BusinessMirror October 02, 2022

BUSINESSMIRROR is this year’s Best Media Advocate for Statistics beating other news organizations in the 11th National Statistics Month (NSM) Media Awards.

The Philippine Statistics Au thority (PSA) bestowed the award on BusinessMirror for its “ac curate, timely, and significant use of statistics, exemplifying wide reach and impact through public service in pursuit of de livering evidence-based reports.”

This is the second time Busi nessMirror was recognized as the best in statistics reporting among news organizations. The

first time was when PSA declared the newspaper its inaugural Data Champion in 2018.

“The NSM Media Awards aims to recognize the significant role and contribution of media in pro moting and popularizing official statistical information by way of featuring data/statistics and other products and services from the Philippine Statistical System in television, radio, print and online news service,” the PSA said.

BusinessMirror’s Macro economy reporter, Cai U. Ordi nario, also won the Best Statistical

By Lenie Lectura @llectura

ensure continued electricity supply to its more than 7 million customers, the Manila Electric Company (Meralco) said Tuesday it has forged emergency supply deals with other power suppliers after the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) denied the P0.30 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) joint rate hike plea of Meralco and San Miguel Corporation’s (SMC).

TO

By Lorenz S. Marasigan @lorenzmarasigan

BAD actors, many foreignfunded, have so far amassed “millions of dollars” from Filipino victims who fell prey to the text scams of late, an official from the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) said on Tuesday.

During a spot interview, Cybercrime Investigation and Coordination Center (CICC) Deputy Executive Director Mary Rose E. Magsaysay confirmed that cybercriminals

have been able to monetize the text scams in the Philippines, and that the figures are “big— it’s in the millions of dollars.”

She said the CICC has confirmed that the text scams are foreign-funded.

“But there are local and international collaborations,” she said.

Her agency, she noted, has started the ball rolling for prosecution, but so far, none have been arrested for the scams.

Over the last few months, Filipinos have been complaining of increased spam messages bearing their

full names or monickers they use for different apps, giving rise to widespread concern, even among lawmakers who received such messages, that certain entities with access to a huge database have been selling personal data.

The recent wave of scammers promise unknowing victims of jobs or money in exchange for personal and financial data. Another form of text scams involve online gambling deals. Some senior citizens who were also addressed by their names, reported getting notices of

“allowance” for the elderly, and were advised to click on to a certain “link” to enroll in the aid program.

To combat these scams, telcos have been consistently updating their policies. Some even went as far as removing the links on SMS to increase their subscribers’ cyber hygiene and security.

The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) has also ordered all telcos to “block or deactivate” links from malicious sites identified by government and law enforcement agencies.

By Samuel P. Medenilla @sam_medenilla

TWO more members of the Cabinet of President Ferdi nand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr. have resigned from their posts.

The Office of the Executive Secretary confirmed on Tuesday af ternoon that Marcos accepted the

FIRST 2 BILLS Senate President Juan Miguel “Migz” F. Zubiri and House Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez show the enrolled bills on the SIM registration and on the postponement to 2023 of this year’s barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections after signing these on Tuesday. The two bills, earlier ratified by the Senate and the House of Representatives, are the first measures to be submitted by the 19th Congress to Malacañang for President Marcos Jr.’s approval. After the signing, the two enrolled bills were received by PLLO Sec. Mendoza for transmittal to the Office of the President. Story on A16, Second Front Page. SENATE PRIB PHOTO

BSP to market players: Don’t exploit PHL peso’s weakness

By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas @jearcalas

THE Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) on Tuesday asked finan cial market participants not to take advantage of the weakness of the peso, which depreciated to P59 against the greenback on Monday.

“We ask those who have the means not to take undue advantage of chang ing market conditions. This does not help the Philippine peso; it does not help the Philippines. What we can do is to bring all transactions into an or ganized and accessible formal market that offers consumer protection,” the BSP said in a statement.

The BSP has made an assurance that it is ready to manage any disrup tion in the country’s financial market.

“The USD spot market remains open and active while forwards and repos are available facilities. All of these can move the economy forward by supporting the financial leg under pinning economic activity and allow ing for an orderly settlement of USD obligations. This puts the Filipino in a better position,” it said.

“Market conditions around the world are challenging. Working together allows us to sustain our functioning financial market while appropriately managing the devel oping risks.”

On Monday, the peso closed at P59 to the greenback, another new low for the Philippine currency. The peso lost P0.375 centavos from the close of P58.625 on the last trading day of September.

“That [peso to breach P60 this week] is probable as risk of senti ment continues,” Managing Direc tor of eManagement for Business and Marketing Services Jonathan Ravelas told BusinessMirror on Monday. “What could push the lo cal currency to 60 is the further strength of the greenback.”

University of the Philippines School of Economics head of research Renato E. Reside Jr. told this newspaper that

further currency depreciation is expected given the latest developments.

Unfortunately, this will have an impact on inflation as the Philippines remains a net food and oil importer. This means the country relies heavily on imports of these commodities which will now be more expensive because of the peso depreciation.

“Given that its primary responsibility is to en sure price stability—and accomplish its inflation target—it follows that the BSP is not obligated to defend the value of the peso—the BSP does not pursue exchange rate targeting. It may, however, undertake occasional market interventions, usual ly unannounced, to support the peso,” Reside said.

The peso on Tuesday closed at P58.65 to the greenback, slightly stronger than Monday’s close that hit an all-time low.

Meralco.

“We already sought offers and entered into emergency power supply agreements [EPSAs] with other generation companies to ensure con tinuity of stable, reliable and adequate supply to Meralco customers,” said Meralco First Vice President and head of regulatory management Atty. Jose Ronald V. Valles in a statement.

When sought for more details, Valles said Meralco had five “lowest EPSA offers we received from power suppliers.” These are from Consunjiled SEM-Calaca Power Corporation (SCPC-Calaca)-200 MW; GNPower Dinginin Ltd. Co. (GNPD)-300 MW from Aboitiz Power Corp.; Masinloc Power Partners Co. Ltd (MPPCL)-250 MW; SMC Consolidated Power Corp. (SCPC-Limay)-200 MW; and South Premiere Power Corp. (SPPC)-120 MW.  MPPCL, SCPC, and SPPC are units of SMC Global Power Holdings Corp., the power arm of SMC.

However, last September 16, Valles said SEM Calaca withdrew its offer due to “technical issues in its power plant, specifically that of Unit 2.” Thus, after immediately conducting rate simulations, Meralco said it will replace the 200 MW that should have been provided by SEM Calaca from the WESM as it has the lowest cost to Meralco’s custom ers, instead of taking such capacity from the other power suppliers that had the next lowest EPSA offers.

The said EPSAs are pending at the Department of Energy (DOE) for ap proval for a Certificate of Exemption from CSP (COE-CSP). And, until that is issued, Meralco cannot implement the EPSAs with the power suppliers.

“We are hoping for the swift action of the DOE in exempting the EPSAs from undergoing CSP. Without these EPSAs, our customers may become exposed to volatile prices,” said Valles.

“In any case, we are enjoining SMC to continue supplying power to Meralco in accordance with the terms of the PSAs and pursuant to the ERC order,” he added.

resignation of  Press Secretary Bea trix “Trixie” Cruz-Angeles and Com mission on Audit (COA) Chairperson Jose C. Calida.

Both Angeles and Calida were not among the 10 ad interim officials, who were reappointed by Marcos on Tuesday.

Deputy Executive Secretary Hubert Guevarra said Angeles tendered her resignation citing “medical reasons.”

“We are still in the process of

helping the Office [of the Press Sec retary] address her resignation today. So that is our present concern. Hope fully, in the near future, we will have a new press secretary,” Guevarra said in an interview with the officers of the Malacañang Press Corp. on Tuesday.

This was confirmed by Angeles: “I tendered my resignation this morn ing, effective end of business hours today. Due to health reasons.”

Executive Secretary Lucas P. Ber samin also confirmed the resignation of Calida, but he declined to disclose the reason for the former Solicitor General to do so.

“It is up to him [Calida] to later explain to you or publish to you what were his reasons but we accepted with regret and we commended him for his patriotism also,” Bersamin said.

Marcos has yet to name the replace ments of Angeles and Calida.

Last Monday, former Executive Secretary Victor D. Rodriguez also resigned from his post after being involved in the Sugar Order fiasco.

Angeles said the long-time lawyer of Marcos was supposed to be the first ever Presidential Chief of Staff (PCS) through  Administra tive Order (AO) No. 1.

Bersamin, however, clarified that Rodriguez was no longer part of the Cabinet.

He also noted that “to his knowledge,” Marcos has yet to sign AO 1 creating the PCS position.

Except for five, Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Mar cos Jr. reappointed on Tuesday the members of his Cabinet who were bypassed by the CA.

Last week, the CA failed to confirm the ap pointments of 15 Cabinet officials for lack of time. Congress went on a scheduled five-week recess until November 7.

The 10 ad interim officials given a renewed mandate by Marcos are: Department of Finance (DOF) Secretary Benjamin Estoista Diokno, De partment of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secretary Manuel Manligas Bonoan, Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Alfredo Espinosa Pascual, Department of Social Welfare and Devel opment (DSWD) Secretary Erwin Teshiba Tulfo.

Also reappointed were Department of Transpor tation (DOTr) Secretary Jaime Jimenez Bautista, Department of Science and Technology (DOST) Secretary Renato Umali Solidum Jr., Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Raphael Perpetuo Mer cado Lotilla, Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) Secretary Maria Susana Vasquez Ople,  National Economic and Development Author ity (NEDA) Secretary Arsenio Molina Balisacan, and Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) Secretary Jose Rizalino Larion Acuzar.

During the oath-taking, Marcos also appointed Bersamin as his new Executive Secretary.

The five officials also bypassed by the CA, but have yet to be reappointed by Marcos, are Press Secretary Cruz-Angeles, Department of Informa tion and Communications Technology (DICT) Sec retary Ivan John Uy, COA’s Calida, Commission on Elections Commissioner Nelson Celis, and former Executive Secretary  Rodriguez as Presidential Chief of Staff (PCS).

It was learned, however, that Uy was not in the new oath-taking because he is in Romania, on of ficial mission, for the country’s campaign to retain its seat in the International Telecommunications Union (ITU).  Story on that successful mission is on page A16, Second Front page

The power supply agreements (PSAs) between Meralco and SMC’s two power units SPPC (South Premiere Power Corp.) and SMEC (San Miguel Energy Corp.)—were supposed to be terminated effective October 4 if the ERC will not approve their joint plea.

The petitions involved a temporary and partial cost recovery re lief only for the losses the SMC firms incurred from January to May 2022, in the form of a rate increase on their contract capacities under the PSAs they entered into with Meralco, to be amortized over a pe riod of six months. They initially pegged the temporary adjustment to only 30 centavos per kilowatt hour (kWh).

As of press time, SMC has yet to announce if this plan was carried out.

However, the ERC order stated that both parties should follow the termination period set within their contracts. “Whether 60 days from denial of the motion for price adjustment or the six months prior no tice, which is a separate provision in the PSA, they should follow the contract. The contract itself sets the period,” said ERC Chairperson Monalisa Dimalanta during a press briefing.

Preventing termination

MERALCO said it will comply with the ERC decision and vowed to do everything it can to prevent the supposed termination of its PSAs. “We shall comply with the decision and we shall exert all available remedies to prevent termination of the PSAs with SPPC and SMEC.

However, in the event that SPPC and SMEC cannot actually deliver power to Meralco for whatever reason, we are constrained to source up to 1,000 MW from WESM without prejudice to the resolution of whatever legal remedies Meralco may pursue against SPPC/SMEC under the PSA,” said Valles.

Dimalanta said it is now really up to Meralco to decide if it will opt to file a claim against SMC should the termination push through. “I think we can wait on Meralco. We have confidence that Meralco is a prudent operator and long-established history in the industry, will act on it ac cordingly,” said the ERC chief.

The DOE hopes that Meralco’s next move will not be detrimental to consumer welfare. The agency, it said in a statement, is “highly confident that as responsible corporate citizens and business entities imbued with public interest, San Miguel Power and Meralco will be guided accordingly by the ERC Order and insure uninterrupted power supply to our people and the country, notwithstanding the denial of their joint petition.”

Variance in numbers

DURING the press briefing, the ERC commissioners said the figures pre sented in the joint plea are different from their numbers.

“When we used the commission data, the prices we arrived at were already at least P1.25 per kwh less. So, is it true that the rates will go up as high as they claim? That is where we have different positions on the matter,” said Dimalanta.

The commission noted that in Meralco’s calculations on price impact to consumers under a scenario wherein the PSAs are terminated, and with power being procured from WESM, Meralco utilized an average WESM price forecast of P8.94004 per kWh. The commission, on the other hand, simulated price impacts on the basis of actual market behavior, arriving at a figure of P7.6659 per kWh.

“It was determined that figures cited in the presentation appear to be misleading and may have been deliberately picked to justify the claims, perhaps to create a view that the denial of the joint motion will instantly and inevitably subject Meralco consumers to significantly higher passedon charges,” the ERC order read.

Reporting in Print Media for her reporting on sta tistics. This is a back-to-back win for Ordinario, who received the same award last year.

Apart from BusinessMirror and Ordinario, other awardees in the 11th NSM Media Awards were Ted Cordero of GMA News Online for “Best Statistical Reporting in Online Media”; Edson Guido of the ABS-CBN News Channel for “Best Statistical Reporting in TV Broadcasting Media”; and 107.7 Energy FM-Kalibo for “Best Statisti cal Reporting in Radio Broadcasting Media.”

PSA also gave a special award for PBS-Radyo Pilipinas “for their unwavering support in promot ing awareness and appreciation of the importance and value of statistics through the PSA Serbisyo Radyo Program.”

All the awardees received a plaque of recognition from the PSA.

ERC commissioner Catherine Maceda said that when making conclu sions, the parameters should be the same. “Same period of recovery, same amount being recovered, actual WESM ESSP or is it a forecast? That is the point of divergence, if you may call it that.”

Dimalanta said the figures cited in their joint motion are not the same as those presented during the hearings. “I am not saying that there was an irregularity. Every stakeholder has a respective interest in this regard. We identified certain discrepancies between what they presented and what we have after our validation.”

Consumers weigh in CONSUMER groups, meanwhile, welcomed the ERC decision.

“We welcome the decision of ERC to deny the rate hike petition of Meralco and SMCGP. ERC’s ruling stands on solid ground and serves as a firm reminder to power industry players of their obli gations and responsibilities to the nation. PSAs, unlike ordinary commercial contracts, are imbued with public interest and thus subject to strict regulation by the government.

Under this financial agreement, power suppliers must bear all the risks of market volatilities,” said Renato Redentor Constantino, executive di rector of the Manila-based climate and energy policy group Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities (ICSC).

The Power for People Coalition (P4P) hopes the latest ERC decision is “the start of more pro-consumer outcomes in the years to come.”

“The ERC’s recent history has made consumers pessimistic about the willingness of the agency to defend consumer rights. We are glad to have been proven wrong in this case. The vigilance and solidarity with which consumers resisted this threat of higher electricity rates bore fruit with this ERC decision,” said Gerry Arances, P4P Convenor.

Meanwhile,Kuryente.Org expressed disappointment with ERC com missioners Alexis Lumbatan and Marko Fuentes who were in favor of granting the petitioners a rate adjustment.

“For what we saw was an amateur of a dissenting opinion on the commission’s landmark denial of the petition by corporate giants San Miguel and Meralco to amend their contract and protect their profit amid a season of economic woes for the whole country,” said Kuryente. Org coordinator Nic Satur, Jr.

The

DOH confirms Covid cases in some schools

By Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco

@claudethmc3

THE rise of Covid-19 cases in schools are expected after face-to-face classes started in August, Department of Health (DOH) Officer in Charge Undersec retary Maria Rosario Vergeire said on Tuesday.

“Mayroong transmission na nang yayari, pero nakikita agad because of safety officers [There’s transmis sion happening but it can easily be detected because of safety officers],” Vergeire said in a news briefing.

The Department of Education on October 2 confirmed that Covid-19 cases have been reported in schools.

Safety officers are designated to conduct health screenings and imple ment Covid-19 protocols.

She, however, said that they are still gathering details on the num ber of affected students, teachers, and non-teaching personnel who contracted the disease.

To prevent the spread of Covid, Vergeire urged parents to get their children vaccinated.

PinasLakas

MEANWHILE , Vergeire reported that under the PinasLakas campaign, 3.2 million individuals have already received their first booster shot.

Cumulatively, she said, 19.7 million got their first booster, which equates to 25 percent of the eligible population.

Earlier Vergeire stressed that PinasLakas campaign for vaccina tion and boosters, plus continued adherence to the minimum public health standards make the return to school return possible.

PNP and NBI race to solve murder of radio broadcaster Percy Lapid

Condemnation

By Joel R. San Juan @jrsanjuan1573 & Rene Acosta   @reneacostaBM

dead along Aria Street, Barangay Talon Dos at around 8:30 p.m.

JUSTICE

Secretary Jesus Crisp in Remulla directed the Na tional Bureau of Investigation (NBI) on Tuesday to conduct its own investigation into the ambush-slay of hard-hitting radio broadcaster Percival Mabasa, also known by his radio name as Percy Lapid, on Monday night.

This developed as the Philip pine National Police (PNP) gave police investigators a 24-hour deadline to solve the killing with the creation of a special investi gation task group to thoroughly investigate the murder.

PNP chief General Rodolfo Azur in Jr. directed the National Capital Regional Police Office (NCRPO), Southern Police District and Las Pi ñas City Police Station to hasten the investigation and the identification of the perpetrators.

“The PNP has established a Special Investigation Task Group to handle the investigation. This will pave the way for a deeper probe to expedite the gathering of pieces of evidence and testi monies,” Azurin said.

Separate NBI probe

YES, the NBI is on the case,” Remulla said when asked if he would order the agency to conduct a separate probe into the killing.

The 63-year-old Mabasa was in side his vehicle when he was shot

The Las Piñas City Police has formed a special task group to in vestigate the killing and assured that authorities “will dig deeper into the case to give justice to the victim and his family.”

NCRPO chief Brig. Gen. Jonnel Estomo said the “special investi gation task group Lapid” has been created as he ordered the Las Piñas City Police Station to solve the case within 24 hours. The task group also included the Criminal Inves tigation Detection Group and the other police units.

“We will update the public in any smallest detail as to the development of the investigation. We guarantee to bring swift justice to the victim and his family,” Estomo said.

Azurin said the PNP is coordinat ing with the family of Mabasa and his colleagues in its effort to solve the case, which he said could not be declared yet as work-related.

“The PNP is coordinating with the family and his work colleagues for more relevant information. While his work as a radio commentator in volves discussion of critical issues, we cannot fully conclude as of this time that the motive is work-related, but we are exploring all possible angles as of this time,” he said.

“We assure our media colleagues that the PNP prioritizes the security of those working in the media in dustry. The PNP Media Vanguards will directly oversee the course of investigation of this incident,” the PNP chief said.

THE National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) has issued a statement condemning Lapid’s killing. The NUJP stressed the in cident only proves that “journalism remains a dangerous profession in the country. That the incident took place in Metro Manila indicates how brazen the perpetrators were, and how authorities have failed to pro tect journalists as well as ordinary citizens from harm.”

It noted that Mabasa, host of “Lapid Fire” on DWBL 1242, had been critical of the previous Duterte administration as well as some personalities and policies of the Marcos administration.

Mabasa is the second journalist killed under the administration of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr., according to the NUJP.

Last September 18, 2022, radio broadcaster Rey Blanco was stabbed dead in Mabinay, Negros Oriental.

“We condole with Lapid’s family including his brother and veteran journalist Roy Mabasa. We call on the public to join us in condemning yet another murder of a journalist. We call on the Philippine National Police to hold the perpetrators ac countable,” the group said.

Lapid’s killing happened as Re mulla was scheduled to meet with officials of the United Nations Hu man Rights Council (UNHRC) on October 4 in Geneva, Switzerland.

Remulla leads the country’s del egates to the UNHRC meetings, which will take place from October 4 to October 14.

The Philippine delegation will take part in the 51st Enhance In teractive Dialogue and Bilateral Meetings and the State’s Construc

tive Dialogue/Revalida with Hu man Rights Committee on the In ternational Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

‘Brutal attack’

SEN. Robinhood Padilla also issued a statement condemning Lapid’s slay ing. “I strongly condemn the fatal shooting of broadcaster Percy Lapid on Monday night. There is no place for crime in our midst, especially a brutal attack on a Filipino—be it a member of the media, a civilian, or a member of our uniformed person nel. This murder of a mediaman is an attack on the right to freedom of expression that is enshrined in our Constitution,” Padilla said.

The senator added, “Even as I offer my sincere sympathy to the family and loved ones of Percy, I call on our authorities to apprehend the perpe trators and solve this dastardly crime as soon as possible. I join our people’s calls for justice for Percy, and for the proper punishment against those behind this revolting incident.”

Crimes against society

THE labor coalition Nagkaisa and Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) also condemned the attacks against mediamen.

Nagkaisa said the incidents are considered as “crimes against soci ety since such acts curtail freedom of expression.”

“Failing on this would only bolster

any suspicion that this administra tion is merely a continuity ‘Duter tism’ if not an extended presidency of Marcos Sr.,” Nagkaisa said.

For its part, the Kilusang Mayo Uno urged Marcos to also address the matter.

“We have not heard anything from Marcos Jr. on his commitment for press freedom and ensuring the safety of journalists nationwide,” KMU said.

“There is no place in democracy for the harassment, bullying, and killing of journalists,” it added.

PBBM on Lapid’s death CONCERNED over the death of La pid, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. said he is now closely monitoring development of the case.

In an interview with officers of the Malacañang Press Corp. on Tuesday, Deputy Executive Secretary Hubert Guevarra disclosed Marcos instruct ed their office to closely monitor the outcome of the said investigation.

He said he would soon be meet ing the Presidential Task Force on Media Security (PTFMS) so they could coordinate with the Southern Police District, which is currently conducting the probe.

“I personally would meet with them [PTFMS] and convene them, if necessary, to advise them...to sit down with the Southern Police Dis trict and ensure that the conduct of investigation proceeds without any problem and submit to us—report to us hopefully within the next seven days,” Guevarra said.

With Samuel P. Medenilla

PHL and US agree to hold at least 500 military exercises next year USAID, Palo Alto sign accord for cyber-secure infra in PHL

BILATERAL cooperation and training between the Phil ippine and United States militaries have further strength ened following a meeting in Ha waii by top security officials who have agreed to increase the num ber of exercises and engagements next year.

The increased cooperation and engagements were reached during the recently concluded Mutual Defense Board and Security En gagement Board (MDB-SEB) held at Camp H. M. Smith in Hawaii where top Philippine military and police officials met with US military officials.

During the meeting, Army Commanding General Lt. Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. and Gen. Charles A. Flynn, commander of the United States Army Pacific (USARPAC), also held bilateral talks aimed at sustaining activi ties of both armies.

