BusinessMirror October 12, 2022

IMF: Price spikes, $ pressure imperil growth

AS currencies continue to tumble against the US dol lar and commodity prices surge, economies such as the Philip pines are expected to suffer slower growth rates starting next year, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

In its Global Economic Prospects report, the IMF said Philippine GDP growth is expected to average 6.5 percent this year and slow to 5 per cent next year. Growth is also ex pected to average 6 percent by 2027.

Inflation, meanwhile, is expect ed to average 5.3 percent this year; 4.3 percent in 2023; and 3 percent in 2027. At the end of the year, infla tion is expected to reach 5.8 percent while the end of 2023 will still see higher than expected inflation of 3.7 percent.

“For the Association of South east Asian Nations [ASEAN]-5 economies, projected growth in 2023 is revised down to reflect mainly less favorable external conditions, with slower growth

in major trading partners such as China, the euro area, and the US,” the report stated.

“[The forecast also reflects] the decline in household purchasing power from higher food and energy prices; and in most cases, more rapid monetary policy tightening to bring inflation back to target,” it added.

The IMF also expects growth to slow and inflation to rise globally. The world economy is expected to average 3.2 percent this year and 2.7 percent next year.

Noting rising commodity pric es, the IMF expects global infla tion to peak at 9.5 percent this year before decelerating to 4.1 percent by 2024.

However, there are downside risks to these forecasts, IMF said, listing these as: policy miscalibra tion of monetary, fiscal, and fi nancial policy which could increase uncertainty and make the global economy more fragile.

TRADE GAP WIDENS 81% TO

IN AUGUST–PSA

Asean trade unions flag PHL labor issues; ILO team due

By Samuel P. Medenilla @sam_medenilla

By Cai U. Ordinario @caiordinario

country’s trade deficit is expected to ease starting next year, but it may not be the news that would be welcomed by millions of Filipinos, according to a local economist.

THE

On Tuesday, the Philippine Sta tistics Authority (PSA) reported that the country’s trade deficit widened 81 percent to $6 billion in August 2022 from the $3.31 billion posted in August 2021.

This was the highest increase in the deficit since June 2021 when it rose 133.9 percent. This was largely due to the 2-percent con traction in the country’s export earnings and 26-percent jump in import payments in August.

“In the early months of 2023, these deficits will no longer be sustainable and decline not be cause we are able to produce more exports but because we can no lon ger afford more imports,” Ateneobased trade and labor economist Leonardo A. Lanzona Jr. told the BusinessMirror

means that the country will face greater hardships in the

‘INEQUALITY WIDENED MOST IN PHL IN PANDEMIC’

THE gap between the rich and the poor widened the most in the Phil ippines during the pandemic compared to other countries around the world, according to the World Bank Group.

In its Poverty and Shared Prosperity 2022 report, the World Bank Group said the Gini index posted the largest increase in the Philippines and the largest decrease in Armenia.

The pandemic-induced dif ference in gini index in the country may have increased by over 10 percentage points in the country in 2020. This

is calculated as the difference between the nowcast with the pandemic and the nowcast without the pandemic.

“Some of the largest project ed changes in inequality were seen among middle-income countries such as Brazil. The poorest countries were less likely to experience a meaning ful decrease in inequality,” the report said.

“The largest increase in the Gini index was observed in the Philippines, while the largest decrease occurred in Armenia,” it added.

The report noted that global inequality worsened during the

pandemic and reversed the pre pandemic trend in narrowing the gap between the rich and the poor.

“The Covid-19 pandemic ap pears to have caused the largest single-year increase in global inequality since World War II. Findings from the simulated global income distribution sug gest that the global Gini index increased by a little more than 0.5 points during the pandemic, from a 2019 value of 62 to an estimated 62.6 in 2020,” the report said.

Part of the reason for this is the decline in jobs in the country. At the height of the

lockdowns, unemployment jumped 17.6 percent and un deremployment reached 18.9 percent.

Citing data from the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the World Bank Group said the job losses in the pandemic had a gender dimension, with more women losing their jobs.

“Young, female, less skilled workers suffered the brunt of the job losses in Indone sia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam in the second quarter of 2020,” the report stated.

RADE unions in Southeast Asia flagged the Philippines for its alleged rampant hu man and labor rights violations.

T

A joint resolution was issued by 30 labor representatives from 10 countries in the conclusion of the Southeast Asia conference on Trade Union Strategies for Resil ience and Renewal post-Covid 19 organized by the International La bor Organization (ILO) last Tuesday.

The representatives came from Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malay sia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor Leste and Vietnam.

The group stressed the impor tance of “respecting freedom of association and right to bargain collectively in countries where workers do not enjoy basic human and workers’ rights such as the Philippines” to foster a sustain able recovery from the pandemic.

They also called for the restora tion of the democracy in Myanmar after its military took over its gov ernment in February 2021.

Also discussed in the resolution would be the important role of la bor participation in the crafting of pandemic or disaster recovery mea sures to ensure such policies will translate to decent work.

Additional pressure

KILUSANG Mayo Uno (KMU)

Secretary-General Jerome Adon is, one of the participants in the two-day ILO forum, said the inclusion of the country in the resolution should be a “wake up” call for the country.

“The government of the Philip pines should be concerned because the country is now marked for violating labor rights, particularly freedom of association,” Adonis told BusinessMirror in an interview.

“This should be an additional pressure to the government of the Philippines to stop the attacks against workers,” he added.

Last Monday, KMU condemned the Philippine National Police for arresting two of its leaders suppos edly without due process and using trumped up charges.

KMU and other labor groups said they will ask the ILO High Level Mis sion to investigate the case.

ILO confirmation ILO Bureau for Workers’ Activities (ACTRAV) Director Maria Helena Andre finally confirmed on Tues day that the Mission is scheduled to arrive in January 2023.

She said the mission will look into incidents of attacks against trade unionists, which were raised by local labor groups before the ILO’s Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendation in 2019.

THE PAIN GOES ON Transport groups stage a protest in front of a gas station in Quezon City on Tuesday (October 11) as oil companies raised prices by as much as P6.85 per liter for diesel, and gasoline, by P1.20 per liter. As most public utility vehicles use diesel, the price spike forced many buses and jeepneys off the road, leaving commuters scrambling for scarce transportation. The price hikes were due primarily to the announcement of a major cut in output by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and Russia last week. Related story in A5 News, “Grant of subsidy amid latest fuel price increase pressed.” NONOY LACZA

China pressure on PHL over POGO fuels call to ban them

Continued from A16

Based on a study on the relationship of kidnapping rate and capital flight among developing countries, it found that an increase in kidnapping rate by 1 per 100,000 of the population, would increase capital flight by 1.03 percentage points of GDP,” he explained.

Agabin noted that income from the POGO industry has been constantly declining since 2020 because of Covid-19 pandemic-related challenges and passage of the POGO tax law. This was also worsened by the clampdown by the Chinese government against online gambling activities by its citizens, he added.

DOF da ta showed the government’s revenue from POGO operations peaked in 2019 at P8.02 billion before falling to P5.28 billion in 2020 and P3.47 billion in 2021.

“In closing , we believe that the social costs of POGOs outweigh the economic benefits they bring, as no amount of money can compensate for social and emotional losses from serious offenses against society,” Agabin said.

“As positive public perception correlates with increased business and investments, reputational risks associated with POGO may indicate more is at stake than there is to gain,” Agabin added.

Last month, Finance Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno disclosed that the country faces “reputational risks” if the government

would continue to allow POGO operations.

(Related story: https://businessmirror. com.ph/2022/09/16/diokno-keepingpogos-gives-phl-reputational-risks/)

For Diokno, losing the POGO industry altogether would not have a huge dent on the country’s economy since revenues from the industry only reached P3.9 billion last year, a little over half the P7.2 billion it generated at its peak.

La wmakers have also backed calls to finally shut down all POGO in the country given the sharp decline in revenues and the spike in violent crimes associated with them.

(Related story: https://businessmirror. com.ph/2022/09/20/senators-and-housememberback-calls-to-padlock-pogos/)

Reac ting to Zubiri’s disclosure made at Tuesday’s continuation of POGO issues hearings by the Committees on Ways and Means and on Public Order and Dangerous Drugs chaired respectively by Sens. Sherwin Gatchalian and Ronald dela Rosa, one congressman said of the POGOs, “S alot, hindi sulit [It’s a plague, not a boon].”

Manila 6th D istrict Rep. Bienvenido “Benny” Abante Jr. categorized Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOs) thus, following revelations by Zubiri that the country has been blacklisted by China, which was dissuading its citizens from visiting the Philippines because of the presence of POGOs in the country.

Abante on Tuesday said that this latest

development “further strengthens the case for banning POGOs in the country.”

T he lawmaker and anti-gambling advocate pointed out that “prior to the pandemic, our country marked a record-high number of foreign tourist arrivals, and a huge percentage of that was from China, so this news could have a huge negative impact on our tourism promotion efforts.”

D ata from the Department of Tourism shows that in 2019, a record 8.26 million foreign tourists visited the country. Of this number, 1.74 million or 21.1 percent came from China.

“ Over the course of a decade, the number of foreign tourists that have visited the country has steadily increased. The Covid-19 pandemic stalled the upward trajectory of Philippine tourism, and this blacklisting move by the Chinese government could compromise our ability to regain our momentum,” warned Abante, who has filed a bill banning POGOs.

F or his part, Majority Leader Joel Villanueva said Xilian’s statement as relayed by Zubiri “only concretizes our position that the social—and now economic—costs of POGO operations outweigh its contributions to our country.”

B esides causing damage to “peace, order, and morality in the country, POGOs now also pose a threat to our tourism industry.”

Villanueva concluded, “As we have said time and time again, it all boils down to

Ople leads closure of recruitment firm in Mkti

Continued from A16

It also c overs the cost of endorsing the applicants to potential foreign employers.

“The DMW is determined to protect our kababayans from the activities of illegal recruiters. At the same time, we ask that they remain vigilant and always check with

the DMW before engaging the services of any company or establishment that promises jobs abroad,” Ople added.

Ople ordered the filing of Illegal recruitment charges against K-Monster. The department will also assist victims of the agency in preparing their individual cases against the firm, she added.

With its closure, Ople also said K-Monster and its staff will be included in the department’s “List of Persons and Establishments with Derogatory Record.” Those included in said list are barred from participating in the government’s overseas recruitment program, aside from the facing illegal recruitment charges.

policy: Do we want our country to be known as a POGO hub or a tourism hub? The answer is clear. Let’s put an end to POGOs.”

Context behind tourist data

STILL data show that Beijing’s new travel advice policy is not behind the numbers showing weak tourism arrivals from China.

P rior to the pandemic and while POGOs continued operating, China was the second top tourism market of the Philippines, with arrivals reaching 1.74 million in 2019, up 38.6 percent from the previous year.

Arriv als have fallen in the succeeding years due to the continued closure of China to outbound tourism, affecting not just the Philippines, but other tourist destinations as well.

A ccording to the C hina Outbound Tourism Research Institute, some 1.7 million Chinese traveled to Macau in the first quarter of the year, the only destination they can go to without having to quarantine when they return home. Due to strict zero-Covid policies, Chinese mainlanders are mostly traveling domestically. In 2019, outbound Chinese travelers reached 170 million. With reports by Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz, Butch Fernandez, Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo

IMF. . .

There are also risks stemming from the strong US dollar. These include turmoil in financial markets, investors seeking “safe assets” and further rise in inflation pressures globally.

IMF also considers risks such as persistently high inflation due to tight labor markets and the war in Ukraine, which could worsen the ongoing energy crisis.

“Our latest outlook also assesses the risks around our baseline projections. We estimate that there is about a one in four probability that global growth next year could fall below the historically low level of 2 percent,” IMF Economic Counsellor and the Director of Research Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas said in an IMF Blog post.

“If many of the risks materialize, global growth would decline to 1 percent with quasi stagnant income-per-capita in 2023. According to our calculations, the likelihood of such an adverse outcome, or worse, is 10 percent to 15 percent,” he added.

Cost-of-living crisis

IMF said what the world is going through right now is a “Cost-of-living crisis” as prices continue to rise and central banks attempt to cool inflation by tightening monetary policy.

Gourinchas cautioned, however, that there are risks to under- and over-tightening. Under-tightening could worsen inflation and “erode the credibility of central banks” while over-tightening could bring about a “severe recession.”

“The hard-won credibility of central banks could be undermined if they misjudge yet again the stubborn persistence of inflation,” Gourinchas said.

“This would prove much more detrimental to future macroeconomic stability. Central banks need to keep a steady hand with monetary policy firmly focused on taming inflation,” he added.

The strong US dollar is also a major challenge to economies worldwide. The IMF said the dollar has appreciated by 13 percent this year.

In 2022 the dollar has appreciated by about 15 percent against the euro, over 10 percent against the renminbi, 25 percent against the yen and 20 percent against sterling.

This, the IMF said, may have slowed global trade growth and has an “implied pass-through” on consumers and producers worldwide.

“The associated currency movements may add to crossborder tensions regarding competitiveness; stoke inflation in many economies, given the predominance of dollar pricing in international trade; and lead some countries to tighten policies further to prevent excessive currency depreciation, with negative effects on growth,” the report added.

Cai U. Ordinario

Fiscal response

HOWEVER , the World Bank Group noted that poverty would have been more dire in the Philippines if not for the fiscal response of the government during the pandemic.

It estimated that poverty in 2020 may have been 7.6 percentage points higher in the Philippines without government intervention. This, however, was significantly higher than the global average of 2.4 percentage points.

The cash transfers extended to poor families during lockdowns slashed the increase in poverty incidence to a little over 4 percentage points during the pandemic.

“Delivery was much quicker when digital payment systems were present. Transfers did target poorer households in general. However, reaching vulnerable households with income losses who were not the usual beneficiaries of social protection systems proved more challenging, especially in LICs [Low Income Countries] and LMICs [Lower Middle Income Countries],” the report stated.

The Philippines is classified as an LMIC with a per capita GNI of between $1,086 and $4,255 in 2021. This is based on the Atlas Method which takes into consideration exchange rates. Cai U. Ordinario

PSA.

Continued

coming year as most of the goods we consume are imported and much of our exports are import-based, indicating higher inflation and also unemployment,” he added.

Forex factor

LANZONA said much of the country’s trade deficit is riding on the foreign exchange. Should the peso further depreciate, the country’s trade deficit will continue to widen.

He said the peso is expected to see some reprieve once remittances start arriving in time for the holidays. The increased demand brought by these additional funds will help spur consumption of both local and imported goods, bloating the country’s trade deficit for the rest of the year.

But the foreign exchange is not the only factor in the country’s trade deficit. Lanzona said there are weaknesses in the real sector since the economy has been overly dependent on remittances and foreign loans.

“The government’s inability to respond in addressing these weaknesses is as much a factor as the weak peso. The government needs to realize that this is not just a monetary problem but a real one,” Lanzona said.

De La Salle University economist Maria Ella Oplas said the latest trade data highlights a big problem for the country given that a large component of the country’s exports are imports.

She said that while it is true that remittances will somehow strengthen the peso toward the last part of the year, there is no assurance that this will be enough to address the strong dollar and arrest the ballooning of the trade deficit.

The government’s ability to respond, Oplas said, would depend on the country’s dollar reserves. The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said the country’s Gross International Reserves (GIR) is already below $100 billion (Full story: https://businessmirror.com.ph/2022/10/08/phl-dollarreserves-on-3rd-consecutive-month-at-below-100b/)

“The BSP should come in and try to regulate the exchange rate,” Oplas told this newspaper on Tuesday. “The government is not helpless.”

Lanzona also cited a need to reconsider the country’s tariffs and expand trade agreements, to allow the country to diversify its exports and source cheaper imports.

This can be done by ratifying the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and joining the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), she said.

Lanz ona said while these agreements will lead to some industries losing, the labor-intensive industries will win and grow. It will also address poverty by ensuring that unskilled workers remain employed and earn incomes.

Ultimately, the national government must invest in human capital and innovation in order to ensure workers are skilled and ensure that industries keep pace with local and global demands. Lanzona said this will wean the Philippines from its reliance on remittances.

In a post on social media, Ibon Foundation Executive Director Sonny Africa said the latest data from PSA only proved that the peso depreciation is not good news for the economy.

“For those deifying price signals—and forex is the price of the peso—this is signalling even weaker peso to come. PH economy & global conditions so adverse that the only export response is imaginary,” Africa said.

External trade performance

THE country’s total trade in August amounted to $18.82 billion—an annual growth rate of 14.8 percent. In July, the annual increase was slower at 11.8 percent, while in August 2021, it grew by 24.4 percent.

“Of the total external trade in August 2022, 65.9 percent were imported goods, while the rest were exported goods,” PSA said.

PSA said electronic products remained the top export in August 2022 with total earnings of $3.66 billion, accounting for 57.1 percent of the total exports during the period.

However, electronic product exports contracted 1.6 percent in August. Semiconductors, which make up 41.9 percent of the country’s exports, also contracted 0.1 percent in August this year.

Commodities posting the largest contractions were Cathodes and Sections Of Cathodes, Of Refined Copper whose exports contracted 81.2 percent; Christmas decor, 62.7 percent; basketworks, 55.7 percent; gold, 47.8 percent; and iron ore agglomerates, 47.2 percent.

Products with the highest growth were copper concentrates whose exports posted a growth of 173.9 percent; special transactions, 110.3 percent; fine jewelry, 109.8 percent; iron and steel, 106.2 percent; other exports, 86.6 percent; and footwear, 85.4 percent.

Meanwhile, electronic products remained the top commodity that the Philippines imported—worth $2.89 billion or a share of 23.3 percent to the total imports in August 2022.

Imports of electronic products grew 3.1 percent with semiconductors, which accounted for 20.2 percent of total imports, posted a growth of 6.1 percent in August 2022.

Imported products that posted the highest growth in August were metalliferous ores and metal scrap which soared 535.4 percent; chemical compounds, 391 percent; corn, 315.3 percent; office and EDP machines, 128.3 percent; and communication/radar products, 84.6 percent.

Those that shrank most in import value were artificial resins—a contraction of 93.3 percent; articles of temporarily imported and exported, 66.3 percent; medicinal and pharmaceutical products, 31.8 percent; tobacco, unmanufactured, 27.6 percent; and electronic data processing, 26.1 percent.

Currently, Federation of Free Workers (FFW) Vice President Julius Cainglet said they have already registered 56 killings of trade unionists.

“E very and all cases that are added to the original 43 cases of union killings in 2019 up to the present will be raised [before the ILO high level mission],” Cainglet said.

Opportunity to improve

UPON the arrival of the Mission, Cainglet said they will demand that the government hold accountable those responsible for the killings.

T hey will also call for the abolition of anti-labor government policies such as red-tagging of trade unionists.

Andr e said she is confident the Philippine government will address the issues to assure the international community of its compliance with international labor standards.

“I think the Philippines is w ell positioned in making sure that the rule of law is respected. You are a country that has a lot of good laws. We need to make sure these are respected and implemented,” Andre said.

T he Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) earlier said it is already crafting a roadmap to prevent incidents of labor rights violation in the country.

The

Group sounds alarm over PHL’s ranking in digital competitiveness

By Rizal Raoul S. Reyes @brownindio

ADVOCACY group CitizenWatch Philippines on Tuesday urged the administration of President Ferdinand R. Mar cos Jr. to move swiftly in addressing the “dismal” of the Philippines in the latest study of the International IMD Digital Competitiveness Report.

Orlando Oxales, convenor of advocacy group CitizenWatch Philippines, warned that failure to address the ranking would be disastrous for the country as it will hamper its efforts to be a ma jor player in the digital economy.

You can look at the results in two ways. You can say the Philip pines inched up two notches in the overall ranking, from 56th to 58th place. But the fact remains that with 63 countries included in the report, ranking 56th is so much closer to the bottom than it is to the top,” said Oxales.

“More importantly, we are the worst performers in Southeast Asia, lagging far behind our neighbors Singapore [4th], Malaysia [31st], Thailand [40th], and Indonesia [51st]. For the whole of Asia, we outperformed only Mongolia,” he pointed out.

Oxales stressed it is a serious matter notwithstanding the fact that the Philippines has been touted as one of the most active so cial media population in the world.

Oxales urged the country’s leaders and policy- makers to address the resistance encountered by technology innovators in the form of bureaucratic gauntlets and unresponsive policies that need to be updated to enable a competitive digital economic system.

These obstacles are causing expensive delays, a massive op portunity cost, in efforts to expand and upgrade our digital in frastructure,” he said.

Meanwhile, Stratbase group founder and CEO, Prof. Victor Andres Manhit stressed in a recent digital infrastructure forum the country may need massive investments to build a robust na tionwide digital infrastructure.

He added the digital infrastructure would be critical to eco

CA affirms Ressa, Santos’ conviction for cyber libel

By Joel R. San Juan @jrsanjuan1573

THECourt of Appeals (CA) has junked the petition of Nobel laureate and Rappler CEO Maria Ressa and former Rappler reporter Reynaldo Santos Jr. to reverse its July 2022 deci sion, which upheld their cyber libel conviction by the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Manila City two years ago.

In a 16-page resolution issued on Monday, October 10, and penned by Associate Justice Roberto Quiroz, the appellate court’s Fourth Division held that the accused-appellants failed to raise new arguments that would warrant the reversal of its decision.

“A careful and meticulous review of the motion for reconsidera tion reveals that the matter raised by the accused-appellants had already been exhaustively resolved and discussed in the Assailed Decision,”  the resolution read. Associate Justices Ramon Bato Jr. and Germano Francisco Legaspi concurred with the ruling.

T he CA also assured the public that Ressa and Santos’ conviction is not geared toward the curtailment of the freedom of speech, or to produce  a chilling effect that would hinder free speech.

