated enough to produce.

Andrea Freeman, author of the book “Skimmed: Breastfeeding, Race and Injustice,” said these mothers still aren’t getting the support they need when it comes to having the choice of whether to breastfeed or use formula. They also may have jobs that do not accommodate the time and space needed for breastfeeding or pumping milk, Freeman said.

“Nobody’s taking responsibility for the fact that they’ve steered families of color toward formula for so many years and made people rely on it and taken away choice.

And then when it falls apart, there’s not really any recognition or accountability,” Freeman said.

Breastfeeding practices are often influenced by previous generations with some studies suggesting better outcomes for mothers who were breastfed when they were babies.

Kate Bauer, an associate professor of

nutritional sciences at the University of Michigan School of Public Health, said she began hearing back in February about Black and Latino families in Detroit and Grand Rapids feeling stuck after finding smaller grocery stores running out of formula.

Some were told to go to the local office of the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, better known as WIC, the federal program that supports low-income expectant and new mothers. Between 50 percent and 65 percent of the formula in the US is bought through the program.

“Going to the WIC office is like a full day’s errand for some moms,” Bauer said.

She also said she fears mothers are getting desperate enough to try foods that are not recommended for babies under 6 months.

Yury Navas, a Salvadoran immigrant who works at a restaurant and lives in Laurel, Maryland, says she was not able to produce enough breast milk and struggled to find the right formula for her nearly 3-month-old baby Jose Ismael, after others had caused vomiting, diarrhea and discomfort.

One time they drove half an hour to a store where workers told them they had the type she needed, but it was gone when they got there. Her husband goes out every night to search pharmacies around midnight.

www.businessmirror.com.ph

1.1 million Afghanistan children could face severe malnutrition

By Rahim Faiez & Lee Keath The Associated Press

I

SLAMABAD, Pakistan—In Afghanistan, 1.1 million children under the age of 5 will likely face the most severe form of malnutrition this year, according to the UN, as increasing numbers of hungry, wasting-away children are brought into hospital wards.

UN and other aid agencies were able to stave off outright famine after the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan last year, rolling out a massive emergency aid program that fed millions.

But they are struggling to keep pace with relentlessly worsening conditions. Poverty is spiraling and making more Afghans in need of aid, global food prices are mounting from the war in Ukraine and promises of international funding so far are not coming through, according to an assessment report issued this month.

As a result, the vulnerable are falling victim, including children but also mothers struggling to feed themselves along with their families.

Nazia said she had lost four children to malnutrition—two daughters and two sons under 2 years old. “All four died due to financial problems and poverty,” the 30-year-old Nazia said. When her children fell ill, she didn’t have the money to treat them.

Nazia spoke to The Associated Press at Charakar Hospital in the northern province of Parwan, where she and her 7-month-old daughter were both being treated for malnutrition. Her husband is a day laborer but is also a drug addict and rarely brings in an income, she said. Like many Afghans, she uses only one name.

UNICEF, the UN children’s agency, said 1.1 million children this year are expected to suffer from severe acute malnutrition, also known as severe wasting, nearly double the number in 2018 and up from just under 1 million last year.

Severe wasting is the most lethal type of malnutrition, in which food is so lacking that a child ’s immune system is compromised, according to UNICEF. They become vulnerable to multiple bouts of disease and eventually they become so weak they can’t absorb nutrients.

The numbers of children under 5 being admitted into health facilities with severe acute malnutrition have steadily mounted, from 16,000 in March 2020 to 18,000 in March 2021, then leaping to 28,000 in March 2022, the UNICEF representative in Afghanistan, Mohamed Ag Ayoya, wrote in a tweet last week.

Hit by one of its worst droughts in decades and torn by years of war, Afghanistan was already facing a hunger emergency; but the Taliban takeover in August threw the country into crisis. Many development agencies pulled out and international sanctions cut off billions in finances for the government, collapsing the economy.

Millions were plunged into poverty, struggling to afford food for their families. By the end of last year, half the population of around 38 million lived under the poverty line, according to UN figures. As the economy continues to crumble and prices mount, that could rise this year to as high as 97 percent of the population by mid-2022, according to the UN Development Program.

Because of poverty, “mothers do not have proper nutrition during pregnancy, and are not able to eat properly after birth, said Mohammad Sharif, a doctor at Charakar hospital.

At the Mir wais Hospital in southern K andahar prov ince, 1,100 children w ith malnutrition have been admitted in the past si x months, 30 of whom died, said Dr. Mohammad Sediq, head of the children’s ward.

One mother, Kobra, said she had been unable to breastfeed her 6-month-old child. “He is constantly losing weight and cries a lot, I know it is all because of hunger, but can’t do anything,” she said.

At her home in an impoverished district of Kandahar city, Jamila said her 8-month-son died last month after being diagnosed with severe malnutrition. If she doesn’t get help, she fears for her other four children, she said.

“The government hasn’t helped us at all, no one has asked us if we are hungry or have something to eat or not,” she said.

UN agencies launched a massive, accelerated aid program after the Taliban takeover, ramping up to a point that they now deliver food assistance to 38 percent of the population.

The number of people facing acute food insecurity fell slightly from 22.8 million late last year to 19.7 million currently, according to a May report by IPC, a partnership among UN and other agencies that assesses food security. From June to November this year, that number is expected to fall a little further, to 18.9 million, IPC said.

But those small reductions “are far from indicating a positive trend,” it warned.

The decrease was low compared to the scale of the aid, it said.

Moreover, deteriorating conditions threaten to overwhelm the effort.

It pointed to the continued crumbling of the economy, higher food and fuel prices and supply disruptions caused by the Ukraine war, and “unprecedented inf lation” in Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, lack of funding threatens aid ’s reach. The proportion of the population receiving food aid could plummet to only 8 percent over the next six months because so far only $601 million of the $4.4 billion needed has been received from the world community, the IPC said. Just over $2 billion has been pledged.

Melanie Galvin, chief of UNICEF’s nutrition program in Afghanistan, said the 1.1 million children figure came from the agency’s annual assessment, conducted last fall and based on expected conditions.

“Every year, all the factors connected to malnutrition keep going up,” she told the AP. It just keeps going up and up in terms of a deteriorating situation.

Drought has been the main driver of food insecurity, she said, compounded by growing poverty, lack of access to clean water and to medical care, need for greater vaccination for diseases like measles that hit malnourished children.

The good news is that agencies have access to the entire country now, she said. UNICEF opened around 1,000 treatment sites in remote locations where parents can bring their malnourished children rather than having to trek to larger urban centers.

But an emergency response is not sustainable in the longer term, she said. “We need all these factors in the external environment to improve.” Keath reported from Cairo.

Science Sunday BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph • Editor: Lyn Resurreccion

Cosmetics from ‘tahong,’ anyone?

Sunday, May 29, 2022

A5

3 PHL mussels used in development of cosmetic products

Day 16 after the Arabidopsis sprouted, show clear physical differences between plants grown in the control medium (left), compared with those grown in the lunar soil. UF/IFAS photos by Tyler Jones

Arabidopsis plant grown during the experiment.

Scientists grow plants in soil from the moon for the first time

By Clement Dionglay

Special to the BusinessMirror

O

The cosmetic products from “tahong”—glycogen soap, glycogen cream and glycogen lotion— are from the research led by Dr. Leni Yap-Dejeto of UP Visayas-Tacloban Mussel Research Team, in collaboration with DOST-PCAARRD. Photos by Paulo Hipe, UPV-Tacloban

By Lyn B. Resurreccion

‘T

ahong,” or green mussel, is among the favorite food in the Philippines.

It is eaten in soups, baked, grilled, or sautéed, and many others.

It is a cheap source of protein, vitamins, minerals and carbohydrates.

Green mussel is one of the emerging aquatic commodities that is seen to contribute to the economic output of the fisheries sector in the country.

Tahong can be found in many areas in the country, such as in Bacoor Bay up to the entire Manila Bay from Cavite to Bataan, along the coast of Northern Luzon, Lingayen Gulf, Quezon and in Bicol region, said the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on its web site.

It is also in Batangas Bay, Banate Bay in Iloilo, in Negros Occidental, around Catbalogan and Western Samar, Northern Leyte and Palawan.

Its commercial farming are concentrated along the coast of Bulacan, Capiz, Cavite, Pangasinan, Sorsogon and Negros Occidental, FAO added.

However, mussel production is faced with the challenge of perennial occurrence of harmful algal blooms (HABs) that cause red tide. This situation encouraged the research on non-food applications of mussel.

According to Dr. Leni Yap-Dejeto of the University of the Philippines Visayas (UPV)-Tacloban Mussel Research Team, HABs displace fisherfolk for months and recorded economic losses that can reach P250 million per occurrence of HAB, In the province of Samar in Region VIII alone, P49 million is derived annually from the tahong industry, Yap-Dejeto added.

It should also be noted that Eastern Visayas bays had been infested with HABs for nearly five years and were only completely red tide-free in early February, the Philippine News Agency reported.

Mussel glycogen project

With this situation, besides using mussel as food, a project has recently used food-grade mussel glycogen extracts in the development of cosmetic products.

The project, led by Yap-Dejeto, is titled, “Extraction and Utilization of Mussel Glycogen under the Mussel Biotechnology Program.”

It was implemented by the UPV-Tacloban Campus, in collaboration with the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development of the Department of Science and Technology.

Yap-Dejeto said that two other mussels, black mussel (Mytella strigata) and the brown mussel (Modiolus philippinarum), were included in the study.

Alternative source of livelihood

In an e-mail interview with the B usiness M ir ror , Yap-Dejeto said the project used not only tahong with HABs. “We can also use mussels without HABs. Mussels are still whole when we extract the glycogen,” she said.

She explained that the mussels can still be used for food even minus the extracted

glycogen, which are actually added calories.

Thus, mussels without glycogen can be labeled as low-calorie mussels, she said.

Yap-Dejeto said the project is an alternative source of livelihood for farmers, especially with their livelihood affected by HABs infestation.

She noted that “mussels can still be harvested even with red tide ban, as long as this is not used as food, but as cosmetics.”

But farmers should get a special permit for this from their local government unit or from Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources.

