BusinessMirror June 21, 2025

MAY AND 5-MO BOP IN DEFICIT FROM SURPLUS

By Cai U. Ordinario

AWIDE trade deficit, payment of debts abroad, and a decline in foreign investments caused the country’s Balance of Payments (BOP) to go into deficit in May 2025, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

In May

five months of the year, the BOP deficit widened to $5.8

lion. This was also a reversal from the $1.6-billion surplus recorded in the same period last year.

“Preliminary data indicate

that the year-to-date BOP deficit was largely due to the continued trade in goods deficit. This decline was partly muted, however, by the sustained net inflows from personal remittances from overseas Filipinos, foreign borrowings by the NG (national government), and foreign portfolio investments,” the BSP said.

Meanwhile, the BSP said the BOP position mirrored the slight decrease in the country’s gross international reserves (GIR), which

declined from $105.3 billion at end-April 2025 to $105.2 billion by end-May 2025.

Despite the modest decline, the GIR level remains a strong external liquidity buffer, sufficient to cover 7.1 months’ worth of imports of goods and payments of services and primary income.

The BSP said GIR consists of foreign assets held by the BSP, primarily in the form of foreignissued securities, gold, and foreign exchange, which serves as key in-

CONTAGION RISKS

dicator of the country’s ability to manage external shocks.

Additionally, the GIR covers approximately 3.3 times the country’s short-term external debt based on residual maturity.

Short-term debt based on residual maturity refers to outstanding external debt with original maturity of one year or less, plus principal payments on mediumand long-term loans of the public and private sectors falling due within the next 12 months.

6 families controlling conglomerates are also behind banks

THE ties between the country’s top conglomerates and the Philippine banking system represent a “double-edged sword” that could lead to contagion risks according to Moody’s Ratings.

In a report, Moody’s Ratings said while these ties allowed conglomerates access to capital and banks are given corporate lending opportunities, strengthening banks, there are risks.

Moody’s Ratings showed in its study that only six families in control of major conglomerates are the same ones linked to the country’s largest banks.

“Ownership by large conglomerates has provided Philippine banks with capital support to grow lending and build balance sheet buffers against loan losses, as well as lending opportunities to NFCs (non-financial corporates) within the conglomerate group,” the report stated.

“However, high counterparty concentration could increase systemic risk in an economic downturn. Additionally, NFCs’ heavy reliance on banks for funding means that defaults would disproportionately impact banks, rather than other creditors,” it added.

Moody’s Ratings estimated that Philippine banks are the major source of funding by conglomerates. Part of these funds is the local currency bond market that was valued at $23.4 billion at the end of 2024.

This represented 5 percent of the country’s GDP and 13 percent of the total outstanding bonds or 13 percent of total outstanding corporate loans.

THROUGH THEIR NUMEROUS SUBSIDIARIES, WHICH INCLUDE BANKS (AT

By Mackenzie Hawkins, Miaojung Lin and Yian Lee Bloomberg

TAIWAN joined a yearslong US campaign to curtail China’s technological ascent when it blacklisted the country’s AI and chipmaking champions, an unprecedented step that may signal a resurgent effort to isolate its powerful neighbor’s semiconductor sector.

tions on China, people familiar with the matter said, with a particular focus on enforcement of existing curbs. They requested anonymity as they weren’t authorized to speak publicly.

A congressional committee focused on China, meanwhile, said after Taipei’s move that the US “must continue working with our partners to ensure the CCP’s attempts to illegally transfer tech are stopped cold.”

chip operation.

“This recent shift marks a substantive move toward strategic technological competition with China,” said Chiang Min-yen, an analyst at Taiwan’s governmentfunded Research Institute for Democracy, Society and Emerging Technology. “Compared to other tech democracies with similar industrial structures — such as Japan and South Korea — Taiwan is now taking a more decisive stance.”

ments to the world’s second-largest economy.

Under President Joe Biden, the US continually ramped up those China controls, which span both chips and the tools used to make them. Many of the US measures use an authority known as the foreign direct product rule to restrict some activities of foreign firms — including Taiwanese ones — whose products contain even the tiniest bit of American tech.

One major focus for American officials — under Trump as well as his predecessor — is ensuring that Taipei cracks down on TSMC sales that are restricted under US rules, said people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be named discussing private conversations.

Last year, TSMC, the go-to chipmaker for Apple Inc. and Nvidia Corp., unwittingly manufactured 2.9 million AI dies for Huawei, based on estimates from researchers. Those semiconductors were routed via an intermediary that has since been sanctioned by the US government and cut off by TSMC, which is cooperating with Washington’s ongoing investigation into the matter.

neither Tokyo nor Seoul has blacklisted Huawei or SMIC entirely.

On its face, Taiwan’s entity list action doesn’t immediately upend routine business, in part because it doesn’t apply to mainland-registered operations. Many Taiwanese companies have set up local subsidiaries to handle their business in mainland China over the years, and Taipei doesn’t have jurisdiction over such entities.

“I don’t expect this announcement will cause any material impact for either Taiwan or Huawei and SMIC,” said Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Steven Tseng. “Huawei and SMIC don’t really rely on Taiwan as they should have established a pretty decent level of ‘local sourcing’ in China after all these years.”

It’s the signal Lai is sending that’s important.

Taipei this month added Huawei Technologies Co. and its main chipmaker Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. to its entity list, barring the island’s firms from doing business with the pair without a license. It was the first time Taiwanese officials have used that blacklist to sanction major Chinese firms, taking a cue from a longstanding US approach of blocking access to advanced technologies.

The move also marks Taipei’s first public action on semiconductor restrictions since President Lai Ching-te pledged in April to address unspecified concerns from Washington about export controls. President Donald Trump’s administration has urged Taipei to take more ownership over chip restric-

Taipei’s decision may be the first of a series of measures tightening the flow of technology to China, marking a departure from a policy of nurturing cross-Strait business ties. The longer-term goal may be to throttle supply of the vital components, silicon materials and plant construction expertise that helped transform Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. into the world’s most advanced

Lai didn’t specify in his April comments what steps Taiwan would take in response to US concerns, but instead described a broader strategy to boost trade relations with the US. It’s unclear whether the Huawei and SMIC sanctions are related to ongoing tariff negotiations with Washington, or whether the US requested that specific step. The US Department of Commerce, White House, Taiwan’s Office of Trade Negotiations and China’s Foreign Ministry didn’t respond to requests for comment.

The US has pressured Taiwan to do more since Trump’s first term, when officials urged Taipei to block sales of TSMC chips to China — before Washington imposed restrictions on some of TSMC’s ship -

But there also are a host of other business activities not captured by Washington’s curbs — things like construction contracts or sales of certain components. In 2023, Bloomberg News reported that several Taiwanese companies were helping Huawei build infrastructure for an under-theradar network of chip plants across southern China.

Taiwanese officials said they would probe into those companies shortly after, but they’ve refrained from taking significant action — until now.

It’s unusual for Beijing’s neighbors, who still see China as a crucial trading partner, to openly target its most strategic companies. While Japan joined a US-led campaign to limit China’s access to advanced chipmaking equipment,

The new president has been working to reduce economic interdependence between China and Taiwan. His Democratic Progressive Party released a video over the weekend arguing that Taiwanese companies should look to diversify away from China—a shift from decades of the island’s firms establishing a substantial presence on the mainland. Foxconn Technology Group built the world’s largest iPhone assembly campus in central China, while TSMC runs chipmaking sites in Shanghai and Nanjing.  Tensions escalated after Lai was elected last year. Beijing has accused him of seeking independence and destabilizing the region. Bilateral ties were further strained after Lai labeled China a “foreign hostile force” for the first time and unveiled wide-ranging measures to counter infiltration efforts. China claims the self-governing democracy is its territory and has vowed to unify with Taiwan, using force if necessary — a stance Taiwan rejects.

Taiwan’s annual investment in China peaked at $14.6 billion in 2010, though that spending plummeted to $3.6 billion last year.

US-China tech fight widens after Taiwan blacklists Huawei CONTAGION RISKS…

Continued from A1

Moody’s Ratings said the credit exposure of Philippine banks is high at 158 percent of tangible common equity (TCE) at the end of 2024. This is also “significantly above” the level observed in other Asean countries.

“If conglomerate groups were to experience financial distress, banks’ asset quality could deteriorate significantly due to their large single-party exposure concentrations,” Moody’s Ratings said.

“If some of these borrowers were to default, it could lead to sharply higher loan loss provisions and loss of interest income, which would pressure banks’ net interest margins as well as their capital ratios,” it added.

In terms of risks, Moody’s Ratings said these can be regulated by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), which sets limits on transactions with directors, officers, stockholders and related interests (Dosri).

The BSP, Moody’s Ratings said,

also provides guidance in terms of approving other related-party transactions. It mandates banks to detail lending approval processes for Dosri and other related-party loans.

The BSP said individual credit exposures to each Dosri must be below 5 percent and credit exposures to all Dosri must be below 10 percent.

“Although related-party transactions are clearly disclosed, the further the relationship of the related NFC is to the bank (i.e., third degree), the less likely the transaction would be explicitly disclosed,” Moody’s Ratings said.

“Furthermore, regulation does not reduce systemic risks as NFCs can also borrow from other non-related banks, creating further linkages through non-related lending relationships,” it added.

Moody’s Ratings tracked the degrees of linkages between Philippine banks and publicly listed NFCs, which showed there was “less transparency in more distant relationships.”

The study showed that for first-degree relationships between conglomerates and banks, the average interest coverage ratios stood at 3.4 times in the last 12 months (LTM). The average debt-to-Ebitda ratio weakened to 7.3 times during the period.

Moody’s Ratings also showed that for second-degree relationships, the data showed LTM interest coverage ratio averaged 3.9 times, lower than the 8.8 times in 2015 and 4.5 times in 2019. The LTM debt-to-Ebitda ratio averaged 4.8 times, higher than the 3.2 times and 4.3 times recorded in 2015 and 2019, respectively.

“Aggregate corporate leverage metrics of second-degree subsidiaries include only the listed subsidiaries of the groups, excluding any eliminations and parent financials,” the study stated.

“Given the listed status of these subsidiaries, we expect these subsidiaries to be the stronger operating companies of each respective group. As financials are consolidated at the parent level, interest coverage ratios and debtto-Ebitda ratios exhibited broadly similar trends,” it added. For third-degree relationships, the study found that compared to the second-degree relationships, third-degree relationships had lower average interest coverage ratio at 2.6 times, while the average debt-to-Ebitda was weaker at 7.3 times.

“Financials of NFCs indirectly linked through low levels of ownership by related conglomerates would not be fully consolidated by the first-degree parent conglomerate. Regardless, the aggregate corporate leverage metrics of these NFCs exhibit similar trends, with deterioration in both ratios,” the report stated. Cai U. Ordinario

COMPONENTS of a Huawei Technologies Co. Mate X5 smartphone, including a Kirin 9000s chip fabricated in China by Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. JAMES PARK/BLOOMBERG

Manila reciprocates: Taiwan tourists now visa-free too

By Malou Talosig-Bartolome

STARTING July 1, the Philippine government will begin allowing holders of Taiwan passports to enter the Philippines without a visa for tourism purposes.

This is a reciprocal gesture in response to the Taiwanese government’s existing policy that permits Filipino citizens to enter Taiwan visa-free for tourism.

According to an advisory from the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (Meco), Taiwan tourists will be allowed to stay in the Philippines for a maximum of 14 days.

However, visitors entering without a visa will not be permitted to extend their stay or convert their status to another visa type, such as for business or student purposes.

Taiwan is the seventh largest tourism market of the Philippines.

More than 213,000 Taiwanese tourists visited the Philippines in 2024.

Taiwan passport holders must present the following upon arrival: a passport valid for at least six months, a confirmed hotel or accommodation booking, proof of financial capacity,

PBBM

tells DOTr to raise to 50% student fare discount on 3 rail lines

RESIDENT Ferdinand Mar -

Pcos has ordered the Department of Transportation (DOTr) to raise the fare discount rate for students in three major train lines in Metro Manila.

In a press briefing in Malacañang on Friday, Palace Press Office Claire Castro said that the student discount rate for the Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT-3) and the Light Rail Transit (LRT) Line 1 and LRT Line 2 will be raised from 20 percent to 50 percent.

“And to keep children focused on their studies, the President decided to ease the cost of returning to school,” she said in Filipino.

To avail themselves of the discount, students—to include those taking post-graduate studies— must present their school IDs at the ticket counters of the said metro lines.

The discount will only apply for single-journey tickets, not Beep cards or stored-value tickets. It will be available throughout the entire week, including holidays, until 2028.   She said the DOTr is also currently studying extending the 50-percent discount rate to senior citizens.

“That is still being studied. As much as possible...it will be made free to everyone, that is what the President wants. But that will be studied and we cannot immediately give it or be able to give it. That is currently being studied,” Castro said.

Marcos said DOTr is studying raising the discount rate for students and senior citizens, whom he described as cash-strapped, in a video blog posted in his social media accounts last Friday.

“Students, students usually don’t have money. The elderly, they only have a little money. So, why should we make them pay?

They already served the country, they worked their whole lives, so we should give them some benefit, right?” he said. Samuel P. Medenilla

and a return or onward ticket to their next destination.

Those wishing to stay longer than 14 days or travel for purposes other than tourism must apply for a visa through Meco in Taipei.

For the past five years, the Taiwanese government has allowed Filipinos to enter Taiwan without a visa.

On July 13, Taiwan’s Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung reaffirmed that the Philippines remains eligible for Taiwan’s visa-free entry program. He also expressed hope that the Philippine government would extend the same courtesy to Taiwanese tourists.

“We also hope that under the principle of reciprocity, Taiwanese people will soon be able to travel to the Philippines visa-free. They can simply pack their luggage, take their passports, and go on vacation anytime,” he said.

On Friday, Minister Lin welcomed the Philippine government’s decision, describing it as Manila’s “pragmatic promotion of Taiwan–Philippines relations.”

The Taiwanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) reminded Taiwanese nationals to abide by local laws and regulations while in the Philippines and to remain mindful of their personal safety.

‘PHL vulnerability to global jitters could drive inflation’

By Cai U. Ordinario

THE Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said on Friday the country remains vulnerable to global uncertainties, which could still lead to faster inflation.

BSP Governor Eli M. Remolona Jr. said in an interview the Monetary Board has abandoned its fan charts and adopted scenario building in estimating inflation.

The scenarios include a “bad” one where inflation could exceed 5 percent. Remolona said this is significantly lower than the central scenario or “good scenario” which expects inflation to reach 3.4 percent.

“[This] means Dubai crude goes up to a hundred and then the [peso] depreciates sharply. Those two combined would have a

very big effect on our inflation,” Remolona said. “We hope that doesn’t happen and we’re carefully watching that.”

Remolona said if these bad conditions do not materialize, the BSP could continue to reduce key policy rates. On Thursday, the Monetary Board decided to cut policy rats by 25 basis points, bringing the Target Repurchase Rate (RRP) at 5.25 percent.

(https://businessmirror.com. ph/2025/06/20/bsp-cuts-ratesanew-by-25-bps-1-more-seen/)

“What we need to see is for the bad scenario not to materialize,

so if things are going the way they’ve been going, I think we can continue to cut,” Remolona said.

The impact of global uncertainties, Remolona said, could cause Filipino households to be more cautious in terms of securing loans, especially big-ticket ones such as buying a new car and purchasing a new house or fixed investments.

This, Remolona said, could also be a threat to growth, given that consumption spending forms a significant part of the country’s GDP at 70 percent.

“The world, including ourselves, is still affected by uncertainty. And there’s a new source of uncertainty in the last week or so. That uncertainty means big-ticket consumption items get postponed,” Remolona said.

“So that leads to a weakening of growth. But I think all things considered, our growth is still robust. It’s still very good. Nonetheless, I think it’s not as strong as it could be, which is why we felt we had part of the reason why we cut the policy rate,” he added.

Decoupling

MEANWHILE , Remolona said the Philippines has already decoupled from the United States. It may be noted that the Federal Reserve has decided to pause its monetary policy while the BSP continues to reduce key rates.

This led to a 90-basis-point differential between the Fed policy rates and the BSP’s RRP. Historically, the BSP has maintained a 100-bps differential between Fed and BSP rates.

“The dependency is much less than before. It used to be, as you know...that the market expected at least a 100 basis point differential between the Fed policy rate and our policy rate. That differential is now down to about 90 basis points,” Remolona said.

“The market tends to look more at relative hawkishness and relative dovishness rather than just the policy rate differential. So the dependency is much less than before,” he added.

PhilHealth ramping up member benefits, sees negative net income

AS the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) ramps up its benefits for its members, the state health insurer expects to post a negative net income this year.

“Because we are really going to go deep into our surplus funds, which is what social health insurance is all about,” PhilHealth President and CEO Emmanuel “Edwin” Mercado said in a press briefing in Malacañang on Thursday.  He explained this was also the

practice among social health agencies in other countries.

President Ferdinand Marcos ordered Mercado to enhance PhilHealth’s benefits after the state insurer drew flak as it remitted P60 billion of its over P500 billion net income in 2024 to the national treasury.

The Department of Finance (DOF) said the net income of PhilHealth quadrupled in 2023 to P464.27 billion from P109.95 billion in 2019.

Critics of the fund transfer said the amount should have been used to benefit PhilHealth members instead of being remitted to treasury.

The transmitted amount was challenged before the Supreme Court and also prompted the House of Representatives to push for legislation, House Bill No. 11357, to bring down the PhilHealth premium rate for its members from 5 percent to 3.5 percent.

Mercado said they have conducted an actuarial study to determine

how the reduction in premium rate will affect its fund life. He said among the scenarios they considered is whether or not the premium rate will be reduced to 4.5 percent, 4 percent, 3.5 percent.

“We looked at the impact on the lifespan of the fund. And we also determined what we think we need to collect from our direct members. So we also have a collection efficiency plan and then how we will deliver

Upper Wawa Dam ready for use in Dec, earlier than sked

THE Upper Wawa Dam, the largest water supply dam to be built in the Philippines in over 50 years, will be ready ahead of its scheduled commercial operations this December, following the project’s completion seven months ahead of plan, Prime Infra-led WawaJVCo has vowed.

A recent handover ceremony from the Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) contractor to WawaJVCo, marked the successful completion of the dam’s construction works.

“The completion of the Upper Wawa Dam reflects Prime Infra and WawaJVCo’s ability to deliver large-scale infrastructure projects on time. This marks the beginning for

one of our most critical water projects,” said Melvin John Tan, Prime Infra’s Market Sector Lead for Water and WawaJVCo President.

WawaJVCo has conducted a series of tests to evaluate the dam’s performance. This includes testing the Upper Wawa Dam’s gates, the functionality of the environmental flow turbine, and other sensors and instruments in the dam.

The Upper Wawa Dam is the largest water supply dam to be built in the Philippines in over 50 years. The dam is the second phase of the Wawa Bulk Water Supply Project and will provide a yearlong water supply of up to 710 million liters per day.

The construction of the

dam started in 2021 and was completed in record time taking into consideration its complexity, scale and magnitude. It features a 450-hectare reservoir which is about twice the size of Bonifacio Global City, and can store up to 120 million cubic meters of water.

Once commercially operating, the Upper Wawa Dam is expected to benefit over 700,000 households or 3.5 million Filipinos within the service area of the Metropolitan Waterworks & Sewerage System (MWSS).

MWSS Administrator and Vice Chairperson Leonor Cleofas had earlier cited the Upper Wawa Dam as integral in the agency’s implementation of its water security roadmap, spe -

cifically in terms of ensuring a stable water supply.

Besides securing water availability, the dam is designed with an ungated stepped spillway which helps regulate the release of water flow from the dam into the river, and an environmental flow turbine which supplies continuous water to the downstream and also generates renewable power supply for consumption of the dam, lessening it’s dependency to source power from the grid.

Prime Infra is Filipino businessman Enrique K. Razon Jr.’s infrastructure arm, focusing on building assets that support the most urgent sustainability priorities - energy, access to clean water, and waste management.

PDIC to publicly bid out 73 closed bank properties from July 23 to 24

THE Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation (PDIC) will sell 73 closed bank properties through electronic public bidding (ebidding).

Electronic bids will be accepted through the PDIC ebidding portal, https://assetsforsale.pdic.gov.ph, starting at 9am on July 23, 2025, until 1pm on July 24, 2025, and will be opened at 2pm on July 24, 2025.

To be sold on an as-is-whereis basis are 20 vacant agricultural lots, 20 residential lots with improvements, 19 vacant residential lots, five mixed vacant residential/agricultural lots,

four mixed residential/agricultural lots with improvements, two agricultural lots with improvements, one commercial lot with improvements, one vacant commercial lot, and one mixed commercial/residential lot with improvements.

Ranging from 71 square meters to 142,905 square meters, the properties are in Metro Manila, Aklan, Albay, Bohol, Camarines Sur, Iloilo, Isabela, Laguna, Lanao del Norte, Negros Oriental, Pangasinan, Rizal and Tarlac.

Prospective parties can join the e-bidding through a onetime registration on the portal

at http://assetsforsale.pdic.gov. ph/Account/Register. Once registered, buyers may submit their bids online and observe the e-bidding proceedings by clicking the “Assets for Sale” icon on the PDIC website’s homepage at www.pdic.gov.ph.

Interested buyers are encouraged to visit the catalog of properties in the e-bidding portal, where the complete list and description of the properties, requirements, e-bidding process, and Conditions of the Bid are posted.

Prospective bidders are enjoined to conduct their due diligence on the properties by

reviewing and understanding the terms and conditions outlined by the PDIC. Prospective buyers are, likewise, reminded of their responsibility to determine the actual condition, status, ownership, and other circumstances of the properties they wish to acquire.

Winning bidders of agricultural properties are required to submit, within 15 days after the e-bidding, a Certification issued by the Provincial Agrarian Reform Officer (Paro) of the Department of Agrarian Reform where the property is

See “PDIC,” A4

it to our members, who should all support this with our fund,” Mercado said.  He said they will be able to determine, which of the said reduction options in their premium rate is feasible once they finalize their expanded programs for their members.

“Once we finish determining which benefits will really help our citizens, and this is the [reduced premium rate to be] approved by our board,” Mercado said.

Samuel P. Medenilla

Marcos meets Japan tourism, energy, shipbuilding execs

By Samuel P. Medenilla

PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos met with Japanese tourism leaders, an energy firm, and a shipbuilding company on the second day of his working visit in Osaka, Japan to help the country attract more foreign visitors and investments.

In a brief statement posted on his social media account on Friday, the chief executive said his dialogue with the Japanese tourism leaders aims to capitalize the 214 weekly connecting flights between Japan and the Philippines.

“We are working to create more jobs for our people, help more businesses grow, and ensure more communities feel the impact of a strong tourism sector,” Marcos said.  Representatives from the Japan Tourism Agency (JTA); Japan Association of Travel Agents (JATA) Kansai / JTB West Japan Area Representative; Japan Philippines Tourism Council (JPTC); Kansai Regional Division, HIS

Co., Ltd.; Nippon Travel Agency; Hankyu Travel International Co., Ltd.; Kansai Airports; Philippine Airlines (PAL); and Cebu Pacific attended the meeting.

Marcos also talked with executives of the Kanadevia Corporation to discuss the plans of its joint project with Phil. Ecology Systems Corp. (PhilEco) for a Manila Wasteto-Energy (WtE) Project.

The (WtE) Project will be located in Smokey Mountain, Manila and aims to help address the city’s waste disposal system as well as generate power and employment.

“I’m pleased to share that we are working with Japan’s Kanadevia Corporation on a landmark Waste-to-Energy project for Manila. This initiative will turn thousands of tons of waste into clean energy, reduce flooding, create jobs and help clean up communities,” Marcos said in a

separate social media post.

Also part of the President’s itinerary on his second day in Osaka was his meeting with Tsuneishi Shipbuilding Co., Ltd.

The shipbuilding firm is engaged in the fifth phase of expansion in its shipyard in Balamban, Cebu.

Palace Press Office Claire Castro said the President also visited the Philippine Pavilion at the 2025 World Expo in Osaka, which is a crowd favorite at the event since it attracted over 300,000 visitors in just two months.

“This is an opportunity to show the world the richness of our culture, the talent and hard work of Filipinos, and to encourage more investments that will benefit every Filipino family,” Castro said in a press briefing Friday.

Marcos is expected to have an event in Osaka until June 21, 2025.

UK eyes doubling trade with PHL in the next 3-4 years

By Andrea E. San Juan

THE United Kingdom hopes to double trade with the Philippines in the next three to four years, UK Trade Envoy George Freeman said at a briefing on Friday.

It is possible, Freeman said, to double the current bilateral trade between the Philippines and UK over the next three to four years provided that the two nations work on “strategic” partnerships revolving around Digital Economy, Cybersecurity, and Food and artisanal product exports.

Bilateral trade between the two nations is currently valued at £3 billion or around P231 billion, according to the UK Trade Envoy. He

located, stating that the agricultural lot subject of the bid is not covered by the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) and that no Emancipation Patent or

noted that the Philippines exports more to the UK at approximately £1.8 billion while the UK exports £1.2 billion to the Philippines. He underscored that trade between the two countries is currently at an alltime high.

“Yes [we can double the trade]. Yes is basically the answer. I think if we develop a partnership around, say, Digital Economy, Cybersecurity and giving the Filipino access to secure online trading,” Freeman told a briefing on Friday.

“That alone, over the next five or 10 years, if we’re serious about it, we could bring in a lot more UK investment into the Philippines. We could help unlock more growth here in the Philippines, cut

Certificate of Land Ownership Awards has been issued for the said property.

Winning bidders are also required to submit an Affidavit of Aggregate Landholdings within the same period, which states that the person’s collective landholdings, including the property/ies to be acquired during the bidding, do not

down on fraud, so money isn’t leaked out from the pockets of Filipinos to criminals,” added Freeman.

As for the Philippines’s export potential to the United Kingdom, British Embassy Manila Director of Trade and Investment Lindsey Gilbert-Crouch said the Philippines can explore the food industry in the UK as the people there are becoming “ever more health conscious.”

“There’s a lot of foods in the Philippines that are incredibly in demand in the UK. So I’m thinking coconuts, coconut products, mangoes, which are the best mangoes I’ve ever tasted. And dried fruits in particular. Bananas is a potential one,” added GilbertCrouch.

“But really fruits and vegetables,

exceed the five-hectare limit set by law.

The prescribed format for the Certification and Affidavit may be obtained from the Download Center of the e-bidding portal, https://assetsforsale.pdic.gov.ph.

Participants bidding on behalf of another individual or an organization can download the Pro-forma Special Power

particularly dried products, is a really key growth area. And another thing is in the UK, we’re very fashion-conscious. And UK consumers are more and more keen to buy artisanal products. They don’t want fast fashion. They don’t want mass-produced stuff,” she also noted.

Gilbert-Crouch said this is the area where “Filipinos are incredibly talented,” adding that among the “most beautiful products” produced in the Philippines are leather goods.

Freeman said: “By deepening, having a strategic partnership, I think we can turn that £3 billion number, I would like to increase it substantially over the next three or four years.”

of Attorney and Secretary’s Certificate, respectively, from the ebidding portal. As the statutory receiver of closed banks, the PDIC liquidates the remaining assets of closed banks to maximize recovery and help pay claims of closed bank creditors, including depositors with uninsured deposits.

More ‘shabu’ found in WPS: Latest is ₧10-B haul seized in fishing boat

ASINLOC, Zambales—

MAuthorities have apprehended about 1.5 tons of suspected methamphetamine hydrochloride or “shabu” at the West Philippine Sea (WPS) off Zambales province early Friday, marking the biggest haul so far since bales of the illegal drug were found adrift off Western and Northern Luzon late last month.