“On the contrary, we echo the wisdom of the SC [Supreme Court] in the Disini case that the purpose of the law is to safeguard the right of free speech, and to curb, it not totally prevent, the reckless and unlawful use of the computer systems as a means of commit ting the traditional criminal offenses,” the CA said.

In seeking the reversal of the CA’s decision, Ressa and Santos argued that it erred in holding that cyber libel has not prescribed and that the prescription period for the said offense is 15 years.

T hey also insisted that actual malice was not proven beyond reasonable doubt, which should warrant their exoneration.

Further, Ressa argued that the CA erred in holding her liable simply based on the prosecution’s allegation that she was the CEO and executive editor of Rappler.

T he case stemmed from an article written by Santos in May 2012, claiming that businessman Wilfredo Keng allegedly lent his sports utility vehicle to then Chief Justice Renato Corona.

Apart from this, the story also cited an intelligence report that said Keng had been under surveillance by the National Security Council for alleged involvement in human trafficking and drug smuggling.

Keng has denied all the allegations and decided to file a com plaint with the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Cybercrime Division in October 2017, which eventually led to the filing of the case before the court.

T he Office of the Solicitor General has opposed the motion for reconsideration of the accused-appellants, saying that  the matters raised by Ressa and Santos were “merely rehashed from their Brief.”

T he CA held  that the accused-appellants’ argument that the provisions on cyber libel and its penalty were applied ex post facto were “unavailing.”

In the same manner, the argument that the provisions on cy ber libel and its penalty were applied ex post facto on the theory that the correction of one letter in the original article published on May 29, 2012 is too unsubstantial and cannot be considered as a republication committed on February 19, 2014, is unavailing,” the CA said.

It stressed that the determination of republication is not hinged on whether the corrections made were substantial or not, “as what matters is that the very exact libelous article was again published on a later date.”

“Such republication on February 19, 2014 is the act which ac cused-appellants were charged for, and was lawfully prosecuted when the provision on cyber libel was declared valid and consti tutional by the Supreme Court through its decision in the Disini case dated February 11, 2014,” the CA said.

T he appellate court also branded as “misplaced” the arguments of accused-appellants that the SC ruling in Wilfredo Tolentino vs People which settled that the prescriptive period for the crime of cyber libel is 15 years has no doctrinal value and cannot be con sidered as a binding precedent as it was an unsigned resolution.

nomic recovery and sustainability, which could only be achieved if the government, private sector and all of society perform their complementing roles in accor dance to their resources and strengths.

Investment is not a one-way street where the pri vate sector takes on all the hits. Equally important, the government must do its share in ensuring that private sector investments will prosper. As such, the govern ment must provide the environment that promotes business growth through market-friendly public poli cies, transparency, and good governance with less risks

for investors,” Manhit said.

T he IMD World Digital Competitiveness Ranking measures the capacity and readiness of 63 economies to adopt and explore digital technologies as a key driver for economic transformation in business, government and wider society.

Digital nations result from a combination of digi tal talent, digital regulation, data governance, digital attitudes, and the availability of capital,” said World Competitiveness Center Director Arturo Bris.

T he results are from a mix of hard data and survey

replies from business and government executives.

No less than the IMD itself says that the rankings will ideally help governments and companies under stand where to focus their resources,” Oxales said, add ing that these will also provide leads on best practices when embarking on digital transformation.

The pandemic made it very clear that embarking on a digital transformation is inevitable,” said Oxales. “And while the government is still developing its ICT capacity and talent, the private sector is a ready partner for technology and expertise,” he added.

Economy

PPP Center chief proposes removal of floor cost on ICC-approved projects

By Cai U. Ordinario @caiordinario

THEPublic Private Partnership (PPP) Center is proposing to remove the cap or floor cost of PPP projects that require approval from the inter-agency Investment Coordination Committee (ICC).

In the 2022 Economic Journalists Association of the Philippines (EJAP) Infrastructure Forum co-presented by Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC) and PLDT Inc. on Monday, PPP Center Executive Director Ma. Cynthia Hernandez said they are cur rently drafting amendments to the Build Operate Transfer (BOT) law.

One of the provisions that will be amended is the P300 million amount

that sets the cap for ICC submission and the floor for National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) Board approval upon recommenda tion of the ICC.

“Actually, if you were to ask me, I would rather not have the cap in the law but in the IRR [Implementing Rules and Regulations] so that it’s easier to amend. But it actually de pends on what the legislators want,” Hernandez said.

If the cap or floor will be removed from the law, Hernandez said, the ICC, an interagency committee un der the Neda Board, could be given the authority to adjust the amount “as they see fit” giving agencies more flexibility to undertake PPPs.

“It’s currently at P300 million, so

that’s in the law. At the moment, be cause of movements in prices, P300 million is not a huge project anymore. So it limits certain implementing agencies,” Hernandez said.

Apart from the amount, Hernan dez said there is a need to address ambiguities in the implementation of PPPs by local government units (LGUs). Removing ambiguities will encourage and facilitate LGU partici pation in PPP projects.

Hernandez also said this will also ensure that PPPs undertaken by LGUs are viable and sustainable over a number of years or the dura tion of some PPP projects.

She added that another aspect that could be improved upon in the existing law might include provisions

DENR’s Yulo bats for ‘whole-of-society’ approach to develop mining industry

By Jonathan L. Mayuga @jonlmayuga

has been limited.

“We are not fully able to move ahead unless we have established our capacities,” she said.

catch-up “because we have limited resources to enhance industry activities.”

pertaining to joint ventures that are included in the BOT law. There must be clearer guidelines on how Government Owned and Controlled Corporations (GOCCs) or even LGUs undertake joint ventures with the private sector.

We want to make sure everything is transparent and economically vi able and for these to be safe invest ments for government resources,” Hernandez said.

A s of August 31 this year, Her nandez reported that a total of 199 projects have been awarded amount ing to P2.32 trillion.

T hese include 88 projects worth P2.16 trillion being im plemented nationwide and 111 projects worth P164 billion being

implemented locally.

A total of 74 projects amounting to P2.26 trillion are currently in the pipeline. This includes 53 projects worth P2.19 trillion intended for national projects and 21 projects worth P72 billion for local projects.

Of the 53 national PPP projects, about 38 are in transportation; six are in health; five are in vertical infrastructure; two are IT systems; and one each is for water supply and sanitation as well as tourism.

Out of the 21 local PPPs, six are in water supply and sanitation; four in vertical infrastructure; two each are in solid waste management, agricul ture or food security, transportation, tourism, and renewable energy; and one IT system.

DAR eyes to recruit more field personnel for rural deployment

Bill increases monthly base pay for govt nurses by 75%

By Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz  @joveemarie

ALAWMAKER is pushing for the passage of a bill that will increase by 75 per cent—from P36,619 to P63,997 —the minimum base monthly pay of nurses employed by the government.

I n House Bill 5276, Quezon City Rep. Marvin Rillo said “the mini mum base pay of nurses working in public health institutions shall not be lower than Salary Grade 21 prescribed under Republic Act No. 11466, or the Salary Standardiza tion Law [SSL] of 2019.”

“O nce enacted, we expect our measure to help slow down the rapid migration of Filipino nurses to English-speaking overseas labor markets,” Rillo said in a news state ment issued on Monday.

ENVIRONMENT

Secretary Ma. Antonia Yulo-Loyzaga has stressed the need for a wholeof-society approach to develop the country’s mining industry.

S peaking during the Senate’s 2023 budget hearing on Monday, Yulo said the Department of En vironment and Natural Resources (DENR), the agency mandated to manage the country’s natural wealth, needs to enhance its ca pacity to observe, monitor, and make standards and guidelines for the mining sector to comply and achieve the mining sector’s full potential, citing the country’s huge gold reserve and other nonmetallic minerals.

The DENR’s Mines and Geosci ences Bureau (MGB)’s proposed budget for 2023 is P1.23 billion, 8 percent lower than the current year’s budget.

She noted that the DENR’s budget for 2022 is P25 billion which is “not within the top 10.”  The proposed 2023 budget is around P2 billion lower at P23 billion.

According to Yulo, because of this, the capacity of the DENR to establish new standards and guidelines for the mining industry and mining sectors

Yulo was responding to Sena tor Robinhood Padilla who asked the question about the reason be hind the failure of the industry to develop over the years despite its potential.

Padilla, said he does not believe that mining per se is destructive adding that it is a matter of “man aging” mining.

The actor-turned-politician said he knows mining even as a teenager because of his father, Roy Padilla Sr. who he said was President of the National Mines and Allied Workers’ Union and England-based Mining Interna tional Federation and a one-time Philippine Representative to the International Labor Organization.

In response, Yulo said that while the industry’s resources are rich, she admitted that the DENR is con strained by its limited budget.

She added that the DENR is pushing for responsible mining as an approach in mining activity to ensure compliance.

She noted that The Chamber of Mines of the Philippines (COMP) has a set of standards and the DENR is seemingly always on the

Loyzaga also said inconsistent mining policies, alluding to the previous administration’s chang ing policies and decisions to disal low or suspend mining activities, somehow prevent the development of the sector.

She also noted that certain types of mining were not allowed but later on were eventually allowed.

Moreover, Yulo said there’s a need for the country to develop its own processing and value-adding subsec tor so that the Philippines will not just export raw materials.

“We need investment in the value-added processing to realize the full value of what we export,” she said.

Yulo said that to do this, there’s a need for the DENR to work with the Department of Science and Technology, Department of Trade and Industry, the Private Sector, the Academe, and Civil Society Organizations “so we can assure the social protection of our min ing communities.”

“We need a whole-of-society ap proach.  The idea is to look at the DENR for support. But it requires a whole-of-society approach,” she said.

TO do the necessary legwork to boost rural development, the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) is eyeing to hire 96 more field personnel.

In a news release, DAR Secretary Conrado Estrella III said he has re quested the Department of Budget and Management for the creation of 96 Agrarian Reform Officers I (ARPO I) positions.

At the same time, Estrella said he had also requested the upgrading of 344 Agrarian Reform Program Tech nologists positions to ARPO I.

T he requests were made to strengthen DAR’s support to agrar ian reform beneficiaries (ARBs), and complete the implementation of the land acquisition and distribution program (LAD).

The move is intended to beef up the agency’s development facili tators, who are made up of ARPTs, whose upgrading into ARPOs 1 is meant to motivate them to give their all in helping the ARBs at tain greater farm productivity,” Estrella said.

Estrella said that the intensified and vigorous rural development cam paign seeks to reinforce the rank of its support services staff and devel opment facilitators, who will serve as the agency’s frontliners to cater to the needs of ARBs.

“ So far, 312 vacant co-terminus

positions are being finalized be fore opening them for hiring. Once filled up, the successful applicants will be deployed to the rural areas where they are needed the most to share their expertise in boosting agricultural productivity as envi sioned by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.,” he said.

M arcos, who also serves as the country’s Secretary of the Depart ment of Agriculture in concurrent capacity, has pledged to exhaust all means to help transform the Philippines into the “leading ag ricultural resource hub” in the world.

E strella said the DAR is slowly but steadily veering towards pro viding the much-needed support services to farmer-beneficiaries to increase their harvests, augment their income and spur rural devel opment since only about a hundred thousand hectares of “workable” private agricultural lands are up for distribution in areas under its jurisdiction.

E strella explained that work able private farmlands refer to those with no legal impediment, with the landowners having al ready expressed their willingness to work with the DAR for the acqui sition and redistribution of their properties to landless farmers.

Jonathan L. Mayuga

Our measure will also encourage a greater number of high school grad uates to pursue a Bachelor of Science in Nursing [BSN] degree in college,” Rillo, vice chairperson of the House Committee on Higher and Technical Education, said.

I n July, the Commission on Higher Education lifted the 10-year-old moratorium on the opening of new BSN programs, amid the worsening lack of nurses, as many practitioners continue to leave the country for higher-pay ing jobs in the United States, the United Kingdom and elsewhere.

L ast month, the Department of Health said public and private hospitals in the country are in need of a total of 106,541 nurses to fill vacancies.

T he bill seeks to amend the 20-year-old Philippine Nursing Law, or Republic Act No. 9173, which fixed the floor base pay of public nurses at no less than Sal ary Grade 15.

S alary Grade 15 currently pays a minimum of P35,097 per month, which will go up to P36,619 on Jan uary 1, 2023, once the fourth and last tranche of increases under the Salary Standardization law (SSL) kicks in.

Meanwhile, Salary Grade 21 cur rently pays a minimum of P62,449 per month, which will increase to P63,997 on January 1, 2023 under the SSL.

Congress prodded to pass ‘gig’ workers protection bill

By Butch Fernandez @butchfBM

SEN. Risa Hontiveros is prod

ding Congress to frontload committee consideration in pushing for a measure to protect the rights and welfare of the increasing number of Filipino workers in the gig economy, which covers delivery riders and other freelancers

Hontiveros filed Senate Bill No. 1373, or the Protektadong Online Workers, Entrepreneurs, Riders at Raketera (POWERR) Act.

Ang layon ng POWERR Act ay ma empower ang delivery riders at free lancers,” the senator explained, adding, Ang pagpasa nito ay magbibigay sa kanila ng kaukulang social protection katulong ang iba’t ibang ahensya ng pamahalaan.”

Moreover, the senator assured that “this [law] will also guarantee

that the rights of delivery riders and online freelancers are protected, and will mandate the state to craft stand ards for regulations in relation to the services that these workers perform.”

Hontiveros added that the pro posed legislation also requires work ers of online platforms to be paid at least the legally mandated minimum wage, whether it be on an hourly or per-task basis.

Moreover, the senator cited the in clusion of a portability mechanism of social protection programs in which the online providers should ensure that the workers are enrolled in gov ernment social protection programs such as PhilHealth, SSS, Pag-Ibig, among others, should be included.

She assured that female workers shall also be provided with a maternity benefit upon childbirth in a manner

and amount determined by the SSS.

“Because work conditions in the gig economy are often unstable, work ers in this sector are more affected by economic shocks and the lack of clear rules,” the senator noted, reminding that “kailangan nila ng steady income at masasandalan na mga benepisyo para may matanggap sila sakaling magsakit, mabuntis o magretiro.”

She affirmed that as soon as the enabling bill is signed into law, “online platform workers can organize, col lectively bargain and negotiate with their providers.”

“ They will also have the right to be informed about any decision or action, taken or assisted by an algorithmic system affecting their employment or working conditions,” she added.

Moreover, online platforms will also be held liable for injuries sus

tained by the workers in the perform ance of their duty, especially among delivery riders. The online platforms are also required to uphold transpar ency in their algorithmic manage ment systems and placed these under human supervision.

Despite being our ‘quarantine heroes,’ their safety and health are always on the line. Kung tunay silang katuwang ng mga kumpanya para ma ghatid ng serbisyo, hindi ba’t narara pat lang din na may pananagutan sila sakaling may madisgrasya sa gitna ng trabaho?,” she added.

“ Dapat nang tugunan ang mga hina ing ng ating delivery riders at online platform workers. They have been bearing the risk of labor abuses due to gaps in our laws and policies. It’s time we put their sufferings to an end,” the senator stressed.

DepEd issues reminder to school heads on ban of food vendors in campuses

By Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco @claudethmc3

Department of Education (De pEd) on Tuesday reminded school heads and teachers on the strict implementation of a department order issued way back in 2007 that strictly prohibits vendors from peddling their food products inside school premises.

T he DepEd issued the statement fol lowing the reported food poisoning of 94 students and teachers at a school in Sablayan, Occidental Mindoro.

“Hindi po tayo dapat pumapayag na may outside vendors na pumapasok sa ating mga paaralan para magbenta ng pagkain kasi gusto nating siguraduhin ’yung kaligtasan at kalusugan ng mga bata sa schools. [We should not allow outside vendors to ped

dle and sell food inside the school because we want to ensure the safety and health of our students ],” said DepEd spokesper son Michael Tan Poa.

Students, he stressed, should only buy food products at school canteens, which are required to secure necessary sanitary and health permits to operate in campus to ensure students’ safety.

Poa also said that an investigation

of the incident has already started.

However, Poa said that they are yet to determine the culpability of school authorities over the incident.

“ We are still launching the investi gation and titingnan muna natin ano ba talaga ang nangyari. We want to go deeper and find out what really is the cause, and we want to know if a vendor really entered the school premises,” Poa said.

Tieza allots ₧70M for tourist pit stops

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

THE Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (Tieza) has allocated P70 mil lion to build tourist service and rest areas all over the country this year.

In a text message to the Business Mirror, Tieza COO Mark Lapid said there will be 10 tourist rest areas to be constructed this year, which will cost “P7 million each.” Each tour ist rest area, he added, will be “300 square meters” and constructed on land or property that will be donated by local government units. Tieza is the infrastructure arm of the Depart ment of Tourism (DOT).

Lapid, along with Tourism Secre tary Christina Garcia Frasco, trav eled to Cebu and Mindanao over the weekend to break ground on the new tourist pit stops that will include clean restrooms, along with a coffee shop, pasalubong and souvenir store, tourist information area, and a charging sta-nformation sta tion. These establishments are meant to ease the travel of tourists transiting to different tourist destinations.

T he “first batch” of sites launched were in Manolo Fortich in Bukidnon and Samal Island in Davao del Norte, as well as Carmen and Medellin in Cebu, with the rest to be built in BaBa guio City, Bohol, Palawan, and IloIlo cos, said Lapid. He added that it was the DOT, which identified the sites, where these tourist rest areas will be established.

Local materials, local souvenirs

THE tourist rest area was concep tualized in fulfillment of one of our objectives in the DOT to ensure that we equalize tourism promotion and development not only in the key des tinations within the country, but also to lesser known areas that have great potential for tourism development,” said Frasco during the groundbreak ing ceremony in Manolo Fortich on October 7. “It is our President’s desire to spread economic opportunity and livelihood all over the Philippines especially and including Mindanao,” she added.

Reflecting President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s pronouncements during his first State of the Nation Address on the need to promote an enhanced Filipino brand, the Tourist Rest Areas will adopt the use of local materials and design elements. The pasalubong centers will also showcase a variety of products that are made in the Philip pines, according to a news statement from the DOT.

M emorandums of agreement (MOA) were signed among officials of the DOT, Tieza and LGU where the pit stops will be located. As stipu lated in the MOA, Tieza will fund the construction, the DOT serves as the overall monitor and evaluator of the project as its primary concept origina tor, while the LGUs will operate and maintain the areas. Upon turnover, the LGUs are permitted to lease part of the facilities to the private sector to recover the cost of its upkeep.

‘Mindanao is fully open’

“WE will have a criteria for the maintenance of the tourist rest area to be monitored by our regional of fice. If the LGU reaches 90 percent of this criteria, then we will give a prize to the LGU by way of project or financial incentive; that is how we will ensure that the tourism rest area will be properly maintained,” said Frasco.

T he tourist rest area in Manolo Fortich will cater to travelers particu larly those on a road trip to tourist destinations around the municipali ties of Manolo Fortich, Impasug-ong, Sumilao and Libona of Bukidnon and other areas in Mindanao. In Samal Island, the tourist rest area will be established at the City Hall complex in Penaplata.

“I hope that this conveys to the Philippines and to the rest of the world the seriousness with which we intend to fully open Mindanao to tourism,” she added.

T he following day, DOT and Tieza also broke ground for TRAs in Carmen and Medellin, Cebu. Frasco empha sized that Cebu has consistently fig ured in the top three most frequented destinations in the past three years.

“ This is a very strategic place to put the TRA because it is right along the highway and Carmen is the middle point to the rest of our destinations here in Cebu. Our goal is to ensure that our tourists feel comfortable in their journey as they travel across the country,” said the DOT chief.

Sans Court ruling on TRO, Teves heeds DILG instruction to yield NegOr gubernatorial post

NEGROS Oriental Governor

Henry Pride Teves has opt ed to heed the order of the Department of the Interior and Lo cal Government (DILG) to yield his post to avoid disruption of delivery of public service and forestall any untoward incident.

T his, after the Supreme Court (SC) did not act on his petition, seeking the issuance of a temporary restrain ing order (TRO) against the ruling of the Commission on Elections (Come lec) annulling his gubernatorial vic tory in the May 9 elections.

Teves said he doesn’t want to hang on to his post at the expense of provincial Capitol employees and the services that they are render to

the people of Negros Oriental.

Teves also expressed that if he will not give way even if he is the duly elected governor of the prov ince, it may cause further tension and impasse and may even paralyze government services in the province, adding he believes that only SC can rule with finality on the matter.

I’ll rather wait for the next 15 days for the final ruling on the TRO petition. I can’t give additional stress to my people and my family, who have already been through so much,” he explained.

Teves also assured that he will not allow any trouble to happen in their province.

“Kung para sa atin ay para sa

atin!” he stressed.

T he SC reportedly did not act on the petition of Teves to issue a TRO, it was learned. Instead, the High Court asked both sides to comment on the petition within a maximum of 15 days before acting on the TRO plea.

For Atty. Ferdinand Topacio, le gal counsel of Teves , it is legal for his client to remain in his post until the denial of their TRO petition.

He also believes that his client should stay in his position until the SC issues a final ruling on the case.

Topacio added that he was even surprised by Teves’ decision to vacate since they were still in the middle of a meeting when the governor decided to give way.

PBBM pushes creation of road map for aviation, maritime modernization

By Samuel P. Medenilla @sam_medenilla

cruise ships to help boost the local industry.

T he President also called on the Maritime Industry Authority (Mari na) to ensure the quality of education for Filipino seafarers by going after maritime schools with substandard education quality.    “ This also includes addressing the issue of the boarding require ments of the maritime students,” Garafil said.

