BusinessMirror October 27, 2022

HE national government’s budget deficit in September fell slightly year-onyear to P179.8 billion as revenue collections rose faster than expenditure, the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) said.

e Treasury said revenue growth, which was at 24.79 percent, “outperformed” the 13.63-percent increase in the national government’s expenditure during the reference month.

e national government’s total revenues in September reached P288.814 billion, nearly a quarter higher than the P231.4 billion recorded in the same period of last year, BTr data showed.

BTr data showed that tax revenues accounted for the bulk of the government’s overall revenue collections in September. Tax revenues during the period rose 18.62 percent to P253.3 billion from

THE country’s frozen pork inventory as of October 17 remained elevated at 101,396.57 metric tons (MT) due to higher imported stocks, latest government data showed.

National Meat Inspection Service (NMIS) data showed that frozen pork inventory in accredited cold storages during the reference period was 2,158.17 MT higher than the 99,238.4 MT recorded level on October 10.

On a monthly basis, the latest frozen pork inventory was 18.44 percent higher than the 85,606.6 MT recorded volume last September 19, NMIS data showed.

Likewise, the October 17 frozen pork inventory was 17,750.83 MT higher than last year’s 83,645.74 MT, based on NMIS data.

NMIS data showed that nearly 98 percent of the total frozen pork inventory as of October 17 was imported stocks.

Imported frozen pork reached 99,171.68 MT, higher than the 96,637.76 MT and 83,062.61 MT, recorded volume in the previous week and last month, respectively.

NMIS data showed that locallyproduced frozen pork as of October 17 was estimated at 2,224.89 MT, down from the previous week’s 2,600.64 MT. Likewise, it was lower than the locally-produced frozen pork inventory last month at 2,543.99 MT.

Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) and the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) are jointly working on a plan to establish a natural wealth accounting system for the Philippines.

In a news release, DENR Secretary Maria Antonia Yulo Loyzaga said the creation of the natural capital accounting system will significantly support the development of strategies for a science-based, riskinformed, ethical, and equitable stewardship of the environment, which she strongly espouses in the

DENR.

Such a system will provide an enabling platform for the DENR and other government agencies to come up with specific policies and programs that integrate climate change adaptation in various economic, fi scal, social, political, and environment decisions, she said.

“What we need to do is apply a climate-risk lens to the work of the DENR, which means that climate and disaster-risk assessments will become part of the processes that we will undertake,” Loyzaga had told a press conference during the DENR Multi-stakeholder Forum held on October 5 in Manila.

e announcement of the DENR-Neda-PSA joint initiative comes on the heels of a report

quoting an expert from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) warning that the continued reliance of most countries on gross domestic product growth in measuring wealth was setting off the planet on an irremediable course of destruction, as extractive industries and reliance on fossile fuels, for example, spawn environmental problems.

Major biodiversity losses in the past few years are “by-products” of the world’s economic growth, according to Francesco Ricciardi, a Senior Environment Specialist, Sustainable Development and Climate Change Department at the Manila-based multilateral development bank.

Moving away from GDP as the main economic growth mea-

sure could help reverse this trend. (https://businessmirror.com. ph/2022/10/25/narrow-focus-on-gdpfueling-biodiversity-losses/) Ricciardi said the increased polluting emissions in water, air and soil, land-use change, climate change and the spread of invasive species are considered the major drivers of biodiversity loss.

e ADB expert said if business as usual happens and no interventions are made, the global economy may continue to grow but only up to a “tipping point” which will force biodiversity to collapse. He said, if the planet dies, there will be no economy to speak of.

Ricciardi cited the need for re-

PRESIDENT Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr. announced on Wednesday he will task newly appointed Health Undersecretary and former Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Camilo P. Cascolan to start the groundwork for the “rightsizing” of staff in the Department of Health (DOH).

Marcos made the clarification after several groups questioned his selection of Cascolan for a senior DOH post despite his not being a health professional.

He said Cascolan will handle the “special concerns” in DOH, including the planned rightsizing of the manpower of the agency.

“It’s not health issues that he has to look at, that’s why he doesn’t have to be a doctor,” Marcos said after his speech at the National Information and Communications Technology Summit 2022 at the Manila Hotel.

Cascolan can also conduct investigations on the reports of illegal activities in DOH, including the alleged syndicates reportedly interfering with the procurement process of DOH.

“ at’s part of his work. If there will be such incidents, he will have to report it to us and we will have

e frozen pork inventory covers the stock inventory in accredited commercial and in-house cold storages (slaughterhouses and meat processing plants), according to the NMIS.

NMIS explained that the frozen pork inventory includes local and imported carcass, primal parts and specialty cuts of local and imported pork.

NMIS data showed that cold storages in Region 3 held the most volume of frozen pork inventory at 32,598.2 MT followed by Region 4A at 32,449.52 MT.

e national government kept the lower tariffs on imported pork products until the end of the year to allow the entry of additional supply amid struggling local pro-

duction due to African swine fever.

NMIS data also showed that dressed chicken inventory in cold storages nationwide as of October 17 reached 51,148.16 MT, slightly lower than the 52,353.7 MT on October 10.

Imported dressed chicken accounted for more than half of the total inventory at 29,397.15 MT, while locally-produced dressed chicken amounted to 21,751.01 MT, based on NMIS data.

Region 4A held the largest dressed chicken inventory during the reference period at 17,115.02 MT, followed by Region 3 at 11,197.55 MT, NMIS data showed.

NMIS data said its dressed

Govt...

thinking how wealth and economic growth are measured.

Economists and media professionals should promote other indices of wealth, including natural and social capital, to not only focus on GDP growth.

Disaster risk hot spots

IN a 2022 report by the World Risk Index, the Philippines was ranked fi rst out of 193 countries on the list of global disaster risk hot spots.

Loyzaga explained that the country’s vulnerability to natural hazards is due to its physical exposure as well as its inability and lack of capacity in adopting climate change tools and technologies.

She said the planned accounting system will serve as the foundation for DENR’s priority programs, such as establishing the national natural resource geospatial database, calibration and streamlining of organizational processes and people, and strengthened collaboration with its stakeholders.

Part of the creation of a national natural resource geospatial database is to provide an inventory that is dynamically projected and can be accessed by the different offices, bureaus and agencies concerned to continuously check the progress of projects, and even their risks.

Besides climate and disasterrisk assessment, vulnerability assessment—both qualitative and quantitative—is equally important to help the DENR identify where it is headed, and what its priority areas and action areas are in moving forward.

Judiciary Marshals unit, set up in Q1, to probe 30 judges’ slays

THESupreme Court on Wednesday said the soon-to-be established

of the Judiciary Marshals

will look into the unsolved killings of more than 30 judges killed since 1999.

At the Kapihan sa Manila Bay media forum, Associate Justice Jose Midas Marquez, who is supervising the formation of OJM, said the body is likely to be activated within the fi rst quarter of 2023.

“Once we are able to create, even at the initial creation of the Office of the Judiciary Marshals and once we already have investigators, we will have these killings looked into. Right now, I think we have around 33 or 34 judges killed

while in service,” Marquez noted.

“We will request the judiciary marshals to review all the cases of these judges because we cannot just let this go unresolved,” he added.

Of the 33 or 34 judges killed, less than 10 percent of the cases have been resolved, and in some of these cases the masterminds were not arrested or charged, Marquez said.

He added that the SC is now

vetting persons for the position of Chief Marshall, who is preferably a lawyer and a former or retired high-ranking officer of the Philippine National Police or the Armed Forces of the Philippines or the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).

Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo stressed that the judiciary marshals are basically intended to provide security and ensure safety, and protection of the members, officials, personnel, and property of the judiciary, including the integrity of the courts of its proceedings.

Republic Act 11691, or the Judiciary Marshals Act,was signed into law last April.

e law allows the creation of the OJM to address the killings and other forms of violence committed against the members of the judiciary.

e creation of the OJM, which was patterned after the US Mar-

shal system, was the brainchild of retired Chief Justice Diosdado Peralta.

Under the law, the Offi ce of the Judiciary Marshals shall conduct threat assessments, investigations, and forensic analyses of crimes and threats committed against judiciary members and court properties.

e judiciary marshals will also investigate alleged corruption committed by justices, judges and other court officials, as directed by the Supreme Court.

It shall have concurrent jurisdiction with other law enforcement agencies to undertake investigations of crimes and other offenses committed against justices, judges, court officials and personnel, halls of justice, courthouses, and other court properties.

e SC has allotted a P50-million budget for the OJM’s operations.

promo body convenes Nov. 8

investment

In a statement on Wednesday, the BOI said the “inception” of the IIPCC is one of the major features of the amended Foreign Investments Act (FIA), which the BOI said is tasked to “integrate the promotion activities to woo more foreign investors to do business in the Philippines.”

Apart from this, the attached agency of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said, “It also aims to achieve a worldclass brand image for the country within the intertwined approaches of image building, investment generation, and investment servicing.”

Moreover, the BOI said the foreign investments law “ushers in a culture of cooperation” as it removes competition for investments among investment promotion agencies (IPAs), resulting in the best possible locational choice for investments.

According to the BOI, the secretary of DTI shall be the Chairman of the IIPCC, while the BOI, headed by the Executive Director for Investments Promotion, shall be the IIPCC Secretariat. As the Secretariat, the BOI, the leader of the country’s IPAs, will provide administrative support to the said Committee.

“ e BOI is set to play an important role in spurring the growth of the country’s economy. e revised law will foster a ‘culture of cooperation’ among the IPAs by coordinating investment promotion efforts in the country,” the BOI said in a statement on Wednesday.

rough the amended FIA, the BOI said that the IIPCC, spearheaded by Trade Secretary Alfredo E. Pascual, is “resolute” to make more business opportunities happen in the Philippines for foreign investors.

Prior to the creation of the IIPCC, the agency noted that there

was the Philippine Investment Promotion Plan (PIPP), an informal grouping of 19 IPAs, in which the BOI headed both the Steering Committee and Technical Working Group.

e recently amended Foreign Investments Act, the BOI stressed, enables the Philippines to transform itself as an attractive investment destination by allowing foreign investors who are considering doing business in the country to set up and fully own domestic enterprises.

As the IIPCC prepares to convene its inaugural meeting, the BOI laid out the salient features and provisions of the FIA that “would offer an array of business opportunities” for foreign investors eyeing to invest in the Philippines.

Among the salient features of the law is the slashing of the barrier on foreign ownership of small and medium-sized enterprises. e BOI said the law allows, for the fi rst time, foreign investors to set up and completely own domestic market enterprises with minimum paidup capital of $100,000. However, the enterprises must fulfi ll the following: use of advanced technology, endorsed as startup or startup enablers by the lead host agencies according to Republic Act (RA) No. 11337 or the Innovative Startup Act, and employ Filipinos as a majority of its direct employees.

e amended FIA, the BOI said, also trims down the employment requirement for foreign investments in domestic market enterprises from 50 direct employees to now at least 15 Filipino employees.

Moreover, BOI said foreigners engaged in export enterprises can secure 100-percent ownership in areas outside the Foreign

P213.5 billion last year.

Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) collections accounted for 68 percent of the government’s tax revenues in September, or about P173.6 billion. Revenues collected by the Bureau of Customs (BOC) amounted to P79.3 billion.

BTr data showed that revenues from both the BIR and the BOC rose by double-digit rates during the reference period, at 19.4 percent and 21.7 percent, respectively.

e national government’s nontax revenues in September nearly doubled to P35.6 billion from last year’s P17.9 billion. Non-tax revenues attributed to the BTr amounted to P7.3 billion while P28.2 billion came from other government offices.

“ e YoY improvement resulted mainly from higher NG share from Pagcor profit, BTr managed funds and interest on NG deposits,” Treasury said.

Spending in September reached P468.6 billion, a 13.63-percent increase from the P412.14 billion posted in the same month of last year.

“ is was driven mainly by higher capital expenditures, National Tax Allotment of LGUs, and Interest Payments [IP], alongside the subsidy releases to PhilHealth for the National Health Insurance Program,” the Treasury said.

e national government’s budget deficit during the January-toSeptember period fell by 11.09 percent to P1.012 trillion from P1.139 trillion in the same period of last year. Total revenues in the 9-month period rose by 18.79 percent yearon-year to P2.657 trillion as both tax and non-tax income posted doubledigit growth rates during the reference period. Tax revenues of the government from January to September rose by 17.48 percent to P2.348 trillion from last year’s P2.029 trillion while non-tax revenues expanded by 31.55 percent year-on-year to P272.6 billion, based on BTr data.

“ e resulting P2.7 trillion YTD figure which already accounted for 80 percent of the full-year program, similarly outstripped the previous year’s performance for the same period and the 2022 program by 18.79 percent [P420.3 billion] and 7.74 percent [P190.9 billion], respectively,” the Treasury said.

Government expenditure during the 9-month period increased by 8.71 percent to P3.67 trillion from P3.376 trillion in the January-toSeptember period of last year.

e Treasury noted that the government’s spending during the reference period was P69.7 billion short of the 9-month programmed expenditure of P3.739 trillion.

to do something about it. But, generally, it is an administrative audit, if you want to call it that,” Marcos said.

Creative industry promotion

IN a related development, Marcos also clarified the responsibility of fi lm director Paul Soriano as Presidential Adviser on Creative Communications.

He stressed Soriano’s role will be to advise him on how to promote the country’s creative industry.

“As to the [position of] Paul So-

chicken inventory data only included fresh chilled chicken from accredited cold storage facilities. NMIS’s data did not include mechanically deboned meat (MDM) of chicken.

riano, people have misunderstood [it]. He’s not there to be part of the PR [public relation] machine. He’s there to fi nd ways to promote the creative industry, that is where he came from,” Marcos said.

Malacañang earlier said Soriano’s responsibility will be to assist departments and agencies, including government-owned and -controlled corporations, on matters that will enhance their information dissemination programs and

Like in the case of Cascolan, Soriano’s appointment also drew fl ak from critics who noted his father is a cousin of First Lady Maria Louise Araneta Marcos.

Samuel P. Medenilla

PRESIDENT Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr.

Palace circular allows govt offices to enter into new deals, spend extraordinary funds

By Samuel P. Medenilla @sam_medenilla

into new contracts and disbursing extraordinary funds.

disbursements of extraordinary funds.

Economist suggests assistance for women on household duties

By Cai U. Ordinario @caiordinario

GOVERNMENT

offices could now resume entering into new contracts and disburse extraordinary funds under a new memorandum from Malacañang.

On Tuesday, President Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr. autho rized Executive Secretary Lucas P. Bersamin to issue Memorandum Circular (MC) No. 9, which revoked item 4 of MC No. 3 (s. 2022), which banned certain government agencies and instrumentalities from entering

“Except as expressly modified by this Circular, all other provisions of MC No. 3 shall remain in full force,” Bersamin said.

M C 3 was issued last July to help facilitate the smooth tran sition of administration in gov ernment offices.

O nly government agencies and instrumentalities involved in the food, transportation and energy sector and those authorized by the President, were exempted from the ban on new contracts and

M arcos decided to finally lift the restrictions since he had already ap pointed the new heads of govern ment departments, agencies and instrumentalities, who are aware of his administration’s socioeco nomic agenda and medium-term fiscal framework.

Bersamin said MC 9 would help in the “continuity of government operations and delivery of services to the public.”

MC 9 covers all government de partments, agencies, bureaus, offices

and instrumentalities with corpo rate powers, government corporate entities, government financial in stitutions, and free port and special economic zone authorities.

Under the new issuance, the said offices were to strictly comply with Republic No. 9184 or the “Govern ment Procurement Reform Act,” when executing new contracts.

T hey were also reminded to exercise “judicious use of govern ment resources,” and to strictly observe ethical norms of honesty, integrity and efficiency, in making such transactions.

Group pushes third party lead-safe OK on all paints

By  Jonathan L. Mayuga @jonlmayuga

ENVIRONMENTAL health groups are pushing for thirdparty lead-safe paint certifica tion from manufacturers, including those that export finished products to the Philippines to ensure consum er access to independently certified paint products.

I n a news release highlighting the celebration of the National Con sumer Welfare Month and Interna tional Lead Poisoning Prevention Week, leaders of the EcoWaste Co alition, Interfacing Development Interventions for Sustainability (IDIS), and Mother Earth Founda tion (MEF) said while recognizing and commending the Philippine Association of Paint Manufacturers (PAPM) for their strong support to

the country’s drive to remove lead in all types of paints, they want more companies to voluntarily se cure Lead Safe Paint Certification.

T he Lead Safe Paint Certifica tion verifies and confirms that the lead content in a paint brand does not exceed 90 parts per million (ppm), the legal limit under the Department of Environment and Natural Recources’ AO 2013-24, or the Chemical Control Order (CCO) for Lead and Lead Compounds (this is also the limit recommended by the UN Model Law and Guidance for Regulating Lead Paint).

T hree companies from the Philip pines, namely, Boysen, Davies, and Sycwin and one each from Bangla desh (Elite) and Sri Lanka (Multilac), are participating in the program.

A trustworthy third-party certi fication program is important as the

self-claims of some products of being ‘lead-free’ may not always be correct,” Aileen Lucero, National Coordinator at EcoWaste Coalition said.

Lucero cited the group’s recent discovery of 14 supposedly “leadfree” spray paints from abroad that were ironically found to contain 428 to 85,800 ppm of lead, way above the 90 ppm limit.

Aside from household consum ers, local government units and other institutional paint consum ers need assurance that the product they are purchasing conforms to the CCO and will not pose lead-based paint hazards, especially to vulner able populations,” Mark Peñalver, Executive Director of IDIS based in Davao City said.

In 2018, Davao City enacted an ordinance requiring the mandatory procurement of lead-safe paints in construction, maintenance, and ren ovation projects and other activities.

“ Ensuring that only lead-safe paints are made available to con sumers will help in preventing the release of lead from such products into the environment, and in pro moting healthy bodies, homes and communities with reduced illnesses and deaths due to lead exposure,” So nia Mendoza, chairperson of, MEF

said, for her part.

A s of now, the list of duly certi fied Lead Safe Paint products from the Philippines includes Boysen, Nation, Titan, and Virtuoso Silk brands by Pacific Paints (Boysen), Philippines Inc.; Davies brand by Davies Paints Philippines Inc. and the PureCoat Premium, Weather Gard, Sycwin, PureCoat Advance, Minnesota, Delaware, Alabama, Kansas, Guilder and Illinois brands by Sycwin Coating & Wires Inc.

P roducts that have passed the certification process are authorized to put the Lead Safe Paint logo on the paint cans, providing consum ers with a visual guide on which products on the store shelf meet the regulatory standard.

T he Lead Safe Paint Certification program was developed by IPEN in consultation with stakeholders such as the EcoWaste Coalition and the PAPM and its member companies. It is managed independently by the US-based SCS Global Services.

N either IPEN nor any of the consulted stakeholders is involved in the certification process or re ceives any type of revenue from it.   The EcoWaste Coalition, IDIS, and MEF are participating organiza tions of IPEN.

EXTENDING assistance to women, specifically those staying at home for house hold duties would help give them more options to earn, according to a local economist.

In a virtual presentation of his paper Monopsony in Philippine La bor Markets and its Implications on Gender Discrimination, Ateneo de Manila University labor and trade economist Leonardo A. Lanzona Jr. said social protection such as this could also cushion the impact of un employment for all workers.

Monopsony, Lanzona said, is a condition that forces workers to ac cept low wage offers because of “id iosyncratic preferences as well as the high cost of search.” This, he said, is a “serious case in the Philippines” where both men and especially wom en, get affected by the phenomenon.

Social protection, such as unem ployment insurance and other forms of assistance to stay at home moth ers, as a means of offering women more options,” Lanzona said in his presentation on Wednesday.

The idea is they could decide to not accept a certain offer because anyway there’s some social protec tion being provided by the govern ment. Also, maybe we could require career programs for women to [help] provide them [with] progressive wages,” he explained.

Lanzona also said the government can also explore legal measures that can be imposed on firms to strength en worker’s rights and implement fair wages in their establishments.

He also said support for work ers employed by micro, small, and medium enterprises should be ex plored particularly in alternative work activities.

Minimum wage [is] a stan dard policy recommended in the presence of a monopsony, but care must be taken in implementing this policy. A complicating issue is that wages in the market may already be higher than the minimum wage,” Lanzona said.

T he PSA earlier said the coun try’s Labor Force Participation Rate (LFPR) increased to 66.1 percent in August, higher than the 65.2 per cent posted in July and 63.6 percent posted in August 2021.

A total of 50.55 million persons were in the labor force in August. This was a 2.44-million increase from the 48.11 million posted in the same period last year and 557,000 more than the 49.99 million recorded in July 2022.

However, given the increase in the number of people in the labor force, this also leads to an increase in the number of those who may not be able to find work or would be employed in low-quality jobs.

The growth in the number of FiliFili pinos in the labor force would be due to the new entrants or first timers in the work force. This usually leads to a double-digit unemployment rate for these workers.

F urther, most of these first time workers are women, aged 15 to 24 years old. PSA said based on the August data, there were more women who joined the labor force but more of them were not able to find jobs.

DOST-FNRI: Nutrition for kids crucial in prep for full F-to-F classes on Nov 2

AS students nationwide gear up for the full implementa tion of face-to-face (F-to-F) classes in public and some private schools by November 2, the De partment of Science and Technol ogy-Food and Nutrition Research Institute (DOST-FNRI) has called on schools, families, and concerned agencies to fortify students’ health both inside and outside the class room through proper nutrition.