Glycogen in cosmetics

Cosmetic products—such as cream, ointment and soap—from food grade glycogen extracts and a laboratory grade glycogen for biotechnology purposes were formulated by her team, Yap-Dejeto said.

The lab-grade glycogen was proven to be effective as a carrier in nucleic acid extraction when used in standard polymerase chain reaction techniques.

Yap-Dejetow said the glycogen in the cosmetic products mainly acts as moisturizer.

“This is also effective as a carrier for certain vitamins and minerals for the skin, because it is more easily absorbed by the skin compared to oils,” she said.

She added: “Thus, for example if you want more Vitamin E or D delivered to your skin cells, then addition of glycogen will be a good conduit for those vitamins to reach the skin cells.”

When asked if human trials were already made, she said its was done yet with the cosmetics the research team has created.

“We tested this only on artificial skin.

We will be doing human trials soon. Or if investors are willing, they can fund this part of the research,” she said.

High prospects: Export of glycogen or high-end cosmetics

Yap-Dejeto pointed out that “prospects for the project are high.”

She said mussel glycogen is being produced outside the country from blue mussels and oysters.

“We still have to import mussel glycogen as of the moment,” she said.

“But with this project, we won’t be importing anymore. Instead, we would have the possibility of exporting our glycogen abroad, or we produce high-end local cosmetics for export,” Yap-Dejeto explained.

To support the project in terms of its marketability, a feasibility study on the market operations—such as in production, organization and management of the developed glycogen—found that it is feasible to manufacture the products.

Yap-Dejeto said results of the financial analysis were very encouraging with the 193.95 percent Internal Rate of Return (IRR) and 1.70 Benefit-Cost Ratio (BCR).

The IRR is the expected growth rate of an investment per year (average 22 percent), while the BCR is the correlation of the relative costs versus the benefits of a proposed project in which a value greater than 1.0 will mean a positive net present value.

n July 20, 1969, American astronaut Neil Armstrong became the first human to step on the moon. He made the historic lunar event together with fellow astronaut Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin after they landed on the moon in the Lunar Module.

They walked around for three hours while Michael Collins, the third astronaut of Apollo 11, stayed in orbit around the moon.

During their three-hour stay on the moon, the two astronauts did some experiments. They put up the US flag and a sign on the moon and took 21.6 kilograms of geologic materials, including two core samples, rocks and lunar soil, also known as “regolith.”

Another historic first—more than 50 years later On May 12, 2022, three scientists from the University of Florida (UF) revealed through a news release a breakthrough discovery that took decades in the making—they have successfully grown plants in lunar soil.

For the first time in human history, scientists marked a milestone in lunar and space exploration when they showed that plants could successfully sprout and grow in lunar soil.

UF Scientists Anna-Lisa Paul and Robert Ferl are internationally recognized experts in studying plants in space.

For 11 years, Paul and Ferl applied three times for a chance to work on the lunar regolith, which NASA has kept unopened and pristine for 50 years.

NASA approved their application and loaned the scientists 12 grams of lunar soil collected during the Apollo 11, 12 and 17 missions for their research.

Ferl, a professor in the Horticultural Sciences department at UF, said, “We first asked the question of whether plants can grow in regolith.

And second, how might that one day help humans have an extended stay on the Moon.” The answer to the first question was a resounding “yes.”

Plants can grow in the lunar regolith.

Model plant + small samples = great results For their experiment, the UF research team used Arabidopsis thaliana, also known as thale cress, a popular model plant among scientists due to its small size and ease of growth.

Arabidopsis is native to Eurasia and Africa and is a relative of mustard greens, broccoli, cauliflower and Brussels sprouts. It is one of the most studied plants in the world, and its genetic code has been fully mapped in 2000.

Scientists already know what its genes look like, how it behaves in different circumstances, and even how it grows in space.

According to the news release, to grow Arabidopsis in just a few teaspoons of lunar regolith, Paul and Ferl used a simple experiment: plant seeds in lunar soil, add water, nutrients, and light, and record the results.

To grow their tiny lunar garden, the research team used thimble-sized pots in plastic plates. Each pot had approximately 1 gram of lunar soil moistened with a nutrient solution and planted with a few Arabidopsis seeds.

For comparison, the researchers also planted Arabidopsis seeds in a terrestrial substance called JSC-1A, which mimics real lunar soil. The plants grown in JSC-1A were the control group of this experiment.

Before the experiment, the researchers were unsure if the Arabidopsis seeds planted in the lunar regolith would sprout—but nearly all of them did.

“We were amazed. We did not predict that. That told us that the lunar soils didn’t interrupt the hormones and signals involved in plant germination,” Paul said.

The UF and NASA news releases described the experiment in full detail.

The Arabidopsis seeds sprouted two days after they were planted. Six days later, however, the researchers observed that the plants were not as robust as the ones in the control group.

The researchers observed differences between the plants grown in the lunar soil and the control group.

Some of the plants grown in the lunar soils were smaller, grew more slowly, and have more varied sizes than their counterparts in the control group.

The plants in the lunar soil had stunted roots and leaves and showed reddish pigmentation.

According to Paul, these signs show that the plants were coping with the chemical and structural make-up of the lunar soil.

Their observation was later confirmed when the researchers analyzed the plants’ gene expression patterns.

Working with Stephen Elardo, an assistant professor of geology at UF, Paul and Ferl said that the plants’ response to lunar soil may be linked to

Provincial S&T Office bill passes Senate's final reading

T

he Philippine Senate passed Senate Bill 2484, or the proposed Provincial Science and Technology Office (PSTO) Act, on third and final reading.

The proposed law seeks to convert the Department of Science and Technology’s Provincial Science and Technology Centers (PSTC) into PSTOs in provinces nationwide.

Once enacted into law, it will upgrade PSTC directors’ salaries from Salary Grade 19 to Salary Grade 24, or a five-step promotion. They shall also be entitled to reimbursable representation and transportation allowances and other benefits prescribed by law.

In his Facebook account, Science Secretary Fortunato T. de la Peña announced the Senate’s passage of the bill, and said he was “glad to hear the news.”

Sen. Nancy Binay, sponsor and co-author of Senate Bill 2484, said the PSTCs have continuously provided, disseminated and transferred S&T know-how and support to the Filipino citizenry.

“The PSTCs are responsible for the technological transfer and development in technology-based enterprises of the government in rural areas,” she said. “[With] the support of [the House of Representatives’] Committee on Science and Technology Chairman [Rep.] Erico Aristotle C. Aumen-

tado, there will be no more House version, so there is no need for a Bicameral Conference which will abbreviate the legislative process,” de la Peña said, and will hasten its signing into law.

Hence, the bill can now be endorsed by the Presidential-Legislative Liaison Office to the Office of the President (OP), he added.

If the proposed PSTO Act will be signed by President Duterte before June 30, it will bring to five the number of Science, Technology and Innovation legislations enacted under the Duterte administration with the advocacy of DOST, de la Peña pointed out.

The four laws earlier enacted were the Balik Scientist Act; Amended Magna Carta for Science Workers Act; Philippine Space Act; and Innovative Start-Up Act DOST Legislative Liaison Office Director Lita Suerte Felipe expressed hopes that the proposed PSTO Act will be enrolled at the OP before May 31.

A comment on de la Peña’s Facebook post said if the bill becomes a law “it will be a much-deserved attention to our very persevering PST Officers who always make things happen, despite all the odds they have to face.”

De la Peña said he is also hoping that the Virology and Vaccine Institute of the Philippines Bill and the

Science for Change Bill which have passed third reading at the House of Representatives will be passed into law before the end of the Duterte administration.

“To aid in our country’s development, we must equip Filipinos nationwide with the appropriate scientific knowledge and skills, as well as technical innovations. Let us use the power of S&T to uplift the lives of our countrymen,” Binay said in a news release.

Under the bill, senior science research specialist would be reclassified as chief science research specialist and compensation upgraded from Salary Grade 19 to Salary Grade 24.

“By reclassifying the positions of senior science research specialist to chief science research specialist, we are bringing the necessary resources and manpower to our PSTCs so that they can fully empower and develop local communities with science and technology,” Binay said.

She said government needs to harmonize and rationalize the compensation and support for the PSTC staff so they would be on a par with other government agencies.

“We need to prevent disillusionment and brain drain by taking care of their staff. It is necessary for us in the legislative branch to help them, especially in the staffing pattern,” Binay added. Lyn B. Resurreccion

where the soil was collected.

The researchers found that the plants that showed signs of stress were grown in mature lunar soil that was exposed to cosmic wind. On the other hand, plants grown in comparatively less mature soils fared better.

Twenty days after sprouting, before the Arabidopsis plants started to flower, the team harvested the plants and mapped their RNA. The RNA sequence revealed that the plants were stressed, and reacted in a way that researchers have previously seen Arabidopsis respond to in harsh environments.

First steps toward growing plants on the moon This scientific breakthrough comes at a time when NASA’s Artemis Program is set to send the next astronaut to the moon.

Jacob Bleacher, the chief exploration scientist of NASA’s Artemis program, points out that while they send robotic missions to the moon’s South Pole to explore the presence of water that can be used by future astronauts, they will also study how plants can grow on the moon.

As scientists explore the potential of growing plants on the moon in the future, additional questions must be answered, more studies and research are needed, and more missions will be sent to the moon. While we wait for these answers, let us join the researchers in celebrating the first steps toward growing plants on the moon.

Clement Dionglay is with ISAAA Inc.’s Global Knowledge Center on Crop Biotechnology.

Searca PhD research scholarship application deadline on May 31

T

he Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (Searca) has set May 31 as the deadline of applications for research scholarships of doctorate students whose dissertation topics are relevant to its priority thrusts.

The scholarship is open to Filipinos and other Southeast Asians from Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste and Vietnam.

Searca provides research funds not exceeding $4,500 and optional internship at Searca for up to two months.

Searca Director Dr. Glenn B. Gregorio said those who will avail themselves of the internship may be given additional scholarship funds to cover travel expenses to and from Searca, travel and accident insurance, and stipend during the internship period.

“During their internship, the scholars may use the resources and facilities available at Searca for their research. They will be able to work with Searca staff on common areas of interests in agriculture and rural development [ARD],” Gregorio said. Searca is headquartered at the campus of the University of the Philippines Los Baños in Laguna.