The Philippine Navy through its Northern Luzon Naval Command, along with the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), reportedly intercepted the drug shipment from a fishing boat off the Zambales coast at 1:30 a.m. on Friday, June 20.

Navy spokesman Capt. John Percie Alcos said the vessel carrying the suspected shabu is a Philippine-registered fishing boat with foreign nationals on board.

Initial reports from the Philippine Navy placed the latest shabu haul at P10 billion.

The report also said the confiscated narcotics were sent to the Naval Operating Base (NOB) Subic where authorities are conducting a command conference as of this writing.

The latest shabu haul brings the total amount of drugs found and intercepted off the coast of Western and Northern Luzon since last month to P18.5 billion.

The first discovery was on May 29, when 10 bales of methamphetamine hydrochloride were fished in the waters west of the Bajo de Masinloc by a fishing crew from Bataan. The recovered drugs were worth P1.5 billion.

The following week, fishermen from Pangasinan and Ilocos Sur found packets of shabu adrift in coastal waters and surrendered a total of 1,013 kilograms of the illegal drug to authorities. The

Proceeds from the sale of closed bankowned properties go directly to a fund that the Corporation manages for these closed banks to settle creditors’ claims. For more information on the e-bidding, interested buyers within Metro Manila may call the PDIC Public Assistance Department at (02) 8841-4141 during office hours.

total value of the recovered substance was P6.89 billion.

On June 16, local fishermen also recovered shabu floating in the waters off Ilocos Norte and Cagayan provinces. PDEA placed the total value of these finds at P111.5 million.

PDEA said that fishermen had so far turned over shabu packets to authorities in 39 recorded incidents.

PDEA Director General Undersecretary Isagani Nerez had earlier noted that all recent incidents where shabu was recovered happened within the waters of provinces in Luzon. He said an in-depth investigation is being made “to determine the place of origin of the recovered shabu that were offloaded at sea for pick-up (by) intended recipients.”

Nerez added, “Strong currents may have brought them to the site where they were found.”

Nerez had also said that the Chinese Drug Triad is behind the recent dumping of shabu in the WPS, pointing out that the packaging of shabu in teabags with Chinese markings is a signature trademark of the drug syndicate.

A check by B usiness M irror earlier showed several cases wherein tea packs, particularly the “Daguayin” brand, have been used in several attempts to smuggle shabu in the country. These include a P400-million shabu bust at the Liloan Ferry Terminal in Leyte in November last year, wherein 57 heat-sealed tea bag packets were confiscated; the P6.8-million buy-bust operation in Las Piñas City in December 2022, which yielded 1 kilo of shabu in a vacuum-sealed Daguanyin tea bag; and another buy-bust in Sultan Kudarat in January 2021, which turned up one kilo of shabu placed inside a green plastic cellophane Daguanyin pack.

Those outside Metro Manila may call the PDIC toll-free hotline at 1-800-1-888PDIC or 1-800-1-888- 7342, also during office hours. Inquiries may also be sent via e-mail at pad@pdic.gov.ph or private message on PDIC’s Assets for Sale Facebook page (@PDICAssetsforSale) or PDIC’s official Facebook page (@OfficialPDIC).

Editor: Mike Policarpio

Report: Philippines posts strong momentum in GenAI, cybersecurity & applied tech skills

THE Philippines registered a remarkable rise in enrollments for generative AI (GenAI) courses—far outpacing regional and international averages.

With a 383-percent year-over-year (YoY) hike in enrollments, eclipsing Asia-Pacific norms at 132 percent and global averages at 195 percent, Coursera’s Global Skills Report highlights how Filipino learners are rapidly embracing of emerging technologies, in line with the country’s goal of developing artificial intelligence (AI)-ready labor force.

Based on the leading online learning platform’s insights from more than 170 million users across more than 100 countries, the report tracks skill trends and learner behavior worldwide. Now in its seventh year, the 2025 edition ranks the Philippines 88th globally in overall skills proficiency and 18th in Asia Pacific.

The report has Filipino learners demonstrating 29 percent proficiency in business, 21 percent in technology, and 17 percent in data science.

In Coursera’s new AI Maturity Index , the country ranks 60th, showing potential for growth in AI research, innovation and talent development.

This momentum supports the national goal of training 1 million AI-skilled workers by 2028 as part of the country’s digitalization agenda. Roughly 86 percent of Filipino knowledge workers already use AI at work—surpassing the global average of 75 percent and regional average of 83 percent.

Coursera data also show rising enrollments in skills employers are prioritizing: AI and Machine Learning by

THE East-West Center (EWC) and Mariano Marcos State University (MMSU) will deepen their institutional ties in academic exchange, research and global linkages. Their collaboration was formalized via a memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed on June 2 at the EWC campus in Honolulu. The MOU establishes a framework for joint initiatives such as professional and student exchanges, collaborative research, scholarly events and shared educational resources. The agreement reflects a mutual commitment to promoting academic excellence, global understanding and people-to-people ties across the AsiaPacific region.

307 percent, Curiosity by 74 percent, Customer Service rose by 12 percent, and Critical Thinking by 10 percent.

“The Philippines is laying the foundation for a digitally confident workforce,” said Coursera’s Asia Pacific Head Eklavya Bhave. “AI is a clear priority for employers, and learners are stepping up by acquiring GenAI skills and industry micro-credentials to stay ahead.”

Bhave added that “from AI strategies to forward-thinking education policies, we’re seeing a strong national commitment to equipping Filipinos with the right mix of technical, business and human skills.

Coursera is proud to support this transformation by partnering across education, industry and government to build an inclusive, job-ready talent pipeline.”

Key findings

FILIPINOS are embracing GenAI skills rapidly, but participation gaps remain: Enrollments jumped 383 percent YoY—among the highest globally. However, women make up just 37 percent of these learners, despite accounting 51 percent of Coursera’s local user base.

Likewise, for job-ready credentials is rising: Enrollments in Professional Certificates grew by 23 percent— a strong interest in outcome-based programs.

Learners are also building applied tech and digital marketing skills: Fili -

pino learners are prioritizing practical skills in software development, information technology infrastructure and campaign management— indicating demand for roles that blend tech, creativity and operations.

The Philippines now has 2.7 million Coursera learners, with a median age of 32—making it one of the most digitally engaged populations in the region.

According to the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report 2025, 96 percent of Filipino businesses plan to upskill workers to collaborate more effectively with AI—well above the global average of 77 percent.

However, an International Monetary Fund cautioned that 40 percent of jobs in the Philippines are significantly influenced by AI, with 14 percent of the workforce at direct risk of displacement. Bridging the gap will require coordinated national efforts—including expanding publicprivate partnerships, integrating micro-credentials into higher education and scaling online learning access.

Increasing women’s participation in emerging technology fields will also be critical not just to achieve gender equality, but to also unlock the full potential of the country’s digital economy, according to Coursera.

ChildFund, DepEd and LGU to modernize Manila’s ICT hubs; boost online child

CHILDFUND PHILIPPINES and ChildFund Korea are transforming digital learning environments in public elementary schools in the City of Manila through its ProDigital LOOP Project, which upgrades information and communication technology (ICT) facilities, provides training on safe digital practices, and supports the development of national online child protection policies.

Launched in November 2023, the Pro-Digital LOOP Project addresses two critical challenges in the country’s education system: unequal access to technology, and increasing online risks to children.

In partnership with the Department of Education (DepEd) and GEMS Heart Outreach Development Inc., the project builds inclusive and techenabled classrooms that promote safe, effective and equitable learning.

ChildFund Philippines’ Senior Education Specialist Marlene Floresca pointed out that multi-sectoral partnerships allowed them to yield holistic impact of the initiative: “The project has transformed schools and homes by equipping them to better support children’s digital learning. Our approach not only provides technology, but also strengthens safe digital literacy, ensuring that children can thrive academically and protect themselves online.”

GEMS Heart Outreach Development Inc. recently engaged with school administrators and teachers. They discussed Pro-Digital LOOP Project’s impact, then explored ways to boost digital learning and online child safety.

About 2,000 parents and caregivers were also briefed on safe digital practices at home. More than 6,000 students and nearly 400 teachers actively used the ICT hubs in the final quarter of 2024, as they enhanced digital skills and academic performance.

Feedback from the field

CHILDFUND Korea’s Country Program Manager Kim Min-jin said teachers have become more confident using technology in the classroom. He added that “students are more engaged and better able to understand their lessons because of the interactive nature of digital learning.” Bagong Barangay Elementary School’s (BBES) ICT Coordinator Camille Villareal shared that “the new equipment and digital [tools have truly changed the way we teach and engage with] students. They’re now more interactive and eager, more so in subjects like Math and Science, where multimedia tools make lessons clearer and more exciting.”

G“As the first Philippine Higher Education Institution partner of the EWC, we take pride in pioneering this partnership,” Manzano said. “We anticipate the development and implementation of meaningful joint initiatives that promote scholarly exchange, capacity building and interdisciplinary research.” Representatives from both institutions who included East-West Center leaders, members of the visiting MMSU delegation and distinguished guests attended the signing ceremony. They also acknowledged the shared alumni ties between the institutions; among them, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan and former MMSU president Dr. Santiago Obien. Both sides agreed that the MOU marks the beginning of a strategic partnership aimed at fostering innovation, academic growth and longterm cooperation between Hawai‘i and the Philippines.

For EWC’s interim president Dr. James Scott, the agreement “reflects [our] enduring mission to build bridges through education and exchange. We are honored to collaborate with [MMSU]—an institution that shares our commitment to advancing knowledge and regional cooperation.” Meanwhile, MMSU president Dr. Virgilio Julius Manzano Jr. said the university’s SUCCEED agenda is strategically aligned with the EWC’s mission of fostering better relations and mutual understanding among peoples through programs of cooperative study, training and research.

LOBE is taking real steps to support Filipino students through initiatives that spark passions, strengthen leadership skills, and prepare young people for a world that’s changing faster than ever.

Students today are juggling a lot: classes, technology, social life and figuring out who they want to be. The company understands that being a telco today means more than just providing a signal: It is about being part of a student’s journey in discovering their passion and building their future. Globe wants to help students find those passions, while chasing them without feeling lost in the noise.

The telecommunications company offers various ways for students to get involved in the “Globe Community Builders Program” by unlocking daily perks and essentials through the “Student Rewards” on the GlobeOne app. For students with big ideas, they can make pitches through “Globe Student Grants” on the Globe

website—the best ones can partner with the company in bringing their ideas to life.

Learners can also suggest their organized events, projects and connect with mentors, then take a more active role in shaping their communities. Internships are also available for those ready to start building their careers early.

A concrete example: Globe organized in May the screening of Marvel Studios’ “Thunderbolts” led by the Marketing Youth Culture Department. Student-leaders from various high schools and universities were invited to special block screenings held in select Metro Manila, Nueva Ecija, Cagayan de Oro and Davao City cinemas.

Apart from enjoying the movie, they also had the chance to connect with Globe mentors and learn more about joining the Community Builders Program where they could take a more active role in leading projects, organizing events and building their leadership skills.

Impact on the ground

THE shift is already evident in the classrooms, according to ICT Coordinator Eremeo Monte of Fernando Ma. Guerrero Elementary School in Manila. “Many of our students now come to school excited to learn because they can explore digital tools safely and creatively. We’ve seen how ICT hubs can spark curiosity and help students learn better across subjects—from reading to science.”

Since its launch, the Pro-Digital LOOP Project has enhanced digital learning in 10 Manila public elementary schools by providing 200 laptops, smart TVs, printers, air conditioners and refurbished ICT hubs with highspeed data connection.

In addition, 200 licensed Microsoft applications were distributed, and 346 teachers—including subject specialists in Math, Reading and Science—along with ICT coordinators, principals and education staff, were trained in using multimedia digital resources appropriate for their elementary students.

Project leaders from ChildFund Philippines, ChildFund Korea and

Her counterpart at Beata Elementary School Carmela Conmigo agreed: “The training helped us integrate technology effectively, and the community’s involvement [ensured that] students learn and stay safe online.” Building on these improvements in teaching and engagement, Principal Carol Salba of BBES highlighted the broader impact on students: “The gadgets and instructional materials provided through the project have been a great opportunity for our students. They are more motivated to learn, which translated into increased participation and a lower dropout rate this year. We hope this program continues so that even more students can benefit from it.”

Beyond the classrooms, the project supports broader efforts to embed safe digital literacy into national policy. Collaborations with tech firms like Meta and TikTok paved the way for future advocacies and policy dialogues involving children. At the national level, ChildFund is working with the Education Department’s Learner Rights and Protec

BEATA

BusinessMirror

A mid-range phone that performs well and has strong AI features at under P23,000

AS a creature of habit, I tend to use the same things from the same brands over and over. That is true even with gadgets. I have probably only used four phone brands in my entire life. But one of my resolutions for 2025 is to try more things for the first time.

Honor is a mobile phone brand known in the Philippines for their exciting launches and breathtaking durability tests. Think phone-beingdropped-in-boiling-water and phone-being-used-tochop-an-apple kind of breathtaking. This is the fifth phone brand that I have tried and I was pleasantly surprised.

Honor recently launched the Honor 400 5G, which has AI features such as AI Super Zoom, AI Portrait Snap, HD Moving Photo, Film Simulation, and Harcourt Portrait.

The Honor 400 5G is referred to as “Your AI Phone” but it’s not just about the AI features, as the brand is also highlighting the phone’s stylish design and long battery life, among other things.

The Image-to-Video AI is the Honor 400 5G’s tool that transforms still photos into dynamic short clips. You can, for instance, turn an image of a late loved one into a video, preserving memories in a new way.

