BusinessMirror April 05, 2023

THE Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reminded BSP-Supervised Financial Institutions (BSFIs) that Instapay and PESONet customers must continue to have uninterrupted access to services this Holy Week.

The BSP issued the reminder in anticipation of the public’s continued use of digital payments over the holidays and long weekends. This is in line with the central bank’s broader efforts to promote financial consumer welfare.

“BSFIs must ensure the uninterrupted availability of their contact channels—including hotlines, emails, and chatbots—to receive consumer concerns,” BSP said in a memorandum. “Furthermore, the BSFIs are also advised to ensure timely and adequate responses to concerns sent via these channels.”

PESONet is a batch electronic fund transfer service that is a viable alternative for checks and recurring payments. Meanwhile, InstaPay is a real-time, low-value

payment substitute for cash transactions.

The BSP, meanwhile, said the Monetary Board recently approved amendments to FX regulations to adopt as permanent policy the majority of the operational relief measures for FX transactions.

Under Circular No. 1080 dated March 27, 2020 and related Circular Letters, the BSP adopted as a permanent policy some of the measures it introduced at the height of the Covid-19 lockdowns.

The implementing circular will take effect 15 banking days after its publication.

These measures included the issuance in electronic form of BSP—International Operations Department (IOD) documents [e.g., BSP letter-approval, Bangko Sentral Registration Document (BSRD)] and electronic submission of BSP-IOD issued documents to authorized agent banks (AABs)/ See “BSFIs,” A2

ADB projects slower PHL growth

By Cai U. Ordinario @caiordinario

HIGH inflation, tight monetary policy and global headwinds are expected to slow the country’s economic performance this year and next year, according to the latest report of the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

The Manila-based multilateral development bank forecasts GDP growth to slow to 6 percent this year before growing to 6.2 percent next year. The country’s growth last year was 7.6 percent while the government’s GDP growth target is 6 percent this year.

However, the country’s inflation rate this year is expected to outpace GDP growth. Inflation is forecast to average 6.2 percent in 2023 before slowing to 4 percent in 2024.

“GDP growth already accounts for inflation. The 6 percent we’re talking about is real GDP that’s been adjusted for inflation. So it’s really telling you that nominal GDP obviously is outstripping inflation, so as long as real GDP is growing, it’s 5 to 6 percent, then that’s going to improve the

See “ADB,” A2

‘BOOST PHL FOOD CULTURE, FIGHT FOOD INSECURITY’

By Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo @akosistellaBM

Special to the BusinessMirror

THE recent pandemic and shortages in vital food ingredients have put more focus on the importance of Filipino food and its production.

In a speech to celebrate the launch of Filipino Food Month (FFM), Philippine Culinary Heritage Movement (PCHM) founder, Chef Jose Antonio Miguel “Jam” Melchor, said, “More than ever, food isn’t just a matter of consumption, but also of production.

More people are asking questions about the ethical aspects of eating: ‘How is my food grown?

How does it affect the environment? How does my food affect my body? How does it affect my financial capabilities? Thankfully these challenging times have led Filipinos to adopt  the spirit of bayanihan. Organizations and individuals are setting up foodrescue initiatives,  hosting discussions on the economics and socioanthropological elements of gastronomy, advocating for the importance of going and growing local, as well as cooking with both a respect for tradition and push for innovation.”

He likewise underscored the “unique opportunity to build a stronger and better food system to address several systemic is -

sues, and to ensure that everyone has access to good, clean, and fair food. It is a must for all of us to work together in preserving the Filipino food culture to fight food insecurity. Food will always be an essential part of our culture and identity as Filipinos. We must celebrate this uniqueness as it conveys the story of the country and unites the spirits of the Filipino people.”

The determination of April as Filipino Food Month, or “Buwan ng Kalutong Pilipino,” was made by President Rodrigo Roa Duterte through Presidential Proclamation No. 469 signed on April 13, 2018. The presidential directive, for which the PCHM had actively

lobbied, also designated the Department of Agriculture and the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) as lead agencies for the celebration, working closely with the Department of Tourism in the implementation of their respective programs and projects for the month.

FFM was recently launched at the Metropolitan Theater, with the theme “Pagkaing Sariling Atin, Mahalin at Pagyamanin.” Melchor said the national celebration “aims to appreciate, preserve, promote, and ensure the transmission of the vast Filipino culinary traditions and treasures

See “Food culture,” A2

By Andrea E. San Juan

IF online video piracy in the Philippines is not brought under control, the illegal activity could result in annual revenue loss of US$1 billion by 2027, a study cited by the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) noted.

According to the study of Media Partners Asia (MPA), an independent research provider, online video piracy was “pervasive” in 2022, growing to 20 million illegal users with revenue leakage of US$781 million, representing an “alarming” 53 percent of legal video industry/ screen revenues. Meanwhile, IPOPHL Director General Rowel S. Barba described the US$781-million revenue loss in online video piracy in 2022 as “alarming.”

BSFIs. . .

Continued from A1

AAB subsidiary or affiliate forex corporations (AAB forex corps) and to the BSP.

The BSP also permanently adopted the policy on electronic submission of BSP-IOD application forms without the required electronic/digital signatures, provided that this is accompanied by the required attestation from the submitting party.

The list of measures also included the electronic submission of reports to BSP-IOD and the lifting of the notarization requirement for certain supporting documents for trade and non-trade current account transactions, and foreign investments.

The BSP also lifted the applicable processing fee in relation to non-compliance with the prescriptive period for submission to BSP-IOD of applications/requests for various FX transactions.

Further, documents issued by the BSP-IOD in electronic form starting March 27, 2020 (e.g., BSP letter-approval, provisional BSRDs) shall remain valid even after the period covered by Circular No. 1080.

This means the BSP will no longer issue original hard copies to replace the said BSP documents.

Meanwhile, the waiver of monetary penalties for delays incurred in the submission of reports to the BSP-IOD shall remain effective until 30 June 2023 (unless extended by BSP).  Cai U. Ordinario

Marina: There’s probable cause vs oil-spill ship owner

By Joel R. San Juan @jrsanjuan1573

people.” Remulla added that a lot of people should be held accountable.

Even officials of MARINA, according to Remulla, are likely to be criminally charged.

“That is very possible. No one will escape scrutiny when it comes to this,” Remulla added.

Remulla noted that the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) is still investigating MARINA’s processes to determine the possible charges that will be filed.

“We are determined to make sure that people would not forget that what happened was a crime and not an accident,” the DOJ chief stressed.

Piracy. . .

This was disclosed by MARINA Deputy Administrator Sonia Malaluan at an interagency committee meeting on the oil spill held at the Department of Justice (DOJ).

Malaluan, however, did not elaborate on the charges that the agency is planning to file against the oil tanker.

“In fact, MARINA has completed its initial investigation on the shipping properties, on the show-cause order, issued before and a resolution has been issued finding probable cause to file a formal charge to the shipping company,” Malaluan said.

MARINA earlier issued cease

and desist orders (CDOs) against the RDC Reield Marine Services, the company that owns the vessel.

The CDO was issued  for the cancellation of RDC Reield Marine Services’ certificate of public convenience (CPC) and another one enjoining the operations of its remaining vessels.

He said the CDOs  will remain in force pending the result of its  investigation on the February 28 sinking of the vessel.

Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla, in an interview with reporters, described the incident as “a crime against the environment” and “a crime against the Filipino

ADB. . .

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Continued from A1

well-being of Filipinos and economic growth is the most important here,” ADB Philippine Country Office Head Kelly S. Bird told reporters in a briefing on Tuesday.

Based on the Asian Development Outlook, the Philippines, Singapore, Lao PDR, Timor Leste, and Myanmar will see inflation outpace GDP growth this year. Lao PDR and Myanmar, however, will see inflation outpace growth until next year.

Lao PDR is expected to see a growth of 4 percent this year and next year but its inflation will be in double-digit at 16 percent this year and 5 percent next year.

Myanmar, which is expected to post a growth of 2.8 percent this year and 3.2 percent next year, and to register an inflation of 10.5 percent in 2023 and 8.2 percent in 2024.

The high inflation being experienced by the Philippines and these countries, Bird said, were also brought by the supply chain issues that continued even as countries are recovering from the pandemic.

“I think that’s what you want to look at. GDP growth is 6 percent, then that means per capita incomes in real terms are growing at at least 4 percent if you take into account population growth,” Bird said.

“If you think about it, if GDP continues to grow at 6 percent for 10 years, the economy would be at least 60 percent larger in real terms. Per capita incomes would be at least 40 percent larger. So it’s critically important to continue to achieve growth above 6 percent per annum,” he explained.

In the Philippines, another factor that complicates inflation is that the country has yet to attain food security. Bird said food security means “having reliable access to sufficient quantity of affordable and nutritious food.”

In order to achieve food security, Bird said, the Philippines must remove structural impediments to agriculture productivity, water management, and rural connectivity and remove restrictions to domestic and international trade in farm products.

Continued from A1

“As long as the internet is there,  hindi mawawala  [piracy will not go away]. Piracy will always be there and our creatives are the ones that will be affected here,” Barba told reporters on the sidelines of the National Intellectual Property Month media briefing last Monday in Taguig City.

The study described the Philippines’s creative economy as having “significant potential.” In fact, it noted that the online video industry is a “critical component,” generating US$419 million in revenue in 2022 with consumer subscription contributing 57 percent and net brand advertising, with 43 percent.

Despite “robust” home and mobile broadband connectivity, however, the study said, “The Philippines lags peer Southeast Asian markets in online video industry development especially with regard to subscription video-on-demand [SVOD] household penetration.”

Meanwhile, premium VOD consumption is growing with Netflix, Viu, Disney, Amazon and local players (iWant, TFC, and Vivamax) all contributing as local households and users consume content from the US, Korea and the Philippines, the study noted.

However, the study said that piracy controls will help “unlock value” with more legal customers and revenue growth for the premium online video category, potentially more than doubling local content investment in the online video sector to US$390 million by 2027 versus a current projected trajectory of US$138 million.

“With improved piracy controls, eventually 60 percent of illegal subscribers, if not more, could be converted to prevailing SVOD and freemium services,” the study said.

If the country will put in place more efforts to combat online content theft, the study said these efforts will help grow premium online video revenues three times to US$1.6 billion with a “significant multiplier” in the process.

Moreover, the study highlighted that piracy controls will boost employment with the creation of 2,800 new jobs over the next five years (2022 to 2027), as video sector employment output grows to US$402 million by 2027, which it said is a “major incremental boost” of US$220 million.

Moving forward, the IPOPHL chief underscored the importance of collaboration in the global arena to mitigate the piracy cases.

“It really needs a collaboration; the effort should be global because it’s so porous,” Barba said, partly in Filipino, pointing out that piracy is a “trans-border” crime.

He also noted that IPOPHL has been working with dialogue partners such as (United States Patent and Trademark Office) USPTO, UK, Japan, and Korea.

Moreover, Barba said that, “it is our dream to have a forensics lab like the one in Korea,” a room in which he said the downloads within cell phones and computers are being monitored.

Bird also said there is a need to improve collaboration between the government, research institutions and the private sector in terms of research and development and skills training as well as extension services to farmers.

Efforts to promote an efficient retail sector as well as undertaking nutrition programs targeting vulnerable persons such as pregnant teenagers, young mothers, and children under 5 years old.

Bird said ADB is already in discussions with the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and the World Food Program to create a targeted program of extending food vouchers to poor communities.

Oil prices, banking crisis

IN a separate briefing, ADB Chief Economist Albert Park said they were surprised by the decision of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) Plus to reduce production starting in May until the end of 2023.

Park said oil prices have been trading below $80 per barrel. The decision of the OPEC+ will see oil prices trade at $85 per barrel.

This year, Park said, oil prices are expected to average at $88 per barrel before increasing to around $90 per barrel. The decision of the OPEC+, he said, is not going to cause “fundamental changes” to their expectations.

However, ADB Macroeconomic Research Division Director Abdul Abiad said the Manila-based multilateral development bank will closely monitor the developments.

Abiad said oil prices could remain elevated due to the reduction in production, especially when coupled with the recovery of China.

He said the increase in China’s demand for oil and the reduction of production will place an “upward pressure on global energy prices and on inflation.”

“Of course, we have to keep an eye out on how things unfold going forward. We anticipated that supply would remain somewhat constrained this year,” Park said.

No impact

MEANWHILE , the banking turmoil that has affected two banks in the United States and one in Europe is not expected to have a significant impact on Asian banks, according to the ADB.

However, Park said, a worst case scenario would be if this would lead to a crisis that would be half as large as the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) in 2008-2009. Park said such a crisis would see the growth of developing Asia slow to at least 0.25 percent this year and next year. The slowdown will be mainly due to the slowdown in China.

China’s growth, meanwhile, will see a reduction of 0.4 percent this year and 0.6 percent next year. Park said the export demand shock that would ensue will affect Chinese exporters.

“We don’t really anticipate at this point the banking crisis to escalate the impact in the Asian banking system,” Park said.

On Tuesday, local economists said the threat of recession could mitigate the impact of high oil prices due to output cuts on Philippine inflation. Oil-producing countries such as Saudi Arabia and Iraq announced that they will cut oil production by a total of 1 million barrels per day starting in May 2023 until the end of the year.

Saudi Arabia alone is expected to account for the reduction of 500,000 barrels a day during the period. Reports said this accounts for less than 5 percent of the country’s average production per day as of 2022.

“It will likely increase oil and commodity prices in the future, but I don’t think the worries over a global recession will subside soon so that oil and commodity price increases may not be sustained,” University of Asia and the Pacific (UA&P) economist Peter Lee U told the BusinessMirror on Monday.

Ateneo de Manila University Department of Economics Chairperson Alvin P. Ang agreed and said that in the short term, especially if the 6-percent increase in oil prices is sustained, this could feed into inflation.

However, Ang said actual demand is slowing. He added that countries like the United States still have “strategic reserves” that could cushion the impact on global pump prices.

Nonetheless, certain economists such as University of the Philippines Diliman School of Economics head of research Renato E. Reside Jr. believe there will be an impact on the country’s inflation rate and growth prospects.

to the future generations.” FFM is also poised to support various industries, farmers, and agri-communities.

Among the most globally-popular Filipino dishes is the Adobo, which was celebrated in a Google doodle just last March 15.

Meanwhile, Melchor said he hoped, “We are able to someday host tourists from across the world in a huge Filipino food festival, wherein foreign nationals can enjoy the rich, diverse flavors of the Filipino cuisine.”

By observing the FFM national celebration each year, he added, “a more in-depth research, attention and appreciation will be given to Filipino food culture, culinary heritage, and gastronomy.”

In a video message, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. said of the FFM, “Aside from highlighting our rich culinary tradition, may this event provide a platform to acknowledge the role of our local communities especially our farmers, fisherfolk, and other sectors involved in food production, the culinary industry, and national food security.” Marcos Jr. is also the concurrent Agriculture Secretary, but has overseen the importation of vital commodities like sugar and onions to temper the rise in their retail prices.

Several events have been slated for the celebration of FFM including KAINCON, a Filipino food conference (April 3-5); Ang Sarap! Philippine Food Festival (April 21-23 at the SM Megatrade Hall); Hapag ng Pamana FFM concert (April 16, 2023 at Rizal Park Open Air Auditorium), in partnership with the National Parks Development Committee; and Hapag ng Pamana food fairs (Laoag on April

THE Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA) said on Tuesday  that it has found  probable cause to file charges against  the owners of the sunken MT Princess Empress which caused a massive oil spill  in Oriental Mindoro.

The Nation

Govt, PTEs urged to ramp up SIM card registration ahead of April 26 deadline

By Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz @joveemarie

WITH just three weeks to go for the sign up of Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) numbers, a senior lawmaker on Tuesday called on the concerned government agencies and public telecommunications entities (PTEs) to go full-blast on their registration drives in a last-ditch joint effort to make people register an estimated 100 million-plus SIM cards before the deadline.

C amarines Sur Rep. LRay Villafuerte said the Department of Information and Communications Technology and National Telecommunications Commission need to work in tandem with the PTEs in going full-blast on their nationwide registration drives after Holy Week to prod the owners of more than 100 million SIM cards that have yet to be recorded in the system to do so before the April 26 deadline.

Otherwise, Villafuerte, one of the lead authors of Republic Act (RA) 11934 or the SIM Registration law, said the government will have to extend the four-month deadline if it wants to record in the system as many numbers as possible from the total SIM cards in the country whose owners have yet to register their SIMs.

T he National Unity Party president said the NTC and PTEs must, for one, set up this April their facilitated registration booths or assistance desks in a lot more places, especially in remote areas.

V illafuerte said the NTC and PTEs have to get the support of local government units (LGUs), most especially those in faraway communities with weak Internet connection, to put up these registration booths in their respective localities.

T he NTC web site reported that as of last weekend, or barely three weeks before the deadline, an ag -

gregate of 57.19 million SIM cards have been registered with the three PTEs, which is just 34 percent of an estimated 168.977 million SIMs nationwide.

A total of 28.97 million SIM card owners have signed up with Smart Communications Inc.; another 23.83 million with Globe Telecom Inc.; and 4.38 million more with DITO Telecommunity Corp.

G overnment officials believe, though, that owners of SIM cards that were used in cybercrimes have no intention of registering these SIMs.

“

It’s possible that many SIM card owners have not signed up yet because even if they know that the sign-up is a deterrent to crime, they are probably clueless that the registration is mandatory, or that they would no longer be able to use their unregistered SIM cards because the government would deactivate them by April 27,” Villafuerte said.

T his means the owners of deactivated SIMs would no longer be able to make and receive cell phone calls or access their SIMs’ data services and online connectivity, preventing them from accessing web sites or using applications that require an Internet connection, Villafuerte said.

He added that owners of deactivated SIMs could no longer access their one-time password (OTP), which is a security feature in banking and media applications and other online platforms.

Villafuerte noted that RA 11934 made it mandatory for subscribers to register their SIMs from December 26 up to April 26, after which all unregistered SIMs would be deactivated on April 27.

However, he said, the law also authorized the DICT to extend the four-month registration period by another 120 days or four months, if necessary.

DOH moves for transfer of mental health patients with criminal cases to BJMP jails

THE Department of Health (DOH) on Tuesday said it is already coordinating with the Department of Justice (DOJ) for the transfer of mental health patients with criminal cases to help decongest a pavilion at the National Center for Mental Health (NCMH) where they are currently being housed.

In a media forum, DOH Officerin-Charge Maria Rosario Vergeire was asked to issue a statement after Sen. Raffy Tulfo filed a resolution seeking for an investigation into the “poor condition” of the mental health facility and alleged corruption by hospital officials.

Vergeire said that they are “always” open to investigation with regard to NCMH and any other facilities of the DOH.

“Ang pinupunto po ni Sen. Tulfo would be the pavillion doon po sa Cen-

SC shuts door on pleadings, motions, letters related to BGC land dispute

By Joel R. San Juan @jrsanjuan1573 & Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco @claudethmc3

inary injunction issued on August 2, 1994 by the Regional Trial Court of Pasig City enjoining the Makati City government “from exercising jurisdiction over, making improvements on, or otherwise treating as part of its territory” Parcels 3 and 4, Psu 2031, comprising Fort Bonifacio, including the so-called Inner Fort comprising of Barangays Pembo, Comembo, Cembo, South Cembo, West Rembo, East Rembo and Pitogo.

T he Philippine Army headquarters, Navy installation, Marines’ headquarters, Consular area, Jusmag area, Heritage Park, Libingan ng mga Bayani, AFP Officers Village and the so-called six villages are situated in the said areas.

S C Spokesman Brian Keith Hosaka said the Court’s Special Third Division has already ordered the entry of judgment after it affirmed with finality its December 1, 2021 declaring that the contested land is part of the territory of Taguig City.  Hosaka made the clarification after the Makati City government said it has filed an omnibus motion asking the SC to hear the case en banc, a legal recourse that is provided for under Section 2 Rule 2 of the SC Internal Rules.

“ We believe that the decision involves constitutional issues that need to be addressed by the entire court. Not only will the decision have far-reaching consequences on the operation and stability of business in the affected areas, it could also prejudice the right to

vote and the access to vital social services of both Makati and Taguig residents,” Makati chief legal officer Don Camiña said.

H owever, Hosaka said the plea to refer the case before the Court en banc was also denied by the SC Third Division, noting, “The Court en banc is not an Appellate Court to which decisions or resolutions of a Division may be appealed.”

I n a two-page resolution made public on Monday, the SC’s Special Third Division denied the motion for reconsideration filed by the Makati City government seeking the reversal of its December 1, 2021 favoring the Taguig City government in the territorial dispute case.

T he SC, in its 2021 decision, also made permanent the writ of prelim-

‘Victory’

THE Taguig City Government said that the end of the legal dispute marks the beginning of a new chapter for Taguig and its people after the SC decision.

In a way, Taguig is not the only victor in this legal contest. In a bigger sense, with both parties putting their trust in the legal system, it is the rule of law, which prevailed.

We thank God for His indescribable gift (2 Corinthians 9:15).

Truly, He has plans for us—plans to prosper us and not to harm us, plans to give us hope and a future [quoting the verse from the Bible Jeremiah 29:11],” the city government said in a statement.

O n Monday, Taguig said that

their victory in the courts of law is not merely a “vindication of their rights but it is equally a command for us to make good use of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to expand our brand of committed public service to new constituents.”

We welcome our new Taguigeños with this solemn promise,” the city government said, adding Taguig and its people, over the past decade, “have proven what we could collectively achieve.”

“

We will work even harder to expand and improve the services we run for our constituents, by introducing new programs and projects,” the city government said. “We have the resources to bring about a transformative, lively, and caring city. We will not get tired of doing good, for we are assured that in time we will have a harvest.”

T he city government said that their immediate task at hand is to work on the transition without hampering public service. “Towards this end, we shall work hand in hand with our good neighbor, the City of Makati. We will forge ahead in assuming new responsibilities, conscious that the benefits of this monumental legal victory should redound to all the barangays of Taguig and to all sectors of the city.”

We are thinking big for our beloved City. With the Lord’s blessings, we will make things happen,” the city government said.

Lawmakers seek inquiry into M/V Lady Mary Joy blaze that killed 31 passengers

AHOUSE deputy minority leader is pushing for investigation into the circumstances surrounding the ferry fire that struck the M/V Lady Mary Joy 3 off the waters of Basilan that claimed the lives of 31 passengers and injured several others.

Fire Protection (BFP), along with local government personnel.

“Many are still unaccounted for. We owe it to their families that these missing passengers are found,” Hataman said.

oro Transition Authority (BTA) Parliament—MP Amir Mawallil and Deputy Speaker MP Laisa Masuhud Alamia.

ter for Mental Health na nilalagakan ng ating mga kababayan na may mga kaso —criminal cases na nakapasok sa kanila doon. So, medyo congested talaga ’yung area na ’yun [Sen. Tulfo may have been referring to the Pavillion at the Center for Mental Health where our fellowmen with criminal cases are being housed. So, that area is really congested],” Vergeire said. Pavillion 6, she explained, was built to house only around 300 patients. Tulfo conducted a surprise inspection at the NCMH recently.

“Unfortunately, because through the years, nagkaroon tayo ng congestion dahil ang iba pong pasyente na ready na sila and competent na sila ang nagamot na sila and ready to face already their charges sa court, ay hindi pa naiendorse...hindi pa nakukuha sa atin ng Bureau of Jail Management and Penology,” she explained. Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco

D eputy Minority Leader and Basilan Rep. Mujiv Hataman said he intends to file the resolution once work resumes in the House after the Lenten season break.

H e said he is also seeking a review of related maritime laws, common carrier statutes and other operational rules and regulations applicable to sea vessels carrying passengers and cargo in the hope of crafting legislation to strengthen laws and regulations protecting passengers.

M/V Lady Mary Joy 3, a vessel operated by Aleson Shipping Lines Inc., was en route to Jolo, Sulu from Zamboanga City when it caught fire off the shores of Baluk-Baluk Island in Hadji Muhtamad, Basilan.

