BusinessMirror September 27, 2022

PBBM certifies ’23 budget; House sees OK by Sept. 28

By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz @joveemarie

TO facilitate the immediate passage of the national budget for next year,  President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. has certified as urgent the proposed 2023 P5.268trillion General Appropriations Act.

I n a letter to Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez dated Septem ber 16, President Marcos said the certification is for the “immediate enactment” of House Bill 4488.

T he Office of the Speaker only received the letter on Monday, Sep tember 26 or 4 days before the onemonth break of Congress.

T he urgent certification of the measure will pave the way for its swift passage as the bill need not undergo the three-day rule between the second and third reading, with approval on both levels done within the same day.

For his part, Speaker Martin G.

Romualdez said the certification from Malacañang will enable the House to approve the 2023 national budget on second and third reading on the same day “which we set on Wednesday.”

E arlier, House Majority Leader and Rules Committee Chair Man uel Jose “Mannix” Dalipe said the House is committed to finish the sponsorship and floor debates by Wednesday (September 28) and approve the budget on or before September 30.

Pursuant to the provision of Article Vi, Section 26 [2] of the 1987 Constitution, I hereby certify

to the necessity of the immediate enactment of House Bill 4488 or an act appropriating funds for the operation of the government of the Republic of the Philippines from January 1 to December 31, 2023,” said the President.

“ In order to address the need to maintain continuous government operations following the end of current fiscal year, strengthen ef forts to respond more effectively to the Covid-19 pandemic, and support initiatives towards na tional economic recovery,” Marcos added.

T he budget deliberations of the Department of the Interior and Local Government, Department of Transportation, Department of Energy, Energy Regulatory Com mission,  Department of Envi ronment and Natural Resources, Office of the President, Presiden tial Management Staff, National Commission on Indigenous People, Congress of the Philippines, Legis

lative-Executive Development Ad visory Council are set on Tuesday and on Wednesday.

T he members of the Develop ment Budget Coordination Com mittee (DBCC) are also expected to attend the plenary debates of the national budget on Wednesday.

T he proposed P5.268-trillion national budget, the highest ever if approved by Congress, is P244 bil lion more than this year’s P5.023.6 trillion spending program. It rep resents 22.1 of GDP.

F or 2023, the Department of Budget and Management said revenues are expected to grow by 10 percent year-on-year to P3.632.9 trillion, or 15.3 per cent of GDP, while disbursements will increase by 2.6 percent to P5.085.8 trillion. Deficit, on the other hand, is expected to de cline to P1.453.0 trillion, or 6.1 percent of GDP, from this year’s program of P1.650.5 trillion or 7.6 percent of GDP.

Karding...

Minimal casualties

DURING the situation briefing of the National Disaster Risk Re duction and Management Council (NDRRMC) for Marcos, the De partment of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) said 19,368 families, equivalent to 74,542 in dividuals, were evacuated by con cerned LGUs. This helped minimize the casualties.

“ So that explains, Mr. President, where there were almost no fatali ties now. There were preparations on the ground,” Interior Secretary Benjamin D. Abalos Jr. said. In its initial report on Monday morning, the Department of Health (DOH) said there were still no reported casualties from “Karding.”

However, the NDRRMC later said it is verifying the reported deaths of five rescuers in San Miguel, Bulacan due to a flash flood during the week end.  The victims were on their way to respond to a flood-hit barangay when they drowned.

I n all, at least eight people were reported killed in the provinces of Bulacan, Zambales and Quezon, although the NDRRMC said the deaths were still undergoing offi cial validation.

fare and Development (DSWD) said all the typhoon victims, particu larly those in evacuation centers, will receive food packs.

“As early as last night[September 25] Mr. President, we were already distributing food [to typhoon vic tims], including those stranded at the pier in the Batangas port and in Sorsogon,” Social Welfare Secretary Erwin T. Tulfo said.

DSWD said it has P1.17 billion in standby and quick response funds.

Utilities

MEANWHILE , Marcos said he also wants the power and communica tions to be operational in typhoonhit communities to facilitate relief operations.

O nly Ilocos Norte and Quezon suffered downed communication lines due to “Karding,” according to the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT).

But insofar as the major areas where the landfall of the typhoon hit, all communications are intact and we’re able to communicate through both radio as well as even the telcos that are Smart, Globe, PLDT. They’re all working,” Infor mation Secretary Ivan E. Uy said.

from A1

“A number of central banks in this region has already started to raise [their] policy interest rate to quell the inflation pressure which is an additional constraint on economic growth prospects of this region,” Asakawa said.

“And also in direct impacts in cludes the kind of deterioration of market sentiment, which could depress consumers, producers and investors confidence. So, flight to safety and tighter financial condi tions globally, might spur some sort of capital outflow movement from this region,” he explained.

Taxation for food security,climate

THESE challenges are bringing other

development constraints such as food insecurity, aging, and climate change to the fore, among others.

O ne way to mobilize financing for these, Asakawa said, is through domestic resource mobilization (DRM) or taxation. He said this may be needed in order to improve the fiscal situation of countries in the region.

T he Covid-19 pandemic has led to high deficits and debts among

ADB’s developing member countries (DMCs) due to the need to purchase vaccines. While vaccines remain im portant and ADB will still provide funding for this, other efforts to raise funds will be “inevitable” for countries in the region.

Each country should pick up the right timing to do so. Timing cannot be too early, cannot be too late, but I’m quite sure the timing will come. So, in that process, I think DRM do mestic resource mobilization [DRM], is very, very important, which means how to raise domestic tax revenue,” Asakawa said.

A sakawa said DRM is important in making the social welfare system of countries robust and financially viable. Addressing social issues such as aging, for example, will be important for countries in the re gion even if many still have young populations.

Efforts to design a low-cost public pension system are crucial, as well as public medical insurance schemes in order to provide the needs of the el derly. This can be financed through taxation.

Financing climate change and even the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) can also be done through DRM such as the imposition of carbon and environmental taxes.

Fitch...

Continued from A1

For next year, the BSP also raised their inflation average forecast to 4.1 percent. Meanwhile, the fore cast for 2024 eases to 3 percent from 3.2 percent.

Record low of peso

THE local currency has also been hitting record low valuations against the US dollar this month. On Monday, the peso traded at P58.5 to a dollar, slightly weaker than the previous trading day’s P59.49 to a dollar.

A mid the anticipated big rate hike, Fitch Solutions said they be lieve that the Philippines’s strong economic recovery will provide more room for the BSP to normal ize its monetary policy.

“ Following the better-thananticipated growth print of 7.8 percent in the second half of 2022, we have raised our forecast for the Philippine economy to expand by 6.6 percent in 2022, from 6.1 per cent previously. While we expect growth to likely slow in the second half of 2022 due to an array of eco nomic headwinds stemming from a softening global economic outlook, tightening monetary conditions, and elevated energy prices, the 2022 economic performance would still be a substantial improvement over the 5.6 percent recorded in 2021,” Fitch Solutions said.

K arding barreled through Lu zon on Sunday, dumping incessant rains in Metro Manila and South ern and Central Luzon.

Q uezon Governor Helen Tan said Karding battered Polillo Is lands, which included the island municipalities of Patnanungan, Burdeos, Panukulan and Jomalig. Burdeos Mayor Fredie Aman said in a radio interview that 90 percent of the houses in three villages of his municipality were damaged.

M arcos himself noted the prepa rations made by the government mitigated Karding’s impact.

“ It’s clear from what we did these last two days is that very, very im portant is preparation,” he said.

A fter the briefing, Marcos, joined by NDRRMC Chairman De fense Officer in Charge Jose Faus tino Jr., made an aerial inspection of Bulacan, Nueva Ecija and Tarlac.

T he Philippine National Police said its personnel in Polillio as sisted in the preparation against Karding and during the evacuation.

Our personnel are in constant coordination with the LGU and all other government agencies in as sisting the need of transferring the residents to a safer place,” PNP chief General Rodolfo Azurin Jr. said.

T he Philippine Air Force spokes man Ma. Consuelo Castillo said S70i Black Hawk helicopters carried out rapid damage assessment and needs analysis in affected areas.

Evacuees’ aid

MOST or 33,043 of the evacuees were from the National Capital Region (NCR), followed by Central Luzon (25,358) and Calabarzon (13,882).

T he rest were from the regions of Ilocos (821), Cagayan Valley (390), Mimaropa (272), and Bicol (8).

T he Department of Social Wel

from A10

“ We remind everyone that in dividuals, including judges, have protected constitutional rights, and personal attacks and threats against them and the judiciary should never be tolerated,” the PJA said.

T he PJA also went on to call on the government to “declare that in no time under its watch, will democracy be imperiled by an ir responsible and unfounded assault on a trial judge.”

E arlier, a group of trial court judges, and Hukom also condemned the red-tagging of Judge Malagar, saying such may be considered as an attack on the independence of the judiciary.

T he group urged its fellow judges “not to normalize the use of violence against any person as a form of re dress”  by not speaking up against it.

Under the Duterte administra tion, Mandaluyong Judge Monique

He said they will deploy satellitebased very-small-aperture termi nal (VSAT) trucks in areas where communication lines are poor.

For its part, the Department of Energy (DOE) reported power dis ruptions in the provinces of Aurora and Nueva Ecija.

E nergy Secretary Raphael M. Lotilla said “Karding” also partly affected power supply in Tarlac, Zambales, Pampanga and Quezon.  T he NDRRMC will deploy power generators there.

Government readiness MARCOS said the preparedness of concerned government agen cies and LGUs helped mitigate the impact of “Karding.”

E arly forecasting from the Phil ippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Admin istration (Pagasa) helped in the preemptive evacuation of high-risk communities, he added.

A lso helpful was the preposi tioning of relief packs in areas hit by “Karding.”

“ You might think that we over did it. There’s no such thing as overkill when it comes to disaster,” Marcos said.

Such close coordination between the national and local government, Marcos said, will be more crucial in responding to typhoons which un dergo rapid intensification brought about by climate change.

We went from Signal No. 2 to Signal No. 5 in a period of like three to four hours. Will this be the trend due to climate change?,” Marcos said.

“ We have been monitoring ty phoons for a long time, and it was not like that before. Oh well, that’s something that we’ll have to deal with,” he added.

With reports from Lenie Lectura

Quisumbing-Ignacio also became a victim of red-tagging and harass ment after she junked criminal raps against a journalist and a labor or ganizer.

Following her dismissal of the cases, tarpaulins bearing her face with a  message thanking her for ordering the release of Manila To day editor Lady Ann Salem and labor organizer Rodrigo Esparago were posted in some areas in Metro Manila.

T he message on the tarpaulin read: “Maraming Salamat! Judge Monique Quisumbing Ignacio RTC Br. 209, Mandaluyong City sa ma bilis na paglaya ng kasama nating Lady Ann Salem at Rodrigo Espar ago. Ituloy ang laban!! Mabuhay!!!”

L ogos of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) were imprinted at the bottom of the tarpaulin.

The Nation

Initial crop damage in ‘Karding’-hit areas at P141.38M–DA

By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas @jearcalas

TYPHOON

T he DA-Disaster Risk Reduc tion and Management Operations Center (DA-DRRM OpCen) said Karding affected 16,229 hectares of farms with a total production loss of 5,886 metric tons (MT).

T he affected regions were Cor dillera Administrative Region, Ilocos Region, Central Luzon, and Calabarzon, according to the DA-

DRRM OpCen’s report issued on Monday noon.

“Affected commodities include rice, corn and high value crops. These values are subject to valida tion. Additional damage and losses are expected in areas affected by Karding,” it said.

T he DA-DDRRM OpCen’s report showed that 76.11 percent of the

damage and losses recorded in agri culture was in the rice sector.

T he report showed that Karding damaged 5,877 MT of rice across 15,365 hectares of farms. The es timated damage and losses in rice production was at P107.6 million.

T he DA-DRRM OpCen report showed that the affected rice farms were located in Tarlac, Pampanga, Nueva Ecija, Bulacan, Aurora, Que zon, Abra, Apayao and Kalinga.

T he DA-DRRM OpCen said the high value crops sector incurred P24.55 million in losses after 88 hectares of assorted vegetables with an estimated production volume of 760 MT were damaged by Karding.

T he DA-DRRM OpCen added that the damage to the corn sector was initially estimated at P9.22 million. The DA-DRRM OpCen showed that

the estimated corn volume loss was at 10 MT across 776 hectares of farms.

“

The Department of Agriculture, through its Regional Field Offices [RFOs], is conducting assessment of damage and losses brought by Superyphoon [STY] Karding in the agri-fisheries sector,” it said.

The DA continuously coordinates with concerned NGAs, [national gov ernment agency] LGUs [local govern ment unit] and other DRRM-related offices for the impact of Karding, as well as available resources for inter ventions and assistance,” it added.

Interventions

THE DA-DRRM OpCen said the DA has readied various interventions to help farmers and fisherfolk cope with the damage caused by Karding. The DA has a P500 million worth of

quick response fund to rehabilitate the affected areas, according to the DA-DRRM OpCen.

T he DA-DRRM OpCen said the DA will distribute 133,240 bags of rice seeds, 5,729 bags of corn seeds and 4,911 kilograms of assorted veg etable seeds to the affected farmers.

T he DA-DRRM OpCen added that it has available stocks of drugs and biologics for livestock and poultry raisers as well as fingerlings for af fected fisherfolk.

Furthermore, the DA-DRRM Op Cen said affected farmers and fisher folk could avail of an emergency loan through the Survival and Recovery program of the Agricultural Credit Policy Council.

I n a related development, the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) said it has not recorded any

damage on the country’s major dams and irrigation facilities.

R ice Watch Action Network Ex ecutive Director Hazel Tanchuling said Karding came at the worst time since farmers in Central Luzon were about to harvest their palay in two weeks time.

A lot of the palay farms were for harvesting. A lot of the dam aged palay were up for harvesting. We expect the damage and losses to be quite huge,” Tanchuling told the BusinessMirror

“ Farmers are now rushing to sal vage whatever palay can be saved to be dried and sold eventually. If the typhoon hit the farms during the growing stage, farmers would be able to replant. But at this point, it’s already harvest season,” Tan chuling added.

Gatchalian calls for restoration of NBI budget cut in 2023 NEP

By Butch Fernandez @butchfBM

SEN. Sherwin T. Gatchalian

moved to restore the cut in the National Bureau of In vestigation’s (NBI) P2.3-billion 2023 budget originally intended to bankroll the government’s intensified cybercrime preven tion efforts.

T his, as the lawmaker con

veyed concerns that the Nation al Expenditure Program (NEP) trimmed down the 2023 budget of the NBI to P1.8 billion—from 2022’s actual budget of P2.3 bil lion—noting that it includes lowering the agency’s budget for its anti-cybercrime enforcement unit to P21.2 million or a slash of almost 20 percent compared to this year’s P26.4 million.

A ccording to Gatchalian, the

reduction in the NBI’S budget could adversely affect its anticybercrime operations, especially at a time when illegal activities, such as identity theft, credit card fraud, and proliferation of spam and phishing messages, continue to rise. He added that it is crucial to reinstate the cut in the budget of the agency while the Senate awaits the passage of the SIM card registration bill.

“Cybercrimes are flourishing in many territories, including the Philippines. I would like to see that the NBI is fully equipped and has the necessary resources, especially in its fight against cybercrimes,” said Gatchalian.

“ We will do our best to rein state the amount that was cut in the budget proposal,” he stressed in support of the NBI’s anti-cyber crime efforts.

I n addition to reinstating the amount cut from the NBI’s bud get, Gatchalian said the immi nent passage of the mandatory registration of SIM cards is also expected to enable the NBI to effectively implement its anticybercrime campaign.

He emphasized that a substan tial reduction in the number of cybercrimes in the country would help enhance the digital revolu

tion in the country and underpin economic recovery.

“Kailangan nating magbigay ng nararapat na suporta sa NBI upang mapigilan at matunton ang mga kawatan na lalo pang nagiging sopistikado na ngayon.

Kung nais nating paigtingin ng ahensiya ang pagpuksa sa cyber crimes , ibigay natin ang lahat ng nararapat na suporta dito,” Gatchalian stressed.

“Karding” damaged P141.38 million worth of crops across four regions in Luzon, based on the initial assessment of the Department of Agriculture (DA).

Party-list lawmakers push P15K subsidy to typhoon-hit farmers

By Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz  @joveemarie

people,” she added.

Majority of residents of heavily af fected regions in Nueva Ecija, Tarlac, Bulacan, and Quezon are rice farm ers, Castro added.

It is at this time that the Depart ment of Agriculture shows how it genuinely appreciates our farmers by ensuring that they provide aid during these difficult times,” Cas tro ended.

Post harvest

‘Corruption will delay the recovery’

Liability—criminal and civil penalties for corruption offences can cost your company millions and result in tough prison sentences. Some pieces of anticorruption legislation have near global jurisdiction and can hold almost any company liable for corruption.

Opportunity—business partners and suppliers are increasingly required to document their anti-corruption compliance programs or risk losing contracts.

party agents, consultants and joint venture business partners.

A ssistant Minority Leader and Gabriela Party-list Rep. Arlene Bro sas said around 1.7 million hectares of crops were damaged by the ty phoon in Luzon based on the latest estimates of the Department of Ag riculture (DA).

O f this figure, she said nearly 1.5 million were farmlands for rice production.

T he lawmaker said the Presi dent could tap the available bal ance from the contingent fund and portions of the unprogrammed fund dedicated for the cash assis tance for rice farmers.

“ We will also push for the in clusion of the P15,000 production subsidy for 9.7 million farmers and fisherfolk in the proposed 2023 budget. Funding for this can be sought from obscure lump sum items such as the redundant LGU [local government unit] support funds, and NTF-ELCAC [National Task force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict] funds,” she said.

B ased on the combined data of all regions in Luzon, Brosas said the area of standing crops that were potentially affected by Karding to tals to 1,469,037 hectares (75.83

percent of the national standing crops) for rice and 281,322 hect ares (52.37 percent of the national standing crops) for corn.

For her part, House Deputy Mi nority Leader and ACT Teachers Rep. France Castro also urged DA to provide immediate aid and relief to affected farmers of Karding, in demnify them for their destroyed and damaged crops, write off loan and amortization payments and implement long-term rehabilita tion efforts.

“As typhoon Noru [Karding] exits the Philippine area of responsibility, we echo the calls of our farmers for the Department of Agriculture to indemnify the farmers for their de stroyed and damaged crops. Fund ing for this can be sourced from the Rice Competitiveness Enhance ment Fund [RCEF], Quick Response Funds, Calamity Fund, and other sources,” Castro said.

“ Many crops destroyed or dam aged by the typhoon are not covered by crop insurance. Now more than ever, our farmers need immedi ate and urgent relief and aid from our government to also be able to continue to provide food for our

MEANWHILE , AGRI Party-list Rep. Wilbert T. Lee underscored the cru cial role that post-harvest facilities such as storage for grain and seeds play in making farming communi ties more resilient to disasters.

We must stop this vicious cycle where our farmers always register losses because of the lack of storage and other facilities to mitigate the effects of typhoons,” said Lee.

L ast week, the lawmaker ques tioned the DA on why the agency continued to propose low budgets for post-harvest activities despite the recurring problems of farm ers in this phase of the agriculture value chain.

D uring the period of debate in the plenary for the DA’s budget for 2023, it was determined that while P59.96 billion was proposed for pre-harvest activities, only P13 billion was allocated for post-har vest facilities.

According to Lee, the agriculture sector grew by only 0.2 percent for the first two quarters of this year, which is why there is an urgent need to support farmers’ post-harvest phase. It was during this point that he called on the DA to re-calibrate and re-strategize the country’s ag riculture value chain to address the sector’s low production.

By Henry J. Schumacher

ALLOW

Reputation—your company’s reputation is its most valuable asset. Corruption investigations can harm business opportunities.

Corruption types—evaluate risks for the various forms of corruption. Does your company risk encountering big-value kickback payments, or small-value bribery or facilitation payments? Does your company give gifts or donations, and could these be seen as a corrupt influence on their recipients? Keep in mind that some legislation does not distinguish between bribery and facilitation payments.

me to continue to focus on the above statement that appeared in the press recently after a meeting of private sector leaders evaluating the chances for the Philippine economy to recover. It is enlightening to see that a survey undertaken by MAP and PwC Philippines shows that most respondents believe that the Marcos government should give more priority to fighting corruption.

But we have to realize that fighting corruption will require the full cooperation and commitment by the private sector.

I am often asked by companies why they must create and implement anti-corruption policies and procedures. The answer is easy: to meet the legal compliance obligations and mitigate corruption risks. Corruption creates potential criminal, civil and business consequences. Implementing adequate procedures can help manage these risks while creating a competitive business advantage.

Gan Integrity Inc. has developed a Compliance Program Guide and I am taking the liberty to quote on some of their arguments for risk management:

Oil firms roll back fuel pump price for 4th consecutive week

By Lenie Lectura @llectura

OILcompanies will bring down fuel pump prices for the fourth consecu tive week starting Tuesday morning.

T hey announced Monday that gasoline prices will go down by P1.65 per liter, diesel by P1.25 per liter, and kerosene by P1.35 per liter.

T he new price adjustment takes effect at 6 a.m. of September 27.

A s of this writing, the oil companies that announced the price rollback are Seaoil, Clean fuel, Shell, PTT, Phoenix, Caltex, and Unioil. Other oil firms are expected to follow suit.

L ast week, oil companies implemented a per liter decrease in diesel by P4.15, and P4.45 for kerosene. No movement has been effected on the price of gasoline. These resulted to the year-to-date total adjustments to stand at a net increase of P30.65/liter for diesel, and P25.45/liter for kerosene. Gasoline remains

at a net increase of P16.50/liter.

A ccording to the Department of Ener gy, MOPS gasoline has decreased by around $0.95 per barrel as well as MOPS (Means of Platts Sin gapore) diesel and kerosene by nearly $10.75 per barrel and $11.15 per barrel, respectively.

T he country is relying on MOPS as the benchmark for local fuel products. It is the daily average of all trading transaction of die sel and gasoline as assessed by Standard and Poor’s Platts of Singapore.