The Honor 400 5G has a very premium design that’s easy to carry in one hand. It’s also pocketfriendly. I’m very clumsy so I appreciated the phone’s matte-finished back and the solid side frames (kind of reminds me of an iPhone). The phone is rated at IP66, which means it is splash-resistant. In terms of colorways, it comes in Desert Gold, Tidal Blue, and Midnight Black.

I will not talk about the tech specifications of the Honor 400 5G because those can already be found on the internet. Instead, I will talk about how it performed, in my opinion, and how you can use some of the AI features.

■ PERFORMANCE. Thanks to the 120Hz refresh rate, the Honor 400 5G makes browsing smooth. I used it to play games and even upload videos on TikTok and Instagram seamlessly. The color is accurate and vibrant.

The mobile games I play do not require high-

fidelity sound so I can’t say whether the Honor 400 5G performed above par in this department but the sound was sufficient for me. I mention this because I read reviews that audio was one of the Honor 400 5G’s weaknesses.

There is one feature of the Honor 400 5G that unexpectedly won my heart and that is Notes. I usually write my columns and articles on my phone and the Honor 400 5G’s Notes was one of the smoothest I have tried. Typing and swiping letters was so easy. Here’s the thing: I also manage a website and emailing articles to myself and uploading them means extra work because of the formatting needed but from this phone, it was just copy paste. The articles did not require any formatting.

■ CAMERA. The Honor 400 5G has a dual  camera setup, with a 200MP Main  Lens, and a 12MP Ultrawide housed in a curved camera island. The main lens can zoom up to 30x. For selfies, Honor retained the 50MP Front Lens.

The camera performed decently for images and videos. I compared these to those shot with a higher-

once I had a disabled the bokeh and beauty modes.

■ AI FEATURES. One of the most interesting and useful AI features of the Honor 400 5G is the AI Glass Reflection Removal. You can do this by selecting an image, clicking Magic Retouch, then Al Eraser, and finally clicking Remove Reflection. Does it work? Yes, it works even on images where you’re wearing eyeglasses and there are reflections on them.

You can also make moving photo collages using the Honor 400 5G’s AI features. To do this, click Create after choosing your photos. Then, click Moving Photo and then the desired setting. After that, you can save.

Finally, AI Old Photo Restoration lets you restore old photos without making them look too processed. Choose the photos, then click Al Edit, then Add Image, and then Al Upscale. Wait for the final output and click Start Generation.

The Honor 400 5G’s strengths are in its design, AI Features, cameras, the Notes (for me). For P22,999, you’re getting a solid and durable mid-range phone that performs well.

Beyond reading books: Globe empowers the next generation of changemakers

FROM student leaders and tech innovators to artists and community advocates, a new wave of Filipino youth is reshaping what it means to be changemakers—with telecom giant Globe walking beside them every step of the way. Through its Globe Community Builders Program (www.globe.com.ph/communitybuilder), the brand continues to open doors for students across the country to discover their purpose, showcase their creativity, and turn bold ideas into real impact. Whether through internships, mentorships, creative platforms, or volunteer opportunities, Globe is helping bridge the gap between school life and real-world experience. And for these young trailblazers, that support has made all the difference.

When Technological University of the Philippines student Miguel Isiah Diva painted Tails and Trails as a tribute to his late dog Bochok, he never expected it to change the course of his creative path. But winning the Globe x Art Toys Online Contest opened new doors—giving him a platform and a purpose.

“Winning that contest made me feel seen,” Miguel shares. “As a student, as an

artist, and as someone who simply wanted to tell a story that mattered to me.”

The recognition led to a live mural collaboration at Art in the Park, where Miguel joined other artists in painting for Pawssion Project, an animal welfare group supported by Globe.

“It wasn’t just about the art,” Miguel adds. “It was the people I met, the mission behind it, and the feeling that my creativity had a place in the world. Globe helped me realize that my voice—and my brush—can make a difference.”

When Franchezka Zapanta moved from Mindanao to Manila for college at De La Salle University, she felt like an outsider. Most of her early university years were spent online, and adjusting to the pace of city life was overwhelming. But when she began attending Globe’s youth events, something shifted.

“Showing up was my silent act of courage,” she says. “Then one day, I realized: I didn’t feel out of place anymore. I felt welcome.” That sense of belonging helped her grow. She became president of DLSU SCALE, the university’s startup org, and launched BitDigest.io, a tech platform

that she unveiled at The Globe Tower.

At Pitch Day 2025 (Pitch Day, a Globeled initiative that gives student organizations a platform to present their passion projects and receive expert feedback, mentorship, and potential support from the brand), Franchezka returned—not as a participant, but as a mentor, guiding other young leaders through their own journeys.

“When brands like Globe believe in you, you start to believe in yourself too,” she

INCREASE IN AI SPENDING BOOSTING

BY RIZAL RAOUL REYES

BUSINESS leaders and IT decision-makers recently confirmed they are increasing artificial intelligence spending by 3.3 x in Asia Pacific and 2.7 x in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean+1), according to the third edition of Lenovo’s CIO Playbook 2025 “It’s Time for AI-nomics,” commissioned by Lenovo with insights by IDC. The study is based on a global study of more than 2,900 respondents, including 900 plus IT and business decision-makers from 12 AP markets, including India, Korea, Japan, Asean+ (Thailand, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia) and Australia and New Zealand.

“As the Philippines advances its vision of becoming a key player in the regional AI landscape, Filipino businesses are accelerating their digital transformation with a clear focus on AI solutions that are innovative, responsible, and ROI-driven,” said Michael Ngan, president and general manager of Lenovo Philippines.

“With decades of presence in the Philippines, Lenovo remains deeply committed to supporting local enterprises in overcoming AI adoption challenges—from infrastructure readiness to skills development. Through our portfolio of AI-ready devices, solutions, infrastructure and services, we are helping build a strong foundation for long-term growth, improved competitiveness, and inclusive participation in the AI-driven economy.”

Kumar Mitra, ISG Regional General Manager, Lenovo GTAP, described that the rapid growth in AI investment indicates the region’s accelerating readiness, with Asean+ markets—particularly the Philippines—making foundational moves to scale AI adoption. As part of its national strategy, the Philippines is prioritizing innovation, digital infrastructure, and talent development to drive AI integration across key sectors such as agriculture, manufacturing, BPO, and healthcare.

Ngan said the initiatives like the National AI Roadmap (2021–2028) and plans for a National Center for AI Research reflect a coordinated push to enable research, upskilling, and practical deployment of AI technologies, contributing to a broader effort to position the country as a meaningful player in the regional AI ecosystem.

OVERCOMING ORGANIZATIONAL READINESS CHALLENGES EVOLVING business priorities each year reflect a deeper understanding of what it takes to drive AI growth, along with a growing awareness of its risks, according to Mitra.

The study said ethical issues and biases remain the top AI risks this year, yet only 24 percent of organizations globally and 25% in AP have fully enforced AI GRC (governance, risk, and compliance) policies. In Asean+, 24 percent of CIOs report having fully implemented enterprise AI GRC policies, aligning closely with global and AP trends. “This underscores the urgent need for a structured approach to what has become the No.1 priority for businesses in Asia Pacific,” the study said.

“Effective AI governance requires explainability, ethical frameworks, accountability, model governance, enhanced privacy, security and integrated human oversight,” the study added.

BY PATRICK VILLANUEVA

XBOX, a video gaming brand for consoles and titles under Microsoft, just announced their multi-year partnership with AMD, a tech company that designs and develops computer processing units and graphics processing units. Xbox president Sarah Bond in a recent YouTube video

“At Globe, we’re committed to supporting the Filipino youth—helping them shape their creative journeys and become co-builders of the future,” said Andrew Lim, Lead for Marketing Youth Cultures. Across Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao, students are stepping into their potential— through art, tech, leadership, and advocacy. With the right support, they’re not just participating in the future. They’re building it.

A6 Saturday, June 21, 2025 • Editor: Gerard S. Ramos

www.businessmirror.com.ph

A realistic way to protect kids from social media? Find a middle ground

BY BARBARA O�TUTAY The Associated Press

AHMED OTHMAN isn’t on TikTok and doesn’t want to be.

He and his younger sister got iPhones when they were in eighth and seventh grade respectively, but with no social media, just iMessage. Their parents, who are both computer scientists, spent the next year teaching them about social media, bombarding them with studies about its effects on teen mental health.

“They really tried to emphasize social media is a tool, but can also be like your worst enemy if you so make it,” Othman said.

Now 17, Othman credits his parents’ deep involvement for what he calls a “healthy relationship” with his phone. That includes staying away from TikTok.

“The algorithm is so potent that I feel like, you know, TikTok might not benefit me,” he said. Othman, who’s originally from Libya and lives in Massachusetts, is an outlier among his peers, nearly two-thirds of whom are on TikTok either with or without their parents’ permission, according to the Pew Research Center.

Othman’s parents took a middle ground approach that a growing number of experts say is the most realistic and effective way of teaching children about social media: Rather than an outright ban or allowing free reign, they recommend a slow, deliberate onboarding that gives children the tools and information they need to navigate a world in which places like TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat are almost impossible to escape.

“You cannot just expect that the kids will jump into the world of social media, learn how to swim on their own,” said Natalie Bazarova, a professor of communications and director of the Cornell Social Media Lab. “They need to have instruction. They need to have practice on how to behave on social media. They need to have understanding of risks and opportunities. And they also need to learn that in a way that is age-appropriate.”

FEW GUARDRAILS

THE harms to children from social media have been well-documented in the two decades since Facebook’s launch ushered in a new era in how the world communicates. Kids who spend more time on social media, especially when they are tweens or young teenagers, are more likely to experience depression and anxiety, according to multiple studies—though it is not yet clear if there is a causal relationship.

Many are exposed to content that is not appropriate for their age, including pornography and violence. They also face bullying, sexual harassment and unwanted advances from their peers as well as adult strangers. Because their brains are not fully developed, teenagers are also more affected by social comparisons than adults, so even happy posts from friends could send them into a negative spiral.

Lawmakers have taken notice and have held multiple congressional hearings — most recently in January—on child online safety. Still, the last federal law aimed at protecting children online was enacted in 1998, six years before Facebook’s founding.

Last May, US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy issued a warning saying there is not enough evidence to show that social media is safe for kids and urged policymakers to address the harms of social media the same way they regulate things like car seats, baby formula, medication and other products children use. Parents, he stressed, can’t do it all, although some—like Othman’s—try. Othman at first wanted a phone “with everything on it, no restrictions.”

“But like now, after the years passed, I really do understand and appreciate what they did,” he said.

WHEN IT’S NOT ENOUGH OF course, the Othmans’ approach may not work for every family. Most parents are not computer scientists, and many don’t have the time or expertise to create a crash-course on social media for their children. But even when parents are vigilant, that’s still no guarantee their children won’t fall prey to social media’s traps.

Neveen Radwan thought she did everything right when she gave her children phones: putting restrictions on their accounts, having access to their

She started using social media in the eighth grade. When she was 16, she was diagnosed with anorexia.

“We were right in the beginning of [the Covid lockdowns] and it progressed very quickly because we were at home and she was on social media quite a bit

need to be able to fit in a baby swing.” Within two or

Facebook and Instagram parent company Meta Platforms Inc. that seeks to hold the tech giant accountable for the harms its platforms have caused to children and teens. Her daughter has recovered and is attending college.

NONPROFITS STEP UP

OVER the past decade or so, nonprofits and advocacy groups—many run by young people who emerged from their own struggles with social media—have popped up to offer help.

Larissa May stumbled on to social media a decade ago when she was in high school “without any roadmap” on its dangers or how to use it. May said she was dealing with depression and anxiety that social media exacerbated. In college, she became “obsessed” with social media and digital marketing, running a fashion blog where she was posting on every day.

“I got to a point where I was spending 12-plus hours a day on my phone in my room, more focused on my digital identity than the world around me, my mental health, my physical health, my sleep,” May recalled. She almost took her own life.

The turning point came when May started going to a psychiatrist almost every day, with clear instructions of what she needed to do: Take antidepressants, start moving her body sleep, and start socializing.

“However, I was spending all of my day on my phone, which they never addressed, and being on my phone prevented me from doing all of those things,” May said. “And it wasn’t until one day where I had this, you know, midnight thought of, why can I not heal? And it was because I hadn’t healed my relationship with technology.”

So, she shut down her fashion blog and started HalfTheStory in 2015, with the intent of gathering stories from young people such as Othman to understand how social media was affecting them.

“And what I found out was that I wasn’t alone in my struggle,” she said.

Today, HalfTheStory works with young people to build better relationships with technology, on their own terms, starting in middle school even before some kids have a device.

To May, abstinence is not the answer to teens’ problems with social media.

“What I learn from every single one of our teens is that they wish their parents had more boundaries for them,” she said. “And I think that parents feel afraid because honestly, a lot of violence and conflict erupts

BEHIND THE WHEEL AND ORDER: MEET THE DRIVERS LIVING THE STORIES OF GRAB’S

NOW in its second year, “Itatawid, Ihahatid” continues to spotlight the often-overlooked dedication of Grab’s driver- and delivery-partners—everyday heroes who go the extra mile not just for passengers and customers, but for the families who rely on them. This year’s campaign features two viral short films inspired by real stories—those of a senior GrabCar driver and a determined female GrabFood cyclist. More than just testimonials of grit, these stories reveal a shared reality among drivers and riders: behind every booking is a mission, one that transforms individual journeys into opportunities for entire families.

In the heat of a Manila afternoon, 63-year-old Ronald

“Ronni” Petterson grips the steering wheel of his GrabCar with precision. He is a dedicated transport professional and father still providing. Meanwhile, 22-year-old Mary Joy Flores leans over the handlebars of her bicycle, weaving through traffic with practice. A GrabFood delivery bag is strapped securely to her back, but the real weight she carries is more profound: the needs of five other lives that depend on her. They come from different generations, but Ronni and Mary Joy are bound by the same road—one paved by Grab’s expanding ecosystem of support for its driver- and deliverypartners. Through financial programs, digital training, education assistance, and emergency aid, the platform is building more than livelihoods. It’s helping build futures.

