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ENABLING THE DISABLED The movement for PWD inclusion, integration in the workplace is slowly but surely gaining traction.

PBDN members and partners show the hand sign meaning “connect.” PBDN encourages more companies to join them to develop inclusive and barrier-free workplaces. PHOTO COURTESY OF PBDN

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By Roderick L. Abad Contributor

MPOWERING persons with disability (PWDs) is everybody’s business. They need to be supported and, at all times, given equal importance and opportunities as what most others enjoy, whether at home, in the community, school or workplace.

Despite this, however, the sad reality is that many differently abled people are often stereotyped, experience discrimination, suffer from stigma and misunderstanding, get isolated, and, much worse, are violated or abused, not only by people not related to them or total strangers, but also by those with affinity or consanguinity to them.

Such concerns can have a deep and wide-reaching impact on their lives. These hold true for Liza Sales, a warehouse staff in a pharmaceutical company with orthopedic disability; Sareena Calonzo, a deaf fraud analyst; and Roilan Marlang, a marketing associate who has autism—all had difficulty finding employment due to their conditions.

“After college, I looked for a job in line with my coursework: computer design and programming. Every time I passed an exam and training, a lot of companies wouldn’t hire me because of their preconceived notion that I wasn’t fit for the job,” Sales recalled during the first leg of the recent two-day virtual conference dubbed “Working Beyond Barriers” organized by the Philippine Business & Disability Network (PBDN).

Sharing a similar ordeal with her, Marlang remembered that he almost gave up searching for jobs: “I applied to 90 companies in Metro Manila… until Project Inclusion Network (PIN) helped

me with my employment.”

At work, Calonzo initially was not at ease on site, citing that “when I started working, at first I didn’t feel comfortable because there were gestures that I couldn’t understand.

Sometimes it seems that they are looking down at me, but in reality I just want them to be aware of how to approach people like me.”

Given these common PWD experiences, John Nicolls, country site lead of PayPal Philippines, has called for immediate action to push diversity and inclusion (D&I) in the workplace, considering the manifold threats they are facing today, especially with the Covid-19 pandemic.

“I think what we have to get in our head is there’s no truly right time, except for right now,” he appealed to the business community during the event’s panel discussion.

“It’s right to do it now. We have to take the risks and reap the benefits.

Prepare and plan as best as you can, but also look out for those who can help you on your journey.”

Closer look at PWDs

GLOBAL perspective looks at disability in four molds.

First is the Charity Model, where people often think that PWDs are objects of philanthropy or benevolence. In the Medical Model, on the other hand, people tend to lean on the impairment of the person and

PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 55.7120

UPPER left is Krissy Bisda, moderator of the session, GEDSI advocate and consultant of PBDN, and also a person with visual impairment. Upper right is John Nicholls, Country Site Lead of PayPal Philippines; lower left is Pilar Baltazar, Head for Finance and Investment Operations of Manulife Business Processing Services; and lower right is Jennifer Lagasca, HR Manager of Asurion Techlog Center.

PHOTO COURTESY OF PBDN

help them to “fix” him to function.

The Social Model is where PWDs are able to live in an inclusive society.

Lastly, the Rights-based Model espouses recognition of the laws and policies for the disabled.

Suffice it to say, but incapacitated individuals, like the three PWD panelists, abhor the first two models.

Disagreeing with the first model, for instance, Nicolls reiterated, “the private sector is not a charity. We can’t be a charity.

That’s not how we operate. We expect the same level of performance from those with disabilities as those without disabilities. So we

are willing to invest to make sure that that is a level playing field.”

Unless the glass ceiling is totally broken, especially in the workplace like in the above case of PayPal Philippines, such inclusivity fallacies will continue for PWDs. “Business leaders are essential to change the perceptions about persons with disabilities when it comes to [employing them] because still too often misconceptions about what a person with disabilities can and cannot do at work are prevalent,” International Labor Organization Global Business and Disability Network Disability Inclusion Officer Jurgen Menze noted.

Enabling laws, platforms

TRUE to its love for democracy and Christian faith, the Philippines champions D&I through the implementation of various laws and policies to better serve the rights and interests of its citizens with disabilities and special needs. There is Republic Act (RA) 7277, the Magna Carta for Persons with Disabilities, which details the incentives provided by the government to private establishments that hire PWDs. This law was later amended to RA 9442 and RA 10754, which espouse their benefits and privileges, and the Batas Pambansa Bilang 344 or the Accessibility Law.

Responding to the request of the Special Committee on Persons with Disabilities, Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Secretary Bienvenido E. Laguesma said in a recent newspaper report that his office had submitted comments on different House of Representatives bills aimed at changing RA 7277, specifically on the employment quota.

“In that letter, he said that he expressed support to increase from 1 percent to at least 2 percent all positions in all government agencies to be reserved for PWDs and deleting the word ‘encourage’ and putting the Continued on A2

n JAPAN 0.4189 n UK 67.7458 n HK 7.0973 n CHINA 8.2555 n SINGAPORE 40.4854 n AUSTRALIA 38.8034 n EU 57.0881 n KOREA 0.0428 n SAUDI ARABIA 14.8328

Source: BSP (August 5, 2022)

NewsSunday A2 Sunday, August 7, 2022

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ENABLING THE DISABLED

FROM left: Grant Javier of Project Inclusion Network (Technical Secretariat of PBDN), Jennifer Lagasca of Asurion, Rich An Cruz of IBM, Panya Boonsirithum of Citihub, John Nicholls of PayPal, and Pixie Javier-Gutierrez of JPMorgan Chase & Co. PHOTO COURTESY OF PBDN Continued from A1

word ‘mandating’ private corporations with more than 100 employees to reserve at least 1 percent of all positions for PWDs. So we strongly support this measure,” DOLE’s Bureau of Workers with Special Concerns Director IV Atty. Karen Trayvilla noted.

“Hopefully that is passed,” Atty. Krizelle Ramos, chief of the Programs Management Division of the National Council on Disability Affairs, said, while adding the importance of Equal Opportunity for Employment (RA 10524) law, which endeavors to eliminate discrimination against and increase opportunities for PWDs. Apart from these policies, there are also several government programs such as the PESO Employment Information System, Government Internship Program, Trabaho Negosyo Kabuhayan, DOLE Integrated Livelihood program, and DOLE’s Employees’ Compensation Commission’s Katulong at Gabay Sa Manggagawang May Kapansanan program.

While these measures are in place, there remain underlying concerns on work inclusivity and equal chances for PWDs. These could be due to their limited enforcement, and the lack monitoring and clarity, thus leading to persisting barriers in the attitudinal, physical, communication and institutional aspects.

“We have a collective responsibility. Upscaling inclusivity of the workplace for persons with disability is a goal toward the right direction,” Trayvilla pointed out.

PWD-friendly entities

BELIEVING that PWDs can be potential assets rather than liabilities, more and more businesses in the country strive for inclusivity in the workplace by giving opportunities to them. Case in point are PayPal Philippines, Manulife and Asurion Technology Philippines. Their journey, however, was not a smooth, easy ride since they had no idea where and how to begin with at first.

“We have a very strong track record globally in terms of diversity and inclusion. We wanted to make sure that PayPal Philippines also reflected that team strength,” Nicolls said. “But when we look at our D&I spectrum, really the big gap for us initially was very much the disability strand and so that’s where we have the biggest opportunity.”

‘B

usiness leaders are essential to change the perceptions about persons with disabilities when it comes to [employing them] because still too often misconceptions about what a person with disabilities can and cannot do at work are prevalent.’—International

Labor Organization Global Business and Disability Network Disability Inclusion Officer Jurgen Menze As a headstart, they tapped the deaf community, being one of the largest disability groups yet very much underrepresented in careerdriven industries like theirs. Often, they have little potential for career development as they usually are given short-term contracts.

“We wanted to prove that we could create a sustainable model to access deaf talents and prove that [they are] equal to their hearing counterparts,” he said. “So we make what we call ‘equity tweaks’, allowing us to level the playing field.”

Like PayPal Philippines, Asurion, likewise, had no inkling as to how they will work with the disability sector for the first time in 2017, bared Human Resource Manager Jen Lagasca, who has a child with special needs. Taking a cue from the success of Unilab’s Project Inclusion, they also did not fail in assimilating their deaf hires with their regular employees, which, hopefully, they will replicate now for persons with autism spectrum disorder.

“We have a lot of sensitivity disability training. And then we have to make follow through what they think about it, what are their realizations. In the long run, we have to trust the process that these people, our employees, will be practicing empathy and they will have their self-realization that there’s a beauty as well as difficulties, but the intangible benefit of having people work with you with different abilities entailed a different level of gratitude,” she explained.

“That’s the best thing that any culture will have because they say that they can actually belong and we gave that chance. And we actually are also helping. We are kinder now. Many of our workers, even the leaders, would be kinder and more patient because of them,” she added.

There are manifold ways for employers to break down barriers for PWDs. That’s actually a part of Manulife’s DNA as reflected in

its “Sharing Our Humanity” core value. As part of its corporate culture, the firm established in April 2020 an Ability Employee Resource Group that works with HR and the facility’s team to attract and provide reasonable accommodation for PWD talents.

“So part of our journey was actually establishing long-term partnerships with local NGOs and institutions to help and guide us onboard PWDs and also to refer talent for hiring,” Manulife Philippines Service Delivery Head Pilar Baltazar said of their partnership with PIN, Saint Benilde’s School of Deaf and Applied Studies, and PBDN. “Personally I also self-identify as an ability talent. I have one of the more silent disabilities—I am dyslexic,” she confessed. “So I make sure that I can function in a work environment by simplifying. But when I simplify, that actually delivers business value in terms of efficiency in how we operate and it also helps make things simpler to our customers if we’re thinking about the employee, the customer or the user.”

Despite the many success stories on diversity and inclusion in the workplace, there remain challenges to address to broaden the opportunities for the marginalized sectors in society like the PWDs. “I don’t think our journey with the disability sector in the Philippines is over yet. I know there are still a lot of organizations out there that we hope to partner with.... We have just started our journey and I’m very excited because we are seeing so many more talent pool [from them],” Baltazar said.

Having that strong knowledge base to identify ways for meaningful inclusion in the design and the delivery of programs and services for PWDs, Trayvilla stressed that “everybody gains from disability inclusion” while imparting that “alone, we can do so little; together, we can do so much.”

The World

www.businessmirror.com.ph • Editor: Angel R. Calso

BusinessMirror

Sunday, August 7, 2022

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Meet the Russian architect of Putin’s economic counterattack against West

W

HEN sanctions made the Fortress Russia he helped build seem less impregnable, Maxim Oreshkin came up with a signature gambit to try and break the economic siege.

Russia’s war on Ukraine wasn’t yet a month old and its blitzkrieg was already turning into a slog.

The economic blowback was harsh, too, as the government struggled to avoid a default and the ruble went into in a nosedive.

On March 23, Vladimir Putin struck back, demanding that Russia’s adversaries in Europe pay their massive bills for its natural gas in rubles.

O resh k i n, t he president ’s 40-year-old economic aide, was author of the gamble to tear up contracts and upend decades of precedent, according to officials familiar with the matter.

Since the February 24 invasion, he’s emerged as a key member of Putin’s inner circle on economic policy, one of several insiders with western financial experience now helping steer the Kremlin’s response.

“They are now busy figuring out how to get around the sanctions and are doing it quite successfully,” said Sergei Guriev, an economist who advised the government in the early years of Putin’s rule but later fled to Paris, where he’s now rector of Sciences Po. “But all the money earned goes to fund the war.”

Damage dodged

THE defenses have helped the Kremlin avoid the worst of the economic damage feared when

the sanctions were first imposed.

Forecasters now see a contraction half as deep this year. The ruble has recovered its early losses to become a top performer as tens of billions of dollars and euros flow in for energy and other exports.

By leveraging Russia’s sway over gas supplies to Europe, Oreshkin’s ruble demand allowed Putin to appear to be fighting back against the initial sanctions onslaught. It ultimately forced the EU to back down as most of the major consumers signed up to the new terms that included the requirement to open special accounts with Gazprombank JSC, keeping the lender free of sanctions.

