BusinessMirror May 16, 2022

‘Closelists borders, exposure risk’ ADB ‘bestcut bet’Omicron sectors for rebuilding ByCai CaiU. U.Ordinario Ordinario By

C R WORLD CHAMP, WORLD CLASS: A world champion twice over, Carlos Edriel Yulo is flashing world-class form at the 31st Southeast Asian Games More SEA Games stories in Sports, B8. NONIE REYES/CANON R6

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@caiordinario @caiordinario

LOSING the country’s borders EBUILDING the Philippine is one of in thethe most immediate economy aftermath of courses of action theboosting governthe pandemic means ment mustand take to prevent latwholesale retail trade, the manuest Covid-19 variant, Omicron, from facturing, tourism, and the digital reaching Philippine economy, according shores, to the accordAsian ing to local economists.

Development Bank (ADB).

T he var iantreport is a threat, In an new assessment titled, e s p e c i a l l y w it h t he id ay s “Post-Covid-19 Economic hol Recovery up Asia,” and more foreigners incoming Southeast ADB listed areas to traveltoto the ofbeing focus ainllowed the Philippines, boost Philippines, De La Sa lle UniverGDP growth: the wholesale and resit ytrade economist Mar ia Ella Oplas tail as well as repair of motor told BusinessMirror. vehicles and motorcycles, a major Theof holidays usually bring in driver employment.

Overseas Filipino (OFWs) The report citedWorkers labor-intensive who are eager to spend Christmas

with their loved ones, while foreigners living in temperate regions usually want to relax in tropical countries like the Philippines. This year’s influx of OFWs is expected to be heavier since many of them were unable to come home for the holidays in December 2020.

“My recommendation is to protect the borders. Do not allow people with a history travel countries “Covid-19 hasof been both to a major disruptorwith positive cases to enter,” Oplas and a catalyst for change. After two yearssaid.

“We shouldsome be more and counting, extentrestrictive. of scarring [We to be] more protective in terms ishave unavoidable—although it will take of our measures.” different forms in different economies Oplas said that will be and some economies willwhile be morethis affected a setback to some industries, this than others.”—AMRO Group Head and Lead is a fair measure considering that Economist for Regional Surveillance Ling this Hui Tancould help prevent placing the country in another strict lockdown,

n Monday, May 16, 220 Monday, November 29,2022 2021Vol.Vol.1717No.No.52

which, she said,and theprocessing; economy can no manufacturing innolonger afford. vative and high-end manufacturing; “It is better that we do protective accommodation and food service activipreventive measures than get exties; information and communication. posed again. prospects We have ainlot to lose,” “Recovery Southeast Oplas “We should now so Asia aresaid. encouraging, butdo notitwithout that we can open just before Christpersistent risks, including heightmas. If it gets contained, we can open ened uncertainty from the Russian it again.” invasion of Ukraine and the evolving Ateneo Center for Economic Reconflict, the emergence of coronasearch and Development (ACERD) virus variants and the scarring efAssociate Director through Ser Percival fects of the pandemic large K. Peña-Reyes closing the employment and said education losses, country’s borders would befragile effecproduction disruptions and tive but should still and adhere to the business confidence, declining standards set by the World Health productivity growth,” said ADB DiOrganization rector General (WHO). for Southeast Asia What is needed, Peña-Reyes told Ramesh Subramaniam. this newspaper,industries is for travelwith restric“Supporting the tions to be put in place swiftly and

for government to be proactive competitive advantage to propelina imposing them. green, resilient, and inclusive rePrevious instances when the covery will not only require sectorcountry had the opportunity to imspecific interventions by governpose travel didmeasures not prements, but restrictions cross-cutting vent encourage the spread of was that anCovid-19. enabling That business mainly because the decision was not environment, improved infrastrucmade immediately, he said. ture, and stronger intra-regional “Kung papatay linkages,” he added.patay [If we’re slow] and we get and caught flat-footThe wholesale retail trade as ed, [that’s risky] We were too and rewell as repair of motor vehicles active instead of proactive before. motorcycles as well as accommodaWe should learn from that,” Peñation and food service activities were Reyes said.

“It’s a delicate balancing placed under Tourism

by ADB. act.Tourism We need pushsource testing is atomajor of and jobs tracing to be properly informed for millions of Filipinos. Per ADB estiof our this decisions.

Blanket/shotgun mates, sector created 2.5 million approaches could dire consejobs between 2015have and 2019 alone. quences on theSeeeconomy.”

“ADB,” A2 See “Omicron,” A2

NATL GOVT BORROWINGS Q1 DEBT PAYMENTS DIP FOR MOS DIP TO P2.75T 40%10 TO P313.65B—BTR

By Bernadette Nicolas D. Nicolas

By D. Bernadette

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@BNicolasBM

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P25.00 P25.00 nationwide nationwide || 22 sections sections 20 20 pages pages ||

Omicron risk spurs revival of quarantine rules in PHL

@BNicolasBM

OVERNMENT’S debt payments HE national in the first quarter of the year government’s plunged by nearly 40 percent to gross P313.65 billion, borrowings as ofofficial data showed.

This, even asshrank the outgoing administration end-October has vowed6that a fiscal consolidation plan by almost percent —crucial amid year-on-year to higher debt and deficit levels in the Covid-19 pandemic—will be P2.75 trillion. ready in time for a briefing with the new economic Latest data fromteam. the Bureau of the Treasury showed that the government’s gross borrowings during the 10-month period fell by percent Latest data from the5.99 Bureau of from P2.92 trillion a year ago. the Treasury showed that the govWith only two months for ernment’s debt service billleft from this year, the latest figure is already January to March dropped by 39.9 equivalent 89.6 percent ofthe its percent fromtoP521.51 billion in P3.07-trillion borrowing program. same period last year.

Broken grosspayments domestic borWhiledown, interest inrowings from January toexpenses October creased, amortization settled at P2.23 trillion, down by plummeted by 58.5 percent year5.08 percent from P2.35 trillion on-year to P164.32 billion from in 2020. billion.

P395.65 The bulk of the amount was sourced from Fixed Rate Treasury Bonds (P1.19 trillion), followed by short-term borrowings from Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas or BSP (P540 billion), Retail Treasury Bonds/Premyo Bonds (P463.3 billion), Retail Onshore Dollar Bonds (P80.84 bilBy Cai U. Ordinario lion). In the same period, there was @caiordinario also a net redemption of Treasury Bills amounting to P43.94 billion.

HE gradual recovery of Net debt redemption the economy hasmeans been there werereflected more debts repaid comin the value of pared to the amount borrowed durconstruction projects nationing wide, the period. according to data from Meanwhile, grossStatistics foreign borthe Philippine Aurowings in the same period also thority (PSA). contracted by 9.7 percent to P518.7 In the Construction Stabillion from last year’s P574.4 billion. tistics from Approved BuildThis raisedfor through global ing was Permits the Fourth bonds (P146.17 billion), program Quarter 2021, PSA said the loans (P139.98 billion), euro-detotal construction of resinominated billion), dentialbonds and (P121.97 non-residential a project loan (P86.41 billion), and buildings grew 24.8 percent yen-denominated samurai bonds (P24.19 billion).

See “Borrowings,” A2

@sam_medenilla

I

Interest payments rose by 18.65 percent to P149.33 billion in the first three months of the year from P125.86 billion in the comparable period in 2021.

For March alone, the government’s debt ser vice bill dived by 74.9 percent year-on-year to on ly P67. 39 bi l l ion f rom P268.41 billion.

See “Q1 debt payments,” A2

KIM'S IN CHARGE: Meet the Energizer Bunny of the PEOPLE walk past the mural of Gat Andres Bonifacio at Manila City Hall Underpass.

Vietnam Games Kim Mangrobang—in a 24-hour span, she The country will celebrate the 158th birth anniversary of Filipino revolutionary scoops gold medals in triathlon and duathlon. hero Gat Andres Bonifacio on Tuesday, November 30. ROY DOMINGO

CONSTRUCTION PROJECT HIKE HINTS AT RECOVERY–PSA DATA

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By Samuel P. Medenilla

SEAG: Yulo, Mangrobang lead PHL’s golden charge

OVER 3-M FARMERS LISTED FOR P75-B COCO LEVY FUND

in the October to December 2021 period.

By total Jaspervalue Emmanuel Y. Arcalas The of construc@jearcalas tion buildings increased to P90.9 billion in the fourth quar3 million ter of 2021 ORE from than the P72.85 farmers billion in thecoconut same period of and workers are now 2020. The value was lower thanregiswith the government’s thetered P92.12 billion in the third registry, which serves as the basis quarter of 2021. for the number of people “Compared with the previousto be covered by the utilization quarter, it expanded at an an-of the P75-billion coconut fund. nual rate of 18.7 percent,levy while Philippine Coconut Authority it declined at an annual rate of Deputy 38.3(PCA) percent in theAdministrator fourth quar- Roel RosalesPSA saidsaid. about 3.11 million ter M. of 2020,” coconut farmers andA2farm workSee “Construction,” ers have been registered with the government since it started up-

M

NTER NATIONA L concerns over the possible spread of the more infectious Omicron Covid-19 variant prompted the government to reimpose mandatory facility-based quarantine for all arriving passengers in the country.

Acting Presidential spokesperson Karlo B. Nograles announced on Sunday that the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) suspended the implementation of its Resolution No. 150A (s.2021), effectively imposing stricter protocols for all inbound travelers.

To note, IATF Resolution 150A had allowed fully vaccinated non-visa travelers from Green List areas to enter the country without the need for facility-based quarantine as long as they secure negative Reverse TranscriptionPolymerase Chain Reaction (RTPCR) test 72ofhours prior rings.

“But within I’m proud my performance.” to their departure.

Yulo will still compete inclassified the vault, “Except for countries where hethe is the current chamas ‘Red,’ testing andworld quarantine pion, as well as in the high bar and protocols for all inbound internaparallel bar. tional travelers in all ports of entry Finnegan, a 19-year-old Misshall comply withwas theatesting souri native who memberand of quarantine protocols for ‘Yellow’ the US national team that emerged list countries,” citing triumphant inNograles the Pan said, American the provision of scored IATF Resolution Games in 2019, 13.133 in No. 151-A. the vault, foiling the golden bid of He hometown bet Kong, of Nguyen noted Hong which Thi has Quynh Nhua case who of settled for the confirmed the Omicron silver with variant, will13.033. also fall under the Yelin the floor exercise and lowShe listvies countries. balance beam on Monday in the last The suspension of the rules for day of artistic gymnastics action, “Green List” will in which has so farcountries propped up thebe Phileffect from November 28, 2021 to ippine campaign with five gold and December 15, 2021. two silver medals.

By Jun Lomibao

dating its registry following the enactment of the Coconut Farmers and Industry Trust Fund law.

Rosales explained that about 500,000 coconut farmers and workers were added to the PCA’s 2018 list that had about 2.5 million coconut farmers and farm workers.

The PCA’s next step is to conduct an exclusion-inclusion procedure by making the updated farmers’ registry public, providing everyone the opportunity to check the veracity of the list, Rosales added.

“The list will be posted in public spaces where people can easily see

Sports Editor

them. This allows everyone to see who areAlisted in the registry and if NOI—World champion farmer gymnast doesn’t see his name he Carlos Yulothen bagged two gold with medals shall coordinate the and PCA douimble-event athlete Kim Mangrobang mediately,” he explained at a recent snatched mint this time dialogue her withsecond coconut farmers. in duathlon the Philippines went “On the as other hand, if people on a seven-gold harvest on Sunday would see names on the list and in the 31st Southeast Asian Games. they think theyback areinnot Yulo, 22, was hiscoconut best elefarmers or their details are incorments at the Quan Ngua Sports Palrect, they can report it toall-around the PCA ace and followed up on his for immediate action,” hevictories added. gold he won last Friday with Therings PCAand official noted that in the floor exercise, the same event thatofmade him world the completion the initial list champion 2019. registry would of coconutinfarmers gymnast Aleah beFilipino-American just in time for the expected Finnegan added the women’s vault rollout of coconut levy-funded

H

gold to Team Philippines’ haul for also her second gold after the women’s team last Saturday. She owns a programs as President Duterte in women’s all-around. issilver expected to sign the industry Mangrobang, who womdevelopment plan inadded early the 2022. en’s duathlon title to her victory Rosales said the PCA will not in the triathlon last Saturday; wushu stop updating its listand of Arnel coconut artists Agatha Wong Manfarmers and enjoined them regdal and Filipino-Americantoshotput ister in order to reap the benefits athlete William Morrison also conoftributed the decades-long coconutto a to help theidled Philippines levy fund.

“We haul, will not 3.1 19-gold medal thestop sameatoutput as Thailand. million.

We hope that more indiBut will Team Philippines had more viduals register in our coconut silver medals, with 21 to the farmers registry,” he said. Thais’ 16The to provisionally to second updating ofhold theoncoconut place with several finals still up for farmers registry is mandated by completion on Sunday night.

Republic Acthappy, (RA) I11524 or the to “I’m very didn’t expect Coconut Industry Trust Fund Act. in win,” said Yulo, who scored 15.200 See “3-M farmers,” A2 in the the floor exercise and 14.400

Continued on A2

PESOEXCHANGE EXCHANGERATES RATESnnUSUS50.4600 52.3860 nnJAPAN JAPAN0.4374 0.4079 nnUKUK67.2329 63.9057nnHKHK6.4722 6.6735nnCHINA CHINA7.9013 7.7183nnSINGAPORE SINGAPORE36.8968 37.5231 nnAUSTRALIA AUSTRALIA36.2807 35.9001 nnEUEU56.5758 54.3924 nnSAUDI SAUDIARABIA ARABIA13.4531 13.9663Source: Source: (May 13,26, 2022) PESO BSPBSP (November 2021)

News

BusinessMirror

A2 Monday, May 16, 2022

Govt collects ₧6.6B from Jan-April rice import tariffs

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By Bernadette D. Nicolas

@BNicolasBM

ICE import tariffs collected in the first four months of the year reached P6.6 billion, the Department of Finance (DOF) said.

In a statement over the weekend, the DOF said the amount collected by the Bureau of Customs (BoC) is already equivalent to two-thirds of the P10 billion that was earmarked annually for the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) that was created under Republic Act 11203 or the Rice Tariffication Law (RTL).

The DOF statement also pointed out that one of the key benefits of the RTL is the “flow of billions of pesos in funds to the agriculture sector” through the creation of RCEF. The DOF said RCEF is used exclusively to finance programs that will “sharpen” the competitiveness of palay growers by providing them with the following: easy access to fertilizer, farm machinery and equipment, high-yield seeds and cheap credit; and, skills training programs on farm mechanization and modern farming techniques.

Under the RTL, all import duties collected from rice imports beginning March 5, 2019 go to the RCEF and other agriculture modernization programs.

Interestingly, the DOF issued the statement days after international debt watcher Fitch Ratings warned against amending the RTL. The latter is something that presidential frontrunner Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. previously said he intends to pursue to make the measure more farmer-friendly and to stop the country’s too much dependence on rice imports.

Fitch said amending the law could not only curb rice imports and push up rice prices but could also “hurt” the government’s tax revenue.

It also reiterated that “a reversal of tax reforms that leads to sustained higher fiscal deficits could also result in a rating downgrade.”

Q1 debt payments...

Continued from A1

To recall, Fitch in February this year kept the country’s investmentgrade rating at “BBB” amid lingering disruptions caused by the pandemic on the economy but it retained its “negative” outlook on the affirmed rating.

A negative outlook means the rating could be subject to a downgrade if economic indicators in the country start to deteriorate in the policy horizon of about 12 to 18 months.

Lagging per capita income and governance, weak government revenue mobilization and sharp rise in the government’s debt-to-GDP ratio were among the flagged indicators in the country.

President Duterte signed the RTL into law on February 14, 2019.

The law, which later took effect on March 5, 2019, replaced rice import quantitative restrictions with tariffs.

Since the implementation of RTL in 2019, the DOF has since said the measure paved the way for lower rice prices.

Average price of regular-milled rice as of April this year went down to P39.13 per kg from the retail price of P46.04 per kg in 2018 before the RTL took effect, the DOF said.

“The Rice Tariffication Law was finally achieved after more than thirty years of failed attempts un-

der previous administrations. The law opened up the Philippine rice market and, in turn, reduced the price of our country’s staple food for more than 100 million Filipinos,” Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said.

As a result of this reform, which he first proposed three decades ago when he was Agriculture Secretary, rice is no longer a main contributor to inflation, Dominguez said.

“It took the strong political will of the President for rice tariffication to finally happen for the benefit of our consumers,” he added.

By ma k ing r ice af fordable through RTL, the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) also projects that the proportion of malnourished children and population at risk of hunger in the country would be reduced by 2.8 percent and 15.4 percent, respectively.

These estimates are equivalent to around 2.1 million less people at risk of hunger and malnutrition, the NEDA said.

However, some rice industry groups have lamented that the RTL led to a drop in farmers’ income for the past three years of its implementation as farm-gate prices plunged to as low as P7 per kilogram in certain provinces in the country.

Amortization expenses crashed by 94.6 percent to P11.84 billion from P220.75 billion in the same

month last year. On the other hand, interest payments posted a double-digit growth of 16.5 percent to P55.55 billion in March this year from last year’s P47.67 billion.

For this year, the government programmed debt payments to reach P1.298 trillion.

If this is realized, this would be higher than the P1.204 trillion that the government shelled out in 2021 to repay its debts as the Covid-19 pandemic raged on.

To recall, the national government’s outstanding debt as of endMarch has already hit a new recordhigh at P12.68 trillion. This was higher by P586.29 billion or 4.8 percent from P12.09 trillion as of end-February this year. By the end of this year, the government expects the country’s outstanding debt to further balloon to P13.42 trillion.

‘Critical’ time

FINANCE Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III earlier said this year would be a “critical” time for the country as it needed to outgrow its debt by stimulating robust economic growth.

The finance chief has since said the next president should prioritize outgrowing the country’s debt at the soonest possible time to bring down the share of debt to the country’s economy or debt-to-gross domestic product (GDP) ratio, which has already spiked to a 17-year high at 63.5 percent in the first quarter of the year.

This is also above the internationally recommended 60-percent threshold by multilateral lenders for emerging markets like the Philippines and also the highest since the country’s debt-to-GDP ratio hit 65.7 percent in 2005 under the Arroyo administration, based on Treasury data.

To help the next administration bring down the debt and deficit levels that have risen amid the Covid-19 pandemic, Dominguez said late Thursday that the fiscal consolidation plan will be ready in time for their briefing with the economic team.

Dominguez added the next administration can bring down the debt-to-GDP ratio through a “well thought out, closely coordinated, and efficiently executed economic program that protects the most vulnerable from worldwide inflationary pressures through targeted subsidies, fosters sustainable and inclusive economic growth, and maintains a healthy fiscal regime by increasing revenues and eliminating wasteful expenditures.”

www.businessmirror.com.ph

ADB...

Continued from A1

However, the sector can still create more jobs if more is done to increase average tourist per capita spending. The average tourist per capita spending in the country is $1,357, still below the Asean target of $1,500.

Efforts to attract more tourists are key to increasing tourist per capita spending. Intra-Asean visitor arrivals in the country only reached 3.5 million between 2014 and 2018 and extra-Asean visitor arrivals, 10.8 million in the same period.

The latest results of the Travel and Competitiveness Index show that “Cambodia, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Thailand all have ‘Natural and Cultural Resources’ rankings that are above their overall industry competitiveness rankings,” the report stated.

“This implies a strong potential for focus countries to develop new tourism hotspots, relying in part on improving infrastructure and other enabling conditions highlighted by the index,” it added.

The Philippines can also improve health and wellness tourism -- part of government’s plans to revive the sector after the pandemic. However, much needs to be done.

ADB noted that brain drain restricts Thailand and the Philippines from developing health and wellness tourism.

In Thailand and the Philippines, there are eight and six physicians per 10,000 people, not even half of the 22 physicians per 10,000 people in Singapore.

Electronics

ADB said labor-intensive manufacturing and processing as well as innovative and high-end manufacturing include developing the electronics industry.

Electronics already contributes as much as 2 percent of GDP and accounts for 9 to 15 percent of gross value added in manufacturing.

The Philippines employs over half a million people and over 14 percent of manufacturing’s total workforce. The industry employs a big number of women.

“In the Philippines, every P1.00 increase in electronics export sales could generate at least P0.12 in additional indirect taxes for the economy, and P0.11 to P0.25 of additional household income. Every P1 billion increase in investment in the sector could create between 600 to 1,400 additional jobs,” the ADB said.

ADB recommends further developing the agro-processing sector by giving priority to upgrading infrastructure; facilitating digital transformation; streamlining regulatory functions; accelerating investments and improving communication policies; and pursuing food-related policies, among others.

Garments

IT recommended boosting the garments sector in the Philippines, noting that over half or 53.3 per-

cent of the 800,000 workers receive below-minimum wage salaries.

The gender wage gap -- nearly 10 percent in the Philippines and Thailand -- was also noted. This remained even after adjusting for demographic, educational, geographical, sub-industry, and occupational variances.

“In the Philippines, more than half the garment workers are not paid the minimum wage. The situation is worse for those with lower education. According to the ILO, in the focus countries, workers with primary education are more likely to receive a wage less than the minimum wage than those with secondary education,” the report added.

In terms of digital trade, ADB quoted the IT & Business Process Association of the Philippines (ITBPAP) data saying the industry contributed 2.7 percent to total employment in the Philippines in 2016.

The ITBPAP had also claimed a 10-15 percent slice of the global IT-BPO market share.

The ADB report noted that estimates suggested that digital exports are quite vital to countries like the Philippines, which ranked 6th in terms of the largest digital exporters. ADB said the numbers in terms of digital exports could grow as much as nine times by 2030.

To further develop the industry, ADB cited a need to support skills development and enable small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to go digital.

“In the Philippines, industry representatives developed the ITBPO Roadmap 2022, projecting that the sector could increase revenues from $22.9 billion in 2016 to $38.9 billion in 2022 by prioritizing five high-value subsectors: contact centers and BPO, IT services, health information management, animation and game development, and global in-house centers,” the report stated. It examined growth opportunities, sectoral strategies, and priority reforms that can help countries boost their medium-term economic recovery.

ADB Senior Economist James Villafuerte presented the report findings during the webinar, “Economic Recovery in Asean+3: New Drivers of Growth and Optimism,” jointly organized by ADB and the Asean+3 Macroeconomic Research Office (AMRO).

“Covid-19 has been both a major disruptor and a catalyst for change.

After two years and counting, some extent of scarring is unavoidable—although it will take different forms in different economies and some economies will be more affected than others.

On the other hand, the pandemic has spurred innovation in sectors such as retail, finance, and health care, which might lift the region’s economies in the long run toward higher productivity-driven growth,” said AMRO Group Head and Lead Economist for Regional Surveillance Ling Hui Tan during the panel discussion.

Construction...

Continued from A1

The data showed the combined shares of the top three regions, in terms of value of construction, amounted to P52.74 billion or 58 percent of the total.

These regions were led by the National Capital Region (NCR) which posted the highest value of construction of P20.02 billion or 22 percent of the total.

The data showed Calabarzon posted the second highest at P18.79 billion or 20.7 percent of the total; and Central Luzon at P13.94 billion or 15.3 percent of the total.

More than half or 53.2 percent of the total value of construction was accounted for by residential building construction, valued at P48.4 billion.

This amount, PSA said, expanded by 30.9 percent from the P36.97-billion total construction value in the same quarter of 2020.

Value of non-residential construction, which amounted to P36.34 billion, accounted for 40 percent of the

total value during the quarter.

This reflects a 24.2 percent increase from the P29.25 billion value of non-residential construction in the same quarter of the previous year.

The data also showed that for this quarter, the value of construction for addition to, and alteration and repair to existing structures amounted to P0.86 billion or 0.9 percent of the total and P5.3 billion or 5.8 percent, respectively.

Construction for addition expanded at an annual rate of 85.3 percent, while construction for alteration and repair of existing structures contracted 14.1 percent.

In terms of the total number of construction projects, PSA data showed there were 38,263 projects, representing a 5.7-percent increase.

The data also showed the annual growth rate increased in the previous quarter at 6.5 percent. In the fourth quarter of 2020, the number of constructions contracted 7.8 percent annually.

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No more colors, politics; now’s time to work for the Filipino–Romualdez

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OTING the immense task for congressmen in the upcoming 19th Congress, House Speakership contender, Majority Leader and Leyte 1st District Rep. Martin G. Romualdez called on his peers Saturday to set aside their political colors in order to get the job done for the sake of Filipinos.

“Again we are following the theme, the message and the desire of the incoming administration of President Bongbong Marcos of unity,” Romualdez told reporters in an ambush interview during a gathering of Party-list Coalition Foundation Inc. (PCFI) members in Rockwell, Makati City where Ako Bicol partylist Rep. Zaldy Co was named the incoming president of the group in the 19th Congress.

Deputy Speaker and 1-Pacman party-list Rep. Mikee Romero is the present PCFI president.

Romualdez was reacting to the gesture of Ilocos Norte 1st district Rep. Sandro Marcos toward retired Commission on Elections (Comelec) Commissioner Rowena Guanzon, whose hands he shook despite her having repeatedly criticized the Marcoses during the election period.

Sandro, Bongbong’s eldest son, is being mentored by Romualdez.

“Elections are over, politics is over. Let’s all work together, let’s all be united—one country, one Filipi-

no nation. We are all for Filipinos,” Romualdez said, mostly in Filipino “So that’s what we all are about.

We are about the House of the people, the House of Representatives of the Philippines. We are for every Filipino. No more colors, no more politics work,” added Romualdez, the Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats (CMD) President.

The UniTeam tandem of presumptive President Marcos and presumptive Vice President Sara Duterte have earlier spoken about casting aside political colors once the May 9 elections are over.

Doing so, they said, will pave the way for attaining much-needed unity especially amid efforts to continue the response to the Covid-19 pandemic and pave the way for steady recovery.

“So when we start with unity, they always say, when there is unity, there is strength. Where there is strength, there is resolve; political will to do the right thing by the Filipino people,” Romualdez said.

“The House of Representatives is the house of the people and we have to serve the people, particularly in this time of the pandemic. We hope that we will be reaching the endemic stage but we have to reinvigorate and restart the economy for livelihood, jobs and, of course, for the education and health of every Filipino,” Romualdez underscored.

War-razed Sulu village slowly reverting to life, military says

By Rene Acosta @reneacostaBM

A

BARANGAY in Sulu which was formerly a battle ground between security forces and the local terrorist Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) and had remained deserted for 20 years is slowly reverting to life as projects were launched when some residents returned late last month, according to government troops.

Maj. Gen. Ignatius Patrimonio, commander of the Joint Task Force (JTF) Sulu and the Army’s 11th Infantry Division and members of the Sulu Provincial Task Force on Ending the Local Armed Conflict (PTF-ELAC), inaugurated over the weekend newly-constructed infrastructure and livelihood projects at Barangay Bakung in Patikul, Sulu following the return of villagers.

Bakung is one of the 11 barangays that were repopulated under the “Balik-Barangay Program” of Sulu on June 17, 2022, according to Patrimonio.

“After almost 20 years as internally displaced Persons (IDPs), we relocated back to this village a total of 118 households. They don’t have any infrastructures and houses because these were destroyed. So, we

helped them rebuild their communities,” Patrimonio said.

Bakung was deserted by its villagers after it had become a battleground between the ASG and military forces for 20 years.

Patromonio said a “resilient” community is being built through the concerted efforts of the Sulu PTF-ELAC and the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Ministry of Public Works and soldiers.

“Today, we just inaugurated infrastructures such as Barangay Hall, 2.4 kilometer farm-to-market road, Mosque, learning center, public toilet, water system, streetlights, and egg-laying facilities for their livelihood,” he added.

“As you can see, Barangay Bakung now is a peaceful community,” Brig.

Gen. Benjamin Batara Jr., commander of the 1103rd Brigade, whose area of responsibility covers the Barangay Bakung, said. “I wish to underscore that this is not a standalone effort of the military, but a product of collaboration and partnership with the provincial government of Sulu, the BARMM, local agencies and the people of Barangay Bakung who are committed [to] bringing lasting peace in their community.”

Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug • Monday, May 16, 2022 A3

Rep. Romualdez bares 19th Congress’s priority agenda

By Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz @joveemarie

& Butch Fernandez @butchfBM

U

NITY agenda of the Marcos administration, economic and pandemic measures will be the top priorities of the House of Representatives next Congress, according to House Majority Leader Martin G. Romualdez.

Romualdez, who will most likely be elected Speaker of the House in the 19th Congress, said the lower chamber would prioritize measures to get the country out of the coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) pandemic and sustain its economic recovery.

“As part of the majority coalition, we shall be addressing the unity agenda of the administration. So we will be passing legislation amid the pandemic, and we hope that we are already in the endemic state,” Romualdez, Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats (CMD) president, said.

“We hope to not only heal the nation but also heal the economy. These are the top priority programs of the majority in the incoming administration. And the key element here, of course, is unity. And we are here all together as we wind up in the 18th Congress. It brings me a lot of hope that [there is going to] be a shift–the unity we definitely need to move our country forward in the midst of these very big challenges,” he added.

Mastery of grind

PARTY-LIST lawmakers and neophyte House members and other incoming lawmakers from the National Unity Party (NUP), PDPLaban, Lakas-CMD, Nacionalista Party (NP), Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC), Partido Federal ng Pilipinas (PFP), Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino (LDP) and Hugpong ng Pagbabago (HNP) have endorsed Romualdez to be their leader in the next Congress.

Metro Manila Development Vice Chairman Rolando M. Valeriano (2nd District of Manila), who won by a landslide against former Rep. Carlo V. Lopez, said he already signed a manifesto endorsing Romualdez’s speakership.

According to Valeriano,”with Romualdez’s ability, skills and knowledge, he can unite and lead” the 19th Congress.

A University of the Philippineseducated lawyer, Romualdez was first elected to the post of House majority leader in 2016 as part of a term-sharing deal for Speaker between Taguig City Rep. Alan Peter S. Cayetano and Marinduque Rep. Lord Allan Jay Q. Velasco.