RONNI PETTERSON, 63: A NEW CHAPTER BEHIND THE WHEEL

RONNI’S face may be familiar to some. The former corporate trainer and television extra has always been a man of many roles—but perhaps none as meaningful to him now as being a GrabCar driver-partner.

“I get to meet people, help them get where they need to

VIRAL SHORT FILMS

notice it, but before you know it, you’re done paying. That kind

DELIVERING HOPE WITH EVERY ORDER has worn many hats: construction worker, computer shop attendant, and more. But none of those jobs gave her the consistency, flexibility, or empowerment she now

As the breadwinner for her baby and four younger brothers, every delivery is part of a larger mission: “After December, I was finally able to buy shoes, school bags, and Like Ronni, she tapped into GrabFinance’s GrabAsenso Loans during tough moments—micro-loans designed with partners like her in mind. Instead of a rigid credit check, the platform assesses her in-app performance and earnings. “I wouldn’t qualify for traditional loans. But Grab sees the work

In a world where financial access often excludes the very people who need it most, this inclusion is a lifeline. It means her siblings stay in school, meals remain on the table, and hope is always within reach.

be, and still provide for my family. At my age, that’s a gift,” he says. More than a job, Grab has offered Ronni the tools to thrive. He is a regular user of GrabAcademy, the company’s in-app learning platform where he picks up tutorials on customer service, digital literacy, and financial management. “The videos are there anytime I need them. That’s important, especially for someone like me still catching up with the digital world,” he says.

Like many partners, Ronni also turned to GrabFinance’s GrabAsenso Loans during a period of financial need. “It’s deducted gradually from my daily earnings—you hardly

Grab’s social impact ecosystem extends well beyond Mary Joy and Ronni. In 2024 alone, millions worth of emergency aid was distributed through GrabCare and MOVE IT Malasakit programs, providing immediate relief during medical emergencies and natural disasters. As Grab’s viral short films under the “Itatawid, Ihahatid” campaign capture the quiet heroism of its driver-partners, real-life stories like Ronni’s and Mary Joy’s remind us that behind every journey is something more. A parent’s love. A child’s dream. A second chance. A lifeline when it’s needed most. GRAB’S

and

AN EPIPHANY ON CHINA

Exploring the Land of the Dragon’s hidden gems

Story by Veronica Baluyut-Jimenez

‘WHY are you suddenly so pro-China?,” my husband asked, as I recounted my recent trip to that East Asian country. I told him that it wasn’t really about being pro-or anti-China.

I had simply gained a different perspective, an epiphany, you might say. Since my last visit to China over 10 years ago, so much has unbelievably changed.

I joined a 39-member tour group that travelled to places in China foreign tourists don’t even know aboutChengdu, Chongquing, Jiuzhaiguo , and Zhangjaijie. I wasn’t expecting much, having travelled to many beautiful places around the world. I didn’t think China could be any better than what I had already seen. But to my pleasant surprise, these places turned out to be hidden gems. We rode the fast train (350 kilometers per hour) and my coffee didn’t even spill. We rode the tour bus and I didn’t see nor feel a single pothole. My husband quipped, “I’m sure there were many homeless in the streets and trash everywhere. “

“Nope,” I countered. I didn’t see a single homeless person. Their sidewalks were so wide and clean you can build another two way road on it. And you know us women, we need to go to the ladies room every now and then. Ten years ago, our tour guide would say “follow your nose” because the stink will lead you to the toilets. Now, you can’t do that because the public toilets are so clean and high tech that there is no smell at all. Everywhere there are signs pointing to restrooms. In tourist areas, there seems to be an endless line of shuttles giving free rides. Locals didn’t even have to paythey simply swiped their IDs to enter attractions. It was evident that each tourist spot was carefully planned for a smooth flow of visitors.

What also surprised me was how much the people had changed. Years ago, I found them rude and nasty, especially when I haggled discounts at some stores. Now, they were smiling and accommodating, using translator apps to communicate. One store owner even opened his adjacent store for us at 10:30 at night. And, oh, how

we shopped! They had good quality, local brands at very reasonable prices and some were very cheap.

The snacks were incredibly diverse and flavorful— from savory to sweet. We sampled each one and stuffed a lot in our maletas for pasalubong. Some of the ones I especially liked were tender dried squid, the different flavored cracker mixed nuts, the soft, chewy marshmallow-like nougat with nuts, the dried berry with walnuts and the mochi balls in different flavors.

I’m still dreaming of that matcha drink I had, frothed with cream cheese and salt. Being in the Sichuan region, we encountered a lot of spicy food. We asked them to put the chili on the side because we were not too fond of super spicy food. We had sumptuous lauriats and buffets in different restaurants, which showcased dishes deeply rooted in regional traditions, with fresh, locally grown vegetables and organic meat.

As one of the oldest civilizations in the world, China has preserved its old-world charm, while embracing futuristic infrastructure and transport innovations to provide convenience for everyone. We traversed the alleyways of Phoenix Ancient Town where

Fiery but cool Camiguin

THE enchanting island province of Camiguin, the second smallest province in the country (after Batanes), has the distinction of having more volcanoes per square kilometer than any other island in the world. If fact, this island “born of fire” has more volcanos (seven) than towns (five). There’s no easy and direct way to get to Camiguin but it’s exciting and rustic landscape of icy-cold and hot springs, beautiful waterfalls, rugged, mountainous terrain, lush virgin forests and secluded opalescent black and white sand beaches plus its friendly and hospitable people has made the island province a “must-see” destination for local as well as foreign tourists.

The province’s volcanoes are responsible for its climate as they catch and hold the clouds and, therefore, it rains a lot. It is also responsible for most of its tourist attractions. Two of these attractions, in Catarman, are a result of the May 1, 1871 eruption of still active, 1,332-meter (4,370-foot) high Mount Hibok-Hibok - the Old Gui-ob Church (Cotta Batto) and the nearby Sunken Cemetery.

The former, Camiguin’s version of Albay’s Cagsawa Ruins, are the moss-covered, roofless and haunting ruins the old church (built in 1623), the rectory and, at the back of the church, the base of the bell tower. The lat-

ter, sunk during the eruption, is marked by a huge concrete white cross which was built from 1997 to 1999 to replace another installed further offshore in 1982.

Near here is another popular tourist spot—the Beehive Driftwood Café. Originally a bee farm, it was started by a Belgian expat and was built using driftwood collected from the shore (hence its name). With its sweet and cozy ambiance, it offers vegetarian and non-vegetarian cuisine, refreshing fruit shakes and ice cream, all made with organic ingredients. That eruption was also said to have covered the island’s white sand beaches with black sand and stones. Still, there are two remnants of these white sand beaches at the southern end of the island and offshore—

Mantigue Island and White Island. Not visiting the horseshoe-shaped, 2.4-hectare White Island, Camiguin’s pride, would be like not visiting Camiguin at all. This small, uninhabited and treeless, shape-shifting sandbar, with dazzling white, sugar-fine sand, is known for its postcard-perfect and Instagram-worthy views, with its backdrop of picturesque and majestic Mount HibokHibok and the dormant, 838-meter high Mount Vulcan Daan. Unlike the treeless White Island, the small (6.9-hectare) but captivating, mushroomlike and uninhabited Mantigue Island has a 4-hectare (9.9-acre) evergreen forest (providing plenty of shade) surrounded by a captivating and gleaming powdery, white coral sand beach, a sprawling fringing reef, with corals offshore, and crystal-clear waters.

The waters from these volcanoes also comes out in a number of hot and cold springs as well as waterfalls and rivers. The therapeutic Ardent Hot Spring, a government-owned and municipal government-run recreational and leisure facility since 1999, has three beautifully-designed natural stone swimming pools. The Bura Soda Water Pool, said to be the first of its kind in the country, has two mid-size pools, amidst lush vegetation, fed with cool, refreshing and clear, natural and unique effervescent soda water bubbling up from subterranean springs.  Both are fed by Mount Hibok-Hibok. On the other hand,

on Earth,” I marveled at the crystal clear lakes with various shades of turquoise amidst the serenity of the lush mountains and snowcapped peaks. Some of us in the tour group could not resist dressing up in traditional Tibetan costumes for photos. I asked my husband, “how can a country that has painstakingly built all these wonderful things over the past decades even want a war that could destroy it all? They would be crazy!” He said, “most likely it doesn’t! It’s more advantageous for them- and for us- to sit down and dialogue. We can learn from their technological advancements and settle whatever differences we have.”

Just like what former Senator Nikki Coseteng has been stressing, that “we need to prepare for peace rather than war. I think there is hope for the Philippines to achieve zero poverty and sustainable progress if we can only focus on good governance, fight corruption, improve education, and strive for inclusive growth- much like China has.” Then my husband blurted out, “Ok I’m going with you on your next trip to China!”

the Sto. Nino Cold Spring, the largest coldwater spring in the province, has icy-cold, crystal-clear spring water flowing from the dormant Mount Mambajao. The slim 76.2-meter (250-foot) high Katibawasan Falls, the highest falls in Camiguin and one of the tallest single-drop waterfalls in the country, is fed by nearby 1,614-meter (5,295-foot) high Mount Timpoong, the highest peak of Mount Mambajao. It cascades precipitously, down a monolithic cliff face, to a large rock pool. The beautiful 25-meter high Tuasan Falls, though much shorter than the more popular and more crowded Katibawasan Falls, has an impressive water flow. Considered to be the sweetest

celebrated every third weekend of October. Even the Taguines Lagoon (also known as the Camiguin Blue Lagoon), a beautiful artificial lake, is said to have been actually made from the crater of an extinct volcano. It is home to the Benoni Marine Sanctuary and is managed by the Bureau of Fisheries. Along its western bank, siting on stilts, with connecting wooden footbridges, is J&A Fishpen Resort and Restaurant. Here, bangus (milkfish), mamsa (jack), lunab

Editor: Edwin P. Sallan

the sole Hall of Fame awardee by the Chinese Embassy in the June 3 rites for the 2025 Award for Promoting Philipines-China Understanding (APPCU), Sen. Nikki Coseteng traveled to China, touring places of cultural, touristic and historical significance. She was joined on the trip by broadcast

Story & photos by Benjamin Locsin Layug

(surgeonfish), katambak (spadefish), danggit (seganid), maming (parrotfish), kitong and alimango (crabs) are bred in fish pens. The variety of fresh seafood available, which

can order,

fried, steamed, grilled, kilawin (ceviche) or cooked with soup.

Soda Water Pool

KATIBAWASAN Falls OLD Guiob Church

SUNKEN Cemetery

MANTIGUE Island

DRESSED in Tibetan costume and posing before one of the lakes in Jiuzhaigou are from left Letty Sze, Former Sen. Nikki Coseteng and the author

THE 39 member tour group

A SCENE from the musical “The Foxy Lady and the Woodcutter” at the outdoor theater in Tianmen Mountain

AN aquamarine lake in Jiuzhaigou

Well-lit tiered structures in Hongyadong in Chongqing

AN assortment of delicacies for the adventurous being sold at Phoenix Ancient Town

THE Glass Bridge in Tianmen Mountain National Forest Park in Hunan Province

Editor: Angel R. Calso

Iran strikes Weizmann Institute, targeting Israel’s scientific hub as conflict escalates

By Tia Goldenberg & Moshe Edri The Associated Press

REHOVOT, Israel—For years, Israel has targeted Iranian nuclear scientists, hoping to choke progress on Iran’s nuclear program by striking at the brains behind it.

Now, with Iran and Israel in an open-ended direct conflict, scientists in Israel have found themselves in the crosshairs after an Iranian missile struck a premier research institute known for its work in life sciences and physics, among other fields.

While no one was killed in the strike on the Weizmann Institute of Science early Sunday, it caused heavy damage to multiple labs on campus, snuffing out years of scientific research and sending a chilling message to Israeli scientists that they and their expertise are now targets in the escalating conflict with Iran.

“It’s a moral victory” for Iran, said Oren Schuldiner, a professor in the department of molecular cell biology and the department of molecular neuroscience whose lab was obliterated in the strike. “They managed to harm the crown jewel of science in Israel.”

Iranian scientists were a prime target in a long shadow war DURING years of a shadow war between Israel and Iran that preceded the current conflict, Israel repeatedly targeted Iranian nuclear scientists with the aim of setting back Iran’s nuclear program. Israel continued that tactic with its initial blow against Iran days ago, killing multiple nuclear scientists, along with top generals, as well as striking nuclear facilities and ballistic missile infrastructure.

For its part, Iran has been accused of targeting at least one Weizmann scientist before. Last year, Israeli authorities said they busted an Iranian spy ring that devised a plot to follow and assassinate an Israeli nuclear scientist who worked and lived at the institute.

Citing an indictment, Israeli

media said the suspects, Palestinians from east Jerusalem, gathered information about the scientist and photographed the exterior of the Weizmann Institute but were arrested before they could proceed.

With Iran’s intelligence penetration into Israel far less successful than Israel’s, those plots have not been seen through, making this week’s strike on Weizmann that much more jarring.

“The Weizmann Institute has been in Iran’s sights,” said Yoel Guzansky, an Iran expert and senior researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies, a Tel Aviv think tank. He stressed that he did not know for certain whether Iran intended to strike the institute but believed it did.

While it is a multidisciplinary research institute, Weizmann, like other Israeli universities, has ties to Israel’s defense establishment, including collaborations with industry leaders like Elbit Systems, which is why it may have been targeted.

But Guzansky said the institute primarily symbolizes “Israeli scientific progress” and the strike against it shows Iran’s thinking: “You harm our scientists, so we are also harming (your) scientific cadre.”

Damage to the institute and labs ‘literally decimated’ WEIZMANN , founded in 1934

and later renamed after Israel’s first president, ranks among the world’s top research institutes. Its scientists and researchers publish hundreds of studies each year. One Nobel laureate in chemistry and three Turing Award laureates have been associated with the institute, which built the first computer in Israel in 1954.