O ffice of the Press Secretary (OPS) Officer in Charge Cheloy E. Velicaria-Garafil disclosed that the President instructed the Depart ment of Transportation (DOTr) during Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting to create development plans for both sectors.

The transportation sector is one

of the priority sectors of the Presi dent so he asked DOTr to present their programs for the maritime and aviation sector,” Garafil said in a news conference.

F or the maritime industry, she said, the President wants the development of seaports so it could accommodate more

Navarro refuses to enter plea in Cornejo rape case

By Joel R. San Juan @jrsanjuan1573

COMEDIAN and television host Ferdinand “Vhong” Navarro refused to enter a plea during his arraignment on Tuesday before the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Taguig City in connection with the resurrected rape case filed against him by model Deniece Cornejo.

L awyer Alma Malonga, Navarro’s legal counsel, advised her client not to enter a plea during the proceeding before the sala of Taguig RTC Branch 69 Presiding Judge Loralei Cruz Datahan, citing their pending petition for review before the Supreme Court (SC) challenging the Court of Appeals’ July 21, 2022 decision which reversed and set aside the April 30, 2018 and July 14, 2020 resolutions of the Department of Justice dismissing the complaint filed by Cornejo in 2014.

In the said ruling,  CA held that the DOJ should have allowed the trial court to decide on the merit of Cornejo’s claim and Navarro’s counterclaim.

It also  directed the DOJ to file rape and acts of lasciviousness cases before the Taguig RTC and Metropolitan Trial Court against Navarro. Judge Datahan, however, entered a not guilty plea on Navarro’s behalf.

Marcos also called on the DOTr to make use of unsolicited propos als to upgrade existing airports to accommodate more passengers and to construct new airports in other parts of the country.

Garafil said they hope the said ini tiatives will help the transportation sector generate more employment opportunities.

DAVAO

CITY—Some 42 Moro students from Ma guindanao received their first monthly stipend as science scholars of the Bangsamoro Autono mous Region in Muslim Mindanao ( BARMM ), the third batch to be as sisted by the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) of the BARMM

T he 42 students were grantees under the Bangsamoro Assistance for Science Education (BASE) and BASE-Merit. They received the cash assistance from MOST on October 4 at the Bangsamoro Government Center in Cotabato City.

O f the total, 28 BASE scholars

and 14 BASE-Merit recipients from Maguindanao signed an agree ment with MOST from the Prov ince of Maguindanao to receive their cash allowances.

BASE and BASE-Merit are pro grams of MOST for science courses with an allowance of P8,000 and P20,000 per month, respectively.

T he assistance aims to stimu late and encourage Bangsamoro youth, especially the incoming first year college students, to pur sue lifetime productive careers in science and technology, Minister Aida Silongan said. She added that the programs provide cash assis

tance to students who passed the qualifying examinations.

“We ensure that the support to stu dents who took science and technology courses is continuous. The BASE-Merit program is new and will help students who took highly specialized science and technology courses,” Silongan said. She hoped that the grantees would serve “as our human capital con tributing to the region’s economic development in the future.”

T he BARMM earlier had a total of 85 grantees from Cotabato City and Special Geographic Areas who signed an agreement with MOST on October 3. Manuel T. Cayon

Navarro surrendered to authorities and is currently detained at the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) following the issuance of an arrest warrant against him last September 19 for rape, a nonbailable offense.

T aguig Metropolitan Trial Court Branch 116 Presiding Judge Angela Francesca Din is the one handling the acts of lasciviousness case against Navarro also filed by Cornejo.

Judge Din allowed Navarro to post bail in the amount of P36,000 for the said case.

C ornejo was not present during the arraignment but was represented by her lawyer Howard Calleja.

sectors should price hikes continue.”

By Butch Fernandez @butchfBM

seeking to institutionalize the program.

all qualified beneficiaries.”

SEN.

Sherwin T. Gatchalian, con veying growing concerns over the backlash of the recurring round of big-time fuel price hikes, pressed the Marcos administration to institu tionalize fuel subsidy to mitigate its public impact.

A mid the latest big-time petroleum price increase, Gatchalian urged anew the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) and other con cerned agencies to “assure an efficient and timely fuel subsidy program for affected

“Kung meron na sana tayong batas para sa ayuda ng mga tsuper at operator ng public utility vehicles o PUV, hindi na sila mahihirapan pang pasanin ang bigat ng epekto ng pagtaas ng presyo ng langis lalo na’t patuloy din ang pagtaas ng presyo ng mga pangunahing bilihin,” said Gatchalian.

I n a news statement, Gatchal ian  stressed anew the need to institu tionalize the Pantawid Pasada program, recalling this was the reason why he ear lier filed Senate Bill No. 384 aiming to provide for an energy subsidy program

A s proposed, the Gatchalian bill, once enacted into law, will provide that the subsidy shall be granted to qualified ben eficiaries when the average price of Dubai crude for three consecutive months is equal to or greater than $80 per barrel such as the case now. Dubai crude was last traded at $95.80/barrel.

Moreover, the Gatchalian bill re quires the use of digital payment sys tems in the distribution of the subsidy and “imposes penalties against erring government officials for failure to en sure the timely release of the subsidy to

T he senator added that concerned government agencies should be ready to intervene with an efficient imple mentation of the Pantawid Pasada program whenever there are series of oil price hikes, stressing that “we should have learned the lessons from previous disbursement.”

A t the same time, Gatchalian re called that just recently the Organiza tion of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) plus has decided to cut produc tion on prospects of slower global eco nomic growth.

PRESIDENT Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. wants to modernize the local maritime and aviation industry through the creation of new transportation road maps.

17.

Service Representative Mandarin Speaking

Brief Job Description: Build sustainable relationship of trust through open and interactive communication in Mandarin Speaking.

NGUYEN NGOC SON Customer Service Representative Mandarin Speaking

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Basic Qualification: Knows how to recommend potential products or services to management by collecting customer information and analyzing customer needs.

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

Basic Qualification: Knows how to recommend potential products or services to management by collecting customer information and analyzing customer needs.

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Basic

PHAM QUOC DAT Customer Service Representative Mandarin Speaking

BANK

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PHAN DAC THIEN Customer Service Representative Mandarin Speaking

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TRAN THI THANH NGA Customer Service Representative Mandarin Speaking

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31.

CHOI, CHANHEI Korean Customer Relations Officer

Brief Job Description:

the concerns of the people who buy their company’s products or services.

Basic

Cambodian/Vietnamese/ Chinese/Thai/Indonesian,

Php

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Malaysian/Taiwanese /Korean/Cambodian/ Thai/Japanese /Indonesian/Vietnamese/ Indian/Chinese, Fluent in

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language,

year

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sustainable relationship of trust through open and interactive communication in Mandarin Speaking.

HSU ZAR WAI HNIN Mandarin Customer Service Representative

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JEONG, DASEUNG Korean Customer Relations Officer

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KIM, SEONGYUN Korean Customer Relations Officer

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LINN MYAT AUNG Mandarin Customer Service Representative

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with customer to

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oral and

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SAW YU HNIN NWE Mandarin Customer Service Representative

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with customer

in Mandarin

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Basic

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Brief Job Description: Handles the concerns of the people who buy their company’s products or services.

KIM, SEWUK Korean Customer Relations Officer

Basic Qualification: Has excellent problem-solving and communication skills in Korean, with related BPO experience

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

34.

Brief Job Description: Handles the concerns of the people who buy their company’s products or services.

LEE, YOUNGJUN

35.

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Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

-

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BAO, SONGLIN Mandarin General Manager

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The mandarin general manager will be a strategist and a leader able to steer the company to the most profitable direction while also implementing its vision, mission and long-term goals.

LU, SHANGWEN Mandarin General Manager

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54.

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Basic Qualification: Proven experience as mandarin general manager, familiarity, knowledge and awareness on machinery and heavy equipment use by company. Demonstrable experience in developing strategic business plan.

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

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64.

Customer Support Specialist

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CHIENG NHUT DUONG Customer Support Specialist

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the voice of

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players within

fastgrowing online/offshore gaming platform, stay on track with the

to

and platforms at the same time.

HAU KHA TRAM Customer Support Specialist

LI, CHUNLIANG Mandarin Mechanical Project Administrator

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55.

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Brief Job Description: Being the voice of our players within our fastgrowing online/offshore gaming platform, stay on track with the game updates, implementing procedures to support players, work creatively across multiple projects and platforms at the same time.

HO VAN KHANH Customer Support Specialist

Basic Qualification: Excellent communication skills in Chinese, both spoken and written.

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

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WANG, SHAOQUAN Mandarin Project Controls Analyst

56.

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Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

Brief Job Description: Being the voice of our players within our fastgrowing online/offshore gaming platform, stay on track with the game updates, implementing procedures to support players, work creatively across multiple projects and platforms at the same time.

LE THAO NHU Customer Support Specialist

Basic Qualification: Excellent communication skills in Chinese, both spoken and written.

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LUU THI NGOC ANH Customer Support Specialist

Basic

QIAO, BAOYU Mandarin Structural Maintenance Analyst

57.

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Brief Job Description: Being the voice of our players within our fastgrowing online/offshore gaming platform, stay on track with the game updates, implementing

LUU TIEU PHUNG Customer Support Specialist

Basic Qualification: Excellent communication skills in Chinese, both spoken and written.

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

Basic Qualification: Excellent communication skills in Chinese, both spoken and written.

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Basic Qualification: Excellent communication skills in Chinese, both spoken and written.

ZHU, YOUSONG Mandarin Synthesis Senior Staff

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58.

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Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

COLLABERA TECHNOLOGIES PRIVATE LIMITED, INC. U-40 A-d, 40/f Rufino Pacific Tower, 6784 Ayala Ave., San Lorenzo, City Of Makati

PRAJAPATI, AKSHAYKUMAR Manager - Finance

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NGUYEN CONG MINH Customer Support Specialist

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Basic Qualification: Excellent communication skills in Chinese, both spoken and written.

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on

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The World

Russia unleashes biggest attacks in Ukraine in months

By Adam Schreck & Hanna Arhirova The Associated Press

KYIV, Ukraine—Russia retaliated Monday for an attack on a critical bridge by unleashing its most widespread strikes against Ukraine in months, a lethal barrage that smashed civilian targets, knocked out power and water, shattered buildings and killed at least 14 people.

Ukraine’s Emergency Service said nearly 100 people were wounded in the morning rush hour attacks that Russia launched from the air, sea and land against at least 14 regions, span ning from Lviv in the west to Kharkiv in the east. Many of the attacks oc curred far from the war’s front lines.

Though Russia said missiles target ed military and energy facilities, some struck civilian areas while people were heading to work and school. One hit a playground in downtown Kyiv and another struck a university.

The attacks plunged much of the country into a blackout, depriving hundreds of thousands of people of electricity into Monday night and creating a shortage so severe Ukrai nian authorities asked people to con serve and announced they will stop power exports to Europe starting Tuesday. Power outages also often

deprive residents of water, given the system’s reliance on electricity to run pumps and other equipment.

Andriy Yermak, a senior adviser to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said the strikes had no “practical military sense” and that Russia’s goal was to cause a “humanitarian catastrophe.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin said his forces targeted key energy infrastructure and military command facilities with “precision weapons” in retaliation for what he claimed were Kyiv’s “terrorist” actions—a reference to Ukraine’s attempts to repel Mos cow’s invasion, including an attack Saturday on a key bridge between Russia and the annexed Crimean Peninsula. Putin alleged the bridge attack was masterminded by Ukrai nian special services.

Putin vowed a “tough” and “propor tionate” response if further Ukrainian

attacks threaten Russia’s security. “No one should have any doubts about it,” he told Russia’s Security Council by video.

The Russian president has been under intense domestic pressure to take more aggressive action to stop a largely successful Ukrainian coun teroffensive and to react forcefully to Saturday’s attack on the Kerch bridge, whose construction he used to cement his 2014 annexation of Crimea.

Putin’s increasingly frequent de scriptions of Ukraine’s actions as terrorist could portend even more bold and draconian actions. But in Monday’s speech, Putin—whose partial troop mobilization order last month triggered an exodus of hun dreds of thousands of men of fight ing age—stopped short of escalating his “special military operation” to a counterterrorism campaign or martial law. Zelenskyy has repeatedly called on world leaders to declare Russia a terrorist state because of its attacks on civilians and alleged war crimes.

Moscow’s war in Ukraine is ap proaching its eight-month mark, and the Kremlin has been reeling from hu miliating battlefield setbacks in areas of eastern Ukraine it is trying to annex.

The head of Ukraine’s law enforce ment said Monday’s attacks damaged 70 infrastructure sites, of which 29 are critical. Zelenskyy said that of the 84 cruise missiles and 24 drones Russia fired, Ukrainian forces shot down 56.

Blasts struck in the capital’s Shevchenko district, which includes the historic old town and government offices, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said.

Some of the strikes hit near the government quarter in the capital’s symbolic heart, where parliament and other major landmarks are located. A glass-covered office tower was sig nificantly damaged, with most of its blue-tinted windows blown out.

Zelenskyy, in a video address, referred to the rush hour timing of Monday’s attacks, saying Russia “chose such a time and such targets on purpose to inflict the most damage.”

The strikes sent residents of Ukraine’s two largest cities—Kyiv and Kharkiv—into bomb shelters, includ ing subway stations.

Zelenskyy’s wife, Olena, posted a video showing people sheltering on the stairs of a Kyiv subway station singing a Ukrainian folk song, “In a Cherry Garden,” whose final lines are: “My dear mother, you are old and I’m happy and young. I want to live, to love.”

While air raid sirens have contin ued throughout the war, in Kyiv and elsewhere many Ukrainians had been ignoring the warnings after months of calm.

Just as traffic was picking up Mon day morning, a commuter minibus was struck near Kyiv National University. Nearby, at least one missile landed in Shevchenko Park, leaving a large hole near a children’s playground.

Another target was the Klitschko pedestrian bridge—a central Kyiv landmark with glass panels. Video footage showed a huge explosion under the bridge, with smoke rising, and a man running away, apparently unhurt. The mayor posted a video

later while walking on the bridge, pointing out a crater on a sidewalk below and broken glass and missile fragments on the bridge surface.

Air raid sirens sounded in every region of Ukraine except Russia-an nexed Crimea for four straight hours.

Associated Press journalists saw bodies at an industrial site on the outskirts of Dnipro. Four people were killed and 19 injured in the city, offi cials said. Witnesses said one missile landed in front of a bus, damaging the vehicle but not killing any passengers.

Natalia Nesterenko, a mathemati cian, saw one missile fly by her Dni pro apartment balcony as she was in her kitchen, then she heard two explosions.

“It’s very dangerous. I immediately called my kids to see how they are because anyone can be hit—women, children,” she said.

Kharkiv was hit three times, Mayor Ihor Terekhov said. The strikes knocked out the electricity and water supply. En ergy infrastructure was also hit in Lviv, regional Gov. Maksym Kozytskyi said.

Three cruise missiles launched against Ukraine from Russian ships in the Black Sea crossed Moldova’s airspace, said the country’s foreign affairs minister, Nicu Popescu.

The attacks prompted fresh in ternational condemnation of Russia.

The Group of Seven industrial powers scheduled a video conference Tuesday on the situation, which Zel enskyy will address.

US President Joe Biden said in a statement the missile attacks that killed civilians “again demonstrate

the utter brutality of Mr. Putin’s il legal war on the Ukrainian people.” He said the United States and its allies will “continue to impose costs on Russia for its aggression, hold Putin and Russia accountable for its atrocities and war crimes, and provide the support necessary for Ukrainian forces to defend their country and their freedom.” In a phone call later Monday, Biden told Zelenskyy the United States agreed to his request to provide advanced air defense systems.

French President Emanuel Macron expressed “extreme concern.” Brit ish Foreign Secretary James Cleverly tweeted that “Russia’s firing of mis siles into civilian areas of Ukraine is unacceptable.”

Some feared Monday’s attacks may represent the start a new Russian offensive. As a precaution, Ukraine switched all schools to online learn ing.

In an ominous move, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko an nounced that he and Putin agreed to create a joint “regional grouping of troops.” He offered no details.

Lukashenko repeated his claims that Ukraine is plotting an attack on Belarus, sparking fears he would take preemp tive action. His defense minister, Viktor Khrenin, later issued a video warning Ukraine not to provoke Belarus, but added: “We don’t want to fight.”

Sabra Ayres in Kyiv, Vasilisa Ste panenko in Kharkiv, and Justin Spike and Yesica Fisch in Dnipro, contributed to this story.

editorial

Helping farmers amid high input costs

Countries that rely on imported fuel and food like the Philippines have been using a number of mechanisms to keep inflation in check. the Philippine government has decided to make use of tariffs to prevent domestic food prices from soaring.

Last year, the Duterte administration issued two executive orders—eo 134 and 135—that reduced the tariffs on pork and rice.

In May, a few weeks before the former president stepped down, the government issued EO 171, which extended the tariffs on pork and rice and reduced the tariffs on corn and coal (See, “Palace EO extends lower tariffs on pork and rice until December,” in the BusinessMirror, May 28, 2022). The EO slashed the tariffs on corn and coal to 5 percent and zero, respectively. The decision to slash the tariffs on corn and coal was made following Russia’s attack on Ukraine, which roiled the financial and commodities markets.

After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February, countries that rely on imported food items and oil have seen substantial increases in domestic food and fuel prices. This is because Russia and Ukraine account for 30 percent of global exports of wheat, 20 percent for corn, mineral fertilizers and natural gas, 11 percent for oil, according to EO 171. The spike in imported wheat prices alone exacerbated the pork supply situation of the Philippines as it caused feed prices to accelerate.

The ongoing conflict in Eastern Europe, which is now on its seventh month, will continue to put pressure on the prices of certain food items and fuel products. Countries that do not have oil wells and do not grow wheat like the Philippines would have to bite the bullet at least until the end of the year. The most we can do is to resort to tariff cuts and reduce fees to make it easier for traders to bring in these products.

It would do well for the government to also consider removing tariffs on fertilizers and farm equipment, as earlier proposed by Albay Rep. Joey Sarte Salceda, to prevent price spikes (See, “House leader pitches tariff cuts on fertilizers, farm gear,” in the BusinessMirror, August 4, 2022). As the Philippines is one of the world’s top rice consumers, it makes sense to remove the tariffs on fertilizers used extensively for growing the grain. Higher input costs could prompt farmers to reduce their application of certain fertilizers, which would be disastrous for the Philippines as this would mean more imports to plug the perennial rice output shortfall.

As for calls to extend and expand the tariffs on other food items that the Philippines produces (See, “Extend period for tariff cuts on pork, rice, corn, coal–FEF,” in the BusinessMirror , October 11, 2022), policymakers must be guided by data and inputs from sectors that will be affected by this proposal. The Foundation for Economic Freedom has raised issues that require careful consideration particularly in light of the Eastern Europe situation. There’s an urgent need for policymakers to immediately start discussions on EO 171 as demand will continue to strengthen and put pressure on inflation.

The power of eminent domain

Dennis Gorecho

Kuwentong Peyups

lic use”; the state must pay “just compensation” in exchange for the property; no person must be deprived of his/her property without due process of law (Article III, Section 9 of the 1987 Constitution).

cluding the lands in Fernando ReinDel Pan streets through negotiated purchases of the lands whose owners did not raise any objection as to arbitrariness on the choice of the project and of the route.

te power of eminent domain is an extraordinary power the government must wield with circumspection and utmost regard for procedural requirements.

H

Two interesting episodes of Extraordinary Attorney Woo revolve around the issue of expropriation, which is a government proceeding obliging a land owner to part with his real property for public use or for public benefit.

Episode 4 is the legal battle of three brothers over the monetary compensation for the land they inherited from their parents, which became the subject of an expropriation.

The two eldest brothers managed to pressure the younger brother to execute a memorandum on the division of the compensation where the youngest will be left with 260 million won in debt while they will receive five and three billion won, respectively.

With the help of Attorney Woo, the memorandum was nullified for its iniquitous provisions. But the youngest brother decided that they will split the remaining money evenly after payment of the taxes.

In Episode 7 and 8, Atty. Woo and her colleagues at Hanbada Law Firm won a case against their biggest rival, Taesan, in having a tree

designated as a natural monument when the local government intended to construct a road that would cut through the fictional village of Sodeokdong.

In real life, the 500-year-old “hackberry tree” located on a hill in Dongbu Village in the southern city of Changwon will soon be designated as a natural monument.

An investigation noted that a Dangjip temple used to exist beside the tree, and annual ritual— celebrated on first day of the 10th lunar month—of worshipping the tree as the village guardian has been a handed-down tradition.

The power of eminent domain is an inherent competence of the state. It is essential to a sovereign.

The government may acquire real property needed as right-ofway, site or location for any national government infrastructure project through donation, negotiated sale, expropriation or any other mode of acquisition as provided by law.

The eminent domain power is subjected to certain constitutional limits such as: The property acquired must be taken for a “pub-

Public use includes any use that is of “usefulness, utility, or advantage, or what is productive of general benefit of the public.” ( Vda. de Ouano v. Republic, 657 Phil. 391)

Just compensation is “the fair value of the property as between one who receives, and one who desires to sell, x x x fixed at the time of the actual taking by the government.” ( NIA v.  Diaz GR 147245. March 31, 2005).

The payment must be done in a timely manner. (Republic v. Posada GR 214310, February 24, 2020)

Between the taking of the property and the actual payment, legal interests accrue in order to place the owner in a position as good as (but not better than) the position he was in before the taking occurred. (National Power Corp.n v. Manalastas, 779 Phil. 510)

One of the landmark cases on eminent domain I remember while at the UP College of Law involved the De Knecht properties.