He noted that the research topics of applicants must fall within the following Searca priority areas: Agri-Business Models for Increased Productivity and Income, Sustainable Farming Systems and Natural Resource Management, Food and Nutrition Security, Transformational Leadership for ARD, Gender and Youth Engagement in ARD, Enhanced ARD towards Climate Resilience, and Eco-Health/ One-Health Applications to ARD. Application requirements are posted online on Searca’s web site.

A6

Sunday, May 29, 2022

Faith

Sunday

Editor: Lyn Resurreccion • www.businessmirror.com.ph

Pope: Life ‘is always sacred, inviolable’

V

ATICAN—Pope Francis praised a pro-life event in Rome and offered comments defending the dignity of life.

According to the website for the national “Scegliamo la vita [Let’s Choose Life]” event, the May 21 gathering intended to affirm the dignity of human life from conception to natural death. Videos and photos on the event’s Facebook page shows crowds marching and singing with signs and music.

The pope greeted participants in the event after praying the Regina Caeli in St. Peter’s Square in Rome.

“I thank you for your dedication in promoting life and defending conscientious objection, which there are often attempts to limit,” he said.

“Sadly,” the pope continued, “in these last years, there has been a change in the common mentality, and today we are more and more led to think that life is a good at our complete disposal, that we can choose to manipulate, to give birth or take life as we please, as if it were the exclusive consequence

Participants in Italy’s pro-life demonstration in Rome on May 21. DANIEL IBAÑEZ/CNA

of individual choice.”

Pope Francis f latly rejected that view.

“Let us remember that life is a gift from God!” he said. “It is al-

ways sacred and inviolable, and we cannot silence the voice of conscience.”

Pope Francis’s pro-life comments came after he offered a

reflection on Jesus’ words to the disciples at the Last Supper in Sunday’s Gospel reading from John, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.” The Holy Father said that “no one can leave others peace if they do not have it within themselves,” emphasizing that the peace that Jesus is referring to comes from the Holy Spirit and is a “gift of God.” Pope Francis’s comments defending life come at a time when the highest court in the United States nears the possible overturning of Roe v. Wade, the 1973 landmark decision that legalized abortion nationwide.

In early May, a draft of a Supreme Cou r t opinion t hat showed the court was poised to overturn Roe was leaked by the news outlet Politico.

Shortly after the leak, proabortion advocates began protesting at the court, in front of justices’ homes, and even in Catholic churches around the countr y.

Additional security measures have been taken to protect the justices and the court itself, as a fence has recently been built surrounding the court.

However, if Roe is overturned, abortion will not be outlawed n at ionw ide. T he M i ssi ssippi abortion case in consideration, Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, would give states the exclusive right to legislate on abortion.

Still, some states have “trigger laws” which automatically outlaw abortion if Roe is overturned. Joe Bukuras/Catholic News Agency via CBCP News

Pope declares Cebu’s Camomot ‘venerable’

P

Cardinal Jose Advincula leads the canonical coronation of the centuryold image of Mary, Help of Christians enshrined at her national shrine in Parañaque City on May 24. PHOTO BY ANTON MARIA FRANCESCO CARABEO

Parañaque’s Mary, Help of Christians image receives canonical coronation

T

he century-old image of Mary, Help of Christians enshrined at her national shrine in Parañaque City was granted pontifical coronation on her feast day May 24.

The rite took place during a Mass presided over by Cardinal Jose Advincula, archbishop of Manila.

The cardinal said the canonical coronation was the Church’s recognition of Mary’s queenship “because she is the mother of Jesus Christ our King.”

Reflecting on the day’s readings, he discussed the three dimensions of the queenship of Mary: communion, motherhood and charity.

“As queen, she fosters our communion, makes us feel her motherhood and extends upon us her charity,” Advincula said.

“Let us seek her maternal help so that we too may become agents of unity, bearers of life and missionaries of assistance for one another,” he added.

It was on March 19, 2021, when Bishop Jesse Mercado of Parañaque wrote to the Vatican to request for the canonical coronation.

The Vatican, through the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, approved the petition on November 16, 2021.

Besides Mercado, other bishops present were Honesto Ongtioco of Cubao, Reynaldo Evangelista of Imus, and Patricio Buzon of Bacolod, a Salesian.

Retired Salesian Archbishop Francesco Panfilo of Rabaul in Papua New Guinea and Bishops Emeriti Teodoro Bacani of Novaliches and Leo Drona of San Pablo, who is also a Salesian, also graced the occasion.

The widespread propagation of the devotion to Mary, Help of Christians in the Philippines began with the appointment of Salesian Archbishop Guglielmo Piani as Apostolic Delegate to the Philippines in 1922.

On his journey to the Philippines, he brought with him the statue of Mary, Help of Christians that was first enthroned at the Manila Cathedral.

In 1942, during the Japanese occupation, the image was brought to Our Lady of Loreto Church in Manila’s Sampaloc district for safekeeping.

It was only in 1994 that the image was transferred to her national shrine in Parañaque.

The statue is the second canonically crowned image in the diocese besides the 400-year old image of Nuestra Señora del Buen Suceso, venerated at St. Andrew’s

Cathedral. Maikel Dalogdog/CBCP News

ope Francis recently advanced the sainthood cause of Archbishop Teofilo Camomot declaring him “venerable.”

After a meeting with Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, the pope approved the heroic virtues of the Cebuano prelate.

Born in the city of Carcar, Archbishop Camomot was ordained to the priest for the Archdiocese of Cebu in 1941.

In 1955, he was appointed auxiliary bishop of Jaro in Iloilo province. Three years later, in 1958, he was named coadjutor archbishop of Cagayan de Oro. The archbishop founded the Carmelite Tertiaries of the Blessed Eucharist in Misamis Occidental in November 1959. This would later become the Congregation of Santa Teresa.

After staying for 12 years in Cagayan de Oro, he resigned as coadjutor archbishop and returned to Cebu in 1970.

Venerable Archbishop Teofilo Camomot archbishopcamomot.ph photo

He died in a vehicular accident on September 27, 1988, at the age of 74.

“His dedication to the poor and detachment from material possessions were the trademarks of his ministry,” the Cebu archdiocese said in a statement.

Camomot, it added, was also “known for his fame of sanctity during his life, his death and after his death.”

In December 2010, the archdiocese, during the incumbency of Cardinal Ricardo Vidal, opened the diocesan phase of the cause of the archbishop’s beatification and canonization.

Upon the advise of the Vatican, Archbishop Jose Palma authorized the reopening of the diocesan process on the life, virtues and fame of sanctity of Camomot.

The process started on Janu-

CEAP bestows top award on Mananzan, Luistro B

enedictine Sr. Mary John Mananzan and La Salle Br. Armin Luistro have been chosen for the 2022 Pro Deo Et Patria Award from the country’s largest association of Catholic schools.

The recognition is the highest award presented by the Catholic Educational Association of the Philippines (CEAP) to those “who manifest an exemplary attitude of love for God and country.”

The award, according to CEAP, is also given to those who displayed “faithfulness to Catholic teachings as part of service to God”.

Mananzan was cited by Women Deliver as one of the 100 inspiring persons in the world on the occasion of the 100 years of

the International Women’s Day celebration in March 2011.

Currently, she is the Vice President for External Affairs of St. Scholastica’s College.

Luistro was recently elected as the 28th Superior General of the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools, the first Filipino to hold the office.

He also served as the secretary of the Department of Education from 2010 to the year 2016.

The awarding ceremony will be on October 26, the first day of the 2022 CEAP National Convention with the theme “Pilgrims of Hope: Moving Forward in Synodality.” CBCP News

The Catholic Educational Association of the Philippines recognizes St. Scholastica’s College’s Sr. Mary John Mananzan (left) and La Salle’s Br. Armin Luistro with its highest Pro Deo Et Patria Award. CBCP News photo

Angono Church elevated to diocesan shrine

A

NGONO, Rizal—The country’s only Catholic parish church dedicated to St. Clement, the pope and martyr, was elevated to the status of diocesan shrine.

Bishop Francisco de Leon led a Mass on May 21 to declare the St. Clement Parish Church in Angono town, Rizal province, as a diocesan shrine.

The decree was signed on August 20, 2021. The declaration was, however, moved to a later date due to the restrictions brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic.

ary 5, 2016, until March 2, 2017.

The Congregation of the Causes of Saints granted the decree of validity of the diocesan process on November 19, 2015.

The “Positio” on the life, virtues and fame of sanctity of Camomot was submitted to the Vatican in 2020.

On October 21, 2021, the special congress composed of nine theological consultants gave their unanimous approval on the heroic virtues of the prelate.

The cardinals and bishops in the ordinary session of May 3, 2022, chaired by Cardinal Semeraro, affirmed that the Filipino prelate exercised the theological, cardinal and concomitant virtues to a heroic degree.

The pope would have to recognize a miracle attributed to the archbishop’s intercession in order for him to be beatified, the next step toward sainthood. A second miracle would be needed for canonization. CBCP News

During the Mass, Fr. Peter Ymari Balatbat was also installed as the shrine’s first rector.

Auxiliary Bishop Nolly Buco of Antipolo and the diocese’s clergy were also present during the Mass.

The new heritage markers inside the church stated that the elevation of the shrine was held during the occasion of the 500th year of Christianity of the Philippines and the 270th year of the erection of the Spanishera chaplaincy of the Angono hacienda in 1751.

As part of the celebration, the

parish also unveiled a life-size statue of St. Clement at Wawa Lakeside Park in Angono’s San Vicente village on May 22.

Known as the “art capital of the Philippines,” Angono also gathers a large following of devotees, especially every November 23 in devotion to St. Clement.

Thousands of devotees flock to Angono, particularly those around the lakeside towns near Laguna de Bay, as thanksgiving for the bounty of the lake and for answered prayers. Kendrick Ivan B.

Panganiban/CBCP News

The Diocesan Shrine and Parish of Saint Clement in Angono, Rizal. ST. CLEMENT SHRINE SOCCOM

Biodiversity Sunday BusinessMirror

Asean Champions of Biodiversity Media Category 2014

Sunday, May 29, 2022

Editor: Lyn Resurreccion

A7

Cheers, jeers on PHL’s biodiversity conservation

By Jonathan L. Mayuga

T

he Philippines joined the world in celebrating the International Day for Biological Diversity (IDBD) on May 22.