Brawner is part of the Philippine

delegation that included other mili tary officials, Philippine National Police Chief General Rodolfo Azurin Jr. and Philippine Coast Guard Ad miral Artemio Manalo Abu during the MDB-SEB.

Admiral John Aquilino, com mander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, led the US delegation, during the meeting that finalized the planning for next year’s bilat eral exercises and other security engagements between the two countries.

A statement from Army spokes man Col. Xerxes Trinidad said that the Philippine and US militaries agreed to more than 500 activities in 2023.

The MDB-SEB meetings held an nually seek to ensure partnership and cooperation between the two counties in support of the Mutual Defense Treaty through exercises, training and capability-building.

The MDB was established in 1958 while the SEB was estab

lished in 2006.

Meanwhile, Trinidad said the Army and USARPAC also capped the second phase of the Logistics Subject Matter Expert Exchange (LOGSMEE) hosted by USAR PAC’s 8th Theater Sustainment Command (8TSC) at Fort Shafter, Oahu, Hawaii.

Col. Jonjie Juguilon, Army Dep uty Assistant Chief of Staff for Lo gistics, and Col. Tracy Lanier, USAR PAC’s 8TSC Deputy Commander, led the four-day activity.

Trinidad said the LOGSMEE is alternately hosted by the Philippines and the US and it is aimed at enhancing interoper ability of both armies in logis tics operations.

It also provides a platform for sharing best practices on logistics operations in support of combined arms operations and sustaining strong relations between the Army and USARPAC logisticians.

By Lorenz S. Marasigan @lorenzmarasigan

THE United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and cyber-security solutions provider Palo Alto Networks signed on Tuesday a memorandum of understanding to help develop a cyber-secure digital infrastructure ecosystem in the Philippines.

The deal involves the close col laboration between the two groups that vowed to “help augment the digital infrastructure ecosystem, improve digital government services, and establish a robust cyber-security posture for the Philippines.”

USAID’s Better Access and Con nectivity (Beacon) Activity Chief of Party John Garrity said the initiative is part of the group’s private sector engagement policy to improve cyber-security capabili ties of the Philippines.

“If you think about any of the major

information and cyber-security issues and challenges we are facing today, what is required is a multi-stakeholder approach,” he said. “The partnership that we have is a reflection of a multistakeholder partnership-based ap proach to address these challenges.”

Under the partnership, USAID will leverage Palo Alto Network’s Zero Trust solution, which company offi cials described as “a strategic approach to cyber-security that helps secure an organization by eliminating implicit trust and continuously validating ev ery stage of digital interaction.”

This solution is particularly help ful for organizations—including government institutions—that have adopted a hybrid work setup, as it se cures remote access to data, applica tion, and critical infrastructure.

“Governments are modernizing their networks to take advantage of digital innovation and improve the way they communicate with citizens. As they modernize their IT

infrastructure, their cyber security must keep pace with these develop ments. Through this collaboration, we are keen to bring our expertise to help strengthen the defensive posture of the Philippines’s ICT eco system and protect the digital way of life for Filipinos,” Palo Alto Net works Philippines Country Manager Oscar Visaya said.

Cybercrime Investigation and Co ordination Center Deputy Executive Director Mary Rose E. Magsaysay noted that the partnership will help the government strengthen its cybersecurity systems, especially since the Philippines has been noted to be “vul nerable” against cyber attacks.

“This partnership signifies that there are moves for the government to be able to address this particular issue—that is actually a cry to the public that we have to be very seri ous in culpability for all our actions and that includes the scarcity in skills sets,” she said.

Boracay tourists no longer have to wear face mask on the beach

By Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo @akosistellaBM

to the BusinessMirror

Actual fresh air.

FINALLY!

The local government of Ma lay, Aklan has lifted the mask mandate on Boracay Island, where tourists go especially to swim and breathe in the clean sea air on the white beach.

Executive Order No. 26 by Mu nicipal Mayor Frolibar S. Bautista on September 12 suspended Mu nicipal Ordinance No. 470, specifi cally with regard to the wearing of face masks.

Malay’s EO 26 cited Malaca ñang’s EO No. 3 “allowing vol

untary wearing of face masks in outdoor settings and reiterating the continued implementation of minimum public health stan dards during the state of public health emergency relative to the Covid-19 pandemic…”

Compliance Association of Bora cay President Boyet Sacdalan told the BusinessMirror , “This is good news, because when outside, you do mostly outdoor activities, and when you are inside a restaurant and have to dine, you still have to remove your masks.”

He added that currently, “There are still people wearing masks out doors. Most of them are visitors, maybe about 50 percent of them. It’s

just an option for the guests.” Voluntary, but for seniors…

THE masking mandate in Boracay has been a cause of consternation among tourists, who sometimes forget to wear their masks while walking along the beach. Many have complained that while they aren’t arrested or jailed, the local police, who take down their per sonal details, unnecessarily detain them for long periods of time on the beach.

In an advisory on its Facebook page, however, the Malay local gogo vernment unit (LGU) clarified that while wearing of face mask in wellventilated public places is voluntary,

“face masks must be worn at all times for senior citizens and individuals with comorbidities and those inside crowded places, indoors, and in pub lic transportation.”

Arrivals to the island slipped to 122,373 in the month of September, with the onset of the monsoon sea son and the opening of school. Ac cording to the Malay LGU, arrivals to the island were 157,338 in August, and 183,096 in July.

Of the total arrivals in Septem ber, domestic tourists still account ed for the bulk at 106,776; overseas Filipinos or overseas Filipino work ers were 3,084; while foreign tour ists were 12,513. From January to September 2022, arrivals in Boracay

reached some 1.29 million.

Terminal fee raised HOWEVER, tourists still have to con tinue using Aklan’s QR code system before entering the island, considered by many international publications and travel web sites as among the best in the world. Boracay continues to be the most popular destination in the country among domestic tour ists, judging from the results of the just concluded 33rd Philippine Travel Mart. (See, “Public still spending on travel despite rising consumer prices,” in the BusinessMirror , October 3, 2022.)

Tour operators, travel agents, and other tourism stakeholders have

long complained about the QR code system of Aklan, which they feel is counter-productive, especially at a time when the new leadership at the Department of Tourism has called for the easing of travel restrictions to the country’s destinations.

Meanwhile, the Caticlan Jetty Port said in an advisory on its Face book page, “Pursuant to General Ordinance No. 2022-021 series of 2022, the terminal fee rate effective September 23, 2022 shall be P150 for all tourists 6 years old and above.” The terminal fee used to be P100.

Tourists to Boracay Island have to take a short boat ride from the Caticlan port, and thus have to pay the increased terminal fee.

Rene Acosta

Economy

Vittorio V. Vitug

Govs push review of Rice Tariffication law, return of NFA’s regulatory power

By Manuel T. Cayon @awimailbox Mindanao Bureau Chief

attained. “This did not happen in current situation,” she said.

DAVAO

CITY—Some members of the League of Provinces of the Philippines (LPP) are poised to ask the national government to review the Rice Tariffication law and to return the regulatory powers of the National Food Authority (NFA).

T his came out in the discussion of issues and concerns of local gov ernments during the second General Assembly of the LPP held in Koro nadal City, South Cotabato, from September 30 to October 1.

North Cotabato Gov. Emmylou “Lala” Taliño Mendoza Dumalo con firmed to reporters in the venue that the LPP Committee on Agriculture and Food has made recommenda

tions to the assembly to address the concern of farmers and the agricul ture sector in the country.

A mong the recommendations were a review to be made on the Rice Tariffication law and to return the regulatory powers of the NFA.

Mendoza said the Rice Tarif fication law must be reviewed to ensure that its avowed objective to bring down the price of rice will be

S outh Cotabato Gov. Reynaldo S. Tamayo Jr., the current LPP president, also confirmed the dis cussions of the Committee on Ag riculture and Food.

In his Facebook page, Tamayo reported that “taken up during the meeting was the report of and rec ommendations made during the first meeting of the LPP Committee on Agriculture, headed by Isabela Gov. Rodolfo Albano III, on the strategies that rice-producing provinces may take to increase local productivity and ensure food sufficiency in line with the President’s priority for ag riculture and food sufficiency.”

Secretary Benjamin D. Abalos Jr. of the Department of the Interior and Local Government graced the occasion and discussed varied issues, including his appeal to local govern ments to come up with their respec tive proposals in a planned amend ment to the Local Government Code.

He said the proposals would be

consolidated and presented to a special joint body composed of the DILG and the respective Committees on Local Government of the Senate and House of Representatives.

T hese committees would fast track legislative actions to amend RA 7160, or the Local Govern ment Code.

H is appeal for proposals was contained in his dialog with the provincial chief executives. Abalos emphasized three major points: strengthening of the Regional De velopment Councils in the determi nation of national projects and its alignment with local development directions; the enhancement of Executive Order 138 on full devo lution; and to step up the Covid-19 immunization program in provinces where the coverage still remains low.

EO 138, he said is still undergoing review process by the DILG.

I n his Facebook post, Tamayo added that the governors also dis cussed other important concerns such as: the need for greater vigi

lance especially by the BJMP (Bu reau of Jail Management and Penol ogy) and PNP (Philippine National Police) to ensure that jails are not used for venues of illegal drugs; implementing existing laws and policies on prior consultation with LCEs (local chief executives) on key appointments by national govern ment to LGUs such as the police directors; current challenges in the completion of Conditional Matching Grant to Provinces (CMGP) projects whose implementation were dis rupted due to the pandemic.

G ov. Mendoza has raised the CMGP issue during the governors’ session as she emphasized that this should continue “because of its big help to maintain the roads.”

T he CMGP, formerly called Kalsa da program, was intended for repair, rehabilitate and improve roads. This is a partnership program between the DILG and Department of Budget Management “for provincial LGUs in response to the needed infrastruc ture support, as well as reforms in

local roads management and public financial management,” the DILG said in its web site.

Tamayo said that “now is the best time for LGUs to have a bigger voice in the administration of President Bongbong Marcos, who was a former full-term governor himself.”

This could be done through a show of unity among all governors and provinces to push for national development, by getting out of the box and showcasing each other’s good practices and consider them for rep lication so that greater attention be given to LGUs,” he added.

He said the LPP would propose to Malacañang to allocate at least 20 percent of the National Expenditure Program to development projects proposed by LGUs.

T he governors were feted to pre sentation of the best practices of South Cotabato provincial govern ment, a tour of key destinations such as the first of the 7 Falls of Lake Sebu, a cruise along Lake Sebu and a view of Mt. Matutum.

By Butch Fernandez @butchfBM

Risa Hontiveros disclosed

SEN.

Tuesday the Department of Education (DepEd) asked for P150-million confidential fund in their annual budget, which, she said, is higher than the government intel ligence agency’s annual allocation.

In a news statement, the  senator instead suggested that  DepEd “focus on educational reform, instead of na tional security.”

“The proposed DepEd confiden tial fund is P150 million,” Hontiveros noted, while the National Intelligence Coordination Agency’s (NICA) pro posed P141.2-million budget for its confidential and intelligence fund.

Hontiveros, however, hastened to clarify, “We do not question the legal basis for the provision of confidential funds to civilian agencies like DepEd.

But their confidential fund, which they say is supposed to go to surveillance ac tivities for the security of students and teachers, is higher even than what the State’s intelligence agency asked for.”

The lawmaker lamented that “the budget prioritization is misplaced. Let’s leave intelligence and security to the pros.”

She conveyed concerns that said that any intelligence operation to be conducted by the DepEd will be “redun dant” when there are already “existing national security, national defense, law enforcement, even women and chil dren protection governmental bodies and programs.”

“I share the department’s advocacy of making schools safe spaces for our children. These are important issues that have been brought up, but they can be coordinated instead. We should avoid duplication of functions and fla grant job mismatch in government.

Hindi trabaho ng DepEd ang national security. At walang kakayahan o im prastraktura ang DepEd na maglunsad ng surveillance activities at crime busts,” the senator said.

Hontiveros reiterated her call to realign funds to Indigenous People’s education and other educational re forms in line with the DepEd mandate.

“Instead of compromising on edu cational programs and reforms, let’s realign funds to meet those needs. Ilagay natin ang pondo kung saan maka kasulit ang ating mga mag-aaral. We should empower DepEd to focus on its core mandate of helping teachers and students,” she said.

Court

SEN.Sherwin T. Gatchalian, seeking to ensure steady power supply, pressed the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) to fulfill its mandate of con tracting ancillary services.

Reminding that the Philippines is typhoon-prone, the senator stressed uninterrupted power supply is nec essary in “supporting critical infra structure and services for recovery and rehabilitation efforts in times of calamities.”

Gatchalian asserted that “the flow of energy supply should be stable and dependable to ensure operational re liability and prevent power outages that adversely impact the lives of our people and the economy in general,” adding “the NGCP must do its job and contract ancillary services.”

Airing his appeal as sitting vice chairman of the Senate Committee

on Energy, Gatchalian made the call following last month’s elevation of the grid status in Luzon “from yellow to red alert” followed by rotational brownouts that occurred in several provinces due to the shutdown and lower output of certain power plants.

Gatchalian emphasized the ur gency in the need to “contract an cillary services” considering that the existing 899 megawatts (MW) of such ancillary services are set to expire by 2023 and another 568 MW by 2024, recalling that about 1,511 MWs of ancillary services have al ready expired in 2020.

“Hindi dapat nagpapabaya ang NGCP sa tungkulin nito na pag-contract ng an cillary services upang masiguro natin ang tuluy-tuloy na supply ng enerhiya at maiwasan ang perwisyo na dulot ng pala giang brownout sa ating mga mamama yan,” the senator stressed. Butch Fernandez

By Roderick L. Abad @rodrik_28 Contributor

States, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Japan, and Australia.

cause’

vs ex-NTF-ELCAC official Badoy

By Joel R. San Juan     @jrsanjuan1573

THE Supreme Court has is sued a “show cause” order directing former National Task Force to End Local Com munist Armed Conflict (NTFELCAC) spokesperson Lorraine Marie Badoy to explain within 30 days why she should not be cited in contempt over her social media post red-tagging Manila Regional Trial Court (RTC) Judge Marlo Magdoza-Malagar follow ing the latter’s decision to junk a government petition to declare the Communist Party of the Phil ippines and its armed wing, the New People’s Army, as terrorist organizations.

The order was issued during Tues day’s regular en banc session of the SC and a week after it decided to tackle motu propio possible actions against Badoy in connection with her state ments against Judge Malagar.

“Now, therefore, further taking cognizance of the matter motu pro pio, the Court en banc resolves to… order Lorraine Marie T. Badoy to show cause, within a non-extendible period of 30 calendar days from the time that this Resolution is served on her, why she should not be cited in contempt of the Judiciary and therefore of this Court,” the en banc resolution read.

Furthermore, the Court ordered Badoy to respond under oath to the following questions: (1) Whether or not she posted or caused the post ing of the statements attacking the September 21, 2022 Resolution ren dered by the RTC in any or all of her social media accounts; (2) Whether or not her social media post encour aged more violent language against the judge concerned in any or all of her social media platforms; (3) Whether or not her post, in the context of social media and in the experience of similar incendiary comments here or abroad, was a clear incitement to produce violent actions against a judge and is likely to produce such act; and (4) Whether or not her statements on her social media accounts, implying violence on a judge, is part of her protected

constitutional speech.

The Court also took note of the statements issued by various lawyers and judges’ groups, such as Hukom, the Philippine Judges Association, and the University of the Philippine College of Law Fac ulty, condemning the red tagging of Judge Malagar by Badoy.

It also took note of the report submitted by the Office of the Court Administrator on the steps taken to ensure the safety and security of Judge Malagar.

Last week, the Court also issued a warning against those who continue to incite violence through social me dia and other means which endanger the lives of judges and their families, saying that such acts are considered a contempt of the Court and will be dealt with accordingly.

This developed as law deans and lawyers on Tuesday filed a petition before the SC, seeking to cite Badoy for indirect contempt also in connection with her Face book post, which the petitioners said was intended to  “assault and humiliate” Malagar after she ren dered the decision.

Among the petitioners are for mer Philippine Bar Association (PBA) President Rico Domingo, Ateneo Human Rights Center Ex ecutive Director Ray Paolo Santia go, former Ateneo law dean Anto nio “Tony” La Viña and law school deans Soledad Deriquito-Mawis, Anna Maria Abad and Rodel Ta ton, lawyers Ayn Ruth ToelntinoAzarcon, Artemio Calumpong and Christianne Grace Salonga.

If found guilty, Badoy may be meted with a penalty of six months imprisonment and P30,000 fine.

“Such shameless and public be havior towards an honorable public official is not only a conduct that tends to impede, obstruct or degrade the administration of justice, but is ultimately a direct affront against the dignity, honor, prestige and independence of the entire justice system,” the 35-page petition read.

The petitioners said they have legal standing to file the petition since it is their duty as lawyers to act as “guardians to the Rules of Law” and to fight any act that is

opposed to such objective.

“Indeed, the foregoing Facebook posts of respondent Badoy-Partosa are nothing less than contumacious as they directly besmirch and tear down the reputation and credibil ity of Judge Malagar and likewise impair the respect due, not only to Judge Malagar, but also to all members of the Philippine Bench and Bar,” the petitioners said.

“Respondent Badoy-Partosa’s misconduct and misbehavior call on the public to lose trust and con fidence on the authority of the Ju diciary and to disregard the dignity and integrity of the courts of law. Her actions result to the inevitable discrediting of the authority of the court magistrates, as well as of the entire administration of justice,” they added.

The petitioners stressed that the issue of the propriety to impose in direct contempt citation on Badoy is of “transcendental importance” since it would have “far-reaching consequences” to the independence of the Judiciary.

“Respondent’s acts are abhorrent to the social order as they threaten to assault the basic rights of the people, particularly of the members of the Bench. This case is a matter of great importance and concern to the pub lic,” the petitioners pointed out.

The petitioners added the “vi cious assault” against Judge Mal agar has alarmed and shaken the judicial magistrates and lawyers so much so that several law groups such as the Philippine Bar Asso ciation, Philippine Judges Associa tion, Integrated Bar of the Philip pines and Hukom Inc. described the online vilification and red-tagging as constituting “endangerment” of a member of the judiciary and an “attack on the rule of law and the independence of the Judiciary.”

Aside from Badoy’s Facebook posts threatening Judge Malagar and saying she is “lawyering” for the CPP-NPA, the petitioners not ed that it was followed by a string of similarly crafted remarks, com ments, images and videos uploaded and shared by the former and her social media followers, who the petitioners said, “seemingly await

for Respondent’s instruction and call to action.”

The petitioners also noted that Judge Malagar is not the only tar get of Badoy’s hostile and threat ening remarks, the petitioners said, citing her vitriolic and hate ful statement against Hukom Inc. after the latter condemned her statement against the judge.

“Evidently unsatisfied with the threatening remarks against Judge Magdoza-Malagar, Respondent Badoy-Partosa has commenced adding more fuel to the fire as she unabashedly direct her vitriol and hate against all members of the Philippine Judiciary as well as the members of the legal profession who do not agree with her statements,” the petition read.

“It is slanderous, abusive, un fair and criminal. Respondent has threatened the life of Judge Mal agar and her husband, subjects them to slanderous accusations and through her actions, called on the public to do the same. This is truly detrimental to the independence of the Judiciary, and grossly violative of the duty of respect for courts,” the petition added.

In her Facebook post, Badoy ac cused Judge Malagar of lawyering for the CPP-NPA when she ruled that rebellion and political crimes are not acts of terrorism.

Badoy even called the judge a “friend and true ally” of the com munist groups and branded her de cision as a “judgment straight from the bowels of communist hell.”

Badoy also wrote in her post: “So, If I kill this judge and I do so out of my political belief that all allies of the CPP-NPA-NDF must be killed because there is no difference in my mind between a member of the CPPNPA-NDF and their friends, then please be lenient with me.”

However, in her succeeding Face book posts, Badoy disowned the post and branded it as “fake news” follow ing backlash from the various sectors.

In junking the government’s case against the CPP-NPA, Judge Malagar held that the communist movement was not organized for the purpose of engaging or com mitting terrorism.

medium enterprises (MSMEs) to address these issues.

THE

Center for International Trade Expositions and Mis sions (Citem), the export pro motions arm of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), said on Tuesday that it exceeded its sales tar get for the recently concluded IFEX Philippines 2022.

Based on initial consolidated sales report of the participants for the government-run food trade show, export sales approximately reached $100 million while domestic sales amounted to P56 million.

“Target for export sales is $39.49 million. [Such] target is 264 percent realized as of Septem ber 30. [But we’re still] clarifying if we have domestic sales targets because our mandate is only in ternational,” Citem Information Officer IV Pia Lorraine Y. Dalm azo told the BusinessMirror in an e-mail interview.

Event organizer Citem expects these figures to increase once the sales data from all the more than 300 Filipino exhibitors come in.

Nearly 6,000 local and foreign buyers and visitors trooped to the World Trade Center Metro Ma nila in Pasay City, from Septem ber 22 to 24, to see and purchase thousands of premium local food products exhibited during the expo. Apart from different parts of the Philippines, some visitors came all the way from the United

Citem Deputy Executive Direc tor Ma. Lourdes D. Mediran said that IFEX Philippines 2022 was de signed to be “a site of reunion and rediscovery” where Philippine food companies and international buyers can reaffirm their partnerships and make new connections.

Senators Cynthia Villar and Maria Josefa Imelda “Imee” Mar cos graced the opening ceremony, together with top local and foreign government officials.

In her recorded keynote speech, the former underscored the role of agriculture in uplifting the economy and the efforts being made to assist the sector.

Villar said supporting the agricul ture industry is needed to guarantee flexibility during crises like the lin gering Covid-19 pandemic.

“We should continue supporting our local produce to ensure our food security and self-sufficiency,” said Villar, who serves as the chairperson of the Senate Committee on Agricul ture, Food and Agrarian Reform.

She also talked about the prob lems now affecting the food and agriculture sectors, including import reliance, food shortages, and hunger.

Marcos, who is the vice chair person of the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Food and chairper son of the Committee on Coopera tives, emphasized the importance of backing up the micro, small and

“The truth of the matter is that I truly believe that in the end, all these depressing views in the ag ricultural and food sector can only be righted by a much more vigorous and vibrant MSME and retail popu lation,” she said.

Citing the global factors that affect the country’s economy, DTI Undersecretary Ireneo Vizmonte noted that these conditions require sustainable and inclusive response from the national government.

Reiterating their commitment to uplift the country’s food sec tor, he pointed out that science, technology and innovation are vital in establishing a competitive economy—the very focus of DTI under the leadership of Secretary Alfredo Pascual.

“The goal is to grow and de velop globally competitive and innovative industries that sup port inclusive growth and improve environmental sustainability and the quality of life for Filipinos,” Vizmonte said.

Vizmonte said one of their priori ties is the digital transformation of MSMEs and the growth and develop ment of startups. Through innova tion and digitalization, the agency will double its efforts to upgrade and scale MSMEs to improve their productivity growth, employment creation, and participation in global value chains.