The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) was implementing the westward extension of EDSA through a project that will address flood control and drainage problems as well as easing traffic congestion in the Baclaran and outlying areas.

The government acquired about 80 to 85 percent of the properties starting with the lands from Taft Avenue up to Roxas Boulevard in-

It is only with respect to the remaining 10 to 15 percent along the route that the government cannot negotiate through a sales agreement with a few land owners, including a parcel of land owned by the De Knecht family with an area of 8,102.68 square meters, more or less, located at the corner of the south end of Edsa and F.B. Harrison in Pasay City.

In 1979, the government initiated expropriation proceedings.

In 1980, the Supreme Court ruled that the choice of area for the extension of Edsa was arbitrary. It annulled the writ of possession and enjoined the trial court from taking further action in the expropriation case.

On February 17, 1983, the B.P. No. 340 was passed which expropriated the concerned  properties  by legislation.

On February 12, 1990, the Supreme Court rendered a decision upholding the validity of B.P. No.340 where it ruled that an expropriation proceeding that was earlier dismissed may be the subject of a subsequent legislation for expropriation. (GR 87335. February 12,1990).

Peyups is the moniker of University of the Philippines. Atty. Dennis R. 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.

Analysts: Russian missiles seek to levy pain, could backfire

By Jill Lawless | The Associated Press

LonDon the russian missiles that rained down Monday on cities across ukraine, bringing fear and destruction to areas that had seen months of relative calm, are an escalation in Moscow’s war against its neighbor.

But military analysts say it’s far from clear whether the strikes mark a turning point in a war that has killed thousands of Ukrainians and sent millions fleeing from their homes.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said the attacks were retaliation for a blast Saturday that damaged a showpiece bridge linking Russia to Crimea, the Ukrainian peninsula seized by Moscow in 2014. Putin called the Kerch Bridge attack an “act of terrorism” and vowed a “tough” response to any further attacks that threaten Russia’s security.

Simon Smith, a former British ambassador to Ukraine, said the Russian leader was trying to send “a ‘You ain’t seen nothing yet’ message” to Ukraine.

Smith said the hail of Russian missiles onto civilian areas was “psycho-

logical and physical intimidation” –but also “an act of desperation” from a Russian leader whose troops are losing territory in parts of eastern Ukraine that Moscow has already annexed.

“This is very much Putin on the back foot,” said Smith, who heads the Ukraine Forum at the thinktank Chatham House. “He is on the defensive.”

Russia’s defense ministry said it had targeted “military command and communication facilities and energy infrastructure,” but Ukraine accused Moscow of indiscriminately hitting civilian areas. Ukrainian authorities said Russia fired 84 missiles against 10 cities, with 56 of them neutralized by air defenses.

At least a dozen people were killed and over 60 wounded in the missile

strikes, officials said. “Russia is seeking to overwhelm Ukrainian air defenses,” Justin Crump, chief executive of security consultancy Sibylline, told the BBC. “That’s something they have tried throughout the conflict, but never on this scale.”

Crump said Ukraine will likely seek more surface-to-air missiles from Western allies to strengthen its air defenses. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is due to speak Tuesday to Group of Seven leaders during a video conference.

Michael Clarke, a visiting professor in war studies at King’s College London, said Monday’s attacks, while brutal, likely were not a turning point in the war, “because in a way, the Russians are already doing their worst.”

Ukrainians are finding mass graves and evidence of torture— and are undertaking war crimes investigations—in cities and towns recaptured after months of Russian occupation.

“In increasing the worst, all they do is bring more civilian misery to Ukraine, which will harden the re-

solve (of Ukrainians),” Clarke said. “And they are still losing on the ground.”

Monday’s fierce bombardment came two days after Putin put air force chief Gen. Sergei Surovikin in command of all Russian forces in Ukraine. Surovikin previously led Russian forces in Syria and was accused of overseeing a brutal bombardment that destroyed much of the city of Aleppo.

Sidharth Kaushal, a research fellow at military think-tank the Royal United Services Institute, said Surovikin’s appointment probably will not bring a major change to Russia’s military campaign.

“He has had a career that’s been blighted by accusations of both corruption and brutality,” Kaushal said.

“So that may be some insight into how he will approach it. But then again, the Russian approach has already been quite brutal.”

Kaushal said Russia had “used a pretty phenomenal number of missiles” in the war so far and could run short of some of modern precision

As suicides rise, US military seeks to address mental health

By Ashraf Khalil | The Associated Press

finishing a tour in Afghanistan in 2013, Dionne Williamson felt emotionally numb. More warning signs appeared during several years of subse quent overseas postings.

“It’s like I lost me somewhere,” said Williamson, a Navy lieutenant commander who experienced disori entation, depression, memory loss and chronic exhaustion. “I went to my captain and said, ‘Sir, I need help. Something’s wrong.’”

As the Pentagon seeks to confront spiraling suicide rates in the military ranks, Williamson’s experiences shine a light on the realities for ser vice members seeking mental health help. For most, simply acknowledg ing their difficulties can be intimi dating. And what comes next can be frustrating and dispiriting.

Williamson, 46, eventually found stability through a monthlong hospitalization and a thera peutic program that incorporates horseback riding. But she had to fight for years to get the help she needed. “It’s a wonder how I made it through,” she said.

In March, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced the creation of an independent committee to re view the military’s mental health and suicide prevention programs.

According to Defense Depart ment data, suicides among activeduty service members increased by more than 40 percent between 2015 and 2020. The numbers jumped by 15 percent in 2020 alone. In long time suicide hotspot postings such as Alaska—service members and their families contend with extreme isolation and a harsh climate—the rate has doubled.

A 2021 study by the Cost of War Project concluded that since 9/11, four times as many service members and veterans have died by suicide as have perished in combat. The study detailed stress factors particular to military life: “high exposure to trauma—mental, physical, moral, and sexual—stress and burnout, the influence of the military’s hegemonic masculine culture, continued access to guns, and the difficulty of reinte grating into civilian life.”

The Pentagon did not respond to repeated requests for comment. But Austin has publicly acknowledged that the Pentagon’s current men tal health offerings—including a Defense Suicide Prevention Office established in 2011—have proven insufficient.

“It is imperative that we take care of all our teammates and continue to reinforce that mental health and sui cide prevention remain a key prior ity,” Austin wrote in March. “Clearly we have more work to do.”

Last year the Army issued fresh guidelines to its commanders on how to handle mental health issues in the ranks, complete with brief ing slides and a script. But daunt ing long-term challenges remain. Many soldiers fear the stigma of admitting to mental health issues within the internal military culture of self-sufficiency. And those who seek help often find that stigma is not only real, but also compounded by bureaucratic obstacles.

Much like the issue of food in security in military families, a net work of military-adjacent charitable organizations has tried to fill the gaps with a variety of programs and outreach efforts.

Some are purely recreational, such as an annual fishing tourna ment in Alaska designed to provide fresh air and socialization for service members. Others are more focused on self-care, like an Armed Servic es YMCA program that offers free childcare so that military parents can attend therapy sessions.

The situation in Alaska is particu larly dire. In January, after a string of suicides, Command Sgt. Maj. Phil Blaisdell addressed his soldiers in an

emotional Instagram post. “When did suicide become the answer,” he asked. “Please send me a DM if you need something. Please…”

US Sen. Lisa Murkowski, RAlaska, said that while posting to Alaska can be a dream for some service members, it’s a solitary nightmare for others that needs to be addressed.

“You’ve got to be paying attention to this when you see the statistics jump as they are,” Murkowski said. “Right now, you’ve got everybody. You’ve got the Joint Chiefs looking at Alaska and saying, ‘Holy smokes, what’s going on up there?’”

The stresses of an Alaska posting are compounded by a shortage of on-the-ground therapists. During a visit to Joint Base Elmendorf-Rich ardson in Alaska earlier this year, Army Secretary Christine Wormuth heard from base health care work ers who say they are understaffed, burned out and can’t see patients on a timely basis. If a soldier seeks help, they often have to wait weeks for an appointment.

“We have people who need our services and we can’t get to them,” one longtime counselor told Wor muth during a meeting. “We need staff and until we get them, we will continue to have soldiers die.”

The annual Combat Fishing Tournament in Seward, Alaska, was formed to “get the kids out of the bar racks, get them off the base for the day and get them out of their heads,” said co-founder Keith Manternach.

The tournament, which was be gun in 2007 and now involves more than 300 service members, includes a day of deep-water fishing followed by a celebratory banquet with prizes for the largest catch, smallest catch and the person who gets the sickest.

“I think there’s a huge element of mental health to it,” Mantern ach said.

It’s not just in Alaska.

Sgt. Antonio Rivera, an 18-year veteran who completed three tours in Iraq and a year at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, freely acknowledges that he has serious PTSD.

“I know that I need help. There’s signs and I’ve waited long enough,” said Rivera, 48, who is assigned to Fort Hood in Texas. “I don’t want my children to suffer because of me not going to get help.”

He’s doing yoga, but says he needs more. He’s reluctant to seek help in side the military.

“Personally I’d feel more comfort able being able to talk to someone outside,” he said. “It would allow me to open up a lot more without having to be worried about how it’s going to affect my career.”

Others who speak up say it’s a struggle to get assistance.

Despite the on-base presence of “tons of briefings and brochures on suicide and PTSD,” Williamson said she found herself fighting for years to get time off and therapy.

Eventually, she entered a monthlong in-patient program in Arizona. When she returned, a therapist recommended equine-assisted therapy, which proved to be a break through.

Now Williamson is a regular at the Cloverleaf Equine Center in Clif ton, Virginia, where riding sessions can be combined with a variety of therapeutic practices and exercises.

Working with horses has long been used as a form for therapy for people with physical or mental disabili ties and children diagnosed with autism. But in recent years, it has been embraced for helping service members with anxiety and PTSD.

Opinion

Protests in Iran over woman’s death reach key oil industry

By Jon Gambrell | The Associated Press

United Arab Emirates—Workers at refineries crucial for Iran’s oil and natural gas production protested Monday over the death of a 22-year-old woman, online videos ap peared to show, escalating the crisis faced by Tehran.

DUBAI,

The demonstrations in Abadan and Asaluyeh mark the first time the unrest surrounding the death of Mahsa Amini threatened the industry crucial to the coffers of Iran’s long-sanctioned theocratic government.

While it remains unclear if other workers will follow, the protests come as demonstrations rage on in cities, towns and villages across Iran over the Sept. 16 death of Amini after her arrest by the country’s morality police in Tehran. Early on Monday, the sound of apparent gunshots and explosions echoed through the streets of a city in western Iran, while security forces reportedly killed one man in a nearby village, activists said.

Iran’s government insists Amini was not mistreated, but her family says her body showed bruises and other signs of beating. Subsequent videos have shown security forces beating and shoving female pro testers, including women who have torn off their mandatory headscarf, or hijab.

From the capital, Tehran, and elsewhere, online videos have emerged despite authorities dis rupting the Internet. Videos on Monday showed university and high school students demonstrating and chanting, with some women and girls marching through the streets without headscarves as the protests continue into a fourth week. The demonstrations represent one of the biggest challenges to Iran’s the ocracy since the 2009 Green Move ment protests.

Online videos analyzed by The Associated Press showed dozens of workers gathered at the refineries in Asaluyeh, some 925 kilometers (575 miles) south of Tehran, on the Persian Gulf. The vast complex takes in natural gas from the massive offshore natural gas field that Iran shares with Qatar.

In one video, the gathered work ers—some with their faces cov ered—chant “shameless” and “death to the dictator.” The chants have been features across protests dealing with Amini’s death.

“This is the bloody year Seyyed Ali will be overthrown,” the protest ers chanted, refusing to use the title ayatollah to refer to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. An ayatollah is a high-ranking Shiite cleric.

The details in the videos corre spond with each and to known fea tures of the facility compared against satellite photos taken Sunday.

Iran did not acknowledge any disruption at the facility, though the semiofficial Tasnim news agency de scribed the incident as a salary dis pute. Iran is one of the world’s top natural gas suppliers, just after the US and Russia.

In Abadan, a city once home to the world’s largest oil refinery, videos also showed workers walking off the job. The New York-based Center for Human Rights in Iran cited a state ment it said came from the Contrac tual Oil Workers Protest Organizing Council that called for a strike over “the suppression and killings.”

“We declare that now is the time for widespread protests and to pre

pare ourselves for nationwide and back-breaking strikes,” the state ment said. “This is the beginning of the road and we will continue our protests together with the entire nation day after day.”

The violence early Monday in western Iran occurred in Sanandaj, the capital of Iran’s Kurdistan prov ince, as well as in the village of Salas Babajani near the border with Iraq, according to a Kurdish group called the Hengaw Organization for Hu man Rights. Amini was Kurdish and her death has been felt particularly in Iran’s Kurdish region, where dem onstrations began September 17 at her funeral there.

Hengaw posted footage it de scribed as smoke rising in one neigh borhood in Sanandaj, with what sounded like rapid rifle fire echoing through the night sky. The shouts of people could be heard.

There was no immediate word if people had been hurt in the violence. Hengaw later posted a video online of what appeared to be collected shell casings from rifles and shotguns, as well as spent tear gas canisters.

Authorities offered no immediate explanation about the violence early Monday in Sanandaj, some 400 kilo meters (250 miles) west of Tehran.

Esmail Zarei Kousha, the governor of Iran’s Kurdistan province, alleged without providing evidence that un known groups “plotted to kill young people on the streets” on Saturday, the semiofficial Fars news agency reported Monday.

Kousha also accused these un named groups that day of shooting a young man in the head and killing him—an attack that activists have roundly blamed on Iranian secu rity forces. They say Iranian forces opened fire after the man honked his car horn at them. Honking has become one of the ways activists have been expressing civil disobedi

ence—an action that has seen riot police in other videos smashing the windshields of passing vehicles.

In the village of Salas Babajani, some 100 kilometers (60 miles) southwest of Sanandaj, Iranian secu rity forces repeatedly shot a 22-yearold man protesting there who later died of his wounds, Hengaw said. It said others had been wounded in the shooting.

It remains unclear how many people have been killed so far. State television last suggested at least 41 people had been killed in the demon strations as of September 24. There’s been no update from Iran’s govern ment since.

An Oslo-based group, Iran Hu man Rights, estimates at least 185 people have been killed. This in cludes an estimated 90 people killed by security forces in the eastern Iranian city of Zahedan amid dem onstrations against a police officer accused of rape in a separate case. Iranian authorities have described the Zahedan violence as involving unnamed separatists, without pro viding details or evidence.

Meanwhile, a prison riot has struck the city of Rasht, killing several inmates there, a prosecutor reportedly said. It wasn’t immedi ately clear if the riot at Lakan Prison was linked to the ongoing protests, though Rasht has seen heavy dem onstrations in recent weeks since Amini’s death.

The semiofficial Mehr news agency quoted Gilan provincial pros ecutor Mehdi Fallah Miri as saying, “some prisoners died because of their wounds as the electricity was cut (at the prison) because of the damage.” He also alleged prisoners refused to allow authorities access to those wounded.

Miri described the riot as break ing out in a wing of a prison housing death penalty inmates.

New Zealand proposes taxing cow burps, angering farmers

By Nick Perry | The Associated Press

WELLINGTON, New Zealand—New Zealand’s govern ment on Tuesday proposed taxing the greenhouse gasses that farm animals make from burping and peeing as part of a plan to tackle climate change.

The government said the farm levy would be a world first, and that farmers should be able to recoup the cost by charging more for climatefriendly products.

But farmers quickly condemned the plan. Federated Farmers, the industry’s main lobby group, said the plan would “rip the guts out of small-town New Zealand” and see farms replaced with trees.

Federated Farmers President An drew Hoggard said farmers had been trying to work with the government for more than two years on an emis sions reduction plan that wouldn’t decrease food production.

“Our plan was to keep farmers farming,” Hoggard said. Instead, he said farmers would be selling their farms “so fast you won’t even hear the dogs barking on the back of the ute (pickup truck) as they drive off.”

Opposition lawmakers from the conservative ACT Party said the plan would actually increase world wide emissions by moving farming to other countries that were less ef ficient at making food. New Zealand’s farming industry

Analysts

weapons. But he said Russia had “large numbers of stockpiled hold overs from the Soviet era” and still retained a capacity to inflict heavy damage on Ukraine.

“Given the sheer number of tar gets, and given that overall, the Russian missiles in terms of their accuracy and performance have been reasonably good, you would ex pect at least some bits of Ukrainian critical infrastructure, some things

is vital to its economy. Dairy prod ucts, including those used to make infant formula in China, are the na tion’s largest export earner.

There are just 5 million people in New Zealand but some 10 million beef and dairy cattle and 26 mil lion sheep.

The outsized industry has made New Zealand unusual in that about half of its greenhouse gas emis sions come from farms. Farm ani mals produce gasses that warm the planet, particularly methane from cattle burps and nitrous oxide from their urine.

The debate in New Zealand is part of a broader global reckoning about farming’s impact on the en vironment and the steps some say are needed for mitigation.

In the Netherlands, farmers have dumped hay bales on roads and driv en tractors along busy highways to protest government proposals to slash emissions of damaging pol lutants.

In New Zealand, the government has pledged to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and make the country carbon neutral by 2050. Part of that

like power grids, to be destroyed over the course of the campaign,” Kaushal said.

Andriy Yermak, a senior adviser to Zelenskyy, said Russia was seeking “to psychologically break Ukrainians, to make us wish the war ended no matter how.”

But Ukraine said it would not back down.

Kyiv has not officially claimed responsibility for the Crimea bridge attack, but Ukraine’s ambassador to Britain, Vadym Prystaiko, on Mon day called the bridge a legitimate military target and said Kyiv’s forces

There are just 5 million people in New Zealand but some 10 million beef and dairy cattle and 26 mil lion sheep. The outsized industry has made New Zealand unusual in that about half of its green house gas emissions come from farms. Farm animals produce gasses that warm the planet, particularly methane from cattle burps and nitrous oxide from their urine.

plan includes a pledge that it will re duce methane emissions from farm animals by 10 percent by 2030 and by up to 47 percent by 2050.

Under the government’s proposed plan, farmers would start to pay for emissions in 2025, with the pricing yet to be finalized.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said all the money collected from the proposed farm levy would be put back into the industry to fund new technology, research and incentive payments for farmers.

“New Zealand’s farmers are set to be the first in the world to reduce agricultural emissions, positioning our biggest export market for the competitive advantage that brings in a world increasingly discerning about the provenance of their food,” Ardern said.

Agriculture Minister Damien

would strike more sites of high mili tary significance to Russia.

“We are not targeting Russian civilian infrastructure anywhere, especially beyond the Ukrainian of ficial borders with Russia,” he told Times Radio. “But to achieve the victory, we will have to push further and further.”

Smith, the former ambassador, said Monday’s attacks were not “game-changing.” But he said Putin, faced with Ukrainian advances on the ground, had opened up “a new dimension” in the war.

“If Putin knows that deploying

O’Connor said it was an exciting opportunity for New Zealand and its farmers.

“Farmers are already experienc ing the impact of climate change with more regular drought and flooding,” O’Connor said. “Taking the lead on agricultural emissions is both good for the environment and our economy.”

The liberal Labour government’s proposal harks back to a similar but unsuccessful proposal made by a pre vious Labour government in 2003 to tax farm animals for their methane emissions.

Farmers back then also vehe mently opposed the idea, and politi cal opponents ridiculed it as a “fart tax” — although a “burp tax” would have been more technically accurate as most of the methane emissions come from belching. The govern ment eventually abandoned the plan.

According to opinion polls, Ar dern’s Labour Party has slipped in popularity and fallen behind the main opposition National Party since Ardern won a second term in 2020 in a landslide victory of historic proportions.

If Ardern’s government can’t find agreement on the proposal with farmers, who have consider able political sway in New Zealand, it’s likely to make it more difficult for Ardern to win reelection next year when the nation goes back to the polls.

hundreds of thousands of his armed forces in Ukraine is going to be a dead loss because they are so poorly com manded and poorly equipped, then he is going to be looking for ways of visit ing death and destruction on Ukraine from a greater distance,” Smith said— and that raises significant questions for Ukraine’s Western allies.

“The countries supporting Ukraine need to think about the ways they can help Ukraine defend itself against that,” Smith said. London correspondent Jill Lawless has covered politics and international affairs for the Associated Press since 2000.

China pressure on PHL over POGO fuels call to ban them

By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas @jearcalas

THEPhilippines stands to lose 0.7 percent of GDP in revenue if the country totally loses some 1.7 million Chinese tourists after the Philippines was included in China’s blacklist of tourist destinations because of POGO-related issues, government economists told senators on Tuesday, as calls for banning offshore gaming completely gained amid an appeal conveyed by Beijing’s top envoy to Manila.

I n a Senate hearing on Tuesday, Na tional Economic and Development Au thority Rosemarie G. Edillon revealed that the 1.7 million Chinese tourist ar rivals in 2019 contributed 0.7 percent of the country’s GDP.

But at the same hearing, Finance officials presented an assessment that “the social costs of POGOs outweigh the economic benefits they bring.”

E dillon disclosed that based on Ne da’s estimates the POGO industry con tributed 0.53 percent of GDP in 2019 or about P104.5 billion. Edillon added that the POGO industry’s contribution to the economy could even reach 0.67

percent of GDP based on multiplier ef fects.

“ Because of this ban, we will not have Chinese tourists ... [If we] have this foregone income from Chinese tourists, we are looking at a net cost of 0.03 percent of GDP,” she told the joint hearing of the Senate Commit tees on Way and Means with Public Order and Dangerous Drugs.

E dillon was referring to China’s so-called “black list” of cross-border gambling destinations as the Asian country intensifies its crackdown of gambling operations and activities involving Chinese nationals.

