BusinessMirror September 29, 2022

THE House of Representatives on Wednesday approved on third and final reading the first full oneyear budget of the Marcos administration for 2023, amounting to P5.268 trillion.

Voting 289 affi rmative and 3 negative, the lower chamber approved House Bill (HB) 4488 or the General Appropriations Bill (GAB) on second and third reading on the same day. is after President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. issued an urgent certification for its immediate passage.

For his part, Speaker Martin G. Romualdez vowed that every centavo will be spent wisely to implement the programs of the Marcos administration aimed at revitalizing the economy amid the lingering ill effects of the coronavirus pandemic.

“ e expeditious passage of the proposed 2023 budget is the product of the collective effort of

agri trade policies

arrival.

W

ASHINGTON continues to press Manila at the World Trade Organization (WTO) regarding the Philippines’s current trade policies which the United States argued are “restricting” the trade of various agricultural and food products.

In a recent WTO committee meeting, the United States fielded a series of follow-up questions about the Philippines’s sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures as Washington remains “concerned” that Manila is limiting agricultural imports without scientific basis.

“ e United States remains

concerned that the SPSIC [SPS Import Clearance] system is used to restrict the flow of trade,” Washington said in one of its questions raised during a WTO Committee on Agriculture (CoA) meeting earlier this month.

e United States raised the matter during the WTO CoA meeting, as it inquired about the statement of the Philippines’s former Agriculture Secretary William D. Dar’s on limiting onion imports.

e United States noted that the Philippines will “manage” the importation of onion through the issuance of a Certificate of Necessity to Import, which will specify the volume to be imported and specific period for import

“Please explain how restricting the volume of imports over a given period via the CNI requirement prior to the issuance of SPSIC is different from a quantitative restriction, and explain the phytosanitary justification for implementing the CNI,” the United States said.

e United States also asked the Philippines to explain the role of its Department of Agriculture (DA) as well as its local onion industry “in determining the volume of onions allowed to be imported.”

Furthermore, the United States asked for clarity on how the volume of the CNI for onions would be determined as well as

if the Philippines has already notified its additional guidelines on fresh onions importations to the appropriate WTO committees.

Chickens, too ASIDE from onions, the United States questioned the seemingly continued restriction by Manila on the entry of foreign whole chickens to the Philippines.

e United States asked if the Philippines has imported a single whole chicken in the years 2021 and 2022 and asked for pertinent data about the matter.

“Does the Philippines restrict imports of whole chickens from trading partners other than the

‘Give biz owners a free hand on work setup’

BUSINESS

owners must be free to decide the work arrangements for their own employees. at’s the stand of Go Negosyo founder and head of the Jobs committee of the Private Sector Advisory Council (PSAC) Jose

Maria A. Concepcion III.

“I am not against the 70:30 on-site—work-from-home arrangement for IT-BPO companies. In fact, I was part of the council that recommended it and am the leader of the Jobs group which presented this suggestion,” said Concepcion in a statement on Wednesday.

e Go Negosyo founder added, “What I am saying is that the recommended work arrangement solution for the IT-BPO sector may not be the best one for all organiza-

tions.” e private sector representative stressed that it is the business owners who are in the “best position” to decide which work arrangement is suitable for them based on their respective types of operations.

“Businesses must be free to decide based on what their operations require,” Concepcion stressed.

He stressed that the IT and Business Process Management (ITBPM) sector has its unique work arrangement and “deliverables,” as do sectors like manufacturing, retail, fi nance services, among others, “who may need to have all employees render in-person work at all times.”

e private sector representative emphasized that “one solution

does not necessarily work for all,” adding that some employees may prefer the idea of a work-fromhome arrangement while some prefer the four-day workweek. He added, “but we can’t have the same solution for everybody.”

However, the Go Negosyo founder noted that the country’s economic rebound rests on private sector consumption and spending.

“We need more mobility if we want the economy to grow and for businesses to remain viable so they can generate more employment,” Concepcion stressed.

Regardless of employers’ decision on which work arrangement they prefer, the private sector representative noted that “we must not lose sight of the urgency for

our country’s economy to recover from the pandemic, whether this is achieved through increased productivity or mobility.”

Recently, the Fiscal Incentives Review Board (FIRB) decided to allow the transfer of registration of IT-BPM enterprises from Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) to the Board of Investments (BOI).

e move is seen as a win-win solution to the months-long standoff on FIRB restrictions on IT-BPM fi rms extending their employees’ work-from-home setup. With the transfer from PEZA to BOI, these fi rms can continue accessing fi scal incentives without violating Sec-

SUPERTYPHOON

Karding (international codename Noru) and typhoons expected in the last quarter of the year will not have a significant impact on the country’s domestic prices, according to the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

In a virtual briefi ng on Wednesday, ADB Director General for Southeast Asia Ramesh Subramanian told reporters that with this, the ADB is unlikely to revise its infl ation expectations for the Philippines this year.

ADB earlier projected that commodity prices are expected to post faster growth at an average of 5.3 percent this year compared to the 4.9 percent estimated in July. ( full story here: https://businessmirror. com.ph/2022/09/22/adb-keeps-phlgrowth-forecasts-for-22-23/)

“We do not have any specific concerns with regard to infl ation being [driven] up in the Philippines. Clearly, the policy stance, policy measures that the government and the central bank have adopted certainly would be focused on managing infl ation and bringing it down,” Subramanian said in

B C U. O @caiordinario

Chinese Embassy to cooperate with PHL on POGO deportations

T-B @maloutalosig

ties related to POGO, and noted that some of the victims associated with POGO operations are Chinese nationals.

“It is reported that most of the recent crimes targeted at Chinese citizens in the Philippines are related to POGOs. It is appreciated that relevant Philippine law enforcement agencies rescued a number of Chinese citizens and shut down some POGO companies during their recent operations,” it added.

related to POGOs, and tackle its root cause so as to address the social ills in a sweeping manner. e Chinese Embassy in the Philippines will continue to strengthen communication and cooperation with the Philippine government and law enforcement agencies in particular in this regard, and handle deportation among other issues in a constructive manner,” the embassy said.

Revenue Code of 1997, as amended by the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises (CREATE) law.

IT and Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP) President and CEO Jack Madrid hailed the FIRB decision. However, he stressed this will not involve physically relocating their operations, adding that it would be a “paper transfer.”

Madrid said this is a “wonderful outcome” to IBPAP’s staunch advocacy for work-from-home or hybrid setup.

e only difference here is that those fi rms registered under the PEZA will be required to operate onsite. e BOI is the only investment promotion agency (IPA) not affected by the boundary constraints or zone limits, hence, the transfer from PEZA to BOI.

Andrea E. San Juan

In a statement, the Chinese Embassy said they will not tolerate online gambling, even if done overseas, such as the Philippines.

e Chinese government fi rmly opposes and takes tough measures to combat gambling. According to the Chinese laws and regulations,

“gambling in whatever form by Chinese citizens, be it online gambling or gambling overseas, is illegal,” the Embassy said.

e Chinese Embassy said they appreciate the Philippine government’s actions recently to crack down on illegal gambling activi-

e Justice Department said they will stop the operations of 175 POGOs whose licenses were already revoked or have expired, and will deport about 40,000 Chinese workers starting next month.

“ e Chinese side welcomes the Philippine side to take strong measures to crack down on crimes

Embassy officials said they have been in “close communication and coordination” with the Philippine government as it places more emphasis on the protection of the “legitimate rights and interest of overseas Chinese citizens.”

e Embassy stressed that POGO-related crimes “not only harm China’s interests and China-Philippines relations, but also hurt the interests of the Philippines.”

House okays P5.268-T budget for next year

the entire House, in transparent and open proceedings where the majority accorded ample opportunity for the constructive inputs of our friends from the minority bloc,” Romualdez said.

He said the House-approved budget for 2023 remains consistent with the 8-point

socioeconomic agenda of the Marcos administration to achieve sustainable growth.

President Marcos called for the swift passage of the proposed 2023 budget “in order to address the need to maintain continuous government operations following the end of current fi scal year, strengthen efforts to respond more effectively to the Covid-19

pandemic, and support initiatives towards national economic recovery.”

e proposed P5.268-trillion national budget, the highest ever if approved by Congress, is P244 billion more than this year’s P5.023.6-trillion spending program. It represents 22.1 of GDP.

For 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 percent of GDP, while disbursements will increase by 2.6 percent to P5.085.8 trillion.

Deficit, on the other hand, is expected to decline 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.

By sector, the social services will receive the biggest chunk of the P5.268-trillion national budget with P2.071 trillion; followed by economic services with P1.528 trillion; general public services with P807.2 billion; debt burden with P611 billion and defense P250.7 billion.

Under the 2023 budget, the education sector will receive an 8.2-percent increase next year at P852.8 billion and will remain with the highest budgetary priority as mandated by the Constitution.

DepEd’s budget received an increase from P633.3 billion in 2022 to P710.6 billion in 2023.

On the other hand, a total of P1.196 trillion has been allocated for the government’s 2023 infrastructure programs.

As for the health sector, it shall

receive a 10.4-percent budget increase at P296.3 billion in 2023, inclusive of the budgets of the Department of Health (DOH) and the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth).

To improve its performance, the agriculture sector was allocated P184.1 billion, a 39.2-percent increase from its 2022 allocation.

e total amount includes P29.5 billion for irrigation services.

e House version of the budget will be transmitted to the Senate for its own deliberations.

With the approval of GAB on third and fi nal reading on Wednesday, Romualdez said the House met its self-imposed deadline to terminate the deliberations on the proposed 2023 budget prior to the adjournment of session from October 1 until November 6, 2022.

It took the House of Representatives barely six weeks to approve the GAB, from the time the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) submitted the National Expenditure Program (NEP) on August 22, 2022.

Likewise, Romualdez acknowledged the crucial role of House Majority Leader and Rules Committee chair Manuel Jose M. Dalipe, Ako Bicol Party-list Rep. Zaldy Co, chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations, and senior vice chairperson of the House committee on appropriations and Marikina City Rep. Stella Luz Quimbo in spearheading the passage of the 2023 budget, including the deputies and various teams that managed the flow of deliberations in the plenary.

a briefi ng. Subramanian said that while there is a threat that pentup demand from the lockdowns would be considered infl ationary, the fi nancial situation would offset the impact and not cause prices to skyrocket.

“At this stage, we are not looking at any significant changes to the outlook projections that we just released last week. We’ll obviously be continuously monitoring this, but again, I’ll underline that we do not see any serious concerns. We are in fact, actually, on the contrary, quite optimistic,” Subramanian said.

Even with this, Subramanian said, Central Banks have sufficient tools to ward off infl ation. e Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) recently raised interest rates by 50 basis points placing the country’s interest rates at 4.25 percent effective last September 23, 2022.

is is the third consecutive month that the BSP hiked its benchmark rates: fi rst in an off -cycle hike in July of 75 basis points, and another one in August, 50 basis points. (Full story here: https:// businessmirror.com.ph/2022/09/23/ bsp-raises-rates-for-3rd-monthnow-4-25/)

“I think the monetary policy [is] on top of infl ation stability and the Philippines is already on a tightening phase. Although we see that this typhoon [affected] Central Luzon, which is part of the rice basket of the Philippines, I think we are quite lucky that the typhoon quickly crossed the country with relatively little damage [than] what was expected earlier. So I don’t think that infl ation will [increase] because of this,” ADB Senior Economist James Villafuerte said.

Damage caused by Supertyphoon Karding (international codename Noru) to the farm sector has soared to P1.29 billion, with over 141,000 hectares of agricultural areas affected across six regions, the Department of Agriculture (DA) said on Tuesday.

In its fi fth bulletin on STY Karding, the DA Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Operations Center (DA-DRRM OpCen) said 82,158 farmers and fi sherfolk lost 72,231 metric tons (MT) of produce. (Full story here: https:// businessmirror.com.ph/2022/09/28/ agri-damage-from-karding-hits%e2%82%a71-29b-in-6-regions/)

US prods PHL on ‘restrictive’ agri trade policies

United States and, if so, why?” it said.

e question posed by the United States on the Philippines’s whole chicken imports was a continuation of a string of queries that Washington posed in previous WTO CoA meetings.

In fact, the United States’s previous two questions about the matter raised during the WTO CoA meeting last June remain unanswered by the Philippines.

e US had asked Manila to explain why it was rejecting SPSIC applications for whole chickens from the former despite having earlier granted Washington a system-wide export accreditation.

“ e United States notes

that all US federally inspected poultry slaughter/packing establishments in the United States are eligible to export the full range of poultry and poultry products [including whole chickens] to the Philippines,” Washington said.

“Why are US whole chicken Sanitary and Phytosanitary Import Clearance SPSIC permits rejected despite the Philippines accrediting the US system to export poultry to the Philippines?” it added.

In a June 2021 WTO CoA Meeting, the Philippines explained that SPSIC applications for whole chickens from the United States were rejected because of a “deferment” on the decision on the application for accreditation status of the US in 2019. (Related story:

https://businessmirror.com. ph/2021/06/22/us-to-phl-explainapparent-misuse-of-sps-ic-onimports/)

“SPSIC applications, in particular for importation of whole chicken from the US, were rejected because the decision on the application for accreditation status of the US was deferred in 2019,” the Philippines said.

“In effect, there should be no additional establishments and meat formats beyond those that were previously endorsed to the Philippines,” it added.

e United States’s concerns regarding its shipments of whole chickens to the Philippines has been running for almost two years now. e United States fi rst raised the issue about the rejected SPSICs for whole chickens in a November 2020 WTO CoA meeting.

JOSE MARIA A. CONCEPCION III

RAMESH SUBRAMANIAN

THE Chinese Embassy in Manila said they will cooperate with the Philippines to ensure the “orderly deportation” of around 40,000 Chinese nationals employed by the Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOs).

Nation

By Butch Fernandez @butchfBM

THE Commission of Appoint ments (CA) has confirmed the Cabinet nominations of Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo and Budget Secretary Ame nah Pangandaman on Wednesday.

Sen. Jinggoy Estrada, Chairman of the Commission on Appoint ments’ Committee on Foreign Af fairs, presided over the continuation of the hybrid meeting to deliberate on the ad interim appointment of Manalo, along with the nominations of 23 officials of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).

In the same hearing, Sen. Risa Hontiveros, during the CA’s delib eration, asked Manalo’s view on the country’s prevailing territorial issues given the President’s statement that the Philippines would “not give up even an inch of its territory.”

Manalo, in turn, assured they would challenge any claim by any foreign country on the country’s territory.

Hontiveros also asked Manalo if he thinks treaties, such as the Mutual Defense Treaty, should be updated.

Manalo replied in the affirmative, explaining that treaties should be continuously updated given the changes in geopolitical condi tions, technology, changing envi ronment and approaches such as responses to disasters or humani

tarian assistance.

“I believe you can count on the support of us legislators and those rightful challenges based on in ternational law and based on our own Constitution,” Hontiveros said, referring to the territorial and sovereignty.

Sen. Francis Tolentino, during the same deliberations, proposed to the agency to form a group that will handle international and commer cial arbitrations to focus on Philip pines’s claim to Sabah.

Tolentino made the suggestion, citing the victory of the heirs of Sul tanate of Sulu in their Sabah claim against the Malaysian government.

“The DFA should now seize the opportunity, we won, and wheth er that was initiated by a private group is irrelevant, the implication is, we own Sabah. Around 750,000 Filipinos live there, stateless, without social security and health benefits, and not allowed to vote,” Tolentino pointed out.

In response, Manalo said he would convene the DFA’s subcommittee group under the Cabi net cluster, which is composed of the DFA, Department of Justice, Department of the Interior and Local Government, Department of National Defense and other agencies concerned to study the legal implication of the country’s sovereignty claim over Sabah.

PHL to pursue all legal options to obstruct ICC scrutiny–OSG

By Joel R. San Juan @jrsanjuan1573

Philippine government’s position on the issue,” Guevarra said.

By Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz  @joveemarie

THE chairman of the House Committee on Natural Re sources filed House Resolution 430 seeking a congressional probe into the reported degradation of the Sierra Madre mountain range and to look for ways to protect it.

Cavite Rep. Elpidio Barzaga Jr. said there is a need to conduct an investigation, in aid of legisla tion, on the alleged degradation of Sierra Madre Mountains “and how we shall protect our ‘mother mountain range’ to prevent the occurrence of floods in various places in the Philippines.”

“There is an urgent need to de termine whether human activity, such as illegal logging, gold min ing, limestone mining, construc tion aggregate quarrying, defor estation and dam construction are being conducted at the Sierra Madre Mountains,” Barzaga said in the resolution.

If such acts are being conduct ed, the administration lawmaker said, “There is a need to confirm if there were corresponding permits issued by the concerned govern ment agencies.”

“If indeed permits were issued, were there environmental impact assessments regarding their ef fect to the Sierra Madre moun tains?” asked the lawmaker, who is a member of the National Unity Party (NUP).

The resolution cited Article 2, Section 16 of the Constitution, which provides that the state shall

“protect and advance the right of the people to a balanced and healthful ecology in accord with the rhythm and harmony of nature.”

The Sierra Madre mountains, called the “backbone of Luzon,” is the longest mountain range in the Philippines which has a total land area of 2.8 million hectares that spans from Cagayan province in the north to Quezon province in the south and encompassing the 10 provinces of Cagayan, Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya, Quirino, Aurora, Nueva Ecija, Bulacan, Rizal, La guna and Quezon.

The resolution said the “Mother Mountain Range plays an important role by acting as a natural shield against typhoons and floods com ing from the Pacific Ocean. Its wa tershed supports the water system of Central Luzon, Cagayan Valley and Metro Manila.”

“It is home to flora and fauna, in cluding the Philippine eagle and the golden-crowned flying fox. It is also home to 15 different indigenous peo ples holding Certificate of Ancestral Domain Titles or ancestral domain claims groups,” it said.

The resolution also cited role of Sierra Madre as the country’s protector from the recent Ty phoon “Karding,” Typhoon “Om pong” in 2018, and Typhoons “Lawin” and “Karen.”

“Unfortunately, it has not fully protected the town of San Miguel, Bulacan from the Typhoon Kard ing since this town has experienced its worst flooding that killed five provincial anti-disaster rescuers,” Barzaga said.

By Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco @claudethmc3

TECHNICAL Education and Skills Development Au thority (Tesda) Director General Danilo P. Cruz has ex pressed optimism that the return of Tesda to the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) from the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) would spur opportunities to synergize the strengths of both agencies.

Cruz also assured Tesda will eventually address the perennial

problem of skills-job mismatch in the country.

“The two agencies can work to gether to beef up and expand Tesda and DOLE’s employment facilitation programs,” he said, adding that this will enhance Tesda’s implementation of its area-based and demand-driv en Technical-Vocational Education Training (TVET) strategy.

Tesda was originally an attached agency of DOLE but former Presi dent Rodrigo Duterte placed the agency under the supervision of the Office of the Cabinet Secretary in 2016. In 2018, however, Duterte

THE

Office of the Solicitor Gen eral (OSG) on Wednesday said the government is ready to avail of all possible legal remedies, domestic or international, in case the International Criminal Court (ICC) Pre-Trial Chamber decides to pursue its probe into the alleged crimes committed against humanity during President Rodrigo Duterte’s campaign against illegal drugs.

Solicitor General Menardo Gue varra issued the statement after ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan asked the ICC to disregard the progress report submitted by the Philippine government on September 8, 2022 on the investigation in connection with anti-illegal drug operations where deaths occurred.

In the same submission, the OSG asked the tribunal to deny Khan’s request to resume the body’s inves tigation on the government’s bloody war on drugs under the previous ad ministration.

In his 21-page response to the Philippine government’s submis sion submitted to the ICC on Sep tember 22, Khan said, “None of the arguments raised by the Philippine government have merit.”

“The Office of the Solicitor Gen eral is presently considering whether there is a need to reply to the prosecu tor’s response. Regardless of the PreTrial Chamber’s ruling, however, the Philippine government will avail itself of all legal remedies, both domestic and international, even as it vigor ously pursues its own investigation and prosecution of crimes commit ted in relation to the government’s so-called war on drugs, all within the framework of our own legal and judicial system,” Guevarra said.

At the same time, Guevarra noted that the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber has yet to rule on the Philippine govern ment’s request to deny Khan’s mo tion to resume investigation of the Philippine situation.

“What was published recently was the ICC prosecutor’s response to the

By Rene Acosta @reneacostaBM

THE Philippine National Police (PNP) on Wednesday vowed to undertake measures to protect members of the Judiciary against threats, intimidation and crimes, including criminal acts perpetrated through the Internet and social me dia platforms.

The statement was issued by the PNP, through Brig. Gen. Roderick Au gustus Balba, its public information office chief, in the wake of alleged threats issued by former undersecre tary and National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) spokesperson Lor raine Badoy against a Manila judge who threw out the case proscribing the Communist Party of the Philip

When asked if availing of legal remedies, both domestic and in ternational, would mean tapping foreign law firms to represent the government, Guevarra said, “The OSG represents the State, but we may consider engaging any foreign counsel as and when the need arises. Should the ICC investigation result in the indictment of individual persons, the latter will have to engage their own respective private counsel to defend themselves,” Guevarra said.

In his response to the Philippine government’s submission, Khan pointed out the lack of provision in the Rome Status for a State to challenge the resumption of an investigation on jurisdictional or gravity grounds.

He also argued that the Philip pines’s request is not supported by facts or law.

“The Philippine Government bas es its gravity challenge on the same factual premise as its jurisdictional challenge—the alleged absence of an attack on a civilian population or state policy—but again fails to provide any concrete evidence or information refuting the Chamber’s investigation,” he added.

Khan added that the crimes his of fice sought to investigate are “serious crimes committed against civilians [including children], which demand investigation and prosecution.”

Khan also countered the Philip pine government’s claim that domes tic institutions have conducted or are conducting investigations and pros ecutions of the alleged crimes that sufficiently mirrors the ICC probe.

He noted that nothing in the ob servations or the hundreds of pages of associated annexes submitted by the Philippine government to the ICC to support its request would show that criminal proceedings actually have been or are being conducted in anything other than in a small number of cases.

“The Philippine Government has substantiated no criminal investiga tions of war on drugs [WoD] related killings in Davao City, no criminal inves

tigations of WoD-related killings by socalled vigilantes, no criminal investiga tions of WoD-related torture, and only a handful of criminal investigations of other WoD-related crimes within this Court’s jurisdiction,” he said.

Khan also noted that the De partment of Justice’s Inter-Agency Review Panel’s “falls short of com prising such tangible, concrete, and progressive investigative steps.”

Aside from these, Khan said the investigations conducted by the Phil ippine government are “overwhelm ingly focused” on low-ranking police officers, with no apparent probe of higher-level perpetrators.

Also, he noted the investiga tions are framed in terms of “iso lated instances” without larger inquiry into patterns of conduct or underlying policy.

“Even recognizing that investi gations of this kind are challeng ing and time-consuming, the Pros ecution respectfully notes that the Philippine government has shown no effort to pursue such leads or to otherwise establish a ‘firm basis’ for investigation or prosecution. That failure speaks to the need for an impartial investigation by the prosecution,” Khan said.

In its submission, the Philippine government maintained that that ICC has no jurisdiction over the situ ation in the Philippines.

Guevarra said the alleged murder incidents that happened during the relevant period do not constitute “crimes against humanity” con sidering that said incidents do not qualify as an “attack” against the civilian population.

Furthermore, the said occur rences were not in furtherance of a state or organizational policy to commit such attacks.

He also argued that the situa tion in the Philippines is inadmis sible under Article 17 of the Rome Statute, noting that the complaints filed before the ICC are already being investigated and prosecuted by the proper agencies.

He added that the State is neither unwilling nor unable to carry out

such proceedings.

Meanwhile, Remulla lambasted Khan for belittling the government’s efforts to conduct its own investiga tion into anti-illegal drug operations where deaths occurred during the previous administration.

Remulla noted that it has only been 88 days since the current ad ministration assumed office, thus, preliminary investigations are still ongoing and that prosecutors are still gathering and waiting for witnesses to come out in some of the cases.

“There has to be a specific state ment of facts for every case and a witness to testify to any fact and if they want to put our people in jail, there has to be a reason for it and there has to be due process first.

“We have to observe the rights of the people who are accused of com mitting crimes,” Remulla explained.

“And we all have the Bill of Rights, we know that and we have to observe the Bill of Rights in this country. They cannot run roughshod over our system and say you’re a lousy country and you cannot do what we want you to do. Are they dictating on us what we should do as a coun try?” he added.

Remulla, however, vowed to just continue with the investigation in accordance with the country’s laws and rules.

“We will be continuing our inqui ries, we will continue our investigation. We are not stopping and we are hop ing that there will be more witnesses to come forward,” the DOJ chief said.

Remulla also expressed belief that there is no more need for the government to respond to Khan’s submission, noting that the ICC can not impose any sanction against the government since the country is no longer a member of the ICC.

“We are not part of this case any more, we are no longer part of the ICC. Will they take over our country? Are they going to send peacekeeping forces here and take over our military and our police and start running our show for us? Are they going to take over our justice system? I don’t think anybody here will allow that,” he said.

vs criminal acts

pines and the New People’s Army as terrorist groups.

Lawyers and judges previously assailed the threats while the Su preme Court has warned Badoy of contempt.

The PNP acknowledged the in dependence of the judiciary as a “distinct” branch of the govern ment and it said it values its key role in a democracy in protecting “fundamental rights, settling dis putes and administering justice, among others.”

“We, therefore, assure the Su preme Court and the public that the PNP will always be on the side of the law and ensure the safety and secu rity of the honorable members of the court to enable them to promulgate decisions without fear of reprisal or retribution,” the PNP said.