With the theme “Building a Shared Future for all Life,” the celebration also marked the launching of the Year of the Protected Areas (YoPA) campaign.

Together with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), the Department of Tourism, and the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), and in partnership with the United Nations Development Program‘s Biodiversity Finance Initiative, the YoPA campaign online launching focused on the importance of setting aside areas for conservation in the face of massive species extinction amid the global pandemic caused by the dreaded Covid-19.

Essential to human survival In his speech during the event, Environment Acting Secretary Jim Sampulna highlighted the establishment of protected areas and national parks as essential to the survival of humanity because they serve as critical habitats for wild animals and plants.

“Protected areas prevent the spread of diseases if left undisturbed. Intrusion into protected areas increases the chances of wildlife coming into contact with human beings, thereby allowing the spread of zoonotic diseases such as Covid-19 people,” said Sampulna, a forester.

He also highlighted the role of protected areas in providing livelihood to the communities that act as stewards of conservation.

Protected areas, Sampulna added, also bring income to communities, including to Indigenous People, through ecotourism, plus its role of providing food and medicine.

Building a resilient future Dr. Theresa Mundita S. Lim, executive director of the Asean Centre for Biodiversity (ACB), said that in the IDBD, the call to act fast together and to build a more resilient future has become even clearer.

According to Lim, in such an endeavor, biodiversity is the foundation upon which the world can build back better.

“This year, we are bound to make history as we are set to finalize and

eventually implement the post-2020 global biodiversity framework: an ambitious plan composed of 21 targets and 10 milestones that will serve as a guide to transform and mend our broken relationship with nature,” Lim said in a press statement.

“The road to living in harmony with nature is never without bumps, but every step we will take, from this day forward, counts. Raising people’s awareness of today’s challenges is of paramount importance as all our efforts will be futile if the root causes are not known and identified,” she added.

“entertaining” and even issuing environmental compliance certificates for environmentally critical projects like the massive land reclamations in Manila Bay and other areas in the country.

“Why are we still entertaining them while we should be protecting the integrity of our marine habitats, because of climate change and the pandemic?

All they think of is profit, profit, profit,” she said, citing the multi-billion airport project in Bulakan, Bulacan.

Nevertheless, she lauded the DILG led by Secretary Eduardo Año for issuing Memorandum Circular 2022-018.

“The circular is now requiring LGUs [local government units] to sign under oath that they have ensured compliance with all the mechanism and safeguard to protect the environment before allowing any projects. That is very good! Kudos to the DILG!” she said partly in Filipino.

Asean Biodiversity Dashboard The ACB, which acts as a regional center of excellence for biodiversity and mandated to facilitate cooperation in the region, has recently launched the Asean Biodiversity Dashboard, to provide up-to-date biodiversity knowledge that can be used for informed and science-based decisionsand policy-making.

T he online platform presents trends and geographic differences in biodiversity data and indicators used worldwide in a visual format.

“Through this interactive and ergonomic platform, shareable biodiversity information relevant to Asean can be accessed easily with just a few clicks,“ Lim explained.

In the dashboard, she said, „You will be able to view trends in the status of biodiversity in the Asean region through time.”

The platform serves as a repository of biodiversity data and information from the Asean member states (AMS), thus, underscoring the importance of comprehensive transboundary information and knowledge sharing among the AMS to better understand the status of the region’s biodiversity, Lim said.

By having the means to measure and approximate the state and health of ecosystems and species, Lim said Asean can develop concrete and more practical solutions and actions toward achieving national targets and contributing to regional and a more ambitious global biodiversity targets.

Significant gains The Philippines, a country blessed with rich biodiversity, is faced with preventing biodiversity loss amid the pandemic.

Challenges ahead With key biodiversity information and knowledge, we can protect and conserve biodiversity and aim for a better, shared future for all life. Photo by Kyaw Kyaw Winn, ACB Over the past three years, the community lockdowns that led to restricted movement have resulted in positive or significant gains for the environment and biodiversity in general.

Lim noted that the passage of the Expanded National Integrated Protected Area Systems Act of 2018 and additional protected areas legislations— such as Republic Acts 11684, 11685, 11686, 11687 and 11688—that added Mount Arayat in Pampanga, Mount Pulag in Benguet, Naga-Kabasalan in Zamboanga Sibugay, Tirad Pass in Ilocos Sur, and Banao in Kalinga to the list of areas protected under the National Integrated Protected Areas System, are worth mentioning.

Such development, Lim noted, is paving the way for increased investments in protected areas and biodiversity in the country.

‘Anthropause’ Lim noted that the effects of the global pandemic led to an “anthropause,” or the a global reduction in modern human activity, especially travel, that gave people an opportunity to re-examine their relationship with nature.

“Biodiversity was given time to re-

cover a bit, and the increased awareness on zoonosis [disease caused by germs that spread between animals and people] seemed to have resulted in more caution on handling wildlife species implicated in viral transmissions… and increased vigilance in combating illegal wildlife trade,” she said.

More importantly, Lim said because of the pandemic, more people are now appreciating the outdoors and nature, especially after the long lockdowns, including the appreciation for urban biodiversity, backyard planting and gardening.

Increased awareness For Emerson Sy, a wildlife conservation advocate and illegal wildlife trade watchdog, the past three years have taught Filipinos a lot about the importance of protecting and conserving biodiversity.

Specifically, he said the campaign against illegal wildlife trade became stronger amid the pandemic, noting that despite the community lockdowns that restricted the movements across the country, law enforcers, including that of the DENR, were able to score big in the fight against illegal wildlife trade.

“Despite the pandemic, the campaign against illegal wildlife trade never stopped. Right now, you will notice that people, even in social media, are really helping out and they know which agency to report the illegal activities now, unlike before,” Sy told the BusinessMirror in a telephone interview on May 25.

Something is lacking Lawyer Gloria Estenzo-Ramos, vice president of Oceana Philippines, an ocean advocacy nongovernment organization, agreed that there’s increased awareness, especially among the younger generation, but said policymakers lack positive action to truly protect and conserve biodiversity.

For one, Ramos said policy-makers should prioritize biodiversity conservation and protection in terms of budget allocation.

“In terms of awareness, we gained a lot, especially the youth. But [from] our policy-makers, we need action,” Ramos said in mix of English and Filipino in a telephone interview on May 25.

Cheers and jeers R amos also criticized the DENR for

Filipino scientist bags UN Sasakawa award for disaster risk reduction F

ilipino scientist and diplomat Glenn S. Banaguas recently won the United Nations’ Sasakawa Award for Disaster Risk Reduction, besting over 200 nominations worldwide, an unprecedented event in the award’s 35-year history.

“I extend my thanks and gratitude to the organizers of the UN Sasakawa Award for recognizing Climate Smart Philippines’ efforts to empower people from all walks of life to develop evidence-based, humane, and gender-responsive solutions,” Banaguas said on receiving the award, which was conferred at a ceremony in Bali, Indonesia, on May 25.

This was the first time that a lone Filipino won in the Award’s 35-year history, the Climate Smart and Disaster Resilient Asean said in its news release.

Also honored this year was Save the Children-Philippines, which won the award in the Organization category.

Previous Philippine honorees included the municipality of San Francisco, Cebu, in 2011 and the Escap/Typhoon Committee in 1988.

The award is bestowed on institutions, groups and individuals that promote inclusive and resilient approaches to disaster risk reduction in line with the UN’s Sendai Framework. The main theme of the 2022 competition is “Building Resilience through a multi-hazard approach.”

Glenn S. Banaguas wins the UN Sasakawa Award for Disaster Risk Reduction. CSDR Asean photo In 2010, Banaguas spearheaded the creation of Climate Smart Philippines under his leadership at the Environmental and Climate Change Research Institute.

The program brought together scientific experts and stakeholders to tackle disaster risks and prevent potential damage and losses from climate change and other hazards besetting the Philippines.

Prior to receiving the Sasakawa Award, Banaguas earned a name for himself as a prolific scientist, diplomat, educator and a leading expert on environment, climate change and disaster risks in Asia.

He is also a strong and vocal advocate of science-based policy solutions. He is the

youngest to win The Outstanding Filipino Laureate, which he earned for his pioneering work in environment conservation and science diplomacy.

He is also an Outstanding Young Scientist awardee conferred by the National Academy of Science and Technology, and the Asia Leaders Awardee for Sustainable Leadership.

The 2022 Sasakawa Award, held under the theme, “Building Resilience through a multi-hazard approach,” recognizes the changed global landscape in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, the news release said.

Since 2019, the UN Sasakawa Awards have recognized the world-changing effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and its continuing economic and social impact on millions of people around the globe.

These lingering effects, in addition to climate change, ecosystem degradation and other risk drivers, underscore the interconnectedness of disaster impacts across countries and social strata.

In such a multi-hazard world where everyone is affected by disasters, disaster risk management remains an urgent global challenge. Thus, the Sasakawa Awards recognize distinguished efforts to promote inclusive and resilient approaches to disaster risk reduction through the Sendai Framework.

The farmer-recipients of FarmSmart Farm of PLDT and Smart Communications Inc. in Santa Cruz, Occidental Mindoro, in partnership with Farmvocacy for climate-smart farming. PLDT, Smart photo

PLDT, Smart champions climate-smart farming

P

LDT and Smart Communications Inc. (Smart) recently piloted the #FarmSmart Farm program in Santa Cruz, Occidental Mindoro, in partnership with social agri-enterprise Farmvocacy in celebration of the National Farmers and Fisherfolk Month this May, “In our mission to help improve the livelihood of Filipino farmers, PLDT and Smart are also committed to promoting sustainable farming practices. The #FarmSmart Farm program fits perfectly in our organization as we further embed sustainability in our core business and corporate shared value programs,” said Stephanie Orlino, assistant vice president and head of Stakeholder

Management at Smart.

In line with the PLDT group’s sustainability agenda, #FarmSmart Farm aims to increase the income of smallholder farmers by creating a climatesmart farming ecosystem where rice growers use environment-friendly inputs to boost their produce while preventing damage to nature.

