HE Department of Agriculture (DA) has ordered the National Food Authority (NFA) to move rice stocks to Visayas for the upcoming P20 per kilo rice program.
Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. instructed the grains agency to start repositioning rice stocks to the Visayas region for the launch of the P20 per kilo rice program.
“It will take several weeks to transfer tens even hundreds of thousands of 50-kilo bags rice from NFA warehouses, particularly from Mindoro, to various parts of the Visayas,” Laurel said in a statement.
The agency has already secured
clearance from the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to roll out the P20 per kilo program.
It added that the subsidy for the lower-priced rice will be shared equally by the DA’s Food Terminal Inc. (FTI) and participating local government units (LGUs).
Under this initiative, rice will come from the NFA’s buffer stocks. As of last week, the grains agency’s stocks reached a five-year high of 378,157 metric tons (MT) or equivalent to 7.56 million 50-kilo bags of rice, which can feed Filipinos for 10 days.
Currently, the DA said NFA warehouses in Iloilo alone hold the equivalent of 862,409 sacks of rice.
Despite this, NFA Administrator Lar-
ry Lacson noted the need to move rice from Mindoro to supplement areas with limited rice production, such as Cebu, Negros Island, Samar, and Leyte.
“The additional stocks for the Visayas will mainly come from Mindoro Island, where the NFA inventory exceeds 830,000 bags of rice,” Lacson said.
The NFA chief explained, as an example, that transferring 40,000 sacks of rice from Mindoro to Cebu could take up to a month.
Laurel stressed that the Visayas was chosen for the pilot run of the P20 per kilo rice program due to its higher-thanaverage poverty rate, which exceeds the national average of 10.9 percent.
He added that in some regions, such as Negros Island and Eastern
Visayas, the poverty rate is more than double or 22.6 percent and 20.3 percent, respectively.
Meanwhile, governors from the region have also endorsed the program and are ready to share part of the subsidy.
Initially expected to run only until December, the DA is now reviewing and fine-tuning the plan following the directive of President Marcos to expand the initiative nationwide and sustain it through 2028. In addition to providing affordable rice to millions of Filipinos, the DA said this initiative will also help clear space in NFA warehouses, allowing it to procure more palay from local farmers at higher prices.
Consumption accounts for 70 percent of the country’s GDP. ANZ Research said the latest consumer expenditure survey by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas showed households availed themselves of loans to purchase “basic goods.”
“Before the pandemic, only 35 percent of households used financing to purchase basic goods. This has remained elevated since 2020, rising to 57 percent in Q4 [fourth quarter] 2024,” ANZ Research siad.
“This reflects a lack of wage growth in the economy. Although inflation has subsided, prices of basic goods remain
By Andrea E. San Juan
don’t think we can lose anything by negotiating. But the whole problem is that these decisions are hardly permanent and would seem to be based on discretion rather than rules,” Ateneo De Manila Univeristy (ADMU) economist Leonardo A. Lanzona told the BusinessMirror in a Viber message on Sunday.
“We need to back the WTO whose function is to stabilize global trade with the primary condition that everyone cooperates,” Lanzona added.
He pointed out that in today’s “fragmented world,” the WTO has been “sidelined by protectionism and great power regime.”
With this, Lanzona called on countries to “advocate its revival by reforming the WTO to meet the present-day technologically driven world.”
He also said big economies “should stop Trump’s bullying by giving the WTO more credibility and enforcement powers,” add-
Ateneo de Manila University Leonardo Lanzona Jr. told
nessMirror that increasing
ing, “Without these, any plans may be ineffective.”
For his part, former Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Dante Canlas said, “The optimal policy stance is to resume ASAP trade with the US and maintain multilateralism aligned with WTO principles.”
Canlas said the Philippine team “must impress upon their US counterparts that the number one manufactured export of the Philippines is semiconductors,” which he said “is really a re-export of US parts and components to the US, a mutually beneficial trade.”
Meanwhile, Philippine Exporters Confederation, Inc. (Philexport) President Sergio R. Ortiz-Luis Jr. told this paper that the Philippines should not offer anything to the United States amid the fluid situation.
“At the end of the day, [there’s nothing we can] negotiate. We shouldn’t even offer anything. Now it’s time for the Philippines to get something quietly because [we are not the] target. We are not detaching from the dollar. We have no plans to join BRICS,” he told the BusinessMirror in a phone interview, speaking partly in Filipino. For the Philexport chief, if the country negotiates, “Most probably, we can offer agriculture, but agriculture cannot take that anymore. We negotiate but our negotiation there is a negotiation of good followers. If
FOREIGN borrowing approvals of the Monetary Board more than doubled in the first three months of the year, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).
The Monetary Board approved a total of $6.29 billion in public sector foreign borrowings in the first quarter of the year. This represented a growth of 118.91 percent from the $2.87 billion posted in the first quarter of 2024.
The bulk of these approved borrowings consisted of the national government’s debt paper issuances amounting to $3.33 billion.
“Proceeds of the bond issuances will be used to fund various budget
requirements of the National Government, including socioeconomic programs and projects, as well as settlement of maturing financial obligations,” BSP said.
Under Section 20, Article VII of the 1987 Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines and Letter of Instructions No.158 dated January 21, 1974, the Monetary Board’s approval is required for all foreign loans.
This covers all foreign borrowing proposals by the National Government, government agencies, and government financial institutions as well as loans to be guaranteed by the national government.
borrowing approvals by MB up…
The BSP said the approved borrowings also included five project loans amounting to $1.46 billion and three program loans amounting to $1.5 billion.
“The program loans are meant to fund projects on economic development and finance initiatives, while the project loans will fund initiatives in the areas of transportation and infrastructure,” the BSP said.
Early this month, the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) reported that the national government’s outstanding debt soared to a new high of P16.632 trillion as of the end of February. Treasury data showed the outstanding debt grew by 1.96 percent to P16.632 trillion as of end-February from P16.312 trillion in endJanuary.
Year-on-year, outstanding debt rose by 9.57 percent from P15.178 trillion. Broken down, the government’s outstanding debt is composed of 67.5 percent domestic debt, while the remaining 32.5 percent of the total was sourced externally.
Explain alleged vote-buying, state assets abuse, bets told
By Justine Xyrah Garcia
THECommission on Elections has ordered 44 candidates for various local posts to explain their alleged involvement in vote-buying and abuse of state resources during the campaign period.
Among those asked to explain are the three leading mayoral bets of Manila.
The poll body said Francisco “Isko” M. Domagoso allegedly gave out P3,000 to public school teachers, while Samuel S. Versoza was accused of handing out goods bearing his initials.
Following their show cause orders (SCOs), Versoza went live on Facebook the same day to urge Comelec and the media to instead investigate the “vote-buying” of re-electionist Mayor Sheilah “Honey” Lacuna-Pangan in San Andres Bukid, Manila. Comelec later issued an SCO to Lacuna-Pangan after photos sur -
faced online showing cash included in goods allegedly distributed by the local government.
Meanwhile, reelectionists Caloocan Mayor Dale Malapitan and Malabon Mayor Jeannie Sandoval are facing similar allegations of using public funds for electioneering.
Malapitan was reported to have distributed P3,225 in a covered court, while Sandoval allegedly used the city’s official social media pages for her campaign.
In Marikina City, incumbent Representative and mayoral candidate Stella Quimbo was also accused of vote-buying and misuse of public resources.
Her husband, Romero Quimbo, was likewise asked to explain. Quezon City congressional aspirant Julian Coseteng also received an SCO for allegedly offering ecash prizes worth P500 during the campaign.
Meanwhile, Kamalayan Party-list became the first political party issued an SCO for alleged vote-buying. Comelec has yet to disclose details on the nature of the allegations against the group.
At the provincial level, most of the SCOs were in Laguna, Rizal and Iloilo.
Several candidates from Bulacan, Cavite, Quezon Province, Isabela, and Aurora Province were also ordered to explain.
Other areas where SCOs were issued include Zambales, Catanduanes, Samar, Davao de Oro, Santiago City, Eastern Samar, Palawan, Maguindanao del Sur, Cagayan Province, Nueva Vizcaya, Leyte, and Masbate.
Under Section 261 (a) of the Omnibus Election Code, any individual who gives, offers, or promises money or anything of value to influence a person to vote for or against a candidate is committing an election offense—regardless of
whether it is done directly or indirectly.
This complements Comelec Resolution No. 11104 issued in February, which shifts the handling of vote-buying cases by presuming accused individuals guilty until proven otherwise.
The guidelines also expand the definition of vote-buying to include possession or distribution of money, goods, or services alongside campaign materials; long queues forming for cash or giveaways tied to candidates; door-todoor campaigning involving the distribution of money or goods; and events such as bingo games or talent shows where prizes are given by candidates or their supporters.
If found guilty, candidates may face imprisonment of one to six years, disqualification from holding public office, and deprivation of the right to vote.
Comelec has yet to release the SCOs to the public, but as in previous cases, candidates have three days from receipt of the order to explain.
Failure to respond will be considered a waiver of their right to explain.
cause for concern, Lanzona said debt becomes a problem if it is used to pay for current consumption due to low or the lack of incomes. If the country wants to make its economic growth sustainable, Lanzona said household consumption should be driven by higher wages which should be due to higher worker productivity.
“In general, increasing household debt can boost consumption which in turn leads to economic growth. However, this can only be sustained if there is increasing incomes. Without rising household incomes, too much debt can lead to default risks and financial instability,” Lanzona told BusinessMirror
“Since growth in GDP and wages are not very high, and if household debt is rising, then households are effectively crowding out productive investments such as corporate expansion and infrastructure. Banks may be prioritizing the household debt for lack of alternatives, without checking if indeed the debt can be paid,” he also said. For former Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Dante Canlas, credit allows households to continue their current consumption even if incomes are low. This means, debts ease household’s financial constraints.
Nonetheless, Canlas still believes that household debt is not the country’s main growth driver. He told this newspaper that investment as seen by the growth of capital is another major factor in the country’s economic performance.
we give up anything here, magkukulang pa tayo. Wala naman kailangan [ang US] sa atin, e.”
Lanzona stressed the need to develop the agricultural sector, but added that “it cannot be for the purpose of trade given the current distortions that the Trump government is creating.”
While everything is not yet final, Trade and Industry Secretary Cristina A. Roque said the Philippines may import more agricultural products from the US as one of its concessions.
“We’ll try to import more. Let’s say the soybeans, there’s frozen meat. So, higher volume. But we need to balance everything also with the agriculture sector. That’s why it’s still hard for me...because we’re all based on speculations which I really don’t want because it’s not yet final,” Roque told reporters in a recent interview.
Roque, along with Special Assistant
to the President for Investment and Economic Affairs Frederick Go, will fly to the US on April 29 to discuss with US officials the recently imposed additional tariffs by Washington against most of its trade partners. (See: https://businessmirror.com. ph/2025/04/26/key-industries-concernstop-phl-tariff-talks-agenda/) Philippine exports to the US would be slapped with additional 17 percent tariffs.
However, US President Donald Trump had imposed last April 9 a 90-day pause on implementing steeper reciprocal tariffs on imports from most of its trade partners, thus maintaining the blanket global 10-percent tariffs on these countries—except for China. Trump raised the trade duties that would be slapped on imported goods from China to 125 percent “effective immediately,” hours after China hiked its retaliatory tariff on American goods to 84 percent starting April 10, 2025.
University of Asia and the Pacific economist Victor Abola shared Canlas’s views that debt accumulation has not been significant in boosting household consumption and investment spending.
Meanwhile, Unionbank Chief Economist Ruben Carlo Asuncion also said debts can expand consumption productively, such as to finance education and other non-basic expenses like tourism.
“The correlation between the rise of GDP growth and the rise in credit card debt may lend credence to their observation. Nevertheless, the question remains if these actually are a cause for concern moving forward,” Asuncion told BusinessMirror
“At this point, no [it will not be a concern]. Inflation is on the way down. Consumers in the Philippines are in a better place compared to in 2022-2023 when inflation was rising,” he stressed.
Based on the 2024 GDP data, Household Final Consumption Expenditure (HFCE), basic needs such as food and non-alcoholic beverages accounted for 34.5 percent of household consumption.
concern, maybe some people don’t understand this, they’ll say, we have non-disclosure agreements.
Do you really think if you make a design for a company, they won’t keep the IP if it’s good? You have to be naive to say you have NDAs. So the loss of IP, which would be, you know, the value for our country, would be very important,” the SEIPI chief emphasized.
Lachica also revealed that Malaysia, India, Vietnam are pursuing not just assembly, test and packaging (ATP), but the wafer fab. He added: “And the rest of Asia, our Asian neighbors, they already have wafer fabs, higher value.”
Hence, he said, “Fine, we’re in a good place but we need to move up the value chain: IC design and wafer fab.”
Lachica explained the importance of having a wafer fab in the country as he cited the CEO of McKinsey who said, “the Philippines need a commercial wafer fab because there is enough demand for commodity and general products. You don’t have to go to the 5 or 10 nano range. There’s enough demand there—power devices, automotive electronics, there’s enough demand.”
“Our proposal for a lab scale is about $10 million. It’s just a lab scale. What they’re doing in the States [advanced fab] is $10 to $15 billion,” added Lachica.
“We need just one [lab scale tabletop model] first. Because like I said, you’ve got to be able to support the IC design industry. You’ve got to be able to train the workforce, preserve the intellectual property, and then create a supply chain ecosystem that will hopefully” prompt semiconductor companies to say, “Oh, the Filipinos can do it, after all.”
In the meantime, however, he said, “We need to work on our high power cost, high logistics cost, and workforce development.”
While the local chips industry is projecting only a “flat growth” this year, Lachica said, “We’re optimistic that we might see some modest growth.”
The Philippine semiconductor and electronics industry have contracted two years in a row, he noted.
Preliminary data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed the country’s exports of electronic products amounted to $39.08 billion in 2024, or 6.7 percent down from the $41.91 billion export receipts in 2023.
This was followed by other basic necessities Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels at 12.6 percent and Transportation, 9.3 percent. Miscellaneous goods and services accounted for 14.9 percent of HFCE. HFCE in 2024 accounted for 72.5 percent of the country’s GDP in 2024, followed by Exports at 25.8 percent; Gross Capital Formation, 23.7 percent; and Government final consumption expenditure, 14.5 percent.
Earlier this month, Palace Press Officer Claire Castro said President Marcos is not keen on certifying as urgent the passage of a P200 legislated wage increase. (See: https://businessmirror.com.ph/2025/04/02/ fmjr-not-inclined-to-certifywage-hike-bill-as-urgent/).
Rather than making any intervention on the matter, Castro said, the Chief Executive will just wait for Congress’s action on the proposed piece of legislation. The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) has called on Marcos to certify as urgent the bill for granting workers a P200 daily wage increase amid the looming increase in train and jeepney fares. In January, the leadership of the House of Representatives said it would back the passage of the said bill. In the Senate, a similar bill giving employees a P100 daily pay increase has been approved.
Ayala Land Estates: Building the South the Way the Future Should Be
April 28, Manila, Philippines — Southern Luzon has fast become the country’s new convergence zone, with Laguna and Cavite surging ahead as economic powerhouses, this region is emerging as a thriving hub for industries, infrastructure, and modern living. At the helm of this momentum is Ayala Land Estates, the country’s pioneer planner and builder of the country’s premier sustainable mixed-use developments. Backed by a long-term vision rooted in nation-building and supporting local economic growth, Ayala Land Estates laid the groundwork for growth in Southern Luzon, long before its full potential came into view. Today, that vision is continued to be realized through four transformative estates — Nuvali, Broadfield, Aéra and Southmont— together spanning over 4,500 hectares. Each one weaves together residential, commercial, civic, and lifestyle elements, creating not just livable spaces, but an ecosystem built to define the South’s next chapter.
FOUR ESTATES, ONE POWERFUL VISION NUVALI – REGIONAL CBD OF CALABARZON
Nuvali leads the charge as the South’s first and largest eco-city and remains Ayala Land Estates’ flagship development. Spread across 2,400 hectares and anchored by a 200-hectare Central Business District, Nuvali is steadily evolving into the most complete and livable urban center in CALABARZON.
The expansion of Ayala Malls Nuvali is ushering in a new era of retail and leisure experiences, while the redevelopment of the Lakeside District is transforming the area into a seamless destination for shopping, dining and nature-forward recreation.
The upcoming Santa Rosa Civic Complex will enhance access to public services and further catalyze economic activity in the heart of the estate. While an upcoming integrated medical complex with Healthway Qualimed Hospital is also set to provide premier healthcare for the growing community. All these, plus 31 exclusive residential communities — making it a landmark in Ayala Land’s residential development portfolio - and top tier academic institutions like Xavier School, Miriam College, and Everest Academy, Nuvali isn’t just a location – it’s a lifestyle fully realized and continuously evolving.
BROADFIELD—FIRST BUSINESS CAMPUS IN THE SOUTH
SOUTHMONT—EVERYDAY LIVING, THOUGHTFULLY PLANNED
Broadfield seamlessly integrates business and learning environments, complemented by the De La Salle Laguna Campus. Enveloped by thriving residential neighborhoods and the Laguna Technopark, Broadfield brings together diverse spaces and experiences within a campus-like, mixed-use community rooted in innovation and creativity. Broadfield’s prime location is easily accessible through CALAX, South Boulevard, and the future Carmona-Biñan Extension Road. Every point in the estate is within a short 10-minute walk or bike ride away, promoting mobility and connectivity designed for ease and sustainability. This unique blend of accessibility and innovation positions Broadfield as the South’s first true business campus.
AÉRA—ELEVATED LIVING IN THE SOUTH
Situated in Carmona, Cavite, Aéra is a contemporary, premium estate designed to foster growth and well-being. Developed by Ayala Land in partnership with the Kuok Group, this large-scale, mixed-use estate spans nearly a thousand hectares. It brings together thoughtfully planned residential enclaves and recreational destinations— promoting a dynamic, future-ready lifestyle. Set against a backdrop of hilly terrain, Aéra showcases a distinctive natural landscape that offers scenic views throughout the estate. Strategically located for accessibility, it balances modern convenience with a strong connection to nature, offering a harmonious environment where communities can thrive.
Developed in partnership with Cathay Land, Southmont is redefining contemporary living. Designed for families and young professionals, the estate is an elevated modern suburb with complete amenities such as a state-ofthe-art sports club, scenic bike trails, and top-tier educational institutions like Chang Kai Shek College, Southmont fosters a balanced, active lifestyle that brings together convenience, community, and wellness in a life-enhancing environment.
Southmont offers an earlymover advantage in a region with incredible growth potential. With future-ready infrastructure and high appreciation prospects, it represents an investment in a thriving community that promises both quality living and long-term value.
THE RISING SOUTH: A VISION TAKING SHAPE
Together Nuvali, Broadfield, Aéra, and Southmont form the foundation of The Rising South – a bold, integrated vision by Ayala Land Estates to unlock the full potential of Southern Luzon. They are purposefully located, thoughtfully designed communities that reflect what the future should look like: balanced, connected, and sustainably driven.
For Ayala Land Estates, building goes beyond the physical. It’s about shaping environments where people feel rooted and possibilities feel endless. As the South continues to rise with fresh energy and promise, Ayala Land Estates isn’t just keeping pace – its leading the way.
This is the future taking shape. This is the Rising South.
Visit https://ayalaland.com to know more or email us at invest@ayalaland.com.ph. #RisingSouth
Legislators alarmed by Chinese efforts to ‘interfere’ in May polls
By Butch Fernandez @butchfBM & Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz @joveemarie
ALEADER of the House of Representatives on Sunday sounded the alarm over credible intelligence reports warning of a statesponsored effort by China to interfere in the coming May midterm elections and destabilize Philippine democracy.
House Deputy Majority Leader Paolo Ortega V’s warning follows revelations from the National Security Council (NSC) during recent Senate hearings, exposing an alleged covert arrangement between the Chinese Embassy in Manila and a local public relations firm to operate a troll farm aimed at manipulating Philippine institutions and public opinion.
“This is no longer just foreign influence. This is foreign interference— designed to infiltrate our politics, confuse our people, and weaken our country from the inside,” Ortega said.
“There are candidates now running with clear backing from foreign interests. This is not just unacceptable—it is treasonous. In the coming elections, we must reject Team China. The Philippines must win, not foreign powers. Team Pilipinas tayo,” he added.
Senate leaders seek thorough probe IN the face of China’s strong denial of accusations that it is trying to meddle
‘Election
By Justine Xyrah Garcia
Cin Philippine elections, two leaders in the Senate nonetheless urged relevant government agencies to investigate the matter.
Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada said the investigation is important, given the recent history of how the massive Philippine Offshore Gaming Operation (Pogo) activities directed by Chinese citizen Alice Guo had posed a threat to national security and the economy.
Estrada, who also chairs the Senate Committee on Defense, said in a statement “our concerned government agencies must thoroughly investigate and hold accountable those attempting to influence our democratic process, whether they are foreign entities or local collaborators.”
It’s bad enough, he said in Filipino, that “we were recently scammed by one Alice Guo,” referring to the dismissed Bamban, Tarlac, mayor who helped a group of dubious Chinese investors set up a Pogo hub later linked to crimes like money laundering, human traf -
ficking and cyber scams.
“Let’s learn our lessons. The public should scrutinize candidates for public office harder, and learn their credentials and personal backgrounds,” Estrada added, referring to the May 12 polls.
“We will not tolerate any foreign interference in our internal affairs. We demand respect for our sovereignty and the right of every Filipino to freely choose their leaders—free from any intimidation, manipulation, or coercion,” Estrada concluded.
Comelec also tasked to investigate
DEPUTY Minority Leader Anna Theresia “Risa” Hontiveros made a similar call.
“Our government’s security agencies, particularly NSC and Nica [National Intelligence Coordinating Agency], should investigate further. Comelec should also look into this matter, considering that foreign interference during elections is an election offense.”
Hontiveros urged Malacañang to summon the Chinese ambassador. “At the Senate, we should also work on passing the Foreign Interference Act into law because this will not be the last elections that China, or any other State, could meddle with.”
She said, “any Filipino also found to be colluding with foreign powers must be held accountable. This is a serious national security concern that undermines the integrity not just of our national elections, but also of our democracy.”
Locals amplify China narratives
NSC officials said China’s statesponsored narratives are being amplified by local social media proxies,
of Pope is not political’
ARDINAL Pablo Virgilio S.
David on Sunday reminded Catholics that the election of the next Pope “should be approached with prayer, not politics.”
In a recent Facebook post, David said the faithful should ultimately trust the Holy Spirit and the cardinals’ sense of solemn duty—despite having preferences.
“Let us remember that the election of a pope is not a political contest but a spiritual discernment... The conclave is a sacred moment, guided not by popularity or strategy, but by prayer, humility, and the collective listening of the Church’s shepherds to God’s will,” David, who is among the
last cardinals to be created by Pope Francis, said. David, who serves as president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, also urged the public to refrain from creating or sharing campaign videos online. He warned that such actions could “pressure” and “distract” the voting cardinals.
“Instead, let us accompany the electors with our prayers, not our preferences. Let us fast from speculation and feast on hope. Let us encourage one another to deepen our faith, trusting that the Lord—who has not abandoned His Church— will once again raise up a shepherd after His own heart,” David, an elector, added.
The conclave, where cardinals from around the world will gather to elect the new Pontiff, is expected to start on May 6, following the tradition of convening 15 days after the death of a pope. Pope Francis died on April 21.
The papal conclave is a closed-door gathering of the College of Cardinals. Only those under 80 years old are eligible to vote.
Out of the 252 cardinals worldwide, only 135 are electors or below 80.
Of those elegible to vote, 108 were appointed by Pope Francis during his 12-year reign.
Filipino Cardinals David, Bishop of Caloocan; Jose F. Advincula, Archbishop of Manila and the Proprefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Evangelization, Luis Antonio
AMID the endorsements from other prominent figures to some members of the Alyansa para sa Bagong Pilipinas, a senatorial candidate emphasized the necessity of a cohesive team in the Senate to achieve meaningful change and fulfill campaign promises.
Senatorial candidate and Makati Mayor Abby Binay stressed that electing candidates with divergent visions and aspirations would be counterproductive. She said that a senator cannot single-handedly implement legislative reforms and innovations, necessitating allies with shared goals and principles within the Senate.
“I think we fail to realize that the Senate is a collegial body. Even if I win, if my colleagues who also win don’t share the same advocacy, then I won’t be able
to push my advocacy,” she explained. Binay further illustrated the importance of campaigning for the entire team, not just for individual candidates in the Alyansa slate.
“So the campaign can’t just be about me. We need to campaign for everyone.
Because what will happen if you’re the only one who wins in the Senate and you don’t have allies? You won’t be able to fulfill any of your campaign promises because you won’t get the support of your colleagues,” she said.
Binay said the team uses the collective approach in the campaign, always focusing on them as a group rather than on individual candidates.
“So it is important; the approach always in the campaign is ‘all of us.’ It can’t be ‘just me,’ it needs to be ‘us,’” she added.
spreading Beijing’s propaganda by attacking Philippine defense exercises, discrediting elected officials, and subtly shaping public opinion ahead of the polls.
