BusinessMirror May 16, 2023

BusinessMirror

MALAMPAYA CONTRACT EXTENDED FOR 15 YEARS

By Samuel P. Medenilla @sam_medenilla & Lenie Lectura @llectura

PRESIDENT Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. has approved the 15-year extension of the Malampaya Service Contract No. 38 (SC 38), in a move to ensure stability in energy supply when the contract expires on February 22, 2024.

Today we mark a very significant milestone as we pursue another huge endeavor that will promise monumental rewards for our country and our people,” Marcos said during the ceremonial signing event for the contract’s renewal in Malacañang on Monday morning.

It holds the key to our drive towards energy security and is calculated to greatly advance the nation’s energy interest,” he added.

T he Department of Energy (DOE) said the extension “will allow the continued production of the Malampaya gas field, ensuring that the remaining gas reserves are further explored and utilized.”

M alampaya is a deepwater gascondensate reservoir, located offshore, 65 kilometers northwest of the island of Palawan.

I n February, DOE an -

AFTER GCASH, BSP EYES QUICK WAY TO SETTLE FINANCIAL ROWS

MACTAN, Cebu—The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas is crafting a system that could settle disputes between feuding parties in the financial system, which may involve fraud.

With inflation falling rapidly, a pause is logical–Medalla

rate in this week’s decision.

nounced that Razon-led Prime Infrastructure Capital Inc. (Prime Infra), the contractor, which was awarded with SC 38,was seeking to prolong the validity of its production contract.

P rime Infra is targeting to find a new gas well by 2026.

T he designated SC 38 Consortium will be required to conduct geological and geophysical studies and drill at least 2 deep water wells  from 2024 to 2029 at the Malampaya production zone and its nearby area.  Its failure to do so will lead to it forfeiting a portion of its exploration areas.

T he consortium will be required to submit a Decommissioning Plan and Budget within 30 days from the effectivity of the renewal agreement.

See “Malampaya,” A2

B SP Governor Felipe M. Medalla said the recent incident involving GCash account holders have prompted the regulator, the central bank, to coordinate with bank and non-bank institutions to resolve issues immediately.

An important e-money company reported its depositors are complaining that they’re seeing in their own eyes, their balance is falling, although they’re not doing anything. Now, luckily, they were able to respond quickly,” Medalla said in a press briefing at the sidelines of the Financial Stability Conference.

“ But by the way, they are not due to hacking, they’re due to phishing,” he said, as there were some people hastily turning over their one-time password to the scammer.“So, meaning it’s not hacking, it was fooling.”

He said as people make the system more difficult to penetrate, the scammers find new ways of getting to potential victims.

Therefore this is a challenge that will be there forever. Regulators should also get better at it,” he said.

GCash earlier assured its subscribers and the public that its application remains safe to use since its management maintains a cybersecurity program and policy that could deal with any arising internet challenges and anomalies.

Gilda Maquilan, GCash vice president for public affairs and corporate communications, had earlier reported that after receiving reports of irregular funds’ movement from the subscribers’ accounts, the mobile wallet management immediately conducted a probe and detected phishing as the cause of the problem.

Medalla said things like the GCash incident will happen as bank deposits are now closer to money than ever before.

“ So clearly, private money will be more and more closer substitutes for sovereign money. So in that sense, it’s bad because then the edge of the centralized central bank will be reduced, especially at the time when we think that reserve requirements are too high and should be reduced,” he said.

See “Gcash,” A2

By VG Cabuag @villyg

MACTAN,

Cebu—Bangko

Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Felipe M. Medalla said on Monday the country’s inflation rate is “falling rapidly” such that it can be below 4 percent by September, October or November.

The low inflation in the last three months, the price index is a bit lower now than in January.

If you’re sure this is a permanent trend, clearly we must pause. Because there will be no need for another one. But then you know, we’ve been surprised so many times before,” Medalla said at the sidelines of the Financial Sustainability Conference.   “Its hard to cut because if we’re cutting and the US [Federal Reserve] is not, at that time that the interest rate differential is a major factor by the forex players,” the Philippines could be in a tricky spot, he explained, adding, “if the US is not cutting, it’s hard for us to be cutting lower.”

A ccording to a Bloomberg report, Medalla said a pause is the “most likely result” at the BSP’s May 18 meeting, as Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno, who sits on the seven-member monetary policy board, said that he will vote for a pause in the benchmark interest

That’s not a bad guess, but I cannot speak for the board,” Medalla said, referring to Diokno’s comment.

National Economic and Development Authority Secretary Arsenio

Balisacan had warned that raising interest rates further may dampen economic growth ahead as he foresees pent-up demand easing.

B SP is forecast to hold its benchmark rate at 6.25 percent on Thursday, according to almost all economists surveyed by Bloomberg.

Inflation target

MEDALLA said expectations will be well within the bank’s inflation target by next year.

T he BSP’s inflation target this year is between 2.5 percent and 4.5 percent; and next year, at 2 percent and 4 percent. Medalla said monetary authorities believe that inflation is falling rapidly mainly as the government relaxed importation of goods.

But I think that that will not last very long. So, the I think the inflation stance of the government now will be weighted in favor of controlling inflation versus the tremendous pressure to do something with the farmers. But right now, I think the government has made the right choice,” he said.

See “Inflation,” A2

Vanessa Sarno’s smile as she let’s go of the barbell says it all—she’s the Southeast Asian Games weightlifting champion anew in the women’s 71 kgs class in Phnom Penh. ROY DOMINGO

SPEAKER Martin G. Romualdez (left) and Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla applaud as President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. signs the renewal agreement for the Malampaya Service Contract No. 38 (SC 38) at the Malacañang Presidents Hall on Monday (May 15, 2023).The 25-year production contract, which expires on February 22, 2024, has been renewed for a final 15 years or until February 22, 2039, to allow for the continued production of the Malampaya gas field. In photo at right, the President accepts a scale model of the Malampaya offshore facility from industrialist Enrique Razon Jr., chairman of Prime Infra, the mother unit of Prime Energy, a consortium member. PNA PHOTOS BY REY BANIQUET

OFW remittances grow 3% to $2.97B; Q1 total at $8.9B

By Raadee S. Sausa

I n a statement, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) traced the growth to higher remittances sent by 1) land-based workers with work contracts of one year or more; and 2) sea- and land-based workers with work contracts of less than one year.

For the first quarter of 2023, personal remittances also grew 3.0 percent to $8.91 billion from $8.65 billion recorded in the comparable period in 2022, data showed.

Moreover, the OFs cash remit -

tances coursed through banks rose 3.0 percent to $2.67 billion in March 2023 from $2.59 billion in the comparable month a year ago. For the first quarter of 2023, cash remittances coursed through banks amounted to $8.00 billion, higher by 3.0 percent than the year-ago level of $7.77 billion, data showed.

T he growth in cash remittances from the United States (US), Singapore, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) contributed

Continued from A1

Next year, however, may not be as good as this year, due mainly to base effects.

So, even if the latest growth rate is higher, the large base will prevent, will make it harder to grow by the same rate next year,” he said.

Moving forward, Medalla said regulators should continue to strike a balance between establishing strong institutions while encouraging innovation in the design of tools that would have the requisite safeguards to build-in resilience. This

mainly to the remittance expanion in the first quarter of 2023.

Meanwhile, in terms of country sources, the US posted the highest share of overall remittances during the period, followed by Singapore, Saudi Arabia and Japan.

For her part, Domini Velasquez, chief economist at China Banking Corp. said the higher growth in remittances was likely driven by improving economic outlooks in advanced economies.

“

The US looks to be heading for a soft landing, with recession now only expected in [the] fourth quarter and the labor market still robust. Meanwhile, the euro area and the UK are now projected to dodge a recession altogether this year,” she said.

However, persistently high inflation in Europe, especially in the UK, may prevent OFs from sending more remittances back to the Philippines and keep remittance growth tepid over the coming

balance would help crisis-proof the system.  “ It’s finding the middle [where] there’s enough creativity [encouraged] but without thinking in terms of the public cost of mistakes,” Medalla said.

Today’s environment poses a different set of challenges for the authorities as well as the market

months,” Velasquez added.

C hief Economist Michael Ricafort of Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. said the OFW cash remittances for March—with 3 percent —was slightly slower than the 3.2 percent in the same period last year—but still a good signal for the economy.

“ The slowdown in OFW remittances data may also have to do with the relatively higher prices in major host countries for OFWs that fundamentally reduced the remittances sent back to the Philippines,” he added.

R icafort also cited as a factor in the slowdown in OFW remittances “the weaker peso exchange rate against the dollar compared to year-ago levels [about 9 percent peso depreciation compared to levels before the Russia-Ukraine war started in February 2022].” Such “also partly reduced the need to send more OFW remittances because of higher conversion rate for the dollar against the peso.”

stakeholders, he said.

T he BSP and the International Monetary Fund are jointly hosting a conference, attended by 14 central banks and financial authorities from the region as well as six regional and global organizations. The private sector was fully represented with 31 organizations.

T he theme of the conference

—“The New Frontier of Financial Stability: Global Problems, Global Solutions, Local Challenges,”—suggested that global developments invariably spill over to various jurisdictions. The participants of the conference then looked at how Asia can find a collective solution.

With a report by Bloomberg

Continued from A24

“Applicants have the option to pay at our district and extension offices, which is free. I understand that there are discussions about how we can lower the convenience fee,” Reyes said in a Viber message.  L im, for his part, said that “since the government already owns the LTMS, the public should not be charged these additional fees,” calling it a “money-making scheme and a vehicle for corruption.”

He likewise questioned the selection process of the payment gateway partner as to “whether it underwent proper bidding and accreditation, and the basis of such a price for a service fee,” which it said is higher than the usual rate of P25 to P45.

He claimed that besides the P75 service charge, some motorists, especially those with limited know-how on using computers, resort to paying P100 to P200 to “fixers” just to open an LTMS account.

N PTC has already called on lawmakers to investigate the alleged system glitches and irregularities of the LTMS project due to the failure of LTO’s foreign IT provider, Dermalog, to deliver its output on time despite receiving full payment amounting to P3.19 billion.

A t a hearing of the House Committee on Transportation on May 11, committee chairman and Antipolo 2nd District Rep. Romeo Acop questioned Dermalog’s capability to deliver the IT needs of the LTO, after a letter dated March 29, 2023, from LTO chief Assistant Secretary Jose Arturo Tugade asked LTO’s long-time IT provider Stradcom to continue its operations until the LTMS is fully operational.

Tugade explained he only asked Stradcom to stay until the migration of data from the old system to LTMS is completed. He earlier said LTO will be fully utilizing the LTMS by August 31, 2023, despite the reported glitches and incomplete system functionalities.

T he government is hopeful the extraction of more gas from the Malampaya fields will help in the country’s “energy security” and encourage more gas exploration initiatives in the West Philippine Sea.

Because of the contract renewal the government will continue to generate revenues from the project through a favorable sharing scheme with a private sector partner and the government,” Marcos said.

Needless to say, this project will reduce our country’s dependence on oil imports and ensure a more stable supply of cleaner energy from an indigenous local source,” he added.

P374-B revenue

DURING the three-decade operation of the Malampaya project, the President said the project generated P374 billion in revenue for the government.

He noted his administration will continue to push for more exploration and development initiatives so the country can tap its “indigenous energy resources.”

Meanwhile, the DOE noted that extension of the contract with the consortium ensures the continued production of the Malampaya gas field, which delivers around 20 percent of the country’s electricity requirements.

T he Malampaya consortium is composed of Prime Energy Resources Development BV (Prime Energy), UC38 LLC and PNOC Exploration Corp.

P rime Energy and UC38 each holds a 45-percent stake in the project. The remaining 10 percent is held by the government through PNOC-EC.

The DOE has meticulously evaluated the SC 38 Consortium. The assessment encompassed legal, technical, and financial capabilities, and confirmed the consortium’s capacity to sustain the production operations and meet its obligations under the Renewal Agreement,” DOE Secretary Raphael Lotilla said.

“The SC38 consortium is required to conduct a minimum work program consisting of geological and geophysical studies and the drilling of at least two deep water wells during the Sub-Phase 1 from 2024 to 2029. This firm work program is geared towards unlocking the potential both in the existing gas field and nearby prospect areas to provide incremental production,” the DOE said.

T he conduct of exploratory drilling further away from the Malampaya production area within the contract is a requirement for the consortium to retain the exploration areas. Should there be failure to comply, the consortium is obligated to relinquish a portion of the exploration areas, said the DOE.

L ikewise, the Malampaya consortium is required to submit a decommissioning plan and budget covering the abandonment of wells and decommissioning of facilities 30 days from the effectivity of the Renewal Agreement.

P rime Infra President and Chief Executive Officer Guillaume Lucci earlier said the company’s development for Malampaya includes exploring for potential reserves in surrounding areas. He added that the consortium expects to extract gas from a new well by 2026.

S eparately, Prime Infrastructure Capital, Inc. (Prime Infra) Chairman Enrique Razon Jr. said SC38 extension is a significant development for the country’s

Medalla said the BSP needs to settle disputes involving banks and their clients. It has a court room-like set up in its office for the hearing of cases. Its decision cannot be overruled by lower courts and only the Court of Appeals and Supreme Court can do so.

The system is being gradually built in that direction, because we

national energy security and independence. “The Malampaya asset will continue what it has started in operating this world-class installation for further exploration and ultilization of the country’s remaining gas reserves, as well as open up the other potential near field areas for future production,” said Razon.

P rime Energy is a unit of Prime Infra.

N ewly-appointed managing director and general manager of Prime Energy, Donnabel Kuizon Cruz, thanked the President and the DOE: “On behalf of the SC 38 consortium, we are very grateful for the renewal and for the opportunity to continue to operate and develop the Malampaya asset and facilities. Once again, we commit to doing our very best to help ensure a stable, cleaner and dependable energy supply for the Philippines.”

T he Malampaya gas field was discovered in 1989 and began production in 2001. Under SC 38, the consortium has been remitting 60 percent of the net proceeds from petroleum operations to the government. From October 2001 to December 2022, the consortium remitted more than $ 13.14 billion.

L otilla said the development of the field has had its challenges.  “The project has navigated through a myriad of complex legal, regulatory, and other issues and obstacles,” said the DOE chief.

S hell, Chevron, both former members of the consortium, and PNOC-EC applied for contract extension as early as 2010, and reiterated the same in 2018 and 2019.

L otilla said an early decision would have encouraged additional investments in facilities and wells, ensured the resiliency of ongoing operations, and facilitated the discovery of additional resources.

Today, less than a year before the expiration of SC 38, we find ourselves at a critical juncture for insuring in continued partnership with the private sector the further development and drilling of the SC 38 area at the soonest possible time—and restoring some certainty in our indigenous gas supply,” said Lotilla.

For stability

FOR his part, Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez said the renewal agreement for SC 38 should help stabilize the prices of electricity and prevent brownouts that result in business losses.

R omualdez was among the officials who witnessed Marcos Jr. sign at the Malacañang Palace the renewal agreement of SC 38. “This is a welcome development as the Malampaya gas field provides a significant portion of our country’s energy requirement,” Romualdez said. “Extension of the SC 38 will not only reduce our dependence on imported oil as fuel for our power plants, which will help stabilize the price of electricity. More importantly, it would help boost our power reserves and prevent brownouts resulting in losses for businesses and suffering for our people,” Romualdez said.

D eputy Speaker Ralph G. Recto, meanwhile, said, “Malampaya gas is a bulwark of our energy security. It fuels base-load power plants in my home province of Batangas.”

At one point, he added, it provided 40 percent of the energy needs of the almost 57 million people living in the world’s 4th most populous island.

expect a lot of complaints and identifying, deciding whether it’s the depositors’ fault or is the banks’ fault. This is the business that has to be done rather quickly. And well, I see of course, that that is not going to be problematic, because I’m sure that if you tell a bank you’re guilty, they will pay quickly because we have a long memory,” he said. VG Cabuag

OVERSEAS Filipino workers’ (OFWs) personal remittances increased by 3.0 percent to $2.97 billion in March 2023 from $2.89 billion the same month last year, data from the central bank showed on Monday.

BuCor

frees

267 inmates

PRISON officials on Monday released 267 persons deprived of liberty (PDLs), including 22 from the Correctional Institution for Women (CIW).

T he Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) Directorate for Security and Operations said in a statement that 124 of the 267 were granted parole; 96 were released following the expiration of their maximum sentence under the Good Conduct and Time Allowance; 39 were acquitted; seven were granted probation; and one walked out following the filing of a cash bond.

“ The release of qualified women

PDL was also timely in celebration of Mother’s Day,” said Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla, who attended the release ceremony at the CIW in Mandaluyong City.

F rom the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) in Muntinlupa City, 75 were detained at the Medium Security Compound and 45 from the Maximum Security Compound; 44 were from the Davao Prison and Penal Farm; and 40 from San Ramon Prison and Penal Farm in Zamboanga City.

On May 3, NBP and CIW visits were suspended after some inmates tested positive for Covid-19.

“ Though most of the positive cases are confined at the maximum compound, they are asymptomatic and mild cases. They are now at the isolation ward of the NBP,” the BuCor said in a statement after at least 48 were confirmed to have the virus. PNA

The Nation

PCG told to install more navigational buoys in WPS, assert Philippines’ territorial claim

By Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz @joveemarie & Rene Acosta @reneacostaBM

C agayan de Oro City Second District Rep. Rufus Rodriguez issued the statement as he commended the PCG for placing five navigational buoys to assert the country’s sovereignty over disputed islets, reefs and shoals in the WPS.

A ssertion of territorial ownership

R odriguez s statement came after the government reasserted its territorial ownership of the Kalayaan Island Group (KIG) and WPS by installing additional buoys in five of the nine features that it currently occupies in those maritime territories.

T he navigational buoys, which will also serve as sovereign markers for the country, were installed in Patag Island, Balagtas Reef, Kota Island, Panata Island at Ju -

More buoys

THE lawmaker also urged the PCG to procure more buoys and to include funding for those markers in its budget proposal to the Department of Budget and Management and Congress.

than 200 Chinese vessels around Juan Felipe Reef, which is about 175 miles from the Palawan town of Bataraza, well within the country’s 200-mile EEZ.

lian Felipe Reef in the WPS, according to the PCG.

“

The installation of buoys with the Philippine flag further signifies the country’s sovereign rights and jurisdiction over our EEZ [exclusive economic zone],” National Security Adviser Eduardo Año said during the arrival ceremony on Monday for the PCG vessels that took part in the laying operations.

“

This act of marking the boundaries with our national flag signals our unwavering resolve to safeguard our aquatic borders and resources. Furthermore, it underscores our adherence to global statutes, specifically the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which acknowledges coastal states’ entitlement to manage their EEZs,” he added.

“ The Coast Guard should install more buoys in the entire breadth of the WPS, from the northern part of the country in the Ilocos region to the south in the Palawan area, because that is the extent of Philippine territorial waters China is claiming,” he said.

R odriguez added the markers should serve as a warning to Chinese and other foreign powers that those are a demarcation of the Philippines’ 200-EEZ under international law. China should leave that area. They have no business occupying certain islets and sea features there,” he said.

T he Coast Guard, Rodriguez said, could also seek the help of the Philippine Navy in placing the buoys.

According to reports, the PCG installed markers carrying the national flag in five areas near the Spratly Islands group off Palawan, including Juan Felipe Reef, also known as Whitsun Reef, last month.

I n March 2021, the government protested the presence of more

A bout half of the ships left in the aftermath of the protest. A year later, the Department of Foreign Affairs again sent Beijing a diplomatic note complaining about the continued presence of Chinese vessels in the vicinity of Juan Felipe Reef.

R odriguez said the Coast Guard should also place buoys near Bajo de Masinloc or Scarborough Shoal, which is about 120 miles from Zambales and Pangasinan and a traditional fishing ground of Filipino fishermen from the two provinces.

That is clearly part of our EEZ, and yet China is occupying it. The Chinese Coast Guard routinely harasses our fishermen there,” he said.

C hina seized Scarborough Shoal in 2012 after a standoff between the Chinese Coast Guard and the PCG.

‘Source of pride and honor’

FOUR PCG ships and a Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources vessel undertook the operations under “OPLAN Kaligtasan at Soberenya” and ignored geopolitical factors, according to Año.

PCG Maritime Safety Services commander Vice Admiral Joseph Coyme said the country has already installed a total of 10 buoys in the KIG and WPS as they have also mounted five floating markers in Kalayaan Island, Lawak, Likas and Parola Islands late last year.

He said they are planning to install six more navigational markers in those maritime territories. Earlier, PCG Commandant Admiral Artemio Abu hailed the installation of the first batch of the floating markers, calling the buoys as “our source of pride and honor in serving our great nation.”

Just like last year, the ships, which undertook last week’s installation of buoys, braved dangers as they were constantly monitored and followed by a China Coast Guard vessel, especially at the Julian Felipe Reef. A side from serving as symbols of coastal state administration, the buoys will serve as navigational aids for Filipino fishermen and other sailors passing the KIG and the WPS, promoting safe and efficient maritime trade and commerce. “ These cardinal buoys will indicate the direction of safe waters to prevent passing ships from running aground in these shallow areas,” Año said.

pushed

DAVAO del Norte’s First District Rep. Pantaleon D. Alvarez personally visited the now famous Bauertek Corp. that will soon process the medical cannabis or marijuana once bills on this controversial plant are enacted into law.

Dr. Richard Nixon Gomez, the company’s general manager, scientist and inventor led the congressman, his wife and team in touring the medical facility, to show the latter the equipment to be used in the possibility of processing or formulating into medicines and medicinal oil from marijuana.

A fter being shown and given a tour of Bauertek Corporation, a research, manufacturing and development facility, the Media Health Forum anchored by veteran radio broadcasters Rolando “Lakay” Gonzalo and Edwin

Eusebio, was, likewise, conducted in the laboratory cum studio.

A lvarez strongly believes that the Philippines can be on par with other progressive countries in producing medicines from marijuana extract.

Para maaprubahan ang pagsasabatas sa medical cannabis, kinakailangang suportahan ito ng mga mambabatas, senador at mga nasa gobyerno kasama na ang mga advocates na walang tigil na isinusulong ang pagsasabatas ng halamang gamot na marijuana para gawing health medicine,” Alvarez told the media during the forum.

He told the group that in Thailand, once cannabis was developed to become medicine, it has reported that the number of tourists has increased, especially those seeking recovery and relief from various ailments, while the use of medical can-

Airlines issue flight advisories for May 17, 2023 two-hour airspace shutdown

By Nonie Reyes @Nonielonlon

FLAG carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) and Cebu Pacific on Monday announced there will be “no flight adjustment and cancelations,” even as AirAsia Philippines said it will cancel six domestic flights from the original eight as the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) implements its corrective maintenance for its AirTrafficManagementCenter(ATMC) on May 17, from 2 a.m. to 4 a.m.

PAL spokesperson Cielo Villaluna said PAL flights departing and arriving from Manila within the maintenance period will be allowed to take off and land utilizing one of the two Manila runways, which will remain open for flight departures.

A s a precaution, PAL worked with aviation authorities to put in place contingency plans to ensure that flight departures and arrivals within said period are supported with the necessary air navigation guidance for safety and operational efficiency.

Cebu Pacific Corporate Communication head Carmina Romero said, “Our flight schedules [will] proceed [as scheduled with] no flight adjustment/cancellations on May 17, 2023

during the corrective maintenance repair on ATMC.”

Steve Dailisan of AirAsia, for his part, said they canceled six domestic flights from Manila to Davao, Cebu and Bacolod as well as turnaround flights expected to be affected by the maintenance repair of ATMC.

C AAP earlier shortened the period the Philippine airspace will be closed on May 17 to two hours.

C AAP spokesman Eric Apolonio said a new Notice to Airmen was issued to inform stakeholders and the public of the change in the schedule for the ATMC repair.

He said the implementation of contingency procedures would be done in coordination with the adjacent Flight Information Regions to help minimize disruption to air traffic operations.

CAAP assures the public that all necessary measures are being taken to ensure the safety and efficiency of air travel during the maintenance activity. We apologize for any inconvenience that this schedule change may cause, and we appreciate your understanding and cooperation as we work to maintain the recommended standards of air traffic management in the country,” Apolonio said.

nabis is still illegal in their country. The use or mere possession of the weed is also illegal in the Philippines and users are penalized.

However, more and more advocates, including congressmen and senators are pushing for the legalization of the medical cannabis. Alvarez is the author of House Bill 6783 or the Decriminalization of Marijuana, which aims to amend Republic Act No. 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.

T he lawmaker is fully supportive of Gomez’s move to potentially process the medical cannabis to become pills or medicinal oil.

A mong the ailments said to be cured by marijuana medicines include depression, epilepsy, Alzheimer’s disease, sleep disorder, anxiety and others.

SEN. Chiz Escudero is pressing for higher compensation for victims of unjust imprisonment and violent crimes through amendment to Republic Act 7309 that created the Board of Claims (BOC) under the Department of Justice (DOJ) more than three decades ago.

Escudero, who filed the proposal last year, expressed hope that the three Senate committees—Justice and Human Rights; Social Justice Welfare and Human Rights, and Finance—will expedite the approval of Senate Bill 884 along with other similar measures.

The compensation provided, as well as the funds allocated, since its creation in 1992 have remained the same and thus proved insufficient as proper compensation at present times,” Escudero pointed out. “ The law is already 31 years

Unsung heroes: House bill hikes compensation for social workers

LAWMAKERS are pushing for an increase in the compensation of public social workers in recognition of the indispensable role that these unsung heroes play in providing assistance to the poor and other vulnerable sectors of society.

Under House Bill (HB) 7573, Davao City Rep. Paolo Duterte, Benguet Rep. Eric Yap and ACT-CIS Party-list Rep. Edvic Yap proposed that the entry-level pay of public social workers be increased from Salary Grade 10 or P23,176, to Salary Grade 13, which is equivalent to P31,320.

Their proposal applies to all registered social workers in government service, including those who are hired through job orders or contract of service.

“Public social workers go through extreme lengths to make our citizens feel  the government’s  presence and assistance, and it is only appropriate to establish necessary measures to recognize their heroic deeds and invaluable dedication,” the bill’s authors said.

Despite the enactment of Republic Act 9433 or the Magna Carta for Public Social Workers Act,  Duterte and his fellow authors pointed out that  social workers “remain to be one of the least incentivized” government employees,  notwithstanding their

vital task of helping underprivileged Filipinos during times of crisis.  Duterte said public social workers are the people that underprivileged Filipinos turn to in times of need, especially in government hospitals where they help families of patients find ways to get financial relief from mounting medical bills.

“Social workers are like shock absorbers. They help our countrymen in times of  personal crisis, disasters and other emergency situations. Despite this, public social workers  are the least appreciated as shown by the compensation they receive, which is grossly disproportionate to the tiring work and hours they put in as government frontliners,” Duterte said.

