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Caring and nurturing the ‘best hope’ of the future
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By Rory Visco
Lessons (PSL) under the campaign is not only directed at children but other support systems that surround children as well. For PSL sessions, the child and the parent both attend together with the teacher. “That is one of the features of the program. It is not specific but covers others who are part of the child’s life. The child is not alone in his or her environment, and the most important part of a child’s protection are the adults or the institutions that surround the child.”
T present, about 73 percent of the country’s public schools are already holding face-to-face classes. In the next academic school year, the Department of Education (DepEd) is looking at 100-percent implementation of face-to-face classes in public schools nationwide. But is it really safe for children to go back to school already, not just from a Covid-19 pandemic perspective? While it is the right of every child to go to school and learn, get quality education and hone their social skills, is the environment safe? What have the government, the education and school officials done to make schools a safe learning haven for children after a long hiatus due to the pandemic? The United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) said that in the best circumstances, schools put children on the path to a promising future, but for many girls and boys globally, school is also where they experience violence, whether through bullying, harassment, verbal abuse, sexual abuse and exploitation, corporal punishment and other forms of humiliation, which may come from a peer, a teacher or even a school authority. On Friday, May 27, 2022, the Center for the Prevention and Treatment of Child Sexual Abuse (CPTCSA), a non-governmental organization specializing in the prevention and treatment of sexual abuse in children, launched a campaign called “Making Safe Schools Happen,” an initiative to create
awareness about how to make the child’s school environment a safer place to learn. CPTCSA President Atty. Dario Aguila said that at the 2022 International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect Conference in Quebec, Canada, among the most important conclusions made about the state of services to children is that gaps remain in successfully getting the children and young people to engage with and use the programs and services available in their communities. “Here in the Philippines, we have found the same thing to be true in our work to provide all Filipino children with access to child protection services. This event hopes to begin the process of connecting our children and communities to the programs and services available to them and in doing so, to remedy this crucial need,” Aguila said during the launch.
Safety in schools for kids
ZENY ROSALES, executive director of CPTCSA, believes that schools are ready because child protection policies and other mechanisms of the DepEd are already in place for the longest time, and that’s good
PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 52.5800
Adult deficit
PANELISTS answer questions from the participants. From left are Jamie Gabuya, host; Dr. Lois Engelbrecht, Center for the Prevention and Treatment of Child Sexual Abuse (CPTCSA) board member; Zenaida Rosales, CPTCSA executive director; and Gina Lompero, CPTCSA prevention officer.
news. “However, the DepEd still needs our support, that is why there is a campaign such as this to help DepEd address all child protection issues in all schools in the country. Their main job is to teach but they also have to ensure that children are safe while learning in school.” Dr. Lois Engelbrecht, board member of CPTCSA, said the campaign’s goal is to reach out to schools in the country rather than wait for teachers to reach out to them. “Better child protection services have shown great results in Western countries, decreasing the amount of sex abuse of children. We hope others will join in this endeavor and that collectively, we can achieve our objective of making our schools and communities healthy places for children to grow, to get help,
to learn, to mature, and become positive members of society.”
Guns and mass shootings
REGARDING the recent mass shooting of elementary school children in Uvalde, Texas, in the US, Engelbrecht cited a discussion she had with a Filipino child psychiatrist, and said school shootings or mass shootings are unlikely to happen in the Philippines. “It will never happen because Filipinos have extended and strong family ties. They [Filipino psychiatrist and his colleagues] believe that since the American family is isolated, they don’t get the support, the mental health they need from each other, and that is one of the reasons why there are mass shootings.” She added that there are mass shootings in the US because there are too many guns, unlike in the Philippines where there are also
guns but there are many safeguards that make it difficult to own, buy and possess a firearm. But then again, which is more dangerous, a child who is abused sexually or killed by a deranged gun wielder? Rosales said the CPTCSA sits in two councils of the government, the Council for the Welfare of Children and the Juvenile Justice Welfare Council, and the child protection programs and mechanisms of the country are evolving. “In fact, the Philippines leads in the crafting of laws related to children. This is our strength, but implementation in the grassroots level remains to be a problem. Laws were written but lacks support and enough funding to implement these laws.” On the other hand, Gina Lompero, prevention officer of CPTCSA, remarked that the Personal Safety
IN terms of pulling in others to join the advocacy of child protection, Engelbrecht said the CPTCSA has been doing this for the past 25 years, and the schools want this but lack the funds for training. When there are funds, Engelbrecht said schools are happy to take this on. “Some teachers are still apprehensive whenever the word ‘sex’ is mentioned, but once they find out during training that it’s not about sex education but about personal boundaries and see how simple the lessons are, they become more involved. This helps capacitate and increase teachers’ understanding to do what they already want to do.” Why is there a need to teach personal safety to children? People love children, and many, especially parents, don’t want their children to be hurt in any way, and especially not sexually. Too many children are getting hurt, but while it is the responsibility of adults to keep them safe, data shows that adults are not doing their jobs well enough. Children can’t wait until adults are fully equipped so personal safety lessons in schools are meant to give them the information and skills by also building their self-esteem so that they can participate in their own protection.
n JAPAN 0.4050 n UK 66.1404 n HK 6.7028 n CHINA 7.8644 n SINGAPORE 38.3768 n AUSTRALIA 38.1941 n EU 56.5130 n SAUDI ARABIA 14.0187
Source: BSP (June 3, 2022)
JUAN MOYANO | DREAMSTIME.COM
ARE SCHOOLS SAFE FOR OUR CHILDREN?
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Chinatowns more vibrant after pandemic, anti-Asian violence
PEOPLE walk past a gated and closed Chinatown storefront that is for lease in San Francisco, Monday, May 23, 2022. AP/ERIC RISBERG
PEOPLE walk up Jackson Street in Chinatown past the new AAPI Community Heroes mural in San Francisco, Monday, May 23, 2022. AP/ERIC RISBERG
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By Terry Tang | The Associated Press
HE last week of April was a whirlwind for San Francisco’s Chinatown. The storied neighborhood debuted the AAPI Community Heroes mural, a mostly black and white depiction of 12 mostly unsung Asian American and Pacific Islander figures on the wall of a bank.
Three days later “Neon Was Never Brighter,” the first-ever Chinatown contemporary arts festival, took over the streets throughout the night. Traditional lion and dragon dances, a couture fashion show and other public “art activations” were featured in the block party-like event. Cultural and arts organizations in Chinatowns across North America have worked for decades on bringing greater appreciation and visibility to these communities. But they faced an unprec-
edented one-two punch when the pandemic caused shutdowns and racist anti-Asian attacks increased—and continue. As painful as those events are, they also indelibly influenced the reemergence of various Chinatowns as close-knit hubs of vibrancy and culture. Cynthia Choi, cofounder of the Stop AAPI Hate reporting center, is still “blown away” to be one of the heroes painted in the San Francisco mural. But being at the festival was equally touching for her. “I got really emotional because it’s been so long since I’d seen so many people come out to Chinatown, especially at night. I had heard so many of my friends or family saying, ‘I don’t want to go to Chinatown,’” she said. “I knew it was going to be fun and exciting, but I was really moved.” There has been renewed attention from cities, companies and younger Asian Americans from outside these historic Chinatowns. Wells Fargo partnered with the Chinese Culture Center of San Francisco on the “heroes” mural. Everyone wanted to “really address anti-Asian hate and to uplift Asian American voices,” said Jenny Leung, the executive director of the Center, which is a member of the Chinatown Media & Arts Collaborative. Youths voted on who to put on the mural. “Frequently the way that Chinatown looks is imported as a tourist kind of attraction and fantasy for visitors to see,” Leung said. “It’s never really about celebrating the community’s perspective and voice.” The idea for the “Neon” festival, which was overseen by the Chinatown Media & Arts Collaborative, was briefly discussed prepandemic. But the events of the last two years lent urgency to it. “We wanted to kind of push that deadline a little bit earlier in order to be able to address the 20, 30, 40, empty storefronts that are increasingly rising in the community,” said Leung, who characterizes Chinatown as a “museum without walls.” Josh Chuck, a local filmmaker behind the documentary Chinatown Rising, has noticed younger generations dining or participating in events in Chinatowns. A friend who works in tech began last year picking up orders for friends who wanted to support Chinatown restaurants. Soon he was making spreadsheets to track 400 deliveries. “Honestly, there’s no way I could have imagined something that would galvanize these people that I know. Even myself, like, I feel much more connected and committed,” Chuck said. “It’s a silver lining.” In New York, the first of five summer night markets start next month in the city’s Chinatown. It will be the biggest event to date for Think!Chinatown. The 5-year-old nonprofit has done numerous projects like artists-inresidency programs and oral his-
PEOPLE stop to take pictures by a Chinatown mural of martial artist Bruce Lee in San Francisco, Monday, May 23, 2022. AP/ERIC RISBERG
tories. But last year after a series of verbal and physical assaults against Asians, they partnered with Neighborhoods Now, a local pandemic relief initiative, on Chinatown Nights. It was a small-scale gathering of less than 10 artist booths and food trucks in Forsyth Plaza park. Despite a “crazy” two-month prep window, there was a collective feeling of “we just need to be together,” said Yin Kong, Think!Chinatown co-founder and director. And there was a “tectonic shift” with philanthropy focusing on equity. “It reprioritized these other organizations that traditionally would have funded other things to focus on how to support communities of color in a different way,” Kong said. The expanded event next month will have 20 booths and sponsorships, and will be scheduled when most Chinatown restaurants are closed so owners can participate. “The mechanisms that got us there would not have happened without the pandemic,” said Kong, who feels Think!Chinatown is now seen as more “legit” with better funding, full-time staff and the possibility of an office space instead of her dining table. In Vancouver’s Chinatown, the pandemic only exacerbated ongoing issues of vandalism, graffiti and other crimes. But within the last year, the Canadian city managed to launch cultural projects planned before Covid-19. Last month, the Chinatown Mural Project showed off a series of pastoral murals painted by a local artist on six roller shutters of a tea shop. In November, the interactive Chinatown Storytelling Centre with relics and recorded oral histories opened. “We would have done this anyway [regardless of the pandemic],” said Carol Lee, chair of the Vancouver Chinatown Foundation, which oversees the Centre. “But you know, in some ways, it makes you feel like you have more purpose because it’s more necessary.” Jordan Eng, president of the Vancouver Chinatown Business Improvement Association, agreed that there’s more collaboration
and “a lot more youth interest than there was five, 10 years ago.” There are fewer than 50 Chinatowns across the US with some more active than others. Many Chinatowns took shape in the 19th century as Chinese laborers arrived to mine for gold out West or work on the railroad. They lived there because of blatant discrimination or self-preservation. Their housing was singleroom-occupancy units, or SROs, with communal kitchens and bathrooms, said Harvey Dong, a lecturer in ethnic studies and Asian American studies at University of California, Berkeley. Many older Chinese Americans and immigrants in Chinatown reside in these units still. Another constant in Chinatowns: development—from the sales of no longer affordable SROs in San Francisco to a light rail expansion in Seattle to a proposed new jail in New York City. Chinatowns elsewhere have shrunk to a block or disappeared altogether because of gentrification. It’s a tricky juxtaposition for a city to tout Chinatowns to tourists yet offer few resources to its residents. “So you have these huge festivals to bring in businesses. You have these parades and all this stuff. But definitely, it’s important that the needs of the community, especially the working class and the poor, are addressed,” Dong said. Meanwhile, excited arts and culture advocates are moving forward to put their own stamp on Chinatown. Chinatown Media & Arts Collaborative in San Francisco is designing Edge on the Square, a $26.5-million media and arts center set to open in 2025. In New York, Think!Chinatown plans to lease a space with a kitchen for art exhibitions and cooking classes. The hope is to keep engaging with Asian Americans inside and outside of Chinatown. “What draws them to Chinatown is that cultural connection,” Kong said. “It’s something you can’t really put your finger on.... But it’s really the soul of Chinatown. And we need to keep protecting it and make sure it can grow.”
