BusinessMirror September 26, 2022

News

PHL Ambassador to Moscow presents credentials to Putin

By Malou Talosig-Bartolome @maloutalosig

PHILIPPINE

T he Philippine Embassy in Rus sia said Bailen, together with 23 other newly appointed ambassa dors, presented their Letters of Cre dentials to Putin in a ceremony at the St. Alexander Hall of the Grand Kremlin Palace.

A mbassador Bailen arrived in Moscow just a few days after Rus sia invaded Ukraine on February 24. He was only able to present his credentials to Deputy Foreign Min ister Igor Morgulov at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on March 17.

P resentation of credentials is a diplomatic practice whereby the head of a sending state sends a formal diplomatic notice to the receiving head of state, asking the latter to give credence to the am bassador’s claim of speaking for his country. Only when the head of state accepts the letter shall the ambassador-designate begin his ambassadorship.

In a speech, Putin briefly charac terized the relations of Russia with each of the 24 countries represented.

On the Russia-Philippine relations, he said history “includes implement ed projects” in various fields.

The conditions are in place for boosting our trade and cooperation in energy, space exploration, informa tion technology, agriculture and tour ism. We are willing to work together with our partners and hope that the new leadership of the Philippines share this approach,” Putin said.

Other ambassadors who also pre sented their credentials come from Uruguay, Algeria, Egypt, Mongolia, Portugal, Libya, Mali, New Zealand, Armenia, Colombia, Tanzania, Moldova, Serbia, Senegal, Cyprus, Congo, Uganda, Sudan, Cyprus, Demoractic Republic of Congo, Su dan, Kuwait, Nepal, Belarus, South Korea, and Venezuela.

‘Radical transformation’

“YOU are working at a time when a radical transformation of the entire architecture of international rela tions has accelerated, when the de velopment of a multipolar and more

democratic and fair world order has entered its active phase,” Putin told the ambassadors.

T he Russian leader stressed that Russia “will not deviate from its sovereign course” as he lambasted the “global leader” which applied economic sanctions on them.

“ This policy impacts innocent states as well, above all developing and the poorest countries. They

were the first to suffer from the Western restrictions on the supply of Russian energy, food and fertil izer to world markets,” he said.

P utin claimed that Russia of fered to transfer 300,000 tonnes of Russian fertilizer blocked in European ports “free of charge.”

“ I want to emphasize this, to countries in need still remains unanswered. Well, it is under standable that they do not want to let Russian companies earn money, but we want to give it away for free, at least give it away for free to countries in need; but no, nothing is being done, no an swer,” he said.

P utin said Russia, as permanent member of the United Nations Se curity Council, plans to “further promote the unifying interstate agenda, contribute to the search for effective responses to the numer ous challenges and threats of our time and help settle acute regional conflicts.”

PBBM...

As of press time, Malacañang has yet to disclose the amount of new investments, which resulted for the President’s trip to the US.

Stronger UN presence

ASIDE from business opportu nities, Marcos also reported on diplomatic initiatives in the US, particularly his speech at the 77th session of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly, during his visit in the US from September 18 to 24.  I n his UN address, he raised “global issues that require a unit ed global action,” such as climate change, rising food prices, rapid technological change, the peace ful resolution of international disputes, the need to protect the vulnerable sectors of our society such as migrants, and ending all forms of prejudice.

He said he also met with UN Sec

PCCI...

Quarter growth...

This is compounded by high food inflation in advanced countries due to droughts and supply issues.

The Philippines is a net food importer which means it imports more food than it produces. The country’s food staple, rice, is also being imported mainly from its Southeast Asian neighbors.

W ith high inflation, FMIC-UA&P Capital Market Research said while there is no need for the Bangko Sen tral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to match the rate hikes of the US Federal Reserve, the peso could further depreciate if it falls behind the curve.

L ast week, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said it expected Central Banks in the region to continue tight ening monetary policy in order to combat “broadening price pressures” as core inflation has been rising.

“ The BSP raised policy rates by 50 bps in its September 22 meeting af ter the Fed aggressively boosted their rates by 75 bps given that US August inflation rebounded,” FMIC-UA&P Capital Market Research noted.

August inflation rebounded. Although there is no need for BSP to match the Fed hikes 1-for-1 due to the much higher inflation in the US, the peso-dollar rate will take a further hit should BSP lag too much behind the Fed’s moves,” it added.

I n terms of the peso, the inflow of OFW remittances in November and December may prevent further depreciation. Nonetheless, the ex change rate will remain volatile.

F MIC-UA&P Capital Market Re search said the movement of the exchange rate would largely depend on US inflation and the actions of the Federal Reserve.

Reports earlier indicated that a fore

DOLE...

During the budget hearing of the House of Representatives earlier this month, some lawmakers proposed increasing the budget for TUPAD since its implementation greatly benefitted their constituents.

L aguesma said they will be ready to work with whatever amount they

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retary-General Antonio Guterres to express the country’s intent of “strengthening” its role in the UN.

I expressed interest in enhanc ing our role in UN peacekeeping operations, especially in the ar eas such as the Middle East where we have a large concentration of OFWs,” Marcos said.

T he President earlier disclosed the country’s bid to secure a seat in the  UN Security Council.

He said he also invited Guterres to personally visit the country in the near future.

International position

MARCOS also discussed his formal and informal bilateral meetings with the US and Japan and other key partners to tackle the country’s priority issues on food and energy security, and climate change,

“Our discussions were very pro

cast released by the US Federal Reserve showed inflation would not return to its 2 percent target until 2025. The Fed said it expects to continue raising interest rates to cool inflation.

To date, the latest inflation print in the US is at 8.3 percent in August, a tad slower than the 8.5 percent reported in July. On Thursday, the interest rates were raised again by another 75 bps.

Actual USD-PHP rates landed way above the 30-day moving average (MA) and the 200-day MA suggest ing that the local currency’s fragility will stay. However, we expect a sea sonal rebound by November as OFW remittances rush into the economy,” the think tank said.

L ast week, the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) said inflation could be controlled by 2024. Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan said inflation is one of the uncertainties faced by the country in terms of at taining upper middle-income coun try (UMIC) status by 2024.

In a separate in-person briefing in Manila on Friday, Neda Undersecre tary for Policy and Planning Rosemarie G. Edillon, for her part, said Balisacan was merely referring to the targets of the government and that efforts are underway to combat inflation.

E dillon said while the 2024 tar get is for inflation to average 2 to 4 percent, the inflation for 2023 is already seen to come closer to given expectations that external price pressures such as oil prices are on the

decline (Story: https:// business mirror .com.ph/2022/09/23/ inflation-induced-price-hike-ofsome-commodities-may-prevailuntil-2024/).

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will be given by Congress in the 2023 General Appropriations Act (GAA). He noted that in case they will need an additional budget for their programs, they are ready to work with the private sector or other government agencies to get it.

ductive, and the members of the Cabinet will now work to operation alize the many areas of cooperation that we identified,” Marcos said.

L ast Saturday, the President also spoke before the Asia Society Headquarters in New York, where he reiterated the country’s position of treating the US as one of its clos est allies particularly for its defense and armed forces modernization.

O n the issue of the country’s ter ritorial dispute with China in the West Philippine Sea, he stressed it should be addressed through diplo macy.

He also pushed for the peaceful resolution of the tensions in the Taiwan Strait, Korean Peninsula as well as Ukraine.

T he visit to the US was Marcos’s third foreign trip after Indonesia and Singapore since assuming the Presidency.

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However, Barcelon underscored the importance of having a “game plan” to sustain the country’s economy.

W ith this, the PCCI chief empha sized the need to recast the   “pri ority for development” in a situ ation where the interest rate and exchange rate are high, adding the need to have a “game book . . . .for the sustainability of the economy.”

B arcelon stressed that the situa tion of soaring interest rates is hard to deal with as it would “suffocate the industry.”

A s for the impact of a declining peso, the PCCI chief noted that the cost will be passed on to the con sumer, who will experience weak ening purchasing power.

He said it’s but “natural” for the cost to be passed over to the con

sumer, very similar to the situation when sugar prices soared and pan de sal sizes shrank, “so, our peso will not buy as much as before.”

He added that import cost of fer tilizer, for instance, will also increase.

Sources of hope

STILL , the private sector represen tative remained optimistic moving forward, saying he is pinning his hopes on the Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) remittances, the country’s exporters and the busi ness process outsourcing (BPO) sector.

Moving forward I still believe that hopefully by ‘ber months, there will be more remittances from OFWs.” He believes that if the exchange rate could just be kept at “58 not going any further,

that should allow us to have a more relaxed Christmas season.”

He thinks the effect of increas ing OFW remittances, and better bottomlines for exporters and BPOs, the country’s dollar earners, would counterbalance the expected headwinds. “So there’s a balancing act that must be achieved,” Barcelon added.

T he local currency has hit its “record high” level against the US dollar nine times this month alone: on September 2 at P56.77 to a dol lar; on September 5 at P56.99 to a dollar; on September 6 at P57 to a dollar; on September 8 at P57.18 to a dollar; on September 16 at P57.43 to a dollar; on September 20 at P57.48 to a dollar; on September 21 at P58 to a dollar; and on September 22 at P58.49 to a dollar.

Ambassador to Moscow Igor Bailen was finally able to present his diplomatic credentials to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

IN photos provided by the Philippine Embassy in Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin is seen arriving at rites accepting the credentials of 24 ambassadors, including Manila’s Igor Bailen (inset).

Samuel P. Medenilla

Red Cross shares tips as ‘Karding’ intensifies

AS Super Typhoon Karding [international name Noru] in tensifies while nearing Philip pines, the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) issued last Sunday its “survival tips” before, during and after a typhoon.

L ikewise, PRC Chairman and Sen. Richard J. Gordon announced that PRC volunteers and staff have been placed on alert and are ready to respond.

The Red Cross takes the lead in this kind of situation; that is why our chapters in areas expected to be affected by ‘Karding’ are ready,” Gordon said.

Here are the survival tips from the PRC:

Before the typhoon

Store an adequate supply of food and clean water. Prepare foods that need not be cooked.

Keep flashlights, candles and battery-powered radios within easy reach.

Examine your house and re pair its unstable parts.

Always keep yourself up-todate with the latest weather report.

Harvest crops that have ma tured.

Secure domesticated animals in a safe place.

For fishers, place boats in a safe area.

Should you need to evacuate, bring clothes, first aid kit, candles/ flashlight, battery-powered radio, food, etc.

During the typhoon

Metro cities brace for Supertyphoon ‘Karding’

By Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco @claudethmc3

into a Supertyphoon.

ing which is expected to hit Metro Manila,” Zamora said in his official Facebook account.

Do not wade through flood waters to avoid being electrocuted and contracting diseases.

If there’s a need to move to an evacuation center, follow these reminders:

Evacuate calmly.

Close windows and turn off the main power switch.

Put important appliances and belongings on high ground.

Avoid the way leading to the river.

A fter the typhoon

If your house is badly dam aged, make sure that it is already safe and stable before you enter.

Beware of dangerous animals such as snakes that may have en tered your house.

Watch out for live wires or outlets immersed in water.

Report damaged electrical cables and fallen electric posts to the authorities.

Do not let water accumulate in tires, cans or pots to avoid creating a favorable condition for mosquito breeding.

Gordon said PRC field volun teers and staff will monitor and report status of evacuees, overflow of dams, landslides, flooding inci dents and general conditions to the PRC Operations Center.

SEVERAL

T he cities of San Juan, Taguig, Marikina, Manila, Muntinlupa, Pa sig, Pasay, Mandaluyong and Que zon City announced the suspension of classes as Karding is expected to hit Metro Manila.

T his, as the Department of Edu cation (DepEd) reiterated the issu ance of DepEd Order 37 (s. 2022) or the “Guidelines on the Cancellation or Suspension of Classes and Work in Schools in the Event of Disasters and other Natural Calamities.”

This policy is now in effect, ac cording to DepEd Spokesman Mi chael Tan Poa, for it has been “up loaded in the DepEd website and filed with [the] ONAR [Office of the National Administrative Registrar] on September 20.”

The DepEd said the DO promotes

the safety and protection of learn ers and personnel from unneces sary physical dangers they may be exposed to during natural disasters and calamities.

Likewise, the DO was issued to further guide schools, their person nel and learners, both within the public and private institutions on the suspension of classes and work during emergencies, Poa, also a lawyer, added.

Taguig

THE Taguig city government has decided to suspend classes as the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) announced in its 5 a.m. bulletin that Karding has now intensified

Taguig reminded its residents to stay updated by monitoring the ty phoon movement and weather up dates through television, internet or radio.

A s power interruptions are ex pected, it advised people to make sure gadgets are fully charged.

In case brownouts occurs, keep an eye on lighted candles or gas lamps. Protect your home,” City Hall reminded people.

In case of emergencies, these ho tlines may be called: Command Center—(02) 87893200; Taguig Rescue; 0919-0703112; Taguig PNP; (02) 8642-3582; 0998-598-7932

San Juan

SAN Juan City Mayor Francisco Ja vier “Francis” M. Zamora announced the suspension of classes in all levels in both public and private schools, as well as work in government.

Classes in all levels in both public and private schools in the City of San Juan [on] September 26, and work in local government departments and offices except those involved in disaster response, are hereby sus pended due to Supertyphoon Kard

Marikina

IN preparation for Karding, Mariki na Mayor Marcelino R. Teodoro said they deployed their disaster and rescue personnel to respond to the needs of residents.

Marikina also pre-positioned res cue equipment for immediate use if needed.

Likewise, barangay chairpersons were ordered to assess the situation in their respective areas and make the necessary preparations.

“ We are monitoring the water level along the Marikina River 24/7, as well as the rainfall count,” the mayor said.

Teodoro advised residents, es pecially those dwelling in low-lying areas, to prepare if there is a need to evacuate.

They are also advised to coordi nate with their respective barangays for latest advisories and updates,” he said.

H e added, “We have already opened evacuation centers across the city and are now ready to accept evacuees.”

MMDA on red alert, creates TF ‘Karding’

Stay inside the house.

Always keep yourself up-todate with the latest weather report.

If safe drinking water is not available, boil water for at least 20 minutes. Place it in a container with a cover.

Keep an eye on lighted candles or gas lamps.

A ccording to the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Admin istration, “Karding” is expected to make landfall in the northern part of Quezon or southern part of Aurora tonight.

T he weather agency said it has not discounted the possibility the typhoon would make land fall in Polillo Islands last Sunday afternoon. Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco

THE Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) placed its person nel on red alert last Sunday and an nounced the creation of “Task Force Karding” as the country braces for the impact of super typhoon “Noru” (local name Karding).

Under the red alert, the agency will implement a “no day off, no leave” policy for its frontline per sonnel, especially those involved

in

emergency response.

T his, as MMDA Acting Chairman Carlo Dimayuga III announced the suspension of the number-coding scheme on September 26 after Metro Manila was placed under Tropical Cyclone Wind Signal (TCWS) 3.

He said the MMDA is ready to deploy 50 frontline personnel and emergency vehicles to assist the public. Dimayuga said these per sonnel have water rescue, search,

‘In-city housing’ projects expected to plug backlog

By Cai U. Ordinario @caiordinario

rescue and retrieval equipment and 78 water purifiers.

T he agency also ensured that all CCTVs are working.

Dimayuga said that all of the 71 pumping stations in Metro Manila are 100-percent operational to miti gate flooding.

The latest bulletin issued last Sun day by the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Ser vices Administration (Pagasa) showed

that “Karding” has maintained its strength as it endangers Polillo Islands.

According to Pagasa, “Karding” reached super typhoon category at 5:00 a.m. last Sunday “after a period of explosive intensification of 90 kilo meters per hour (km/h) in 24 hours.”

“It is forecast to continue inten sifying and may make landfall at or near a peak intensity of 185 km/h to 205 km/h,” the weather agency said. Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco

Organization of judges denounces red-tagging

Settler Families (ISF) and ordinary Filipino workers will benefit from the government’s in-city housing pro grams, according to the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD).

INFORMAL

DHSUD Secretary Jose Rizalino L. Acuzar said the government aims to undertake in-city housing proj ects in order to plug the country’s housing backlog. This will also allow ISFs and workers to live near their sources of livelihood.

Acuzar said ISFs and workers can turn to local government units (LGUs) to apply for these govern ment housing programs. The target of the government is to build a mil lion houses annually to address the 6.5 million housing backlog.

“Kahit hindi ISF, meron din sila. Kailangan lamang nilang pumunta sa LGU para mag-apply para sa paba hay ng gobyerno,” said Acuzar. [Even if they are not ISFs, they can access these projects, they only need to go to the LGU to apply for the govern ment’s housing program.]

Acuzar said these projects that the DHSUD plans to build will be turned

over to LGUs who will be tasked in maintaining the units. This is the reason these projects will be owned by LGUs, he explained.

The housing czar estimated that each housing project to be launched in the country under the priority housing program would take “a year and a half” to be ful ly constructed, with the quality at par with township projects of private developers.

“We are developing townships.

Kung ano ang nakikita ninyo sa mga private development, ganun din ang sa government,” Acuzar said.

Data showed that the country’s housing backlog is pegged at more than 6.5 million units, 3.7 million of which are ISFs. Of the number of ISFs, 500,000 are situated in the National Capital Region, particularly along hazardous areas.

Earlier, Acuzar attended the groundbreaking of a housing proj ect at the Harmony Hills Terraces in Batasan Hills, Quezon City. The DH SUD and Quezon City recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for this project.

Under the MOU, the Quezon City LGU, in support of the said program, committed to allocate to the DHSUD a parcel of its land for the development

of the foregoing housing project.

The Quezon City LGU is also tasked to expedite the processing of required permits and licenses to be issued by local authorities for the project’s full implementation.

It will also carry out the ben eficiary listing which will include social preparation, ISF census enu

meration, socioeconomic profiling and the establishment of social parameters.

The MOU mandates the DH SUD to facilitate, either directly or through its KSAs, the implementa tion of the housing projects in col laboration with the LGU and other relevant agencies.

By Joel R. San Juan @jrsanjuan1573

AN organization of trial court judges broke its silence last Sunday to denounce the con tinued red-tagging and harassment of the members of the judiciary.

In a statement, Hukom called on all the judges to speak up and not to allow themselves to be victims of such attacks.

The group issued the statement after the red-tagging of Regional Trial Court Branch 19 Presiding Judge Marlo Magdoza-Malagar by Lorraine Badoy, the former spokesman for the govern ment’s anti-communist task force.

Malagar, whom the group described as a “respected, upright and compe tent” judge, recently issued a decision junking the petition for prescription filed by the Department of Justice (DOJ) seeking to declare the Commu nist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and its armed wing, the New People’s Army (NPA), as terrorist groups.

The judge held that the alleged atrocities committed by the groups, which were offered as evidence of

DOJ, cannot be considered as terror ist acts as defined under Sections 3 and 17 of Republic Act 9372 or the Human Security Act (HSA) of 2007.

However, in her lengthy Face book post last September 23, Badoy slammed the judge for the decision and even called her a “friend and true ally” of the communist groups.

She also called the judge’s deci sion as a “judgment straight from the bowels of communist hell.”

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

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

“We, members of Hukom Inc. an organization of trial court judges, view these acts (e.g., red-tagging, online vilification, doxing, etc.) as attacks on the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary,” Hukom said.

Davao de Oro provincial government passes ISO audit, keeps certification

to the rater.

By Manuel T. Cayon @awimailbox Mindanao Bureau Chief

DAVAO

CITY—The newlynamed province in the re gion, known formerly as Compostela Valley, was able to main tain its international standard qual ity after the first surveillance audit conducted by representatives of a Geneva, Switzerland-based certifi cation body.

A recently-concluded audit re port by certification body auditors of the International Organization

for Standardization (ISO) revealed that the provincial government of Davao de Oro maintained its certificate for international stan dardization, having passed the first Surveillance Audit of the ISO 9001:2015 Certification.

Evaluators from TÜV SÜD PSB Philippines Inc. conducted the audit report, the result of which “indicates that the institution continues its ef forts not just to continually improve the efficiency of its systems and pro cesses but also consistently provide the high-quality service delivery that the constituents deserve.”

The provincial information of fice said the LGU’s enterprise feed back management system, or EFMS, played a vital role in the quality management system (QMS). The EFMS, it said, “is a management tool for customer satisfaction and continual improvement.”

The system was formulated by the Provincial Information and Communications Technology Office (Picto) and was commended by the ISO evaluators “for its timely con solidation of external and internal feedback into a single, time-saving platform, increasing access to and

simplifying the use of valuable client data across the entire institution.”

“[The] EFMS enables authoring of survey forms. Response collec tion is via paper forms, which are encoded to the system, or URL link or QR-code link, which are scanned by the raters,” the information of fice said.

Picto head Joyzel R. Odi said de partment heads or administration officers would be notified via email for every “below-satisfactory” feed back. Odi added they manage re sponses by viewing complaints and indicating actions; which are emailed

She said the implementation sta tus of the indicated actions would be validated by the Internal Audit Of fice. The system provides data ana lytics through tabulations, charts and trends. It also identifies issues and sentiments.

Quality-service delivery, account ability and proficiency in managing people’s resources is among the top priority and goal of the provincial government of Davao de Oro.

Lara Zaphire Kristy N. Ber mejo, head of the Provincial Hu man Resource Management and

Development Office (PHRMDO), appreciated department heads and “process owners” for their “unwav ering support in realizing the goals of the QMS for the institution de spite the challenges brought by the pandemic.”

The success of the ISO audit was another milestone under the admin istration, which is one of the pillars of good governance in the province, said Bermejo. She emphasized that “achieving and maintaining the ISO certification yields many benefits, such as satisfied clients, manage ment and employees.”

Metro Manila cities have suspended classes in all levels for both public and private schools on Monday, September 26, due to Supertyphoon Karding.

THIS Business M irror file photo shows the cityscape of Manila taken from a building in Makati City. The Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development believes its in-city housing programs would benefit Informal Settler Families (ISF) and ordinary Filipino workers.

REYES

‘Weak peso to impact low-income families’

By Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz @joveemarie

HOUSE

The economist-lawmaker said over the weekend that the bottom 30 per cent of households in terms of income spend 58.2 percent of their total ex penditures on food. Salceda noted that 24.9 percent of total food consumption in the country is imported.

“So, a peso depreciation of 25 per cent increases their total spending by at least 3.64 percent because of food alone due to first round effects alone. Second-round effects, or the effects of increases of imported input costs on domestically-produced output,

could also pressure household bud gets further,” said Salceda.

The lawmaker added that the up per 70 percent only spend 39.5 per cent of their income on food

“So, the same depreciation will only hit them by 2.47 percent of ex penses. And of course, they earn more and have more space for savings.”

Salceda said fuel accounts for around 30 percent of transport and energy costs, on which the poor spend around 15 percent of their income.

“So, you’re looking at another

1.13 percent increase in those areas due to a 25-percent peso deprecia tion, which we are on track to reach year-to-date by the coming weeks,” he added.

The lawmaker said the peso has already depreciated by 14.7 percent year-to-date. However, from its 2021 strongest, the peso has already de preciated by 24 percent

‘Rich people have options’

SALCEDA also said that high-in come households have the option to keep their money in dollars while lower-income households barely have any savings.

The upper 10 percent of house holds have at least P322,000 in savings every year that they can keep in dol lars. Foreign currency deposit units are tax free also—so they get appreciated value plus tax advantages by keeping their money in dollars,” he said.

Meanwhile, the lawmaker said that the poorest 10 percent of house holds are in debt by at least P3,000 every year.

“So, they have no upside from dol lar appreciation and all the downside of a weak currency.”

According to Salceda, the solution here is a mix of policy and program interventions.

