BusinessMirror March 11, 2023

Amid loosened Covid curbs, eastern Manila areas clock an uptick in tourist, guest arrivals

TANAY’S TOURISM CHARM BECKONS

By John Eiron R. Francisco*

TANAY, Rizal—Local government officials here remain optimistic the rebound of tourism in this destination east of Manila continues steadily after a hiccup due to Covid-19.

W hile some visitors and tourists, mostly Filipinos, consider Tanay as “the next Tagaytay,” officials like Tanay Planning and Development Officer Jefferey M. Pino want to avoid such comparison.

We have our own identity, we are Tanay,” Pino told the BusinessMirror A nd that self-image is shown in the numbers provided by the Tanay Tourism Office (TTO): last year saw the number of visitors to local tourist attractions—the Daranak Falls, for one—hitting roughly 4.81 million.

Th is was an increase of about three million from the number of tourist arrivals of nearly 1.54 million in 2021. The rise in the number was posted after the government issued travel guidelines, TTO and Public Information Officer Joicee Jules B. Gapido told the BusinessMirror Naapektuhan ang tourism pero somehow doon nagsulputan ang gastronomic tourism, along different parts of Tanay [Tourism was affected but gastronomic tourism started to develop along different parts of Tanay],” Gapido said.

Tourism is bouncing back, ngayong taong 2023 maganda ang pasok ng [there’s a promising trend in] arrivals ng tourism,” she added.

Overnight stay, camping TTO data showed that the number of tourists hit a peak of about 5.13 million in 2019. This plunged to

about 1.24 million as government imposed lockdown measures in March of 2020 to stem the spread of Covid-19.

B ut things appear to be looking up as the TTO recorded arrivals reaching 387,802 in January this year.

Th e number of visitors staying a night in this first-class municipality also dropped to 138,416 in 2020 from about 1.015 million in 2019.

The number of guests staying overnight in 2021 inched up to 160,941 and even tripled to 349,969 last year. A total of 33,670 travelers have already spent the night in Tanay last January, TTO data showed.

This steady increase prompted the Department of Tourism (DOT) Calabarzon office to recognize Tanay for having the third-most number of overnight stay arrivals in 2021 and second highest in the region for the most number of same-day arrivals also that year.

The DOT-Calabarzon also noted Tanay’s “relentless commitment to the enhancement and development

of local tourism, reinforcing service standards and consistent generation of tourism information and data.”

According to Gapido, the municipality is known for its “breathtaking” hiking trails. She said many recognize Tanay as the “Home of Adventure and Nature Experience,” especially with its flagship Daranak Falls.

Gapido admitted the lockdowns slashed the number of hikers. Nonetheless, with the popularity of “glamping”—a more luxurious type of camping compared to traditional stay in outdoor tents—the number of campgrounds and related businesses progressively rose.

S he believes “the pandemic caused a great deal of stress for many individuals who needed to unwind by spending time in nature.”

Contribution to economy

GAPIDO emphasized that tourism is important to Tanay as the

DARANAK Falls in Tanay, Rizal WALTER ERIC SY | DREAMSTIME.COM

THE view from the Martessem Mountain Resort in Tanay, Rizal NICO AQUINO | DREAMSTIME.COM

Airlines struggle to find engines as travel comes roaring back

By Julie Johnsson, Ryan Beene and Siddharth Philip Bloomberg News

But a potential bottleneck to that growth is looming in the form of a shortage of aircraft engines and spare parts, particularly on workhorse Airbus SE and Boeing Co. jets. The shortfall is being exacerbated by the fact that more carriers are flying with the latest-generation turbines that—while as much as 20 percent more fuel efficient—also have been prone to far more frequent maintenance cycles than their more robust predecessors. A s a result, airlines around the world have been forced to ground hundreds of airplanes just as they gear up for what stands to be a busy summer travel season. Air Baltic Corp. AS says 10 of its 39 Airbus A220s are currently out of service due to engine issues. In the US, budget carrier Spirit Airlines Inc. warned it would scale back growth plans due in part to a spate of malfunctioning engines. And India’s IndiGo is seeking compensation for about 30 planes it has had to ground due to parts shortages, some of which are tied to engines.

Supply-chain constraints were rippling through the industry even before the pandemic, and in its aftermath engine makers have struggled with a lack of skilled me -

chanics and component shortages.

The latest engines from Raytheon Technologies Corp. and a General Electric Co.-Safran SA venture feature exotic metal alloys, coatings and composites needed for them to operate at furnace-like temperatures. Airlines say turbine components are wearing more quickly and being sent to the shop earlier than initially expected.

The engines are running hotter, and the materials used for that are not withstanding the pressure, so there are more engine-related problems than we used to face previously,” said Qatar Airways Chief Executive Officer Akbar Al Baker.

Turnaround times for engine repairs have tripled as waits for certain parts drag on for more than a year in some instances. Supplies of engine components are further stretched as Airbus and Boeing clamor for higher output of new engines as they strive to pump out their best-selling single-aisle aircraft models in record numbers.

Right now that’s hotter than hell,” Cliff Collier, a Texas-based aviation consultant, said of the engine sector. “There are parts shortages left and right and it’s impacting MROs [maintenance and repair

organizations] badly,” he said.

The growing pressure on jetengine makers will be in the spotlight Thursday when GE’s chief executive officer, Larry Culp, lays out the company’s future for investors as a standalone aerospace manufacturer. Its executives also will be pressed about the durability of the Leap turbine made by the GESafran venture, called CFM International, for Airbus’s A320neo aircraft family and Boeing’s 737 Max.

A irlines complain of even poorer reliability for a rival engine manufactured by Raytheon’s Pratt & Whitney division.

Closing the gap

PRATT’S latest turbofan models are flying an average of about 10,000 hours before they need to be removed for overhauls. That’s only about half the so-called timeon-wing of its predecessor engine,

despite multiple fixes and upgrades to boost longevity, Raytheon CEO, Greg Hayes, said at a Barclays conference last month. Closing that gap will be a challenge over the next five years, he said.

CFM said in a statement that its Leap engine’s time-on-wing is “comparable” to that of its predecessor, the CFM56, at the same point in its service life, about six years after its first commercial flight. Engines being sent to repair shops are going in order to address specific issues that can be completed faster than more substantial overhauls, it said.

“ We have made significant progress in increasing Leap timeon-wing, and we remain committed to continuing to work with customers to proactively plan shop visits,” a CFM spokesperson said.

Around 370 Airbus A320neos and A220s, along with 737 Boeing Max jets, are currently classified as stored, according to data from Cirium. The aviation data and analytics company defines such aircraft as those that are idled for 30 days or more for any of a variety of reasons.

A irbus said it’s closely monitoring the performance of engines on its aircraft. Boeing had no immediate comment.

Many airlines keep a cache of spares on hand, but there simply

aren’t enough replacement engines available to keep pace with repairs.

Carriers may be forced to keep older craft longer than anticipated and fly each plane more hours per day.

In a pinch, they might even bring planes out of their pilot training fleets and put them into regular flight service. The shortage could crimp industry plans to expand the number of flights offered in 2024 and beyond.

Production target risk

AIRBUS and Boeing are counting on rising output of turbines to keep their A320 and Max assembly lines humming. The glut of engine repairs looks likely to extend into next year or even 2025, raising the risk of too few power plants to meet plane maker production targets, said Paul Dolan, CEO of Aviation Technical Services, a large US maintenance provider. Introduced a little over a decade ago, the new engine options for the A320 family and the 737 helped spur an unprecedented surge in demand. Fuel is often among the single largest expenses for airlines, so any reduction in consumption instantly feeds through the bottom line.

Pratt’s power plant, which is used on models including Airbus SE’s best-selling A320neo family and the smaller A220, as well as Embraer SA’s E2 regional jet, struggled with teething pains after it was introduced, with multiple carriers reporting inflight shutdowns. Pratt subsequently said it had resolved the issues, but some carriers say they continue to struggle.

The Pratt engine “has experienced diminished service availability, an issue that has been steadily increasing” since mid-2022, Spirit CEO Ted Christie said on an earnings call February 7. “This is not just a Spirit issue.”

Some A320neos have had engines removed after just 2,000 to 3,000 hours in operation, while A220s have had engines come off after only 1,000 hours, according to Doug Harned, an aerospace analyst with Bernstein.

Harned calculated that 18 percent of A220s and 13 percent of A320neos powered by these engines were out of service as of early March. CFM’s Leap has performed better, although 4 percent of A320s and 5 percent of Max jets are grounded—much to the consternation of customers, he wrote in a March 2 report.

A Raytheon spokesperson disputed those estimates for the Pratt-powered planes, saying less than 10 percent of those jets are parked. The company declined to comment further on the issue.

Frequent shop visits

THE GE-Safran Leap model also has faced issues. A build-up of carbon around the fuel nozzle has resulted in inspections after 1,000 hours of flight, Harned said. The engine’s high-pressure turbine shroud has been redesigned over the last few years “but is still leading to a degradation in engine performance” and consequently more frequent shop visits, he said.

CFM said it introduced a new configuration of the high-pressure turbine shroud that went into production in 2019 and is retrofitting the remainder of the Leap engine fleet with the change.

Once engines are opened up for repairs, airlines face another costly hassle: Long waits for spare parts. Collier, the aviation consultant, said he’s seen lead times for forged parts stretch out a year or more.

What we’re seeing is basically a queue building up due to insufficient maintenance capacity,” said Andy Cronin, the chief executive officer of Avolon Holdings, a major aircraft lessor. “It was simply never intended that the engines would need this much maintenance at this stage in the program.”

The situation underscores how supply chain woes continue to weigh on aerospace manufacturers. Airbus last year cut its target of delivering 700 planes as a result of these issues. But it failed to meet even that reduced goal.

GE’s engine venture has had to pare back its own production goals.

Tanay’s tourism charm beckons

Continued from A1

activity contributes to revenues of businesses and, of course, the local government.

The more tourists, the more income we will get. Bukod sa binabayad nila, makakatulong sila in terms of kumain sila sa mga restaurants, bumili sila sa tindahan [Apart from the fees, tourists help when they eat at restaurants and buy at stores here],” she explained to the BusinessMirror

Likewise, Tanay also earns from its Community-Based Rural Tourism (CBRT) program. Under this, a visitor must fork over P100 prior to entry to a tourist attraction or hiking.

Gapido said of the fee, P50 goes to the local government of Tanay, P30 to the barangay where the attraction is located or covers the hiking trail and P20 to indigenous peoples (IP).

She said revenues from the CBRT eventually fund the safeguarding tasks of the mountains, as these are where most tourists go.

Prior to the lockdown, the TTO recorded about P8.195 million in revenues from the CBRT program in 2019. Despite the lockdowns a year later, revenues from CBRT fees collection hit about P2.064 million.

The revenues, through the CBRT program, inched to P2.512 million in 2021 and to nearly P3.409 million last year after the Tanay local government allowed local tourism operations to return to normal.

The Tanay local government expects to further increase the revenue share from the CBRT, as there’s a proposal to charge campers with an ecotourism fee. The proposal is currently under third

reading at the town council.

Education, training

ACCORDING to Pino, part of the fees charged through the CBRT goes to the training and education of the Dumagat IPs who call the mountains of Tanay their home.

H e said they had to wean the Dumagats from charcoal production as this has led to deforestation.

Pino estimates the local government has trained about 50 percent of the total population of IPs in tour guiding. Non-Dumagats were also trained to appreciate and highlight the culture and life of the Dumagat IP tribe.

“Kailangan Filipino brand of service ang binibigay natin [What we provide must be a Filipino brand of service],” he said.

Gapido added that the local government of Tanay also provides training and seminars to restaurants and businesses accredited by the DOT. She said the sessions aim to make these institutions’ executives and employees understand and speak more about the local culture and taste, like Tanay cuisine. The seminars also emphasize hospitality services to enhance tourists’ experience.

Documents that the Tanay Business Permit and Licensing Office provided to the BusinessMirror revealed there are currently 11 registered hotels and resorts, 67 restaurants and 24 authorized campsites have met the standards and clearances of the Tanay local government and the DOT.

Gapido said that keeping standards for businesses engaged in tourism-related activities is significant as this supports the local economy and its development.

“We are reminding them; we are

requiring them to be DOT-accredited establishments, because the DOT sets the standards,” she added.

Balance

AS Tanay witnesses the continuing revival of its tourism sector, Gapido believes the local government still has an elbow room for further growth and investment.

Nonetheless, she said investors must brace for a ton of paper work.

“If you have plans of doing business in the upland barangays, at lalo na kung under ito ng protected areas, marami kang clearances na dapat gawin. Kasi kailangan ma-balance ’yung kita ng pera, balance ng ekonomiya at balance ng environment [If you have plans to do business in the upland barangays, especially if it’s in protected areas, you must secure several clearances because we need to balance profit, the economy and the environment],” Gapido told the BusinessMirror

Tanay constitutes 16.91 percent of Rizal’s total land area. The municipality also forms part of the 26,125.64-hectare Upper Marikina River Basin Protected Landscape. This protected area includes parts of Antipolo City and Baras, Rodriguez, San Mateo, Rizal. Gapido believes an investor won’t incur losses due to Tanay’s natural attractions and continuous influx of tourists.

“Magandang mag -invest ng farm tourism dito sa Tanay [Farm tourism is a good investment here],” she said.

Indeed, Tanay beckons to the weary: look East, and you won’t regret it.

THIS year was supposed to herald air travel’s big comeback, with China reopening, airlines ramping up flight schedules and airports going on a hiring spree to handle the surge.

*John Eiron, a student at the University of Rizal System in Angono, is currently on internship with the BusinessMirror.

THE jet engine of an Airbus SE A330 airplane, at Chateauroux-Centre “Marcel Dassault” Airport in Chateauroux, France, July 1, 2022. BLOOMBERG

Japan credit rater affirms PHL’s rating, cites economic resilience

By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas

JAPAN Credit Rating Agency

(JCR) on Friday affirmed the Philippines’s investmentgrade credit rating of A- with a stable outlook on the back of the country’s sustained economic growth that has been “resilient” to external shocks.

“The ratings mainly reflect the country’s high and sustained economic growth performance underpinned by solid domestic demand and its resilience to external shocks supported by an external debt kept low relative to GDP and the accumulation of foreign exchange reserves,” JCR said in a statement.

The credit watcher noted that the Philippines’s debt-to-GDP ratio at the end of 2022 remained within the 50-percent level, making it one of the lowest among the sovereign states it rated in the A-range.

“Hence, JCR does not consider that fiscal soundness will

be impaired. Remittances from Filipinos abroad remain solid and the economy stays highly resilient to external shocks.

Based on the above, JCR has retained the ratings with Stable outlook,” it said.

The JCR took note of the Marcos administration’s economic programs and platforms such as sustained infrastructure development, slashing the government debt in ratio to the country’s GDP, as well as passage of various tax reforms that were initiated by the previous administration.

The JCR added that the country’s foreign currency liquidity position remains “robust” as its gross international reserves stood at $99.3 billion as of end-February.

The JCR noted that the national government was able to keep its external debt balance at 26.8 percent of GDP at the endSeptember 2022.

“These indicate the robustness of the country’s foreign currency liquidity position. JCR holds the

view that the country will show its high resilience even when global risk-off moves are triggered again,” it said.

Income disparity

THE credit watcher, however, pointed out that the “reduction of income disparity” in the Philippines through rural development remains an “important” task for the national government.

The Department of Finance (DOF) noted that the credit rating affirmation came after the country posted a 7.6-percent economic growth last year, exceeding the national government’s target.

The DOF emphasized that the Philippines’s current credit rating “indicates lower credit risk and entails better access to the international bond market and favorable interest rates.” The agency added it would also boost investor confidence in the country that could result in more foreign direct investments.

“The Marcos administration is committed to maintaining sound macroeconomic fundamentals and achieving its fiscal targets by continuing the course of sound fiscal management,” Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno said in a statement on Friday.

“The country’s recent structural reforms will also enable the country to withstand the pandemic shocks and map a route to recovery,” Diokno added.

The DOF said the national government would sustain its implementation of reforms that would “foster  investment-led growth, which will help broaden opportunities for quality employment and further enhance productivity.”

“With the Philippine Development Plan 2023-2028, the government will steer the country towards a path that promotes inclusive growth, provides equal opportunities to Filipinos, and enables them to participate in an innovative and globally competitive economy,” it said.