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Pushing Wall Street to ditch fossil fuels for clean energy By Alastair Marsh
I
t will cost more than the gross domestic product of the entire world to rewire the global economy to run on clean energy. Policy makers and campaigners focused on ginning up the estimated $100 trillion needed over the next three decades know that governments alone cannot foot this bill: Wall Street must get on board with the energy transition. The odds of decarbonizing the world depend to a significant extent on bankers being swayed to direct their dollars away from fossil fuels and toward renewables. Whether carrots or sticks, the options being considered are numerous, according to interviews with current and former bankers, nonprofits and academics. They include everything from the introduction of carbon pricing to adjusting capital rules and encouraging financing partnerships between public and private money. And the urgency of the conversation is only increasing as scientists warn the world is warming at an ever-quickening pace, and as the war in Ukraine underlines the dangers of reliance on fossil fuels. “The challenge of how to incentivize the banks to transition from high carbon to green activities is really a challenge of how to incentivize the bankers,” said RhianMari Thomas, a former Barclays Plc banker who is now head of the UK governmentbacked Green Finance Institute in London. “Changing behaviors within the financial services industry is all about people: It’s about vision, leadership and ultimately courage to give up doing the business you understand for transactions that are unfamiliar, all within a culture where success is rewarded and talent retained through the bonus pool.” Money is the language of Big Finance, and conversing in Wall Street’s mother tongue is a must for those pitching ideas on how it can suppress emissions. Bankers’ bonuses are a function of a lender’s return on equity, a measure of profitability that itself is influenced by the revenues the bank generates and the amount of capital it is required to hold, said Thomas, who is the former global head of green banking at Barclays. Tracing dollars and emissions upstream to capital requirements is an idea investors and regulators have bounced around for a few years, and in Thomas’ view, the rules are a potential lever that “could be impactful to change behaviors.” If banks were required to hold fewer assets against loans to green companies and projects than to fossil fuels, such lending would become more attractive. Banks have helped arrange about $175 billion in loans and bond sales for oil, gas and coal companies so far this year. But opinion is divided. In an October report the Bank of England poured cold water on the idea of using a so-called “green supporting factor,” lowering capital requirements for certain climate-friendly investments such as energy-efficient mortgages or electric cars, and a ‘‘brown penalizing factor” that would subject fossil-fuel lending to a higher capital burden. The regulatory capital framework “is not the right tool to address the causes of climate change [greenhouse gas emissions],” the report argued, and while capital requirements could be used to affect financing and investment decisions directly, they are “not likely to be effective unless calibrated at very high levels” that would result in a broad erosion of capital in the system or buildup of risk in other areas. However, the idea remains live. Just last month the European Banking Authority asked for feedback on a new paper on “the role of environmental risks in the prudential framework,” which discusses how capital rules can or should be adjusted in light of the climate crisis. For James Vaccaro, a former renewables banker who now leads the Climate Safe Lending Network, which seeks to align bank lending policies and actions with a future in which the rise in global temperature is kept well below 1.5 degrees Celsius, capital weights might be more effective at discouraging fossil lending than stimulating green business. He said that although regulators would likely stop short of issuing an outright ban on banks funding the expansion of fossil fuels, they could instead require banks to hold 100 percent of capital against that loan instead of the typical requirement of around 8 percent. “From a behavioral point of view, that really changes the dynamics for banks and feels like a poison pill on pricing,” said Vaccaro. “From a financial stability perspective, what we know is that the more we have an increase in the amount of fossil fuels, the greater the systemic risk. There can be no financial stability when there’s planetary instability.” When it comes to incentivizing lending to green projects—an area of financing that former Bank of England governor and climate finance champion Mark Carney says needs to more than double from current levels—Vaccaro suggests capital tweaks may not be the best approach. Instead he says blended finance would be a better tool for funneling large sums into renewables. Also known as de-risking, blended finance refers to an approach whereby governments sign up to take the first losses on a loan if banks agree to provide a pile of money for a deal. Blended finance was a key topic at COP26, the November 2021 United Nations climate change conference, yet few sizable deals have yet materialized. For Rama Variankaval, global head of JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s center for carbon transition, the best way to speed up the transition would be to develop a carbon pricing system that banks can apply to their operations. “What needs to change is the relative pricing between carbon-intensive and green initiatives and the bank capital rules would naturally follow,” said New York-based Variankaval. “All of a sudden that would start to manifest in how we do credit analysis and how we evaluate green projects.” Variankaval’s call echoes another theme of COP26 that has yet to gain traction. A global carbon price would require the will and coordination of world leaders at a time when geopolitical tensions are the highest they have been in years. “It is hardly surprising that banks are demanding ‘carrots’ to be socially and environmentally useful in the transition,” said Agnieszka Smolenska, assistant professor at the Polish Academy of Sciences and an associate researcher for the European Banking Institute. “All the efforts following the [2008] financial crisis have not eradicated the short-termism in the financial sector.” For Smolenska, the best solution for pushing banks to support the energy reformation could be simply requiring them to detail how they will change their operations and financing activities in line with a target of limiting global warming to 1.5°C. The UK government last year became the first to mandate companies and financial institutions in the country publish transition plans. European policy makers are discussing plans that would identify the extent to which a company’s operations impact upon and are affected by climate change, as well as requiring them to publish quantifiable targets to address any misalignment with the 1.5°C goal. Such plans would “give meaningful teeth” to banks’ net-zero pledges and are “the most promising avenue for a long-term and forward-looking engagement of banks with the real economy with a view of achieving climate neutrality,” said Smolenska. That’s in no small part because banks with transition plans that are viewed to fall short of the required standard may face additional capital requirements and more regulatory interventions, she said. Bloomberg News
Sunday, June 5, 2022
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Deaths of 3 women in early heat wave in US raise questions, fears By Don Babwin
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The Associated Press
HICAGO—Temperatures barely climbed into the 90s and only for a couple of days. But the discovery of the bodies of three women inside a Chicago senior housing facility this month left the city looking for answers to questions that were supposed to be addressed after a longer and hotter heat wave killed more than 700 people nearly three decades ago.
Veldarin Jackson, Sr., center, talks about receiving the call that his mother, Janice Reed, had died as his wife Adjoa Jackson, left, becomes emotional on Tuesday, May 24, 2022, in Chicago. Reed was one of the three senior victims who died in a Rogers Park building where residents complained of heat. Jose M. Osorio/Chicago Tribune via AP
Now, the city—and the country—is facing the reality that because of climate change, deadly heat waves can strike just about anywhere, don’t only fall in the height of summer and need not last long. “Hotter and more dangerous heat waves are coming earlier, in May...and the other thing is we are getting older and more people are living alone,” said Eric Klinenberg, a New York University sociologist, who wrote “Heat Wave: A Social Autopsy of Disaster in Chicago” about the 1995 heat wave. “It’s a formula for disaster.” The Cook County Medical Examiner’s office has yet to determine the causes of death for the three women whose bodies were found in the James Sneider Apartments on May 14. But the victims’ families have already filed or plan to file wrongful death lawsuits against the companies that own and manage the buildings. T he C it y Cou nc i l member whose ward includes the neighborhood where the building is located said she experienced stifling temperatures in the complex when she visited, including in one unit where heat sensors hit 102 degrees. “These are senior residents, residents with health conditions [and] they should not be in these conditions,” Alderman Maria Hadden said in a Facebook video shot outside the apartments. Part of the problem, experts
conditioning until June 1, because of the city’s heat ordinance. But while she said the ordinance has no such requirement, the explanation may at least be a signal that the ordinance should be amended to better protect vulnerable people from heat. Wellenius said statistics show that while well over 80 percent of homes in cities such as Dallas and Phoenix have air conditioning, the percentage is far lower in cities like Boston and New York. And in the Pacific Northwest, the percentage is even lower, something that came into stark relief in Oregon, Washington and western Canada last June, when temperatures climbed as high as 118 degrees Fahrenheit, killing 600 people or more. There is encouraging news. “More people have air conditioning and we are more aware of the health risks of heat waves,” Klinenberg said. Still, there is evidence that people don’t appreciate or even know just how dangerous the heat can be. In a study published in 2020, Wellenius and other researchers estimated that nationwide about 5,600 deaths a year could be attributed to high heat—eight times more than the 700 heat-related deaths that the study found were officially reported each year. Wellenius said the reasons for what he called a “gross miscalculation” begin with the fact that official statistics only count death certificates that list heat as the
say, is that communities nationwide are still learning how deadly heat can be. It took the sight of refrigerated trucks being filled with dead bodies after Chicago’s 1995 heat wave to drive home the message that the city was woefully unprepared for a silent and invisible disaster that took more than twice as many lives as the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. That realization led to a system in which city workers call the elderly and frail and turn city buildings into 24-hour cooling centers when temperatures become oppressive. What happened this month is a reminder that the safeguards in place to make sure people don’t freeze to death because they have not paid their heating bills often do not exist to prevent people from overheating in their homes. “We have nothing for air conditioning,” Hadden said. One expert isn’t surprised. “We recognize people need heating in cold weather and set up programs, financial assistance, to enable that but we don’t do that for cooling,” said Gregory Wellenius, a Boston University professor of environmental health who has studied heat-related deaths. “But subsidies for cooling are really controversial [because] for many people cooling is seen as a luxury item.” In Chicago, Hadden said the building’s management company believed it was not allowed to turn off the heat and turn on the air
sole cause of death. In some cases, heat is not listed as a cause even though it may have led to death in people with other conditions. He said the same thing happened in the earliest days of the coronavirus pandemic when people who died in nursing homes in Europe “were not tested for Covid so they were not counted as Covid deaths.” In Cook County, which includes Chicago, the medical examiner’s office reported two heat-related deaths last year, and seven the year before. Just how many deaths in the US are heat related today is unclear. Wellenius’ study, published in 2020, is the result of research from 1997 to 2006. And Klinenberg said the issue has been complicated by the pandemic because the people at greatest risk of being killed by Covid-19 are also at the greatest risk of being killed by extreme heat. “It’s hard to distinguish excess heat deaths from Covid deaths,” he said. Still, Hadden knows something must be done to deal with heat that can hit earlier and later in the year than it once did. “We have to plan for this,” she said. Klinenberg wonders if cities will follow up on such talk. “Heat never feels like the most important thing in cities and by the time it feels like the most important thing it is too late to do anything about it,” he said.
Solar giants’ fates may hinge on fight over 28 millimeters
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wo Chinese solar giants are in a tussle over technology standards that hinges on a mere 28 millimeters, with the outcome set to determine which company has an edge going forward in the $200 billion industry. The combatants are the world’s biggest solar manufacturers, pitting industry leader Longi Green Energy Technology Co. against the world’s second-biggest player Trina Solar Co. And the battle involves bragging rights over the ideal size for wafers, the key component for making solar modules: Which is better, Longi’s 182-millimeter version, or Trina’s 210-millimeter? The rivalry is similar to that between Airbus and Boeing in determining which airplane is best for the world’s carriers. Yet the stakes are arguably higher when it comes to manufacturing the powerful equipment that transforms sunlight into electricity, as nations set ambitious plans for ramping up renewable energy capacity. Who gains the advantage in the current battle stands to substantially accelerate an already impressive growth record. Longi’s market cap has soared nearly eight-fold to $63 billion since the end of 2018, while Trina’s almost quadrupled to $20 billion from its trading debut two years ago. The wafer war has been brewing for more than two years, as Longi sought to press pause on a decade-long race to make solar
panels larger. The company has gone to the media and industry forums to campaign for its choice, criticizing its rival’s version as too big to produce reliable panels. “We do not see evident value in increasing the size of modules—instead the risk has clearly risen,” said Li Shaotang, senior product manager of Longi Global Sales & Marketing Center. “Unlimited expansion could lead the industry the wrong way.” Trina, meanwhile, has defended its position to continue expanding panel sizes. “Growing from small to large is the long solar wafer development history,” said Zhang Yingbin, head of Trina’s product strategy and marketing. “It is the No. 1 trend of the industry.” Wafers, the ultra-thin square slice of semiconductor, are the base unit for solar manufacturing. They are wired into solar cells of the same size before being assembled into panels. The larger the wafer size, the easier to make larger modules, which could make electricity generation from solar cheaper. In addition to being the world’s biggest solar panel maker, Longi is also the top wafer producer and sells them to other companies as well. Trina mostly relies on other suppliers for its wafers. Just three years ago, Longi was in the position of defending larger wafers as it tried to push the industry to adopt its 166-millimeter version as the new standard over smaller predecessors. Then Trina
leapfrogged it in 2020, announcing solar modules based on 210-millimeter wafers. Longi responded with its 182-millimeter alternative, which has the added benefit of being able to be produced in some of Longi’s existing factories after upgrades. The two solar giants have since then introduced more powerful panels based on the two wafer sizes, with Trina’s largest module having 670 watts of capacity while Longi’s largest reaches 550 watts, far exceeding the maximum 400-watt models over much of the past decade. With both sides actively campaigning for their standard, the 182 and 210 wafers combined have taken over half of the market as of 2021. The share is expected to reach 79 percent this year, according to PVInfolink. Longi’s Li said 182 is currently the best size for producing reliable and efficient solar panels. The company said larger panels made from 210 wafers are less resistant to extreme weather such as strong wind and hail given the expanded surface area. The slightly smaller solar modules based on 182 wafers could fit into cargo containers better, cutting transportation costs at a time of expensive global shipping, Li said. Trina defended the quality of its panels, saying they have been examined by international verifiers and are operating well in markets around the world. Thanks in part to Longi’s criticisms, Trina enhanced the
caliber of protective glass for its modules, and employed wider frames to increase their resistance to external forces, Zhang said. “What they think can’t be done doesn’t mean others cannot either,” he said. “Because of their challenge, we have done thorough work.” The rivalry has divided the industry into two camps. Longi led six other companies, including JA Solar Technology Co. and Jinko Solar Co., to establish an alliance backing its wafer standard. Trina joined hands with Longi’s biggest competitor in wafer manufacturing, Zhonghuan Semiconductor Co., and dozens of other supply-chain companies to expand production for largecapacity panels based on 210 wafers. Despite the split, most manufacturers for now are also hedging their bets, building new production capacities that can switch between 182 and 210 wafers. Even Longi says its facilities can produce wafers as large as 230 millimeters, while Trina recently introduced a smaller rectangular wafer size with 182 and 210 as its edges. “I don’t think that the future of solar is just wafers getting bigger and bigger, because you do start to hit limits on how big the glass can be to remain stiff enough to withstand high wind,” said Jenny Chase, lead solar analyst at BloombergNEF. “That said, there may be a few wafer sizes to go.”