As he has suggested, the coun try needs to encourage “our Big 4 in service-dollar earners: business process outsourcing (BPOs); foreignemployed freelancers; overseas Fili pino workers (OFWs); and, the tour ism sector.”

“That will allow us to benefit from upside in the dollar,” Salceda said. “We should train as many people as we can to have the option of employ ment in these areas.”

He added that the coming Christ mas season “might also be a good time for some OFWs to repatriate some of their dollars.”

Getting stronger

SALCEDA has said the greenback is likely to continue getting stronger against the peso in the near-term and could reach P65 to 68.

With this, he said the country should focus on industries that earn foreign currency and on domestic agriculture to manage “imported inflation” from imported food, oil, and other essential commodities.

“Frankly, there’s not much we can do. To return to stable core inflation, the US needs to achieve 5-percent disinflation that it achieved in the early 1980s; and that took 6,500 basis points in interest rate hikes.

The Fed [US Federal Reserve] under [Chairman Jerome] Powell has so far increased the Fed rate by just 2,250 basis points. So, hang on. This is still bound to be quite a ride,” he added.

Meanwhile, Salceda said his Com mittee on Ways and Means is also studying imposing no documentary stamp taxes on lending of foreign companies to their wholly-owned Philippine subsidiaries.

“That along with tax-free intercorporate dividends under the Create Law would help us arrest any largescale capital flight in dollars,” he said referring to the Corporate Recovery

and Tax Incentives for Enterprises Act or Republic Act 11534.

Mitigating the worst

THE lawmaker also said there is a need for some management or miti gation of the worst.

“ There are some who believe that we should keep the interest rate dif ferential between the US Fed rates and Philippine rates. We could take a bit of that.”

T he lawmaker cited a 2018 study by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) that found “there is very little evidence of monetary policy affect ing bank lending.”

So, higher interest rates by the BSP might not constrain our growth so much, especially if we take mea sures to protect our key growth driv ers,” Salceda said.

That is a decision that the BSP will ultimately have to weigh. But the impact of depreciation on the poor has been something the Monetary Board thinks about when they decide on this policy question,” he added.

‘Slow Food’ advocates champion PHL ingredients at Turin festival

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

THE Department of Tourism (DOT) is now helping to promote the slow food movement in the Philippines by supporting local participants in an ongoing food festival in Turin, Italy.

M essaging from Turin, Pacita Juan, owner of Echostore and a major advocate of the Slow Food movement in the Philippines, told the BusinessMirror that participating in Terra Madre Salone del Gusto 2022 is important because, “it gives another side of the Philippines—a world of many cultures through food. It’s important to show the country in the usual tourism marketing way, but with a deeper appreciation and culture through food and drink.”

I n a Facebook post, the DOT said the agency-led delegation was at the Parco

Dora in Turin for a series of Philippine slow food demonstrations, lectures and food tasting and networking with the slow food champions of the Philippines.

O n display at the Philippines Booth are criollo cacao, batuan, kadios, pili, muscovado sugar and adlai grains from the Visayas region along with heirloom rice and coffee from The Cordilleras. The booth also featured traditional adobo recipes, coffee beans from various provinces and Pinoy cocktails using different foraged food ingredients, among others.

Slow food” refers to dishes carefully prepared using traditional cooking methods using locally-sourced, high quality ingredients. These are supposed to be enjoyed by eating them slowly.

Filipino creativity

JUAN said they were able to showcase Filipino creativity, for example, “in how we use ube in ube

liqueur, which everybody loves.”

At a tasting event, Chef Jam Melchor, country head of Slow Food Youth Network Philippines and the founder of the Philippine Culinary Heritage Movement showed how to cook Chong-ak, an heirloom rice and ark of taste ingredient, for arroz caldo (chicken rice porridge).

“Among the most common questions we received, for instance, during Melchor’s event, were: ’How do you eat this arroz caldo?’ Or ‘How do you eat your rice.’ They became curious about the country because of our food sampling and taste workshops,” explained Juan.

There were also drink demos by chefs Kalel Demetrio, while Adobo chicken with batuan by José Ricaredo was featured at a ticketed event at Terra Madre Kitchen. Batuan is a fruit usually found in Western Visayas and primarily used as a souring agent.

“Slow food travel has yet to be institutionalized by DOT

‘Karding,’ strongest cyclone this year, hits most of Luzon

“ The President is also in con stant communication with DILG (Department of the Interior and Local Government) Secretary Benhur Abalos for possible evacu ation especially in low-lying ar eas that are prone to flooding,” the Office of the Press Secretary said, and with the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and Department of Ag riculture (DA).

Army deploys

THE Army, through the 7th Infantry Division (7th ID) under Major Gen. Andrew Costelo—area of responsi bility in Central Luzon and parts of Northern Luzon—and the 525th En gineer Combat Battalion (525ECB) have deployed equipment and per sonnel in affected areas.

T he 69th Infantry Battalion, 70th Infantry Battalion, 71st Infantry Battalion and 84th Infantry Bat talion of 7ID marshalled disaster response teams and deployed them to Central Luzon.

A rmy Commanding General Lt. Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. as sured the operational readiness of Army’s HADR [humanitarian and disaster response] teams in assisting residents in calamitystricken communities.

A ir and naval assets are also on standby for deployment as soon as the weather clears for aerial assessment, transport and evacu ation operations.

T he Philippine Coast Guard put on standby all of its units and disaster response groups in all of the prov ince in Central Luzon, Bicol region and Metro Manila.

Impact on power

DOE Undersecretary William Fuentebella said the agency is in close coordination with the National Electrification Admin istration (NEA), National Power Corp. (NPC), National Grid Corpo ration of the Philippines (NGCP), Manila Electric Co. (Meralco), among others.

“ We have protocols in place. There is strict monitoring happening. As far as the downstream oil industry is concerned, the DOE is coordinat ing with the various depots to bulk storage facilities up to retail outlets to ensure supply of petroleum prod ucts,” he said.

According to the NGCP, there is already one 230 kiloVolt (kV) trans mission line unavailable  as of 5pm. NGCP mobilized its line crews and was conducting patrols to inspect and repair the affected line.

Meralco said its systems and personnel are ready to immediately respond to power outages.

“As a 24–hour service company, we are ready to respond to these types of emergency. Our crews are on standby to attend to any trouble that may affect our facilities in areas that might be hit by the typhoon,” Meralco Vice President and Head of

Corporate Communications Joe R. Zaldarriaga said.

Signal 5

MORE areas in Luzon were placed un der Tropical Cyclone Signal (TCWS) No. 5 on Sunday as “Karding” intensi fied, further endangering Polilio Is lands, the state weather bureau said.

T he Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration said the areas of Polillo Islands, the ex treme northern portion of Quezon, northern and central portions of General Nakar, northeastern por tion of Infanta Dingalan, Aurora and the eastern portion of Bulacan including Doña Remedios Trinidad, Norzagaray, and the southeastern portion of General Tinio in Nueva Ecija are under TCWS No. 5.

T CWS No. 4 is hoisted over the Calaguas Islands, the southern portion of Aurora (San Luis, Baler, Maria Aurora), the northern por tion of Quezon (the rest of General Nakar, the rest of Infanta, Real), the northern portion of Metro Manila (Marikina, Caloocan, Malabon, Navotas, Valenzuela, and Quezon City), the central and southern por tion of Nueva Ecija (Gabaldon, the rest of General Tinio, City of Gapan, Peñaranda), the rest of Bulacan, Pampanga, the northern and cen tral portions of Rizal (Rodriguez, City of Antipolo, Tanay, San Mateo, Baras), the southeastern portion of Tarlac (La Paz, Concepcion), and

the extreme northern portion of Laguna (Famy, Siniloan, Santa Ma ria, Pangil)

PAGASA said heavy damage to high-risk and medium risk struc tures may occur, while considerable damage to structures of light mate rials are also expected.

In these areas, the situation is po tentially very destructive to the com munity and PAGASA recommended that all travels and outdoor activities be cancelled, and those highly at risk be evacuated to safer shelters.

Heavy rainfall is expected inaffected areas

PAGASA said areas under Wind Sig nal No. 4 and No.5 will experience winds peaking at typhoon-force strength, while winds may reach storm-force in strength within any of the areas where Wind Signal No. 3 is hoisted.

Pagasa also warned of a high to very high risk of storm surge of more than 3 meters in height in the lowlying areas.

At least 131 families or 458 in dividuals have been affected as of Sunday as Karding intensified into a supertyphoon. Filipinos were warned of massive rainfall, simil iar to Typhoons Ondoy and Ulysses several years ago that turned a large area of Luzon, including Metro Manila, into a big swamp. Ondoy’s 13th anniversary is being marked on September 26.

continued from a12

K arding, seen to make a landfall in Aurora or northern portion of Quezon on Sunday night, may force weather officials to hoist  signal number 5 in severely threatened ar eas, NDRRMC said in a virtual con ference with its head, Department of National Defense Officer in Charge Jose Faustino Jr.

T he NDRRMC said several evacuation centers have also been readied in perennially flood-threat ened Marikina city, owing to the Marikina River.

T he Mines and Geosciences Bu reau warned 8,728 barangays are susceptible to flooding as the govern ment braced for what might be the strongest typhoon to hit the country this year.

Moderate to high risk of storm surge is also possible over Camarines Norte, Pangasinan, Zambales, Bula can, the northern portion of Metro Manila, the southern portion of La Union, and the rest of Quezon.

“

The combined effects of storm surge and high waves breaking along the coast may cause life-threatening and damaging inundation or flood ing,” Pagasa warned.

Philippine National Police chief Gen. Rodolfo Azurin Jr. has alerted all units and stations to be on alert for the possible effects of Karding.

“ We ask residents living in danger zones to adhere to calls for evacua tion whenever necessary,” Azurin said.

Reports by Rene Acosta, Samuel P. Medenilla, Lenie Lectura and Jonathan Mayuga

and I’m so glad they heeded our call to collaborate with slow food communities in the Philippines,” said Juan. “The Department of Agriculture and DOT must collaborate to use the platform of slow food travel for gastronomic tourism. This support of DOT is most welcome,” she added.

Food tourism is one of the priority tourism products of Tourism Secretary-designate Christina Garcia Frasco. With the theme

“Regeneration,” Terra Madre Salone del Gusto 2022 will have 3,000 delegates from 130 countries. This includes over 600 exhibitors and producers from around the world and all the Italian regions are featured at Terra Madre Salone del Gusto 2022, including 150 Slow Food Presidia in the dedicated Presidium area and regional areas and over 30 local institutions telling a narrative of regeneration along the length of Italy.

PHL banana exporters seek PBBM help to halt undue customs penalties

continued from a12

T he United Nations’ Food and Agriculture and Organization (FAO) reported that the Philippines’s share in Asian banana exports continued to shrink, plunging to just 60 percent last year from 90 percent amid growing competition from neighboring producing countries.

The FAO said the Philippines’s stature as Asia’s key banana exporter is now being rocked by persisting production woes worsened by stiff competition from growing banana suppliers in the region.

T he FAO added that the Philippines banana exports last year plunged by 37 percent yearon-year to 2.4 million metric tons (MMT) from 3.8 MMT (Related

story: https://businessmirror com.ph/2022/09/13/phl-sharein-asian-banana-exportsdown-to-60/)

Despite shrinking a market share in Asian banana exports, the Philippines remained as the world’s second-largest exporter of bananas for the fourth consecutive year in 2021. (Related story: https:// businessmirror.com. ph/2022/05/30/phl-still-secondlargest-banana-exporter-fao/)

Committee on Ways and Means Chairman Joey Sarte Salceda has warned that the weakening of the Philippine peso will affect lower-income households more than rich households.

THIS collage of photos courtesy of the Department of Tourism (DOT) shows DOT staff and Philippine Slow Food Movement advocates and a showcase of local dishes and heritage ingredients at the ongoing Terra Madre Salone del Gusto 2022 in Turin, Italy. PHOTOS COURTESY DEPARTMENT OF TOURISM

Agriculture/Commodities

Pork inventory as of September 19 flat–NMIS

By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas @jearcalas

THE country’s frozen pork in ventory as of September 19 was flat compared to the vol ume a year ago, based on data from the National Meat Inspection Ser vice (NMIS).

NMIS data showed that frozen pork in accredited local cold storage facilities reached 85,600 metric tons (MT). Last year, the inventory was pegged at 85,197.21 MT.

On a weekly basis, however, the country’s pork inventory was 6.4 per cent lower than the 91,522.24 MT recorded last September 12, accord ing to data from the attached agency of the Department of Agriculture.

A bout 97 percent of the country’s frozen pork inventory as of Septem ber 19, or 83,062.61 MT, were im

ported. The remaining volume of 2,543.99 MT was locally produced.

NMIS data showed that 29.58 percent of the total frozen pork in ventory, or about 25,326.08 MT, were in Region 3 cold storages.

Frozen pork inventory in Region 4A reached 23,579.05 MT while stocks in the National Capital Region were estimated at 22,937.6 MT.

N MIS data also showed that the country’s inventory of dressed chicken in cold storages as of Sep tember 19 reached 43,287.61 MT, 22.78 percent lower than the 56,059 MT recorded inventory in the same period of last year.

However, NMIS data showed that the dressed chicken inventory during the period was 3.78 percent higher than the 41,711.44 MT recorded last September 12.

N MIS showed that about 57.85

percent, or 25,403.02 MT, of the total dressed chicken inventory were imported while the remain ing 17,884.59 MT were locally produced.

‘Planters will get cash aid from excess rice tariff collections’

By Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz @joveemarie

THE Department of Agriculture (DA) will distribute a total of P8.9 billion in excess rice tar iff collections from 2021 to farmerbeneficiaries this year.

Isabela Rep. Tonypet Albano made the assurance following the interpel lation of Gabriela Rep. Arlene Brosas during the plenary deliberations of the 2023 budget of the DA last Friday.

The P8.9 billion is for a total of 1.7 million farmers. Of the amount, P5.39 billion has already been allocated and distributed to farmers tilling 2 hect ares and below,” Albano said.

Citing a document, Brosas said the DA is targeting only 1.079 million farmers even when the total number of farmers listed in the Registry Sys tem for Basic Sectors in Agriculture is at 1.9 million.

T he Rice Competitiveness En hance Fund (RCEF)-Rice Farm ers Financial Assistance Program FY 2021 implementation, which started last October 2021, has already served 1,065,264 farmer beneficiaries who received a total of P5.3 billion as of September 15. Each beneficiary reached a cash as sistance of P5,000.

The remaining P3.6 billion

[from the P8.9 billion excess rev enues], if you calculate it, is the only one that is left to be given the P5,000 cash assistance…The [total] budget allocation was only good for 1.7 million farmers and therefore the other farmer-beneficiaries will be prioritized during the roll out of the program next year because of budgetary constraints,” said Albano.

“ These budget constraints are because of inflation, Ukraine-Russia war and Covid-19 pandemic, which ate a lot of the government revenues.”

Under the rice tariffication law, tariffs collected from rice imports are used to fund the six-year P10billion annual RCEF to bankroll programs that provide farmers with high-quality seeds, machinery, easier credit access, and relevant training.

S hould annual tariff revenues from rice imports exceed P10 bil lion, the law mandates earmark ing the fund by Congress—and included in the national budget of the following year—for financial assistance to palay farmers, titling of agricultural lands, an expanded crop insurance program on rice, and crop diversification.

Meanwhile, Brosas also ques tioned a special provision in the unprogrammed appropriations of the DA indicating that the excess

revenues from the rice tariffication program will be lumped with other funds where the budget for other items such as Support to Infrastruc ture Projects and Social Programs (SIPSP) will be drawn from.

Madam Chair, modification of purpose ito Ang fund para sa cash assistance to farmers ay ni-lump sa SIPSP at iba pang programa. Against ito sa ating Seksyon 25 ng Konstitusy on. Article VI Section 25 (2) of the 1987 Constitution: (2) No provision or enactment shall be embraced in the general appropriations bill un less it relates specifically to some particular appropriation therein. Any such provision or enactment shall be limited in its operation to the appropriation to which it re lates,” Brosas said.

A lbano assured that the excess revenues from the tariff collections will not be used for other purposes and that the House of Representa tives will coordinate the matter with the Department of Budget and Management.

“ We welcome the suggestion of [Brosas] to actually talk to the DBM and clarify this point and also ask the DBM for its justification on why they wanted to lodge this in a certain manner that is inconvenient as what Congresswoman Brosas stated.”

T he Meat Importers and Trad ers Association (Mita) had warned that imported meat products may become more expensive in the com ing months due to the weakening

of peso and tightening global sup ply (Related story: https://busi nessmirror.com.ph/2022/09/22/ imported-meat-prices-to-riseonpeso-global-supply-woes/).

“ Simple calculations show that prices would increase by at least 10 percent because our exchange rate has weakened by that level. We are now seeing quotations of P58 [to a dollar]. Before we were just talking about P50 to P51, so that is about 10 percent already in difference in foreign exchange,” Mita President Emeritus Jesus C. Cham told reporters in an inter view last week.

T he country’s meat imports in January to August rose by 7 per cent year-on-year to over 850,000 MT due to higher pork purchases from abroad, the latest govern ment data showed.

B ureau of Animal Industry (BAI) data indicated that total meat imports during the 8-month period reached 851,840.294 MT, 56,253.577 MT higher than the 795,586.717 MT recorded a year ago.

B AI data showed that out of the 7 categories of imported meat products, only pork and lamb meat posted increments on an annual basis (Related story: https://busi nessmirror.com.ph/2022/09/19/ pork-products-lamb-drive-meatimports-growth-bai/).

T he country’s pork imports, which accounted for 54.56 percent of total meat imports, rose by a fifth yearon-year to 464,838.711 MT from last year’s 385,563.34 MT.

Imports of prime cuts of pork, which currently enjoy a lower tariff rate, accounted for 55 percent of to tal pork imports during the period.

ARBs in Bicol enroll in agri registry system, says DAR

By Jonathan L. Mayuga @jonlmayuga

THE Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) announced on Sunday the registration of 3,438 agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) using its electronic registry system or Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture (RSBSA) to boost its assistance to small farmers in the Bicol region.

T he DAR expects to complete the registration by the end of the year.

The move is in line with the goal of Secretary Conrado Estrella III of giving the farmers access to various government assistance programs, said Romulo Britanico, DAR Bicol assistant regional director for operations.

We are pushing this endeavor because this will be beneficial for the farmers.”

DAR said the ARBs enrolled in the system will benefit from government assistance provided by the Philippine Crop Insurance Corp. (PCIC) and the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF).

T he RSBSA is an electronic da tabase containing essential infor mation for farmers, fishermen, and agri-fishery workers, and gov

ernment programs and services for target beneficiaries. It will be a requirement for obtaining agrifishery-related services from the DA, other government agencies, and private companies.

T he DAR and the Department of Agriculture (DA) are strengthening their partnership to register ARBs in the DA’s database system.

I appreciate the DA’s effort and thorough discussion on the RSBSA program. Following this, I will per sonally follow up with the provinces on this matter. And I hope that our accomplishment with RSBSA regis tration will increase,” Britanico said.

During a two-day learning session held early this month, DA represen tative Bjorn Borris De Los Santos discussed the claims procedure and how to sign up for the RSBSA.

Based on our data, the number of registered ARBs in the RSBSA as of June 2022 is 13,210,” de Los Santos said.

C hief Agrarian Reform Program Officer Lerma Dino said that of the 3,438 ARB’s target of DAR-Bicol for this year, 1,537 had been registered in the first semester.

Farmers have been denied farm assistance from the government

because they were not registered in the RSBSA. That is why we are committed to enrolling our ARBs in the registry because we want them to qualify for services and assistance offered by the govern ment,” Dino said.

T he DAR is also urging 8 agrarian reform beneficiaries’ organizations (ARBOs) to become agri-insurance program underwriters. They will act as agents to persuade other ARBs to obtain insurance protection to cover crop losses resulting from natural disasters, plant diseases, and pest infestations, such as corn and palay.

A s of June, 7 ARBOs are already accredited as underwriters. These include the Quipia Agrarian Re form Beneficiaries Cooperative in Jovellar, Albay; the Castilla Devel opment Cooperative in Castilla, Sorsogon; and five others from Camarines Sur, such as the Del Rosario Multi-Purpose Coopera tive in Pili, the San Isidro Develop ment Cooperative in Naga City, the San Agustin-San Ramon Agrarian Reform Farmers’ Cooperative in Bula, and the San Antonio Farm ers Irrigator’s Association in Buhi, and Concepcion-Umalo Farmers’ Cooperative in Libmanan town.

THE Japan International Coop eration Agency (JICA) and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (Jica-DENR) recently turned over new access roads in Banaue, Mayoyao, and Lagawe in Ifugao Province to upland farmers who also serve as stewards of vital forest resources.

T he roads form part of the P1.8billion Jica-DENR cooperation in the construction and rehabilitation of agroforestry support facilities under the Forestland Management Project (FMP), which began in 2012 in col laboration with Jica.

It is credited to boost conserva tion and rehabilitation efforts of over 70,000 hectares of forestlands cover ing a total of 24 sub-watersheds in the provinces of Ifugao, Quirino, Nueva Vizcaya, Nueva Ecija and Iloilo.

Jica and the DENR, the agency mandated to manage the country’s natural resources, have partnered to save critical watershed systems in the Philippines as a move to ad dress climate change and improve the livelihood of farmers and grass roots communities dependent on forest resources.

T he Philippines has more than 130 watersheds critical to supply ing water for irrigation, domestic,

and industrial use.

Government data shows that wa tersheds account for an estimated 70 percent of the Philippines’s land area.

T his vital connection between for estland management and water re sources was highlighted in the efforts of Jica and the DENR to conserve the critical river basins in Upper Magat and Cagayan, Upper Pampanga, and Jalaur in Panay Island.

We join the Philippine gov ernment in their self-help ef forts to sustainably manage the Philippines’s natural resources for the greatest good of the great est number of people in the long term,” said Jica Philippines Chief Representative Sakamoto Takema in a statement.

“

Conserving vital forest re sources such as watersheds is criti cal to mitigating climate-change risks and giving Filipinos opportu nities to improve their livelihood through sustainable forestland management.”

Takema said access roads help upland communities implement sustainable community-based forest management activities, protect and maintain a total of nearly twenty thousand hectares of forest areas in the Province of Ifugao.

Recognizing the value of water sheds to future generation, it comes as no surprise that FMP also encour aged the Philippine government to launch a national “Save Our Water shed” campaign in 2021 calling for stakeholders’ collaboration on wa tershed rehabilitation.

T he DENR cited Jica’s support to establish watershed management councils under FMP to also involve people’s organizations, non-profit groups, and private sector in con serving this vital forest resource.

T he FMP has two core compo nents—comprehensive site develop ment and technical assistance.

T he comprehensive site devel opment has several subprojects. These are mapping of watershed ecosystem, community organiz ing to strengthen partner people’s organizations and boost enterprise development in forest communi ties, site development or the reha bilitation of denuded areas in the watersheds by establishing forest, agroforestry, and soil and water conservation plantations.

FMP also involves policy making and construction of agroforestry support facilities including access roads, irrigation pipelines, pathways and bridges. Jonathan L. Mayuga

are selling for re cord high prices ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday as a re surgence of bird flu wipes out sup plies across the United States.

TURKEYS

Avian influenza is devastating egg and turkey operations in the heartland of the country. If just one bird gets it, the entire flock is culled in order to stop the spread. Millions of hens and turkeys have been killed in recent weeks. As a result, prices for turkey hens are nearly 30 perce t higher than a year ago and 80 percent above pre-pandemic costs. Just as concerning are inventories of whole turkeys, which are the lowest going into the US winter holiday season since 2006. That means there will be little relief from inflation for Thanksgiving dinner.