Search and rescue operations were immediately launched jointly by the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), Philippine Navy (PN) and the Bureau of

He also noted complaints about the alleged lack of appropriate and sufficient response from Aleson Shipping Lines while the incident was happening, especially in assisting the victims and their families.

T here is also a discrepancy between the official manifest of passengers of the M/V Lady Mary Joy 3 as released by Aleson Shipping Lines Inc., and the report released by the PCG.

“ We hope to ascertain and clarify all of these once a congressional inquiry is undertaken.  If these can be addressed by legislation, we will do so in Congress. If this is a problem in implementation, we should address it,” Hataman said.

“ We should make the inquiry as comprehensive as possible to plug all the holes in legislation and in implementation,” he added.

A similar inquiry is also being pressed through a resolution filed by two members of the Bangsam -

Mawallil and Alamia, both principal authors of BTA Proposed Resolution No. 209, also wants to determine the adequacy of the safety measures and protocols in place for sea travel within the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).

Heads should roll

SOMEONE should be held accountable for the deaths of the passengers of MV Lady Mary Joy 3, according to Cavite Rep. Elpidio Barzaga Jr.   B arzaga said the PCG and Maritime Industry Authority should explain if the vessel was again overloaded since such has always been the case in previous maritime accidents.

H e said he could still distinctly remember the 2008 investigation of the House committee on transportation into the sinking of M/V Princess of the Stars which claimed the lives of over 800 people “and now, this tragedy in Basilan happened.”

T he enactment into law of the Maritime Code measure was among the transportation panel’s recommendations after its inquiry into the 2008 maritime tragedy, the passenger ferry owned by Filipino shipping company Sulpicio Lines that sank on June 21, 2008, off the coast of San Fernando, Romblon, at the height of Typhoon Frank. “ What is the Coast Guard doing? If there were so many passengers, did they not check if the vessel was overloaded? Secondly, is there already an action to stop the shipping line from operating its other ferries on account of this incident? Barzaga asked.

Mayor Arsina Kahing-Nanoh of Hadji Muhtamad, Basilan earlier said the ferry’s manifest was inaccurate, which made it difficult for authorities to conduct search, rescue and retrieval operations.

She said the Coast Guard’s record showed there were only 205 passengers. However, 195 people were already rescued, excluding the number of those who died, which means that the figures do not match.

Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz

Delegation backs IPCC Synthesis Report for urgent climate action

THE Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) on Tuesday inspected several bus terminals in Cubao, Quezon City amid the expected influx of passengers for the Lenten season “exodus.”

“ We want to ensure the orderly and safe travel of passengers going to the provinces for the Lenten break,” MMDA Acting Chairman Romando Artes said during the inspection where he was joined by MMDA General Manager Undersecretary Procopio Lipana, representatives of the Philippine National Police-Highway Patrol Group, Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB), the local government unit of Quezon City and Philip -

pine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA)-National Capital Director Emerson Rosales.

A mong the bus terminals inspected were the Five Star, Genesis Transport Services, and Baliwag Transit.

A total of 42 bus drivers and conductors were also subjected to random drug test. “No driver or conductor has been tested positive for drug use,” Artes said.

For his part, Rosales said that if a bus driver tested positive for illegal drug use, he would no longer be allowed to drive.

T he random drug testing was undertaken by the MMDA Medical Clinic headed by Dr. Annabelle Ombina and PDEA.  Further, MMDA chief Artes men-

tioned that provincial buses are allowed to traverse EDSA starting April 3 to 5, from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m.; and from April 6 to 10, round-the-clock to accommodate the expected influx of passengers.  M eanwhile, the Unified Vehicular Volume Reduction Program or the number coding scheme in the Metro Manila is suspended during the Holy Week from April 6 (Maundy Thursday) until April 10 (Monday), which are declared holidays.

On Wednesday, April 5, the number coding will be suspended in the afternoon, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.

U nder MMDA’s Oplan Metro Alalay Semana Santa 2023, a total of 2,104 personnel were deployed on major thoroughfares, major

transport hubs, and key areas in the metropolis to ensure the safe and smooth traffic flow this Lenten season.

D eployed personnel are also prohibited to be absent on April 5, 6, and 10, while skeletal deployment will be enforced on April 7, 8, and 9 to focus on the usual Visita Iglesia sites, including the Panata Route going to Antipolo and the Grotto.

T he Multi-Agency Command Center (MACC), located at the agency’s Metrobase, is tasked to monitor realtime updates on bus terminals across Metro Manila.

T he MACC started its monitoring on Monday, April 3, Holy Monday and will last until April 6, Maundy Thursday. Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco

THE Philippine delegation to the 58th Session of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has lauded the approval of the Synthesis Report (SYR) that will serve as a resource for policymakers in reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and adapt to human-caused climate change.

Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Undersecretary Analiza Rebuelta-Teh, led the Philippine delegation, together with Manila Observatory Head of the Regional Climate Systems Laboratory Dr. Faye Abigail T. Cruz, and Climate Change Commission Commissioner Rachel Anne S. Herrera.

In a statement, the DENR noted that the report, approved by govern-

ment representatives during a weeklong session from March 13 to 19 in Interlaken, Switzerland, is an integrated and up-to-date analysis on climate change that includes an overview of the state of knowledge on the science of climate change based on the three Working Groups of the IPCC, and three Special Reports on the impacts of 1.5-degree Celsius global warming, and on climate change impacts to oceans, cryosphere, and land. “ The SYR serves as the fundamental basis for evidence-informed decisions and actions, and provides a clear and substantive analysis on climate science that would accelerate the pace of co-creating policies and designing and implementing programs for sciencebased actions,” Teh said. Jonathan L. Mayuga

THE Supreme Court (SC) has decided not to entertain any further pleadings, motions, letters or other communications in connection with the territorial dispute between Makati City and Taguig City over the 729-hectare Bonifacio Global City (BGC) complex and several barangays.

MMDA chief performs last-minute check on QC bus terminals

• Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug

DTI weighs safeguard measures on importation of LPG cylinders Pharma firms told to obtain CPR for sale of bivalent vax

By Andrea E. San Juan @andreasanjuan

THE local LPG steel cylinder industry represented by Ferrotech Steel Corp. has filed an application for the imposition of safeguard measures on the importation of LPG cylinders from various countries, noting that the increase in imports has caused “serious injury” to the local industry, according to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).

Ferrotech alleged that serious injury to the domestic industry was caused by the increased imports of LPG steel cylinders which are classified under Asean Harmonized Tariff Nomenclature [AHTN] Code 7311,” the DTI report noted.

I n a notice signed by Trade Secretary Alfredo E. Pascual on March 29, 2023 but was released to the public on Tuesday, April 4 through

the DTI website, the agency said it has officially received “properly” documented application from Ferrotech Steel Corp. for the initiation of a preliminary investigation on the application of safeguard measures on the importation of LPG steel cylinders.

With this, DTI, acting under Section 6 of Republic Act 8800 or the Safeguard Measures Act, said it has conducted an evaluation of the application. Upon the evaluation, it said it found the existence of a prima facie case that will justify the initiation of a preliminary safeguard measures investigation on the importation of the said product.

Ferrotech Steel Corp., the petitioner, manufactures LPG steel cylinders in the following sizes: 1kg, 2.7kg, 5kg, 7kg, 11kg, 22kg and 50kg, for industrial, commercial and household use, both for the domestic and Southeast Asian markets.

T he LPG manufacturer’s head office and manufacturing plant are both located in Valenzuela City, DTI noted.

“ We would like to request for 10 years duration of safeguard measures. This is in order for us to be competitive with imported LPG cylinders to remain viable and for the continuity of operation,” Ferrotech said in its application form.

B acked by data from the Bureau of Customs (BOC), the trade department showed that the share of domestic sales to the Philippine market contracted during the period of investigation (POI) of imports of LPG steel cylinders, which entered the Philippine market from 2017 to 2021.

According to DTI’s findings, imports continued to displace the domestic market and continued to cut into the industry’s sales and market share from 30 percent in 2018 to 10

percent in 2021. The loss of market share was taken by imports during the POI,” DTI said in its report, adding that this “dominance” persisted in 2020 and 2021 notwithstanding the Covid-19 pandemic.

T he DTI noted the rate of import increased by 24 percent in 2019 and sharply increased by 45 percent in 2020. Meanwhile, imports reached 54 percent based on the 2021 level.

During the POI, the industry suffered declines in sales, production, utilization rate, employment, profitability and even losses, and existence of price depression and price undercutting,” the DTI report noted.

With this, as part of its adjustment plan, DTI stated that petitioner domestic industry plans to procure new machines and equipment that offer the most advanced technology to help increase production capacity and efficiency.

Bill granting scholarships to aspiring lawyers in exchange for govt service gains support

By Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz  @joveemarie

THE chairman of the House Committee on Labor on Tuesday threw his support for the passage of a pending bill that seeks to fund the legal education of aspiring lawyers in state universities and colleges (SUCs) in exchange for working in the government for two years after passing the Bar exams.

R izal Fourth District Rep. Fidel Nograles said a legal scholarship

law would help in addressing the country’s issues on legal access, especially for the poor.

“ This is a bill with noble intentions, and I support this wholeheartedly,” Nograles said.

Citing the Foundation for Economic Freedom findings, Nograles said there is roughly only one lawyer for every 2,500 Filipinos.

In comparison, he said the United States has one lawyer for every 240 citizens.

Currently, the PAO [Public Attor-

ney’s Office] does not have enough lawyers,” he said. “This measure would be a great boost towards this end as the PAO would have a steady stream of lawyers coming in every year.”

Davao City First District Rep. Paolo Duterte, Benguet lone district Rep. Eric Yap, and ACT-CIS Party-list Rep. Edvic Yap had jointly filed House Bill (HB) No. 7433, titled “An Act promoting access to quality legal education by providing for free tuition and other school fees in state universities and colleges and appropriating funds therefor.”

THE Philippine Eagle Foundation (PEF) announced on Tuesday the installation work for a retrofitted powerline system designed to avoid accidental electrocution of large birds, particularly the Philippine eagle.

T he installation for the first 1.5. kilometer (km) of a 4.5 km powerline system was launched during a simple ceremony on March 24 at Sitio Bagtok in Barangay Tumanding.

T he installation will be completed before June in time for the town-wide celebration of the Philippine Eagle Day and pay homage to the Arakan,

T he bill seeks to provide free legal education to eligible students who will then render a mandatory two-year return of service (ROS) in PAO or any government agency lacking lawyers.

Nograles, a legal aid advocate, said that if passed, the measure would help the poor have better access to legal representation.

T he lawmaker also said that a bill he has filed that seeks to establish legal aid programs in schools would be a good complement to HB No. 7433.

North Cotabato’s “Bird Jewel.”

The survival of each individual to sexual maturity is very critical for an IUCN [International Union for the Conservation of Nature] ‘critically endangered’ species like the Philippine Eagle,” Dennis Salvador, executive director at PEF said in a statement.

“We hope that through this pioneering project and by way of Cotelco’s [Cotabato Electric Co-operative] example, we can encourage all elec-

By Andrea E. San Juan @andreasanjuan

GO Negosyo Founder Jose

Maria A. Concepcion III is prodding pharmaceutical companies to file their application for a Certificate of Product Registration (CPR) for Covid-19 bivalent vaccines, saying that an infectious disease specialist warned of a “long” bout in dealing with Covid-19.

C oncepcion’s statement came as Rontgene Solante, infectious disease specialist, warned of the “dangers” of long Covid, which he said presents “lingering effects” after an individual has been infected with the virus.

At the Covid-19 Town Hall meeting on Monday organized by Go Negosyo in partnership with AstraZeneca, a multinational pharmaceutical company, Solante said long Covid is unique to the SARS-CoV2 virus, which causes Covid-19.

With this, he said, booster doses can help prevent other complications of the virus, especially long Covid, which he said has affected a “significant” percentage of people who have had Covid-19.

You can just imagine an individual who is in the frontline of your workplace and will have brain fog and memory loss. That’s something that will be a disadvantage to the company,” Solante said.

D uring the town hall meeting, Solante underscored the importance of workers receiving booster doses, as it will help protect them from a “severe version” of the virus and allow them to continue helping the economy.

tric companies operating in Philippine eagle forest habitats across the country to do the same and avoid the wasteful death of our national symbol,” he added.

To recall, tragedy struck in 2018 with the electrocution of a Philippine eagle, one that inhabits Mt. Sinaka in Arakan town.

T he corps of the Philippine eagle was discovered about a meter distant from a concrete electric post owned

“It’s very difficult to build a population wall of immunity in the community,” Solante said.

At least in your workplace, if all of you are vaccinated, if all people are boosted, then you have a lower risk of higher absenteeism and loss of productivity,” he added.

For his part, Concepcion, who also leads the Jobs Group of the Private Sector Advisory Council, appealed to vaccine manufacturers to apply for CPRs. “We must remember that the country is no longer under a state of public health emergency, so we cannot import Covid-19 vaccines through Emergency Use Authorization anymore.”

President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. decided to not extend the state of emergency, which expired last December 31,2022. Hence, Covid-19 vaccines now may only be obtained and made available through CPR.

A s such, Concepcion expressed hope that Covid vaccine will eventually be “commercially available” just like the vaccines for pneumonia, flu and shingles.

In line with this, the Go Negosyo founder prodded pharmaceutical firms to apply for CPR to obtain needed bivalent vaccines.

The way forward for the country to obtain needed bivalent vaccines for booster shots is for pharmaceutical firms to apply for CPR,” Concepcion said, adding that these firms “cannot permanently rely on the government for indemnification from adverse reactions.”

In August 2022, Concepcion said the private sector is already looking at bivalent boosters, but said that it may be possible towards the latter part of 2022.

and operated by Cotelco. Apparently, the bird came in contact with the two wires simultaneously, and the full voltage passing through its body caused its death.

T his is already the second eagle death case involving accidental electrocution from bare wires in the country. The first was a captive-bred bird named “Kabayan,” a Philippine eagle released at Mt. Apo in 2004. Jonathan L. Mayuga

41 percent of Pinoys support

Charter change–Pulse Asia

FORTY-ONE percent of Filipinos are now supportive of amending the 1987 Constitution, according to the new survey results released by Pulse Asia on Tuesday.

T he nationwide survey, conducted from March 15 to 19 and polled 1,200 respondents aged 18 years old and above, showed that public support for Charter change increased by 10 percentage points from the last survey conducted in September 2022.

H owever, the March 2023 survey found that opposition to amending the Constitution is still higher with 45 percent of Filipinos against such proposals.

Of the 45 percent, 31 percent does not see the need for Charter change now or at any other time in the future, while 14 percent are open to it someday.

Pulse Asia noted that less than half of the country’s adult population, or 47 percent, have prior awareness of proposals to change the Constitution, while around 53 percent have not heard, read, or watched any Charter change motions before they were surveyed.

Sentiments on the proposed Constitutional changes MORE than half of the respondents are not in favor of some proposed amendments to the country’s charter, particularly related to foreign ownership and term extension for elective officials.

In particular, the survey showed that around 53 percent are against the proposal to lift the prohibition on foreign ownership

of communications companies, 55 percent do not want to lift the prohibition on foreign ownership of utilities like electricity, 57 percent are not in favor of allowing foreign individuals and companies equal ownership in mass media and advertising.

Other proposed constitutional amendments that received opposition include removing limits on shares of stocks in Philippine corporations that may be owned by foreign individuals and companies at 67 percent, allowing foreign individuals and companies to own residential and industrial lands at 72 percent, and allowing foreign individuals and companies to utilize Philippine national resources at 76 percent.

Meanwhile, a politically related proposal to extend the terms of office of national and local elective officials was thumbed down by 56 percent of the respondents.

As for the mode of amending the Constitution, only 34 percent of the respondents agree with the creation of a Constitutional convention.

As regards their knowledge of the 1987 Philippine Constitution, 44 percent of Filipino adults admit knowing little about it while 34 percent have almost or completely no knowledge about the charter.

On the other hand, 19 percent said they know enough about the 1987 Philippine Constitution while only 2 percent said they have a great deal of knowledge.

The survey has a ± 2.8% error margin at the 95 percent confidence level. PNA

PBBM names two new NBI officials

PRESIDENT Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. has appointed two new directors at the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), Malacañang said Tuesday.

I n a letter addressed to Department of Justice (DOJ) Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla dated April 3, Marcos said he has appointed Noel Cruz Bocaling and Romel Tuazon Papa as Director IV at the agency.

Bocaling replaces Vicente de Guzman III while Papa succeeds Jose Justo Yap.

T he NBI is an agency under the DOJ that undertakes the detection and investigation of crimes and

NPA-AFP clashes near schools traumatized learners, teachers

By Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco

cal DepEd office in Masbate is monitoring if there are students who are too traumatized by the incidents to return to school.  We are not discounting that, so we are monitoring the situation to see if there is a need to give further aid, especially in terms of psychological assistance,” Poa said, adding that one school was reported to have sustained minor injury during the clash in Placer town in Masbate.

Pattern

UNDERSECRETARY and NTF-

T he National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) said that these encounters happened in Masbate and Camarines Sur since January of this year.

A tty. Michael Tan Poa, DepEd

ARECENT report revealed that a number of native species of birds and primates that are only found in the Philippines, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea were recovered in India.

spokesperson, said that a total of 55, 000 learners and 2,815 teachers and non-teaching staff were affected by the clashes.

L earners, teachers and nonteaching staff, he said, were given “psychological first aid” and the lo -

bowerbird is only found in the forests of Papua province in Indonesia and neighboring Papua New Guinea.

ELCAC Executive Director Ernesto Torres Jr., meanwhile, noted that the rebels are now using areas near schools to bait the government troops to respond.

It’s been happening since the start of the year. There is now a pattern,” he said, explaining that the rebels would hang tarpaulins and other materials containing their

propaganda near schools. When security forces would respond to tear down the materials, they would be fired upon or hit with improvised explosive devices (IEDs).  “ There is now a pattern of the use of tarpaulin containing their propaganda and IEDs.What is deplorable is they put the tarpaulins and IEDs near or in the vicinity of schools,” said Torres in a joint press briefing with Poa at the DepEd central office in Pasig City. Torres reminded that schools are “peace zones” and that they are alarmed and horrified by the pattern of “ruthless and indiscriminate acts instigated by the CPP-NPA near our public schools in flagrant and utter disregard of the safety and welfare of our teachers, learners and the community.”

He cited five encounters in Masbate and Camarines Sur where he said the communist rebels used the said tactics.

other offenses against the laws of the Philippines upon its initiative and as public interest may require, and renders technical assistance upon request in the investigation and detection of crimes and other offenses.

It also coordinates with other national and local police agencies in the maintenance of peace and order, and establishes and maintains an up-to-date scientific crime laboratory.

It also acts as a national clearinghouse of criminal and other information for the use of all prosecuting and law enforcement entities of the Philippines. PNA

A total of 13 wild species of birds and four species of monkeys, believed to be smuggled from these Southeast Asian countries and were shipped through Myanmar, were seized in a random check by Khawzawl police. The seizure that took place in March 2023 happened in an area near the India-Myanmar border.

According to TRAFFIC, some of the rare species that were being trafficked include the Mindanao Tarictic Hornbill Penelopides affinis, Southern Philippine Rufous Hornbill Buceros mindanensis, Mindanao Writhed Hornbill Rhabdotorrhinus leucocephalus, and Flame Bowerbirds Sericulus ardens.

T he three hornbills species live only in lowland dipterocarp forest habitats and are endemic to the Philippines, and the colorful

DOE freezes issuance of exemption papers from conduct of CSP

indigenous or renewable energy (RE) sources; when any DU exercises opt-in mechanism under the Green Energy Auction Program; when there is a provision for power supply by the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. for the power produced from undisposed assets; when there is a provision for power supply by the National Power Corporation in off-grid areas prior to entry of new power providers or in emergency circumstances; and when there are off-grid areas with less than one megawatt demand.

“All are subject to the ERC’s determination

of the DU’s compliance with its obligation to supply electricity in the least cost manner to its captive market, taking into consideration the quality, affordability, sustainability and reliability of the electric power supply,” the draft circular stated.

DOE Undersecretary Rowena Cristina Guevara earlier said the proposed amendments are meant to give the DUs more control over how they conduct the CSP and the ERC a firmer role in the regulatory side of the process. Because we made it easier to implement because right now everyone is having dif-

Poached species from the Philippines and Indonesia going through Myanmar and out of the Southeast Asian (SEA) region is a strong indication of the transboundary nature of wildlife crime and a strong collaborative action among the Asean Member States is truly needed to address this serious concern,” said Dr. Theresa Mundita Lim, executive director of the Asean Centre for Biodiversity (ACB).

P revious studies on trade dynamics and wildlife poaching have shown that these species, along with dozens of others, such as snakes, lizards, turtles, songbirds, parrots, and pangolins, are among the highly trafficked animals from SEA. The region serves as a consumer, source, and a transshipment point. Much of the wildlife trading is also being done online and the trafficking operations are getting more and more sophisticated.

continued from a22

ficulty because it’s similar to Republic Act 9184 or Government Procurement Reform Act. We are staying away from that because the private sector is involved, we don’t want to force on them the government process.

“ There were some regulatory functions under the DOE. We are removing that and giving it back to the ERC,” Guevara said. “So we said maybe we should make this simpler and then will make it such that control is with the DUs and the ERC so I think those things I think will make our DUs happier,” the DOE official added.

Palace halts commercial fishing vessels monitoring

A ccording to Ramos, the Palace directive is “regressive” and “brings us back to an open access system which has caused overfishing and illegal fishing to thrive for decades and a bane to our small scale fisherfolk who are deprived of the marine resources and suffer from the encroachment of our municipal waters by commer -

cial fishing vessel operators.”

T he DA-BFAR said, however, remains committed to enforce Republic Act 10654 or the Act to Prevent, Deter, and Eliminate

IUU Fishing and all other relevant laws to ensure that the country’s fisheries and aquatic resources are utilized, managed, developed, and sustained for the benefit

continued from a22

and enjoyment exclusively of Filipino citizens, in line with the government’s push for food security.

I n February, the BFAR also announced the lifting of the fishing ban in the Visayan Sea.

T he BFAR said no closed fishing season violators were reported.

Govt agencies told: Do inventory ahead of rightsizing program

Stakeholder reaction

WHEN asked if the Civil Service Commission (CSC) will initiate an assessment on redundant positions in the government, CSC Commissioner Aileen A. Lizada said they are waiting for the passage of a law to set the criteria for the NGRP through the CREB.

continued from a22

“ The law should be approved first before the CREB can be created. CSC is proposed to be a member of the CREB,” Lizada said in a Viber message.

L abor groups earlier expressed concern on the composition of the CREB under HB 7240 since it does not include

worker representation.  It noted this could lead to an NGRP riddled with problems such as “emaciation of rankand-file workers, a bloated top, institutionalization of contractualization schemes, and the privatization of public services.” Samuel P. Medenilla

Illegal trafficking and trade of wildlife and wildlife products have gone online. These digital transactions are hard to trace— exacerbating the already serious problem faced by the region,” said Lim.

To address this issue, we can also maximize the use of online tools such as social media. By reporting accounts that engage in such illegal activity, everyone can contribute to the fight against IWT (illegal wildlife trade),” she added.

I am appalled because these bird species are rare and hard to find even in their native habitats, and despite this, poachers still find a way to capture these elusive bird species in the wild. It is very alarming that there seems to be a growing market for rare and endemic wildlife species. It seems that we have not learned our lesson from the pandemic—that disturbing nature can trigger the emergence of previously unknown diseases,” Lim stressed.

The ACB, together with the Asean member-states (AMS), adopts a three-way approach to prevent poaching of wildlife from

its source—protected areas (PA).