Under HB 7573, a public social worker refers to “civilian government personnel whose position requires at least a bachelor’s degree in social work, and registration or license as a social worker, whether or not the position title carries the words ‘social welfare,’ such as positions concerning community affairs and development, disaster risk and management,genderanddevelopment, labor and employment, peace, early childhood and development, volunteer service, youth development, and assistance to veterans.” Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz

old. Ang halaga ng mga kompensasyon na nakasaad sa batas na ito ay hindi na makatarungan para sa mga biktima sa kasalukuyang panahon ,” he added.

In an interview, the Bicolano senator explained that victims of unjust imprisonment may seek other legal remedies to get justice for the many years they languished in jail and can avail of the compensation offered under RA 7309.

“Kapag ikaw ay wrongfully imprisoned na mapapatunayan at na-acquit, may kompensasyong ibabayad sa ‘yo ang gobyerno. Hindi nga lang siyempre katumbas ng malaking sweldo na sana’y kinita mo, hindi katumbas ng sana’y malaking kita kung ikaw ay nagnenegosyo, pero mayroon tayong batas na ganoon,” Escudero said.

“ The current bill that I filed intends to increase the compensation amount. Hindi sapat pero at least,

maamiyendahan ang isang mahigit tatlong dekadang batas,” he added.

According to Escudero, his bill aims to reasonably compensate, at least financially, the losses suffered by the victims by increasing the compensation of unjust imprisonment or detention and victims of violent crimes authorized under RA 7309. SB 884 also seeks to increase the annual funding and allocation for the Victims Compensation Fund managed by the BOC, which grants compensation to victims of wrongful imprisonment and violent crimes following an acquittal by the trial court for alleged offenses for which they have been wrongfully charged.

I f enacted into law, the victims could claim up to P10,000 per month of incarceration from the current P1,000.

Sen. Imee airs caution on DA biofertilizer MO supposedly to hike yield, protect soil

By Raadee S. Sausa @raadeeboy

SEN. Imee Marcos is urging the Department of Agriculture (DA) to review its Memorandum Order (MO) No. 32 that limits the type of fertilizer farmers could use.

On April 27, MO 32 was signed to promote the distribution of yet-tobe-named biofertilizers to farmers nationwide in place of inorganic urea.

T he farmers first approached the senator’s office about the matter, apparently fueled by fears that rice production would be endangered by the said government biofertilizer project.

“Biofertilizer does benefit the soil but will it match previous levels of rice production?” asked the senator.

T he El Niño phenomenon also poses a threat to rice production, especially since there are expected reductions in the supply of water for irrigation from the Angat Dam, Marcos said.

“Biofertilizers need to be tested first if they can really lower costs and increase rice production,” she pointed out.

“ The numerical data in MO 32

must be carefully recalculated so that the purpose of using biofertilizer in rice production can be closer to reality,” the senator added.

Moreover, Marcos mentioned that the price of P2,000 per kilo for urea in MO 32 is 33 percent to 82 percent higher than the prevailing market price of only P1,100 to P1,500.

In a separate document on the DA's guidelines for suppliers, it was shown that the price of P6,000 per five-gram pack of microbial-based biofertilizer is more expensive than urea.

A s for predicting rice harvests, Marcos mentioned that the uncertain content of nitrogen in biofertilizers is the reason why it may be less reliable than the clear 46-0-0 NPK (nitrogenphosphorus-potassium) ratio of urea that farmers use in planting.

Moreover, DA regional field offices are authorized to decide which brand of biofertilizer to distribute to farmers, which may open avenues for corruption or a source of corruption. Farmers know what is the best fertilizer to use,” Marcos said.

The government should maintain the system of giving cash vouchers for subsidies on fertilizers,” she added.

ASENIOR lawmaker on Monday called on the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) to install more navigational buoys in the West Philippine Sea (WPS).

Senate bill seeking higher premium for victims of unjust imprisonment, violent crimes

Alvarez visits Bauertek lab, renews call to develop ‘weed’ into meds

Govt eyes onion importation for ‘price stability’–DA exec

By Raadee S. Sausa @raadeeboy

THE Department of Agriculture (DA) is studying all options, including the possible importation of onions, to lower the rising prices in selected markets, an official said on Monday.

T he DA said it is now coordinating with onion farmers to determine how they could lower the farm-gate price of the commodity currently priced at P100 to P120 per kilo.

Onion’s farm-gate price is really

quite high now. We are looking at how or if we could peg the farm-gate price at P100 per kilo, where our farmers already have their margins,” DA Assistant Secretary Kristine Evangelista said.

T he DA, she added, also has to monitor the inflow and outflow of onion stocks in cold storage facilities, and check ports and markets to determine if there are smuggled onions being sold. Right now, we don’t see any imported onions. But all the angles are

No rollback this time: Oil firms raise fuel pump prices today

OIL prices are on the rise this week.

In separate announcements, oil firms said they will increase diesel price by P1.40 per liter, kerosene by P1.20 per liter, and gasoline by P0.35 per liter.

T he announcement was made Seaoil, Shell, Petron, Caltex, Total, Unioil, PTT, and Phoenix. They said separately that pump prices would be adjusted at

6 a.m. of Tuesday, May 16.

C leanfuel, on the other hand, will adjust its pump prices at 4:01 p.m.

Prior to this week’s price adjustment, diesel price was reduced for four consecutive weeks and three straight weeks for gasoline and kerosene.

T he rollback in oil prices was largely driven by microeconomic concerns from the world’s two largest economies, US and China. Movements in the world oil market affect local pump prices. Last May 9, oil companies implemented a per liter decrease of P2.20 for gasoline, P2.70 for diesel and P2.55 for kerosene. These resulted to a year-to-date net decrease for diesel at P7.05/liter and kerosene at P7.50/liter. Gasoline on the other hand, has a net increase of P3.85/liter. Lenie Lectura

being looked into, so we are working on bringing down the price of onions for our consumers,” the official said.

T he supply of red onions in the country is enough to last until November, while that of white onions may last until September, the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) said over the weekend.

For its part, the Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura (SINAG) called on the government to import white onions by July to avert a possible shortage and price increases.

Generative AI vs general AI in your organization

employ generative AI models to predict weather patterns and simulate the effects of climate change.

A s for red onions, the group said the importation could be done at a later time.

Meanwhile, Evangelista said the DA would consider importing the commodity for “price stability” purposes. However, she did not provide an estimated date as to when this will take place.

“ We need to be able to maintain the supply. At the same time, we will check if the supply reaches the market itself. If this is enough, our price will be stable,” she added.

Govt offers ₧25,000 loan for farmers, fisherfolk

FOR the coming dry season, a government agency has opened a loan facility loans for farmers and fishermen who may be affected by the El Niño phenomenon.

Our individual farmers can borrow up to P25,000, and this is zero interest and payable in three years, up to P25,000 per borrower,” Agricultural Credit Policy Council (ACPC) Deputy Executive Director Cristina Lopez announced.

“For our agri business loan, our individual farmers can borrow up to P300,000,” she added.

L opez also said that for any calamity, for that matter, “we need the farmers, those affected by the calamity, they need to have a ready livelihood as an alternative livelihood.”

By Henry J. Schumacher

THE basic question we need to address is do we in business need to get involved in AI. Of course, the answer is: YES. If we don’t get involved, our competitors will be happy and leave us behind.

But their livelihood should be agri-based…because our support is really for food production,” she added.

Moreover, Lopez said for survival and recovery, a total P750 million is available for the year 2023. I n March, the Department of Agriculture (DA) launched a special loan program for farmers through its ACPC.

DA said that the beneficiaries are under the Optimization and Resiliency In the Onion Industry Network (ORION).

Moreover, the DA has handed a P10-million check to the Occidental Mindoro Cooperative Bank and a P3-million check to Rueda Onion Growers Association from Nueva Ecija. Raadee S. Sausa

T he next question is do we focus just on general AI or move into generative AI. The answer is: we need to engage in both. Generative AI and general AI represent different aspects of artificial intelligence. Generative AI focuses on creating new content or ideas based on existing data. It has specific applications and is a subset of AI that excels at solving particular tasks.

General AI, also known as artificial general intelligence, broadly refers to the concept of AI systems that possess human-like intelligence. General AI is still the stuff of science fiction; it represents an imagined future stage of AI development in which computers are able to think, reason, and act autonomously.

Is generative AI the future?

IT depends on who you ask, but many experts believe that generative AI has a significant role to play in the future of various industries. The capabilities of generative AI have already proven valuable in areas like content creation, software development and health care, and as the technology continues to evolve, so too will its applications and use cases.

Other uses of generative AI include: Health care: Generative AI is used in medicine to accelerate the discovery of novel drugs, saving time and money in research.

Marketing:Advertisersusegenerative AI to craft personalized campaigns and adapt content to consumers’ preferences.

Education: Some educators use generative AI models to develop customized learning materials and assessments that cater to students’ individual learning styles.

Finance: Financial analysts use generative AI to examine market patterns and predict stock market trends.

Environment: Climate scientists

T hat said, the future of generative AI is inextricably tied to addressing the potential risks it presents. Ensuring AI is used ethically by minimizing biases, enhancing transparency and accountability and upholding data governance will be critical as the technology progresses. At the same time, striking a balance between automation and human involvement will be crucial for maximizing the benefits of generative AI while mitigating any potential negative consequences on the work force.

Dangers and limitations of generative AI

IT’S important to note that generative AI presents numerous issues requiring attention. One major concern is its potential for spreading misinformation or malicious or sensitive content, which could cause profound damage to people and businesses—and potentially pose a threat to national security.

T hese risks have not escaped policymakers. In April 2023, the European Union proposed new copyright rules for generative AI that would require companies to disclose any copyrighted material used to develop these tools.

Hopes are that such rules will encourage transparency and ethics in AI development, while minimizing any misuse or infringement of intellectual property. This should also offer some protection to content creators whose work may be unwittingly mimicked or plagiarized by generative AI tools.

L et me finalize my column by highlighting the latest developments in the EU which will affect the BPM industry in the Philippines:

In a draft document, the EU is considering tougher cybersecurity regulations including forcing non-EU cloud service providers to only handle sensitive data through a joint venture with an EU-based company. The document would also require the cloud service to be operated and maintained from the EU.

Takeaway: The EU has definitely been provocative and ahead of the game on tech regulations and cybersecurity. And while user data should be addressed sensitively, it’s hard to tell whether these changes would help or hinder these companies’ ability to continue providing business as usual.

There is no doubt that AI will change the world, whether we like it or not. It is trusted that we will have a happy union of people and machines. Feedback is desired. Contact me at hjschumacher59@gmail.com

NGCP urged to modernize transmission network

By Lenie Lectura @llectura

THE Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities (ICSC) called on the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) to modernize the transmission network in order to fully integrate renewable energy (RE) into the Philippine grid.

T he NGCP has declared that the influx of a lot of variable technologies would need a lot of upgrades from the grid. It has also committed to finishing priority transmission projects this year. We welcome the announcement of the NGCP to integrate RE projects in the Philippine grid, which is a huge step forward in the country’s energy transition. However, in order to achieve affordable, reliable, and secure power in the Philippines, what we need is to modernize the grid. Simply integrating RE in the current transmission setup is not enough,” commented ICSC energy transition advisor Alberto Dalusung III.

T he group noted that the current grid is centralized on large baseload coal power plants. Dalusung pointed out that this is “unsuitable” for the country’s variable load demand and recurring supply shortages.

“ Unlike coal, RE is not intermittent, as previously stated by the NGCP. It may be variable, but it is highly available and predictable. In fact, the Department of Energy [DOE] has identified tens of thousands of renewable energy capacity in their Competitive Renewable Energy Zones [CREZ],” said the ICSC official.

T he CREZ process identifies the most economic RE resource areas so that transmission planning and expansion can accelerate their development. CREZ initially identified 25 high-quality solar and wind resources across the Philippines with an estimated total capacity of 152,097 megawatts (MW) including the potential capacity coming from geothermal resources at 365 MW.

A ccording to Dalusung, RE power plants such as geothermal have the highest capacity factors at 71 percent in 2022, compared to coal power plants at only 65 percent.  “This is against the common notion about coal plants being highly available and reliable,” he said.

He cited the following coal plants that had lower than 65 percent capacity in 2022. These are Mariveles Unit 2, Sual Unit 2, Calaca Unit 1, Calaca Unit 2, Pagbilao Unit 1, Pagbilao Unit 2, Mariveles Unit 1, Quezon Power, and San Buenaventura.

Ultimately, evidence shows that we urgently need to shift towards flexible and distributed power generation using indigenous and readily available renewable energy sources. Everyone in the Philippine power sector has a role to play, we need all hands on deck to achieve an energy system that is affordable, reliable, and secure, and that suits the needs of all Filipinos,” said Dalusung.

T he NGCP, for its part, stressed that while it fully supports RE, “We have to see how responsive our current regulatory measures are to address nuances of variable, new, and emerging technologies.”

M.U.P. Pension Reform Bill tossed to T.W.G.

F or his part, National Defense officer-in-charge

Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. said notwithstanding the restiveness reported to have been stirred by moves to tweak the pensions, “the men and women of the AFP remain true to their oath” to defend the republic at all times.

H e assured lawmakers they are “open” to changes in the system “as long as these are fair” to the military and uniformed personnel, and based on correct principles of actuarial science.

Diokno warning

FINANCE Secretary Benjamin Diokno has been warning that unless the measure is passed, the government faces a “fiscal disaster” because of the burgeoning needs of current pensioners and future retirees in the uniformed ranks.

A t a Palace briefing in March, officials led by Diokno had said the Marcos administration is eyeing to implement reforms in the MUP retirement and pension system to avoid a “fiscal collapse” as the national government had been badly stretched by the Covid-19 pandemic.

I n that briefing, Finance Secretary Diokno said President Marcos expressed support for four proposals:

F irst, the reform will apply to all active personnel and new entrants. Second, the automatic indexation of pension to the salary of active personnel of single ranks will be removed.

T hird, military and uniformed personnel will receive their pension starting at 57 years old, not automatically after 20 years of service.

Fourth, mandatory contributions will be required for active personnel and

Govt pours aid to Oriental Mindoro oil spill victims

ment the initiative.

By Samuel P. Medenilla @sam_medenilla

Calapan City will receive the bulk or P19,840,932 of the funds, which will be used to provide emergency employment and livelihood assistance to oil spill victims.

T he other areas, which will benefit from the program include Pola (P5,065,875); Naujan (P9,143,103); Mansalay (P11,051,103); Pinamalayan (P17,886,147); Bansud (P7,787,673); Bu -

By Joel R. San Juan @jrsanjuan1573

lalacao (P13,355,514); Gloria (P8,207,055); Bongabong (P7,782,042); Roxas (P7,748,256); and San Teodoro (P344,835).

D OLE signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with the Department of Tourism (DOT), Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda) and the Provincial Government of Oriental Mindoro (PGOM) to imple -

U nder the MOA, DOLE will provide emergency employment to the affected workers through its Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers (TUPAD) program as well as livelihood aid.

D OT will hold training programs for qualified beneficiaries on kulinarya/food tourism; farm tourism; tourism micro retail; and health and wellness tourism, among others.

Tesda will provide National Certificate (NC) II skills training in construction; agriculture; tourism; automotive; and other relevant sectors, as well as livelihood training programs through its training centers and registered mobile programs. It also designed short-term programs on critical competencies for each of the identified NC II courses.

For its part, PGOM will act as the coordinator in charge of ensuring the systematic coverage of affected workers and smooth project implementation, as well as monitoring the integration of trained beneficiaries to establish their self-reliance.

According to DOLE’s regional office in Mimaropa, they will provide salaries to the beneficiaries, who will be covered by TUPAD.

T hey will also provide livelihood assistance for the beneficiaries, who will complete their training from DOT or Tesda.

L ast month, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) reported a total of 193,436 individuals nationwide were affected by the oil spill caused by the sinking of motor tanker MT Princess Empress, when it sank off Oriental Mindoro last March.

T he ship carried 800,000 liters of industrial fuel when it sank.

continued from a24

new entrants similar to the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) pensioners.

A t Monday’s hearing, however, some officials appealed that the reforms apply only to new entrants. D iokno had noted in March that the current pension system is non-contributory-meaning, retirement pensions and benefits are fully funded by the national government through annual appropriations despite having no contribution from the retirees. This, he explained, worsens the fiscal burden of government.

Under the proposed pension scheme, he said “all those who are in active service and the new recruits will have to pay.”

J ustifying removal of the automatic indexation of pension to the salary of active personnel of similar ranks, Diokno said, “In other words, if you are a retiree [and] if you are a general getting X amount of money, if the salary of the incumbent is doubled, you get your pension doubled also,” he said.

We have to really address that issue. It’s not sustainable. I said, if this goes on, there will be a fiscal collapse,” he said then.

A sked how much military and uniformed personnel will be contributing to the new MUP pension system, the DOF chief said it will be a “gradual” contribution.

For the first three years, their contribution is 5 percent of the salary and the contribution of the national government will be 16 percent.

F or the next three years, it will be increased to 7 percent and the NG share will decline to 14 percent. “Years thereafter, the MUP share will be increased to 9 percent and NG 12 percent,” he added.

Butch Fernandez, with PNA report

JUSTICE Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla on Monday attributed the delay in the formal filing of a criminal complaint against suspended Negros Oriental 3rd District Representative Arnolfo “Arnie” Teves in connection with the killing of Negros Oriental Gov. Roel Degamo and nine others last March 4 to the sudden decision of several  suspects not to cooperate.

R emulla, however, assured that a formal complaint will be filed against Teves before the DOJ on Wednesday and expressed optimism that even without Teves’ participation in the preliminary investigation, the case would  be elevated before the trial court soon.

T he Department of Justice (DOJ) chief said the suspects, who were supposed to serve as  witnesses as well, decided to lawyer up when the investigators were already zeroing in on Teves’ role in the Degamo killing.

He added that the said suspects previously gave authorities  “a very good picture of what happened” following the killing of Degamo.

“

Some of them have refused to speak already and they have not issued another statement and we suspect that they will change their

statements later on and may make recantation of sorts. But we’re not afraid of that because everything was clearly given and said in front of counsel and other people,” Remulla stressed.

T he suspects, he added,  surrendered voluntarily  to the military several days after the March 4 brutal attack and were later on transferred to the custody of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) for debriefing.

“

But when we were already pursuing the participation of Congressman Teves…many of them have already lawyered up by this time. Meaning by lawyered up, they were provided with lawyers by some people who are paying for their lawyers, who were not there before and obviously some people are interested with the statements they want to give and now they don’t want to cooperate anymore with authorities,” Remulla recalled.

T his prompted investigators, according to the DOJ chief, to review the case.

T he DOJ secretary hinted of a possible conspiracy involving moneyed people to provide the suspects with private lawyers.

But that will not stop us from filing the proper cases because the statements have been given much

earlier, freely, with CCTV and cameras and in front of witnesses and PAO [Public Attorney’s Office] lawyers,” Remulla assured.

Remulla said the investigation remains open for other angles and possible witnesses.

It can be recalled that the DOJ has already indicted 11 suspects for Degamo’s murder.

T hey are now facing trial for 10 counts of murder, 13 counts of frustrated murder for the victims who sustained serious  injuries  and three (four counts) of attempted murder for the victims who sustained nonfatal injuries.

Teves, who has denied any involvement in the Degamo killing,   has yet to return to the country after going to the United States last February 28 to undergo stem cell treatment.

He was supposed to return to the country on March 9.

Teves has expressed apprehension to return to the country due to alleged threats to his life.

He has been suspended as a member of the House due to his failure to return to work.

R emulla earlier reported that Teves tried to apply for political asylum in Timor Leste but it was denied. Instead, Timor Leste gave Teves five days to leave the country.

DA co-organizes International Rice Congress 2023 in October

By Raadee S. Sausa @raadeeboy

THE Department of Agriculture (DA) has pledged support in co-organizing the largest gathering of the stakeholders of rice-based food systems worldwide in the Philippines from October 16 to 19, 2023 with the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI).

Rice is one of the priority areas of the Philippine government to achieve food self-sufficiency and improve the lives of Filipino farmers,” DA Undersecretary for Rice Industry Development, Leocadio Sebastian said on Monday.

At International Rice Congress [IRC] 2023, we can learn about recent advancements in genetic, digital and nature-based solutions, offering valuable insights to address the various challenges faced by the rice industry in the Philippines,” he said in a statement.

Since 2002, IRC has served as a platform for scientists, experts and decision makers from the govern-

ment, private and public sector to develop evidence-based solutions to the challenges of the global rice sector. Rice, being the staple food for more than half of the global population, remains a critical commodity for farmers, consumers, and government decision makers.

For his part, IRRI Director General Jean Balié said that “while IRRI is excited to showcase cutting-edge technology, and breakthrough studies and innovations from different parts of the world during IRC 2023, we would like to emphasize the urgency to focus the discussions on how to provide holistic science-based solutions to the combined impacts of climate extremes, looming rice crisis, conflict and economic shocks to the rice value chain.”

“ We look forward to meeting long-time partners and collaborators as well as new players in the agri-food, climate change, and nutrition sector and learn from each other,” he added.

T his year’s IRC will revolve around the theme “Accelerating Transforma-

tion of Rice-Based Food Systems:

From Gene to Globe” to highlight solutions and innovations that could help address critical issues on agriculture and climate change, food and nutrition security, environmental sustainability, and human and economic development.

T he conference provides a unique opportunity to convene globally leading experts in agricultural industry, research and development, academia, and civil society to network with individuals and organizations and harness each other’s potential and find areas of collaboration.

T his year, the sixth edition of IRC will be held at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC), which has recently been declared as a Natural Cultural Treasure for its richness in Filipino history, heritage and culture. Previous IRC were held in Beijing (2002), New Delhi (2006), Hanoi (2010), Bangkok (2014), and Singapore (2018).

T his will be the first time that the conference will be held in the Philippines, the headquarters of IRRI.

By Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz  @joveemarie

THE House of Representatives

on Monday approved on third and final reading a bill that seeks to redefine illegal recruitment when committed by non licensees or non holders of authority, making it easier to prosecute the crime and give justice to overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).

Voting 260 affirmative and 0 negative, lawmakers approved House Bill (HB) 7718 that seeks to amend Article 38 of the Labor Code and Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act by adding a new way to identify illegal recruitment by a syndicate which is “if the offenders are non-licensees or non-holders of authority and the act was carried out by two or more persons.”

“

We see this proposed law as an added protection for our hardworking OFWs and an effort to strengthen further our efforts in deterring illegal recruitment and giving justice to OFWs who fall prey to illegal recruitment,” Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez said.

Under the current Labor Code, Romualdez said illegal recruitment by a syndicate is deemed committed only if carried out by a group of three or more persons conspiring and/or confederating with one another in carrying out any unlawful or illegal transaction, enterprise or scheme defined under the law.

“ The minimum number of persons provided in the law makes it hard to prosecute illegal recruitment cases by a syndicate,” said the Speaker.

“

With House Bill 7718, we hope to fight the crime of illegal recruitment further and make it easier for government prosecutors to file and prosecute the crime of illegal recruitment committed by a syndicate in the case of non-licensees or non-holders of authorities, as two or more persons conspiring or confederating with one another would be sufficient,” Speaker said.

The Migrant Workers Act provides many instances of committing illegal recruitment but its main definition is “any act of canvassing, enlisting, contracting, transporting, utilizing, hiring, or procuring workers and includes referring, contract services, promising or advertising for employment abroad, whether for profit or not when undertaken by non-licensee or non-holder of authority.”

AROUND 20,000 people in areas affected by the oil spill in Oriental Mindoro will receive P110 million worth of government aid, according to the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).

Remulla bares reason for delay in filing of criminal raps in court vs Rep. Teves

Bill redefining illegal recruitment hurdles third and final reading

Guest nations at the G-7 reflect outreach to developing countries

By Hyung-Jin Kim & Mari Yamaguchi The Associated Press

TOKYO—This week’s summit of the Group of Seven wealthy democracies in Hiroshima will include eight other guest nations, part of a complicated, high-stakes diplomatic gambit meant to settle the world’s most serious crises. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has invited South Korea, Australia, India, Brazil, Vietnam, Indonesia, Comoros and the Cook Islands.

Kishida hopes this mix of countries will help efforts to stand up to China’s assertiveness and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to analysts. He also wants stronger ties with US allies and with developing nations and to make progress on working toward a nuclear-free world, something that looks increasingly difficult amid North Korean and Russian nuclear threats.

Here’s a look at what to expect as the rich world leaders welcome these guest countries:

Pushback on China, Russia

AS their top diplomats did last month in a meeting in Nagano, Japan, the leaders of the G-7 nations—the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Canada, Italy and the European Union—will try to form a unified front against Chinese threats to Taiwan and Russia’s war on Ukraine.

“The G-7 is committed to upholding the international order, and most of its members are in Europe, so supporting Ukraine against Russia’s invasion is a top priority,” said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul.

“As the pillar of the G-7 in Asia, Japan is particularly focused on updating the international order to cope with the rise of China,” Easley said. “The Kishida government’s agenda and special invitations for the Hiroshima summit reflect an effort not to contain China but to expand the international coalition defending standards for state behavior.”

The eight guest nations have complex political and economic ties with China and Russia.

India is part of the Quad group of four Indo-Pacific nations, which also includes the United States, Japan and Australia. China has accused that group of representing an “Asian NATO.” On the Russia-Ukraine war, India has abstained several times from voting on UN resolutions against Moscow, though it has stressed the need for diplomacy on ending the war. It’s boosted its imports of Russian oil.

Brazil is a member of the so-called BRICS group of developing nations, including China, Russia and India. Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva recently visited China to strengthen ties with its biggest trade market. He has also irritated Ukraine and some in the West with his position on the war, recently suggesting that Ukraine cede Crimea to forge peace.

Japan is courting Vietnam because it also has territorial disputes with China, according to Kim Yeol Soo, an expert at South Korea’s Korea Institute for Military Affairs.

‘Global South’ nations

KISHIDA has said his list of guest nations reflects the importance of the socalled “Global South” countries. That’s a term used for developing countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America.

The G-7 nations account for about 40 percent of the world’s economic activity, a decrease from an estimated 80 percent of global gross domestic product in the 1970s.

“When the UN adopts resolutions, you see a considerable number of its 190 or so member states are ‘Global South’ countries,” said Choi Eunmi, a Japan expert at South Korea’s Asan Institute for Policy Studies.

Indonesia’s importance for Japan, for instance, is linked to its abundant natural resources and economic potential, said Kim, the expert.

India is this year’s president of the G-20, which is seen as a crucial bridge between G-7 economies and the Global South. Japan has traditionally had close ties with India, where Kishida visited in March for a summit with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

In response to questions by The Associated Press, Japan’s Foreign Ministry said the G-7 and other nations need to cooperate with the Global South to deal with energy, food security, climate change, health and development issues.

US allies

JAPAN’S invitation of South Korea reflects the neighbors’ role as staunch US allies with a shared security threat from North Korea’s advancing nuclear arsenal.

In recent weeks, Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol have taken major steps to boost security and economic cooperation and to move beyond historical grievances stemming from Japan’s 1910-1945 colonization of the Korean Peninsula.

