BusinessMirror November 13, 2022

A ‘FRIENDSHIP’ THAT ENDURES

Washington-based

By Rene Acosta

WASHINGTON, D.C.—A private group of experts, comprising mostly defense and security analysts from leading think tanks in the United States, is prodding the US government to provide mobile state-ofthe-art weapons systems for the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) as a deterrent to China’s security threat, even as they pushed for the revitalization of the Philippines-US military alliance.

Prioritizing provision to the Philippines of items such as landbased mobile anti-air and anti-ship systems, as opposed to big-ticket items, makes sense from both a practical and cost perspective,” the Center for a New American Securi ty (CNAS) US–Philippines Alliance Task Force said in a recently re leased report. The report examined how the US could reinvigorate its military relations with its South east Asian ally and provide it with much needed military support.

“Items such as drones and other equipment that can be used for intelligence collection, sur veillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance serve both the Philippines’ goals of enhancing its own maritime security and the US objective to bolster joint maritime domain awareness,” the task force added in the report, entitled “Re vitalizing the US-Philippines Alli ance to Address Strategic Competi tion in the Indo-Pacific.”

The task force, formed by the Washington, D.C.-based think tank CNAS, counts former senior

US officials, private-sector repre sentatives and academic and think tank experts, who are mostly based in the US capital, as members. It is headed by Liza Curtis, senior fel low and director of CNAS’s IndoPacific Security Program.

Strategic value

THE report said the “Philippines’ strategic location in the South China Sea” and its “position in the first is land chain is important to American security and the integrity of the US alliance system in the Indo-Pacific,” noting that if an “adversary can co erce or easily penetrate the Philip pine archipelago, Japan and Taiwan are easily flanked.” China maintains a dispute over an island nationalized by Japan in the East China Sea while it also wants to reunite Taiwan.

The Philippines is currently contending with China’s aggressive claims in its territory in the Kala yaan Island Group (KIG) and in its exclusive economic zone it calls the West Philippine Sea (WPS).

C hina, meanwhile, has occu pied some of the features claimed

or owned by the Philippines, while at the same time maintaining military and paramilitary ships in those territories. The ships are often used to harass Philippine re supply missions to its forces in the features that Beijing disputes.

Territorial issue

PRESIDENT Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s foreign policy is to make the Philippines friendly to all states and maintain it, but he also de clared that he would not cede any inch of the country’s territory, ap parently referring to the maritime issue with China. Marcos said that the Philippines has no dispute with China, but what it has is “China’s claiming of a Philippine territory.”

Marcos’s clear and strong stance on the territorial issue with Beijing reinvigorated the country’s relations with its allies and other like-minded states. Experts have earlier described such relations as becoming “wobbly” during the time of his predecessor, Rodrigo Roa Duterte, due to the latter’s incli nation for China and his declared friendship with Chinese Commu nist officials, including President Xi Jinping, despite Beijing’s persis tent muscling in the KIG and WPS.

The task force viewed the elec tion of Marcos to the presidency as an opportunity for the US to revive its “critical alliance” with the Philip pines and set it on “firmer footing.”

Summing up the PhilippinesUS relations during the term of Duterte, the task force declared, “The alliance had faltered under Duterte’s administration due to his counter-narcotics campaign that resulted in human-rights abuses— including thousands of extraju dicial killings, attempts to reori ent the Philippines’ foreign policy toward China and abrogation of the US-Philippines Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) in early 2020.”

With its recommendation to prioritize the sale of asymmet ric defense and maritime domain awareness equipment to the Philip pines, the task force said the next move would be to explore financial arrangements such as the US For eign Military Financing program to help Manila purchase “more ex pensive, sophisticated items” such as F-16 fighter aircraft.

How weapons are acquired MOST of the military equipment sold or transferred to the Philippines by the US government, if not do nated, were given through a military sales program. Recently, US Ambas sador to the Philippines MaryKay Carlson announced a new $70 mil lion in defense aid to the country.

Aside from equipping the AFP, the CNAS US-Philippines Alliance Task Force recommended the creation of the 2+2 dialogue with the Philip pines, where representatives on the US side are the heads of the Depart ments of State and Defense, to en hance the alliance by raising both countries’ level of consultations on “strategic and operational planning.”

By holding consultations, the task force said the Philippines and US would be prepared to “deal on an immediate basis with any con tingency that may arise in the In do-Pacific.”

W hile the US has been vocal on its commitment to defend the Philippines under the Mutual De fense Treaty, the task force said both countries should put forward a common strategic vision based on the Philippines’ strategic auton omy and a rules-based order.

EDCA approach

“AS part of this effort, the Unit ed States should be explicit that Washington would consider any construction of permanent mili tary or dual-use structures at Scar

borough Shoal unacceptable and a potential trigger for employing Article IV of the Mutual Defense Treaty, the provision that is com monly interpreted to mean that an attack on one party is considered as an attack on both parties,” it said.

Delving into the security agreements between both coun tries, the task force recommended the full and immediate implemen tation of the Enhanced Defense Co operation Agreement (EDCA), with more Philippine military camps as hosts, seeing this as both beneficial to both countries.

Likewise, it pushed for the US’s enhanced cybersecurity part nership with the Philippines as it noted China’s 40-percent stake in the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP).

Outside the issue of defense and security, the Philippines is seen to gain in other areas out of the revitalized alliance as the task force prodded the US to invest more in peace efforts in Mindanao, the health sector and to provide the country with funds under the Millennium Challenge Corpora tion, especially in the areas of re newable energy, transportation infrastructure and post-pandemic economic recovery.

“ The United States should seek to maximize the Philippines’ role in the White House’s Indo-Pacific Economic Framework. One area of opportunity is working toward a digital standards agreement, as the Philippines concurs with USfavored digital standards, which help underpin its business-process outsourcing sector,” it also said.

The task force pushed for the amendment of the Filipino Vet erans Equity Compensation Act, which should raise the compensa tion of World War II veterans.

The US Congress should in crease the remaining $55 million in

funds allocated to the Department of Veterans Affairs for Filipino vet erans and amend the 2009 Filipino Veterans Equity Compensation Act to raise individual payments to noncitizen Filipino veterans to the same level as Filipino-American veterans. Congress should also institute a more streamlined verification pro cess that balances the desire to pre vent fraudulent disbursements with the guarantee that remaining veter ans receive their rightful compensa tion,” it said.

A peace monument was also recommended to be constructed on the site in Sulu where an estimated 1,000 Moros, including women and children, were killed by the US Army in 1906.

Truly a friend and an ally IN pushing for a reinvigorated al liance, the task force recognized the Philippines-US relationship’s “deep historical and cultural ties” as well as the presence of a signifi cant Filipino-American commu nity in the US, aside from Manila’s strategic importance.

Furthermore, the Philippines is an ally and friend within the Asean at a time when Southeast Asia is emerging as the epicenter of geopolitical competition,” it said.

“ With an alliance in place for over 70 years, the two countries have fought side by side in several wars and cooperated on common diplomatic and security objectives, including during the Cold War when the United States had a mas sive military presence in the Phil ippines,” it added.

Rene Acosta, a reporter for this paper, is currently a visiting fellow at the EastWest Center in Washington, where he researches US-Philippines defense and security relations under the US-Philip pines Alliance Fellowship. He is the pro gram’s first visiting scholar.

Biden gets key break as Southeast Asia bolsters militaries

By Philip J. Heijmans | Bloomberg

US-China tensions have America’s closest allies in Asia strengthening their militaries. But in a boost to President Joe Biden’s diplomatic efforts, that trend is extending to some Southeast Asian (SEA) nations, which have recently kept the US at arm’s length.

Philippine President Ferdi nand R. Marcos Jr. is looking to buy Chinook helicopters and accel erate talks to implement a defense cooperation pact that would give the US military greater access in the country. The moves come six years after then-President Rodrigo Roa Duterte ended joint patrols with American forces and sought more weapons from China.

Indonesia—the world’s most populous Muslim-majority na tion—has expanded joint exercises with the US, unveiled a $125-bil lion military modernization plan last year and is holding talks over the purchase of dozens of Boeing Co. F-15EX fighter jets. US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin praised the “significant advancements” in the relationship after meeting Indo nesian Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto last month.

Wary of being forced to pick sides between the US and China, SEA nations have historically strug gled to find a middle ground. While many regional governments count on the US as a key security partner, China has been the Asean’s biggest

economic ally for 13 consecutive years, with two-way trade exceeding $500 billion this year.

P resident Xi Jinping’s more assertive foreign policy is shift ing that equation for some coun tries as Beijing accelerates its military development and reit erates claims to Taiwan and a huge swath of the South China Sea (SCS). Regional governments have also been frustrated that ef forts to negotiate a code of con duct between China and Asean in the SCS haven’t progressed.

“ There’s a better appreciation that the US is an important fac tor of the strategic equation here and it’s in everybody’s interest that you stay around, and that’s a big change,” said Bilahari Kausikan, Singapore’s former permanent sec retary for foreign affairs.

Biden will get a chance to make the US case to regional allies directly in his first trip as President to SEA this week, when he arrives to take part in an Asean summit in Cambodia and then heads to a meeting with Group of 20 leaders in Bali, Indonesia.

A State Department official said the US will work with regional leaders to ensure respect for inter national law and freedom of navi gation in the SCS.

W hile Indonesia has long had a foreign policy centered around non-alignment, an ongoing terri torial dispute with China around the Natuna Islands prompted Pres ident Joko Widodo to send war ships to the area on multiple occa sions in recent years.

‘Ironclad’ allies FURTHER incursions in wa ters claimed by the Philippines saw Marcos’s government lodge hundreds of diplomatic protests against Beijing less than three months into his term. That comes after the country boosted its de fense budget almost 60 percent from 2017-2022, the most in Asia.

Biden called the US military alliance with the Philippines “iron clad” in a meeting with Marcos last year, a sharp shift from the Duterte era when some analysts feared the two nations’ mutual defense treaty could get scrapped in what would have been a huge win for Beijing.

While we strive to live in peace with others, it is still cru cial that our Armed Forces be modernized so that it is ready for all eventualities,” Marcos said Tuesday. The Philippines gets about $40 million in US security assistance annually, a State De partment spokesman said.

US-China tensions and the threat from Beijing aren’t the only reasons regional governments are upgrading their defenses, but they “are clearly a driver of their procurement programs,” said Ian Storey, a senior fellow at the IS EAS-Yusof Ishak Institute who spe cializes in regional security issues.

O verall, defense spending in the Asia-Pacific region now ac counts for nearly a quarter of glob al investment, with China making up 46 percent of this year’s total, data from defense specialist Janes shows. Japan, South Korea, India, Taiwan and Australia are all fore cast to expand spending signifi cantly in the coming years, adding $100 billion to the region’s annual total by 2032.

Those spending plans could change quickly, given the need of governments to respond to infla tion, tight energy supplies and expectations of a global recession. And to be sure, no nation is aban

‘While we strive to live in peace with others, it is still crucial that our Armed Forces be modernized so that it is ready for all eventualities.’ —President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.

doning China. As they’ve done for decades, Asean governments are hedging their bets. The Biden administration is making all the right moves, but I am also somewhat skeptical,” said Zachary Abuza, a professor at the National War College in Washing ton. For instance, the US looks at Indonesia “as if they should be this natural partner and yet they’re very critical of US freedom of navigation operations,” he said, referring to the US practice of sending warships through the Taiwan Strait.