T hese involve supporting the AMS in strengthening their law enforcement capacities through training initiatives and provision of state of the art equipment to improve PA protection systems; promoting sustainable livelihood and community-based enterprise; and awareness raising on the value of conserving the region’s wildlife. Providing more sustainable economic opportunities for the communities living in the buffer zones of protected areas discourages them from engaging in illegal and unsustainable activities. Some regional programs and projects supporting the protection and conservation of wildlife include the Asean Heritage Parks Programme, the EU-supported Biodiversity Conservation and Management of Protected Areas in the Asean, and the Small Grants Programme supported by the German Development Bank or KfW. All these regional efforts are in accordance with the Chiang Mai Statement of ASEAN Ministers Responsible for CITES and Wildlife Enforcement on Illegal Wildlife Trade

@claudethmc3

LEARNERS, teachers, and nonteaching personnel have been traumatized by the encounters involving alleged members of the New People’s Army (NPA) and government troops that occurred near schools, according to an official of the Department of Education (DepEd).

‘Illegal trade of endemic wild species needs urgent action’

Republic of the Philippines DEPARTMENT OF LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT Regional Office No. IV-A

4th Flr. Andenson Bldg. II, Brgy. Parian, Calamba City Telefax No.: (049) 545-7362

April 5, 2023

NOTICE OF FILING OF APPLICATION/S FOR ALIEN EMPLOYMENT PERMIT/S (AEP/S)

Notice is hereby given that the following companies/employers have filed with this Regional Office application/s for Alien Employment Permit/s:

5

3 AL-BAYT CIVIL ENGINEERING CONSTRUCTION

Poblacion, Malvar, Batangas

4 AL-BAYT CIVIL ENGINEERING CONSTRUCTION

JIA, WANG

Project Manager

Brief Job Description:

Oversee the analysis and development of a company’s business operations

Basic Qualification: With minimum of 3 years of experience as a project manager

Salary Range: Php30,000 - Php59,999

LUO, SONGYUAN Project Manager Basic Qualification: With minimum of 3 years of experience as a project manager Salary Range: Php30,000 - Php59,999

AL-BAYT CIVIL ENGINEERING CONSTRUCTION Poblacion, Malvar, Batangas PI, YIXIONG Project Manager Brief Job Description: Oversee the analysis and development of a company’s business operations Basic Qualification: With minimum of 3 years of experience as a project manager Salary Range: Php30,000 - Php59,999 6 AL-BAYT CIVIL ENGINEERING CONSTRUCTION Poblacion, Malvar, Batangas YUAN, ZHANGMING Project Manager Brief Job Description: Determine the specifications of the project by collaborating with engineers, architects etc. Basic Qualification: With minimum of 3 years of experience as a project manager Salary Range: Php30,000 - Php59,999 7 ANOC99 CORPORATION POGO 1 Building, Covelandia Road, Pulvorista, Kawit, Cavite CHIT HLAING Burmese Customer Service Representative Brief Job Description: Manage incoming calls and customer service inquiries Basic Qualification: Able to speak, read and write Chinese language Salary Range: Php30,000 - Php59,999 8 ANOC99 CORPORATION POGO 1 Building, Covelandia Road, Pulvorista, Kawit, Cavite JU JU Burmese Customer Service Representative Brief Job Description: Manage incoming calls and customer service inquiries Basic Qualification: Able to speak, read and write Chinese language Salary Range: Php30,000 - Php59,999 9 ANOC99 CORPORATION POGO 1 Building, Covelandia Road, Pulvorista, Kawit, Cavite TUN AUNG Burmese Customer Service Representative Brief Job Description: Manage incoming calls and customer service inquiries Basic Qualification: Able to speak, read and write Chinese language Salary Range: Php30,000 - Php59,999 10 ANOC99 CORPORATION POGO 1 Building, Covelandia Road, Pulvorista, Kawit, Cavite YAN FU TUN Burmese Customer Service Representative Brief Job Description: Manage incoming calls and customer service inquiries Basic Qualification: Able to speak, read and write Chinese language Salary Range: Php30,000 - Php59,999 11 ANOC99 CORPORATION POGO 1 Building, Covelandia Road, Pulvorista, Kawit, Cavite SU, MIN Chinese Customer Service Representative Brief Job Description: Manage incoming calls and customer service inquiries Basic Qualification: Able to speak, read and write Chinese language Salary Range: Php30,000 - Php59,999 12 ANOC99 CORPORATION POGO 1 Building, Covelandia Road, Pulvorista, Kawit, Cavite XIANG, ZIPENG Chinese Customer Service Representative Brief Job Description: Manage incoming calls and customer service inquiries Basic Qualification: Able to speak, read and write Chinese language Salary Range: Php30,000 - Php59,999 13 ANOC99 CORPORATION POGO 1 Building, Covelandia Road, Pulvorista, Kawit, Cavite BAI, HONGJIE Chinese Customer Service Representative Brief Job Description: Manage incoming calls and customer service inquiries Basic Qualification: Able to speak, read and write Chinese language Salary Range: Php30,000 - Php59,999 14 ANOC99 CORPORATION POGO 1 Building, Covelandia Road, Pulvorista, Kawit, Cavite CAI, MINGSHENG Chinese Customer Service Representative Brief Job Description: Manage incoming calls and customer service inquiries Basic Qualification: Able to speak, read and write Chinese language Salary Range: Php30,000 - Php59,999 15 ANOC99 CORPORATION POGO 1 Building, Covelandia Road, Pulvorista, Kawit, Cavite CAO, YUNQING Chinese Customer Service Representative Brief Job Description: Manage incoming calls and customer service inquiries Basic Qualification: Able to speak, read and write Chinese language Salary Range: Php30,000 - Php59,999 16 ANOC99 CORPORATION POGO 1 Building, Covelandia Road, Pulvorista, Kawit, Cavite CHANG, JIADONG Chinese Customer Service Representative Brief Job Description: Manage incoming calls and customer service inquiries Basic Qualification: Able to speak, read and write Chinese language Salary Range: Php30,000 - Php59,999 17 ANOC99 CORPORATION POGO 1 Building, Covelandia Road, Pulvorista, Kawit, Cavite DONG, CHENGRONG Chinese Customer Service Representative Brief Job Description: Manage incoming calls and customer service inquiries Basic Qualification: Able to speak, read and write Chinese language Salary Range: Php30,000 - Php59,999 18 ANOC99 CORPORATION POGO 1 Building, Covelandia Road, Pulvorista, Kawit, Cavite FAN, LUPING Chinese Customer Service Representative Brief Job Description: Manage incoming calls and customer service inquiries Basic Qualification: Able to speak, read and write Chinese language Salary Range: Php30,000 - Php59,999 19 ANOC99 CORPORATION POGO 1 Building, Covelandia Road, Pulvorista, Kawit, Cavite FAN, ZUSHENG Chinese Customer Service Representative Brief Job Description: Manage incoming calls and customer service inquiries Basic Qualification: Able to speak, read and write Chinese language Salary Range: Php30,000 - Php59,999 20 ANOC99 CORPORATION POGO 1 Building, Covelandia Road, Pulvorista, Kawit, Cavite GAO, FENG Chinese Customer Service Representative Brief Job Description: Manage incoming calls and customer service inquiries Basic Qualification: Able to speak, read and write Chinese language Salary Range: Php30,000 - Php59,999 Wednesday, April 5, 2023 BusinessMirror A6 www.businessmirror.com.ph

Wednesday, April 5, 2023 BusinessMirror A8 www.businessmirror.com.ph

57 PARKSON E-COM CORPORATION

FRC Supermall, General Aguinaldo Highway, Palico III, City of Imus, Cavite

MORISAKI, NOBUYUKI

Sr. Manager Brief

TANG CHEWN HUAT Chairman

Brief Job Description:

Manage all the transactions of the company

YAO, SHUCHENG

Chinese Site Supervisor

Brief Job Description:

Setting goals for performance and deadlines in ways that comply with company’s plans and vision

CHEN, PO-CHENG

58 TAIHAN PRECISION TECHNOLOGY (PHILIPPINES) CO., INC.

L1, B1, Phase 2A, J.P. Rizal Ave., Lima Technology Center, Bugtong Na Pulo, City of Lipa, Batangas

59 YA HORNG ELECTRONIC PHILIPPINES INC.

Sheng U Building 8, Lot 1, Block 24, Phase 1, Lima Technology Center, Special Economic Zone, San Lucas, City of Lipa, Batangas

Admin Manager

Brief Job Description:

Plan and control department in the admin department

WU, SHENG-CHOU

Assistant Plant Director

Brief Job Description:

Manage Engineering department and oversee new improvements and in charge of managing new products

Basic Qualification: Can multitask and must be part of the board

Salary Range:

Php30,000 - Php59,999

Basic Qualification:

Proven experience as supervisor or relevant role. Familiarity with company policies and legal guidelines of the field

Salary Range:

Php30,000 - Php59,999

Basic Qualification: College graduate and can speak Mandarin and English language

Salary Range: Php30,000 - Php59,999

Basic Qualification: Great analytical and math skills and ability to create sets of qualifications for new products

Salary Range: Php60,000 - Php89,999

Any person in the Philippines who is competent, able and willing to perform the services for which the foreign national is desired may file an objection at DOLE Regional Office IV-A located at 3rd and 4th Floors, Andenson Building II, Parian, Calamba City, Laguna, within 30 days after this publication.

Please inform DOLE Regional Office IV-A if you have any information on criminal offense committed by the foreign nationals.

By Authority of the OIC-Regional Director:

China rages as US chip controls threaten technology ambitions

By Joe McDonald AP Business Writer

Japan poised to increase chip-gear spending faster than other nations

By Sam Kim

Beijing has said such curbs threaten the stability of the global supply chain.

President Xi Jinping’s government sees the chips that are used in everything from phones to kitchen appliances to fighter jets as crucial assets in its strategic rivalry with Washington and efforts to gain wealth and global influence. Chips are the center of a “technology war,” a Chinese scientist wrote in an official journal in February.

China has its own chip foundries, but they supply only low-end processors used in autos and appliances.

The US government, starting under then-President Donald Trump, is cutting off access to a growing array of tools to make chips for computer servers, AI and other advanced applications. Japan and the Netherlands have joined in limiting access to technology they say might be used to make weapons.

Xi, in unusually pointed language, accused Washington in March of trying to block China’s development with a campaign of “containment and suppression.” He called on the public to “dare to fight.”

Despite that, Beijing has been slow to retaliate against US companies, possibly to avoid disrupting Chinese industries that assemble most of the world’s smartphones, tablet computers and other consumer electronics. They import more than $300 billion worth of foreign chips every year.

The ruling Communist Party is throwing billions of dollars at trying to accelerate chip development and reduce the need for foreign technology.

China’s loudest complaint: It is blocked from buying a machine available only from a Dutch company, ASML, that uses ultraviolet light to etch circuits into silicon chips on a scale measured in nanometers, or billionths of a meter.

Without that, Chinese efforts to make transistors faster and more efficient by packing them more closely together on fingernail-size slivers of silicon are stalled.

Making processor chips requires some 1,500 steps and technologies owned by US, European, Japanese and other suppliers.

“China won’t swallow everything. If damage occurs, we must take action to protect ourselves,” the Chinese ambassador to the Netherlands, Tan Jian, told the Dutch newspaper Financieele Dagblad.

“I’m not going to speculate on what that might be,” Tan said. “It won’t just be harsh words.”

The conflict has prompted warnings the world might decouple, or split into separate spheres with incompatible technology standards that mean computers, smartphones and other products from one region wouldn’t work in others. That would raise costs and might slow innovation.

“The bifurcation in technological and economic systems is deepening,”

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong of Singapore said at an economic forum in China last month. “This will impose a huge economic cost.”

US-Chinese relations are at their lowest level in decades due to disputes over security, Beijing’s treatment of Hong Kong and Muslim ethnic minorities, territorial disputes and China’s multibilliondollar trade surpluses.

Chinese industries will “hit a wall” in 2025 or 2026 if they can’t get next generation chips or the tools to make their own, said Handel Jones, a tech industry consultant.

China “will start falling behind significantly,” said Jones, CEO of International Business Strategies.

Beijing might have leverage, though, as the biggest source of batteries for electric vehicles, Jones said.

Chinese battery giant CATL supplies US and Europe automakers. Ford Motor Co. plans to use CATL technology in a $3.5 billion battery factory in Michigan.

“China will strike back,” Jones said. “What the public might see is China not giving the US batteries for EVs.”

On Friday, Japan increased pressure on Beijing by joining Washington in imposing controls on exports of chipmaking equipment. The announcement didn’t mention China, but the trade minister said Tokyo doesn’t want its technology used

for military purposes.

A Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman, Mao Ning, warned Japan that “weaponizing sci-tech and trade issues” would “hurt others as well as oneself.”

Hours later, the Chinese government announced an investigation of the biggest US memory chip maker, Micron Technology Inc., a key supplier to Chinese factories. The Cyberspace Administration of China said it would look for national security threats in Micron’s technology and manufacturing but gave no details.

The Chinese military also needs semiconductors for its development of stealth fighter jets, cruise missiles and other weapons.

Chinese alarm grew after President Joe Biden in October expanded controls imposed by Trump on chip manufacturing technology. Biden also barred Americans from helping Chinese manufacturers with some processes.

To nurture Chinese suppliers, Xi’s government is stepping up support that industry experts say already amounts to as much as $30 billion a year in research grants and other subsidies.

China’s biggest maker of memory chips, Yangtze Memory Technologies Corp., or YMTC, received a 49 billion yuan ($7 billion) infusion this year from two official funds, according to Tianyancha, a financial information provider.

One was the government’s main investment vehicle, the China National Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund, known as the Big Fund. It was founded in 2014 with 139 billion yuan ($21 billion) and has invested in hundreds of companies.

The Big Fund launched a second entity, known as the Big Fund II, in 2019 with 200 billion yuan ($30 billion).

In January, chip manufacturer Hua Hong Semiconductor said Big Fund II would contribute 1.2 billion yuan ($175 million) for a planned 6.7 billion yuan ($975 million) wafer fabrication facility in eastern China’s Wuxi.

In March, the Cabinet promised tax breaks and other support for the industry. It gave no price tag. The government also has set up “integrated circuit talent training bases” at 23 universities and six at other schools.

“Semiconductors are the ‘main battlefield’ of the current ChinaUS technology war,” Junwei Luo, a scientist at the official Institute of Semiconductors, wrote in the February issue of the journal of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Luo called for “self-reliance and selfimprovement in semiconductors.”

The scale of spending required is huge. The global industry leader, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp., or TSMC, is in the third year

of a three-year, $100 billion plan to expand research and production.

Developers including Huawei Technologies Ltd. and VeriSilicon Holdings Co. can design logic chips for smartphones as powerful as those from Intel Corp., Apple Inc., South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co. or Britain’s Arm Ltd., according to industry researchers. But they cannot be manufactured without the precision technology of TSMC and other foreign foundries.

Trump in 2019 crippled Huawei’s smartphone brand by blocking it from buying US chips or other technology. American officials say Huawei, China’s first global tech brand, might facilitate Chinese spying, an accusation the company denies. In 2020, the White House tightened controls, blocking TSMC and others from using US technology to produce chips for Huawei.

Washington threw up new hurdles for Chinese chip designers in August by imposing restrictions on software known as EDA, or electronic design automation, along with European, Asian and other governments to limit the spread of “dual use” technologies that might be used to make weapons.

In December, Biden added YMTC, the memory chip maker, and some other Chinese companies to a blacklist that limits access to chips made anywhere using US tools or processes.

China’s foundries can etch circuits as small as 28 nanometers apart. By contrast, TSMC and other global competitors can etch circuits just three nanometers apart, ten times the Chinese industry’s precision. They are moving toward two nanometers.

To make the latest chips, “you need EUV (extreme ultraviolet lithography) tools, a very complicated process recipe and not just a couple of billion dollars but tens and tens of billions of dollars,” said Peter Hanbury, who follows the industry for Bain & Co.

“They’re not going to be able to produce competitive server, PC and smartphone chips,” Hanbury said. “You have to go to TSMC to do that.”

China’s ruling party is trying to develop its own tool vendors, but researchers say it is far behind a global network spread across dozens of countries.

Huawei said in a video on its website in December it was working on EUV technology. But creating a machine comparable to ASML’s might cost $5 billion and require a decade of research, according to industry experts. Huawei didn’t respond to a request for comment.

The day when China can supply its own EUV machine is “very far away,” said Hanbury.

AP researcher Yu Bing in Beijing and AP Writer Mike Corder in Amsterdam contributed.

Malaysia Parliament votes to scrap mandatory hanging

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia—Malaysia’s Parliament on Monday approved a bill that would scrap mandatory death penalties and limit capital punishment to serious crimes as part of wide-ranging reforms, bringing possible reprieves to more than 1,300 prisoners on death row.

While the death sentence remains, courts will now be given the option of imposing jail sentences of between 30 and 40 years and caning not less than 12 times, Deputy Law Minister Ramkarpal Singh said. Previously, courts had no choice but to mandate hanging as punishment for a range of crimes

including murder, drug trafficking, treason, kidnapping and acts of terror.

The reforms include abolishing the death penalty for some offenses that don’t cause death that fall under kidnapping and certain firearm crimes, officials said. Natural life imprisonment, in which prisoners are kept behind bars till death, will also be replaced with jail terms of between 30 and 40 years.

Singh called the reforms a significant step forward for Malaysia’s criminal justice system. He said 1,318 people are on death row in the country, including 842 who have exhausted all avenues

of appeals. Most cases are linked to drug trafficking. Once the bill comes into effect, prisoners will have 90 days to file a review of their sentences but not their convictions, he said.

“A review of this sentence reflects the government’s commitment to always be open to renewing and improving legislation and justice in this country,” Singh said. He stressed that courts still have the power to uphold a death penalty after reviewing a prisoner’s sentence.

The bill is expected to be approved by the upper house and the king and become law.

Malaysia has had a moratorium

JAPAN is poised to sharply raise its chip-gear spending in an attempt to boost its position in the global semiconductor market, as it tightens exports amid a US-led push to limit China’s tech ambitions.

Japan is e xpected to spend $7 billion on fab equipment next year, which would mark an 82 percent jump from this year— the largest in the world—according to data from SEMI, a global association of chipmaking equipment producers. That compares with a 2 percent increase forecast for China and the total amount would be higher than the combined spending of the Europe and Mideast markets.

While Taiwan remains the largest spender—$24.9 billion expected in 2024—on chip-fabrication equipment, Japan’s aggressive investment complements a US push to reconfigure global chip supply routes and sources.

Japan has long been a leading producer of equipment and materials necessary to make chips, and is now leveraging its position to woo major chipmakers such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. and South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co.

It ’s also tightening its grip on crucial equipment. Tokyo said last week it would expand curbs on shipments of 23 types of cutting-edge chipmaking tools, including extreme ultraviolet mask-testers, immersion lithography machines and silicon-wafer cleaners.

Japan ’s goals include developing next-generation chips, such as solar panels used to harvest clean energy, which would galvanize its tech industry and economy, according to Yeon Wonho, a supply chain analyst at the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy.

“Japan wants a breakthrough with chips,” Yeon said. “It wants to team up with countries like the US for joint research while attracting manufacturing facilities to its soil.”

China remains a major market for Japan, and the government denies its export controls target any particular nation. But the latest moves could restrict China’s access to advanced chipmaking technology, and

On Sunday, China’s Foreign Minister Qin Gang urged Japan to refrain from supporting US efforts to suppress the Chinese semiconductor industry. Qin also said a blockade will only strengthen Beijing’s resolve to achieve self-reliance in chips, according to a Foreign Ministry statement. His Japanese counterpart, Yoshimasa Hayashi, in turn pressed for the return of a citizen detained in China. A Japanese man was detained in March for violating local law, according to media reports, although details are still unknown.

While Tokyo and Beijing seek to keep their relations stable, Japan has been a major ally in US efforts to keep China from advancing in key technology fronts like quantum computing, wireless networks and artificial intelligence.

The US contributes 39 percent of the total value of the global semiconductor supply chain while its allies and partners from Japan to Germany account for another 53 percent, according to a 2021 report from the Center for Security and Emerging Technology, a Georgetown University think tank. China holds about 6 percent but is quickly developing its abilities across supply chains, it said.

Japan’s growing tensions with China contrast with a recent thaw in its relations with South Korea, another American ally. Japan last month ended its curbs on exports of chip materials to South Korea after a summit meeting, which marked some progress in overcoming historical and economic conflicts.

South Korean public approval for President Yoon Suk Yeol, however, dropped after his visit to Tokyo, highlighting the political risk of restoring ties with an economically key country that’s still regarded by many with resentment due to colonial and wartime history.

Japan was a leading semiconductor seller until the 1980s when it began to cede much of its market to Taiwan, South Korea and China. It now specializes heavily in supplies such as wafers—thin slices of material on which microcircuits are built—and other essential chipmaking gear. Bloomberg News

ADB forecasts China and India to power strong growth in ‘23

By Elaine Kurtenbach AP Business Writer

BANGKOK—China’s recovery from the pandemic and strong demand in India will drive strong economic growth in Asia this year, the Asian Development Bank said in a report issued Tuesday.

The Manila, Philippines-based ADB’s latest update forecasts an expansion of 4.8 percent in this year and the next, up from 4.2 percent in 2022. It said inflation would likely cool slightly this year and fall further in 2024.

ADB economists said a weekend decision by oil producing nations to cut output, pushing oil prices sharply higher, might reignite inflationary pressures and add to challenges for the region.

The report’s analysis was based on the assumption that Brent crude oil, the pricing basis for international trading, would average $88 a barrel this year and $90 a barrel next year.

be driven more by surging demand for services, such as tourism, than for goods.

Another factor that could push prices higher is China’s rebound from slow growth after its leaders lifted Covid-19 restrictions that disrupted travel, manufacturing and other business activities. The ADB forecasts that China’s economy will grow 5 percent this year and 4.5 percent next year, an improvement over last year’s 3 percent growth but slower than its long-term average.

India’s economy, meanwhile, is expected to grow at a slower pace of 6.4 percent this year. That follows a 9.1 percent annual pace of expansion in 2021 as it rebounded from the worst of the pandemic, and 6.8 percent last year. But it’s one of the fastest expansions for a major regional economy.

on hanging since 2018. The government also proposed last year to abolish mandatory death penalties, but the move was scuppered after Parliament was dissolved for a general election.

Foreigners account for more than 500 of those on death row, according to the Anti-Death Penalty Asia Network.

“Essentially, we have now narrowed down our death penalty to only three main groups of offenses: murder, drug trafficking and treason,” said Dobby Chew of ADPAN.

“This is a good first step forward. It brings Malaysia closer in line with international standards for those countries that retain the death penalty.” AP

Oil prices remain below that level, with Brent at $83 on Monday. But they soared about 5 percent after Saudi Arabia and other major oil producers said they will cut production by 1.15 million barrels per day from May until the end of the year, on top of a reduction announced last October that infuriated the Biden administration.

“It’s certainly plausible that oil prices could go even higher and introduce another challenge for the region,” ADB Chief Economist Albert Park said in a conference call.

However, growing imports of Russian crude oil, especially by China and India, will likely cushion the impact of rising prices—such exports to China, India and Turkey more than doubled last year. As of February, a third of Russia’s crude exports were going to India and more than a fifth to China.

Park noted that inflation in Asia seems to

Vietnam, meanwhile, is expected to see 6.5 percent growth this year, down from 8 percent last year. That’s above the average forecast for Southeast Asia, at 4.7 percent in 2023 and 5 percent next year. Its central bank has begun cutting interest rates to counter a slowdown in its property sector and weakening exports.

A downturn in demand for computer chips has hurt the outlook for major exporters like Taiwan, Singapore and South Korea, said the report by the regional development lender.

It cited a forecast by World Semiconductor Trade Statistics that sales in semiconductors will fall 4.1 percent this year from last year but said demand is likely to recover later this year, as is typical in the highly cyclical industry.