“The MSME sector is instrumen

tal to the growth of the Philippine economy, accounting for 99 percent of all businesses in the country. Needless to say, it is of utmost impor tance that we ensure that entrepre neurs have access to all the resources, platforms, and technologies that they need to grow their businesses,” Vizmonte said.

Pushing for industrialization, he added that they will reconfigure the export industry into three clus ters—industrial, manufacturing, and transport; technology, media, and telecommunication; and health and life sciences—to build up more the country as an exporter of highvalue products.

Assistant Secretary Glenn Peñaranda, officer-in-charge of DTI’s Trade Promotions Group (TPG), echoed this in his recorded welcome message by highlighting programs aimed at boosting the competitiveness of MSMEs in the global market, including capacitybuilding like the Philippine Trade Training Center’s Global MSME Academy, export assistance proj ect RIPPLES; and market access platforms like Citem’s signature programs and participation in overseas trade fairs.

“The Philippines is one of the most exciting destinations for quality food exports, but with stiff competition from our neighbors, and other drivers such as climate change and health crises, we must continuously adapt and reassert our place in the market,” he said.

By Andrea San Juan

THE Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has 81,649 pieces of uncertified tires for automotive vehicles, GI steel pipes, deformed steel bars, and low carbon steel wires worth P14.7 mil lion in Cebu.

The DTI, through its Fair Trade Enforcement Bureau (FTEB), said it inspected retail firms in Bu lacan, Cebu, and Davao City last month to ensure that only safe and reliable consumer products are in the market.

The enforcement teams, spear headed by Consumer Protection Group (CPG) Undersecretary Ruth B. Castelo, commenced the two-day operations in Cebu, on September 1 and 2. The DTI said the teams have clamped down on 81,649 pieces of uncertified tires for automotive vehicles, G.I. steel pipes, deformed steel bars, and low carbon steel wires worth P14,776,550.

The DTI said the Cebu opera tions were immediately followed by another enforcement operation in Davao del Norte, which was con ducted on September 15, and 16, where the trade department also seized 1,765 pieces of uncertified products worth P830,520.

The sealed products, the DTI said, include self-ballasted lightemitting diode (LED) lamps, PVC electrical tapes, plugs, socketoutlets, snap switches, BI/GI steel pipes, low carbon steel wires, pipes (uPVC) for potable water supply, uPVC rigid electrical conduit, ce ramic plumbing fixtures (sanitary wares), lead-acid storage batteries, inner tubes for tires, and tires for automotive vehicles.

Meanwhile, the enforcement operation stretched to Malolos and Meycauayan in Bulacan last Sep tember 22, which the agency said led to the sealing of 1,472 pieces of uncertified low carbon steel wires, tires for automotive vehicles and lead acid storage batteries. The DTI revealed that these sealed items amounted to P1,626,430.

Out of the 37 firms inspected, the agency said 23 non-compliant stores were issued Notices of Viola tion (NOVs), mandating these firms to explain within 48 hours from the receipt of the notice.

Castelo, for her part, empha sized that aside from upholding consumer protection, intensified enforcement operations is also a “great way” to educate businesses regarding mandatory certification that they have to comply with for a fair trading environment.

N. Korea fires missile over Japan; Tokyo issues evacuation notices

By Hyung-Jin Kim, Kim Tong-Hyung & Mari Yamaguchi The Associated Press

SEOUL, South Korea—North Korea on Tuesday fired an intermediate-range ballistic missile over Japan for the first time in five years, forcing Japan to issue evacuation notices and suspend trains during the flight of the weapon that is capable of reaching the US territory of Guam.

The launch was the most pro vocative weapons demonstration by North Korea this year as it ramps up missile tests to a record pace. Two intercontinental bal listic missiles tested earlier this year were launched at high angles and short of their full range and so didn’t fly over other nations’ territories.

Tuesday’s test, the North’s fifth round of missile launches in 10 days, comes as North Korea uses a diplomatic standstill with the US to build up a full-fledged nu clear weapons program that viably threatens regional US allies and the American homeland.

The Japanese prime minister’s

office said at least one missile fired from North Korea flew over Japan and was believed to have landed into the Pacific Ocean.

Japanese authorities alerted residents in northeastern regions to evacuate to shelters, in the first “J-alert” since 2017, when North Korea fired an intermediate-range Hwasong-12 missile twice over Japan in a span of weeks during its previous torrid run of weap ons tests.

Trains were suspended in the Hokkaido and Aomori regions until the government issued a subsequent notice that the North Korean missile appeared to have landed into the Pacific.

Officials: US to send Ukraine more advanced rocket systems

By Lolita C. Baldor & Matthew Lee The Associated Press

WASHINGTON—The US will soon deliv er to Ukraine four more of the advanced rocket systems credited with helping the country’s military gain mo mentum in its war with Russia.

The High Mobility Artil lery Rocket Systems, known as HIMARS, will be part of a new $625 million package of aid expected to be announced on Tuesday, according to US officials.

The decision marks the first time the US has sent more HI MARS to Ukraine since late July, and it will bring the to tal number delivered so far to 20. The systems have become a key tool in Ukraine’s ability to strike bridges that Russia has used to supply its troops, enabling Ukrainian forces to make inroads in Russia-con trolled regions.

The US in recent weeks also provided funding through a separate program—the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative— so another 18 HIMARS can be purchased through longer-term contracts. USAI funds are being used as part of the effort by the US and Western allies to ensure Ukraine’s forces are trained and equipped to defend their country in the years to come. But those contracts will take several years to fulfill.

The latest aid package is also expected to include other am munition and equipment for Ukraine’s troops. Several US officials spoke on condition of

anonymity to provide details of the package ahead of the an nouncement. This is the first tranche of US aid delivered in the new fiscal year, which began October 1.

Ukraine has pressed its coun teroffensive in the Kherson re gion since the summer, relent lessly pummeling Russian sup ply lines and making inroads into Russian-held areas west of the Dnieper River. Ukraini an troops have been using the HIMARS to repeatedly hit the main bridge across the Dnieper and a dam that served as a sec ond crossing. It also has struck pontoon bridges that Russia has used to supply its troops.

Ukraine’s battlefield suc cesses in Kherson are notable since that is one of the four ar eas that Russia is in the process of annexing.

A senior US military offi cial said Monday that the at tacks by Ukrainian forces have forced Russia into a “defensive crouch” in Kherson, hamper ing Russian efforts to resupply their frontline troops.

The official, who briefed reporters on condition of ano nymity to provide a US military assessment of the war, said that so far the US has seen only small numbers of Russian reinforce ments coming into Ukraine in an effort to shore up their de fenses. Russia has said it will mobilize upwards of 300,000 conscripts to send to Ukraine.

The official also said that de spite persistent Russian threats to use nuclear force, the US has seen no moves by the Krem lin that would cause the US to change its own nuclear posture.

The United States condemned the launch as “dangerous and reckless” and said national se curity adviser Jake Sullivan had consulted with his South Korean and Japanese counter parts on their appropriate and robust responses.

“The United States will contin ue its efforts to limit the DPRK’s ability to advance its prohibited ballistic missile and weapons of mass destruction programs, in cluding with allies and UN part ners,” National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said in a statement.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters that “the

firing, which followed a recent se ries of launches by North Korea, is a reckless act and I strongly con demn it.” Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said no damage was immediately re ported from the missile that flew 22 minutes.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement it detected the missile being fired from the inland north in North Korea. It warned the North’s repeated mis sile launches would only deepen its international isolation and prompt Seoul and Washington to bolster their deterrence capacities.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol also said the North’s

“reckless nuclear provocations” would meet the stern response of the South and the broader inter national community.

Both South Korea and Japan convened emergency national se curity council meeting to discuss the launch.

According to South Korean and Japanese estimates, the missile travelled about 4,5004,600 kilometers (2,800-2,860 miles) at a maximum altitude of 970-1,000 kilometers (600620 miles) before landing in the waters outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone.

Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada said the mis sile’s estimated flight distance is believed to be “the longest” among the past North Korea-launched missiles.

The flight distance shows the missile’s range is enough to hit Guam, home to US military bases that sent advanced warplanes to the Korean Peninsula in shows of force in past tensions with North Korea. In 2017, North Ko rea threatened to make “an en veloping fire” near Guam with Hwasong-12 missiles amid rising animosities with the then-Trump administration.

North Korea last test-fired a Hwasong-12 missile in January. At the time, the North’s state me dia said the launch was meant to verify the overall accuracy of the

weapon that was being deployed in its military. But it said the missile was launched on a lofted angle to prevent it from flying over other countries.

Kim Dong-yub, a professor at Seoul’s University of North Ko rean Studies, said the North likely tested the Hwasong-12 again on Tuesday.

The recent spate of weapons tests are an apparent response to bilateral military drills between South Korea and the United States and other training among the allies including Japan last week.

The missiles fired during the past four rounds of launches were short-range and fell in the waters between the Korean Pen insula and Japan. Those missiles are capable of hitting targets in South Korea.

North Korea has test-fired about 40 missiles over about 20 different launch events this year as its leader Kim Jong Un vows to expand his nuclear arsenal and refuses to return to nuclear di plomacy with the United States.

Some experts say Kim eventu ally would try to use his enlarged arsenal to pressure Washington to accept his country as a nuclear state, a recognition that he thinks is necessary to win the lifting of international sanctions and other concessions.

Yamaguchi reported from Tokyo.

Nobel win for Swedish scientist who unlocked secrets of Neanderthal DNA

By Pietro De Cristofaro & Laura Ungar The Associated Press

LEIPZIG, Germany—Swedish scientist Svante Paabo won the Nobel Prize in medicine Monday for discoveries in human evolution that unlocked secrets of Neanderthal DNA that helped us understand what makes humans unique and provided key insights into our immune system, includ ing our vulnerability to severe Covid-19.

Techniques that Paabo spear headed allowed researchers to compare the genome of modern humans and that of other homi nins—the Denisovans as well as Neanderthals.

“Just as you do an archeological excavation to find out about the past, we sort of make excavations in the human genome,” he said at a news conference held by Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig.

While Neanderthal bones were first discovered in the mid-19th century, only by understanding their DNA—often referred to as the code of life—have scientists been able to fully understand the links between species.

This included the time when modern humans and Neander thals diverged as a species, around 800,000 years ago.

“Paabo and his team also sur prisingly found that gene flow had occurred from Neanderthals to Homo sapiens, demonstrating that they had children together during periods of co-existence,” said Anna Wedell, chair of the Nobel Committee.

This transfer of genes between hominin species affects how the immune system of modern hu mans reacts to infections, such as the coronavirus. People out side Africa have 1-2 percent of Neanderthal genes. Neanderthals were never in Africa, so there’s no known direct contribution to peo ple in sub-Saharan Africa.

Paabo and his team managed to extract DNA from a tiny finger bone found in a cave in Siberia, leading to the recognition of a new species of ancient humans they called Denisovans.

Wedell called it “a sensational discovery” that showed Neander thals and Denisovans were sister groups that split from each other around 600,000 years ago. Deniso van genes have been found in up to 6 percent of modern humans in Asia and Southeast Asia, indicating interbreeding occurred there too.

“By mixing with them after mi grating out of Africa, Homo sapi ens picked up sequences that im proved their chances to survive in their new environments,” Wedell said. For example, Tibetans share a gene with Denisovans that helps them adapt to high altitude.

Paabo said he was surprised to learn of his win, and at first thought it was an elaborate prank by colleagues or a call about his summer home in Sweden.

“So I was just gulping down the last cup of tea to go and pick up my daughter at her nanny where she has had an overnight stay, and then I got this call from Sweden,” he said in an interview on the Nobel Prizes homepage. “I thought, ‘Oh the lawn mower’s broken down or something’” at the summer home.

He also mused about what would have happened if Nean derthals had survived another 40,000 years.

“Would we see even worse rac ism against Neanderthals, because they were really in some sense dif ferent from us? Or would we actu ally see our place in the living world quite in a different way when we would have other forms of humans there that are very like us but still different,” he said.

Paabo, 67, performed his prize winning studies at the University of Munich and at the Max Planck Institute. During the celebra tions after the news conference in Leipzig, colleagues threw him into a pool of water. Paabo took

it with humor, splashing his feet and laughing.

Paabo’s father, Sune Bergstrom, won the Nobel Prize in medicine in 1982, the eighth time the son or daughter of a laureate also won a Nobel Prize. In his book “Nean derthal Man: In Search of Lost Genomes,” Paabo described him self as Bergstrom’s “secret extra marital son”—something he also mentioned briefly on Monday.

His father took a “big interest” in his work, he said, but it was his mother who most encouraged him.

“The biggest influence in my life was for sure my mother, with whom I grew up,” he said in the No bel interview. “And in some sense it makes me a bit sad that she can’t experience this day. She sort of was very much into science, and very much stimulated and encouraged me through the years.”

Scientists in the field lauded the Nobel Committee’s choice.

David Reich, a geneticist at Harvard Medical School, said he was thrilled, fearing the field of ancient DNA might “fall between the cracks.”

By recognizing that DNA can be preserved for tens of thou sands of years—and developing ways to extract it—Paabo and his team created a completely new way to answer questions about our past, said Reich, who is paid by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, which also supports The Associated Press’ Health and Sci ence Department.

Dr. Eric Green, director of the National Human Genome Re search Institute at the US National Institutes of Health, called it “a great day for genomics,” a relative ly young field first named in 1987.

The Human Genome project, which ran from 1990-2003, “got us the first sequence of the human genome, and we’ve improved that sequence ever since,” Green said.

When you sequence DNA from an ancient fossil, you only have “vanishingly small amounts,” Green said. Among Paabo’s innovations

was figuring out methods for ex tracting and preserving these tiny amounts. He was then able to lay pieces of the Neanderthal genome sequence against the sequencing of the Human Genome Project.

Paabo’s team published the first draft of a Neanderthal genome in 2009, and sequenced more than 60 percent of the full genome from a small sample of bone, after con tending with decay and contami nation from bacteria.

“We should always be proud of the fact that we sequenced our genome. But the idea that we can go back in time and sequence the genome that doesn’t live anymore and something that’s a direct rela tive of humans is truly remark able,” Green said.

Paabo said they discovered dur ing the pandemic that “the greatest risk factor to become severely ill and even die when you’re infected with the virus has come over to modern people from Neanderthals. So we and others are now intensely study ing the Neanderthal version versus the protective modern version to try to understand what the functional difference would be.”

Nobel Prize announcements continue Tuesday with the phys ics prize, chemistry on Wednes day and literature on Thursday. The Nobel Peace Prize will be an nounced Friday and the economics award on October 10.

Last year’s medicine recipients were David Julius and Ardem Pata poutian for their discoveries into how the human body perceives temperature and touch.

The prizes carry a cash award of 10 million Swedish kronor (nearly $900,000) and will be handed out on Dec. 10. The money comes from a bequest left by the prize’s creator, Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel, who died in 1895.

Ungar reported from Louisville, Kentucky. Frank Jordans contributed from Berlin; David Keyton from Stock holm, Sweden, and Maddie Burakoff from New York.

JAPANESE Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada, center, speaks to the media following a missile launch by North Korea, at Defense Ministry in Tokyo on Tuesday, October 4, 2022. North Korea on Tuesday fired an intermediate-range ballistic missile over Japan for the first time in five years, forcing Japan to issue evacuation notices and suspend trains, as the North escalates tests of weapons designed to strike regional US allies. KYODO NEWS VIA AP

The World

Wall Street soars to best day since summer, S&P 500 advances 2.6%

By Damian J. Troise And Stan Choe AP Business Writers

Publishing executive charged in Tokyo Olympic bribes scandal

By Yuri Kageyama The Associated Press

TOKYO—A top executive at a major Japanese publisher was charged Tuesday with bribing a former Tokyo Olympics organizing committee member.

The charges against Tsuguhiko Kadokawa, a major figure in Japan’s movie and entertainment industry, are the latest in the unfolding cor ruption scandal related to last year’s Tokyo Summer Games.

Kadokawa was arrested Sept. 14 on suspicion of bribing Har uyuki Takahashi with 69 million yen ($480,000).

Takahashi, a former executive at advertising company Dentsu who joined the Tokyo Olympic organizing committee in 2014, had great influence in arranging sponsorships for the Games. He has been arrested and re-arrested three times since August.

All the while, he has remained in custody and is also facing brib ery allegations involving two other companies: Aoki Holdings, a clothing company that dressed Japan’s Olympic team, and Daiko Advertising Inc.

Tagging on additional allega tions, which keeps a suspect in custody, is known as “hostage jus tice,” and is a widely criticized but common practice in Japan.

Analysts say the arrests and charges may continue for months in the Olympics scandal, as more than 50 companies were sponsors.

Kadokawa, the son of the pub lishing company’s founder, said in a statement carried on Japa nese media that he would quit as chairman.

“I feel I must take responsibil ity. Kadokawa is facing a serious challenge, and a new leadership is needed so it can be overcome,” he said.

Several other officials at the companies accused of bribery have been arrested, including two other Kadokawa employees.

Tokyo-based Kadokawa Group, which also makes movies and games, said it takes the charges seriously.

“We deeply and repeatedly apol ogize to our readers, users, writ ers and creators, shareholders and investors and all others who may have been affected,” the company said in a statement.

Prosecutors say Takahashi acted in ways to favor the companies with business benefits related to the Olympics in return for the bribes.

The official price tag for the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics was $13 billion, mostly public money. The Games were post poned for a year because of the coronavirus pandemic.

EU chiefs eye common spending as German fiscal force worries allies

By Kamil Kowalcze, William Horobin & Alessandra Migliaccio

TWO top European Union of ficials called for the use of common spending to tackle the energy crisis as member states ratcheted up criticism of German plans for a giant borrowing program to cap power prices.

EU internal market chief Thi erry Breton and Paolo Gentiloni, the bloc’s economy czar, said the current situation requires solidar ity among member states, including the issuance of joint-guaranteed debt similar to what was done dur ing the Covid pandemic.

“The energy crisis and rising social anger in a context of record inflation and astronomical gas and electricity prices has brought us to another crossroads,” the two officials said in op-eds published in European newspapers including Germany’s Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

“We must think about mutualized tools at the European level,” they said. “Only a European budgetary response will allow us, by support ing the action of the ECB, to respond effectively to this crisis and to calm volatile financial markets.”

The push for joint debt issuance faces strong opposition from more hawkish EU members, including Germany. While the bloc launched a 1.8 trillion-euro ($1.8 trillion) emergency package backed by joint debt to finance member states’ ef forts to deal with the pandemic, such a move was unprecedented.

instruments, but this crisis is very different from the corona pan demic,” German Finance Minister Christian Lindner told reporters Tuesday before a meeting with his EU counterparts in Luxembourg.

“We aren’t dealing with a demand shock where public funds have to be used to stabilize demand or stimu late the economy, we are dealing with a supply-side shock, and we have to react to it by expanding the supply and by showing a joint front on the international markets.”

The search for a common Euro pean solution to the crisis comes as concern mounts over Germany’s 200 billion-euro plan, announced last week, to keep power prices in check.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said the measures would put a “large protective umbrella” over Europe’s biggest economy. But it wouldn’t shield other na tions struggling with higher power prices.

“If there is no consultation, no solidarity, no targeted support and no respect of fair competition condi tions, we risk a fragmentation of the euro area,” French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Monday. His Finnish counterpart, Annika Saarik ko, said there should be more aware ness of the impact of one country’s decisions on others.

Greater divergence within Eu rope could further hobble an econ omy that is already at risk of fall ing into recession over the winter.

Failing to work together would also contrast with the European Union’s response to Covid, when govern ments issued debt for a massive recovery fund to benefit countries most in need.

NEW YORK—Wall Street soared to its best day in months Monday in a widespread relief rally after some unexpectedly weak data on the economy raised the possibility that the Federal Reserve won’t have to be so aggressive about hiking interest rates.

The S&P 500’s leap of 2.6 per cent was its biggest since July, the latest swing for a scattershot market that’s been mostly falling this year on worries about a pos sible global recession. Wall Street’s main measure of health was com ing off its worst month since the coronavirus crashed markets in early 2020 and is still down nearly 23 percent for the year.

The Dow Jones Industrial Av erage jumped 2.7 percent, and the Nasdaq composite gained 2.3 per cent in Monday’s widespread rally that swept the vast majority of US stocks higher.

Stocks took their cue from the bond market, where yields fell to ease some of the pressure that’s been battering markets this year. The yield on the 10-year Treasury, which helps set rates for mortgages and many other kinds of loans, fell to 3.64 percent from 3.83 percent late Friday. It got as high as 4 per cent last week after starting the year at just 1.51 percent.

Helping to drive markets was a report on US manufacturing that came in weaker than expected, along with data showing a drop off in construction sending from July to August. While that may seem discouraging for the economy, it could mean the Federal Reserve won’t have to be so aggressive about raising interest rates in or der to beat down the high inflation damaging households’ finances.

By raising rates, the Fed is mak ing it more expensive to buy a house, a car or most anything else purchased on credit. The hope is to slow the economy just enough to starve inflation of the purchases needed to keep prices rising so quickly. But the Fed also risks caus ing a recession if it goes too far.

The Fed has already pulled its key overnight interest rate to a range of 3 percent to 3.25 percent, up from virtually zero as recently as March. Most traders expect it to be more than a full percentage point higher by early next year.

The yield on the two-year Trea sury, which more closely tracks expectations for Fed action, fell to 4.11 percent from 4.27 percent fol lowing the weaker-than-expected reports on the economy.

Besides stocks, lower rates also boost prices for everything from cryptocurrencies to gold, which can suddenly look a bit more at tractive when bonds are paying less in income.

Stocks of high-growth com panies and particularly risky or expensive investments have been the most affected by changes in rates. Bitcoin rallied Monday with the reprieve in yields, while technology stocks did the heavi est lifting to carry the S&P 500. Apple and Microsoft both rose more than 3 percent.

Altogether, the S&P 500 climbed 92.81 points to close at

3,678.43. The Dow gained 765.38 to 29,490.89, and the Nasdaq rose 239.82 to 10,815.43.

Still, cross currents continue to course through markets, and ana lysts largely expect sharp swings in prices to continue.

Crude oil prices jumped Monday amid speculation big oil-producing countries could soon announce cuts to production. That adds up ward pressure on inflation.

It also lifted shares of energyproducing companies to big gains. Exxon Mobil leaped 5.3 percent, and Chevron climbed 5.6 percent.

Monday’s rally came despite an 8.6 percent drop for Tesla, one of the most influential stocks on Wall Street because of its massive market value. The maker of electric vehicles delivered fewer vehicles from July through September than investors expected.

More turbulence for markets could arrive Friday, when the lat est update on the US jobs market hits. Along with its reports on in flation, the US government’s jobs report has been one of the most highly anticipated pieces of data on Wall Street each month.

It will be the last jobs report before the Fed makes its next decision on interest rates, sched uled for November 2, and con tinued strength would give the central bank more leeway to keep hiking. Traders say the likeliest move is a fourth straight increase of a whopping three-quarters of

a percentage point, triple the usual move.