Blacklisting—companies convicted of corruption offences can be excluded from bidding on contracts. The EU, the World Bank and others blacklist convicted companies. In this context, your company should perform periodic risk assessments of its internal and external risks to identify and weigh internal and external risks and in turn define your priorities:

Geographical risks— identify the nature and levels of corruption including relevant regulations in the countries you do business.

Sector and products—your market sector may entail a higher risk of corruption than others. If you operate in sectors dependent on large-scale government contracts or tightly controlled licences your business may be exposed to a higher risk of agents or subcontractors committing a corruption offense on your company’s behalf.

Representatives—make sure to identify current and anticipated future representatives. Different types of representatives have different risk profiles and include third-

Keep records—document your compliance activities, including your risk assessments. This will demonstrate your commitment to fighting corruption, facilitate potential cooperation with authorities, help establish possible legal defences, and demonstrate compliance to your business partners.

Define priorities—your risks should be evaluated for likelihood, impact and velocity. And tools can be used to help visualize your assessments to distinguish risk levels. Remember, your compliance activities should be proportionate to your risks!

In conclusion, while decisive measures to address corruption should come from government, we have to accept that fighting corruption is a two-way street: it definitely requires the full cooperation by the private sector. However, the lead has to come from the new administration, promising to address corruption!

Feedback is appreciated, and the Integrity Initiative is in standby to support anti-corruption being a strong tool to enable economic recovery we are looking forward to; please contact me at hjschumacher59@gmail.com

Rizal lawmaker calls for passage of bill mandating creation of Sierra Madre conservation body

By Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz  @joveemarie

ALAWMAKER has renewed his call to Congress to immediately pass a bill proposing the creation of a government body tasked with the conservation and management of the 540-kilometer Sierra Madre mountain range.

R izal Fourth District Rep. Fidel Nograles said his bill would create a government body tasked with the conservation and management of the mountain range. He issued his call amid the commemoration of Sierra Madre Day on Monday and a day after the onslaught of typhoon “Karding” last Sunday in Central Luzon.

Amid the threat of Karding, Sierra Madre has once again shown just how crucial it is in protecting us against extreme weather events. The [proposed]

Sierra Madre Development Authority [SMDA] will help us preserve this shield in the face of a worsening climate,”

Nograles said.

T he lawmaker stressed the need to protect the Sierra Madre region, which includes the majority of the country’s 68 Protected Areas (PA), consisting of national parks, watershed forest reserves, natural monuments, marine reserves, and protected landscapes and seascapes.

Nograles is the author of House Bill No. 1972, which seeks to establish the SMDA to protect the mountain range, which includes the majority of the country’s 68 PAs.

T he SMDA would also lead the government’s anti-illegal logging and reforestation campaigns, prevent construction of unwarranted and illegal infrastructure, enhance and develop indigenous resources in the areas that can be utilized for development and educate people on the importance of the mountain range.

T he bill also mandates the proposed body to conduct a comprehensive survey of the Sierra Madre region’s physical and natural resources and draft a comprehensive plan to conserve and utilize these to promote the region’s social and economic development.

It will also plan, program, finance and undertake infrastructure projects such as river, flood, and tidal control work, wastewater and sewerage work, dams and water supply, roads, irrigation, housing, and related work; and assess and approve all plans, programs, and projects proposed by local government offices/agencies within the region related to the development of the mountain range.

Sierra Madre plays a key role in Metro Manila’s major water supply demands, along with the provinces of Cagayan, Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya, Nueva Ecija, Quirino, Aurora, Quezon, Rizal, Laguna, and Bulacan.

S ave Sierra Madre Day is observed annually on September 26 by virtue of Proclamation No. 413 as a reminder of the dangers of the continuous degradation of the mountain range, which is known as the “backbone” of Luzon.

LAWMAKERS are calling on President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. to tap the available balance from the contingent fund and portions of the unprogrammed fund to grant P15,000 production subsidy to farmers affected by Supertyphoon “Karding.”

News

Fresh foreign investments seen to raise textile exports

By Andrea San Juan

POTENTIAL investments in textile mills or garment factories in the Philippines could increase garments and tex tile exports by $500 million per year, according to a Philippine Exporters Confederation Inc. (Phi lexport) official.

Philexport trustee for textile, yarn and fabric sector Robert Young said at least nine multina tional companies have expressed keen interest to put up textile or garment factories in the Philip pines as part of their expansion plans to meet the growing de mand here and abroad, as econ omies bounce back from the Co vid-19 pandemic.

Young, also president of the Foreign Buyers Association of the Philippines (Fobap), said these planned investments are expected to initially generate about 9,000 jobs and increase garments and textile exports by $500 million per year.

“ Normally these investors will have an ocular trip for assessment; then project study will follow. So, it’s in the near term; like before the year-end,” Young said in a news statement issued by Philexport last Friday.

T he Philexport official said four multinational firms from Cambodia, three from India and two from Vietnam indicated in tentions to invest in the Philip pine garments and textile in dustry. The executives of these firms expressed intentions dur ing a business-to-business (B2B) meeting as part of the 54th Asean Economic Ministers Meeting and Related Meetings held in Cambo dia last September 11 to 18.

Young said an ideal fabric mill would have a minimum investment of $1 million, while a garment ap parel factory would cost around $300,000 to $500,000.

Demand on textile is high for the 110 million Filipino popula tion with no local manufacturing source,” he said. “Annual domes tic clothing spending amounts to approximately $2 billion, not to mention the potential in the ex port business.”

Young said the Philippine garments and textile industry exports are estimated at $1.5 billion, with a growth rate of 10 percent annually.

S hould these potential invest ments materialize, he said, key export markets they can cater

to include the United Sates (US) and European Union (EU), as well as the Asean economies.

Young said exports to the EU enjoy the benefits through the Generalised Scheme of Prefer ences Plus (GSP+), as well as the US (Generalized System of Prefer ences) GSP, which he said would be reinstated soon.

S ince December 2014, the Philippines has enjoyed en hanced trade preferences with the EU under the GSP+. Under this “special incentive arrange ment,” around 6,274 Philippine products can be exported to EU countries without tariffs. Ag riculture goods, including pro cessed foods and fishery products and manufactured goods, highly benefit from GSP+.

T he GSP+ will expire by the end of 2023.

M eanwhile, the US GSP deal is a unilateral preferential trade arrangement by the US to 122 developing beneficiary countries and least-developed beneficiary countries, includ ing the Philippines. It aims to promote economic growth, de velopment and trade by provid ing duty-free market access to about 5,000 products into the US. The program expired on December 31, 2020.

D uring the Philippine Eco nomic Briefing news conference last week in New York, Trade Secretary Alfredo E. Pascual ex pressed hope to renew the coun try’s GSP.

“ It’s viable [investment] in the Philippines; the reason be ing [also] is the overcrowding factories in the countries like Cambodia, Vietnam and India,” Young said.

T he Philexport official added the expansion plans by multina tional firms, normally, are spread over the region. They’re “not put ting all eggs in one basket, he said.”

Young said he pitched to these investors that the Philippine gov ernment has approved the Foreign Investments Act, the Public Service Act and the Retail Trade Liberaliza tion Act.

These aim to attract foreign investors by easing the barri ers to inbound foreign invest ments,” said Young. “Moreover, the measures were enacted to push economic recovery by wel coming new capital, ideas, and technology that come along with the foreign investments.”

CA affirms life sentence for 3 Apayao pushers in drug bust

By Joel R. San Juan  @jrsanjuan1573

of the Philippine National Police in Tabuk City Police Station, Dagupan Centro, Kalinga.

L ocal police authorities claimed that they received a tip from a con fidential informant that the three arrived in Tabuk City from Dasmari ñas, Cavite, to sell prohibited drugs.

A buy-bust operation was sub sequently set-up by the Tabuk City police team the next day.

T he police asset called Estrada and informed her that he found an inter ested buyer of shabu worth P70,000.

lants said “Kuya Martin” suddenly disappeared from the scene while the police started frisking them.

A fter the search, the accusedappellants said they were told that illegal narcotics were recovered from them and that they would have to go with the policemen.

O limos and Macabenta were charged and convicted with illegal sale of dangerous drugs only as they were present during the negotiation standing beside Estrada.

In a 17-page decision penned by As sociate Justice Edwin Sorongon, the CA’s Special Ninth Division declared that the Court, as a staunch guardian of people’s rights and welfare, “cradles no compassion to peddlers of misery and death in our streets.”

T hus, the appellate court denied the petition filed by Annabel Alverio Estrada, Marlon Cabilec Olimos and Jackielou Castillo Macabenta seek ing to set aside their conviction for illegal sale of dangerous drugs issued by the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Tabuk City, Kalinga, Branch 25 on February 25, 2021.

A side from the life term, the CA also affirmed the P500,000 fine im posed by the RTC against the accused.

T he CA also upheld the penalty of imprisonment of 12 years to 14 years and a fine of P300,000 imposed against Estrada for illegal possession of dangerous drugs.    “ We can neither underestimate nor overemphasize the havoc

brought about by the deleterious effects of prohibited drugs on the moral fiber of our society, especially that of the youth.

True enough, countless lives have been wasted and many dreams lost, as a result of the upsurge of prohib ited drugs in both the mainstream of high society and its grassroots,” the decision read.

Indeed, the strong arm of the law must never weaken against the on slaughts of this terrible affliction. The penalty provided by the law is severe because those who are caught in the stranglehold of prohibited drugs not only slide into the ranks of the living dead, what is worse, they become a grave menace to the safety of the lawabiding members of society,” it added.

A ssociate Justices Maximo de Leon and Eduardo Ramos concurred with the ruling.

T he case stemmed from a buybust operation conducted by mem bers of the Drug Enforcement Unit

Estrada agreed to hold the trans action at the Grand Zion Hotel and asked the asset to fetch her and her two companies at a restaurant.  Im mediately after handling the pay ment to Estrada, the police asset signaled the police operatives to apprehend the accused-appellants.

T he police recovered more than 10 grams of shabu in Estrada’s pos session during the operation.

In their petition, the accused-ap pellants denied the charges against them and claimed that they were victims of a frame-up.

T hey recounted that they were in Tabuk City to see Apo Whang-od, a renowned traditional Filipino tattoo artist, in Tingalayan, Kalinga.

W hile inside their lodge, Estrada said she received a text from a certain “Kuya Martin” who told them that he would fetch them and bring them to the Grand Zion Hotel for a meal. While waiting for their orders, two police of ficers suddenly approached accusedappellants and told them not to run.

Meanwhile, the accused-appel

T he complaint said they had prior knowledge of the drug trans action as they accompanied her in going to Tabuk City and then to the Grand Zion Hotel to transact with the poseur-buyer.

Clutching at straws, the defense further argues that no buy-bust op eration occurred and that accusedappellants were framed. Lamentably, pitted against the presumption that police officers have performed their duties in a regular and proper man ner, the evidence for the defense simply cannot prevail,” the CA said.

It is well established that frame-up is the usual defense of those accused in drug related cases, and it is viewed by the Court with disfavor since it is an allegation that can be made with ease. Meanwhile, denial cannot be given greater evidentiary value than the unequivocal testimonies of cred ible witnesses who testified on affir mative matters. Positive identification destroys the defense of denial and renders it impotent, especially where such identification is credible and cat egorical, as in this case,” the CA said.

PHL and US conclude training on countering threat networks

THE

US Defense Threat Re duction Agency (DTRA) con cluded a two-year series of exchanges on Friday (September 23) to enhance the capacity of Filipino military, police, and maritime per sonnel to identify, analyze, and coun ter criminal and terrorist networks that threaten peace and security in the Philippines.

Over the course of six analytic workshops and subject matter expert exchanges, the Counter Threat Net work (CTN) operational exchange and capacity building program gath ered intelligence personnel from the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), the Philippine National Police (PNP),

and the National Coast Watch Center (NCWC) to exchange knowledge and best practices on understanding and engaging networks of violent extrem ist organizations, insurgent groups, and criminal entities.

Participants also gained infor mation on threat network analysis, threat visualization, critical capabili ties analysis, and producing action able intelligence reports.

T hese efforts are part of a broader security cooperation agreement es tablished to enhance the integra tion of intelligence and operations against threat networks in a multi domain environment, a news state ment issued on Monday read.

“ Part of the CTN series that was most significant is the collabora tion and operational exchange of the AFP, PNP and NCWC person nel. With this activity, participants were able to establish networks and exchange knowledge and skills in achieving a common goal,” stated NCWC Coast Guard Chief Petty Of ficer Jeffrey Abasolo.

“ We are proud of the participants’ accomplishments in gaining a diverse set of analytic and critical thinking approaches to counter these complex networks,” DTRA Partner Engage ment Division Educational Strate gies Lead Mila Nieves said. “They are well prepared to pass these skills

Marcos wants to ‘reintroduce’ Philippines

In addition to Duterte, Marcos also must draw distinctions between himself and the most iconic figure in the Philippines’s public sphere: his late father, whose name he shares.

Ferdinand Marcos Sr., hero to some and plundering dictator to others, ruled from the 1960s to the 1980s, including a tumultuous period of martial law and repression. He made the family reputation an indelible part of Filipino history.

Addressing the family legacy di rectly is something the son has been loath to do, at least explicitly, though he vehemently rejects use of the term “dictator” to describe his father’s rule. To him, the political baggage of his parents is a remnant of the past.

“I did not indulge in any of that political back-and-forth concerning the Marcos family,” he said. “All I spoke about was, ‘What are we going to do to get into a better place?’ And people responded.”

Engaging, he said, would have simply been a retread—and an un necessary one. “It doesn’t help. It doesn’t change anything,” he said. “So what’s the point?”

T he elder Marcos placed the Phil ippines under martial law in 1972, a year before his term was to expire. He

padlocked Congress and newspaper offices, ordered the arrest of political opponents and activists and ruled by decree. Thousands of Filipinos dis appeared under his rule; some have never been accounted for.

W hen it comes to his predecessor, Marcos treads a nuanced political line as well. Distinguishing himself from Duterte’s in-your-face rule can benefit him at home and inter nationally, but Duterte’s popularity helped catapult him into office, and the former president’s daughter Sara is Marcos’s vice president.

T he extrajudicial killings as sociated with Duterte’s yearslong crackdown provoked calls that his administration should be inves tigated from the outside, and he vowed not to rejoin the Interna tional Criminal Court—a precept that Marcos agrees with. After all, Marcos asked, why should a country with a functioning legal system be judged from elsewhere?

“ We have a judiciary. It’s not per fect,” he said. “I do not understand why we need an outside adjudicator to tell us how to investigate, who to investigate, how to go about it.”

Marcos cast the coronavirus pan demic as many other leaders have—

as a balancing act between keeping people safe and making sure life can push forward.

We took a very extreme position in the Philippines, and we eventu ally had the longest lockdown in any country in the world,” he said.

“That was the choice of the previous government. And now, we are now coming out of it.”

In recent days, he has both re moved a national mandate to wear

masks outdoors and extended a “state of calamity”—something he said he didn’t necessarily want to do, but keeping the declaration in place allows more people to continue get ting help.

“It’s not very encouraging when people look at your country and they see, ‘Well, it’s under a state of calam ity.’ That’s not good for tourists. It’s not good for visitors. It’s not good for business,” Marcos said.

from a1

E ncouraging ties with China, particularly given Beijing’s aggres sive maritime policies, might be a daunting prospect for a nation so closely and historically aligned with the United States. But, Marcos says, it’s possible—and necessary.

“It is a very fine line that we have to tread in the Philippines,” the presi dent said. “We do not subscribe to the old Cold War ‘spheres of influence.’ ...So it’s really guided by national in terest, number one. And second, the maintenance of peace.”

Peace comes in many flavors. Last week, Marcos traveled to the southern part of the nation—a pre dominantly Muslim area of a pre dominantly Catholic country—to express support for a multiyear ef fort to help a onetime rebel group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, give up their guns and govern their autonomous region effectively.

W hile Moro has come into the government fold, smaller militant groups including the violent Abu Sayyaf have continued to fight the government and wage sporadic at tacks, especially in impoverished rural regions with weak law enforce ment. Marcos dismissed Abu Sayyaf as a group that no longer has a cause

on to their counterparts.”

A ccording to DTRA Partner Engagement Division Chief Steve Greene, this latest exchange repre sents another example of the part nership between the US Department of Defense and its counterparts in the Philippines. “After six differ ent workshops and over one hun dred student interactions, we can say that we have shared a mutu ally beneficial learning experience where both countries have gained from the interaction and improved their ability to operate together to prevent and reduce threats. We look forward to continued opportunities for collaboration.”

other than “banditry.”

I don’t believe they are a move ment anymore. They are not fighting for anything,” Marcos said. “They are just criminals.”

Marcos did not specify precisely why the Philippines needed to be reintroduced, though the country’s image took a hit from 2016 to 2022 under the Duterte administration.

The purpose, really, that I have brought to this visit here in New York ...has been to try to reintroduce the Philippines to our American friends, both in the private sector and in the public sector,” he said.

A nd after the pandemic truly ends, he said, the nation needs to find a fruitful path and follow it. “ We have to position ourselves. We have to be clever about forecast ing, being a bit prescient,” he said.

We do not want to return to whatever it is we were doing prepandemic,” Marcos said. “We want to be able to be involved and be a vital part of the new global economy, of the new global political situation.”

Ted Anthony, AP’s director of new storytelling and newsroom innovation, was Asia-Pacific news director from 2014 to 2018, based in Bangkok.

THE

Court of Appeals (CA) has affirmed the life imprisonment imposed by a trial court in Tabuk City, Kalinga, against three drug peddlers and urged the government to continue its relentless campaign against illegal drugs.

PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. speaks during an interview with The Associated Press, Friday, September 23, 2022, in New York. AP PHOTO/JULIA NIKHINSON

Crisis risks loom in Asia as major currencies crack

By Matthew Burgess, Ruth Carson & Tania Chen

chief currency economist at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Others say the veloc ity of declines is more important than i ndividual trigger points.

A rapid drop of the yen and yuan “can quickly become a ‘deadweight’ for other regional currencies,” said Aninda Mitra, head of Asia macro and invest ment strategy at BNY Mellon Invest ment Management in Singapore. “Much f urther yuan depreciation could be more troubling from here for the rest of the region.”

e conomist at NatWest Markets. “The currency weakness is in line with most major currencies and the broad dollar strength.”

The additional risk reserve require ments would make it expensive for trad ers to buy foreign exchange through fo rwards or options, a move that may curb bearish yuan bets. The central bank had lifted the risk reserves for foreign exchange forward trading from zero to 20% in 2015, before lowering it two years later and raising it again in 2018.

Ceremony, controversy await VP Harris during visit to Asia

By Chris Megerian The Associated Press

WASHINGTON—Attending funerals on behalf of the United States is normally a straightforward assign ment for a vice president, but Kamala Harris will confront controversy at nearly every turn as she visits Asia for the memorial honoring former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

American allies are seeking clarity after mixed messages over whether President Joe Biden would send troops to defend Taiwan from a Chinese invasion, a potential conflict that could swiftly engulf the rest of the region. There is the potential for more provocations from North Korea, which test-fired a mis sile shortly before Harris’ departure Sunday from Washington.

The yuan and yen are both tumbling due to the growing disparity between an uber-hawkish Federal Reserve and dovish policy makers in China and Japan. While other Asian nations are digging deep into foreign-exchange re serves to mitigate the dollar’s damage, t he yuan and yen’s slump is making things worse for everyone, threaten ing the region’s mantle as a preferred d estination for risk investors.

“The renminbi and yen are big an chors and their weakness risks desta bilizing currencies to trade and invest ments in Asia,” said Vishnu Varathan, h ead of economics and strategy at Mizuho Bank Ltd. in Singapore, us ing another name for China’s cur rency. “We’re already heading toward g lobal financial crisis levels of stress in some aspects, then the next step would be the Asian financial crisis if losses deepen.”

The gravitational pull of China and Japan are evident in the sheer influ ence of their economies and trade r elationships. China has been the largest trading partner of Southeast Asian nations for 13 straight years, according to a Chinese government statement. Japan, the world’s thirdbiggest economy, is a major exporter of capital and credit.

The tumble in the currencies of the region’s two largest economies may swell into a full-fledged crisis if it spooks overseas funds into pulling money out of Asia as a whole, leading to massive capital flight. Alternatively, the declines may set off a vicious cycle of competitive devaluations and a slide in demand and consumer confidence.

‘Bigger threat’

“C U RRENCY r isk is a bigger threat for Asian nations than interest rates,” said Taimur Baig, chief economist at DBS Group Ltd. in Singapore. “At the end of the day, all of Asia are exporters and we could see a reprise of 1997 or 1998 without the massive collateral damage.”

Investors have already been busy pulling money from the region. Global funds have taken about $44 billion out

from Taiwan’s shares this year, $20 bil lion from India’s equities, and $13.7 b illion from Korean stocks, accord ing to data compiled by Bloomberg. B eijing and Tokyo’s heft is even more pronounced in financial markets. The yuan makes up more than a quarter of the weighting of Asian currency indexes, according to analysis by BNY Mellon Investment Management. The yen is the third-most-traded global currency, so its weakness has had an outsized impact on its Asian coun terparts.

T he rising potential for spillover between the two largest regional cur rencies and their smaller peers can be s een in the fact they are moving in ever closer alignment as the dollar surges. The 120-day correlation between the yen and the MSCI EM Currency Index jumped to more than 0.9 last week, the highest since 2015, after the two were briefly inversely correlated as recently as April.

The threat of a spillover has become even more severe as currency declines accelerate. The yen tumbled passed 145 per dollar for the first time in more than two decades Thursday after US-Japan monetary policy divergence widened further when the Fed raised interest rates for a fifth straight meeting the day before. The yen retraced some of its losses after the authorities inter vened but few see the action as doing a nything other than slowing its inevi table decline.

T he yuan slid past its own key level of 7 per dollar earlier this month, un der pressure from the hawkish Fed and s lowing growth in China caused by Covid-Zero lockdowns and a propertymarket crisis. The onshore currency extended losses on Friday to a level closest to the weak end of its allowed trading band since a shock currency devaluation in 2015.