Recent worries over the stability of the banking industry after bank failures in the US and Switzerland’s rescue of Credit Suisse with a partial takeover by its rival UBS are among other uncertainties facing the global and regional economy, the report noted. The war in Ukraine also might push prices for commodities such as oil, gas and wheat higher, further bedeviling central bank efforts to curb inflation.

BEIJING—Furious at US efforts that cut off access to technology to make advanced computer chips, China’s leaders appear to be struggling to figure out how to retaliate without hurting their own ambitions in telecoms, artificial intelligence and other industries.

The World Taiwan defends leader’s plan to meet US lawmakers as China threatens response

By Cindy Wang & Jenny Leonard

China to comment.”

McCarthy, a California Republican, confirmed in a statement Monday that the expected meeting with a bipartisan group of US lawmakers will take place at the Reagan Presidential Library in southern California as Tsai passes through the state at the end of a trip that took her to New York, Guatemala and Belize.

speech by Tsai will be announced later.

“It’s the right of 23 million Taiwanese to have exchanges with democratic countries,” Taiwanese

Presidential Office spokeswoman Lin Yu-chan said in a statement

Monday. “There is no room for

Jailed US reporter’s defense appeals his arrest in Russia

MOSCOW—Lawyers representing an American reporter for The Wall Street Journal arrested in Russia on espionage charges have appealed his arrest, a court in Moscow announced Monday.

Evan Gershkovich, 31, was detained last week in Yekaterinburg, Russia’s fourth-largest city. It was the first time a US correspondent had been detained on spying accusations since the Cold War. The Journal has said it “vehemently denies” the charges and demanded his release.

At a hearing Thursday, Moscow’s Lefortovsky District court quickly ruled that Gershkovich would be kept behind bars for two months pending the investigation.

On Monday, the court reported that it has received an appeal against Gershkovich’s arrest that was filed by his defense, according to Russian news agencies. No date for a hearing on the appeal has been set yet.

Gershkovich was put in Moscow’s Lefortovo prison, which dates from the czarist era and has been a terrifying symbol of repression since Soviet times. In the first report of his condition and prison circumstances, a Russian state prison monitor said Monday that Gershkovich was in a quarantine cell while he underwent medical checks, was in a double cell without a cellmate, was reading a book from a prison library, and had access to a TV, radio and refrigerator.

The Moscow-area prison monitor, Alexei Melnikov, wrote on the Telegram messaging app that the journalist hadn’t complained about the prison conditions.

“At the time of the visit, he was cheerful. During the conversation there were a lot of jokes,” Melnikov wrote, without specifying when he saw the journalist. The monitor’s report couldn’t be independently verified.

Russia’s Federal Security Service, the top

successor to the Soviet-era KGB that is known by the acronym FSB, accused Gershkovich of trying to obtain classified information about a Russian arms factory. The Kremlin alleged that Gershkovich was caught red-handed, without offering details.

US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Monday that the Biden administration was pressing hard for Gershkovich’s release. “It’s got attention all the way up to the Oval Office in terms of how we can get him home,” Kirby told reporters in Washington.

President Joe Biden himself weighed in on Friday, urging Russia to release Gershkovich. “Let him go,” Biden told reporters at the White House when asked if he had a message for Russia.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged his Russian counterpart Sunday—in a rare phone call between the diplomats since the start of the Ukraine war—immediately to release Gershkovich, as well as another imprisoned American, Paul Whelan. AP

Taiwan Presidential Office deputy secretary-general Chang Tun-han said that “we look forward to meeting with Speaker McCarthy face-to-face on April 5 in Los Angeles and to exchanging views with a bipartisan group of lawmakers.”

Chang said details about any

“China will take resolute measures to safeguard its sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Mao Ning, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, said in Beijing on Monday when asked if military drills would be an option to retaliate against the meeting. Mao added Tuesday that China would closely monitor Tsai’s stop in the US.

In New York last week, Tsai met with House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, according to a person familiar with the encounter.

Although China lodged a protest over Tsai’s stops in the US, several people familiar with the matter say they believe China’s

response may be more muted than was its response to the visit to Taiwan last year by then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. The people, who asked not to be identified discussing private deliberations, said Tsai scrapped some events and limited her press engagements, which were seen as most likely to enrage Beijing.

“We’ve certainly seen some rhetoric coming out of Beijing with respect to President Tsai Ing-wen’s transit,” John Kirby, spokesman for the US National Security Council, told reporters Monday. He said Tsai and “every other previous president of Taiwan has transited the United States, so there’s nothing uncommon here.

There’s nothing atypical about it and there’s no reason for the Chinese to overreact.”

Addressing the parliament in Belize on Monday, Tsai said “the people of Taiwan face constant threats and pressure from the neighbor on the other side of the Taiwan Strait.”

“While Taiwan’s relationships with democracies around the world have grown stronger in recent years, we continue to be excluded from participating in international organizations and serving as a productive member of the international community,” she said. With assistance from Jordan Fabian, Jacob Gu, Philip Glamann and Colum Murphy/Bloomberg

Finland doubling Nato’s border with Russia in blow to Putin

By Lorne Cook The Associated Press

BRUSSELS—The blue-and-white Finnish flag rises outside Nato headquarters Tuesday afternoon, making Finland a member and doubling Russia’s border with the world’s biggest security alliance.

The move is a strategic and political blow to President Vladimir Putin, who has long complained about Nato’s expansion toward Russia and partly used that as a justification for his country’s war with Ukraine.

“What we see is that President Putin went to war against Ukraine with a declared aim to get less Nato,” Nato Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said. “He’s getting the exact opposite.”

Like all Nato members, Finland will benefit from the collective security guarantee that an attack on one is considered an attack on all.

Nato has said that it has no immediate intention to step up its presence in Finland. Some members have deployed troops there for war games over the last year.

Russia immediately warned that it would bolster forces near Finland if Nato sends any additional troops or equipment to what will be its 31st member country.

Finland has substantial, well-trained armed forces with elite troops capable of operating in the sub-zero temperatures of the high north. The Nordic country also has a large reserve army and is investing heavily in new equipment, including dozens of USmade F-35 fighter jets.

The Finnish flag rising between the French and the Estonian in a ceremony scheduled for 1330 GMT will complete the fastest accession process in the organization’s recent history.

Alarmed by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year, Finland applied to join Nato in May 2022. Neighboring Sweden also applied, but its accession process will take longer.

The ceremony falls on Nato’s very own birthday, the 74th anniversary of the signing

A FINNISH soldier participates in the amphibious operations as part of Nato sea exercises BALTOPS 2015 in Ustka, Poland on June 17, 2015. Nato Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Monday Finland will become the 31st member of the world’s biggest military alliance on Tuesday, prompting a warning from Russia that it would bolster its defenses near their joint border if Nato deploys any troops in its new member. AP/CZAREK SOKOLOWSKI

of its founding Washington Treaty on April 4, 1949.

“It will be a good day for Finland’s security, for Nordic security, and for Nato as a whole,” Stoltenberg told reporters on Monday on the eve of a meeting of alliance’s foreign ministers in Brussels.

Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko warned that Moscow would bolster its own forces “in case of deployment of forces of other Nato members on the territory of Finland.”

“We will strengthen our military potential in the west and in the northwest,” Grushko said, according to the state RIA Novosti news agency, although Russia is already having trouble marshaling forces against far-smaller Ukraine.

Finland shares a 1,340-kilometer (832mile) border with Russia and unlike most members of the alliance, Finland did not

cut defense spending and investment after the Cold War.

“They have trained and built a large army over many years and maintain that high level of readiness. Finland is also a country with extremely high level of resilience, of preparedness throughout the whole society,” Stoltenberg said.

The country also helps to complete Nato’s geographical puzzle by filling in a major gap in the strategically important Baltic Sea region in Europe’s north.

On Tuesday, Stoltenberg said, Turkey, the last country to have ratified Finland’s membership, will hand the official document enshrining its approval to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

Nato’s top civilian official said he will then invite Finland to hand over its own signed documents, to complete the procedure.

Finnish President Sauli Niinistö and

Defense Minister Antti Kaikkonen will attend the flag-raising ceremony along with Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto.

“It is a historic moment for us. For Finland, the most important objective at the meeting will be to emphasize Nato’s support to Ukraine as Russia continues its illegal aggression,” Haavisto said in a statement.

“We seek to promote stability and security throughout the Euro-Atlantic region.”

Left-wing Prime Minister Sanna Marin had championed her country’s Nato accession, and lost a chance at another term over the weekend, but joining Nato was widely popular and not seen as a factor in her loss.

Lars Kahre, an entrepreneur from Helsinki, said the country’s decision to abandon its military non-alignment was caused by the changes in Europe over the last year.

“For a long time, we have been relying on our independence and neutrality and now we just realize that that’s not the path of the future,” he told The Associated Press. “Now we need to look for new options for the future.”

All 30 allies signed Finland’s and Sweden’s accession protocols soon after they applied. Turkey and Hungary delayed the process for months but relented on Finland. Turkey has sought guarantees and assurances from the two, notably to crack down on Kurdish groups. Hungary’s demands have never been explicit.

Nato must agree unanimously for new members to join, and the vast majority of members are keen to bring Sweden within the fold before US President Joe Biden and his alliance counterparts hold their next summit in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius on July 11-12.

“Sweden is not left alone. Sweden is as close as it can come as a full-fledged member,” Stoltenberg said, and he urged Turkey to quickly ratify the country’s accession protocol, saying: “My position is that Sweden has delivered on the commitments they made.”

Jari Tanner in Helsinki contributed to this report.

NASA: 1st moon crew in 50 years includes woman, Black astronaut

By Marcia Dunn AP Aerospace Writer

NASA on Monday named the four astronauts who will fly around the moon late next year, including the first woman and the first African American assigned to a lunar mission.

The first moon crew in 50 years— three Americans and one Canadian—was introduced during a ceremony in Houston, home to the nation’s astronauts as well as Mission Control.

“This is humanity’s crew,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. The four astronauts will be the first to fly NASA’s Orion capsule, launching atop a Space Launch System rocket from Kennedy Space Center no earlier than late 2024. They will not land or even go into lunar orbit, but rather fly around the moon and head straight back to Earth, a prelude to a lunar landing

by two others a year later.

The mission’s commander, Reid Wiseman, will be joined by Victor Glover, an African American naval aviator; Christina Koch, who holds the world record for the longest spaceflight by a woman; and Canada’s Jeremy Hansen, a former fighter pilot and the crew’s lone space rookie. Wiseman, Glover and Koch have all lived on the International Space Station. All four are in their 40s.

“This is a big day. We have a lot to celebrate and it’s so much more than the four names that have been announced,” Glover said.

This is the first moon crew to include someone from outside the US—and the first crew in NASA’s new moon program named Artemis after the twin sister of mythology’s Apollo. Late last year, an empty Orion capsule flew to the moon and back in a long-awaited dress rehearsal.

“Am I excited? Absolutely,” Koch said to

cheers from the crowd of schoolchildren, politicians and others. “But my real question is: ‘Are you excited?’“ she said to more cheers.

The Canadian Space Agency snagged a seat because of its contributions of big robotic arms on NASA’s space shuttles and the space station. One is also planned for the moon project.

Hansen said he’s grateful that Canada is included in the flight.

“We are going to the moon together. Let’s go!” he said.

During Apollo, NASA sent 24 astronauts to the moon from 1968 through 1972. Twelve of them landed. All were military-trained male test pilots except for Apollo 17’s Harrison Schmitt, a geologist who closed out that moonlanding era alongside the late Gene Cernan.

Provided this next 10-day moonshot goes well, NASA aims to land two astronauts on the moon by 2025 or so.

NASA picked from 41 active astronauts for its first Artemis crew. Canada had four candidates. Almost all of them took part in Monday’s ceremony at Johnson Space Center’s Ellington Field, a pep rally of sorts that ended with Wiseman leading the crowd in a chant. Congratulations streamed in from retired astronauts, including Apollo 11’s Buzz Aldrin and Scott Kelly, the first American to spend close to a year in space. “Huge risks, huge commitment, eternal benefits for all. What a crew!” tweeted Chris Hadfield, the first Canadian commander of the space station a decade ago who performed David Bowie’s “Space Oddity” from orbit.

President Joe Biden spoke with the four astronauts and their families on Sunday. In a tweet Monday, Biden said the mission “will inspire the next generation of explorers, and show every child—in America, in Canada, and across the world—that if they can dream it, they can be it.”

TAIWAN defended President Tsai Ing-wen’s plan to meet with US lawmakers led by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Wednesday in California, as China vowed to take “resolute measures” in response.

THIS photo provided by NASA shows, from left, Nasa Astronauts Christina Koch, Victor Glover, Reid Wiseman, and Canadian Space Agency Astronaut Jeremy Hansen at the Johnson Space Center in Houston on March 29, 2023. On Monday, April 3, 2023, Nasa announced them as the crew who will be the first to fly the Orion capsule, launching atop a Space Launch System rocket from Kennedy Space Center no earlier than late 2024. They will not land or even go into lunar orbit, but rather fly around the moon and head straight back to Earth, a prelude to a lunar landing by two others a year later. JOSH VALCARCEL/NASA VIA AP

THE Wall Street Journal journalist Evan Gershkovich is shown in this undated photo. The State Department says Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged his Russian counterpart, in a rare phone, to immediately release Gershkovich, who was detained last week, as well as another imprisoned American, Paul Whelan. THE WALL STREET JOURNAL VIA AP

Editor: Angel R. Calso

Negative impact of importing food

AS in the past years, the Philippines’s food imports again outpaced its shipments to other countries, based on the latest data from the country’s statistics agency. The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) recently reported that the country’s agricultural trade deficit widened by more than a third in October to December 2022. Figures from the agency showed that Philippine farm trade deficit went up by 36.3 percent year-on-year to $3.22 billion (See, “PHL agri trade deficit widens to $3.22B in Q4,” in the BusinessMirror, March 22, 2023).

Figures indicated that the country’s agricultural export earnings fell by 15 percent to $1.55 billion, from last year’s $1.82 billion. Philippine imports, however, grew by nearly 14 percent to $4.76 billion, from the previous year’s $4.184 billion. Of the top 10 food items imported by the Philippines, cereals (including rice) accounted for the largest share at $924.56 million, or nearly 20 percent of the import bill in the fourth quarter. Payments for imported residues and waste from the food industries; meat and edible meat offal; and animal or vegetable fats and oils amounted to nearly $1.5 billion.

The United States and Australia are two of the world’s major food exporters that enjoy a huge trade surplus with the Philippines. PSA data showed that the US and Australia recorded a trade surplus of $606.04 million and $401.39 million, respectively, in the fourth quarter of 2022 alone. These countries supply meat and dairy products to the Philippines.

In terms of economic bloc, Asean recorded the biggest trade surplus with the Philippines in the fourth quarter of 2022 at $1.388 billion. This is because the total food exports of Asean nations to the Philippines during the period reached $1.568 billion, against a measly $179.99 million worth of local goods exported to neighboring Southeast Asian countries. Indonesia was the major supplier of agricultural products to the Philippines among Asean member-countries, while Vietnam and Thailand are the country’s top sources of rice in the region.

These figures underscore the increasing dependence of the Philippines on other countries for its food supply. The data also suggest that the Philippines consumes most of the farm goods it imports, instead of turning them into other products that it could export. And judging from the food supply woes that befell the country during the holidays, it appears that we will continue to rack up billions of dollars in agricultural trade deficits.

While it is true that no country can produce all of its food requirements, the Philippines is more than capable of producing most of the food items consumed by its citizens. The increasing reliance on foreign sources to ensure food supply could be disastrous for the Philippines in light of the threat posed by extreme weather events. As changing weather patterns are becoming the norm, it would do well for our policymakers to act with urgency and implement the necessary adjustments to the country’s food strategy to cushion the impact of climate change—including natural reoccurring phenomena such as El Niño and La Niña— on domestic food supply.

Since 2005

Moriones and the masks of disguise and hope

BOAC, Marinduque—The first time that I saw Moriones was in Holy Week of 1996, a month after one of the country’s worst environmental mining disaster happened when more than 2.5 million metric tons of mine tailings were discharged to the Boac River from the MarCopper’s Tapian pit.

I was then an environmental reporter for TODAY newspaper while finishing my law studies at the UP College of Law.

The parish priest of Buenavista town said in his Easter Sunday homily that year that “the Moriones aptly showed the “evil” man has tried for a long time to hide. In strict theological sense, the destruction of the environment and its ecological imbalance is the betrayal of Christ.”

The 27-kilometer Boac River was declared unusable as the main source of livelihood due to the loss of freshwater and marine life.

The Moriones tradition is one of the festivals in the Philippines where cultural practices or folk

history is turned into street festivals.

The central character of Moriones is Longinus who was a Roman soldier who pierced the left side of Jesus as He suffered on the cross. Blood from the wound fell on the blind left eye of Longinus, and miraculously cured it. The soldier became a believer, provoking the ire of other Roman soldiers. The highlight of the festival is the mad chase of Longinus, ending with the “pugutan”—his beheading on Black Saturday. Morions roamed the streets of Marinduque from Holy Monday to Easter Sunday dressed in colorful Roman soldiers’ costumes and fierce looking masks and helmets made of

wood, papier-mâché, carved wood and other indigenous materials and brightly-colored tunics. They engage in mock swordfights, play pranks on children, or do antics while safely hiding their identity behind their mask.

A tourist brochure exhorts visitors to immerse themselves in “a culture preserved through the centuries; festive traditions and colorful customs in the cozy ambience of its quaint town.”

After almost two decades, I again visited Marinduque for Holy Week of 2013 for its Moriones.

Filipino Catholics are known for having sincere, enormous and extreme expressions of piety considering that the country is the third-largest Catholic population in the world.

Lent is the commemoration of the suffering, crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is a 40-daylong observance that begins on Ash Wednesday, and ends with Easter Sunday. As Catholics see this season as a time for personal conversion and atonement, many Filipinos perform

See “Gorecho,” A21

A Lenten appeal for spiritual commitment: Fast for Mother Earth

By Cecilia Guidote-Alvarez

AS Christian nations observe the Holy Week, my husband, the late senator and former environment secretary, Heherson T. Alvarez always called for environmental penitence—a FAST FOR MOTHER EARTH. It is a call for personal sacrifices by cutting individual carbon footprints to minimize the impacts of climate change caused by deforestation and the excessive pollution of our water bodies that now manifest in our Philippine Riverbodies. Our oceans are polluted by oil spills and plastic gyre.

Climate Change, which upsets the balance and sustainability of the global climate, is primarily caused by the warming of the earth due to excessive carbon dioxide emissions with the abundant burning of fossil fuels, such as coal and oil and derivatives—diesel and gasoline. In 1995, I joined my husband as Senate chair of the Environment Committee when he presented the Manila Declaration in Bonn, Germany, the first Conference of the Parties (COP) for the protection of small island states. Senator Alvarez stressed, “We must minimize the use of our vehicles to cut back on fuel, cut back on food consumption, conserve water, take care of our forests and all other dwindling resources as our selfless penitence for the meaningful celebration not only of Lent but of three other significant environmental events preceding Earth Month— International Day of Forests (March 21), World Water Day (March 22),

Fast for Mother Earth, is an annual program for Holy Week observance during Earth Day Month, initiated by the Earthsavers Movement more than three decades ago.

health pandemics. Rising greenhouse gas emissions will exacerbate water-related risks over archipelagic Philippines.”

help mitigate carbon emissions to stop the destruction of our one and only common home, Planet Earth, our womb of life.

Earth Hour (March 25).”

Earthsavers DREAMS Ensemble-UNESCO Artist for Peace with the Philippine Center of the International Theatre Institute (ITI), in fact, held a comprehensive Techno Arts SDGs ResiliArt Exhibition at the National Library with messages from his colleagues from the Senate.

I must re-echo his call “to fast not only with food and drinks but with consumables like perfume and cosmetics, clothes, shoes to cut our fossil energy that process and produce them. A gradual withdrawal from our wasteful consumption habits, even on our food consumption, will provide some relief to our beleaguered environment. It builds the message that each individual is made aware of the extreme consequences of climate change—that a diminished carbon in the global atmosphere could be our individual spiritual share to diminish death, devastation, disease and deepening poverty and generating

Our country is ranked third among 67 countries in the world as most vulnerable to climate change in a recent survey done by global corporate giant Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corp.(HSBC). In the HSBC survey, India emerged as the most vulnerable, followed by Pakistan, and Bangladesh (4th).

Fast for Mother Earth, is an annual program for Holy Week observance during Earth Day Month, initiated by the Earthsavers Movement more than three decades ago. Sadly, a penitence that highlights the need to protect personally the environment seems not to have grown in spiritual dimension as the ruinous impact of climate change is upon us. No continent is spared.

I am compelled to keep alive his legacy and pursue his advocacies such as relentlessly and tirelessly making this appeal every year to remind the public of the grave moral responsibility to protect Mother Earth and

Earthsavers reiterate his conviction: “Our simple individual sacrifices will drive home the point that the scourge of climate change will need our scientific as much as our spiritual commitment. Then the agony and the death of our forests and oceans can be collectively resurrected to continue life for our children up to the 7th generation.”

The leader of the Catholic church, Pope Francis, called the destruction of nature a “sin of modern times” and that acting on climate change is “essential to faith.’’ Serendipitously, our Muslim brethren practice abstinence in the period of Ramadan.

In 2013, the strongest typhoon on Earth’s history, Typhoon Yolanda, devastated the country, resulting to more than 8,000 deaths. Super typhoons have grown in intensity rapidly leaving refugees in tent cities.

Our country finally signed the landmark Paris Agreement on Climate Change that committed the Philippines to reduce its carbon emissions by 70 percent of our usual consumption by 2030. Quo vadis? Government now realizes the primary existential crisis the world faces. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report See “Lenten,” A21

Kuwentong peyups

Dennis gorecho

Donald Trump to surrender to historymaking criminal charges

By Michael R. Sisak & Eric Tucker | The Associated Press

NEW YORK—An extraordinary moment in US history is scheduled to unfold in a Manhattan courthouse Tuesday: Former President Donald Trump, who faces multiple election-related investigations, will surrender to face criminal charges stemming from 2016 hush money payments.

The booking and arraignment are likely to be relatively brief—though hardly routine—as Trump is fingerprinted, learns the exact charges against him and pleads, as expected, not guilty.

Trump, who was impeached twice by the US House but was never convicted in the US Senate, will become the first former president to face criminal charges. The nation’s 45th commander in chief will be escorted from Trump Tower to the courthouse by the Secret Service and may have his mug shot taken.

New York police are braced for protests by Trump supporters, who share the former president’s belief that the New York grand jury indictment—and three additional pending investigations—are politically motivated and intended to weaken his bid to retake the White House in 2024.

Trump, a former reality-TV star, has been hyping that narrative to his political advantage, raising millions of dollars since the indictment on claims of a “witch hunt.” He has personally assailed the Manhattan district attorney, egged on supporters to protest, and claimed without evidence that the judge presiding over the case “hates me”—something Trump’s own lawyer has said is not true.

Trump is scheduled to return to his Florida home, Mar-a-Lago, Tuesday evening to hold a rally, punctuating his new reality: submitting to the dour demands of the American criminal justice system while projecting an aura of defiance and victimhood at celebratory campaign events.

A conviction would not prevent Trump from running for or winning the presidency in 2024.

Inside the Manhattan courtroom, prosecutors led by New York’s district attorney, Alvin Bragg, are expected to unseal the indictment issued last week by a grand jury. This is when Trump and his defense lawyers will get their first glimpse of the precise allegations against him.

The indictment includes multiple charges of falsifying business records, including at least one felony offense, two people familiar with the matter told The Associated Press last week.

After the arraignment, Trump is expected to be released by authorities because the charges against him don’t require that bail be set.

The investigation is scrutinizing six-figure payments made to porn actor Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal. Both say they had sexual encounters with the married Trump years before he got into politics. Trump denies having sexual liaisons with either woman and has denied any wrongdoing involving payments.