There’s nothing appearing on the horizon to suggest anything new is going to surface to help ease the supply-side pain for Thanksgiv ing turkeys,” said Russ Whitman, senior vice president at commodity researcher Urner Barry. The new bird flu cases “are troubling and involve turkey meat birds, which will with out doubt firm up an already firm scenario,” namely that there may be shortfalls during the holidays.

T he virus’s comeback is a sur prise because there was already a major avian influenza outbreak in the first half of the year that killed over 40 million birds. The disease doesn’t usually return, as the heat of summer kills it off. The current outbreak, which brings death totals

to over 45 million, is likely to only get worse as wild birds begin to fly south, said Beth Thompson, South Dakota’s state veterinarian. Bird flu is propagated by migrating wild birds that swarm above farms and leave droppings that get tracked into poultry houses.

T his year’s avian influenza “doesn’t seem to have been affected by that hot summer, and in the next probably four to six weeks, we’re go ing to see those migrating birds com ing back from Canada, flying over the United States,” she said. “That may increase the viral load that’s out in the environment.”

W hile a 2015 outbreak is consid ered the biggest in history, this year’s virus has delivered a far bigger shock as rampant, across-the-board inflation is already straining consumers’ budgets.

Turkey hens are $1.82 a pound this week, according to Urner Barry,

compared to $1.42 last year and $1.01 before the pandemic. Meanwhile, wholesale egg prices are at $3.62 a dozen as of Wednesday, the highest ever, up from a previous record of $3.45 a dozen set earlier this year, said John Brunnquell, chief execu tive officer of Egg Innovations, one of the biggest US producers of freerange eggs. Consumers have seen prices for eggs at grocery stores triple this year, while turkey meat rose a record-setting 60 percent, according to a Cobank report.

Consumers should still find holi day sales, with turkey a so-called loss-leader that lures shoppers to buy other products. “Discounted turkeys are one of those holiday deals that bring people into the grocery store,’’ Beth Breeding, vice president of com munications and marketing at the National Turkey Federation, said by phone. Bloomberg News

ManilaMed celebrates 55th anniversary

By Anne Ruth Dela Cruz

IN 1965, six young Filipino doctors returned to the Philip pines and decided to pool their resources together to open a small laboratory in the City of Manila. This laboratory, the Medilab, was the foundation of the vision of comprehensive care that inte grates a hospital and a medical insurance system.

On August 15, 1967, the hos pital was formally inaugurated as Medical Center Manila with Dr. Paulo C. Campos as its first medical director. Under the administra tion of the Sisters of St. Paul de Chartres, it opened with an ini tial capacity of 176 beds for adults and children and 24 bassinets in the Nursery.

In March 2013, Mount Grace Hospitals Inc. bought the majority shares of the hospital and now op erates and manages Medical Center Manila, rebranding it with its for mer nickname, ManilaMed.

Launch of logo, theme

On its 55th year, ManilaMed de cided that it would celebrate this milestone year after a two-year hia tus brought about the pandemic.

“ We decided to start the cel ebrations early and we had the logo launch in April 2022. During that same month, we had our initial event that was spearheaded by the Marketing Department,” related Jhoanne Mae C. Toriaga, Head of ManilaMed’s Culture Management Department.

On April 18, 2022 the Manil aMed Champions of Care Gallery was launched as the hospital’s way of uniting and honoring Filipino doctors, healthcare workers, and frontliners who selflessly sac rificed their lives and with stood many challenges during the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Complementary to the Cham pions of Care, we also had a simi lar activity where we honored our Models of Passion, Models of Legacy and Models of Service,” To riaga added.

Golf tournament

The next major event was a golf tournament held on June 10, 2022 at Manila Southwoods in Carmona,

R affle prizes were also given out during the event. The proceeds

from the golf tournament will be used to support Asilo San Vicente De Paul, an orphanage located along United Nations Avenue.

Run by the Daughters of Char ity, we are planning a continuous program with them which would not only include the provision of health care but hopefully in the long run, infrastructure im provements and support to the children” Toriaga said, adding that ManilaMed will make sure that the children are healthy and that they get the required vaccinations.

Changing of the guards

On July 30, ManilaMed had its Doctors’ Night and Alumni Home coming which was held at the Bayanihan Center in Mandaluyong City. Almost 200 doctors joined the event, with some coming from the provinces just to join the anniver sary celebrations.

“It was also during this event that it was announced that Dr. Edu ardo S. Eseque was appointed the new President of ManilaMed. Also gracing the event were officials from Unilab and Mount Grace,” she said.

August 15, 2022, the day of the

actual anniversary, started with a thanksgiving mass. This was fol lowed by a big celebration held at the Emilio Aguinaldo College gymnasium. Attendees of both celebrations had to test negative in their antigen tests before being al lowed to enter the venue.

Other activities that took place to celebrate ManilaMed’s anniver sary include a blood donation drive, Breastfeeding Month photo con test, and the launch of the Stroke Support Group.

“ We tried to bring back the pre-pandemic feel so that our em ployees will feel that they are ap preciated for all their efforts. De spite the pandemic, we are staying strong. The impact is so different when you know that your leaders and colleagues are there to support you,” Toriaga said.

With the theme “Heritage Built on Passion, Legacy, Service,” the anni versary celebration kicked off with the launch of the anniversary logo and the theme.

Cavite. The event brought together ManilaMed’s management team, doctors, suppliers and members of the Mount Grace Group. Even doctors from partner hospitals in Dagupan and Nueva Ecija were on ground to join the celebrations.

Awarding of the ISO 9001:2015 recertification, received by members of the ManilaMed Management Committee.

ManilaMed 55th Anniversary Thanksgiving Celebration

Guest Speaker Dr. Ernesto Domingo (middle), a National Scientist and member of ManilaMed’s Management Committee with Dr. Eduardo Eseque, ManilaMed President and Dr. Anthony Martin Dolor (Chief Operating Officer)

Mount Grace Hospitals Inc., President and CEO Carlos C. Ejercito giving his Keynote Message for the ManilaMed 55th Anniversary - Doctors’ Ap preciation Night and Alumni Homecoming

Members of ManilaMed Nursing Services Division with their Director, Maila Claire Lichauco

One of the winners of the golf tournament

Ceremonial

ManilaMed Immediate-Past President, Jose Santiago A. de la Cruz,

ManilaMed

Anthony Martin S. Dolor

of

staff

Champions

gallery.

ExecutiveViews

DR. EDUARDO S. ESEQUE, PRESIDENT, MANILAMED

A MAN OF HIS WORD

By Anne Ruth Dela Cruz

THE first thing that Dr. Eduardo S. Eseque, President of ManilaMed, formerly known as Medical Center Manila, does when he gets to the hospital is to do his rounds. He starts at the ground floor and works his way up the stairs until he reaches his office at the penthouse.

Wearing only his face mask, he makes sure that he visits the Emergency Room even if it is overflowing with Covid-19 cases. He makes sure that he checks on the hospital staff to make sure that they are doing well and that they know they can count on him for psychological and moral support. He also checks on his patients because he continues to do surgeries. Dr. Eseque does his rounds not only in the mornings but does it two to three times a day.

I am here even on weekends. I do my work here. I do my surgeries here. I come here to find out if I miss any emails. But if I do miss anything, I am sure the shift nurse managers will tell me. That’s the typical me, wanting to be with you, wanting to be part of the ordi nary life in the hospital, from the ranks, from my residents and then from my co-workers in the management,” Dr. Eseque said in an

First to respond

If there is a person who knows ManilaMed inside and out, it is Dr. Eseque. That’s because he has been with the hospital since his residency days. It was the first hospital that sent him a letter and called him, requesting that he report to the Chairman of the Department of Surgery for an interview.

Surprised with the development, Dr. Es eque recalled that he had to borrow a shirt and shoes just so he could make it to his appointment.

“I am just an average guy and I said to my self that the standards at ManilaMed were very high. I was shellshocked and I realized then that I should have been more serious when I was still studying because it all boils down to what is on paper,” he recalled.

He heaved a sigh of relief when the chair man asked when he would be able to start. Dr. Eseque said he could start immediately and was told that his pre-residency would take two months and his performance during this period would determine if he was fit for this area of specialization.

The chairman said that I had to with stand the long hours and duty every other day. I will literally live in the hospital for the rest of my training days if I am accepted,” Dr. Eseque said.

Here to stay

After meeting with the chairman, Dr. Asuncion Abaya-Morido, the Department of Surgery Training Officer was called in to talk to Dr. Es eque. She asked him what he would do if he was already accepted at ManilaMed but received a call from another institution.

I said, Maam, this is all I can say. If you give me the chance, if you accept me here, I will finish my training regardless of what happens. I will be here. I am true to my word. And she said, I will hold you to that,” he said.

“So that was my challenge, to be true to my word. I am the sort of guy that if I say yes, it’s a yes. If I say I will stay, I will stay. So I stayed and until now I am here,” Dr. Eseque added.

As he stayed on, Dr. Eseque rose from the ranks. Prior to his appointment as Ma nilaMed President, he also assumed the positions of Chairman of the Department of Surgery; Deputy Medical Director for Professional Services and Medical Director. There was even a time when he held concur rent positions

New investor

It was during his stint as Chairman of the De partment Surgery in March 2013 when Mount Grace Hospitals Inc. became the majority share holder of ManilaMed. While the management team was happy with the merger, Dr. Eseque said they “never knew the corporate style of management.”

It was very hard to understand when they started to show financial statements be cause that was never part of our upbringing in this hospital. Numbers! And all the departments are being given targets and everything and try ing to understand all this,” he said.

To adapt to this new management style, Dr. Eseque said the management team took it upon itself to take up Masters in Hospital Man agement “to understand that and how manage ment in a corporate setting is like and how it is going to be applied.”

I wanted to support our chairman at that time in any way could. If I can understand the system, then can give him better advice on how I can help him,” he said.

No compromise

When he was asked to become President of the hospital, Dr. Eseque said that if the manage ment felt that he could contribute and that he would be of help to the institution he would ac cept the position. He did, however, make one re quest, and that is that he be allowed to continue doing surgeries.

“ You cannot take me away from my profes sion. I am a surgeon and I will still hold my clinic. That is non-negotiable, I said. When the manage

ment agreed to my request, I had no choice but to accept the position of President,” Dr. Eseque said.

When asked how he manages to fit in surgeries and running a hospital in his schedule, Dr. Eseque attributed this to the time during his college days. He had what he called a structured life where the things he had to do were all listed in his calendar.

This is one way to discipline yourself. You have things to do so if you delay by just one minute, everything will be delayed. I tried to balance my time and just strictly follow that schedule. never expected that one day I would be sitting in the office and making de cisions for the entire hospital, especially for this hospital,” he said.

Patient experience

When asked what his vision was for ManilaMed, Dr. Eseque said his “vision is to be favored for your patient experience.” However, he pointed out “how can one deliver it if you don’t feel like doing it?” Since he “feels the sentiments” of those among the rank and file, Dr. Eseque said it is important that the staff looks forward to go to work every day and are “excited to be around their co-workers.”

My vision is for inclusive growth, from the basement up to the corporate staff. If you say inclusive, it means there is no exception and no exemption. It is also important that we remain grounded regardless of where you are in the stage of life. So to be there, you have to practice what you have been practic ing all along,” he said.

Dr. Eseque also emphasized the need to

return GMRC or Good Manners and Right Conduct to the curriculum because it is one of the basic re quirements. Showing respect, he said, is one way of giving dignity to even the smallest of things.

“I am also fond of giving surprises. I make surprise visits and I give a little something to all our staff. Just recently, we gave all our 800 em ployees 10 kilos of rice. They were so happy to receive it. Some of them even asked me when I would be giving out canned goods,” he said with a laugh, adding that instead of giving them canned goods, he treated them all to burger steak with rice.

JCI accreditation

As for his future plans for the hospital, Dr. Es eque said there is talk of having one of their institutes of services being accredited by the Joint Commission International (JCI) which ac credits and certifies health care organizations and programs across the globe. The target is their cardiology service.

“Secondly, I would like to advance our surgi cal services. We are planning to buy a robot because I would like to complement all the doctors not only in Manila but also outside of Manila,” he said.

In the end, all that matters is when the pa tients go to ManilaMed for their health concerns, Dr. Eseque said “we will heal them. That when the moment they walk in, until the moment they step out of the hospital’s walls and doors, that we pro vide them with the best experience.”

“ Yes, that is our creed. What will differ entiate you from the others is the experience that you provide for patients who walk into our doors,” he said.

interview with BusinessMirror.

West eyes deeper sanctions after Putin heightens threats

By Ellen Knickmeyer & Lorne Cook The Associated Press

At least to start with, by trying to double down on the same tactics that have helped put Russia in a corner in Ukraine, US and European leaders have made clear: more financial penalties and international isolation for Russia, more arms and other backing for Ukraine.

That won’t necessarily be easy. It’s been tough enough staying the current course of persuading all of dozens of allies to stick with sanctions and iso lation for Putin, and persuading more ambivalent countries to join in. Global financial and energy disruptions from Russia’s war in Ukraine already prom ise to make the coming winter a tough one for countries that have depended on Russia for their energy needs.

And there’s no sign of US or NATO of ficials matching Putin’s renewed nuclear threats with the same nuclear bluster, which in itself might raise the risks of escalating the conflict to an unimagi nable level. Even if Putin should act on his nuclear threat, President Joe Biden and others point, without details, to an ascending scale of carefully calibrated responses, based on how far Russia goes.

To start with, “they’ll become more of a pariah in the world than they ever have been,” Biden told CBS’ “60 Min utes” just before Putin’s new wartime measures and renewed nuclear threat.

“What they do will determine what response would occur,” Biden said on the nuclear side, adding that the US responses in that case would be “con sequential.”

“I do not believe the United States would take an escalatory step” in the event of a one-off, limited nuclear det onation by Russia aimed at trying to scare Ukraine and its supporters off, said Rose Gottemoeller, former deputy NATO secretary-general and former US undersecretary of state for arms control. “Certainly, it would not respond with nuclear weapons.”

Putin this week pledged to use “all available means” to stave off any chal

lenges as Russia moves to summarily claim more Ukrainian territory despite heavy losses on the battlefield to NATOarmed Ukrainian forces. In case NATO missed the point, another senior Rus sian political figure specified the next day that included nuclear weapons. Pu tin also mobilized Russian fighters to throw into the seven-month invasion of Ukraine, and announced votes in parts of Ukraine that the West says are meant to provide political cover for illegally absorbing those regions into Russia.

US and European Union officials say new sanctions are in the works in re sponse to Putin’s latest moves.

“Russia, its political leadership, and all those involved in organizing these ‘referenda’ as well as in other violations of international law and international humanitarian law in Ukraine will be held accountable,” EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell pledged this week, on the sidelines of the UN General As sembly in New York.

But political declarations are the easy part. It’s unclear what type of measures can be agreed upon, as the financial punishments against Russia are also increasingly inflicting pain on other European economies weighed down by high electricity and natural gas prices and spiraling inflation. Hungary has led resistance to sanctions that might hit supplies from Russia, but it isn’t alone in hesitating.

New sanctions may come only after much debate and hand wringing among the 27 EU member countries in coming weeks, probably only after Russia has held its referendums.

The last round of sanctions over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was an nounced on May 4, but only agreed on four weeks later, as concerns over oil divided member countries. Rather than a new set of sanctions, a “maintenance and alignment” package was sealed in July, mostly to close loopholes on mea sures already agreed upon.

Pressed by reporters in New York for details about what might be coming, Borrell said the sanctions would target “new areas of the Russian economy, es pecially—if I can be a little more con crete—the technological ones.”

Ursula von der Leyen, who heads the EU’s executive branch—the European Commission—which has been respon sible for drawing up most of the sanc tions, also appeared resolute, but she was hardly more forthcoming.

“We stand ready to impose further economic costs on Russia and on indi viduals and entities inside and outside of Russia who support (the war), po litically or economically. Plus we will propose additional export controls on civilian technology as Russia moves to a full war economy,” she told CNN.

Beyond the economic sanctions, the EU since Russia’s February invasion of Ukraine has slapped asset freezes and travel bans on more than 1,200 Rus sians, including Putin, Russia’s foreign minister and other senior officials.

Militarily, Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said this month that NATO is working with the defense industry to explore ways to boost arms production to better meet Ukraine’s needs and re plenish the arsenals of allies who have been providing weapons and defense systems.

“We saw that during the Covid crisis, the industry was able to ramp up pro duction of vaccines and now we need to have, to some extent, the same ap proach: ramp up quickly production of

weapons and ammunition,” he told The Associated Press.

The US as a matter of policy main tains ambiguity about how it would respond to any use of nuclear weapons in the conflict. Such a use would return the world to nuclear war for the first time since the US dropped bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, and risk escalation on a scale the world has never seen.

But US officials’ public comments on the matter this month are in line with expectations from arms experts that Washington’s response would be a graduated one based on the gravity of Russia’s nuclear use. A one-off and comparatively limited Russian nuclear use would deepen Russia’s isolation in ternationally, but might not necessar ily draw an immediate Western nuclear use in kind.

It’s difficult to fathom Putin launch ing any central strategic nuclear strike at the United States or its NATO allies, which would be “to commit suicide,” said Gottemoeller, the former deputy NATO secretary-general.

Gottemoeller describes instead a scenario of Putin carrying out a single demonstration strike over the Black Sea or against a Ukrainian military target, in hopes of spiking pressure on Ukraine’s Western-allied government to capitulate.

Internationally, “There would be a very firm response that ... would amount to, again redoubling efforts to help the Ukrainians,” and “also in terms of huge condemnation in the international com munity,” she said.

That condemnation would be sure to draw in countries that so far have declined to break with Russia or stop doing business with it, including China, India and countries of the global south, she said.

For Putin, actual nuclear use would give up all the benefits of simply threat ening it, and pile on untold risks for Putin after that, said Lawrence Freed man, emeritus professor of war studies at King’s College London.

“The Chinese and the Indians and others that have not been marked in their condemnation of Russia ... would have to speak. The last thing they want is for the precedent of nuclear use to be made,” Freedman said.

He said it is easy to be scared by Pu tin’s rhetoric. “But I think … it’s best to recognize he does have a purpose, which is working, to stop the West intervening directly,” he said. “To start using nucle ar weapons against the West, you have to expect” at least the risk of “nuclear weapons coming back in your direction.” Cook reported from Brussels.

MiSSile Fired SinCe JUne reigniTeS TenSion

By Jon Herskovitz

NORTH Korea fired a short-range ballistic missile, marking a re turn to provocations with US Vice P resident Kamala Harris due to arrive in the region and as an American aircraft carrier group prepares for naval exercises with South Korea.

The launch on Sunday was its first since shooting off its single-day record of eight at the start of June. At least one short-range ballistic missile was fired from Taechon, about 100 kilometers (60 miles) north of Pyongyang, toward waters off its east coast, South Korea’s military said.

The missile reached an altitude of about 60 kilometers and flew about 600 kilome ters, its Joint Chiefs of Staff said. Japanese D efense Minister Defense Minister Yasu kazu Hamada said it splashed down outside o f the country’s exclusive economic zone.

The flight path would be consistent with a North Korean short-range ballistic mis sile. The launch comes as the USS Ronald R eagan aircraft carrier group arrived in South Korea to stage its first combined na val exercises in about five years later this w eek. Harris will be in Tokyo this week

to attend a funeral for former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Kim Jong Un “had his crosshairs” on the USS Reagan in South Korea and Har ris’ upcoming visit, and “probably viewed t hese events as an opportunity to remind his neighbors of his existence and impor tantly, the ongoing weapons development,” s aid Soo Kim, a policy analyst with the Rand Corp. who previously worked at the Central Intelligence Agency.

North Korea has a habit of timing its provocations to political events. The lat est launch also takes place about a month a fter the US and South Korea held the Ul chi Freedom Shield—their biggest joint m ilitary exercise in about five years.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a text message to reporters that the country “is maintaining its readiness posture.” North Korea has for decades denounced joint drills as a prelude to an invasion and it typically doesn’t comment on its launches until at least a day after the fact—if at all.

The US Indo-Pacific Command said it was aware of the ballistic missile launch. “While we have assessed that this event does not pose an immediate threat to US

personnel or territory, or to our allies, the missile launch highlights the destabiliz ing impact of the DPRK’s unlawful WMD a nd ballistic missile programs,” it said in a statement, referring to North Korea by its formal name.

So far in 2022, the North Korean leader has fired off more ballistic missiles than in any other year of his decade in power. He has tested rockets designed to evade US-operated interceptors, increasing the threat of a credible nuclear strike against the US and its allies in Asia.

The US, Japan and South Korea have said North Korea may be looking to soon conduct its first nuclear test since 2017 as it seeks to miniaturize warheads for potential tactical strikes and build more powerful weapons for its missiles that could carry a warhead to the US mainland.

North Korea may also be preparing to fire off its first submarine-launched bal listic missile in more than a year, Yonhap N ews Agency reported, saying South Ko rea’s military has spotted activities pre sumed to be preparations for a launch.

Though he has yet to deal the nuclear card, Kim is also aware that he needs to pick his cards wisely to yield a desired out

come,” Soo Kim of Rand said. “It seems for t he time being that the short-range mis sile test may suffice, as it helps North Ko rea stay relevant and reminds us that the n uclear issue still needs to be addressed.”

Any display of the weapons in Kim’s nuclear arsenal would serve as a reminder of the pressing security problems posed by Pyongyang that have simmered as US Presi dent Joe Biden’s administration focused o n Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Large-scale drills had been put on hold to facilitate nuclear disarmament talks between Kim and former US President Donald Trump, which produced no tangi ble results in winding down North Korea’s a tomic arsenal.

In a show of defiance, North Korea fired two cruise missiles on Aug. 17 in a launch that coincided with a news conference by South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol to mark 100 days in office. Although there are no United Nations Security Council reso lutions banning launches of such rockets, i t was one of the most provocative actions from the state since its move in June to fire eight ballistic missiles in one day. With assistance from Sophie Jackman, Jeong-Ho Lee and Heejin Kim / Bloomberg

ChinA on TAiWAn AT Un: ‘ex TernAl inTerFerenCe’ Won’T be TolerATed

By Ted Anthony AP National Writer

UNITED NATIONS—China underscored its com mitment Saturday to its claim on Taiwan, tell ing assembled world leaders that anyone who gets in the way of its determination to reunify with the self-governing island would be “crushed by the wheels of history.”

The language was forceful but, for Chinese leader ship, well within the realm of normal.

“Only when China is fully reunified can there be true peace across the Taiwan Strait,” Wang Yi, China’s foreign minister, said at the UN General Assembly. He said Beijing would “take the most forceful steps to op pose external interference.”

China regularly and vehemently defends its claim to Taiwan, which separated from the mainland after a 1949 civil war and now functions with its own govern ment. A visit last month by the speaker of the US House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, markedly ratcheted up tensions between Washington and Beijing.

The language, while pointed, reflected China’s typi cal intensity about the island; its claim seldom goes unmentioned in major international speeches. Taiwan is a core issue of China policy, and Wang’s appearance at the leaders’ meeting—instead of his boss, Chinese leader Xi Jinping—was a signal that the speech was not necessarily a significant one.

“The PRC government is the sole government rep resenting all of China,” Wang said, referring to China’s formal name, the People’s Republic of China. “The oneChina principle has become a basic norm in interna tional relations.”

He added: “Any move to obstruct China’s reunifica tion is bound to be crushed by the wheels of history.”