Officials in Beijing have pushed back on the US outreach, slamming what they call a “Cold War” mindset in Washington. And China has pushed an alternative to the US’s Indo-Pacific Strategy, try ing to assuage regional suspicions of its intentions by emphasizing shared economic benefits.

‘Bloody nose’

BONNIE GLASER , director of the Asia Program at the German Mar shall Fund, said the developments in the region—but the Philippines especially—are likely getting at tention in Beijing even if China isn’t reacting much publicly.

My guess is that they note the trend and will privately suggest to some interlocutors in Southeast Asia that it isn’t in their interests to align themselves too closely with the US,” Glaser said.

The affinity in Asean for US weaponry or joint exercises doesn’t mean those countries would back Washington in a conflict, let alone take part in one. Frustrated by their own continuing disputes with a strengthening China, they mostly want a stronger deterrent so they can’t be totally dominat ed, said Storey of the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute.

If push comes to shove, “at least they could give China a bloody nose,” he said.

The Taiwan crisis has compli cated matters further. US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s trip to Tai pei in August was seen in some Asean capitals as a step too far, un necessarily provoking China. Bei jing responded to the visit by un leashing its biggest military drills ever around the island.

In a sign of the region’s con cerns, Singapore Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan warned last week that the geopolitical situa tion has become so bad that “the stage is almost pre-set” for a mis calculation or accident, akin to the events precipitating World War I.

Th at would be “a huge setback for both the US and China and the world, and especially for us in SEA, already grappling with the head winds of the economic downturn, inflation, stagflation and still re covering from the Covid-19 pan demic,” he added.

CHINOOK helicopter giving a heavy vehicle lift demonstration. STEVE MANN DREAMSTIME.COM

US, Japan-led climate pact set to offer Indonesia $15 billion

By Jennifer A. Dlouhy & Yudith Ho

THE US, Japan and other countries will offer a climate finance deal worth at least $15 billion to help Indonesia shift its coaldominated power grid away from the polluting fossil fuel.

Details of an agreement will be announced during the Group of 20 meetings in Bali next week after talks between US President Joe Biden and Indonesian President Joko Widodo, Coordinating Mari time Affairs and Investment Min ister Luhut Panjaitan said Friday, confirming an earlier Bloomberg News report.

The “just energy transition partnership,” or JETP, pact with Japan, the US and others follows roughly a year of negotiations and could be announced as soon as Tuesday, according to people fa miliar with the plans, who asked not to be named because the de tails aren’t yet public.

A spokesperson for the US Treasury Department and Ja pan’s foreign ministry declined to comment.

The deal would enable Indone sia to accelerate efforts to shut ter excess fossil fuel generation capacity, and to limit its pipeline of coal power projects, factors that are currently thwarting the devel opment of renewable energy, the people said.

“I do hope the size is going to be big enough to create confidence in terms of delivering the transition of energy,” Indonesia’s Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said Friday at the Bloomberg CEO Forum in Bali.

Southeast Asia’s largest econ omy will need about $600 billion to phase out coal generation, add a similar amount of renewable capacity and make other changes like developing an electric vehicle sector over the next three decades, State-owned Enterprises Minister Erick Thohir said in a September interview.

Indonesia recently stepped up its emissions reduction targets with plans for more aggressive greenhouse gas cuts by 2030, and has set out a goal of reach ing net-zero by 2060 by develop ing more solar, geothermal and nuclear power. Coal currently dominates the nation’s economy, accounting for more than half of the country’s electricity and is a key driver of growth—Indone sia is the world’s top exporter of thermal coal.

The agreement is modeled af ter a similar $8.5 billion climate finance deal for South Africa first outlined at last year’s UN climate summit, while talks are also under way on efforts to strike pacts for nations including Senegal and In dia. South Africa only this month published a detailed investment plan, showing how complex it can be to turn initial bare bones deals into fully realized proposals.

However, unlike the South African deal, which was hastily

advanced at last year’s climate summit, the Indonesian JETP is the product of a full year of ne gotiations and the initial frame work is more detailed, according to some of the people.

US officials have been working to steer some of the world’s most populous countries to cleaner forms of energy, including talks with Indonesia and Vietnam, US special presidential envoy for cli mate John Kerry said in an inter view last month.

Panjaitan spoke with Kerry on the issue on Thursday night and parties hope to make an announce ment by Wednesday, he told the B-20 Net Zero Summit on Friday in Bali. “Indonesia needs to trans form, we care very much about this and our negotiation with US and JETP went very well,” he said.

Though the announcement is set to be delivered alongside the G-20 meetings, the details will reverberate all the way to the COP27 climate summit in Egypt, where a central issue is how to get more investment dollars to work building renewable power

projects in developing nations.  Indonesia’s abundance of ther mal coal and large volume of po tential power plant projects have long been cited as a barrier to the nation bringing on more capac ity in renewables. State-run elec tricity utility Perusahaan Listrik Negara, or PLN, has a pipeline of about 13.7 gigawatts of new coal generating capacity under con struction or development.

Under the JETP, some of those new coal plants would not be built and total new coal power capacity additions would shrink to about 10 gigawatts, some of the people said. PLN didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

It’s not immediately clear how many existing coal plants PLN would commit to closing early under the deal, though company executives previously have iden tified 6.7 gigawatts for potential early retirement.

W ith assistance from Isabel Reynolds, Eko Listiyorini, Grace Sihombing, Norman Harsono and Emi Urabe/Bloomberg

EGYPT, HOST OF COP27, TAKES A STEP TOWARD GREEN ENERGY

By Samy Magdy & Jack Jeffery The Associated Press

BENBAN, Egypt—From a distance, the endless landscape of solar panels stretching toward the horizon can easily be mistaken for crops nearing harvest. But here in the desert in southern Egypt, workers have been cultivating another precious commodity: electricity.

After the sun strikes the photovoltaic solar panels, a thermal charge generates electricity that runs to four governmentowned power stations distributing power across Egypt’s national grid.

It’s part of the country’s push to increase renewable energy production.

With near-perpetual sunshine and windy Red Sea coastlines, experts say Egypt is well positioned to go green.

Yet it is also a developing country and like many others faces obstacles in making the switch. Much of its infrastructure depends on fossil fuels to power the nation of some 104 million people.

The solar panel farm—Egypt’s flagship project named Benban, after a local village—puts it at the African continent’s forefront when it comes to renewable energy. But questions remain over Egypt’s long-term green energy strategy, and whether there are enough incentives for the cash-strapped government to supply 42 percent of the country’s electricity from renewable resources by 2035, as it has announced.

Karim el-Gendy, an expert at Chatham House who specializes in urban sustainability and climate policy,

says Egypt has failed to meet its goal of having 20 percent of its electricity sourced from renewables by 2022. The current figure is now closer to 10 percent, according to his estimates, based on government data.

There’s less demand for solar energy, partly due to the influx of natural gas, thanks to new discoveries located in Egypt’s section of the Mediterranean Sea.

“We have seen less interest in the past couple of years in integrated renewable energy projects in Egypt, both in terms of solar, in the south, and wind,” he said.

As host of this year’s global climate summit, known as COP27 and now underway in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt has said it will pressure other nations to implement climate promises made at previous conferences. Egypt is not bound by any carbon emissions cap, but it has vowed to mitigate and curb its emission rises across key polluting sectors, such as electricity and transport.

Its use of natural gas has also helped, allowing Egypt to move away from burning coal and oil, much dirtier industries—but nevertheless, gas is still a fossil fuel.

The government has revealed few details on how it will implement or finance the 2035 vision. Foreign investment will likely play a big part, as countries in Europe look south for solar power. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has allotted $10 billion of funding for over 150 projects across Egypt, with Benban claimed as one of its major successes.

The farm is designed to grow as demand for solar energy increases.

‘’It offers great potential for us and other investors,’’ said Faisal Eissa, general manager for Egypt at Lekela, a Dutch company that has invested in Benban.

Egypt’s New and Renewable Energy Authority claims Benban has already reduced the country’s annual greenhouse emission output. But there is still a long way to go. In 2020, renewables accounted for 6 percent of Egypt’s energy consumption, according to the US Energy Information Administration, with petroleum products accounting for 36 percent and natural gas for 57 percent. Coal accounted for just 1 percent.

Egypt may also have less of an incentive to invest in renewables as it grapples with domestic challenges, including an economic crisis brought on by the coronavirus pandemic, Russia’s war in Ukraine and a yearslong government crackdown on dissent. Last month, Cairo reached a preliminary deal with the International Monetary Fund that would allow access to a $3 billion loan.

Effects of climate change are already being felt in the Nile River Delta, where rising seas have brought on creeping salt that eats away roots and cakes farms, devastating the livelihoods of Egyptian farmers.

The Arab world’s most populous country accounts for only 0.6 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions. But it faces high levels of urban pollution. Most of the population lives in densely packed neighborhoods along the fertile banks of the Nile and its northern delta. Here, car

fumes and mass transport running on diesel clog the streets. Egyptians’ exposure to air pollution is, on average, 13 times higher than the World Health Organization’s recommended guidelines. It was responsible for 90,559 premature deaths in 2019, according to statistics gathered by the United Nations.

The remaining 90 percent of Egypt’s land is uninhabitable desert. By better utilizing the vast expanse and coastlines, the Dubai-based International Renewable Energy Agency said the North African country could generate over half of its electricity from renewables by 2030.

It’s a different way of viewing the country’s sunscorched landscape.

“People here have started to look at the sun as a source of power,” said Ahmed Mustafa, who runs one of the area’s many new logistics companies that work alongside Benban’s developers and engineers, supplying them with equipment.

For the locals, the solar farm has been transformative. Thousands worked at the site when it was under construction, and many stayed as technicians and cleaners once it became fully functional.

Ultimately, the development of more wind and solar capabilities will come down to what makes business sense for the government, despite its expressions of good intent, according to el-Gendy.

‘’The need to expand its renewable sector all depends on Egypt’s commercial interests,’’ he said.

JefferyreportedfromCairo.

TUGBOATS guide barges transporting coal on Mahakam River in Samarinda, East Kalimantan, Indonesia on October 13, 2021. Coal prices are likely to remain high after soaring to new records on strengthening power demand and challenges in key supplier nations, according to a major Australian producer. BLOOMBERG

World

US oil dispute with Saudi Arabia before G-20 tests Biden influence

By Fiona MacDonald, Sudhi Ranjan Sen & Anthony Di Paola

WHEN US President Joe Biden accused Saudi Arabia of siding with Russia over oil, Riyadh cast itself as an emerging power that stands up to Washington and looks after its own interests—and that’s been winning cheerleaders.

Saudi Arabia rallied crude ex porters behind a 2 million barrel oil output cut by Opec+, the crude exporters group Riyadh steers with Russia. But Turkey and China also spoke out in Saudi Arabia’s defense, even though as energy importers they suffer from the October 5 move that keeps oil around $90 as the economic outlook darkens.

The oil row exposes a broader shift, with countries willing to push back against or question US influ ence, even if that runs counter to their immediate economic interests. They are keen to deepen ties with a king dom undergoing an economic boom, or to find ways to benefit from USSaudi frictions in their own disputes with Washington.