“Let me be clear: if a candidate sides with China while our territory is under threat and while our military and government are being attacked, that person is no leader. That’s not patriotism—that’s puppetry,” Ortega, who represents La Union, stressed.
He condemned what he called a “well-funded and well-orchestrated digital assault” on Filipino voters, noting that Chinese money was allegedly funneled into troll operations creating fake online personas that push pro-China messages while attacking the President, Congress, the judiciary, and the Armed Forces.
“This isn’t just random online noise—this is a direct attack on our democracy. Some of our fellow Filipinos are being paid to tear down their own country,” Ortega warned.
“Team China is eroding the people’s trust in our elections—using some of our own citizens to do it,” he added.
He urged voters to stay vigilant and critical, especially of candidates who repeat anti-Balikatan, anti-Edca (Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement), or pro-Beijing narratives.
“There’s a script coming straight from Beijing—and some locals are playing right along. The Filipino people must reject them,” Ortega said.
Calling for immediate action, Ortega pushed for the swift filing of criminal cases and the passage of stronger laws against foreign election interference.
See “Polls,” A5
G. Tagle, are among those eligible to participate in the conclave. All three are already in Rome and have attended the funeral rites for Pope Francis held on Saturday.
Cotabato Archbishop Emeritus Orlando Cardinal Quevedo also flew to Rome to pay his respects, although he will not be participating in the voting as he is past the age limit.
The upcoming conclave is strictly sealed off from the public.
Voting is conducted through secret ballots, and participants are sworn to absolute secrecy under threat of excommunication.
Cameras and other forms of communication are prohibited, ensuring that all deliberations remain confidential.
A two-thirds majority vote is required to elect a new pope, and if no consensus is reached, the balloting continues for days—or even weeks.
Go welcomes new law providing legal aid to uniformed personnel
Chinese warships observe Balikatan naval exercises
THE Navy (PN) on Sunday the presence of Chinese warships near joint Philippine-United States naval exercises off the coast of Zambales but emphasized that training operations proceeded without disruption.
The Navy reported that three Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) ships were detected on Saturday approximately 60 nautical miles west of Palauig, Zambales.
These included a Jiangkai II-class frigate (bow number 579), an unidentified vessel (bow number 500) and a Dongdiao II-class auxiliary surveillance ship (bow number 797).
The sightings occurred during a Division Tactics drill conducted by the BRP Ramon Alcaraz (PS16) and BRP Apolinario Mabini (PS36) in coordination with United States naval forces, as part of the broader RP-US Exercise Balikatan. “Despite the presence of these PLAN vessels, the training activities proceeded without disruption,” the
Navy said.
“The activities of the Chinese naval vessels have been addressed in accordance with international law and protocols, and Philippine Navy ships remain focused on their training objectives alongside our allies,” it added. The Navy assured that its assets remain vigilant, with the BRP Ramon Alcaraz continuously monitoring the Chinese ships and providing updates to command authorities and the Balikatan Exercise Directorate.
Balikatan is the largest annual joint military exercise between the Philippines and the US. Its 2025 iteration includes expanded maritime drills aimed at boosting interoperability amid regional tensions, particularly in the West Philippine Sea. China has previously objected to Balikatan and similar joint activities, often deploying surveillance ships in proximity to monitor the drills. Rex Anthony Naval with PNA
US deploys land-based ‘ship-killer’ in Balikatan
THE United States deployed its Nmesis (Navy-Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System), an anti-ship missile system, during the ongoing Balikatan exercise in the Philippines.
Lt. Col. John Paul Salgado, chief of the Balikatan Exercise Combined Joint Information Bureau, Nmesis was deployed on Saturday to test troops’ capability to position the system for the Maritime Key Terrain Security Operations (MKTSO)-North events.
Nmesis is a highly mobile, landbased coastal defense weapon designed to engage and neutralize hostile surface vessels. It has an operational range of approximately 180 to 200 nautical miles.
It provides the combined and joint forces with a flexible and expedient sea denial capacity, contributing to the collective defense of both countries.
The annual Philippines-US exercise began on April 21 and will run until May 9.
The two nations were also joined by smaller contingents from Australia, Japan, the United Kingdom, France and Canada.
Filipino and American naval forces carried out a Division Tactics (Divtacs) drill on Saturday as part of the ongoing Exercise Balikatan.
The drill was carried out 21 nautical miles west of San Felipe, Zambales under the Multilateral Maritime Event (MME) component of
the annual joint military exercise. The Divtacs drill focused on enhancing interoperability through coordinated tactical maneuvers and signals, maneuvering procedures, and command and control.
The training aimed to improve the participating fleet’s ability to operate as a unified force in maritime scenarios.
Participating Philippine ships included BRP Ramon Alcaraz (PS16), BRP Apolinario Mabini (PS36), and the Philippine Coast Guard’s BRP Gabriela Silang (OPV 8301). US naval assets in the exercise were USS Savannah (LCS 28) and USS Comstock(LSD 45). The successful execution of Divtacs “underscores the commitment of all participating forces to strengthen maritime cooperation, readiness, and collective defense capabilities,” Salgado said.
Meanwhile, the Philippine Air Force’s 960th Air and Missile Defense Group hosted on Friday a Subject Matter Expert Exchange (SMEE) on the Spyder air defense system at the Naval Education, Training and Doctrine Command in San Antonio, Zambales.
The session brought together air defense personnel from the Philippines, United States, Japan, and the United Kingdom, allowing Filipino defenders to share operational experience and insights on the Spyder system. Rex Anthony Naval with PNA
Joining Binay in the Alyansa Para sa Bagong Pilipinas senatorial slate are Benhur Abalos, Pia Cayetano, Panfilo Lacson, Lito Lapid, Manny Pacquiao, Ramon Revilla, Vicente Sotto III, Francis Tolentino, Erwin Tulfo and Camille Villar.
Less than a month before the May midterm elections, the political landscape is further complicated by diverging endorsements from other prominent figures.
Binay has gained the support of more mayors in the National Capital Region (NCR) after Las Piñas City Mayor Imelda Aguilar and Caloocan City Mayor Dale Gonzalo Malapitan formally endorsed her candidacy Saturday.
SEN. Christopher Go, vice chairperson of the Senate Committee on National Defense and principal author and cosponsor of Republic Act 12177, welcomed the signing of the newly enacted piece of legislation providing free legal assistance to military and uniformed personnel (MUP) facing service-related charges.
RA 12177 institutionalizes legal aid for MUPs involved in administrative, civil, or criminal cases connected to the lawful performance of their duties.
The measure applies to members of the Armed Forces (AFP), National Police (PNP), Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP), Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP), Coast Guard (PCG), Bureau of Corrections (BuCor), and the Hydrography Branch of the National Mapping and
See “Go,”
PRESIDENT Marcos and the Office of the President (OP) paid the hospital bills and other debts of National Artist Nora Cabaltera Villamayor, who is more popularly known as Nora Aunor.
Presidential Communications Office (PCO) Senior Undersecretary Analisa Puod issued the clarification when asked if it was the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO), which shouldered the medical bills of Aunor, when she was hospitalized before she passed away.
Aunor, 71, died on April 16, 2025 from acute respiratory infection. Her remains were buried at the Libingan ng mga
Bayani (Heroes Cemetery) in Taguig City on Tuesday.
“It was not PCSO, which shouldered [the bills]. It was the OP and the President,” Puod said in Filipino.
“It’s not just the hospital bill, but also other debts and other expenses that [were paid] from PBBM’s personal money,” she added. Puod explained the amount from the President is on top of the P750,000 hospitalization benefits Aunor received as a National Artist.
During the weekend, an online article reported that PCSO initially offered to pay for the bill, before Marcos said he would settle it.
See “Nora,” A5
Dogs to replace X-ray scanners at train stations
By Lorenz S. Marasigan @lorenzmarasigan
THE Department of Transportation (DOTr) is ramping up efforts to enhance security while easing congestion in the rail systems by deploying more K9 units to replace traditional X-ray machines at the Metro Rail Transit (MRT) and the Light Rail Transit (LRT) stations in Metro Manila. Transportation Secretary Vivencio Dizon on Saturday inspected the Philippine Coast Guard K9 Facility in Clark Field, Pampanga, where trained bomb-sniffing dogs are prepared for deployment.
He said the initiative forms part of the agency’s broader push to modernize security protocols across rail networks without causing delays or inconvenience to commuters.
Dizon emphasized that replacing X-ray scanners with K9 units—alongside the integration of AI-enabled CCTV systems and heightened security personnel presence—will “greatly reduce
passenger lines in the stations without compromising the safety and security of the commuting public.”
The PCG K9 Facility, established in collaboration with the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA), serves as the nation’s primary training center for service dogs and their handlers.
Located within a 10-hectare area in the Clark Special Economic Zone, the facility is equipped to train at least 128 working dogs and 100 handlers, supported by specialized facilities that include a Canine Development Center, a Canine School, a Breeding Center, a Canine Hospital, and a Kennel Management and Biosecurity Unit.
These sections enable comprehensive preparation of K9 units for a wide range of security tasks, such as bomb detection, fugitive apprehension, narcotics interception, and other critical enforcement operations.
The DOTr has yet to release details on the deployment schedule for this initiative.
PSA, WB push for stronger climate change data in PHL
TBy Bless Aubrey Ogerio
HE Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) is working with the World Bank and key government agencies to establish a unified set of climate change statistics and indicators tailored to the Philippine context.
As part of this push, the PSA hosted a three-day workshop from March 18 to 20 at its Quezon City headquarters to align local data with international frameworks and address gaps in existing climate-related statistics.
The activity followed the Global Set of Climate Change Statistics and Indicators (GSCCSI) but focused on tailoring metrics to the country’s specific vulnerabilities and policy needs.
The initiative gathered representatives from the Climate Change Commission, Department of Agriculture, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, and Department of Energy to present their respective data systems and collaborate on harmonizing methodologies.
PSA Assistant National Statistician Mark Pascasio and World Bank Senior Economist Liliana Sousa both emphasized the importance of robust, evidence-based data in shaping effective responses to the climate crisis.
Beyond this effort, the PSA regularly compiles climaterelated statistics through the Philippine System of Environmental-Economic Accounting, tracks progress on climate-linked Sustainable Development Goals, and publishes environment data in coordination with agencies.
Alyansa. . .
Continued from A4
Nora. . .
Continued from A4
High-tech scams erode trust in internet services
By Rizal Raoul Reyes @brownindio
ACONSUMER-RIGHTS advocate on Sunday raised concerns over the growing threat posed by high-tech online scams that exploit gaps in digital security, warning that trust in internet services is eroding at a time when the country’s digital economy is rapidly expanding.
Tim Abejo, co-convener of CitizenWatch Philippines, urged government authorities to crack down on the malicious use of International Mobile Subscriber Identity (Imsi) catchers, also known as “Cell Site Simulators” or “Fake Base Stations.” He said these devices mimic legitimate cell towers to intercept mobile communications and are used by scammers to impersonate legitimate telecom
signals to lure unsuspecting users into revealing sensitive personal and financial data.
“These Imsi catchers act like telecom cell sites,” Abejo explained. “They trick your phone into thinking it’s connected to a real telecom network, then send you messages that look like they’re from your bank or mobile service provider. One click on a malicious link, and you’re either handing
over your private info or unknowingly downloading malware that gives hackers full access to your device.”
He pointed out that these devices that were once bulky are now small enough to fit in a backpack and mobile enough to be transported in vehicles to infiltrate residential and commercial areas undetected.
“That’s what makes them dangerous. They’re stealthy, mobile, and outside the control of our telcos because they don’t need to access the legitimate mobile networks,” Abejo said.
The United Nations defines digital inclusion as “equitable, meaningful, and safe access to use, lead, and design of digital technologies.” But according to Abejo, “There’s no true digital inclusion if people are afraid to pay bills, make transactions, or even message their bank online because scams are so widespread.”
While the government has reportedly intercepted some Imsi catchers, the brains behind these operations remain at large. Abejo
stressed that if the proliferation of IMSI weaponized scams are left
unchecked, this will jeopardize not only public safety but also the momentum of our country’s technology enabled industries.
“Our digital economy was worth $35.4 billion in 2023— about 8.4 percent of the gross domestic profuct [GDP]. But that growth is at risk,” he said. “People won’t use online banking, e-wallets, or e-commerce if they don’t feel safe. And if they lose trust in digital transactions, it could also undermine the eGovernment initiative and other digital efforts meant to boost the economy. If trust keeps falling, digital adoption will stall.” He asked the government to step up enforcement and protection efforts, particularly for vulnerable groups.
“Seniors and kids are the most at risk. Seniors may not be familiar with how scams work. Kids are always online for school and entertainment. They need to be properly educated and protected,” Abejo stressed.
“Digital inclusion can’t just be about access—it has to be about safe access,” said Abejo.
Villanueva’s Digital Nomad Visa bill gains momentum
By Butch Fernandez @butchfBM
EN. Joel Villanueva is bat -
Sting for the earlier passage and signingn into law of the Digital Nomad Visa bill that he authored following the Presidential endorsement for timely passage of the bill through the issuance of Executive Order 86, which “grants DNVs to foreigners wishing to work remotely from the Philippines.”
Villanueva added that the move will pave the path for the country to become a thriving hub for digital
nomads given the favorable environment for remote work.
“We have been advocating for the DNV because of its potential to boost tourism and create job opportunities,” Villanueva said.
See earlier story in BusinessMirror: https://businessmirror.com.ph/2025/04/25/ phl-to-issue-digital-nomadvisas-to-aliens-who-are-remote-workers/
Under EO 86, President Marcos authorized the Department of Foreign Affairs to issue DNVs to non-immigrant foreigners seek -
ing to temporarily reside in the Philippines for the purpose of remote work using digital technologies.
“We call on the President to make our bill on digital nomad visa a priority measure,” he said, adding that a law will woo more foreigners to our country.
Senate Bill 2991, filed by Villanueva in February, pitches for a new visa category for digital nomads valid for one year and renewable for another year.
According to the measure, applicants need to provide proof of sufficient income generated
outside the country, must hold a valid health insurance within the validity of the visa, must have no criminal record in his or her home country, and will not be a threat to the Philippines, among other requirements.
At present, there are more than 50 countries that offer DNV. Villanueva personally witnessed the robust tourism in his visit to Siargao Island as part of his trip to Surigao del Norte to talk to local leaders.
“We must show our foreign visitors that they can work from paradise,” he said.
Marina swamped by defective seafarer’s book applications
THE Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) is grappling with mounting challenges in processing seafarer’s book applications, with a “significant” number either incomplete or filed by applicants who fail to meet qualifications.
Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz
Earlier, Binay received the endorsement of Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte, Pasay City Mayor Emi Calixto-Rubiano, and San Juan City Mayor Francis Zamora. Vice President Sara Duterte has publicly endorsed Villar. Furthermore, former Vice President Leni Robredo has expressed her support for Benhur Abalos and Manny Pacquiao, also from the Alyansa slate, but notably omitting other members of the coalition.
PCO said the hospital bill for Aunor reached P1.8 million, but it declined to give the total amount of how much Marcos and the OP paid the hospital and for the debts of Aunor.
“How much and what is the breakdown of what the President gave, we don’t want to discuss
www.businessmirror.com.ph Go. . .
Continued from A4
Resource Information Authority (Namria).
anymore,” Puod said. Aunor together with iconic singer Pilita Corrales; veteran actress Gloria Galla, who is also known as Gloria Romero; and pioneer chef Margarita Fores will be among to be given posthumously next month the Presidential Medal of Merit for their invaluable mark to Philippine entertainment and gastronomy. The awarding ceremony is to be held in Malacañang on May 4.
Go said the measure fulfills a crucial need long raised by personnel on the ground—those who, while carrying out orders or responding to crises, sometimes find themselves entangled in legal battles they are ill-equipped to handle alone.
Marina Administrator Sonia Malaluan appealed to seafarers to carefully read and comply with documentary requirements to help ease the agency’s workflow.
Continued from A4
“This is no time for silence. This is a time for action. We must act now—before foreign powers succeed in choosing our leaders for us,” Ortega asserted. He vowed that Congress, under the leadership of Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez, would do everything necessary
“Aapila po ako sa ating mga seafarers na basahin po nating mabuti kung ano ang mga kinakailangan ninyong mga dokumento at proseso. Sa libo-libong applications na natatanggap namin, marami po roon ang kulang ang dokumento o hindi sila qualified kaya tumatagal ang proseso,” she said.
Malaluan explained that many applicants mistakenly believe that mere submission guarantees approval, not realizing that
to protect the integrity of the elections and hold collaborators accountable.
“Elections are for Filipinos. There is no place for foreign interests seeking to divide and weaken us. We will not allow the future of our country to be dictated by outsiders. Team Pilipinas tayo— united, strong, and ready to fight,” Ortega stressed.
As the elections draw closer, Ortega said the people face a de -
incomplete filings cause unnecessary bottlenecks in the system. In response to the problem, Malaluan said Marina has been upgrading its digital platforms, launching new portals and developing information materials designed to guide seafarers through each step of the application process.
Malaluan emphasized that while the agency is committed to streamlining procedures, the
fining choice.
“The choice this May is clear: choose leaders who are truly for the Filipino people, or allow China
cooperation of seafarers is critical to ensuring faster turnaround times.
“It’s a big help if everything is read and understood first,” she pointed out. She assured that “the agency remains committed to streamlining processes,” but stressed that “seafarers’ cooperation is crucial to avoid unnecessary delays in securing their documents.” Lorenz S. Marasigan
to choose them for us. For the sake of our future, our freedom, and our flag, we must choose wisely,” Ortega urged.
“Our MUPs risk their lives daily for peace, order, and national security. But when they face legal issues because of their duty, they should not be left behind or made to shoulder all the burdens alone. Through RA 12177, the state fulfills its obligation to protect those who protect us,” he said.
consultations, document preparation, representation in court or administrative proceedings, and assistance with court fees and notarization.
The law mandates all concerned MUP agencies to provide free legal representation and related legal services within 24 hours of official notice of a case. Covered services include legal
The respective legal offices of each agency will determine the eligibility of personnel for free assistance, based on whether the case is service-related.
April 28, 2025
Massive explosion at Iranian port connected to missile fuel shipment kills 25, injures some 800
By Jon Gambrell The Associated Press
MUSCAT, Oman—A massive explosion and fire rocked a port Saturday in southern Iran purportedly linked to a shipment of a chemical ingredient used to make missile propellant, killing 25 people and injuring around 800 others.
Helicopters and aircraft dumped water from the air on the raging fire through the night into Sunday morning at the Shahid Rajaei port. The explosion occurred just as Iran and the United States met Saturday in Oman for the third round of negotiations over Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program.
No one in Iran outright suggested that the explosion came from an attack. However, even Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who led the talks, on Wednesday acknowledged that “our security services are on high alert given past instances of attempted sabotage and assassination operations designed to provoke a legitimate response.”
State media offered the casualty figures, saying authorities identified only 10 of the dead, including two women. Meanwhile, state TV reported the fire was under control and will be fully extinguished later Sunday.
It also said activities have resumed at the port, showing footage of con -
tainers of a commercial ship being unloaded.
There were few details on what sparked the blaze just outside of Bandar Abbas, causing other containers to reportedly explode.
Private security firm Ambrey says the port received missile fuel chemical in March. It is part of a shipment of ammonium perchlorate from China by two vessels to Iran, first reported in January by the Financial Times. The chemical used to make solid propellant for rockets was going to be used to replenish Iran’s missile stocks, which had been depleted by its direct attacks on Israel during the war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
“The fire was reportedly the result of improper handling of a shipment of solid fuel intended for use in Iranian ballistic missiles,” Ambrey said.
Ship-tracking data analyzed by The Associated Press put one of the vessels believed to be carrying the chemical in the vicinity in
March, as Ambrey said. Iran hasn’t acknowledged taking the shipment. The Iranian mission to the United Nations didn’t respond to a request for comment on Saturday.
It’s unclear why Iran wouldn’t have moved the chemicals from the port, particularly after the Beirut port blast in 2020. That explosion, caused by the ignition of hundreds of tons of highly explosive ammonium nitrate, killed more than 200 people and injured more than 6,000 others. However, Israel did target Iranian missile sites where Tehran uses industrial mixers to create solid fuel.
Social media footage of the explosion on Saturday at Shahid Rajaei saw reddish-hued smoke rising from the fire just before the detonation. That suggests a chemical compound being involved in the blast, like in the Beirut explosion.
“Get back, get back! Tell the gas (truck) to go!” a man in one video shouted just before the blast. “Tell him to go, it’s going to blow up! Oh God, this is blowing up! Everybody evacuate! Get back! Get back!”
On Saturday night, the state-run IRNA news agency said that the Customs Administration of Iran blamed a “stockpile of hazardous goods and chemical materials stored in the port area” for the blast, without elaborating.
An aerial shot released by Iranian media after the blast showed fires burning at multiple locations in the port, with authorities later warning about air pollution from chemicals such as ammonia, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide in the air. Schools and offices in Bandar Abbas will be
closed Sunday as well.
Port is a major destination for Iranian cargo
SHAHID RAJAEI has been a target before. A 2020 cyberattack attributed to Israel targeted the port. It came after Israel said that it thwarted a cyberattack targeting its water infrastructure, which it attributed to Iran. Israeli officials didn’t respond to requests for comment regarding Saturday’s explosion.
Social media videos showed black billowing smoke after the blast. Others showed glass blown out of buildings kilometers, or miles, away from the epicenter of the explosion.
State media footage showed the injured crowding into at least one hospital, with ambulances arriving as medics rushed one person by on a stretcher.
Hasanzadeh, the provincial disaster management official, earlier told state television that the blast came from containers at Shahid Rajaei port in the city, without elaborating. State television also reported that there had been a building collapse caused by the explosion, though no further details were offered.
The Interior Ministry said that it launched an investigation into the blast. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian also offered his condolences to those affected in the blast.
Shahid Rajaei port in Hormozgan province is about 1,050 kilometers (650 miles) southeast of Iran’s capital, Tehran, on the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which 20 percent of all oil traded passes.
Singapore politicians warn against foreign meddling in election
By Yihui Xie Bloomberg
SINGAPORE’S political leaders are warning against foreign attempts to influence voters in an election campaign, under measures introduced four years ago to guard against external meddling. Lawrence Wong, leader of the city-state’s ruling People’s Action Party, said at a rally on Saturday that foreign actors, including a political party in Malaysia, had tried to influence the outcome of Singapore’s elections. He warned that the mixing of religion and politics, as
Former S. Korea
well as calls to support candidates based on race or religion, were “very dangerous.”
Pritam Singh, who leads the largest opposition Workers’ Party, said his team categorically rejects any involvement of foreign elements in domestic politics. “Singapore is our business—nobody else’s,” Singh said at a rally the same day. The warnings followed a government order issued to Meta Platforms Inc. to take down several Facebook advertisements published by foreigners during the election period, according to a statement from the Ministry of Home Affairs and Elec -
tions Department on Friday.
This is the first parliamentary election since the Foreign Interference (Countermeasures) Act was passed in 2021, which gives officials power to curb foreign efforts to influence Singapore’s political affairs.
Authorities identified two members of Parti Islam Se-Malaysia—a conservative Islamist party and the largest opposition group in Malaysia—among the Facebook posts. The list also included an Australian citizen who renounced his Singapore citizenship in 2020 and had previously been detained under Singapore’s Internal Security Act
By Soo-Hyang Choi & Jaehyun Eom Bloomberg
LEE JAE-MYUNG, a former leader of South Korea’s main opposition Democratic Party, won the group’s presidential primary on Sunday as he readies to fight again for the country’s top political office.
Lee will represent the party in a June 3 snap vote that was called after the Constitutional Court removed President Yoon Suk Yeol from office earlier this month.
Yoon’s short-lived martial law decree in December triggered the country’s worst political crisis in decades. Lee, who led an impeachment campaign against Yoon, is a frontrunner in the presidential race and leading in most opinion polls. A Gallup Poll released Friday showed 38% of respondents supporting him.
Lee said that if he is elected, he would “unite people” by restoring democracy, boosting economic growth and reducing disparities. Lee had narrowly lost to Yoon in the 2022 presidential race.
Boston celebrates 1965 Freedom Rally led by MLK as advocates urge continued fight against injustice
BBy Michael Casey The Associated Press
OSTON—As a Black teenager growing up in Boston, Wayne Lucas vividly remembers joining about 20,000 people to hear the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. speak out against the city’s segregated school system and the entrenched poverty in poor communities.
Sixty years on, Lucas was back on the Boston Common on Saturday to celebrate the anniversary of what became known as the 1965 Freedom Rally. He joined others in calling for continued activism against many of the same injustices and inequities that King fought against, and in criticizing President Donald Trump and his administration for current divisions and fears about race and immigration across the country.
“The message was ... that we still have work to do,” said Lucas, 75. “It was a lot of inspiration by every speaker out there.”
The gathering drew several hundred people on a rainy and windy day, conditions similar to those during the 1965 event. It was preceded by a march by a smaller group of people, mostly along the route taken to the Boston Common 60 years earlier. Up to 125 different organizations took part.
for promotion of the terrorist group ISIS, according to the statement.