[The black list] tries to stop the tourism of Chinese tourists to the Phil ippines. [China] singled out Cambodia and the Philippines for that matter. Cambodia quickly banned the industry but the Philippines did not heed China’s call,” she said.

I

n the same hearing, Senate Presi dent Juan Miguel F. Zubiri revealed that the Philippines has been for mally included in China’s blacklist of tourist destinations amid the country’s surmounting woes about the POGO industry, particularly in terms of criminality.

Q uoting Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Huang Xilian who visited the Senate on Monday, Zubiri said the Chi nese tourists have been “discouraged” to go to the Philippines due to security issues allegedly linked to the POGO in dustry.

“ The Philippines now is part of a blacklist of tourist sites because they do not know if the tourist will be join ing POGO operations and they do not know if the Chinese nationals who go to the Philippines will be safe from illegal activities being done by the triad, by the syndicates operating POGO. They may also be kidnapped, mistaken as POGO operators,” he said.

A ccording to  Zubiri, Ambassador Huang Xilian said Beijing was crack ing down hard on offshore gaming be cause “in our country a lot of people

have died, committed suicide, or are in jail for theft or robbery for pay ment of debt to POGO operators in other countries, particularly in the Philippines.”

Zubiri further quoted Ambassador Xilian as saying that offshore gaming “also provides criminality to the host country, as you have seen in yours.”

Zubiri said Xilian promised to provide a list of countries that banned offshore gaming on request of the PROC.

W hen Zubiri asked  how China en gages other countries that keep offshore gaming in their territory, Xilian told the Senate President  that Beijing actually blacklists Chinese nationals who op erate POGO facilities. The call center operators or workers are not targeted, but  the Chinese nationals who serve as “financiers  and operators” or POGOs in other countries.

Fallout from POGOs DURING the hearing, Finance Un dersecretary Bayani H. Agabin dis closed Department of Finance com putations that the Philippines lost P12.4 billion to P19.8 billion in in vestments last year due to POGOrelated worries.

C iting an international study, Agabin argued that high crime rates “negative ly” affect the country’s foreign direct investments (FDIs).

‘COURTS MUST DECIDE ON DE LIMA TRANSFER’

MALACA ÑANG said it will be up to the Court to decide on the transfer of for mer senator Leila De Lima to a new deten tion facility.

I n a press confer ence on Tuesday, Press Secretary (OPS) Offi cer-in-Charge Cheloy E. Velicaria-Garafil said the lawyers of De Lima must file the necessary motion to formalize the transfer.

“ The President cannot and will not intervene in any case that’s already with the courts,” Garafil said.

S he issued the clarification after President Fer dinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos, Jr. said he will allow the former lawmaker to be transferred to another detention facility.

T his, after De Lima was taken hostage by one of three detainees who tried to escape from Camp Crame last Sunday after stabbing Police Corporal Roger Agustin.

T he incident revived calls from labor groups for the Department of Justice (DOJ) to withdraw its opposition for Rafael Ragos to testify to the court that he is recanting his previous testimony against De Lima.

R agos, a former Bureau of Corrections officerin-charge, first testified he delivered cash to De Lima from drug traffickers, who were detained in the New Bilibid Prison.

D e Lima has been detained since 2017 due to a pending drug-related case.  Samuel P. Medenilla

Solon prods Congress to pass bill defining maritime boundaries

By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz @joveemarie

ASENIOR lawmaker on Tues day urged Congress to finally pass a bill delineating the country’s maritime boundaries, including its 200-mile exclusive economic zone.

C agayan de Oro City Rep. Rufus Rodriguez made the appeal in the wake of the reported agreement be tween the Philippines and Indone sia on rules on how to delimit their overlapping territorial boundaries.

T he agreement was an offshoot of the visit to Jakarta of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. last month.

The projected talks between the Philippines and our neighbor Indonesia should prompt Congress to now approve a maritime zones bill,” Rodriguez said in a statement.

He said such a law would serve as the framework for negotiations on territorial limits between and among nations claiming islets and maritime areas in the South China Sea.

“ It will also be our weapon in enforcing our laws, exploring re sources and protecting our fisher men in these areas,” he said.

He added that Congress should not be afraid of how China would

react to the enactment of such a law.

“ Enacting it is our right under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos). Let us not worry about what the Chi nese will say. Let us think of our own national interest,” Rodriguez stressed.

T he Mindanao lawmaker has filed Bill No. 2467, which is titled, “An Act declaring the maritime zones under the jurisdiction of the Philippines.”

He introduced the measure in the last Congress. The House passed it but the Senate sat on it.

Panatag Shoal

RODRIGUEZ’S proposed definition of the country’s maritime territo ry includes the Chinese-occupied Scarborough or Panatag Shoal off Zambales and Pangasinan, locally known as Bajo de Masinloc, a tra dition fishing ground of Filipinos.

T he Chinese Coast Guard rou tinely patrols this area, which Bei jing seized in 2012 after a standoff between Chinese and Philippine Coast Guard vessels.

I n House Bill 2467, Rodriguez said the Philippines, as a signa tory and party to the 1983 Unclos “recognizes the establishment of

various maritime zones and juris diction of coastal states, including its own, over which sovereignty and appurtenant sovereign rights can be exercised.”

“ Thus, the country exercises sov ereignty over its internal waters, archipelagic waters, territorial sea and airspace over it, as well as its seabed and subsoil in accordance with Unclos and other existing laws and treaties,” he said.

H e said the Philippines also exercises sovereign rights over its “contiguous zone, exclusive eco nomic zone and continental shelf, including the right to explore and exploit living and nonliving, or ganic or nonorganic resources.”

T he House leader pointed out that Unclos allow party-states to define their maritime territory.

U nder the Rodriguez bill, aside from its internal and archipe lagic waters and territorial sea, the country’s maritime territory includes its 200-mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ) that is mea sured from its shoreline and its continental shelf.

A large part of the Philippine EEZ is claimed by China, which has trans formed some disputed islets in that area into military installations.

Ople leads closure of recruitment firm in Mkti

MIGRANT Workers Secre tary Susan Ople today led a team from the Depart ment of Migrant Workers (DMW) in closing down a Makati-based immigration consultancy firm for allegedly conducting illegal recruit ment activities.

O rdered closed was the office of K-Monster Inc. in barangay San Lorenzo. The Secretary and the team from the department’s AntiIllegal Recruitment Branch (AIRB) were joined by the Makati police and barangay officials.

S urveillance operations con ducted by the AIRB showed that K-Monster has reportedly been of

fering jobs for hotel workers, room attendants, cashiers, waiters, care givers, and factory workers in Po land, Canada, and the Netherlands.

“ We at the DMW have zero tol erance for illegal recruiters and human traffickers.

Walang ‘K’ si K-Monster to recruit because it is neither licensed with the POEA, nor does it have any approved job orders,” Ople said.

T he AIRB said K-Monster does not have a license to recruit workers.

T he firm has been offering con sultancy services for education, im migration, and employment. The firm’s head office in South Korea is

billed as an international talent so lutions provider or staffing agency with an existing tie-up with a local recruitment agency with approved job orders in Canada, Poland the US, and Papua New Guinea.

O ple said based on DMW’s in vestigation, K-Monster has been allegedly collecting “advance pro cessing” fees from their victims ranging from P80,000 to P220,000.

T he firm claimed the fees cover the cost of documents such as cur riculum vitae (CV), resume and passport, processing of visas and work permits, and other travel requirements.

Nido Petroleum gets nod to survey Palawan oil field

By Samuel P. Medenilla @sam_medenilla

Malacañang said the government is targeting to restart drilling operations in Palawan’s cadlao oil field by next year to help address rising oil prices.

In a statement last Tuesday, President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. announced that the Department of energy (DOe) has allowed Nido Petroleum Philippines Pty. Ltd., to “proceed with the site survey of their drilling locations.”

“This shows the commitment of

the President to find locally sourced oil products or oil exploration projects to address rising oil prices,” Office of the Press Secretary (OPS) Officer-in-Charge Cheloy e Velicaria-Garafi said in a press briefing.

Nido Petroleum is the Technical Operator/Operator of Service Con-

Local car sales up by double digits

By Andrea E. San Juan @andreasanjuan

The local automotive industry continued its growth momentum in September on the back of the uptick in demand for new motor vehicles, according to the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. (Campi)

A joint report released by Campi and the Truck Manufacturers Association (TMA) showed that vehicle makers sold 35,282 units in September, 64.2 percent higher than last year’s 21,493 units.

“The automotive industry continues its growth momentum, recording a double-digit growth of 64.2 percent in September driven by the increased demand for new motor vehicles,” Campi President Rommel Gutierrez said in a statement on Tuesday.

According to Campi-TMA, the industry recorded a year-on-year double digit growth for seven consecutive months.

Gutierrez expressed confidence that the automotive industry will continuously grow for the rest of 2022.

“The automotive industry foresees a continued growth in the latter part of the year, benefitting from the improving economy based on the recent growth forecast of 6.5 percent this year—attributed to strong domestic demand and continued easing of pandemic restrictions.”

Data from Campi-TMA also showed

that from January to September, vehicle sales rose by 29.5 percent to 248,154 units from 191,605 units in the same period last year.

Meanwhile, on a monthly basis, data indicated that car sales rose by 16.9 percent from the 30,185 units sold in August.

The light commercial vehicle, commercial vehicle and Asian utility vehicle segments buoyed the performance of the local automotive sector in September.

In contrast, passenger cars (PC) and trucks and buses performed poorly last month.

Sales of trucks and buses fell by 21.7 percent to 664 units from January to September from the 848 units recorded last year while PC sales declined by 1.5 percent to 60,058 from 60,982 units sold in the same period last year.

Toyota Motor Philippines Corp. led year-to-date sales with 124,884 units, followed by Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corp. with 35,139 units and Ford Motor Company Phils. with 16,244 units.

In March, Gutierrez said the automotive industry targets to sell 336,000 units this year which is 17 percent higher from the actual volume of 268,488 total vehicle units sold in 2021.

With the 248,154 units sold from January to September, local car makers must sell 117,846 units to hit its sales target for the year.

MPGC plans to build transmission facility

MARIV e L e S Power Generation Corp. (MPGC) has proposed the construction of a transmission facility worth P1.867 billion to connect its 1200megawatt (MW) coal power plant project to the Luzon grid via direct connection to the substation of the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP).

In a filing with the regulators, MPGC said it has tapped Meralco Industrial engineering Services Corp. (MIeSCOR) to construct the dedicated transmission facility project

MPGC is a joint venture between SMC Global Power holdings Inc., a subsidiary of SMC; Meralco Powergen Corp., a subsidiary of Manila electric Co., and Zygnet Prime holdings Inc.

MPGC’s proposed power project employs the Circulating Fluidized Bed (CFB) technology and will be imple-

mented in phases. The first 4 x 150MW is expected to be in place this year while the succeeding phases will be implemented up to 2024.

The testing and commissioning of one unit will be conducted within this quarter of and is expected to be synchronized to the Luzon grid on or before December this year.

MPGC said it would finish the dedicated transmission facility project on time for the testing and commissioning of the power plant.

“For the purpose of testing, commissioning, and dispatch of the power to be generated by the MPCG power plant, applicant needs to develop, construct, and operate a dedicated facility project to connect the subject power plant to the Alas-asin substation of the NGCP,” MPGC told the e n ergy Regulatory Commission

tract 6B, which covers the Cadlao oil field in the Palawan basin.

It replaced Forum energy Philippines Corp. as the operator of the said service contract last February after it committed to fund 100 percent of the development costs of the oil field.

The firm is expected to drill two wells during the first half of 2023 for exploration and appraisal purposes before engaging in oil production by the second half of next year.

Over 11 million oil barrels were produced from the Cadlao oil field before its operations were suspended in 1991. The government projects the Cadlao oil field still contains 5 to 6 million barrels of oil.

Aside from the Cadlao oil field, the government said it is determined

to develop more indigenous sources of oil and gas through investment incentives for service contractors under Presidential Decree 87.

The DOe said it looks forward to the results of the on-site survey in the old Cadlao oil field.

While it is too early to tell if the Cadlao oil field will produce 5 to 6 million barrels of oil, the agency is hoping that this will pave the way for more investors in the country’s upstream oil and gas sector. The DOe said the site survey would involve preparatory drilling, production test, among others. These activities, the agency said, will pave the way for the drilling of two wells--one exploration and one appraisal, by the first half of 2023.

Govt will address transmission constraints–DOE

The Department of energy (DOe) is working closely with the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) to address problems related to transmission constraints that hamper the development of renewable energy (R e) projects.

energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla said it is important to identify specific segments where government is the reason for the delay in the completion of transmission projects.

“We are also working with NGCP to identify segment by segment the obstacles where government can actually help in facilitating the timely action including those involving local government units and the right-ofway issues,” said Lotilla.

For instance, Lotilla cited a trans-

mission constraint from the power plants in Bataan to the load center in Metro Manila that should be immediately addressed. he said necessary intervention must be done to address this.

Moreover, Lotilla said R e projects will make a huge impact on addressing the power supply gap next year. however, some of these projects could not take off because of transmission constraints. “That is why we are making sure that transmission facilities will be there and will not create another Negros island scenario wherein available R e power has been stranded in the island for the lack of sufficient transmission facilities that can bring them to the market,” he pointed out. Lenie Lectura

Entrepreneur

Ex-OFW now iFranchise CEO eyes to bring local food and petro brands to intl market

GCash offers more loans for entreps, borrowers

By Roderick L. Abad @rodrik_28 Contributor

brands, such as BBQ Break, Food Caravan, and Coffee Spot. iFranchise also diversified into other businesses, such as iPharma Mart (pharmacy convenience store), iFuel (gasoline station), Faces&Curves (beauty and wellness), and iFarm (hotel and resort).

MOBILE

e-wallet GCash is growing its lending portfolio by providing more loan solutions to business owners and individual borrowers.

“We at GCash remain committed to empowering Filipinos to pay for everything they want and need conveniently,” said GCash Chief Customer Officer Winsley Bangit. “With our suite of lending products, more people can manage their finances better and live the life they deserve.”

The Ayala-led company lent over P40 billion at end-June as it expanded to more products like GLoan and GGives.

For instant cash, the former enables GCash users to borrow up to P125,000, which is payable as low as P265 a month. GLoan is helpful for entrepreneurs to finance their business endeavors and other immediate financial needs.

The latter, likewise, allows those to avail the same maximum loan amount to buy-now-and-pay-later items from GCash partner-merchants. They can use the GGives service when they shop in the store, scan to pay, or purchase online. With low interest rates, credit settlement comes in flexible installment options of three, six, nine to 12 months.

For more funds, GCredit offers as high as P30,000 credit line, with only 5 percent pro-rated interest rate, that can be used on other services of GCash, such as Scan to Pay, Shop Online, and Pay Bills. This loan facility can be used in over 20,000 stores, billers, and online merchants.

“GGives, GCredit, and GLoan are available for fully verified GCash users with a good GScore standing. To increase your GScore, maintain a healthy account balance by cashing in regularly, and use various GCash services such as Pay Bills, Send Money and Pay Online,” noted Bangit.

Beyond loans, other financial products like GSave, GInsure, and GInvest are up for grab of the app’s users. GSave accounts have reached more than 3.3 million as of the first semester, with one in five banked Filipinos already having it.

Insurance provider GInsure, on the other hand, has sold two million plus policies to date. It offers more than 24 products, from health and online shopping to vehicles and pets, through its partnership with over 10 reputable brands.

Meanwhile, investment marketplace GInvest registered more than 3.4 million investors from January to June 2022, with around one out of five mutual fund investors already onboard its platform. It also has seven local and global funds.

FORMERLY trying her luck abroad to seek a greener pasture back in the days, overseas Filipino worker (OFW)-turned-businesswoman Krizzia Ann Loyang Tanabe is setting her foot once again outside of the country—this time with a goal of bringing local brands to the global arena.

Her very own iFranchise Business Services Corp., which specializes in developing, marketing, and managing businesses across key industries, such as food and beverage (F&B), beauty and wellness, petroleum, and real estate, is expanding its footprint in Africa, Europe and the Middle East.

“On the fifth year of my business, my aim is to have a global brand that us, Filipinos, can be really proud to bring our products outside our country,” she told reporters at the sideline of Global Women Empowerment Summit held in Okada Manila on October 3.

From local to global TO become the chief executive officer (CEO) and president of iFranchise is a dream-come-true for Tanabe, who rose to success for her perseverance, hard work and sheer determination.

“I came from a humble beginning. I was raised by [my] farmer grandparents from Northern Samar. So I know the feeling of having nothing,” she recalled of her past.

Coming from a not so well off family, she was a working student back in college. During her stint in

the homegrown food chain giant Jollibee, where she served as a service crew and cashier, she used this experience to where she is now.

“It really contributed me that much to achieve my dreams today. When I worked abroad, I was also in the food business as a manager of Mandarin [Hotel] and a wine connection business in Singapore. After working there, I went back home and started my own food business,” Tanabe narrated.

“I had more than a thousand food branches before the pandemic. But after the pandemic, we insisted to close down all the stores inside the malls since F&B is one of the most affected businesses during the time,” she said.

Such unfortunate event, however did not stop her to think of other way to turn around the business. That’s when she conceptualized WenDeli Meat House to go full blast with her commissaries in Quezon City and Antipolo, producing frozen meat products for national distribution that became a hit during the lockdown periods.

The success of this venture then resulted to multiple other F&B

“Currently, we have 700 employees. I look forward to hire more and to give more employment opportunities to the Filipinos,” Tanabe said, while revealing the upcoming international expansion of WenDeli and iFuel.

Bringing Pinoy favorites offshore

ON December 8, WenDeli Meat House, a food brand named after her business partner actor Wendell Ramos will have its grand launch in Dubai.

This will be present to all “kabayan” stores in one of the wealthiest of the seven monarchies that comprise the federation of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), as well as in leading food platform Talabat.

“We’re going to have a tie up for distribution of our frozen meat and ready-to-eat food products. So [we’re] bringing the Filipino favorites to our kababayans in Dubai, [such as] tocino, tapa, longganisa, [and burger] patty, [among others],” the iFranchise CEO and president said.

Seeing the UAE as “the land of opportunity,” especially with further developments in Dubai for the next five to 20 years, iFranchise believes that it’s already high time to penetrate this market, according to her.

“I think it’s the best country to start a global brand, and not only that, we have millions of overseas Filipino workers there,” she added.

Apart from bringing local products to OFWs there, the franchising company will also give them the opportunity to have a business of their own back home by way of reselling.

“We want to offer them a livelihood business for their families.

Former overseas workers set up own business after completing DOST course

By Manuel T. Cayon @awimailbox Mindanao Bureau Chief

DAVAO CITY—A dozen “distressed” former overseas Filipino workers (OFW) have completed an online business training course from a nascent program of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), helping the beneficiaries to start new livelihood here in Philippines.

Three Davao residents graduated from the program and are now running their own thriving businesses in water refilling station, pig roasting ( lechonan), and a centralized online store.

Edmar Rollon, an OFW from Digos City applied for the program to enhance the operations of their family business named “Aaron’s Lechon,” the DOST office

here said. Rollon used to work as a restaurant cashier and an administrative assistant at a health-care center in Dubai.

He applied for a new lechon roaster machine to increase production and improve the appearance of their product with better product packaging.

“Thank you very much to DOST for this program, as this gave us hope that this is not yet the end but the start of a new beginning,” Rollon said.

The two others were Yvonne Yanez Nagal, owner of Aqua Dabaw Water Refilling Station located in Agdao district here.

The third Davao resident was Renebel E. Tabelon, who now operates the AYOOO.PH, an online store in Tagum City, Davao del Norte.

They were part of the Batch Malikhain of 12 graduates, who came from Ilocos Region, Cagayan Valley Region. Western Mindanao and Davao Region.

“Today, we celebrate a new beginning for all of you,” said Sancho Mabborang, DOST undersecretary for regional operations, when he spoke to the OFWs who graduated from the first phase of the Innovations for Filipinos Working Distantly from the Philippines (iFWD PH).

The iFWD PH assists OFWs who were repatriated or forced to return home by providing them with opportunities to move forward by establishing their technologybased enterprises.

DOST XI Regional Director

Dr. Anthony Sales expressed anticipation for the graduates that the lessons on entrepreneurship, enterprise development, and management will come to fruition amid the economic crisis in the country.

“I thank the Entrepinoy Volunteers Foundation Inc. (EVFI) for painstakingly ensuring that our OFWs will have the right skills in managing their technology-based enterprise,” Sales added.

Dr. Renato Solidum Jr., DOST Secretary, said DOST launched iFWD PH to give a ray of light to repatriated OFWs and those still abroad by providing Science and Technology-based livelihood that will make them stay in the Philippines.

“To the OFWs, who took a chance on us and trusted us to help you reach your technology-based enterprise dreams, we recognize your hard work and perseverance. And today, allow me to say this with conviction, indeed—your labor is not in vain,” Solidum said. With the completion of Phase 1, DOST encouraged OFWs to move forward to iFWD PH’s Phase 2, which it said “entails the provision of an innovation-enabling fund intended for entrepreneurship and technical training, product development and market testing, operational consultancy services, initial laboratory testing, packaging, and labeling design and execution for market testing, and equipment acquisition.”

Instead of sending money to the Philippines, why not to give them a business, wherein we’ll train them in [our local] office [here]? So by the time that they want to retire, they will not have to start a business of their own,” she explained.

WenDeli’s next destination is Portugal, hopefully, next year to also cater to the thriving Filipino community there with the help of an OFW family organization.