PHL to extend financial, in-kind aid to quake-hit Syria–PBBM

PRESIDENT Ferdinand R.

Marcos Jr. on Friday said the Philippines will provide financial and in-kind aid to Syria as the West Asian state and Turkey continue to recover from the devastating impact of a 7.8 earthquake last month.

Citing the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), the Presidential Communications Office ( PCO) said the country would be

sending $200,000 cash donation to Syria.

This will be on top of the inkind relief assistance, which the country will send to the Syrian Arab Republic.

“Under President Marcos’s directive, the DFA said relevant government agencies in the Philippines will be closely coordinating with each other to implement these humanitarian commitments to the Syrian

government,” PCO said.

DFA said the initiative of the President showed the country is ready to do its role as a member of the international community in helping calamity-stricken states.

“The Philippines, as a member of the international community of nations, steadfastly supports the united global effort to assist the victims of the February 06 earthquake in Turkiye and Syria,” the

DFA said in a statement.

According to reports, over 50,000 people died from the earthquake, which hit Turkey and Syria on February 6.

The country has already deployed an 82-man Philippine Inter-Agency Humanitarian Contingent to provide medical aid and assist in rescue and retrieval operations in quake-affected communities there.

Samuel P. Medenilla

Mandatory age for female FAs is 60 since ‘11–PAL

By Ma. Stella F, Arnaldo Special to the BusinessMirror

ALL cabin crewmembers of pioneering legacy carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) are allowed to serve until the mandatory retirement age of 60 years old, regardless of gender.

This was the statement of the carrier after the Supreme Court declared unconstitutional PAL’s 2004-2005 collective bargaining agreement (CBA) with the Flight Attendants and Stewards Association of the Philippines (FASAP) setting the retirement age of female flight attendants at 55, five years earlier than their male counterparts. The decision was hailed by many as a victory for the female workforce in the country, as the decision was issued on March 9, a day

after International Women’s Day. Said CBA, however, had already been superseded by a CBA signed between PAL and FASAP “on June 1, 2022 [which] sets the retirement age at 60 for all cabin crew members, affirming the principle of parity for PAL crew, regardless of gender,” said the carrier in a news statement.

The airline added: “The new CBA embodies PAL’s commitment to be an equal opportunity company where management and crew members work together in the spirit of productive collaboration.

Following PAL’s successful restructuring process in 2021, the CBA was the product of a joint effort by management and employees to promote harmony and teamwork for the benefit of the airline’s professional crew members and

the flying public they serve with dedication.”

PAL also said, even before the CBA in 2022 was forged, the mandatory age for retirement for crewmembers was already 60, “in compliance with a DOLE (Department of Labor and Employment) decision issued in April 2011.”

The carrier said it has yet to receive a copy of the reported Supreme Court decision that was issued on January 10, 2023, but only made public on Thursday.

In a statement, the SC decision specifically voided Section 144(A) of the 2004-2005 CBA, deeming it discriminatory to women as well as contrary to laws, international convention, and public policy.

Senior Associate Justice Marvic Leonen, who penned the ruling, said, “There is insufficient proof to

support the conclusion that female cabin attendants between 55 to 59 years old did not have the necessary strength to open emergency doors, the agility to attend to passengers in cramped working conditions, and the stamina to withstand grueling flight schedules unlike their male counterparts.” (See, “Compulsory retirement age for PAL female FAs unconstitutional—SC,” in the BusinessMirror, March 9, 2023.)

The SC ruling reversed the decision of the Court of Appeals in July 2018, which upheld the CBA 2004-2005, which said it was safer for PAL’s passengers that female FAs were retired at 55 due their lack of physical strength, unlike their male counterparts. Dissatisfied with the CA decision, FASAP elevated the case before the Supreme Court in 2019.

DOTr order clips admin powers of some of its attached agencies

By Lorenz S. Marasigan

THE Department of Transportation (DOTr) has issued an order that reduces the key functions and authority of some of its attached agencies.

Based on Department Order 2023-007 dated February 28, 2023, the transport department removed several functions from the Metro Rail Transit (MRT) 3 Management, the Land Transportation Office (LTO), the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB), and Philippine Railways Institute (PRI).

The same order also reduced the authority of some of its

regional offices such as those in the Cordillera Autonomous Region (CAR) and the Caraga Administrative Region.

The 13-page order limited the scope of administrative, procurement, disbursement, and approval powers of the aforesaid agencies.

With the order, the above mentioned agencies now need to seek approval from the DOTr “undersecretary concerned” for contracts above P50 million. The document noted that for the most part, the Transportation Undersecretary for Administration and Finance would have the approving powers for such contracts.

Transactions, including advance payment, billing, and fund transfer to agencies where the contract is P50 million and above shall now be subject to the approval of the Transportation Secretary himself.

Aside from transactions, the order also limited the administrative functions of the attached agencies, transferring to the DOTr Undersecretary for Administration and Finance the following functions: engaging job order and contract service workers as well as appointment and/or contracts, renewal notice of termination, approval of expiration of contracts, acceptance of resignation, and

By Samuel P. Medenilla

ASUBSTANTIAL portion”

of infrastructure projects recommended by the private sector had either been completed or in the process of completion, President Ferdinand R. Marcos reported on Thursday.

“I’m happy to note that the recommendations that were given to us by the Private Sector Advisory Council (PSAC) were essentially many of the things that we we’re already doing,” the President said after meeting with PSAC, where he also provided updates on Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) infrastructure projects.

Among the projects that were discussed included water, transport and mobility, logistics, and energy.

“The list of recommendations that they gave, I would say half of them, are either in progress or have been completed. So we are once again moving in the right direction together with our private sector partners,” the President added.

Among PSAC’s recommendations was for the urgent certification of a bill creating the Department of Water Resources, adopting non-traditional and more sustainable technologies to protect watersheds, increased

funding for water projects and implementing a water tariff based on affordability.

The proposals also include the rehabilitation of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport through PPP this year, fast tracking the award process for projects under the Original Proponent Status by 2023, and the development of Aerodrome Strategy for the country’s aviation sector involving the private sector.

PSAC also pushed for the development of existing and key Philippine Ports Authority assets into regional hubs capable of handling international vessels, update the privatization framework to encourage investments, and develop port support infrastructure.

PSAC also wants the rationalization of the secondary price caps, strengthen local government units to facilitate energy project implementation, and connect small power utility groups to the grid.

On Thursday, the National Economic and Development Authority Board, chaired by the President, approved 194 priority government infrastructures flagship projects amounting P9 trillion.  The projects are expected to generate high quality employment and reduce poverty incidence in the country.

PBBM lauds Comelec’s capacity building program for EBs, voters

PRESIDENT Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on Friday backed the initiatives of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to continue improving the country’s poll process by building the capacity of Electoral Board (EB) members as well as voters.

During the first National Election Summit (NES) of Comelec at the Sofitel Philippine Plaza in Pasay City, Marcos said the poll body must recalibrate the capacity of teachers as EB members.

To ensure new voters will be able to make an informed choice during elections, he also pushed for the integration of voter education in the curricula of K to 12, tertiary level, and the National Service Training Program.

“So as we engage with discussions amongst our students and the Filipino youth, we likewise promote and encourage them to form and cast an informed vote, as well as discerningly choose the leaders of our society,” the President said in his speech at the last day of the NES.

The three-day NES, the

President said, is a good venue for Comelec to come out with “decisive” electoral reforms from its stakeholders.

“From these pre-summit meetings, it has come to the attention that several reforms in the election process must be made,” Marcos said.

“And given these findings, let us take these matters seriously as the outputs obtained from these activities are indisputably significant,” he added.

The President expressed hopes that NES would be able to help in Comelec’s preparations for the upcoming Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections in October this year, and other future electoral exercises.

“As a democratic and Republican government, we derive our power from the people, we recognize that sovereignty is exercised by its citizens through suffrage. On this note, I underscore the Comelec’s critical role as the guardian of our people’s sovereign will in ensuring the integrity of the electoral process,” Marcos said.

Samuel P. Medenilla

New Palace EO paves way for construction of Philippine Heart Center Annex in Clark

dropping from the rolls.

Furthermore the Undersecretary for Administration and Finance was likewise designated as approving authority for administrative matters in attached agencies such as requests to render overtime pay of employees, application for leave, terminal leave, office clearance, issuance of travel authority, nomination to local and foreign scholarships, vehicle assignments, and other matters.  The order claimed that its goal is to “ensure an efficient and effective flow of operations, harmonize responsibilities, and enhance work efficiency in the department.”

THE new Philippine Heart Center (PHC) Annex in the Clark Freeport Zone, which is expected to boost the availability of cardiovascular medical treatments in the country, is set to be constructed in Pampanga.

This after President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. signed Executive Order (EO) No. 19 on Wednesday, paving the way for the construction of the new facility, which aims to provide patients with cardiovascular diseases with PHC service outside of Metro Manila.

Currently, such patients would have to travel to Quezon City to avail of the services of the PHC.

“With world-class highways and an international airport, the Clark Freeport Zone is a gateway to Central Luzon. As such, establishing a specialty hospital annex in Clark Freeport Zone will bring quality healthcare closer to the people,” Marcos said.

The President stressed the

importance of improving the accessibility of PHC services, citing data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) that showed cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death in the country as of October 31, 2022.

The PHC was tasked to coordinate with the Department of Health (DOH) and other concerned government agencies “to establish, manage, and administer PHC Clark and amend its existing hospital development plan to include the proposed programs and initiatives for the PHC Clark, consistent with the Philippine Health Facility Development Plan 2020-2040.”

The operation expenses of PHC Clark will be sourced from DOH and/or the annual corporate operating budget of the PHC.

EO 19 also authorized PHC to enter into with other government agencies for the purpose of establishing and operating the PHC Clark. Samuel P. Medenilla

Half of projects on PSAC’s ‘wish list’ done–Marcos

Solons push measure to protect elderly from abuse and neglect

By Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz

LAWMAKERS have filed a measure that seeks to throw in jail persons found guilty of exploiting, neglecting or abusing the elderly.

In filing House Bill (HB) 4696, Davao City Rep. Paolo Duterte, Benguet Rep. Eric Yap and ACT-CIS Party-list Rep. Edvic Yap also sought the establishment of senior citizen help desks in every barangay to provide immediate assistance to victimsurvivors of elder abuse.

HB 4696 or the proposed AntiElder Abuse Act also directs the Department of Justice (DOJ) to set up special prosecution units to exclusively handle cases of violence

against senior citizens.

Elderly citizens, like our lolos and lolas, should be honored, cared for and respected. Unfortunately, many of our senior citizens still suffer abuse and most of the time, even from the very people who are supposed to care for them, as shown by news reports and reliable posts on social media. Worse, many cases of elder abuse go unreported and unpunished. Our bill aims to prevent these kind of incidents,” Duterte said.

Under the measure, acts of violence against senior citizens include “physical abuse or infliction of pain or injury with the use of physical force resulting in bodily injury, physical harm, pain or im -

pairment, suffering or distress; and psychological, mental or emotional abuse causing mental or emotional suffering or distress.”

“ Material exploitation through illegal or improper use of funds or resources of the senior citizen, and economic or financial abuse through acts that make the senior citizen financially dependent” on perpetrators are also classified as acts of violence against the elderly.

A nother act of violence under the bill is abandonment or desertion by a person who has custody or has assumed responsibility of caring for a senior citizen.

Elder abuse does not only cover the intentional act, but also the failure to act on the needs of the elderly,”

the bill’s authors said.  This measure seeks to ensure that our senior citizens are given protection from all forms of violence, abuse, neglect, exploitation and coercion, especially acts detrimental to their personal safety and security,” they added.

T he minimum punishment under the bill is arresto mayor (1 month and 1 day to 6 months) for acts of violence against the elderly resulting in slight physical injuries.

A cts of violence against the elderly constituting attempted, frustrated or consummated parricide, murder, or homicide, and those resulting in mutilation “shall be punished in accordance with the provisions of the Revised Penal

Code,” according to the bill.

Persons found guilty of serious physical injuries against the elderly are punished with the penalty of prision mayor (6 years and 1 day to 6 years). Lesser physical injuries are punishable by prision correccional (6 months and 1 day to 6 years), the bill said.

A ll other acts of violence against the elderly are punishable by prision correccional and a fine of not less than P100,000 but not more than P300,000.

T he measure also requires persons found guilty of any act of violence against the elderly to undergo mandatory psychological counseling or psychiatric treatment, and shall report their compliance to the court.

A respondent to a complaint against elder abuse will also be placed under a hold departure order to be issued by the courts, according to HB 4696.

L aw enforcers, barangay officials and persons who fail to report acts of violence against the elderly are also penalized under the bill.  Under the bill, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) is mandated to provide senior citizens who are victims of abuse safe shelter; counseling, healing and recovery and rehabilitation services; and other programs to ensure their personal security and safety. The Department of Health shall also provide medical aid to the victims.

Comelec eyes early voting for seniors and vulnerable sectors in 2023 BSKE

By Ferdinand Patinio

MANILA—The

Commission on Elections (Comelec)

is proposing to allow early voting for senior citizens and members of the vulnerable sector in selected areas in the October 2023 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE).

Comelec Chairperson George Garcia said the proposal is for senior citizens, people with disabilities (PWDs), pregnant women and indigenous peoples (IPs) to be allowed to cast their votes hours early than regular voters on election day.

“ I wrote a letter to the en banc in relation to early voting. While we are waiting for the law for early voting for seniors, PWD, pregnant women, IPs,

while we are waiting for that, the Comelec must have an initiative, I am proposing to the en banc for purposes of the 2023 BSKE, pilot test in Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao and National Capital Region and least in 2 precincts, early voting hours for seniors, PWD, pregnant, IPs,” he said in a presser at the National Election Summit in Pasay City on Wednesday.

In his proposal, certain precincts will serve such sectors for two hours from 5 a.m. to 7 a.m.

“ That means, if voting starts at 7 a.m., maybe teachers can be convinced to open precincts from 5 a.m. to 7 a.m. for seniors, PWD, pregnant, IPs. At least, so they can vote conveniently. If the elderly, PWD, pregnant, IPs can vote, that’s a huge convenience for them. Arriving at 7 a.m., it’s open to everybody.

Running out of time, but not ideas

tically the same concepts played out in highly acclaimed commercials created by today’s Gen Z talents.

By Nick Tayag

MY SIXTY-ZEN’S WORTH

In my young days I wanted to be a film scriptwriter. I watched all kinds of films, even the Dracula films of Hammer Productions.

could be converted into something useful or beneficial. I jotted down some possibilities: fermented kangkong, similar to burong mustasa, atsarang kangkong, or kangkong tempura along the same idea of the Japanese camote tempura.

you may not have the smarts or guts, stamina and perseverance to get your idea to fly in the way Bill Gates or Jeff Bezos has. Or, yes, luck. Because even if you work your heart out, statistics show that most likely you will still fail.

That’s why only 5 a.m. to 7 a.m. are exclusive to them. I’m hoping the en banc will allow us to do that,” Garcia added.

He said the early voting will be implemented in most populous areas in the said regions. We have instructed vulnerable sectors office to properly define the vulnerable sector so that there will be no confusion. We are asking the en banc to give the go signal. Then we will come up with guidelines,” the poll body chief added. On the other hand, he noted that he is ready to pull out the proposal once the law on early voting is passed.

When the measure is passed into law, I will pull out this proposal since the law will allow early voting seven days or 14 days before election day,” Garcia added. PNA

develop more as an individual with a clearer sense of who you are and what makes you truly happy. I am happy to live in the realm of ideas.

IBELIEVE in the power of innovative ideas to transform our world.

But behind any new concept is a dreamer or idea maker. There are times when a few friends and I would look at each other and say: “You know, I thought of that idea before.” Indeed, a breakthrough invention or contraption could be something many others have also been toying with in their minds but never really seriously pursued.

R emember the pager in the old days? I told my wife then about my wish to come up with a pager that could answer back immediately, instead of having to look for a phone to talk to the person who paged you.

Voila, now we have the cellphone.

In the ’70s, I was working in advertising and in those days, we had to go

to the client’s office to present to him every single ad for approval prior to release to the publication. It was draining for me and in exasperation I broached my seemingly far-fetched dream of a TV and a phone directly connected to the client’s office so we could just present our work by remote communication. I even remember coining it as “tele-meeting.” Everyone laughed.