Albay Rep. Joey Sarte Salceda also said Romualdez would be the next Speaker “not because he is a cousin of the incoming President but because of his legislative prowess, his mastery of the legislative grind or mill.”

“He gets things done, even the most difficult reforms like the Public Service Act, for example. He has so many laurels to his credit. A Romualdez speakership will be an asset to a Marcos administration,” Salceda said.

GMA’s support

FORMER president and congresswoman-elect Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, chairman emeritus of LakasCMD Party, already expressed her support to Romualdez.

“Romualdez and I have been working together for decades in a joint effort to do our best to serve the Filipino people. Since 2010, our partnership involved our service as fellow members of the House of Representatives,” Arroyo said.

“I will be returning to the House on June 30, 2022. I would therefore like to advise the members of the Lakas-CMD that I am throwing my support for Romualdez to be elected as House Speaker in the next Congress. I urge all members of our party to do the same,” Arroyo added.

Deputy Speaker Camille A. Villar said the Nacionalista Party is also throwing its full support to Romualdez to become the next speaker.

“The Nacionalista Party believes that Speaker Romualdez will be a vital cog as the incoming Ferdinand Marcos Jr. administration fulfills its vision of unity and prosperity for the country,” Villar said.

Surigao del Sur Rep. Johnny T. Pimentel has also endorsed Romualdez – cousin of Marcos Jr.—as speaker of the House of Representatives.

“Congressman Romualdez is highly competent. His track record as House majority leader speaks for itself,” Pimentel, chairman of the House Strategic Intelligence Committee, said.

Smooth transition

CAMARINES Sur Rep. LRay F. Villafuerte, meanwhile, said he sees the smooth transition from the leadership of the outgoing to the incoming House of Representatives with the imminent election of Romualdez as speaker.

Villafuerte said the assumption of the premier House post by the reelected Leyte congressman has become a “fait accompli” with his endorsement by former President and Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (GMA), who was earlier seen as Romualdez’s most formidable

challenger for the elective position.

“Martin’s election as Speaker right before BBM delivers his inaugural SONA (State of the Nation Address) in July is now a “fait accompli” with his endorsement as Speaker by no less than GMA, who has been touted as his most serious challenger for the position,” Villafuerte said.

“With GMA now out of the contest for the Speakership and the solid support of most power blocs in the House for Martin as Speaker, it will definitely be a smooth transition from the outgoing to the incoming leadership in the bigger chamber,” he said. “Hence, we anticipate no hitches in Martin’s election as Speaker, paving the way for the Leyte legislator to hit the ground running at the start of the first regular session of the 19th Congress.”

Consensus builder

VILLAFUERTE is the vice president for political affairs of the National Unity Party (NUP), which had earlier endorsed Romualdez as speaker.

“Romualdez is a consensus builder. The fact that he remained the Majority Leader even with the change in leadership in the House proves this. He listens and values the opinions of his peers, whether from the majority or the minority. He has the ability to transcend the political divide to mobilize the House into action and pass the bills necessary to support BBM’s development agenda,” Villafuerte said. “[Romualdez] is hard-working and gets things done quickly as shown by his stint as majority leader when the House was able to pass at record speed the two Bayanihan laws. As majority leader, [he] helped accelerate the passage of President Duterte’s investor-friendly measures, such as the Create [Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises] law, and the amendments to the Retail Trade Liberalization Act (RTLA), Public Service Act (PSA) and the Foreign Investments Act (FIA),” the lawmaker added.

Villafuerte noted that Romualdez was among his co-authors for Create (Republic Act 11534) and the Bayanihan 1 (RA 11469) and Bayanihan 2 (RA 494) laws.

Practice perpetuated

ALBAY Rep. Edcel C. Lagman asked the next leadership of the Lower Chamber to stop perpetuating the practice of anointing a minority leader.

“I am urging the incoming administration not to perpetuate the stratagem of the majority leadership of anointing a Minority Leader in the House of Representatives as

an adjunct of the majority coalition,” he said.

“Allow critical dissent to flourish and respect the independence of a vibrant, although only a handful, of minority representatives,” Lagman added.

Lagman is a current member of the independent bloc in the lower chamber.

“Legislation must pass deliberate consultation as well as the furnace of serious debate,” he said.

“The hallmark of a deliberative assembly is the genuine existence and steadfast advocacy of the minority,” the lawmaker added.

NPC endorsement

SENATE President Vicente C. Sotto III confirmed last Sunday of the unanimous endorsement by the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC) of the ascendancy of Romualdez as the incoming Speaker of the House of Representatives, formally replacing Velasco when Congress reconvenes on July 1.

“As NPC chairman and in consultation with House leaders, I hereby announce the unconditional support of the party to the speakership of Rep. Romualdez in the 19th Congress,” Sotto III said over the weekend.

The Senate leader’s confirmation of his party’s support came on the heels of a photograph posted on twitter showing NPC stalwarts meeting with Romualdez.

Also last Sunday, NPC Secretary General and former Batangas Rep. Mark Llandro L. Mendoza, Rizal Rep. Michael John “Jack” R. Duavit and Quezon Rep. Wilfrido Mark M. Enverga presented to Romualdez the party’s manifesto of endorsement for the House Majority Leader as Speaker of the 19th Congress during a luncheon meeting in Makati City.

The NPC said Romualdez “will definitely bring the House of Representatives to new and greater heights under a common goal of unity towards economic and moral recovery, social justice and the rule of law. In view thereof, we conclusively support Romualdez as the Speaker of the 19th Congress of the House of Representatives.”

“We firmly believe that Romualdez has the experience and aptitude that will effectively unify the House of Representatives in the passage of important and crucial legislative reforms for the country and the Filipino people under the administration of His Excellency, President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr.,” the NPC added. The NPC has 39 members.

DENR urges Protected-Area users to get SPU agreement

By Jonathan L. Mayuga @jonlmayuga

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SERS of Protected Areas, including the controversial Upper Marikina River Basin Protected Landscape (UMRBPL), are now required to apply for Special Use Agreement (Sapa), Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Acting Secretary Jim O. Sampulna said.

The UMRBPL, which has been occupied by various users, has been the subject of land dispute that often result in violent incidence. The degradation of the upper Marikina river basin has been blamed by experts for flooding in Metro Manila, due to the diminished capacity of the Marikina River, which is heavily silted.

Among the users in the UMRBPL is the Masungi Georeserve Foundation Inc. The group runs the awardwinning Masungi Georeserve, a low-impact ecotourism site in Baras

Rizal and Rublou Inc. and Blue Atom, which has business interests within the area. These groups have been involved in a verbal tussle, each accusing the other of wrongdoing.

But all these groups have no Sapa.

A Sapa is an agreement between the DENR and a project proponent, which has a term of 25 years and is renewable for another 25 years. It is a type of agreement applicable to special uses of protected areas.

NIPAS, ENIPAS laws

UNDER the National Integrated Protected Areas System (Nipas) Act of 1992 or the Expanded Nipas (Enipas) Act, special uses may be allowed within protected areas except in strict protection zones and strict nature reserves, subject to compliance with the environmental compliance certificate and payment of corresponding user fee.

The law also states that the DENR secretary has the authority to deter-

mine a system-wide set of fees and charges to ensure sustainable financing of protected areas.

“The law requires a certain type of agreement with the DENR on special uses of protected areas. We are bound by this law,” Sampulna said. “The conversion of [a] MOA [Memorandum of Agreement] into a Sapa is also an opportunity for the DENR to correct its course and to cure defects in the MOA. Such defects include unconstitutional provisions and provisions that violate the Enipas Act and the Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Act.” The implementing rules and regulations of the Enipas Act provide that MOAs issued by the DENR within protected areas prior to the effectivity of the Nipas Act shall be converted into Sapa upon satisfactor y compliance with requirements.

According to Sampulna, this is the “best possible solution” that the

DENR has come up with so far after a series of consultations and meetings with various stakeholders.

Constitutional limits

THE 1987 Constitution sets a limit of 25 years, renewable for another 25 years, for the term of agreements that the State enters into for the exploration, development and use of natural resources. The rules and regulations implementing the Nipas Act provide that ecotourism is one of the special uses of protected areas.

A Sapa aims to provide access and economic opportunities to indigenous peoples, tenured migrant communities and other protected area stakeholders; optimize the development of special-use projects consistent with the principles of sustainable development and biodiversity conservation in cooperation with stakeholders; guide the development of the zones of protected areas

under their management objectives and provide a revenue stream for the sustainable management of protected areas. Under a MOA signed in 2017, the DENR has given a perpetual land trust to the Masungi Georeserve Foundation.

The MOA did not have the free, prior informed consent of the indigenous people whose ancestral domain overlaps with the 2,700 hectares covered by the MOA. It also does not provide for the pay-

ment of user fees.

From MOA to Sapa

IN 2018, the DENR issued DENR Administrative Order 2018-05, Addendum to DENR Administrative Order 2007-17 on the Rules and Regulations Governing Special Uses within Protected Areas, which states that “all existing MOAs on Special Uses within Protected Area shall be converted into Sapa in accordance with DAO 2007-17 and this Order.”

Economy BusinessMirror

A4 Monday, May 16, 2022 • Editor: Vittorio V. Vitug

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Call to abolish regl wage boards issued after pay hikes ordered T

Clarity in crafting trade rules leads to compliance–BAFS

By Samuel P. Medenilla @sam_medenilla

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OWER-than-expected minimum wage hikes for Metro Manila and the Western Visayas prompted fresh calls for the abolition of the regional wage boards.

In a statement, the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) announced plans to lobby for the amendment or repeal of Republic Act 6727 (the Wage Rationalization Act) to remove the region-based minimum wages.

TUCP President Raymond C. Mendoza said the confederation of labor federations is now pushing to change the 33-year old law to “end the government’s wage depression policy that has led to the economic and physical impoverishment of millions of our workers and their families.”

“We cannot hope to achieve our SDG’s (Sustainable Development Goal) targets of zero poverty and hunger by 2030, and our people’s aspiration to have and enjoy a life that is ‘matatag, maginhawa at panatag’ (resilient, comfortable and peaceful) by 2040 if we will not immediately change our unjust labor policies and stop the long immiseration of our workers and their families,” Mendoza said.

Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP) also slammed the new wage orders issued by the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Boards in the National Capital Region (NCR) and Region 6 for being too little to offset the impact of inflation in eroding the real value of the current minimum wage rates.

The RTWPB in NCR approved a P33-wage hike, while the regional

wage board in Region 6 raised the minimum wage rates in its jurisdiction by P55 to P110.

Labor groups are pushing for a P750-minimum wage hike.

“The [new wage] order of the wage boards in NCR and Western Visayas is fresh evidence of the rotting regional wage fixing mechanism,” BMP National Chairman Leodegario “Ka Leody” De Guzman said. “Our fight for a national wage and the abolition of the provincial rates will continue.”

For its part, the Partido Manggagawa (PM) opposed the call from some employers for the granting of exemption and deferment on the new wage orders from NCR and Region 6.

“It is adding insult to injury to workers for the regional wage boards to exempt and defer the wage hike as demanded by employers. The minimum wage increases are not even enough to recover the value lost to inflation for the past three years,” PM National Chairman Rene Magtubo said. “If the hikes are deferred and employers exempted then the most vulnerable workers are left with nothing.”

While the RTWPBs in NCR and Region 6 drew criticism from organized labor, Labor and Employment Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III commended both boards for promptly completing the requirements to release their respective new wage orders.

“I thank the wage boards for heeding my call to expedite the review of the current minimum wage in their respective regions,” Bello said.

He added he hopes the other RTWPBs will be able to release their

THIS Friday, May 6, 2022 photo shows men—who say they work at the building shown behind them —enjoy street food before traveling home. The NCR wage board announced a P33 increase to the basic pay of regular workers. BERNARD TESTA

new wage orders soon.

“I am confident we can overcome the odds in wage-setting if only to help ease the living conditions of our minimum wage earners,” Bello said.

Aside from the NCR and Region 6,

the National Wages and Productivity Commission said eight more regions have also completed their public hearing–the final phase before an RTWPB could decide if it will issue a new wage order–as of last Sunday.

RANSPARENCY in trade-related regulatory process is key to creating a sense of ownership and to ensuring compliance, so said officials of the Bureau of Agriculture and Fisheries Standards of the Philippines (BAFS).

Apart from the regulatory process, consultations on draft regulations in relation to trade should also be transparent, BAFS Assistant Director Mary Grace R. Mandigma said during an online seminar last May 10.

During that webinar hosted by the Asian Development Bank and the Standards and Trade Development Facility (STDF), sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) experts shared how they use Good Regulatory Practices (GRPs) in Bhutan, the Philippines and Sri Lanka to strengthen SPS measures and facilitate safe trade.

Sanitary regulators and practitioners shared examples of how GRPs such as transparency, consultations, stocktaking and forward-looking regulatory agendas—are being used across Asia to modernize and improve SPS regulations.

In fact, World Trade Organization (WTO) Deputy Director-General Jean-Marie Paugam emphasized that GRPs can boost the confidence of investors and trading partners in the long haul.

“GRPs encourage good governance and have the potential to increase public trust and the confidence of investors and trading partners in the long run,” said Paugam, citing the STDF GRP Guide as a practical resource for SPS regulators.

GRPs, according to the WTO, help to improve the quality and effectiveness of sanitary and phytosanitary measures so that they achieve the expected policy outcomes.

Meanwhile, the BAFS is implementing an STDF project prepara-

tion grant in support of implementation of GRPs, including regulatory impact assessments, to improve SPS regulations.

Mandigma also highlighted that it also took into consideration improving coordination across government agencies when they implemented the said grant in support of implementation of GRPs. She said during the webinar last May 10 there is a need to assess existing regulations before drafting new regulations, as part of a coordinated, whole-of-government approach.

The STDF is a global multi-stakeholder partnership to facilitate safe and inclusive trade. It was established by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, the World Organization for Animal health, the World Bank Group, the World Health Organization (WHO) and WTO, which houses and manages the partnership.

The global multi-stakeholder partnership responds to evolving needs, drives inclusive trade and contributes to sustainable economic growth, food security and poverty reduction, in support of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.

In a news statement released on May 10, the WTO stressed that all countries have SPS measures in place to ensure food safety and to prevent the spread of pests and diseases among animals and plants.

Participating countries noted the benefits of using GRPs. According to the WTO, utilizing GRPs result in facilitation of safe trade worldwide, especially for traders in developing and least developed countries, who face more challenges in meeting food safety and quality standards.

“Compliance with international standards is required to access higher-end markets,” the WTO said.

Importation of ‘exotic’ species to go through ‘eye of the needle’

By Jonathan L. Mayuga @jonlmayuga

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HE importation of agar-wood producing species that are ‘exotic’ is easier said than done, specially if it is intended for commercial purposes, an official of the Biodi-

versity Management Bureau (BMB) of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) said.

Generally, the government does not allow the importation of exotic species, and if ever, it requires a strict regulatory process.

“This is unlike when you are im-

porting an endemic species which is much easier,” Theresa M. Tenazas, lawyer and OIC Division Chief of the Wildlife Resources Division of the DENR-BMB, said.

Not all Aquilaria species are endemic to the Philippines and those that are non-endemic or “exotic” will need to pass the proverbial “eye of the needle” to get approval from the DENR-BMB, according to Tenazas.

Tenazas was reacting to a BusinessMirror report citing the importation of Aquilaria Mallacensis by Iba Botanicals Inc. for the purpose of commercial propagation.

Iba Botanicals became the first company to secure a “wildlife culture permit” (WCP) for the commercial propagation in the country of the Aquilaria Mallacensis, which produces premium quality agarwood or resinous heartwood, the most expensive forest product in the world.

“Planting of endemic species and importing it back to the Philippines will not entail problems as compared to the importation of exotic Aquilaria species,” she said.

Citing the case of importing Aquilaria Mallacensis, Tenazas said those who applied for import permits, for the purpose of commercialization will be granted by the DENR-BMB with ease because it is endemic to the Philippines, which means there’s no danger of introducing a potentially invasive species that may result in biodiversity loss.

But not all people can just import and plant any tree species if they are to commercialize it later on.

For purpose of commercialization, the importer must have a WCP so that when the time comes that they are to sell them locally or abroad, they can show proof of legal source for their product or byproduct.

Aside from the DENR-BMB, an importer of plants or animal species for commercial purposes like animal breeding or plant breeding will also have to undergo a strict regulatory process imposed by the Department of Agriculture (DA). For one, the Bureau of Plant Industry ensures that the plant being imported is disease-free and must undergo quarantine procedures.

On the part of the DENR-BMB, strict regulatory requirements are imposed under Republic Act (RA) 9147 (Wildlife Resources Conservation and Protection Act) and RA 7586 (National Integrated Protected Areas System, or Nipas, Act. “The general rule is, we do not really allow the importation of exotics,” Tenazas said.

Such measure is put in place to prevent the danger posed by the introduction of non-native species into the wild.

Landbank opens P50-B lending facility for crisis-hit enterprises

By Bianca Cuaresma @BcuaresmaBM

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TATE-run Land Bank of the Philippines announced that it has launched a P50-billion loan program for enterprises affected by calamities and other man-made crises such as wars and disputes.

In a statement issued over the weekend, Landbank said its new initiative called “Nation Serves” lending program aims to provide working capital for firms affected by disruptions. “Nation Serves” stands for “National Assistance towards Initiating Opportunities to eNtities amidst Social and Economic Reverses, which Visibly Entail Shockwaves to Businesses.”

The financing of working capital for these firms is aimed at helping businesses strengthen their operations, expand trading facilities, and

stockpile supplies and inventories to mitigate the actual or impending impact posed by crises.

Landbank said its allocation for the lending program is a “proactive measure” to support energy and fuel providers, industry manufacturers of medicines, metals, electronics and armaments, as well as ship builders, among others.

“Landbank aims to bolster the resiliency of key development industries by cushioning the negative impact of economic disruptions.

Through the program, we will also contribute to preventing price surges on basic commodities as we continue serving the nation,” Landbank President and CEO Cecilia C. Borromeo was quoted in the statement as saying.

Eligible borrowers also include renewable energy developers, agribusinesses, and aviation hardwares and machine manufacturers.

Under the program, customers may borrow up to 85 percent of the actual need with an interest rate based on applicable Bloomberg Valuation Reference (BVAL) rate at the time of loan availment, plus a spread of not more than 75 percent of the prescribed spread based on the borrower’s credit rating.

Earlier this month, Landbank reported a net income of P13.2 billion in the first three months of the year compared to its net income in the same three month period in 2021of P5.48 billion.

The bank attributed this to higher interest income from loans and investments, as well as one-time gains from the merger with the United Coconut Planters Bank (UCPB).

The higher net income translates to a return on equity of 14.27 percent, which is above the industry average of 9.08 percent as of endDecember 2021.

According to Tenazas, Section 13 of the Wildlife Act, which pertains to the introduction of exotic wildlife, states that “no exotic species shall be introduced into the country unless a clearance from the Secretary or the authorized representative is first obtained.”

The law added: “In no case shall exotic species be introduced into protected areas covered by RA 7586 and to critical habitats under Section 25 hereof.”

The provision also states that in cases where introduction is allowed, it shall be subject to an environmental impact study, focusing on the bioecology, socioeconomic and related aspects of the area where the species will be introduced.

Lastly, it states that the proponent shall also be required to secure the prior informed consent from the local stakeholders.

DepEd task force, Comelec working out add’l pay for EB members

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HE Department of Education (DepEd) announced recently that its Election Task Force (ETF) has coordinated with the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to provide additional pay for the teaching and non-teaching personnelwhoservedasmembersofthe Electoral Board, amounting to P3,000 due to the extended hours rendered by the electoral board members last May 9.

The DepEd said the ETF, spearheaded by Undersecretary for Administration Alain Del B. Pascua and Procurement Management Service Director Marcelo H. Bragado Jr., has immediately coordinated with the Comelec concerning the additional pay.

One of the reasons that led to the extended hours is the malfunctioning vote-counting machines and SD cards. Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco

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

Venezuela plans stock sale in break from socialist model

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ARACAS, Venezuela—Venezuela’s government is seeking private investors to pump funds into vital but crippled state-run companies, decades after seizing them in the name of socialism.

The government on Monday intends to offer 5 percent to 10 percent stakes in companies ranging from telephone and Internet service providers to a petrochemical producer. In another country, those industries might be attractive targets for investors, but questions remain as to who would be willing or able to take a minority position in the Venezuelan companies that have suffered from years of neglect and mismanagement.

Adding to the mystery is lack of details provided by the government about the sale, including what price it is seeking for shares in the companies and on what stock market they might be listed. Some are speculating the move could be a first step toward returning the companies to private hands.

“We need capital for the development of all public companies,” Maduro said during a televised event Wednesday.

“We need technology. We need new markets, and we are going to move forward.”

It’s a marked departure from Maduro’s predecessor, the late President Hugo Chávez, who nationalized many companies in his bid to transform the South American country into a socialist state. Among the companies Maduro mentioned are CANTV and its subsidiary Movilnet, petrochemical producer Petroquimica de Venezuela and a conglomerate focused in the mining sector.

Interest, however, may be limited to investors with ties to the government or those with an appetite for risk.

The country is still under economic sanctions imposed by the US and other countries that prevent investors from being able to funnel money to Venezuela’s state-owned companies.

And the percentages Maduro announced would not give private investors decision-making powers to undertake much-needed changes within the corporations.

At the turn of the century, Chávez carried out a series of takeovers in the electricity, telecommunications, natural gas and oil sectors. But the government made minimum investments in some of these companies, which have left them providing substandard services.

Days-long power outages are common across the country.

Millions of households either do not have access to water or the service is intermittent. Internet and phone services are deficient.

Government supporters and opponents alike complain about poor basic services across the country even if an election is not approaching. But economists point out that Venezuela’s government needs to improve some of those services even if it is slightly ahead of the 2024 presidential election.

“We are no doubt seeing a paradigm shift that is largely forced by the circumstances but also largely fueled by political survival,” Luis Prato, senior economist with the firm Torino Capital. “Since June 2014, with this significant drop in oil prices, the Maduro administration began to see a drop in oil revenues. Then, we went through a period from 2014 to 2019 of price controls, of a more intervening state.’’

But as the state lost the ability to generate wealth and growth, Prato said, “it began to make room for participation of the private sector.”

Venezuela is still under a protracted social, economic and humanitarian crisis credited to plummeting oil prices, economic sanctions and two decades of mismanagement by socialist governments. But the government has taken steps to relieve some of the economic pressures, including by giving up its long and complicated efforts to restrict transactions in US dollars in favor of the local bolivar, whose value has been obliterated by inflation.

Some shares of CANTV have long traded on the Stock Exchange of Caracas, the country’s oldest exchange. Maduro during this week’s announcement said the state-owned companies would be listed in the country’s “various stock exchanges” without specifying.

But by Friday, Gustavo Pulido, president of the Stock Exchange of Caracas, had not received any information of the planned stock sales. He said the process to register the other companies and eventually list them is lengthy and requires the disclosure of financial documents.

“It takes as long as you want to take to make the placement successful. I couldn’t tell you a certain time,” Pulido said, adding that an offering on the Stock Exchange of Caracas could not be structured by Monday.

The government established its own exchange in 2010.

A government spokesman did not respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press regarding the exchanges it intends to use.

Prato said the government is likely to use its own exchange or a separate digital system for now but that it would have limited results.

Henkel Garcia, director of the Caracas-based firm Econometrica, said the companies require significant investments to improve the quality of their services, which were much better before they were nationalized. But he warned that the country lacks a mechanism to oversee the accounting and financial reporting procedures of the companies, making it impossible to guarantee the private investment in the state companies would be appropriately spent.

That missing component, he said, creates an scenario similar to post-Soviet reforms in which a large number of state-owned companies were privatized.

“If this really is the beginning of the total sale or the total handing over of these companies, which for me is a probable scenario, one would have to ask to whom they would be handed over because we have episodes like the Russian one, in which these companies that once belonged to the state ended up in the hands of people who were close to the government,” Henkel said. “So, it is a complex phenomenon that one could say opens the door to something positive, but with the institutional weakness that we have and with the lack of credible referees, well, it might not end in the best way.” AP

BusinessMirror

Monday, May 16, 2022

A5

Putin warns Finland membership in Nato harmful to good relations

By Jari Tanner

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The Associated Press

ELSINKI—Russian President Vladimir Putin warned his Finnish counterpart Saturday that relations between the two neighbors could be “negatively affected” if Finland follows through with plans to apply for Nato membership.

The Kremlin’s press service said in a statement that Putin told Sau li Niinisto Finland ’s abandonment “of its traditional policy of military neutrality would be an error since there are no threats to Finland’s security.”

“Such a change in the country’s foreign policy could negatively affect Russian-Finnish relations, which had been built in the spirit of good neighborliness and partnership for many years, and were mutually beneficial,” the statement added.

The response came after Niinisto told Putin in a phone conversation that the militarily nonaligned Nordic country, which has a complex history with its huge eastern neighbor, “will decide to apply for Nato membership in the coming days.”

Niinisto’s office said in a statement that the Finnish head of state told Putin how starkly Finland’s security environment had changed after Moscow’s February 24 invasion of Ukraine, and pointed to Russia’s demands for Finland to refrain from seeking membership of the 30-nation Western military alliance.

“The discussion [with Putin] was straightforward and unambiguous and was held without exaggeration. Avoiding tensions was considered important,” said Niinisto, Finland’s president since 2012 and one of a handful of Western leaders who has been in regular dialogue with Putin over the past decade.

Niinisto pointed out that he had already told Putin at their first meeting in 2012 that “each independent nation would maximize its own security.”

“That is still the case. By joining Nato, Finland will strengthen its own security and assume its responsibilities,” Niinisto said.

Niinisto stressed that Finland, despite its likely future membership in Nato, wants to continue to deal with Russia bilaterally in “practical issues generated by the border neighborhood” and hopes to engage with Moscow “in a professional manner.”

Accord ing to t he K rem l in statement, the two leaders also discussed Russia’s “military operation” in Ukraine, and the possibility of achieving a political solution. Putin said negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv had been suspended due to Ukraine’s “lack of interest in a serious and constructive dialogue.”

The phone call was conducted on Finland’s initiative, Niinisto’s office said.

Finland shares a 1,340-kilometer (830-mile) border with Russia, the longest by any European Union member.

Niinisto and Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin on Thursday jointly endorsed their country’s Nato bid and recommended that Finland “must apply for Nato membership without delay” to guarantee its security.

A formal announcement from Niinisto and Marin of Finland’s intention to apply for Nato membership is expected on Sunday.

Marin’s governing Social Democratic Party approved the membership bid on Saturday, paving way for a parliamentary vote next week to endorse the move. It’s expected to pass with overwhelming support. A formal membership application would then be submitted to Nato headquarters in Brussels.

Neighboring Sweden is set to decide on its Nato stance on Sunday at a meeting of the governing Social Democratic Party led by Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson.

Finland’s President Sauli Niinisto makes a point during a joint press conference with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, at the Presidential Palace in Helsinki, Finland on May 11, 2022.

Finland appears on the cusp of joining Nato. Sweden could follow suit. By year’s end, they could stand among the alliance’s ranks. Russia’s war in Ukraine has provoked a public about face on membership in the two Nordic countries. They are already Nato’s closest partners, but should Russia respond to their membership moves they might soon need the organization’s military support. AP/Frank Augstein, Pool

One possible hurdle to Finland and Sweden joining the alliance came from Nato member Turkey, whose president said Friday he was “not favorable” to the idea.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan cited support in Sweden and other Scandinavian countries for Kurdish militants—whom Turkey considers to be terrorists.

Finland’s Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto said Saturday that he had already called his Turkish counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu, “to take the tensions down.”

“I’m sure that we will find a solution to this item as well,” he told reporters at the start of an informal Nato foreign ministers’ meeting in Berlin late Saturday.

US President Joe Biden held a joint call Friday with both Niinisto and Andersson where, according to a White House statement, he “underscored his support for Nato’s Open Door policy and for the right of Finland and Sweden to decide their own future, foreign policy and security arrangements.”

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Monday, May 16, 2022

Ukraine: Russian troops withdraw from around Kharkiv, batter east

By Oleksandr Stashevskyi & David Keyton

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The Associated Press

YIV, Ukraine—Russian troops were withdrawing from around Ukraine’s second-largest city after bombarding it for weeks, the Ukrainian military said Saturday, as Kyiv and Moscow’s forces engaged in a grinding battle for the country’s eastern industrial heartland.

Ukraine’s military said the Russian forces were pulling back from the northeastern city of Kharkiv and focusing on guarding supply routes, while launching mortar, artillery and airstrikes in the eastern province of Donetsk in order to “deplete Ukrainian forces and destroy fortifications.”

D e fe n se M i n i ste r Ole k s i i Reznikov said Ukraine was “entering a new—long-term—phase of the war.”

In a show of support, a US Senate delegation led by Minority Leader Mitch McConnell met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Saturday in Kyiv. A video posted on Zelensky y’s Telegram account showed McConnell, who represents the state of Kentucky, and fellow Republican seNators Susan Collins of Maine, John Barrasso of Wyoming and John Cornyn of Texas greeting him.

Their trip came after Kentucky’s other seNator, Rand Paul, blocked until next week Senate approval of an additional $40 billion to help Ukraine and its allies withstand Russia’s 3-month-old invasion. In a statement after leaving Ukraine, McConnell said the United States “stands squarely behind Ukraine and will sustain our support until Ukraine wins this war.”

After failing to capture Kyiv following the Feb. 24 invasion, Russian President Vladimir Putin has shifted his focus eastward to the Donbas, an industrial region where Ukraine has battled Moscow-backed separatists since 2014.

The offensive aims to encircle Ukraine’s most experienced and best-equipped troops, who are deployed in the east, and to seize parts of the Donbas that remain in Ukraine’s control.

Airstrikes and artillery barrages make it extremely dangerous

for journalists to move around in the east, hindering efforts to get a full picture of the fighting. But it appears to be a back-and-forth slog without major breakthroughs on either side.

Russia has captured some Donbas villages and towns, including Rubizhne, which had a prewar population of around 55,000.