In the recent Expanded National Nutrition Survey of DOST-FNRI, 3 in 10 Filipino children are stunted or ‘pandak,’ and this makes them more vulnerable to Covid-19 and other dis eases. With proper nutrition, mean ing providing the children with the correct amount and types of foods, they will be shielded from frequent attacks of illnesses during the F-to-F classes,” shared DOST-FNRI Director Dr. Imelda Angeles-Agdeppa.

T he National Nutrition Survey or NNS reported that undernutri tion remains prevalent among our population in rural areas and those in low-income households. Through the years, the nutritional status of preschool-age children has im proved. However, this is too slow to meet the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Although we now have many solutions in place including vac cination—to curb the pandemic, malnutrition weakens our im mune system and prevents our bodies from being at their opti mum state to battle threats. Proper nutrition, especially among chil dren, is of paramount importance now with schools fully opening,” Dr. Agdeppa urged.

T he DOST-FNRI is advocating for multi-stakeholder initiatives to address malnutrition among Fili pino youth with the help of schools, families, local government units, and relevant national agencies.

Since 2021, DOST-FNRI has been working with the Department of Education (DepEd) on integrating the Enhanced Nutribun and other developed nutritious products in the guidelines for the supplementary feeding program in schools.

Noting that young children suf fer from energy gap, DOST-FNRI has also been developing complementary food for children six months to 24 months using rice-mongo blends through its Complementary Food Processing Facilities (CFPFs).

T he agency’s priorities for product development are based on the gaps identified in the NNS.

PSA reports top killer diseases among Pinoys from Jan to July

By Cai U. Ordinario @caiordinario

THE Philippine Statistics Au thority (PSA) has identified the top 5 causes of deaths in the Philippines that accounted for over 50 percent of deaths in the coun try from January to July.

PSA said the top 5 Filipino killers are ischemic heart diseases, cerebro vascular diseases, neoplasms, diabe tes, and hypertensive diseases. These account for 51.2 percent of all deaths during the given period.

In the seven-month period, PSA data showed, there were a total of 311,921 deaths in the country. This was 31 percent lower than the 452,228 deaths recorded in the same period last year.

“ The top 3 causes of death in the country from January to July of 2022 were ischemic heart diseases, cerebrovascular diseases, and neo plasms. Incidentally, these were also the leading causes of death in the same period in 2021,” PSA said.

T he data showed 18.6 percent of the deaths in the country were caused by ischemic heart diseases, while 10.4 percent and 10.1 percent were caused by cerebrovascular diseases and neoplasms, respectively.

PSA said deaths due to diabetes mellitus accounted for a 6.4 percent share, making it the fourth leading cause of death, while deaths due to hypertensive diseases, which ranked fifth recorded 17,999 cases or 5.8 percent share.

Meanwhile, registered deaths due to Covid-19 accounted for a total of 12,083 or 3.9 percent of the total registered deaths from January to July 2022.

Covid-19 with virus identified was the 10th leading cause of death in the country with 8,586 cases or 2.8 percent of the total deaths.

Registered deaths due to Covid-19 with virus not identified accounted for 3,497 or 1.1 percent of the total deaths, making it the 19th leading cause of death.

A mong the 17 regions, the Na tional Capital Region (NCR) regis tered the highest number of deaths due to Covid-19 with 2,986 or 24.7 percent of the total Covid-19 deaths from January to July 2022.

I n NCR, Quezon City reported the highest number of deaths due to Covid-19, with 623 deaths or 20.9 percent of the total Covid-19 deaths in the region from January to July 2022.

T his was followed by the City of Manila and City of Caloocan with 480 or 16.1 percent and 305 or 10.2 percent Covid-19 deaths, respectively.

Meanwhile, Region 4A (Cala barzon) ranked second with 1,856 deaths or 15.4 percent; while Cen tral Luzon came in third with 1,573 deaths, 13 percent.

PSA data also showed that the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao reported the least number of registered Covid-19 deaths with only 32 cases.

In time of a lingering Covid pandemic, DOH logs 270% jump in cholera cases

By Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco @claudethmc3

245 cases were recorded, the region with the highest number of cases were: Region 8: 147 (60 percent); Region 6: 51 (21 percent); Region 5: 26 (11 percent).

Regions 3, 6, and the National Capital Region exceeded the epi demic threshold within the recent a four week period from September 11 to October 8, 2022.

Negros Occidental.

Nationally, there were37 deaths reported THESE deaths were reported on: January-1; February-4; March-5; April-5; May-2; June-2; July-3; Au gust-9; September-6.

Based on the National Cholera Surveillance Data as of October 8, 2022, there were 3,980 cholera cases reported from January 1 to October 8, 2022.

According to the DOH the report ed cases during the same period in

2021 was 1,077. Cumulatively, most cholera cases were reported from: Region 8: 2,678 (67 percent); Region 9: 441 (11 per cent); Caraga Region: 289 (7 percent). I n the recent period of Septem ber 11 to October 8, 2022, where

T he DOH said that an increase in cases were also observed in five provinces, highly urbanized cities and independent component cit ies albeit small, in the recent 3 to 4 weeks (September 11 to 24, 2022) compared to two weeks prior (Au gust 28 to September 10): Region 3: Pampanga; Region 5: Catanduanes; Masbate; Region 6: Bacolod City;

Percy’s murder prompts lawmaker to revive call for capital punishment

By Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz @joveemarie

ASENIOR lawmaker from Manila on Wednesday re vived his proposal to restore death penalty amid an emerging “jail cell conspiracy” surrounding the murder of hard-hitting broad caster Percival Mabasa, also known as Percy Lapid.

Palana Villamor, who died due to undetermined causes.

T he lawmaker lamented, “This is not the first time we have dis covered crimes being carried out from inside our prison.”

ASENIOR lawmaker on Wednesday urged Congress to pass a bill that seeks to ban foreign ships from encroaching on Philippine waters, saying no for eign vessel should enter not enter the country’s domain without prior approval.

Cagayan de Oro City Rep. Rufus Rodriguez his proposed ban is con tained in House Bill No. 2465, which he has filed and pending with the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.

He said the House had approved the measure in the last Congress but the Senate failed to pass it.

I have refiled my bill and I urge Congress to approve it. No Chinese or any vessel should be allowed in our waters without our approval unless for innocent passage in the designated archipelagic sealanes,” Rodriguez said.

T he measure is titled, “An Act es tablishing the archipelagic sea lanes in the Philippine archipelagic waters, prescribing the rights and obliga tions of foreign ships and aircraft exercising the right of archipelagic sea lane passage.”

Rodriguez said the proposed law would “penalize arbitrary passage by Chinese and other foreign ships and planes in our archipelagic waters and the adjacent territorial waters.”

T he bill sets the coordinates des

By Andrea E. San Juan

THE Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has reassured the public that it will assist concerned government agencies in protecting consumers from un safe goods.

We are committed to assist concerned government agencies and connect them with the manu facturers of these products. Rest assured that the government is working to ensure that consumer goods in the market are safe for consumers,” Trade Secretary Al fredo E. Pascual said in a news statement issued on Wednesday.

T he trade chief clarified that DTI is willing to coordinate with government agencies such as the

ignating the sealanes and air routes for the continuous and expeditious sailing or flight of foreign ships and aircraft exercising the right of inno cent passage.

T he vessels or planes shall not deviate more than 25 nautical miles from the designated passage routes. They shall not make any activity other than transiting expeditiously.

T hey shall not make any threat against the sovereignty, territorial integrity or political independence of the Philippines.

Transiting ships and planes shall be prohibited from conducting any oceanography or hydrographic sur vey or research activity unless per mitted by the Philippine govern ment. T he proposed law authorizes the President to issue rules and regulations relating to the manage ment and security of the country’s archipelagic and adjacent waters.

T he bill imposes the penalty of imprisonment for at least six months and one day to two years and two months, or a fine of $1.2 million, or both upon the discretion of the court, on the shipmaster or captain of the plane or owner or operators of the vessel or plane.

If the owner is a corporation or a business entity, the penalty shall be imposed on its president.

Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz

“ If a prison cell cannot stop a criminal from plotting and order ing the murder of another person, then the death penalty may be the only way to prevent the murder of innocent citizens and journal ists like Percy Lapid, “ Manila 6th District Rep. Bienvenido “Benny” Abante Jr. stressed. The lawmaker issued the statement as more de tails of the killing were revealed following the confession of selfconfessed gunman Joel Escorial.

A bante is the author of House Bill No. 4121, or the Death Pen alty Law, which reimposes capital punishment for crimes such as murder, treason, drug trafficking and plunder.

W hile the death penalty was abol ished in 2006, the Constitution gives Congress the power to reimpose it.

S ection 19 (1), Article III of the Constitution states that “exces sive fines shall not be imposed, nor cruel, degrading or inhuman punishment inflicted. Neither shall death penalty be imposed, unless, for compelling reasons involving heinous crimes.”

“ This jail cell conspiracy that led to the tragic death of an outspoken journalist is proof that incarcera tion is not enough to stop criminals from committing more crimes,” Abante explained.

In a confession released to the media, Escorial admitted he received orders to kill Lapid from National Bilibid Prison inmate Crisanto

A bante pointed out that re ports of illegal drug trafficking and drug use among inmates of the New Bilibid Prison have sur faced since 2014, when a series of raids and searches conducted by law enforcement officials un earthed the presence of shabu and other drug paraphernalia in air-conditioned quarters built for convicted drug dealers.

While these may have been al ready addressed, the disturbing real ity is that as long as there are jailed criminals who have the resources to bribe, coerce, or even threaten our corrections officers, they remain a danger to society,” he said.

In cases such as these, death is the only punishment that can neutralize them,” he added.

Reforms not capital punishment–Atienza

REFORMING the criminal justice system is the solution to the coun try’s problem with drugs and crim inality, a former deputy speaker stressed on Wednesday.

Former House deputy speak er and BUHAY Party-list Chairman Lito Atienza reiterated that the death penalty is not the solution in deter ring the commission of any crime, be it big or small, and that those who are seeking the death penalty do not realize that doing so would only ag gravate the situation.

“ We need a more efficient crimi nal justice system, where the fiscal is rendering correct opinions on cases filed before them, the judg es should likewise behave in  that manner, and all the way up to the Supreme Court. Kailangan lahat

nagtutulungan para umandar nang maayos ang ating criminal justice system. They should arrest crimi nals and prosecute,” he added. According to Atienza, a staunch pro-lifer, reimposing the death pen alty will only spawn more violence.

“ It will only worsen the situa tion. Violence begets more violence. The culture of violence will only get worse if we do that… The problem is that we are lacking efficient law enforcement. This is what I have been saying for so many years now.  Even though I am no longer an incumbent Congressman, hav ing represented BUHAY Party-list during the last three Congresses and having reached the full three terms allowed under the law, I will not shy away from the discussions in this very basic and important is sue in the lives of Filipinos,” Atienza said in a radio interview on calls to restore the death penalty.

A tienza cited the previous ad ministration’s all-out war on drugs, which resulted in the deaths of many suspects did not help solve the country’s drug problem.

“Hindi naman na-solve ang drug problem natin noong panahon ni Pan gulong Duterte when most of those involved in drug cases ended up dead, instead of being properly ap prehended and prosecuted.

If we want real change, we should start with ourselves. Let’s take the election system very seri ously and we should elect the cor rect officials. It all begins with the election process dahil demokrasya tayo. The death penalty is an easy way out for criminals. Life impris onment is a more fitting punish ment for them. Kaya forgive me if I have to react and immediately disagree with those who are shout ing that the death penalty is the solution. This will not solve the problem!” Atienza added.

With this, the DOH continues to strengthen holistic public health strategies, ensuring healthy envi ronments, particularly through the implementation of the healthy set tings strategy, and well capacitated communities to address common diseases, especially since there are recent reports of increasing numbers of notifiable diseases such as cholera, which are primarily driven by envi ronmental factors,” the DOH said.

Reopening of Marcos estate case possible

By Joel R. San Juan @jrsanjuan1573

THEreopening of the P203billion estate tax case against the family of President Ferdi nand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr. is still possible although it has already been decided with finality by the Supreme Court (SC).

D uring Wednesday’s Kapihan sa Manila Bay media forum, SC Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo said a decision, which has attained finality, might still be reopened depending on the composition of the Court and the reasons raised by the requesting party.

“No decision of the Court is writ ten in stone. The modification of the Court’s decision primarily depends on its composition. Like in America, there are conservative [magistrates] and there are liberal [magistrates]. If the majority were conservatives it would be difficult to seek a reversal of its decision. If the majority were liberals it would be easy to do that. Our set up is similar, each of our magistrates have their own opinion about a case,” Gesmundo said.

He added that one of the valid reasons that may prompt the SC to reopen a case that has been de cided with finality is if there was a blatant violation of the constitu tional rights of the requesting party.

The Court is always guided that cases should be terminated at a cer tain point in time, it is called res judicata. But, if there are reasons so unique and the parties are fil ing a reconsideration or sometimes [a request] that the case be heard from a division to the En Banc, there is a possibility that a former decision or a prior judgment can be modified or reversed,” Gesmundo pointed out.

Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Department of Health (DOH), saying is mandated to enforce quality and safety stan dards of consumer products and services.

T he remarks of Pascual were made as the country observes Con sumer Welfare Month and a week after Senator Rafael “Raffy” Tulfo turned salty towards DTI at the agency’s recent budget hearing when the senator raised the issue of instant noodles containing high sodium content.

Tulfo said the DTI is a “very valuable agency especially for a poor country like ours, because you protect the consumers from goods that are hazardous and dangerous to the consumers, especially prod

ucts that are mostly consumed by those in the low-income bracket who can only afford instant noo dles and sardines.”

C iting health experts, the senator said the allowed sodium content intake should only be 2,000 milligrams (mg) per day. However, Tulfo stressed, some instant noodle brands have 1,600 mg sodium content.

T he senator said the DTI’s man date in protecting consumers can be found in Article 10 of Republic Act No. 7394 or the Consumer Act of the Philippines which stated that whenever the departments find that a consumer product is found to be injurious, unsafe or dangerous, it shall make the ap propriate order for its recall, pro

hibition or seizure from public sale or distribution.

R esponding to the senator’s argument, Pascual stressed, “We realized the issues raised are very important. I wish we could’ve acted on these but unfortunately, the responsibility for the issues that you raised does not fall on DTI but rather on the Food and Drug Administration.”

T he trade chief then cited Ar ticle 6 of the Consumer Act, illus trating the mandates of DOH, DA, and the DTI. The provision states that the DOH is the implementing agency with respect to food, drugs, cosmetics, devices and substances; the DA is in charge of products re lated to agriculture, and the DTI covers the consumer products not

specified above.

To iron out the jurisdictional issues, the trade department said, “Expanding the government’s ef forts to safeguard consumers, Re public Act No. 10611 or the Food Safety Act of 2013 mandates the Food and Drug Administration to develop food standards and regulations, among others, while the National Nutrition Council, chaired by the DOH, is mandated to formulate national food and nutrition policies and strategies for nutritional improvement.”

F urther, DTI stressed, “The DOH or the FDA examines the com position and content of processed food products for hazardous com ponents or ingredients, including instant noodles.”

So it’s actually on a case to case basis, what is important are the is sues being brought by the parties be fore the SC. Is it a question of consti tutional rights so blatantly violated? Then we have to take a second look. It really depends on the situation and on other considerations that would be presented before the Court to jus tify the modification or the reversal of the decision,” he added.

L ast September, President Mar cos expressed his desire to have the estate tax case against his family be reopened because they were not able to present their side during the pro ceedings on the case since they were detained in a United States air base in Hawaii at that time.

L ast March, it was reported that the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) already sent a demand letter to the Marcoses to settle the unpaid taxes, which stemmed from a 1994 Court of Appeals decision.

THE Department of Health (DOH) on Wednesday reported a whopping 270-percent increase in cholera cases in the country logged from January to October 2022.

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UN envoy: Myanmar crisis deepens, taking ‘catastrophic toll on people’

By Edith M. Lederer The Associated Press

UNITED NATIONS—The special envoy for Myanmar warned Tuesday that the political, human rights and humanitarian crisis in the militaryruled Southeast Asian nation is deepening and taking “a catastrophic toll on the people.”

Noeleen Heyzer told the—Gen eral Assembly’s human rights com mittee that more than 13.2 million people don’t have enough to eat, 1.3 million are displaced and the military continues operations using dispro portionate force including bombings, burnings of homes and buildings, and the killing of civilians.

Heyzer’s briefing was her first at the—in New York since she visited Myanmar in August and met the head of the military government, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing. She said the meeting “was part of broader efforts by the— to urgently support a return to civilian rule.” She stressed that “there is a new political reality

in Myanmar: a people demand ing change, no longer willing to accept military rule.”

Heyzer said she made six re quests during the meeting with the military’s commander-in-chief, including to end aerial bombing and the burning of civilian infra structure; deliver humanitarian aid without discriminating; release all children and political prisoners; institute a moratorium on execu tions; ensure the well-being of and allow meetings with the country’s imprisoned former leader Aung San Suu Kyi; and create conditions for the voluntary and safe return of over 1 million Rohingya refugees who fled to Bangladesh to escape

military crackdowns.

Myanmar for five decades had languished under strict military rule that led to international isola tion and sanctions. As the generals loosened their grip, culminating in Suu Kyi’s rise to leadership in 2015 elections, the international com munity responded by lifting most sanctions and pouring investment into the country.

That ended with the military’s February 1, 2021 coup following November 2020 elections in which Suu Kyi’s National League for De mocracy party won overwhelm ingly and the military contested

as fraudulent.

The takeover was met with massive public opposition, which has since turned into armed resis tance that some—experts, includ ing Heyzer’s predecessor, Christine Schraner Burgener, have character ized as civil war.

Much of the international com munity, including Myanmar’s fel low members in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, have expressed frustration at the hard line the generals have taken in re sisting reform. Myanmar’s rulers agreed to a five-point Asean plan in April 2021 to restore peace and

stability to the country but the military has made little effort to implement the plan.

The plan calls for the immedi ate cessation of violence, a dialogue among all concerned parties, media tion of the dialogue process by an Asean special envoy, provision of humanitarian aid through Asean channels and a visit to Myanmar by the association’s special envoy to meet all concerned parties. Heyzer and Asean special envoy Prak Sok honn, a Cambodian minister, have both visited Myanmar but neither was allowed to meet Suu Kyi.

Heyzer told the human rights committee there are some avenues to pursue.

“While there is little room for the de-escalation of violence or for ‘talks about talks’ in the present zero-sum situation, there are some concrete ways to reduce the suffering of the people,” she said.

Heyzer said she has been work ing “extremely closely” with the Asean envoy and the Asean chair, but she was critical of its five-point consensus, which doesn’t deal with the Rohingya or how best to return Myanmar to civilian rule.

Another issue that is critical, she said, is that the humanitarian aid under the five-point plan “actually works through the channels of the military, and it doesn’t quite reach the people that are most in need.”

Heyzer said that since many more people will be forced to flee

Myanmar to escape violence, she will keep pressing Asean “to develop a regional protection framework for refugees and forcibly displaced persons.”

“The recent forced return of Myanmar nationals, some of whom were detained on arrival, underlines the urgency of a coordinated Asean response to address shared regional challenges caused by the conflict,” she said.

On the humanitarian front, Heyzer said key armed ethnic or ganizations and the opposition Na tional Unity Government appealed to her to convene a forum “to facili tate protection and humanitarian assistance to all people in need, in observance of international hu manitarian law.”

She said the plight of the Ro hingya, and other forcibly displaced from Myanmar, “remains desperate, with many seeking refuge through dangerous land and sea journeys.”

Violence between the Arakan Army and the government in northern Rakhine state, where the Rohingya fled from but where hundreds of thousands of Ro hingya still live, “has escalated to levels not seen since late 2020, with significant cross-border in cursions,” she said.

Heyzer said this is endangering all communities, harming condi tions for the return of Rohingya, and “prolonging the burden on Bangladesh.”

Sunak takes over as UK prime minister amid economic crisis

By Jill Lawless The Associated Press

LONDON—Rishi Sunak became Britain’s third prime minister this year on Tuesday, tasked with taming an economic crisis that has left the country’s finances in a precarious state and millions struggling to pay their food and energy bills.

Sunak, who is the UK’s first leader of color, met King Charles III at Buckingham Palace, where the monarch officially asked the new leader of the governing Conservative Party to form a government, as is tradition.

Sunak clinched the leadership position Monday, seen by his party as a safe pair of hands to stabilize an economy sliding toward recession—and stem its own plunging popularity, after the brief, disastrous term of Liz Truss.

Her package of unfunded tax cuts spooked financial markets with the prospect of ballooning debt, drove the pound to record lows and forced the Bank of England to intervene—weakening Britain’s fragile economy and obliterating Truss’ authority within her party.

In one of his first acts, Sunak announced he would retain Treasury chief Jeremy Hunt, appointed by Truss to steady the markets two weeks ago amid the turmoil. His removal would have set off new tremors.

Sunak—at 42 the youngest British leader in more than 200 years—acknowledged the scale of his challenge as well as the skepticism of a British public alarmed at the state of the economy and weary of a Conservative Party soap opera that has chewed through two prime ministers in as many months.

“I fully appreciate how hard things are,” Sunak said outside the prime minister’s 10 Downing Street residence. “And I understand, too, that I have work to do to restore trust after all that has happened. All I can say is that I am not daunted.”