“I consider the effect of using the rubles-for-gas scheme to be positive,” Oreshkin told Bloomberg, declining to comment on his role in devising it.

He has whispered rhetorical flourishes that then wind up in presidential speeches. He coined a phrase that Putin would soon repeat over and over, describing the seizure of Russia’s international reserves as in fact “a real default” by the US and European Union on their obligations to Russia.

He’s also helped draw up plans to limit the fallout as Russia’s banks are cut off from the SWIFT financial messaging service and pushed back against calls from other inf luential insiders for

MAXIM ORESHKIN and Vladimir Putin in 2019. BLOOMBERG

more state control as Russia’s economy grows isolated from the world Oreshkin and his allies once sought closer ties with.

Putin brought him along on a recent trip to Iran, which has decades of experience weathering western sanctions. Asked about the Islamic republic’s ideas for overcoming the limits, Oreshkin bragged, “ours are much better.”

A former banker at Societe Generale SA’s Russian unit, he’s now using his western experience to blunt the impact of sanctions.

Oreshkin is part of a cadre of officials who’ve long tried to walk a fine line between crafting investor-friendly economic policy and Putin’s growing repression.

The war has made that balancing act all but impossible, with Oreshkin and his colleagues hit with sanctions as their economic policies serve the Kremlin’s war machine.

Not ‘defensible’

“I CAN see exactly how somebody from the technocrats would say,

‘Here I am doing this really important thing on payment systems, on banking, this is my area of responsibility. I am maintaining stability and I am going to continue doing it,”’ said Jacob Nell, who as Russia economist at Morgan Stanley once took investors to meet Oreshkin.

“It was defensible before February 24, but it is not after,” added Nell, who is now a member of an international working group advising the US and Europe on how to design sanctions against Russia Oreshkin is part of a bridge generation that straddled the end of the Soviet era and spent their teenage years during what became known in Russia as the tumultuous 1990s, a period of hardship and economic daring.

Thirty years Putin’s junior, he was the youngest of two sons in a family of Moscow academics, growing up a world apart from the president’s hardscrabble beginnings in postwar Leningrad.

Technocrat cohort

ORESHKIN’S cohort of technocrats

AP analysis: Iran is now speaking openly on nuclear bomb prospects

By Jon Gambrell

The Associated Press

D

UBAI, United Arab Emirates— Iranian officials now speak openly about something long denied

by Tehran as it enriches uranium at its closest-ever levels to weapons-grade material: The Islamic Republic is ready to build an atomic weapon at will.

The remarks could be bluster to force more bargaining-table concessions from the US without planning to seek the bomb. Or, as analysts warn, Iran could reach a point like North Korea did some 20 years ago where it decides having the ultimate weapon outweighs any further international sanctions.

All this could be put to the test Thursday as Iran, the US and the European Union prepare for a snap summit that appears to be a last-ditch effort in Vienna to revive Tehran’s tattered nuclear deal amid the new pressure. That includes one Iranian video online suggesting the country’s ballistic missiles could “turn New York into a heap of rubble from hell.”

Hyperbole aside, the language taken as a whole marks a distinct verbal escalation from Tehran.

“In a few days we were able to enrich uranium up to 60 percent and we can easily produce 90 percent enriched uranium. ...

Iran has the technical means to produce a nuclear bomb but there has been no decision by Iran to build one,” Kamal Kharrazi, an adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, told Al Jazeera in mid-July. Uranium enriched at 90 percent is considered weapons-grade.

Ataollah Mohajerani, a culture minister under reformist President Mohammad Khatami, then wrote in Iran’s Etemad daily newspaper that Kharrazi’s announcement that Iran could make a nuclear weapon provided a “moral lesson” for Israel and President Joe Biden.

And finally Mohammad Eslami, the head of Iran’s civilian nuclear agency, made his own reported comment about a potential military aspect to Iran’s program.

“As Mr. Kharrazi mentioned, Iran has the technical ability to make an atomic bomb, but there is no such plan on the agenda,” Eslami said Monday, according to the semiofficial Fars news agency.

Eslami’s agency later said he had been “misunderstood and misjudged”—likely a sign Iran’s theocracy didn’t want him to have been so specific. Eslami’s threat also carries more weight than others as he’s directly worked for Iranian defense agencies linked to Iran’s military nuclear program—including one that secretly built uranium-enriching centrifuges with Pakistani nuclear proliferator A.Q. Khan’s help.

But by 2003, Iran had abandoned its military nuclear program, according to US intelligence agencies, America’s European allies and IAEA inspectors. The US had just invaded Iraq, citing later-debunked claims of Saddam Hussein hiding weapons of mass destruction. America already was at war in Afghanistan, another nation neighboring Iran.

Libya under then-dictator Moammar Gadhafi gave up its own nascent military atomic program that relied on the same Pakistani-designed centrifuges that

Tehran bought from Khan.

Ultimately, Iran reached its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, which saw it receive economic sanctions relief while it drastically curtailed its program. Under the deal, Tehran could enrich uranium to 3.67 percent, while maintaining a stockpile of uranium of 300 kilograms (660 pounds) under constant scrutiny of IAEA surveillance cameras and inspectors.

But then-President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew America from the accord in 2018, saying he’d negotiate a stronger deal including Tehran’s ballistic missile program and its support of regional militant groups. He didn’t. Attacks on land, at sea and in the air raised tensions across the wider Mideast. And Iran after a year began breaking the deal’s terms.

As of the last public IAEA count, Iran has a stockpile of some 3,800 kilograms (8,370 pounds) of enriched uranium. More worrying for nonprofileration experts, Iran now enriches uranium up to 60 percent purity—a level it never reached before that is a short, technical step away from 90 percent. Those experts warn Iran has enough 60 percent-enriched uranium to reprocess into fuel for at least one nuclear bomb.

Iranian diplomats for years have pointed to Khamenei’s preachings as a binding fatwa, or religious edict, that Iran wouldn’t build an atomic bomb.

“We do not need nuclear bombs. We have no intention of using a nuclear bomb,” Khamenei said in a November 2006 speech, according to a transcript from his office. “We do not claim to dominate the

world, like the Americans, we do not want to dominate the world by force and need a nuclear bomb. Our nuclear bomb and explosive power is our faith.”

But such edicts aren’t written in stone. Khamenei’s predecessor, Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, issued fatwas that revised his own earlier pronouncements after he took power following the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

And anyone who would follow the 83-year-old Khamenei as the country’s supreme leader could make his own fatwas revising those previously issued.

For now though, it appears Iran will continue to lean into the atomic threat.

Public opinion appears to be shifting as well.

A July telephone survey by IranPoll, a Toronto-based firm, suggests about a third of the Iranian public now support abandoning the Treaty on the Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons and pursuing the bomb. A September 2021 poll found less than one in 10 respondents supported such a move.

The margin of error for the firm’s two polls of 1,000 respondents was around 3 percentage points.

A video recently posted online by an account believed to be associated with Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard bluntly made the missile threat on New York. It described Iran as being “one step away from a nuclear breakthrough and from joining (other countries) that have nuclear weapons.”

The video’s title? “When Will Iran’s Nuclear Bombs Be Awakened From Their Slumber?”

includes Bank of Russia Deputy Governor Alexey Zabotkin, 44, and Deputy Finance Minister Vladimir Kolychev, 39. Graduates of elite Russian economic schools, they parlayed jobs at European lenders into a stint at state investment bank VTB Capital, before winning appointments to top state roles.

Forgoi ng t he pr iv ate se ctor, they devoted themselves to building up Putin’s financial fortress. The harsher Putin was with critics and rivals abroad and at home, the more indispensable they became in building resiliency to sustain the economy for when the big shocks would come.

During his three-year stint at the Finance Ministr y, Oreshkin was among officials who devised a mechanism to divert hundreds of billions of dollars in revenues from oil-and-gas exports into a sovereign fund to help the K remlin weather crises like the first waves of US and European sanctions over Crimea in 2014.

Years of sanctions-proofing the economy and building up reserves weren’t enough to protect the economy after the invasion, however. The US and its allies froze much of the $600 billion in reserves that Oreshkin’s policies had helped build up. For all his efforts to divert blame, Russia failed to make debt payments and defaulted for the first time in a century. The economy isn’t doing as badly as feared in the wake of the invasion, but it’s still on track for one of the deepest recessions in decades.

Seen as a political lightweight not long ago, Oreshkin in particular has emerged as the economic right-hand man of a president at war.

“Putin still trusts our economists,”

said Guriev.

As some powerful Kremlin players have pushed for reasserting state control over the economy, Oreshkin has fought back, so far successfully.

Shrill rhetoric

“RUSSIA is not going to abandon the market economy,” Oreshkin said in reply to questions from Bloomberg. “On the contrary, it’s moving in the opposite direction.

Private initiative is now especially encouraged. This is constantly noted by the president in his speeches.”

Still, he and his allies are increasingly adopting the shrill rhetoric of Russia’s once-marginal critics of western capitalism.

Oreshkin has likened the US currency to “a drug used to addict the whole world.” Aleksey Moiseev, the 49-year-old deputy finance minister and another alum of VTB Capital, has said that the intensity of sanctions amounted to the detonation of a “financial nuclear bomb.”

R hetoric aside, the anti-crisis measures taken so far largely stick close to the playbook that draws on mainstream economics, with policy makers already d ism a nt l i ng c apit a l cont rol s used to seal off Russia after the invasion.

That may not be enough to secure their legacy.

“What they did in the first years of their stay at the Ministry of Finance and the central bank has already been canceled,” said Konstantin Sonin, a Moscowborn economist at the University of Chicago who’s long been critical of policies under Putin. “Now their work is no different from the work of highly paid clerks in a government waging a criminal war.” Bloomberg News

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TheWorld BusinessMirror

Sunday, August 7, 2022

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The US-led drive to isolate Russia and China gets scant G-20 support

By Alan Crawford, Jenni Marsh & Antony Sguazzin

W

HEN Group of Seven leaders gathered in the Bavarian Alps in June, they pledged to stand with Ukraine for the long haul.

Their Group of 20 counterparts are proving less supportive.

Comprising nations that account for some 85 percent of global economic output, the G-20 is supposed to be more reflective of the world. Yet only half its number has joined the international sanctions imposed on fellow member Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.

Senior officials from the smaller group of wealthy nations have been traveling the world to make the case for a tougher economic net around Russia. They’ve been surprised by the lack of sign-on from G-20 states, even if those countries aren’t going out of their way to help Moscow circumvent the penalties.

It’s an uncomfortable reality confronting Secretary of State Antony Blinken during his extended tour of Southeast Asia and Africa: Much of the world isn’t ready to follow US and European efforts to isolate President Vladimir Putin’s Russia.

That makes agreement on global initiatives such as a cap on Russian oil prices as proposed by the G-7 even more challenging, while emboldening Putin and his key supporter, Chinese President Xi Jinping, in pursuing their respective global agendas.

T he big gest opt- out is C h ina. X i joined hands with Putin and declared a “no limits” friendship just weeks before Russia invaded Ukraine. China’s outlays on Russian oil have soared since the war’s outbreak—it spent 72 percent more on Russian energy purchases in June from a year earlier.

China is in any case locked in a rivalry with the US, with tensions spiking this week over House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taipei, and in its own dispute with the G-7 after the bloc issued a statement expressing concern about Beijing’s “threatening actions” around Taiwan.

A face-to-face meeting planned between the foreign ministers of China and G-7 member Japan this week in Cambodia has been called off by Beijing. Japan said late Thursday that some ballistic missiles fired by China during drills near Taiwan had landed in its exclusive economic zone—the first time that had happened—and lodged a diplomatic protest.

But Beijing is far from alone in rejecting the pleas to rein in the Kremlin. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke over the phone with Putin on July 1 and discussed how trade could be built up. Luiz

These are the biggest economic risks ahead B

LOOMBERG Markets asked experts for their views on what poses the greatest threat to the economy. Their responses have been edited for length and clarity.