Lenten

continued from A20

calls for Emergency Climate Action NOW. Let us pledge not in words, but in action towards a green transition pushing faster for alternative clean energy. There is no other alternative pathway. We cannot breach 1.5° Celsius.We suffer Armageddon. Climate Justice, loss and damage, decarbonization, biodiversity with heritage protection have been our battle cry. Just think if all the money corrupted were invested to defuse the ecological time bomb of global warming, it would have been possible to prevent climate catastrophes through relevant dynamic application of science, technology and

The arraignment will unfold against the backdrop of heavy security in New York, coming more than two years after Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol in a failed bid to halt the congressional certification of President Joe Biden’s win.

Though police said they had no intelligence suggesting any violence was likely, they were on high alert for any potential disruptions.

“While there may be some rabblerousers thinking of coming to our city tomorrow, our message is clear and simple: Control yourselves,” Mayor Eric Adams said at a news conference Monday.

Trump pollster John McLaughlin said the former president would approach the day with “dignity.”

“Hewillbeagentleman,”McLaughlin said. “He’ll show strength and he’ll show dignity and...we’ll get through this and win the election.”

The public fascination with the case was evident Monday as national television carried live images of Trump’s motorcade from his Mara-Lago club to his red, white and blue Boeing 757. From there, he was flown to New York, where he was expected to spend the night at Trump Tower before turning himself in the following day.

The former president and his aides are embracing the media circus. After initially being caught off guard when news of the indictment broke Thursday evening, Trump and his team are hoping to use the case to his advantage. Still, they asked the judge in a Monday filing to ban photo and video coverage of the arraignment.

Though prosecutors routinely insist that no person is above the law, bringing criminal charges against a former president carries instant logistical complications.

New York’s ability to carry out safe and drama-free courthouse proceedings in a case involving a polarizing ex-president could be an important test case as prosecutors in Atlanta and Washington conduct their own investigations of Trump that could also result in charges. Those investigations concern efforts to undo the 2020 election results as well as the possible mishandling of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago.

Top Republicans, including some of Trump’s potential rivals in next year’s GOP presidential primary, have decried the case against him. President Joe Biden, who has yet to formally announce that he’s seeking reelection next year, and other leading Democrats have largely had little to say about it. Tucker reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Will Weissert in Washington and Jill Colvin, Bobby Caina Calvan and Julie Walker in New York contributed to this report.

effective cultural communications. We urgently need the discipline and political will to implement the existing laws to combat climate change that will guarantee a safe, clean and healthy world. Hope springs eternal. All of us, regardless of color, creed and social status must act in concert as global citizens to affirm life. It is heroic to save our ailing Mother Earth.

Cecilia Guidote-Alvarez is the Director of Earthsavers DREAMS Ensemble/ UNESCO Artist for Peace, and Founder of the Philippine Educational Theater Association (PETA). In 1972, she was awarded the Ramon Magsaysay Outstanding Laureate. She is the President of International Theatre Institute-Social Change Network. In 2022, she was a LaMaMa Theater Global Artist Awardee. She is also a NYC-USA Multi-awarded Producing-Director of DZRH Radyo Balintataw.

Teacher shot by 6-year-old student files $40 million lawsuit

By Denise Lavoie | AP Legal Affairs Writer

RICHMOND, Va.—A Virginia teacher who was shot and seriously wounded by her 6-year-old student filed a lawsuit Monday seeking $40 million in damages from school officials, accusing them of gross negligence and of ignoring multiple warnings the day of the shooting that the boy was armed and in a “violent mood.”

Abby Zwerner, a first-grade teacher at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News, was shot in the hand and chest on January 6 as she sat at a reading table in her classroom. The 25-year-old teacher spent nearly two weeks in the hospital and required four surgeries.

The shooting sent shock waves through the military shipbuilding community and the country, with many wondering how a child so young could access a gun and shoot his teacher.

The lawsuit names as defendants the Newport News School Board, former Superintendent George Parker III, former Richneck principal Briana Foster-Newton and former Richneck assistant principal Ebony Parker.

Michelle Price, a school board spokesperson, said via e-mail that the board had not yet been served with the lawsuit, adding the school division refers all legal claims information to its insurer.

“Our thoughts and prayers remain with Abby Zwerner and her ongoing recovery,” said a board statement, calling the safety and well-being of staff and students its utmost priority. “The School Board and the school division’s leadership team will continue to do whatever it takes to ensure a safe and secure teaching and learning environment across all our schools.”

George Parker, the former superintendent, did not immediately return a cellphone message. A message left on a cellphone listing for Ebony Parker also was not returned.

Foster-Newton’s attorney, Pamela Branch, has said she was unaware of reports that the boy had a gun at school on the day of the shooting.

“Mrs. Briana Foster-Newton will vigorously defend any charges brought against her as a part of the lawsuit filed by Ms. Zwerner and respond accordingly,” Branch said in a statement.

James Ellenson, an attorney for the boy’s family, said in a statement Monday afternoon that the “allegations in the complaint in reference to the child and his family should be taken with a large grain of salt.”

“We of course continue to pray for Ms. Zwerner’s complete recovery,” Ellenson said. “In that there is still the potential for criminal charges, there is no further comment.”

No one has been charged. The local prosecutor said last month that the boy will not be charged, although an investigation is ongoing.

The superintendent was fired by the school board and the assistant principal resigned. A school district spokesperson has said Newton-Foster is still employed by the school district, but declined to say what position she holds. The board voted to install metal detectors in every school in the district and to purchase clear backpacks for all students.

In the lawsuit, Zwerner’s attorneys say all of the defendants knew the boy “had a history of random violence” at school and at home, including an episode the year before when he “strangled and choked” his

kindergarten teacher.

“All Defendants knew that John Doe attacked students and teachers alike, and his motivation to injure was directed toward anyone in his path, both in and out of school,” the lawsuit states.

School officials removed the boy from Richneck and sent him to another school for the remainder of the year, but allowed his return for first grade in fall 2022, the lawsuit states. He was placed on a modified schedule “because he was chasing students around the playground with a belt in an effort to whip them,” and was cursing staff and teachers, it says.

“Teachers’ concerns with John Doe’s behavior (were) regularly brought to the attention of Richneck Elementary School administration, and the concerns were always dismissed,” the lawsuit states. Often, after he was taken to the office, “he would return to class shortly thereafter with some type of reward, such as a piece of candy,” the lawsuit states.

The boy’s parents did not agree to put him in special education classes where he would be with other students with behavioral issues, the lawsuit states.

The lawsuit describes a series of warnings school employees gave administrators in the hours before the shooting, beginning with Zwerner, who went to Ebony Parker’s office between 11:15 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. and told her the boy “was in a violent mood,” had threatened to beat up a kindergartener and stared down a security officer in the lunchroom. The lawsuit alleges that Parker “had no response, refusing even to look up at (Zwerner) when she expressed her concerns.”

At about 11:45 a.m., two students told Amy Kovac, a reading specialist, that the boy had a gun in his backpack. The boy denied it, but refused to give his backpack to Kovac, the

lawsuit states. Zwerner told Kovac that she had seen the boy take something out of his backpack and put it into his sweatshirt pocket. Kovac then searched the backpack but did not find a weapon.

Kovac told Ebony Parker that the boy had told students he had a gun. Parker responded that his “pockets were too small to hold a handgun and did nothing,” the lawsuit states.

Another first-grade boy, who was crying, told a teacher the boy “had shown him a firearm he had in his pocket during recess.” That teacher contacted the office and told a music teacher, who answered the phone, what the boy told her.

The music teacher said that when he informed Parker, she said the backpack had already been searched and “took no further action,” according to the lawsuit. A guidance counselor then asked Parker for permission to search the boy, but Parker forbade him, “and stated that John Doe’s mother would be arriving soon to pick him up.”

About an hour later, the boy pulled the gun from his pocket, aimed it at Zwerner and shot her, the lawsuit states.

Zwerner suffered permanent bodily injuries, physical pain, mental anguish, lost earnings and other damages, the lawsuit states. It seeks $40 million in compensatory damages.

Last month, Newport News prosecutor Howard Gwynn said his office will not criminally charge the boy because he is too young to understand the legal system. Gwynn has yet to decide if any adults will be charged.

The boy used his mother’s gun, which police said was purchased legally. Ellenson, the attorney for the boy’s family, has said previously that the firearm was secured on a high closet shelf with a lock. Associated Press reporter Ben Finley in Norfolk contributed to this story.

Rethinking public debt as positive investment in sustainable devt

By Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana

THE unprecedented fiscal firep ower used to protect the vulnerable from the harsh socio-economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and the resulting economic contraction have pushed the average government debt level in the Asia-Pacific region to its highest since 2008.

Public debt distress is expected to worsen amid the global economic slowdown, record high inflation and rising interest rates, and uncertainty induced by the war in Ukraine. And surging debt service payments are expected to put public debt sustainability of several developing Asia-Pacific economies at risk. Most concerning, debt distress risk is highest for countries with the highest development finance needs, including small island developing States.

Public debt: Powerful development tool in need of major rethink Y ET, a higher debt level is not necessarily a bad thing, according to this year’s edition of the Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific. Current policy debates on public debt sustainability do not take

Gorecho . . .

continued from A20

traditions in the week leading to Easter in the hope they will be cleansed of sins and illnesses and their wishes might be granted.

Devotees flock to churches for confessions and prayers like novenas and the Way of the Cross. Penance and sacrifices such as abstaining from eating meat and fasting on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are also observed.

The fervent devotion and faith shown by devotees became a prime manifestation of the fusion of Catholic and secular beliefs and practices of Filipinos.

In Marinduque, Morions engage

into account the long-term positive socio-economic and environmental impact of public investments in laying the foundations of inclusive, resilient and sustainable prosperity.

Indeed, left unaddressed, development deficits and climate risks hurt economic prospects and public debt sustainability itself. Our analysis shows that social spending cuts increase poverty and inequality and undermine economic productivity in the long term. Conversely, investing in healthcare, education, social protection and climate action is good economics.

Multilateral lenders and credit rating agencies focus excessively on keeping debt sustainable in the short term. Such perceived optimal debt levels are too low and lead to suboptimal development outcomes.

Revisiting current debt sustainability norms has also become necessary with the emergence of major nontraditional bilateral creditors and a drastic fall in concessional development lending to Asian and Pacific countries over the past decade.

It is time for a bold shift in thinking about public debt sustainability. We propose an augmented approach that assesses public debt viability that takes into account a country’s

in the street theater as their vow of penance, thanksgiving or performing an act of self-cleansing. They have to endure the hot costumes, hunger and thirst during their long walk around town.

Some morions accompany penitents who have enacted a much greater mortification on Good Friday—flagellation and crucifixion.

I witnessed the live crucifixion in Torrijos town in 2013 as well as the penitensya.

The re-enactment of Jesus Christ’s crucifixion started as the staging in Holy week of 1955 of the street play “Via Crucis” in Pampanga by poet-playwright Ricardo Navarro with Pedro Cutud as the artist who was ‘crucified’. The actual live crucifixion only happened

SDG investment needs, government structural development policies aiming to boost economic competitiveness, and national SDG financing strategies.

It is time for creditors, international financial institutions and credit rating agencies to consider the positive long-term economic, social and environmental outcomes of investing in the SDGs, while assessing public debt sustainability. Our research finds that public debt is found to decline over the long term when the socio-economic and environmental benefits of public investments are incorporated.

Rather than penalizing bold fiscal support for people and the environment, international creditors should consider if such spending would boost economic productivity. Lenders and credit rating agencies should see debt relief as helping support the fiscal outlook, rather than as a sign of an upcoming debt default.

Developing countries should also strive to balance investing in the SDGs with ensuring debt sustainability. Governments should not feel deterred from borrowing for essential, high-impact sustainable development spending; rather,

in 1961 when Arsenio Añoza made a vow to nail himself to a cross every Holy Friday.

In Penitensya, hooded, half-naked male flagellants scourge themselves by first cutting their backs with a blade or knife then whip their backs with bamboo-tipped burillos or with whips embedded with thorns and glass shards as the blood flows out of their wounds.

Some participants carry crosses through local churches, then lie on scorching concrete pavements, with arms spread as they are hit on the back with wooden paddles as an act of full surrender to the mercy of God.

For many flagellants, it is not enough that they confess their sins. Serious injuries must be inflicted

funds should be used efficiently and effectively. Public coffers should also be boosted by resource mobilization strategies designed to generate social and/or environmental benefits, such as through progressive taxation.

Effective public debt management reduces fiscal risks and borrowing costs, with several examples of good public debt management practices in the Asia-Pacific region. At the same time, countries with high debt distress levels may need pre-emptive, swift and adequate sovereign debt restructuring, while efforts towards common international debt resolution mechanisms and restructuring frameworks needs to be accelerated.

We are in the fourth year of the Decade of Action to accelerate progress towards the SDGs with not much to show in gains. It is time for Asia and the Pacific to rise to the challenge of mobilizing the financial resources to realize the dream of resilient and sustainable prosperity for all.

Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana is Under-SecretaryGeneral of the UN and Executive Secretary of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific.

upon themselves so that they will be convinced that their sins have been forgiven. Morions also roam during Holy week in Oriental Mindoro and Quezon.

The mask had a connotation of duplicity and betrayal, of disguise and hope, of pretension and dream.

It signifies the wearer’s distancing from the character: the actors are faithful followers of Christ, while the characters (Roman soldiers) they represent are pagans and persecutors of Christ and his disciples.

Peyups is the moniker of the University of the Philippines. Atty. Dennis R. Gorecho heads the seafarers’ division of the Sapalo Velez Bundang

GOVT AGENCIES TOLD: DO INVENTORY AHEAD OF RIGHTSIZING PROGRAM

PRESIDENT Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. has ordered concerned government agencies to conduct an inventory on government redundant positions and functions to be addressed by the proposed National Government Rightsizing Program (NGRP).

T he Presidential Communications Office (PCO) said Marcos gave the instruction during his meeting with the Presidential Legislative Liaison Office (PLLO) and the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) in Malacañang on Tuesday to discuss the developments on the bills for the implementation of the NGRP.

The President made an assurance during the meeting on Tuesday that government rightsizing is not aimed at terminating employees but to serve as a tool to upskill and reskill the current government workforce to improve state services and programs,” PCO Secretary Cheloy Velicaria-Garafil said in a statement.

Legislative status

THE House of Representatives (HOR) on March 14, 2023 passed House Bill (HB) No. 7240

or the National Government Rightsizing Act, which authorizes the President to right-size the operations of agencies in the executive branch.

Under the bill, a Committee on Rightsizing the Executive Branch (CREB) will be created to “undertake other functional or organizational actions, developing and providing safety nets, and formulating an organizational development program,” for the NGRP.

T he bill excludes the following from the NGRP: teaching and teaching-related positions in schools; medical and alliedmedical items in hospitals and other medical facilities; military and uniformed personnel, and government-owned or -controlled corporations (GOCCs) and government financial institutions covered by the Governance Commission for GOCCs; the legislature, judiciary, Office of the Ombudsman, constitutional commissions, and local government units (LGUs).

T he counterpart legislation of HB 7240 from the Senate is still pending at the Committee level.

Continued on A5

Palace halts commercial fishing vessels monitoring

By Jonathan L. Mayuga @jonlmayuga & Raadee S. Sausa

THE Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (DA-BFAR) has suspended the Vessel Monitoring Measures (VMM) for commercial fishing vessel, sparking a warning from concerned groups that this puts the Philippines at risk of another yellow-card warning from the European Union.

T he suspension order was meant to strengthen the government’s response against illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, according to DA-BFAR.

A s a concrete measure to comply with the order, the DA-BFAR, as the lead agency, shall convene the Philippine Committee (PhilCom) against IUU fishing toward the end of the month.

T he agency noted the vital role of the PhilCom, as an interagency group, in formulating more holistic approaches in fighting IUU fishing.

However, environmental groups led by Oceana on Tuesday warned the government of another EU

yellow card warning following the Malacañang order deferring the implementation of vessel monitoring for commercial fishing vessels in the country.

A t a hastily called press conference, Oceana led by the group’s vice president Gloria Estenzo-Ramos urged the Marcos administration to reconsider its decision to suspend the implementation of the rules that require vessel monitoring mechanism or VMM for all commercial fishing vessels under Fisheries Administrative Order (FAO) 266.

“Are we ready for another yellow card warning and looming

threat of losing access to our biggest market for fish and seafood products such as the EU?” Ramos asked.

R amos was referring to an order handed down by Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin on March 13, 2023 addressed to the DA-BFAR, Office of the Solicitor General (OSG), Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), and the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC).

S pecifically, it is meant to suspend the implementation of Fisheries Administrative Order 266 using the principle of ex abundanti cautela or “from an abundance of care.”

T he reason behind the suspension: the principle of respect for the three branches of government since the Supreme Court has not issued its final resolution on the constitutionality of FAO 266.

T his latest order reverses an earlier memorandum issued on February 2, 2023, in which the DA and the BFAR were ordered to implement FAO 266 nationwide in accordance with laws, rules, and regulations and in line with the OSG’s recommendations in

DOE freezes issuance of exemption papers from conduct of CSP

By Lenie Lectura @llectura

THE Department of Energy (DOE) on Tuesday imposed a moratorium on the issuance of Certificate of Exemption (COE) from the conduct of competitive selection process (CSP), pending issuance of a new CSP policy.

T he DOE, Energy Regulatory Commission and the National Electrification Administration are currently drafting a new CSP policy that aims to rationalize and streamline the conduct of CSP, particularly the issuance of COE-CSP, and the review of the terms of reference (TOR) for unsolicited proposals (UP), among others.

To ensure a smooth transition to the new circular, “the DOE hereby suspends the issuance of the COECSP on this ground upon effectivity of this advisory.

In the alternative, the DU (distribution utility) and the power supplier shall jointly file their Emergency Power Supply Agreement (EPSA) before the ERC for its approval,” the DOE advisory stated.

H owever, COE-CSP applications with complete requirements filed with the DOE before the effectivity of the moratorium shall be processed.

For COE-CSP applications with incomplete requirements and submitted to the DOE before the effectivity of the moratorium, the DOE shall also process these provided that the remaining requirements are completed during the period of the moratorium.

R ecently, the Manila Electric Company (Meralco) secured a COECSP for a 300-megawatt (MW) EPSA for one year with South Premiere Power Corp. (SPPC).  Meralco is now seeking a similar exemption for 180MW baseload capacity requirement.

Meralco had said the execution of the EPSA will help shield electricity consumers from volatile and potentially higher generation costs in the Wholesale Electricity Spot Mar -

its letter to the BFAR, last September 28, 2022, except the three commercial fishing operators with a pending case.   Vessel monitoring devices or transponders are supposed to be installed in every commercial fishing vessel in the Philippines to track their behavior. Such is one way of ensuring that the commercial fishing vessel is fishing only in waters where they are allowed to do so.

“We urge the Philippine government to reconsider its decision to suspend the implementation of the Rules requiring vessel monitoring mechanisms (VMM) for all commercial fishing vessels or Fisheries Administrative Order (FAO) 266 and prioritize the sustainable management of our fisheries,” Ramos said. R amos said the Philippines need to comply with the Constitution and the amended Fisheries Code to protect the country’s marine wealth, the livelihoods of artisanal fisherfolk, and mainstream transparency, traceability, and accountability in ocean governance.

DOLE lists holiday rules for workers this weekend

ket, which is historically recorded during the dry season when power demand spikes. Earlier on Tuesday, the DOE had  issued a draft circular on the changes it wants to introduce to the rules of the CSP.

To ensure efficient, timely and transparent procurement of power supply to the captive market, there is a need to streamline the conduct of CSP and the responsibilities of the DOE, ERC and NEA (National Electrification Administration) under EPIRA that is adaptable, flexible to the needs of the DU (distribution utility),” the draft circular on “Prescribing The Policy For The Distribution Utilities’ Mandatory Conduct Of Competitive Selection Process For The Procurement of Power Supply For the Captive Market,” stated.

T he DOE reiterated that it is tasked under EPIRA to formulate rules while the ERC, in the exercise of its functions under the same law, enforces these rules.

A mong the key principles in the proposed CSP circular include the one-year timeframe for the procurement of all power supply through a competitive process prior to expiration of power supply agreement (PSA) or projected increase in demand, development of greenfield power projects, and accountability in the procurement process and implementation of the PSAs.

More importantly, the “conduct of CSP shall be considered by the ERC in the determination of the DU’s compliance with its obligation to supply its captive market in the least cost manner.”

A ll power supply must be procured via CSP. The DOE cited six instances in which CSP is not required: in negotiated procurement of emergency power supply wherein the emergency power supply agreement (EPSA) shall be filed directly with the ERC within 30 days after the occurrence of the force majeure event; when the supply to the DU from any generating plant embedded in its franchise is utilizing

EMPLOYEES who report for work during this long weekend for the commemoration of the Holy Week and Araw ng Kagitingan (Day of Valor), will get additional compensation, according to the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).

I n his Labor Advisory No. 7, series 2023, Labor and Employment Secretary Bienvenido E. Laguesma said workers, who will be on duty on  April 6 (Maundy Thursday), April 7 (Good Friday) and April 10 (Araw ng Kagitingan)—dates declared as regular holidays by President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr.—will be entitled to 200 percent of their regular pay for the said days.  I f they work overtime, they will get an additional 30 percent of their hourly rate on the said days.

I n case the regular holidays coincide with their rest day, they will be entitled to an additional 30 percent of their 200-percent salary.  L aguesma stressed that employees will still be paid 100 percent of their salary even if they will spend the regular holidays on vacation “provided that the employee reports to work or is on leave of absence with pay on the day immediately preceding the regular holiday.”

Meanwhile, the labor chief said a “no work, no pay” rule will take effect on April 8 (Black Saturday) unless a favorable company policy, practice, collective bargaining agreement states otherwise.

He said employees who will be at work during special non-working holidays will receive 30 percent of their basic wage.

T hey will also be entitled to an additional 30 percent of their hourly rate if they work overtime, and 50 percent of their basic wage if the special holiday falls during their day-off.

DOLE noted April 9 (Easter Sunday) is an “ordinary working day,” therefore no special pay rules will be in effect on the said day.

Companies

Editor: Jennifer A. Ng

Wednesday, April 5, 2023

Branded products lift 2022 income of Century Pacific

By VG Cabuag @villygc

Revenues grew 13 percent to P62.2 billion from the previous year’s P54.71 billion, buoyed by its branded business, which represents the bulk of the company’s sales.

The branded business, which is composed of marine, meat, milk and other emerging businesses, grew by 16 percent from the previous year on the back of resilient domestic demand.

The company said its OeM (origi-

nal equipment manufacturer) exports business, or those unbranded food products such as canned tuna, posted a 4 percent increase on top of its high base from the previous year, despite global supply chain pressures encountered during the war in eastern europe.

The exports business saw improvements in the second half of 2022 due to favorable movements in freight rates, foreign exchange,

and commodities.

“Century’s all-weather portfolio did much of the heavy lifting in 2022, whether from a topline or gross margin perspective. On the sales side, our affordable and accessible brands like Fresca and Lucky 7 allowed the company to serve the needs of value-seeking consumers, especially during an inflationary time,” Richard Kristoffer S. Manapat, the company’s CFO, said.

“We saw local demand remain resilient in a year where more Filipinos gained employment because of the reopening. We recognize that consumers had to prioritize spending and are humbled to see that they continue to patronize our brands, leading to double-digit growth,” he said.

Amid rising input costs, CnPF said its gross margin landed at 23.1 percent for the year, softening by 20 basis points compared to the prior year. The company also saw higher logistics costs for the year, pushing

its operating expenses as a percentage of sales increased to 14 percent.

“We have been navigating through choppy waters for quite some time but have been fortunate enough to deliver a consistent growth performance year-on-year. Our strong cash generation allows us to continuously fuel long-term growth, invest in sustainability, and provide our shareholders with satisfactory returns,” Manapat said.

In 2022, CnPF spent P1.4 billion in capital expenditures, completing the 50 percent expansion of its coconut OeM facility.