Paul Tambyah, chairman of opposition Singapore Democratic Party, raised concerns about foreign bots on Facebook spreading misinformation about candidates. Tambyah urged the Ministry of Digital Development and Information to take action, stressing that the impact of such influences may persist beyond elections.
The country’s election campaign started on Wednesday, and will last nine days—making it one of the world’s shortest—before voters head to the polls on May 3.
The election of a new president is a crucial step in putting the exportdriven nation back on track after Yoon’s ouster created a leadership vacuum at a time when President Donald Trump is escalating trade tensions across the globe.
The nomination marks a dramatic turn of events for Lee, whose ambitions of leading the nation seemed all but over last year when he received a suspended jail sentence for breaking an electoral law. An appeals court later acquitted him of the allegations.
A former factory worker who later became a lawyer, Lee has a history of bouncing back from challenges that include corruption allegations, a hunger strike and even being stabbed.
He is set for a race against the nominee from the ruling People Power Party, which will pick its candidate on May 3. Its top candidates include former Labor Minister Kim Moon-soo and ex-party chair Hong Joon-pyo. Han Dong-hoon, a former justice minister under Yoon, and lawmaker Ahn Cheol-soo are also seeking to represent the conservative PPP.
Rally-goers urge activism KING’S son, Martin Luther King III, gave a keynote speech, saying he never thought racism would still be around and on the rise like it is today.
“We must quadruple our efforts to create a more just and humane society,” he told the crowd. “We used to exhibit humanity and civility, but we have chosen temporarily to allow civility to be moved aside. And that is not sustainable, my friends.”
He added, “Today, we’ve got to find a way to move forward, when everything appears to be being dismantled, it seems to be attempting to break things up. Now, you do have to retreat sometimes. But dad showed us how to stay on the battlefield, and mom, throughout their lives. They showed us how to build community.”
The gathering was near the site of a 20-foot-high (6-meter-high) memorial to racial equity, which shows Martin Luther King Jr. embracing his wife, Coretta Scott King.
US Rep. Ayanna Pressley, a Massachusetts Democrat, said the work of 1960s civil rights leaders remains unfinished, with too many people still experiencing racism, poverty and injustice.
“We are living through perilous times,” she said. “Across the country, we are witnessing ... a dangerous resurgence of white supremacy, of state-sanctioned violence, of economic exploitation, of authoritarian rhetoric.”
1965 protest brings civil rights movement to the Northeast
THE original protest rally in 1965 brought the civil rights movement to the Northeast, a place Martin Luther King Jr. knew well from his time earning a doctorate in theology from Boston University and serving as assistant minister at the city’s Twelfth Baptist Church. It was also the place where he met his wife, who earned a degree in music education from the New England Conservatory.
In his speech, King told the crowd that he returned to Boston not to condemn the city but to encourage its leaders to do better at a time when Black leaders were fighting to desegregate the schools and housing and working to improve economic opportunities for Black residents. King also implored Boston to become a leader that other cities like New York and Chicago could follow in conducting “the creative experiments in the abolition of ghettos.”
“It would be demagogic and dishonest for me to say that Boston is a Birmingham, or to equate Massachusetts with Mississippi,” he said. “But it would be morally irresponsible were to remain blind to the threat to liberty, the denial of opportunity, and the crippling poverty that we face in some sections of this community.”
The Boston rally happened after President Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and months ahead of the enactment of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 signed in August. King and other civil rights movement leaders had just come off the Selma to Montgomery march in Alabama, also referred to as Bloody Sunday, weeks before the Boston rally. The civil rights icon also was successful in the 1963 Birmingham campaign prompting the end of legalized racial segregation in the Alabama city, and eventually throughout the nation.
DEI comes under threat by Trump administration SATURDAY’S rally came as the Trump administration is waging war on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in government, schools and businesses around the country, including in Massachusetts. Since his Jan. 20 inauguration, Trump has banned diversity initiatives across the federal government. The administration has launched investigations of colleges—public and private—that it accuses of discriminating against white and Asian students with race-conscious admissions programs intended to address historic inequities in access for Black students.
The Defense Department at one point temporarily removed training videos recognizing the Tuskegee Airmen and an online biography of Jackie Robinson. In February, Trump fired Air Force Gen. CQ Brown Jr., a champion of racial diversity in the military, as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Brown, in the wake of Floyd’s killing, had spoken publicly about his experiences as a Black man, and was only the second Black general to serve as chairman.
The administration has fired diversity officers across government, curtailed some agencies’ celebrations of Black History Month and terminated grants and contracts for projects ranging from planting trees in disadvantaged communities to studying achievement gaps in American schools.
King’s son: Attacks on diversity make ‘little sense’ MARTIN LUTHER KING III told The Associated Press that the attacks on diversity make little sense, noting, “We cannot move forward without understanding what happened in the past.”
“It doesn’t mean that it’s about blaming people. It’s not about collective guilt. It’s about collective responsibility,” he continued. “How do we become better? Well, we appreciate everything that helped us to get to where we are. Diversity hasn’t hurt the country.”
King said opponents of diversity have floated an uninformed narrative that unqualified people of color are taking jobs from white people, when the reality is they have long been denied the opportunities they deserve.
“I don’t know if white people understand this, but Black people are tolerant,” he said. “From knee-high to a grasshopper, you have to be five times better than your white colleague. And that’s how we prepare ourselves. So it’s never a matter of unqualified. It’s a matter of being excluded.”
Editor: Angel R. Calso
DOREEN WADE from Cambridge raises her fist in the air at the Parkman Bandstand on Boston Common on Saturday, April 26, 2025, to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the 1965 Freedom Rally on Boston Common which featured Martin Luther King Jr. She was six years old when she marched with her family in 1965. JOHN TLUMACKI/THE BOSTON GLOBE VIA AP
US economy was already sputtering before pain from trade tiff kicked in
By Vince Golle | Bloomberg
AFTER cruising along comfortably for most of last year, the world’s largest economy lost altitude at the start of 2025 as consumers tired and the trade deficit ballooned on a tariff-related scramble for imports.
The US government’s initial estimate of first-quarter gross domestic product is projected to show the economy expanded at a 0.4 percent annualized rate, the weakest in nearly three years. With financial markets hypersensitive to the economy’s prospects, near-stagnant GDP would risk elevating concerns about a potential recession and any unraveling of the job market.
So far, though, the hiring pace has cooled just a bit, and there are no signs of widespread layoffs. On Friday, the closely watched monthly employment report is forecast to show a 130,000 increase in payrolls—about 100,000 less than the larger-than-expected March gain. The jobless rate is projected to hold at 4.2 percent.
GDP data on Wednesday will be an appraisal of the economy in the early period of Donald Trump’s presidency, showing the initial impact of his tariffs and trade-policy messaging in the lead-up to more sweeping duties that were announced April 2. Business investment in equipment—largely, commercial aircraft— may be a bright spot in the GDP report. However, companies have since become increasingly guarded about spending as they await more clarity on tariffs, trade deals and tax policy.
The latest Bloomberg monthly survey of economists shows GDP will expand by less than 1 percent in each of first three quarters of this year, with private investment retrenching. Consumers, many of whom have grown concerned about job security, are also seen limiting their purchases.
Another key report in the coming week is a monthly reading on personal consumption and income at the end of the first quarter. Economists forecast a healthy increase in March spending along with cooler income growth. Wednesday’s report is also seen showing a welcome slowdown in the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge.
The personal consumption expenditures price index, minus food and fuel, is forecast to have risen 2.6 percent from a year ago, which would be the smallest annual gain since June. The figure surfaces about a week before the Fed’s May meeting, at which economists expect no change in interest rates. Policymakers observe a traditional blackout period in the week preceding each gathering.
Elsewhere, Chinese purchasing manager indexes, economic output and inflation data across Europe, and the election in Canada will be in focus. Central banks in Japan, Hungary, Chile and Colombia are expected to leave rates unchanged, while Thai policymakers may cut.
Canada CANADIANS vote Monday in a consequential election to determine who’ll
lead them through a fractious trade war with the US. Trump’s economic and sovereignty threats have shaken Canadians, who polls suggest are leaning toward Mark Carney’s Liberals over Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives. Both leaders have promised swift trade negotiations with Trump as well as deficit spending to strengthen Canada’s economy and military.
GDP data by industry for February and a flash estimate for March will offer insight into Canada’s first-quarter economic performance.
Exporters rushing to get ahead of Trump’s tariffs were a source of strength early in the year, but the trade war has weighed heavily on business and consumer confidence, restraining investment and spending.
The Bank of Canada expects about 1.8 percent annualized growth in real GDP in the first quarter.
The central bank will release a summary of the deliberations that led to its decision earlier this month to hold rates steady and to avoid giving concrete economic projections due to the unpredictability of US trade policy. The summary may give insight into the conditions that would spur the Bank of Canada to resume its easing cycle, given that the outlook for Canadian growth is increasingly weak.
Asia
CHINA releases figures that may be somewhat distorted by Trump’s tariff campaign. The week kicked off on Sunday with data that showed profits at the country’s industrial firms rebounded in March, driven by a boost in income from the high-technology manufacturing sector and signaling economic resilience.
Both the official and Caixin manufacturing PMI gauges for April are due on Wednesday, with readings likely to sag from trade tensions as well as settling back from a seasonal bump in March.
Bloomberg Economics estimates that tariffs at current levels may reduce China’s direct US exports by more than 80 percent over the medium term, putting as much as 2.3 percent of GDP at risk, adding to pressure on policymakers to implement stimulus measures.
The region also gets several price growth updates. Australia’s consumer inflation on Wednesday is seen having cooled a bit in the first quarter, to 2.3 percent year on year, pushing up real interest rates and pressuring the RBA to cut its benchmark interest rate when it next sets policy on May 20.
South Korea’s CPI may back the case for a rate cut after recent grim GDP data. Indonesia, Pakistan and Uzbekistan also publish CPI statistics.
Taiwan reports first-quarter GDP on Wednesday, and trade figures are due during the week from Sri Lanka,
Thailand, South Korea, Australia, Hong Kong and the Philippines.
On the policy front, the Bank of Japan is widely expected to hold its key rate steady on Thursday as authorities assess the likely impact from tariffs.
Economists surveyed by Bloomberg have pushed back their expectations for rate hikes, with most seeing the possibility the BOJ may have to stay on hold for the rest of 2025. The second round of US-Japan trade talks, expected mid-week, may shed light on the tariff front.
A day earlier, the Bank of Thailand is expected to lower borrowing costs by a quarter point. The central bank has cut its policy rate by 50 basis points since October as the growth outlook for Southeast Asia’s second largest economy dims and domestic financial conditions tighten.
Europe, Middle East, Africa
EURO-area GDP and inflation numbers will be in focus, with data due Friday set to show that the European Central Bank’s task of restoring 2 percent inflation is almost complete.
Consumer-price growth probably slowed to 2.1 percent this month, while an underlying measure that strips out volatile elements such as energy is predicted to have ticked up to 2.5 percent.
ECB policymakers have struck an optimistic tone on inflation of late, with the French central-bank chief Francois Villeroy de Galhau concluding that there “is currently no inflationary risk in Europe.”
Numbers from his country, due on Wednesday, support that statement, with economists predicting a slowdown to just 0.7 percent. Meanwhile, German and Italian readings will stay above 2 percent.
GDP data the same day will show the state of the economy before Trump’s April 2 tariff announcement. France’s output probably grew just 0.1 percent, while Germany, Italy and the wider euro area each expanded 0.2 percent. Economic growth and GDP indicator numbers are also due across Europe, including from Ireland, Sweden and Poland.
Earlier in the week, ECB Vice President Luis de Guindos and Governing Council members Olli Rehn, Robert Holzmann and Madis Muller are scheduled to make appearances, and the Frankfurt-based central bank publishes its monthly survey of consumers’ inflation expectations.
Commenting in a Jornal de Negocios interview published Sunday, Portugal’s Mario Centeno said that economic analysis is currently domi -
nated by “uncertainty” created largely by US trade policy.
Elsewhere in the region, UK mortgage and house price numbers are due, with Bloomberg Economics predicting the country’s housing market will enter a soft patch.
Further south, Kenya’s central bank expects annual inflation to quicken to 4.2 percent from 3.6 percent in March on the back of tight supplies of vegetables and cornmeal, the nation’s staple.
Latin America
IN a busy week, Brazil posts the central bank’s weekly survey of economists, government debt totals, current account, foreign direct investment, nominal and primary budget balance data, along with its broadest measure of inflation.
The IGP-M general prices index has risen for 12 straight months and is nearing a three-year high, as are wholesale prices. In that time, the benchmark inflation index is up almost 180 basis points to be well above the central bank’s inflation target of 3 percent, plus or minus 1.5 percentage point.
Chile reports seven economic indicators including March GDP-proxy data, all of which will take a back seat to the central bank’s Tuesday monetary policy meeting.
Policymakers led by Rosanna Costa will likely keep their key rate unchanged for a third straight time as inflation runs above target, growth and demand have surprised on the upside, and Trump’s tariffs cloud the global economic outlook.
Surprising growth and resilient inflation are front and center for Colombia’s central bank at its meeting on Wednesday. That mix sees the early consensus of analysts forecasting that Banrep will again hold at 9.5 percent.
Meanwhile, the IMF suspended on Saturday Colombia’s flexible credit line due to the lack of measures to reduce public deficit and debt, which have risen more than expected in the fund’s eyes.
A light week in Argentina offers up February wages data, while Peru has only its Lima consumer prices report. Inflation in the country’s megacity capital likely moved up for the first month in five, from March’s 1.28 percent.
Mexico on Wednesday posts its flash first-quarter output report, which may show that Latin America’s No. 2 economy narrowly avoided falling into recession in the three months through March.
By Neil Callanan & Kat Hidalgo Bloomberg
THE companies that get private credit loans are looking increasingly wobbly and banks are among those that could eventually be on the hook for losses.
Many companies getting direct loans from private lenders are struggling to produce cash, by at least one key measure: At the end of 2024, more than 40 percent of borrowers had negative free cash flow from their businesses, the International Monetary Fund warned in a report this past week. That’s up from closer to 25 percent at the end of 2021.
Borrowers that aren’t generating enough cash flow are at greater risk of defaulting, a particular concern as trade wars lead to fears of economic stagnation.
Market participants are alarmed that the deterioration in debtors’ credit quality has yet to show up in accounting valuations, while a rise in dividend recapitalizations is “further straining borrowers’ debt sustainability,” the IMF wrote. The report adds to a series of alerts from watchdogs, who fret that vulnerabilities in the $1.6 trillion private credit industry could spill over into the banking arena. Any increase in defaults among direct lenders’ customer base could have a knock on impact for banks because they now have more than $500 billion of exposure to private credit, which the money managers use to lend more to customers.
“The risk of earnings erosion and cash flow problems has increased, with idiosyncratic pockets of risk in some industries or borrowers” such as health care and software, the IMF wrote of direct lenders. “Even before the tariffs, nearly half” of the borrowers “had negative free operating cash flows, prolonging their reliance on payment-inkind provisions and amend-and-extend restructurings.”
Private equity firms in particular have relied on PIK notes, which allow borrowers
to defer interest payments for their portfolio companies after a surge in borrowing costs hit valuations. More than a quarter of net investment income in the fourth quarter for a set of the lenders came from deferred interest, according to data compiled by Bloomberg Intelligence. That’s an increase of about nine percentage points in a year, according to the data, which is based on business development companies, a type of private lender.
“As financial volatility increases, uncertainty proliferates,” said Elad Shraga, chief investment officer at Signal Capital Partners. “It is reasonable to assume that PE exits will be delayed, in some cases meaningfully, therefore sponsor-driven credit might face increased stress,” adding he worries about the rise in PIK usage.
Shadow banks
PRIVATE credit firms typically lend to weaker and smaller companies, making them more exposed to a downturn in the economy. The trade wars that sparked concerns about the outlook for growth come amid growing signs of potential problems emerging among the wider group of nonbank lenders in the US.
Nearly 21 percent of nonbank loans there were already classified last year, meaning repayment is uncertain, according to a report published by government regulators last month that looks at larger loans held by three or more lenders. To help limit the risk of turmoil in shadow banking spreading to the traditional banking system, the Financial Stability Board plans to release policy recommendations in July around their use of leverage.
Still, while “over-geared companies are at risk to big shocks in the economy,” if the direct lending was “sensible and proportionate in the first place, those borrowers should be able to wear this volatility,” said Claire Madden, a managing partner at Connection Capital. “Private credit lenders can be supportive partners in times of stress to allow borrowers to fight another day.”
By Gian Volpicelli, Samuel Stolton & Alberto Nardelli Bloomberg
US President Donald Trump’s administration is putting pressure on Europe to ditch a rulebook that would compel developers of advanced artificial intelligence to follow stricter standards of transparency, risk-mitigation and copyright rules.
The US government’s Mission to the EU reached out to the European Commission to push back against the AI code of practice in the last few weeks. The letter argues against the adoption of the code in its current form, and also went out to several European governments, people familiar with the matter said. In response to Bloomberg questions, commission spokesman Thomas Regnier confirmed the reception of the letter.
While the code—which is still being finalized—is voluntary, it’s meant to give tech companies a framework for staying in line with the EU’s Artificial Intelligence Act. Running afoul of the AI Act carries fines of as much as 7 percent of a company’s annual sales. Fines for the developers of advanced AI models can reach 3 percent. And not following the code could mean greater scrutiny from regulators.
Critics have said the guidelines go beyond the bounds of the AI law, and create new, onerous regulations.
Trump and the EU are increasingly clashing over the latter’s role as the world’s chief digital rule maker, and the President has
lambasted the bloc’s tech regulations and fines as unfairly targeting US companies. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan sent a volley of letters to EU leaders asking them to respond to his concerns that their policies were restricting Americans’ free speech rights. Trump has said the bloc’s tech regulations are “a form of taxation,” in comments at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January. The US letter called the code excessively burdensome, and detailed its concerns about the code of practice, and the AI Act at large, one of the people said. The letter went as far as requesting that the EU put the entire AI Act’s multi-phase implementation process—whose centerpiece is the code of practice hemming in powerful AI models— on hold unless the issues raised by the US are addressed, the person said, asking not to be identified because the letter isn’t public. The government also made its technology experts available to EU officials for further clarifications, according to the person. Representatives for the United States Mission to the EU and the White House didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment. The code of practice is being drafted by tech firms, copyright holders, and civil society representatives, under the stewardship of the EU’s executive branch, the European Commission. The final version of the code will be presented next month, and adopted based on the opinions of EU institution and EU member countries’ representatives.
By Chloé Meley & Redd Brown Bloomberg
ADVERTISING firms are bracing for a pull
marketing budgets, they did not dismiss the possibility of a bumpy road ahead.
Some companies are already tightening budgets. Forvia
“Of course, many of our clients are facing a very challenging situation due to uncertainty on tariffs, rising inflation and a geopolitical context that is more volatile than ever,” Publicis Chief Executive Officer Arthur Sadoun said on a call with analysts. Though this hasn’t yet materialized in the company’s numbers, “we could experience cuts from several clients across many industries for the rest of the year,” he added.
THE Yusen Terminals facility at the Port of Los Angeles in Los Angeles, California. ERIC THAYER/BLOOMBERG
Trump expresses doubts Putin
is willing to
end the Ukraine war, a day after saying a deal was close
By Darlene Superville & Aamer Madhani The Associated Press
ROME—President Donald Trump said Saturday that he doubts Russia’s Vladimir Putin wants to end his war in Ukraine, expressing new skepticism that a peace deal can be reached soon. Only a day earlier, Trump had said Ukraine and Russia were “ very close to a deal.”
“There was no reason for Putin to be shooting missiles into civilian areas, cities and towns, over the last few days,” Trump said in a social media post as he flew back to the United States after attending Pope Francis’ funeral at the Vatican, where he met briefly with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Trump also hinted at further sanctions against Russia.
“It makes me think that maybe he doesn’t want to stop the war, he’s just tapping me along, and has to be dealt with differently, through “Banking” or “Secondary Sanctions?” Too many people are dying!!!” Trump wrote.
The new doubts aired by Trump come as the president and top aides intensify their push to come to a deal to end the war that began in February 2022 when Russia invaded Ukraine.
The comments also sharply contrasted with Trump’s positive assessment that the two sides were “very close to a deal” after his special envoy, Steve Witkoff, met with Putin in Moscow on Friday.
The Trump-Zelenskyy conversation on the sidelines of the pope’s funeral was the first face-to-face encounter between the two leaders since they argued during a heated Oval Office meeting at the White House in late February. That confrontation led the White House to briefly pause US military assistance and intelligence sharing with Ukraine.
Days after ordering the pause, Trump also announced he was “strongly considering” imposing new sanctions and tariffs on Russia to try to prod Putin to negotiate in earnest. Trump has not yet followed through on the threat—something even some of his staunch Republican allies are now pressuring him to do.
Ackman says time is friend of US, enemy of China in trade war
By Alastair Marsh Bloomberg
BILLIONAIRE hedge fund manager Bill
Ackman said China will need to strike a trade deal with the US quickly as it can’t win a drawn-out trade war that will do severe damage to its economy.
In a post on X, Ackman said Beijing “should be highly incentivized to make a trade deal as quickly as possible” because the longer high tariffs persist, the greater the likelihood that companies will lose faith in China as a market in which they can source or produce goods on economically viable terms. If a deal is not struck soon, “every company that has a supply chain based in China relocates it to India, Vietnam, Mexico, the U.S. or some other country,” he said. “If instead China stubbornly decides to hold out and not negotiate due to pride or other emotional issues, China will suffer that much more severe and permanent economic consequences,” Ackman said. “Time is the friend of the US and the enemy of China’s in this negotiation.”
The hedge fund manager’s assessment flies in the face of those who say China will be able to withstand President Donald Trump’s trade war and the general tone of defiance that has marked Beijing’s position.
President Xi Jinping has rebuffed Trump’s efforts to get him on the phone, and China has said the US must show respect and rein in disparaging remarks before talks between the two countries can commence.
In fact, when Trump announced new global tariffs this month, one major economy he excluded was Russia’s.
US Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, on Friday urged Trump to “put the toughest of sanctions on Putin,” arguing there is “clear evidence that he is playing America as a patsy.”
It’s the second time in a matter of days that Trump has rebuked Putin, whom the American president rarely publicly criticizes.
On Thursday, Trump publicly urged the Russian leader to “STOP!” after a deadly barrage of attacks on Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital. After their brief meeting Saturday, Zelenskyy’s office had said the US and Ukrainian teams were making arrangements for the leaders to talk again Saturday. But Trump went directly to the Rome airport after the funeral and boarded Air Force One for the 10-hour flight back to the United States.
Zelenskyy’s spokesperson, Serhii Nykyforov, said Trump and Zelenskyy did not meet again in person because of their tight schedules.
Zelenskyy called it a “good meeting” on social media after the funeral.
“We discussed a lot one on one. Hoping for results on everything we covered. Protecting lives of our people. Full and unconditional ceasefire. Reliable and lasting peace that will prevent another war from breaking out,” said the Ukrainian leader, who also held talks Saturday with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. “Very symbolic meeting that has potential to become historic, if we achieve joint results. Thank you.”
The White House said the discus -
Israeli
sion was “very productive.” The meeting lasted about 15 minutes inside St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican, where Francis often preached the need for a peaceful end to the war, just before Trump and Zelenskyy took their seats at the outdoor funeral service.
The Vatican long ago had offered to help facilitate peace talks and Francis had regularly called for peace and dialogue from the altar of the basilica. That Trump and Zelenskyy spoke privately, face to face and hunched over on chairs on the marbled floors of the pope’s home, on the day of his funeral, was perhaps a fitting way to honor his wishes.
Trump said on social media, after he arrived in Italy late Friday, that Russia and Ukraine should meet for “very high level talks” on ending the war.
Neither Putin nor Zelenskyy have commented on Trump’s calls for direct talks.
Trump has pressed both sides to quickly come to a war-ending agreement, but while Zelenskyy agreed to an American plan for an initial 30day halt to hostilities, Russia has not signed on and has continued to strike at targets inside Ukraine.
Putin did not attend Francis’ funeral. He faces an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court, which has accused him of war crimes stemming from Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
Meanwhile, in a statement Friday night, Zelenskyy said “very significant meetings may take place” in the coming days, and reiterated his calls for an unconditional ceasefire.
“Real pressure on Russia is needed
so that they accept either the American proposal to cease fire and move towards peace, or our proposal— whichever one can truly work and ensure a reliable, immediate, and unconditional ceasefire, and then—a dignified peace and security guarantees,” he said.
“Diplomacy must succeed. And we are doing everything to make diplomacy truly meaningful and finally effective.”
The meeting Saturday also came shortly after Trump had issued his most definitive statement to date about the need for Ukraine to give up territory to Russia to bring the war to a close. He said in a Time magazine interview published Friday that “Crimea will stay with Russia.”
Russia seized the strategic peninsula along the Black Sea in southern Ukraine in 2014, years before the full-scale invasion that began in 2022. Zelenskyy wants to regain Crimea and other Ukrainian territory seized by Russia, but Trump considers that demand to be unrealistic.
Russia has also seized Ukrainian territory in the Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions since invading in February 2022.