For markets to make a mean ingful move higher, many inves tors say they need to see a break in inflation that gets the Fed to ease off its aggressive path.

Such hopes for a Fed “pivot” by investors have repeatedly resur faced this year, only to get shot down by further accelerations in inflation.

But with stresses building in fi nancial markets as central banks around the world hike rates in concert, conditions have gotten “into the danger zone where ‘bad stuff’ happens,” according to Mi chael Wilson, equity strategist at Morgan Stanley.

That could get the Fed to blink at some point. The problem, Wil son says, is that another force weighing on markets could soon come to the forefront: weaker cor porate profits.

A suite of challenges from higher interest rates to the surg ing value of the US dollar may be setting things up for “the freight train of the oncoming earnings recession,” he wrote in a report. Companies are getting ready now to report in upcoming weeks how much they earned during the summer, and analysts have been downgrading their expectations.

AP Business Writers Elaine Kur tenbach and Matt Ott contributed to this report.

Indonesia police chief, others removed over soccer disaster

By Agoes Basoeki & Edna Tarigan The Associated Press

MALANG, Indonesia—An Indonesian police chief and nine elite officers were removed from their posts Monday and 18 others were being investigat ed for responsibility in the firing of tear gas inside a soccer stadium that set off a stampede, killing at least 125 people, officials said.

Distraught family members were struggling to comprehend the loss of their loved ones, including 17 children, at the match in East Java’s Malang city that was attended only by hometown Arema FC fans. The organizer had banned supporters of the visiting team, Persebaya Sura baya, because of Indonesia’s history of violent soccer rivalries.

The disaster Saturday night was among the deadliest ever at a sporting event.

Arema players and officials laid wreaths Monday in front of the stadium.

“We came here as a team asking forgiveness from the families im pacted by this tragedy, those who lost their loves ones or the ones still being treated in the hospital,” head coach Javier Roca said.

On Monday night, about a thou sand soccer fans dressed in black shirts held a candlelight vigil at a soccer stadium in Jakarta’s satellite city of Bekasi to pray for the victims of the disaster.

Witnesses said some of the 42,000 Arema fans ran onto the

pitch in anger on Saturday after the team was defeated 3-2, its first loss at home against Persebaya in 23 years. Some threw bottles and other objects at players and soccer officials. At least five police vehicles were toppled and set ablaze outside the stadium.

But most of the deaths occurred when riot police, trying to stop the violence, fired tear gas, including in the stands, triggering a disastrous stampede of fans making a panicked, chaotic run for the exits. Most of the 125 people who died were trampled or suffocated. The victims included two police officers.

At least 17 children were among the dead and seven were being treated in hospitals, the Ministry of Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection said. Police said 323 people were injured in the crush, with some still in critical condition.

National Police spokesperson Dedy Prasetyo said Malang police chief Ferli Hidayat had been re moved along with nine members of an elite police mobile brigade and face possible dismissal in a police ethics trial.

He said 18 officers responsible for firing the tear gas, ranging from middle- to high-ranking, were being investigated.

Police are questioning witnesses and analyzing video from 32 secu rity cameras inside and outside the stadium and nine cellphones owned by the victims as part of an investiga tion that will also identify suspected vandals, he said.

The parents and other relatives of Faiqotul Hikmah, 22, wailed Monday when an ambulance ar rived at their home with her body wrapped in white cloth and a black blanket. She died while fleeing to exit 12 at Kanjuruhan Stadium.

A dozen friends had traveled with her to see the match, but Hikmah was one of only four that were able to enter the stadium because tick ets were sold out, her friend, Abdul Mukid, said Monday. He later bought a ticket from a broker after hearing of the chaos inside the stadium in order to search for Hikman.

“I have to find her, save her,” Mukid recalled thinking.

Mukid found Hikmah’s body laid at a building in the stadium com pound, with broken ribs and bluish bruises on her face. He learned that a second friend had also died from other friends who called him while he was in an ambulance taking Hik mah’s body to a hospital.

“I can’t put into words how much my sorrow is to lose my sister,” said Nur Laila, Hikmah’s older sibling.

“She was just a big Arema fan who wanted to watch her favorite team play. She shouldn’t die just for that,” she said, wiping away tears.

President Joko Widodo ordered the premier soccer league suspended until safety is reevaluated and se curity tightened. Indonesia’s soccer association also banned Arema from hosting soccer matches for the rest of the season.

Arema FC President Gilang Widya Pramana expressed his sadness and

deepest apologies to the victims and the Indonesian people, and said he is ready to take full responsibility for the tragedy at his team’s stadium.

He said the management, coach and players were in shock and speechless.

“I am ready to provide assistance, even though it will not be able to return the victims’ lives,” Pramana said at a news conference Monday at Arema’s headquarters in Malang.

“This incident was beyond pre diction, beyond reason...in a match watched only by our fans, not a single rival supporter,” he said, sobbing. “How can that match kill more than 100 people?”

He said Arema FC is ready to ac cept any sanctions from Indonesia’s Soccer Association and the govern ment, and “hopefully, it will be a very valuable lesson.”

Security Minister Mohammad Mahfud said he will lead an inquiry that will examine law violations in the disaster and provide recommen dations to the president to improve soccer safety. The investigation is to be completed in three weeks.

Mahfud instructed the national police and military chiefs to punish those who committed crimes and actions that triggered the stampede.

“The government urged the na tional police to evaluate their secu rity procedures,” Mahfud said at a news conference.

Associated Press writer Niniek Karmini

Jakarta, Indonesia,

A TRADER stands outside the New York Stock Exchange on September 23, 2022, in New York. Wall Street soared to its best day in months Monday. AP/MARY ALTAFFER

editorial

Protecting the Pinoy consumer

The peso averaged P49.2546 against the greenback in 2021, according to data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). A year ago, the peso averaged P50.7491 against the US dollar in October and P50.2478 in December. For the whole of 2021, inflation averaged 3.9 percent, based on historical data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

As of end-August, PSA data indicated that headline inflation rate has already averaged 4.9 percent, surpassing the 2021 figure. The highest rate was recorded in July, when it reached 6.4 percent. The August print also breached the 6-percent mark largely on higher food prices and transportation costs.

For September, the BSP projected that inflation could exceed 7 percent due to the high cost of food and electricity as well as the peso depreciation (See, “Peso decline and high cost of food, electricity may drive inflation beyond 7% in Sept.—BSP,” in the BusinessMirror , September 30, 2022). The weakening of the peso is a significant factor in the acceleration of inflation as the country is an importer of fuel and a number of food items, including rice. If the BSP forecast materializes, it would be the first time in years that Philippine inflation would breach 7 percent. Unfortunately, the worst is not yet over for the Philippine peso. Efforts of the US Federal Reserve to tame inflation would mean a stronger dollar, which could further weaken the peso. What this means for the Philippines, at least in the next few months, is more expensive imported items.

This development is taking place at a time when the celebration of the Christmas season has already started in the country. Christmas is one of the favorite holidays of Filipinos and businesses, particularly those in the retail and the food and beverage sectors, which benefit from the bonanza brought about by the so-called “ber” months. Demand during this period is so strong that consumption spending significantly boosts the country’s GDP growth.

Brisk demand during this period, however, would prove to be a bane for the Philippines this time around, as this could cause consumer prices to rise faster. Even local food items are also becoming more expensive due to the higher price of inputs, such as fuel and fertilizer, as well as the surging cost of transportation. The depreciation of the peso has contributed significantly to the increase in the prices of local foodstuff as the Philippines imports all of its chemical fertilizer requirements.

There are mechanisms in place to ensure that traders will not take undue advantage of the peso depreciation and the spike in imported commodities like oil. One of this is a food supply chain program initiated by the Department of Agriculture, which allows consumers to buy cheaper produce from the so-called Kadiwa outlets. It would do well for the government to expand this scheme to allow more consumers to have access to more affordable food items. It’s also about time that government has to step up its campaign against profiteers and see to it that traders do not take undue advantage of hapless consumers, particularly those in typhoon-hit areas.

Foreign exchange rates and seafarers remittances

Pinoy Marino Rights

The

Philippine peso continues to fall to its lowest level vis-à-vis the dollar since the start of the year.

Foreign exchange rate is defined as the price of the domestic currency with respect to another currency showing their relative values.

Exchange rate is impacted by some factors, which can be economic or political.

The economic factors are inflation, trade balances, government policies, market interest rates, gross domestic product, and unemployment rate in each of the countries.

Political factors are political unrest or instability in the country and any kind of political conflict.

Since standardized currencies around the world float in value with demand, supply, and consumer confidence, their values change relative to each over time.

Exchange rate changes affect businesses by changing the cost of supplies that are purchased from a different country, and by changing the demand for their products from overseas customers.

Fellow UP School of Economics alumnus Bienvenido Oplas said that the difference in today’s depreciation with those 17 to18 years ago is that current depreciation is rather fast, and so many other currencies around the world have similar experience of

fast depreciation.

A reading of various posts of our overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), both landbased and seabased, in different social-media platforms, indicates that they in essence recognize that the high peso to dollar exchange rate does not automatically translate as beneficial to their family, especially for a higher cost of living.

On one hand, the Philippines will fare better in terms of higher OFW remittances since they are expected to send more money home to take advantage of the stronger US dollar.

The peso depreciation translates to more pesos exchanged for each dollar earned. Those who depend on remittances from abroad benefit when the peso depreciates since they would get more pesos for every dollar sent to them.

On the other hand, because there are domestic items that rely on imported components and raw materials, these commodities will see price changes when exchange rates fluctuate.

Blogger Fred Uno of marineCafe. com pointed out in an article that Filipino seafarers are being shortchanged in the conversion of their dollar remittances to pesos as he described such practice as “thievery” in the maritime industry.

When the peso depreciates, domestic goods and services become cheaper for foreigners. When the peso appreciates, Filipino goods and services get more expensive while foreign or imported goods become cheaper for Filipinos.

The deployed Filipino seafarers in 2021 remitted $6.545 billion per data from Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), which is higher than 2020’s remittance of $6.353 billion.

The sea-based sector’s remittance comprises at least 22 percent of the total dollar OFW remittances.

It is estimated that there is one Filipino seafarer for every four to five crew on board a vessel at any time.

Unlike land-based OFWs, a Filipino seafarer is required to make an allotment which shall be at least 80 percent of the seafarer’s monthly basic salary, payable once a month to his designated allottee in the Philippines.

Blogger Fred Uno of MarineCafe. com pointed out in an article that Filipino seafarers are being shortchanged in the conversion of their dollar remittances to pesos as he described such practice  as “thievery” in the maritime industry.

It is a known practice of some unscrupulous manning agencies to

shave off at least one or two pesos from the foreign exchange rate, misleadingly calling the cut as “service charges.”

It is not uncommon for unscrupulous manning agents to keep part of the remittances when converting the money to pesos by using an exchange rate that is usually one or two pesos lower than the official BSP rate.

Such tampering with the dollarto-peso rate, he added, results to the shortchanging of Filipino seafarers since their families receive less than they should in allotments.

A survey made by the Philippine Seafarers Assistance Program revealed that manning agencies have been using a variety of odd techniques to make a quick buck from the remittances’ flow: “Delayed forward of allotment,” using a “house rate” for the currency exchange, “allotment slip available upon request,” “allotment slip mailed to seaman onboard,” or “allotment after all deductions made,” which are often not explained to the seafarer or the family.

These practices are clearly contrary to the letter and spirit of the POEA contract, which says that facilitation by the manning agency of allotments shall be “at no expense to the seafarer, and that “allotments shall be paid to the designated allottee in Philippine currency at the rate of exchange indicated in the credit advice of the local authorized Philippine bank.”

Atty. Gorecho heads the seafarers’ division of the Sapalo Velez Bundang Bulilan law offices. For comments, e-mail info@sapalovelez.com, or call 0917-5025808 or 0908-8665786.

Frustration and desperation mount as Ian’s effects linger

By Bobby Caina Calvan & Rebecca Santana The Associated Press

MYeRS, Fla.—Days after the skies cleared and the winds died down in Florida, hurricane Ian’s effects persisted Monday, as people faced another week without power and others were being rescued from homes inundated with lingering floodwaters.

FORT

Ten additional deaths were blamed on the storm in Florida as frustration and desperation mounted in the path the storm cut through state. And the hurricane’s remnants, now a nor’easter, weren’t done with the US.

The mid-Atlantic and Northeast coasts were getting flooding rains. The storm’s onshore winds piled even more water into an already inundated Chesapeake Bay.

Norfolk and Virginia Beach declared states of emergency, although a shift in wind direction prevented potentially catastrophic levels Monday, said Cody Poche, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Wakefield, Virginia

Coastal flooding temporarily shut down the only highway to part of North Carolina’s Outer Banks and flooding was possible all the way to Long Island, the National Weather Service said.

At least 78 people have been confirmed dead: 71 in Florida, four in North Carolina and three in Cuba since Ian made landfall on the Caribbean island on September 27 and in Florida a day later.

Search and rescue efforts were still ongoing Monday in Florida. More than 1,600 people have been rescued statewide, according to Florida’s emergency management agency.

Washed-out bridges to barrier islands, flooded roadways, spotty

At least 78 people have been confirmed dead: 71 in Florida, four in North Carolina and three in Cuba since Ian made landfall on the Caribbean island on September 27 and in Florida a day later.

cellphone service and a lack of water, electricity or the Internet left hundreds of thousands isolated.

The situation in many areas wasn’t expected to improve for several days because waterways were overflowing, leaving the rain that fell with nowhere to go.

In DeSoto County, northeast of Fort Myers, the Peace River and tributaries reached record high levels and boats were the only way to get supplies to many of the county’s 37,000 residents.

The county was prepared for strong winds after being hit by Hurricane Charley in 2004, but it was not prepared for so much rainfall, which amounted to a year’s worth of precipitation in two days, DeSoto County

Commissioner J.C. Deriso said.

“This flood has been pretty catastrophic,” said Deriso, adding that officials hope to open one of the area’s main highways by Tuesday.

Ian washed away bridges and roads to several barrier islands.

About 130 Florida Department of Transportation trucks started work on building a temporary bridge to Pine Island and by the end of the week should be finished on a structure drivers can carefully traverse at slow speeds, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said during a news conference Monday afternoon.

The governor said a similar temporary bridge is planned for nearby Sanibel, but it will take a little more time.

“They were talking about running ferries and stuff,” DeSantis said.

“And honestly, you may be able to do that, but I think this is an easier thing, and I think people need their vehicles anyways.”

The first two days without power

Dennis Gorecho

‘Addressing uncertainties: Facing the world at breaking point’

By Dr. Selva Ramachandran

WE are living in uncertain times. Extreme weather patterns are becoming usual oc currences around the world. The onslaught of recent typhoons like odette and Karding that swept parts of the phil ippines clearly demonstrate the worsening climate crisis, greatly affecting those at the fringes of society. They provide a preview of what inaction on climate change can lead to: escalating needs for disaster response and recovery; increasing fiscal stress as the government is compelled to provide humanitarian aid to disas ter-stricken areas; and widening gap across income groups as low-income groups are more-often-than-not more vulnerable to climate-related disasters.

Unfortunately, these extreme events may become more frequent and even more damaging with the changing climate.

Headlines may scream for ur gent action, but implementing change is tough. Filipinos, just like the rest of the world, may appear to be trapped in a whirlpool of real problems and possible solutions, fueled by the uncertain world we live in. It is unsettling lives every where, and perhaps more so for the Philippines—an archipelago that’s situated along both the Pacific Ty phoon Belt and the so-called ring of fire.

Global development has stalled. Until 2020, the global human de velopment index—a measure of a nation’s health, education, and average income—had risen every year since 1991 when UNDP began calculating it. It fell in 2020. And it fell again in 2021. And it fell al most everywhere: 90 percent of countries saw a decline in one or other year, wiping out five years of progress. The Philippines is no exception. In 2021, the country slid back to “medium” HDI category, after years of maintaining a spot amongst the “high” HDI group.

Development today, with its new dimensions of uncertainty, is the focus of UNDP’s Human De velopment Report 2022. The re port examines the ways in which crises are piling up to unsettle life, and interacting with our changing planet, increasing polarization and societal transformation. These are all moving at unprecedented speed and scale and interacting with each other in ways we cannot ignore. We are navigating uncharted waters around the world.

An obvious example is human ity’s impact on planetary processes, from rising temperature to dwin dling wildlife. For the first time in history, manufactured materi als, such as concrete and asphalt, outweigh the Earth’s biomass. Microplastics are everywhere: in country-sized garbage patches in the ocean, in protected forests and distant mountaintops, in people’s lungs and blood. This is threaten ing humanity’s very survival.

Aside from the planetary crisis, we are faced with a quickly eroding social fabric. Our societies are di vided all over the world. Globally, trust in one another is at its low est recorded level, coming in at just 30 percent in the latest HDR 2022. This erosion of trust pushed people to extreme positions, with those feeling very insecure twice as likely to support extremist views, which makes it even harder for a society to take collective action. Locally,

Frustration

continued from A14

at his Punta Gorda home weren’t bad because he, his wife and 4-year-old daughter like to camp, Joe Gunn said.

But then they ran out of gas, Gunn said as he waited for an hour for $20 worth of premium fuel from a Bonita Springs station, one of the few open in the area. The family then drove to get supplies and a hot meal.

Gunn was preparing for another stressful night, worried someone

Development today, with its new dimensions of uncertainty, is the focus of UNDP’s Human Develop ment Report 2022. The report examines the ways in which crises are piling up to unsettle life, and interacting with our changing planet, increasing po larization and societal transfor mation. These are all moving at unprecedented speed and scale and interacting with each other in ways we cannot ignore. We are navigating uncharted waters around the world.

there is clamor for climate justice, with efforts to curb emission be ing contingent on climate finance, technologies, and capacity develop ment, which developed countries are expected to provide in accor dance with the Paris Agreement.

The future looks challenging, but this can be reversed. Our suc cess will depend on our ability to take decisive action, and to pri oritize policies that invest, insure, and innovate.

We are not starting from zero. There is already progress to cheer from the dramatic increase in re newable energy capacity. With se rious investment this could rap idly accelerate and ensure a more sustainable source of energy. As investment ramps up, people also need to feel safe. Alongside in surance for companies and coun tries, social protection should be the bedrock of our societies, with universal basic income and cash transfers helping insulate people from increasing shocks.

However, it is innovation that will be at the epicenter of us con quering the unknowable challenges ahead. Artificial intelligence is al ready helping in modelling climate change impacts and in predicting disasters. And we are only just scratching the surface.

Humanity’s only certainty is that our future is uncertain. To thrive together, we must throw out the old rulebook and recognize the world has changed. We trialed a new playbook during the pandemic, from cash transfers reaching over a billion people to saving 20 million lives through vaccination in 2021 alone. This shows what is possible when we put our minds to it. It is time to usher in a new era. To re kindle hope and re-write the future. To decide that this is not our end, but the start of a new beginning.

Dr. Selva Ramachandran is the UNDP Philippines Resident Representative

might try to steal his supplies. “I am constantly listening to the gen erator. It’s pitch black outside of the house,” he said.

Across southwest Florida, resi dents whose homes were overrun by the sea or floods threw waterlogged mattresses, couches and other be longings into the street and tore out floors and cut into walls, hoping to dry the shells of their houses before mold set in.

“Everything that got water is starting to mold. We’re cutting all the drywall out, 2 feet up, trying to get things dried out to save the house

The scare factor in the peso-dollar exchange rate

Dr. Jesus Lim Arranza MAKE SENSE

are being bombarded with scary scenarios follow ing the falling peso against the dollar. There are even so-called economic experts predicting the peso to fall to p60 to $1. My humble take during these difficult times is for our economists or financial experts, including high ranking government officials, to please refrain from scaring the nation with public statements about speculative assumptions and/or projections on the peso-dollar ex change rate.

Filipinos

While I respect the financial minds of the economic experts, if indeed they are what they project to be, airing their speculative thoughts about the movement of the value of the peso against the US dollar will not stop the peso’s floundering value given the influence of external forces beyond our control. A gloom and doom prediction will only ag gravate the situation given the fact that only the rich can scramble to buy and hoard more dollars. Specu lative opinion will only push those who have dollars to hang on to their

greenbacks and wait for the peso to fall even more. This will aggravate the situation, as there would be less US dollars going into the public cof fers. These expert predictions about the peso’s fall might even trigger a further drop in the value of the lo cal currency, which is bad for our economy.

But who suffers the most every time the peso drops or when infla tion goes up? It’s the poor and those who do not have the money to buy and hoard the almighty dollar. Ordi nary people can only look up to the

The falling value of the peso could also help local industries, as more consumers will now buy local products. Moreover, a weak peso is also good for our export industry because Philippine products will become more com petitive in the global market.

high heavens and pray that inflation will soon stabilize. Unlike the rich who have dollar accounts and can afford to hoard dollars and use them to buy more goods when their value soars even higher, poor consumers can only buy on a per need basis for their survival.

However, there is a positive side to the falling value of the peso against the US dollar. With the rising cost of goods because of inflation, Filipinos will be more prudent with their finances. They will be forced to buy only what is necessary and will avoid imported goods that they can hardly af ford. The falling value of the peso could also help local industries, as more consumers will now buy local products. Moreover, a weak peso is also good for our export industry because Philippine products will

become more competitive in the global market.

However, it would do well for our economic experts to withhold dark speculative statements on the peso, which only serve to scare the people.

In the time of surging inflation, eco nomic experts should be prudent and circumspect in their pronounce ments. When everything is taken into consideration, as I pointed out earlier, the drop in the peso value against the US dollar also has some good effects. For example, the family members of millions of our overseas Filipino workers stand to benefit from a weakening peso. And as I said earlier, this is also good for our export sector. A surge in Philippine exports will have a positive influence on the strength of our currency in the world market. That’s based on economic truism that a country with a high demand for its export products tends to export more than it imports, which ultimately increases the demand for its currency.

Dr. Jesus Lim Arranza is the chairman of the Federation of Philippine Industries and Fight Illicit Trade; a broad-based, multisectoral movement intended to protect consumers, safeguard govern ment revenues and shield legitimate industries from the ill effects of smuggling.

Iran’s supreme leader breaks silence on protests, blames US

By The Associated Press

United Arab Emirates — iran’s supreme leader Aya tollah Ali Khamenei responded publicly on Monday to the biggest protests in iran in years, breaking weeks of silence to condemn what he called “rioting” and accused the United states and israel of planning the protests.

DUBAi,

The unrest, ignited by the death of a young woman in the custody of Iran’s morality police, is flaring up across the country for a third week despite government efforts to crack down.

On Monday, Iran shuttered its top technology university following an hours-long standoff between stu dents and the police that turned the prestigious institution into the latest flashpoint of protests and ended with hundreds of young people arrested.

Speaking to a cadre of police stu dents in Tehran, Khamenei said he was “deeply heartbroken” by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody, calling it a “tragic incident.” However, he lambasted the protests as a foreign plot to de stabilize Iran, echoing authorities’ previous comments.