“We approach 2023 with cautious optimism, focused on delivering topline and bottomline growth but cognizant of our consumers’ plight, considering persistent inflationary pressures. We have some inventory overhang from 2022, which may cause bottomline to lag in the first half, but expect margin improvements as commodities ease,” Manapat said.

Airbnb: PHL bookings rise anew

‘Revenge travel” is now apparent as Airbnb reported on Tuesday that Filipinos are looking forward to go out and explore new places during the hot dry season.

Based on searches made at its platform in 2022 for check-ins between March 1 to April 30 compared to the same period last year, the volume of traffic of Airbnb users looking for stays in the Philippines has grown by almost 400 percent.

For check-ins between the two months in review booked in the fourth quarter of last year, the top five most searched cities this hot dry season by Filipino travelers are Santa Maria in Bulacan, Malay in Aklan, Baguio City in Benguet, Cebu City in Cebu, and Pasay City in Metro Manila.

Meanwhile, Manila emerged as the most sought-after domestic destination for international travelers. This was followed by famous travel hotspots Cebu City, Malay, and el nido.

“With the Philippines aiming to become a tourism powerhouse in Asia in the next few years, we are delighted to see the current travel rebound across the country,” said Amanpreet Bajaj, Airbnb’s general manager for Southeast Asia, India, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Such findings of the online marketplace for short-term homestays and experiences indicate the recovery of the tourism and travel industry from the ensuing health crisis.

In fact, the latest internal Airbnb data for 2022 also showed that nights booked in the Philippines using its

channel more than doubled last year from 2020.

Domestic travel led the way as the country ranked as the no. 1 travel destination among local tourists in 2022.

This report, likewise, revealed that Filipinos love to visit places with their families and peers, especially during longer holidays and local festivals.

While Filipinos mostly made bookings in pairs on Airbnb, group travel saw a significant increase with confirmed nights jumping by almost 180 percent year-on-year in 2022.

On the average, guests on Airbnb made reservations for approximately three nights.

“Traveling with loved ones remains a significant priority for Filipinos, and Airbnb is well-placed to welcome travelers with our variety of unique stays at all price points,” he said.

With the reopening of most borders abroad and relaxed travel restrictions due to the constant decline in Covid-19 infections worldwide, Filipinos are also setting their sights on widening their travel horizons as they want to visit destinations both near and far.

Those who booked overseas destinations on Airbnb chose the United States (US) and Canada as the first and second, respectively, on their itinerary.

Popular Asia Pacific destinations, such as Japan, Korea, and Thailand completed their top five list. established in 2007, Airbnb has so far welcomed 1.4 billion guests by its over four million hosts in almost every country across the globe.

Roderick L. Abad

trains Bukidnon IPs

ABOITI z Construction on Tuesday said it signed a partnership with the Technical education and Skills Development Authority’s (T eSDA) provincial office in Bukidnon and Maces Skills Training Institute Inc. for the training of 25 residents of Barangay Capital Angel in Malaybalay City, Bukidnon.

For this partnership, most of the trainees are indigenous Filipinos from the Talaandig tribe.

The said training is in line with the company’s commitment to advancing businesses and communities by upskilling and providing job opportunities to many Filipinos.

Once the trainees pass the assessment and earn the necessary certifica-

tions, they will be hired and deployed in Aboitiz Construction’s maintenance services project in Surigao del norte.

The partnership signing event, held last March 27, was attended by T eSDA Region 10 provincial director for Bukidnon John Simborios, Aboitiz

Construction representatives June Donald ecaranum and norven Pitogo, and Maces president and edministrator er win Trinidad. “At Aboitiz Construction, we continue to provide employment for many Filipinos and prioritize the hiring of local residents from nearby municipalities and regions,” said Aboitiz Construction Assistant vice President Controller and OIC head of human resources and corporate shared services Charisse De vi lla. VG Cabuag

B1

‘SMC toll roads ready for exodus’

SA n Miguel Corp.’s (SMC) infrastructure unit said it has made all the necessary preparations in anticipation of heavy traffic volume this week at all its expressways, as Filipinos head out to the provinces for the traditional observance of Holy Week.

Starting April 3, SMC Infrastructure increased its manpower deployment at all its tollways, to meet the expected holiday exodus, and help ensure more efficient and safe travels for motorists that will traverse the South Luzon ex pressway (SLe X ), Southern Tagalog Arterial Road (STAR), the Skyway System, nA IA ex pressway, and the TarlacPangasinan-La Union ex pressway. Mobile patrol units have been deployed at strategic locations, while more ambulant tellers will be positioned at major toll plazas to assist toll collection personnel, to speed up the flow of vehicles heading out of Metro Manila to northern and southern provinces.

“Our operations teams are prepared for the rush of our kababayans leaving Metro Manila to spend the upcoming holidays with their loved ones in the provinces. We’ve made the necessary adjustments in our manpower deployment to ensure that traffic will flow smoothly along our carriageways and speed up the scan-

ning of Autosweep tags and cards at exits,” SMC President and CeO R amon S. Ang said in a statement.

“We encourage our motorists to make sure their Autosweep RFID accounts have sufficient load and to have their Autosweep cards ready in their vehicles, to avoid any delays. Our ambulant tellers are also equipped to scan cards for faster transactions, in case there is heavy build-up at the exits.”

Ang said the company has suspended all roadworks and activities that might disrupt the flow of traffic at expressways, starting 12:00 p.m. of April 3 until 10:00 p.m. of April 10.

He said SMC Infrastructure has also coordinated with authorities such as the police and the various local government units, on the implementation of traffic management plans. “To our motorists, we ask for your patience and understanding, as we all try to get to our destinations safely this Holy Week. Kindly anticipate heavy traffic and plan your trips well. Also, please make sure your vehicles are in good condition and are roadworthy, as common problems we see at expressways—blown out tires and overheating engines—can also cause a significant amount of delay and inconvenience to other motorists,” Ang said.

Century Pacific Food Inc. (CnPF), the food canning company led by the Po family, on tuesday said its income rose 6 percent last year to P5 billion from the previous year’s P4.67 billion on higher sales of its branded products

SSS pension loans in 2022 hit P5.95B

SOCIAL Security System (SSS)

President and Chief Executive Officer Rolando L. Macasaet has announced that pension loan releases last year reached P5.95 billion, the highest annual disbursement for the “Pension Loan Program,” or “PLP,” since it started in 2018.

Macasaet was quoted in a statement issued last Tuesday that pension loan releases in 2022 was almost double the P3.08 billion recorded in 2021.

The SSS said that from January to December last year, it has disbursed a monthly average of P495.77 million pension loans benefitting 10,660 retiree-pensioners, which is 93-percent higher than its corresponding monthly average in 2021 of P257.01 million to 5,753 retiree-pensioners.

The state-run pension fund manager added that the number of PLP applicants grew after the national government eased up communityquarantine restrictions in the country. The latter, the SSS said, allowed retiree-pensioners to submit their pension loan applications in SSS branches.

SSS’s records show that a total of 127,920 retiree-pensioners availed from the PLP in 2022, which is 85-percent higher than the 69,036 retiree-pensioners who availed of the program in 2021.

Luzon recorded the highest number of PLP applicants with 30,158 retiree-pensioners amounting to nearly P1.39 billion in pension loans. The National Capital Region (NCR) came in second with 28,239 borrowers amounting to P1.43 billion.

Visayas follows it with 17,038 loan applicants amounting to P740 million, and Mindanao with 12,917 borrowers amounting to P590 million. Meanwhile, online application through My.SSS portal had 39,568 loan applicants amounting to P1.80 billion.

SSS data also revealed that 69 percent of the borrowers filed their loan applications through SSS branches while 31 percent used their online account in filing applications.

Macasaet noted that PLP applications through the SSS’s online portal, “My.SSS,” also grew in 2022.

Starting May 2022, SSS enhanced PLP by allowing first-time applicants to file their loan applications using their My.SSS account, resulting in 39,568 approved pension loan applications in 2022, a 963 percent increase from only 3,721 in 2021,” he added.

“Opening an online facility for PLP borrowers paved the way for more retiree-pensioners to access this loan program. It also offered them convenience because they could submit their application even in the comfort of their homes. Once approved, the loan proceeds are directly credited to their disbursement accounts within five working days,” Macasaet said.

The SSS launched the PLP to assist retiree-pensioners in their immediate financial needs by offering a loan program with of 10 percent per annum interest rate.

Macasaet further explained that PLP offers its borrowers flexible installment payment terms ranging from six (6) to 24 months.

“We also ensure that the pensioners will still have a net take-home pension of at least 47.25 percent of their monthly pensions,” he added.

Qualified retiree-pensioners can avail themselves of a loan equivalent to three, six, nine, or 12 times their basic monthly pension plus the P1,000 additional benefit granted in 2017, but not exceeding P200,000.00.

“We are delighted that we have assisted many of our retiree-pensioners for their short-term and immediate financial needs,” Macasaet said. “We also prevent them from becoming victims of private lending institutions that charge high interest rates and require them to surrender their ATM cards as collateral.”

BOC’s March collection hits ₧80.133B

By Raadee S. Sausa & Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas @jearcalas

The BOC said its March collection has hit a total of P80.133 billion, surpassing its revenue target of P72.282 billion by P7.851 billion or 10.86 percent.

The figure is also higher than the

P70.72 billion the BOC collected in March last year, but was also cited by the agency as a record, which it credited to higher imports and improved valuation.

Earlier this year, the BOC—then

under Customs Commissioner Yogi Filemon Ruiz—expressed confidence it will be able to meet its fullyear collection target of P901.337 billion. The BOC has also set an internal collection target of P921 billion.

Last year, the BOC’s total revenue collections rose by 34 percent on an annual basis to a record high of P862.929 billion on the back of higher imports and better system of collection.

That system, however, is hitting a snag as the BOC is entangled in a legal case involving its computerization program contract.

Last February, House Committee

Marcos admin to borrow $4B from the ADB

By Cai U. Ordinario @caiordinario

THE government of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. aims to secure some $4 billion worth of loans (around P218.072 billion at current exchange rates) from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) this year ahead of the approval of the Manila-based multilateral development bank’s Country Partnership Strategist (CPS).

In a briefing last Tuesday, ADB Philippine Country Office Head Kelly S. Bird said the loans will cover eight projects, two of which have already been approved by the ADB Board while the other six may secure approval throughout the year.

The two projects that have secured approval are the $500-million funding for the “Support for PostCovid-19 Business and Employment Recovery Program Subprogram 1” and the $500-million “Competitive and Inclusive Agriculture Development Program Subprogram 2.”

The other projects that have yet to be approved by the ADB Board are the following: a $1 billion worth loan for the “Davao City Public Transport Modernization” project and the $400-million “Build Universal Healthcare Program Subprogram 2.”

The list also includes the “Bataan-Cavite Interlink Bridge” project that is being financed through a $650-million loan from ADB and $350-million loan from the Asian Infrastructure and Investment Bank (AIIB).

Loans for approval

THE list of loans that have yet to be

➜ BPi warns vs fraud

approved include $303 million for the “Integrated Floods Protection Resilience and Adaptation Project Phase 1” and the $300-million “Inclusive Finance Development Program Subprogram 3.”

Bird said the ADB Board could also approve $300 million for the “Infrastructure Preparation and Innovation Facility 2,” or “IPIF 2,” this year. The IPIF funding will be for the Department of Transportation and the Department of Public Works and Highways.

In December 2019, ADB approved a $200-million loan as additional financing for the IPIF. Several other projects under the Duterte administration’s “Build, Build, Build” program are being prepared with support from the facility.

The IPIF was created to finance project feasibility studies, procurement of consultants, detailed engineering, and preparing bid documents, among others.

Bird said another project on standby is the $30-million loan for the “Project Development and Monitoring Facility” (PDMF), which is the revolving fund needed for “Public Private Partnership” (PPP) projects.

The PDMF is a revolving fund used to procure consultants and technical advisers as well as prefeasibility studies for PPP projects.

After a PPP project is awarded, the winning bidder is required to reimburse the cost to the PDMF only if the project awarded to them received funds from the fund.

Three pillars

MEANWHILE, Bird said the CPS

THE Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) is urging the public to remain vigilant this Holy Week as financial cybercrimes remain rampant. This is after the bank noted a rise in the number of emails and text messages containing bogus vacation vouchers and donation pledges. “The public should be careful of these scams and fake offers, as fraudsters use various tactics, such as phishing, to obtain personal information,” Jonathan John B. Paz, BPI data protection officer, said. Paz explained that cybercriminals are able to acquire confidential personal information by initially using data about a person available online and then gain other details and information directly from targets through a combination of messages, fake websites and phone calls.

➜ GCash bags award

G-XCHANGE Inc. announced its payment system GCash has been feted anew as the “Best Digital Wallet” in Asia Pacific by the TAB International Pte. Ltd. during the latter’s “The Asian Banker Global Excellence in Retail Financial Services Awards 2023.” “Recognizing our efforts to champion financial inclusion in the country for three consecutive years fuels our motivation to strive harder to innovate for good by providing access to millions of Filipinos, wherever they may be,” Chief Marketing Officer Neil Trinidad was quoted in a statement as saying.

➜ Lender touts sustainability awards

THE Bank of the Philippines Islands (BPI) announced it secured sustainability awards from local and regional awarding entities throughout 2022. “These recognitions underscore the bank’s purpose-driven and staunch commitment in promoting conscious consumerism and sustainable operations by embedding positive environmental, social and governance (ESG) principles into its core,” the lender said. BPI received a record-high 10 recognitions which further affirmed its position as the leader in sustainability in the Philippine banking industry and as among the best in the Asia Pacific region.President and CEO Jose Teodoro K. Limcaoco vows to further broaden the bank’s ESG impact to consistently deliver great value to its stakeholders, guided by its culture, mission and values.

for 2024 to 2029 may be approved by the ADB Board early next year. The CPS, which is aligned with the administration’s eight-point agenda and the “Philippine Development Plan 2023-2028,” will be crafted using three pillars.

The first pillar is on intensified climate action; climate smart transportation and digital transformation; and investing in Filipinos.

Under climate action, ADB aims to help the country undertake policy reforms and finance, resource mobilization; capacity building for climate change related agencies and the PPP Center; and finance investments.

These investments will be focused on mitigation, adaptation and biodiversity protection as well as food security/agriculture; flood protection; irrigation; disaster management and resilience; and protecting biodiversity.

Under climate smart transportation and digital transportation, the ADB intends to help the government undertake reforms such as the use of electronic vehicles in mass transport, specifically electronic buses; institutional capacity building; and other investments such as pedestrian walkways, bridges, expressways, and road networks.

Projects and programs to invest in Filipinos include those that address the learning losses in education; developing technological and vocational skills; business and employment recovery; social protection; helping vulnerable mothers and child nutrition; and universal healthcare and health sector investments.

➜ insurer names new CeO

O O NA Insular Insurance Corp. (Oona Insurance), formerly Mapfre Insurance, announced last week it has hired Ramon Zandueta as its new president and CEO. He will be officially taking over the reins from acting CEO Jean Israel by May 1, the insurer said. Zandueta is currently the managing director and chairman of the board of Marsh Philippines, the local arm of the global insurance broker and risk advising company. Zandueta’s career in the industry began in 1982 with Ayala-FGU as part of its reputable management training program. He then joined Marsh as the company’s local correspondent broker in the Philippines in 1988.

➜ LandBank to put up hubs for tax payments

THE Land Bank of the Philippines (LandBank) announced it will be setting up stations to help taxpayers settle their dues through online payment channels. These hubs will be stationed within select Revenue District Offices nationwide to facilitate online payments of income tax returns during work days from April 1 to 17, 2023, at 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The hubs aim to assist taxpayers remit their taxes online through the BIR’s Electronic Filing and Payment System and LandBank’s e-Tax Payment System and Link.BizPortal channels. As of December, 21, 2022, these channels have facilitated a total of more than 1.2 million tax payment transactions with total value of P117.3 billion.

➜ PDiC forum on procurement

THE Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. (PDIC) held a Procurement Forum to discuss the procurement projects in the pipeline for 2023 with prospective merchants, contractors, service providers, and consultants on March 3, 2023, at the PDIC building in Makati City. The forum presented procurement requirements in the areas of human resources, organization development, corporate communications, institutional relations and information technology. PDIC Bids and Awards Committee Chairman and Senior Vice President Sandra A. Diaz delivered her opening remarks before more than 30 prospective firms and service providers during the forum.

on Ways and Means Chairman Joey Sarte Salceda said that past legal issues with that BOC contract should not hamper the bureau from carrying out its mandate “in an efficient and digitalized manner.”

The lawmaker has urged the Marcos administration to revisit the BOC’s computerization programs to prevent smuggling and undervaluation.

“What can we do with current systems so we can collect more duties and taxes from imports? Otherwise, our tariffs lose their ability to protect domestic industries,” Salceda said following his committee’s recent

hearing on customs undervaluation and smuggling.

Last month’s collection data covers the full 31 days in office of new Commissioner Bienvenido Y. Rubio. Rubio was quoted in a statement as saying the March 2023 collection figures “is a testament to [the] unwavering commitment to public service” of the BOC personnel. Rubio vowed to continue to push for reforms in the bureau “to ensure that we are providing the best service to the Filipino people and contributing to the country’s economic growth.” With additional report from Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz

PHL economy still facing stormy winds

THE country’s economic growth was stopped abruptly by the Covid pandemic. But with Covid now spoken in the past tense and the economy reopened after the world’s longest lockdown, are we headed for Paradise? Hardly.

The headwinds are still bellowing and painful adjustments and repairs of the RP ship are needed to sail soundly to the tempestuous seas with confidence.

Despite the optimistic government forecast of 6.4-percent to 8.0-percent gross domestic product (GDP) growth rates from 2023 to 2028, galloping inflation at over 8 percent and high-interest rates—the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas just adjusted to 6.25 percent recently—are two factors that will dampen both economic growth and investment appetite in the country.

Capital formation (foreign and local investment) had spurred our neighbors in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations region many decades ago already while we languished in that category resulting in our infrastructure inferiority that, in turn, discourages investments. Investments would have created jobs and trimmed poverty.

The Philippines faces tight fiscal space—National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) head Arsenio M. Balicasan admits—in the coming years and makes private sector investment a desired necessary adjunct to our growth.

But no matter how the country opens, by legislation or by some constitutional change (Cha-cha), many sectors to foreign ownership, if there are no basic reforms in the way we do business (corruption, long approvals by investment managers and local government units), operational bottlenecks and defective, inconsistent policy-making, we will remain a barren desert, unattractive to smart businessmen.

The Neda admits the need to make our PPP (public private partnership) rules more competitive, transparent and fair to participants and should implement amendments to the Build Operate and Transfer (BOT) rules, one of the main vehicles of the PPP.

Our ability to borrow intensively now has been constrained by the humongous debt RP incurred in fighting the Covid malady for three years. The narrowing fiscal space necessitates attracting foreign Joes and local Juans in suits and barongs to join the parade of funding our businesses and especially infrastructure.

The Neda has committed to undertake P9 trillion in infra projects or about P1.2 trillion per year, representing 5 percent to 6 percent of GDP.

Water (potable, irrigation and flood control), transportation (land, air and sea), digitalization, renewable energy, mining, tourism, information and communications technology and high-tech and creative industries have been identified for funding.

Equally important segments are those responsible to improve the Filipino human capital to cover educa-

tion, health care, nutrition and subsidies (to the poor sector). A healthy and globally literate manpower is needed for us to continue to be a force in the global work market and to have ready competent workers for investors opening firms here.

In a zoom forum initiated by the Neda recently, Balicasan admitted that while the list of the targeted projects is impressive, it will take at least two years to finish all the feasibility studies and hurdle the approval of the Neda Investment Committee. Thus the project implementation will likely happen only in the years 2025 to 2028.

Meantime, the biggest problems faced by Filipinos today remain to be food security and the very high cost of food- a large component of the 8-percent inflation. If one cares to notice, most of our basic agricultural goods ( rice, sugar, salt, onion, garlic, fish and seasonally some vegetables, pork and poultry) are imported by us from other countries- that makes us vulnerable to supply chain disruptions and the impact of foreign exchange rate movements of the peso. Improving domestic productivity to bring down these agri prices will not happen overnight and will be an arduous task.

Thus, our fear, is that, through all of these big plans and aspirational goals, we may continue to face high food prices and inflation in the next few years to come. We would be fortunate to have only a 5-percent inflation for the full year of 2023.

The high-interest rates will also impact our debt-servicing capability which will be P602-Billion this year representing a high 11.6 percent of the GDP.

The latest unemployment figure is still high at 4.8 percent representing 2.37 million jobless Filipinos partly explaining why more than 20 million people are still living under the poverty line.

This year the Philippines will still be on deficit spending of P1.470 trillion due to massive P5.177-trillion spending versus revenues of only P3.707 trillion.

Added to this will be the 2023 ($1.6 billion) Balance of Payment deficit, an improvement from 2022’s high ($7.3 B) deficit but coming from a surplus of $1.3 B in 2021.

This will be contributory to the slight deterioration of the Philippine peso.

Certainly, therefore, we are not out of the woods (or the tempestuous storm, if you wish) yet.

Former banker Zoilo “Bingo” P. Dejaresco III is a financial consultant and media practitioner. He is a Life and Media member of the Finex. His views here, however, are personal and do not necessarily reflect those of Finex or the BusinessMirror. Contact the author via Dejarescobingo@yahoo.com.

THE Bureau of Customs (BOC) announced last Tuesday it has set a new record with its highest monthly collection for March.

NOT THE OTHER WOMAN

IT’S not true that the beauty queen, whose marriage to an actor seems to be on the rocks allegedly because of her husband’s cheating, caused his split from his first wife. The beauty queen has gone on a social media tirade against her husband’s alleged other woman and netizens are saying it’s karma because she stole him from his ex-wife anyway. No stealing took place because the beauty queen met the guy, who is an actor, long after his marriage to his first wife, an actress, was dissolved. The cause of the split was the actor’s dalliance with a much younger starlet. This dalliance turned into an intense love affair that continued long after the starlet returned to her homeland. Here’s an interesting piece of information: the actor was a minor when he met his future wife.

BELEAGUERED ACTOR

IT is sad to see former promising stars whose lives have gone astray. Such is the story of this actor, who was once a sought-after leading man in TV dramas. The actor got into drugs and that ended his career as leading man. But now, decades later, he is recovering and trying to work as an actor again. Sadly, his personal life is in shambles as his partner allegedly cheated on him and then left him. That was difficult because the partner was the one who earning well. In fact, during the times that the actor wasn’t working, she was the one who supported him. What’s worse is that now, he has to earn money and take care of their child, who has been left in his care.

NO TO MOM’S BOYFRIEND

WHEN this low-key heiress got married to her longtime boyfriend, she only had one request. That her mom’s boyfriend not be present. It was one of the few times that the heiress’ dad firmly told his partner their daughter’s request. The dad has no issue with his partner’s other relationship. He can actually sit on a table with the boyfriend. Their daughter is another matter. She can’t stand the boyfriend and doesn’t understand what her mom sees in the guy.

VICTIM OR VILLAIN?

THE actress has kind of portrayed herself as a victim on social media, being alone after her marriage didn’t work out. Everyone blamed the actress’ former husband for what happened because she seemed broken by it. The actress continues to show herself as trying to recover from what happened. She was recently spotted in a nearby country with another guy, who is said to be her new boyfriend. This is all okay with her former in-laws, who have allowed her to stay in her ex-husband’s place after they split. They took pity on the actress because she seemed alone. What irks them is that the actress’ new relationship has been going on for about a year and it has reached them that the new boyfriend is spending nights in the house—where the ex-husband also stays when he is in town.