This comes ahead of the Group of 20 world leaders summit in Bali next week where Biden seeks to rally in ternational support for the further isolation of Russia and how to tackle the effect on the global economy and energy markets.

Crude prices falling would be more beneficial to Turkey, where energy costs have helped drive inflation to a two-decade high, but Ankara objects to the US threatening another coun try, a Turkish official said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss government thinking.

“This bullying is not right,” Turk ish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavuso glu said on October 21 after Biden

vowed Saudi Arabia would face un specified “consequences” for the out come of the Opec+ meeting. Turkey objected to the US reaction, even if it wasn’t happy with rising prices, he said.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has other good reasons to side with Riyadh. He’s sought financial support from Saudi Arabia ahead of presidential elections next summer, galvanizing ties that allow him to also hedge An kara’s relations with the West.

China, in its own deepening dis pute with the US over global trade, praised Saudi Arabia’s pursuit of an “independent energy policy” after the Opec+ decision and said Riyadh should play “a greater role” in inter national and regional affairs. China is Saudi Arabia’s biggest trade partner and its top buyer of oil.

“This is part of China trying to shore up support elsewhere which it perceives can help strengthen ‘its’ side in the global confrontation with the United States,” said Raffaello Pantucci, a senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) in Singapore who researches China’s foreign relations.

“It is really all about trying to take advantage and sow fissures in tradi tional US alliances to try to strengthen China’s hand on the world stage.”

In turn, Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is making in roads in Asia. Chinese leader Xi Jin

ping is planning to visit Saudi Arabia soon, the kingdom’s foreign minister said last month, as the two countries strengthen trade and security links, which have unnerved Washington.

Prince Mohammed is also preparing a broader Asia tour around the G-20, adding a visit to India as soon as next week and Asia-Pacific Economic Co operation meetings in Thailand, ac cording to officials in those countries.

Asked about China’s potential to fill the void in foreign economic relations with Saudi Arabia, US State Depart ment spokesman Ned Price said the US weighs its national interests in its bilateral relationships.

“Ultimately, we are going to pursue a path that is predicated solely on our interests and the values that we bring to our work around the world,” he said in a November 7 press briefing. US offi cials have cited cooperation on Ukraine as evidence of Washington’s continued influence in international affairs.

Prince Mohammed, however, is increasingly able to project politi cal clout in the region and beyond, with high oil prices driving the fast est growth rate in the Group of 20 major economies.

The crown prince “doesn’t envision his country as a second-tier player” Karen Young, a senior research schol ar at Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy wrote this month, describing Prince Mohammed’s vision of a “new non-aligned movement.”

The 37-year-old “sees the emerg ing geopolitical order as malleable, made up of a set of interlocking parts, and he believes Riyadh has the right to work with a shifting constella tion of partners to move markets and shape political outcomes.” The US is facing some blowback as it for mulates foreign policy as a “valuesbased hierarchy” of engagement with democracies over non-democracies, Young wrote in response to questions from Bloomberg. This also compli cates the administration’s ability to seek new collaborations, she added.

India, one of the top buyers of Saudi crude, is putting the longer-term re

wards of the relationship with Saudi Arabia ahead of immediate frustra tions over crude prices, two Indian officials said.

India believes Gulf oil exporters are looking to diversify geopolitical ties amid a growing big power ri valry, and India stands to gain, they said, speaking on condition of ano nymity to discuss diplomatic issues. Both China and India are currently benefiting from discounted Russian crude, helping ease the higher cost of Middle East barrels.

US officials have warned the Opec+ move will drive inflation and have ac cused Saudi Arabia of coercing other oil exporters into compliance, saying those countries voiced strong misgiv ings in private.

Anything is now possible at the next Opec+ meeting on December 4, two people briefed on discussions between Washington and Gulf offi cials said. They described Riyadh and Washington at complete disagreement with each other over everything from oil market fundamentals to the policy response.

If Opec+ cuts again with oil at $95, it’s an insult to oil importers from Af rica to South Asia to Latin America, one of the people said.

Two senior European diplomats in close contact with Gulf officials said the US shouldn’t view the Opec+ deci sion as defiance of Washington, but instead to recognize Saudi Arabia is looking after its own interests.

Washington had become accus tomed to having acquiescent allies in the Gulf Arab region and that has changed, they said, describing a debate among Western officials is about how to deal with this.

The US needs these regional rela tionships for years to come and has to make them work, a third senior Western diplomat in the Gulf said. If we have this ‘with us or against us’ attitude, and don’t engage, then that won’t happen, they said.

With assistance from Firat Kozok and Colum Murphy/Bloomberg.

Trapped by markets and voters, Sunak faces ‘impossible’ budget

By Joe Mayes & Alex Wickham

KINGDOM Prime Minister Rishi

UNITED

Sunak faces an extraordinary balancing act in his autumn budget next week.

He needs to appease financial markets with a package of spending cuts and tax increases, while also winning over disgruntled voters.

Sunak and Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt are currently making final decisions on the more than £50 billion ($58.3 billion) of economic retrenchment to be announced on November 17. Hunt will deliver the statement against a grim economic backdrop for the UK, with the Bank of England hiking interest rates and warning the country is heading into a recession that may destroy at least half a million jobs.

It ’s set to be a moment of high-risk politics that could define Sunak’s fledgling premiership.

Hunt is keen to restore the UK’s credibility with investors still scarred by Liz Truss’s short stint in office with a strong message of discipline and economic caution. But Sunak knows that he will be punished at the ballot box if he goes too hard with austerity, adding pressure on Britons already enduring a record squeeze on living standards.

“It’s almost impossible to please both constituencies,” said Helen Thomas, a former adviser to ex-Chancellor George Osborne and CEO of BlondeMoney, an economics consultancy. You’re looking at a fiscal tightening which is very rarely welcome from voters. It’s really tricky.”

While Hunt might ordinarily want to use government spending to prop up the British economy heading into a downturn, he and Sunak are worried about exacerbating doubledigit inflation, which would prompt further painful interest rate hikes by the BOE. That in turn would increase the government’s debt servicing costs and hurt voters through higher mortgage payments.

“The elephant in the room is that part of the solution to bringing down inflation is to reduce demand in the economy,” said Kitty Ussher, chief economist at the Institute of Directors and a former Treasury minister under ex-premier Gordon Brown. “The strategic choice for the government is whether they accept that, or whether they think that’s politically unpalatable.”

Hunt has already reaped a market dividend with his cautious approach, bringing down gilt yields by reversing the massive tax cuts introduced by Truss that sent bond yields skyrocketing. Yet his and Sunak’s political challenge is selling a deeper package of austerity to a disgruntled public accustomed to state support during the pandemic. Neither

he nor the prime minister have the authority that comes from winning a general election and neither are natural political salesmen, Thomas said.

The next general election isn’t expected until 2024, but with the Tories far behind Labour in the polls, the enormity of the task facing Sunak is well understood in 10 Downing Street. Will Tanner, Sunak’s recently-appointed deputy chief of staff in charge of policy, wrote a pamphlet for his Onward think tank before he joined No. 10 in which he candidly admitted: “It may be too late to save a majority at the next election.” Instead, Tanner wrote, Sunak’s aim should be to “avert a landslide defeat” from which the Tory party might “never recover.”

Sunak’s situation has echoes of the dilemma faced by the Tories in 2010, when then-Chancellor Osborne rolled out a wave of austerity in the wake of the 2007-2008 financial crisis. Though unpopular at the time, the Conservatives went on to win a surprise parliamentary majority in 2015. Sunak met with Osborne last month to discuss the autumn budget and Rupert Harrison, Osborne’s former chief of staff, is on a newly created panel of experts advising Hunt.

The difference this time is that Sunak has to roll out austerity amid rising interest rates and high inflation, headwinds that weren’t an issue for former Tory premier David Cameron. Also, Cameron became prime minister on a mandate to curb public spending and could blame the state of the economy on the previous Labour government. Sunak, by contrast, has inherited the premiership without a public vote following a 12-year Tory stint in office.

Hunt is likely to lean on a range of stealth tax increases to fill the government’s fiscal hole alongside real-terms cuts to departmental budgets. His plans include cutting various tax thresholds and allowances—which will drag more people into paying tax without needing to increase headline rates—while also expanding a windfall tax on energy firms and freezing foreign aid. His challenge is picking a mix that does least harm to the real-world economy while still raising revenues for the Treasury, the IoD’s Ussher said.

In total he’s looking for savings and revenue raises worth between £50 billion and £60 billion, made up of up to £35 billion in spending cuts and up to £25 billion in tax hikes, according to an official familiar with the matter, speaking on condition of anonymity because no final decisions have been made.

With assistance from Andrew Atkinson/ Bloomberg.

DOST-PCAARRD MARKS 50TH YEAR, CONFERS AWARDS BusinessMirror

‘A pillar that will bring solutions to hunger, poverty’

By Lyn B. Resurreccion

HAVE full confidence that DOST-PCAARRD will continue to become our Department’s pillar for the AANR [agriculture, aquatic and natural resources] sector, with its globally competitive technologies that will bring solutions to hunger, emerging diseases, environmental degradation, and above all, poverty.”

This was said by Science Secretary Renato U. Solidum Jr. in his video message during the 50th anniversary celebration of the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCAARRD) of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) on November 10, where it marked its achievements and conferred various awards.

Achievements; Agriculture 4.0 AMONG DOST-PCAARRD’s achievements since 1972 were the breakthrough research outputs from basic and advanced research in the sectors of crops, livestock, inland aquatic, marine resources, forestry and environment sector, and Agri 4.0 technologies, said Rose Anne M. Aya of DOST-PCAARRD.

At the same time, it led initiatives on the transfer and commercialization of the outputs and in socio-economics and policy formulation.

DOST-PCAARRD Executive Director Dr. Reynaldo V. Ebora said: “The story of PCAARRD is a feat of victories and challenges that shaped the national AANR research system of the country.”

“It is a story of translating vision into action; the vision of establishing a national planning and coordinating agency that consolidated the research sector into a first-rate national research enterprise,” Ebora added in his speech at the event held at the DOST-PCAARRD headquarters in Los Baños, Laguna.

For her part, DOST Undersecretary for R&D Leah J. Buendia said the Good AgriAqua Livelihood Initiatives toward National Goals (Galing)PCAARRD Program, through the agency’s Industry Strategic S&T Program Roadmaps, “will continue to harness the potential of the current technological revolution toward Agriculture 4.0.”

Awards

THE awards that were conferred were the Ugnay Award for outstanding R&D consortia in the regions; the Dr. Elvira O. Tan Award for best published R&D papers in AANR; the Best Research and Development Papers; and the Ulat Sipag for professional print and broadcast media partners.

The winners in the first AgriAqua Innovation Challenge were also among those awarded. It is a collaboration between DOST-PCAARRD and the Asian Institute of Management.

Professional and student startup finalists were capacitated by top industry experts to increase the value of their technologies, services and business models, Aya said.