The Japanese Foreign Ministry’s response to an AP query praised Yoon for an “active diplomacy showing commitment to the peace and prosperity of the region, including announcing the Indo-Pacific strategy.”

Kishida, Yoon and US President Joe Biden are expected to meet on the margins of the G-7 summit to discuss North Korea’s nuclear ambitions, China’s growing influence and the Russian-Ukraine war.

Australia, also a key US ally, has already been closely cooperating with Japan, including on efforts to achieve a “free and open Indo-Pacific,” according to the Japanese Foreign Ministry, which called Australia a “special strategic partner.”

Last year, the two countries signed a new security agreement covering military, intelligence and cybersecurity cooperation to counter the deteriorating security outlook driven by China’s increasing assertiveness. It was the first such agreement Japan has struck with any country other than the United States.

Other issues

SOME of the guest nations lead regional and other bodies.

Brazil takes over next year for India as president of the G-20. Indonesia is chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Comoros leads the African Union, and the Cook Islands chairs the Pacific Islands Forum.

Japan is stepping up its security and economic ties with the 18 Pacific Forum countries, partly to counter growing Chinese influence there. Observers say the invitation of the Cook Islands is an expression of Japanese respect to the Pacific nations, where there’s been worry about the planned release of treated but still radioactive wastewater into the Pacific from Japan’s tsunami-wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant.

Kishida is from Hiroshima, one of the two Japanese cities hit with US atomic bombs at the end of World War II. Holding the summit in his hometown will give him a chance to outline his determination to build a nuclear-free world.

Because of North Korea’s pursuit of nuclear missiles meant to target the US mainland, “it would be a bit awkward if Japan didn’t include South Korea, which faces North Korea’s nuclear threats on its doorstep,” said Choi, the expert. Kim reported from Seoul, South Korea.

France pledges more military aid following Zelenskyy-Macron talks

By John Leicester & Frank Jordans The Associated Press

PARIS—France pledged additional military aid for Ukraine on Sunday, including light tanks, armored vehicles, training for soldiers and other assistance as the Ukrainians gear up for a counteroffensive against Russian forces, following surprise talks in Paris between the Ukrainian and French presidents.

Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy and France’s Emmanuel Macron met for about three hours at the French presidential Elysee Palace—an encounter kept under wraps until shortly before the Ukrainian leader’s arrival in Paris from Germany on a French government jet, extending his multi-stop European tour.

With Ukraine planning to go on the offensive hoping to retake Russian-occupied territory, military aid was a top agenda item. Macron’s office said France will supply dozens of light tanks and armored vehicles “in the weeks ahead,” without giving specific numbers. Also promised were more air defense systems, but again details weren’t made public.

More Ukrainians will also be made battle-ready, with France aiming to train about 2,000 Ukrainian soldiers in France this year and nearly 4,000 others in Poland as part of a wider European effort, Macron’s office said.

In a statement, France described its support for Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity as “unwavering” and promised that its political, economic, humanitarian and military aid will continue “for as long as necessary.”

In a tweet on his arrival, Zelenskyy said: “With each visit, Ukraine’s defense and offensive capabilities are expanding. The ties with Europe are getting stronger, and the pressure on Russia is growing.”

France has supplied Ukraine with an array of weaponry, including air defense systems, light tanks, howitzers and other arms and equipment and fuel.

France dispatched a plane to pick up Zelenskyy in Germany, where he met with Chancellor Olaf Scholz earlier Sunday and discussed his country’s planned counteroffensive. Zelenskyy said it will aim to liberate Russian-occupied areas within Ukraine’s internationally recognized borders, and not attack Russian territory.

The Washington Post cited previously undisclosed documents from a trove of US intelligence leaks suggesting that Zelenskyy has considered trying to capture areas in Russia proper for possible use as bargaining chips in peace negotiations to end the war launched by Moscow in February 2022. This would put him at odds with Western governments that have insisted that weapons they provide must not be used to attack targets in Russia.

Asked about the report, Zelenskyy said: “We don’t attack Russian territory, we liberate our own legitimate territory.”

“We have neither the time nor the strength (to attack Russia),” he said, according to an official interpreter. “And we also don’t have weapons to spare, with which we could do this.”

“We are preparing a counterattack for the illegally occupied areas based on our constitutionally defined legitimate borders, which are recognized internationally,” Zelenskyy said.

Among areas still occupied by Russia are the Crimean peninsula and parts of eastern Ukraine with mainly Russian-speaking populations.

A Luftwaffe jet flew Zelenskyy to the German capital from Rome, where he met Saturday with Pope Francis and Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni.

It was his first visit to Berlin since the start of the invasion and came a day after the German government announced a new package of military aid for Ukraine worth more than 2.7 billion euros ($3 billion), including tanks, anti-aircraft systems and ammunition.

Zelenskyy thanked Scholz for the support, saying Germany is now second only behind the United States in providing aid to Ukraine—and joked that he is working to make it the biggest donor.

“German air defense systems, artillery, tanks and infantry fighting vehicles are saving Ukrainian lives and bringing us closer to victory. Germany is a reliable ally! Together we are bringing peace closer!” he wrote on Twitter.

Scholz said that Berlin has so far given Kyiv some 17 billion euros in bilateral aid and that it can expect more in future.

After initially hesitating to provide Ukraine with lethal weapons, Germany has become one of the biggest suppliers of arms to Ukraine, including Leopard 1 and 2 battle tanks, and the sophisticated IRIS-T SLM air defense system. Modern Western hardware is considered crucial if Ukraine is to succeed in its planned counteroffensive.

In the western German city of Aachen, Zelenskyy also received the prestigious International Charlemagne Prize, awarded to him and the people of Ukraine.

In her congratulatory speech, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen compared the war in Ukraine to the fall of the Iron Curtain more than 30 years ago.

“Every generation has its moment when it has to stand up to defend democracy and what it believes in,” she said. “For us, that moment has come.”

Zelenskyy accused Moscow of trying to turn back the clock of European history.

“Modern Russia waged war not just on us, as a free and sovereign state, not just against united Europe as a global symbol of peace and prosperity,” he said in his acceptance speech. “This is Russia’s war for the past.”

Jordans reported from Berlin. Associated Press writers David Rising in Kyiv and Elise Morton in London contributed to this report.

• Editor: Angel R. Calso

Guns, grenades and rocket launchers among 13,500 weapons surrendered

By Jovana Gec The Associated Press

BELGRADE, Serbia—

Authorities in Serbia on Sunday displayed stacks of guns and cartons of hand grenades from the thousands of weapons, including anti-tank rocket launchers, which they said people handed over since back-to-back mass shootings stunned the Balkan nation.

safe in which to store their registered weapons and that any guns not kept properly would be confiscated.

Officials plan to order inspections of registered addresses “to check whether there exist conditions for safekeeping,” anticrime department officer Bojana Otovic Pjanovic said on Serbian state TV network RTS. “If not, the guns will be taken away and punishment will be rigorous.”

Police said that during some of the past collection efforts, people threw their weapons away in garbage containers or left them unattended instead of bringing them to police stations.

Experts believe tens of thousands of illegal weapons have remained unlicensed and out of reach of authorities.

Police official Otovic Pjanovic insisted that after recent shootings “citizens became aware of the risks of keeping guns at home.”

The two mass shooting left 17 people dead and 21 wounded, stunning the nation and triggering calls for changes in the country that has been through decades of turmoil and crises.

The government declared a one-month amnesty period for citizens to surrender unregistered weapons as part of a crackdown on guns following the two shootings in two days this month that left 17 people dead, many of them children.

Populist President Aleksandar Vucic, whose government has faced public pressure in the wake of the separate shootings at a Belgrade school and in two villages, accompanied top police officials to view the assortment of arms arrayed near the town of Smederevo, some 50 kilometers (30 miles) south of the capital. Officials said residents had turned over about 13,500 items since the amnesty opened on May 8.

Photos from the scene showed lines of rifles, automatic weapons and pistols stacked neatly on the floor in a warehouse along with wooden boxes filled with hand grenades.

Serbia has tens of thousands of weapons brought in from the battlefields of the 1990’s wars in the Balkans. Similar weapons amnesties were held in the past with only limited success.

Vucic said that approximately half of the arms collected since last week had been held illegally, while the other half were registered weapons that citizens

nonetheless decided to part with. The relinquished weapons will go to Serbian arms and ammunition factories for potential use by the country’s armed forces, the president said.

Authorities have said that people caught with illegal weapons once the amnesty period ends could face prison sentences of up to 15 years, if they are convicted.

“After June 8, the state will respond with repressive measures and punishments will be very strict,” Vucic said of the post-amnesty period. “What does anyone need an automatic weapon for? Or all these guns?”

Serbia is estimated to be among the top countries in Europe in registered weapons per capita, and many more are held illegally.

Authorities launched the gun crackdown after a 13-year-old boy on May 3 took his father’s gun and opened fire on his fellow-students in an elementary school in central Belgrade. A day later, a 20-year-old man used an automatic weapon to shoot randomly in a rural area south of Belgrade.

Other anti-gun measures announced by Vucic include stricter control of gun owners and shooting ranges. Police officials said gun owners must have a coded

Tens of thousands of people have rallied in two protest marches in Belgrade since the shootings, demanding resignations of government ministers and a ban on television stations that promote violent content and host war criminals and crime figures.

Vucic on Sunday rejected opposition calls for the resignation of Interior Minister Bratislav Gasic, who was also present at Sunday’s weapons display. But the president suggested that the government might resign and that he will announce an early election at a rally he has planned for May 26 in Belgrade.

“We have no intention of replacing (interior minister) Gasic, who is doing a great job,” said Vucic. “What have police done wrong?”

Opposition politicians have accused authorities of fueling violence and hate speech against critics, spreading propaganda on mainstream media and imposing autocratic rule in all institutions under Vucic, which they say stokes divisions in society.

On Friday, protesters in Belgrade blocked a key bridge and motorway in the capital to press their demands. Protests also have been held in other Serbian cities and towns, in an outpouring of grief and anger over the shootings and the populist authorities.

Vucic described the bridge blockade as harassment, while he and other officials and media under his control sought to downplay the numbers of protesters.

Pakistan govt supporters stage rare sit-in, protest release of Imran Khan

By Munir Ahmed The Associated Press

ISLAMABAD—Convoys of buses and vehicles filled with Pakistani pro-government supporters are flooding the main road leading to the country’s capital on Monday to protest the release of former Prime Minister Imran Khan.

Thousands are making their way to the Supreme Court for a rare sit-in against its decision to give Khan, now opposition leader,

an “undue reprieve” following his arrest in a graft case. The 70-yearold Khan was released on bail and given protection from arrest until later this month.

The call to protest is a sign of escalating tensions between the judiciary and the government of Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, who replaced Khan after his ouster in a no-confidence vote in Parliament in April 2022.

Pakistan Democratic Movement, an alliance of 13 political parties affiliated with the ruling

Pakistan Muslim League, had called for the sit-in. The radical Islamist political party Jamiate-Ulema-Islam is leading the protest call.

Also as part of the alliance, Pakistan People’s Party led by Bilawal Bhutto Zardari—the son of assassinated Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto—is also joining the protest.

The sit-in is expected to take place despite a ban on rallies and Continued on A13

IN this photo provided by the Serbian Presidential Press Service, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, left, inspects weapons collected as part of an amnesty near the city of Smederevo, Serbia on Sunday, May 14, 2023. Serbian authorities on Sunday displayed some of around 13,500 weapons they say have been collected since last week’s mass shootings, including automatic weapons, hand bombs and anti-tank grenades. SERBIAN PRESIDENTIAL PRESS SERVICE VIA AP

Cyclone floods homes, cuts communications in Myanmar; at least 6 dead and 700 injured

By Julhas Alam The Associated Press

DHAKA, Bangladesh— Rescuers on Monday

evacuated about 1,000 people trapped by seawater 3.6 meters (12 feet) deep along western Myanmar’s coast after a powerful cyclone injured hundreds and cut off communications. Six deaths were reported, but the true impact was not yet clear in one of Asia’s least developed countries.

(130 miles) per hour, Myanmar’s Meteorological Department said. By midday Monday, it had weakened to a tropical depression, according to the India Meteorological Department.

The State Administration Council issued disaster declarations for 17 townships in Rakhine state.

High winds crumpled cell phone towers, but in videos collected by local media before communications were lost, deep water raced through streets and wind blew off roofs.

Myanmar’s military information office said the storm had damaged houses and electrical transformers in Sittwe, Kyaukpyu, and Gwa townships. It said roofs were torn off buildings on the Coco Islands, about 425 kilometers (264 miles) southwest of the country’s largest city, Yangon. Volunteers previously said shelters in Sittwe did not have enough food after more people arrived there seeking help.

Mocha largely spared the Bangladeshi city of Cox’s Bazar, which initially had been in the storm’s predicted path. Authorities had evacuated hundreds of thousands of people before the cyclone veered east.

About a dozen people were injured on Saint Martin’s Island, while some 300 homes were either destroyed or damaged, leading Bengali-language daily Prothom Alo reported.

UN agencies and aid workers in Bangladesh had prepositioned tons of dry food and dozens of ambulances in the refugee camps that house more than 1 million Rohingya Muslims who fled persecution in Myanmar.

In May 2008, Cyclone Nargis hit Myanmar with a storm surge that devastated populated areas around the Irrawaddy River delta. At least 138,000 people died and tens of thousands of homes and other buildings were washed away.

Strong winds injured more than 700 of about 20,000 people who were sheltering in sturdier buildings on the highlands of Sittwe township, such as monasteries, pagodas and schools, according to a leader of the Rakhine Youths Philanthropic Association in Sittwe. He asked not to be named due to fear of reprisals from the authorities in the military-run country.

Seawater raced into more than 10 low-lying wards near the shore as Cyclone Mocha made landfall in Rakhine state Sunday afternoon, he said. Residents moved to roofs and higher floors, while the wind and storm surge prevented immediate rescue.

“After 4 p.m. yesterday, the storm weakened a bit, but the water did not fall back. Most

of them sat on the roof and at the high places of their houses the whole night. The wind blew all night,” the rescue group leader said.

Water was still about 1.5 meters (5 feet) high in flooded areas later Monday, but rescues were being made as the wind calmed and the sun rose in the sky. He asked civil society organizations and authorities to send aid and help evacuate residents.

Six deaths were reported by Myanmar media and rescue groups. Several injuries were reported in neighboring Bangladesh, which was spared the predicted direct hit.

Mocha made landfall near Sittwe township with winds blowing up to 209 kilometers

Roxy Mathew Koll, a climate scientist at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology in Pune city, said cyclones in the Bay of Bengal are becoming more intense more quickly, in part because of climate change.

Climate scientists say cyclones can now retain their energy for many days. Cyclone Amphan in eastern India in 2020 continued to travel over land as a strong cyclone and caused extensive devastation.

“As long as oceans are warm and winds are favorable, cyclones will retain their intensity for a longer period,” Koll said.

Tropical cyclones, which are called hurricanes or typhoons in other regions, are among the world’s most devastating natural disasters when they hit densely populated coastal areas.

Pakistan govt supporters stage rare sit-in, protest release of Imran Khan

Continued from A11

public gatherings that the government imposed in the wake of the crisis.

“Our peaceful protest is against Chief Justice (Umar Ata Bandial) for facilitating the release of Imran Khan,” said Fazalur Rehman, the head of Pakistan Democratic Alliance. As he spoke, more than 3,000 supporters had already gathered near the sprawling court building.

In a televised statement on Monday, Defense Minister Khawaja Mohammad Asif accused the Supreme Court of siding with Khan. He suggested the court “examine the conduct of the chief justice” and take legal action against him.

From his home in the eastern city of Lahore, where he returned to following his release, Khan claimed in a tweet Monday that the sit-in is being orchestrated to

remove the Supreme Court’s chief justice. Khan was dramatically arrested from a courtroom in Islamabad and dragged out by agents of the National Accountability Bureau last Tuesday on charges of accepting millions of dollars worth of property in exchange for providing benefits to a real estate tycoon.

Khan’s arrest triggered a wave of violent protests across Pakistan.

Supporters of Khan and his Pakistan Tahreek-e-Insaf party, clashed with police, set fire to scores of police vehicles and burned down government buildings and even military facilities, including the residence of a top regional army commander in the eastern city of Lahore.

A year after his ouster, Khan, a former cricket star turned Islamist politician, is still widely popular in Pakistan. Khan blames Sharif, the country’s military

and Washington for his removal from power, saying it was part of a conspiracy to discredit him. All three have denied the charge.

Later Monday, Khan is to appear in a court in Lahore, along with his wife Bushra Bibi, to seek bail and protection from arrest in terrorism cases filed against him because of last week’s violence instigated by his supporters. Bibi also faces possible arrest in the case related to Malik Riaz, the business tycoon, as both she and Khan are implicated in real estate acquisition from the magnate during Khan’s term in office. Khan has denied the allegations.

Thailand opposition leader seeks mandate after strong vote result

By Patpicha Tanakasempipat & Philip J. Heijmans

The liberal Move Forward party claimed a mandate to lead after topping the polls, with party chief Pita Limjaroenrat taking to Twitter early Monday morning to say he would be a prime minister for all. He told reporters that he’s extended invitations to five parties to form the next government. With Move Forward leading in total seats and the popular vote, he won backing from the Pheu Thai party that finished second.

“Today I’m ready to be Thailand’s 30th prime minister,” the Harvard-educated Pita, 42, wrote. “We have the same dreams and hopes and we believe that our beloved Thailand can be better.”

While pro-democracy groups were expected to do well, the two parties’ performance was a blow to the military-backed government of Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha, which took power in a 2014 coup. But that outcome is no guarantee of a quick path to power: Under Thailand’s constitution, the 250-member militarybacked Senate is still a powerful bloc with influence in picking the next prime minister.

“The path to forming a coalition will not be easy,” said Teerasak Siripant, managing director at BowerGroupAsia’s Thailand office.

“With such an overwhelming victory, the establishment will only look to cap Pita’s power.”

Show of unity

PHEU THAI is nevertheless ready to back Move Forward’s bid to form and lead a coalition and will not stand in its way, party leader Cholnan Srikaew told reporters Monday.

“Pheu Thai congratulates and accepts the fact that Move Forward

has proposed to lead the formation of the new government,” Cholnan told reporters shortly after Pita’s remarks. “The party has no plan to compete with Move Forward Party in order to form the government.”  Prayuth and his United Thai Nation party were mostly muted following the rout. After almost nine years in power, the retired general said late Sunday that he would abide by the results. “I respect democracy and elections,” he said.

There was little doubt that Thailand’s voters sent a message: turnout of more than 75 percent was a record, according to the country’s Election Commission, with about 39 million people casting ballots. Move Forward took 32 of 33 seats in Bangkok, a near sweep that surprised both Pheu Thai and the conservatives.

The party’s performance shows “the people’s demand for change and reform, so it would behoove the establishment to make concessions and come to some kind of compromise instead of playing for keeps and risking everything,” said Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a professor at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok.  If all the parties Pita reached out eventually join his coalition, he said that would give them 309 seats in the 500-seat lower house.

Thailand’s markets reacted cautiously to the results. The benchmark SET Index slumped as much as 1.3 percent, set for a third straight session of losses and continuing a trend of underperforming regional peers. The baht rose 0.8 percent against the dollar.

But after underperfoming regional peers, there have been positive signs recently for the nation’s

$506 billion economy. Tourism has rebounded quickly following the Covid-19 pandemic and gross domestic product grew 2.7 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier, above expectations. Domestic inflation returned to the central bank’s 1 percent-3 percent target in March.

“There is greater clarity now that the election is out of the way,” said Khoon Goh, head of Asia research at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. “This should favor Thai assets, which had been under some pressure last week in the lead-up to the election.”

Bank of Thailand Governor Sethaput Suthiwartnarueput urged the next government to focus on fiscal consolidation.

“In terms of the fiscal impact on inflation, a lot of that will depend upon the nature of the spending that occurs,” Sethaput said in an interview with Bloomberg Television’s Haslinda Amin in Bangkok on Monday.

Royal diplomacy

INVESTORS will be watching closely to see how coalition talks proceed, and how Pita and any of his new partners navigate a delicate relationship with the current government and its influential backers.

The election results could put that more conservative establishment, centered on the monarchy helmed by King Maha Vajiralongkorn, in an awkward position.

Move Forward was the only major party calling for changes to Article 112 to allow greater freedom to discuss the royal family.

Addressing reporters on Monday, Pita vowed to press forward with that proposal, though some analysts have speculated that effort could be an early casualty if Pheu Thai or other parties push back on it.

“Does the establishment have to adjust to Move Forward,” asked Isra Sunthornvut, a former member of parliament for the Democrat Party. “I think the question is does Move Forward have to adjust to the establishment. To become the government, to become the prime minister, become ministers, you have to do the royal oath, you have to be there for the royals and you have to do all that kind of stuff.”

On Monday, Pita ruled out an alliance with the centrist Bhumjaithai party—which emerged as a king-maker in the 2019 election on a vow to decriminalize marijuana, eventually working with Prayuth’s military-backed party. Bhumjaithai finished in third place with about 70 seats on Sunday, according to the uncertified results.

Pita moved quickly to sustain Move Forward’s momentum. He planned a Monday evening procession to the Democracy Monument in the center of Bangkok, one of the key sites of 2020 youth protests and a symbolic sign of Thailand turning the page on yet another military government.

“Change is possible if we act now,” he said. With assistance from Pathom Sangwongwanich, Anuchit Nguyen, Suttinee Yuvejwattana, Janine Phakdeetham, Randy Thanthong-Knight, Cecilia Yap, Margo Towie and Haslinda Amin/ Bloomberg

Turkey’s Erdogan says he could still win, would accept presidential election runoff

By Suzan Fraser & Zeynep Bilginsoy The Associated Press

ANKARA, Turkey—Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has ruled his country with an increasingly firm grip for 20 years, was locked in a tight election race early Monday, with a make-or-break runoff against his chief challenger possible as the final votes were counted.

The results, whether they come within days or after a second round of voting takes place in two weeks, will determine if a Nato ally that straddles Europe and Asia but borders Syria and Iran remains under Erdogan’s control or resumes the more democratic path promised by his main rival, opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu.

Speaking to supporters in Ankara, Erdogan, 69, said he could still win but would respect the nation’s decision if the race went to a runoff vote in two weeks.

“We don’t yet know if the elections ended in the first round. ... If our nation has chosen for a second round, that is also welcome,”

Erdogan said early Monday, noting that votes from Turkish citizens living abroad still need to be tallied. He garnered 60 percent of the overseas vote in 2018.

This year’s election largely centered on domestic issues such as the economy, civil rights and a February earthquake that killed more than 50,000 people. But Western nations and foreign investors also awaited the outcome because of Erdogan’s unorthodox leadership of the economy and often mercurial but successful efforts to put Turkey at the center of international negotiations. With the unofficial count nearly completed, voter support for the incumbent had dipped below the majority required for him to win reelection outright. Erdogan had 49.3 percent of the vote, while Kilicdaroglu, had 45 percent, according to the state-run news agency Anadolu.

“We will absolutely win the second round ... and bring democracy” Kilicdaroglu, 74, the candidate of a six-party alliance, said, arguing that Erdogan had lost the trust of a nation now demanding change.

Turkey’s election authority, the Supreme Electoral Board, said it was providing numbers to competing political parties “instantly” and would make the results public once the count was completed and finalized.

The majority of ballots from the 3.4 million eligible overseas voters still needed to be tallied, according to the board, and a May 28 runoff election was not assured.

Howard Eissenstat, an associate professor of Middle East history and politics at St. Lawrence University in New York, said Erdogan was likely to have an advantage in a runoff because the president’s party was likely to do better in a parliamentary election also held Sunday. Voters would not want a “divided government,” he said.

Erdogan has governed Turkey as either prime minister or president since 2003. In the run-up to the election, opinion surveys had indicated the increasingly authoritarian leader narrowly trailed his challenger.

With the partial results showing otherwise, members of Kilicdaroglu’s center-left, pro-secular

Republican People’s Party, or CHP, disputed Anadolu’s initial numbers, contending the staterun agency was biased in Erodgan’s favor.

Omer Celik, a spokesperson for Erdogan’s Justice and Development, or AK, party, in turn accused the opposition of “an attempt to assassinate the national will.” He called the opposition claims “irresponsible.”

While Erdogan hopes to win a five-year term that would take him well into his third decade as Turkey’s leader, Kilicdaroglu campaigned on promises to reverse crackdowns on free speech and other forms of democratic backsliding, as well as to repair an economy battered by high inflation and currency devaluation.

Voters also elected lawmakers to fill Turkey’s 600-seat parliament, which lost much of its legislative power after a referendum to change the country’s system of governance to an executive presidency narrowly passed in 2017.

Anadolu news agency said

THAILAND’S two biggest prodemocracy parties agreed on Monday to join in a coalition that would give them a clear majority in the lower house after a stronger-thanforecast showing in Sunday’s elections.

LIBERAL Move Forward party chief Pita Limjaroenrat says he would be a prime minister for all. BLOOMBERG

UK promises more arms for Ukraine as Zelenskyy meets PM Rishi Sunak

By Jill Lawless & Danica Kirka

The Associated Press

LONDON—President

Zelenskyy landed by helicopter at Chequers, the British leader’s official country retreat, and was greeted by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. It’s Zelenskyy’s second trip to the UK since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

Zelenskyy thanked Britain for its support so far, and said his discussions with Sunak would cover “very important issues, urgent support for Ukraine”.

He said the war was a matter of “security not only for Ukraine, it is important for all of Europe.”

Sunak told Zelenskyy that “your leadership, your country’s bravery and fortitude are an inspiration to us all.”

This is the fourth European country Zelenskky has visited in the past few days. He is seeking more aid as Ukraine prepares a long-anticipated spring offensive to retake territory seized by Russia.

Ukraine’s leader made an unannounced visit to Paris on Sunday evening to meet French President Emmanuel Macron, after trips to Germany and Italy, where he met those countries’ leaders and Pope Francis.

A message posted Monday on Zelenskyy’s official Telegram Channel said: “Today—London.

The UK is leading the way when it comes to expanding our capabilities on the ground and in the air. This cooperation will continue today. I will meet my friend Rishi. We will conduct substantive negotiations face-to-face and in delegations.”

The UK has become one of Ukraine’s major military allies, sending Kyiv short-range missiles and Challenger tanks and

training 15,000 Ukrainian troops on British soil. Last week Britain announced it had sent Ukraine Storm Shadow cruise missiles, which have a range of more than 250 kilometers (150 miles)—the first known shipment of the weaponry that Kyiv has long sought from its allies.

Sunak’s office said that on Monday Britain would confirm it was giving Ukraine hundreds more air defense missiles, as well as “long-range attack drones” with a range of more than 200 kilometers (120 miles).

“This is a crucial moment in Ukraine’s resistance to a terrible war of aggression they did not choose or provoke,” Sunak said.

“They need the sustained support of the international community to defend against the barrage of unrelenting and indiscriminate attacks that have been their daily reality for over a year.

“We must not let them down.”

Sunak will also push allies to deliver more support to Ukraine at a meeting of Group of Seven leaders in Japan later this week, Downing Street said.