‘Strategic victory’ vs Reds

MEANWHILE , the Department of National Defense (DND) said that only five guerrilla fronts of the NPA have remained and are operating in the country as it declared “strategic victory” in the military’s campaign against communist rebels.

DND Officer in Charge Jose Faus tino Jr. said more than 75 percent of the rebel guerrilla fronts that the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) dealt with across the country have been dismantled.

“Out of 89 in July 2016, there are only five active guerrilla fronts remaining,” Faustino said.

“The capabilities of the CTG [communist terrorist group] and LTGs [local terrorist groups] have been significantly diminished over the last few years. The concerted

efforts of the security sector have drawn us even closer to the end of the armed conflict with the inevita ble collapse of these armed groups,” he added.

During his term, former Presi dent Rodrigo Duterte has ordered the military to finish off the NPA until June this year or the end of his administration. The adminis tration of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. had since taken over with the soldiers in the counter insurgency campaign.

The DND said that as of Septem ber 20, 2022, a total of 2,890 con flict-affected barangays have been cleared from rebel influence through the AFP’s Development Support and Security Plan “Kapayapaan” and the DND’s Enhanced Comprehensive Lo cal Integration Program.

transferred the supervision of Tes da to DTI.

Cruz, a former labor undersec retary, cited the signing of Joint Memorandum Circular (JMC) 001 of Tesda and DOLE to facilitate the employment and training of victims of the magnitude 7 earthquake that affected most of Northern Luzon last July 27.

The Tesda chief also said that both agencies would intensify the implementation of DOLE’s Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disad vantaged/Displaced Workers (TU PAD) Program that provides emer

gency employment for displaced workers, underemployed and sea sonal workers.

Likewise, the Apprenticeship Program of Tesda, part of its en terprise-based training “EBT to the Max” program, will be strength ened with the transfer of Tesda back to DOLE.

The Apprenticeship Program is a training and employment pro gram involving a contract between an apprentice and an employer that provides a mechanism to en sure the availability of qualified workers with the skills required

by industries.

It may be recalled that President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. issued Ex ecutive Order (EO) 5, which formal izes the transfer of Tesda to DOLE.

Under the EO, Tesda becomes attached to DOLE for policy and program coordination, as “it is the policy of the national gov ernment to rationalize the func tional structures of agencies with complementary mandates and promote coordination, efficiency and organizational coherence in the bureaucracy.”

EO 5 also states that the Secre

tary of Labor and Employment shall be the chairperson of the Tesda Board pursuant to Section 7 of the Republic Act No. 7796 or the Tesda Act of 1994.

Cruz also said the agency is eye ing the integration of its Registry of Certified Workers, the Registry of Skills Priorities, and the Phil JobNet of DOLE.

“This is envisioned to become a centralized database where jobseekers can have access to the cur rent skills map/priorities of em ployers for a seamless job matching process,” he said.

Vittorio V. Vitug

DA places ‘Karding’ farm damage at ₧1.61 billion

By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas @jearcalas

THE Philippines lost P1.61billion (some $27 million) worth of palay from the devastation caused by Supertyphoon “Karding” across 145,229 hectares of rice farms in six regions.

In its latest report, the Depart ment of Agriculture (DA) said the recorded damage and losses in the rice sector rose by 67.74 percent from an earlier estimate of P959.8 million after it received more information from the affected areas.

T he DA added that rice farmers lost 105,154 metric tons (MT) of production due to the typhoon’s damage.

T he DA noted that the rice sector accounted for 81.72 percent of the estimated P1.97-billion total dam age and losses caused by Karding to the agriculture sector.

T he recorded agricultural damage due to Karding rose from an earlier estimate of P1.29 billion.

The DA said assessments made by

its regional field offices (RFOs) showed that about 148,091 hectares of farm lands were affected by Karding with a total production loss estimate of 114,446 MT. The DA added that a total of 88,520 farmers and fisherfolk loss income due to the weather disturbance.

T he damage and losses were re corded across the regions of Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), Ilocos Region, Cagayan Valley, Central Lu zon, Calabarzon and Bicol Region.

“Affected commodities include rice, corn, high value crops, livestock and poultry, and fisheries. These values are subject to validation,” the DA Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Operations Center (DA-DRRM OpCen) said in its sixth bulletin on Karding.

“The increase in overall damage and losses is due to ad ditional reports on rice, corn, high value crops, livestock and fisheries in Ilocos Region, Ca gayan Valley, Central Luzon and Bicol Region,” it added.

The recorded damage and losses in the high value crops sector has climbed to P271.6 million after Karding affected 1,131 hectares of farms, dam aging 7,471 MT of assorted

fruits, vegetables, legumes and spices.

T he DA said it has now recorded P43.1 million worth of damage and losses in the corn sector and P41.8 million worth in the fisheries sector. The livestock and poultry sector in curred P7.3 million worth of losses after 44,392 heads were affected by the typhoon.

“ The Department of Agricul ture, through its Regional Field Offices, is conducting assessment of damage and losses brought by

Supertyphoon Karding in the agrifisheries sector,” it said.

“ The DA continuously coordinates with concerned [national govern ment agencies], [local government units] and other DRRM-related of fices for the impact of Karding, as well as available resources for inter ventions and assistance,” it added.

The DA has increased its available assistance for distribution to affected farmers and fisherfolk. The DA said it now has P170.34 million worth of rice

seeds, P23.16 million worth of corn seeds and P13.55 million worth of as sorted vegetable seeds for distribution.

Furthermore, the DA said it is ready to distribute P2.45 million worth of animal heads, drugs and biologics for livestock and poultry raisers. The DA added that the Bu reau of Fisheries and Aquatic Re sources has available fingerlings and fishing paraphernalia to pro vide to affected fisherfolk.

T he DA-DRRM OpCen added that

typhoon-affected farmers and fish erfolk may avail of P25,000 worth of loan payable in three years at zero interest through the Agricultural Credit Policy Council’s Survival and Recovery Loan program.

T he DA has a P500 million worth of quick response fund to rehabilitate the affected areas, according to the DA-DRRM OpCen.

T he DA has also mobilized Kadiwa centers in areas affected by Karding to stabilize prices and supply of agrifishery commodities.

DPWH infra damage report

THE Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), meanwhile, reported that Typhoon Karding’s par tial cost of damage to national roads, bridges, and flood-control structures has been placed at P135.09 million.

T hrough its initial assessment, the agency said the typhoon’s dam age to roads was at P34.71 million, P22.39 million to bridges, and P77.99 million to flood-control structures.

T he estimate is still “subject to field validation.”

“By area, the Cordillera Admin istrative Region’s damage to infra structure is at P19.6 million; Region 2 at P9.11 million; Region 3 at P91.38 million; Region 4B at P3 million; and Region 6 at P12 million,” the public works department said.

T he typhoon pummeled parts of the Philippines on Sunday.

A s of Wednesday, five national roads remain closed to traffic. These are the Kennon Road in Benguet, the Cabagan-Sta. Maria Overflow Bridge in Isabela, the Baliwag Candaba - Sta. Ana Road in Pampanga, the HamticBia-an-Egaña-SibalomRoadinAntique, and the Nueva Ecija-Aurora Road.

With Lorenz S. Marasigan

A BOY carries a duck as they negotiate a flooded road due to Supertyphoon “Karding” in the storm-battered San Miguel town in Bulacan on Monday, September 26, 2022. Karding blew out of the northern Philippines on Monday, leaving some people dead, causing floods and power outages and forcing officials to suspend classes and government work in the capital and outlying provinces. AP

Fashion designer Marga Nograles to lead TPB

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

DAVAO-BASED fashion designer Maria Margar ita “Marga” Montemayor Nograles has been appointed to lead the Tourism Promotions Board (TPB), the marketing arm of the De partment of Tourism (DOT).

According to a letter signed by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on September 15, a copy of which was obtained by the BusinessMirror, Nograles was “appointed acting chief operating officer [COO] and member, board of directors,” of the TPB, vice Maria Anthonette Velasco Allones. The former TPB COO is now an un dersecretary of the Department of Migrant Workers.

Nograles declined to comment about her appointment pending her official election as COO by the TPB Board, and her taking of her oath of office. But most stakeholders in the tourism industry readily accept any acting COO appointment issued by Malacañang, taking the election as a mere formality.

Under Republic Act 9593 (Tour ism Act of 2009), the TPB board has to confirm the appointment of Nograles as COO by electing her into office. Many of the board direc tors are still on holdover capacity, however, although an initial set of nominees for the new board have already been submitted to the DOT for endorsement to the Governance Commission for Government-owned and -controlled Corporations (GCG).

Support from stakeholders

THE appointment of a TPB chief has been highly anticipated by tourism stakeholders as the government owned and controlled corporation functions like an alter-ego of the DOT, currently headed by newly confirmed Secretary Christina Gar cia Frasco.

For its part, the Tourism Con gress of the Philippines (TCP) praised Nograles’s appointment.

In a statement, TCP President Jose C. Clemente said, “We welcome the appointment of acting COO Marga M. Nograles to the Tourism Promo tions Board. We assure her the full support of the Tourism Congress of the Philippines and the tourism stakeholders. We look forward to working with her and continuing our strong partnership with the TPB, as we push the revitalization of the tourism industry.”

A graduate of the Ateneo de Davao University, Nograles is the founder of Kaayo Modern Mindanao, a line of clothing using traditional weaves and patches made by Mindanao tribes. Her spouse is lawyer Karlo Alexei B. Nograles, former Cabinet Secretary under the Duterte ad ministration and current chair of the Civil Service Commission. Her mother, Mary Ann “Baby” Mon temayor, has long been involved in the Davao tourism industry, being a hotelier and restaurateur.

Tourist receipts in 2023 downby 29%

NOGRALES will have a one-year term from the time she is formally elected as TPB COO, and will have to be reappointed by the President every year.

With a board composed primar ily of private tourism stakehold ers nominated by the TCP, the TPB implements a marketing campaign based on the priorities outlined by the DOT in the National Tourism Development Plan.

Under the National Expenditures Program for 2023, the TPB will re ceive P1.17 billion in the form of automatic appropriations from the national government. The TPB is targeting to attract 7 million tour ist arrivals in 2023, the same as in 2021 and 2022.

The TPB its also targetting tourist receipts at P933 million in 2023, down by 29 percent from its target of some P1.32 billion this year. (See, ������ � ����� ���� ism P��m�ti�ns B�a�d gets P1.17B t� ma�ket PHL,” in the Business Mirror , Septembe� 5, 2022.)

PBBM: Clark airport terminal launch signals opening of PPP deals in PHL

By Samuel P. Medenilla @sam_medenilla

EFFORTS are now underway to transform the country into a logistics center and an accessible tourist destination by attracting more foreign investments to regional airports.

President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. made the announcement on Wednesday during the grand open ing of the new terminal building of the Clark International Airport in Mabalacat, Pampanga.

He said the new 110.000 square

meter modern terminal, which is currently operated by the Luzon International Premiere Airport Development Corp., “is another building block” to the country’s aspiration to become a major lo gistics hub in Asia.

The new facility, he added, will serve as another gateway for foreign tourists to enter the country.

“Now we have another facility, we have another airport, where tourists can enter,” the President said.

He added the government is try ing to engage into public-private partnerships (PPP) with more for eign investors to develop the coun try’s regional airports, even as new airports near Metro Manila, like the Bulacan Airport and Sangley Airport in Cavite, are yet to be completed.

The President noted the newly opened terminal in the Clark Inter national Airport serves as a “signal to the world” that the country is open for more PPPs.

“This is also the kind of activ

ity that we were actively endorsing when we were in New York and talk ing to possible investors, in compa nies who are already in the Philip pines but would like to increase their investment,” Marcos said.

The President reiterated his administration is ready to provide stable environment to foreign in vestors by providing them with the conducive policies, legislations, and structures.

“The simple message that under lay all that we did was that the Phil ippines is here, we are a good place to invest,” Marcos said.

“We will do everything so that partnership becomes to the advantage of both the private sector, the public sector, to the people,” he added.

IBPAP projects 1.1-million direct countryside jobs in next 6 yrs

By Andrea San Juan

THE IT and Business Process Association of the Philip pines (IBPAP) said 54 per cent of the 1.1 million direct jobs target in the next six years will be in the countryside.

With an estimated growth rate of 8.5 percent, IBPAP said the Phil ippine IT-BPM industry is expected to create up to 1.1 million direct jobs in the next six years.

Of the 1.1 million direct jobs target, IBPAP said 54 percent will be in the countryside, which the organization said will bring the sec tor’s total headcount to 2.5 million by 2028.

Highlighting the industry’s “mul tiplier effect,” IBPAP also projects generating up to 3 million indirect jobs for allied sectors such as retail, hospitality, infrastructure, trans portation, and real estate.

In a news statement issued on Wednesday, IBPAP said the IT and Business Process Management

(IT-BPM) also has the potential to nearly double in size as its an nual revenue is likely to reach $59 billion in 2028, reflecting a com pound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10.4 percent.

However, IBPAP President and CEO Jack Madrid underscored the importance of “collective” effort to realize Roadmap 2028’s vision.

“The growth of the industry is a goal that we must all work to ward as a collective, even as ex ternal and internal factors shape the opportunity landscape,” said Madrid.

“These include the global econo my, overall demand for IT-BPM ser vices, the adoption of hybrid work models, infrastructure development, supply of skilled talent, and favor able government policies,” the IBPAP chief added.

IBPAP bared high-level recom mendations for its strategic priori ties and “acceleration levers.”

Among the recommendations are policy and regular support,

where it said, “the government needs to enable an enhanced business-friendly environment through unambiguous and relevant policies, which are in line with glob al and local market macrotrends.”

IBPAP noted that this recom mendation will help ensure the easier adoption of hybrid workplace models, uniformity in workplace incentives and strengthen the Phil ippines’s cost competitiveness and overall ease of doing business.

Another recommendation, the flagship organization of IT-BPM said, is talent development, This facet aims to ensure the sustainable supply of skilled talent “by revising existing curriculum and introduc ing new and future-relevant educa tional courses including early-stage interventions like internships and work immersions.”

Moreover, IBPAP is hoping for infrastructure development, noting that the continued development and strengthening of infrastructure re main crucial to supporting IT-BPM

operations in Metro Manila and other provinces.

As for marketing and brand posi tioning, IBPAP said in order to woo more investors, “A country rebrand will help reimagine the Philippines as a provider of high-value experi ence services.”

Under this recommendation, the organization said this will strength en market awareness and sustain stakeholder engagement interna tionally as well as domestically.

“The Philippine IT-BPM sector is at the cusp of a new and exciting era, and the future that awaits us is the brightest that it has ever been. By 2028, the industry may be able to contribute up to 8.5 percent to the country’s gross domestic product [GDP],” Madrid stressed.

He added, “This is a significant feat that will need everyone’s sup port as we take this big leap forward, propelling this powerhouse sector and cementing the Philippines as the top investment destination for IT-BPM services.”

By Butch Fernandez @butchfBM & Samuel P. Medenilla @sam_medenilla

THE tragic fate of five first re sponders who perished while trying to rescue people in flooded Bulacan villages at the height of typhoon “Karding” has sparked calls in the Senate for the regular ization of state workers, especially disaster frontliners, and the bid to set up a separate Department for Disaster Resilience (DDR).

As the senators unanimously adopted on Tuesday night a reso lution honoring the heroism and sacrifice of the five men who were carried away by raging currents in San Miguel, Bulacan, Senate Major ity Leader Joel Villanueva said that beyond the tribute, lawmakers and policymakers must do something more concrete about the plight of state workers, many of them casu als like the Bulacan 5.

Villanueva advocated for the regu larization of many casual government workers in the wake of the death of five volunteer-rescuers who died in the line of duty as Karding barreled across Central Luzon last Sunday.

On Tuesday, Villanueva said it is now the right time for the govern ment to institutionalize the right to security of tenure of all casual and contractual employees of the gov ernment who have long been serv ing in the public sector. He lamented that the five volunteer-rescuers died as casual employees despite serving the local government of Bulacan for a long time.

Villanueva said the government cannot expect the private sector to

regularize its employees if the gov ernment itself implements labor contractualization.

“The private sector is asking us: ‘Why are we being forced to imple ment the security of tenure while the government remains to be the number one violator of this law that we wanted to pass?” So, this is really a matter of policy and a wake-up call for our lawmakers,” Villanueva said.

On Wednesday, Senator Imee Marcos reiterated her call to upgrade the government’s disaster resiliency capabilities from mere disaster re sponse following the deaths of the five rescuers.

“The flashflood that drowned the rescuers points to the lack of an efficient flood watch and warning system as well as strict evacuation protocols that ensure residents are brought to higher ground much ear lier,” Marcos said.

Marcos echoed the call earlier of Senator Jinggoy Estrada, who said that the tragedy that befell the fallen five first responders in Bulacan should spur authorities to revisit a proposal to create a separate Department of Disaster Resilience in order to better provision for the hardware needs and the personnel benefits and upskilling of all disas ter frontliners.

Labor groups’ call FOLLOWING the death of the five rescuers, labor groups are now push ing for the regularization and recog nition of disaster response workers.

The Public Service Labor Indepen dent Confederation (PSLINK) made the call after it was revealed the five rescuers were contractual workers.

“A number of senators have al ready filed resolutions to honor the heroism of these five rescuers. While we support these resolutions, we echo the appeal of Sen. Joel Vil lanueva that their death should be a wake-up call to our lawmakers to end contractualization in the public sector,” PSLINK said.

PSLINK advocacy head Jilian Roque said they have no exact num ber of disaster rescuers in the public sector due since the government still lack the consolidated government data about it.

“But in some LGUs [local govern ment units], over 90 percent of their disaster workers are contractuals/ JO [job orders]/COS [contract of service],” Roque said.

Amid the growing frequency of extreme disasters caused by cli mate change, PSLINK noted the government should recognize the value and essential role of Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (DRRM) workers.

The Federation of Free Workers (FFW) also made the same appeal stressing that DRRM workers should be considered as heroes.

“FFW and its unions in Bulacan join and laud the Senate in its reso lution to ‘posthumously accord the highest commendation’ to the five rescue workers identified as Jerson Resureccion, George Agustin, Troy Justin Agustin, Narciso Calayag Jr. and Marby Bartolome. They are real life heroes,” FFW President Sonny Matula said.

PSLINK noted passing a new Se curity of Tenure bill for government workers will provide the needed pro tection of DRRM workers.

By Manuel T. Cayon @awimailbox Mindanao Bureau Chief

of lives of our people, In shaa Allah,” he said.

DAVAO

CITY—Chief Min ister Ahod Ebrahim of the Bangsamoro Autono mous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) submitted to Parliament on Monday the proposed P85.3 bil lion budget of the region for fiscal year 2023 with social services get ting the biggest chunk.

The biggest chunk of the budget was allotted for the social services sector at P36.9 billion. Ebrahim said the Bangsamoro Government highly prioritizes programs on education, culture, and manpower develop ment; subsidy to local government units (LGUs); social security, welfare and employment; and health.

General public services sector got the second biggest portion of the budget with P28.2 billion. This sector includes efforts in ensuring public order and safety, including law enforcement, maintenance of public order, and political admin istration; and general administra tion, such as general government, fiscal affairs, civil service, and law making functions.

Another P19.9 billion was al located for the economic services sector. Ebrahim said the sector aims to fund interventions on communi cations, roads, and transportation facilities; agriculture, agrarian re form and natural resources; water resources development and flood control; trade and industry; power and energy; and tourism.

The peace and stability sector was allotted P250 million. “As en ablers of socioeconomic develop ment, the peace and stability sector

focuses its efforts on promoting peaceful and inclusive Bangsam oro society for sustainable devel opment with access to justice and build effective and accountable institutions,” Ebrahim said.

He said the proposed budget “will hopefully bring us to that point in the future, when connected from this point where we are now, will draw a line of sustained progress.”

“This plan will hopefully transform the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region to become a better environment for our people who shall enjoy the ben efits of a better economy,” he said in a statement posted by the Bangsamoro Information Office on Tuesday.

Ebrahim appealed to colleagues in the Bangsamoro Parliament, official ly called the Bangsamoro Transition Authority, to work together to make sure that their plans were “concretely expressed in the proposed budget.”

“With your support, together we shall be able to unite to build a strong and dedicated Bangsamoro Govern ment that will fulfill the promises of peace, development and meaningful self-governance for the betterment

Before Ebrahim filed the proposed budget to the Parliament, the Min istry of Finance, Budget and Man agement (MFBM) held a series of extensive budget hearings where all BARMM ministries and offices were required to present and defend their budget proposals that were anchored on BARMM’s development agenda.

The BTA was reconstituted last month after Malacañang approved the request of the Bangsamoro gov ernment to grant it an extension of three years when the transition pe riod lapsed this year. The BARMM was given only three years beginning in 2019 to implement the transition from the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) to the BARMM. The latter was one of the concessions granted to the Moro Is lamic Liberation Front to govern the autonomy for Filipino Muslims in Mindanao in exchange for signing a peace settlement with government.

The region is composed of the mainland provinces of Lanao del Sur and Maguindanao and the south western island provinces of Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi.

President Rodrigo Duterte signed the approval of the extended transi tion period, from 2022 to 2025. His successor, Pesident Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., installed the new set of appointees to the BTA.

Finance Minister Ubaida Pa casem said the new set of leaders would build on the progress made by the Bangsamoro Government in establishing or reforming institu tions “that are able to provide secu rity and social services, and pursue collective goals of enduring peace, justice, and development.”

Blasts precede Baltic pipeline leaks, sabotage seen likely

By Monika Scislowska, Jan M. Olsen & David Keyton The Associated Press

WARSAW, Poland—Denmark believes “deliberate actions” caused big leaks in two natural gas pipelines running under the Baltic Sea from Russia to Germany, and seismologists said powerful explosions pre ceded the leaks.

European leaders and experts pointed to possible sabotage amid the energy standoff with Russia provoked by the war in Ukraine. Although filled with gas, neither pipeline is currently supplying it to Europe.

“It is the authorities’ clear assessment that these are deliberate actions—not accidents,” Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said Tuesday.

But she added “there is no information indicating who could be behind it.”

Frederiksen rejected the suggestion that the incident was an attack on Denmark, saying the leaks occurred in international waters.

The incident overshadowed the inauguration of a long-awaited pipeline that will bring Norwegian gas to Poland to bolster the continent’s energy indepen dence from Moscow.

The first explosion was recorded early Monday southeast of the Danish island of Bornholm, said Bjorn Lund, director of the Swedish National Seismic Network. A second, stronger blast northeast of the island that night was equivalent to a 2.3-magnitude earthquake. Seismic stations in Denmark, Norway and Finland also registered the explosions.

“There’s no doubt, this is not an earthquake,” Lund said.

On Wednesday, Danish defense minister Morten Bødskov will travel to Brus sels to discuss the leaks with Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg.

Denmark’s Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod said Sweden, Germany and Poland have been kept informed, and “we will inform and reach out to Russia in this case.”

He said Denmark’s foreign intelligence service didn’t see any increased military threat against Denmark after the three leaks on the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines.

They created a foamy white area on the water’s surface, images released by Denmark’s military show. Danish Energy Minister Dan Jørgensen said that “we cannot say how long the leak will go” on for as the gas has not been turned off. There was no indication when the gas would be turned off.

The German operator of the pipelines, Nord Stream AG, said it’s preparing a survey to assess the damage.

“Currently, it is not possible to estimate a timeframe for restoring the gas transport infrastructure,” a company statement said. “The causes of the incident will be clarified as a result of the investigation.”

In Sweden, acting Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson said “it is probably a case of sabotage,” but not an attack on Sweden.

Andersson added that neighboring oil-rich Norway “has informed us about increased drone activity in the North Sea and the measures they have taken in connection with it.”

Foreign Minister Ann Linde said that Sweden “[is] not ruling out any scenarios and we will not speculate about motive or actor.”

The escaped natural gas is made up almost entirely of methane—the second biggest contributor to climate change after carbon dioxide. David Hastings, a re tired chemical oceanographer in Gainesville, Florida, said much of the gas would rise through the sea and enter the atmosphere. “There is no question that the largest environmental impact of this is to the climate, because methane is a re ally potent greenhouse gas,” he said.

According to United Nations data, methane is 82.5 times worse for the cli mate than carbon dioxide over a 20-year period, because it so effectively absorbs the heat of the sun.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki called the events “an act of sab otage.” During a ceremony in northwestern Poland, Morawiecki, Denmark’s Frederiksen and Polish President Andrzej Duda symbolically opened the valve of a yellow pipe belonging to the Baltic Pipe, a new system sending Norwegian gas across Denmark to Poland.

“The era of Russian domination in the gas sphere is coming to an end,” Morawiecki declared. “An era that was marked by blackmail, threats and ex tortion.”

No official presented evidence of what caused the leaks, but with distrust of Russia running high, some feared Moscow sabotaged its own infrastructure out of spite or to warn that pipelines are vulnerable to attack. The leaks raised the stakes on whether energy infrastructure was being targeted and led to a small bump in natural gas prices.

“We can clearly see that this is an act of sabotage, an act that probably means a next step of escalation in the situation that we are dealing with in Ukraine,” Morawiecki said.

Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken spoke with Danish Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod about the apparent sabotage, according to State Department spokesperson Ned Price, who reiterated the US was committed to promoting European energy security.

Anders Puck Nielsen, a researcher with the Center for Maritime Operations at the Royal Danish Defence College, said the timing of the leaks was “conspicuous” given the ceremony for the Baltic Pipe. He said perhaps someone sought “to send a signal that something could happen to the Norwegian gas.”

The extent of the damage means the Nord Stream pipelines are unlikely to be able to carry any gas to Europe this winter even if there was political will to bring them online, analysts at the Eurasia Group said. Russia has halted flows on the 1,224-kilometer (760-mile) Nord Stream 1 pipeline during the war, while Germany prevented them from ever starting in the parallel Nord Stream 2.