Trigger point

S PECIFIC l evels such as the yen at 150 may bring on turmoil on the scale of the 1997 Asian financial crisis, according to market veteran Jim O’Neill, previously

Of course, there’s no certainty fur ther losses in the yuan and yen will b ring on a financial upheaval. Nations in the region are in a far stronger posi tion than they were in the run-up to the A sian financial crisis in the late 1990s, having greater foreign-exchange re serves and less exposure to dollar bor rowing. Still, there are pockets of risk.

“ The most vulnerable currencies are those with the deficit current-account positions such as the Korean won, Philippine peso, and to a lesser extent, the Thai baht,” said Trang Thuy Le, a strategist at Macquarie Capital Ltd. in Hong Kong. When the yuan and yen both fall, “the pressure can translate to dollar buying and hedging demand for those exposed to emerging-market currencies,” she said.

China’s yuan support

C HI NA m ade it more expensive to bet against the yuan in the derivatives market, ramping up support for the currency as it slides toward the weak est level since the 2008 financial crisis.

T he People’s Bank of China on Mon day said it will impose a risk reserve re quirement of 20% on banks’ foreign-ex change forward sales to clients. That’s a fter the yuan depreciated on Friday to a level closest to the weak end of its allowed trading band since a shock cur rency devaluation in 2015. Pressure on t he exchange rate has worsened lately due to the dollar’s surge and as the lo cal economy suffers from Covid curbs a nd slowing property sector.

The yuan extended losses Monday and its depreciation past 7.1854 per dol lar would send it to the weakest level s ince early 2008. The PBOC’s attempt to support the currency comes on top stronger-than-expected yuan fixings since August, which limits the curren cy’s moves by 2% on either side. It also r educed in banks’ foreign-currency re serve requirements earlier this month t o boost the yuan.

“By imposing the risk reserve re quirement, the PBOC aims to slow the p ace of depreciation but it will unlike ly turn the tide,” said Peiqian Liu, an

The PBOC set the yuan fixing weaker than 7 per dollar on Monday for the first time since 2020. Liu sees this as a clear signal that the PBOC doesn’t intend to defend any specific yuan levels.

Liu Guoqiang, Deputy Governor of the PBOC said earlier this month that the central bank won’t allow the trend of a “reasonable, equilibrium and basically stable” exchange rate to be changed while warning traders against betting on a certain level for the yuan.

Onshore yuan fell 0.5% to 7.1633 per dollar as of 2:22 p.m. local time. It was trading about 1.9% weaker than the fixing of 7.0298 per dollar.

Currencies across the region are tumbling as the Federal Reserve leads most other central banks in shifting away from an easy monetary policy. Japan intervened to prop up the yen for the first time since 1998, while India’s efforts to protect the rupee are shrink ing currency reserves at a rate that’s p oised to eclipse the drawdown during turmoil a decade ago. The British pound plunged to a record low while Treasury yields surged on Monday, adding to the dollar’s strength.

The PBOC has more policy tools at hand to defend the currency, Jingyang Chen, a foreign exchange strategist at HSBC Holdings Plc said. “We haven’t seen a lot of signs of meaningful in tervention,” Chen said in an interview o n Bloomberg Television. “If we saw a quick fall in trade weighted yuan, then we might see more direct intervention or another cut to the foreign exchange reserve ratio,” she said.

The yuan’s weakness may push the PBOC to delay any further monetary policy easing until later this year. After a surprise cut to a key interest rate in August, the PBOC paused its easing this month as the US Federal Reserved hiked rates. Bloomberg Eco nomics estimates the Fed will tighten t hrough the rest of 2022 and 2023, and the PBOC will maintain an eas ing stance over the period, cutting its o ne-year rate to 2.45% by end-2023.

Bloomberg News

US carrier and South Korea ships launch drills amid North’s threat

By Hyung-Jin Kim The Associated Press

SEOUL, South Korea—A US air craft carrier and its battle group launched drills with South Ko rean warships off the Korean Penin sula’s east coast on Monday in their first such training in five years, a day after North Korea test-fired a shortrange ballistic missile in a possible response to the exercise.

North Korea could conduct more tests in coming days as it views USSouth Korean military exercises as practice for an invasion and often re acts with displays of weapons designed to attack its rivals.

The four days of drills are aimed at demonstrating the allies’ “powerful resolve to respond to North Korean provocations” and improving their ability to perform joint naval opera tions, the South Korean navy said in a statement.

More than 20 US and South Korean navy ships, including the nuclearpowered aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan, a US cruiser and South Korean and US destroyers, were mobilized for the drills, according to the navy state

kilometers (37 miles) before falling into the waters off the North’s east coast, according to South Korean esti mates. Some experts say North Korea might have launched a nuclear-capa ble, highly maneuverable ballistic mis sile and that its 600 kilometer-flight had enough range to strike a south eastern South Korean port where the Reagan was previously docked.

North Korea has performed a re cord number of missile tests this year as it steadfastly rebuffs US and South Korean calls to resume the nuclear diplomacy. North Korea has said it won’t return to talks unless the United States drops its hostile policies in an apparent reference to US-South Ko rean military drills and US-led eco nomic sanctions on it.

Meanwhile, South Korea and Japan are inching toward a rec onciliation that would heal some of the wounds left from World War II, with the US gingerly trying to nudge along the process. And there’s resentment over a new US law that makes electric vehicles built outside of North America ineligible for subsidies.

Even Abe’s state funeral Tuesday itself is a sensitive topic in Japan, where such memorials are uncommon and the late leader’s legacy remains disputed. Abe, a conservative nation alist in a country that embraced pacifism after World War II, was assassinated with a homemade firearm nearly three months ago.

In a reflection of deep divisions, an elderly man reportedly set himself on fire to protest the funeral, and more demonstra tions are expected in the coming days. The controversy has politically weakened Japan’s current prime minister, Fumio Kishida, at a time when his government is planning to further Abe’s goal of strengthening the country’s military.

If Japan moves forward with its proposed military spend ing, it will have the world’s third-largest defense budget in the coming years as tensions rise between China and the United States over Taiwan. The island is a self-governing democracy, but Beijing views it as part of its territory and has pledged to reunify it with the mainland.

Harris, who is leading a delegation of current and former US officials to the funeral, plans to spend three nights in To kyo. She is expected to meet with Kishida, South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. Harris plans to meet with Japanese business lead ers as the US seeks to expand computer chip manufacturing and visit with US sailors serving on an American destroyer at a nearby naval base.

It will be the vice president’s second trip to Asia since tak ing office in January 2021.

At a stop in South Korea, she intends to see President Yoon Suk Yeol and host a roundtable discussion with leading women — a delicate topic in a country where Yoon has faced criticism for his male-dominated administration.

Relations between South Korea and Japan remain strained because of the legacy of Japan’s aggression during World War II. Koreans are seeking compensation over forced labor and sex slavery that occurred when Japan occupied their country.

Kishida and Yoon announced Thursday at the United Na tions that they will accelerate their work to repair their two countries’ relationship.

Biden met separately with each leader, and the US is eager to see the two allies resolve their issues as it seeks a united front against China.

Taiwan remains a flashpoint, and tensions have been ris ing in recent months.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., visited the Taiwan in August, outraging Beijing, which responded by holding military exercises. Although Chinese leaders have said they seek peace ful reunification with Taiwan, the exercises are a reminder of the possibility that Beijing could use force.

China also fired missiles into waters near some of Japan’s southern islands, a reminder that any conflict over Taiwan would be a threat to other countries as well.

The US has 55,000 troops based in Japan, with more than half on the southern island of Okinawa. Earlier this month, Okinawa reelected a governor who calls for a reduction in the US presence there.

Biden said in a recent CBS “60 Minutes” interview that the US would send its own troops to defend Taiwan if China in vaded. But there is no formal defense treaty with Taiwan and administration officials have repeatedly said Biden’s comments don’t reflect a change in policy, muddying the waters over what, exactly, the US would do.

“It is ambiguous,” said Ja-Ian Chong, an associate professor of political science at the National University of Singapore. “But whether it’s strategically ambiguous, I don’t know.”

More controversy awaits Harris in South Korea, where there’s outrage over new US rules that make electric cars built outside of North America ineligible for US government subsi dies. The policy was included in the Inflation Reduction Act, a landmark piece of legislation that includes nearly $375 billion for climate change initiatives.

Yoon, South Korea’s recently elected president, had spent his first few months in office emphasizing his country’s close ties with the US, but now officials are expressing a sense of betrayal. They want the rules to be postponed until 2025, when Korean automaker Hyundai plans to complete a new factory in Georgia.

Yoon’s government is also considering whether it should file a complaint at the World Trade Organization over the law, which it sees as potentially violating trade rules and an agree ment between the two countries.

ment. It said US and South Korean fighter jets and helicopters will also take part in the training.

The North Korean missile fired on Sunday flew about 600 kilometers (370 miles) at the maximum altitude of 60

It would be the first such joint drills involving a US aircraft car rier near the peninsula since 2017, when the US sent three aircraft car riers including the Reagan for naval drills with South Korea in response to North Korean nuclear and missile tests. The allies had since cancelled or downsized some of their regular drills to support now-dormant talks on North Korea’s nuclear program or guard against Covid-19.

Earlier this month, North Korea adopted a new law that authorized the preemptive use of nuclear weapons in some situations, a development that showed its increasingly aggressive nu clear doctrine. Some analysts say North Korea would eventually aim for arms control negotiations with the United States to get sanctions relief and other concessions in return for a partial sur render of its nuclear capability.

South Korean officials are also seeking cooperation with European nations such as Germany and Sweden, which they say share similar concerns about their electric vehicles exported to the US, to put more pressure on Washington over the “dis criminatory” withdrawals of subsidies.

The dispute is an unpleasant sequel to Biden’s trip to Seoul earlier this year, when he celebrated automaker Hyundai’s plans to invest $10 billion in the United States. About half of that money is for the Georgia factory.

Associated Press writers Yuri Kageyama and Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo and Kim Tong-Hyung in Seoul, South Korea, contributed to this report.

AsiAn markets risk a reprise of cri sis-level stress as two of the region’s most important currencies crumble under the onslaught of relentless dollar strength.

Russia’s call-up sharply splits EU; Ukraine says it shows weakness

By Jon Gambrell & Adam Schreck The Associated Press

KYIV, Ukraine— Russia’s rush to mobilize hundreds of thousands of recruits to staunch stinging losses in Ukraine is a tacit acknowledgement that its “army is not able to fight,” Ukraine’s president said Sunday, as splits sharpened in Europe over whether to welcome or turn away Russians fleeing the call-up.

Speaking to U.S. broadcaster CBS, Ukrainian President Volody myr Zelenskyy also said he’s brac ing for more Russian strikes on Ukraine’s electrical infrastruc ture, as the Kremlin seeks to ramp up the pressure on Ukraine and its Western backers as the weather gets colder. Zelenskyy warned that this winter “will be very difficult.”

“They will shoot missiles, and they will target our electric grid. This is a challenge, but we are not afraid of that.” he said on “Face the Nation.”

He portrayed the Russian mo bilization—its first such call-up since World War II—as a signal of weakness, not strength, saying: “They admitted that their army is not able to fight with Ukraine anymore.”

Zelenskyy also said Ukraine has received NASAMS air defense sys tems from the US NASAMS uses surface-to-air missiles to track and shoot down incoming missiles or aircraft. Zelenskyy did not say how many Ukraine received.

Although the European Union is now largely off limits to most Rus sians, with direct flights stopped and its land borders increasingly closed to them, an exodus of Rus sian men fleeing military service is creating divisions among Euro pean officials over whether they should be granted safe haven.

The partial mobilization is also triggering protests in Russia, with new anti-war demonstrations on Sunday.

In Dagestan, one of Russia’s poorer regions in the North Cau casus, police fired warning shots to try to disperse more than 100 people who blocked a highway while protesting Russian Presi dent Vladimir Putin’s military call-up, Russian media reported.

Dozens of women chanted “No to war!” in the Dagestani capital of Makhachkala on Sunday. Videos of the protests showed women in head scarves chasing police away from the rally and standing in front of police cars carrying detained pro testers, demanding their release.

Women also protested in the Siberian city of Yakutsk, chant ing “No to genocide!” and march ing in a circle around police, who later dragged some away or forced them into police vans, according to videos shared by Russian media.

At least 2,000 people have been arrested in recent days for similar demonstrations around Russia. Many of those taken away have immediately received a call-up summons.

Unconfirmed Russian media re ports that the Kremlin might soon close Russian borders to men of fighting age are fueling panic and prompting more to flee.

Zelenskyy in his nightly address on Sunday described Russia’s mo bilization as “criminal” and reiter ated his call for Russians to stand up to it.

“Fight so that they don’t send your children to die, all of those who they can take in this crimi nal Russian mobilization,” Zel enskyy said, switching to Russian for a brief portion of his speech. “Because if you come to take the lives of our children, I will tell you as a father—we will not let you go alive.”

German officials have voiced a desire to help Russian men desert ing military service and have called for a European-wide solution. Ger many has held out the possibility of granting asylum to deserters and those refusing the draft.

In France, senators are arguing that Europe has a duty to help and warned that not granting refuge to fleeing Russians could play into Putin’s hands, feeding his narra tive of Western hostility to Russia.

“Closing our frontiers would fit neither with our values nor our interests,” a group of more than 40 French senators said.

Yet other EU countries are ad amant that asylum shouldn’t be offered to Russian men fleeing now—when the war has moved into its eighth month. They in clude Lithuania, which borders Kaliningrad, a Russian Baltic Sea exclave. Its foreign minister, Ga brielius Landsbergis, tweeted: “Russians should stay and fight. Against Putin.”

His counterpart in Latvia, also an EU member bordering Russia, said the exodus poses “consider able security risks” for the 27-na tion bloc and that those fleeing now can’t be considered conscien tious objectors since they did not act when Russia invaded Ukraine in February.

Many “were fine with killing Ukrainians, they did not protest then,” the Latvian foreign minis ter, Edgars Rinkevics, tweeted. He added that they still have “plenty of countries outside EU to go.”

Finland also said it intends to “significantly restrict” entry to Russians entering the EU through its border with Russia. A Finnish opposition leader, Petteri Orpo, said fleeing Russian military re servists were an “obvious” security risk and “we must put our national security first.”

Russia is pressing on with its call-up of hundreds of thousands of men, seeking to reverse recent losses. Without control of the skies over Ukraine, Russia is also mak ing increasing use of suicide drones from Iran, with more strikes re ported Sunday in the Black Sea port city of Odesa.

For Ukrainian and Russian military planners, the clock is tick

ing, with the approach of winter expected to make fighting much more complicated. Already, rainy weather is bringing muddy con ditions that are starting to limit the mobility of tanks and other heavy weapons, the Washingtonbased Institute for the Study of War said Sunday.

But the think-tank said Ukrai nian forces are still gaining ground in their counteroffensive, launched in late August, that has rolled back the Russian occupation across large areas of the northeast and which also prompted Putin’s new drive for reinforcements.

The Kremlin said its initial aim is to add about 300,000 troops to its invasion force, which is strug gling with equipment losses, mounting casualties and weak ening morale. The mobilization marks a sharp shift from Putin’s previous efforts to portray the war as a limited military opera tion that wouldn’t interfere with most Russians’ lives.

The mobilization is running hand-in-hand with Kremlin-or chestrated votes in four occupied regions of Ukraine that could pave the way for their imminent an nexation by Russia.

Ukraine and its Western allies say the referendums in Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions in the south and the eastern Luhansk and Donetsk regions have no legal validity, not least because many tens of thousands of their people have fled. They also call them a “sham.” Some footage has shown armed Russian troops going doorto-door to pressure Ukrainians into voting.

The voting ends Tuesday and there’s little doubt it will be de clared a success by the Russian occupiers. The main questions then will be how soon Putin’s re gime will annex the four regions and how that will complicate the war. AP journalists Jari Tanner in Hel sinki and John Leicester in Le Pecq, France, contributed.

Kuroda backs intervention while stressing need for easing

By Toru Fujioka, Sumio Ito & Yoshiaki Nohara

BANK o f Japan Governor Har uhiko Kuroda said he supports l ast week’s government inter vention in the currency markets, and s aid it creates an appropriate policy mix together with the central bank’s ongoing monetary easing.

“The intervention was conducted by the finance minister’s decision as a necessary means to deal with excessive moves and I think it was appropriate,” Kuroda said in his first public remarks since surprise actions were taken Thursday to prop up the yen. “The intervention and monetary easing are complementary.”

The government’s action last week came almost directly after the BOJ’s ultra-low rates stance fueled further

yen weakening, triggering doubt over the authorities’ unified stance. Fol lowing the three-day weekend, Ku roda and Finance Minister Shunichi Su zuki emphasized their stances weren’t working against each other.

Kuroda told reporters that inter vention is aimed at countering rap id, one-sided slides in the yen, and d oesn’t contradict the BOJ’s easing efforts, which need to stay in place to support the economy.

Kuroda’s comments in the after noon had limited immediate impact o n the yen. The currency traded around 144 against the dollar in the evening in Tokyo, still stronger than the level it was before last week’s in tervention.

E arlier in the day, finance chief Suzuki said the government re mains ready to act against specula

tive moves in the foreign exchange m arket.

“We’re strongly concerned about speculative moves, and there’s no change in our stance that we’ll re spond as needed,” Suzuki said in a p ress conference. “We’ll continue to monitor markets with urgency, and a deep sense of concern.”

The finance minister also added the government and the BOJ share a common sense of understanding, trying to show a united front.

“Governor Kuroda has commented on the recent rapid weakening of the yen, showing strong concerns,” said Suzuki. “We have shared understand ing over this, and will continue to co operate in responding to this issue.”

Following Suzuki’s remarks ear lier in the day Kuroda repeated his v iews about the yen’s rapid, one-sided

slide, saying it’s harmful for the econ omy. At the same time he stressed t he need for ongoing monetary eas ing because he sees the current costp ush inflation as unsustainable, and expects price growth to drop below the BOJ’s 2% target next year.

He also said letting the 10-year gov ernment bond yields go above its cur rent range set by the BOJ can reduce t he effectiveness of monetary easing.

“Japan’s first intervention to sup port the yen since 1998 is likely to s top the currency’s slide -- but only temporarily. The finance ministry appeared to have entered the mar ket without coordinated buying from ot her nations, meaning the impact will be limited. The MOF cannot sustainably move the market on its own,” said Bloomberg economist Yuki Masujima. Bloomberg News

UK pound falls to new low against US dollar

LONDON—The British pound fell to all-time low against the US dollar early Monday after Treasury chief Kwasi Kwart eng pledged further tax cuts, fu eling concerns about the govern ment’s economic policy.

The pound fell as low as $1.0373, before rallying to $1.0672 in early London trading. It was its lowest level since the decimalization of the currency in 1971.

The British currency has lost more than 5% against the dollar since Friday, when Kwarteng an nounced the biggest tax cuts in 50 years at the same time that the government is planning to spending billions of pounds to help consumers and businesses strug gling with high energy bills. That sparked investor concern about spiraling government debt.

Kwarteng and Prime Minister Liz Truss, who took office three weeks ago, are betting that lower taxes and reduced bureaucracy will spur economic growth and gener ate enough additional tax revenue to cover government spending. Economists suggest it is unlikely the gamble will pay off.

Opposition Labour Party econ omy spokeswoman Rachel Reeves said Kwarteng had “fanned the flames” of instability by talking up more tax cuts, and said the gov ernment’s policies were “reckless.”

When grilled about his eco nomic policy on Sunday, Kwarteng said he believed the government

was acting responsibly.

“There’s more to come,” he said in an interview with the BBC. “We’ve only been here 19 days. I want to see, over the next year, people retain more of their income because I believe that it is the Brit ish people that are going to drive this economy.”

At the same time it is cutting taxes, the government has an nounced plans to cap electricity and natural gas prices for homes and businesses to help cushion price rises triggered by the war in Ukraine.

This program will cost 60 bil lion pounds, and the government will borrow to finance it, Kwarteng said Friday.

He said Sunday this was the right policy, because the govern ment needed to help consumers squeezed by the unprecedented pressures caused by Russia’s inva sion of Ukraine and the Covid-19 pandemic.

Britain can afford this because its debt as a percentage of gross do mestic product is the second lowest among the Group of Seven large in dustrial economies, Kwarteng said. The government will in the coming months announce plans for reduc ing the nation’s debt, he said.

“Obviously, I will be setting out plans for the medium-term fiscal plan, as we’re calling it, that will show that we’re committed to net debt-to-GDP to be falling over time,” Kwarteng said. AP

Pope Francis urges Italians to have more children, welcome migrants

MATERA, Italy—Pope Francis traveled to southern Italy on Sun day to close out an Italian church c ongress that coincided with Italy’s national election, and delivered a message that hit on key domestic campaign issues including immi gration.

N either Francis nor his hosts re ferred to the vote during the opena ir Mass, though Italy’s bishops conference had earlier urged Ital ians to cast ballots in the eagerly w atched election that could bring Italy its first far-right government since World War II.

At the end of the outdoor Mass in Matera, Francis spoke off the cuff asking Italians to have more children. “I’d like to ask Italy: More births, more children,” Francis said.

Italy has one of the lowest birth rates in the world and Francis has frequently lamented its “demo graphic winter.”

Far-right leader Giorgia Meloni, who campaigned on a “God, family and homeland” mantra, has also called for Italy to reverse its demo graphic trends by proposing bigger f inancial incentives for couples to have children.

Francis also weighed in on a pe rennial issue in Italy, recalling that S unday coincided with the Catholic Church’s World Day of Migrants and Refugees. Francis called for a future in which “God’s plan” is implemented, with migrants and victims of human trafficking living

in peace and dignity, and for a more “inclusive and fraternal future.”

He added: “Immigrants are to be welcomed, accompanied, promoted and integrated.”

Meloni and her center-right alli ance have vowed to resume a strict c rackdown on migrants coming to Italy via Libyan-based smugglers.

The center-left Democratic Party has among other things called for an easier path to citizenship for children of newcomers.

The Mass was celebrated by a protege of Francis, Cardinal Mat teo Zuppi, who is head of the Ital ian bishops’ conference and has a long affiliation with the Sant’Egidio Community, a Rome-based charity known for its outreach to migrants and the poor.