Sunak immediately set about appointing a Cabinet, aiming to put his stamp on the government while bringing in people from different wings of the Conservative Party.

He removed about a dozen members of Truss’ government, but kept several senior figures in place besides Hunt, including Foreign Secretary James Cleverly and Defense

Secretary Ben Wallace.

Home Secretary Suella Braverman, who resigned last week in a move that helped trigger Truss’ downfall, got her job back. A leading light of the Conservatives’ right wing, Braverman is charged with fulfilling a controversial, stalled plan to send some asylum seekers arriving in Britain on a oneway trip to Rwanda.

Sunak also brought back faces from the era of Truss’ predecessor, Boris Johnson, including Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab and Cabinet veteran Michael Gove.

Sunak aims to assemble an experienced Cabinet whose competence can erase memories of the missteps and U-turns of the past months. But the right-of-center party’s divisions over immigration, relations with Europe and other big issues, remain deep. Allies of Truss and the scandal-plagued Johnson who have been sidelined or demoted from government can now nurture grievances from Parliament’s backbenches.

“This is not a fresh start. It’s the same Conservative cabinet of chaos,” opposition Labour Party lawmaker Rosena Allin-Khan

said on Twitter.

When he was Treasury chief, Sunak became popular with the public by handing out billions in support to shuttered businesses and laid-off workers during the Covid-19 pandemic.

But now he will have to oversee tax hikes and public spending cuts as he tries to bring inflation and government debt under control. A wave of strikes over pay that has already seen walkouts by railway staff, telecoms workers, garbage collectors, lawyers and dockworkers is likely to spread.

Acknowledging “difficult decisions to come,” Sunak tried to draw a line under the chaos that engulfed Truss and Johnson. He said his government “will have integrity, professionalism and accountability at every level.”

Opponents already depict Sunak as out of touch with the concerns of ordinary people because of his privileged private school background, previous career as a hedge fund manager and vast wealth.

Much of Sunak’s fortune comes through his wife Akshata Murty, whose father is the

billionaire founder of Indian IT firm Infosys. The couple is worth 730 million pounds ($826 million), according to the Sunday Times Rich List.

In April 2022, it emerged that Murty did not pay UK tax on her overseas income. The practice was legal—and Murty soon agreed to relinquish it—but it looked bad at a time when millions of Britons were struggling to make ends meet.

Sunak’s victory is a remarkable reversal of fortune just weeks after he lost to Truss in a Conservative election to replace Johnson. Sunak was chosen as Conservative leader on Monday after becoming the only candidate to clear the nomination threshold of 100 lawmakers. Sunak defeated House of Commons Leader Penny Mordaunt—who keeps that job in his government—and Johnson, who failed to rally enough support for a comeback bid.

Next Sunak has to prepare for a budget statement, scheduled to be delivered by Hunt on October 31, that will set out how the government plans to come up with billions of pounds (dollars) to fill a fiscal hole created by soaring inflation and a sluggish economy— and exacerbated by Truss’ destabilizing plans.

Truss announced her resignation last week and departed Tuesday after making a defiant public statement in Downing Street, seven weeks to the day after she was appointed prime minister.

Truss offered a defense of her low-tax vision, saying she was “more convinced than ever that we need to be bold and confront the problems we face.”

She leaves a Conservative Party trailing the left-of-center Labour Party in opinion polls. Sunak has at most two years to turn its fortunes around. There does not need to be an election until the end of 2024, though public pressure to call an early poll is growing.

Jill Rutter, of the Institute for Government, said Sunak’s task was to show the Conservatives “are capable of governing in a fair way in the national interest.”

“If they continue to look like a party that is incapable of making decisions, incapable of making those decisions stick, then they will probably deserve to be punished by the electorate next time round,” she said.

IN this image provided by the Military True News Information Team, United Nations special envoy for Myanmar Noeleen Heyzer, center, arrives at the Yangon International Airport on August 16, 2022, in Yangon, Myanmar. Heyzer warned Tuesday, October 25, that the political, human rights and humanitarian crisis in the military-ruled Southeast Asian nation is deepening and taking “a catastrophic toll on the people.” Heyzer told the U.N. General Assembly’s human rights committee that more than 13.2 million people don’t have enough to eat, 1.3 million are displaced and the military continues operations using disproportionate force. MYANMAR TRUE NEWS INFORMATION TEAM VIA AP

BRITISH Prime Minister Rishi Sunak delivers a speech at 10 Downing Street in London on Tuesday, October 25, 2022. New British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak arrived at Downing Street Tuesday after returning from Buckingham Palace where he was invited to form a government by Britain’s King Charles III. AP/ALASTAIR GRANT

Agriculture/Commodities

By Manuel T. Cayon @awimailbox Mindanao Bureau Chief

DAVAO CITY—The seeds from Tarlac’s Ylang-ylang trees are now producing the perfume-quality smell of the essen tial oil from this flowering tree, and more of this tree will be planted in the other towns to produce enough volume for export.

L ast month, the Sarangani pro vincial government donated three distiller machines to the Tri-People Agroforestry Farmers (TRIPAF), an association of mixed tribal vil lagers, settlers and Moro residents who have been propagating YlangYlang in Maasim.

Governor Rogelio “Ruel” D. Pac quiao said he hoped this donation would help the Tri-People Agrofor estry Farmers Association members and the people of Maasim and the rest of the Sarangani residents.

“Nais natin na mapaunlad ang produksyon ng Ylang-Ylang essen tial oil lalo na nang malaman natin na bukod sa napakabango nito, ay may ilang eksperto din na nagbigay ng opinyon na nakakatulong din ito bilang pangpakalma o stress reliever [We want to boost production of Ylang-Ylang essential oil, especial ly after we learned that besides its great scent, some experts now say it can also serve as calming agent or stress reliever],” he said.

His message was delivered by Ka reen Amlon Saloria, program direc tor of Pacquiao’s flagship program Ronda Probinsya.

N abel Hadji Yassin, the DOST regional office representative, said the government agency will assist the association in terms of training.

I n a message read by her son Law rence, former Vice Governor Bridg et Chiongbian-Huang thanked the Department of Science and Tech nology (DOST) “for the support, the technology, and the machine that you have given to this enterprising group. This will [[go] a long way in helping the community.”

S he said it was always her vi sion to bring to Sarangani the best variety of Ylang-Ylang that could be exported to Europe and “create a center where everyone will be benefited...and will have a long-lasting impact on the lives of the people.”

I t was Huang who brought to Sarangani a kilo of Ylang-Ylang seeds from Anao, Tarlac back in 2005 to produce seedlings, some of which “now blooms bouquets

of flowers along the highway fronting the Capitol compound,” the provincial information office said.

A fter the seeds were given to Sa rangani, Huang learned that Anao made an ordinance “prohibiting the donation or selling of seeds outside of Anao to protect their industry,” the provincial informa tion office said.

S he said Maasim should be “the leader, be the visionary, be the mover, be the example, be the showcase, be the first one to make oil from this flower. But we must have enough trees in Sarangani; therefore, we must plant, plant, and plant.”

T RIPAF President Genoveva dela Torre said they have encouraged their members and the community to continue planting Ylang-Ylang.

A group of rebel returnees, she said, has already expressed intention to help propagate Ylang-Ylang.

T he Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office and the Sarangani Economic Enter prise Development-Institutional Development Assistance Office (Seed-Idao) helped the associa tion acquire the P500,000 worth of 20-liter capacity machines back in 2018 through funding under DOST’s Community Empower ment Thru Science and Technol ogy Program.

Seed-Idao was attached to the of fice of then Gov. Steve Chiongbian Solon and has since been adopted under the Social Enterprise Em powerment Development program of Ronda Probinsya.

�oan Bartulaba, RP-Seed pro-oan pro gram coordinator, said Seed-Idao was originally created to institu tionalize people’s organizations (POs) and provide livelihood to POs like TRIPAF, which benefited from their convergence initiative with Penro.

E nvironment officer Rolando Tuballes said the employment op portunity generated through this project was just an impact of their mandate to rehabilitate denuded areas in the province, after Maasim was identified among the areas to grow Ylang-Ylang as their rehabili tation specie.

T he 1,000 seedlings that the Penro had provided to TRIPAF came from the breed of YlangYlang trees fronting the Capitol. Ylang-Ylang trees have since been planted also in Barangays Kabati ol, Dalio, Poblacion, Lumasal, Lu matil, Kablacan and Lebe with a total inventory of 1,998 trees.

PHL’s raw sugar output as of mid-Oct up 52.13 percent

of last year.

By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas @jearcalas

THE country’s raw sugar output as of mid-October expanded by half on an annual basis to 224,792 metric tons (MT), driven by higher cane tonnage and better sugar yield.

L atest Sugar Regulatory Admin istration (SRA) data showed that raw sugar production as of October 16 rose by 52.13 percent from last year’s 147,763 MT.

T he increase in output could be attributed to higher sugarcane ton nage that expanded by 47.21 percent, coupled with better sugar yield.

SRA data showed that total sug arcane milled during the reference period reached 2.708 million MT (MMT) compared to the 1.839 MMT recorded volume in the same period

Sugar yield—measured in terms of 50-kilogram bag per ton of cane milled (LKg/TC)—grew, mean while, by 2.41 percent year-on-year to 1.7 LKg/TC.

T he SRA earlier projected that total raw sugar production this crop year 2022-2023 could hit at least 1.87 MMT.

SRA data showed that total raw sugar demand as of October 16 reached 189,672 MT, 12.03 per cent higher than the 169,310 MT recorded requirement in the same period of last year.

However, total raw sugar stocks as of mid-October stood at 138,296.9 MT, about 35 percent lower than last year’s 210,786.09 MT inventory.

Meanwhile, refined sugar produc tion during the period more than tri pled to 96,527.3 MT from last year’s

26,528.3 MT, based on SRA data.

Total refined sugar demand as of October 16 was at 128,603.2 MT, 6.11 percent higher than the 121,199.25 MT recorded last year.

Total refined sugar stocks, includ ing imports, stood at 157,692.5 MT, a fifth higher than the 131,337.4 MT recorded inventory last year, SRA data showed.

SRA data also showed that the millsite price of raw sugar as of Oc tober 9 declined 6.5 percent weekon-week to P3,551.18 per LKg from P3,798.24 per LKg.

T he wholesale price of raw sugar, however, remained at P3,800 per LKg as of October 14, based on SRA data.

T he retail price of raw sugar in Metro Manila markets averaged P84.53 per kilogram.

L ast week, the SRA extended the arrival date of the remaining volume

of sugar for importation under the previous crop year’s program until the end of the month.

T he SRA board, chaired by Presi dent Ferdinand R. Marcos �r. as the concurrent agriculture secretary, issued Sugar Order (SO) 3 Series of 2022-2023, that amended the guide lines of the sugar importation pro gram for crop year (CY) 2021-2022. (Related story: https://business mirror.com.ph/2022/10/21/sraboard-amends-rules-for-sugarimports/)

Earlier this month, retail prices of refined sugar in Metro Manila rose to as much as P134 per kg, a new all-time high, as the supply of the sweetener remains thin. (Related story: https://businessmirror. com.ph/2022/10/10/metro-ma nila-sugar-prices-hit-fresh-alltime-high/)

By Che Palicte

HARARE, Zimbabwe—Zim babwe says it is on the brink of its biggest wheat harvest in history, thanks in large part to efforts to overcome food supply problems caused by the war in Ukraine. But bush fires and im pending rains are threatening crops yet to be harvested.

L ike other African countries, Zimbabwe has for decades relied on imports to offset low local pro duction. After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine resulted in global shortages and price hikes, the country want ed to ensure “self-sufficiency at all costs,” Deputy Agriculture Minister Vangelis Haritatos told The Associ ated Press this week.

T he country expects to harvest 380,000 tons of wheat, “which is 20,000 more than we require as a country,” Haritatos said. That is up from about 300,000 tons pro duced last year.

We are most likely to get the highest tonnage since 1962, when wheat was first introduced to Zimbabwe. A lot of countries are facing shortages, but the oppo site is happening in Zimbabwe,” Haritatos said.

W hile other hunger-stricken African countries are struggling

with reduced wheat imports due to the war in Ukraine, Zimbabwe is looking at using its anticipated surplus of the grain to build “a small strategic reserve” for the first time in its history, agricul ture minister Anxious Masuka told journalists earlier this month. This would cushion Zimbabwe against future shocks.

Masuka said Zimbabwe plans to bump up wheat production to about 420,000 tons next season, giving the country room to keep building its strategic reserve and become an exporter of the grain. Wheat is Zim babwe’s most important strategic crop after corn.

A frican countries—which im ported 44 percent of their wheat from Russia and Ukraine between 2018 and 2020, according to UN figures—were hit hard by the global shortages and price hikes of grains as a result of the war. The African Development Bank has reported a 45 percent increase in wheat prices on the continent.

A frican nations were at the cen ter of Western efforts to reopen Ukraine’s ports as the United States and allies accused Russia of starv ing the world by denying exports from Ukraine, a key global grain

SEN.

Sherwin T. Gatchalian is batting for the establishment of an agriculture information system (AIS) to help ensure an ade quate supply of farm products, boost agricultural output, and reduce pov erty down the line.

“ The government needs to pro vide the infrastructure and the mechanism that would enable our farmers to sell their output where there is demand. Our vision is to help our farmers find their markets as this is key in reducing poverty in the country,” Gatchalian said, as he filed Senate Bill No. 1374.

T he proposed measure provides for the creation of the AIS, to be managed by the Department of Ag riculture (DA), which will serve as a dynamic online computer database where information on the demand for specific agricultural and fish eries commodities is gathered and uploaded, simultaneously with the production data from farmers in every barangay.

A s envisioned, the AIS shall merge and synchronize agricultural data from different sources into a cohesive database designed to facilitate link ages from the farm to the intended consumers, including global markets.

“ We expect that with AIS, our farmers’ livelihood will improve, and this will help ease the problem of hunger in the country,” Gatchalian added, speaking mostly in Filipino.

A ccording to Gatchalian, the measure supports the administra tion’s goal of ensuring food security, especially during emergencies as the country builds a stronger economy. The measure is also in line with a commitment made by the DA to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to push for the agriculture sector’s digitalization in order to achieve its goals of reducing poverty and attaining food security.

Gatchalian said the proposed AIS was inspired by the Municipal Agri cultural Information System devel oped by the local government of Mina, Iloilo which collects, sorts, evaluates, and utilizes agricultural data on farm ers, their families, their activities, land, crop, and livestock production in real-time. Accurate information on any commodity produced in Mina serves as inputs for farmers to mar ket their products outside of their municipality, ensuring them they get better prices for their products, which redound to improved and stable income for them. Butch Fernandez

exporter. African leaders also vis ited Russia to meet with Putin over the issue.

Z imbabwean President Emmer son Mnangagwa in April described the war in Ukraine as a “wake-up call” for countries to grow their own food.

T he answer in Zimbabwe has been to empower local farmers, said Haritatos, the deputy agri

culture minister.

T hat included roping in hun dreds of small-scale, rural farmers to start growing a crop that was tra ditionally reserved for large-scale commercial farmers, improving water supply infrastructure and distributing fertilizers to smallscale farmers as well as increasing private-sector participation. The crop was introduced for the first

DAVAO

CITY—Davao del Norte’s Island Garden City of Samal (IGACOS) is a re cipient of P10 million worth of projects aimed at boosting its swine production, agricultural officials said Wednesday.

In a statement, Olivia Gatus, of ficer in charge of the Agricultural Training Institute (ATI) 11 (Davao region), said the projects consist of housing facilities, breeder animals, and equipment.

Spearheaded by the Department of Agriculture (DA) 11-National Live stock Program and the ATI-11, the program also helps IGACOS raisers to produce their hogs.

T he initiative includes initial inputs for the establishment of a 30 sow-level swine multiplier and techno demo farm project under the NLP’s Integrated National Swine Production Initiatives for Recovery and Expansion (INSPIRE) program.

I NSPIRE aims to help the Phil ippine swine industry recover by increasing hog production and en suring the availability, accessibil ity, and affordability of pork and pork products.

T hrough this program, Gatus

said, there is no need for IGACOS to import pork and its by-products from this city since it can now be self-sufficient.

She said the techno demo farm project aims to produce and dis tribute 646 heads and DNA-tested female (weaner) breeders; process and distribute 501 free doses of boar semen production; and distribute 429 heads male (castrates).

Gatus also said the techno demo farm can serve as a venue for train ing, extension, and learning of farm ers, students, and interested indi viduals, among others.

Through this project, we will support the gradual restocking and repopulation of the swine industry, which in the long run will not only benefit the agriculture sector in Sa mal but the whole Davao region as well,” she said.

Meanwhile, NLP Director Dr. Ruth Miclat Sonaco said the island city’s hog production fell by 40 percent or 9,000 heads from a record 13,000 heads due to African swine fever.

Currently, the project will reha bilitate the swine industry on the island. We cannot go back to how we raised our pigs before; we need to restructure and remodernize,” she said. PNA

time to areas and farmers who had never grown wheat before.

Winter corn production has given way to wheat in many areas, with Zimbabwe banking on corn reserves to meet demand for the staple food. Land used for grow ing wheat increased from 66,000 hectares (163,089 acres) in 2021 to 75,000 hectares this year and will grow to 100,000 hectares next season.

“A lot of countries discount smallscale farmers because they are so small that individually they can not effect much change,” Haritatos said. “But we organized them into clusters and convinced them that it was possible. The quality of most of their crops is premium.”

H e said the war in Ukraine had made Zimbabwe “realize that we shouldn’t rely on other countries for food that we can grow on our own.”

H owever, Zimbabwe’s wheat is predominantly soft, and there is a need to blend it with imported hard wheat varieties to produce quality flour for bread, according to the Grain Millers Association of Zimbabwe. But the government has ruled out imports amid the surplus, saying a special permit

would be needed.

T he wheat harvest runs from Oc tober to December. However, both farmers and the government are concerned by the threat of raging bush fires and imminent rains. They say the fires are more devastating than in previous years as climate change contributes to an extended dry season.

“ Farmers are increasingly get ting worried about the time fac tor. It looks like the rains will be upon us soon. Wheat should be out of the fields,” said Paul Za kariya, director of the Zimbabwe Farmers Union, which represents small-scale growers.

Officials said bush fires destroyed wheat worth nearly $1 million in a single week in mid-October. Zimba bwe is amid the “fire season,” char acterized by severe heat and strong windy and arid conditions that pre cede the rainy season.

T he government says it has de ployed more combine harvesters to help farmers speed up the harvest and is carrying out fire prevention awareness programs. The country’s environmental management agency has described bush fires as “one of the greatest environmental challenges of our time.” AP

editorialGreying with dignity

PeoPle all over the world are living longer. Today, most people can expect to live into their 70s and beyond. The World Health organization said by 2030, one in six people in the world will be aged 60 years or over. In the Philippines, the inevitable tide of rapidly aging population is seen posing two critical challenges for the government: maintaining economic growth and providing adequate and sustainable pension system for elderly Filipinos.

Unfortunately, the country’s retirement system trails behind global and regional peers, according to the 14th annual Mercer CFA Institute Global Pension Index. In this report, which analyzed the 44 pension systems across the globe, the Philippines settled at the 43rd position, with an aggregate D grade. While most retirement income systems worldwide saw overall improvements, this was not the case for the country as it only got a total score of 42. Iceland was first with a score of 84.7 and an aggregate A grade.

The Philippines’s retirement income system was the laggard among all the surveyed countries. This sub-index gauges three broad areas of the pension system, namely, regulation and governance, protection and communication for members, and operating costs.

Reacting to the latest Mercer CFA Institute Global Pension Index report, Rep. Joey Sarte Salceda, chairman of the House Committee on Ways and Means, said the government should now enact pension reforms as the country’s pension system has been steadily sliding. “Among the world’s most populous economies, we have almost the worst pension system. Decades of neglect, bad policies, special treatment for certain sectors, and a culture that is indisposed to saving for the future have all led to this predicament. But now that it has surfaced within our lifetime, it is our duty to solve it,” Salceda said (Read, “Pension reforms must be enacted before 2028,” BusinessMirror, October 24, 2022).

Salceda also warned that without reforms, breadwinners will continue to be the retirement plans of their parents. “As a result, if we don’t make reforms within this generation, we will burden our children. Gen Z breadwinners will continue to be the retirement plans of their parents. Instead of saving for homes or for their children’s education, they will be supporting the living and medical expenses of their elders. And that will keep us from being a rich country because the ability of our young to build their own wealth will be hampered by the needs of their dependent parents,” he said.

Salceda calls this “a terrible curse on our children—a curse only my own generation of policymakers can lift. If we ignore this growing problem, we will be truly irresponsible parents.”

Citing figures from the Philippine Statistics Authority, Salceda said only about 20 percent of senior citizens are covered by pensions either from the Social Security System or the Government Service Insurance System. He said the Philippine pension assets under management represent a measly 16 percent of gross domestic product compared with the average 36 percent of non-OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries.

“Pension contributions to the SSS are capped at a certain salary level. Beyond that cap, those with higher salary levels are not required to pay higher sums. The private pension system is also still managed by individual employers, and a single corporate pension framework does not exist,” he added.

“I am proposing that the House of Representatives create a select commission on pension reforms, with the mandate to work with national government agencies to craft a full appraisal of the size of the country’s pension problem and propose solutions within six months. The Executive Branch should create its own select commission, which can work on executive issuances that will improve pension governance, and also propose legislation to Congress,” Salceda said.