“Depending on the scale of the damage, the leaks could even mean a perma nent closure of both lines,” analysts Henning Gloystein and Jason Bush wrote.

Puck Nielsen said of possible sabotage that “technically speaking, this is not difficult. It just requires a boat. It requires some divers that know how to handle explosive devices.”

“But I think if we look at who would actually benefit from disturbances, more chaos on the gas market in Europe, I think there’s basically only one actor right now that actually benefits from more uncertainty, and that is Russia,” he said.

Asked if the leaks may have been caused by sabotage, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said “no version could be excluded.”

“This is an unprecedented situation that requires an urgent investigation. We are extremely worried by this news,” he said in a conference call with reporters.

Danish and Swedish maritime authorities issued navigation warnings, and established a prohibited area for vessels. Ships may lose buoyancy, and there may also be a risk of ignition above the water and in the air.

The Nord Stream pipelines have been at the center of an energy clash between Europe and Russia since the invasion of Ukraine in late February. Plunging Rus sian gas supplies have caused prices to soar, pressuring governments to help ease the pain of sky-high energy bills for households and businesses as winter nears. The crisis also has raised fears of rationing and recession.

The Baltic Pipe is a prominent element in the European Union’s search for energy security and is to start bringing Norwegian gas through Denmark and along the Baltic Sea to Poland on October 1.

Simone Tagliapietra, an energy expert with the Bruegel think tank in Brus sels, speculated that the leaks could have been caused by Russian sabotage or anti-Russian sabotage.

One possibility is Russia signaling it “is breaking forever with Western Europe and Germany” as Poland inaugurates its pipeline with Norway, he said.

“In any case, this is a stark reminder of the exposure to risk of Europe’s gas infrastructure,” Tagliapietra said.

Olsen reported from Copenhagen, Denmark, and Keyton from Stockholm. As sociated Press writers Vanessa Gera in Warsaw, Adam Schreck in Kyiv, Ukraine, Kirsten Grieshaber in Berlin, and David McHugh in Frankfurt, Germany, contributed.

Over 194,000 Russian men flee call-up to neighboring countries

By Dasha Litvinova The Associated Press

stem the flow, barring some men from leaving and citing mobiliza tion laws. The practice did not seem widespread, but rumors persisted that Moscow may soon shut the borders to all men of fighting age.

Police in North Ossetia said a makeshift enlistment office will be set up at the Verkhny Lars crossing, and local officials con firmed to the state news agency Tass that Russian men are be ing served call-up summonses at crossings into Georgia.

part of the former Soviet Union and both offering visa-free entry by Russian nationals, seemed to be the most popular destinations for those traveling by land to flee the call-up.

Finland and Norway require visas.

Georgia, whose support for Ukraine is visible by the yellow and blue flags adorning buildings as well as graffiti against Putin and Russia, has been somewhat apprehensive about the influx of Russians, espe cially after the country fought a brief war with Moscow in 2008.

On Tuesday, he finally finished his 1,800-kilometer (1,100-mile) journey and crossed the frontier to escape being called up to fight in Russia’s war in Ukraine.

“At 26, I do not want to be carried home in a zinc-lined [coffin] or stain [my] hands with somebody’s blood because of the war of one person that wants to build an empire,” he told The Associated Press, asking that his last name not be used because he feared retaliation from Russia.

He was one of over 194,000 Russian nationals who have fled to neighboring Georgia, Kazakhstan and Finland—most often by car, bicycle or on foot—in the week since President Vladimir Putin an nounced a partial mobilization of reservists.

The mass exodus of men—alone or with their families or friends— began September 21, shortly after Putin’s address to the nation, and continued all this week. Early on, they snapped up airline tickets, which spiked in price on the few airlines still flying out of Russia.

But the rest had to gas up their cars and join the long lines snaking on roads toward the borders.

According to the online ser vice Yandex Maps, the traffic jam leading to Verkhny Lars, a border crossing into Georgia from Russia’s North Ossetia region, stretched for about 15 kilometers (over 9 miles) on Tuesday. Social media showed hundreds of pedestrians lining up at the checkpoint after Russian border guards relaxed regulations and allowed people to cross on foot.

Similarly long queues were reported at some crossings into Kazakhstan.

The Interior Ministry of Georgia said over 53,000 Russians have en tered the country since last week, while Interior Ministry officials in Kazakhstan said 98,000 crossed into that nation. The Finnish Bor der Guard agency said over 43,000 arrived in the same period. Media reports also said another 3,000 Rus sians entered Mongolia, which also shares a border with the country.

Russian authorities sought to

Russia’s Defense Minister Ser gei Shoigu has said that only about 300,000 men with prior combat or other military service would be mustered, but reports have emerged from various Russian regions that recruiters were rounding up men outside that description. That fu eled fears of a much broader callup, sending droves of men of all ages and backgrounds to airports and borders.

“There’s a risk that they will announce a full mobilization,” according to a resident of St. Pe tersburg who made it to Kazakh stan on Tuesday. The man, who refused to give his name because he feared for his safety, told AP he spent three days driving from his home to Uralsk in northwestern Kazakhstan near the border.

He said Putin’s mobilization re marks differed from what his decree said, leaving room for a broader in terpretation, adding: “People worry that sooner or later, a full mobiliza tion will be announced, and no one will be able to cross the borders.”

Kazakhstan and Georgia, both

Opposition politicians have demanded the government take drastic actions against the arriving Russians, from introducing visas to banning them completely. No such action has been taken yet.

Kazakhstan seems more welcom ing. Since the beginning of the war, the Central Asian nation of 19 mil lion has taken a course increasingly independent from its ally, Moscow, especially on the war in Ukraine.

In announcing the number of Russians crossing the border, Ka zakhstan Interior Minister Marat Akhmetzhanov said authorities won’t send home those avoiding the call-up unless they are on an international wanted list for crimi nal charges.

President Kassym-Jomart To kayev even ordered his government to help the Russians entering his country “because of the current hopeless situation.”

“We must take care of them and ensure their safety. It is a political and a humanitarian issue. I tasked the government to take the neces sary measures,” he said, adding that Kazakhstan will hold talks with Russia on the issue.

In Uralsk, volunteers helped those entering the city of 236,000. Some of them told AP that they were serving free hot meals and helping the arrivals to find accommoda tions, which were quickly filling up. Those who can’t find apartments or hotel rooms could spend the night in gyms, one volunteer said.

Dilara Mukhambetova, director of the Cinema Park theater, even said arriving Russians could sleep in her facility after she drove around the city and saw a lot of people who looked lost.

“We freed up one auditorium, organized tea, and volunteers brought hot meals,” Mukhambe tova was quoted by local media as saying. “We filled four auditori ums, [accommodating] about 200 people in total.”

UN envoy says return to war in Yemen ‘real’

By Samy Magdy The Associated Press

CAIRO—The UN envoy for Ye men warned that the risk of a return to fighting “is real,” urg ing warring parties to accept a longer extension of the current ceasefire due to expire next month.

Hans Grundberg’s stark warning late Tuesday came after he met in Saudi Arabia’s capital, Riyadh, with Rashad al-Alimi, head of the internationally recognized presidential council, and in Oman’s capital of Muscat with Moham med Abdul-Salam, the chief negotiator of the Houthi rebels. He also met with Saudi and Omani officials to push for a cease-fire extension.

Grundberg said in a statement he discussed a UN proposal to renew the truce for a longer time “to give Yemenis the opportunity to make progress on a

wider basket of priorities.”

“We are at a crossroads where the risk of a return to war is real and I am urging the parties to choose an alter native that prioritizes the needs of the Yemeni people,” he said.

The efforts to renew the cease-fire have come as the two sides held mili tary parades in territories under their control. The internationally recognized government held parades on the anni versary of 1962 uprising against the Imamate rule in northern Yemen.

The most notable parade was held by the Houthis last week in the capital of Sanaa, where they showcased a va riety of weapons—including missiles and drones—which resemble those produced by Iran, their main backer in the war. The Houthi parades were a cel ebration of their seizure of the capital Sanaa in September 2014, which trig gered the current civil war.

The UN envoy did not offer details on his proposal.

Nabil Jamel, a government negotia tor, said the UN proposal includes ways to pay civilian servants in Houthi-held territories and reopen roads of blockaded cities, including Taiz. He did not elaborate.

Reopening the roads of Taiz and other provinces are part of the UNbrokered truce, which took effect in early April and was extended twice, the second time until October 2. Both sides reported violations of the ceasefire. The truce established a partial re opening of Sanaa airport to commercial flights, and allowed fuel vessels to the port of Hodeida.

Abdul-Salam, the Houthi official in Oman, called for a permanent opening of Sanaa airport and the Red Sea ports in Hodeida, along with paying salaries and pensions, before engaging in po litical talks.

“There is no seriousness or credibil ity for any talk about peace in Yemen before the implementation of these urgent humanitarian issues,” he said on Twitter.

The truce has been the longest lull of fighting in Yemen’s war, now in its eighth year. It has brought relief for Yemenis who have suffered from a de cade of political turmoil and conflict.

Yemen’s brutal civil war began in 2014, when the Houthis seized Sanaa and much of northern Yemen and forced the government into exile. A Saudi-led coalition entered the war in early 2015 to try to restore the internationally rec ognized government to power.

The conflict has created one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises and over the years turned into a regional proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran. More than 150,000 people have been killed, including over 14,500 civilians.

TALLINN, Estonia—It took Vsevolod four days to drive from Moscow to Russia’s southern border with Georgia. He had to abandon his car at one point and continue on foot.

The Associated Press journalist Sophiko Megrelidze in Tbilisi, Georgia, contributed.

THIS satellite image provided by Maxar Technologies shows people and vehicles queuing for crossing the Upper Lars checkpoint on the Russian-Georgia border on Tuesday, September 27, 2022, after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a partial mobilization in Russia.

SATELLITE IMAGE 2022 MAXAR TECHNOLOGIES VIA AP

Yuan falls to weakest level since 2008 on signs PBOC easing grip

By Tania Chen & Chester Yung

THE onshore yuan fell to the weakest level against the dollar since the global financial crisis in 2008, amid an incessant advance in the greenback and speculation China is toning down its support for the local currency.

The onshore yuan weakened to 7.2409 per dollar, a level unseen in 14 years, while the offshore unit slid to an all-time low in data going back to 2010. The People’s Bank of China set the yuan fixing at 444 pips stronger than the average estimate in a Bloomberg survey.

The strong bias was the smallest since September 13, a sign that Beijing may be easing its support for the currency amid the green back’s surge and a plunge in global exchange rates.

“The fix allows more room for market forces to drive the yuan based on monetary policy diver gence and market momentum,” said Fiona Lim, senior foreign exchange strategist at Malayan Banking Bhd. in Singapore. “This does not mean that PBOC will not deploy other tools to prop up the yuan. We cannot help but note that the move this morning could contribute to drags on other nondollar currencies that are already under pressure.”

The onshore yuan has fallen more than 4 percent against the dollar this month and is on track for worst annual loss since 1994.

The currency is under pressure as the nation’s monetary policy diverges with the US, driving outflows. Federal Reserve offi cials including St. Louis Fed chief James Bullard on Tuesday pushed for higher interest rates to restore

price stability. Beijing on the other hand is keeping an accommodative stance amid the rising risk of de flation as demand slumps under the weight of the ongoing prop erty crisis and Covid restrictions.

The PBOC has been taking steps to support the yuan, though the moves yielded limited results. On Monday the yuan traded 1.98 per cent weaker than the reference rate set by the central bank, close to the 2 percent trading limit around the fixing. The offshore yuan weak ened as much as 1.1 percent on Wednesday to 7.2574 per dollar.

The central bank has set stron ger-than-expected yuan fixings for 25 straight sessions through Wednesday, the longest streak on record since Bloomberg started the survey in 2018. Earlier this week it imposed a risk reserve require ment of 20 percent on currency forward sales by banks to make it more expensive to short the yuan. That’s after an earlier move to re duce the foreign-currency reserve requirements for banks.

The PBOC’s softer pushback on Wednesday could be because the yuan is still holding relatively steady against currencies of its 24 major trading partners, data from a Bloomberg real-time tracker of the CFETS RMB Index show. Some analysts also speculate that China may be less resistant to a depreci ating yuan as a weaker currency

could boost exports and support the slowing economy.

Meanwhile, policymakers in Japan, South Korea and India are stepping up their currency defense as the dollar’s rally shows few signs of easing. Asian central banks may activate the ‘second line of defense’ such as macroprudential and capital accounts tools, according to a note from Nomura Holdings Inc. Taiwan officials Tuesday raised the prospect of foreign-exchange controls and a ban on stock short sales if capital outflows worsen significantly.

White House National Econom ic Council Director Brian Deese said he didn’t expect another 1985-type agreement among ma jor economies to counter the dol lar’s strength. The dollar could see further gains as US appears unconcerned over the currency’s appreciation, said Rajeev De Mello, a global macro portfolio manager at GAMA Asset Management in Geneva. “In fact, it serves them in their fight against inflation, he said.

More bearish calls on the yuan are emerging this week. Morgan Stanley sees the currency end ing the year around 7.3 per dol lar. United Overseas Bank cut its forecast for yuan to 7.25 by middle of next year, from 7.1 previously.

Dollar-onshore yuan quotes

were briefly interrupted on the China Foreign Exchange Trade System’s website and terminals including Bloomberg after 9:30 a.m. local time, according to trad ers who asked not to be identified because they aren’t authorized to speak publicly. The episode lasted for about half an hour and the CFETS price feed has since returned to normal, Bloombergcompiled data show.

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 even as the Fed hiked rates. Bloom berg Economics estimates the Fed will tighten through the rest of 2022 and 2023, and the PBOC will maintain an easing stance over the period, cutting its one-year rate to 2.45 percent by end-2023.

“China has shifted to allow exchange rate to be a shock ab sorber, and hence a more market oriented style,” said Ju Wang head of greater China foreign exchange and rates strategy at BNP Paribas SA. “It may also reflect the central bank’s judgment that the broad dollar strength is not going to ease any time soon, now it is up to the market to decide where the fair value is.” Bloomberg News

Harris seeks computer chip partners in Japan meetings

By Chris Megerian & Yuri Kageyama The Associated Press

TOKYO—Armed with a new law that boosts US support for computer chip manu facturing, Vice President Kamala Harris said the administration was looking for new investments and partnerships as she sat down with Japanese technology execu tives on Wednesday.

The morning meeting on her last full day in Tokyo reflects the administration’s focus on boost ing semiconductor manufacturing and expanding the supply chain for critical materials.

The economy’s vulnerability to disruptions in the flow of comput er chips was revealed during the pandemic, when a shortage helped increase costs and stall the assem bly of cars and other products.

“The citizens and the people of our countries rely on products without even knowing sometimes how reliant those products are on semiconductor chips,” Harris said during the meeting at the US am bassador’s residence.

With China investing in com puter chips of its own, the US is trying to increase its domestic semiconductor manufacturing while also working to solidify its technology relationships with South Korea, Taiwan and Japan.

Harris said the US understands that “no one country can satisfy

the globe’s demand” and “it is important that we and our allies partner and coordinate in a way that allows us to grow and in a way that allows us to function at a very practical level.”

Legislation signed by President Joe Biden, known as the CHIPS and Science Act, includes $52 bil lion for grants and incentives for semiconductor companies, plus a 25 percent tax credit when they invest in US facilities. There’s also about $200 billion over the next decade to support research programs.

Harris described the legisla tion as “a down payment on fu ture American leadership,” but she emphasized that “we see Japan as playing a very important and

critical role.”

Jimmy Goodrich, vice presi dent for global policy at the Semi conductor Industry Association, “there’s a big opportunity and significant space for future invest ment” involving Japan.

Although Japan was once a world leader in computer chip man ufacturing, its status has eroded over the last two decades, and the country is increasingly worried about falling behind.

Much like the United States has done, Japan has set up its own fund to support semiconductor produc tion. Out of $4.3 billion, $3.3 bil lion is being provided in subsidies for a new factory in Kumamoto, in the country’s southwest.

The facility is slated to begin production by the end of 2024, and it’s a partnership between the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufac turing Co., Sony Group and Denso.

The companies participating in the meeting with Harris include Tokyo Electron, Nikon, Hitachi High Tech Group, Fujitsu Limited, Micron and others.

When Biden was in Japan ear lier this year, the two nations agreed to work together on com puter chips, including through a joint group focused on developing more powerful technologies.

There are worries that if Ja pan is slow to act, the fruits of the Biden initiative may likely be snatched up by another, and more ready, Asian ally, South Korea.

Yasutoshi Nishimura, the Japa nese minister for economy, trade and industry, has repeatedly stressed the US-Japan alliance on semiconductors, as well as energy and other issues.

In recent meetings with US Commerce Secretary Gina Rai mondo and US Ambassador Rahm Emanuel, Nishimura has promised to set up a facility for semiconduc tor chips research in Japan this year, and expand the partnership on semiconductors with other al lies, including Europe and Taiwan.

Atsushi Sunami, who teaches at The National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies, or GRIPS, in To kyo, noted that the drawbacks to Japan tackling advanced semicon ductor technology may be rooted in the view that Japan should not get involved in defense studies.

That view stems from Japan’s role in World War II and the preva lent pacifist views, both in Japan and in international circles, that came after its defeat. But Sunami stressed a quick rethinking was in order, and the US moves, given the US-Japan alliance, could be an opportunity for Japan.

“As the US-China hegemonic competition escalates, how Japan hopes to position itself in the jock eying for international standards and rule-making, and the strategic formation of alliances among na tions, as well as among companies, will be critically meaningful,” he said in a report earlier this year.

IMF urges UK to re-evaluate tax cuts on inflation concerns

LONDON—The Internation al Monetary Fund has urged the UK government to “re evaluate” a package of unfunded tax cuts that it says may fuel in flation and is likely to increase economic inequality.

The value of the pound sagged Wednesday morning after the rare IMF warning to a Group of Seven economy, trading at under $1.07.

Treasury chief Kwasi Kwarteng was meeting Wednesday with ex ecutives from investment banks as the Conservative government seeks to soothe markets.

The government of Prime Min ister Liz Truss on Friday unveiled a 45 billion-pound ($48 billion) package of tax cuts in an effort to spur economic growth. But the plan wasn’t accompanied by spending cuts, or even an inde pendent cost estimate, raising concerns that it would swell gov ernment debt and add to infla tion that is already running at close to a 40-year high.

“Given elevated inflation pres sures in many countries, including the UK, we do not recommend large and untargeted fiscal packages at this juncture, as it is important that fiscal policy does not work at cross purposes to monetary poli cy,” the IMF said in a statement. “Furthermore, the nature of the UK measures will likely increase inequality.”

The British pound fell to a record low against the US dol lar of $1.0373 on Monday amid investor concern about the gov ernment’s policies. The Bank of England on Monday sought to

stabilize markets, saying that it was prepared to raise inter est rates “as much as needed” to rein in inflation. But the bank’s next scheduled meeting is not until November, and the lack of immediate action did little to bolster the pound.

The British currency is still down 4 percent since Friday, and pound has fallen 20 per cent against the dollar in the past year.

The turmoil is already having real-world effects, with British mortgage lenders pulling hun dreds of offers from the market amid expectations the Bank of England will sharply boost in terest rates to offset the infla tionary impact of the pound’s recent slide.

The UK government says it will set out a more detailed fiscal plan and independent analysis from the Office for Budget Responsibility on November 23.

“The Nov. 23 budget will pres ent an early opportunity for the UK government to consider ways to provide support that is more targeted and reevaluate the tax measures, especially those that benefit high income earners,” the IMF said.

In response, the UK Treasury said the government was “focused on growing the economy to raise living standards for everyone.”

The November statement will set out further details of the gov ernment’s plan and ensure that debt falls as a share of gross do mestic product “in the medium term,” a spokesman said. AP

Thailand raises rate by quarter point, moves less than peers

By Suttinee Yuvejwattana

THAILAND’S central bank raised borrowing costs by a quarter-point, putting it further behind the policy tighten ing that peers in the region have done to tame inflation and stem currency weakness. The baht ex tended its decline.

The Bank of Thailand’s mon etary policy committee voted unanimously to raise the oneday repurchase rate by 25 basis points to 1 percent on Wednesday, as seen by 18 of 23 economists in a Bloomberg survey. The panel is ready to be more flexible in the pace and timing of future actions depending on growth and price conditions, it said in a statement, while reiterating it will pursue a gradual approach to shield a fragile economic recovery.

The impact of interest rate to the currency isn’t clear “so we don’t think we need to shift mon etary policy” because of the baht’s weakness, said Piti Disyatat, MPC secretary said at a briefing. For eign exchange is just one of the factors affecting the price and growth objectives of monetary policy, he said.

The baht weakened by as much as 1 percent against the dollar to 38.342 after missing the expec tations of five economists for a 50 basis-point increase. “With only one more policy meeting this year, today’s 25 basis point adjustment is a lost opportunity to narrow the rate differential with the Fed,” said Eugenia Fabon Victorino, head of Asia strategy at Skandinaviska Enskilda Ban ken AB in Singapore.

“The Thai economy will con tinue to recover but with increased inflation risks,” according to the BOT. “The policy rate should be normalized in a gradual and mea sured manner to the level that is consistent with sustainable

growth in the long term.”

The move cement’s the BOT’s position as among the least hawk ish in Asia, where even laggards Indonesia and Vietnam have delivered steeper hikes to fight inflation and support their cur rencies. As the Federal Reserve’s hawkish approach to return price gains to target exposes emerging markets in the region to the risk of more capital outflows, BOT may find itself having to raise rates slowly for longer to halt the rout in its currency.

The baht’s decline to a 16-year low against the dollar has already raised concerns about rising pro duction costs and imported infla tion, with price gains hovering at a fresh 14-year high of 7.86 percent as of August. BOT has stepped in to curb excessive volatility in the baht, Piti said.

The central bank maintained that the weak baht has yet to affect the economy, as it hadn’t seeped into inflation even as it described the recent depreciation as “rapid.”

The BOT vowed to “continue to closely monitor developments in the financial and exchange rate markets, especially in the period of heightened volatilities.”

The central bank retained the economy’s annual growth out look for this year at 3.3 percent, which puts it on course for the slowest expansion in Southeast Asia. Growth next year is ex pected to improve slightly to 3.8 percent, although lower than the 4.2 percent forecast previously.

The central bank sees headline inflation to average 6.3 percent this year, and fall back within target to 2.6 next year.

The monetary authority revised higher its estimate for foreign tourist arrival to 9.5 million this year and 21 million in 2023, from a previous forecast of 6 million for 2022 and 19 million for next year.

THE onshore yuan weakened to 7.2409 per dollar, a level unseen in 14 years, while the offshore unit slid to an all-time low in data going back to 2010. BLOOMBERG

US

Agriculture/Commodities

BusinessMirror

PHL raw sugar output as of Sept. 11 doubles

By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas @jearcalas

THE country’s raw sugar pro duction as of September 11 doubled to 41,761 metric tons (MT) from 20,791 MT recorded a year ago, the latest data from the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) showed.

SRA data indicated that the increase in raw sugar output was due to the hike in the volume of sugarcane milled and the improvement in sugar yield.

During the period, the total vol ume of sugarcane milled reached 533,440 MT, 92.78 percent higher than the 276,705 MT recorded a year ago, based on SRA data.

Sugar milling recovery, measured in terms of 50-kilogram bags per ton cane milled (LKg/TC), rose to 1.63 from 1.51 last year.

Despite an increase in production, SRA data showed that the country’s total raw sugar supply as of Septem ber 11 declined by 35.85 percent to 175,270 MT from 273,198 MT due

to lower carry-over stocks.

Also, raw sugar demand fell by 11.1 percent to 27,839 MT from last year’s 31,315 MT.

Total raw sugar balance at mill site, which is computed as the dif ference between total supply and demand, was estimated at 147,431 MT, 39.05 percent lower than last year’s 241,883 MT.

SRA data showed that total physical sugar stock as of Septem ber 11 stood at 138,866.12 MT as 8,564.88 MT of the raw sugar bal

ance at millsite were transferred to sugar refineries.

Refined sugar production dur ing the reference period reached 12,954.80 MT, based on SRA data. There was no refined sugar output in the same period of last year as refin ing operations started earlier in the current crop year.

SRA data showed that total physi cal refined sugar stock as of Septem ber 11 stood at 138,946.85 MT of which 108,230.5 MT were imported under Sugar Order (SO) 3 during the

Govt urged to tweak plans that aim to raise rice output

By Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz @joveemarie

ALAWMAKER has expressed confidence that President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. as secretary of the Department of Agri culture (DA) will address the problem of farmers from “a more holistic per spective,” but he says plans to resur rect Masagana 99 should be tweaked.

Camarines Sur Rep. Gabriel Bor dado Jr. of the Liberal Party said ev ery aspect of the agricultural supply chain, from farm to market, must be studied and appropriate solutions developed for each area with similar characteristics and problems.

“Some of Masagana 99’s pre vious strategies and approaches could be used to improve farmers’ social and economic conditions, but changes are required,” Assistant Minority Leader Bordado said.

“There were several factors which contributed to the decline of Masaga na 99 and its eventual ‘death,’ so I do hope that this will not be repeated in this Masagana 150 Program, which should be using certified seeds and the Masagana 200 Program, which will be using hybrid seeds.”

The Masagana 99 under the Green Revolution Program was launched in 1973 by former President Ferdinand Marcos and his wife, Rep. Imelda Romualdez-Marcos. The program aimed to produce 99 sacks of rice per hectare to address the country’s acute rice shortage.

Meanwhile, Bordado lauded the DA for the programs that will ad dress the issues that local farmers are currently facing.