The 85-year-old Francis ap peared tired during the visit, which w as scheduled before Italy’s snap elections were called and came a day after he made a separate day trip to the Umbrian hilltop town of Assisi. Francis has been using a cane and wheelchair this year, due to strained knee ligaments that make walking and standing difficult.

His trip to Matera, the southern Basilicata city known for its cave dwellings, underwent a slight, lastminute change due to storms that belted much of the Italian peninsula overnight: Originally scheduled to fly by helicopter Sunday morning from the Vatican’s helipad, Francis instead flew to Matera by jet from Rome’s Ciampino airport. AP

Po Pe Francis celebrates mass on the occasion of the 27th national eucharistic congress, in Matera, southern italy on sunday, september 25, 2022.

AP Photo/Andrew Medichini

russian policemen detain a demonstrator protesting against mobilization in st. Petersburg, russia on saturday, september 24, 2022. AP Photo

Can PHL escape global recession?

THeWorld Bank has raised the specter of a global recession as central banks around the world have been raising interest rates this year with a degree of synchronicity not seen over the past five decades—a trend that is likely to continue well into next year.

Unless supply disruptions and labor-market pressures subside, those interest-rate increases could leave the global core inflation rate (excluding energy) at about 5 percent in 2023—nearly double the five-year average before the pandemic, according to a World Bank study.

To cut global inflation to a rate consistent with their targets, central banks may need to raise interest rates by an additional 2 percentage points, according to the World Bank report’s model. If this were accompanied by financial market stress, global gross domestic product growth would slow to 0.5 percent in 2023—a 0.4 percent contraction in per capita terms that would meet the technical definition of a global recession.

“Global growth is slowing sharply, with further slowing likely as more countries fall into recession. My deep concern is that these trends will persist, with long-lasting consequences that are devastating for people in emerging market and developing economies,” said World Bank Group President David Malpass. “To achieve low inflation rates, currency stability and faster growth, policymakers could shift their focus from reducing consumption to boosting production. Policies should seek to generate additional investment and improve productivity and capital allocation, which are critical for growth and poverty reduction.”

The study highlights the unusually fraught circumstances under which central banks are currently fighting inflation. Several historical indicators of global recessions are already flashing warnings. The global economy is now in its steepest slowdown following a post-recession recovery since 1970. Global consumer confidence has already suffered a much sharper decline than in the run-up to previous global recessions. The world’s largest economies—the US, China, and the European Union—have been slowing sharply. Under the circumstances, even a moderate hit to the global economy over the next year could tip it into recession, according to the report.

The study used insights from previous global recessions to analyze the recent evolution of economic activity. A slowdown—such the one now underway —typically calls for countercyclical policy to support activity. The World Bank said the threat of inflation and limited fiscal space are spurring policymakers in many countries to withdraw policy support even as the global economy slows sharply.

The experience of the 1970s, the policy responses to the 1975 global recession, the subsequent period of stagflation, and the global recession of 1982 illustrate the risk of allowing inflation to remain elevated for long while growth is weak, the report said.

“Recent tightening of monetary and fiscal policies will likely prove helpful in reducing inflation,” said Ayhan Kose, the World Bank’s Acting Vice President for Equitable Growth, Finance, and Institutions. “But because they are highly synchronous across countries, they could be mutually compounding in tightening financial conditions and steepening the global growth slowdown. Policymakers in emerging market and developing economies need to stand ready to manage the potential spillovers from globally synchronous tightening of policies.”

Like most economies weighed down by high oil prices and spiraling inflation, the Philippines is facing economic challenges exacerbated by its heavy reliance on imported oil and food products. The peso’s slump to a record low further aggravates the situation.

In an interview with Bloomberg in New York, President Marcos said the country can’t afford to be complacent in relying on traditional suppliers. He disclosed that the government is talking to Russia about buying fuel and other key commodities.

“The political side of it has been a little tricky, but nonetheless, the national interest comes first,” he said when asked about US-led sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine. “We need to find those new sources of cheaper fuel. But that applies not only to fuel, it applies to things like feed, fertilizer, other inputs that are just critical for us.”

We commend the President for this brave if complicated decision that may cause problems for his administration. But he has to bite the bullet, so to speak. The government needs to temper rising prices, which can drive millions of Filipinos into poverty.

Businesslike visit

Manny B. Villar

THE EnTrEprEnEur

tories. Hopefully, we can reduce our reliance on imports by encouraging international companies to set up shop in the country.

PresIdenT

Ferdinand Marcos Jr. without exaggeration has brought home the bacon after his weeklong working visit to the United states. His travel was an expeditious one and judging from the news surrounding his Us journey, Mr. Marcos performed his job like a true statesman.

I congratulate Mr. Marcos Jr. for his exceptional speech at the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly and for promoting the Philippines as a key destination for American investors in the AsiaPacific region.

Barely three months into his job, Mr. Marcos impressed many for his astute remarks and grasp of international politics. Speaking at the UN, the President underscored the Philippines’s strong experience in building peace, the importance of adhering to rules-based international order to settle disputes, and an independent foreign policy that makes our nation a “friend to all and an enemy of none.”

The Philippines has always taken the side of peace in resolving international and internal conflicts to avoid the loss of lives and improve the livelihood of our people. This is what makes the Philippines probably the

friendliest nation to its neighbors, international tourists and foreign investors.

The President, accompanied by his economic advisers, motivated US companies to invest in renewable energy, mineral processing and infrastructure in the Philippines. His message underlines the priority of the government in attracting foreign investments as an engine of economic growth and employment generation.

We have a strong domestic economy but we need more foreign direct investments to open more jobs and opportunities for our labor force, facilitate technology transfer and help cover our balance of payments deficit caused by rising imports.

Our rapid growth this year led to stronger demand for imported raw materials, fuel, food, vehicles and production inputs needed by our fac-

Fake money and war oil

John Mangun

OuTSIDE THE BOX

FaCeBook is a good place to find people from your long-ago past, commemorate significant personal events, and share the passage of time. However, for up-to-the-moment news I turn to Twitter.

Social-Media platforms have no inherent purpose—other than as a method of communication—and only gain significance from how and why the users want a particular platform to function. Messenger and Viber are platforms for specialized communication to a much narrower group than Facebook friends and Twitter followers. Instagram and Snapchat were enhanced instant messaging services that became picture and video sharing services.

The evolution of all of these into a global sharing service is astounding considering the human legacy

of “mass” communication was once drawing pictures on a cave wall.

The sharing of ideas differs from platform to platform. On Facebook it is not uncommon to have someone write five hundred words not unlike this column. That is then responded to by a “Like” emoji or a rude “Ha-ha” emoji. The most normal attempt at any sort of “conversation” is a reply of 200 words and back and forth to deadly boredom.

Twitter facilitates an actual conversation between two or among many, which follows my rules for good communication. Keep it con-

The President stressed the importance of bilateral ties with the US, saying he could not envision the Philippines in the future without having the United States as a partner. Such charm offensive is music to the ears of prospective American investors.

His visit to the New York Stock Exchange to woo investors defined his businesslike agenda. Stock market traders and American businessmen heard the Philippine economic story firsthand from the Philippine leader.

The Philippine economy has returned to its path toward the uppermiddle-income country status, which is certainly achievable within the next few years. We were on course to becoming an upper-middle economy at the start of this decade, until the pandemic disrupted that momentum. But I am optimistic we could regain the track towards joining this group of countries with at least $4,000 in gross national income per capita in a couple of years, with the help of foreign investments.

The Philippines offers many advantages to foreign investors, including high-quality labor, a large consumer market and a wide range of fiscal and non-fiscal incentives, as President Marcos told his American audience. He listed the government’s

“The fact that global oil is at eight-month low...” is part of the “more valuable than fake money” proposition because for decades oil was, for all intent, a currency bought and sold for profit and as a store of wealth and trading even if no one wanted it for a utility purpose.

cise, precise, and brief. If you cannot convey at least the beginnings of an idea in 140 characters, start over and try again.

I learn much and get many ideas from the people I talk to on Twit.

A few days ago, two comments came my way. One follower said, “Russia has reminded everyone that grain and oil are more valuable than fake money.” The other thought was, “The fact that global oil is at eightmonth low at a time when Putin is significantly escalating the war seems counter-intuitive. But I guess this just means the Fed’s aggressive hike and China Zero-Covid policy have greater effect.”

These two people in a combined

near-term priorities, such as protecting the purchasing power of families by managing inflation, reducing the scarring effects of the pandemic and ensuring sound macroeconomic fundamentals.

Mr. Marcos’s investment pitch received a timely backing from the Asian Development Bank last week. The multilateral institution acknowledged the strong growth prospects of the Philippines despite higher inflation due to global and local price pressures.

The ADB in its latest report predicted that the gross domestic product of the Philippines would grow 6.5 percent in 2022, faster than the bank’s April forecast of 6.0 percent. It also expects the economy to expand 6.3 percent in 2023. The ADB’s glowing report on the Philippine economy has made President Marcos’s task of convincing foreign investors to place their bet on the Philippines easier.

I sincerely believe that President Marcos as a no-nonsense leader will bring more foreign investments into the Philippines. He has shown his adeptness on political and economic issues when he met members of the US Chamber of Commerce and the US-Asean Business Council.

More importantly, he raised the profile of the Philippines in the US— the world’s biggest economy.

For comments, send e-mail to mbv_secretariat@vistaland.com.ph or visit www.mannyvillar.com.ph

total of 56 words said much more than most pundits—and experts— can in several thousand. Concise, precise, brief, and thought provoking.

As much as some people who are apparently nostalgic for the horse and buggy days would like, we will never go back to being like pirates carrying a leather pouch filled with silver “Pieces of eight” or Spanish gold Doubloons. Currency has been backed by government debt worldwide for decades. Some would, and maybe rightly so, call this “fake money” because it has no inherent —utility—value. Thousand paper bills cannot be eaten, will not keep the rain off your head, or cover your private parts nor can you automatically exchange them for some that has utility.

It only has “value” if and when you can find someone else that thinks paper notes have inherent value to them.

But war always gets people back to making the choice between “diamonds or oranges” as the apocryphal story goes from the sinking of

Pay as you file

Atty. irwin C. nidea Jr.

TAx LAw For buSinESS

TAx compliance is an important part of a company’s day to day operations. There are many filing dates to monitor. Valueadded tax, documentary stamp tax, excise tax, withholding tax, quarterly and annual income tax for example, have different filing deadlines. A company does not merely file a tax return but is also supposed to determine and compute the correct amount of tax to be paid, have it approved by management, and coordinate with the bank for the release of money to the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR). What if a company timely files a tax return but fails to pay on time? What is the penalty? What is the remedy of a taxpayer when this happens?

Untimely filing and payment of tax is subject to interest and surcharge. A taxpayer filing a tax return may pay the tax due either manually or electronically following the “payas-you-file” principle. The CTA ruled that the filing of the return ahead of the payment of the tax due is still in accordance with the “pay-asyou-file” principle, and no penalties shall be imposed for taxpayers who filed earlier and paid later but on or before the due date of the applicable tax. According to the CTA, it follows, therefore, that if the applicable tax is paid after the due date, the corresponding penalties shall be imposed. Some argue that under the Tax Code, a surcharge may be imposed only on failure to file a return and pay the tax. In other words, a taxpayer should have failed to both file a return and pay the tax before surcharge may be imposed. According to the CTA, it is a distorted maneuver, and it is an illogical interpretation of the “pay-as-you-file” principle, resulting in absurdity. The CTA also noted that said principle is very simple: taxpayers’ timely filing of return must also be accompanied by a timely payment of the tax due; otherwise, they shall be meted civil penalties.

Should a Letter of Authority (LOA), Preliminary Assessment Notice (PAN) and Final Assessment Notice (FAN) be issued first before these civil penalties may be imposed?

The CTA Division in one case affirmed that these notices must be issued before civil penalties may be imposed due to late payment. But the CTA En Banc in a recent case, reversed this ruling.

It is well settled that the assessment for all internal revenue taxes, resulting from the audit investigation/examination undertaken on taxpayers’ books of accounts and other accounting records, would be void if it did not rise from a valid LOA that empowers and authorizes the revenue officers to proceed with the audit or investigation. According to the CTA En Banc, in late payment of tax, there was neither a showing that deficiency taxes per se were being assessed and collected from the taxpayer, nor was there any proof that a tax audit/investigation on taxpayer’s books was made to be able to arrive at the amount of late payment penalties. Hence, no violation of due process occurred considering that only civil penalties for late payment

were assessed and collected from the taxpayer, which was determined from the fact of taxpayer’s late payment as shown in the BIR’s electronic system, and not through taxpayer’s books of accounts.

On the other hand, according to the CTA En Banc, a PAN is issued to the taxpayer informing him of the findings of the revenue officer if, after review and evaluation of taxpayer’s records, there is sufficient basis to assess the taxpayer for any deficiency taxes. Since taxpayer’s books were not reviewed nor evaluated for any tax deficiency, a PAN is likewise not required. If late payment arises from a self-assessed tax, which is assessed or computed by the taxpayer, the Supreme Court explained that “no further assessment by the government is required to create the tax liability.” Hence, a self-assessed tax falls due without need of any prior assessment by the BIR, and non-payment of a self-assessed tax on the date prescribed by law results in penalties even in the absence of any assessment by the BIR.

The BIR may then activate its enforcement powers. The penalties can now be collected by the BIR by garnishing the company’s bank accounts or worse by levying the company’s real properties. Again LOA, PAN nor FAN need not be issued according to the CTA En Banc because it is a selfassessed tax.

The taxpayer’s remedy is to request for abatement of tax. But this is not a remedy available to all. The taxpayer must prove that the request for abatement is meritorious and not merely because of whim or neglect.

A day of late payment can cost a company millions of pesos in penalty. Worse, these penalties become automatically due and demandable. Taxpayers must be aware of this harsh reality, and they must undertake practical measures to avoid being in this predicament.

The author is a senior partner of Du-Baladad and Associates Law Offices, a member-firm of WTS Global.

The article is for general information only and is not intended, nor should be construed as a substitute for tax, legal or financial advice on any specific matter. Applicability of this article to any actual or particular tax or legal issue should be supported therefore by a professional study or advice. If you have any comments or questions concerning the article, you may e-mail the author at irwin.c.nideajr@ bdblaw.com.ph or call 8403-2001 local 330.

the pictures of your dead national heroes. But have you got any copper or mangos to trade?”

A8

the Titanic. Zoltan Pozsar, Global Head of Short-Term Interest Rate

Strategy at Credit Suisse, wrote:

“This crisis is not like anything we have seen since President Nixon took the US dollar off gold in 1971—the end of the era of metalbased money when the dollar took over the role as the global reserve asset from gold.”

Gold-backed currency was a barter system like “gold for wheat.” “Fake money” was “The guy with the most secure debt (the USA) has the best money.” Going forward we will be back to barter with “the commodity-currency revolution.” “Thanks for buying our shoes and shirts but I really don’t want the paper with

“The fact that global oil is at eightmonth low…” is part of the “more valuable than fake money” proposition because for decades oil was, for all intent, a currency bought and sold for profit and as a store of wealth and trading even if no one wanted it for a utility purpose.

The reason why oil going down is not counter-intuitive to the Ukraine war is because the war drama that pushed the price higher among speculators has been overtaken by “What are we going to use it for as economies potentially crash?”

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

September–A great month to be born TELLTALES

Manny F. Dooc

Legends are born in the month of september. A number of Filipinos who made names in our history, both heroes and anti-heroes, saw the first light of day in september. Four of our presidents are september-born beginning with sergio Osmeña sr. who became our country’s president following President Manuel L. Quezon’s death on August 1, 1944 while in exile in the United states during the 2nd World War. He was born on september 9, 1878 in Cebu.

President Diosdado P. Macapagal who served as our country’s president from 1961 to 1965 was born on September 28, 1910 in Lubao, Pampanga. He was succeeded by President Ferdinand E. Marcos, who unseated Macapagal in 1965. The elder Marcos whose birthday falls on September 11, 1917 is the father of our current president, President Bongbong Marcos, who was born on September 13, 1957. The elder Marcos was born in Sarrat, Ilocos Norte but his son, President Bongbong, was delivered at the Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Sta. Mesa, Manila.

It would seem that persons born in September are born leaders. September is a star-studded month. Many other prominent leaders in our government share September as their birth month. Among them are Former Senate Presidents Arturo Tolentino and Gil J. Puyat who were leading lights in the Senate for many years.

The late Speaker Benigno Aquino, Sr., Senator Ninoy Aquino’s father, was born on September 3, 1894. Former Manila Mayor Mel Lopez had his birthday on September 1, 1935.

Senator Grace Poe and Bong Revilla celebrate their birthdays in September. Sept. 2 is the birthday of former Chief Justice Fred Ruiz Castro. Two other SC justices, Francis Jardeleza and Alfredo Caguioa, have their birthdays in September. Ditto with

two of our former Miss Universe— Margie Moran, born on September 15, and Pia Wurtzbach, born on Sept. 24. Other celebrities with September birthdays include poet and nationalist Amado Hernandez; the foremost Filipino writer in English, NVM Gonzalez; artist Arnel Pineda; actor Jericho Rosales; actor-singer Inigo Pascual; singer/doctor Nonoy Zuñiga; former Congressman Rudy Fariñas; businessman George Yang of McDonald’s; journalist and TV host Kara David; and fashion icon Monique Lhuillier. Even our one and only Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Ressa had her natal day on September 2, 1963. Many notable Filipinos, both dead and alive, observe their birthdays in September and they are too many to mention here. September is truly a star-studded month.

It would seem that Septemberborn people are born leaders. People born from September  1 to 22 are Virgos and those from September 23 to 30 are Libras. Virgos are practical people and have a methodical approach to life. They are generally cerebral—deep and quick in their thinking. Libras, on the other hand, are generally sociable and fairminded people. It’s been reported by the National Bureau of Economic Research in the US that those born in September “tend to be more successful in life.” Schoolchildren born

in September with ages 6 to 15 scored higher on average than their classmates. A similar study in London confirms this. Further studies show that there is a direct correlation that “successful young students would be more likely to have higher overall test scores, more likely to be accepted to better schools, and less likely to be incarcerated for crimes.”    Bright students tend to receive more attention from their teachers and they are exposed to better programs and opportunities in the school. Teachers give them advanced lessons while underachievers get make-up classes to catch up. Another advantage working for the Virgos and the Libras is that in most countries schools open in September. September is the cut-off age for school admission. So they are the oldest in their grade when classes begin. They are the most ready to learn mentally, socially and physically. This is an edge that they enjoy over their younger peers. Rightly or wrongly, there seems to be some “scientific” basis that Virgos and Libras are intelligent Zodiac signs.

No doubt, the month of September has contributed great men and women who have brought honors to, and helped build, our nation. The month is crowded with celebrities in various fields of endeavor— politics, business, culture and the arts—whose collective achievements eclipsed those born in other months of the year. But this may be due to the fact that more babies are born in September. There is a study that couples find it more convenient to conceive during the Christmas season. In most countries it’s cold during December even in non-temperate countries without a winter season. Another factor is the long holiday layoff where couples have more time to be together and get more intimate. In the Philippines, a study made by the Philippine Statistics Authority in 2018 showed that September had the most number of births, with 156,820, followed by the months of October and November at 155,713 and 148,371, respec-

tively. Thus, there may be a basis to say that December is the peak time for conception.   A man’s fate is not determined by the date of his birth. What he or she will become, his appearance, his traits and his behavior are largely the product of his genes or DNA. We learned in school that genes are the “building blocks” of life. However, the environment also influences our life. It’s the combination of “nature” and “nurture” that shapes and makes the individual. We are all familiar with success stories of countless persons who have achieved fame and glory despite their humble beginnings, and individuals who have risen from abject poverty to become wealthy and powerful. Ramon F. Magsaysay was an auto mechanic who became a wellloved president of our country. Diosdado P. Macapagal was a peasant son who was elected to the highest elective post in our government. Manny Villar, our richest tycoon, came from an impoverished family who lived in a slum area in Tondo. He’s one of the only two Filipinos, together with former President Manuel Roxas, to serve as Speaker of the House and as Senate President. Whether one is born in September or any other month of the year and under any Zodiac sign, anyone has an equal opportunity to attain personal greatness under our democratic system.

It’s not only through education and business that one can attain success and fame. Excellence in sports can also lead to imminence and glory. Manny Pacquiao, Hydilyn Diaz and, more recently, EJ Obiena, Carlos Yulo and Alex Eala have all shown us that sports can also be a passport to greatness. The circumstances of birth are not the sole determinants of privileged life ahead. To a large extent, the person himself determines his own destiny. If he studies, trains and works hard, achieves his full potential in his field and offers his life in the service of his country and fellowmen, he can become a legend in his own lifetime.

Politics impede long-advocated growth of UN Security Council

By Edith M. Lederer | The Associated Press

nATIOns—Virtually everyone involved agrees: Almost eight decades after it came into existence, the powerful U n security Council needs to expand, to evolve, to include more voices. But as with so many things, the central question—and the biggest disagreement—is exactly how.

UnITed

Five countries that were major powers at World War II’s end have dominated the United Nations and its most important body for its 77year history. The council remains in its current configuration despite a four-decade clamor for other countries to join that VIP group to reflect the dramatically changed 21st-century world.

The council’s failure to respond to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has, at this month’s gathering of world leaders, shone a spotlight on another misstep: Consumed by national interests and regional rivalries, the 193 UN member nations have blocked expansion of the body charged with ensuring international peace and security.

The postwar era when the United Nations was created reflected a desire to, in the UN Charter’s opening words, “save succeeding generations from the scourge of war.” An updated council with more voices could recenter that premise, advocates say. But disagreements on the size, composition and powers of a revamped council have left generations of UN diplomats wondering whether it will ever change.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres pinpointed the problem in 2020: “The nations that came out on top more than seven decades ago have refused to contemplate the reforms needed to change power relations in international institutions.”

“Inequality starts at the top —in global institutions,” Guterres said then. “Addressing inequality must start by reforming them.” But it

hasn’t happened yet.

How it is now T HE 15-member Security Council has 10 non-permanent members from all regions of the world elected for two-year terms without veto power and five permanent members with veto power: the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France.