Zelenskyy said Ukraine’s forces have also made progress in the east, retaking six towns or villages in the past day. In his nightly address Saturday, he said “the situation in Donbas remains very difficult” and Russian troops were “still trying to come out at least somewhat victorious.”

“Step by step,” Zelenskyy the president said, “we are forcing the occupants to leave the Ukrainian land.”

K harkiv, which is near the Russian border and only 80 kilometers (50 miles) southwest of the Russian city of Belgorod, has undergone weeks of intense shelling. The largely Russianspea k ing cit y w it h a prewa r population of 1.4 million was a key military objective earlier in the war, when Moscow hoped to capture and hold major cities.

Ukraine “appears to have won the Battle of Kharkiv,” the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, said. “Ukrainian forces prevented Russian troops from encircling, let alone seizing Kharkiv, and then expelled them from around the city, as they did to Russian forces attempting to seize Kyiv.”

Regional Gov. Oleh Sinegubov said via the Telegram messaging app that there had been no shelling attacks on Kharkiv in the past day.

He added that Ukraine launched a counteroffensive near Izyum, a city 125 kilometers (78 miles) south of Kharkiv that has been

Relatives and friends react during the funeral of Melnyk Andriy, Shufryn Andriy and Ankratov Oleksandra, three Ukrainian military servicemen who were killed in the east of the country, in Lviv, Ukraine on, Saturday, May 14, 2022. AP/Emilio Morenatti

held by Russia since at least the beginning of April.

Fighting was fierce on the Siversky Donets River near the city of Severodonetsk, where Ukraine has launched counterattacks but failed to halt Russia’s advance, said Oleh Zhdanov, an independent Ukrainian military analyst.

“The fate of a large portion of the Ukrainian army is being decided—there are about 40,000 Ukrainian soldiers,” he said.

However, Russian forces suffered heavy losses in a Ukrainian attack that destroyed a pontoon bridge they were using to try to cross the same river in the town of Bilohorivka, Ukrainian and British officials said.

Britain’s defense ministry said Russia lost “significant armored maneuver elements” of at least one battalion tactical group in the attack. A Russian battalion tactical group consists of about 1,000 troops.

The ministry said the risky river crossing was a sign of “the pressure the Russian commanders are under to make progress in their operations in eastern Ukraine.”

Zelenskyy has warned of a global food crisis as Russia blockades Ukrainian grain from leaving port.

The Group of Seven leading economies echoed that Saturday, saying that “Russia’s war of aggression has generated one of the most severe food and energy crises in recent history, which now threatens those most vulnerable across the globe.”

Putin launched the war in Ukraine aiming to thwart Nato’s expansion in Eastern Europe.

But the invasion has other countries along Russia’s f lank worried they could be next, and this week the president and prime minister of Finland said they favor seeking Nato membership.

Officials in Sweden are expected to announce a decision Sunday on whether to apply to join the Western military alliance.

In a phone call Saturday, Putin told Finnish President Sauli Niinisto that there are no threats to Finland’s security and joining Nato would be an “error” and “negatively affect Russian-Finnish relations.”

T he K remlin said the t wo leaders had a “frank exchange of views.”

Niinisto said the discussion “was straightforward and unambiguous and was held without exaggeration. Avoiding tensions was considered important.”

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister A lexander Grushko said accession to Nato by Finland a nd Sweden wou ld heig hten security tensions in the Arctic, “turning it into an arena of militar y competition.”

Russian energy group Inter RAO suspended deliveries of electricity to Finland on Saturday, according to a statement from the Finnish national electrical grid operator. But only around 10 percent of Finland’s electricity comes from Russia, and authorities did not expect shortages.

The Nordic nations’ potential bids were thrown into question Friday when Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his country is “not of a favorable opinion.”

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was scheduled to meet his Nato counterparts, including Turkey’s foreign minister, this weekend in Germany.

Yesica Fisch in Bakhmut, Yuras Karmanau in Lviv, Mstyslav Chernov in Kharkiv, Elena Becatoros in Odesa, Jill Lawless in London and other AP staffers around the world contributed to this report.

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Israel police to investigate conduct at journalist funeral

By Josef Federman The Associated Press

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ERUSALEM—Israeli police decided on Saturday to investigate the conduct of their officers who attacked the funeral of a slain Al Jazeera journalist, causing mourners to briefly drop the casket during the ceremony in Jerusalem.

Police forces beat pallbearers with batons at the start of the funeral procession on Friday of Shireen Abu Akleh, who witnesses say was killed by Israeli troops Wednesday during a raid in the occupied West Bank. The Israeli military says Palestinian gunmen were in the area and it’s not clear who fired the fatal bullet.

The shocking scenes at the funeral, and the death of the 51-yearold Palestinian-American journalist, drew worldwide condemnation and calls for investigations, including from the United States and the United Nations.

In a statement Saturday, the Israeli police said their commissioner has instructed an investigation that would be concluded in the coming days.

“The Israel Police supports its police officers, but as a professional organization that seeks to learn and improve, it will also draw lessons from the incident,” the statement said.

At the same time, top officials, including Public Secur it y Minister Omer Ba r-L ev, appeared to be closing ranks in support of the officers, reiterating earlier claims that the troops at the funeral acted in response to v iolence. Human rights groups have said police in Jerusalem frequently use excessive force against Palestinians, without being investigated or held accountable.

The attack on the funeral added to a sense of grief and outrage that has followed the death of Abu Akleh, a veteran journalist and a household name across the Arab world. They also illustrated the deep sensitivities over east Jerusalem—which is claimed by both Israel and the Palestinians and has sparked repeated rounds of violence.

Ahead of the burial, a large crowd gathered to escort her casket from an east Jerusalem hospital to a Catholic church in the nearby Old City. Many of the mourners held Palestinian flags, and the crowd began shouting: “We sacrifice our soul and blood for you, Shireen.”

Shortly after, Israel police moved in, pushing and clubbing mourners. As helmeted riot police approached, they hit pallbearers, causing one man to lose control of the casket as it dropped toward the ground. Police ripped Palestinian

flags out of people’s hands and fired stun grenades to disperse the crowd.

On Friday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the US administration was “troubled by the images of Israeli police intruding into the funeral procession” of Abu Akleh, who was also an American citizen. “Every family deserves to lay their loved ones to rest in a dignified and unimpeded manner,” he tweeted.

Blinken, en route from Washington Berlin, spoke Saturday morning with the family of Shireen Abu Akleh to express his deep condolences for their loss, a State Department official said. Blinken noted Abu Akleh’s journalistic body of work and the importance of a free and independent press in his comments, and he offered continued support of the State Department team in Jerusalem to their family, the official said.

The official discussed Blinken’s remarks on condition of anonymity.

A unanimous condemnation came Friday from the UN Security Council, which called in a rare statement for “an immediate, thorough, transparent and impartial investigation into her killing.”

Late Friday, the Palestinian public prosecutor said preliminary findings show Abu Akleh was killed by deliberate fire from Israeli troops. The prosecutor said the investigation would continue.

Israel’s military said earlier Friday that she was killed during an exchange of fire with Palestinian militants, and that it couldn’t determine the source of the shot that killed her.

Israel has called for a joint investigation with the Palestinian Authority, and urged it to hand over the bullet for forensic analysis to determine who fired the fatal round. The PA has refused, saying it will conduct its own investigation and send the results to the International Criminal Court, which is already investigating possible Israeli war crimes.

The PA and Al Jazeera, which has long had a strained relationship with Israel, have accused Israel of deliberately killing Abu Akleh. Israel denies the accusations.

Abu Akleh was a member of the small Palestinian Christian community in the Holy Land. Palestinian Christians and Muslims marched alongside one another Friday in a show of unity.

She was shot in the head Wednesday morning during an Israeli military raid in the West Bank town of Jenin.

The Associated Press writers Fares Akram in Hamilton, Ontario, and Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.

India bans exports of wheat, North Korea reports 15 more suspected Covid-19 deaths citing threat to food security

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EW DELHI—India has banned exports of wheat effective immediately, citing a risk to its food security, partly due to the war in Ukraine.

A notice in the government gazette by the Directorate of Foreign Trade, dated Friday, said a spike in global prices for wheat was threatening the food security of India and neighboring and vulnerable countries.

A key aim is to control rising domestic prices. Global wheat prices have risen by more than 40 percent since the beginning of the year.

Before the war, Ukraine and Russia accounted for a third of global wheat and barley exports. Since Russia’s February 24 invasion, Ukraine’s ports have been blocked and civilian infrastructure and grain silos have been destroyed.

At the same time, India’s own wheat harvest has suffered from a record-shattering heat wave that is stunting production.

Even though it is the world’s secondlargest producer of wheat, India consumes most of the wheat it produces. It had set a goal of exporting 10 million tons of the grain in 2022-23, looking to capitalize on the global disruptions to wheat supplies from the war and find new markets for its wheat in Europe, Africa and Asia.

Much of that would have gone to other developing countries such as Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand.

Apart from problems with weather hurting harvests, India’s own vast stocks of wheat—a buffer against famine—have been strained by distribution of free grain during the pandemic to some 800 million people.

To balance supply and demand, the government needs about 25 million tons (27.5 million US tons) of wheat each year for an extensive food welfare program that usually feeds more than 80 million people. AP

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EOUL, South Korea—North Korea has confirmed 15 more deaths and hundreds of thousands of additional patients with fevers as it mobilizes more than a million health and other workers to try to suppress the country’s first Covid-19 outbreak, state media reported Sunday.

After maintaining a widely disputed claim to be coronavirus-free for more than two years, North Korea announced Thursday that it had found its first Covid-19 patients since the pandemic began.

It has said a fever has spread across the country “explosively” since late April but hasn’t disclosed exactly how many Covid-19 cases it has found. Some experts say North Korea lacks the diagnostic kits needed to test a large number of suspected Covid-19 patients.

The additional deaths reported Sunday took the country’s reported fever-related fatalities to 42. The official Korean Central News Agency also reported that another 296,180 people with fevers had been tallied, taking the reported total to 820,620.

The outbreak has triggered concern about a humanitarian crisis in North Korea because most of the country’s 26 million people are believed to be unvaccinated against the coronavirus and its public health care system has been in shambles for decades. Some experts say North Korea might suffer huge fatalities if it doesn’t immediately receive outside shipments of vaccines, medicines and other medical supplies.

“Without Covid-19 test kits, North Korea is resorting to body temperature checks to guess at infections. But with such a ver y inferior and inaccurate method of examination, it’s impossible to find asymptomatic virus carriers and control viral surges,” said analyst Cheong Seong-Chang at South Korea’s Sejong Institute.

“As North Korea’s [suspected] Covid-19 infections are explosively increasing, its death toll is expected to continue to rise,” Cheong added.

Since Thursday, North Korea has

imposed a nationwide lockdown to fight the virus. That could further strain the country’s fragile economy, which has suffered in recent years due to sharply reduced external trade caused by pandemic-related border shutdowns, punishing UN economic sanctions over its nuclear program and its own mismanagement, observers say.

During a meeting on the outbreak Saturday, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un described the outbreak as a historically “great upheaval” and called for unity between the government and people to stabilize the outbreak as quickly as possible.

KCNA said Sunday that more than 1.3 million people have been engaged in works to examine and treat sick people and raise public awareness of hygiene.

It said everyone with fevers and others with abnormal symptoms was being put in quarantine and treated. KCNA said the elevated pandemic response includes the establishment of more quarantine facilities, the urgent transportation of

medical supplies to hospitals and increased disinfection efforts.

“All provinces, cities and counties of the country have been totally locked down and working units, production units and residential units closed from each other since the morning of May 12 and strict and intensive examination of all the people is being conducted,” KCNA said.

Of those with symptoms, 496,030 have recovered, while as of Saturday 324,4550 were still receiving treatment, KCNA reported, citing the country’s emergency epidemic prevention center.

State media reports said Kim and other senior North Korean officials are donating their private reserve medicines to support the country’s anti-pandemic fight. During Saturday’s meeting, Kim expressed optimism that the country could bring the outbreak under control, saying most transmissions are occurring within communities that are isolated from one another and not spreading from region to region. AP

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Monday, May 16, 2022

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Dollar’s strength pushes world economy deeper into slowdown

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he soaring dollar is propelling the global economy deeper into a synchronized slowdown by driving up borrowing costs and stoking financial-market volatility—and there’s little respite on the horizon.

A closely watched gauge of the greenback has risen 7 percent since January to a two-year high as the Federal Reserve embarks on an aggressive series of interest-rate increases to curb inflation and investors have bought dollars as a haven amid economic uncertainty.

A rising currency should help the Fed cool prices and support American demand for goods from abroad, but it also threatens to drive up the import prices of foreign economies, further fueling their inflation rates, and sap them of capital.

That’s especially worrying for emerging economies, which are being forced to either allow their currencies to weaken, intervene to

cushion their slide, or raise their own interest rates in a bid to buttress their foreign exchange levels.

Both India and Malaysia made surprise rate hikes this month. India also entered the market too to prop up its exchange rate.

Advanced economies haven’t been spared either: In the past week the euro hit a new five-year low, the Swiss franc weakened to hit parity with the dollar for first time since 2019 and Hong Kong’s Monetary Authority was forced to intervene to defend its currency peg. The yen also recently toughed a two-decade low. “ The Fed ’s rapid pace of rate hikes is causing headaches for many other economies in the world, tr ig ger ing por tfolio

outf lows and currency weakness,” said Tuuli McCully, head of A si a-Pac if ic econom ics at Scotiabank.

While the combination of slowing US growth and an expected cooling in America’s inflation will ultimately see the dollar’s ascent slow—which in turn will take pressure off other central banks to tighten—it may take months to find that new equilibrium.

So far at least, traders are reluctant to call a peak in the dollar rally. That in part reflects bets at the end of 2021 that the greenback ’s gains would fade as rate hikes were already priced in. Those views have since been shredded.

Developing economies are in danger of a “currency mismatch,” which occurs when governments, corporations or financial institutions have borrowed in US dollars and lent it out in their local currency, according to Clay Lowery, a former US Treasury assistant secretary for international affairs who’s now executive vice president at the Institute for International Finance.

Global growth will essentially

flatline this year as Europe falls into recession, China slows sharply and US financial conditions tighten significantly, according to a new forecast from the IIF. Economists at Morgan Stanley expect growth this year to be less than half of the pace in 2021.

As rates continue to rise amid ongoing global volatility—from the war in Ukraine to China’s Covid lockdowns—that has led investors to leap for safety. Economies nursing current account deficits are at risk of more volatility.

“The United States has always been a safe haven,” Lowery said.

“With rising interest rates both from the Fed and from market rates, even more capital could flow into the US. And that could be damaging for emerging markets.”

Outflows of $4 billion were seen from emerging economy securities in April, according to the IIF. Emerging market currencies have tumbled and emerging-Asia bonds have suffered losses of 7 percent this year, more than the hit taken during the 2013 taper tantrum.

“Tighter US monetary policy will have large spillovers to the

rest of the world,” said Rob Subbaraman, head of global markets research at Nomura Holdings Inc. “The real kicker is that most economies outside the US are starting in a weaker position than the US itself.”

Many manufacturers say the high costs they are facing means they aren’t getting much of a dividend from weaker currencies.

Toyota Motor Corp. forecast a 20 percent decline in operating profit for the current fiscal year despite posting robust annual car sales, citing an “unprecedented” rise in costs for logistics and raw materials. It said it doesn’t expect the weakened yen to deliver a “major” lift.

China’s yuan has slid as record flows of capital pull out of the country’s financial markets. For now, it remains insulated from the wider dollar effect as low inflation at home allows authorities to focus on supporting growth.

But that’s causing yet another source of fragility for developing nations used to a strong yuan offering their markets an anchor.

“The recent abrupt shift in the renminbi’s trend has more to do

with China’s deteriorating economic outlook than Fed policy,” said Alvin Tan, a strategist at Royal Bank of Canada in Singapore.

“But it has definitely splintered the shield insulating Asian currencies from the rising dollar and precipitated the rapid weakening of Asian currencies as a group in the past month.”

In advanced economies, weakening currencies set up a “tricky policy dilemma” for the Bank of Japan, European Central Bank and the Bank of England, Dario Perkins, chief European economist at TS Lombard in London, wrote in a recent note.

ECB Governing Council Member Francois Villeroy de Galhau noted this month that a “euro that is too weak would go against our price stability objective.”

“While domestic ‘overheating’ is mostly a US phenomenon, weaker exchange rates add to imported price pressures, keeping inflation significantly above central banks’ 2 percent targets,” Perkins wrote.

“Monetary tightening might alleviate this problem, but at the cost of further domestic economic pain.” Bloomberg News

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G-7 leaders warn of Ukraine grain crisis, ask China not to aid Russia

By Frank Jordans

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The Associated Press

EISSENHAUS, Germany— The Group of Seven leading economies warned Saturday that the war in Ukraine is stoking a global food and energy crisis which threatens poor countries, and urgent measures are needed to unblock stores of grain that Russia is preventing from leaving Ukraine.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, who hosted a meeting of top G-7 diplomats, said the war had become a “global crisis.”

She said up to 50 million people, particularly in Africa and the Middle East, would face hunger in the coming months unless ways are found to release Ukrainian grain, which accounts for a sizeable share of the worldwide supply.

In statements released at the end of the three-day meeting on Germany’s Baltic Sea coast, the G-7 pledged to provide further humanitarian aid to the most vulnerable.

“Russia’s war of aggression has generated one of the most severe food and energy crises in recent history which now threatens those most vulnerable across the globe,” the group said.

“We are determined to accelerate a coordinated multilateral response to preserve global food security and stand by our most vulnerable partners in this respect,” it added.

Canada’s foreig n minister, Melanie Joly, said her country, another major agricultural exporter, stands ready to send ships to European ports so Ukrainian grain can be brought to those in need.

“We need to make sure that these cereals are sent to the world,” she told reporters. “If not, millions of people will be facing famine.”

Russia dismissed the claim that it was responsible for worsening

global hunger and driving up food prices.

“Prices are rising because of sanctions imposed by the West under pressure of the USA,” said Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova. “Failure to understand this is a sign either of stupidity or intentional misleading of the public.”

The G-7 nations also called on China not to help Russia, including by undermining international sanctions or justifying Moscow’s actions in Ukraine.

Beijing should support the sovereignty and independence of Ukraine, and not “assist Russia in its war of aggression,” they said.

The G-7 urged China “to desist from engaging in information manipulation, disinformation and other means to legitimize Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.”

The grouping, which comprises Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States, also reiterated its stance that the territories seized by Russian forces need to be returned to Ukraine.

“We will never recognize borders Russia has attempted to change by military aggression,” they said.

The meeting in Weissenhaus, northeast of Hamburg, was billed as an opportunity for officials to discuss the broader implications of the war for geopolitics, energy and food security, and ongoing inter-

Annalena Baerbock, Foreign Minister of Germany, attends a press conference of the summit of foreign ministers of the G-7 group of leading democratic economic powers in Weissenhauser Strand, Germany, Saturday, May 14, 2022. The meeting under German presidency was chaired by Foreign Minister Baerbock. In addition to the United States and Germany, the G7 also includes Great Britain, France, Italy, Canada and Japan. Marcus Brandt/dpa via AP

national efforts to tackle climate change and the pandemic.

In a series of closing statements, the G-7 nations also addressed a wide range of global problems from the situation in Afghanistan to tensions in the Middle East.

On Friday, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba appealed to friendly countries to provide more military support to Kyiv and increase the pressure on Russia, including by seizing its assets abroad to pay for rebuilding Ukraine.

Kuleba said his country remains willing to talk to Russia about unblocking grain supplies stuck in Ukraine’s silos and also about reaching a political agreement to end the war itself, but had so far received “no positive feedback” from Moscow.

Ger man Chancel lor Olaf Scholz said in an interview published Saturday that he had not detected any change in Putin’s stance recently.

Scholz, who spoke at length by phone with the Russian leader Friday, told German news portal t-online that Putin had failed to achieve the military objectives he set out at the start of the war while losing more Russian soldiers than the Soviet Union did during its decade-long campaign in Afghanistan.

“Putin should slowly begin to understand that the only way out

of this situation is through an agreement with Ukraine,” Scholz was quoted as saying.

One idea discussed at the G-7 meeting was whether Russian state assets frozen abroad can be used to pay for the reconstruction of Ukraine.

“Russia bears responsibility for the massive damage resulting from this war,” Baerbock said. “And that’s why it’s a question of justice that Russia should have to pay for this damage.”

But she added that, unlike in Canada—where legislation allows for seized funds to be repurposed—the legal basis for doing so in Germany is uncertain.

“But that’s precisely what such meetings are for, to have an exchange about how to resolve these legal questions,” Baerbock said.

Many of the foreign ministers traveled straight on to an informal meeting of Nato diplomats in Berlin on Saturday and Sunday.

That gathering will consider moves by Finland and Sweden to join the military alliance amid concerns about the threat from Russia, as well as ways in which Nato can support Ukraine without being drawn into the conflict.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who was unable to attend the G-7 meeting after recovering from a Covid-19 infection, was expected at the Nato gathering.

Russia’s backyard weighs threats from Putin’s war W

ith President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine stalling, other former Soviet states are weighing prospects for pulling away from Moscow’s orbit even as they fear risks of potential border conflict.

The war is sending tremors along an arc of instability stretching from Ukraine’s neighbor Moldova through the Caucasus and into Kazakhstan in central Asia. Putin’s intentions have become an urgent national security question in countries with so-called “frozen conflicts” or that have large proRussian minorities.

Russia may “open other fronts in case Putin needs to camouflage its failure in Ukraine inside a bigger crisis,” said Alexander Baunov, a Russian foreign policy expert at the Carnegie Moscow Center. “At the same time the Russian leadership understands that resources are not unlimited and already in Ukraine they are not sufficient.”

It’s a region sandwiched between rival powers jostling for dominance. Turkey is looking to boost its influence after helping its ally Azerbaijan defeat Armenia in a 2020 war, China is expanding its presence along trade routes to Europe, and Iran has an interest in bolstering its position in the Caspian Sea area. Ripples are being felt as far as the Balkans, with political divisions in Croatia over the war and Serbia facing European pressure to loosen Kremlin ties.

With Ukraine defending fiercely, it’s unclear if Russia can achieve its goals there and whether it has an appetite to expand a conflict that’s brought huge military losses and international isolation, for few gains.

Still, the risk is that Putin escalates what Russian officials call a proxy confrontation with the West to try to dominate more of

Moscow’s former Soviet empire.

He’s due to hold a Kremlin summit with fellow leaders of the Collective Security Treaty Organization of six ex-Soviet states, including Kazakhstan, Armenia and Belarus, on Monday. The Kremlin didn’t respond to a request to comment on whether Putin would seek the CSTO’s support for what Russia calls a “special military operation” in Ukraine.

Putin demonstrated his supremacy in Russia’s backyard as recently as January by dispatching troops to Kazakhstan to help President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev crush a violent uprising in the country that’s the size of western Europe.

Tokayev hasn’t backed Putin in return, citing “the critical need to ensure the security, sovereignty and territorial integrity of our state” where a fifth of the 19 million population is Russian, mostly living close to their shared border.

“Of course, Russia wanted us to be more on their side,” Tokayev’s deputy chief of staff, Timur Suleimenov said in a March 29 interview with Euractiv. “But Kazakhstan respects the territorial integrity of Ukraine.”

Azerbaijan has challenged Russian peacekeepers separating its military from Armenian forces under a truce that Putin brokered personally to halt their war over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region.

The Kremlin’s difficulties in Ukraine “may untie Azerbaijan’s hands,” said Elxan Shahinoglu, head of the Baku-based Atlas research center. “Russia may be opposed to the Azerbaijani army’s further advancement into Karabakh but it isn’t in a position to stop it.”

Azerbaijan signed a defense treaty with Turkey last year, and Armenia hosts Russia’s only permanent military base in the

Caucasus. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has begun talks since Armenia’s defeat to normalize relations with Turkey, its historical enemy.

Tokayev signed an “enhanced strategic partnership” agreement that included deepening defense ties with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on May 10, during his first state visit to Turkey since becoming Kazakh leader in 2019. The sides also signed a deal to produce Turkish reconnaissance and strike drones in Kazakhstan.

The Kremlin’s claim to be “protecting” Russian speakers in Ukraine—even as its army has devastated cities and been accused of war crimes—rings alarms in Moldova.

President Maia Sandu called for reinforcing the army after explosions last month rocked its breakaway pro-Russia region of Transnistria bordering Ukraine that hosts 1,500 Russian troops. European Council President Charles Michel pledged to provide military equipment during a May 4 visit to Moldova, which is seeking EU membership.

Putin likely aims to seize territory in Ukraine’s east and south through to Transnistria as part of a prolonged war, US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines said May 10. The Kremlin-installed occupation government in Ukraine’s southern Kherson region said it would ask to join Russia, the Tass news service reported May 11.

Russian troops have occupied two regions of Georgia since a 2008 war, including South Ossetia whose outgoing president said Friday it will hold a referendum July 17 on joining Russia. The Kremlin hasn’t indicated if it backs a vote. The region’s newly elected president didn’t commit to the date, saying it wasn’t agreed with him, though he said he supports becoming part

of Russia, according to Tass.

Georgian authorities have reacted cautiously to the breakaway region’s referendum push and have been careful not to antagonize Moscow over the war in Ukraine, while pursuing the same goals as Kyiv of European Union and North Atlantic Treaty Organization membership.

Russia has an incentive to bind fellow members of the Moscow-led Eurasian Economic Union such as Kazakhstan and Armenia more closely as it seeks avenues for grey imports to weaken unprecedented international sanctions.

Equally, countries from central Asia to Turkey are working to boost trade along a Trans-Caspian route that bypasses Russia via Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Georgia.

Pipelines carry energy from the Caucasus to Europe skirting Russia.

Doubts in Kazakhstan about further integration in the Eurasian Economic Union are being fueled by the sanctions against Russia. The then Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych’s decision to snub an EU accord and seek closer ties with the ex-Soviet bloc first triggered the Ukraine crisis, leading to his overthrow in a 2014 pro-western revolution followed by Putin annexing Crimea.

“Any attempt to exit the Eurasian Union will be seen by Russia as hostile,” said Dosym Satpayev, director of the Almatybased Risk Assessment Group.

Russia’s ally Belarus is the cautionary tale for other ex-Soviet neighbors.

Longtime ruler Alexander Lukashenko allowed Putin to use Belarus as a launchpad for invading Ukraine, though he hasn’t sent troops himself, and is increasingly reliant on the Kremlin since crushing protests over disputed 2020 elections. Bloomberg News

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Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan becomes UAE president

By Jon Gambrell

D

The Associated Press

UBAI, United Arab Emirates—Rulers in the United Arab Emirates on Saturday unanimously appointed Abu Dhabi’s Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan as the autocratic nation’s president, signaling both unity and stability in this key energy-rich country that hosts Western militaries.

The ascension of Sheikh Mohammed, 61, had been expected after the death Friday of his half-brother and the UAE’s president, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, at the age of 73. The transition of power marks only the third time this US-allied nation of seven sheikhdoms has selected a president since becoming an independent nation in 1971.

Under Sheikh Mohammed, who has been the nation’s de facto leader since Sheikh Khalifa suffered a stroke in 2014, the UAE had tried to project power militarily across the wider region as it joined a Saudi-led war in Yemen.

But since the lockdowns of the coronavirus pandemic, Sheikh Mohammed and the wider UAE has tried to recalibrate its approach by largely pulling out of the war and seeking diplomatic détentes with rivals.

The UAE also diplomatically recognized Israel, which shares Sheikh Mohammed’s longstanding suspicion of Iran. However, ties to the US have strained in recent years—something Washington hopes to address with Vice President Kamala Harris leading a delegation Monday to Abu Dhabi.

The state-run WAM news agency described the vote at Al-Mushrif Palace in Abu Dhabi as unanimous among the leaders of the country’s hereditarily ruled sheikhdoms, which includes the skyscraper-studded city of Dubai.

“His assumption of the responsibility of the presidency represents a new historical era and a new birth,” said Dubai’s ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. “We look forward to the acceleration of development aimed at consolidating the global sovereignty and pioneering of the Emirates.”

There had been only one death of a president before Friday in the country’s history, which saw Sheikh Khalifa take over for both his and Sheikh Mohammed’s father, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, after his death in 2004. Sheikh Zayed, whose name graces a major highway linking the Emirates and whose face appears everywhere in the nation, widely remains viewed as the country’s founding father.

The UAE as a whole is observing a three-day mourning period, which will see businesses shut across the country and performances halted in Sheikh Khalifa’s honor. Electronic billboards all showed the late sheikh’s image in Dubai on Friday night as flags flew at half-staff. A wider mourning period of 40 days will go on beyond that.

Oman’s sultan was among the first leaders to visit Sheikh Mohammed on Saturday night. Others are expected in the coming days, including French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Sunday. Harris also will meet with Sheikh Mohammed.

Sheikh Mohammed had been serving as the UAE’s de facto president since a 2014 stroke saw Sheikh Khalifa disappear from public view.

Known by the acronym MbZ, Sheikh Mohammed cultivated ties with the West that proved valuable for Abu Dhabi, the capital of the UAE that commands tens of billions of dollars in wealth funds from its oil and gas deposits. A US diplomatic cable from 2004 released by WikiLeaks referred to him as “charismatic, savvy and very comfortable in the West.” He hosted then-President George W. Bush in 2008 at his desert estate, a visit complete with Bedouin tents and falcons.

The country hosts some 3,500 US troops, many at Abu Dhabi’s AlDhafra Air Base, from where drones and fighter jets flew missions combating the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria. Dubai also is the US Navy’s busiest port of call abroad. Both France and South Korea also maintained a military presence here.

The Pentagon said US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with Sheikh Mohammed on Saturday and said “he looks forward to strengthening the important defense partnership that expanded” under the late president and “to deepening close ties” between the countries.

Sheikh Mohammed trained at the British military academy at Sandhurst and is a helicopter pilot. His military-first approach saw the UAE join Saudi Arabia in their bloody, yearslong war in Yemen that still rages to this day.

Sheikh Mohammed has had a close relationship with neighboring Saudi Arabia’s own upstart crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman. However, the Emirates has largely withdrawn its troops from Yemen.