“I actually commend the Depart ment of Agriculture for coming up

with programs and projects which will address the current crisis.”

During the Department of Ag riculture’s budget deliberation last week, Bordado expressed optimism about Marcos’s agricultural plans.

“The president [also] said that he will financially equip farmers and fishers and allow them to be more competitive and competent. Consistent with his pronounce ments in the past, Madam Speaker, the President said that he would prioritize Philippine agriculture by pushing for the mechanization and modernization of the sector.”

At the same budget deliberation, Bordado made sure that the depart ment’s proposed budget would ben

efit the entire country, rather than just the National Capital Region, which is far from an agricultural hub.

The Camarines Sur represen tative was also concerned about the status of the Bayanihan 2 un obligated allotment funds, ensur ing that taxpayer money is spent wisely and that funds are allocated to food producers.

Bordado inquired about the success of increasing crop yield through the implementation of the “Plant, Plant, Plant” program, given the reported scarcity of many food commodities.

He also criticized the approach of a top official of the Department of Agriculture to the issue of oversup ply of some agricultural products,

alleging that farmers were to blame for failing to consider the market.

For Bordado, it was uncalled for and solutions should have been pre sented instead.

Bordado also noted the disparities in the distribution of fertilizer reim bursements to farmer-beneficiaries.

The sponsor of the Agriculture Department budget told lawmakers that the matter is being investigated.

Bordado said he wanted to ensure the welfare of farmers and fisher men. Prior to becoming a politician, he worked in the agriculture sec tor through the Agriculture Credit Policy Council which was previously known as the Technical Board for Agricultural Credit.

FAO: Optimizing water use is key for agrifood systems

AWHOPPING 85 percent of the increase in global crop land over the last decade was irrigated land, highlighting the importance of greater agricultural yields to feed the world and also the urgency of efficient use of water, ac cording to Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Qu Dongyu.

Qu made the statement during a ministerial-level event, “Act on Wa ter to Feed the World: Sustainable Water Allocation to Create a Food Secure World for all,” organized by the Netherlands and Tajikistan, on the sidelines of the 77th UN General Assembly last September 22.

Irrigation brings higher yields yet at the same time producing food for

a growing population increases pres sure on water resources. Numerous droughts and associated water short ages around the world this year have underscored the importance of find ing solutions, Qu noted.

Liesie Schreinemacher, Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation of the Netherlands, hosted the event in a bid to explore possibilities and identify ways to improve alignment between water policy, allocation and management under the aegis of food security goals.

As a result the Minister announced $5 million from the Kingdom of Netherlands for FAO’s WaPOR proj ect to support the water action agen da to make food and drinking water available to all ahead of the UN 2023

Water Conference that will be hosted by the Netherlands and Tajikistan.

“Clean and plentiful water is criti cal for agriculture and for ending hunger, a core FAO mandate,” said the Director-General, speaking live from Washington D.C. He stressed that as agriculture already accounts for more than 70 percent of global freshwater withdrawals, the sector “must produce more nutritious food with less water, and with less inputs overall, to avoid negative environmental impacts.”

Finding solutions

FAO said it works with its members and partners to find solutions to im prove water use.

Among FAO’s projects are modern ization plans for large-scale irrigation

schemes to make rain-fed agriculture more resilient and productive, as well as technical work to support sound water policies and investments in infrastructure and research.

“Data and monitoring are key for information sharing, effective response and efficient planning,” Qu said.

One of FAO’s ongoing initiative is the WaPOR project in Africa and the Near East, which monitors Water Productivity through Open Access Data. The system uses satellite re mote sensing to monitor water use and crop production on a granular scale, providing information that helps policy makers make informed decisions, prepare for drought, and optimize farm outputs.

previous crop year.

Total physical refined stock was 15.43 percent lower than last year’s 164,304 MT.

Based on SRA data the average re tail price of raw sugar in Metro Manila as of September 9 reached P73.46 per kilogram while that of refined sugar stood at P96.2 per kilogram.

Last week, the SRA said retail prices of refined sugar may soon stabilize as shipments under the 150,000-MT importation program will start arriv ing as early as next month. (Related

story: https://businessmirror.com. ph/2022/09/21/with-so2-shipmentdue-sugar-prices-to-decline/)

The SRA issued SO 1, which for malized the sugar policy for crop year 2022-2023, on September 13.

Under SO 1, the SRA board al located all raw sugar production for the current crop year for domestic use. Based on SO 1, the projected raw sugar output in the current crop year would be 1.876 million MT, relatively flat from the previous crop year’s 1.815 MMT output.

RISE Coco project to rehabilitate Odette-hit coconut farms in Bohol

NINE

months since Superty phoon Odette (international name Rai) felled over 3 mil lion coconut trees in the province of Bohol, Cargill Philippines has partnered with CARE Philippines, Cebu-Bohol Relief and Rehabilitation Center (CRRC), and the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) to replant 100,000 coconut seedlings in dev astated local communities through the RISE Coco (Recovery Interven tion for Severely Affected Coconut Farming Communities of Bohol by Supertyphoon Odette) project.

More than 10 million coconut trees were damaged in several ar eas nationwide and gravely affected farming families whose livelihood was dependent on producing copra.

The Bohol provincial PCA already pledged to initially replace felled trees with 500,000 dwarf variety seedlings in February. This variety takes three to four years to bear fruit compared to the hybrid variety which takes five years to yield. How ever, with no other means to pro vide for their families, farmers are already finding it difficult to bounce back while waiting for harvest. The available coconut seedlings were very limited and were allocated to only a few municipalities. To bridge this gap, coconut farmers supported by this project decided to establish their own community-based seed beds to propagate coconut seedlings for re-planting.

Through the RISE Coco Project, 1,000 coconut farming households in the municipalities of Calape, Cat igbian, Loon, and San Isidro will be able to gradually recover and sustain their coconut farming livelihoods. The project focuses on replacing the damaged coconut trees, training the farmers on sustainable agriculture, providing alternative livelihoods while waiting for the coconut trees to bear fruit, and organizing the farmers into cooperatives to have better access to markets and cor porate buyers.

The project was officially launched on September 15, at the Calape For est Resort and was attended by al most 100 participants from the local government offices, PCA officials, Cargill, CARE, CRRC and farmer leaders in the province. As the first coconut disaster rehabilitation pro gram in the province spearheaded by the private sector, the project is strongly supported by the provincial government of Bohol and the mu nicipal mayors of the four covered municipalities. PCA, including its regional and provincial offices, also

expressed commitment to provide technical assistance during the proj ect implementation.

PCA Region 7 Manager Brendan Trasmonte acknowledged the critical and challenging role that the PCA will play in the success of the proj ect as it needs quality seed nuts and seedlings and the technical knowl edge of coconut farmers to sustain and expand their sources of income beyond coconut farming.

This project partnership is anchored on a global agreement between Cargill and CARE In ternational to work together to implement programs that would rehabilitate livelihoods impacted by disasters, support recovery and promote food security of affected farming communities.

“It’s our way of supporting the rehabilitation of the livelihoods of the coconut farmers of Bohol severely impacted by the climateinduced Supertyphoon Odette— the same coconut farmers who have been our reliable suppliers of copra over the years which we in turn crush at our General Santos City plant into world-class crude coconut oil,” said Cargill Philip pines’ Corporate Affairs Director Christopher Matthew Ilagan.

Cargill’s Copra & Palm Origina tion Commercial Director, Jona than Sumpaico added, “Cargill is committed to grow with the com munities where we live and work.

The RISE Coco program, as part of our broader partnership with CARE Philippines, allows us to put that commitment into action by ensuring the farmers affected by the Supertyphoon produce sustain ably grown copra and continue to benefit from responsible economic development as our partners.”

Meanwhile, CARE Philippines Country Director David Gazashvili sees the project as a way to develop the resiliency of coconut farming communities against the drastic ef fects of climate change.

“Farmers will be trained to in crease their capacities to better prepare for disasters alongside lo cal government structures. This implies ensuring the availability of food for their family and commu nity and ability to cope and bounce back through other sources of in come and immediate government support,” he said.

The RISE Coco project is led by CARE Philippines and is being im plemented with CRRC with active participation from Cargill employees across all project areas.

Nickel spreads collapse as banks face soaring financing costs

NICKEL

sales by commoditiesdealing banks hit by soaring borrowing costs have caused spot contracts to plunge to the deep est discount to futures since the 2008 financial crisis.

The jump in the dollar and bor rowing costs have made it much more expensive for banks to finance London Metal Exchange (LME) po sitions in recent days, particularly for European institutions funding dollar-based deals. Nickel is the

highest-priced metal actively traded on the LME, and moves in currency and rates markets have left lenders rushing to unload positions that are becoming more costly to hold, accord ing to several traders involved in the market.

Spot prices typically trade at nar row discounts to three-month futures when supply is ample, in a condition known as contango. But the spread has widened dramatically, hitting negative $167 a ton on Monday.

“The reality of the situation is that banks have been sitting on met als to finance, and nickel is one of the more expensive metals to hold,” Alastair Munro, a commodities sales executive at Marex, said by phone. “You can see from the moves in the spreads that this is a risk-reduction event, and any bank that’s active in financing will have been involved.”

The change in the spread is a big turnaround from earlier this year, when short-term nickel pric

es fetched a steep premium, in dicating tight supply. The closely watched cash-to-three-month mea sure spiked to more than $800 during an unprecedented squeeze in March, which nearly led to the collapse of Tsingshan Holding Group Co., the world’s top producer of nickel and stainless steel.

The main driver of the plunging spread over the past week has been selling on the part of banks who’ve held nearby positions as hedges against

long-term sales to carmakers, who use nickel in electric-vehicle batteries, traders said. There have been similar moves in longer-dated spreads, which aren’t as actively traded and are pri marily used to hedge long-term expo sure in physical markets.

Volkswagen AG has been particu larly active in hedging its exposure to nickel prices, covering a portion of its requirements up to nine years ahead. That’s made it one of the larg est holders of long positions in Lon

don nickel contracts, and it reaped a $3.8 billion windfall on those and other commodity positions earlier this year as prices surged.

But prices have since slid, with fears over curbs on Russian supply giving way to worries about a wors ening demand outlook. Benchmark three-month prices fell 0.6 percent after earlier dropping as much as 1.2 percent to $21,950 a ton on Tuesday —compared with a peak of $55,000 during the March squeeze. Bloomberg News

FRESHLY harvested rice in the Philippines is shown in this file photo. BLOOMBERG NEWS

Ban commercial fishing in municipal waters

IN2021, the country’s total fisheries production was recorded at 4.25 million metric tons, from 4.40 million metric tons a year ago, representing an annual decrease of 3.4 percent. This was brought about by the decreases in production from commercial and marine municipal fisheries and aquaculture, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority. PSA data also showed that fish catch from 2010 to 2021 has continuously declined at 49,449 MT yearly, or more than 494,490 MT over the 10year period, manifesting that stocks have breached their productive capacity due to overfishing

An international advocacy organization last week said the government should consider implementing three major policies to attain food security, particularly self-sufficiency in fish and marine products. Atty. Gloria Estenzo Ramos, Oceana Philippines vice president, urged President Marcos to stop fish importation; implement an inclusive, science-based fisheries management plan; and prosecute commercial fishers encroaching in municipal water. (Read, “Self-sufficiency in marine products key to security,” in the BusinessMirror, September 23, 2022).

“We are already feeling the pinch of a global food crisis, including decreasing national fish stock. The country’s aquaculture and marine resources should be prioritized as a major source of food and nutrition for Filipinos, but these continue to degrade because of lack of political will to fully and vigorously implement fishery laws, policies and regulations,” said Ramos.

It would do well for the President, as the concurrent Agriculture chief, and the chief of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources to focus on restoring the country’s rich marine resources through the strict implementation of the Fisheries Code as amended, or RA 10654, Ramos said. The law mandates protection of the 15-kilometer municipal waters from commercial fishing operations. Ramos also cited the anemic implementation of the DA-BFAR Fisheries Administrative Order No. 263 that delineates the country’s surrounding oceans into 12 Fisheries Management Areas (FMAs).

“While there are initial successes in Eastern Visayas, Zamboanga Peninsula and Davao regions, and the 12 FMAs have their respective management boards and scientific advisory groups, much is still to be desired in the implementation of their FMA management plans to effectively restore our fishing grounds and ensure that small fisher folk are provided ample assistance for their livelihood, post-harvest facilities and perhaps fuel and food subsidies to improve their income and their families’ well-being,” Ramos said.

A fishery expert, Dr. Wilfredo Campos of the University of the PhilippinesVisayas, said the fishing sector has been hounded by compounding challenges for decades, including overfishing, made worse by persistent illegal commercial fishing in municipal waters.

To solve the problem of illegal commercial fishing in municipal waters, Oceana is calling for full compliance of the law through the installation of vessel monitoring devices in all registered and qualified commercial fishing vessels to augment monitoring, control and surveillance efforts of LGUs and enforcement agencies tasked to protect the preferential rights of artisanal fisher folk over the use of municipal waters.

Ramos said several municipal mayors are establishing and strengthening their alliances to protect their municipal waters from intrusion by commercial fishing operators, and other threats to the source of livelihood and incomes of their fisher folk and constituents.

The Philippines has eight times more water than land area, which should be able to provide adequate livelihood to our fisher folk. And we have many experts in the field of fisheries and aquaculture. We should have what it takes to produce the country’s need for fish and seafood. As pointed out earlier, we need serious implementation of FMA management plans to effectively restore our fishing grounds and ensure that small fisher folk are provided ample assistance for their livelihood. And the best way to do this is to prosecute commercial fishers encroaching in municipal waters.

Negroni cocktail time

OUTSIDE THE BOX

after cooking the corpses.

SocIoPATh

y is another term for Anti-Social Personality Disorder. “It’s a mental health condition where somebody persistently has difficulty engaging appropriately with social norms.” The science says that “they often break rules or laws and can behave aggressively or impulsively.”

That sounds pretty negative, but it also sounds like most of us struggling with puberty or even a “bad hair day.” One common attribute of anti-social behavior is having a shortage of empathy. Empathy is the capacity to understand what another person is experiencing from within their frame of reference. They have difficulty understanding another person’s perspective.

However, on the other side, a “positive sociopath” with low empathy can tend to view everyone as equal, meaning not thinking and living by the normal social norms that one race, one religion, one skin color, or one culture is any better than another. If there is no “one” that is better, it also means that there is no “one” that is worse.

A “positive sociopath” would more easily adjust to changing situations since he or she might not view the “old

ways” as being any better as something new that might come along.

There is much confusion that comes to me head on through comments and messages that are more frequent as the days go on and the world seems to be deteriorating. Old ideas and old paradigms do not provide the comfort that they used to and we all—humans and animals and maybe even plants—love our “comfort zone.” Even that phase is comforting; an encircled spot of physical and mental ease and freedom from pain.

The last few months may have destroyed your sense of “empathy,” that is knowing/understanding how the world should function especially as regards money. It has been like finding out that your friendly and generous next-door neighbor has been arrested for being a serial killer, burying the bodies in the backyard

Remember being told that cryptocurrencies would protect against the inflation that would destroy the dollar’s purchasing power? Michael J. Saylor is a Bitcoin billionaire and deserves both our admiration and envy. Why not? I wish I was a Bitcoin billionaire. He posted on Twitter that currencies have collapsed against the dollar over the past year. He is absolutely correct. But what he did not mention is that BTC is one of, if not the worst performing civilized “currency” down 58 percent during the past 12 months, even worse than his most extreme example, the Turkish lira having fallen 52 percent. Actually, cryptos might not have been a bad idea for us in the Philippines at the right price, as always.

People have come to expect that the currency of a “basket-case” economy led by a corrupt and incompetent government—Argentina for example—to fall to historic lows against the dollar during difficult times. But how can rational minds not have the skulls holding their brains explode when on the same day that “Philippine peso hits all-time low,” “Sterling hits all-time low.”

Anyone with even a sliver of empathy for fellow humans knows that we must sacrifice to save Mother Earth. Then we read that “the fake meat industry is getting ground into hamburger,” according to Deloitte Consulting, with “sales of meat al-

ternatives at retailers are down 10.5 percent by volume for the 52-weeks ending September 4, 2022.” McDonald’s even eliminated their test “McPlant Burger” without telling anyone.

Home to the European Commission and the European Council, Belgium is at the forefront of bringing a New World Order based on the European Union model. Now though, Bart De Wever, mayor of Belgium’s largest city of Antwerp seems to be “sociopathic” with “difficulty engaging appropriately with social norms.”

“In America people are not in this shit. Oil, gas, and coal were no longer allowed. No investments were allowed in reserves. Germany does not have a single LNG terminal (a terminal for the liquefied natural gas being imported from the US and Middle East). The dumbest countries, Germany and Belgium, have phased out nuclear energy. We have pushed away all energy sources, making ourselves dependent on Putin.” It is unlikely that Mayor Wever will be invited to European Commission President Von der Leyen’s Christmas party this year.

It’s all enough to make a grown man shed a tear into his Negroni cocktail. But then again, time for us sociopaths to have another.

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.

Kremlin announces vote, paves way to annex part of Ukraine

By Adam Schreck & Jon Gambrell | The Associated Press

Ky I V, Ukraine—The Kremlin paved the way Tuesday to annex more of Ukraine and escalate the war by claiming that residents of a large swath overwhelmingly supported joining with Russia in stage-managed referendums the US and its Western allies have dismissed as illegitimate.

Pro-Moscow officials said all four occupied regions of Ukraine voted to join Russia. According to Russiainstalled election officials, 93% of the ballots cast in the Zaporizhzhia region supported annexation, as did 87 percent in the Kherson region, 98 percent in the Luhansk region and 99 percent in Donetsk. Possibly explaining the lower favorable vote in Kherson is that Russian authorities there have faced a strong Ukrainian underground resistance movement whose members have killed Moscow-appointed officials and threatened those who considered voting.

In a remark that appeared to rule out negotiations, Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelenskyy told the UN Security Council by video from Kyiv that Russia’s attempts to annex Ukrainian territory will mean “there is nothing to talk about with

this president of Russia.”

He added that “any annexation in the modern world is a crime, a crime against all states that consider the inviolability of border to be vital for themselves.”

The preordained outcome sets the stage for a dangerous new phase in Russia’s seven-month war, with the Kremlin threatening to throw more troops into the battle and potentially use nuclear weapons.

The referendums asking residents whether they wanted the four occupied southern and eastern Ukraine regions to be incorporated into Russia began September 23, often with armed officials going doorto-door collecting votes.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to address Russia’s parliament about the referendums on Friday, and Valentina Matviyenko, who chairs the body’s upper house,

said lawmakers could consider annexation legislation on October 4.

Meanwhile, Russia ramped up warnings that it could deploy nuclear weapons to defend its territory, including newly acquired land, and continued mobilizing more than a quarter-million additional troops to deploy to a front line of more than 1,000 kms (more than 620 miles).

After the balloting, “the situation will radically change from the legal viewpoint, from the point of view of international law, with all the corresponding consequences for protection of those areas and ensuring their security,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Tuesday.

Many Western leaders have called the referendum a sham, and the UN Security Council met Tuesday in New York to discuss the voting, with the US and Albania planning to introduce a resolution that says the results will never be accepted and that the four regions remain part of Ukraine. Russia is certain to veto the resolution.

The balloting and a call-up of Russian military reservists that Putin ordered last Wednesday are aimed at buttressing Moscow’s exposed military and political positions.

The referendums follow a familiar Kremlin playbook for territorial expansion and more aggressive military action. In 2014, Russian authorities held a similar referendum on Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula, under the close watch of Russian troops. Based on the voting, Russia annexed Crimea. Putin cited the defense of Russians living in Ukraine’s eastern regions, their supposed desires to join with Russia, and an existential security threat to Russia as a pretext for his February 24 invasion of Ukraine.

Putin has been talking up Moscow’s nuclear option since Ukrainians launched a counteroffensive that reclaimed territory and has increasingly cornered his forces. A top Putin aide ratcheted up the nuclear rhetoric Tuesday.

“Let’s imagine that Russia is forced to use the most powerful weapon against the Ukrainian regime that has committed a largescale act of aggression, which is dangerous for the very existence of our state,” Dmitry Medvedev, deputy head of the Russian Security Council that Putin chairs, wrote on his messaging app channel. “I believe that

“Kremlin” A15

John Mangun

Secretary Bautista pursues infra projects for PHL recovery

LITO GAGNI

AmId the challenging environment in the global economy, dOTr Secretary Jimmy Bautista is pursuing big infra projects seen propeling the Philippines to middle-income status with a mindset that has earned plaudits for his stewardship then in the na tion’s flag carrier, Philippine Airlines. The low-key secretary, tapped to head the department of Transportation, unveiled his thrust for the agency in a testimonial that the University of the East tendered on monday night at the makati diamond Residences.

Bautista, who was part of the team that nurtured the university back to financial health after a catastrophic slide when a religious organization took control of it in the early ’90s, shared his vision for the country on rails, airports, seaports, busways, inter-operability of tollways and other modes of transport. These in fra projects will see the Philippines journey to middle-income status and to achieve this, the DOTr secretary said the agency vowed to expedite right-of-way issues that have here tofore delayed major infra projects before. In a sense, Secretary Bautista is providing a private sector mindset for the public good.

The infra projects seem daunting but Bautista told his fellow Warriors that a “source of his strength is that you have my back” and vowed to “achieve what the department had set out to do.” Bautista has a soft heart for the University of the East having been there for 31 years and a month until he was selected to head the agency and that is why he was game for the testimonial though he has just arrived a day early from a trip in new york with President Bongbong Marcos Jr. to woo foreign investors.

In a way, Bautista is “benchmark ing” his thrust at the DOTr to the programs that he adapted with the late banking icon P.O. Domingo that saw the transformation of UE from a debt-ridden school to a cash-rich university with new buildings. A fortnight ago, he said he witnessed the signing ceremonies for a CaviteSangley airport and aside from that he bared the upcoming completion of the P715 billion Bulacan airport “to decongest the nAIA airport. Also in the pipeline are the Cebu Interna tional Seaport, Davao rail line, and Metro Manila subway. And there are air assets expected to be purchased, as well as new vessels to beef up the country’s maritime industry.

Aside from this, Bautista bared the department’s push for new rail lines that, with the new airports and seaports, will “perk up the agricul ture and tourism industry.” The push

for agriculture and tourism, seen insulating the economy from the pernicious effects of the pandemic, is akin to Bautista’s program then in PAL where he earned for the airline the Four Star Major Regional Air line award in 2019 from the Airline Passenger Experience Association, a US-based travel organization that tracked travelers’ experience about airlines. It can be said that his DOTr stint will be the apex of his many ac complishments in life.

Consider the impact of some of the infra projects that he enumer ated in his address before his beloved “alma mater”: The north-South rail line from Tutuban to Malolos will cut travel time from an hour and a half to just 35 minutes; the new Cebu seaport will process 14,404 container vans daily; the rail extension of LRT line 1 to Cavite will shorten travel time from Baclaran to Bacoor to just 25 minutes; the unified grand central that will host LRT1, MRT 3 and MRT 7 will offer intermodal passenger ac cess to buses; and the Carousel bay will be modernized to allow PWDfriendly walkways, bicycle access, and tons of CCT v cameras.

“These are ambitious projects,” said Bautista, but he vowed to achieve what he had set out to do, backed by his desire to be of help to the coun try’s economic resurgence. He has provided much inspiration to this love-of-country paradigm. One sees him at the budget hearing appealing for legislative action for the infra pro grams of the department, at other times he is at the training pool of a new PnR coach, and still others in a huddle with his undersecretaries for a new approach to old problems.

The infra projects are expected to provide the buffer zone for the country to overcome the pandem ic’s effects. And it is comforting to see someone head a department willing to overcome the challenge and providing the kind of private sector mentality to untangle the bureaucracy’s slow-poke mindset. That is what Secretary Bautista conveyed to the UE community and beyond.

The integral role of Asean in European businesses amid global uncertainties

By Chris Humphrey

IF there were any doubts about Southeast Asia as the region of best economic opportunity, the results of the 2022 EU-Asean Business Sentiment Survey would put them to rest.

More than any other country or region—think China, India and Europe—European businesses sur veyed view Asean as a market that has become indispensable in terms of worldwide revenues over the past two years, and almost all expect a boom in profit for their operations in the region.

Against the backdrop of ongoing geopolitical tensions, rising infla tion, and global supply chain disrup tions, European businesses continue to regard Asean positively, citing strong economic recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic and an improve ment in infrastructure across the region as key reasons.

The EU-Asean Business Senti ment Survey is an annual exercise to gauge the views of the European business community towards Asean. Results are a litmus test to reveal the ever-evolving business relationships between Europe and Asean.

Improvements needed on AEC, ATIGA

BUT it is not all rosy—for all that Asean Member States are doing to achieve their goal of becoming a single economic community, survey respondents do not regard regional economic integration as a dealmaker for their businesses.

Less than a third of respondents polled have business strategies based on the Asean Economic Community, with a significant number indicating

Kremlin . . . continued from A14

nato will steer clear from direct meddling in the conflict.”

The United States has dismissed the Kremlin’s nuclear talk as a scare tactic.

The referendums asked residents whether they want the areas to be incorporated into Russia, and the Kremlin has portrayed them as free and fair, reflective of the people’s desire for self-determination.

Tens of thousands of residents had already fled the regions because of the war, and images shared by those who remained showed armed Russian troops going door-to-door to pressure Ukrainians into voting.

Mariupol Mayor vadym Boy chenko, who left the port city af ter the Russians seized it after a months-long siege, said only about 20 percent of the 100,000 estimated remaining residents cast ballots in the Donetsk referendum. Mariupol’s pre-war population was 541,000.