Tanabe will be collaborating with a Filipina restaurateur, her very same partner in Dubai who is also a franchisee of other Filipino restaurants in the UAE.

Fueling global expansion

WHAT started as an independent petroleum brand in a war-torn province in Southern Philippines, iFuel now has 30 company-owned and 15 franchised outlets nationwide.

“My iconic branch is [located in] Marawi, Mindanao. It began when I supported the Bangon Marawi Program,” Tanabe said of the inception of her gasoline station business, which she never imagined will grow in various parts of the country and soon will make its presence felt in Africa.

The owner was thankful of her recent trip to Dubai for the set up

of the office and commissary of her food distribution business. She considered it as a “blessing” because it also has opened door for the gasoline brand to go offshore when she was invited for an African event to talk about women empowerment.

“Almost [all] of them were really interested to invest in iFuel,” she shared of the positive reception her oil and gas company received from the attendees. “But through prequalification, there was one applicant that passed the requirements about putting up a business ‘coz she’s also in petroleum.”

The prospective foreign franchisee, per Tanabe, will be coming to the Philippines on October 14 to personally see how to put up the gasoline station and finalize the details of their partnership for its first international outlet .

“Then, we will fly there [in Africa] within November to see the location,” she bared. “The main target is to open iFuel Zimbabwe early next year.”

Given the external factors like the ongoing oil crisis due to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, iFranchise intends to test the waters first by “slowly but surely” expanding its gasoline brand one branch at a time.

Rising from a male-dominated industry like petroleum, Tanabe was feted for her successful iFranchise business and humanitarian works through the iGive Foundation. She received the award for women empowerment during the summit from no less than the Princess of Bahrain, Her Highness Sheikha Jawaher Bint Khalifa Al Khalifa, who has also formed a business partnership with her.

“There were doubts because of my age and gender, but it served as an inspiration for me to grow my business to achieve more now that we are already in our fifth year, and to prove them wrong that women can empower businesses even here in our country,” Tanabe stressed.

Meycauayan jewelry industry keeps sparkle

By Rizal Raoul S. Reyes @brownindio | Contributor

A

LTHOUGH the jewelry industry in Meycauayan, Bulacan may not be as resplendent as it was before, the chief executive of a city-based company believes the homegrown industry is still an important pillar of the local economy.

“Though not as vibrant as it once was, the jewelry industry in Meycauayan remains to be an important source of earning for both the locals and the city government. It continues to provide livelihood to many individuals and families here. There’s been a lot of changes in the industry, especially in terms of the process of jewelry design and production,” Maria Aleta Dionisio, the CEO of Meycauayan Jewelries told the BusinessMirror in an e-mail interview.

In response to the changing times and make them more competitive, Dionisio says jewelers introduced new techniques, machines and a wide selection of materials and integrated them into the traditional handcrafting of jewelry. The advancements enabled the local jewelers like Dionisio to deliver more pieces and collections that are world-class.

Aside from adopting new techniques and technology, Dionisio says the jewelers have also introduced new designs for their creations to produce fine jewelry pieces that are globally competitive. “Without abandoning artisan methods, keeping an open mind to innovative ideas gave Meycauayan Jewelries an edge especially in navigating through the economic challenges brought about by the pandemic,” Dionisio says.

Dionisio says all hands should be on deck to ensure the jewelry industry will grow not only in Meycauayan City but all over the country. First, the jewelers

must consolidate their ranks and reach out to the various stakeholders to make the local industry more competitive and dynamic again.

She also reminds concerned authorities that jewelry making is not just an industry, but an art form that the country could all be proud of. It will be a great boost, not just for our businesses but for the city as well, if we can start a festival that will showcase the creativity and skills of our artisans.

“Support from local business owners and their participation are also needed for this to come to fruition. Consumers’ patronage of locally handmade fine jewelry will also play a big part here,” Dionisio points out.

Dionisio reiterates that reskilling and retooling are important parts to enhance the jewelry industry in Meycauayan City. Although the city’s local plateros and mananaras are some of the most experienced and highly-skilled artisans in the industry, she says the industry has to keep up with the times adapting to the current environment. “Reskilling and retooling are a must if we are to realize our business goals and stay relevant in today’s fast-paced, ever-changing market,” Dionisio says.

IFRANCHISE Chief Executive Officer and President Krizzia Ann Loyang Tanabe

PHOTO

from Meycauayan Jewelries’ FB page

Banking&Finance

‘Food prices biggest inflation threat’

prices to go up.”

By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz @joveemarie

AS he expects the market to shrug off a hefty hike in diesel price in the coming weeks, Albay Rep. Joey Sarte Salceda pointed to food prices as the source of inflation pressure.

Salceda, the chairman of the House Committee on Ways and Means, said last Tuesday he expects the P5.80/liter increase in diesel prices next week to stay put or even retreat in the days after as world oil prices begin to fall again amid a strong dollar and profit-taking by traders.

With this, Salceda said food prices remain biggest inflation threat.

“And I see fertilizer prices complicating that [condition].”

According to Salceda, he expects crude prices to go below $90 this week before stabilizing a little above that, but lower than last week’s prices. The economist-lawmaker said the announcement of a supply cut by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries “was a signal for

“But the dollar’s strength, fears of a global recession and profit-taking by oil traders have brought prices down again,” he said. “Thus, it is very probable that the price increase in diesel will be followed by a rollback in the weeks or even days after. Give world prices a lag time of around 7 to 14 days to reflect in pump prices here.”

Tighter regulation

SEEING the prices of coal going down, Salceda said he doesn’t “see any big justification for price increases in the power sector.”

“I would advise the Energy department and the Energy Regulatory Commission to be tighter with allowing power sector price increases in the coming weeks.”

Salceda emphasized that he sees oil prices hovering between $80 and $95 for much of the rest of the year.

“So pump prices shouldn’t move

too much either, from now until December. Although, I think…prices should be trending slightly lower.”

Moreover, Salceda said he sees fertilizer prices beginning to inch up, “making farm inputs more expensive.”

“Aggregate fertilizer prices have begun going up significantly for the first time since their April 2022 peak. And usually, from September to December, fertilizer prices tend to inch upward. That’s going to make our efforts towards cheaper food more difficult,” he said.

Salceda said that in many big agricultural countries like the United States, whose relationship with major fertilizer exporters Russia and Belarus is strained, “this is already their most expensive harvest on record.

“This is a good time to use PBBM’s [President Ferdinand ‘Bong-bong’ R. Marcos Jr.] ‘friend-to-all, enemy-tonone’ policy,” the lawmaker added.

Fertilizer supply

SALCEDA also expressed hope that Marcos gets favorable outcomes from his discussions with Russia and Indonesia on fertilizer supply.

“Getting those contracts now and having the fertilizer distributed to farmers will be critical,” Salceda said, referring to Marcos’s announcements of talks between the Philippines and fertilizer-producing countries.

“In particular, fertilizers towards the rice, corn and sugar sectors will be essential in managing food price issues this year and in 2023,” said the lawmaker.

Salceda noted that if the country fails to get enough fertilizers, “the structural shortage in sugar supply could grow larger” next year.

“And, given our political institutions’ hardheaded approach to sugar imports, that will kill jobs and increase prices more,” he said.

Digital bank rakes in 1M customers, ₧10B in deposit after 7 mos

By Rizal Raoul S. Reyes @brownindio

MAYA Bank Inc. announced last Tuesday it recently registered one million customers and hit the P10-billion deposit, seven months after it was given the green light by monetary authorities in March.

Maya Bank Co-Founder Orlando B. Vea attributed the rapid growth to the growing preference of Filipinos for an all-in-one digital banking and payments experience. Publicly launched in end-April this year, Maya Bank powers the digital banking services of Maya, a finance app that offers an e-wallet, savings, credit and

cryptocurrency in one platform.

“Financial services need not be complex,” said Vea. “This astounding response to our efforts reflects the big opportunity for digital banking in the Philippines.”

Maya Bank Co-Founder Shailesh Baidwan said he believes Filipinos “are ready for more progressive digital experiences.”

Baidwan said the digital bank continues “to strengthen our financial services ecosystem as we bring more innovative services to consumers and enterprises.”

Vea said contributing to the growth of the digital bank is in its services, features and platform.

“We’re ushering in a new era of

banking and we’re excited to roll out more innovative and customer-centric digital banking features in Maya that can enrich everyday lives,” said Maya Bank President Angelo Madrid.

Baidwan said he believes the bank’s “frictionless experience” has changed the game for banking and payments.

Through the lender’s app, he noted the customers can manage finances and build funds through their savings accounts. They can also move their money to their ewallet whenever they need to make a transaction and buy or sell crypto.

Features

VEA said they introduced a daily

Finance officials sign IRR for PDIC Charter

THE Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp (PDIC) announced recently that its president and CEO Roberto B. Tan, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Felipe M. Medalla and Finance Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno has signed the Implementing Rules and Regulations for Republic Act (RA) 11840 amending certain provisions of the PDIC Charter, in a virtual ceremony held last September 30.

“The amendments are seen to result in a stronger deposit insurance system for the benefit of the depositing public,” a statement by the PDIC read.

The IRR for RA 11840, which amended certain provisions of RA 3591, or the PDIC Charter, takes effect 15 days after its publication in the Official Gazette or a newspaper of general circulation.

Medalla and Diokno are the chairman and vice chairman, respectively, of the PDIC Board of Directors.

Among the salient provisions of the amended PDIC Charter is the authority granted to the PDIC to adjust the maximum deposit insurance coverage (MDIC) based on inflation or in consideration of other economic indicators as may be deemed appropriate by the PDIC Board sans the need for legislation. Under the amended PDIC Charter, the PDIC Board

shall review the MDIC, which is currently at P500,000 per depositor, per bank, every three years and adjust it as may be warranted.

Additionally, the state deposit-insurer is now mandated to provide insurance cover to Islamic bank products or arrangements classified as deposits by the BSP.

Because of the peculiar characteristics of Islamic banking, the amended PDIC Charter, likewise, authorizes the establishment of separate deposit insurance funds, or insurance arrangements or structures or takaful to cover these types of deposit products.

The PDIC can now also sell closed bank assets to financial institution strategic transfer corporations (FISTCs). Specifically created under the FIST Act, FISTCs can purchase the non-performing assets of financial institutions including loans and real and other properties acquired (ROPA), both of which comprise the biggest chunks of assets held by the PDIC as the statutory liquidator of closed banks.

Under the law, the PDIC is now an attached agency to the BSP for policy and program coordination.

Tan was quoted in the statement as having expressed optimism that the

amended PDIC Charter would redound to better protection for the depositing public.

“Now equipped with the amended Charter and its IRR, the PDIC is more confident in its enhanced capability to protect depositors under any economic conditions. As such, the depositing public can continue feeling secure about entrusting their hard-earned money with banks,” the PDIC President said.

“Truly, our brand promise to the depositing public—‘Bank deposit mo protektado’ —is made more significant and meaningful with these recent legislative amendments.”

Medalla was quoted in the statement as saying that the “BSP looks forward to a continued partnership with the PDIC.”

“We will continue to support reforms geared towards the strengthening of the financial sector, with an emphasis on improving regulatory practices and promoting good governance and adherence to global best practices,” the chairman of the PDIC Board of Directors said.

Diokno also expressed full support to the amended PDIC Charter, citing enhanced coordination and a more collaborative policy framework within the financial sector.

interest crediting, allowing bank customers to see their earnings reflected daily in their transaction history.

Madrid said Maya also pioneered mission-led rewards to encourage bank customers to use the digital platform for daily transactions.

Starting October 15, customers can extend their 6-percent per annum savings interest rate for another 30 days each time they use the Maya app to pay bills or purchases using their Maya QR, card, or mobile number.

Madrid said users can also save in up to five different “wallets” catering to their specific goals. Each goal comes with set target amounts

and timelines for organized tracking, on top of the annual interest rate. This promo, he said, is available until December 31. Daily crediting of the interest earnings will also soon be available for this feature, Madrid said.

He claims the lender is the only digital bank to offer credit products to consumers and small businesses within the first quarter of its launch. Eligible customers can tap a revolving line of credit of up to P15,000.

The BSP Monetary Board issued a Certificate of Authority to Operate to Maya Bank last March. The bank started its operations as a digital bank the same month.

Lender’s social arm aids unemployed in Tacloban

BTr awards

in govt bonds

By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas @jearcalas

THE

Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) partially awarded P24.125 billion in 7-year Treasury bonds (T-bonds) out of its intended amount of P35 billion.

Tuesday’s auction was oversubscribed as the total amount tendered by investors reached P54.105 billion, more than half of the total amount offered.

Investors still sought higher yield as asking rates shot up to as high as 7.1 percent, 322-basis points (bps) higher than the 6.778-percent secondary market benchmark rate.

The coupon rate of the government security was at 7 percent while it fetched an average rate of 6.943 percent during the auction.

Last week, the Treasury also partially awarded P22.85 billion in reissued 7-year T-bonds out of the total P35 billion it sought to raise.

(Related story: https://businessmirror.com.ph/2022/10/05/ treasury-partially-awards%e2%82%a722-85b-in-7-yeart-bonds/)

That time, National Treasurer Rosalia V. De Leon told reporters 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.”

In late September, 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.

BPI

Foundation Inc., the social development arm of the Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI), announced it provided livelihood training and employment opportunities to 43 unemployed and underemployed individuals from underserved communities in Tacloban, Leyte through its technicalvocational (tech-voc) program.

The scholars who graduated last September 27, completed the training course on organic farming, the organization said. The training provided technical skills on organic chicken and vegetable production, fertilizers and concoctions.

The organization said the scholars each received a Certificate of Competency from the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda) Leyte Provincial Office and a Certificate of Training from the Tesda Region 8 Training Center. These scholars are composed of mothers, out-of-school youths and unemployed individuals who are community members of the National Housing Authority relocation sites in Tagpuro, Santa Elena, Guadalupe and Saint Francis in Tacloban. Still recovering from the massive destruction caused by Typhoon Yolanda,

Social media’s impact on the information ecosystem

FACE-to-face

included

and

finance.

Finance Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno gave the opening keynote address on “Reshaping the Future with Transformational Change.” Among the other speakers were: Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Deputy Governor Bernadette Romulo-Puyat; Edgardo Tiongson of WWF Philippines Inc.; Wilson Teo of Refinitiv Pte. Ltd.; Juan Gabriel R. Tomas IV of Rizal Commercial Banking Corp.; Rolando J. Paulino of ACE Enexor Inc.;

Joseph Araneta Gamboa

Dennis A. Velasco of Prosperna Philippines Inc.; Nishant D’Souza of MotherNurture Inc.; Katrina Rausa Chan of Ideaspace Foundation Inc.; and, Micah del Carmen of Noahsys Corp. For their part, Roberto L. Castro of Palawan Express Inc., Griselda G. Santos of Water. org and Jose Paulo R. Soliman of Unionbank served as panelists in one of the plenary sessions.

A last-minute addition to the roster

of speakers was Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Ressa, who delivered the closing keynote address on “Social Media and the Corruption of the Information Ecosystem.” She flew in from New York City where she had just received the inaugural Albie Award from the Clooney Foundation for Justice.

The award is named after South African Justice Albie Sachs, who was instrumental in ending apartheid along with Nelson Mandela, the first president of South Africa. It aims to serve as “a new platform that would shine a protective light on the many courageous individuals who, at great personal risk, have devoted their lives to justice.”

At the Finex conference, Ressa spoke about how our world is being transformed by the change in scale in the amount of data available to us. Start-

ing 2014, news organizations lost their distribution power and new gatekeepers have emerged consisting of social media influencers and bloggers who dominate the area of content creation. She also cited a 2018 study conducted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology showing that lies spread faster than facts.

Parallel to this recent “information warfare” phenomenon is the transformation in politics and governance worldwide with the rise of authoritarian rulers who have been elected democratically. Ressa believes we are now in the last two minutes of democracy and 2024 will be the year that the most crucial elections will take place in the US, India and Indonesia. That year will determine whether the geopolitical power shift to fascism becomes a permanent global trend.

Another issue that Ressa discussed

Tacloban, Leyte, was again among the provinces hit badly by Typhoon Odette in December last year.

It shattered the livelihood of 82,370 resident-coconut farmers in the province with an estimated 3.9-million worth of damage that is beyond recovery, BPI Foundation said. This sharp decline in their livelihood left a challenging situation for the residents as they also face the effects of the ongoing pandemic.

“We subscribe to the saying that if you give a man food, you feed him for a day. But if you teach a man to produce food, you feed him for a lifetime,” BPI Foundation Executive Director Owen L. Cammayo was quoted in the statement as saying. “That is what we try to do through our tech-voc program.”

The organization said its program is “designed to empower the unemployed and underemployed Filipinos through livelihood and skills training.”

Now in its fourth year, it aims to reach underserved communities across the country, including areas significantly impacted by natural calamities and the poorest of the poor, the organization said.

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.

However, this view was shot down by BSP Governor Felipe M. Medalla last October 7 during a dinner the regulator hosted for bankers.

Medalla told reporters that one likely scenario is for the US Federal Reserve to increase interest rates twice by 75 basis points (bps) and once by 50 bps.

The central bank governor said the response of monetary authorities will be based on the available data. One thing for certain, however, is that there will be no off-cycle interest rate hikes for the rest of the year.

“They’ll probably increase it by several times,” Medalla said. “Exactly how the BSP will respond, depends on the data. One likely scenario is they may do two more 75 bps and one 50 bps. If that happens, the BSP has to respond. But exactly how big the response is depends on the data.”

was surveillance capital, which first came to public attention via the Netflix docudrama in 2020 titled “The Social Dilemma.” When she and Dmitry Muratov won the Nobel Peace Prize in Norway last year, they launched a 10-point action plan to address the information crisis and put an end to surveillance for profit. Nine other Nobel laureates from various fields endorsed their plan to support journalism against online impunity.

Social media has thus become the battlefield for the information war, fueled by the attention economy controlled by a nameless, faceless crowd that can easily turn into a mob. Social media algorithms and the proliferation of fake accounts or manufactured reality have led to the “weaponization” of the Internet.

It is interesting to note that a Filipino-American film won the Emmy Award last week for outstanding social issue documentary. Directed by Ramona Diaz, “A Thousand Cuts” follows Ressa’s journey as she places the tools of the free press and her own freedom on the line in defense of democracy and the truth.

How to rebuild trust? According to her, “If we don’t have facts, we can’t have truth. Without truth, we can’t have trust. Without these three, we don’t have a shared reality, we can’t have democracy.”

Joseph Gamboa is the chairman of the Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines Media Affairs Committee and director of Noble Asia Industrial Corp. The views expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the opinion of these institutions and the Busi nessMirror #FinexPhils www.finex.org.ph

HOPE FOUNDER NANETTE MEDVED-PO RECEIVES PRESTIGIOUS ASIA SOCIETY GAME CHANGER AWARD

FOUNDER and chairman of HOPE and Plastic Credit Exchange (PCX), Nanette Medved-Po will be named this year’s Asia Society Game Changer Award Honoree.

The prestigious award-giving body recognizes individuals, organizations and movements that have inspired, enlightened and shown true leadership in areas that reflect Asia Society’s core pillars of policy and business, arts and culture, and education.

The award was given to Medved-Po for impacting many through her initiatives that improve public school education, providing agriculture interventions for smallholder farmers, and creating environmental programs that address the problem of plastic waste and carbon sequestration.

Previous honorees include His Highness the Aga Khan, Alibaba founder Jack Ma, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai, tennis champion and advocate Naomi Osaka, award-winning architect I.M. Pei, and world renowned cellist YoYo Ma.

For this year, the Asia Society Asia Game Changers Awards & Gala will take place on October 27 in person at Cipriani 25 Broadway in New York, and will honor a powerful group of climate change and sustainability leaders.

Alongside Medved-Po are other awardees of this year’s program, such as former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg and COP26 president Alok Sharma.

“It is an incredible honor to be one of the recipients of this year’s Asia Society Game Changer Awards. I hope that any work we have done might inspire others to be unafraid to try and be the change they want to see in the world,” said Medved-Po.

Medved-Po launched HOPE in 2012 with a mission to demonstrate that businesses that invest in social good would be rewarded by the market.

Their HOPE in a Bottle product commits 100 percent of profits to building public school classrooms in partnership in the Department of Education. In 2014, the organization expanded into agriculture interventions to improve the livelihood of smallholder farmers. This led to the “Million Tree” program which not only provides free high quality coconut seedlings and market access to farmers, but also builds 100 percent additional carbon sequestration capacity in the Philippines which is in one of the areas worst hit by the climate crisis.

In 2018, another environmental program was introduced through “Aling Tindera,” which engages women microentrepreneurs to purchase plastic waste from their communities so that these do not leak into nature but rather can be fed back into the circular economy. This marketbased mechanism has allowed companies around the world to voluntarily take responsibility for their plastic footprint while providing economic benefits that lead to behavior change. Many local governments have partnered with HOPE and PCX to help ease their heavily taxed waste systems.

In 2020, PCX published the very first Plastic Pollution Reduction Standard which provides a framework for the implementation of a credible and verifiable plastic offsetting program.

Meanwhile, HOPE was the first certified BCorp in the Philippines and has consistently won “Best for the World” each year since its certification.

Managing an understaffed team

their issues.

should be doing, or even from your own direct supervisor. If you do not say “no,” they will give your team more work than necessary.

ONE of the challenges organizations face today is shortage in skilled manpower, especially since a growing number in the labor market are looking for a work from home setup. Technology has allowed overseas companies to hire local counterparts in alternative working setups that are more attractive to local skilled workers. This leaves local companies with understaffed teams, making it harder for people managers to meet deliverables and targets.