Laurence Boone

France’s secretary of state for European affairs THE biggest economic risk facing the world and in particular Europe today is the energy and food crisis. Firstly, a huge rise in prices makes it unaffordable for many people, not only the poor but also the lower middle class. A second consequence will be a greater risk of starvation in the Middle East and Africa, and energy shortages not just this winter but next winter. This raises the risk of social turbulence in Europe.

In the Middle East and Africa, we’ve seen the Arab Spring about 10 years ago, and we know how that led to a lot of political and social turbulence.

Raphael Bostic

President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta THE biggest economic risk is that US consumers begin to expect that prices will continue to rise and they start to make spending decisions based on that assumption. While we haven’t seen expectations become unanchored, that risk grows the longer inflation levels remain elevated. The Fed is doing all we can to keep higher prices from becoming entrenched.

Maurice Obstfeld

Professor of economics at the University of California at Berkeley, and former chief economist of the

International Monetary Fund THE global community faces broad-based and accelerating environmental degradation, comprising interrelated threats ranging from climate change to biodiversity loss to deforestation to the diffusion of microplastics in oceans and drinking water.

Worsening pathogenic threats are only one symptom of humankind’s collision with planetary boundaries. Meanwhile, our domestic political systems and global governance mechanisms seem increasingly unable to meet the existential risks that we face. Nowhere illustrates the obstacles to action better than the United States, where tightening control of government by an inward- and backward-­looking political minority is undermining any hope that domestic policy or global leadership will rise to the challenges of modernity.

Tidjane Thiam

Executive chairman of Freedom Acquisition I Corp. and former chief executive officer of Credit Suisse Group AG THE biggest risk at this point of the cycle is the risk of policy mistakes. It will be a delicate task to find the right policy mix that will bring inflation down without triggering a deep and prolonged recession and make supply chains globally more resilient without sacrificing the main benefits we have derived from globalization and free trade.

Frederic Neumann

Chief Asia economist at HSBC Holdings Plc. THE biggest economic risk is “stagflation” of the severe kind, with prices rising persistently and at a rapid clip, yet the world falling into the grip of a deep recession. In

Inacio Lula da Silva, the frontrunner in Brazil’s presidential race, laid the blame for the war on Ukraine as much as Russia.

In South Africa, President Cyril Ramaphosa criticized US-led sanctions. Turkey concluded that penalizing Russia would be detrimental to Ankara’s economic and political interests, according to a senior official, who cited a $35 billion hit from higher energy costs and the impact on tourism.

Economic imperatives are one reason for the reticence among what is often termed the Global South. But there are others, including historic affinities to Moscow, concerns at signs of US disengagement and a distrust of former colonial powers that fuels a sense of hypocrisy.

There are parallels with China and the US-led efforts to create a coalition of democracies against Beijing. US Commerce Under Secretary Alan Estevez said in July that Washington’s collaboration with 37 nations to impose export controls on Russia served as a blueprint for a new system of tackling threats from China.

Here, too, the US and like-minded nations can point to only limited success, since G-20 members including this year’s host Indonesia continue to sign big deals with Chinese state-owned companies, while the balance of trade remains in Beijing’s favor.

Take Saudi Arabia, which remains on good terms with Moscow through their involvement in the Opec+ oil cartel. It’s also friendly with Beijing: Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said recently that many Chinese companies are already do-

ing business in Neom, his flagship megaproject.

Riyadh doesn’t have to choose between American and Chinese technology, “in the same way that you can have a McDonald’s and a Burger King on the same street,” Saudi Ambassador to the US Princess Reema bint Bandar told reporters during President Joe Biden’s visit last month.

That kind of pick-and-mix approach to foreign policy has set up a competition for influence. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz pointedly invited Argentina, Indonesia, India and South Africa, none of whom have sanctioned Russia, to his Ukrainefocused G-7 summit in late June.

The soft power tussle was on show in Africa last month, when Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov won praise for Moscow’s nuclear power technology. He used the opportunity to stress Russia’s historic support for African liberation movements, while making the case that sanctions were to blame for food insecurity rather than a Kremlin blockade of Ukraine’s grain ports that is only just starting now to ease.

Moscow has backed up that message with a media barrage. French President Emmanuel Macron, on his own Africa tour, denounced Russia for conducting “a new kind of hybrid world war” on the continent.

It ’s been a simi lar playbook

by China in Africa. A n African countr y alternates with China in hosting the triennial Forum of China Africa Cooperation, which the Chinese president traditionally attends and meets one-on-one with almost ever y head of state.

W hen the FOC AC is held in Beijing the red car pet is rolled out,

with tiny Equatorial New Guinea treated with equal importance to Nigeria—a level of attention absent in Washington.

China knows that each African state has one vote at the United Nations and its institutions, and that’s paid off diplomatically. Earlier this year, the US submitted a letter decrying China for alleged human rights abuses in Xinjiang to the Human Rights Council with 47 signatories, mostly European allies. Cuba responded with a statement on China’s behalf backed by 62 countries, mostly in the Global South.

Blinken’s decision to travel from Asia to South Africa on August 7, then the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda, looks like an attempt to regain the narrative against not just China but Russia, too.

The ruling ANC in South Africa has close business ties with Russia.

Billionaire oligarch Viktor Vekselberg was the biggest donor to the ANC in a recent quarterly disclosure and Chancellor House, the ANC’s investment company, owns a stake in his manganese mine in South Africa.

Biden said he’ll welcome African leaders to Washington in December for a summit that will “ build on our shared values to better foster new economic engagement.” As well as tackling pandemic readiness, climate change and food security, the meeting will “reinforce the US-Africa commitment to democracy and human rights,” Biden said.

Yet according to Maria Repnikova, associate professor in global communication at Georgia State University, China’s pragmatic use of soft power—centered on education and jobs, while showcasing its tech advances

and progress in cutting poverty— often resonates more in the Global South than the US focus on values.

Moscow meantime is using “different ways of appealing and speaking for and with the Global South as an advocate for them,” Repnikova, the author of “Chinese Soft Power,” said in an interview. It’s less than China’s reach, she said, but they’ve been “working a lot on their competition of narratives,” through social media and diplomatic language.

That kind of approach doesn’t just apply to Africa, Repnikova said, but to Asia and Latin America, where Russia supplied nations with its Covid-19 vaccine and China is investing heavily.

In a rare snub to Ukraine, the South American trade bloc Mercosur declined a request by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to address its summit in late July.

In Indonesia, President Joko Widodo has maintained traditional non-alignment in the face of pressure to exclude Putin from the G-20 summit in November. He’s invited both the Russian and Ukrainian presidents to Bali.

While Jokowi traveled to Moscow and Kyiv, China’s Silk Road Fund signed a deal to invest as much as $3 billion in Indonesia’s new sovereign wealth fund. It was the largest single investment by China recorded worldwide by IntelTrak’s Belt and Road Monitor for the July 1-15 period.

To Repnikova, recent events show how competition for influence is becoming more entrenched. That leaves little chance of mobilizing states to shift their positions—“unless something very significant is offered.”

Bloomberg News

this scenario, central banks’ hands would be tied, unable to cushion the growth stumble and thus exacerbating financial stress with high interest rates. We aren’t close to that scenario, but such an outcome has at least become conceivable, and as such it appears that investors’ blindfolds to such tail-risk have started to come off.

economic risks ahead is the lack of consideration surrounding Black and Brown folks in economic policy decision-making.

Failing to acknowledge how these vulnerable groups will grapple with the looming and already present economic realities (rising inflation and a pending recession) will ultimately be costly for everyone while further exacerbating existing inequalities that will further undermine any progress we make. We saw this back in 2009, when economic recovery efforts left out Black women, whose unemployment rate increased. It is my hope that we don’t make the same mistake again.

First, for everyone, rising prices eat into our spending power. This hurts consumers and can impede growth as they are forced to cut back on consumption. The second risk is that the typical monetary response to inflation, increasing the fed funds rate/ tighter monetary policy, can cut demand and also increase unemployment. The third risk is related to the first two—the economy is quite different than it was in the late 1970s, early 1980s. What we are a bit less sure of now is how tight monetary policy will work in this economy—will it bring demand down in a way that will stamp out inflation? I think the answer is yes, but the unknown is what that policy will look like in details. What will the fed funds rate have to be, given the rise of market concentration and the increasing evidence of monopsony in the labor market?

That is a policy risk—that we may be too tame or too aggressive, and large errors in either direction have a big impact on the material well-being of working families.

Karen Ward

William Maloney

Chief economist for the Latin America and Caribbean region at the World Bank WE have a tendency to look at things from the short term, but when we are looking at fairly low rates of growth going forward, we have a longer problem. I am much more worried about the 1.5 years of education lost during the pandemic. The whole region is just not prepared educationally for the kind of technologies that are coming. A third of students in the region meet minimum standards in science and technology, so where are these high-tech entrepreneurs going to come from? We have around 30 percent of businesses saying they can’t get the workforce they need, and that’s compared to 20 percent in the world.

Ernesto Revilla

Chief economist for Latin America at Citigroup Inc. IN the short term, I’m worried about the Fed. In the next 12 to 18 months, that will be where much of the risks will come from for Latam. I am worried that we can have lower growth and higher inflation. In the medium term, I’m worried about whether the region is able to find a new growth story. We are headed to a world with a more challenging external scenario, China growing less, and overall less globalization. So what will drive growth in Latin America?

Anna Gifty Opoku-Agyeman

Co-founder of the Sadie Collective, a nonprofit organization addressing the underrepresentation of Black women in economics, finance, and policy TO me, what remains one of the biggest

Paul Krugman

Nobel laureate and professor of economics at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York LONG term, there’s always horrible things like climate change and war and all that.

But short term, I think the biggest risk is that the Fed will overdo it and it will slam on the brakes too hard.

Agustín Carstens

General manager of the Bank for International Settlements THE main issue is the uncertainty and the geopolitical scenario. A much longer oil shock would make the economic recovery more difficult, moving into a situation where inflation would be controlled but at a bigger cost. On a medium term, the challenge is to start debating what would make the economies grow again. We are stuck in a situation where there was a lot of dependence on favorable financial conditions, including fiscal and monetary policies, which are good for as long as you can maintain them but they don’t promote sustained growth. We need to reinforce the debate of structural issues.

Trevon Logan

Professor of economics at Ohio State University THE biggest economic risk is inflation.

Mugur Isarescu

Governor of the National Bank of Romania, and the longest-serving central bank chief in the world STAGFLATION is the biggest economic risk. In the ’70s, I was a young economic researcher, and I remember that period of stagflation very well. Back then it lasted 10 years. The shock, I think, was slightly bigger then. From an oil price of $1 per barrel we jumped to $10 toward the end of 1972. From the point of view of economic, fiscal, and monetary theories, you can’t easily overcome a shock that triggers both inflation and recession. We’re all trying to find solutions.

Raising interest rates fast to 16 percent to 20 percent is not one of them, but neither is dropping interest rates when inflation is rising, like some of our neighbors in the south are doing. Probably this calibration of a right fiscal policy with structural measures could lead us in a situation where the key rate and the inflation rate will converge. But avoiding a recession will be very hard to do at a global level.

Chief market strategist for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa at JPMorgan Asset Management and a former economic adviser to the UK’s chancellor of the exchequer THE biggest downside risk is that slowing activity does not slow inflation. So long as weakening demand filters through to easing consumer prices and wage inflation, then central banks won’t have to slam so hard on the brakes and can try to engineer a soft landing. If inflation is sticky, however, the downturn will have to be more significant and sustained to drive inflation out of the system. The risk in this scenario is that this creates a conflict between governments and central banks. The biggest upside risk is the combination of tight labor markets and the energy challenge unleashes a massive increase in investment, which leads to a productivity revival.

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala

Director-general of the World Trade Organization The biggest economic risk ahead is the continuation of the war in Ukraine.

Dana Peterson

Chief economist at the Conference Board THE greatest threat to the US economy is recession, induced by Fed tightening in reaction to elevated inflation. The Conference Board now anticipates a brief yet shallow recession in the US late this year. This would be anchored by periods of stagflation–low growth but high inflation.

The outlook reflects a more hawkish Fed, including larger and accelerated interest-rate hikes into restrictive territory—i.e., above 3 percent—this year.