“A man toting an assault rifle comes to your home and asks you

there was not enough progress on the AEC to warrant such a regional strategy. For Asean, this may be an important area to focus on going forward if the intended benefits of Europe’s interest in the region are to have a more widespread impact.

That said, the number of Euro pean companies who believe the AEC has had a positive impact on their business activity has grown year on year. What they hope to see from Asean are more progress in harmo nising standards and regulations, the removal of non-tariff barriers to trade, and simplified customs pro cedures for seamless flow of goods across borders.

These, along with a chapter on e-commerce, were also reflected in businesses’ response on what they think should be included in the up grade of the Asean Trade in Goods Agreement. The main instrument driving the region’s economic in tegration efforts, ATIGA is being reviewed to ensure Asean remains relevant and responsive to regional and global developments.

More trade deals

AS with the last two years, nearly all respondents held the view that the EU should be accelerating nego tiations on trade deals with Asean Member States. There was also an overwhelming increase in those who thought that a comprehensive region-to-region Free Trade Agree

to vote, so what can people do?” Boychenko asked during a news conference, explaining how people were coerced into voting.

Western allies sided firmly with Ukraine, dismissing the referendum votes as a meaningless sham.

British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said the ballots were “a desperate move” by Putin. French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna said while visiting Kyiv on Tuesday that France was determined “to sup port Ukraine and its sovereignty and territorial integrity” and described the ballots as “mock referendums.”

Elsewhere, trouble emerged for Putin in the mass call-up he ordered of Russians to active military duty.

The order has triggered an exo dus of nearly 200,000 men from Russia, fueled anti-war protests and sparked violence. On Monday, a gun man opened fire in an enlistment office in a Siberian city and gravely wounded the local chief military recruitment officer. Scattered arson attacks had been reported earlier on other enlistment offices.

One destination of fleeing Rus sian men is Kazakhstan, which re

ment (FTA) between the EU and Asean should commence now.

Businesses believe a region-toregion deal would deliver more ben efits than a series of bilateral deals —but we must recognize that such a deal is very difficult to achieve. Addi tionally, eight out of 10 respondents felt that more trade deals would help their businesses. When asked which country the EU should next begin FTA negotiations with, Thailand topped the list yet again, like it did in 2021.

Climate action

GI v En that the EU prides itself on being the world’s climate leader, it comes as no surprise that firms see sustainability issues as the area in which the EU has the most influ ence on Asean.

In recent years, the EU has in creasingly tightened its climate change policies, some of which have caused rifts in diplomatic relations with its partners in Asean. Most recently, the European Parliament has voted to widen a legislation to restrict goods into the EU that come from supply chains associated with deforestation.

There is also a proposal to require companies to conduct human rights and environmental due diligence across the whole of their business. Despite these developments that could upend business as usual, firms surveyed felt that overall, the EU’s sustainability policies would have a positive impact on Asean.

On the other hand, most respon dents felt that Asean as a region was not serious enough about meeting sustainability goals, and that the goals themselves were not ambitious

ported Tuesday that about 98,000 Russians have crossed into Kazakh stan over the past week.

The European Union’s border and coast guard agency says 66,000 Rus sian citizens entered the 27-nation bloc from September 19 to 25, a 30 percent increase over the preced ing week.

Russian officials tried to inter cept some of the fleeing reservists on one of the main exodus routes, issuing conscription notices on the Georgian border. According to the state-run Tass agency, an enlist ment task force was handing out notices at the verkhnii Lars check point, where an estimated 5,500 cars were lining up to cross. Independent Russian news sources have reported unconfirmed claims that draft-age men will be banned from leaving after the referendum.

As Moscow worked to build up its troops in Ukraine, potentially send ing them to supplement its prox ies who have been fighting in the separatist regions for the past eight years, Russian shelling continued to claim lives. Russian barrages killed at least 11 civilians and wounded 18

Iran’s anti-veil protests draw on long history of resistance

By AMIR-HUSSEIN RADJY The Associated Press

AyOUnG woman climbs to the top of a car in the middle of Mashhad, a conservative Iranian city famed for its Islamic shrines. She takes off her headscarf and starts chanting, “Death to the dictator!” Protesters nearby join in and cars honk in support.

For many Iranian women, it’s an image that would have been unthink able just a decade ago, said Fatemeh Shams, who grew up in Mashhad.

“When you see Mashhad women coming to the streets and burning their veils publicly, this is really a rev olutionary change. Iranian women are putting an end to a veiled society and the compulsory veil,” she said.

Iran has seen multiple eruptions of protests over the past years, many of them fueled by anger over eco nomic difficulties. But the new wave is showing fury against something

at the heart of the identity of Iran’s cleric-led state: the compulsory veil.

Iran’s Islamic Republic requires women to cover up in public, includ ing wearing a “hijab” or headscarf that is supposed to completely hide the hair. Many Iranian women, es pecially in major cities, have long played a game of cat-and-mouse with authorities, with younger gen erations wearing loose scarves and outfits that push the boundaries of conservative dress.

That game can end in tragedy. A 22-year-old woman, Mahsa Amini, was arrested by morality police in the capital Tehran and died in cus tody. Her death has sparked nearly two weeks of widespread unrest that has reached across Iran’s provinces and brought students, middle-class professionals and working-class men and women into the streets.

Iranian state T v has suggested that at least 41 protesters and po lice have been killed. An Associated

Press count of official statements by authorities tallied at least 13 dead, with more than 1,400 demonstra tors arrested.

A young woman in Tehran, who said she has continually participated in the past week’s protests in the capi tal city, said the violent response of security forces had largely reduced the size of demonstrations.

“People still are coming to the streets to find one meter of space to shout their rage but they are imme diately and violently chased, beaten and taken into custody, so they try to mobilize in four- to five-person groups and once they find an oppor tunity they run together and start to demonstrate,” she said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

“The most important protest they (Iranian women) are doing right now is taking off their scarves and burn ing them,” she added. “This is a wom en’s movement first of all, and men are supporting them in the backline.”

A writer and rights activist since her student days at Tehran Univer sity, Shams participated in the mass anti-government protests of 2009 before having to flee Iran.

But this time is different, she said.

Waves of violent repression against protests in the past 13 years “have disillusioned the traditional classes of society” that once were the backbone of the Islamic Repub lic, said Shams, who now lives in the United States.

The fact that there have been protests in conservative cities like Mashhad or Qom—the historic center of Iran’s clergy—is unprec edented, she said.

“Every morning I wake up and I think, is this actually happening? Women making bonfires with veils?”

Modern Iranian history has been full of unexpected twists and turns.

Iranian women who grew up be fore the overthrow of the monarchy in 1979 remember a country where

women were largely free to choose how they dressed.

People of all stripes, from leftists to religious hardliners, participated in the revolution that toppled the shah. But in the end, it was Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and his followers who ended up seizing power and cre ating a Shiite cleric-led Islamic state.

On March 7, 1979, Khomeini an nounced that all women must wear hijab. The very next day—Interna tional Women’s Day—tens of thou sands of unveiled women marched in protest.

“It was really the first counterrevolutionary movement,” said Su san Maybud, who participated in those marches and was then working as a news assistant with the foreign press. “It wasn’t just about the hijab, because we knew what was next, taking away women’s rights.” She didn’t even own a hijab at the time, she recalled.

“What you’re seeing today is

enough. Amongst Asean countries, Singapore leads the list with an 86 percent approval rating on meeting sustainability goals and was the only country that scored a positive out come in the ambition of their goals.

Only one-fifth of respondents felt that ESG principles were sufficiently well-incorporated into sustainability initiatives in Asean, and when asked to assess how well the region is do ing on climate action issues, Asean’s score was a mere 4.2 out of 10. This suggests European businesses feel strongly that the region needs to be doing much more.

Green supply chains are a clear and tangible climate issue. Asean has ambitions to attract a greater share of global supply chains, but only 3 percent of respondents felt that the region is doing enough to attain this goal.

The same sentiment goes for the Circular Economy—only 9 percent said they had confidence in Asean’s ability to deliver on it. This tells us that climate action must be taken more seriously, not just for economic benefits, but because every region needs to play their part in the global fight against climate change.

European businesses continue to see Asean as the region with the best business prospects over the next five years, but there is continued doubt about regional integration, nontariff barriers, and trade. Equally important, if not more so, is the region’s sustainability agenda and its ability to do its part in the fight against climate change.

Chris Humphrey is the EU-Asean Business Council Executive Director

in 24 hours, Ukraine’s presidential office said Tuesday.

In other developments, Ukrai nian authorities reported more success in their counteroffensive to reclaim territory in some of the very regions where Russia is staging the referendums to consolidate its grip. Ukrainian troops claimed to con tinue their push beyond the Oskil River in the country’s east, pressing further into the Donbas. A video on social media Tuesday showed Ukrai nian soldiers entering the village of Koroviy yar, 15 kilometers (about 9 miles) from the river. Ukraine’s military intelligence said that the country’s forces continued to force Russian troops out of the northeast ern Kharkiv region and claimed to recapture the major railway junction of Kupyansk-vuzlovyi.

The war’s human toll was also re flected in a U n human rights moni toring mission’s first comprehensive look at violations and abuses Russia and Ukraine committed between February 1 and July 31, the first five months of Russia’s invasion.

not something that just happened. There’s been a long history of women protesting and defying authority” in Iran.

The hijab has been “the lightning rod of opposition,” explained Roham Alvandi, an Iranian historian and associate professor at the London School of Economics and Political Science.

“It represents the ability of the Islamic Republic to reach down and control the most private and intimate aspects of Iranians’ lives,” he said.

A century or more ago, strict veil ing was largely limited to Iran’s upper classes. Most women were in rural areas and worked, “so hijab wasn’t exactly possible” for them, said Esha Momeni, an Iranian activist and scholar affiliated with UCLA’s Gen der Studies Department.

Many women wore a “roosari” or casual headscarf that was “part of traditional clothing rather than hav ing a very religious meaning to it.”

Associated Press journalist Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations in New York contributed.

BILL RESTORING ELDERLY TOLL DISCOUNTS PITCHED

CONGRESS was asked to re file and finally pass a bill granting Radio Frequency Identification Device (RFID) dis counts to elderly citizens.

Romulo Macalintal, elderly rights advocate and election lawyer, sought the support of lawmakers to give priority to the bill, principally authored in the 18th Congress by former Buhay party-list Rep. Lito Atienza.

He reminded lawmakers that October 1 to 7 is Elderly Week, as provided in Republic Act No. 10868 or the Centenarians Act of 2016.

House Bill No. 9644 by former Senior Deputy Speaker Atienza, grants 20-percent discount for senior citizens travelling through tollways in skyways using radio frequency identification devices (RFID), provided  the cars are registered in their names.

The bill restores the benefit which was clearly provided under Section 4(h) of Republic Act No. 9257, or the Expanded SC Act of 2003, which states, among others, that the senior citizens are entitled to 20 discount in “skyways.”

However, when RA 9257 was amended by RA 9994 or the Ex

panded SC Act of 2010, instead of “expanding” SCs’ benefit, their 20-percent discount on toll fees was deleted when the word “sky ways” was removed by RA 9994 from the list of transportation services where SCs could access such discount.

T hus, Macalintal re called, when this issue was raised to the Toll Regulatory Board , the TRB said it was the Depart ment of Justice’s opinion that the amendatory law showed that “the legislative intent appears to limit the coverage of 20-per cent discount on actual fares for land transportation and travel, excluding toll fees in skyways and expressways,’ as if travelling through skyways is not a form of land transportation.

The Atienza bill is seen to be the answer to the SC’s “very sad situation,” since said bill will not only restore the word “skyways” in the bills, but  will make it very clear that the 20-percent dis count applies to “skyways and expressways whose toll fees are paid through the radio frequen cy identification devices (RFID) or similar systems,” Macalintal said. Butch Fernandez

Senate, House ratifySIM bill bicam report

THE Senate on Wednesday ratified the bicameral con ference committee report  on the much-awaited bill requiring registration of subscriber identity modules (SIM) in a bid to halt the alarming rise in mobile phone-en abled cyberfraud.

I n a separate development, the House of Representatives also on Wednesday, ratified the bicameral committee report on the SIM Reg istration Bill which, according to Speaker Martin G. Romualdez, may gain the distinction as the first law to be signed by President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr.

T he chair of the Senate contin gent in the bicameral panel, Sen. Grace Poe, listed the highlights of the two chambers’ final report on disagreeing provisions of House Bill No, 14 ande Senate Bill (SB) No. 1310 or the proposed “SIM Regis tration Act” before senaors voted unanimously to ratify it.

Poe, who chairs the Senate Com mittee on Public Services, said the bicameral panel agreed to use the Senate version as the working draft.

T he lawmakers also agreed to drop the word “card” from the ti tle of the measure, and simply say “SIM,’ in recognition of “innova tions in mobile technology”.

T he bicameral report also adopt ed the Senate version on the process of registering SIMs, Poe said.

T he SIM registration is the first legislative measure passed by the Senate in the 19th Congress.

R e-filed in the 19th Congress, the measure seeks to regulate the registration and use of SIMs by mandating subscribers to register with telecommunication entities before SIMs are activated.  Exist ing subscribers must also register or risk deactivating or retiring their SIMs.

R egistration includes the sub mission of full name, date of birth and address of end-users, as well as valid government-issued identifi cation cards to verify their identity.

SB 1310 also prohibits “spoofing,” or the act of transmitting misleading or inaccurate information about the source of phone call or text messages to defraud, cause harm, or wrong fully obtain anything of value.

T he bill also penalizes the sale

of stolen SIMs.  Telcos, on the other hand, are tasked to keep the sub scribers’ information in a database, while the Department of Informa tion and Communications Technol ogy shall conduct an annual audit of their compliance with information security standards.

A ll submitted information are “absolutely confidential”, but may be disclosed if a competent authority subpoenas them for an investigation of a crime, or a mali cious, fraudulent or unlawful act committed using a specific mobile number.

Finally, we can now do some thing aside from just ignoring, de leting or blocking the numbers with fraudulent or spam messages,” Poe said earlier.

BSKE report ratified ALSO on Wednesday, their last ses sion day before going on a scheduled month-long break, senators ratified the bicameral conference commit tee report on the bill postpone to the last Monday of October 2023 the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections.

Minority Leader Koko Pimentel and his co-member in the minority, Risa Hontiveros, voted no. Senators Alan Peter Cayetano and Pia Cay etano also cast “no” votes.

Senators Pimentel and Cayetano noted the absence of the chair of the electoral reforms committee, Sen. Imee Marcos, from the crucial bicameral conference committee on a measure that her panel had ear lier tackled.  The task of represent ing her fell on Sen. Joseph Victor Ejercito. In earlier objecting to the deferment, Pimentel said it unduly confers the incumbents with term extension of 4.5 years.

Covid-19 biggest fear factor of Pinoys–Gallup, LRF poll

By Cai U. Ordinario @caiordinario

I n the report, 33 percent of Fili pinos said they felt most unsafe due to Covid-19. Filipinos who named Covid-19 as the greatest threat to their safety was only second to Malaysia, where 34 percent of residents named the virus as the source of danger for them.

Myanmar and Indonesia were the only countries in Southeast Asia with less than 10 percent of respon dents identifying Covid-19 as the greatest threat to their security.

In seven countries in Southeast ern Asia, where the Delta variant was surging during the survey pe riod, more than 10 percent named Covid-19 as their greatest threat,

with this figure rising to one-third in Malaysia (34 percent) and the Philippines (33 percent),” the re port stated.

L RF and Gallup said data collec tion in most Southeastern Asian countries occurred in late summer and early autumn of 2021.

T hey added that the fear of many Southeast Asian peoples from Co vid-19 was due in part with the re gion’s previous experience with the deadly 2002-2004 SARS outbreak.

A part from Covid-19, some 14 percent of Filipinos felt unsafe be cause of transportation; 12 percent, climate; 11 percent, crime/violence/ terrorism; and 10 percent, health.

Other threats to Filipino’s safety, al beit to a significantly lesser degree, were financial and economic risks at 1 percent; and work, zero percent.

I n terms of experiencing serious harm, the data showed 62 percent of respondents said they or someone they knew were exposed to serious harm because of severe weather.

T his was followed by road or traffic accidents, with 50 percent saying they or someone they knew experienced serious harm because

of this in the past two years.

O ther risks were mental health at 37 percent; eating food, 35 per cent; drinking water, 30 percent; work, 29 percent; and violent crime, 26 percent.

T he 2021 World Risk Poll asked nearly 126,000 people in 121 coun tries and territories about their experiences with disasters related to natural hazards such as floods, droughts or cyclones. In the Philip pines, there were 1,000 respondents.

BSP okays 2nd guidelines set for digital banks

THE Bangko Sentral ng Pili

pinas (BSP) announced on Wednesday that it has ap proved the second set of guidelines for digital banks.

liabilities, and reporting require ments of digital banks.

apply to digital banks,” it added.

digital platform and/or electronic channels similar to digital banks.

While holding the elections this year as scheduled entails billions in costs, taxpayers will be spending much more by postponing the ex ercise, Pimentel pointed out.

The pandemic, added Pimen tel, has provided barangay officials the perfect exposure to their con stituents because they were front and center of the action during the health crisis, so “holding the elec tions now should have been a good referendum.”

Butch Fernandez, Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz

T his follows the release of the digital bank framework in Decem ber 2020.

A ccording to the Central Bank’s statement, the approved guidelines lays down BSP’s supervisory expec tations on corporate and risk gover nance of digital banks as well as the applicable prudential regulations on capital, leverage, and liquidity.

T he guidelines will also pre scribe the prudential limits on eq uity investments in allied under takings, required reserves against deposit and deposit substitute

D igital banks are financial insti tutions that have minimal or zeroreliance on physical touchpoints as their products and services are pro cessed end-to-end through digital platforms or electronic channels.

“ Due to its nationwide market reach resulting from the use of digi tal platforms or mobile applications in the banking services delivery, and ability to rapidly expand operations, this category of banks is considered as complex banks,” the BSP said.

“Consistent with this, the gover nance expectations, Basel III stan dards, and prudential reporting re quirements applicable to universal and commercial banks shall also

B SP Governor Felipe Medalla said the new set of guidelines is part of the BSP’s commitment to providing Filipinos with access to digital banking in a safe and reli able environment.

The prudential requirements for digital banks will strengthen the resilience of this new bank category to better absorb financial shocks and promote financial stability,” Medalla said.

T he new rules provide that the BSP may require existing thrift, rural and cooperative banks to maintain a minimum capital of P1 billion if said banks primarily offer financial products and services that are processed end-to-end through a

This is to ensure that banks main tain sufficient capital to cover the risks that they assume. It also provides a level playing field among banks that leverage on digital platforms in de livering their financial products and services. Banks concerned shall be given ample time to build up capital and meet the new minimum capital requirement,” the BSP said.

T he BSP has authorized six digital banks to operate in the Philippines, namely GoTyme Bank Corporation, Maya Bank, Inc., Tonik Digital Bank, Inc., UnionDigital Bank, Inc., UN Obank, Inc. and Overseas Filipino Bank, Inc., A Digital Bank of LAND BANK. Bianca Cuaresma

THE pandemic was, by far, the main cause of the Filipinos’ feeling most unsafe in 2021, according to the latest report released by Lloyd’s Register Foundation (LRF) and Gallup.

‘FALSE SOLUTIONS’ Climate activists hold a rally at the Embassy of Japan in Manila on Wednesday, September 28, 2022, to protest against the “false solutions” being promoted by Japan at the ongoing Tokyo GX Week. Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said the event aims at realizing “GX (Green Transformation), which will shift the economic, social and industrial structure that have depended on fossil fuels since the Industrial Revolution, to structures driven by clean energy, and drive economic growth and development through emissions mitigation.” ROY DOMINGO

Insurer giant AIA completes acquisition of MediCard PHL

By Cai U. Ordinario @caiordinario

Hong Kong-based insurance company AIA group Ltd. has completed its acquisition of MediCard Philippines Inc. which provides insurance and healthcare services to nearly a million Filipinos.

MediCard has over 920,000 members and has a medical service network of over 1,000 partner hospitals and clinics. it also has 26 MediCardowned clinics located in key cities nationwide.

A i A said Nicky Montoya will continue to lead MediCard as Chief executive of ficer following the transaction, which is subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.

“This is the right time for A i A to play a leading role in making health insurance and healthcare more accessible, more affordable and more

effective in the Philippines, helping many more people live healthier, longer, better lives and delivering longterm sustainable value creation for our shareholders,” l eo Grepin, A i A Group’s Regional Chief executive and Chief Strategy of ficer, said.

A i A said the acquisition will accelerate A i A’s integrated Health Strategy in the Philippines by bringing assets and capabilities across healthcare provision, administration and management.

MediCard, A i A said, will bring in new products, customer segments and distribution capabilities to A i A

Philippines. it will also open new opportunities to deliver personalized health insurance coverage to a large and fast-growing mass and emerging affluent segment.

Powered by Amplify Health, A i A’s new Health i n surTech business, customers will benefit from personalized health insurance that is fully integrated with superior end-to-end healthcare services, including telemedicine, personalized disease management programs and holistic case management and support.

“MediCard’s journey started in 1987 when our father, Dr. Nicanor Montoya, established the company with his fellow doctors with the aim of providing affordable and quality medical services coverage to more Filipinos,” Nicky Montoya, MediCard’s President and Chief executive of ficer, said.

“This transformational transaction not only continues the founders’ legacy but definitely takes MediCard to the next level. A i A is globally recognized as the leading pan-Asian life and health insurer with a com-

mitment to customer focus and an outstanding track record of delivering value creation for shareholders,” he added. Reports from bloomberg News earlier stated that A i A and MediCard are finalizing the details of a transaction and could reach an agreement in the coming weeks after the Hong Kong-based insurance company outbid other insurers and investment funds.

A deal could value the Philippine company at more than $350 million, according to sources who asked not to be identified because the matter is private (Full story here: https://businessmirror.com.ph/2022/09/22/insurer-giant-aiain-talks-to-buy-medicard-sources-say/).

A i A is considered the largest independent publicly listed pan-Asian life insurance group which is present in 18 markets – wholly-owned branches and subsidiaries in Mainland China, Hong Kong SAR , Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, Cambodia, indonesia, Myanmar, New Zealand, the Philippines, South Korea, Sri l a nka, Taiwan (China), Vietnam, br unei and Macau SAR , and a 49 per cent joint venture in india.

JFC hikes investments in Tim Ho Wan

By VG Cabuag @villygc

Jollibee Foods Corp. (JFC) on Wednesday said its wholly owned subsidiary Jollibee Worldwide Pte. lt d. (JWPl) will raise its funding commitment to Titan Dining l P, the private equity fund which owns the Tim Ho Wan brand and company-owned Tim Ho Wan stores.

The fund size of Titan will increase to S$350 million from S$250 million to fund the store expansion plans and working capital requirements of Tim Ho Wan and to facilitate the completion of other projects.

JWPl has a 90 percent partici-

PSALM names new CEO

TH e Power Sector Assets and l i abilities Management Corp. (PSA l M ) has a new president.

o n Wednesday, Aboitiz Power Corp. announced that Dennis de la Serna, the company’s First Vice President for Regulatory Affairs, has resigned effective September 28. He has chosen to return to public service by accepting the position of president and C e o of PSA l M

This was also announced by PSA l M on its website.

“We believe President Marcos Jr. and his administration have chosen wisely as Dennis is very well suited for the role. Upon returning to PSA l M , Dennis brings back more than two decades of valuable, diverse, and relevant experience in Philippine energy industry finance, regulation, and compliance.

We are confident that Dennis will fulfill his new role in government with the utmost professionalism, integrity, and transparency,” AboitizPower said.

De la Serna was elected by the governing board of PSA l M in its regular board meeting yesterday.

Lenie Lectura

pating interest in Titan. With the increase in fund size, JWPl’s total commitment to the fund will amount to S$315 million.

Jollibee first invested S$45 million in Titan in May 2018 to own a 45 percent participating interest in Titan which was the master franchisee of Tim Ho Wan in the Asia Pacific region.

Jollibee said at the time that by investing in the fund, it would have the opportunity to acquire a substantial ownership of Tim Ho Wan’s master franchise in the Asia Pacific region through a purchase mechanism provided for in the investment agreement.

To prepare for this eventuality,

Jollibee set up a franchise operation of Tim Ho Wan in Shanghai, China.

Meanwhile, Jollibee President and Ceo er nesto Tanmantiong recently welcomed Canada’s international Trade Minister Mary Ng to the Jollibee Group Headquarters in or tigas, Pasig to discuss areas of cooperation in line with the company’s expansion plans in Canada.

Ng was in the Philippines for a brief visit aimed at strengthening ties with the country, which includes $12 million in development assistance to fund three projects in the Philippines.

“We opened our first store in Canada in Winnipeg in December 2016. Now we have 24 stores in

Canada spread across the provinces of Alberta, br itish Columbia, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan. We remain grateful for the support of Canadian communities and its government as we continue to expand in the country,” Tanmantiong said.

“We have seen locals and newcomers embrace Jollibee that is fast becoming a household name in Canada. We are happy and excited to hear Jollibee Group’s expansion plans in the country,” Ng said.

This year, Jollibee opened three stores in Canada, and is set to open two more in Vancouver, br itish Columbia by the end of 2022 at Strawberry Hills Shopping Centre in Surrey and Cambie Street.

Singapore-based BPO opens office in Iloilo

By Andrea E. San Juan @andreasanjuan

TDCX, a Singapore-based digital customer experience (CX) solutions provider for technology and blue-chip companies, has continued its expansion into the Philippines with the opening of a new office in i loilo.

The Singapore-based business process outsourcing ( b P o) firm said this is TDCX’s sixth campus in the Philippines. The company said this campus strengthens the company’s capacity to serve global english end-markets, such as North America, United Kingdom, i reland, Australia and New Zealand.