As Zelenskyy visited European capitals, Russia stepped up attacks across Ukraine with drones and missiles over the weekend.

On Sunday, Russia shelled two communities in the northern border region of Sumy, the region’s military administration said in a statement on its official Telegram channel. It said 109 explosions were recorded.

Zelenskyy and Macron met for about three hours on Sunday at the French presidential Elysee Palace—an encounter kept under wraps until shortly before the

Ukrainian leader’s arrival in Paris.

Macron’s office said France would supply dozens of light tanks and armored vehicles “in the weeks ahead,” without giving specific numbers. Also promised were more air defense systems, but again details weren’t made public.

More Ukrainians will also be made battle-ready, with France aiming to train about 2,000 Ukrainian soldiers in France this year and nearly 4,000 others in Poland as part of a wider European effort, Macron’s office said.

France has supplied Ukraine with an array of weaponry, include air defense systems, light tanks, howitzers and other arms and equipment and fuel.

France had dispatched a plane to pick up Zelenskyy in Germany, where he met with Chancellor Olaf Scholz earlier Sunday and discussed his country’s planned counteroffensive.

It was his first visit to Berlin since the start of the invasion and came a day after the German government announced a new package of military aid for Ukraine worth more than 2.7 billion euros ($3 billion), including tanks, anti-aircraft systems and ammunition.

After initially hesitating to provide Ukraine with lethal weapons, Germany has become one of the biggest suppliers of arms to Ukraine, including Leopard 1 and 2 battle tanks, and the sophisticated IRIS-T SLM air defense system. Modern Western hardware is considered crucial if Ukraine is to succeed in its planned counteroffensive.

In the western German city of

Aachen, Zelenskyy also received the prestigious International Charlemagne Prize, awarded to him and the people of Ukraine. On Saturday, he met Francis and Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni in Rome.

On the European trip, Zelenskyy said Ukraine would aim to liberate Russian-occupied areas within Ukraine’s internationally recognized borders, and not attack Russian territory.

The Washington Post cited previously undisclosed documents from a trove of U.S. intelligence leaks suggesting that Zelenskyy had considered trying to capture areas in Russia proper for possible use as bargaining chips in peace negotiations to end the war launched by Moscow. This would put him at odds with Western governments that have insisted that weapons they provide must not be used to attack targets in Russia.

Asked about the report, Zelenskyy said: “We don’t attack Russian territory, we liberate our own legitimate territory.”

“We have neither the time nor the strength (to attack Russia),” he said, according to an official interpreter. “And we also don’t have weapons to spare with which we could do this.

“We are preparing a counterattack for the illegally occupied areas based on our constitutionally defined legitimate borders, which are recognized internationally,” Zelenskyy said.

Among areas still occupied by Russia are the Crimean peninsula and parts of eastern Ukraine with mainly Russian-speaking populations.

Turkey’s Erdogan says he could still win, would accept presidential election runoff

Continued from A15

Erdogan’s ruling party alliance was hovering around 49.3 percent, while Kilicdaroglu’s Nation Alliance had around 35.2 percent and support for a pro-Kurdish party stood above 10 percent.

“That the election results have not been finalized doesn’t change the fact that the nation has chosen us,” Erdogan said.

More than 64 million people, including the overseas voters, were eligible to vote and nearly 89 percent voted. This year marks 100 years since Turkey’s establishment as a republic—a modern, secular state born on the ashes of the Ottoman Empire.

Voter turnout in Turkey is traditionally strong, despite the government suppressing freedom of expression and assembly over the years and especially since a 2016 coup attempt. Erdogan blamed the failed coup on followers of a former ally, cleric Fethullah Gulen, and initiated a large-scale crackdown on civil servants with alleged links to Gulen and on pro-Kurdish politicians.

Internationally, the elections

were seen as a test of a united opposition’s ability to dislodge a leader who has concentrated nearly all state powers in his hands and worked to wield more influence on the world stage.

Erdogan, along with the United Nations, helped mediate a deal with Ukraine and Russia that allowed Ukrainian grain to reach the rest of the world from Black Sea ports despite Russia’s war in Ukraine. The agreement, which is implemented by a center based in Istanbul, is set to expire in days, and Turkey hosted talks last week to keep it alive.

But Erdogan also has held up Sweden’s quest to join Nato while demanding concessions, contending that nation was too lenient on followers of the U.S. based cleric and members of pro-Kurdish groups that Turkey considers national security threats.

Critics maintain the president’s heavy-handed style is responsible for a painful cost-ofliving crisis. The latest official statistics put inflation at about 44 percent, down from a high of around 86 percent. The price of vegetables became a campaign

issue for the opposition, which used an onion as a symbol.

In contrast with mainstream economic thinking, Erdogan contends that high interest rates fuel inflation, and he pressured the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey to lower its main rate multiple times.

Erdogan’s government also faced criticism for its allegedly delayed and stunted response to the 7.8 magnitude earthquake that left 11 southern provinces devastated. Lax implementation of building codes is thought to have exacerbated the casualties and misery.

In his election campaign, Erdogan used state resources and his domineering position over media to try to woo voters. He accused the opposition of colluding with “terrorists,” of being “drunkards” and of upholding LGBTQ+ rights, which he depicts as threatening traditional family values in the predominantly Muslim nation.

In a bid to secure support, the Turkish leader increased wages and pensions and subsidized electricity and gas bills, while showcasing Turkey’s homegrown defense and infrastructure projects.

“Paychecks, or putting food on the table doesn’t necessarily surmount the identification one feels for one’s own political party,” Eissentat, the university professor, said. “Erdogan’s efforts at polarization, demonization of the opposition as traitors and as terrorists, the use of culture wars...that’s all made to play on those dynamics.”

Kilicdaroglu’s Nation Alliance pledged to return Turkey’s governance system to a parliamentary democracy if it won both the presidential and parliamentary ballots. It also promised to restore the independence of the judiciary and the central bank.

“We have all missed democracy so much. We all missed being together,” Kilicdaroglu said after voting at a school in Ankara. Also seeking the presidency was Sinan Ogan, a former academic who had the backing of an anti-immigrant nationalist party and more than 5 percent of votes tallied so far.

Volodymyr

Zelenskyy was in Britain Monday on his whirlwind European tour, as the staunch ally of Kyiv promised to give Ukraine hundreds more missiles and attack drones in an effort to change the course of the war.

Bilginsoy reported from Istanbul. Mucahit Ceylan contributed from Diyarbakir, Turkey.

BRITAIN’S Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, right, greets Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy after his arrival at Chequers, in Aylesbury, England on Monday, May 15, 2023. Zelenskyy was in Britain Monday on his whirlwind European tour, as the staunch ally of Kyiv promised to give Ukraine hundreds more missiles and attack drones in an effort to change the course of the war. CARL COURT/POOL VIA AP

Sudanese fleeing war in their homeland face uncertain future, unsure of return

By Samy Magdy The Associated Press

Ahmed, the university professor, said that when fighting first broke out, she thought it would be brief. Instead, it quickly engulfed Khartoum and Omdurman.

Aswan, the Egyptian city closest to the border with Sudan, has become a way station for tens of thousands of Sudanese fleeing fighting between Sudan’s military and rival paramilitary force. The displaced arrive exhausted after days on the chaotic roads. Now, they must figure out how to navigate a future that is suddenly uncertain, with no idea when they will be able to return home.

At Aswan’s Nasser café, a Sudanese university professor Naglaa al-Khair Ahmed was still stunned by the sudden explosion of violence on April 15, after escalating tensions between Sudan’s two top generals.

“We never imagined that verbal skirmishes would end up with war,” she said. “We didn’t expect that a decision (to go to) war was so easy to take.”

She was heading to the Egyptian capital Cairo with her elderly father and her daughter. Her husband had remained behind in their home city of Omdurman, which neighbors the capital, Khartoum.

“I was crying the whole way” out of Sudan, she said, wiping away her tears, “I kept telling myself, ‘I will return. Certainly, I will return very soon.’” She has no idea when—“one month, maximum,” she said hopefully.

More than 76,000 Sudanese and over 5,000 other nationals have crossed into Egypt since the fighting began, according to the Egyptian government. The UN refugee agency says it expects the number to reach 350,000. The influx has slowed in the past week, but Sudanese refugees still keep coming as fighting continues.

Sudan’s army and the rival group, known as the Rapid Support Forces, or RSF, are holding negotiations in the Saudi port city of Jeddah. But those

who fled don’t know when it will be safe to return, scarred after spending days trapped in their homes amid constant gunfire, explosions and the sound of warplanes.

Many of those arriving in Egypt have, at least for now, money for housing or onward travel to Europe or the Gulf states. It’s a harder struggle for thousands of poorer Sudanese coming across the border.

At the Aswan train terminal and a bus station in the nearby village of Karkar, Egyptian and Sudanese volunteers welcomed the refugees with hot meals and water.

Mohamed Yahia, a Sudanese man who has worked as a day laborer in Aswan since 2020, handed over his apartment to a distant relative and her three daughters. He moved with his wife and young son to a small house he’s renting for the time being in Karkar.

“They are poor, and her husband was not with them,” the 29-year-old said of his guests. “We all—Sudanese and Egyptians—break bread with anyone arriving here.”

Gassem Amin, a Sudanese filmmaker living in Egypt since 2016, has been in Aswan for the past three weeks helping out. He joined other volunteers who help newly arrived Sudanese arrange housing, book tickets to further destinations, or get medical care.

Amin said a “black market” has arisen, selling bus and train tickets and renting furnished rooms to Sudanese at inflated prices. His group buys hundreds of tickets from the terminal each morning and gives them to Sudanese trying to get to Cairo or Alexandria. They pass on the cost to those who can pay. The poor get the tickets for free. The group also helps the displaced find affordable rooms.

“It was massive, massive killing, massive destruction, massive looting, massive in everything,” she said.

Army aircraft repeatedly bombed an RSF camp close to her home, shaking the entire area. She and her family hid for hours under their beds as battles raged outside, she added.

For two weeks, Ahmed resisted her brothers’ urging that she leave. But as people fled in thousands and neighborhoods emptied out, Ahmed decided to flee Sudan, figuring that no place was safe.

She secured bus tickets for herself, her 15-year-old daughter and her father through a neighbor who owns a travel agency.

They left early in the morning through back alleys to avoid crossfire and reached the bus station. Then came a ride of more than 15 hours to reach Aswan in a bus packed with other fleeing families.

At stops along the way, villagers offered the passengers food and water. She recalled three young men getting on their bus, distributing sandwiches, bottled water and juice, and offering to host those who can’t afford going to Egypt.

“There were lots of generous people, even though they looked poor,” she said.

At the Argeen border point, crossings were smooth, to her surprise, she said. By that time, Egypt had beefed up staff there, speeding up the long lines of buses and cars. The other main route remains more chaotic, through the Sudanese town of Wadi Halfa, about a half hour drive from the border with Egypt. The town has been overwhelmed by tens of thousands of people fleeing,

packed into the few hotels and spending nights in mosques, schools and open areas. Men wait in long lines at the Egyptian Consulate for their required visas. Sudanese women can enter Egypt without a visa, but men between 16-49 need one. From there, they cross into Egypt, then take a ferry across Lake Nasser to the town of Abu Simbel. From there, it’s another 300-kilometer (180 mile) trip to Aswan or to Karkar.

Reem Adel, who is five months pregnant, was trapped for days at her sister-in-law’s apartment in Khartoum’s al-Safiya neighborhood, which witnessed some of the fiercest fighting. Stray bullets hit neighbors, and RSF soldiers occupied their street, storming and looting apartments and kicking out residents, she said. The paramilitary troops also established a checkpoint, seizing valuables from those passing through.

“We could have ended up dead inside our home like many others,” said Adel, a project manager for a non-governmental organization. She fled with her husband and her sister-in-law’s family. It took them several days to reach Wadi Halfa, where they had to wait for visas for the men.

Then came a bumpy truck ride and a 3-kilometer (1.8 mile) walk on foot to the border terminal at Ashkit-Qustal to bypass the line of trucks waiting to go through, some for as long as a week. “It was risky for a pregnant woman, but we didn’t have any other option,” she said.

Adel and her family arrived in Cairo and rented an apartment. Their plan is to remain in Egypt, at least until she gives birth. In the meantime, she and her husband are looking for any sort of work.

“No one knows when they can return,” she said. “Even if they reach a truce in the Jeddah talks, fighting could break out anytime...they are not to be trusted.”

What Rahul Gandhi’s win over Modi means for India’s 2024 vote

By Bibhudatta Pradhan

ABIG Indian state election win has given a boost to Rahul Gandhi’s Congress party in its quest to unseat Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a national vote next year.

But it still faces a long road ahead.

The victory in Karnataka over the weekend was one of the most significant for Congress against Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party in major state elections since he took power nearly a decade ago. Now the question is whether Gandhi can build on that momentum in the five remaining state assembly elections before the 2024 vote.

It won’t be easy. Karnataka was the only southern state that Modi’s party had managed to win, and the next elections take place mainly in BJP-dominated regions in the north and west.

H ere are the main takeaways from Karnataka elections:

Congress stays relevant

KARNATAKA was the first test at the polls for Gandhi since he was found guilty in March of making defamatory remarks about the prime minister’s last name at a campaign in the same state four years ago—a verdict he has appealed. He was ousted from parliament soon afterward. Congress made the case a big part of its

campaign, telling voters that the BJP and Modi were attacking freedom of speech in India. Gandhi, a scion of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty who has often been seen as a reluctant politician, also showed a greater desire to win: Ahead of the vote he completed a 2,170mile trek from southern India to the north, presenting himself as a man of the people.

C ontext: Congress has suffered two straight general election losses and seen more defeats than victories in state assembly polls since 2014. It has struggled to connect with voters while facing questions on whether it can unify a disparate number of regional parties into a coherent coalition to take on Modi next year.

Limits to Modi charisma

MODI , 72, turned up in Karnataka several times during the campaign, blasting Gandhi for coming from what he described as a royal dynasty. Yet the message had less of an impact in Karnataka, which has never voted the same party into government twice since 1985. Voters focused on corruption allegations against the BJP leaders in the state, which they have denied.

Context: Leveraging Modi’s personal popularity is an election strategy that has solidified the BJP’s grip on power in India. His party has backed that up with door-todoor campaigns, welfare programs involving

women, and new caste and social coalitions. Voters also tend to cast their ballots differently in national elections than state polls. The BJP has never won a majority in any assembly elections in Karnataka, but it won most of the parliamentary seats in the past four general elections.

Religious sentiment

THE results show the BJP’s strategy of appealing to the Hindu majority had a limited impact with voters. Before the polls, authorities banned Muslim women from wearing headscarves in educational institutions and removed an affirmative action plan for the community.

D uring the campaign, Congress vowed to ban Bajrang Dal—a Hindu right-wing outfit with ties to the BJP—for promoting religionbased hatred. The prime minister told voters to voice their support for the organization when they enter polling booths, which failed to resonate more broadly.

“ The BJP is going to have to rethink its emphasis on Hindutva as a key poll plank for 2024,” as the attempt to polarize Karnataka on religious line back fired, said Arati Jerath, a New Delhi-based author and political analyst, referring to the ideology of Hindu nationalism. “It works in certain parts of India, like in the north, but clearly it’s not working in the south, it hasn’t worked in the east, it has diminishing returns in the west.”

Context: The BJP often uses religious identity politics to shift the conversation from economic issues such as inflation, income inequality and unemployment. Congress advocates diversity, with Gandhi calling on the nation to avoid divisions over religion, caste, language and other differences among the nation’s 1.4 billion people.

Infrastructure woes

IN a victory pledge, Congress said the new government will boost water supply, build elevated flyovers and complete the metro railway in the state capital of Bengaluru, which has struggled with stalled infrastructure projects. Home to the local offices of Intel Corp., Amazon and IBM, Bengaluru is experiencing traffic bottlenecks and flooding during the monsoon that forced some CEOs last year to ride tractors to reach offices. Though the BJP swept 16 of the 28 seats in the Bengaluru region, the Congressled government will have to manage voter concerns of unrestricted development and a lack of governance.

Context: Developing Bengaluru, formerly known as Bangalore, will be crucial as it’s set to overtake India’s capital Delhi to become the second-highest generator of income tax revenues in the country after financial hub Mumbai. With assistance from Debjit Chakraborty/Bloomberg

ASWAN, Egypt—The café outside Aswan station was full of Sudanese families, surrounded by luggage and waiting for the train to Cairo, the next leg in their arduous journey escaping violence that has torn apart their country and overturned their lives.

BUSES carrying Sudanese, who fled the fighting in Sudan’s capital, are leaving a ferry that transported to Egypt’s southern city of Abu Simbel on Sunday, May 7, 2023. Tens of thousands of Sudanese crossed into Egypt since the conflict began in mid-April. AP/ SAMY MAGDY

Border crossings off from last week’s highs as US pins hopes for order on mobile app

By Elliot Spagat The Associated Press

Their eyes were—and are— fixed instead on a new US government mobile app that grants 1,000 people daily an appointment to cross the border and seek asylum while living in the US. With demand far outstripping available slots, the app has been an exercise in frustration for many—and a test of the Biden administration’s strategy of coupling new legal paths to entry with severe consequences for those who don’t follow them.

“You start to give up hope but it’s the only way,” said Teresa Muñoz, 48, who abandoned her home in the Mexican state of Michoacan after a gang killed her husband and beat her. She has been trying for a month to gain entry through the app, called CBPOne, while staying in a Tijuana shelter with her two children and 2-year-old grandson.

US Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said the Border Patrol made 6,300 arrests on Friday—the first day after the Title 42 restrictions expired—and 4,200 Saturday. That’s sharply below the 10,000-plus on three days last week as migrants rushed to get in before new policies to restrict asylum took effect.

“It is still early,” Mayorkas said Sunday on CNN’s ‘State of the Union.’ “We are in day three, but we have been planning for this transition for months and months. And we have been executing on our plan. And we will continue to do so.”

Despite the drop in recent days, authorities predict arrests will spike to between 12,000 and 14,000 a day, Matthew Hudak, deputy Border Patrol chief, said in a court filing Friday. And authorities cannot confidently estimate how many will cross, Hudak said, noting intelligence reports failed to quickly flag a “singular surge”

of 18,000 predominantly Haitian migrants in Del Rio, Texas, in September 2021.

More than 27,000 migrants were in custody along the border one day last week, a number that may top 45,000 by the end of May if authorities can’t release migrants without orders to appear in immigration court, Hudak said.

The administration plans to ask an appeals court Monday for permission to release migrants without orders to appear in court. Authorities say it takes between 90 minutes and two hours to process a single adult for court - potentially choking Border Patrol holding facilities—and longer to process families. By contrast, it takes only 20 minutes to release someone with instructions to report to an immigration office in 60 days, a common practice since 2021 to ease overcrowding along the border.

The Justice Department even raised the possibility of declining to take people into custody if it can’t quickly release migrants, calling that a “worstcase scenario.”

President Joe Biden, spending the weekend at his home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, said his hope was that the border numbers would “continue to go down” but that “we have a lot more work to do.”

“We need some more help from the Congress as well, in terms of funding and legislative changes,” Biden told reporters.

The administration is touting new legal pathways in an effort to deter illegal crossings, including parole for 30,000 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans a month that apply online with a financial sponsor and arrive at an airport.

Hundreds of predominantly Colombian migrants waited to be processed Saturday in searing heat

near Jacumba, California, having slept for days in thatched tents east of San Diego and getting by on the Border Patrol’s limited supply of cookies and water. Several said they crossed illegally after trying the app without success or hearing tales of frustration from others.

Ana Cuna, 27, said she and other Colombians paid $1,300 each to be guided across the border after reaching Tijuana. She said she touched foot on US soil hours before Title 42 expired Thursday but, like others, was given a numbered wristband by the Border Patrol and, two days later, had not been processed.

Under Title 42, a public-health rule, migrants were denied asylum more than 2.8 million times on grounds of preventing the spread of Covid-19. When it expired, the administration launched a policy to deny asylum to people who travel through another country, like Mexico, to the U.S., with few exceptions.

“We want to come according to the law and be welcomed,” said Cuna, whose thatched tent included Colombian women and families hoping to reach Chicago, San Antonio, Philadelphia and Spartanburg, South Carolina.

Releasing migrants without court orders but with instructions to report an immigration office in 60 days became widespread in 2021. Directing that processing work to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement offices when migrants report to the agency’s offices created additional delays—with ICE offices in New York backed up until 2033

just to schedule an initial court appearance.

US District Judge T. Kent Wetherell in Pensacola, Florida, in March ordered an end to the practice, which the administration had effectively stopped by then anyway. It chose not to appeal the ruling but reactivated the policy last week, calling it an emergency response. The state of Florida protested and Wetherell ordered the administration to avoid the quick releases for two weeks. He scheduled a hearing on Friday.

Since CBPOne launched Jan. 12 for asylum-seekers, it has exasperated many with error messages, difficulty capturing photos and a frantic daily ritual of racing thumbs on phone screens until slots run out within minutes.

In Tijuana, Muñoz looked into being smuggled through the mountains east of San Diego but determined it would cost too much. She is still haunted by walking through the Arizona desert in the mid-2000s on a grueling one-week trek. After saving money working double shifts at a supermarket near Los Angeles, she returned to Mexico to raise her children.

Last week, the administration increased the number of slots awarded on the app to 1,000 from 740, began granting priority to those who try longest, and released slots gradually throughout the day instead of all at once, which had created mad rushes. So far, Muñoz said she is unconvinced.

T he Associated Press writer Seung Min Kim contributed to this report from Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.

Family with disabled children among hundreds of Gaza’s homeless after latest fighting with Israel

By Fares Akram Jabaliya

WHEN Najah Nabhan learned that her home was about to be bombed by Israel, she knew she had to get out quickly. What she didn’t know was how she would get her four children with special needs out of the building in time.

With the help of neighbors, her children, who are unable to walk on their own, were carried to safety. But the airstrike flattened the three-story building, leaving 42 members of Nabhan’s extended family homeless and leaving her children without the wheelchairs, crutches and medical equipment they need to move about.

“I needed time to think what to take and what to leave. We have important documents and reports of the children’s conditions and history, medications and tools. All of them are gone,” said Najah, sitting on a mat in the debris-strewn front yard of what used to be her home in northern Gaza.

On Sunday morning, the entire family gathered in the yard, sitting under the shadow of a tree and receiving visitors who came to show solidarity.

Nabhan’s home was destroyed by the Israeli strike only hours before a cease-fire took effect late Saturday. At least 11 other residential buildings, some containing many family homes, were destroyed by Israeli aircraft in the five days of fighting.

It was the latest in a long line of armed battles between the military and rocket-firing Palestinian militant groups over the past 15 years. Human rights groups say a total of 60 housing units were destroyed, displacing about 400 people during the campaign.

Israel says all of the buildings it targeted were used as command centers by Islamic Jihad.

“The Islamic Jihad terror organizations deliberately operates and embeds its military assets in densely populated civilian areas,” the army said.

An Israeli military official, speaking to reporters on condition of anonymity under briefing guidelines, said these command centers were usually hidden in residential buildings of one to three stories. He said Israel called the inhabitants and ordered them to evacuate ahead of time. Israel says such calls are meant to prevent harm to uninvolved civilians.

But the army doesn’t always take such precautions. At the start of the offensive, aircraft targeted apartments and homes of three Islamic Jihad commanders without warning, killing them. Some members of their families, including women and children, as well as neighbors were also killed.

Israeli officials say they do their best to avoid civilian casualties, but acknowledge that operations are carried out where uninvolved noncombatants may be harmed. They accuse militants of using civilians as human shields.

Nabhan and other residents said they were

surprised by the sudden phone call.

“I was at home, just finished having lunch and was making tea,” she said. “I did not believe it’s our house that is being targeted.”

“My feet could not hold me. I sat helpless until people took us out,” she recounted.

In a video circulated on social media, a relative is seen pleading with the military not to carry out the strike. The man, a neighbor and distant relative, eventually asked the military to limit the airstrike “to the apartment of the guilty” rather than wiping out the entire building. It was unclear if he was referring to someone specific or speaking in hypothetical terms.

With minutes to spare, the neighbors carried Nabhan’s 24-year-old daughter, Ayat, who can’t walk, Areej, 18, who suffers from epilepsy and walking difficulties, and 14-year-old Haneen, who has a chronic illness and movement issues, from the ground-floor apartment. They went upstairs and carried out her son Jalal, who also uses a wheelchair.

After the bombing, the family worked late into the night sifting through the rubble, but was unable to recover Ayat’s and Jalal’s wheelchairs, Haneen’s crutches or the correction belt of a 3-year-old niece, who has a deformity in her leg.

Jalal Nabhan, 30, angrily dismissed the Israeli allegations. “Can people like me fire a rocket?” he said, pointing toward his legs and at his disabled sisters. “No one from us can fire a rocket toward Israel.”

The fighting erupted last Tuesday when Israeli airstrikes killed three senior Islamic Jihad commanders in what it said was a response to intense rocket fire the previous week following the death of an Islamic Jihad activist from a hunger strike while in Israeli custody.

The five-day battle left 33 Palestinians dead, according to Palestinian health officials. Among them were 13 civilians, including four women and six children. At least three of the civilians, including two children, were killed by misfired Islamic Jihad rockets, according to rights groups.

Eighteen militants, including six senior Islamic Jihad members, were killed, according to Palestinian officials, while two people were killed in Israel from Palestinian rocket fire. Islamic Jihad fired nearly 1,500 rockets toward Israel, according to the army.

After the airstrike, the Nabhan family, including Najah and her husband, their children and grandchildren, spent the night at the homes of neighbors, friends and in-laws. Some slept in the front yard next to the rubble. Neighbors denied the Israeli claims that the family was connected to a militant group. “They are simple people who do menial, intermittent jobs to earn whatever,” said Mohammmed alArabid, a neighbor.

The Associated Press writer Josef Federman in Jerusalem contributed to this report.

TIJUANA, Mexico—Pandemicera limits on asylum known as Title 42 have been rarely discussed among many of tens of thousands of migrants massed on Mexico’s border with the United States.

VENEZUELAN migrants rest inside their tents on the bank of the Rio Grande in Matamoros, Mexico on Sunday, May 14, 2023. As the US ended its pandemic-era immigration restrictions, migrants are adapting to new asylum rules and legal pathways meant to discourage illegal crossings. AP/FERNANDO LLANO

editorial

Showing the world the best of our OFWs

FilipinO nurse May parsons was the first person in the world to administer a Covid-19 vaccine on December 8, 2020. The first recipient of a Covid jab was 91-year-old Margaret Keenan of the UK. The historic moment, which was accompanied by considerable press reporting around the world, highlighted the crucial role that nurses play in the global Covid-19 vaccination campaign.

Parsons, who worked in Britain’s National Health Service for 20 years, got the honor of giving the first Covid jab because she was the best in the hospital’s vaccinator program. She set the record for the most vaccines given by a hospital nurse for three years running. “I’ve managed to do 140 vaccinations in a day by myself. We celebrate it as a team though,” she said.