This is a timely proposal that can help improve the sad situation that only 20 percent of our senior citizens are covered by pensions. We have to strengthen the country’s retirement and pension system and make it a fully funded program that is actuarially fair and stable. There’s also a need to implement a comprehensive investor education program to promote financial inclusion and encourage savings and prudential investments on the part of employees. As Salceda pointed out, neglecting pension reform now will be a “sin of omission the next generation would rightly blame us for.”

The cascading effect

John Mangun

OUTSIDE THE BOX

You have undoubtedly experienced a traffic gridlock where “lines of vehicles block a network of intersecting streets, bringing traffic in all directions to a standstill.”

Often it starts with one car, motorcycle, or jeepney moving outside the normal flow of traffic, which creates a cascading effect through the local system. If not resolved, this can extend farther to where a gridlock in the Muntinlupa area causes traffic jam on the South Luzon Expressway (Slex) near Magallanes, 15 kilometers up the road. The cascading effect—an inevitable and sometimes unforeseen chain of events due to an act or event affecting a system.

A gridlock may resolve itself if that one vehicle decides to move back in line and others work to allow that to happen. Sometimes it is almost like magic that the traffic starts moving again. If you were one of those on the Slex/Skyway, you wonder what happened to cause the problem and then wonder what happened to alleviate it.

We have seen various actual gridlocks during the past two years in

international trade. Shipping from Asia to Los Angeles came to a standstill causing massive supply chain problems in the US. Once cargo started moving across the Pacific, there was another gridlock as the LA port handling facilities were overloaded in October 2021.

Cargos started moving again through the port, but final delivery to end-users was brutally obstructed by an artificial shortage of trucking due to the great number of containers that needed to be transported. Then, empty containers began piling up in the Port of LA as there were no outbound shipments to Asia and there were no excess ships to bring empty containers back to the Philippines, for example. Our exporters could not find containers to move their goods to the US and when they could, prices were tripled. Cascading effect.

Most of the major negative economic fallout from the lockdowns bottomed out by the end of the second quarter 2021. But there is little satisfaction found in that fact as the cascading effect continued and then all hell broke loose on February 24, 2022.

One way to illustrate this is the price of European Union natural gas, which was €40 in August 2021 and started 2022 at €70 jumping to €225. The price went back to below €100 but then in late August shot up to near €350. The world was obviously coming to an end.

Now EU NatGas is back to €100. Is life going back to normal? It is not that simple. Because of that gridlock in Muntinlupa, you were stuck on the Skyway. As a result, you were late to an appointment near the airport, lost the deal and your business, also your family, and you will end your life suffering alone in poverty and shame. Cascading effect.

US inflation started rising at the end second quarter 2021 as the economy opened up again. Inflation accelerated in October because of supply chain problems of “raw materials and finished goods” and caused a consumer product supply shortage. In January 2022, as the drums of war were beating in Ukraine, inflation became more aggressive.

By May 2022 with the war in full swing, the “inflation pandemic”

went global, including in the Philippines. At the same time, the Federal Reserve started raising interest rates to slow if not kill the inflation monster. No such luck. Rate increases have continued more aggressively, not stopping inflation but pushing the value of the US dollar to a 30-year high against the yen, a 20-year low for the euro, and the British pound—and the Philippine peso—to a historic low.

October 12, 2021: International Monetary Fund—“Global economic growth will reach 4.9 percent in 2022.” “The IMF’s World Economic Outlook for January 2022 says global growth will be 4.4 percent in 2022.” World Economic Outlook Update

July 2022: “The baseline forecast is for growth to slow to 3.2 percent in 2022 and down now to just 2.9 percent in 2023.”

Lockdowns to trade gridlock to inflation to rate increases to currency devaluation—and throw a war into the list—and you have a cascade of poor economics that is not going to end until the last domino falls. Once more—the economic chaos of 2023 will be much harsher than that of 2020-2021, and the political upheaval will be worse.

E-mail me at mangun@gmail.com. Follow me on Twitter @mangunonmarkets. PSE stock-market information and technical analysis provided by AAA Southeast Equities Inc.

Brazilian voters bombarded with misinformation before vote

By Diane Jeantet | The Associated Press

RIo De JANeIRo — Brazilian voters are being bombarded by online misinformation less than a week before they pick their next leader.

People on social media say, wrongly, that the leftist candidate in Brazil’s presidential election plans to close down churches if elected. There are lies that Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva wants to let men use public-school restrooms next to little girls. And they’re falsely alleging that rightwing President Jair Bolsonaro has made comments confessing to cannibalism and pedophilia.

Baseless and politically motivated rumors are whipping through social media in Latin America’s largest democracy, roiling Brazilian politics much as US politics has been roiled. The onslaught of fake rumors helped prompt Brazil last week to enact what some experts call the strictest limits on speech in the country’s young democracy.

It’s a conundrum posed by social media across the world, especially in countries wrangling with the intersection between modern technology and free speech. Brazil has adopted a particularly heavy-handed approach. Experts say that in doing so, authorities have raised questions about the country’s commitment to free speech.

“What is happening in Brazil, on Facebook, on YouTube and other platforms looks awfully similar to what was happening in the US around the 2020 election,” said Vicky Wyatt, a campaign director at the US-based activist group SumOfUs. “An individual post might not have that much reach, but cumulatively over time, having this constant drip-drip has negative consequences.”

Overall, conservative channels produce more content—and more false, problematic content, too. According to a tally by the Igarape institute, in the eight days before and after the Oct. 2 first-round vote, far-right YouTube channels attracted 99 million views while leftist channels had 28 million views. Political analysts and the opposition have expressed fears that Bolsonaro’s Internet army may help him challenge the results if he loses, by spreading unfounded allegations of fraud.

The Superior Electoral Court, the country’s top electoral authority, announced Thursday that it would be banning “false or seriously decontextualized” content that “affects

the integrity of the electoral process.” No request from a prosecutor or complainant is necessary for the court to take action.

In the days leading up to, and just after, the second round of the election on Oct. 30, social media companies like YouTube and Meta – owner of Facebook and Instagram – will be given just an hour, far less time than before, to remove problematic content. No company has commented.

Platforms that do not comply will face fines of up to 150,000 reals ($28,000) per hour and possibly be blocked on Brazilian servers for up to 24 hours.

The electoral tribunal’s president, Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, said “the aggressiveness of this information and of hate speech” merits the measure. ProsecutorGeneral Augusto Aras, a Bolsonaro appointee who is widely considered a government ally, filed a motion with the Supreme Court to reverse measures that he said were unconstitutional. Aras said they amounted to “prior censorship,” infringing on the freedom of expression and the right to inform and to be informed in the Brazilian Constitution.

The Supreme Court sided with the electoral court in a hearing Tuesday. The Brazilian Constitution’s take on freedom of expression is similar to that of the US one, said Luis Clau-

dio Araujo, a law professor at Ibmec University.

The tribunal also banned paid electoral advertising on the Internet two days before, and a day after, the election.

The fresh measures angered many Bolsonaro supporters. Others said they were justified by the scale of the online dirty war.

Misinformation has become more radical—and organized—since the 2018 presidential campaign, when far-right groups were accused of spreading mass disinformation in support of Bolsonaro.

“In 2018 it was a kind of playground thing. It was more honest, in the sense that they ideologically believed in what was happening and simply created channels as a way to be part of the conversation,” said Guilherme Felitti, founder of Novelo Data, which monitors more than 500 conservative YouTube channels.

Some of those have since turned their online activism into businesses, relying on ad revenues and donations from their growing audience. Some ran for office themselves this year.

Enzo Leonardo Suzin, better known under his YouTube alias Enzuh, was one of them. He launched his channels in 2015.

When Bolsonaro began his campaign, Suzin used his own YouTube

Ambassador Antonio L. Cabangon Chua Founder

UK’s Sunak is first PM of color, but equality fight not over

By Danica Kirka | The Associated Press

LOnDOn Harmeet Singh Gill was excited to hear that Rishi Sunak would become Britain’s first prime minister of color — news that came as he celebrated the Diwali festival in a London neighborhood sometimes called Little India.

“It’s almost a watershed moment,” the 31-year-old said as he volunteered at the cavernous dometopped house of worship that serves the Sikh community in west London’s Southall neighborhood. “It’s just a sign of 21st-century Britain, where it doesn’t matter what background you’re from now, that you can rise up the ranks to the positions of power.”

But, for many people of color in the U.K., it’s not so simple. Sunak, 42, will be the first Hindu and the first person of South Asian descent to lead the country, which has a long history of colonialism and has often struggled to welcome immigrants from its former colonies—and continues to grapple with racism and wealth inequality.

King Charles III asked Sunak, whose parents moved to Britain from Africa in the 1960s, to form a new government Tuesday, a day after he was chosen leader of the governing Conservative Party.

The milestone is doubly significant for many people with Asian roots because it comes during Diwali, the five-day festival of light celebrated by Hindus, Sikhs and Jains.

Earlier this year, Sunak, a practicing Hindu, spoke about the significance of lighting Diwali candles outside the official Downing Street residence of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the post he held for two years until he resigned in July.

“It was one of my proudest moments that I was able to do that on the steps of Downing Street,” he told the Times of London. “And it meant a lot to a lot of people and it’s an amazing thing about our country.”

It wasn’t always that way in Britain.

In 1968, Conservative lawmaker Enoch Powell delivered his infamous “rivers of blood” speech decrying mass migration and advocating assistance for immigrants to “return home.”

As recently as 1987, there were no people from ethnic minority backgrounds in the House of Commons. One Asian and three Black members were elected to Parliament that year.

Numbers have increased steadily since, with 65 people from ethnic minority groups, or 10 percent of the House of Commons, elected during the last general election in 2019. That still isn’t fully representative of the UK as a whole, where 13 percent of the population identify as ethnic minorities.

Sunak’s win is evidence of this progress—a step toward something better, said Tariq Modood, director of the Centre for the Study of Ethnicity and Citizenship at the University of Bristol.

“I would say the most important thing about today is that the majority, the overwhelming majority of Conservative members of Parliament, chose as their first choice a youngish man of Indian descent, making him the first British prime minister of color,’’ he said Monday.

“And I think that other parties will note that, the Labour Party most certainly, and will want to catch up with that, if not try and do better.”

But Sunak isn’t typical of the millions of people from Asian, African and Caribbean backgrounds who still face barriers in employment and education.

The son of a doctor and a pharmacist, Sunak earned an undergraduate degree from the University of Oxford and a master’s in business administration from Stanford University before going to work for Goldman Sachs and then moving into the hedge fund industry, where he made a fortune in finance. He is married to

Akshata Murty, daughter of Indian billionaire N.R. Narayana Murthy, founder of the global information technology company Infosys.

Sunak was criticized earlier this year when British news media reported that his wife took advantage of rules allowing her to avoid UK taxes on her foreign income. She has since promised to give up her “non-domiciled” status and pay all her taxes in Britain.

On a broader level, Indians have fared better economically than other minority groups in Britain.

Indians earned an average of €14.43 ($16.29) an hour, or 15.5 percent more than white British residents, in 2019, the latest figures available from the Office for National Statistics. By contrast, people from Pakistan and Bangladesh earned about 15 percent less than white people, and Black people earned 6.9 percent less.

Baroness Sayeeda Warsi, the first Muslim woman to attend Cabinet when she served in former Prime Minister David Cameron’s government, said she thought Sunak would be a unifying figure for all British Asians.

“But there has been a huge debate on whether or not this is something that we should celebrate, and I think we do celebrate the fact that this is visible diversity,” Warsi told the BBC.

“But it has to go beyond visible diversity. There have to be young children today from poor homes, going to ordinary state schools, who say that they, too, could become prime minister.”

Sunder Katwala, director of British Future, a think tank focused on immigration, identity and race, called Sunak’s victory a “historic moment” that wouldn’t have been possible just a decade ago. But, he said, the struggle to end discrimination isn’t over.

“I hope that Sunak will acknowledge that not everybody has enjoyed his advantages in life,” Katwala said.

“Rishi Sunak reaching 10 Downing Street does not make Britain a perfect meritocracy. While there is more to do, this is a hopeful sign of progress against the prejudices of the past.”

Sathnam Sanghera, a columnist for the Times of London, said Sunak’s promotion was “amazing” as he recalled the hatred and violence faced by Black and Asian people in Britain in the past.

Immigrants of his parents’ generation still remember the white gangs that roamed the streets “looking for West Indians, Africans or Asians to assault,” and coming home to find excrement stuffed through their mailboxes.

“Some people on the left appear to be reluctant to say it, but it is undeniably a great thing that, in Rishi Sunak, Britain has its first brown prime minister,” Sanghera wrote.

“Frankly, I never expected to see such a thing in my lifetime.”

But while Sunak’s success will boost the aspirations of young people throughout Britain, more work needs to be done, Sanghera said.

“Just because we have one British Hindu in charge, and just because some brown ethnic groups are doing well, it doesn’t mean that Britain has defeated racism,” he wrote. “No more than Barack Obama’s election as president represented the defeat of racism in America.”

Those challenges are on display in Southall, where two-thirds of the people have roots in South Asia and real incomes are about 20% of the London average, according to the local governing council. Jo Kearney contributed.

Social media and trademark infringement

rights to use a particular name and this will help prove ownership of the name if someone claims that they used a similar name first.

Dennis gorecho

LegaL Bytes

BUSA

n, South Korea—Social media has become an important tool or means to promote one’s business ideas. However, it also has become a venue of trademark infringement.

The interplay of social media and trademark was one of the issues discussed during the workshops of the recent 73rd Council Meeting of the Asian Patent Attorneys Association (APAA) from October 15 to 18, 2022 held in Busan, South Korea.

“Social media” is the commonly accepted term used to describe the use of web technology to provide a platform for distributing user-generated content.

In the Philippines, DataReportal noted that there is an estimated 83.85 million Facebook users, 56.50 million YouTube users,18.65 million Instagram users, 35.96 million TikTok users, 10.50 million Twitter users, and 11 million LinkedIn “members.”

Social media not only functions as a great marketing tool but it is also an effective customer service tool as well. Visibility of products or services is just a few clicks away on a computer, tablet or smartphone.

Activity on social media not only provides information on a product or service identified with a trademark, but also contributes to the general

image and reputation of a person or company.

A trademark identifies and differentiates the source of the goods or services of one entity from those of others, which may include a name, word, phrase, logo, symbol, design, image, or a combination of these elements. There is also a range of non-conventional trademarks comprising marks, which do not fall into these standard categories, such as those based on color, smell, or sound.

Trademark is covered by the term “intellectual property rights,” which also include (a) copyright and related rights; (b) geographic indications; (c) industrial designs; (d) patents; (e) layout-designs (topographies) of integrated circuits; and (f) protection of undisclosed information.

Trademark protection can be obtained through registration by filing an application for registration with the national trademark office and paying the required fees or one can use WIPO’s Madrid System.

Registration for one’s trademark ensures that the owner has the sole

Some of the main social mediarelated trademark violations are infringement, defamation, cyber squatting, passing off and brand or trademark dilution.

Trademark infringement is the unauthorized use of a trademark or service mark on or in connection with goods and/or services in a manner that is likely to cause confusion, deception, or mistake about the source of the goods and/or services.

The risk of “passing off” happens where infringers claim to be associated with a brand but are not.

Infringement occurs when a well-known company’s trademark is mentioned in the description of an infringer’s posts, or use it as a hashtag (#) along with a picture or video of their product or service.

The offensive usage of hashtags and the reservation of usernames on social media platforms are exceedingly harmful to the trademark holders.

Infringers try to capture the traffic of people on these platforms and divert it to their own marketing posts rather than the original company’s page or profile.

They try to “pass off” their product or service as the product of the company whose trademark they are using. The end result is to gain more customers using the repute and name of some well-known company and make profit.

“Cybersquatting” is a type of domain name trademark infringement

involving the bad faith registration of Internet domain names. Individuals involved in this act will register, sell or use a website domain that inappropriately incorporates a protected trademark or service mark. The intent of undertaking this action is to profit from an established brand’s goodwill among consumers.

Trademark dilution refers to the unauthorized use of a trademark that is likely to weaken the distinctive quality of or harm a famous mark.

The owner must keep an eye out for other businesses that may be accidentally or intentionally infringing its name, in social media or any other channel. And this goes not only for the exact name but also for a name that is potentially confusingly similar.

If the owner suspects someone is infringing on its trademark, it can notify the platform and consider taking legal action.

Evidence of the infringement must be obtained by either screen capturing or printing of the page, making sure there is a clear display of the date and location of the posting.

If the platform finds the reported account holder in violation, they may either suspend the account or give the user an opportunity to comply before suspension.

The owner, through an IP lawyer, must be vigilant in monitoring for potentially confusing trademarks so steps can be promptly taken to stop infringement.

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.

School gunman had AR-15-style weapon, 600 rounds of ammo

By michael phillis & jim salter | The Associated Press

ST. LOUIS—A 19-year-old who killed a teacher and a 15-yearold girl at a St. Louis high school was armed with an AR-15style rifle and what appeared to be more than 600 rounds of ammunition, a police official said Tuesday.

Orlando Harris also left behind a handwritten note offering his explanation for the shooting Monday at Central Visual and Performing Arts High School, St. Louis Police Commissioner Michael Sack told reporters. Tenth-grader Alexzandria Bell and 61-year-old physical education teacher Jean Kuczka died and seven students were wounded before police killed Harris in an exchange of gunfire.

Sack read Harris’s note in which the young man lamented that he had no friends, no family, no girlfriend and a life of isolation. Harris called it the “perfect storm for a mass shooter.”

Sack said Harris had ammunition strapped to his chest and in a bag, and that additional magazines were found dumped in stairwells.

“This could have been much worse,” Sack said.

The attack forced students to barricade doors and huddle in classroom corners, jump from windows and run out of the building to seek safety. One girl said she was eye-toeye with the shooter before his gun apparently jammed and she was able to run out. Several people inside the school said they heard Harris warn, “You are all going to die!”

Harris graduated from the school last year. Sack, speaking at a news conference, urged people to come forward when someone who appears to suffer from mental illness or distress

Brazilian . . .

continued from A14

channel and created several WhatsApp groups—including one he named “memes factory”—to target Bolsonaro’s perceived rivals—mayors, governors and even de Moraes, the Supreme Court Justice.

He has been found guilty and fined as much as 50,000 reais (just under $10,000) in five different defamation and libel lawsuits. He is also a target of a Supreme Court investi-

begins “speaking about purchasing firearms or causing harm to others.”

Alexzandria was a bright, charismatic girl with a sassy personality who was working hard to improve her dancing and her grades, said Central’s principal, Kacy Seals-Shahid. She was a member of the school’s junior varsity dance team, her father said.

“Alexzandria was my everything,” her father, Andre Bell, told KSDK-TV. “She was joyful, wonderful and just a great person.”

“She was the girl I loved to see and loved to hear from. No matter how I felt, I could always talk to her and it was alright. That was my baby,” he said. The morning of the shooting, Alexzandria’s mom brought her daughter’s glasses to the school when she noticed the teenager had left them home. Her mom got to the school before Alexzandria arrived by school bus.

“When Alex got off her bus, I asked her, ‘Aren’t you going to need these because you can’t see without those?’” Seals-Shahid said. “The family was super supportive of Alexzandria.”

Abby Kuczka said her mother was killed when the gunman burst into her classroom and she moved between him and her students.

“My mom loved kids,” Abbey Kuczka told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “She loved her students. I know her students looked at her like she was

gation into the spread of fake news online, which also include Bolsonaro and political allies.

With each legal process, Suzin gained a few more followers.

“I thought of YouTube like a game,” Suzin told the Associated Press. “It was my plan from the start: to be a provocateur, cursing about corrupt mobsters, them suing me and me growing on the back of that.”

His Facebook and Twitter accounts have been blocked—but not his YouTube channel, where he still posts every day. He lost his bid to be-

their mom.”

The seven injured students are all 15 or 16 years old. Sack said four suffered gunshot or graze wounds, two had bruises and one had a broken ankle — apparently from jumping out of the three-story building. All were listed in stable condition.

The school in south St. Louis was locked, with seven security guards at the doors, St. Louis Schools Superintendent Kelvin Adams said. A security guard initially became alarmed when he saw Harris trying to get in one of the doors. He had a gun and “there was no mystery about what was going to happen. He had it out and entered in an aggressive, violent manner,” Sack said.

That guard alerted school officials and made sure police were contacted. Harris managed to get inside anyway. Sack declined to say how, saying he didn’t want to “make it easy” for anyone else who wants to break into a school.

Police offered this timeline: A 911 call came in at 9:11 a.m. alerting police of an active shooter. Officers—some off-duty wearing street clothes—arrived at 9:15 a.m.

Police located Harris at 9:23 a.m. on the third floor, where he had barricaded himself inside a classroom. Police said in a news release that when Harris shot at officers, they shot back and broke through the door.

At 9:25 a.m., when Harris pointed his rifle at police, they fired several shots. He was secured by police at 9:32 a.m. Police said Alexzandria was found in a hallway and died at the scene. Kuczka was found in a classroom and died at a hospital.

Central Visual and Performing Arts shares a building with another magnet school, Collegiate School of

come a state lawmaker this month.

Bolsonaro has long claimed the country’s electronic voting system has been used to commit fraud — though he has repeatedly failed to produce proof. He has cited the fact that hackers once penetrated the electoral commission’s computer system. The electoral court has said the hackers didn’t gain access to any vote-counting data.