BY JAKE COYLE The Associated Press

NEW YORK—Riding terrific reviews and a strong word-of-mouth, the role playing game adaptation Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves opened with $38.5 million in US and Canadian movie theaters over the weekend, according to studio estimates on Sunday, stealing the top box-office perch from John Wick: Chapter 4. The Paramount Pictures and eOne release appealed to more moviegoers than many expected a film based on a notoriously niche table top game to interest. Game Night directors Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley turned in a rollicking comic action-adventure, with a cast including Chris Pine, Michelle Rodriguez, Regé-Jean Page and Hugh Grant, that’s bringing in ticket buyers less familiar with D&D. Audiences gave Honor Among Thieves, which launched with a raucous opening-night premiere at SXSW, an “A-” CinemaScore. It scored 91 percent fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.

“We know how good our movie is,” said Chris Aronson, distribution chief for Paramount. “I know it’s been said before, but I think opening to $38-39 million is just the start. These kind of exits polls translate to playability.”

Dungeons & Dragons was also a big roll of the dice. The film, coproduced and cofinanced by Paramount with eOne, which is owned by Hasbro, cost $150 million to make. With a production cost like that, Dungeons & Dragons will be looking for sustained sales through April and similar success overseas to potentially kickstart a new franchise. It launched internationally with $33 million.

“The challenge with this film is convincing everyone that this film is for you,” said Aronson. “Jonathan and John, these guys are really talented and great collaborators. We’re going to work more with them. Hopefully, this will be the start of a franchise.”

TODAY’S HOROSCOPE

By Eugenia Last

CELEBRITIES BORN ON THIS

Pharrell Williams, 50; Mike McCready, 57; Mitch Pileggi, 71; Agnetha Faltskog, 73.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Refuse to let emotional matters take over your life. Think your plans through from beginning to end and find a practical solution that helps you and those you love. It’s OK to dream, but when it comes to what matters most, a reserved attitude will help you find the most efficient way to get things done to your liking. Your numbers are 5, 17, 20, 23, 26, 38, 49.

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Anger will impact performance. A change of plans shouldn’t cost you financially. Examine details before you agree to something. You’ll get the highest return from the time spent fixing up your surroundings. Efficiency is the key to your success. ★★★

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Think before you act. Have a foolproof plan in place before you begin. Use your imagination to find an exciting way to attract interest and everything else will fall into place. A passionate approach will convince others to support and contribute. ★★★

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Keep an open mind, but refuse to believe everything you hear. Verify information before you accept or pass it along. Spend time learning, developing and preparing for the future. Find a new way to use your skills. ★★★★★

John Wick: Chapter 4, which launched last weekend with a franchise-best $73.5 million, slid to second place in its second weekend with $28.2 million. While a sizeable dip, the assassin action film, starring Keanu Reeves, has already accrued $122.8 million domestically and, after adding another $35 million internationally over the weekend, $245 million worldwide. Lionsgate has no shortage of plans for further expansion in the franchise.

Along with John Wick: Chapter 4, Creed III and Scream VI, Dungeons & Dragons adds to a string of wellreceived March releases that have surpassed boxoffice expectations and scored well with audiences. It’s a streak that Universal Pictures’s The Super Mario Bros. Movie will look to continue next weekend.

“While it may not be the highest-grossing March ever, this is one of the best months of March for the industry in its history, coming off of three years of a pandemic-challenged marketplace,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for data firm comScore. “March is not summer, but it’s sure felt like summer, with hit after hit.”

Those film have helped push the 2023 box office well ahead of last year’s pace, up 28.7 percent, according to David A. Gross, who runs Franchise Entertainment Research. Still, overall ticket sales aren’t yet up to pre-pandemic levels, trailing the 20172019 average by 28.8 percent.

Games and toys are also proving to be dependable big-screen resources. Dungeons & Dragons will be followed this year by Greta Gerwig’s Barbie and a new Transformers movie. The Super Mario Bros. Movie is expected to extend a rising trend for the once-derided video game adaptation. Dungeons & Dragons had little competition from new releases. The Christian drama His Only Son debuted with $5.3 million. A.V. Rockwell’s Sundance Film Festival grand jury prize winner A Thousand and One, about a mother (Teyana Taylor) who kidnaps her son from foster care, opened with $1.8 million at 926 theaters for Focus Features.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at US and Canadian theaters, according to comScore.

1. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, $38.5 million

2. John Wick, Chapter 4, $28.2 million

3. Scream VI, $5.3 million (Tie)

3. His Only Son, $5.3 million.(Tie)

5. Creed III, $5 million

6. Shazam! Fury of the Gods, $4.7 million

7. A Thousand and One, $1.8 million

8. 65, $1.6 million

9. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, $1.2 million

10. Jesus Revolution, $1 million. ■

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Do what’s required, and don’t look back. Now is not the time to let others take over or beat you at your own game. Put your energy to good use and finish what you start. Don’t reveal secrets; protect your reputation.

★★

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Look for opportunities instead of piggybacking on someone else’s good fortune. Think for yourself and follow your heart and your dreams. Use your charm and take the initiative to personalize whatever you present or promote. Step into the spotlight and shine. ★★★★

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): You’ll discover valuable information if you listen and observe. Your ability to size up situations and turn whatever you do into something worthwhile will make you the leader everyone wants to follow. Love and romance will enhance your personal life. ★★★

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Hide your feelings until you know how others will react. Don’t make a fuss or start a feud that can influence the outcome of a partnership or proposition. Immerse yourself in quality control and getting things right the first time. ★★★

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Don’t hide when embracing life and what it has to offer is required. Indulge in conversations that appeal to someone close to you, and you will build a strong relationship. The changes you make at home should add to your security. ★★★

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): It’s OK to do things differently if you are prepared to prove your point and the value of taking the road less traveled. Trusting and believing in your ability will grow on those who question your validity. Don’t fold under pressure. ★★★★

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): A change is necessary if you want to protect your position and reputation and maintain your status quo. Put more effort into how you live and run your personal life. Pay attention to how you look and represent yourself to others. ★★

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Listen and you’ll be privy to information that can help you avoid making a mistake. Don’t feel you must fall into line and be someone’s puppet. Look for opportunities that feature you, not someone else. Hold on to your cash. ★★★★★

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): A solid investment will change your life. Join forces with someone who cares about the same things as you and you’ll find it easier to build a rewarding future. Love and romance are on the rise and will enrich your life. ★★★

BIRTHDAY BABY:

You are outgoing, impatient and proactive. You are stylish and creative.

The

‘the four cups’ BY REBECCA GOLDSTEIN

‘Dungeons & Dragons’ opens with $38.5M, takes down ‘John Wick’

FROM left: Sophia Lillis, Justice Smith, Chris Pine and Michelle Rodriguez in a scene from Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves.

PHOTO BY SABAH WITH AA ON UNSPLASH

Image

Moving on from life’s disappointments

FLOSSING IMPORTANT TO ORAL HEALTH

YOU brush your teeth (and tongue) for at least two minutes twice a day, use fluoride toothpaste, gargle with mouthwash, replace your toothbrush every four months, and visit your dentist twice a year. Yet no oral care routine is complete if it doesn’t include flossing, or cleaning between the teeth with a thin, soft waxed cord.

A crucial part of oral health, flossing is also the least practiced habit across the board. Results from a survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that 32.4 percent of 9,000 American respondents never flossed; while findings from the University of the Philippines College of Dentistry reveal that flossing is next to nonexistent with nearly 90 percent of Filipinos suffering from tooth decay.

Clearly, even the most vigilant toothbrushing isn’t enough. “The goal of brushing and flossing is the same—to remove the accumulation of plaque, the sticky deposit on teeth where bacteria proliferate,” says Regina Isabel S. Morales, DMD of the Dental Medicine Department of leading health institute Makati Medical Center (MakatiMed, www.makatimed.net.ph).

“While brushing targets plaque on the front and back of your teeth, flossing removes plaque between your teeth and underneath your gums, where germs thrive. Leave plaque in these hard-to-reach areas and you set yourself up for cavities, bad breath, and even serious gum diseases like gingivitis and periodontitis.”

People with heart valve conditions are especially vulnerable to gum disease. “The bacteria in your mouth could travel through your bloodstream, find their way to your heart, and infect your heart’s valves,” Morales says.

Make the steps on improving oral health count and commit to incorporating flossing into your oral care routine. Here are some easy ways to do it:

n CHOOSE A TIME TO FLOSS. “Flossing once a day is recommended, and when to do it is a personal preference,” Morales, points out. “Whether you floss after breakfast or just before bedtime, what’s important is to stick to the habit so it becomes second nature, just like brushing.”

n CONSIDER FLOSSING BEFORE BRUSHING. In a study published in the Journal of Periodontology, researchers discovered that when participants flossed their teeth before brushing, they significantly reduced the amount of plaque in their mouth and teeth, as compared to when they brushed first and flossed after. “The conclusion was that flossing loosens plaque and debris between the teeth, and brushing and rinsing with water and a mouthwash rids the mouth of these particles,” Morales shares.

n DON’T LIKE FLOSS? Try these alternatives. If flossing feels uncomfortable or you can’t get the hang of it, there are other ways to clean between your teeth—and they get the job done just fine. “Interdental brushes are tiny toothbrushes soft enough to fit between teeth. A water floss is a handheld device that releases a strong jet of water to remove particles between the teeth. And floss picks or floss sticks are small handles with two end posts that hold a string of floss together. Instead of wrapping floss around your fingers, simply hold the floss pick handle and start flossing,” Morales explains.

When done daily, expect improvements in your overall oral health: Experts say that flossing can eliminate up to 40 percent of plaque from your teeth. But as effective as it is, it won’t take the place of a twice-a-year-visit to your dentist.

“Semi-annual consults with your dentist to check for cavities and get a thorough professional cleaning are still the best way to ensure your teeth stay healthy and strong for years,” Dr. Morales says.

Lastly, do take note that once you have foul odor or bleeding upon flossing, there is a big chance that you may have periodontal disease or cavities that are causing these symptoms. Therefore, it is essential to visit your general dentist or seek help from a periodontist to carefully examine your teeth and gums and give you treatment recommendations for any dental concern you may have.

PEOPLE are bound to disappoint us one way or another. Circumstances will not always be on our side. And sometimes, life throws a curve ball so unexpected that we reel so much from the impact that we try to keep everything together until we can find our footing again. No one escapes life from being disappointed by people and unexpected events. But it is exactly how we react to our disappointments that determine how we can move on from them.

Disappointments happen because our desired outcomes do not match our expectations. But it would be impractical to ask people to not have expectations because when we dream and aim for something better, we naturally expect. There are also cases of disappointments when we think and feel that we deserve the outcome we were hoping for. Like in the case of the movie The Devil Wears Prada where the main character, Andrea, discovers that being at the top is not what she expected, and she realizes that she has become someone she does not recognize. She was so passionate about achieving her goals that she has become someone she does not like. The more invested you are in your goals, the greater the disappointment when things do not pan out.

The first thing you need to do to move on from disappointments is to acknowledge that it happened. When you suppress feelings of disappointment, you only make your feelings fester and you end up overthinking what could have been. Take the time to grieve lost dreams and opportunities because if you do not, these will manifest in the way you deal with other people. We all carry our own baggage and sometimes past experiences can hinder us from appreciating what is in front of us. When you acknowledge your disappointment, you are one step closer to knowing what could have been done better to avoid it.

I remember my father who always complained that had he pursued becoming a lawyer, he would have been better off. Every time he gets the opportunity, he would retell the story over and over again of how his brother was chosen to pursue law and he was forced to become an engineer. Even though he was doing better than his brother, he saw himself as less because he was still clinging to the lost opportunity to become a lawyer. Had he accepted how his life had played out, he would have spent less time comparing himself to his brother and spent more time appreciating where his choices have led him.

To move past the feelings of missed opportunities, take stock of what happened and re-evaluate your expectations. Sometimes our expectations are too high that they become so unrealistic that we set ourselves up to fail. I used to have a best friend in college who met a new group and became friends with them. Because of that, he spent less and less time with me. Naturally, I was disappointed because he was one of the few people I trusted. It was then that

In celebration of every Filipina

SPECIALTY retailer Kultura has unveiled its #CelebrateEveryFilipina series featuring a diverse range of amazing women who embody what it means to be an empowered Filipina in today’s society.

With this, the brand takes this opportunity to honor all the women that nurture and care for us, and are the light of our homes; the soul sisters who have our backs and lift us up; the women artisans behind our handicrafts and local industries; and all the women whose wisdom, grace and strength are the backbone of our communities.

Smart, passionate, courageous, beautiful and strong, these women are gorgeous proof that we can achieve anything we put our mind to. More importantly, we can do all these things in style.

The list includes women in public service, like Sen. Grace Poe and Tourism Secretary Christina Frasco; as well like women in business, like restauranteur Ana de Ocampo. With

more and more Filipinas embracing fitness, also highlighted are Olympic swimmer Jasmine Alkahadi, volleyball player Michelle Cobb, and fitness coach Patricia Gatus.

Kultura also celebrates women with meaningful advocacies: educator and Philippine Eagle advocate Felicia Hung Atienza and mental health advocate Steph Naval. Broadcast journalist MJ Marfori and beauty queen Laura Lehmann also bring their talent and good looks to the list.

Ongoing until May, Kultura is featuring one Filipina a week on its social media pages. Wearing fabulous modern Filipiniana, they will be sharing their thoughts, tips and personal experiences—not just on being an empowered woman, but on uplifting other women as well.

As Sen. Grace Poe shares, “An empowered Filipina is someone who is confident, who can stand up for herself, but an even stronger Filipina is somebody who can stand up for everybody else.”

I realized some people just pass through our lives to help us overcome challenging phases in our lives. It was unrealistic of me to expect that he will still be my best friend even after college when he no longer felt the same way.

Sometimes, our disappointments are the result of our own doing. In this case, you need to accept that actions have consequences. I remember a previous colleague who was in a relationship with someone who seemed to be the ideal partner. When she discovered he was cheating on her, she was persuaded to forgive and forget it happened. Barely three months later, she discovered other instances of cheating after they had made up. She told us afterwards that she cannot change someone by loving them harder. She knew what she was getting into at the time but because she feared about being alone, she stuck with him. To move on from the disappointment, she had to accept he will not change and so she left. If the disappointment is your own doing, forgive yourself. Remember that you are your worst critic, and you could be too hard on yourself. While it is true that your disappointment could be the result of you not doing enough, you need to stop being too harsh on yourself and look at it from the perspective of one who is still learning. Do not dwell too much on your disappointment but focus on discovering a better way of handling it the next time. Do not dwell on what could have been but focus on what you can do in the present. When you focus on possibilities instead of what is needed at that moment, you can get stuck in overthinking theoretical scenarios that do not help

you at all.

If others caused the disappointment, remember that there are people who will continue to disappoint you even after you have given them multiple chances. The best remedy is to let go of these toxic personalities in your life and find alternatives to what they can offer. These could be family members or colleagues who continue to pull you down with their issues even when you should not have been involved. One way is to limit communication with them and to talk to them only when needed. These could be family members or work colleagues who drain the energy out of you. Instead, surround yourself with people who can support and encourage you to become the best version of yourself.

Life will always be riddled with so many disappointments. But instead of looking at them as roadblocks and pitfalls, think of disappointments as opportunities to grow and become more resilient to whatever life throws at you. Just like one of my friends told me, “That is why it is called ‘something you have to go through’ because where you are is not where you were meant to stay.”

Moving on from disappointments takes a clear understanding of where you are, why you felt disappointed, and what you are prepared to do to manage your expectations when it happens again. But it is clear that whatever you choose to do with your disappointment, it could either drive you to find ways to become better at managing yourself and your expectations, or get caught in the web of what could have been. n

VOLLEYBALL player Michelle Cobb in ikat weave cropped terno top, a baroque pearl choker, pearl earrings, and pearl ring.

EDUCATOR Felicia Hung Atienza wears a delightful button-down terno-sleeved top in floral brocade with a freshwater coin pearl cluster necklace and freshwater pearl rings.

RESTAURANTEUR Ana de Ocampo highlights modern Filipina with a puff-sleeved printed top with zigzag ribbon trim from Kultura. CLOTHES AND ACCESSORIES FROM KULTURA

PR agency Comm&Sense is part of honor role; bags 8 Anvil awards

Enchanted Kingdom to Host Eggsploration, Easter event packed with fun activities and a night of Praise

ENCHANTED Kingdom, the Philippines' premier theme park, invites families and friends to join Eggsploration, an exciting Easter event happening on April 9, 2023. Eggsploration promises a day of fun activities for the first 150 participants, including a Magic Show, Easter Egg Hunt, Costume Contest, Arts and Crafts, Face Painting, and prizes and more. This event is open to children ages three to 12 years old and may be purchased for P1,500 only which includes a Regular Day Pass plus Event Access. EKMC members and guests with tickets can purchase the Event Access for P600 only.

“We're thrilled to host Eggsploration at Enchanted Kingdom this year. We want to give our guests a memorable Easter celebration packed with fun activities that everyone will enjoy,” says Enchanted Kingdom's Marketing Department Head, Rebecca Rufino

The Magic Show will feature talented magicians who will showcase their tricks and illusions. Meanwhile, the Easter Egg Hunt will challenge participants to find hidden eggs at the Boulderville. The Costume Contest will highlight creativity, and participants can win prizes for the best in costume. Arts and Crafts and Face Painting stations will let participants unleash their creativity and show off their designs.

PUBLIC relations agency Comm&Sense emerged as one of the big winners in this year’s Anvil Awards, taking home seven trophies and its first nomination for Agency of the Year from what is considered the Oscars of the Philippine PR industry.

“We are extremely honored and grateful for all the recognition we received this year,” said Comm&Sense Managing Director Charlotte Reyes. “We are especially proud of making it to the elite circle of nominees for Agency of the Year. Being one of only four agencies to get the citation is such a validation for our work and the brand of #IntelligentPR that we champion in Comm&Sense.”

Reyes thanked the company’s partner brands for their trust, confidence, and proactive collaboration that resulted in another bumper crop of Anvil awards.

Receiving the highest honor is Bayer which got the Gold Anvil under the PR Programs on Sustainable Basis: Community Development category. The recognition was for its Agri Academy program, an online learning portal to help young farm entrepreneurs and aspiring farm technocrats develop best practices in food production.

“We see our recognition as a further validation of our leading position in the PR

industry. Customer needs and expectations are constantly evolving and we are doing our best to not just keep up, but get ahead for our partner brands. We will continue to blaze trails,” said Comm&Sense President Jaeger L. Tanco. Bagging Silver Anvils were PhilCare, Unilab, Conti’s Bakeshop and Restaurant, and Power Philippines. PhilCare won for its PhilCare Wellness Index: The Philippine Roadmap to the Next Normal nationwide study on health and wellness among the Filipino workforce.

Unilab received a trophy each for its #HindiBastaHeavy campaign for Hemostan, which sought to normalize conversations about heavy menstrual bleeding which afflicts millions of Filipino women, and its kidney stone awareness campaign called Bato Bato Picks! for Tascit.

Comm&Sense scored a milestone with Conti’s Bakeshop and Restaurant as the popular homegrown food brand took home their first Anvils. Conti’s took home Silver Anvils for its sustainability project called One Bag At A Time, which upcycled its used tarpaulins, banners, and streamers into sturdy school bags for 100 scholars. and its Mango Farmers program for a group of farmers that grow the best quality mangoes used in Conti’s Bakeshop’s classic Mango Bravo cake.

Online publication Power Philippines received honors for The Power of Explainer and Nostalgia to Educate the Public on the Energy Sector, a three-minute video which seeks to spread awareness about the complex and technical energy industry in easily understandable terms for better appreciation of the general public.

“We are particularly proud of the variety of clients and executions that received recognition this year. We did quite well from traditional and online campaigns all the way to development of content. This is proof of the wonderful collaboration we have with our partners and the excellent output of our team. The validation and recognition we received will inspire us to become better at what we do and produce more meaningful work,” said Communications Director Toteng Tanglao.

Established in 2005, Comm&Sense is a full-service digital PR agency which believes that data-driven content, followed by creative execution, and smart amplification are the elements clients need to build credibility with their customers. Comm&Sense and sister agency ROAR distinguish themselves from other agencies through brand publishing — a strategy wherein brands come out with their own content.

Have an enjoyable Eggsperience this Easter with a family getaway at Eastwood Richmomde

THIS Lenten season, Eastwood Richmonde Hotel offers the perfect family getaway that’s easily within reach right in the heart of the vibrant township of Eastwood City. Conveniently located beside the trendy Eastwood Mall, Richmonde has an array of exciting promotions and activities guests of all ages can enjoy. What’s more, the refreshed look of the hotel’s lobby and the newly renovated guest rooms will surely add to everyone’s delight.

Richmonde’s Easter Eggsperience

Room Packages, available from April 1 to 10, 2023, provide three rate options guests can choose from. For a no-frills stay, rates start at P3,800 nett, which is good for room accommodations for up to two adults and two children five years old and below. For as low as P5,600 nett, get inclusions of breakfast buffet for two and P500 dining credits that can be used for food and beverage orders at Eastwood Café+Bar or from room service. To have the ultimate Easter Sunday celebration with the little ones, there’s the Easter Celebration Package, available on April 8 and 9, 2023 starting at P8,600 nett which includes breakfast buffet for two, dining credits worth P500, and two tickets to the hotel’s April 9 Easter Party event. All rates include complimentary use of the pool and gym, 20 percent discount on restaurant and room service orders, and 15 percent discount on all services of Lumiere Skin and Spa located beside the hotel’s mall entrance.

It will be a Beary Happy Easter at Eastwood Richmonde’s kiddie party happening on April 9, from 1pm to 5pm at the Ballroom and Amberley-Belmont

Rooms. Highlighted by a sumptuous snack buffet and food carts, Easter egg hunt, kiddie show with musical performances, and a bear-themed costume contest, plus photo booth, loot bags, games and prizes, the event promises to be a fun-filled Easter celebration to remember. Tickets are at P1,499nett per child or adult. Children two years old and below are free if accompanied by a paying adult.

During the Holy Week holiday from April 6 to 8, the hotel’s all-day dining restaurant, Eastwood Café+Bar, will serve from 2:30 pm to 5pm an array of well-loved Filipino snacks including pancit canton, arroz caldo, turon, sapin-sapin, halo-halo and more at the Merienda Buffet. The buffet is priced at P499nett, inclusive of a glass of iced tea.

Come Easter Sunday, Eastwood

Café+Bar will be presenting its newest weekend lunch buffet spread. Consisting of international favorites like roast beef short plate, maki rolls, hot pot, lechon belly roll, and many more, the Sunday Lunch Buffet will be featuring a Greek station with lamb shank and fish, plus your choice of tzatziki, skordalia or tabbouleh sauce. Priced at only P1,499nett with bottomless iced tea and coffee, this buffet will make Easter celebration with the family even more special. Children six to 12 years old get 50% discount while toddlers 5 years old and below eat for free.

For inquiries and bookings, call (632) 8570 7777 / (63) 917 531 6867 or email stay@eastwoodrichmonde.com. For table reservations, call (63) 917 821 0333 or send a message via Eastwood Richmonde Hotel’s official Facebook page.

To cap off the event, there will be an Easter Night of Praise where guests can join in singing praise and worship songs at the Midway grounds, 5:30pm.

“Easter is a time of joy and hope, and

we want to share that with our guests through Eggsploration. We're excited to see families and friends come together, have fun, and celebrate the Easter season with us,” adds Rufino.

Eggsploration is an exclusive event for the first 150 participants. Tickets are available at the EK Online Store plus participants will receive a special Easter loot bag. Enchanted Kingdom encourages everyone to follow the park's health and safety guidelines to ensure a safe and enjoyable event for all guests.

For more information about Eggsploration and Enchanted Kingdom, visit www. enchantedkingdom.ph or follow them on social media @EnchantedKingdomPH.

Indulge in extravagant Easter festivities with your whole family; bring them to Conrad Manila

CONRAD Manila concludes the Lenten season and celebrates the coming holidays with extravagant festivities such as the “Easter Feast” at its award-winning Brasserie on 3, premium Easter goodies from Bru Coffee Bar, and an elevated “Afternoon Tea by the Bay” at C Lounge.