Referring to Crimea during the interview, which was conducted at the White House on Tuesday, Trump said, “everybody understands that it’s been with them for a long time,” meaning Russia. Madhani reported from Washington.
Associated Press journalists Nicole Winfield in Vatican City and Volodymyr Yurchuk in Kyiv, Ukraine, contributed to this report.
airstrike kills 10 people, half of them children, as mediators try to restart a ceasefire
By Wafaa Shurafa & Samy Magdy The Associated Press
EIR AL-BALAH, Gaza
DStrip—An Israeli airstrike flattened a three-story home in Gaza City on Saturday, killing 10 people—half of them children—as Arab mediators scrambled to restart a ceasefire.
Israeli strikes killed at least 49 people in the past 24 hours, according to health officials.
The dead in the early morning airstrike in a neighborhood in western Gaza City included three women and five children, according to Shifa Hospital, which received the bodies.
Israel’s military said that it had struck a Hamas militant and the structure where he operated collapsed, adding that the collapse was under review.
“There is no one from the resistance among them,” said Saed AlKhour, who lost his family in the strike. “Since 1 o’clock until now we have been pulling out the remains of children, women and elderly people.” He stood amid the rubble, under a tilted ceiling.
Three other people were killed in the Shati refugee camp along Gaza City’s shoreline. Hamas said last Saturday that it
had sent a high-level delegation to Cairo to try and get the ceasefire, shattered last month by Israeli bombardment, back on track.
Israel has vowed to continue the war until all hostages are returned and Hamas is destroyed or disarmed and sent into exile. It says it will hold parts of Gaza indefinitely and implement US President Donald Trump’s proposal for the resettlement of the population in other countries, which has been widely rejected internationally.
Hamas has said that it will only release the dozens of hostages it holds in return for Palestinian prisoners, a complete Israeli withdrawal and a lasting ceasefire, as called for in the now-defunct agreement reached in January.
Hamas said that its delegation will discuss with Egyptian officials the group’s vision to end the war, which also includes reconstruction.
Earlier this week, other Hamas officials arrived in Cairo to discuss a proposal that would include a five-to-seven year truce and the release of all remaining hostages, officials said.
Egypt and Qatar are developing the proposal, which would include the gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza and the release of Palestinian prisoners, according to
Tech industry tried reducing AI’s pervasive bias. Now Trump wants to end its ‘woke AI’ efforts
By Matt O’brien AP Technology Writer
CAMBRIDGE, Mass.—After retreating from their workplace diversity, equity and inclusion programs, tech companies could now face a second reckoning over their DEI work in AI products.
In the White House and the Republicanled Congress, “woke AI” has replaced harmful algorithmic discrimination as a problem that needs fixing. Past efforts to “advance equity” in AI development and curb the production of “harmful and biased outputs” are a target of investigation, according to subpoenas sent to Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, OpenAI and 10 other tech companies last month by the House Judiciary Committee.
And the standard-setting branch of the US Commerce Department has deleted mentions of AI fairness, safety and “responsible AI” in its appeal for collaboration with outside researchers. It is instead instructing scientists to focus on “reducing ideological bias” in a way that will “enable human flourishing and economic competitiveness,” according to a copy of the document obtained by The Associated Press.
In some ways, tech workers are used to a whiplash of Washington-driven priorities affecting their work.
But the latest shift has raised concerns among experts in the field, including Harvard University sociologist Ellis Monk, who several years ago was approached by Google to help make its AI products more inclusive.
Back then, the tech industry already knew it had a problem with the branch of AI that trains machines to “see” and understand images. Computer vision held great commercial promise but echoed the historical biases found in earlier camera technologies that portrayed Black and brown people in an unflattering light.
“Black people or darker skinned people would come in the picture and we’d look ridiculous sometimes,” said Monk, a scholar of colorism, a form of discrimination based on people’s skin tones and other features.
Google adopted a color scale invented by Monk that improved how its AI image tools portray the diversity of human skin tones, replacing a decades-old standard originally designed for doctors treating white dermatology patients.
“Consumers definitely had a huge positive response to the changes,” he said.
Now Monk wonders whether such efforts will continue in the future. While he doesn’t believe that his Monk Skin Tone Scale is threatened because it’s already baked into dozens of products at Google and elsewhere — including camera phones, video games, AI image generators — he and other researchers worry that the new mood is chilling future initiatives and funding to make technology work better for everyone.
an Egyptian official and a Hamas official who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to brief media.
Israeli blockade continues ISRAEL has continued its nearly 2-month blockade of Gaza, even as aid groups warn that supplies are dwindling.
Last Friday, the World Food Program said that its food stocks in Gaza had run out, ending a main source of sustenance for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians. It said the dozens of charity kitchens it supports are expected to run out of food in the coming days.
About 80 percent of Gaza’s population of more than 2 million relies primarily on charity kitchens for food because other sources have shut down under Israel’s blockade, according to the UN.
“Meanwhile, nearly 3,000 UNRWA trucks of lifesaving aid are ready to enter Gaza,” the UN agency for Palestinian refugees said on social media. “The siege must stop.” Hamas on Saturday called on the Trump administration to immediately reverse its decision that the UN agency for Palestinian refugees isn’t immune from being sued, calling it a dangerous step by Israel’s close ally. Magdy reported from Cairo.
lutely, when the political mood shifts and when there’s a lot of pressure to get to market very quickly.”
Trump has cut hundreds of science, technology and health funding grants touching on DEI themes, but its influence on commercial development of chatbots and other AI products is more indirect. In investigating AI companies, Republican Rep. Jim Jordan, chair of the judiciary committee, said he wants to find out whether former President Joe Biden’s administration “coerced or colluded with” them to censor lawful speech.
Michael Kratsios, director of the White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy, said at a Texas event this month that Biden’s AI policies were “promoting social divisions and redistribution in the name of equity.”
The Trump administration declined to make Kratsios available for an interview but quoted several examples of what he meant. One was a line from a Biden-era AI research strategy that said: “Without proper controls, AI systems can amplify, perpetuate, or exacerbate inequitable or undesirable outcomes for individuals and communities.”
Even before Biden took office, a growing body of research and personal anecdotes was attracting attention to the harms of AI bias. One study showed self-driving car technology has a hard time detecting darkerskinned pedestrians, putting them in greater danger of getting run over. Another study asking popular AI text-to-image generators to make a picture of a surgeon found they produced a white man about 98% percent of the time, far higher than the real proportions even in a heavily male-dominated field. Face-matching software for unlocking phones misidentified Asian faces. Police in US cities wrongfully arrested Black men based on false face recognition matches. And a decade ago, Google’s own photos app sorted a picture of two Black people into a category labeled as “gorillas.”
Even government scientists in the first Trump administration concluded in 2019 that facial recognition technology was performing unevenly based on race, gender or age.
Biden’s election propelled some tech companies to accelerate their focus on AI fairness. The 2022 arrival of OpenAI’s ChatGPT added new priorities, sparking a commercial boom in new AI applications for composing documents and generating images, pressuring companies like Google to ease its caution and catch up. Then came Google’s Gemini AI chatbot— and a flawed product rollout last year that would make it the symbol of “woke AI” that conservatives hoped to unravel. Left to their own devices, AI tools that generate images from a written prompt are prone to perpetuating the stereotypes accumulated from all the visual data they were trained on.
“Google wants their products to work for everybody, in India, China, Africa, et cetera. That part is kind of DEI-immune,” Monk said. “But could future funding for those kinds of projects be lowered? Abso -
Google’s was no different, and when asked to depict people in various professions, it was more likely to favor lighterskinned faces and men, and, when women were chosen, younger women, according to the company’s own public research.
If Le Pen barred, France’s far-right Jordan Bardella to run for president
By Kavita Mokha Bloomberg
JORDAN Bardella, the leader of France’s far-right National Rally party, said he would stand for president in the 2027 election if Marine Le Pen was barred from running.
“There is no ambiguity about the fact that Marine Le Pen is my candidate, and if she was prevented tomorrow, I think I would be able to say to you that I will be the candidate. I cannot be clearer than that,” Bardella said in an interview with Le Parisien newspaper published late on Saturday.
It’s the clearest indication the 29-yearold has given about a possible candidacy, after previously deflecting questions on a potential run.
Le Pen, the longtime face of the French far-right, was dealt a massive political blow in March when a Paris criminal court convicted her of misusing money allocated to pay aides when she was a member of the European Parliament.
Le Pen immediately filed an appeal. Her political ambitions were given a boost after the Paris court of appeals said it should be able to rule on a challenge to her conviction and election ban by the summer of next year—much sooner than expected. If the appeals court were to find in Le Pen’s favor or say the ban needn’t apply straight away, it would come in time for her to run in the 2027 presidential race.
“Marine is presumed innocent,” Bardella told Le Parisien, adding the party will use all possible means to proclaim its innocence in the matter.
The Le Pen protege has helped bring the National Rally closer to power than ever before, after it defeated Macron’s centrist alliance to become the biggest party in the French parliament last year. Coordinated maneuvers among the mainstream parties prevented it from securing a majority. A recent poll showed him to be the frontrunner in the 2027 presidential contest.
The three-time presidential candidate was found guilty of embezzlement and given an immediate five-year ban on running for office, seemingly thwarting her hopes of replacing President Emmanuel Macron when his term ends in two years.
IN this photo provided by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Office, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, right, and President Donald Trump, talk as they attend the funeral of Pope Francis in Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. UKRAINIAN PRESIDENTIAL PRESS OFFICE VIA AP
PHL pitches ‘inclusive rules’ for oceans treaty
TBy Ada Pelonia @adapelonia
HE Philippines called for the adoption of rules for a treaty that aims to protect marine biodiversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction.
Agriculture Undersecretary for Fisheries
Drusila Esther Bayate called for consensus-based decisionmaking, with clear thresholds for majority votes that “balance efficiency with legitimacy” under the Agreement on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ Agreement).
the treaty will be implemented and who gets a say.”
During the First Session of the Preparatory Commission for the entry into force of the BBNJ Agreement in New York last week, Bayate urged fellow delegates to embrace rules that reflect the spirit of the agreement.
She noted that the Philippines is particularly invested in an enhanced response to new and emerging ocean issues, given its position as an archipelagic country.
The BBNJ Agreement was adopted in 2023 following two decades of negotiations to protect marine ecosystems in areas beyond national borders, which cover nearly half the planet’s surface.
“However, as the agreement awaits ratification by dozens of countries, the battle has shifted from principle to process—how
She also said there must be “flexibility, regional representation, and genuine inclusivity,” especially in terms of participation.
Report: Cocoa still expensive despite tariff-related volatility
COCOA prices remain elevated due to output concerns in West Africa despite the potential easing of demand and tariff concerns, according to an international research firm.
BMI, a unit of Fitch Solutions, recently reported that cocoa futures posted a 16.6-percent month-on-month increase, outperforming other softs commodities.
“With cocoa, following tariffrelated volatility, growing concerns about production in West Africa have been the main drivers of bullish sentiment, leading us to make an upward revision to our most recent forecast for 2025 despite some worries about demand,” BMI said.
“While as of the start of December, arrivals of cocoa at ports in Cote D’Ivoire for the 2024/25 season were 34.5 percent higher than the previous season, this decreased to 11.3 percent as of April 20.”
The research firm also noted that first-quarter cocoa grindings, a key indicator of demand for the crop, is placing upward pressure on quotations.
“This is because, although grindings decreased by 3.5 percent year-on-year, this decrease was below market expectations and demand is proving to be more resilient than expected in the face of huge increases in prices.” Earlier, the research firm re -
vised upward its annual average forecast of cocoa prices to $8,500 per metric ton (MT) this year despite the projected recovery of production in West Africa, which has accounted for slightly over half of global output in recent seasons. This figure was 12.27 percent higher than the average quotation of $7,571 per MT recorded last year.
“While we expect production in West Africa to improve from the 2023/24 season, we flag that concerns about the 2024/25 harvest remain, a bullish factor for the market.”
“Over recent weeks, reports about unfavorable weather conditions including dry seasonal harmattan winds have increased concerns.”
Meanwhile, BMI also said it recently adjusted its forecast for coffee prices over the next few years, largely driven by adverse weather conditions in Brazil, the world’s leading producer of the crop.
“With coffee, we have also recently revised our forecast for 2025 upwards, with unfavorable weather conditions in Brazil as the main source of concern,” the research firm said.
“We note that the US is a larger importer of coffee than cocoa, so concerns about slowing demand in the market due to tariffs have been more bearish for the market.”
Ada Pelonia
“The draft Rules of Procedure should prioritize transparency, inclusivity, and efficiency in decisionmaking processes while upholding the principles of the UNCLOS and its implementing agreements, and particularly the BBNJ Agreement, including equity, common heritage of humankind, and the special circumstances of developing states and archipelagic states.”
Meanwhile, the Philippines
also backed provisions allowing observers, including non-party states, Indigenous Peoples (IPs), and local communities, to participate in the work of the Conference of the Parties (COP) and its subsidiary bodies, in line with the treaty’s recognition of diverse stakeholders.
Bayate said there is a need for gender balance and equitable geographic representation in the election of COP officers.
She also called for robust procedures in establishing key bodies such as scientific and technical committees, an access and benefit-sharing committee, and
a compliance body, all with regional expertise and operational independence.
“In a world racing against time to reverse the decline of its oceans, the Philippines’ call was clear: the BBNJ Agreement must not only promise a better future—it must be built on a process that empowers all voices, especially those most dependent on the sea.”
Department of Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo signed the treaty during the 78th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York last September 20, 2023. It covers a wide range of issues, including the establishment of marine protected areas in the high seas, the regulation of deep-sea mining and other activities that could harm the BBNJ, the sharing of benefits from the use of marine genetic resources and the development of capacity and the transfer of marine technology to developing countries.
INDIGENOUS knowledge systems and practices (IKSPs) must be recognized and protected as these help safeguard biodiversity and contribute to food security, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the (FAO) and National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP).
FAO and NCIP said IKSPs are “evolving traditions” that helped sustain Indigenous Cultural Communities (ICCs) and Indigenous Peoples (IPs) across the country’s most fragile ecosystems.
FAO Representative in the Philippines Lionel Dabbadie and NCIP Chairperson Jennifer Pia SibugLas noted that IKSPs are working systems that were documented through field consultations under the Adapting Philippine Agriculture to Climate Change (APA)
Project.
“These IKSPs respond to the urgent threats of our time: climate volatility, shrinking biodiversity, and growing food insecurity,” they said in a statement.
“But despite their value, IKSPs remain vulnerable to erasure, and are often denied the recognition and protection we readily extend to other innovations. This must change.”
They noted that such change is the primary aim of the APA Project, which works closely with the NCIP to empower 250,000 farmers, including 30,000 IP farmers, across climate-vulnerable areas by promoting climate resilient agriculture rooted in local ecosystems.
The APA Project is funded by the Green Climate Fund and implemented by several govern -
ment agencies, including the Department of Agriculture (DA), the Department of Science and Technology-Philippine Atmospheric (DOST), Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration or (PAGASA), and FAO.
“By documenting, validating, and integrating IKSPs, the APA Project aims to safeguard these knowledge systems, not as curiosities of the past, but as essential building blocks for a climatesmart resilient future.”
They noted that the APA Project offers a model which ensures that this knowledge is respected, protected, and actively safeguarded.
Such model includes investing in IPs-led innovations, with the full and active participation of Indigenous youth and women, ensuring that these IKSPs continue, grow, adapt, and evolve along with
N. Vizcaya irrigators get farm
By Jonathan L. Mayuga @jonlmayuga
THE Department of Agrarian Reform said it has provided Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries (ARBs) in Aritao, Nueva Vizcaya with P1.8 million worth of farm machinery, equipment, and inputs.
In a statement, the DAR said the beneficiaries from the Aritao Irrigators Multi-Purpose Cooperative (AIMPC) received support through the agency’s Climate Re -
silient Farm Productivity Support (CRFPS) project.
The FMEs included a P1.5 million 4-wheel drive tractor and P313,500 essential farm inputs. These are expected to boost productivity, improve yields, and help local ARBs adapt to climate change.
“This initiative equips our ARBs with the tools they need to thrive despite climate challenges,” said Provincial Agrarian Reform Program Officer (PARPO) David B.
equipment
Villanueva Jr. in a statement.
“It’s an investment in their productivity, resilience, and future.”
Known for promoting best farming practices, AIMPC is considered a model Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Organization (ARBO) in the region. The support is expected to elevate its role in sustainable agriculture and community development.
upholding the Free and Prior Informed Consent (FPIC). It also involves recognizing IKSPs as a collective part of the community intellectual rights, being products of human creativity that deserve legal protection and proper attribution together with mainstreaming IKSPs in national development.
“Protecting this wisdom is not an act of charity—it is our moral responsibility and a necessity for our shared future, as it forms part of our traditional foundation.”
“True knowledge does not emerge only from classrooms and research laboratories, but also in rice terraces, forest groves, and among the ICCs and IPs who have quietly communed and lived in harmony with the land since time immemorial. It is indispensable.”
AIMPC Manager George R. Tucay expressed gratitude for the assistance, calling it a game-changer for their cooperative.
Ada Pelonia
“The new FMEs and inputs will greatly boost our productivity and improve the lives of our members. We are truly grateful to DAR for this support.”
The DAR said it is committed to providing continuous training and technical support to ensure the effective use of the FMEs and inputs through various ARB organizations.
With ongoing collaboration, the project promises a brighter future for ARBs in Aritao through increased farm productivity and sustainable rural development.
Startups are turning these unconventional ingredients into butter and oil
THE slabs of butter atop sourdough at a recent tasting were smooth, creamy and greasy, as you’d expect. But at this event in New York, the appetizers’ buttery feel came from a potent greenhouse gas, not fat from cow milk.
Fatty acids — compounds of hydrogen, oxygen and carbon atoms — are the building blocks of all the fats and oils in food. In nature, plants and animals produce them, but Savor, the California-based startup that organized the tasting, is replicating those molecules with methane captured from coal mining or natural gas drilling. The methane-butter-laced mushroom steaks and butterbraised cabbage also on offer make for a “really bizarre meal,” Savor co-founder Ian McKay said — one that he says will be available at American restaurants and bakeries in the coming months.
The company, which is backed by billionaire Bill Gates, is part of a growing slate of startups tapping everything from fungus to sawdust to make more environmentally friendly fats and oils. Traditional agricultural businesses are facing tougher scrutiny over their impact on the planet, with regulators rolling out new laws such as the European Union’s ban on food items linked to deforestation. At the same time, some types of fat are becoming scarcer and more expensive as climate change decimates the crops used to make them. The cost of cocoa, for example, more than doubled last year from 2023 after erratic rainfall patterns and increased temperatures wreaked havoc on plantations in West Africa.
Alternative fat startups say their products can fill that gap while cutting back carbon emissions.
This is not the first time that tech companies have attempted to solve the environmental problems associated with industrial agriculture. Not long ago, makers of alternative proteins attracted billions of dollars from investors. So far, though, sales of plant-based “meat” are stalling. Beyond Meat Inc., one of the leading plant-based food companies, lost more than 90 percent of its market valuation over the past six years.
But compared to their troubled alternative protein cousins, “alternative fats have a lot of room to succeed,” says Priera Panescu Scott, a researcher with Good Food Institute, a nonprofit think tank.
Fake meat products have partly struggled because of their taste and texture tend to fall flat. Since fat is the secret ingredient that gives meat and dairy products their unique flavor and mouthfeel, plant-based protein producers are
willing to pay for alternatives, she says. Cargill, for example, has teamed up with Spanish startup Cubiq Foods, which makes an alternative fat made from vegetable oil and water that the global conglomerate plans to add to its plant-based burgers.
A roasty aroma that comes from soil
A BIOTECH scientist by training, James Petrie set out to replicate the roasty aroma of pork, chicken and beef at Nourish Ingredients, which he co-founded.
“Everyone says the flavor is in the fat, but what type of fat is it?” Petrie recalls asking. After pinpointing the right fatty compound in meat, he and his found an analogue in a type of single-cell fungus that lives in soil. Engineers at the Canberra, Australia-based startup now grow the fungus in a bioreactor and process their
harvest in controlled temperatures and pressure to modify its aroma and taste profile. The final product, according to Petrie, is a cream-colored powder that can be used as a food additive. Nourish Ingredients also produces a milk fat alternative from another microorganism.
Petrie says his company’s products cost around the same or less as the artificial flavors currently used in plant-based burgers and other alternative proteins. But before they hit the shelves, they need to be vetted by food safety watchdogs. The company is seeking regulatory approval in Australia, Singapore, the EU and the US, among other places, Petrie says. That process can take time. Governments around the world lack an established regulatory framework for alternative fats and oils. That, in turn, slows down products’ journey to supermarkets and restaurants and adds to their cost, industry experts say.
Finding a substitute for palm oil SEVERAL companies are focused on replacing palm oil, whose production often involves clearing vast swathes of forest to make way for plantations. In 2024, Indonesia cut down more than 77,000 acres of forest — the equivalent of about 90 Central Parks. Replacing palm oil with a synthetic alternative could reduce roughly as much carbon emissions as what South Africa releases in a year, according to a 2023 study published in Nature. New York-based C16 BioSciences converts yeasts into alternative palm oil through a fermentation technique not unlike what’s used to brew beer. Äio, based in Tallinn, Estonia, is deploying a similar process to make the oil from forestry waste such as sawdust. Bloomberg News
THIS BusinessMirror file photo shows a school of bannerfish in the Barangay Ermita Marine Protected Area in Sipaway Island, San Carlos City, Negros Occidental.
The REFUEL Project takes aim at hunger and malnutrition
FOOD security is crucial for poor Filipinos as it directly impacts their health, livelihood, and overall quality of life. In a country where a significant portion of the population lives below the poverty line, access to sufficient and nutritious food is essential for combating malnutrition and related health issues. Food security not only ensures that families have enough to eat but also supports their ability to work, learn, and thrive. When people are food secure, they can invest in their education and future, fostering economic stability and growth within their communities.
The approval of the Reducing Food Insecurity and Undernutrition with Electronic Vouchers (REFUEL) Project by the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) marks a significant advancement in the country’s ongoing battle against hunger and malnutrition. Set to run from July 2025 to July 2028, this initiative is not just a program; it is a lifeline for approximately 750,000 food-insecure households across the nation. (Read the BusinessMirror story: “Neda Oks P74.6-B food aid program,” April 24, 2025).
As Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan articulated, REFUEL reflects a renewed commitment to ending involuntary hunger and uplifting vulnerable communities. This program builds upon the groundwork laid by the Walang Gutom 2027 Food Stamp Program, aiming to create a responsive social protection system. With an estimated budget of P74.6 billion, supported by international funding from the Asian Development Bank, Agence Française de Développement, and the OPEC Fund for International Development, REFUEL demonstrates a collaborative approach to tackling food insecurity.
The urgency of this initiative cannot be overstated. According to the 2023 National Nutrition Survey by the Food and Nutrition Research Institute, three in 10 Philippine households experience moderate to severe food insecurity, with a staggering three out of every hundred facing severe levels.
The REFUEL Project introduces electronic vouchers as a means to provide timely support to those in need. By leveraging technology, the program aims to ensure that food assistance is not only more efficient but also more effective in reaching vulnerable populations, particularly in the face of increasing climate-related challenges and disasters. This approach is essential in a country prone to natural calamities, where the need for responsive and adaptive social safety nets is critical.
Moreover, the REFUEL initiative is a step towards integrating nutrition-sensitive strategies into social protection systems. This is vital for fostering resilience among communities that are often the hardest hit by economic and environmental shocks. By prioritizing nutrition, the government is taking a holistic approach to economic development, recognizing that a healthy population is key to a productive workforce.
The REFUEL Project is a landmark initiative that embodies the government’s commitment to eradicating hunger and improving nutrition for our most vulnerable citizens. As we look toward its implementation, we must rally as a nation to support this endeavor, ensuring that every household has access to the food they need to thrive. The fight against food insecurity is not just a government responsibility; it is a collective mission that requires the involvement of all sectors of society.
Safeguarding the 2025 elections in the final stretch
OHer ordeal looms large today, with just 14 days until the 2025 polls. But this time, we have a new tool to prevent such tragedies: artificial intelligence.
Throughout this write-up, I will draw on a few practical models and lessons from other countries to show how AI can be maximized for this election, if we act now. I know these suggestions come late, with the elections merely two weeks away. So if these measures prove too ambitious to implement in time for May 2025, perhaps they can serve as a roadmap for improving our electoral process in the next elections and beyond.
RISING SUN
a broken system.
Comelec has already launched the online precinct finder for the May 2025 polls, which allows voters to check their polling place and precinct number. This tool went live on April 23, 2025, and is part of ongoing efforts to make the voting process more accessible and secure, especially in light of the millions of registered voters this year.
Comelec’s overseas voter chatbot—already fielding 20,000 daily inquiries—can be scaled nationwide, ASAP, via SMS, the primary internet source for 65 percent of Filipinos. India’s 2024 model proves it works: AI analyzed foot traffic at 850,000
polling stations, cutting wait times by 52 percent. For crowded precincts like Manila’s Baseco Compound, predictive analytics can predeploy extra staff and water stations using 2022 turnout patterns.