TDCX said its i loilo office is anticipated to be a gateway into the country’s upcoming innovation hub.

i loilo is anticipated to be an innovation hub by 2030. TDCX’s strategic expansion into i loilo enables it to entrench itself in the local innovation ecosystem and work with other stakeholders to enhance the outsourced customer experience industry’s competitiveness on the global stage,” the Singapore-based bP o firm said in a statement on Wednesday.

TDCX’s i loilo campus is located at Robinsons Cybergate i loilo Tower 1 in Pavia.

During the press briefing held in Mandaluyong on Wednesday, TDCX Philippines Vice President for b u siness Strategy said i loilo has matured in the bP o space. She noted that there are 25 bPo firms in i loilo currently employing around 50,000 residents.

Meanwhile, Acuña underscored the importance of leveraging the booming digital economy and its crucial role in the industry.

“The outsourced customer experience industry is increasingly important in the growing digital economy. As consumers live more of their lives online, their experience becomes a more significant factor in brand preference and loyalty,” Acuña said.

“Hence, this is a very exciting time for our industry and our people. With our positive work environment, attractive client roster and interesting and fulfilling work, we look forward to growing with our people and equipping them with future-ready skills that will help them stay competitive in the new economy.”

TDCX said it works with new economy clients from digital advertising, e-commerce, online travel and hospitality, consumer electronics, fintech, gaming and other technology-enabled sectors.

According to a report by the World e conomic Forum, new economy jobs are emerging professions that reflect the continuing importance of human interaction. The report also noted that demand for both “digital” and “human” factors in the professions of tomorrow is driving greater demand for roles such as customer success specialists.

i n the first half, Acuña said during her presentation that a quarter of the company’s business comes from the Philippines.

She also noted that 25 percent of the Singapore-based bP o firm’s total revenue came from the Philippines while 30 percent came from Malaysia. Singapore accounted for 22 percent of its revenue.

i n the first half, she said the bPo firm has already onboarded 25 new clients “that is about three times more than what we have acquired ..new clients in the year before.”

TDCX employs more than 17,000 employees across 26 campuses globally, specifically Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, Mainland China, Hong Kong, South Korea, Japan, i ndia, Romania, Spain and Colombia.

The bP o firm opened its Manila office in 2014 and its Cebu office in 2019.

Cebu Pacific aims to restore pre-Covid capacity by 2023

By Lorenz S. Marasigan @lorenzmarasigan

Si N GAP o R e— Cebu Pacific hopes to restore its full capacity by the latter part of 2023, as it ramps up its international operations with the easing of travel restrictions in other markets.

Cebu Pacific Chief Strategy o f ficer Alex b Reyes said the group currently operates half of its international capacity, while its domestic capacity is now at 110 percent.

“We’re fully recovered for our domestic capacity — 110 percent of our pre-Covid capacity. o n the international side, we are operating half of the capacity that we have before the pandemic struck. We do expect that come 2023, we should have our full recovery for our entire network,” he said.

Reyes noted that most of the international capacity involves flights from regional airports in the Philippines—Clark, Cebu, i l oilo, and others—to some international destinations.

The budget carrier also has yet to ramp up its operations in China.

“The big one that’s not yet back

is China, [which represents] 10 percent of our total international capacity,” he said.

Currently, Cebu Pacific only operates out of Guangzhou.

Reyes said with the restoration of the international capacity, Cebu Pacific expects “positive” results in terms of profitability.

it will contribute a lot because the airline is a high operating leverage kind of business,” he said. “ l a st year, we’re only operating 20 percent of the network.”

At present Cebu Pacific operate 55 domestic routes and 20 international routes.

The airline announced that it has tapped Shell Aviation for the supply of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), which is as much as eight times more expensive than conventional fuel.

The two companies signed on Tuesday a memorandum of agreement for Shell Aviation to supply 25,000 metric tons of SAF per year to Cebu Pacific from 2026 to 2031.

SAF is said to reduce carbon emissions by as much as 80 percent. However, the caveat is that sustainable fuel is two to eight times more expensive than conventional aviation fuel.

Cebu Pacific, which is currently ramping its international flights, operates its first commercial flight powered by sustainable aviation fuel. Photo shows (from left to right) Candice Iyog, VP for Marketing and Customer experience, Ceb; br yan Co, Senior Assistant General Manager, Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA); Cesar Chiong, General Manager, MIAA; Atty. Clarabel Anne R. Lacsina, Attorney IV, Acting board Secretary, Civil Aeronautics board; Capt. Florendo Jose Aquino III, Acting Chief of the Flight Operations Department, Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines; and Xander Lao, Chief Commercial Officer, Ceb Contributed photo

Banking&Finance

‘PHL must raise more $ vs US rate-hike effects’

By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz @joveemarie

THE Philippines can only “adapt” to the effects of US interest rate hikes by raising more dollars, House Committee on Ways and Means Chairman Joey Sarte Salceda said.

In theory, there is no level in which the Philippines can raise interest rates without some damage to aggregate demand, said the economistlawmaker.

“After all, the purpose of interest rate increases is, to some extent, tamp down consumer demand,” Salceda said last Wednesday. “That said, it will all depend on how high the US intends to increase its rates further.”

Any additional interest rate hike from the world’s largest economy will cause other central banks to also raise their interest rates.

Last week, monetary authorities hiked interest rates by 50 basis points to 4.25 percent effective September 23.

But Salceda said the country can significantly offset the effects of the hawkishness of the US Fed by raising more dollars from the business process outsourcing, tourism and foreign-employed freelancer sectors and overseas Filipino workers.

The lawmaker said he’s been “advocating for this position for quite some time already.”

“Because there’s not much we can do to impact what is obviously a global trend, we can adapt by earning more dollars.”

Citing a recent study by former Harvard President Larry Summers, Salceda said the US still needs some 425bps in rate hikes to bring down core inflation to the 2-percent level that, historically, the US economy has been comfortable with.

No choice

ALSO, Salceda said Chicago Fed President Charles Evans has made statements recently saying they will be comfortable with a Fed rate of up to 4.75 percent.

“To keep our current interest rate differential of 50bps, we will need to increase rates by another 150 basis points by that time,” he said. “I think we can handle that.”

“By that point, we can handle that much and we wouldn’t have much of a choice anyway, because we are a peripheral economy,” Salceda explained. “And credit growth here appears to have more of a relationship with the decisions of major economies like the US than with our own monetary policy decisions.”

Also, the lawmaker said there appears to be weak transmission

of policy rates in lending by banks because Philippines banks are “conservative by default anyway.”

“Again, since we cannot move the needle globally from our own country, the best we can do is adapt until this global storm settles,” Salceda said. “This is a global storm; and no rate hike from our little corner of the global economy will make a meaningful dent on a global trend. Best we can do is adapt.”

The lawmaker said he believes that dollar earnings from the mining industry, BPO, OFW, freelancers and tourism can “stop the bleeding of foreign capital.”

The latter can be achieved, he said, “through robust and reassuring commitment to fiscal and economic reforms that will cure our rigidities [including] land ownership constraints, power costs, ease of doing business, etc.”

Structural reforms

SALCEDA is recommending longterm and structural reforms in the republic’s agriculture, energy and way of doing business in the country.

To lower power cost, the solon recommended the creation of a committee to cure “the oligopolistic, rent-seeking and inefficient market behavior in the Electric Power Industry Reform law (Republic Act 9136).

Salceda also recommended increasing the domestic agricultural production for key staples, maximizing emerging competitive advantages and optimizing export products to lower food cost and increase agricultural production.

Salceda said the government should also remove barriers to efficient land use through lifting ownership and size restrictions and condoning agrarian reform beneficiaries’ loans.

We should also reduce sensitivity to global energy price volatility through significantly more indigenous energy or the doctrine of renewable energy surplus, the lawmaker added. Salceda said government needs to massively increase renewable energy surplus while taking care of the country’s baseload, likely through nuclear power.

Lastly, he said the ease of doing business should be strictly implemented by shifting the burden of processes from law-abiding businesses to government offices.

One day approvals in all LGUs for ministerial permits, single-interface requirements and, all-digital payment of taxes were among the specific actions that the Philippine government must undertake, according to Salceda.

Govt to auction longer-tenor bonds to raise ₧200B in Oct

By Cai U. Ordinario @caiordinario

THE

The amount covers P60-billion worth of Treasury bills and P140 billion-worth of Treasury bonds to be auctioned off next month.

The borrowing program is the same throughout the year except for June and March when the borrowing program reached P235 billion. The

program set for October 2021 was also at P155 billion.

“[The] program is calibrated to meet NG [national government] funding requirements against (the) current market backdrop,” National Treasurer Rosalia V. de Leon told reporters last Wednesday.

Based on the borrowing program for October, the BTr said the government aims to raise P15 billion from 91-day, 182-day and 364-day T-bills on each auction date set for October 5, October 12, October 19 and October 26.

In terms of bonds, the government aims to raise P35 billion each from 3-year bonds to be auctioned on October 6 and 6-year bonds on October 13.

The BTr said the same amounts will be raised for 10-year bonds on October 20 and 13-year bonds on October 27.

This year, the government is set to borrow a total of P2.21 trillion, of which 75 percent will be

sourced locally while the remaining 25 percent will come from foreign sources.

As of end-July this year, the national government’s outstanding debt has soared to a new recordhigh of P12.89 trillion, an increase of P96.09 billion or 0.8 percent during the first month of the Marcos administration from P12.79 trillion as of end-June.

The country’s debt-to-GDP ratio slightly eased to 62.1 percent in the second quarter of the year from 63.5 percent in the first quarter. However, this remained above the internationally-recommended 60-percent threshold for a healthy economy.

Health advocates welcome proposal to raise sin taxes

MEMBERS

of the nonprofit group Sin Tax Coalition said they laud House Ways and Means Committee Chair Rep. Joey Salceda and the Department of Health (DOH) for proposing higher excise taxes on sin products, including cigarettes, alcohol, sugar sweetened beverages and novel tobacco products such as vapes.

Salceda filed House Bill (HB) 1810, which effectively increases excise taxes on “alcopops” or premixed alcohol beverages by reclassifying them as “fermented liquors.”

Currently, alcopops are taxed lower than beer, despite their similar consumption pattern and attractiveness

to the youth.

The group said that sin taxes have proven to be effective in reducing Filipinos’ consumption of sin products since the first landmark sin-tax reform a decade ago.

“The Covid-19 pandemic illustrates the gaps in our healthcare system,” a statement by the organization read. “This makes it all the more necessary to reduce consumption of unhealthy products and lessen the burden of tobacco and alcoholrelated illnesses on our health system. Covid-19, after all, is a disease that attacks the lungs.”

Moreover, sin taxes provide funding for health services and have

doubled the DOH budget since 2012.

“Our funds for PhilHealth, in particular, are running low, as it has recently been noted that with funding from the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office [PCSO] and the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. [Pagcor], PhilHealth will only survive until 2027,” the group said.

It cited PhilHealth CEO (Officer-inCharge) Eli Dino D. Santos as having noted that income from sin taxes would boost their budget.

A sin tax increase will ensure sustainable funding for Universal Health Care (UHC), which has yet to be fully implemented three years after the passage of the UHC Law,

the organization said.

The group said the country has also incurred a 62.5 percent debtto-GDP ratio as of end-July due to high spending during the pandemic.

Higher sin taxes are a much-needed source of funding to reduce the fiscal deficit and achieve our growth targets.

Members of the Sin Tax Coalition said they are assuring Salceda and the DOH that they have the full support of health advocates.

They urge other legislators to prioritize this crucial health reform and help make better health outcomes and accessible healthcare a reality for every Filipino.

Dragonpay’s transaction volume doubled vs 2021

By Rizal Raoul S. Reyes @brownindio

EXECUTIVES of Dragonpay Corp. said they remain bullish on the firm’s expansion and taking digital payments to the next level.

“Despite headwinds brought about by the pandemic, the company’s transaction volume in the past 12 months doubled compared to the same period the year before,” a statement by the registered Operator of Payment System (OPS) read.

The OPS added that by the end of August this year, Dragonpay had processed over 140 million transactions.

Furthermore, manpower also

grew by 200 percent during the pandemic alone, while payment channel partners are now more than 50,000 including the country’s major banks with online banking, payment centers, retail establishments and electronic wallets, it added.

“With this, Dragonpay has empowered thousands of customers to avail of goods and services and conveniently pay for them through physical and digital channels— from physical, brick-and-mortar payment counters and ATM’s to mobile wallets and online bank debit.”

The firm claims to have more than 3,000 partner merchants from different industries.

The 12-year-old company cred-

BSP backs digitalization of microfinance sector

its growth to the country’s vibrant digital payment industry as government and private stakeholders “focused on accelerating its growth and attaining the goal of becoming a cash-lite society as set by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas [BSP].”

According to its latest data, digital payments account for 30.3 percent of total retail transactions in 2021 from 20.1 percent in 2020. BSP’s goal is to convert at least 50 percent of retail transactions to digital form by the end of 2023, under the BSP Digital Payments Transformation Roadmap.

Dragonpay said it has been contributing to this goal as it “remains a provider of the broadest range of secure payment solutions to busi-

nesses of all sizes.”

“We see a continued acceleration of digital payment adoption and we are committed to supporting businesses, especially, small and medium enterprises in keeping up with the latest industry trends and consumer demand,” Dragonpay CEO Robertson Chiang was quoted in the statement as saying. “Our customers’ growth is our growth and we all play a part in driving the momentum of fintech in the country.”

Chiang added they are “bent on deepening our foothold in the industry as we see massive opportunities in fueling a digital economy that will be beneficial to business, consumers and the country as a whole.”

the BSP statement read. “It’s hard to think of financial inclusion without looking at microfinance,” said Medalla. “I’m glad to hear that you consider the BSP as your number one ally. From our point of view, you are also a very important ally of the BSP,” the Central Bank Governor said.

By Lorenz S. Marasigan @lorenzmarasigan

THE

National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) said on Wednesday it has exceeded its collection target by almost a fifth for the year, as it doubled down on remittance enforcement.

A statement quoted NTC Commissioner Gamaliel A. Cordoba as saying the agency has collected P6.63 billion as of September 27. This figure is 18.71-percent (about P1.05 billion) higher than the Development Budget Coordination Committee’s (DBCC) imposed target collection of P5.58 billion.

“The NTC’s systematic collection effort is the agency’s modest way of contributing” to the public service programs of the national government, “priorities of which are on food security, free and universal primary education and public health.”

Cordoba said that the agency was able to achieve this “feat” through strict enforcement stakeholders’ compliance in remitting spectrum users’ fees, supervision and regulation fees and penalties.

The NTC is the government agency that regulates cable and commercial television operators, broadcast radio stations, telecommunications companies and commercial and portable radio operators.

Collection targets of the NTC are mandated in the Budget of Expenditures and Sources of Financing, a document required by the Constitution and consolidated by the Department of Budget Management.

Last year, the NTC netted roughly P9.09 billion in revenues or about 72 percent over its target.

Philippine government aims to raise P200 billion from debt papers in October, according to the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr).

THE Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) is promoting targeted digitalization efforts to ensure the continued recovery of microfinance institutions (MFIs) from the pandemic, BSP Governor Felipe M. Medalla said during the 2022 annual conference of the Microfinance Council of the Philip-

pines Inc. (MCPI) last August.

In a statement issued last September 28, Medalla was quoted as citing PalengQR, an interagency program that aims to expand QR payments among small merchants. The BSP chief also noted ongoing efforts to develop a basic merchant account framework and satellite

technology testing for two rural banks in Batangas. MFIs are showing signs of recovery with loan growth up 4.1 percent in 2021 following a 2.50 contraction in 2020 and repayment figures rebounding to 84 percent in February 2021 from 56.5 percent in the second quarter of 2020,

This photo collage courtesy of the Bangko sentral ng Pilipinas (BsP) shows (left) members of the Microfinance Council of the Philippines inc. for 2022 to 2023 during an oath-taking ceremony last August and BsP Governor

Felipe M. Medalla.

Health&

Lymphoma can be cured if diagnosed early, additional govt support urged

By Roderick L. Abad Contributor

THE fear of cancer, or more popularly called the “Big C,” being fatal has been assuaged by a health expert, who advised the public that not all cancer cases are deadly, like lymphoma.

Lymphoma is a type of cancer that starts in the immune system’s infection-fighting cells called lym phocytes. If diagnosed early and t reated well, a patient can defeat the cancer, according to Dr. Jay Ty Datukan, a hematologist-on cologist from St. Luke’s Medical C enter.

During a recent webinar orga nized by Lymphoma Philippines a nd Carewell Community Foun dation marking this year’s World Lymphoma Awareness Day, Dr. Datukan said the survival rate for lymphoma is higher than the other cancers if detected ahead of its severity and given the right cure.

Lymphoma 101

LYMPHOCYTES can be found in the lymph nodes, spleen, thymus, bone marrow, and other areas of the body. These cells change and increase out of control due to lymphoma.

Dr. Datukan classified the

latter as Hodgkin and NonHodgkin (indolent or aggres sive). Common symptoms of l ymphoma, he noted, are swol len glands, enlarged lymph n odes, chills, weight loss, fa tigue, and sweating even at night.

H e emphasized that all these symptoms are more likely due to other conditions, such as an in fection, hence, getting checked b y a doctor is important for proper diagnosis.

Treating lymphoma depends on the specific type and stage of the disease, as well as the general health condition of the patient.

The hematologist-oncologist pointed out that no active treat ment will be given for indolent lymphoma. A patient is monitored for any indications for cure, Dr. Datukan stressed.

Lack of awareness

IN the Philippines, lymphoma is among the top 15 cancers, affect ing around 11,000 Filipinos annu ally. Authorities estimate a larger number of patients are left undi agnosed due to lack of awareness.

“Lymphoma exists,” said Jeanne, a lymphoma cancer sur vivor. “For someone who was di agnosed with Lymphoma and who k new nothing about the disease… if people knew more about this

cancer that can actually affect even the younger ones, maybe we could have been more aware of our health [and] what the symp toms that Lymphoma can do to our body.”

Such is the mission of Lympho ma Philippines, a nonprofit orga nization for lymphoma patients, su rvivors, and caregivers. This group aims to spread awareness on medically approved lymphomarelated campaigns nationwide.

The lack of information is what inspired cancer survivor Jheric Delos Angeles to establish with his wife Anna this community of Filipino patients and their family members to educate more people and provide much needed support to those in need, including fight ing for better healthcare.

“ It is an unimaginably diffi cult journey for patients and their lo ved ones who are living with cancer. Having gone through it myself, a strong support system is crucial in the journey and we at Lymphoma Philippines are com mitted to lending help however p ossible,” he said.

Call for help

SURVIVING lymphoma is an other struggle that patients must d eal with. This ordeal was made more difficult by the onset of the

Covid-19 pandemic.

This holds true for lympho ma cancer patient Rhiz, who s hared her experience living with the disease amid the ensu ing health crisis. She recalled: “It i s extremely hard. The agony is double. During the pandemic, go ing to the hospital was difficult a nd scary for cancer patients like me. As it is, we cannot afford to get Covid.”

Sharing the same sentiment with her was Christine, a lym phoma patient caregiver who f aced a big challenge with regards to hospital visits. On top of that, she cited that the patients’ income was cut off for a time during the lockdown periods, so they had to rely on their savings to contin ue medication. Because of this, s he felt sorry for those indigent patients who, despite the great chance of surviving such illness, had succumbed to death since they had no means to undergo proper treatments.

Even if lymphoma is a curable cancer if diagnosed early, access to treatment modalities is a chal lenge as their costs can range f rom P1 million to P3.5 million depending on the hospital and treatment protocol.

With this is mind, lymphoma cancer survivors Alexa Fontanilla

and Tristan Zantua appealed for additional government support, to save more lives, especially those who could not afford its treatment.

It can be recalled that two years ago former President Ro drigo Duterte enacted the Na tional Integrated Cancer Control ( NICC) Act (Republic Act 11215) that institutionalizes a “national integrated” program to control the “Big C.” Signed into law on February 14, 2019, it aims to pro vide cancer patients better access t o affordable and quality health care services.

The NICC, likewise, created the cancer assistance fund, which will support the cancer medicine and assistance treatment program and mandated the Philippine Health Insurance Company or PhilHealth to expand benefit packages for all types and stages of cancer.

Unfortunately, the P500 mil lion fund intended for cancer p atients was not included in the proposed 2023 national budget. The Department of Budget and Management slashed it with other health-related spending of the Department of Health (DOH) next year. DOH Officer-in-Charge Maria Rosario Vergeire appealed to lawmakers to restore such ap propriations.

Long-acting antibody combination approved for prevention and treatment of Covid-19 in Japan

ASTRA Z E NECA S A ZD7442 (/ tixagevimab and cilgavimab), a long-acting antibody combi nation, has been approved in Japan for both the prevention (pre-expo sure prophylaxis) and treatment of symptomatic disease caused by SARS-CoV-2 infection. The decision marks the first global marketing ap proval for AZD7442 as a treatment for Covid-19.

In prevention, Japan’s Minis try of Health, Labor and Welfare (MHLW) granted AZD7442 Spe cial Approval for Emergency for adults and adolescents (12 years of age and older weighing at least 40kg). AZD7442 is approved for use in those whom SARS-CoV-2 vaccination is not recommended and who may have an inadequate response to a Covid-19 vaccine due to immunodeficiencies. Recipients of AZD7442 for prevention should not be currently infected with or have had recent known exposure to a person infected with SARSCoV-2.

In treatment, AZD7442 is ap proved for adults and adolescents (12 years of age and older weigh ing at least 40kg) with risk factors for severe SARS-CoV-2 infection

who do not require supplemental oxygen.

new option

K A ZUHIRO TATEDA , M.D. Ph.D., Professor, Department of Microbi ology and Infectious Disease, Toho University, Tokyo, Japan, said: “Covid-19 continues to have a sig nificant impact on our daily lives in Japan. Many people, including older adults, patients with comorbidities, and immunocompromised patients, remain at risk for poor outcomes from severe Covid-19. AZD7442 will be a much-needed new option, offering long-term protection for those who do not achieve an ad equate immune response after vac cination and helping prevent severe disease and death in those who do become infected.”

Itaru Matsumura, M.D., Ph.D. Professor & Chairman, Department of Hematology & Rheumatology, Kindai University Faculty of Medi cine, Otsuka, Japan, said: “Despite the progress of vaccinations and stringent safety precautions, there are very large number of new in fections in Japan. The approval of AZD7442 is expected to provide a

non-vaccine prophylactic option for those who cannot expect a full immune response from Covid-19 vaccination, such as patients with blood cancers.”

Mene Pangalos, Executive Vice President, BioPharmaceuticals R&D, AstraZeneca, said: “The ap provals of AZD7442 in Japan rep resent an important milestone in our ongoing efforts to help combat Covid-19 on all fronts. AZD7442 is now the only long-acting antibody combination authorized for both Covid-19 prevention and treatment, allowing us to help protect even more vulnerable patients such as the immunocompromised from this devastating disease.”

government purchase

T HE Japanese government has agreed to purchase 300,000 units of AZD7442 (150mg each of tixa gevimab and cilgavimab) and As traZeneca is working with the gov ernment and partners to make first doses available as soon as possible.

The approvals were based on efficacy and safety data from the AZD7442 clinical development program, including the PROVENT

Phase III pre-exposure prophylaxis trial, the TACKLE Phase III outpa tient treatment trial, and Phase I trials, including in Japan. In PROVENT, a 300mg intramuscular (IM) dose of AZD7442 significantly reduced the risk of developing symp tomatic Covid-19 by 77 percent (95 percent confidence interval (CI): 46, 90; p<0.001) Covid-19 compared to placebo at the primary analysis.1 An 83 percent (95 percent CI: 66, 91) relative risk reduction was shown at a six-month median follow-up analysis, with protection from the virus lasting six months.1

In TACKLE, a 600mg IM dose of AZD7442 significantly reduced the relative risk of progressing to severe COVID-19 or death (from any cause) by 50 percent (95 per cent confidence interval [CI] 15, 71; p=0.010) through day 29 com pared to placebo in non-hospitalized patients with mild-to-moderate Covid-19 who were symptomatic for seven days or less, the trial’s primary endpoint.2 In pre-speci fied analyses of participants who received treatment within three days of symptom onset, AZD7442 reduced the risk of developing se

Pasig City goV t suPPorts ozonizer 2C teChnoLogy to fight CoVid-19 Virus

THERE are two major adver sities that Life Formula Syn ergy Inc. (LFSI) wants to help address: first, Covid-19 as well as the health and wellness of every Filipino by utilizing its core prod uct, the Ozonizer 2C Machine; and second, to fight poverty by teaching people to improve their livelihood by onboarding LFSI’s New Market ing Strand.

This goal was highlighted at the 19th year anniversary of LFSI and the Grand Launching of their New Marketing Strand, the BornRich Program on September 19, 2022 at The Linden Suites Hotel Pavillon, Ortigas Center in Pasig City.

During their speeches, Councilor Eric Gonzales, Committee Chairman on Health of the Pasig City Govern ment and Chairman Raymond Lis ing of the Richest Barangay in Pasig, Barangay San Antonio, shared their common support for  LFSI’s drive to help Pasig constituents.

The Ozonizer 2C Machine is an ISO-certified machine and is Certi fied Proven by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST). It was also tested and proven by GEO-

CHEM Middle East, of Dubai, UAE and meets FDA and OSHA Safety Standards.