T hat dream became true in just a few decades. Now, with the Internet and digital technology, an ad layout or storyboard can be created, presented, revised and approved on the spot through a tele-conference without leaving your desk or table.

Over the years, I had out-of-the-box ideas for ads that were shot down by narrow-minded clients, only to see prac-

As I watched those films, an idea for a gothic horror film set in the Philippines in the late 1800s was hatched in my mind. For the main protagonist I wanted a historical figure, the revered hero Jose Rizal has a shadow life as nemesis of local demons such as mangkukulam, kapre, and manananggal in Binan and other parts of Laguna, using the knowledge he learned about vampires and underworld demons from Dr. Van Helsing when they met in London. I thought it was a good allegorical narrative depicting Rizal fighting the abusive colonial authorities and native traitors preying on the indios on a symbolic level. It certainly was a startling concept for a Filipino film at that time but I was never able to come up with the script. Then, later on, a book entitled “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Slayer” came out and became a bestselling book and a hit movie. The story had essentially the same idea as mine: combining history with horror fantasy.

W hen I see these developments, I just console myself with the useless illusion that my thinking is ahead of my time, like the great Leonardo da Vinci. LOL.

At home, I used to observe that my wife would throw the stalks of kangkong leaves after selecting the young leaves for the sinigang or adobo. Such a waste, I thought. Being a believer of the saying “waste not, want not,” I then wondered if the stalks of kangkong leaves

Little did I know that those why-not-ideas have now been turned into moneymaking food items: kangkong leaves are being sold as snacks. We also have malunggay, pandesal, malunggay chips, garlic chips, mushroom chips and other products that are all in the vein of my recycling or conversion idea.

Just the other day, I saw a writeup about this new invention that can convert orange peelings into bio-cups. Why not also banana peelings? Or other fruit peelings we just throw in the garbage?

Only the other day, from out of the blue, a long-time friend wondered, “with your knack for creating good ideas and concepts, how come you’re not rich and famous?”

Surprised by that frank remark, I just shrugged my shoulders and managed to reply with a poorly crafted bon mot: “Blessed are the idea makers but they will be rich only in spirit.” I confess there was a slight prick in the heart. Touché!

Walt Disney said, “All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.” He should know— it is said that his dream of creating Disney World was rejected 302 times before it came to fruition.

But just a caveat for the young dreamer who fancies himself as the next Walt Disney. Not all geniuses can be able executors of their ideas. The Filipino Inventors Society Inc. has a long list of members with patented inventions but few of them, if any, have become commercial successes.

T he hard truth of life is that you might be truly creative but

T his brings me to a tale of two great inventors: Nikola Tesla and Thomas Alva Edison. Nikola Tesla dreamed the future while his opportunistic rival Thomas Edison seized the moment.

Tesla had great ideas but most of them were far ahead of the time, and he did not have the knack or the savvy for getting financial backing and seeing them come to fruition. On the other hand, Edison had a genius for picking ideas started by others, getting investors to fund his activities and making his inventions immediately applicable. He was an idea maker, opportunity grabber and entrepreneur, all rolled into one. No wonder he became much richer than Tesla.

T he history of mankind is all about yin and yang. Some people dream and say why not, some people say let’s run with it and become wealthy.

Once or twice, like Antonio Salieri in the film “Amadeus”, I looked to the heavens and asked: why give me the gift of making ideas yet deny me the talent for turning them into gold? But I have made my peace with the Great Creator and have long accepted the fact that I am better as an idea maker than an opportunity-reaper.

I will not get rich or wealthy. I will never be successful, if wealth is the measure of success.

Someone said: When you are in tune with your ability and your value, you become in tune with yourself. Knowing your role in the grand scheme of life and being contented about it, you start to

In fact, I am in my element when I sit down on my desk and think the idea through. The thing is, I love the process. Sometimes at the end in the cold light of day, I might find it’s an atrocious idea. But then I begin again because I enjoy the brainstorming part of it. The exhilarating compulsion to reach the eureka moment is what’s driving me and keeping me alive.

W hen my life’s hourglass finally runs out, all I can leave my heirs will not be documents of owned properties and possessions, but a different kind of wealth: old notebooks and digital archives of ideas that I can only hope will have a far more lasting consequence.

To the imaginative mind, the creative font is indeed inexhaustible. The other day, as we were waiting for the traffic lights to change, there was a little girl peddling wipe rags made out of scraps from a nearby textile factory. It’s along my idea of turning waste into something useful again. This time it’s a livelihood that’s helping one family go through the day. I didn’t really need the rags but I was happy to buy from the girl. The encounter helped trigger the flow of my creative juices on a campaign promoting classy backpacks made of plastics salvaged from our oceans.

So, to the idea makers, the ones who dream, but know that there’s more to life than achieving it, keep your cornucopian minds flowing with ideas. No matter how old you are, keep trying to add and contribute more good ideas to this broken world, or at least good energy. Someday, somehow, some enterprising opportunist will pick up one of your ideas and create an impact that will earn a footnote in the history of mankind.

THE proposal is for senior citizens, people with disabilities, pregnant women and indigenous peoples to be allowed to cast their votes early on election day.

Japanese envoy encourages Pinoy youth to study Nihongo

Robredo to student-delegates: We need to exercise empathy

Speaking at the Nihongo Fiesta 2023 on February 25, Ambassador Kazuhiko Koshikawa told more than a hundred local Nihongo learners that they also have the potential to bridge the two countries closer by studying the language.

“Being able to communicate in Japanese makes you stand out, and gives you a competitive edge when applying for [local] jobs and scholarships,” Koshikawa said. “It can also break cultural barriers, and allows you to establish meaningful connections and friendships with Japanese people and fellow Nihongo learners.”

He encouraged them to continue to study the Japanese language: “It may be difficult, but I believe that the rewards make the ef -

AMBASSADOR Kazuhiko Koshikawa EMBASSY OF JAPAN

fort worthwhile.”

Every year Japan offers various scholarship and teaching exchange programs to Filipino nationals. Among these is the Japan Exchange and Teaching, or JET, which employs a successful applicant either as an assistant language teacher, or sports exchange advisor in Japan.

Benefits of learning Nihongo

ONE of the teachers who participated in the event, Shanadey Fernandez of the De La Salle University-College of Liberal Arts, shared her fulfillment in teaching the language, as she sees that it could provide more opportunities.

Fernandez’s advice to aspiring Nihongo teachers: “Remember how you started liking the Japanese.”

“Keep that in mind so that you can express [it] to your students,” she said. “Without the love and the fun and excitement…I think it would be really hard to study the language.”

“So as a teacher, let’s refresh ourselves always, go back and look back to how you started, so that…students would also feel how important the Japanese language is, and how it will help them in the future,” the educator added.

The day-long language festival at a mall in Mandaluyong City featured a Nihongo speech contest by Filipino students and professionals. The event also showcased art and cultural activities, including a taiko (Japanese percussion instrument) performance by Leonard Eto. Joyce

Ann L. Rocamora/PNA

UA&P endowment fund ensured by GT, Metrobank foundations

By Manuel T. Cayon

TWO corporate foundations have assured the continuity of a scholarshipe ndowment fund to the University of Asia and the Pacific (UA&P), which came as a proverbial educational “manna.”

Bolstering the coffers of the Dr. Placido L. Mapa Jr. Scholarship Endowment, joint donations from the GT Foundation Inc. (GTFI) a nd Metrobank Foundation Inc. (MBFI) were acknowledged by the UA&P as its “Platinum” donors, in memory of a man who was recognized for his unselfish mentoring of the next g eneration of industry leaders.

On February 15 the university signed a memorandum of agreement with the two organizations, which recognized that “through t heir generous donation, UA&P will be able to continue making a significant impact in preparing future leaders.”

Grantees of the scholarship endowment will be given full coverage of tuition and miscellaneous fees, a monthly stipend of P8,000, an Internet allowance of P1,000 monthly, a laptop, and one-to-one mentorship with a member of the UA&P Board of Tr ustees (BOT).

“It may come as a surprise to those who did not personally know him, but Dr. Mapa Jr. is often remembered not for his numerous professional accomplishments, but for his p ersonal character,” said Aniceto Sobrepeña, GTFI executive director and concurrently the president of Metrobank Foundation. “This can be attested to by several business leaders whom he mentored when they were still y oung executives in the banking and finance industry.”

Sobrepeña revealed that when he was a student, he was Dr. Mapa’s page.

The man remembered

EXPRESSING fond memories of the man now memorialized as mentor of future industry leaders during his time, Sobrepeña narrated of having the opportunity to work up close and personal with Dr. Mapa Jr.:

“I recall [one] afternoon where he was on his way to take his children to a play. It seems like such a small detail, but that impressed upon me the value of family life. He was a busy and important man involved with affairs of the State, [yet took] time to be with h is family in what might have been an opportunity to rest or do more work. I, myself, w ould put in long hours during the week and much into my weekend. The impression the visit made benefited my family life. It crystallized priorities for me, as I was about to b uild a family.”

Sobrepeña furthered: “That’s the personal side of him. But this character of ‘Cidito’—as Dr. Mapa Jr. was fondly called by family and

friends—would become a standard of excellence above reproach because of his integrity a nd fairness.”

“After more than two decades of government service, Dr. Mapa, Jr. served the Metropolitan Bank and Trust Company, or Metrobank, for over 30 years in various capacities,” he said.

H is mentor, Sobrepeña continued, was Metrobank’s president from 1989 to 1991 and vice chairman from 1992 to 2005, then held the post of Metrobank Board of Advisers chair from 2006 to 2009, and senior adviser from 2010 to 2019.

Incidentally, Dr. Placido Mapa Sr. was Metrobank’s president.

S obrepeña went on to say: “All these years while working with him at Metrobank and Metrobank Foundation, [the younger Dr. Mapa] continued to reflect the embodiment of a character worth emulating. He accords dignity to those he deals with regardless of economic standing or political persuasion. Some may call this political savvy…I think it has more to do with respecting others, much in the line of spiritual tenets which he espoused and lived by.”

Shared advocacy

THE Dr. Placido L. Mapa Jr. Scholarship Grant would not only bind the three institutions together. The two foundations and the university, after all, share a common advocacy a nd history—even way beyond borders of their institutions.

GTFI was established on October 7, 2009 as the family foundation of Dr. George S. K. Ty, who is the late Metrobank chair. Over the years the foundation has been giving Filipino youth access to education, especially those coming from economically challenged families, as its avowed purpose was to uplift the F ilipino lives through improvement of the education, health, environment, technology and innovation sectors.

GTFI’s “Scholarships for Technical-vocational Education Program” provides out-ofschool youth and other marginalized students with skills that will help them gain immediate employment. Under this program, the f oundation partners with some of the best technical schools in the Philippines such as Toyota Motor Phils.’ School of Technology, Don Bosco Technical Institute, and DualTech Training Center Foundation. In 2021 a total of 134 STEP scholarships were awarded.

GTFI also offers scholarships for college and university degree programs. As of 2021

it is a proud partner and benefactor of seven scholarship projects: “Youth Excellence and Services 2” in partnership with Manila Tytana Colleges, the “GT Scholarship Program” w ith University of San Carlos, the “Engineering Scholarship Program” with University

o f the Philippines’ Engineering Research and Development Foundation, the “Filipino Students Scholarship” with MBFI, “Share-AGift” education program with the Federation of Filipino Chinese Chamber of Commerce Inc., “Father Ai’s Children Foundation Inc. Scholarship Program” and the “Dr. George S. K. Ty Scholarship Program.”

MBFI, on the other hand, was created on January 8, 1979 by Dr. Ty—16 years after he founded Metrobank. It would pursue the corporate social responsibility of the financial i nstitution by providing and funding programs that focus on education, visual arts, h ealth, and recognizing excellence among key professions.

The foundation would inspire people to excellence in what they do, engage them and the communities they belong to, and empower them to become agents of positive change and influence—all for the onward pursuit of nation-building.

Aside from the scholarship tie-ups with institutions, MBFI offers such to academically g ifted but financially challenged students through its “College Scholarship Program,” which later branched out to subprograms: “Assistance for the Completion of College Education for Superior Students II (ACCESS II),” “Share A Gift of Education,” “MBFI/GTFI Youth for Excellence and Services Program,” “Fluor-MBFI Scholarship Program,” and the “MBFI-Boysen Scholarship Program.”

ACCESS II is currently MBFI’s flagship scholarship program which provides fouryear assistance to more than 50 scholars nationwide who wish to pursue courses in Education, Information Technology, Engineering, and Business AdministrationE ntrepreneurship in both private and state universities.

The standard of excellence to which UA&P admission would want from its beneficiaries to the scholarship program is seen through the academic requirement that “all incoming college and junior-college students [must h ave] a high school average of at least 90 percent, possess exemplary leadership credentials, and show potential to be trailblazers a nd catalysts for change in the community.”

Dr. Mapa Jr. also sat as UA&P’s Board of Trustees chair—the body that oversees the university foundation’s work.

“GTFI, MBFI and UA&P have a shared history: [one] that has been built on a man whose v ery life became a model of leadership for its institutional pillars. Their shared advocacy is to help many young people have access to quality education that promotes integral character a nd professional excellence. Together, they have embarked on a laudable project to add a building block to the advocacy of the Dr. Placido L. Mapa Jr. Scholarship Endowment,” concluded Sobrepeña.

ANGAT PINAS INC. chair Atty. Leonor “Leni” G. Robredo inspired more than 150 youth-representatives to strive for equal rights and dignity at the 24th Benilde Model United Nations (MUN).

Themed “Transcending Boundaries

Amidst Interconnecting Challenges,” this year’s edition of Benilde MUN continued its decade-old mission of engaging student-delegates in the field of global relations, allowing them to develop their diplomatic skills, while discussing timely and relevant issues faced by the global community.

Hosted by the School of Diplomacy and Governance (SDG) of the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde, Benilde MUN is the largest and pioneering collegiate conference of its kind in the Philippines.

As the opening plenary session’s guest of honor, the former Philippine vice president reminded students of the core and fundamental purpose of the UN, as well as the importance of building bridges and transcending boundaries amid interconnecting challenges.

“We are called to reflect on the UN and to ask ourselves the tough questions regarding what else can be done to make the world a better place for all,” Robredo stated. “The inequality gap continues to widen, with many from the marginalized sectors getting left further behind. While those privileged enough to be born with an economic headstart get further ahead, oppressed minorities continue to press against barriers that seem impos -

By Rizal Raoul S. Reyes

AFACULTY member from the Technological University of the Philippines (TIP) topped the just-concluded doctoral dissertation competition in Sydney, Australia.

Engr. Ma. Teodora Gutierrez, an assistant professor under the Industrial Engineering program of TIP-Quezon City, was cited for developing a template that could help address common manufacturing problems through her paper: “A Model for Production Possibility Frontier of an Enterprise Using Multi-Objective Optimization Approach.”

Her work was the best doctoral dissertation out of eight other research projects presented in-person and online in that division at the First Industrial Engineering and Operations Management (IEOM) from December 20 to 22, 2022.

Engr. Gutierrez’s goal was to help her case study subject—a Philippine-based steel company—find optimum solutions that would help its operations managers minimize production costs and wastes, subject to the availability of resources.

“I came up with this study to formulate a model for this particular [firm using their data, and solved a problem via] the operation-research technique,” the TIP faculty member noted. “So, this one is more complex because there are tradeoffs.”

Engr. Gutierrez was referring to the seemingly contradictory approach of “doing more with less” to increase productivity. In theory, she said, this can be done by achieving what is called a “Pareto optimal solution” to meet multiple objectives.

sible to break.”

The Angat Pinas head likewise urged the need to expand spaces where self-identity, whether of race, heritage, or sexual orientation, can be freely expressed.

“To put an end to human suffering, we must all begin to treat each other as human beings that have equal rights, equal worth, and equal dignity,” she stated. “Today, we are asked to anchor ourselves to the UN’s philosophy: to remind ourselves that it is a space not to exercise power over others, but to empower them; not a space to make smaller nations yield to bigger ones, but one where we can enlarge our circles of compassion so that different nations can be looped into one organic human community.”

Robredo also encouraged those present to look at diplomacy as more than just a transaction, but an avenue to build authentic human connections.