“Technology has allowed us to fight pests and diseases without harming beneficial microorganisms. In three to five years, we will see our farmers use the Internet in their daily activities,” said Vincent Roy Mendoza, founder and CEO of Farmvocacy.

Under the program, PLDT and Smart will sponsor partner rice growers’ farm

According to Lim, the challenge posed by protecting and conserving biodiversity amid the global pandemic like the loss of jobs and revenues, particularly from community-based tourism activities is daunting.

She said some affected individuals around nature tourism areas were driven to resort to poaching and illegal collection of plants, birds and insects as livelihood and source of income.

Another big challenge, she said, is what she described as ”revenge” travel and the desire to recoup lost income from tourism during the pandemic which has already resulted in overcrowding in some nature areas, possibly exceeding carrying capacities.

One more serious concern is the notable increase in the use of PET bottles and plastics, and improper disposal of masks and face shields which is affecting waterways and marine biodiversity.

Lastly, the recent lifting of the ban on open-pit mining to hasten economic recovery is likely to result in a possible setback in terms of biodiversity conservation and protection. “ Without biodiversity-focused safeguards and due regard to impacts on unique vegetation and habitats, and adjacent coastal and marine biological resources, this is going to be a serious concern in our efforts to protect and harness the potential value of our biodiversity,” Lim explained. inputs, which include organic fertilizers, farm machineries, and other items, saving them from high-interest loans.

Romulo Halili, 53, of Barangay Kurtingan attested to the benefits of environment-friendly materials.

“Organic fertilizers not only help ensure a bountiful harvest, they also prevent soil damage which helps sustain good yield in succeeding planting seasons,” Halili said.

PLDT and Smart also provided Farmvocacy access to the Smart Infocast platform which they will use to quickly send out information and instructions to farmers.

One key activity under the program is a field experiment showing rice growers that sustainable materials and practices aided by timely reminders via Smart Infocast will result in a more abundant harvest.

PLDT, Smart and Farmvocacy have teamed up with the Philippine Rice Research Institute, Occidental Mindoro State College, Enviro Scope Synergy Inc. and the local government unit of Santa Cruz through the Municipal Agriculture Office to guide farmers throughout the project.

Come harvest season, PLDT and Smart will connect beneficiaries directly with consumers through the Buy Local initiative, eliminating the need for middlemen and ensuring fair market price for their goods.

The #FarmSmart Farm initiative emphasizes the PLDT group’s commitment to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals #2 on Zero Hunger, and #3 on Good Health and Well-Being.

Sports BusinessMirror

IN MEN’S WORLD

By Rob Harris The Associated Press

S

B

UENOS AIRES—A flying museum in honor of soccer great Diego Maradona is set to take to the skies.

The “Tango D10S” plane was introduced Wednesday night before it flies around Argentina for fans of Maradona to visit on the ground.

The plane’s exterior is adorned with images of Maradona—who died in 2020 of a heart attack at the age of 60 after having brain surgery—including one where he wears the Argentina jersey and kisses the World Cup trophy he lifted in 1986.

The plane will also visit Barcelona and Naples, where Maradona led Napoli to its only two Italian league titles in 1987 and 1990. Qatar, which hosts the World Cup later this year, will be the aircraft’s final stop in the tour.

England fans may not want to visit wherever it goes. Drawings on the wings make reference to the two goals Maradona scored in the quarterfinals against England in the 1986 World Cup— the controversial “Hand of God” goal

unday, May 29, 2022 mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph Editor: Jun Lomibao

‘LADIES CLUB’

How former Chelsea owner Abramovich falls from grace TANDING by the bar in a small Stamford Bridge hospitality suite was a figure who had not been spotted at the stadium in three years: Roman Abramovich.

Last November, the Chelsea owner was back in London at his English Premier League club to host the president of Israel. There was no obvious security entourage around the Russian billionaire and little fuss, just close associate and Chelsea director Eugene Tenenbaum.

After making small talk with guests and posing for photos with President Isaac Herzog in front of the pitch, the party moved onto an afternoon tea event for around 50 people, with scones and cucumber sandwiches.

Abramovich was feted with speeches praising his work through Chelsea to campaign against antisemitism. It looked like the gradual reintroduction of Abramovich into a more high-profile role around Chelsea again, attached to his social activism.

There was, maybe, a British visa to be regained after he withdrew his application for a renewal in 2018.

Then everything rapidly changed from February 24 when Russia invaded Ukraine.

Three months later, Abramovich is b eing replaced as Chelsea owner by a group fronted by American investor Todd Boehly, a prospect unimaginable when the oligarch was on the field in Abu Dhabi on February 9 lifting the FIFA Club World Cup. It would turn out to be the 21st and last men’s team trophy in 19 years running the team his wealth transformed from being glamorous but only occasionally competing for the biggest trophies, into one of the most successful in European football.

Abramovich tried to cling onto Chelsea, even as anger over Russia’s unprovoked aggression toward its neighbor intensified, backed not just by loyal fans but club greats including John Terry hailing him as “the best.”

Within hours of the war beginning, Abramovich was accused in the House of Commons of having links to corrupt activity and paying for political influence in Russia. The demands grew for Abramovich to be sanctioned by the British government, which had already thwarted his efforts to regain the visa in recent years, according to a legislator.

Sensing the need to act, Abramovich offered cosmetic changes to the ownership on February 26 with the pledge to relinquish “stewardship and care” of the club to its charitable foundation trustees.

They had not signed off on the plan, though, and the vague proposal did not quell the anger that a man accused of being so closely linked to Russian President Vladimir Putin could retain the ownership of a high-profile status symbol in the heart of London.

Another public play to shield his reputation from Putin’s war came on

A8 | S

AFTER buying Chelsea for £140 million in 2003, Roman Abramovich ends up with nothing—not even a return of the £1.6 billion of loans he had to write off to allow the club to be sold and continue playing. AP February 28 when Abramovich’s PR pushed an apparent move for him to broker peace. Abramovich did not condemn the war, and he has yet to do so despite talking about the need to publicly condemn atrocities only two days before the invasion. The rare comments came in a statement launching a new partnership backing the Jerusalem-based Holocaust museum.

“Yad Vashem’s work in preserving the memory of the victims of the Holocaust,” Abramovich said, “is instrumental to ensure that future generations never forget what antisemitism, racism and hate can lead to if we don’t speak out.”

Yet, Abramovich never has practiced what he preached, even as Putin framed the war as one of denazification, falsely called the Ukrainian leadership “Nazis” despite President Volodymyr Zelenskyy being Jewish, and areas were reduced to rubble by Russian bombing and shelling. Yad Vashem suspended its partnership with Abramovich, as did the Imperial War Museum in London, where he funded a Holocaust exhibition and which hosted an event for him hours after the start of Russia’s war on Ukraine.

It was only six days into the invasion when Swiss billionaire Hansjorg Wyss leaked that Abramovich was actually trying to quickly dispose of Chelsea and the club was publicly put up for sale.

“I hope,” Abramovich said, “that I will be able to visit Stamford Bridge one last time to say goodbye to all of you in person.”

A week later, any immediate hopes of returning to London were ended by the government. Sanctions and travel restrictions were placed on Abramovich, his assets were frozen, and Chelsea was allowed to operate only under the terms of a government-issued license until the end of May. New match tickets couldn’t be sold by Chelsea. Players couldn’t be handed new contracts. Even merchandise stores had to close.

The job of finding a buyer for Chelsea was placed with the New York-based Raine Group merchant bank. An array of prospective investors went public, some seemingly more viable owners than others, before the bank produced a shortlist of four bidders in early April.

COACH Liz Mills (center right), then coach of the Kenyan national team, poses with assistant coach Sadat Gaya (center left) and the team players at Nyayo Stadium in Nairobi, Kenya, in February last year. AP

B

ASKETBALL Coach Liz Mills has again shown that women can successfully coach men’s teams. Now she wants to help other women join the ranks.

The Australian led her Moroccan club team to the quarterfinals of this year’s Basketball Africa League (BAL) after she had coached the Kenyan men’s team to its first Afrobasket tournament in 28 years.

When she left the Kenyan team to take over AS Salé in February, she became the first female head coach of a men’s club team in the Arab world.

Mills hopes to turn her collection of acquaintances, colleagues and distant supporters

into something more formal, particularly in Africa, where she’s spent the past decade coaching.

“Instead of trying to be part of the boys club, I think we’re stronger making the girls club and building each other up,” she said. “We don’t spend enough time connecting with each other.”

Mills cited Khardiata Diop, an assistant coach with the Senegalese team in the BAL regular season, as someone worthy of a head coaching job.

“There’s a lot of other female coaches in Africa working with men’s teams and with boys teams—it’s an exciting time for female coaches in Africa,” said Mills, who wants to

return to a men’s national team after the Moroccan season.

Along with sharing coaching tips, a more formal network would help them identify job opportunities.

“I want to create either a WhatsApp group or some kind of monthly chat where we all join in on Zoom and we stay connected. We can lift each other up that way,” she said.

Getting the job doesn’t mean problem solved—there are everyday obstacles like lower salaries compared to male colleagues. And Mills still regularly hears comments about her appearance.

“That kind of physical appraisal is entirely not necessary,” Mills said.

The BAL has networking in

mind, too. Last weekend, it hosted a “BAL4Her” workshop featuring female leaders like National Basketball Association (NBA) Africa vice president Gbemisola Abudu and Toronto Raptors scout Sarah Chan.

Now in its second season, the BAL is an NBA-FIBA partnership styled on soccer’s Champions League but lacking the star power. It is part of the NBA’s long-term strategy to both develop the game and cash in on its popularity.

Rosters are heavy with local players and imports though this season each team was assigned a prospect from the NBA Academy in Senegal. Sixteen-year-old Ulrich Chomche, a 6-foot-11 Cameroonian, averaged 1.7 blocks per game for FAP—Cameroon’s entry—including three in a semifinal loss to Angolan team Petro de Luanda.

AS Salé’s playoff run in the BAL ended early. Luanda eliminated them 102-89 last Saturday. The Angolan champions hit 19 3-pointers and withstood Salé’s fourth-quarter push.

“We simply didn’t follow our game plan,” she said in the postgame news conference. “We talked about defense for two weeks. For us, that’s where we lost the game.”

The tournament final between Luanda and Tunisian team US Monastir is on Saturday in Kigali, Rwanda.