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WHO: Monkeypox won’t turn into pandemic, but many unknowns By Maria Cheng
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AP Medical Writer
ONDON—The World Health Organization’s top monkeypox expert said she doesn’t expect the hundreds of cases reported to date to turn into another pandemic, but acknowledged there are still many unknowns about the disease, including how exactly it is spreading and whether the suspension of mass smallpox immunization decades ago may somehow be speeding its transmission.
This 2003 electron microscope image made available by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows mature, oval-shaped monkeypox virions, left, and spherical immature virions, right, obtained from a sample of human skin associated with the 2003 prairie dog outbreak. WHO’s top monkeypox expert, Dr. Rosamund Lewis, said she doesn’t expect the hundreds of cases reported to date to turn into another pandemic, but acknowledged there are still many unknowns about the disease, including how exactly it is spreading and whether the suspension of mass smallpox immunization decades ago may somehow be speeding its transmission. Cynthia S. Goldsmith, Russell Regner/CDC via AP
In a public session on Monday, WHO’s Dr. Rosamund Lewis said it was critical to emphasize that the vast majority of cases being seen in dozens of countries globally are in gay, bisexual or men who have sex with men, so that scientists can further study the issue. She urged those at risk to be careful. “It’s ver y important to describe this because it appears to be an increase in a mode of transmission that may have been under-recognized in the past,” said Lewis.
“At the moment, we are not concerned about a global pandemic,” she said. “We are concerned that individuals may acquire this infection through high-risk exposure if they don’t have the information they need to protect themselves.” She warned that anyone is at potential risk for the disease, regardless of their sexual orientation. Other experts have pointed out that it may be accidental that the disease was first picked up in gay and bisexual men, saying it could quickly spill over into other
groups if it is not curbed. Last week, WHO said 23 countries that haven’t previously had monkeypox have now reported more than 250 cases. On Monday, the UK announced another 71 monkeypox cases. L e w i s s a i d it ’s u n k n o w n whether monkey pox is being transmitted by sex or just the close contact between people engaging in sexual activity and described the threat to the general population as “ low.” Monkeypox is known to spread
when there is close physical contact with an infected person, their clothing or bedsheets. She also warned that among the current cases, there is a higher proportion of people with lesions that are more concentrated in the genital region and sometimes nearly impossible to see. “You may have these lesions for two to four weeks [and] they may not be visible to others, but you may still be infectious,” she said. Last week, a top adviser to WHO
Divided again, Libya slides back toward violence, chaos By Samy Magdy
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The Associated Press
AIRO—For many Libyans, clashes that erupted in the capital of Tripoli last month were all too familiar—a deja vu of street fighting, reverberating gunfire and people cowering inside their homes. A video circulated online on the day, showing a man shouting from a mosque loudspeaker “Enough war, we want our young generation!” The fighting underscored the fragility of Libya’s relative peace that has prevailed for more than a year but it also looked like history was repeating itself. Now, observers say that momentum to reunify the country has been lost and that its future is looking grim. Once again, there are two competing governments vying for control in Libya, already torn by more than a decade of civil war. The clashes in the capital broke out after one of Libya’s two prime ministers challenged the other by coming to Tripoli, his rival’s seat. Libya has for years been split between rival administrations in the east and the west, each supported by rogue militias and foreign governments. The Mediterranean nation has been in a state of upheaval since the 2011 NATO-backed uprising toppled and later killed longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi. But a plan had emerged in the past two years that was meant to put the country on the path toward elections. A UN-brokered process installed an interim government in early 2021 to shepherd Libyans to elections that were due late last year. That government, led by Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, briefly unified the political factions under heavy international pressure. But the voting never took place, and since then, the plan has unraveled and left the country in crisis. Lawmakers in Libya’s east-based parliament, headed by influential
Libyans celebrate February Revolution Day in Martyrs’ Square in Tripoli, Libya, on February 18, 2022. Two separate governments are once again vying for power in Libya. It’s the latest setback, reversing tentative steps toward unity in the past year, including promised elections that never materialized. Clashes in the country’s capital of Tripoli last month underscored the fragility of Libya’s relative peace that has prevailed for more than a year. AP/Yousef Murad
speaker Aguila Saleh, argued that Dbeibah’s mandate ended when the interim government failed to hold elections. They went ahead and chose Fathi Bashagha, a powerful former interior minister from the western city of Misrata, as new prime minister. Their position gained the endorsement of powerful commander Khalifa Hifter whose forces control the country’s east and most of the south, including major oil facilities. Dbeibah has refused to step down, and factions allied with him in western Libya deeply oppose Hifter. They maintain that Dbeibah, who is also from Misrata with ties to its powerful militias, is working toward holding elections. Analysts are skeptical. Claudia Gazzini, a Libya expert at the International Crisis Group, described the Bashagha-Dbeibah rivalry as “a feud over legitimacy,” with “both governments claiming they are legitimate.” “I don’t think they will be able to hold elections this year,” she said, and also expressed doubts that UN attempts to get Libyan parties to reach a constitutional consensus on the elections will make any progress.
The power struggle came to a head on May 17, when Bashagha entered Tripoli and attempted to install his government there. He had help from the powerful Nawasi Brigade militia, led by Mustafa Qaddur, deputy head of Libya’s intelligence agency. But Bashagha faced stiff resistance from militias loyal to Dbeibah, leading to hourslong clashes that rocked the city until Bashagha withdrew and a day later set up his government headquarters in the coastal city of Sirte, half way between Libya’s power centers in the east and the west. The withdrawal emboldened Dbeibah, who promptly sacked Qaddur and another military official, Osama Juwaili, who heads the military intelligence agency. The dismissal of Qaddur was subsequently reversed by the presidential council—an apparent crack within Dbeibah’s camp. According to an official close to Dbeibah, the Tripoli-based prime minister is convinced Bashagha could not have entered the Libyan capital without “approval or coordination” with Juwaili, a powerful figure from the western city of
Zintan, and also Qaddur. Juwaili’s forces, the official said, manned checkpoints and control areas near Gharyan, a town south of Tripoli, where Bashagha’s convoy passed on its way to the capital. The official spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence details. Even after Bashagha’s withdrawal, tensions remain high in Tripoli. Some, like Libya researcher Jalel Harchaoui, believe Bashagha could make another move on Tripoli—or at least attempt to galvanize more support in the area. “Given the scars that are now out in the open, such a scenario” is entirely possible, he said. Meanwhile, Libya’s prized light crude is again being used as a tool in the power struggle. Tribal leaders have shut down crucial oil facilities, including the country’s largest oil field in the south controlled by fighters loyal to Hifter, who supports Bashagha. The oil blockade—which comes as oil prices are skyrocketing because of the war in Ukraine—was likely meant to deprive Debeibah’s government of funds and empower his rival. Bashagha and Saleh have said the facilities would be reopened on condition that oil revenues be temporarily frozen until rival factions agree on a mechanism to distribute oil funds. The war in Ukraine has distracted the international community but its ripples have been felt in Libya, where Russia has long played an outsized role. Russia has recognized Bashagha’s government, which Gazzini of the International Crisis Group says makes it difficult for Western countries to also do—so as not to be seen as being on the same side as Russia. For ordinar y Libyans, last month’s deadly violence—one person was killed in the fighting—was a stark reminder of how fragile the relative peace had been.
said the monkeypox outbreak in Europe, US, Israel, Australia and beyond was likely linked to sex at two recent raves in Spain and Belgium. That marks a significant departure from the disease’s typical pattern of spread in central and western Africa, where people are mainly infected by animals like wild rodents and primates. Scientists haven’t yet determined whether the monkeypox outbreak in rich countries can be traced to Africa, but the disease continues to sicken people on the continent. On Monday, authorities in Congo said nine people have died of monkeypox in 2022. Dr. Aime A longo, chief of the Sankuru health division in Congo, also said 465 cases have been confirmed, making it one of the worst hit nations in West and Central Africa. Nigerian authorities confirmed the country’s first monkeypox death this year, in addition to six more cases. WHO says thousands of cases are reported from Nigeria and Congo every year. Most monkeypox patients experience only fever, body aches, chills and fatigue. People with more serious illness may develop a rash and lesions on the face and hands that can spread to other parts of the body. No deaths have been reported in the current outbreak beyond Africa.
WHO’s Lewis also said while previous cases of monkeypox in central and western Africa have been relatively contained, it was not clear if people could spread monkeypox without symptoms or if the disease might be airborne, like measles or Covid-19. Monkeypox is related to smallpox, but has milder symptoms. A f ter sma l lpox was dec lared eradicated in 1980, countries suspended their mass immunization programs, a move that some experts believe may be helping monkeypox spread now, since there is now little widespread immunity to related diseases. Smallpox vaccines are also protective against monkeypox. Lewis said it was also uncertain how much immunity people who were previously vaccinated aga inst sma l lpox might st i l l have, since that was at least more than four decades ago. She said WHO’s priority was to stop the current spread of monkeypox before the disease became entrenched in new regions. “If we all react quickly and we all work together, we will be able to stop this,” she predicted. “We will be able to stop it before it reaches more vulnerable people and before it establishes itself as a replacement for smallpox.” Chinedu Asadu in Abuja, Nigeria, contributed to this report.