Bloomberg story contributors: Philip Aldrick, Chris Anstey, Bryce Baschuk, Vrishti Beniwal, Maria Eloisa Capurro, Shawn Donnan, Stephanie Flanders, Cynthia Li, Carolynn Look, Steve Matthews, Reade Pickert, Alonso Soto, Juan Pablo Spinetto, and Andra Timu.

Science Sunday BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph • Editor: Lyn Resurreccion

Sunday, August 7, 2022

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PSTO Act ‘to bolster DOST programs’ in provinces

‘I

CARTWHEEL GALAXY This new NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope near and midinfrared composite image highlights the Cartwheel Galaxy, the result of a high-speed collision that occurred about 440 million years ago, along with two neighboring galaxies. It shows a large pink, speckled galaxy resembling a wheel with a small, inner oval, with dusty blue in between on the right, with two smaller spiral galaxies about the same size to the left against a black background. NASA, ESA, CSA, STSCI

Food value chain program helps build community resilience

THE milkfish fingerlings at CMB Fish Farm are being replenished on January 17. DMMMSU

I

N October 2021, the Philippines was hit by severe Tropical Storm Maring (international name Kompasu), which brought heavy rains, strong winds and landslides in several provinces in Luzon.

Unfortunately, La Union was one of the provinces that were devastated. Many milkfish farm owners were greatly affected, including that of Charito Normington.

Normington was a beneficiary of the project, “Enhancing the Agri-Aqua Food Value Chain (FVC) through Smart Technologies and Partnerships towards Food Resiliency in the New Normal in Region 1,” that was implemented by the Don Mariano Marcos Memorial State University (DMMMSU).

The project was funded and monitored by the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development of the Department of Science and Technology (DOSTPCAARRD).

Milkfish is the second-most predominant aquaculture commodity in the Philippines, contributing a significant volume to fish production.

In the first half of 2021, Region 1 contributed around 26 percent to the national milkfish production, with Pangasinan and La Union as major producers.

However, there are several constraints in the milkfish value chain in the region that the DMMMSU-FVC project would like to address.

Specifically, the FVC team aims to improve the productivity, competitiveness and sustainability of milkfish being produced by the growers of La Union.

This is provided through technical support like training and one-on-one mentoring sessions with aquaculture experts to solve the lack of necessary skills and knowledge in cultural and pond management operations.

The project also conducts quick assessments of the fish farms to evaluate the needs and identify the applicable technologies that can be adopted by the growers to

achieve maximum farm efficiency.

In addition, they also provide subsidies for inputs like fingerlings, fertilizers and feeds.

Trainings on milkfish product development and promotion-related activities are done through the DOST-PCAARRD-DMMMSU Agri-Aqua Technology Business Incubator, along with marketing assistance to assist the growers in selling their produce at a fair price.

Normington, a project beneficiary since 2021, owns CMB Fish Farm, covering a total of 13,630 square meters of ponds for milkfish in Ubagan, Sto Tomas, La Union. Her farm was evaluated by DMMMSU while she underwent training and mentorship.

In August 2021, CMB Fish Farm was stocked with fingerlings. Unfortunately, typhoon Maring hit La Union two months later, which caused her ponds to overflow and washed away 11,577 out of 13,200 stocked milkfish fingerlings.

The remaining 1,623 fingerlings were then harvested in January 2022, five months after stocking. Sold for P140 a kilo, she still had a profit of P6,064, which she had reinvested to produce Siganid, a highly valued aquatic species, which can be poly-cultured with milkfish.

Since approximately 90 percent of her fish farm’s stocked fingerlings were damaged, the FVC team of DMMMSU started replenishing Normington’s fish farm and those of other beneficiaries with milkfish fingerlings early this year to help them recover from the impact of typhoon Maring.

With these initiatives, the FVC program has been helping fisherfolk attain a sustainable milkfish food value chain in the region through technical and market linkage assistance to milkfish farmers.

It also aspires to develop the local communities’ ability to endure, adapt to, and recover from various adversities through S&T interventions. Mae A. Dagaas, Kariza M. Geminiano, Jamie Louise S. Batalon/S&T Media Services

By Lyn B. Resurreccion

T will bolster the implementation of DOST [Department of Science and Technology] programs” and “it is a recognition of the important role of our science and technology [S&T] frontliners in the provinces,” said OIC DOST Secretary Renato U. Solidum Jr. in reaction to the lapsing into law of the proposed Provincial Science and Technology Office (PSTO) Act. Republic Act 11914, or the PSTO Act, was among some legislative measures that lapsed into law recently after they were not acted upon either by former President Duterte or by President Marcos Jr. The new law converts the current Provincial Science and Technology Centers (PSTCs) into the Provincial Science and Technology Offices, and will be known as PSTO Act. Among the important provisions of the law is the reclassification of the PSTC into PSTO and upgraded its head into Chief Science Research Specialist with a higher salary grade 24, from the current Senior Science Research Specialist with salary grade 19.

Solidum told the BusinessMirror in an SMS interview that the DOST family “is very happy” with the development.

“The provincial science and technology [S&T] officers are doing a lot, and they truly deserve the position upgrade they will get,” Solidum said.

“This [PSTO Act] will bolster the implementation of DOST programs on technology promotion, transfer and commercialization, human resources development, [S&T] information dissemination, and technical consultancy

services for the benefit of the people and local governments,” Solidum said.

He added that the law “is a recognition of the important role that our [S&T] frontliners, those assigned in the provinces, in assessing the needs and opportunities for science, technology and innovation [STI] to be a catalyst for countryside development.”

Former DOST secretary Fortunato T. de la Peña announced the development on his Facebook page on August 2.

He thanked the national leaders and the lawmakers in the 18th Congress on the passage of the PSTO Act. “This law gives importance to the role of our [S&T] frontliners in making Science for the People a reality and in making it an instrument for inclusive and sustainable development,” de la Peña said.

He also congratulated the team of the DOST-Department of Legislative Liaison Office (DLLO), led

by Director Lita S. Suerte-Felipe, “for shepherding the passage of this bill.”

He added that he is “truly proud and thankful” that during his term at the helm of DOST, they “were able to push five important laws in support of STI.”

DOST Undersecretary Sancho A. Mabborang (seated) visits DOST-funded projects in Zamboanga City. With him are DOST Regional Director Martin Wee (left) and proprietress Fe Hau. DOST PHOTO

OIC DOST Secretary Renato U. Solidum Jr. DOST PHOTO

FORMER DOST secretary Fortunato T. de la Peña DOST PHOTO

Besides the PSTO Act, the other four laws are the Balik Scientist Act, Amended Magna Carta for Science Workers Act, Philippine Space Act, and Innovative Start Up Act. Meanwhile, DOST Undersecretary for Regional Operations Sancho A. Mabborang, who is in charge of administering the PSTCs, now the PSTOs, said the the new law “will greatly boost the morale” of the provincial S&T directors “who I call the S&T Champions on the ground.”

He also told the BusinessMirror in a social media interview that the law “is very much being awaited by the regional offices.”

“It will create new positions in the regional offices, adding manpower, who will spread and deliver relevant and appropriate

[S&T] interventions to our various stakeholders in the countrysides,” Mabborang said.

He likewise expressed gratitude to the Executive,Legislative and the DLLO officials for having it finally approved.

The PSTOs will implement the DOST programs and projects in the provinces. They are also tasked to identify the needs and opportunities for their respective provinces on S&T. They are also responsible in developing institutional linkages with provincial offices of other departments, local government units, academe and nongovernment organizations for the implementation of S&T programs in the provinces.

Helping cells become better protein factories could improve gene therapies, other treatments

T

HE cells in your body are not all the same. Each of your organs has cells with very different functions.

For example, liver cells are top-notch secretors, as their job requires them to make and export many of the proteins in your blood. By contrast, muscle cells are tasked with facilitating the contractions that allow you to move.

The fact that cells are so specialized has implications for gene therapy, a way to treat genetic diseases by correcting the source of the error in a patient’s DNA. Health providers use a harmless viral or bacterial vector to carry a corrective gene into a patient’s cells, where the gene then directs the cell to produce the proteins necessary to treat the disease.

Muscle cells are a common target because gene therapies injected into the muscle are more accessible than introduction into the body by other routes.

But muscle cells may not produce the desired protein as efficiently as needed if the job the gene instructs it to do is very different from the one it specializes in.

Cell biologists and biophysicists study how healthy proteins are produced and maintained in cells. This field is called protein homeostasis, also known as proteostasis.

Our recently published study details a way to make muscle cells behave more like liver cells by changing protein regulation networks, enhancing their ability to respond to gene therapy and treat genetic diseases.

Boosting protein factories

ONE disease for which gene therapy has great potential is alpha-1 antitrypsin (AAT) deficiency, a condition in which liver cells are unable to make adequate amounts of

effectiveness of these treatments for many genetic diseases.

Beyond gene therapy

A HEALTH-CARE worker prepares a monkeypox vaccine in Montreal on July 23. GRAHAM HUGHES/THE CANADIAN PRESS VIA AP the protein AAT. It results in a breakdown of lung tissue that can cause serious respiratory problems, including the development of severe lung diseases, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), or emphysema.

Patients are usually treated by receiving AAT via infusion. But this requires patients to either make regular trips to the hospital or keep expensive equipment at home for the rest of their lives.

Replacing the faulty gene that caused their AAT shortage in the first place could be a boon for patients. Current gene therapies inject the AAT-producing gene into muscle.

One of our colleagues, Terence Flotte, developed a way to use a harmless version of an adeno-associated virus as a vehicle to deliver AAT gene therapies into the body via injection, allowing for sustained release of the protein over several years.

But muscle cells aren’t very good at

producing the AAT proteins the gene instructs them to make.

Flotte and his team found that AAT levels one to five years after gene therapy were only 2 percent to 2.5 percent of the optimal concentration for therapeutic effect.

We wanted to find a way to turn muscle cells into better protein factories, like liver cells.

We tested a number of different molecules on mice muscle cells to determine if they would boost AAT secretion. We found that adding a molecule called suberoylanilide hydroxamic acid (Saha), helps muscle cells make AAT at a production level more like that of liver cells.

It works because Saha is a proteostasis regulator with the ability to boost the cell’s protein output.

Down the road, we believe that adding Saha or similar proteostasis regulators to gene therapies could help increase the

OUR findings have implications beyond just gene therapies. The effectiveness of mRNA vaccines, for example, is also affected by how well each cell produces a particular type of protein.

Because most mRNA vaccines are given through an injection to the muscle, they may also face the same limitations as gene therapies and produce a lower-than-desirable immune response. Increasing the protein production of muscle cells could potentially improve vaccine immunity.

Additionally, many drugs created by the biotech industry called biologics that are derived from natural sources rely heavily on a given cell’s protein production capabilities. But many of these drugs use cells that aren’t specialized to make large amounts of protein. Adding a protein homeostasis enhancer to the cell could optimize protein yield and increase the effectiveness of the drug.

Protein homeostasis is a burgeoning field that goes beyond drug development.

Many neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s are linked to abnormal protein regulation. The deterioration of a cell’s ability to manage protein production and use over time may contribute to agerelated diseases.

Further research on ways to improve the cellular machinery behind protein homeostasis could help delay aging and open many new doors for treating a wide range of diseases. Daniel N. Hebert UMass Amherst/

The Conversation (CC) via AP

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Sunday, August 7, 2022

Faith

Sunday

Ukrainian youth fest: T Hope wins over hate

Editor: Lyn Resurreccion • www.businessmirror.com.ph

Stella Maris-PHL pays tribute to former President Ramos

T

HE war in Ukraine grinds on. Those who experience it first-hand are forced to face an endless stream of negative news and images.

Therefore, they must find other ways to refresh their soul, body, and mind. The Church in Ukraine seeks to make everyone hear the voice of Jesus saying, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”

The Church also seeks to care especially for the smallest and most v u lnerable. Dur ing the summer months, various Roman Catholic and Greek Catholic parishes are organizing summer camps, pilgrimages, meetings a nd work shops for c hi ld ren, adolescents and youth, while following the necessary safety regulations.