“This rioting was planned,” he said. “These riots and insecurities were designed by America and the Zionist regime, and their employees.”

Meanwhile, Sharif University of Technology in Tehran announced that only doctoral students would be allowed on campus until further notice following hours of turmoil Sunday, when witnesses said anti government protesters clashed with pro-establishment students.

The witnesses, who spoke on con dition of anonymity for fear of repri sals, said the police kept hundreds of students holed up on campus and fired rounds of tear gas to disperse the demonstrations. The student association said plainclothes offi cers surrounded the school from all sides as protests roiled the campus after nightfall and detained at least 300 students.

Plainclothes officers beat a profes sor and several university employees,

and to protect it from more damage,” said Jeff Rioux, thankful for several days of nice weather and generators to run fans.

Neighbors helped each other where they could.

“I lost everything,” said Alice Pu jols, crying as she picked through the heaps of castaway clothes at a stranger’s home. “I’m just looking for what I can salvage.”

About 520,000 homes and busi nesses in Florida were still without electricity Monday evening, down from a peak of 2.6 million. But that is still nearly the same amount of

the association added.

The state-run IRNA news agen cy sought to downplay the violent standoff, reporting a “protest gath ering” took place without causing casualties. But it also said police released 30 students from deten tion, acknowledging many had been caught in the dragnet by mistake as they tried to go home.

The crackdown sparked backlash on Monday at home and abroad.

“Suppose we beat and arrest, is this the solution?” asked a column in the Jomhouri Eslami daily, a hardline Iranian newspaper. “Is this productive?”

German Foreign Minister An nalena Baerbock condemned “the regime’s brute force” at Sharif Uni versity as “an expression of sheer fear at the power of education and freedom.”

“The courage of Iranians is incred ible,” she said.

US President Joe Biden said he remains “gravely concerned about reports of the intensifying violent crackdown on peaceful protestors in Iran, including students and women, who are demanding their equal rights and basic human dignity.”

“The United States stands with Iranian women and all the citizens of Iran who are inspiring the world with their bravery,” Biden said in a statement.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told reporters: “It is abso lutely essential to show maximum restraint, maximum containment, when dealing (with) demonstrations all over the world, and the same is valid, obviously, for Iran.”

Iran’s latest protest movement, which has produced some of the nation’s most widespread unrest in

customers in all of Rhode Island.

Eric Silagy, Chairman and CEO of Florida Power & Light, said he understands the frustrations and emphasized that the utility’s crews are working to get power restored as soon as possible. The utility pro vider—the largest in the state— ex pects to have power restored to 95 percent of the service areas affected by Hurricane Ian by the end of the day Friday, he said.

“If all goes well, we will be able to have all of our customers—the over 2 million that were impacted by this monster storm—essentially

years, emerged as a response to Ami ni’s death after her arrest for allegedly violating the country’s strict Islamic dress code. It has since grown into an open challenge to the Iranian leader ship, with women burning their statemandated headscarves and chants of “Death to the dictator,” echoing from streets and balconies after dark.

The demonstrations have tapped a deep well of grievances in Iran, in cluding the country’s social restric tions, political repression and ailing economy strangled by American sanctions. The unrest has continued in Tehran and far-flung provinces even as authorities have disrupted Internet access and blocked social media apps.

Protests also have spread across the Middle East and to Europe and North America. Thousands poured into the streets of Los Angeles to show solidarity. Police scuffled with protesters outside Iranian embas sies in London and Athens. Crowds chanted “Woman! Life! Freedom!” in Paris.

In his remarks on Monday, Khamenei condemned scenes of protesters ripping off their hijabs and setting fire to mosques, banks and police cars as “actions that are not normal, that are unnatural.” He warned that “those who foment un rest to sabotage the Islamic Repub lic deserve harsh prosecution and punishment.”

Security forces have responded with tear gas, metal pellets and in some cases live fire, according to rights groups and widely shared footage, although the scope of the crackdown remains unclear.

Iran’s state TV has reported the death toll from violent clashes be tween protesters and security offi cers could be as high as 41. Rights groups have given higher death counts, with London-based Amnesty International saying it has identified 52 victims.

An untold number of people have been apprehended, with local offi cials reporting at least 1,500 arrests. Security forces have picked up artists

restored,” Silagy said. President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden plan to visit Florida on Wednesday. The president was in Puerto Rico on Monday, promis ing to “rebuild it all” after Hurricane Fiona knocked out all power to the island two weeks ago.

In Virginia, the US Navy post poned the first-ever deployment of the U.S.S. Gerald R. Ford, the nation’s most advanced aircraft car rier, according to a statement from the Navy’s 2nd Fleet. The carrier and other US ships were scheduled to leave Norfolk on Monday for

who have voiced support for the pro tests and dozens of journalists. Most recently Sunday, authorities arrested Alborz Nezami, a reporter at an eco nomic newspaper in Tehran.

Iran’s intelligence ministry said nine foreigners have been detained over the protests. A 30-year-old Ital ian traveler named Alessia Piperno called her parents on Sunday to say she had been arrested, her father Alberto Piperno told Italian news agency ANSA.

“We are very worried,” he said. “The situation isn’t going well.”

Most of the protesters appear to be under 25, according to witness es—Iranians who have grown up knowing little but global isolation and severe Western sanctions linked to Iran’s nuclear program. Talks to revive the landmark 2015 nuclear deal have stalled for months, fueling discontent as Iran’s currency declines in value and prices soar.

A Tehran-based university teach er, Shahindokht Kharazmi, said the new generation has come up with un predictable ways to defy authorities.

“The (young protesters) have learned the strategy from video games and play to win,” Kharazmi told the pro-reform Etemad news paper. “There is no such thing as defeat for them.”

As the new academic year began this week, students at universities in major cities across Iran gathered in protest, according to videos widely shared on social media, clapping, chanting slogans against the govern ment and waving their headscarves.

The eruption of student anger has worried the Islamic Republic since at least 1999, when security forces and supporters of hardline clerics attacked students protesting media restrictions. That wave of student protests under former reformist President Mohammad Khatami touched off the worst street battles since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

“Don’t call it a protest, it’s a revo lution now,” shouted students at Sha hid Beheshti University in Tehran, as women set their hijabs alight.

training exercises in the Atlantic Ocean with vessels from other Nato Countries.

After moving across Florida, Ian made another landfall in the US in South Carolina as a much weaker hurricane. Officials said Monday that crews were finishing removing sand from coastal roads and nearly all power had been restored. Santana reported from Bonita Springs. Associated Press reporters Anthony Izaguirre in Tallahassee; Frieda Frisaro and David Fischer in Miami; Ben Finley in Norfolk, Virginia; and Jeffrey Collins in Columbia, South Carolina contributed to this report.

IFC’s $6-B fund to boost global food crisis response

By Andrea E. San Juan

THEInternational Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, said it has launched a $6-billion financing facility to strengthen the private sector’s ability to respond to the global food crisis and help support food production.

A core part of the financing, which will be provided through the new Global Food Security Platform (the Platform), will support sus tainable production and delivery of food stocks to countries affected by food instability,” the IFC said in a statement on Tuesday.

T he IFC also noted that support will aim at facilitating trade of food commodities, delivery of inputs to farmers, supporting efficient pro

duction in major origins, including Ukraine, and effective distribution of food products in destination countries.

F inancing will also focus on long-term actions to improve the resilience of the global food system and lessen its climate and ecologi cal footprint.

This includes investing in in creasing efficient crop production, improving access to fertilizers,

greening fertilizer production and use, reducing crop loss and food waste, improving supply chain efficiency, and mitigating infra structure bottlenecks,” the IFC said.

It noted that the $6 billion will be used to support private sector companies along the food value chain by leveraging IFC’s sectoral expertise in agribusiness, manufac turing, infrastructure, and technol ogy, as well as the financial sector and trade finance.

The private sector has an es sential role to play in alleviating food insecurity and in creating lasting solutions. By strengthen ing supply chains and ensuring that people have access to and can grow affordable food, this initiative will contribute to building resilient food systems in the most vulnerable regions,” IFC Managing Director Makhtar Diop said.

T he IFC noted that the Platform will supplement the World Bank’s commitment of $30 billion in re sponse to the food crisis. IFC added that it is stepping up engagements with other partners, including de velopment finance institutions, foundations, banks as well as a range of private companies, in or

der to mobilize collective action to address global food security chal lenges.

S ince 1962, IFC has invested more than $3 billion in equity and loans for more than 100 private sector companies in the Philippines.

S ome of IFC’s commitments that included the Philippines were done with Ayala Corporation and e-commerce start-up Growsari.

I FC invested $100 million in the first social bond by Ayala Corpo ration in the health-care sector to help increase availability of muchneeded affordable healthcare in the Philippines.

M eanwhile, the project with Growsari aimed to protect farmers, micro-retailers, and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) that are especially vulnerable to economic shocks through the digi tal transformation of MSMEs.

I n fiscal year 2021, IFC commit ted a record $31.5 billion to private companies and financial institu tions in developing countries, le veraging the power of the private sector to end extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity as econo mies grapple with the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic.

PHL REELECTED TO NEW TERM IN INTERNATIONAL TELECOM UNION

By Lorenz S. Marasigan @lorenzmarasigan

THE Philippines has been reelected to the Inter national Telecommuni cation Union (ITU) Council, making it one of the 13 states selected for Asia and Australia.

In a statement, ICT Secretary Ivan John E. Uy said with the reelection, the department is doubling down on fulfilling its mandate to “make the digital future inclusive and more ac cessible for everyone.”

This new mandate to sit among 48 member states out of 193 in the International Telecom munication Union reinforces our commitment to fully embrace digital transformation as major strategy for national develop ment,” said Uy, who is in Romania.

U y said the new ITU Council for 2023 to 2026 will allow DICT to lead the Philippines’s involve ment in discussions and deci sions that will “significantly shape the future of the world.”

The DICT looks forward to working with all our stakeholders both in the public and private sec tors to attain our common aspi rations of a digitally empowered Philippines. As a country, we are very eager to take an active part

in building a better digital future for all as our commitment under the Bucharest Declaration,” Sec retary Uy said.

T he Bucharest Declaration sets forth the fundamental prin ciples and main strategic priori ties for developing an inclusive knowledge-based economy and bridging the digital divide.

“ We will need the full sup port and collaboration of all de partments of government and Congress to achieve our goals,” Uy noted.

ICT Undersecretary Jocelle E. Batapa-Sigue assisted the country’s successful bid in the reelection and will be represent ing the Philippines until the end of Plenipotentiary Conference on October 14.

“ To us in government, it may be just work; but for others it may mean their lives, their food, their education, their health. Let’s help the world in the next four years with every knowledge, every sharing we can share. The PH is blessed to stand among nations and have a voice in the next four years. Let us show the world that DICT is a government agency of global standards. Let us use this seat, this voice to help build a better digital future,” Batapa-Sigue said.

Bersamin: No signal that SIM registration, BSKE bills face veto

By Samuel P. Medenilla @sam_medenilla

T

HE Office of the Executive Secretary said President Fer dinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos, Jr. will likely sign the bills for the Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) Card Registration and the postpone ment of the 2022 Barangay and Sang guniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE).  E xecutive Secretary Lucas P. Ber samin disclosed he is confident the two pieces of legislation will be signed since they have yet to be instructed by Marcos to study the possible veto of these bills.

“ When they (both houses of Con gress) submit to the President for his signature, any piece of legislation, which already went through them, there is a high probability that the pres ident will agree with them [in passing the legislation],” Bersamin explained in an interview with the officers of the Malacañang Press Corps on Tuesday.  T he Palace official made the statement after the Senate and the House of Representatives officially transmitted the two enrolled bills to Malacañang on Tuesday.

The SIM registration bill aims to minimize the number of text and online scams through the regula tion of the sale and use of SIM Cards.

T he other bill aims to reset the 2022 BSKE from December 2022 to October 2023.  If signed by Marcos, the measures will be the first two laws to be passed under his administration.

Laws must cover labor in informal sector–solon

SENATE Majority Leader Joel Villanueva has batted anew for timely passage of legisla tive protection of informal workers.

A t the hybrid hearing of the Com mittee on Labor, Employment and Human Resources Development on Tuesday, lawmakers firmed up sup port for remedial legislation pushing for much-needed legal and economic protection for freelancers and other workers belonging to the informal economy.

Two of the bills under consider ation, Senate Bill No. (SBN) 136, or the Protection to Freelancers Act, and SBN 259, or the Magna Carta for Workers in the Informal Economy, are authored by Villanueva himself, who stressed that he holds these “very close” to his heart.

We are fighting for these bills since we became senator because we recog nize that this special class of workers are very vulnerable,” Villanueva said in his opening speech. He lamented that informal workers remain unrecognized in the Labor Code, and provisions in the

law for their legal protection and welfare

“

Even the Department of Labor and Employment admitted that there is no, zero, labor protection accorded to freelancers and self-employed pro fessionals and that the provisions of the Labor Code do not generally apply to them. The special nature of their engagement makes them prone to abuse and exploitation,” he said.

T he senator recalled two bills reached plenary deliberation during the last Congress, but failed to pass on final reading due to lack of time.

“This is why we are again pushing for these proposed measures. We must ensure that freelancers and informal economy workers have enough pro tection. We will not tire promoting our advocacies because providing employment is our work here at the Senate,” Villanueva said in English and Filipino.

A t the same hearing, Sen. Francis “Tol” N. Tolentino called on the De partment of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and other resource persons

and agencies in attendance to help the committee harmonize conten tious points on the proposed bills that seek to protect the welfare and employment of workers belonging to the informal economy.

What we’re discussing here is how we can help workers that lack ‘employer-employee relationships’. The Constitution declares that both the State and Congress should pro vide protection to workers and we should not shun away from that,” Tolentino said in a mixture of Eng lish and Filipino.

Tolentino also emphasized that resource persons are expected to be prepared to provide valued stud ies and inputs of their agencies and to spare the committee from their personal views and opinions. “Help us craft this bill. Help us fine-tune these pieces of legislation to enable our workers benefit from social leg islation that can be provided by the State and Congress. Let’s not say that it is hard to do,” he emphasized.

CONGRESS officials turn over to Presidential Legislative Liaison Office (PLLO) Secretary Mark Llandro Mendoza the enrolled bills from both chambers, for turnover to the Office of the President. SENATE PRIB PHOTO

Armscor taps ArmorLube’s firearm coating technology

By Andrea E. San Juan @andreasanjuan

SEC chair is IDC’s CEO of the year

Armscor

Global Defense Inc. (AGDI) said it has forged a partnership with ArmorLube, a United states-based high-tech coating technology company, to build a facility that would enhance AGDI’s manufacturing capabilities.

The company said plans for collaboration were hatched in ja nuary 2020, when AGDI and Rock Island Armory CEO Martin Tuason met ArmorLube founder and CEO Andrew Tudhope at the premier firearms industry exposition in Las Vegas known as the SHOT Show (The Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade Show).

However, AGDI said the plans were put on hold due to the Covid-19 pandemic but the easing of restrictions has paved the way for the partnership to now go “full on.”

Tudhope said an ArmorLube coating facility is currently being

built within the AGDI compound in Marikina.

The local manufacturer of firearms said ArmorLube, which is based in Arizona, has pioneered a line of next-generation ultrahard coatings designed to increase the performance and extend the longevity of products across many industries.

AGDI also noted that the Arizonabased coating company has a proprietary “hollow cathode” technology that provides an advanced, ultrahard dry coating which does away with the oils and greases utilized in traditional firearms coating processes that could attract dust or dirt, resulting in carbon fouling or jamming.

ArmorLube utilizes a vacuum process known as plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) that produces a diamond-like Carbon (DLC) firearm coating, the company said.

AGDI said in a statement that this DLC firearm coating provides a “distinct advantage” since it increases the firearm’s performance, reliability and durability even amid the most challenging conditions.

“One of the advantages of our particular coating when it comes to firearms or other hard coatings is its ability to survive humid and salty weather areas that make firearms much more susceptible to corrosion,” said ArmorLube’s Andrew Tudhope.

“For a firearm to properly run with traditional coating, one has to clean it and oil it. But with our coating, you don’t need to oil – just clean it and it gets automatically lubricated.”

Tudhope said this is the “environment-friendly” coating process of ArmorLube which enables greater coating uniformity and thickness for complex parts, cutting down the process to less than half the time required for traditional processes.

“Our coating is the premier in the industry, and this will benefit stake-

holders because Armscor is bringing to their customers a new level of performance that is as good or better as any manufacturer in the world. We’re giving them an edge,” he said.

“With their years of experience and their capabilities – it’s a beautiful combination. What is already a good firearm like the STK 100 for instance can become even better in terms of performance and toughness at a very competitive price point.”

Meanwhile, AGDI said it is keen on tapping more opportunities that will enable the firm to be on a par with other global manufacturers.

“The standard process of finishing a firearm which has been around for so long has gone by leaps and bounds as far as technology is concerned. With robotics and now with ArmorLube, we bring our manufacturing process to a whole new level of quality,” AGDI and Rock Island Armory CEO Martin Tuason said.

“We are already world-class, but this is just a first step of many in Armscor’s future that will allow us to go head-to-head with other global manufacturers. It’s very simple for us, really: We are bringing the best of the Philippines to the rest of the world.”

AC Health tops off cancer hospital

AC Health and their partners led the topping off ceremony of the Healthway Cancer Care Hospital, the country’s first comprehensive cancer specialty hospital, in South Union Drive, Arca South in Taguig.

“A year ago, we were gathered on this same site to break ground for our shared vision of providing quality oncology care to more Filipinos. Today, we mark another milestone with this topping off ceremony, as we near this goal,” Paolo Borromeo,

AC Health President and CEO said.

“This is a result of the collective hard work of everyone who has been working on the hospital, our medical advisory council, our partners in Siemens Healthineers and VarianCTSI, and our Healthway Cancer Care Hospital core team. We are excited to see the plans for the hospital come to fruition and are incredibly thankful for the tremendous support we are receiving from more and more medical practitioners, patients, and communities.”

Borromeo said the first major cancer equipment will be delivered to the site by the end of the year.

Last August, AC Health entered into a value partnership with Siemens Healthineers, the leading provider in healthcare systems. This partnership, which will provide the 100-bed cancer hospital with technical expertise and technologies in diagnostic and therapeutic imaging, further strengthens the hospital’s vision of providing quality, accessible and affordable cancer services to a

Ninja Van wants to hike investment in innovation

By Bernard Testa

SAMSU nG Electronics Co. announced an aggressive five-year plan to lure United States-based chip buyers with more advanced technology, aiming to produce transistors that are just 1.4 nanometers wide by 2027.

The company’s chip contract-manufacturing unit—known as a foundry—is looking to triple its revenue by that year from the 2021 level, Executive Vice President Moonsoo Kang said at a briefing Monday in San jose, California. To get there, the business will need to make several technological leaps and further inroads in the US market for outsourced chips.

Samsung shares rose 4 percent in Seoul on Tuesday after falling by almost a third this year with rising costs and a downturn in the memory market.

The Suwon-based company is the world’s largest chipmaker by revenue, but its foundry business is playing catch-up with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., which has a commanding lead in the market and top-of-the-line production capabilities. Samsung recently lost out to TSMC on an nv idia Corp. order to produce the RTX 40 series of graphics cards, which moved to a 4-nanometer process.

NI n j A Van Philippines is keen on increasing its investment in innovation so it can serve more Filipino micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), according to an official of the company.

n i nja Van COO j o se Alvin Perez told the BusinessMirror that the company recognizes the need to invest more in technology and engineering amid the boom in electronic commerce.

“We will definitely have to pour in a lot more investments. The five years of growth seen by n i nja Van is a product of hard work and our dedication to facilitate the expansion of e-commerce in the country,” Perez said.

He noted that many local MSMEs now rely on the services of the logistics company for their “day-to-day hustle” and technology-based transactions. This was brought about by the lockdowns and quarantine restrictions, which prompted consumers to buy their food and supplies online.

The group recently announced a $50-million investment in automation technology and systems in key regional parcel sorting hubs, which include the Cabuyao hub

in Laguna.

Seen to be completed by the second half of 2024, the company said these region-wide parcel handling improvements are expected to increase the Group’s overall operational productivity by 50 percent.

Earlier this year, n i nja Van opened its 21,000-square-meter fully-automated hub in Cabuyao, Laguna. With fully integrated measurement and sortation systems, it is n i nja Van Group’s largest automated hub in Southeast Asia, boosting receiving and outbound capacities by 300 percent and 400 percent, respectively.

The facility, which is equivalent to 17 Olympic-sized swimming pools, can process at least 300,000 parcels daily. It is manned by 1,300 employees (or ninjas) using state-of-the-art automated sortation equipment.

n i nja Van entered the Philippine market in the last quarter of 2016, just a few months after the country elected a candidate from Davao City as president.

Ahead of its sixth anniversary, Perez announced that the company has just completed its n o valiches hub in September to serve the growing logistics demand of Central and n o rthern Luzon.

broader base of Filipinos.

The Healthway Cancer Care Hospital is part of Ayala Corp.’s P10billion healthcare investment. It will offer a complete range of cancer services from screening, diagnosis, treatment to post-cancer care. It will be equipped with chemotherapy chairs, operating theaters, and state of the art diagnostic and therapeutic equipment, optimized for cancer screening, diagnosis, and treatment.

The hospital is expected to be completed by mid-2023. VG Cabuag

S

ECURITIES and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Emilio B. Aquino has been named CEO of the year in International Data Corp.’s (IDC) Future of Enterprise Awards 2022 Philippines, for steering the agency toward a “digital-first world.”

“I would like to thank IDC for recognizing my SuperVISIO n and efforts in transforming the SEC Philippines into a digital, resilient organization that could serve its stakeholders more efficiently and effectively, amid and despite a pandemic and other crisis that may come our way,” Aquino said.

“Our push for a technologically advanced SEC Philippines will prepare it for a digital-first world, where it can continue to thrive despite challenges, even ones as drastic as the Covid-19 pandemic.”

Winners of the Future Enterprise Awards asserted their leadership in a digital-first world, distinguishing themselves from 1,071 entries received from 707 unique end-user organizations across Asia and the Pacific. They were chosen after displaying planning and implementation of digital transformation initiatives according to IDC’s future enterprise benchmark categories.

Aquino has advocated for the use of digital innovations to fulfill

the agency’s mandate as overseer of the corporate sector, regulator of the capital market, and champion of the investing public.

Under his leadership, the SEC launched its roadmap on digital transformation and technology modernization. The agency has since rolled out systems that shifted online the process of company registration, reports submission and fees payment.

Launched on April 19, 2021, the Electronic Simplified Processing of Application for Registration of Companies (eSPARC) facilitated faster and easier company registration for the transacting public.

The ease with which corporations can be established led to a 53 percent increase in the number of new registrations in 2021 at 37,379, compared to 24,386 in the previous year. Last year also saw a record number of new applications for registration on a quarterly basis. In 2022 alone, a total of 57,784 new registrations have already been processed through eSPARC.