China exercises regular pressure worldwide on any entity—country, corporation, mapmaker—that even implies Taiwan might be a separate nation. At the Olym pics, for example, Taiwan must compete as “Chinese Taipei.” The mainland government’s muscle has iso lated the island’s government, though a few UN mem bers continue to have diplomatic relations with Taipei rather than Beijing.

On Saturday at the UN meeting, just a few speakers before Wang, the prime minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Ralph Gonsalves, spoke forcefully about allowing Taiwan to raise its profile in international or ganizations, including the World Health Organization.

“How can we stand askance, in relative silence and contented inaction, in disregard of Taiwan’s legitimate right to exist in accord with the wishes and will of the Taiwanese people?” he asked.

Wang’s appearance at the 2022 in-person edition of the U.N. General Assembly came after two years of re mote, pandemic-era speeches by China’s top leader. Xi did not attend this year’s event, which Russian President Vladimir Putin also skipped. US President Joe Biden spoke on Wednesday.

The United States and China have an uneasy diplo macy and are at odds over many core issues. They have sparred for decades over human rights, most recently the mistreatment of ethnic Uyghurs in the Xinjiang region of western China. Beijing views US criticism as hypo critical and an act of interference in its internal affairs.

This is always reflected in remarks from China’s lead ership. Wang’s speech used lightly coded phrases and references that critiqued Washington without coming out and saying so. For example, Wang said, “We stand firmly against attempts to politicize human rights,” and “We must uphold equity and oppose bullying”—both references to longtime irritations it has with US policy.

While Taiwan and human rights perennially stand in the way of China-US relations, Wang and US Secre tary of State Antony Blinken did meet in person on the General Assembly’s sidelines Friday.

US officials said Blinken ramped up the Biden ad ministration’s efforts to press China to end provocative actions against Taiwan. China’s Foreign Ministry, in a summary of the meeting, said Wang told his counter part that “the current China-US relations are facing grave impacts, and there are lessons that the US side needs to learn from.”

It said the two discussed “the US side’s recent erro neous acts on the Taiwan question.” However, it also said: “Both sides believe that the meeting was candid, constructive and important, and agreed to maintain communication.”

After the takeover of China by Mao Zedong’s Com munist forces in 1949, Chiang Kai-shek’s Nationalists decamped to Taiwan and kept their separate govern ment going. It was recognized by the United States until 1979, when Washington established relations with Beijing. Ted Anthony, director of new storytelling and newsroom innovation at The Associated Press, was AP’s news editor for China from 2002 to 2004 and Asia-Pacific news direc tor from 2014 to 2018.

R. Calso

WASHINGTON—How do American leaders and their allies intend to respond if President Vladimir Putin seeks to escalate his way out of a bad situation on Ukraine’s battlefields, and makes good on renewed threats of annexing territory or even using nuclear weapons?

Foreign Minister of China Wang Yi acknowledges the audience applause after addressing the 77th session of the United n a tions g en eral Assembly on Saturday, Sept. 24, 2022 at U n h eadquarters.

AP Photo/M A ry AltA ffer

Pre S iden T J oe b i den addresses the 77th session of the United n a tions g en eral Assembly on Sept. 21, 2022, at the U n headquarters. h o w will the US, eu rope respond if Vladimir Putin seeks to escalate his way out of a bad situation on Ukraine’s battlefields?

To start with, by doubling down on the tactics that helped put r u ssia in a corner: more sanctions and isolation for Moscow, more arms for Ukraine. b id en promises a “consequential” response if r u ssia uses nuclear weapons. b u t Western leaders show no signs of matching Vladimir Putin’s renewed nuclear threats with potentially escalatory nuclear bluster of their own. AP Photo/ e vA n v u cci

Russians confront new normal as annexation voting continues

Russians are ad justing to the re ality of President Vladimir Putin’s sweeping mobiliza tion even as authorities in four occupied u k rainian regions continue annexation votes de rided by Kyiv and its allies as shams.

For millions largely shielded from the reality of the Krem lin’s bloody seven-month war, Putin’s speech on Wednesday —announcing a “partial mobi lization” targeting 300,000 ad ditional men—came as a shock.

s o me men fearing conscrip tion have been fleeing the coun try by plane or car, while oth ers have gone to ground to hide from potential draft notices. Others, though, have no choice but to accept the new reality.

Countries bordering Russia, from Finland and the Baltic states to Georgia and Kazakh stan, are reporting increased vehicle traffic. a i rline tickets are fully sold out for days at record prices.

“When you see tickets to i s tanbul for 1 million rubles ($17,200), it is mind-boggling. i saw it with my own eyes. This is madness,” said Grigory, 33, a manager who works in the fi nancial sector in Moscow.

s o me countries, including Poland and the Baltic states, have said they won’t offer asy lum or humanitarian visas to Russians trying to flee Putin’s latest mobilization—only to those who’ve consistently dem onstrated a position against the war.

Grigory’s comment shows that Russians are well aware of the votes under way in Donetsk and Luhansk, as well as occupied Kherson and Zaporizhzhia. The referenda mark a new escalation in the war.

Grigory has chosen to hang on for now and try to fly out in October after his employer of fered relocation to Eastern Eu rope. Before that, he plans to limit trips outside of his home and avoid public transport so as not to get the mobilization no tice. He and others interviewed declined to give their full names for security reasons.

tary arsenal—including nuclear weapons—to protect the “terri torial integrity of our country,” with the implication that this could include its newly seized regions once annexed to Russia.

Leaving Russia is still rela tively easy as men, even of draft age, can travel until they receive a mobilization notice in person.   s t ill, border controls have become more challenging. Men now face questions about their military status at the border.

Thus Fedor, 36, who works in the movie industry in Mos cow, said he and dozens of other draft-age men were held for over two hours at the land border with Estonia on Thurs day. Border officers took away passports for a time, and asked questions about whether the men had served in the army, and had any military specialization.

which has no official address. He’s not taking phone calls from un known numbers, and plans to basi cally keep a low profile.

Protests over mobilization were held across Russia on s e pt. 21, fol lowing Putin’s mobilization order, and some draft offices were set on fire. Demonstrations continued in st Petersburg and Moscow on s aturday.

To be sure, there are many Rus sians who’ve either accepted the potential they’ll be mobilized or are prepared to join up voluntarily. Russia has offered salaries for draft ees equal to those that contracted military staff gets, which is several times the Russian average.

s o me shops that sell military gear say there’s been a spike in demand for warm underwear and other sup plies as autumn weather closes in.

“They buy tactical equipment, clothes, shoes, backpacks,” the

manager of an army surplus store in Chelyabinsk, in Russia’s u r al re gion, said by phone.

The first days of mobilization have bordered on chaotic. s o me re gions ordered all men who might potentially be called up to not leave. Others, like Moscow, had no restric tions. The Tatarstan and s a mara regions first imposed and then re moved restrictions.

Tatars drafted MOB i L i Z aT iOn i s also under way in Crimea, annexed by Moscow in 2014, and in other currently occupied ter ritories, where men are given Rus sian passports upon being drafted.   s o me 90% of the men drafted from Crimea have been ethnic Ta tars, Turkic-speaking Muslims who’ve lived in Crimea for centu ries, according to the n G O Crimea s O s a b out 5,000 Tatars had been

contacted following Putin’s mobili zation call through Thursday, the group said, without saying how it reached the figure.

Russia hasn’t disclosed the eth nicity or other demographic param eters of those mobilized.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday urged u k rainian men to “hide from the Russian mobilization by any means.”

i have a simple request to all our people in the temporarily occupied territory: do the main thing—save your lives and help us weaken and destroy the occupiers,” he said.

Zelenskyy said any u k rainians pulled into Putin’s army should “sab otage any activity of the enemy, hin der any Russian operations, provide us with any important information about the occupiers—their bases, headquarters, warehouses with am munition.”  Bloomberg News

“ i t w as nearly impossible to find tickets before s e pt. 27 at normal price. This date is psychologically important for many because referendums in Donbas end on this day,” he said.

The Russian votes, con demned by the un , t he G-7 and other allies of u k raine, started Friday and are expected to run through Tuesday. a r med sol diers are reportedly standing guard near occupation officials as they go door to door to col lect ballots. Troops from the Chechen Republic are providing security at some polling places in Energodar, according to their leader, Ramzan Kadyrov.

Many fear military escala tion shortly after the votes. Putin said in his speech he was ready to use Russia’s entire mili

Those who had served in the past were held even longer, but all were allowed to go later, Fe dor said. s i milar interrogation happens in the airports, accord ing to multiple witnesses.

Only 29% of Russians hold passports, according to state pollster VTs i O M. Many have nowhere to go if they were to leave, and don’t have the money to fund a long stay out of the country. s o s ome are traveling within Russia in a bid to outrun potential draft notices.

s e rgey, 44, a businessman from Lipetsk in central Russia, said he’s moved for now to his “dacha,” or summer cottage,

Iran protests’ death toll rises to 41 as the unrest deepens

By Patrick Sykes & Golnar Motevalli

THE number of people killed in i r anian protests that were sparked by the death of a woman in police custody rose to 41 including demonstrators and police, state TV reported.

The elite i s lamic Revolution ary Guard Corps issued a state ment describing the unrest as a “conspiracy” in which protesters had been organized and armed by the “enemy,” usually a reference to the us and i s rael. The us imposed new sanctions in response to the government’s actions.

Demonstrations started last Fri day following the death of 22-yearold Mahsa a m ini, a young woman who fell into a coma after Tehran’s so-called “morality police” arrested her for allegedly flouting i s lamic dress codes.

Protests have been reported in scores of towns and cities including the capital Tehran as well as Karaj, s h iraz, Tabriz, Kerman, Kish i s l and, Yazd, ne yshapur, Esfahan and Mashhad. it ’s the most widespread unrest in i r an since no vember 2019 when authorities shut down the i n t ernet and, rights groups say, killed hundreds of people.

The “morality police” units have long been highly unpopular, but the protests are the first major re buke of their actions. However that doesn’t mean the establishment is

about to be swept aside, with secu rity forces retaining a strong grip on the country as they seek to protect the clerical establishment.

The us Treasury sanctioned the “morality police” on Thursday for what it described as the group’s violence against women and vio lation of the rights of peaceful protesters.

Treasury also sanctioned seven senior leaders of i r an’s military, intelligence and law enforcement units, saying these entities use vio lence to suppress peaceful protests.

Footage of the protests posted to social media over the past few days has shown unarmed demonstrators turning on uniformed police and anti-riot officers wielding tasers or handguns as well as members of the plain-clothed Basij, who are also known to carry weapons. n o ne of the videos can be verified by Bloomberg.

The militias, which are under the command of the i s lamic Revo lutionary Guard Corps, are deployed in order to infiltrate public gather ings and violently disperse protests. They are known to videotape and photograph protesters and pass ersby in order to later target them for harassment and arrest.

i nternet disruptions were wide ly reported in i r an last night with mobile i n ternet access down in Tehran and slow speeds reported on broadband connections. i nter net watchdog n e tblocks said on

Wednesday that access to i n sta gram, a hugely popular platform in i r an, has also been restricted.  i r an’s President Ebrahim Raisi is currently attending the u n ited n a tions General a s sembly in n ew York where his trip has been over shadowed by the violence at home.

Iran attacks Iraq

iR a n’s i s lamic Revolutionary Guard Corps launched artillery fire on i r aq’s northern Kurdistan region, targeting groups it accuses of fanning recent violent protests within its borders, state TV said in a statement.

The i RGC’s ground forces target ed the headquarters of the Komala Party of i r anian Kurdistan and the Democratic Party of i r anian Kurd istan in i r aq on s a turday, semi-of ficial Tasnim news agency said in a separate report.

The opposition groups had de ployed armed forces and smuggled weapons into i r an’s border towns to “stoke unrest” in the country amid recent protests in i r an sparked by the death of a young woman in po lice custody, Tasnim said.

Thirty five people have been killed since the start of the protests more than a week ago, state TV re ported. i r anian security forces have identified 1,200 people it considers “provocateurs and agents of unrest” and hundreds have been arrested, Tasnim said. With assistance from Daniel Flatley / Bloomberg

PM Truss plans more tax cuts next year, Telegraph reports

By Shiyin Chen

uK Prime Minister Liz Truss plans to introduce more tax cuts in the n ew Year, adding to reductions announced this week, the Telegraph reported without saying where it obtained the information.

The new tax cuts will include further reductions in income tax and discounts for savers and child benefit claimants and are likely to be announced as part of a full bud get next year, the newspaper said. Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi

Kwarteng announced on Friday a tax review, alongside the biggest reduc tion in taxes by a budget since 1972.

Treasury officials are drawing up a list of “pinch points” that discour age Britons from earning more, as part of the review of the tax system, according to the report.

Further tax cuts could add to pressure on the pound. The £220 billion policy blitz announced on Friday sent the pound crashing below $1.11 for the first time since 1985 and drove five-year gilts to their biggest ever daily decline.  a review of the lifetime and an

nual allowances on pensions, which currently encourage employees to retire early to avoid a “tax trap,” could benefit as many as 1.6 million savers, the Telegraph said. Work ers who earn more than £100,000 would also be given a full income tax personal allowance, amounting to a tax break worth up to £5,000 a year for the highest earners, ac cording to the report.

Minister are also considering doing away with a charge for those who make more than £50,000 and claim child benefit, the newspaper said. Bloomberg News

editorialFood and energy

While they are neither mutually exclusive nor inseparable, the two serious threats currently facing the world are the prospects of energy and food shortages. Unfortunately, the old “Follow the Money” dictum shows how financial interests cloud thinking and possible solutions to mitigate the problems.

It is fair to say that those responsible for making critical decisions are completely insulated and protected from those negative situations, and have no skin in the game other than how much financial reward they can gain as quickly as possible.

The hypocrisy of the admonitory order “do as I say, not as I do” has gone far beyond ironic when every year there are headlines such as this. Forbes, November 5, 2021: “118 Private Jets Take Leaders To COP26 Climate Summit.”

The argument that this involves only a few people and only a few events is not acceptable either. Per capita, the richest 80 million people in the world—1.1 percent of the total population—account for 15 percent of total global emissions, more than twice that of the poorest half of humanity, which produces 7 percent.

But people have to travel, and to eat and what the rich eat also flash insincerity. At the state dinner hosted by President Barack Obama in 2011 honoring South Korea President Lee Myung-bak, the menu included “Masago Rice Pearl Crispies.” Masago Arare Rice Pearl sells for over $30 (P1,700) per kilo.

As of January 2020, estimates are that globally, 10 percent of the world—700 million people—is living on less than $2 a day. There is obviously nothing wrong with people who can afford to enjoy the finer things in life. Nonetheless, to be feasting while talking about food insecurity and widespread hunger is confusing.

The same contradictions happen with energy security and availability.

The greatest leap in human quality of life came in the 20th century with the availability of inexpensive energy through fossil fuels. In 1820, about 90 percent of the world lived in extreme poverty. That was reduced to 74 percent in 1910. But by 2015, only 10 percent live in extreme poverty globally and it is not a coincidence that this trend goes along with energy availability.

But since the mid-1950s fossil fuels have been increasingly demonized. The greatest fossil fuel “fraud” was in a 1956 paper by American geologist Marion King Hubbert—which has been treated as fact by many “ecologists”—predicting overall petroleum production would peak in the US between 1965 and 1970. In 1974, Hubbert projected that global oil production would peak in 1995. As of 2021, forecasts for the year of peak oil point to 2040.

Limited and finite resources are a fact. However, what the “peak oil” enthusiasts always forget to mention is that Hubbert wrote that nuclear energy would be able to sustain humanity for centuries. Earlier this month, US Treasury Secretary and former head of the Federal Reserve—and now energy expert—Janet Yellen spoke, “We will rid ourselves from our current dependence on fossil fuels. Instead, America would come to depend on the wind and the sun.”

Initially, we cannot simply walk away from this essential determinant of our future in a few decades, never mind years. Moreover, nuclear plants remain the safest way to make electricity and are among the most benign of all human activities.

Underinvestment in hydrocarbons and associated infrastructure is driven by political pressure and it is the less-developed economies that suffer the most. But “climate-change” cry some environmentalists. Deaths from severe weather declined by over 90 percent since 1920 because wealthier societies with abundant access to energy have become safer places to live.

A large majority of deaths caused by severe weather are concentrated in poorer nations blighted by energy poverty. We need to change that, but it will not come from windmills and solar panels.

Climate change and the heart agenda

Atty. Jose Ferdinand M. Rojas II

RISING SUN

days ago, news about the fast rise—three times faster than the global average—of our sea level circulated around the media channels. Pagasa made this declaration, adding that coastal villages are at risk. everyone has known for a long time that climate change is happening, and yet we are still somewhat shocked when faced with information like this. it is what we should expect, actually, based on data from scientific research and studies. And that is why the approach to climate change is two-pronged: adaptation and mitigation. We prepare for disasters as we continue our efforts to mitigate the destructive effects of climate change.

AFeW

How many COPs (Conference of the Parties) have there been? What are the gains made by each country, and specifically, our very own Philippines? On the climate front, what were the accomplishments of the Duterte administration, and presently, what is President Marcos’ plan as far as disaster preparedness and climate mitigation are concerned? I know that recently, there was a coastal cleanup held at Manila Bay in celebration of International Coastal Cleanup Day.

Shouldn’t we be doing (a lot) more than cleaning up our coastlines? The next super typhoon may be around the corner, but are we—government and individuals—doing all that we can to protect lives in the face of impending climate-related disasters? If you visit the online spaces of climate agencies, you would notice that there are too many pictures of people posing at meetings and conferences and too few proofs of the actual action implementing the agreements in

I was listening to a few talks at the Heart Mind Institute Summit held online very recently and one of the speakers, a young Filipina working in the climate change field, mentioned that human transformation is the lacking ingredient. There is really no shortage in strategies and policies—the problem, she said, is that these are not properly implemented mainly because of our limitations as human beings. The change needs to start from the heart. I believe that she is right.

those meetings and conferences. As citizens of the world, we should be alarmed at this picture.

I was listening to a few talks at the Heart Mind Institute Summit held online very recently and one of the speakers, a young Filipina working in the climate change field, mentioned that human transformation is the lacking ingredient. There is really no shortage in strategies and policies—the problem, she said, is that these are not properly implemented mainly because of our limitations as human beings. The change needs to start from the heart. I believe that she is right.

Based on Pagasa’s projections, the Philippines’ temperature will increase by 4 degrees by the end of the 21st century, while the intensity of typhoons hitting the country will likewise continue to increase. Rosalina de Guzman, chief of Pagasa’s climate data section, said that climate change mitigation should be “fully integrated into the planning process” of the government, including earmarking adequate funds to be able to address the impact of climate change and to build resilience among communities in low-lying and coastal areas. On the other hand, the public’s role includes undertaking more serious and more meaningful efforts to “practice energy efficiency” and recycling, conserving water, and using mass transport, among others.

Knowing people’s all-too-human behavior, we will not act until we are already struggling and our lives are in immediate danger. Faced with facts and warnings from scientists and experts, we continue to live our lives as if everything is fine and will be fine in the years to come. It isn’t an issue any more of causing unnecessary panic, it is all about looking at hard facts and really doing concrete action to save our planet and ourselves.

Road emancipation STREET TALK

Thomas M. Orbos

lAnd emancipation was the battle cry of many revolutions in the past two to three centuries. From lands across europe to the Americas and in Asia to include our country, it was agrarian reform or the emancipation of the masses from the hold of the landowners whose lands they toiled for generations that brought about many a nation’s journey to democratic change and economic development. And while we have achieved much progress in freeing our farmers from land slavery, there appears to be another platform of societal disparity that is now heavily burdening the greater majority of our people.

We see and experience it every day here in our country. It is not confined to the countryside and in fact is much more pronounced in our urban areas, burdening everyone at the very least for the past half-century. I am referring to our present enslavement to our roads where we are forced to spend much of our time, effort and resources in order for us to get to our destinations. JICA has put a number to it some two years ago just before the pandemic—P4.3 billion a day or P1.6 trillion a year—roughly a third of our country’s annual budget all gone to waste because of traffic and the lack of an efficient, safe and affordable public transport. And unless proper

attention is given to this problem, it will only get worse and will take its toll on our succeeding generations.

This road slavery affects everyone but mostly felt by the working class. While we who have our own private vehicles complain endlessly about the horrendous traffic, our brother commuters have a more difficult time. Leaving early for work or for school means waking up at around 4 a.m. to line up for public transport that would bring them to their 9 a.m. destinations. It would take them roughly the same amount of time going back home, resulting to around 6 hours of wasted time on the road. And almost taken for granted are concerns on

To be fair, the government has long been working to emancipate the public from this road slavery. Past administrations have had their legacies cast in many transport programs. Marcos Sr. gave us the first taste of expressways, the LRT as well as the iconic San Juanico Bridge. Corazon Aquino gave us the flyovers on Edsa. FVR, the MRT and GMA, the nautical highway, while PNoy began the blueprint of many transport master plans.

safety, convenience of occupants on the road, not to mention the effects of vehicle carbon emissions on the environment.

To be fair, the government has long been working to emancipate the public from this road slavery. Past administrations have had their legacies cast in many transport programs. Marcos Sr. gave us the first taste of expressways, the LRT as well as the iconic San Juanico Bridge.

Corazon Aquino gave us the flyovers on Edsa. FVR, the MRT and GMA, the nautical highway, while PNoy began the blueprint of many transport master plans. Meanwhile, the Build, Build, Build program of the previous administration remains to be a testament to the government’s capacity not just to meet the demand for the needed road and transport infrastructure but also its intent to

democratize such infrastructure all across the archipelago. These are all laudable. But on a catch up mode are the needed “non-infrastructure” policy changes that are equally as important. These would include policies on uplifting the lives of public transport operators, access to capital for transport, roadworthiness of vehicles, pedestrian protection and safety, environmental protection, proper road education, standardization of traffic rules and regulations and much more. Then there are the forward looking considerations such as better city planning that would aim to reduce the need for motorized transport and encourage short trips given the proximity to essential destinations.

Truth to tell, our road emancipation remains an uphill climb. Yes, it is a work in progress and we are in better state than before. But we have a long way to go before we can say confidently that, just like Hong Kong or Singapore, our transport is convenient, safe and accessible to all. As they say—it is when the wealthy ride the same public transport just like the rest of society, then more or less equitable transport would have been achieved. That remains to be a dream. But just like land emancipation, it is a dream we must pursue and aim for, nonetheless.

The author may be reached at tmo45@georgetown.edu

Roger RogerLiving the lifelong learning experience

Joel L. Tan-Torres

DEBIT CREDIT

Conclusion

Siegfred Bueno Mison, Esq.

THE PATRIOT

about repentance, redemption, and salvation. From a believer’s perspective, our Almighty God did not let us live long enough so we can just play golf all day. In fact, seniors and retirees like Roger Federer should echo the Biblical plea that says “Do not cast me away when I am old; do not forsake me when my strength is gone.”

faded away in their older years. In the Bible, Proverbs 20:29 tells us, “The glory of young men is their strength, gray hair the splendor of the old.” My gray hairs have been my trademark.

IAM

pleased to note that the practice of lifelong learning prevails in the government sector. One notable exercise of lifelong learning is the recent Bureau of Internal Revenue initiative of conducting competency examination for aspirants to the Revenue District Officer positions to test their mettle in handling these leadership posts. These aspirants had to undergo their individual lifelong learning experience of learning and being tested as a requisite for their career advancement.