Two buildings were hit in the strike, including one housing life sciences labs and a second that was empty and under construction but meant for chemistry study, according to the institute. Dozens of other buildings were damaged.

The campus has been closed since the strike, although media were allowed to visit Thursday. Large piles of rock, twisted metal and other debris were strewn on campus. There were shattered windows, collapsed ceiling panels and charred walls.

A photo shared on X by one professor showed flames rising near a heavily damaged structure with debris scattered on the ground nearby.

“Several buildings were hit quite hard, meaning that some labs were literally decimated, really leaving nothing,” said Sarel Fleishman, a professor of biochemics who said he has visited the site since the strike.

Life’s work of many researchers is gone

MANY of those labs focus on the life sciences, whose projects are especially sensitive to physical damage, Fleishman said. The labs were studying areas like tissue generation, developmental biology or cancer, with much of their work now halted or severely set back by the damage.

“This was the life’s work of many people,” he said, noting that years’ or even decades’ worth of research was destroyed.

For Schuldiner, the damage means the lab he has worked at for 16 years “is entirely gone. No trace. There is nothing to save.” In that once gleaming lab, he kept thousands of genetically modified flies used for research into the development of the human nervous system, which helped provide insights into autism and schizophrenia, he said.

The lab housed equipment like sophisticated microscopes. Researchers from Israel and abroad joined hands in the study effort.

“All of our studies have stopped,” he said, estimating it would take years to rebuild and get the science work back on track. “It’s very significant damage to the science that we can create and to the contribution we can make to the world.”

Goldenberg reported from Tel Aviv, Israel. This story was submitted to Israel’s military censor, which made no changes.

Foreigners evacuated by air, land and sea as Israel-Iran war worsens

ISLAMABAD—Countries are evacuating their nationals from Israel and Iran by air, land and sea as conflict rages between the bitter rivals.

Days of attacks and reprisals by the two enemies have shuttered airspace across the Middle East, severely disrupting commercial flights and leaving people unable to get in or out of the region easily.

Some governments are using land borders to get their citizens out by road to countries where airports remain open.

Thousands of foreigners have already left since the conflict started last week when Israel launched surprise missile strikes on Iran.

Bulgaria

BULGARIA has moved all its diplomats from Tehran to the capital of Azerbaijan, Baku, the Balkan country’s prime minister said Thursday.

“We are not closing the embassy, but moving it to Baku until the danger passes,” said Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov.

A group of 89 Bulgarians was evacuated from Israel by plane to Sofia, along with 59 nationals from Slovenia, the US, Belgium, Albania, Kosovo and Romania.

They left from the Egyptian city of Sharm el-Sheikh, where they had been transferred by bus across the border from Israel.

He said the government had urged all Bulgarians willing to join the convoy to do so. They set off in 11 vehicles on Wednesday morning.

“There were alternatives. They could travel via Turkey, but eventually we decided that they should go via Azerbaijan,” Zhelyazkov added.

China

CHINA said it has evacuated more than 1,600 nationals from Iran and “several hundred others” from Israel.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said Beijing would continue to do its “utmost to assist in the safe transfer and evacuation of Chinese citizens.”

Aell Huang, who was in the Iranian city of Isfahan, said he didn’t feel safe during the conflict. “I heard explosions from time to time. Civilians got hurt too. I got more

prepared mentally once I saw the embassy’s warning.”

He and some friends hired a car and headed to Azerbaijan, waiting at border control for almost 12 hours, where he saw as many as 60 other Chinese nationals.

The Chinese Embassy said it would organize group evacuations by bus from Israel starting Friday.

A notice posted on the embassy’s WeChat social media account said citizens would be taken out through the Taba border crossing to Egypt. It asked them to register online and said they would be notified of the evacuation time.

People carrying Chinese, Hong Kong, and Macao passports were eligible, the notice said.

European Union

THE European Union has helped evacuate some 400 people from Israel via Jordan and Egypt as part of its efforts to coordinate an emergency response within the 27-nation bloc.

“Member states coordinate the list and we co-finance these flights up to 75% of the transport costs,” European Commission spokesperson Eva Hrncirova told a regular press conference in Brussels on Wednesday.

Hrncirova said the EU was fielding requests by Slovakia, Lithuania, Greece, and Poland for assistance with Middle East evacuations.

France

FRENCH Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said Thursday it was helping nationals who want to leave Iran and Israel to do so through neighboring countries where commercial flights were still available.

Barrot said people in Iran could travel to Armenia and Turkey without a visa. Those unable to reach the border on their own would be “transported by convoy by the end of the week” so they could take commercial flights to France.

French nationals wanting to leave Israel can go via Jordan and Egypt. From Friday morning, some buses will carry passengers from the Israeli border to Amman and Sharm el-Sheikh airports.

Germany

GERMANY flew 171 people out of Amman on a special flight on Wednesday. A further 174 people returned on Thursday and another flight is planned this weekend.

Passenger Daniel Halav, who was stuck in Tel Aviv, said he had “never been so glad to be home” after landing in Frankfurt, the German news agency dpa reported.

But, he said, “we had to take care of ourselves of how we got to Amman. From my point of view, we were left a bit alone there.”

The German Foreign Ministry said officials had decided against organizing convoys to get people to Amman, arguing this move could have created a security risk and that those wishing to leave were scattered across Israel.

Greece

GREECE’S Foreign Ministry said 141 Greeks and other nationals have been evacuated from Israel via Egypt.

The group included citizens from Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, France, Germany, Georgia, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Portugal, Romania, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United States.

They were flown to Athens early Wednesday from Sharm el-Sheikh aboard two military transport planes.

India

INDIA said it evacuated 110 students by road from northern Iran to the Armenian capital, Yerevan. They left on a special flight on June 18.

The Indian Embassy in Iran has been helping nationals to move from areas experiencing increased hostilities to relatively

safer areas within the country, subsequently evacuating them, according to the Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi.

Israel

AS of Thursday, some 22,000 holidaymakers had asked the Israeli Tourism Ministry to help them leave the country. There are around 38,000 tourists in Israel.

The Transport Ministry said thousands of Israelis have returned daily in the past few days, with 21 planes bringing back nationals stranded abroad since the start of the aerial campaign against Iran.

The Population, Immigration, and Border Authority said 38,250 Israelis entered the country between June 13 and 19, and 21,456 left during the same period.

The majority of arrivals and departures were by land.

Middle East and North Africa

O MAN said Thursday it had evacuated 245 of its citizens and nationals from other countries via the Iranian coastal city of Bandar Abbas.

Ten buses transported Omani citizens from Iran’s north into Turkey. A further three buses crossed into Iraq.

Indonesia

THE Indonesian government on Thursday decided to evacuate its nationals from Iran.

“Our citizens are at risk,” Indonesia’s Foreign Affairs Minister Sugiono said. “Over the past two days, Israel’s attacks have grown more intense, not only targeting the military, but also civilians.”

He said about 386 Indonesians, mostly students, were in Iran, primarily in the city

of Qom. The ministry earlier said some 194 Indonesians were in Israel, mostly student interns in the southern city of Rafah.

Sugiono did not give a timeframe for evacuations, but said Iran has promised to help with the process.

Japan

JAPAN’S Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya said Friday that a total of 87 Japanese nationals and their families have safely evacuated from Iran and Israel to neighboring Azerbaijan and Jordan.

Sixty-six people who left Iran on Thursday by bus arrived in the Azerbaijan capital of Baku early Friday, while 21 others from Israel arrived in Amman, Jordan. The evacuees are in good health and are being assisted by emergency relief staff from Japanese embassies, Iwaya said.

The government is preparing for a second evacuation by bus for as early as Saturday, Iwaya said.

He said two C-2 defense aircraft are expected to head to Djibouti to stand by for a possible airlifting mission when airports in Iran and Israel reopen. “We will do utmost for the protection of the Japanese nationals, including assistance for their evacuation, as we closely watch the development in the area,” Iwaya said.

Some 280 Japanese were in Iran, and 1,000 were in Israel.

Poland

DEPUTY Foreign Minister Henryka MoscickaDendys said a group would depart from Amman by military aircraft on Thursday, following road transportation from Israel to the Jordanian border.

Some 160 Poles arrived in Warsaw on Wednesday morning from Israel via Egypt, the Polish news agency PAP reported.

The deputy minister said while there were no plans to evacuate citizens from Iran, Warsaw was helping with the departure of non-essential personnel from the embassy in Tehran.

The staff, along with seven Polish citizens, left the Iranian capital on Wednesday morning for the Azerbaijan border.

South Korea S OUTH KOREA’S Foreign Ministry says 18 South Korean nationals and two Iranian family members were evacuated from Iran and arrived in Turkmenistan late Wednesday by land.

The ministry described the evacuation as a preemptive move to protect citizens as the closure of airspace would have otherwise made it difficult for them to leave. It urged South Koreans in Iran and Israel to promptly depart in line with embassy instructions and advised travelers to cancel or postpone trips to the region. Twenty-five nationals and one Israeli family member were escorted out of Israel by embassy staff and arrived in Jordan on Thursday morning.

Thailand THAI nationals have been advised to leave Tehran at the earliest opportunity and avoid traveling to affected areas, although there is no immediate plan for an evacuation from Iran, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nikorndej Balankura said Wednesday. He said there are about 350 Thais in Iran and only five had expressed a wish to return to Thailand. The embassy in Tehran has set up a temporary shelter for Thais in Amol and has temporarily relocated its office to Kordan to ensure the safety of those needing to travel for the services.

The embassy has also prepared the land routes for Thais to travel to Iran’s neighbors, Nikorndej said.

United States THE State Department is planning to evacuate Americans from Israel by air and on cruise ships, according to the US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee. Huckabee said Americans interested in leaving Israel should enroll in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program for updates. There are some 700,000 Americans, many of them dual US-Israeli citizens, in Israel and thousands more in other Mideast countries, including Iran.

The Associated Press writers from around the world contributed to this report.

THE Weizmann Institute of Science, located in Rehovot, Israel, sustained damage from an Iranian missile strike, Thursday, June 19, 2025. AP/MAYA ALLERUZZO

A10 Saturday, June 21, 2025

Trump says he’ll decide whether US will directly attack Iran within 2 weeks

By Sam Mednick, Natalie Melzer & Jon Gambrell Associated Press

EERSHEBA, Israel—Presi -

Bdent Donald Trump said Thursday he will decide within two weeks whether the US military will get directly involved in the conflict between Israel and Iran given the “substantial chance” for renewed negotiations over Tehran’s nuclear program, as the two sides attacked one another for a seventh day.

Trump has been weighing whether to attack Iran by striking its well-defended Fordo uranium enrichment facility, which is buried under a mountain and widely considered to be out of reach of all but America’s “bunker-buster” bombs. His statement was read out by White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.

Earlier in the day, Israel’s defense minister threatened Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei after Iranian missiles crashed into a major hospital in southern Israel and hit residential buildings near Tel Aviv, wounding at least 240 people. Israel’s military “has been instructed and knows that in order to achieve all of its goals, this man absolutely should not continue to exist,” Defense Minister Israel Katz said.

As rescuers wheeled patients out of the smoldering hospital, Israeli warplanes launched their latest attack on Iran’s nuclear program.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he trusted that Trump would “do what’s best for America.” Speaking from the rubble and shattered glass around the Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba, he added: “I can tell you that they’re already helping a lot.”

A new diplomatic initiative appeared to be underway as Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi

prepared to travel Friday to Geneva for meetings with the European Union’s top diplomat and counterparts from the United Kingdom, France and Germany.

Britain’s foreign secretary said he met at the White House with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and envoy Steve Witkoff, to discuss the potential for a deal that could cool the conflict.

“A window now exists within the next two weeks to achieve a diplomatic solution,” Britain’s David Lammy said in a social media post after Thursday’s meeting.

The open conflict between Israel and Iran erupted last Friday with a surprise wave of Israeli airstrikes targeting nuclear and military sites, top generals and nuclear scientists. At least 657 people, including 263 civilians, have been killed in Iran and more than 2,000 wounded, according to a Washington-based Iranian human rights group.

Iran has retaliated by firing 450 missiles and 1,000 drones at Israel, according to Israeli army estimates. Most have been shot down by Israel’s multitiered air defenses, but at least 24 people in Israel have been killed and hundreds wounded.

Many hospitals have transferred patients underground ISRAEL’S Home Front Command asserted that one of the Iranian ballistic missiles fired Thursday morning had been rigged with fragmenting cluster munitions. Rather than a conventional warhead, a cluster munition warhead carries dozens of submunitions that can explode on impact, showering small bomblets around a large area and posing major safety risks on the ground. The Israeli military did not say where that missile had been fired. At least 80 patients and medical workers were wounded in the strike on Soroka Medical Center.

The vast majority were lightly wounded, as much of the hospital building had been evacuated in recent days.

Iranian officials insisted they had not sought to strike the hospital and claimed the attack hit a facility belonging to the Israeli military’s elite technological unit, called C4i. The website for the GavYam Negev advanced technologies park, some 3 kilometers (2 miles) from the hospital, said C4i had a branch campus in the area.

The Israeli army did not respond to a request for comment. An Israeli military official, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with regulations, acknowledged that there was no specific intelligence that Iran had planned to target the hospital.

Many hospitals in Israel, including Soroka, had activated emergency plans in the past week. They converted parking garages to wards and transferred vulnerable patients underground. Israel also has a fortified, subterranean blood bank that kicked into action after Hamas’

October 7, 2023, attack ignited the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip.

Doctors at Soroka said the Iranian missile struck almost immediately after air raid sirens went off, causing an explosion that could be heard from a safe room. The strike inflicted the greatest damage on an old surgery building and affected key infrastructure, including gas, water and air-conditioning systems, the medical center said.

The hospital, which provides services to around 1 million residents, had been caring for 700 patients at the time. After the strike, the hospital closed to all patients except for life-threatening cases.