Founded in 1964, IDC is a global market research and analysis firm offering global, regional, and local expertise on technology and industry opportunities and trends in over 110 countries.

VG Cabuag

Banking&Finance

High online remittance helps grow PERA funds

THE

total fund of the Personal Equity and Retirement Account (PERA) doubled yearon-year to P289.82 million as more Filipinos contributed to the fund via online platforms, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said.

A statement by the BSP said that as of September 8, the PERA fund was P149.06-million higher than the P140.76 million recorded amount in the same period last year.

The BSP attributed the increase in funds to the rising number of PERA contributors, which almost tripled two years after the central bank launched its digital platform called Digital PERA.

The central bank said that contributors to the PERA increased to 4,892 on September 08 this year, from the 1,684 recorded two years prior. Republic Act (RA) 9505 mandated the creation of the PERA as a voluntary retirement saving program that supplements the existing retirement benefits from the Social Security System, the Government Service Insurance System and employers.

The BSP said that contributions from Filipino employees represented

67.43 percent of said PERA contributions or P195.42 million. The remainder of the contributions came from overseas Filipino workers and self-employed individuals, the central bank added.

The Digital PERA is an online onestop shop where investors can open an account, browse PERA products, monitor PERA accounts and settle transactions via the “InstaPay” and “PESONet” electronic funds transfer services, according to the BSP.

The BSP introduced the PERA in 2016, eight years after the enactment of RA 9505 in 2008, “with support from the financial industry.”

BSP officials encourage Filipinos “to take full advantage of the benefits offered under PERA, including the exemption of PERA earnings from taxes on final withholding, capital gains and regular income.”

According to the central bank, contributors to the PERA are also entitled to a 5-percent tax credit on contributions for the year that can be used to pay national income tax liabilities.

Moreover, qualified PERA withdrawals are not subject to taxes, said the BSP. Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas

Revisiting Securitization

INthe quest for effective measures, more specifically new products, to promote the capital market, the advocates appear to have overlooked the potential of Securitization.

We have Republic Act (RA) 9267, the Securitization Act of 2004, approved March 19, 2004, which provides the regulatory framework for Securitization. The law precisely announces in its Declaration of Policy (Section 2):

“It is the policy of the State to promote the development of the capital market by supporting securitization, by providing a legal and regulatory framework and by creating a favorable market environment for a range of asset-backed securities. Furthermore, the State shall pursue the development of a secondary market, particularly for residential mortgaged-backed securities and other housing- related financial instruments, as essential to its goal of generating investment and accelerating the growth of the housing finance sector, especially for socialized and low-income housing. The State shall likewise pursue the development of a secondary market for other types of asset-backed securities.”

So, we see that the Securitization Act was enacted especially to develop the capital market. But this purpose has not been achieved nor pursued as could be expected.

Securitization as a source of new capital market instruments is not limited to securitizing residential mortgages but can “refer to loans or receivables or other similar financial assets with an expected cash payment stream.” (Sec. 3(c) of the Act). These debt instruments or financial assets can include: credit card loans; auto loans; consumer loans; SME loans; commercial mortgages; and, corporate loans. It has been noted that since the early 1900s, securitization has been “one of the dominant means of capital formation to the United States.”

But what exactly is securitization? Securitization means the process by which assets are sold on a without-recourse basis by the Seller to a Special Purpose Entity (SPE) and the issuance of assetbacked securities by the SPE which depend, for their payment, on the cash flow from the assets so sold and in accordance with the Plan. (Sec. 3(a) of the Act)

The Seller is the entity which conveys to the SPE the assets to be securitized which form the asset pool that backs the payments to securities holders. Usually, the

Finex Free enterprise s antiago F. Dumlao Jr.

Seller is itself the Originator who is the original obligee of the financial assets being securitized.

The Plan is the plan for securitization as approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

In an attempt to develop a “normative and stipulative definition of a ‘true’ securitization, Jonathan Lipson of Temple University proposes to define a true securitization as a purchase of primary payment rights by a special purpose entity that [i] legally isolates such payment rights from a bankruptcy [or similar insolvency] estate of the originator, and [ii] results directly or indirectly in the issuance of securities whose value is determined by the payment rights to purchase.”

Lipson emphasizes that “the basic point is that it describes the essential elements of a securitization, its inputs [payment rights], structure [bankruptcyproof legal isolation], and output [securities]. It also embedded its legitimate social and economic functions: if it works, securitization links the buyers and sellers of capital more efficiently than traditional methods of financing such as bank lending or issuing shares of stock…securitization gives originators access to the capital markets which they might not otherwise have. This, in turn, is thought to reduce the cost of capital or make possible financing that would not otherwise have existed.”

One major reason for neglecting, even bypassing, securitization for capital raising is that, it had earned a very bad reputation during the 2007-to-2008 global financial crisis when, across the board, securitized products were steeply downgraded in credit ratings and value by credit rating agencies who themselves had earlier given those products bloated ratings.

This most unfortunate episode in the US financial market, which spread worldwide in its disastrous consequences, is well recorded and remembered.

But the point we make is that securitization in itself, as a concept, is a valid, useful platform for generating good capital market investment instruments. What gave securitization a bad reputation is

BSP bares legislative priorities for robust PHL financial sector

By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas @jearcalas

THEBangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) notified the 19th Congress last Tuesday of its legislative priorities to “further promote the stability” and “ensure soundness” of the Philippine banking and payment systems.

A statement from the central bank said the BSP supports reforms espoused through the following proposed legislations: Bank Deposits Secrecy bill; the Financial Accounts Regulation Act (Fara); the SIM Card Registration bill; and, the Digital Payments bill.

The central bank said the pro-

posed amendments to the Bank Deposits Secrecy law aim to strengthen the banking system’s capacity to effectively combat tax evasion, money laundering and other financial crimes.

The BSP has supported in the 18th Congress the passage of House Bill (HB) 8991, which sought to allow for “a thorough ex-

who sold the Receivables.

the way it has been applied to justify complex investment models exacerbated by a marketing hype fed by dubious credit ratings. But again, securitization in its true nature and form, is a valid, useful, valuable process—to convert static financial assets to tradeable dynamic securities for the capital market.

Securitization transfers the financial risks from the Originator of the obligation to the capital market. The concept of “financial risk transfer” through securitization is simple enough. Let’s take the example of residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS).

The Property Developer (the Originator) buys the land, prepares and develops it for housing, builds the house, financing these with partly his capital and partly from borrowing most probably from a bank. The Property Developer markets and sells the house (houses) by installment. Property Developer has generated Receivables from the installment sales homebuyers.

Normally, Property Developer would have to wait to collect all his Receivables to get back his money. Or, the bank buys out or takes out the Receivables from the Property Developer, and substitutes itself as the Creditor.

Or, they decide to securitize.

Under securitization, the Receivables are sold to an SPE, also known as Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), which is mandated to do the collection of Receivables. But this is not the whole process.

The SPE sells and issues Debt securities to Investors, using the Receivables to back up payment to Investors. An appointed Servicer does the actual collection service, and the payment to Investors of principal and interest under the terms of the securities issue.

The proceeds from the sale of debt securities to Investors are flowed back or paid to the Originator Property Developer (or to the bank, if it has acquired ownership of the Receivables).

At the completion of the securitization process:

n The Property Developer has received his “investment” from developing and selling the land and house, and can do more property development that he knows best what to do. He is relieved of the “financing load;” of waiting to collect the sales installments. He has transferred the financing load and financial risk to the SPE.

n In turn, the SPE has generated funds by selling securities to Investors, and flowed back the sales proceeds to the Originator

n Meantime, the “financing load” has been transferred to the Investor, assured that he will earn from his securities investment as the Receivables are collected and paid out to him in the form of interest and principal. The Investor achieves his investment purpose.

Looking at the process in a wider perspective, the Investor has eventually assumed the financing of the sale of the house. The residential mortgage loan has been “liquefied” by securitization. The capital market has provided the structure and facilities to move funds from those who have (Investors) to those who need (Property Developers). And securitization has provided the means—conveniently, with all principal parties gaining their respective benefits.

The Philippine securitization story may be found recorded in the credit ratings of Philippine Rating Services Corp. (PhilRatings), which has had experience doing rating assignments of largely housing-related securitized products.

PhilRatings President Angelica B. Viloria said the firm has rated eight securitization transactions as of September this year. The first securitization issue rated in 2003 was that of MRT Funding Corp.; the securitization of equity rental payments.

Then came the Stradcom SPTLTO-IT securitization of computer fees from motor vehicle registration and drivers’ licenses; now fully paid and settled. This was followed by the Home Funding Inc. securitization of contract-tosell receivables.

In 2009, the first five securitization issues from the National Home Mortgage Finance Corp. occurred. These were: Bahay Bonds 1; Bahay Bonds 2; Balai Bonds 1; Balai Bonds 2; and, finally, Balai Shelter.

We can notice that in a span of 19 years, only eight securitization assets have been issued f rom four originators. Why this poor interest?

The bad reputation of securitization from the US experience continues to hound perhaps. But it is probably more because there is not enough awareness in the market of this capital market product, its nature and its benefits. And there is no champion to get securitization into the mainstream.

Santiago F. Dumlao Jr., past president of the Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines, is the current Secretary-General of the Association of Credit Rating Agencies in Asia.

amination of bank accounts with suspicious transactions.”

Meanwhile, the central bank said the proposed Fara would strengthen consumer protection and impose higher penalties for financial cybercrimes as it seeks to regulate the use of bank accounts and e-wallets and prevent their use for criminal activities.

The BSP said it also supports the SIM Card Registration bill, which intends to deter the proliferation of subscriber identity module card-aided crimes, such as bank fraud and text scams.

“Finally, as a long-standing advocate for the digitalization of financial transactions and financial inclusion, the BSP pushes for the passage of the Digital Payments bill, which fosters the adoption of safe, affordable and efficient digital payments in financial transactions with the government,” it added.

The BSP noted that its support

led to the passage of various legislative measures aimed to “intensify” consumer protection and “enhance” the delivery of and access to financial products and services in the 18th Congress.

The measures that the BSP backed in the previous Congress included the following legislations: the Agriculture, Fisheries and Rural Development Financing Enhancement Act of 2022; the Financial Products and Services Consumer Protection Act; amendments to the charter of the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp.; and, the Financial Institutions Strategic Transfer Act.

BSP Governor Felipe M. Medalla was quoted in the statement as saying monetary authorities will work with the 19th Congress on the passage of priority bills “that are expected to boost public trust and confidence in the country’s financial and payment systems.”

Treasury partially awards ₧22.85B in 7-yr T-bonds

THE

Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) last Tuesday partially awarded P22.85 billion in reissued 7-year Treasury bonds (T-bonds) out of the total P35 billion it sought to raise.

National Treasurer Rosalia V. De Leon told reporters after the auction of the Treasury’s decision to partially award the bids at an average of 5.746 percent.

“Market continues to provide [a] cushion as high inflation remains persistent,” De Leon said. “That being [the] case, BSP [Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas] is expected to deliver another rate increase.”

Last week, Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) Lead Economist Emilio S. Neri Jr. surmised that monetary authorities will pull off another off-cycle rate hike this month even if there is no scheduled meeting for October of the BSP Monetary Board. This is in the wake of the next Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting in early November, when another 75-basis points (bps) increase is expected, Neri wrote in a commentary released last September 27.

Should Neri’s prediction be true, this will be the fourth consecutive month that the BSP will hike rates since July. The latest BSP interest rate hike was made effective last September 23 at 50bps to 4.25 percent.

Oversubscribed BT R data showed that Tuesday’s auction was oversubscribed as the total amount

briefs

➜ Bpi offers virtual coin program

tendered reached P39.144 billion, about 12 percent over the P35 billion offered.

The T-bonds had a remaining life of 2 years and 6 months.

The T-bonds fetched an average yield of 5.746 percent, relatively flat to the 5.75 percent coupon rate. BTr data showed that offers made by investors for the yield ranged from a low of 5.375 percent to a high of 5.87 percent.

The average yield on the reissued government securities were 19.5-basis points higher than the 5.551 percent pegged by the Bloomberg Valuation (BVAL) Service Reference Rates for a 3-year T-bond.

The average yield fetched by the Tbonds was also higher than the 5.298 percent BVAL rate for the offered government security.

Last Monday, the BTr rejected all the bids for the P15-billion Treasury bills (Tbills) it tendered as bid rates remain elevated making them “untenable.”

Despite the lackluster turnout of the auction last Monday for T-bills, De Leon said the Treasury remains in a “good position” to reject offers given the government’s “revenue outperformance.”

The Philippine government aims to raise P200 billion from auctioning-off debt papers this month. The amount covers P60-billion worth of Treasury bills and P140-billion worth of Treasury bonds to be auctioned off. Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas

THE Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) announced it has launched a digital-deposit account product. “What makes this BPI product unique is it provides an easier, more fun way of saving through a gamified rewards program that can benefit more people from all walks of life,” said BPI Deposits Head Carmina T. Marquez. The lender said the program “rewards depositors with virtual game coins as they save.” These coins, the bank said, can be used to win prizes. We want to make saving more affordable, more convenient, more fun and more rewarding,” said Maria Cristina L. Go, BPI Consumer Banking Head.

➜ AUB bags CFA award

AsIA United Bank (AUB) Corp. announced it sustained its 6-year winning streak as the “Best Managed Fund” in the “Dollar Medium-Term Bond Fund” category at the CFA society Philippines’ 2022 Best Managed Fund Awards where a total of 82 funds from 16 Investment Houses and trust institutions in the country joined. AUB senior Vice President and Head of Trust Andrew A. Chua said the award “is a solid validation to our fund management capabilities.” The AUB Gold Dollar Fund offers retail investors access to the Us dollar bond market normally reserved for foreigners and high net-worth investors. It invests in a diversified portfolio of fixed income securities and offers a rate of return equivalent to the rolling yield of the 5-year Us Treasury Notes, net of fees.

➜ security Bank honored by CFA society pHL

sECURITY Bank Corp. announced that the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) society Philippines once again recognized its peso bond fund as the “Best Managed Fund” for the long-term Peso Bond Fund Category. The lender said its peso bond fund was acknowledged “for being able to deliver the highest risk-adjusted returns compared to other funds [both UITFs and Mutual Funds] in the same long-term peso bond fund category.” The goal of the CFA Institute and the CFA society of the Philippines in giving the fund of the year awards is to put investors first. We put investors first by awarding funds that provided the best risk-based returns on a consistent basis over a 5-year period,” CFA society Philippines President and Chairman Robert B. Ramos was quoted in a statement as saying.

ONCE A CHEATER...

ACCORDING to the grapevine, the actress and her nonshowbiz boyfriend did not break up just because of money. The guy, who has been married once like the actress, reportedly cheated with someone connected to his job. Last we heard, the actress is open to a possible reconciliation, provided the guy gives his word that it will not happen again. But the guy reportedly has a history of cheating—not just with the actress but with his exes, so those who know him are doubtful as to whether he can keep this promise. Meanwhile, the actress’ friends are telling her to be careful with her heart and enjoy being single for now.

BANNED

WHO is this socialite’s husband who is reportedly banned from a certain club because of inappropriate advances toward the place’s employees? Years ago, there were rumors that the husband’s mistress was an employee of this country club but later on, it turned out that the woman was just a victim of the guy’s unwelcome advances. Through the years, he would repeat the same action to others until the club decided to ban him. Meanwhile, he took his abusive behavior elsewhere while his wife turned a blind eye to everything. The guy was recently in the news because of something he did to another but it’s not clear if he was arrested—or if he got away with it again like he did many times before.

LAUGHING ALL THE WAY TO THE BANK

HOW true is it that the celebrity was paid P35 million in a controversial endorsement that ended up with many bloggers and influencers boycotting the launch? The endorsement comes at a time when the company is losing money and some of the officials in the Philippines and abroad have taken pay cuts. Some employees have also been let go as the post-pandemic scenario makes everything different for the company. The truth is that people may boycott the company because of its controversial ambassador but she’s already been paid. The decision was reportedly made by the head office abroad and not the head of the company here.

DRINK IN MODERATION

WHO are these two influencers who were hired by a liquor company for a campaign and they agreed to take the job on. So they attended the event and after that, their social-media posts were all about them loving liquor and how much they drank every weekend when they’d go to clubs with their friends. The thing is that the campaign is all about responsible drinking and how liquor should be enjoyed in moderation. Needless to say, the two influencers were never hired by the company again.

Trevor Noah says he’s exiting as host of ‘The Daily Show’

this year.

By David Bauder The Associated Press

Today’s Horoscope

By Eugenia Last

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Make personal growth a priority. Expand your interests, hone your skills and take responsibility for your life, happiness and success. Travel, education and experience will help you recognize what you want to do next and the best way to make your dreams come true. Pay attention to health, appearance and changing trends. Your numbers are 7, 12, 25, 29, 31, 38, 43.

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Observe what others are doing and how it will benefit your community, and you’ll devise an efficient plan. Do your part, and you’ll become the go-to person. Structure what happens to help others, and you’ll gain HHHH

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Be sure your promises are doable before you commit. Put in the time to figure out ways to improve the outcome. An intelligent but innovative plan will get you where you want to go. New beginnings will spark your imagination and offer hope. HH

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): You’ll require tunnel vision regarding work and getting ahead professionally. Spare no expense emotionally, financially and mentally when it comes to what you want. Rely on yourself to avoid disappointment. Make unique plans with someone you love, and emotional stability will prevail. HHHHH

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Use experience coupled with your imagination, and you will find a way to get what you want up and running. Put your energy where it counts, and a positive change at home will put your mind at ease. HHH

N

EW YORK—Trevor Noah says that he’s leaving The Daily Show as host, after seven years of a Trump and pandemic-filled tenure on the weeknight Comedy Central show.

Noah surprised the studio audience during Thursday’s taping, dropping the news after discussing his “feeling of gratitude” that it was the seventh anniversary of when he took over for Jon Stewart.

“I realized, after the seven years, my time is up,” Noah said.

Neither Noah nor Comedy Central offered a timetable for his departure. The network said it was “grateful to Trevor for our amazing partnership” and indicated that it was excited “for the next chapter” of The Daily Show Television late-night comedy’s ranks have been shrinking, with Conan O’Brien pulling the plug on his show last year and Samantha Bee ending hers

Noah, a relatively unknown comic from South Africa, was a bold choice to replace the popular Jon Stewart in 2015. But he slowly made the show his own and built a dedicated audience.

“So many people didn’t believe in us,” he said. “It was a crazy bet to make. I still think it was a crazy choice—this random African.”

He said hosting the show has been one of his greatest challenges and joys.

“I wanted to say thank you to the audience for an amazing seven years,” he said. “It’s been wild. It’s been truly wild.”

Like most of his fellow comedians, he dealt with the firehose of material during Donald Trump’s presidency and, when the pandemic started, found himself suddenly thrust into the challenge of producing a program without an audience.

He said he realized there was more that he wanted to do recently when he was able to travel again.

“I miss learning other languages,” he said. “I miss going to other countries and putting on a show.” n

Filmmaker Perry Escaño’s MPJ Network debuts 3 shows via Kumu

By Leony R. Garcia

MOVIE director, producer and actor Perry Escaño formally launched his MPJ Network with three exciting shows which premiered on September 29 via the Kumu channel on YouTube Premium, from 6 to 9 pm. Known for his movies Ang Guro Kong Di Marunong Magbasa, Sikreto ng Piso and Caught in the Act, Escaño recently turned to talent management via his MPJ Angels Artists’ Pool, along with Noreen “Mommy Angel” Espejon, former handler of Ex Battalion and Kuh Ledesma.

The new shows—Kids Toy Kingdom, Millennials Lifestyle and Simply Exquisite—and their respective hosts, the exclusive contract artists of MPJ Angels, were introduced at a recent press conference.

The opening salvo at 6 pm is Kids Toy Kingdom hosted by singers Hannah Ortiz and Tom Leaño. This online show will deal with topics on toy collections including modern and vintage items.

At 7 pm, Millennials Lifestyle is hosted by singer Sofi Fermazi, Chesca Orolfo, Archie Alcantara and Lyra Sloan. Ideal for young audiences, the show aims to encompass music and band trends, concerts and music videos, online games, and topics about love and relationships. Closing the exciting lineup is Simply Exquisite, hosted by in-demand event host Nicky Gilbert. This 8 pm show talks about celebrity lifestyle, fashion accessories and dresses, designers and professional models.

It will likewise feature interior design, weddings, foods, tourists and destinations—all the while taking a nod to arts and culture. Escaño, more popularly called Direk Perry in show business, is all praises for his eight young, talented contract artists.

The youngest of the group, Tom Leaño is an actor, host and dancer, and has done commercials for traditional and new media. He idolizes Dingdong Dantes and hopes to follow his footsteps.

Hannah Ortiz  is a professional singer, actress,

commercial model, host and dancer. She will be part of This Band Philippines Concert tour starting November 12. Chesca Orolfo is an actress and commercial model, and was recently tapped to model for award-winning painter and mural artist David Choe. Archie Alcantara is an actor, and was recently seen as one of the presenters for Gintong Parangal Celebrity Awards Night held in Okada Manila.

Sofi Fermazi  is a professional singer, actress and commercial model. She has done more than 50 cover songs on her YouTube channel. Dubbed as “Darling of Covers,” Sofi can also sing Korean and Japanese songs. Her Tagalog version of “Hero” by Bonnie Tyler went viral online recently. She will also be part of This Band Philippines Concert tour.

Besides Lyra Sloan and Nicky Gilbert, completing MPJ Angels is comebacking artist Pearl Gonzales. She is the lead actress for the film Kuta which will be released in November. Most recently, she was one of the finalists for Century Tuna catwalk competition.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Don’t bend because someone puts pressure on you. Stand your ground and alter whatever will make a difference or a contribution to something you want to improve. A pick-me-up will boost your ego. Update your appearance and nurture meaningful relationships. HHH

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Discuss what you want and how you plan to move forward, and you’ll be able to set up changes to suit your needs. Making a lifestyle adjustment will pave the way to better days ahead. HHH

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Put your best foot forward and charm everyone you encounter. A positive attitude will get you further than complaints or criticism. Look at what’s possible and incorporate work and pleasure into your day to balance negativity and uncertainty. HHHHH

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Don’t take anything for granted or expect others to live up to their word. Be prepared to do things yourself and to take the credit you deserve. Be receptive to the information you receive from someone knowledgeable. HH

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): You have more going for you than you realize. Pull out all the stops and move full speed ahead. Discuss your intentions, pull in the people with something to contribute and make a change that offers the freedom to pursue your dream. HHHH

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): An unusual change to how you handle money or earn your living is apparent. Be smart and formulate a plan that has long-term financial benefits. A move or home improvement is possible but also needs careful monitoring. Protect your health and well-being. HHH

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Don’t let what others do or say get you down. Consider what will make you happy, and put your energy toward improving your home, relationships and personal growth. Assess your finances and move forward with confidence. Romance is in the stars. HHH

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Hang on to your secrets, be a good listener and find out where you stand before you reveal your intentions. Use your skills to make improvements. A financial gain is apparent. HHH

BIRTHDAY BABY: You are refined, particular and patient. You are resourceful and diligent.