While humans count ballots, Indonesia’s Sirekap AI, despite its glitches, scanned 820 million votes in 2024, flagging smudged ballots in 0.4 seconds. Pair this with Comelec’s scanners to detect duplicates or tampering. Yes, Sirekap had hiccups (like unverified Google Drive uploads), but real-time AI audits plus human checks create a safety net.
When Estonia faced a wave of cyberattacks during its 2023 elections, the nation didn’t rely on the government alone. Instead, it called on the private sector, enlisting 150 tech CEOs to join its election task force. Their expertise became the backbone of a rapid, coordinated defense that kept the polls secure and public confidence high.
This collaborative model offers a compelling lesson for the Philippines. Our tech giants could step up in similar ways. Imagine local engineers working hand-in-hand with
Comelec to fortify election systems against digital threats, just as Estonia’s experts did. Companies could also sponsor secure cloud storage for vote data—a crucial need, especially as Meta’s “AI Accord” has already pledged such support for safeguarding sensitive information. Comelec just partnered with seven tech firms for emergency AI deployment. It’s a start. But true success requires all hands—for instance, from Globe’s engineers optimizing vote data streams to SM malls offering airconditioned “AI-assisted voting hubs.” And in the noisy aftermath of election day, there’s another vital role for the business community: using their vast social media reach to flood timelines with only Comelec-verified results. By amplifying official information and drowning out “unofficial tallies,” they can help restore trust and clarity in the critical hours when the nation waits for the final count. The tools exist. The cost? Less than 1 percent of the P18.4 billion election budget. But perhaps what’s missing is the will to act—before May 12 becomes another historic “what if.”
DOTR Secretary Dizon emerges as BBM’s troubleshooter
IN just over two months at the helm of the Department of Transportation (DOTr), Secretary Vince Dizon has emerged as a dynamic force of reform—resolute, responsive, and results-driven. His swift and decisive leadership has earned him a reputation as the administration’s go-to “troubleshooter” and “action man,” proving himself indispensable in President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s Cabinet.
Before Dizon’s appointment, the transportation sector was grappling with a host of deeply rooted challenges: delayed infrastructure projects, inefficient routes, antiquated systems, surging fuel prices, and the growing unrest of public utility drivers. These problems were not new— but they had long been ignored. That is, until Dizon stepped in.
From the outset, Dizon wasted no time confronting these issues head-on. His pragmatic and handson approach has earned praise from both the public and private sectors. Notably, he extended an open hand to jeepney drivers—some of the most affected by the PUV modernization program—choosing dialogue over dogma, and working toward a solution that balances progress with compassion. This was a decisive move and shows his concern for the drivers who face the prospects of hand-to-
mouth existence.
What sets Dizon apart is his genuine sense of public service. He doesn’t merely issue directives from behind a desk—he listens, acts, and leads from the front. One clear example was his unannounced visits to airports, ports, and bus terminals during Holy Week, one of the busiest travel periods in the country. Dizon showed up in person, ensuring systems worked and passengers moved smoothly. Long queues vanished. Safety protocols were tightened. And for once, the chaos of holiday travel gave way to calm, organized efficiency.
In a bureaucracy where empty talk too often replaces tangible results, Dizon’s “actions-first” leadership is refreshing. His surprise inspections during Holy Week led to the identification—and suspension—of hundreds of PUV drivers found to be using illegal drugs or involved in road
accidents. A total of 671 licenses were suspended: 574 for road accidents causing injury or death, and 97 for drug use confirmed by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency. This no-excuses crackdown underscores Dizon’s unwavering commitment to commuter safety.
Further reinforcing his intolerance for corruption, Dizon swiftly dismissed three airport personnel implicated in the notorious “tanimbala” scheme. He also ordered the removal of LTO enforcers who abused their power in Bohol. These decisions send a clear message: under his leadership, incompetence and misconduct will not be tolerated.
Beyond enforcement, Dizon has prioritized easing the burden on everyday commuters. He paused the mandatory cashless toll collection in Metro Manila, providing muchneeded breathing room for motorists. He preserved the Edsa Bus Carousel system amid calls to dismantle it, recognizing its critical role in offering an affordable and efficient option to millions of commuters.
“Where there’s a will, there’s a way” could well be his guiding principle. His short time in office has already produced an impressive list of achievements that speak for themselves. And he has shown his active and reflective listening that produces results.
But more than celebrating one man’s accomplishments, Dizon’s example serves a greater purpose—it proves that excellence in governance is not an unreachable ideal. It’s achievable, replicable, and, under the right leadership, transformative.
Dizon’s personal touch has made a difference. He’s not above riding the MRT without fanfare—no entourage, no photo ops—just a government official seeking to understand the daily struggles of the people he serves. And when commuters voiced frustrations over limited baggage rules and short operating hours, he listened—and acted. MRT operations were extended, and policies revised to better accommodate the public. He has also shown flexibility and empathy in the contentious PUV modernization issue. Rather than enforcing a blanket ban on traditional jeepneys, Dizon allowed them back on the roads while a more inclusive and realistic solution is developed. Early in his term, he showed he would not tolerate inefficiency, swiftly terminating the contractor responsible for unacceptable delays in the common station project. The message was clear: timelines matter, and the public deserves better. Through every decision and every action, Secretary Dizon has shown that decisive leadership is the antidote to bureaucratic paralysis. His leadership has energized the DOTr, inspiring a culture of solution-oriented governance. Problems are no longer seen as excuses for delay but as challenges to be solved—with urgency and integrity.
N May 9, 2022, Luzviminda Gutierrez, a 68-year-old vendor, collapsed from heatstroke after waiting six hours to vote in Manila. Her story went viral, exposing
Atty. Jose Ferdinand M. Rojas II
LITO GAGNI
Saudi push into South Africa yields billions of dollars in deals
By Loni Prinsloo & S’thembile Cele
AFLURRY of meetings between Saudi Arabia and South Africa over the past year has culminated in discussions about or signed deals worth billions of dollars into Africa’s most industrialized country—and more corporate action is in the pipeline.
The rush of deal-making is part of a broader Gulf drive into Africa, with the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia in particular investing in mining, renewable energy and agriculture.
Mineral-rich South Africa is attracting investors because it’s the continent’s most-industrialized nation, boasts developed-world infrastructure and has a bevy of well-run companies at bargain prices compared with firms in other regions.
“There is a disconnect between valuation levels in South Africa compared to other markets, so if you are a strategic investor taking a long-term view—you will see the value and opportunities,” said Ruven Naidoo, head of mergers and acquisitions at Investec Bank Ltd. “We have really high-quality management teams and intellectual property and companies that are very good at what they do, so it’s a good place to look for opportunities.”
Delegations of officials and business leaders have been visiting either country every few months since a 2022 meeting between Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa—along with hundreds of businessmen—in the kingdom. It’s resulted in about $5 billion in deal talks and investment in renewable energy, logistics, gas stations and real estate—some signed, some still in discussions.
The 10-hour journey between the capitals is becoming so popular that South African Airways is discussing a direct route between Riyadh and Johannesburg, according to people familiar with the matter. An SAA representative said no official announcement has been made.
Chrispin Phiri, spokesman in South Africa’s international affairs ministry, said bilateral relations had “strengthened significantly over the past years,” with Saudi investment “growing exponentially.” South Africa’s trade minister will co-chair the 10th SA-Saudi Joint Economic Committee meeting next month in Riyadh, he added.
The governments are collaborating at a high level on trade and business, said Hussam Algheraimil, Saudi Arabia’s commercial attaché in Johannesburg. But challenges remain. “We don’t have bilateral investment treaties yet,” he added. “Some government opportunities requires a lot of bureaucratic procedures and requirements for the Saudi companies.” Meanwhile, the kingdom is also facing a fresh fiscal squeeze due to subdued oil prices that could complicate efforts to invest abroad. Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund—a key driver of investment in the local economy—is already allocating more money at home than abroad and may consider selling international assets to come up with more cash, analysts have said.
Renewables, ports
SAUDI companies including ACWA Power and ports operator Red Sea Gateway Terminal International, both backed by the kingdom’s $925 billion sovereign wealth fund, have invested in South Africa or are bidding for assets in the country. Thanks to the Public Investment Fund’s 44% stake in ACWA, the kingdom is now the largest investor in South Africa’s renewable-power sector, according to Standard Bank Group. South Africa’s current coalition government “brings economic and policy certainty and renewed confidence,” while “high local banking capacity” makes it easier for companies to expand, said ACWA South Africa
How can power rates be made affordable in NCR? ERC asks AI, and is pleased as AI affirms its track
‘Hcountry manager Nandu Bhula. The company has invested $1.9 billion in its three plants so far, with the stabilization of power supplies also helping attract foreign investment, he said.
ACWA plans to invest as much as 7 billion rand ($378 million) in South Africa’s water and energy sectors over the next five years, according to people familiar with the matter.
Red Sea Gateway Terminal International is prepared to make a bid that may exceed $600 million for sub-Saharan Africa’s biggest port in Durban, according to people familiar with the matter. That deal is pending a legal challenge against a tender award two years ago.
“South African container terminals represent some of the most attractive investment opportunities in the sector globally,” said RSGTI director of global investments Gagan Seksaria. The group would also be interested in bidding for Cape Town’s port, should a tender come up, he said.
Logistics, gas stations LAST month, the Jeddah-based Zahid Group reopened talks with Barloworld Ltd. shareholders to increase its stake in the sole distributor of Caterpillar Inc. equipment on the continent, valuing the firm at $1.25 billion. The Saudi Arabian Oil Co. is also competing to buy Shell Plc’s downstream gas stations in South Africa for about $1 billion, as previously reported by Bloomberg.
Saudi billionaire Ajlan Bin Abdulaziz Al-Ajlan has plans to invest $500 million in a platinum smelter and refinery in South Africa’s Limpopo province. Saudi Telecom last year completed the acquisition 49 percent of CMC Networks South Africa for an undisclosed amount.
This month, the South AfricaSaudi Business Forum met the kingdom’s deputy minister of economic planning Al-Baraa Al-Iskandarani in Riyadh. That followed an earlier meeting in February, where a half dozen Saudi officials including AlIskandarani visited South Africa’s Johannesburg Stock Exchange, the Industrial Development Corporation and other businesses.
The group agreed to compile a new list of potential deals in South Africa, according to people familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified as the information is private.
The deals dovetail with the crown prince’s Vision 2030 plan to diversify his country’s economy away from oil.
Earlier this year, the kingdom announced $41 billion in investments across various sectors—focusing on natural resources, food security and renewable energy—in Africa until 2030, as it positions itself on the continent to compete with Middle East rivals.
Win-win
THE current deal-flow will boost South Africa’s finances and provide stronger links to other Gulf and Middle Eastern countries, said Saudi-South Africa Business Forum coChairman Stavros Nicolaou. Overall, Gulf countries have invested more than $100 billion in Africa since 2014, according to the World Economic Forum.
Plans are in place for the kingdom to partner with South African pharmaceutical companies, while talks are ongoing over exports of South African automotive, financial services, commodities and agricultural products, he said. South African exports to Saudi Arabia increased to 7.3 billion rand last year, from 6.6 billion rand the previous year. With assistance from Christine Burke/Bloomberg
By Lenie Lectura @llectura
OW do you make power rates affordable in Metro Manila, Philippines?”
Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) Chairperson and CEO Atty. Monalisa Dimalanta searched the internet for a reply on this. It turns out that the agency’s efforts and that of the Department of Energy (DOE) to bring down power rates are similar to how the AI (Artificial Intelligence) responded.
“I did a little experiment. I asked ChatGPT a question closest to my regulatory heart, and I’m sure it’s closest to Meralco’s heart,” Dimalanta said during the Giga Summit2025: The Fusion of Power and Intelligence organized by Meralco Power Academy.
The reply she got was to go full gear on renewable energy (RE) and implement regulatory reforms, which includes renegotiation of power supply agreements (PSAs) and enforcing a price cap or the highest price that power firms can offer for their electricity in the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM).
This cap is meant to protect consumers from potentially exorbitant electricity rates in the event of a tight supply or other market disruptions, the ERC said.
“To lower power rates, renegotiate PPAs [power purchase agreements]. That’s what ChatGPT said. There are other responses including targeted subsidies to low-income households, as well as tax incentives to renewable energy. There’s a button that
says regenerate so I let curiosity get the better of me and I clicked on the regenerate button.
“So, answer number one is renegotiate PPAs. When I regenerated the question, it said to put price caps. That’s what AI said. In addition, they said deregulate the energy sector, increase market competition by allowing consumers to source their own power supply and retail aggregation program.
“I stopped myself from regenerating again. I knew it was a rabbit hole so I stopped at the second attempt. And what it tells me, at least if I follow ChatGPT’s biblical wisdom, is that we are on the right track. The DOE is in the right track on the policy of pursuing RE. We are also on the right track of putting price caps. We are also on the right track on allowing consumers to source their own supply,” she said.
More important, the ERC chair shared a valuable lesson from this ‘experiment’ and that is to ask the right questions.
“More than the actual response
are some lessons that I’ve learned myself from the exercise. The first is, we should spend more time formulating our questions and making sure we are asking the right questions,” she said.
“Take note of the question ‘How do you make power rates affordable in Metro Manila, Philippines?’
First premise is that the power rates are not affordable. The second aspect of the questions is that is focused in Metro Manila. So, formulating the question is actually as important as finding the answers to that question.”
Similarly, Dimalanta said the commission is confronted with many problems, mostly procedural, such as how can the agency streamline its processes. “I stopped myself from answering right away because I catch myself asking the wrong question. The question is taken from the perspective of how do we make this process easier for us, the regulator? When the question should be, ‘How do we make this process easier for the stakeholders?’
“When we zero in on the right questions, we finally land on what we think is the right question. We need to be prepared because sometimes the answers may surprise us. The danger also is that we dismiss answers right away like what ChatGPT said which is to put more price caps,” the ERC chief pointed out.
For Meralco’s part, its power generation arm reiterated the importance of collaboration and shared
responsibility across the sector.
Meralco PowerGen (MGen) President Emmanuel Rubio stressed that technology alone will not deliver the energy transition but “recognizing the importance of policy alignment, large-scale investments, and people” will make the goal happen.
“The energy transition demands more than vision—it requires bold action, unity, and leadership. Transformation must happen across the entire value chain. At MGen we are ready to lead this charge, but it will take all of us—utilities, developers, policymakers, and innovators—to shape a brighter future for every Filipino,” Rubio said.
Meralco chairman Manuel Pangilinan also stressed the importance of the government’s role to bring progress to the country.
“The ultimate test of our contribution and efficiency as a business is this question: Have we left our people better off? From the things we’ve done, to our activities, what we do. If we have not done that, then we haven’t done our job as a business. It is very central to what we do that we do not harm our people with the activities we do. It’s a balance. In that regard, we cannot discharge our role as stewards of our assets and as stewards the money entrusted to us without the help of everybody—without the help of government, without the help of our stakeholders. We have to cooperate, we have to progress this country,” Pangilinan said.
Trump ‘misjudged’ China on trade war, Chinese adviser says
PRESIDENT Donald Trump misjudged Beijing by calculating that it would cave into economic pressure, leaving the US unprepared to handle the current tariff standoff, according to an adviser to China’s Foreign Ministry.
“The mainstream narrative within the Trump team is that because the Chinese economy is bad, if the US plays the tariff card, then China will have no choice but to surrender,” said Wu Xinbo, director at Fudan University’s Center for American Studies in Shanghai, who last year led a group of experts in the ministry to meet politicians and business executives in the US.
“But surprisingly to them China didn’t collapse and surrender,” Wu said during a panel discussion in Shanghai on Friday. “The US side misjudged the situation and also is not well-prepared for the confrontation with China.”
The fate of the global economy and financial markets hinges in large part on whether the US and China can find a way to avoid a protracted trade war. Trump has hit China with tariffs of 145 percent on most goods since taking office, prompting Beijing to retaliate and threatening to wipe out most trade between the world’s biggest economies.
The trade war comes as Chinese policymakers grapple with persistent deflation, a yearslong property crash and weak consumer spending. Exports accounted for nearly 40 percent of growth in the first quarter, underscoring the importance
of global shipments to driving the Chinese economy.
Trump has repeatedly tried to get President Xi Jinping on the phone since he began piling tariffs on China, and claimed this week that talks between the two sides were taking place, while refusing to specify at what level. China has denied any trade negotiations are underway, and Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said Friday that the US “should not mislead the public.”
Before talks begin, officials in Beijing want to see Trump show more respect by reining in disparaging remarks by members of his cabinet, Bloomberg previously reported. China also wants the US to name a point person for talks and show a willingness to address China’s concerns around American sanctions and Taiwan, the self-ruled island Beijing considers its territory.
Highlighting the widening rift between the two sides, China’s central bank Governor Pan Gongsheng and Finance Minister Lan Fo’an are both in Washington this week for annual economic meetings, but neither have announced plans for talks with Trump officials. It’s customary for Chinese officials to huddle with the US treasury secretary or lower-level staff on the sidelines of the World
Bank and International Monetary Fund meetings. Talks could still take place in the coming days.
As both sides dig in, China’s Commerce Ministry convened a snap twoday meeting in Beijing that ended Friday on how to respond to trade conflicts. The ministry concluded that such frictions are now entering a “high-intensity” period, and urged for confidence and composure in the face of such challenges.
“We are witnessing a highly confrontational stalemate relationship between our two countries and there is a risk of further escalation,” said Wu, pointing to finance, technology, security and people-to-people exchanges as areas that could be impacted by the spiraling trade war.
Trump has in recent days appeared to offer an olive branch to Beijing, saying there is room to “substantially” lower tariffs if the two sides reach a deal and by claiming he won’t “play hardball” in negotiations.
Beijing responded by demanding his administration drops all unilateral tariffs on China, indicating Xi’s in no hurry to rush to the negotiating table.
Trump will likely come under pressure to back down due to the impact of tariffs on inflation, said Arthur Kroeber, a New York-based partner at Gavekal Dragonomics who was previously based in Beijing.
“The US is going to figure out they have to fold and they have to get into some kind of negotiation stance with
PTFOMS scores threats, violence vs. media workers ahead of midterm polls
THE Presidential Task Force on Media Security (PTFOMS) is taking decisive action in response to recent threats and acts of violence against media workers.
Following reports that Mayor Joseph Bernos of La Paz, Abra, allegedly threatened DZRH reporter Romeo Beñas Gonzales via Facebook Messenger and a subsequent video call on April 21, 2025, PTFOMS has initiated an active investigation in collaboration with the Philippine National Police (PNP).
In a separate alarming incident, PTFOMS strongly condemns the strafing attack on April 20, 2025,
which targeted the residence of former Negros Press Club President and radio blocktimer Reynaldo Siason in Talisay City, Negros Occidental. While Mr. Siason and his family were fortunately unharmed, the attack highlights significant threats to press freedom in the country. PTFOMS is working closely with the PNP to investigate this incident thoroughly and implement measures to protect media workers and bring those responsible to justice.
“We assure the public and the media that every effort is being made to support Mr. Gonzales and Mr. Siason
and ensure their safety,” said Undersecretary Jose Torres Jr., Executive Director of PTFoMS.
“We take all threats against media workers seriously and are committed to safeguarding their security as they fulfill their essential role in our democracy,” Torres added, as he called on all candidates in the upcoming May mid-term elections to respect and uphold press freedom.
“It is crucial for those running for office to ensure that the media can carry out their duties without fear of retaliation or violence,” he said. “A free press is vital to a healthy democracy, and it is our collective
China,” he said. “It’s just a question of how long that takes and what particular shape that takes.”
While China has vowed to “fully prepare” emergency plans to protect the economy from “rising external shocks”—Communist Party code for the trade war—the nation’s top leaders refrained at a monthly meeting Friday from signaling imminent stimulus. China’s stronger-thanexpected growth in the first quarter has likely bought time for the government to consider new steps.
There are signs Beijing doesn’t want to escalate. Chinese officials are reportedly weighing suspending their 125 percent tariff on some US imports, including medical equipment and industrial chemicals such as ethane. That would mirror a similar step taken by the US to exclude electronics from its tariffs.
But it shouldn’t be taken as a sign Beijing is backing off.
“China is determined to take on the US to the end,” Wu said. “It’s not a slogan,” he added, referencing a vow from Chinese officials to “fight to the end.” Wu warned against being optimistic about quickly reaching a deal, saying it “won’t be an easy process.” It could take several months before the two sides agree to talk and years before they arrive at an agreement on trade, he added.
“Time is on China’s side,” said Wu. “It’s up to the US to decide to fight or not fight.” With assistance from Yujing Liu, Jing Li and James Mayger /Bloomberg
responsibility to protect this fundamental right.” PTFOMS also appeals to all media practitioners to maintain the highest standards of fair and responsible journalism. “In these challenging times, it is imperative for the media to adhere to ethical reporting practices,” Torres said.
“The burden lies with us all to ensure that journalism remains a force for truth and accountability.” PTFOMS reiterates its unwavering commitment to protecting journalists and upholding press freedom by expediting investigations and coordinating necessary actions to safeguard media practitioners.
Monday, April 28, 2025
PHL’s focus should be chip exports’ intrinsic value: Seipi
By Andrea E. San Juan
THEPhilippines should focus on increasing the “intrinsic value” of its chip exports while “enjoying the sweet spot” from being slapped with one of the lowest additional tariffs on its exports to the United States compared to its Asean peers, according to the Semiconductor and Electronics Industries in the Philippines Foundation, Inc. (Seipi).
In the semiconductor and electronics space, the Seipi chief indicated, however, that the Philippines should work on moving up the value chain while being in the sweet spot, which means increasing the value of its exports.
“For us, while we’re enjoying that sweet spot, what’s concerning is the intrinsic value of our exports. In other words, we’re in the back-end assembly test and packaging,” Lachica told reporters on the sidelines of the recent Aboitiz InfraCapital Economic Estates Industrial Summit 2025 in Makati City.
lab-scale wafer fab in the country to grow the country’s Integrated Circuit (IC) design industry and reduce reliance on other countries.
He has repeatedly stressed that the wafer fab is the “big gap” in between the local semiconductor supply chain.
“That’s why our pitch, and fortunately the [Department of Science and Technology] DOST understands…We will do a wafer lab, tabletop model and then to be able to train our people,” Lachica said.
“Why is that important? One is, we are trying to grow our IC design industry,” Lachica explained. However, the Seipi chief said the designs are being sent abroad, to Taiwan, to Germany at P2 million, about P2 million a shot.
PBBM: ATTENDANCE AT POPE’S RITES MEANT TO THANK PINOYS’ SHEPHERD
By Samuel P. Medenilla
Pbid his final farewell to Pope Francis by expressing the country’s gratitude to the Supreme Pontiff for leading the Catholic Church with humility and showing love for the marginalized.
The PIDS paper authored by former DTI Undersecretary Rafaelita M. Aldaba used a Tariff Exposure Composite Index (TECI). It revealed that the Philippines, along with Malaysia, fall within the “moderate-to-low” risk tier, owing to “relatively low reciprocal tariff rates and strong exemption coverage”—particularly for high-value
Citing a study by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS), Seipi President Danilo C. Lachica said “If you look at it, the Philippines is in a good place, together with Malaysia. While Malaysia is at 24 percent [tariffs], we’re at 17 percent. But if you look at those four factors, it’s like we’re in the same quadrant, as opposed to the biggest exposure, Vietnam, and obviously, China. Because that’s dictated by the type of exports, the severity of the products.”
Public has taxpayers to thank for ₧20 a kilo rice, says Ibon
By Cai U. Ordinario @caiordinario
HOUSEHOLDS who will enjoy the P20 per kilo rice have taxpayers to thank for the cheaper cost of the staple, according to Ibon Foundation Inc.
In a statement, Ibon explained that bringing down the cost of rice to P20 per kilo from the prevailing cost of P45 per kilo will be made possible by the subsidy to be extended by national government and local government units.
Ibon noted that the P45 per kilo price of rice was obtained from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), much higher than the P32 to P33 per kilo estimate of the Department of Agriculture (DA).
“The price difference, according to the agriculture secretary, will be shouldered by the national government and local government units,” Ibon said.
Ibon Foundation Executive Director Sonny Africa told BusinessMirror that about 85 percent of national and local government funds are financed through tax collection.
“The program set to be launched in the Visayas will sell at most 10 kilos per week per indigent or lowincome family. The budget for the program is estimated at P3.5-4.5 billion,” it added.
Ibon stressed that this latest rice program was merely a stopgap measure and that the real solution is to increase rice production.
This can only happen if the national government and LGUs provide protection and subsidies for small farmers and the agriculture sector in general.
“It is just like all the other cynically superficial and tokenistic measures it has been rolling out— maximum suggested retail price, Kadiwa program, food stamps, and declaring a food security
emergency,” Ibon said.
“Rice and other food prices can be sustainably lowered but only with a long-term strategy of steady protection and subsidies for small farmers and Filipino agriculture,” it added.
Ibon also estimated that the Visayas has 900,886 poor families based on the latest Listahanan 3. The budget to subsidize the cost would only be good for about 20 weeks or five months.