Another fine example of lifelong learning in government is the Basic Competency on Local Treasury Examination and Intermediate Competency on Local Treasury Examination. These examinations are part of the three-level Standardized Examination and Assessment for Local Treasury Service Program of the BLGF, in cooperation with the Civil Service Commission. Passing these examinations is a primary basis for the career advancement of Local Treasurers and Assistant Local Treasurers. These local treasurers serve the important role of collecting local taxes and fees in the municipalities in the Philippines. These examinations were first administered in December 2015, and thereafter have been regularly conducted. For 2022, the examinations have been scheduled on several dates, including those in October and December.

These examples of the BIR and BLGF, both under the Department of Finance (DOF), clearly show these tax collecting offices are leading the way in pursuing lifelong learning best practices towards professionalizing their staff.

Another landmark achievement and challenge of the DOF in lifelong learning is moving forward the Philippine Tax Academy. The PTA was created by Republic Act 10143 in July 31, 2010. Under this law, the PTA “provides the appropriate education, training skills, and values to tax collectors and administrators and will disseminate tax laws, regulation, guidelines and relevant information to the public.” The PTA is mandated to handle the trainings, continuing education programs and other courses for all the officials and personnel of the BIR, the Bureau of Customs and the BLGF.

It is unfortunate that the PTA has not been able to take off the ground pursuing its mandate. It has been over 11 years from the passage of the PTA law, and there has been not too much inroads in fully implementing the PTA mandate. I note that it was only recently that the appointments of the executive officers of the PTA

Another landmark achievement and challenge of the DOF in lifelong learning is moving forward the Philippine Tax Academy. The PTA was created by Republic Act 10143 in July 31, 2010. Under this law, the PTA “provides the appropriate education, training skills, and values to tax collectors and administrators and will disseminate tax laws, regulation, guidelines and relevant information to the public.” The PTA is mandated to handle the trainings, continuing education programs and other courses for all the officials and personnel of the BIR, the Bureau of Customs and the BLGF.

were announced in June 2022. These included former DOF Undersecretary Gil Betran, who was appointed president and former DOF Assistant Secretary, Teresa Habitan, who was appointed as Chancellor of the Local Government Finance Institute.

I am particularly interested in the PTA developments since it was during my term as BIR Commissioner in 2010 that I spearheaded the promulgation of this PTA law.

I end this series of articles on lifelong learning with a firm conviction that we should all believe and advocate for lifelong learning. Now in my senior year, I am completing my Doctoral Program in Public Administration at the University of the Philippines National College of Public Administration and Governance. I am surely living and continuing to experience lifelong learning at its best.

Joel L. Tan-Torres is the Dean of the University of the Philippines Virata School of Business. Previously, he was the Commissioner of the Bureau of Internal Revenue, the chairman of the Professional Regulatory Board of Accountancy, and partner of Reyes Tacandong & Co. and the SyCip Gorres and Velayo & Co. He is a Certified Public Accountant who garnered No. 1 in the CPA Board Examination of May 1979.

This column accepts articles from the business and academic community for consideration for publication. Articles not exceeding 700 words can be e-mailed to jltantorres@up.edu.ph.

When I was in the Army, I performed some radio operator duties, sending our Daily Operations Report from time to time. The DOR is sent to inform higher headquarters the state of my infantry company. On the receiving end, after going through 10 status reports, which usually end with the Morale of Troops as “high,” the recipient says “Roger” after receiving a transmission—simply saying “R” for “received.” I do not know the origins of the term “Roger,” but the practice of saying “Roger” stuck in my personal vocabulary. It became my way of telling someone that I understand his instructions, to which millennials say “noted” these days.

As a proper name, “Roger” comes from the Old French Rogier, which literally means “famous with the spear.” The most famous Roger I know now is Roger Federer who is famous with a tennis racket and is considered to be the greatest tennis player of all time. This Swiss player has won 20 Grand Slam titles and 103 career ATP titles in his illustrious career. In his last professional tournament, the Laver Cup, the recently retired Roger said, “This is not the end—life goes on. I’m healthy, I’m happy, everything’s great, and this is just a moment in time.” Indeed, it is never the end as his Roger Federer Foundation, dedicated to provide education programs for children,

will continue to help impoverished children, especially in Africa.

For some who retire, unlike Roger, they use most of their free time to play golf, watch TV all day, and chill while reminiscing about the things they used to do. We all grow old and weak, physically speaking. In my case, I used to play tennis and basketball until my knees and ankles surrendered. Even in golf, I used to hit a 7 iron for a 160-yard shot. These days, I hit the same club and would be lucky to carry 140 yards. I still enjoy the game, play it from time to time with close friends and for business purposes. But, I try to do what my pastor friend has taught me to do, which is to spread the Good News

(Psalms 71:9). Those like me who are nearing their years of significance should rest on that promise that God will continue that faithfulness as our physical strength fails us. As we realize that our strength diminishes with old age, God’s strength never does. As Charles Spurgeon said, “It is not unnatural or improper for a man who sees old age coming upon him to pray for special grace, and special strength, to enable him to meet what he cannot ward off, and what he cannot but dread; for who can look upon the infirmities of old age, as coming upon himself, but with sad and pensive feelings?” In the words of Roger Federer, “Obviously, matches and all that stuff take their toll on your body and so forth. But as you get sort of a bit older, a bit wiser, and a bit more experienced, you know also how to handle it.” And the best way to handle aging is to age gracefully, not only in physical looks but also in spiritual stamina.

From a spiritual strength point of view, not every believer grows stronger in the Lord as he grows older. The Bible is filled with examples, such as Solomon and Samson, of those who

I jokingly tell my older siblings that my “platinum blonde hair” is a sign of an overused brain, if not wisdom honed through the years of stressful experience. I ask that we all be given wisdom that only comes from above.

But going back to Roger Federer, his hairs are far from going gray, yet his wisdom, exhibited in his gracious one-handed backhand returns, effortless forehand winners, and spectacular drop shots from the baseline, shall endure for a long time in the tennis world. Some sources say that ROGER, the term I use to acknowledge instructions when I was in the Army, now stands for “Received Order Given, Expect Results.” For believers, ROGER ought to stand for Relax, Our God Embraces (Us) Reassuringly. Combined, Roger Roger has a nice ring to it.

A former infantry and intelligence officer in the Army, Siegfred Mison showcased his servant leadership philosophy in organizations such as the Integrated Bar of the Philippines, Malcolm Law Offices, Infogix Inc., University of the East, Bureau of Immigration, and Philippine Airlines. He is a graduate of West Point in New York, Ateneo Law School, and University of Southern California. A corporate lawyer by profession, he is an inspirational teacher and a Spirit-filled writer with a mission.

For questions and comments, please e-mail me at sbmison@gmail.com.

Russian grain exports to Africa hit by sanctions

delivery of the grains from Ukraine ports and this was what the Istanbul Accord of July sought to remedy. But it seems that the supposed thrust of the agreement forged under the cloud of war materiel did not go as planned. And this was clearly emphasized by Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

RussIA s help for the poor countries of Africa for the supply of grains and fertilizers—with some free of charge—are affected by Western sanctions, a deplorable situation given the fact that the donation is actually meant to satisfy the grumbling stomachs of the poor in that continent. This fact has been brought out by no less than Russia’s Foreign Minister sergei Lavrov in a speech at the u n General Assembly where he cited that the Western sanctions imposed on Russia prevented the supply of grain as well as fertilizers to the poor of Africa.

This is lamentable since the Russian donation, to the poor countries of Africa, was meant to address the UN’s dire prediction on the increasing number of poor families in Africa who were unable to have access to the grains. Lavrov said in that UN speech last week that “financial and logistical obstacles, put up by the United States and the European Union, [have prevented the] exports of Russian grain and fertilizers.”

The sanctions have prevented the donation as they “have not yet been lifted completely,” Lavrov said in an address last Saturday at the general

debate during the 77th session of the UN General Assembly. And while UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was able to facilitate the Istanbul accords of July 22 that allowed the export of grains coming from Ukraine, the sanctions hit hard the supply of grains to poor countries due to the West’s sanctions.               Russia and Ukraine agreed for the unhampered delivery of grains amidst the ongoing Ukraine crisis so as to ensure that the grains, as well as fertilizers, can be shipped to the countries in need. Supply-chain hitches have resulted in the non-

And that is what is ironic about the issue: The supply of Ukraine grains, done through the efforts of Turkey, have not actually benefited the poor nations as was what was drawn up. Remember that the UN participated in the Istanbul Accord aware of the worsening hunger situation in poor countries like that in Africa. The Ukraine grain went to the developed countries in the West, a fact that was outed in the open in the just-concluded Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Uzbekistan.

Speaking during the SCO summit in Uzbekistan on Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin stressed “that the poorest countries have received only a very small amount of produce from Ukraine under the UNmediated grain deal, while the lion’s share of the exports have gone to European countries.” An infographic done by Sputnik showed clearly where the grains went and surely, the poor nations of Africa were left holding the empty bag.

Delivering food and fertilizers to

As Ukraine worries UN, some leaders rue what’s pushed aside

By Jennifer Peltz The Associated Press

the world’s poorest and developing countries was proclaimed as among the key objectives of the so-called grain deal that was signed by Russia and Ukraine, mediated by Turkey and the UN, earlier this year. However, these supplies have mostly been distributed in Europe, the Russian president said on the sidelines of the SCO summit in Uzbekistan.                So there is a need for a rework on the agreement, most especially of the sanctions, which affected an altruistic move from Russia such as the supply of grains and fertilizer. The Istanbul Accord, if it had to be meaningful, should see to it that grains and fertilizer destined for the poor countries, especially of Africa, are delivered sans the sanctions. Absent this, the accord’s template misses its clear objective: to feed the poor.

Lavrov emphasized the enormity of the situation now playing out: “Most of the vessels carrying Ukrainian grain do not sail to the poorest countries, while the financial and logistical obstacles created by the US and the EU to Russia’s exports of grain and fertilizers have not yet been removed fully.” And yet Russia, according to him, is even offering “to hand over to African states 300,000 tons of fertilizers free of charge, but the EU is against this,” he added.

UNITED

NATIONS—In speech after speech, world leaders dwelled on the topic consuming this year’s UN General Assembly meeting: Russia’s war in Ukraine.

A few, like Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, prodded the world not to forget everything else.

He, too, was quick to bring up the biggest military confrontation in Europe since World War II. But he wasn’t there to discuss the conflict itself, nor its disruption of food, fuel and fertilizer markets.

“The ongoing war in Ukraine is making it more difficult,” Buhari lamented, “to tackle the perennial issues that feature each year in the deliberations of this assembly.”

He went on to name a few: inequality, nuclear disarmament, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the more than 1 million Rohingya refugees from Myanmar who have been living in limbo for years in Bangladesh.

In an environment where words are

parsed, confrontations are calibrated and worry is acute that the war and its wider effects could worsen, no one dismissed the importance of the conflict. But comments such as Buhari’s quietly spoke to a certain unease, sometimes bordering on frustration, about the international community’s absorption in Ukraine.

Those murmurs are audible enough that the United States’ UN ambassador, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, made a point of previewing Washington’s plans to address climate change, food insecurity, health and other issues during the diplomatic community’s premier annual gathering.

“Other countries have expressed a concern that as we focus on Ukraine, we are not paying attention to what is happening in other crises around the world,” she said, vowing that it wasn’t so. Still, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken complained at a Security Council meeting days later that Russia’s invasion is distracting the UN from working on other important matters.

In many years at the assembly, there’s

a hot spot or news development that takes up a lot of diplomatic oxygen. As former UN official Jan Egeland puts it, “the world manages to focus on one crisis at a time.”

“But I cannot, in these many years as a humanitarian worker or a diplomat, remember any time when the focus was so strongly on one conflict only while the world was falling apart elsewhere,” Egeland, now secretary-general of an international aid group called the Norwegian Refugee Council, said in a phone interview.

Certainly, no one was surprised by the attention devoted to a conflict with Cold War echoes, oblique nuclear threats from Russian President Vladimir Putin, shelling that has endangered the continent’s largest atomic power plant, and far-reaching economic effects. The urgency only intensified during the weeklong meeting as Russia mobilized some of its military reserves.

President Andrzej Duda of Poland— on Ukraine’s doorstep—stressed in his speech that “we mustn’t show any ‘war fatigue’” regarding the conflict. But he

also noted that a recent trip to Africa left him pondering how the West has treated other conflicts.

“Were we equally resolute during the tragedies of Syria, Libya, Yemen?” he asked himself, and the assembly. And didn’t the West return to “business as usual” after wars in Congo and the Horn of Africa?

“While condemning the invasion of Ukraine,” Duda added, “do we give equal weight to fighting mercenaries who seek to destabilize the Sahel and threaten many other states in Africa?”

He isn’t the only one asking.

Over seven months of war, there have been pointed observations from some quarters about how quickly and extensively wealthy and powerful nations mobilized money, military aid, General Assembly votes to support Ukraine and offer refuge to its residents, compared to the global response to some other conflicts.

South African Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor last month told reporters—and the visiting Blinken—that while the war is awful, “we should be

equally concerned at what is happening to the people of Palestine as we are with what is happening to the people of Ukraine.”

At the General Assembly, she added that, from South Africa’s vantage point, “our greatest global challenges are poverty, inequality, joblessness and a feeling of being entirely ignored and excluded.”

Tuvalu’s prime minister, Kausea Natano, said in an interview on the assembly’s sidelines that the war shouldn’t “be an excuse” for countries to ignore their financial commitments to a top priority for his island nation: fighting climate change. Part of Bolivian President Luis Arce’s speech compared the untold billions of dollars spent on fighting in Ukraine in a matter of months to the $11 billion committed to the UN-sponsored Green Climate Fund over more than a decade.

To be sure, most leaders made time for issues beyond Ukraine in their allotted, if not always enforced, 15 minutes at the mic. And some mentioned the war only in passing, or not at all.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro devoted his time to lambasting capitalism, consumerism and the US-led war on drugs, particularly its focus on coca plant eradication. Krygyz President Sadyr Zhaparov, whose country has close ties to Russia, homed in on his homeland’s border dispute with Tajikistan.

Jordan’s King Abdullah II briefly mentioned the war’s effects on food supplies, then moved on to sustainable economic growth, Syrian refugees and the IsraeliPalestinian conflict.

Ukraine is undeniably a dominant concern for the European Union. But foreign policy chief Josep Borrell insisted the bloc hasn’t lost sight of other problems.

“It’s not a question of choosing between Ukraine and the others. We can do all at the same time,” he said on the eve of the assembly.

Yet diplomatic attention and time are precious, sought-after resources. So, too, the will and money to help.

LITO GAGNI

Associated Press writers Krista Larson in Dakar, Senegal, and Aya Batrawy and Pia Sarkar at the United Nations contributed to this report

TELCOS ASSURE PUBLIC READY TO MOVE IN STORM-HIT SITES

PLDT Inc. and Globe Telecom Inc. said they are prepared to respond to the telecommunications needs of those who will be affected by Typhoon Karding.

T he Pangilinan-led telco said it has “pre-positioned mission-critical manpower and equipment” and has “ac tivated quick response teams and deployed generator sets in Tuguegarao and Gattaran, Cagayan.”

PLDT and Smart’s Libreng Tawag [free calls] and Libreng Charging [free charging] stations are also ready for deployment and operations in areas that will be heavily impacted by the super typhoon to serve the communication needs of affected residents,” the state ment read.

I t noted that for the safety of its personnel, opera tions will only commence once Typhoon Karding has passed.

We urge everyone to take necessary precautions and heed the alerts and warnings of local governments and disaster response authorities,” PLDT said.

Meanwhile, Globe said it has “started preparations for the potential impact” of Typhoon Karding, with its techni cal and support teams on standby in areas forecast to be affected by the storm to ensure the stability of network operations.

Network facilities also have generators ready in case of power outages in storm-hit areas.

“ The company is also ready to deploy Libreng Tawag, Libreng Charging, and Libreng WiFi services in areas that may be affected. Globe customers may also access the of ficial National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council [NDRRMC] web site free of data charges, so they can keep up-to-date on the latest weather developments,”

Globe said.

A representative from Dito Telecommunity was sought for details about the company’s preparation for the super typhoon, but none has replied as of writing time.

Lorenz S. Marasigan

‘Karding,’ strongest cyclone this year, hits most of Luzon

T he Department of Energy (DOE) convened stakeholders on Sunday to discuss preparations in the oil and energy sector as more areas in Luzon were placed under Signal No. 5.

T he military mobilized its equip ment and forces for disaster response operations ahead of Karding’s ex pected landfall in Quezon province on Sunday night, as President Mar cos Jr. approved the recommenda tion of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Coun cil (NDRRMC) to suspend classes in schools and government work on Monday.

T he provinces of Bulacan, Aurora, Quezon and Nueva Ecija are already under tropical cyclone wind signal number 5 due to the super typhoon, the effects of which have also been felt

in the other parts of Luzon, including Metro Manila and Bicol region.

PBBM suspends govt work, classes IN a brief statement on Sunday, Press Secretary Beatrix “Trixie” Cruz-An geles confirmed Marcos approved the  NDRRMC recommendation for the suspension.

N DRRMC proposed the suspen sion to take effect on September 26, 2022 in Regions 1, 2, 3, 5 as well as in the National Capital Region, Cor dillera Administrative Region (CAR), Calabarzon and Mimaropa.

It will cover all government offic es, except those engaged in frontline services, as well as classes in public schools at all levels.

N DRRMC said the suspension will prevent any untoward incidents and

will ensure the safety of the general public.

Government mobilization MARCOS said the government is now mobilizing relevant agencies to re spond to the devastation caused by Supertyphoon “Karding.”   M arcos issued the statement a fe

PHL banana exporters seek PBBM help to halt undue customs penalties

By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas @jearcalas

FILIPINO banana exporters are seeking President Mar cos’s intervention to unbur den them from customs fees that render uncompetitive the value of the country’s prized yellow fruit against other banana-producing countries.

T he Pilipino Banana Growers and Exporters Association (PB GEA) said certain penalties and fees imposed by the Customs bureau “burden” exporters, who are forced to “absorb” additional costs amid stiff competition with other foreign banana producers and exporters.

PB GEA Executive Director Ste phen Antig pointed out, for in stance, that the P5,000 penalty imposed by the Bureau of Customs (BOC) per error or correction of en try penalty has become a “problem” to banana exporters.

T he BOC imposes a P5,000 per clerical error in a goods declara tion as part of its mandate under Republic Act 10863 or the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act.

A clerical error is defined by the BOC under its Customs Ad ministrative Order 01-2020, as inadvertent errors either me chanical or electronic, that were committed unintentionally by a declarant, such as an exporter, which “occurred notwithstand ing the maintenance of internal controls necessary to avoid such errors.”

E xamples of clerical errors in clude misspelling and or incorrect input of data while drafting, copy ing or transposing a document such as information regarding port of destination, number of packages, quantity of shipment, among others.

A ntig explained that correction of information stipulated in an export declaration (ED) is hard to avoid for banana exporters since they can only determine certain information, such as final number

of boxes to be shipped, a few hours before a vessel’s departure.

This would mean you have to relodge and correct the entries of the originally filed Export Declaration [ED]. For every error/correction of entry, the exporter is slapped with P5,000. More or less, there are usually 3-5 entries/data to be corrected costing the exporter an additional P15,000 to P25,000 per re-lodgement,” Antig added.

A ntig noted that before, banana exporters were required to file an ED 48 hours prior to the departure of a vessel. The timeline has been reduced by BOC to two hours prior to the departure of the vessel after a series of appeals made by banana exporters, he added.

But, this is still an additional cost to the exporter. Definitely, this is an additional burden to export ers as they absorb this additional cost,” he said.

Banana companies are saddled with the re-lodgement fees charged by the BOC, especially if one ED is revised several times,” he added.

A s the Philippines continue to lose market share in Asian banana exports, PBGEA called on the gov ernment to suspend the correction fees being imposed by the BOC to keep the export price of the coun try’s bananas competitive against foreign countries.

PBGEA said the government, particularly Marcos, must revisit Executive Order (EO) 554 series of 2006 issued by former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

EO 554 directed relevant gov ernment agencies to abolish fees and charges imposed on exportrelated permits and clearances to improve the competitiveness of the country’s export products.

A ntig argued that the re-lodge ment fees being imposed by the BOC should be terminated given the provisions of EO 554.

“ Note, EO 554 series of 2006 was not actually implemented. We need something like this in these difficult times,” he said.

whours after arriving in the country from his working visit in the United States last week.

H e is now coordinating with the NDRRMC and the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) to closely monitor the movement and im pact of the super typhoon nationwide.

Continued on A4

DOLE budget for informal workers faces 40% slash

THE flagship program of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to assist displaced informal sec tor workers is now facing an over 40-percent budget cut next year as the economy continues to recover from the pandemic.

L abor and Employment Secre tary Bienvenido E. Laguesma dis closed the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has decid ed to reduce their budget for their Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers (TUPAD) to just P14.88 billion in 2023 from P25.87 billion this year.

“ It was reduced because we are now reaching the so-called new nor mal. TUPAD is a temporary employ ment assistance, which was given during the pandemic,” Laguesma said in a recent interview with CNN Philippines.

Under TUPAD, beneficiaries are paid daily minimum wage for light public works like street sweeping, debris cleaning, and declogging works, which lasts for 10 to 90 days.

A side from TUPAD, other DOLE programs which will also get a similar significant budget cut next year is its Adjustment Measures Program (AMP), with P174-million reduction.

A MP provides a one-time P5,000 cash aid to displaced workers.

New normal

WITH the reopening of the econ omy, the labor official said they expect more workers will be able to return to work.

T he budget for TUPAD and AMP was significantly increased since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, which caused massive eco nomic disruption and mass labor displacement.

I n the proposed 2023 National Expenditure Program of DBM, DOLE’s P36.94 billion budget this year will be reduced to only P25.9 billion. A big chunk of the reduced amount comes from TUPAD and AMP.

THE

President suspended work in government offices and classes in schools for Monday (September 26) in eight Luzon regions as the main island reeled from the strong winds and rains of Supertyphoon “Karding” (international code name Noru).

NIA Administrator Benny Antiporda briefs the members of the press regarding the situation of the dams at the National Irrigation Administration Monitoring Command Center after the Typhoon Karding hits the country. NONOY LACZA

‘Local LNG sector to grapple with high prices, uncertainty’

By Lenie Lectura @llectura

The Institute for energy economics and Financial Analysis (IeeFA) has warned that the Philippines risks becoming significantly exposed to the extreme volatility of global liquefied natural gas (LNG) markets.

Sam Reynolds, energy Finance Analyst at IeeFA, said in his latest report that even if the two LNG projects of First Gen Corp. and Singapore-headquartered Atlantic Gulf & Pacific (AG&P) are brought online next year, the Philippines may grapple with supply uncertainty and high prices for years to come.

“With such a large pipeline of proposed LNG projects, the Philippines risks becoming significantly exposed to the extreme volatility of global LNG markets,” he said.

The Philippines is turning to LNG imports to compensate for declining production from the Malampaya gas field, adding urgency to the development of LNG infrastructure.

Natural gas currently provides about 25 percent of power generation to the Luzon grid. estimates range from 2 to 5 million tons of LNG per year to continue running the country’s five existing gas-fired power plants.

however, the total capacity of proposed LNG projects far exceeds

what is needed, IeeFA noted. There are projects with a combined capacity of 36.5 million tons per year at various stages of development, along with 29.9 gigawatts of additional gasfired power projects.

IeeFA has recently flagged the risk that unaffordable prices could cause LNG facilities in emerging markets to go underutilized.

“For perspective, compare the high costs of imported coal to current LNG prices. The Philippines’s high dependence on imported coal is one of the key reasons that power prices are among the highest in the region. Coal prices are now around $430/ton, 100 percent higher than this time last year.