But this is not just the instance when you will not have enough members for your team. Either some team members will resign, demand for your team will increase, your company will reorganize, or management will decide to downsize. Whatever the reason, having an understaffed team could result in overdue deliverables, poor customer satisfaction, or an overworked team.

As a people manager, you have a responsibility to ensure not only that your team delivers as needed but also that they have the best working environment to do their job. It is a precarious balance, and there are times when the weights lean toward asking more from your team when they are already understaffed. When this happens, there are some things to tip the scales in their favor.

Given that your team is reduced, you need to evaluate projects and prioritize tasks. Just like a project manager who monitors deliverables to avoid scope creep, people managers need to learn to say no more often to protect the quality of their team’s output. You are your team’s first line of defense against other departments who pass on work they

After that, alert your direct supervisor early on and ask them to review your list of priority projects. Flag which projects will have to be let go to make room for your core deliverables. There was a time when one of my graphic designers was so good at making presentations that top executives would look for him to create presentations for them. I alerted my supervisor as to how it was causing delays in our deliverables, and she intervened. Your manager needs to know so they can do something about it. Otherwise, they will think everything is all good.

You also need to understand that not everyone in your team works at the same level. You need to assess how much work can be done by each of your team members, and then identify who is your top performer. Your top performer will help you identify the knowledge, skill, and behavior necessary to perform at an ideal level. But take into consideration that everybody has a learning curve and you need to develop learning interventions to help other team members reach the ideal level of performance.

If you do not have a productivity tracker, have your team make one. It does not have to be complicated; it should be easy enough to use so you can understand which parts of the workload are spent on certain workflows. This will provide insight on what can be improved. This will also help you justify requests for additional manpower and tools because the tracker will show your team’s productivity against expected deliverables. Executives are more likely to approve your request for additional manpower if they know how it contributes to the bottom line.

Communicate tasks clearly to avoid work repetition. Rework can be avoided if tasks are understood by the team, especially when these come from another department. Make sure you have all the information and you understand what is expected from your team before discussing it with your team. You should be able to clarify questions and provide clear direction when asked and troubleshoot when needed. Your team depends on you for information and guidance so make yourself available to resolve

Communicate also that this is not an ideal work environment. Your team needs to know that the setback is temporary and that you will hire more people. And while waiting, do not forget to praise your team publicly to increase their morale. A little compliment every now and then goes a long way in encouraging your team.

While waiting for additional manpower, take proactive steps in developing sustainable solutions to address productivity and efficiency. You will never know when you will have additional manpower, so plan ahead and leverage available technology to automate some of your work processes. Not everything needs to be automated, but it would help if you can identify areas where processes can be tightened, and which ones could be eliminated. It is understandable if you implement band-aid solutions especially if the need is urgent, but after that you need to think of sustainable solutions to maintain your team’s productivity and efficiency.

If possible, hire temporary personnel to help out. One benefit of reviewing your work processes is identifying which ones could be outsourced, especially those that are tedious and repetitive. This will free up your team to do the core processes that address client needs. If you do not have one yet, consider having an internship program. This is a good source for future employees and provides your team the opportunities to lead others and develop their people management skills.

And if really needed, let go of clients who do not significantly contribute to your bottom line. This will free up your team to focus on clients who keep your organization viable. This will also give you the opportunity to choose new clients who can give more value to your organization.

These solutions provide temporary relief while your human resources look for new members for your team. Times have changed, and with it are new opportunities for strengthening your team to weather any challenges—including being shortstaffed. There are future challenges ahead so you better take care of your team, or else they will look for a leader who will. n

The Whys, Whats and Hows toward your dream career

By Lorena “Lhoree” Valerio, MBA, CHE, CGSP-Trainer

THE path to a dream career that makes one excitedly jump out of bed whenever you think about it in the morning has three essential steps: WHY you want the said career, WHAT you need to achieve it, and HOW you can move forward with your plan.

The whys vary per individual. Some may have personal purpose and motivations, while others hope to honor the wishes of those important to their lives. These reasons all have their unique back stories.

However, to pursue your coveted job, all aspirants must be equipped with the whats—the talents and traits required to clinch the position. Thus, it is important for all to possess soft and hard skills that will eventually make them desirable in the field.

Soft skills, abilities that cannot be quantified such as people skills, emotional intelligence, passion and

due to increased competitiveness in the recruitment process, employers expect these traits from employees to successfully face the “better normal.”

Outside of work, these soft skills likewise prove useful as you go through the ups and downs of life.

On the other hand, hard or technical skills, those which can be learned and are essential to accomplish work tasks that entail expertise, are sought-after specially in post-pandemic industries.

In the world of travel and tourism, these skills include customer experience management, facility management, business simulation, marketing, digital fluency, front office operations, food and beverage service, and aircraft cabin service, among many others.

The key to advance employability and promotability is the balanced combination of both traits. Hard skills hire you, but the lack of soft skills fires you.

And thus on the hows, to proceed with

the plan to achieve the dream post, constant practice and continuous training is essential, while maintaining a good work ethic that others should emulate.

While résumés may reflect expertise, only on-hand experience will test one’s attitude and character in day-to-day situations that require a positive outlook. As the saying goes, “It is your attitude which will determine your altitude.”

n The author is an American Hotel and Lodging Educational Institute (AHLEI) Certified Hospitality Educator (CHE) and American Hotel and Lodging Association (AHLA) Certified Guest Service Professional (CGSP)-Trainer. With experience in marketing and operations management in the hospitality and tourism industry and the academe, she is currently the Chairperson of the Tourism Management Program of the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde (DLS-CSB) School of Hotel, Restaurant, and Institution Management (SHRIM).

PHOTO

BENILDE Tourism Managament Program chairman Lorena Valerio

HOPE FOUNDER NANETTE MEDVED-PO RECEIVES PRESTIGIOUS ASIA SOCIETY GAME CHANGER AWARD

FOUNDER and chairman of HOPE and Plastic Credit Exchange (PCX), Nanette Medved-Po will be named this year’s Asia Society Game Changer Award Honoree.

The prestigious award-giving body recognizes individuals, organizations and movements that have inspired, enlightened and shown true leadership in areas that reflect Asia Society’s core pillars of policy and business, arts and culture, and education.

The award was given to Medved-Po for impacting many through her initiatives that improve public school education, providing agriculture interventions for smallholder farmers, and creating environmental programs that address the problem of plastic waste and carbon sequestration.

Previous honorees include His Highness the Aga Khan, Alibaba founder Jack Ma, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai, tennis champion and advocate Naomi Osaka, award-winning architect I.M. Pei, and world renowned cellist YoYo Ma.

For this year, the Asia Society Asia Game Changers Awards & Gala will take place on October 27 in person at Cipriani 25 Broadway in New York, and will honor a powerful group of climate change and sustainability leaders.

Alongside Medved-Po are other awardees of this year’s program, such as former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg and COP26 president Alok Sharma.

“It is an incredible honor to be one of the recipients of this year’s Asia Society Game Changer Awards. I hope that any work we have done might inspire others to be unafraid to try and be the change they want to see in the world,” said Medved-Po.

Medved-Po launched HOPE in 2012 with a mission to demonstrate that businesses that invest in social good would be rewarded by the market.

Their HOPE in a Bottle product commits 100 percent of profits to building public school classrooms in partnership in the Department of Education. In 2014, the organization expanded into agriculture interventions to improve the livelihood of smallholder farmers. This led to the “Million Tree” program which not only provides free high quality coconut seedlings and market access to farmers, but also builds 100 percent additional carbon sequestration capacity in the Philippines which is in one of the areas worst hit by the climate crisis.

In 2018, another environmental program was introduced through “Aling Tindera,” which engages women microentrepreneurs to purchase plastic waste from their communities so that these do not leak into nature but rather can be fed back into the circular economy. This marketbased mechanism has allowed companies around the world to voluntarily take responsibility for their plastic footprint while providing economic benefits that lead to behavior change. Many local governments have partnered with HOPE and PCX to help ease their heavily taxed waste systems.

In 2020, PCX published the very first Plastic Pollution Reduction Standard which provides a framework for the implementation of a credible and verifiable plastic offsetting program.

Meanwhile, HOPE was the first certified BCorp in the Philippines and has consistently won “Best for the World” each year since its certification.

Managing an understaffed team

their issues.

should be doing, or even from your own direct supervisor. If you do not say “no,” they will give your team more work than necessary.

ONE of the challenges organizations face today is shortage in skilled manpower, especially since a growing number in the labor market are looking for a work from home setup. Technology has allowed overseas companies to hire local counterparts in alternative working setups that are more attractive to local skilled workers. This leaves local companies with understaffed teams, making it harder for people managers to meet deliverables and targets.

But this is not just the instance when you will not have enough members for your team. Either some team members will resign, demand for your team will increase, your company will reorganize, or management will decide to downsize. Whatever the reason, having an understaffed team could result in overdue deliverables, poor customer satisfaction, or an overworked team.

As a people manager, you have a responsibility to ensure not only that your team delivers as needed but also that they have the best working environment to do their job. It is a precarious balance, and there are times when the weights lean toward asking more from your team when they are already understaffed. When this happens, there are some things to tip the scales in their favor.

Given that your team is reduced, you need to evaluate projects and prioritize tasks. Just like a project manager who monitors deliverables to avoid scope creep, people managers need to learn to say no more often to protect the quality of their team’s output. You are your team’s first line of defense against other departments who pass on work they

After that, alert your direct supervisor early on and ask them to review your list of priority projects. Flag which projects will have to be let go to make room for your core deliverables. There was a time when one of my graphic designers was so good at making presentations that top executives would look for him to create presentations for them. I alerted my supervisor as to how it was causing delays in our deliverables, and she intervened. Your manager needs to know so they can do something about it. Otherwise, they will think everything is all good.

You also need to understand that not everyone in your team works at the same level. You need to assess how much work can be done by each of your team members, and then identify who is your top performer. Your top performer will help you identify the knowledge, skill, and behavior necessary to perform at an ideal level. But take into consideration that everybody has a learning curve and you need to develop learning interventions to help other team members reach the ideal level of performance.

If you do not have a productivity tracker, have your team make one. It does not have to be complicated; it should be easy enough to use so you can understand which parts of the workload are spent on certain workflows. This will provide insight on what can be improved. This will also help you justify requests for additional manpower and tools because the tracker will show your team’s productivity against expected deliverables. Executives are more likely to approve your request for additional manpower if they know how it contributes to the bottom line.

Communicate tasks clearly to avoid work repetition. Rework can be avoided if tasks are understood by the team, especially when these come from another department. Make sure you have all the information and you understand what is expected from your team before discussing it with your team. You should be able to clarify questions and provide clear direction when asked and troubleshoot when needed. Your team depends on you for information and guidance so make yourself available to resolve

Communicate also that this is not an ideal work environment. Your team needs to know that the setback is temporary and that you will hire more people. And while waiting, do not forget to praise your team publicly to increase their morale. A little compliment every now and then goes a long way in encouraging your team.

While waiting for additional manpower, take proactive steps in developing sustainable solutions to address productivity and efficiency. You will never know when you will have additional manpower, so plan ahead and leverage available technology to automate some of your work processes. Not everything needs to be automated, but it would help if you can identify areas where processes can be tightened, and which ones could be eliminated. It is understandable if you implement band-aid solutions especially if the need is urgent, but after that you need to think of sustainable solutions to maintain your team’s productivity and efficiency.

If possible, hire temporary personnel to help out. One benefit of reviewing your work processes is identifying which ones could be outsourced, especially those that are tedious and repetitive. This will free up your team to do the core processes that address client needs. If you do not have one yet, consider having an internship program. This is a good source for future employees and provides your team the opportunities to lead others and develop their people management skills.

And if really needed, let go of clients who do not significantly contribute to your bottom line. This will free up your team to focus on clients who keep your organization viable. This will also give you the opportunity to choose new clients who can give more value to your organization.

These solutions provide temporary relief while your human resources look for new members for your team. Times have changed, and with it are new opportunities for strengthening your team to weather any challenges—including being shortstaffed. There are future challenges ahead so you better take care of your team, or else they will look for a leader who will. n

The Whys, Whats and Hows toward your dream career

By Lorena “Lhoree” Valerio, MBA, CHE, CGSP-Trainer

THE path to a dream career that makes one excitedly jump out of bed whenever you think about it in the morning has three essential steps: WHY you want the said career, WHAT you need to achieve it, and HOW you can move forward with your plan.

The whys vary per individual. Some may have personal purpose and motivations, while others hope to honor the wishes of those important to their lives. These reasons all have their unique back stories.

However, to pursue your coveted job, all aspirants must be equipped with the whats—the talents and traits required to clinch the position. Thus, it is important for all to possess soft and hard skills that will eventually make them desirable in the field.

Soft skills, abilities that cannot be quantified such as people skills, emotional intelligence, passion and

due to increased competitiveness in the recruitment process, employers expect these traits from employees to successfully face the “better normal.”

Outside of work, these soft skills likewise prove useful as you go through the ups and downs of life.

On the other hand, hard or technical skills, those which can be learned and are essential to accomplish work tasks that entail expertise, are sought-after specially in post-pandemic industries.

In the world of travel and tourism, these skills include customer experience management, facility management, business simulation, marketing, digital fluency, front office operations, food and beverage service, and aircraft cabin service, among many others.

The key to advance employability and promotability is the balanced combination of both traits. Hard skills hire you, but the lack of soft skills fires you.

And thus on the hows, to proceed with

the plan to achieve the dream post, constant practice and continuous training is essential, while maintaining a good work ethic that others should emulate.

While résumés may reflect expertise, only on-hand experience will test one’s attitude and character in day-to-day situations that require a positive outlook. As the saying goes, “It is your attitude which will determine your altitude.”

n

The author is an American Hotel and Lodging Educational Institute (AHLEI) Certified Hospitality Educator (CHE) and American Hotel and Lodging Association (AHLA) Certified Guest Service Professional (CGSP)-Trainer. With experience in marketing and operations management in the hospitality and tourism industry and the academe, she is currently the Chairperson of the Tourism Management Program of the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde (DLS-CSB) School of Hotel, Restaurant, and Institution Management (SHRIM).

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BENILDE Tourism Managament Program chairman Lorena Valerio

1st Norway-Philippines Maritime and Energy Conference slated for Oct. 13

The conference will present solutions and technologies for the present transitional period and for a carbon neutral near future. Solutions and technologies involving hydrogen, ammonia, bio energy and offshore wind – to mention a few.

THE first Norway - Philippines Maritime and Energy Conference is set to “Create Currents” at the Manila Peninsula Hotel on October 13 to 14, 2022, celebrating the strong business relations in the maritime and energy sector.

Over 45 speakers and experts from both Norway and the Philippines are taking on the most pressing issues of our time. The conference aims to push sustainability and innovation in both sectors.

“Norway is a long-term partner of the Philippines. Our maritime cooperation spans over 100 years. We are bringing a century-old Norwegian tall ship to celebrate our common seafaring history,” says Norwegian Ambassador-Designate to the Philippines Christian Halaas Lyster.

“We are also looking to expand these strong ties into new industries, such as renewable energy, where Norwegian companies have a lot to offer,” he added.

The conference will coincide with the

arrival of the 108-year old Norwegian ship Statsraad Lemkuhl in Manila. The vessel is currently on a global navigation around the world under One Ocean Expedition, a global campaign that shares knowledge about the importance of the ocean in achieving sustainable development for the future. Stratsraad Lemkuhl serves as a floating university/training vessel for students, scientists and professionals around the world and is arriving in Manila from Ishigaki, Japan.

Today, there are over 25,000 Filipinos working on Norwegian-controlled and owned ships. Moreover, there are over 50 companies with Norwegian maritime interests established in the Philippines.

Norway is the fourth largest shipping nation in the world measured by value, and one of the leading nations when it comes to shipping technology and zero emissions solutions for the maritime sector. The goal is ambitious: by 2050, the entire Norwegian fleet will be carbon neutral.

These rapid changes in the industry together with global socio-economic uncertainties will require agility from both ship owners and managers to attract, retain, and recruit for the future. Enhanced competence and skills development become even more important. With world class Filipino talents, the partnership of Norway and the Norway is a world-leading player in renewable energy and ready to assist the Philippines in its goal of increasing the share of renewable energy in the energy mix by 30 percent by 2030.

“Norwegian companies and investors can play a very crucial role delivering renewable energy solutions to the Philippines. This for example includes developing offshore wind and floating solar, in addition to LNG as a transitional source of energy,” says Norwegian Ambassador-Designate to the Philippines Christian Halaas Lyster.

Norway is not a newcomer to the Philippine energy market. Norwegian company Scatec owns and operates four hydropower players together with Aboitiz Energy. Their joint venture, SN Aboitiz Power, also installed floating solar technology on the Magat Dam in 2019. The technology was provided by Ocean Sun, another Norwegian company. Others are also looking into deploying innovative solutions for floating solar in the Philippines.

Looking for a washing machine? Simplify your life with Markes front load inverter washing machine

THE majority of homes now depend on washing machines. The new models that are being released come with more features, functionality, wash programs, child locks, temperature controls, and other improvements.

A simple list of the things you require to simplify your life is a smart place to start. You will be able to select the things you absolutely need and those you can do without. Naturally, your budget is a consideration. Keep in mind that neither the cheapest nor the costliest option is necessarily the best.

However, purchasing a device that will reduce your recurring electricity costs will be very alluring. Additionally, machines using inverter technology will help you become more environmentally conscious because they utilize renewable energy sources.

The primary distinction between an inverter washing machine and a non-inverter is that the former enables the machine to run at its best speed depending on how much laundry is loaded into it. Their speed is controlled by a motor in accordance with the weight of the washing load.

A washing machine that uses digital inverter technology consumes less electricity and long-lasting components. The machine is more durable because there is no need to replace it when the moving parts are absent. Because there are no rubbing parts or friction, the machine is quieter.

Inverter technology can instantly gauge the energy required based on the weight of the load, keeping the level throughout the operation while the spinning cycle is operated at a high motor speed, almost drying the clothes.

Introducing the Markes front load inverter

washing machine with a wide variety of top notch features to help ease your household chores. The Markes MWFLI-80G (8kg) and MWFLI-100G (10kg) has overheat, overflow, anti-foam and auto-balance control system with sterilizing and 15 washing programs, 24hour delay start, a built in heater and stainless steel drum. Final conclusion: use the time you would spend washing on something else, convert to an inverter now!

Markes is exclusively distributed by Continental Sales Inc. For inquiries and more information, CSI may be reached through its sales hotlines at (02) 8362-5886/87 and service at 8363-7193; Facebook page at @ MarkesPH and website at www.markeph.com. Markes Appliances are available in all major appliance stores nationwide.

Sun Life launches limited offer product with guaranteed returns

SUN Life of Canada (Philippines), Inc. (Sun Life) has launched Sun Wealth Prime 7, a new single-pay life insurance plan that provides protection and various other guaranteed benefits.

“The Sun Wealth Prime 7 offers guaranteed benefits such as life insurance

protection, regular annual payouts, and has a savings component,” Sun Life Philippines Chief Client Experience and Marketing Officer Carla Gonzalez-Chong said. “It’s suitable for those looking to build their financial portfolio or for those who s imply want to strengthen it.”

Sun Wealth Prime 7 is designed to help policyholders secure the future of their loved ones by providing life insurance protection for seven years.

Aside from the guaranteed life insurance benefit, clients can get annual earnings equal to four percent of the single premium paid, starting at the end of the first policy year until maturity. It also serves as a way to preserve wealth, as clients can expect a 100 percent return of their single premium payment once the policy has matured.

Moreover, clients can also enjoy hassle-free application and policy approval provided that the limits set by Sun Life are met.

“The Sun Wealth Prime 7 is also perfect for those who are risk-averse but are looking for a better solution than what traditional savings can offer. It’s a good alternative for those looking to preserve their wealth while diversifying their assets,” Sun Life of Canada (Philippines), Inc. President Alex Narciso added.

The Sun Wealth Prime 7 is available for a limited time only. Those interested may contact their Sun Life advisor or get in touch with one via www.sunlife.co/TalkToAnAdvisor.

For more information, visit www. sunlife.co/sunwealthprime7.

AS the Philippines’ cultural diversity continues to evolve through different environments while embarking on economic progress and recovery amid the lingering Covid-19 pandemic, the Capampangan in Media, Inc. (CAMI) will hold its first fundraising event on November 25 at the Royce Hotel in Clark Freeport.

Dubbed “Renaissance of Kapampangan Arts and Culture,” the event is a colorful cultivation of music and fashion to promote a rich elevated landscape of the Kapampangan culture in a post-pandemic setting for the next generations.

Home-grown musical group ArtiSta.Rita

will hold a one-night concert event of the local arts and culture scene, which will also feature the Pidayit creations of Philip Torres. A fusion of musical and artistic showpiece, the concert will be under the direction of acclaimed director, writer, and composer Andy Alviz. The event will also foster the welfare of the Kapampangan members of the press in recognition of their substantial contributions rooted in their commitment to serve the country. Throughout the years, CAMI continues to set forth on the enhancement of the Kapampangan culture and positive traditions to help nourish the cultural landscape of Pampanga.

MERRY AND BRIGHT AT SM MEGAMALL. Everything is merry and bright as SM Megamall welcomes mallgoers with a space-inspired shower of lights in nebula and shooting star designs made of 75 pieces of LED yellow and blue string lights. Sparkling Christmas trees and a free-standing astronaut countdown outlined with warm white neon lights remind shoppers that the most wonderful time of the year is fast approaching.