Iran rejects calls to surrender or end its nuclear program

IRAN has long maintained its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes. But it is the only nonnuclear-weapon state to enrich uranium up to 60%, a short, technical step away from weaponsgrade levels of 90%.

Israel is widely believed to be the only country with a nuclear

weapons program in the Middle East but has never acknowledged the existence of its arsenal.

The Israeli air campaign has targeted Iran’s enrichment site at Natanz, centrifuge workshops around Tehran, a nuclear site in Isfahan and what the army assesses to be most of Iran’s ballistic missile launchers. The destruction of those launchers has contributed to the steady decline in Iranian attacks since the start of the conflict.

Israeli airstrikes reached into the city of Rasht on the Caspian Sea early Friday, Iranian media reported. The Israeli military had warned the public to flee the area around Rasht’s Industrial City, southwest of the city’s downtown. But with Iran’s internet shut off to the outside world, it’s unclear just how many people could see the message.

On Thursday, anti-aircraft artillery was audible across Tehran, and witnesses in the central city of Isfahan reported seeing antiaircraft fire after nightfall.

Trump’s announcement of a decision in the next two weeks opened up diplomatic options, with the apparent hope Iran would make concessions after suffering major military losses.

But at least publicly, Iran has struck a hard line.

Iran’s supreme leader on Wednesday rejected US calls for surrender and warned that any US military involvement would cause “irreparable damage to them.”

Parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf on Thursday criticized Trump for using military pressure to gain an advantage in nuclear negotiations. The latest indirect talks between Iran and the US, set for last Sunday, were cancelled.

“The delusional American president knows that he cannot impose peace on us by imposing war and threatening us,” he said.

Iran agreed to redesign Arak to address nuclear concerns

ISRAEL’S military said its fighter jets targeted the Arak heavy water reactor, some 250 kilometers (155 miles) southwest of Tehran, to prevent it from being used to produce plutonium.

Iranian state TV said there was “no radiation danger whatsoever” around the Arak site, which it said had been evacuated ahead of the strike.

Heavy water helps cool nuclear reactors, but it produces plutonium as a byproduct that potentially can be used in nuclear weapons. That would provide Iran another path to the bomb beyond enriched uranium, should it choose to pursue the weapon.

Iran had agreed under its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers to redesign the facility to alleviate proliferation concerns. That work was never completed. The reactor became a point of contention after Trump withdrew from the deal in 2018. Ali Akbar Salehi, a high-ranking nuclear official in Iran, said in 2019 that Tehran bought extra parts to replace a portion of the reactor that it had poured concrete into under the deal. Israel said strikes were carried out “in order to prevent the reactor from being restored and used for nuclear weapons development.”

The International Atomic Energy Agency has said that due to restrictions imposed by Iran on inspectors, the UN nuclear watchdog has lost “continuity of knowledge” about Iran’s heavy water production—meaning it could not absolutely verify Tehran’s production and stockpile.

Melzer reported from Tel Aviv, Israel, and Gambrell from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Associated Press writers Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv and Ellen Knickmeyer in Washington contributed.

A MAN walks in the damaged headquarters of Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, Iranian state television, in Tehran, Iran, Thursday, June 19, 2025. AP/VAHID SALE MI

Road to $3.7

By Emily Nicolle, Anna Irrera & Emily Mason

THE passage of stablecoin legislation in the US Senate marks a huge leap forward for the potential mainstreaming of cryptocurrencies that track the US dollar one-to-one.

Yet there are still big problems to solve before many businesses can capitalize on the opportunities that are arising. Now, stablecoins are taking the leap from their original use as crypto-market poker chips to common mediums of exchange, offering merchants and consumers cheaper and more efficient payments systems.   Among the hurdles getting in the way of the hype: An uneven regulatory environment between major markets like the US and the European Union that threatens to create compliance risks, as well as gaps in know-your-customer standards that raise concerns about fraud and illicit activity. What’s more, the potential proliferation of competing stablecoins from issuers large and small could create complexity that stymies their adoption.

“As with any new form of value, widespread adoption necessitates regulatory clarity, consistent legal frameworks across jurisdictions and – importantly – interoperability with existing infrastructure and assets,” said Tom Zscach, chief innovation officer at Swift, the global bank-messaging cooperative. “Without this last point, new assets just risk creating additional fragmentation in an already complex financial ecosystem.”

The eye-popping success of stablecoin issuer Circle Internet Group Inc.’s initial public offering—its shares are trading at about five times their offering price less than two weeks later— speaks to the optimism surrounding the potential growth to be found in this once-obscure corner of the crypto market. Meanwhile, financial giants including PayPal Inc., Banco Santander SA and Deutsche Bank AG are among those who have recently explored or already entered the space, while others like Visa Inc. and Stripe Inc. have adapted their existing infrastructure to be stablecoinfriendly. Even President Donald Trump has launched a stablecoin via his family’s venture, World Liberty Financial Inc.  For merchants and other businesses, the advantages of using the tokens could be significant: lower

trillion stablecoin market full of regulatory uncertainty and security risks

transaction costs, faster payments and 24/7 availability. Banks and fintechs are not the only ones taking notice. Amazon.com Inc. and Walmart Inc. are among large multinational companies which have recently discussed issuing their own stablecoins in the US, the Wall Street Journal reported last week, citing unidentified people familiar with the matter.

It all could lead to an explosion of growth in the sector. The world’s supply of stablecoins could swell to as high as $3.7 trillion by 2030 if growing integration of digital assets into traditional finance and favorable macroeconomic conditions continue, Citigroup Inc. analysts said in an April report. But there’s a caveat to that prediction. Should risks like delayed regulations, fraud and security concerns go unmitigated, Citi estimated the figure could be closer to $500 billion, which nonetheless is still about double what it is today.

While the sector has already rapidly grown in popularity, stablecoins are still largely used for transactions related to the cryptocurrency market rather than business payments. The total volume of all stablecoin transactions was nearly $4 trillion in February, according to data compiled by Allium Labs and Visa. Yet only $6 billion in stablecoin transactions categorized as payments were recorded that month, an analysis of data collated by Artemis, Castle Island Ventures and Dragonfly Capital showed.

Lower fees and faster THE use case for payments has started to gain traction, even before US legislation officially goes into the books. Shadeform AI, a San Francisco-based startup running a marketplace for providers of artificial intelligence technology, started accepting stablecoins as a payment method in February, facilitated by its existing payments processing partner Stripe.

Since then, Shadeform has seen transaction cost savings of up to 70% when a customer chooses to pay using Circle’s stablecoin USDC, Chief Technology Officer Ronald Ding said in an interview. At sticker prices, Stripe charges 2.9% for payments using credit cards in the US, plus a small flat fee, with an added 1.5% on top if the customer is paying with an international card. While Automated Clearing House payments and wire transfers can be

cheaper than credit cards, those transactions can take up to a week to clear.

For stablecoin payments, that Stripe fee drops to 1.5%—and the cash arrives instantly. As a result, customers paying in USDC don’t have to wait for the check to clear before Shadeform can give them access to the computing power they’ve bought, and Shadeform isn’t exposed to potential chargebacks, Ding said.

“Being able to save the difference, in certain cases, can save us a lot more on the actual profit that we’re making,” he said.

Companies are also finding stablecoins useful for streamlining payments to workers around the world.

Agility Writer, an AI content software business based in Malaysia, started using stablecoins after it lost a developer in Argentina because fees for traditional payment methods were too costly and taking too long to clear. Now about 30% of the company’s external payments go through USDC, according to CEO Adam Yong, including those made to some of its own software providers.

“What convinced me was seeing how much smoother our operations run when we’re not waiting on bank transfers or dealing with currency conversion headaches,” Yong said over e-mail.

Stablecoins are also becoming a practical payment solution for companies with suppliers in areas with limited access to traditional banking services. Win Win Coffee, a Philadelphia-based merchant, has been testing out PayPal’s PYUSD stablecoin and is considering using it to pay for coffee from a farmers’ cooperative in Colombia.

“A lot of people need cash, and a lot of these producers are unbanked. When they’re living in areas where banks aren’t very close by, stablecoin helps,” said Matt Nam, co-founder of Win Win. “If we’re doing things more securely and we’re sending payments faster, that helps us to have some competitive advantage.”

Low liquidity STILL , stablecoins remain cumbersome for very large payments

due to relatively low liquidity compared with the vast volumes handled by global banks each day. JPMorgan Chase & Co. alone processes around $10 trillion in daily transactions.

“Where it gets clunky is in the hundred of millions of dollars,” said Chris Harmse, co-founder of stablecoin payments company BVNK. “If you are moving interbank-sized flows it will get clunky.” This is likely to change as stablecoins gain further acceptance by existing payment processors, he added.

Some jurisdictions like the European Union, Singapore and Hong Kong now have rules for stablecoins, but major players like the US and the UK aren’t expected to have regulation fully implemented for months or even years to come. That uncertainty currently makes it harder for businesses weighing whether to use them for payments.

“Firms are kind of stuck because 18 months, from a policymaking perspective, is incredibly fast, almost overly ambitious,” said Laura Navaratnam, UK policy lead at the Crypto Council for Innovation, speaking on a panel organized by Stripe in London last month. “But from a commercial perspective, it may as well be a decade away.”

As a result, it’s hard for businesses to know whether they’re in compliance with existing rules in areas like KYC checks and antimoney laundering measures. Operating on brand new and complex technology means businesses also have to get up to speed on how to use some services, or spend time and money converting their backend systems to work with new suppliers.

And while cross-border payments is a compelling use case for stablecoins, liquidity is limited for non-dollar tokens since the vast majority of the $250 billion stablecoin market is denominated in the US currency. This makes it hard to settle payments efficiently in local currencies.

German manufacturing giant Siemens AG is not testing or considering stablecoins, in part because they still “bring a number of structural disadvantages,”

Heiko Nix, the company’s global head of cash management and payments, said in an interview. These include currency conversion steps and FX risk, especially when stablecoins are US dollarpegged and used in a euro environment, Nix said.

Instead, the company has been using JPMorgan’s blockchainbased payment network Kinexys Digital Payments for two years, currently processing about 1,000 payments a month. “We see no added value in stablecoins compared to tokenized commercial bank money, especially for industrial or treasury use,” Nix said.

Tokenized deposits are typically digital tokens issued by regulated banks that represent claims on bank deposits. They are in essence bank account balances represented on a blockchain.

“Tokenized commercial bank money offers all technical benefits—24/7 availability, programmability, atomic settlement—while retaining the legal and accounting features of conventional cash,” Nix said. “It integrates seam -

lessly into our systems without added complexity,” he added.

Regulatory uncertainty TODAY, compliance with taxes and local rules are taking priority for businesses over speed or cost efficiency, according to Gabriele Zuliani, chief revenue officer for crypto exchange Bitso Inc.’s business division. “Unless you provide the clarity on these two fundamental pieces—they may love the technology and the speed of the settlement and everything—but there is a huge barrier for adoption because they don’t know if they’re getting themselves into trouble,” said Zuliani, speaking at the Stripe event in London.

Still, issuers like PayPal remain positive that stablecoins will get their moment.

“It’s not a silver bullet, and I think people sometimes get a little bit impatient,” May Zabaneh, PayPal’s vice president of product for digital currencies and remittances, said in an interview. “These are things that we have to work hard at.” Bloomberg News

ICE raids and their uncertainty scare off workers and baffle US businesses

By Paul Wiseman AP Economics Writer

ASHINGTON—Farm -

Wers, cattle ranchers and hotel and restaurant managers breathed a sigh of relief last week when President Donald Trump ordered a pause to immigration raids that were disrupting those industries and scaring foreign-born workers off the job.

“There was finally a sense of calm,’’ said Rebecca Shi, CEO of the American Business Immigration Coalition. That respite didn’t last long.

On Wednesday, Assistant Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Tricia McLaughlin declared, “There will be no safe spaces for industries who harbor violent criminals or purposely try to undermine (immigration enforcement) efforts. Worksite enforcement remains a cornerstone of our efforts to safeguard public safety, national security and economic stability.’’

The flipflop baffled businesses trying to figure out the government’s actual policy, and Shi says now “there’s fear and worry once more.”

“That’s not a way to run business when your employees are at this level of stress and trauma,” she said.

Trump campaigned on a promise to deport millions of immigrants working in the United States illegally—an issue that has long fired up his GOP base. The crackdown intensified a few weeks ago when Stephen Miller, White House deputy chief of staff, gave the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement a quota of 3,000 arrests a day, up from 650 a day in the first five months of Trump’s second term.

Suddenly, ICE seemed to be everywhere. “We saw ICE agents on farms, pointing assault rifles at cows, and removing half the workforce,’’ said Shi, whose coalition represents 1,700 employers and supports increased legal immigration.

One ICE raid left a New Mexico dairy with just 20 workers, down from 55. “You can’t turn off cows,’’ said Beverly Idsinga, the executive director of the Dairy Producers of New Mexico. “They need to be milked twice a day, fed twice a day.’’ Claudio Gonzalez, a chef at Izakaya Gazen in Los Angeles’ Little Tokyo district, said many of his Hispanic workers—whether they’re in the country legally or not—have been calling out of work recently due to fears that they will be targeted by ICE. His restaurant is a few blocks away from a collection of federal buildings, including an ICE detention center.

“They sometimes are too scared to work their shift,” Gonzalez said.

“They kind of feel like it’s based on skin color.” In some places, the problem isn’t ICE but rumors of ICE. At cherryharvesting time in Washington state, many foreign-born workers are staying away from the orchards after hearing reports of impending immigration raids. One operation that usually employs 150 pickers is down to 20. Never mind that there hasn’t actually been any sign of ICE in the orchards.