This Ozone technology has many uses and health benefits:

n Kills bacteria, viruses, and fungi in Air, Water, Food and in various surfaces;

n Purifies water 3,000 times faster than chlorine;

n Oxidizes dissolved metals: Iron, Manganese, Lead, Copper, Ar senic, Zinc, and Cadmium;

n Eliminates chemicals and bad odors;

n Improves the alkaline level of water;

n Increases the oxygen level in the air and water, 13 times more soluble than O2, making it excellent for body detoxification;

n Can maintain more than 300-percent saturated dissolved oxygen in water;

n Eliminates chemicals, viruses, bacteria’s and fungi in food: meat, fruits and vegetables;

n Improves immune system;

n Can revert brain tissue;

n Reduces the risk of repeat heart attacks;

n Helps the body detox;

n Heals chronic wounds; n Pain relief;

n Repair stem cells;

n Cell oxygenation;

n Healthier skin;

n Treating arthritis;

n Fighting viral diseases, such as HIV and  SARS;

n Disinfecting wounds;

n Activating the immune system;

n Treating Ischemic Heart Dis

ease;

n Treating macular degenera tion;

n Cancer treatment and pre vention;

n Antioxidant and Antimicrobial (by Healthline); and

n Food safety and water puri fication.

Meanwhile, the BornRich Pro gram encourages every Filipino to be their own boss, by accrediting

vere Covid-19 or death (from any cause) by 88 percent compared to placebo (95 percent CI 9, 98), and the risk reduction was 67 percent (95 percent CI 31, 84) when partici pants received AZD7442 within five days of symptom onset.2

azd7442 was generally well-tolerated in the trials.1,2

recommended dose

T HE r ecommended dose for pre vention of symptomatic disease caused by SARS-CoV-2 infection in Japan is 150mg of tixagevimab and 150mg of cilgavimab, admin istered as separate sequential IM injections. Depending on the prev alence of SARS-CoV-2 variants, 300mg of tixagevimab and 300mg of cilgavimab may be administered for prevention. The recommended dose for treatment of Covid-19 is 300mg of tixagevimab and 300mg of cilgavimab, administered as separate sequential IM injections.

AZD7442 has been shown to re tain in vitro eutralization activity against the main Omicron variants currently circulating globally, in cluding BA.5 and BA.2.3,4

themselves to be LFSI BornRich Dis tributors to market the in-demand Ozonizer 2C Machines in various entities and households. Through the said program, the distributor will earn unlimited income for ev ery sale.

LFSI has been in the business of sales and marketing of their flagship product, the Ozonizer 2C Machine for 19 years.

The people behind LFSI are the founders and spouses, Juvy B. De Ungria as president and Erwin B. De Ungria as Vice President for Marketing. Other board members are, Engr. Dave M. Bautista, Head of Research and Development, Imelda B. Cruz, VP for Operations, Teresa P. Pakingan, Director, Gerard A. Cruz, Director and Mercedes B. Bulan, Di rector. Their head office is located at G-5 ADB Avenue Tower Building, ADB Avenue, Ortigas Center, Pasig City and their Pasig Branch/Qual ity Assurance Office is at Unit 107 Inspirational Holdings Corporation (IHC) Building, #7 Bagong Anyo St., Brgy. Sta. Lucia, Pasig City. Other Branches are located at Manila City, Cagayan De Oro, Sto. Tomas Batan gas. For center operators: Echague, Lipa, Sta. Rita, Tacloban, Bacolod, Davao, General Santos City.

By Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco

VISION h ealth is one of the aspects of one’s health that was given less attention due to the need to visit a clinic or hospital.

However, several eye disorders occur grad ually, making them easily unnoticeable and makes preventive measures and regular check ups paramount to maintaining optimum eye health.

The eyes are considered one of the most im portant sensory organs, with eyesight having a high impact on brain functionality, as shared by Dr. Fabian Hutmacher from his research on the importance of vision in line with other sensory modalities.

Fortunately, Filipinos can seek comprehen sive eye check-ups at specialized eye care clinics like Shinagawa Lasik & Aesthetics, the leading ophthalmology clinic in Japan and now one of the leading LASIK providers in the Philippines.

Japanese health care

FOUNDED in Japan, Shinagawa has also embod ied the Japanese health-care system built on the idea of prevention, the belief that awareness and being more attuned to the status of one’s health allows for better maintenance while avoiding se vere health implications later on.

Different tests are offered to evaluate one’s eye health and to determine early diagnosis so that proper recommendations of treatment and management can be given.  Even simple eye tests may uncover other health issues such as diabetes, autoimmune disorders (lupus), thyroid problems, and even tumors.

Shinagawa, known for its world-class LASIK procedures, makes use of technological advance ments that accurately provide the best eye exams and results.

Various tests

I N order to prepare its patients to receive LASIK, Shinagawa offers various tests such as a vision screening test and a comprehensive eye exam that helps determine the condition of one’s eye health.

A vision screening test is a general evaluation of a patient’s current visual health.

This test quickly determines if a patient is at risk of developing vision problems that can later interfere with daily life.

Vision screening measures visual acuity, de termining whether a patient needs the use of corrective or prescription eyewear or a vision correction procedure.

A comprehensive eye exam, on the other hand, offers an extensive analysis of a patient’s visual health through the use of Shinagawa’s equipment.

This comprehensive test helps identify one’s vision problems and their correspond ing solutions.

Procedures

AT Shinagawa, patients who opt for a comprehen sive eye exam undergo various procedures to thor oughly analyze the different components of their eyes and map out specific treatments for them.

This test is also integral in determining whether a patient can be eligible for LASIK surgery.

Upon undergoing these tests and exams, patients are able to avoid risks of possible vi sion issues.

Such screenings provide early detection of possible vision problems and allow the patient to attend to these concerns and avail appropri ate solutions.

Aside from medical checkups, individuals may also incorporate healthy eye practices to prevent vision problems from occurring such as:

n Taking a break from digital devices or ap plying methods such as the 20/20/20 rule of look ing away from the screen every 20 minutes and focusing on an object at least 20 feet away for at least 20 seconds.

n Maintain an appropriate distance from the screen, using the 1/2/10 rule—mobile phones ide ally one foot, desktop devices and laptops at two feet, and TV screens at roughly 10 feet depending on the size of the screen.

n Create a healthy media plan to help regulate time spent on digital devices.

Shinagawa Lasik & Aesthetics offers compre hensive and individualized LASIK solutions to its patients.

At every Shinagawa branch, those interested can sign up for a basic eye check-up and consul tation to assess the patient’s current eye health and condition.

Individuals who are interested may check out Shinagawa’s official Facebook page @Shinaga waLasikCenter or the official web site at  www. shinagawa.ph to book an appointment hassle-free.

Shinagawa branches are located at Ore Central Tower in BGC, The Enterprise Center in Makati and Hanston Square Building in Ortigas Center.

Don’t forget your eyes, they are important too—expert

erwin d e u ngria, Vice President of Life formula synergy inc. (Lfsi), and Lfsi President Juvy de ungria flash the okay sign during the grand launch of the new Marketing strand of the company in a hotel in or tigas. NONIE REYES

Stressed out, burned out and dropping out: Why teachers are leaving the classroom

By Tuan D. Nguyen Kansas State University

SCHOOLS

are in the midst of a crisis: a teacher shortage. Part of the problem is due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but there are other reasons why teachers are leaving their jobs at higher rates than before. On August 29, 2022, SciLine interviewed Tuan Nguyen, an assistant professor in the College of Education at Kansas State University, about why teachers are quitting and what can be done to slow or stop the trend.

Below are some highlights from the discussion. Please note that answers have been edited for brevity and clarity.

Can you share some data on typical rates of teacher turnover?

Before the pandemic, about 15 percent, 16 percent of teachers turn over every year. About half of that is teachers switching from one school to another, and then the other half, about 7 percent, 8 percent, is teachers leaving the profession every year.

What is known about why teachers leave their jobs?

Generally, there are three main buckets, or categories, as to why teachers leave their jobs for other schools or leave the profession.

One is what’s known as the personal factors... things related to the teachers, their characteristics, such as their age, race, ethnicity and gender, their qualifications. Another bucket is related to schools, such as...school characteristics and school resources, working conditions.

And the last area is known as external factors. These are things that are happening at the national or state level that are somewhat beyond the school control. We think about NCLB—No Child Left Behind.

How does teacher turnover affect student learning?

We know that teachers are the most critical factor of student learning, and that when we have high teacher turnover, that is detrimental to student learning. What you have here is the loss of teaching knowledge and expertise. Districts also have to spend additional resources in order to recruit and train new teachers...usually a novice teacher or a teacher who is underqualified. And we know from research that underqualified teachers and novice teachers are more likely to leave the profession.

So then what you get is this cycle of churn, where you have teachers leaving, replaced with new or underqualified teachers, who themselves are more likely to leave. And that leads to more turnover next year.

What makes teachers likelier to stay in their jobs?

There are many things that we can actually do to help teachers stay where they are.

One is retention bonuses, so that if they stay for one or two years, then they get an additional bonus on top of their salary.

Many teachers are not paid very well. They have to moonlight. They have to have a second or a third job. And now they’re asked to buy equipment and resources from their own pocket in order to do that job. That doesn’t really incentivize teachers to stay.

Is there any research on how the pandemic— including health risks, the switch to remote learning and new pressures from parents—has affected teachers’ job satisfaction?

Surveys have shown that a significant portion of teachers—55 percent—said that they would like to leave teaching as soon as possible.

So even if those 55 percent do not leave their job, and we haven’t seen evidence of that, what that tells me is that teachers are stressed out and they’re burnt out.

PHOTO BY SEEMA MIAH ON UNSPLASH

What policies can make teaching a more attractive long-term career and reduce teacher turnover?

We have to think about making salary competitive so that it’s comparable to other professions, but also make targeted policy decisions and incentives for hard-to-staff schools and subjects. For instance, we know that economically disadvantaged schools tend to have a really hard time attracting teachers.

We also know that STEM teachers, special education teachers and bilingual education teachers are in high demand. We need those folks. So we need to make targeted incentives to get those folks into teaching, right?

We also need to raise the prestige and respect of teachers and the teaching profession. You know, thinking about how we can provide career ladders or promotions to teachers so that they can continue and build on their craft. There are many, many things that we can do. And I’m optimistic that...we can do some of those if we can align our interests and think about policy solutions that can solve some of these problems. THE CONVERSATION

ANNUAL STORYTELLING CONTEST ACCEPTS ENTRIES UNTIL DECEMBER 31

THE annual storytelling contest Mga Kuwentong Pagkain (MKP) has extended its deadline for submission of entries to December 31, 2022.

Launched in 2012 by the Mama Sita Foundation to celebrate Philippine culinary traditions and foodways, MKP has built a repository of gastronomic narratives from all over the country. On its 10th year, MKP is inviting even non-Filipinos to join the conversation on Filipino food. Anyone from anywhere in the world who has a Filipino food story to tell can now participate in the contest.

MKP was inspired by Teresita “Mama Sita” Reyes’s journal, which revealed a trove of culinary adventures and experiences in cursive handwriting, often accompanied by drawings and scribblings. To make room for more creativity and style in sharing food stories, separate categories were set up for essay, photo and video entries.

Complemented with short written narratives, video entries allow participants to express dynamism and dramatic flourish in their food stories, while photo entries capture stirring emotions in a single image. Both formats can tell powerful stories ranging from cherished family recipes to regional food folklore and hometown culinary traditions.

Participants can win up to P20,000 in prizes.

FOR more than a decade, I have used color to positively affect my mood. Whether choosing the color of pens or the shirt I wear on this day or that, I always “wear my desired mood on my sleeve.”

Later on, I learned about color therapy. From the article The Mood-Boosting Benefits of Color Therapy by Simone M. Scully, reviewed by Alana Biggers, M.D., MPH, on Healthline.com: “Also known as chromotherapy, color therapy is based on the idea that color and colored lights can help treat physical or mental health.

According to this idea, they cause subtle changes in our moods and biology.” It further states that today, it is largely seen as complimentary or alternative to medicine therapy. Arttherapyblog.com shares the common psychological effects of various colors.

Below are some of them:

n WHITE: purity, innocence, cleanliness, sense of space, neutrality, mourning

n BLACK: authority, power, strength, evil, intelligence, thinning /slimming, death or mourning

n RED: love, romance, gentle, warmth, comfort, energy, excitement, intensity, life, blood

n ORANGE: happy, energetic, excitement, enthusiasm, warmth, wealth, prosperity, sophistication, change, stimulation

n YELLOW: happiness, laughter, cheery, warmth, optimism, hunger, intensity, frustration, anger, attention-getting

n GREEN: natural, cool, growth, money, health, envy, tranquility, harmony, calmness, fertility

n BLUE: calmness, serenity, cold, uncaring, wisdom, loyalty, truth, focused, unappetizing

n PURPLE: royalty, wealth, sophistication, wisdom,

exotic, spiritual, prosperity, respect, mystery

n PINK: romance, love, gentle, calming, agitation

n BROWN: reliability, stability, friendship, sadness, warmth, comfort, security

I am glad that top insurer AXA uses the science of color as it launches an Asia-wide campaign encouraging everyone to “Make Time For Me Time.”

This is in line with normalizing the importance of making time for oneself because health care starts with self-care.

The campaign was inspired by the needs of Asia’s sandwich generation who are caught between caring for their elderly parents and their children, meaning they find themselves spending their waking hours caring for others.

When they do find a few minutes to devote to themselves, they can often feel guilty or ashamed— especially if it means telling someone “no.”

This insight reflects AXA’s continued focus on promoting positive mind health both in and out of the workplace. This includes raising awareness of its importance to overall health and breaking down

stigma through initiatives, like its annual Mind Health and Wellbeing Study, as well as equipping individuals with the tools to improve their own mental well-being, such as through its recent Fit to Flourish series that has provided a path to developing the 10 skills that underpin good mental health.

“For the sandwich generation in Asia, cultural expectations mean it is normal to spend your waking hours caring for others, whether at home or at work. Yet AXA’s own research and experience in serving our customers shows that self-care is critical to well-being and the more you care for yourself, the more you can care for others,” says Gordon Watson, CEO of AXA Asia and Africa.

“We therefore want to normalize the importance of taking time out for yourself, free from guilt, as a necessary part of what it means to be well.” For a better understanding, check out youtu.be/ 0YrZm0CQl7U.

The new integrated campaign is steeped in the science of color: soft blues help with mental fatigue, red is associated with energy and improving blood circulation, and yellows create a sense of warmth.

To bring this to life, AXA has also collaborated with renowned artist Yoshirotten to create an “Art Care Series.” This is a specially created series of eye, breathing and stretching exercises that aim to soothe the body and mind using the science of shape, color and sound. Ranging from 30 seconds to 15 minutes in length, the outdoor activations will be placed in high-traffic areas to remind people to take time out for themselves. Families and indviduals can watch Art Care Eye and Breathing at youtu.be/T39kZcLCpZ0 and youtu.be/boCUlQWoBaU, respectively.

NEW

operations of the hotel’s award-winning dining outlets Brasserie on 3 and China Blue by Jereme Leung, C Lounge, Bru Coffee Bar, as well as its banqueting and catering services. Chef Warren will also oversee the hotel’s in-room dining and banquets and catering events including weddings and corporate events.

“We are delighted to have chef Warren join us at Conrad Manila. His passion and enthusiasm in the kitchen and working with team members are essential in our commitment to provide guests with a new level of dining experience,” Conrad Manila general manager Linda Pecoraro said of chef Warren’s appointment. “We are confident chef Warren will bring a dynamic, innovative energy to the dining experience at Conrad Manila.”

Chef Warren oversees Brasserie on 3, the hotel’s premier all-day dining restaurant that serves an extensive buffet selection at breakfast, lunch and dinner as well as an à la carte menu. The outlet offers an innovative menu with an emphasis on the finest seasonal produce—with organic, local and sustainably sourced ingredients taking center stage.

Hailing from the United Kingdom, chef Warren has over 30 years of solid international hospitality culinary management experience. He has consistently worked in five-star properties in the UK, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, South Korea, the Middle East, Australia and Michelin star Hotels.

“As executive chef at Conrad Manila, I am excited about further enhancing the culinary offerings at the hotel, and serving fresh and innovative creations to our guests, and pursuing driving my sustainability principles” said chef Warren. “The culinary team at Conrad Manila is talented and passionate, and I am certain we will continue to grow for a long time.”

EXECUTIVE chef Warren Brown

Pasig Mayor Vico Sotto to unveil unique product offerings at Ortigas Market on Oct. 1

Team Toyota Philippines makes its way to the GR GT Cup Asia Regional Rounds

THE third season of the TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Gran Turismo Cup Philippines came to an exhilarating finish with the National Round last July at the Clark International Speedway. A total of 16 e-racers battled it out on the thrilling Suzuka Circuit Speedway and Fuji International Speedway in the GR Yaris and GR Supra to cement their spot on the podium.

Among these e-racers, TGR Vios Cup veteran and champion Estefano Rivera showed exceptional performance to take the top spot in the Sporting Class, with Russel Reyes and Jether Miole following right behind him in the second and third spots. Meanwhile, up-and-coming e-racer Topher Tejada claimed the title of champion for the Promotional Class, followed by Matthew Spencer Ang and Aaron Christian Asence in second and third place.

Sporting Class Champion Estefano Rivera, Sporting Class Runner-up Russel Reyes, and Promotional Class Champion Topher Tejada then took a step closer to the international scene when they were chosen to represent Team Toyota Philippines in the Asia Regional Rounds, where they will be competing against some of the best e-racers from Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand.

The decision comes as part of the accolades for the GR GT Cup Philippines 2022, where the champions from each class are given the exciting opportunity to represent the country as Team Toyota Philippines. Meanwhile, the third and

last spot is awarded to the Sporting Class runner-up as the next best player from the pool of winners.

Amid their preparations for the Asia Regional Finals, Team Toyota Philippines visited the Toyota booth on the last day of the recently held 8th Philippine International Motor Show last September 18, 2022. Estefano, Russel, and Topher took the GR GT Cup racing rigs for a quick practice play with visitors. They also greeted and invited their fans to support them at the Asia Regional Finals.

Fans can show their support by giving heart-pumping cheers for Team Toyota

Philippines during the broadcast on October 9, 2022, 6PM on the Toyota Motor Philippines and TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Philippines Facebook pages.

Team Toyota Philippines is preparing to ace the races with the support of official connectivity provider, PLDT Enterprise.

Stay updated with Team Toyota Philippines’ journey to the Asia Regional Finals by following Toyota Motor Philippines and TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Philippines on Facebook. You can also follow Toyota Motor Philippines on Instagram, ToyotaMotorPH on Twitter, and Toyota PH on Viber.

PH Renewables grants livelihood starter kit for the benefit of former rebels in Baras, Rizal

PH Renewables, Inc. (PHRI), a subsidiary of MGEN Renewable Energy, Inc. (MGreen), supports the government’s effort to attain inclusive and sustainable peace by fostering local economic development. In partnership with the 80th Infantry Battalion (80IB),

PHRI recently turned over a livelihood starter kit for Balai Café located within the PhilComSat compound in Baras, Rizal.

Balai Café is a collaborative project initiated by 80IB, together with various national agencies and private institutions, to provide former rebels with a source of

income and help rebuild their lives. The food venture which started in July, serves meals and snacks to over 500 workers deployed in the solar plant site and nearby areas.

Believing in the project’s worthy cause, PHRI donated a livelihood starter kit composed of chest freezer, refrigerator and kitchenware.

According to Battalion Commander Lt. Col. Erwin Commendador, the project is under the Enhanced Comprehensive Integration Program, which seeks to assist the formal rebels in reintegrating into society through livelihood opportunities and commercial endeavors.

PHRI is constructing a 75 MWac solar project in Baras, Rizal which is scheduled to commence commercial operations within the first quarter of 2023. As a member of the ONE MERALCO Group, PHRI is one in powering the good life of the Filipino through meaningful partnerships that empower communities.

Grander, more thrilling prizes up for grabs in PLDT Home Rewards Grand Giveaway Year 2

PLDT Home shows love to its loyal customers with the return of the Grand Giveaway promo! From September 1 to December 31, 2022, over 200 new and existing PLDT Home customers can take home grander, more thrilling rewards and prizes during the monthly draws, and a chance to win Maya credits and P5 million cash (tax-free) in the grand draw. Winners for the grand draw will be announced on January 30, 2023.

Christmas sure came early because PLDT Home will be giving away P100,000 Philippine Airlines e-gift cards to five lucky winners, plus a host of exciting prizes including Apple iPads, Nintendo Switch OLED consoles, Samsung Galaxy A32 5G phones, TP Link Wifi 5 Mesh devices, and e-vouchers from Shopee and GrabFood.

Joining the PLDT Home Rewards Grand Giveaway is simple! Follow these easy steps.

Enroll your PLDT Home account in the PLDT Home Rewards Program by clicking this link or by visiting pldthome.info/ grander2022.

Earn Crystals. For every five Crystals earned, you get one raffle entry. You can also use these crystals to redeem discounts from the following brand partners.To kick off the Grand Giveaway promo, PLDT Home Rewards is also launching a new video featuring Filipino actress, singer, model, and Home ambassador, Gigi De Lana.

DELICIOUS

local and international dishes from the Philippines, Japan, Spain, Turkey, Korea, Vietnam and other countries along with artisan crafts await visitors to the Ortigas Market every Saturday, starting October 1, 2022 at F. Ortigas Jr. Road (formerly Emerald Avenue) in Pasig City.

Ortigas Market is spearheaded by DTC Promos Inc.in partnership with Pasig City,

Ortigas Center and Barangay San Antonio.

This project is made possible by Media partners Manila Bulletin, Business Mirror, DWIZ, Home Radio, Pilipino Mirror, Cook Magazine, Health & Fitness and Graphic Magazine and Mayani.

For more information: Contact Person: Richard Bayles; Email richard.bayles@ dtcpromos.com.ph

Bayanihan Dance Company bags Grand Prize in Cheonam World Dance Festival in Korea

B

AYANIHAN, the national dance company of the Philippines, won grand prize at the Cheonan World Dance Festival held from September 21-25, 2022 at Cheonan, Korea.

The dance company showcased the beauty of the Philippines through dances and music. Bayanihan bested other dance groups from Europe and Asia that participated in the international dance competition. It is the 14th international recognition garnered by Bayanihan.

In 2011, Bayanihan also bagged the top prize, winning over 100 other participants in the World Dance Festival.

Meanwhile, the Federation of International Dance Festivals (FIDAF) has appointed Bayanihan Trustee

and Executive Director Marielle Benitez Javellana as FIDAF Philippine National Representative and elected her as covice chairman for Asia during its General Congress held in Cheonan, Korea last September 22, 2022.

FIDAF is the organization for international dance festivals, represented by more than 80 countries.

Zubiri lauds ARTA’s performance; invokes CA Ruling on ARTA’s jurisdiction over Quasi-Judicial Bodies

SENATE

President Miguel Zubiri has lauded the Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA) for helping the country boost its competitiveness by streamlining government’s processes.

Citing the recent ruling of the Court of Appeals recognizing ARTA’s jurisdiction over all government agencies performing quasijudicial and legislative function, Zubiri said in the recent Philippine Franchise Association event “this is a victory not only for ARTA but for the law.”

It was reported in July 2022 that the Special Eighth Division of the Court of Appeals resolved the ARTA's powers over the quasi-judicial functions of the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), one agency that refused to recognize ARTA’s jurisdiction.

This concerns the case of News and Entertainment Network Corporation (NEWSNET, an affiliate of PSE-listed NOW Corp) versus the NTC.

The CA division resolved that the automatic approval granting NEWSNET the 26 GHz frequency based on ARTA decision under former ARTA General Jeremiah Belgica’s leadership was unappealable and irreversible. The current ARTA OIC issued a decision reversing Belgica’s ARTA decision.

The CA decision has profound significance in the delivery of much needed Internet and Pay TV services to the public as NEWSNET intends to expand nationwide using cuttingedge technologies.

The same CA decision states that regardless of the fact that said frequencies are now considered 5G (fifth generation) by the International Telecommunications Union, Newsnet maintains rights over it.

“And I’m confident that the legal victory such as this, we are setting a good precedent for similar cases in the future. And we are

sending a strong message to all government agencies to listen to ARTA, follow ARTA’s directives. In this way you, we can effectively serve our people and promote the Ease of Doing Business,” he added.

The Senate President also expressed his recognition of Belgica, who, Senator Zubiri said, “has been under pressure but I salute him for doing his job well.”

The ARTA was under the leadership Belgica from 2018 to 2022 until his sixmonth preventive suspension ordered by the Ombudsman in May this year.

The reforms of Republic Act No. 11032 or the Ease of Doing Business and Efficient Government Service Delivery Act of 2018 has shaken up many government agencies that based their actions on discretionary means. The ARTA law forcefully stopped that common practice.

ARTA’s four-year sterling performance under Belgica and recently affirmed by the Court of Appeals in so far as ARTA powers over quasi-judicial bodies, Zubiri said, "I hope with this ruling, ... [we] will all feel empowered to pursue bigger, bolder ventures, trusting that the law and ARTA will have your back,” said the Senate President.

The Special Eleventh Division of the Court of Appeals (CA) on August 16, 2022 resolved to reverse and set aside the termination of provisional authority and the cease and desist order (CDO) issued by NTC against Newsnet.

“The provisional authority of petitioner [Newsnet] to operate and maintain 25.35 to 26.35 GHz spectrum Local MultiPoint Distribution System (LMDS) to deliver interactive pay television and multi-media services in Metro Manila is reinstated and shall continue to be effective unless sooner suspended, cancelled or revoked in accordance with applicable laws, rules and regulations,” the CA decision said.

FROM left, Team Toyota Philippines members Estefano Rivera, Russel Reyes, and Topher Tejada with TMP President Atsuhiro Okamoto, Vice President for Sales Planning and Administration Cherry Bolanos, Senior Vice President for Marketing Masatoshi Toiya, and First Vice President for Vehicle Sales Operations Sherwin Chualim

EMPOWERMENT THROUGH LIVELIHOOD. Balai Café Enterprise members with PHRI representatives led by Site Head Engr. RJ Rivera and CSR Luzon Head Jason Gavina, and AFP Lt. Col. Erwin Commendador.