Besides the major awards, 12 completers of the Graduate Research and Education Assistantship Program for Technology (GREAT) program were recognized. Coimplemented with DOST-Science Education Institute, GREAT is an innovative scholarship program, wherein qualified

Ugnay Award

MOST Outstanding Regional R&D Consortium —Cagayan Valley Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development (CVAARRD) Consortium

First Runner-Up —Western Mindanao Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development Consortium (WESMAARRDEC)

Second Runner-Up —Visayas Consortium for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Program (ViCARP).

Dr. Elvira O. Tan Award

OUTSTANDING Published Paper in Agriculture

Category —“The promoted lateral root 1 mutation is involved in reduced basal shoot starch accumulation and increased root sugars for enhanced lateral root growth in rice,” by researchers from the Philippine Rice Research Institute and Nagoya University.

Outstanding Published Paper in Aquatic Sciences Category —“Stock Enhancement of abalone, Haliotis asinina, in multi-use buffer zone of Sagay Marine Reserve in the Philippines,” by researchers from Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center, Research Management Department, Japan Fisheries Research and Education Agency, Guam

Department of Education, and National Research Institute of Aquaculture, Fisheries Research and Education Agency.

Outstanding Published Paper in Natural Resources and Environment Category “Assessing the impacts of climate change on irrigation diversion water requirement in the Philippines,” by researchers from Isabela State University and University of the Philippines Los Baños.

BEST R&D PAPERS

Best Development Paper Category

FIRST prize , “Piloting and Commercialization of Specialty Coffee Blends,” by researchers from Cavite State University (CvSU);

S econd prize , “Establishment of Zampen Native Chicken Breeding Population with Improved Egg Production and Growth Performance,” by Moises Glenn G. Tangalin of J.H. Cerilles State College; T hird prize , “Enhancement and Commercialization of Developed Mungbean-Based Food Products in Cagayan Valley,” by researchers from the Department of AgricultureRegional Field Office 2.

Best Research Paper Category

FIRST prize , “Biodiversity Inventory, Assessment, and Conservation for Ecotourism Development in Mount AgadAgad, Lanao del Norte,” by

researchers from the Central Mindanao University; S econd prize , “Sustainable Production, Marketing and Utilization of True-to-Type Bolinao Chicken in Ilocos Region,” by researchers from Mariano Marcos State University, Don Mariano Marcos Memorial State University, Pangasinan State University, and Ilocos Sur Polytechnic State College; Third prize , “DNA Fingerprinting of Philippine Coffee (Coffea spp.),” by Miriam D. Baltazar and Arleen CalipjoPanaligan from CvSU.

Agri-Aqua Innovation Challenge Student Category —Grand prize: Aquagentech; first runner up, Greenstacks; second runner up, Aqualink and Sadiwa Ulang Farming

Startup Category —Grand prize: Kamino Algae; first prize, Agri-Tips; second prize, Shiftech Marine

Ulat Sipag Award

REGIONAL Broadcast Category —First prize, Emil Jun B. de los Santos “Daniel Castro,” Diskarte ni Daniel Castro, DZJV 1458 Radyo Calabarzon

National Broadcast Category —First prize, Hermelina C. Tenorio, “Syensya Na, Tekno Pa, Radyo Agila,” Eagle Broadcasting Corp.; second prize, Annabelle D. Surara “Eat Connect Na,” Radyo Agila, Eagle Broadcasting Corp.

National Print Category First prize, Charissa Luci-

Atienza, formerly from Manila Bulletin; second prize, Vina Medenilla, Agriculture Magazine; third prize, Lyn B. Resurreccion, BusinessMirror

‘Excellent quality service’ SOLIDUM said: “True to the saying that Rome was not built in a day, PCAARRD’s S&T footprint in AANR has deepened through its partnership with its Research, Development and Extension Consortia, or the PCAARRD in the Regions, the state universities and colleges and private universities, R&D institutions, and local and international partners who are the rock bed of PCAARRD’s S&T advancement.”

Starting from 18 priority commodities in 1972 to 1973, DOST-PCAARRD is now managing 39 Industry Strategic Science and Technology Programs and commodities all over the country, Solidum added.

He pointed out that besides its focus on commodities and their industries, DOSTPCAARRD addresses several cross-cutting concerns by closely working with different agencies in the development of climate change programs in the forest, agricultural, and coastal ecosystems, such as the Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reduction Management agenda, which seeks to sustain the productivity and competitiveness of the AANR sector amid the changing climate.

The DOST-PCAARRD-funded

program, Smarter Approaches to Reinvigorate Agriculture as an Industry in the Philippines, is working to reduce climate risks by providing agricultural stakeholders with site-specific crop advisories, the Science chief said.

“I am certain that as one DOST, the whole Department is proud of DOST-PCAARRD’s Excellent Quality Service to the AANR Sector,” Solidum said.

The Science chief paid tribute to the men and women of DOSTPCAARRD, “including the earlier generations, who are behind the ‘Tatak Galing PCAARRD’ excellence.”

Quick response to pandemic needs

UNDERSECRETARY Buendia said that DOST-PCAARRD is known for its extensive support for technology transfer and commercialization in order to deliver the R&D products deliberately and purposefully for their intended beneficiaries and stakeholders.

She cited the initiatives, such as the Intellectual Property and Technology Business Management, AgriAqua Technology Business Incubation, Science for the Convergence of Agriculture and Tourism and Start-up Grant Fund, among others.

Buendia pointed out that DOST-PCAARRD quickly responded to the needs during the pandemic through its Galing Program.

The program has a total of 64 projects and 12 activities and initiatives. It has an estimated total investment of P174 million that enabled the opening of facilities and employment of strategies to support government-led efforts against Covid-19.

She added: “We are aware that the Council is currently leveling up the program and it will continue to search and provide S&T-based solutions to harness the gains of [Galing] and toward a more resilient AANR sector, which is essential in the post-pandemic.”

From PCAR to PCAARRD

DOST-PCAARRD traces its its establishment to 1972 through the then-Philippine Council for Agricultural Research that provided direction for national research in the agriculture (crops and livestock), forestry and fishery.

Pursuant to Executive Order 366 on June 22, 2011, the then-Philippine Council for Agriculture and Resources Research and Development, and the Philippine Council for Aquatic and Marine Research and Development were merged into the PCAARRD

‘I

graduate students can be involved in the research of an approved PCAARRD or DOST project.

to provide national research direction for the agriculture, aquatic and natural resources sectors, Aya said.

Editor: Lyn Resurreccion

THE Cagayan Valley Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development Consortium wins the Ugnay Award's Most Outstanding Regional R&D Consortium plum. Receiving the award are (from third from left) Dr. Miladis M. Afidchao, CVAARRD director; Dr. Ricmar P. Aquino, RRDCC chairman of CVAARRD and Isabela State University president; Dr. Rose Mary G. Aquino, regional technical director for Research, Regulations and Administration Concerns-DA Regional Office II; DOST II Regional Director Virginia G. Bilgera; Dr. Junel B. Guzman, vice president for RDET, Cagayan State University. With them are PCAARRD Executive Director Reynaldo V. Ebora, Undersecretary Maridon Sahagun, PCAARRD Director Juanito T. Batalon and PCAARRD Deputy Executive Director Melvin B. Carlos. DOST-PCAARRD PHOTO

THE first prize in the Best R&D Papers' Best Research Paper Category is received by Dr. Maria Melanie P. Medecilo-Guiang (center), representing the researchers from the Central Mindanao University who won the award. DOST-PCAARRD PHOTO

THE first prize in the Best R&D Papers' Best Development Paper Category is bagged by researchers from Cavite State University, represented by Dr. Ruel M. Mojica (center) in the awarding ceremonies. DOST-PCAARRD PHOTO

THE Dr. Elvira O. Tan Award on Outstanding Published Paper in Agriculture Category goes to researchers from the Philippine Rice Research Institute and Nagoya University. Dr. Nonawin L. Agustin (center) and her co-researchers receive the award. DOST-PCAARRD PHOTO

THE Dr. Elvira O. Tan Award on Outstanding Published Paper in Natural Resources and Environment Category is received by Dr. Lanie A. Alejo (center), representing the winning researchers from Isabela State University and University of the Philippines Los Baños. DOST-PCAARRD PHOTO

THE Dr. Elvira O. Tan Award on Outstanding Published Paper in Aquatic Sciences Category is won by the researchers from Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center, Research Management Department, Japan Fisheries Research and Education Agency, Guam Department of Education, and National Research Institute of Aquaculture, Fisheries Research and Education Agency. Dr. Nerissa D. Salayo (center), receives the award. DOST-PCAARRD PHOTO

Archbishop: Church’s mission is faith that does justice, love

Speaking at the opening Mass of the 17th Mindanao-Sulu Pas toral Conference (MSPC), Arch bishop Jose Cabantan said that a faith that does justice helps people put their faith into action.

As MSPC reached 50 years, the Cagayan de Oro archbishop emphasized in his homily at the St. Augustine Metropolitan Ca thedral that they must never lose the passion for mission.

“Mindanao bleeds for free dom, for peace, and MSPC also clarifies its task for justice and love. It bridges faith formation into a faith that does justice,” Cabantan said in his homily.

But he clarified that the Church’s mission “is not pure activism” but something that

is done “through prayer and contemplation.”

According to him, they should “walk by faith and not by sight” in responding to the challenges affecting the region.

“This affirms our missionary identity as a Church, manifested by its faith without being swayed to other ideologies,” Cabantan pointed out.

“It is by listening to the whis per of the Holy Spirit in our hearts that we are called on mis sion and fulfill it,” he explained.

The conference, which ended on November 11, gathered hun dreds of bishops, priests, con secrated persons and lay people from all over Mindanao.

Speaking before the conference,

papal nuncio Archbishop Charles Brown encouraged the delegates to proclaim the Gospel with com mitment, creativity and courage.

“If we’re going to be missionar ies, if we’re going to proclaim the person of Christ with commit ment, creativity and of courage, we need to do it in a way that mir rors the person of Christ,” he said.

Established in 1971, the MSPC was the main instrument for

enabling Vatican II to be honed to the needs of the Church in Mindanao.

The first MSPC was held in Davao City, and the following conferences were held every three years.

The Cagayan de Oro archdio cese’s hosting of the conference was originally scheduled in 2020, but it was postponed because of the pandemic. CBCP News

Hindu culture fights the odds in Pakistan’s Sindh province

SUKKUR, Pakistan—On the sandy banks of the Indus River, which flows top to toe through Pakistan and into its southern Sindh province, Hindus waited for brightly colored boats to ferry them to a peaceful island that has housed a temple for al most 200 years.

Cheers rang out across the wa ter as the marble and sandalwood Sadhu Bela temple complex heaved into view. “Long live Sadhu Bela!” the boat’s passengers cried.

The temple attracts tens of thousands of Hindus from within Muslim-majority Pakistan every year for festivals and rituals, in cluding the recent celebrations of Diwali, an important Hindu holiday.

The island was gifted to the Hindu community by wealthy Muslim landlords in Sindh two centuries ago. It would have been an unthinkable act in modernday Pakistan, where Hindus are often marginalized, persecuted, and even killed.

Around 4 million Hindus live in Pakistan, or about 1.9 percent of the country’s population, and 1.4 million are in Sindh.

There is no ban on Hindu wor ship in Pakistan, but Hindus say openly practicing the faith is not a matter of routine.