Sheikh Mohammed also long has been suspicious of both the Muslim Brotherhood and Iran, likely organizing a campaign targeting Islamists in the UAE after the 2011 Arab Spring and urging the West to take a harder line toward Tehran over concerns about its nuclear program and its support of paramilitary groups throughout the region. The UAE’s recognition of Israel in 2020, while opening new trade and tourism, also serves as a hedge in dealing with Iran.

Since the coronavirus pandemic, however, the UAE under Sheikh Mohammed has sought to rehabilitate ties to Iran and Turkey, which has backed Islamists in the region. A quartet of Arab nations including the UAE also dropped their boycott of Qatar over a diplomatic dispute regarding its support of Islamists, though relations remain icy between Abu Dhabi and Doha.

“The smooth transition of power in the UAE reflects the sobriety of institutional work and the advanced level of governance mechanisms and their stability,” said Anwar Gargash, a senior Emirati diplomat.

But strains have emerged in recent years between Sheikh Mohammed and the US, long a guarantor of security in the wider Persian Gulf. ThenPresident Barack Obama and world powers reaching a nuclear deal with Iran in 2015 soured the Emirates. The chaotic American withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021 under President Joe Biden worsened concerns about the US’s pullback from the region.

Sheikh Mohammed found himself entangled in special counsel Robert Mueller’s report on then-President Donald Trump and Russian interference in America’s 2016 election. The chair of Trump’s 2017 inaugural committee was arrested in 2021 on charges alleging he secretly conspired to influence US policy to benefit the United Arab Emirates.

A planned US sale of advanced F-35 fighter jets to the UAE also appears stalled in part over American concerns about the Emirates’ relationship with China. Meanwhile, the UAE has been careful not to alienate Russia as Moscow wages war on Ukraine.

But Biden offered a warm statement Saturday saying he wanted to “congratulate my longtime friend” on “his election.”

“The UAE is an essential partner of the United States,” Biden said.

“I look forward to working with Sheikh Mohammed to build from this extraordinary foundation to further strengthen the bonds between our countries and peoples.”

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Editor: Jennifer A. Ng • Monday, May 16, 2022 A9

‘PHL to import more rice as output to stay flat’

By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas @jearcalas

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HE Philippines could retain its status as the world ’s second largest buyer of rice for the fourth consecutive year in 2023, when total import volume is projected to reach 3 million metric tons (MMT).

In its monthly global grain report, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) said the Philippines’s rice imports this year and next year would hit the 3-MMT level.

This is the first trade projection made by the USDA for calendar year 2023. The agency said China, which is expected to purchase 6 MMT, will remain as the world’s top buyer of rice.

The international agency said it expects local rice production in the Philippines to stay flat next year and this will provide opportunities for higher imports to meet the growing demand for the staple.

“Flat production and ample stocks keep imports steady even as consumption grows,” the USDA said in its report released recently.

The USDA projected that the Philippines’s rice output next year would slightly decline to 12.411 MMT from a projected record of 12.474 MMT this year.

The country’s total rice production this year would be 58,000 MT higher than the 12.416 MMT recorded output last year, based on USDA data.

The USDA said the Philippines’s total rice consumption would increase as consumers shift to the staple from more expensive wheatbased products, which are affected by the spike in raw material prices due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“Consumption is also up in the Philippines as the high price of wheat is expected to raise consumption of rice for food,” it said.

USDA data showed that the country’s total rice consumption next year would expand by 150,000 metric tons (MT) to 15.35 MMT from an estimated total requirement of 15.2 MMT this year. Likewise, the USDA projected that total rice consumption of the Philippines this year would be 5 percent higher than

last year’s 14.45 MMT. The country’s rice imports in the first quarter surged by almost 70 percent year-on-year to 985,139.995 MT as importers brought in more staple food in anticipation of tighter world supply and lower domestic output.

Latest Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) data showed that rice imports during the January-toMarch period were 404,057.065 MT higher than the 581,082.93 MT recorded last year.

InMarchalone,about414,243.005 MT of rice entered the country.

Historical BPI data showed that the 985,139.995 MT of rice imports from January to March is the highest first-quarter import volume recorded by the country since the

Govt eases curbs on movement of local poultry products

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HE government has further eased its restrictions on the movement of poultry products to ensure adequate supply following a decrease in the number of bird flu outbreaks.

The Department of Agriculture (DA) has allowed the free movement of various poultry products, including live birds and table eggs, even from areas with confirmed bird flu cases as long as the products test negative for the disease.

“Based on the evaluation of the outbreak cases of H5N1 and H5N8 over the last 30 days, majority of the affected poultry species are ducks and quails,” the DA said in memorandum circular (MC) 16 series of 2022.

“To ensure supply chain continuity and local food sufficiency, the movement of different poultry related commodities will be allowed subject to additional safety measures to prevent the further spread of HPAI [highly pathogenic avian influenza] to the remaining free areas in the country.”

Under MC 16, movement of dayold chicks (DOCs), hatching eggs (HEs) and ready to lay (RTLs) pullets from bird-flu affected areas in Mainland Luzon and Mindanao to any part of the Philippines is now allowed provided they test negative for AI. The DA said intra-island and inter-island movement of DOCs, HEs and RTLs from AI-free areas has been allowed provided they are accompanied by negative AI test results.

The agency added that transport of table eggs, salted eggs, quail eggs and embryonated eggs (balut) from bird-flu affected areas to bird-flu free areas in the country is now allowed as long as they comply with risk mitigation measures.

“The table eggs, salted eggs, quail eggs and embryonated eggs must be transported in new or appropriately sanitized containers or egg trays,” it said.

The DA said balut must undergo ultraviolet light disinfection prior to

Energy security raised anew over Malampaya ‘changes’ continued from a12 “The sale is still active. What was signedlastyearhasnotbeenrescinded,” said an official from the Shell group.

Gatc ha l ian stressed t he impor tance of the technica l and financial capabilities of the Malampaya consortium, particularly the operator of the gas field.

“It’sanenergysecurityissue.Mypoint of the matter is that we, being citizens of this country, deserve to understand whetherthenewownerscanassureusof energy security,” Gatchalian said. “They should be able to demonstrate that they can operate this rig competently with technical expertise and in the future, if ever that area has potential, they should beabletoshowthattheycanexploreand develop that area,” he said. With a report

by Buth Fernandez

implementation of rice trade liberalization law in 2019.

Agriculture Undersecretary for Policy, Planning and Research Fermin D. Adriano cited two possible reasons for the rise in imports: the importers’ expectation of tighter global staple supply and the projected lower domestic rice output.

Adriano said some wheat-eating countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and Middle East are projected to shift to rice due to global supply problems caused by the Ukraine-Russia war.

He also said the expected decline in local palay production due to the reduction in fertilizer use had prompted importers to bring in more rice from abroad.

An industry group told the Busi-

FAO calls for more investments in plant health innovations

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A VENDOR tends to her chicken meat stall in a wet market in this BusinessMirror file photo. NONOY LACZA

loading for shipment by air or sea.

Inter-island movement of poultry meat from bird-flu affected areas to bird-flu free areas is allowed as long as they are accompanied by pertinent inspection certificates, according to the DA. “Transport of poultry manure is allowed provided there are attestations from Local Government Units veterinary offices that the manure is sourced from AI/ND (Newcastle Disease) free areas.”

Movement restrictions

TRANSPORT of live ducks, quails, pigeons and gamefowls within the country remain restricted for 30 days from May 11 with only a few exceptions as outlined by the DA’s latest movement rules.

The DA has only allowed the transport of gamefowls from Mimaropa and bird flu-free areas in Mindanao to any destination within the country as long as they test negative for bird flu.

Movement of ducks within Mimaropa and Visayas and from Mimaropa and Visayas to Mainland Luzon and Mindanao is allowed as long as they secure two consecutive negative AI test results.

Quails can be transported within Mimaropa and Visayas as well as from Mimaropa and Visayas to Mainland and Luzon as long as they are certified as bird flu-free.

The DA said inter-regional movement of stranded grazing ducks within Mindanao is allowed as long as the shipment of the live poultry was mutually agreed by concerned local government units (LGU) and must be accompanied by a certificate of acceptance from the LGU of destination.

The DA has extended the suspension of certain activities, such as pigeon racing and live bird markets, in areas with confirmed bird flu outbreaks for another 30 days to prevent the spread of the disease.

“Transport/movement of pet birds (parakeet, dove, lovebirds etc.) across the country is prohibited for 30 days,” the DA said.

“Other related activities such as racing, flying, training, breeding, cockfighting and other related activities for pigeons and gamefowls will be continuously suspended for 30 days.”

In its latest report, the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) said 91 out of the 92 confirmed bird flu cases nationwide have been resolved as of May 10.

The BAI added that the bird flu outbreaks this year resulted in the death of 75,703 birds, majority of which being quail at 55,616. BAI data showed that the government has culled 172,118 birds across 14 affected provinces to contain and prevent the spread of bird flu.

The government is set to indemnify affected poultry raisers with a total amount of P12.807 million.

Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas

nessMirror earlier that the election season had contributed to the need for more rice imports given the demand for low-cost rice.

“The election campaigns and relief operations, however, created the demand for low-priced rice in the market that can be supplied by some countries like Myanmar,” multisector industry group Philippine Rice Industry Stakeholders Movement (Prism) said.

The group said the current government “can ill afford” a repeat of the 2018 rice price crisis when prices of palay and milled rice skyrocketed and caused inflation to accelerate.

“Panic buying and long queuing for rice can be disastrous for public image during election.”

S the world marks the International Day of Plant Health (IDPH) for the first time, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has called for more investment in innovation in a field crucial for boosting food security and transforming how our food is produced, delivered and consumed.

“On this very first International Day of Plant Health, we will reflect on plant health innovations for food security,” said FAO DirectorGeneral QU Dongyu in his opening remarks, adding that investments are needed in research, capacity development and outreach. “We need to continue raising the global profile of plant health to transform agrifood systems to be more efficient, more inclusive, more resilient and more sustainable.”

Four keynote speakers joined the celebrations to underline the importance of plant health – Finland’s Minister for Agriculture and Forestry, Antti Kurvinen, Zambia’s Minister for Agriculture, Mtolo Phiri, US Under-Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs, Jenny Lester Moffitt and Argentina’s Permanent Representative to FAO, Carlos Cherniak.

FAO has mapped out several priorities for plant health: fostering development and implementation of the international standards on phytosanitary measures to protect global plant resources while facilitating safe trade; focusing on sustainable pest management and pesticides through promotion of green and digital plant protection; and creating enabling surroundings for plant health by enhancing the health of soils, seeds and pollinators.

The organization has consistently stressed that protecting plant health is a major task and many actors have a role to play. Governments must prioritize plant health and its sustainable management in formulating policies and legisla-

tion; academia and research institutions must deliver science-based solutions; and non-governmental organizations, the private sector and resource organizations should help develop capacities and provide technical and financial support for best practices to prevent and manage plant pests and diseases.

The International Day of Plant Health was established following a decision in March 2022 by the UN General Assembly. Championed by Zambia, it was unanimously adopted in a resolution co-signed by Bolivia, Finland, Pakistan, the Philippines and Tanzania. The Day is a key legacy of the International Year of Plant Health (IYPH), which was marked in 2020-2021. Following the first IDPH in 2022, FAO will organize celebrations for the Day every 12th of May at global, regional, national and even farm level.

FAO has welcomed it as a positive contribution to addressing global hunger, as up to 40 percent of food crops are lost to plant pests and diseases every year. Protecting plants from pests and diseases is far more cost effective than dealing with plant health emergencies. Once established, plant pests and diseases are often difficult to eradicate and should be controlled through sustainable pest and pesticides management.

The five goals of the IDPH are to: increase awareness on the importance of keeping plants healthy to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, particularly SDG 2 (Zero Hunger); campaign to minimize the risk of spreading plant pests through trade and travel, by triggering compliance with international plant health standards; strengthen monitoring and early warning systems to protect plants and plant health; enable sustainable pest and pesticide management to keep plants healthy while protecting the environment; and promote investment in plant health innovations, research, capacity development and outreach.

World’s appetite for Russian wheat remains strong

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FEW months into the war in Ukraine, appetite for Russian wheat remains strong and there’s little sign that exports will fall soon.

After briefly dropping at the start of the war as some traders were impacted by financing and logistics issues, the country’s wheat shipments have remained in line with usual volumes. While it’s becoming harder to trade grain from there, Russian companies and international merchants like Viterra continue to sell large amounts.

Many foreign firms have left Russia, but a global willingness to keep buying and selling its crops underscores the need for grain— especially with food prices hitting a record after the invasion slashed Ukraine’s grain exports.

To highlight the strong demand,

data provider Logistic OS estimates Russia’s April wheat sales tripled from a year earlier, albeit it up from a lower-than-usual amount due to export taxes at the time.

Viterra was the third-biggest shipper in April, after Russian exporters Trading House RIF and Aston, according to Logistic OS data. Global trading giants Cargill Inc. and Louis Dreyfus Co. also exported some wheat, and international companies haven’t drastically altered volumes since the invasion.

Overseas agribusinesses have largely stayed in Russia since the start of the war, although some said they won’t make new investments there. They’ve seen their share of Russian wheat exports steadily fall to state-controlled companies in recent years as the government

expands its role in an increasingly strategic sector.

As part of Russia’s push to expand, state-owned lender VTB Group has bought port terminals and operations in the country, and backed local grain traders.

Even with high freight and insurance costs, Russian grain has kept flowing because the sector hasn’t been sanctioned or faced as much pressure to curb business there as in other industries. Plus, reducing supplies from the wheat giant risks worsening global hunger. Wheat prices hit a record in March on concerns about a global shortage.

“There is high demand for wheat because of general concerns about next season and weather problems in different parts of the world,” said Dmitry Rylko, general director of

Moscow-based Institute for Agricultural Market Studies.

Russia traditionally has warmer ties with many Middle East and North African countries, who are among the most reliant on its wheat.

In oil, producers like BP Plc are abandoning stakes in investments related to Russia, and some major trading houses will stop dealing the country’s crude. The US has banned Russian oil and the European Union wants to do the same, while the bloc is also moving to cut its reliance on Russian gas.

International grain traders have a raft of assets in Russia. Viterra jointly owns the Taman grain terminal on the Black Sea with VTB, and Louis Dreyfus has a terminal on the Sea of Azov. Archer-Daniels-Midland Co. and Cargill also have a presence,

though Bunge Ltd. in March sold its Rostov grain terminal.

A Viterra spokesperson confirmed that it suspended new development and expansion projects in Russia, but didn’t comment on whether it would curb trading. Cargill referred to a previous statement that it stopped investments but would keep operating food and feed facilities.

ADM said it has curbed Russian operations that aren’t related to essential food commodities and is sourcing from other regions where possible. Bunge reiterated that it stopped all investments and non-essential activities in the country since March 25, with current operations limited to support domestic farmers and consumers by producing staple foods at their single crush facility. Bloomberg News

A10 Monday, May 16, 2022 • Editor: Angel R. Calso

Opinion BusinessMirror

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editorial

Elite accountability

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hy would anyone want to become president of any country? Being “president” is different from being the “Head of Government” because in a parliamentary system, the Prime Minister is often the “pretty face” of an individual political party. But “President” means having to accept responsibility for everything.

Except, when times are “good” there is always an opposition that will: 1. Claim credit, 2. Complain that it is not good enough, and 3. Be there to remind people of other failures.

The elite have always believed that the average person is incompetent and needs someone—an elite—to run individual lives and manage the world.

American journalist H. L. Mencken wrote in 1926: “No one in this world has ever lost money by underestimating the intelligence of the great masses of the ordinary people. Because these people are able to speak and understand, and even, in many cases, to read and write, it is assumed that they have ideas in their heads, and an appetite for more.

This assumption is a folly.”

Mencken’s statement was made nearly 100 years ago. But you can read that same thought nearly every day in the Opinion Section of local newspapers and hourly on Facebook and Twitter.

We can agree that the average person, while not incompetent, is too often ignorant and social media bares much of the responsibility. But socmed is merely the platform not the message. The “message” comes from in and out of government through “fact checkers,” press/media, and the huge variety of public and private sector experts that dominate the discussions.

Comparisons are often silly, like the basketball performance of a 5-foot tall person and another one who is 7 feet tall. But it does help with understanding the situation. Philippine inflation was at 4.9 percent in April from 4 in March and 4.1 one year ago.

Singapore recorded 5.4 percent inflation in March from 4.3 percent in February and from 2.1 percent 12 months ago. Indonesia’s inflation rate was at 3.5 percent in April and 2.7 percent in March and 1.7 percent last year.

Which government is doing a better job handling inflation? The answer is “none” because there are a dozen factors that influence consumer price changes from weather, commodity and raw material supply, and if there are government price subsidizes or not.

The Socialist Workers’ Paradise of Cuba saw its inflation rate decrease to 23.3 percent in January from 77.3 percent in December of 2021. “May 9 is not the end. It is simply the end of the beginning of our socialist adventure,” said one vice presidential candidate who lost.

The Asia Foundation in 2010 said that concerns over Philippine election credibility in the past have been aggravated by the long period between voting and results. In 2022, we get the fastest results ever and are told by some it is a result of cheating. Too slow, too fast and like Goldilocks, always complaining.

As pointed out by a local columnist, although 107,000 of the vote counting machines performed flawlessly, during the early hours of voting, there was focus on the 200 or 0.18 percent of the total that reported issues. It is necessary to report the negatives but how can The People make informed decisions when not given complete information.

Issues were raised about both leading candidates’ past as if some secret documents had been found in a cave on Mt. Makiling. But to serve political agendas—and make it simple for the voter—context and details are conveniently omitted.

Unless the people want to continue to be treated as fools and being propagandized, then they must stop allowing that to happen. Hold the press, the pundits, and the politicians accountable for what they say.

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he past weeks were witness to family and friendship bonds breaking because of politics. Insults were thrown around, especially on social media, to spite or ridicule people and groups from the other camp. Some of the damage is irreparable, and there are people who are okay with that. Ironically, the call for unity sometimes leads to conflict and separation.

There are huge challenges ahead, and we can’t afford to remain weighed down by regret, anger, hostility, frustration, or arrogance. The fate of this country does not just lie in the hands of our leaders, but also in our own hands. Let this be the start of our collective healing and the beginning of our cooperative efforts towards progress for all.

We’re all Filipinos; let us stand together as one.

On one hand, this speaks about our deep love for things we believe in, even for our country and our principles, in many cases. It’s clear as day that the past weeks have shown the Filipinos’ passion and willingness to show up and work hard for things that matter to us. On the other hand, it’s also a display of our stubborn nature and the petty desire to be right.

Whatever our experience may be, what’s true is that we all need

time, energy, and money on the elections; it’s time to devote our remaining resources to getting back up. The new leaders of this nation, whoever they may be, have great responsibilities. The burden lies heavy on their shoulders; may they be strong, wise, and righteous enough to carry the nation forward.

The Philippines cannot afford to have incompetent and corrupt leaders, otherwise, we’ll all find

Atty. Jose Ferdinand M. Rojas II

RISING SUN

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to gain closure now and we all need to heal for the sake of our country and our children. We are facing challenges brought about by the pandemic. The nation has a mountain of debt. Global warming presents serious dangers not just to us but also to the whole world. Some experts say there is some crisis in several sectors—health, education, environment, economy, etc.

We’ve already spent so much

Transport for all

T. Anthony C. Cabangon Lourdes M. Fernandez

Thomas M. Orbos

Jennifer A. Ng Vittorio V. Vitug Lorenzo M. Lomibao Jr., Gerard S. Ramos Lyn B. Resurreccion, Dennis D. Estopace Angel R. Calso Ruben M. Cruz Jr. Eduardo A. Davad Nonilon G. Reyes D. Edgard A. Cabangon Benjamin V. Ramos Aldwin Maralit Tolosa Rolando M. Manangan

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Healing and closure

STREET TALK

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he elections are over and it’s understandable that sentiments are not the same across the spectrum. There are winners and losers in every election, with the May 9 polls probably one of the most participated and emotionally charged political exercise in recent years. Yet we have a country to take care of and we need to be part of its solution especially in these tumultuous times.

For those in VP Leni’s camp, the spirit of selfless volunteerism will carry on. There is so much to do in uplifting the lives of our fellow Filipinos. Even as private citizens, we will all be part of that positive change and will work on being part of strengthening our democratic institutions from where we are. After all, is it not that the government is of the people, by the people, and for the people? We are partisans during the campaign; now we are citizens of our motherland.

The new administration of incom-

ing President Marcos has its work cut out insofar as transportation is concerned. One good thing is that it will be taking off from the gains made from the Duterte administration with the infrastructure- focused “Build, Build, Build” program. Skyways and mega-bridges, of course, with help from the private sector, new roads cutting through mountainous terrains and circumventing cities, rails in progress, plus new airports and seaports; all of these will have a heartfelt impact on the lives of many. Commercial interaction will

And the focus of work starts not with the private motorists, but the commuters who are riding public transport—the buses, jeepneys, taxis, ride-sharers, tricycles, even those on domestic flights and those boarding our shipping vessels. How do we make their commuting more economical, efficient and safe? hopefully help our domestic economy, especially in these times when global economic exchanges are slowing down. Traffic re-distribution, given the many road and transport options for the commuters and motorists, will expectedly equate to less congestion.

Hopefully, with this infrastructural bonus at the onset, the focus now for our new government is strengthening and making transportation more inclusive and sustainable for all, with more focus on those who have less in life. And the focus of work starts not with the private motorists, but the commuters who are riding public transport—the buses, jeepneys, taxis, ride-sharers,

ourselves in deeper trouble.

Whoever you voted or rooted for, whether it’s Leni or BBM, I encourage you to be vigilant and open-minded, to be an intelligent and wise citizen of this country. We’ve seen a lot already, may we learn from what we’ve gone through. Let’s not be blind followers of anyone, but strong protectors of our motherland and guardian of our children’s future.

Whatever it takes for us to heal ourselves and our links to people around us, I hope we’ll be open to exploring these paths. If we have real love for our country, I believe we all want the same thing. There are huge challenges ahead, and we can’t afford to remain weighed down by regret, anger, hostility, frustration, or arrogance.

The fate of this country does not just lie in the hands of our leaders, but also in our own hands. Let this be the start of our collective healing and the beginning of our cooperative efforts towards progress for all. We’re all Filipinos; let us stand together as one.

tricycles, even those on domestic flights and those boarding our shipping vessels. How do we make their commuting more economical, efficient and safe? Focus now will be on ground transport policies. A magna carta for the commuters, attention to the physically disabled, for senior citizens, a more up-to-date passenger accident/injury indemnification, a more stringent local auto industry safety standards template—all of these definitely need to be attended to by the incoming administration.

But policies to be attended to need not just be such highly complex and all encompassing ones. Out there are many “cracks on the wall,” which solutions can be as simple as enforcement or involving minimal budgets.

It can be as basic as providing an ample and real all-weather waiting sheds or making sure that those escalators/elevators are working, or modifying those railway ramps and making them less physically challenging. Maybe, just adding more streetlights where it matters and upgrading the bike lanes (there are a lot of damaged barriers that need to be replaced), among others. There See “Orbos,” A11

Opinion BusinessMirror

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Tax financing a bankrupt state

Pink Samuels Siegfred Bueno Mison, Esq.

THE PATRIOT

Joel L. Tan-Torres

DEBIT CREDIT Tenth part

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here are other structural changes that can be effected to further enhance the Bureau of Internal Revenue and taxpayer engagements, especially in terms of tax audit interactions.

Problems abound in these engagements such as the quarrelsome discussions on the tax issues and interpretations, pressure on taxpayers on unanticipated financial requirements to settle the tax assessments of the BIR, and the temptation to come up with quick solutions to end the disputes by accommodating the extortion attempts of corrupt BIR examiners or the taxpayers themselves offering bribes to settle the BIR audits.

The problems between the BIR and taxpayers generally arise because of lack of awareness of taxpayers on their tax compliance laws and rights. Confused and ignorant taxpayers oftentimes commit mistakes in the computation of their taxes. These errors are the focus of the audits of the BIR examiners when the tax returns of these taxpayers are selected for investigation. It is the responsibility of taxpayers to know their tax compliance rules and keep abreast of tax developments.

However, the BIR should constantly strive to enhance their communication and taxpayer education programs. The BIR’s ongoing information activities can be supplemented by using common layman materials that are easy-tounderstand. The BIR should also be open to communicating to the public the most common mistakes and issues encountered in tax audits, with information being disseminated by industry issues, expense related matters and revenue topics. The Securities and Exchange Commission has such an initiative in place of communicating information on common mistakes encountered in the preparation of financial statements to serve as guide to their stakeholders. This can be replicated by the BIR to address commonly encountered tax audit issues.

The BIR has a publication on Taxpayers Bill of Rights (https:// www.bir.gov.ph/images/bir_files/ public_information_and_education/ taxpayer_bill_of_rights/TaxpayerBill-of-Rights-2018.pdf). This provides information on procedures and remedies of taxpayers on the BIR tax audit process. However, this dwells more on the technical side of the process, and does not address the substantive concerns of taxpayers on effective interaction with the BIR and the underlying mindset of BIR in providing effective taxpayer service. The United States Internal Revenue Service has long adopted a system of having an independent Taxpayer Advocate addressing taxpayer issues on hurdles on their tax compliance. This should be the way the BIR administers its taxpayer related services. This approach can definitely provide relief to resolving acrimonious BIR-taxpayer engagements.

The BIR has issued zillions of

Orbos . . .

continued from A10

are many of these small “cracks” that need to be attended to.

Then there is also the matter of transport’s contribution to mitigating the effects of climate change.

Here, we are way behind our global commitments on carbon reduction.

Again, the big programs are there such as the public transport modernization program, but there can be a lot that can be done with just focusing on the “little cracks” that are out there.

A push on real enforcement on motor vehicle roadworthiness beyond just emission testing, ensuring the passage of the E- transport legislation,

The BIR has issued zillions of guidelines and rules to govern the implementation of the Tax Code and its compliance by taxpayers. These issuances can be categorized into Revenue Regulations, Revenue Memorandum Orders, Revenue Circulars, and others. Taxpayers referring to these will have to undertake a tedious and complex research process. If they are incapable of doing these, they may have to resort to hiring those expensive tax consultants and professionals to provide them with information. guidelines and rules to govern the implementation of the Tax Code and its compliance by taxpayers.

These issuances can be categorized into Revenue Regulations, Revenue Memorandum Orders, Revenue Circulars, and others. Taxpayers referring to these will have to undertake a tedious and complex research process. If they are incapable of doing these, they may have to resort to hiring those expensive tax consultants and professionals to provide them with information. The BIR should initiate a codification of all these issuances categorized into easily referred to topics. This codified manual of revenue issuances should be made easily available to taxpayers in downloadable electronic format.

With this in place, this aspect of tax administration of providing service and information to taxpayers will be enhanced.

It is worthwhile to note that an enlightened taxpayer will be a better partner of the BIR in its tax financing mandate for any handicapped or bankrupt state.

To be continued.

Joel L. Tan-Torres is the Dean of the University of the Philippines Virata School of Business. Previously, he was the Commissioner of the Bureau of Internal Revenue, the chairman of the Professional Regulatory Board of Accountancy, and partner of Reyes Tacandong & Co. and the SyCip Gorres and Velayo & Co. He is a Certified Public Accountant who garnered No. 1 in the CPA Board Examination of May 1979.

This column accepts articles from the business and academic community for consideration for publication. Articles not exceeding 600 words can be e-mailed to jltantorres@up.edu.ph.

a stronger pedestrian and bike commuting program—all of these can easily be accomplished with minimal financials by the government.

The new administration indeed has its work cut out, but the good news is that the path to its success is “doable” and simple. And one more thing, this can fully succeed with a participatory constituency. And hopefully with the valuable discovery of pure volunteerism by VP Leni’s camp and the message of unity by presumptive President Marcos, the chance of a more inclusive and sustainable transport for all will be more or less assured—without politics, of course.

The author may be reached at: tmo45@georgetown.edu

S

ome 31 million votes appear to be a resounding victory for the son of a dictator who ruled the Philippines with an iron fist through martial law and who amassed ill-gotten wealth through his more than 20 years in power. Most of the detractors of incoming President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. (BBM) fear that he might follow the footsteps of his father in keeping with the saying, “the apple does not fall far from the tree,” a popular quote attributed to author and minister Ralph Waldo Emerson. It simply connotes that a child grows up to be similar to its parents. It’s the long version of saying, “like father, like son,” which is another expression of what the Bible tells us in Matthew 7:17-18 which says, “Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.

A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.” It is too presumptive for all those who did not vote for BBM to say that good governance is not possible under his presidency. After all, as I wrote in this same column last year—“But who knows, we might be in for a surprise if ever BBM will be given a chance to atone for the dark days of Martial Law. The Marcos family has been dethroned, ostracized, and vilified for the longest time... Almost any person given a chance to redeem the name of his family and prove his detractors wrong would likely exert best efforts to make things right!” Even though he was a victim of Martial Law, one friend echoed this sentiment, telling our small V group that we should not prejudge the son just because of what his father has done.

But should President BBM show some evil inclination, similar to what his father did, then the Marcos skeptics, myself included, should criticize him for his own deeds as president, not for his father’s deeds and misdeeds. For now, we must support the voice of the majority, if not the will of God, and give President BBM a clean slate, coupled with a prayer and daily declaration that he becomes our righteous leader. Despite the questionable numbers presented by statisticians and IT specialists, all Filipinos, regardless of political color, should embrace a BBM presidency. The majority has spoken, which the Lord has allowed (for all authority comes from God- Romans 13:1). For critics, myself included, best to use words

of blessing and not of curse—that the heart of the incoming president will be pure and steadfast towards the Lord, that he will do justice for the people particularly the poor, and that he will seek the Lord’s guidance in all his decisions. In keeping with his campaign promises, I hope BBM will make peace with his opponents to promote harmony regardless of class, political color, and creed. I say this, not just because I want their family honor and name redeemed, but because I want our nation to heal and thrive. Should there be more wealth hidden outside the Philippines, President BBM ought to know where these are stashed. I hope he feels compassion for the Filipino nation and do what the PCGG and the past presidents failed to do —bring back the loot. After all, the incoming president is inheriting a massive debt in the trillions! The son can do the exact opposite of what his father did.