This would also exclude 4.1 million Visayan families who will have no choice but to continue paying for the normal expensive price for rice.
“Listahanan 3 identifies 5.6 million poor families nationwide. If the ‘P4.5 billion’ budget is for all of them they can be subsidized for a little over three weeks—about 22 days. But it’s not as if they’re the only needy Filipino families,” Ibon said.
Further, Ibon noted that the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported some 20.1 million households or 74.4 percent of all households without any savings.
Ibon said the ‘P4.5 billion’ budget enables P20/kilo rice for just a little over six days or less than a week. This, Ibon said, is even less once logistical expenses are taken into consideration.
Last week, the Commission on Elections has cleared the Department of Agriculture’s P20-per-kilo rice program for rollout in the Visayas, exempting it from the election spending ban.
In Memorandum No. 2507984 released Friday, Comelec Chairman George Erwin M. Garcia approved the request of Agriculture Secretary Francisco P. Tiu Laurel Jr. to exempt the DA’s rice project from the prohibition on government spending during the election period. (See: https://businessmirror.com. ph/2025/04/26/comelec-exempts-das-p20-kilo-rice-program-from-spending-ban/).
“That’s why my hope is to see commercial wafer fab. In other words, moving up the value chain. May [integrated circuit] IC design and wafer fab, not just the back-end assembly, test, and packaging,” the head of the largest organization of foreign and Filipino electronics companies in the Philippines said.
Lachica revealed that Seipi is already working with the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) on the plan to build a $10 million
Whereas, he noted, “If you design, it’s going to be more than one attempt only. So maybe two or three. “Imagine that P4 million, P6 million,” he said.
Lachica also raised another concern related to not having a wafer fab in the country, which zooms in on the preservation of intellectual property rights of the IC design.
“And then my other bigger
“I represented not just the Philippine government, but the everyday Filipino— prayerful, hopeful and grateful—who would have wanted to be there to say thank you to a shepherd who made them feel seen,” Marcos said in a statement.
“This is a moment of shared faith, national pride, and quiet tribute from the Filipino people to a Pope who walked with the humble and gave voice to the unseen,” he added.
Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed that over 85 million Filipinos have identified themselves as Roman Catholic, making the country the larg-
Car kills, hurts people at Pinoy street festival in Vancouver
PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ordered concerned government agencies to help the Filipino victims of the tragic incident in a block party for the commemoration of Lapu-Lapu Day in Vancouver, Canada, which resulted in several casualties during the weekend.
“The Philippine Consulate General [PCG] in Vancouver is working with Canadian authorities to ensure that the incident will be thoroughly investigated, and that the victims and their families are supported and consoled,” Marcos said in a brief statement issued Sunday.
In a post in its social media page, the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) said the affected may contact the hotline of the PCG in Vancouver at +1 604 653 5858 (Assistance to nationals) for assistance. It said the victims can also seek help from the Migrant Workers Of -
fice at +1 604 767 3354 or the Vancouver Police Department Victim Support at +1 800 563 0808.
According to news reports, a sports utility vehicle drove through the block party organized by the Filipino community to celebrate Lapu-Lapu Day last Sunday (Philippine time) in British Columbia, resulting in multiple casualties.
The vehicle entered the street at 8:14 p.m. Saturday as people were attending the Lapu Lapu Day festival, the Vancouver Police Department said in a social media post.
“A number of people have been killed and multiple others are injured after a driver drove into a crowd,” police said. The exact number of dead or injured was not immediately available.
The festival was being held in a South Vancouver neighborhood. Video posted on social media showed victims and debris strewn across a long stretch of road, with
at least seven people lying immobile on the ground. A black SUV with a crumpled front section could be seen in still photos from the scene. “I am shocked and deeply saddened by the horrific incident at today’s Lapu Lapu Day event,” Vancouver Mayor Kenneth Sim said in a social media post, adding that the city would provide more information when possible. “Our thoughts are with all those affected and with Vancouver’s Filipino community during this incredibly difficult time.”
Canadian authorities arrested a 30-year-old man, but are still investigating the suspect’s motive.
Marcos said he felt shattered after learning of the incident and he expressed his condolences to those who were affected.
“On behalf of the Philippine Government and the Filipino people, Liza and I would like to express our deepest sympathies to the families
of the victims and to the strong and thriving Filipino community in Canada,” said the President, who is flying home Monday morning from Rome, where he attended the final rites for Pope Francis.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney issued a statement, where he said he also mourned for the victims and their loved ones.
“I offer my deepest condolences to the loved ones of those killed and injured, to the Filipino Canadian community, and to everyone in Vancouver. We are all mourning with you,” Carney wrote.
“As we wait to learn more, our thoughts are with the victims and their families—and Vancouver’s Filipino community, who were coming together today to celebrate
of the
RESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos
est Catholic country in Asia.
The President and First Lady Louise
“Liza” A. Marcos joined other world leaders who paid their final respects to Pope Francis at the Funeral Mass at St. Peter’s
Editor: Jennifer A. Ng
Ayala sets sights on retail
By VG Cabuag @villygc
CONGLOMERATE Ayala Corp. is targeting to win a slice of the Philippine retail sector by leveraging its existing assets, such as GCash and malls.
Cezar P. Consing, the company’s president and CEO, noted that while retail is one of the fastest-growing business sectors in the Philippines, the company is not “directly exposed” to it.
“I think our businesses that are very close to consumers, the bank, for example, BPI [Bank of the Philippine Islands], telecom (Globe Telecom), health (AC Health), they’re doing everything they can to touch con-
sumers already. So we ask ourselves, what do we do to do it more directly?”
The company brought Australian brand Anko into the Philippines. Despite having only one branch up and running in its mall in Makati, he said the initial results “look quite exciting.”
“We want to build on that. And who knows where this will lead?
We have the good fortune of having Ayala Malls, for example. We have
the good fortune of having GCash. We have the good fortune of having BPI. All of them can help an anchor group,” he said. “So, why wouldn’t we use the assets we already have to help a new company grow, especially in a space that can be as large and as valuable as retail?”
Mark Robert H. Uy, the company’s corporate strategy group head, said Anko, which sells mainly home goods, was brought into Philippines as Ayala saw that its concept was a “game-changer” in Australia.
“So, we look out for those types of concepts where we can bring in great quality, great value, give customers more choices,” he said.
“If you look at the largest segment of consumption in the Philippines, I think it’s really a few things. I think what do people generally buy? We’re already in housing. We’re now in mobility, like cars. Clothing is probably
an area that’s well-served already. There are a lot of really good clothing brands in the Philippines.”
Company officials said Ayala does not plan to own Anko at an equity level, but will support it as a landlord. Four stores will open this year, all in Ayala malls.
Established in 2017, Anko is part of the Kmart Group under Wesfarmers Ltd., one of Australia’s leading companies.
“Currently, we’re focused on really growing Anko to its full potential because we think it’s really staggering a major pain point in this market.
If you just want cheap stuff, yes, you have Shopee, Lazada to address those requirements. But we think we’re offering products that are practically more or less the same price point as what you would get at Shopee, Lazada, but significantly better quality,” Uy said.
First Balfour, JFE form joint venture
By Andrea E. San Juan @andreasanjuan
STOCK-MARKET OUTLOOK
THIS WEEK
JAPAN-BASED JFE Engineering
Corp. and First Balfour Inc. have formed a joint venture company that will undertake a P7.7-billion
project which aims to enhance the resilience against earthquakes of two of Metro Manila’s oldest bridges. First Balfour, the construction arm of the Lopez Group, said the JFE Engineering-First Balfour Joint Venture (JFE-FB JV) signed recently
Freshly Brewed
a contract with the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) for the implementation of the Metro Manila Priority Bridges Seismic Improvement Project (MMPBSIP).
“This seismic improvement initiative is part of the government’s
ongoing efforts to enhance the infrastructure’s resilience against natural disasters and ensure the continued safety and reliability of Metro Manila’s key transport routes,” First Balfour said in a statement.
UNTYING THE KNOTS | PhilFIDA pulls together private sector, farmers to weave through challenges in abaca production
By Francine Medina
Abaca remains among the top export products of the Philippines especially since it is endemic to the Philippines. But its production is also challenged by many factors such as climate change, need for technological adoption, and augmenting the income of farmers.
Since his appointment as Executive Director of the Philippine Fiber Development Authority (PhilFIDA) in January this year, Arnold “Ali” Atienza has been traveling across the country to visit farms and listen to the pressing concerns of abaca farmers and farm owners. In this edition of BusinessMirror’s digital talk show, “Freshly Brewed,” AgriCommodities reporter Ada Pelonia gets into a conversation with Atienza on how the country’s fiber industry is boosting the production of indigenous fibers through notable initiatives such as its “adopt a farm” program that is still in its planning stages.
Outlook on Philippine fiber ATIENZA related that when he went to Cebu recently, the weavers said they didn’t have abaca. “With that in mind, we thought, why not adopt a farm? So, PhilFIDA is now linking the private sector directly to the farmers so that they (the farmers) can have more income. Right now, they earn about P2,500 to P3,500 a month. It’s really very small.”
“So, what we’ll do now is to train PhilFIDA to create value-added products. So that it’s not just the fiber that they’re using. First of all, if you only sell the fiber then you’ll get about P35 per kilo at the most. But if you make the fiber into a twine then you can increase your sale to P20 for every meter, which means they can
earn from P600 to P700 for every kilo.”
Raising public awareness and demand are also part of the aspects of the industry that PhilFIDA is looking into. “One thing we’re looking at is the Tropical Fabric Law, which mandates all officials to wear tropical fabric. That creates a demand already. So far, that’s 20 percent of the demand, so there’s a remaining 80 percent. And that is (the issuing of uniforms) on a yearly basis. We’re talking of two million government employees who can use tropical fiber. What we need to do is to intensify the connection between agencies. And that’s why we’re asking a lot of agencies to help. So, if we’re using abaca, then we’re helping the farmers directly. “ According to the Philippine Textile Research Institute (PTRI) website, Act Number 9242 or the Philippine Tropical Fabrics (PTF) Law, which was passed in March 2004, using Philippine tropical fabrics for uniforms are prescribed to public officials and employees across all offices, subdivisions, and branches. Philippine Tropical Fabrics (PTFs) refer to textile made from blends of natural fibers like abaca, piña, banana, and silk. PhilFIDA is teaming up with the PTRI to increase the production of PTFs.
Adopt A Farm program ON PhilFIDA’s new Adopt a Farm program, Atienza said, “We’re testing the program
now with four different groups adopting four different farms.”
The PhilFIDA head cited a farm in Agusan that had only one hectare of abaca plantation during the pandemic. “Tinulungan niya (the private stakeholder), binigyan ng makina and 60/40 pa sila with the farmers. From one hectare he is now covering 600 hectares na puro IP (indigenous people) farmers. (He helped them, he gave them a machine, and they had a 60/40 agreement. From one hectare, he is now covering 600 hectares with IP farmers.).”
Atienza noted that PhilFIDA is likewise working on expanding the production of abaca to supply various product demands. He said, “We’re looking at bringing back paper for money and certificates and plywood, if we can do it. The beauty of having abaca is that it’s sustainable. The whole world is talking about sustainability, eco-friendly (production) and abaca is the best example of that. The more you cut abaca, the more it grows. We have a lot of abaca growing across the Philippines. It’s a God-given gift to the Filipinos, we just need to maximize it.”
Atienza explained, “We have a lot of abaca farmers, around 120,000 and PhilFIDA will not be able to tap all of them. Of course, we need the help of the private sector, and government, including the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples and the Department of Agriculture. We are also focusing on various areas of concern.”
Besides abaca, which is endemic to the Philippines, other plants that the government agency is looking forward to further develop are piña, silk, and local cotton, Atienza said. PhilFIDA is likewise looking into revitalizing the production of ramie, which is an endemic plant to the Philippines as well.
Farmers first TO achieve PhilFIDA’s vision of expanding and boosting the fiber industry, however, Atienza underscored the importance of showing farmers that there are economic opportunities that await them in planting the said fibers.
“My real target is to take care of the farmers. Everything else is secondary. The farmers are the lifeblood of the industry. And if you don’t take care of them, they will vanish. And there is a possibility that next planting season, they will no longer want to get into farming because they felt there is no money in it for them. But there really is,” said Atienza.
“And I tell them that there are economic opportunities there, they just have to learn how to create more products,” he continued. Besides production support and extension services such as training and workshops for the farmers, promotion and distribution are also important, Atienza said, “It’s all about marketing. Although marketing is not in our mandate. I’ll continue doing it because that’s the only way we can bring awareness about PhilFIDA and for people to get closer to PhilFIDA because when I came in, I, too, didn’t know what PhilFIDA was all about.”
Agriculture merge with technology ATIENZA, who was a former Undersecretary of the Department of Communications and Technology (DICT), stated that his experience in his former office and as a scientist and technologist—Atienza has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Physics, with specialization in Computer Applications from De La Salle University—will be useful to his new post.
During his DICT stint, Atienza led various initiatives in utilizing emerging technologies and executed policies such as Ease-of-Doing Business, the transition to Digital Broadcast Television and the creation of Digital Payment Gateway Framework for government transactions especially for digital payment of taxes.
As DICT undersecretary, Atienza was also appointed to represent his office at the AntiRed Tape Authority committee, which aimed to abate red tape and implement ease of doing business in the country.
“Definitely, we have to tap technology. Whenever I travel, I ask the farmers if they have cellphones. Almost everyone owns a cellphone, which means we can use technology to be able to connect to them. and one of the things we’re thinking of is to create a Lazada-type platform where they can put in their products or when they’ve produced raw fiber, they can market it there,” he said.
“So the end-producers and the valueadded product producers can directly source from the farmers through the platform,”
Atienza noted, “Of course, we’re still in the planning stages. The challenge here will be logistics. But we have many logistics groups, all we need is to tap them, too.”
Atienza also said there is a wealth of talent in his office. He has discovered, for instance, employees who are underutilized.
“I saw a lot of talent in PhilFIDA and I was so surprised that there are a lot of programmers whose talents were not being fully used.
We don’t need another program because we have a lot of skilled people already. So, if you go to the office, you can see the projects that the team is doing. Like, they’re already doing the mapping. If you have a complaint or recommendation to the regional director, then via QR code, you can send your concern directly to the central office.”
In terms of mechanization, PhilFIDA will be providing at least 300 machines for the farmers. With Adopt A Farm now in progress, Atienza added that the number of machines to be donated to farmers can go up to 1,000.
“But the 300 machines are already
certain,” he said. “Logistics, however, has always been a challenge even in the agri and IT sectors. We have 7,100 islands and for one to go from the north to the south, it would take days. Well, that’s why there is a need for coordination among the various government agencies.” With several concerns to be addressed by his new administration, however, Atienza is keeping a positive mindset. “I’d say, these are God-given—we’re
PHILIPPINE Fiber Development Authority Executive Director Arnold "Ali" Atienza discusses the state of the country's fiber industry with BusinessMirror's agri commodities Reporter Ada Pelonia.
Banking&Finance Inflation downtrend likely to persist in April—Neda
By Bless Aubrey Ogerio
Bank loans to MSMEs zoomed past ₧11T mark
By Cai U. Ordinario @caiordinario
LOANS extended to micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) breached the P11trillion mark as of December 2024, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).
The data showed loans for MSMEs grew 8.3 percent to P11.25 trillion in December 2024 from P10.38 trillion recorded in the December 2023 period. The bulk of these loans were extended by universal and commercial banks at P10.29 trillion as of December 2024. These loans increased 7.59 percent from the P9.56 trillion recorded as of December 2023. This was followed by loans granted to MSMEs by thrift banks at P699.01 billion as of December 2024. This was a 14.57 percent growth from the P610.092 billion posted as of December 2023. Rural and cooperative banks (RCBs) as well as digital banks (DGBs) extended the least amount at P234.51 billion and P24.48 billion as of December 2024, respectively.
However, both RCBs and DGBs posted the fastest growth in terms of loans extended to MSMEs at 21.64 percent and 28.85 percent in December 2024, respectively.
In December 2023, loans extended to MSMEs by RCBs reached P192.783 billion while those from DGBs amounted to P18.999 billion.
➔ Chinabank declares dividends
The BSP noted that the data covers all loans and receivables of MSMEs excluding interbank loans receivable and wholesale lending of banks and conduit banks; agrarian reform credits and other agricultural loans; and loans and receivables from repo agreements, among others.
The BSP has been monitoring loans extended to the MSME sector in compliance with the Magna Carta for MSMEs or Republic Act (RA) 6977 as amended by RA 8289 and RA 9501.
Last year, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) through its financing arm Small Business Corp. (SBCorp), said it is allotting P10 billion for loans to small merchants.
According to SBCorp President Robert C. Bastillo, their multipurpose loan program for MSMEs is composed of two types.
First is the micro multipurpose loan for multi sectoral microenterprises with at least one year business track record, who are allowed to loan up to P300,000.
Second is the SME Multi-Purpose Loan Suki for existing borrowers of SBCorp. in “good standing” with at least 6 months’ repayment track record.
Under this type of loan, Bastillo said, small merchants can loan up to P5 million, which is collateralfree. (See: https://businessmirror.com. ph/2024/08/23/sb-corp-allots-p10bfor-loans-to-small-merchants/).
CHINA Banking Corp. declared last Thursday a regular cash dividend of P1.50 per common share and an additional P1 per common share special dividend, worth about P6.7 billion. The dividends will be payable on May 22 to shareholders on record as of May 9. The higher regular cash dividend marks a 25 percent higher from the P1.20 per common share paid in 2024. The total amount of cash dividends is 14 percent higher than in 2024, equivalent to a payout ratio of 27 percent and a cash dividend yield of 2.8 percent based on the bank’s closing stock price of P89.55 as of April 23. VG Cabuag
➔ Manulife opens branch
THE Manufacturers Life Insurance Co. (Phils.) Inc. (Manulife) on Wednesday said it has opened its first branch in Nueva Vizcaya as it bolster its presence in northern Luzon. The company said its new office is located at the Ground Floor of Zen Hotel Bonfal Proper, Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya. The new branch, which brings its network to 47 in the Philippines, will offer the people in Bayombong and neighboring areas access to the company’s health and financial solutions. Present in the branch opening were the insurer’s Region Head Hannah Esguerra, Agency Strategic Initiatives and Salaried Leaders Program Head JF Salazar, Chief Agency Officer Sailesh Nalinakshan, National Agency Sales and Expansion Head Ian Mar Dayot, Branch Head Lisette Aguila and Zone Head John Cesar Agustin. VG Cabuag
➔ HSBC PHL match champ named
THE The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp. Ltd. Philippines Branch (HSBC PHL) announced that a team of students from the Ateneo de Manila University emerged as the champion in the 2025 edition of the lender’s flagship “Business Case Competition.” In a statement, the lender said the match brought together 15 student teams from top universities across the country to tackle real-world business cases and vie for the chance to represent the Philippines at the regional finals in Hong Kong. Siliman University finished as second runner-up, with one of their students receiving the “Best Presenter Award” for the overall competition. Held in partnership with the Asia Case Research Centre of the University of Hong Kong, the competition provides undergraduates with a platform to develop business strategy, critical thinking and presentation skills in a real-time setting.
➔ BPI Capital touts awards
BPI Capital Corp. announced recently it has been recognized with multiple awards at “The Asset Triple A Sustainable Finance Awards 2025” and the “FinanceAsia Achievement Awards 2024.” A statement quoted BPI Capital President Lester Ong as saying the recognitions “represent our commitment to providing long-term value and structuring landmark transactions that contribute to economic growth and sustainability.” In this year’s The Asset awards, BPI Capital earned multiple awards for its achievements in structuring “innovative and sustainability-focused” transactions. In the FinanceAsia awards, BPI Capital said it achieved notable recognitions for “innovative” transactions in the Southeast Asia category.
INFLATION in the country is projected by the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) to continue easing in April, following a steady downtrend seen in the first quarter of the year.
Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan said last Friday that while the target inflation rate remains between 2 percent and 4 percent, the country may be able to maintain it at around the lowerend target.
“The inflation has continued to come down and we hope and expect that trend will continue,” Balisacan told reporters on the sidelines of a joint briefing by the Neda and the
Department of Foreign Affairs.
Inflation slowed down to 2.9 percent in January and 2.1 percent the month after. The pace of price increases also crawled to 1.8 percent in March, marking the lowest level since May 2020, the height of lockdowns that brought economic activities to a grinding halt.
The downtrend was driven mainly by slower increases in food and transportation costs.
Balisacan added he expects the combo of a low inflation rate and an expected 6-percent economic growth would increase real purchasing power for consumers.
Recent growth projections from various organizations and firms indicated that the Philippines is likely to experience sub-6 percent growth this year. Many forecasts hover around 5 percent, while others predict growth as low as 4 percent.
Earlier, Balisacan mentioned in a chat with reporters that achieving 6-percent growth this year may not be feasible, but it remains possible by 2026.
The Neda chief further emphasized the importance of inclusive growth, noting that previous economic progress has been largely concentrated in Metro Manila and its neighboring regions.
“We need to create a much more dynamic and integrated economy,” Balisacan said. “That’s why our focus is connectivity, infrastruc -
ture that connects our regions, our provinces, especially lagging regions, to the more rapidly growing areas.”
Asked how the inflation downtrend and previous monetary policy moves could affect economic performance, Balisacan said he expects positive developments, particularly in domestic demand.
He pointed out that the easing of inflation should already be supporting household consumption, while earlier interest rate cuts by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) were intended to stimulate both consumption and investments. However, Balisacan cautioned that global economic uncertainty could temper investment activity.
“When there is this uncertainty as we are now, the heightened uncertainty in the global economy, that could make some businesses wait and see what happens to the global economy, especially if they are exporters,” he said.
‘Unauthorized fund transfers in CIMB under probe’
THE central bank seeks to assure the public authorities are probing the unauthorized fund transfers that affected customers of the CIMB Bank Philippines Inc. over the weekend.
This was the content of a statement that the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas issued last Sunday, which emphasized that the BSP is closely coordinating with the CIMB to resolve the issue.
The central bank said it was informed by the lender’s move to restore the balance accrued to customers.
“The BSP remains committed to safeguarding the security of the financial system, protecting consumer welfare, and maintaining public trust,” read the statement issued by the central bank.
The unauthorized fund transfer
issues that are affecting “a few customers” have been flagged by the CIMB, read a statement the lender issued Saturday evening. The bank said it will return the funds to affected clients.
“The bank is actively conducting a thorough investigation and is committed to ensuring a swift and thorough resolution of the unsolicited withdrawals,” read a statement the CIMB posted on its social media account.
The bank on Sunday issued another statement stating that they have started the reversal of funds to customers who have been impacted by the recent unauthorized fund transfers.
They encouraged their customers to check their accounts and should
BI says nabbed Koreans linked to investment scams
By Joel R. San Juan @jrsanjuan1573
THE Bureau of Immigration (BI) announced last Sunday that its personnel arrested two South Korean fugitives who were being sought by the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) and Seoul authorities for their alleged involvement in multi-million dollar investment scams.
In a statement, Immigration Commissioner Joel Anthony M. Viado identified the Korean nationals as 58-year-old Kim Young Sam and 59-year-old Weon Cheolyong.
Viado said Kim was arrested by operatives of the bureau’s fugitive search unit (BI-FSU) last April 22 inside his residence at the BF Homes Village in Parañaque City. During the said operation, the BI chief said arresting agents discovered the presence of another Korean fugitive, later identified as Weon.
Kim is a subject of an Interpol red notice that was issued in 2018 following the issuance of an arrest warrant by the Seoul central district court where he was charged with fundraising for a business without government permit.
Authorities alleged that as manager of a Seoul-based company, Kim and his accomplices engaged in fraudulent operations by soliciting investments for the development of an alleged cryptocurrency business.
It was reported that since 2015, the said company defrauded over 3-billion worth of investments from 253 victims.
Viado said Kim will be deported immediately as he was already ordered expelled by the BI board of commissioners in December 2021 for being an undesirable alien.
On the other hand Weon was found to be an overstaying alien and also a fugitive wanted in Korea for his involvement in investment fraud which caused losses of more than 17 million pesos from 14 victims.
Both aliens are now detained at the BI custodial facility inside Camp Bagong Diwa, Taguig City pending their deportation.
they have further concerns, they should reach out to their Customer Care through the ‘Help Center’ on the CIMB Bank PH app.
“We apologize for any inconvenience this has caused. Rest assured that your security continues to be of utmost importance to us,” CIMB said.
On Saturday, some CIMB customers disclosed on social media that they experienced unauthorized transactions in their CIMB accounts.
A social media account, The Millennial Filipina, claimed there was a P500,000 unauthorized transfer “to another account, without OTP, without any delay.”
The social media account owner took steps to file a complaint via the CIMB Help Center; called the BSP and was informed there were 9 others on
queue with the same complaint; and emailed CIMB and the BSP regarding the unauthorized transaction, among other steps.
In February, the digital-only commercial bank, CIMB, aims to add a million clients to its growing customer base this year. The CIMB said it has already crossed the nine-million customer mark after only six years in operation. The aim for 2025 is to cross the 10-million mark in the number of clients it serves.