“I believe this exercise on solidarity holds the key not only to facing the challenges in the international community, but to our own experiences as well,” she explained. “We are called not only to hand bread to those who are hungry, but to sit with them, to break bread with them, to experience what they are going through as equals. We are called not only to help, but to truly empathize.”

The Benilde MUN gathered youth-leaders from Benilde SDG, University of the Philippines-Diliman, West Visayas State University, Colegio San Agustin, GermanEuropean School-Manila, La Salle Green Hills and Tarlac National High School.

confab

“Pareto optimality,” or “pareto efficiency,” is a concept commonly used in economics to describe a scenario where resources are allocated in the most efficient way possible without making one side of the equation better off or worse than the other.

Engr. Gutierrez, a 21-year faculty member, presented her paper virtually. She has been working on it as part of her Doctor of Engineering in Engineering Management studies at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines in Manila.

Her triumph at the Australian conference of the IEOM Society is her first international recognition. Prior to the achievement, Engr. Gutierrez has performed research on improving productivity in a semiconductor subcontracting company, and worked with other researchers on a solution to decongest the Manila Port using model simulation, among other studies. IEOM Society is a nonprofit global organization “dedicated to the advancement of industrial engineering and operations management discipline for the betterment of humanity.”

DE LA SALLE-COLLEGE OF SAINT BENILDE vice president for Administration Juan Ramon Odulio (from left), Benilde Model United Nations director-general

Diplomacy and International Affairs program chair Catherine Samaniego, as well as DLS-CSB OIC vice chancellor for Academics and Benilde School of Environment and Design dean Archt. Dottie Asela Domingo.

T.I.P. faculty’s research on production possibility cited in Australian

APART from understanding Japan’s culture better, learning its language could prove advantageous for Filipino youth when applying there for study grants and work.

ENGR. Ma. Teodora Gutierrez

Pakistan in ‘perfect storm’ of crises, FM Zardari warns

By Edith M. Lederer The Associated Press

UNITED NATIONS—Pakistan’s foreign minister said Thursday his country is facing “a perfect storm” of troubles—an economic crisis, the consequences of catastrophic flooding, and terrorism “that is once again rearing its ugly head” as a result of the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan.

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the 34-year-old son of assassinated former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, said in a wide-ranging interview with The Associated Press that Pakistan, like other countries, is also beset by “hyper-partisan and hyper-polarized politics.”

Discussing his cash-strapped country’s crushing need for financial help, he sharply criticized the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which last month delayed a $6 billion bailout over Pakistan failing to meet terms of a 2019 deal. The government blames that failure on former Prime Minister Imran Khan, now the opposition leader.

The IMF gave new instructions to Pakistan to raise and collect taxes as well as slash subsidies without burdening poor people, government officials said.

Zardari said his party supports expanding revenue collection and believes those who are well off should pay more, but he said Pakistan has been unable to achieve structural tax reform “for the last 23 IMF programs that we have been a part of.”

Time to

‘nitpick’?

“IS it really the time to nitpick about our tax policy and tax collection while we’re suffering from a climate catastrophe of this scale?” he said.

The IMF is not being fair to Pakistan, which is also dealing with 100,000 new refugees following the West’s withdrawal from Afghanistan and “a steady uptick of terrorist activities within our country,” Zardari said.

The IMF is stretching out talks on a bailout when the country needs money now to help “the poorest of the poor” whose homes and crops were washed away in the floods, he said. “And they’re being told that until their tax reform is not complete, we will not conclude the IMF program.”

Economically, he said, Pakistan had been able to keep its head above water despite the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, the August 2021 Taliban seizure of power in Afghanistan, inflation and supply chain disruptions.

But then last summer’s floods killed 1,739 people, destroyed 2 million homes and caused $30 billion in damage—“the biggest, most devastating climate catastrophe that we’ve ever experienced,” he said.

On the diplomatic front, Zardari said, Pakistan faces a number of challenges with its neighbors. He pointed to a host of bilateral issues with India, decades of “tragedy and conflict” in Afghanistan, and sanctions against Iran that hinder Pakistan’s trade with the country.

Pakistan has “a very healthy economic relationship with our neighbor China that obviously is also in the spotlight as a result of geopolitical events,” he said.

Grateful to China, Russia

THE government is “very grateful” to Beijing for another $1.3 billion loan announced March 3, especially in light of the destruction of the floods, he said.

“The government of China has supported

Pakistan whether by rolling over our debt or by providing economic assistance in one form or the other,” Zardari said. “I am not concerned about this issue at the moment.

We need help and support from wherever we can get it.”

To meet its energy needs and provide relief to people paying for expensive imported fuel, he said, “we are looking to work with anyone, including Russia, to meet our energy needs.”

He added that he believes there is now space for imports from Russia within the US price cap.

In an ideal world, Zardari said, a gas pipeline from Iran to Pakistan should be completed, but “unfortunately, I don’t see that happening in the immediate future as a result of geopolitical complications.”

Moving forward with US

LAST May, Zardari had said that the United States and Pakistan needed to move beyond past tensions over Afghanistan and enter a new engagement after years of strained relations under Khan’s administration.

“We are on a healthy trajectory,” he said Thursday, pointing to talks on climate, health, technology and trade.

US and Pakistani officials also just met to discuss counterterrorism, an issue Pakistan’s government has also raised in Afghanistan, he added.

Zardari insisted Pakistan’s “alleged influence over the Taliban has always been exaggerated”—before and after the fall of Kabul. He said Pakistan, however, has always maintained the importance of engagement with the Taliban on terrorism and other issues, especially women’s rights to education and jobs. He was at the UN speaking at several meetings promoting women’s rights.

Zardari said Pakistan would like to see the Taliban take action against all terrorist groups, including those linked to al-Qaeda and the Islamic State. But he said there are questions about the Taliban’s capacity to combat these groups because it doesn’t have a standing army, a counterterrorism force or an effective border management force.

Zardari said his advice to the West is to engage with the Taliban “regardless of what’s going on on the ground.”

The West should also not only maintain humanitarian aid to Afghanistan but provide economic assistance to get its economy and central bank running and help Afghans from falling into an even worse economic crisis, he said.

Zardari said he understands how difficult this will be with lawmakers in the United States, United Kingdom and European Union.

But without a functioning economy, he said, there won’t be “space” for the Taliban to implement political decisions, including trying to get them to keep prior commitments including on women’s rights to education and jobs.

PAKISTANI Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari speaks during an interview with The Associated Press, Thursday, March 9, 2023 at United Nations headquarters. AP

The truth about P50k K-Pop photo cards

ones that are high in value are few and far between so most collectors own inexpensive to moderately priced photo cards.

UNLESS you’re not on any social-media platform, you’ve probably heard of the Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho segment which talked about a 16-year-old named “Bea,” who allegedly stole over P2 million from her grandmother to buy K-pop albums and photo cards.

Before I give my own take on what I think of Bea’s story, let me make a few clarifications. Many developments have surfaced since the episode came out on TV last Sunday but I will stick to the original story and base my statements, opinions and assumptions from there.

First, there are those who question how the family could have over P2 million lying around when they “just have a stall in the market.” Having a stall in any market, as far as I know, requires a lot of money so, yes, the family could have had over P2 million in cash because their business is mostly cash-based. I know this because one of the my high-school best friend’s family owned a store in the market and they were quite well-off.

Second, the P50,000 photo card originally cost about P90,000 or even more when it was first released and I know people who own whole collections of the special yearbook cards. Here’s the thing though: Photo

I am saying this because there have been reports of thefts, threats, or inappropriate remarks made against those who carry K-pop photo cards publicly. Obviously, someone with a photo card worth P50,000 would not be carrying it while riding a bus. Many K-pop fans also carry unofficial photo cards, meaning they’re not the real thing, for obvious reasons. So those are only worth the paper they’re printed on. OK, now I will air my own opinions about K-pop and those photo cards as a Korean culture enthusiast since 1999. The pandemic has brought in a deluge of new, younger and more aggressive fans. I don’t use the word “aggressive” negatively here because fans like me are more passive in the sense that, yes, I do buy albums and photo cards but I don’t and can’t purchase tens or hundreds at one time because I have other responsibilities like paying my bills and feeding my family and dogs.

When my ultimate favorite Xiumin of EXO released his first solo album “Brand New” last year, I purchased four physical albums. It was the most I had bought since I became a K-pop fan decades ago. When Xiumin came to the Philippines in November for a show with local and Korean artists, Juliana and I purchased Upper Box tickets. Juliana wanted to purchase the higher tier ones but I was against spending any more money.

So anyway, since the pandemic, I noticed how these new and younger fans are so enthusiastic and passionate about their purchases that it’s difficult to compete with them if it’s on a first-come first-serve basis. They say “mine” to almost everything in sight that’s related to their favorites. I can only afford one

myself. I have not even completed Xiumin’s nonalbum photo cards, which I supposedly collect. I can’t even call myself a collector because these days, collecting photo cards means you spend hundreds of thousands on what they call “expensive paper.” Truthfully, I didn’t touch my little collection for almost a year because I felt it was too puny compared to others. I felt that in terms of K-pop, I’d been left behind.

What got me over this slump is the realization that behind every item in my small collection is a story. My friend helped me source the Xiumin Melody Fairy photo card from Yangdo. It is my most expensive photo card at P550, exclusive of shipping fees. I treasure those that are gifts from Juliana and my friends.

I realize that Xiumin’s photo cards were my “link” to him when he was enlisted in the military and while I am no longer that active as his fan, I  will always be grateful for the happiness he has brought to my life.

To any honest and hardworking K-pop fan faced with comments such as “Did you steal those?” or “Is that worth P50,000?” always go back to your roots. Always ask yourself why you became a fan and think of how happy you were in the beginning, before you realized you needed to spend more money to be happy. That first flush of happiness is what brought you to K-pop in the first place.

There’s this new word that new K-pop fans like to use and it’s “sparks,” meaning certain photo cards and K-pop merch spark joy so they’d like to get them. For me, a photo card with “sparks” is one taken during a period where I know Xiumin was in a good place.

No one cares how big or small your collection is, except you. Continue to enjoy the hunt for K-pop photo cards but don’t let it consume you. ■

Lazada marks 11 years in PHL with high hopes to sustain growth

BY RODERICK L. ABAD Contributor

ONLINE lifestyle destination and e-commerce pioneer Lazada has just turned 11, growing consistently from being a retail business to now a major marketplace here and across Southeast Asia.

Without divulging the exact figure, Lazada Philippines chief executive officer (CEO) Carlos Barrera said of their “exponential” sales growth since the start of their domestic operations in 2012:

“We were in the low millions of pesos per month. And today, we’re obviously billions of pesos per month. So it’s been an insane transformation,” he told reporters during their recent exclusive media briefing, followed by the kick off of Lazada’s 11th Epic Birthday Sale in Taguig City.

The top executive recalled that they begun to pivot as a platform business in 2014, allowing more sellers

and more supplies onboard their online channel. He continued: “We started to grow around 2016, when we got the first round of investment from Alibaba.”

Constantly, the firm has seen “very strong growth over the last three to four years” before and during the Covid-19 pandemic, according to Barrera. In fact, he noted that 2018 and 2019 were their “amazing years” with the set up of a lot of businesses over time, including LazMall and Lazada Logistics, and “each of them had their own momentum.”

Previously known only for electronics, Lazada is now a go-to marketplace also for beauty and motherhood and baby products, among the more than 40 categories it has at present. Barrera claimed that currently they are an e-commerce market leader, thanks to their provision of quality of service and unparalleled delivery experience to customers.

“At the core of what we do at Lazada is transparency. And we believe it’s very important for

us to have these returns, delivery warranty, money back guarantee. So that’s really [why] platforms [like ours] are probably [taking] the larger share of the e-commerce business,” he said of the entire Philippine online trade that generates between P11 billion to P15 billion sales annually with a penetration rate of 13 percent to 16 percent.

Amid the “good pandemic growth” in the last three years, the CEO is positive that Lazada is “not slowing down” business-wise as they seek to sustain market leadership this year onwards.

“We’re a lot more focused on our innovations and the things that we do, and really growing our customer base. What we want is to offer our services to a lot more people, and to really penetrate provincial [areas] to offer a very clearly differentiated positioning in the country,” Barrera said.

To that end, Lazada has invested much in other portfolios like LazBeauty and LazLook. While its

BY RIZAL RAOUL S. REYES

THE emergence of the super-apps has made it easier for users to conveniently access multiple features and services that cater to their financial, leisure and lifestyle needs all in a single platform.

According to the ASEAN Comprehensive Recovery Framework (ACRF), the introduction of the super-apps is one of the factors pushing digital transformation to “boost the economy and improve society in the post-Covid world.”

From transportation to food deliveries, shipments and groceries, the ACRF said super-apps provided the bridge between services and goods, without the need to look for a separate entity or competitor since these features are housed in one app or platform—accessed with just a download or a click.

Moreover, the ACRF said super apps are a holistic platform that makes user experience both contactless and easy in a world that shifted to a higher digital and online footprint for the exchange of goods and services—part of that rise in these apps was how transactions could be paid for, hence the importance of integrating digital payments.

As far as the local banking sector is concerned, super apps are making a difference. UPAY, the Union Bank of the Philippines (UnionBank)-powered unified platform app, has enabled organizations to achieve streamlined operations as it simplifies payment collections through its various functional benefits including a wide selection of payment options, builtin real-time notifications, comprehensive collection reports, and real-time transaction confirmation.

Through UPAY, the Aboitiz-led UnionBank said the Judiciary Electronic Payment System (JEPS) of the Supreme Court of the Philippines has achieved simplification in its transactions with the Court. With UPAY, litigants no longer have to physically go to the courthouse to pay court fees because of the option to pay at any location and at their most convenient time. Court fee transactions are processed in real-time, as well.

Meanwhile, UPAY has also boosted the capability of financial technology company (fintech) Bloom Solutions, which develops cryptocurrency platforms to receive payments from different banks through different channels. “This makes bank-end processes more responsive and efficient, allowing better usability and stability for its fintech products, namely crypto-exchange platforms,” Bloom Solutions said.

Furthermore, the ACRF said the use of digital technologies such as a super app has helped individuals, the private sector, and the government cope with mobility restrictions and social distancing measures, ensuring business continuity and steady delivery of public services. As businesses and organizations begin to bounce back from the impacts of the pandemic, digital solutions and platforms will remain integral tools for them to complete their recovery.

According to data provided by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), digital payments accounted for 30.3 percent of the total retail payments volume in the Philippines in 2021, which is higher than the previous year’s 20.1 percent. Southeast Asia’s (SEA) digital economy is also projected to reach $1 trillion in Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) by 2030, according to the latest e-Conomy SEA report.

average transaction tickets are slightly lower, the frequency has more than doubled as people seeking value for money keep on coming back more often to their platform.

“That’s also why now he have more campaigns— PayDay and Double Day,” he said, adding the recently launched LazPayLater and the 11-day long Epic Birthday Sale which is ongoing until March 13. Barrera, likewise, bared that they are coming up with a faster delivery campaign in a month or two, and plan to build hundreds of delivery hubs nationwide.

“We’re very strong in Metro Manila, in Luzon, [and] in some of the metro areas in the provinces. But the next frontier is faster deliveries all over—across Luzon, across some of the areas,” he stressed. “This is definitely a growth year for us… we’re definitely in the moment of expansion, growth, and really investing to take the [customer] experience to the next level.”

Super-apps playing key role in digital transformation in PHL

Realme 10 Pro+ 5G: Stylish travel buddy

Google Maps to find our way to the Avenue of Stars and AquaLuna Pier.

This visibility makes the realme 10 Pro+ 5G a great choice for those who are planning to make the most of the sunny summer weather at the beach and engage in new outdoor activities. With its peak brightness reaching up to 800 nits, the phone’s screen remains clearly visible even when used under direct sunlight.

The realme 10 Pro+ 5G also takes care of your eyesight by reducing blue light and minimizing flicker with its TUV Rheinland Certifications:

SPIFFY PERFORMANCE AND BATTERY

AS more people are traveling now, the airports are becoming more crowded so one tip especially if you are planning to travel abroad is to be at the airport at least three hours before your flight. This is because it can take you more than an hour at immigration.

This is where I was able to appreciate the power of the realme 10 Pro+.

TWITTER’S NEW ‘VIOLENT SPEECH’ POLICY SIMILAR TO PAST RULES

ACOUPLE of weeks ago we did a review of the realme 10 Pro, but the realme 10 Pro+ version is what really excited us because of its design and curved AMOLED display—a first for the number series. It does cost a few thousand pesos more, obviously, but is it worth saving up for?