Ousmane Dramé, who had 19 points and 13 rebounds in Salé’s quarterfinal loss, said it’s “breathtaking” to see how hard Mills works.

“That’s the kind of environment I want to be around as a professional basketball player,” said Dramé, who played at Quinnipiac and briefly in the G League.

Salé now heads into its domestic league playoffs, after which Mills will pursue a switch back to a men’s national team in contention for the FIBA World Cup next year. She hasn’t considered a return to women’s teams, she said. She has turned down invitations to coach at G League preseason camps.

Mills has spoken to two African federations but declined to identify them.

“It’s also about what kind of learning opportunity am I going to get. Whether it’s an assistant coach to an exceptional head coach that I can learn from or taking over a team and becoming the first woman to coach at a World Cup,” Mills said. “I like breaking barriers, as you know.” AP

Canadian gymnast tells of sexual, emotional abuse by coach

A

FORMER Canadian gymnastics coach Dave Brubaker arrives at a courthouse with his wife Elizabeth Brubaker in Sarnia, Ontario, for a hearing in February 2019. AP

Flying museum honors Maradona for World Cup

JOURNALISTS gather for the presentation of an aircraft dedicated to the late soccer legend Diego Maradona at a military base in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Wednesday, recently. AP

FORMER member of the Canadian national gymnastics team wrote a public letter accusing the country’s 2016 Olympic coach of inappropriate and unwanted touching.

The letter by Abby Pearson Spadafora, 38, revealed the latest in a long series of allegations of sexual, emotional and physical abuse by coaches Dave and Elizabeth Brubaker, who have been banned by Gymnastics Canada. Spadafora accused the coach of climbing into bed with her and of reaching his hand underneath her shirt.

“The abuse never stopped,” Spadafora wrote in her letter released Thursday. “My male coach would regularly snap the back of my sports bras when I started wearing them. I

followed by a sublime individual effort waltzing through the England team.

Inside the plane, there are memorabilia items that belonged to Maradona.

The plane, owned by a fintech company, was on display at El Palomar airport outside Buenos Aires, with Maradona’s family and some former Argentina teammates among those attending the ceremony.

“We cannot believe or understand this craziness,” said Dalma Maradona, one of Maradona’s daughters. “The love people have for him goes beyond anything you can imagine.”

Dalma and her sister Gianinna were the first to board the plane.

Visitors will have the chance to ask some previously selected questions to a Maradona hologram.

“When you are here in Argentina you can’t realize what Diego means to the rest of the world,” said Sergio Batista, a former teammate. “It is a beautiful tribute that the entire world will experience, the world loved him.” AP

was taught that gaining weight and puberty were a bad thing. Injuries were rarely taken seriously, and I was taught to hide the pain.”

Spadafora said she started training 25 to 35 hours a week at age 7, and was weighed twice a day.

“This is when the grooming began that led to years of abuse,” she said of her training, which began around 1991.

A group of 11 gymnasts, including Spadafora, have come forward to detail abuses at the Bluewater Gymnastics Club in Ontario. They took part in an investigation by Gymnastics Canada that led to the Brubakers’ bans.

Spadafora and another athlete have criticized the investigation. saying it retraumatized them because they were urged not to say anything publicly for fear it would be used against them in the hearing process.

Some 480 athletes have signed a petition asking the Canadian government to commission an independent third-party investigation into abuses at the club.

Dave Brubaker, who coached the Canadian Olympic team in 2016, was found not guilty of sexual assault and sexual exploitation in 2019 after the judge in the case involving a former gymnast disclosed that the officer investigating Brubaker was related to the alleged victim.

His lifetime ban from Gymnastics Canada, and his wife’s ban through January 18, 2024, was handed down earlier this year after a disciplinary panel confirmed 54 counts of misconduct by the Brubakers. The Brubakers initially appealed their bans, but in March withdrew the appeals.

The attorney who represented the Brubakers in the sexual assault trial, Patrick Ducharme, did not immediately return an e-mail from The Associated Press. AP

BusinessMirror

4 tips for young people dealing with Long COVID

May 29, 2022

2

BusinessMirror MAY 29, 2022 | soundstrip.businessmirror@gmail.com

YOUR MUSI

‘ALT POP WITH BALLADY’ SOUND Alfie Castley on TikTok as one of the best platforms for music

C

By Stephanie Joy Ching

OMING from Kettering, UK, Alfie Castley has always had a fascination with music for as long he can remember.

Publisher

: T. Anthony C. Cabangon

Editor-In-Chief

: Lourdes M. Fernandez

Concept

: Aldwin M. Tolosa

Y2Z Editor

: Jt Nisay

SoundStrip Editor

: Edwin P. Sallan

Group Creative Director : Eduardo A. Davad Graphic Designers Contributing Writers

Columnists

: Niggel Figueroa Anabelle O. Flores : Tony M. Maghirang, Rick Olivares, Darwin Fernandez, Leony Garcia, Stephanie Joy Ching Pauline Joy M. Gutierrez : Kaye VillagomezLosorata Annie S. Alejo

Photographers

: Bernard P. Testa Nonie Reyes

Y2Z & SOUNDSTRIP are published and distributed free every Sunday by the Philippine Business Daily Mirror Publishing Inc. as a project of the

The Philippine Business Mirror Publishing, Inc., with offices on the 3rd Floor of Dominga Building III 2113 Chino Roces Avenue corner Dela Rosa Street, Makati City, Philippines.

Tel. Nos. (Editorial) 817-9467; 813-0725.

Fax line: 813-7025 Advertising Sales: 893-2019;

817-1351,817-2807.

Circulation: 893-1662; 814-0134 to 36. www.businessmirror.com.ph

“I’ve always loved doing music ever since I was a baby pretty much, and I’m so glad it has given me a career ‘cause that’s been my dream ever since I was little. Music inspires me to write. I love all types of music,” the London-based artist said in a recent interview with SoundStrip.

Fast forward to today, and Alfie is one of many new faces that TikTok has launched into the spotlight with his hit song, “Teenage Mona Lisa.” A melancholic ballad with an atmospheric beat guiding the tempo, the song tells the story of a teen contestant in a beauty pageant.

“Though she looks the part, it is clear she is not quite suited to that world; behind a false smile she is frequently reminded to wear, she holds a sadness and longing inside.

We bring the idea of a youthful, contemporary Mona Lisa to life, and intertwine her story with Alfie’s performance with a light romantic touch,” Lucy Chappell, who directed the video, shared.

“It’s about unrequited love and loving somebody who doesn’t love you back. I wanted to convey that message through the song,” he pointed out.

“I thought choosing a girl who was out of place at a pageant was a good way to say in the song that beauty isn’t everything, and there’s more on the inside,” he added.

“Teenage Mona Lisa” originally went viral when a TikTok clip by artist and influencer Adian Adair exploded on the platform generating over a quarter of a million posts virtually overnight. It has sat within the top 50 of Spotify’s Top 200 chart for a solid 12 weeks in the Philippines. In Indonesia the song has remained on Resso’s Top 50 for over 3 months.

“I love Tiktok,” he explains “I think it’s one of the best platforms at the moment, and I definitely will be using it for my future releases from now on,” With the music video directed

by Chappell, Alfie was able to add

another narrative layer to the story.

“Making this video was the most surreal experience I’ve ever had and I can’t believe how amazing it has turned out. I can’t wait for everyone else to see it as it’s a very powerful message that’s portrayed in the video and I believe it excellently captures the meaning of the track,” he said.

Armed with his “alt pop but ballady” sound, Alfie hopes to take his newfound success to greater heights.

“I’m always writing, and I can’t wait to get to play live again, maybe even visit the Philippines,” he enthused.

IC

soundstrip.businessmirror@gmail.com | MAY 29, 2022

BUSINESS

3

SoundSampler

by Tony M. Maghirang

5 new singles and a massive K-Pop concert JBK, “Porket”

A RIVERMAYA, “Casino”

E

VER popular alternative band Rivermaya makes a triumphant comeback with “Casino,” their first single since 2018’s “#SBN.” Blending postpunk and alternative rock influences with ‘80s dance grooves, the upbeat number deals with a love affair that instantly blossoms into a serendipitous, full-blown romance.

“It’s also the first Rivermaya track with a four-on-the-floor feel all throughout,” lead vocalist and drummer Mike Escueta said. According to Escueta, the chorus, lyrics, and melody of “Casino” were written before the pandemic, and have been recently reworked from his Google Docs files.

“It’s been five years so we really miss putting out new music,” Escueta added. “It looks like we’re gonna be able to do this a lot more often this year.”

The release of the track comes with a music video that features two strangers who met, connected and danced the night away in a speakeasy. Watch for future developments from the iconic band.

WARD winning trio JBK, composed of Joshua Bulot, Bryan del Rosario and Kim Ordonio, is back with “Porket,” a Latin pop-romance inspired song to usher in the summer. The song combines the soul of OPM spiced with Latin American sway.

JBK shared, “We want to break new grounds in mainstream OPM, and at the same time, also hopefully reach other parts of Asia and our friends in Latin America.”

The new single tells the point of view of a loathing man after being abandoned by his lover.

The jilted person recollects recent memories which should have been red flags in the failing relationship, As such, stages of deep sorrow are vividly expressed all directed at the ex-lover.

written,” revealed the rising Asian rapper. “Nova’s creation really just started off with the exploration of a different sound, and progressed into a song that I wrote about having an innocent crush, or puppy love. The title is directly inspired by my favorite snack, Nova and the use of bossa nova elements in the production.”

The song comes with a performative visual that aims to bring to life to the singles art inspired by Wes Anderson.

A

FTER landing on several high-profile playlists curated by some of the biggest names in K-Pop, Filipino singersongwriter/producer Young Cocoa returns with “Nova,” where a bossa nova sample serves as a foundation for the rest of the beat, The prolific hip-hop artist raps about young love with aweinspiring giddiness as he delivers one of the breeziest crossover tunes to come out in a while.

“We wanted to create a song that was an easy listen, had a lot of bounce, and felt ‘bubbly’ in the same way the lyrics were

T

HE 22-year-old Filipino singer-songwriter, multiinstrumentalist and producer Noah Alejandre hails from Ormoc City, Leyte. Best known as the other half of Filipino indie band “reon”, he drops a new solo single titled “Di Man Tinadhana,” a song about having to accept that you and your significant other aren’t meant to be. It’s also a song of relief in knowing you would never have to wait for that other person anymore because it’s over, secure in knowing you’re ready to move on.