Rising US traffic deaths on a Philadelphia road By Claudia Lauer The Associated Press
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HILADELPHIA—Just one more step and the stroller would have been on the curb. The thought haunts Latanya Byrd years after a driver racing down Roosevelt Boulevard in Philadelphia struck and killed her 27-yearold niece, Samara Banks, and three of Banks’ young sons as they crossed the 12-lane road. Today, many of the conditions that led to the fatal 2013 crash still exist. Since the crash, Byrd became an advocate for safer streets, fighting to get automated speed cameras placed along the boulevard where 10 percent to 13 percent of the city’s traffic fatalities happened each year prior to the coronavirus pandemic, city officials said. And now, amid a national surge in traffic fatalities that federal officials have called a crisis and studies showing Black communities have been hit even harder during the pandemic, plans to redesign the city’s “corridor of death” could be gaining traction. Roosevelt Boulevard is an almost 14-mile (23-kilometer) maze of chaotic traffic patterns that passes through some of the city’s most diverse neighborhoods and census tracts with the highest poverty rates. Driving can be dangerous with cars traversing between inner and outer lanes, but biking or walking on the boulevard can be even worse with some pedestrian crossings longer than a football field and taking four light cycles to cross. “You would not design a street or a road like that today,” said Christopher Puchalsky, policy director for Philadelphia’s Office of Transportation, Infrastructure and Sustainability. “It feels like an expressway, but it’s in the middle and between neighborhoods.” Roosevelt Boulevard was first designed in the early 1900s, but as the northeast neighborhoods grew and it was connected to a major highway in the 1950s, lanes were repeatedly added to handle the growing number of cars. Many of the city’s ideas for fixing Roosevelt have been championed under new federal strategies. In the wake of increasing fatalities, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has pushed a “safe system” approach, encouraging cities and states to take into account more than just driver
behavior when designing roads. The Biden administration also created funding for safety improvements, including the bipartisan infrastructure law and a $5 billion federal aid package to cities over the next five years. Federal officials have pledged to prioritize equity when making funding decisions in the wake of a disproportionate 23 percent jump in Black traffic fatalities in 2020. “We’ll certainly remind the federal government when we are applying for grants of the equity priorities that the leadership has set out,” Puchalsky said. Kelley Yemen, director of Philadelphia’s Complete Streets program, said the city is hoping for federal money to begin a longterm redesign of Roosevelt outlined in a study released in 2019. The two options would either make the center lanes a restricted expressway or cut speeds and convert car lanes to bicycle and transit lanes. Both carry billion-dollar price tags. The study includes a series of smaller projects to improve safety at high-fatality stretches on the road by 2025, some already started, but residents are skeptical. Eva Gbaa has been impatient to see changes. Her 17-year-old nephew, John “JJ” Gbaa Jr., was killed in a November 2018 hitand-run as he tried to cross Roosevelt while walking home after hanging out with friends. He was alone at the time, and a lot of the circumstances of the crash were unknown. A passerby found JJ and called the police, but he died at a hospital. No arrest has been made, and the family still agonizes over how someone could leave the big-hearted boy to die. “JJ would ask me for money...but I didn’t know until his friends told me after he passed that he would buy them food if they didn’t have any,” said John Gbaa Sr., JJ’s father. “He loved people. He’d give out his last dollar to his friends.” JJ and his father had moved to Philadelphia in 2017 to be closer to family, and JJ was making huge strides in school. He loved being near his cousins, and he would hang on his aunt as she cooked traditional African rice dishes. The Associated Press researcher Jennifer Farrar and Race & Ethnicity Team video journalist Noreen Nasir in New York and data journalist Angeliki Kastanis in Los Angeles contributed to this report.
Science Sunday BusinessMirror
www.businessmirror.com.ph • Editor: Lyn Resurreccion
Sunday, June 5, 2022
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Pisolar: Lighting the lives of Lumads in the mountains
Farmers discuss the advantages in using Bio N biofertilizer to increase their yield at much lower costs. UPLB OPR photo
UPLB-Biotech’s Bio N may help ease PH farmers’ fertilizer woes
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hilippine agriculture is taking a hit from multiple fronts in the midst of the war waged by Russia in Ukraine. One of these is the shortage of and skyrocketing prices of fertilizers caused by the increase in oil prices and because 40 percent of the global requirement of fertilizers comes from the two countries and from a third, Belarus, which has stopped supplying fertilizers to the rest of the world. The prices of chemical fertilizers in the country have more than doubled since last year and University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) has reminded the agriculture sector of the whole range of biofertilizers that its National Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology (Biotech) has developed and promoted over the years. These fertilizers will greatly help the agriculture sector in this time of dire need for the commodity.
manufactured and distributed by 17 mixing plants established all over the country by UPLB and the Department of Agriculture in 2004 as part of the Corn Development Program of the National Food Authority and GMA Corn Program. The establishment of the mixing plants aimed to produce Bio N in areas that are accessible to the farmers as part of the national thrust to improve rice and corn productivity, generate income and employment, and transform marginal areas into self-sufficient farming communities. The operating personnel of the Bio N mixing plants was trained by the Biotech team, led by University Researcher and Bio N project leader Julieta A. Anarna. In May, Biotech supplied 1,000 Bio N concentrates (good for 20,000 ready-to-use Bio N packets) to the Ilagan Soils Laboratory Regional Field Office II which established and operates the Bio N mixing plant in Ilagan, Isabela.
Bio N biofertilizer for rice, corn, vegetables
Expanding to more avenues for distribution and R&D
One of these is the microbial-based Bio N biofertilizer that Dr. Mercedes Umali-Garcia of UPLB-Biotech developed almost 40 years ago. Bio N has been helping rice, corn, and vegetable farmers increase their yield while maintaining soil health. A microbial inoculant, Bio N converts atmospheric nitrogen into a form that plants can easily use. It contains nitrogen-fixing bacteria Azospirillum carried in soil and charcoal. It improves the plant’s root system, boosts nutrient absorption, provides resistance to pests and diseases, and enhances soil conditions. Bio N users report an improvement in grain quality and an increase in yield. Using Bio N also cuts production costs. A farmer-vegetable dealer from Isabela, Ricky Mabunga, talked about how he was able to save on the cost of inputs when he began using Bio N. In a recent interview, Mabunga said replacing two sacks of urea (50 percent of the average recommendation per hectare) that cost P5,200 with the recommended five to six sachets of Bio N per hectare that cost P500-600 translates to more than P4,500 in savings.
Diffusion of Bio N
Bio N is currently produced in both concentrated form and readyto-use packs at Biotech. It is also
The UPLB continues to find avenues to ensure that the biofertilizer reaches Filipino farmers. On May 23, UPLB signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with DA Regional Field Office III for the supply and delivery of 10,000 packs of Bio N for Region III. Also being pursued by the University is continuous research and development (R&D) on biofertilizers. UPLB, through Biotech, entered a mMemorandum of understanding (MOU) with DA last March 22. The MOU titled, “Continuing Biotechnology Inputs to Support the Intensified National Food Production Programs,” stipulates areas of collaboration in R&D, capacity building, and upscaling of Bio N and other Biotech biofertilizers and technologies. The Institute continued its dialogue with key stakeholders for the enhanced production and distribution of Bio N in a meeting held on May 10 with Dr. Leocadio S. Sebastian, DA undersecretary and chief of staff; Dr. Emil Q. Javier, National Scientist and Biotech founding director; Dr. John C. De Leon, executive director of the Philippine Rice Research Institute; and members of the private sector. Bio N project leader Anarna attributes the success of Bio N’s diffusion to government support and the dedication of personnel in the production and dissemination of the biofertilizer. Sophia Mercado
Pisolar Project Leader Engr. Filmann Simpao demonstrates how to use their developed technology. Photo by Ceajay N. Valerio, DOST-OUR&D By Darenn G. Rodriguez
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Special to the BusinessMirror
ALAINGOD, Davao del Norte—Gemma Magsiwagan starts her day at 4 a.m. to pick at least 10 kilos of bananas from the nearby plantation to prepare for peeling, chopping and to be left to dry on the sitio grounds. “I have to start early because our day ends early at 3 p.m. since we don’t have electricity.” Magsiwagan said. This is the everyday life of the locals in Sitio Igang, an offthe-grid Lumad community in Talaingod. The locals’ main source of livelihood is producing banana flour to be sold at the market for the measly price of P3 a kilo. The average household income in the sitio is P4,000 a month, just enough to cover their daily sustenance. In the Philippines, three out of 10 Filipino households do not have access to electricity, according to 2010 data from the Department of Energy. The national electrification rate stands at only 73.7 percent as of 2010, that is, 12.6 million electrified households out of 17.1 million households nationwide. Sitio Igang, along with Palma Gil, and Sitio Salapion, Sto. Niño, all in Talaingod, are part of the remaining communities which do not have access to electricity—until researchers from University of Southeastern Philippines (USeP) decided to step in. USeP was working on the development of a pay-as-you-go (Paygo) payment system for solar home systems (SHS) to help in the electrification of communities far from commercial power lines. Led by its project leader Engr. Filmann Simpao, USeP has part-
Gregorio reappointed as Searca director
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r. Glenn B. Gregorio has been reappointed as director of the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (Searca) for another three-year term effective last May 1. An eminent rice scientist, an Academician at the National Academy of Science and Technology of the Philippines, and professor at the University of the Philippines Los Baños, Gregorio was endorsed by the Searca Governing Board and Education Secretary Leonor Magtolis Briones for a second three-year term, Searca’s news release said. His reappointment was approved and signed by Singapore Education Minister Chan Chun Sing, who is also the Seameo Council (Seamec) president. Seamec is Seameo’s highest policymaking body composed of the education ministers of its 11 member countries. Mandated to serve the agricultural and rural development needs of Southeast
Asian countries, Searca is hosted by the Philippine government and is based in Los Baños, Laguna. Searca was established 55 years ago and is one of the oldest centers of excellence of the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization. At a townhall meeting attended by Searca staff, scholars and Governing Board Chairman and UPLB Chancellor Jose V. Camacho Jr. held last May 2, Gregorio cited some of the gains during his first term under the banner of Accelerating Transformation Through Agricultural Innovation (Attain) of Searca’s 11th FiveYear Plan (2020-2025). According to Gregorio, the center reached new heights—better, bigger and smarter—in terms of both its programs and organizational development. He said changes for the better started within the organization which ranged from enhanced staff compensation and career paths to an integrated monitoring
Residents of Sitio Igang pose with the Science for Change Program (S4CP) Team in their project visit in the area. Photo by Ceajay N. Valerio, DOST-OUR&D
Dr. Glenn B. Gregorio Searca photo
evaluation and learning system to better track and make use of the center’s gains. “Searca also became better in strengthening community relations and engagement through outreach activities branded as Searcalinga initiatives that
nered with Leadtech Inc., a manufacturing company which fabricates solar home kits to come up with the now-completed project, “Pisolar: Payment Innovation for SHS Ownership by Lay Away Routine.” Pisolar is a project funded by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) under the Science for Change Collaborative Research and Development to Leverage Philippine Economy (Cradle) Program, which aims to design, develop, and deploy a pay-as-you-go solar home system (PAYG-SHS) using alternative wireless technologies. It uses Radio Frequency Identification and Low Power Wireless Area Network technology to connect the PAYG-SHS with a control module to provide electricity and lighting to households in the selected community. The project received a total of P4.9 million in funding from the DOST and was in development for two years and six months. It was monitored by the DOST-Philippine Council for Industry, Energy, and Emerging Technolog y (DOSTPCIEERD), and was completed in June 2021. Before Pisolar, the community was reliant on kerosene to light their homes. But this practice is expensive, not to mention dangerous, to their households since their houses are made of wood. Using an SHS for the community is the logical solution as they have benefitted over a thousand staff, scholars, frontliners, mothers, children, senior citizens as well as typhoon victims,” he said. He said changes included more partnerships forged with various entities that include international organizations, government agencies, academic and research institutions and the private sector. Gregorio noted the expansion of the Searca-established Southeast Asian University Consortium for Graduate Education in Agriculture and Natural Resources under his watch, with two Philippine state universities among those admitted as new members. He added that the center has also been reaching to more Philippine universities through training programs with the Leveling-Up Philippine Higher Education Institutions in Agriculture, Fisheries and Natural Resources project funded by the Commission on Higher Education. Searca is also upscaling its Schoolplus-Homes Gardens Project to Busuanga Island and Cambodia, and has added the elements of biodiversity
only need electricity for lighting, basic services and for charging mobile devices. However, SHS costs t housands of pesos and is too steep a price for a community reliant on small-scale farming. This led Simpao to seek the Cradle grant from DOST to help develop and test the technology. “An SHS is too expensive for their homes. What I envision for them is for the system to become sustainable and they become responsible in paying their electricity in manageable amounts and eventually, they will be able to pay off the unit.” Simpao said. Compared to regular on-thegrid electricity rates, the beneficiaries of Pisolar only cost them P200 that is shared by three to four households per month. It already covers the lighting, use of a television and radio, as well as charging their devices. Pisolar is operating on a lay away system which is similar to the build-operate-transport schemes in major infrastructure projects. Leadtech manufactures, installs and maintains the units, then the community gradually pays off the entire device by using the system until they own it. A village local entrepreneur is given the responsibility to collect all the payments of the households and is the lead contact to the operator of the control module.