For her role in shaping history by administering the first Covid jab in the UK, Parsons was awarded the prestigious George Cross Award from Her Majesty, the late Queen Elizabeth II and His Royal Highness then Prince Charles, “for her courage, compassion, dedication, and bravery in the face of grave and mortal danger.”

“We Give the World Our Best—The Philippines” is a branding campaign rolled out in 2022 by the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Creative Communications in line with the desire of President Marcos to lift the Filipinos’ reputation around the world. OPACC coordinated with various government agencies to ensure the long-term success of the branding initiative. The agencies include the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office, Department of Migrant Workers, the Department of Tourism, and the Department of Trade and Industry.

The campaign, according to OPACC Secretary and Presidential Adviser on Creative Communications Paul Soriano, started in the third quarter last year, directed towards foreign investors and employers to highlight the extraordinary talent of overseas Filipinos.

The team’s first project was a London bus ad, which featured Parsons holding a syringe. The ad described her as the nurse who gave the world’s first Covid-19 vaccine. The copy reads: “A Filipina. WE GIVE THE WORLD OUR BEST. THE PHILIPPINES.”

The bus ad came out in time for King Charles III’s coronation in London, where a large international crowd was anticipated to attend the historic event.

OPACC said similar ads are being planned, intended for other countries such as the US and the Middle East, which will likewise focus on OFWs making a name for themselves, thus bringing honor to the country.

The London ad was misconstrued as part of the Philippine tourism promotion campaign, prompting Soriano to issue a statement to clear the confusion.

“Please allow me to reiterate that this project is not solely a tourism campaign. At its core, the project intends to let the whole world know how good, compassionate and competent our overseas workers are. Filipinos bring their ‘best’ through daily actions that touch lives all over the world,” he said.

Unfortunately for Parsons, she became an unwitting victim of harsh criticism and an object of ridicule, particularly from netizens bashing the ad on a London bus. For example, a newspaper report quoted a leader in the tourism sector saying, “I can live with GIVING THE WORLD OUR BEST but, in my opinion, they used a wrong example. It’s not as if our nurse invented the Covid vaccine or had something to do with the research appended to it. Nautusan lang siya, THE BEST na kaagad?”

We have millions of migrant workers all over the world who are considered economic heroes of the country because of their significant contribution towards the growth of the Philippine economy. A government campaign that seeks to show the world the best traits and the extraordinary talent of our OFWs deserves our support. We should be proud of our migrant workers who excel in their line of work. President Marcos exemplified this when he praised Filipino workers in Europe for their dedication, generosity, and kindness, all of which contribute to the positive reputation that their compatriots enjoy in many countries of the world.

Hardly a dent in PHL growth despite inflation

Manny B. Villar

THE EnTrEprEnEur

ThE high inflation rate at the start of the year failed to greatly curb consumer spending. Filipinos continue to spend and travel more in the first three months of 2023, while business establishments are gaining more and more confidence as the philippines transitions to the full new normal.

The solid economic growth numbers we posted in the first quarter does not surprise me. The resumption of face-to-face classes toward the end of 2022, revenge travel, increased traffic and the big crowds milling in shopping malls and dining in fast-food restaurants are an affirmation of a healthy economy. Add the declining unemployment rate to the mix and we can say that it is business as usual in this nation.

The Philippine economy expand-

ed 6.4 percent in the first quarter, which is definitely slower than the 8 percent a year ago and 7.1 percent a quarter ago largely because of base effect and partly due to the impact of higher prices on consumer spending.

Private economists had expected the GDP to grow slower at 6.2 percent. The slower rise in the gross domestic product to me, however, is not something to sneer at. The Philippine GDP growth in the first three months of the year is the fastest in this part of

Killing the golden goose

John Mangun

OuTSIDE THE BOX

An analogue of Aesop’s Fable “The Goose that laid the Golden Eggs” is found in the Suvannahamsa Jataka from the Buddhist book of monastic discipline. A poor father is reborn as a swan with golden feathers and tells his family to sell a single feather from his wings. The mother plucks all the gold feathers at once, but they turn to ordinary feathers and when the swan recovers its feathers, they are no longer gold.

When cellular mobile phones started to take off, a South American country’s legislature, displaying the special wisdom that politicians are famous for, decided that ordinary people should not be allowed to spend money on something so unnecessary and foolish. Import duties made the cost prohibitive to the “poor.”

One taxi owner saw a market for his services to rich cellphone owners and purchased one to be able to be contacted. Other not-rich passengers found out and paid the driver for the use of his cellphone. His cellphone became so popular that people lined up, not for rides but to call. Other taxi drivers saw this and eventually taxi stands became cellphone stands.

Being perceived as anti-working class is a political sin. But expressing contempt for the “rich class” is tolerable and encouraged. The 21st century mantra is that there is great bias against people of a particular race, ethnicity, religion, and gender. However, a study published by the American Psychological Association (founded 1892) in 2007 discovered that prejudices and stereotypes based on social economic class were much more pronounced.

The results were complicated. There was a strong stereotype that people from traditionally defined “lower” socio-economic groups were not capable of both academic

the world. Indonesia’s economy grew 5 percent, China’s GDP expanded 4.5 percent while that of Vietnam was registered at 3.3 percent. The Philippine economic expansion, per the report of Economic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan, was faster than the first-quarter projected rates for Malaysia at 4.9 percent, India at 4.6 percent and Thailand at 2.8 percent.

I view the 6.4-percent economic expansion in the first quarter as part of the normal growth pattern prior to the pandemic years. The economy swung wildly at the start of the pandemic, contracting 9.5 percent in 2020 before growing 5.7 percent and 7.6 percent in 2021 and 2022, respectively. With the Covid-19 pandemic virtually over, we may see a more stable economic growth pattern in the succeeding years.

The first-quarter growth this year, meanwhile, appears to be more encouraging this time mainly because of the better performance of the agriculture, forestry and fishing sector. A laggard in the previous quarters, agriculture expanded 2.2

and workforce high performance. However, people in the traditionally defined “higher” socio-economic groups might not be entitled to their wealth. Further, this group might in some way be responsible for the plight of the “Lowers.”

The idea that wealth and wealth creation is a “zero-sum” game where in order for one person to be rich another must be kept poor seems to be a throwback to the days when one was either a peasant or a noble.

Early 19th century French novelist/playwright Honoré de Balzac wrote: “The secret of great fortunes without apparent cause is a forgotten crime, because it was properly done.” Notice the key words: “without apparent cause.” “The Godfather” author Mario Puzo bastardized this to “Behind every successful fortune there is a crime.”

But the truth is that behind most first-generation fortunes is a great idea or hard work.

In 1975, Bill Gates and Tim Allen founded Microsoft, bought the rights to PC DOS (renamed MS-DOS), and licensed it to over 70 other companies. “Windows OS” runs more than 75 percent on all personal computers.

The “progressive” idea is that there is a moral difference between the money people earn from their labor and money they earn from using their capital. Hard work good:

percent. The industry and services sectors also registered growth rates of 3.9 percent and 8.4 percent, respectively.

On the demand side, the household final consumption expenditure, or the expenses incurred by households on goods or services, rose 6.3 percent in the first quarter of 2023, albeit down from 10 percent in the same period last year. Consumers may have hesitated to spend more in the first three months, but they appear to have kept their confidence on the economy despite the high inflation rate at the start of the year.

Inflation rose to a 14-year high of 8.7 percent in January after surpassing the government’s target range last year. But prices eased to 8.6 percent in February, 7.6 percent in March and 6.6 percent in April—a clear trend that the worst is over for our hard-pressed consumers. Food inflation dropped from 9.5 percent in March to 8 percent in April 2023, while non-food inflation decreased

See “Villar,” A23

investing bad. It is fine—sort of—for Gates being a billionaire from Microsoft as long as he does not make any more money building high-rise offices and renting the space. Perhaps it is fine—sort of—for a tricycle driver to work harder to make a lot of money but maybe not fine to make enough money to buy more tricycles and charge other drivers a daily “boundary.”

Progressive US Senator Bernie Sanders is not a big fan of the uberwealthy. He recently said, “There should be no billionaires. We are going to tax their extreme wealth and invest in working people.” Note “tax their extreme wealth” does not mean “invest in working people” but fund the US government’s $31.5 trillion debt.

“Share the wealth” people are always around like the animals from another fable “The Little Red Hen” that want a slice of the bread after it’s already baked. Eventually, though, they will have higher ambitions. How much wealthier would the Philippines be if Jollibee had been legally obligated not to have opened more than 250 locations instead of the current 1,100?

E-mail me at mangun@gmail.com. Follow me on Twitter @mangunonmarkets. PSE stock-market information and technical analysis provided by AAA Southeast Equities Inc.

By Michael Mackenzie | Bloomberg Opinion

The risk of a US debt default is greater than it’s ever been, threatening to tip global markets into a brand-new world of pain. For investors, there are few places to hide other than the oldest hedge in the book: gold.

The precious metal is by far the top pick for those seeking protection in case Washington’s game of chicken over the debt ceiling ends in a crash, according to Bloomberg’s latest Markets Live Pulse survey. More than half of finance professionals said gold is what they would buy if the US government fails to honor its obligations.

Even more striking is the shortage of alternative hedges. The second most popular asset to buy in event of a default, according to the global survey of 637 respondents, was US Treasuries. There’s something of an irony to that given that’s the very thing America would probably be defaulting on. But it’s worth bearing in mind that even pessimistic analysts see bill holders getting paid— just late—and that in the case of the most fraught debt crisis in previous years, Treasuries rallied even as the US had its top credit rating removed by Standard & Poor’s.

Traditional haven currencies like the Japanese yen and the Swiss franc had some fans, but each were less popular than the US dollar or, perhaps more strikingly Bitcoin, regarded by some investors as a kind of digital gold.

Political and financial big shots have been lining up to deliver warnings about what might happen if the debt-ceiling impasse isn’t resolved. “The whole world is in trouble,’’ said President Joe Biden, who will meet House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and other congressional leaders on Tuesday. “Potentially catastrophic,’’ said JPMorgan Chase & Co. boss Jamie Dimon.

A comfortable majority of investors in the MLIV survey think 10year Treasuries will rally if the debt ceiling fight goes down to the wire but the US doesn’t default. However, professionals are split over what might happen if the US government actually tumbles over the precipice. About 60 perecent of retail investors expect Treasury 10-year debt to weaken in the case of a default. The yield on the benchmark US note ended last week at 3.46 percent, around 63 basis points below its high for the year.

Unregistered non-resident taxpayers: Payment of taxes

fulvio D. Dawilan

Tax Law for Business

TheR e is a draft revenue regulation requiring online platform providers to impose creditable withholding taxes on their remittances to their partner seller/merchants for their sale of goods and services through the online platform. i m not going to comment on this, as i’m not really a fan of the creditable withholding taxes. it suffices to say that the application of the creditable withholding tax system should be limited to only a few types of income payments, as it used to be, and perhaps to a limited class of payees.

The object of creditable withholding taxes are income of residents who are supposed to be registered as taxpayers and who could be forced into the taxpayer database through some other means. What about if the seller is a non-resident? Let’s not forget that there are also non-residents who are selling through local online platform providers.

This reminded me of the issue I used to discuss in this column—how should the tax be made if the seller who contracted the services of the local service provider is non-resident?

The object of creditable withholding taxes are income of residents who are supposed to be registered as taxpayers and who could be forced into the taxpayer database through some other means. What about if the seller is a non-resident? Let’s not forget that there are also non-residents who are selling through local online platform providers.

ance with tax obligations for permanent establishments. To echo, a PE is a concept in international taxation whereby a country in which a foreign entity does business has the right to impose its taxes when the situations defined in tax treaties are present. It is a presence in another country with business activities sufficient for that other country to impose tax. These business activities and presence necessary to create a PE are defined in tax treaties between the country where the entity has a residence and the country where it does business.

income payment apply. But that is true only if the payor (client/customer) of the income is a Philippine entity. It does not apply in all cases. To mention only one, business activities outsourced by foreign businesses in the Philippines are not limited to those rendered or sold to Philippine customers. In many cases, the customer of the foreign seller is another foreign individual or entity. As such, the revenues flow from a foreign client/customer to a foreign supplier. The effect: this allows the foreign supplier get his revenues free of Philippine tax even if the activity that resulted into that income was performed in the Philippines. Not only that—the outsourced person in the Philippines gets his pay directly from the foreign entity. As to how he pays his tax on that, we can only guess.

Political and financial big shots have been lining up to deliver warnings about what might happen if the debt-ceiling impasse isn’t resolved.

“The whole world is in trouble,’’ said President Joe Biden, who will meet House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and other congressional leaders on Tuesday. “Potentially catastrophic,’’ said JPMorgan Chase & Co. boss Jamie Dimon. “Very serious repercussions’’ was the strong language by the International Monetary Fund’s guarded standards. A sovereign default by the world’s biggest economy should probably be unthinkable. But it’s definitely thinkable right now.

About 60 percent of MLIV Pulse respondents said the risks are bigger this time around than in 2011, the worst debt-limit crisis of the past. The cost of insuring against non-payment through one-year credit default swaps has surged well past levels seen in previous episodes, although they still suggest that the actual chance of a default is relatively slim.

“The risk is higher than before, given the polarization of the electorate and the Congress,” said Jason Bloom, head of fixed income, alternatives, and ETF strategies at Invesco. “The way both sides are so dug in, means there is the risk they don’t get their act together in time.”

The gold hedge doesn’t come cheap, as the metal has enjoyed a very good run so far this year. Buoyed first by the growing demand from Chinese luxury buyers, then by a crisis in the banking sector and the threat of US default, it’s currently loitering just shy of its all-time high of $2,075.47 an ounce.

Continued from A22

I personally believe that as we lick the inflation menace further in the coming months, consumer confidence and household spending will rise.

The unemployment rate in March, for one, dropped to 4.7 percent from 5.8 percent a year ago and 4.8 percent in February. The lower figure translated into 2.42 million jobless Filipinos out of 51 million who were in the labor force during the period, per the latest report of the Philippine Statistics Authority.

The country’s employment rate in March rose to 95.3 percent from

Outsourcing of business activities in the Philippines by foreign entities is a common practice—almost all activities that can be outsourced by foreign businesses are done in this country. And this outsourcing arrangement comes in different business models. The most common is through the establishment of a subsidiary or licensing of a branch in the country to do the desired activities here or by contracting with a third party local entity. From a tax perspective, at least an entity—the outsourced Philippine affiliate or third party entity—is taxed in the Philippines for the revenues derived from the outsourced activities. Perhaps, what needs only to be observed is reasonable pricing for the revenues

that are attributed to the entity taxed in the Philippines. But it is also becoming a common practice for foreign businesses to deal directly with individuals—by employing them, engaging them as agents or hiring them as consultants/contractors. Either way, this may constitute doing business in the Philippines for the foreign employer/ principal. That makes it a resident foreign corporation for tax purposes, and taxable for the income derived from sources within the Philippines. A resident foreign corporation is supposed to file its income tax returns and pays its own income taxes.

The question is—how should foreign corporations, especially those with no commercial registration in the Philippines, pay their taxes?

Unfortunately, there is no mechanism for foreign corporations to register as taxpayers in the Philippines for tax purposes only. For a foreign entity to register as a taxpayer with the tax authority, one must have first a commercial registration with the Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission. And that makes that foreign entity a Philippine branch. What if not?

Apparently, other countries actually allow foreign entities, such as PEs, to register for tax purposes, even without commercial registration. This allows them to comply with their tax obligations in the country in which they are doing business. In this jurisdiction, if a business establishment cannot show its registration with the SEC or with the Department of Trade and Industry, it cannot register with the tax bureau. That makes them unable to register even if they are willing to do so.

With these considerations, it is time to craft rules allowing the registration of foreign entities, especially those doing business in the Philippines and/or those with PEs, for tax purposes only. This will oblige them to comply with their tax obligations, including the taxes on the entity due from the entity itself, as well as the withholding taxes on their outsource employees/agents. Even the proposed Ease of Paying Taxes Act suggests that the availability of registration facilities to taxpayers who are not residing in the country be ensured. That, I suppose, covers Filipinos and nonFilipinos.

In the meantime, the debt ceiling impasse has driven up the yield on some very short-dated securities that are seen as most at risk of a delayed payment, fueling distortions in the bills curve. The most elevated rates are those around early June, close to the point that Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has warned the US might run out of borrowing headroom. If the department can make it past mid-June, then it’s likely to get a bit of breathing room from expected tax payments and other measures, before facing fresh challenges from late July, where market pricing also indicates a degree of strain and concern.

In the 2011 standoff—which led to a credit rating downgrade by S&P but not an actual default—a surge in Treasury buying took the 10-year yield to a then-record low, while gold rallied and trillions were wiped off global equity values. Investment professionals are less pessimistic on the outlook for the S&P 500 Index this time than retail traders.

“If we do see a short period of default, the market reaction would put pressure on Congress to raise the debt ceiling,” said Priya Misra, head of rates strategy at TD Securities. Some investors believe that the debt ceiling drama has already caused some harm to the dollar, and 41 percent say its standing as the primary global reserve currency is at risk if the US defaults.

The risk of a pivot away from the greenback is something that investors are giving serious consideration.

An earlier MLIV Pulse survey showed that a majority of respondents see the dollar making up less than half of global reserves within a decade. With assistance from Eddie van der Walt / Bloomberg

94.2 percent in the same month last year and 95.2 percent in the previous month. In other words, the number of employed persons in March was estimated at 48.58 million, or an increase of 1.61 million from the 46.98 million employed persons in March last year.

The additional workforce will raise consumer spending in the following months and boost the overall Philippine economy. We have stayed the course at the height of the pandemic. There is no reason why we cannot step on the gas with Covid-19 now behind us and with a government that is pursuing business-friendly policies.

For comments, send e-mail to mbv_secretariat@vistaland.com.ph or visit www.mannyvillar. com.ph

A few years ago, I have written a number of times the lack of procedures for registration and compli-

Perhaps, the reluctance to allow foreign entities to register for tax purposes only is because their income are subjected to the final withholding taxes. Effectively, even if the foreign entity has PE and/or supposed to be treated as a resident foreign corporation whose income should be taxed based on net income, it is still treated as non-resident and the final withholding taxes on gross

Putin’s war revives Russia’s dark tradition of informers

Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February of last year, Anna Korobkova says she has spent her days informing on her fellow citizens.

“In some weeks, I write dozens of ‘donosy,’ in some only a few,” she wrote in an e-mail exchange, using the Russian word for denunciations, a term still fraught with years of history of informers going back even before the rule of Soviet dictator Josef Stalin. In just over a year, she’s written 1,013 of them.

Korobkova is perhaps the most prolific of a growing number of Russians who are joining in the Kremlin’s crackdown on critics of the war. The informers are a reflection of the sweeping changes the invasion has brought to Russia, seeking to eradicate once-tolerated hints of opposition from neighborhoods, schools, universities and workplaces around the country.

Though there are no official statistics, the number of denunciations has grown since the start of the war, driven increasingly by enthusiasts such as Korobkova, motivated by ideology, according to several people close to the security services who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss matters that aren’t public.

While they account for less then a tenth of the criminal prosecutions under the strict censorship laws imposed since the war, informers have been at the heart of cases that have led to jail time, fines and lost jobs for those targeted, according to lawyers who track the trend.

“Unfortunately, people still write too few donosy,” said Pavel Danilin, a political analyst with close ties to the Kremlin who’s a frequent guest on state TV talk shows. “This is proper and socially acceptable behavior.”

A teacher’s report to her principal on a student’s drawing of a peace symbol triggered a court case this year that led to the jailing of the

schoolgirl’s father. A “donos” was the basis of a criminal probe that led to the jailing of a prominent poetess for “justifying terrorism” with an award-winning play. Bystanders overheard a woman praise Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as “a handsome young man with a good sense of humor” in a restaurant and turned her in. She was fined 40,000 rubles ($519).

Tatyana Chervenko, a Moscow math teacher, says she was fired from her job after a string of donosy from Korobkova to school and government officials following her appearance on Deutsche Welle, an Internet TV channel that Russia has declared a “foreign agent.”

“They may have wanted to make an example of me, to scare the other teachers,” she said, noting that she’d refused to conduct special Kremlinordered lessons on the war.

Korobkova credits her donosy with leading to five “protocols” or administrative cases against her victims and vows to keep up the effort. She said she doesn’t know any of them personally and hasn’t ever seen most. But her name and e-mail address have come up in legal documents and some of her targets have written to her to ask why.  She declined to speak by phone for this article, preferring to comment in writing. While she said she feels “completely safe,” she won’t reveal her age or where she lives, saying only that it’s a large city far from the border areas.

“By exposing enemies, people are proving to themselves first of all that these enemies exist and that they’re doing the right thing by supporting the war,” said Alexandra Arkhipova, an anthropologist who has not only studied the informer phenomenon but also fallen victim to it.

Though there are no official statistics, the number of denunciations has grown since the start of the war, driven increasingly by enthusiasts such as Korobkova, motivated by ideology, according to several people close to the security services who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss matters that aren’t public.

Korobkova wrote seven e-mails to deans at the universities where Arkhipova taught, demanding she be fired for “amoral behavior”—for giving an interview to an Internet TV network banned by the authorities. Administrators limited themselves to a request that Arkhipova stop speaking to the media.

“For the moment, donosy are a marginal issue, but there are some clear activists,” said Denis Volkov, a sociologist at the independent Levada Center.

“These people don’t want so see those who say things against the war, they don’t want to hear anything that might shake their picture of the world,” said Alexei Makarov, a historian at Memorial, a humanrights group that’s been closed by the Kremlin. Unlike in the Stalin era, there’s no major state propaganda campaign encouraging informers, he said, but “there’s approval from above and the system reacts positively to donosy.”

President Vladimir Putin has called on Russians to help root out “scum and traitors.” Shortly after the invasion last year, Putin called the process “a natural and necessary self-detoxification of society.”

Russians seem more willing to rat on websites than other citizens, according to statistics from the government’s Internet censor. Complaints about “illegal information” posted online, the category that covers what Russian law calls “fakes” about the invasion, doubled to 133,601 last year,

according to the agency. The biggest spike came in March, just after the new rules were imposed.

Recent high-profile cases involving informers have revealed some hints of some debate among the elite. Last month, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov denounced the practice as “disgusting.”

Few others are as open with criticism of the trend, but there are signs it’s still not widely accepted.

At the elite state-run Moscow Institute of International Affairs, which trains the country’s diplomats, the administration quickly distanced itself from a Telegram channel that appeared shortly after the start of the war where students reported on faculty seen to be insufficiently loyal. But the reporting didn’t stop.

“There are vigilantes who are fighting for ‘purity’ in the ranks of universities,” said Dmitry Dubrovsky, an academic and human rights activist. “This trend is growing.”

“Informing is in my blood,” Korobkova wrote in a series of long e-mails after Arkhipova asked about her motivation for reporting on a stranger. Korobkova traces her activism to her grandfather, who she said was a military officer and an informer for Stalin’s NKVD secret police during World War II.

The author is the Managing Partner of DuBaladad and Associates Law Offices (BDB Law), a member-firm of WTS Global. The article is for general information only and is not intended, nor should be construed as a substitute for tax, legal or financial advice on any specific matter. Applicability of this article to any actual or particular tax or legal issue should be supported therefore by a professional study or advice. If you have any comments or questions concerning the article, you may e-mail the author at fulvio.dawilan@ bdblaw.com.ph or call 8403-2001 loc 310. from 6.3 percent in March to 5.5 percent in April.

She said she spends two days at a time watching media outlets branded “foreign agents” on YouTube and then writes her donosy on those who appear. Often, she has to write more than one, because officials either ignore them or refuse to take action.

Her donosy, she said in an e-mail to Arkhipova, “can be compared to the use of submarines for destroying enemy ships: the number of ships sunk was never large but the fear of attack led the enemy to reduce the number of voyages.” Her goal, she said, is to leave the “foreign agent” media unable to attract guests for their programs. Bloomberg

Debt-limit default risk is higher than ever. How can you safeguard your wealth?

Marcos clears importation of more sugar on SRA report

By Samuel P. Medenilla @sam_medenilla

I n a statement, the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) said Marcos made the decision during his meeting with SRA officials, together with Executive Secretary Lucas P. Bersamin, and Presidential Legal Counsel Juan Ponce Enrile on Monday.

D uring the meeting, SRA said the country’s overall sugar supply

this year will include the 2.4 million metric ton (MMT) produced by local farmers, the 440,000 metric tons (MT) allowed to be imported under Sugar Order (SO) No. 6, s. 2022-2023, as well as the 64,050 MT under the Minimum Access Volume (MAV) mechanism.

It noted the country’s projected sugar stock this year will be insuffi-

cient to cover the 3.1 MMT demand for the sweetener.

SRA estimated the country will need to import between 100,000 MT and 150,000 MT of sugar to address the expected supply gap.

“ The exact amount will be determined once we have determined the exact amount of supply, which will come at the end of this month,” Marcos said in the meeting.

Stable price and supply PCO said the additional importation of sugar will keep the price of the food commodity stable.

SRA noted the initial sugar importation under SO 6 was effective in stabilizing the farmgate price of raw sugar, which is averaging at P62 per kilogram (kg) for the current crop year (CY) compared to the P38

M.U.P. PENSION REFORM BILL TOSSED TO T.W.G.

per kg average farmgate price in CY 2021-2022.

To help boost local production of sugar, Marcos said the government has reset the start of the milling season for sugar cane from August to September.

T he measure aims to ensure the milled canes will be fully mature, so they will yield even more sugar.

T he President also instructed SRA to expedite its initiatives to consolidate small sugar cane farm lots into at least 30-hectare “block farms” so farmers can maximize their production.

Farmers of such block farms are entitled to financial and mechanization support for increased production.  There are currently 21 block farms nationwide with an average size of at least 40 hectares each.

Service fee for LTO’s gateway system assailed

THE Land Transportation Office (LTO) has been charging “enormous service fees” to the motoring public, the National Public Transport Coalition (NPTC) claimed.

I n a statement, NPTC National Convenor Ariel Lim alleged that the LTO charges drivers, vehicle owners, auto dealers, and operators a minimum of P75 per transaction when paying through the Land Transpor -

tation Management System (LTMS).

He said such a convenience fee, paid to payments processing company Paynamics, is an “added financial burden to the motoring public, especially to the low-income public

utility vehicle [PUV] drivers.”

However, LTO Strategic Communications Office Chief Divine Reyes clarified that the convenience fee is only P60.

See “Service fee,” A2

THE Senate Committee on Defense and Security referred to a technical working group the controversial bills governing the military and uniformed personnel (MUP) pension reforms, that have pitted the Finance department against several agencies over a looming “fiscal crisis” from the burgeoning pension requirements.

S uspending the hearing on Monday, Sen. Jinggoy Estrada said that, given all the contentious provisions and arguments from stakeholders, he would rather “take our time” to thoroughly vet the pending measures from the House and the Senate.

E strada indicated they would not aspire to finish the bills before Congress adjourns in June, saying: “We need to strike a balance that is acceptable  to everybody.”