Two of those members are represented by different governments than they were when the United Nations was established in 1945. The Republic of China, now governed from Taiwan, is excluded from virtually all UN bodies, which are occupied by the mainland-governed People’s Republic. The Soviet Union dissolved in the early 1990s, leaving Russia as its surviving power.

It is Russia’s use, and threatened use, of its veto that has blocked the council from taking action on the now seven-month-old war in Ukraine. It is a failure noted by many leaders in their General Assembly speeches, alongside their perennial complaints that the council is outdated and unrepresentative.

Of particular annoyance to governments in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean: They have no permanent members. Can that change? The American president thinks it must.

“The time has come for this institution to become more inclusive so that it can better respond to the needs of today’s world,” Joe Biden told the General Assembly last week.

He called for increasing the number of both permanent and non-per-

manent members, including “permanent seats for those nations we’ve long supported and permanent seats for countries in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean.” The United States also supports permanent seats for Germany, Japan and India.

Peace, said French President Emmanuel Macron, requires an international consensus. “That’s why I hope that we can finally commit to reforming the Security Council so that it’s more representative, welcomes new permanent members, and remains capable of fully playing its role, by limiting the use of veto rights in instances of mass crimes,” he said.

And Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who addressed the assembly Saturday, called for a “more democratic” council by broadening representation from Africa, Asia and Latin America and adding India and Brazil. At a news conference afterward, he said adding “hostile” Western countries like Japan and Germany would bring nothing new to the council: “They are all following the orders of the United States.”

How reform might work

AT TEMPTS to reform the council began in 1979. In 2005, world leaders called for the council to be “more broadly representative, efficient and transparent.” That year, the General Assembly, which must approve any council reforms, shelved three rival resolutions to expand its membership, a reflection of deep divisions that continue today.

One resolution by Germany, Japan, Brazil and India would give them permanent seats without veto rights on a 25-member council. A second by a group of middle-ranking countries, including Italy and Pakistan, wants 25-member council with 10 new nonpermanent seats. The now 55-member African Union wanted to add 11 new spots: six permanent seats, including two for Africa with veto

power, and five non-permanent ones.

Senegalese President Macky Sall, the African Union chairman, reiterated its demand for two permanent seats, saying it’s time to stop “confining Africa to the margins of decisionmaking circles.” Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said the Ukraine war proves that “a reform of the UN is essential if we are to find world peace.”

Barbados’ prime minister, Mia Mottley, called for removing veto power from the five permanent members: “A Security Council that retains the power of veto in the hands of a few will still lead us to war.” And

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his country “will continue to underline that ‘the world is bigger than five’.”

Virtually all General Assembly presidents in recent years have held negotiations on Security Council reform. Maldives Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid, who stepped down as president this month, lamented that he wasn’t able to conclude a deal “to reflect the new reality of the world.” His successor, Csaba Kőrösi, vows to press on.

“It is high time that the council represents the world’s population more equally, and that it reflects 21st century realities,” Kőrösi said.

This year, the General Assembly adopted one reform: Any permanent council member casting a veto must now appear before the assembly’s 193 nations during a debate to explain why.

David Scheffer, a former US ambassador-at-large for war crimes issues, said Biden’s proposal “reaches beyond anything the US government has stated before on this issue” and “accepts the reality of the world we live in today, and not the world of 1945 at the end of a transformative war.” Edith M. Lederer is chief UN correspondent for The Associated Press and has been covering international affairs for more than half a century.

HOUSE READY TO PUSH TRADE BILLS FOR PBBM

CITING “a highly successful and very productive” work ing visit to the United States by government officials, Speaker Martin G. Romualdez said the House of Representatives will now do its part to fulfill—through pas sage of pro-investment laws—the objectives of all bilateral trade and investment agreements.

R omualdez said the House of Representatives will help make these investment pledges come to fruition.

“ If the President needs any piece of legislation to materialize the objectives of these bilateral trade and investment agreements, we will answer the call,” Romual dez said.

T he lawmaker noted there are pending pieces of legislation aimed at fast-tracking the influx of foreign investments into the country that are also in line with the Marcos administration’s leg islative agenda.

R omualdez listed these as the eCommerce Bill, the Na tional Government Rightsizing Program, the eGovernance Act, amendments to the Electric Power Industry Reform Act and amend ments to the Build-OperateTransfer Law, among others.

“ What is important is we all do our share in nation-building. We all hope to capitalize on the early gains of the Marcos administra tion in order to steer our economy back to its pre-pandemic growth,” he added.

P resident Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. has held formal and informal bilateral meetings with leaders of Philippine key allies, such as the US and Japan, in recent weeks.

M arcos left for New York City last September 18 and attended the United Nations General As sembly where he met with UN Sec retary-General Antonio Guterres to affirm the partnership between the Philippines and the UN.

T he Chief Executive also ad dressed global investors, traders and other guests at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) where he was asked to ring the closing bell on the trading floor.

M arcos urged them to come to the Philippines and tap its potential as one of Asia’s fastestgrowing economies.

A lso, the President came from very successful state visits in In donesia and Singapore where, the Palace said, he was able to bring in over $14 billion in investment pledges. Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz

US-based firms with PHL presence eyed as growth partners

P RESIDENT Ferdinand “Bong bong” R. Marcos, Jr. has in vited US-based global firms that have existing operations in the Philippines to be the government’s partners in the country’s economic growth, according to the Depart ment of Trade and Industry (DTI).

T he Trade department said that on September 22 and 23, the presi dent, along with Trade Secretary Alfredo E. Pascual and the rest of the Philippine economic managers consulted with top executives in the sectors of IT and Business Pro cess Management (IT-BPM), digital infrastructure, manufacturing, lo gistics, and wearables.

T he DTI noted that the Presi dent held roundtable and one-onone meetings with US firms with a “major presence” in the Philippines and/or with future expansion plans in the country.

M arcos zeroed in on the Phil ippine priority industry clusters, namely, the Industrial, Manufactur ing, and Transport (IMT) cluster; and Technology, Media, and Telecommu nication cluster (TMT) cluster.

H ighlighting the “strong” ties between the Philippines and the United States, the President empha sized his administration’s strategy to partner with the private sector for the country’s industrialization and economic transformation.

W ith this, the agency said, Mar cos expressed gratitude towards USbased global firms that have made the Philippines their home for a long time now.

“Among these companies are Tex as Instruments, MOOG, FedEx, Con centrix (which acquired Convergys), JP Morgan Global Service Center, and IBM,” said DTI in a statement, noting that the president invited these firms to be government’s partners in the country’s economic growth.

T he President encouraged the US companies to look at the Philippines “equally as a valuable contributor to their global business growth and as a partner in rebuilding the econo mies of both the Philippines and the US,” the Trade department said in its statement on Sunday.

Further, the DTI said, “Accord ing to the President, building on the present political momentum, we must act early and quickly to make investments and new jobs happen in the Philippines.”

A s for the identified areas of

partnership, the DTI said this in cludes improving the business cli mate, building necessary physical infrastructure, and upskilling the workforce.

I n return, the Trade department noted that the US firms cited the Philippines’s “young, trainable hu man resources as a primary value proposition for the country in at tracting foreign investment.”

For his part, the agency said, the Trade chief pointed out that the workforce constitutes the country’s “suprastructure.”

A ccording to the DTI, Marcos also pitched the recent strategic policy reforms and economic liberaliza tion laws that “will make it easier for foreign investors to do business in the country.

IPEF platform

MEANWHILE , the agency stressed that the US-led Indo-Pacific Eco nomic Framework (IPEF), in which the Philippines is participating, was cited as another platform by which US and Philippine business relations may be strengthened.

A t the recent IPEF ministerial meeting, the Philippines raised the absence of a market access compo nent in the US-led economic frame work.

A n earlier statement by the DTI read, “Given that legislations and policy measures restrict market ac cess, the US can consider IPEF as an avenue to provide preferential treat ment or equitable access to trade for partner countries,”

However, the Trade chief lauded US Commerce Secretary Gina Rai mondo’s IPEF Upskilling Initia tive in which 14 of the largest US digital companies such as Apple, American Tower, and Amazon will provide digital skills training to 7 million women and girls in lessdeveloped IPEF parties including the Philippines.

P ascual earlier hailed the US Trade officials’ “effective and in novative” design of the Los Angeles IPEF Ministerial Meeting, noting that “the program allowed parties to have a meaningful exchange of ideas toward delivering an IPEF that will not only be a framework for defining regional trade and investment relations, but equally important, will be an effective platform for undertaking innova tive modes of regional industrial collaboration.” A ndrea E. San Juan

Despite 10% budget cut, DTI eyes hiking exports to $110B

By Andrea E. San Juan

was followed by total agro-based products with a share of $496.43 million; and mineral products, $374.20 million.

By major trading partner, the United States comprised the high est export value of $1.01 billion during the month; followed by ex ports to China, $925.15 million.

M eanwhile, the most recent exports data published by PSA show year-to-date annual total export earnings—from Janu ary to July 2022—amounted to $44.74 billion.

A ccording to the General Ap propriations bill, the lawmaker said, the proposed budget of the Trade department is P22.196 bil lion for: the Office of the Secre tary, its five attached agencies, its three attached government owned and controlled corpora tions (GOCC) and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA).

D uring the budget plenary de bate at the House of Representa tives on Monday, Pangasinan 4th District Rep. Christopher V.P. De Venecia, speaking as sponsor of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), said “In terms of exports, the DTI hopes to increase the current amount to about $110 billion.”

T his, despite the agency’s bud get being slashed by P2.4 billion or 10 percent lower than last year’s budget.

D e Venecia noted that DTI also intends to “maintain a high stake holder engagement rating and for mulate more industry roadmaps and policies through job generation and global competitiveness geared towards economic growth and pov erty reduction.”

Meanwhile, World Bank data shows that Philippine exports of

goods and services amounted to $101.45 billion in 2021.

A ccording to the Philippine Sta tistics Authority (PSA), the coun try’s annual total export earnings from January to December 2021 amounted to $74.64 billion. This, PSA said, represents a 14.5- percent increase over 2020’s annual total export value.

By commodity group, electronic products topped export sales in De cember 2021 with total earnings of $3.67 billion, or 58.5 percent of the total exports in the period.

T he PSA said this was followed by other manufactured goods with an export value of $435.60 million; and coconut oil, $166.04 million.

By major type of goods, exports of manufactured goods had the big gest share in total exports in De cember 2021, or $5.27 billion. This

T rade Secretary Alfredo E. Pascual said in a statement on September 18, “We recognize the continuing challenges in the domestic and global trading envi ronment and we hope to address the binding constraints to Phil ippine export competitiveness as we draft and implement the Philippine Export Development Plan (PEDP) for 2023 to 2028.

The PEDP being drafted features a more robust analysis of our priority export products and its corresponding markets, wider stakeholder engagement, and a proactive legislative agenda.”

Speaking as the sponsor of DTI at the budget plenary debate, De Venecia bared the breakdown of DTI’s proposed budget for 2023, which includes the agency’s Exports and Investments Development pro gram, among others.

D e Venecia said DTI’s budget shall fund five major regular pro grams: Exports and Investments Development program with a funding of P773.35 million; the Industry development Program, P454.94 million; the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME) development program, P726.79 million; the Consumer Protection Program, P443.57 million and the Consumer Education and Advocacy Program, P82.78 million.

Under this proposal, the agency also has four locally-funded proj ects: the Go Lokal worth P9.14 million; Negosyo centers, P486.76 million; the One Town, One Product (OTOP) Next Generation, P86.92 million and the Shared Service Facilities, P70.4 million which De Venecia said, “has been a tremen dous help to our MSMEs.”

However, De Venecia said, “Note that the P70 million is not for capi tal outlay so there’s no new shared service facility for 2023 ironically and sadly.”

IBP, PJA slam harassment of Judge Malagar

THE Integrated Bar of the Philippines, a national or ganization of lawyers, and the Philippine Judges Associa tion (PJA) on Monday condemned the red-tagging and harassment of Manila Regional Trial Court Judge Marlo Magdoza-Malagar by former  spokesperson for the gov ernment’s anti-communist task force  Lorraine Badoy. The judge earlier refused to judicially de clare the Communist Party of the Philippines and its armed wing, the New People’s Army (NPA), as terrorist groups.  W hile the IBP did not mention Badoy’s name, its statement  was issued after Judge Malagar was lambasted by Badoy in her recent Facebook post for her  September

21, 2022 decision denying  the petition for proscription filed by the Department of Justice (DOJ) seeking to declare the CPP-NPA as terrorist groups.

B adoy even called the judge a “friend and true ally” of the com munist groups and branded her decision as a “judgement straight from the bowels of communist hell.”

B adoy 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.”

H owever, in her succeeding Facebook posts, Badoy disowned the post and branded it as “fake

news” following a backlash from various sectors.

“

On September 21, 2022, the Honorable Judge Marlo Apalisok Magdoza-Malagar of the Regional Trial Court of Manila, Branch 9 dismissed a petition for proscrip tion filed by the government to declare the Communist Party of the Philippines and the New People’s Army as terrorist groups. Immediately thereafter, the Hon orable Judge herself became the subject of online attacks and even threats in social media for her dis missal of the said petition, with one reportedly threatening her with bodily harm, while the rest accusing her of being an ally or friend of the CPP-NPA,” the IBP statement read.

“ The Integrated Bar of the Phil ippines condemns the abuse, ha rassment and outright red-tagging of another member of the Judiciary. These capricious and dishonest statements go beyond reasonable discussion. They foment vitriol and hate against our judges,” it added.

T he IBP said attacking mem bers of the judiciary and threat ening them with bodily harm is not normal.

The judiciary’s job is to decide disputes and no judge should ever feel threatened just by performing that duty,” the IBP stressed.

I n a separate statement, the PJA said any baseless attack on a judge in whatever manner “is an assault on democracy.

THE

Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is targeting to raise earnings from the exports of goods and services to $110 billion next year despite a 10-percent cut in its budget.

AFTER THE STORM Personnel of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority and Department of Environment and Natural Resources clear the Manila Bay Dolomite Beach of waste washed ashore by Typhoon Karding on Monday, September 26, 2022. ROY DOMINGO

DMCI eyes sales of ₧12.4B from new project in Makati

By VG Cabuag @villygc

square meter.

Fortis Residences will include a residential tower with amenities tailored for the needs of buyers’ shifting lifestyle priorities. A mixed-use building featuring office and commercial spaces, the o ne Fortis Plaza, will also be built adjacent to the property.

also have a dedicated customer care support team on top of its mobile application with built-in intercom feature, among other features.

Telcos start restoring network services in typhoon-hit areas

Alfredo Austria, the company’s president, said the project, which will have a 37-storey residential condominium, will be the second under its premium brand, DMCI homes e x clusive.

“We are very confident this project will give better value for money for buyers,” Austria said during the media launch of the project.

The upscale mixed-use development will rise along Chino Roces Avenue and will be part of the local

government unit-initiated special mixed-use zone, called the Makati Southwest gateway. It will have 480 units initially launched for sale to the public.

Focused within the zone are infrastructure functionality, walkability and provision for greeneries.

The project will have a price of P250,000 per square meter, which Austria said was still cheaper than its counterparts in the area that offer as much as P300,000 per

The company said upgraded finishes will be noticeable, and each unit will come with essential appliances, including split-type air-conditioning units, cabinets, rangehood, water heater and digital lockets.

Dwellers can get productive right at home while enjoying the comforts of a luxury vacation every day with the property’s built-in commercial-grade internet service and hotel-like concierge.

o n top of concierge services, DMCI homes e x clusive clients will

The property will have DMCI’s technology that enables natural light and fresh air to surround the units, and a full water-recycling facility, capable of collecting and treating wastewater, making it fit for general use, landscape irrigation and maintenance of amenities.

o t her amenities include electric vehicle charging, use of L eD lights, RFID security system, controlled elevator access, digital locksets for all units and 24/7 security service, among others.

Fortis Residences is DMCI homes’ second project under premium brand DMCI homes’ e x clusive after o a k h a rbor Residences, a residential condominium in Asiaworld City in Parañaque.

‘PHL highly vulnerable to cyber crimes’

The Philippines and the rest of Southeast Asia are “highly vulnerable” to major threat actors, such as China, Russia and North Korea, as far as cyber crimes are concerned, according to a cyber security technology firm Crowdstrike.

In a recent online press briefing, Crowdstrike Vice President Adam Meyers said threats such as malware and non-malware are prevalent in the region. he also warned that China is “a very aggressive player” in the region.

“You should (keep) a close watch on China as it promotes the Belt Road Initiative and regional hegemony,” Meyers said. “Make no mistake about

it, you are in the crosshairs.”

Amol Kulkarni, head of CrowdStrike’s product and engineering said cyber security must always be top of mind for organizations as the world enters the Fourth Industrial Revolution. “Cyber security is critical irrespective of where we are.”

“It is also important in the Fourth Industrial Revolution, different economic climate and reduced budgets, we still have a robust demand for cyber security.”

In its recent study, major network security provider Kaspersky said cyber criminals are busy uncovering entry points in the Southeast Asian region.

Chris Connell, Managing Direc-

tor for Asia Pacific at Kaspersky, said cyber criminals are on the hunt for unpatched software, oneday vulnerabilities, and exploitable remote access and management services. he added malicious actors have a lot of options to infect lucrative industries.

“In short, a cyber attack is like a ticking bomb. While worrisome, reports such as our Digital Footprint Intelligence can be used as a tool to guide the cyber security capacity building of concerned organizations. If you know your weak areas, it’s easier to prioritize.”

To protect businesses from such threats, Kaspersky experts said management should regulate ev-

ery major change to the network perimeter hosts, including services or applications launching, exposing new APIs, software installation and updating, network devices configuration, among others.

“All changes should be reviewed from the perspective of security impact,” Connel said.

h e said companies must focus their defense strategy on detecting lateral movements and data exfiltration to the internet. h e s aid they should pay special attention to outgoing traffic to detect cybercriminal connections. h e a lso urged to backup data regularly and ensure quicker access in an emergency. Rizal Raoul Reyes

By Lorenz S. Marasigan @lorenzmarasigan

The two dominant telcos have started restoring their network services in areas hit by Typhoon Karding, g l obe Telecom Inc. and the PLDT g r oup said in separate statements.

g l obe said it “has started urgent work to restore services in typhoon-battered areas in Luzon as field personnel begin to take account of the toll of Super Typhoon Karding, which crossed the main island group Sunday, bringing heavy rains and lashing winds.”

globe has restored all communication lines in the National Capital Region as well as in “most of Quezon’s Polillo group of Islands.”

Meanwhile, 80 percent of the municipalities in Rizal have also been reconnected.

in areas affected by commercial power failure. As of 7 this morning [Monday], PLDT and Smart have already begun restoration of network services in badly impacted areas,” PLDT said.

Both g l obe and Smart prepositioned field personnel in areas on Karding’s path, allowing immediate dispatch of technical teams for service restoration.

Aside from this, both telcos also provided free call, free charging, and free WiFi connectivity in provinces severely hit by Karding.

“PLDT and Smart Foundation (PSF) together with Tulong Kapatid, the consortium of companies and foundations led by MVP, will deliver relief assistance to communities heavily affected by #KardingP h starting tomorrow(Tuesday),” PLDT said.

Ag R o u P of homeowners

MC D o N ALD S h o ldings

Co. Japan will raise menu prices for the second time this year, joining a growing number of businesses passing on the impact of the weakening yen and the highest inflation in decades to consumers.

The fast-food chain will raise the price of about 60 percent of its products by 10 to 30 yen ($0.07$0.21) from September 30, it said in a statement Monday. The company, which operates stores for Chicago-based McDonald’s Corp., said it has been affected by “a recent surge in raw material prices, rising labor, logistics and energy costs, as well as rapid exchange rate fluctuations.”

While inflation in Asia’s second-largest economy has remained relatively subdued compared to other developed economies worldwide, it still reached a 31-year high of 2.8 percent in August amid surging energy costs from Russia’s war in u k raine and supply chain snarls.

Businesses in Japan have also been hit by the rapidly plunging value of the yen, amid a resurgent dollar and ultra-dovish stance of the central bank, especially import-reliant companies like McDonald’s, which uses potatoes from North America for its fries.

at Vista Real Classica in Quezon City asked 8990 h o using Development Corp., a wholly-owned subsidiary of publicly-listed 8990 h o ldings Inc., to withdraw its men from the subdivision and stop the “harassment” of legitimate homeowners.

In a statement, 19 homeowners of Vista Real Classica asked 8990 to wait for the final Supreme Court decision on the land dispute, instead of enforcing a lower court’s writ of execution that could only lead to the forced eviction of their families who have been living in the subdivision for more than a decade.

“We asked 8990 h o ldings Inc., a publicly-listed company led by Atty. Anthony Vincent Sotto to stop using the writ of execution and its security personnel from trying to evict the legitimate homeowners of Vista Real Classica who are victims caught in the middle of the land dispute between two big developers—Sta. Lucia Land Inc. and 8990 h o ldings,” the homeowners said.

The homeowners said both parties should observe the status quo, while the case of Sta. Lucia Realty versus 8990 is pending in the Supreme Court. Sta. Lucia Realty, a unit of Sta. Lucia Land Inc., is the developer that sold lots in Vista Real Classica to the affected 19 homeowners.

Sta. Lucia was the developer

of Vista Real Classica while g a rsons Co. Inc. is the owner of the property.

The two parties earlier entered into a development agreement for Sta. Lucia to develop g a rson’s property into a residential subdivision.

After Sta. Lucia completed the development of the property into a residential subdivision, the camp of e v angeline L. Puzon, who then assigned the said property to 8990 h o using Development, filed a complaint with the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Quezon City claiming ownership over the said property. The RTC ruled in favor of Puzon declaring Puzon as owner and rightful possessor of the property.

Judge Catherine Manonod of Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 104 issued a writ of execution on June 7 in favor of 8990.

Lawyers of 8990 sent a letter to the concerned residents of the reconstituted Lot 116 to inform them that 8990 security guards

were deployed on strategic points in the area to enforce the writ of execution.