Life-changing
Aprilyn Batuan, 9, also a resident of the Sitio Igang, is very thankful for Simpao for bringing electricity to their community. Her school, which still doesn’t hold face-to-face classes, is still implementing module-based learning for its students and Aprilyn is among the many students struggling with remote learning, especially in off-the-grid locations. Before Pisolar, children in the village are already asleep by 5 p.m. due to the absence of lighting. But after the Pisolar was installed in her home, Butuan is now able to study her lessons past 3 p.m. and entrepreneurship to the package. “The new Searca Grants for Research toward Agricultural Innovative Solutions; Searca Hub for Agriculture and Rural Innovation for the Next Generation, an interactive museum; and partnership for the Innovation Olympics 2.0, an agri hackathon for the youth to develop innovative solutions for the farming sector, were some of the smarter ways Searca embarked on to reach its stakeholders, including the youth, to entice them to engage in agriculture,” Gregorio said. “The pandemic pushed us to launch the Searca Online Learning and Virtual Engagement [SOLVE], which not only offers webinars, but also serves as a platform for forums, roundtable discussions and conferences,” he added. Gregorio explained that each of the 41 SOLVE webinars highlighted specific concrete and innovative actions being implemented on the ground that are aligned with Searca’s 11th Five-Year Plan that is focused on Attain that aims to directly benefitting farmers and farming families.
“We owe a lot from what we have now because of Sir Filmann [Simpao]. He helped me study my lessons at night.” Batuan said in the vernacular. Besides the lighting system, families in the sitio can also watch television, listen to the radio, and charge their devices. A mini sari-sari store was also established in the sitio center now that they have electricity to service the community. With the help of Pisolar, families can also prepare for emergency situations by staying tuned to the news via the radio.
Future plans
Eventually, Simpao was able to provide lighting to all the houses in the community using the Pisolar and the community is very diligent in their usage and are responsible for their payments. “On behalf of the team, we would like to thank the DOST for this grant as we are able to effect meaningful change for the lives of the Lumad people. Definitely Pisolar doesn’t end here and we would like to start a company in the future so my team will have a steady source of income.” he said. Moreover, Simpao encouraged fellow researchers to collaborate with DOST to make their researches reach those who really need it. “I hope more researchers like me are open to collaboration with DOST as they have programs that support not only us, but also the people.” he said. DOS T PC IEER D E xec ut ive Director Dr. Enrico C. Paringit sees this innovative technology by the researchers as impactful to community. “We enjoin our researchers and innovators to find creative ways to energize more communities in the future. DOST-PCIEERD continues to search for research projects that can provide solutions and opportunities for our citizens. We hope that our fellow Filipinos will take interest in our endeavors in research and development,” Paringit said. Darenn G. Rodriguez is a Science Research Specialist I at DOST-PCIEERD.
His advocacy gave rise to the Young Forces for Agricultural Innovation as Searca’s banner youth program. During his first term, Gregorio was appointed as a United Nations Food Systems Champion; president of the Society for the Advancement of Breeding Research in Asia and Oceania until 2023; and chairman of the Commission on Higher Education Technical Panel for Agriculture until 2024. He was also named one of the 2021 Filipino Faces of Biotechnology in the Philippines by the Department of Agriculture. Prior to his appointment at Searca, Gregorio served the International Rice Research Institute for almost 30 years, including a five-year stint as IRRI’s rice breeder based at Africa Rice Centre station at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture in Nigeria in 2004-2009. He is also a recipient of The O u t s t a n d i n g Yo u n g M e n a n d t h e Outstanding Young Scientist awards, both in 2004, and Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh Medal Award in 2012.
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Sunday
Editor: Lyn Resurreccion • www.businessmirror.com.ph
Vatican: Plenary indulgence can be obtained for visiting the elderly on Grandparents’ Day
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ilipino families cherish visiting their elderly parents, grandparents, or relatives, especially on Sundays, to have lunch with them. Mini reunions are likewise held on birthdays of the elderly or of any member of the families which become feasts and memorable events to reminisce the good old days. The Grandparents’ Day on July 24 is another special occasion to celebrate the lives of the elderly. This day is made more special by the plenary indulgence announced by the Vatican. The Vatican announced recently that Catholics can obtain a plenary indulgence by visiting an elderly person on the second World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly, the Catholic News Agency (CNA) said. The Apostolic Penitentiary issued a decree on May 30 that said
that the indulgence is available “to the faithful who devote adequate time to visit, in presence or virtually, through the media, their elderly brothers and sisters in need or in difficulty” on July 24. The indulgence can also be gained by Catholics present at a solemn commemoration of the annual event by Pope Francis that day or at celebrations around the world. An indulgence—defined by the Catechism of the Catholic Church as “a remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins whose guilt has already been forgiven”—will be available under the usual conditions of Confession, Holy Communion and prayer in accordance
Pope Francis with some elderly women.
VATICAN MEDIA PHOTO
with the intentions of the Supreme Pontiff. According to the Catechism, an indulgence can be either partial or plenary, depending on whether it “removes either part or all of the temporal punishment due to sin.” The new decree was signed by the Major Penitentiary Cardinal Mauro Piacenza and Regent Father Krzysztof Nykiel. It said: “The plenary indulgence
may also be granted, provided that they remove themselves from any sin and with the intention of fulfilling the three usual conditions as soon as possible, to the sick elderly and to all those who, unable to leave their homes for a serious reason, will unite spiritually with the sacred services of the World Day, offering to the Merciful God their prayers, and the pains and sufferings of their lives, especially while the words
of the Supreme Pontiff and the various celebrations are broadcast through the media.” A similar decree was issued for the World Day’s inaugural celebration on July 25, 2021. Pope Francis established the commemoration in January 2021. The day falls annually on the fourth Sunday of July, on or close to the July 26 Feast of Sts. Anne and Joachim, the grandparents of Jesus. The Vatican unveiled the theme for the second World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly in February, taken from Psalm 92:15: “In old age they will still bear fruit.” In the pope’s message for this year, released on May 10, he urged seniors not to despair at their frailty but to embrace “a new mission” of caring for others in a world torn apart by conflict. “Old age is no time to give up and lower the sails, but a season of enduring fruitfulness: a new mission awaits us and bids us look to the future,” he wrote in the 1,600-word message.
The Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life released a pastoral kit on May 30 offering guidance on celebrating the day locally. The 85-year-old pope, who has made public appearances in a wheelchair due to knee pain since May 5, has highlighted the importance of care and respect for the elderly throughout his pontificate. In February, he launched a new general audience catechetical cycle devoted to old age. The Apostolic Penitentiary’s decree concluded with an appeal to priests. “In order, therefore, that this oppor tunit y to attain div ine grace through the power of the Keys of the Church may be more easily realized through pastoral charity, this Penitentiary firmly requests priests, equipped with the appropriate faculties to hear confessions, to make themselves available with a ready and generous spirit for the celebration of the Sacrament of Penance,” it said. Catholic News Agency with Lyn B. Resurreccion
2-year prep for Our Lady of Peñafrancia’s centennial of canonical crowning launched
N Sen. Win Gatchalian during an event. Mark Cayabyab/OS WIN GATCHALIAN
Senate gives nod to proposed ‘National Baptist Day’
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he Baptists in the Philippines will soon have a national day with the Senate approval of a proposed measure that seeks to declare the second Thursday of every January a special working holiday to be known as “National Baptist Day.” Sen. Win Gatchalian, co-author and sponsor of the measure, said in a news release that this is a recognition of the Philippine Baptists’ contribution to nation-building. In sponsoring Senate Bill 2252, Gatchalian lauded Baptist churches for upholding academic and moral excellence by establishing Christian schools. Baptist churches nationwide run 1,200 schools from pre-school to high school. “The Baptists have distinguished themselves for their involvement in our communities by building schools and hospitals and by giving much-needed aid to communities struck by calamities,” Gatchalian said during his sponsorship of the measure. “In the spirit of expressing solidarity with our brothers and sisters in Christ from Baptist churches, and to honor their invaluable contribution to our society and way of life, I join our colleagues in voting for this measure’s approval on third and final reading,” the lawmaker said in the news release. Gatchalian pointed out that since the proposed measure seeks to create a special working holiday, it would have no implications on wage rates. The first Baptist church in the Philippines, the Jaro Evangelical Church, was founded in 1900 in Iloilo City. The city is also home to the Central Philippine University, a Baptist university founded in 1905. In January 2020, the Philippine Baptists celebrated 120 years of ministerial existence in the country. According to Bishop Reuben Abante of the Bible Believers League for Morality and Democracy there are about 25,000 to 30,000 Baptist churches in the country. Assuming each has 100 members on average, there are 2.5 to 3 million Baptists nationwide. Membership data from the World Baptist Alliance show that there are 1,784 Baptist churches in the Philippines with at least 653,000 members. Gatchalian also pointed out the role of the Baptists in promoting principles, such as religious freedom and the separation of Church and State, which are enshrined in the United States Constitution and the Philippines’ 1987 Constitution.
AGA CITY—The Archdiocese of Caceres recently launched a two-year preparation to mark the centenary of the pontifical coronation of the image of Our Lady of Peñafrancia. The launching was highlighted with a Mass presided over by Archbishop Rolando Tria Tirona at the Minor Basilica and National
Shrine of Our Lady of Peñafrancia in Naga City. Pope Benedict XV authorized the canonical coronation of the image on May 13, 1920, in response to the petition of Bishop John Bernard McGinley. T he crow ning itself occur red four years later on Sep tember 20, 1924, led by the Apostol ic Delegate, A rc hbishop
Gugl iel mo Pi a ni, at t he Naga C at hed ra l g rou nd s. With McGinley already assig ned i n C a l i for n i a at t h at time, the celebration was spearheaded by the diocesan administrator, Fr. Francisco Reyes, who would later become bishop of Caceres. The event also took place as the archdiocese marks the 40th
anniversary of the blessing and dedication of the Church of Our Lady of Peñafrancia. Earlier in the day, the milestone was marked with a liturgical celebration led by Bishop Jose Rojas of Libmanan. In 1985, the church was granted the privileges of minor basilica and later on as a national shrine. Yara de Guzman/CBCP News
Shavuot: A Jewish holiday of renewing commitment to God
T
he festival of Shavuot, marked this year on June 5 and 6, celebrates the biblical story of God revealing Torah—Jewish scriptures and teachings—to the Israelites at Mount Sinai. This gift, and the observance of Torah’s principles, is at the core of the Jews’ relationship with God, referred to as the “covenant.” Shavuot has deeply agrarian roots. As a scholar of early Rabbinic Judaism, I know that the holiday has evolved significantly over the centuries, as has Judaism itself. Today, rather than primarily marking the harvest, Shavuot observance transports the Jewish community back to Sinai, to symbolically experience the awe of revelation and personally recommit to the covenant.
Ancient roots
In the Hebrew Bible, Shavuot marks the harvest of the first summer grain. Each Passover, which is celebrated midspring, the Israelites brought a sheaf of the earliest post-winter barley harvest to the Jerusalem Temple. Fifty days later, on Shavuot, they brought the first of the summer wheat harvest, which they presented as an offering to God. In Hebrew, the word “Shavuot” means “weeks,” referring to the seven weeks between Passover and Shavuot. The 49 days between are a period known as “The Counting of the Omer.” Passover and Shavuot, thus, are linked as holidays that, in the Bible, thanked God for the harvests that sustained people year to year. Jewish scriptures refer to Shavuot as the Festival of the Harvest, “Chag Ha-Katzir,” and Day of First Fruits, “Yom Ha-Bikkurim.” In modern times, synagogue sanctuaries are decorated on Shavuot with greenery,
baskets of fruit or other produce that represent the bounty of the land and the divine blessing that helps it grow.
A holiday transformed
But Shavuot gradually evolved, as did other Jewish practices, after the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple in AD 70. This dramatic event meant an end to animal sacrifices and agricultural offerings. In their place, Jews paid increased attention to the observance and study of Torah. Since then, Shavuot has taken on new symbolism, based on its timing in the Jewish calendar. Passover, 49 days before, commemorates the Jews’ deliverance from slavery. According to scripture, God gave Torah to the Israelites at Mount Sinai soon after their escape from Egypt. Therefore, people imagine that the counting between Passover and Shavuot represents the Jewish people’s progress from slavery to freedom, from Egypt to Sinai—toward knowledge of God that is revealed through the study and observance of Torah. On the surface, these holidays mark onetime events. But Shavuot reframes them to represent an ongoing ethical commitment. The prayers and rituals of Passover emphasize God’s desire that no one be oppressed. Seven weeks later, at Shavuot, the Jewish people recommit themselves to Torah’s revealed principles and practices—traditions that Jews are encouraged to use to oppose oppression and create a better world. In this context, the 49-day Counting of the Omer leads to a heightened reflection on Jews’ responsibilities in a flawed world. To encourage serious contemplation, during
the counting, Jews who are traditionally observant do not schedule weddings or other joyous celebrations, and do not engage in activities that might distract from the deep purpose of this sacred time. Increasingly today, programs of daily reflection and meditation have been developed to turn the Counting of the Omer into a seven-week time of meditation and personal spirituality.