Speaking partly in Filipino, Estrada said, “I don’t want to rush this. I know we won’t be done by the first week of June when we adjourn.”

T he Senate is tackling Estrada’s Senate Bill 284, providing for Military and Uniformed Personnel (MUP) Services Separation, Retirement and Pension Act of 2022.

“ There is no room for mis -

takes here. If this commitee makes a mistake...I do not want to rush things, I will refer this to a technical working group,” Estrada said, adding: “Maybe when we resume, after the SONA [State of the Nation Address], then we can discuss this bill already.”

A lso at the hearing, Sen. Ronald dela Rosa, a former National Police Chief-turned lawmaker, appealed to executive agency chiefs to avoid fingerpointing leading to miscoordination.

H e also asked the Finance Cabinet cluster to avoid putting the onus on the security sector, and making it appear as if they will cause the feared “fiscal collapse.”

S enator Bong Go said he understands the concern of fiscal managers, but said the MUP should not be treated like a “bigay-bawi” setup, whereby what has been committed would be taken back by government, invoking its fear of bankruptcy.

A dministration senators Go and dela Rosa both stressed that the sacrifices of uniformed personnel involve “blood” because they put their lives on the line to defend the nation and allow it to live in peace and order.

Continued on A5

PRESIDENT Ferdinand R. Marcos

Jr. has approved the importation of more sugar to address the expected shortfall in the local production of the sweetener this year.

Editor: Jennifer A. Ng

Companies

B1

Tuesday, May 16, 2023

Alternative meat pulls down Monde Nissin Q1 core profit

By VG Cabuag @villygc

t he food and beverage company’s reported income declined 17 percent to P1.9 billion from the previous year’s P2.33 billion.

Gross revenues grew 9 percent to P20.04 billion from the previous year’s P18.29 billion due to the strong growth of domestic noodles sales. sa les from its a sia Pacific branded food and beverage (BFB) went up by

15 percent on a comparable basis to P16.52 billion from the previous P14.32 billion, mainly driven by volume growth and price increases in all categories. t he domestic business grew 15 percent on a comparable basis year-on-year to P15.5 billion as all categories exhibited strong growth. international revenue increased by 18 percent to P1 billion due robust

growth in all categories.

t he a PaC BFB business saw strong topline growth across all of our categories during the first quarter with our noodles business, achieving double-digit quarter-onquarter growth and volumes ahead of where we were last year. Moreover, the past four-week market share ending in March is at 68 percent, 200 basis points above where we were prior to last year’s selective recall in the Eu [European union].

i am also happy to report that we are now beginning to see margin improvement as our higher cost commodity lock-ins have started to expire and we expect further margin improvement as the year progresses,” Henry soesanto, the company’s CEO, said.

t he meat alternative category continues to face strong headwinds.

Last quarter, we discussed the steps

that we were taking to right-size our united states business to better reflect current market realities. We are now similarly addressing our united Kingdom business, restructuring it to better weather the current category conditions while remaining agile and ready to benefit when the market for meat alternatives.”

Meat alternative revenue declined by 4 percent on an organic basis due to the continued category headwinds.

On a reported basis, revenue for the first quarter declined by 6 percent year-on-year to P3.5 billion and by 15 percent compared to the previous quarter. sa les from the uK and the us declined 2 percent and 33 percent on an organic basis, respectively, due to the challenging retail market. t he foodservice segment grew 4 percent year-on-year in the first quarter, the company said.

Vista Land net income up in Q1

Vista Land & Lifescapes inc., the property development arm of the Villar Group, on Monday said it posted a net income of P2.7 billion in the first quarter, 16 percent higher than last year’s P2.36 billion.

Consolidated revenues rose 8 percent to P9.2 billion for the period from the previous year’s P8.06 billion.

Real estate revenue was at P4.5 billion while rental income amounted to P3.6 billion for the period. Residential gross profit was at P2.6 billion, the company said.

Vista Land said it sustained improvements in its residential gross

margin of about 400 basis points to 59 percent due to price increases it implemented and cost efficiencies realized for the period.

t he company said it launched a total of P10.4 billion worth of projects across the country during the period.

“Our project pipeline has been robust coming from last year’s P40.4 billion project launch and another P10.4 billion for the first quarter of 2023. We are looking at launching more projects this year as we have seen sustained growth from our overseas Filipino as well as domestic buyers which brought about the 11 percent increase in reservations sales to P18.6 billion for the quar-

ter,” Vista Land Chairman Manuel B. Villar Jr. said.

Vista Land said it had set capital expenditures for the year at P28 billion while P5.5 billion was spent during the first quarter, mainly for construction and land development. Land acquisitions remained muted as the company disclosed that they are looking at maximizing their existing land bank.

Manuel Paolo a Villar, the company’s president and CEO, said the company has seen improvements in its residential business while its leasing business sustained its growth momentum for the period.

“We ended the quarter with over

1.6 million square meters of gross floor area of commercial developments consisting of 45 malls, 56 commercial centers and 7 office buildings. We continue to see footfall improvement as people are returning to malls and commercial centers. i n terms of our residential business, we will continue to launch more upscale and vertical developments this year combined with commercial developments with our master planned communities to maximize the use of our prime land.”

a s of end of the quarter, the company said it has a land bank of 2,888.5 hectares. VG Cabuag

CO n G LOMER a t E s a n Miguel Corp. ( s M C) on Monday said its net income rose 27 percent in the first quarter of the year to P17.73 billion from the previous year’s P13.94 billion on strong sales across its businesses.

Revenues went up by 9 percent to P346.72 billion from the previous year’s P316.76 billion, bolstered by higher volumes coming from Petron Corp., s a n Miguel Brewery i n c. and s M C i nf rastructure.

“Our strong first quarter results reflect our commitment to execute well on our strategic priorities as we navigated through a very challenging environment. With raw material prices expected to stabilize, we are confident we can deliver an even better performance in the coming months,” s a n Miguel President and CEO Ramon s a n g said.

s a n Miguel Food and Beverage i n c.’s net income grew 8 percent to P9.87 billion from the previous P9.15 billion.

Consolidated revenues grew 12 percent to P93.18 billion from the previous year’s P83.05 billion brought about by robust growth in beer volumes, combined with higher selling prices across the beer, spirits and food divisions.

s a n Miguel Global Power Holdings Corp.’s off-take volumes for the quarter ended at 4,657 gigawatt hour, 33 percent lower than last year, due mainly to the

absence of natural gas supply to the i l ijan power plant.

Operating income reached P7.6 billion, up 12 percent from previous year on the back of better margins on its available net capacity. n e t income grew 177 percent to P5.3 billion from the previous P1.92 billion due to net foreign exchange gains recognized this year.

Petron, meanwhile, had a net income of P3.4 billion, down by 6 percent from the previous year’s P3.6 billion.

Consolidated commercial sales grew 13 percent owing to increased demand from the aviation sector. s M C i n frastructure sustained its growth momentum, with combined average daily traffic volumes for the quarter increasing by 23 percent. t h is was driven by the resumption of on-site work, in-person classes, and tourismrelated travel. Consolidated revenues reached P8.17 billion, 31 percent higher than last year’s P6.32 billion. Operating income soared 82 percent to P4.48 billion from the previous P2.46 billion. s a n Miguel’s cement business, under s a n Miguel Equity investments i n c., posted significant growth in the first quarter following the acquisition of Eagle Cement Corp. last December.

Consolidated revenues tripled to P10.34 billion from P3.22 billion in the previous year. Operating income reached P1.3 billion a four-fold increase from the previous year’s 293 million. VG Cabuag

CEn tuRy Properties Group inc. (CPG) on Monday said the recovery of most of its business segments allowed its income to rise by 21 percent to P302.38 million in the first quarter from the previous year’s P249.43 million.

Revenues for the period grew 28 percent to P3.33 billion from the previous year’s P2.61 billion.

t h e sustained good performance of our first-home market business segment reflects well the strong market appetite for quality, strategically located, and affordable homes, which serves not only every Filipino’s aspiration but also helps address the big housing backlog that our government is also prioritizing,” CPG Executive Chairman Jose E. B. a ntonio said.

“We remain bullish in terms of business expansion and implementation of our strategic plans for this segment which, in the process, create value for our stakeholders and support our government’s efforts towards nation-building.”

in recent months, CPG announced the expansion of its first-home market’s product to also offer socialized, economic, and mid-income high-quality residential projects, in addition to its affordable housing products. VG Cabuag

By Lenie Lectura @llectura

AL s O n s Consolidated Resources i nc. ( aC R) of the a lc antara Group posted a 67-percent increase in net income to P542.27 million in the first quarter from P324 million in the same period a year ago.

aCR’s net earnings attributable to the parent were also up at P155.84 million, 73-percent higher than the previous year’s P90.16 million.

Revenues jumped by 24 percent to P3.31 billion from P2.67 billion in the first quarter of 2022.

t he company attributed its strong performance to improved power demand.

t he first quarter of 2023 saw

steady power demand from our key power markets in Mindanao. Our 210 megawatt [MW] sarangani Energy Corp. [sEC] baseload power plant in sa rangani Province and our 100 MW Western Mindanao Power Corp. [WMPC] diesel plant in Zamboanga City remain to be our key revenue and income drivers for this quarter,” said aCR Deputy Chief Financial Officer Philip Edward B. sagun.

t he company’s sEC power plant currently provides power to key areas in Mindanao including sarangani Province, General sa ntos, Cagayan de Oro, i l igan, Dipolog, Dapitan, Pagadian, sa mal, tagum, Kidapawan, and Butuan.

aCR’s WMPC power plant is the only major power generation facility in the Zamboanga Peninsula.

t he company has shifted its focus on building up its renewable energy capacity in the next few years, with around 8 run-of-river hydroelectric power facilities in the company’s pipeline. t he first of these hydroelectric power plants is the 14.5 MW siguil Hydro power plant currently under construction in Maasim, sara ngani, which is targeting to begin operations before the end of this year.

t he next 2 renewable energy facilities slated for development are a hydro and solar power project in Zamboanga del norte with a potential combined capacity of up to 37.8 MW, and a hydro power project in the Bago River in negros Occidental with a planned capacity of up to 42 MW. aCR’s aggregate capacity stood at 468 MW.

Monde nissin Corp. on Monday said its core net income fell more than 11 percent to P1.87 billion from the previous year’s P2.12 billion due to the weak performance of its alternative meat business.

‘BIR rules on VAT zero-rating give clarity’

By Andrea San Juan

tant matter.”

The IBPAP cited two significant rules in the BIR’s Revenue Regulation (RR) 3-2023. One is the articulation that health maintenance organization (HMO) premiums are “appropriately” VAT zero-rated. The other is confirming investment promotion agencies (IPAs) to have jurisdiction over any and all issues relating to VAT zero-rated purchases of their respective REEs.

“We are grateful that we now have this RR as basis in handling the issues that we have been grappling with for some time,” read a statement issued by IBPAP last Monday, or nearly three weeks after the filing of income tax returns.

After months of “uncertainty” on the VAT zero-rating of goods and services, businesses under the IT and Business Process Association of

the Philippines (IBPAP) said IT-BPM registered export enterprises (REEs) and their local suppliers “finally have much-needed clarity on this impor-

The flagship organization of the IT-BPM industry, however, noted that it looks forward to the “further

streamlining of the regulation to the effect that those exporting within the minimum threshold of 70 percent be allowed full-VAT exemption or zero-rating on their purchases given their compliance to the export condition of their registration.”

Last month, Semiconductor and Electronic Industries in the Philippines Foundation Inc. (SEIPI) President Danilo C. Lachica said the BIR regulation is a “significant” improvement to alleviate concerns of constructive exporters.

“What could be better is to have zero-VAT for companies that export at least 70 percent of their products.” Lachica said noting this matter was discussed with and supported by the Department of Trade and Industry.

Nonetheless, IBPAP said busi-

nesses remain “are hopeful that no obstacles will be encountered henceforth given the new direction to allow IPAs to exercise full supervision and monitoring on this matter.”

The BIR measure—issued last April 26—stated that “in all instances in issuing the VAT zerorating certification, the concerned IPA shall be guided by the rule that such local purchases of services are directly attributable to the registered project or activity without which such registered project or activity cannot be carried out.”

Still, the BIR said it will conduct post audit investigation/verification that the services are indeed directly and exclusively used by the registered export enterprise in its registered project or activity.

The BIR regulation explained

that those considered “directly and exclusively used” are “costs that are indispensable to the project or activity, i.e., without which the project or activity cannot proceed, and these include expenses that are necessary or required depending on the nature of the registered project or activity of the export enterprise.” RR 3-2023 also listed goods and services that will be zero-rated.

The services that are in the negative list—those deemed not “directly and exclusively” used by the registered project or activity of a registered export enterprises—are: janitorial services; security services; financial services; consultancy services; marketing and promotion; and, services rendered for administrative operations such as human resources (HR), legal and accounting.

How anchoring affects your financial decisions Q1 ‘revenge spending’ rises 47%, CCAP data bares

EVER wonder why you keep on spending money even if you know you should save and invest it? Most likely you are being stirred up to buy using simulated anchors.

What does “anchoring” mean?

The anchoring effect or anchor bias is a cognitive bias that occurs when people rely heavily on the first piece of information presented to them. These “anchors” function as a reference point in influencing their decision-making.

Companies, retailers and salespeople are skillfully aware of this human tendency to anchor decisions based on the first information buyers have and wield their prospects’ actions to their advantage.

Price is the best anchor these merchants utilize to make people buy. It also serves as a trigger feature for them to pay for goods or services as it systematically distorts their sense of value.

Experts revealed that by reacting solely to the price feature of an item, they were playing a shortcut version of betting the odds. Instead of doing their due diligence in assessing the worth of an item, they usually associate their judgment with one single factor, its price.

Let’s say, for example, you wish to buy a condominium unit.

You set a schedule with a real estate agent to do an ocular visit to their showroom and inquire about the units for sale. Typically, the agent will initially exhibit a lavish and premium unit. They will show you around and make you daydream one day you will own this fancy unit. You want it; however, you can’t afford it. Don’t worry because the agent has more units available for you to choose from. Besides, the succeeding units he will show you are more affordable.

I hate to break this to you but that lavish premium unit is not for sale. It’s called “setup properties.” From the phrase itself, “setup properties” sets up the mind of the buyers to the exorbitant price tag. This will suffice as the anchor for your selection. Forget the extra amenities of that lavish unit, for your mind is already stuck on that hefty price tag.

As a result, your price negotiation then will be dependent on the anchors they primed; and once the agent presents you the modestlypriced units, you will undoubtedly sign the contract soon after and the happy agent walks out with their fat commission.

Another example where price anchoring occurs is in retail stores. Allow me to share with you a personal story.

A long time ago, I dropped by a shoe retailer and checked for a pair of training sneakers to replace my old ones. My old shoes are still

edmund lao

perSonal Finance

functional despite showing shabbiness. Despite that, a specific pair of black training shoes caught my eye. The next thing I knew, I was already behind the counter paying for this pair of shoes unwilling to let go. Hereupon, I made a self-justification why I needed to have this pair of shoes now. This psychological phenomenon is termed cognitive dissonance in behavioral science.

And the culprit?

The two different price tags stuck on the sole of that shoe on display. The original price sticker and a discounted price sticker. It was 50-percent less, was the last pair and was surprisingly in my size. What are the odds, right?

Initially, I was happy with my new possession. But the happy hormones faded away as soon as I got home when I realized my purchase was unnecessary and impulsive. Therefore, the cognitive dissonance continued. This time it was contrary to my first stand.

Given these circumstances, how can you counter those subconscious attacks on your decision-making?

To avoid the anchoring bias, familiarize yourself with the possibility of fake anchors already put in place even before you enter their store. Express your gratitude to the seller’s assistance, walk out of the store, look for more options but stick to a maximum of three to five sellers and compare them before you make your final judgment.

Authors Bob Burg and John David Mann illustrated one of the sales tactics commonly used in negotiation in their book, “Whoever sets the frame of the conversation, also sets the direction and tone in which it will go.”

Price anchors are the best way to set the frame of the conversation.

The most effective way to avoid anchoring bias is awareness and detecting it instantly. Our minds will always be vulnerable to anchors. It’s everywhere—from shopping, to building relationships, to business dealings or even investing.

Once you recognize that there will be staged anchors set for you to close the deal, you will redeem your freedom in making better financial decisions in the future.

Edmund Lao is a registered financial planner of RFP Philippines. To learn more about personal-financial planning, attend the 101st RFP program this May 2023.

inquire, e-mail

By Raadee S. Sausa

‘REVENGE spending” has

increased in the first three months of the year by 47 percent to P470 billion, data from the Credit Card Association of the Philippines (CCAP) revealed.

In a statement issued on May 15, the CCAP said its data showed gross billings jumped 47 percent to P410 billion during the first three months of the year compared with P279 billion in the same period in 2022.

The first quarter growth rate is also the highest since mobility restrictions were imposed in 2020. And while interest rates and inflation could still rise, the CCAP said it doesn’t see a let up in personal consumption soon.

“If at all, rising inflation may even push more cardholders to use their credit card to cope with the higher prices because a credit card is one way to extend your purchasing power,” CCAP Executive Director Alexander G. Ilagan was quoted in the statement as saying.

“A credit card is basically a form of installment credit which the Filipino consumer has learned to utilize. As long as cardholders pay on time, it will have no negative impact on either the cardholder or the bank issuer,” Ilagan added.

Moreover, the CCAP chief added t hat as the economy continues to reopen and becomes more robust, pent-up demand for consumer goods and services will persist, feeding into the growth of the e-commerce, retail

and services, travel and tourism, automotive and housing sectors, among others.

“The credit card industry is indirectly contributing to this economic resurgence,” Ilagan said.

“If the economy remains strong, more people will be employed and will qualify for a credit card, thus sustaining the growth in credit card ownership and usage. Credit card delinquency rate will also remain low and may even continue its downtrend in the last two years because cardholders will have the means to pay their bills,” he added.

Based on the CCAP’s quarterly survey of its 17 member issuers, there are now a total of 11.8 million credit cards issued in the Philippines as of end-March.

Measure extending estate tax amnesty availment endorsed for Senate approval

By Jovee Marie N. dela Cruz @joveemarie

THE House of Representa-

tives on Monday endorsed for Senate approval the bill extending the estate tax amnesty for another two years or until June 14, 2025.

A total of 259 lawmakers voted for approval of House Bill (HB) 7909, touted as benefitting almost a million families. These families were given additional time to avail the amnesty after the measure postponed the deadline of application from June 14, 2023, and reset it to June 14, 2025. HB 7909 effectively amended Section 6 of Republic Act (RA) 11213 (as amended).

The measure also seeks to expand the coverage of amnesty-eligible estates to those whose descendants died on December 31, 2021, from the current December 31, 2017, coverage.

“They [the one million families] have barely recovered from the Covid-19 pandemic, and the amnesty deadline, which had been extended once, is just a month away. It’s on June 14. Thus, the need for another extension,” Speaker Martin G. Romualdez said.

The Speaker appealed to the intended amnesty beneficiaries to take advantage of the new extension if the measure gets enacted into law.

He also urged the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) to simplify the amnesty application procedure and allow online filing, especially for heirs who are overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).

“Let us not make the situation more difficult for them by extending the period for them to avail themselves of those benefits,” Romualdez added.

Faster distribution

ROMUALDEZ said that the payment of estate taxes would not only result in additional tax revenue for the gov-

ernment but in the faster distribution and use of inherited properties like land as well.

“It would unlock the potential for the development and economic utilization of those assets to the benefit not only of the heirs but of communities where those properties are located,” Romualdez said.

The bill seeks to amend the following: RA 8424 (National Internal Revenue Code of 1997, as amended by RA 10963 (Train Law); RA 11213 (Tax Amnesty Act); and, RA 11569, (An Act Extending the Estate Tax Amnesty and for Other Purposes, Amending Section 6 of RA 11213).

Under the current ecosystem, people seeking to avail the amnesty are expected to pay tax at a rate of 6 percent based on the decedent’s total net estate (or net undeclared estate if there’s a previously filed estate tax return) at the time of death.

On the other hand, if the allowable deductions applicable at the time of death exceed the value of gross estate, a minimum payment of P5,000, as the case may be, is expected.

RA 11213 was passed to provide taxpayers immunity from the payment of estate taxes until June 15, 2021.

Solely on the living HOUSE Committee on Ways and Means Chairman Jose Ma. Clemente

“Joey” S. Salceda explained that “the idea was to transfer estates more efficiently and more expeditiously, so that their value can be unlocked for better economic use.”

“As blunt as this sound, the dead cannot use or optimize assets; that task falls solely on the living,” Salceda added.

The lawmaker further explained that “unsettled estates can leave land and other assets idle and unused for years, if not decades.”

Salceda said that when the Estate Tax Amnesty was first enacted and then extended, some 133,860

individuals availed of the program from 2019 to 2023, bringing about P7.4 billion in collection.

The solon also cited the difficulty of settling estates as families tend to prioritize the expenses of funeral services and unpaid medical bills upon the death of a family member.

“The other idea underlying an estate tax amnesty is that most estates are in assets that are not liquid. Heirs have to come up with cash that they may not necessarily have, or part with some portion of the estate of the deceased,” Salceda said.

Unitary rate

ACCORDING to Salceda, many of the heirs encounter difficulty in raising cash “given the fact that you have to settle an estate right after losing a loved one.”

“And, if it takes them too long, they incur additional penalties, making it very difficult to actually settle estate tax obligations. That is the point of the 6-percent unitary rate without penalties or surcharges,” he added.

The lawmaker explained that RA 11213 was passed to provide taxpayers immunity from the payment of estate taxes until June 15, 2021.

“However, the pandemic hampered the settlement of estates. To give people more time to settle estates, we extended the estate tax amnesty from June 15, 2021, to June 14, 2023, by enacting RA 11569 [in the] last Congress. We also streamlined the procedure by removing the requirement of proof of settlement in the payment of the estate tax under the same law,” Salceda explained.

The House Tax chairman emphasized, however, that almost a million families still have unsettled estates that could benefit from the measure.

“Now the deadline is about to come—June 14, 2023. But hundreds of thousands of families—I estimate as much as 920,000 Filipino families, still have pending estates to settle.”

Majority (64 percent) or around 7.5 million Filipinos own only one card.

Data from CCAP shows that household consumption, the main economic driver in the country, grew by 8.3 percent in 2022 compared to 4.2 percent in 2021.

Credit card receivables accounted for the lion’s share of consumer loans at 40 percent as of December 2022.

“While Filipinos’ spending spree keeps the economic engine chugging along, we must bear in mind that a credit card is not ‘free money,’” Ilagan said.

All transactions charged to a credit card will have to be paid so be a responsible card user and don’t use your credit card beyond your capability to repay the amount at a later date, he added.

briefs

➜ GcG signs pDic performance scorecard

THE Governance Commission for GOCCs (GCG) has accepted and signed the Strategy Map and Performance Scorecard of the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. for 2023 during the Performance Target Conference held at the GCG office in Makati City on February 28, the PDIC announced last May 10. Prior to the signing of the performance scorecard, the GCG and the PDIC discussed in the Technical Panel Meeting in November 2022, the proposed measures and targets in the “2023 Performance Scorecard.” In its performance scorecard, the PDIC committed strategic objectives to raise public awareness on deposit insurance to contribute in building depositor confidence in the banking system and in promoting financial inclusion and maintain the Deposit Insurance Fund to adequately cover deposit insurance costs, among others.

➜ Bank bags awards from linkedin Security Bank Corp. (PSE: SECB) announced it won the “Diversity Champion” and “Talent Insights Pioneer” awards from LinkedIn Corp. “These recognitions were given to successful organizations who have made a significant impact using LinkedIn’s “talent solutions” product, the lender said. The “Diversity Champion” award is given to companies who initiated and inspired meaningful conversations around “diversity, inclusion, belonging and equity,” while the “Talent Insights Pioneer” is given to companies who utilize LinkedIn to make informed talent decisions with real-time insights. Aside from the two wins, SECB said it was also named a finalist for the “Learning Champion” category, in companies with 5,000 to 10,000 employees, an award that the bank won in 2021.

➜ GSiS allots p814M for emergency loan in Davao

THE Government Service Insurance System announced it has offered emergency loan to active members and old-age and disability pensioners working or residing in Davao provinces. The loan facility is being offered to members in Davao del Norte and Davao de Oro and the municipalities of Caraga and Governor Generoso in Davao Oriental. The GSIS said that it allocated nearly P814 million for 36,155 active members and 4,539 pensioners in said areas affected by calamities such as floods and earthquakes. The loan application is open until May 27. Members with existing emergency loan balance may borrow up to P40,000 to pay off their previous emergency loan balance and receive a maximum net amount of P20,000. Raadee S. Sausa

BUSINESSES in the information technology (IT) and business process management (IT-BPM) industry can now heave a sigh of relief after the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) released the rules on the valueadded tax (VAT) zero-rating of goods and services.

Rachel Ngan Dueñas’ tea meditation and healing art

TEA sommelier and painter Rachel Ngan Dueñas at her maiden solo exhibition at The Farm at San Benito in Batangas. Titled Healing with the Arts the show is on view until June 30.

TODAY’S HOROSCOPE By

Eugenia Last

CELEBRITIES BORN ON THIS

DAY: Megan Fox, 37; Tori Spelling, 50; Janet Jackson, 57; Pierce Brosnan, 70.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Keep your life simple. Concentrate on preparation, kindness and keeping the peace. Gravitate toward what’s possible instead of heading in a direction filled with uncertainty. Be the master of your universe, see the possibilities and be the one to harness the outcome you desire. Love more and argue less. Pay attention to detail, quality and friendships. Leave nothing to chance. Your numbers are 8, 14, 19, 22, 34, 37, 45.

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Face emotional discord head-on. The adjustments you make should save you money and free up time to follow your heart. Clear your life of trauma and relationships that bring you down. Love and respect yourself. ★★★

IN a quick, introductory chat on the sidelines of her debut solo exhibition at The Farm at San Benito in Batangas, Rachel Ngan Dueñas mentioned that she only started painting during the pandemic’s onset.

“People made banana bread, I made paintings,” said the giddy woman of the hour, laughing. While most picked up a new hobby to simply pass the time in lockdown, Dueñas had a different reason for picking up a paint brush. Art-making served as her release, transforming all the intense emotions that her tea meditation students put into works of floral abstraction.

The hospitality management graduate began conducting tea meditation sessions a few years ago. Dueñas became only the second tea sommelier in the country after receiving her certification from the International Tea Masters Association, considered the global standard in tea education. She used her knowledge in tea and its relaxing benefits as a consultant for several bars. Eventually, she turned to it to meditate and help her deal with the changing world.

Dueñas’s practice of tea meditation centers on extending compassion and kindness to one’s self—“the kind you can control,” she said. It involves acknowledging pain and making a wish for selfimprovement, even something as simple as getting better sleep tonight. Regardless, the key is to channel that energy of hope into a hot cup of tea, take a sip, then feel that wish physically spread and manifest throughout the body.