PET Portraits by Handmade Lemonade

RECYCLED Rubber Tire Materials by Siklo

Envoys&Expats

Euro biz group, EU envoy laud British oil giant’s local unit for sustainability efforts

By Roderick L. Abad

and challenges.

THE

European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (ECCP), with the head of the European Union (EU) delegation, recently feted Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. for protecting the environment while conducting business here and abroad.

The British energy giant’s Philippine subsidiary was among responsible foreign companies that

implement innovative, sustainable intelligent solutions which help address local transport industry issues

Pilipinas Shell was conferred with the 2022 Europa Award for Smart and Safer Mobility by the ECCP. This year’s citations recognized firms with exceptional performance and contributions in promoting sustainability, in line with global standards and the Philippine Development Plan.

Ambassador Luc Véron, who served as an award juror, appreciated the fact that “more and more businesses in Europe, here in the Philippines, and all over the world are embracing policies that are geared toward sustainable development.”

Véron averred: “We all need to work together to address sustainability issues, while preserving

[the Earth] for the needs of future generations.”

During the recent virtual awarding ceremony, Pilipinas Shell Vice President and General Manager for Mobility Randy Del Valle thanked the bilateral foreign chamber that promotes European interests in the country for the recognition. “The support of ECCP to encourage collaboration among the private, public, and government institutions for energy transition has been vital to [our] advocacies,” Del Valle said. “With Pilipinas Shell’s purpose of powering progress, we continue to enhance smart and safer mobility in the country by transforming our sites into customer-centric hubs.”

The firm’s evolving offers address growing demand for a more

SFA Manalo engages with ministers at UN General Assembly sidelines

accessible, convenient, and transformative journey for its customers.

Among its initiatives is the conversion of its retail sites into one-stop mobility stations, offering not just fuels but other services needed by customers. They are designed as ideal locations for all types of motorists and nonmotorists alike, with some catering to those who use bicycles and electric vehicles (EV).

Shell mobility stations were built with eco-bricks or recycled lubricant bottles from the firm’s existing lube bays, which proved to be more durable and cost-effective than traditional bricks. Pavements were built with Shell Bitumen FreshAir, which reduces emissions associated with asphalt, with the equivalent of reducing 40 cars worth of nitrogen

dioxide per kilometer of asphalt laid annually.

Recently, the company launched in its Mamplasan branch its pioneering high-powered EV charging service in the country: “Shell Recharge.”

Promoting active and eco-friendly transportation, the first Shell “Site of the Future,” which opened at Acienda Silang in Cavite, has a dedicated stop-and-go rack where cyclists can park, sit and dine al fresco. Two of its other sites are located at Shell Mahogany in Tagaytay City, and Shell North Gateway in Mandaue City, Cebu.

The ECCP award, according to Pilipinas Shell, is the latest recognition of its “longstanding commitment to and pioneering spirit in serving the Filipino nation.”

Spanish film fest returns to PHL, Malaysia, Australia

FROM October 5 to 16, the 21st edition of PELÍCULA Spanish Film Festival will return to physical screenings with some 20 movies in three Metro Manila venues: Shangri-La Plaza, Cine Adarna at the University of the PhilippinesDiliman, and Instituto Cervantes in Intramuros.

The fest returns to the big screen on a first-come, first-served free admission basis. It will also host online playdates for the Philippines, Malaysia and Australia.

ite films in the Audience Choice Awards, which will be given to the movies the viewers have voted as the best of the festival. Spectators can rate them right after viewing. The one garnering the most points will be rescreened on October 16 at Shangri-La Plaza.

The SFA met with Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the United Arab Emirates’s (UAE) minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, where they discussed new and existing areas of cooperation—including labor relations, trade and investment, tourism, and agriculture.

Manalo appreciated the UAE government for its efforts to improve living and working conditions of Filipinos in the Emirati state.

Department of Migrant Workers chief Susan Ople also graced the meeting.

Continued engagements

MANALO likewise met with Malaysia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Dato’ Sri Saifuddin Bin Abdullah on September 22 and discussed the state of Philippine-Malaysian rela-

tions, including the role of Asean in promoting regional security.

The two ministers were pleased to note the strong ties between their countries. The SFA welcomed Malaysia’s interest to collaborate in the digital economy, which is among the Philippine government’s priorities.

In 2021 Malaysia ranked as the Philippines’s 10th major trading partner, and 15th top investment collaborator.

The secretary also acknowledged Malaysia’s contribution to the peace process in Mindanao, then added that he anticipates its continued engagement in other aspects of the mutual relations.

The two ministers exchanged views on regional developments, as both hoped for a productive meeting during the forthcoming Asean Summits in Cambodia come November.

The foreign affairs chief also met with Foreign and Trade Minister Peter Szijjártó as they renewed commitments to further enhance Philippine-Hungarian bilateral ties.

The two ministers pledged to expand the scope of such, particu-

larly in the areas of the economy and people-topeople exchanges, as the two countries prepare to commemorate the 50th anniversary of their diplomatic relations in 2023.

Elevating relations

ON September 19 Manalo had a substantive discussion with South Korea’s Foreign Minister Park Jin, as both officials committed to elevate PhilippineKorean bilateral relations to a strategic partnership, banking on their deep and close ties that have spanned more than seven decades.

During the meeting the two officials exchanged views on regional and international developments. The SFA also expressed his anticipation in the signing of the 2022-2026 Framework Arrangement Concerning Loans from the Economic Development Cooperation Fund, which will pave the way for the implementation of more development-cooperation projects.

According to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), the

Philippines and Korea envision a strategic partnership that will include increased high-level engagements, closer maritime cooperation, heightened collaboration in addressing common security challenges, expanded cooperation in trade and investments as well as in science and technology, and even closer people-to-people exchanges through tourism, education exchanges, and labor linkages.

The DFA cited South Korea’s participation in the Philippines’s infrastructure development, including the construction of highways, railways, ports and airports, as an important aspect of their bilateral relations.

PHL, ROK to elevate maritime partnership

Locally, “PELÍCULA” will open on October 5 with El buen patrón (Fernando León de Aranoa, 2021) starring Javier Bardem. Other comedies in the line-up include El test (Dani de la Orden, 2022), and Con quién viajas (Martín Cuervo, 2021).

Official entries also include documentaries such as A las mujeres de España María Lejárraga (Laura Hojman, 2022), dramas such as Maixabel (Icíar Bollaín, 2021) or El olvido que seremos (Fernando Trueba, 2020), and thrillers like La hija (Manuel Martín Cuenca, 2021).

“PELÍCULA” will also feature Latin American films such as the Colombian documentary Jinetes del Paraíso (Talia Osorio Cardona, 2020), the Panamanian comedy Algo azul (Mariel García Spooner, 2021), and Competencia oficial— a Spanish-Argentinian comedy directed in 2021 by Gastón Duprat and Mariano Cohn, featuring Penélope Cruz, Antonio Banderas and Oscar Martínez.

Like in the past staging, spectators may vote for their favor-

For the 21st edition of the cinematographic showcase, there will be a special selection of classic Spanish films: Esa pareja feliz (Juan Antonio Bardem and Luis García Berlanga, 1951); Muerte de un ciclista (also by Bardem, 1953); Mamá cumple cien años (Carlos Saura, 1979) and El sur (Víctor Erice, 1983).

“PELÍCULA” will also hold “En corto: Short films from the Philippines and Spain,” which will feature recent short films from both countries.

This year’s film cavalcade is an initiative of Instituto Cervantes in Manila and Sydney, the Embassies of Spain in the Philippines and Australia, and the AECID in collaboration with the Film Development Council of the Philippines, Instituto Etxepare, Filmoteca Vasca, the Embassy of Colombia in the Philippines, the Embassy of Panama in the Philippines, the UP Film Institute, the University of the Philippines, Intramuros Administration, Vibal Foundation, Philippine Transmarine Carriers, Acciona, Rustan’s, Arthaland, and La Pícara.

All the movies are in Spanish or their original language with English subtitles. For updates, visit https://pelikula.org or www. facebook.com/InstitutoCervantesManila.

Japan supports confab on Global Navigation Satellite System Implementation for Asean

THE symposium on Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) implementation for Southeast Asian countries was held on September 8, with the support of the Japan-Asean Integration Fund.

cooperation. He also praised the progress of the GIPTA project as a symbolic collaboration under the “Asean Outlook on the Indo-Pacific.” It serves as a guide for the engagement in the AsiaPacific and the Indian Ocean regions.

B

USAN—The Philippines and the Republic of Korea (ROK/South Korea) agreed to boost their maritime cooperation, while addressing related challenges and concerns.

At their inaugural Maritime Dialogue on September 21, Assistant Secretary for Maritime and Ocean Affairs Maria Angela A. Ponce and Ambassador of the Philippines to the ROK Ma. Theresa B. Dizon-de Vega jointly led the Philippine side, while Director General for Asean and Southeast Asian Affairs Bu-

reau Cecilia Jung of the Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs headed the Korean delegation.

In her opening remarks, Ponce shared that this new mechanism for engagement in the maritime sphere “will further deepen and broaden the already dynamic cooperation and support between our two countries.”

The Philippines and the ROK discussed their collaboration in the fields of maritime-domain awareness, marine-environment protection, and ocean economy.

They also agreed to exchange best practices, enhance capacitybuilding programs, including in defense and maritime-law enforcement, while exploring partnerships on technology transfer in maritime transport and maritime education.

Both countries also emphasized the importance of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, or UNCLOS, as the legal framework for all naval activities, particularly in upholding the freedom of navigation and

overflight, as well as the peaceful uses of the sea and amicable resolution of disputes.

They likewise committed to sustain this new mechanism, especially in the context of the 75th anniversary of their relations. The Philippines agreed to host the second edition in Manila next year.

The inaugural maritime dialogue was held at the margins of the seventh International Marine Debris Conference and the 2022 Korea Maritime Week.

The GNSS Implementation Plan Training in Asean (GIPTA) project hosted the meeting.

Aimed at improving capacity-building for Filipino engineers and government officials, the program introduced GNSS technology to Philippine aviation agencies. GNSS utilizes the Space Satellite System standardized by the International Civil Aviation Organization. It seeks to improve the rate of flight service, while expanding the safety and efficiency of civil aviation.

Ambassador Kazuhiko Koshikawa recognized the initiative as a milestone for Japan-Philippines air-and-space

During the event Capt. Manuel Antonio L. Tamayo, who is director general of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines, welcomed participating engineers and government officials from Asean member-countries. Transportation Undersecretary Roberto C. Lim, CEO Katsuyuki Nakatsubo of Japan Radio Air Navigation Systems Association, and Aung Soe Moe of the Asean Secretariat graced the symposium. Dr. Majit Singh, deputy regional director of the International Civil Aviation OrganizationAsia Pacific Regional Office, delivered the keynote.

NEW YORK—On the sidelines of the 77th United Nations General Assembly, Secretary of Foreign Affairs (SFA) Enrique A. Manalo reaffirmed the Philippines’s commitments to elevate its bilateral relations with other countries.

SECRETARY Enrique Manalo (right) and Korea’s Foreign Minister Park Jin

MANALO (right) and Hungary’s Foreign and Trade Minister Peter Szijjártó

THE SFA (left) with UAE’s Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan

THE foreign affairs chief (left) with Malaysia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Dato’ Sri Saifuddin Bin Abdullah

Boost for athletes

THE Philippine Sports Commission, in partnership with the Department of Health and the City Government of Manila, provided Covid-19 vaccination booster shots to athletes, coaches and employees at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum on Wednesday.

Tokyo Olympic rower Cris Nievarez led more than 160 athletes and coaches from rowing, baseball, canoe kayak, karate, table tennis, judo, kurash, gymnastics, taekwondo, water polo and diving who availed themselves of the booster shots.

PSC Chairman Jose Emmanuel “Noli” Eala said that as the PSC’s facilities open “it’s vital that we remain vigilant and protected against Covid-19.”

Our athletes, coaches and employees need to be secured, protected and cared for as we begin transition and return to our sports activities and events.”

A lmost 400 booster vaccines were administered.

Tour big guns back in hunt at Riviera golf

THE men of the tour can’t wait to get going after a long break with Clyde Mondilla joining the action in the Philippine Golf Tour’s (PGT) return to Riviera’s daunting Langer course and the likes of Juvic Pagunsan and Angelo Que back in pursuit of the International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI) Riviera Championship crown.

Th at should make the October 4 to 7 championship far reaching with Michael Bibat, winner of the last PGT leg at Eagle Ridge-Aoki, multi-titled aces Tony Lascuña, Jhonnel Ababa, Jay Bayron and Dutch Guido Van der Valk beefing up the stellar cast in the P2 million event put up by ICTSI.

I ra Alido will also make a return trip to the tougher of the two Riviera courses where he nailed his breakthrough victory in 2020, toughened up by stints on the Asian Development Tour, topped by a tied for 21st finish in the Gurugram Challenge in India last April.

A lso in the early roster are John Kier Abdon, Ferdie Aunzo, Rufino Bayron, Jobim Carlos, Fidel Concepcion, Dan Cruz, Rico Depilo, Marvin Dumandan, Paul Echavez, Anthony Fernando, Gerald Rosales, Keanu Jahns and Rene Menor.

Joining them are Teodoro Osabel, Robert Pactolerin, Mars Pucay, Sean Ramos, Joenard Rates, Rolando Marabe Jr., Kuresh Samanod, Richard Sinfuego, Orlan Sumcad, Joeleo Torrecampo, Arnold Villacencio and Dino Villanueva.

But no player could be as much thrilled to launch his drive than Mondilla, who is out to rebound from a string of setbacks in the first three legs of this year’s circuit. He yielded to Miguel Tabuena in sudden death at Luisita, lost by four to Zanieboy Gialon at Caliraya Springs and blew a third round lead and wound up third at Splendido Taal topped by Van der Valk.

But the 2019 Philippine Open champion will be as much tested as the rest of the field on a risk-andreward course kept in championship form all-year-long with Pagunsan also looking to recall the form that netted him a runaway victory in stormy conditions in 2019 that capped a run of four victories in a dominant campaign on his way to a second Order of Merit crown.

Pagunsan also made a comeback of sorts at Eagle Ridge last July where he and Que marked their PGT return with tied for fourth finishes with the veteran duo taking another break from the Japan Golf Tour, where they are based, to help stir up play at Riviera.

The Pilipinas Golf Tournaments Inc.-organized circuit winds up its six-leg season from October 25 to 28 for the ICTSI Pradera Verde Championship at the posh Lubao, Pampanga layout where Mondilla rallied with a closing 67 then beat four others in PGT’s most crowded playoff cast in 2020.

UAAP Season 85 opens Saturday in closer-to-normal environment

THE University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) kicks off this Saturday its 85th season in what could be described as a closer-to-normal environment with 60 events spread out in six disciplines.

But men’s basketball would still stand out as the league’s centerpiece sport on top of women’s volleyball, cheerdance, chess, beach volleyball and taekwondo’s poomsae in a season UAAP brass and host Adamson University would slowly bring the league back to normality.

We’re back and full of life,” UAAP Season 85 President Fr. Aldrin Suan, CM, of Adamson University, told Wednesday’s press conference at the Mall of Asia Arena. “For the past two years, it’s not just the UAAP that was affected. The entire world was affected.”

Emotionally, economically, socially, in one way or another, we were down,” Suan said. “We’re hoping to use the UAAP as one of the platforms in helping bring the new normal to the Filipino people. As we ‘Rise As One,’ we are back to being full of life.”

W ith the theme “Rise As One,” the season opens immediately with

EARLY BIRD IN PARIS

By Josef Ramos

THE Paris Olympics are in July 2024 but the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) wanted preparations to start in earnest by sending a team to the French capital next month to scout for training facilities or gyms for weightlifting, gymnastics and boxing.

The objective is to make sure that our Olympians in Paris will be there two months in advance to prepare and acclimatize,” POC President Rep. Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino said after the POC General Assembly on Wednesday at the East Ocean Seafood Restaurant in Pasay City.

By being in Paris early enough, we expect to help boost the Olympians’ confidence level for better results,” he added. “By sending them to Paris early, it

would allow them to adjust by the time they compete in their events.”

Tolentino said that he’ll be flying to Paris with Deputy Secretary general Bones Floro and two POC lawyers for an ocular from October 21 to 26 of the competition and training facilities or gyms.

“ We intend to secure three gyms for gymnastics, weightlifting and boxing,” he said. “I learned that only a few gyms remain available because other countries have already rented them.”

T he Philippines booked its best Olympic finish in Tokyo last year with weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz winning the country’s first gold medal and boxers Carlo Paalam and Petecio clinching silver medals and Eumir Felix Marcial a bronze.

T hey are expected to again qualify for Paris, along with Asian men’s pole vault record holder Ernest John “EJ” Obiena and world

Pirates extend win streak to 4 games

LYCEUM of the Philippines University extended its winning run to four games following an 82-77 victory over University of Perpetual Help System Dalta, 82-77, Wednesday in the National Collegiate Athletic Association seniors basketball tournament at the Paco Arena.

Enoch Valdez had 13 points, three rebounds and two steals, Mac Guadaña chipped in 12 points and Shawn Umali added 10 points, eight rebounds and two steals for the Pirates.

Lyceum Coach Gilbert Malabanan was happy to see Valdez, one of the team’s seniors, evolve as proved by his improved efficiency

rating inside the court.

I can say he’s matured, not only with his game but also with his attitude, and that’s No. 1,” Malabanan said. “That’s why he’s been delivering for the team, and he knows that.”

R enzo Navarro also keyed the Pirates win by drilling in four pressure-packed free throws in the final 13.2 seconds that sealed the result.

Jielo Razon finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds, JC Abis contributed 11 points and 15 rebounds for a double-double outing and Kim Aurin added 16 points and two rebounds for the Altas, who fell to 2-3 won-lost.

Zamboanga holds Hermosa Triathlon after 3-year hiatus

THE second Hermosa Triathlon will be held in Zamboanga City on October 30 after a three-year pandemic-induced hiatus as the city reasserts its position as one of the country’s leading sports tourism destinations.

The Hermosa Triathlon is part of the city’s annual La Hermosa Festival and is held under the auspices of the city government and its tourism office.

Mayor John Dalipe gave the green light for the holding of the swim-bike-run event with City Administrator Mario Yanga and City Tourism

Officer Sarita Sebastian-Hernandez as co-chairpersons of the Hermosa Festival organizing committee.

T he city officials on Tuesday presided over the official launching of the month-long La Hermosa Festival, with Dalipe vowing to make this year’s La Hermosa Festival a grand celebration of colors or “Celebracion de Colores.”

The race starts with swim off the city’s Plaza del Mar with a line of colorful vintas marking the course through the Zamboanga West Coastal Road up to the Zamboanga Economic Zone and back and ending in a two-loop run course through the scenic RT Lim Boulevard.

It will climax the month-long La Hermosa Festival, one of the country’s oldest and most colorful religious and cultural festivals. It is also known as Fiesta Pilar, which honors the city’s patron saint, Our Lady of Pilar.

The race is organized by Fuerza Multisports—the event organizing arm of Trimac Coaching under Head Coach and Race Director Jojo “Jomac” Macalintal—in cooperation with its local partners, the Zamboanga Trail Runners (ZTR).

champion gymnast Carlos Yulo.

Tolentino said the accomplishment of Diaz and co. augured well for Philippine sports and that he expects more Olympians for the Paris Games set from July 26 to August 11.

The Tokyo medalists, however, have to go through the same qualification procedure for Paris.

We will have the opportunity to check the facilities, the competition venues and the Olympic village, among others,” Tolentino said. “It will allow us to strategize early.”

Forty-nine of the 62 POC members—regular, associate and recognized—attended the general assembly either in person or online.

Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) Chairman Noli Eala also graced the meeting and laid down his program for the POC and national sports associations.

‘General’ wants ‘Monster’ Inoue scalp

EDWARD “GENERAL” HENO shows no fear of unified champion Naoya Inoue of Japan.

Heno holds the less illustrious Boxing Worldwide Organization (BWO) bantamweight belt and aims to go rungs higher on the global stage if he gets to fight Inoue, a tormentor of several Filipino boxers and owner of the World Boxing Council (WBC), World Boxing Association and International Boxing Federation bantamweight belts.

He’s also a human being. I am very much willing to fight him if opportunity comes,” the 29-yearold Parañaque City boxer told

BusinessMirror on Tuesday. “I’m not afraid of him, nobody’s afraid of him. It’s going to be a good fight at 118 [lbs] if it happens.”

A f ormer world title challenger, Heno said he could give Inoue (23-0 win-loss with 20 knockouts) a tough fight “the Japanese never experienced before.”

I will engage with him if he wants,” Heno said. “The ‘General’ doesn’t surrender in any battle.”

But Heno should be careful of what he wishes for when it comes to Inoue, who’s called the “Monster.”

Inoue beat erstwhile WBC bantamweight champion Nonito

a bang featuring a marquee duel defending champion University of the Philippines (UP) and De La Salle, a 4 p.m. matchup that caps a 2 p.m. virtual opening ceremony prepared by the UAAP’s broadcast partners Cignal TV and Smart and the Adamson University-University of Santo Tomas clash at 2 p.m.

Sunday’s action pits National University (NU) against University of the East (UE) at 2 p.m. and Ateneo against Far Eastern University (FEU) at 4 p.m. in the same venue.

The Fighting Maroons? Coach Goldwin Monteverde sounded modest during the press conference.

Although we started [training] in August, we made a trip to South Korea just to get the team together and prepare,” Monteverde said. “So far, our preparations are okay.

Ateneo’s Tab Baldwin believes all teams have prepared well this season and is hoping the Blue Eagles’ campaign overseas will bear fruits.

We were both blessed and not blessed in our preparation. Obviously, the opportunity to travel overseas to Japan and Israel was really good,” Baldwin said. “I’m sure everybody is in a fighting spirit, ready to go.”

De La Salle’s Derrick Pumaren said the team had an ideal pre-season buildup in an effort to ruse from last season’s Final Four disappointment.

We took advantage of the short break and I think we’re more prepared this time,” Pumaren said. “Hopefully we’ll be a better team when we show up on Saturday.”

Olsen Racela and the Tamaraws also sharpened their hooves although they did it in clandestine—no pre-season tournaments or foreign training.

A lso present in the press conference were UAAP executive director Atty. Rene “Rebo” Saguisag Jr., Cignal TV and TV5 President and CEO Robert Galang and SVP and Head of Consumer Business GroupIndividual at Smart Francis Flores. Josef Ramos

Donaire Jr. a second round technical knockout loss last July 7 in Saitama, Japan, in a rematch to unify three of the four belts around the Japanese’s waist.

Britain’s Paul Butler holds the World Boxing Organization belt which he will put on the line against Inoue on December 13 in Japan.

Heno is coming off a unanimous decision win over fellow Filipino Reneol Pael last August 4 to win the BWO crown at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City. He is also planning to fight big names in the super flyweight or 115-lb category, his promoter Aljoe Jaro said.

Bring it on...all the best at 118 or 115, Heno will accept the challenge anytime, anywhere,” Jaro said.

Josef Ramos

Morales siblings, Daz potential karate champions

THREE kids from San Jose del Monte in Bulacan are racking up a karate medal after another with promising performances in various local and national competitions.

Steven Jhudiel Morales, 12, and sister Solara Uriel, 8, and Zemira Zaigen Gawad Daz, also 8, have been making the International Shotokan Karate Federation-Philippine Shotokan Karate Federation-San Jose Del Monte Bulacan (ISKF-PSKI SJDM Bulacan) club proud.

“ They really want to follow the footsteps of our Sensei, Adora Aquino, a former national team member,” said Mary Anne Guillermo, a Karate Pilipinas licensed coach.

Steven Jhudiel Morales, 12, emerged as Karate Pilipinas

champion in kata and kumite during the federation’s recent national championships at the Mall of Asia Arena.

He also dominated the kumite and kata divisions of the Olongapo Karatedo Championships last June and the Third ABR Cup Karate Championships Intermediate Kata where he won the 12-13 and 14-15 gold medals.

Solara won the kata girls’ gold medal and claimed silvers in team kata and kumite and bronze in team kumite in the ABR Cup.

Daz, on the other hand, clinched silver in the kata 6-7-years old division in the Olongapo Invitational and a team and individual kata and individual kumite silver medals in the ABR Cup.

CANOE-KAYAK athlete John Paul Selencio gets his booster shot.

CLYDE MONDILLA is out to rebound from a string of setbacks in the first three legs of this year’s circuit.

LEAGUE officials and coaches make the all-familiar pre-season pose. They are (from left) assistant coaches Don Allado (University of the East) and Rodney Santos (University of Santo Tomas),Frederick Pumaren (De La Salle), Nash Racela (Adamson University), league Executive Director Atty. Rene Andrei Saguisag, basketball commissioner Richard Bachmann, Goldwin Monteverde (University of the Philippines), Tab Baldwin (Ateneo), Jeff Napa (National University) and Olsen Racela (Far Eastern University).

ROY DOMINGO

EDWARD “GENERAL” HENO aims for the big time.

YOUNG karate potentials (from left) Solara Uriel Morales, Steven Jhudiel Morales and Zemira Zaigen Gawad Daz pose with their medals they won at the All Luzon Karate Championships in Nueva Ecija.

Thursday,

29, 2022 mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph

Jun Lomibao

REP. Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino: By being in Paris early enough, we expect to help boost the Olympians’ confidence level for better results,” he added. “By sending them to Paris early, it would allow them to adjust by the time they compete in their events.