Festival’s format adapted to war conditions

FROM July 27 to 31, in Tyvriv, a village near Vinnytsia in central Ukraine, the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate organized a festival for young people titled, “The Breath of Life.”

In an interview with Vatican News, Father Vadym Dorosh, OMI, explained that this event has been held every year since 2009. In other years, usually 150 to 200 young people came.

The usual program included prayer, several workshops and a Christian music concert.

“We thought for a long time about whether to hold the festival this year,” Father Vadym explained. “On the one hand, we did not want to jeopardize the safety of the young people, but, on the other hand, we know that this event is very important to them. So, we decided to change the format, adapting it to current needs: there were fewer participants, no concert, instead, more prayer, outdoor activities and reflection.”

True breath of life

“I AM glad that despite the war, I was able to participate in the festival,” said Maria Teresa, 25, who came to Tyvriv for the fourth time.

“In these difficult times, it was very important to feel ‘the breath of life’ in the meeting with other young people and in the closeness with God through Mass, prayer and night adoration,” she added.

The very fact that such events are done even in such difficult times “helps us to keep hope and faith alive that God wins. Values

UKRAINIAN youth take part in a church-organized festival in Tyvriv

like love, friendship win, not evil, war and death, because Christ is risen; He has conquered death.

That was what I felt strongly during this meeting,” she pointed out.

‘What moves us must be love, not hate’

IN addition to prayers and sports activities, the organizers offered t hem at ic conferences to t he youth, one of which, under the guidance of a psychologist, dealt with the topic of preventing and overcoming stress.

“Many young people,” Father Vadym said, “have experienced the bombings first-hand, some came from Mariupol, Kharkiv, Kyiv, etc.”

The neighboring town of Vinnytsia was also recently the target of the bombing of a civilian building, in which more than 20 people lost their lives and many were injured.

In the face of brutal violence, it is inevitable that people feel outrage

VINNYTSIA/VATICAN NEWS

and anger. The missionar y often talks to young people about these temptations.

“Unfortunately, sometimes hatred can fill even our hearts and we can no longer distinguish between hatred for sin and evil and hatred for the person who does this evil,” he said.

“During the Festival we discussed this issue in the lecture titled, ‘The Lord’s Cross and My Cross.’ We talked about Jesus Christ who was also tortured, scourged and gave His life, and His words on the cross were, ‘Lord, forgive them, for they know not what they do,’” Father Vadym explained.

“That is, we wanted to make young people understand what forgiveness is, and help them understand that hatred, in fact, burns ourselves, and we can’t spend energy on that because we have to defend our homeland and do what we can, each in our own place. Our main intention must be love,” he pointed out. Svitlana Dukhovych/Vatican News

Pope to Medjugorje youth festival: ‘Follow the example of Mary’

V

ATIC A N—Pope Francis has urged the thousands of young people gathered at Medjugorje to follow the example of the Blessed Virgin Mary, who leads us closer to Christ.

In a message to the Medjugorje Youth Festival published by the Vatican on August 2, the pope said that “it takes courage” to live like Christ.

“Beloved, do not be afraid. Go to Him with all that you are carrying within your heart. He is the only Lord who offers true refreshment and true peace. Follow the example of Mary, His and our Mother, who will lead you to Him,” Pope Francis said.

He added: “Entrust yourselves to the Stella Maris, a sign of hope on the rough seas, who guides us toward the harbor of peace. She, who knows her Son, will help you to imitate Him in your relationship with God the Father, in compassion for your neighbor, and in the awareness of what we are called to be, children of God.” Archbishop Aldo Cavalli, the papal envoy in Medjugorje, read aloud the pope’s message on the second day of the 33rd Medjugorje Youth Festival that took place in Bosnia and Herzegovina from August 1 to 6.

“At this moment, in the heart of summer, the Lord invites you to take a vacation with Him in the most special place there is—your heart,” the pope said in the message that he signed on July 16, the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel.

The Medjugorje Youth Festival, also known as “Mladifest,” is focused on prayer and includes daily

THE Church of St. James in Medjugorje, Bosnia and Herzegovina and the image of the Virgin Mary at the foreground. VATICAN MEDIA

Mass, Eucharistic adoration and a candlelight procession.

The theme of this year’s festival is inspired by Christ’s words in the Gospel of Matthew: “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.”

Pope Francis said that the Lord knows “how difficult life can be and that there are many things that strain our hearts: many disappointments, various wounds from the past, burdens that we carry and injustices we bear, many uncertainties and worries.”

“Jesus tells us, ‘Come to Ne and learn from Me.’ This is an invitation to move, not to stand still, frozen and afraid before life, and to rely on Him. It sounds easy, but in dark moments it becomes natural to close-in on ourselves.

Instead, Jesus wants to pull us

out, so He says, ‘Come.’ The way out is via relationship, in looking up to the One who truly loves us,” the pope explained.

The alleged Marian apparitions in Medjugorje have been a source of controversy and conversion since their beginning, with many flocking to the city for pilgrimage and prayer, and some claiming to have experienced miracles at the site, while many others claim the visions are not credible.

The purported apparitions originally began on June 24, 1981, when six children in Medjugorje, a town in what is now Bosnia and Herzegovina, began to experience phenomena that they have claimed to be apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

According to the alleged visionaries, the apparitions conveyed a message of peace for the world,

a call to conversion, prayer, and fasting, as well as certain secrets surrounding events to be fulfilled in the future.

The apparitions are said to have continued almost daily since their first occurrence, with three of the original six children—who are now young adults—continuing to receive apparitions every afternoon because not all of the “secrets” intended for them have been revealed.

In January 2014, a Vatican commission ended a nearly fouryear-long investigation into the doctrinal and disciplinary aspects of the Medjugorje apparitions and submitted a document to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

Pope Francis granted Catholics permission to organize pilgrimages to Medjugorje in 2019, though the Church has not yet given a verdict on the authenticity of the apparitions. The pope has sent annual messages to the Medjugorje Youth Festival since 2020.

“Dear young people, while you are resting in Jesus Christ during these days, I entrust you all to the Blessed Virgin Mary, our heavenly Mother, so that, through her intercession and with her example, you may take upon yourself the gentle and light yoke of following Christ,” Pope Francis said in his message.

“May the gaze of God the Father who loves you personally accompany you every day, so that, in relationships with others, you can be witnesses of the peace that you will receive as a gift,” he pointed out. Courtney Mares/Catholic News Agency via CBCP News

HE Stella Maris-Philippines has paid tribute to former President Fidel V. Ramos, who died at the age of 94 on July 31.

Its episcopal promoter, Bishop Ruperto Santos, said Ramos had done positive things for Filipino migrants, especially the seafarers.

Ramos in 1997 declared the last Sunday of September the National Seafarers’ Day (NSD) through a presidential decree.

The legislation, according to the bishop, “is indeed a historical legacy to seafarers, families and to the maritime world.”

“It has helped not only to raise awareness of the ‘blue economy,’ but above all, to make everyone more aware of the sacrifices that seafarers go through to move around 90 percent of the goods in the world,” Santos said.

“Our heartfelt gratitude to you, former President Fidel R amos, for your great contribution to seafarers and their families,” he said.

The bishop offered their condo-

Fidel V. Ramos, 12th President of the Philippines. OFFICIAL GAZETTE

lences to the loved ones of Ramos, and said that they will offer Masses for his eternal rest and strength for his bereaved family.

He also said that this year’s NSD on September 27 will be marked with a minute of silence nationwide in memorial of Ramos.

Formerly known as the Apostleship of the Sea, Stella Maris is an apostolate of the Catholic Church for seafarers, with an international network of more than 100 centers and 300 offices around the world. CBCP News

Pope on retiring: The door is open; you can change a pope

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B O A R D T H E PA PA L PLANE—Pope Francis acknowledged recently that he can no longer travel like he used to because of his strained knee ligaments, saying his weeklong Canadian pilgrimage was “a bit of a test” that showed he needs to slow down and one day possibly retire.

Speaking to reporters while t rave l i ng home f rom nor t hern Nunavut, the 85-year-old Francis stressed that he hadn’t t hought about resig ning but said “the door is open” and there was nothing wrong with a pope stepping down.

“It’s not strange. It’s not a catastrophe. You can change the pope,” he said while sitting in an airplane wheelchair during a 45-minute news conference.

Francis said that while he hadn’t considered resigning until now, he realizes he has to at least slow down.

“I think at my age and with these limitations, I have to save [my energy] to be able to serve the church, or on the contrary, think about the possibility of stepping aside,” he said.

Francis was peppered with questions about the future of his pontificate following the first trip in which he used a wheelchair, walker and cane to get around, sharply limiting his program and ability to mingle with crowds.

He strained his right knee ligaments earlier this year, and continuing laser and magnetic therapy forced him to cancel a trip to Africa that was scheduled for the first week of July.

The Canada trip was difficult, and featured several moments when Francis was clearly in pain as he maneuvered getting up and down from chairs.

At the end of his six-day tour, he appeared in good spirits and energetic, despite a long day traveling to the edge of the Arctic to again apologize to Indigenous peoples for the injustices they suffered in Canada’s church-run residential schools.

Francis ruled out having surgery on his knee, saying it would not necessarily help, and noting “there are still traces” from the effects of having undergone more than six hours of anesthesia in July 2021 to remove 33 centimeters (13 inches) of his large intestine.

“I’ll try to continue to do the

trips and be close to people because I think it’s a way of servicing, being close. But more than this, I can’t say,” he said.

In other comments aboard the papal plane, Francis: n Agreed that the attempt to eliminate Indigenous culture in Canada through a church-run residential school system amounted to a cultural “genocide.”

Francis said he didn’t use the term during his Canada trip because it didn’t come to mind.

Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission determined in 2015 that the forced removal of Indigenous children from their homes and placement in churchrun residential schools to assimilate them into Christian, Canadian constituted a “cultural genocide.”

“It’s true I didn’t use the word because it didn’t come to mind, but I described genocide, no?” Francis said. “I apologized, I asked forgiveness for this work, which was genocide.” n Suggested he was not opposed to a development of Catholic doctrine on the use of contraception. Church teaching prohibits artificial contraception.

Francis noted that a Vatican think tank recently published the acts of a congress, where a modification to the church’s absolute “no” was discussed.

He stressed that doctrine can develop over time and that it was the job of theologians to pursue such developments, with the pope ultimately deciding. n Francis noted that church teaching on atomic weapons was modified during his pontificate to consider not only the use but the mere possession of atomic weapons as immoral and to consider the death penalty immoral in all cases. n Confirmed he hoped to travel to Kazakhstan in mid-September for an interfaith conference where he might meet with Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill, who has justified the war in Ukraine.

Francis also said he wants to go to Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital, though no trip has yet been confirmed.

He said he hoped to reschedule the trip to South Sudan he canceled because of his knee problems. He said the Congo leg of that trip would probably have to be put off until next year because of the rainy season. Nicole Winfield/AP

Biodiversity Sunday BusinessMirror

Asean Champions of Biodiversity Media Category 2014

Sunday, August 7, 2022 A7

Editor: Lyn Resurreccion

BIODIVERSITY STUDY ON MOUNT HAMIGUITAN YIELDS NEW PLANTS, ANIMAL SPECIES

Unrecorded for 100 yrs, grasshopper discovered on Mount Hamiguitan N

EW species—including a pygmy grasshopper that has not been recorded for more than a century—were discovered on Mount Hamiguitan on Davao Oriental recently.

The other species discovered were a snout beetle, two flowering plants, a terrestrial orchid species and a grass fern, said Butch S. Pagcaliwagan of the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST-PCA ARRD).

“Arulenus validispinus, commonly known as the four-spined pygmy devil, has not been recorded for more than a century,” explained Dr. Victor B. Amoroso, leader of the Central Mindanao University (CMU) research team.

The flowering plants are Hypericum perryongii Galindon, sp.

Japanese city alarmed by biting, clawing, attacking monkeys

T

OKYO—People in a southw e s t e r n Ja p a ne s e c it y have come under attack from monkeys that are trying to snatch babies, biting and clawing at f lesh, and sneaking into nursery schools.