K-RAM Featuring ACE CIRERA & YURIDOPE, “Wala Na”

T

YOUNG COCOA, ‘Nova’

NOAH ALEJANDRE, “Di Man Tinadhana”

HIS track from K-Ram, a well- known battle MC, is about a person in a relationship who struggles to find reasons to stay when he’s falling out of love.

Admitting that there’s no more spark and no more reason to continue is the hardest part.

K-Ram has been joining the Fliptop battle league (the biggest Hip-Hop battle league in the world) for about three years now.

In “Wala Na,” he has collaborated

by Ace Cirera and Yuridope (a member of Ex-Battalion). More creative fireworks are expected from the cooperation this year.

Something BIG is about to happen at The Big Dome!

F

OUR of the biggest South Korean acts are slated to visit Manila for “Begin Again: KPOP Edition” taking place on May 29, 2022, 5 PM at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. Fans are sure to have a blast with NCT DREAM, SHINee’s KEY, WEi, and ALICE performing their latest hit songs on the Philippine stage.

NCT DREAM will be headlining the show, coming on the heels of their widely successful album “Glitch Mode.” Back in 2020, the group is the last to hold a live concert in the Philippines before COVID-19 lockdown. Now, they’ll be one of the first international artists to perform live again after two years. The two-hour concert marks the first live KPOP show in the country since the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Preselling of tickets via https://www. cdmentertainment.ph.

4 tips for young people dealing with long Covid

By Dipesh Gopal Queen Mary University of London

W

hile we might not be hearing the daily Covid numbers anymore, the virus hasn’t gone away. In the UK alone, thousands of new cases continue to be recorded every day.

Meanwhile, there’s a very large group of people for whom the virus hasn’t gone away in a different sense—those suffering with long Covid. For these people, symptoms persist after the infection itself has passed (technically, beyond 12 weeks after infection).

The most common long Covid symptoms include fatigue, breathlessness and loss of sense of smell. But people experiencing long Covid report a whole range of symptoms. For many people with long Covid, their symptoms affect their ability to live and work normally. Symptoms can last a few weeks for some people, while for others, they can go on for much longer.

We don’t fully understand why long Covid happens, but one theory is that it’s due to an over-reaction of the immune system or the blood vessels. Between 3 percent and 12 percent of people who get Covid go on to develop long Covid.

Data indicates women are more likely to develop long Covid, and people aged 35 to 49 are most likely to experience symptoms

compared with other age groups. Having certain health vulnerabilities, such as a compromised immune system, also makes people more susceptible. This doesn’t mean other groups such as men, children and young adults can’t be affected.

In fact, around 250,000 people aged between 17 and 34 in the UK are estimated to have long Covid at the moment. Notably, many young people with long Covid probably haven’t experienced living with a longterm illness, and so may not be familiar with navigating the health-care system, which can be tricky.

I’m a GP and these are my top tips for what to do if you think you might have long Covid.

1

Recognize if your symptoms need urgent attention

If your symptoms seem potentially serious, don’t delay seeking medical attention. If you have symptoms such as persistent chest pain, palpitations, breathlessness or confusion, or you’re unable to speak or move your arms or legs, you should get help via the emergency department. Otherwise, proceed with the following steps.

2

If you have symptoms, contact your GP

I know this can be frustrating—I find it hard to get an appointment with my own GP. If you have the energy, call the practice early in the morning. If you’re offered a telephone appointment, take it, and you may be offered an in-person appointment later.

If you can’t get through on the phone, fill in the online form with your concerns if your GP practice offers this on their web

site. If you still can’t contact your GP practice after trying at different times of day in the same week, you might consider moving to another practice.

3

Have an idea of what you want from the appointment and be prepared

What are you worried about? Would you like to be examined? Do you need your doctor to sign you off from work? Be clear with what you’re expecting and hoping to get from the appointment—this will help the appointment run as smoothly as possible. It can be a good idea to write a list and talk through this with your GP at the beginning of the appointment.

At the appointment, a few things

(which checks the heart rhythm), or even a chest x-ray to investigate what may be causing your symptoms. After this your case details might be sent to the local long Covid clinic or for review by a team of experts (called a multi-disciplinary team) where you might undergo tests and treatment not available at your GP practice.

4

Seek out other resources

There may be a role for nonmedical therapies such as yoga and drama too, although there is limited evidence to show these can support people with long Covid. Interestingly, a recent study found that a six-week breathing program run by opera singers improved mental health, though not physical health, for people with long Covid.

“We don’t fully understand why long COVID happens, but one theory is that it’s due to an over-reaction of the immune system or the blood vessels. Between 3-percent and 12-percent of people who get COVID go on to develop long COVID.” might happen. You might be asked questions about your symptoms or asked to fill in a questionnaire. If you can wear easily removable clothing, do so, especially if you’re likely to be examined. For example, if you’ve been feeling breathless, wear a loose-fitting shirt as the doctor will probably want to listen to your chest.

You may be offered blood tests, an ECG

In our clinic, we’ve observed that people who didn’t rest while they were acutely unwell with Covid and immediately afterwards have been more likely to develop a more severe version of long Covid. This observation has been backed up by recent survey data.

So rest while you are unwell with Covid and even once you recover, especially if you can afford to do so. The Conversation

COVID nasal sprays could offer advantages over traditional vaccines

A

s new waves of omicron infections continue to hit around the world, it’s becoming clearer that Covid is here to stay. As such, in the years to come, vaccination—both first courses and booster doses—will likely remain necessary to brace global communities against the worst health outcomes wrought by the virus.

But what if the current crop of vaccines could be improved? Recent advances in vaccine technology and delivery systems suggest there could be gains to be made.

In particular, scientists are working on vaccines that activate your “mucosal” immune system, which may be better able to prevent infection with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19. And rather than being delivered into your arm (intramuscular vaccines), these vaccines could be delivered as a spray up your nose (intranasal vaccines).

Although standard vaccines do elicit some mucosal protection, the levels aren’t particu-

larly high. But directly presenting the mucosal immune system with vaccine antigen using a delivery method like a nasal spray triggers a significantly more potent mucosal response.

Scientists have often thought that eliciting an immune response in the nose, throat and airways, where typically viruses like SARS-CoV-2 initially enter the body and grow, can result in improved protection compared to intramuscular vaccines—essentially stopping it at the source.

Clinical trials are under way Mucosal vaccines are already in wide use in children for other respiratory pathogens like influenza.

Although the first Covid vaccines to pass clinical trials didn’t specifically target the mucosal immune system, a plethora of new vaccine candidates are being explored in pre-clinical and clinical trials. These include

4 BusinessMirror

intranasal regimes that could work together with the standard Covid vaccines, but also which could work independently.

In animal trials these mucosal vaccines have shown protective effects. In mice, scientists have observed that intranasal vaccines induce higher levels of protection against infection compared with intramuscular vaccines.

However, we don’t know yet whether this would be the same in people. Although some preliminary results do seem encouraging, and a few candidates have progressed to phase 3 trials for efficacy.

If proven to work well in humans, intranasal Covid vaccines could have a variety of benefits. They can be easier to administer, especially to people with a phobia of needles.

They could also provide additional protection against initial infection, and therefore transmission, rather than mainly protecting against severe disease, as has been the case with the current crop of Covid vaccines.

May 29, 2022

This type of vaccine could be especially useful for people who are most vulnerable to getting very sick with Covid, as well as those who tend to spread infection but have a relatively low risk of death, like children and young people.

But before we get to this point, we’ll need significantly more research to support both safety and efficacy. New clinical trials investigating how well these vaccines prevent infection should be relatively straightforward to run given the significant levels of Covid circulating currently. The Conversation

sunday, May 29, 2022

Cover story

Stone Guardians: to keep or to crumble?

Dauis Watchtower, Panglao island, Bohol

A. SCHADENBERG’S photo of the Northern Luzon Watchtower, ca. 1880s.

Dresden State Arts Colleciton

Fort San Andres in Romblon served as a fortress against invading pirates.

The old map Carta Noroccidental de la Isla de Luzon details the location of watchtowers. Biblioteca Virtual de Defensa, Government of Spain

THE look of the watchtower in Pasuquin, Ilocos Norte prior to its restoration.

THE restored Baluarte of Luna, La Union is said to be 400 years old.

THE remains of the demolished watchtower of Bauang, La Union.

One of the twin watchtowers of Currimao, Ilocos Norte prior to their restoration.

BusinessMirror

Sunday, May 29, 2022 3

Stone Guardians: To keep or to crumble?

Story & Photos by Bernard Joseph Esposo Guerrero

In La Union, there are five watchtowers that have been declared National Cultural Treasures.

Ilocos Sur and Norte have four and seven, respectively. A previously unknown one in Bauang, La Union was noted to be unique as it was neither constructed using bricks nor coral stones. Before its inattentive demolition in 2021, it might have been the only watchtower built using round river stones. The same was the fate of the watchtower in Salomague, a historic port in Ilocos Sur. What remains now of the once glorious keep is just a small section of its base as a house was built on top of it. In 2021, the existence of another twin watchtowers on the mouth of the Padsan river in Laoag City was established. This only means that the city had a defense line. While one of them still stands, the other ceased to exist in the 70s, with a few scattered bricks in the sand dunes acting as painful mementos. These instances are clear indications that preserving watchtowers is fundamentally a battle against ignorance as well as time.

S

tanding between 10 and 40 meters high, Philippine watchtowers played critical roles not only in defining the boundaries of the nation but also in keeping maritime navigations in check. However, it appears that these almost forgotten sentinels of the seas, along with other forms of fortifications, may have been the first Spanish colonial structures to lose their significance, and are now struggling the most to exist as they are no longer needed.

Suffice to say that fortifications in the country are some of the most underappreciated cultural heritage properties, as well as the most endangered ones because they have not been used for more than 150 years. Even the faintest memories of the people about them have already dissipated. Nowadays, some have found new roles as selfie backdrops and quick stopovers for tourists—but, most are still in need of immediate attention.