Decades of political hostility between majority-Hindu India and predominantly Muslim Pakistan present a challenge for the minor ity community, as many in Paki stan equate Hindus with India.

The reverse exists in India where Muslims complain of dis crimination.

But the landscape of Pakistan, and Sindh in particular, retains their imprint. It has temples, al though their numbers have plum meted.

There are Hindu-run businesses as well as education and healthcare institutions, many established before the country was created in 1947. They are part of Pakistan’s heritage, even as Hindus are forced into the shadows.

As Sadhu Bela came alive with the delight of devotees exploring the courtyards and gardens, De wan Chand Chawla, a local politi cian and general secretary of the Pakistan Hindu Temple Manage

ment Committee, spoke proudly of the temple’s origins and features.

The shrine, which celebrates its bicentennial in 2023, was built by craftsmen from the Indian city of Jodhpur and reflects the architec tural style of the Taj Mahal.

“A large part of the Hindu population migrated to India af ter Pakistan came into being, but those who stayed here are happy and prosperous,” Chawla said, keen to stress the harmonious relation ship between the Muslim majority and Hindu minority.

“I am thankful to the Muslim community of Pakistan, which ful ly supports us on all occasions. We follow the law and we are support ed by the government,” he said.

His assertion about a happy and prosperous Hindu community is not the majority view, however.

Rights groups have long al leged that Pakistan is not do ing enough to protect Hindus’ freedom of religion and belief. They cite temple desecrations, attacks on businesses, homes and individuals, and the abduction, forced conversion and forced marriage of young Hindu women.

Chawla is not the only politician to emphasize an image of religious coexistence in Pakistan.

“Most of the Hindu population of the country live in Sindh prov ince satisfactorily, peacefully and without any fear or threat,” said Waqar Mahdi, a senior advisor to Sindh’s chief minister.

Mahdi said provincial officials have prioritized protecting the rights of minorities like Hindus and Christians.

But Zahida Rehman Jatt, a

University of Sindh lecturer in anthropology and social scienc es, said there has been a surge in discrimination and marginaliza tion of Hindus because of rising extremism and fundamentalism in the country.

This intolerance risks under mining Pakistan’s ties to its Hindu heritage, she said.

“It’s sad because their [Hindus’] contribution is huge to Pakistan,” she said. “Most Pakistanis are not aware of the importance of Hindu heritage or the contribution that Hindus—and Sikhs—made for the betterment of Pakistani society.”

Some Hindu-founded institu tions had their names changed after Pakistan was created, she said, citing Hyderabad’s Kundan Mal Girls’ School as an example.

It was founded in 1914 by Hindu philanthropist Saith Kundan Mal, but is now known as Jamia Arabia Girls School. Such changes are one reason why Pakistanis don’t know about the contribution of minority faiths, she said.

Other institutions still bear the names of their Hindu bene factors, including a red brick col lege and two hospitals in the city Shikarpur, around 35 kilometers from Sukkur.

On the first night of Diwali, one of the most important festivals in Hinduism, clay lamps subtly illuminated doorways and win dowsills in Shikarpur. But there were no elaborate light displays or street festivities, and traditional Diwali firecracker fun took place away from the public gaze.

The city of about 200,000 peo ple has a rich Hindu history and

traditions, now gradually fading.

One of the keepers of that his tory can be found in a vast court yard off a side road. On a recent day in late October, sweet shop owner Dewan Narain Das, 67, enjoyed the cool air. Vats of food bubbled away, children ran and played outdoors, and people gathered to exchange Diwali gifts and good wishes on the holy occasion.

Das’s family has owned a busi ness in Shikarpur since the late 19th century. It started as a soft drink store and, after partition, became a sweet shop. It is famous in the city for falooda, an icecream-based dessert with noodles.

Das is so well-known in the city that it is easy to find him just by asking for “Dewan Sahib, who owns the falooda shop.”

“People who have lived here for a long time say that the taste they enjoyed 20 years ago is still there in our products,” said Das.

He said Shikarpur once had a sizable Hindu community and scores of temples, a number that has since dwindled.

“Rich people used to organize picnics at the Indus River,” he said. “They used to live here, but their businesses spread to Singapore, Hong Kong and Mumbai.”

Many Hindus left after parti tion, and their properties were taken over by a government trust. Today, Pakistan has a population of some 225 million people.

Jatt, the scholar, said that the properties were allotted to refu gees coming into newly created Pakistan from India. Most of the tenants paid minimal rent and were often unable to take care of the properties.

“They [the residents] are very poor and these properties are grand, previously owned by wealthy Hindus,” Jatt said.

After partition, politicians try ing to forge a Pakistani narrative emphasized the Muslim heritage, downplaying the contributions of other communities, Jatt said.

“I don’t think we will see this kind of legacy or contribution again from Hindus, the opportu nities are on the decline,” she said. “There may be individual cases of philanthropy, but the scale of building and philanthropy will decrease.”

Riazat Butt/Associated Press

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

Bishops back bill declaring Davao Oriental mining-free

CATHOLIC bishops in the southern Philippine region of Davao banded together to support a proposed law that would declare Davao Oriental province a mining-free zone.

House Bill (HB) 1124 seeks to ban mining, both small- and large-scale operations, including quarrying in the entire province.

In supporting the measure, the bishops said that they could not al low the destruction to go on “with out staging a staunch defense for and in behalf of our common home.”

“In the mighty name of the Creator, God, pass a law declar ing the province of Davao Ori ental and other Davao Region Provinces a mining-free zone,” the bishops said.

“In this sacred and morallybinding context, we express our hope, our plea, indeed, our de mand, that we all should care for the environment from which we derive our existence,” they said.

The church leaders from the so-called DaDiTaMa (Archdio cese of Davao, Diocese of Digos, Tagum and Mati) expressed their support to the statement of the Diocese of Mati calling for the Protection of the Common Home and in support to HB, 1124 which seeks to declare the entire prov ince of Davao Oriental as a min ing-free zone in a joint statement released on November 7.

It was signed by Archbishop Romulo Valles of Davao with his auxiliary bishop, George Rimando, Bishop Abel Apigo of Mati, Bishop Guillermo Afable of Digos and Bishop Medil Aseo of Tagum.

Citing records from the Mines and Geosciences Bureau, the statement said that 39 mining permits have been granted to several mining firms covering around 59,976 hectares.

The companies in the multibillion-dollar investments are

expected to extract tons of nick el, copper, gold and chromite.

The bishops, however, pointed out that the supposed economic benefits from mining cannot com pensate for the harmful costs to the environment and the larger community.

“While the investment ap pears to be tectonic in billions, only a pittance of that benefits local communities for the short term, while harming the larger community in the long term,” they said.

Davao Oriental is home to Mt. Hamiguitan Range Wildlife Sanc tuary, a Unesco declared heritage site, and the protected seascape of Pujada Bay.

The province is likewise a host to thriving heritage and cultural tradition from its Mandaya and Mansaka indigenous peoples.

The bishops then called on the Senate to also come up with their version of the bill “to fast track the protection of the province of Davao Oriental and other Davao Region provinces from mining activities.”

“We amplify the call for the communities affected by mining to stand our ground in defense of our common home,” they said. CBCP News

Palo’s Our Lady of Hope gets episcopal coronation on Yolanda’s 9th anniversary

PALO, Leyte—A Marian im age that has inspired hope for survivors of Supertyphoon Yolanda (international code name Haiyan) received episcopal corona tion on the ninth anniversary of the killer storm.

A huge crowd packed the Palo Ca thedral to witness the crowning of the image of Our Lady of Hope that was made from wooden debris that was salvaged from the church in the aftermath of the typhoon.

A large applause reverberated at the cathedral as Archbishop John Du of Palo placed the crown upon the life-sized statue’s head.

“November 8, 2013, is a dreadful memory in the history of our lives, but this image of Our Lady has given meaning to our faithful memory,” Archbishop Du said in his homily.

“God has never abandoned us and has given us a mother to whom we could express all our grieving, our sadness,” he said. “In this image of Our Lady, she is giving us Jesus, our

one and true hope.”

The image was commissioned by the archbishop to immortalize in the sculpture several accounts of survivors that the Blessed Mother was around saving children during the onslaught of the typhoon.

The statue was enshrined at the cathedral after it was blessed by Pope Francis during his visit to Leyte in 2015.

In 2016, during the third anni versary of Yolanda, the archdiocese marked the day with the launch ing of the devotion to Our Lady of Hope of Palo.

After nine years, Archbishop Du is pushing for everyone to move on from the tragedy.

“It’s true we have gone through all of these things but hope, cour age and joy should always triumph in our life,” he added.

“This coronation also reminds us that at the end of our life, there is glory waiting for us,” he said.

ACATHOLIC archbishop recently said the Church is called to serve the faith that does justice in a more integral way.

ARCHBISHOP Jose Cabantan celebrates the opening Mass of the 17th Mindanao-Sulu Pastoral Conference at the St. Augustine Metropolitan Cathedral in Cagayan de Oro City on November 7. SCREEN GRAB FROM MSPC FACEBOOK PAGE

DAVAO Archbishop Romulo Valles is one of the bishops who support the bill declaring Davao Oriental province mining free. CBCP FILE PHOTO

ARCHBISHOP John Du leads the episcopal coronation of the image of Our Lady of Hope at the Palo Metropolitan Cathedral on November 8. SCREEN GRAB FROM FACEBOOK/ARCHDIOCESE OF PALO

PEOPLE from Pakistani Hindu community attend a religious ceremony at the Sadhu Bela temple on an island on the Indus River, in Sukkur, Pakistan, on October 26. AP/FAREED KHAN

Biodiversity Sunday

Environmental changemakers tagged as 2022 Asean Biodiversity Heroes

By Pamela Reblora & Lilay Castillo

ALEGISLATOR , a veterinarian, a youth leader, a conservation geology advocate, a marine conservation trailblazer, a sanctuary manager, a marine biodiversity scientist and

educator, an environment official and a forester at an Asean Heritage Park, received the 2022 Asean Biodiversity Heroes award, an honor bestowed to individuals who have dedicated their lives to conserving the web of life.

The heroes were recognized at an awards ceremony held in Bogor, Indonesia, on November 2 as one

of the highlights of the Seventh Asean Heritage Parks Conference organized by the Asean Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) and Indonesia’s Ministry of Environment and Forestry-Directorate of Biodiversity Conservation of Species and Genetics.

The Asean established the Asean

Biodiversity Heroes program in 2017 to celebrate the exemplary everyday heroes whose initiatives and projects have contributed significantly to biodiversity conservation and advocacy efforts in their respective communities and the region.

Project partners for the regional initiative are the European

Union, through the Biodiversity Conservation and Management of Protected Areas in Asean project, and Metro Pacific Investments Corp. The ACB is the awards secretariat.

The Asean Biodiversity Heroes were selected based on the relevance of their contributions to biodiversity

conservation, the impact of these contributions to biodiversity conservation efforts in their respective countries and the region, the replicability of their actions, and the recognition they received in communities where they belong. The Asean is proud to present its new set of biodiversity heroes.

n

n Liaw Lin Ji is the founder of the Biodiversity and Natural History Society (BruWILD) and head of Environmental Solutions and Brunei country manager of DHI Water and Environment.