The attacks—on 58 people since July 8—are getting so bad Yamaguchi city hall hired a special unit to hunt the animals with tranquilizer guns.

The monkeys aren’t interested in food, so traps haven’t worked. They have targeted mostly children and the elderly.

“They are so smart, and they tend to sneak up and attack from behind, often grabbing at your legs,” city official Masato Saito said on Wednesday.

When confronted by a monkey, the instructions are: Do not look them in the eye, make yourself look as big as possible, such as by spreading open your coat, then back away as quietly as possible without making sudden moves, according to Saito.

A woman was assaulted by a monkey while hanging laundry on her veranda. Another victim showed bandaged toes. They were taken aback and frightened by how big and fat the monkeys were.

The monkeys terrorizing the community are Japanese macaque, the kind often pictured peacefully bathing in hot springs.

One male monkey, measuring 49 centimeters (1.6 foot) in height and weighing 7 kilograms (15 pounds), was caught on Tuesday by the team with the tranquilizer gun. It was judged by various evidence to be one of the attacking monkeys and put to death.

But more attacks were reported after the capture.

No one has been seriously injured so far. But all have been advised to get hospital treatment. Ambulances were called in some cases.

Although Japan is industrialized and urban, a fair portion of land in the archipelago is mountains and forests. Rare attacks on people by a bear, boars or other wildlife have occurred, but generally not by monkeys.

No one seems to know why the attacks have occurred, and where exactly the troop of monkeys came from remains unclear.

“I have never seen anything like this my entire life,” Saito said. Yuri Kageyama/Associated Press

FLOWERING plant (Hypericum perryongii Galindon, sp. nov) PHOTO FROM THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE PHILIPPINES (NMP)

Nov and Gymnosiphon syceorosensis (Burmanniaceae).

A type of snout beetle, Metapocyrtus (Artapocyrtus) brons sp. Nov, was also recorded, Pagcaliwagan said.

The terrestrial orchid species is the Dilochia deleoniae, and the grass fern is called Actinostachys minuta Amoroso and Coritico, Pagcaliwagan added.

These findings were part of

A SNOUT beetle (Actinostachys minuta Amoroso and Coritico) PHOTO FROM NMP

the study, “Biodiversity in selected mountain ecosystems of Mindanao for conservation and sustainable development,” of the Biodiversity Science and Tech-

BRIGADA ESKWELA 2022: BAN TOXICS PUSHES FOR TOXIC-FREE, WASTE-FREE SCHOOLS

I

N time for the yearly Brigada Eskwela of the Department of Education (DepEd), toxic and waste watchdog group BAN Toxics partnered with San Antonio Elementary School (SAES) in Quezon City to launch a toxic-free and waste-free school campaign for a healthy and safe school environment.

The Brigada Eskwela’s theme for this year is “Tugon sa Hamon ng Ligtas na Balik-Aral.”

Attended by almost 500 students, teachers, parents and nearby communities, BAN Toxics teamed up with SAES and with barangay officials and private institutions to raise awareness on the importance of toxic- and waste-pollution prevention in school and at home.

The organization emphasized the need for a Toxics-Free School Program (TFSP) to mainstream school-based environment awareness, programs, and policies to prevent toxic and waste pollution during the week-long cleanup, repair, and renovation of school facilities.

“We partnered with BAN Toxics and other stakeholders for this year’s Brigada Eskwela to promote a safe and healthy environment for our students and teachers,” said SAES Principal Antonio Miranda.

At the Brigada Eskwela launch, BAN Toxics raised public awareness about the different toxic chemicals that can be found in school and at home. They also spoke about the existing environmental policies of the DepEd toward promoting a toxic-free and waste-free Brigada Eskwela.

Moreover, the program seeks to promote safe and environment-friendly alternatives as well as to engage the school and the

community on proper sound chemicals and wastes management.

“The TFSP campaign is a collaborative effort of civil society organizations, schools, private institutions, local officials, and communities.

We need the support of every stakeholder to develop a common goal of ensuring a safe and healthy environment for the students and teachers, and promote toxic-free and waste-free schools and communities.” said Thony Dizon, Toxics Campaigner of BAN Toxics.

The hazardous chemicals that might be found in school—include lead, mercury, phthalates, cadmium and arsenic. Exposure to these chemicals pose serious health risks to children.

The program also promotes proper and sound waste management both in school and at home. This includes proper waste segregation, implementing the 3Rs—reduce, reuse and recycle, urban gardening and composting, and minimization of single-use plastics usage.

As a part of their efforts to promote environmentalism, the DepEd issued DepEd Order 52, s. 2011 to strengthen environmental education in both public and private schools.

The order sought to integrate environmentalism in science subjects and encourage school activities to promote students’ participation in environmental activities.

As a part of the program, a memorandum of understanding was signed by BAN Toxics and SAES to promote the Toxics-Free Schools Program.

The MOU streamlines the Department

of Environment and Natural Resources Administrative Order 2013-24 (DAO 201324), DepEd Memorandum 85, s. 2016, and DepEd Order 5, s. 2014.

DAO 2013-24, or the “Chemical Control Order for Lead and Lead Compounds,” prohibits the use of lead and lead compounds in the production and manufacture of food and drink packaging, fuel additives, water pipes, toys, school supplies, cosmetics and paint.

DepEd Memorandum 85, s. 2016, or the “Use of Lead-Free Paints in Schools,” compels schools to only use lead-free paint to protect the students and teachers from the adverse effects of the chemical.

DepEd Memorandum 5, s. 2014, or the “Implementing Guidelines on the Integration of Gulayan sa Paaralan, Solid Waste Management and Tree Planting Under the National Greening Program,” encourages schools to integrate gulayan sa paaralan, ecological solid waste management, and tree planting and caring in their programs with the goal of poverty reduction, food security, biodiversity conservation and climate mitigation and adaptation.

“We hope more schools will follow the footsteps of [SAES] in protecting the students and teachers from toxics and waste. A safe balik eskwela should also mean that the students and teachers are also safe from the adverse effects of chemicals and garbage,” BAN Toxics added.

BAN Toxics and SAES culminated the event by conducting a clean-up drive within the school vicinity, as well as repairing school facilities.

DENR enforcing Asean GEF-funded project on Large Marine Ecosystems

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HE Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) is implementing an extensive Asean collaborative project funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF)-on Large Marine Ecosystems (LMEs) which face serious threats amid their vast marine resources.

The project “Effectively Managing Networks of Marine Protected Areas in LMEs in Asean [Enmaps]” was deliberated in an inception workshop as it prepares for for implementation of the United Nations Development Programme, the DENR said in a news release.

LMEs in Asean are a huge source of livelihood and jobs for struggling fishers.

They are huge marine areas extending beyond boundaries among countries which make collaboration important.

Enmaps has a cost of $77.596 million. Of this, $12.548 million consists of GEF grant.

The workshop validated data and gathered inputs from stakeholders from the national and regional government agencies, private sector, nongovernment organizations and academe.

The project’s concept will be elaborated during the full proposal development.

The Coastal and Marine Biodiversity of Asean is known to have 20 percent of the world’s seagrass beds, a third of world’s mangrove forests with 45 to 75 true species, and a third of the world’s coral reefs with more than 75 percent of species of coral, and 40 percent of fish species.

Enmaps will involve at least five countries in Asean, including the Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand, and South China Sea. The workshop also provided the opportunity to discuss the project partners’ potential role and contribution in project implementation.

The Asean Enmaps project will be executed by the Asean Centre for Biodiversity in collaboration with the DENR’s Biodiversity Management Bureau under the GEF funding.

It aims to develop and improve the management of networks of marine protected areas and marine corridors within selected LMEs in the Asean region for the conservation of globally significant biodiversity.

It will support sustainable fisheries and other ecosystem goods and services.

As the oversight office for foreign-assisted and special projects, the DENR Foreign Assisted and Special Projects Service with Director Al Orolfo, highlighted the importance of the establishment of MPAs. Orolfo pointed out the need for management of the Asean network as an effective approach to address challenges, such as climate change, marine pollution and biodiversity loss.

“The project is expected to complement our existing efforts in the Philippines toward productive partnerships with the neighboring countries in terms of scaling up management under the regional MPAN (marine protected area network) approach,” Orolfo said.

GEF has been concerned that the world’s oceans have been reaching their ecological carrying capacity, a limit to their ability to produce fish for food.

“More than 75 percent of world fish stocks are already fully exploited, overexploited, depleted or recovering from depletion,” according to GEF web site.

GYMNOSIPHON syceorosensis (Burmaniaceae) PHOTO FROM NMP

nology Program that is funded and monitored by the DOSTPCA ARRD. Mount Hamiguitan is a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

(Unesco) World Heritage Site.

It has already been declared as an Asean Heritage Park. The mountain range showcases terrestrial and aquatic habitats, and includes threatened and endemic flora and fauna species.

Besides Mount Hamiguitan, Mount Apo in North Cotabato, and Mount Pantaron and Mount Tago, both in Bukidnon, were included in the study also conducted by the University of the Philippines Los Baños-Museum of Natural History, Davao Oriental State University and the Philippine National Museum, Pagcaliwagan pointed out.

Mountains offer much more than spectacular views. A great part of its beauty lies in its being a home to varied and abundant life species, many of which are waiting to be discovered to this day, he noted. S&T Media Services

Climate change is intensifying the water cycle, bringing more powerful storms and flooding

P

OWERFUL storm systems triggered flash flooding across the US in late July, killing at least 37 people in eastern Kentucky as floodwater engulfed homes and set off mudslides.

Record rainfall also inundated St. Louis neighborhoods, and another deluge in Nevada flooded the Las Vegas strip.

The impact of climate change on extreme water-related events like this is becoming increasingly evident. The storms in the US followed extreme flooding this summer in India and Australia and last year in Western Europe.

Studies by scientists around the world show that the water cycle has been intensifying and will continue to intensify as the planet warms.

An international climate assessment I coauthored in 2021 for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change lays out the details.

It documented an increase in both wet extremes, including more intense rainfall over most regions, and dry extremes, including drying in the Mediterranean, southwestern Australia, southwestern South America, South Africa and western North America.

It also shows that both wet and dry extremes will continue to increase with future warming.

Why is the water cycle intensifying?

A CYCLES through the environment— moving between the atmosphere, ocean, land and reservoirs of frozen water. It might fall as rain or snow, seep into the ground, run into a waterway, join the ocean, freeze or evaporate back into the atmosphere.

Plants also take up water from the ground and release it through transpiration from their leaves.

In recent decades, there has been an overall increase in the rates of precipitation and evaporation.

A number of factors are intensifying the water cycle—but one of the most important is that warming temperatures raise the upper limit on the amount of moisture in the air.

That increases the potential for more rain.

This aspect of climate change is confirmed across all of our lines of evidence discussed in the IPCC report.

It is expected from basic physics, projected by computer models, and it already shows up in the observational data

as a general increase of rainfall intensity with warming temperatures.

Understanding this and other changes in the water cycle is important for more than preparing for disasters.

Water is an essential resource for all ecosystems and human societies, and particularly agriculture.

What does this mean for the future?

AN intensifying water cycle means that both wet and dry extremes and the general variability of the water cycle will increase, although not uniformly around the globe.

Rainfall intensity is expected to increase for most land areas, but the largest increases in dryness are expected in the Mediterranean, southwestern South America and western North America.

Globally, daily extreme precipitation events will likely intensify by about 7 percent for every 1 degree Celsius (1.8 degrees Fahrenheit) that global temperatures rise.

Many other important aspects of the water cycle will also change in addition to extremes as global temperatures increase, the report shows.

It includes reductions in mountain glaciers, decreasing duration of seasonal snow cover, earlier snowmelt and contrasting changes in monsoon rains across different regions, which will impact the water resources of billions of people.

What can be done?

ONE common theme across these aspects of the water cycle is that higher greenhouse-gas emissions lead to bigger impacts.

The IPCC does not make policy recommendations. Instead, it provides the scientific information needed to carefully evaluate policy choices.

The results show what the implications of different choices are likely to be.

One thing the scientific evidence in the report clearly tells world leaders is that limiting global warming to the Paris Agreement target of 1.5 C (2.7 F) will require immediate, rapid and large-scale reductions in greenhousegas emissions.