“We’ve not heard of any real raids,’’ said Jon Folden, orchard manager for the farm cooperative Blue Bird in Washington’s Wenatchee River Valley. “We’ve heard a lot of rumors.’’ Jennie Murray, CEO of the advocacy group National Immigration Forum, said some immigrant parents worry that their workplaces will be raided and they’ll be hauled off by ICE while their kids are in school. They ask themselves, she said: “Do I show up and then my second-grader gets off the school bus and doesn’t have a parent to raise them? Maybe I shouldn’t show up for work.’’

The horror stories were conveyed to Trump, members of his administration and lawmakers in Congress by business advocacy and immigration reform groups like Shi’s coalition. Last Thursday, the president posted on his Truth Social platform that “Our great Farmers and people in the Hotel and Leisure business have been stating that our very aggressive policy on immigration is taking very good, long-time workers away from them, with those jobs being almost impossible to replace.”

It was another case of Trump’s political agenda slamming smack into economic reality. With US unemployment low at 4.2%, many businesses are desperate for workers, and immigration provides them.

According to the US Census Bureau, foreign-born workers made up less than 19% of employed workers in the United States in 2023. But they accounted for nearly 24% of jobs preparing and serving food and 38% of jobs in farming, fishing and forestry.

“It really is clear to me that the people pushing for these raids that target farms and feed yards and dairies have no idea how farms operate,” Matt Teagarden, CEO of the Kansas Livestock Association, said Tuesday during a virtual press conference.

Torsten Slok, chief economist at Apollo Global Management, estimated in January that undocumented workers account for 13% of US farm

jobs and 7% of jobs in hospitality businesses such as hotels, restaurants and bars.

The Pew Research Center found last year that 75% of US registered voters—including 59% of Trump supporters—agreed that undocumented immigrants mostly fill jobs that American citizens don’t want. And an influx of immigrants in 2022 and 2023 allowed the United States to overcome an outbreak of inflation without tipping into recession.

In the past, economists estimated that America’s employers could add no more than 100,000 jobs a month without overheating the economy and igniting inflation. But economists Wendy Edelberg and Tara Watson of the Brookings Institution calculated that because of the immigrant arrivals, monthly job growth could reach 160,000 to 200,000 without exerting upward pressure on prices.

Now Trump’s deportation plans—and the uncertainty around them—are weighing on businesses and the economy.

“The reality is, a significant portion of our industry relies on immigrant labor—skilled, hardworking people who’ve been part of our workforce for years. When there are sudden crackdowns or raids, it slows timelines, drives up costs, and makes it harder to plan ahead,” says Patrick Murphy, chief investment officer at the Florida building firm Coastal Construction and a former Democratic member of Congress. “ We’re not sure from one month to the next what the rules are going to be or how they’ll be enforced. That uncertainty makes it really hard to operate a forward-looking business.”

Adds Douglas Holtz Eakin, former director of the Congressional Budget Office and now president of the conservative American Action Forum think tank: “ICE had detained people who are here lawfully and so now lawful immigrants are afraid to go to work...All of this goes against other economic objectives the administration might have. The immigration policy and the economic p olicy are not lining up at all.”

AP Staff Writers Jaime Ding in Los Angeles; Valerie Gonzalez in McAllen, Texas; Lisa Mascaro and Chris Megerian in Washington; Mae Anderson and Matt Sedensky in New York, and Associated Press/ Report for America journalist Jack Brook in New Orleans contributed to this report.

Masayoshi Son pitches $1 trillion US AI hub to TSMC, Trump team

By Min Jeong Lee, Mackenzie Hawkins & Anto Antony

SOFTBANK Group Corp. founder Masayoshi Son is seeking to team up with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. to realize what could be his biggest bet yet—a trillion-dollar industrial complex in Arizona to build robots and artificial intelligence. Son envisions a version of the vast manufacturing hub of China’s Shenzhen that would bring back high-tech manufacturing to the US, according to people familiar with the billionaire’s thinking. The park may comprise production lines for AI-powered industrial robots, they said, asking not to be named as the plan remains private.

SoftBank officials are keen to have the Taiwanese maker of Nvidia Corp.’s advanced AI chips play a prominent role in the project, although it’s not clear what part Son sees for TSMC, which already plans to invest $165 billion in the US and has started mass production at its first Arizona factory. Nor is it clear that TSMC would be interested. A person familiar

with the chipmaker’s thinking said that SoftBank’s project has no bearing on TSMC’s plans in Phoenix. Shares of SoftBank jumped as much as 2.3% in Tokyo Friday. TSMC’s stock price rose 1.9% in Taipei.

Codenamed “Project Crystal Land,” the Arizona complex represents the 67-year-old SoftBank chief’s most ambitious attempt in a career that’s spanned numerous bet-the-house bids, thousands-fold-returns and billions of dollars in losses. Son, who’s often expressed disappointment in his own legacy, has repeatedly said he means to do everything he can to hurry AI development.

SoftBank officials have spoken with federal and state government officials to discuss possible tax breaks for companies building factories or otherwise investing in the industrial park, including talks with US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, the people said.

The Japanese billionaire is also personally sounding out interest among an array of tech companies, they said. The project has been floated to executives

at South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co., they said. Representatives of SoftBank, TSMC and Samsung declined to comment. A Commerce Department spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Son has pulled together a list of SoftBank Vision Fund portfolio companies that might take part in the Arizona manufacturing hub, the people said. SoftBank-backed startups working on robotics and automation technologies— such as Agile Robots SE—may set up production facilities at the industrial complex, they said.

The plans are preliminary and feasibility hinges on support from the Trump administration and state officials. While the cost of the project as envisioned by Son may require as much as $1 trillion to execute—a sum previously reported by the Nikkei—the actual scale depends on interest from big technology companies. If successful, Son has floated building multiple cutting-edge industrial parks across the US. With assistance from Debby Wu, Catherine Lucey, Yoolim Lee and Mayumi Negishi/Bloomberg

Sports

Pacers to Thunder: Not in our house!

when the Pacers blew a seven-point, fourth quarter lead to blow the homecourt edge they earned courtesy of Haliburton’s last second shot to beat the Thunder in Game 1.

Those results made this more than a win-or-go-home scenario for the Pacers.

This time their boisterous crowd made sure it wasn’t close. “This is the loudest I’ve ever heard Gainbridge [Fieldhouse] or Conseco [Fieldhouse],” coach Rick Carlisle joked, referring to the only other time the finals were played in Indy in 2000. “The crowd was absolutely tremendous and we’re playing the best team on the planet.”

Oklahoma City Thunder.

The winner-take-all Game 7 is Sunday night in Oklahoma City.

“They rallied and got behind our group and here’s a do or die game and as much as we didn’t want to lose this game and see a celebration on our floor, our fans didn›t want to see that either,” Tyrese Haliburton said after finishing with 14 points and five assists in 23 minutes on a strained right calf.

Haliburton saw it himself last year when he watched helplessly from the sidelines for the Games 3 and 4 of last season’s Eastern Conference final sweep by eventual champion Boston. He was there again for Game 4

The Pacers found inspiration everywhere they looked after suffering their first back-to-back losses since March 10.

First, Haliburton had to convince trainers he could play—and play effectively. Then after missing eight straight shots to open the game, Indiana made eight of its next 10 to take the lead.

And then, as usual, it was off to the races though that’s been far more difficult in this series.

The Pacers took control midway through the second quarter. By the time the third quarter ended, Indiana led 90-60 as the smattering of Oklahoma City fans inside the arena watched glumly as Pacers fans traded high-fives in the home finale.

“We came here with the energy we needed, and we had an amazing crowd,” Obi Toppin said after leading the Pacers with 20 points. “Amazing fans, best fans in the world who helped us throughout this game. We went out there and did what we had to do to get this win.”

Haliburton made it clear back in September the goal was not just to get back to the conference finals and not just to reach the finals. After winning an Olympic gold medal last summer, he wanted to give the city of Indianapolis the kind of celebration it would never forget. And now the Pacers are one win away from making it really happen.

“I don’t even want to say, you know, celebrate this one,” Haliburton said. “We did our job to take care of home court, and we’ve got to be ready to do it again in Game 7.”

Hundreds of confident Oklahoma City fans who flocked to the Paycom Center expecting to celebrate the Thunder’s first NBA championship on Thursday night headed for the exits when their team fell behind by 30 points.

The Thunder fans with high hopes watched the game together on the big screen at Oklahoma City’s home arena—now, the passionate fans will wait anxiously for Game 7 on Sunday while facing the possibility that their team might not win the title after all. AP

AIn their desire to go deep in the

season, The Solar Spikers added a good mix of veteran and promising players as they intend to surround Belen with dependable players— those who will not hesitate to give it her all once given the opportunity—in the Premier Volleyball League (PVL).

Mandy Romero, who co-owns the team with sister Milka, said they welcomed Jerrili Malabanan,

Rachel Austero, Keceryn Galdones, Nikka Yandoc and Ypril Tapia with deep enthusiasm just like when they picked Belen in the recent PVL Rookie Draft.

Given the chance to shine, Romero believes these players will do everything to help elevate the team’s level of play when they go up against the league’s powerhouse teams. A former Far Eastern University star who last played for Cignal, Malabanan is expected to boost the Capital1’s offense being a deadly opposite hitter, while Austero has made a name playing middle blocker for College of Saint Benilde in the National Collegiate Athletic Association.

Having played for University of Santo Tomas (UST) in the UAAP,

ATAAN is set to make history again—this

both Galdones and Tapia are also waiting for the perfect time to show their worth and hopefully it would come with their Capital1stint  and so is Yandoc—a crafty setter from Adamson.

Among the veterans in the team are Jorelle Singh, Syd Niegos, Roma Doromal, Leila Cruz, Iris Tolenada, May Macatuno, Shola Alvarez, Trisha Genesis, Jenya Torres, Kath Villegas, Rovie Instrell and Rica Rivera.

Capital1 also drafted middle blockers Pia Abbu of UST in the second round and Ivy Aquino of the Asian Institute of Maritime Studies in the third round.

The team—now handled by Alas Women’s team coach Jorge Souza de Brito—is now Vigan for the PVL on Tour starting on Sunday.

Buss family sells controlling stake of LA Lakers to Walter for $10B

THE Buss family has agreed to sell the controlling stake of the Los Angeles Lakers to TWG Global CEO and Los Angeles Dodgers owner Mark Walter, doing so with a franchise valuation of $10 billion—the highest ever for a professional sports franchise, a person with knowledge of the agreement said Wednesday.

As part of the deal, Jeanie Buss— whose family has had control of the Lakers since her father bought the team in 1979—intends to remain as team governor, said the person, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because neither side immediately announced details.

It is not clear how much more of the Lakers that Walter is acquiring.

He was part of a group that bought 27 percent of the Lakers in 2021.

Jeanie Buss will still own at least 15 percent of the Lakers once this transaction is completed—by NBA rule, a governor must have at least that much of an ownership stake.

Walter and TWG Global already had the controlling interest in the Dodgers, Premier League club Chelsea, the Professional Women’s Hockey League and—through TWG Motorsports—owns several auto racing teams including Cadillac Formula 1.

“The Lakers are an amazing organization. I’m looking forward to meeting Mark and excited about the future,” Lakers guard Luka Doncic posted on social media Thursday. “I am also grateful to Jeanie and the Buss family for welcoming me to LA, and I’m happy that Jeanie will continue to be involved.”

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said news of the sale to Walter marks

“a very exciting day for the Lakers, for the city of Los Angeles.”

“He’s very competitive and he’s going to do everything he can to produce a championship-caliber team every single year and make sure the city feels proud about the Lakers and the legacy that they’ve already built with the Buss family,” Roberts said. ESPN first reported the agreement.

“Mark Walter is the best choice and will be the best caretaker of the Laker brand,” Lakers great Magic Johnson, a business partner of Walter’s and someone extremely close to Jeanie Buss, posted on social media. “The proof is in

Jr PGT spotlight on Del Monte as tour goes deep down south

in

AFTER a dominant showing by Mindanao-based players in Mactan last month, the spotlight now shifts to Del Monte Golf Club in Bukidnon as local standouts—led by Alexis Nailga—brace for a defense of their home turf in the International Container Terminal Services Inc. Del Monte Junior Philippine Golf Tour Championship starting on Wednesday. The 54-hole tournament marks the opening leg of a four-stage Mindanao swng. Next up after Del Monte is the Pueblo de Oro leg (July 1 to 3), followed by the South Pacific Junior PGT (July 9 to 11), with the Mindanao series wrapping up at the scenic Apo Golf and Country Club in Davao from July 14 to 16.

The regional circuit forms part of the broader Visayas-Mindanao swing of the ICTSI Junior PGT, a seven-leg series where the best three results in each age category (7-10, 11-14, 1518) will determine the final rankings.

The top four players per division from both Visayas-Mindanao and Luzon circuits will qualify for the ICTSI North vs South Elite Junior Finals slated September 30 to October 3 at The Country Club in Laguna. The Luzon leg, also composed of seven stops, will resume with the Riviera Golf leg in Cavite from July 29 to 31, after staging four events, including the Caliraya Springs stop last month.

Leading the boys’ 15-18 cast in Del Monte is Nailga, who ruled the

division in Mactan and looks to capitalize on his local knowledge of the mountaintop layout where he honed his skills. Fellow Bukidnon native Clement Ordeneza will also be out to defend home pride. But they face stiff competition from a determined Visayas crew led by Cebu’s Nyito and Roman Tiongko and Bacolod’s Santi Asuncion, all eyeing redemption. Also in the mix are Zamboanga’s Mhark Fernando III, son of former national standout Mhark Fernando, Cagayan de Oro’s Luciano Copok and Davao’s Vince Naranjo. On the

THE Los Angeles Lakers’s Luka Doncic talks with referee Tyler Ford during their game against the Memphis Grizzlies last March in Memphis, Tennessee. AP

ALEXIS NAILGA leads Mindanao bets’ campaign

their home course in Bukidnon.

INDIANA great Reggie Miller hugs Tyrese Haliburton after the Pacers’ one-sided victory as Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander leaves the Paycom Center disappointed. AP