The homeowners said about 30 non-uniformed individuals arrived in the area, immediately built temporary shelters and advised maintenance personnel to vacate the property in August.

“We have been victims of fraud, misrepresentation and unsound business practices employed by two publicly-listed realty developers--Sta. Lucia Land Inc. and 8990 h o ldings, Inc. that are trying to take away our homes,” the group said in their letter to President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on September 19.

“As for the current residents within our property, we would be maintaining the status quo to ensure that they continue to enjoy free access to their residence and to the designated common areas within our property. We shall maintain this arrangement, pending further discussions with the affected residents,” 8990 said in its letter to the homeowners.

“You can rest assured that our people will continue to coordinate with your good office to comply with reasonable policies and guidelines, subject to the enforcement of our rights under the Supreme Court decision and without prejudice to available legal remedies to protect our interest over our property,” 8990 added. VG Cabuag

“The network services of PLDT and Smart also remain stable for the connectivity needs of communities and institutions, except

For its part, g l obe said it is offering free health consultations via KonsultaMD “until the end of the year to provide support to those that have been hit by the typhoon.”

DMCI Homes has set its sights on P12.4 billion in sales from its second premium brand called Fortis Residences in Makati.

Residents wade through floodwaters brought about by ty phoon Karding (international code name no

in s an Miguel, Bulacan province, Philippines, on s

ptember

BloomBerg News

Banking&Finance

Non-fiscal perks for defense, RE pushed

By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz @joveemarie

THE chairman of the House Committee on Ways and Means on Monday said the approval of P405 billion in big-ticket investments by the Fiscal Incentives Review Board (FIRB) are crucial for the country’s development, but asked the body to also study non-fiscal incentives packages for defense and renewables.

Albay Rep. Joey Sarte Salceda, in a statement, lauded the FIRB for approving close to P405 billion in bigticket investments since it became the principal committee for approval of large investor applications for tax

perks following the enactment of the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises (CREATE) Law.

“It’s excellent news, especially since the sectoral breakdown is very good. You have investments in

EJ Obiena visits Allianz PNB Life corporate office

cement manufacturing, mass housing, shipbuilding, rail, and communications infra—all crucial for rapid and industrial development,” Salceda said.

“I expect even more applications for big-ticket projects as we have already liberalized key sectors through the amendments to the Public Service Act, the Foreign Investments Act, and the Retail Trade Liberalization Act,” he added.

On Monday, the Department of Finance said the FIRB has approved and granted incentives to 14 big-ticket projects with a combined investment capital of P405 billion.

It said these projects are expected to generate about 4,000 direct jobs in cement manufacturing, construction of mass housing units, shipbuilding, rail operations, and communications infrastructure industries.

With most projects located outside the National Capital Region,

the projects are also seen to boost rural development in the country, the agency said.

However, Salceda said the FIRB can do more to attract foreign investors in crucial areas by invoking Section 297 (M) and Section 300 of the Tax Code, as amended by CREATE.

These sections, Salceda said, give the FIRB the power to recommend types of non-fiscal support to create high-skilled jobs to grow a local pool of enterprises (MSMEs).

“These [jobs] can supply to domestic and global value chains, to increase the sophistication of products and services that are produced and/or sourced domestically, to expand domestic supply and reduce dependence on imports, and to attract significant foreign capital or investment,” he added.

“Sometimes, the fiscal support might not be enough, especially if you’re talking about very ‘big whales’ that are crucial for our industrial de-

velopment,” he added.

By “whales,” Salceda is referring to $1 billion or more in investment capital which may be given special incentives by the President under Section 301 of the Tax Code.

“The underused provision of CREATE is really the power to craft nontax incentives,” he added.

For example, Salceda said Texas Instruments imports around US$3 billion every year.

“That’s just one company, accounting for 4 percent of our total exports. We attracted more investments from TI through Executive Order No. 666, issued by President [Gloria Macapagal] Arroyo, which granted them access to the Industrial Competitiveness Fund, a program where government subsidized power costs in return for more investments,” he added.

According to Salceda, the country already has an additional power cost deduction of 50 percent under the

CREATE law.

“So, power might not be the best non-fiscal incentive. But infrastructure is certainly a driver of investment. I think the FIRB can recommend an executive order that directs government agencies to converge programs on infrastructure and ease of doing business around areas where whales are set to invest,” he said.

“That provision basically allows the creation of non-tax incentive packages. I think PBBM [President Bongbong Marcos], with his historic mandate, can and should fish for big whales such as big-battery manufacturing for renewable energy, that would allow solar and wind to be baseload power, or a big defense manufacturing company to locate here,” he said.

“I certainly think that renewable energy and defense are key sectors that we need to take the extra mile in. It’s the FIRB that can get them in here, through CREATE,” he added.

NPC can get loans for missionary electrification

By Lenie Lectura @llectura

THE National Power Corporation (NPC) has been cleared to borrow funds or contract loans to fulfill its missionary electrification mandate, the Department of Energy (DOE) said Monday.

DOE Secretary Raphael P.M. Lotilla said the Department of Justice (DOJ) has released a legal opinion that allows the NPC to draw on funding sources other than the Universal Charge for Missionary Electrification (UCME) to fulfill its mandate of energizing areas in the country which are not connected to the main grid and ensure a stable and reliable power supply in these areas.

“The favorable Opinion will allow the NPC to establish a credit line with local banks that would enable it to manage the fuel price increase that has significantly affected the NPC’s financial position. The funds of NPC sourced from the UCME is not sufficient to support NPC’s current operation,” said Lotilla.

In its Opinion No. 20 Series of 2022 dated September 23, 2022, the DOJ indicated that the NPC has the legal authority to borrow funds or contract loans to fulfill its missionary electrification function in the off-grid areas pursuant to its Charter and the mandate established under Section 70 of Republic Act No. 9136 or the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001 (EPIRA).

Section 70 of the EPIRA states that NPC shall remain as a National Government-owned andcontrolled corporation to perform the missionary electrification function through the Small Power Utilities Group (SPUG) and shall be responsible for providing power generation and its associated power delivery systems in areas that are not connected to the transmission system.

NPC-SPUG currently supplies 229 missionary areas throughout the Philippines, most of which have yet to attain a 24-hour electric power service.

“We express our appreciation to the DOJ for this very timely news. We are also grateful for the support

of the entire NPC Board, particularly the Department of Finance as Chairman, the Departments of Budget and Management, Agriculture, Environment and Natural Resources, Interior and Local Government, Trade and Industry, and the National Economic and Development Authority as members,”

Lotilla said.

The favorable decision will not only ensure timely payments to NPC’s New Power Providers but also enable the NPC, after two decades, to ramp up renewable energy sources in the off-grid areas and improve island-wide transmission in the major off-grid islands, particularly through Public-Private Partnership arrangements.

ON his first trip back to the Philippines in three years, Olympic pole vaulter EJ Obiena paid a visit to the Allianz PNB Life corporate office on Friday, September 16. After an extended stay in Europe due to the Covid-19 outbreak, Obiena was finally able to meet the people behind Allianz PNB Life in person. Members of Allianz PNB Life’s management committee, as well as several employees, staff and Life Changers

were among those who welcomed Obiena back.

The insurance company praised him for his victories in numerous sports competitions, most recently the Gala dei Castelli tournament in Ticino, Switzerland, and emphasized how proud it was to have him representing the brand.

Obiena is set to take part in the Paris 2024 Olympic qualifying events, for which Allianz is the official global insurance partner.

Metrobank branches affected by ‘Karding’ closed on Sept. 26

TO prioritize the safety of customers and Metrobankers, affected Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co. (Metrobank) branches by typhoon Karding (international name: Noru) in Northern and Southern Luzon were closed on Monday, September 26.

Meanwhile, Metrobank Online— its internet banking platform—the Metrobank Mobile app, Metrobank’s automated teller machines (ATM) and cash acceptance machines (CAM) are online and available for customers to conduct their financial transactions.

Typhoon Karding intensified to

a super typhoon on Sunday, beating select areas in Luzon. Malacanang declared a suspension of schools and government offices in the following areas: National Capital Region; Cordillera Administrative Region; Ilocos Region; Cagayan Valley; Central Luzon; Calabarzon; Mimaropa; and Bicol region.

In line with government office suspension, Pesonet transactions were unavailable on Monday.

The public was asked to regularly check Metrobank’s website, https:// www.metrobank.com.ph, and Facebook and Twitter accounts for realtime updates.

Start organizing your vital documents now

IMAGINE we are playing the game “Bring Me” which is really a hit during children’s parties.

The host then says, “Bring me…your pay slips for the last three months!”

Will you be able to provide the said document? Having documents related to your financial activities stored in safe location is important. A common example of not doing so is the tendency of family members to not see the insurance policy of a family member who passed on because it was not kept in a safe location known to other members. Another example will be an asset that was not included in the estate because only the deceased knew that it existed.

Think of the possibility of missed benefits for the household because of overlooked and mishandled documents.

What then are the important financial documents that a household must file? These are the following (adopted from Kapoor et al., 1997):

1. Money management records (balance sheet, cash flow statement and budget)

2. Personal records (birth certificate, marriage certificate (if married), identification cards, passport, SSS/GSIS records, Philhealth

records, medical records, etc.)

3. Employment records (employment contract, employment benefits, pay slips, etc.)

4. Tax records (i.e., income tax returns)

5. Credit records (i.e., credit card statements)

6. House and car records (ownership titles, amortization contract and payment records, lease contract if renting, etc.)

7. Insurance records (hard copies of policies for life, health, car and home insurance)

8. Documents related to bigticket items (e.g. appliances) such as receipts and warranties

9. Estate records, wills, and trusts

10. Investment records

It is understandable that you may think that the list is quite long. However, think of the convenience that this will provide you once the files are secured and kept—all the important documents that you

need are just within your reach!

In 2009 during typhoon Ondoy and our house was flooded, luckily my parents were able to keep all files in a rigid plastic case so keeping the documents safe was easy to do.An important thing to note is that there should be two people who know where the records are so that the documents will not be overlooked in the future.How do these documents affect your financial security and your pursuit of goals? Having these documents kept well and on hand facilitates effective review of your financial situation, from reviewing your balance sheet and cash flow statement, updating your social security records and government benefits to keeping stock of your insurance coverage.

Updating of these documents can be done quarterly or twice a year. To manage the volume of the documents, it is advised that you keep documents within the past three years and in case you are considering to destroy (yes I mean it – these are confidential info that should not fall into other people’s hands) some of the documents, consider creating a soft copy of it first and storing it in a hard drive or secured cloud. Creating this re-

cord could not be done overnight and may take some time. As such, it is advised that you go through this record-keeping activity with a system in mind. These are my suggestions:

1. Start securing documents for the items that are most important for you (based on your priority) first, then work towards the lower priority

2. Start securing documents that are with you already (begin with documents that are already available and easiest to obtain)

It will take some time to organize these papers and records; however, seeing the compiled documents stored in an organized manner in a case or binder will be a sight to see and will provide you the positive mental impact that you are beginning to have better control of your financial situation (remember, mindset is important!). Being organized provides a psychological victory and is likely to help you on your journey in taking control of your finances.

John Hero Salvador is a registered financial planner of RFP Philippines. To learn more about investment planning, attend the 98th batch of RFP program this September 2022. To register, email info@rfp.ph or text at 0917-6248110.

Alpha Southeast Asia names anew Security Bank the Best Retail Bank in PHL

ALPHA Southeast Asia, one of the leading financial capital markets magazines in the region, has again recognized Security Bank Corporation as the Best Retail Bank in the Philippines 2022 during its 16th Annual Best Financial Institution Awards.

Cited as the most comprehensive awards program in banking and finance in Southeast Asia, the Financial Institution Awards has awarded the Best Retail Bank in the Philippines title to Security

Bank for the fourth time in the last five years.

According to Alpha Southeast Asia, “Security Bank has been able to move ahead of its closest competitors to claim the pole position of the top retail bank in the country. In recent years, the Bank has invested heavily to incorporate state-of-the art technologies in its end-to-end process, enhancing sales and distribution channels to drive loan application volume. The Bank has also continued to make

improvements to serve its customers with seamless service. With the Bank focused on investing in the next generation of enhancements, they are well-placed for many years to come.”

The esteemed financial publication emphasized that retail banking plays a crucial role in the development of the Philippine economy.

Alpha Southeast Asia’s Financial Institution Awards has continued to assess the credentials and track record of financial institutions

across the Southeast Asian region.

“We thank our clients for their continued trust in Security Bank throughout the years. This recognition from Alpha Southeast Asia is a validation of our commitment to deliver a BetterBanking experience for all our customers,” said Security Bank EVP and Retail Banking Segment Head Maki Tingson.

To achieve its vision of becoming the most customer-centric bank in the Philippines, Security Bank has been focusing on the trans-

formation of its digital channels for retail, corporate, and MSME clients, and Contact Center, both voice and non-voice. The Bank has made great strides and continues to make significant investments in technology, risk management, and talent to address customers’ evolving needs and invest in what matters to them.

ision is to become the most customer-centric bank in the Philippines, so we are doing our best to know our customers by

leveraging on data to ensure that we are providing the best solutions for their requirements and to support their life aspirations.” added Tingson.

Established in 2007, Alpha Southeast Asia is the first and only institutional investment magazine focused on Southeast Asia (Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam). This year, the awards period covered deals and transaction volumes from June 2021 to May 2022.

perSonal finance

John Hero Salvador

Cebuano realists in three solos

In Alcoseba’s Of Light Shining, the artist presents stunning landscapes bathed in glorious light. The waters glow in glistening blues, while the plants shine in captivating greens, as the flowers come alive in a range of vibrant hues.

The idea, however, deals not so much with depicting beauty as it is about inspiring hope.

Alcoseba advocates for the responsible use of one’s talents and platform in advancing optimism, especially in today’s most challenging times. Thus, the artist creates artworks wherein the subjects not only bask in light but shine it upon their viewers as well.

Darby Alcoseba of Cebu City, Jun Impas of Danao City and Orley Ypon of the City of Toledo present their latest works, featuring their respective brands of realism. Alcoseba captures the essence of the perfect day, Impas challenges our perception of motion, while Ypon offers a striking balance.

This is seen in Cold Water Spring (Coron), where Alcoseba portrays the magnificence of Palawan’s natural beauty. The same goes in Watershelter, as the artist makes great use of impasto in carving out multidimensionality in depth, color and texture of a scenic landscape. Both works leave no room for darkness and negativity. In these images of hope, there is only beauty and perfection in every corner.

Also part of the new exhibitions is Through the Continued on B5

Vermeer exhibit to unite ‘Milkmaid,’ ‘Girl with a Pearl Earring’

By Aleksandar Furtula & Raf Casert The Associated Press

AMSTERDAM—The Amsterdam Rijksmuseum will unite two iconic paintings from Dutch artist Johannes Vermeer early next year—The Girl with a Pearl Earring and The Milkmaid

In an unprecedented blockbuster exhibit starting in February, the most famous museum in the Netherlands will bring together 27 of the 35 known paintings of the 17th-century artist who had the uncanny genius of letting a soothing inner light exude from his canvas.

“His paintings radiate this simplicity, the stillness, his brilliant

colors,” said Taco Dibbits, the director general of the Rijksmuseum.

Nowhere is it more apparent than in the two paintings that have become as quintessential to Dutch art as any work of Vincent van Gogh or Rembrandt.

In Thursday’s announcement of the February 10-June 4 exhibit, the musuem said it will be the first time in over a quarter-century that the paintings will be united in the same building, dating back to a 1996 show at The Hague’s Mauritshuis, home to the Girl with a Pearl Earring

The Rijksmuseum did extensive work on The Milkmaid and discovered that the vast unadorned white wall behind her, was not always meant to be like that. With special technologies,

a sketch under the final layer of paint was discovered which shows a more cluttered background with a jug holder and a fire basket.

Later, Vermeer thought better of it and went for the distinctive white background, auguring a big development in art.

“We now see a very neat little cube,” Dibbits said. “A search for simplicity is very difficult to arrive at,” Dibbits said, adding it is what “we now still admire so much today.”

With his domestic scenes of pouring milk, people talking and an almost nonchalant portrait of his maid, Vermeer knows how to create a sense of serenity that especially offers a balm in today’s turbulent times over 350 years later.

Dibbits calls him one of the most famous painters in the world because of this “tranquility that his paintings radiate.

On the one hand, you step into the 17th century,” he said, “On the other hand, because this depicts everyday life, they’re incredibly modern.”

New York’s Frick Collection will lend its three Vermeers which will be shown together outside of New York over a century after the museum acquired them.

It is also what makes the exhibit a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. The paintings could leave New York only because the Frick is under renovation.

“And once renovation is finished, they will never be able to leave again.” Dibbits said.

‘sifting through things’

Today’s Horoscope

By Eugenia Last

CELEBRITIES BORN ON THIS DAY: Lola Kirke, 32; Anna Camp, 40; Tamara Taylor, 52; Scott Lawrence, 59.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Play to win. Put a strategy in place that will help you turn something you aren’t happy with into something that brings you joy. Take responsibility for your happiness, and throw your time and effort into self-improvement and satisfaction. Loving who you are and what you can do will lead to a positive attitude and a year of progress. Your numbers are 4, 19, 26, 27, 34, 43, 48.

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Agreeing to something for the wrong reason will create inner turmoil. Ponder over offers, suggestions and consequences before you get involved in something that’s asking too much of you. Rethink your goal and change your course if necessary. HHH

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Put your heart and soul into professional responsibilities, and be the one to make a positive change or difference to the outcome of an urgent situation. Share your ideas, and take charge of getting things done on time. Personal gain looks promising. HHH

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Underlying anger can ruin your day and plans. Channeling your angst into something concrete will alleviate stress. Give others a chance to fix a mistake before you say something derogatory. Take a positive, helpful approach and avoid turmoil. HHH

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Pursue your dreams, speak up, follow through and finish what you start. It’s up to you to put your plans in motion. Don’t wait around for someone to pick up the slack. You’ll find it difficult to dodge controversy. HH

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Surf the internet for answers, suggestions, and old friends and colleagues. Reconnecting with someone likeminded will lead to something new and exciting. Find out all you can, and you will find a positive way to use this information. HHHH

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Initiate a change that makes you feel good and encourages you to do more for others. Stay focused on what’s important, and don’t lose sight of what’s happening in your personal life. Be inquisitive and ask questions instead of getting angry. HHH

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Take the high road. Let your conscience lead you down a path that offers solitude and peace of mind. Put muscle behind your concerns, and be the one to make a difference. Clear a space conducive to putting in long hours. HHH

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Put your energy into accumulating what’s important to you. Building a secure home base and getting your finances in order will give you peace of mind and the confidence to discuss your intentions. A unique proposal will lead to a helpful contribution. HHH

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Take a rain check if you don’t like a proposal. Research will uncover information that will help you tilt a current situation in your favor. Mingle and align yourself with people who can help improve your connections and prospects. HHHH

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Think matters through and pay attention to where the money is going. An adjustment is overdue and can change how or where you live. Trust your instincts and follow your heart. Romance is on the rise. HH

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): You have the right idea regarding investments and money management, but your timing is off. Hesitation is the culprit that’s getting in your way. Ask questions, verify facts and do what you must to thrive. HHHHH

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Add something visual to an idea, and you will capture someone’s interest. Connect with supportive people, and you’ll get honest feedback to help you build a solid and viable proposal. Play it safe, and avoid injury or illness. HHH

BIRTHDAY BABY: You are perceptive, engaging and secretive. You are disciplined and detailed.

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

BY DAVID DING AND ROSS TRUDEAU

The Universal Crossword/Edited by David Steinberg

CEBUANO painters in solo showcases come in threes in Art Elaan’s latest exhibition line-up. The shows opened yesterday, September 26, and will be on view until October 15.

WATERSHELTER, Darby Alcoseba, 2022, oil on canvas, 48”x36”

Show

A lady i n f u l l bloom

becomes the latest in a succession of actors who have played Queen Elizabeth II through the decades of her life and reign. AP

‘The Crown’ back in November for season 5 with new queen

LOS ANGELES—The Crown will return to its Netflix throne in early November. The drama series about Queen Elizabeth II and her extended family will begin its fifth season on November 9, the streaming service said Saturday. The debut will come two months after the queen’s September 8 death at the age of 96.

Production on the sixth season was suspended on the day of the queen’s death and again for the funeral of Britain’s longest-serving monarch.

In the upcoming season, Imelda Staunton becomes the latest in a succession of actors who have played Elizabeth through the decades of her life and reign. The first two seasons starred Claire Foy as the young princess Elizabeth ascending to the throne and growing into her role as queen. Seasons three and four featured Olivia Colman as a more mature queen.

The show has won 22 Emmy Awards, including a best drama series trophy and top drama actress honors for Foy and Colman. Josh O’Connor, who played Prince Charles as a young man in 13 episodes, won a best drama actor Emmy.

The pivotal role of Princess Diana passed from Emma Corrin in season four to Elizabeth Debicki (Tenet) for seasons five and six. She plays opposite Dominic West as Prince Charles. The prince, Elizabeth’s oldest child, became King Charles III upon her death.

Other cast newcomers include Lesley Manville as Princess Margaret and Jonathan Pryce as Prince Philip.

Season five of The Crown is expected to cover the royal family’s turbulent 1990s, when Charles and Diana’s marriage messily fell apart. The Princess of Wales died following a Paris car crash in August 1997.

The series has been widely acclaimed as a drama, but some have criticized it for lapses of historical accuracy. Two years ago, Netflix rejected calls for a disclaimer to be added to the series.

Peter Morgan, creator of The Crown and the writer of other recent-history dramas, including The Queen and Frost/Nixon has defended his work, calling it thoroughly researched and true in spirit. AP

Cebuano realists in three solos

Continued from B4

Looking Glass by Jun Impas. The show’s title, of course, is inspired by Lewis Caroll’s 1871 novel, which serves as the sequel to his 1865 piece Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

The phrase evolved into its own metaphor that means peering into something familiar that somehow feels different all of a sudden. By all accounts, it encapsulates Impas’s latest works that challenge the viewer to rethink perceptions. With stale subjects that suggest movement and kinetic forms that signify stagnation, nothing in this exhibition is what it seems.