According to the lender, it achieved a profit before tax growth last year that is 45 times higher than 2023 and surged past P800 billion in transactions. (See: https://businessmirror.com. ph/2025/02/10/cimb-bank-eyes-10mclient-base/). Cai U. Ordinario
For risking fiscal position, usurping DENR power, bill amending BCDA charter vetoed
By Samuel P. Medenilla @sam_medenilla
CONCERNED of its possible adverse impact on the government’s fiscal position, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. has vetoed a bill amending the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) charter.
Marcos sent his veto message last Thursday to both Houses of Congress, citing the concerns raised by some agencies that the bill works against the national government’s interest.
Among the provisions he rejected was the proposal to raise the P100 billion in authorized capital of BCDA. He also opposed the proposal to use the proceeds from the sale of the allocated lands from the economic zones to accrue mainly to the BCDA.
The measure, Marcos said, is inconsistent with the government’s one-fund policy and will
limit its fiscal flexibility.
“In addition, the bill antithetically grants to the BCDA the authority to determine alienable and disposable lands, which clearly falls under the mandate of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources,” the President said.
Marcos added that the bill contradicts Republic v. Heirs, by granting land ownership and authority to the BCDA of the lands it disposes.
Under Republic Act 7227 (The Bases Conversion and Development Act of 1992), the beneficial owner of the lands transferred to the BCDA is the state.
The BCDA is a 3-decade old governmentowned and -controlled corporation under the Office of the President with the authority to transform military bases formerly under control by the United States for alternative civilian use.
China widens tax rebates for foreign tourists to boost spending
CHINA said it will lower the tax rebate threshold for foreigners visiting the country, an effort to boost consumption as Beijing attempts to offset some of the damage of the trade war.
Tourists who spend at least 200 yuan ($27) on the same day at the same store will be eligible for the rebate, according to a joint statement from the Ministry of Finance, the People’s Bank of China and other government departments. The current threshold is 500 yuan. The government will also expand the list of eligible tax-refund stores and streamline procedures to make it easier for tourists to claim the rebate, according to the statement. The
maximum rebate amount for cash claims will be increased to 20,000 yuan, it added.
China is increasingly attempting to encourage more spending as it tries to soften the damage of a series of tit-for-tat trade restrictions with the US. At a closely watched government meeting last year, Beijing said boosting consumption and stimulating domestic demand was its top priority.
Spending by foreign tourists accounted for around 0.5 percent of China’s gross domestic product last year, a
THE DEATH OF A POPE:
Church traditions, secrecy, and the search for a successor
VATICAN CITY—The death of a pope starts a centuries-old ritual involving sacred oaths by the cardinals electing a successor, the piercing of ballots with a needle and thread after they’re counted, and then burning them to produce either the white or black smoke to signal if there’s a new leader for the world’s 1.3 billion Catholics.
The election itself is shrouded in secrecy, with cardinals forbidden from communicating with the outside world what happened during the voting in the conclave behind the frescoed walls of the Sistine Chapel. While there were some leaps of artistic license, the process is in many ways as it was depicted in last year’s Oscar-winning film “Conclave.”
St. John Paul II rewrote the regulations on papal elections in a 1996 document that remains largely in force, though Pope Benedict XVI amended it twice before he resigned. Here is what happens when a pope dies, a period known as the “sede vacante,” or the “vacant See.”
Who’s in charge?
AFTER the pope has died, the camerlengo, or chamberlain, must certify the death and seal the papal apartment. He runs administrative and financial duties of the Holy See until a new pope takes over.
The largely ceremonial job of camerlengo is currently held by Cardinal Kevin Farrell, the Irish-born American head of the Vatican’s laity office, who also announced the death on Monday morning.
Nearly all prefects of Vatican offices lose their jobs when a pope dies, but a few stay on, including the foreign minister and the master of liturgical ceremonies, who plays a key role in assembling the conclave.
The dean of the College of Cardinals summons the cardinals for the funeral, presiding at the Mass before the conclave begins. That position is currently held by Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, the retired head of the Vatican’s office for bishops.
In November 2024, Francis reformed the rites to be used for his funeral, simplifying them to emphasize his role as a mere bishop and allowing for burial outside the Vatican. Francis has chosen to be buried in St. Mary Major Basilica, where his favorite icon of the Virgin Mary, the Salus Populi Romani, is located.
What’s the timing?
THE death of a pope begins a precise sequence of events that include the confirmation of death in the pontiff’s home, the transfer of the coffin to St. Peter’s Basilica for public viewing, a funeral Mass and burial. Interment must take place between the fourth and sixth day after his death.
After the funeral, there are nine days of official mourning, known as the “novendiali.”
During this period, the cardinals arrive in Rome. To give everyone time to assemble, the conclave must begin 15-20 days after the “sede vacante” is declared, although it can start sooner if the cardinals agree.
Who can elect a pope?
ONLY cardinals under age 80 are eligible to vote. Current regulations notionally limit the number of electors to 120, but popes have often exceeded that ceiling. According to the most recently updated Vatican statistics, there were 135 cardinals under age 80 and eligible to vote. Cardinals over age 80 can be elected pope. Those over 80 can’t vote but can participate in pre-conclave meetings, known as general congregations, in which church problems are
discussed. It was in these meetings in 2013 that then-Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio spoke about the need for the church to go to the “existential peripheries” to find those who suffer—an off-the-cuff speech that helped his election.
Who are possible candidates?
ANY baptized Roman Catholic male is eligible to be pope, but since 1378, only cardinals have been selected.
Some current leading candidates:
• Cardinal Pietro Parolin of Italy, 70, Francis’s secretary of state and
a veteran Vatican diplomat.
• Cardinal Marc Ouellet of Canada, 80, head of the Vatican’s bishops office from 2010 to 2023.
• Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn of Austria, 80, a student of Pope Benedict XVI and thus ostensibly having appeal for conservatives.
• Cardinal Luis Tagle of the Philippines, 67, brought by Francis to head the Vatican’s massive missionary office.
• Cardinal Matteo Zuppi of Italy, 69, a Francis protégé who headed the Italian bishops conference.
How are the votes taken?
A FIRST ballot is held in the Sistine Chapel on the afternoon after the initial Mass. If no pope is elected, over the ensuing days two ballots are held each morning and two each afternoon. The ballots are rectangular pieces of paper with the words: “Eligo in Summum Pontificem [I elect as supreme pontiff]” written on top, with a space for a name. Each cardinal makes his choice, folds the paper in half, walks to the front of the chapel and declares: “I call as my witness Christ the Lord, who will be my judge, that my vote is given to the one who before God I think should be elected.”
He then puts the ballot on a tray and tips it into a receptacle. Three designated cardinals, known as scrutineers, check each ballot to see if it is filled out correctly. Each name is read aloud and counted, with the results announced to the conclave after each round.
If no one gets the needed twothirds of votes, the ballots are pierced with a needle and thread, which is then knotted and placed on a tray, and another round of voting is prepared.
Benedict modified some of John Paul’s 1996 conclave rules, most no -
tably excluding his vision that a pope could be elected by a simple majority if voting was stalemated. Benedict decreed that a two-thirds majority is always needed, no matter how long it takes. He did so to prevent cardinals from holding out for the 12 days foreseen by John Paul and then pushing through a candidate with a slim majority.
What about secrecy?
BENEDICT also tightened the oath of secrecy in the conclave, making clear that anyone who reveals what went on inside faces automatic excommunication.
In John Paul’s rules, excommunication was always a possibility, but Benedict revised the oath that liturgical assistants and secretaries take to make it explicit, saying they must observe “absolute and perpetual secrecy” and explicitly refrain from using any audio or video recording devices. They now declare: “I take this oath fully aware that an infraction thereof will incur the penalty of automatic excommunication reserved to the Apostolic See. So help me God and these Holy Gospels, which I touch with my hand.” Cardinals also are bound by secrecy, although the threat of excommunication only hangs over them explicitly if they are found to have accepted payment for their vote, allowed secular powers to influence it or entered into pacts with other cardinals to back a candidate.
Do we have a pope?
AFTER the ballots are pierced, they are burned in a cylindrical stove at the end of the voting session. Black smoke from the Sistine Chapel chimney means no decision; white smoke signals the cardinals have chosen a pope and that he has accepted. Chemical cartridges are added to ensure there is no confusion over the color. To produce black smoke, a cartridge containing potassium perchlorate, anthracene—the component of coal tar—and sulfur is burned with the ballots. For white smoke, a cartridge of potassium chlorate, lactose and chloroform resin is burned with the ballots. Bells also are rung to signal the election of a pope, for further clarity. The new
WHITE smoke is seen billowing out from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel and announcing that a new pope has been elected on Wednesday, March 13, 2013. AP/GREGORIO BORGIA
A GIANT monitor in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, Tuesday, March 12, 2013, shows the heavy wooden door to the Sistine Chapel being closed and locked, signaling the start of the conclave to elect a new pope to succeed Benedict XVI following his stunning resignation. AP/GREGORIO BORGIA
THIS combination of photos shows, top row from left, Cardinal Peter Erdo, Cardinal Reinhard Marx, Cardinal Marc Ouellet, middle row from left, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Cardinal Robert Prevost, Cardinal Robert Sarah, and bottom row from left, Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn, Cardinal Luis Tagle and Cardinal Matteo Zuppi. AP
TABLES and chairs line the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican in preparation for the conclave, on April 16, 2005. AP/PIER PAOLO CITO
IN this photo from files taken on April 18, 2005, and released by the Vatican paper L’Osservatore Romano, Cardinals walk in procession to the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican, at the beginning of the conclave. OSSERVATORE ROMANO VIA AP
Limgas na Pangasinan 2025: Where beauty becomes identity
LINGAYEN , Pangasinan – A lass from Lingayen who has worn crowns since she was five years old won the most prestigious beauty title in the province. Felicity C. Mamplata, a third-year electrical engineering student at the University of Luzon, was crowned Limgas na Pangasinan-World 2025 on April 25 at the Narciso Ramos Sports and Civic Center gymnasium.
Advocating for energy conservation through education, Felicity believes that change starts when people understand their power. A dutiful daughter, she dedicates her victory to her family, especially her father, a tricycle driver “who fuels her dreams.”
The Huda Beauty Ube Collection pays tribute to a Filipino favorite
HUDA Kattan, the creator behind the beauty brand Huda Beauty, loves ube cakes so much that she created a whole ube-inspired collection.
Huda has, in fact, had ube cake for her past four birthdays. She asked members of her product development team, mostly made up of Filipinos, what they thought of a beauty collection that would be anchored on ube and they said yes, it was time to being the beauty of purple yam to the world.
The limited-edition Ube Collection lineup introduces three ube-inspired products. The flagship product is the Easy Bake Loose Baking and Setting Powder in Ube Birthday Cake (P2,600). I have been using Huda Beauty’s Loose Baking and Setting Powder for a while now but when Ube Birthday Cake came along, I wondered how I could have ever done my makeup without it. The lilac powder helps neutralize, brighten, and blur the skin. It’s made for those with medium to tan skin tones with warm to gold undertones.
The collection also includes Blush Filter in Ube Cream (P1,550), and Faux Filler Lip Gloss in UUU-Baby (P1,400).
During the Philippine launch of Huda Beauty’s Ube Collection, makeup artist Jigs Mayuga showed us how to use Ube Cream with a darker blush to work on deeper skin tones. The blush is very lilac when first swatched but it turns into a lighter pink after a while. On pale lips, UUU-Baby looks almost clear but the milky white lip gloss, on two-toned lips, can be layered over a darker lipstick. I love the Faux Filler Lip Gloss because its texture is not sticky and it is lightly moisturizing on the lip. I also have it in the shade Bombshell and it’s one of my go-tos. I read somewhere that UUU-Baby is best paired with a mocha lip liner. Overall, the Huda Beauty Ube Collection is lovely. I wish that the brand had gone for a deeper purple hue that really looks like our ube but this lilac that they gave us is not bad. I wish I could wear UUU-Baby alone but the love that I have for the loose powder outweighs any of my other concerns.
You can get the Huda Beauty Ube Collection exclusively at LOOK at Me, SM Aura Premier.
There were 21 hopefuls (out of a possible 48) who competed. Felicity’s court include Limgas na Pangasinan Grand 2025 - Angelica Joy Flores from Santa Barbara; Limgas na Pangasinan Mutya 2025 - Clare Arwen Cacal from Calasiao; First Runner-Up - Alannis Sophia Hodge, a Fil-British footballer from Sual; and Second Runner-Up - Liannah Jermayne Mangosong from Asingan, a Mutia ti Asingan-Hearts 2019 and a multimedia arts student at De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde.
The special and major awards are: Darling of the Press - Rosemarie O. Ernang (Urdaneta City); Miss Photogenic - Claire Arwen V. Cacal (Calasiao); Miss Friendship and Best in Swimsuit - Felicity C. Mamplata (Lingayen); Best in Talent - Freda V. Rosario (Labrador); Best Artist Ang Galing Video - Grace Jineah C. Lumague (Pozorrubio).
The Best in Advocacy Video was won by Angelica Joy B. Flores (Santa Barbara); Best in Evening Gown - Leinahtan L. Sarmiento (San Carlos City); Best Evening Gown Designer - Michael Miguel worn by Reign Joy C. Lim (Bayambang); Best in Creative Costume - Maria Julianne Vernice F. Nandin (Rosales); Best Creative Costume Designer - Simeon Cayetano worn by Angelica Joy B. Flores (Sta. Barbara).
“GANDA AT GALING”
SOME of the most beautiful, unforgettable and powerful Filipinas hail from Pangasinan: first female senator Geronima Pecson (Lingayen), former first lady Eva Macapagal (Binalonan), Sen. Leticia RamosShahani (Lingayen/Asingan); Perla Santos-Ocampo, National Scientist for Pediatrics (Dagupan), Carmen Velasquez, National Scientist for Parasitology (Bayambang); screen queens Carmen Rosales (Rosales), Lolita Rodriguez (Urdaneta City), Barbara Perez (Urdaneta City), Nova Villa (Mangatarem), Gloria Romero (Mabini).
When Pangasinan First Lady Maan Tuazon-Guico took over as chairman of the Limgas na Pangasinan beauty pageant, it became not just “a quest for the loveliest young ladies but a search for the modern, gracious Urduja who will embody the distinct trademark of Pangasinense women” like the awesome ones mentioned above.
Founded in 1973, Mrs. Guico said Limgas is in search of the “totality of the fairest maiden” who can live up to the crown and who can carry the province’s name in the national and international scenes. She rejuvenated the pageant with the strong support of
GIVE back the gift of unconditional love with a peaceful retreat full of indulgent pampering to create unforgettable memories fit for the queens of all hearts at Solaire Resort North. Experience a weekend staycation full of rest and relaxation for mom and the whole family with a luxurious selection of Solaire Resort North’s Deluxe and Grand Deluxe Rooms, as well as the Premiere, Signature, and Sky Suites to enjoy. Enjoy the Mother’s Day Weekend Offer to the fullest by booking a stay from May 9 to May 11, only available for bookings made until May 8, 2025. Be greeted with a beautiful floral arrangement and platter of sweets to revel in, and head on over to the Spa & Salon for some soothing downtime after a hearty breakfast at FRESH International Buffet.
Enjoy the same bountiful selection at FRESH for lunch or dinner with their exclusive Mother’s Day promo offering a free feast for each mother with five paying guests, a fun photobooth to look back on the memory for a celebration suited for a queen. Alongside this, relish in a lavish spread of the crowd-favorite unlimited lobster and drinks, a succulent selection of the finest meats, seafood delights and vegetarian options with decadent desserts to top it all off for the whole family. For an elevated buffet experience, celebrate Moth-
PHILANTHROPIST and business magnate Ernest Rufino extended his generous support to the upcoming Benilde Fashion Museum (BFM), an institution which aims to elevate the preservation and education of Philippine fashion. BFM, which focuses on the collection, exhibition and study of Philippine fashion from the 20th to the 21st century, will serve as a repository of works of some of the most notable designers in Philippine history: Philippine National Artists Ramon Valera and Salvacion Lim-Higgins, plus Ben Farrales, Pitoy Moreno, and Aureo Alonzo, to name a few.
The pioneering creations are set to find a home at the historic Miguel Febres Cordero (MFC) Building. Designed by Architect Fernando Ocampo and
language and its rich cultural traditions?”
WINNING ANSWERS
“IT is my fervent wish that Pangasinan will continue to produce more beauty queens of international stature in the future,” the First Lady added.
The Limgas powerhouse panel of judges were Geronimo “Gerry” Diaz, owner of Aces and Queens; Myrna Esguerra, Binibining Pilipinas International 2024; Christine Julianne Opiaza, Miss Grand International 2024 1st Runner-Up; Krishnah Marie Gravidez, Miss World Philippines 2024; Bea Gomez, Miss Universe Philippines 2021 and GMA Sparkle Artist; Carla Abellana, GMA star; and, Michael Castaneda, the Pampanga Provincial Tourism Officer.
The coronation night hosts were GMA actress and Miss Universe 2020 Top 21 Rabiya Mateo and Unang Hirit weather reporter Anjo Perteira, who asked the Final Question: “In an era where digital innovation is rapidly transforming societies, how can we leverage technology to preserve and promote the Pangasinense
er’s Day with Finestra’s “Festa della Mamma” special, featuring their semi-buffet selection of indulgent meals for Sunday brunch. Continue the celebration with more mouthwatering dishes for a casual feast at Lucky Noodles, Red Lantern, Pool Café, or Yakumi for a unique set menu for each restaurant, or Manyaman for the most succulent Filipino flavors boasting both savory and sweet delights for the whole family this May 11. Experience a Mother’s Day weekend like no other at Solaire Resort North to celebrate all mothers to the fullest. More information can be found at https:// tinyurl.com/4u2pvk6r or +632-8888-8888.
constructed in 1938 by the former Vice President Fernando Lopez as The Mayflower, the four-and-a-half-story edifice formerly known as the Instituto Cervantes Building now stands as one of the few remaining examples of pre-war Art Deco architecture in Manila. In this new endeavor, the 1,500 sqm space will be transformed to house advanced galleries, libraries, conservation facilities, and storage systems, as well as rooms for lectures, presentations, symposia, and screenings. Through the substantial gift of Ernest Rufino, the museum’s main exhibition area will be named after his wife, with the name Josie Padilla Rufino Gallery.
The support
Said Limgas na Pangasinan World 2025 - Felicity Mamplata from Lingayen: “Social media is a powerful tool when we can deliver message to other people. Through social media, we can promote our tourism heritage sites, resilience community; and through leadership in agriculture, we can excel in our fields. This is where beauty becomes identity.”
Limgas na Pangasinan Grand 2025 - Angelica Joy Flores from Santa Barbara, an accounting student at Universidad De Dagupan and an SK Kagawad: “Now that we are in this technological era, we can use our social media to promote Pangasinan for its rich cultural heritage. I would like to promote the Banaan Museum. I encourage everyone to visit the museum because that is where the roots of being a Pangasinan (are).”
Limgas na Pangasinan Mutya 2025 Claire Arwen V. Cacal of Calasiao, a pharmacy student and marathoner: “Well, technology is unique and amazing (but) let’s not make it a replacement for humanity. Let’s make it a tool to preserve us Pangasinenses. We are resilient and grateful. I’m thankful to be a Pangasinense and I’m proud to be Pangasinense.”
represented by Ernie Rufino with his wife Lin-ay Rufino, Joysie Rufino, Victor Rufino, and Lui Rufino, likewise attended the event. During the intimate cocktail reception, Benilde Multimedia Arts student and BFM intern Angel Nhele presented a
her husband, Gov. Ramon Guico III, and help from the beauty camp Aces and Queens.
UK-PHL Relations to Further Strengthen Through Public-Private Partnerships
THE British Chamber of Commerce Philippines, as part of its Trade and Connect initiative, will host an event titled, “Public-Private Partnerships in Action: Transforming Infrastructure and Services” on April 29, 2025 at 4 pm, at the Makati Commerce Tower. The event is held in partnership with Colliers as the venue partner and BusinessMirror as a media partner.
Among the confirmed speakers are Maricar Bautista, Transportation Spokesperson for Business Infrastructure at the Department of Transportation (DOTr), and Ma. Cynthia C. Hernandez, Executive Director of the Public-Private Partnership Center.
financing and risk management approaches in PPP projects, focusing on funding options, risk allocation methods, and financial incentives to attract investors.
In terms of the UK-Philippine relations, infrastructure also remains a priority, marking the recent inaugural UK-Philippines Joint Economic and Trade Committee (JETCO) meeting, that will establish government-to-government Financing Framework Partnership aimed at advancing infrastructure development programs, along with the formation of an Infrastructure Sectoral Working Group.
Key discussions will focus on discussing developments on critical infrastructure on transportation, energy, water, digital, and social infrastructure. It will also explore
As of March 10, 2025, the Philippines reported a total of 176 projects in the pipeline, valued at P2.60 trillion. Policy developments such as the Public-Private Partnership Code of the Philippines continue to be recognized as one of the key drivers for economic growth through infrastructure development and encouraging domestic and foreign investors.
BCCP Executive Chairman Chris Nelson previously noted that, “Opening up more infrastructure projects—and moving those projects forward—will be a great help. As you said, Philippine-UK trade relations are poised for deeper alignment.”
The British Chamber remains committed to further supporting
Mercedes-Benz Combines Unrivaled Performance with Exclusive Offers
Entertainment, Avantgarde Interior, Ambient lighting, Active break assist, and Blind Spot Assist making it the ideal choice for future leaders who value technology, comfort, and the rewards of their success. Drive home a brand new C-Class this summer and enjoy substantial savings.
For those requiring space and adaptable functionality without sacrificing premium comfort, the Mercedes-Benz V-Class is now offered at an exceptional price, starting as low as P4,990,000. The V-Class is the epitome of versatility meeting luxury van, offering generous space for family adventures, business needs, and everything in between.
Its flexible interior can be configured to accommodate passengers and cargo with ease. Key highlights of the V-Class include spacious seating for up to seven passengers, Luxury seats, Burmester Surround Sound System, Easy-pack tailgate, making it perfect for young families needing a premium luxury van or businessmen with active lifestyles. Discover the unparalleled adaptability and premium experience of the V-Class at an unprecedented price this summer.
PPP initiatives and infrastructure development to facilitate the continuous growth between the UK and Philippine trade. This will further leverage the competitiveness of the Philippines as
DBP eyes expanded partnerships for government’s reforestation drive
STATE-OWNED Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) will aggressively expand its network of sectoral partners and linkages as the Bank aims to ramp up support to the National Government’s efforts to rehabilitate and improve forest cover in key areas across the country, a top official said.
DBP President and Chief Executive Officer Michael O. de Jesus said that the Bank has committed to reforest 7,500 hectares of land through its DBP Forest Program (DFP) and contribute to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources’ (DENR) flagship Forests for Life: Five Million Trees by 2028 Program. “DBP shares with the DENR’s vision of restoring biodiversity in the country, mitigating the effects of climate change, and ensuring a more resilient and sustainable future through the cultivation of five million trees,” de Jesus said.
DBP is the 10th largest bank in the country in terms of assets and provides credit support to four priority sectors of the economy – infrastructure and logistics; micro, small and medium enterprises; the environment; and social services and community development.
The DENR launched in March its Forests for Life: Five
Million Trees by 2028 – a multi-sectoral program that aims to restore critical forest ecosystems in the priority areas of Ilocos Norte, Bataan, Rizal, Leyte, Bukidnon, and Lanao del Norte and help regenerate forest ecosystems, enhance biodiversity, and improve water resources.
De Jesus said that by aligning with the goals of the DENR program, DBP is optimistic that it can enhance the impact of the DFP through mobilization of more partners for the conduct of various reforestation activities.
He said DBP, through DFP, is eager to work with more local government units, people’s organizations, government institutions, cooperatives, and indigenous people as a mechanism to reforest more areas in the country and to fulfill the Marcos Jr. administration’s goal of establishing more livable and sustainable communities.
“The DFP was established in 2005 and serves as a pillar of the Bank’s corporate social responsibility for the environment that encourages the greening and reforestation of the country through multi-stakeholder collaboration,” de Jesus said. “As of March 2025, DBP has already reforested 50 project sites and planted 6.65 million seedlings in 6,386 hectares of land in key areas nationwide.”
ERCEDES-BENZ Philippines is thrilled to announce its extraordinary offers inviting customers to experience unparalleled luxury and unrivaled performance with significant savings of up to P900,000. This limited-time offer highlights the sophisticated C-Class and the Luxury van V-Class. This summer, experience the refined luxury and advanced technology of the Mercedes-Benz C-Class, now available with discounts up to P400,000. Widely recognized as the „Baby S-Class,“ the C-Class offers a timeless design paired with unmatched innovation and the renowned comfort of a luxury sedan.
Mercedes-Benz will be offering discounts for other units until May 31, 2025.
Visit your closest Mercedes-Benz dealership today or reach out to our dealership for more information.