We put the realme 10 Pro+ 5G to the test during our recent trip to Hong Kong to see if its more than just a pretty, shiny phone.

A DESIGN THAT’S MEANT TO SHINE

TRAVELING is the best time to showcase those OOTDs, so if you’re planning on getting a new phone for your trips this summer season, you’d definitely want something that would go well with any of your outfits.

The realme 10 Pro+ 5G is easily the most gorgeouslooking among all in the number series. There are three available colorways, Dark Matter, Nebula Blue and the ultra-flashy Hyperspace Gold (which looks like a disco ball was dropped on its back panel). Look closer and you’ll notice a prism-like effect that radiates outwards from its twin-lens reflex camera cutouts and the “nebula particles” give it a glittery texture.

It’s also the slimmest phone realme has ever made with just a thickness of just 7.78mm and a weight of 172.5g, making it more ideal than hauling around a heavy DSLR camera.

While the flashy back design easily calls attention, it’s the curved display that actually steals the show. Once an exclusive feature reserved for premium flagships, the realme 10 Pro+ 5G, boasts of a 6.7-inch curved AMOLED display with 61-degree precision curvature. This allows the glass to take over the front of the phone resulting in ultra-thin bezels and a full screen experience.

The display also uses a double-reinforced glass to protect it against everyday bumps and scrapes, but it’s not the kind you’d want to smash or droptest as its plastic frame might get damaged when dropped.

The screen has a resolution of 1080+ and 394ppi and can display over 1 billion colors due to its natural 10-bit color depth. The quicker 120Hz refresh rate and 360Hz touch response makes it ideal for gamers and video streaming is easier with the HDR10+ certification.

The screen’s visibility in direct sunlight proved to be incredibly useful during our trip, particularly when we got lost in Tsim Sha Tsui and needed to check

TÜV Rheinland Flicker Free Certification and TÜV Rheinland Low Blue Light Certification. When it’s dark and time to sleep, the screen has automatic 2,160Hz high-frequency dimming that should minimize discomfort when viewing the panel at low brightness levels—again useful when scrolling through your social-media feed or checking your next day’s itinerary in the dark.

What’s a great display without an equally good audio? The realme 10 Pro+ 5G might have ditched the headphone jack, but it does have set of stereo speakers that supports 200 percent Ultra Volume Mode. It’s nice if you’re sharing content with someone else or a group but just know that it does lack bass and maxxing out the volume does result in some distortion.

CAPTURING MOMENTS FROM MORNING TILL NIGHT

1,981. That’s the total number of photos and videos I took using the realme 10 Pro+ 5G throughout our week-long trip. Does that mean the cameras are really good?

Well, it’s actually not the leap I was hoping for, but it does offer slight improvements over the realme 9 Pro+ with its 108MP ProLight main shooter and I do like the punchy color output and new filters in Street Mode.

The realme 10 Pro+ 5G uses a Samsung HM6 1/1.67” sensor with 0.64µm pixels and paired with its Nonapixel Plus Technology. It’s the same one on the realme 10 Pro, but the Pro+ does have an additional 8-megapixel ultra-wide camera. While it does get that megapixel bump, it misses out on optical image stabilization, which does impact your handheld shots especially in low light. Completing the triple camera setup is a macro lens.

Thankfully, we went around mostly during the day so I was able to capture a lot of nice-looking photos of the city with good details, contrast and vivid colors. The dynamic range is also one of the better ones in its price category.

However, when I used it during our Aqua Luna night cruise, the camera struggled quite a bit and I had to switch to night mode. Still, the quality dropped with photos appearing soft, lacking details and with noticeable noise.

The 16MP selfie camera surprisingly works pretty well even in less-than-ideal lighting conditions. It can take good selfies of a well-exposed subject with accurate colors but the edge detection could do a bit more fine-tuning in portrait mode.

You should always be ready for any information the immigration officer might ask such as your flight details, hotel bookings, itinerary and even proof of identification. Since bringing all those printouts can be stressful, I have digital copies of all my documents and I had no problem switching between my e-mail, gallery, and even my social-media apps and web sites when I was asked for information. As there have been lots of news about passengers being offloaded, those few seconds of hesitation or your phone lagging may lead to even more unnerving questions.

The realme 10 Pro+ works on the MediaTek Dimensity 920 processor coupled with 8GB LPDDR4X RAM and 256GB UFS 2.2 internal storage. You can further boost that up to 16GB via virtual RAM, and there is also a 12GB RAM option available.

While I used the phone mostly for its cameras, Google Maps and for my social-media updates for most of our trip, I was still very impressed by the realme 10 Pro+ performance. Switching between applications was buttery smooth and it didn’t slow down despite all the open apps. I also didn’t encounter any heating issues despite having my data turned on most of the time. And though it’s not really designed for gaming, the Dimensity 920 processor can handle those graphically demanding titles.

For software, the realme 10 Pro+ runs the latest Android 13 out of the box with realme UI 4.0. I’ve had no complaints with the realme UI, but lately I’ve noticed that the realme app market is becoming more aggressive with its app suggestions.

Every installed app goes through it to make sure it’s safe, but what irritates me is that it displays ads and random app suggestions which are not even relevant to me.

Finally, the realme 10 Pro+ 5G has a large 5000mAh battery that supports 67W SUPERVOOC Charging. It lasted me an entire day before I needed to recharge and I can get up to 50 percent in just 20 minutes, and fully charge it in under an hour, so by the time I’m finished with my morning rituals its already fully charged.

FINAL WORD: With that curved display and Hyperspace colorway, the realme 10 Pro+ 5G is one of the best-looking phones in its price category. It is a great choice for users who are into streaming and multimedia content consumption because of its AMOLED display and eye protection features. Although the camera basically performs just the same as its predecessor, it’s already a decent shooter that would not disappoint you in capturing those memorable travel moments. The realme 10 Pro+ 5G 8GB+128GB is priced at ₱19,999 while the official price of the 12GB+256GB version is ₱24,999. ■

BY BARBARA O�TUTAY The Associated Press

SAN FRANCISCO—Twitter on Wednesday unveiled a new policy prohibiting “violent speech” on its platform, though the rules appear very similar to guidelines against violent threats that the company had on its books before Elon Musk took it over. Among the updates, Twitter expanded its policy to include a ban on “coded language,” which is often referred to as “dog whistles,” used to indirectly incite violence. It also added a rule that prohibits “threatening to damage civilian homes and shelters, or infrastructure that is essential to daily, civic, or business activities.”

The additions come as San Francisco-based Twitter prepares to comply with new European Union rules that go into effect this fall. The new rules, called the Digital Services Act, require tech companies to better police their platforms for material that, for instance, promotes terrorism, child sexual abuse, hate speech and commercial scams.

Twitter’s new violent-speech policy states that “healthy conversations can’t thrive when violent speech is used to deliver a message. As a result, we have a zero tolerance policy towards violent speech in order to ensure the safety of our users and prevent the normalization of violent actions.”

But Twitter already had a version of this rule on the books in October 2021, a year before Musk bought the company for $44 billion, according to a snapshot of its site rules on the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine. The old rule stated that Twitter has a “zero tolerance policy against violent threats. Those deemed to be sharing violent threats will face immediate and permanent suspension of their account.”

Twitter also edited and reshuffled policies, though some changes appeared purely cosmetic. For instance, the prohibition of violent threats and wishing harm on a person or a group of people was previously in a section called “Abusive behavior” and now it is in a new section called “Violent Speech Policy.”

The company kept on is books a policy prohibiting the “targeted misgendering or deadnaming of transgender individuals,” which some transgender advocates had worried would be removed. Of course, policies are only as good as their enforcement. Having lost the majority of its workforce through mass layoffs, firings and resignations, it is not clear if Twitter will be able to hold its users to its new—and old—policies. The system was far from perfect to begin with, especially in countries outside the US and the EU.

China debt restructurings come to a head for $150-billion market

holders to sign after they voiced support for the firm’s plan, people familiar with the matter said earlier this week.

Logan Group Co.—a builder of homes for first-time buyers, which operates mainly in the Greater Bay area of Guangdong, Macau and Hong Kong—showed its latest restructuring proposal to some note holders this week, people familiar with the matter said.

It adds to a flurry of activity in a pivotal month for the country’s property debt crunch.

China Evergrande Group, the poster child for the industry’s woes, has said it wanted to get support from bondholders for its

own debt-restructuring plan by early March and faces a March 20 court hearing in Hong Kong on a winding-up petition. Two Logan units are scheduled to have hearings next week regarding such petitions against them.

Zhenro Properties Group Ltd. aims to issue preliminary proposal for offshore debt solutions by the end of the month. And fellow defaulted builder Sunac China Holdings Ltd. is preparing a restructuring support agreement for an adhoc group of major offshore debt

A government crackdown on property-related leverage growth caused a cash crunch that squeezed builders’ liquidity, ultimately resulting in more than a year of declining newhome sales and prices. Real estate firms defaulted on a record amount of dollar bonds last year. Steps since November to support developers set off big rallies in developers’ stocks and notes, but the euphoria has cooled and the sector’s equities entered a bear market Thursday.

Logan, China’s 36th-largest builder by contracted sales last year, suspended dollar-bond payments in August. It disclosed during a January meeting with some creditors that it aimed to finalize changes to an offshore-debt restructuring proposal by midFebruary, Bloomberg News previously reported. That goal was subsequently extended.

Logan’s latest restructuring proposals are preliminary and subject to change based on creditor feedback, according to the people familiar with the matter. The company didn’t immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.

“Many issuers are taking creditor feedback quite seriously,” Sophia Xia, co-head of China restructuring at financial adviser Houlihan Lokey Inc., said during a January conference hosted by S&P Global Ratings. “Meanwhile, it seems quite obvious that China’s supports are being mostly offered to the ‘quality developers.’ This provides incentives for developers to get serious about cleaning up their obligations.”

An offshore-debt restructuring plan for Logan first emerged in September that aimed to extend the average term of $6 billion in borrowings to more than five years. Logan’s offshore bonds have maturities out to 2028, according to Bloomberg-compiled data. Bloomberg News

China’s consumer spending shows signs of strong rebound

CONSUMER spending in China has picked up rapidly in recent weeks, especially on eating out and travel, giving a boost to an economic recovery that’s become increasingly reliant on local demand.

High-frequency indicators of spending in some sectors have shown double-digit growth from a year ago, while leading travel companies and retailers have reported a strong increase in sales so far this year.

China’s consumers are in focus after a government meeting this week suggested officials would avoid large stimulus through infrastructure investment or the property market—leaving household spending to drive demand in the world’s second-largest economy.

A consumer rebound will also help offset the slump in exports as economic growth in some of China’s key markets, like the US and Europe, weakens. After three years of on-off Covid restrictions, economists are betting consumers will help drive China’s growth to above 5 percent this year.

High-frequency data support anecdotal

reports of packed restaurants in cities such as Beijing. A rolling 30-day average of restaurant revenues in major cities tracked by BigOne Lab, a China-based data provider, recorded 24 percent year-on-year growth in early February.

Mobilit y indicators—such as road and subway travel—which tend to track consumer spending, also saw strong growth in recent weeks. An index of traffic congestion in China’s 15 largest cities compiled by BloombergNEF reached its highest reading in more than a year in February.

Investors remain cautious about the outlook, though, concerned by the lack of economic stimulus from officials at the National People’s Congress, the annual parliamentary gathering this week. The MSCI China Index erased all its gains for the year on Friday, dropping as much as 2.2 percent. B eijing has refrained from the direct cash handouts to consumers seen in other countries, betting that a recovery in hiring will lead households to spend more.

O nline retailer JD.com, whose shares slumped Thursday because of weak revenue last quarter, warned of a gradual rebound in sentiment. While social-contact related consumption, like restaurants and tourism, was recovering quickly, hiring by small and mediumsized companies “would take some time” to pass through to a full recovery in consumer confidence, the company’s Chief Executive Officer Xu Lei said on a conference call this week.

Retail sales rebound

AFTER declining each month of the last quarter, retail sales for the first two months of the year—due to be released on March 15—will likely show a year-on-year increase of 3.5 percent, according to economists in a Bloomberg survey.

That data probably won’t reflect recent strength in consumer spending, as it incorporates data from January, when China was hit by a wave of coronavirus infections that followed the government’s sudden ending of Covid restrictions.

Corporate borrowers squeezed by rising rates

By Damian J. Troise AP Business Writer

COMPANIES that piled on debt throughout the pandemic and the economic recovery could be in for a tough road ahead as the bills come due.

downgrades than upgrades on debt since August.

It all adds up to default risks rising as companies get pinched by a weakening economy and have a difficult time refinancing existing debt.

A measure of Chinese consumer confidence by Morning Consult, a US consultancy, rose to the highest level in nine months in February.

“February should look much better than January,” especially in sectors such as car sales, said Larry Hu, head of China economics at Macquarie Group Ltd.

Car sales in China, a key component of retail sales, grew 10.4 percent in February from a year earlier, the China Passenger Vehicle Association said this week. The auto market is poised for a “period of steady growth,” the association’s Secretary General Cui Dongshu said.

Travel within China is picking up quickly, with the number of domestic flights in February up 17.2 percent on the same month in 2022, according to data from VariFlight Technology Co.

Shor t-haul travel has already reached nearly double the levels before the pandemic, Jane Sun, chief executive of online travel agency Trip.com told investors this week. Bloomberg News

Corporate borrowers will have to pay more of that debt back as refinancing grows more difficult with rising interest rates. The persistent squeeze from inflation is keeping costs high for many companies, while stifling consumer demand and sapping purchasing power.

Corporate debt rose from roughly $16.3 trillion just before the pandemic hit to about $19.8 trillion near the end of 2022, according to the Federal Reserve.

Economists and analysts expect some kind of recession to hit the US economy in 2023 and the severity of it could weigh heavily on both large and small companies as they repay debt.

“Near-term profit pressures on US corporate borrowers look set to intensify,” noted a report from S&P Global Ratings on the outlook for corporate credit.

The report shows that corporate debt coming due steadily rises through 2026, with speculativegrade debt surpassing investmentgrade debt in 2027. Speculativegrade debt carries a higher risk of default than investment-grade.

“Faced with an overhang of pandemic-era debt that begins to mature in 2025, companies will be looking for refinancing opportunities,” S&P Global Ratings said. Refinancing risks are increasing partly because of the potential for a recession. Credit rating trends are already turning negative, with more

The Federal Reserve has sharply raised its benchmark interest rate in an effort to tame inflation, but that has made borrowing more expensive. The rate is currently in a range of 4.50 percent to 4.75 percent after starting last year at basically zero.

The widespread expectation is now for the Fed to increase the rate to at least 5.25 percent by June and some bets on Wall Street are calling for a rate of up to 5.50 percent.

The tougher financing atmosphere is running up against an economic slowdown. Google’s parent company Alphabet, Dell and other big technology companies have been cutting staff in an effort to control costs as demand wanes. Retailers, including Walmart and Home Depot, have been issuing warnings about weaker consumer spending.

“Many companies will find it more difficult to balance stillelevated input costs and waning demand amid the prospects of a downturn in the world’s largest economy,” S&P Global Ratings said.

The broader labor market has remained relatively strong, but a downturn in employment could further weaken consumer spending and hit corporate earnings.

Companies in the S&P 500 reported a broad 4.6 percent contraction in earnings during the fourth quarter of 2022 and analysts expect similar results during the first half of 2023.

Oil set for

weekly

loss as Fed tightening fears pummel markets

OIL headed for the biggest weekly loss since early February as the prospect of further and potentially faster interest rate hikes from the Federal Reserve weighed on the outlook for energy demand.

West Texas Intermediate futures traded below $76 a barrel and are down around 5 percent this week.

A hawkish tone from Fed Chair Jerome Powell this week has rippled across markets, with investors keenly anticipating jobs data later Friday for further clues on the path for monetary tightening.

Bearish sentiment around more rate hikes has overshadowed optimism over China’s recovery after the end of Covid Zero.

The country’s revival is already increasing the cost of shipping crude, while Shell Plc sees higher oil prices over the coming months as China underpins record global demand. Oil has had a bumpy year so far, whipsawed by the opposing drivers of global slowdown concerns and China’s rebound.