LNG prices are even higher. The cost of LNG is roughly three times the current price of coal a per-unit of energy basis. This means that a transition from one volatile, expensive import fuel (coal) to another (LNG) is unlikely to reduce power bills for Filipino end-users,”

I eeFA said.

I eeFA observed that the Philippines has not yet signed any long-

term contracts for LNG supplies. And given tightness in the global market, contracts with existing LNG supply facilities are challenging to come by.

Unless companies in the Philippines have already secured access to low-cost LNG, they may be forced to shell out exorbitant sums--about $145 million per shipment--for LNG supplies.

“LNG expansion in the Philippines should be viewed with intense skepticism and caution. Although pitched as a reliable, affordable ‘bridge fuel’ to transition from coal, LNG is inherently volatile and expensive. This is true especially when compared to the declining costs of domestically-sourced renewable energy technologies, which do not require recurring fuel payments.

As such, the transition to renewable energy sources—not the replacement of one imported coal for LNG--offers the greatest potential for reducing household electricity bills and boosting economic growth in the Philippines,” said Reynolds.

DOE completes natural gas framework

The Department of e nergy (DO e ) on Thursday announced the completion of the second part of the Natural Gas Development Plan (NGDP), a framework that will aid in the development of the Philippine Downstream Natural Gas Industry (PDNGI).

The NGDP is part of the documents completed under Phase 2 of the Gas Policy Development Project (GPDP) and was turned over to the DOe by the United States Department of State, Bureau of e nergy Resources on September 22.

It contained information on the existing legal framework, gas demand outlook, ongoing projects, membership of the technical committee on Downstream Natural Gas Standards on Products, Facility, and Code of Practice, way forward

plans, and the GPDP technical and research products.

Other documents include the proposed regulatory process containing recommendations to government agencies and local government units (LGUs) involved in the PDNGI value chain. These include technical, administrative, and regulatory guidance for 11 agencies and two LGUs, a simplified process for securing permits and clearances, documentary requirements, and technical standards to comply with.

“We underscore the importance of developing our natural gas industry. As part of our strategy and ensuring energy security, we need to strengthen our strategies and policies. And while we have an existing Department Circular governing the PDNGI, these documents will aid us in advancing the

development of the downstream natural gas industry, including the role of Liquefied Natural Gas in our energy system,” said DOe Director Rino Abad.

The DOe forged an agreement with the University of the Philippines Statistical Center Research Foundation Inc. in December 2018 to start the US-funded GPDP to help the DOe prepare policy recommendations that promote clean energy. GPDP 1 was completed and turned over to the DOe on February 20, 2020.

It contained four documents which include: The Philippine Downstream Natural Gas Industry: LNG Investor’s Guide; GPDP’s Financial and Technical Recommendations for the Review of LNG Project Applications; Research Study on Market Profiling with e mphasis on the Use of Liquefied

Natural Gas to Power e conomic Zones; and the GPDP Completion Report highlighting the Project accomplishment for Phase 1.

“With the challenges facing the current supply of our natural gas from the Malampaya gas field, this NGDP is also timely in providing our prospective investors’ guidance and policy framework, legal requirements, and incentives in putting up LNG facilities and other infrastructure,” Abad added.

As of December 2021, the DOe has approved the application of six LNG terminal and regasification projects and is envisioned to start operations between 2023 and 2025. These are FGen LNG Corp., Linseed Field Corp., energy World Gas Operations Philippines, Shell energy Philippines, Vires energy Corp., and Luzon LNG Terminal. Lenie Lectura

canada’s international trade chief meets Jollibee execMazda eyes exit from Russia

MAZDA Motor Corp. is considering a permanent exit from Russia after its invasion of Ukraine put a halt on the Japanese carmaker’s production in the country.

The company said its withdrawal is under discussion as it sees no path to restarting production in Russia, following a yo miuri report that said it had decided to pull out. The h i roshima-based carmaker had manufactured cars for the Russian market in the eastern city of Vladivostok since 2012, according to the yo miuri.

Akira Machida, a Mazda spokesman, said the company has begun discussions with its partner in Russia, Sollers, and other stakeholders there. It sold about 30,000 cars in the country in 2021 and has not yet made a decision about the future of its local employees, Machida said.

The news follows fellow Japanese carmaker Toyota Motor Corp.’s announcement earlier this week that it would cease vehicle manufacturing in Russia permanently as it saw no way to restart the operations. Bloomberg News

By Malou Talosig-Bartolome

MARy Ng, Canadian minister of international trade, just couldn’t contain her excitement when she saw a Jollibee mascot during her visit in Manila last week.

“As we were driving through the streets of Manila, I saw something very familiar. Jollibee. I had a nice hug with Jollibee (mascot) as soon as I walked to the headquarters. he was a little bit bigger than I thought. Bees are usually little and this one is a nice big bee,” Ng said, drawing laughter from reporters who met her at the Canadian embassy in Makati.

Jollibee has not only conquered the huge market of 1 million Canadians of Filipino descent in Canada. With 24 stores in key cities in Canada, it has also captured the hearts of mainstream market in Canada with its classic Chicken Joy and sweet spaghetti, Canadian Ambassador Peter MacArthur said.

The Canadian international trade, export promotion, small business and economic development minister said she met with Jollibee Chief e x ecutive Officer er nesto Tanmantiong and was told

that Jollibee will put up additional stores in Canada.

“We are seeing that the Filipino footprint expanded in Canada and they are very much welcome,” she said.

Ng is the first foreign trade minister to visit the Philippines since President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. took office last June. She came from Germany and Cambodia for a series of ministerial talks with her counterparts in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) and G7 countries.

She also visited the Skyway project, constructed by a Canadian engineering construction firm, WSB. The 42-km Skyway is the “longest elevated expressway in the world” and carries 100,000 vehicles and 500,000 people every day from North Luzon e x press and South Luzon e x pressway and vice versa.

“This is very impressive and a very good example of Canadian infrastructure. It is very synergistic with President Marcos’ vision of improving infrastructure in the Philippines.”

Canada is looking at doing more infrastructure projects in the Philippines and has expressed inter-

est to help provide the country’s infrastructure needs not only in construction, but also in other areas, such as clean technology, energy, research and development, digital industries, agriculture and security.

Also during her visit, Canadian clean tech entrepreneurs met Filipino venture capitalists virtually. She also had meetings with Filipino women entrepreneurs from small and medium enterprises.

“Canada is an enthusiastic collaborator and partner with the Philippines,” she said as she cited the Philippines as one the “fastest growing economies” in Southeast Asia.

Total trade between the Philippines and Canada grew by 30 percent at around $2.8 billion last year despite the pandemic. The increase in trade was primarily driven by shipments of Canadian meat and wood.

“What this means is that trade creates jobs for both of our people, opening doors for small businesses and helping our economies which is so important at this time especially that we are all recovering from Covid-19,” Ng said.

STOCK-MARKET OUTLOOK

Last week

Share prices plunged for the fifth straight week as the decision of the United States Federal reserve and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to hike their key policy rates to tame inflation triggered market jitters.

The benchmark Philippine Stock exchange index fell 289.23 points to close at 6,259.54 points.

The main index was down for almost the entire week, except on Tuesday when it recovered a few points.

The US Fed increased its rates by 75 basis points. The BSP then raised its rates by 50 basis points.

Volume of trades was dismal, as it averaged only P4.88 billion, while foreign investors, who accounted for 45 percent of the trades, were net sellers at P1.75 billion.

all other sub-indices closed in the red, led by the broader all Shares index that shed 133.12 points to 3,341.29 points, the Financials index was down 40.87 to 1,549.97, the Industrial index declined 346.03 to 9,139.12, the holding Firms index fell 297.98 to 6,066.05, the Property index plunged 209.57 to 2,708.44, the Services index retreated 57.58 to 1,637.51 and the Mining and Oil index was lowered by 142.53 to 11,134.98.

For the week, losers edged gainers 184 to 47 and 17 shares were unchanged.

Top gainers for the week were MJC Investments Inc., Leisure and resorts World Corp., Grand Plaza hotel Corp., Manila Broadcasting Co., Central azucarera de Tarlac Inc. and Vivant Corp.

Top losers were Dizon Copper-Silver Mines Inc., aCe enexor Inc., Manila Jockey Club Inc., Philweb Corp., euro-Med Laboratories Phil. Inc. and aPC Group Inc.

this week

MarkeTS may start to move sideways this week as investors will look for data that will guide their trading decisions.

Broker 2Tradeasia said inflation for September and October will feed the next round of hikes of the US Federal reserve in November.

“Until then, markets may feel pressed for space and trades remain range bound,” it said, adding that earnings of listed companies may come in by then, which would limit its fall.

“For now, a defensive portfolio with strong balance sheets should be able to weather the brunt of weak currency, higher cost of debt and generally volatile inputs market.”

Japhet Louis O. Tantiangco, senior research analyst at Philstocks Financials Inc., said bargain hunting may be seen this coming trading week, but trading may remain tepid as the market continues to move without a positive catalyst.

“however, we do not expect a significant rally from the market yet as it is seen to continue dealing with expectations of further policy rate hikes by the Federal reserve and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. The Philippine peso, which has now gone below the P58 per US dollar level is also expected to continue weighing on sentiment,” he said.

Chartwise, the 6,400 level which the market breached last week is now seen as an immediate resistance. an immediate support is seen at 6,200 followed by a key support at the 6,000 to 6,100 range, he said.

stock picks

BrOker regina Capital Development Corp. advised to cut loss on the stock of Converge Information and Communications Technology Solutions Inc. (CNVrG), which was one of the most actively traded stocks. however, it posted the most significant drop.

“Typically, instances like this pose a buying opportunity for strong hands. however, note that the balance is tipped towards the downside, as depicted by the unanimously bearish indicators,” it said.

“Therefore, it’s highly advisable to wait for a reversal pattern before getting into CNVrG to avoid catching a falling knife.”

Converge closed Friday at P15.14 per share.

Meanwhile, the broker advised to trade the range on Globe Telecom Inc. (GLO) as “the bears are slowly losing their ground against the bulls.”

“Putting everything together, it spells that GLO could potentially end this week and even rollover until at least early next week within its current range, which runs from P2,090 to P2,214.”

Globe shares closed at P2,174 per share. VG Cabuag

Banking&Finance

Exec of PNB insurance arm cites performance

By Rizal Raoul S. Reyes @brownindio

ALLIAnz PnB Life Insurance Inc. reported recently that it achieved growth in the number of clients and net premiums despite the scarring of the economy by the pandemic.

Gino Riola, chief marketing officer of Allianz PnB Life, told the BusinessMirror that the life insurance firm posted double-digit growth in the last two years both in registering new customers and annualized net premiums.

Riola said that the firm registered last year a “remarkable” 47-percent increase in annualized net premiums ending with P 30 billion in gross written premiums.

This comes after the Insurance Commission cited Allianz PnB Life as the country’s eighth-largest insurer in terms of new Business Annual Premium Equivalent in 2020 with P2.24 billion.

“We are proud of our market leading growth performance because it translates to the successful achievement of our purpose to secure the future of Filipino households,” he added.

After strict quarantine restrictions were enforced by the government, Riola said Allianz PnB Life immediately prioritized customers and their personnel focusing on their insurance needs and safety of their work environment respectively. He also said the company was among the first life insurers to have its online sales process approved by the Insurance Commission

resulting in beefing up its digital tools.

The executive added the life insurance arm of the Philippine national Bank launched a program to reduce employee stress and improve engagement and performance.

Riola said they “introduce continuous enhancements to our ways of working to ensure that we are proactively adjusting to ever changing standards and expectations.”

According to a research report commissioned last year by Allianz PnB Life, the pandemic has led to an increase in insurance awareness among Filipinos. Riola said this is a positive development given that the Philippines’s insurance penetration rate of around 2 percent remains among the lowest in Asia.

To be able to capture a bigger size of the market, Riola said the company has launched new solutions and enhanced its digital tools. Further, he said Allianz PnB Life had invested further in new training programs to increase the expertise of their agents and financial advisors in addressing the protection and health needs of the customers.

Riola said the company has utilized a tool “to gather and respond to customer feedback.” He added this enabled the company to introduce processes and campaigns to sustain their loyalty leadership position and enhance the effectiveness of its digital tools.

“We also utilized market research and segmentation to develop new products and funds which provided our customers with additional solutions to choose from,” Riola said.

LandBank vows support to cash-transfer projects

THELand Bank of the Philippines (LandBank) reaffirmed its continued support to the department of Social Welfare and development (dSWd) in ensuring the timely, safe and efficient disbursement of cash aid under the social protection programs of the national Government.

A statement from the LandBank said that President and CEO Cecilia C. Borromeo met with dSW d Secretary Erwin T. Tulfo on last September 22 where she expressed the bank’s full commitment to programs and initiatives implemented for the country’s vulnerable sectors.

As the main distribution arm of the government’s social protection programs, LandBank facilitates the regular disbursement of financial assistance under the Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) and Unconditional Cash Transfer (UCT) programs of the dSW d

According to the state-run lender, it has released a total of P63.3 billion under the CCT program from January

to August. LandBank said these were distributed to 4.4 million low-income families for children’s education, basic health needs and daily expenses.

A total of P11.5 billion was also delivered to 3.2 million UCT beneficiaries, as part of the government’s support interventions under the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TR AIn) Law (Republic Act 10963). LandBank said it is also working closely with the dSW d in implementing the Targeted Cash Transfer (TCT) program to support around 12.4 million vulnerable households belonging to the bottom fifty percent (50 percent) of Filipino households.

As of end-August 2022, the Bank has disbursed a total of P8.3 billion in cash assistance to 8.3 million householdbeneficiaries under the TCT Program.

The state-run bank also upgraded the beneficiaries’ cash cards into transaction accounts to provide beneficiaries with wider access to an array of banking services.

Perspectives

Anti-tobacco smuggling bill backed by cigarette-maker

By Cai U. Ordinario @caiordinario

exceeding 40 years with no bail recommended.

weapons, human trafficking and terrorism.

CIGARETTE

manufacturer JTI Philippines (JTIP) expressed its support for the passage of a law that will also make it illegal to smuggle tobacco productions nationwide.

Under the proposed law or House Bill (HB) 3917, cigarette smuggling will be equated with economic sabotage and will be slapped with stiffer penalties, including making the illicit trade non-bailable.

HB 3917 seeks to amend Republic Act (RA) 10845 known as the AntiAgricultural Smuggling Act of 2016. The bill is being amended to include manufactured and unmanufactured tobacco, including cigars and cigarettes as well as heated tobacco products.

“We view this as a necessary

step to make this crime an act of economic sabotage because simply it robs the nation’s coffers, which is still reeling from a long-drawn out pandemic,” JTIP General Manager John Freda said.

not only does it deprive the government of much needed tax revenue at this time, but illegal trade cheats everyone: society, consumers and legitimate businesses,” said Freda.

Under the proposed bill, cigarette smugglers will also face a minimum of 30 years imprisonment but not

At the same time, violators are obliged to settle a fine double the value of the seized smuggled items, plus the total amount of unpaid duties and other taxes.

The measure has hurdled the first reading approval in the House of Representatives and was referred to the House agriculture committee.

“JTI Philippines has previously called for stiffer sanctions against cigarette smuggling, which has become more rampant even at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic and despite intensified action on the part of law enforcement,” Freda said.

He said cigarette smuggling affects the agriculture sector, tobacco farmers, farmworkers, retailers, consumers, tobacco-growing LGUs and law enforcement units down to the revenue collection agencies.

He added that proceeds from illegal tobacco sales often finance larger criminal activities such as corruption, smuggling of drugs and

In the explanatory note of HB 3917, it was estimated that 6 in 10 cigarettes sold in the country are from illegal sources. In the tobacco capital of the country, Ilocos, around 10 percent of cigarettes are counterfeits.

This has cost the government anywhere from P30 billion to P50 billion in foregone revenues annually. The bill said Euromonitor estimated that revenue losses from cigarette smuggling could reach P26.2 billion in 2022 and P31 billion in 2023.

HB 3917, citing data from the Oxford Business Group, that the tobacco industry contributed P150 billion in revenues in 2020 and excise taxes reached P149 billion in 2021.

The tobacco industry, the bill stated, accounted for P2.5 trillion or 6 percent of the excise tax contribution in 2020. Sin tax revenues comprised 58 percent or P94 billion of the total health budget, including P172 billion for universal healthcare.

Great bond bubble is ‘poof, gone’ in worst year

WEEK by week, the bondmarket crash just keeps getting worse and there’s no clear end in sight.

With central banks worldwide aggressively ratcheting up interest rates in the face of stubbornly high inflation, prices are tumbling as traders race to catch up. And with that has come a grim parade of superlatives on how bad it has become.

Last Friday, the UK’s five-year bonds tumbled by the most since at least 1992 after the government rolled out a massive tax-cut plan that may only strengthen the Bank of England’s hand. Two-year US Treasuries are in the middle of the the longest losing streak since at least 1976, dropping for 12 straight days. Worldwide, Bank of America Corp. strategists said government bond markets are on course for the worst year since 1949, when Europe was rebuilding from the ruins of World War Two.

The escalating losses reflect how far the Federal Reserve and other central banks have shifted away from the monetary policies of the pandemic, when they held rates

The future of authentication is here

AUTHEn T ICATIOn plays a key role in driving a seamless and secure digital experience.

nearly every online interaction today involves the indispensable need to prove that we are who we say we are. This can be done by providing one or more of the following three chunks of information:

1. Something you know, such as a password, pass phrase or PIn

2 Something you have, such as a soft or hard token.

3. S omething you are, essentially your fingerprint or some other biometric data.

Given the important role authentication plays in driving user experiences that could directly impact privacy, security and revenue, it’s worthwhile thinking through what the future may hold.

While passwords have traditionally been the most popular means of primary authentication, they have limitations—particularly that the responsibility falls on users to remember and update passwords regularly.

Security analysts will frequently cite stolen usernames and passwords as common methods to gain or escalate access during a breach. It’s nearly impossible to ensure that passwords don’t fall into the wrong hands, and the public usually must rely on public disclosures of data breaches to find out if passwords have been hijacked for malicious means.

Multi-factor authentication mechanisms like short message service (SMS), tokens and biometric authentication are a fantastic improvement to protect accounts—but it’s important to acknowledge they aren’t foolproof. It doesn’t take a sophisticated hacker to hijack text messages. And while hardware authentication devices offer a secure method of authentication, they tend to be expensive which can be misplaced and can be hard to maintain.

With more sophisticated mechanisms like biometric authentication, there’s a chance of false negatives that disproportionately affect vulnerable communities and minorities. What’s more, a breach

of biometric data could potentially have significant impact beyond the falsification of important legal documents like drivers’ licenses and passports. While acknowledging these limitations, let’s look at the future of authentication.

Passwordless authentication

PA SSWOR d FREE authentication has emerged as a leading trend.

They generally rely on protocols such as FIdO2 (Fast Identity Online), public/private key cryptography and WebAuthn (web authentication). These standards are designed to replace passwords with devices that people already use and carry, such as security cards, smartphones and smart watches. Imagine walking up to your computer terminal and it instantly logs you in by recognizing your face, fingerprint, mobile device, smart watch, workplace security pass or better yet, a combination of two or more of these factors. Such rapid and convenient authentication can provide a frictionless experience with-

near zero to keep their economies going. The reversal has exerted a major drag on everything from stock prices to oil as investors brace for an economic slowdown.

“Bottom line, all those years of central bank interest-rate suppression—poof, gone,” said Peter Boockvar, chief investment officer at Bleakley Advisory Group. “These bonds are trading like emerging market bonds, and the biggest financial bubble in the history of bubbles, that of sovereign bonds, continues to deflate.”

The latest leg downward was fueled by the Fed meeting Wednesday, when the central bank raised its policy-rate range to 3 percent to 3.25 percent, its third straight 75-basis-point hike. Policy makers indicated they expect to push the rate beyond 4.5 percent and keep it there, even if it exacts a large toll on the economy.

Underscoring that point, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said the bank “is strongly resolved to bring inflation down to 2 percent, and we will keep at it until the job is done.” The broad inflation gauge that the Fed targets, the personal consumption

expenditures price index, is expected to show a 6 percent annual increase in August when it’s released on September 30.

The scale of the expected interest-rate hikes will likely only deepen the Treasury market’s losses, since in previous monetary-policy tightening cycles yields have tended to crest near the Fed’s target rate.

For now, only policy-sensitive front-end Treasuries are trading at yields above 4 percent, with the 5-year briefly breaching that mark last Friday. Longer-dated yields are lagging the rise as traders price-in the risk of a recession. Still, the 10year hit as much as 3.82 percent Friday, a 12-year high.

“With more Fed rate hiking coming and quantitative tightening, as well as the possibly more government debt issuance down the road amid less Treasury buyers out there now, it all just means higher rates,” said Glen Capelo, managing director at Mischler Financial. “The 10-year yield is definitely going to get closer to 4 percent.”

In the coming week, the market may face fresh volatility from the release of the inflation data and

public speaking engagements by Fed officials including Vice Chair Lael Brainard and ne w York Fed President John Williams. Also, the sale of new 2-year, 5-year and 7-year Treasuries will likely spur trading volatility in those benchmarks, since the market typically seeks a price concession before the auctions. The week will also mark the end of the month and the quarter, usually a time of diminished liquidity and elevated volatility as money managers adjust holdings.

A broad Treasury index has been swamped by escalating losses and is heading for a drop of over 2.7 percent in September, its worst since April. It’s down over 12 percent this year.

“Whether 4.6 percent is the peak rate or they have to go further depends on the inflation trend,” said Andrzej Skiba, head of the BlueBay US fixed-income team at RBC Global Asset Management, who is cautious about being exposed to longer-dated interest-rate risk. “The market is totally at the mercy of incoming inflation data, and while our view is that inflation will decline, the degree of confidence in that forecast is low.”

Bloomberg News

out compromising on security as you refrain from passwords entirely.

It’s also worth noting that organizations tend to see a decrease in total cost of ownership because passwords can be expensive to maintain but an organization should take the following into consideration:

n It’s important to select the right technology; how an organization deals with scalability and stolen devices should be top of mind when making this decision.

n Moving away from passwords is a cultural change no matter how you slice it; consider training and winning hearts and minds.

User and entity behavior analytics

R A PId digitization, increased customer expectations and evolving regulatory requirements are driving adoption of biometrics among many organizations.

It’s now common to authenticate using biometrics and then seamlessly conduct e-commerce and other online interactions. The next evo-

lution will involve user and entity behavior analysis, offering more ways to authenticate users in a lowfriction manner. It also addresses some risks, such as fraud and identity theft, that have become common and costly in today’s fast-changing digital environments.

This type of authentication is largely invisible to the user. It builds a profile of normal user behavior, while identifying some unique user characteristics as normal via technologies such as machine learning. These patterns may be keystrokes and device handling—but it steps up to a stronger authentication method when something deemed suspicious occurs, such as unrealistic geo-velocity, where the access location of a user doesn’t match the time difference.

This method of authentication offers consumers almost invisible security. And while such emerging possibilities to combat fraud are clear, it’s also important to consider and at all times ensure privacy protection.

There’s no doubt that passwords,

inconvenient to manage and easy to exploit, should be a thing of the past. Transitioning away from passwords to reliable and convenient new methods we’ve discussed will require a change in mindset—and now is the right time to start.

Users are already accustomed to their personal mobile devices providing biometric features like fingerprint and facial recognition. Businesses should welcome new ways to interact with their customers and workforces securely and conveniently.

A seamless and secure digital experience awaits.