Liaw Lin Ji founded the nongovernment organization Biodiversity and Natural History Society (BruWILD) in 2014 to encourage people to do their share in conserving Brunei Darussalam’s flora and fauna through naturebased education.

Eight years later, BruWILD has remained one of the most prominent youth-led environmental groups in Brunei, reaching hundreds of schoolchildren and inspiring them to take part in biodiversity conservation and climate change-related initiatives.

She is also the head of Environmental Solutions, and is Brunei country manager of an international environmental consultancy firm, DHI Water and Environment, where she has been ensuring that project development impacts to biodiversity are prevented or minimized.

She was also one of the 2019 Young Biodiversity Leaders of the ACB’s Asean Youth Biodiversity Programme.

n Chak Sokhavicheaboth is the deputy director of Biodiversity Department of the Ministry of Environment in Cambodia.

In the past three decades, Chak Sokhavicheaboth has been in the frontlines of Cambodia’s efforts to conserve its rich biological resources.

He was among the first researchers in the country to focus on wildlife research, focusing on large mammals and prey species.

His book on mammals is a key resource used by wildlife researchers in Cambodia.

As director of the wildlife sanctuary from 2001 to 2010, he was able to cut down criminal activities, including wildlife hunting, illegal logging, land encroachment and wildlife trapping.

Under the Ministry of Environment, he trained park rangers on protected area management, wildlife survey, patrolling, and field practices— crucial components to wildlife protection.

n

Since earning his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree in 1996, Dr. Anhar Lubis has devoted his time and skills to play a crucial role in wildlife conservation in Indonesia.

For 26 years, he has lent his veterinary expertise to various groups, as well as contributed his knowledge to books and publications that aim to generate awareness about mitigating and preventing humanwildlife conflicts.

As the head veterinarian and coordinator for the wildlife rescue team at the Leuser Conservation Forum (Forum Konservasi Leuser), he has been involved in rescuing and rehabilitating animals in the Leuser Ecosystem, a majestic and ancient biodiversity hotspot in Aceh and North Sumatra provinces on the island of Sumatra, Indonesia.

He has been conducting educational and community outreach activities to give voice to those who are often threatened and misunderstood but cannot speak for themselves—the creatures of the wild.

n Khamphay Xayyalad is the manager of The National Eld’s Deer Sanctuary Areas in Lao PDR.

As manager of The National Eld’s Deer Sanctuary Areas, Khamphay Xayyalad has been playing a crucial role in conserving the endangered Eld’s deer, or Ong-Mang.

He has devoted his time to studying the species, mobilizing funds for conservation projects, working with ranger teams and engaging with the local communities in the sanctuary.

His leadership of the Project of Sustainable Forest and Land Management in the Dry Dipterocarp Forest Ecosystems of Southern Lao PDR (SAFE Ecosystems Project) yielded tangible results, such as the significant increase in the number of Eld’s deer from less than 10 deer at the beginning of the project in 2004 to 175 deer at present.

Xayyalad’s dedication and contributions to forest and biodiversity conservation are bringing back the ecological equilibrium to nature and improving the well-being of the local people.

n Sen. Loren Legarda is Senate President Pro-Tempore in the Philippines.

As an award-winning broadcast journalist, Sen. Loren Legarda used the powerful platform of the media to fight for environmental protection.

Determined to see her fight translated into tangible results, she decided to bring her cause to the national legislative arena in 1998.

Now in her fourth term in the

n

is

To say that Prof. Chou Loke Ming is an unrelenting champion of marine protection and conservation is an understatement.

He is a respected pioneer of marine conservation not only in Singapore, but also within the region and around the world.

n Prof. Suchana Chavanich is a professor at Chulalongkorn University in Thailand.

For Dr. Suchana Chavanich, scientists also have to effectively communicate their work and messages in a language that the public would easily understand to ensure real-world impact, Throughout her 20 years of experience as a marine

Senate, Legarda has become known as the most prominent environment politician and the Philippines’s foremost advocate of green development.

In the past three decades, she has worked, sponsored and authored landmark laws on climate change, environmental governance, protection of the environment, and conservation of natural resources, among other issues.

Of all his valuable contributions that have created a lifelong impact on biodiversity conservation in the country, the most inspiring testament to his success is the different generations of marine scientists, academics, and researchers that he has mentored.

Chou’s expertise in marine biodiversity and conservation has resulted in the formulation of policies and in designing

biodiversity expert, researcher and teacher, she has become a role model to other scientists in terms of increasing the reach and understanding of studies outside their community.

As a marine biodiversity expert, Chavanich has delivered valuable contributions to the science community, including the discovery of new species of soft

Over the years, Legarda has emerged as a game changer for Asia, with her compelling vision for a just, safer and greener world for all.

Her inspiring advocacy for environmental protection has earned her global recognition. She has been recognized as a Global Leader for Tomorrow by the World Economic Forum and was among the Global 500 Roll of Honor of the United Nations Environment Programme.

management strategies, leading to better institutional research capability, stewardship and governance of the marine environment.

An important icon of marine diversity and conservation, Chou has largely contributed to the milestones that shaped the marine diversity and conservation landscape of Singapore’s recent history.

corals and nudibranchs.

Her research work on marine biodiversity and conservation on both tropical and polar regions has significantly advanced the understanding of conservation in a changing environment. It has inspired people in Thailand and other countries to know more about biodiversity and how to conserve it.

Dr. Ibrahim Bin Komoo is an academic known for his integrated approaches related to natural heritage conservation (including biodiversity), geohazards and sustainability sciences.

He introduced the concept of “integrated heritage,” which emphasizes finding close links between geological, biological and cultural heritage to ensure that the Earth’s heritage is translated holistically to represent the true value of human heritage.

Professor Ibrahim’s researches have greatly contributed to the strengthening of national environmental and sustainability policies, as well as policy implementation actions by public agencies.

Some of his contributions, particularly those related to national and Unesco global geopark development, are important scientific and social innovations in natural resource management.

He is an academic who strikes balanced contributions between knowledge generation, knowledge sharing with fellow experts and knowledge transfer for society.

n Nay Win Swe is a forester at Inlay Lake Wildlife Sanctuary in Myanmar.

A native Intha, which literally translates to “sons of lake,” Nay Win Swe was born and raised in a village at Nyaung Shwe town which straddles the Inlay Lake.

For nearly three decades, he has devoted his time, knowledge and skills to do his part in protecting and conserving the Inlay Lake Wildlife Sanctuary’s valuable biodiversity.

Swe has been wearing several hats in the course of his profession as a forester.

He has been leading in awareness-raising, engaging with locals, leading patrolling teams, conducting training for local tour guides, conserving breeding grounds for birds, and collecting biodiversity data needed for the development of the sanctuary’s management plan.

Swe’s love for the Inlay Lake Wildlife Sanctuary and in his fellow lake dwellers are shown in his actions and contributions that go beyond his primary duties as a forester.

Lapid resolution commends Dagupan HS for winning world prize for restoring mangroves

SEN. Manuel “Lito” M. Lapid filed a resolution congratu lating and commending Da gupan’s Bonuan Boquig National High School (BBNHS) for winning the 2022 World’s Best School Prize for Environmental Action.

I n Senate Resolution 278, Lapid recognized the efforts of the Panga sinan public high school to restore lost mangroves and reverse the envi ronmental devastation caused by the 2009 Typhoon Ondoy (international name Ketsana) to local communities, a news release said.

I greet the students and teachers of BBNHS for the prestigious award and recognition that you received. I belive that your expertise and mod ern knowledge in education will serve as inspiration to other schools and teachers to improve the quality of education inside and outside the country,” he said in Filipino.

Lapid cited in his resolution that the BBNHS has been a fierce advocate of the environment, educating their students on the importance of environmental preservation and protection, and has started many projects for their stu dents to participate in and learn from.

T he senator also highlighted the school’s efforts in partnering with their local communities to get them engaged in their advocacy for the environment, equipping them with the necessary knowledge that they can help spread and pass on to the next generation of Filipinos.

T he school bested other foreign finalists, such as the International School of Zug and Luzern in Switzer land, and the Green School of Bali in Indonesia, along with other compet ing schools from Argentina, Canada, Columbia, Greece, Malawi, Palestine and the United Arab Emirates.

B BNHS was announced the win ner of the education award through a live-streamed ceremony last Oc tober 14, where it was presented the award alongside the four other schools who won awards in differ ent categories.

T he World’s Best School Prizes is hosted by T4 Education, a global education organization that aims to recognize the excellence and dedica tion of schools from all over the world who go the extra mile for the sake of transforming the lives of their stu dents and the generations to come.

Asean Champions of Biodiversity Media Category 2014

Dr. Anhar Lubis is the coordinator of Leuser Wildlife Rescue Team and veterinarian of Leuser Conservation Forum in Indonesia.

Prof. Ibrahim Bin Komoo is Professor Emeritus at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.

Prof. Chou Loke Ming

Emeritus Professor of the Department of Biological Sciences at National University of Singapore.

Poblete dominates swimming series Visayas leg in Iloilo with seven golds

JULIA JEWELS POBLETE

dominated the Visayas leg with seven gold medals to lead the Iloilo Megakraken Swim Team to the overall title in the recent FINIS National Long Course Championships at the Iloilo Sports Complex in La Paz, Iloilo City.

T he eight-year-old Poblete ruled the girls’ 7-8 class with victories in the 200-meter individual medley (4:01.73), 100m butterfly (2:01.81), 50m backstroke (50.96), 50m fly (55.36), 100m back (1:50.36), 50m breaststroke (58.57) and 100m freestyle (1:37.34) to power her team to the overall title with 1,432.5 points.

“ We’re very proud not just about our medalists but to all swimmers and their coaches for their enormous effort just to be able to join the competition,” FINIS Managing Director Vince Garcia said.”

Garcia thanked the Binirayan Tadpoles Swim Club’s Princess Maria Galindo, Johnny Quimpang and coach Patricia Anne Galindo who managed to compete despite travel difficulties because of Typhoon Paeng.

Majority of their teammates chose not to join the meet anymore but this trio made a headstrong decision to still participate,” Garcia said. “They had to use a zip line to cross a river where the bridge was damaged by the typhoon.”

Garcia said he’s hoping for the same energy and determination from other young swimmers in the Mindanao leg on November 12 and 13 at the Joaquin F. Enriquez Memorial Sports Complex in Zamboanga City.

The series culminate with the Luzon Leg on November 26 and 27 at the New Clark City Aquatic Center in Capas, Tarlac, with the national championships set on December 17 and 18 also at the New Clark City.

The JBLFMU Dolphin Swim Team finished second with 837.5 points followed by Iloilo Tiger Shark Swim Team (612.4), Iloilo Sea Warriors Swim Club (534), Aklan Swimming Club (367.6), Capiz Eaglerays Swimming Club (341), Capiz Turbo Sharks Swim Club (333.8), Sta. FE Crocs (150), Buddy Swim Team (135) and Pirates Swim Club (110).

J M Matthew Bata shared the limelight with two gold medals for Megakraken in the boys 11-12 50m freestyle (31.32) and 50m back (36.84), while his older sister Jilian Celestine Bata won the girls 13-14 class 60m back (36.59).