Traders are also monitoring energy flows from Russia, with indications the nation’s exports are holding up more strongly than initially expected, even in the face of sanctions.

TWO years after China’s developers began their descent into a debt crisis that ravaged the sector and forced record defaults in the nation’s $150 billion junk dollar debt market, creditors are starting to get a taste of the full consequences.

THE Federal Reserve interest rate announcement is displayed on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange in New York on February 1, 2023. Companies that piled on debt throughout the pandemic and the economic recovery could be in for a tough road ahead as the bills come due.

Corporate borrowers will have to pay more of that debt back as refinancing grows more difficult with rising interest rates. AP

The World

US eyes China competition in Indo-Pacific region with budget increase for Pentagon

THE Biden administration’s proposed budget for the fiscal year beginning October

1 asks for billions more dollars to boost its Indo-Pacific military command, enhance missile defense and strengthen regional economies, as part of a broader push to counter China’s more assertive role in the region.

The White House is proposing $9.1 billion for Pentagon investments in the Indo-Pacific region as part of the Pacific Deterrence Initiative, up from a $6.1 billion

request for the current year. In the end, Congress appropriated $11.5 billion for 2023, suggesting that the initiative will get more than it asked for this time too.

Separately, the Indo-Pacific Command spelled out this week in a congressionally mandated report categories of Pentagon spending where it would like increased funding. It listed $15.3 billion in recommendations, up from $9 billion it recommended last year.

It includes billions of dollars for missile defense in Guam and

Hawaii as well as broader missilewarning systems. Overall, the command recommended $86.8 billion in those areas to shore up US defenses and military presence in the region over the next four years.

Last year’s four-year recommendation totaled $67 billion.

The emphasis on funneling more money to US military assets in the Indo-Pacific highlights just how much the Biden administration, like the Trump administration before it, wants to reorient its defense posture to respond to China’s own growing

Russia shifts tactics with deadly missile strikes across Ukraine

RUSSIA launched a devastating bombardment against cities across Ukraine, killing at least five people and casting hundreds of thousands into sporadic blackouts with a new mix of weapons that mostly evaded air defenses.

The strike was unusual in the number of expensive, high-end missiles used, raising the difficult to answer question of why Russian planners decided to deploy them in such numbers now.

Ukraine said it shot down 34 of the 81 missiles fired, a lower than usual proportion because the barrage included three classes of weapon against which it has no defense.

They included six Kinzhals, which military analysts assess to be a version of the nuclear-capable Iskander ballistic missile adapted for launch from an aircraft. This was the largest number of Kinzhals that Russia has used in a single air strike to date.

In addition to the Kinzhals, six KH-22 anti-ship missiles and 13 S-300 anti-aircraft missiles adapted for use against land targets also got through, according to Ukraine’s Air Force.

“Russian forces used the array of missiles, especially those that Ukraine cannot intercept such as the Kinzhal, to ensure that they have some informational successes as a result of this missile campaign regardless of the dwindling supply of high-precision missiles,” said Kateryna Stepanenko, a Russia research analyst at the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington think tank that closely tracks the war.

Growing Ukrainian success in shooting down Moscow’s cruise missiles had fed criticism of the war effort inside Russia from nationalist military bloggers and some TV personalities, who portrayed the winter missile strike campaign to freeze Ukrainians into surrender as a failure, Stepanenko said.

The Russian Ministry of Defense described the March 9 missile campaign as a retaliatory strike for a cross border incursion into Russia’s Bryansk region on March 2.

The attack extended Russian Vladimir Putin’s five-month campaign of air strikes targeting civilian infrastructure, including the energy grid, hospitals, schools and residential buildings.

Kremlin forces are currently storming Ukrainian fortifications in the city of Bakhmut, prompting President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to call for reinforcements to prevent Russia from gaining an “open road” to capture more territory in

Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region.

“The enemy fired 81 missiles in an attempt to intimidate Ukrainians again, returning to their miserable tactics,” Zelenskiy said on Telegram. “The occupiers can only terrorize civilians.”

At one meter in diameter and eight meters long, the Kinzhal travels at high speeds and carries a destructive 480 kilogram payload, making it a fearsome weapon that was likely developed to target ships and command centers in the event of conflict with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

“It’s difficult to intercept because it’s launched at long-range, it’s fast, (above Mach 5 at peak speed), it’s likely capable of midcourse maneuvers like the 9K720 Iskander (RS-SS-26 Stone) of which it’s a variant, and it flies at altitudes that have tended to be neglected by ground based air defenses,” said Douglas Barrie, senior fellow for military aerospace at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, a London think tank.

How many Russia has to use in Ukraine is unknown and the fact that six were deployed in a single attack tells us little, according to Barrie. Ruslan Pukhov, head of the Centre for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies in Moscow, said it’s possible Russia used the Kinzhals because it’s saving its dwindling stock cruise missiles shot from ground-based launchers for what’s expected to be more intense fighting with the end of winter.

“Russia had to expand the use of Kinzhal missiles because Ukraine’s air defense capabilities improved and will improve further as they will receive more Western air defense systems,” Pukhov said.

“In the wake of more active fighting this spring it is more logical to use Kinzhals now and save

more cruise missiles for future.”

While Ukraine’s authorities say the electricity grid has survived the most difficult period of winter, low temperatures continue to test millions of Ukrainians left vulnerable from the war. The capital and major cities such as Kharkiv, Odesa and Zhytomyr reported blackouts, while air-raid sirens that started blaring after midnight continued to sound as the sun rose.

The barrage underscored the wide-scale destruction Putin’s forces are wreaking on Ukraine with the war in its second year. Tens of thousands of people have died in Russia’s attempt to seize control of its neighbor—and until recently historical ally—while the fighting has driven more than a third of Ukraine’s 41 million people from their homes.

With the most intense combat now centered around Bakhmut, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said Kyiv’s forces would hold the line “until it becomes impossible,” Italian newspaper La Repubblica reported.

“If we can still fight in Bakhmut, we must fight,” Kuleba said in an interview published on Thursday.  Air defenses shot down all the missiles and drones that targeted the capital, but missiles struck their targets elsewhere. Ukraine shot down only 34 of the 81 fired during the bombardment and only half of the eight drones launched at targets outside of Kyiv, the commander-in-chief of Ukraine’s armed forces, Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, said on Telegram.

“The attack was truly massive,” Ukrainian Air Defense spokesman Yuriy Ihnat said on television.

Shelling also knocked Europe’s biggest nuclear power plant at Zaporizhzhia off the grid. Authorities reverted to diesel generators to run the plant’s operational and safety systems, regulator Energoatom said on Telegram.

Bloomberg News

military and economic might.

The Biden administration is demonstrating that commitment with a pledge to sell Australia some of its Virginia-class submarines, part of a move to strengthen a US-UK-Australia alliance that will eventually see Canberra buy a fleet of submarines.

President Joe Biden was set to unveil the agreement in a meeting with the prime ministers of Australia and the UK in San Diego on Monday.

US intelligence chiefs told a

House of Representatives hearing Thursday that China doesn’t want a military conflict over Taiwan but remains determined to bring the independently governed island under its control. The US must not “underestimate the ambitions of the current Chinese leadership in that regard or their determination” to achieve reunification with Taiwan, Central Intelligence Agency Director William Burns said.

The State Department, meanwhile, is seeking $2 billion to

strengthen Indo-Pacific economies and further $2 billion to funnel toward strategic infrastructure projects—a move likely aimed at countering China’s long-running Belt and Road Initiative, which has built roads, ports and power plants from Pakistan to Sri Lanka.  Secretary of State Antony Blinken made no secret of the intended target. He said it was a move to “out-compete the People’s Republic of China” and strengthen the US presence in the region. Bloomberg News

US spy chief Haines: Xi Jinping doesn’t want a war over Taiwan

THE US intelligence community assesses that China doesn’t want a military conflict over Taiwan, even as it’s determined to bring the independently governed island under its control, officials told a House of Representatives hearing Thursday.

“ It’s not our assessment that China wants to go to war,” Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told the House Intelligence Committee as part of an annual briefing on worldwide threats faced by the US.

Central Intelligence Agency Director William Burns testified at the same hearing that President Xi Jinping has been “sobered” by US and allied support for Ukraine in response to Russia’s invasion a year ago.

“That’s something that President Xi has to weigh as he comes out of Zero Covid, tries to restore Chinese economic growth, tries to engage with the rest of the global economy,” Burns said. At the same time, Burns said he would “never underestimate the ambitions of the current Chinese leadership in that regard or their determination” to achieve reunification with Taiwan.

As in similar hearing before the Senate on Wednesday, Thursday’s hearing highlighted just how grave the US considers the threat posed by China.

Xi’s government has “shrunk the gap” when it comes to technological competition with the US, National Security Agency

Director Paul Nakasone told lawmakers. A t the same time, the testimony from Burns and Haines offered a counterpoint to lawmakers—and some military officials— that China is primed to invade the island, possibly as early as 2027.

Asked whether the US should drop its longstanding position of “strategic ambiguity” on Taiwan, Haines cited President Joe Biden’s repeated statements that the US would defend against a Chinese attack. Biden’s aides have repeatedly said his comments don’t reflect a change in the US position, but “I think it is clear to the Chinese what our position is, based on the President’s comments,” Haines told lawmakers.

Editor: Jun Lomibao

Murrell, Lee Marcelo shine in PBA All-Star In Passi City

CONVERGE’S David Murrell wowed in the Slam Dunk contest, Magnolia’s Paul Lee was a sniper in the 3-Point shootout and TNT’s Dave Marcelo was near flawless in the Obstacle Challenge of the Philippine Basketball Association All-Star at the Passi Arena in the City of Passi on Friday.

The 6-foot-2 FiberXers guard Murrell won by only a point over Blackwater’s Tyrus Hill, 92-91, with the 46 points—out of a possible 50—that the judges gave his 360 degrees two-handed jam and another 46 points with another 360 this time a windmill slam.

I n his first attempt, Hill, taller at 6-foot-5, did a Vince Carter which the former Toronto Raptor used in winning the National Basketball Association All-Star Slam Dunk contest in 2000.

He soared over Barangay Ginebra San Miguel’s Jamie Malonzo to kickstart his bid with a perfect 50 points, only to fall short with Murrell’s 360.

Murrell bagged the P30,000 cash prize.

N LEX’s Brandon Rosser-Ganuelas got 89 points and Phoenix’s Chris Lalata 80 points in the slam dunk’s elimination round.

Lee, on the other hand, nailed 28 points in the final round to beat San Miguel Beer’s Marcio Lassiter (21) and Terrafirma’s Juami Tiongson (18) to capture the 3-Point contest title and the P30,000 cash prize.

“ I competed as comfortably as I could,” said Lee, who adjusted the racks a little farther from the hoop because he was making strong attempts.

L ee beat by Rain or Shine’s Gian Mamuyac, TNT’s Roger Pogoy, Phoenix’s Tyler Tio, NorthPort’s Arvin Tolentino, NLEX’s Kevin Alas, Meralco’s Aaron Black, Converge Jerrick Balanza, Blackwater’s RK Ilagan and Ginebra’s Jeremiah Gray. Josef Ramos

PFL heats up at Rizal stadium

DYNAMIC Herb Cebu looks to close the gap on Kaya FC-Iloilo as the Gentle Giants take on the Azkals Development Team in the Philippines Football League (PFL) presented by Qatar Airways on Saturday at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium.

D ynamic Herb and ADT battled to a scoreless draw in September last year with the league awarding a 3-0 forfeit win for Cebu because of ADT’s unavailability to travel to Cebu for their match in October.

Yulo targets golds in parallel bars, rings in Baku

By Josef Ramos

CARLOS “CALOY” YULO got himself in the parallel bars and vault finals but not in his pet floor exercise in the Baku third leg of the International Gymnastics Federation Artistic World Cup Series on Thursday at the National Gymnastics Arena in Azesrbaijan.

Yulo, 22, was fluid in the bars for a second-ranked 15.333 points behind American Curran Philips (15.500) and No. 3 Illia Kovtun (15.066) of Ukraine.  He also advanced in the final of the rings by placing fifth in the qualification round with 14.166 points.

A zerbaijan’s Nikita Simanov (14.733), Iran’s Mahdi Kohani Ahmad (14.500), Vietnam’s Van Khan Phong Nguyen (14.233) and Turkey’s Mehmet Ayberk Kosak (14.233) finished ahead of Yulo.

The top eight in each discipline advance to the finals.

The Tokyo Olympian Yulo also vied in the qualification round of the horizontal bars and vault—where he won a world championship gold medal in Kitakyushu in 2021—late Friday.

The finals of the bars and rings are on Saturday.  Yulo, however, couldn’t duplicate his performance in the second leg in Doha where he won gold in floor exercise.

The Baku floor exercise mat wasn’t as friendly as Yulo could only manage a 13.100 score that was good for 21st place.

The series offers slots to the world championships in Antwerp set September 30 to October 8 with Yulo already amassing world championship-qualifying points with his gold and silver (bars) in Doha and bronze (vault) in Cottbus.

A fter Baku, Yulo will return to training in Tokyo before flying to Cairo for the fourth and last leg from April 27 to 30.

The world championships in Belgium are a qualifier for next year’s Paris Olympics.

MALIXI RECOVERS, JOINS TITLE HUNT

RIANNE MALIXI marked her big day with a scorching five-under 67 as she wheeled back into contention halfway through Women’s Amateur Asia Pacific Championship at the Singapore Island County Club in Singapore on Friday. But a slew of others also flourished in a day of torrid scoring under light breeze and downpour as they fueled their respective title drives in the region’s premier championship, which stakes berths in three Major championships on the Ladies Professional Golfers Association (LPGA) Tour and the Augusta National Women’s Amateur later this month.

Sunday’s winner will also earn invites to the Hana Financial Group Championship and the Women’s Australian Open. Hong Kong’s Sophie Han shot a 68 spiked by a stirring three-birdie windup at the back for a share of the lead at 136 with Thai Eila Galitsky, who shot a solid 67 that put her on

track of her bid to re-claim the crown won by compatriot and former world No. 1 Atthaya Thitikul in the event’s inaugurals in 2018 at Sentosa.

M insol Kim likewise proved just as tough and steady in a switch in teetimes, coming home at dusk with a 69 to stay on top, this time with Han and Galitsky on eight-under total, as she kept the Koreans’ hope to sweep the two premier championships here following Jin Young Ko’s victory in last week’s storm-hit Women’s World Championship at Sentosa.

W ith a three-under 141 aggregate, the International Container Terminal Services Inc.-backed shotmaker moved from tied 28th to solo ninth, still five strokes off the pace but within striking distance at the rolling layout near the Nature Reserve Catchment littered with Macaque monkeys.

“ I started great and putting was better as well,” said Malixi, while stressing her consistency helped key her big bounce-back on her 16th birthday.

CPS-Antipolo, De La Salle-Lipa lead semis cast in PNVF U18

Cebu is currently in second place with 28 points, eight points behind Kaya FC Iloilo, although the Gentle Giants have played two matches less.

A DT is in fourth with 21 points.

K aya also faces a stern test on Sunday against Stallion Laguna at the Biñan Football Stadium, while over at the Imus Grandstand, Mendiola FC 1991 hopes to repeat over Maharlika Manila in a clash of bottom teams.

K aya is coming off a comfortable 5-0 win over Maharlika Manila FC

Lhuillier upbeat about Blu Girls

AMATEUR Softball Association of the Philippines (ASAPHIL) president Jean Henri Lhuillier is confident of a top three finish by the Blu Girls in the Women’s Softball Asia Cup—a qualifier for the World Women’s Softball Championships.

“ I’m confident we will be fighting it out for a podium finish and qualify for the World Cup,” Lhuillier said.

“We at ASAPHIL together with the coaching staff are leaving no stone unturned in the girls’ preparations for our quest for Asian supremacy.”

The Blu Girls, the perennial Southeast Asian champions, have been in deep training for the past months.

T heir preparations include twice-a-day practices, drills, strategies, workouts and actual games—three hours each in the

morning and afternoon.

T he Women’s Softball Asia Cup are set April 2 to 8 in South Korea. The champion will advance to the World Cup.

Our training has been going well and I can say we have a strong and cohesive team,” Blu Girls coach Randy Dizer said. “We have good pitchers and our batting has been improving. Hopefully, these translate to great actual games and wins for the team.”