The excerpt was taken from the KPMG Thought Leadership publication: https://home.kpmg/xx/ en/home/insights/2022/06/the-future-of-authentication-is-here.html

KPMG Intl. Ltd. is a private English company limited by guarantee. In the Philippines, it has the Philippine partnership R.G. Manabat & Co. as a member firm. For more information on KPMG in the Philippines, you may send an email to phkpmgmla@kpmg.com, send us a message on social media or visit www.home.kpmg/ph.

What to knoW about the u.n. General assembly

By Mallika Sen | The Associated Press

UNITED NATIONS—After

two years of virtual and hybrid summits, the world’s leaders are reconvening on the river’s edge in New York this week at the UN General Assembly, an exercise in multilateralism born from the hope for lasting peace that followed World War II.

The opening of the 77th ses sion comes as the planet is beset with crises on nearly every front.

Russia's war in Ukraine, inflation and economic instability, terror ism and ideological extremism, environmental degradation and devastating floods, droughts and fires and the ongoing pandemic are just a few of the rampant perils.

The high-level meeting opened last week with a summit on educa tion, whose thorough disruption during the coronavirus pandemic will reverberate for decades to come. Speeches from the scores of attending leaders began Tuesday and run through Monday, Sep tember 26.

While this year is billed as something of a return to the way things were, certain concessions to the ongoing coronavirus pan demic have been made. In addition to basic health protocols, few side events will take place on the UN's midtown Manhattan campus.

Here’s what to know about this year’s UN General Assembly, which will be presided over by Hungary’s Csaba Kőrösi:

Will everyone come to New York this year?

Yes, mostly. In order to speak at this year’s gathering, lead ers or their high-level designees must show up in person—with

one notable exception. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has not left the country since war broke out in late February. The General Assembly voted Friday to allow him to submit a prerecorded speech, expected to air during the latter half of Wednesday's session.

What is the real point of attending the General Assembly?

While the effectiveness of the United Nations has been ques tioned for as long as it has ex isted, the benefits of attendance are undeniable. From the dais, countries broadcast their agendas, grievances and calls to action to the entire world and a permanent record. This week is a key chance for countries often drowned out by what they decry as a hegemonic world order to grab the attention of a larger audience. It’s also a chance for leaders—especially those from countries with ten sions—to engage in meetings on the sidelines in neutral territory. Those meetings are often called bilaterals, or “bilats.”

How long are speeches allowed to be?

They’re supposed to be 15 minutes. Delegates are “kindly reminded” of that on the UN's website, but speeches notoriously tend to run longer. The longest

speech made to the General As sembly clocked in at 269 minutes — nearly 18 times that recommen dation. It was delivered by Cuba's Fidel Castro in 1960.

How is the order of speeches determined?

Up first, as a rule: Brazil. It's tradition. Early on, Brazil vol unteered when no other country wanted to speak first. So now the South American country is en shrined as the first speaker. The United States, as the host coun try, typically speaks second, but President Joe Biden's attendance of Queen Elizabeth II's funeral will push his speech to Wednes day this year.

After that, the order is deter mined by whom a country is send ing—heads of state before heads of government before ministers and other representatives—and other criteria, like country pref erence and geographic balance.

It’s called a debate, but a succes sion of speeches doesn’t sound very lively. Where’s the drama?

The structure of the General Debate doesn't lend itself to ob

vious fireworks—no booing or interruptions or immediate re buttals—but that doesn't mean intrigue and drama are absent. First, the speeches can be a font of evocative language and barbs—

take Zelenskyy's speech last year, delivered roughly five months be fore the war began, in which he castigated the UN itself as a “re tired superhero” and wryly quoted Russian President Vladimir Putin. Sometimes the message is veiled: While since-ousted Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan called India’s Hindu nationalist government “fascist” last year, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi targeted both Pakistan and China without mentioning either by name.

Member states are also allowed to exercise the right of reply, in which they can rebut criticism voiced during the General Debate. These are often fiery exchanges but aren’t typically delivered by prominent members of a country’s delegation. India and Pakistan’s longstanding enmity practically guarantees they'll be using the right of reply.

Are member states the only ones allowed to address the General Assembly?

No. Palestine, Holy See (the Vatican) and the European Union are all permanent observers on the docket this year.

Are there any notable speakers to keep an eye out for this year?

Plenty. In addition to heavy hitters like Biden and Zelenskyy, expect addresses from new Brit ish Prime Minister Liz Truss, French President Emmanuel Ma cron, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi and new Kenyan President William Ruto, among many others.

Russia is sending its foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, whose US entry visa was in doubt for some time despite an agreement between the UN and the United States that requires the approval of visas “irrespective of the rela tions existing between the gov ernments of the persons referred to” and the US government.

V IsI to rs to the United Nations headquarters take photos at the General Assembly speaker's podium ahead of the General Assembly, Friday, september 16, 2022. AP/M A ry AltA ffer

V IsI to rs to the United Nations headquarters take photos at the General Assembly speaker’s podium ahead of the General Assembly, Friday, september 16, 2022. AP/M A ry AltA ffer

A mU r Al by Brazilian artist Eduardo Kobra, focusing attention on climate change and stewardship of the planet, is displayed outside the United Nations headquarters ahead of the General Assembly, Friday, september 16, 2022. AP/M A ry AltA ffer

The coronavirus chronicles: how small ediTs can improve your wriTing

AS communicators, we know that good writ ing is the holy grail of our profession. It sells products and services, builds brands, creates goodwill with customers and stakeholders. As they say, good business writing is a matter of survival.

Writing is never easy, but we can start by paying attention to the small stuff—articles like that and the; weak verbs like to be and to have; adverbs like very, truly, and really; and repeating words. You will be surprised how these small edits can make all the difference.

PR Matters

By Millie F. Dizon

With a little help from PR News o n line and Elizabeth Galewski, here are how Making Small c h ang es in Your Writing c a n Improve It Greatly.

c la rity

AS communicators, it is important that we are understood, and cre ate an impact with our readers. Sadly, big words and long convo luted write-ups do not necessarily get us there.

“Make sure guest essays are concise and easily understood,” says Galewski. “ o n e common misconception is that advanced vocabulary and complex sentences impress readers.”

Wrong! Readers stop reading when they are confused. Editors do, too.

Instead, “strive for simple, clear language; avoiding jargons and convoluted sentences. Having a friend read a passage to you out loud can help identify problems. If your friend pauses, or worse, must reread a sentence or phrase, then you should make revisions.”

Another tip from Galewski: subheadings also help. This ar ticle, for example, is broken into sections, which makes the text easier to understand.

c lutter

T o start, Galewski says, regard articles with suspicion. For exam ple, “do you need that that? c o uld you delete the the? These parts of speech often are removed without changing a sentence’s meaning.

Next, “look for subjects that don’t refer to something specific (such as these and it). Also, look for weak verbs (to be and to have). Ev ery sentence should have an actual

subject, and a strong active verb.”

Sometimes, you can replace a phrase with a single verb. The clas sic example is using to instead of in order to.

All in all, “high quality prose eliminates unnecessary words”. The tighter and more compact your writing, the better.

av oid adding words G ALEWSKI g ives us an example how in writing, less is more and actually best.

Look at this sentence: Estab lishing professional relationships requires setting boundaries, which are essential to a healthy relation ship with any client.

“The sentence is long,” she says. “In addition, it almost says the same thing twice. The phrase at the end of the sentence doesn’t add much content. The writer was trying to boost their word count.”

Instead, delete extraneous words and be able to deliver the

same substance with increased authority.

She suggests, “Establishing healthy professional relationships requires setting boundaries with cli ents” instead. And she shows us how.

n First, move healthy to gather all the adjectives in one place.

n Then, pick a verb. Since re quires is stronger than to be, it’s the obvious choice.

n The verb requires also con tains the idea of something being essential, allowing deletion of that word.’

n Finally, make client plural rendered any unnecessary.

If you are having trouble meet ing the minimum word count re quirement for an article, consider elaborating on an idea or adding a new one.

d e leting adverbs

EDIT oR S will thank you for de leting adverbs without prompt ing. And this is especially true for adverbs that signal an extreme degree of commitment like very, truly, and really.

“Writers mistakenly add these hoping to clarify their sentences or make them more engaging,” Galewski observes. “However, prose communicates more gravi tas if verbs stand alone.”

av oid repeating words, phrases

WRITERS often repeat words and phrases in preliminary drafts.

“Look for language you have employed more than once,” says Galewski. “ c o nsider using the find tool in your word processor to highlight important terms. This will help you spot those at appear too frequently.”

She also suggests substituting synonyms and paying attention

to conjunctions like but and how ever, changing these as needed. This will not only help vary your vocabulary, and help retain the reader’s interest.

While these changes may seem minor, “they help quality and establish and intelligent tome, thereby lending greater weight to your message.”’

PR Matters is a roundtable col umn by members of the local chap ter of the United Kingdom-based International Public Relations As sociation (Ipra), the world’s premier association for senior professionals around the world. Millie Dizon, the senior vice president for Marketing and Communications of SM, is the former local chairman.

We are devoting a special column each month to answer the reader’s questions about public relations. Please send your comments and ques tions to askipraphil@gmail.com.

n Playful camPaigns from indeed and sm artsheet, a solar-P owered billboard that keeP s your heineken cool, and more fun ads from the week

MANILA, PHILIPPINES—The cre ative industry is brimming with tons of amazing ideas, so it’s no surprise that there’s never a short age of great campaigns to admire and celebrate.

From gripping stories and new perspectives that embody what a brand stands for to new fun ways people can engage with a brand, here are campaigns that caught adobo Magazine’s eye this week:

le Pub’s solar- P owered heineken billboard

LE P ub’s newest outdoor ad is a Heineken billboard advocating

for sustainable energy. Installed onto the billboard that’s connect ed to Brewteco, a famous bar in Rio, are solar panels that chan nel clean energy and deliver what the billboard announces to pass ersby: “This billboard is cooling your Heineken.” Not only does it make use of renewable energy as a way to cool the product they’re marketing, but it also highlights Heineken Green Energy Pro gram aimed at facilitating access to Green Energy for consumers across the country.

the rio gr ande do sul Public library encourages Peo Ple to ‘re ad a woman’

When most people think of clas sic novels, they think of works written by men. In response to this patriarchal mindset, Rio Grande do Sul Public Library and DZ Estudio created a cam paign that turned that first thought into something more productive: promoting books authored by women. Through their web site, readers can scan

titles of books by male authors and it’ll turn those titles into a recommendation for a book with similar elements written by a woman. This campaign hacks the visibility of male writers and effectively helps readers who aren’t familiar with woman-au thored books to start widening their literary horizons.

indeed challenges emPloyers to ’hire better’

I N a s eries of short videos con ceptualized by DDB Mudra that are sure to get a chuckle out of you, Indeed reminds everyone of the dangers of not taking screening and hiring poten tial employees seriously. Each video shows a workplace di saster, from a factory flooding to shelves of products getting knocked over. When the super visor then asks the person in charge of hiring if the person who caused the accident was the skilled candidate from Indeed, the latter sheepishly replies that they just hired a person who they personally know.

where great ideas get abandoned, according to John mcneil s tudio

JoHN Mc NEIL St udio’s playful campaign for Smartsheet visual izes the place where great ideas go to die as a warehouse towering with boxes and items collecting dust. The tour guide explains to a visitor, Smartsheet, that all these great initiatives were eventually abandoned because of the lack of collaboration and action. The visitor then reveals that there will no longer be a need for the warehouse because there’s a new way forward be cause, with Smartsheet, organiz ing, planning, and taking action has never been easier.

lenovo yo ga’s Push for creativity and exPression YoG A is Lenovo’s line of thin and flexible laptops is the perfect digi tal canvas, and to demonstrate this, BBD o Nordics created a campaign in which artists were equipped with the laptop to draw four influencers who posed nude.

The artists created their own inter pretation of the subjects in unique portraits, which, in its focus on ap preciating shapes and expressions in response to online nudity cul ture, became the perfect project to represent the heights of creativity Yoga is capable of producing.

n netflix airs the first season of mga k wentong ePik which tells the story of m aria m akiling

MANILA, PHILIPPINES—More Filipino comic stories are find ing their way on the global stage of streaming as Netflix releases the first season of Mga Kwentong Epik . The series is a story-telling show based on original charac ters and titles created by Epik Studios.

Each episode is narrated by a live host who reads the comic book the series is based on while the story is presented through animation and beautifully il lustrated panels. This form of storytelling brings the stories of Epik Studios to life while pre

serving the classic Filipino comic art style.

Season one is called Mga Kwentong Epik: Alamat ni Maria Makiling. It focuses on Ria, who goes to find an enigmatic sha manic community in a secluded area in Laguna. In her journey to follow the path of her adoptive mother who used to train with magic, learning the craft eventu ally leads Ria to discover a truth about herself: she is the goddess Maria Makiling.

The first season is comprised of six episodes, all narrated by actor and former children’s tele vision host Bodjie Pascua while actress Ryza c e non voices Ria.

There will be two more sea sons coming soon to tie up the series. The second season will air on o c tober 14 and will focus on o s yana, voiced by Kylie Verzosa, a sea siren who battles a terri fying pirate in order to protect her tribe and culture. Then, the story of Bernardo c a rpio, voiced by Marco Gumabao, will be the final one of the series, airing on November 11.

Caritas Manila graduates biggest batch of scholars for School Year 2021-2022

and those affected by war and conflicts.

According to Fr. Anton Pascual, Executive Director of Caritas Manila, “No one succeeds alone. The more you help, the more it will come back to you. The Bible says to not be afraid to help. Either give your time, talent or treasure. It will come back to you. Give and you shall receive, good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over.”

As of August 2022, Caritas Manila has allotted P107.5 million to support the tertiary and vocational-technical education of 4,639 currently enrolled YSLEP scholars.

CARITAS Manila, the social services arm of the Archdiocese of Manila recently graduated 1,604 college and vocational-technical scholars for the school year 2021-2022 under its Youth Servant Leadership and Education Program (YSLEP). This is the largest batch to date since the program started almost 70 years ago.

Of the total number of scholars, 565 are scholars from Luzon, 511 from the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Manila, 279 from Visayas and 249 from Mindanao.

Among the YSLEP graduates are six Summa Cum Laudes, 54 Magna Cum Laudes, 140 Cum Laudes, 78 special awardees, 68 with academic excellence and

779 in the Dean’s List. The 2021-2022 batch finished courses in Business, Education, Economics, Engineering, Social Sciences, Information Technology and Agriculture.

Caritas Manila recognizes each and every YSLEP scholars during a special event called Kairos. The word means the opportune time or the appointed time in the purpose of God. Each scholar receives a certificate of recognition and an Outstanding Youth Servant Leader Medal. A total of 18 Kairos events were held nationwide from June to September this year.

YSLEP prioritizes disadvantaged youths from the poorest provinces, indigenous groups, those who are victims of calamities

All YSLEP graduates automatically become members of Caritas Manila Scholars Association (CAMASA) to give them the chance to pay it forward. Last year, Caritas Manila scholars completed 93,940 hours of social apostolate work and 99,033 hours of church involvement. Caritas Manila continues to monitor scholars after graduation to ensure that they are gainfully employed and that they remain active in church and community services.

For school year 2022-2023, Caritas Manila aims to provide scholarships to an additional 5,000 poor and deserving youth nationwide. It only takes P 30,000 per year to support one Caritas Manila scholar.

Globe brings excitement, joy to thousands in GDay festivities

THOUSANDS gathered over the weekend of September

17. 2022 for fun and exciting activities Globe held for its highly anticipated 917 #ExtraGDayEveryday, the biggest GDay celebration yet.

Events were held at the Circuit Events Ground Makati and the Enchanted Kingdom in Sta. Rosa City on 917 day, September 17, without any adverse incidents except for apparent attempts to jam mobile signals at both venues.

“Our 917 GDay this year marked the first time we had many on-ground events, and we are glad that our customers went out to participate in them. We really wanted to pursue face to face events which we have been missing since the pandemic. We are only too happy that our customers found time to enjoy the festivities,” said Jerome Patalud, Head of Globe Rewards.

The GMusic Fest drew thousands of spectators at Circuit Events Ground Makati for a day of great music and fun at experiential booths, bringing home Globe freebies along with new memories.

Over 6,000 spectators came for the half-day event, staying throughout the show to enjoy the lineup of world-class artists Globe brought together to regale its valued customers.

Enjoying the GMusic Fest was Kathlyn Guinto, a Globe customer for 15 years now. On Twitter, she raved about seeing Thai singer Phum Viphurit and the “queens” from Drag Race Philippines.

“It was my first time watching Phum Viphurit perform live. Finally! WOW. WOW. WOW…. Thank you for bringing them here, Globe!” she said in her post, adding the event hashtag #GMusicFest.

Guinto, who came to the event with her sister, said seeing the Drag Race PH contestants was “the icing on top” as she is an avid fan of the show.

“My sister and I had so much fun amidst the rain. It was an unforgettable event, considering it’s my first concert/music fest since the pandemic. Thankful to Globe for bringing these artists together,” she said.

The music fest got positive reviews from the audience when asked what they thought of the event, with the majority saying they enjoyed the musical performances the most, rating the event as a 10.

Meanwhile, over in Sta. Rosa, Globe led a successful and purposeful celebration with valued partner-clients and customers. At the #MagicalGDay event, Globe treated guests to fun rides and exciting booths that also featured partner brands. The day was made extra special by trivia games and raffle prizes.

Top bookmaker MegaSportsWorld launches 2nd bookmaker outlet at Winford Manila Resort & Casino

Corporation (MJIC), WMRC is a hospitality and tourism destination that began operations in 2017. Among its key features are 128 spacious rooms and over 9,000 square meters of internationally-designed indoor gaming facilities.

Dubbed “the number one sportsbook in the Philippines,” MSW is the longest and oldest government-accredited licensed bookmaker in the country. The company holds and strictly operates within the guidelines of licenses issued by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR).

In partnership with WMRC since 2017, this is MSW’s second flagship outlet and is open on all floors of the casino, with selfservice betting terminals located on the second and third floor gaming areas.

The ceremony was attended by WMRC President & Chief Operating Officer Jeffrey Evora, WMRC Director for Gaming Compliance & Operations Darwin Cusi, MSW Managing Director Jeff Mann, and MSW Operations Manager Rey Roallos.

“Through this partnership, WMRC members and guests may now conveniently enjoy MSW betting odds for all major sports right here on our premises,” said Evora. “Be it popular sports like basketball and tennis, or niche ones like cricket and rugby, our members and guests can now benefit from the seamless MSW experience made possible by its online, retail, and video call channels.”

Five-star Country Club for play, dining, and unwinding has arrived in Quezon City

ESCAPE and unwind from the stress of urban living without leaving the city at the Tivoli Royale Country Club. This accessible and modern country club offers a relaxing view of nature amid brand new and exciting amenities that are perfect for young professionals and active families.

The design boasts of numerous choices of activity areas, both for leisure and sports. The spacious newly renovated facilities welcome old and new members, including guests who want to dine in at the restaurants. It highlights the results of a P300 million renovation that restored its prime shape and ensured that it is well fitted both for intimate and grand events.

Among the club amenities for sports buffs are family pools, a gym and fitness center, a bowling alley, and a game center for billiards, darts, and arcade games. Those who want to practice their shooting can head to the shooting range while those who want to perfect their swing can head to the golf complex that houses an indoor driving range, pitch n' putt, and state-of-the-art golf simulators.

For athletes, there are courts for basketball, badminton, tennis, and volleyball. Additionally, the club holds dance, yoga, and swimming classes for kids and adults, complete with personal trainers who will help members achieve their health goals.

Dining options include the all-day restaurant Royale Lounge which serves hearty breakfasts, casual but comforting Filipino food, and inventive ala carte international cuisines. The Grid Sports Bar is a hotspot for those who want to spend a carefree night of interactive billiards together with a karaoke sing-along with beer, spirits, and bar chow. Large TV screens will also allow fans to cheer for their favorite sports teams.

Tivoli may not spring to mind as the ideal spot for a sophisticated meal, but it should. The country club offers The Grand Royale where the chefs transform the highest-quality local ingredients into artful degustation dishes. Its elegant atmosphere

makes it an ideal venue for intimate events, luncheons, cocktail parties, or gala dinners.

Executive Chef Emmanuel “Jonnel” Cruz Roxas says that his concept for dining at Tivoli Royale is to level up familiar and comforting flavors of family favorites such as Kare Kare, Grilled Salmon, or Carbonara with five-star service. “The drive for creating the food was fueled by basics and not by fancy ingredients or décor,” he explained.

“After two years of missed weddings, birthdays, graduations, anniversaries, vacations, and more special occasions, people don’t want to miss a moment with the people they love the most,” says Tivoli Royale general manager Cherryl Ann Go. “We offer them the opportunity to unwind with their loved ones in wide open spaces with amenities that will help them enjoy fun activities in privacy and security without going on a long road trip outside the city.”

Family time and self-care with special attention to health and wellness are more accessible in this revitalized property that was established in 1996 and renovated and reopened in last May 2022.

To address the needs of both guests and members' beauty and skincare concerns, look no further than the Club MD+, located on the club’s 2nd level. Founded by the country’s derma of MDs Michelle Manuel, the clinic offers both surgical and nonsurgical procedures, especially known for its anti-aging treatments. Adjacent to the clinic is a nail spa and hair salon with a professional and well-trained team that will leave guests looking renewed and polished.

Acquiring membership at Tivoli Royale Country Club is a value-for-money investment in health and relationships. The annual membership fee is P25,000, which includes access to three dependents (spouse/ children). Singletons declaring dependents 30 years old and above will only have to add a minimal additional fee. Monthly dues are at P3,000, of which P500 is consumable and non-cumulative. All facilities have a minimal cost except for the swimming pool, gym, lockers, steam, and sauna room.

GLOBE held a fun day of giving back at the Enchanted Kingdom on September 17 as part of the 917 GDay celebration.

MVP GUILD PH BAGS 2ND PLACE IN WORLD AXIE COMPETITION. Lightstream8 would like to congratulate MVP Guild PH on their recent World Axie Classic Championship success by winning 2nd place. The team is also recognized for placing 24th, 28th, and 34th in the other events. Lightstrea8 said they were proud of what the team has accomplished and recognized their tireless efforts to advance and revolutionize e-sports and its community in the Philippines and around the world. “This achievement brings out the best of your abilities and inspires others to strive for greater things in life. We wish you the best in your current and future endeavors,” Lightstream8 said.

G Music Fest also featured K-Pop group bugAboo, whose G Music Fest appearance was their first time performing live in the Philippines, and top Filipino acts such as KAIA, Matthaios, The Juans, Unique Salonga, and I Belong to the Zoo.

Festival goers were also safely ferried in and out of the venue through free rides on GET electric buses deployed for the event.

W INFORD Manila Resort & Casino (WMRC) and MegaSportsWorld (MSW) recently formalized their partnership through a ribbon-cutting ceremony held at the luxury casino hotel located in San Lazaro Tourism & Business Park, Sta. Cruz, Manila.

and operated by Manila Jockey Club Investment

PROUD YSLEP scholar graduates for school year 2021-2022.

FROM left to right, Darwin Cusi, WMRC Director for Gaming Compliance & Operations; Jeff Mann, MSW Managing Director; Jeff Evora, WMRC President & Chief Operating Officer; and Rey Roallos, MSW Operations Manager

THE

Call Her Judge Jig�ly

“werk room” when the judges deliberate.

That “critique,” though, horrified and terrified international RuPaul Girls, such as the Americans Kandy Muse, Kornbread “The Snack” Jeté, Nina Bonina Brown, and Jasmine Kennedie; Canadian Miss Fiercalicious; and Brit Cheryl Hole. Even Drag Race mainstay and Fil-Am comedian Alec Mapa. The uproar only proves that Drag Race royalties are watching the local show. Just when they were cheering the Pinays queens, sad news enveloped the community when news of UK Season 2’s Cherry Valentine sudden passing was announced. The cause of death has not been reported.