Monuments to a Bygone Age The first watchtowers were most likely constructed using wood and other indigenous materials that did not last long. Old maps, like the undated “Carta Noroccidental de la Isla de Luzón” from the Biblioteca Virtual de Defensa, were able to plot locations of watchtowers. It can be assumed that the early makeshift lookout posts were those with no trace of them remaining today.

Eventually, as the need for more permanent surveillance stations arose, building materials were replaced with more durable stones; places with a high presence of coral stones used the naturallyoccurring rock, while the places that lack natural quarry sites had to build theirs using bricks such as

the case of the well-known Baluarte of Luna in La Union.

While watchtowers are largely established along the shores serving a singular function, there are also multi-purpose watchtowers that go beyond providing mere defensive uses. The latter ones are found more inland where they also function as bell towers of town churches as demonstrated by the recently-restored Balilihan bell tower and the enormous Laoag bell tower in Bohol and Ilocos Norte, respectively.

Large concentrations of watchtowers have been found from Cebu all the way up to the Bicol peninsula because the channels in between islands and their immediate coastal communities were frequented by Moor pirates from the south. The existence of some in Batangas has also been recently reported. In the north, on the other hand, the watchtowers were meant to keep Chinese pirates at bay, especially around trading harbors and ports.

The oldest datable Philippine watchtower is the so-called Cannon Pavilion of Dalaguete in Cebu, which was erected in 1768. It is a part of the extensive defense line established by Friar Julian Bermejo in the southern section of the island stretching out from Santander

The author and the recently declared National Cultural Treasure watchtower of Laoag City. to Carcar towns. The town of Oslob in between even has the ruins of an elaborately fortified settlement largely reclaimed by the forest. The same initiative can be seen in Romblon where Augustinian El Padre Capitan established a few including the restored quadrilateral Fort San Andres that commandingly sits on a promontory. Together with the now ruined Fort San Santiago across the poblacion, the twin forts used to guard the busy harbor of the provincial capital. Twin watchtowers are observed to be extremely rare in the country and the more impressive example of which is the pair in Currimao, Ilocos Norte.

They clearly stand out as they belong to a bigger, well-preserved trading complex that includes a working ancient wharf, massive tobacco warehouse (tabacalera), ruined custom’s house, and several dated stone wells in the vicinity.

Thus, one can still understand and

even easily reinterpret how these structures related to one another in the past. Another interesting case is that of the watchtowers (kuta) in Gumaca, Quezon province which were all once connected with curtain walls. Each of the towers in town now stands independently from each other after the curtain walls have been demolished, and one of them now houses the local history museum.

Watchtowers of the Ilocos Region The Ilocos region is dotted with enduring watchtowers starting from Sual in Pangasinan, which only got recognized officially as a heritage monument last year, to the one in Pasuquin, Ilocos Norte— notorious for having been horrendously cemented over a few years ago because no one on the ground knew how to properly carry out the needed interventions.

Our Turn to Watch over the Watchtowers It has been previously estimated that there might have been over 300 historic watchtowers spread out across the Philippine archipelago. This is documented in the book “Fortress of Empire: Spanish Colonial Fortifications of the Philippines.” However, the growth of cultural mapping exercises revealed and confirmed the existence of some more undocumented ones, and the inventory can definitely benefit from an update.

In the past, there was even an attempt to have a few watchtowers and fortresses inscribed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites but the proposal never moved forward. Such a plan should be revisited and relaunched to further highlight their uniqueness, contribution to humanity, as well as their telling need for better safeguarding of our shores.

BusinessMirror

Sunday, May 29, 2022 7

Mapúan brings film program back on winning track

A

By Seymour Barros Sanchez

n experimental film from Mapúa University recently brought the school back to its winning ways in the film festival circuit by topping the 18th Piling Obrang Vidyo at the University of the Philippines Diliman.

“R AMBUTAN” directed by third-year Digital Film student Shayla Claire Perales from Mapúa’s School of Media Studies (SMS) was hailed the Best Film this year of the intercollegiate film competition managed by UP Cinema, a student film organization based at the UP College of Mass Communication.

Perales, who made “R AMBUTAN” as a project for her E x per i ment a l Fi l m P roduction class, previously received a Special Citation for Subject Matter for the same film from the VanGarde Ex per imenta l Film Festival organized by SMS students last year.

The short film is a collaboration between Perales and her fellow writer, cinematographer, and editor Sheila Mae Tanagon. Original music is provided by composer Ryan Mangaliag.

Similar shape of fruit and the virus

Perales shared that she cannot express how grateful she is for the award and how unexpected it is.

“RAMBUTAN is a very dear film to me because its concept came from my little brother, Shawn.

He went into my room before and asked me, ‘Ate, gusto mo Covid?’ and then handed me a rambutan.

From there, the film was born!”

Her younger brother likened the appearance of the edible fruit to the coronavirus.

In the film, a rambutan interacts with an orange and suddenly doubles its number. The oranges rot every time they interact with a rambutan. Bananas use their capabilities to clean the rambutans and help address the chaos, to no avail. Fruits start to protect themselves with plastic, but others still die.

This is Mapúa’s second Best

Film victory at POV following Celina Mae Medina’s “Ophelia” in 2019.

Mapúan filmmakers Hiyas Bagabaldo (“Sins, Senses and Saints”), Tricia Sotaso (“Ang Pagkalaglag ng Ginintuang Salamin ng Pagkakilanlan”), and Lloyd Reyes (“Ang Mambabarang at ang mga Taong Pinatay sa Limot”) nabbed the UP filmfest’s Best Experimental Film prize in 2016, 2017, and 2019, respectively.

Major haul for Benilde film majors

Meanwhile, De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde film majors CM Bautista, David Edric Collado, and Xyron Parapara took home the bulk of the major prizes.

Bautista, whose works “vary from issues tackling personal struggles, social abuses, and political commentary,” received the Jury Prize and Best Screenplay for his short film “Pig’s Game” while actor James Ramada was adjudged Best Performance for the same film.

Collado won Best Editing and Best Sound Design for his film “Salamin” while Parapara’s “Taya” got the Viewers’ Choice award.

The politics of greed

“Pig’s Game” follows Al San Miguel (Ramada), a run-of-themill theater actor who got involved in a deliberately planned audition for a government propaganda campaign. A director and his crew lead the audition in a conventional manner while a famous figure seems to be watching it.

After they get satisfaction from the inhumanity that was filmed, deceit and manipulation take place in a room filled with cigarette smoke, heavy liquor, and hard cash being consumed by the pigs in the pen.

CM Bautista Bautista, who collaborated with co-writer and director of photography Tristan Aguilar and assistant director and sound recordist Warren Clarianes, shared that their film revolves around an organized black propaganda involving murder and it reflects the extent of a person’s greed when it comes to politics.

“Pig’s Game” earned the approval of the POV jury “for its deceptively simple form that turns an otherwise innocent Yes Room into a crime scene, in which viewers themselves take part, buoyed by a strong on-cam performance with seamless transitions between fakery and rawness.”

The jury is composed of filmmakers Carla Pulido Ocampo and Ligaya Villablanca, actress Therese Malvar, and film critic Jason Tan Liwag.

“Pig’s Game” also brought home the Best Screenplay prize “for its terrifying depiction of opportunity as a source of oppression, consent as a means for corruption and cruelty, and performance as a gateway towards punishment; turning the audience into the unwilling tormentor.”

Light at the end of the tunnel

In “Salamin,” a girl (Kirsten Collado) only has a mirror to keep her company as she lives in darkness.

Her life changes when a burst of light emerges. She considers it the only way to escape from the surrounding voices that torment her.

Despite the uncertainty of what is beyond the light, she peeks and sees a world better than what she has. Even if she wants to stay, she is unsafe from the voices that are hounding her.

Working with batchmate and musical scorer Carlo Barredo, Collado experiments and challenges himself to “create imaginative

David Collado

Xyron Parapara experiences and deliver a story that is deeply personal to him and the viewer.”

“Editing still frames to direct the cuts toward emotional gravity is no mean feat, and yet is achieved by this short film where the absence of movement went by unnoticed; frozen frames shifting mystically and flailing demonically to the beat,” reads the jury statement for the Best Editing recognition for “Salamin.”

“Salamin” also secured the Best Sound Design award “for its richly layered aural orchestration – at times spiritual, at times clawing savagely at the audience; violent without the violence.”

Child’s play amid domestic violence

“Taya” tells the story of Leo (Paolo Gratuito), a teenager who has been used to his father Ron’s (Rommel Rubina) frequent absence, as he gets by each day through the care of his mother Anne (Abby Luanzon) and his friends in their neighborhood. Ron is usually out of a job, comes home drunk, and hurts Anne.

Parapara used parallelism in demonstrating that “the childish games and insults would never be the same for Leo” as he chases his friends. This after witnessing

Shayla Claire Perales his father slap his mother and leave them.

As “a person who is used to seeing the world in constant movement,” Pa rapa ra seek s “to show audiences the eyes that gravitate towards people, places, and things that matter.”

He teamed up with production manager Andrea Salio, cinematographer Jan Christian Dijan, and editor Tyrone Luanzon in “Taya,” which won the viewers’ nod “for significantly evoking connection with the audience.”

Coping with the pandemic

Kukay Zinampan of UP Diliman earned Best Direction for “Nang Maglublob Ako sa Isang Mangkok ng Liwanag,” a tale of two friends who ruminate on mundane things during the pandemic. The film also merited Best Production Design and shared Best Performance award for Jzar Tabilin and Serena Magiliw.

Sophie Casasola of Far Eastern University won Best Cinematography for “Waltz of Qualm” by Francis Tavas. “Tara, Laro Tayo!”

by Ben Francis De Lima and Patrick Demition of the University of Santo Tomas was awarded Best Music/Original Score.

“Mga Salitang Inanod” by Gabriel Carmelo of UP Los Baños received the Cinemasters’ Choice award for registering the highest number of votes among UP Cinema members. “An Eidolon Named Night” by Hans Piozon of UPD was given the Lansangan Award for best embracing this year’s theme, which “recalls the significant space that normally empowered the youth to form and share Filipino narratives that serve and inspire.”

Major award winners were given trophies, certificates, and a total cash prize of P15,000.