D izer is banking on top pitcher Ann Antolihao as well as left-field veteran player Arianne Vallestero to lead the Blu Girls’ charge.

He also listed up-and-coming players Angelu Gabriel (shortstop) and MJ Maguad (second base) as the other players to watch and expected to contribute to the team’s campaign.

last weekend with Daizo Horikoshi, Dylan Nobiraki, Jhan Melliza, Eric Giganto and Tamon Horikosh scoring a goal each.

Stallion, meanwhile, denied Dynamic Herb Cebu maximum points with a 1-1 draw thanks to new signing Miguel Mendoza’s late equalizer

B ut Stallion will miss the services of goalkeeper Patrick Deyto, who was sent off in the match against Cebu after an altercation with the referee.

Mendiola has won its last two outings against Maharlika Manila, 1-0 and 3-0 respectively.

IT will be California Precision Sports (CPS) against De La SalleLipa and Maryhill College against Gracel Christian College Foundation in the semifinals of the Philippine National Volleyball Federation (PNVF) U-18 Championships.

C PS of Antipolo City blasted Angeles City of Pampanga, 25-12, 25-14, behind the impressive net defense of 14-year-old ninth grader Mhonniecka Joyce Soliven in the quarterfinals Friday at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum.

D e La Salle Lipa, on the other hand, beat Santo Niño de Praga Academy of Trece Martirez City, 2514, 25-19, to arrange the semifinals

Manila Chooks! in quarterfinals in Amsterdam

showdown with CPS at 10 a.m. on Saturday.

Maryhill College kept Lucena City’s flag afloat following a 25-15, 25-20 beating of Bethel Academy of General Trias City in the other quarterfinal match of the tournament organized by the PNVF headed by Ramon “Tats” Suzara.

G race Christian College Foundation did the same for Taguig City with its 25-13, 25-16 victory over Santa Rosa City also on Friday in the competition supported by the Philippine Olympic Committee, Philippine Sports Commission, PLDT, Rebisco and Akari.

T he Maryhill College-Grace Christian semifinal is set 12:30 p.m. Saturday.

The quarterfinals matches— including the boys which were played later Friday—saw the PNVF using a Video Challenge equipment. The Iltalian-made Genius Sports equipment will also be used in the semifinals and finals on Sunday.

It’s the players’ solid familiarity with each other and the chemistry developed playing together for six years,” CPS coach Dr. Obet Estrella Vital said. “I expect a close match each set because Angeles City has a strong lineup.”

Setter and team captain Kizzie Madriaga and outside hitter Casiey Monique Dongallo again stood tall for CPS on Friday.

Coach Imee Mendoza’s girls from Lipa City also showed consistent championship potential with Raizah Nicole Mamailao, 16, feasting at the net with her spikes.

Maura’s day in Stage 3 at Biwase Cup in Vietnam

MAURA DE LOS REYES shone brightest among the seven Filipinas competing at the 13th Biwase Cup road race in Vietnam on Friday by ruling one intermediate sprint and one King of the Mountain point.

De los Reyes, riding in a mixed team along with Jelsie Sabado and three Kazakhstan junior riders, made her mark in the 120-km first mountain stage of the 10-stage race hosted by the Vietnam Cycling Federation.

Th ailand’s Somrat Phetdarin topped the stage in three hours, 25 minutes and 29 seconds, same time

as Japan’s Shoko Kasiki. Thailand’s Nguyen Thi Thu Mai finished seconds behind to complete the podium.

PhilCycling National Women’s Team’s Marianne Dacumos finished in a bunch at 18th position that finished some 15 minutes behind the stage winner, while her teammates Kate Yasmin Velasco and Avegail Rombaon, as well as De los Reyes and Sabado, were with the 33rd group some two minutes later.

M hay Ann Linda was in the 48th group—17 minutes behind—while Mathilda Krog figured in a crash that damaged her bike in the stage

that was flagged off in Thông Nhât, Đông Nai and finished in Bao Lôc City in L â m Đông through the Bao Lôc mountain pass.

Dacumos, meanwhile, was the best-placed Filipino in the general classification at 15th place—five minutes and 26 seconds behind leader Phetdarin.

The PhilCycling team— supported by the Philippine Olympic Committee, Philippine Sports Commission, Tagaytay City, MVP Sports Foundation, Standard Insurance, Excellent Noodles and 7-Eleven—ranked seventh among 18

WINGMAN CJ Payawal promptly made an impact in his debut as Manila Chooks! hurdled Amstelveen of the Netherlands, 21-13 (3:07), to advance to the Pool D quarterfinals of the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) 3X3 Pro League Netherlands 2023 Winter Edition Stop 1 at the Amsterdam Velodrome on Friday.

T he 6-foot-5 Payawal, a oneand-done standout for University of the East in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines last year, dazzled with 14 points for Manila Chooks!, while the country’s No. 1 3x3 player Mac Tallo chipped in five points.

Dennis Santos also had two points as the wards of head trainer Chico Lanete atoned for a 14-22 loss to world No. 15 Utrecht of the Netherlands in their opener.

T he triumph allowed Manila Chooks! to forge a quarterfinals duel with world No. 23 Warsaw Lotto on Saturday.

T he Poles completed a twogame sweep of their pool play with wins over Paramaribo of the Netherlands (22-14) and Germany’s Hannover (16-14).

“ I’m happy and proud because the boys played well,” Lanete said.

“They applied what we trained and prepared hard for.”

Shrugging off the sudden absence of big man Brandon Ramirez, who suffered a swollen right knee injury in the game against Utrecht, Manila Chooks! unleashed a vicious 10-2 windup that broke an 11-all count behind Payawal and Tallo.

squads in the team classification. The Filipinas were 19 minutes of leader Tuyen Biwase-Binh Durong of Vietnam. Stage 4 on Saturday covers 110 kms featuring another climb from Bao Lôc City to Đà Lat City via the Prenn mountain pass.

V ietnam annually hosts the 10-stage Biwase Cup in celebration of the International Women’s Day. The race is livestreamed on https://www.facebook.com/vcfchannel/ posts/pfbid0JWL3EfCcczQdEMuN7aZTHTpnDKxn8QG2dB7Y8Ur9VwC7NLw8yYkS8zKTxEWA54bcl

MARYHILL College of Lucena City are in for a tough match in the semifinals.

DAVID MURRELL displays agility, grace and leaping power in the dunk contest.

RIANNE MALIXI cards a 67 to find herself five strokes behind the pace.

term goals.

XIAOYUAN Mandarin Chief Electric Officer

Job Description: The mandarin chief electric officer will be a strategist and a leader able to steer the company to the most profitable direction while also implementing its vision, mission and long term goals.

JUNJIE Mandarin Chief Electric Officer

Job

The mandarin chief electric officer will be a strategist and a leader able to steer the company to the most profitable direction while also implementing its vision, mission and long-term goals.

Basic Qualification: Proven experience as mandarin chief electric officer, familiarity, knowledge and awareness on machinery and heavy equipment use by company. Demonstrable experience in developing strategic business plan. Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

Basic Qualification: Proven experience as mandarin chief electric officer, familiarity, knowledge and awareness on machinery and heavy equipment use by company. Demonstrable experience in developing strategic business plan. Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

Basic Qualification:

Proven experience as mandarin chief electric officer, familiarity, knowledge and awareness on machinery and heavy equipment use by company. Demonstrable experience in developing strategic business plan.

Basic Qualification: Proven experience as mandarin chief electric officer, familiarity, knowledge and awareness on machinery and heavy equipment use by company. Demonstrable experience in developing strategic business plan.

Basic Qualification: Proven experience as mandarin chief supervisor, familiarity, knowledge and awareness on machinery and heavy equipment use by company. Demonstrable experience in developing strategic business plan.

46.

business plan.

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

47.

ZHU, SHUNGUI Mandarin Cruise Consultant Brief Job Description: The mandarin cruise consultant will be a strategist and a leader able to steer the company to the most profitable direction while also implementing its vision, mission and long-term goals.

RUAN, JINGUI Mandarin Deck Officer

Brief Job Description: The mandarin deck officer will be a strategist and a leader able to steer the company to the most profitable direction while also implementing its vision, mission and long term goals.

Basic Qualification: Proven experience as mandarin cruise consultant, familiarity, knowledge and awareness on machinery and heavy equipment use by company. Demonstrable experience in developing strategic business plan.

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

Basic Qualification: Proven experience as mandarin deck officer, familiarity, knowledge and awareness on machinery and heavy equipment use by company. Demonstrable experience in developing strategic business plan.

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

48.

WANG, JIANPING Mandarin Deck Officer Brief Job Description: The mandarin deck officer will be a strategist and a leader able to steer the company to the most profitable direction while also implementing its vision, mission and long term goals.

WANG, WANYOU Mandarin Deck Officer

Basic Qualification: Proven experience as mandarin deck officer, familiarity, knowledge and awareness on machinery and heavy equipment use by company. Demonstrable experience in developing strategic business plan.

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

Basic Qualification: Proven experience as

49.

Brief Job Description: The mandarin deck officer will be a strategist and a leader able to steer the company to the most profitable direction while also implementing its vision, mission and long term goals.

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JINBAO Mandarin Motorman Officer Brief Job Description: The mandarin motorman officer will be a strategist and a leader able to steer the company to the most profitable direction while also implementing its vision, mission and long term goals.

CAI, JUNFENG Mandarin Motorman Officer Brief Job Description: The mandarin motorman officer will be a strategist and a leader able to steer the company to the most profitable direction while also implementing its vision, mission and long term goals.

Basic Qualification: Proven experience as mandarin motorman officer, familiarity, knowledge and awareness on machinery and heavy equipment use by company. Demonstrable experience in developing strategic business plan.

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FENG, ZHONGTAO Mandarin Safety Officer Brief Job Description: The mandarin safety officer will be a strategist and a leader able to steer the company to the most profitable direction while also implementing its vision, mission and long term goals.

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59,999

59.

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60.

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62. Php

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experience as mandarin security officer, familiarity, knowledge and awareness on machinery and heavy equipment use by company. Demonstrable experience in developing strategic business plan.

Description:

Job

Brief

mandarin staff captain will be a strategist and a leader able to steer the company to the most profitable direction while also implementing its vision, mission and long-term goals.

Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

Basic Qualification: Proven experience as mandarin staff captain, familiarity, knowledge and awareness

55. CHEN, CHAOFENG

goals. Basic CHEN, QIANKANG Mandarin Safety Officer Brief Job Description: The mandarin safety officer will be a strategist and a leader able to steer the company to the most profitable direction while also implementing its vision, mission and long term goals.

knowledge and Basic Qualification: Proven experience as mandarin safety officer, familiarity, knowledge and awareness on machinery and heavy equipment use by company. Demonstrable experience in developing strategic business plan. Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999

Salary

LU, MINGSHENG Mandarin Motorman Officer Brief Job Description: The mandarin motorman officer will be a strategist and a leader able to steer the company to the most profitable direction while also implementing its vision, mission and long term Basic Qualification: Proven experience as mandarin safety officer, familiarity, knowledge and awareness on machinery and heavy equipment use by company. Demonstrable experience in developing strategic business plan. Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 56.

goals. Basic Qualification: Proven experience

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business plan. Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 67. ZHU, DESHI Mandarin Staff Captain Brief Job Description: The mandarin staff captain will be a strategist and a leader able to steer the company to the most profitable direction while also implementing its vision, mission and long-term goals. Basic Qualification: Proven experience as mandarin staff captain, familiarity, knowledge and awareness on machinery and heavy equipment use by company. Demonstrable experience in developing strategic business plan. Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 CHN-PHL HUAIYUAN INTERNATIONAL CONSTRUCTION CORPORATION Unit A&b 20/f Rufino Pacific Tower, 6784 Ayala Avenue, San Lorenzo, City Of Makati 68. LAM, WAI HUNG Mandarin Speaking Equipment Installation Specialist Brief Job Description: Supervise every phase of the project from start to completion and calculate costs, material, labor, and time required for each project Basic Qualification: Good oral and communication skills in English and Mandarin Language and familiar in the field of construction works Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 69. BUI PHONG TRAN Mandarin-speaking Equipment Installation Specialist Brief Job Description: Supervising every phase of the project from start to completion. Calculating costs, material, labor and time required for each project. Basic Qualification: With good oral and communication skills in English and Mandarin language, familiar in the field of construction works. Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 COGNIZANT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS PHILIPPINES, INC. 2nd, 3rd, And 4th Floors, Science Hub Tower 4 Bldg., Mckinley Hill Cyberpark, Fort Bonifacio, City Of Taguig 70. PENMETSA, PAVAN RAVI VARMA Associate - Projects Brief Job Description: Collaborates with project stakeholders to identify product and technical requirements. Basic Qualification: Knowledge on humana - uat applications dealing with different kind of claims, provider benefits id cards, ivr, medicare. Salary Range: Php 90,000 - Php 149,999 71. MICHAEL HARRY KAVIN Senior Process Executive Brief Job Description: Provide support through media review of sports, entertainment and adult video content for Bahasa language. Basic Qualification: Typing, communication skills Bahasa language expertise. Salary Range: Php 90,000 - Php 149,999 DAEWOONG PHARMA PHILIPPINES, INCORPORATED Unit 1701 17th Floor One World Place Condominium, 32nd Street, Bonifacio Global City, Fort Bonifacio, City Of Taguig 72. JEON, SENGHO President/general Manager Brief Job Description: Oversees budgets, staff, and executives and evaluating the success of the company. 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CHEN, MAOQUN Mandarin Speaking Customer Service Representative Brief Job Description: Customer Service Basic Qualification: Handling inquiries phone calls Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 77. CHENG, WEI Mandarin Speaking Customer Service Representative Brief Job Description: Customer Service Basic Qualification: Handling inquiries phone calls Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 78. CHNG HUN SIANG Mandarin Speaking Customer Service Representative Brief Job Description: Customer Service Basic Qualification: Handling inquiries phone calls Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 79. DANG VAN SANH Mandarin Speaking Customer Service Representative Brief Job Description: Customer Service Basic Qualification: Handling inquiries phone calls. Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 80. DO THANH NAM Mandarin Speaking Customer Service Representative Brief Job Description: Customer Service Basic Qualification: Handling inquiries phone calls Salary Range: Php 30,000 - Php 59,999 81. 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Editor: Carla Mortel-Baricaua

THE BAMBANTI FESTIVAL: BACK WITH A VENGEANCE

Isabela province’s thanksgiving celebration for the previous year’s harvest was named after the human-like guardian of the rice fields (bambanti is the Ilokano word for scarecrow), the ultimate symbol of the diligence, vigilance, and resilience of the Isabelinos. Also, because of its resemblance to the crucified Christ, it is also regarded as a symbol of the people’s spirituality.

Introduced in 1997, during the term of former Gov. Benjamin Dy, the first festivals were held in May, the province’s founding month. When Faustino “Bojie” G. Dy III assumed the governor’s office in 2011, a resolution was drafted to move the festival to January. From 2015 to 2017, the

festival has received numerous awards, including the Aliw Award for Best Festival Practices and Performance and the Aliw 2018 Hall of Fame Award for Best Festival Practices and Performance. In 2019, the Guinness Book of World Records awarded the Bambanti Festival for the largest gathering of people (2,495 street dancers) dressed and dancing, nonstop for two hours as scarecrows.

Now on its tenth edition, this year’s festival theme is “Isabela, Pagharap sa Bagong Hamon ng Kinabukasan” (Isabela: Facing the New Challenges of the Future). Just as in the 2020 edition, our home for our six-day stay in Isabela was to be the 110-room

Hotel Sophia in Cauayan City. The festival had already commenced the day before our arrival with the official opening of the Bambanti Village by Vice Governor Bojie G. Dy III (2023 Bambanti Festival director-general) and DOT Regional Director Troy Alexander Miano.

The center for the festival’s activities was the 8-hectare Provincial Capitol Compound at the City of Ilagan. Here, we visited the 34 booths at the Bambanti Village Agro-Ecotourism Trade Exhibit, where each participating municipality and city sold its local specialties. Each booth was decorated with giant bambanti (scarecrows) built with natural, organic, and biodegradable materials indigenous to the province, such as wood, bamboo, rattan, and straw, and decorated with corn kernels, munggo beans, rice, assorted vegetables, and fish.

The evening was highlighted by the grand coronation night for the Search for Queen Isabela 2023, held at Queen Isabela Park.