She told her friends to give tea meditation a shot. Before long, Dueñas found herself conducting classes

of different sizes. Group sessions are mostly fun and tackle only what’s on the surface, but working oneon-one cuts deeper, she said, revealing more intense feelings of pain, insecurity, grief and more.

All those emotions weighed heavy on Dueñas. The shock-absorber searched for an outlet and found her answer in painting.

“I don’t fully take credit for the artworks,” she said, pointing to a certain “divine influence” at play after praying that her art materials take the pain that was not hers to begin with.

Interestingly, Dueñas’s channeling of negative emotions on canvas produces works of almost childlike floral art, which feels as innocent as they are jubilant. The artist said it’s a conscious decision to send the message that our perception of pain should be reimagined.

“A lot of people think that your pain is ugly, but what I learned in these paintings is that even your ugly parts protect you,” Dueñas said. “Society has

taught us that our pain should be censored, that our pain is not acceptable, but that’s not the case. We had to endure a lot before blossom. That’s how pain becomes flowers.”

Showcased in Dueñas’s maiden solo show, titled Healing with the Arts, are 44 floral abstractions. Each piece is charged with stories of pain and beautiful transformations. According to Dueñas, her collectors have compared her cathartic artworks to the likes of Gaugin, Monet and Matisse, as her style offers a distinct sense of joyful naïveté.

Healing with the Arts is on view at The Farm at San Benito until June 30. The venue, Dueñas said, proves perfect for the show’s concept.

“As nature in itself is a great storyteller, I want my pieces and those who enjoy them to be surrounded by it,” she said. “The Farm at San Benito incorporates ample nature, and because it’s a place where one can

Vatican experts uncovering gilded glory of Hercules statue struck by lightning

BY FRANCESCO SPO�TELLI The Associated Press

VATICAN CITY—Scaffolding in a niche of the Vatican Museums’ Round Hall conceal from view the work of restorers who are removing centuries of grime from the largest known bronze statue of the ancient world: the gilded Hercules Mastai Righetti.

For more than 150 years, the four-meter-tall (13-foot-tall) figure of the half-human Roman god of strength has stood in that niche, barely garnering notice among other antiquities because of the dark coating it had acquired.

But it was only after removing a layer of wax and other material from a 19th-century restoration that Vatican experts understood the statue’s true splendor as one of the most significant gilded statues of its time. Museum-

goers will be able to see its grandeur for themselves once the restoration is finished, which is expected in December. “The original gilding is exceptionally well-preserved, especially for the consistency and homogeneity,” Vatican Museum restorer Alice Baltera said.

The discovery of the colossal bronze statue in 1864 during work on a banker’s villa near Rome’s Campo dei Fiori square made global headlines.

Visitors drawn to the ancient wonder at the time included Pope Pius IX, who later added the work to the papal collection. The statue depicting Hercules after he finished his labors had the last names of the pope— Mastai—and of the banker, Pietro Righetti, added to its title.

The statue has been variously dated from the end of the first to the beginning of the third centuries. Even

in its day, the towering Hercules was treated with reverence.

The inscription FCS accompanying the statue on a slab of travertine marble indicates it was struck by lightning, according to Claudia Valeri, curator of the Vatican Museums department of Greek and Roman antiquities. As a result, it was buried in a marble shrine according to Roman rites that saw lightning as an expression of divine forces.

FCS stands for “fulgur conditum summanium,” a Latin phrase meaning “Here is buried a Summanian thunderbolt.” Summanus was the ancient Roman god of nocturnal thunder. The ancient Romans believed that not only was any object stricken imbued with divinity, but also the spot where it was hit and buried.

“It is said that sometimes being struck by lightning generates love

The

but also eternity,’’ Vatican Museums archaeologist Giandomenico Spinola said. The Hercules Mastai Righetti “got his eternity...because having been struck by lightning, it was considered a sacred object, which preserved it until about 150 years ago.”

The burial protected the gilding, but also caused dirt to build up on the statue, which Baltera said is very delicate and painstaking to remove.

“The only way is to work precisely with special magnifying glasses, removing all the small encrustations one by one,” she said. The work to remove the wax and other materials that were applied during the 19th-century restoration is complete.

Going forward, restorers plan to make fresh casts out of resin to replace the plaster patches that covered missing pieces, including on part of the nape of the neck and the pubis.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Look at the possibilities, be practical and give yourself a chance to hone the required skills to proceed. Take control of your life and plan your journey to meet your needs. A kind word or gesture will pay off. ★★★

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): An unexpected move you make will backfire. Have a backup plan in case someone reneges on a deal. Being independent is in your best interest, especially if you can’t trust others to do as they say. ★★★★

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Helping others is admirable, but it’s also easy to be taken advantage of if you aren’t careful. Read between the lines, ask questions, find out what others expect of you and clarify what you are willing to contribute. Romance will enhance your life. ★★

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Simplify your life. Be direct, honest and practical. Common sense will lead to opportunities, not lofty ideas that lack physical evidence. Change what’s necessary, and don’t spend more than you can afford. Choose knowledge and experience over shortcuts. ★★★★★

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Put your energy behind your ideas, and positive change will occur. Be open to suggestions, and learn new techniques to keep up with possibilities. Focus on security and stabilizing your personal and professional lives. Romance is favored. ★★★

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Slow down, gather facts and be observant. Refuse to let your emotions call the shots when common sense and practicality will serve you better. Make affordable home improvements you can do yourself. Use your energy to build a better life and safer environment. ★★★

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Stop waffling and implement your thoughts and ideas. Look for opportunities that will make you feel more secure about your future. Be direct and ready to improvise, and do the work yourself. Learn as you go, and you’ll gain respect and rewards. ★★★

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Outline what you are willing to offer others and how much you are ready to spend. Get involved in events that speak to you and contribute what’s possible without infringing on your lifestyle. Take care of investments, possessions and responsibilities. ★★★★★

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Put your emotions on the shelf and take care of personal business. Focus on home and what you can do to lower your overhead or make your surroundings more enjoyable. Evaluate relationships and do your best to ease stress and stabilize your life. ★★

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Establish what you enjoy doing most and how you can bring in cash to pursue a position that meets your criteria. Avoid conversations with people who aren’t reliable. Don’t let anything jeopardize your emotional or physical well-being. ★★★★

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Strive to get things done, and live up to your promises. Listen, compromise and sign up for events that will help you secure your position and maintain your lifestyle. Choose peace and love over chaos and discord. Initiate change. ★★★

BIRTHDAY BABY:

You are optimistic, generous and inventive. You are persistent and competent.

• Edited by David Steinberg/Anna Gundlach

‘bookends’ BY ALEX EATON-SALNERS

Sarah G supports Matteo Guidicelli’s big career move

TOUTED as Philippine pop superstar, Sarah Geronimo is ecstatic that her celebrity husband Matteo Guidicelli is on to a new career adventure. Guidicelli has officially signed with GMA Network and has given his nod to exciting shows that the media conglomerate, specifically in the news and public affairs division the network has prepared for him.

“I am very happy for my husband as he takes on a new journey, doing something that he has always wanted to do. Answered prayer din itong career move nya kasi pinag-dasal talaga namin. Alam ko pong magiging masaya po sya sa mga programang gagawin nya and I support him wholeheartedly,” she told us.

CCP CINE ICONS HONORS NORA AUNOR WITH SPECIAL SCREENING OF ‘BULAKLAK SA CITY JAIL’

CELEBRATING the 70th birth anniversary of National Artist Nora Aunor this May, the Cultural Center of the Philippines screens one of her iconic films and puts a spotlight on her significant contributions to the Philippine cinema industry.

Through its newest film program, called CCP Cine Icon, the premiere arts institution brings back to the silver screen the 1984 classic film Bulaklak sa City Jail on May 23, 1 to 4 pm, at the GSIS Theater in Pasay City. The special screening is free and open to the public.

Under the creative vision of director Mario O’Hara and written by writer Lualhati Bautista, the award-winning film depicts the situation of women in the city jail.

The 110-minute film follows the story of a woman who is charged with grievous murder and finds herself in desperate circumstances inside the jail while getting acquainted with fellow female prisoners sentenced for various offenses. While inside the jail, she finds out she is pregnant. Desperation pushes her to flee from the prison to give birth while the police pursue her.

Seasoned actress, singer and film producer, NA Nora Aunor has appeared in many acclaimed films, most notably Tatlong Taong Walang Diyos, Minsa’y Isang Gamu-Gamo, Thy Womb, Dementia and Himala, the launching film of Cine Icon.

Launched in March, CCP Cine Icons is a special program of the CCP Film, Broadcast and New Media Division that honors the country’s newlyminted National Artists, including Nora Aunor, National Artist Marilou Diaz-Abaya who was known as one of the movers of the Second Golden Age of Philippine Cinema, and National Artist Ricky Lee who has penned several films, plays and novels. The next Cine Icons will be on October 21, celebrating the life and works of National Artist Marilou Diaz. The venue will be announced as the event approaches.

More information is available at www. culturalcenter.gov.ph.

Dueñas

Continued from B4

rest, relax and heal, it is the perfect venue for Healing Art.”

Apart from her mission to promote healing through visual arts, Dueñas also hopes to support Gospel ministry through her paintings. A portion of the proceeds for each painting sold goes to All Nations Mission School, which does missionary work and currently has 43 local Mangyan churches in four different regions of Occidental Mindoro.

After her show at The Farm, Dueñas is set for another solo show on October 7 at Galerya Amalia in Parañaque City, under the tutelage of art critic Cid Reyes.

“Next to that, I’m looking forward for more,” Dueñas said. “I’m not done telling my story. I’m not done telling the story of others.” n

Guidicelli enthused: “My wife is very excited for me. Bagay daw sa akin dito sa public affairs. We are in that phase in our lives that we like to do something that is not about us anymore but something that serves a bigger purpose. My wife is all out in her support for me, and this big step that I have taken.”

GMA News and Public Affairs first vice president

Nessa Valdellon shared that Guidicelli will be on board the morning show Unang Hirit right away, and will also be one of the main stars of the new action drama series The Black Rider

“Matteo will also be hosting sports specials for our Synergy team and he will also be assigned documentary specials that the public affairs team will be working on in the months to come. It took almost a year for Matteo to be finally a Kapuso and we are all excited to have him with us.”

For his part, Guidicelli describes the attention and love he is getting from his new home studio as “overwhelming. I am incredibly touched by their warm welcome, their hospitality and their kindness. I have never felt this kind of welcome at work.”

He added, “Four years ago, I told myself that I should start choosing my projects wisely, projects that will uplift the Filipino people and tell the stories

of the Filipino people. So it think this is a perfect platform and the perfect venue to do it. I am also very excited to do my share in uplifting the Filipino spirit which happens to be one of the network’s core values. I think that has also been my advocacy when I joined the army a few years ago. I am excited to show the world, through the documentaries that I will be working on, how beautiful, resilient and unique we are as a people and share the beauty of our country to as many as possible.”

It’s actually a return of sorts for Guidicelli in GMA. “Ten years ago, I actually was working with

it’s official: Matteo Guidicelli moves to GM

He has been to various destinations.

Matteo Guidicelli has officially joined GM after signing a contract with leading broadcast company on May 11. The actor, triathlete and host is set to take on new “missions” in the Kapuso Network with a series of projects with GMa Public affairs.

GMa Network chairman and C the stream of welcome messages for Matteo.

“We are happy that you are beginning a new chapter in your career with us,” said Gozon in his message to Matteo. “Your fans and supporters can definitely look forward to more of your projects in GMa, especially with Public the lord guide your journey as a Kapuso.”

Matteo received a grand welcome from GM in a contract-signing and media conference attended by GM executive vice president and CfO f president for programming, talent management, worldwide, and support group, and president of GM Gozon-Valdes; first vice president of Public affairs Nessa Valdellon; first vice president and head of GMa integrated News, Regional TV, and Synergy Oliver Victor B. amoroso; vice president for Public affairs arlene Carnay; and vice president for talent management Joy Marcelo.

Matteo, who is genuinely excited to be a GMa artist, says he is grateful to the network for the warm welcome.

i cannot find the words to describe the feeling. i am very blessed and happy na natuloy i’m very excited for what is to come. You guys welcomed me very nicely. it was very touching. Honestly, i’ve never felt this kind of welcome at work. i am very excited to start my journey with GMa,” Matteo shared. an advocate for nature and country, Matteo also looks forward to living one of the network’s core values.

i m also very excited to uplift the filipino spirit [which is] one of GMa s core values. i think that has been my advocacy since i joined the army five years ago. i am honored and blessed to be here. i am excited to uplift the filipino spirit, and to show the world how beautiful a people we are and how beautiful of a country we are,” he added. a patriot, explorer, and nature lover. Matteo’s love for country has led him to go through rigorous training as a scout ranger and Presidential Security Group reservist. He takes pride in the country’s natural wonders and vows to promote the beauty of the Philippines through his travels.

Now that he is joining the growing roster of GMa talents, Matteo cannot wait to share with his fans his new projects with the network’s Public affairs arm.

“[it was

MaTTeO GUiDiCelli

affairs team because i started my career as an artista [actor]. i m always on the entertainment side. When Ma’am Nessa and atty. Gozon-Valdes approached me and told me that they think they have a spot for me in Public affairs, i was like, OK, if you guys believe it, let’s go. i’m really excited to see what this journey will become, what kinds of doors will open and the things i’m going to do with Public affairs,” shared Matteo.

Beginning May 15, Matteo will be part of the long-running morning show Unang Hirit as one of its hosts. Matteo cannot hide his excitement to be one of the UH barkada.

Sobrang excited kasi unang-una, morning person ako. Pero medyo kinakabahan dahil ’yung mga hosts ng Unang Hirit pinapanood ko lang sa TV and online. in a few days, i ll see them in real life. The team so far has been very welcoming and very nice to me. Hopefully, i can deliver and have a good time—and again, uplift the f lipino spirit. That’s the whole goal of everything.”

Matteo will also be part of GMa Public affairs’ upcoming action-drama prime-time series Black Rider with Ruru Madrid. and with GMa Public affairs being the home of world-class and award-winning filipino documentaries, Matteo will be part of a documentary special about nature. as he begins a new chapter of his life as a GMa talent, Matteo is grateful for the support of his fans.

“Maraming salamat, mga Kapuso—GMa Network, GMa Public affairs, and to all the supporters out there. i think this is going to be an exciting journey. i hope you take the journey with me,” Matteo added.

weekend show,” he volunteered.

Guidicelli believes that good things happen to those who wait.

“The negotiations took some time and my wife and I have been praying for wisdom to make the right decision while waiting for the right doors to open. All I can say is that it’s worth the wait and there couldn’t be a better time than now. You know, life often brings us to certain moments and situations where we find a newer or deeper purpose, so we’ll know the meaning of what we really want to do, and we are given platforms on how we can use our influence to be of service to other people. I am just so excited to start this new chapter in my career.” n

LOS ANGELES—Kelly Clarkson has responded to a Rolling Stone report accusing her daytime talk show of being a toxic workplace.

Clarkson issued a statement on her Instagram page on Saturday.

She addressed the allegations after 11 current and former employees complained about being overworked and underpaid on The Kelly Clarkson Show and also called their work “traumatizing to their mental health” in the magazine’s Friday report.

In the report, the anonymous employees called Clarkson “fantastic” but said show producers were “monsters” who made their lives “hell.”

Clarkson said she loves her team.

“To find out that anyone is feeling unheard and or disrespected on this show is unacceptable,” she said in the post. The talk show host said she wants to maintain a healthy and safe work environment.

“As we prepare for a move to the East Coast, I am more committed than ever to ensuring that not only our team is moving, but also our new team in NY is comprised of the best and kindest in the business,” she said. “Part of that build will include leadership training for all of the senior staff, including myself.”

Clarkson said that there’s “always room to grow” and that she wants the show to be the “best version of ourselves in any business.”

“Especially when it comes to leadership, to ensure that any notion of toxicity is eradicated,” she said.

An NBCUniversal spokesman said in a statement that the entertainment corporation is “committed to a safe and respectful work environment.” The statement read that workplace complaints are taken “very seriously and to insinuate otherwise is untrue.”

“When issues are reported, they are promptly reviewed, investigated and acted upon as appropriate,” the statement said.

The Kelly Clarkson Show strives to build a safe, respectful and equitable workplace that nurtures a culture of inclusivity and creativity.” AP

Kelly Clarkson responds to report accusing her daytime talk show of being a toxic workplace

Pru Life UK expands reach with new agency offices in Luzon, Visayas

PRU Life UK, one of the leading life insurers in the Philippines, upholds its promise by opening 11 new general agency (GA) offices all over the country to make life and health protection more accessible to Filipinos nationwide.

Seven agency offices were recently inaugurated in Metro Manila. Two new GA offices were put up in Quezon City while Pasig City, Mandaluyong City, Taguig City, Makati City, and Pasay City each welcomed one new GA office in their areas.

Four regional offices were also opened to provide clients easier access to their local communities. Two offices in Luzon, specifically in Laguna and Bulacan, have started to welcome new customers through their doors. Meanwhile, Pru Life UK also put-up offices in Cebu and Leyte in Visayas.

Pru Life UK’s expansion underscores its commitment to help Filipinos get the most out of life. Since it was established in the Philippines in 1996, it now has the largest agency force with over 39,000 agents, 173 branches and 120 general agency offices all over the country.

It continues to be one of the leading insurers in the Philippines, ranking number one in terms of Total Renewal Premium Income from Variable Life Insurance Products and second in terms of New Business

Annual Premium Equivalent in 2022, according to the Insurance Commission.

Pru Life UK also ranked first amongst local life insurance companies in terms of the number of Million Dollar Round Table agents in 2021.

To serve more customers nationwide, these are the newly opened agency offices and their locations:

Metro Manila: PYRA Life Insurance Agency Inc.

Ground Floor, C3-26, Centris Walk

Expansion, Eton Centris, Edsa Cor. Quezon Ave., Quezon City

Lazurite District Life Insurance

Agency Inc.

Unit 224, 2nd Floor, Spark Place, Brgy. Socorro, P. Tuazon Cor. 10th Avenue, Cubao, Quezon City

Lazurite Prime Life Insurance Agency Inc.

Unit 2005, 20th Floor, One San

Miguel Ave. Ortigas Center, Pasig City

Titanium 2 Life Insurance Agency Inc.

Unit 202, 427 F. Martinez Ave., Mandaluyong City

Ascend Global Summit Life Insurance

Agency Inc.

Units 123 And 124, Avida Cityflex

Towers, 7th Avenue Cor. Lane T, North

Bonifacio Global City, Taguig

Destiny Life Insurance Agency Inc.

Unit 103, Ground Floor, The Biopolis

Bldg., 24 Diosdado Macapagal Blvd.,

Pasay City Oriental Dragon Life Insurance Agency Inc.

Unit 3-A, Country Space 1 Bldg., 133 Sen. Gil Puyat Avenue, Salcedo Village, Brgy. Bel-Air, Makati City

Luzon:

DAVIDS Life Insurance Agency Inc.

3rd Floor, Mercury Bldg., F.B. Bailon St., National Highway Brgy. Sala, Cabuyao, Laguna

Diamond Red Life Insurance Agency Inc.

3rd Floor, Dalisay Bldg., Gov F. Halili Avenue, Brgy. Tungkong Mangga, San Jose Del Monte, Bulacan

Visayas:

ITL Insurance Agency

2nd Floor, Sf-01, Sf-02, Sf-03, City Soho Mall, B. Rodriguez St., Cebu City

Lazurite Reign Life Insurance Agency Inc.

3rd Floor, 103 Lopez Jaena Cor. Del Pilar St., Tacloban City, Leyte

Sun Life is Reader‘s Digest Asia‘s most trusted Life Insurance and Investment Fund Company for the 14th straight year

survey commissioned by Reader’s Digest Asia, where Sun Life was chosen by Filipino consumers as their most trusted Life Insurance and Investment Fund Company brand, thus earning the Platinum Award for both categories.

The awarding ceremony was held recently at the Marco Polo Hotel in Ortigas, Pasig City. Sun Life’s Deo Orpilla, Head of Distribution & Business Development; Jennifer Del Mundo, Head of Agency Strategy and Digital Transformation; and Carla Gonzalez-Chong, Chief Client Experience & Marketing Officer received the award for the Life Insurance category, while Ritchie Teo, Deputy Chief Investments Officer, and Dino Macasaet, Head of Strategic Development, Training, and Marketing Team of Sun Life Asset Management Company, Inc. received the award for the Investment Fund Company category.

“This honor stands for our continuing commitment to our clients as their partner for life,” says Gonzalez Chong. “As we mark our 128th year in the Philippines, this inspires us to further exceed their expectations as an ally in achieving their brighter future.”

The Trusted Brand Awards is an accolade that is wholly based on consumer voting, where over 8,000 individuals in the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and Taiwan rate 50 categories of products and services according to their trustworthiness, credibility, quality, value, innovation, social responsibility, and understanding of customer needs.

This is Sun Life’s 14th year in a row to be named a Trusted Brand in the Life Insurance category, and for the 9th year in a row in the Investment Fund Company category.

FOLLOWING a strong first quarter of 2023, AirAsia Philippines’ Chief Executive Officer Ricky Isla expressed the need for a holistic approach to reviving the tourism and aviation industries at the recent Go Negosyo Tourism Summit. Speaking before businesses and MSMEs (micro, small and medium sized enterprises), other airline players, and other stakeholders across the tourism industry, Isla emphasized that responsible and sustainable tourism practices are crucial to ensure the sector’s full recovery.

“At AirAsia, we remain dedicated to innovating our services to meet our guests’ evolving needs and supporting the growth of tourism-related businesses. With many destinations promoting eco-tourism and cultural tourism, we recognize the growing trend towards sustainable and responsible tourism in the region.” Isla said. He continued, “We acknowledge that our crew members are often the first or last Filipino representatives to greet travelers. This is why we prioritize delivering worldclass service to enhance the Filipino brand and promote global competitiveness in the travel and tourism industry.”

To further support local enterprises, AirAsia Philippines launched an in-flight campaign called “Totally Local,” which features products from homegrown Filipino brands, including Tala by Kyla, Team Manila Lifestyle, Boho Manila, Wodd Ph, and Ibarra Manila. The campaign aims to promote the country’s cultural heritage and the creativity of local entrepreneurs.

Tala by Kyla pieces are meticulously conceptualized but at the same time still keep up with social trends. This adaptive culture of the brand makes them relevant to their market that aims for empowerment and self-expression through simple yet curated accessories.

Boho Manila is a brand built by mothers, hence, their primary advocacy is to make our “ilaw ng tahanan” stronger by providing mothers with work opportunities. This advocacy produces wonderful tropical pieces that are perfect for the vibrant modern and bohemian woman.

TeamManila Lifestyle uses graphic design to promote Filipino culture by producing merchandise collections fit for both everyday streetwear and travel.

Ibarra Manila aims to redefine the concept of “Filipino Time” with its timepieces that are designed to be timeless and persevering with a touch of elegance. Notable history-makers ranging from national athletes to even a Philippine president have donned an Ibarra watch.

Wodd PH centers on sustainability and style. As the Philippines’ most awarded bamboo brand, its goal is to meet the growing demand for summer essentials but at the same time, create products that do not use plastic.

Learn more about how AirAsia continues to champion local enterprises and promote sustainable tourism across top destinations in the Philippines by visiting airasia.com. Stay tuned to our social media platforms Facebook and Twitter for the latest news and other travel advisories.

AS we celebrate mothers this month, we reflect on the countless ways mothers have shown their love and care for their children. Moms are known for their ability to worry, and it’s not uncommon for them to express their concerns with a stern warning or reprimand. It could be a simple “be careful” or a full-blown lecture about the dangers of a particular activity. However, hidden in those iconic mom rants is their unconditional love.

As the saying goes, “Actions speak louder than words.” In the case of moms, what they’re doing is often the total opposite of what they’re saying. Even if they scold their kids for being unruly and makulit, they still find themselves taking care of them. It’s this mom-kid tough love relationship that should be partnered with the only wound care expert tough enough to withstand all types of wounds – MEDIPLAST’s Plastic Strips, the go-to solution for moms when their child needs wound care.

Produced in the Philippines using high-quality materials, MEDIPLAST’s Plastic Strips are available in various sizes and shapes to suit any wound. With their

excellent adhesiveness, they help prevent bacteria and infection from entering the wound, ensuring proper care for cuts and scrapes. The strips also feature various designs, helping turn those tough love moments into more playful and lighthearted ones. So, while moms tend to their kids’ wounds, they can express their care in a way that their children can easily understand.

So, the next time you hear your mom say, “Kakalaro mo ‘yan! Tignan mo, nadapa ka,” or “Naku, ang kulit mo talaga,” remember that what she’s really saying is “I love you”. After all, there’s no greater love than a mother’s love. And with MEDIPLAST’s Plastic Strips, you can show her that you love her too. MEDIPLAST is the leading wound care brand in the Philippines, offering a range of products, including not only plastic strips but also bandages, first aid kits, and face masks. MEDIPLAST products are available at Mercury Drug, leading supermarkets, and other retail stores nationwide. You may also order online via the PHILUSA Online Store. For more information, visit MEDIPLAST Wound Care on Facebook and MEDIPLAST Wound Care on Instagram

DAVIDS Life Insurance Agency Inc. From left standing are Esperanza Gregorio (Vice President and Lead General Agency Director), Rainier Secretaria (Sales Director), and Karina Gana (Vice President and Sector Head). Sitting from left are Teresita Robles (District Manager), Wennie Joy Bacay-Amoguis (Unit Manager and General Agency President) and Aileen Gaffud (Branch Manager and Board Director)

AirAsia CEO says responsible and sustainable tourism crucial to full recovery of tourism, aviation industries

left to right, Sun Life’s Ritchie Teo with Dino Macasaet holding the award poses with Reader’s Digest’s Sheron White during the awarding ceremony for the Investment Fund Company category.

FROM left to right, Sun Life’s Deo Orpilla, Jennifer Del Mundo, and Maria Carla Gonzalez-Chong hold the award while posing with Reader’s Digest’s Sheron White for the Life Insurance Category.

MEDIPLAST‘s Plastic Strips, the go-to solution for wound care, help reveal a mother‘s tough love

Sex? Sexual intercourse? Teens weigh in on evolving definitions

By Jocelyn Gecker AP Education Writer

High school students are having less sexual intercourse. That’s what the studies say. But that doesn’t mean they’re having less sex.

The language of young love and lust, and the actions behind it, are evolving. And the shift is not being adequately captured in national studies, experts say.

For years, studies have shown a decline in the rates of American high school students having sex. That trend continued, not surprisingly, in the first years of the pandemic, according to a recent survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The study found that 30 percent of teens in 2021 said they had ever had sex, down from 38 percent in 2019 and a huge drop from three decades ago, when more than half of teens reported having sex.

The Associated Press took the findings to teenagers and experts around the country to ask for their interpretation. Parents: Some of the answers may surprise you.

The meaning of sex: Depends who you ask FOR starters, what is the definition of sex?