I don’t have an eye for it. The design of something, like the design of something is one thing. Execution is a whole other situation, But if you at least design something decent and pretty OK, I can get that. If you tell me what this was supposed to be and it just wasn’t executed the same way, I’m empathetic to the execution but not the design.

Dphenomenon. It will live on and on!” Indeed. In quick succession, France just crowned its first queen, Canada its third and Down Under its second. This past week, the UK unleashed its fourth season Drag

(Cheddar Gorgeous is a juggernaut), just as Race Philippines found itself in a tempest.

In the seventh episode’s “Divi-Divas” challenge, where the contenders made outfits from unconventional materials

sold in Divisoria, fashion designer-judge Rajo Laurel read Eva Le Queen’s outfit for filth. He called it ugly, an atrocity, trash.

filth. He called it ugly, an atrocity, trash.

But then here comes host-judge Paolo Ballesteros, in an attempt to #educatethechildren, created another maelstrom by delving into Viñas DeLuxe’s “Pink Pak Boom” runway look. (See Twitter for updates.) Also, be updated about judge Kaladkaren’s articulate thoughts about the SOGIE Bill.

All this brings me to my e-mail interview with Pinay plus-sized Barbie, Jiggly Caliente from Queens, New York, via San Pedro, Laguna.

Because if the design is ugly to begin with, it’s ugly. Kung chaka ang design, chaka ang outcome. Pero kung maganda ang design pero hindi maganda ang execution, it’s a different situation. A prime example ’yung aking postapocalyptic look—the design was ang nangyari; ang execution ang chaka. Yeah. I was a lot kinder to the queens when it comes to execution for the sewing challenges. And, like, ang kapal naman nang mukha ko kung ganun ako kung malala ako, tapos ’di ko naman magawa—baka sampalin ako ng mga baklang ’yan!

Untucked, the behind-the-scenes

Though admirably composed onstage, the feedback almost broke Eva during goings-on at the

Work-to-holiday-party staples unveiled

When the show was announced, she replied to some Twitter critters who said she was undeserving of the role: “I understand you wanted @manilaluzon to be in my place. She has her own show coming soon where you can support, love and glorify her there. Can I just have this moment? I’m not asking for much. I’m not asking you to accept the inevitable that I’m the judge on Drag Race Philippines.”

Here’s Jiggly. Still unscathed. As of the moment.

How do you deal with the toxic fandom?

But the good thing about Drag Race Philippines is, like, and at least with the Filipino queens, hindi sila sumasagot. Hindi sila...‘cause in America the queens really minsan sumasagot sa mga hurado eh. But in the Philippines, the queens weren’t like that. Iba ang ugali ng queens sa Philippines. Hindi sila palaban masyado with [the judges], like, not palaban pero wala pa silang sungay. Pero jusko kung ano masabi ko, mura-murahin ako nila noh! Sabihin nila, “Hoy! Ilang beses ka naligwak dahil dito, di ba?”

LGBT persecution still persists. How are you using your Drag Race platform to fight this?

By being very vocal about my opinion. Mainly for the Philippines. For our community and the LGBTQ community. The thing is, it’s like, I’m a privileged American citizen at this point. I feel somewhat like it’s unfair for me to be judgmental on what’s going on in the Philippines. But at the same time I can’t help but voice my opinion on it. Because, you know, we have to.

Rustan (www.rustans.com) has mastered the art of refined Filipino tends to skew towards the more casual, but Hebron’s genius is in creating the perfect balance of relaxed sophistication that is consistent throughout LR’s collections.

workwear down to a tee. Office dressing in Manila’s tropical climate

Soft and modern, effortless and flowy, Lady Rustan’s pieces are eternally tasteful and refined, easily mixing-and-matching

with the label’s previous collections. FW22 is all about workwear reimagined for the party season, with bright dashes of color and cheerful silhouettes jazzing up the regular corporate ensemble.

As health restrictions relax and the ‘ber months with us, the promise of re-opened offices and pre-pandemic parties seems likely. Work-to-evening dressing for the holiday season has never been more relevant. While it sounds exciting, the prospect can also seem daunting. Not to worry—Lady Rustan’s Fall/Winter 22 collection envisions all the outfits you’ll ever need.

White, red, pink and a spectrum of greens dominate the season’s collection, softened by neutrals in light beige, camel and peach. Silky blouses and sleeveless tops coordinate effortlessly with tailored ankle pants and wide-leg trousers. New details such as puff sleeves and lace add refreshing touches. A deep garnet wrap dress and a showstopping pink number with an asymmetrical hem compete as prime choices for this year’s noche buena.

also slightly acidic and this is what helps prevent the growth of harmful bacteria, viruses and fungi that could damage your skin and cause infections.

The symptoms of a damaged barrier are dry and scaly skin; itchiness, rough patches, acne, sensitive or inflamed areas, and bacterial, viral, or fungal skin infections.

The skin’s acid mantle has a pH of 4.7 but the pH of some skin products can range from 3.7 to 8.2.

first.

what

It’s growing pains because I have a therapist now. This is what I meant when Drag Race humbled me because of the comments that I received and mainly on my season. My teeth were, you know, they weren’t great but the fandom was really good at pointing that out. My weight has also been commented on. There’s just so much. They literally put you under a microscope and dissect you. It is not easy. But you have to have a thick skin to go through it. But, yeah, like I have a therapist. I also have people that really know me, that keep me grounded and tell me, like, “Look, that’s not true. That’s not what it is like.” You know, it is a lot. It’s a lot to go through for a person. Sometimes you just got to have to learn to like and love yourself. So you can survive it. And I mean that as like yourself first, because nobody falls in love, like I know the whole love yourself and you’re gonna love me. But in reality, nobody falls in love right away, right? You like a person first. Find things to like about yourself to negate that conversation that is happening on social media. So find little things about yourself that you like. And from there, keep going. Find another thing that you like about yourself, and then find another. And another, and another till you fall in love with yourself.

All T All Shade: Were you kindest to the girls during the sewing challenges since this is your weakness?

Oh yeah, no, God! The difference for me is that just because I can’t create something doesn’t mean

Here’s why you should care for your skin’s barrier

IF you have sensitive skin or eczema, this is around that time of year when you should start changing the products you use because atmospheric pollen pollution is very high.

“The predominant pollen in the Philippines is the grass pollen, followed by Mimosa, Moraceae, Cyperaceae, lower vascular plants spores, Amaranth, Coconut, Tiliaceae, Pinus, Compositae and Alnus [in decreasing order of significance]. The atmospheric pollen pollution in Quezon City is heavy in November, December and January; in Los Baños during January, February, March, April, June and November; and in Baguio City during February, March, April and May,” detailed a 1978 study, titled “Studies on atmospheric pollens in the Philippines,” by F Cua-Lim, P C Payawal, and G Laserna.

Particles in the air can cause airborne contact dermatitis, with symptoms that include  red welts or hives. These welts aren’t only itchy but also painful when they become very swollen.

Dry skin with a damaged barrier is more prone to allergies and irritations. Your skin’s barrier is the outermost layer of your skin. It can be damaged by the sun, strong winds, alkaline soaps, stress, and even harsh skin-care products. A damaged barrier means your skin will become dehydrated and more prone to fine lines and wrinkles. Your skin’s barrier is

This is why dermatologists and aestheticians warn you against using harsh soaps and other products with extremely exfoliating ingredients on your face. Experts recommend cleansing with a product that has a pH between 4.0 and 5.0.

I know that many people have multi-step skin-care routines but if you have sensitive skin, you need to look at the ingredients of the products that you use. Look for products that have ceramides, waxy lipids that are crucial in making sure your skin’s barrier functions properly.

There was a time when I needed to order whatever lotions and creams I needed from the US.

Now, I get many of my skin-care items from Shopee because they really have a comprehensive selection of moisturizers and hydrators for the face and body. I love how Shopee has brands which aren’t usually available from brick-and-mortar stores. I also love how there are discounts and special deals such as free shipping during sales so I usually wait for those offers before making a purchase.

Aveeno was one of the first products I have ever used for sensitive skin. Aveeno Baby Daily Wash & Shampoo is a staple in my bathroom cabinet. I would even highly recommend this to friends with babies and toddlers. What I like about this wash is that it has a non-greasy formula that absorbs quickly and moisturizes for a full 24 hours.

Now, what does a “full 24 hours” mean? It means that the wash leaves a non-greasy film of moisture on

your skin even if you wash again.

One of the first specialized lotions I ever used, Aveeno Skin Relief Moisturizing Lotion has the brand’s Active Naturals Triple Oat Complex with oat oil and natural shea butter, so it’s perfect for skin that’s very dry and sensitive. It’s also fragrance-free, steroid-free, and gentle.

For days when my skin is extra dry and sensitive, my go-to is Aveeno Dermexa Daily Emollient Cream.

It has avenanthramides, which is naturally found in oats, and ceramides, which strengthen the skin’s

You have to move forward. I love that the Philippines is very (tolerant) of the community. And I say (tolerant) because, if you truly accept the LGBT community, we should have rights in the Philippines. The SOGIE Bill should have been passed a long, long time ago. You know, I’m not even asking for gay marriage in the Philippines. That’s not even what I’m asking for, or what I’m hoping for.

Because, right now, an LGBT can get fired from their job. I would love for a transwoman or transman to be able to live in their truth. Without their dead name being held against them. That is what I mean. I’m not asking, I’m not hoping for more. I would just like at least the bare minimum of basic human rights for the Filipino LGBT community.

Why is now the suitable time to showcase drag to conservative and judgmental Philippines? Because times are changing. And you have to move with the times, right? We’re not going anywhere. We are not staying silent. We are no longer going to be the punching bag for your insecurities. The community is here. We have always been here. We have been part of the fold for the longest time and only because of the colonizers were we shunned. So, that needs to be eradicated. Get with the times. We’ve always been here. We never left. ■

natural barrier. I use this to spot treat rashes and hives.

For the face, I normally go for a hydrator with hyaluronic acid like Neutrogena’s very popular Hydro Boost Water Gel, which has undergone a packaging and formulation upgrade. The new formula consists of hyaluronic acid, amino acids and electrolytes. For more serious moisturizing, the Neutrogena Hydro Boost Nourishing Cream is a rich and soothing nourishing cream  with Natural Moisturizing Factor (NMF) complex to strengthen the skin’s barrier.

Hydro Boost Nourishing Cream is a rich and soothing nourishing cream while Aveeno Dermexa Daily Emollient Cream has ceramides to help strengthen the skin’s barrier.

PHOTO BY JULIANA MAXINE C. VASQUEZ

APONTE.

PHOTO BY RON KATAGIRI

Bay Area Dragons dead serious in conquering PBA–coach Austria

By Josef Ramos

TWO games into the Com missioners Cup and winning both—one by a mile and the other by an amazing escape—and the Hong Kong Bay Area Dragons are on mission to conquer the Phil ippine Basketball Association (PBA).

“ They aren’t here to participate but to compete in our prestigious league,” San Miguel Beer’s nine-time champion coach Leo Austria told BusinessMirror on Sunday. “I believe they are on mission here.”

The Bay Area Dragons are lethal behind American reinforcement Myles Blake Powell. He erupted with 41 points and eight rebounds in Hongkong’s 133-87 rout of Blackwater on Wednesday and on Saturday sank a buzzer-beating three-pointed to lift his team to past NorthPort, 105-104.

Powell can control the game. He showed it especially against North Port when he hit that game winner,” said Austria of the prolific former Philadelphia 76ers shooting guard who also exploded with 37 points against the Batang Pier.

looking tough, and Powell, with his size, presents mismatches to the other imports,” said Cone, as he expects resident import Justin Brownlee to have his hands full agains the Hongkong team.

Cone believes the Bay Dragons are adapting and learning.

They will be a tough nut to crack over the coming games,” he said.

The Gin Kings will face the Bay Area Dragons on October 9 at the PhilSports Arena.

Philippine Cup champion San Miguel Beer and runner-up TNT Tropang Giga will be playing in the home-and-away East Asia Super League along with the HK Bay Area Dragons starting on October 12.

PBA Commissioner Willie Marcial, meanwhile, canceled Sunday’s games at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City because of Super Typhoon Karding. Meralco was supposed to face NLEX at 4:30 p.m. and Converge was scheduled against Ginebra.

BIG THREE SETS BAR FOR TENNIS NEXT GEN

LONDON—Here is one way to look at what Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and the now-retired Roger Federer accomplished: The group known as the Big Three of men’s tennis accumulated so many Grand Slam titles—63 in all—that it seems unlikely anyone will reach the standards they set.

Not anytime soon, certainly.

Here was another way to think about things as the professional level of the sport began its postFederer life on Saturday, following the last match of his career: What he and the other two members of that distinguished trio, along with Serena Williams, managed to do was demonstrate that it is possible to dominate for decades, not merely years, at a time.

A nd the 41-year-old Federer, for one, thinks up-and-coming players can learn from the way he and the others of his era went about it, from their self-belief and attitudes about setting goals to their training, nutrition and other methods of ensuring longevity.

He laughed when relaying a conversation with Bjorn Borg, who is the captain of Team Europe at the Laver Cup, about what life was like back when he was winning his 11 major championships from 1974 to 1981 before retiring in his 20s. During an interview with The

Associated Press this week, Federer recalled a conversation in which Borg talked about getting one weekly massage and maybe the occasional hot bath during his time on tour.

Federer’s massage routine over his quarter-century as a player?

“ Every day, probably. Sometimes I would get tired of them, so I would say, ‘Can we skip a day today?’ You know what I mean? I will not miss those. I mean, I loved my massages from time to time, but come on; number 1,423 gets a little bit like, ‘Jesus. I’d rather do something different,’” Federer said, then added through a self-aware grin:

“Complaining at a high level here.”

W hen Pete Sampras won the 2002 US Open in his last match, he collected his 14th Slam trophy, two more than any other man in the history of tennis to that point. Indeed, there were those who wondered at the time whether that mark would ever be broken.

Seems quaint now. Here we are, 20 years later, and Federer wound up with 20; Djokovic has 21; Nadal leads with 22. The latter two are still adding to their counts: Nadal, 36, won the Australian Open in January and the French Open in June; Djokovic, 35, won Wimbledon in July. No. 1, it’s easier nowadays to run through different surfaces. Pete only made one semi at the French. Borg never went to Australia.... And,”

Federer said, “it was less professional back in the ’70s.”

Federer also made this point: He, Nadal, Djokovic and Williams, and the rise of social media, all contributed to a change in the paradigm of Grand Slam importance vis a vis other tournaments and made chasing those records—and talking about chasing those records—more widely accepted and matter-of-course.

It’s a different world now,” Federer said.

I n bygone days, he said, “It was not about records. This whole record thing started, I’d say, with Sampras wanting to surpass the 12 of (Roy) Emerson. This is what set up this generation that we see with Novak

and Rafa right now. For me, I don’t remember much, when I came up in the ’90s, about all these records. I remember Pete was kind of chasing them, but I was not aware of it. They just said, ‘Oh, you play like Pete, so you’re going to be ‘the next Pete Sampras.’ I was like, ‘Oh, OK.’”

W ith that, he rolled his eyes.

Then Federer continued discussing Sampras: “I don’t even remember how many Slams he had at that time. I don’t even remember where he passed that record. It was a big moment, I’m sure, but I, a historian of the game, don’t really remember it.”

Players have changed. Media coverage has changed. Fans’ attention has changed. AP

He will be the marked man in this league for sure and we’ll be ready for him,” Austria added.

The Beermen debuts in the Commisioner’s Cup against the Blackwater Bossing on October 5 and their much-awaited game against the Bay Dragons is on October 16.

Besides Powell, San Miguel Beer’s six-time Most Valuable Player June Mar Fajardo and import Thomas Robinson, also a former National Basketball Association player, will have to contend with the Bay Dragon’s 7-foot-5 center, Chinese Chuanxing Liu.

A gainst Powell, Austria said they have to maximize the effort of CJ Perez, Chris Ross and Marcio Lassiter on both ends.

B arangay Ginebra San Miguel head coach Tim Cone are also bracing for the Bay Area Dragons.

They are certainly

SWIMMER DIAMANTE: DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH

Cavitex dribblers marked in PBA’s 3x3 meet 2nd leg

CAVITEX seeks a fitting follow up to its maiden leg title in the Philippine Basketball Associa tion (PBA) 3x3 as the First Conference of Season 2 resumes on Monday at the Robinson’s Place Antipolo Extension.

The Braves lead Pool A in Leg 3 and will continue to parade Jorey Napoles, Chester Saldua, Bong Galanza, and Domi nick Fajardo, who beat the San Miguel Beermen for their first title in the previ ous leg of the standalone tournament.

Joining them in the group are Pioneer Elastoseal Katibays and Terrafirma 3x3. The Beermen meanwhile, headline Pool B with Blackwater Red President and Barangay Ginebra.

Leg 1 winner TNT is in Pool C with Platinum Karaoke and NorthPort, while Meralco, J&T Express and Pure foods Titans are bunched in Pool D.

The Tropang Giga are out to stop the Braves from completing a back-toback leg crown as they’re set to bring

in Gryann Mendoza for the first time this season for big man Lervin Flores.

Reymar Caduyac also returns in Season 2 by suiting up for new team Meralco in lieu of Kenneth Mocon. The pride of Libona in Bukidnon is coming off a hand injury following his stint with multiple leg champion Limitless App.

The other teams parading a new roster include Blackwater Red Presi dent, who are tapping Alfrancis Tamsi and Maclean Sabellina for Richard

Suddenly, Mariano offered his hand in a fist bump to the younger player.

M erilles had won and taken both blitz and rapid chess from the veteran Mariano. Earlier, Merilles took two of three points available against the Laguna Heroes’ board one maestro, Grandmaster Banjo Barcenilla, giving the youthful player three wins in four boards.

Big day for Nezil

THE Mindoro Tamaraws’ team manager Lito Asi took in the unfolding match with great interest.

It was the opening day of the first over-the-board competition of the Professional Chess Association of the Philippines (PCAP) after nearly two years of online chess. Some 150 players from 22 teams across the country trooped to the posh Estancia Mall in Pasig City for the tournament.

H is young player, 25-year-old Nezil Merilles was locked in a close battle with Fide Master Elo Mariano of the Manila Indios Bravos.

His performance was a bright spot in the two tough losses by Mindoro. They battled the Laguna Heroes in a close match but the latter came up big in rapid play to take a 14-7 decision. Merilles’s three points where the only ones on the board as the Manila Indios Bravos hammered out a dominant 18-3 win.

M erilles sat for a moment on his chair in disbelief.  I n his two years as a professional chess player, this was thus far the best day in his PCAP career. He managed an awkward and disbelieving smile.

“I can’t believe it,” he gulped. “These are my idols.”

Merilles is a true Mindoro native as he hails from the seaport city of Calapan.

I was introduced to chess by my father. And it was a way for my siblings and I to get a scholarship to school,” he said of his chess origins as his proficiency in the game allowed him to matriculate

NICOLA

QUEEN DIAMENTE showed she’s a gem worth polishing after scooping six gold medals—just one short of a sweep of her events—in the girls’ side of the First Novice Swim Championship organized by the Congress of Philippine Aquatics Inc. (COPA) on a stormy Sunday at the Teofilo Ildefonso Pool inside the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex in Malate, Manila.

D iamente almost scored a sweep in the event that, with some luck, wrapped up its competitions just after lunch time when Typhoon Karding’s signal was raised to No. 4 in Metro Manila and No. 5

Escoto and Jeff Javillonar, J&T Express will have Robin Rono in lieu of Marvin Hayes, NorthPort Batang Pier with Wilson Baltazar and Dexter Zamora for LA Revilla and Luke Parcero, and Platinum Karaoke with Yutien Andrada and Raphael Banal taking the place of Brandon Bates and Yves Sazon.

C avitex kicks off its title bid against Terrafirma 3x3 in the first of another 12-game bill on opening day of Pool play.

at the Divine Word College of Calapan.

A nd chess was certainly a way for his team to get to Manila for this historic professional chess opening.

The Tamaraws aren’t the most-moneyed of professional chess teams. They get by. What they do have is a fighting heart. So coming over to Manila for the opening is huge both literally and financially.

I n matching team uniforms, in a classy opening ceremony with VIPs in attendance, “we feel special,” described Asi.

A nd their board one wonder in Merilles is special.

If he continues to work hard, malayo mararating nitong bata na to,” Asi proclaimed.

Unlike other kids from the provinces who move towards the capital city of Manila or other big centers in the country, Merilles chooses to give back to his city where he works as a chess coach.

However, like his chess idols in Barcenilla, Mariano, the Wesley So Cups of this world, Nezil Merilles’s dream is to join them as a grandmaster.

Marami pa tayong kailangan matutunan,” he admitted. “Marami pang dadaanan.”

A nd the young lad is just getting started in his journey.

elsewhere in the country.

Diamante, a member of the RSS Dolphines Swim Team, glittered in the 11-year-old category’s Class A 25-meter freestyle with a time of 14.30 seconds, butterfly (14.80), backstroke (16.30), breaststroke (21.40), 50-meter freestyle (30.40) and 100-meter Individual medley (1:29.40).

D iamante only missed the 100-meter freestyle gold with a clocking of  1:09.10, second to Alex Pasia of Sharknado Swimming Team who timed 45.80 seconds.

I’m so happy with my accomplishments and I thank the COPA because they’re making

it possible for us to compete,” Diamante said. “The typhoon bothered me, and perhaps, the next time I can improve further.”

D iamante was already a rising star when won four gold medals and was named the most prolific swimmer in last month’s COPA Reunion tournament organized by Olympian swimmer and former Southeast Asian Games champion now Batangas First District Rep. Eric Buhain and supported by Speedo.

Technical director Richard Luna said they were relieved to complete the competitions before Typhoon Karding could show its wrath.

LG PHL welcomes Changwon Sakers

THE Changwon LG Sakers, a professional team based in South Korea, was back in the Philippines for a series of tune up games against Philippine Basketball Association and University Athletic Association of the Philippines teams.

The LG Sakers are based in Changwon and has LG Electronics as its major sponsor, which is also based in the same city.

J ustin Gutang, one of the collegiate standouts from College of Saint Benilde, also recently joined the Sakers.

L G Electronics Philippines’s Managing Director Sungjae Kim and LG Philippines Product Director Changsoo Jang handed units of LG PuriCare Wearable Air

Purifiers to the LG Sakers headed by coach Sang Hyun Cho.

L ee Gwan Hee, who used to play for the Phoenix Fuel Masters, was happy to be back in the country.

I think both our PBA and Korean Basketball League [KBL] made it possible to level up in our playing field.” Gutang gamely talked to the media about his new stint for KBL. “It has been amazing so far, it’s a blessing.”

The team conducted a quick meetand-greet event at The Arena at Kerry Sports at the Bonifacio Global City.

We can’t wait to see more of these events in the future,” Kim said. “Aside from honing their skills on the court, each team also gets exposed to different cultures.”

NOVAK DJOKOVIC, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer line up on the court ahead of day one of the Laver Cup at the O2 Arena in London Friday. AP

LG Electronics Philippines’s Managing Director Sungjae Kim and Product Director Changsoo Jang are with Justin Gutang and the Changwon LG Sakers during a meet-and-greet event at The Arena at Kerry Sports at the Bonifacio Global City.

NICOLA QUEEN DIAMENTE almost scores a sweep of her events.

THE Bay Area Dragons’ reinforcement Myles Blake Powell in action against NorthPort’s Jerrick Balanza.