Crowned Miss Isabela 2023 was Catherine Joy Legaspi (San Manuel), while Julie Mae Villanueva (Cauayan City) was Queen Isabela Tourism, and Johanna Trisha Cinco (Ramon) was Queen Isabela Culture and Arts. Jaycel Lumauig (Ms. Indigenous Peoples Community), and Cherry Lee Gar -

lijo (Alicia) were 1st runner-up and 2nd runner-up, respectively. During the proceedings, Filipino singer, actor, and model Ronnie Liang serenaded the crowd with three of his hit songs (Ligaya, Gusto Kita, and Ngiti). Qurino’s Roseann Camille Fernandez, the former titleholder for three years (thanks to the pandemic), passed the crown to Legaspi with a fireworks display capping the event.

At the Isabela Sports Complex, we watched the much-awaited, high-energy Street Dance Parade Competition, the Search for Festival King and Queen, and the Festival Dance Showdown. The some 2,000 dancers, from 20 participating cities and municipalities, performed three-minute sequences with themes such as their locality’s popular myths, cottage industries, or their resilience during the pandemic. Also performing were singers from Sining Tanglawan, and Whiplash Dance Company did a contemporary jazz dance number.

The seventh edition of the Makan ken Mainom (the Ilocano term for food and drinks) contest, chaired by Chef Mary Ann ArcegaDy (Vice-Gov. Bojie’s wife), was also conducted, and this year’s cooking competition was the first ever to be joined by kids ages 9 to 14, who underwent short culinary courses supervised by Chef Corne -

Tumarbong organic Farm—The Slow Food hub oF banwa PrivaTe iSland

‘People in Slow Food understand that food is an environmental issue.’

–Michael

Pollan

ORGANIC bi odiversity is very important to every aspect of life on Banwa Private Island. Our goal is to offer unforgettable sustainable travel experiences in lush habitats that have been carefully restored. It is only natural,

therefore (forgive the pun), that the vegetables and fruit we grow should embrace the Slow Food philosophy that people can: “Enjoy food that is good for them, good for those who grow it and good for the planet.”

In the shade of a 3-hectare coconut plantation, Banwa Private Island’s Tumarbong Organic Farm grows all the produce for guests—as well as the team—of Banwa Private Island, with 100

percent natural alternatives to pesticides. Fermented juices and organic compost nourish the soil.

Dionisio Lora Jr,. Head of Engineering & Facilities of Banwa Private Island says: “Tumarbong Organic Farm will soon expand, integrating even more crops, and a solar farm. This will be a source of sustainable energy for the farm and local community.”

For Banwa Private Island,

the Slow Food movement celebrates the culture of real food. That means returning to farming knowledge and techniques of generations past that produced nourishing seasonal fruit and vegetables. Perhaps, just as important for our health and well-being, Slow Food celebrates the culture of ‘breaking bread’ together. Nothing is more nourishing for the soul than that.

lio “Cocoy” Ventura (co-chairman of the contest) for their competition recipe. The 30 municipalities and cities that participated used local ingredients found in their areas. One of the judges was Chef Luigi Muhlach, son of actor Aga Muhlach.

After the proceedings, the winners for the various festival competitions were announced by Gov. Rodolfo “Rodito” T. Albano III and Vice-Gov. Faustino “Bojie”

G. Dy III (2023 Bambanti Festival director-general). Cauayan City (Category A) and San Agustin (Category B) were winners in the Street Dance Competition.

The City of Santiago won the Makan Ti Isabela Competition with their Chicken Sinaba and Binalkot a Baboy (pork and chicken wrapped in a banana leaf), while Tumauini won the Mainum Ti Isabela Competition with their Vulungan ta Basu (a multi-layered drink with flower extracts). As a way of keeping records, Dy will spearhead the publication of a cookbook to feature winning recipes from the festival’s last seven years.

For the Giant Bambanti Competition, the winners were Dinapigue (Category A) and Cabatuan (Category B). The latter, called Queen Scarlett, was designed by Reynald Bernabe and took 2 welders and 3 decorators a total of 15

days to build. Holding a crown, it was decorated with 40 to 45 kilos of dried sapsap (a local fish). Cabatuan’s bambanti was made with abaca and rattan. For the Agri-Eco Tourism Booth Competition, the winners were the City of Ilagan (with their futuristic booth in Category A) and Cordon (with their fairy tale-themed booth in Category B). Echague (Category A) and Quirino (Category B) won the Festival Dance Showdown.

Quirino was the overall champion in the 2023 Bambanti Festival, winning P1,000,000 worth of projects, placing third in Giant Bambanti, second in the AgriEcotourism Booth; second in Festival King and Queen, second in the street dance competition, and winning first place at the street dance showdown. First place went to San Agustin, second place was a tie between Alicia and the City of Ilagan, and third place went to Cauayan City.

At the Isabela Sports Complex, the festival culminated with a music festival featuring world-class theater performers Gian Magdangal, Carla Guevarra-Laforteza, Jep Go, Alyn Magadia, Ima Castro, Fin Ramirez, and Myramae Meneses, and a grand concert party featuring the Agsunta Band and female rap artist KZ Tandingan. Again, the proceedings were closed with a fireworks display.

Story & photos by Benjamin Locsin Layug

It has been three years since the last Bambanti Festival was held in 2020—my first and last media tour for that year as the Covid-19 lockdown followed two months later. And this year, the festival is back with a vengeance, with me joining a national media group to cover the event.

KZ Tandingan wowing the isabelino crowd Teddy Pelaez Young chefs, including children, compete at makan Ken mainom contest. The futuristic ilagan booth

m ore than 2,000 dancers join the Street dance Parade competition. banwa Private island’s Tumarbong organic Farm grows produce for guests.

The Queen Scarlet bambanti from dinapigue is one of the winners.

w h aT s a festival without a concert from invited performers. Isabela PIO

The bambanti village agro-ecotourism Trade e xhibit showcases the best local products.

The search for Queen isabela 2023 gives glamour and glitter to the festival.

Anilag

B2 Saturday, March 11, 2023 | www.businessmirror.com.ph

ANILAG FESTIVAL 2023

HAPPINESS AND UNITY

By Anne Ruth Dela Cruz

AFTER a three-year hiatus, the province of Laguna will celebrate the Anilag Festival 2023 from March 11 to 18, 2023. Touted as the mother of all festivals in the province, the week-long Anilag (derived from Ani ng Laguna which means “harvest of Laguna”) Festival is a cultural and harvest festival.

The festival promises not only a glimpse of Laguna’s wonders but an experience of the unique blend of cultural, historical, and religious celebrations of each of its 24 municipalities and six cities. It showcases an array of activities relating to the arts, culture and industries distinctive of Laguna and its people. It is both a celebration and thanksgiving which highlights 26 festivals rolled into one.

L aguna Governor Ramil Hernandez said that the theme of this year’s Anilag Festival is “Love Laguna: Makisaya at Makiisa sa Masiglang Laguna.” Co-chairing the organizing committee of the Anilag Festival is Laguna Rep. Ruth Mariano-Hernandez, who also happens to be the province’s first lady.

Since we have not celebrated the Anilag Festival for the past three years, we are encouraging our fellow Lagunenses to support the festival. We want them to recall how enjoyable this festival is,” Hernandez said.

“I cannot do this all on my own so I am very happy that our first lady and congresswoman is part of the organizing committee. She has been on top of all the activities since the preparations started,” he added.

Revitalizing tourism

HE NOTED that this would be an opportune time to push the “Love Laguna” campaign so as a way of revitalizing tourism in the province.

I strongly believe that business and tourism go hand in hand. If we can boost our tourism, we will be able to attract more business. And if our businesses are doing well, we will be able to attract more tourists,” Hernandez noted.

According to Pamela Jane P. Baun, Officer-in-Charge of the Laguna Tourism Cultural Arts and

Trade Office (LTCATO), preparations for the Anilag Festival started back in November 2022.

We had a traumatic experience when planning for the Anilag Festival 2022. We had already started preparations when quarantine restrictions had to be implemented again a month before the festival. This year, we are positive that the Anilag 2023 celebration will finally push through,” Baun said.

Fluvial parade

HERNANDEZ pointed out that the festival will start with the Heritage Fluvial Parade that will involve the Our Lady of Turumba and will start from Pakil Port and end at Quezon Bridge. There will then be a Marian procession which will culminate in a thanksgiving mass.

The highlights of the weeklong festival include the Ginoo and Binibining Laguna and trade fair exhibit and competition which will be participated by all the municipalities and cities in Laguna. The trade fair will feature ‘”anything and everything” you love about Laguna and its towns and cities. Other events include hot air balloon and a music festival that will showcase Laguna’s talented individuals.

The towns and cities will be competing with each other for the best booth. The winner will receive a prize of P1 million which should be used to support tourism projects. Actually, the towns and cities received P250,000 worth of financial support from the provincial government to kick start their booths,” Baun explained, adding that the goal here is to promote tourism in Laguna.

Six love pillars

WITH regard to the “Love Laguna” campaign, Baun said this encompasses everything that needs to be known about the province. The

campaign is made up of six love pillars, namely, Love Adventure, Nature, People, Shopping, Culture and Food.

Baun explained that LTCATO wanted to promote Laguna as the Adventure Capital of the South as it has so much more to offer than hot springs.

“If you go down to the 3rd and 4th Districts of Laguna, we have white water rafting, falls, camping sites and of course the Seven

Lakes of San Pablo,” she said.

In terms of nature, Laguna has the town of Bay which is being promoted as the Garden Capital because of the abundance of plants which plantitos, plantitas and serious collectors will surely enjoy.

Love Culture refers to the centuries old churches in Pakil, Pangil, Calamba and Sta. Rosa.

L ove Food refers to food that Laguna is famous for like buko pie, espasol and quesong puti, among

others. Compared to a couple of years back, Laguna is now a gastronomic haven for food lovers.

Most of the towns and cities are starting to have must try restaurants and cafes which offer not only mouth-watering food but also instagrammable interiors. These restaurants are definitely a big help to our tourism efforts,” she said.

Malls and handicrafts

LOVE shopping refers to the shop -

ping malls and the handicrafts, hand carved items, slippers and pandan products that are available in the different Laguna towns.

Laguna is known for their craftsmen and many foreign establishments have already contracted their services for their requirements,” she said.

L astly, Love People refers to promoting the advocacies and talents of the Lagunenses. The province is a haven for beauty queens,

The street dancing competition is one of the main highlights of

The official candidates of the Ginoo at Binibining Laguna 2023.

Laguna Rep. Ruth Mariano Hernandez

Laguna Governor Ramil Hernandez

Participants of the street dancing competition pose with Governor

Governor Ramil Hernandez and Congresswoman Ruth Hernandez together with the Laguna Mayoral spouses during their planning meeting for the Anilag fashion designers competition and fashion show.

Congresswoman Ruth Hernandez as she delivers her speech during the Laguna Business Stakeholders Forum

nilag FESTIVAL

FOR A LIVELY LAGUNA

singers and artists, among others.

The return of Anilag Festival 2023 comes at a time when Hernandez is on his third and last term as Laguna Governor. With only two years left of his term, Hernandez said he still has a number of major projects lined up.

One is the construction of a provincial tertiary hospital in the town of Bay. The plan is to upgrade the Bay District Hospital

into a provincial hospital. Laguna Rep. Ruth Mariano- Hernandez, who also happens to be the governor’s wife, has already filed a bill for the hospital.

Road network

ANOTHER project is the Laguna Lake Road Network, a road network that will start in Rizal and go around Laguna. According to Hernandez, the provincial government

of Laguna will be funding the portion that runs from the boundary of Calamba and Cabuyao going to Los Banos and Bay. Construction is scheduled to start before the end of the year or early next year.

The third project that Hernandez would like to complete before he steps down is the construction of a Tourism Center of Laguna which will showcase Laguna products and handicrafts, among others.

A s for his legacy, Hernandez wants to be known as the governor who allocated the biggest chunk of the province’s budget to social services. He related when he started his term as governor back in 2014, he came up with the slogan “Serbisyong Tama” which would form the backbone of his leadership.

“If you want to find out what a leader’s priorities are, take a look at his budget. If you look at my budget, you will see that the biggest budget is allocated to social services and medical services is part of that. I allocate 57 percent of the budget for social services. The usual allotment is 45 to 50 percent,” he said.

“ That is how I want to be remembered. I want everyone to know that under the leadership of Governor Hernandez, the Lagunenses experienced the serbisyong tama through the social services,” he said.

One of the reasons why I set up an extension office in Calamba is because I want to reach more people. The people living in the 1st and 2nd Districts no longer have to go to Sta. Cruz to seek assistance, They can go to Calamba. Those in the 3rd and 4th District can continue going to Sta. Cruz,” Hernandez added.

For his message to the Lagunenses, Hernandez enjoined them to go out and enjoy the week-long celebration.

“The provincial government of Laguna has lined up many activities for all of us enjoy. Let’s take this opportunity to give thanks and enjoy all that we have sown,” Hernandez said.

the Anilag Festival and is a sure crowd drawer.

Governor Hernandez

Governor Hernandez interacts with festival attendees

Anilag Festival Overall Chairman Pamela Baun and Governor Ramil Hernandez discuss plans for the Festival Ground decors.

Carvers from the town Paete show off their skills

AMID A HARVEST OF AWARDS, YOUR SUPPORT COUNTS MOST

THE pandemic tested the media industry, forcing newsrooms around the world to overhaul the way they do their job while following strict health protocols in order to survive a deadly infection.

The BusinessMirror, the country’s premier national business daily, was tested like everyone else, and survived, even continuing to live up to its promise to provide a broader look at today’s business.

In November 2021, the business broadsheet was recognized as the “Business News Source of the Year” for 2020 by the Economic Journalists Association of the Philippines (Ejap), the country’s premier organization of business reporters, editors and wire agencies. It was a 4-peat for BM, having gotten the same honors for the years 2017, 2018 and 2019.

And, as in the past Ejap awards, it also swept half of the individual categories, with its seasoned reporters adjudged as best in their respective coverages.

Earlier in 2021, the BusinessMirror was given the Pro Patria Award by the Rotary Club of Manila, for “its commitment of valuable resources for the protection of free expression and its resilience in disseminating fair and truthful information resulting in an informed and enlightened citizenry.”

It was just the latest recognition from the prestigious Rotary Club, which named it “Business Newspaper of the Year” for 2018-2019, and again in 2020. In all, it has received six top

Rotary journalism awards in its short 16-year existence.

The BusinessMirror has also consistently reaped top awards in the Brightleaf Journalism Awards for Agriculture and the Philippine Agricultural Journalists-San Miguel Corp. (PAJ-SMC) Binhi Awards, also for the best in agriculture journalism.

The BusinessMirror was also repeatedly adjudged the leading daily in biotechnology journalism, a recognition bestowed by the Jose G. Burgos Jr. Biotechnology Journalism Awards.

T he “broader look” mantra also drew recognition from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) which named the BusinessMirror, at its first awards rites in 2018, as the inaugural “Data Champion.”

In the first “Bantog Science for the People” awards for media from the Department of Science and Technology, the BusinessMirror got the top award for the Institution category for Print; and the grand prize in the individual category for science journalist Stephanie Tumampos.

In 2018, Environment Reporter Jonathan Mayuga received the Luntiang Aligato award from the Climate Reality Project, a nonprofit organization founded by Nobel Laureate and former US Vice President Al Gore.

T he Broader Look at biodiversity was also recognized. It was named among the Asean Champions of

Biodiversity, for the Media Category, by the Asean Centre for Biodiversity.

T he Broader Look also extended to the paper’s corporate social responsibility. It organized and staged the first-ever recognition rites for the best of the Philippines’s friends in the world, with the “MISSION PHILIPPINES: The BusinessMirror Envoys & Expats Awards.” The initiative won a Gold Anvil in 2019.

Distinguished institutions in government have also repeatedly recognized the BusinessMirror’s role in spreading the word about the work they do—information that shines a light on good governance and committed public service to uplift people’s hopes. Most notably, these are the Social Security System and Pag-IBIG Fund. Sixteen years, two of them in a pandemic, have tested the promise of a Broader Look. But they are also a measure of the unstinting support of friends—advertisers and news sources alike—and readers who continue to believe in that promise.

THANK

YOU, EVERYONE. YOUR LOVE AND SUPPORT IS OUR MOST IMPORTANT TROPHY.