All-night celebration
When Shavuot arrives, the community gathers in worship, which includes the reading of the Bible’s Sinai narrative and Ten Commandments. While the Commandments are read, the congregation stands to accept the covenant, just as scripture says the Israelites did at Mount Sinai. To heighten this symbolic reaffirmation, some congregations prepare wedding contracts that imagine the Jewish people and God as spouses, mutually committed to the value of “Tikkun Olam,” or repairing the world. One beautiful part of communal Shavuot worship is chanting the biblical Book of Ruth. Ruth was a woman from the ancient region of Moab who left her own nation and homeland to join the people of Israel, and is remembered today as the first convert to Judaism. Her story is relevant because it takes place in the harvest season and, perhaps, because Ruth was a great-grandmother to the Jewish hero King David, who, legend says, died on Shavuot. And as a convert, Ruth willingly took on the obligations outlined for Jews in Torah—just as all Jews renew their covenant with God on Shavuot. Another Shavuot tradition is eating
dairy foods, such as blintzes and cheesecake. The origins of this custom are not clear, and many diverse reasons have been suggested. Some say eating milk products reflects the biblical description of Israel as a land flowing with milk and honey, or that the Israelites, when they received the revelation at Sinai, were like spiritual newborns. Whatever the reason, the practice renders Shavuot a unique culinary experience. Some 600 years ago, Jewish mystics in Safed, a hilltop town in Israel, developed a custom of staying up late on Shavuot eve to study Torah, underscoring their commitment to religious learning. These study sessions, called “Tikkun Leil Shavuot,” are today a central part of Shavuot observance. A Tikkun Leil Shavuot might go all night and conclude when it is time for morning prayers. Or it might continue until midnight, understood by the mystics to be a particularly auspicious time for connecting with God. These events have evolved to offer something for everyone, from well-educated adults to schoolchildren. Bringing the community together to study, these celebrations highlight what is most important about Shavuot. In Judaism, community, Torah and the covenant with God create a world of meaning and purpose. The holiday is a reminder that in life, as in study, people do not go it alone. Exodus 24 teaches that when God revealed Torah at Sinai, the Jewish people said, “All that the Lord has spoken, we will do and we will listen!” This year, on June 5 and 6, they will make that same statement again. Alan Avery-Peck, College of the Holy
Cross/The Conversation CC via AP
Biodiversity Sunday BusinessMirror
Asean Champions of Biodiversity Media Category 2014
Sunday, June 5, 2022
Editor: Lyn Resurreccion
A7
Protected area management is everybody’s business By Jonathan L. Mayuga
T
he enactment of the National Parks Act, or Act 3915, on February 1, 1932, established the National Parks System in the Philippines. Under the law, Mount Arayat became the country’s first national park on June 27, 1933. There are now a total of 246 legislated protected areas in the country under Republic Act 7586, or the National Integrated Protected Areas System (Nipas) Act, and Republic Act 11038, or the Expanded Nipas (E-Nipas) Act. Putting the spotlight on protected areas and their importance to human sur vival, the Depa r t ment of Env ironment and Natural Resources (DENR), t he De pa r t ment of Tou r i sm (DOT) and the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) launched the Year of Protected Areas ( YoPA) campaign as part of the celebration of the International Day for Biological Diversity last May 22. With the theme “Protected Areas for a Protected Future,” the campaign aims to launch a massive information campaign on the urgent need to conserve protected areas, while also encouraging people to visit these breathtaking eco-tourism destinations. The YoPA campaign hopes to generate additional revenues from tourist visits to ensure the continuity of conservation programs.
Enormous potential
Speaking during the launching of the YoPA Campaign, Environment Acting Secretary Jim Sampulna pledged his support to institutionalize and strengthen the campaign to protect and conserve the country’s protected areas. He highlighted the enormous potential of protected areas in terms of providing income and livelihood, as a source of food and life-saving drugs or medicine, and other economic services that contribute to growth and development. “Severa l world-renow ned tour ist destinations that are protected areas attract a number of visitors that bring income to the people’s organizations, Indigenous peoples and other conservation communities in their vicinities, making them major ecotourism assets,” he said. “The economic value of ecosys-
Mount Arayat, now a protected landscape, is the first national park in the Philippines in 1933. DENR-SCIS photo
tem services in the Philippines is estimated at approximately P2.3 trillion annually, or about $46 billion and rrotected areas are coming as contributors to this,” he added.
risk from major threats, such as intrusive development, pollution, invasive alien species, and interrupted wildlife migration corridor, compounded by the impacts of climate change.
Megadiverse country, biodiversity hot spot
Protected Area Management Program
One of the world’s 18 mega-biodiverse countries containing twothirds of the Earth’s biodiversity, and between 70 percent and 80 percent of the world’s plant and animal species. The Philippines, ranks fifth in the number of plant species and maintains 5 percent of the world’s flora. Over half of the countr y’s 53,000 described species can be found nowhere else in the world. However, the Philippines is also a biodiversity critical hot spot with at least 700 species being in danger of becoming extinct. Around 93 percent of the Philippines’ original forest cover has been lost since the 1990s, with 53 percent of its remaining coral reefs in poor condition.
Protected areas: Our lifeline
Protected areas are the lifeline of the people, according to Sampulna. “Majestic trees and healthy forest, clean waters from rivers and oceans, thick mangrove forests and colorful corals provide us with clean water for drinking, food sustenance, unpolluted air for breathing and protection from climate effects, such as storm surges and landslides,” Sampuna, a forester, pointed out. However, he explained that despite such benefits, the country’s protected areas remain at
Datuk Seri Panglima Haji Hajiji Haji Noor, chief minister of Sabah, opens the second Asia Parks Congress. ACB photo
Malaysia’s Asia parks congress sets 10-year agenda for protected areas
K
OTA KINABALU, Malaysia—“Now is the moment to ensure a dignified existence for ourselves and future generations by preserving and protecting the global commons, which include the atmosphere, oceans and ecosystems that support us.” Datuk Seri Panglima Haji Hajiji Haji Noor, chief minister of Sabah, emphasised the importance of nature protection during the opening ceremony of the recent Second Asia Parks Congress The event convened representatives from protected-area authorities, government agencies, nongovernment
organizations, academia, youth, the private sector, indigenous peoples and local communities from all over Asia. The five-day congress, hosted by Malaysia, was anticipated to set the agenda for Asia’s protected and conserved areas for the next 10 years. The online and on-site discussions were focused on the following thematic areas: nature-based solutions for health and wellbeing; governance of protected and conserved areas; connectivity and transboundary conservation; effective protected and conserved areas; economic and financial sustainability of protected and
The acting Environment head said that to address these threats, the DENR through the Biodiversity Management Bureau (BMB), is implementing the Protected Area Development and Management Program. The program covers the main in-situ measures to conserve biodiversity, pursuant to the Nipas Act, as amended by the E-Nipas Act of 2018. The program rationalizes the coverage of the Nipas by maintaining and prioritizing those with high biodiversity values, wh i le prov id i ng appropr i ate governance regimes for the protection of key biodiversity areas through the establishment of local conservation areas with concerned local government units and Ind igenous communities conservation areas, he said. Sampulna said a total of 178 people’s organizations are due to be recognized and empowered in the next four years to manage their own biodiversity-friendly enterprises, such as food processing, handicraft, ecotourism and aquaculture. The DENR, he said, is also working with the international development partners like the United Nations Development Fund and United Stated Agency for International Development, whose support has been invaluable in ensuring that protected areas are conserved areas; and urban conservation and a new generation. Investing in the region’s natural capital, including strengthening protected and conserved areas, is poised to provide significant contributions to the pressing challenges today. During the plenary discussion, Dr Madhu Rao, chairman of the World Commission on Protected Areas, remarked that “protected and conserved areas are the critical piece linking the twin crises of biodiversity loss and climate change.” The declarations from the congress were set to open opportunities and promising pathways towards recovery and resilience-building. The Asean Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) led a session that emphasises the diversity of governance mechanisms for protected and conserved areas in the region, as well as lessons from these grounded experiences. ACB Executive Director Dr. Theresa Mundita Lim highlighted that “the region harbors more than 700,000 and 300,000 square kilometres of terrestrial and marine protected areas, respectively.” She pointed out that these areas are directly linked with the well-being of close to 700 million citizens of the Asean. Lim added: “As one of the most biodiverse regions in the world, the Asean presents rich perspectives and valuable lessons to the rest of Asia and the world.”
The Naga-Kabasalan Protected Landscape that is made of karst. DENR-SCIS photo
managed sustainably. “To viably benefit from our protected areas, we all need to work together,” he said.
Joint declaration
During the celebration, the DENR, together with the DOT and DILG signed a joint declaration to support the celebration of the YoPA Campaign. Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat, and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Año and Sampulna led the signing ceremony. The DENR, through its Biodiversity Management Bureau and the Biodiversit y Finance Initiative (BioFin) of UNDP Philippines, will lead the campaign implementation with DOT and DILG as partners. These agencies will work to promote protected areas under the Nipas and coordinate with other agencies at the national and local levels to ensure effective conser vation and sustainable management of national parks nationwide.
Financing gap, violence against environment defenders
S oug h t for comment, Leon Dulce, national coordinator of the environmental group KalikasanPeople’s Network for the Environment remains skeptical. “Will the YoPA campaign finally result in addressing the 80 percent financing gap of the country’s annual biodiversity protection budget? Will it address the prevalent framework of fortress conservation that displaces indigenous and local communities from environmentally critical areas?” Dulce told the BusinessMirror
via Messenger on May 24. He remains skeptical over the campaign’s effectiveness in addressing the violence faced by environmental defenders protecting the country’s landscapes and seascapes. “These are crucial, longstanding questions hanging over the Philippines’ conservation landscape. We hope the national government starts taking concrete measures to redress these serious concerns surrounding our protected areas,” he said. Never t heless, Du lce u rged t he sig n ator ies to t he joi nt dec l a rat ion to come up w it h concrete act ion pl a ns to address the major concerns a rou nd protected a reas. “They should consult Indigenous people, small farmers and other environmental defenders on how protected areas can be integrated in their work in frontl i ne env i ron ment a l defense. They should invite onsite visits from UN special rapporteurs looking into environmental and human rights concerns to look into these concerns,” he said.
Protected areas: Everyone’s business
Asean Centre for Biodiversity (ACB) Executive Director Theresa Mundita S. Lim, a biodiversity advocate, hailed the initiative and expressed high hopes that it will be sustained in the coming years. “I congratulate the DENR, the DOT and the DILG for this initiative,” Lim said. “Protected areas should be everyone’s business, since they provide services that are beneficial to the tourism industry [nature tourism] and to communities and
local governments [water, disaster resiliency, local livelihoods, etc], among others,» Lim added. She explained: «Pressures are also most often driven by activities that are beyond protected areas and may be considered outside the jurisdiction of the DENR. Thus partnerships and cross-sectoral collaboration are important to address threats to biodiversity in protected areas and to manage the the protected areas’ effectively,” Lim told the BusinessMirror via Messenger on May 24. For her part, Grace Diamante, executive director of the Mindoro Biodiversity Conservation Foundation Inc., expressed her support for the campaign. “We are one with the DENR and UNDP BioFin in effectively managing the protected areas in the Philippines as we celebrate the 90th anniversary of establishing national parks in the country,” Diamante told the BusinessMirror via Messenger on May 24. She said that to effectively manage a protected area and prevent biodiversity loss, more concerned agencies and indiv idua ls who w ill take action backed by the right information are needed. She agreed that providing more funding regularly and timely is essential, the same way that policies should be effectively simplemented. All these, she said, increase the competencies of protected area management, “Done right, we can take pride that we have done our responsibility to ensure that future generations will still get to enjoy the richness of Philippines biodiversity,” Diamante pointed out.
Malvar LGU, ecoloop partner for proper waste disposal
M
A LVA R , B a t a n g a s — W i t h a population of 65,000, Malvar is a second-class municipality in Batangas that has experienced rapid urbanization over the years. This resulted in a 25 percent increase in waste generation, which led to challenges in waste collection and disposal, a news release said. Of its 3,300 hectares land area, the municipality only has less than 1,700 hectares of remaining farmlands left, which were surrounded by three river systems. This meant that operating a landfill was no longer feasible based on the Land Use Program. To address this issue, the Malvar LGU, while searching for a sustainable and efficient waste-disposal solution, first approached ecoloop in 2014. ecoloop is the resource recovery and co-processing arm of Republic Cement. Co-processing helps reduce waste that end up in landfills and bodies of water, providing total and co mplete disposal with no byproducts. Moreover, co-processing reduces the consumption of nonrenewable resources of energy, thereby, also lowering carbon footprint in the cement manufacturing process.