Mercedes-Benz Greenhills: (02) 8784 5000
Enjoy the exceptional comfort of a true luxury sedan, engineered to provide a relaxed and secure driving experience regardless of road conditions. The C-Class has a MBUX
Mercedes-Benz BGC: (02) 8784 5001
Mercedes-Benz Alabang: (02) 8553 6334
Mercedes-Benz Cebu: (032) 260 3333
Intensive Painting Workshop Series @ Sunshine Place
to develop skills and explore new styles. Each class is designed to provide practical guidance and creative inspiration, to help bring ideas to life on canvas with confidence and clarity. To know more and to enroll, please contact T. (632) 856-4144 / 856-4162; M. (0917) 515-5656 or E. hello@ sunshineplaceph.com.
Follow Sunshine Place Online: Website: http://www. sunshineplaceph.com/, FB @SunshinePlace56Jupiter, IG @sunshineplaceph, Youtube Sunshine Place: Senior Recreation Center and Hashtags #sunshineplacephonline #sunshineneverstopshining #SunshineBelieveinYourself #SunshineDontGiveUp #SunshineIamFittoFight or #SunshineHealthyAlltheWay.
Tvery refined architectural details and strong interplay of light and textures. He is respected by his colleagues in the industry and has curved his own niche. He has mounted a total of 15 oneman shows to date, both local and abroad, four back-to-back shows, 14 international group show he helped organize. Sarmiento has received numerous prestigious awards, here and abroad and he is presently the President of the Art Association of the Philippines and a former member of the Board of Trustees of the National Museum, among others. The workshop is perfect for both beginners and experienced artists. It offers a fun and hands-on way
HE wait is over! The Philippines’ largest manufacturing, subcontracting, and metalworking event is back and bigger than ever. The 2nd International Machinery, Tools & Accessories Philippines (IMTAP 2025) and the 3rd Philippine Subcon & Manufacturers Exhibition (PSMEX 2025) are set to take place from May 8 to 10, 2025, at Halls A-D of the World Trade Center, Metro Manila. If you’re in the manufacturing, industrial automation, metalworking, or supply chain sector, this is the event you cannot afford to miss!
Expect three action-packed days of innovation, networking, and business opportunities. Discover the latest advancements in automation, robotics, sheet metal, machine tools, plastics, welding, and more! With top international and local exhibitors showcasing cutting-edge solutions, attendees will experience live demonstrations, expert-led technical seminars, and firsthand insights into the latest industry trends. Whether you’re an established manufacturer,
a startup, or an investor looking for the next big opportunity, IMTAP & PSMEX 2025 is the ultimate destination for industrial growth and collaboration. More than just an exhibition, this is where deals happen and industry connections are made. Meet top decision-makers, forge partnerships, and explore new markets in aerospace, automotive, electronics, motorcycles, and boat & vessel manufacturing. With free entrance and technical seminars, there’s no reason to miss out on this game-changing event. Mark your calendars: May 8 to 10, 2025! Join us at the World Trade Center, Metro Manila, and be part of the future of Philippine manufacturing!
For Inquiries: Email: psmexhibition@gmail.com|
WHAT PRs CAN LEARN FROM ARNEL
PINEDA’S FAKE NEWS JOURNEY
AS communicators, we all know how fake news can undermine our work, especially at a time when word can spread around swiftly through social media. Fake news undermines trust, polarizes communities, and can even endanger lives—especially in critical areas like public health and elections.
Recently, Filipinos were shocked at viral claims falsely alleging that Journey’s lead vocalist, Arnel Pineda—a Filipino—was sentenced to life imprisonment. The false reports, which surfaced on platforms like YouTube, featured misleading images that Pineda had been convicted in a San Francisco court.
I was especially shocked when I saw a video post of the conviction sharing the screen with Jesse Watters of Watters World, whom I greatly admire. When I viewed the video there was no appearance of Watters. Clearly a manipulated image and fake news.
Fake news is nothing new,
YOUTUBE SHOPPING LAUNCHES IN THE PHILIPPINES, EXPANDING PARTNERSHIP WITH SHOPEE IN SOUTHEAST ASIA
MANILA, PHILIPPINES—YouTube, in partnership with Shopee, launches YouTube Shopping in the Philippines. With this launch, the YouTube Shopping affiliate program is now available in six countries across Southeast Asia, further fueling the burgeoning video commerce in the region. YouTube Shopping seeks to elevate the purchase experience and create more opportunities for viewers, content creators, and even advertisers.
Viewers can now seamlessly find and buy the things they love while watching content from their favorite creators. The YouTube Shopping affiliate program transforms video e-commerce from links in the description box to actual and direct product tagging – no more extra clicking, endless searching, or switching between websites. All they have to do is check out!
The launch of the YouTube Shopping Affiliate Program in the Philippines offers exciting opportunities for both Shopee sellers and content creators. Shopee sellers can now expand their reach by collaborating with an even broader network of content creators through this partnership, giving them the opportunity to tap into a highly engaged, incremental audience and
drive sales like never before. This seamless connection between creators and sellers accelerates product discovery, amplifies brand reach, and ultimately enhances conversion rates.
For eligible local creators, this partnership unlocks new business opportunities, enabling them to monetize their influence by promoting products to an audience they have already built connections with. As consumers in the Philippines increasingly seek engaging, contentdriven shopping experiences, this collaboration meets their evolving expectations.
Tapping on the rise of video commerce and creator economy in the Philippines SOUTHEAST Asia is one of the world’s fastest-growing e-commerce markets, with video commerce having surged to 20 percent of the region’s e-commerce gross merchandise value in 2024–a fourfold increase since 2022. At the same time the Philippine creator economy is thriving, with over 450 channels with more than one million subscribers, and over 6,000 channels with more than 100,000 subscribers.
Driving this growth is a shift from traditional discovery to a video-first shopping experience, with consumers looking to online content with creators they trust for information and entertainment. On YouTube, creators are more than just entrepreneurs and cultural influencers—they are trusted advisors on behalf of brands. A global study reveals that online users are 98 percent more likely to trust
but the speed and reach of social media have made it a global issue. Even asianjournal.com took note.
PR Pros can learn from the way Pineda handled it. Asianjournal.com noted that “while Pineda did not directly address the hoax, subtly discrediting it by posting on Instagram that he was enjoying ‘the unfiltered sunset’ and referenced the ongoing heat wave in Manila— clearly nowhere a courtroom in California.”
Likewise, the band Journey, with Pineda still as frontman, continues to defy rumors. The group recently concluded their final stop at Yaamava Theater in highland, California, before taking a break of their tour’s summer leg.
The band completed all scheduled shows, further dispelling the false narrative that had circulated online. It added their upcoming performances at Fenway Park, Citi Field, and SoFi Stadium (per Ticketmaster) How can we protect ourselves from Fake News?
recommendations from YouTube creators compared to other social platforms. This trust translates directly into purchase confidence. In fact, YouTube drives 3.8 times greater purchase intent than other social platforms on averages.
This underscores viewers’ trust in creators’ recommendations and their desire for authentic product reviews and demonstrations ultimately leading to conversion. Consumers are looking to search- and video-led entertainment to enrich their shopping experience, and this deep engagement with trusted creators on YouTube underscores the platform’s unique position to power this.
According to a Kantar study on shopping behaviors among Southeast Asian Gen Zs, eight in ten Gen Z respondents desire entertaining shopping experiences reinforcing the importance of content in their shopping journey. Furthermore, despite exploring alternative channels for product discovery, 63 percent of Filipino Gen Z respondents still prefer to complete their purchases on e-commerce platforms, making this partnership between YouTube and Shopee highly synergistic in creating an integrated, seamless shopping experience.
Sapna Chadha, Vice President for Google Southeast Asia and South Asia Frontier said, “Southeast Asia is shaping the future of shopping with its powerful combination of a deeply engaged video-first audience, a profitable digital economy, and a vibrant creator community. We’re thrilled to bring YouTube Shopping to the Philippines—making Southeast Asia home to six out
1.Verify the Source MAKE sure the information comes from a reputable, traceable news organization. Be cautious of unknown websites or anonymous content creators.
2.Cross-Check Information IF a claim is true, multiple credible outlets will report it. Always look for confirmation before believing or sharing a story.
3.Analyze Visuals Carefully MISLEADING stories often include edited or miscaptioned visuals. Use tools like Google Reverse Image Search or TinEye to trace original sources.
of nine countries globally that have it. Just seven months since our regional debut, we’re seeing strong traction across creators, sellers, and advertisers already. Building on this early momentum, YouTube Shopping will continue to grow, unlocking new opportunities for viewers, creators, brands, and partners across this dynamic region.”
Vincent Lee, Head of Shopee Philippines shared, ”At Shopee, we are committed to delivering engaging shopping experiences that integrate content, community, and commerce. Our partnership with YouTube Shopping is a significant milestone for our brands and sellers, allowing them to connect with creators and harness their influence to drive sales effectively. This collaboration also opens up exciting opportunities for the growing number of Filipino content creators to monetize their creativity while promoting products that resonate with their audiences. As the digital economy continues to expand, our commitment is to support sellers and creators alike, helping them thrive in this evolving landscape.”
Earn more with YouTube Shopping affiliate program for creators WITH the YouTube Shopping affiliate program, creators can tag products in existing and new videos, as well as pin them during live streams. The full list of tagged products and information about each product is made available at a glance in the description section and ‘Product’ section of the video.
Clicking on a product will lead viewers directly to an external sales page on Shopee, for a seamless purchase.
4.Watch out for Emotional Triggers POSTS designed to provoke strong emotional reactions especially fear or outrage—are often engineered for viral spread, not truth.
5.Check Dates and Context OLD news or photos may be recycled as current events. Look closely at the publication date and accompanying context.
6.Report and Don’t Share Information FLAG false context when you see it. Let it end with you. Avoid commenting or sharing unverified posts, which can fuel further spread. All in all, “by being cautious, in-
The YouTube Shopping affiliate program complements existing monetization options that empower Filipino creators to engage their audience and build deeper connections beyond immediate sales. These include tools such as Ads Revenue, YouTube Premium Revenue, Channel Memberships, Super Thanks, Super Chat and Super Stickers.
In just seven months since YouTube launched the YouTube Shopping affiliate program in Southeast Asia, the program has delivered impressive results and fantastic momentum.
For example, Mai Trinh Ho, a beauty and fashion creator known for her honest reviews, joined the YouTube Shopping affiliate program in the last quarter of 2024 and has already seen her revenue increase by almost five times. Another case is that of Jagat Review, a tech creator from Indonesia, shared that his earnings from the YouTube Shopping affiliate program made up a whopping 50 percent of his channel’s total earnings between July and October of last year. Now that YouTube Shopping is launched in the Philippines, creators like Camille Co are excited— she is already sharing her favorite makeup products by tagging them on her videos.
“I always get asked where I got this and that makeup or clothing or home stuff on my vlogs and for a long time, it’s been challenging to share them all.” Co said. “Now with YouTube Shopping, it’s so much easier to share these products that I love and truly believe in. A huge plus also for me because I get to earn on the side while doing so!”
formed, and proactive, we can help create a more accurate and responsible information ecosystem.”
PR Matters is a roundtable column by members of the local chapter of the United Kingdombased International Public Relations Association (IPRA), the world’s premier association for senior professionals around the world. Millie Dizon, the Senior Vice President for Marketing and Communications of SM, is the former local chair.
We are devoting a special column each month to answer the reader’s questions about public relations. Please send your comments and questions to askipraphil@gmail.com.
Mond Salem of Hardware Voyage, a Filipino tech channel, is also optimistic about the feature. “I’m so excited about YouTube Shopping finally being in the Philippines! I’m looking forward to me and my fellow creators earning more with featured product sale commissions,” he said. Reach and engagement opportunities for brands and advertisers FOR advertisers, YouTube Shopping opens new doors to reach and engage more consumers, driving better business outcomes. By enabling advertisers to directly connect partnership ads with relevant creator content, it will shorten the customer journey from discovery to sale. Brands can also use creator videos both long and short with product feeds in campaigns to expand reach to new customers across YouTube. For example, L’Oréal Thailand combined its campaign with the YouTube Shopping affiliate programme and achieved 10X more high-intent views, with a cost-per-visit twice as efficient as previous campaigns. Since launching the YouTube Shopping affiliate program across the region, YouTube and Shopee have witnessed active usage and purchase across different categories such as Beauty, Mobile & Gadgets, and Home & Living. This shows the diverse product range and significant potential for creators to influence consumer purchasing decisions. As YouTube Shopping continues to gain momentum in Southeast Asia, it strengthens its position as a transformative force in the video commerce and creator economies.
Asian Journal.com shares some tips
By Josef T. Ramos
LARK, Pampanga—It was another thrilling stage win for young gun Ean Cajucom on Sunday after capturing Stage Four of Metro Pacific Tollways Corporation (MPTC) Tour of Luzon: Great Revival from La Union to Filinvest Acacia Mimosa Drive here in the former US Air Base. He stunned the cycling fans from Vigan to San Juan, La Union in a flat Stage Three with his sprint expertise on Saturday morning, and he didn’t disappoint on Sunday in a high-octane 168.76-kilometer flat ride from Agoo town to Clark Freeport and Special Economic Zone.
Cajucom, who rides for Victoria Sports Cycling Team, sped up in the last few hundred meters to edge out Mervin Corpuz of MPT Drive Hub and Aidan James Mendoza of Go For Gold, clocking in three hours, 32 minutes and 45 seconds. Aside from Cajucom, Corpuz and Mendoza, 97 other cyclists including South Korea’s Joo Dae-Yeong and Standard Insurance Philippines’ team captain Ronald Oranza earned similar times at the finish line.
Cajucom earned the purple jersey plus another P10,000 cash prize.
“It was my plan to win the stage today. It was great weather and a great time to execute our plan then,” said the 22-year-old cyclist from Fortune, Marikina City, who dreamed of being an astronaut before.
“I’m not in front of you as back-toback Tour of Luzon stage champions if I pursued my dream to become an astronaut,” he quipped.
“So thankful that I got my first ever career Stage crown, now it’s my second already.”
Cajucom was part of a huge wave of riders in the second group that featured overall leader Joo before the chase pack closed the gap three kilometers to the finish.
Joo, in the yellow jersey since winning the opening stage in Paoay, Ilocos Norte, held comfortably in the peloton for most of the smooth route that took them to the towns and cities of Pangasinan and Tarlac before sprinting home
Cajucom takes another win as Joo retains yellow jersey
in this former US air base. The South Korean national champion from Gapyeong Cycling Team kept the individual general classification lead with 10:37:12 after four stages, making that standings immovable for now as he was holding a four-minute and 30-second advantage over Oranza in the eight-stage race.
Mendoza remained in third, 4:36 behind, Dominic Perez of Exodus Army Cycling Team in fourth (4:43), Mervin Corpuz of MPT Drivehub in fifth (4:44), George Oconer of Standard Insurance Philippines in sixth (4:46) and Rustom Lim of MPT Drivehub in seventh (4:54).
Jan Paul Morales of Standard Insurance Philippines, who crashed near the finish in Stage 1, is eighth (5:21) followed by Malaysia’s Mohammad Faiz Fakhri Omar (5:27) and Junreck Carcueva (5:28).
The individual champion will earn P500,000 while the team champion brings home P1 million in the race powered by Duckworld PH and Cignal, also backed by Pilipinas Live, Meralco, Maynilad, Metro Pacific Health, Megaworld, Landco, PLDT and Smart. The Tour’s great revival is endorsed by the Philippine Olympic Committee, Philippine Sports Commission, Games and Amusements Board, BCDA and MVP Sports Foundation.
“I guess the race is not mine tomorrow. It is a hilly race, but my team will try again to get the stage win,’’ Cajucom said. “Our training in Europe with our coach based in Spain has helped us a lot. He gave us a good training program. It is big for us.”
Cajucom is joined by national champion Marcelo Felipe, Nichol Pareja, Daniel Carino and Rush Camingao in Victoria Sports.
The race concludes with Stage Eight in Baguio City.
Stage Five starts mostly flat from Mimosa Drive here going to the New Clark City in Capas, Tarlac before turning back home—a 160.6-km out-and-back route marked by hilly terrain.
Bulldogs down Tigers to gain big boost ahead of Final Four
TITLEHOLDER National University
downed last season’s finals rival University of Santo Tomas, 25-22, 20-25, 25-22, 25-22, on Sunday to build momentum heading into the semifinals of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines volleyball tournament at the Araneta Coliseum. With their sixth consecutive win, the Bulldogs wrapped up the preliminaries in second place with a 12-2 record
Feel Good Reds
Ebehind Far Eastern University (13-1). The Bulldogs will face the Tigers in the semifinals, while the Tamaraws take on the La Salle Green Spikers.
University of the Philippines beat Adamson University, 21-25, 19-25, 25-11, 25-12, 15-12, in a battle of also-rans. Despite missing key hitter Michaelo Buddin due to a right ankle sprain, NU managed to overcome UST for the fourth straight time including their sweep of the Golden Spikers in the Season 86 Finals and their four-set victory in their first-round matchup in March.
“I told my players that no matter what
Sports BusinessMirror
SAN FRANCISCO—Stephen Curry closed his eyes and rested his tired head on Jimmy Butler’s right shoulder as the superstars shared another postgame moment.
This time, with Butler injured and wearing street clothes—a full-length fur coat at that.
“Well first, he had a fantastic coat on,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “I thought he was going to be way too hot in that thing.”
Sidelined for Game 3 of Golden State’s first-round playoff series against the Houston Rockets, Butler had a front-row seat to watch his teammate take over Saturday night in a 104-93 win that gave the Warriors a 2-1 lead.
happens, we should still set our mindset to win because the victory we get here, we can carry into the Final Four. They responded well, although there were some set plays or plays that changed today, but at least we were still able to adjust to what UST did,”
Bulldogs coach Dante Alinsunurin said.
Back-to-back attacks from twotime MVP Josh Ybañez pulled UST within one, 20-19, but a quick hit from Choi Diao, a crucial reception error from rookie libero Edriel Alabar, and a block by Jade Disquitado gave NU a 23-19 cushion.
The Golden Spikers managed to trim the lead to 23-21 following a Bulldogs net touch error and an offspeed hit from Jayrack de la Noche, but team captain Leo Aringo delivered back-to-back attacks to seal NU’s win in one hour and 57 minutes.
Guico returns to action as Junior PGT goes to Splendido
ACH GUICO looks to regain his winning form as he rejoins the competition, while siblings Ryuji and Shinichi Suzuki seek redemption in their respective divisions as the International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI) Splendido Taal Junior Philippine Golf Tour (JPGT) Championship reels off Monday in Laurel, Batangas.
Guico, who edged Zoji Edoc in a thrill -
ing finish to top the JPGT Luzon Series kickoff at Eagle Ridge three weeks ago, skipped last week’s Sherwood Hills leg to focus on academics. Now back in action, the Quezon City prodigy is eager to pick up where he left off, chasing not only another title but also valuable ranking points for a spot in the national finals.
The 36-hole event marks the third leg of the seven-stage Luzon series. The top
four players from each age group division—7-10, 11-14, and 15-18—will form the North squad for the North vs. South showdown against Vis-Min qualifiers set for September 30 to October 2 at The Country Club. Edoc, winner at Sherwood Hills, is again expected to be a major contender, alongside Halo Pangilinan, Asher Abad, Kenzo Tan, Michael Ray Hortel II and Con -
Obiena gropes for form, ends up seventh in China
TWO-TIME Olympian Ernest John “EJ” Obiena had a tough start to his outdoor season, ending up way behind the podium places in the first leg of the 2025 Wanda Diamond League pole vault event at the Egret Stadium in Xiamen,
ITHER I am like a zombie albeit with a huge grin on my face or I am mildly upset.
As of 11:30pm Sunday evening of April 27, Liverpool Football Club took on Tottenham at home in Afield. They just need a point from a draw, and of course, three points from an outright win, to claim their second Premier League title—and second in five years—that will give them a total of 20 top flight football championships.
That will level them with Manchester United, but by virtue of owning more trophies and UEFA Champions League titles, they’ll be England’s winningest team.
Come on, Reds, let us disagree with the
China on Sunday.
Obiena, groping for form, cleared 5.62 meters to place seventh in the field of 11 world class pole vaulters.
Two-time Olympic champion Armand Duplantis of Sweden didn’t hit his usual
Boomtown Rats who famously sang, “I don’t like Mondays.” I do, but I could like it today.
As a longtime fan of Liverpool (since 1979), it’s not even knocking down Manchester United off their perch if I may paraphrase Sir Alex Ferguson’s plan when he took over the latter. It’s more winning another to show to everyone that yes, the Reds are back. The glory days that came back during former manager Jurgen Klopp’s fabulous almost eight-year stay is being continued by Arne Slot.
‘6.0 meters but 5.92 meters was enough to take home the gold medal.
Emmanouil Karalis of Greece secured the silver with a vault of 5.82 meters, while Menno Vloon of the Netherlands clinched the bronze, also clearing 5.82m.
Furthermore, this gives the fans a chance to participate in the city-wide (nay, worldwide) celebrations that were denied during their 2019-20 winning season because of Covid-19. And also because if Liverpool draws or wins, it will be at home in front of supporters. If they clinch it, this is going to get crazy. After that title, I really waxed eloquent. Because it broke a horrible streak of title-less seasons. And it was the crowning glory of what Klopp promised.
I wish I could be there to watch and participate. But going to England isn’t like going to Cubao.
I really couldn’t care less what rival fans say as they downplay Liverpool’s recent success. At least we didn’t have to wait for another 30 years to win another title.
But am I getting ahead of myself? After all, this is being written12 hours before kick-off against Tottenham.
nor Sy, all aiming for crucial points in the boys’ 7-10 category.
Ryuji Suzuki, victorious at Eagle Ridge but falling to Vito Sarines at Sherwood Hills, is raring to bounce back in the boys’ 11-14 class. Sarines, however, is also set on another strong performance, while Sebastian Ledesma, Cade Santos, Matthias Espina, Jacob Casuga, Ryuichi Tao, Isaac Dillera, Victor Pangilinan, Peyton Coyiuto and Lorenzo Juane add depth to the title chase.
In the boys’ 15-18 division, Shinichi Suzuki returns stronger after a stint in the
Ben Broeders of Belgium and Ersu Sasma of Turkey finished fourth and fifth, both clearing 5.72m, while Australia’s Kurtis Marschall, Obiena and Sam Kendricks of the US finished sixth to eighth. Josef T. Ramos
EJ OBIENA struggles in his first official outdoor competition since the Paris Olympics.
Should they falter, they will have four more fixtures to clinch the title. But why wait? End it now.
When I started following Liverpool during the 1979-80 season, they won the English First Division (the precursor to the Premier League). I became a fan because I followed the Beatles who hail from Liverpool. While the Fab Four weren’t really football fans, nonetheless, I tried to learn and discover as much as I could from this port city.
During those pre-cable television and internet days, I was only able to follow them through the hardbound annuals that were sold at the National Bookstore Superbranch in Cubao. And they were not even updated with the annuals. But I purchased and read them to death nonetheless.
It was tough seeing the decline of this great football club. But I also followed it through
Curry scored 36 points with five 3-pointers and had nine assists and
dealt with a bruised tailbone multiple times. For now, Curry appreciates the support, whether Butler is in uniform or not. And the fur Butler was wearing? “I almost didn’t need a hot pack on the sideline sitting next to him. There was plenty of heat emanating from him,” Curry said before adding, “He’s a savvy veteran, high-IQ guy, he’s got a presence whether he’s active or not where his voice matters, and we needed him to lift everybody up on the bench and give us that energy. His presence matched the fit for sure.” Kerr wasn’t ready to guess whether Butler will be able to play in Game 4 on Monday night.
“He’s literally day-to-day. We have tomorrow off. It will be helpful for him to have another day, and then it’s a night game,” Kerr said. “So he gets a few extra hours. So we’ll see. I have no idea right now if he’s going to play.” AP
Royal Junior in Japan. With Eagle Ridge conqueror Charles
and Sherwood Hills winner Patrick Tambalque skipping this leg, Shinichi eyes a breakthrough victory against a field led by Zachary
Padilla, who recently bested Suzuki in a
ate
and
its slow ascent in this new millennium. And that makes it even more fulfilling and gratifying—am there for the good and the bad, and the great again.
Since then, I have seen the team play a live match on 10 different occasions (they didn’t lose any match I have watched live). I have been to Anfield twice and have interviewed many of their players and managers. I have sat in their press box and enjoyed my time exploring Anfield and watching matches. Even if I am hundreds of miles and oceans away, I follow everything about the club and the city. I promised myself another trip—perhaps my last to Liverpool and England—sometime next season.
That’s getting ahead. But you have to pardon this old football and Liverpool fan. After all, this doesn’t happen too often.
Serdenia
Villaroman, Geoffrey Tan, Jose Carlos Taruc and Tristan Padilla.
playoff at the Junior World Qualifying at the TCC, is eager to make an immedi -
impact in the premier category of the series organized by Pilipinas Golf Tournaments, Inc.
sponsored by ICTSI.
EAN CAJUCOM blasts to another bunch sprint victory. ROY DOMINGO
JADE DISQUITADO and the Bulldogs hold a twice-to-beat edge in the semifinals.
ZACH GUICO is eager to compete at Splendido after skipping the Sherwood Hills leg.