O ther Megakraken gold winners were Lofiel Angelie Posadas (girls 9-10, 200m IM, 3:23.72), Eleison Ian Belicena (boys 9-10, 100m fly, 1:38.76), Chein Aaleyah Diaz (girls 6-under, 100m fly, 3:35.14) and Kaelan Garzon (boys 17-18, 100m fly, 1:00.18).

WORLD CUP ART ON CENTERSTAGE

Fenech receives 4th weight class champion’s belt 3 decades later

AUSTRALIAN Jeff Fenech is finally joining an elite group of boxers to have won world titles in four weight divisions—more than 30 years after the fact.

I n 1991 at the Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas on a Mike Tyson undercard, judges declared his super featherweight bout with Ghana’s Azumah Nelson a draw.

B ut Fenech has been awarded the title retroactively at a World Boxing Council (WBC) convention in Acapulco, Mexico, where WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman formed a “special committee” to review the fight.

All the ring officials from all over the world score the bout in favor of Jeff Fenech,” the convention was told. “The WBC board of governors approve the motion to crown Jeff Fenech to become a four-time world champion.”

Fenech joins a select group including Thomas “Hitman” Hearns and Sugar Ray Leonard to have won world titles across four weight divisions. In retirement, Fenech also trained other boxers such as Tyson.

It’s crazy, brother. It would’ve meant more to me back when I really won the fight. But for them, the WBC, to do this is so special,” Fenech told News Corp. newspapers on Wednesday from Mexico. “Far out, it means so much to me. I’ve got 20 or 30 Aussies who have flown over with me. It’s an incredibly special night.”

O n that night in Las Vegas 31 years ago, official judge Jerry Roth of Las Vegas had Fenech ahead 115113, Miguel Donate of Puerto Rico scored it 116-112 for Nelson and Dave Moretti of Las Vegas had it 114-114.

T he decision was booed by 15,000 fans at the venue.

“ I’ve been robbed,” Fenech said at the time. “The whole world knows I won.”

Fenech won world titles in three other weight divisions, having held the International Boxing Federation bantamweight title from 1985 to 1987, the WBC super-bantamweight title from 1987 to 1988 and the WBC featherweight title from 1988 to 1990.

JERUSALEM—Soccer fans from Israel and the Palestinian territories will be able to fly directly to the FIFA World Cup in Qatar from Tel Aviv for the first time, soccer’s global governing body announced Thursday.

The development is a breakthrough agreement for Israel and Qatar—two countries without diplomatic relations.

The charter flights to Doha from Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv for the tournament starting November 20 will be open to all Palestinians, FIFA said. That includes residents and accredited media workers from the occupied West Bank and the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, which has been under a crippling Israeli-Egyptian blockade for 15 years.

Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza do not have their own airport and must apply for a hard-to-obtain airport permit to use Ben Gurion. Such permits are only approved, if at all, shortly before takeoff.

Israel may still refuse to grant exit permits to residents of blockaded Gaza seeking to fly out of Tel Aviv to attend the World Cup. Such permission is only granted in exceptional circumstances.

Israeli officials had no immediate details on how many flights would take place or how many Palestinians would be allowed to travel. When asked for

ASUNCIÓN, Paraguay— Keeping your eye on the ball takes on a new meaning when you consider the World Cupdedicated collection by Paraguayan artist Lili Cantero.

Decoratively detailing the lavish stadiums of the upcoming tournament in Qatar—the first to take place in the Middle East—as well as the most sought after players and teams, Cantero is preparing the last details of her soccer-inspired art show, “8 Stadiums, 8 Champions, 1 Dream: Qatar 2022.”

We are going to be exhibiting 25 works in total consisting of boots, soccer balls, also canvases and 3D structures,” the 29-yearold Cantero said.

C entered on the concept of the No. 8, the work aims to highlight the history of the World Cup, which has been won by only eight countries. Brazil has won the most World Cup titles with five, followed by Italy and Germany with four, Uruguay, Argentina and France with two, and England and Spain with one each.

Supported by the Paraguayan embassy in Qatar, in conjunction with the Katara Cultural Village in the Qatari capital, the exhibit

W hile the hand-painted balls will be at the center of the show, the adorned soccer shoes will be presented within a 3D display projecting them onto representations of the World Cup stadiums in Qatar.

They also project the image of Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the horse and falcon, and other symbols related to Middle Eastern, Latin American and Paraguayan culture.

C antero’s talent was thrust into the limelight back in 2018. A pair of soccer shoes adorned with her art and detailed with a gallery of black and white images of Lionel Messi and his family was sent to the player.

A fter an image of the Argentina captain posing with the shoes was widely shared on social media, Cantero’s career soared with requests for designs from professional players outside of her native Paraguay, including former Brazil forward Ronaldinho. She personally got to present the shoes to Ronaldinho illustrating a kiss his mother had given him after winning the Ballon d’Or award in 2005 as the best soccer player in the world.

Israelis, Palestinians can fly on same flights to Qatar

comment on the arrangement, Ahmad Deek, the director-general of the Palestinian Foreign Ministry, said it was the first he’d heard of it.

Israeli citizens cannot ordinarily fly directly to Doha or enter Qatar on their Israeli passports. Relations have soured since Doha closed an Israeli trade office in 2008 over the Gaza war. Even without diplomatic relations, Qatar helps mediate between Israel and Gaza’s militant Hamas rulers during rounds of conflict.

Washington lauded the development and said it will “benefit

Israeli and Palestinian soccer fans alike as a step towards expanding greater freedom of travel for all.”

The United States congratulates FIFA, Israel, and Qatar on the historic step of opening direct flights between Tel Aviv and Doha for the duration of the World Cup,” said U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price. “Today’s announcement is a historic development and an important step that also holds great promise to bolster people to people ties and economic relations.”

However, the breakthrough travel arrangement could still fall apart.

The Qatari government said that Doha told Israel that “any escalation in Jerusalem, Gaza or the West Bank during this time will risk the cancellation of the agreement— including the direct flights.”

V iolence in the West Bank has surged in recent months as Israel has escalated nightly arrest raids, making 2022 the deadliest in the occupied territory since 2006.

FIFA also announced on Thursday that a temporary consular service would assist Israelis in Doha during the tournament. Some 3,800 Israelis and

When I paint for players, what I try to do is to look for the humanization of the figure, because many times the player is like an idol and many people forget that behind that player there is a person,” Cantero said.

A n insight into Cantero’s unique take on her sports-inspired muse goes back to her youth. From her atelier on the outskirts of Asunción she remembers flipping through the pages of an encyclopaedia at home, mesmerized by the works of famous painters. In school, she once decorated white sandals with bright motifs. In college, she painted sandals again as part of an assigned project, where students launched their own small businesses. By word of mouth, friends who played soccer began asking her to paint their shoes. Eventually, she began designing for a local sports store and getting requests from professional athletes.

O nly days ahead of her departure for Qatar, Cantero’s inward eye also jumps to the future.

I would like to continue growing, expanding to work with other regions and countries,” Canetro said, “work on projects more centered in the United States, since the next World Cup will be in the United States, Mexico, Canada.” AP

8,000 Palestinians have applied for the Hayya card, which acts as an entry visa to Qatar for the soccer tournament.

Consular services for Israeli citizens will be provided in coordination with the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs through a designated privately operated international travel company based in Doha,” FIFA said.

I sraeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid welcomed the agreement as the result “hard work over the course of many months.”

A Q atari government statement said the travel arrangement for Israeli citizens was “part of Qatar’s commitment to FIFA’s hosting requirements and it should not be politicized.”

Israel has previously made inroads into the region in part due to international events. Dubai’s Expo 2020 world’s fair saw Israel participate. The United Arab Emirates and Bahrain normalized relations with Israel two years ago.

To head off criticism, Qatar stressed that “its stance on normalization has not changed” and that the country continues to support the creation of an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel as the solution to the decades-old conflict. There have been no serious peace talks in more than a decade. AP

“inspired by soccer, the World Cup, different cultures” will open on Nov. 18 in Doha, two days before the tournament starts.

YOUNG swimmers display their potentials at the Iloilo Sports Complex pool.

FORMER heavyweight champion Mike Tyson (right) spars with Jeff Fenech at the Burr Gymnasium on the campus of Howard University in Washington on June 7, 2005 in preparation for Tyson’s June 11 fight that year against Kevin McBride. AP

PARAGUAYAN artist Lili Cantero holds a hand-painted soccer ball illustrated with members of the Germany squad to the 2014 World Cup in San Lorenzo, Paraguay.

A QATAR Airways plane lands with members of the US national soccer team at Hamad International airport in Doha Thursday. AP

Carlos Barrera on learning, growing, shaping the ‘great equalizer’

Lazada PH’s 32-year-oLd Ceo

T. Anthony C. Cabangon Lourdes M. Fernandez Aldwin M. Tolosa Jt Nisay Edwin P. Sallan Eduardo A. Davad Niggel Figueroa Anabelle O. Flores Tony M. Maghirang, Rick Olivares, Leony Garcia, Patrick Miguel

Kaye VillagomezLosorata Annie S. Alejo Bernard P. Testa Nonie Reyes

PURSUING HIS PASSION

How Lullaboy discovered his love for music and songwriting

By Patrick V. Miguel

MUSIC has always been a part of Lullaboy’s life ever since he was a child. He recalled taking vocal lessons at the age of 5, but halfway through early adolescence, he got lost and was very unsure with what he wanted to do. However, things turned around when he joined the army at 18, which was the place he least expected to rekindle his love for music.

Despite being born in America, the now 27-year-old artist is a permanent resident at Singapore, which required him to render a few years of service to the army. He was in the army for two years.

Just a few months after their basic training in the army, he auditioned in the music department. He narrated the experience, “For the next two years, I get to do music in Singapore and it was life-changing.”

He enumerated some of his memo rable experiences doing music in the army such as performing for the President and being sent overseas to represent Singapore in international music events

He added, “Getting to do music every day has really changed my life because it was exactly what I wanted to do and I got to be around people who are really great at what they do and they taught me dif ferent tricks.”

He attributes his artistry to the ex perience, saying that his stay at the army “prepared [him] to become a future artist.” Aside from music, he also said that being in the army also trained his mental and physical state.

In the end, Lullaboy reflects, “I’m really glad that I did it and I wouldn’t have changed a thing. It really changed everything.”

Once his time was up in the army, he went back to America to fully pursue music by enrolling in Berklee College of Music. Describing the events following the deci sion, he said, “My life changed after that.”

He took up “Professional Music” in Berklee while focusing on songwriting and music production, carrying with him the desire to create and produce music on his own.

But prior to attending Berklee, he had a hard time convincing his mother with his chosen path.

However, his mother had a change of heart when she saw him perform in front of thousands of people. He narrated, “She was there in the audience and she saw me performing, and she saw the looks on everybody’s faces…. She felt a sense of pride and that made her accept my path.”

Thinking of his mother, Lullaboy de scribes, “She’s somebody who feels like… we have to leave something good in this world and spread some positivity. She knows that music can do that and that’s when she started supporting me.”

This completely echoes his “mission” as an artist as, in an interview with Soundstrip, Lullaboy said earlier, “I just care about my music reaching as many people as possible because I want to leave something good in this world and actually leave a mark that benefits people’s lives.”