Worthy to note that, in Biblical history, Hezekiah (2 Kings 18:20) turned out to be a good king despite having a wicked father in Ahaz (2 Chronicles 28) as much as Josiah (2 Kings 22; 2) was also a good king despite having a bad father in King Amon (2 Kings 21) I suppose the verse—“A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit,” has some exceptions. In Biblical history, Samuel was known for his obedience.

He was a fair judge and a very obedient prophet. Like father, like son(s), Samuel’s sons, Joel and Abijah, also became judges. But unlike their father Samuel, the sons took bribes and became corrupt. Such is another

Monday, May 16, 2022 A11

Leni supporters can all be like Samuel who grieved for the loss of their preferred leader yet dutifully obeyed by listening to God. Leni Robredo asked her pink supporters to stay calm and accept what seems to be inevitable as initial results showed that BBM bamboozled all of the other presidential candidates, convincingly. The slogan “unity” trumped “radical love,” at least in the ballot boxes. exception to the general rule—“like father, like son.”

In Hebrew, the name Samuel means, the “Lord hears.” When Samuel learned that his own preferred “candidate” King Saul faltered, he mourned as 1 Samuel 16:1 tells us, Now the Lord said to Samuel, “You have mourned long enough for Saul.

I have rejected him as king of Israel, so fill your flask with olive oil and go to Bethlehem. Find a man named Jesse who lives there, for I have selected one of his sons to be my king.” Samuel obeyed and eventually anointed King David, despite Samuel’s preference towards Saul.

Similarly, in these 2022 elections, Leni supporters can all be like Samuel who grieved for the loss of their preferred leader yet dutifully obeyed by listening to God. Leni Robredo asked her pink supporters to stay calm and accept what seems to be inevitable as initial results showed that BBM bamboozled all of the other presidential candidates, convincingly. The slogan “unity” trumped “radical love,” at least in the ballot boxes. As to the cheating allegations and computerized fraud, I remain steadfast in the promise found in Ecclesiastes 12:14, “For God will bring judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.” With the ridiculously efficient rate of counting the ballots, could there be another “Hello Garci,” in the future?

So, for the 14 million who voted for Leni Robredo, let’s be “Pink Samuels,” and, in obedience, accept the reality that she did not win the elections. After all, Leni Robredo said that her fight continues, but not to win an election, but to achieve “a good kind of governance” that our country badly needs. Samuel stood firm on God’s wisdom; we should do

the same. Let’s take in the comfort in the Lord who foils the plans of the nations and thwarts the purposes of the peoples. “But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations. Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people he chose for his inheritance. From heaven the Lord looks down and sees all mankind; from his dwelling place he watches all who live on earth—he who forms the hearts of all, who considers everything they do.” (Psalms 33:11-15). There’s a divine purpose why God allows good kings like Hezekiah and Josiah and bad kings like Ahaz and Amon to reign.

For Leni’s supporters, be pink and never stop in sharing kindness to others yet be like Samuel who mourned yet accepted the will of our Almighty God. Be pink by helping the country through various volunteer initiatives organized by Leni Robredo yet be like Samuel who never begrudgingly obeyed God. I think Leni Robredo, with the launching of the largest volunteer group in the country, “Angat Buhay,” will remain as a relevant force to unite well-meaning Filipinos who clamor for good governance in government. Supporters of the other non-winning candidates should do the same and now help the President lead this country by simply being good citizens and help the government in any way they can, following the lead of Samuel. Be “White Samuels” or “Blue Samuels” or “Samuels in Plaid”; just trust and obey God like Samuel did. Regardless of political affiliations, all Filipinos should be reminded “to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and always to be gentle toward everyone.” (Titus3:1-2 NIV).

God is still watching over us.

A former infantry and intelligence officer in the Army, Siegfred Mison showcased his servant leadership philosophy in organizations such as the Integrated Bar of the Philippines, Malcolm Law Offices, Infogix Inc., University of the East, Bureau of Immigration, and Philippine Airlines. He is a graduate of West Point in New York, Ateneo Law School, and University of Southern California. A corporate lawyer by profession, he is an inspirational teacher and a Spirit-filled writer with a mission.

For questions and comments, please e-mail me at sbmison@gmail.com.

Billions of unpaid bills threaten to break Britain’s energy market

By Rachel Morison | Bloomberg Opinion

T

he war in Ukraine has exposed the vulnerability of the energy industry across Europe, but the UK market is looking increasingly perilous for suppliers and consumers for reasons closer to home.

Utilities are now on the hook for billions of pounds of unpaid bills after the prices of gas and electricity soared as households already struggling with the cost of living go into debt. It’s also becoming clear that what people pay is unlikely to fall even if wholesale prices do because of the costs associated with rescuing the customers of more than two dozen smaller suppliers that failed when prices surged last year.

It’s too early to put an overall figure on what customers owe, but the picture is bleak based on recent estimates. Companies such as Iberdrola SA’s Scottish Power are warning the market is no longer sustainable.

Money owed by EON SE’s customers is expected to increase by 50% to 2.4 billion pounds ($3 billion) by the end of the year, Michael Lewis, who runs the German company’s UK business, told a parliamentary committee last month. Centrica Plc, Britain’s biggest supplier, meanwhile says 10% of its 7.2 million customers are already behind with payments.

The issue, companies and energy analysts say, is that the structure of the UK’s energy market means it’s trapped in a vicious cycle just as the Bank of England warns of recession and double-digit inflation. Suppliers are charging more while households

have less ability to pay because of a squeeze on incomes driven by food, a payroll tax increase and now rising interest rates.

“It is slowly dawning that the cost of living crisis is not going away,” said Dieter Helm, professor of economic policy at Oxford University and a former energy policy adviser to the government. “And that of all the bills which citizens face, the energy bills are the ones that really stick out.”

The UK’s cap on energy prices, originally designed to protect consumers from sharp increases, surged 54% to a record on April 1, affecting 22 million people. It’s predicted to jump again at the next adjustment in October. That could put 40% of the population in fuel poverty and likely lead to more unpaid bills, according to supply companies.

While some politicians are calling for a tax on companies to subsidize consumers, the industry says it no longer has the financial cushion it once had. Profit margins for selling power and natural gas to households have been negative on average since 2019 as competition between suppliers and the price cap kept a lid on how much they could charge, according to a report by Oxera Consulting LLP. Scottish Power recorded a loss of about 250 million pounds sell-

ing energy to households last year.

EDF Energy said it also lost money.

Centrica’s British Gas showed a more mixed picture, losing out from selling electricity but making 222 million pounds supplying gas.

“The problem is going to get more severe, and for suppliers it’s not a high-margin business anymore so a rise in bad debt could be quite detrimental,” said Josh Buckland, a partner at Flint Global and a former government energy adviser. “There is no immediate quick fix.”

The Bank of England is assuming energy prices will stay high after what it called the biggest shock since the 1970s crisis. That will continue to drive inflation, curb economic growth and hit households for years.

The price cap protects households not on a fixed-term tariff from being put on the most expensive deal. The level is adjusted twice yearly based on prices in the previous six months. It stops companies having to absorb higher wholesale costs indefinitely, but defers how quickly they can pass on lower prices—essentially just postponing the day of reckoning.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak laid out a 9 billion-pound package that includes a 200-pound upfront discount on energy from October for households. While he’s said it’s possible the government could increase aid before next winter, it’s unlikely to expand measures before then. Oxford’s Helm referred to the Chancellor’s plan, unveiled in February, as “moving the deckchairs on the Titanic.”

The scale of the problem has

gone beyond what the industry can deal with, Keith Anderson, CEO of Scottish Power told BBC radio on May 9. He called for a “massive, significant shift in government policy.”

“We will end up seeing people selfdisconnecting and a massive increase in the level of debt, and the cost of the debt will end up going onto future bills,” he said. “You will see a lot of strain and stress put on the remaining providers in the market because, as I say, how long can companies keep making a loss year after year?”

Other European governments are keeping a much tighter grip on rising prices. Electricite de France SA, for example, is majority governmentowned and could have some of its assets nationalized to help pay down debts from measures like a price cap introduced to help households.

In the UK, the government has intervened to rescue customers of companies that went out of business because of the surge in prices last year. Most of those firms, some with just a few hundred customers, were the result of a deregulation of the market that allowed just about anyone to set up an energy supply company. Bill payers ultimately will be saddled with the burden, according to regulator Ofgem.

Bulb Energy Ltd., the biggest supplier to fail, is set to cost 2.2 billion pounds by the end of 2023, according to forecasts by the UK’s Office of Budget Responsibility. Ofgem estimates the other 25 company failures will cost consumers about 2.4 billion pounds, which will be claimed back through bills.

A12 Monday, May 16, 2022

PHL VOWS TO ‘TAKE BACK’ LOST TERRITORIES IN S. CHINA SEA

By Malou Talosig-Bartolome @maloutalosig

T

HE Philippines has vowed to “take back” lost territories in the South China Sea as it affirms the ruling from the Permanent Court of Arbitration that China’s maritime claim over the disputed islands have no legal basis.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro L. Locsin Jr. made this assertion during his omnibus intervention at the working lunch with eight leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) and US President Joe Biden in Washington, DC. Locsin represented President Duterte, who sent his regrets for skipping the second special USAsean summit owing to “his firm commitment to the Filipino people” for a “free, honest elections.”

Duterte’s daughter, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, is the frontrunner in the vice presidential race. Her running mate, former Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr., already received a congratulatory call from Biden himself on May 11.

Duterte was seen as being “soft” with China during his six-year administration—by not pressing on China to adhere to the Arbitral Tribunal ruling. He was the only President who did not set foot on the US during his incumbency.

Aside from invalidating the nine-dash line claim of China, the UN-backed tribunal also said neither China nor the Philippines can claim the Panatag Shoal (Scar-

borough Shoal).

China took control of the shoal 2012 in what Locsin had previously blamed as the result of US mediation to resolve the standoff between the Philippines and Chinese navies.

Locsin justified Duterte’s stance of standing down on rhetoric against China even after winning the arbitration ruling.

“After winning that case, we did not actively seek its recognition by the international community.

That would have undermined the totality of our victory by diluting its binding force with the seeming need for international acclamation and support. The victor is pure law,” Locsin explained.

Ironically, it was during Locsin’s tenure as foreign affairs secretary when the international community—including the US—started recognizing the arbitration ruling. Locsin said with this ruling, territories lost by the Philippines can be taken but won’t “diminish a whit of our sovereign ownership.”

“What is ours is ours,” he said.

Without mentioning China, Locsin argued against the view that territories are “deemed ” ceded when occupation was made without any force involved or there was “effectively enforced.”

“No what is taken is stolen; what is ceded will turn into the ghost of a severed limb, crippling forever the self-honor, the very integrity of a nation that will never forget what it lost. Given time and tenacity, it will take it back; whatever the consequences to the peace of its region or the world,” he added.

Energy security raised anew over Malampaya ‘changes’

W

By Lenie Lectura

@llectura

ILL changes in the Malampaya consortium pose a serious threat in the country’s energy supply?

It could do so, according to Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, chairman of the Senate Energy Committee.

The senator expressed grave concern over the country’s power situation following reports that businessman Dennis Uy of Udenna Corporation may sell his shares in the Malampaya deep water gas-topower project.

“With the expiration of Malampaya’s service contract in 2024, the depletion of the remaining reserves in the gas field by 2027, and now the possible sale of participating interests of Udenna in the country’s most important energy source —there’s so much uncertainty ahead of us insofar as our energy security is concerned.

Are we looking at rotational brownouts again?” Gatchalian wondered aloud in a statement on Sunday.

Chevron Malampaya, which was renamed UC38 LLC, sold its 45-percent stake to the group of Uy. The deal was approved by the Department of Energy (DOE).

However, a similar transaction

between Malampaya operator Shell Philippines Exploration B.V. (SPEX), which also holds a 45-percent stake in the Malamapaya consortium, and Udenna Corp.’s Malampaya Energy XP Pte. Ltd., has yet to be approved by the DOE. Philippine National Oil Company-Exploration Corp. (PNOC-EC), which holds the remaining 10 percent, withheld its consent for the sale of SPEX to Malampaya Energy.

The DOE cannot proceed to evaluate the sale between SPEX and Malampaya Energy if there is no consent by parties involved. “What’s the purpose of continuing evaluation if there’s no consummation or there’s no consent by the parties?” Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi had said.

Reuters reported last week that Uy is considering selling his Malampaya stakes purchased from Shell and Chevron.

In apparent reaction to reports, Gatchalian said, “I have proven myself right after all, over the apparent financial incapacity of Uden-

na’s subsidiaries that acquired the 45-percent stake of Chevron Philippines Ltd. and 45-percent stake of Shell Philippines Exploration B.V. [SPEX],” the senator said, pointing out that he had red-flagged the entry of Udenna Corporation in the operations of Malampaya due to reports of debt and cash problems as well as its technical incompetence.

Udenna stressed in a statement that it has remained open to exploring different opportunities. “With the strong post-pandemic recovery of the Philippines as evidenced by the better-than-expected GDP growth rate in the first quarter of this year, we have seen the return of investor confidence and accordingly there has been renewed interest in discussing several partnership and strategic alliance opportunities with the group,” said Udenna President Raymundo Martin Escalona.

The group’s investment philosophy, he added, has always been to maximize shareholder value through strong partnerships with strategic investors and maintain core assets that provide maximum synergies with the other companies within the Udenna Group.

“In response to these misinformed comments and hasty conjectures from some quarters, Malampaya under Udenna remains business as usual and continues to provide the Philippine government hope for energy security in the me-

dium and long term,” said Escalona.

Alluding to Gatchalian’s earlier concern about Udenna’s capability to take over the project, Escalona asserted: “We have a highly qualified team and have expended considerable time, expense, and resources to put ourselves in the position where we can step in to arrest the decline of Malampaya.”

He accused Gatchalian of having “frustrated these attempts over the past year. As a result, today as we speak all development activity on Malampaya is on hold and the field continues to decline impacting energy security of the country.

The good reelectionist senator has single handedly crippled all the planned development of Malampaya and should be held accountable to the public.”

PNOC-EC mum

PNOC-EC President Rozzano Briguez, when sought for comment, said he could not issue a statement on this matter.“I am not [at] liberty to answer that due to protocols within the consortium,” he said.

A source from Shell group said there has been no information relayed to the consortium.

Another source said the SPEXMalampaya Energy transaction is still on since there are no announcement that the contract has been withdrawn.

Continued on A9

‘Extreme legal measures’ vs crime, red tape were hard to pull off–Duterte

By Samuel P. Medenilla @sam_medenilla

P

RESIDENT Duterte has admitted he faced obstacles in passing “extreme legal measures” to combat crime and red tape.

This despite the ruling party in the House of Representatives, Partido Demokratiko Pilipino–Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban), supporting his legislative initiatives in the 18th Congress.

Addressing the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) graduating class in Baguio City last Sunday Duterte said he was constrained in pushing for laws “to fight society’s ills.”

“Sad to admit, after six years, these

ills hound us still though to a lesser degree of intensity,” Duterte said.

“Corruption, red tape, and illegal drugs, and crime and criminalities are the wrongs that we need to correct,” he added.

With his term ending next month, Duterte said he hopes the next generation of Filipino leaders will be able to address the legal gaps.

“In every country’s history, every generation has a role to play and a mission to fulfill. The challenge has been said,” Duterte said.

The said leaders, Duterte said, will include the fresh graduates of PMA. “In every country’s history, every generation of Filipino leaders

and movers lies where our salvation rests. You, the Bagsik Diwa Class 2022, belong to that generation,” Duterte said.

He urged the new graduates to go beyond their duties as soldiers, and also become public servants.

“He must be both a warrior and a peacemaker; an arms-bearer and a pencil pusher; skilled in the art of war and adept as a lifesaver; an offensive machine and a fierce defender; a tribune and a diplomat; a soldier and a civil servant,”Duterte said.

“You can be all these if you want.

The Philippine Military Academy has sufficiently prepared you for all possibilities and all eventualities,” he added.

90% of COC canvassed by Comelec as NBOC

O

VER 90 percent of the Certificate of Canvass (COC) from the 2022 polls have finally been processed by the Commission on Elections sitting as the National Board of Canvassers.

On Sunday, the NBOC canvassed the COCs of Persons Deprived of Liberty (PDL), Amman (Jordan), Islamabad (Pakistan), Vientiane (Laos), Budapest (Hungary), Santiago (Chile), Warsaw (Poland), Damascus (Syria), and Pretoria (South Africa).

Acting Comelec spokesman John Rex C. Laudiangco said this brings to 159 the total number of processed COCs during the sixth day of canvassing at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) in Pasay City.

He said NBOC is still waiting for 11 Manual Overseas COCs, 2 Electronic Overseas COCs, and one Manual COC and 1 Manual COC for 63 barangays of North Cotabato.

With only a few unprocessed COCs left, the NBOC is now eyeing to proclaim all the winning senators and some of the party-

list groups with the highest votes

by Tuesday, which will be the eight day of its canvassing.

“We are on track with our timeline. That is our projection of having the proclamation early next week and Tuesday still fall within that period,” Laudiangco said.

To note, it took the NBOC 9 days of canvassing in 2019 to proclaim the winning senators.

In the fourth National Tally Sheet of the NBOC, the top 6 senatorial candidates are actor Robinhood “Robin” C. Padilla (25.86 million votes); Antique Representative Lorna “Loren” B. Legarda (23.61 million votes); broadcaster Rafael “Raffy” T. Tulfo (22.8 million votes); Senator Sherwin “Win” T. Gatchalian (20 million votes); Sorsogon Governor Francis “Chiz” Escudero (19.78 million votes); and Former Public Works Secretary Mark A. Villar (18.92 million votes).

Also in the list of Magic 12 for senatorial candidates are Taguig first district Representative Alan Peter S. Cayetano (18.74 million

votes); Senator Juan Miguel “Migz” F. Zubiri (18.15 million); Senator Emmanuel Joel J. Villanueva (18.06 million); former senator Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito Estrada (15.42 million votes); Senator Ana Theresia “Risa” HontiverosBaraquel (15.02 million votes); and former senator Jose “Jinggoy” Ejercito Estrada (14.69 million).

Meanwhile, the party-list groups with the highest votes are ACT CIS (2 million);1-Rider Partylist (988,435); TINGOG (871,237); 4PS (822,347); AKO BICOL (812,620); SAGIP (769,485); Ang Probinsyano (697,070); Uswag Ilonggo (687,481); Tutok to Win (669,218); CIBAC (628,078); Senior Citizen Partylist (598,985); Duterte Youth (575,717); A g imat (569,403); K abata an (526,815); Marino (484,572); Ako Bisaya (474,444); Probinsyano Ako (464,245); Abante PangasinanIlokano Party (430,350); LPGMA (447,687); and Gabriela (413,901).

Comelec has yet to issue its fifth National Tally Sheet as of press time. Samuel P. Medenilla

Companies

Editor: Jennifer A. Ng

Monday, May 16, 2022

B1

Lucio Tan’s LT Group posts slight increase in Q1 profit

L

By VG Cabuag

@villygc

T Group Inc., the holding firm of most businesses of tycoon Lucio Tan, said it had an attributable net income of P6.53 billion for the first three months of the year, a slight increase from last year’s P6.49 billion.

The tobacco business accounted for P4.21 billion or 64 percent of total, followed by Philippine National Bank (PNB), which contributed P1.61 billion or 25 percent. Liquor maker Tanduay Distillers Inc. added P330 million or 5 percent of total while Eton Properties Philippines Inc. contributed P127 million or 2 percent, Asia Brewery Inc. accounted for P80 million or 1 percent.

The company’s 30.9-percent stake in Victorias Milling Co. Inc. added P111 million or 2 percent of the total,

while LT Group parent also booked a net income of P65 million.

In March, the company declared dividends amounting to P0.30 per share, regular and special, or P3.24 billion, which was paid on April 12.

This is equivalent to 16 percent of the company’s 2021 attributable net income.

Publicly-listed PNB’s net income under the pooling method was P2.86 billion for the first quarter, 57 percent higher than last year’s P1.83 billion.

Net interest income was P288 million or 3 percent higher at P8.53 billion, while net service fees and commission income were 3 percent lower to P1.25 billion from last year’s P1.29 billion.

Despite the higher volume, the tobacco business reported a net income of P4.22 billion for the first three months of 2022, 16 percent lower than the P5.02 billion last year.

“There was no price increase implemented in 2021 and most of first quarter, with the previous one in October 2020, so the lower profit can be attributed to the P5 increase in excise taxes that PMFTC had to absorb starting January 1, 2022,” the company said.

PMFTC is the combined company of Philip Morris Philippines and Tan’s Fortune Tobacco.

The industry’s volume was estimated at 15.6 billion sticks, 19 percent higher over the same period last year, primarily due to the easing of Covid-19-related restrictions, the company said.

Tanduay’s net profit, meanwhile, rose 42 percent to P333 million from last year’s P235 million. Liquor volume was slightly higher while bioethanol volume had a higher growth of over 60 percent.

As of end-March, Tanduay’s nationwide market share for distilled spirits was at 30.2 percent, up from last year’s 26.5 percent. In the Visayas and Mindanao regions where most of Tanduay’s sales are generated, market share was at 70.3 percent and 80.1 percent, respectively, both a little higher than the previous year.

Eton reported a bottom line of P128 million, 15 percent lower than last year’s P150 million.

Eton currently has a leasing portfolio of 237,000 square meters Asia Brewery had a profit of P80 million, 62 percent lower than the P211 million last year.

Despite the higher volumes for its products, higher raw material, fuel and other costs resulted in lower profits, the company said.

‘GCash unfazed by Maya’s offerings’

By Lorenz S. Marasigan

inancial technology (fintech) unicorn GCash took a swipe at the launch of competitor Maya’s digital bank and crypto trading services, saying that such licenses are “no silver bullet” to growth.

GCash President Martha Sazon said the group—the first fintech unicorn in the Philippines—“remains unfazed over its closest competitor’s move to offer digital banking and cryptocurrency trading.”

“We don’t believe that having a digital banking license is a silver bullet or magic. It’s not like a signboard

that you just turn on then expect everyone to come in. There’s real work to acquire users and educate them on more complex financial services,” she said.

The BusinessMirror sought Maya’s comment on Sazon’s statement, but it has yet to reply to queries as of writing time.

Maya, formerly PayMaya, recently launched its digital banking subsidiary called Maya Bank offering services such as savings, credit, and investments. It has also introduced crypto trading services that allow users to invest in cryptocurrencies for as low as P1.

GCash offers savings through GSave in partnership with CIMB

Peloton shares leap

Saudi Aramco’s profit soars as oil prices and output jump

@lorenzmarasigan

F

P

eloton Interactive Inc. shares jumped the most in three months after the struggling fitness company previewed its long-anticipated rowing machine, raising hope that it’s poised for a comeback.

A video shown during Peloton’s annual Homecoming event Friday depicted a trainer pulling on the rowing machine. The device has a similar look as the company’s other exercise machines, including a black plastic outer shell that has multiple Peloton logos.

The stock gained 17 percent to $15.87 in New York, marking the biggest one-day increase since February.

The company is seeking fresh sources of growth as part of a turnaround effort under new Chief Executive Officer Barry McCarthy, who took the helm in February. Peloton had enjoyed booming sales during the early days of the pandemic, but is now mired in a post-lockdown slump. Even after a rebound the past two days, the shares have lost more than 80 percent of their value in the trailing 12 months.

The new device will build on a product lineup that includes entrylevel and high-end bikes as well as a treadmill. Peloton briefly sold a higher-end treadmill but recalled it last year due to safety concerns.

It hasn’t come back on the market.

Peloton also introduced a $295 st reng t h- t ra i n i ng de v ice t h at works with a TV set. Bloomberg News

Bank. GSave is also set to onboard the Bank of the Philippine Islands to give consumers more savings and financial product choices.

Sazon said currently “one in every five banked Filipinos has a GSave account.”

GCash also offers investments, credit, loans, and insurance.

“We have partnered with the most innovative and the biggest institutions– CIMB, BPI, ATRAM– and various insurance companies.

So while others are just about to start providing financial services, one-third of our GCash user base are already subscribed to at least one of our financial services products,” Sazon said.

She also noted that GCash has taken a slice of the crypto market by enabling Filipinos to pay across several exchanges including Binance, Philippine Digital Assets Exchange (PDA X), and Paxfulmake.

“We’re already offering up payment options for various crypto sites. And I think we lead that space.

In terms of offering crypto inside our app, we’re making sure that the services we provide within the crypto space are the relevant ones and at a rate that is reasonable. We are working on it, and we’ll be able to offer what we think is what the consumers are really looking for,” she added.

S

audi Aramco posted its highest profit since its record stockmarket listing, after oil prices surged in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Aramco, which last week surpassed Apple Inc. to become the world’s most valuable company, followed Big Oil rivals such as Shell Plc and BP Plc in reporting bumper earnings for the first quarter. Like them, the Saudi Arabian firm’s results were boosted by crude’s jump to $110 a barrel after Moscow’s attack in late February.

State-controlled Aramco made net income of $39.5 billion, up 82 percent from a year earlier, when global demand from energy was still severely suppressed by the coronavirus pandemic.

The company’s free cash flow rose almost to $31 billion, though it opted to keep its quarterly dividend unchanged at $18.8 billion. That enabled Aramco to reduce its leverage. Gearing, a measure of debt to equity, fell from 14 percent in December to 8 percent at the end of March. The gauge spiked above 20 percent during the pandemic as profit slumped, forcing Aramco to borrow more.

Aramco has benefited this year not just from oil climbing about 45 percent, but also from Saudi Arabia gradually increasing production along with other members of OPEC+.

The kingdom’s output averaged 10.2 million barrels a day between January and March, up 20 percent yearon-year.

Production is meant to keep growing until at least September, when the

current agreement between the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its partners—a 23-nation group led by the Saudis and Russia—expires.

Aramco’s shares rose 1.5 percent to 41.25 riyals early on Sunday, extending this year’s gain to 27 percent. The company raised almost $30 billion with an initial public offering in Riyadh in late 2019, though it’s still 98 percent owned by the government. It is now valued at $2.4 trillion.

Saudi Arabia is one of the few major petroleum producers trying to boost output capacity significantly. Many others are cutting back on exploration as they shift to renewable energy and try to curb their greenhouse gas emissions. The Saudis have blamed the run up in prices on the fall in investment and said demand for oil and gas will stay strong for decades.

Aramco is spending billions of dollars to increase its crude production capacity to 13 million barrels a day

from 12 million by 2027. It’s also aiming to raise natural gas output by more than 50 percent by 2030. On Sunday, Aramco said it should finish gas projects at Hawiyah and Haradh this year, enabling it to pump an extra 1.3 billion cubic feet a day.

The world’s biggest energy producer said it would continue expanding downstream operations, which include refining, trading and chemicals subsidiary Sabic. During the quarter, Aramco bought a stake in a Polish refinery and said it would supply more oil to the eastern European country. It also agreed to invest in a 300,000-barrel-per-day refining and petrochemicals complex in China. Aramco said it made an early repayment of $8 billion owed to Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund. The money backed the $69 billion takeover of a 70 percent stake in Sabic in 2020. Aramco is repaying the Public Investment Fund in installments until 2028. Bloomberg News

Initial public offering of Raslag gets nod

T

he Philippine Stock Exchange Inc. (PSE) has cleared the P700million initial public offering (IPO) of Raslag Corp., a renewable energy developer.

Raslag is scheduled to hold its IPO from May 23 to 27. The solar power company will offer up to 350 million primary shares and up to 52.5 million over-allotment option shares to be offered by selling shareholder J Ten Equities Inc., at an indicative price of up to P2 per share.

The final offer price will be determined on May 18, after the company’s book building exercise.

“We welcome the IPO of Raslag as this will help grow the lineup of companies in the renewable energy space that are listed on the PSE. Providing RE firms an avenue to raise capital for its projects is one of the ways by which we can help address

the threat of climate change as an exchange,” PSE President and CEO Ramon S. Monzon said.

Proceeds from the offer will be used to finance the company’s solar projects, namely RASLAG-4, a 35.1-megawatt solar photovoltaic plant in Magalang, Pampanga, and RASLAG-5, with an approximate capacity of 60 MW Raslag is a domestic renewable energy developer founded by Peter G. Nepomuceno of the Nepomuceno family in Angeles City, Pampanga, and Conrado D. Pecjo, the business development manager of Angeles Power Inc. It currently focuses on the development of solar power projects, with two operating in Pampanga.

The company tapped China Bank Capital as sole issue manager, underwriter and bookrunner for the offer. VG Cabuag

B2

Companies BusinessMirror

Monday, May 16, 2022

‘LNG projects of Linseed, FGEN will take off this year’

T

By Lenie Lectura

@llectura

he country’s transition towards cleaner energy is already taking shape, with two capital-intensive gas projects already in ‘aggressive’ stages of development.

There are six liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects that have secured the green light of the Department of Energy (DOE). These are FGEN LNG Corp.’s Interim FRSU and LNG terminal; Linseed Field Power Corp.’s FSRU and onshore regasification; Energy World Corp.’s (EWC) LNG storage and regasification terminal project, the FSRU LNG terminal of Excelerate Energy L.P., the FSRU terminal project of Shell Energy Philippines Inc. (SEP), and the FSRU terminal of Vires Energy Corp.

Of the six LNG players, only two

are expected to take off this year.

“Two are ongoing and their developments are aggressive,” said DOE-Oil Industry Management Bureau Director Rino Abad.

Abad was referring to the LNG projects of FGen and Linseed, with a combined investment cost of about $290 million or roughly P28 billion.

According to Abad, there are no hitches in the progress of FGen’s project. “The scheduled commissioning is still end-October or beginning of November. There are no changes and it seems they can deliver the project.

STOCK-MARKET OUTLOOK Last week

Share prices plunged last week despite the generally peaceful conduct of the elections, with the main index closing at the 6,300-point level, as investors sold their holdings.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index lost 380.73 points to close at 6,379.17 points.