Malvar LGU partners with ecoloop to build a greener, stronger Republic. From left are Malvar MENRO Engr. Wilfredo Santos, ecoloop Director Atty. Angela Edralin-Valencia, Malvar Mayor Roderick Tiongson, and EMB R3 Solid Waste Management Division Mark Talipan. Malvar LGU photo Through its Waste-for-Cement program, ecoloop offered the Malvar a way to dispose of residual plastic waste in exchange for cement that they can use for environment or social development projects. Since partnering with Republic Cement in 2014, the Malvar LGU has been able to divert over 335 truckloads of baled plastic waste away from landfills and waterways. The success of this partnership highlights the critical role of barangays in ensuring proper segregation of waste at source. Beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang
Pilipino Program also provided a significant contribution to proper waste segregation and collection, through its community service component. Strong LGU support coupled with consistent information, education, and communication campaigns helped ensure successful implementation at the grassroots level. The LGU also further supported this initiative by hosting contests among participants to raise awareness and encourage residents to participate in proper waste segregation.
Sports
Bavaria releases all files on Munich 1972 massacre
BusinessMirror
A8 | S
unday, June 5, 2022 mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph Editor: Jun Lomibao
‘TWO HOURS OF HAPPINESS’ G
LASGOW, Scotland— Ukraine’s soccer players feel a duty to represent their nation’s identity on a global stage and give pride to people back home during Russia’s war on their homeland. Mission fulfilled so far. With Ukraine now just one win away from a morale-boosting spot in the World Cup finals, its players have been encouraged by messages from Ukrainians fighting the war back home. The messages—from people facing daily risks to defend Ukraine— lifted the team before and after an inspirational first win in the World Cup qualifying playoffs on Wednesday. “They text before the game,” Ukraine midfielder Ruslan Malinovskyi said in the afterglow of Ukraine beating Scotland, 3-1, in Glasgow. “Guys, we are with you, do your job on the pitch, we do our job to protect our country.’” The hugely impressive Ukraine team moved on Thursday to Wales where victory would secure its place at the World Cup finals in Qatar starting in November. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy posted thanks to the team on social media for “two hours of happiness.” The team’s performance and unity with people at home came “from our soul, from our heart,” said midfielder Taras Stepanenko, who has spent the past eight years playing for a Shakhtar Donetsk club exiled from its home city by Russian-backed conflict. “I have maybe 100 messages from my friends, from my family, from our army who serve now in a very difficult situation,” Stepanenko said after the game. Stepanenko acknowledged he “wanted to cry” during the Ukraine anthem played minutes before kickoff. He laughed while explaining one post-match message sent by a friend. A soldier stationed on the border joked that Scotland’s goal which barely crossed the goal-line had not really breached Ukraine’s territory. “My very good friend, now he’s in a very difficult point of fighting every day. He said this ball didn’t cross,” Stepanenko said. The story seemed to confirm the
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ERLIN—Authorities in Bavaria say they are releasing all previously unpublished files on the attack at the 1972 Munich Olympics following criticism from relatives of the 11 Israeli athletes and coaches who died there. Joachim Herrmann, the top security official in the southern German state, said Thursday that Bavaria will no longer keep any files under wraps, but conceded that federal authorities might still hold confidential files. The Palestinian group Black September took numerous members of the Israeli team hostage on September 5, 1972, with the goal of forcing the release of prisoners held by Israel and two left-wing extremists in West German jails. Eleven Israelis and a West German police officer died during a botched rescue attempt. Complaints about persistent secrecy surrounding the files had threatened to overshadow a planned memorial event for the 50th anniversary of the attack. Some relatives of those killed have also demanded compensation from Germany, something the government has rejected. AP
UKRAINIAN players celebrate at the final whistle of their World Cup 2022 qualifying playoff match against Scotland at Hampden Park in Glasgow on Wednesday. AP players’ confident predictions that anyone who could follow the soccer game at home would try to do so. Bars in Kyiv stayed open behind locked doors through a curfew and during air-raid alerts. “We did everything for the people we played for,” Coach Oleksandr Petrakov said at the stadium, “for the armed forces in the trenches and in the hospitals, who give their last drop of blood, [for] those in Ukraine who suffer every day.” “They will thank us and we will give them our gratitude,” said Petrakov. “Women and children [are] being killed by the Russians on a daily basis,” said the coach, whose team has put Ukraine, and its famous blue-and-yellow colors, on a globally broadcast stage.
Petrakov’s purpose chimed with those who came to Glasgow to share the moment among 3,000 Ukraine fans in a near-50,000 crowd at Hampden Park. “The more Ukraine you see on TV and news everywhere it’s better for us,” said Yaroslav Grygorenko, who lives in Amsterdam with his wife and their three children. “It’s more important than usual to be there [at the World Cup].” Ukraine’s quest to qualify for the finals tournament—where its first game would be against the United States on November 21—continues in Cardiff on Sunday. Victory over Wales would give Ukraine five months to prepare for a tournament, with Iran and England also in Group B with the US. Malinovskyi acknowledged the
S
AN FRANCISCO— It’s an annual occurrence in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Teams change head coaches and the roster of candidates who should get those jobs starts getting bandied about, and especially in recent years those lists almost always included Black candidates. Case in point: Ime Udoka, who is of Nigerian descent. For five years, he was one of those can’t-miss candidates but never got hired. That is, until the Boston Celtics gave him the opportunity. And all Udoka did in Year 1 was reach the NBA Finals. “I don’t understand what took so long, to be honest,” Celtics guard Jaylen Brown said. Udoka’s hiring by the Eastern Conference champion Celtics, who open the NBA Finals on Thursday night against the Golden State Warriors, was part of a transformative year for the league when it comes to diversity within the coaching ranks. In the last 12 months, eight coaching jobs have been filled by Black candidates— and for the first time, half the league’s franchises, 15 of the 30, have Black head coaches. “It means a lot,” said Golden State assistant Mike Brown, one of the eight recent Black hires; he’s taking over the Sacramento Kings when this series ends. “When my son, and my oldest son’s about to have his first son, when they turn on the TV and they see people that look
like them leading an NBA team on the sidelines, it can be inspiring. “For me, carrying the torch and then passing it to the next generation is something that I think about often—not just for my family, but for others out there.” Detroit’s Dwane Casey, Phoenix’s Monty Williams, Cleveland’s JB Bickerstaff, Philadelphia’s Doc Rivers, the Los Angeles Clippers’ Tyronn Lue, Houston’s Stephen Silas and Atlanta’s Nate McMillan are the seven Black coaches who had their current jobs last season. They’ve been joined in the last year by Udoka, Brown, Portland’s Chauncey Billups, Dallas’ Jason Kidd, Orlando’s Jamahl Mosley, Washington’s Wes Unseld Jr., New Orleans’s Willie Green and last week, the Los Angeles Lakers hired Darvin Ham. Mosley interviewed for nine jobs before getting hired in Orlando. Ham, like Udoka, had been a can’tmiss name for years, but never got a chance until now. “Darvin is about as good a guy as you’re going to see, a big competitor,” Boston’s Al Horford said. “Extreme competitor. The Lakers are really lucky to have a guy like him. He’s the kind of guy that you want.” It’s been nearly 60 years since Bill Russell broke the NBA coaching color barrier when he became the first Black man to coach a team; he accepted the role as player-coach of the Celtics starting with the 1966-67 season and won a championship in his second season. Al Attles and Lenny Wilkens were the next two Black coaches to get opportunities; they would eventually
NIGERIA players walk off the court after their loss in a preliminary round game against Japan at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics in August 2021 in Saitama, Japan. AP
value of soccer keeping Ukraine in the news as the horrors of war gradually become normalized to the world. “It’s already three months and some people are already tired from this. We all understand this,” he said. At age 29, and years after leaving Shakhtar and Ukraine, Malinovskyi spoke of a future further away from Russian influence for the country where his parents and brother still live. “I live in Europe for six years, we need to go for this mentality. I live in Belgium 3 1/2 years and Italy now for three years,” the Atalanta player said. “We need to go for this because the level of life is higher.” First, the Ukraine team is doing its duty this week to raise the level of morale at home. AP
Black coaches now lead 50% of NBA teams
THE case in point includes Boston’s Ime Udoka, who is of Nigerian descent, and the Golden State Warriors’ Mike Brown, one of the eight recent Black hires. AP
A MEMBER of the Arab Commando group which seized members of the Israeli Olympic Team at their quarters at the Munich Olympic Village appears with a hood over his face on the balcony of the village building where the commandos held several members of the Israeli team hostage on September 5, 1972. AP
become champions as well. There have been roughly 260 different coaches in the NBA, excluding shortterm interim fill-ins, since Russell was hired, and 1 out of 3 of those coaches have been Black. But most of those Black coaches have either lasted in their first job no more than three years or not gotten a second chance at leading a team. Players wanted that to change. Evidently, so did other coaches. “For many years qualified young coaches of color like Ime Udoka, Jamahl Mosley, Willie Green, Wes Unseld Jr., Darvin Ham and Stephen Silas, to name just a few, were not getting consistent opportunities to interview for NBA head coaching positions,” said Indiana Coach Rick Carlisle, the president of the National Basketball Coaches Association (NBCA). AP
Fiba warns of possible disciplinary action against Nigeria body
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APE TOWN, South Africa— Basketball’s world governing body confirmed Thursday that Nigeria has withdrawn its team from the women’s World Cup and warned of “potential disciplinary measures” against the country because of government interference. Nigeria’s government announced last month that it was withdrawing all its basketball teams from international competitions for two years while it completely restructures the sport. The sports ministry said the Nigerian Basketball Federation would be dissolved and the decision to withdraw from international competitions was approved by Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari. The International Basketball Federation (Fiba) said it had since been in communication with the Nigerian Basketball Federation in an effort to keep the Nigeria team in the women’s World Cup in Australia in September and October, but that didn’t work. “Despite Fiba’s request, it has become clear that against the circumstances created by the government’s decision, the NBBF is unable to confirm its participation in the Fiba Women’s Basketball World Cup 2022,” Fiba said. Nigeria’s women are the reigning African champions and have won the continental title five times. Fiba said Mali will replace
Nigeria at the World Cup. Fiba also said it would announce “any potential disciplinary measures in due course” regarding Nigeria. The world body had previously warned Nigeria that withdrawing its teams might have consequences that last “well past” the two-year period. Fiba, like most sports bodies, doesn’t allow governments to interfere in the running of national federations and could respond by banning the country from all international basketball events. The Nigerian women’s team disagreed publicly with the decision to withdraw from competitions. Players said in a statement that the move by their government is “taking away all our future competitions, accomplishments and goals to elevate, inspire, and make Nigeria proud.” It’s also set to affect the men’s team, which is currently involved in qualifying for the 2023 World Cup. Nigeria, which is coached by Golden State Warriors assistant Mike Brown, sits top of its qualifying group ahead of the resumption of games in July. If Nigeria doesn’t play at next year’s World Cup, it won’t qualify for the 2024 Olympics in Paris. The problems in Nigerian basketball center on a leadership tussle at the national federation, which elected two different presidents in parallel elections in January. The government wants to appoint an interim committee to run the NBBF until its issues are resolved, but has also announced its intention to “revamp” all areas of Nigerian basketball, including the domestic league. AP
BusinessMirror
June 5, 2022
Young caregivers ‘exist in the shadows,’ offer crucial help
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MUSIC FROM THE HEART Bazzi on ‘life as a series of movements’
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By Stephanie Joy Ching
ORN to a Lebanese immigrant father and American mother, Bazzi and his dad moved to California during his senior year where he single-handedly wrote and produced a series of viral smashes like “Alone” and “Beautiful,” earning millions of worldwide streams and top 10 placement on a variety of influential playlists. Now armed with what he describes as his “most personal song yet”, Bazzi exhibits a more revealing side of himself.