H: Avoid conflicts; work behind the scenes. HH: You can accomplish, but don’t rely on others. HHH: Focus and you’ll reach your goals. HHHH: Aim high; start new projects. HHHHH: Nothing

‘quite a mouthful’ BY REBECCA GOLDSTEIN

CELEBRITIES BORN ON THIS DAY: Kara Royster, 29; Jesse Eisenberg, 39; Scott Weinger, 47; Kate Winslet,

SCIENCE OF THE PLOT TWIST—HOW WRITERS EXPLOIT OUR BRAINS

By Vera Tobin Case Western Reserve University

RECENTLY I did something that many people would consider unthinkable, or at least perverse. Before going to see Avengers: Infinity War, I deliberately read a review that revealed all of the major plot points, from start to finish.

Don’t worry; I’m not going to share any of those spoilers here. Though I do think the aversion to spoilers—what The New York Times’s A O Scott recently lamented as “a phobic, hypersensitive taboo against public discussion of anything that happens onscreen”—is a bit overblown.

As a cognitive scientist who studies the relationship between cognition and narratives, I know that movies—like all stories—exploit our natural tendency to anticipate what’s coming next.

These cognitive tendencies help explain why plot twists can be so satisfying. But somewhat counterintuitively, they also explain why knowing about a plot twist ahead of time— the dreaded “spoiler”—doesn’t really spoil the experience at all.

When you pick up a book for the first time, you usually want to have some sense of what you’re signing up for—cozy mysteries, for instance, aren’t supposed to feature graphic violence and sex. But you’re probably also hoping that what you read won’t be entirely predictable.

To some extent, the fear of spoilers is well-grounded. You only have one opportunity to learn something for the first time. Once you’ve learned it, that knowledge affects what you notice, what you anticipate—and even the limits of your imagination.

What we know trips us up in lots of ways, a general tendency known as the “curse of knowledge.”

For example, when we know the answer to a puzzle, that knowledge makes it harder for us to estimate how difficult that puzzle will be for someone else to solve: We’ll assume it’s easier than it really is.

When we know the resolution of an event—whether it’s a basketball game or an election—we tend to overestimate how likely that outcome was.

Information we encounter early on influences our estimation of what is possible later. It doesn’t matter whether we’re reading a story or negotiating a salary: Any initial starting point for our reasoning—however arbitrary or apparently irrelevant—“anchors” our analysis. In one study, legal experts given a hypothetical criminal case argued for longer sentences when presented with larger numbers on randomly rolled dice.

Either consciously or intuitively, good writers know all of this.

An effective narrative works its magic, in part, by taking advantage of these, and other, predictable habits of thought. Red herrings, for example, are a type of anchor that set false expectations—and can make twists seem more surprising.

A major part of the pleasure of plot twists, too, comes not from the shock of surprise, but from looking back at the early bits of the narrative in light of the twist. The most satisfying surprises get their power from giving us a fresh, better way of making sense of the material that came before. This is another opportunity for stories to turn the curse of knowledge to their advantage.

Remember that once we know the answer to a puzzle, its clues can seem more transparent than they really were. When we revisit early parts of the story in light of that knowledge, well-constructed clues take on new, satisfying significance.

Consider the film The Sixth Sense After unleashing its big plot twist—that Bruce Willis’s character has, all along, been one of the “dead people” that only the child protagonist can see—it presents a flash reprisal of scenes that make new sense in light of the surprise. We now see, for instance, that his wife (in fact, his widow) did not snatch up the check at a restaurant before he could take it out of pique. because, as far as she knew, she was dining alone.

Even years after the film’s release, viewers take pleasure in this twist, savoring the degree to which it should be “obvious if you pay attention” to earlier parts the film.

At the same time, studies show that even when people are certain of an outcome, they reliably experience suspense, surprise and emotion. Action sequences are still heartpounding; jokes are still funny; and poignant moments can still make us cry.

As UC San Diego researchers Jonathan Levitt and Nicholas Christenfeld have recently demonstrated, spoilers don’t spoil. In many cases, spoilers actively enhance enjoyment.

In fact, when a major turn in a narrative is truly unanticipated, it can have a catastrophic effect on enjoyment—as many outraged Infinity War viewers can testify.

If you know the twist beforehand, the curse of knowledge has more time to work its magic. Early elements of the story will seem to presage the ending more clearly when you know what that ending is. This can make the work as a whole feel more coherent, unified and satisfying.

Of course, anticipation is a delicious pleasure in its own right. Learning plot twists ahead of time can reduce that excitement, even if the foreknowledge doesn’t ruin your enjoyment of the story itself.

Marketing experts know that what spoilers do spoil is the urgency of consumers’ desire to watch or read a story. People can even find themselves so sapped of interest and anticipation that they stay home, robbing themselves of the pleasure they would have had if they’d simply never learned of the outcome.

Reducing redundancies

IN a previous organization, I attended a meeting for all managers of the different departments and offices, and we were required to report updates on our respective projects. One department was reporting their accomplishments when another manager inquired whether their project was connected to what they were currently doing. After a few discussions, they discovered that they were working on the same parts of the overall project. This resulted in wastage of manpower and resources.

These incidents could have been avoided if the leaders in the organization took the time to review how projects will be implemented and monitored. But this could also happen within your own team, especially when you do not assign a task to anyone in particular and you assume that someone will pick it up. There are also instances when work is wasted because there are no clear work guidelines, or when the objectives are not clearly communicated. As a people manager, there are some things you can do to reduce work repetitions and wastage of man hours and resources.

The first thing you can do is to evaluate the timeliness and quality of your team’s output and see if there are processes you can improve. You can also identify the common issues encountered by your clients in your customer satisfaction surveys. If you do not have one, you can directly ask clients for feedback on what you could enhance as a team. Their comments and suggestions are a rich source of what can be improved in your work, so do not be afraid to ask for feedback. Knowing what needs to be improved in your team will help you to consistently deliver products and services that meet your client’s expectations.

After getting feedback from clients, do an audit of your team’s work process so you can tighten timelines and improve the quality of your team’s output. When I headed a content development team for learning, we hired graphic designers to create images and prepare layouts we could use for online modules. It was a challenge for me because I had not worked with creatives before. What helped me was when I asked them to individually walk me through their own creative processes and from there, I formulated a process that could be adopted by all.

By presenting it to them and asking for their inputs, we were able to reduce timelines and share best practices which eventually improved the quality of their work.

As you do an audit of your work processes, identify the risks that could arise from the different steps.

When I was handling my content development team, I realized that my team could do content faster

when graphics designers were paired with a module developer who would act as the project manager. I realized it meant trusting my module managers to follow through on quality standards but it also meant I had to develop a way to effectively monitor them. I managed that risk by checking in on them at intervals on how they reviewed their team’s work and even held review sessions where I also evaluated their work. As an added measure, I asked for copies of the evaluation forms of their team’s work so I could evaluate the common quality violations to allow me to develop action plans to address them.

There also came a time when we had to work with other departments for specific learning interventions which meant setting clear roles for each department. To avoid rework, I had to check that the outputs that were handed over to the next group met their expectations. For teams that we worked with for the first time, I set frequent quick meetings at the outset to set expectations, and to ensure that we were on the right track and dispel any confusion. Just like the time when our communications team rolled out a branding guideline, we had to check with them frequently to ensure we were on brand. Later on, we were given more freedom to experiment with the design elements.

Communicate to the team the improvements so that everybody knows what the process is, issues are addressed, and people understand their roles. One of the challenges I encountered when pairing together a writer and a graphics designer was the creation of storyboards. At first, the team relied on the graphic designers to do it since it was a visual representation

of what needed to be seen on videos or online modules. Later on, writers did it because they felt that the graphic designers were not able to effectively translate what they had envisioned. To resolve the issue, the team worked on a template for the storyboard and created an online version where both graphic designers and writers could leave comments for improvement. That helped in reducing the time for creating storyboards and enabled both writers and graphic designers to have more time for other tasks.

An important element in communicating is ensuring everybody knows what is happening in the project. To do this, create a shared dashboard where everyone in the organization knows where they come in and when their output is needed for the project. If you can itemize the milestones and list who is responsible for each of them, you are in a better position to monitor and evaluate where you are most needed and remind people of their tasks. Depending on the complexity of the project, meet as often as needed but do quick meetings for updates. If the meeting will take more than 30 minutes, ask for updates through e-mail.

Your role as a people manager is to ensure that resources are optimized to meet the overall objective of the organization. This means looking at how your team can maximize their time, but also leaving room for them to grow and develop. Time and resources saved from optimized work processes can be used for engagement activities or team-building events. If not, give it back to them through performance bonuses or

Sustainability takes center stage in design and arts festival

ArChITeCTs, art and design enthusiasts, and creatives gathered to celebrate the return of B+Abble, the annual and much-awaited series of talks on contemporary design in the Philippines.

Last september 17, Buensalido+Architects, one of the country’s most innovative and progressive architecture firms, relaunched their signature conference to a whole-day contemporary design and arts festival, featuring talks and panel discussions by local and international speakers, as well as musical performances by emerging and exciting talents.

As the world recovers from the effects of the global pandemic, this year’s theme “ReWind to ReWild” focused on sustainability and simplicity in our built environment, exploring conservation, creative renovation, adaptive re-use, and how other contemporary solutions can change the way we live and understand architecture for the better.

design and architecture laboratory based in China, headlined the event with the global firm’s first talk in the Philippines.

One of the winners from the World Architecture Festival in 2021, Atelier tao+c’s projects use humble, ordinary materials, but the precise detailing always manages to elevate the mundane. Cofounder Chunyan Cai talked about their firm’s process—semiarchitectural, semi-interior—and how their design method allows people to see and experience beauty in simplicity. Architect Don Lino of LINO Architecture and artist Leeroy New also gave their unique perspectives on preserving local culture and heritage through their work, and they also talked about how sustainability should be a goal and a principle of design and not a gimmick.

For the first time, B+Abble also launched panel

interior and industrial designers, trend forecasters, branding experts, and even circular economy advocates shared experiences and case studies, and engaged in discussions with each other and the audience members.

Almost 300 fans of arts and architecture spent the day listening to the introspections and conversations of the speakers. Young musical talents Coeli, Jarlo Bâse, Brass Rosette and Ysanygo bookmarked the talks with performances, adding to the already dynamic atmosphere.

Now in its 8th year, B+Abble continues to inspire and challenge the creative community to use innovative, unique, and progressive thinking in exacting positive change.

PHOTO BY KOBU

tudio, Mara Manalo yado and PJ Guittap and Gerard Dy

Ford Island Conquest to make next stop in Davao on Oct. 7 to 9

FORD Philippines is expanding the reach of its Ford Island Conquest test drive event nationwide with its next stop in Davao City on October 7 to 9, 2022.

Following its successful runs in Metro Manila and Luzon, the Ford Island Conquest makes its next stop at the Annex Event Center of SM City Davao to give customers access to a next-generation test drive experience of Ford vehicles.

The three-day event features a dynamic display and on-road test drive, allowing customers to see and experience the segment-leading features and capabilities of Ford vehicles led by the next-generation Ford Ranger and Everest which were both launched last July.

Customers who will make a reservation at the three-day event are entitled to pick a prize when they reserve the next-generation Ranger and Everest, as well as the Territory, Mustang, and Explorer.

Over P2 million worth of cash discounts and prizes are up for grabs for customers, with cash discount of as much as P100,000. Other prizes include cash discounts of P10,000, P20,000, P30,000, three-year Scheduled Service Plan (SSP), various premium Ford merchandise, and next-gen Ranger and Everest accessories packs.

Customers who will avail of a financing program through partner

banks BPI or EastWest for the next-gen Ranger and Everest, Territory, Mustang, and Explorer will also get an additional P15,000 cash discount.

“The Ford Island Conquest heads to its fourth location this month as we continue to bring our test drive activity closer to more customers and Ford enthusiasts. Davao is a growing market for pickups and SUVs, and we are confident that our customers will appreciate our next-gen Ford Ranger and Everest as well as our most popular and iconic Ford vehicles,” shares Mike Breen, managing director, Ford Philippines.

“We invite Davaoeños to visit SM City Davao this weekend as the Ford Island Conquest is a fun event for the whole family to enjoy too,” adds Breen.

The Ford Island Conquest in SM City Davao will be open from 10:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m., with the test drive activity open until 6:00 p.m. Customers who are going to test drive the vehicles are also advised to wear the appropriate footwear.

The event is open to the public and admission is free. Visit www.ford.com.ph/ events/ford-island-conquest/ or check out Ford’s social media channels for more details.

Monde Nissin assures safety of ‘pambansang’ noodle which it first produced 33 years ago

QC to host Investors Summit to promote city as top business location for local, foreign ventures

THE highly anticipated “Quezon City Investors Summit: Future Ready” will promote Quezon City as an ideal destination for investors and businesses as they continue to recover from the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“The summit will put the spotlight on Quezon City as a top business destination for local and international investors. We hope to attract many investors who can help further stimulate the economy and provide employment for QCitizens,” Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte said.

Scheduled on Oct. 7 at Novotel Manila at the Araneta City, the event will engage investors, business leaders, business associations, chambers of commerce, foreign dignitaries, and Quezon City government officials in discussions on key areas for investments, public-private partnerships and opportunities for expansion and growth.

“Quezon City is future ready, ready for investors, ready to build a better and more prosperous city so that our QCitizens will be able to enjoy the resulting benefits,” said Margarita Santos, head of the Business

Permits and Licensing Department (BPLD) of Quezon City.

Aside from its strategic location, Quezon City also has the homegrown QC E-Services platform that makes business processes such as permit and license applications easy for investors, according to Santos.

“The LGU has automated and digitized 95 percent of the city’s services through its QC E-Services platform. This means potential investors can apply for business permits online,” said Santos, adding that the “permit will even be delivered to the applicant’s business or home address free of charge.”

As a matter of principle, the Quezon City government constantly consults and coordinates with the business sector, which has enabled both sectors to build a relationship of mutual respect and support.

“This continued dialogue with the private sector helps all stakeholders to address various challenges and issues, and to think up ways to create a free, fair and fertile business environment,” Perry Dominguez, head of the Local Economic Investment Promotions Office, points out.

LUCKY

Me has always focused on consumer enjoyment and caring for their well-being. The maker of the country’s “pambansang noodles,” as many consumers say, was recently awarded the Brand of the Decade in Kantar’s latest Brand Footprint Report, as a brand that has consistently been part of the Top 10 Most Chosen Brands in the country for the past ten years. In fact, Lucky Me has been the number one in ranking for seven out of the ten years.

The recent media plant tour in Malvar, Batangas, showed how Lucky Me brought this focus to life through best practices in terms of quality; thrust on consumer wellbeing; and the safe production of its wellloved products.

The new state-of-the-art plant site became operational last August 2021. It sits on eight hectares of land and is capable of producing around one million packs of instant noodles a day. The packing machines can process two packs of noodles “in a blink of an eye,” translating to 250 packs of noodles per minute.

It was designed with a high degree of efficiency and agility in mind employing a flow-through design and flow-to-work organization. This means a smoother process from noodle production to the warehouse and less human intervention through automation and work solutions through technology and IT resources.

Lucky Me is one of the brands under the Monde Nissin Corporation, specializing in several food brands. These include biscuit brands SkyFlakes and Fita,

Nissin wafers and cookies, and around the world, the meat analogue Quorn. Lucky Me, in turn, produces instant noodles as soup (Lucky Me Instant Mami) and dry noodles (pancit canton).

After watching the introductory video, guests were taken up to a viewing deck (with the walls and floors appropriately painted in yellow) where guests could see the process of making the noodles.

The plant mills the flour itself (from wheat kernels imported from the USA, Canada, and Australia). The flour is mixed with water and other ingredients in a great mixer, after which the dough rests and is flattened. Noodles are cut to the right size and the strands are then curled. The curling of the noodles allows them to cook quicker, because steam settles into the tight spaces made by the curled noodles. They are then steamed, cut and folded into shape, then fried (to make them shelf-stable and also to dry them), then dried with cool air.

The noodles come in two different shapes: those for Lucky Me Instant Mami (noodle soup) are made in squares, while the Pancit Canton (stir-fried dry noodles) are made round. The tour guides said that this helps in differentiation, especially since the pancit canton noodles undergo another water-dipping process to make them firmer. The noodles are then packed by a machine, transported to a warehouse where robots stack them on shelves the size of small houses.

During the tour, the company also introduced guests to new varieties. These include the limited-edition Sweet Spicy

Mansi and Extra Chiliman Hot pancit canton varieties, (combining two flavors in one pack), and the Lucky Me Milky Me noodle soup (in chicken and corn flavors).

“We listen to our consumers and that’s where a lot of ideas come from. We also look at trends in the general food industry, not just in noodles for inspiration. From there we have a research and development team that develops the flavors and ingredients into candidate products that go through rounds of tasting and evaluation internally and with consumers. At the same time, they work with the manufacturing and QA (quality assurance) team to make sure that these new products can be produced consistently at the best quality,” explained Gen de Pena, Marketing Communications Manager of Monde Nissin Corp.

These noodles are also part of a new generation of noodles that are healthier. They add no artificial preservatives (instead they use green tea extract) to all the noodles, and the noodles are fortified with iron and vitamin A. They have also reduced sodium content by 25 precent.

Moving forward, Lucky Me also has its sustainability plan which include using renewable energy and minimizing plastic packaging.

“While packaging is essential in delivering quality products to our customers, we are working towards minimizing our plastic packaging footprint. We have implemented design solutions to downsize the usage of packaging materials without compromising the quality of its products. Further, we are making the plastics we use recycle-ready, using mono-materials that are easy to reprocess and convert to other usable items,” Nissin Monde said, addressing Lucky Me’s use of single-use plastic.

“We are working on improving our waste management practices by aiming to take the measures and process improvements necessary to achieve zero waste to landfill from our manufacturing operations by 2025,” the company said.

Monde Nissin also revealed that it has already signed an agreement to power nearly all of its facilities including Malvar with 100% renewable energy.

Liwayway, Inspiring Hope” is a colorful, dimly-lit painting of women waiting for the fishermen at dawn by the beach to buy the day’s catch.

“BUKANG

“True to my signature artwork, these women are one-eyed in Filipiniana with baskets and fish. One-eyed symbolize clarity, focus, clairvoyance and power. They depict hard-working women, patiently waiting for the boats to arrive. The scene evokes resilience, peace, and hope, palpable on the faces of these women,” said New York-based Filipino artist, PT, nurse, pharmaceutical project manager Rommel Rico.

Now installed and unveiled at the UP-PGH Henry Sy College of Medicine Building, no less than UPCM Dean Dean

Charlotte Chiong accepted the painting together with UPCM Batch 1997. A part of its many projects as silver jubilarians, UPCM Batch ‘97 mounted a virtual exhibit at the height of the pandemic last year, using Rico’s watercolor and acrylic artworks depicting the frontlines. Aptly named Salamat Frontliners, the fund-raising activities converted Rico’s artworks to wearables and sold them for the benefit of the medical frontliners.

The Filipino artist has painted over 40 artworks and hosted several exhibits in New York. Two of his artworks, “Abundance in the Marketplace” and “Abundance in the Sun” which Rico considers his masterpieces were exhibited in Pfizer Headquarters lobby at 42nd St. New York and had drawn much curiosity and attention.

He said he discovered his knack for painting in high school, stopped during college and went back to it again when he came to New York as a physical therapist. After earning his license and taking a short course in nursing as well, he paints while juggling his work in the medical field.

Enroll in this Center for Global Best Practices Masterclass and become a CSW specialist

COMPLETE Staff Work (CSW) is the doctrine of any well-run office. Popularized by the late former President Fidel V. Ramos and institutionalized by succeeding presidents with several directives, Complete Staff Work is the principle of management which states that subordinates are responsible for submitting written recommendations to superiors in such a manner that the superior only needs to review the submitted document and indicate approval or disapproval.

Pursuant to Malacañang Memorandum

Circular No. 72, emphasizing and strengthening the standards of CSW, it is expected that government offices observe timely and efficient delivery of crucial government projects and public services. Many of the most progressive government institutions and private organizations are now applying CSW.

To help organizations boost efficiency in their offices, the Center for Global Best Practices (CGBP) will be hosting a special sixsession online training via ZOOM entitled

Masterclass in Complete Staff Work to be held on the following dates: Session 1 8:30AM to 12:00PM

9:00AM

This training

October 19, 2022

designed for attendees

Situation Appraisal, Problem Analysis, Decision Analysis, Potential Problem Analysis and many more!

This program will feature CGBP's finest roster of trainers led by Antonio Kalaw, Jr. CESO I, who was the longest serving president of the Development Academy of the Philippines.

Those who will finish and pass this course will be conferred the title of "CSW Specialist" and could use the post-nominal letters "CSWS®". Example: Juan dela Cruz, CSWS®.

Registration is open to the general public. For details and to register, visit www.cgbp.org. You may also call Manila Lines (+632) 85568968/ 69 or (+63 2) 8842-7148/ 59.

SM FOUNDATION EXTENDS ASSISTANCE TO KARDING VICTIMS. In its continuing relief operations to assist the families and individuals affected by typhoon Karding (Noru), SM Foundation, through its Operation Tulong Express Program (OPTE), distributed Kalinga packs to more than 1,400 families affected by the typhoon in San Mateo, Pampanga and Cabanatuan City. OPTE is a social good program of SM Foundation in collaboration with SM Supermalls and SM Markets which aims to address the needs of communities during calamities and crises.

New York-based Filipino nurse-turned-artist uses his talent to help less fortunate Filipino children

ARTIST Rommel Rico and his painting currently installed at UP-PGH Henry Sy College of Medicine Building.

Flexible workspace will be the new trend; bbb still needed?

By Rizal Raoul S. Reyes

TheCovid-19

pandemic has caused much disruption in the property sector.

Despite the resumption of several construction projects, the work environment has seen a drastic shift caused by the pan demic. Moreover, fully completed buildings remained unclaimed or underutilized office spaces.

According to Gian Reyes, VP of Marketing for KMC Solutions, vacancies rose from 11.2 percent to 16.2 percent over a one-year pe riod as many businesses continue to prioritize a remote work force and refrain from the expenses of a large-scale office setup.

Reyes said KMC Solutions has recognized that new workspaces must actually reflect the new ways people work. He said the new work space includes creating flexible of fice space for collaboration and an efficient assortment of business uses. As many companies opt for a hybrid work model—a combina tion of both in-office and workfrom-home hours, Reyes stressed the new, flexible office space must offer employees a social environ ment that’s available throughout the week on an as-needed basis—a place for work, along with checkins, periodic meetings, and team-

building functions.

In response to the new working environment, Reyes said KMC is leveling up flexibility and hybrid work with new flexible workspac es opening in Makati,Cebu and Al abang by launching a gamut of hy brid coworking spaces that meet the demands of the current work and real estate circumstances. It will start with One Ayala Tower.