Lady in Red, for instance, shows a maiden draped in red clothing, sitting idly on a rock as the river’s waves surge past her. But somehow, every implied motion comes to a screeching halt. The opposite proves true in The Red Lamp, where several inanimate objects occupy a table. From the nothingness, action forms building a perceived busy routine of how the subjects contribute to the life of its owner.

Perhaps, Impas manages to incite the contrasting ideas by framing the subjects with faint white borders. Do these elements perform as filters? Does the artist suggest that his artworks are to be viewed, indeed, through the looking glass?

The last featured solo exhibition that completes the trio is Orley Ypon’s For the Love of Life and Nature Ypon offers a broad range of images in terms of feel and meaning, from displaying the struggles of a poor Filipino in all its grimy detail to presenting a fine day outdoors.

In Couple, a naked man and woman hold each other as their home crumbles, as does their skin. In Hanky-Panky, a pack of street dogs engage in an orgy, emotions raw and beastly. From these pieces, Ypon offers a change of pace, with works, such as Lush Green Meadows and Ephemeral Stream providing an escape to a mix of green and blues that nourishes the eyes.

Ypon may be hinting that these extremes make up life and nature as we know it. We’re just too occupied in the in-betweens to notice them.

More information about the shows is available on www.artelaan.com. n

IThas been more than a year since Bea Alonzo made the big move to GMA Network.

She was supposed to have started work immediately on a movie, titled A Moment To Remember, an adaptation of the Japanese drama Pure Soul that would have paired her with whitehot leading man Alden Richards. The project was supposed to have been financed by the industry’s most prominent producers: the Gozons of GMA Films, the Del Rosarios of Viva, and the Tuvieras of APT Entertainment.

But fate dictated otherwise, and the film production went into one kink after another, causing schedules to be mashed up, and Alonzo found herself setting that aside and focusing on her new TV series instead.

“I am a very realistic person, and I also believe that what is meant to be, shall be,“ she told us. Preparations for the Philippine adaptation of the Korean hit series Start-Up started to take shape and when major production details fell into their rightful places, Alonzo buckled down to work immediately, still with Alden Richards as her leading man.

“Maybe the movie will be set for another time, and if that time comes soon, then so be it. In life, we should never force things because if something is bound to happen, we will know, we will feel it, and things will unravel smoothly,” she said.

Alonzo is overwhelmed with the care and attention she is getting in her new work playground. She is also happy that the new series has been launched and in a few weeks’ time, work for every one in Start-Up PH will be finished and she could take on new adventures, whether work-related or personal. “The Philippine Start-Up team is having a grand time during these last few work weeks, and we are all giving our best to make sure that this local adaptation will be received warmly by the Filipino audience.”

Her coactors are all excited, too, and very happy to be working with Alonzo on her debut acting project in GMA.

“I’d never met her before, and perhaps had she not moved to GMA, I wouldn’t have had the chance to work with her, “ said Gina Alajar, who plays the doting grandmother to Alden Richard’s character in this much-awaited prime-time series. “And I was very happy that the more I got to know her, the more I realized how good and grounded a person Bea is. I believe she was raised well, especially her mom, whom she is very close to.”

intelligent and smart.”

GMA contract artist and Bench underwear endorser Jeric Gonzales feels fortunate to be working with Alonzo, even admitting that he got starstruck initially.

“The first few times were a bit intimidating because she truly commands a presence. I’ve always adored her in the many unforgettable films and successful projects she was part of. After a few days, I felt at ease, realizing that she is very down to earth, sincerely nice to everyone on the set. Bea is a true star and she is almost always the first one to reach out to us. I am just so happy that she is now in the same camp, and I feel happier that I get to work alongside Bea in her first GMA series.” Gonzales plays the second lead character Davidson Navarro, the counterpart of the character played by actor Nam JooHyuk in the original Korean production.

GMA Pinoy TV lauded at TOFA Awards

GMA Network’s flagship international channel, GMA Pinoy TV (www.gmapinoytv.com) received the Global Award at the 12th Annual The Outstanding Filipinos in America (TOFA) Awards for its efforts to raise the profile of Filipinos on a global scale with its network reach and critically-acclaimed programming. The awarding ceremony was held on September 16 in New York City.

Celebrating its 17th anniversary this year, GMA Pinoy TV seeks to foster cultural pride and gratitude for the modernday heroes who perpetuate the greatness of Filipinos through its programs and various initiatives. Its “Stronger Together” campaign, in particular, brings Filipinos together in camaraderie and helps one another cope with today’s challenges such as the Covid-19 pandemic and anti-Asian hate.

As the main highlight of the event, TOFA inaugurated the TOFA Global Awards Category. GMA International first vice president and head of operations Joseph T. Francia accepted the award for GMA Pinoy TV alongside world-renowned designer Michael Cinco.

“We are strong as a people. Individually, each of us is strong. But when we celebrate our diversity and complement each other’s strengths—as a community coming together—

we can be formidable. So let us face our many challenges. Let us be the #StrongerTogether Movement and be a powerful force for good in America and the world,” exhorted Francia in his acceptance speech.

TOFA inspires Filipinos all over the world with its positive contribution to the community’s rich heritage. It elevates the profile of Filipino Americans and Global Pinoys that promotes the exceptional quality of service, artistry and professionalism Filipinos are known for in the world. Prominent personalities, dignitaries and exemplary Filipino-Americans were also honored in the national and presidential categories.

The awarding ceremony was graced by New York City Mayor Eric Adams, who shared how proud he is of how New York City has embraced diversity. He recognizes and strongly believes in the commitment and dedication of Filipino communities: “That diversity is allowing us to navigate any challenges we have. Thank you for allowing me to come here tonight and celebrate with you this rich and important organization,” Mayor Eric Adams stated.

Executive producer Elton Lugay, who founded TOFA in 2011, congratulated GMA Pinoy TV and shared how proud he is of his fellow Filipinos. “TOFA is a celebration of our presence in the United States, but tonight we’re going

Young Filipina startup founder launches indie film platform for accessible movies to the public

AFTER watching an indie film in class, then-college student Karen Jane Salutan was inspired to dream: to continuously showcase movies to the general public, with an emphasis in reaching out to remote areas. Armed with a Business Administration degree from the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde, Salutan then pursued a Masters in Media Studies, Major in Film, at the University of the Philippines Film Institute, with only her thesis currently on pause.

During her time in Diliman, she began to show films at Cine Adarna, a campus cinema which displays the hard work of aspiring filmmakers and established auteurs.

And thus, this exploration of the realities of Philippine cinema motivated her to create EdukSine, an independent Filipino film platform and social enterprise which was recently launched at the Cine Adarna at the UP.

With a generous grant from the Department of Science and Technology, it was an integral push to serve as an avenue for independent filmmakers to highlight local films which strengthen cultural roots and narratives.

Cofounded with Romae Marquez, together they envisioned the project as an alternative to the sad fate of indie films that get abruptly pulled out of traditional theaters after a low turnout.

EdukSine proposes a different way to promote these films to the right audience: through pre-arranged physical screenings in schools and universities, government offices and private companies, to include barangays and villages in the provinces. This is in addition to an online web site and even hybrid setups.

The team wishes EdukSine to be a sustainable avenue for

independent film producers and directors.

“EdukSine bridges the gap between indie filmmakers and their markets, serving as a new and unconventional platform to promote Filipino culture and arts,” she shared.

Today, EdukSine carries over 40 films accessible through their we bsite www.eduksine.com, while others are available in physical screenings. The themes include history, indigenous culture, gender and development, political and social issues, agriculture, sex education and more. Aside from EdukSine, Salutan champions her Cine Kabundukan advocacy, which brings quality Filipino movies to far-flung areas through sponsored public shows. In fact, before the continued lockdowns caused by the pandemic, the profits from her daily film screenings were channeled to this cause.

More information can be found at www.eduksine.com.

manager Archie Ilagan and fashion designer Oskar Peralta in the 2001 Mutya ng Pasig pageant. She got her screen name Bea Alonzo when she was signed up by Star Magic of ABS-CBN, where her star shone brighter for two decades as she took on one project after another.

Now in a different home studio and under the formidable management of Shirley Kuan, Alonzo has

BEA ALONZO

FROM left: Miles dela Cruz (TOFA), Joseph T. Francia (GMA Pinoy TV), and Vicente Gesmundo (TOFA)

World Trade Center Metro Manila promotes local artists through exhibit

WORLD Trade Center Metro Manila (WTCMM), the Philippines' premier events venue and exhibition center, has collaborated with a renowned artists’ group as it ventures into cross-border promotion of culture and the arts.

WTCMM is hosting a contemporary art exhibition featuring artworks by members of Artists for Peace at the

World Trade Center Metro Manila in Pasay City from August 24 to October 24, 2022.

Artists for Peace is an organization of distinguished senior artists who advocate social issues and aim to create a new platform, inspire creativity and friendship among contemporary artists.

“Promoting culture and arts is yet another milestone for WTCMM, made

possible through this collaboration bringing together invaluable Filipino talents such as Nemi Miranda, Juno Galang and August Santiago,” said WTCMM Chairman and CEO Pamela D. Pascual during the opening ceremonies of the exhibit.

With its mandate to promote global trade, WTCMM hopes to be of assistance to Artists for Peace as they plan to embark on an art exchange to India in the coming months. With this, WTCMM is looking into endorsing the project to its counterpart WTCs in key cities of India.

Being at the forefront of trade shows and exhibitions, WTCMM and the WTCMM Business Club work to promote trade and investment in the Philippines. Together they organize trade missions, business matching activities and programs, and networking activities.

“This is part of the World Trade Center’s mission. We connect people through trade-related activities to grow their businesses with the vision to penetrate the global market,” explained Pascual.

Nickel Asia heeds DepEd’s call with a personal social responsibility program for Manicani island students

THE Department of Education (DepEd) recently issued an appeal to the private sector to donate school supplies as face-to-face classes resume and as prices of learning materials increase.

Employees of Nickel Asia Corp. (NAC) responded to the DepEd call with a Personal Social Responsibility (PSR) program called Lapis at Papel, Kapalit ay Ngiti”.

Heeding DepEd’s request with PSR, NAC employees pooled together their personal funds and out-of-pocket resources, and engaged family members and friends, to provide school supplies to all the students in the island of Manicani in Guiuan, Eastern Samar, where NAC’s subsidiary, the Hinatuan Mining Corp.–Manicani Nickel Project (HMC-MNP), operates.

NAC’s PSR program was initiated some years back by employees from its head office at the NAC Tower in BGC in Taguig, which had no access to the communities that NAC serves.

The PSR now provides the opportunity for head office employees to have a social service activity they can participate in as a civic duty.

NAC’s “Lapis at Papel” initiative has been running for three years and this year, as physical classes resume after suspensions due to the pandemic, NAC

employees chose the students and teachers of Manicani as the program’s beneficiaries.

Maria Clariza Riveral, Principal of Manicani’s Junior High School, expressed her appreciation that the students of Manicani were chosen as the program’s recipients, calling the gifts of school supplies as “blessings”.

All students in Manicani each received pads of paper, pens and pencils, and notebooks. The younger children from the daycare centers and the pre-elementary students received crayons and coloring books, also pads of writing paper and jumbo pencils, erasers and sharpeners, plus water tumblers.

Allan Bandoy, Jr., ComRel head for

HMC-MNP, said a study showed that one of the reasons students get discouraged to do good in school is the challenge of not having enough learning materials, particularly “lapis at papel’ or pens and papers and notebooks.

“We are assured that the students and their teachers appreciate the gifts and are grateful to the NAC employees and all the donors,” he says.

The International Journal of Development Research defines Personal Social Responsibility program (PSR) as “a novel socio-economic model, based on a strategic decision by an individual to undertake an obligation to society in an organized framework”.

Italian, Cebu Chambers of Commerce launch 2nd C. Visayas Business Conference 2022

AFTER the successful Northern Mindanao Business Conference and the 1st Central.

Visayas Business Conference, the Regional Development Series continues with the 2nd Central Visayas Business Conference 2022 scheduled to be held yesterday, September 22, 2022.

The conference was held in partnership with Global-Link MP and Olacon, Italian Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines, Inc. (ICCPI); Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry; Spanish Chamber, the German Chamber, the French Chamber, the Dutch Chamber, the Nordic Chamber and Advantage Austria.

The goal of the conference was to showcase investment opportunities, discover the insights of local businesses, and analyze trends. It was envisioned to further connect businesses based in Central Visayas that venture in the creative industries, advanced technology and innovation, sustainable business practices, real estate, railway infrastructure, aerospace, renewable

energy, and health among others to parts of the world as a hub for global corporations and investors.

The online event featured a prominent set of speakers and panelists from the government, local government units (LGUs), the local business community, and foreign investors and organizations. Topics that were tackled include potential developments for the Cebu City Waterfront, Visions for the Tri-cities (Cebu, Lapu-Lapu, Mandaue) development, European cooperation projects in Central Visayas and economic growth and infrastructure development in the Philippines with focus on Central Visayas.

First Asia’s Pinnacle 2022 awards to honor exemplary Pinoys to take place on October 8 Okada Manila

explained Dr. Ronnel Ybañez, founder and president of Asia’s Pinnacle Awards, during a press briefer.

The awards night is also meant to give the celebrity entrepreneurs the chance to meet other prominent businessmen whom they can surely learn from.

For the Entertainment Category, filmmaker and events director Perry Escaño was invited to head the jury selection. The awardees are headed by actor-businessman Marvin Agustin as the Most Outstanding Chef and Entrepreneur of the Year (Sumo Sam and John and Yoko), Joel Torre as Most Outstanding Chicken Inasal Business Owner of the Year (JT's Manukan), and Enchong Dee as Most Dedicated and Outstanding Business Restaurant Owner of the Year (Peri-Peri Charcoal Chicken).

FIRST Asia’s Pinnacle 2022, a newly organized Filipino awardgiving body, has been mounted to recognize successful people in the business sector, with a special category for showbiz celebrities who are now successful entrepreneurs as well.

The first edition of the awards will be held on October 8, 2022, 6 p.m. at the Grand Ballroom of Okada Manila.

“The aspiration is to provide local artists with businesses, the best and prestigious venue for possible future collaborations with fellow Filipinos in the Business Category. Likewise, we hope they can serve as an inspiration to their younger colleagues because as we all know, showbiz isn't forever,”

Other honorees include Wendell Ramos (IFuel Gasoline Station), Elisse Joson and Mccoy De Leon (Felizia Jewelry), Karla Estrada (Rustic Box), Matteo Guidicelli (Da Gianni), JC De Vera (The Burgery), Isabelle Daza (FRNK), Richard Yap (Wang Fu Chinese Cafe), Joshua Garcia (Academy of Rock), David Licauco (Sobra Comfort Food), Jennifer Sevilla (Lynelle Hair Fashion), Shamcey Supsup (Pinoy Pop Chibog), Karylle Padilla-Yuzon (Centerstage KTV), talent managers James Reid (Careless Music), Maja Salvador (Crown Artist Management) and Tyronne Escalante.

Awardees also include Daina Menezes, Alexa Miro, Jane De Leon, and social media content creator Mimiyuuuh.

THE Lexus ES lineup is expanding with the introduction of the hybrid electric ES 300h Luxury variant, offering customers more options for a decadent trim level when choosing a Lexus ES.

The Lexus ES is now available in three variants: the ES300h Executive, the new ES300h Luxury and the ES350 Premier.

The Lexus ES hybrid electric variants were designed for those who appreciate higher levels of comfort and convenience, plus the sustainable nature of Lexus’ hybrid drive technology. It features an elevated level of sophistication to surpass the expectations of an uncompromising luxury-car buyer.

Buyers will find that the current ES models are more spacious, quieter and safer than ever before, while a new generation of customers will find a saloon with sharp performance, class-leading safety technology, and a level of craftsmanship rarely found in this market segment.

The ES continues the Lexus Driving Signature philosophy, vehicles that are more balanced, refined in control, and confident thanks to linear steering, brake response, and optimized handling with exceptional ride quality, with these ES performance features, including its rear suspension member brace to further enhance torsional rigidity, handling stability, and ride comfort.

The ES brake system has the regenerative and hydraulic brake control characteristics of the Electronically Controlled Brake System (ECB) on ES hybrid models enhancing pedal feeling when the brake pedal is released.

The new ES improves on the quality and elegance that has been well received by ES customers. The exterior has evolved into a more modern look by way of the updated designed front grille and headlamps, while the interior has adopted interior colors similar to the Premier variant.

The ES 300h Luxury variant is priced at P4,218,000 and has specifications that are very similar to the top-of-the-line ES 350 Premier variant. These include a 235/45R18 wheel-and-tire combination; rain-sensing wipers; smooth leather seats; driver 10-way power adjustment seats with memory; front passenger seat with 8-way power adjustment; kick sensor for the automatic trunk; and a 12.3-inch Electro Multi-Vision Touch Display.

The Lexus ES 300h Luxury also comes equipped with Lexus Safety Sense (LSS). This is a suite of advanced safety features which include the Pre-Collision System (PCS); Adaptive High Beam System (AHS); Automatic High Beam System (AHB); Lane Tracing Assist (LTA); Lane Departure Alert (LDA); and Dynamic Radar Cruise Control (DRCC). The latest development of LSS introduces upgrades in performance and functionality. These systems have also been tuned to operate in a way that feels more natural to the driver, and thus more reassuring, adding to the sense of driving confidence inspired by the ES 300h’s platform and powertrains. With this evolution, Lexus Safety System moves to the next level as a personal driving partner.

The 2.5-liter inline-4 engine of the ES 300h Luxury is equipped with laser-clad intake valve seats, which permit increased airflow into the cylinder and an intake port shape that increases the tumble-flow turbulence of incoming air and fuel for highspeed combustion. The engine also achieves world-leading thermal efficiency, combining robust power delivery with excellent response to deliver superb fuel efficiency. Power and torque is rated at 178hp and 221Nm, respectively.

The ES hybrid system achieves excellent fuel efficiency and powerful acceleration due to the its hybrid transaxle with improved efficient internal power flow and a higherefficiency power control unit. Its compact hybrid battery is located beneath the rear seats, contributing to ideal weight balance and low center of gravity, while enlarging cargo space. Total system output of the gasoline engine and electric motor is 218hp.

Moreover, with the new 4th generation hybrid battery, the NEW ES hybrid electric variants now come with an 8-year HEV battery warranty. It also comes with the standard drive train warranty of 3 years or 100,000 kms. (whichever comes first)

The Lexus ES 300h Luxury delivers on the promise of unmatched craftsmanship, refinement, and an exhilarating driving experience.

Other Lexus ES models are available ES350 Premier at P4,828,000 and the ES300h Executive at P3,838,000.

The Lexus electrified vision continues with the introduction of the new ES 300H Luxury Variant

THE new Lexus ES 300H Luxury Variant

THE students of Manicani in Eastern Samar are this year’s recipients of Nickel Asia’s “Lapis at Papel” Personal Social Responsibility (PSR) program

WTCMM Chairman and CEO Pamela Pascual (second from right) with ‘Artists for Peace’ members (from left) August Santiago, Nemi Miranda and Juno Galang.

AT THE LAUNCH OF FIRST ASIA’S PINNACLE 2022 AWARDS, FROM LEFT: Tyronne James Escalante, Nico Faustino, Daiana Menezes, Dr. Ronnel Ybañez, Alexa Miro, Perry Escaño, and Dr. Alim Fatani.

World

Editor: Angel R. Calso

‘Multilateral’? Global South’s leaders question solidarity

By Krista Larson | The Associated Press

DAKAR, Senegal—The United Nations was established on one simple notion above all others: Working together is better than going it alone. But while the term “multilateralism” might be trending at this year’s UN General Assembly, some leaders are calling out the heads of richer nations.

Whether it’s the global response to the Covid-19 pandemic or climate change, developing countries say it seems that richer nations are think ing of themselves first and not the wo rld’s most vulnerable.

“The global economy is now a house on fire, yet we continue to use evacuation methods that rush some nations out to safety while leaving the rest of us behind to fend for ourselves in the burning building,” said Malawi’s president, Lazarus Chakwera. “But if we are truly one U.N. family, then leaving no one behind has to be practiced, not just preached.”

Tanzania’s Vice President Philip Isdor Mpango was even more blunt. He said that “unilateralism driven by greed is leading us—rich and poor, strong and weak—to a ca tastrophe.”

W hen the United Nations was established in 1945, world lead ers hoped it would make sure that s omething like World War II never happened again. Over the years its mandate has tackled everything from nuclear proliferation to pro tecting refugees. But that highm inded notion of multilateralism has never wavered—even if the reality sometimes has.

Kiribati President Taneti Maa mau Beretitenti reminded member s tates last week that the United Na tions’ founders wanted to not only p revent future wars but also “im prove the standard of living for all.”

“ Today, we take stock of the progress made towards those goals along with new commitments and to reflect and assess if we have truly

lived up those values,” he said. Re gionalism and solidarity, he said, are at risk of being increasingly used to serve specific national in terests” rather than for the com mon benefit.

Broken humanity cannot be fixed by wonderful speeches, meet ings, resolutions, nor international i nstruments, but by an interplay of greater compassion and solidarity,” he added.

Mohammad Niamat Elahee, an international business professor at Quinnipiac University in Con necticut, said most rich countries a re giving lip service to multilat eralism but are, in reality, acting ot herwise.

“When we try to solve it our selves, maybe in the short term w e gain some benefits only for a limited number of people. But in the long run, it becomes worse for everyone,” he said, pointing to the Covid-19 variants that emerged in developing countries after rich countries initially hoarded vac cine supplies.

“ For multilateralism to work, we need cooperation across the board. If some countries follow multilat eralism and some countries don’t, t hen it doesn’t work,” Elahee said. “Big countries have a dispropor tionately high influence in the w orld,” he said. “When they aban don multilateralism, everybody e lse abandons it and it becomes a dog-eat-dog world. And that’s the challenge.”

Multilateralism has taken a steady stream of hits over the past 20 years, from US military inter

ventions to the backlash against g lobalization. Former US President Donald Trump’s tenure reintro duced an “America First” approach t o foreign policy. His administra tion eschewed the United Nations a s an “unelected, unaccountable global bureaucracy.”