The main index was down during the four-day trading week, as Monday was a public holiday for the elections.

Investors were not cheered by the country’s GDP growth of 8.3 percent, which was higher than market consensus, as this was somehow drowned out by the market’s kneejerk reaction to the results of the elections.

The 6,300-point level was the lowest for the main index in the last eight months. The last time the main index touched that level was on August 13 last year when it closed at 6,320.19 points.

Foreign investors, which made up just a third of the total transactions, were net sellers at P4.16 billion.

Total value of trade was high at an average of P8.14 billion.

All other sub-indices closed in the red, led by the broader All Shares index that shed 164.30 points to close at 3,457.40 points, the Financials index lost 75.14 to 1,537.17, the Industrial index declined 403.60 to 8,932.49, the Holding Firms index retreated 415.85 to 5,855.81, the Property index gave up 186.88 to 2,885.94, the Services index was down 80.16 to 1,836.75 and the Mining and Oil index plunged 857.81 to 10,749.61 points.

For the week, losers edged gainers 180 to 49 and 20 shares were unchanged.

Top gainers were PTFC Redevelopment Corp., Araneta Properties Inc., Prime Media Holdings Inc., Atok-Big Wedge Co. Inc., Philweb Corp., Geograce Resources Philippines Inc. and PH Resorts Group Holdings Inc. Top losers were Manila Broadcasting Co., ABS-CBN Corp., 8990 Holdings Inc., GMA Network Inc., AC Energy Corp., Premium Leisure Corp. and Oriental Peninsula Resources Group Inc.

This week

Share prices are expected to increase this week as many investors will pick up cheaper stocks after 5 straight days of decline.

“A strong rally is not expected yet however as the market continues to contend with numerous headwinds. Worries over inflation may continue to weigh on sentiment especially with the approval of the minimum wage increase in the National Capital Region and Western Visayas,” Japhet Louis O. Tantiangco, senior research analyst at Philstocks Financials Inc., said.

The policy-making Monetary Board will have its meeting on Thursday and many are expecting a parallel move done recently by the US Federal Reserve of a rate hike.

“The rising inflation and the strong first quarter GDP data strengthens the case for the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas to hike its policy rates which in turn would raise the borrowing costs for firms,” Tantiangco said.

Broker 2TradeAsia said investors will watch out for the announcement of the Cabinet members of the incoming Marcos administration.

“Next discussion should move towards whether the floated fiscal consolidation will truly materialize and involve tax hikes, which are likely to move proformas significantly by mid-year,” the broker said.

The market’s support now is seen at the 6,350 to 6,400-point range, while resistance is seen at 6,600 points.

Stock picks

Broker Regina Capital Development Corp. advised to cut losses on the stock of Security Bank Corp. as its share price has been in a waterfall move ever since it broke down its support at P102.50.

“From the start of the trading week, this stock is down 7.79 percent, followed by big volumes indicating strong selloffs have occurred,” the broker said.

Its technical analysis showed that the stock exhibits a surge in both its momentum and selling pressure and losing on the buying side in contrast.

Security Bank shares closed Friday at P89 apiece.

Meanwhile, it advised to trade the range on the stock of PLDT Inc. after its share price bounced back above its historical moving averages, approaching its 52-week high at P1,950.

“Throughout the trading week, it continues to climb and now lies in the buying region. Moreover, it showed bearish histograms turned weak, showing signs of a possible trend reversal in the near term. We can expect to see the stock consolidate near its P1,840 support,” it said.

PLDT shares closed last week at P1,930 apiece. VG Cabuag

Last week, they informed us about the allocation of LNG. We already have some sort of assurance from First Gen because even the supply of LNG is already available.”

FGen’s interim floating storage and regasification terminal in Batangas City will have a capacity of 5.26 million tons of LNG per annum (MTPA). This will provide the gas supply requirement for Sta. Rita, San Lorenzo, San Gabriel and Avion gas plants, and for the proposed 1,200MW of new natural gas power plants.

Linseed, meanwhile, proposed to build an LNG import facility with a capacity of three MTPA that will supply LNG to the 1,200MW Ilijan combined cycle power plant, which is currently sourcing gas from the Malampaya gas field, the supply agreement for which is expiring next month. The terminal is also designed to supply gas to the 850MW power plant future expansion.

Linseed’s LNG permit was originally issued to Atlantic Gulf & Pacific

Company of Manila Inc. (AG&P). The DOE later approved the transfer of the project application to Linseed.

Abad said AG&P remains the project contractor. Abad said Linseed has moved the commissioning of the terminal to August 1 from July 1. “We will conduct an actual site inspection on May 16,” he said.

Linseed will operate the LNG terminal. South Premier Power Corp.

(SPPC), a unit of SMC Global Power Holdings, Corp. and the independent power producer administrator (IPPA) for the Ilijan plant, will be in charge of the LNG trading.

The LNG projects of SEP, Vires, and Excelerate are still pending. All three have secured a Notice to Proceed (NTP) from the DOE. According to Abad, Vires is asking for an extension of its permit because it wants to join the competitive bidding for the supply requirements of the Manila Electric Co. (Meralco).

A guaranteed supply contract will make it easier for Vires to financially close its LNG project.

Ford offloads more stock of Rivian Automotive

F

ord Motor Co. sold more shares of Rivian Automotive Inc. Friday, offloading more than $400 million worth of stock in the electric car maker since the end of a lockup this week.

The United States-based automotive giant sold 7 million shares of Rivian at $26.88 each on Friday, according to a filing, cutting its stake in the company to nearly 87 million shares. The transaction follows the sale of 8 million Rivian shares at $26.80 apiece Monday, after selling restrictions on certain insiders and investors ended.

Ford had invested $1.2 billion in Rivian and saw the value of its stake surge in the wake of the EV maker’s public debut, the largest in the US last year. Since then, however, Rivian’s stock has cratered from a high of $172 in November to touch a low of $19.25 this week.

KPMG...

Continued from B3

And that has had broad impacts on almost every aspect of corporate strategy. The executives in our research say that the future of work redefines and reshapes their company’s talent needs and strategies. And they are adapting their corporate strategy in response. One pharmaceutical organization said they were reaching into new markets, closer to universities where competition might not be as fierce. Some are working to capture new talent earlier in their development cycle. Many of our interviewees talked about the impact that brand, sustainability and an attractive workplace had on their talent strategy—and how new work models were influencing their investment decisions.

On the back of bottom-line savings programs instigated by the economic impacts of Covid-19, organizations are now looking to leverage their transformation initiatives to deliver their financial performance and improve their operational efficiency. Recognizing the interdependency of financial performance, operational excellence and the strategic drivers listed above, organizations are using financial performance as a

Ford described the share sale as “prudent,” but wouldn’t say what the proceeds will be used for or if it planned to further trim its stake.

“It’s not unusual to see investors take an opportunity like this after a successful IPO,” a spokesperson from Rivian said in a statement. “We remain focused on delivering on our vision to create a more sustainable future powered

by EVs, and building long-term value for all of our current and future shareholders.”

Dearbor n, Michigan-based Ford is making its own electric pickup truck, the F150 Lightning, which is seeing early success. Chief Executive Officer Jim Farley said in a Bloomberg interview in January that “everything is on the table,” when asked about his company’s stake in Rivian. Bloomberg News

lens through which to view their sustainability and digitalization investments.

At the same time, corporate leaders are looking to achieve performance enhancements across their business and operating models, and in all areas of the organization. They are simplifying and optimizing their processes and eliminating inefficiencies to achieve higher levels of productivity and to identify new cost savings.

And, as companies seek to develop and execute new, more agile business models, they are prioritizing their focus on using transformation to support their operational excellence objectives.

The excerpt was taken from the KPMG Thought Leadership publication “Strategic importance of Corporate Real Estate - KPMG Global” (home.kpmg). © 2022 R.G. Manabat & Co., a Philippine partnership and a member firm of the KPMG global organization of independent member firms affiliated with KPMG Intl Ltd., a private English company limited by guarantee. All rights reserved. For more information on KPMG in the Philippines, you may send a message via social media or visit www.home. kpmg/ph.

www.businessmirror.com.ph

PSE STOCK QUOTATIONS

May 13, 2022

Net Foreign Stocks Bid Ask Open High Low Close Volume Value Trade (Peso) Buy (Sell) FINANCIALs

ASIA UNITED BDO UNIBANK BANK COMMERCE BANK PH ISLANDS CHINABANK EAST WEST BANK METROBANK PB BANK PHIL NATL BANK RCBC SECURITY BANK UNION BANK BRIGHT KINDLE COL FINANCIAL FIRST ABACUS IREMIT MEDCO HLDG MANULIFE NTL REINSURANCE PHIL STOCK EXCH SUN LIFE

69,980 462,465,434 2,224,166 325,521,800.50 8,546,135 1,544,065 190,920,579 830 2,013,600 594,730 184,065,216.50 6,079,383 962,850 37,000 600 9,090 194,300 132,580 600 20,250 363,480

61,180 -120,333,026 1,455,750 -104,426,325 3,360,000 -514,389 -43,583,817.50 34,610 6,030 -70,729,612.50 -1,023,892 -20,250 -

INDUSTRIAL AC ENERGY 6.23 6.42 6.59 6.59 6.23 6.23 56,221,400 360,074,976 ALSONS CONS 0.85 0.91 0.87 0.91 0.85 0.91 286,000 244,750 ABOITIZ POWER 28.5 28.7 30 30.5 28.5 28.5 2,674,400 77,786,185 BASIC ENERGY 0.37 0.375 0.375 0.375 0.365 0.37 2,470,000 916,300 FIRST GEN 20.65 20.95 22.15 22.15 20.05 20.65 801,300 16,630,140 FIRST PHIL HLDG 65.2 68 65.2 65.6 65.2 65.2 103,660 6,759,071 JOLLIVILLE HLDG 3.92 5 MERALCO 330.2 333 333 339.8 330.2 330.2 353,310 117,370,240 MANILA WATER 17.4 17.6 17.7 17.74 17 17.6 1,974,300 34,553,170 PETRON 3.19 3.2 3.28 3.28 3.2 3.2 4,609,000 14,820,320 PETROENERGY 4.99 5 5.01 5.05 5 5 116,000 583,310 PHX PETROLEUM 10.1 10.14 10.1 10.14 10.1 10.14 400 4,052 SYNERGY GRID 11.84 11.88 11.84 12.2 11.8 11.88 2,875,800 34,274,788 PILIPINAS SHELL 17.06 17.26 17.3 17.46 17 17.26 148,500 2,571,556 SPC POWER 13.18 13.2 13.3 13.3 13.12 13.2 89,400 1,181,486 SOLAR PH 1.59 1.6 1.6 1.64 1.58 1.6 35,197,000 56,392,720 AGRINURTURE 4.53 4.65 4.49 4.67 4.45 4.64 345,000 1,591,270 AXELUM 2.41 2.44 2.45 2.45 2.44 2.44 35,000 85,500 CENTURY FOOD 20.35 20.6 21.15 21.15 20.25 20.35 464,100 9,468,545 DEL MONTE 13 13.38 12.84 13.4 12.84 13.38 163,300 2,136,918 DNL INDUS 7.07 7.11 7.1 7.13 7.06 7.08 448,800 3,182,553 EMPERADOR 19.6 19.62 19.82 20 19.62 19.62 5,710,500 113,143,054 SMC FOODANDBEV 62.65 63 63.15 63.8 62.4 63 58,830 3,709,454.50 FIGARO COFFEE 0.49 0.495 0.51 0.51 0.495 0.495 1,425,000 712,490 ALLIANCE SELECT 0.61 0.63 0.63 0.64 0.63 0.63 302,000 190,270 FRUITAS HLDG 1.01 1.02 1 1.03 1 1.03 1,518,000 1,534,620 GINEBRA 108.2 109.5 110.7 110.7 108 109.5 13,540 1,464,433 JOLLIBEE 209.4 210 211.2 217 210 210 754,370 160,016,372 KEEPERS HLDG 1.16 1.17 1.16 1.18 1.15 1.16 1,413,000 1,640,250 MAXS GROUP 5.66 5.7 5.67 5.7 5.65 5.66 44,200 250,517 MONDE NISSIN 14 14.36 14 14.46 13.86 14.36 80,913,600 1,148,346,984 SHAKEYS PIZZA 7.42 7.49 7.49 7.49 7.42 7.42 9,400 69,755 ROXAS AND CO 0.48 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.49 0.5 250,000 122,850 RFM CORP 4.14 4.27 4.3 4.3 4.26 4.26 6,000 25,720 SWIFT FOODS 0.1 0.103 0.1 0.103 0.099 0.1 1,990,000 198,690 UNIV ROBINA 103 105 109 109.5 103 103 1,789,290 186,833,104 VITARICH 0.62 0.64 0.62 0.64 0.62 0.64 1,048,000 650,490 VICTORIAS 2.52 2.81 2.83 2.83 2.7 2.7 676,000 1,906,580 CEMEX HLDG 0.77 0.78 0.77 0.79 0.77 0.77 137,000 106,320 EAGLE CEMENT 12.22 12.78 12.86 12.9 12.78 12.78 8,800 113,090 EEI CORP 3.72 3.75 3.85 3.9 3.75 3.75 200,000 758,670 HOLCIM 5.02 5.1 5.23 5.23 5.01 5.1 160,500 816,912 MEGAWIDE 4.36 4.49 4.54 4.7 4.26 4.36 1,013,000 4,595,000 PHINMA 19.8 19.9 19.9 19.9 19.74 19.9 11,100 219,798 TKC METALS 0.72 0.74 0.72 0.73 0.72 0.72 99,000 71,310 VULCAN INDL 0.82 0.83 0.83 0.84 0.82 0.83 738,000 615,230 CROWN ASIA 1.82 1.83 1.8 1.85 1.8 1.83 54,000 98,520 MABUHAY VINYL 4.2 4.41 4.4 4.41 4.4 4.41 7,000 30,850 PRYCE CORP 5.32 5.58 5.31 5.6 5.3 5.58 165,200 876,709 CONCEPCION 18.8 19.1 19 19 18.9 18.9 2,400 45,462 GREENERGY 1.46 1.47 1.48 1.51 1.46 1.47 9,083,000 13,524,590 INTEGRATED MICR 6.85 7 7.18 7.18 7 7 53,500 374,692 IONICS 0.61 0.65 0.64 0.65 0.6 0.6 298,000 181,990 PANASONIC 6.18 6.35 6.36 6.36 6.35 6.35 4,600 29,218 SFA SEMICON 1.06 1.13 1.09 1.13 1.06 1.13 99,000 106,390 CIRTEK HLDG 2.77 2.78 2.8 2.81 2.74 2.78 660,000 1,821,420

-16,744,641 25,500 -17,129,220 551,350 -3,300,850 -302,779 -63,929,426 -23,612,162 -4,078,250 17,479,768 1,726 5,280 162,370 98,050 3,798,375 18,618 -1,030,532 2,862,503.50 50,000 -1,020 1,229,575 -15,577,990 107,730 310,558,486 67,522 -8,600 -100,751,031 -10,830 38,520 18,800 306,000 -509,360 3,670 13,230 60,770 -2,866 30,500 65,290 55,000

HOLDING & FRIMS

ABACORE CAPITAL ASIABEST GROUP AYALA CORP ABOITIZ EQUITY ALLIANCE GLOBAL ANSCOR ATN HLDG A ATN HLDG B COSCO CAPITAL DMCI HLDG GT CAPITAL JG SUMMIT LOPEZ HLDG LT GROUP MABUHAY HLDG METRO PAC INV PRIME MEDIA SOLID GROUP SM INVESTMENTS SAN MIGUEL CORP TOP FRONTIER

43.7 125.2 11.74 89 27.95 7.35 49 8.3 18.3 19.52 89 75 2.08 3.42 0.6 0.8 0.29 878 0.6 201 2,222

1.19 3.56 651 47 11.3 9.1 0.435 0.43 4.64 8.1 482 50.2 3.03 8.1 0.335 3.75 1.74 0.83 789 100.8 110.1

44 126.8 11.8 89.3 28 7.36 49.4 8.5 18.48 20.15 89.7 75.05 2.13 3.7 0.68 0.87 0.305 1,018 0.7 205 2,358

1.2 4.1 655 47.5 11.54 9.19 0.44 0.45 4.69 8.15 483 51.8 3.06 8.19 0.35 3.78 1.77 0.86 800 101 111.9

43.7 126.9 11.6 92.9 28 7.4 50.9 8.3 18.58 20.3 94.5 77 2.07 3.7 0.6 0.89 0.29 900 0.6 200 2,252

1.2 4.1 690 49.9 11.46 9.2 0.42 0.45 4.75 8.21 504 51.6 3.03 8.28 0.335 3.79 1.63 0.87 830 101 112

44 128.7 11.8 93.4 28.05 7.4 52.25 8.3 18.58 20.3 95.8 77.05 2.23 3.7 0.6 0.89 0.29 900 0.6 205 2,390

1.22 4.1 693 49.9 11.7 9.2 0.445 0.45 4.83 8.24 504 52.95 3.08 8.42 0.335 3.8 1.85 0.87 838 101 112

43.7 125.2 11.6 89 27.9 7.34 49 8.3 18.22 19.5 89 75 2.05 3.7 0.6 0.79 0.29 878 0.6 200 2,222

1.2 4.1 651 47 11.26 9 0.42 0.42 4.62 8.08 482 50.2 3.03 8.1 0.335 3.7 1.63 0.81 789 100 110

44 125.2 11.8 89 28 7.35 49 8.3 18.3 20.2 89 75 2.13 3.7 0.6 0.79 0.29 878 0.6 205 2,300

1.2 4.1 651 47 11.54 9.2 0.44 0.42 4.64 8.1 482 50.2 3.03 8.1 0.335 3.75 1.77 0.83 789 101 111.9

1,600 3,653,410 189,300 3,610,620 305,300 209,800 3,804,680 100 109,800 29,400 2,028,780 80,040 452,000 10,000 1,000 11,000 670,000 150 1,000 100 160

4,993,000 1,000 904,870 5,733,480 5,196,100 625,900 800,000 200,000 146,000 3,531,600 212,110 2,354,260 2,126,000 3,433,000 20,000 29,445,000 1,046,000 187,000 483,880 170,020 2,590

6,031,520 4,100 599,057,340 274,490,784 59,377,746 5,633,280 349,150 88,700 682,140 28,744,251 103,359,811 119,940,068 6,442,490 28,133,439 6,700 110,395,030 1,830,230 157,330 390,231,090 17,150,387 285,512

PROPERTY ARTHALAND CORP 0.55 0.56 0.54 0.55 0.54 0.55 80,000 43,980 AYALA LAND 27.5 27.85 29 29.1 27.5 27.5 40,280,100 1,128,974,000 AYALA LAND LOG 3.85 3.92 3.99 4.07 3.85 3.85 1,062,000 4,173,210 ALTUS PROP 16.7 17 16.7 16.7 16.7 16.7 4,400 73,480 ARANETA PROP 1.62 1.64 1.51 1.68 1.45 1.64 3,889,000 6,200,100 AREIT RT 38 38.2 38 38.75 37.6 38.2 564,300 21,592,930 A BROWN 0.79 0.84 0.8 0.84 0.78 0.84 29,000 23,220 CITYLAND DEVT 0.69 0.71 0.72 0.72 0.69 0.69 107,000 74,140 CROWN EQUITIES 0.091 0.093 0.092 0.095 0.091 0.093 470,000 43,030 CEB LANDMASTERS 2.55 2.57 2.68 2.69 2.55 2.57 446,000 1,162,100 CENTURY PROP 0.4 0.405 0.4 0.405 0.4 0.4 1,040,000 416,050 CITICORE RT 2.48 2.49 2.51 2.51 2.48 2.49 4,797,000 11,951,510 DOUBLEDRAGON 7.51 7.52 7.6 7.6 7.5 7.51 371,800 2,800,875 DDMP RT 1.53 1.54 1.55 1.57 1.53 1.53 2,412,000 3,736,300 DM WENCESLAO 6.82 6.9 6.8 6.82 6.8 6.82 11,800 80,468 EMPIRE EAST 0.22 0.232 0.22 0.22 0.22 0.22 100,000 22,000 EVER GOTESCO 0.241 0.247 0.241 0.25 0.24 0.241 680,000 165,500 FILINVEST RT 7.2 7.24 7.33 7.33 7.2 7.24 157,400 1,140,569 FILINVEST LAND 1 1.01 1.01 1.02 0.99 1 4,256,000 4,257,270 8990 HLDG 10.4 10.76 10.96 11 10.3 10.76 71,500 760,734 PHIL INFRADEV 0.87 0.89 0.87 0.89 0.87 0.89 8,000 7,020 CITY AND LAND 0.77 0.79 0.79 0.8 0.77 0.77 63,000 48,970 MEGAWORLD 2.7 2.71 2.74 2.74 2.68 2.7 14,604,000 39,466,670 MRC ALLIED 0.203 0.205 0.203 0.205 0.202 0.205 1,020,000 207,680 MREIT RT 16.82 16.92 16.8 17.38 16.78 16.92 2,232,200 37,758,530 PHIL ESTATES 0.385 0.41 0.41 0.41 0.41 0.41 40,000 16,400 PRIMEX CORP 2.52 2.6 2.63 2.63 2.52 2.6 1,270,000 3,292,720 RL COMM RT 7 7.01 7.28 7.44 7 7.01 6,573,300 47,005,258 ROBINSONS LAND 17.92 18 18.5 18.8 18 18 2,204,500 39,939,526 PHIL REALTY 0.225 0.24 0.245 0.246 0.223 0.244 680,000 161,040 ROCKWELL 1.33 1.35 1.35 1.35 1.33 1.33 208,000 276,800 SHANG PROP 2.49 2.57 2.52 2.58 2.52 2.58 145,000 365,460 STA LUCIA LAND 2.76 2.87 2.76 2.87 2.76 2.87 251,000 694,530 SM PRIME HLDG 35 35.1 34 35.95 33.95 35.1 32,114,400 1,133,452,930 SUNTRUST HOME 0.9 1.02 1.02 1.02 1.02 1.02 1,000 1,020 VISTA LAND 2.42 2.5 2.49 2.62 2.4 2.5 741,000 1,824,130

SERVICES ABS CBN 10.2 10.22 10.48 10.58 10.22 10.22 250,200 2,577,544 GMA NETWORK 10.28 10.3 11 11.02 10 10.28 5,651,500 59,203,204 MANILA BULLETIN 0.36 0.37 0.37 0.37 0.36 0.36 80,000 29,200 GLOBE TELECOM 2,200 2,218 2,338 2,356 2,200 2,200 122,370 274,499,310 PLDT 1,913 1,930 1,938 1,969 1,911 1,930 265,840 515,025,520 APOLLO GLOBAL 0.044 0.045 0.045 0.047 0.045 0.045 211,200,000 9,592,500 CONVERGE 27.75 28 27.85 28.75 27.75 27.75 35,347,200 997,598,250 DFNN INC 2.64 2.77 2.76 2.8 2.63 2.77 143,000 391,520 DITO CME HLDG 4.89 4.9 5.12 5.25 4.88 4.89 20,103,900 100,299,157 NOW CORP 1.27 1.28 1.31 1.32 1.25 1.27 2,723,000 3,505,810 TRANSPACIFIC BR 0.29 0.295 0.29 0.3 0.285 0.29 1,640,000 478,800 2GO GROUP 6.9 6.95 6.9 6.9 6.9 6.9 500 3,450 ASIAN TERMINALS 13.92 14 14 14 14 14 400 5,600 CHELSEA 1.5 1.52 1.52 1.55 1.47 1.5 707,000 1,056,710 CEBU AIR 45 45.15 44 45.2 44 45 235,600 10,592,080 INTL CONTAINER 206 207 210 210.8 206 206 1,574,670 326,173,788 LBC EXPRESS 22.15 23.95 22.15 22.15 22.15 22.15 400 8,860 LORENZO SHIPPNG 0.62 0.8 0.85 0.85 0.85 0.85 3,000 2,550 MACROASIA 4.65 4.7 4.75 4.79 4.68 4.7 378,000 1,791,610 METROALLIANCE A 0.94 0.95 0.95 0.95 0.95 0.95 21,000 19,950 METROALLIANCE B 0.95 1.23 0.96 0.96 0.95 0.95 25,000 23,850 PAL HLDG 5.99 6.1 5.99 6.1 5.99 6.1 4,200 25,466 HARBOR STAR 0.68 0.69 0.68 0.68 0.68 0.68 156,000 106,080 BOULEVARD HLDG 0.07 0.071 0.073 0.075 0.071 0.071 69,990,000 5,101,500 WATERFRONT 0.42 0.43 0.42 0.42 0.42 0.42 220,000 92,400 CENTRO ESCOLAR 6.6 6.83 6.6 6.6 6.6 6.6 200 1,320 STI HLDG 0.33 0.35 0.33 0.35 0.33 0.35 700,000 233,800 BELLE CORP 1.25 1.27 1.26 1.27 1.25 1.27 237,000 298,720 BLOOMBERRY 6.36 6.37 6.54 6.7 6.19 6.37 5,334,300 34,395,180 PACIFIC ONLINE 1.25 1.33 1.24 1.33 1.24 1.33 6,000 7,890 LEISURE AND RES 1.3 1.33 1.35 1.36 1.3 1.33 2,177,000 2,913,930 PH RESORTS GRP 1.42 1.44 1.38 1.51 1.31 1.42 22,651,000 32,518,680 PREMIUM LEISURE 0.4 0.41 0.4 0.41 0.395 0.4 11,630,000 4,734,300 PHILWEB 3.55 3.56 3.25 3.57 3.22 3.55 5,719,000 19,821,410 ALLDAY 0.405 0.41 0.415 0.415 0.405 0.405 8,690,000 3,531,800 ALLHOME 7.4 7.48 7.4 7.5 7.24 7.4 34,300 255,658 METRO RETAIL 1.33 1.35 1.33 1.33 1.33 1.33 83,000 110,390 PUREGOLD 31.65 32 32.3 32.65 31.5 31.65 3,155,800 100,960,375 ROBINSONS RTL 53 53.1 53.8 53.8 52.7 53 200,830 10,625,905.50 PHIL SEVEN CORP 58.1 62.8 62.8 62.8 58.1 58.1 100 6,233 SSI GROUP 1.17 1.19 1.18 1.19 1.16 1.19 4,683,000 5,510,550 WILCON DEPOT 27 27.1 26.8 27.1 26.6 27 905,600 24,434,220 APC GROUP 0.218 0.233 0.219 0.236 0.218 0.234 240,000 53,230 EASYCALL 3.51 4.36 3.52 3.52 3.51 3.52 8,000 28,130 MEDILINES 0.72 0.73 0.76 0.76 0.72 0.73 1,281,000 948,080 PRMIERE HORIZON 0.405 0.42 0.42 0.435 0.4 0.41 3,810,000 1,552,900

MINING & OIL ATOK 7.15 7.2 7.08 7.4 6.8 7.2 1,222,100 8,871,535 APEX MINING 1.5 1.51 1.53 1.53 1.49 1.51 1,301,000 1,954,220 ATLAS MINING 5.71 5.73 5.7 5.89 5.7 5.73 238,400 1,367,630 BENGUET A 7.2 7.3 6.91 7.44 6.91 7.3 13,400 96,307 BENGUET B 7.22 7.29 7.2 7.29 7.2 7.29 6,400 46,206 COAL ASIA HLDG 0.237 0.244 0.244 0.244 0.244 0.244 40,000 9,760 CENTURY PEAK 2.58 2.66 2.59 2.66 2.58 2.66 32,000 82,820 DIZON MINES 4.71 5.25 5.26 5.26 4.7 4.7 29,800 140,568 FERRONICKEL 2.39 2.48 2.41 2.48 2.38 2.48 3,780,000 9,235,480 LEPANTO A 0.135 0.138 0.138 0.138 0.138 0.138 1,240,000 171,120 LEPANTO B 0.137 0.139 0.14 0.14 0.14 0.14 20,000 2,800 MANILA MINING A 0.0098 0.01 0.0099 0.0099 0.0099 0.0099 53,800,000 532,620 MARCVENTURES 1.68 1.69 1.69 1.69 1.64 1.68 3,916,000 6,504,710 NIHAO 0.91 0.96 0.95 0.96 0.9 0.96 76,000 69,750 NICKEL ASIA 6.47 6.49 6.56 6.65 6.2 6.47 18,203,100 118,099,802 ORNTL PENINSULA 0.75 0.79 0.83 0.83 0.75 0.78 1,848,000 1,411,140 PX MINING 4.25 4.3 4.39 4.39 4.12 4.3 1,713,000 7,343,450 SEMIRARA MINING 28.25 28.3 29.25 29.8 28.15 28.25 2,898,400 83,063,545 UNITED PARAGON 0.0062 0.0066 0.0061 0.0061 0.006 0.006 4,000,000 24,300 ACE ENEXOR 13.3 13.4 13.48 14.2 13.24 13.3 96,800 1,314,340 ORNTL PETROL A 0.011 0.012 0.011 0.011 0.011 0.011 2,900,000 31,900 PHILODRILL 0.0093 0.0094 0.0091 0.0095 0.0091 0.0093 42,000,000 395,100 PXP ENERGY 4.3 4.48 4.35 4.35 4.2 4.3 116,000 496,530

PREFFERED HOUSE PREF A 92.05 100.5 100.5 100.5 100.5 100.5 4,900 492,450 AC PREF B1 500.5 514 500.5 500.5 500.5 500.5 2,000 1,001,000 ALCO PREF D 513 515 513 513 513 513 130 66,690 AC PREF B2R 500 508 496 496 496 496 50 24,800 CEB PREF 44 44.95 43.3 44.95 43.3 44.5 15,900 702,645 CPG PREF A 101 102.3 102.4 102.4 102.4 102.4 20 2,048 DD PREF 99.6 99.8 100 100 99.7 99.7 10,100 1,007,961 EEI PREF B 105.3 108.8 108.8 109 105.3 109 3,620 384,924 GTCAP PREF B 1,010 1,020 1,010 1,010 1,010 1,010 2,430 2,454,300 JFC PREF A 970 989 989 990 989 990 60 59,390 MWIDE PREF 4 97.1 99.9 97 100 97 100 4,080 406,756 PNX PREF 3B 100 100.1 100.9 100.9 100.1 100.1 4,620 462,566 PNX PREF 4 983 999 997 998 997 998 520 518,860 PCOR PREF 3A 1,061 1,070 1,061 1,061 1,061 1,061 200 212,200 PCOR PREF 3B 1,086 1,090 1,086 1,086 1,085 1,085 5,000 5,425,350 SMC PREF 2F 76.3 77 76.3 76.3 76.3 76.3 160 12,208 SMC PREF 2H 75.1 75.6 75.1 75.1 75.1 75.1 10,300 773,530 SMC PREF 2I 78.2 78.9 78.2 78.2 78.2 78.2 1,000 78,200 SMC PREF 2J 74.6 75 75.95 75.95 75 75 200 15,085.50 SMC PREF 2K 73.95 74.9 74.8 74.9 74.8 74.9 1,290 96,551 TECH PREF B2C 52.8 55 52.95 55 52.95 55 27,010 1,478,321.50 TECH PREF B2D 54.4 55.5 55 55.5 54.5 55.5 12,560 686,485

PHIL. DEPOSITARY RECEIPTS ABS HLDG PDR 10 10.4 10.4 10.4 10.4 10.4 35,700 371,280 GMA HLDG PDR 10.04 10.46 11.02 11.02 10.02 10.04 194,600 2,044,110

WARRANTS TECH WARRANT 0.51 0.54 0.54 0.54 0.5 0.54 156,000 82,710

3,134,790 -256,810,100 -182,087,807.50 6,026,366 -13,400 -130,250 -7,056,983 -36,125,100 -52,596,141 146,110 -6,778,827.00 -32,104,130 -134,168,700 -3,443,195 -20,142 -520,483,820 -280,920 -42,640 -14,704,055 -20,050 -3,370,700 -705,066 38,800 11,000 461,201 -19,020 -201,628 3,520 23,870 -15,288,810 97,840 9,817,104 -2,765,260 18,900,946 -1,152,570 -9,800 -10,800 194,211,110 -504,710 -139,852,070 136,279,690 45,000 90,785,375 -2,760 -37,495,280 -3,940 -2,850.00 9,345,685 -67,048,434 -4,770 3,500 8,820 -4,049,857 -6,650 306,540.00 -433,250 1,743,610 47,078 -48,402,720 -4,625,986.50 -581 4,398,400 3,573,540 760 -28,800 -43,740 -33,140 -217,031 36,000 64,600 5,074,320 -11,690 -4,485,953 19,750 -115,660 -25,092,640 -32,352 -46,700 21,500

SMALL & MEDIUM ENTERPRISES CTS GLOBAL HAUS TALK ITALPINAS KEPWEALTH MERRYMART XURPAS

0.85 1 0.81 2.58 1.49 0.28

0.86 1.05 0.82 2.8 1.5 0.285

EXHANGE TRADE FUNDS FIRST METRO ETF

99.5

99.7

0.87 1.04 0.82 2.8 1.47 0.31

0.91 1.05 0.82 2.8 1.51 0.31

0.86 1 0.8 2.8 1.47 0.28

0.86 1.05 0.82 2.8 1.5 0.285

8,559,000 238,000 496,000 5,000 838,000 1,550,000

7,502,020 240,660 401,770 14,000 1,247,720 441,200

-78,200 -8,250 -76,035 356,720 807,598 -4,430 -

100.6 101.5 99.1 99.5 61,170 6,125,255 74,957

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Banking&Finance

DBM issues ₧1.081B for Covid claims

T

HE Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said it has disbursed P1.081 billion to the Department of Health (DOH) for payment of sickness and death benefit claims of public and private healthcare workers and non-HCWs who have contracted or may contract Covid-19 this year.