“We are delighted to invite guests to a funfilled Easter weekend as we celebrate the season and the immense joy that the season brings,” shares Fabio Berto, hotel general manager, adding, “We look forward to providing our guests with touches of luxury through wellcurated dining experiences and inspiring stays that the whole family can enjoy together.”

Available on Easter Sunday, April 9, 2023, Executive Chef Warren Brown takes guests and patrons on a gastronomic journey through the Philippines’ rich and vibrant kitchens with an Easter-themed buffet spread at Brasserie on 3, the hotel’s all-day restaurant. Buffet highlights include: Sustainable Seafood Paluto, Prime Ribs, as well as a playful Dessert Station with traditional Easter favorites such as Chocolate Bunnies and Eggs, complemented by local and colorful kakanin or Filipino rice cakes from different regions. The “Easter Feast” on April 9 is priced at P3,500 nett per person, available for lunch and dinner.

The little ones dining at any of Conrad Manila’s F&B outlets with their parents or adult companions are invited to come in their favorite Easter costumes and take part in special Kiddie

Afternoon Activities such as the traditional Easter Egg Hunt, Face Painting, Balloon Twisting, Magic Show and more. The Easter Egg Festival is open from 12:00 pm to 4:00 pm at Roosevelt function room at the Third Level.

At C Lounge, elevate your afternoons with Conrad Manila’s signature teas best paired with delicately hand-crafted

sweet and savory Easter-inspired light bites including Lemon Tartlet, Macarons, Mango Panna Cotta, among others. Available for the whole month of April from 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm, “Afternoon By The Bay” at C Lounge is priced at P2,688++. Easter would not be Easter without the traditional festive treats. Now through April 9, Conrad Manila’s Bru Coffee Bar presents a colorful selection of Easter Chocolate Bunnies, Surprise Eggs, Signature cakes and more, all available to order online for takeaway or delivery. Prices start at P150 nett.

For guests who wish to pamper their body and mind, award-winning Conrad Spa is offering a deeply nourishing coffee scrub followed by its signature healing massage. And to complete the rejuvenating journey, let the rich flavors of BRU Coffee Bar’s specialty coffees awaken the senses. Conrad Spa’s “Easter Bliss” is priced at P5,000, available month-long.

For inquiries or reservations, please call +632 8833 9999 or email conradmanila@ conradhotels.com. To learn more about the hotel’s promotions and offers, follow Conrad Manila on Facebook (ConradManilaPH) and on Instagram (@conradmanila).

FROM left, Comm&Sense Video Director Alex Abordo, Senior Video Editor Herald Hagos, Business Development Officer Marvin Ramos, Accounts Executive Klyde Basco, Senior Accounts Executives Trisha Pili and Mikaela Calilong, Business Relations & Development Manager Khristine Claveria, Communications Director Toteng Tanglao, Managing Director Charlotte Fabian-Reyes, Senior Accounts Executive Renz Lalic, ROAR Agile Senior Media Relations Officer Arizon Antonio, Comm&Sense Accounts Director Ayesha Sta. Ana, ROAR Agile Relationship Manager Nancy May Lugatiman, Comm&Sense Art Director Pol Villanueva, and Creative Director Eric Cabahug

EASTWOOD Café+Bar celebrates Easter with its newest Sunday Lunch Buffet spread of international favorites and a Greek station featuring lamb and fish dishes.

In the photo are, from left, James Tam, Executive Director / Executive Vice President ; Linie Cortez Palacio, Regional Director, Operations and Sales Philippines and Garry A. Garcia, Regional Director. Operations and Business Development Philippines.

Editor: Tet Andolong

Phl achieves milestone in lEED certification

By Rizal Raoul S. Reyes

Padmanabhan Gopalakrishnan, managing director of Asia Pacific and Middle East markets, Green Building Council Inc (GBCI) told the BusinessMirror in a recent interview the country has now become a major LEED center in the region.

“The Philippines became the 10th country in terms of LEED Certified projects in 2022. This is an important achievement as it is the first time we have a country from South East Asia breaking into this elite group. It is also a testimony to the commitment to LEED from Philippines’s leadership organizations,” Gopalakrishnan said in an interview on the sidelines of the LEED in Southeast Asia Series-In dialogue with the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) and GBC held in Makati City.

He said the Philippines can still go further in promoting LEED certification. Beyond the commercial buildings, Gopalakrishnan said LEED should be adopted by other industry segments like retail malls and brands, data centers, warehouses, hotels, hospitals, airports, schools and colleges. Apart from being adopted for new construction projects, he pointed out that LEED certification should also be used by existing buildings. The

large mixed-use developments can also use LEED for cities and communities. “Matured organizations should also strategize adoption of LEED Zero.”

To harness its potential in LEED, Gopalakrishnan urged the Philippines to pursue the following measures:

n Add to the capacity by ensuring that LEED Education is used by Students and Working professionals. The LEED professionals can then not only serve the demand in the Philippines, but also take up projects outside the country; and

n Prioritize investments into Green material manufacturing in Philippines so that embodied carbon led LEED buildings can be fostered and also position Philippines as a Green material exporter.

Gopalakrishnan said GBCI plans to do advocacy and knowledge building to build awareness on the efficiency and utility of LEED buildings, communities and Cities. He added GBCI will also ensure that the LEED Consultants eco system is strengthened so that they support the clients.

“We will also be engaged with architects, engineers, heating, ventilation and air conditioning [HVAC], facility professionals

so that they are up to speed with LEED. We will also engage with the local municipalities and ensure that the Green and Net Zero vision of the country is realized,” he said.

In the panel discussion which followed after the presentation of Gopalakrishnan, several resource persons coming from different organizations highlighted the importance of pursuing sustainable practices to achieve Net Zero.

Dr. Dodjie Maestrecampo, President and CEO, Mapua Malayan Colleges Laguna and Mapua Malayan Colleges Mindanao said the Yuchengco-owned educational institution will promote the im -

VE r MO SA , A yala Land’s fourth largest estate said to be the new business and lifestyle district of the South, is in intense growth mode in 2023.

The next financial and commercial center down South is expanding retail outlets and services, also adding features and amenities like parks, a government center, a church and malls that support community and commercial needs.

By Roderick l . Abad

SY family-led SM Prime Holdings Inc. (SM Prime), through its commercial property development and management arm SM

Offices, has launched FourE-Com Center, its newest certified green office building located along SM Mall of Asia (MOA) Complex in Pasay City.

“We are expanding our office portfolio on the back of our growth momentum and optimism on the continued recovery of the real estate industry,” said Antonio “Alexis” Ortiga, vice president for Commercial Properties Group of SM Prime.

“This is supported by return-tooffice policies, take-up of office spaces driven by e-commerce, BPOs [business process outsourcing] and data centers, and demand for innovative and sustainable office solutions that necessitate growth in the real estate sector,” he added.

Designed by multi-awarded and globally renowned architectural firm and master planner Arquitectonica, FourE-Com Center took inspiration from crystal formations, with three ad -

jacent rhombic towers sprawling down from a landscaped sky garden podium.

The office building offers more than 100,000 square meters of leasable area in all three towers of 15 storys each. It boasts of a courtyard podium on the fifth floor, which will become a top dining hub with midto high-end restaurants catering to diverse food cravings and entertainment.

This sky garden, likewise, serves as a communal plaza that promotes healthier living by providing a venue to relax and unwind, while overlooking the famed Manila Bay horizon and sunset.

Akin to E-Com Series of office buildings and other SM Prime properties, FourE-Com Center maximizes business operations while reduces ecological impact by integrating environment, social and governance or ESG-sensitive strategies from construction to operation.

What make it sustainable are the double-glazed glass curtain that allows natural light to permeate into office spaces, use of LED lighting, water-saving fixtures and aerators,

pressure-operated escalators, and recycled water for irrigation.

Other building elements include bike racks, shower rooms, and interconnected elevated walkways to promote mitigation in carbon footprint.

The addition of the newest PreLeadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified FourE-Com Center of SM Offices strengthens SM Prime’s thrust for master planned work spaces and innovations.

Other LEED-certified buildings of the former are the ThreeE-Com Center in SM MOA Complex, Mega Tower in Ortigas, Aura Tower in Bonifacio Global City, and North Towers in Quezon City.

“We continue to build green buildings with world-class amenities and sustainable features that provide an inspiring work environment for our tenant-partners and stakeholders,” Ortiga said, while citing their roster of occupants including multinational and local companies in e-commerce, financial services, information technology, telecommunications, logistics, and retail.

r e sidents, investors and businesses are excited about the rapid rise of commerce and a thriving community inside the 725-hectare central business and residential district that straddles the cities of Imus and Dasmariñas in Cavite. Boasting a complete package of residences, malls, offices, institutions, schools, entertainment venues, government centers, BPOs and a world-class training and lifestyle destination for athletes and fitness enthusiasts, Vermosa continues to spur growth in the Daang Hari corridor.

Meralco is putting up a dedicated substation within Vermosa to ensure continuous power to homes, commercial establishments, institutional facilities and the growing features and amenities of the Ayala Vermosa Sports Hub (AVSH). A Landers store, the Ayala Malls Vermosa, Army Navy and Panda Express drive thru stores will soon rise in the area, joining food brands like Starbucks, McDonalds, Jollibee, Burger King, Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf and Peri Peri Chicken in servicing the area that has become a busy east-west connector. A government center will soon provide

portance of green standards by exposing their students to both theory and practice in green building ratings. “We will introduce in the next school year courses green technologies to our civil engineering and architecture students.”

Kristina Samantha Pobre, sustainability manager, ArthaLand Corporation told the participants that the boutique developer has been consistent in pursuing the green building agenda. The Arthaland Century Pacific Tower is the first LEED certified building in the country. Located at the Bonifacio Global City, the 32-story Arthaland Century Pacific Tower has 21 floors of office space, including two tall executive floors, a large public lobby, a public cafeteria, and a multilevel parking facility that extends above and below ground.

The Green Building Council (USGBC) and the Green Business Certification Institute (GBCI) are currently implementing the LEED Green Building certification globally in more than 180 countries and connecting with their esteemed stakeholders from across the globe to discuss their sustainability framework for the built environment locally.

The Philippines has delivered 24 landmark projects totaling 11 million square feet of LEED certified space. It will help the Philippines in furthering its commitment towards 75 percent carbon emission reduction by 2030.

Among those cited were the selected LEED projects by Carmelito Tatlonghari and Milagrosa Tatlonghari. These include the Mega Tower, Podium Complex, MPT South Hub and MPT South Hive.

vital services with the Philippine r e d Cross also putting up a headquarters in place.

Capital values for commercial lot investments have thus almost doubled at 82 percent since the Estate was launched in 2014. Home investors have expressed satisfaction with the high turnover rates of the different residential areas.

The luxury residential lots of the 130-hectare private enclave called The Courtyards, with lot sizes ranging from 170 square meters to 1,947 square meters and dotted with grand and spacious residences already has a 77 percent turnover rate. Alveo’s Ardia, a stand-alone, 36-hectare upscale modern community with average lot sizes of 336 square meters, has a 54 percent turnover rate, while Avida Verra Settings, a 10-hectare development strategically located in the residential district, already has a 40 percent turnover rate.

Vermosa Campus Town—the estate’s commercial business district seen to be a modern, contemporary urban center with ultra-wide landscaped pedestrian walkways, bicycle lanes, jogging paths, an active street life and pocket parks—will complement the varied lifestyles of residents and outside guests.

More key developments are in the works ensuring that Vermosa lives up to its promise of being the leading growth center in the South, attracting investors and businesses wanting to expand in this part of the metro.

Vermosa is strategically located because it is near key urban centers and made accessible by a network of roads like Daang Hari, SLEX, MCX and CALAX. Vermosa also enhances its accessibility by providing access points in Daang Hari and Molino Highway to the estate’s residents, visitors and enterprises.

In 2022, the Philippines accomplished a feat in the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) registration as it landed on the 10th spot.

Padmanabhan

of the Green Building Council Inc and Carmelito Tatlonghari, LEED AP for the Podium West Tower. The project team includes Milagrosa Tatlonghari, LEED AP BD+C (far left).

HAVING FUN Tiger Woods (second from left) takes some time to have fun with (from left) Si Woo Kim, Rory McIlroy and Fred Couples as they try bouncing their balls on a pond at the 16th hole during a practice for the Masters at Augusta National Golf Club Monday in Augusta, Georgia. The Masters start Thursday. AP

Romero-led squad of GlobalPort books historic polo victory in prestigious US tilt

THE Philippines’s GlobalPort made history in the World Polo League with an amazing come-from-behind win in the Tommy Hitchcock Jr. Legacy Memorial in its Triple Crown of Polo opener before a big Sunday crowd at the Grand Champions Polo Club in Wellington, Florida.

Given a ghost of a chance to rule the prestigious event after falling behind by 9 goals (12-3) in the second chukker, the team of Rep. Mikee Romero, Polito Pieres, Sapo Caset and Facundo Obregon rallied to beat Travieso, 17-13, and complete the biggest comeback in the five-year-old league.

“Great team effort, great win for GlobalPort, and a big boost for Philippine polo,” said Romero of their historic win in the highest polo tournament in the United States.

R omero and GlobalPort pulled off the historic feat on their first-time participation in the tournament.

That made our title win a lot sweeter,” added Romero who was all praise of Caset’s incredible performance.

The talismanic Argentine, who is a 10-goaler, scored 9 in GlobalPort’s blazing comeback as he combined speed, strength and grace in catching his defenders off-guard.

He was the unanimous choice as the game’s Most Valuable Player.

Even Caset was surprised with their come-from-behind win.

“ It was an incredible comeback,” he said.

R omero said they started awfully slow and cold as they allowed their rivals to 4-0 and 12-7 leads in the first half.

But with Caset shouting “Vamos! Vamos!,” Team GlobalPort woke up and put on a show with Caset and Pieres working very well in the middle, Romero in front and Obregon at back.

S lowly but surely, GlobalPort produced valiant runs before finally taking a 13-12 lead which proved huge enough to take the fight out of their rivals.

P ieres finished with seven goals as Globalport outshot Travieso, 23-14.

H itchcock was great American polo player who was inducted posthumously into the Museum of Polo and Hall of Fame in 1990.

He led Team USA to victory in the 1921 Westchester Cup and from 1922 to 1940, he carried a 10-goal handicap.

Playing with notable stars such as Pete Bostwick, Jock Whitney and Gerald Balding, he led four teams to the US National Open Championships in 1923 and 1927 since its inception.

By Josef Ramos

CHRISTIAN STANDHARDINGER

stands tall and mighty as the virtual Best Player of the Conference following his consistent explosive performance in the semifinals of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Governors’ Cup.

The 6-foot-7 Filipino-German averaged 23.5 points, 10.4 rebounds and 5.8 assists after 15 games in the conference—including his Barangay Ginebra San Miguel’s semifinals sweep of San Miguel Beer ((SMB)—to amass 42.8 Statistical Points (SPs).

SMB’s CJ Perez ran second with 39.3 SPs followed by another Gin King, Jamie Malonzo, with 34.7 SPs.

SPs are no longer collected in the Finals—where Ginebra meets TNT in a race-to-four series starting Easter Sunday—with the conference’s top player getting his award in Game 4.

B ut the 35-year-old Standhardinger—he with the unorthodox but lethally effective brand of basketball—wanted the championship more than the individual trophy.

I’m honored. But at the end of the day, I have to focus on winning a championship for my teammates, for our families and for our organization,” Standhardinger told BusinessMirror on Tuesday. “That’s what’s important and that’s what matters.”

W ith his SPs locked in for a 45-percent guarantee, Standhardinger only needs the votes from media (30 percent) and his fellow players (25 percent) to hoist the trophy.

Standhardinger’s scoring and hustle contributed immensely to Ginebra’s shot at a fifth Governors’ Cup title— and 16th overall crown in the PBA.

Perez averaged 20.7 points, 7.1 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 1.7 steals in 15 games while Malonzo registered 17.1 points and 7.1 rebounds.

T NT’s Roger Pogoy also has 34.7

C-STAN STANDING TOUGH

eight months after he was relieved by Converge.

“It’s a very challenging job but I’m thankful for the trust and confidence given to me by Dioceldo Sy [team owner],” Cariaso told BusinessMirror on Tuesday. “I’m excited for the opportunity to resume my coaching career. The goal is to go up with Blackwater and have a fresh start.”

He replaced Ariel Vanguardia.

B lackwater went 3-9 won-lost in the previous Commissioner’s Cup and 1-10 in the Governors’ Cup. The Elite were 10-36 under Vanguardia from 2021 to 2023.

Kids bike camp rolls off at BGC

SUN LIFE Financial Philippines— in its continuing effort to keep the kids busy while actively learning this summer—will hold a kids bike camp on April 16 at Track 30th Park at the Bonifacio Global City.

Set from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m., the camp will feature age categories from 2-4, 5-7, 8-10, 11-15 years old and includes basic skills training, road safety and etiquette, skills development and advanced skills training.

A lso on tap is a short distance ride of 500 meters for children ages 2 to 7 years old and 1.5 kms for 8 to 15 years old, with or without their parents and guardians.

The bike camp, to be graced by celebrity Donny Pangilinan, is a lead-in event to the Sun Life Cycle PH on April 23 at the Vermosa Sports Hub in Cavite, which returns after a three-year hiatus. For details, visit sunlife.cycleph.com

The event focuses on cycling as a sport and recreation and provides not only additional family bonding time but also an active and healthy lifestyle as it will disconnect kids from technology.

Blow vs transgender athletes

MALES transitioning into females will no longer be allowed to compete in world track and field competitions.

Th at’s a hard pill to swallow, so to speak, as it affects transgender athletes around the world.  And it can stoke outrage from women’s rights defenders fighting discrimination against “transitioners.”

Th is recent decision by the World Athletics Council (WAC) also affected athletes with Differences in Sex Development (DSD).

There are currently 13 high-level DSD runners, including high-profile Caster Semenya, a two-time Olympic champion at 800 meters.

WAC president Sebastian Coe said Semenya has been barred in that event since 2019.

SPs at fourth place while reigning Most Valuable Player Scottie Thompson was at No. 5 with 34.3 SPs.

T NT’s Rondae Hollis-Jefferson totalled 57.1 SPs on 30.4 points, 12.4 rebounds and 6.5 assists to lead the race for the Best Import award, with Ginebra’s Justin Brownlee in second place with 52.5 SPs on 27. 3 points, 10.5 rebounds and 6.9 assists.

CARIASO BOSSING COACH

JEFFREY CARIASO is back in the PBA as head coach of Blackwater—

H e, however, has yet to sign the contracts. We have already agreed in principle and personally, I am happy with the contract,” he said. “But I have not technically signed it yet so it’s not official so far. But it looks good as I saw it and we are talking.”

C ariaso, 50, won eight championships with Alaska, including the 1996 grand slam. He was the 1996 Rookie of the Year. He was one of Tim Cone’s assistant at Alaska and was eventually named the defunct team’s head coach in 2019. He was retained when Converge bought the Fred Uytengsu franchise but was relieved August last year.

‘Chooks’ backs Special Olympics Pilipinas

CHOOKS-TO-GO is taking its advocacy to the next level by partnering with Special Olympics Pilipinas.

T he company has always been at the forefront of promoting sports, particularly in pro 3x3 play, and this time, it is sending two employees to represent the Philippines in the 2023 Special Olympics World Games.

L earning and Development

Senior Supervisor Jo-frhey

Parcarey and Admin Supervisor Cristine Guimbaolibot will don the Philippine colors and serve as Unified Partners in the 17-member

Special Olympics Pilipinas team.

T hey will train and support the special athletes who will compete in the June 17 to 25 event in Berlin, Germany.

T he World Games will feature 7,000 Special Olympics athletes and Unified Partners from 170 countries, who will compete in 24 sports.

For Parcarey and Guimbaolibot, this will be a unique opportunity to showcase their skills and abilities on the international arena.

But Chooks-to-Go’s partnership with Special Olympics Pilipinas goes beyond just sports.

CHRISTIAN STANDHARDINGER has the Best Player of the Conference within reach while Jeffrey Cariaso returns in the league as Blackwater head coach.

Bosch, Merilleno win car, motorcycle in Southwoods golf

JANIEFER BOSCH and Arnel

Merilleno shared the spotlight with the overall gross and net champions and division winners as they bagged two of the six grand raffles prizes in the Southwoods Invitational in Carmona, Cavite, over the weekend.

B osch drove home a brand new Toyota Raize 1.2 M/T, while Merilleno scooted off a Mitsubishi Motorcycle during awards rites at the close of Manila Southwoods’s premier member-guest tournament which drew more than 600 players at the Masters and Legends courses.

Sonny Bitong earned a round-trip ticket for two (Manila-Taipei-Manila) with hotel accommodations, James Yu won a Smart Vogue Plus OGAWA

Coe, himself a former Olympic 1,500-m champion, said there are no “easy answers” on this topic.

“All the decisions we’ve taken have their challenges,” Coe told Associated Press.  “If that’s the case, then we will do what we have done in the past, which is to vigorously defend our positions.  And the overarching principle for me is we will always do what we think is in the best interest of our sport.”

But athletes like Semenya and Olympic 200-m silver medalist Christine Mboma of Namibia are unique cases as they are not transgender.

Our purpose as a company is really to help Filipinos achieve lifetime financial security and live healthier lives,” said Sun Life Philippines Chief Client Experience and Marketing Officer Carla Gonzalez-Chong. “We know that it’s now safer and cycling is a sport that has gotten more Filipinos interested. So this is the perfect time to again come as one (cycling) community.”

The Sun Life Cycle PH Vermosa will also feature the kids (2-3 years old) 100 meters ride, criterium (30 minutes solo ride) and criterium with parents and the individual 30K, 45K and 60K corporate/team ride. The event also encourages group rides with the 3+1 promo for the individual 30K and 45K.

The Vermosa Sports Hub, a stateof-the-art sports complex in Cavite, has hosted a number of big sporting events, including the Southeast Asian Games and the Ironkids.

chair and Danny Samaniego and Martin Abis clinched a Herman Miller Cosm Mid-Back chair and a Herman Miller Aeron Remastered chair, respectively. A ll raffle winners were Southwoods members.

S hinichi Suzuki and Teruhisa Taguchi captured the overall gross title while Melchor Bacsa and Alexander Festejo claimed the overall net trophy to lead the top finishers in the four-day championship supported by year-round sponsor Royal Caribbean/Baron Travel, hole-in-one sponsors Ogawa, Alpine Motors Philippines, Toyota Silang, Pagcor Casino Filipino and Klio International.

Semenya said she dreams of joining the 2024 Paris Olympics but insists she will never go into testosteronesuppressing methods again after having gone through it a decade ago under different rules.

M boma, who won her silver in Tokyo 2020 Games, must also undergo hormone therapy, which should suppress her testosterone levels below 2.5 nanomoles per liter of blood for six months, to qualify for Paris 2024.

It’s a testy issue, indeed, as even world swimming rules had also banned DSDs from pool events.

W hile Semenya, the South African winner of three world championships in women’s 800 meters, and the 12 other DSDs had been previously able to compete in events outside the range of 400 meters through one mile, they are now required to undergo hormone-suppressing treatment for six months before competition starts.

Semenya and Mboma were legally identified as female at birth.  However, their medical condition showed they have some male traits, including high levels of testosterone that give them manly powers.

The WAC said that gives both the same kind of unfair advantage as transgender runners over biologically-born female athletes.

A s parents, or as relatives of a competitor, would you agree with the new rules?

I f you ask me, yes, I agree.  A male has no business competing in a female event.

THAT’S IT   It’s Lent. Let’s lend our ears once again to our Lord Jesus Christ so that we can totally embrace anew the meaning of His suffering on the cross: His endless love for us.

Editor: Jun Lomibao

REP. MIKEE ROMERO (second from left) holds GlobalPort’s trophy with Polito Pieres, Sapo Caset and Facundo Obregon.