As a result, false or misleading information on the reliability of the country’s electronic machines have also spread widely on social media.

Medicine and Bioscience. Central has 383 students, Collegiate 336.

It was the 40th school shooting this year resulting in injuries or death, according to a tally by Education Week—the most in any year since it began tracking shootings in 2018. The deadly attacks include the killings of 19 children and two teachers at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, in May.

Matt Davis, president of the St. Louis Board of Education, said police and school officials acted quickly to Monday’s shooting.

“And yet, we are still left with tragedy,” Davis said.

For now, the survivors are dealing with the trauma.

The gunman pointed his weapon at Raymond Parks, a dance teacher at the school, but did not shoot him, Parks said. The kids in his class escaped outside and Parks stopped traffic and get someone to call the police. They came quickly.

“You couldn’t have asked for better,” Parks said of the police response.

Ashley Rench said she was teaching advanced algebra to sophomores when she heard a loud bang. Then the school intercom announced, “Miles Davis is in the building.”

“That’s our code for intruder,” Rench said.

The gunman tried the door of the classroom but did not force his way in, she said. When police officers started banging, she wasn’t sure at first if it really was law enforcement until she was able to glance out and see officers.

“Let’s go!” she told the kids. Salter reported from O’Fallon, Missouri. Associated Press writers Margaret Stafford and Heather Hollingsworth in Kansas City, Missouri, contributed to this report.

Ordem Dourada do Brasil, a farright group displaying nostalgia for the 1964-1985 military dictatorship, has posted videos vowing to go to war “if we need to,” questioning Brazil’s voting system and calling for Brazilians to take the streets in support of Bolsonaro.

The Supreme Court and some of its justices have also been victims of the disinformation war, with one post threatening violence against the daughters of justices. Many others have asked that the institution be shut down.

TAIWAN’S INVESTMENTS IN PEZA ECLIPSE CHINA’S

By Andrea E. San Juan

TAIWANESE investments in the Philippines have exceed ed mainland Chinese invest ments, according to the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA).

In PEZA, the Taiwanese are the bigger investor than the mainland Chinese with their approved cumu lative investments of P24.7 billion,” PEZA Officer-In-Charge (OIC) and Deputy Director General (DDG) for Policy and Planning Tereso O. Panga said on Wednesday, following the sign ing of Bilateral Investment Agreement and New Southbound Trade Treaty between the Philippines and Taiwan.

W ith the signing of the agree ments, Panga said PEZA, an invest ment promotion agency (IPA), has “joined forces” with the Board of Investments (BOI), Department of Trade and Industry-Philippine Trade and Investment Center (DTIPTIC), Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO), Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in the Philippines (TECO) and Taiwanese Business Chambers in conducting outbound investment and trade promotions.

T he signing of the agreements took place during the Philippine Invest ment Mission to Taiwan, which was spearheaded by Trade undersecretary Ceferino Rodolfo on October 24 to 27.

T hese agreements, Panga noted, will pave the way for attracting more foreign direct investment (FDI) from Taiwan and increasing its share in the ecozone investments and exports of goods and services.

As of July 2022, there are a total of 108 Taiwanese enterprises registered in PEZA. They are into real estate

activities, electrical machinery and apparatus, N.E.C., wearing apparel, fabricated metal products, radio, tele vision and communication equipment and apparatus,” the PEZA official said.

T hese companies, Panga noted, contributed P32.87 billion of invest ments, $535.527 million worth of exports, and 46,564 direct jobs.

According to the PEZA official, “Our big-ticket Taiwanese investors include Sunon Properties (P4.5 bil lion), Tong Hsing Electronics (2.9 billion), Kinpo Electronics (P2.1 bil lion), and its affiliate company Acbel Polytech (P1.7 billion).”

According to Panga, the Philip pines will benefit from its increased economic cooperation with Taiwan, given Taiwan’s status as the 7th largest economy in Asia and 20th largest in the world by purchasing power parity.

Moreover, Panga noted, Taiwan is driven by a competitive manufactur ing sector in the fields of electronics, machinery, petrochemicals, energy, and [information and communica tion technology] ICT products.

E quipped with the CREATE investment and tax incentives in place, Panga said PEZA is eyeing strategic and high-tech industries from Taiwan “that will provide for ecozone product sophistica tion, export diversification, laborintensive and high-skilled jobs, knowledge transfer, enhanced lo cal supply chain, and creation of industry clusters.” CREATE, or the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incen tives for Enterprises, was passed by the 18th Congress among measures to help draw more investments as businesses were struggling to re cover from the pandemic’s impacts.

banks

PHL Rule of Law index rank is up, but trails Asean peers

By Cai U. Ordinario @caiordinario

with an overall score in the in dicator of 0.50. The indicator where the country was ranked the lowest was fundamental rights at 118th out of 140 with a score of 0.40.

I n terms of score, the country received its highest score of 0.66 for order and security which, how ever, only allowed it to rank 101st out of 140 countries.

T he lowest score received by the Philippines was 0.32 for crimi nal justice, where it ranked 117th out of 140 countries globally.

I n the last year, WJP said 10 out of 15 countries declined in East Asia and the Pacific. Of those 10 countries, six also declined in the previous year. Among lower-middle income countries, the Philippines ranks 16th out of 38 countries.

to see its Rule of Law Index score increase this year. Globally, 4.4 billion people live in countries where rule of law has declined over the past year.

Globally, the top-ranked coun try in the WJP Rule of Law Index 2022 is Denmark, followed by Norway, Finland, Sweden, and the Netherlands. The country with the lowest score is Venezue la, then Cambodia, Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Haiti.

T he WJP Rule of Law Index is the world’s leading source of inde pendent rule of law data. It draws on in-depth surveys with more than 154,000 everyday people and 3,600 legal practitioners and experts to measure rule of law.

T he country is now ranked 97th out of 140 countries in 2022 with an overall score of 0.47.

However, it is the laggard among its Asean peers and the third to the last in the East Asia and the Pacific (EAP) region.

I t ranked fifth in the Asean-5 while it ranked 13th out of 15 in the East Asia and the Pacif ic region. The highest ranking country in the Asean is Singa pore, ranked 17th in the world while New Zealand topped the EAP with a world ranking of 7th out of 140 economies.

“ Philippines’s overall rule of law score increased 1.4 percent in this year’s Index. It ranks 97th out of 140 countries world

wide, rising five positions since last year. Significant trends for Philippines included an im provement in the factor mea suring Order and Security,” WJP said in a statement.

T he index measures each country’s performance in terms of eight indicators. These are constraints on government powers; absence of corruption; open government; and funda mental rights.

T he list of indicators also in clude order and security; regula tory enforcement; civil justice; and criminal justice.

T he Philippines ranked the highest in open government, where it ranked 71st out of 140

We are emerging from the pan demic, but the global rule of law re cession continues,” said Elizabeth Andersen, executive director of the WJP. “At its heart, rule of law is about fairness—that is, accountability, equal rights, and justice for all. And a less fair world is bound to be a more volatile one.”

WJP said for the fifth year in a row, the rule of law has declined globally.

T he World Justice Project’s original data in 140 countries and jurisdictions shows that adher ence to the rule of law fell in 61 percent of countries this year.

H owever, the Philippines is among the minority of countries

S ome of the biggest global de clines this year were in the Index factors associated with rising authoritarianism and the longerterm erosion of rule of law.

T his year, respect for funda mental rights declined in twothirds of countries. Checks on government powers—such as oversight by the judiciary, leg islature, and media—fell in 58 percent of countries this year.

T he other top factor driving this year’s global declines is Civil Justice, largely due to continued pandemic-related delays, weak ened enforcement, and rising discrimination in civil justice systems. Scores for this factor fell in 61 percent of countries this year.

CENTRAL banks also have a role to play in inclusive development, particularly in addressing in equality which has been worsened by the lockdowns imposed to counter the spread of the pandemic, according to the United Nations Economic and So cial Commission for Asia and the Pacific (Unescap).

In a virtual forum on Wednesday, Un escap Macroeconomic Policy and Analy sis Section Officer in Charge Shuvojit Banerjee said this is a less popular view being discussed in the public sphere, but is not in any way less important than other means to promote inclusive de velopment.

B anerjee said central banks can also better invest their official reserves on social bonds. He added that they can also promote financial access educa tion and consumer protection as well as encouraging the public to bring their deposits to banks that have good ESG ratings.

“ What will be required to support the central banks from governments [are] new legal frameworks and joint work with government ministries, ministries in terms of fiscal policy, digital connectiv ity, national IDs, and also the Financial Supervisory agencies in terms of issues such as investments in social bonds,” Ba nerjee said.

I n the same forum, Bangko Sen tral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Department of Economic Research Director Lara Romina E. Ganapin said investing official reserves in social bonds is a recommendation that is worth con sidering but there are currently limi tations on the BSP’s charter before this can be done.

“However, we also note that recent re serve management has recently opened to green bonds and blue bonds, as long as these are highly liquid and zero or very low risk,” Ganapin said.

I n more recent years, the BSP has also paid more attention to sustain able finance to contribute to inclusive development.

S he also said the BSP is looking to “pilot (a) wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC)” which will be done next year. Through the project, the Central Bank can better examine the feasibility of a wholesale CBDC in the

country.

“ The BSP continuously looks for ways to support payment developments and innovation while upholding payment systems safety and efficiency,” she added.

Ganapin said given the current mac roeconomic challenges of the country, particularly inflation pressures, mon etary policy is not the only tool in the government’s arsenal.

T here are a number of non-monetary interventions that can mitigate the impact of rising commodity prices which are fan ning inflation nationwide.

Inflation is also one of the major chal lenges in the region and is partly being blamed for the widening inequality, es pecially during the pandemic.

We are of the view that targeted nonmonetary interventions are more apt in addressing supply shortages of basic commodities as well as other emerging supply side pressures given the external challenges,” Ganapin said.

E arlier, the BSP said it could raise in terest rates by another 100 basis points (bps) this year, depending on the inter est rate hike to be implemented by the US Federal Reserve.

B SP Governor Felipe M. Medalla told reporters that if the US Federal Reserve raises interest rates by 75 bps, the Phil ippines should match it.

Medalla said the Fed could raise in terest rates by 75 bps in November and another 75 bps before the year ends. He said this could merit the same response from the BSP.

Medalla said raising interest rates is part of the focus of the BSP, given that inflation has been “persistently high” and that the country only has a 50-percent chance of hitting its inflation target of 2 to 4 percent next year.

I n a presentation, Medalla said the country’s inflation rate would likely av erage 4.1 percent next year. High infla tion is expected to continue in the first half of next year and slow gradually in the second half.

However, Medalla said the slowdown in inflation in the third and fourth quarter of 2023 would not be enough to offset the high inflation in the first and second quarters of next year, thus, a full-year inflation of 4.1 percent.

Cai U. Ordinario

GLOBE Telecom Inc. de clared on Wednesday it remains  the “largest tele communications firm in the Phil ippines,” after commanding a market capitalization of P321.25 billion as of October 11.

T his, according to Globe Presi dent Ernest L. Cu, reflects “in vestors’ confidence amid volatile financial markets,” thanks to its transformation into a tech-based solutions provider from a puretelco player.

“Globe is starting to reap gains

as it pivots to becoming a digital solutions platform to address the day-to-day pain points of Filipi nos. The way investors are valuing us is very encouraging and that we have taken the right strategy for growth,” he said.

T he telco has diversified into various industries, setting up ventures in the areas such as fi nancial technology, healthcare, edutech, entertainment, adtech, e-commerce, manpower, infor mation technology services and investments.

Cu said as it further “secures its position as an industry leader,” Globe continues to ideate and de velop new businesses to scale via its wholly-owned corporate ven ture company 917Ventures.

917Ventures portfolio compa nies include Mynt, which oper ates e-wallet giant GCash, tele health companies KonsultaMD and HealthNow, digital mar keting solutions firm AdSpark, online grocery platform Rappit, and loyalty and e-commerce so lutions provider RUSH, coding

bootcamp KodeGo, program matic advertising firm DeepSea, online tutorial platform EdVen ture, multi-channel messaging platform m360, and data-driven solutions provider Inquiro. Globe registered a 51-percent growth in profits in the first half of the year to P19.7 billion from P13 billion the year prior.  S hares in Globe ended Wednes day’s trade at P2,320 apiece, down by 0.77 percent or about P18 from the previous day’s close at P2,338 per share.  Lorenz S. Marasigan

THE Philippines improved its ranking by five notches in the 2022 Rule of Law Index released by the US-based World Justice Project (WJP).

San Miguel to issue tender for $400-M bonds at SGX

By VG Cabuag @villygc

shares will be on December 21, 2022 at a redemption price of P75 per share.

PXP Energy cuts losses to ₧14.7M

direct interest of 79.13 percent, has a 70-percent participating interest in SC 72, also in Northwest Palawan, through its wholly owned subsidiary Forum. PXP has a total economic interest of 54.36 percent in SC 72.

Conglomerate

San miguel Corp. on Wednesday said it is issuing a tender for $400 million of its $500 million senior perpetual bonds listed at the Singapore exchange Securities trading ltd. (SgX).

“The appropriate announcement of the tender offers shall be made by SMC Global Power in SGXST on even date,” San Miguel said.

In its disclosure, San Miguel said the bonds were raised by unit SMC Global Power Holdings Corp. in 2020. It had a coupon rate of 5.5 percent, and was facilitated by BofA Securities Inc. and Standard Chartered Bank as joint lead managers, DB Trustees (Hong Kong) Ltd. as trustee, and Deutsche Bank AG,

Hong Kong Branch as paying agent for the securities sale.

SMC Global used the proceeds to refinance loans and support infrastructure projects. A new P60billion bond sale was divided into an initial P40 billion and another P20 billion to cover the oversubcription option.

Documents for the fund-raising have already been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the firm said.

San Miguel said it will use the proceeds to partly redeem its series 2H preferred shares, redeem the series E bonds, refinance of some dollar-denominated debts and repay local debts tapped to redeem series A and D bonds. Some P12.3 billion will go for the partial redemption of the 2H preferred shares, P13.15 billion for the redemption of series E bonds and P14.06 billion for the dollar debts.

San Miguel said the redemption of the series 2H preferred

The series E bonds, with a coupon rate of 6.35 percent meanwhile will mature by March next year.

San Miguel, meanwhile, said it may upsize its allocation for the repayment of dollar debts to P17.1 billion using the oversubscription proceeds for the $300 million facility tapped from MUFG Bank Ltd., Labuan branch in 2018 that will mature by June 22, 2023.

A total of P16.49 billion, meanwhile, including proceeds from the oversubscription option, will go to paying the bridge financing used to redeem series A and D bonds sourced from BDO Unibank Inc. Bangkok Bank Public Co. Ltd., ING Bank Manila branch, and Security Bank Corp., which carry an interest of between 2.7-4.15 percent.

The bonds are eyed to be listed in the Philippine Dealing and Exchange Corp., San Miguel said.

Kyuden investment in PGEC done

JAPAN’S Kyuden International Corp. (KIC) has completed its initial investment in PetroGreen Energy Corp. (PGEC).

Following the signing of the shareholders’ agreement for the acquisition of 25-percent interest in PGEC, KIC, a subsidiary of Kyushu Electric Power Co. Inc., has completed the initial closing requirements.

The transaction will reduce the interest of PetroEnergy Resources Corp. in PGEC to 67.5 percent from 90 percent. PGEC is a subsidiary of PetroEnergy.

EEI Power Corp., a wholly-owned subsidiary of EEI Corp., currently holds a 10-percent interest in PGEC.

The transaction between KIC and PGEC will also reduce EEI Power’s interest in PGEC to 7.5 percent.

PGEC currently holds a 65 percent interest in the 32-MW Maibarara Geothermal Power Project in Batangas, a 40 percent stake in the 50-MW Nabas Wind Power Project in Aklan, and a 56 percent share in the 70-MWdc Tarlac Solar Power Project.

Kyushu Electric is the exclusive power provider and distributor in Kyushu island and operates 18.32 gigawatts of power facilities using thermal, geothermal, hydro, and nuclear with 154,434 kilometers of high-voltage and low-voltage transmission systems. Lenie Lectura

PXP Energy Corp. announced it has cut its net loss to P14.7 million at end-September this year from P20.2 million in the same period a year ago, mainly due to higher profit from its Galoc operations and reduced expenses.

The Pangilinan-led firm said last Wednesday that the reduction in its core net loss from January to September this year was a result of higher profit from Service Contract 14-C1 Galoc, located in offshore Northwest Palawan. Consolidated net loss attributable to equity holders of the parent company dropped significantly at P25.3 million from P1.68 billion due to impairment in Peru Block Z-38 in 2021, the firm said.

Consolidated petroleum revenues stood at P49.3 million, up by 15.6 percent from P42.6 million despite lower crude off-take in SC 14C-1 Galoc.

Consolidated costs and expenses was 31.6% lower at P65.6 million brought about by a significant reduction in general and administrative expenses at P37.2 million. Petroleum production costs in SC 14C-1 Galoc remained flat year-on-year at P28.4 million.

PXP and Forum Energy Ltd. will continue to coordinate with the government on the resumption of activities in both SC 75 and SC 72.

PXP Energy holds a 50-percent interest in SC 75 located in Northwest Palawan. Forum Energy Ltd., in which PXP holds a direct and in-

Early this month, the Department of Energy (DOE) has declared a force majeure for SC 75 and SC 72, both in the West Philippine Sea, from April 6 and until such time it is lifted by the regulator.

It can be recalled that there was already a force majeure imposed on SC 75 and SC 72 prior to this, but was lifted by the DOE on October 16, 2020. However, a directive from the DOE in April this year ordered them to “put all on hold all exploration activities for SC 75 and SC 72 until such time that the Security, Justice and Peace Coordinating Cluster (SJPCC) has issued the necessary clearance to proceed.”

PXP Energy and Forum complied.

The DOE also said SC 75 and SC 72 would be entitled to an extension of the exploration period corresponding to the number of days that the contractors actually spent in preparation for the activities that were suspended in April. The total expenses amounting to $5.18 million and $8.60 million incurred as a result of the directive to suspend SC 75 and SC 72 activities, respectively, would be part of the approved recoverable costs, subject to DOE audit, said the agency. Lenie Lectura

Banking&Finance

Inflation pace prompts TC review of tariff rates

By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas @jearcalas

THE Tariff Commission (TC) would hold a public hearing in early November to discuss the possible extension of the reduced tariff rates on various commodities amid accelerating inflation.

The TC has issued a notice of public hearing on a petition filed by the Foundation for Economic Freedom (FEF) to extend Executive Order (EO) 171.

The public hearing via videoconferencing will be held on November 9 from 9 a.m. until 12 noon.

EO 171 reduced the tariff rates on pork, corn, rice and coal, which would expire on December 31.

“Interested parties shall be afforded the opportunity to be present and present evidence in support of their position/s on the subject matter,” the TC said.

“Parties who intend to make presentations during the PHV are required to submit their presentation slides to the Commission on or before 08 November 2022 (end of business hours),” it added.

Earlier this month, the FEF recommended that the Marcos Jr. administration extend the reduction in the tariff rates imposed on pork, corn, rice, and coal to address the country’s heating inflation. (Related story: https://businessmirror. com.ph/2022/10/11/extend-period-for-tariff-cutson-pork-ricecorn-coal-fef/)

The economists said the factors cited by the government when it passed EO 171 in May persist and have worsened in light of the 6.9-percent inflation print in September reported by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

“It is arguable that conditions have aggravated since the passage of EO 171, with inflation now hovering just short of 7 percent versus the 4-percent level back in May 2022. In the backdrop of all of these is a weakening economy and higher interest-rate environment, which

will cause sluggish economic recovery into at least 2023,” the FEF said in a statement.

Allowing more imports of these commodities would help cool inflation, which hurts the poor more because a larger portion of their income is allocated for food items, the group argued.

Finance Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno earlier disclosed that he supports extending EO 171 to temper the increase in domestic food prices amid supply woes.

“Economic managers have repeatedly raised the needed measures to address food inflation. In the last Cabinet meeting a comprehensive set of measures including the extension of EO 171 has been put forward by DOF, with inputs from across the Cabinet,” Diokno told reporters.

(Related story: https://businessmirror.com.ph/2022/10/14/dofbacks-extending-lower-tariff-onrice-pork/)

Last week, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan told reporters that the economic team is “fully aware” that adjusting interest rates would not be enough to curb inflation.

This is the main reason for their recommendation which has yet to be tackled at the Committee on Trade and Related Matters (CTRM) and will also be subject to a hearing at the Tariff Commission.

“My understanding of the sources of inflation is that some of it is on the supply side. So if you are going to use monetary policy to address what is essentially a supply issue, you’re not going to get it right,” Balisacan said.

The Socioeconomic Planning Secretary said it is possible that the EO will be extended, depending on the decision of the CTRM and the Tariff Commission.

Food accounts for 55 percent of the 2012-based CPI for the bottom 30 percent of households while food and non-alcoholic beverages accounts for only 37.75 percent of the 2018-based CPI for all income households.

LandBank: Transactions at store ATMs are free

PREPAID cardholders of the Land Bank of the Philippines (LandBank) can now transact for free from ATMs in selected 7-Eleven convenience stores.

