By Jun Lomibao
T
CARLO PAALAM’S fists are all geared up for the most important fight of his life. AP
OKYO—What Hidilyn Diaz accomplished in weightlifting at the start of the Tokyo Olympics, Carlo Paalam aims to match with similar emphatic flourish in boxing on the penultimate day Saturday of the Games that looked headed to surviving the Covid-19 pandemic with aplomb. Standing between the gold and Paalam, a 23-year-old warrior from Cagayan de Oro City who as a child had to scavenge to help his family make ends meet, is a boxer from Great Britain, Galal Yafai. Paalam and Yafai square off in
the first bout at 2 p.m. on the final day of boxing competitions at the Kokugikan Arena. A victory by Paalam would mean a second gold medal and the best-ever performance by the Philippines in the Olympics since it took part in the Games close to a century ago in Paris in 1924. “Maybe one, maybe two…,” so said Philippine Olympic Committee President Rep. Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino when asked ahead of the Tokyo Olympics on how many gold medals the 19-athlete Team Philippines is capable of bringing home. Paalam is all harnessed up to
make it two gold medals, his fists staying lethal after punishing four opponents—including Rio 2016 Olympics champion Shakhobidin Zoirov of Uzbekistan—and ready to make Yafai an unwilling victim toward his quest for sporting glory. “I am asking all Filipinos to help me pray, for me to be able to do my utmost best,” Paalam said. “I have no control over the judges’ decision, and my opponent is as prepared as I am, and could be better than I am. But help me build more trust and confidence in myself as I fight the biggest fight of my boxing career.” Olympics stories in Sports A12
TOKYO OLYMPICS MEDAL COUNT RANK
TEAM/NOC
GOLD
SILVER
BRONZE
TOTAL
1
People’s Republic of China
34
24
17
75
2
United States of America
30
35
28
93
3
Japan
22
10
15
47
4
Great Britain
17
18
19
54
5
Australia
17
6
20
43
6
Russian Olympic Committee
16
23
22
61
7
Germany
9
10
16
35
8
Italy
8
10
18
36
9
Netherlands
8
10
11
29
10
France
7
11
9
27
49
Philippines
1
1
1
3
ROTARY CLUB OF MANILA JOURNALISM AWARDS
SOURCE: OLYMPICS.COM | AS OF AUGUST 6, 2021 6:51 PM
Paalam in harness to bag 2nd gold in Tokyo
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RISING ‘STAR’ IN THE SOUTH www.businessmirror.com.ph
A broader look at today’s business n
Saturday, August 7, 2021 Vol. 16 No. 297
P25.00 nationwide | 28 pages | 7 DAYS A WEEK
BARMM asserts it has risen from the doldrums as one of the top economic performers in Muslim Mindanao
BARMM Areas Lanao del Sur Maguindanao Basilan Sulu Tawi-Tawi
COTABATO City, an independent component city in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao GOOGLE EARTH
By Manuel T. Cayon | Mindanao Bureau Chief
W
HAT used to be the perennial tailender has logged in surprising numbers to join the lead pack in economic growth in Mindanao.
Yes, the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), a region where some of the country’s poorest provinces belong, “continues to advance its economic performance and remain resilient despite the crisis posed by the Covid-19 pandemic,” BARMM’s information office reported recently. The improvement in economic marks also happened, it noted, “despite the bureaucratic challenges hurdled by the interim
regional government amid the transition period.” Nothing is more rewarding than to see the economic growth unfolding for the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the caretaker organization of the regional government. The MILF was just repositioning itself from revolution to reformation, to assume its responsibility in the peace agreement it struck with government to bring economic relief, at the very least, to people of the
PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 50.0120
region, impoverished for decades by conflict, discrimination and lack of economic opportunity.
The numbers
THE MILF admits to the taxing and demanding tasks since the BARMM was formally constituted from the former Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao two years ago, and found itself immediately confronted by administrative concerns and processes in order to address a public health emergency instead, as the Covid-19 pandemic hit Philippine shores. “While the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) Parliament initially suspended its sessions during the advent of the unprecedented Covid-19 last year, it was quick to adapt to alternative methods, utilizing technology to continue its legislative mandates. Several ministries, on the other hand, redirected their operation
and focused on the delivery of essential services,” the BARMM Public Information Office said. The innovation and creativity in governance has apparently borne fruit. Since then, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), the BARMM placed second among the regions in Mindanao in terms of gross regional domestic product (GRDP) and gross regional domestic expenditure (GRDE) growth rate in 2019. Similarly, BARMM ranked seventh among the country’s 17 regions when it posted 5.9-percent growth rate in its GRDP. “This milestone was significantly driven by the region’s service sector, which contributed 40.4 percent, followed by agriculture, forestry and fishing (AFF) sector with 34.5 percent growth, and the industry sector with 25.1 percent,” it added. Continued on A2
n JAPAN 0.4557 n UK 69.6717 n HK 6.4313 n CHINA 7.7406 n SINGAPORE 37.0240 n AUSTRALIA 37.0289 n EU 59.1992 n SAUDI ARABIA 13.3362
Source: BSP (August 6, 2021)