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According to the 24-year old singer-songwriter, “Will It Ever Feel the Same” was written immediately after a recent break up, which explains its gut-wrenching quality as Bazzi genuinely asks the questions he sings to himself. “When I wrote the song, it was two weeks after the breakup, which took all of the emotions from that and I had put it back into the song,” he explained, “But putting out the record a year and a half later, not really feeling that way anymore, is an interesting thing to do, but I understand
Pauline Joy M. Gutierrez : Kaye VillagomezLosorata Annie S. Alejo
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: Bernard P. Testa Nonie Reyes
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BAZZI
the importance as an artist to articulate what some people can’t, so that’s why I felt that coming back to this new era of music, it would be a good place to start that process of storytelling,” As an artist, Bazzi believes he has the responsibility to “tell the truth” to his audience, which is very much reflected in his songwriting. “The only way I know how to make music is to pull from my own heart and pull from things that I really feel,” he surmised, “It’s easier for me to write words and melodies when they just
come from my heart,” “Any time I make something personal, I just hope people see whatever they need to see in it and take away what they want. But I’d say if anyone wanted to take away anything from my side, it’s that things won’t be the same, life is a series of movements,” he added. However, this truthfulness doesn’t just apply to writing music. A well-rounded storyteller, Bazzi is also known for writing his own concepts for his own music videos. For the Bradley Calderdirected music video for “Will It Ever Be The Same,” he shares that the video had a “dark and moody” concept with a “really good juxtaposition.” “The concept behind the music video is that I wanted to create a parallel between the bright memories in the beginning of the video and when we were separated, I wanted to show the darkness and crowded nature that happens when you’re separated from somebody,” he said. “Will It Ever Be the Same” is available for streaming on all major streaming platforms courtesy of Atlantic Records.
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soundstrip.businessmirror@gmail.com | JUNE 5, 2022
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BUSINESS
THE ELEMENT OF MYSTIQUE Or why Franz Ferdinand continues to endure
FRANZ Ferdinand
F
By EDWIN P. SALLAN
ormed in Glasgow, Scotland back in 2001, Franz Ferdinand is a five-man rock group best known for their propulsive brand of indie rock as typified by hits like “Darts of Pleasure,” “This Fire,” “Do You Want To” and their anthemic signature song, “Take Me Out.” Followed by a string of hit releases throughout the first decade of the new millennium, the band’s releases became few and far between 2010 and 2020, with only two full-length studio albums to their name in Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action in 2013 and Always Ascending in 2019. This year, Franz Ferdinand is once again making its presence felt with Hits To The Head, a 20-track greatest hits collection released just last March. So far, the album has yielded two new tracks, “Billy Goodbye” and what is considered their latest single, “Curious.” To promote the new releases, the band’s driving force and charismatic frontman, Alex Kapranos recently granted a virtual interview with SoundStrip and other members of the Philippine
media. Excerpts of SoundStrip’s interview here: I noticed that the new single, “Curious” sounds a lot like the old Franz Ferdinand that fans knew. Does this suggest that the band did not change that much in terms of sound? It’s funny but looking at all the songs in the album. It sounds Franz Ferdinand but it sounds different. I think there are elements of the song (“Curious”) which make up our sound and give us our identity and I think as a band, it’s important to kinda maintain your identity. There are parts of the new song which you won’t find in the songs in our first or second or third albums yet there are elements that immediately make it stand out as Franz Ferdinand. [In terms of] chord progression,
rhythm and the vocal, it’s very different from anything I would have done early on and yet there are elements of the guitar playing which is very much my style which gives it my identity so I’d say half true, half completely wrong which is how it should be. I first discovered Franz Ferdinand’s via a racing videogame called Burnout: Takedown which included the song, “This Fire.” What’s your take on people discovering your music through other platforms like films and yes, videogames? Generally, I’m fine with it as long as the content is not obnoxious. I remember back in the early 2000s, our American label used one of our songs for a McDonald’s advert without asking our permission which I didn’t like. But generally, I love the fact that people will discover music through different media as well. That was the case for me when I discovered music from films that I love as a kid growing up. Although Hits To The Head contains its fair share of new material, are we going to see a new studio album of all-new songs from Franz Ferdinand in the near future? Working on new songs at the moment. The songs that ended up on (album) were from a selection we’ve already been writing and recording. I cannot say when and what it will be like but yes, there would definitely be something on the horizon. How much did you feel has the music industry changed since the band first hit its stride in the early 2000s? What are your thoughts
about streaming and social media? I feel much has changed because of the media we put out to the world. There are things that I like about it. I like how easy it is to connect with fans via social media through Twitter and Instagram. That’s really cool and it gives fans a certain control of their destiny. What I don’t like about it is the expectations to have 24-hour continuous access to your life. I feel that destroys an element of the mystique of the musician. Like, part of the appeal of David Bowie is that he was a mystery and I think that’s important to maintain in this industry. As a consumer, I think it’s great to be able to listen to music instantly via streaming although I find the quality to be particularly awful. But then again, listening to music in my Walkman when I was a kid during the 80s was pretty awful as well so you can’t really complain about that. Now that the pandemic has somewhat waned in many parts of the world, are you looking forward to touring again and would you consider playing here in the Philippines? I would love to come to the Philippines. If you know any promoters who would take us over, please tell us to give us a show. We are currently on tour right now. How a relief it is to be back performing after all these difficult years we had. I love being on tour again. It’s who we are, it’s what we do, it’s our identity.
Young caregivers ‘exist in the shadows,’ offer crucial help By Tom Murphy
P
The Associated Press
LANO, Texas— Ronan Kotiya leans over his father, fingers wrapped around a plastic tube he’s about to slide from a tracheostomy hole in dad’s neck. “3, 2, 1, go,” the 11-year-old says as he removes the tube. His mom slips a padded neck brace on her husband and lifts him into a sitting position on their bed. Ronan’s 9-year-old brother, Keaton, waits nearby, ready to connect their dad, Rupesh Kotiya, to a portable ventilator. “Ronan, do you want to suction daddy’s mouth and then get ready to go?” Siobhan Pandya asks after her son steers dad’s power wheelchair into the living room of the family’s Plano, Texas, home. “Thanks buddy, good job,” a robotic voice crackles from a tablet Kotiya uses to speak. So begins another weekend for the brothers—two Harry Potter fans with mouths full of braces, a knack for building with Legos and some heavy caregiving responsibilities.
Millions of them
Their 46-year-old father has Lou Gehrig’s disease, a fatal illness that has taken his ability to speak and walk. A ventilator helps him breathe. He uses eye-tracking software on the tablet to say things, blinks to indicate yes or moves his mouth side to side for no. As many as 10 million children in the US may provide some form of care at home, according to researcher Melinda Kavanaugh. Some kids are the only caregivers patients have, while others fill in when visiting nurses or other help is not available. These children help cancer patients, military veterans, grandparents with heart disease or autistic siblings. They’re often too young to drive, and their work frequently goes unnoticed outside the home. “They exist in the shadows,” said Kavanaugh, an associate professor of social work at the University of WisconsinMilwaukee. Kavanaugh and other researchers say the number of young caregivers is growing, and they need support. Caregiving is a task that children like Ronan and Keaton take seriously and something that their mom hopes will shape them into empathetic, strong young men. But getting there first involves a daily struggle to balance being a kid with living in a very grown-up world.
Loneliness is a problem Ronan grabs a handful of toy cars and
Ronan Kotiya, 11, applies suction to clear his father Rupesh Kotiya’s mouth at their home in Plano, Texas. Ronan helps care for his father who suffers from ALS and is dependent on a ventilator and around the clock care. Millions of Americans with serious health problems depend on children ages 18 and younger to provide some or all of their care at home. AP kneels on a clinic floor at Texas Neurology in Dallas. His opponent, a freckle-faced boy named Charlie, waits a few feet away, ready to smash cars together. First to tip over loses. “Y’all are savages,” says Evie, a skinny 9-year-old prone to spontaneous dance. The children have gathered in the clinic on a sunny Saturday afternoon to learn more about caring for people with Lou Gehrig’s disease, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. These seven children—ages 8 to 12—help care for a parent or grandparent with ALS, an illness that destroys nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord that control muscle movement. Kavanaugh lined up several specialists to teach as part of a program called YCare that she has taken to several cities. A dietitian showed the kids how to make food the right consistency so patients don’t choke. A respiratory therapist explained the important parts of a device that helps people cough to clear mucus. In one training session, speech therapist Heather Gallas discusses eye tracking technology that allows patients to spell out words and communicate with a tablet. She holds up a laminated letter board and asks the kids to try. Evie silently points to every letter in her name. Then Keaton takes a turn. S-U-C-T-I-O-N. Gallas pauses, “Is that something your dad needs a lot?” Keaton nods. Aside from providing training, one of Kavanaugh’s main goals was to simply let the young caregivers meet. Loneliness is a problem, one that grew worse during the Covid-19 pandemic. “A 10-year-old at school is not going to talk about toileting or bathing their parent, but they are going to talk about it here,” Kavanaugh said.
Balancing act
Pandya tries to balance the boys’ caregiving with activities that offer some normalcy. Keaton takes tennis lessons and coding classes. Ronan plays striker on a youth soccer team. Soccer balls, frisbees and basketballs lay scattered around the Kotiyas’ small subur-
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ban backyard. Both boys play piano, and Keaton paints prolifically. Stacks of his work fill shelves in their upstairs playroom. Ronan, who wrote a short book about his dad, sees his father’s fight against ALS as a superhero battle. He and his brother are among the many weapons used. Keaton shows his frustration sometimes, especially with the amount of care his dad needs. “He’s been having a few accidents these last few days,” Keaton said.
hitting them so they don’t keep everything bottled up. When they visit, she also tries to give them a fun activity they can control. Play—kids being kids—is crucial for development. “We play out conflict. We play out resolution. We play out the stories that are going on inside us,” Sutton says. During a recent visit, Sutton breaks out the board game Candy Land. She tells the boys that each colored card in the game will represent an emotion, and they get to decide which ones. Then they draw cards with the idea of discussing whatever feeling comes up. Sutton also tries to nudge the boys into talking about their dad. They deflect, focusing instead on a painting on her wall. Then the singer Rick Astley comes up. Keaton pretends to be a therapist. “Do you have a girlfriend?” he asks. “No, you’re an awful therapist,” Ronan replies. Ronan only allows at one point that his dad is “doing good.” Sutton draws double green in their game. That represents disgust or unfairness. “I think it’s unfair that terrible things happen to people,” she says. The boys avoid the bait. They eat Hershey’s Kisses. They trade scribbles on an Etch A Sketch. Someone farts. The session
“Frustration, devotion and heartbreak all swirl around in their still-developing brains.” “One time he went three times that day, and I was really looking forward to doing something that day, but I couldn’t do it because…yeah.” In the end, Pandya sees the boys’ caregiving as a positive. She hopes Ronan and Keaton eventually look back and recognize how much they gained by helping someone they love. “If you’re caring for somebody that... has a clock ticking, then you don’t want to take that time away,” she said. “Being able to wipe their tears or wipe their mouth or hold their hand, those are some of the memories that they’re going to cherish.”
Bucket list
The boys know their dad is getting worse. Keaton says it is getting harder for his dad to blink. He remembers one recent night when Rupesh slept for over 12 hours and then took a long nap the next afternoon. “I’m like, should I be worried?” he said. Therapist Sarah Sutton recently had the boys draw up bucket lists of things they want to do with their dad. Keaton shares a love of food with Rupesh, so he asked for a trip to Italy. The family found a more practical alternative: a drive to an Italian food market and restaurants in nearby Dallas. Sutton has seen the boys regularly for a few years. She’s been trying to get them to recognize and understand all the emotions JunE 5, 2022
devolves into fits of giggles. “Have you guys been laughing like this all day?” Sutton says. “Laughter without any anger or fighting is so wonderful.”
Campout
When the session ends, Sutton’s floor is strewn with candy wrappers. The boys head for their mom’s waiting van so they can return home and set up a living room campout. Before they set up camp, the boys change into pajamas, and the family settles in the living room to watch the kids’ show Legends of the Hidden Temple. Ronan and Keaton curl up on a couch and loveseat while Pandya changes her husband’s shirt and pours medicine into his feeding tube. The ventilator hums. The show ends, and Keaton takes his turn to steer dad back to the bedroom, where Pandya lifts him onto the mattress. Keaton uses a long wand to suction saliva pooling in his dad’s mouth. Ronan then holds his father on his side as Pandya straightens her husband’s shirt and shorts. After that, the boy pats his dad softly on his back and lays him flat. Pandya finishes getting her husband ready for bed while Ronan and Keaton scamper back to the living room. There, they sprawl on top of sleeping bags, munching chips and candy as they squeeze in a little more TV before crawling inside to sleep.