In addition to holders of LandBank Regular ATM Cards and Debit Cards, customers can also use their Landbank Prepaid Cards to perform cash withdrawal and balance inquiry free-ofcharge in 1,980 7-Eleven ATMs in Metro Manila, Calabarzon, Pampanga, Bataan and Cebu, as of end-September 2022.

For added convenience, LandBank cardholders now also enjoy an increased cash withdrawal limit of P20,000.00 per transaction from the previous P10,000.00.

“LandBank continues to leverage on strategic partnerships to accelerate financial inclusion in the country. We are committed to expand the accessibility of our services, especially to the unbanked and underserved,” said LandBank President and CEO Cecilia C. Borromeo.

This development benefits the 8.3 million previously unbanked Philippine Identification System (PhilSys) Project registrants onboarded by LandBank in collaboration with the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), as of end-September 2022.

The state-run Bank is providing unbanked PhilSys registrants with their own LandBank transaction accounts, to bring more Filipinos into the formal banking system.

LandBank Prepaid cardholders also include about 10 million beneficiaries under the Conditional Cash Transfer and Unconditional Cash Transfer programs of the Department of Social Welfare and Development.

LandBank partnered with Pito Axm Platform Inc., the operator of 7-Eleven ATMs in the Philippines, in May of this year.

The 7-Eleven ATMs effectively complement LandBank’s own physical network of 607 Branches and 2,899 ATMs nationwide as of end-September.

Investors troop to longer TDF tenors; BSP cites use of coins

By Cai U. Ordinario @caiordinario

which was within the range of the central bank’s expected volume for the offer.

The weighted average interest rates (WAIR) for both tenors continued to rise from the rates last week.

The WAIR for the 7-day tenor increased by 10.5329 bps to 4.8146 percent as that for the 14-day tenor rose by 14.3338 bps to 4.9044 percent.

as payment for goods and services.

Under BSP Circular 537 (series of 2006), 1-, 5- and 10-Piso coins can be used as payment for amounts not exceeding P1,000; and 25-sentimo coins and those of lower denominations for amounts not exceeding P100.

The BSP maintained the offer volume for the TDF at P280 billion from last week’s offering, with a reallocation of P170 billion from P150 billion and P110 billion from P130 billion for the 7-day tenor and 14-day tenor, respectively.

The 7-day TDF was undersubscribed, receiving bids 0.86 times the volume offered. Meanwhile, the 14day TDF was oversubscribed, with bids reaching 1.36 times the offering.

“The results of the TDF auction

reflect the market participants’ preference for the longer tenor in the BSP deposit facility ahead of All Souls’ Day holiday amid ample liquidity in the financial system. Going forward, the BSP’s monetary operations will remain guided by its assessment of the latest liquidity conditions and market developments,” BSP Deputy Governor Francisco G. Dakila Jr. said.

The BSP said total tenders amounted to P295.251 billion,

The yields accepted in both tenors shifted higher and widened to a range of 4.65 to 5 percent in the 7-day TDF but narrowed to a range of 4.55 to 5 percent in the 14-day TDF.

Coined transactions

LAST Wednesday, the BSP reminded the public that coins that are currently in circulation should be accepted as payment or change in cash transactions.

All denominations (i.e., 1-, 5-, 10-, and 25-Sentimo; 1-, 5-, 10-, and 20Piso) of the BSP Coin Series and the New Generation Currency Coin Series are legal tender and can be used

The BSP is currently updating the circular on the legal tender limit for the 20-Piso coin. Meanwhile, the public may also use the 20-Piso coin or banknote for payment transactions.

“This advisory is in line with the BSP’s broader efforts to promote the efficient recirculation of coins. Inefficient circulation of coins hampers the use of coins as a medium of exchange and may also cause artificial coin shortages in specific locations,” BSP said.

Meanwhile, efficient coin circulation results in lower production costs due to the minting of fewer coins. The BSP encourages the public to continue using their coins as payment for goods and services.

Medalla vows to bring inflation back on target

INvarious meetings held in Washington, D.C., USA, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Felipe M. Medalla said that the BSP is focused on bringing inflation back to a target-consistent path, in line with its core mandate of price stability.

The meetings were held at the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank Group (WBG) Annual Meetings. During the discussions, the country’s top economic managers presented key reforms, policies, and programs intended to propel the Philippine economy toward a robust growth path.

A lower global growth outlook and elevated inflation were among the key issues discussed during the sessions, the central bank said.

Also attending the meetings were executives from private companies and consultancy firms and officers of business chambers, the BSP said in a statement.

Firms pump ₧2B in new PHL insurance company

By Roderick Abad @rodrik_28 Contributor

HEALTH and maintenance organization (HMO) Maxicare has tied up with Pin-An Holdings Corp. and JE Holdings to launch MaxiLife, the newest life insurance company with a net worth of P2 billion.

Such amount—being the industry’s fourth highest paid-up capital this year—is 100-percent more than the P1 billion capitalization requirement set by the Insurance Commission (IC) for new insurers.

MaxiLife’s net worth is built on the resources of Maxicare and its parent company Pin-An Holdings, and JE Holdings of the Gokongwei Group.

“This new investment in the insurance industry marks a growing confidence in the manner by which the industry has been regulated over the past six years,” IC Commissioner Atty. Dennis B. Funa said.

He cited MaxiLife for being the first to be founded as a new domestic life insurance firm under Section 194 of the Insurance Code of the Philippines as amended by Republic Act 10607.

The newly-formed company will offer various life insurance products that will complement the existing HMO services of Maxicare. Initially, these include Basic Group Life Insurance, Group Critical Illness, and Group Critical Illness Accelerated Life.

Leveraging on the technological advantages of the Pin-An Group as well as the ecosystems and leadership experiences of Maxicare and the Gokongwei Group, clients can expect for latest innovations in customer experience, affordability, and availability.

“MaxiLife provides us with an opportunity to reach beyond what traditional HMOs offer and to give Filipinos next-level benefits that

they have not seen before. It fulfills our mission of helping Filipinos live their best lives,” said Maxicare President and CEO Sean Argos.

Serving as president and CEO of MaxiLife is Jose Pastor Puno, who held the same positions at Maxicare for a decade.

“This is an opportunity and honor that I cannot pass up: heading a new venture that will revolutionize both the healthcare and insurance industries in the Philippines,” he said, adding that combining both MaxiLife and Maxicare will allow them to offer life insurance and HMO coverage within one ecosystem.

According to him, MaxiLife seeks to offer insurance coverage to the current Maxicare members who are afforded treatment, prevention, and wellness benefits through their HMO agreements with the company.

As such, it will be embedded into the Maxicare group plans, making it convenient for members since they

will only have to deal with one ecosystem, and guaranteeing that they are given the best possible care.

“In the traditional health or life insurance model, risk has to materialize first before the consumer becomes entitled to any sum. For us, the value is not in waiting for a health risk to materialize but rather in reducing that risk. No other insurance company right now can claim this,” Puno explained.

Lance Y. Gokongwei, chairman of both JE Holdings and MaxiLife, said he believes the new venture will have “a huge impact” on the country.

“We have always been proud of the way our group has revolutionized and transformed industries to make lives better and provide better choices. MaxiLife provides us with an excellent platform to create meaningful breakthroughs in the delivery of healthcare services to Filipinos who wish to invest in their physical well-being,” he said.

Asialink Finance raises ₧1.8B from banks to fund car, truck ‘sangla’ business

ASIALINK Finance Corp.

(AFC) announced it has raised P1.8 billion from various banks to fund its “sangla” (pawn) business with cars and trucks as collateral.

Asialink President and Chief Operating Officer Eillen B. Mangubat said the “demand for quick loans from small and medium business

owners and individuals have always been high.”

“And we have always been there to meet their needs,” Mangubat said. “This year, as we recover from the pandemic, that demand is even higher.”

She said the company offers quick processing with the least required documentation and steps.

“Most of our customers won’t qualify for bank loans while banks are not designed for this business,” Mangubat said. “So we bridge that gap, partnering with banks in effect and lending to the end borrowers.”

She said Asialink also offers competitive rates and has 94 branches all over the country,

making its services affordable and accessible.

Asialink has been in this business for 25 years and has earned the trust of a slew of banks that readily provide it the funds it needs.

Among the lenders that provided P1.8 billion for this year to Asialink include the following: Development Bank of the Philippines;

Philippine Business Bank; Small Business Corp.; Philippine Veterans Bank; Cebuana Lhuillier Bank; CTBC Bank; EastWest; UnionBank; Robinsons Bank; and, Chinabank.

Asialink was formed in June 1997, with a capitalization of just P3 million. Today, it has more than P10 billion in assets and over 800 employees and thousands of inde-

pendent loan consultants across the Philippines.

“We focus on providing inclusive financial access. We want to grow with our customers and help them achieve their dreams. We fill an unmet market demand, and this way, we become part of their journey to growth and success,” said Mangubat.

THE upcoming holiday may have spooked investors as Term Deposit Facility (TDF) auction results favored longer tenors, according to the latest data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

This undated photo courtesy of the Bangko sentral ng Pilipinas shows BsP Governor Felipe M. Medalla (in photo, center) with (first row, left to right) former Us Ambassador to the Philippines Thomas C. hubbard, National Economic and Development Authority Assistant secretary sarah Lynne s DawayDucanes, Budget and Management secretary Amenah F. Pangandaman, Finance secretary Benjamin E. Diokno, Philippine Ambassador to the Us Jose Manuel G. Romualdez, Former Us Ambassador to the Philippines John D. Negroponte, (second row, left to right) Philippine-American Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Olma inocentes and Us Philippines society Executive Director hank hendrickson. CREDIT: BSP

Health& Fitness

Majority of victims of motorcycle road crashes are in their 20s–report

By Rory Visco Contributor

taking, with head injury as the main cause of death, Dr. Herbosa said during the recent TV UP webi nar titled “Nagmomotorsiklo: Lig tas Ba” that was organized by the University of the Philippines, UP Manila NIH National Telehealth Center and with UP Philippine General Hospital (PGH).

population with the help of a spe cialist like a neurosurgeon, with diagnostics, with blood, and we have to make it available. This is a full program that is already fund ed through the Universal Health Care,” he said.

DOH pushes maternal health program as increase in maternal deaths noted

By Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco

not limited to family planning, micronutri ent supplementation, and newborn care.

Motorcycles colliding with each other, a motorcycle hitting a road barrier, or being hit or sideswiped by a four-wheeled vehicle or worse, something as big as a truck, often dragging the rider under it result ing in tragic consequences.

The worse part of it all is that many of the victims are young, in their early to late 20s.

Last year, the Metro Manila Accident Recording and Analysis System (MMARAS) report of the Metropolitan Manila Develop ment Authority (MMDA) recorded a total of 26,768 motorcycles being involved in road accidents, second o nly to cars at 54,001.

Dr. Teodoro. Herbosa, Chair of the Department of Emergen cy Medicine at the UP-PGH said he helped come up with a study, which was guided by the World Health Organization (WHO) framework for Road Safety called “Vision Zero” that has five pillars, namely, Road Safety Management Capacity, Safer Roads and Trans port Networks, Safer Vehicles and

Mobility, Safe Road Behaviors, and Post-Crash Response.

He said the study covered sev eral databases such as the ISIS or the PGH Integrated Surgical Infor mation System Database, the On line Electronic Injury Surveillance System (ONEISS) Database, the Advancing Health Through Evi dence Assisted Decision (AHEAD) Database, and of course the MMA RAS Database, which includes the Department of Public Works and Highways and the Philippine Na tional Police Dataset.

Motorcycles top the list

F RO M a ll the data sets mentioned by Dr. Herbosa, it revealed that powered two-wheel vehicles or motorcycles grabbed the biggest chunk of vehicular types involved in road accidents. PGH-ISIS had it at 77 percent, ONEISS at 58 per cent, and AHEAD was at 82 per cent. Also, alcohol intake has been noted as one of the most common risk factors, together with speed ing, inattentiveness, and bad over

“Death is a very bad outcome, but even if they recover, we still like to study them because some of the motorcycle injuries end up with brain or spine injury that leaves them permanently disabled, especially the younger set who will end up to be more of a burden to their families,” he said.

Dr. Herbosa said the conclusion of their study revealed several sig nificant factors in road crashes like the victims are very young or people in prime working age, motorcycles comprise the largest number of vehicle types involved in road crashes, pedestrians as the most vulnerable road users, alcohol increases risk of death or injury and also non-wearing of helmets and seat belts.

Establishment of Trauma Centers H E s aid that he is now part of a Department of Health Technical Working Group on trauma cen ters, a project on specialty centers as part of the Universal Health Care program that can deal with post-crashes. “We cannot prevent the crashes, but we can build the centers where we can help save the lives of young victims in our

He said the trauma centers will have different levels of care such as Specialty Care and General Care. Under Specialty Care, there will be a National Specialty Center or NSC, where he identified the Jose Reyes Memorial Medical Center can be one, and an Advanced Com prehensive Center (ACC) and Ba sic Comprehensive Center (BCC). “These will have trauma experts and their capabilities and all the other things that are needed, which will then be made part of the service delivery network in the regions.”

He said that they hope that the country would be able to align these initiatives with the goals of the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021-2030, which was pro claimed by the United Nations General Assembly (UN GA) in September 2020 based on a reso lution that called for “improving global road safety.” The plan has an ambitious target of preventing at least 50 percent of road traffic deaths and injuries by 2030 and was developed by the WHO and by UN Regional Commissioners in cooperation with other partners in the UN Road Safety Collabora tion and was released in October last year.

More adolescents are opening up about their mental health issues

By Anne Ruth Dela Cruz

MO re adolescents are seeking the help of psychologists to deal with their mental health issues.

t h is was the observation made by Mari flor “Yeng” J. Gatchalian, r P sy, Chairman of the Department of Psychology and Head of the Mind Care Center of Perpetual Help Medical Center- l as Piñas.

a c cording to Gatchalian, these adoles cents are becoming more open about their mental health issues and they are even the ones who are asking their parents to bring them for a consultation with a psychologist.

“ t h e adolescents who are coming to us are the ones who inform their parents of their need to see a psychologist,” Gatchalian said, adding that the Covid-19 pandemic had indeed increased awareness about mental health issues.

Anxiety, depression a f ter more than two years into the pan demic, Gatchalian said anxiety and depres sion are the main mental health issues that f ilipinos are currently facing. t h is is mainly because of uncertainties like the lockdowns and the “pressure to fit into something that we have never experienced.”

“If you were working from home before the pandemic, if you get bored, you just bring your laptop to the nearest coffee shop and that’s it. But during the lockdown, nothing.

You are really forced to be inside your home. a n d with that, you find it difficult to syn chronize our activities with the things we do,” she explained.

Other factors that contributed to mental health issues include feelings of isolation and the lack of interaction with other people.

“ f o r example, an adolescent gets stuck at home, has online classes, oversleeps, overeats and gains weight. When meets up with his friends, he gets teased because of his weight gain and his self-esteem suf fers and he starts to feel left out. So there are lifestyle changes and issues start pop ping up and then there is a chain reaction,” Gatchalian said.

Two purposes

tH e Min d Care Center opened its doors last a p ril with the full support of Hemilyn e s cudero- tam ayo, the wife of PHMC- l P President r i chard tam ayo, who is currently taking up her PhD in psychology. t he center was opened to serve two purposes. t h e first purpose is to help external clients have ac cess to mental health services.

a c cording to Gatchalian, it is difficult to book an appointment with psychologists and counsellors as it usually takes six months, especially for child psychologists. t h e Mind Center’s goal is to make it easier for clients to book an appointment. Hence, the center has associate psychologists who do online and face to face consultations.

t h e center’s second purpose is to provide mental health services to hospi tal personnel. t hat i s why we offer free counseling for personnel. I think we have already catered to four of our personnel,” Gatchalian said.

She added that there are also plans to conduct a psychological first aid training program for hospital personnel so that they will know how to deal with the initial distress they encounter in the hospital.

Medical models

W H I le other similar institutions are led by psychiatrists, PHMC- l P ’s Mind Center is headed by a psychologist. When asked about the differences in approaching mental health issues, Gatchalian pointed out that psychiatrists are medical practitioners while psychologists are not.

“So the modality of treatment of psy chiatrists are medical models. t h ey prescribe medicines, we don’t. So who should you be consulting with? t hat r eally depends with you. If a psychiatrist sees that a patient re quires psychotherapy, the patient will be referred to us. If psychotherapy cannot help the patient and there is a need for medica tion, we refer them to a psychiatrist. So we usually partner with them,” she explained, adding that no one is better than the other.

“a psychiatrist is symptom based. t h ey will give you medication based on your symptoms. We are more on giving them

the capacity to take care of themselves by providing skills. If you cannot sleep, these are the things that you do,” she said.

f o r t h e Mind Care Center, Gatchalian said their shout out is “We don’t take care of you. We help you take care of yourself.”

“ t h is is because after therapy, we want our patients to know how to deal with their issues and they will not be too dependent on us,” she added.

Comparative advantage

W H en asked about their comparative ad vantage over other institutions, Gatchalian pointed out that the hospital’s name is a big help to the center.

“We have a very good reputation in medi cal service and this is a tertiary hospital. With that, we are forced and pressured to live with the standards set by the hospital,” she said.

t h e center’s second selling point is that they help their clients secure appointments with psychologists at the soonest possible time, ideally within a week the request for appointment is made.

t h ird is we have very good psycho therapists. I can really vouch for the ther apists that we have. t h ey are proven and come from very good institutions. r ight now. f o ur officers of the Psychological a s sociation of the Philippines are affili ated with us and the others have their own clinic. t h ese are our edge over the others,” Gatchalian said.

Maternal death, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), is the death of a woman while preg nant or within 42 days of termination of pregnancy, irrespective of the duration and the site of the pregnancy, from any cause related to or aggravated by the pregnancy or its management, but not from accidental or incidental causes.

Women die as a result of complica tions during and following pregnancy and childbirth.

WH O said that most of these complica tions develop during pregnancy and most are preventable or treatable.

Other complications may exist before pregnancy but are worsened during preg nancy, especially if not managed as part of the woman’s care.

Increase in maternal mortalities In the Philippines, the Commission on Population and Development (POPCOM) said a survey from the Philippine Statis tics a u thority (PS a ) i ndicated that the number of fatalities under “other direct obstetric deaths” reached 468 in the first six months of 2022.

P OPCOM said that this is higher than the 425 reported in the first six months of last year.

to a ddress the increase in maternal and newborn mortalities from 2021 to 2022, the Department of Health (DOH) emphasized the importance of implementing Primary Care as the flagship reform under Universal Health Care (UHC).

t he DOH aims to resolve underlying illnesses that increase the likelihood of complications during pregnancy, as well as long-standing issues on accessibility of health-care services, particularly maternal and newborn health-care services, which primarily drive mortalities among moth ers and newborns.

“ Based on previous DOH assessments, the majority of maternal mortalities directly result from pregnancy complications that occur during labor, delivery, and the post partum period,” Health Officer-in-Charge Undersecretary Maria r o sario Vergeire said.

t h ese complications, Vergeire said, in clude hypertension, post-partum hemor rhage, severe infections, and other medical problems arising from poor birth spacing, maternal malnutrition, unsafe abortions, and the presence of concurrent infections like t B , malaria, and sexually transmitted infections as well as lifestyle diseases like diabetes and hypertension.

t h ese are all complications that could be detected and prevented if we ensure adequate prenatal visits for all expecting mothers,” she added.

r e cognizing the drivers of maternal and newborn mortality, the DOH continues to implement safeguards to protect the health of mothers as they navigate motherhood, beginning with ensuring that Maternal, n e wborn, and Child Health and n u trition (M n C H n ) s ervices are accessible.

to wards this end, the DOH is expanding the provision of services under the M n C H n C ore Packages by designating facilities and providers in health-care provider networks that will deliver services during pre-preg nancy, pregnancy, delivery, postpartum, and newborn periods.

l kewise, the DOH is ensuring that all identified providers have the capacity to provide relevant M n CH n services such as but

Wi th these in mind, the DOH highlighted that beyond implementing targeted M n CH n i nterventions, the key to addressing mater nal and newborn mortalities is advocating for the primary care reform envisioned un der UHC and establishing reliable healthcare provider networks anchored on primary care that provides M n C H n services along side other essential primary care services.

In p arallel, for those requiring more spe cialized care, the DOH is likewise working with its regional counterparts to establish more specialty hospitals and health facili ties that will cater to the specific needs of patients all over the country, thereby en suring accessibility of the full continuum of care for mothers and newborns—starting from the community level, basic emergency obstetrics and newborn care (B e mO n C )-ca pable facilities, up to the C e m O n C-capable end referral facilities.

“Alam natin na ang primary care ay napakahalaga, sapagkat sa pagsulong na tin nito, sinisiguro natin na ang ating mga serbisyo ay health promotive and preven tive in nature. Ibig sabihin, sa primary care, mas fino -focus natin ang pag -detect at pagmanage sa mga sakit bago pa ito lumala o maging sanhi ng mga komplikasyon tulad nang nakikita natin sa ating mga mater nal and newborn mortalities,” Vergeire emphasized.

Moreover, the DOH underscored that the implementation of essential primary care services, including M n C H n service, will re quire local government units ( l G Us) to step up their implementation of Primary Care. to support l G Us in this shift, the DOH is implementing the Safe Motherhood Pro gram which provides rational and respon sive policy direction to local government partners in delivering quality maternal and newborn health services with integrity and accountability using proven and innovative approaches.