Stories to tell

LULLABOY admitted that the inspiration

behind his music comes from around “75%” of his personal life.

He said, “All the different experiences that I go through, even in the past few years, [has] been so crazy. Every single year, something happens that changes me and I learn so much about the world, and that’s what my music is about—it’s about exploring love and life.”

He added that the remaining 25% comes from the people he encounters. He believes that everybody has a story to tell, and making music out of it is “sharing a new perspective of their stories and giving it back to them sometimes.”

On his latest release “Shortcut To Heaven,” he shared, “The meaning of the song… is how we’re all going through a hard time like the past couple years and now things are starting to get better again… and you’ll find love at the end of the tunnel.”

“Shortcut To Heaven,” according to Lullaboy, is the best performing song he has done so far. As of writing, the Sin gaporean artist’s new song has around 1 million streams on Spotify since its release last September.

But wide reach of listeners is not new to Lullaboy as “someone like u,” released earlier this year, currently has around 26 million streams on Spotify.

Lullaboy shared he constantly gets messages from his fans, expressing how his songs have helped them individually get through a hard time. In describing the overwhelming feeling, he enthused, “Those are the moments I live for.”

“Shortcut To Heaven” is now available on all music-streaming platforms.

817-9467;

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Fortunately, his father was supportive of his decision to pursue his passion since they both share a love for music. Mean while, his mother initially wanted him to go to business school for practicality reasons. “It was hard to convince her,” he recalled.

LULLABOY

SoundSampler

by Tony M. Maghirang

Nostalgia, romance, God’s love, and transience

During that moment, I feared losing her and promised myself to take good care of her when given the second chance at life. She recovered and this is my song for her.”

Naara to something sumptuous and appealing. Smoothed over by silky synths and playful beats, the city pop feel of “Unan” immediately connects with the listener, making the duo’s first Tagalog single almost like a timeless piece. It features hopeful lyrics delectably paired with retro melodies and an ’80s referencing artwork for a whiff of nostalgia.

THE latest offering from young singer-songwriter Paolo Sandejas’ describes that feeling of unease when you’re contemplating if you’re going to go all in and make the first move or run the risk of losing that special person if you’re daunted.

F

THE RANSOM COLLECTIVE – 3 AM

THE first new material in three years from The Ransom Collective deals with the cycle of denial and acceptance only to realize that maturity comes with the process. In a statement, the songwriter Kian said, “Personally, I’ve struggled with trying to force things into being what I want or hope for them to be, rather than accepting things for what they really are. The more resistant I am, the more entrenched I become, and eventually it blows up. I eventually became aware of this pattern and started learning to be more honest and vulnerable with myself and others.”

That sense of inner struggle is animated by the feel-good vibe riding on the typical anthemic rush of the band’s music. One of best bands of 2019 is back on the saddle, raring to rock the blues away.

Paolo shares, “Liquid Courage” is about getting the nerve to tell the person you love how you feel. I actually wrote the song after finishing an anime (2019 hit romantic series Kaguya-sama: Love Is War) where the two protagonists are in the exact same situation where they like each other but no one does anything about it because of pride and fear of being rejected.”

KATRIEL “Walang Katulad“

RESHMAN recording artist

Cherise Katriel marks her official debut with the release of “Walang Katulad,” a spare pop ballad that sings praise about God’s infinite and unconditional love. Produced by Jungee Marcelo, Katriel’s worship track aims to “shift your heart into gratefulness for God’s love.”

“Walang Katulad ” is a refreshing introduction to her work as an artist: an honest, captivating material that paints powerful imagery of divinity and praise. Cherise describes her song thus: “It’s relaxing, comforting, soothing, and calming to listen to. I do believe the song’s goal was reached when someone messaged me just how stressed she was feeling, but when she listened to my song, it’s as if she was being comforted.”

“This is a song about wanting to be beside someone you love and how much greater it’d feel it weren’t just a pillow,” as the song description perfectly puts it. With its hooks and mellow disco layers, “Unan” feels like it’s made for long drives and wine nights.

KNOWN for their “take no prisoners” approach to rock and roll, Agaw Agimat sounds emotive and emotional on their latest release titled “Iingatan Kita”

Chief songwriter Renmin Nadela said, “I wrote “Iingatan Kita” for Wendy. I remember one time before the pandemic when I rushed her to the ER just as It was raining at around 3am and… she was about to collapse while she back rode on the motorcycle.

“Unan”

THE latest release “Unan” from Leanne & Naara strikes a perfect balance between a slow jam and electro-pop elevating the trademark style of Leanne &

N IKKI Nava, an independent singer-songwriter, visual artist, and graphic designer, returns with her latest single, “Ephemeral”. Contrary to her previous minimalist works, Nikki’s new song is a refreshing break as she’s back with a full band in tow. The upbeat vibe that takes you back to a nostalgic summer and its underlying melancholy is masked until you pay full attention to the lyrics.

“They’re closing down the bar where we first met,” the opening line immediately unveils the premise of the story – the end of an era. “I suppose I’ll write it down so I won’t forget. It’s only what I have of our history,” Nikki’s continues with her quaint and raw storytelling. All told, “Ephemeral” is a dreamy recollection of our short-lived connections but with a closing twist of till we meet again whenever fate permits.

PAOLO SANDEJAS “Liquid Courage”

AGAW AGIMAT “Iingatan Kita”

CHERISE

LEANNE & NAARA

NIKKI NAVA Ephemeral

THE Ransom Collective

Carlos Barrera on learning, growing, shaping the ‘great equalizer’

by Jt Nisay Y2Z Editor

AremArk Able ascent in the corporate ladder fills the professional social-media page of lazada PH’s Ceo Carlos otermin barrera. After scrolling past details about his ongoing sevenyear tenure with the e-commerce giant, however, wherein he mostly spent only two years in a post before getting promoted, an interesting tidbit about him sits in the education section.

The native of Madrid, Spain, indicated that he completed the Bachelor in Business Administration Bilingual program from the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid in just three years, becoming the first student to finish a Bilingual program in less than the nominated timeframe.

The reason? Boredom.

“I found higher education too theoretical, and started getting bored after the first year,” Barrera said in an exclusive interview. “I was expecting university to be more practical, with different internships and business cases. I got involved in the student associations and business club, but I eventually decided to just take all the courses in three years, so I could start working earlier.”

The value of impacting lives

The fervor to immerse himself in the real world the soonest time possible stems from knowing what he wanted in life early on: to create meaningful impact.

The son of computer engineers, Barrera has always been exposed to technology. he a lso developed a liking for history, geography and finance, taking pleasure in learning about different countries, watching the news, and investing.

Barrera’s first foray into the stock market came when he was much younger, under the tutelage of his grandfather. It was then that he experienced the ins and outs of the market and learned about how businesses operate.

Following his expedited time in business school, Barrera immediately started working as a consultant at 20 years old. he entered the finance industry, partly because it was “the sexy thing to do back

Unusual Courses is an occasional series from The Conversation US highlighting unconventional approaches to teaching.

Title of Course: “Management as a Calling”

What prompted the idea for the course? Business schools do not do enough to create successful business leaders with a desire to serve society. All too often, we simply drop an ethics or sustainability elective into a curriculum that puts profits over people—and gives short shrift to big issues such as climate change and income inequality. Thus, we should develop a course that

helps students examine their own ethics, values and purpose.

What does the course explore? This course helps undergraduate and graduate business majors consider their career as a calling. Ungraded, its core centers on three weekend retreats where students leave their cellphones behind, join others with similar aspirations and examine their unique purpose in life.

Why is this course relevant now? Today, many are coming to business school with a sense of purpose to make a positive

then,” Barrera said, laughing, at the sidelines of a recent Lazada event.

It was a five-year stint that he described as “very exciting” and “very interesting.” But then an opportunity arose and the appeal of working in technology proved strong. Of course, working in tech also presented a better chance of achieving his goal of delivering greater value to people’s lives.

While most spend multiple decades trying to make their mark in established industries, young, driven dreamers like Barrera do not have to wait in line in a relatively young sector like tech to create an impact. Tech remains malleable, much more in emerging markets like Southeast Asia with a nascent tech landscape.

Barrera onboarded Lazada in 2015 as VP, head of Sales. When he joined the ecommerce platform’s Philippine division, he carried over his mission of making innovative solutions to work in the country, which they’re bringing from China and learning from Alibaba. After all, technology, as he always believed, is the “great equalizer.”

“This is especially true when we start seeing the value of what we do,” he said. “It’s not even just tech: It’s the pure e-commerce value of building hundreds of thousands of businesses, and seeing them growing.”

Staying ahead of the curve

BA r rer A makes clear that aside from constantly improving the customer experience, Lazada is also “in the business of building businesses.” The brand has made significant investments to develop the infrastructure to serve customers nationwide, and, at the same time, set up MSMes for success by helping them go online and build their dream companies.

Today, November 13, marks the last day of Lazada’s three-day mega sale that kicked off on November 11, or 11.11, regarded as the biggest online shopping day in the world. For their part, Lazada Ph has been

preparing for the grand event since February, curating up to 90 percent off promos, “fast & free” shipping incentives, and more. The group is also looking to carry the momentum into the holiday season.

“The way we think about 11.11 is not just about that day, but the event that leads to Christmas season in the Philippines,” he said. “That’s why 11.11 is so big in the Philippines, bigger than anywhere else, and we want to keep the excitement going until the holiday season.”

There is no denying that Lazada has become a household brand in the country. Barrera said they are strengthening this position by fostering “loyalty and emotional attachment” among stakeholders. It’s also a feat that makes him reflect on his time and, to an extent, his impact, on the country.

“The Philippine e-commerce market has grown exponentially over the past seven years,” Barrera said. “When I first arrived in Manila, we had to face major roadblocks and most people thought we would fail. But the entire industry has developed end to end, from logistics to marketing and brand building.”

Much indeed has been achieved, but the road to innovation never ends for someone as passionate as Barrera. There is always something more to be done, something that can be improved. It’s the kind of mindset that befits an experienced top executive in a roaring industry.

But amid all these achievements, one must be reminded that Barrera is still 32 years old. Does being called “young” bother him at all?

“This is part of the nature of our industry; many of our leaders at Alibaba are also young, and some of the best tech founders and executives over the world started their companies in their early 20s,” he said. “I personally feel that connecting with the market, continuing to innovate, staying updated and following the latest trends are key for our company to stay ahead.”

change. Unfortunately, business education has not done a good job of accommodating this demand. Curricula focus far too much on the “how” of business and not enough on the “why.”

What’s a critical lesson from the course? We study what a calling is, techniques for examining each student’s individual calling, and tactics for staying on course. The hope is that students will cultivate a sense of passion and vision in their careers and apply the power of business to address society’s challenges.

What materials does the course feature?

n Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor e Frankl.

n Life on Purpose by Victor J. Strecher.

n Articles by Parker Palmer, herbert Shepard, David Foster-Wallace, Deb Meyerson and others

What will the course prepare students to do? This course will help students develop a vision of what a calling is, what their calling is and a desire to make its pursuit a lifelong goal.

‘Not always about capitalism:’ How business management can also be a calling

Lazada Philippines CEO Carlos Otermin Barrera at Lazada’s recent 11.11 Biggest Sale Launch event in Makati City.