“Hmm. That’s a good question,” says Rose, 17, a junior at a New England high school. She thought about it for 20 sec -

onds, then listed a range of possibilities for heterosexual sex, oral sex and relations between same-sex or LGBTQ partners. On her campus, short-term hookups—known as “situationships”—are typically low commitment and high risk from both health and emotional perspectives. There are also “sneaky links”— when you hook up in secret and don’t tell your friends. “I have a feeling a lot more people are quote unquote having sex—just not necessarily between a man and a woman.”

For teens today, the conversation about sexuality is moving from a binary situation to a spectrum and so are the kinds of sex people are having. And while the vocabulary around sex is shifting, the main question on the CDC survey has been worded the same way since the government agency began its biannual study in 1991: Have you “ever had sexual intercourse?”

“Honestly, that question is a little laughable,” says Kay, 18, who identifies as queer and attends a public high school near Lansing, Michigan. “There’s probably a lot of teenagers who are like, ‘No, I’ve never had sexual intercourse, but I’ve had other kinds of sex.’”

The AP agreed to use teenagers’ first or middle names for this article because of a common concern they expressed about backlash at school, at home and on social media for speak-

ing about their peers’ sex lives and LGBTQ+ relations.

Sexual identity is evolving

SEVERAL experts say the CDC findings could signal a shift in how teen sexuality is evolving, with gender fluidity becoming more common along with a decrease in stigma about identifying as not heterosexual.

They point to another finding in this year’s study that found the proportion of high school kids who identify as heterosexual dropped to about 75 percent, down from about 89 percent in 2015, when the CDC began asking about sexual orientation. Meanwhile, the share that identified as lesbian, gay or bisexual rose to 15 percent, up from 8 percent in 2015.

“I just wonder, if youth were in the room when the questions were being created, how they would be worded differently,” said Taryn Gal, executive director of the Michigan Organization on Adolescent Sexual Health.

Sex is just one of the topics covered by the CDC study, called the Youth Risk Behavior Survey. One of the main sources of national data about high school students on a range of behaviors, it is conducted every two years and asks about 100 questions on topics including smoking, drinking, drug use, bullying, carrying guns and sex. More than 17,000 students at 152 public and private high schools across the country responded to the 2021 survey.

“It’s a fine line we have to try to walk,” says Kathleen Ethier, director of the CDC’s Division of Adolescent and School Health, which leads the study.

From a methodological standpoint, changing a question would make it harder to compare trends over time. The goal is to take a national snapshot of teenage behavior, with the understanding that questions might not capture all the nuance. “It doesn’t allow us to go as in depth in some areas as we would like,” Ethier says.

The national survey, for example, does not ask about oral sex, which carries the risk of spreading sexually transmitted infections. As for “sexual intercourse,” Ethier says, “We try to use a term that we know young people understand, realizing that it may not encompass all the ways young people would define sex.”

Is less teen sex good news?

BEYOND semantics, there are a multitude of theories on why the reported rates of high school sex have steadily declined—and what it might say about American society.

“I imagine some parents are rejoicing and some are concerned, and I think there is probably good cause for both,” says Sharon Hoover, co-director of the National Center for School Mental Health at the University of Maryland. Health officials like to see trends that result in fewer teen pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases.

“But what we don’t know is what this means for the trajectory of young people,” Hoover says.

This year’s decrease, the sharpest drop ever recorded, clearly had a lot to do with the pandemic, which kept kids isolated, cut off from friends and immersed in social media. Even when life started returning to normal, many kids felt uncomfortable with faceto-face interaction and found their skills in verbal communication had declined, Hoover said.

The survey was conducted in the fall of 2021, just as many K-12 students returned to in-person classrooms after a year of online school.

Several teens interviewed said that when schools reopened, they returned with intense social anxiety compounded by fears of catching Covid. That added a new layer to pre-pandemic concerns about sexual relations like getting pregnant or catching STIs.

“I remember thinking, ‘What if

I get sick? What if I get a disease?

What if I don’t have the people skills for this?’” said Kay, the 18-year-old from Michigan. “All those ‘what ifs’ definitely affected my personal relationships, and how I interacted with strangers or personal partners.”

Another fear is the prying eyes of parents, says college student Abby Tow, who wonders if helicopter parenting has played a role in what she calls the “baby-fication of our generation.” A senior at the University of Oklahoma, Tow knows students in college whose parents monitor their whereabouts using tracking apps.

“Parents would get push notifications when their students left dorms and returned home to dorms,” says Tow, 22, majoring in social work and gender studies.

Tow also notices a “general sense of disillusionment” in her generation. She cites statistics that fewer teenagers today are getting driver’s licenses. “I think,” she says, “there is a correlation between students being able to drive and students having sex.”

Another cause for declining sex rates could be easy access to online porn, experts say. By the age of 17, three-quarters of teenagers have viewed pornography online, with the average age of first exposure at 12, according to a report earlier this year by Common Sense Media, a nonprofit child advocacy group.

“Porn is becoming sex ed for young people,” says Justine Fonte, a New York-based sex education teacher. She says pornography shapes and skews adolescent ideas about sexual acts, power and intimacy. “You can rewind, fast forward, play as much as you want. It doesn’t require you to think about how the person is feeling.”

Is there an evolving definition of consent?

SEVERAL experts said they hoped the decline could be partly attributed to

a broader understanding of consent and an increase in “comprehensive” sex education being taught in many schools, which has become a target in ongoing culture wars.

Unlike abstinence-only programs, the lessons include discussion on understanding healthy relationships, gender identity, sexual orientation and preventing unplanned pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections. Contrary to what critics think, she said, young people are more likely to delay the onset of sexual activity if they have access to sex education.

Some schools and organizations supplement sex education with peer counseling, where teens are trained to speak to each other about relationships and other topics that young people might feel uncomfortable raising with adults.

Annika, 14, is a peer ambassador trained by Planned Parenthood and a high school freshman in Southern California. She’s offered guidance to friends in toxic relationships and worries about the ubiquity of porn among her peers, especially male friends. It’s clear to her that the pandemic stunted sex lives.

The CDC’s 2023 survey, which is currently underway, will show if the decline was temporary. Annika suspects it will show a spike. In her school, at least, students seem to be making up for lost time.

“People lost those two years so they’re craving it more,” she said. She has often been in a school bathroom where couples in stalls next to her are engaged in sexual activities.

Again, the definition of sex? “Any sexual act,” Annika says. “And sexual intercourse is one type of act.”

To get a truly accurate reading of teen sexuality, the evolution of language needs to be taken into account, says Dr. John Santelli, a Columbia University professor who specializes in adolescent sexuality.

How relations between Sudan army, separate force exploded into violence

By Samy Magdy The Associated Press

CAIRO—Over recent years, Sudan’s military and a separate armed force accumulated power, each suspicious of the other, even as they worked together against the country’s pro-democracy movement. Officers inside both forces say it was a long-building recipe for disaster.

Their tenuous alliance ended in mid-April, when they turned their guns on each other, sparking a conflict that threatens to engulf Africa’s third largest country.

In interviews with The Associated Press, more than a dozen senior officers from Sudan’s military and the rival paramilitary known as the Rapid Support Forces described what led them to an all-out war. They, along with political activists and a UN official, recounted how both sides made power grabs, shifted alliances and moved to protect their interests under international pressure for a transition to civilian government.

All spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal or because they were not authorized to speak to the media. Neither the RSF nor the military responded to requests for comment.

It was Sudan’s strongman and former president, Omar al-Bashir, who created the RSF out of Darfur’s no -

torious Janjaweed militias in 2013. For al-Bashir, the RSF and the regular military were both useful in suppressing dissent and bids for independence by minority communities around the country. By keeping the two forces independent of each other, he also ensured that no one figure held enough power to overthrow him.

That changed when a popular protest movement against Bashir arose in 2019. The head of the military, Gen. Abdel Fattah Burhan, and RSF leader Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo decided it was time for the president’s 30-year-rule to end. They mounted their first of two coups together.

Together, they also formed a bulwark against the pro-democracy movement. Weeks after al-Bashir’s ouster, RSF forces led the storming of the protesters’ sit-in in central Khartoum, killing at least 120 people and raping dozens of women.

The paramilitary’s head, Dagalo, started to expand his influence. He built up significant wealth, controlling gold mining operations in Darfur’s Jebel Amer and other parts of the country in cooperation with Russia’s Wagner mercenary group.

The RSF recruited thousands of new troops, purchased new weapons and set up its own parallel bases in most of the country’s provinces. The army’s command was unhappy that it was done “mostly without coordination with the military’s leadership,” one member of the military’s

top governing council told the AP. That’s when there were first signs of the already fraught relationship starting to unravel.

Career officers in the military began to press their leadership to curb the growing power of the RSF, several military officials said. The higher salaries of many RSF fighters fueled resentment.

In September 2021, a military unit based just outside the capital staged a small-scale mutiny. The military, with the RSF’s help, crushed the attempt. It served as a reminder of the paramilitary’s strength. Afterwards Burhan received internal reports showing that a majority of officers wanted the paramilitary dissolved.

Some refused to salute Dagalo, one military official said. “They would say, ‘He is not a real officer’,” he recounted.

But Burhan and the military leadership still needed the RSF amid pressure for a democratic transition. As a deadline to hand power to civilians approached, Burhan and Dagalo on Oct. 25, 2021, joined forces to lead their second coup, removing the government of Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok.

Now effectively joint rulers of Sudan, the gap between them only widened.

RSF attempts to build its own air force severely strained the relationship, officials from both sides said. The paramilitary tried to recruit of -

ficers and technicians from within the air force’s ranks, according to the military officials.

In a March 2022 meeting, Burhan sharply told Dagalo that the military “will not allow any air force outside its control,” according to an official who attended the meeting. Dagalo replied that he had abandoned the idea, but Burhan countered with evidence of recent recruiting attempts, the official said.

Dagalo decamped to Darfur for two months to get away from his military counterpart, an RSF official said.

There, he was alarmed by military attempts to weaken the RSF’s grip over its stronghold of Darfur. He found that military leaders had designs for a new border guard force in coordination with militia leader Musa Hilal, a longtime foe of Dagalo, according to military and RSF officials.

Dagalo considered it “a stab in his back,” an official from his inner circle said.

Meanwhile, international calls for the generals to sign a roadmap for a transition to civilian rule grew louder. American pressure on Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to withhold badly needed financial aid was crucial in forcing them to bow, said a former official from the coupousted government who remained close to both camps.

“They were pushed to a corner,” he said.

Dagalo tried to whitewash his image. He declared the coup a mistake and portrayed himself as a supporter of demands for civilian rule. He allied with the Forces of Freedom and Change, the main umbrella group of pro-democracy organizations.

“It was an alliance of convenience,” said a political figure that has been involved in negotiations with the generals. For the FCC, Dagalo was a counterbalance to Islamists in the military, he said.

Burhan and other military commanders were furious, feeling that Dagalo had betrayed them.

Dagalo “tried to save himself on the expense of the military,” a senior military official close to Burhan said.

In December, the military, RSF and the pro-democracy groups reached an initial deal promising a transition to civilian rule.

One of its key provisions—that the RSF be incorporated into the military—proved the final wedge between them.

The military wanted the merger to take place within two years, the deadline for elections to be held, and demanded the RSF answer to the head of the military.

The RSF demanded a 10-year period for integration, during which the entire security establishment would be overhauled. The RSF also wanted to report to the head of state.

In the following months both sides poured forces into and around

Khartoum as rhetoric escalated. Altogether, there were more than 200,000 soldiers in the Khartoum area, said Mariam al-Mahdi, a former minister in the deposed civilian government. Deadlines to sign a final political deal were repeatedly pushed back.

Close observers warned an open conflict was possible.

On April 13, the RSF deployed forces closer to a military air base in the northern town of Meroe, where Egyptian troops were conducting an exercise with the Sudanese military, according to Egyptian authorities. The military denounced the deployment. International diplomats rushed to de-escalate, fearing shots could be fired.

On the morning of April 15, clashes erupted at Khartoum’s Sports City, a decades-old, incomplete athletics complex where both the RSF and military had bases. Each accused the other of firing first as part of a desperate power grab.

Within hours, millions of Sudanese were pinned down under fire, as the two forces battled in the streets of Khartoum and other cities, and warplanes blasted RSF bases.

“We all saw the enormous tensions and we all saw...that any single spark, even though unintended, could lead to an outbreak of hostilities,” Volker Perthes, the UN envoy for Sudan, told the AP. “In the end, it was a power struggle between the two military leaders.”

SAN FRANCISCO— Situationships. “Sneaky links.”

The “talking stage,” the flirtatious getting-to-know-you phase—typically done via text—that can lead to a hookup.

Mom, 44, wins gold; daughter clinches bronze

PHNOM PENH—Cristina

Villanueva Vergara won a wrestling gold medal at the 32nd Southeast Asian Games as a 44-year-old athlete.

But that’s not all. She won gold on the same night that her 18-yearold daughter Cathlyn Gee made the podium by claiming bronze in her own weight class of the same sport.

I never thought I can still do it,” said Villanueva of Taguig City, who just came out of retirement as an athlete a few years ago after calling it quits in the 2007 SEA Games in Thailand.

I was amazed that I can still do my techniques very well,” said the retired Philippine Navy officer.

She won the women’s freestyle 65 kgs category by outclassing Cambodia’s Sambat Vannak, 12-2.

Vergara, a gold winner in the 2003 Vietnam and 2005 Manila games, made it to the final after beating Sopha Thammahong of Laos by superiority in the semifinals.

C athlyn Gee showed she could be like mom someday with the bronze medal she clinched in the women’s freestyle 59 kgs event won by Ann Tuyet Tran of Vietnam with Salinee Srisombat of Thailand claiming silver.

I keep pushing her to train smart and work harder because she has the opportunity to excel,”

Vergara said of her daughter, a Nutrition and Dietetics freshman at the University of Santo Tomas. “She can still go to the Olympics because she’s still young.”

Jason Balabal also won a wrestling gold medal in men’s 87 kg of Greco Roman. Josef Ramos

PHNOM PENH—All’s not lost for Team Philippines although finishing fourth in the medals race—the same position Filipino athletes occupied last year in Vietnam—looks improbable with one full day of competitions left in the 32nd Southeast Asian Games.

Philippine Olympic Committee President Rep. Abraham “Bambol”Tolentino said he remained confident the Filipinos look bound to do better in terms of medals won, instead of positioning in the medal tally.

The Philippines had 49 gold, 74 silver and 95 bronze medals as of late afternoon Monday and three more golds would mean Filipino athletes have bettered the 52 won in finishing

PHNOM PENH—Filipino

judokas contributed three bronze medals to the Philippine campaign in the 32nd Southeast Asian Games Monday at the Chroy Changvar Convention Center.

John Viron Ferrer (men’s -90 kgs) and the Lopez sisters, Ma. Jeanalane (women’s -44 kgs) and

Sports

B8 | Tuesday, May 16, 2023

mirror_sports@yahoo.com.ph

Editor: Jun Lomibao

FIGHTING TO THE END

class, made it a spectacular family affair in freestyle wrestling, winning a bronze medal.

Weightlifter Vanessa Sarno started the day right for the Philippine contingent, extending her reign in the women’s 71kg category in record fashion despite the lack of sleep, having come all the way from the Asian championships in Jinju, South Korea.

Female arnis exponent Ma. Ella Alcoseba delivered

By Jun Lomibao

PHNOM PENH—A fourth place finish doesn’t look achievable anymore in the 32nd Southeast Asian Games but winding up No. 5 with more medals is more worth it for a Philippine contingent that’s fighting to the end on Cambodian soil.

A 4 4-year-old mother did just that—showing age doesn’t matter in a grueling and demanding wrestling sport—alongside her 18-year-old daughter as Team Philippines went two gold medals shy of the 52 won in Vietnam last year.

“ We will surpass our medal tally in Vietnam,” Philippine Olympic Committee President Rep. Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino said on Monday.

“It’s achievable, God-willing it might (even) reach 60 (golds).”

The Philippines had 50 gold, 77 silver and 102 bronze medals on Monday night to be at fifth place in the medals race being topped by Vietnam (122-100-97 gold-silver-bronze), followed by Thailand (94-76-92), Indonesia (74-66-92) and Cambodia (70-67-113).

Singapore used to be ahead of the Philippines with its splurge in swimming but could only be at the 45-gold medal mark also on Monday.

Women power carried the day as a 44-year-old substitute fighter in wrestling led a four-gold harvest that pushed the Philippine campaign with only a day of competitions remaining.

Cristina Vergara, 45, topped the 65-kg women’s category of wrestling by beating Cambodia’s Sambat Vannak via a 12-2 technical superiority old.

Her daughter, 18-year-old daughter, Cathlyn, competing in the 59-kg

the country’s third gold for the day, ruling the women’s full contact live stick contest in the bantamweight class while Dexler Sandigan Bolambao won the country’s fourth mint by topping the same weight class in the men’s division. Gilas Pilipinas added to the country’s celebration by ending the one-year reign of Indonesia, scoring an 8476 decision in their semis battle and likely arranging a rematch for the gold with Cambodia. T he four-gold haul pushed the

Philippine squad, backed by the Philippine Sports Commission and the Philippine Olympic Committee, within two gold medals of duplicating the country’s 52-gold haul last year in Vietnam.

Earlier in the day, POC president Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino expressed confidence Pinoy athletes will surpass the Vietnam harvest, adding he expects the team to reach the 60-gold mark.

We will surpass our medal tally in Vietnam,” said Tolentino. “It’s achievable. God-willing, it might (even) reach 60 (golds).”

In its Facebook page, the PSC welcomed the elder Vergara’s golden finish, saying: “Philippine wrestling team playing coach Cristina Vergara is more than ready to hang her Team Philippines jersey after successfully clinching the country’s 48th gold medal.”

Sarno faces little challenge in capturing weightlifting crown

By Josef Ramos

PHNOM PENH—It didn’t matter that Vanessa Sarno felt pain in her left hamstring as the pride of Tagbilaran City powered her way to a record-breaking gold medal performance weightlifting at the 32nd Southast Asian Games on Monday. It’s a little bit painful but I was really determined to get the gold medal,” Sarno told BusinessMirror.

The 19-year-old again topped the women’s 71-kg category with ease at the Olympic Stadium coming off a stint at the Asian championships in Jinju, South Korea, where she bagged three silver medals. Sarno cleared 105 lbs in the snatch on her third attempt to shatter her own 104-lb record she set last year. She then lifted 120 lbs on her first attempt in the clean and jerk to seize a total of 225 for the gold. She didn’t push herself any further thus passing up on the chance to break her own SEA Games’ records in the clean and jerk (135 kgs) and total lift (239 kgs). She could have gone for the record, but we didn’t want to put her in any risk,” Sarno’s coach Tony Agustin said. “She just came from Jinju where the competition level was that high.”

Filipino athletes bound to win more–Tolentino

fourth place in Vietnam. “ We will surpass our medal tally in Vietnam,” Tolentino said. “It’s achievable, God-willing it might (even) reach 60 (golds).”

Tolentino said that sports where Filipinos will still see action in— including kickboxing, taekwondo, arnis, weightlifting, judo, wrestling, dragonboat, beach volleyball, jet ski and sepak takraw—would still contribute to the cause.

If you get one each (gold) on these sports, definitely we will surpass the 52 golds in Vietnam,” he said. “We already surpassed the silver. We only have 70 (silvers) in Vietnam, we have now 74.”

There could be surprises out there,” added Tolentino as he

mentioned the soft tennis team which became the games’ unofficial champion after delivering three gold, one silver and a bronze medal to improve on its 3-0-1 finish in the 2019 Philippine edition.

He also lauded the taekwondo team, which bagged six golds—led by Olympian Kurt Barbosa—a silver and 4 bronze medals.

“Overall, it’s a strong performance for Team Philippines. All the athletes are improving. The medal haul will speak for itself,” Tolentino said.

He praised the Filipino athletes for their sheer determination and focus.

The reason why we have a strong finish is because the 840 athletes we sent here have delivered well,” he

Judokas get 3 more bronze medals

Leah Jhane (women’s -48 kgs) made the podium to complement the one-gold, one-silver and one-bronze initial harvest of their teammates on opening day Sunday. Ferrer bounced back from

News from ‘The Nav’

said. “Compared with Thailand which sent 1,900 athletes and Vietnam also with almost 2,000 athletes, they have twice as ours.”

So see how strong the Filipinos are, right?” he added.

V ietnam was ahead in the medals race with 118-95-97 gold-silverbronze, followed by Thailand (94-7490) and Indonesia (72-65-88).

C ambodia has done well in its first-time hosting—amid rules it imposed to its advantage—and ran fourth with 66-65-11. Singapore partied by winning more than 20 golds in swimming but could no longer repeat the splurge and could be locked in four sixth place with 44 gold medals. Jun Lomibao

make over Thai Pimngam Ngamluan and Cambodian Kun Srenach, respectively, in their bronze medal matches.

PHNOM PENH—The Gilas Pilipinas women’s team defeated Malaysia, 77-63, on Monday at the Morodok Techo Elephant Hall 2 to capture the silver medal in the 32nd Southeast Asian Games.

Janine Pontejos hit 24 points on 5-of-11 shooting from threes as Gilas Women closed the round-robin tournament with a 5-1 win-loss record and finished second in the final team standings.

I ndonesia took the gold medal with a clean 6-0 win-loss mark, including an 89-68 win over the Philippines last May 12.

Gilas Women coach Pat Aquino was proud of the effort of the team to play a hundred percent until the end even with the defeat to Indonesia. Coming into the tournament, we were aiming for the historic three-peat win. Unfortunately, we fell short in accomplishing our goal but nonetheless I am proud of the girls for leaving everything on the floor and playing their hearts out,” Aquino said. More than the silver medal, we are bringing home a lot of learnings and experiences which will surely help us in our upcoming tournaments—FIBA Asia Cup, Jones Cup and Asian Games,” said Aquino. K hate Castillo had 18 points including four threes to also spark the Gilas women’s team, who jumped out with a 21-10 lead at the end of the first.

I’m really proud of my girls because I never had to question their effort during these games. You see all the talent on the court but you also see how much heart they pour into this sport, their country, and in each other. Their perseverance is something you can’t teach,” said Aquino.

Sarno didn’t have to exert herself becauser her rivals were simply outclassed.

Th ipwara Chontavin of Thailand clinched silver with just 208—17 lbs behind Sarno—followed by Indonesian Restu Anggi with her 206 total (19 behind).

I didn’t have enough sleep coming here but I just told myself to enjoy the competition,” she said.

Sarno bagged the Philippines’ second weightlifting gold a day after Elreen Ando’s record-smashing performance in the -59 kgs class.

The weightlifting team also had four silvers, courtesy of Angeline Colonia (women’s 45 kg), Lovely Inan (women’s 49 kg), John Febuar Ceniza (men’s 61 kg) and Rosalinda Faustino (women’s 55 kg).

K ristel Macrohon tries to add the + 71 kg women’s class gold and John Dexter Tabique the men’s 89 kgs title to the Philippine haul on Tuesday.

Volleybelles need more exposure –PNVF’s Suzara

PHNOM PENH—Indonesia

teetered but regrouped in time just the same to force the Philippines to a fourth-place in women’s volleyball at the 32nd Southeast Asian Games.

We did our best but it wasn’t enough to beat Indonesia,” said Jorge Edson Souza de Brito the morning after the Indonesians struggled to beat the Filipinas in four sets, 25-20, 22-25, 25-22, 25-23, in the bronze medal match on Sunday at the Olympic Stadium.

B efore flag-waving and cheering fans, the Filipinas fought gallantly against their more internationallyexperienced foes with Tots Carlos holding fort until the final moment by saving two match points.

But the Indonesians, many of them playing in hijabs, were unrelenting and went on to claim bronze while dealing the Philippines its third loss in five matches from the preliminaries.

We need to be more consistent but as a matter of fact, we’d improved a lot—less errors, better receive, more block touches,” De Brito said. “These players had such a hard time reaching their best level and it would be good if we keep a core from these players.”

The national women’s team is composed mostly of Creamlime players, including team captain Alyssa Valdez who had to be used sparingly because of a knee injury that almost cost her slot in the team.

Philippine National Volleyball Federation president Ramon “Tats” Suzara acknowledged the need to polish the team further.

We will not stop, we will continue to work harder,” Suzara said. “And we’ll participate even more in the international arena.”

his semifinal loss to Thailand’s Wei Puyang with a victory over Malaysia’s Afiq Zapri via uchimata to secure his bronze medal.

T he Lopez sisters, for their part, scored identical wins via hansoku

HE’S all over the place specifically social media when you’re talking recruitment news in men’s college basketball, but he’s also covered professional basketball and women’s volleyball.

Naveen Ganglani is a sports journalist for a major news outlet and his way of informing the public and telling a story is through “breaking news” of schools, colleges and universities’ major recruiting coups and information that gets to you before even the news cycle begins.

He’s worked hard to establish professional, working, and personal relationships with team officials, coaches and student athletes putting a premium on trust that timing is everything when releasing information for the public’s consumption. It all started in 2014 when Naveen did a piece on former

However, Keisi Nakano, a silver medalist last year in Vietnam, failed to crack the medal this time as he lost to Malaysia’s Amir Majeed in the battle for bronze in the men’s under 73kg via choker. Josef Ramos

De La Salle University (DLSU) women’s volleyball standout and current F2 Logistics star Aby Marano and the rest, as they say, is history.

Safe to say Naveen has seen it all in the recruitment of blue chip student athletes as it used to be just a scholarship then.

O ne can’t help but pull for student athletes who come from financially challenged families who are in hardship who’ve had to work their tails off both in the classroom and in the court or on the field.

The DLSU Psychology major isn’t one dimensional as he has other gigs aside from breaking news and stories. Naveen also has their family business and video games he analyses giving his two cents worth of recommendations.

A ll things recruitment isn’t a job for Naveen because it’s something he’s passionate about and he’ll also give you

The Philippines beat Cambodia and Singapore in the preliminaries for its two victories in the games. It lost thrice to regional powerhouse Vietnam, Thailand and finally to Indonesia in the bronze medal match.

Josef Ramos

THE Filipinas fall short for the bronze medal in a four-set loss to the Indonesians.

a good analysis why it’s a huge pick up and maybe some points to consider about whether maybe the team or teams could’ve done better.

Have we seen a plateau on breaking news about college recruitment since I don’t see anything that’ll surpass social media in terms of information dissemination?

I don’t have to tell you where to reach “The Nav” or where he can be seen or heard, just look him up on your favorite search engine and you won’t have to look too far for your healthy dose of sports news.

These days aside from breaking men’s college basketball recruitment news, Naveen also has his own podcast “The Navs Effect” and his initial foray into sports broadcasting as an analyst and doing play by play for Pinoy Liga games and his usual pieces on the National Basketball Association.

VANESSA SARNO’S almost unchallenged in Phnom Penh. ROY DOMINGO

CRISTINA VILLANUEVA VERGARA (left) and daughter Cathlyn Gee (right) with Philippine Olympic Committee President Rep. Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino. PHOTO BY JOSEF RAMOS