The DBM said in a statement last Sunday that the funds were charged against the regular allotment for the DOH under the 2022 national budget.

The DBM said compensation will be transferred by the DOH to DOHretained and corporate hospitals, DOH Treatment and Rehabilitation Centers, and Centers for Health Development, among other attached agencies and institutions.

The amount of compensation to

be received by eligible HCWs and non-HCWs depends on the severity of the Covid-19 case, based on Special Provision 15 of the DOH budget.

Specifically, HCWs and non-HCWs who had mild or moderate Covid infection will receive P15,000 while those who fall under severe or critical cases will be compensated with P100,000. A million peso is allotted to each family of HCWs and nonHCWs who died due to Covid.

BusinessMirror

Perspectives The rules of the game have changed in Corporate Real Estate

A

S the Covid-19 pandemic wanes, a new era is emerging for businesses. It is digital. It is sustainable. It is people-centric. And it is agile.

Business transformation is no longer a choice in this new reality. Corporate strategies are being rewritten. Business and operating models are being redesigned.

The corporate strategy drivers can create a game-changing opportunity for Corporate Real Estate (CRE) to be a catalyst for change as a key business function. CRE sits at the confluence of the three drivers of digitalization, the future of work and the race to net zero.

It also has a significant influence over financial performance and is central to driving operational excellence. It’s no wonder many organizations are bringing CRE to the top of their strategic transformation agenda.

The status quo of global business was already changing long before Covid-19 emerged. The pandemic only accelerated the pace of change and sharpened the direction. It also created a new reality, one in which digitalization and sustainability are the norm and customers are at the center of every interaction. It is a world of complex interdependencies and interactions—one of hyper-competition, unhindered innovation and rapid market transformations.

At KPMG, we believe there are three main drivers now influencing decisionmaking as corporate strategy leaders

plan for the new world.

1. The race to net zero. Sustainability has become a top priority for companies around the world. Indeed, 93 percent of the CRE executives we interviewed said that environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors, sustainability and the race to net zero emissions are now critical agenda items for their organization. They see progress on this agenda as a way to deliver new growth. And they are keen to reduce their company’s carbon footprint across their value chain by becoming cleaner and more sustainable with a lower impact on the environment. One global pharmaceutical manufacturer told us they plan to be carbon neutral by 2030. Another has set greenhouse gas emission (GHG) levels for not only their direct emissions, but also their indirect emissions from the generation of purchased power. Many talked about decarbonizing their real estate and car fleets as a key priority.

2. Digitalization. Companies have been striving to digitally transform for years. Covid-19 made their efforts urgent. And our conversations underpinned the wide range of ways that digitalization is changing the corporate strategy. All of the executives we interviewed say they are either driving digital disruption, developing new digital products or digitizing their existing processes. One global research and biotech company talked about how they

Editor: Dennis D. Estopace • Monday, May 16, 2022

are using digitalization to change the way the business organizes and executes their research activities. A consumer goods player told us how digitalization had opened up new business-to-consumer channels and enabled new business models.

Others talked about using data analytics to improve their store concepts based on deep insights on customer behaviors and needs.

Some were in the middle of their digital transformation journey.

Others, like the maker of smart appliances we interviewed, were already well advanced in leverag-

B3

ing digital and new technologies to achieve business outcomes.

3. The future of work. The way people “work” has changed.

Advanced automation technologies like robotics and artificial intelligence (AI) are changing jobs, the nature of the work and the skills requirements. The accelerated digitalization process triggered by the pandemic has spawned new virtual collaboration techniques, allowing people to work from anywhere, leading to greater workplace and workforce flexibility.

See “KPMG,” B2

Explainer BusinessMirror

B4 Monday, May 16, 2022

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FIRE consumes land recently deforested by cattle farmers near Novo Progresso, Para state, Brazil on August 23, 2020. AP/ANDRE PENNER

TREES AREN’T

A CLIMATE CHANGE CURE-ALL Two new studies on the life and death of trees in a warming world show why

By William R.L. Anderegg, University of Utah

W

The Conversation

HEN people talk about ways to slow climate change, they often mention trees, and for good reason. Forests take up a large amount of the planetwarming carbon dioxide that people put into the atmosphere when they burn fossil fuels. But will trees keep up that pace as global temperatures rise? With companies increasingly investing in forests as offsets, saying it cancels out their continuing greenhouse gas emissions, that’s a multibillion-dollar question.

The results of two studies published in the journals Science and Ecology Letters on May 12, 2022—one focused on growth, the other on death— raise new questions about how much the world can rely on forests to store increasing amounts of carbon in a warming future. Ecologist William

Anderegg, who was involved in both studies, explains why.

What does the new research tell us about trees and their ability to store carbon?

The future of forests is on a knife’s edge, with a tug of war between two very important forces: the benefits trees get from increasing levels of carbon dioxide and the

stresses they face from the climate, such as heat, drought, fires, pests and pathogens.

Those climate stresses are increasing a lot faster as the planet warms than scientists had expected. We’re seeing immense wildfires and drought-driven forest die-offs much sooner than anyone had anticipated. When those trees die, that carbon goes back into the atmosphere. We’re also seeing evidence that the benefits trees get from higher levels of carbon dioxide in a warming world may be more limited than people realize.

This tells us it’s probably not a great idea to count on forests for a widespread carbon sink through the 21st century, particularly if societies don’t reduce their emissions.

Trees and forests do all sorts of other amazing things—they clean the air and water, and they provide economic value in terms of timber and tourism and pollination. So, understanding how they will grow matters for many reasons.

There’s an argument that, with more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, trees will simply grow more and lock that carbon away.

What did your study find?

Two key things affect tree growth: photosynthesis, which is how trees turn sunlight and carbon dioxide into food, and the process of cell division and expansion.

There’s been a long-standing debate about which is the biggest

driver of tree growth.

A good metaphor here is a cart with two horses. The cart moving down the road is the tree growing, and there are two horses attached, but we don’t know which is actually doing the work of pulling the cart.

One horse is photosynthesis. That makes a lot of intuitive sense—it’s where all the carbon comes from for building cells. But we know there’s another horse—in order to grow more wood, trees have to grow layers of cells, and the cells have to expand and divide. That cell growth process is very sensitive to climate changes and tends to shut down when conditions are dry.

People assume that photosynthesis is the dominant process almost everywhere. But we found stronger evidence that these cellular processes that are sensitive to drought actually do more to drive or limit growth.

We used tree ring data from thousands of trees across the US and Europe and measurements of photosynthesis from towers in nearby forests to check whether tree growth and photosynthesis were correlated over time. If they followed the same pattern, increasing or decreasing in the same years, that would have suggested photosynthesis was the horse pulling the cart. Instead, we found no correlation.

That suggests that droughts, rather than the amount of car-

bon dioxide in the air, may have the biggest impact on how quickly trees grow in the future. We’re already seeing more frequent and severe droughts in many regions.

What did you learn about the risk of tree death in the future?

In the other study, we found that lowering global greenhouse gas emissions could have a huge impact for avoiding damage to forests from wildfires, drought and insects.

We used years of satellite observations, climate data and a network of about 450,000 tree plots across the US where each tree is monitored for climate stress and survival. With that historical data, we built statistical models of the risk US trees face from wildfires, insects and climate stress, primarily related to drought. Then we looked at what might happen under future climate scenarios, with high carbon emissions, medium emissions and low emissions.

The big picture: As the planet warms, wildfire risk increases substantially over the current century, especially in the Western US. In a scenario with medium emissions, wildfire risk is projected to increase by a factor of four.

Drought and insect risks increase by about 50 percent to 80 percent.

What does this mean for the use of carbon offsets?

Together these studies suggest that the benefits carbon dioxide has

for growth won’t be nearly as large as people thought, and the risk of climate stress, particularly wildfire, drought and insects, will be much larger than people anticipate.

That has huge implications for using forests as carbon offsets.

So far, carbon offset protocols and markets have not really grappled with this updated scientific understanding of the risks that forests face from climate change. This tells us that climate policy-makers and offset developers need to be very careful about how they count on forest offsets to deliver benefits.

The more hopeful message is that our actions in the next decade matter enormously. If we can rein in the speed of climate change and take a lower-emissions path, that does a huge amount to lower risk and increase the benefits. This isn’t a “throw up our hands and panic” situation—it is our chance to take steps that make sure resilient and sustainable forests last for the future.

What we do with our own emissions and efforts to slow climate change matters immensely for the future of forests.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article here: https:// theconversation.com/trees-arenta-climate-change-cure-all-2-newstudies-on-the-life-and-death-oftrees-in-a-warming-world-showwhy-182944.

Climate change to make droughts longer, more common, says UN

T

HE frequency and duration of droughts will continue to increase due to humanc au sed c l i m ate c h a nge, w it h water scarcity already affecting bi l l ions of people across t he world, t he United Nations warned in a report Wednesday.

The UN desertification agency, wh ic h is c u r rent ly host ing a conference of parties in Abidjan in Ivory Coast, estimates that roughly one third of the world’s population—2.3 billion people—is already facing water scarcity, with that number expected to double by 2050.

Although no region is spared from drought, the report noted that Africa is the hardest hit continent, with the Americas, India and Australia also highlighted as areas of particular current and future concern.

The ongoing debilitating drought in the east and Horn of Africa was highlighted as one of the “dramatic consequences” of climate change by the UN agency. The continent suffered 134 recorded droughts in the past century, with over half occurring in east Africa.

“We used to be able to grow enough tomatoes that we could stay fed for 8 months,” said Kenyan farmer Kheira Osman Yusuf, whose crops have been without rain for over a year. “We used to have luscious mango trees and papaya trees.” She added that food sources have become incredibly scarce and the drinking water supply has also greatly suffered. She explained they sometimes had to resort to drinking from the livestock reservoir, running the risk of getting sick from contamination.

The agency’s lead scientist Barron Orr told The Associated Press that

MOHAMED MOHAMUD, a ranger from the Sabuli Wildlife Conservancy, looks at the carcass of a giraffe that died of hunger near Matana Village, Wajir County, Kenya, on October 25, 2021. AP/BRIAN INGANGA

the world needs to be more proactive rather than reactive when it comes to dealing with drought-related disasters. Orr said the next step for hardest-hit Africa is to “direct investments to build resilience, so as to bounce back from drought.”

India saw a drought-related shrink of 5 percent to its gross domestic product between 1998 and 2017 and Australia’s agricultural productivity slumped 18 percent between 2002 and 2010 due to drought. The country can also expect more wildfires like those in late 2019 and early 2020 which were spurred by a lack of rainfall, the report warned.

T he sa me is t r ue for t he Amazon, the UN said, with three droughts occurring since the turn of the century and triggering forest fires, with climate change and deforestation also to blame. The

agency estimates that 16 percent of the region’s remaining forests will burn by 2050 if deforestation continues at its current rate.

But with the right adaptation measures, water scarcity across the globe can be limited, the report said.

It suggests smarter agricultural techniques which use less water while producing more food, drought action plans and greater investment in soil health, new technologies and early warning systems can all help curtail food and water shortages.

“We need to steer towards the solutions rather than continuing with destructive actions,” Ibrahim Thiaw, the executive secretary of the desertification agency, said.

“We must build and rebuild our landscapes better, mimick ing nature wherever possible and creating functional ecological systems.” AP

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CHOOSE YOUR ADVENTURE AFTER two years, it’s great to be able to plan again for a summer adventure. And whether it’s camping, a beach-bound holiday, sporty fun with family and friends, or simply enjoying summer in the city, adventure begins with having the right stuff for your adventure. SM City North Edsa is a one-stop shop for the ultimate back into the sun experience.

Explore the great outdoors with Columbia Sportswear and their lightweight, breathable, and sun protection sportswear. Backpacks are also your best buddies when embarking on your summer adventure, and Deuter’s are designed to carry heavy loads and have an extensive range of travel features.

Back to the beach for some fun in the sun and surfing? When it comes to the technical side of surfing, Quiksilver has no shortage of performance wetsuits that will keep you comfortable in a range of water conditions. Layer it up with classic hoodies, or keep it light with the latest tees and board shorts.

Get into the swim of things again with Decathlon swimwear for the whole family, with eye-catching performance swimsuits for women, comfortable men’s water shorts and swimsuits, swimwear and apparel for kids, plus a wide range of goggles for all types of swimmers.

This is also the best time to enjoy the sporting life once more. Playing badminton gives you the complete body workout, so check out Ultramax Badminton Racket Steel available at Sportshouse. Enjoy tennis in style with the women’s collection at ASICS store, plus other sporting collections including shoes for running, trail and hiking, volleyball and netball.

Aside from getting sporty, you can also try summer cycling with easy-to-carry foldable bikes and e-bikes at Bike Plus, which has affordable and great quality bicycles for all ages.

ASICS

QUIKSILVER

Editor: Gerard S. Ramos

• Monday, May 16, 2022

Farewell, Tita Fanny CLOCKWISE: Celia Rodriguez (FANNY SERRANO FACEBOOK), Sharon Cuneta (JUN DE LEON), Cherie Gil (MJ SUAYAN), Ria Bolivar (MJ SUAYAN), Melanie Marquez (MJ SUAYAN), Kiray Celis (AHLEKS FUSILERO), Catriona Gray (MIKE SUN), Amy Austria (RENZO SENN AND RANE RANDOLPH), Fanny Serrano and Lorna Tolentino (FANNY SERRANO

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ROM female impersonation to makeup artistry, acting, celebrity styling, to fashion design and interior decoration, Fanny Serrano scaled the heights of creativity.

There was barely anything this multitalented multihyphenate’s “cinematique” aesthetic hadn’t touched.

Tita Fanny, or TF as he is called with endearing fondness by friends and fans alike, died on May 10 more than a year after surviving a massive stroke. He was 74.

“It is with a heavy heart to share to everyone that my father Felix Mariano Fausto Jr., aka Fanny Serrano, has peacefully joined our creator last night, around 9 pm MNL, at the comfort of our home. The whole family is comforted by the fact that a lot of you are celebrating his life and paying tributes on how he touched people’s lives,” Maktin Miranda posted on May 11 on Facebook.

Born on February 1, 1948, Felix Mariano Fausto Jr. started his journey to prominence as a janitor for a hair salon. From that menial job, he then rose to become a beauty guru by establishing the Philippines International Cosmetologists Association, and building his brands such as Fanny Serrano Cosmetics, Fanny Serrano Professionals Haircare Line, and Fanny Serrano Salon, which is still thriving on Scout Rallos Street, Tomas Morato, Quezon City.

MAKEUP MOGUL THE one Tita Fanny considers the most beautiful woman is screen legend Gloria Romero. But it was the glamorous contravida, Celia Rodriguez, who gave Tita Fanny his big showbiz break as a makeup artist, which is probably in Celso Ad. Castillo’s 1977 horror film Maligno.

Tita Fanny eventually became close to 1970s ingenues who became accomplished actresses: Sandy Andolong, Gina Alajar, Amy Austria and Lorna Tolentino, the original “Pictorial Queen” for their endless studio sessions, and Tirso Curz III’s wife, Lyn Ynchausti. They’re known in showbiz and prayer circles as The Legends.

TF’s gift for transformations extended also to “nontraditional beauties,” such as Kiray Celis. “Saan nga ba tayo nagkakilala? Actually, pinahanap po ako ni Tito Fanny. May nabasa daw kasi siyang article na binu-bully ako sa makeup at nalagay ako sa worst dress[ed] sa isang ball,” the GMA comedienne writes in an Instagram post. “At dun na nagsimula ang lahat. Wala akong masabi.

Mami-miss kita fairy godmother ko. Mahal na mahal kita.

Sobra! I love you, TF! Rest in peace.”

TF’s influence reaches far and wide. Sheldon Akut Frias, then a budding makeup artist in Cagayan de Oro, shares: “I met Tita Fanny many years ago when I joined a bridal makeup competition. He was very constructive when he gave advice and he has that power to motivate and inspire us in doing our passion.

Luckily, I was ranked first place.”

His biggest champion is the Megastar Sharon Cuneta, who couldn’t contain her sadness over TF’s passing so soon after her husband Sen. Kiko Pangilinan’s election loss: “Too much heartbreak, in only a matter of days. The hands that made me feel and look beautiful for over 30 years, even when I didn’t think I did. Thank you, my dearest TF, my Tita Fanny, for your love, friendship, loyalty, and for all the laughter we shared. Thank you for wiping so many

FACEBOOK)

tears quietly as they poured from my eyes on so very many occasions over all these three decades. I find peace in that I kept my promise to you. I know you have gone straight to heaven, and I pray that I see and laugh with you again there someday.... I love you so very much.”

ACTING ACCOLADES IN the Internet Movie Database, TF’s first acting credit was in Maria Saret’s 1973 film, Bakit May Bilanggo sa Anak ni Eba?, which starred Gina Pareño, Rosanna Ortiz and Alona Alegre. His last film was with the Superstar, Nora Aunor, in Joel Lamangan’s Isa Pang Bahaghari, in 2020.

The film that TF was proud of is Neal “Buboy” Tan’s Tarima, where he played a gay man in love with a prisoner (Rocky Salumbides). “Tarima” refers to a cramped space in a prison where a convict and their loved one can have their private moments.

For that 2010 film, TF received nominations for best actor at the Film Academy Awards, Golden Screen Awards, Star Awards for Movies, and Gawad Urian Awards.

“Ito ha, sa sobrang pagmamalaki ko rito, kahit ito na ’yung last movie ko as an actor, okay na sa akin,” he told Pep. ph. “Kumbaga, kung si LT may Maging Akin Ka Lamang, si Sharon may Madrasta, ako as Fanny Serrano, the actor, may maipagmamalaki na ako, ito ngang Tarima.”

FASHION FORAYS “SINCE childhood, designing has really been my first love. During my elementary days in the 1950s, you will see my notebook full of drawings of dresses. It was during those years that dresses were in balloon style with petticoats. In fairness, I am so lucky that I am gifted with good hands in drawing,” TF told me as he was preparing for Philippine Fashion Week Holiday 2012. “I thought I was ready for my first collection when I became a member of the Fashion Designers Association of the Philippines. My cofashion designers are those whom I consider as some of my mentors. My critics as well because I also learn from them. I am open to criticism and I consider myself as a nonconformist,” TF said.

TF’s creations were flowy and fantastical, as seen on Catriona Gray at Philippine Fashion Week Grand Allure Spring/Summer 2013, and with a distinctly Filipino flair, as seen Melanie Marquez in a Pilipinyahan Couture, in the photo collage.

In later years, TF became a member of Designers Circle Philippines, an “organization composed of seasoned and young fashion designers.” The group wrote on their Facebook page: “We lost our one and only TF, Tita Fanny Serrano, our mentor, inspiration and friend. Rest in power and beauty, TF! We will be forever grateful and honored to have known a true Filipino icon in our lifetime.” n

A bottle of this popular Japanese essence is sold every two seconds

THERE’S no doubt that as far as essences are concerned, the SK-II Facial Treatment Essence is right up there with the best of the best. Skin care is usually always personal and what works for one person may not necessarily work for another, but the SK-II Facial Treatment Essence is universally liked.

This product is something that can be used by someone who’s more mature but it can also work

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for a younger person. It leaves skin soft and smooth even after just the first three uses. The skin’s texture will improve over time, especially if you’ve been using the essence for a while.

The product claims to be a “powerful treatment to visibly soften texture, reduce the appearance of dark spots and fine lines due to dryness, even the look of skin’s tone, and enhance visible radiance.”

SK-II is the only company to use Pitera as an ingredient to create this iconic product. Pitera is referred to as “Miracle Water” in Asia, and it comes with a bucketload of beauty benefits. Pitera promises instant radiance and I can personally attest to this. I have used a bottle of this essence for as long as I can remember. I just am not sure if I can afford to buy one again.

This essence is so popular that a bottle is sold every two seconds and at a price of around P8,000+ for the smaller bottle, that is amazing.

If you’ve been wanting to try the SK-II Facial Treatment Essence and other SK-II products, check

out the SM Beauty Section of ShopSM (https://bit. ly/38peU0a).

If you want to try an SK-II regimen without spending so much money (please note that SK-II is very expensive, so the price I’m about to cite is in relation to that), the SK-II Pitera Bestseller Trial 1 Kit at P5,000 lets you try several products. The trial kit, which includes the Facial Treatment Gentle Cleanser, Facial Treatment Mask, Facial Treatment Essence and Skin Power Cream, should last you about a month.

The cost of the kit may be steep but considering that the SK-II Skinpower Cream 80ml costs nearly P9,000, that’s not bad at all.

I’ve been loving beauty shopping at ShopSM mainly because I don’t need to leave the house to do it. They have Buy 1 Take 1 bundles, discount vouchers and a free tote bag for every minimum spend. They will also carry other TikTok-famous brands like Cerave and The Ordinary very soon.

I recently tried the Madecera Cream from

SkinRX Lab (P1,845 for 50ml and 785 for 15ml), thanks to The Beauty Edit (@thebeautyedit on Instagram).

Korean beauty is known for multi-step skincare but SkinRX Lab takes a no-frills approach to having good skin. Made in Korea by a team of expert dermatologists and backed by two decades of experience in improving the skin’s quality, Skin RX Lab makes products that are multifunctional and effective.

The Madecera Cream is Skin RX Lab’s most popular product with over 1.5 million sold globally.

Skin RX Lab PH is available in Lazada and Shopee. Look for the skinrxlab_ philippines mall account to buy authentic products.

I tried the cream for 10 days, applying it every night after my essence and serum and although I have not yet seen dramatic results, I’m very happy with it. It kept my skin moisturized. I did not wake up to dry skin, which is very important to someone my age.

B6 Monday, May 16, 2022

Celebrating Filipinos’love for food through Grab Caravan

PLDT Iloilo office unveils solar rooftop installation as part of sustainability push

AERIAL view of the installed solar panels at PLDT La Paz, Iloilo City

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LDT Inc. (PLDT) has fortified its move to help mitigate the effects of climate change with the completion of photovoltaic (PV) panel installation at its La Paz Office in Iloilo City. PLDT La Paz is one of the integrated telco’s main offices in Panay Island and houses a sales and service center, PLDT and Smart network offices, as well as Enterprise sales.

“The solar rooftop installation supports the integration of sustainable practices into our daily operations. As the only telcos who form part of the inaugural members of the governmentled Stakeholders’ Chamber on the Sustainable Development Goals being supported by the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA), PLDT and Smart are committed to reach netzero emissions by 2050,” said Rhea Dienzo, Assistant Vice President and Sustainability Executive of PLDT and Smart Corporate Sustainability Office.

More than 140 PV panels were installed on the rooftop of PLDT’s office that will generate approximately 78,500 kilowatt hours (kWh) of solar power

equivalent to a reduction of around 56 tons of carbon dioxide per year.

Following the installation of a similar facility at PLDT’s Mandaue office in Cebu, the Iloilo site is the second location to be installed with solar power technology to augment energy drawn from the commercial grid.

“Our studies show that the grid-tied rooftop solar power installation could supply 6% of energy needed during daytime, reducing use of commercial power from coal-fired or diesel-fed power plants. This will help us cut operating expenses as solar energy costs are expected to be lower than commercial power,” explained Jeffrey Tanjutco, PLDT Facilities Management Center Head.

PLDT partnered with Spectrum, the renewable energy arm of the Meralco group, for this undertaking. Three more PLDT sites in the Visayas region are to be solarized: Cebu Jones, Roxas, and Bacolod offices. In total, about 20 sites nationwide are being considered for solar panel deployment as part of the PLDT group’s decarbonization roadmap.

“This project bolsters PLDT's efforts in the global fight against climate change. Conscious of our impact on the environment, we are always on the lookout for sustainable practices that will help us further reduce our carbon footprint,” said Henrey Donguines, PLDT Property and Facilities Management Executive and Project Manager of the Solar Rooftop Project.

Sustainability is one of the key fulcrums identified by President and CEO Alfredo S. Panlilio forming part of PLDT’s vision and strategy. Under his leadership, the PLDT Group has developed a decarbonization plan which aims to reduce its Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 40% by 2030.

These projects highlight PLDT’s efforts in helping the country achieve its commitment under the Paris Agreement and to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals particularly UN SDG 7 on affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for all.

Enjoy the convenience of your smart phone; avoid the disadvantages of running out of battery

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ECENT advances in information and communication technology on mobile communication have revolutionized the way individuals interact, communicate, and go about their daily lives. Smart mobile devices, also known as smart phones, are gradually replacing traditional cell phones. A smart phone may be easily taken around as a device for communication, recording, playing, or to some extent editing sounds, photos, and videos, all of which are desired by today's generation (Lee, 2014).

There is no limit to the usage and purposes of smartphone applications that you may download for your phone; whether you use your phone for fun or for work, there are apps that can meet your requirements.

When smartphones' battery start to drain, many people behave strangely: they feel uneasy, frightened, and stressed, and they even rush home, looking for cables everywhere to have their phones charged immediately.

In fact, some people acquired a certain a phobia or a psychological condition in which they are afraid of being disconnected from mobile connectivity. This is known as “NOMOPHOBIA.”

A

FEAST of flavors is coming to a city near you starting this month. It’s no secret that Filipinos love to eat; that’s why holidays, celebrations, gatherings, and even meetings all revolve around food. Food is what brings Filipinos together, and it’s for this reason that Grab Philippines made a celebration out of it! This month, Southeast Asia’s leading superapp Grab launches the Grab Caravan, an on-ground celebration that invites all Filipinos to come together for their love of food by grabbing a bite from a selection of crowd favorite restaurants!

To kick off the Grab Caravan, Grab will first be visiting the home of picturesque sceneries of nature, Rizal province, to bring together and showcase the best of Rizal’s food scene at the Robinsons Place Antipolo Transport Terminal. Tayo na at magka-isa sa Rizal this May 14 from 4PM to 9PM, and enjoy summer with crowd favorite dishes from a wide selection of food options to choose from such as international dishes, baked treats, and refreshing beverages from Katsu House, Uncle Moe’s, Konbini by Katsu House, Auntie Anne’s, Big Al’s Cookie House, Baked By Mary Grace, Chachago, and Lecheng Tsaa. Rizal caravan goers will also be one of the first to experience Angel’s Pizza Express, Angel’s Pizza’s newest venture which is opening in the new food wing of Robinsons Place Antipolo as well.