MNCHN Core Packages

tH e M n C H n Core Packages consist of in terventions that have been found to be effective in preventing deaths and in im proving the health of mothers and children, particularly:

1. Pre-pregnancy: iron and folate supplementation, provision of family plan ning counseling and services and prevention and management of infection and lifestylerelated diseases,

2. Pregnancy: prenatal care through out the course of pregnancy, supplementa tion, tetanus immunization, counseling on health lifestyle and breastfeeding,

3. Delivery: skilled birth attendance/ skilled health professional-assisted delivery and facility-based deliveries,

4. Postpartum: postpartum check-ups for bleeding and infection, supplementation, counseling on family planning, maternal nu trition, and breastfeeding,

5. Newborn care until the first week of life: immediate drying, skin to skin contact, cord clamping, early initiation of breastfeeding, and

6. Childcare: immunization, micro nutrient supplementation, exclusive breast feeding up to six months, oral health, inte grated management of childhood illnesses.

their health amidst financial constraints.

tH e sp routing acts of kindness have been one of the positive outcomes of the pandemic. a s the world began to realize the value of health, stakeholders and volunteers stepped up and came together to respond to the needs of communities, especially its vulnerable members.

SM f o undation, Inc. (SM f I ) and its partners, for one, have continued their medical missions to provide equitable health-care to various locations in the Philippines. Most recently, they celebrated a meaningful e derly f ilipino Week and a produc tive day at Brgy. Holy Spirit in Quezon City through

medical missions.

to celebrate the 2022 e l derly f ilipino Week Cel ebration, SM f I an d SM Cares provided free medi cal services to the elderly at the SM Mall of a sia

Over 200 senior citizens received free medical check-ups and medicines, including maintenance medicines. Its partner, Multicare Pharmaceutical, meanwhile, provided free bone scanning and bone supplements.

Beyond the annual celebration, SM Senior Vice President and SM Cares Director e n gr. Bien Mateo said SM has and will always have

its doors open for senior citizens and persons with disabilities (PWDs). a si de from ensuring the discounts and benefits are duly given to elder lies and PWDs, SM Supermalls holds programs for them on wellness and seminars on disaster preparedness. Part-time job opportunities are also available for the elderly.

a t S M, everybody is welcome, and nobody gets left behind,” Mateo said.

t h e success of SM f I a nd SM Care’s medical initia tive was made possible through its partnership with the n at ional Commission of Senior Citizens, SM Su

permalls, Multicare Pharmaceutical, MX3-DMI r I e f o undation, PhilHealth, George Optical, Valucare, Health Metric, and Watsons Personal Care Store. e x tending its reach, SM f I al so conducted a medical, diagnostic, and dental mission for mem bers of low-income households in Brgy. Holy Spirit, Quezon City.

Over 500 beneficiaries were able to get free health services, including medical, dental, eye check-ups, x-ray, e CGs, sugar tests, cholesterol tests, uric acid tests, and hemoglobin count. a s the medical initiative has been conducted for almost 12 years in a row, residents of Brgy. t h e Holy Spirit is grateful for its partnership with SM f o undation as it allows individuals to look after

“ t h rough the SM f I medical missions, there is an opportunity for our community to look out for the health needs. t h is is also an opportunity for us to help our community, especially those who cannot visit the doctor or dentist,” Don a n tonio Heights Homeowner a s sociation President and r o tary Club of Holy Spirit Past President Marcia Salvador said.

r o tary Club of Holy Spirit, Don a n tonio Heights Homeowners a s sociation, Kapwa Ko Mahal Ko, MX3-DMI r I e f o undation, Pascual l a boratories, Inc., St. Benedict Parish, and r o tary Club of Marikina n o rth collaborated with SM f I t o extend a helping hand to the underserved community.

HOW many times have we read screaming headlines about motorcycle riders being involved in road crashes? It may be too many to count because it is too many to count.

Parentlife

SupERSTORE NOw SERVINg fAmIlIES IN K ATIpuNAN

THE fastest growing membership shopping establishment in the country, Landers Superstore has opened its seventh branch in UP Town Center, along Katipunan Avenue in Quezon City, making it the first in an Ayala Mall. The newly opened branch is now ready to give residents and families in the area access to premium membership shopping, exclusive deals, awesome items, discounts, and so much more!

Former president and senior deputy speaker of the House Gloria Macapagal Arroyo was the guest of honor, leading the grand unveiling of the newest Landers branch in the city.

Joining Arroyo in the opening rites were SoutheastAsia Retail chairman Attorney Lowell Yu and president Gwen Lim. The exclusive opening celebration was graced by top celebrities who gamely trooped to UP Town Center to experience premium membership shopping in Quezon City.

Spotted filling their Landers shopping carts were power couple Sarah Geronimo and Matteo Guidicelli, Jericho Rosales, Ruffa Gutierrez, Dimples Romana, Karla Estrada, Daniel Matsunaga, couple Camille Pratts-Yambao and John Yambao, JC de Vera, Marjorie Barretto with her children Leon and Dani Barretto, TV journalist couple Julius and Christine Bersola-Babao, Phoemela Baranda, Beauty Gonzalez, Jugs Jugueta and couple Chef Gino Gonzales and China Cojuangco.

Situated right at the heart of a dynamic and thriving community in Quezon City, the superstore offers members the convenience of shopping within a mall setting, complemented by fresh, elegant and instagrammable interiors, an expansive retail area, a relaxing dining space, and a vast array of imported and local merchandise that include a wide array of treasure finds, fresh and produce, exclusive products, and in-house food specialties.

Let’s party with prevention

WEall have started to hear Christmas carols being played in malls since start of this month. For me, however, the decors at the Araneta Center have always signified that big start of my holiday season since I was around five years old. Today, it’s really nice to see all the bright and colorful Christmas decorations seen in the streets of Cubao.

Still looking for affordable decors that will bring the Pinoy Christmas spirit to your room, office space, or residence? Score a bargain and head over to Parolan, the one-stop bazaar for yuletide decors and ornaments in Araneta City.

Located at Farmers Market Parking Area (just beside Farmers Garden), Parolan offers an array of decor needs for the holiday. It has everything you need to dress up your home or office for the season— colorful giant lanterns made from local materials, It’s fun to see Christmas lights blinking to the tune of your favorite carols.

Apart from retail stalls, there are food stalls where families and barkadas may have a taste of Filipino street food and all-time favorite holiday delicacies such as puto bumbong and bibingka. It is open daily from 5 am to 11 pm. It is just a few blocks away from the variety of shopping malls in Araneta City—Gateway Mall, Ali Mall, Farmers Plaza, and SM Araneta City.

But as we jumpstart the “ber” months celebrations, it is still very important to be preventive. With this year’s flu season being accompanied by again rising Covid-19 cases, experts remind us that staving off the flu virus typically begins with common practices that families can do at home (“Practice Good Health Habits,” from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention).

“It’s important to ensure that our personal spaces are free of transmissible diseases like the flu. Contrary to popular belief, the flu is caused by a virus different from the common cold so symptoms tend to last longer and are more severe,” says Dr. Gyneth Bibera, country medical director of GSK Philippines. “Patients will experience the typical runny nose, coughing, headaches, fever and fatigue, but the severity can often lead to the inability to do daily tasks, the need for doctor consultations, or even hospitalizations,” she adds.

Here are five things you can do to prevent flu:

n Disinfect frequently touched surfaces. Influenza viruses can survive outside the body and generally stay active longer on steel, plastic and harder surfaces than on fabric and softer materials. They have been known to survive for 24 to 48 hours on hard non-porous surfaces, and 8 to 12 hours on cloth, paper and tissues, according to the National Center for Biotechnology Information. Regularly disinfecting these surfaces with a household cleaner containing soap or detergent will help stop the spread of the virus, more so if someone is or has been recently infected at home. Focus on areas that

Mothers who recognize others’

By Jessica A. Stern University of Virginia

EYES wide, a baby reaches for a toy. Her caregiver, sensing her interest, brings the toy within her grasp.

“Ga!” the baby exclaims, and her caregiver responds, “Yes!”

When the baby fusses, her caregiver rubs her back until she calms. The baby smiles, and her caregiver smiles back, in a moment of what psychologist Mary Ainsworth called “mutual delight.”

This is the dance of an infant and responsive caregiver. These “serve-and-return” interactions are critical for babies’ development. But for caregivers, becoming a responsive dance partner can be challenging, and researchers are eager to uncover the skills that help these interactions flourish.

At the University of Virginia BabyLab, my colleagues and I explore the early experiences and brain processes that lay the groundwork for infants’ emerging social capacities—including experiences with caregivers.

In a new study, published in the journal Emotion we followed 120 mothers and babies over the first five months post-birth. We found that being emotionally

perceptive, or able to identify others’ emotional states from their facial expressions, is a key predictor of sensitive caregiving—the serve-and-return behaviors that make a responsive dance partner.

In the first weeks after birth, we showed mothers a series of adult strangers’ faces that changed from a neutral expression to one of six emotions: happiness, fear, sadness, anger, disgust or another neutral face. Their job was to identify which emotion they were seeing and to do it as quickly as possible. This is no easy task, and when we calculated how accurate mothers were, we saw a wide range of performance, indicating that some had a harder time recognizing certain emotions.

A few months later, we invited the same mothers and their 5-month-olds into a playroom and asked them simply to “play with your child as you normally would” for five minutes. From videos of their interactions, we were able to observe how each caregiver responded to her infant’s signals.

For many, the interaction was smooth, like a good conversation. Even when these babies cried or acted “difficult,” their mothers’ attuned responses quickly helped the babies settle and return to the important

are frequently touched, such as door handles, light switches, faucets, stair rails, or tables.

n Toss your trash everyday. Many communities have weekly or biweekly garbage collections, but it’s worth making a point to dispose of trash everyday. Keep a wastebasket outside of the home, in a garage, or by the front gate.

n Laundry your linens regularly. Sheets, blankets, or pillowcases that are used daily may become infected by viruses. This is especially true if an infected member of the household recently used the linens. Changing and washing sheets on a weekly basis with hot water, can kill flu viruses that are present. This is because flu viruses are killed by heat above 75° C, according to the CDC.

n Practice good hygiene. Personal hygiene is one of the best ways to prevent the flu. This includes washing hands frequently, particularly after coughing or sneezing, after using the bathroom, before and after handling food, or after coming in contact with someone sick. It also includes not sharing personal items such as pillows, towels, utensils, and the like. Of course, covering the mouth when coughing, taking regular showers, and other basic hygiene practices are also necessary (CDC).

n Get your flu vaccines. The World Health Organization recommends that flu shots be administered once every year, which is applicable for both adults and even children when they reach six months old. Getting annual flu vaccines significantly reduces the risk of contracting the flu virus.

Alongside practicing proper health measures and being mindful of the environment to protect one’s home from the virus, having updated flu vaccines is the best way to keep oneself safe. Advanced Happy Halloween, everyone. n

Members may also enjoy delicious food options from Landers Central and Doppio, as well as low-priced medicines from Capital Care Pharmacy, and free haircut or blow dry from Federal Barbers. Moreover, shoppers also get exclusive fuel discounts at any Landers Caltex Gas Station when they sign up for a Landers membership, giving members more huge savings when they gas-up.

infants in first months of life

business of play. For others, the interaction was a struggle. Some mothers tried to control or interrupt their babies’ play until the baby became still and withdrawn, while others ignored their babies’ bids for comfort and connection.

When we looked at mothers’ performance on the emotion perception task together with their behavior toward their infants, we found that a mother’s ability to recognize happiness specifically—but not other emotions like fear or sadness—predicted how sensitive and responsive she was when interacting with her baby four months later.

It wasn’t that sensitive mothers expressed more happiness toward their babies—they weren’t any more “smiley” than average. Rather, they were uniquely good at perceiving others’ positive emotion. It’s possible that the ability to recognize happiness in others generally allows mothers to better sense their babies’ happiness specifically and respond accordingly. Thus, emotion perception skills may be an important hidden strength supporting sensitive care in the first months of a baby’s life.

What’s especially fascinating is that sensitive mothers were more perceptive of positive emotion

measured using images of adult strangers. We can only speculate that mothers’ perceptual abilities might translate to recognizing their own infants’ emotions, which may help them respond sensitively to their babies’ emotional signals.

Our study included only mothers living in the United States. We observed them during only one short play session with their infants. It remains to be seen whether our results will be similar or different for fathers, in other cultures or in more stressful contexts. For instance, it’s possible that recognizing negative emotions—like fear or sadness—matters more for caregivers’ responses when their babies are upset or stressed. We hope to study these possibilities in the future.

Sensitive and responsive interactions with caregivers are critical for building babies’ brains and forecasting later social skills and even physical health. The findings provide support for programs that build caregivers’ emotional skills, including the ability to recognize others’ joy. Understanding the emotional intelligence skills that support sensitive caregiving can help inform early interventions to foster healthy, secure parent-child relationships.

FROM left: SoutheastAsia Retail chairman Attorney Lowell Yu, former president and senior deputy speaker of the House Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, and SoutheastAsia Retail president Gwen Lim during the ribbon-cutting ceremony of newly opened Landers Superstore in UP Town Center, Quezon City.

Freestyle and Top Suzara usher in new chapter with expanded, multifaceted brand

as a rekindling of our relationship with fans whom we first connected with through our original songs in the early days of Freestyle. At the same time, we hope to share with them our growth because, today, Freestyle is so much more than its music,” he shared.

During the media launch, Suzara unveiled Freestyle as a brand touching on a wider range of entertainment products such as advertising services leveraging Freestyle’s music and artistry, merchandise, forays into digital media, and other projects in the pipeline.

There’s Halloween fun for all ages at Richmonde Hotel Ortigas and Eastwood Richmonde Hotel

OPM icon Freestyle and Top Suzara grow into new horizons with the announcement of an expanded brand touching on music, advertising, live entertainment, and merchandise following their media launch titled “Freestyle: Giving It All This Time… And More” on October 24.

Building on the band’s discography of hit songs such as “Before I Let You Go” “So Slow,” ”ThisTime.” ”Till I Found You,” ”Para Sayo,” their rendition of “Bakit Ngayon Ka Lang?” and “Once In A Lifetime,” Freestyle is set to connect with fans anew through original music for release this year and a series of concerts in the Philippines and abroad.

“When Freestyle started, the heart of the music really lay in the original songs

that we felt our fans connected with and grew up with. This time, we are starting that journey again with new songs to share that we hope will touch our fans and new generations of Pinoy Listeners,” shared Suzara, who served as the band’s vocalist and composer from 1997.

After pursuing a solo career in 2005, Suzara gained popularity on his own with classic OPM ballads such as “Sabihin Mo Na” and has since established himself to be one of the country’s most celebrated singer-songwriters. In recent years, the artist has also made a name in advertising through musical and artistic collaborations with top brands and companies.

“What we hope to share with our fans from today is our undying passion for making and sharing original music, as well

“We know that Freestyle as a brand has a lot more to offer because we’re passionate about telling stories that touch people’s feelings and sentiments. We want to take that capacity for storytelling further not just through songs, but also through other products and services. We know that, in the digital era, we’re competing for eyeballs and seconds of attention, but we still believe that good stories can stand out,” Suzara shared, adding:

“Of course, we will always go back to the core, to our music. We’re excited to have upcoming collaborations with other Filipino artists, and we’re thrilled to take the stage again to share these connected, intimate moments with our fans and audiences.”

Nearly three decades since the establishment of the band in 1996, Freestyle is set to kick off this new chapter with a live performance on November 16, 2022 at 19 East.

Upcoming tours, concerts, and other updates will be announced through their official Facebook page at https:// facebook.com/freestyle.philippines.

Get fiery with Subway’s much hyped Chicken Mala Sub!

SUBWAY’S much talked-about secret recipe sub has finally been revealed! With a fiery introduction, Subway’s Chicken Mala Sub has set our world on fire with its perfect combination of spice and tang!

As discussed in Sam YG and DJ Chacha’s podcast, “Lecheng Pag-ibig To!”, a podcast on love, relationships and everything in between, one way of keeping the fire of relationships alive is by trying out new experiences together. Exploring new taste experiences in food is a surefire way to keep that love burning!

Mala is the secret recipe behind the new ingredient, concocted with burning passion that can surely be experienced in every bite. One of the most popular flavors in China and many parts of Asia, this spicy blend is made from chili peppers, aromatics and spices like garlic, ginger, star anise, cinnamon, and cardamom, mixed with the ever-popular mouth-

numbing Sichuan peppercorns.

Subway’s Chicken Mala sub is available for a limited time and will be made available until December 31, 2022 or until supply lasts. Chicken Mala is

available in six-inch

For only P1,250nett, get treated to unlimited bottles of select local beer, bottomless orders of featured cocktails, soda, and iced tea, an eat-all-you-can spread of delectable bar chow, plus a chance to win hotel gift certificates in the raffle. Taking you back in time with the popular tunes from the ‘80s is the live performance of Big Bash Band.

For inquiries and table reservations, call +632 8638 7777 or +63 917 534 4352 or email fbsup@richmondeortigas.com.

MAGICAL NORTHERN HOLIDAYS AT SM CITY NORTH EDSA. The Block

Atrium at SM City North EDSA glows with Aurora Borealis inspired lights as Christmas comes early to the happiest mall this season with the spectacular Magical Northern Holidays for kids and kids at heart. Walk and indulge with the whole family in an immersive experience at the Aurora trail at the Aurora Holiday Park featuring a 360 experience of the Aurora ascending the giant 60-ft holiday tree adorned with magical array of lights, forestry, adorable rein-bears and holiday polar express. Shop your holiday gifts for the family at the Christmas Market and capture your most special holiday memories at The Block Atrium.

in the metro this Halloween longweekend? Richmonde Hotels has awesome thrills and amazing deals for all, whether you’re young, young once, or young-at-heart.

STAYING

After a two-year hiatus, Eastwood Richmonde Hotel is bringing back its muchawaited Halloween event the entire family can enjoy. On October 30, 2022, from 1 pm to 5 pm, the stage of the hotel’s newly refurbished ballroom is set for an afternoon of shrieks, freaks, prizes, and surprises as it welcomes guests to its Carnival of Screams Halloween Kiddie Party.

Kids and adults alike will be treated to a tasty Halloween-inspired snack buffet, assorted food stations, a magic show and musical entertainment for the little ones, game and photo booths, a Horror House for the not so faint of heart, and loot bags of goodies.

The highlight of the party is the costume parade where children and parents who come dressed up in their best and scariest Halloween costume can get the chance to win gift certificates for hotel accommodations. Tickets are priced at P999nett each for children and adults. Toddlers two years old and below are free.

For ticket reservations, call +8570 7777 or +63 917 821 0333 or email fb@ eastwoodrichmonde.com.

On October 28, 2022, Richmonde Hotel Ortigas’ The Exchange kicks off the long weekend with a special prelude to All Hallows’ Eve. Revelers are in for an exciting Nightmare to Remember as the bar throws a booze-filled preHalloween party from 6 pm to 12 midnight.

Book an enjoyable urban getaway at Eastwood Richmonde Hotel from now until October 31, 2022 at the Richmonde Exclusives rates starting at P3,650nett (room only) and P4,420nett (room with breakfast buffet for two), and inclusive of welcome drinks, 20 percent off on food and beverage orders at Eastwood Café+Bar and from Room Service, 15 percent off on all services at Lumiere Skin & Spa located right beside the hotel’s mall entrance, 15 percent off on select regular-priced items and five percent off on discounted merchandise at Travel Club, and complimentary use of the swimming pool and parking for one vehicle.

For inquiries and reservations, call Eastwood Richmonde’s Room Reservations at +632 8570 7777 or +63 917 531 6867 or email stay@ eastwoodrichmonde.com. For online bookings, log on to www.eastwoodrichmondehotel.com.ph.

If you want a “Thrilling Escapade” right in the heart of the city, have your Halloween Staycation at Richmonde Hotel Ortigas. From October 28 to November 1, 2022, room rates start at only P3,300nett (room only) and PhP 3,900nett (room with breakfast for two). For an in-room celebration, a room package inclusive of two bottles of beer and a pica-pica platter for two, plus breakfast buffet for two the following day is available for as low as P4,700 nett per night. All room rates come with complimentary use of the Health Club’s gym and heated indoor pool and 15 percent discount on food and beverage orders at Richmonde Café and from Room Service.

For inquiries and reservations, call Richmonde Ortigas’ Room Reservations at +632 8638 7777 or +63 917 859 7914 or email stay@richmondeortigas.com. For online bookings, log on to www. richmondehotelortigas.com.ph.

Have a smoky celebration with Kenny Rogers Roasters all-new Smokehouse BBQ Roast & Ribs

ALMOST everyone loves the smoky and savory taste of a smokehouse barbecue.

And with the festive season well underway, Kenny Rogers Roasters is bringing an American-style barbecue holiday with its newest offerings, the Smokehouse BBQ Roast & Ribs. Their flavors are further amplified with three new sauces: Roasted Garlic, Applewood, and Alabama to make every celebration truly one to remember!

No one can ever go wrong with the sweet, tangy and smoky flavors of Smokehouse BBQ & Ribs which comes with these Kenny Roger’s Roasters favorites – the Smokehouse BBQ Roast Chicken, which is marinated in a special blend of barbecue and spices for flavorfully tender meat and crisp, lightly seared skin; and of course, the Smokehouse BBQ Ribs, with the signature fall-off-the-bone ribs made flavorful with chipotle and special spices.