Regardless of any specific target, it is clear that the severity of climate-change impacts are closely linked to greenhousegas emissions: Reducing emissions will reduce impacts. Every fraction of a degree matters. Mathew Barlow, UMass Lowell/The

Conversation (CC) via AP

Sports BusinessMirror

WITH her court case concluded and her sentence pronounced, such a deal— assuming one can be reached with the Russians—is Brittney Griner’s best chance of being freed early. AP

By Eric Tucker The Associated Press

W

ASHINGTON— Now that Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) star Brittney Griner has been convicted of drug possession and sentenced to nine years in prison, attention turns to the prospect of a prisoner swap between the United States and Russia that could get her home.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken went public with that possibility last week, revealing in an unusual announcement that the US had made a “substantial proposal” aimed at securing the release of Griner and another jailed American, Paul Whelan.

With her court case concluded and her sentence pronounced, such a deal—assuming one can be reached with the Russians—is Griner’s best chance of being freed early.

Though the guilty verdict was seen as a foregone conclusion, the imposition of a sentence her lawyers decried as far longer than average could give the US extra impetus to strike a deal palatable to Russia as

G

ENEVA—The world’s richest soccer league started a new season in England on Friday as the rest of Europe looks for ways to catch up.

Off the field, the English Premier League (EPL) is a commercial juggernaut with broadcasting deals worldwide fueling player transfers and wages most others cannot match.

It helps explain why some clubs created the Super League project.

League riches helped English champion Manchester City make the marquee summer signing. Erling Haaland’s arrival from Borussia Dortmund cost City more than 100 million pounds ($122 million) in transfer and agent fees.

While Haaland was a boyhood City fan whose father played there, he was also lured to a competitive league that avoids the one-club dominance recently seen in Germany, Italy and France.

On the field, five different teams have won the Premier League in the past 10 seasons, including Leicester’s stunning 2016 title. Though City has four of the past five titles, two were epic duels with Liverpool.

The Champions League is also feeling Premier League power with four different teams in the past four finals, including two all-English games. Liverpool was in three of the past five finals while winning just one Premier League title.

Those same four teams—City, Liverpool, Chelsea and Tottenham— are England’s entry in the Champions League this season.

Manchester United and Arsenal qualified only for the second-tier Europa League and are by far the wealthiest clubs in it.

Here’s a look at English financial dominance and the challenge for other top leagues:

ENGLAND’S EARNING

PREMIER League broadcast rights earned 3.64 billion euros ($3.7 billion) last season with Spain’s La Liga next best at around 2 billion euros ($2.04 billion), according to UEFA’s annual survey of European soccer.

“This is of course the best example in the world of how to market a sports competition,” Jacco Swart, managing director of the 30-nation European Leagues group, said in praise.

Evenly weighted cash distribution gave the worst Premier League team, Norwich, 98 million pounds ($119 million) in prize money that beat the entire budget for most European clubs.

English clubs took 10 of the top 18 places in the latest Deloitte list of highest earners. Abu Dhabi-owned Man City led with 644.9 million euros ($657 million).

The total wage bill for 20 Premier

A8 | S

unday, August 7, 2022 mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph Editor: Jun Lomibao

WHAT WILL IT TAKE TO GET GRINER HOME?

soon as possible. And the formal end of the court case could be the opening both sides need to forge a diplomatic resolution, too.

A look at what’s at stake:

WHAT DID THE U.S. OFFER?

SECRETARY of State Antony Blinken did not specify the terms other than to describe the offer as substantial and something that he intended to discuss with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

A person familiar with the situation said that the US offered to release Viktor Bout, a convicted Russian arms dealer serving a 25-year prison sentence on charges that he conspired to sell tens of millions of dollars in weapons to Colombia’s former FARC guerrilla army. At the time of his conviction, the group was classified by the US as a foreign terrorist organization, though that designation was lifted last year.

The officials did wind up speaking by phone last Friday, the highest-level known contact between the two sides since Russia invaded Ukraine. They are also in Cambodia for meetings involving foreign ministers of Southeast Asian countries.

WHAT HAS BEEN THE RUSSIAN RESPONSE?

MINIMAL, at least in public. Blinken did not provide details after his call with Lavrov about his response. The Russians gave no hint about their interest in the offer, other than a statement chiding the US to pursue the Americans’ freedom through “quiet diplomacy, without releases of speculative information.”

On Monday, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the Russian government had responded in a “bad faith” manner with an offer that US officials did not regard as serious. She did not elaborate, though CNN reported last week that Moscow also wanted the release of a former colonel from one of its spy agencies who was convicted of murder in Germany last year.

WOULD THERE BE A PRECEDENT FOR A PRISONER SWAP?

IN many ways, yes—and a recent one too. In April, Russia traded Marine veteran Trevor Reed, convicted of a physical altercation with police in Moscow, for Konstantin Yaroshenko, a

Russian pilot imprisoned for a cocaine trafficking conspiracy.

Yet that involved a Russian with far less notoriety than Bout, a former Soviet air force officer who once inspired a Hollywood movie and who earned the nickname the “Merchant of Death” over allegations that he supplied weapons used for civil wars in countries around the globe. He has adamantly maintained his innocence.

But there’s not much recent precedent for public discussions of prisoner swaps, at least by the US government, before the deal is done and planes are in the air. That’s what made Blinken’s announcement from the State Department briefing room all the more striking.

On one hand, it seemed intended to communicate to the public that the administration will do whatever it needs to do to bring home wrongfully detained Americans.

But such a public overture also risks weakening the administration’s negotiating hand to the extent it makes the US look overly desperate for a deal, or signals to other countries that it is willing to meet potentially unreasonable demands.

SO WILL THE DEAL TAKE PLACE?

IT’S hard to say, but the contact between Blinken and Lavrov does suggest more progress than has been made before. It also reinforces the idea that the two countries are willing to maintain communication despite extraordinary tensions related to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

Griner is the most prominent American detained by a foreign country. She is a two-time Olympic gold medalist detained since February when police said they found vape cartridges containing cannabis oil in her luggage at an airport in Moscow.

And though some Republicans including former President Donald Trump have expressed opposition to a deal, the conviction and sentence will only ramp up pressure on the administration to reach an agreement that can get her out soon.

“Today’s sentencing of Brittney Griner was severe by Russian legal standards and goes to prove what we have known all along, that Brittney is being used as a political pawn,” Lindsay Kagawa Colas, Griner’s agent, tweeted Thursday.

EPL sets high bar in European soccer, finances and glamor

MANCHESTER City’s Erling Haaland (right) beats the challenge posted by Liverpool’s Andrew Robertson during their FA Community Shield match at the the King Power Stadium in Leicester, England, recently. AP League clubs was 2.88 billion euros ($2.93 billion) in 2020, according to UEFA—1 billion euros ($1.02 billion) above La Liga, and more than Germany’s Bundesliga and Italy’s Serie A combined.

SPAIN’S CHASING

LA LIGA skews prize money toward top clubs with the winner taking about 160 million euros ($163 million), up to three times more than other clubs.

It’s good for Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atlético Madrid—who have won all the league titles since Valencia’s in 2004—though not for competitive balance.

“They do not have a very long tradition of selling (rights) collectively,” Swart said.

Real Madrid’s response to tough times was winning yet another Champions League by improbably ousting the top three English clubs and Paris Saint-Germain.

Madrid and Barcelona have long raised their Champions League earnings by using influence at the European Club Association—which they left to launch the failed Super

Guardian helmet experiment in NFL on head injuries up

T

HE mushroom-like contraptions National Football League (NFL) players are wearing on their helmets during training camp may look strange, but they’re a part of an ongoing safety experiment the league hopes will lead to a reduction in head injuries.

They’re called Guardian Caps, and they’re now mandatory for all 32 NFL teams through the second preseason game—the time when the league says head injuries are most prevalent.

“There’s a density of exposure, and a density of injury, at the beginning of training camp and the competition committee has been looking for ways to change that,” said Jeff Miller, executive vice president for NFL player health and safety.

The league said laboratory research indicates the 12-ounce Guardian Caps result in at least a 10percent reduction in severity of impact to a player’s brain. It says that number climbs to at least 20percent if both players involved in a collision are wearing them.

Miller said mitigating those forces “will have a cumulative effect for the betterment of health and safety of the player.”

Not everyone, however, is convinced Guardian Caps are the answer.

Chris Nowinski, co-founder and CEO of the Concussion Legacy Foundation, is “more than a little skeptical” that the extra padding helps prevent head injuries—and wonders if it could be doing more harm than good.

“Adding weight to a helmet can make things worse for the brain when it comes to rotational impacts,” said Nowinski, who previously served as a co-director of the Boston University Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy.

“Adding size to the helmet does the same thing. It’s very difficult to recreate this in a lab. We aren’t sure if this will be a net positive or a net negative.”

New York Jets coach Robert Saleh also has concerns.

He questioned whether players are using their heads more now because the Guardian Caps soften the blow—something he believes could be an issue once the caps come off and actual games begin.

“Anyone who’s played football before knows that the first time you take those (caps) off or you hit with your helmet, or you have a collision, there’s a shock,” Saleh said. “If you’re waiting until the first game for that shock to happen, I think it’s ... I don’t know. Time will tell.

“It’s just interesting with those Guardian Caps, and what exactly are we trying to accomplish?”

Buffalo Bills defensive tackle Ed Oliver isn’t seeing the benefits of the caps either and Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce even openly mocked them.

Oliver said the padded shells “aggravate” him, making him feel like “a bobblehead” on the field.

“It’s just heavy,” Oliver said. “I like the way my helmet feels without it. I have been playing without it for this long, I just don’t like it.”

Kelce showed up to an Eagles practice with extra bubble wrap on his helmet.

“They say the Guardian Caps add 20 percent protection,” Kelce quipped.

“I figure the bubble wrap gave me another 2 or 3” percent.

Despite the skepticism, Miller said the feedback from most players has been positive—even if they feel the Guardian Caps look a little funny. AP

League—to steer prize money toward storied clubs.

Barcelona has eased its own financial crisis, fueled by long-term overspending on wages, by trading future TV rights money for cash now from an investment firm.

Signing FIFA player of the year Robert Lewandowski from Bayern Munich was one result, though Barcelona’s reputation is being hit by pressuring Dutch midfielder Frenkie de Jong to take a pay cut.

A Spanish success has been coach Unai Emery lifting, first, Sevilla and now small-town Villarreal to overachieve and win a combined four Europa League titles. AP

GERMANY’S CULTURE

THE Bundesliga’s “50+1” ownership rule is widely liked for protecting clubs’ identity and preventing takeovers by the oil-rich states, oligarchs and billionaires lured to the Premier League.

Clubs controlling a majority of voting rights is embedded in German culture, which also curbs ticket and pay-TV prices—a principled stand which reduces revenue. AP

WASHINGTON Commanders running back Brian Robinson (second from left) wears a Guardian Caps football helmet during practice at the team’s facility in Ashburn, Virginia. AP

AUGUST 7, 2022

Could a new probiotic supplement really cure your hangover?

2

BusinessMirror AUGUST 7, 2022 | soundstrip.businessmirror@gmail.com

YOUR MUSI

ON FACING ADVERSITIES

Fern. embraces change in music and in style

L

By Patrick V. Miguel

AST year, Fern. was recognized with his long black hair, laid back clothing, and stylish steel bracelets.

Now, in an interview with Soundstrip, Fern. is sporting a shorter hair that is bleached into a shade of blonde.

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The artist admits that other than music, he is also exploring new types of fashion, admitting that he wants to be more “radical” in his clothing choices.

These changes of Fern.’s look have definitely echoed the changes in his upcoming music. But despite the changes, Fern. assures, “The only thing that’s changed is me as a person [...] Everything that changed is basically me. I’ve grown. I’ve also faced a lot of adversities.”

He assures that whatever those “adversities” are, he is in a better place now.

Changes, however, are inevitable and he was not able to avoid it in his music. Instead, he embraced these changes and channeled everything into a much more profound music about his recent experiences.