Reyes said the new offices provide a valuable coworking space quite different from an entrenched nine to five environ ment. “Despite the high vacancy rates, the market has expressed interest in flexible spaces that en able hybrid work while saving on the time and administrative costs of traditional office settings.”

As employees aren’t travel ing for hours to their workplace,

Reyes said smaller multi-use of fice spaces or de-consolidated spaces provide the best of both worlds, with safety and function ality at the forefront.

A BBB Part 2?

T H e L obien Realty Group re cently urged the government to continue implementing the am bitious Build, Build, Build (BBB) program.

Jericho Linao, Chief Operating Officer of LRG said the program played a big role in upgrading the country’s moribund infrastruc ture facility. For instance, he said the BBB program has been respon sible for the rehabilitation of the MRT-3 which has greatly helped the public in their daily commute from the northern to the southern part of the Metro. Furthermore,

Torre Lorenzo and De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde partner to showcase Manila’s dynamic character through digital art

TORR e L orenzo Develop ment Corporation (TLDC) launches a digital mural art contest in partnership with the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde (DLS-CSB) aimed at high lighting Manila City’s historic and cultural character in its new est co-living residences, lyf.

Lyf is a one-of-a-kind accom modation to be managed by The Ascott Limited. It features hip, co-living spaces designed for the next generation travelers. Its units are complemented with IGworthy, modern, and fresh in teriors to give guests an avenue for socials, work, and creativity. Guests can indulge in innovative shared spaces for collaboration such as the lounge, social kitch en, laundromat, fitness gym, and swimming pool.

“As the first lyf property to open in Manila, we’d like it to reflect the city’s soul and unique character,” says Cathy Casares-Ko, TLDC’s Chief Op erations Officer. “Whether it is through the colors of the Ma nila Bay sunset, the texture of Intramuros’ cobbled streets, or the dynamism of the city’s food scene—lyf’s walls are en visioned to exhibit Manila’s vi brant colors and life.”

As the pioneer in student residences in the country, TLDC has been building pre mium developments that are accessible to the country’s top universities, including DLSCSB. “TLDC’s partnership with

DLS-CSB is significant to us because our developments have been home to many DLS-CSB students, who continued to stay on as they pursued their pro fessions,” says Casares-Ko. “It’s an opportunity to recognize the talent and creativity of the school’s students and alumni. We believe they have a very competent program in terms of digital visual communication having exposed their students to various storytelling, art forms, and media.”

For DLS-CSB, the partner ship is a chance for students and alumni to bring creative concepts to life. “For our stu dents and alumni, it’s an oppor tunity to inspire and motivate their audience through their art. We want their work to be

able to spur creativity, encour age collaboration, and inspira tion among the future residents of lyf. We hope that our audi ence discover Manila City’s old and new charm through art,” says Angelo Lacson, DLS-CSB’s Vice Chancellor for Academics.

Dubbed as Manila Digital Mu ral Art Contest, the art competi tion is open to DLS-CSB’s Multi media Arts alumni and students. Winners will receive cash prizes and winning murals will be dis played on lyf’s shared spaces including the Connect Lounge, Coffee Kiosk, Social Lounge, Private Working Pods, and Roof Deck located at Torre Lorenzo Malate along Malvar St. corner Vasquez St. in Malate, Manila. For more information, email multimediaarts@benilde.edu.ph

the repair and construction of roads and highways including the building of Skyway Stage-3 which has greatly improved travel time from Metro Manila going to the northern part of Luzon has been attributed to the BBB.

“Accessibility is one of the key considerations in choosing a lo cation for work or for one’s resi dence. Continuing the BBB will greatly improve ease of access to locations outside of MM which then makes these areas more at tractive to potential locators. Im proved accessibility to the nearby provinces helps to further widen the scope of real estate projects as developers begin to branch out and build in these locations.”

Jeri cho Linao, Chief Operating Of ficer of the Lobien Realty Group (LRG) explained

LRG Associate Director Steph Ng noted that the program cre ates an impact on the area thus contributing to the value appre ciation of the property. If the lo cations are seen to be more livable or the environment is more fit for work and play, Ng said investors are more inclined to invest in those particular locations thus elevating market prices.

“The pandemic has made us re alize the importance of residing or working in places which are not heavily congested and have access to fresh air. The BBB projects in Metro Manila impact the real es tate market in nearby provinces since it helps make travel time much shorter to these areas. The improved roadways leading to nearby provinces make these ar eas more appealing to those who are from MM and who are consid ering either investing in a second home outside of the city or relocat ing outside of the city,” Ng said.

“Provinces or locations not di

rectly covered by the BBB can also benefit given that they become more accessible to major busi ness centers. Since their property values are not yet that high, they can become a second option for investors,” Ng added.

Linao believes that BBB proj ects should continue to expand in areas where there are still vast amounts of land which are not yet developed: “The provinces in Cen tral Luzon would be a good next area to cover so that real estate developers would start to build projects in them, thus spreading the growth of real estate devel opments in currently untapped locations.”

Nevertheless, the adminis tration of President Marcos Jr. is seriously studying in pushing the public-private partnership program to modernize the coun try’s infrastructure development projects and lighten the load of the government in the funding of these projects.

By Roderick L. Abad

GOTIANUN-L e D p roperty de veloper Filinvest Land Inc. has appointed Colliers Philippines as landlord representative of Studio 7, a 24-story L ee D Silver-certified office development in Quezon City.

Strategically located along e d sa— around 500 meters and 900 meters from the GMA-Kamuning and Que zon Avenue Stations of MRT Line 3, respectively—this tower boasts of its offering huge savings to tenants with its efficient use of water and energy.

Studio 7 is also situated close to top academic institutions, including the University of the Philippines, and major shopping and commercial hubs.

Rising in an integrated mixed-use development, it offers a posh address for outsourcing companies and tradi tional corporate occupiers wanting to leverage on the city’s fast developing business environment.

Its three-floor retail podium with an area of 4,689.03 square meters (sq m) links the office building to Studio 7 e d sa Timog, a high-rise condominium that houses studio and one-bedroom units perfect for the young millennial work force.

Retail locators here include a g ro cery, gadget stores, coffee shops, casual dining and fast-food restaurants for

the daily needs of the residents and office workers. There are also other needed establishments like wellness concepts and a bank.

The property befits the require ments of future tenants since Quezon City is expected to become a more com petitive real estate market in the com ing years, According to Colliers Direc tor of Office Services–Landlord Rep resentation Maricris Sarino-Joson.

“Owing to its considerable land area and market size—it is after all the capital region’s largest and most populous—opportunities abound in this promising city,” she said.

Colliers reported during its recent Q2 2022 Property Market Briefing that the transport infrastructure strategy of the government is a key factor that will immensely benefit Quezon City.

It is already served by MRT Line 3, a 17-kilometer light rapid transit sys tem along e d sa with 13 stations, five of which are in Quezon City, and by the 17.6-kilometer LRT Line 2, whose five of 13 stations are within the city’s jurisdiction.

Upcoming is MRT Line 7, a 22.8-ki lometer rapid transit line that will run from the North Triangle Common Sta tion (between TriNoma and SM City North e d sa) all the way to San Jose Del Monte.

Set to begin operations by late

2022, all but three stations of MRT Line 7 will be within Quezon City.

Another exciting infrastructure project is the Metro Manila Subway, a 36-kilometer underground rapid transit line that will run north–south between Quezon City, Pasig, Makati, Taguig, Parañaque, and Pasay.

Once finished, it will lessen travel time between Quezon City and the Ninoy Aquino International Airport from one hour and 10 minutes to just 35 minutes.

Per Sarino-Joson, Quezon City is one of office submarkets where office vacancy eased in the second quarter of 2022. She noted: “This signals a gradual recovery of its office sector.”

Data from Colliers, likewise, show that the city has almost 500,000 sq m of office supply due for completion between 2023 and 2026.

Colliers’ Office Services–Landlord Representation service line markets a wide array of commercial proper ties nationwide, from Premium and Grade A towers in central business districts of Makati, Ortigas Center, and Bonifacio Global City, to L e e D and e D G e certified buildings in the Bay Area, Cebu, Davao, and Pampanga.

As of August 2022, Colliers has ex clusive mandate to market more than 500,000 sq m of office space all over the country.

Filinvest

KMC officials lead the topping off ceremony at the One Ayala Tower

The Build, Build, Build (BBB) program played a big part in the rehabilitation of the MRT 3 railway line.

The

Cathy Casares-Ko

Chancellor

CONCEPCION UP BY 2 AT RIVIERA

FIDEL

HD LEVELS UP FOCUS ON WORLDS

By Josef Ramos

OLYMPIC gold medalist

Hidilyn Diaz Naranjo will go after a world championships gold medal—the only title missing from her collection—but admitted she’s barely starting from scratch to get her winning numbers back.

A fter getting married to her coach Julius Naranjo in Baguio City last July 26—exactly a year after she won the country’s first Olympic gold medal in Tokyo—Diaz Naranjo returned to her regimen saying she’s “back to 90 percent in training.”

I simply love the challenge so I’ll be competing at the world championships,” the 31-yearold Zamboanga City pride told BusinessMirror on Tuesday. “But I had to start from zero to bring back my winning combinations.”

Colombia will host the worlds in its capital Bogota from December 5 to 16. It will be one of six tough qualifiying tournaments for the Paris 2024 Olympics—the same six-meet requirement she went through on her way to Tokyo.

S he and her now famous Team HD will complete their preparation at the Power Grace Gym in Georgia starting on November 15.

All the best Olympic weightlifters have gone through that gym,” said Diaz Naranjo of the world renowned training facility in the US. “But we will fly there after my thesis defense.”

A lready a gold medalist at the

Asian Games and Southeast Asian Games, Diaz Naranjo is completing her Business Management course at College of Saint Benilde where she’s on a scholarship grant.

“ The build-up is doing great so far for the world championships,” she added.

Team HD, Diaz Naranjo said, will meet with Philippine Sports Commission Chairman Noli Eala to discuss their needs.

Up in 2023 for Diaz Naranjo are the 32nd Southeast Asian Games and a bid to repeat at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China.

But the Cambodia SEA Games could fall from Diaz Naranjo’s priorities if the May 5 to 16 competitions won’t count as a qualifier for Paris. The continental games set from September 23 to October 8, on the other hand, rank as a qualifying tournament.

“ We need to prioritize what competitions I need to participate in—if it’s an Olympic qualifying tournament,” she said. “I have to set my mindset again and put everything in one place. When you win the gold, it’s hard to be in that winning moment again.”

D iaz Naranjo will still be competing in the women’s 55 kgs class in Bogota.

Enriquez, Pague in Buglasan Open QF

FANCIED Norman Enriquez and doubles partner Jose Maria Pague disposed of their respective rivals in lopsided fashions as they moved into the quarterfinals of the Buglasan Festival National Open Tennis Championships at the Praxevilla hard courts in Dumaguete City last Sunday.

The top two seeds came out strong after drawing opening round byes with Enriquez trouncing Daniel Dagoman, 4-0, 4-0, and Pague dropping just one game on his way to a 4-1, 4-0 rout of Christian Antiquina in the lower half of the 32-player draw.

But No. 3 Mclean Barraquias and fourth-ranked John Tomacruz likewise pulled off a pair of straight-set wins to fan their respective title bids and foil the projected Enriquez-Pague duel in the week-long event held as part of what has long been known as the “festival of festivals” in Negros Oriental.

B arraquias crushed Kyle Ongue, 4-0, 4-0, while Tomacruz went through some anxious moments before holding off last week’s Puerto Princesa junior champion Mcleen Gomera, 4-2, 5-3, as they stayed in the hunt for the top P15,000 purse in the tournament presented by Dunlop.

Jess Tayros, meanwhile, subdued Inno Solon, 5-3, 4-2, to arrange a quarters showdown with Enriquez while Neekho Salas clipped Dale Estonilo, 4-1, 4-1, for a crack at the semis against Barraquias in the event also held as part of the Palawan Pawnshop circuit put up by president and CEO Bobby Castro.

Enriquez and Pague, who reached the semifinals in the Puerto Princesa Open ruled by Johnny Arcilla, banner the men’s doubles cast that also includes the pairs of BarraquiasKenneth Banico, Estonilo-Jun Tabura and Stephen Guia-Roy Tan.

HOMERUN

On PBA imports, SBP’s pivotal move

IMPORTS will always dominate a conference that features foreigners in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).  That’s a truism as old as the Pasig River.

A lready, some new faces from overseas have started showing their wares in the ongoing Commissioner’s Cup.  One import, an American-born Serbian with a tongue-twister for a surname, debuted with 40-plus points and 20-plus rebounds.  Monstrous, to say the least.

SMB makes last-minute import change in Comm’s Cup debut vs BW

PHILIPPINE

Cup champion San

Miguel Beer opens its Philippine Basketball Association Commissioner’s Cup campaign on Wednesday with a last-minute change of import against Blackwater at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

CONCEPCION

birdied the first two holes then endured a virtual survival test right in the first round to wrest early control in the International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI)

Riviera Championship with a 69 at the Langer course in Silang, Cavite, on Tuesday.

hile the top guns pressed their bids in a windy start then faded in punishing conditions at the dreaded par-71 layout, Concepcion held on in a roller-coaster ride midway through and into the finish for a 34-35 round and a two-stroke lead over Anthony Fernando.

e eagled the par-five 10th but doublebogeyed the long par-three 12th then birdied No. 16 to negate an earlier mishap on the ninth and emerge the leader in the P2 million tournament marking the return of the Philippine Golf Tour (PGT) after a three-month break.

oncepcion limped to 32nd in the last PGT stop at Eagle Ridge-Aoki won by absentee Mike Bibat last July but toughened up on the Asian Development Tour during the lull.

e didn’t have as much success on the Asian Tour farm league with a number of missed cuts and a best 32nd place finish in the Indo Masters Invitational last June. But he used the experience to get into a fine start on a course that saw the early rise and fall of the Tour’s revered players.

I played very well and happy to be able to play Philippine golf again,” said Concepcion, still in pursuit of a maiden championship. “I had led many times but just couldn’t sustain my game.”

Fernando, the former national champion still in the hunt for the elusive pro crown, produced a rare birdie feat on the tough finishing par-4 hole to salvage a 71 and seize solo second as Kuresh

Samanodi bogeyed the last two holes and dropped to joint fifth at 73.

W hen asked of Concepcion’s game plan in the next three rounds, he said: “I’ll just play to my strength and see what happens.”

Most, however, will need to make things happen today [Wednesday] as the race to the Top 40 plus ties heats up, including Juvic Pagunsan, Angelo Que, Jhonnel Ababa, Sean Ramos, Jobim Carlos, Ivan Monsalve and Jerson Balasabas, among others.

Pagunsan, back in the local hunt after a Japan Golf Tour stint with Que just last Sunday, rebounded from a bogey-bogey mishap from No. 2 with three birdies in the four-hole stretch from No. 4. But just when he thought he had the course, where he reigned in stormy conditions to cap a fourtournament run in 2019, all figured out again, he stumbled with a double-bogey on No. 10 then made a rare double-par finish on the par-4 11th after twice dumping his wedge shot into the water.

He birdied the 15th to salvage a 75 for joint 17th with four others, including former Philippine Open champion Clyde Mondilla, who hardly recovered from a frontside 40 with a lone backside birdie. Other four-over scorers were Jay Bayron, Arnold Villacencio and amateur Josh Jorge.

L ike Pagunsan, Mondilla, runner-up in the first two legs of this year’s circuit put up by ICTSI and third placer in the third stop at Caliraya Springs, bogeyed Nos. 2 and 3, birdied the fifth but yielded two strokes on the next. He closed out the nine with back-to-back bogeys before birdying the 10th.

Worse was the amiable Que, who tied for fourth with Pagunsan at Eagle RidgeAoki but who failed to check a birdie-less frontside 40 with bogeys on Nos. 10 and 11. The three-time Asian Tour winner parred the rest for an uncharacteristic birdie-less 78 that dropped him to joint 32nd with Ababa, Ramos, Rufino Bayron and Art Arbole.

Olympian Barbosa leads cast in CPJ tilt

TOKYO Olympian Kurt Barbosa leads a star-studded cast in the Smart/MVP Sports Foundation National Carlos Palanca Jr. (CPJ) Taekwondo Championships set October 8 and 9 at the Ayala Malls Manila Bay in Pasay City.

T he country’s lone taekwondo bet in Tokyo last year who’s a two-time Southeast Asian Games champion is favored in the -54 kgs class of the tournament organized by the Philippine Taekwondo Association (PTA) as part of the qualifying process for slots for the 2023 national team.

The tournament also serves as a tune-up to members of the national team to the World Taekwondo Championships in November in Guadalajara, Mexico, as well as to the Asian Taekwondo Championships, Asian Junior/Cadet Taekwondo Championships and Asian Indoor

But it is still too early to tell if this dude and his fellow reinforcements can sustain their surge. One game is simply not enough to gauge one’s true abilities. Usually, some imports that shine early fade as the tournament rolls on—mainly because their styles will eventually become too familiar and succumb to a simple dose of a little bit of tight, if not physical-laden, guarding.

We now see three teams leading the Commissioner’s Cup, with Hong Kong’s Bay Area, Magnolia and NLEX on top with 2-0, winloss cards apiece.

W ith Bay Area and NLEX idle, Magnolia can capture the solo lead with a win today in its 5:45 p.m. date with debuting TNT, the losing finalist in the just-ended Philippine Cup won in seven games by San Miguel Beer.

L ike the TNT Tropang Giga, the San Miguel Beermen also plunge into action today, meeting Blackwater in the 3 p.m. opener at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

But SMB seemed to play with a bit of a handicap today as its first import, Thomas Robinson, has become a question mark.  A replacement, 6-foot-10 Diamond Stone, is on standby basis as the Beermen prepare to face the Bossing, who are gunning for win No. 2 in four games, in a much-awaited match that will somehow put to test SMB’s capabilities to win back-to-back titles this early.

Meanwhile, hat’s off to the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) for gracing the Eurobasket 2022 in Berlin as it gave its officials a “closer feel” of how the World Cup is to be hosted next year in Manila.

Thomas Robinson, a highly-caliber 6-foot-10 reinforcement who played for several National Basketball Association (NBA) teams, couldn’t play because of back spasm and according to team manager Gee Abanilla, they had to call in another former NBA big man, Diamond Stone, for the 3 p.m. game against the Bossing.

He [Robinson] couldn’t move his body due to back spasm a few days back,” Abanilla said. “Diamond Stone just arrived today [Tuesday] and it will be his first time he’s practicing with us.”

The 6-foot-10 Stone played center for the Los Angeles Clippers in 2016 and toured various leagues with Taiwan’s professional league T1 as his most recent stop last year.

Blackwater, holding a 1-2 win-loss record, already learned of the develop ment at San Miguel Beer and coach Ariel Vanguardia said his wards are ready.

“ We have to take care of June Mar [Fajardo] and their new import,” Blackwater coach Ariel said Vanguardia, who’ll be pinning much of the Bossing’s hopes on reinforcement Cameron Krutwig.

Blackwater almost upset Magnolia last Saturday, 105-109 defeat.

M agnolia, meanwhile, aims for a 3-0 start to tie league-leader Hong Kong Bay Area Dragons as the Hotshots square off with the TNT Tropang Giga at 5:45 p.m.

The Hotshots will be banking on Serbian import Nicholas Rakocevic, who is averaging 33.0 points and 24.5 rebounds in two games.

T NT, with new acquisitions Calvin Oftana and Raul Soyud, is also debuting in the conference with import Cameron Oliver. Josef Ramos

Miranda leads JRU against San Beda

Martial Arts Games next year. A lso joining the competition sponsored by the Philippine Sports Commission, Philippine Olympic Committee and Milo are Barbosa’s fellow National University standout and 2019 SEA Games gold medal winner Dave Cea, and national team mainstays Arven Alcantara, Alfritz Arevalo, Joseph Chua and Laila Delo Baby Jessica.

More than a thousand participants from PTA-affiliated organizations, schools and clubs nationwide have confirmed their participation in the Kyorugi (free sparring) and Poomsae (form) events.

The Kyorugi will feature competitions in Senior, Junior, Cadet, Grade School and  Toddler for both male and female, while Poomsae will be divided into Recognized (Individual, Team and Mixed pair) and Freestyle (Individual and Mixed Pair).

We will stage in 2023 no less than 40 games as we co-host with Japan and Indonesia a total of 32 countries—six from Asia, seven Americas, five Africa and 12 Europe.

“ We thank the FIBA HQ and the DBB for inviting us to the Eurobasket 2022. The SBP believes that there is no better way to show our gratitude than by applying what we have learned and delivering the best World Cup ever,” said SBP president Al Panlilio.

A mong the SBP officials present in Berlin were World Cup 2023 big shots Erika Dy, Dickie Bachmann and John Lucas.

W hen the Philippines first hosted the World Cup in 1978, only 14 countries from five federations were present.

I covered for the Bulletin the ill-fated event.  Games then were played before practically empty stands at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum.  Wretchedly sad.

R eason?  The nation’s biggest stars were out of the Philippine team as they were playing in the PBA, which played its games at the Araneta Coliseum simultaneously—believe it or not—with the World Cup matches.

Depressing, indeed.

The world is in mourning over the tragedy on Saturday, October 2, that claimed more than 140 lives in Indonesia following a football riot and the police tear-gassing of fans in the pitch and a crowded stadium after a home team lost to a visiting squad in East Java’s City of Malang.  Prayers.

JOSE

RIZAL University (JRU) ended a seven-game losing streak by beating San Beda, 8380, in the National Collegiate Athletic Association seniors basketball tournament Tuesday at the Filoil EcoOil Centre in San Juan.

A gem Miranda finished with a game-high 21 points for JRU, which last beat San Beda, 97-88, on September 6, 2016 under then coach Vergel Meneses.

M iranda also had three assists and three rebounds for the Heavy Bombers, who tied the Red Lions at third place with a 4-2 won-lost record.

The Bombers were in control most of the way—24-16, 49-33 and 66-58 in the first three quarters—but had to stave off the Red Lions’ late rally.

Our 20-point lead in the middle game was sort of an enemy to us—are we satisfied with that lead or still finish strong?” JRU coach Louie Gonzalez said. “That’s worth reviewing for me.”

A fter a Ry dela Rosa travelled, the Red Lions tried to send the game into overtime in the final 10 seconds but

James Kwekuteye missed a lay-up.

Fouled by JB Bahio on the rebound play, Joshua Guiab hit his first free throw and missed the second but William Sy grabbed possession to seal the win for JRU.

John Amores chipped in 19 points for the Bombers, while Bahio had 19 points and 10 rebounds and Gab Cometa added 15 points and three assists for San Beda.

J RU faces Lyceum of the Philippines University, the league’s hottest team, on Friday.

JOSE RIZAL University’s Agem Miranda mans the point against San Beda’s Winston Ynot.

FIDEL CONCEPCION endures a roller-coaster ride in the first round. ROY DOMINGO