Enhancing the charred and smoky flavors of these dishes are three scrumptious sauces: the spicy-tangy Roasted Garlic that has specks of garlic bits. The fruity-smoky taste of Applewood, and the sweet-nutty flavor of Alabama.

Starting October 17, customers can order the Smokehouse BBQ Roast & Ribs with Kenny Rogers Roasters favorites: Each Solo B plate comes with three new sauces, choice of two slides, rice, and muffin. The Smokehouse BBQ Roast Solo B (P305) comes with sweet and smoky quarter roast chicken while the Smokehouse BBQ Ribs Solo B (P480) comes

with spicy and tender half-slab ribs.

Meanwhile, the Group Meal also comes with the three new sauces, four side dishes, four cups of rice, four muffins, and 1.5 liters of soda. The Smokehouse BBQ Roast Group Meal comes with whole roast (P1,085) while Smokehouse BBQ Ribs Group Meal comes with 4 half-slab ribs (P1,760).

Available in all Kenny Rogers Roasters stores nationwide, customers can enjoy the delectable Smokehouse BBQ Roast & Ribs offerings for dine-in, takeout, or delivery through www.kennyrogersdelivery.com.ph, hotline: 8-555-9000, or via Grab Food and Food Panda.

SKILLS ENHANCEMENT TRAINING. The Quezon City Barangay and Community Relations Department, through its department head Ricardo B. Corpuz, recently held a Program for the Conduct of Skills Enhancement Training including Practical Training on the use of PROBATON (Police Reconnaissance Operations Baton) for the 2,400 BPSOs together with OED CEO Popoy Pagayon, inventor of PROBATON and SPO4 Ricardo Balmaceda, PNP Probaton Martial Arts Official Trainor.

KENNY Rogers Roasters all-new Smokehouse BBQ Roast & Ribs.

Envoys&Expats

US, Japan officials underscore cooperation in Leyte Gulf rites

Investing in a future that works for all

TOP embassy officials from Japan and the United States highlighted their countries’ strong ties with the Philippines at the 78th anniversary of the historic Leyte Gulf landings.

From October 18 to 20 Ambassador MaryKay Carlson visited the provinces of Eastern Samar and Leyte to commemorate the shared sacrifices of Filipino and American veterans in World War 2, as she reinforced the US’ commitment to its alliance with the Philippines.

In Eastern Samar, Carlson visited the Balangiga Bells at the San Lorenzo de Martir Parish Church and met with town mayor Dana Flynch de Lira. She was the first envoy to visit the bells after their return in 2018, which reflects the strong bond and mutual respect between the two countries.

In Palo City, Carlson joined President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.,

Leyte provincial government officials, as well as dignitaries at the anniversary rites of the Leyte Gulf Landing of Allied forces during the last global war.

“General [Douglas] MacArthur’s words on his return resonate to this day. He said, ‘We have come dedicated and committed…’ These words continue to embody the strong ties between our two nations as dedicated friends, partners and allies who are committed to securing a free, open, prosperous and secure world for our peoples,” said the American diplomat.

She also participated in a Congressional Gold Medal awarding

ceremony honoring 31 Filipino veterans who fought in the war.

While in Leyte, the ambassador visited local officials and community members of Barangay 62-A, where the US Agency for International Development, or USAID, worked with Plan International following the devastation of Supertyphoon Yolanda (international name Haiyan) on a “Community Build Back Better” project that rebuilt homes, as well as improved water, sanitation and hygiene facilities. She also interacted with Governor Carlos Jericho Petilla of the province, and Mayor Alfred Romualdez of Tacloban.

Carlson capped her trip by participating in Ormoc’s 75th Diamond Charter Day celebrations. She thanked Samareños and Leyteños for the warmth and hospitality they displayed in each of her stops.

“As President Biden noted in his meeting with President Marcos in New York last month, our bilateral relationship is critically important.

It is a relationship as friends, partners, and allies that has deep roots

and enduring value,” she said. “We at the US Embassy look forward to working with you all, as we continue to deepen and expand our longstanding relationship.”

Japan CDA at ceremonies

THE Embassy of Japan’s Chargé d’Affaires Kenichi Matsuda likewise attended the commemoration of the Leyte Gulf Landings’ 78th year at the MacArthur Landing Memorial Park, also in Palo City on October 20.

Matsuda conveyed profound condolences to the victims of the war, and mentioned that Japan and the Philippines—with their shared experience and values—can work together to promote regional peace and security under the current challenging international security scenarios, which include those “in Ukraine, and the Taiwan issue.”

He also expressed Japan’s readiness to cooperate with the development of the Philippines—including the province of Leyte, especially as the country attempts to recover from the economic challenges caused by the pandemic.

and the secretariat’s mandate.

FROM the beginning the Islamic Republic of Iran has always emphasized that all United Nations members must fully respect the purposes and principles enshrined in its Charter, as well as applicable international law— including sovereignty, independence, unity, and territorial integrity.

As a country that has experienced an eight-year imposed war and aggression, Iran opposes any conflict or war anywhere in the world—including in Ukraine. Iran has consistently advocated for peace and an immediate end to the conflict in Ukraine, and expressed clearly that this crisis has no military solution.

Building upon this belief, Iran has urged parties in the conflict to exercise restraint, avoid escalating tensions, and engage in meaningful process for settling their disputes through peaceful means, while also addressing root causes of the situation.

At the same time, Iran has also rejected any unilateral sanctions and/ or pressure, as well as any provocative measures against one side that would only aggravate the situation and make reaching a peaceful resolution more difficult. Similarly, the West’s extensive military support and supply of sophisticated weapons could not be intended to bring the war to a close, but rather to escalate the conflict and increase damage and destruction.

Iran supports the ongoing efforts to find a peaceful solution to this conflict and in this regard, our foreign minister has contacted his counterparts from both sides on several occasions.

Iran categorically rejects unfounded and unsubstantiated claims that it has transferred unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for use in the conflict in Ukraine. Such claims are nothing but a propaganda apparatus launched by certain states to further their political agenda.

Against this backdrop, it is really disappointing that, to pursue their political

agenda, these states are trying to launch disinformation campaigns against Iran and make misleading interpretations of Security Council Resolution 2231 in order to wrongly establish a link between their baseless allegations against Iran with Resolution 2231.

In this context, without prejudice to the above-mentioned position of the Islamic Republic of Iran, we reiterate that Paragraph 6 of the UN Security Council President’s Note dated January 16, 2016 (S/2016/44) clearly confines the secretariat’s mandate on the implementation of Resolution 2231 to the council’s “administrative support.” Any other task performed by the secretariat shall be performed “upon request from the Security Council.”

Reiterating its principled position on the conflict in Ukraine, Iran emphasizes that the issues surrounding the ongoing conflict are completely irrelevant to the Resolution 2231 both in substance and format, and any activity in this regard falls outside the scope of the resolution

Moreover, to add a clarification point to the nonsensical statements made by certain countries in the past few days, Iran is of the firm belief that none of its arms exports, including UAVs, to any country falls within the provision of Paragraph 4 of Annex B to resolution 2231, which clearly defines the scope of the elements mentioned therein to “that could contribute to the development of nuclear weapon delivery systems.” In conclusion, the Islamic Republic of Iran will continue its constructive engagement to help the peaceful resolution of conflict in Ukraine.

To this end, and to address the concerns raised in this regard, Iran is willing to cooperate constructively in bilateral technical and expert exchanges with Ukrainian experts in order to clarify the unsubstantiated claims made against it. Needless to say that this is done in good faith, and in accordance with Iran’s constructive approach to the situation in Ukraine.

LAST week I formally presented to President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. my letters of credentials as Australia’s ambassador to the Philippines. I am thrilled to be the Australian government’s representative to this country at this time when there are many challenges to tackle and opportunities to realize together.

Australia and the Philippines have been working as friends for more than 75 years in the spirit of “mateship and bayanihan” to achieve a peaceful, stable and prosperous region. We have always been a responsive development partner to the Philippines, cooperating in areas of mutual interest and focusing our investments to support priorities of the national government.

As I settle into my role here in Manila, I am delighted to see that Australia’s investments in education and skills development in the Philippines are promoting inclusive economic growth, while contributing to peace and stability.

Australia shares the Philippine government’s vision of providing quality education for all Filipinos. We have worked closely with the Department of Education for over 30 years to improve both access to education and the quality of teaching. We have provided research and technical advisory support to improve the curriculum and the systems for teachers’ professional development. In the Bangsamoro Region, the “Education Pathways to Peace in Mindanao” program helps deliver education services in remote and conflict-affected communities.

And under the prestigious Australia Awards Scholarships, we send high-achieving Filipinos to Australia to undertake postgraduate studies in priority areas such as education, economic development and maritime security. These scholars return to the Philippines, eventually becoming leaders and changemakers in government and public service, in businesses, industries, as well as in their communities.

Post-‘Covid’ learning AUSTRALIA has also been working closely with the Philippines in the postpandemic-recovery education space. The Covid-19 landscape has seen industries upended and jobs

displaced. Our shared challenge is to ensure that Filipino learners are “future proof:” that they have the appropriate skills to meet the demands of a changing economy and what some have called the “Fourth Industrial Revolution.” Australia believes this could be addressed through upskilling and reskilling the future work force to adapt to digitalization via training and education.

And so, Australia is supporting the collaboration between government, civil society and industries to improve the relevance of education to labor market needs for a sustainable economic recovery.

In 2020, at the height of the pandemic, Australia launched “A Future that Works” (AFW) project in partnership with the Philippine Business for Education. The program focuses on reducing the jobs-and-skills mismatch to ensure the competitiveness of Philippine industries. It helps establish Sector Skills Councils, whose role is to develop strategies to ensure growth and sustainability of industries.

Together with these councils, it develops labor market intelligence reports to forecast skills that match emerging requirements for highskilled jobs. For example, AFW is working with the Unilab Foundation to set up the Sector Skills Council in health care to ensure that lessons from the pandemic are used to address health-security issues such as the vulnerability of skilled workers, and the shortage of health-care professionals in particular areas.

Australia believes that with the right investments in education and skills development, together we can tackle challenges and create opportunities for a new age of meaningful work for thousands of young Filipino men and women. We remain committed to supporting a future that works for all.

(Follow Ambassador Yu on Twitter: @AusAmbPH.)

COOPERATION ON EDUCATION, ECONOMY Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Maria Theresa Lazaro met with Ireland’s Secretary General Joseph Hackett on October 19, where they highlighted the strong ties and cultural links between their two countries. Among topics discussed were economic and education cooperation, as well as the diaspora reality that both nations share. Lazaro expressed appreciation for the European country’s financial contribution to the United Nations Joint Program on Human Rights in the Philippines. Both sides agreed to enhance international cooperation, and expressed readiness to pursue stronger ties for common goals and aspirations. DFA-OPCD CAMILLE BARIZO

‘BIENVENUE’ TO PINOYS Ambassador Alain Gaschen (left) welcomed guests to the Switzerland Tourism Antenna, where he and fellow embassy officials, as well as global tour operators, announced that the European country is now open for Filipinos. The envoy strongly urged them to consider Switzerland as their next vacation destination, as he confirmed the growing potential of the local market. The gathering formed part of the events marking the 65th anniversary of Swiss-Filipino bilateral relations. MIKE POLICARPIO

ARIGATO, KONNICHIWA Labor Secretary Bienvenido E. Laguesma (upper and lower photos, right) on October 5 sent good wishes to the outgoing minister of the Embassy of Japan’s Nakata Masahiro (top photo, left), as well as a warm welcome to the latter’s successor: Minister Daisuke Nihei (bottom photo, left) at the Department of Labor and Employment headquarters. Nihei previously served as the director of the International Economy Division of Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Japan and the Philippines enjoy vibrant bilateral labor relations, with the former currently hosting some 280,000 migrant Filipinos, of which almost 48,000 of them are professionals and skilled workers, as well as technical interns. JEROME SAJISE/DOLE-IPS

HK Yu PSM Ambassador of Australia to the Philippines (Exclusive to Envoys&Expats)

(Statement from the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran)

YU AUSTRALIAN EMBASSY

CHARGÉ d’Affaires Kenichi Matsuda (at the podium) EMBASSY OF JAPAN

AMBASSADOR MaryKay Carlson (right) leads the awarding of the Congressional Gold Medal to one of 31 Filipino World War 2 veterans. US EMBASSY

AVARICIO HANGS TOUGH; LASCUÑA SOLO LEADER

Avaricio shoots 74 but still ahead by 1 stroke

AVARICIO

CHANELLE

barely survived a windblown day in Lubao to settle for a 74 that set the stage for a wild finish in the ladies side of the International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI) Pradera Verde Championship Wednesday.

The three-leg winner still held the lead at 141 but the seven-shot turnaround from her fiery opening 67 typified the daunting challenge that the field had to endure although three broke par to make it a wide-open battle for top honors in the 54-hole, P1.25 million championship.

Harmie Constantino fought back from a mishap on No. 4 with birdies on Nos. 6 and 12 for a second straight 71 and a 142 while Florence Bisera gunned down four birdies against two bogeys to wrest solo third at 143 after 36 holes of play.

W ith Pamela Mariano also firing a 71 for a 145, a four-way battle for top P168,750 is in the works with the rest needing to come up with low rounds in another expected blustery conditions to get a stab at glory.

I struggled on the greens with my club selection. I think nahirapan ako sa hangin at yun ang adjustment,” said Avaricio, who hardly recovered from three bogeys in the first six holes

although her second straight birdie on No. 10 kept her on top of the field she beat by six when she won here last June.

I really wasn’t hitting it close to the pin and I didn’t really give myself chance (for birdies),” added the Hallow Ridge and Caliraya Springs leg champion who is using this tournament as part of her buildup for the Ladies Professional Golf Association Q-School Stage II in Florida next month.

S he later headed to the practice green to polish her stroke while vowing to make the necessary adjustments and not to be too aggressive in pursuit of a fourth championship.

Lascuña snatches solo lead with 70

TONY LASCUÑA continued to defy the odds on a course where length is key and banked on his accuracy, ball control and putting to storm ahead by two strokes with a solid 70 halfway through the men’s International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI) Pradera Verde Championship in Lubao Wednesday. L ascuña hit all fairways in high winds that blasted from all directions with his 250-yard norm, forever relying on his hybrid—and at times

3-wood—in tackling the long par-4s and par-5s while his younger, stronger rivals would pull out and opt for irons.

But what made the good-natured Davaoeño’s game tick and click in big-time championships and on this challenging course was that he always finds a way to give himself chances.

Two strokes clear of Angelo Que, Art Arbole and Guido Van der Valk at five-under 139, Lascuña now gained another crack at victory in this late

stage of a checkered career, leading a pack of power-hitters and a Dutch rival whose game also resembles his.

This course is really for the long hitters,” insisted Lascuña, a fourtime Order of Merit winner on the Philippine Golf Tour, also impressive in the accuracy of his short game that saw him go out of regulation just once.

“ But my hybrid has been working quite well—and my putts are going in,” he added.

Serrano erupts as Phoenix rises

By Josef Ramos

PHOENIX Super LPG turned to rookie Encho Serrano in beating Rain or Shine, 92-83, and stretch its winning run to four games Wednesday in the Philippine Basketball Association Commissioner’s Cup at the Ynares Sports Center in Antipolo City.

Serrano waxed hot with a seasonhigh 18 points—including nine in the fourth quarter where his clutch three-pointer halted Rain or Shine’s late rally—as Phoenix continued its rise from a terrible 0-3 start.

The Fuel Masters are now 4-3 won-lost.

I’m thankful for the opportunity given by coach Topex [Robinson] and he’s always there to remind me of what I need to do during games,” Serrano said. “He knows what I can do, so at the end of the day, we’re just all doing our job.”

Serrano had a hot shooting night of 7 of 10 from field with two triples.

R ain or Shine came to within 7883 with two minutes remaining, but Serrano buried a crucial trey to give the Fuel Masters breathing space, 86-78.

The Elasto Painters narrowed the gap to 83-86, but Serrano again scored on a layup with 1:34 to help Phoenix secure the win.

R ain or Shine missed big shots at crunch time and dropped to 3-4.

K aleb Avery Wesson had an allaround game of 21 points, 17 rebounds, four rebounds and five blocks to lead Phoenix while RJ Jazul had 11 points.

Import Steve Taylor led Rain or Shine with 16 points and 19 rebounds.

Japan B.League players expected to join Gilas pool training next week

THE men’s national basketball pool’s training is bound to intensify next week with the expected arrival of Gilas Pilipinas players returning home from their stints at the Japan B.League.

E xpected to beef up the pool coached by Chot Reyes are Dwight Ramos, brothers Kiefer and Thirdy Ravena and Bobby Ray Parks.

They will be released by their Japanese clubs on Friday.

Gilas is preparing for the fifth window of the FIBA Asia World Cup Asian Qualifiers with the Philippines playing away games in Jordan on November 10 and Saudi Arabia on November 13.

R eyes, however, said the exact dates of arrival of the Japan B.League

players have yet to be known.

“ We’re planning [training], hopefully, for three days—October 31, November 1 and 2, but we’re not sure,” Reyes said.

The Philippine Basketball Association will have a long break— the league will play its last game in the Commissioner’s Cup on Sunday and will resume on November—to allow players in the pool to join the Gilas camp.

The national team leaves for Jordan on November 7.

The Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas is looking to bring in naturalized player Ange Kouame while still trying to find ways to get 7-foot-3 center Kai Sotto on board for the fifth window.

Unpredictable UAAP

AND just like that, the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) is on its second round of “hostilities” in men’s basketball.

It’s been a roller coaster ride, with twists and turns and cliffhangers providing sparks and watchability to the games so far.

I n recent past seasons, avid UAAP watchers say the outcome of the basketball season would have been pretty much determined since opening day tip-off.

The basketball event had been owned by the Ateneo Blue Eagles from Season 80 (2017) to Season 82 (2019).

And every year, when university coaches would be asked to pick their “team to beat” during UAAP press conferences, the answers would invariably be “Ateneo.”

Such was the dominance of the Tab Baldwin-coached squad with his system and winning mindset.

Until the Blue Eagles failed to bring home the bacon in a much-abbreviated Season 84 earlier this year.

At that time—just last May to be exact—the Finals storyline had been Dynasty or Destiny?

D ynasty, as the Eagles were in line to achieve a rare four-peat should they succeed at swooping down on another title for the year. Destiny, if their opponents, the University of the Philippines (UP) Fighting Maroons, would finally leave their ghosts behind and pick up their second UAAP post-war title since 1986, 36 years in the making.

Destiny won and in the process, Season 85 now has two burning questions. Will UP do a back-to-back? And: Will Ateneo pull off its Revenge Tour?

But hey. That’s not all the storylines there are. This season is not cut-and-dried like that. UAAP fans have one word to describe the current season: unpredictable. What you see is not what you get.

Consider. Before they rolled over for the previously hapless Far Eastern University (FEU) Tamaraws, the National University (NU) Bulldogs were the toughest

breed in the eight-team league. They dealt the defending champions, the UP Fighting Maroons, their only loss in the first round and held the top spot for quite some time.

Finishing the round at 5-2 and sharing second place with Ateneo (UP is first at the end of the round), this is an awesome finish for the Bulldogs who finished sixth in Season 84. Before they tripped and fell to the Tamaraws last weekend, they were considered dark, dark horses to win it all in Season 85.

But then again, who knows? A whole new round is unfolding and NU can pull some more nifty surprises along the way.

L ooking for more unpredictability? Let’s look again at the Tamaraws. Expected to make a strong start like they always do, the Tams saddened and disappointed many of their fans when they lost their first five games.

W hen they finally won late in the round against the University of Santo Tomas, FEU fans rejoiced as if Christmas had already come. But then again, when they faced the ferocious Bulldogs last Sunday, October 23, they fidgeted a little, doubted much.

So when Coach Olsen Racela and his chargers found redemption in a gritty game that ultimately caused the Bulldogs to heel, another round of rejoicing and happy disbelief befell the FEU faithful.

How hard it is to predict games and outcomes in Season 85. What a wild ride it is for everyone.

It’s the same thing with the University of the East (UE). Whipping boys no more, they have pulled off win after win in Season 85, with the most stupendous being the one against the De La Salle Green Archers.

Not that La Salle was weak (didn’t they pull off the Eagles’ feathers during their first encounter this year?), but that UE was strong—spirited, talented, wily and wicked to boot.

You can say that too about host school Adamson University. Their victory over the Green Archers on Saturday, October 22, is not just another eye-popper, it’s a testament to their innate skill and winnability.

The Soaring Falcons now share fourth place with UE and DLSU. Here’s a tip. The Falcons always step into high gear in the second round.

A s for the Fighting Maroons, unpredictability might as well be their middle name. Known as Comeback Kids, Cramming Maroons or Miracle Maroons, their style all season (and last season) has been to come from behind and defy the odds (except in their game against NU).

Playing cardiac game after cardiac game, UP has been good entertainment fare because of their wild and wooly, high-spirited adventures.

No wonder the UAAP is a must-watch for both dyedin-the-wool and casual fans. Can you imagine what more stupendous surprises the second round will bring?

AFP-PNP-PCG OLYMPICS

Grandstand inside Camp Aguinaldo Tuesday. The PSC supported the annual sportsfest, recognizing the partnership which currently nurtures 172 soldier-athletes.

unruffled despite adverse conditions as Tony Lascuña is

by younger, tougher opponents.

ROOKIE Encho Serrano has a breakout game for the Fuel Masters.