Fern. is releasing a new single, Whatever This Is - Side B, in collaboration with Indie/R&B artist Nouvul.

Whatever This Is - Side B is slower than his previous songs’ pace.

This opens up with a piano, and eventually provides a place where his voice is heard.

For the R&B artist, music has always been an extension of himself so it’s not a surprise when his new song resonates with his personal life.

During the recording, Fern. admitted that a “happier sounding” version of the song was produced and with it, he wants it more to be on the opposite of “happy.”

“The previous version turned out to be ‘happier sounding’ than I intended it to be, even if the lyrics and overall vibe of the song was more on the opposite side of what a happy sound is. So I decided to release a Side B for it, which is a more accurate reflection of what I felt during a certain time in my life,” Fern. explained in a press release.

“The song is about a personal

experience, and I wanted to properly convey what it felt like,” he added.

The changes, in addition, have motivated Fern. to explore and “develop a new sense of artistry.”

Since the ease of COVID-19 restrictions, Fern. was fortunate to perform live and present his music beyond the screens into his fans.

Describing the experience, the R&B artist said, “That was good. It’s always a pleasure to be able to perform and directly communicate to your crowd.

That’s the beauty of making music—being able to perform it live. That’s always the fun part.”

Fern. is expected to perform live once again. Only this time, he will be performing in Singapore—beyond the landscapes of his Filipino listeners.

Other than music, the R&B artist is also doing other things that is keeping him busy outside the recording studio. He is still running his music production business, sharing that they have been doing music scores for commercials and advertisements.

Fern. also revealed that he will be opening up a new bar in Poblacion—a district that is mostly known for its lively culture and bars— sometime around October this year.

Whatever This Is - Side B is out now on all digital music platforms.

FERN.

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soundstrip.businessmirror@gmail.com | AUGUST 7, 2022

BUSINESS

SoundSampler

by Tony M. Maghirang

Another cavalcade of brand-new sounds

THE BUILDINGS Heaven is a Long Exhale

Filipino descent who grew up in Dumaguete City. In his album “Lahi,” he goes for honeyed rapping to essay saccharine love notes to his beloved. They’re some bedroom friendly croons to fire up the listener’s senses which are nevertheless undercut by the silky cool jazz/bossa ambience on each track. Massiah raps a mouthful but they slide down easily for every love fool to relish.

Picks of the litter: “First Time.”

“Frequency” and “Silhouette.”

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N the opening number of their latest album, Pinoy indie rockers The Buildings appropriate the sound of the Talking Heads to flesh out “Phantom Limbs.” “January 10” adopts a similar groove this time with the guitars going from funky to a revup ending. Elsewhere, the band moves to several power pop-rocking peaks in the likes of “Thorn in the Ankle,” “Caricatures” and the luminous titular track. The guitars insert arty chords to sort of provide a colorful blemish to pretty pop and the vocalist’s monotone singing about tired themes of staying out late, crying at the movies, and cramped spaces. “Heaven is a Long Exhale” starts great but fumbles its way to the finish line.

BACKSPACE Everything is Going to be Alright

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HE album title exudes positivity. Still, its tracklist goes by not so positive vibes such as “Lull and “Tired.” Even “Asleep” hints of a certain desolation with these words: “You talk in your sleep/There’s nothing to see, that’s fine with me/i don’t want to be you.” The act’s name Backspace itself suggests erasure, making right an error. Honestly, some kind of perverse joy emanates from Backspace’s unique take on sadcore. He offers a short quick detour to the gloom and blues that’s part of the daily normal grind. Sigh.

BEABADOOBEE Beatopia

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EABADOOBEE, real name Beatrice Lauss, is a FilipinaBritish singer-songwriter whose debut album “Fake It Flowers” received critical acclaim.

“Beatopia,” her sophomore release, expands on the first album’s transplant of ‘90s alt-rock in the here and now.

Named after an imaginary world Beatrice dreamed up as a child, her latest album covers both sides of the alt-rock fence to conquer the tastes of fortysomething adult contemporary loving parents and ‘tweens who’re just catching up with the volume of an earlier time.

“Beatopia” is partial to the many shades of being in a relationship so it leans more towards the bittersweet in such slow-paced beauties as “Sunny Day,” “See You Soon,” and the bossadappled “Perfect Pair.” Yet she can also rock like her primary influences in “Talk” and “Don’t Get the Deal.” “Beatopia” is that rare record with something good for everyone.

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ASSIAH is of halfGhanian and half-

MOMMA Household Name

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PAOLO NUTINI Last Night in the Bittersweet

S MASSIAH Lahi

doppelganger to Robert Plant circa Led Zep in “Aftermath,” the Cure’s Robert Smith wannabe in “Desperation,” Elvis Costello’s twin bro in “Petrified in Love,” and solo McCartney double in the gorgeous weeper, “Julianne.”

Needless to say, the backing music backs up that sense of musical throwback to an older time. It’s just that remembrance is part of the charm Nutini’s latest album is a keeper. It’s a great ‘karaoke’ album, if you will, fashioned along the unusual vision of an extraordinary singer.

COTTISH blue-eyed soul sensation Paolo Nutini has played around with as many musical genres as his malleable voice allows. Now, he dips his amazing voice into contemporary rock and he delivers fun and pleasure in spades. He’s an amiable

N all-girl trio, Momma is a journey of an album that goes through the tough and mostly tender moments of grunge era fuzz. Any way they play it, the harmonies and indelible hooks left every track on “Household Name” from pedestrian hard rock. To be sure, anybody will be turned on by the knockout melodies on “Lucky Music,” “Medicine” and “Rip-off Audio.” But there’s also no mistaking that the ladies can rock like mofos in such loud-soft-louder monsters as “Speeding ’72,” and “Rockstar,” the kind that would make alt-rock maven Billy Corgan proud and joyful.

In a fair universe, Momma should be a household name in best new music so far this year.

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Could a new probiotic supplement really cure your hangover?

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By Ashwin Dhanda University of Plymouth

NEW anti-hangover supplement has gone on sale in the UK last month, marketed by Swedish firm Myrkl as “the pre-drinking pill that works.”

The pill is said to break down up to 70 percent of alcohol after 60 minutes. This means that if someone drinks 50ml of 40-percent spirits, which contains 20ml of pure alcohol, as little as 6ml of the alcohol will enter the bloodstream. This is the same as the person only drinking 15ml of spirits.

This reduction in the amount of alcohol absorbed by the body is mirrored by a reduction in the short-term effects of alcohol, such as euphoria and reduced anxiety.

The company that makes this supplement recommends that two pills are taken one to 12 hours before drinking alcohol.

The probiotic supplement contains two gut-friendly bacteria—Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus coagulans—produced from fermented rice bran. These bacteria naturally break down

alcohol into water and carbon dioxide. An acid-resistant capsule protects the bacteria from the stomach’s natural acids so they can reach the intestine where most alcohol is absorbed into the bloodstream.

What the science says THE pill is aimed at those who do not want a hangover after drinking the day before. But can these pills really prevent a hangover?

A hangover is mainly due to the dehydrating effects of alcohol, which can give a headache. The direct effect of alcohol on the stomach can also cause a sore stomach and nausea. If less alcohol is taken into the body, the risks of being dehydrated are less. But since the pills only work after alcohol has passed through the stomach

“THE pill is aimed at those who do not want a hangover after drinking the day before. But can these pills really prevent a hangover?”

to the intestine, they will not stop alcohol’s effect on the stomach.

The evidence for Myrkl is based on a single published research study. Twenty-four healthy young white adults were asked to take either two Myrkl pills or dummy pills (placebo) each day for seven days. They were then given a small amount of alcohol (between 50 and 90ml of spirits) based on their weight.

Their blood alcohol level was

tested for the next two hours.

The researchers found that within the first 60 minutes, the amount of alcohol in the blood was 70 percent lower in those who received Myrkl compared with the dummy pill.

Although this study was well designed, including randomly allocating people to the Myrkl or dummy pill groups, several problems make the results weaker. First, the researchers only reported results from 14

Latest beer innovation serves new gen with something unexpectedly smooth

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EINEKEN has launched its latest brewing innovation, Heineken Silver, a smooth, easy to drink and accessible tasting beer that provides Filipino drinkers with a premium alternative designed for today’s social gatherings.

Brewed by seasoned master brewers using beautifully simple, natural ingredients, Heineken Silver features Heineken’s famous A-yeast and quality pure malt, as well as sustainably sourced barley that supports Heineken’s wider commitments to Brew a Better World. To create the smooth Heineken Silver taste, a unique brewing process ensures every bottle has the perfect ratio of flavors, resulting in a balanced, less bitter taste.

“At Heineken, we are always looking to bring products to the market that match the needs of our consumers,” said Heineken Philippines Country Manager Michael Vainio. “Heineken Silver delivers a smooth and easy to drink beer that can be enjoyed in a variety of different settings, where people come

together to celebrate real and fun connections together.”

Heineken Silver was launched recently at The Fifth at Rockwell in Makati City, attended by personalities, key partners, and representatives from the

media to get first dibs on the brewer’s new beer. The main event was hosted by actor and TV personality KC Montero and radio personality Tony Toni, while Mars Miranda, one of Manila’s favorite DJs, took care

of the after-party.

Heineken Silver is available for purchase for 18 years old and up in both on and off-trade retail channels. It comes in 330ml cans and bottles as well as 500ml cans.

AUGUST 7, 2022

of the 24 people because 10 had lower blood alcohol levels at the start.

Second, results varied between different people, which reduces the accuracy of the study. And third, the researchers tested seven days of treatment before a single drink of alcohol, but the company recommend only two pills one to 12 hours before drinking any amount.

The study also leaves many unanswered questions. Does the

pill work in people who are not young, healthy and white? Does it work in people with gut or liver disease? Are there differences in the effect of the pill between men and women? What happens when food and alcohol are taken together? Do medications change the action of the pills?

It is already known that friendly gut bacteria are changed by long-term illnesses and lifestyle (smoking, regular alcohol consumption and diet).

It is also known that alcohol is absorbed differently according to weight, sex, physical activity and food consumption. These factors may reduce or increase the effect of the friendly bacteria in the Myrkl pills.

Probiotics are safe and widely available. They can be bought as yoghurts, drinks or pills from many supermarkets and health food shops. The two bacteria in the Myrkl pills are also likely to be safe for most people. Yet probiotics given to people with illnesses can upset the natural balance of healthy gut bacteria causing infection or gut symptoms.

A pre-drinking pill to prevent the hangover the next day would be of benefit to some people. However, with all the unanswered questions around Myrkl, the best cure for a hangover remains drinking less alcohol the day before.

The Conversation

A NEW GIN FROM JAPAN FOR ANY AND EVERY MEAL

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UNTORY brings Sui to the Philippines, a new standard of gin.

Sui Gin hails from a rich heritage, being from the same Suntory Osaka plant that produced the Hermes Gin in 1936 and Roku Gin in 2017. The creation and perfection of Sui Gin are based on more than 100 years of Suntory’s expertise in creating quality spirits.

Sui Gin is made in Japan with a combination of botanicals that are distinctly Japanese: yuzu, green tea, and ginger.

Combined with traditional gin botanicals, including juniper berry, coriander seed, and angelica root, the result is a gin that is clear, refreshing, and pairs well with any and all dishes.

To savor the refreshing taste of Sui Gin, the perfect combination and ratio are important. Imagine getting together with friends for a celebration at your favorite restaurant? All you need is

a bottle of Sui Gin with the perfect mixture.

SUI Gin & Soda: This is the classic recommended way to serve Sui Gin. It is a simple mix of soda water to let Sui’s delicate flavor shine through.

SUI Sonic: For depth and complexity, add a splash of tonic water.

Mix it up!: You can make your own concoction for a more customized experience: add a squeeze of lemon, a tablespoon of Yuzu juice, raw grated ginger, or green tea. For more unique flavors, get trendy by adding crushed plum, wasabi, shiso leaves, or frozen oranges.

Experience the flavors of Sui Gin that complement every meal occasion.

Sui Gin is now available in S&R stores nationwide and coming soon at your nearest supermarkets and liquor stores, as well as GrabMart, Lazada, Boozy, and Boozeshop.