Then came the Covid-19 pan demic—a shared global disaster, but also one that exposed how there was enough oxygen for some coun tries, but untold patients elsewhere w ould die without.

“The richer nations immediately received vaccines at the expense of the have-nots,” Philippines Presi dent Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said last week, echoing the anger of a number of other countries.

Even issues that many countries have rallied around, like condemn ing the war in Ukraine, feel differ ent to nations whose armed con flicts have not garnered the same international solidarity.

“They should pause for a moment to reflect on the glaring contrast in their response to the wars else where where women and children h ave died by the thousands from wars and starvation,” East Timor President José Ramos-Horta told the Assembly.

“The response to our beloved Secretary-General’s cries for help in these situations have not met with equal compassion,” he said. “As countries in the Global South, we see double standards.”

Countries like Ghana say they need more international solidarity, too, when it comes to the inequities in how economies have weathered the impact of the pandemic and

global inflation. The resulting currency devaluations have made it even harder for countries to pay back their US dollar loans.

The consequences are also more dire for developing countries when it comes to climate change, leaders say. Presidents from Africa and island nations have been asking richer countries to take more fi nancial responsibility for the fact t hey’ve contributed the most car bon emissions.

T he fear lies, too, in what will happen once this annual flurry of promise-making ends, says Paki stani Prime Minister Shahbaz S harif, whose country has seen apocalypse-like flooding.

“My real worry is about the next stage of this challenge—when the cameras leave and the story just shifts away to conflicts like Ukraine,” he said. “My question is: Will we be left alone to cope with a crisis we did not create?”

Ultimately, the “united” in Unit ed Nations means interdependence. It’s a notion that the past three years have taught many nations in substantial ways. Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina summoned that as she told world leaders that “the greatest lesson we learned from the Covid-19 pan demic is that ‘no one is safe until e veryone is safe.’”

“Mutual solidarity must be shown more than ever,” she said. “We need to prove that in times of crisis, the United Nations remains the cornerstone of the multilateral system.” West Africa Bureau Chief Krista Larson has covered news across the conti nent for The Associated Press since 2008

South Korea’s president scolds media over hot mic moment

By Kim Tong-Hyung The Associated Press

SEOUL, South Korea—South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on Monday accused the country’s media of damaging its al liance with the United States after a TV broadcaster released a video suggesting that he insulted US Con gress members following a meeting with US President Joe Biden in New York last week.

MBC caught Yoon on tape talk ing to his aides and top diplomats following a brief chat with Biden on the margins of the U.N. General As sembly meetings. While the audio was unclear, Yoon could be heard using what seemed as indecent lan guage during comments the broad caster captioned as: “Wouldn’t it be too darn embarrassing for Biden if those idiots at legislature don’t approve?”

Yoon’s meeting with Biden came after they both delivered speeches in support of the Global Fund, an international campaign to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. The Biden administration has pledged $6 billion in US contributions to the initiative through 2025, but it’s pending congressional approval. Yoon’s government has promised

$100 million.

After the MBC video roused the Internet and triggered criticism from rival politicians decrying a “diplomatic disaster,” Yoon’s office denied the report hours later on Thursday, insisting that he wasn’t talking about the US Congress or Biden.

Kim Eun-hye, Yoon’s spokesper son, said he was expressing concern that South Korea’s opposition-con trolled National Assembly could reject his plans for the $100 mil lion contribution. She said the word MBC heard as Biden was actually “nal-li-myeon,” an expression that can be used to describe something being thrown away. She didn’t spe cifically address Yoon’s apparent use of a word that could be translated as “idiots.”

Talking to reporters in Seoul on Monday after wrapping up his trip in Canada, Yoon stuck with his of fice’s version of the story. He said that the media could put South Ko rea’s security in danger by “damag ing the alliance with reports that differ from facts.”

Yoon called for a need to find the “truth” behind the reports that de scribed him as insulting US lawmak ers while leaders of his conservative People Power Party threatened to

take action against MBC.

“MBC’s actions have become dif ficult to just stand back and watch,” said Joo Ho-young, the party’s floor leader. “If [Yoon] used a word about the United States as described in the initial MBC report, that would have required thorough fact check ing considering the consequences to South Korea-US relations. But MBC skipped this verification process and aired the report with arbitrary and very provocative captions.”

Joo said the party would take “various measures” against MBC, including protest visits and de manding the broadcaster disclose the circumstances surrounding its report.

MBC is one of the country’s larg est terrestrial channels. While the company operates on advertising revenue, its largest shareholder is a public organization whose chairper son is appointed by the government.

Lee Jong-bae, one of the People Power Party’s members in the Seoul Metropolitan Council, filed a com plaint against MBC to Seoul police, accusing the broadcaster of defama tion and disrupting presidential du ties. The party spokesperson, Park Jung-ha, questioned whether MBC was aligned with members of the liberal opposition Democratic Party,

which holds majority in South Ko rea’s parliament, in a supposed at tempt to rattle Yoon’s government.

Yoon and his party’s harsh re sponse to the MBC report comes as he faces criticism that he returned with underwhelming results from his foreign trip, which included the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II, the UN meetings and a visit to Canada for a summit with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Much of the attention before the trip was about whether Yoon would meet Biden to discuss contentious bilateral issues, including South Ko rean frustrations over the recently passed US Inflation Reduction Act that excludes South Korean electric vehicles and other models assembled outside of North America from con sumer tax credits.

The liberal opposition labeled Yoon’s diplomacy as a failure af ter his chat with Biden following their Global Fund speeches lasted less than a minute. Seoul’s Foreign Ministry said Yoon still “sufficiently conveyed” South Korean concerns over the new law to Biden.

MBC didn’t immediate respond to calls for comment. Yoon hasn’t spe cifically addressed whether he was insulting South Korean lawmakers following his meeting with Biden.

Poverty and inflation: egypt’s economy hit by global turmoil

By Aya Batrawy AP Business Writer

DUBAI, United Arab Emir ates—Stores are selling win ter clothes from last season in the middle of summer. Repair shops lack spare parts for appliances. There’s a waiting list to buy a new car.

Egypt, a country of more than 103 million people, is running low on for eign currency needed to buy essentials like grain and fuel. To keep US dollars in the country, the government has tightened imports, meaning fewer new cars and summer dresses.

For the nearly third of Egyptians living in poverty, and the millions more in poor conditions, the coun try’s economic woes mean life is much harder than off-season shopping— they’re finding it harder to put food on the table. A decade after deadly protests and political upheaval rocked the Middle East’s most populous na tion, the economy is still staggering and has taken new hits.

Fatima, a 32-year-old cleaner in Cairo, says her family stopped buying red meat five months ago. Chicken also has become a luxury. She’s borrowing from relatives to make ends meet.

She’s worried about the impact of high prices on Egypt’s social fabric. Asking to be identified only by her first name for fear of reprisal, she wor ries that crime and theft will increase “because people won’t have enough money to feed themselves.”

For decades, most Egyptians have depended on the government to keep basic goods affordable, but that social contract is under pressure due to the impact from Russia’s war in Ukraine. Egypt has sought loans to pay for grain imports for state-subsidized bread. It’s also grappling with surging con sumer prices as the currency drops in value. The threat of food insecurity in the world’s largest importer of wheat, 80% of which comes from the war-torn Black Sea region, has raised concerns.

“In terms of, like, bread in ex change for freedom, that contract got violated a long time ago,” said Timo thy Kaldas, an economic expert at the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy.

Annual inflation climbed to 15.3% in August, compared with just over 6% in the same month last year. The Egyptian pound recently hit a record low against a strengthening US dollar, selling at 19.5 pounds to $1. That has widened trade and budget deficits as foreign reserves needed to buy grain and fuel plunged by nearly 10% in March, shortly after Russia’s inva sion sent commodity prices soaring and investors pulled billions of dol lars from Egypt.

Egypt has few options to deal with the hole in its finances. As with pre vious crises, it’s turned to Gulf Arab allies and the International Monetary Fund for a bailout.

A new IMF loan would buoy Egypt’s dwindling foreign reserves, which have fallen to $33 billion from $41 billion in February. A new loan, how ever, will add to Egypt’s ballooning foreign debt, which climbed from $37 billion in 2010—before the Arab Spring uprisings—to $158 billion as of March, according to Egyptian central bank figures.

Leaders blame the challenges on the coronavirus pandemic, which hurt the vital tourism industry, and price shocks sparked by the war in Ukraine. They’ve also faulted revolutionaries

and those who may have backed the Muslim Brotherhood.

“Why don’t you want to pay the cost of what you did in 2011 and 2013?”

President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi said in televised remarks this month. “What you did—didn’t that negatively impact the economy?”

He was referring to protests, which toppled Egypt’s longtime president, ushered in a divisive Muslim Broth erhood presidency, and resulted in a populist-backed power grab by the military and el-Sissi’s ascension to the presidency.

The former military general said the fallout from those years cost Egypt $450 billion—a price, he said, every one must bear.

“We solve the matter together. I am saying this to all Egyptians...we are going to finish this matter together and pay its price together,” he said.

Critics, however, argue the gov ernment has squandered chances to make real reforms and is overspend ing on superfluous mega-projects as it builds a new administrative capital. The government has touted the con struction boom as a job producer and economic engine.

The state’s hold over the economy and the “outsized role of militaryrelated enterprises” have historically crowded out foreign investors and the private sector, said Hasnain Malik, who heads equity research at Tellim er, an emerging-markets investment analysis firm. The government’s plans to sell off minority stakes in some state-owned enterprises “does not necessarily fix this problem,” he said.

Egypt’s elite can withstand rising costs, living comfortably in Nile-view apartments and gated communities beyond the hustle of Cairo. Life for middle-class Egyptians is deterio rating, said Maha, a 38-year-old tech company employee and mother of two who asked to only be identified by her first name to speak freely.

“I think we will eventually move down the social ladder and end up be low the poverty line,” she said.

The government took out a $500 million loan from the World Bank this summer and $221 million from the African Development Bank to help buy wheat. That covers around six weeks of a bread subsidy program supporting 70 million low-income Egyptians.

China assisted with a $2.8 billion currency swap. Saudi Arabia, the Unit ed Arab Emirates and Qatar stepped in with pledges of $22 billion in shortterm deposits and investments.

“Having what they define as sta bility in Egypt is in their strategic interests. They really don’t want to go through a repeat of 2011 and its aftermath,” said David Butter, an as sociate fellow at international affairs think tank Chatham House. Gulf Arab states are also making strategic in vestments in Egypt for the short and long-term, he said.

The government announced an “extraordinary” social protection pro gram to roll out this month, targeting 9 million families with extended cash transfers and food coupons. This is on top of other assistance programs, including pop-up stands selling sub sidized food staples. Officials point to how they managed the supply crunch brought on by the pandemic and the war in Ukraine, saying there is enough wheat and other basic food items for six months.

President of Malawi Lazarus Chakwera addresses the 77th session of the United nations General Assembly, at Un headquarters on september 22, 2022. AP Photo/JA s on DeCrow

A bAker stacks loaves of egyptian traditional “baladi” flatbread outside a bakery, in the Old Cairo district of Cairo, egypt on september 8, 2022. For decades, millions of egyptians have depended on the govern ment to keep basic goods affordable. but a series of shocks to the global economy and russia’s invasion of Ukraine have endangered the social contract in the Middle east’s most populous country, which is also the world’s biggest importer of wheat. it is now grappling with double-digit inflation and a steep devalua tion of its currency. AP Photo/Amr nA b il

Cignal vs Navy in crucial battle for Spikers’ Turf 2nd finals berth

CIGNAL and Navy brace for an explosive showdown of teams backstopped by seasoned campaigners as they face off Tuesday in a good-or-bust duel for the second championship berth in the Spikers’ Turf Open Conference at the Paco Arena.

The match is set at 5:30 p.m. with the HD Spikers hoping to ride the momentum of their three-set rout of the ousted VNS-One Alicia Griffins and the Sealions out to rebound from a straight-set defeat to the Sta. ElenaNationals in their clash for the first finals seat last Saturday.

Navy, however, is coming into the crucial match with a big psychological edge for having toppled Cignal in four sets in their eliminations meeting last September 13.

The win spiked a fiery closing run of four victories in the qualifiers with the Sealions repeating over Griffins in the semifinals, only to bump into a resolute Sta. Elena side and fall into a must-win over the back-to-back defending champions for a crack at the championship.

The HD Spikers also found themselves in a do-or-die spot after

failing to prick the growing Sta. Elena bubble but remained confident of hurdling and getting back at the Sealions for a shot at redemption against the Nationals.

W hile health issues continued to hound both teams, the Sealions hope to show up with the core of the squad that stunned the HD Spikers in the eliminations, including Jao Umandal, Chris Marcelino, Peter Quiel, Ron Rosales, playmaker EJ Casana and the hard-hitting skipper Greg Dolor.

C ignal top hitter Marck Espejo opted to sit out the last two sets against VNS while trying to shake off a heel injury as the former Ateneo stalwart seeks to start anew with JP Bugaoan, Ysay Marasigan, Edmar Bonono, Rex Intal, Chumason Njigha and rising star Louie Ramirez, who unloaded 16 points to spearhead the team’s win over the Griffins.

The Nationals, meanwhile, go for a sweep of the semis as they take on the winless Griffins at 2:30 p.m. with the latter also going all out against a team that would most likely opt to try out new combinations and rest their starters for the finals grind.

WORLD BOXING BODY REFUSES TO HEED IOC

fact, he called for the IBA to become less Olympic-focused in remarks after the decision Sunday.

I am working for you, not a side organization,” Kremlev said through a translator. “No one else should have influence on the organization.”

The IOC has been critical of the IBA’s governance under Kremlev, who was elected in December 2020. Kremlev addressed the IBA’s debt from years of sketchy financial dealings under former president Wu Ching-Kuo by inking a major sponsorship deal with Russian energy giant Gazprom.

Van der Vorst was the preferred candidate of a group of largely Western nations who hoped to change the governing body’s direction in accordance with the IOC’s wishes to improve its chances of staying on the Olympic program.

USA Boxing and several other governing bodies expressed their disappointment with the IBA this weekend after it declined to change course.

Letran faces Mapua for 2nd finals berth

INTRAMUROS rivals Letran and Mapua collide in a rematch of last season’s championship as the National Collegiate Athletic Association men’s basketball tournament resumes Tuesday at the Filoil EcoOil Centre in San Juan.

A v ictory in the 3 p.m. game will allow the Knights to gain a piece of the lead. And coach Bonnie Tan acknowledged how intense the competition is right from the get-go.

Almost all games are crucial, especially early in the season. I told the players that our victories and losses can create a trend,” Tan said. “So we’re hoping that we’re on the way up in the trend, now downwards.”

The Knights beat the Cardinals in all their three meetings last season which they capped with a two-game sweep in the Finals for a perfect 11-0 championship run.

L etran’s close victories over Jose Rizal University and College of Saint Benilde were sandwiched by a loss to Arellano University that ended the Knights’ 14-game winning streak that dates back to 2019.

The Knights will turn on veterans Fran Yu, Mark Sangalang and Brent Paraiso to post their first winning streak of the season.

M apua lost three straight games to drop to ninth place after scoring a big win over San Beda that has suddenly turned the Cardinals as one of the title favorites.

The Cardinals will bank on Warren Bonifacio, Rence Nocum and Arvin Gamboa to arrest the slide.

The Letran-Mapua is the only game scheduled for Tuesday after the San Sebastian-Emilio Aguinaldo College match—scheduled at 12 noon—was moved to a later date because of health and safety protocols.

OFF TO HAWAII The core of the 39-athlete Philippine contingent to the Ironman World Championships on October 6 and 8 in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, poses for a sendoff photo at Uptown Mall in Bonifacio Global City in Taguig City. This year’s cast, which made it to the world’s premier endurance race through the full Ironman Philippines in Subic last March, is almost thrice the 14-athlete delegation which took part in the 2018 edition also in Hawaii.

LOSANGELES—Umar Kremlev will remain the president of the International Boxing Association (IBA) after the amateur sport’s governing body voted against holding a new election Sunday, a decision that puts the Olympic future of boxing in serious doubt.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) issued a statement saying it was “extremely concerned” about the Olympic future of boxing

after an IBA extraordinary congress overwhelmingly backed Kremlev during its meeting in Yerevan, Armenia.

The Russian was re-elected in May after an opponent, Boris van der Vorst of the Netherlands, was barred from running against him. The Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled in June that van der Vorst should have been eligible to run against Kremlev, but the IBA group still decided not to hold a new election.

The decision goes against

the wishes of the IOC, which suspended the IBA (then known as AIBA) in 2019 after years of financial mismanagement and poor organization. The IOC ran the boxing tournament itself at Tokyo Olympics in 2021, and it plans to run a boxing tournament at the Paris Games in 2024, keeping the IBA excluded.

B oxing is not currently on the Olympic program for Los Angeles in 2028, and the IOC’s statement was the latest in months of suggestions that the decision could be permanent.

Boxing was an ancient Olympic sport that was first introduced to the modern games in 1904, and it has been included in every Olympic program since 1920.

K remlev has not taken a conciliatory tone toward the IOC’s demands. In

Hangzhou Games ranks high on Asian record holder Obiena’s list

THE 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou next year ranks high in Ernest John “EJ” Obiena—next to his bid of returning to the Olympics in Paris 2024.

A n Asian Games medal—outside of the Olympics—remains missing in Obiena’s collection that includes a world championships bronze, two Southeast Asian Games golds, another in the Wanda Diamond League and more than a dozen more in Europe.

Yes, it’s very important on my part as the Asian record holder,” the 26-year-old Tokyo Olympian told BusinessMirror , who’s in town with girlfriend, German long

jumper Caroline Joyeux, for a threeweek vacation.

A lthough he owns the Asian record at 5.94 meters, Obiena admitted he just couldn’t relax in the Asian Games, which China is hosting for the third time after Beijing 1990 and Guangzhou 2010.

H is potential rivals include No. 27 Bokai Huang of China and No. 34 Seito Yamamoto and No. 44 Masaki Ejima, both from Japan, and No. 63 Patsapong Amsam-Ang of Thailand.

We have two Japanese guys and the Thai guy who can jump 5.60 meters, then you have a Chinese guy that can jump 5.80 meters,” said

Troy in Bossing uniform: No pressure

AMANY-TIME national team member and key player at TNT Tropang Giga, Troy Rosario has found himself in an environment so unusual to him since he was picked No. 2 overall in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) 2015 Rookie Draft.

He’s wearing a uniform of an underdog squad. But he’s unfazed.

“ What else is new?” Rosario, 30,

told BusinessMirror on Monday. “I already experienced playing for an underdog team during my collegiate years. I’m not bothered and I’m ready for the challenge.”

T NT traded the 6-foot-7 Rosario and Gab Banal to Blackwater in a three-team deal that involved NLEX’s Calvin Oftana and Raul Soyud, the Bossing’s top pick Brandon RosserGanuelas and a few future draft picks.

Obiena, whose 5.94 meters personal best stands as the Asian record and is ranked No. 3 in the world—behind Sweden’s Armand Duplantis and the US’s Chris Nilsen—after clinching bronze in Eugene, Oregon, last July.

Despite his seemingly unreachable numbers, Obiena said he couldn’t count his Asian rivals out.

It’s not like a walk in the park jump,” he said. “I’m confident though with my ability but I respect them.”

Obiena competed at the Jakarta 2018 Asian Games but was then recovering from an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury and wound up in seventh place. Yamamoto set

T he former National University star said he welcomed the challenge—and pressure—of playing for Blackwater under head coach Ariel Vanguardia. He sat it out when Blackwater absorbed an 87-133 beating from the Hong Kong Bay Area Dragons last week, but had 15 points and 10 rebounds in the Bossing’s 97-85 win over the Phoenix Fuel Masters last Saturday.

It was family first for Rosario as he excused himself in his supposed debut in a Blackwater uniform.

“ I asked permission not to play last week because I’m taking care of my wife and my newly-born baby, Jack, who’s in intensive care,” he said. “But everything’s okay now with my baby.”

The pressure’s now on his shoulders as the Bossing expects big numbers from him and his leadership.

Pressure is part of basketball. If there’s no pressure, there’s no reason to play anymore,” said Rosario, who was vital in the Bulldogs’ championship run in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines in 2014.

I’m fine where I am, it’s part of being a player—to be traded to another team,” he said. “What’s important is I still have a job to feed my family.” Josef Ramos

a Games record 5.70 meters to bag the gold, with another Chinese, Yao Jie (5.50) and Amsam-Ang (5.50) completing the podium.

O biena will also compete in the 2023 Asian Indoor Athletics Championships in Kazakhstan in March and Cambodia 32nd SEA

The IBA also suspended the Boxing Federation of Ukraine on Friday, preventing it from voting in the extraordinary congress. Kremlev met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow earlier this month at the opening of a boxing center.

The IBA cited “government interference” as its reason for suspending the Ukrainian body a day after it wrote to the IBA members calling for Kremlev to be voted out. The organization claimed it will still support the participation of Ukrainian boxers in IBA events. AP

ERNEST JOHN “EJ” OBIENA is the Asian record holder but stresses it won’t be a walk in the park in Hangzhou.

Forum on boxing

HE Association of Boxing Alliances in the Philippines (ABAP) talks about the new qualification system for the Paris 2024 Olympics and other important matters in Tuesday’s online Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA) Forum.

ABAP Executive Director Marcus Jarwin Manalo and foreign coach Don Abnett will grace the weekly sports program that starts at 10 a.m. P resented by San Miguel Corp., Philip pine Sports Commis sion, Philippine Olympic Committee, Milo, Amelie Hotel Manila and the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp., the Fo rum is livestreamed via the PSA Facebook page fb.com/ PhilippineSportswritersAsso and aired on a delayed basis over Radyo Pilipinas 2, which also shares it on its of ficial Facebook page.

RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putin (left) and Umar Kremlev, general secretary of the Russian Boxing Federation and a member of the Executive Committee of the International Boxing Association, attend an opening ceremony of the new International Sambo and Boxing center at the Luzhniki Sports Complex in Moscow earlier this month. AP

TROY ROSARIO says getting traded is part of a pro basketball player’s life.