Markes Front Load Inverter Washing Machine

ArtiSta.Rita and Pidayit to showcase renaissance of Kapampangan culture in fundraising event

COSTAL DEL HAMILO, INC. AND WORLD WIDE FUND FOR NATURE PHILIPPINES PARTNERSHIP. Costa Del Hamilo Inc. (CDHI) and World Wide Fund for Nature Philippines (WWFP) reinforced its partnership agreement through a recent ceremonial contract signing. The ceremony was attended by key management and executives from CDHI and WFFP namely: (from left) Cloda Marie Urquico – WWFP Director for Resource Generation and Partnerships, Katherine Custodio – WWFP Executive Director, Elizabeth T. Sy –Chairman, Shirley C. Ong – SMLRR Executive Vice President and Business Unit Head, Imee G. Francisco, CDHI Vice President and Business Unit Head, and Frank Bolalin, CDHI Assistant Vice President for Estate Management and Operations.

Luxury market thriving despite economic challenges

By Rizal Raoul S. Reyes

In

Despite the current economic challeng es, the local luxury market is thriving as shown by the confidence of companies and the launching of high-end products for the local market.

DMCI Homes Inc.,the real-estate arm of DMCI Holdings, recently launched the Fortis Residences, the company’s second project under its premium brand, DMCI Homes Exclusive.

DMCI Homes President Alfredo Austria told reporters in a recent press briefing that the upscale 37-story residential tower will play a key role in Makati Southwest Gateway’s development plan that seeks to transform the area into a vibrant business and residential area. Austria said the area will provide greater mobility as Fortis will be within walking distance from the Ma gallanes MRT-3 station and a few minutes from the airport and Metro Manila’s main highways: Slex, Skyway, Edsa, and Osmeña Highway.

“The best thing about the 5.80-kilometer stretch of Chino Roces Avenue is its conve nient access to the country’s premier Makati business district via Edsa, Arnaiz, or Sen. Gil Puyat Avenue which makes it a high-value investment for the future,” Austria said.

Located along Chino Roces Avenue, Fortis Residences will include a residential tower with an exclusive set of first-rate amenities tailored for the needs of buyers’ shifting lifestyle priorities. Moreover, Austria said the mixed-use building will have office and commercial spaces located in the One Fortis Plaza to provide accessible modern living conveniences.

Superb lifestyle Au S TRIA a ssured future Fortis residents

that they will experience the joie de vivre through grand floorplan options, which will be delivered with exceptional fixtures and quality finishes fit for the discrimi nating taste of DMCI Homes Exclusive’s highly discerning clientele.

He said Fortis owners can also enjoy the work from home scheme as it can use the property’s built-in commercial-grade internet service and hotel-like concierge.

“On top of concierge services, DMCI Homes Exclusive clients will also have a dedicated Customer Care support team who will ensure a worry-free customer

experience,” Austria said.

Sustainable design

T O pr omote a healthy and sustainable lifestyle, Austria said Fortis Residences will introduce the Lumiventt Technology, which enables natural light and fresh air to surround the units, is present in the upscale residence.

“Another feature that deserves the spotlight is Fortis Residences’ full wa ter-recycling facility, capable of collect ing and treating wastewater, making it fit for general use, landscape irrigation,

and maintenance of amenities,” Austria explained.

Going hand-in-hand K O HLER M ilwaukee-based Kohler con siders the Philippines a stable market as Filipinos have shown strong support to the 149-year-old company.

Angela Yang, president of Kohler Kitchen and Bath Asia Pacific told jour nalists in a press briefing recent held in Manila that its latest Statement Shower ing Collection provides the local market a range of unique shapes and an array of

sizes to the shower, breathing new life into well-loved standards and marry ing the latest in technology with en during craftsmanship. She added In novative sprays elevate the showering experience, and universal compatibility means the system works wherever in the world it is installed. Inspired by iconic furniture and home goods, and defined by soft, approachable designs, the col lection carries an underlying familiar ity while creating striking aesthetics within the space. “To add to Statement’s overall ease of use and provide peace of mind to designers and specifiers, the components were designed to be uni versally compatible,” Yang said.

“The collection is designed-from thread to size to flow rate-to work glob ally, no matter how different the local codes and standards may be,” Yang expounded.

“Showering is so much more than just getting clean. It is a chance to feel rejuvenated, a moment to focus on selfcare,” says Lun Cheak Tan, Kohler VP of Industrial Design. “A shower should provide a rich experience—through de sign-forward craftsmanship, meaning ful functionality and uncompromised focus on the user.”

Leo Leong, general manager of Kitchen and Bath South and Northeast Asia told reporters the pandemic changed the mindset of consumers as they focused on wellness. In response to the market demand in the Philippines and other mar kets, he said Kohler introduced unique colors, forms and shapes which has be come part of wellness and well-being.

Yang said Kohler has made shower ing the core of customer experience. Kohler’s oblong showerhead provides a more enveloping water coverage for the whole body, and seven immersive spray experiences offered within the collection include a Deep Massage spray composed of twisting jets that knead sore muscles and a Cloud spray that swathes the body in a warm mist.

After all, the rich don’t mind as the legendary Ernest Hemingway said “the rich have more money.”

By Roderick L. Abad

DESPITE the onset of monsoon or rainy season that causes flooding, home owners at Pueblo de Oro’s (PDO) 30-hectare residential subdivisions—Horizon Residences, La Aldea Fernandina and Park Place Pampanga—continue to benefit from its careful planning and design of flood control measures in place.

In fact, these communities were spared from the recent effects of Supertyphoon Kard ing (international name: Noru) while some parts of the province remained submerged in waters for days after experiencing torrential rains brought by the strongest storm to hit the country this year.

History has Pampanga, including all its first class municipalities like Angeles and San Fer nando, usually suffers from flooding brought about by habagat during the rainy periods from June to November each year. Floods in most communities of San Fernando sometimes even reach up to 1 meter high.

Mindful of this, PDO had invested in re search on the location for its houses and lots for sale to make sure that they can withstand and respond to natural calamities including floods.

With the outcome of its study before it started developing the above-cited residen tial projects more than two decades ago, the

developer spent some P150 million to elevate the estate by 1.5 to 3 meters above its origi nal level.

What’s more, it introduced an efficient drainage system that allows rainwater to spread through different canals and freely run off so that accumulation of water is pre vented, especially during heavy downpours.

Thanks to these, these PDO communities in Barangay Del Carmen in San Fernando re mained accessible and passable even during inclement weather.

“Pueblo de Oro has always believed in putting quality and responsible engineering and design foremost into its developments,” said PDO Senior Vice President Leonardo B. Dayao Jr.

The firm serves as a good example of a de veloper that consistently pays attention to flood control measures, even before climate change became an important concern of the real estate industry.

Such efforts to ensure that its develop ments are of high quality and that necessary engineering measures are provided for the safety and convenience of its residents are commendable.

PDO indeed has crafted for over 25 years quality and mixed-use townships and resi dential projects that are master-planned to be safe and dependable for the benefit of all its stakeholders.

SK a ny person from any creative in dustry about the power of the color b lack and you can expect a stream of answers that sings praises to this hue.

Whether it’s in fashion, beauty, or the arts, nobody can deny that black will always have its iconic place in terms of creative appli cation thanks to its effortless elegance, s ophistication, and simplicity.

Of course, this applies to interior de sign, too. While some may feel intimated t o use the color to dress up their homes, it’s actually a foolproof hue to try as long as you stick to practical applications. Read on below to know all the reasons why black is always a good idea for your home.

It is easier to manage and apply. So many people are afraid of using black because of its boldness, but it actually is easier to use in interior design because it can effortlessly tie up a space without any other need fo additional bells and whistles. Consider this: what do you think is easier to manage? A black and white kitchen or one that has multiple colors in it? With black, your margin for error is lesser because you don’t have to tinker with too many elements just to incite visual impact.

It adds classy drama anywhere. Black is the perfect choice of color if you’re going af ter minimalist interiors because of its natu ral elegance and sophistication. Whether y ou use it on bigger parts of a space or just add it as accent, anything in this color can effortlessly add drama on anything without bordering on flashy and loud.

It can add depth to your space. Are you working with a limited area but want to

make the most out of its design? Adding hints of black can trick the eyes into adding depth of space and focus because it absorbs light rather than reflect it. Applying this color is ideal if there is a particular wall, area, or even accent in your home that you want the eyes to automatically go to.

It’s the perfect ‘anti-hero’ color to white. Yes, white is the perfect hue to go for if you want something simple, uncluttered but let’s admit it. It can easily get boring if you don’t accessorize it well. Black, on the other hand, can be overwhelming if you use it to the extremes, but together, these two colors can create the best aesthetic that hits the sweet spot between minimalist and impressive. The key is to strike the right balance between them to nail that polished, sophisticated look.

Minimal effort, maximum impact. Do you want an easy way to add a touch of drama in your home with minimal effort?

Accenting your place with black is the best way to go. Take for exam ple your kitchen. We all know this p art of the home can sometimes be hard to manage because the activi ties that we do here can easily get m essy, so it is the perfect place to accentuate with black home es sentials that you wouldn’t have a ha rd time maintaining visually. Not to mention, using the color black is always classy and bold, and who doesn’t want to spend time on a place that is pleasing to the eyes, right?

When laid out well, the kitchen can also be one of the most comfort ing places in a house, especially so i f you create a special corner in it, like a coffee nook. The key here is to look for the perfect pieces that you can use to dress up the space. Take for example the special Breville Black Sesame Barista Express. Sophisticated and elegant, this limited edition variation of the bestselling espresso machine combines the qual ity features that the premier home lifestyle b rand is known for together with top-tier aesthetic that can elevate your coffee corner.

The model, which will only be available for a limited period, will be available for purchase in Breville Philippines’ official retailers. Those who will purchase it can expect the same features that the original Barista Express line is known for such as precise espresso extraction, dose control grinding, and microfoam milk texturing. It’s like having your very own coffee shop experience at home, but with that extra touch of class in it.

Want to know more about the Barista Express? For more details: www.breville. com.ph . You can also follow their Facebook and Instagram channels to find out where and how you can score this limited piece.

the words of the great Francis Scott Fitzgerald, “the rich are different from you and me.”

“You can have any color, as long as it’s black.” –Henry Ford

A

black will always be a smart home renovation color idea

T

By Josef Ramos

OLYMPIC medalist Kayla Sanchez will have to wait awhile before she can begin scooping medals for the Philippines in international competitions.

The 21-year-old Sanchez needs to complete a 365-day residency requirement—a must under FINA rules—before she can officially swim under the Philippine flag in international swimming competitions.

T hat means she can’t swim in the Cambodia 32nd Southeast Asian Games in May next year, according to Philippine Swimming Inc. president Lani Velasco.

“ She’ll be short of 13 days for the Cambodia SEA Games,” Velasco told BusinessMirror on Monday. “If she did, she’ll be good for six to seven gold medals.”

Sanchez chose Philippine citizenship over Canada for which she clinched a silver and a bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics last year.

She’s a full-blooded Filipino—her parents are Susana and Noel Sanchez of Mabalacat, Pampanga—but was previously a Canadian citizen.

But that’s okay, there are still many tournaments lined up,” Velasco said. She’ll complete her residency on June 30, 2023.

Velasco said Sanchez will be available for the World Aquatics Championships in July next year in Fukuoka, Japan.

S he’s now currently training in Austria where she will also compete in club races to stay in shape, according to Velasco.

Chloe Isleta won the country’s lone swimming gold medal in women’s 200-meter backstroke at the Vietnam SEA Games last May. Filipino swimmers also copped three silvers and as many bronze in the games.

Crossovers beat F2 Cargo Movers in straight sets

CHERY TIGGO rode a big first set comeback and dominated the import-less F2 Logistics in the next two as the Crossovers fashioned out a 25-23, 25-21, 25-22 victory for an early share of the lead in the Premier Volleyball League Reinforced Confer ence eliminations at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig City Tuesday.

The Crossovers closed out with seven straight points to snatch the opening frame with EJ Laure capping their stirring comeback with three straight blasts, the last hitting the net but drawing two F2 defenders, leaving the ball undefended when it dropped to the Cargo Movers’ frontcourt.

The inaugural pro league champions then kept pounding the Cargo Movers defense in the next set behind Mylene Paat, Czarina Carandang, Laure and Montenegrin import Jelena Cvijovic while coming up with good passing, digging, setting and blocking. They then pulled through in a back-and-forth third set skirmish to complete the straight-set win in one hour and 27 minutes.

As long as our locals will perform, and with the help of our import, I always believe that we could win. We had a good start and we worked on our strategy not to make it close in the end,” said Chery Tiggo Coach Clarence Esteban.

But the victory, which matched PLDT and Cignal opening day wins, more than showed what a healthy Chery Tiggo side could offer after the Crossovers struggled in the recent Invitationals due to the sidelining of key players, including leader Dindin Manabat and the heavy-hitting Laure.

“ We stuck to the game plan and we made the necessary adjustments,” said Laure, who finished with 11 points in a solid backup to skipper Paat’s topscoring 16-point output.

814-ATHLETE TEAM PHL TO CAMBODIA 32ND SEAG

THE Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) culled an 814-strong Team Philippines to the Cambodia 32nd Southeast Asian Games following the completion of two consultative meetings with national sports associations (NSAs) on Monday.

C ambodia programmed 49 sports for the May 5 to 16 SEA Games with the POC eyeing full participation in the competitions that offer 608 gold medals—the most Games history.

It’s again a fighting team and the goal is to send the best full contingent as possible,” POC President Rep. Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino said on Monday during the second consultative

meeting with NSAs whose sports are on the Cambodia program.

The POC already met with representatives from combat sports or martial arts last week and concluded the meeting with their counterparts from ball games and other disciplines.

B aseball chief Chito Loyzaga, chef de mission to the Cambodia Games, was with his deputies Leonora Escollante (canoe kayak) and Paolo Tancongquian (sambo) in the meetings held at the East Ocean Garden Restaurant in Pasay City.

The Philippines sent 656 athletes who competed in 38 sports in the Vietnam SEA Games last May, while the country had the privilege of fielding close to a thousand athletes

when it hosted the 2019 edition where it emerged overall champion.

The entry by numbers per sports are: dancesports 12, esports 45, fencing 24, fin swimming 9, gymnastics (aerobics and artistic) 13, jet ski 8, obstacle sports 20, sailing 8, triathlon 10, athletics 47, aquatics 39, diving 2, bodybuilding 15, cycling 28, weightlifting 14, water polo 26, badminton 16, basketball 32, billiards 12, cricket 15, floorball 40, football 46, golf 7, hockey 24, petanque 16, soft tennis 12, sepak takraw 22, table tennis 10, tennis 12, volleyball 28, beach volleyball 16, arnis 12, boxing 11, jiujitsu 6, judo 10, karate 19, kickboxing 12, kun bokator 9, muay 14, pencak silat 17, taekwondo 25, vovinam 28,

wrestling 18 and wushu 20.

Competitions at the 32nd SEA Games are deemed to benefit the hosts who imposed a rule that their athletes could field a 100-percent participation in combat sports or martial arts.

C ambodia also exercised its privilege as host by including two indigenous sports—Kun Bokator, a martial art practices by ancient Khmer military, and  Ouk Chatrang, also a Khmer chess game. They offer 21 and six gold medals, respectively.

The Philippines hosted the most number of sports at 56 but with 530 events in 2019, while Vietnam had a 40-sport,526-event Games last May. Brunei owns the record-low program of 22 sports and 233 events in 1999.

PNVF Champions League unfurls in November at PhilSports Arena

ABIGGER field and better competition are in the pipeline for the second edition of the Champions League set next month.

The Cargo Movers suited up without American reinforcement Lindsay Stal zer due to health and safety protocols although the locals had in a long stretch showed they’re more than capable of taking the Crossovers head-on, control ling majority of the opener, only to crack in the face of the latter’s furious rally.

C hery Tiggo also cashed in on F2 Logistics’ miscues, scoring nine off the Cargo Movers’ unforced errors while yielding five of their own to gain the head-start.

Going from top to bottom, that’s what motivated us,” said Chery Tiggo playmaker Jasmine Nabor, referring to the team’s dismal drop from being a champion (2021) to eighth place in this year’s Open Conference. “We also kept trusting each other in and outside of the court.”

The Cargo Movers, also hounded by health issues that forced them to skip the Invitationals after a sixth place finish in the Open Conference, kept it close in the third but lost steam in the stretch, enabling the Crossovers to pull away at 17-14 before all but settling the issue at 23-16.

Philippine National Volleyball Federation (PNVF) Secretary General Don Caringal said eight teams for women and a huge 17-team field in the men’s side representing various local government units (LGUs) will see action in the November 5 to 12 event at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig City.

I nitial plans only had 16 teams competing in the week-long event— eight each in men’s and women’s— according to Caringal, but the PNVF

decided to accommodate more following the huge interest shown by other LGUs to join.

Many teams sent the intent to join, especially in the men’s side. Men’s volleyball became popular the last time we hosted the Volleyball Nations League [last July] and that carried over to local events,” Caringal told the online

Philippine Sportswriters Association Forum on Tuesday. “So you can see the immediate interest in men’s volleyball.”

Entries in the men’s include Naga City, Bulacan, Sta. Rosa, Quezon City, Baguio City, Imus, Nueva Ecija, Valenzuela, Tacloban, Aklan, Negros Island, Mandaue, Zamboanga, Manila, Cignal and Philippine Navy.

The women’s side include Naga City, Bulacan, Apayao, Imus, Bacolod, Manila, Davao and last year’s guest team from California Precision Sports.

Dasma Monarchs and F2 Lo gistics won the men’s and women’s titles, respectively, during the inau

gural staging of the tournament in Lipa City last year.

C aringal also said in the forum presented by San Miguel Corp., Philippine Sports Commission, Philippine Olympic Committee, Amelie Hotel Manila and the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. that hosting the second edition of the Champions League would be less stringent compared to 2021 due to more relaxed health restrictions.

C aringal added that the federation is planning to send the men and women champions to the Asian Club Championships—although everything is still being discussed.

Gomera, Brodeth bag MVP honors in juniors tennis tilt in Buglasan

virus with two variants

it getting serious?

Meaning, is the Philippine Basketball

now being plagued by a virus with two

that are both proving to be virulent and extremely

MCLEEN

GOMERA came away with a two-title romp while Kimi Brodeth pulled off a win and a runner-up finish as they clinched MVP honors in the Buglasan Festival Na tional Juniors Tennis Championships at the Praxevilla hard courts in Dumaguete City recently.

The top-seeded Gomera, 16, yielded just nine games in four matches to rule his age category, capping his domina

harmful—as recent events would suggest?

L ooks like it.

A nd what are those two variants again?

Physical violence and verbal violence.  That’s what they are, by golly.

The two-variant virus attacked again last weekend during the game between San Miguel Beer and Rain or Shine.

B oth variants produced penalties quickly—but, of course.

The physical violence manufactured free-throw producing technicals.

The verbal violence stemming from unworthy words swapped by San Miguel’s Chris Ross and Rain or Shine coach Yeng Guiao drew them a technical each.

The game’s physical violence claimed Beau Belga, he with a frame resembling that of a wide-bodied Boeing jet.  He got ejected for committing a Flagrant Foul 2 in the fourth

tion with a 6-1, 6-2 victory over No. 5 Ariel Cabaral from Bais City. The Bacolod, Lanao del Norte find then trounced Thomas Gabuat from Zambo del Norte, 6-1, 6-1, in the 18-U finals to emerge the lone “double” winner in the event capping the Buglasan Festival cel ebrations that also featured the Open Championship topped by Zamboanga’s Jose Maria Pague.

But Brodeth needed to buck a big

quarter, dooming Rain or Shine’s cause.

scare from Judy Ann Padilla as she squeaked out a tough 7-5, 4-6, 10-7 deci sion to claim the girls’ 16-under diadem.

But the Ormoc City ace missed match ing Gomera’s feat and her own two-title exploits in Mandaue last August as she dropped a 7-6(1), 6-2 setback to Quezon City’s Tiffany Nocos in the centerpiece event of the country’s longest talentsearch put up by Palawan Pawnshop president and CEO Bobby Castro.

San Miguel Beer was able to extract a 113-105 win from the wreckage of that violence-laden game—but at a costly price.

S o dangerously physical was the match that June Mar Fajardo, SMB’s 6-foot-10 cornerstone, suffered a wounded throat that sent him to the hospital right after the game.

I f damage would prove serious—God forbid—he’d need weeks to recover, and that would surely hurt San Miguel’s title-retention bid in the ongoing Commissioner’s Cup.

E arlier, verbal violence committed by TNT coach Chot Reyes and his assistant, Jojo Lastimosa, cost them fines of P50,000 and P20,000, respectively, for challenging referees’ calls while entering the playing arena without permission.

It is almost always the referees that get rapped each time turmoil hits a game.

But how many times has it been said that referees, like all humans, can only do so much?

R efereeing is no easy task and, if truth be told, it is a job almost as thankless as the work of a public servant.

Still, be thankful: the referee is the vaccine to the PBA virus with the twin variants.

A nd so, again, the question: Which is better, a game without a referee or a game with a referee?

The answer is as obvious as President Marcos Jr. being a fervent Formula One fan.

THAT’S IT Was La Salle’s 83-78 win over Ateneo on Sunday a creepy caricature on the Blue Eagles’ not so solid bid for the UAAP basketball crown this year?  Could be but then, it is still too early to tell…Prayers for June Mar Fajardo’s quick recovery from that throat injury. He is only starting to regain his old form after a damaged leg sidelined him for a year.

SWIMMING association head Lani Velasco with Kayla Sanchez.

NATIONAL sports association heads and representatives pose for posterity with Philippine Olympic Committee Rep. Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino.

EJ LAURE caps Chery Tiggo’s stirring comeback with three straight blasts.

CARINGAL

MCLEEN GOMERA and Kimi Brodeth are levelling up in the junior circuit.