Grab Caravan attendees will have a lot to look forward to, not only because of the great selection of food but also because of the fun and exciting activities and offerings in store for the one-day event: Food is made better when accompanied by good music from rising local talent RJ Jimenez and exciting games and activities with tons

LOWER POWER RATES FOR MERALCO CUSTOMERS THIS MAY. The Manila Electric Company (Meralco) announced a PhP 0.12 per kilowatt hour (kWh) decrease in power rates this May. The downward adjustment this month equates to PhP 24 in total savings for a typical household consuming 200 kWh. Meralco Vice President and Head of Corporate Communications Joe R. Zaldarriaga explained that the overall rate reduction is primarily due to the implementation of a refund of distribution-related charges starting this month. This was able to offset the increase in generation charge for May. For more information, customers may visit Meralco’s website at www.meralco.com.ph or its social media accounts on Twitter (@meralco) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/meralco).

Ovialand, Kyushu Yaesu construct new school buildings for Masin Elem. School in Quezon

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VIALAND Inc. (“Ovialand”) partnered with Kyushu Yaesu Inc. (“Kyushu Yaesu”), a real estate developer based in Fukuoka, Japan, to construct new school buildings for Masin Elementary School in Candelaria, Quezon.

This initiative is part of Ovialand’s corporate social responsibility efforts in giving back to the communities it services.

The two companies are joint-venture partners for Ovialand’s projects in Laguna and Quezon. The event marked the first time in Masin Elementary School’s 60-year history where its facilities were upgraded. To provide better facilities for students, Ovialand and Kyushu Yaesu worked together to demolish the old structures and build two new school buildings. The 2 new school buildings have 8 rooms in total, with each room accommodating up to 40 pupils.

“We have never received a blessing like this before. This is why we are thankful to

Indeed, smartphones have become a necessity, and people feel adrift without them.

If you can't afford a low battery, X-Power has you covered with the release of its own power bank devices.

Since X-Power bank machines allow you to rent a power bank and carry it wherever you want while it charges. Unlike other charging stations, X-Power eliminates the need to purchase and charge your own unit. You can also wander freely from one location to another while charging with X-Power bank because you can return the power bank to any of the 600 X-Power machines in NCR. How does this work, exactly? Simply

download the X-Power app from the Play Store, App Store, or Huawei Store, and create your own profile. Once you scan the QR code in the machine using your app, a power bank will pop out of the machine and you can start using it. You can charge while shopping, dining in the restaurant, playing online games, travelling or while doing any leisure activities. X-Power’s machines are now present in different malls and establishments. This makes it more accessible to those who are in need of charging.

For more details, visit https://xpower. ph/; ig: https://www.instagram.com/ xpowerph/; fb: https://www.facebook. com/xpowertechnology.

of Grab vouchers and special prizes from participating food merchants up for grabs for all attendees!

Exclusive Grab promos will also be available all throughout the day for onground attendees and nearby customers who wish to order from the Grab Caravan for delivery. For those at home and are within the Rizal area, get P60 off on your delivery order for just a minimum of P600.

For on-ground attendees, self-pickup orders will have a discount of 20% off, with a minimum order of P500 by using promo code GRABCARAVANRIZAL As the platform’s official e-wallet service, GrabPay will also be the official payment partner of the Grab Caravan, which will allow attendees to get up to P20 cashback for every transaction made through GrabPay during the caravan. Aside from GrabPay, the Grab Caravan will also be accepting other methods of payment such as Debit, Credit, and Cash— so there's definitely a payment method for every kind of customer!

For a more sulit and exciting Grab Caravan experience, Rizaleños are encouraged to have their Grab app ready for a seamless ordering experience via Self Pickup and payment process via GrabPay. Uniting more Filipinos for their love of food, Grab is also bringing the celebration to other cities! The Grab Caravan will be visiting Cavite, Cebu, and Pampanga in the coming months, so watch out for updates as Grab continues to celebrate Filipinos’ love for food!

Learn more about the festivities and stay updated on the latest news and promos of Grab by following its social media accounts or visit grab.com.ph.

Ovialand and Kyushu Yaesu for this initiative that will help students in pursuing their studies,” Melanie Bonquin, school principal of Masin Elementary School, said in a May 4 ceremony marking the construction of new school buildings.

“Ovialand and Kyushu Yaesu are proud to be part of this project. We’ve built facilities that are more conducive to learning. With the completion of the new building, we have given the students a better space to grow and learn,” Ovialand Inc. President Pammy O. Vital said.

“Aside from being a joint venture partner of Ovialand in its real estate projects, we are pleased to also partner with the company in giving back to the community,” Hisao Nakashima, President of Kyushu Yaesu Inc., and Akira Shiraishi, President of Ambitious Urban Development Philippines Inc., said.

“We are also happy to help in improving the quality of education for Masin Elementary School students.”

OVIALAND OFFICERS AND SCHOOL OFFICIALS ATTENDED THE LAUNCHING CEREMONY OF THE RENOVATED SCHOOL BUILDINGS. They were Melanie Bonquin, Masin Elementary School Principal; Carla Calleja, President of the Masin Elementary SchoolParent Teacher Association; Hisao Nakashima, President of Kyushu Yaesu; Akira Shiraishi, President of Ambitious Urban Development Philippines Inc.; Bryan Vital, CFO of Ovialand; Nelson Punzalan, Captain of Barangay Masin Norte; and Reynaldo Cantos, Barangay Captain of Masin del Sur.

Marketing BusinessMirror

www.businessmirror.com.ph

Monday, May 16, 2022

B7

THE CORONAVIRUS CHRONICLES:

GOOD SPORTS AND GOOD PR

PR Matters

By Millie F. Dizon

I L OI L O, PH I L I PPI N E S — PL D T Inc. (PLDT) has fortified its move to help mitigate the effects of climate change with the completion of photovoltaic (PV) panel installation at its La Paz Office in Iloilo City.

PLDT La Paz is one of the integrated telco’s main offices in Panay Island and houses a sales and service center, PLDT and Smart network offices, as well as Enterprise sales.

“The solar rooftop installation supports the integration of sustainable practices into our daily operations. As the only telcos who form part of the inaugural members of the government-led Stakeholders’ Chamber on the Sustainable Development Goals being supported by the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda), PLDT and Smart are committed to reach net-zero emissions by 2050,” said Rhea Dienzo, Assistant Vice President and Sustainability Executive of PLDT and Smart Corporate Sustainability Office.

More than 140 PV panels were

The Situation: Believing the Hype In recent times, communicators have turned to influencers to help create more awareness about their company, products, and services.

In sports, Solomon observes that “sports commentators embellish certain athletes’ popularity, which sports fanatics, some of whom are PR pros accept as fact.”

Playing off a sports commentator’s embellishments, “starstruck communicators assure those they represent that using a much-heralded athlete is a certain success.” But that is not always the case. Sometimes, the brand is drowned by the influencer’s sheer personality, and it becomes all about himself.

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The Situation: Promises, Promises Solomon observes that prior to the season, “commentators are prone to e x ag gerate t he potential of teams they cover. In some cases, announcers are team employees. W hen the team’s season is unsuccessful, the result is a disappointed fan base and the announcers’ credibility suffers.”

With this in mind, he urges communicators to promise realistic results when you practice PR. Avoid telling an executive or client, “This program is so newsworthy that there will not be any problem achieving major media stories.”

What PR Pros Can Learn: Have Your Eyes on the Goal Solomon believes that using athletes as brand spokespersons to ac hieve product v isibi l it y through media interviews can produce less than satisfactory results. That’s because “media i nter v iews u su a l ly revolve around the athlete’s on-field achievements. Your company’s t a l k i n g p o i nt s m a y n o t b e included.”

I n s te ad , “ PR pros s hou ld use spokespeople who are knowledgeable about the product, which will result in meaningful publicity instead of publicity for publicity’s sake.”

What PR Pros Can Learn: Don’t Overpromise Communications, and especially PR, is one field that can be measured through metrics— column inches, views, likes and shares, airtime. That’s why it’s never a good idea to exaggerate what one can deliver.

“Overpromising results when selling a program can be disastrous t o r e l a t i o n s h i p b u i l d i n g ,” says Solomon. If resu lts a re underwhelming, it’s better to under play what you think is

n The Situation: Remaining Current When your company wants an athlete as a marketing and PR spokesperson, Solomon observes t h at “ t a le nt a ge nc ie s l i m it suggestions to current athletes seen on TV.” W hile the athlete certainly has the following, reporters see current athletes on a daily basis.

Thus, it’s unlikely a beat reporter will write a sponsorship story.

Instead, it will appear in the trades or marketing columns.

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BRAND & BUSINESS: PLDT ILOILO OFFICE UNVEILS SOLAR ROOFTOP INSTALLATION AS PART OF SUSTAINABILITY PUSH

possible, a nd if better than anticipated results occur it is a happy surprise.

installed on the rooftop of PLDT’s office that will generate approxim ate ly 78, 50 0 k i lowat t hou rs (kWh) of solar power equivalent to a reduction of around 56 tons of carbon dioxide per year.

Follow ing the installation of a similar facility at PLDT ’s Mandaue office in Cebu, the Iloilo site is the second location to be installed w ith solar power technolog y to augment energ y draw n from the commercial grid.

“Our studies show that the gridtied rooftop solar power installation could supply 6 percent of energy needed during daytime, reducing use of commercial power from coal-fired or diesel-fed power plants. This will help us cut operating expenses as solar energy costs are expected to be lower than commercial power,” explained Jeffrey Tanjutco, PLDT Facilities Management Center Head.

PLDT partnered with Spectrum, the renewable energy arm of the Meralco group, for this undertaking. Three more PLDT sites in the Visayas region are to be solarized: Cebu Jones, Roxas, and Bacolod offices. In total, about 20 sites nationwide are being considered for solar panel deployment as part of the PLDT group’s decarbonization road map.

“This project bolsters PLDT’s efforts in the global fight against climate change. Conscious of our impact on the environment, we are always on the lookout for sustainable practices

that will help us further reduce our carbon footprint,” said Henrey Donguines, PLDT Property and Facilities Management Executive and Project Manager of the Solar Rooftop Project.

Sustainability is one of the key fulcrums identified by President and CEO Alfredo S. Panlilio forming part of PLDT’s vision and strategy. Under his leadership, the PLDT Group has developed a decarbonization plan which aims to reduce its Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 40 percent by 2030.

These projects highlight PLDT’s efforts in helping the countr y achieve its commitment under the Paris Agreement and to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals particularly UN SDG 7 on affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for all.

AWARDS: NEW YORK FESTIVALS AME AWARDS ANNOUNCES SOCIAL EQUALITY-DEI GRAND JURY: AKI SPICER, CHIEF STRATEGY OFFICER IS CHAIRMAN

10 industry innovators join together to judge DE&I Entries NEW YORK, USA — New York Festivals AME Awards announced the AME Awards Social Equality–DE&I Grand Jury.

Ten prominent industry executives will together judge all campaigns entered into AME’s Category Group—Creativity for Positive

ROY DOMINGO

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FTER two years, the games have finally begun! We can now enjoy Philippine Basketball Association, UAAP, and NCAA games from the hardcourt in person from our favorite sports arenas or feel the energy live on television or streaming services.

Though this may not be evident at the onset, the world of sports can also offer communicators lessons in public relations. In an article in prnewsonline.com, public relations expert Arthur Solomon believes that there are PR Lessons You Can Learn from Watching TV sports.

“The next time you tune in to a sport telecast, the PR pro in you should realize you’re watching more than a pitcher throwing 100 mph fastballs, football quarterbacks or basketball players sinking a three pointer,” he says. “You are getting a free PR tutorial.”

Here are some excerpts from this very insightful article:

What PR Pros Can Learn: Consider Going Against the Current “If consumer publicity is the object, a better choice would be to suggest a well-known retired athlete,” says Solomon.

That’s because “nostalgia is a big part of sports...viewers of TV sports are aware how often commentators refer to retired athletes. Offering a retired star is cer ta in to interest spor ts reporters.”

Moreover, “ journalists understand why your company hired a revered old timer. The writer is more likely to include a talking point or two in their stories.”

Apart from those mentioned above, Solomon points out other things communicators can learn from watching TV sports.

Impact: Social Equality—Diversity, Equity & Inclusion.

Launched this year, the new category will shine the spotlight on creative work that positively affects inclusive identities in advertising, ensures representation, enables underrepresented groups to fully experience and connect with brands and is inclusive and respectful of all cultures.

Aki Spicer, Chief Strategy Officer for Leo Burnett Chicago, and AME Advisory Council member will preside over the judging session and ensure that entries into the new category Social Equality are judged fairly and thoughtfully.

“I am actually excited to gather with this special industry peer-group and connect on what creative excellence looks like in the space of inclusion. And personally, I am voracious for great creative cases to share with my clients and teams—looking forward to taking in the potential greatness!” said Aki Spicer, Chief Strategy Officer, Leo Burnett Chicago.

“All of us at AME are thrilled that Aki Spicer is heading up this jury panel,” said Gayle Seminara Mandel, Executive Director, AME Awards. “His stellar reputation and the breadth of his creative and strategic expertise will provide the atmosphere of open examination and cooperative creative discussions that will lead to celebrating diverse and inclusive work that fits the parameters of this new and timely category.”

Aki Spicer brings his strategic

No excuses, please.

Solomon mentions the tendency of broadcasters to make excuses for a team’s poor play.

In the PR realm, “communicators should never make excuses for when a PR effort turns sour.”

Instead, “the sav v y PR pro should suggest improvements and explain why she’s making such recommendations. Too many PR pros continue with a program long after it goes south, hoping thing will improve.”

Detachment, detachment W hile our preferences can boost our enthusiasm for work, “never let emotions dictate your reasoning.”

Instead, when choosing communication or marketing officers, for sports related accounts,

perspect ive, d at a- cent r ic, a nd radically-collaborative approach to the jury panel. As Chief Strategy Officer at Leo Burnett Chicago, Aki is bridging the gaps between t i me less bra nd i ng a nd t i me ly behaviors at one of the most storied agency brands in the world.

He advances the Leo Burnett’s “Humankind OS”—a strategic process that strives to frame the business problem, brand purpose, and resulting creative solutions through a lens of human needs for brands like Samsung, Messenger, US Cellular, Kellogg’s and more. Aki has been leading the charge of forging Multicultural Intelligence, an endto-end strategic OS to help Publicis agencies and their brands meet mu lt ic u lt u ra l con su mers w it h more insight, understanding and creative relevance.

Aki was previously Chief Strategy Officer and Chief Digital Officer of TBWA/Chiat/Day NYC, and prior to that he was Director of Digital Strategy at Fallon Worldwide servicing clients like Nissan, Hilton, Adidas, Apple, GM, H&R Block and Netflix.

“We’re extremely grateful to these creative and strategic innovators who are sharing their time and industry experience on this important panel,” said Seminara Mandel. “Their support allows the competition to recognize creative and strategic work that truly embodies diversity and champions equity and inclusion.”

2022 AME Social Equality—Di-

or any account for that matter, “its best to avoid fanatics.” They should approach their work not as fans, but business professionals.

After all, “companies see [sports] promotions dispassionately, as a business decision.”

PR Matters is a roundtable column by members of the local chapter of the UK-based International Public Relations Association (Ipra), the world’s premier association for senior professionals around the world. Millie Dizon, the Senior Vice President for Marketing and Communications of SM, is the former local chair.

We are devoting a special column each month to answer the reader’s questions about public relations. Please send your comments and questions to askipraphil@gmail.com.

versity, Equity & Inclusion Grand Jury: Grand Jury Chairman—Aki Spicer, Chief Strategy Officer, Leo Burnett/Chicago n John Antoniello, VP Senior Group Creative Director, Razorfish n Rogério Colantuono, Executive Strategy Director, TBWA/Health Collective n Lucien Etori, VP, Executive Strategy Director, R/GA New York n Sabena Gupta, Global Brand Marketing Lead, Amazon n Chelsea Jenkins, Director of Cultural & Inclusive Marketing, Kellogg’s n Janis Middleton, EVP, Executive Director of Multicultural and Inclusion Strategy, Guided By Good n Paola Ortega, Strategy Director, BBH n Danny Robinson, Chief Creative Officer, The Martin Agency n Marialejandra Urbina, Executive Director of Planning, Dieste The 2022 AME Social Equality DE&I Grand Jury will utilize Publicis’ Creative Inclusion Progress Scorecard as judging criteria, this scorecard will honor work that effectively drives inclusion from representation to resonance.

Jur y sessions are parsed in the annual AME Report, that honors and provides rankings for agencies and brands from 30 countries.

The deadline to enter the 2022 AME Awards competition is May 20th, 2022. Competition details and additional information can be found on the AME web site (https://www. ameawards.com/)

Sports

PHL hoops team opens campaign against Thailand

BusinessMirror

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ANOI—The Philippines’ bid to retain the men’s basketball gold at the 31st Southeast Asian Games starts on Monday with a game against Thailand at the Thanh Tri Gymnasium.

The Filipinos take on the Thais at 4 p.m. (5 p.m. Manila time) to open their bid in the sport that they are expected to top.

Head coach Chot Reyes, however, said Gilas will be facing a stronger resistance from the rivals, their first opponent.

Reyes revealed that Thailand’s 3x3 team that captured the gold last Saturday—Moses Morgan, Frederick Lish, Antonio Price Soonthornchote and Chanatip Jakwaran—will also suit up in 5x5 action.

“The kind of opposition that we have here is serious,” Reyes said.

“They are a serious threat. We already saw what happened in the 3x3. Those are the guys.”

He added: “We know their level and that’s why it’s very important that we will be able to beat that challenge.”

Gilas also had last-minute changes to their roster with Kiefer Ravena being called-up after Robert Bolick and Dwight Ramos couldn’t make it here. Bolick had to attend to his ailing father in the United States while Ramos still has commitments with his ballclub in the Japan B.League Toyama Grouses.

Kevin Alas also begged off from Gilas to attend to his wife Selina, who was recently diagnosed with a rare cancer called Gestational Trophoblastic Neoplasia.

Ravena is eyeing his sixth SEA Games gold medal, and he has a chance to do so with his brother Thirdy, making his debut in the biennial meet after his second season with San-En Neophoenix in Japan.

Also in the squad are six-time PBA MVP June Mar Fajardo, Matthew Wright, Roger Pogoy, Troy Rosario, Mo Tautuaa, Kib Montalbo, Isaac Go, Will Navarro, and Lebron Lopez.

Gilas Pilipinas Women also begins its quest to defend the gold when they clash against Indonesia at 10 a.m. (11 a.m. Manila time).

The women’s team eyes a second straight title after winning the historic first gold in basketball in 2019 in Manila.

Two new players recently recruited in the United States in Gabi Bade and Stefanie Berberade will make their SEA Games debut. Bade, from Sacramento State, is the daughter of former PBA player Cris Bade, while Berberade is a former Player of the Year in National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) school Westmont.

“This time around, medyo malaki ang difference. Six veterans and six new ones, not to mention na meron tayong tatlong Fil-Ams. Siguro medyo maliit tayo ngayon pero we are faster,” said Aquino. Josef Ramos

B8

| Monday, May 16, 2022 mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph Editor: Jun Lomibao

2 GOLDS FOR KIM H

By Jun Lomibao

ANOI—Kim Mangrobang rules women’s duathlon on Sunday to follow up on her success in triathlon only the day before at the 31st Southeast Asian Games.

In high spirits after pulling away to victory in the women’s triathlon last Sunday, Mangrobang, 30, of Sta. Rosa, Laguna, beat Malaysian Tahira Muhammad Zaid to the tape for her first duathlon title at the Tuan Chau Peninsula. She clocked two hours and 13.12 seconds.

“I prepared very well for these two events, that’s why I’m really happy with the result,” Mangrobang said. “I focused on my recovery and my conditioning Coach, Annie Brown, did a beautiful job.”

Mangrobang trained extensively with the national team in Portugal to polish her skills for both duathlon

Obiena expected to peak right at World Championships in July

H

COUNTRY

GOLD

SILVER

BRONZE

TOTAL

1

Vietnam

55

40

41

136

2

Thailand

20

19

37

76

3

Philippines

18

21

32

71

4

Indonesia

17

26

15

58

5

Malaysia

16

11

28

55

6

Singapore

11

16

15

42

7

Myanmar (Burma)

4

5

9

18

8

Cambodia

1

3

10

14

9

Brunei

1

1

1

3

10

Laos

0

1

10

11

11

Timor-Leste

0

0

0

0

Butler did it AS the Miami Heat eliminated the Philadelphia 76ers in Game 6 of their Eastern Conference semifinals series, the former’s Jimmy Butler sought out the latter’s Joel Embiid.

It was a poignant scene for the former Philadelphia teammates.

Butler was a teammate of Embiid for the 2018-19 season—just one year—after which the Sixers felt they had to choose to keep either Ben Simmons or Butler.

Mangrobang stands to receive P600,000 in incentive from the Philippine Sports Commission, which is funding the campaign of the national team.

The other Filipina entry in duathlon, Alexandra Ganzon, finished eighth with a time of 2:23 time. John Leerams Chicano, the men’s triathlon champion in 2019, came in fourth and Raymond Torio finished sixth in the men’s individual duathlon.

Vietnam’s San Pham Tien topped the men’s race while Indonesian Rudi Febriade and Jauhari Johan captured the silver.

Triathlon Association of the Philippines President Tom Carrasco was pleased with the performance of his wards.

“We got three golds out of the possible four. I thought we’re going to win only two but we got three,” Carrasco said. “I am happy with what we got. Indonesia and Vietnam prepared very well against us, but our athletes responded well to the challenges.”

Wong wowed the judges in the event that had nine participants wielding a double-edged sword traditionally used in Chinese martial arts and earned a score of 9.71 points.

Hometown bets Huyen Tran Thi and Trang Tran Thi tried hard to get the crowd going at the Cau Giay Gymnasium. But they couldn’t do any better than 9.70 and 9.69 for the silver and bronze, respectively.

DUATHLETE Kim Mangrobang, wushu artist Agatha Wong and world champion gymnast Carlos Edriel Yulo win gold medals that put Philippines in the thick of the fight in the Vietnam 31st Southeast Asian Games. NONIE REYES/CANON R6

Downhill cyclists bag 2 bronze medals

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“He is just in his middle form in these games” said Guglietta, who was also a part of Obiena’s team during the Tokyo Olympics.

“I think that EJ (will have) a perfect performance in July,” added Guglietta, referring to the World Athletics Championships to be held in Eugene, Oregon in the United States on July 15 to 24, 2022 On Saturday, Obiena took just one initial leap at 5.4 meters to clinch the pole vault gold medal, and a second one at 5.46 to smash his own SEAG record of 5.45.

With the gold and new record safely tucked in his bag, Obiena then aimed at his own personal best and Asian record of 5.93 by setting the bar at 5.94 meters. He tried thrice but failed.

“Almost there, but masyado pa maaga ’yung volume ng training, he is not that well rested pa,” said Obiena’s father/coach Emerson, who expects EJ to be a hundred percent in Eugene. “Tapering muna, then doon siya magpi-peak) But before the World Championships, though, the 26-year-old Obiena will compete on May 29 in a local Italian tournament near Formia, where he trains.

Mountain bike action resumes starting at 9 a.m. on Monday with the crosscountry races for men and women.

On Tuesday, the mixed relay crosscountry event will make its debut in the SEA Games. Jun Lomibao

Simmons was pilloried after his poor performance in last year’s play-offs and his reluctance to suit up for the discordant Brooklyn Nets while Butler has led the Heat to the NBA Finals and now, their second Eastern Finals berth.

It is pretty obvious which team came out on top and that left me with a sarcastic remark, “the Butler did it” in reference to the popular who-done-it mystery game.

Incredibly, it was Butler’s trade to Minnesota why I abandoned my 31-year support of the Chicago Bulls. Aside from being a magnificent two-way player, he was at that time the only third Chicago Bulls player to win an Olympic Gold Medal with Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen the other two. Of course, Zach Lavin joined them as well this 2021 with a gold at the Tokyo Summer Games.

Trading away Butler was the last straw for a team that prematurely broke up their 1990s dynasty, then dismantled what could have been a very good post-Michael Jordan team when they had Elton Brand, Ron Artest, Ron Mercer, Brad Miller, Fred Hoiberg, and Jamal Crawford. They also put the early kibosh on another darn good team that featured Derrick Rose, Tyson Chandler, Ben Gordon, Luol Deng, Kirk Hinrich, Andres Nocioni, Chris Duhon, and Jannero Pargo.

There’s more but I cannot keep resurrecting old sins while flagellating myself when it should be Bulls

management who we should be whipping.

While the trade of Butler brought Zach Levine to Chicago has been good for both players, I had enough of that seemingly lack of vision and patience of the Bulls’ front office.

I gave my allegiance to my boyhood team, Philadelphia, but also found myself rooting for the Bulls this year.

If you are wondering why I switched from Philly to the Windy City, that is because the Sixers tried to trade Julius Erving after they traded away Moses Malone.

The Sixers were my favorite as I began watching them when Doc played alongside World B. Free, Doug Collins, Darryl Dawkins, Mike Dunleavy, Caldwell Jones, George McGinnis, Steve Mix, and Jellybean Bryant. The heartbreak of the finals loss to Portland in 1977, the 1980 finals to the Los Angeles Lakers, the 1981 Eastern finals to Boston, and the 1982 finals to the Lakers was something I could carry but not the trade of Malone in 1985.

Cut back to today as I also followed the Miami Heat who have a very good if not underrated squad with Butler, Tyler Herro, Kyle Lowry, Bam Adebayo, PJ Tucker, Duncan Robinson, Max Strus, and Victor Oladipo. That’s seven players averaging double digit scoring. That is the best in the NBA. Plus, they have their old warhorse in Udonis Haslem

who, aside from head coach Erik Spoelstra, is the last link of their old title teams.

Haslem, who went undrafted in 2002, is now on his 19th year with his one and only NBA team. He is along with Dwyane Wade, the only two Heat players to have been a part of all the team’s three title winning teams.

Furthermore, if he is signed once more, he has a chance to tie the late Kobe Bryant to be with one and only team in the NBA for 20 seasons. Dirk Nowitski owns the record of 21 seasons with the Dallas Mavericks.

As for the Heat, they will play either the Boston Celtics or the Milwaukee Bucks for the right to go to the NBA Finals.

As much as I liked the Bulls’ resurgence this year, I didn’t think they’d go really far without a real center and all the injuries and Covid-19 infections that derailed the strong start.

It was the Heat, the Bucks, and the Celtics who I penciled in at the start of the season, to contend for a championship.

And I’d love for the Heat to win a title. I really do. For Coach Spo, Lowry, Adebayo, Herro, and of course, the man they call “Jimmy Buckets.”

Yet, I also hope the Sixers find it in themselves to build a really good team and not waste the years of one of the best big men in the game with Embiid. I’d hate to switch loyalties again.

ANOI—Ernest John “EJ” Obiena’s domination of men’s pole vault at the My Dinh Stadium on Monday only provided a sneak peek of what the Tokyo Olympian could accomplish this year.

Obiena shattered the field with only two leaps to win the gold in gold medal fashion and his Italian physiotherapist Antonio

Source: seagames2021.com

sanda, 2-0.

Team Philippines will now return home with two golds, two silvers, the other one courtesy of Jones Inso in men’s taijiquan (taolu), and a bronze, also provided

by Inso in taijijian.

“Because of little time to train our athletes, our conservative estimate was two gold medals and we achieved it,” said Wushu Federation of the Philippines president Freddie Jalasco.

“I’m so thankful,” said Wong, who admitted coming here that she had low expectations because the national team only had two months to train under a bubble setup in Manila.

Tahira settled for the women’s duathlon silver in 2:14.22, while Putri Bulan Aprilla of Indonesia settling for the bronze with 2:14.49 in the competition.

Her double duty done for the country, Mangrobang will now focus on the duathlon race in the World Games in Alabama, USA on July 7.

ANOI—The downhill gold medals in cycling escaped the Philippines’ grip but John Derick Farr and Naomi Gardoce still salvaged bronze medals in the 31st Southeast Asian Games on Sunday.

Lea Denise Belgira’s hopes of retaining her gold medal, however, went down the ground when the front wheel of her bike deflated in the first jump.

Farr, gold medal winner in 2019, clocked three minutes and 13.138 seconds over the 2.0-km track carved over a hill in Hao Dinh City’s outskirts that’s not more than 300 meters in elevation and never close to technical courses that defined previous SEA Games downhill courses.

Thailand’s Methasit Boonsane won the men’s gold in 3:06.27 with Indonesia’s Andy Prenoga bagging silver after completing the ride three seconds slower than the Thai.

Tiara Andino Priastika ruled the women’s race in 3:31.531, beating by 10 seconds Thai Vipavee Deekaballes (3:42.337).

Gardoce made the podium with a time of 3:44.722.

But it was Belgira’s disappointing run that ruined her shot at a second consecutive SEA Games gold medal.

“I got the flat tire right in the first drop,” said Belgira, of Guimaras. “I felt the thud and I knew it…I tried to ride flat but to no avail.”

After her front tire got busted in the first drop—some 400 meters from the start and about eight feet high— Belgira still got on the saddle and completed the course, receiving a loud and appreciative applause from the relatively big crowd that gathered at the start/finish area.

“It’s okay, Naomi has a bronze medal and it’s a success already for the team,” she added.

“I feel surprised by the bronze, I wasn’t expecting to make the podium because the pandemic really cluttered my training,” Gardoce said.

By Josef Ramos

MEDAL TABLE R

and triathlon, which Team Philippines swept with its victory in the men’s race.

Agatha Wong, meanwhile, saved her best for last to rule wushu’s taijijian (taolu) as the Philippine wushu team hit its target of winning two gold medals also on Sunday.

Wong bagged the gold barely 24 hours after relinquishing her crown and settling for the silver in the taijiquan (taolu), the same event she won in the past two editions of the 11-nation event.

Later in the afternoon, Arnel Mandal made it a double celebration for the Philippines, winning the team’s second gold by beating Laksmana Pandu Pratama of Indonesia in the finals of the men’s 56kg

Guglietta, said he’s just halfway through his full potential.

NAOMI GARDOCE (left) and Lea Denise Belgira strike a pose with games mascot Sao La.